He is not big on shopping, as most men are not, and he is a very busy contractor and really did not have the time to take her. There was a Target located about 40 miles away, and he didn’t want to drive that far to go shopping, gas prices being what they are, and now he had no excuses not to go, so he agreed he would take her.  It happened to be raining this particular weekend, and his crew was unable to work in the rain, so this freed up his weekend to take his daughter shopping.

So she finally got to go to the new Target store.    The gift card she had received was for one hundred dollars, which is a lot of money to a 10 year old.  She made a list of all the things she wanted to purchase and off to the new Target they went.

She was only able to get about half of the things on her list, one hundred dollars does not go as far as a 10 year old imagines that it does, even when you are shopping at a great discount store like Target.  She was able to get some new clothes, so that she could wear what all the kids were wearing these days, you know how kids are.  And she was even able to get some new jewelry and a new purse; she had to have the latest and the greatest.   Then there was the MP4 player and a few CD’s she wanted too.  She certainly got a whole lot for her money that day.  I was impressed.

We could pay bills, but that would be dull, don’t you think?  We have been wanting to remodel the bathroom for awhile now and never had the extra money to do it.  I picture a beautiful vessel sink, they are available in glass, stone or porcelain, and are absolutely beautiful!!  Then, we need a vessel sink faucet to complement the sink.  The vessel sink faucets are very unique in style from the standard faucet that we are all used to.  We can get an oil rubbed bronze or brushed nickel finish.  They really do look great and I can’t wait until we get the bathroom finished.  We may even get a custom made copper bathtub to complete the look.  I am so excited.

So, I suggested that we start searching the Internet for ways to get a loan.   We came across a website that talked about getting easy payday loans.   We did a little reading and researched the site.  They specialize in cash advances, installment loans and title loans.  Most of the time you can get your cash the very same day, which is what she needed to do.

After she filled out the short application form, she found a store not too far from her, in Wisconsin, so it would  be convenient for her as well.  She got her money that same afternoon and was on her way to Texas.  I am happy to say that her aunt has recovered and is doing well.

While we were having our weekly “date”, her telephone rang.  After checking her caller ID, she did not pick up the phone, and let it go to the answering machine.  Whoever it was, did not leave a message.  After about an hour, her phone rang again.  Again, she did not answer.  I asked her why she was not answering the phone and she replied, “It is just a debt collector”.  They  call here at least 5 or six times a day.  I got tired of the calls and just quit answering.  She said that they even call her at work!!!

She then explained that for the past 3 years either she or her husband had been unemployed (which I knew about) and had fallen behind in credit card payments.  They had actually quit paying altogether.  It was a choice of either paying the rent, utilities and putting food on the table, or paying the credit card bills.  She asked me how to stop debt collectors from harassing her all the time.

I told her about a story that I had caught a glimpse of one day on the news, and told her to visit the website.  The story was about unfair debt collection practices.  So, we looked it up together on the Internet and found out that under the law, a debt collector cannot call you repeatedly, call you a inconvenient times or places and several other things that neither she or I were aware of.

He is a very busy person what with a full time job, classes and study time, and needed a place where he could order online and have them shipped directly to him.

I asked around my circle of friends and I directed him to try http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Men/.  I told him that I have another male nurse friend who uses this website all the time and recommended it highly.  He told me that they have inexpensive uniforms as well as any other supplies and accessories you might need.

I am happy to say that he visited the website and is now a satisfied customer.

Well, I had an urgent need to raise some cash and there wasn’t enough in that account without making an additional deposit. I dug out an old money order and all the loose cash I could find to make a deposit, which they took without issue. So I wrote a check against my balance and expected to leave about $50 in the account.

That was two weeks and not a peep from my bank about any issues, but when I logged in to my online account to verify that the check cleared, I was horrified to find a negative balance on the account. Evidently, the bank returned the money order for some reason and has been charging me for overdraft fees for 2 weeks. I have a huge negative balance and am totally freaked out.

I can’t imagine why the money order would be returned and charged back to my account. That makes no sense to me at all. I thought a money order was the same as cash. WTF?

That’s very frustrating – you would think that in today’s world there would be a better system of making places available to take care of your money matters.

One of my favorite fast food place in town is Taco Bell, the food is fast and cheap and they have a drive in window with a decent speaker system that allows you to actually hear and understand what the clerk is saying to you. That is a rarity these days.