I'm afraid eating healthy is going to have to win this one. I took a look in the mirror the other day after putting on a pair of pants that are quite a bit too snug... got the "sausage" effect my mother so loves to remind herself of (ugh). But besides the fact that I've gained a little extra padding, I'm a bit uncomfortable with it, and my sedentary lifestyle is by no means healthy. The only excercise I get is at work, which dont get me wrong, can be a workout some times. The term "exercise" hasn't graced my vocabulary, however, since before the start of the semester.

As for food, I've been eating whatever, and as much as I want. Now, people tell me I'm young, and yes I know that, but my metabolism has slowed down a great deal in the last couple of years, and I'm struggling with it. I've always eaten a lot. Since I started eating I've eaten a lot, and up til the point where I graduated high school, I was incredibly thin as well. Not anorexically thin, but a nice athletic build. Thunder thighs or none, I looked good. Now, the idea of kicking a 20 year long eating habit, ha! I need a little help there.

I signed up for the self.com reach your goal plan for a few reasons. A) It's a place online to input all workouts and meals I do/consume. B) It's got meal plans all set up for me that I can loosely work with. C) I find it fun that I can follow a set of rules, and it keeps me from straying from them. D) The recipes they give you look really good, and I love to cook.

Now, I'm not going on the food exactly because it will, in fact, break my budget. However, I will be going to the store today to purchase some healthier alternatives to the crap I'm eating right now, and I'll also be heading off to the gym today for the first time in 3 months.

It always kills me that it takes about 3 months of constant exercise and eating well to lose the same number of pounds it takes you 1 to gain. Ugh. At any rate, I'm going to enjoy my shopping trip and my trip to the gym. I've got the week off, so I'll have some time to hit the gym, and next semester I've got no early early classes, allowing me plenty of time to keep up the good work come the spring semester. Later guys!

hehe. Just a tad, anyway. Coworkers buying me drinks after work is a dangerous business. At any rate, it's my day off anyhow, and we had a good time. Slept half the day away, though, and I always feel guilty about that, like I've wasted time. Oh well!

Yesterday's spending at Burlington was great. I ended up spending about $56, but for all the stuff I got, it was pretty good, and everything was greatly needed. I bought:
1 work shirt from the little boy's dept (hehe)
2 ties, both incredibly cute
1 winter hat, greatly needed
1 pair of gloves, desparately needed
1 sweater, also needed... I dont have a whole lot of "winterwear" for some reason.

Really, I made out like a bandit. BF found a suit he liked, which is miraculous. He's a really small guy and it's hard for him to find suitjackets that fit him right. We also picked out some nice dresshirts and ties. Fun! We did end up eating out... wendy's. I always forget how cheap it is to eat fast food. I dont eat it but maybe once a month. I do enjoy it a lot that once a month, though. Mmm. Junior Bacon Cheeseburger... for only a dollar! It's amazing.

Last night I did buy 2 of my own overpriced drinks where I work, total of $10, and then I paid for me, BF, and my coworker to eat at the 24 hour place circa 4am. It ended up being about 15 for the 3 of us. Not bad... My coworker paid for the cab up the mountain, so it was definitely cool. At any rate, today is a no-spend day. I'm relaxing. I've got no school this week because of thanksgiving, but I wont be going back home until wednesday night. I cant wait to see everyone!

So I've went over the budget in the clothes area becauuse of yesterday, but no remorse. They were all practical and cheap things. No frivilously expensive mall clothes... though I've been tempted. The good news, though, is that I've managed to not go to the grocery store for a long time! ha! I think I'm gonna need to take a small trip at some point, but perhaps not. We really need milk, but that's about it. My boss brought up an excellent point to me the other day: why dont I spice up my ramen? Honestly, the thought had never really occured to me to eat it any way other than plain with a flavor packet in it. haha. But today I experimented with putting veggies in it. Tasty! I'm thoroughly pleased. Found a site dedicated to ramen and recipes including it. I'll have to try a couple of them because we have so much ramen! And frozen veggies are pretty cheap and healthy (though ramen isn't really healthy).

Speaking of healthy, I really need to get to the gym again now that I have time. I think I've gained a good 5 pounds since the beginning of the semester. I'm not positive of that, but my sides have definitely experienced an increase of plushiness, as well as my hips and thighs. grr. Luckily my schedule will allow me to get on a decent excercise plan next semester, but for now I'll have a lot of time off anyway.

At any rate, that's enough rambling for today!

Alrighty. so I decided that I wanted to post a picture of myself... Just because (perhaps it will start a new epidemic among savingadvice users??), but mostly because I like putting a name to a face. I'm sure many of you are the same way...


This isn't a current picture, my hair is much different now...


My hair pretty much looks like this, but I'm wearing stage makeup in this pic and it makes me look MUCH older than I am...

Aside from all that hoo-hah. Going to Burlington today. I need to pick up a new tie for work, as well as get a pair of gloves and look for new work shirts.

As for the saving/paying off loan deal, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I'm in debt, yes. And I'll be further in debt ever semester, and the minimal amount I can pay on those loans now will not make that big of a difference in the end. So what I've decided to do is pay off the interest, and then put all other extra funds into the savings account. I'll worry about paying those large sums when I have the job to do so. At any rate, I better get going. I've got to run errands before work. Later guys!

I usually have fridays off, but in leu of my city's big festival we were incredibly busy and ended up hosting at work. Not too bad, I made a couple friends, which is pretty cool. Before that, I basically hung around the apartment and did little else. It was a no-spend day. I'm looking forward to wednesday. My best friend is driving to eat at my restaurant 2 hours away, then drive me back to my hometown. It's his birthday, and I'm excited to know that he wants to hang out. eh. I'm really tired and unenthusiastic right now, I should just get off the computer :P

1. Everything I cook never comes out the way it's supposed to, but tastes great.
2. I'm a firm believer that you get out of life what you put into it.
3. I've got a thing for pajama pants. I wear them EVERYWHERE. To class, the grocery store, at times even parties. That's how I got the nickname.
4. I love brussel sprouts. I've loved them since I first ate them as a child.
5. I sleep with a stuffed animal. Or 2. One is a kangaroo named "Pontouf," the other is a build-a-bear named Edward. I love them both.
6. I dont have any secrets, but keep others' like a safe.
7. I dont really wear makeup. Or do my hair. My clothes rarely match. I dont care. But I can look smokin if I wanna.
8. Most of my friends are male. I have a general distrust for the female kind. I had a rough time in middle/high school. That's probably why.
9. My family is beyond screwed up, but I love them dearly. The same goes for my circle of misfit friends.
10. I'm nearly fluent in spanish, but have also studied japanese, croatian, and I'm currently taking french.
11. I LOVE music. I'm a singer/acoustic artist. I've played in coffee shops etc back home. I love karaoke and just about anything else involving singing.
12. I have a complex when it comes to control. My parents were incredibly controlling, and I have a swift, serious defense mechanism that springs anytime someone tells me to do something. My boyfriend knows this well...
13. I hate, HATE putting laundry away.
14. I'm bisexual. I dont believe in putting restrictions on myself in any way. In the same light, I'm agnostic. And independent politically.
15. I drink all liquids out of LITTLE cups. My favorites include sippy cups without the lid, or those old welch's grape jelly glasses. I only use salad forks and teaspoons.
16. I'm a total bookworm. My favorite is Ernest Hemingway, and Shakespeare.
17. I'm still friends with most of my ex's. I dont think it's right to abandon friendship with someone you've been incredibly close to. My boyfriend is, however, a little uneasy about my best friend being a past relationship.
18. I love my boyfriend, and have never met anyone I've had more fun with. We'll be getting married here in a couple years (post graduation). He is a saint.
19. I'm an intellectual elitist by nature. I love stimulating conversation.
20. You've never met ANYONE like me. I'm the most unique, honest person I know. I'm confident, and to a select few people, I'm funny as well. I'm incredibly easy to talk to. I'm incredibly friendly, and at those rare moments pretty bubbly too. In most ways, I'm a walking contradiction. But hey, I'm a gemini.

Sooo... I forgot to pack my snack this morning for post-class munching. Ended up spending 2.50 for a breakfast sandwich thingy. The lunch made at work was not so great, so I bought out then as well. 3.75. So, not a no-spend day, but it could have been much worse. I'm not gonna worry about it. I have a big bio test tomorrow. Everyone wish me luck! My feet hurt quite a bit, worked 12 hours. boo. We got the electric bill today. Close to $100! A bit shocking... we turned the thermostat down a bit. Last month our bill was closer to $60... let's hope it gets better and not worse! Working an extra day this week, I hope it's profitable! And anxiously awaiting next week. Yay for breaks! I'm looking forward to it... a little relaxation before finals. Sweet relief. Night guys!

So last night regular customers had a birthday celebration going down. Free booze galore. I have to say, me and my boss, along with a coworker ended up going back to my apartment and indulging more with BF. I'm feeling pretty rough this morning. Had to stop at the COGO's last night to pick up munchies and mixers. So I spent $5. That is being made up today because I'm not studying with my french buddies again this week. One of them had to work.

As far as today goes, I'm not sure what's going on. BF is still asleep, but he needed to go to get some prints done for our neighbor, the comic, who is taking us to one of his shows tonight. How fun! I'm not sure if I'm gonna have to pay for anything... we'll see.

My boss was being incredibly friendly last night(this was before all the drinking...), and incredibly sympathetic. I'm not sure if it was that desparate tone of voice when I told him I was really torn about working black friday... I made CRAP money last night, like next to nothing for a saturday night. Everyone else made at least $100. I made $50- which is less than I budget for a normal weeknight. At any rate, I asked him, "hey, am I working on black friday or not? I just need to know." and he said, "work if you CAN." Basically, he put the ball in my court. And I straight up told him that I want to work because I REALLY need the money, but it's so important to me to spend time in Ohio, especially considering my grandfather is going to pass away here soon and I already made plans with my best friend for black friday itself. I told him not to let me decide. haha. After all this fighting, and I dont want to be responsible for the decision. grr. He wasn't gonna go for that, but I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. I'm working next friday, light-up night here, that'll be busy. And I already promised him I'd work new years. Those are both really busy nights, but I really dont mind working them. Lightup night was fun last year, but I'm saving money not going. New years is usually spend at OSU, but it's a party holiday, and I'm not going to get all bent out of shape about it. I can drink in pittsburgh. At any rate. I think I may still take black friday off, I'm not sure. We'll see how things go...

So after reading the posts on my last blog, I've decided to keep some money in my national city account, and transfer the rest to an Emigrant Direct account. 5.05% sounds so nice! After thinking about how much to deposit, I've decided to not put too much in now. Tuition payment is coming up, and I need that money to be VERY readily available. After tuition is taken out, I'm going to leave the minimum in my savings, $300. Then I'm going to put $200 in the ED account. Combined, they will be my emergency funds. $500 covers my bills and leaves some room for groceries: a month's worth of expenses. I was going to leave that $500 in my National City, but I figured that if I could make higher interest on 40% of the total, why not?

Sometimes I wish I could just forget about those silly student loans. Many kids do while they're in college. I know I could be living life quite comfortably that way, but when I think about all the money I'd rack up in the meantime, and the weight it puts on me just having that 4, soon to be 5-figure dollar amount sitting there for me to pay back, I know I cant. It would be too irresponsible anyway, and that's not my style

In the meantime... I applied for an ED account, my initial deposit $25. That goes towards my $20 challenge.
ED initial deposit: $25
November total: $256.75
Running total: $467.26

This means that I reached my goal of putting $250 towards the challenge! Woo! I'm reaching all of my goals way ahead of time this month. It feels great! I really feel in control of things. Last month I only put $210.51, so things are looking up! And for all of you who dont know, my $20 consists of all money put into savings or towards loans. It includes my piggy bank, which I deposit into my savings every month. Not sure if that's how the challenge is supposed to work, but I have totals for little bits of money I save here and there as well.

As for other news, it's going to be a no-spend day today (I'm up to 7 this month, I think there's a miracle happening). I believe I'll be making those pumpkin cookies and relaxing until I have to go to work. The thermostat is set on 66 and I'm in comfy clothes. I said yesterday while hugging BF: "this is how I'm going to save money this winter." and he says, "how? by hugging me?" and I said yeah, and he replied, "I'm gonna start charging you for stealing my heat." hahahaha. He is too funny. Silly boy :P

So after my last post and a couple responses about the incredibly low interest rate on my savings account, I started looking into online savings accounts. This is where I finally figured out what an ING account was, hehe. I did a little research, talked to BF about it, read a couple threads in the forums, and did a little more research. I've decided to open up an emigrantdirect account. 5.05% sounds a bit better than 0.55%. My problem is this: I just opened up my National City savings account a couple months ago. I dont know why I didn't do all this research then, but for some reason I though it was just best to go with the bank where my checking was. At any rate, I'm not sure if the bank charges a fee for closing the account, but even beyond that I dont think it looks very good to creditors to see closed checking accounts on my record. I may want to buy a car someday or something to that effect. So should I leave the minimum $300 in the account and just transfer the difference into the emigrant account, or close my national city account and transfer the whole? Obviously I'd make the most in interest if I closed the account and transferred the total, but I'm not sure of all the consequences following the closing of a savings account. Thanks guys! Hopefully I'll make my way to the bank tomorrow to get this all sorted out!

Alright, so nothing too eventful happened today. I didn't end up making cookies afterall, but I DID make pancakes after BF woke up (or rather, I woke him up. hehe). Yum! The remainder of the day was spent playing silly videogames with BF. No spending outside of the $25 I put toward my loan. I dont count that towards my spend/no spend days. And either way, I've already exceeded my goal for the month! I just figured that my mom paid for my prescription, which saved me $25. I think she'd want me to use that money towards school. So to the loan it went... it feels really good to pay off this loan. I feel myself continually getting lighter. hehe. A part of me wishes that it was going into the ol savings account, but when I think of the 14.25% interest charged on my loan every day, it outweighs that tiny .5% on my savings. I'm gonna wait until my loan matches the amount in my savings, and then start adding to it, though I add a bit here and there to my savings either way. The next couple of weeks should bump me up either way. Especially if I cant get my boss to let me take black friday off. I really want to stay in Ohio for 2 days, but a part of me knows that he's right, it is a busy day. I'd make a lot of money, I'm just not sure if that money is worth the time lost with both my friends and my grandfather, who is to pass away here shortly. grr. Work can be so frustrating sometimes!

$20 challenge:
Thanks mom!: +$25
November total: $231.75
Running total (since last month): $442.26

Almost to my $250 goal for the month. Woo!

Breakfast: oatmeal, apple, soymilk
Lunch: pancakes
Snack: peanuts, popcorn (the 94% fat free stuff)
Dinner: tomato soup w/ cheese, crackers, and black beans, soymilk

I'm in dire need of chocolate. HELP!

So today is my day to relax. BF is still asleep and will prob be for a while still. I believe it will be a no-spend day. As for plans, I dont really have any. I was thinking about baking cookies. I haven't done any baking recently, and I have extra canned pumpkin from the soup I made a couple weeks ago, so perhaps I'll make pumpkin cookies. I may take a walk as well. BF isn't finished doing the laundry. I may have to prod a bit more. I so want to just finish it up and get over with it, but it's his week to do it! grr. I'll prob break down anyway :P I'm sure we'll cook again as well. We made quesedillas again last night, though I went vegetarian this time and put black beans on it instead of meat. Gotta get some of that good fiber into my diet! Anyhoo... no more to say, really. I'm sure I'll post again by the end of the day :P

Breakfast: Oatmeal, apple, soymilk (yum! I loooove soymilk...)

Sooo... today was a no-spend day, so let's have a "yippee!" I had class a la 8am... but we're watching a great movie in psych-"Ordinary People," I'd reccomend it. That class got me thinking... I'm currently majoring in psych. I plan to go to med school, but after reading this article that my prof gave us and talking with a couple different psychologists, I kind of feel I'm moving in the wrong direction. I LOVE psychology. I like biology too, but when I think about the kind of therapy I want to be giving when I'm practicing, it's TALK therapy, not DRUG therapy that I want to do. Like I said, I've talked with a couple different psychologists, and it seems that they have psychiatrists that they refer thier patients to if they absolutely need medication, and they seem to be doing fine without perscription writing themselves. Not to mention, if I pursued my phd in psych instead of going to med school, I think I'd learn how to be a better therapist rather than learning about my last resort... so I may drop the whole med school bit and just focus on psych, and grad school instead. Any thoughts?

But moving on from there, I was TIRED today. Grr. Incredibly rude customers kept me at work an hour and a half after closing time last night and I got very little sleep. BF made us late for class this morning, no good, and I had a rough afternoon. Work was more than just a little stressful. My boss actually let me leave early tonight, though, and I was thankful for that. Yes, I abandoned the possibility of making more $, but I met my estimated and budgeted total for the day, so I dont feel guilty taking a little personal time.

As for other news, my friend actually has things to do tomorrow and was planning on calling off our lunch, so tomorrow will be another no-spend day unless I decide to go to the grocery store. Yes, I said I was going to wait until the 16th, but honestly, if I dont go then it'll end up costing me more in the long run. I have no mid-morning snacks left! When I dont bring things to school, I buy them on campus out of necessity. So a very carefully planned shopping trip is in store. But still, that's $7 saved by not eating in the cafeteria tomorrow! I've got a little money to work with.

I think I'll cut it short here, well, not really short, but shorter... hehe. Oh! I almost forgot! I found a penny on the floor in the girl's locker room at work today. Woo! AND I got a free sample in the mail! Gotta love those little frugal triumphs!

Go Democrats!!!

Hey guys, I just wanted to show you guys this... BF's cousin makes this stuff! It's so cool. BF designed the website, and in return, Evan is making us a cool coffee table/wine rack! Definitely check it out. Everything is so neat!

EvanEnyart.com

8am class, that is. I'm so looking forward to the end of the semester. Not because I dont like class, but because it frustrates me so falling asleep in every class! I feel like I'm cheating myself out of my education, and yet I just CANT keep my eyes open! So I've decided that next semester, though I wont be able to work as much as a result, that there will be NO 8am classes. It's not worth it.

I woke up late this morning. Flew out the door without drinking any coffee or eating any breakfast. I had to leave in the middle of class to buy some coffee, then come back (and I wont even get into the retarded vending machines...) My prof was incredibly understanding, he merely commented on how awful it is that students absolutely HAVE to work, and how it stinks that I work nights and come to class so early. Agreed.

Because I overslept, I was forced to purchase my breakfast on campus. Between coffee during class, a bagel and creamcheese, and a bottle of orange juice (sorely needed because I have low blood sugar), I ended up spending $5 on campus. grr. I wasn't planning on buying any food today, oh well.

Bio was the same story... fell asleep numerous times. Struggled to keep my eyes open. Thankfully, this prof is understanding as well. The poor woman. I'm incredibly fond of her, and she's always so flustered and overwhelmed. After class, we talked about internships and whatnot.

Now, on the way home I was talking to BF via cell. He mentioned that he was coming to my restaurant to eat tonight. Big bucks! It's all you can eat night, so I guess it's kind of worth it, but still, it's almost $30 per person. Made me want to go and get food (I always feel left out and want to buy food out when he does things like that, like I feel I deserve it...), but I restrained myself because I had delicious leftovers from last night's cooking... or so I thought! Turns out BF ate them... I was a little peeved. Granted, I offered the food to him last night, but since he turned them down to continue sleeping I guess I thought he wasn't going to bother. He's an anti-leftovers kinda guy. So I ended up very annoyed when I got home. He ate my couscous AND he gets delicious sushi tonight! And what did I get?? Nothing :'(

But despite all that frustration and general unhappiness, I'm not giving up on my budget morale yet. My most recent payment posted on my loan today. My principle is down to $5415.79, almost $100 less than the original, and I put another $50 payment on it today. I'll make another bank run on friday, and add some more to the savings.
So my totals for the $20 challenge:
For this month: $159 in november
Total: $369.51

I'm gonna try and make tomorrow and thursday no-spend days. Try. I do usually have lunch with my friend in the cafeteria, but perhaps I'll convince her to come up to my apartment for lunch? We'll see. As far as the grocery challenge is going, I may have to give in here soon. I never did buy my eggs, though. Those were my only allowance. I'm gonna try and hold out as long as I can though. Talk to you guys later!

So my new work shoes came in today from shoesforcrews.com. We'll see how they fare. My last pair cost me circa $20 from walmart (Dr. Scholls) and lasted me--painfully during the last few--7 months. These cost me $48 with shipping... the work shoe challenge!

As for other financial news... mom called today (always a pleasant suprise). We discussed the holidays and such. I'll only be in Ohio for 2 days for thanksgiving unfortunately, because my boss is a slavedriver. The upside is that I wont eat out once while I'm there. That's usually my financial falling when I'm back home for visits. And aside from that, mom is mailing my perscription to me this month, which means she'll be paying for it too! (yay, saves me $25!)

As far as xmas goes, I told mom not to get me anything too big. Of course, I tell her that every year. Sometimes she listens, sometimes not. I told her the 2 main things on my wish list were gift cards: Giant Eagle and Barnes & Noble. I LOVE to grocery shop. And it's something that will most certainly not go to waste. The B&N gift cards go toward textbooks. So really, I'm just asking for practical gifts... ooo... or world market. Me and BF LOVE world market. Such cool things for the apartment! Hehe. That's actually what I'm getting BF though...

On the non-financial front, my brother is possibly going to be released from the home he's in right now by thanksgiving! He's a paranoid schitzophrenic, and they have him in this awful half-institution with very little freedom... he should be at home. He needs the support. So a big hurray for his probation officer! (This is a biiiiiiig looooooong story for another time, but it's wonderful that they're letting him out early. There's no help for him in that prison)

At any rate, cooked chicken tenders and tomato lentil couscous for dinner. Mmm. Too bad BF is asleep... he might like some too! Ah well, more for me. Serves him right for being a sleepy-poo

So yesterday was a no-spend day, which was great. I made lunch and dinner, and me and BF played my newly bought videogame. Needless to say, I've gotten my money's worth. I've managed to play over 10 hours since I bought it 3 days ago! Eek! Actually, it's incredibly fun and a little more intelectually stimulating than watching a movie, etc. It was definitley a good purchase. And it is keeping me busy as it is too cold for me to want to leave the house.

Which leads us into today. Usually on sundays I get together with 2 friends and study french. My one friend bailed out on thursday, and today I decided that I would rather stay in my cozy appartment rather than venture to the bus to get to the coffee shop... and I'm saving $ as well! He wasn't too put off, considering he celebrated his b-day last night and was feeling a little rough this morning. So I'll be having another no-spend day. 2 in a row??? Impossible, you say??? I thought so too, but apparently not! Yay!

At any rate, I redeemed some points from my national city card and got a $10 B&N giftcard... that'll be a portion of my gift to the best friend. He usually gets me a $20 or $30 for xmas, but I'll get him something else small as well.

Aside from all that, I'm just tugging along. I have plenty of leftovers and food to keep me filled up. I even saved money yesterday by being too lazy/cold to walk across the street to the convenience store to get sour cream. ha! It's my fave on chili, but honestly I did fine without it... hehe. I'm gonna work on some of those leftovers, though I like to cook on the weekends. Hmmm. I guess we'll see. At any rate, the first week of november is about over, and I'm still on track. Lets see if it keeps up! (I hope so!) Talk to you all later!

So I have this incredible weakness. It's called luxury. A friend of mine told me once that I'm a girl with a champagne lifestlye, kool-ade budget. hehe. Boy, was she right. I managed yesterday to head to the Giant Eagle Market District- which is the mothership of all Giant Eagles. I'm talking the produce/bread/meat section of the store is the size of a normal store, and the selection is wonderful. they have an entire cheese section and a candy store. Talk about my dream... Besides the fact that me and BF always forget that we should skip a meal before going (free samples run free in this place), we always forget that we always spend waaaaay too much here. But to continue my story...

Before we left the house, me and BF picked something out of my wonderful Jamie Oliver cookbok to make for dinner. Quesedillas. So we had to stop at the store. The Market District pulled me in, and I ended up leaving not only with the fixins for this tex mex dish, but 8oz of brie, fancy crackers (BF's incredibly wealthy grandparents have turned me on to this delicious snack... I am way too spoiled), 2 bars of lindt dark chocolate w/orange and one with pear. mmmmm.... The rest of the food I got was real grocery food, but I must say, this was a tasty snack that was well worth the extra $.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's really important to me to have that little bit of snooty luxury to offset the eating-ramen-because-I-have-no-money moments. I wasn't even planning on grocery shopping yesterday, but I'm glad I did because those quesedillas were really good! And BF liked them too! I'm loving this cooking at home bit, I'm finally cooking things that he will eat and request in the future! Speaking of which, we got another package of the zatarain's jambalaya mix as well because he liked it when I made it last week. woo! We picked another zatarain's mix. We'll see how it goes.

I knocked a couple off my list yesterday as far as xmas goes, but I didn't set foot in a store. Many of you know the pleasures of mypoints. Well, I participate as well, but national city has a very similar program going right now, and they're giving bonus points for specific stores. Target happens to be one of them. So I took care of my lil brother and either a professor or friend of mine. It's a sort of bath gel/lotion set thingy, and really it would work for either. So we'll see... 20 bonus points per dollar is good for me!

total spending yesterday included: $20 for my copy of WoW (thanks all who commented on MMO's... it made me smile), $16 on lunch, because it ended up being much pricier than I had thought, and didn't want to make BF pick up the total bill, even though he told me he'd buy me lunch. $31 on groceries, but BF is going to reimburse me for some of the food I bought. I dont mind putting the initial down on my card, I earn points that way! I calculated it out, and he owes me $12, so It'll be $20 total.

Overall, not too shabby. Today will be a no-spend day. I've got chili to make before my ground beef goes bad, and WoW to keep me busy before work. I'd have to say it was a good investment!

Well, it's my day off. I talked to BF yesterday about what he wanted to do, and we decided on going to best buy. He plays this silly game called world of warcraft... it's incredibly popular among kids my age (and younger). It's one of those games that millions of people can play together online. He spends a bit of time playing this game.

Now, I've watched him play, and it's pretty cool... kind of a pseudo fantasy game (knights, wizards, etc) and I think I'll like it. Not to mention, if we play together it could be a nice activity with relatively low cost after it's purchased (you have to purchase an account that is so much money a month to participate in the online thingy). Me and BF dont go out a whole lot during the winter, and it'll be even less this year because we dont have a car, so I've decided to buy this game and see what all the hubbub is about.

It's $20 and comes with a free trial month of the online play-time. So not too bad at all.

Last night, I bought a pizza for me and BF because he paid for my bottle of wine. But the poop-head bought a meat lovers! I thought he was getting a hawaiian pizza, so I was horribly dissapointed. He did offer to buy me lunch today because of his "changing of his mind last minute." Let's hope he holds up on that offer!

Perhaps I could shop around for some xmas gifts as well today... ooo fun! I love xmas shopping!

Aside from all that, I've got no news! Just trying to enjoy my day off... I was in great need. Later guys!

Alrighty. So today has been pretty sweet. Class. Then class again. I got a 98 on my last bio test, and that's awesome. I had lunch with my friend and that is always nice. I stopped at the bank and made a deposit, then stopped at the post office to mail off my abstentee ballot. Elections are only 5 days away! I hope it gets there in time... at any rate, I dropped online and made a payment of $100 towards my student loan (ya know, that one with the 14.25% interest!!) I've managed to lower my principle to $5407.23 from $5500 in the course of a couple months. This may not seem like much, but when you think about how much interest I pay in a month, it's a bit, for sure. I'm working on it. At any rate, that's $35 toward my $20 challenge. I budget $65 a month, any extra goes toward the challenge. Honestly, I could probably factor in more than that considering how much I'm saving on even more interest that I would be accruing if all that money was in the account. Now that my principle is down, my interest due will be less. Woo hoo! Yay for saving myself some money.

The other good new is that it's only the 2nd, and I have $211 in my checking even after the $100 I just paid to Sallie Mae. Woo hoo! That's not too shabby. I need to get some more $ into my savings account for next semester, but this is most definitley working out to my advantage, paying some of this loan off now.

I also got my bank statement in the mail. I've earned 11 cents in my savings account since I opened it a couple months ago. Whoopee? hehe. I guess I should get a little more in there... bump it up a bit. At any rate... I've got a couple days off work, which is nice. Not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow. Usually it's my day to run errands or go out to lunch or such. Not sure what BF wants to do, but I'm going to try and keep it low-budget. Perhaps make it a no-spend day? I'd really like to, it's just really hard when I hardly get out at all and my day off should be spent doing fun things! erg. Hmmm. I guess I'll have to talk it over with BF.

At any rate, I've got a fresh start with november, and it's looking up! Also, I've got those new work shoes coming in the mail this week, which is great! Very excited... hehe. Well then, I better get going. I've gotta eat some pseudo dinner before I'm off to my last class. Talk to you all later!

$20 challenge total: $245.51

So I worked a double today, and unfortunately did not get away with a no-spend day. Beyond my lack of willpower, the chefs made this not so great rice with half-cooked egg soup that I'm not too horribly fond of. I made 2 separate trips to the coffee shop in the mall. The first trip was spent trying to convince myself to get the banana instead of the glazed doughnut, but rationality obviously didn't prevail. The second trip involved a cheese wrap that was really good but too much food. So I definitely spent some food. $1 for the doughnut and $3.25 for the wrap. At any rate, tomorrow is my long day, which involves lunch with my classmate in the cafeteria. woo!

At any rate, happy first of the month, kiddos! Wish me luck on my french exam tomorrow!

Alright. So I've got class here in about an hour. I'm trying to make today a no-spend day. That'll put me at the 3 I was shooting for this month. Perhaps I'll go above and beyond! We'll see...

I double today. Grr. That means a 12 hour workday, boo. Even further in the lack of enthusiasm here is the fact that we have a 40 person party of highschool kids coming in. I guess it's a japanese class of sorts. At any rate, should be alright. I'm pretty sure it's a one plate meal, so it shouldn't be too hard to get all that out to em. Crazy day, I'm sure...

Aside from that, I just have french to study. We've got an exam tomorrow, and I hate to say it, but i'm not prepared at all. I've been incredibly unimpressed with this clas thus far, and unless my prof makes drastic changes in her teaching methods, I dont see any more progress to come :/ At any rate, the kids in my class have been meeting together outside of class on the weekends to study, so maybe she'll cut us a little slack for that. Either way, better get going. All of you have a wonderful day!

I'm not quite sure why, but I'm so tired today! Grr... I've been a bit worn for the past few days, perhaps my health is failing me? I hope not. I think I've just been rather homesick and making myself unhappy. No good. At any rate...

I bought my bus pass today, so that was $54. I also managed to spend $3 on campus, despite bringing my snack to school. I was really hungry for some reason... I didn't even really enjoy what I bought either, so I see it as a waste. I managed to keep myself from stopping at the grocery store, though I really wanted to. Not sure what exactly I wanted to get, but for some reason I'm craving pumpkin and butternut squash anything. But instead I trekked home and looked at recipes for something I may want to make. Everything is so involved when it comes to this soup! grr. I ended up popping in one of my "budget gourmet" dinners in the microwave... I might make that bean soup for dinner. I haven't decided yet. No pumpkin or squash, but I just went grocery shopping and I'm really trying to use the food that I already bought... jeez.

I guess I'm just looking for comfort food. It's really frustrating that I've been so lethargic. I usually get some small case of unhappiness when it starts getting cold outside. Looks like it's coming early this year. poo.

So I was determined to make today a no-spend day. And i believe I have succeeded. And then some! I went to psych class this morning, then hit the library. I had to read an article on reserve there and post on a discussion board. I was going to photocopy it, but instead I decided to just read it there and post. I'm sure my prof wants us to have a copy of it for class on thursday, but I didn't have the spare change and honestly, that article isn't worth 10 cents to me more for my challenge money...

Speaking of change, I also stopped by the bank (after returning that very much overdue movie at the library... no good), and made both a deposit into the checking and savings accounts. I managed to accumulate $20.51 in my coin jar for October, and it went into savings as planned. Yay!

Talked to mom for a while on the phone. I miss her. I miss everyone back home, but I miss my mom a lot. She's having a rough time and that's no good. I'm really looking forward to going home for Thanksgiving. At any rate, we discussed money for a while. haha. I think it may finally be getting through to her that I'm a responsible adult! (which is a relief. I've been trying to convince her for a long while now)

As for the rest of the day, I started the laundry (finally), loaded the dishwasher, and set out chicken to thaw for dinner. I'm feeling like a regular Martha Stuart right now... BF will be so happy when he gets home! Maybe I'll even put my laundry away... he would be floored. That's my one big flaw. I HATE putting laundry away. He gets on my case all the time, and it drives me crazy. I've never been able to just be my messy self. boo. Ah well. I could be nice just this once... hehe. Well, to homework now...

So it's only the first day of the month (according to my budget calendar) and I've already started spending money on food... erg.

My name is Tara Dawn, and I have a problem...

Heh. No kidding. It's sunday, which means me and 2 members of my french class get together to study. We meet at a coffee shop and do french...things. At any rate, my one friend was hungover, the other sick, and I am unfortunately suffering from a long night. Needless to say, we didn't get too much homework done. Erg. On top of it, the coffee shop had this delicious butternut squash soup that I couldn't resist! A bit over priced, but I'd say that the $5 I spent on that big bowl of soup with it's accompanying big chunk of delicious bread was well worth it. Of course, I bought a drink and a little cake thingy beforehand, so it ended up adding to about $9. Grr.

Ordinarily I would put this down as a school expense (it IS for school, afterall, haha), but given that we didn't do any real studying, it's going out of the eating out fund...

On the flip side, I ate half the jambalaya I made last night for dinner today for lunch, BF finished it off for dinner, and I used the remaining pancake batter from yesterday's breakfast for dinner. Yum! I guess you could call the soup my snack?? I think I eat too much haha. :/ At any rate, we have 0 leftovers now, and a clean plate to start with for the week in food.

I'm determined that tomorrow be a no-spend day. I had one yesterday, which puts me ever so close to my goal. There's nothing pressing I have to buy, though I may have to make a copy at the library. Blast it! Grr... perhaps I can get out of it. We'll see...

So me and BF left the house around 11:30 to go to lunch at our favorite mediterranean restuarant. I ended up running into the wife of the owner of the restaurant I work for. I said hi, she and her two friends ended up sitting at the table next to us. It was nice, and we talked cordially and all that. I was really confused when the server came back with my credit card sans pen, etc. It turns out she snuck from the table to "use the restroom" right after I gave the boy my card and paid for our meal! It was so suprising, and of course I insisted that she shouldn't have done so, but of course I was pretty psyched. So my lunch was free (as was BF's).

We caught the matinee of "The Departed." It was really good, and ended up not costing too much. I did, however, buy some new guitar strings and a capo, since my ex band member walked off with mine. Boo.

Me and BF hit the grocery store on the way home... we DESPARATELY needed food. I just couldn't bear the thought of eating ramen AGAIN. I needed solid food. So I stocked up on frozen veggies, apples, cottage cheese, chili, and a few other random things. When we got home we were so excited to have options! haha. I felt like a kid in a candy store.... pretty sad. ha.

Tomorrow is laundry/homework day, then work. I guess my coworker is dressing up for halloween at work. I may do the same, though I dont have a costume. Ah well. The first year I've ever not dressed up... But I really cant afford the extra expense and it kind of crept up on me. Either way, better get going!

Alright. It's been a few days as I have been mondo busy this week. Wednesday about kicked my butt... what with class and working a double. I collapsed when I got home. haha. Made pretty good money that day, though.

French class is proving to be a pain at this point. We have an exam, and my professor is quite a joke. I'm very critical of my professors (as I should be!) and this is an awful case... she has little to no structure during class, expects us to speak french perfectly if it is a concept we have already covered, and furthermore, when we ask her for extra material to practice with (us few in my class have a study group on sundays) she doesn't give us any because she feels we should move on rather than practice the things that we've already covered (my foot!). Needless to say, with this exam coming up, I'm cracking down, along with my classmates. There are only 5 of us in the class... we should be getting a far better education than we are currently recieving. But I'll stop the ranting.

With all this said, I'm going to attempt to work a little less next semester. Perhaps pare it down to 3 nights. My mom thinks I should find a bartending job, which would be great because I'd only really have to work on the weekends and I'd make good money, but then again I wouldn't have weekends to go back home to visit. Erg. That would be great, though, otherwise. I'd study, and perhaps pick up a tutoring job through the university during the week, then work 2 nights on the weekends and be set. I dont go out anyway. haha. We'll see. I could always be a "dancer," haha. I'd only have to work ONE night a week. Just kidding...

This weekend should be both fun and productive. Today, me and BF are going to our favorite restaurant for lunch, then going to see a movie. Neither of us have really gotten out in the last few weeks, and I think we deserve it. After that, my friend may be coming over to study french. I have no idea when we'll be grocery shopping, but it is needed dearly! We really, for all intents and purposes, have NO food in our apartment. We have ramen. That's about it. No milk, no bread, no juice, nothin. So either today or tomorrow we'll be off to the grocery store...

I work tomorrow night, but I'm off again sunday. I've got my study group at the coffee shop, which should be a good time, though stressfull as this exam is going to be. The point is, I CANNOT get anything lower than an A. Ordinarily, B's didn't bother me, but now that I'm planning on applying to med school, every thing counts.

Which reminds me, the club is coming along great. My professor talked to the dept and it seems that everyone is not only good with the idea, but more or less super-excited as well. I know they're trying to establish a grad program for psych in my university, so I'm sure it will attract some more people, or give the dept an edge. At any rate, I'M excited and glad that things are moving so smoothly. There's much more planning to come, but so far so good!

It's been cold. boo. I'm hoping it doesn't rain, though the forecast calls for it. We'll be doing a bit of walking to the movie theatre, and I dont want to be soaked! Ugh. Alrighty, talk to y'all later!

... Unfortunately, it was loaded with spending. poo. 8am class, then studying with a friend of mine. Bought food. Then Bio, then met with my psych professor to talk for an hour or two... he's awesome, I must admit. The best professor I've ever had, and the only one I can visit and talk to intelligently for lengthy periods of time! Not to mention, I'm starting the psych/philosophy club at my university, and he offered to be the faculty adviser. Sweet! I wanted to join an extracurricular activity, but there was nothing that interested me. Instead I decided to devise my own student organization! I figured it would look good to be a leader on my med school apps anyway... hehe.

At any rate. Post Bob's office, I bought lunch. Saved half my wrap for later. Hit the library, got 2 more DVD's to rent. Printed out the power point lectures for bio, ran off copies of journal articles. I also had to stop by the mass comm department to make up a quiz I missed last week. After that, I just studied until I went into work... which was SLOW. I made a grand total of $17... not so good. But anyhoo... I've got so much to do! I figured I have about 2 years until I take my MCAT and apply for med schools. I bought a couple books the other day that have been incredibly helpful in informing me of the steps I need to take to prep for the MCAT and applying. Also, I looked through the complete list of American Med Schools, and decided I may just have to return to Ohio. haha. I always thought I hated it, but I miss my family and friends. I'm pretty set on going to Ohio State's med school. I've got family in Colombus. All my friends at OSU will probably have graduated by the time I get there, but it'll still be nice to be close. At any rate, I better get going. I've got class in the morning!

So it's getting to be that time of year... the time when it starts getting so chilly that I refuse to get out of bed in the morning, well, almost. BF paralyzed me, I've decided (you know, when they roll over, and cuddle with you it makes you so comfy!). I couldn't move, I just couldn't get out of bed despite 8am class calling my name. So FINALLY, when he rolled back over (he didn't seem to hear me when I told him in that super groggy voice that I had to go) at 7:40, I jumped out of bed, threw some clothes on and bolted out the door. I got to class at 8:05. This is a miracle. Just to clarify, it usually takes me AT LEAST 35 minutes to get to class from my apartment because I walk. Well, I power walked today. Seriously.

As for spending, I didn't eat breakfast before class, so I grabbed a breakfast sandwich on campus (I'm such a sucker) and some juice. It's the end of the month, and I'm trying my best not to buy any groceries until I give BF the check for the rent. So basically, besides ramen, we have nothing in the apartment to eat. So maybe we have a little more than ramen, but it's slim pickin's. I about jump on anything that isn't in noodle form at this point.

I also stopped by the University Barnes and noble to look at "Point Park Mom" shirts for xmas... my mom mentioned something about not having any novelty items to show off my university a while back... that's that. I've decided to make the purchase next month, along with the work shoes I'm buying from shoesforcrews.com (thanks for the advice, my fellow blogger!) I did, however, purchase a couple books on the MCAT. I feel it's never too early to start studying and looking into med schools. They were rather pricey, however.

I also stopped at the dollar store on my way home to pick up razors... I'm out and in desparate need

As for the rest of the day, homework, crocheting, relaxing, then work. Talk to yall later!

So after last night, I decided to have a relaxing day. I blogged in the morning, then got together with a couple kids in my french class to study. After that, I watched "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" with BF. Good movie. I gotta get King Kong back to the library... It's a bit overdue. At any rate, I've started working on a scarf for moi. Tomorrow is my official homework day. woo! Hitting the library right after class. Well, I think that's all for tonight.

Today was a lazy day... woke up and blogged for a bit. Went to the post office to ship the book I sold on amazon, then finished BF's Gram's scarf, which means I made my goal of taking care of 2 people on my xmas list. I'm trying to make it a stress free xmas. Last year I put off all my shopping to the last minute, and ended up spending too much money and going crazy. haha. Cant say the scarf was cheap to make. Circa $40, but it's NICE. Very plushy and warm, thick. I think she'll really like it. Finished up with my little sis's present too, between the gift card and the book I bought her, I spent around $18. I'm buying my mom a shirt or a hoodie with my university's name/logo on it. And I got her this cutesy calendar, so that'll take care of that. I already decided to get BF a gift card to World Market. We love that place, and I know he'll like it. He's just the worst to shop for. Everything he wants is super expensive, like an iPod, or a car. Not quite in the budget. We've talked about xmas already though, I think he's gonna get me a fold-up treadmill. He'll use it too, so it'll be a good purchase. As for the rest of my siblings and my stepfather, I'm lost. I'll figure it out later though. I've got a little time.

I've got to work in a couple hours. Not really in the mood, but my checkbook tells me I better be. hehe. Yesterday's spending made a considerable dent. At any rate, better get going!