Refreshing Personal Finance

mint.com is seriously amazing. I'm a very visual person, so being able to not just plan my budget out every month, but see it has been not only helpful, but actually fun! I tried quicken and some other finance software, but they're just not pretty. I like things to be well designed. 

Since this is the first month I've ever done a budget, I've been doing a little more tinkering than normal. I began the month by estimating how much money I spent on gas, and other bills that aren't always fixed. So, I've been adding and subtracting here and there, but I think it's nearly perfect. 

The trend graphs have been both nauseating and wonderful… seeing the  $1300 dollars I'd spend per month on eating out was enough to make me change my ways! Sickening. My graph for this month is much more frugal… my biggest outlay has been for my car, then food, then bills, etc. Every slice of the pie is a necessary expense, and that's a huge deal for me. My only luxury? I pay to have somebody clean my apartment twice a month. Yes, I'm capable of cleaning it myself, but that doesn't mean I will. It's totally worth it to hire out and I make no apologies for it. 

My Financial Goals

Emergency Fund Goal: $10,000

It's a slightly daunting number… considering my current e-fund balance is $245. But you've gotta start somewhere, so I've decided that by January my goal is to have $1000. And I'll go up from there. 

I have a few other ING savings accounts for a Car Fund, Down Payment Fund, Annual Bills (for those pesky parking permits, AAA membership fees, registration renewal, etc… I have divided those costs by 12 and deposit that amount monthly). I have plans to open additional accounts (medical, gifts, mad money / purchases such as a new fridge), etc, but I'm going to hold off on those until I have a good amount in the e-fund. 

Credit Card  

I went slightly retail nuts with my credit card after I got my new job last year. Very irresponsible, no matter how cute my shoe collection is! My highest balance was about $3000. I put all of my Christmas bonus money toward it last year (which seriously sucked!) and i am finally down to $105. It's going to be completely paid off in two weeks! I will say this though: my current credit score is 785, which isn't too shabby. I hope to get it up to 800, but this really isn't a major concern for me. 

Car

I bought a new car in 07. It was the right decision for me and I don't regret it. I intend to snowball all my credit card payments into my car payments and have it paid off in two years, instead of five. 

Student Loan

I'm very lucky that a generous family member paid off 100k in student loans recently. I have an additional $10,000 loan I'm paying for myself. After my car is paid off, I'm snowballing those payments into the loan and my intention is to be debt free by thirty!

Curb ALL unnecessary spending

I'm a slave to designer brands, and I love to shop way too much. I have not been shopping for anything other than groceries since the beginning of September. I'm focusing on saving. Perhaps in a few months I'll allow myself some mad money once in a while, but for now, I have to run a very tight financial ship. Besides, I have enough Lacoste shirts to open my own boutique. 

Budget, Use Cash and Balance my Checkbook

Who knew? A bounced car payment check taught me that balancing my checkbook? Probably not a bad idea. I wrote a check that got credited to my account, but not cashed for three months. It totally caught me off guard, and it shouldn't have. I have created a very detailed spreadsheet and keep track of every cent coming in and going out. It's quite liberating! And much more accurate than checking my online balance every so often. Since I'm very careless with my debit card usage, I only use it to buy gas. I use cash for my food / fun money… $400 a month. If I spend it all week one? Too bad. I can't get more money no matter what. And you know what? I'm soo careful about spending it, because parting with actual cash? Hurts. 

Investments

I only became eligible for my company's 410k / profit sharing plan a few weeks ago. I am putting in $100 a month at the moment. It's a paltry number, but I want to throw as much money as I can at my debt / e-fund. I'll increase the contributions hopefully in the spring (and hopefully the economic landscape will have improved). I have a Roth IRA which I just opened last week. It's just an ING one now… I intend to roll it into a Fidelity or Vanguard account as soon as I've saved up enough for the minimum. 

Welcome!

It turns out, that there's truth to the advice that you balance your checkbook, live under your means and save for a rainy day. Follow my progress as I go from big spender, to big saver. 

The basics: I'm a 20-something living in Los Angeles with my long term boyfriend (bf). I make a good salary (solid middle class), so living paycheck to paycheck to fund my tendency to eat out for every meal, spend all my money at Lacoste and buy needless junk that I could easily live without was just plain stupid! I've since reformed and am slowly climbing my way out of debt and building a nest egg. 

I've started this blog as a way to stay accountable, and keep track of my progress.