Learning to Save

TGIF

2011-09-02T17:13:00.001-07:00

Fall, that is. September is my favorite month. It brings new beginnings, fall and prospects. This year, it's bringing the end of my summer of anxiety and hopelessness regarding money. It's been unfun, to put it lightly.

Long story short? Unexpected medical bills and unavoidable expenses are now sitting on my credit card. Yes, I have the money to pay it off in full from savings, no I don't want to actually remove money from savings. Especially when it was so hard to get it in there in the first place (a max. of 25 a month from regular income is not a lot). The money isn't due for another couple of weeks, so I'm still on the fence about it, but I'm thinking I won't. Shame! Any way you swing it, 600 dollars is a lot of money to pull from savings. I don't think I'll be able to do it.

But there is hope. Which is why I love September. BF recently got a part time (or full time, if he wants… he basically takes as many jobs as he wants) gig doing something that's great for him. He can still write (he can even write AT work, something his boss told him he was allowed to do), and make pretty decent money all while making his own hours. Meaning, if there's work he can do it, or not depending on if he has a meeting or something. Now, he hasn't actually started yet (he does a day or two of training next week), but we're holding out hope that he'll be able to bring in 1-2k per month. Folks, that's HUGE since we've been living off my income alone for… over 4 years now. We've drawn up a budget based on him bringing in 1k. We can have our debts paid in full by the end of this year. By January, we could be debt free (er, except my teeny student loan).

So we've made a plan. We're going to bring our current e-fund up to 5k. That's only 500ish dollars. Then we're going to put every extra cent towards debt. We're shooting for December. If he can bring in more money, we could be debt free a lot sooner. I'm ecstatic.

After that, we're going to bring our e-fund up to 15k. It'll be a huge relief. I spent much of August in a panic. Like, anxiety in the pit of my stomach, spending each moment of the day worrying and feeling sick. It was the least fun month ever. Hopefully those days are soon behind me.

Yes, this job could fall thru. It could be slow, and he'll make only a few hundred a month (still a little better than nothing, right?). But we have hope that it'll turn out for the best. I really hope this is the beginning of good things for us. We've decided not to get married until we're 100% debt free… AND flush with savings. And with the ability to pay for our (small) wedding, (big) honeymoon and expensive diamond (selfish? whatever). It could take years, but we'll be better off. I'm so sick of dealing with the stresses of not having any money.

So much so, that we're also canceling cable and netflix (gasp!), downgrading our internet (admittedly, I think this will frustrate me more than it's worth, so we'll see… we have the fastest internet available and it's still slow), and bf found a new health insurance plan that's 50 dollars cheaper. This will all help. We've considered moving to a cheaper apartment, but don't yet feel like it will be worth it. Obviously we can revisit this is we really need to.

Cheers to optimism!

Working towards goals

2011-08-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

For a long time now, I've had future goals. But they run along the lines of we'll do this when we have money. And we'll never have money. Which is completely useless, of course. So no, my paychecks aren't quite big enough for us to save as much as I would LIKE to. I can usually squeeze out 50 bucks a month. Maybe. On a good month. So I suppose you can see how I've gotten this bad attitude, but really. That's no excuse.

So I've started the side hustle. Basically, I can complain as long as I want, but it's not going to change anything [uh, unless I win the lottery. But I can't even afford the ticket. [Boyfriend is still doing freelance, but it's unpredictable and slow at the moment. And he's looking for a full time job]. I've been taking on freelance work. I just finished a 1000 dollar contract. I've been selling stuff on ebay, half.com and craigslist. So far, I've made a few hundred dollars from that over just a couple weeks. And for practically NO effort! And for stuff I've been wanting to just get rid of for a really long time now. I've got another 50 dollars coming my way from craigslist tonight. Sweet! All in all, our emergency fund has grown significantly in the past month or two, and is now at 4500. Which is awesome. Nearly a third of our goal!

So my ambitious goal is to have the thing at 10k by the end of the year. [This of course, assumes that Japan won't happen. If it does, this will have to be revised]. Which will definitely take some effort, since I'm nearly +1k short of anticipated monies.

+ 1500 (freelance work)

+ 1450 (freelance work)

+ 1000 (Christmas bonus)

+ 100 (savings contributions from regular budget)

Which leaves us with 8850. Hopefully, I'll have a lot more sales of my stuff. Which will increase that number quite a bit. I also have that other freelance contract (but I can't count on that, because it may take several months to start… I have to finish the first half of it first, which is what I'm doing now.) This also discounts any freelance monies from BF, since that is so unpredictable.

So I'm going to really hustle. How great would it be to start the new year flush with 10 grand in my pocket? It'll definitely make our 15k+ goal achievable next year. Which takes my stress level down about 15,000 notches.

Summer?

2011-08-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

Odd that summer is basically over. It really hasn't even felt like it began. Partially due to the gloomy weather California has been having. And partially because we haven't had the money to do summer type things, like go on vacations and such.

Speaking of travel. There is just over 1k sitting in our ING travel fund. And I'm not sure what to do with it. My options:

1. Move it to the emergency fund (I'm tempted. Because it would build that up a bit to 1/3 funded (we've upped our ideal number an additional 5k), and get us towards our goal faster.)

2. Japan is on hold. We were going to go visit my dad, who is working there. Only they've sent him stateside to do some training, and his dates to go back to Japan keep getting pushed back. So he'll go (most likely). But he's not sure when. And we may not be able to swing it depending on timing. So although I feel like I should keep it in the travel fund, realistically I'd rather have it elsewhere. Plus, I can always move it back.

3. Pay off the AMEX? Yeah. The one that was supposed to be paid off with freelance money? Never happened. I want to pay it off and be done with it. Boyfriend wants to save the money. We're at a standstill, so the money remains in the travel fund!

So who knows.

But I do have a freelance project. Part A (which I'm working on… and NEED to finish this weekend) will net me about 1500 dollars. Probably won't see that money for a month though. Part B will earn me close to 5 grand. But that will take several months, so I'm not counting on it yet.

I've also gone on a selling stuff binge. Like everything. I'm keeping 4 books (I use my iPad to read, exclusively). Everything else is listed on half.com + ebay (and I've already sold 5 books and a couple DVDs, so hopefully this keeps up. My profits are only like 17 bucks, but that's cool. I really just want to get rid of this stuff I've been hauling from place to place and NEVER TOUCHING. Ugh! I've listed clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry and everything else I can think of that I no longer want or need. Everything that doesn't sell is being sent to Goodwill. I can't wait.

I am excited for fall to get here (as non-existent as my summer was). 1. The "mood". I just love it. 2. Thanksgiving. 3. Christmas! (And my Christmas bonus!). I love fall.

I hate these tips

2011-07-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

There are many tips out there giving ideas on ways to save money. Unfortunately, I do all of these things already. So theoretically, I should have bank. Not the case…

Cook at home often: Daily. All meals. And when we do go out? Subway.

Make your own coffee: Daily. Except for the few times a year when I get a holiday drink at Starbucks or Coffee Bean. Less than $10 a YEAR.

Brown bag lunch at least a few days a week: Try 5 days a week. I simply do not understand how people can afford to eat out every day.

Make a list before going shopping: Duh. I can't remember the last time I didn't. If I'm going in for ONE thing, I write it down.

Go grocery shopping while you are in a hurry: Okay, sometimes I do… but again, that changes nothing, because I have a list!

Watch out for expiration dates on perishable goods: I always check.

Buy in bulk whenever possible: I've been working my way through a ginormous Costo sized box of oatmeal for months.

Buy generic products whenever possible: I do, except for Cheerios, because Joe O's, or any knock off store brand just tastes bad. If Cheerios is my vice, I'm ok with that.

Use grocery store bags to line trash cans: For the small cans in the bathrooms and office, yes. But the ones I get for the kitchen are 3 dollars. And the box lasts more than a year. Seriously.

Pay your bills on time and avoid late fees: I have never, ever, even ONCE paid a bill late. Ever. My credit score isn't high by accident folks.

Be aware of your bank balance and avoid over draft fees: I haven't overdrafted since I began balancing my checking account 4 years ago.

Avoid ATM fees: I do end up paying these crap fees every so often. But only in a situation where there is NO other option. And still, less than $10 a year.

Avoid credit cards with annual fees: Obviously.

Disconnect land line if possible: The last I had a land line was college. And it was free with the room. The idea of having a land line now is laughable.

Instead of buying books, borrow books from the library: I use my ipad. And I only get the free books, except for the ONE book I bought for it. One.

Price check before buying anything expensive: I always check around (if it's a large enough item where this makes sense). For small items, I go where I know it's the cheapest. Eggs are cheapest at Costco. Fruit is cheapest at Ralphs. Cereal and Tea is cheapest at Trader Joes. Etc.

Avoid impulse buying: Please. You have to have money to be able to afford to impulse buy anything. I don't have this problem.

Bottle your own water: Duh.

Avoid the vending machines: I grew out of this habit in college.

Keep your car as long as possible: I hope I can get at least 10 more years out of my PAID OFF(!) car. BF's (PAID OFF) car is 11 years old. And still going strong.

Do regular scheduled maintenance on your vehicles: Without fail.

Avoid buying a new car: There are times where I would agree with this. I personally would not buy a used car, especially if it was my main mode of transportation. I might buy a (slightly) used car if I was to get a second vehicle. But… why would I do that?

Ride your bike or carpool whenever possible: Unfortunately, this is not an option for my commute. I used to.

If you watch a lot of DVDs, get an online DVD store membership: Netflix keeps raising their rates. They're really on thin ice.

If you like watching movies at the theater, go before 6:00 pm: No prob. I'll just quit my job so I can be sure to catch a matinee. Weekend prices are the same, no matter the time of day here.

Regulate your electric use: Always. It drives my poor BF nuts, because the second I (or he) is done with an appliance, I unplug it. I'm nuts like that.

Plan vacations ahead of time: Vacations are luxury I can't afford.

Finally, keep distance from lavish, high-roller friends: None of our friends are high rollers (although they certainly live off their credit cards like they are).

You see why I hate these things? They only help if you HAVE MONEY. Sucks.

Keeping Afloat

2011-07-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

A lot has been happening!

1. I'm still on the exercise, eating healthy kick. At this point, I think it's safe to say it's my new lifestyle :-) I never understood the "runners high" until now. I've been running for a couple of months, and I'm loving it! Although I upped my mileage too quickly and my knee has been giving me issues, it's fabulous. I was up to 7 miles, but I've backed down to 4 running and a mile or two walking if I have time. I'm hoping to build back up and complete a half marathon by my birthday next spring! I honestly feel awful if I don't work out now, and it's really made me feel healthy and like I'm living life as opposed to just trudging through it. What a wonderful difference!

2. We have some summer houseguests. I'm not jumping for joy at this one, because well… we all know how much I hate having to deal with roommates. But so far it's working out well. And it feels great to help out friends who decided to pack up their life on the east coast and make a move to the west. They'll be here for 1 or 2 months (which is their firm out date). It's been fun having them here… but it has come at a cost. Boyfriend and I are homebodies, and don't spend a lot of money going out (mainly because we're broke). But we've been spending a little more on restaurants, etc. this week. And we need to stop! We just can't afford it.

3. We're (most likely) going to Japan later this summer/early this fall. It would be a cheap(ish) trip… my flight will be a gift, and boyfriends will be about 1,000. Which is pretty cheap, considering our plans for South Korea didn't happen due to flights being 2-3 times that amount. Most of our lodging would be free. I have an extra paycheck this month, which was going to be put in savings, but is now being put in our travel fund for Japan. No, we can't afford this trip. Yes, we're doing it anyway! The plan is to cover it all with freelance money (I've taken on several projects) and my extra check. We've already paid for our passports out of my extra check (and are awaiting their arrival so we can book our flights! I'm far too risk adverse to book them prior to receiving them). And no, none of this trip will be put on the credit card (which is still carrying a big fat zero balance, thank you!)

4. Financially? Not so much. We're keeping afloat. We have a small emergency fund. We're making it… but that's it. To make it extra fun (note the sarcasm), boyfriends health insurance DOUBLED in price because of the new healthcare laws (bite me, Blue Cross), and due to some lab work I had done (routine stuff, cholesterol, blood glucose, etc), I now owe the hospital 500 dollars. Which makes NO sense to me (the same exact tests a year ago at a different hospital cost less than half of that), but there it is. I worked out a payment plan with them (no interest) in lieu of my having to take it out of savings. But it puts a SERIOUS strain on our already seriously strained budget. I need to have an MRI of my spine to see if they can determine the cause of my continued numbness (which is a whole other issue that has been mostly resolved with exercise, but not cured). I totally can't afford it. I refuse to pay more than 1k OOP (seriously, bite me Blue Cross). Refuse.

So there's that.

Investing in my Self

2011-05-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

I decided a month (or so) ago that I needed to grow up. Meaning, I needed to stop living like a couch potato and eating like a kid! See, I'm lucky. I have inhumanley fast metabolism, and I've never needed to watch what I eat, or exercise (and I'm actually underweight). I know, I'm one of THOSE people who everybody hates. But just because I'm thin, doesn't mean I'm healthy. Or in shape. And since I want to live a very very long time, I figured I should get off my butt. Last year I had my cholesterol levels checked, and although my numbers were all in the normal range, my total number was slightly high. Not a LOT, but obviously something needs to change.

So I went on a sugar detox. I did a similar thing for 2ish months last year, but I figured another go at it would help curb cravings. I was one of those people who HAD to have "junk" on a daily basis. Well, it worked! I successfully ditched the sugar (except natural sugars from fruits, and tiny amounts present in things like milk. What I noticed was a shift in the way I was thinking about food. From "what tastes the best" (usually things loaded with empty calories and not so good things) to "what does my body need". I'm the pickiest eater alive, but I've been eating vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Healthy fats. I only eat cheese once a week, max. I use a food scale (seriously, this is the best invention ever!) to measure my portions. And I track every single thing I put in my mouth on thedailyplate.com. Which is also awesome. And free!

I've even gotten into the green monster smoothie craze. Those things are seriously delicious and SUPER filling. And with 2 cups of packed spinach (which you can't taste a BIT), and fruit, it's seriously good for me.

I've had a mini snickers bar in my pantry for 6 weeks. And I have no desire to eat it. Even though I know it would taste good, I know it wouldn't make me FEEL good. I've seriously had a mind shift here… because I'm not willing to eat what's not good for me… on a regular basis. Obviously if I'm at a wedding I'm going to have a small slice of cake, etc. I intend to eat pretty normally when I go to restaurants (because we seriously go like… never.)

But it's not all about the diet. I needed to get moving! I was a complete couch potato. Pathetic, but true. So I got a 10 dollar pedometer, which has become my personal trainer. I MUST hit at least 10k steps a day. Which is completely impossible unless I exercise for an hour a day (for me, this translates to 30 minutes on the elliptical every morning, and a casual walk in the evenings). On weekends I go for more intense hikes in the canyons and yoga. The numbers are seriously motivating for me. I've started yoga again (free on the weekends!), and ballet classes (free for now… until my groupon runs out). I've turned a new leaf.

I have a doctors appointment next week, so I'm excited to see my numbers, and work from there to become healthy. I've already noticed a huge difference in the way I feel. Energetic, happy. I'm rarely ever tired anymore. I never feel like crap after eating. I crave things like apples and kale chips (surprisingly delicious!), instead of ice cream and cookies. Even though I didn't do this to lose weight, I've lost about 3 pounds and I'm becoming more and more toned. Always a good thing!

So in personal finance news, I need to buy a new pair of sneakers (mine are shot… I've had them for 6 years!) and figure out how to continue to pay for ballet class once a week. In that vein, I've been taking on some freelance work and selling stuff on ebay to help offset the costs. I feel like my health is finally a priority, and I'm happy.

Woot!

2011-05-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

So the credit card? Paid off! Hats off to the boyfriend who picked up a ton of freelance work :-) Of course, we still have his card to pay off, but we have every reason to believe that it will be done within the month (he's getting a tax refund that will cover it, 90%). Sweet.

This is such a big relief! I'm super upset that we even had a balance on these cards in the first place. It was supposed to be gone by January. That was very, very wrong. But now we can focus on the other one (which has less than 1k balance and should be pretty easy to wipe out quickly). And don't worry. I put the card away. As in not in my wallet. And I know I've done that before, but this time, I mean it. I will seriously freeze it in ice if I need to!

And our emergency fund has 2500 in it now. A very low number (not even a months worth of expenses!), but a number I'm more comfortable with than the mere 1k we DID have in there just last week. Things are looking up.

And if all goes according to plan (which it never does, but here's hoping), we'll have 9-10k in there by very early next year. And that's all on MY salary. Every single cent the boyfriend pulls in goes to that, so hopefully that number will at LEAST double :-D Our goal is to have 50k in emergency savings. Obviously that will take some time, but it's nice to have something to work towards. And of course, there's other stuff we want to save towards. Our wedding (hopefully cheap!) (and my engagement ring… which is going to cost a lot. I like big diamonds!). And a house. Boyfriends mom has a sizeable gift for our future condo. And she's even told us she wants to start looking for places with us this year. Not that I feel comfortable doing so for at least a few years. But it's nice to think about!

A Resurgence?

2011-04-03T23:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't been very… dedicated to my finances lately. While yes, I've been dutifully paying bills, balancing my checkbook, logging into mint.com every so often… I've sort of gotten to the point of "what's the point?". Meaning… I'll "never" get my debt paid off, or accrue savings, etc., so why do I even bother caring?

That is a very dangerous attitude. And after spending a bit of time this evening making a PLAN, I'm reinvigorated. I hope.

BF and I had been putting 30% of his freelance income away for the horrible job he had last fall. And it's been sitting in our ING account ever since. But it turns out that they decided not to claim him, and will not be issuing a 1099 (which was confirmed with a query to the office). While we're waiting to hear back from his accountant (an expense his mom covers) to see what, exactly this means, we're sort of (really) hoping it means that we can take that money and pay off ALL of our credit cards by June. What a relief that would be! Hopefully we'll hear back from the accountant this week.

Either way. I've drawn up scenarios and budgets and figured out exactly what's what. And that helps ease my mind slightly. Ever so slightly.

Let's just say, for fun that this money can be used for our cards. That means that I can start saving money again! Our immediate goal is to bump up our savings to cover a months worth of expenses. Yes, it's small peanuts, but it would make me feel better considering the 1k we have now does not even cover a month of rent. Obviously we're playing with fire here. After that it's to bump it to 3 months. Then 6. Then a year. But I expect that it will be easier and more motivating to go month by month. And this will take some time, indeed. But at least I'm sort of getting motivated again. I get so frustrated and depressed and holy cow… stressed when it comes to finances. It sucks, and I'm tired. I sincerely hope that by July things will be better (does that seem like a long ways off).

BF is spending the week completing a first draft of one of the many screenplays he's been working on, which will be wonderful (and we suspect, very marketable, further confirmed by the producer who is already attached). The company he is working for will be sending work over for him this month (which will net a few grand at least). And that's the other thing. Every single cent he makes we've decided to put into the e-fund. So while the checks are few and far between at this early stage, it will be tremendously helpful. And hey, he DID just become a bona fide member of the WGA. Which is a HUGE DEAL. Huge. I have never been prouder. So. We're just waiting for the day when we can look back at all this and laugh at how broke we were. Hopefully all the way to the bank. Wouldn't that be something?

F* that noise

2011-03-05T11:23:00.000-08:00

I've been a loyal turbo tax customer for years. This year? They just lost my business.

They claim to charge $29.95 for federal filing, since I used the "deluxe" version. Which in and of itself, is highway robbery. So when I paid for the FEDERAL ONLY because I can free file my state taxes on the California tax site? I got dinged for over 65 dollars. I'm P*SSED!

You better believe they'll be receiving an earful of a phone call from me. I'm not the only one… there were a TON of other complaints about the exact same crap when I looked into it.

Not okay.

DIY

2011-02-21T18:51:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to make our apartment a home, but I refuse to pay to upgrade a temporary living situation. I'm not going to pay for furniture (more expensive than IKEA or Target). I'm not going to install custom window treatments. I'm not even willing to pay for paint (although I AM getting sick of looking at these ugly "eggshell white" walls). And upgrading the lighting fixtures? No way.

But I don't want to live in an ugly apartment either. So I've taken to DIY-ing a few things that aren't expensive, and that make our place a little sweeter.

Since it's my job to make art all day, it's not exactly difficult for me to create some sweet one of a kind pieces for our home. We already own a TON of art. BF collects rare movie posters (that cost quite an arm and a leg) and he's amassed quite a valuable collection). And although they ARE cool, they're not totally my style. So I've claimed the kitchen as my art zone. With cheapo IKEA frames, I can use my large format home printer and get awesome results for only a few hours work. Score. And I think they look awesome.

We also have big plans for our bed. After finding this amazing headboard from West Elm (uh, 400 dollars amazing), I decided that because it was so simple, there MUST be a way we could DIY. Low and behold, I found the plans online to make the exact same one. And we can totally do it in our apartment. With nothing more than a drill (Lowe's will cut boards to size for pennies). We scoped it out today, and it will cost about 50-60 dollars for the materials. We're totally doing it… after we save the cash. Yes. We're doing it the grown up way. And yes, I absolutely wished I could just go to West Elm and buy it today. But… life just doesn't work that way, does it?

I'm totally excited though! It will be awesome to have a defined bed. And with a few throw pillows, it could be amazing. Yes, I DO wish I had a sewing machine. Although I guess I could hand sew them, but I'm not sure if I have the patience for such an endeavor…

The point is though. You don't HAVE to spend a ton of money to make your place feel a little more grown up.

Looking Up!

2011-02-12T10:43:00.000-08:00

So we're down to one credit card with a balance. It's a relief, but I feel like it will never get paid off. Depressing. What makes it so high is that the traffic ticket I got in May (which I still think is COMPLETE BULL) finally had to be charged. I tried to get out of it, they were assholes, and I had to pay TWICE AS MUCH to do traffic school so the point wouldn't affect my insurance. Again. Bullshit. Anyway, I passed traffic school (thankfully I could do it online), and I'm done. I swear to god, the system is so F-ed up. I was treated like a criminal for making a left hand turn. Where the sign was NOT visible. When it was literally, the first time I'd EVER driven on that street. Ever. Complete crap. Rant over.

But in AMAZING news!? I got a raise!! It was a complete surprise too… my boss randomly called me into the office yesterday and said that they were giving me a raise of 4200/year. And that I deserved way more, but it was all they could afford at the time. Sweeeet! I was told that I was the only one getting one, and that as soon as they could I would be getting at least a 10k raise on top of it!! Of course, I don't expect that to happen for a while, but it was so nice to hear. I'm happy! Sadly I have to wait two weeks to see exactly how much the raise will work out to be in my paychecks with taxes and all. Needless to say, I'm putting every extra cent above and beyond my current check and putting it towards the credit card. No ifs ands, or buts.

And boyfriend has been getting steady work as a freelancer! This is great :-) He's already had several jobs since January, and the promise of many more. By the end of this series of jobs, he'll have made about 5k! Obviously the checks will take a while to roll in, and they come in increments, but it's exciting! We're so close to being able to put those in savings, and it will be awesome. And he's *thisclose* (one job away) to being eligible for the WGA. Which is triple amazing.

I have yet to file my taxes… which I should do this weekend. I'll be getting only about 250 back, which is better than owing I suppose. It's going right to the credit card.

Oh, and I did slip and buy a groupon for an unlimited month of yoga at a super high end studio. It's seriously the best 30 bucks I've ever spent. Unless you think about the fact that now I want to do it EVERY month, which at 80 bucks, is not exactly happening. Suck. Fest.

2010 in Review

2011-01-02T20:35:00.001-08:00

BF and I were out at our traditional NYE dinner and we were recapping the year. I thought I'd write it out here so I wouldn't forget anything.

January

BF and I took a trip to Florida to visit his grandparents and mom (who both have houses down there… we're so lucky that his family has vacation homes in so many places!). It was a low key trip (just a few rounds of golf, and hanging out at the house), but it was really great to hang out with such amazing people! This was the month where we started our sugar free diet that lasted two months. I'm seriously glad we did this, and I think I should probably do it again soon. Oh, and we also went to Disneyland for the first time, which was a blast!

February

This must have been a boring month, because all I can remember is that we had a really great Valentines Day dinner! I also did a freelance project which netted me a little extra cash. The project is still in the works, so hopefully the rest of my money will come in in 2011!

March

I paid off my car!! This was definitely a huge deal for me. We also went to Disneyland with BFs mom and a bunch of friends, which was a lot of fun.

April

My grandmother passed away. We weren't close (I only saw her once a year growing up, and hadn't seen her in probably 8 years since), but it was still very sad. She was a wonderful woman.

May

We moved! I will forever be grateful that we finally ditched the AWFULNESS of roommates, and got our own place. I seriously don't even mind that our rent more than doubled. It was THAT good! Oh, and my bf gifted me an ipad! It's seriously one of the best things ever. And the end of an era… LOST had it's last season. And I am still super pissed at the total cop out of an ending, but the show itself was so amazing that I guess I'll have to move on :-)

June

Getting hit with a 4 figure dental bill… which I am still pissed off about. But I did make a new girlfriend, which was wonderful! It's really hard for me to meet new gal pals, so this was a good thing :-)

July

We took a 10 day trip back to the East Coast! This was probably one of the best trips we've ever taken. Between a trip to NYC, Marthas Vineyard, and several days playing golf and hanging out on Cape Cod, plus a few days hanging out in BFs hometown, it was definitely an amazing vacation!

August

This month is a black hole for me. I have absolutely no clue what happened! I suppose nothing out of the ordinary…

September

We celebrated our 7 year anniversary!

October

My cousin got married… but I didn't go. I guess this must have been a very boring month, because I can't remember much else. Which is embarrassing, since it was so recent.

November

BF and I took a trip to San Diego! While it was a very short one, it was really fun! We had never been to SD together before (but have been separately) so it was fun to experience something new as a couple.

December

Our Christmas trip back East. This was a really fun time, and probably the most memorable was the blizzard! I haven't seen snow in about 3 years, so as much as I abhor the cold, icy, slushy mess that is the East Coast in winter, I REALLY enjoyed it! Mainly because I flew into SoCal a few days later and was greeted by palm trees :-)

Here's to a wonderful 2011!

Starting the New Year off Right!

2010-12-31T14:16:00.001-08:00

So that bonus from work…

I was stoked! We've decided to become as debt free as possible going into the New Year. This will be made possible due to a number of factors. First, here's the lowdown on our debt. I've not posted this before, because it's rather humiliating, but here it is:

700 (on BFs amex)

1400 (on interest free card)

1200 (on Shell card - note that a lot of this is normal Dec. budgeted items, but there were definitely some unbudgeted expenses too)

0.00 on Chase card (yay!)

So. BF got a freelance job over xmas, which paid 700 (or will pay within the next two weeks). And that totally wipes out the AMEX.

The Shell card will be down to about 200 after I use our regular Dec. $ to pay it off, plus some extra which I "borrowed" from my "extra" paycheck. I was originally putting it towards my car insurance. But… I'd rather get the credit cards wiped out. Honestly. I mean, the interest rate for the car insurance is like negligible. And it's not due for another 6-8 weeks anyway. I can pay it off entirely in January.

I'm using 1,000 from my bonus towards the interest free card. Which leaves 400. I can have that paid off by March. The interest doesn't pick up until June/July so that will be gone before that.

I'm uber relieved.

I was thinking of just paying off the entire card with my bonus, but then I decided that we should really enjoy some of it. Particularly, because we haven't had any "fun" money in years. So, with the remaining 500, we hit up the outlets back east! We got two pairs of designer jeans (one for me, one for bf) for 80 bucks TOTAL. I got two cashmere sweaters from JCrew for 100 bucks TOTAL. This is exciting because we got both for less than the cost of one at full price (sweaters and jeans). I got two polar fleece jackets for 17 bucks each. A spaghetti portion measurer for just 4 bucks, and a pastry mat for 14. Good deals! The rest of the money is being saved in our joint account. We have a silent/live auction we're attending in late January, so now we'll have money to bid on a few items. The rest will be saved and we can use it for Valentines day. I think that was a pretty good use of the money. I still need new clothes, but these, plus my Christmas loot will get me pretty far. I'm pleased.

And BF's freelance prospects are looking good. He has a job in a few weeks that we know of, plus this new company he's freelancing for will likely give him lots of things (hopefully!). I'm trying to think positively now that we have a lot of monkey's off our backs. We're nowhere near where I'd like to be, but we're definitely making progress.

Christmas Recap!

2010-12-31T14:01:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas was fantastic! We spent it with BF's family on the East Coast, got a lot of wonderful presents, tons of time with our family and friends and a blizzard to boot!

Here's what I ended up getting (a bit attention whoreish, but I think it's fun to see what other people got!)

- 1,500 Bonus from work! This was totally unexpected, but it's going to save my ass this year. More on that in another post!

- Gift cards galore (pretty generous amounts too: Victorias Secret, Crate and Barrel, Williams Sonoma, Panera, Cheesecake Factory and UGG)

- A new watch/clothes/a necklace/Vera Bradley wallet

- A new crockpot (!), 4 Weight Watcher cookbooks (which are amazing, we've already used them a bunch!)

- A pasta maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer (can't WAIT to use this!) and a ravioli stamp

- The entire book series of Harry Potter (the British Editions!)

- My plane ticket out there (boyfriends mom is uber generous!)

- And I'm probably forgetting a ton of other stuff!

We're still deciding what to get with the WS and CB cards. We really want a Le Cruset dutch oven. But… we'd have to kick in about half to get it, so we're not sure. But it's definitely on our list! Not to mention a waffle maker… so many options! And a ton of stuff that we will probably get at CB including a new bread loaf pan, a new cookie sheet, wire cooling racks, etc. So exciting!

BF and I did stocking stuffers this year, with a 100 limit. Here's what he got me: A snuggie (one of the really nice ones from Brookstone, which is ten times nicer than the original!), a back massager, a pasty rolling/baking mat, a slap chop (but the OXO one), a cake tester, VS gift card, lots of delish chocolates… and I honestly cant' remember what else!

Before I go back to work Monday we want to hit up some stores and make use of our gift cards! We'll be eating at Cheesecake Factory for dinner tonight (our NYE tradition!). It's been a great holiday, despite the lack of sleep, temperature change and all that which led to my coming home with a full blown cold yesterday. Ugh! I'm trying to overload my system on sleep and Emergen-C, although I suspect the NYE festivities tonight will hinder that.

Is this my reality?

2010-12-19T13:23:00.001-08:00

I added up all the monies I want to save in categories this coming year (ie: car insurance, emergency fund, investments, IRAs, etc.) and determined that I in no way shape or form, can meet all of them. Or really, any of them. And it sucks.

When I started this blog, it was because I wanted to get serious about money. One of my very first goals was to save 10k in an emergency fund. I am no closer to that goal today. And it's depressing. Sometimes I think, that maybe I'm never going to be financially sound. Maybe I'll always be treading water. What a terrible thought. I know money doesn't "buy" happiness. But I know for SURE that I would be happier if I had some bank.

Our financials suck. There, I said it. The Shell card will be paid off by the end of the month, but then we've got two to go. BF's Amex, and my 0% card (until July). Total: about 2 grand. Not a horrific number, but not manageable (it seems). And I'm having serious doubts about our ability to pay them off (this coming year). My dental payments are 190 a month. I've been paying 300, quite frankly because it's all I can do to pay THAT. This month, I'm paying the minimum and putting the rest towards the credit card. We were supposed to be debt free next month. Now I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever see the light at the end of the tunnel. My car insurance is due in February. 1400 (ish). I was going to use my "extra" paycheck this month for that. But so far, I've only been able to save 330. The rest, I decided was probably better served on my credit card payments. And the only way I can pay my Shell card off this month? Is on the assumption that I get an xmas bonus this year. Pretty pathetic.

HOW DID I GET HERE?

As you can probably guess, BF's job is no more. :-( He actually quit. It was a very toxic office, and it was seriously detrimental to his health (not only did he put on about 10 pounds, he was more stressed out than I've ever seen him. Picture if you will: The Devil Wears Prada. And then multiply by two. Not joking). I'm glad he did it. He's glad he did it. We discussed it to DEATH and decided that it was the right thing to do. The funny thing is, the person they hired to replace him quit after a week. A WEEK. That just goes to show how crappy the environment there was. But it still sucks, financially. We were able to make some headway, yes. But I do wish that in retrospect, I'd put ALL of that money in savings. It would make me feel much better at the moment.

So, he's actually doing well, and making some headway on a career path that he's passionate about. This time of year, between Thanksgiving and New Years is a slow one for his industry, so he's doing all he can to get work. He's done freelance work here and there. And he's waiting to hear back from a freelance job after the holidays. That's what he ultimately wants to be. A freelance writer. And he can do it, but it scares me. I could NEVER be a freelancer. I rather like knowing where my money is coming from. But I support him in this endeavor, and hopefully it will work out for the best.

But it's still depressing as fuck to look back at where I started, and where I am now, and see that really, nothing has changed.

Budget Vacation

2010-11-30T19:29:00.000-08:00

Boyfriend and I took our VERY FIRST vacation (ALONE that is… unless you count the week in Disney World when he was sick with strep the entire time) last weekend. So we decided it was time.

After Thanksgiving dinner, we drove to San Diego for a few days, and let me just say, it was DIVINE. Now it's obvious that we can't afford even a short trip like this, so I did my darndest to come out as even as possible. Here's the lowdown.

1. I bid on a hotel thru hotwire. Yes, I spent more than I would have if I'd gotten us a room at say, the Holiday Inn, but this hotel was a sweet deal. Right on the water/marina, our room was on one of the top floors WITH an ocean view (spectacular), and the hotel itself was SO gorgeous. It was totally worth spending a bit more. For a weekend at a 4 star hotel, I paid 140 dollars. Not bad.

2. I redeemed my credit card/mypoints rewards. For $80.00 in Shell gift cards. Now our gas tanks will be filled for free thru December, if not January (I'm guessing Jan since we'll be out of town for a couple weeks in December). Sweet. The gas money I'd budgeted for Dec. will be paying off the credit card where we put our meals during the trip.

3. Food. I made us breakfast sandwiches for our trip down which took care of breakfast. We had lunches at Chipotle and cheaper places like that to save. We had a cheap lunch in the gaslamp district during happy hour, and splurged on one nice dinner. The dinner plan was that we were going to use our 80% off restaurant.com gift cert. Of course, the restaurant was closed that night! Uh, should have assumed that much being the weekend after thanksgiving. oh well. I can always get a refund of my $3.00! We splurged on a gourmet hot chocolate from Ghiradelli (that we split), but we had a coupon for a free latte from Borders Cafe as well. We had Starbucks for breakfasts.

So if you subtract the Gas cards from the hotel, it is like our 4 star hotel only cost 60 bucks! You can't even get a room at Motel 6 for that these days, so I'm thinking it was money well spent :-) Yes, we ultimately spent more than if we had stayed home with the food purchases and all that. But still. It was awesome.

It's already November!

2010-11-12T12:37:00.000-08:00

Holy cow! Life has been moving fast. Work has picked up considerably. To the point where I'm busy non-stop and staying late every night. It's SO relieving. As a result, the weeks are moving so fast! I can't believe it's already Friday; it really only feels like Wednesday!

Money wise, things are stressful and have come to a standstill, for reasons I'm not ready to discuss yet. Things are happening, but slowly. And we've had to stop our above and beyond debt payments. Our plan to be debt free by January is not happening anymore, and it sucks. A lot. But I do believe that it's for the right reasons, even though it was a tough decision for us to make. Hopefully though, we can pick up the pace within the next few months. Fingers crossed.

For now, we're enjoying Fall and anticipating Christmas! We'll be traveling back East this year (first time in 2 or 3 I think), and it should be fun. We're hoping to sneak in a visit to NYC while we're there, but more than likely we'll have to do the obligation visit to my family (which I realize makes me sound awful, but my family stresses me out to the MAX) since we skipped out on it last summer. We will be spending Christmas with boyfriends family, which is always a blast (plus, they're buying our tickets as part of our xmas present!). And we'll be home for New Years.

Budget wise, things are ok. I've begun putting all our groceries on my cash back credit card which has been working well, actually. I was anticipating it would get out of control very fast, as it tends to do, but it's been fine. I've been sticking to our budget and all has been fine in paying it off every month.

We've also started weight watchers (well, boyfriend has, I've just been moral support!). This program is amazing, I really cannot say enough good things about it! It's really teaching him about portion control, mindful eating, etc. And the best part is, it's not even a huge change from what we were eating, since I've always cooked us really healthy meals. Now we're just measuring out portions properly, snacking on fruit and veggies instead of cookies, etc. And the meetings are really great! They're super nice and letting me come along with him without my being a member, because I do all of the cooking and shopping and it's nice to be in the know. Plus, boyfriend requested that I come with him :-) And he's been losing weight and is generally healthier and happier! And it makes me feel good to know that I'm cooking us super healthy (and delicious) meals. I've been primarily cooking from the weight watchers recipes, and they are awesome!

And my point was, regarding our food budget, that since I've been planning out a weeks worth of breakfasts, snacks, lunches and dinners at a time, it makes our grocery bill that much cheaper, because I have everything planned out to the letter. It's awesome.

So here's our dinners for next week (I like to get a jump on things!) All the recipes are from WW. We always have salad too (usually spinach, with some veggies on top and light balsamic dressing).

Monday

Leftover Chicken Chili

Tuesday

Chicken vegetable stir fry w/ brown rice

Wednesday

tortellini primavera

Thursday

Veggie Chili baked potatoes

Friday

Leftovers

Saturday

whole wheat spaghetti w/ homemade veggie sauce + steamed veggies

Sunday

Mexican salad (w/ beans, chicken and veggies)

Food

2010-10-10T17:50:00.001-07:00

I'm supremely odd in that I kind of resent that we need to eat food. Yes, there are foods that I LOVE, but for the most part, I just really hate that it costs so much. And I'm SO picky. I'll go weeks wanting nothing but cereal. Literally nothing else will taste good! Yeah, I'm strange. But you see, boyfriend does NOT feel that way, so here's the menu for this week :-)

Monday - Pumpkin Soup and Grilled Cheese, salad

Tuesday - Penne with roasted garlic, broccoli, white cheddar and white wine sauce, bread, salad

Wednesday - Spaghetti, caesar salad, bread

Thursday - Spanish rice, chicken and roasted veggies, caesar salad, bread

Friday - Leftover Pumpkin Soup and Grilled Cheese, salad

Not too inspired, but I'm trying to eat on the cheap this month. Next week will be pretty pasta heavy also I think, although I would like to get in more veggies somewhere. Perhaps thyme roasted carrots and potatoes? Summer sqaush? Corn? Yum.

I think it's finally fall

2010-10-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

I love fall. But I am sad to see the 110+ degree weather go away! I absolutely abhor rain. It always makes me irrationally angry!

Some good things:

- My credit card balance is Zero. :-)

- We have a money PLAN and we're following it to the letter.

Some not so good things

- Our electric bill is 30 dollars more than I had budgeted for. Ugh. I blame my darling boyfriend who can't seem to get enough of the AC! I guess there is ONE good thing about rain… Anyway, now I have to figure out where to take money from in my budget to pay for the stupid thing. I HATE the idea of taking it from savings/debt repayment, but I really don't see anyplace else! Which brings me to one more point:

We. Need. To. Have. Fun. I'll fully admit that my debt repayment mania is making me way too cheap. As in, I literally do not budget anything in to go out for ice cream once a month! I barely budget enough for groceries! Boyfriend and I talked about this last night, and we've decided to give ourselves a little family fun money every month so when he suggests we do A, B, or C, my standard response will no longer be "we can't afford it." I suck. And of course, I'm not talking a LOT of money. But for petes sake, I shouldn't have anxiety over a freakin' In N Out burger being too expensive. So there's that.

So tonight we're going to sit down and rejigger our budget. I think it will be a good thing.

nothing much to report

2010-09-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I was on a message board and somebody had posted that she was denied a savings account because her banking history was sketchy (ok, I don't remember the technical term). Being curious about my own report, I requested a Chex report. I received it yesterday, and it was clean all the way through. Phew! I certainly had no reason to expect otherwise, but I was curious to see, that even though I have not had overdraft fees for two years now, if any would show up. I was sort of awesome at getting them in my past life. Thank god, no!

I had sent my Louis Vuitton bag out for repair two weeks ago. I'd accidentally scraped it on a cement/textured wall three years ago and torn the piping (thank god that was all!). It finally got to the point where the plastic inner piping material wouldn't stay inside the bag, and well. It looked pretty ghetto. And so I sent it out to be repaired. [They told me 8 weeks, but I got it back after only two!!]. 127 dollars. Not something I had the money for exactly, but I'm STOKED to have it fixed. It was well worth it.

Boyfriend and I celebrated our seven year anniversary this week! And we splurged and went out to dinner. And he had flowers delivered to my office. [He's known as the best boyfriend in the office, since I've gotten… no less than 15 bouquets delivered to me in three years. Not joking.] And we're done spending money for now. But it was totally worth it. :-)

Food wise, I've been making something with many servings on Monday, and it lasts us through Wednesday, sometimes Thursday (like quiche, lasagna or chicken pot pie), plus a salad. Then the rest of the week we're doing cheap meals like rice, veggie stir frys, etc. It's cutting my dinner grocery bill down significantly. However, our bill for produce seems to have skyrocketed. Since it's all I eat for lunches, and boyfriend always has an apple, grapes and veggies on his sandwiches, plus we eat fruit for snacks at home now, it's getting costly! At least it's a lot of money of healthy food though. But I do need to be more careful about cost.

We talked at dinner tonight about finances and what we wanted to do with our savings (um, when we HAVE it). It was decided that for three months (after our debts are squared away) we'll put 1,000 in our joint account, and 1,000 in his personal account (which is actually a joint one, but I've designated it as "his"). He spent a great deal of the money that his grandfather had given him on stuff for us, and we want to start rebuilding it, because we know that's what his grandfather would want. After we have about 3k in each, we'll start putting all but 500 towards our joint savings. We figure that by the time we have 10 or 15 grand in there, we'll be able to start maxing out our Roth IRAs. Probably stupid to wait that long, but that's what we plan on doing, for now. But he said something interesting to me tonight, that he fully considered my debts to be his debts as well. I know I've said before that I consider my debt to be mine. And I do mean that… I would never expect him to take responsibility for it. Ever! But I will say that it was really nice to hear him say that. We've always been 100% a TEAM. Always. Honestly, we've been practically married since month 1 of our relationship, and we have always helped each other out financially. And not once, did either of us feel any sort of bad feelings in that respect, we just do it because we love each other and that's that! So we're working away on our debt right now, and the plan is to be rid of it in January (December depending on Christmas bonuses, etc). I will still have my last student loan, but the interest rate is so low, the monthly payment is peanuts, and the tax write off isn't bad. It's just not worth it to pay it off before we amass savings. I am thinking of doubling the payment though, sometime next year.

New Account

2010-09-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

So we finally opened up a joint checking account today! We've had a joint checking with BoA, but it was on the East Coast. When we moved here, we had to close it, because for some odd reason BoA isn't on the same network from East to West Coasts. Hm. And we never bothered to open a joint account, because boyfriend always had direct deposit. But we figured it would make life ten times easier to do so that ALL our accounts are linked and we can transfer money and deposit checks and all that fun stuff. So that's done. Now when his check clears (honestly, direct deposit was like the best invention ever… it SUCKS having your check held hostage for a week!) we can get to making the transfers!

Patience

2010-09-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I'm very impatient when it comes to money. I want to have it (emergency fund, travel fund, etc) NOW and without any of the painstaking waiting that comes along with the territory. I wish I could wake up tomorrow and have all my immediate savings goals met. It's frustrating to me that I've been working on funding my emergency fund for… 2 years now. And where am I? Square one. Sure, I HAD almost a fully funded account at one point. But I paid off my car instead. Not a bad option. But now I'm back where I started, and it's hard to not be upset when I look at my financials.

One of the best things about boyfriends new job (financially speaking, that is), is that it pays weekly. Which means, that EVERY WEEK we can put money towards our goals. It's nice to know that when I transfer money to ING, or pay down on debt, I will be able to repeat it again in seven days. And because we're still using my checks for our regular bills and such (it's just easier to do it that way for now), we can use all of his (with the exception of his taxes, of course!) for whatever we want. I do not have to wait a MONTH as I did with only my checks. Even though it's only been a week since he started his job (is that all!?) I've already put a significant chunk of money towards our debt. In 3 days, I will do it again. And do you know what I realized? I'm ten times more motivated to get ourselves out of debt (again) and start saving (again). I've not used my credit card in a while, AND I even found an extra 100 dollars in my checking account today that I immediately used to pay down said card. It would have been more, except I didn't want to wipe my checking account clean, because we'll inevitably need gas and groceries and well, I'm not using my credit card anymore. Progress, no?

It's good.

Oh yeah, Food

2010-09-12T14:58:00.001-07:00

I'm seriously trying to cut back on food. In fact, I've devised our menu this week and the only thing I need to purchase is strawberries (because really, they make a divine lunch… I honestly eat 3 pints a week by myself) and some sort of bread product (like bagel thins, or a loaf for toast). That works for me. I've been back to menu planning for a few weeks now, which is especially handy since boyfriend doesn't arrive home from work until 9pm. And really, it would be awful if I didn't have dinner on the table. So I do.

Lunches this week is fruit and veggies for me (still filling and delicious!) and healthy turkey, tuna and chicken salad sandwiches for boyfriend, per his request.

Monday

Quiche (the leftovers will make a good breakfast for boyfriend for the week, or maybe a nice lunch)

Tuesday

Rice, Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry

Wednesday

Grilled Chicken Sandwich (I have frozen buns in the freezer, and plenty of toppings and chicken)

Thursday

Spaghetti and Bruschetta (I seriously make divine bruschetta)

Friday

Turkey Melt (with turkey bacon)

Of course, all of our meals are served with a fresh salad.

Saving List

2010-09-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

I was doing a little math today. I'm trying to figure out if we should concentrate all of our savings in one pot, or spread it out in different ones (obviously this is after our debts are paid off). On one hand, I kind of like having them separate. On the other, I know that it doesn't matter, because if we need money from savings, we'll use it, no matter what account its in. Obviously we're not going to blow it, but I'm not going to say… NOT buy a condo because we're short 10k on a downpayment when we have the money sitting in our travel account. This is all hypothetical of course. But I figured that that in less than two years, we'll be able to accumulate more than 50k in savings. This doesn't take into account potential raises, or things like that… just our current salaries. So this obviously should go up. My work still isn't giving our raises, but they have told me 3 times in the past few months that they will give me the appropriate raise once the economy is better (which means the company is making more money). Boyfriend is due for a raise sometime early in the new year (PLUS sometime later in the year he'll be making a lot more money in commissions!). I should also note that this takes EVERY last penny that's not budgeted for bills and rent. Obviously we'll want to loosen the purse strings after awhile (and take a weekend trip every so often, and buy clothes and the like), and have some fun… but not too much, yet.

This is quite amazing. We have some ideas of what we want to save for:

Downpayment

Trip to Asia (this would actually happen in about a year from now… because we'd be going to see my dad for part of the time, and his Asian contract is up a year from now). It's kind of a bummer to spend ALL that money right after we save it, but oh well. Better than putting an 8-10k trip on a credit card (those Asian flights are not cheap!). I really don't give a crap about going to Asia at all, but it's boyfriends dream trip to go to Japan, and well, I figure if we're going to do it, it makes the most sense to do it while we have a place to stay for free for half the trip.

Roth IRAs. Yeah, we REALLY need to be maxing these out. There should no longer be any excuses, once we're debt free.

Wedding. My mom can't afford to chip anything in, and I feel like my dad has given me all he should financially. Boyfriends parents could help, but I'm not going to count on it.

European honeymoon. Our thought is that we'll take a month to travel around Europe. Obviously, this will probably end up being more like two weeks. Still. We want to do it up big! No expense spared :-)

A new car. Boyfriends car is a 2000. It's still in fabulous shape, and he takes wonderful care of it. It's a Lexus (handed down from his mom), so it's not like it was a cheaply built car… but being 10 years old, we anticipate having to get him a new one in the next 5 years or so. In cash. [And don't think we're going to go out and buy a Lexus! It will be a 15-20k car]

And of course, we always want to have at LEAST 10k in the bank at all times for emergencies. And that amount seems SO low… we'd probably want more like 20k.

It's fun to have goals though. It makes me less inclined to spend money on stupid things I don't really care about.

Starting Over

2010-09-11T13:56:00.001-07:00

I love fall. I never truly appreciated it until I moved to California, where fall is decidedly less "fallish". I'm not sure how to explain it. I really do miss New England in the fall. I also love how fall represents starting over. I've never thought of New Years as a time to start fresh. It's ALWAYS been fall. So here's me, starting over, financially.

Boyfriend gets paid every week, with an old fashioned check… not direct deposit, which is slightly annoying (although the weekly thing is quite handy). However, I'll deal. We DO have to get a brick and mortar joint checking account set up. Because having to fingerprint his check so we can deposit it into my account will get old pretty fast. For now, we've decided to use his check for paying extras on things, like credit cards and dental bills. After we take out 30% for his taxes (hm, it's nice to transfer money IN to ING again, even though it will be taken back out for the IRS in a few months), 50 dollars for his weekly allowance (which he has said he'll try to get down a bit… I just feel bad that it can't be more!), the rest goes to paying debts off. My paychecks will continue to be used for our regular bills, like rent and stuff. Until we get debts paid off, I think that's probably easiest. We'll see. The next step after that is to go back to having our entire sum of a months checks in an account to transfer into checking on the first. That was SOOOO much easier.

My credit cards have been seeing a lot of use lately, which is really bad. But now that we have a second income, I'll be able to buy food with cash, not stick it on the ole credit card, which I am removing from circulation. My card will be paid off in 3 weeks, then we'll be paying off my dental bill. HOPEFULLY, this means that we'll be debt free (with the exception of my one last student loan) by January. That's the plan, anyway. I also realized that I've not been counting on extra paychecks from boyfriend and from me. Mine is in January… which I'll probably use for my car insurance, but boyfriend has a couple in there (October, January, April, etc). And I have a Christmas bonus (hopefully).

After that we're going to be putting every last cent into savings. It's about time…

Freelance

2010-09-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

So boyfriend started his new job today! I'm SO excited to hear how it went!

Since he's an independent contractor, it's pretty new territory for us, so we're trying to figure out what he can and can't write off. I've gotten different lists from different places. We've figured out a system that will work for us with receipts, which is to keep them divided by category in different envelopes (and possibly by month?). I.E., golf (this one I did find out… totally counts if you write it off by individual game, as long as it was with a client), dinners/drinks for clients, commuting, professional memberships, movies (totally counts as research, since it's part of his job to be up and up on the entertainment industry) etc. Still have to get the exact categories.

We've also been looking for a new credit card for him. The one he has now it crap, in terms of rewards and it has a not so fun annual fee. Ick! So we've been looking for one that's JUST for business expenses. I think that it will be much easier to A.) Keep track of for taxes and B.) We don't have to have a monthly category for "business expenses". Instead, we can just pay it out of the next month and adjust our budget from there. We don't expect it to be a huge amount for a few months, until he builds his own client roster. Still.

And of course, we had to take advantage of the labor day sales yesterday and we bought him a lot of new clothes. Since he'll be sporting a full suit and tie every day (god bless my job where I can throw on my jeans and t shirts!), he needed new collared shirts (his were beginning to sport a pancake collar… and just looked very used… looks like the dry cleaner it is from now on. boo!), new ties to match, a new belt and new socks. He actually bought two fancy new suits a few months ago… we'll definitely be looking to pick up 1 or 2 more in a few months so he has more variety (and they last longer). That was quite an expensive trip, even with a TON of discounts! We were going to hit up the outlets, but my poor boyfriend HATES shopping for clothes with a passion. We walked into Nordstrom, he took ONE look at the price tag on a 100 dollar shirt, and walked right back out. And he now says that he will never go into a Nordstrom again, because it was insane to pay that much money for a shirt. Ha! I guess I should be glad, although I will definitely still be shopping there for myself! But anyway, I knew the outlets would make him want to kill himself with the mobs of people there, so we just hit up Macys. Quality at reasonable prices. {We also took my Louis Vuitton bag in to get repaired. I waved goodbye to my bag, which I won't see again for 6-8 weeks, AND the 127 dollars it will cost for the repair (upon receipt of the fixe bag). Bummer.}

We've also found out that he's going to be paid weekly. Interesting. We're not sure if he will get paid THIS Friday, or start next Friday (when I started my job, I got paid two weeks the first check, even though I'd only worked there one… I doubt most places would do that). When we get that though, we'll be paying off all his new clothing purchases, and part of my credit card bill. The next week, we'll have all of our credits cards paid off, and we'll start to attack my dental bill. Can't wait to get that monkey off my back. THEN we can SAVE MONEY!!!!

Catch Up

2010-09-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

So, I'm back! We recently returned from a wonderful vacation back east! It was quite possibly the most fun vacation we've ever had, and I'm honestly sorry to be home. We spent 5 days on Cape Cod and Marthas Vineyard where we played lots of golf, rode bikes, drank copiously and visited with the in laws and fam. It was amazing, and the weather was PERFECT! Even more delightful than here in SoCal. Which is messed up. We also spent 3 days in boyfriends hometown (where I got the rest of my dental work done) and we hung out with high school friends, and then we spent a day in NYC, which was SO much fun! We're already planning our return this Christmas :-)

The money part? Well, it cost me my plane ticket. That's IT (other than a few dinners out with friends). I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful mother in law who took us in for the entire trip. And bought us expensive meals. And paid for our fun activities, like the ferry to the Vineyard, golf, NYC, etc. It was fabulous. And the only reason we were able to afford to go. I'm very very grateful.

Boyfriend starts his big new job after the holiday! It's so exciting :-) We're not sure if he'll get paid after the first week, or after two weeks, but we're not planning to have his income this month anyway. We'll make good use of it though when it does come. Let's just say that our credit card bills are pretty high :-(. But all will be paid off within the month, so that's good. We also still need to figure out if we're going to open a new joint checking account, or just have boyfriend add his name to mine. Probably that would be easiest, but we'll have to figure it all out this weekend.

I've randomly been thinking about my car insurance. I usually pay the full premium in February, but I've not a penny in that savings account right now. Oops! BUT I do get an extra paycheck exactly one month before it's due. And it is pretty close to the same amount. So, that might be where that comes from… although I was going to put it towards my dental bill to finish it off. We'll see how it all plays out.

I went to the bank to get quarters today (looooads of laundry need to be done this weekend). Does anybody else want to crawl under the counter and hide when the teller looks at my bank balance? Is this messed up? I seriously get so embarrased for them to see how little money I have in there. I mean, I don't keep my savings in there, so there's never more than 3k in that account (immediately following payday). And that makes me feel like a loser, and that the teller MUST be judging me. I assume they must be thinking how pathetic it is! Especially since I went to the bank in a VERY high rolling part of LA. The kind of place where people probably find a million dollars in their couch cushions. Odd.

a little organization goes a long way

2010-07-31T22:49:00.000-07:00

For the past… 6 years or so, I've been keeping all my important files in a large messenger bag in unlabeled file folders. Which makes it far too inconvenient to A) file things in a timely manner (not to mention find what I need quickly) so that paperwork don't pile up on my desk and B) purge old files. Today, I devoted my entire day to rectifying this situation.

First, I cleaned everything off my desk. And I do mean everything. I then cleaned the surface, and put only my printer and laptop back on. The stack of files were sorted into the appropriate folders for the interim. I then went on a hunt for a filing system that was cheap, easy on the eyes, and temporary. You see, we plan to buy nice file cabinets when we're back in the cash… but I really needed a temporary solution. My first stop? Target. I found these really cute coated cardboard file boxes for just 3 dollars each. And they look exactly the same as the 14-60 dollar ones I found at the container store. Score. I picked up two (I'll have to grab another if I have any new folders that need to be made), plus a matching box for my desk/craft supplies which were living in an ugly slightly beat up ikea box. Plus, I got a rigid expandable folder in the same material for my taxes, because the cheap plastic one I was using was just ugly, and well. Ugly.

I also picked up some really cheap and adorable file folders at Michaels for just .50 cents a pack on sale! After purging all my unneeded files (actually they're in a "to shred" pile, should we ever get a shredder, which we do need to…), I organized what was left, typed up some easy to read labels, and put everything in grouped by category (ie: banking/retirement/health insurance, etc.).

I LOVE my new system. It's so easy to access everything, there is no unnecessary junk cluttering up the folders, and the boxes are adorable. And I must admit, it was rather cathartic to organize my paperwork… no more stress and clutter!

I also made a folder for emergency information, which contains all account information, logins, passwords, due dates, and important info should anybody ever need it just in case. It's totally morbid, and I don't like thinking about it, but I know it's necessary. I recommend doing it.

Of course, this whole project has gotten me into major "I want to decorate my apartment to look like a magazine" mode. And that's not good, so that will be squashed until we have a house someday :-)

my finances are depressing

2010-07-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

That dental bill is reeeally hard to look at. I cannot wait to start paying that off with gusto this fall. Just another month!! Really though, it makes me so angry every time I look at it. I worked SO hard to pay my car off, and I feel like it was all for nothing! {In the sense that I am in debt the same amount… because I truly am glad that I'm not in debt for my car AND the dental stuff AND my student loan}

Also? My credit cards are still not paid off. I know. Actually, one was going to be paid off today. But, my dental bill is due in a week, as well as my rent. So, I do not have the money to pay for them all. So instead I'm paying the dental bill this weekend, and my one card OFF in two weeks. Sigh. My other one is creeeeping up. I can't seem to get the cash to pay it. It's sickening. Again. I can't wait until September. I feel so out of control with everything.

The kicker? I had to get a NEW credit card. I know. But, I actually did it with good reasoning. It's a 0% interest card for 12 months on new purchases, and 18 months for balance transfers. My idea was to use it to transfer my dental bill onto. Interest free! But the limit is only 2k at the moment, so I'll probably end up using it to buy my plane ticket back east in a few weeks. And it will never, ever reside in my wallet. Until I go to the airport, because I'll need it (I think) to pick up my ticket. That's IT.

I hate that this is what my financial life has come to. But again. September…

oops!

2010-07-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

So I was putting my 2011 registration stickers on my car over the weekend when I realized something. The lien holder is STILL on my registration card! Um. Whoops. I TOTALLY forgot to get that fixed.

I have absolutely no desire to go to the DMV (does this have to be done at the DMV? I have not the slightest idea of how to do this) and take time off from work. Ugh.

I guess I'll have to do something about this soon. I really want to have a clean title and registration card. What a pain.

Menus…

2010-07-24T16:33:00.001-07:00

Yeah, they've taken a backseat.

I've taken to eating fruit and raw veggies for lunch. And you know what? It's delicious. And ten times easier than making sandwiches and such.

Boyfriend is doing PX90, so he's drinking a lot of nutrition shakes. We're eating things like salad and cereal (lot's of cereal!). We'll have a fruit and cheese plate for dinner a couple times a week [which of course, makes us feel very french]. I whipped up some bruschetta last week, and it was the most delicious thing EVER. Combine that with some salad and fruit, and you'll feel like a king. Seriously.

All in all, we're eating pretty simply lately. Which is just my speed.

I do plan to get back to meal planning though, because it is cheaper. And I do like having a plan. And… I really do like being domestic most of the time.

But, probably that will be on hold until September. When boyfriend starts his new job we'll be needing organization. His hours will be longer and he'll be working more from home in the evenings. He's really only going to work part time now (so he's usually home for lunch), and in two weeks he'll be done (which gives us two weeks free!). One of those will be spent on the east coast. I can't wait.

Money Talks

2010-07-24T15:57:00.001-07:00

I mentioned in passing that boyfriend and I combined our finances a few years ago. Let's discuss what that means for us.

Combining finances before marriage (or even before engagement) is not something to be taken lightly, but we felt very strongly that this was best for us. Even though we're not married, we're still a TEAM. For us, that means that "Whatever happens to you, happens to me. Whatever happens to us, happens to US". Combining finances was just a natural progression for us. It seemed stupid NOT to do it, and it has definitely made our lives easier. A few things to keep in mind:

We both maintain separate and joint bank accounts. We both feel that it's important to maintain a sense of individuality. Plus, it gives us a place to keep our own personal "fun/blow" money, AND it allows for us to have freedom. Neither of us need to know what we spend our own personal money on. If he wants to go out to eat with his buddies, go see the same movie 4 times in a row (inception) and what have you, it's none of my business! If I want to buy a 200 dollar pair of jeans (not that I have done that in um. years), who cares! We have two joint checking accounts (one brick and mortar, one online) which we use for our joint expenses.

Our credit cards and my student loan and dental bill are NOT joint. While boyfriend is listed as an authorized user of my Shell card (because our budget for gas remains joint), our own credit cards/accounts are listed under each individual. This is not because we don't trust each other 100%. It's because my debt is MY DEBT. Boyfriend is extremely lucky in that, he has never had any debt. I don't think it's fair for him to assume responsibility for my own debt, in case something happens to one of us, or we break up. Similarly, when I pay down my debt, I'm paying for it out of my own paycheck. More on that…

We budget according to our incomes. This will really only be in effect until my dental bill and student loan is paid off when the slate will be clean. What this means is that for instance, when I was paying off my car, I never paid more than I personally brought home. Even if boyfriends income allowed me to have extra to pay down, I did not. Effectively, we split everything 50/50 in regards to rent, utilities, groceries, etc. If I only bring home 500 dollars, and he brings home 1000, I will never pay more on my personal debt than 500 dollars. Does this make sense?

Our savings accounts are joint. This is probably not something that a lot of couples would do, without being legal. But it's important that our money is truly, OUR money, and that we both have access to it. Our savings accounts are fully accessibly by both of us. But we have agreed that we will never touch it without discussing it first. It's worked well.

Our personal windfalls are our own. What I mean is that if I get 100 dollars on my birthday? It goes into my own personal checking account to do with what I please. When boyfriend got 7000 dollars from his grandparents? His personal account. This is at our own discretion of course. Boyfriend actually some of that money to pay for a lot of our move, (and buy me an ipad!) which he didn't have to do. Our system works because neither of us are the least bit selfish, and we understand that personal money should remain personal if we want it to. I do not think it would be fair if I "expected" that the money from his grandparents should go to me also. To me, that seems pretty selfish and petty. I still feel guilty that he spent any of it on me at all!

We communicate. We discuss our finances. I'm actually interested in personal finance, and he is not. Which means that I get to handle all the accounts (which I prefer… especially given his general disinterest in the whole matter). But we both have a say in how our money is spent. We go over our budget often. After I worked out our budget for boyfriends new job? We discussed it. He agreed that it seemed good, and that we should try it out for a few months and then revisit it. If either of us had a problem, we'd bring it up. I send him weekly financial updates (which seems so unromantic, but it's necessary) so he knows whats what. In these updates, it gives an overview of what our income was, where it went (how much to what savings accounts, etc), where we are on our budget categories, etc. It works because he likes to be in the know… but has no patience to sit in front of financial spreadsheets. And since I manage everything, I feel more comfortable filling him in. I know if I wasn't managing our finances and had no idea what was going on on a regular basis, I would feel uneasy.

BIG NEWS!

2010-07-14T08:12:00.001-07:00

So that big news that boyfriend was waiting on? He got a new job!!! The best part (aside from it being a major step up in his career, obviously; and a pretty big rise on the industry ladder)… we'll be nearly doubling our income!!! I say nearly, because he'll be an independent contractor (for some odd reason, ALL the employees are!?) and we'll have to save a crap load of money every month for taxes. But that's doable. [And yes, we joined our finances about 3 years ago].

The job doesn't start until end of the summer/early fall (so we'll be limping along for another month or so), but we've already worked out our budget and let's just say I'll have my dental work paid off by January/February instead of 3 years from now (accounting for an extra paycheck in there for me, and a Christmas bonus) Excellent news :-)

AND after the dental work is paid off, we'll be able to

1. Start saving up our emergency fund/travel fund/car fund, etc.

2. Have FUN once in a while. We've budgeted in a bit for eating out/fun every month! Our current budget for this is ZERO. Plus, we've budgeted in money for our own personal whatever, be it clothes, haircuts, whatever!

3. Go on VACATION! We're thinking of taking a few long weekends in Santa Barbara/Wine Country and Palm Springs! This is especially awesome because it means that boyfriend can quit his weekend job and we'll have weekends free to hang out together (for essentially the first time, EVER). There's also a better chance that we could do our Asia trip (my dad works there and we want to visit before his contract is up) within the year!

4. Pay off my last student loan a wee bit faster. (Almost doubling the payment).

5. Roth IRA's!

Let the games begin! (In 4-6 weeks).

Cash Only

2010-07-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

I must say. Cash only (okay, debit) works! I mentioned earlier that I took my main credit card out of my wallet. Phew. And while I've kept my Shell card in, I've only used it ONCE to get gas. That's IT. Normally I'd be putting everything on there (food and household purchases), but I haven't cracked once in the past few weeks. This is big! It's really kept me aware of what I have to spend, and I've been more diligent with my purchases (mostly). I think it would be even better for me though, to use actual cash. This is something I'll have to think about trying next month.

So all in all, my credit cards have been gathering dust, and it's nice. And they'll be back to zero in just a week! I'm so grateful that I was able to get them paid off (or will) without any finance charges. And next time I move, I just hope I have a little more money in the bank! Not that I plan on moving anytime soon… it's a huge hassle.

Back at it

2010-07-11T17:14:00.001-07:00

This month has been going SO well! I've dutifully tracked every single purchase, and immediately updated my budget spreadsheet as well as my checking register. Every time! Such a nice change from the last two months of not doing it. Mostly though, I think I was avoiding it because I was not staying on budget at ALL, and I was embarrassed/mad at myself.

Not to say I've been perfect. We've gone out to eat for diner more times than I care to admit. But I think it's been balancing out with the number of times I've eaten cereal for dinner. And I always have good, cheap lunches. Still, I HAVE to put a stop to it!! It's amazing how expensive it is, even if we just get a 5 dollar sub! Menu planning really DOES work. However, it's been harder and harder to stick to, with boyfriend having to skip out on dinner because a last minute work thing comes up, or having friends over makes it hard (because if I only plan a meal for two, three or more isn't going to work) and it's so much easier to order a pizza for everybody. And then we never end up cooking what I'd planned and it will go to waste. Bad. Hopefully we can sit down tonight and figure out something that will work better. Probably, I should only plan for meals on 4 days instead of 5. Something to think about.

I've also come to the conclusion that I need a new job. Not because I don't love the people I work with and the company I work for, but because I feel very stifled. With the workload not being the type I'm best at and LOVE (due to the crap economy), I find myself really hating what I am doing a lot of the time. Not hating like I'd hate my job if I had to work at McDonalds. Hating… like feeling like my entire time college (and grad school!) and all my talent are going to waste! And I really hate feeling like that. I know I need a job where I can do what I'm good at, and excel at it. So… I've started the long arduous process of getting my stuff together to begin that search. Oh. Joy. I know the economy is not great… especially for my industry, but I really feel that I need to do this. I'm not going to devote long hours to it like I would if I was out of a job, but I am going to spend weekends at least working on this. First up? A website. What I have in mind is very simple and I have it all designed in my head. I just need to do the legwork, which is really, a very time consuming process. So there's that.

Boyfriend has had a very amazing work opportunity come up. It's not completely finalized yet so I don't want to jinx it (and I hesitate to even mention this much…) but I'll definitely fill you in when it is! It means wonderful things for the both of us!!!

Sort of Menu Planning

2010-07-03T14:51:00.001-07:00

You've probably noticed that my menu posts have been… missing lately. Honestly, with boyfriend being SO busy at work (and having lots of dinners out with his company), and my very limited diet due to my dental issues (um milkshakes, mashed potatoes and oatmeal), I just haven't been planning them. I've just started in the past week eating normal food again, so I'm going to start up with them again. However, boyfriend is starting a week long diet of protein shakes and simple foods like almonds and veggies and then we'll start him on a more food based diet next week, so for this week it's going to be for just me.

Monday

Breakfast: Tea and Whole Grain Toast

Lunch: Avocado and Cucumber on Whole Grain Wrap (with a little salsa), Strawberries/Blueberries

Dinner: 1/2 grilled cheese on Whole Grain Bread, carrot sticks, apple w/ a small amt of peanut butter

Tuesday

Breakfast: Mocha w/ fat free creamer / Whole Grain Toast

Lunch: salad w/ baby spring lettuce, strawberries, avocado, cucumber, carrots and light balsamic vinegarette / whole grain crackers w/ wedge of light laughing cow cheese

Dinner: oatmeal topped with almonds and flax seeds / strawberries

Wednesday

Breakfast: Tea and Whole Grain Toast

Lunch: whole grain wrap with strawberries, cucumber and spring mix with a smidge of balsamic / blueberries

Dinner: cheerios topped with blueberries and a small amount of cracklin oat bran

Thursday

Breakfast: Tea and Whole Grain Toast

Lunch: Avocado and Cucumber on Whole Grain Wrap (with a little salsa), Strawberries/Blueberries

Dinner: 1/2 grilled cheese on Whole Grain Bread, carrot sticks, apple w/ a small amt of peanut butter

Friday

Breakfast: Mocha w/ fat free creamer / Whole Grain Toast

Lunch: salad w/ baby spring lettuce, strawberries, avocado, cucumber, carrots and light balsamic vinegarette / whole grain crackers w/ wedge of light laughing cow cheese

Dinner: tortilla chips, salsa and avocado

For the weekend, I'll most likely eat sandwiches and veggie burgers… along with fruits and salads.

And for snacks, I have almonds, trail mix, fruit and veggies. Thrilling. I know I should cut out cheese altogether, but I'm trying to use up what we have, especially now that boyfriend won't be eating any of it. I just hate for food to go to waste…

So my groceries shouldn't be too bad… bread, lettuce, carrots, string cheese (for boyfriend), strawberries. I have everything else.

Summer!

2010-07-03T10:55:00.000-07:00

Good things are on the horizon. I'll update more on that soon.

For now, things are looking good. I've started my month with a brand new budget, and a foolproof plan. I've been really halfheartedly tracking my finances for the last couple of months, but I'm back on track (at least, I'm DETERMINED to get back ON track). I've paid all the bills that have come in thus far, and it's an extra paycheck month. Which is a really really good thing. By months end my credit card balance will be zero (with no finance charges!). It will be a huge relief. I have taken my main credit card out of my wallet and as a result, have not used it in a couple of weeks. My Shell card is still there, and I really need to remove that as well. But… all of the next two paychecks are dedicated to bills (because of the way due dates work out), so I don't technically have any food money until my third check! Ooops. I could alter that. But… I really like getting all my bills paid as quickly as possible. We'll see how this works out… I really feel like I have a renewed sense of dedication to keeping my financial life in check; a big part stemming from my new huge dental bill :-/

My student loan is finally below the next thousand (!). I can't wait to start making at least double payments on that. I'd like it to be gone, but the tax deduction really does help me out a lot. It is nice though, to see it dip down. Also a nice thing… my 401k balance has just crept UP into the next thousand. That's always pleasant.

I've been using the new goals feature in mint, which I LOVE. Their financial fitness nonsense which they had prior was a giant waste of space, so I'm glad to have a feature which is useful. I can't wait to have the funds to really start going after my major goals. I'm a very visual person, so seeing my progress, through charts and graphs is very motivating.

I'm just looking forward to good things coming, and my life getting back on track. This long weekend will give me plenty of time to get everything done, and my life in order. I can't wait. I plan to accomplish everything on my to do list (cleaning the house, laundry, correspondence, etc) today, and then enjoy the following two days of nothing. It's going to be glorious. I needed a weekend like this.

Gee Whiz

2010-06-27T15:58:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

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'

2010-06-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-18T16:15:00.001-07:00

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

2010-06-18T13:05:00.001-07:00

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

2010-06-15T19:28:00.001-07:00

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.

&$*#(%@&@&$

2010-06-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-07T19:06:00.001-07:00

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

2010-06-06T11:15:00.001-07:00

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

2010-06-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

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.

They're Back!

2010-05-16T12:19:00.001-07:00

My weekly menus will once again be making an appearance! After three weeks of barely a plan and lots of takeout pizza, I'm more than ready to start planning dinners again! I only had about two days of lunches that were in the form of leftover pizza and subway, so I have been preparing delicious lunches. And dinners… but nothing more complicated than grilled cheese and soups. I'm not so excited to spend MORE money, but it has to be done. And it's totally cheaper than 5 pizzas in two weeks (of course, they were not all consumed by us alone!) I'm calling this month a loss, and starting over in June. It's just too complicated to try to excavate all my receipts and track everything back. And I have no desire to do so. I'm just going to pay my credit card bill off, and tuck them away in the depths.

Monday

Lunch: Rice, Veggie, Chicken Stir Fry

Dinner: Tortellini, Salad, Flax Seed Bread

Tuesday

Lunch: Rice, Veggie, Chicken Stir Fry

Dinner: Spinach, Corn, Feta Tacos

Wednesday

Lunch: BLT Sandwich

Dinner: Chicken, Cucumber, Green Bean Salad

Thursday

Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwich

Dinner: Asian Noodle, Chicken, Cashew Salad

Friday

Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwich

Dinner: BLT Sandwich

So… it's not inspired, and there are a lot of repeats, but it will do. I'll get back into the swing of things next week!

The place is coming along fabulously! Poor boyfriend came down with the swine flu (we think) last week, so he's been (mostly) laying low while he's home. He did put together our new bookcases though! So everything is unpacked… and it's mostly all organized. The office is still a tad chaotic, but it's really just because we have yet to hang anything up, so it's all (we have a LOT of framed artwork/vintage posters etc.) stacked up in the pretty small space and overtaking everything. That will all be hung within the next few days, so then we'll be done! I LOVE our new place!!!

YIKES

2010-05-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Because of the move, I have not opened my laptop in TWO WEEKS. That's right. Yeeeah. That means that aside from the two times I've given a halfhearted attempt at reconciling everything on my lunch hour, I'm completely in the dark regarding my recent finances. And it's scary. Especially given that I was used to checking everything over at least once a day. My receipts that I meant to save are crumpled in the bottom of my purse. Or in the trash. I'm so far over budget on random items we needed for the new place. And who knows what else. Last week was crazy unusual. Two birthday parties, trips to IKEA and to buy a couch (it's so pretty!) kept us out of the house. I didn't even get to unpack until this weekend (but it's starting to really come together!). So… expensive and busy.

I'm looking forward to (and kind of dreading) a thorough reconciliation of everything. My credit card bill is going to be scary. I kind of don't want to know what it is.

Since we have probably 90% of our stuff unpacked and set up (we have to figure out where to put the humungous suitcases, and hang pictures and stuff, but then we're done!) I can go home tonight and break out the laptop and see what's what. I feel so disorganized in every sense. I honestly think I'm losing my mind. I've been so forgetful and exhausted since the move that I just can't wait to RELAX. There are still so many things on my to do list that I've been ignoring in lieu of unpacking (living like the hoarders do was really making me CRAZY!).

Quick Update

2010-05-04T12:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I knew moving was going to be expensive. But it's seriously EXPENSIVE. The cancellation of the contract for the cable? 320 dollars. Increase in my car insurance? 299 dollars. Random crap from Target (paper towels, tp, cleaning supplies, contact paper, misc. kitchen stuff which we didn't have? 160 dollars. Items from Bed Bath and Beyond and Container Store? 200 dollars. I'm DYING. My credit card bill is slightly astronomical, if you can imagine.

And we still have no couch. We found a BEAUTIFUL one, for 650. We're going to try to get it for 500. We shall see. Boyfriend covered the cost of the security deposit, U-Haul rental, a few dinners out (before the kitchen was semi-usable), and will do the couch. I'm on the hook for the rest, since I make like three times what he does.

And the new place? Amazing. BUT I feel like I'm living inside an episode of Hoarders. Literally, NOTHING is unpacked, and it's a complete disaster. Basically I've bleached the crap out of both bathrooms and unpacked most of those. And our bed. The kitchen has like one square foot of usable counter space because I ran out of contact paper and can't unpack dishes into the cupboards. (Yes, I'm squeamish about touching anything "used"), although we do have a teeny amount of food for lunches all week, and for dinners probably for 3 days. We have yet to call to set up internet because it's such a disaster. I'm really hoping to make great strides this week. Thursday we're headed to IKEA to get bookshelves, a kitchen table, and a tv stand (our friends are buying us new ones so that they don't have to take apart the ones they borrowed). Hopefully when we have shelves it will help. Tonight I'm going to unpack our clothes which will help a lot. But by the end of the weekend, I'm going to strive to have everything set up (except possibly the couch, which we won't get for another week or two). It's going to be glorious.

And my new commute? 15 minutes WITH traffic. It's amazing. But holy crap, is it ever expensive.

Moving Update

2010-04-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

I think buying boxes is a huge waste of money. Which is why I went to stock up at BevMo. Now it may look like I have a drinking problem, but at least I didn't have to pay any money for them! The plus is that they're STURDY (duh, they're made to hold heavy glass bottles!). Perfect for heavy books and fragile dishes. And I'm lucky to have friends who have moved recently and have all kinds of bubble wrap and blank newsprint which they gave to me. It seriously was a lifesaver in terms of cost. That stuff is not cheap.

I am 1 dollar away from going over budget on groceries this month. The plus is that the month is nearly up. The bad is that although we have enough food to pull together meals, and we don't have to buy groceries for a week, the plausibility of that happening is slim. I suspect that we'll be buying pizza and subway for a couple meals at least (ugh) for ease. We'll see. Either way, I'm really proud of myself for doing SO well with my grocery budget for the past two months. Hopefully it will continue.

I ended up finding a 20% off coupon for BBB yesterday, and I got TWO trash cans (one for the kitchen and one for the spare bathroom) for really cheap. It was on sale :-) And yes, I didn't have to buy a 40 dollar trash can (who does that!?) but it was important to me that I have one that looked nice, and that had a flip top because I cannot stand open trash containers. Awful. Money well spent, IMO.

Progress Bars

2010-04-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

No menu this week. Boyfriend will be gone until Wednesday, and we have enough random stuff to pull together a couple of meals.

The packing is coming along. I've spent a fair amount of time watching tv, but I did manage to pack up the entire kitchen (minus food, obv.), all of our clothing (except the stuff that needs to remain hanging, like boyfriends suits, and the stuff we're going to wear this week. Plus, a lot of random stuff. I'm planning on packing the books and dvds into our huge suitcases (I could literally fit inside them). Of course I forgot to have boyfriend leave his car keys to the storage unit (which is over his car) so I'll have to do that when he gets back. The rest of our stuff is either furniture, or stuff that's already boxed (which we store that way). I also went through all my files and trashed a bunch of stuff I didn't need. So I feel good about the progress I've made so far. I've left the framed art on the walls, because it just doesn't make sense to take it down and have it be in the way this week. Plus, it's all mega expensive, so I'd rather not take the chance!

We're thinking we'd like to move late this week (not the weekend) so we can be out by the first. There's still a lot of roommate drama regarding payment and I just want to be out ASAP!! However, that will depend on if we can get the keys a couple days early. And of course, boyfriend has to work this weekend :-/ Bad planning. But he doesn't actually have his schedule yet, so maybe he'll only have to work one of the days. We have to figure this out by tomorrow so that I can rent a UHaul. Last time we moved I forgot to reserve it in advance (well, it was my first time ever renting one, I didn't know!) and they were out. Oops.

I have a 20% of coupon for the Container Store to use before the 30th. There's a ton of stuff I want (none of which I can afford). But I think I'll have to pick out a few things we need to get before it expires. Of course they have every single trash can known to man there, except the one I want. They do have it at Bed Bath and Beyond, so I'll have to wait until I get a coupon for that. Hopefully soon!

It's official!

2010-04-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

We got the apartment! And we're moving in (gulp) a week. Um… I guess I'd better start packing. (There is nothing worse than packing, IMO).

The best part though? UNpacking! I absolutely LOVE setting up a new place, buying new things to make it pretty (okay, my funds are like zero this time, but still) and getting settled into a new routine. I look at each move as a place to start fresh on many levels. And I'm SO excited that after 7 years, we'll finally be living ALONE together. It's about 5 years overdue. And I can't wait. Anyway.

Now that it's official, there's MUCH to be done. I have a to do list a mile long and not a lot of time to accomplish it.

Weird Week(s)

2010-04-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

This week we've only eaten two of the meals I'd planned! A bunch of last minute stuff came up, so we subsisted on chips and salsa and bagels. This coming week won't be much different. Boyfriend will be out of town for most of it for a wedding on the east coast, so I'll be on my own. Which means, I'll be eating chips and salsa and bagels for dinner. That's just how I roll, don't judge. On the bright side, our grocery bill will be teensy! Here's our abbreviated menu.

Monday

Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwich

Dinner: Chicken Tortellini (him), WW Cheese Tortellini (me), salad, flax seed bread

Tuesday

Dinner: BLT sandwiches (skip the bacon for me, but add avocado), pea soup

Wednesday

Lunch: Chicken Wrap

Dinner: Roasted veggies in parchment (new potatoes, carrots, leeks) with thyme (this was on the menu for this week, but we didn't get to it), chicken (him)

Thursday-Sunday

Nothing that qualifies as a real meal.

I expect I'll get out of the store this week for 10 bucks. All I need is tortellini, a tomato, lettuce, avocado

My life is a money drain

2010-04-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

While we've not technically been approved for the apartment yet (I saw it, and I love it!), I'm already feeling the money leaving with fury! Moving is EXPENSIVE. It's nauseating, actually. The expected expenses (security, last months rent, application fees) are a huge nuisance, but you know, necessary. And we'll have to rent a U-Haul, which will be I'm guessing… 100 bucks? Not bad, but not super fun either. We've paid the security (holding) deposit and the application fee thus far. Ew.

I think we've solved the problem of the furniture and the fridge! We're going to end up taking our old fridge back (and bleaching it out!). The maintenance man in the building offered up a gently used fridge for only 100 bucks, so our friends have offered to buy that one. Sweet! And although I've not had official dealings with them, we've heard through the same maintenance man that a couple of girls are moving out and have furniture they don't want to take with them. If it's not sketchy, I have no problem unloading a couch (and getting it steam cleaned and buying a slip cover for it). The bookcases and table? Our friends have no desire to unload their stuff to reload it on new shelves (there are a lot of them), so they're buying us new ones! (The exact same ones we had from IKEA). Score :-) So, I guess THAT money issue won't be awful. Although the couch issue isn't solved, it's possible. And otherwise, we'll just rough it for a bit. No biggie.

The other issue, which I have a huge problem with, is paying off our current roommate. We were supposed to be out by June, but since we're leaving early, he seems to think I should pay him for all of May (500 bucks), plus the housekeeper in June. Um, no. I'm 100% on board with paying utilities through the end of April (we move May 1st, provided we get the apartment of course!). I will happily pay for what I use. But paying him when I don't live here!? HELL NO. Roommates are the worst.

And of course, we'll probably have to pay a large sum to the cable company for canceling our contract early (if they can't transfer it entirely… meaning my name, credit cards, etc are in no way attached to it) to our roommate, I'm going to have to cancel. Somebody else ruining my credit? No thanks. That should be a barrel of monkeys. The apartment comes with basic cable included in rent, so I'm considering just 86-ing the cable (the only reason we really have it is the wonder that is DVR) and just watching our shows online (we hook the laptop up to the tv), and getting netflix.

And there are of course, the little things which always come up. Since we have two (full) bathrooms now, we'll need to buy a second bath mat, trash can, soaps, hand towels, etc. Plus we'll need a kitchen trash can. And a microwave. And I'll finally have to break down and purchase new checks to pay rent with, etc, etc, etc. Oiy. What have I gotten myself in to? I think it's safe to say that my ability to fund my emergency fund by August is QUITE unattainable. And for the first time, I sort of having regrets about paying my car off instead of putting that money into savings. But only a little bit.

Moving Soon!?

2010-04-13T19:16:00.000-07:00

I just realized I forgot to put my my menu for the week. Oh well. Nothing terribly unusual about it!

Anyway. It looks like there is a possibility of us moving this month! (Officially on May 1) We've found an amazing apartment (technically boyfriend did. I haven't seen it yet… but he's picked out apartments for us in the past and he's good at it). Brand new, stainless steel appliances (no fridge of course), brand new berber carpeting (the next best thing to hardwood floors!), two bedroom (which means two parking spots, a necessity) and pretty big! The best part!? It's just 20 minutes (or LESS!) from work, and it's in the same building as some good friends! Score.

The bad? It's uh, expensive. Not unheard of, but more than I was hoping to pay, really. 1475. That's a lot of money. However. I've never found a 2 bedroom place for that. The cheapest I've found one (even the east coast) was about 1700. So, the amount we'll be able to save will be paltry. But, it might be worth it.

The problem? It's going to cost us about 3500 on move in day. OUCH. I mean, really, ouch. Sigh. We have about 7k in savings between the two of us, and will have amassed more by that time, so we have the money. But I was secretly hoping to stick it out here until Mid June to save a wee bit more. Oh well. This place sounds great and believe me, I'm desperate to move. I'm hoping it will still be available this weekend so I can go see it, and hopefully we can put down a deposit. :-) If its refundable, I may just have boyfriend put one down tomorrow to hold it.

Nods to Right

2010-04-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

My E-Fund status bar? Not nearly as lovely as it once was, but it's on its way back up. Slowly but surely! Our move will put a real damper on this goal, sadly. Our rent will (probably) more than double (ouch!). But it will be SO worth it! Roommates are infuriating :-) Plus, moving costs money. We have not the funds to hire movers (although it seems that the last two times we moved we proclaimed proudly that NEXT time, we were hiring people to lug our crap for us. Never seems to work out that way), so we'll probably be paying through the nose for a broken down u-haul and buying friends pizza for their help. Moving also requires the payment of security deposits, setting up new utilities, all that lovely crap. And then there's the REAL money drain: buying a new refrigerator, a new couch, and a dining room set. Oops.

You see, when we moved out of our last apartment, we were moving in with a roommate (oiy) who had a full set of that sort of furniture already, so ours would not quite fit! So instead of paying to put our stuff in storage, we lent it to a couple of friends who had conveniently just moved out to LA (from the east coast) that very same month, with the stipulation that we'd get it back when we needed it. However… the fridge has just gotten a wee bit gross, and I refuse to use it. And the couch? I've ALWAYS hated with a passion anyway. And the table is dandy, but another friend of boyfriends broke our chairs (seriously, who breaks chairs and refuses to even offer to pay for them!? really, he's not my favorite person). So, really, I do not want our stuff back. Which means that we'll have to get new stuff. A fridge can be procured for less than 1k (which is money I do not want to spend, but sadly, a fridge is quite handy to have around). We can get a pretty decent couch from IKEA I suspect. And we can do without the table if we get a coffee table. We eat at the coffee table all the time anyway. Also, I do not like the idea of spending a lot of money on nice stuff to put in an apartment. I want to spend good money on GOOD stuff we LOVE when we buy a condo. We'll see how it all plays out soon.

Something else I'm rather proud of? The credit card which I used to whip out often, has stayed nicely in my wallet, and has only come out to pay for budgeted expenses. I'm pretty proud of that. I've gotten the hang of this grocery budget, and it seems to be working! Yes, I feel very squeezed in it, but it's doable. Amazing. I'm just hoping to keep it up. And I HAVE to, especially come June.

weekly menus

2010-04-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

Enter, another boring week! Due to our expensive date(s) yesterday, we need to really keep an eagle eye on the grocery budget this month.

Monday

Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwich

Dinner: Chicken tortellini (him), spaghetti (me), salad, garlic bread

Tuesday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: veggie tortilla pizzas

Wednesday

Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwich

Dinner: Rice stir fry with chicken, broccoli and carrots (him), oatmeal with granola (me)

Thursday

Lunch: Spicy Chicken Wrap

Dinner: Cucumber, avocado, cheddar wraps, pea soup

Friday

Lunch: Spicy Chicken Wrap

Dinner: Pea Soup, Grilled Cheese and Tomato

I definitely need to add some new recipes to my repertoire. I'm way too rooted in predictability. I'll try to scope some out…

Life

2010-04-03T18:28:00.000-07:00

Well, our Friday off went swimmingly! (I wish every week could be a 3-day weekend!). We ended up skipping the trip out of town (well, we put it on hold for a week or two) and hanging out with some friends for the day. We hit up a double feature (you MUST see How to Train your Dragon!. I was dead set against it, and thought it would be awful, but I LOVED it. Completely wonderful), and had TWO meals out (they weren't too expensive at all though). So, it was not a cheap day, but you only live once. And it was fabulous.

Today is a low key day, and tomorrow we have plans to catch up on all our shows on dvr (we're like 3 weeks behind!) and hang out with some friends in the afternoon. Hopefully going to bed early will be on the menu, because I've been seriously overtired lately!

We also bought a few shares of stock! I wish we could buy more, but it's expensive! I'm excited to dabble in the market though (with individual stocks, not just my retirement funds).

Breakfast

2010-03-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

I find great pleasure in waking up leisurely and having a delicious, simple breakfast. Hot tea with toast, a bagel, an english muffin, or some oatmeal is quite lovely. However, since my current commute is an hour at least… I always pack up a bagel, or english muffin and have my breakfast at work. In some ways, I sort of feel like scarfing it down before I start my work for the day (or in between projects) is a waste. I do not get quite the level of satisfaction in having a lovely breakfast at home, with a cup of hot tea. And I feel like that's sort of an important thing.

This is why I think, that I would like to live close to work. My ideal commute would be less than 15 minutes, which would give me time to enjoy a sit down breakfast with my boyfriend (and as a major bonus, extra time to spend together!), sleeping in a bit more and still having time to exercise. As my routine stands now, I hit the snooze 4 times and drag myself to the elliptical. I then rush through my morning routine of showering, makeup, dressing and preparing lunches. Which of course, makes me late for work (not a lot, but enough to be stressful), and it sort of sets the tone for the day. And I would like to have a more pleasurable, calm start to my day.

As such, I've been looking at condos and lofts in that immediate vicinity. [Which is very close to where any future jobs would be for me, and for boyfriend, whose commute would be about the same, but coming from the opposite direction] I should note though, that I work in one of the most famous, exclusive LA neighborhoods where I certainly cannot afford to live. Now, or probably, ever. Immediately east of that, is a much cheaper and still delightful neighborhood which is still expensive, but I think, affordable (if you can call those prices affordable). That's where we'll be focusing on during our search. I did find one place that was well nigh impossibly out of our price range (less than 900 square feet for 899k!? You've GOT to be joking. But the rest, all seem to be doable in the near future. I'm becoming more and more excited about this new adventure.

Menus

2010-03-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

Last week was a strange one. Boyfriend had some last minute work things come up that negated the need for cooking (which was a nice break!). The good part though, is that I didn't have to do much food buying, or planning for this week because we're just shifting those meals over. Hence, the repeats:

Monday

Lunch: Tuna salad sandwich, whole grain goldfish crackers

Dinner: Chicken tortellini (him), ww spaghetti (me), homemade sauce, garlic bread, salad

Tuesday

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: Rice stir fry w/ chicken, broccoli, scallions (him). Oatmeal with granola and flax seeds (me)

Wednesday

Lunch: Chicken salad sandwich, goldfish crackers

Dinner: Grilled cheese + tomato, pea soup (him), 1/2 a grilled cheese w/ salad (me)

Thursday

Lunch: Chicken wrap, goldfish crackers

Dinner: Tortilla pizzas w/ veggies (add turkey bacon for him)

Friday

Lunch: We're taking the day off! We've decided to take a day trip to a town about 1/2 hour away. Fun! We anticipate having lunch out… but somewhere mega cheap!

Dinner: Whole grain Mac and Cheese, salad (okay, not fabulous for you, but delish. And I prefer to do simpler stuff Friday nights)

Ugh, Taxes

2010-03-27T17:27:00.001-07:00

I finally filed my taxes… which I was not at all pleased to do. I hate that I had to pay 400 dollars for getting laid off, and having to take freelance work. Hardly fair.

I used taxact, because my beloved turbotax thought it fair to charge me 40 somewad dollars because I had a 1099 form to enter. Not happening. Other than THAT, I really missed using it. TaxAct, was a NIGHTMARE. I am never using it again. Ugh. Turbotax is SO much more user friendly.

So my bank account is officially 400 dollars poorer. And I do not appreciate it. Although, I DO appreciate the fact that I'm not 800 dollars in the hole, thanks to the Obama tax credit.

One year later

2010-03-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

I got laid off exactly one year ago. Even though I have my job back, it still feels like it could go at almost any moment, especially this summer. I hope it doesn't… even though I'd very much like a NEW job, I feel my prospects aren't so great, in this still crappy economy. There are more jobs… but for things I have no interest in doing. My particular niche in my career path is much more specialized, and sadly, increasingly hard to come by. Ugh. But at least today, I'm still employed, and I'm about to start building up my savings again. Being laid off was hard. I've never been let go from anything before. In the past, my jobs all ended because I quit… either because school was starting or ending, or I moved across the country. It's hard to go from being a productive member of society to sitting around feeling quite sorry for myself all day. It absolutely sucks!

I've been thinking. I do a lot of sitting around waiting for stuff to happen so that GOOD stuff can happen. I don't do anything fabulous, like go on vacations, or have a great dinner out, or even small things like playing a round of mini golf and buying an ice cream cone. I don't DO ANYTHING! Why? Because I'm waiting to have my emergency fund built up. At that point, I truly don't see myself doing anything either… until my travel account is fully funded. What's the point!? I feel as though I'm missing out on amazing opportunities because of my inability to just DO. LIVE LIVE! And I hate that. We only get one shot that this, and I don't want to regret anything in the end. I don't want to look back and see a pile of money in the bank, but have no life experiences. I'm finding it hard to find a balance between having security and having a life. To that end, I'm taking a day off work next week (already cleared with the boss!) and boyfriend and I are going to DO something NEW (or at least different than the norm… he's got the day off too!). Whether it be going somewhere for the day (like Santa Barbara) or heading out to the beach for a walk, it's going to be fun. At the very least, it's not going to be our traditional fallback of renting a movie because we're too poor to enjoy life.

We've also decided to go ahead with this "buying a condo" thing. Of course, we'll likely not actually buy for at least 6 months… and will end up renting come June. But I realized that if we save for a downpayment, and THEN we save a fat emergency fund, and THEN we save to buy furniture for the new condo, and THEN we save for this and that… I'll still be in the same place I am now when I'm 50. And that's not what I want. I don't want to be reckless. And yes, I do believe in savings (and am still going to work towards that goal, with much vigor!). But I also believe that WE as a couple, need to make the most of this life. Don't worry, I'm not going to bust out the credit cards and max them out! (Trust me). But I am going to (TRY) to stop cheaping out on things quite so often, when it comes to making the most out of things.

Close enough!

2010-03-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't yet bought my groceries for next week, but since we ended up deviating quite a bit from our meal plan this week (boyfriend had two unexpected work related events pop up which made dinner unnecessary), there is really no need for anything but sandwich stuff for lunches. Good deal.

As a result, I am a bit over budget for groceries, but WAY under what I used to be, and the best part is!? I didn't break out the old credit card ONCE this month for ANYTHING. I'm so pleased! Since I'm coming in under budget for gas, and laundry, I'll be under budget for the month, total. I can't even explain how excited I am!

Got my Title!

2010-03-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! It came directly from Toyota, so it still has the lien holder info on it, which I need to get removed! I'm kind of hoping I can get it taken care of at AAA (there is a form to do so on their website, so hopefully!) so I don't have to spend my entire day at the DMV.

The only thing I'm wondering is, that since we're moving in a couple of months, and this title still has my previous address on it (from before we moved here) if I should just wait to get it changed over for my upcoming address. Hrm.

interest sucks

2010-03-23T20:51:00.001-07:00

I just got a transaction summary from Toyota which I requested. I've paid a total of 2,346.11 in interest. That's disgusting!!! I can't believe it. Ugh. I'm so never taking out a car loan again.

to buy or not to buy?

2010-03-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

Boyfriend and I went with his mom today to look at some condos. We want to buy. But we have very differing opinions on the matter. I don't necessarily think one of us is right, and the other wrong, but I'm interested in hearing what other people think on the matter.

We saw some absolute horrors that we would never ever rent, let alone buy. And we saw IT. The world's most perfect loft. There's no way we could ever afford it, and it's a bit on the high end of our price range, but it was lovely. Brand new construction, beautiful, absolutely prime location. A dream. Sigh. We're not making any offers, but we are working with a realtor, and have appointments set up for viewings on the weekends.

Anyway. I maintain that we should SAVE. I think if we rent for a year, or two, we can put away somebody's entire salary (or divide it up so it's even). If we diligently saved every penny, we could end up with a nice down payment, and a nice hefty emergency fund. Or, a really, really nice emergency fund (because the down payment will be gifted to us, but we would like to put the most down possible, and thus help out with our own money). I don't feel comfortable with no savings, at all. ESPECIALLY if we have a mortgage! Realistically, one person probably couldn't swing the mortgage on our own (I know, bad!), especially without major lifestyle changes. On top of that, there's HOA fees every month, and taxes. Not exactly something I'd want to just leave up to chance… as in there are no guarantees that we could both have a job in a few years, or what if we need a new car (a real possibility within the next five, for boyfriend, etc, etc). I play the "what if" game.

Boyfriend thinks renting is a waste of money, and it really bothers him that we'd be throwing money away. In the end, if we walk away with 50k+ in savings or so, to him, it's really a loss of the 15k we'd have spent on rent. He'd rather put that into a condo and use it to build equity. He thinks that if we play the "what if" game, we'll never jump on what we want, when it's right. Because in reality, there's never a right time to do these things, because something can, and will, always go wrong. Things will always happen to foil that plan, and then we're always in the same spot. In his eyes, if we save all that money, but then need to buy a new car before we can buy a house, then we're back at square one. If it plays out like that, technically we could end up never buying. He's not against having savings. He's just really against paying rent! And he'd rather buy now when the market is good than wait until we'd pay twice as much for the same thing.

I see his point. I absolutely think that there's never really a right time, It's all a gamble, and in the end we could save every penny we've ever made, and end up with nothing to show for it. And what's money really worth, until you spend it? To him, nothing (to me, everything… in the form of security, only). And it would be better to build equity in something rather than rent. I get it!

But. I want to be our own safety net. I don't want to get into a spot, and have to call up the rents. I'm really not okay with that. He wants us to be entirely self sufficient too. But he has no qualms about going to parents if he needs it. His parents are very (very) well to do, and very, very generous. [I should clarify that boyfriend is NOT spoiled, or supported by his parents. But he isn't too proud (like me) to take what's offered]. I have no problems accepting a gift of a down payment. But, I DO have a problem with that if I can't contribute to it as well. My parents are not in the position to help us. My mom makes less money than I do (by a lot, sadly) and lost most of her retirement money in the crash. My dad just paid off 100k in student loans for me. He's currently working on my sister and brother. I feel like I've gotten my "gift" and I don't feel comfortable in the least asking for him to pitch in. I actually refuse to do it. So it's all us, for our part)

So here's the pickle. Say we rent for a year and save up enough money for a down payment (our portion), and to have money in an emergency fund. But at that point, say the market is no longer a buyer friendly one. And we can't find the place we love, at the price we can afford. Or, we buy within the year. We have very minimal savings, but a fabulous place to live. It seems like a no brainer to me… but we see very differently on the issue. I don't think he's wrong. He's a very live in the moment type of guy. He doesn't generally worry about things, and he's a very positive person. It's one of my favorite things about him! I'm the worrier of the bunch. I'm always thinking about what could go wrong. I suppose that's not one of my more favorable personality traits. But I think with this large a financial obligation, we had better have the hefty, padded emergency fund. Just in case.

Menus!

2010-03-19T19:34:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd grab a few free minutes before my weekend of fun begins! Boyfriend is golfing with his mom at the moment (I had to work late, boo!) and then we're off to dinner. Tomorrow we're all going to Disneyland!

I tried to keep this week cheap. Heavy on the pastas, and fresh produce. Without further ado…

Monday

Lunch: Tuna with crisps

Dinner: Tortellini (chicken for him, cheese for me) with homemade veggie pasta sauce. Salad, Garlic Bread.

Tuesday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Rice stir fry with chicken, scallions, broccoli

Wednesday

Lunch: Spicy chicken wrap

Dinner: whole wheat tortilla pizza (veggies for me, turkey bacon, veggie for him)

Thursday

Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwich

Dinner: Pasta Primavera Bake (whole wheat penne, homemade sauce, mozzarella, carrots, summer squash, broccoli, onion), Salad, Garlic Bread

Friday

Lunch: Leftover Pasta Primavera bake

Dinner: Cheese Fries (homemade oven fries with cheddar melted on top), pea soup. [okay, not the healthiest, but tasty!]

It should be pretty inexpensive. I have most of the ingredients, but veggies, which are pretty cheap, in bulk. Otherwise, I need tortillas (my package from Whole Foods grew mold within a few days. I'm not buying that again! Waste of money.) aluminum foil, tuna. Boyfriend requested ham in his soup, so I'm not sure what I should do… can you get that kind of thing in the grocery store, custom cut? I'm not looking to buy a lot here. I know I can get canned, but the sodium content is atrocious!

Mid-Month Update

2010-03-18T17:06:00.000-07:00

So… March has been a great one! I've managed to remain on track with my budget thus far, but it's going to be tough for sure. I've got 54 dollars left in my grocery budget. EEK! Actually, I've spent way too much money on *ahem* girl scout cookies, so next month, I'll be able to stretch my dollars a lot more! At 4 dollars a box, let's just say I bought way too many of them. So, 27 dollars a week!? This may be a problem. I've already got my menu for next week planned out, and it looks to be somewhat low. I think we'll be eating more pastas the rest of the month to get some cheap meals in! The big news though, is that I still HAVE money left and I haven't used my credit card for anything (except my budgeted tank of gas yesterday). This is amazing!

April is looking rough. I got another bill from my gyno yesterday for my last round of shots. 55 dollars or so. Not tragic, but not planned. My appointment was in December! Why can't these people send bills out in a timely manner!? I also have to pay off my credit card, where I put 165 dollars of face creams in February (worth it, but so expensive). And tax time… 300 dollars poorer. Right now, my budget is running over by… um 750 dollars. Not good. I'm not quite sure where to cut my expenses! I paid my car off with my April budget, so there isn't any savings scheduled until May, technically. So there's just no room to make this happen without dipping into my savings. There is a chance I might put my Dr. bill on my credit card just to give me another month on that, but that doesn't help much! I wonder if I can pull that with my taxes too? Does it have to be cash/debit?

I can't wait until I have money in savings again.

Insurance

2010-03-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

I did some research tonight on my car insurance. And, it seems that I don't feel comfortable getting rid of comp or collision. After all, my car is only 3 years old and worth a lot more than I have in cash! I feel better knowing that I'm covered in case I need it. Plus, it covers ACV (actual cash value, minus depreciation), which is better than if it only covered like 5,000 or something. (I'll admit though, that the 1,000 dollars of coverage would have looked cozy in my e-fund!) And I never had a rider for GAP insurance, so nothing changes there. Hrm. It appears that my policy is good. Am I missing something?

Chicken Tacos

2010-03-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

I had a reader request the recipe for the chicken tacos with corn, spinach and feta. It's so simple to make, and really delicious!

Here's the original recipe from Real Simple. Unless I'm baking, I tend to use recipes as a loose guideline so [my revisions are noted.]

• 1 14 oz pkg extra firm tofu, drained, patted dry and crumbled

[2 small chicken cutlets, cooked (I grill them with chili powder). I only put chicken in two of them, so you'll want to make more if using it in all 4]

• 2 cups frozen corn, thawed [I use the roasted corn from trader joes]

• 6 cups fresh baby spinach (loosely packed). [I really don't measure it though, and just use a half of a bag]

• 4-10" flour tortillas [warmed, if you wish. I don't bother. We use whole wheat tortillas]

• 3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese [I use feta on two, and cheddar on two]

• 3/4 cup salsa [I don't measure it… just spoon on whatever looks good]

1. Heat 1 tbs olive oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu, chili powder (1 1/2 tsp), 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally until golden brown, 4-5 minutes. [I just grill up 2 chicken cutlets with chili powder, and a spray of olive oil]

2. Add corn and cook, tossing until heated through (about 2 minutes). Add spinach and toss until wilted.

3. Fill tortillas with mixture, add cheese and salsa. Makes 4.

Enjoy!

I'm always willing to post recipes if anyone wants, just ask!

Now what?

2010-03-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

My car balance is officially ZERO! I'm thrilled :-)

On my to do list:

Call Toyota to see if they mail the title to me, or to me, via the DMV. Either way, I need to make sure it's titled to ME and not the lien holder. I suspect this will result in a small charge from the DMV. No biggie.

Call, or visit AAA to get my insurance rates reduced. Now that I am the owner, I'm not required to have a lot of the coverage required by TFS. I'll have to do a bit of investigating to determine how much coverage I want. I'm hoping to get cut a check for the difference, which I can then apply to my taxes.

Get my mirror fixed. Maybe. I want it fixed! But, we are DEFINITELY moving in June. And that's going to be an endeavor which we can't really afford. I might hold off on this until boyfriend has a slightly more lucrative income.

And the MOST important? Continue SAVING every penny of that money which I was using to pay my car off every month. NO questions asked!!!!!

Fortunes

2010-03-13T20:43:00.000-08:00

My fortune from the Chinese dinner I was treated to tonight (after the fabulous concert at Disney Hall?)

be sure to handle financial affairs wisely

On a side note… I can't wait for the day when I can pick up the check for 12 people and not blink an eye. Can't wait.

Also? From now on, I will always have a 20 in my wallet. Parking was 9 dollars, which I knew, but figured I could just put it on my card. Nope. I had to run to the closest atm (which was Wells Fargo, not Bank of America) and pay 3 dollars to take my own stupid money out of the bank. And that's the WF fee. I anticipate getting slammed with a 3 dollar Bank of America fee shortly. Hate.

But I think having a 20 in my wallet would be a small step in handling financial affairs wisely, no? Avoiding those crap atm fees would be nice. Argh.

how to avoid reverting to my old ways

2010-03-13T14:18:00.000-08:00

Now that my car is paid off (yay!), I'd like to revert back to my "old" budgeting method. Which is, using the money that I earn in that particular month. Now, I use money that I had earned the month prior. I LOVE this method. It's easy, I always have my money when I need it, and I don't even have to think about it. LOVE it. Truth be told, I don't want to go back to my old method. It's so annoying to have pay days on a different week each month, and trying to keep due dates straight to determine when I have to pay this bill, and that. I really hate it. But… if I do go back to it, it means I can put an entire months worth of salary in my e-fund. And that? Sounds really appealing right now.

So. I've made a list of everything I need money for (cable bill, groceries, etc), and marked whether or not I needed cash (housekeeper, roommate bills) or if it could be put on credit to be paid off immediately of course! (groceries, gas, cell phone). I really think that because sometimes I won't get paid until the 2nd week of the month, and having no cash will mean that I'll have to put anything I can on credit. This brings up the question. Do I trust myself to do this? I'm not sure. I would still keep impeccable records and budgets. I just know from experience, that it's a LOT easier to stick something on my credit card, as opposed to having the money come from my debit account. But a months salary is a lot of money, and I really feel uncomfortable with such a pitiful savings account right now! I might just have to try it and see. The biggest problem of course, is that I need cash, on the first of the month for roommate related crap. The only way I can deal with this, is to count it in my budget for the previous month. This gets sticky… and is really why I hate budgeting this way. So stressful. I'm going to have to make good use of my financial calendars here, and hope that it works out.

It's a light week!

2010-03-12T22:39:00.000-08:00

I've got a busy weekend, so I thought I'd get a jump on the menu for next week! Tomorrow I'm attending a concert at Disney Hall! I'm super excited, but the best part is that it's free :-) Plus, there's the general weekend errands and a date with boyfriend!

This is going to be the cheapest week yet! Which is good… because things are looking pretty tight in the grocery budget. I picked up a huge bag of shredded cheddar today, plus a jar of salsa, which set me back 10 bucks (ouch!!), but will last me at least a month. MIL is in town this Friday-Sunday, so I only have to plan through Thursday, because we have some fun outings planned! I tried to only pick menus of items that we already owned and need to be used up, so there aren't many gaps to fill. Just how I like it!

Monday

Lunch: Tuna salad with celery and crisps

Dinner: Whole wheat spaghetti (and leftover homemade sauce), salad

Tuesday

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: avocado, cucumber and cheddar burritos with split pea soup

Wednesday

Lunch: chicken salad sandwich

Dinner: chicken tacos with spinach, corn, feta [cheddar]

Thursday

Lunch: spicy chicken wrap, with leftover taco filling

Dinner: spinach and tomato salad over rice [may add chicken, if boyfriend wants it]

So that's an easy grocery list!

-Spinach

-Cherry tomatoes

-2 cucumbers

-can of tuna

-cream cheese

-whole wheat bagels [since it's a light week, i'm "splurging" on breakfast!]

-pita chips

-beefsteak tomato for sandwiches [might not even need it, i still have a half a one left]

I think I can get out of the store for less than 20 bucks.

I OWN MY CAR!

2010-03-11T20:06:00.001-08:00

It's all paid off!!!! [technically the payment hasn't cleared my account yet, but by Monday, it will officially be ALL MINE!]. I'm excited :-)

Some Updates

2010-03-07T17:19:00.000-08:00

I just made some split pea soup (probably about 5 cups worth), which will give my boyfriend a side dish into next week! [i hate peas! Although, it did smell divine]. We also have about 5 boxes of rice to use, which I keep putting on the menu, but we never eat it! It always seems to be replaced with a salad, which is not bad, but I want to use it up! I actually have been getting such a sense of satisfaction when I use an entire package of food up, without having to throw it away, as I have in the past, because we never get around to eating it. It's kind of nice to be buying foods for a specific reason, and actually using them. It's odd what makes you happy as you get older :-D

My car will be paid off in ONE WEEK!!!! There may of course, be additional fees after my payoff (for what, I do not know, but I'm anticipating that I might get boned with some crap fee). But, I should have that title in my hands by the end of the month!!! I'm also hoping that I can get the rate on my car insurance reduced a bit. Maybe even enough to offset the entirety of my taxes!? We'll see…

Yesterday, I was thinking I'd run to the outlets today (an hour away) in search of some new cardigans at JCrew. Something I simply can't afford! I was actually planning on heading out today, but I'm SUPER glad I talked myself out of it. Yes, new clothes would be nice, (and I really do need some), but not in the cards. Maybe in a few months, when I've got a good amount back in the emergency fund.

I just recently watched Father of the Bride, and Father of the Bride 2, for the very first time! I cannot believe I had never seen them before. Really good, and FREE! We'd gotten two free rentals at Blockbuster, and boyfriend let me get a dose of chick flicks. We want to get Netflix (I had it for a few months in grad school, and LOVED it, but alas, it was too expensive at the time). However, I can't stomach the 9-15 dollars a month! It's not even a lot of money, but I can't do it. Probably when we move, we'll sign up. It's odd that I think it's too expensive, but I don't balk at paying 250 dollars for a pair of jeans. I mean, really?

I'm off… I've got a few more things on my to do list today, and then boyfriend and I are going to catch the Oscars (we dvr'ed it!).

Groceries

2010-03-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

I spent 51.71 on groceries for the week (not including the 3 dollars at Starbucks… oops!). This means I have 55 dollars left per week, for the remainder of March. I feel confident that I can do it… but it's DEFINITELY going to be tight. I.E. NO room for extra treats, and I'm going to have to be really good about menu planning and coming up with cheap meals for the month. I'm really going to try to come in under (or more likely, on) budget for groceries this month, and so far, it's going good!

I find that on the weekends, when we don't have meals planned, we tend to want to go out more, rather than cook. I'm not sure if it's because I don't have a solid plan (and thus something to look forward to), or because it's the weekend, and I'd rather just not cook! But we seem to be getting by on grilled cheese, pasta and salads. However, we DID have pizza delivered, but boyfriend generously treated us to that :-) That's why I think my desire to stay home and cook during the week is because I have a plan, and I can look forward to dinner! I'm one of those people who gets excited thinking about what's on the menu, and if we do end up going out, I get disapointed! Which is definitely new for me, but in a good way.

Now I'm off to make a batch of split pea soup, and pasta sauce for the week!

Weekly Menu Time!

2010-03-06T17:32:00.000-08:00

There are three weeks left in March, which means that I have 75 dollars a week (MAX). I'm really hoping to keep this weeks spending to a minimum. However, I have to buy condiments and such which I happened to run out of at the same time (I hate that!). So here goes.

Monday

Lunch: Tuna Salad with radish, celery, flatbread crisps

Dinner: Whole Wheat spaghetti [and homemade sauce], salad, flax seed bread

Tuesday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Avocado, cucumber, cheddar "burritos". Broccoli soup [for boyfriend]

Wednesday

Lunch: Spicy chicken wrap

Dinner: Chicken Fried [whole grain/brown] Rice [no chicken for me]

Thursday

Lunch: Leftover chicken fried rice tortilla

Dinner: Grilled Cheese with Pear and Ham [nix the ham for me]. Broccoli soup.

Friday

Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwich

Dinner: Chicken, green bean and cucumber salad over rice

I'll really only need veggies, bread, ingredients for sauce, tuna and tortillas, in addition to the condiments. So… it SHOULD be a fairly low cost trip.

Cookie Time

2010-03-06T16:03:00.001-08:00

I just spent a 20 spot on girl scout cookies (they're TOTALLY sugar free, right!?). I wish that more of the money went to support the girl scouts, but you can't deny that the cookies are fabulous :-) I'm doing my grocery shopping tomorrow, and I'm going to hopefully stay under 50.

Does anybody else have a roommate who eats their food without permission? I do. I HATE it. I especially hate it when I plan on having something, that "magically" disappears on me. Like last week? 3 cans of soup (which I was going to have for dinner). A package of english muffins (yes, the WHOLE package). A box of soup (in the fridge) and salad dressing. Not ok. It's not my boyfriend eating it. I couldn't care less if he eats OUR food. Plus, he would tell me if he ate it (when I asked where it went). I can't wait to move. It cannot come soon enough. I hate roommates with a passion. I wish I was a more confrontational person, but alas…

Let's just say the (expensive) cookies are being stored in our bedroom.

What's in Your Wallet?

2010-03-02T21:11:00.000-08:00

I have a pink coach mini skinny wallet circa 2004. Boyfriend got it for me (along with a matching purse, natch) for Christmas, and for that reason, I cannot part with it. Even though I have a brand new wallet (from my MIL), which I love. And despite the fact that it's so full of crap, it's definitely not skinny anymore! And because my Louis Vuitton Speedy is my purse of choice [since 2007] and the wallet does NOT go.

The outer slot contains my parking pass for work, and my license. I really like the easy access actually. And that's another reason why I don't want to part with it!

Inside I have the following…

• BoA Debit Card

• CVS Extra Care Card

• Pavilions Card [note: I HATE Pavilions. I shop at Vons for most of my marketing. And yes, I know they're the same company.]

• Punch card to a local burger joint [amazing place. totally had no idea this card was even in here!]

• ING Electric Orange Debit Card

• School ID from Grad School [I still use it to get discounts. And I do not think there's anything wrong with that. Especially considering I still get asked if I'm in high school].

• Dental Insurance Card

• Health Insurance Card

• AAA Membership Card

• Ralphs Rewards Card [never use it now that we've moved. There used to be a Ralphs just down the street from us]

• Sharky's Finatic Card [never use it. it's actually boyfriends, but I have the extra]

• Anthro Card. LOVE Anthropologie. Can't afford to shop there right now :-/

• Local Public Library Card. It's actually not even valid since I still haven't taken over proof of address. [my license has my old address for a different town]

• Blockbuster Card [It's one of the old school LAMINATED ones. Wow.]

• Hollywood Video Card [they've closed near me. Not even sure where there is another one]

• Club Bev Card from BevMo. I've shopped there… once.

• Loehmanns Insider Club Card. I used to get a LOT of discounts because of it. You know. When I couldn't afford to shop, but did anyway]

• Sephora Beauty Insider Card [just got a free deluxe sample of Dior Hydraction Serum]

• WaMu Visa [my oldest card, with the credit limit so high I could buy a brand new car. Not that I think this would be a good idea]

• Shell Citi Mastercard [The cash rebates on gas aren't very much, but a few dollars is a few dollars]

I think it's safe to say I could get rid of half the stupid club cards and not miss them…

Anyway. What's in your wallet?

Found Money

2010-03-02T20:57:00.001-08:00

For some reason (I think I was working over an old budget sheet and forgot to change the number), I thought our housekeeper was coming twice this month. [She comes every third week]. Well, I just went through my calendars and discovered that she's only coming once! So, I had a "free" 75 dollars. I debated throwing it into savings, but decided to put it in my grocery budget instead. If I can't come under my new 305 dollar budget, I'm going to be seriously mad at myself. And it's kind of fortuitous timing too. Turns out, when you're not looking, boyfriends will eat your entire bag of biscotti in two days. Argh! So much for that lasting all week :-)

Counting Down

2010-03-02T12:52:00.000-08:00

I'm eagerly awaiting the 12th of March! For, I get paid, and I get to make my VERY LAST CAR PAYMENT! I'm quite excited to say the least. Very.

I've been looking over the emergency fund savings plan I set up a few weeks ago, and it's getting me all excited! IMAGINE… provided nothing huge changes, I'll have 15k by this time next year. I cannot wait. By the end of May alone, I shall have about 3500 (not a lot, compared to what I did have) but significant nonetheless. And by the end of Summer? I'll have my 10k goal funded. fully. It makes me giddy!

In all this excitement to start SAVING again, I was speaking to boyfriend, and we think it may be a good idea to take some of that first chunk and get my car mirror replaced. Yes, I want to get it replaced. No, I do not want to pay for it (which is why it's been missing for two years). But, I think it's time. Especially because actually OWNING the car will make me want to have it nicer. And, because I'll no longer be making payments, I won't feel as bummed about paying to get something fixed.

Still. I can't wait for this next phase of my life to begin. In a way, I'm super bummed that I used all my savings for my car. But, in a way, it's nice… because I paid it off in half the time it would have taken me otherwise. Plus, this gives me so much more motivation to build up my reserves again.

Ugh!

2010-03-01T09:41:00.001-08:00

https://www.billpayregistry.com/

This just screams tacky to me. Asking friends and family to pay off your debts as a wedding gift? No. IMO, if you're gifted cash, you can use it for debt repayment. But expecting them to pay off your run up Visa bill? I would be peeved.

Big News!

2010-02-28T16:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, maybe not exciting to anyone but me… but I just did our weekly grocery shopping for the first week in March and… the total came to 51.31! And actually, the only reason it was that high, was because I bought a lot of snacks that we could have at work (like goldfish crackers, trail mix, biscotti and chips). Plus a couple of staples like salsa and tea. The food we needed for our actual meals, only came to 30 dollars or so. Those snacks will actually last us all month, which is fantastic. I'm SO pleased that I only spent less than a quarter of our monthly food budget! This is right on track. Next week, I HOPE to be just as frugal. We'll have leftover pasta sauce from dinner tomorrow night, to use for next week, and we already have pasta in the pantry. Plus plenty of rice, frozen veggies, rice milk etc. I don't anticipate next week being too expensive at all. I will probably need to purchase another big bag of chicken cutlets this month, but not for another couple of weeks. I'm going to be extra diligent with my menu for next week, to make sure I use up EVERYTHING I bought this week.

I'm REALLY going to try hard to keep food under $225 this month. We'll see! My mother in law is coming for the weekend this month, and we may possibly be headed to Arizona for a weekend as well [plans have not yet been confirmed, but it would be quite fabulous], which will cut down on meals, since she always treats us. However, it IS girl scout cookie month. And I do plan to throw my sugar free diet to the side for a box (or three) of samoas.I have NO shame when it comes to those things! And that will be like $15 dollars or so. Eek. I had BETTER be good with my budget for the month.

Filed under perfection.

2010-02-27T22:32:00.000-08:00

Until today, I thought all file cabinets were ugly metal contraptions. Luckily, I was wrong. I've found the perfect file cabinet. It's made of WOOD. And it's white (I really dislike "wood colored" furniture) Two drawers for files, plus a bonus drawer, which will be perfect for storing misc. desk items (like pens) that currently take up space on my desk, and take away from it looking clean and cute. [I kind of wish that the only thing on my desk was my laptop. And framed photographs. But I have a giant printer (prints up to 18 inches wide), a box which holds all my utensils, a hard drive, and a bunch of notebooks/books/dvds lined up aginst the wall. It's awful]

It's just perfect. The only flaw is that it's 240 dollars. I found many others that were at least twice that amount. But even 240 dollars is just not in the cards right now (considering the pathetic state of my savings accounts). The other minor bummer is that it's just a bit too tall to fit under my desk. Which means I should probably wait until we move to get it anyway, because I'd rather not shove it up against the wall between my desk and elliptical. Too much junk! I cannot wait until we have an office. I absolutely HATE having our desks, the elliptical, golf clubs, guitars, etc, taking up our bedroom. Hate.

A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place

2010-02-27T17:08:00.001-08:00

I'm constantly pulling articles, recipes and images from magazines to use as reference, but they just end up cluttering up my desk. Today, I hole punch everything and put them into a binder. I have tabs for to do lists and goals / menu planning (with a clear pocket for my recipes) / notes and reference / calendars (which mainly house my financial info, like due dates and goals) / home / wedding.

It's gotten all those annoying loose odds and ends tied up in one neat binder, and it provides easy access for all my most used things. (I've actually been using it for menu planning and it works fabulously). The best part is that my desk is now completely clutter free! It's pretty amazing how much my stress level has declined not having to deal with all that crap!

Let's try this menu thing again

2010-02-27T14:59:00.001-08:00

Here's my attempt to eat on the cheap… while still making our meals healthy, sugar free and delicious. I'm also attempting to have to purchase as few ingredients as possible, while still giving us plenty of variety (ie: no chicken and rice every day).

My lunch is yet again, a veggie sandwich. Still tasty. Lunches listed, are for my boyfriend.

I haven't been planning for the weekends. Boyfriends work schedule is so unpredictable for the weekends, that we usually just end up eating sandwiches and soup, or making something up quickly, like rice, or leftovers. And there always seems to be one day where we just end up eating leftovers during the week and that dinner is moved to another day.

Monday

Lunch: Tuna Salad with Radish and Celery, on WW flatbread crisps [own all ingredients]

Dinner: WW Tortellini (with homemade veggie sauce), Salad, Flax Seed Bread [need to purchase all ingredients. Leftover bread will be my breakfast for the rest of the week]

Tuesday

Lunch: His day off… leftovers

Dinner: Broccoli Soup and Grilled Cheese and Tomato [need everything but the bread]

Wednesday

Lunch: Chicken + Veggie Wrap [need lettuce, cheese, tomato and avocado]

Dinner: Pizza on WW tortillas (broccoli, onion, homemade sauce, feta (on his) [own all, sauce is leftover from Monday]

Thursday

Lunch: Chicken Salad Sandwich [own all ingredients]

Dinner: Shrimp and Scallion Stir Fry (I'll skip the shrimp, or eat leftover soup) [need scallions and cashews]

Friday

Lunch: Chicken + Veggie Wrap

Dinner: Grilled Chicken, Potatoes, Leeks and Carrots in Parchment (I'll have leftover soup instead of chicken, if the veggies don't fill me up) [need potatoes, leeks]

So, I have the staples, like chicken + shrimp (god bless my freezer!) rice, bread, tortillas and condiments. My list mostly consists of veggies, tortellini, ingredients for sauce, nuts and coffee creamer. Hopefully the damage will be less than 50 bucks, but knowing my luck (and tendency to get lot's of sugar free chocolates – which are expensive), it won't.

I lack willpower

2010-02-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

I just paid my credit card bill… and wiped my short term savings clean in the process. I'm not sure what happened… I've used almost 9k in savings since OCTOBER. Yes, most of it went towards my car so I can just get rid of the loan, but a lot went to small things. Mostly food. See, I know I'm setting myself up to fail every month by setting a 225 dollar grocery/food/dining out budget for two people. It's impossible!!! (for somebody who doesn't want to spend their life couponing and eating ramen). But… my car repayment budget is VERY tight, and I'm so determined to pay it off, that food is what I end up sacrificing. Only, not really. Every time I run out of money for food… it ends up on my card. Last month, I ran out of money after two weeks (and I wasn't even buying a lot).

This coming month, I'll be making my very last payment to my car, and I'll be putting that money towards my emergency fund once again. Except I may short it by 100 dollars and give myself a little breathing room in my food budget. Because, really, if I'm just depleting my savings by using my card, it's really getting me NOWHERE. Sigh. I hate that I have no willpower. I just tried to take my cards out of my wallet, but I couldn't do it. WHAT IF!? I can't get the what if scenarios out of my mind, and I hate it. I hate that if they're in my wallet, I can't NOT use them.

So… I'll try this menu planning thing again this month, and attempt to use up what we have, and find ways to eat healthy on the cheap. I frustrate myself to no end…

Well, it SEEMS simple!

2010-02-26T19:32:00.001-08:00

http://con.st/252491

Menu Monday Again!

2010-02-21T20:47:00.000-08:00

It's been a great weekend! Very fun but VERY busy! I still have a bunch of things on my to do list before I go to bed in a couple of hours, but I'm taking a few moments to watch SATC and relax!

Note: My lunch will be a veggie sandwich with pita chips all week. I'm starting to get a little tired of it, but I really have no idea what else to eat [that I would like]. It's just not as filling when I have a bagel, or oatmeal or something. This sandwich fills me up ALL afternoon! What I list for lunches, will be for boyfriend only.

Monday:

Lunch: Chicken wrap, pita chips

Dinner: Roasted Pepper and Corn Soup with Grilled Cheese [just the GC for me]

Tuesday:

Boyfriend's day off. He'll have leftovers for lunch.

Dinner: Grilled Shrimp and Spinach Salad. Hummus Dip with homemade whole wheat pitas. [i despise all things seafood… so I'll have a sandwich or soup or something]

Wednesday:

Lunch: Tuna Salad [with radish, celery on flatbread crisps with fresh spinach]

Dinner: Chicken, Rice, Broccoli [cereal for me]

Thursday:

Lunch: Chicken wrap, mixed nuts

Dinner: Chicken tacos with spinach, corn, feta [cheddar for me]. This was a huge hit last week! It will probably be a frequent repeat. If we like something, we'll eat it often.

Friday: Tuna Salad [with radish, celery on flatbread crisps with fresh spinach]

Dinner: Nachos [boyfriend has tentative plans to hang out with a friend, so if he's home, we'll add soup to the mix]

Weekend: We've been flexible on the weekend. I'm not really planning because we always have a change of plans. There's plenty of stuff in the freezer to pull together a good meal on a whim.

My grocery bill this week was pretty affordable too… only 25 dollars! All I had to buy was bread, cheese, pita chips and produce. If only I could keep it that low ALL the time!

The Wants

2010-02-21T19:38:00.001-08:00

While my wants tend to change week to week, here's what I'm currently wishing for:

New jeans. My go to brand (seven for all mankind), while amazing, get really worn out in the knees and butt after a few years (which doesn't happen with ANY other brand!). I have one pair which I cannot even wear anymore, as they are SO threadbare in the butt (and it would be terribly awkward if I was out and about and they finally broke!). One other pair is terribly worn through the knees, and really just look a little junky.

A Spa Day. While I was originally going to treat myself to a spa day when I paid my car off, I really can't justify the cost anymore. I'll probably do this later this summer, or in the fall instead. Bliss has SO many great menu items. And this amazing organic spa near my house looks so fantastic. Sigh. It's been so long since I've had a manicure.

Leggings. I currently rock some childrens leggings from target (they fit the same as womens xs and are like 5 dollars a pair!) for my workouts and just hanging around the house. But I'd like a sturdier pair suitable for wearing outside of the house.

Linens. While our sheets and towels suffice, they are most definitely in need of an upgrade. I'd love to splurge on some great linens that will last a long time. And I really want a new pillow. It's gotten a little pounded… to the point where it's quite uncomfortable to sleep on. Not ok.

A Tea Set. I never had a tea set growing up, and I probably will always resent it! I'd love a gorgeous set (like from Anthropologie) so I can have grown up tea parties.

Workout Gear. I would love some comfy, easy to move in CUTE warm up clothes for going for hikes in Runyon, and the like. And some sneakers.

A Puppy. We've been wanting to get a puppy for a couple of years, but they're seriously expensive! We plan to get one from a reputable breeder. Between the cost of the puppy, vet visits, and all the supplies you need, it's just not feasible now. Boo.

Uggs. I have a pair of the cardy's, which I LOVE. But they're not really good for wearing all the time and kind of beating them up [for lack of a better phrase]. I had to throw away my last pair because I neglected to waterproof them… and a trip to the East Coast this summer with no rain boots and constant rain led to mildew. Disgusting. I want a tall pair in brown, and to replace my short pair in chestnut.

Menu Monday!

2010-02-15T09:04:00.000-08:00

Since I've started menu planning, I've been less inclined to "just eat out so I don't have to bother cooking" and we eat healthier, better food! I highly recommend it, even though it hasn't yet saved me any money :-/ In fact, it's been more expensive than buying random stuff and not knowing what to do with it. Hopefully this will change with practice. We've also been on a sugar free diet for the past month. So we aim to eat less than 15 grams of sugar a day [including sugars from carbs, and natural sugars from fruits and veggies. And definitely no processed sugars, or white flours]. You'll also notice that I sometimes short order cook. I am the pickiest eater alive, but I want boyfriend to eat real food, so I don't mind cooking two meals.

Monday

Lunch: Leftover broccoli Soup with Grilled Cheese (me), Spicy Chicken Wrap (him)

Dinner: LGO Cafe [We're celebrating Valentines Day tonight!]

Tuesday

Lunch: Boyfriend has the day off, so he'll eat leftovers, or grab some Sharky's. Veggie sandwich with pita chips (me).

Dinner: Whole Wheat Spaghetti with homemade veggie pasta sauce. Salad. Whole Wheat bread.

Wednesday

Lunch: Chicken, Rice and Broccoli (him). Veggie sandwich with pita chips (me)

Dinner: Corn and Roasted Red Pepper Soup, with Grilled Cheese and Tomato

Thursday

Lunch: Turkey Sandwich with Veggies, Pita Chips (him), Veggie Sandwich with pita chips (me)

Dinner: Veggie tacos with Spinach, Corn, Feta Cheese [cheddar cheese for me]. Side of Hummus Dip (him)

Friday

Lunch: Veggie Sandwich, with pita chips (me). Boyfriend is taking the day off to hang out with out of town friends.

Dinner: Dinner out… with friends from out of town.

Saturday

Brunch: Whole Wheat Bagel (me), scrambled egg whites with turkey and veggies with toast and avocado (him)

Dinner: Chicken, Rice, Broccoli (him), Nachos (me)

Sunday

Brunch: Soup with Grilled Cheese and Tomato

Dinner: Leftovers for me, Dinner served at Work Meeting (him)

It's a list kind of day…

2010-02-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I want something, I'll obsess over it for a while. Usually though, I'll forget about it a few days later, and I realize that I don't need it. I just want it [things like new shoes, handbags and clothing]. However, there are some things that I need… but never buy because they're not "fun" purchases, they're practical. And… if I'm going to spend money on something, I'd rather buy new jeans than binders to house all my dvd's.

But here's my list of needs.

1. Binders for dvds. I have run out of room for them! Most of my movies are in binders, and the rest are stacked in loose piles. My tv shows (which I have many of) are starting to annoy me… I currently store them in cute boxes from ikea, but it's such a pain to search through boxes and find dvds, that I never put them away. Thus, it makes a mess. I'd like a few more binders to get rid of all my tv show cases (except for SATC, which I cannot part with!). Except, they're expensive. Like 75 dollars a piece expensive. And I'll need at least two… probably 3. Ugh.

2. Checks. I ran out about 6 months ago, and I still cannot bear to spend 30 dollars on new checks. So, every time I have to pay the housekeeper, or rent, I have to run to the atm. It's a huge hassle.

3. Flour/Sugar canisters. Actually the only reason I haven't bought these, is because I can't seem to find any that I like (that I can afford).

4. Moisturizer. I have enough points on my credit card to get a gift card. I might do this… but it seems like spending 2500 dollars on a $10 gift card seems like an astronomical waste! No idea why. [I still have enough of my current moisturizer to last a week or two longer… but I hate it].

5. Filing Cabinet.

6. Shredder.

7. New desk chair (mine broke… more than a year ago). I'm too cheap to replace it.

8. Salad spinner. It would make my salads last another day in the fridge, and they'd taste better. Enough said.

9. Digital camera. Boyfriend bought me mine our first Christmas together. Now, it's so old that it literally will drain brand new batteries within ten minutes. Not joking. Plus, as it's so old, it's big and clunky. Time for an upgrade.

10. GPS. We have one, but it resides in boyfriends car, since he uses it for work sometimes. Plus, if I need it, I have gps on my iphone. I have our old one, but it needs a new cable. I can't see spending 60 dollars for a cable for an old model gps, that's kind of large and clunky. I'd like a new slim model.

to do list

2010-02-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day! Sadly, boyfriend has to work today, but we celebrated in part yesterday (a date to see Valentines Day, and a trip to the driving range) and will finish tomorrow, with tentative plans to play golf, and have lunch at our favorite little local cafe. We decided that dinner tonight would be a complete zoo, and it just wasn't worth the hassle! So we'll have a nice evening in instead and I'll cook tortellini or something (I made homemade sauce this week… delish!). The extra money to do all these fun things will come from the freelance check I got. The rest will go in my savings account.

Recently, we've been decluttering. We took a huge haul of STUFF to goodwill yesterday (if I attempted to sell any of it, it would literally, NEVER leave my house. I know I'll just never take the time to do it, so off it goes. It's worth it, although the extra money would have been nice.). Last weekend I got rid of everything we don't need, or use, and gave our room a deep cleaning. Today I cleaned off my desk. Now all that's left is boyfriends half of the closet shelving, his desk [I've kind of gotten it organized for him, he just needs to go through it, because I won't throw anything of his away without permission] and the junk under our bed (mostly though, it's just art in flat files) and we'll be done with our room! We're trying to get rid of stuff so that it will be less of a hassle when we move. Although, I still feel weighed down by stuff. Probably though, it's because we need a bigger apartment, and a separate office space. I HATE having our desks and junk in our bedroom. It's absolutely awful!

Next on my wish list is to buy a filing cabinet. We have one, but boyfriend is the only one who uses it, because we got it off craigslist, and it just skeeves me out (plus it has a musty smell from the former owner). My files currently are in an oversized messenger bag in folders. Not ideal… it's a pain to search through and find things, and it's getting too full. But, I'm going to wait until we move for that.

I've also been putting together a financial/household binder. In it, I have my menu plans, calendars through the rest of the year (all color coded, marking off payday, bill due dates, etc) and listed financial goals, etc.). It's nice to keep it all in one place, rather than strewn about my desk!

So at least it's been a productive weekend.

Waiting

2010-02-13T08:02:00.000-08:00

I wish transactions could be instantaneous. If I make a payment, it takes a few days to post to my account, and the money is marked as paid, but it's not yet withdrawn from my checking account yet, etc. I get so excited to see the balance in my car loan drop, but it takes forever after I make a payment to do so! [I made my second to last payment on Thursday! Although that's yet to be reflected on either of my accounts!]

I'm also impatient when it comes to paying loans off, or building up my savings. It seems like waiting a month in between takes forever. I do not want to wish my life away, but I sometimes wish these next few months would hurry up. Because I hate how low my e-fund balance is right now, and I want to max it out so I can start saving for other things. I feel like my life is always ten steps behind everybody my age, who are already married, have kids [note that I do NOT want kids for at least a decade!], own beautiful houses, and go on amazing vacations to fabulous places. Meanwhile, boyfriend and I can't even afford to go away for the weekend! And it's frustrating.

On that note, we're still not sure if we're going to go anywhere this weekend. Probably not… which is dissapointing, because it seems like after almost 7 years we should have gone somewhere together! We may take a day trip to somewhere like Joshua Tree, or Santa Barbara, or go to a semi-nearby canyon and do some hiking/have a picnic. Still fun, but I can't wait until the day when we can pack up and go somewhere fun for a long weekend.

Math

2010-02-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

I was curious as to when exactly I would be able to replenish (and then fully fund) my emergency fund. So, I built out a spreadsheet (very similar to my car payoff schedule) and did the math.

Assuming I save 1,000 a month, switch my budgeting method so I have two extra paychecks to put back in my account, save my extra paycheck in July, and save the entirety of my next freelance check, I'll have just over 10k by August. Imagine! By the end of summer, I'll be able to MOVE ON!! I could also save an additional 5k by February. A year from today I could be 15k richer! [although it will be used for travel, I expect, or my Roth, so I guess it wont' stick around for long].

Mapping out my savings plan though, does inspire me. I'll for sure make sure that every extra cent goes into that fund.

duh!

2010-02-08T22:32:00.000-08:00

NOT sure how I missed this one… but since I live on what I've earned in the month prior, I should be making my car payments when I get my paychecks (since they'll just be sitting in my bank account for a month waiting for me to use them). Duh! This also means that technically, I'll have my car paid off NEXT MONTH! (By making my March payment in February, when I get paid Friday, and my April payment in March the first check of the month). SO excited! I had originally planned to treat myself to a few choice spa treatments when I paid my car off. BUT… I don't think I will, because…

We're still toying with what to do with my freelance check… but we're leaning towards a one night/one day wine tasting/tour in the Santa Ynez Valley for Valentines Day. A little more than we'd planned to spend… but honestly? We've been together for 6.5 years and have NEVER ever taken a trip alone together (because we're always lacking funds, and for many years, general proximity). Except when we went to Disney World for a week… and poor boyfriend spent the entire trip sick with strep throat! Bummer :-( It just feels like something we deserve, and need. But we'll see what happens.

When my car is paid off, I intend to put every cent that I had been putting on my car, towards my savings account. I absolutely NEED to get my savings built back up. And if I go back to budgeting with checks I'm earning within that given month (not ideal, but it will give me two paychecks to put in my e-fund), I should have it built back to where it was by June. And it will absolutely be maxed out not long after that (actual timing depending on when we move, but July IS a 3 paycheck month!). PHEW.

I just can't wait to start saving for fun things, like a downpayment, a trip to Europe, and new furniture! Oh, and that Roth IRA that I've been sadly neglecting…

Freelance Income!

2010-02-05T19:56:00.000-08:00

So, I've been working on a freelance project recently, for which I just received a very tiny partial payment (only 300). The rest is going to be coming sometime this spring. My question is… what do I do with it! I've got many ideas, but no answers yet.

1. Put it towards my car

2. Put it in my ever dwindling savings account

3. Use part of it to take boyfriend out for a date on Valentines Day

4. Put it in our travel fund

5. Put it towards my car mirror replacement fund

6. Roth IRA

7. Hold it until I have to pay my taxes in April (when I'll file)

etc, etc. There are obviously options that are smarter than others. But I'm at a loss!

I intend to use the next check (which will be much bigger) to add to my emergency fund.