Scared A Little

 Happy Sabbath.  Going to keep this short.  God is good and I am thankful for a bonus I received from work that makes major headway with building up my emergency fund.  I am thankful I was able to take off work yesterday and get other things I needed to get done around my home, for my son and I and go do some door dashing.  

There is alot going on around the world and I am trying not to allow any of it to rattle my nerves.  I know I can only place those things in God's hands.  I am concerned about the situation going down in Eastern Europe.  I have spent time listening to so many good people with really good ideas and acted on some but didn't prepare as fully as I could.  Any number of things could happen and I am trying to have my own plan for the safety of my family and myself.  

I have watched channels or preppers, gardeners, and all sorts of youtubers talking about how to prepare for worst case scenario situations and I would encourage you to at least attempt to make sure you have your house in order and things you would need in the event that disaster should strike.  

It's just so sad to see and what is worse, the people who are willfully obeying such evil orders to hurt so many people and take away their freedoms. Keep praying for the people of Ukraine but also the good people in Russia who are taking a stand against this mess.

I am scared for another reason.  I have consistently worn my mask to my part time job and only rarely lowered it to let me nose out (no more than 10 times).  I have been free of illness for 2 years as a result of wearing the mask and I know many people who have tested positive for COVID and missed weeks of work because they chose to not wear the mask and be the best nasty selves they could be (coughing, sneezing out in the air without covering their mouths and of course that one lady who wouldn't wash her hands but touched shared equipment).  She wasn't the only one, there was at least one other dude as well.  I'm scared of these nasty people.  With the announcement that 70% of the country does not need to wear a mask indoors unless numbers are up in that area, I am planning to go to work and not wear it for the first time since I started working there.  No more than 10 people have seen my face and I am self conscious about myself so removing the mask is a big hurdle for me along with being around those nasty people.  

If I but so much as hear someone cough or sneeze near me, I will put it back on.  I've been fully vaccinated for quite some time and I see many people going about without one on.  I will be holding my breath around some people especially if I have to work in close proximity to them.  

I need to get brave and see how this will go.  

I was also scared to sing and play piano before my church today.  I had never done a whole song before and I had my son with me to help with singing and give support.  I did mess up a bit but it was not so bad because I had him with me.  I will consider doing it again another time for special music, but I am committed to singing and playing every week with my son at least 2 main songs that are locked into the service layout.  

It is after 3pm.  I am going to prepare for my afternoon nap and hope that you will too face your fears and what you are not able to handle, give it to God.  There is a lot going on, but God knows how to help your situation and you will be alright if you stick with Him.  

Happy Sabbath :)

God Is Good

 Happy Sabbath,

I hope you are having a great day. I had a good and productive week and God is good. I am thankful for a good service today. I am thankful for the ability to work and ways to increase my income. I am thankful for my sister who I was able to share a laugh with and who is doing her thing. She is a youtuber as well and we are supporting each other with our various channels and coming up with good ideas.

I am thankful that I am stronger than I was years before. Yesterday I called my former employer, the one where I suffered because of poor decisions I made and wanted to erase all connection and evidence of that decade of my life. I called because I was watching a video about knowing where your 401k and other accounts were with past jobs. I am not certain if I still have any funds. All I know is I worked that job for over 7 years and a portion of it I contributed to a 401k. Times got hard and I think I made an attempt to get those funds to handle debts that arose because of the mistake I allowed in my life but looking at the situation now, if I were to take those funds, I would have had to pay a hefty tax for taking them early. I don't  remember paying tax for something like that. If the account still exists,  I want to find a way to activate it so I can deposit more or roll it over into one of the other retirement accounts I have. Never did I think in a million years I would call my old job again but I did. So now I have the name of the financial institution that would have that account so I will call them up next week when I have more time to see what is what.

My son upset me today and let me down. He is on punishment now as a result but I will comment on how wonderful it was for him to join me during today's service and sing along with me. I am a pianist, not a singer. I only sang because he was there for a minute to sing along with me. Without that other voice, I don't have the confidence to tackle other hymns and songs. I sang to songs I never sing out loud to and it went well so I thank the Lord for that. 

I was able to earn a good amount at my side hustle. I am saving money and cooking more things at home. I'm busy in a good way and getting things done and I like that. None of this would be possible without the Lord.

Thank the Lord God for your blessings today, no matter how small they may seem. Everything He does has a major impact on your life, whether you realize it or not. 

Free

 Happy Sabbath

God is good and this week is not any different.  Because of the Lord, I had a great victory yesterday.  Actually, thursday I opted to pay a huge amount to pay down my credit cards.  I sat and thought about how long it would take to pay them off and estimated if I followed the same track, I'd be done probably during the summer if not early autumn.  I did my taxes on Free Tax USA and surprised myself to find that I only had to pay almost $2000 out of pocket.  I have no intention of changing my with-holdings because I am looking at the funds as a temporary interest free loan.  I am putting those extra funds into a savings account and earning interest on it while I prepare for next year's tax payoff.  2022 taxes are going to be a little more complicated because of my investment portfolio but I am confident I can do it independently again.  I will not use H&R Block or other software I have to pay for.  Free Tax USA was the easiest and least complicated of everything I have done and I will continue to do so so long as it is available to me.  

So now knowing my taxes are taken care of and I had sufficient funds to pay my debt to the government, I was able to look at the remaining monies I had stored up for other plans.  My credit card debt was my next target and I thought to myself yesterday that hmmm..I have enough to pay both balances off.  I owed nearly $2000 on one card and around $1500 on another and I was tired of dealing with the fees, even though they were dwindling down, I was tired.  I decided to use what I had saved up for my house account and a portion of my mortgage savings to pay off the remaining debts.  For my mortgage savings, I had saved up 3+ months of mortgage funds so if I were to lose my employment, at least I knew funds would be there to cover for that time.  I initially had put a lot of money in my house account with the purpose of paying for a new fence to be put around my property.  I was going to do that back in 2020 but the pandemic came after the guy came to measure and give me an estimate and I didn't hear back from him as I had expected.  That money sat there and sat.  I had a purpose for everything else and during the pandemic, people moved in down the bottom of the hill and erected a fence so I didn't have to do that.  If I put a fence up now, it would only really just be the front of my home because everyone else has fencing around now.  I'm in no rush to do that.  

So I decided to just go and pay both off.  I then went to my mirror in my son's bathroom..(my mirror, in MY SON'S BATHROOM??) and change the goals I had written on their in eyebrow pencil.  It just wouldn't register that I had paid off those long standing debts.  I have been paying $300+ for so long on both and it just seemed this time would never come.  I took on a second job to target my credit cards and now my Amex, that auto credit card, and my two major credit cards are completely satisfied.  I can only give the Lord the credit.  If it were not for Him, I would not have been able to get the part time job I have and get the raises I did to tackle these huge problems.  And with all that I have been learning about financial responsibility while working at that same job, while listening to youtube videos about how to get right, I now have a better plan to move forward safely and confidently into this and future years if the Lord sees fit.  I now will only put purchases I need every month on those cards.  In the past, I was afraid to use my cards and didn't.  I then told myself foolishly I could buy clothes and things I wanted and would eventually pay things off.  I had emergencies come up and I put them on the credit cards and things spiraled quickly out of control.  

I need to have internet to do my work for job number one.  I need gas to travel for jobs number two and three.  I need my phone to do work for all three jobs.  I have my gas go on one card and currently I have my internet and phone bill go on one but will move one of those bills to the third card.  I have set things on auto pay and these are things that will remain in my monthly budget.  I have to have these things.  I will not put things that I want on my credit cards.  That is where my savings comes into play.  If I want something, I have to save up for it.  I am going to take time tonight to update my auto deposits and reallocate my savings so that I am actively growing my savings, investments, and paying my bills every month.  

Although I've reached my goal to be free of the credit cards, I have to now rebuild my savings that took a hard licking this month.  I will continue to penny pinch and avoid making unnecessary purchases, live below my means, and do what I can to make as much money as I can.  I spoke on a goal to reach 100k this year and it is possible for me to do so.  The fact that I can even make such a statement, that I surpassed my other income goals from the previous year, I am inspired and encouraged and cannot turn my back on these options that the Lord has made available to me.  

Build up my savings (emergency, and others).  Increase my investments. Pay off student loan debt and my home.  And actively save to purchase more real estate so I can have my investments work for me and reach some level of financial independence when I reach a time I am no longer able to work.  Years ago, I had received a letter from social security and they wrote out for me what I would be given each month if I were to retire. I didn't understand those numbers and what it meant.  I decided to go in and see what I would qualify for if I continue my current track and it looks pretty good but it's not where I want it to be.  I need an extra $1500 to feel comfortable with receiving social security alone.  I can live off of what they would give me at age 70, but I know there are more things I will want to do and needs I will likely have.  So I am getting on this FIRE movement, even though I'm kinda late at 38, I'm getting on and applying the principles I have learned and will continue to learn through youtube and google university.  

God is good. He doesn't want us to be burdened and live in fear and with anxiety.  He provided me with a way through this and I am forever grateful and thankful to Him for these opportunities.  

Short and Quick

 My computer is doing an update and upgrading the system. I had started this thinking it would be quick earlier this morning but it slugged its way through to the 40 percent it is now so I'll hurry and get in my comments before it decides to hit 99% out of no where and kick me off. I am thankful I was able to use my son's computer to participate in today's service.  

I am thankful for a rediscovery of something I created about 2 years ago.  I have a habit of making things, starting projects like youtube channels and businesses and not following through.  If this weird thing did not occur one night, I would not have checked my old phone I gave to my son and looked through some apps to see how successful something I had made before was actually being.  I have a lot of work and planning to do tomorrow and I am thankful that these things I set up can open doors and help with my future.

I am thankful that I decided to take up that third hustle again.  I made out really good this week and it is good extra income that will help with my huge tax bill which is coming.  My mother was excited about the child tax credit that was given out over last year. When she heard they were going to give out that little bit of money she was excited and told me to quit my part time job.  The Lord knows how hard it was leading up to the point when I needed that part time.  I was in trouble.  I prayed for help and couldn't understand how I tried this one door with Amazon and the door wouldn't budge despite them telling me all the right things, I never saw any gain from it.  It was strange too.  I was told I would be paid for orientation and never received a dime. I was given a gift card after my second orientation and it was never loaded by them.  They kept losing my information some how but my info was in the system.  I saw God's hand in having me work at the part time I'm at now and though I had to wait for things to fall in place, His timing was perfect and it was and still is a great decision to remain there.  

Now with this third hustle, I am doing really well for myself and it's all thanks to the Lord.  I am still trying to hit my goal of 100k a year and will do what I can to get as close to that as I can.  I would love if only one of my positions would pay that.  I have seen great increases with my main jobs and continue to get bonuses.  I cannot settle.  I had settled years ago for that tiny amount and felt I was doing something.  The amounts would increase by 25 cents or perhaps a dollar and I still felt like I was doing something.  Now with the income I make now, I cannot see myself going back. I have to move forward and I have to make sure I have control over this so called life style creep.  I have to live below my means and be wiser with my money and I have to give credit to God because none of this would have been possible if it had not been for Him. 

God is good.

Happy Sabbath and shoot for the moon.  He owns all the cattle upon a thousand hills, all the hills in fact.  Ask your Heavenly Father for help and He will help you.  May you be blessed.