I've been posting so frequently in the last few days! Hope you all arent getting sick of me!
So I sat down and did a breakdown of my numbers currently, something I've been meaning to do for a while. I added up all the student debt I have right now. $14,964.81. AHHHHH!!!! Looking at that number makes me queasy, especially considering that's not where it ends! I still have more schooling! My measley EF right now is at $225, which is a dangerous low. My vacation savings, after you take away the rent check I'll have to pay and expenses that will be due either while I'm away or when I get back is at $95. hahaha. I'm sure this isn't funny, but the upside is that I still think I'll be okay. I've got this next week ahead of me, and I'm more than sure I'll have the alotted $500 or so I was planning on spending for the trip.
Now, some more number crunching. My estimated income for every month is around $1390. This is assuming I average $60 every night and $20 every lunch shift. Obviously, these averages are not always on the dot. Usually, I make more than this average. I added up my expenses: rent, electric, gas, cell, perscription, transportation, internet, life insurance, and groceries. That was $617 altogether. I added an extry $83 to round it off to $700 and account for things like eating at restaurants, entertainment, and clothes.
This $700 in expenses should make up approx. 50% of what I make in a month, leaving me with an extra $700 to distribute. So why is it that I dont have $700 in my checking account at the end of every month? Well, I spend it. Erg. The goal? To live on that $700 a month. I'll dip into $50 more if necessary (our utilities aren't always on the dot either), but I think that should be more than enough.
I figure the remaining $700 can be alotted to both my EF and my debt, which though I am still in school and not REQUIRED to pay off now, scares the living something out of me, and needs to be taken care of while the interest is still piling high.
So, here are my financial goals:
1. Get my EF up to $1000 by the first of the new year. I dont think this should be difficult. Eventually I want it to reach $2100 (that's 3 months' expenses).
2. Keep track CONTINUALLY of my finances, to the penny, for the next year. I have a bad habit of trailing off every once in a while... that seems to be the periods when my spending gets a little out of hand.
3. Live on $750 a month. This of course means that my "pleasure spending" needs to be capped pretty tightly. It needs to remain in that $83 range.
4. Take all money that is not spent on my expenses (within the $750) or put into the EF and send it all to my debt.
Some shorter-term goals:
1. No eating at restaurants until I go on vacation (the 20th of this month).
2. No Starbucks for the rest of this month.
3. No buying clothes for the rest of this month.
4. Save up $500 by vacation.
Quite a shock...
June 9th, 2007 at 04:10 pm
June 9th, 2007 at 04:27 pm 1181406474
June 9th, 2007 at 04:52 pm 1181407951
June 10th, 2007 at 05:08 am 1181452121
June 10th, 2007 at 12:25 pm 1181478309
June 10th, 2007 at 12:51 pm 1181479870