Gee Whiz

Boyfriend casually mentioned last week that he would need some new jeans soon, as the fabric was beginning to wear pretty thin in the crotch. Since my jeans are ALL like that, and have been for months and months, I figured he would be fine, for a few weeks at least. Plus, he has a couple other pair of jeans he can wear even though he doesn't love them. And another pair that he could wear if needed (although they're really only for dressing up with a blazer or collared shirt). And since he didn't seem too concerned about it, I figured it wasn't a huge deal.

Until I was sorting the laundry yesterday and found a HUGE GAPING HOLE in the crotch! I mean, this thing was like 2 inches across! So I asked him why he didn't tell me he needed new jeans. He simply shrugged and said it wasn't a huge deal. Um, until he bends over and moons everyone when his pants split! Not okay. Yes, we're totally broke, but I can't have my boyfriend walking around like a hobo! Looks like we'll be hitting up the Lucky Brand store today…

He cracks me up.

Oy Vey

I had yet another dental appointment today, which caused my mouth to be in SO much pain, I wanted vicodin. It was awful! Luckily warm salt water rinses have calmed my mouth to a much more tolerable level of pain. Ugh! This whole process have been truly awful.

Boyfriends birthday went off wonderfully, and he LOVED his cake! It was my first time making ice cream cake, and I was worried that I wouldn't have enough time for it to properly freeze, but I did and it was really really excellent. We ended up going out to dinner, but a couple friends went with us and we split the bill, so it ended up being super cheap.

And some great news? Boyfriend won a contest at work, and he has gotten… a FREEEEE copy of CS5!!!! I'm STOKED to say the least. He basically got 2,000 dollars worth of amazing software (which I use on a daily basis at work, and at home) for FREE! I can't wait until it's installed and I can start playing with it! CS4 was pretty awesome, but I've heard CS5 is absolutely stellar. And you simply cannot beat free!

Gourmet Birthday

In honor of boyfriends birthday, I always make him a cake, or dessert, or whatever he wants. The one year I didn't, was when I had just moved to LA like 3 days prior to his birthday, and I had no kitchen. But the cake I bought him is still revered to this day for its awesome decoration :-)

So, he FINALLY tells me what he wants; a coffee ice cream cake. Sounds easy enough. He mentioned that maybe I should just buy it, but I was totally determined to make it. It totally makes a birthday more special. I looked around at a few places for a pre made cake just for kicks, but could only find chocolate and vanilla. Apparently you have to have coffee cakes custom made! A week in advance! With no time for that, I set out to make my own.

And the ingredients cost… 50 dollars. Oh my. Maybe it would have been cheaper to order one :-) I ended up buying a large container of whipping cream, confectioners sugar, chocolate covered espresso beans, two packages of chocolate cream oreos for the crust, candles, white icing pen, pure vanilla extract (imitation extract tastes… bad), a large chocolate bar, a potato peeler for making chocolate curls and two cartons of ice cream (and I could have gotten away with just one. OH well.). I already had butter and unsweetened cocoa powder.

However, my homemade cake (I made 6 cupcakes… yes, ice cream CUPCAKES! and a loaf pan sized cake) is ten times more fabulous. And so, it was worth every penny. All 5,000 of them. So it was money well spent.

Now I just have to figure out if were going out for dinner, or if I'm headed back to the grocery store to buy more ingredients :-)

It's all bill payin'

While I do so love being an adult, I can't help but hate the responsibility! My entire paycheck from yesterday is gone, with the exception of 50 dollars. Sigh. In fact, my entire next paycheck is spent as well.

After next month though, I will have paid off my car insurance (which was all paid in full, until my move caused the premium to rise!) until February and my credit card (my gas card was paid off today). Today I paid my car registration, gas bill, cable and internet, rent (wrote the check and have the money set aside, but won't actually drop it off til the first), car insurance and shell card. Oiy.

I got my oil changed today (used a coupon, so the oil change was free, but had to pay 40 dollars for them to rotate my tires. Say what!?). I exclusively visit the dealership though. I simply do not trust my most valuable asset to a cheap mechanic, or jiffy lube type place. They informed me that next time I go (late this fall), I have to get new tires (all 4), and have my fuel injection pump cleaned, or flushed or something. I have that written down somewhere. And have my air conditioning filter replaced. All for the low low price of 600 dollars. Joy. I guess it's time to start a car maintenance fund, since my car is 3 years old in July. Only I definitely don't have money to do that. I'll figure something out. Sigh.

Remember when your parents paid your medical bills, bought your food and clothes, paid for your transportation, and all those other bills? Yeah, I had no idea what I was missing out on. If I ever decide to have kids (which I really don't think I will), I hope the stork drops off a lot of cash. I wish parents were a little more upfront with kids about personal finance. They don't need to know income, or anything. But I think it would have been good for me to know how much it cost me to go to the doctor and such. I was so naieve to think that the copay was the only thing they ever paid for!

eking by

I just did my budget for July, and let's just say that I'm SO thankful that it's a 3 paycheck month! I'm exactly on budget for all of my regular expenses, my new dental bill (which still makes me angry every time I think about it!), my car registration, paying my credit card off in full (before any finance charges have accrued, thank you!) and then I'm out. No savings this month :-( I was really looking forward to putting that extra check right in savings. Then I was going to put it against my dental bill. Now, I'm just happy that I can pay everything I need to! And I would be in trouble without the extra check. Sadly, I have to pay only the minimum on the dental bill in July. However, I'm working with my budgets after that to get it at least doubled. That thing is seriously the bane of my existence at the moment. I also have to figure out when I'm going to go back east for the rest of the work, and how exactly I'm going to pay for it. I really hope I can find uber cheap plane tickets… easier said, than done.

I'm paying all my bills that are due before July (or in the first week) this weekend, with todays paycheck. Then I'm putting my credit cards in a drawer, and far away from my wallet! I find that I need to do this every six months or so. But it works. In terms of spending on things like food, I'm quite hopeful that I can just use cash. I know I will be a little bit more limited in terms of buying lots of food at once, or just a few things here and there, but it will work out, because I can't afford for it NOT to.

traffic ticket nonsense

So, I took advantage of the slow day at work today to scoot down to the courthouse and take care of my traffic ticket. I think it's completely ridiculous that I didn't just get a warning… it was for turning left at 6pm in a "no turning from 4-7pm" zone, where the sign was not obvious, as I did not see it. And not for my lack of paying attention. Plus, I had just moved to the neighborhood, and it was honestly the first time in my life I'd ever even driven on that street! Whatever.

So I head down (to downtown LA, which I have always hated quite a lot) to the courthouse. And I proceed to pay 7 dollars to park (rip off!) and wait in a 3.5 hour long line. Full of degenerates. Seriously, I stuck out like a sore thumb with my Lacoste polo and Louis Vuitton purse, carrying my iPad for entertainment! I think I was one of the only people there without a neck tattoo!

Anyway, after that ridiculous wait, I finally get up to the window. My options: Pay to go to traffic school (212 dollar ticket, plus 200 something for traffic school; depending on where I go, and 65 dollars to get the proof of completion certificate. Really? I mean, come on! My other option was to contest it, so I set a court date and I have to go back through the whole rigamarole again in 6 months. At least I don't have to PAY for 6 months! And of course I'm really hoping I can get out of the entire ordeal without any points on my license. I have a totally clean record – I've never gotten more than a parking ticket since I was first licensed at 16. Here's hoping. The other nice thing is that my court date is a couple weeks after my insurance is due, so if I end up guilty, I think I can get out of a rate raise for a bit? Not clear on this, though. Ugh!

An Update on the WORST MONTH EVER

Here's why:

1. I was sick with the flu on my birthday. If there's a day to be sick, it most certainly isn't your birthday.

2. I've got an 8,000 dollar dental bill. And yes, I wish I was kidding. I'm PISSED. And I have nobody to blame but myself. I mean, holy hell. That is a lot of money.

3. I've got to buy a plane ticket back east for sometime in the next couple of months. To get the rest of my dental work done. For free. But at this point, what the hell is the difference? And how am I going to afford a plane ticket? No idea.

4. EIGHT GRAND! I've had a perma panic attack, sick feeling since last week. I have NO idea how this is going to work. Until boyfriend lands a better paying job (he's had 4 interviews this week, so far!), it's going to be even more awful than usual. Hopefully he'll get something soon… because I'm pretty sure that paying this debt off will become more important than eating for me. I did a payoff calculator, and let's just say, I'm not pleased. No new iphone, no vacations (no Korea or Japan :-( ), no FUN AT ALL, EVER. I truly do not have the money to make the minimum payments (without eating rice at every meal). I mean, it's going to be really awful for a while. I am so mad at myself. When he lands something better, it can be paid off in about 10 months. So hopefully sooner rather than later, because these people are charging me interest.

5. I have a traffic infraction ticket I have to deal with. For making an illegal left hand turn on one of those "no turns between 4-7pm" things. I'm not happy. I honestly did NOT see the sign. And it was in all honesty, the first time I'd ever taken that turn, or street, EVER. We had just moved. It was a completely honest mistake. And now I get to take a day off of work to go downtown (I HATE HATE HATE downtown LA) and get it taken care of. And I'll probably have to pay a couple hundred dollars which I do NOT have. It's such a huge hassle for something SO stupid.

6. I have to pay my car registration fee this month. 300 dollars. And my credit card needs to be paid off. 900 dollars (okay, a lot of it is bills and budgeted expenses that I put on there as a regular monthly thing, until I get paid and can pay it off). But still. It's a good thing July is an extra paycheck month. Cause it's already spent. By a lot.

7. Boyfriends birthday is this month. And I want to cry. His birthday present to me? (Which I totally do not deserve), a shiny new ipad. And it's amazing. And I feel totally guilty, because with my new debt? His birthday is going to be a little sad. :-( And that breaks my heart.

8. Our office is still not even slightly unpacked. And it stresses me out to the nth degree. I cannot function. And it gives me major anxiety every time I look at it. I think I'm just going to have to DO it.

9. I've been on a soft food diet for more than a week now, with one more week to go. It's really awful. For a few days I had no appetite whatsoever, because I was so upset about how much it was costing. Now, I'm hungry. I tried to eat a bite of a cracker today, and it was an awful experience. So I had a milkshake for dinner. Not good for my cholesterol, by any means. My jaw is absolutely in pain (although it does come and go), and it's just been a not fun experience. And I constantly have people nagging me to gain weight. I've lost 8 pounds (2 of which have come back in the last couple of days), which puts me at less than 100 pounds. I know it's not enough. But I HATE when people nag me to gain weight. It seriously aggravates me. It's not like I can put it all back on in one day.

Whining complete. I desperately hope July is a happy month. From here, I'm going to pick up and move on. Yes, I'm financially screwed… but I'll make it, just like I always have.

&$*#(%@&@&$

Here's a tip. GO TO THE DENTIST EVERY SIX MONTHS. If you don't, it will surely cost you the price of a used car. Not joking.

It's not been a good day.

Shopping

I ended up going to the outlets yesterday. Yes, I'm judging me too. But I got some really great things that I LOVE and definitely needed.

• New pair of 7 for all mankind jeans (which were marked down to 50 dollars. which is quite unheard of.). I still need to get them altered though, because I'm really short. I'm super excited, because my jeans are absolutely horrid. I'm a brand loyalist to 7FAM, because they fit amazingly well and look great, but I will say that they show wear more than any other brand I've worn. In all fairness though, I've had all my jeans for 5+ years.

• JCrew Cardigan

• Strapless, flowy, summery top from JCrew (perfect for dressing up for date nights!)

• Taupe colored cardigan from 7 for all mankind. This was my favorite purchase… I adore the sweater. But the best part was that it was a 225 dollar sweater. On sale for 198. Which was then marked down an additional 50% for that day only. And the guy at the register took a liking to me and gave me an extra 50% off that. So I paid only 50 dollars for it. A STEAL.

• Cute JCrew t shirt

• Lacoste zip up hoodie (perfect for evening walks around outside when it gets chilly)

So I didn't end up finding dressy flip flop (think, JCrew thongs) or plain tshirts that worked for me, but all in all, it was a successful trip.

New Week

I just sat down and updated my checking register, paid the bills which I've received thus far this month, and planned out when I can pay off my credit card. It looks like I can have it completely paid off this month, but things will be tight, so depending on what comes up, I may pay it off the first week of July. Note that there will be no finance charges, because I've paid my statement balance in full, but the actual balance is higher. Thank god it's not as bad as I thought! I transferred half of our rent for July to my savings (I save half of the rent from each paycheck to break it up), so that's set. Phew. Sadly, my cell phone bill was 21 dollars higher than normal because I went WAY over my 200 text messages. I have no idea how that even happened, as it's the first time I've done that. I'll have to watch it this month :-/

Today I have to make two returns (small, but it'll net me about 35 bucks!) for things we bought for our new place that we ended up not needing. Score. I'm considering going to the outlets to spend some of my birthday money on new clothes today also. Okay, I know this is STUPID, and I know I can't afford it. But I seriously have HOLES in all but two pairs of jeans. I mean, they are worn through, and just look junky. I haven't bought new clothes (aside from two cardigans and a couple layering tank tops) in seriously more than two years. I'm not sure if I'll actually go though, because I'm totally broke. We'll see.

I also have to hit up the grocery store today or tomorrow. My menu planning will probably be put on hold until tomorrow. Boyfriend is starting the PX90 system, and we need to do menu planning based on this. Since he's working all day, we need to work it out tonight. Sadly, I got my cholesterol checked a couple weeks ago, and although my levels are normal, by total cholesterol is 15 points higher than it should be. Which is not good. So, my meals will be based around lots of whole grains, fruits and veggies. I've been using thedailyplate.com (seriously an amazing site) to keep my numbers in check. I'm starving all the time from lack of calories, but my maximum intake of sodium and fat for the day doesn't warrant my eating much more than fruit and veggies! Which ups my sugar intake by far too much for my desire, and does not even come close to filling me up. I've actually lost about 5 pounds, which is a lot for somebody who was already underweight to begin with… so I have to find foods that fill me up. And of course I hate meat and fish, so my protein is coming from things with a lot of fat, like avocados and nuts, which I really have to cut back on. Hopefully I can find a system that works for me soon!

Much to Discuss

There has been SO much going on lately, and blogging has taken a very low spot on the priority list. Now that I have a few free minutes, I thought I'd catch everybody up!

Life has been crazy busy in the very best way since we moved. I no longer feel like a stranger in my own home. This is our home. NOBODY else. And it's brought my stress level down immensely. No more roommate crap that I hate. Amazing. Since we moved so much closer to all of our friends, we're finding ourselves quite busy! As we were pretty far removed from everybody for the past two years we mostly just came home, hung out a little, dealt with roommate bullshit and went to bed. We really didn't have much fun. Now, we're seeing friends constantly, and we're seeing each other more too. A LOT more. And it's nothing short of perfect. I could not be happier! Despite the fact that having friends close by means spending more money. But we're going to keep it in check in June.

I managed to come down with a stomach bug (or food poisoning?) last weekend (which by the way, ruined my long weekend) and I got SO dehydrated that I'm surprised I didn't end up in the hospital. Dead serious. I'm not even back to normal yet, but I'd say I'm at 95%. Just a pesky headache from dehydration that will not go away no matter how much water I chug. So that's taken the wind out of my sails.

Financially speaking, things are interesting. I kept NO record of anything in May. Yes, stupid, but honestly, I'd probably rather not know where my money went. This month is the beginning of being obsessive about money once again. It's definitely tight with paying rent. But we have enough, plus a little extra and as long as I'm very diligent, things will be fine. Sadly, I have my car registration payment next month, but it's ALSO an extra paycheck month. My credit card bill is pretty high (like 800 dollars, EEK!!!), but that will be paid off next month at the latest. I hate that I let it get so out of control. It nauseates me quite a bit, actually.

In other news, I had a family member ask me to borrow quite a large sum of money yesterday. I'm still wrapping my head around the situation. I immediately felt sick when I read the email. It's a person who I would give the money to, if I had it. But I don't. I really don't. And I'm feeling a lot of humiliation because I don't. And this person thinks that I do. And really, I SHOULD since I've been living rent free (close to it anyway) for two years. And I would if I didn't pay my car off. Part of me still really regrets paying it off. Is that messed up? So… now I get the joyous task of writing back a "no" email, and dealing with the humiliation that comes with that. Ugh.