Alright, so I asked the question last night, "where did all my money go??", and today I actually counted it up, item by item.

Money Earned thus far this month: $680.49
Money spent this month:
Groceries: (budgeted) $40 - (spent) 47.81 => -$7.81
Food on campus: $65 - 22.52 => $42.48
School expenses: $10 - 8.22 => $1.78
Loan interest: $65 - 50 => $15
Perscription: $25 - 25 => $0
Eating out: $0 - 99.44 => -$99.44
Entertainment: $0 - 0 => $0
Misc: $50 - 33.03 => $16.97
Transport: $54 - 59.06 => -$5.06
Clothes: $0 - 32.96 => -$32.96
Xmas Gifts: $0 - 8.51 => -$8.51
Salsa classes: $30 - 0 => $30

Budget: $47.55 over
Earned - spent:$293.94

Soooo... I'm a little over budget at this point, but the good news is that I really didn't budget ENOUGH... so it's not so much a matter of me spending too much, it's a matter of forgetting that I need to factor things like Xmas money and transport outside of my zone, and clothes (especially since the colder months are upon us). I need to refrain, however, from eating out for the rest of the month. Going out of town that weekend really killed it, but in actuality, I budgeted in only $50 for eating out, entertainment, clothes, and misc items... not a whole lot there. At all.

At any rate, spending for the day was on a book from amazon (and here I'm talking about not spending money, sheesh!), but it was only $5.28... not too bad, and it's the one actual splurge I made outside of going to restaurants. The only want thus far this month. I'm not gonna be too hard on myself. But no more grocery shopping!!! Well, except for milk and bread and whatnot... I really need to eat up what's in my freezer, cupboards, etc. We have so much food! It's just hard for me to not grocery shop... it's my favorite activity! hehe. I am happy to say, though, that last night I cooked dinner using only things we had already, and the only purchase I made for dessert was a box of baking soda for a dollar. So go me! Tonight will be the same. And I made my run to the bank, and realized that I left the remaining $4.01 in my pants pockets, so it didn't get deposited. I instead put it in my change jar for the end of the month savings. Figured my Sobe Bottle needed some paper products... hehe. Well, now to studying!

So like other bloggers here, I've noticed that october is roughly half overwith. So I took a look at my spending and my budget and noticed a few things. First matter... where in the heck did all my money go?? I'm sure we've all said this before, but I still stand pretty baffled. I guess I did go way over the entertainment and misc category, but I went out of town last weekend, and that pretty much zapped all of that. Not to mention, I dropped one of my classes since changing majors, and I'm eating at home now more than I had anticipated, so I've spent more on groceries. I'm still under budget on food bought on campus. But aside from that, I still grabbed my highlighter, ready for a rampage of "what useless silly things did I buy THIS month?"... but when I looked through the list, I honestly found nothing. Nothing that screamed "pointless purchase," so I put down my highlighter. All of my outlandish spending was in the restaurant category when I was out of town, that's it. I am SO PROUD of myself! haha. I've spent very wisely... I guess next month I just need to allow myself a little more in the ways of groceries and cut back on food on campus, and give myself a little more in the misc category... or better yet, spell it out... clothes, dining out, etc. I guess this trial run was a nice eye-opener. I may be over budget this month, but it wont be for silly reasons!

And aside from all this, I baked cookies today, that, once again, prove that my skills in cooking are something short of normal. I have this tendency to pick recipes that are just a little... off. So BF deemed these cookies the "muffin cookies"... they were a little less cookie a little more spongy cake-like, but they were delicious! And me and BF cant get ourselves out of them. haha. I think I'm going to take some to work tomorrow. I've got a huge over-abundance of cookies. And the only thing I had to buy was baking soda! A whole $0.99 for the batch of cookies yay! At any rate, gotta get to sleep. Have my psych exam in the morning!

So finally... my day off. Long awaited. It was a long week. But I've got some good news. I only spent a whopping $7 for food on campus this week. My coffee strategy has done me good. And kept me awake during class! Unfortunately, there were some misc items I had to buy... an umbrella, coughdrops [me and BF both are pretty miserable right now], and I think that's it. But I also make a good amount of money on wednesday- which makes up to the day I missed and the overall slowness of the last week. I do have to take a trip to the store today. But it's definitely an essential item.

I've noticed a few other people doing this, but I too started a change jar. What I've got in there will be put into my savings account at the end of the month. I honestly dont know how much is in there at the moment, but at least a couple bucks!

I've got 2 tests this week, a paper to write, and a french vocab quiz. Much to do! So today will be spent cleaning up the apartment a bit, and then off to the library. Me and BF have realized that when we study in the same room, we dont get quite as much done. Not to mention, I've got a book waiting for me at the library. yay! I love free entertainment!

I re-calculated my budget to add in a couple things that I entirely forgot about... my monthy perscription, for instance, loan interest, and school expenses. So just a general summary:
Total budget: $815.75
Estimated income: $1180
Estimated savings: $364.25

So the new estimated savings is what I'm aiming to put in my savings account at the end of the month, but really I'm hoping to put in more! That trip back home really put me under in the entertainment/misc category, though. I dont regret it, however, I had a great time and I only get to go back home every once in a while. I just cant really go out for the rest of the month. haha. With all the school work I have, it shouldn't be a problem. heh. I'm up to 1 no-spend day. I'm waiting patiently for the second, it's just hard with all these little things here and there. And I need to get more yarn to finish BF's Gram's xmas present. I've decided I'm just going to buy my lil sis a $10 gift card from build-a-bear and something small. Perhaps something on sale as well. hehe. So that's the update on my goals! I'll keep truckin!

And last but not least, I will start the $20 challenge AGAIN. [I always start up, then dont follow through...] but I'm gonna do it a little differently than usual. I'm going to take what I saved at the end of the month + any money I put towards my student loan [outside of the $65 I'm going to put towards the interest every month] and set my goal at $2700 by the beginning of may. So for right now...
Challenge money: $20

Time to get workin!

Alrighty... much to do, much to do. I was bad yesterday. I didn't go into work. Part of this was the fault of the public transit system here. Turns out one of the trolleys was derailed yesterday during the day... A mighty long wait, and by the end of it I was tired and had homework to do. My coworker didn't seem to mind at all... at any rate. I'm going to drop my mass comm class today. The current events quizzes are bringing my grade down, and since I'm switching majors the class wont count for anything in the long run anyhow. Time wasted on my part. That'll give me more time to focus on my psych and bio classes. Anyhoo... brought my new insulated coffee mug with my homemade coffee to class with me this morning, packed my lunch, and I'm set for the day! I just have to get over to the library at some point to look for a book I want to read and I'll be set. I was moving pretty quick this morning... quite a suprise. I didn't get too much sleep last night. I was too busy with mitochondria and chloroplasts... hehe. I've got a bio test on thursday that I'm trying to ace again. Everyone wish me luck!

So I've got good news and bad news... we'll start with the bad. Ugh. Last night was awful. Customers stayed 45 minutes after we closed and tipped me under 10%!! Japanese people dont have to tip in Japan, therefore they know not how to tip in the US. Slightly frustrated... stayed up until 2:30 last night because I didn't get home until after 11 and I had things to do. 3 quizzes today. grr. Now the good news...
I'm going to visit my family and friends in my hometown this weekend, which is great because I haven't seen anyone in a month and a half. Also, yesterday I had my first no-spend day of the month, only 3 more to go to reach my goal! I got out of class at 9:20, and instead of buying coffee on campus, I went into work an hour early, put on a pot of coffee, and studied an hour before I had to clock in. Saved me $1.39. The other good news is that I made $40 more than I estimated yesterday, which I guess makes up for being under for the last couple days. But I've been saving money on campus all week, so I'm proud of myself. Immensely! Today should be alright, though I'm going to lunch with a friend... weekly ritual. Either way, must get going!