Holy cow!

Ok, that's a slightly toned down version of what I actually said to Fiance, but I was super excited! So, I get a lot of credit card offer junk mail, just like most people, because I make a good income and my credit score is quite good. The problem is that because of my debt, I don't get approved for these "preapproved" cards. Every now and then when I'm feeling more positive about my debt, I try to apply for one, and then I get said because I get turned down. Since I have one card left that's at a regular APR, I could really use a nice 0% balance transfer.

Yesterday, I got some other good news - I have a plastic business credit card that I use for my business which has only a $250 limit. Yeah, I wasn't terribly excited about the limit, but I was happy that I was able to get approved for ANYTHING. But yesterday I got a thin letter in the mail from the card issuer - and while usually the thin letter means "We're cutting your limit" or "We've cancelled your card" or "We're jacking up your minimum payments" (thanks a bunch, Chase!) this particular thin letter said, "We're raising your limit to $1,000." Awesome! I was really quite excited about this, because a card with a $250 limit is not much fun when the business charges over $800 a month, and so I had to pay it off over and over, sometimes twice a week, to keep from going over. So this was very good news.

Feeling more positive about my credit after getting this news, I viewed my latest junk mail in a new light. And it had a 0% balance transfer for a year offer. Seduced once more by the "preapproved" note, I applied once more. And lo and behold I actually was approved! I put in a balance transfer for the Discover - I was only approved for $2,000, but hey, I'll take it. I really didn't believe I'd gotten it until I'd actually gotten all the way through and created an account on the website and seen the credit limit.

I'm pretty psyched. I have a bunch of other expenses hanging over my head right now ($1,500 to repair the car, at least $1,800 in medical bills) so I was feeling pretty low about my financial situation, and this was just the good news I needed. It's not really that this is going to help all that much in the grand scheme of things, although I will certainly be glad to save on some interest charges, but more that it's a sign that my credit is getting better and I might be able to rejoin the land of the normally-financed at some point soon.

Tips on Finding Affordable Life insurance over 50

Today's sponsored post is provided by comparethemarket.com!

Generally, the life insurance over 50 coverage plan is an insurance policy that is intended to benefit the senior citizens. It is specially planned to provide financial security to those individuals who have reached their retiring years, but are not to have been freed off their financial obligations. Aging comes with a number of health issues, thus considerably increasing your risk level. As a result of this situation, senior members are incapable of qualifying for life insurance coverage; that is where the senior insurance policy comes into play. For this type of insurance coverage, senior individuals up to 85 years of age are eligible to apply for the coverage.

While other financial security measures like pension plans, contingency funds and personal savings are good, it is prudent to seek a financial plan that offers cash returns. With the life insurance over 50 policy coverage, the insured is at liberty to leave the disbursement to selected beneficiaries in case of any misfortune. The policy holder can also choose to allocate the compensation to cover the funeral expenses in the event of death or cover any debts or pending bills. The senior insurance policy is therefore crucial for providing financial relief for people in their fifty’s and over.

It is known for a fact that life coverage for younger individuals’ costs cheaper since the risk factors that affect the premium costs are lower. However, it is possible to get senior life coverage at affordable prices if you perform a thorough comparison shopping. Here are some of the tips that will assist you get affordable insurance coverage;

• Make sure that you meet the entire basic qualification requirements for a senior insurance coverage policy. The main minimum qualification is being between the ages of 50 to about 85 depending on the terms of the insurance company.

• Ensure that you verify the exact date the insurance policy commences. If you are not certain about the dates, it is always advisable to contact the insurance agent to clear the issue. Policies bought online usually commence immediately you are done filling in the registration formalities and made a down payment. On the other hand, policies purchased via conventional methods like in person or via phone, the usually confirms the exact date the policy will commence.

• Take notice of the duration of your coverage, generally senior insurance policies provide coverage as long as the premium payment is current. If at all your premium payments lapse, you are not entitled to any reimbursement from the insurance company. The prudent cause of action to ensure that you are always covered is to opt for a premium cap, meaning that you are required to premium just until your coverage amount is met.

• Choose a policy option that allows you to pay premiums on the basis of the actual extent of the coverage provided. This is not only affordable but also allows you to pay for your life coverage comfortably since this plan offers manageable monthly premium rates.

Multiple savings goals

So of course right as I want to start saving up for the wedding, there are a lot of other expenses that I have to save for at the same time. It's frustrating because I do do a lot of extra side work, what with the mystery shopping, the business, the extra job, the writing (which unfortunately I haven't had much time to do lately), and I do bring in extra money, but since so much of my regular salary goes to paying down debt, I rely on that side work to bulk up my savings. And then I get frustrated because it's annoying to have to parcel out a nice chunk and put $50 here and $50 here. But if I don't, I feel like I am shortchanging my other goals. Ack.

Current savings goals:

Wedding - Obvious. Right now Fiance and I have to save up enough to put deposits down on stuff, which is probably going to be about $2k, if not more, but then we have a year to save up the rest of it, which is nice.

Medical bills - I do have much better health insurance now, but I also did just have my gallbladder taken out. (About which I am very happy, because owning one was a serious downer.) So I am definitely going to hit my out of pocket maximum for the year, which is $2,000, and I have a couple hundred in medical bills from last year to pay off too. I'm hoping to work out some kind of payment plan so I don't have to put it on a credit card and pay interest.

Car insurance - I maaaay not have mentioned this before, but I was in a very, very minor fender bender a couple months ago. Like at one mile per hour when the person in front of me stopped short. So I'm a little worried how much my car insurance is going to go up. Hopefully not very much. But you never know, and I have zero saved for it right now. It comes due in April so I need to get cracking on that.

Fixing the car - Somehow, I managed to purchase a car in which neither the heat nor the A/C worked properly. A while back, some part in the car broke in such a manner that the A/C was on permanently. As it was November, this was not fun. So, I took it into the shop, and it seems that the switchy-thingy (I'm sure it has a real name) was broken in the "on" position. To fix this, they broke it into the "off" position, so now it can only produce heat. I decided that I could live with this until spring, when I'll get it fixed - to the tune of about $1300. Owch.

General "oh no" fund - I like to have at least $1,000 in the "oh no" fund. Right now it's only at $800, and that's probably going to go into the car, which is also making an unhappy grindy noise in addition to the no-A/C thing.

So, in conclusion, I have now made myself fidgety about the amount of money I have to save up. Yay!

Big news!

Actually, two big pieces of news!

First: Boyfriend got an upgrade and is now Fiance! He proposed at our favorite restaurant and I of course accepted. I had to tell my mom before I put it on Facebook, but now that everyone's informed I felt I needed to share it here. We're planning on keeping the wedding very simple, mostly because I am the least girly girl on the planet and could not care less what color the napkins are, and won't be able to muster up caring, but also because neither of us sees spending a ton of money on a wedding as a worthwhile endeavor.

So I don't anticipate that I will be gushing about wedding crap here much, and I am actively avoiding the bridal-industrial complex and Brides Magazine and all of that. I registered for an account on The Knot and it told me I had 189 things on my to-do list and I don't wanna go back. We're hoping to get the major parts nailed down within a month or two for June 2013 (officiant, ceremony location, reception location, caterer) and then promptly forget about it for six months.

Second: I paid off my Amex Blue card! I feel like I should not be as excited about this as I am, given that I paid off the CareCredit and Amex Gold cards previously, but this feels like a milestone more than those did. For one thing, this has really made budgeting a lot easier. Before I paid it off, I was paying $100 per paycheck, and with the new job, the paychecks were a little smaller (since I took a pay cut and started contributing to a 401k again.) So now not having to pay that $100 per paycheck means I don't have paychecks where less than $200 is left for actual spending, and I can up my payments to the other cards without running out of money after a week.

Paying it off also means I have more ability to save money for the wedding. Boyfriend (sorry, Fiance) and I are each contributing $150 per paycheck to the wedding account, and I already had $500 in it because I kind of knew this was coming. So we should be able to take care of our deposits pretty soon, especially since I am still working two jobs and running the business, and then we can just save up for all of the million expenses we can't anticipate now. But not fancy napkins.