Till Debt Do Us Part Marathon

I love TV show marathons--seems sometimes you get more out of shows when you see a bunch in a row. I was channel surfing today and ran across the Till Debt Do Us Part marathon on CNBC. I had never seen that show and decided to tune in. I didn't get to watch full episodes, as I was baking for Christmas dinner tonight, cleaning house, and adding finishing touches to the Christmas tree. But I got enough out of it. Each 30-minute episode featured one or two people who were heavily in debt, and continuing to add to their balances. The financial adviser had a Scottish accent--nice touch--and she laid out a plan for each couple. She would slash their budgets by tremendous amounts and introduced them to the jar system--similar to Dave Ramsey's envelope system--where money for each budget category would be put in a jar, and that is all the money they could use for that purpose that week. One interesting thing she did was to tell each couple if they didn't change their ways, how much more debt they would be in in five years. For many of them, it amounted to $300,000--$500,000. I thought that was a great technique that really brought their problem home to them.

Close Call With Overdraft

Yesterday, I was holding my breath. I did not realize that both my bank and my credit union closed at noon because it was Christmas Eve. I wanted to go by my credit union and withdraw some money to deposit in my checking account at another financial institution. I could have gone by early in the morning, but I was sleeping late, drinking coffee, probably blogging--thinking I didn't have to worry. Well turns out I did--I didn't get out in my car until about 2 p.m. Too late to do any banking. I had a number of outstanding checks and automated withdrawals that could have could through last night. I checked my balance online early this morning, and I had a balance of $1.43! And I could have had $230 worth of checks to go through. I was awfully lucky. I can't risk NSF fees right now.

Don't Know Yet How Much I Spent On Christmas

Up until about two weeks ago, I was impressed on how much I had contained my Christmas spending. I had bought nice, unique gifts for everyone that did not cost a bundle. But I have gotten several small things in the last week or so, and I haven't added those up. Again, they didn't cost a bundle, but if I have learned anything, it is how the cost of small things can add up. am a little afraid to find out. I'll definitely try to figure out tonight. Maybe it won't be so bad.