Fabulous Financials

I think I’ve been using “summer” and “vacation planning” as an excuse to spend. My credit card statement just closed on the 23rd and I paid the balance in full the next day. However, between the 23rd and today, I’ve managed to charge another $1,800. That’s about 2 weeks.

$1,800 in TWO weeks.

Whoa! None of the charges were for necessities or bills - just stuff. Fun stuff, cute stuff, fabulous stuff, house stuff, like to have stuff, interesting stuff, etc. But all “stuff” nonetheless.

So here’s my plan.

I just made a $1,200 payment, simply to make the balance look normal for this time of the month. Now, I am going to…uh…this is going to be hard, but umm…I gotta do it. *exhale*

Unless I am on vacation (two more trips this month), I will not spend another dime in this place or either of these stores:

photo credit: LLudo

• Bath & Body Works - me luvs the smell good (especially cucumber melon and sweet pea) and the spa scrub for my feetsez. *daydreaming*
• Nordstrom - how can I resist a shoe sale when the friggin store is less than 5 minutes from my house? It’s a set up!
• Macy’s - went in for a few spring/summer suits, but the lined suits were 60% off.
• Target - make a list, go in for 5 things and come out with 30. *sigh*
• Ross - see, what had happened was…

Shoot, I won’t even try to explain. These are my favorite stores and I can’t deny it. But you know what? I am banning myself for the month of July! Even while I’m on vacation, my entire “shopping” limit is $100 $200 $300 for each trip the rest of this month. The thought is funny to me too. Ha!

Do you think I can do it? If I can’t, I’m going to give away a $50 gift card to one of the stores.

My crime vacation partners read my blog, so I’m gonna need both of you to keep me focused. M’kay? I can’t afford to give away money, especially when I’m banned from spending. And I sure as hell don’t want to someone else shopping in one of MY favorite stores on MY dime!

I feel the pain already. LOL

UPDATE: As of 8:00pm on 13 May (Tuesday), Ms. Paula hasn’t contacted me to claim her prize. If I haven’t heard from her by tomorrow, I’ll use random.com to select another winner on Thursday morning.

Last week, I posted a review of the Norton 360 All-In-One PC Security software and held a contest to give away a one year subscription. There were a total of 60 valid comments - the comments in this post didn’t count. Then I used random.org to select a winner.

No. 35: Paula who left the comment:

2 kids + 6 of my kids friends + 2 parents (the grandparents who babysit) who click on all neon flashing ads cuz it tells them to + single mother who works too many hours and isn’t available to say ‘don’t click on that’….’stop!’ = unsafe and scary computer situation. right now i’m using the free norton thing, that lasts a month. it’s a brand new computer. my first in the house. my free month is up in days. no clue what to do at that point. would love to win.

Congrats Paula! Please contact me to arrange shipping.

Thanks to everyone who participated!!

Would you like to win a one year version of the Norton 360 All-In-One PC security software from symantec? If so, don’t forget to comment on this post!

Entries will be accepted through midnight Sunday and I’ll use the random number generator to select a winner on Monday.

One entry per person and US only, please.

*raising my hand* My name is Single Ma and I’m an internet junkie. LOL!

My laptop and I are best friends. She’s the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I see when I go to bed at night. I aint lying!

I use my laptop to look up the weather before deciding what to wear.

I use my laptop to track my ‘things to do’ on Google calendar.

I use my laptop to write blog posts and read your fabulous blogs.

I use my laptop for ALL of my banking needs.

I have 8 credit cards and I peak at all of their balances everyday using the Yodlee aggregator.

I login to my personal checking account at least 2x per day and my business checking once per day, peak at my saving(s) and investment balances at least once per week, confirm my 401k and Roth contributions bi-weekly, gather all financials for a net worth update at least once per month, pay bills, shop, and make manual transfers as the need arise.

I do all of these things (and more) using my laptop, which by the way, is connected to the internet 24 hours per day. My entire life would be a big free for all if I didn’t take the proper precautions to protect my computer from malicious online activity. So when I was asked to accept a courtesy copy and review the Norton 360 PC security software from symantec, I jumped at the opportunity.

Norton 360 All-In-One Security v2.0 provides a year of automated protection for up to 3 PCs and includes the following features:

• PC Security - such as antivirus, antispyware, antiphising and scans your pc for the latest threats
• PC Tuneup - automatically tune up your pc in the background
• Automatic Backup and Restore - protects your files from loss or damage
• Identity Protection - secured for online shopping and banking with features like ‘identity safe’ to manage your online identity and transaction data and ‘eavesdrop protection’ to block suspicious programs that present a threat to your identity
• Online Protection - such as firewall protection, network protection, and advanced browser protection

It took me about 15 minutes to complete the installation and setup. Afterwards, I was able to create a Norton account. So if I ever lose my product key or want to download the latest software updates, I can login with my email/password and it will recognize my usage history.

After everything was setup, this is (sorta) what the main screen looks like…

It’s a status of all the primary features: PC Security, Identity Protection, Backup, and PC Tuneup. It’s a pretty simple report. Green means everything is protected and good to go. Yellow is a warning for your attention. The software will provide an explanation with a link if you want to take action. As you can see, I need to configure my backup files. And finally, red means there’s a threat with specific instructions for immediate action. Can’t get any easier than that.

There are also links across the top for tasks, settings, my account, product feedback, and help/support. Self explanatory. But the small ‘my network’ link in the bottom left hand corner helps you configure your wireless network. It will tell you if your network is secure, and if not, how many other computers are connected to it AND the IP address for each computer. Don’t ask me how I know. Learn something new everyday. LOL!

It also allows you to monitor the status of your network remotely. And the best thing about the network feature is that you can protect your computer from threats even when you’re on an unsecured public wireless network - you know, like Starbucks, a hotel lobby, or a bootleg connection from your neighbor. LOL! All you have to do is select the ‘trust control’ function to restrict the questionable computers OR restrict the entire network. One click and you’re done.

Either I’m a serious novice or I’m easily fascinated by the smallest things. Somehow, I think it might be both. LOL Good thing I have another 300+ days to play around with it.

Now I’m curious. What are YOU using for PC protection?

If you’re interested in Norton 360, leave a comment (one time please) and I’ll select ONE person (US only) to receive the extra copy pictured above.

ETA: Sorry, I forgot to tell you all. Norton 360 only works on PCs. I’m not sure when the MAC version will be available.

Also, I’ll leave the comments open through midnight on Sunday and use the random number generator to select a winner on Monday.

Single Guy Money is celebrating a major milestone on his blog. 50,000 visitors!! Whoo-hooo!

To show appreciation for his readers, he’s decided to give away a FREE gas card, valued at $50! Way more useful than a personal finance book. Ha! Since I’m not as generous, how about you go on over to see what it takes to win. And tell him Single Ma sent ya.

Congrats Single Guy and good luck to all of his contest participants!