Just Keep Swimming.

I can't say I have any breaking news in the last few days. Monday night we went to our friends' for dinner and played "The Game of Thrones." A GoT BOARD GAME. It took a long time to set up and learn it, but I'm really pumped to give it another go and get into it a bit deeper. Really fun.

I've been lucky enough to not have to leave the house for the last couple of days, and with the nasty weather that's been such a blessing. Yesterday I made some soup for dinner, and we stayed in. New Girl and Mindy are back, and I thoroughly enjoyed both shows last night with a nice glass of wine

It was a good weekend, with minimal spending. Yay!

Friday night I went out and met up with an old friend. Ended up only spending about $15 for drinks. The fiancé and I cooked at home so I didn't spend out at the restaurant/bar we were meeting at.

Yesterday I went downtown with a friend. I'm helping him out with a project, and so he bought me lunch (at one of my favorite spots, no less!) and then we headed to the main branch of the library. Ours has a Makerspace, which includes a laser cutter/engraver, a 3D printer, and a vinyl cutting machine (among other things). The best part is that you can use them for FREE. All you have to pay for is materials. Which are dirt cheap ($3 for a large sheet of plywood or a large strip of vinyl). I'm so thankful I'm familiar with graphic design programs - it really opens up a lot of possibility in using those resources. And it was a really nice afternoon.

The weather was really nasty, though, so once I got home I was in for the night. Took care of some stuff around the house - dishes, laundry. Then we ordered delivery Chinese takeout and watched a movie on Netflix.

Today the temperature was freakishly warm for January (46 degrees), so I decided to take a morning stroll at the park with my camera to take care of my 365 Project post for the day. Went grocery shopping in the afternoon, managing only to spend $53, which is pretty good for me. I (for the most part) stuck to my list. Aldi really is *the best*.

Tonight I have the house to myself, which is really nice. The fiancé took two weeks off for the holiday. He really needed it, and he's really not looking forward to going back. But I'm looking forward to having the house empty again. It's been difficult to really be productive at home with him hanging out. I've enjoyed the little break, but I can't let my work fall behind too much. So this week is going to be a heavy editing week.

I'm taking advantage of the quiet around here to do some yoga, a bit of reading, and eating leftovers for dinner. It'll be relaxing, lovely, and entirely free. So I'm going to get to it

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

So the craziness of the holiday season has passed. Let's all have a well-deserved collective sigh.

SIGH.

That feels much better.

Went through and took a look at how bad the holiday craziness got me off track from my budget. Unsurprisingly, it was quite a bit. It doesn't help that I'm still expecting about $1,500 from clients from December. Right now the bank account is a little tight. Hopefully, though, I'll get those payments soon. And do some booking after the bridal show next weekend.

***

In other financial news, I got the $300 rebate AmEx gift card I've been expecting from buying my camera. That'll help offset costs this month a bit. I tried to use it to pay for the photo class I'm taking online, and it didn't work. So I'll have to look into that and make sure it works in general.

Cancelled Hulu (again). My two free months ran out, so it's gone now.

***

Started my financial spreadsheets for 2015. It feels good to start fresh The New Year always brings me a renewed sense of energy about life and pursuing my goals. So hopefully the momentum will push me forward vigorously.

Most of my resolutions revolve around being intentional - about my business, about my practice, and about life in general. I feel like the last few years have been great, but I've lost touch with the world around me a bit, merely floating along. Thankfully things have worked out for the better, but putting more effort into the things that make me happy has only to improve upon the way I experience them.

In terms of my financial goals, I think that really translates into being mindful when it comes to spending. I know that's something many of the SA community understand (and excel at!). But for me, thoughtlessly spending left and right is the norm. There are things that I find worth spending money on (travel, photography education and equipment, etc). But really *thinking* about the purchases as I make them, and putting things into perspective in terms of priorities is really necessary.

Making smarter decisions, too. There are so many free resources out there - entertainment options, loads of things available at the library, etc. There are many cases where I just pay without thinking of how I could accomplish a task more cheaply. And it's not a good practice.

So that's that. What are your goals for 2015? How do you plan to accomplish them effectively?

So I had mentioned weeks ago that I've been shopping for wedding rings. I guess it's not terribly surprising then to announce that I'm GETTING MARRIED

This past Saturday BF (now Fiance!) took me out to a nice dinner, to get ice cream (a tradition of ours), then "casually" drove me out to a park near our place, walked me to the cute little gazebo with the view of the city skyline, and then got down on one knee. It was very expected, but very special



When you're a photographer, you can take silly photos of your ring on tree ornaments... it's a blue sapphire, if anyone was curious

***

The last week has of course been a whirlwind of congrats and well-wishes. It made the holiday even more special, which was very nice.

Christmas Eve was like a little staycation for us - we relaxed, watched movies, drank a bit, ate a lot, cooked a really nice dinner, and opened a present every couple of hours or so.

BF got all of his gifts - except the big, exciting one. Which is being delivered today (!).

Yesterday consisted of 3 houses, about 5 hours in the car total, and lot of talk of weddings. BF's cousin is also getting married this year - actually, the week after we are. So October is going to be a busy month for their family! We didn't necessarily want it to be that way, but my schedule is all kinds of hectic because I photograph weddings for a living and we wanted to do it this year. So that's the way the chips fell.

It was great seeing everyone, but phew. It was a long day.

Today has been pretty low-key. Laundry, dishes, putting away presents, calling wedding venues. BF decided to work so he didn't have to go in until after the new year. I'm hoping his gift gets delivered soon so I can have it ready for him when he gets home. So pumped to give it to him

***

Now for money news. haha. I spent too much on presents, of course. Kind of the nature of the holiday, I suppose. I'm feeling a lot more pressured to earn more this year now that things are solid in the getting married department. Now that I'm starting to look at costs of venues, I'm thinking we may just have to elope haha.

I have the opportunity to work part time through the spring election for a company I've contracted for previously. I wasn't going to pursue that option, but I think it would relieve some of that pressure to book a crazy amount of work. It might make me crazy for a few months, but they pay me well and I think it'll be worth it. So I'm going to get in contact with my old boss there.

I also have some spending to do business-wise. I rented a lens early this month that I'd really like to get for weddings coming up. The problem, of course, is that it's $1,300. Thankfully, I have some equipment I need to sell off. So that'll cover the majority of that cost (hopefully). Also thankfully, I don't really *need* it right away. If I don't end up purchasing it in the next few weeks, I'll just rent it again for this wedding coming up and purchase it before the bulk of my weddings start in the summer.

We'll see how many people book at this bridal show next month, and whether my nonprofit client pays their invoices anytime soon :/

***

At any rate, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

I have to admit, it feels really nice to have actual presents under the tree. Did a bunch of shopping yesterday and put in my last couple of orders on Amazon. All I really have left to do is buy a gift card, figure out how BF and I are splitting/getting his dad's gift, and then heading to the library to use the laser cutter to make my friend's necklace. I got the chain and clasps yesterday.

*phew* feels good

I was kind of freaking about BF's gifts, because up until yesterday I really didn't have any idea of what I wanted to get him, aside from the few little things he asked for. He always completely outdoes me when it comes to gifts - financially and creatively. And he takes a bigger share of the bills on than I do, because he can afford to. I appreciate it so very much, so I always want to go above and beyond for xmas or his birthday. But he's just so darn difficult to shop for.

I think he's going to be pretty blown away this Christmas, though.

BF is a soccer fanatic. Not like someone that sort of likes it. The man lives and breathes it. He loves the MLS and the EPL. But most of all, he loves the US Mens National Team. World Cup time at our house is something rather sacred.

We had friends over for dinner on Monday, and we were discussing our favorite moment in sports history. My dear BF's is the last minute goal Landon Donovan (who retired this year) scored to win the game and push the US forward in their group in a 2010 World Cup match against Algeria. I kid you not when I say he'll watch a video of it every so often just to live the moment, and gets teary-eyed every time.

It's really cute. I don't know a single other American who is so involved in the sport. Or so in love with Landon. If the guy's married, my BF would give her a run for her money.

So. I managed to find a photo of that game-changing last minute goal... signed by Landon Donovan himself. And I can't express how excited I am to give it to him. BF keeps saying he'd love a vintage soccer poster of sorts, so as he's opening it that'll be what he's expecting. I can't wait to see the look on his face!!!

Gifts have been something of a burdensome thing for me these past couple of years, but knowing how happy he's going to be is making Christmas feel really exciting. Now I'm just hoping it gets here in time... that's what I get for procrastinating!

It's that time of year. When I start taking a look at what the next has in store. The other day I broke down my monthly expenses and some of the other spending I'm anticipating to get a hold on how much I need to make. That gives me a more tangible goal to shoot for - which is needed, because as a small business owner, "As much as I can" is honest, but insufficient as a goal. This exercise also put me into a slight panic mode. haha.

Following my last blog post, where I was celebrating the comparative success and how much grown I've seen in my business since starting it in October of 2013... my projected needed bookings are still a bit scary.

To be able to afford what I (semi-realistically) would like to spend next year, I would need to book:

- 5 more weddings for 2015
- 10 portrait sessions
- 15 Event/commercial shoots
- 2 website designs
- 10 weddings for 2016 (deposits)

Really, this could be in any combination that makes up $27k.

It's certainly doable, but that doesn't leave any wiggle room - for things like exceeding my monthly budget (which I do regularly), and any unexpected expenses that may pop up. It also doesn't account for any savings.

What it does count for (beyond monthly expenses):

- Photography Classes ($750)
- Travel ($2,000)
- Extra student Loan Payments ($3,000)
- Photo Equipment ($1,000)
- Wedding Expenses ($2,500)
- Bridal Show Fee ($350)

These obviously encompass a lot of money, and would be where the sacrifices start taking place if my bookings don't make the mark. But to me, they are all worth the spending and worth sacrificing for. So it's going to come down to really stringently following that budget this coming year. And making the dollars stretch as far as they can. At least until I make my booking goals.

So at least I know where I stand and what I should expect. Now to get to the action

I hope you all are making progress on your goals and ready to start out the new year right!

I started my photography + design business in October of 2013, on a sort of whim just to "see if I could do it." I looked over my spreadsheets today to get a feel for where I'm at now. And it was a rather invigorating exercise! I took a look at how many jobs I covered each year, how much I made (or will make), and the average per job at this point.

2013
19 jobs (in 3 months, 1 wedding)
$1,506.24
$79.28/job average

2014
27 jobs (9 weddings)
$16,416.26
$608.00/job average

2015 (contracts signed and deposits made)
10 jobs (9 weddings)
$17,400.00
$1,740/job average

Granted, there are a lot of things to keep in mind - In 2013 I was portfolio building, and did a couple of shoots for free. The rest were dirt cheap (a portrait session was $50 and I shot a wedding ceremony for $220. ha). This was only a side gig for me, and most of the marketing I did was for friends and through Craigslist.

This year I operated my business as a side gig until May, when I quit my two other part time jobs (it was a rough spring) to operate full time. I've been pretty exceptionally busy since. I was shooting weddings this year with 3 pricing options between $1,000 and $1,500. A lot of my revenue this year also came from doing work for political candidates (referred exclusively from a friend I used to work with) and real estate photography for a local nonprofit (also referred by a friend who works there). Word of mouth really makes a difference!

As for next year's bookings... I changed my pricing structure to reflect only one real option and upped the price to $2,000 for a wedding (including an engagement session). That was a huge, difficult step for me. I tend to drastically undervalue my work. But here's the thing... people are still hiring me. *Cue amazingly big smile*

My projected earnings outshine this year's already, and that doesn't include everything I'll book throughout the course of 2015 itself. My goal was to book at least 12 weddings for the year, and I'm well on my way.

I'm not saying it's time to retire or anything. I'm hoping to hit only $35k total in earnings pre-taxes next year. But that's a pretty solid living doing something that I just thought I would try out. It's certainly still really hard work. And owning a business is horribly expensive all by itself (I'm looking at $10,000 in expenses this year - over half of which was equipment). But it feels good to know that it's starting to come together. And I really think next year it's going to really start paying off. Which is something that I'm incredibly proud of.

Yay!

I'm consistently blown away by how fast time is moving these days... ah well.

I sat down this morning to pay my bills and go over spending for last month to see just how bad it was. haha. I went ahead and purchased my new camera last week, so that put me $1,800 deeper than I expected to be for the month, but it was going to be purchased sooner or later, and with two weddings in the next week that are super low-light, I felt sooner was better. So my business spending was way above and beyond what I had budgeted. Thankfully, I've got that Amazon rewards card - so I now have $58 of credit. There was also a $300 rebate. I'm mailing in the stuff for that today. I also have an excess of one camera now that my backup has been replaced by my former main camera. So I'm hoping to get $500 out of that. Let's hope!

Other places I went over budget in November:

- Groceries
- Restaurants

I think some of the items accounted for in my "grocery" budget weren't all actual food. Target pops up a few times, which is most certainly a mix of food and crap I don't need. Oh, Target... Actually, $50 of that was the Christmas tree we picked up at Target. Mystery solved... haha.

I only budget $30 for restaurants a month. I really need to rethink that. Because I never ever actually stay within that. But honestly, we've been really good about cooking this month. So I'm surprised to see it over $150. Part of that was the lunch I had with my brother ($30), one stop at the burger place that BF and I always hit when we travel down to my hometown ($21). The rest of it is just little things here and there - a coffee, a tea, an icecream, a stop at Arby's after the wedding I shot (they didn't really feed me). Just goes to show that it all adds up.

***

As for this month... I crunched the numbers and made sure I'm going to be good for making my goals. It's going to be a rough one. It's a fairly slow month considering. But I'm hoping to book one or two weddings by the end of it, which would help considerably.

I also have to make sure I don't go crazy with the xmas spending. I've already got a few people crossed off my list. Trying to keep it as simple as humanly possible. Really, it's just BF and my mom that will be larger gifts. And as usual, I'm struggling to figure out things to get both of them. I'll be designing a retro-style soccer poster for BF. That's going to be his big gift, I think. And then some smaller fun things. Mom I've got no clue. Nonetheless, I'm *hoping* to keep my total spending under $300 for remaining gifts. We'll see how that goes. That $58 in Amazon rewards credit + the $25 Amazon gift card I purchased with PNC points should help.

***

Goal Update:

- Transferred $525 to my savings account for taxes, bringing the total up to $3,141.03.
- Transferred $219 to my Ally account for travel savings, bringing the total up to $546.

I'll by paying additional on my Sallie Mae loan once I get a couple more payments from clients. Don't want that account to get too low!

That's about it for my update. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I know, most of the country is freaking out about snow right now. I'm actually a little happy to see it, to be honest. It's looking rather pretty outside

***

Yesterday was a true no-spend, but today I'll be hitting the grocery store to grab some stuff for meals in the next week or so. On the menu:

- Pizza (we'll get the ingredients and put it together ourselves)
- Grilled Cheese and Soup
- Homemade Cornbread Waffles with Pulled Pork, topped with an Egg

Noticed a lot of carbs, but as it starts getting colder I tend to crave comfort food. The waffles were a fun idea I had, and will probably be what I make for our weekly dinner night with friends. BF's mom gave us a waffle iron a while back and we've never used it. Figured it would be fun to try. And I like doing non-traditional spins on different meals.

***

So engagement rings are in my title. BF and I are at that point where we're more or less planning on getting married next fall. He's been dragging his feet a bit on the proposal, and when I asked him last month why he hadn't popped the question yet (yeah, I'm that kind of crazy), he basically told me he just hasn't gotten around to buying the ring. I very gently reminded him that if he was hoping to have the ceremony next fall that we should probably start planning soon.

The other day (without prompting, I swear), he looked at me and said, "I really do need to buy your engagement ring." He then told me to just pick one and send him a link.

I'm sure many people would say me picking the ring kind of takes the fun out of it, but I'm really laid back about these things. Being married to him is what is going to be special.

So I'm in the process of shopping for an engagement ring. haha. Looking for something nice and inexpensive. That whole "3 months salary" garbage isn't going to fly with this girl. I told him if he spent that much I would say no. Which is a lie, but I would probably have him exchange it for something more modest in that case I'll go for an engagement ring with a bit more jazz, and then opt for a small, simple wedding band. In any case, I'm hoping the total is less than $500.

Now all I have to do is get my finger sized and make a decision. Can't blame it on him anymore. haha.

So the other day I wrote that it was going to be a no-spend day. That didn't end up being the case. I ended up actually going to the mall with a friend of mine and picking up a few things. I spent about $40 - $20 of which was covered by the surprise birthday money I found sorting through a pile of papers. The $40 was allocated to my misc. shopping budget for the month, so I'm still not overspending quite yet.

Picked up a pair of warm sweatpants. As the temperatures have dropped all week, I realized I only really have thin leggings, and that's not going to cut it. I work from home all day most days, and I don't want the heating bill to be through the roof. I also picked up a sweater for $5 (not bad at H&M!) and a fleece lined sweatshirt. Again, for warmth and comfort in the coming months

Yesterday I went to the market and purchased a few food items. And then some beer to take to a friend's, as he cooked.

Today will be a genuine no-spend. Work, work, work at home. Then BF and I are making dinner tonight. It's been a while since we've had dinner at a restaurant. We've been really good about cooking and/or coordinating cooking with friends. Which has been awesome.

Even though the other day wasn't a *true* no-spend, I'm not too worried about putting more money toward debt. haha. Today I'll add another $5 to that. Progress!

Yesterday started with a couple of early wins. I began the day by sorting through a huge pile of papers that were in need of filing or action. In the mix I found a birthday card from BF's mom (my birthday was back in May) that had $20 in it. It pays to get organized!

I also found a check from a client that was signed by me, but did not have the usual "For PNC Mobile Deposit Only" written on the back. So I'm thinking I never actually deposited it. I looked online at my activity, and it seems that I didn't. So I need to let my client know I'm going to deposit it now and then get it in my account. That's $250 I didn't realize wasn't actually in the bank. Oops!

Also called the cable company on the way down to lunch. Turns out we had a 6-month long special that ended. After canceling the actual cable and just keeping the internet, my bill is back down to where it was. We don't really ever watch the cable portion - our TV has an antenna that allows us to catch Jeopardy, and my weekly New Girl/Mindy Project fix.

***

Yesterday bought gas and lunch for Brother and myself. Lunch was about as good as can be expected. I'm happy I went, but needing a really productive day today to make up for being out of commission for about 5 hours yesterday (it's over an hour drive to get down there).

***

Today I've got a system going. At the top of the hour I'm writing for 15 minutes, then for the next 45 minutes I'm editing photos. Hoping to get caught up on my NaNoWriMo novel and put a decent dent in my editing queue. So there will be much coffee!

I find that giving myself structured, short term spurts to do things actually motivates me to get them done rather than sitting in front of the computer for hours. My goal for the day is to write 4,000 words and finish up a wedding set (roughly 50 photos left to do). Wish me luck!

***

Tonight BF and I are going over to a friend's for dinner and board games. So it should be a no-spend day.

I think I'm going to start doing a sort of $20 challenge again - putting in tiny bits of money into one of my goals. Every No-Spend will be $5, and every time I don't give into the urge to get a coffee out at a coffee house, I'll just direct that money (usually another $5) to a goal as well. That way I can tangibly see that decision playing out. Along with savings in my budget I wasn't expecting.

So today I'm going to take the $45 I saved on health insurance (and by saved, I mean my insurance cut out after the 5th, so they only charged me for a portion of the month), then the $5 I saved not getting coffee the other day, and $5 for today's no-spend to my CC. That brings my balance down to $1,452.91.

Small wins.

As predicted, yesterday was a no-spend. Woop woop! It was also one of the more productive days I've had in a while. Did the dishes, got our laundry done, emails answered, a blog post written, and got 2 client galleries up and sent out. You would be surprised at how much of a photographer's time is just administrative work and downloading/sorting/resizing/uploading files.

I'm still pretty far behind, but at least I was able to catch up a little.

Had dinner at our friends' house, so that was really nice. I love it when I don't even have to cook! Tonight I'll be making a pork loin I bought at the market with some mashed potatoes, and those same friends will be over at our place for dinner instead.

Yesterday I also took a look at my cable bill - and for some reason, they decided to double the speed of our internet and tack on another $20. So I'll be on the phone with them today getting that changed, and getting rid of our cable package (we really just got it to watch the World Cup coverage over the summer).

***

Today, I'm driving about an hour south to go see my brother for the first time in probably 4 or 5 years. I wish I could say I'm looking forward to it. But the relationship I have with my family (and frankly, all of the relationships between all members) is quirky at best, and something I struggle with. Brother has paranoid schizophrenia, and has been in and out of jail for several years now. According to mom, he's been on his meds (which is fantastic) - but even so, I can't say we share a lot in common. Spending time with him usually results in some combination of awkwardness and guilt for not reaching out to him enough. Honestly, though, it's one of those situations where there are no winners. And I have so much going on in my life that I don't have the time or energy to devote to an illness that requires a lot of time and patience.

Even typing that, I feel like I'm a cold and distant person. But I've watched family members hold back others that really had a lot of potential. They say that in adulthood you have the opportunity to (and should) surround yourself with people that inspire and motivate you to be a better person. I'm in a very different place than much of my family. I don't think I'm better than them in any way. They are all unique, caring people - but I can't handle the drama, the immaturity, or the various drug and/or psychological problems. So I choose to spend time with them in small bits, and sparingly.

That being said, I'm happy that my brother took the initiative to reach out, and that he wants to pursue a relationship. I'll be there for him in the small capacity I can be. And I do sincerely hope that our lunch date is enjoyable and helps him feel grounded and supported. I'm looking forward to seeing him, but walking into it curious of how it will go, and how much our conversation will be rooted in reality. It's a weird, messy bunch of emotions. But I'm sure we'll both come out of it better people.

***

So beyond the lengthy explanation, I'll be spending today on lunch with Brother and probably gas. I think I might swing by the library this morning and grab an audiobook for the drive. Gotta love the library!

At any rate, sorry for the rambling. And have an awesome day!

The weekend started out pretty well. My mom and her BF came to visit, and I made dinner. Which was nice. Yesterday morning was pretty low-key. I cooked breakfast for myself and the boy. Then we got ready and drove an hour and a half. I had a shoot with friends out in the area where BF's family lives. So I did my shoot, then we hung out and had dinner with his family.

Lots of family this weekend. ha.

Made $135 yesterday on that shoot, which was short- and will be quite simple in the editing stages.

Looked at Mint this morning, and everything seems to be moving along well. I'm only over budget on one item - alcohol & bars. In my defense, I only budgeted $20 for that category. Going out 3 times put me at about $45.

Thankfully, decided not to go out last night after getting home. I actually ended up laying in my bed reading Game of Thrones, then crashed pretty quickly. Though friends of ours did end up coming over eventually, it was all boys. So I let BF hang out with his friends while I caught up on some sleep.

Today is going to be a busy day. I have some cleaning to do, about 10k words of a novel to write, and I wouldn't mind getting some work done as well. It's going to be an all-day work fest for the BF as well, so we'll just hang out around home. I have food to cook tonight, so it should be a no-spend day. Which is good.

So I should probably get to that productive day! I hope you are all doing well and moving along with your goals!

Moved some money around this morning, after deposits have cleared.

- Put $500 into the savings account for taxes.
- Moved $219 to my Ally account for vacation.

Went grocery shopping yesterday and spent about what I would regularly. Bought enough food to cook 4 meals, including what I'll be making for my mom and her boyfriend tomorrow when they come over.

Opted out of getting lunch and dinner out yesterday. So I'm feeling pretty good about that. We've been cooking a lot - have a standing night with friends of ours, so we alternate who cooks. Tonight we'll be getting together with that same couple at their place (football game).

The rest of the month I really need to keep from spending much. I have a big check coming at the end of the month, but not until the 29th... so I need to make sure I have enough in my account to pay student loan bills and such at the beginning of December. Unless I do some more booking. Which hopefully is the case! But in terms of income I can 100% count on (payments I'm hunting down), I'm in a tight place until next month.

Today will be pretty low-key. Delivering some photo books to a client (which will be really nice. I love seeing my clients!). Aside from that, it's just home work work working. Trying to get things accomplished, and then tonight heading over to our friends' for the game (well, I'm really just going for the food. ha).

Hope you all have a stellar day!

How in the world is it November already? I know I said that in my last post, but really...

Spent the morning catching up on work, paying bills, and getting organized for the month. I use Mint (which is a brilliant piece of software) to look everything over and make sure all of my business expenses are put into my handy dandy spreadsheet.

It was a good month for income. I actually made a thousand more than I anticipated. And I stayed almost within my budget. A few things popped up - registered for the bridal show I've done twice now. It's not until January, but I wanted to get the email out of my inbox so... I figured why not register now when I can deduct it from 2014 taxes. haha.

I did a little more non-planned spending than I would like. Trips to IKEA and the like add up. As does the gas!

I actually did a lot of traveling this past month - a trip to Pittsburgh to hit IKEA, a trip down to DC and Virginia beach (work AND play), as well as a trip down to Columbus (mostly work). It's nice that I have clients all around, and an excuse to travel (and write off some of my expenses).

I had an engagement shoot in the DC area, and it was a great time. Gorgeous location to do a shoot, and we had such beautiful weather. The BF and I went down a day early to do some sightseeing and hang out with friends of mine. All of the museums are free, so we did quite a bit for very little money. Then the shoot was the next day at the monuments. BF went and explored while I worked.

After DC, we drove to VA Beach to stay with friends. Again, pretty cheap entertainment!

***

This month will be a bit more low-key. Partially because I'm not expecting quite as much income. Things are winding down for me as wedding season is coming to a close. I have 2 more weddings, and then just a handful of portrait shoots (xmas cards and the like) until January. So unless I do some hardcore booking this month or next (unlikely), I'm going to be a bit tight on cash. I have some money in the savings account, but in reality it's for taxes. So I'd rather not dip into it. Still, nice to know I have a little buffer.

***

My goals are coming along slowly, but surely. I may not be able to pay off the CC totals by the end of the month, but I'll put a dent in them. Just waiting for money to move around, and a few more checks to come in. Did put an extra payment on the student loan today, so I've got that, I guess. I'll have more updates here in a week or so.

My real November goal: Stay within my budget. Entirely. I did tweak the figures so they are a bit more realistic. But I need to start putting my foot down on the spending.

***

I did get my phone situation worked out - decided to stay with Verizon. Got my new iPhone 5s. I LOVE the camera on it compared to the 4. Almost feels like I'm using my Canon. haha. Okay, maybe not... but it's fantastic. And my new bill dropped from $85 to $60/month. So I'm pretty pumped about that.

***

So here is the end of my long-winded update. I hope everyone else had a successful October, and I hope you all have an even more successful November!

So I did write another entry sometime last week, and the vastness of the interwebz ate it. No clue how, but rest assured that it was thoughtful, exciting, and had many important tidbits that would help you weary readers navigate through the struggles of life.

Not really. It was just about me canceling a bunch of stuff I've been paying for. But hey - simplicity! Savings!

Today's update has less thematic elements. I had my first weekend without a wedding in a month, which felt like a real break despite having two sessions Sunday (one of which was an hour and a half away. ha). All of my grand plans to get out and enjoy myself instead resulted in my staying in all of those nights. Mostly binge-watching Netflix. I'm on this nostalgic Buffy the Vampire Slayer kick.

I did do some grocery shopping on Saturday for just a few odds and ends to round out meals and such. I cooked Friday and Saturday nights. Had dinner at mom's on Sunday after my shoot (her house was conveniently on the way home, so I had an excuse to hang out).

Talked to her about my desire to switch from our family plan to that nifty Sprint iPhone plan. She checked it out, and I am due for an upgrade - so there would be no cancellation fee. Woo to the hoo. It still kills me that I pay $85/month on a family plan. It seems outrageously high for how little I actually talk on the phone.

So the weekend was a bit of shopping, work, and lounging. It's honestly exactly what I needed. And I spent minimal amounts of money. So that's a plus as well!

***

This week is going to be a little different. I'm heading down to DC with the BF - to do a shoot with some clients, and generally enjoy the city. He's never been, and as much as my man loves America and history, it seems almost criminal that he hasn't visited the capitol.

So we'll be heading down, sightseeing for a day, spending one night in a hotel, and then after my shoot, driving down to VA Beach to spend time with friends. It should be a good time, and I'm very much looking forward to bouncing around with the BF for a few days.

Slightly spendier, but travel is one of those things that I think are worth the cost. And is always a priority for me. Thankfully, the monuments and museums are all free. We're staying just outside of the city, and taking public transit in. I'm sure we'll get dinner the one night, but beyond that it shouldn't be too bad.

***

Anyone else out there blown away that it's almost November? Seriously. When did time start moving so fast?

Okay, that's it for me. Long-winded silly update. Hope you all have a fantastic week!

So I have this bad habit of writing for a few months straight, and then not again for like a year. Right now is one of those times.

I'm in a pretty good place since my last update. My photography business is going very well. Starting to book up for next year, and I've remained busy through this wedding season! Both a blessing, and a curse of course It's been a whirlwind, but I couldn't be happier that my clients are happy, and I'm able to pay my bills.

I've been more closely tracking my finances these last couple of months. I can't say I'm in a drastically better financial position than I was a year ago - I have about as much CC debt (about $1700) and just as much student loan debt (about $53k). At the same time, though, I can say I'm a much happier person than I was a year ago... and have done so much in the last 12 months!

My trip to Europe did in fact happen back in August. It was an amazing time, and an incredible experience. I can't wait to go back

I purchased a new car back in May. My first ever, and I had some serious reservations about purchasing new... but my previous car was always on the brink of explosion, and I got a great deal on a new 2013 leftover from last year. Honda Fit. Decent gas mileage, and it should last me forever. Also, the BF helped me out with the down payment - which was incredibly nice of him. $2k is quite a chunk of change!

Speaking of the BF... we moved in together back in April, and that's going very well. He pays a larger share of the bills (partially because he can, and partially because I wouldn't have moved into the apt he liked best unless that was the case. Because I wouldn't have been able to afford it). So my home living expenses are pretty low right now.

I get dinged more on business expenses and random stuff than anything else - so part of my focus right now is wrangling in my impulse purchases (do I really NEED that $60 marketing calendar and eBook? That random top at Target?).

My financial goals all revolve around paying off debt and saving, as I'm sure most everyone's are Some highlights:

- Paying off the last of my CC debt
- Saving up for taxes in April
- Paying off my highest interest (9.75%) Sallie Mae Loan
- Saving up for a trip to Thailand that we're hoping to take next winter

I recently opened an Amazon CC to handle (and keep separate) my business expenses. I use Amazon usually to buy new equipment, so it made sense. Opened an Ally account to track savings for our trip.

Once taxes and our trip are covered (haha. Like that's going to happen soon...), I'll start putting money away for our move. It wont happen for another year and a half minimum, but we're planning on taking our lives to another US city - not sure where yet. We just know we aren't quite done moving around yet. The next year or so we'll be doing some traveling around to see what strikes our fancy, and go from there. Nonetheless, we'll need some cash tucked away for moving expenses, and just in case one of us hasn't nailed down a job have a few months worth of living expenses.

Throw in that I'm *hoping* to get married next year, and wham. I need to start raking in the cash fast.

So. That's a LOT. Apologies for the info overload. I just find it helps to articulate all of this somewhere In the coming weeks, I'll be getting into more of the minutia of every day, rather than dumping a year's worth of financial planning on all of you!

Thanks for riding along!

Yesterday marked the end of the election, which is a huge sigh of relief for me. Our campaign won and the levy I was working to get passed did in fact do so- at 65% of the vote, which is pretty remarkable. Today I'm trying to catch up on some non-work related stuff (like paying bills!) and am struggling to stay awake. I haven't got much sleep in the last few days...

All that aside, I'm feeling really good. I have a trip to Seattle tomorrow with a girlfriend that I'm very excited about. Visiting one of my best friends I haven't seen in months, since he moved out there. The three of us were inseparable in grad school, and we'd looking forward to taking on the streets of that city in full force

I'll be using my time in the airport to do some photo editing. I have two sets to complete in the next week. The business is going well. I had another engagement shoot last weekend, two more sessions booked, and 4 in the works. Not bad for only posting to Craigslist...

I have a job interview next week that I'm pretty excited about, so hopefully that will go over well and I'll have full time employment (wouldn't that be nice?).

November is really the month of adventure for me, though. On top of traveling to Seattle this weekend, I'm going to Frankfurt, Germany in just a couple of weeks! I found this gig through a friend for a logistics company that pays people to fly around and transport bone marrow donations to people who need it. They're covering my flights, hotels, and giving me $75/day to cover food and whatnot. I get to stay in Germany for 2 days and then head to New Jersey to drop off. It seemed too good to be true, but when my friend told me she did it without a hitch, I figured it was an opportunity I just couldn't pass up.

Consequently, I'm learning as much German as I can in the next two weeks and just reeling with excitement because I finally get to visit Europe. Adventure! I'll be doing some work while I'm traveling there as well. That's the nice thing about doing freelance work from home! I can take my work pretty much anywhere...

So while I'm a little worried about finding a full time job, I'm enjoying the flexibility of my current arrangement and am so very thankful that I'm in a financial situation that gives me that flexibility. I can honestly say this is the first time I've ever been able to say that. Saving has been pretty much nonexistent for me up to this point... and I know it is a luxury to feel comfortable in a state of uncertainty.

---

As for my financial update: I paid all my bills for November, save the one that doesn't get sent to me until later in the month. My minimum payments for my student loans are now under $400 every month, which is very exciting. It's always uplifting when you visibly see your hard work paying off. It also relieves a lot of pressure when your debt payments are less than your rent :/

I transferred $1,000 to my savings account, so I'm 1/3 of the way toward my savings goal for 2013 taxes. Woo!

I'm clearly not going to be in a position to make my goal to hit $6,000 for my focus loan account, but it could be close depending on what my work situation is next month. I've got it under $10k, which I'm incredibly happy about.

I've been pretty good about not purchasing food at restaurants. Tonight I'll be cooking dinner. The rest of the week I'll be traveling, but thankfully my two friends are just as cheap as I am- so while I'm sure we'll get dinner out one of the nights, we'll be doing some cooking at his place as well.

I have a doctor's appointment next week, and I'm not sure what I'll end up spending, but I'm budgeting at least a couple hundred dollars. We shall see how this insurance works out.

I think that's about it for now. Sorry for the novel! Hope you all are doing well!

So it's been a little over a week since my last update. Things have been real busy with work, freelance work, and the start of a new facet of my freelance work-- photography.

I've been practicing photography as a hobby for quite some time now, and I had my first engagement photo session a few weeks ago. After all was said and done, I looked at Craigslist to see who was advertising there... and realized my photos were just as good (and in some cases a bit more professional) than the ones posted. So what did I do? I created a website, and started posting ads on Craigslist as well.

(want to check it out?

http://www.taradeephotodesign.com)

For only being up for just over a week, I've booked two sessions with people I don't know- a wedding ceremony tomorrow and an engagement session next weekend. Not bad! I also have a couple of baby/family shoots in the works with people that I am friends with.

I also got some freelance work going with a nonprofit I used to work for, so I'm making up for the $250 or so I lost with drill being cancelled due to the government shutdown, which is really nice.

I did have some expenses that went along with it-- setting up and hosting the site, domain name, etc. I'm going to register for an LLC next month when I get paid, so I can be "official." I did also buy a new flash for my camera so I can get the indoor shots at the wedding more easily/effectively. I used my $50 Amazon gift card for that, so while it is still a business expense, it didn't affect my bank balance but for a couple of dollars.

So far, so good then

While all that is happening, the job hunt is still going forward. I have an interview next Thursday with a company that is essentially a temp agency for creative professionals. I'm hoping that will go over well. They do contract-to-hire, so I'll basically work for a company on a "test basis" for a few months, then be hired on full time (ideally). So we'll see how it all works out.

Beyond that, nothing is really new on the financial front. I've been doing well making food/coffee at home so I don't waste too much money on food. I cooked dinner 4 times in the last week, and still have some leftovers. Time to hit the grocery store again!

Tomorrow I'm going to a murder mystery night at my BF's house. That'll be $20 (his room mate organized it, and all things accounted for, that's what he estimated it at per person, including dinner), and I do have to find something to wear. Hoping to find something awesome at a thrift store today *crossing fingers* - it's set in 1939, so this will be my Halloween costume as well.

Sunday I'm carving pumpkins with the BF. One of our favorite traditions

Tonight will be low key. I've got that wedding to shoot in the morning (my first!) and I'm hitting the rehearsal tonight to talk with the couple and take some test shots in the church. Then BF and I will grab some dinner and either stay in and watch a movie or go out to see Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks. Easy going...

Anyway, this was a bit longer than expected. I hope you're all doing well!

So it's been a little over a week since I've updated. This past week has been hideously busy, and I'm starting to get worn down with all of the stuff I'm doing for work. Despite the fact that I don't have a job lined up quite yet, I'm really looking forward to the election being over.

That being said, it was a pricey week. The more I have to do, the less time I have to cook. I hit the grocery store yesterday, but prior to that it had been well over a week... so I ate a lot of meals at restaurants and fast food places.

I also went shopping with a friend of mine on Sunday, and bought probably more clothes than I should have. It was all stuff that was practical- things I can wear to work, sweaters (I'm dangerously low on warm tops I can wear to work), a Victoria's Secret bra on sale for $15 to replace the one my washer destroyed. Nonetheless, that's about $80 I wouldn't have otherwise spent. Sigh.

I bought my plane ticket to Seattle- and it was only $312. That's almost $100 less than I anticipated, so I'm very happy about that.

Talked to BF last week, and we've decided to postpone our Europe trip until the spring. Hitting Copenhagen, Germany, and Zurich in late December is going to be freezing, and we'd rather go when we'll enjoy the weather a bit more. That being said, my new target savings goal is the $3,000 I'm trying to save for my taxes in April. I'm hoping to hit that long before April, but we'll see!

I had a job interview that went fine last week, but is not a job that I'd ever want to take. I don't understand why a company would advertise a "marketing specialist" position that is nothing but direct sales... sigh.

I did get a response from a nonprofit I'd really like to work for, but the salary level is quite a bit lower than I would prefer. At the same time, if I don't get any other offers, that might have to be what I take. It's enough for me to live on, but I feel like I could do better. Nonetheless, I'm thrilled to get a response. I've been applying to many, many places. It's frustrating to not hear back.

I picked up a bit of freelance work for a previous employer. That'll be some nice extra income! It's looking like I'm probably not going to have drill this month, though, because of the government shutdown... so that's about $250 I've budgeted for that will likely not come to me this month. I guess it'll balance out?

I did my first engagement photoshoot this past weekend, too- which was really fun. I wish the weather would have been a bit nicer. It was really overcast, but didn't rain... so I guess it could have been worse! I'm hoping that I can start booking paid gigs at some point, so this was good practice.

As mentioned, I did go grocery shopping yesterday- and made a big dinner for the BF and myself. Being so busy, we haven't really had any alone time recently, so it was nice to have a relaxing night in. I have plenty of leftovers to show for it as well

I think that's about it. Sorry for the all-over-the-place hodge podge of updates! Hope everyone is doing well and working effectively toward their goals!

So I got paid yesterday and deposited my check. This morning, then, I moved some money around.

I paid $1,750 to Sallie Mae. Happy to report that my target loan account is at $10,297! If I could drop it under $10k this month, I would be really excited about that.

I've been thinking about my goals, and cutting that loan down is supposed to be my main focus... but I'm getting anxious about still not having a job as of mid-next month. So I put another $1,000 in my EF, just in case. Hopefully once I find something I'll be able to just apply that to the loan.

I have some big purchases coming up-- about $400 on a plane ticket to Seattle to visit a friend. I'm thinking I wont have to spend more than $200 once I'm out there. I'm hoping it'll be even less than that.

BF is buying me a ticket to Europe for my graduation gift, but I have to handle all of my expenses once we get there. We're still not exactly sure what our route is going to be once we get there, but he really wants to visit London... and I know it's supposed to be incredibly expensive. I wanted to visit Paris, but I know it's the same story. Germany is the one place we know we're visiting-- and we'll have a free place to stay there, thankfully. We're still working out the kinks otherwise, but I've budgeted $1,000 for the trip. I would hope it's not going to be more than that for two weeks split between us (hotel-wise).

I know that spending money on traveling might seem counterintuitive to saving... but it's a really big priority in my life, I miss my friend terribly, and I've never been to Europe. Besides, it's kind of hard to pass up a free plane ticket. I just feel blessed that I'm in a position to be able to make these trips and cover my bills. I can honestly say that this is the first time I've ever been able to do that.

Because I'm a contracted worker, I have to budget in taxes prior to April. I'm shooting to save at least $3,000 for that, as I know I'll get a deduction for my student loan interest payments-- which cap at $2,500, but I've paid in far more than that this year, so I'll get at least that much. So $2k for federal, and I'm guessing roughly $1,000 between state and local.

I'm also really hoping that by the time my birthday rolls around in May that I'll be able to buy a new car. What I get will largely depend on what kind of money I'm making at my next job... we'll see.

All that being said, in order to cut that loan in half by the end of the year, I need to pay off $4,297 on it. That will be do-able if I find a good paying job (or any job) as of next month- so let's hope I do find something. I'll be scraping by until then.

I hope all of you are chugging along on your goals and finding some progress! Have a great weekend!

The time really does fly by...

So let's take a look at spending for the month:



I'm overall really happy with how I did. Though I definitely went over budget in a few areas- mainly with restaurant eating, as usual- I'm still quite proud of the accomplishments of the month. I spent half what I did last month on food, and I think I only purchased coffee one time.

I had a few just really stupid expenses that I shouldn't even have bothered with- $20 in TV that came on Netflix 4 hours after I bought it on Amazon, and $20 in iCloud storage because I'm kind of an idiot when it comes to technology. That's $40 that could have been put to MUCH better use. Sigh...



Not included in this breakdown was the $1,562 payment to clear my CC, the $748 put toward my EF, or the $100 in car repairs I made.

It also doesn't include the $25 in Gas I spent today, which wont clear for a couple more days.

I didn't make any freelance income this month, which did put me a bit behind... but I still ended up with money leftover (though it's getting rotated into paying next month's bills at the moment).

Now on to budgeting for October!

I'm going to pad my EF a bit more, because I still haven't found a job to replace mine when the contract ends. I'm already a month ahead on my Student loans, but you can never be too careful. I don't have a CC payment anymore, so there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to add another $1,000 or so.

Last week was incredibly busy with several events for work and being out Thursday afternoon and Friday for BF's sister's wedding. I'm playing catch-up this week, but feeling much better today about progress than I was yesterday. I had events all weekend for work as well, so I didn't get much of a break-- and because I had drill the weekend prior, I haven't really had a day off to just relax. I'm definitely starting to feel a little burnt out as a result. I'm trying to stay energetic and positive, though.

Despite all of that, I'm still managing to stay under budget overall. I should really get to the grocery store here soon, but I'm also trying to use up some of the random odds and ends I have in my kitchen. I just know if I let it go on too long that I'll start eating out because there's nothing convenient to grab. I feel like half the battle of budgeting/saving is knowing your own behaviors and pre-empting them. haha.

Because I'm about $150 under budget with only a week or so left in the month, I transferred $50 to my savings account. I have a few savings goals that I need to keep in mind, and with my car deteriorating fast I know it's not a terrible idea to start saving up for a new one. I'm hoping it holds out for another 6 months before completely falling apart. haha. But we'll see. I only have $1k in my EF, so I'm thinking that padding it might be good regardless-- at least until I secure a job for November. I really do want to focus on my loans, though. It's kind of sad when I have to decide between saving or paying off my loans. I guess it's good that this is where I struggle, rather than spending money on stuff I don't need.

Anyway, lots to do today, so this is a quick update! Below you'll see my current spending for the month (in green) compared to the same period last month (in yellow). Feeling pretty good about it

Nothing terribly interesting to report today. Went to the mall yesterday and managed to not spend a cent! Had to help the BF pick out a suit for his sister's wedding this weekend. I'll be wearing one of the many dresses in my closet that don't get nearly enough wear. Usually I use a wedding as an excuse to buy something new. Not this time!

Ate breakfast at home. Brought my coffee and lunch to work. Leftovers from last night. Mmm. I'll be cooking dinner tonight to bring leftovers in tomorrow.

Used rewards points and a coupon to grab a makeup item for $3.25 (including shipping). Pretty pumped about that. I did break down and buy the second season of New Girl from Amazon Prime this morning. It was $22. But considering I don't pay at all for cable or TV, I can justify the cost. Season 3 starts tonight and I'm not quite caught up. If only Netflix would have just put up both 1&2...

That being said, I'm still on track to be way under budget. Though I did budget $200 for medical expenses, and I haven't quite gotten around to scheduling an appointment... we'll see what that works out to be.

That's about it for today's update. Hope you all are having a good week so far!

So here we are. Another week, and we're a little over the halfway mark in September. I can't believe just how fast time is flying...

At any rate, here is my update:

This past weekend was drill weekend. I ended up staying in at my place Friday night, so no spending there. I wasn't feeling well and just ended up taking a long bath and watching Netflix.

Saturday I got gas on my drive down (it's an hour to get to where I drill, which is about 5 min away from my mom's house. That's where I stay so I don't have to drive back). Spent about $25 on gas.

I always end up going out to lunch on drill weekends- because they usually give us rather unappetizing boxed lunches and it's our time to take a break from the day. Saturday we hit chipotle. I spent about $6. Yesterday, we went to Piada- that was roughly $7.

Saturday night I stayed in, had leftovers from mom's fridge, and worked on an online graphic design class that a friend of mine is paying me to take for her. I kind of feel bad- I generally wouldn't do something like this. Education is important. But she's never going to be a graphic designer, and it's a win-win for us. I would have paid to take this class, and I'm getting a bit of cash out of it. And she doesn't have to spend time struggling through it. This is how I rationalize it, and that's that. heh.

Last night was pretty chill. Ice cream Sunday with the boy, and then watched some TV and went to sleep. This week is going to be a really busy one- so I wanted to get some rest.

---

Today I ate breakfast at home, brought in coffee. I tried my Aldi Donut Shop coffee for the first time today. Not terrible. I put so much flavored creamer in it that it really doesn't matter what coffee I use regardless. Brought a can of soup for lunch.

Tonight I'm going to the mall with BF so he can buy a suit for his sister's wedding this weekend. Hoping I don't feel the urge to purchase anything. It's hard to trust myself in malls... but I have faith that I will maintain my self control.

Cooking dinner tonight so I can take leftovers for lunch. I didn't go grocery shopping this weekend, but I should be okay for the next few days. I may hit Aldi for a few things, but I'm going to try and hold out until the weekend if possible. I have plenty of food at home right now.

---

Mid month breakdown:



The green bars are for this month, the yellow are for the same period from last month. As you can see, food and dining spending is way better this month than last. I was also able to pay a lot more on the student debt this month, which is awesome.

I used my CC for all purchases this weekend (to get the rewards points), but I paid it off this morning, so I'm back to a zero balance.

Right now I have $60 in amazon gift cards from rewards points-- thanks to PNC points and Swagbucks. I'm going to start piling them up as much as I can to buy xmas gifts and little things that pop up. I'm at about 100 swagbucks right now. I'm earning them pretty fast these days...

Anyway, time to get back to work. Hope you all had a great weekend, and have an equally great week!

Not much to report on today. Ate breakfast at home, brought coffee along. Boss took us out for lunch. I did go out to dinner with a friend I haven't seen in a while, spent about $15 on food and one beer.

Paid my internet bill. Still under budget for the month. Still feeling good about things. Did get an email saying that my $50 Amazon gift card is on its way (it was on backorder from my PNC points). I'm also up to 371 Swagbucks, so I'll have another $5 Amazon gift card on its way soon. The one from last week cleared just yesterday.

Tonight BF and I are going to our friends' to play a board game called Settlers (if you've never played, I highly recommend it!) and socialize. I like these nights in. They're inexpensive, and we have a really good time.

So that's it! Tomorrow should be a no-spend day. Not sure what my plans are for the evening, but I'll be heading down to mom's to stay because I have drill this weekend. Yippie. lol. It'll be nice to see her, regardless.

Hope you all are having a good Thursday!

What. a. week.

I happily reported on my little victories the other day, but I'm having quite the hectic week regardless.

Yesterday I worked through mid afternoon, then left work early to drive down to Columbus to see the USMNT beat Mexico 2-0. That was pretty amazing! I did buy us food on the way down, as BF covered both tickets and drinks while we were down there. That was about $14-- so nothing crazy.

We did end up driving back last night, but it was still a late one. I woke up not only exhausted this morning, but my allergies were raging, and other fun factors have my stomach in a bind (unfortunately, not alcohol related).

I ate breakfast and lunch at home today-- took my car in to get the muffler fixed. I was happy to come out of it only spending $100. There's another piece that will likely break at some point, and they quoted me $300 for that... but it'll just make it a little louder and wont actually hurt anything. So I opted to wait until it gets bad to deal with that. Still need to fix my windows (the front ones don't roll down anymore), but that's another expense I can procrastinate. It's about to get cold anyway, I don't need to roll my windows down Paid the bill with the CC to get the reward points, but I'll be paying it off in full as soon as it posts.

That being said, I have an extra $400 in the budget to reallocate. Which will, of course, be going to that student loan account. I'll be able to dip under $12k this month. That's pretty exciting!

In other good news, I had talked to BF previously about the potential of him giving me a "loan" to essentially refinance some of my student loan debt. I usually wouldn't intermingle my expenses with a significant other, but given that we're planning on getting married in about a year, it seems alright. I'd never ask him to pay my loans off, but from a joint financial perspective, him paying off my loan so that I can pay him back at zero interest is going to save a lot of money in interest over the course of the next decade or so. The faster I pay off my loans, the sooner I can contribute more to things like downpayments on a house and saving for having kids/college/etc.

We talked about it for a while, and he was a bit uneasy because he still hadn't sold his car and wasn't quite where he wanted to be in terms of saving. We had also originally talked about him paying off the total $12k.

Yesterday, though, we revisited the topic-- as he finally sold his car and is back where he was in his savings. The arrangement we agreed on was that after I cut this loan in half, he's going to pay off the last $6,000 on it, and then I'll pay him back at zero interest for that one. Kind of a testament to my dedication to all of it, and it gives him a little time to save up a bit more as well. Nonetheless, that's still quite a bit of money I'll save in interest-- and it'll likely move into a situation where that same money just revolves after a loan is paid off. It could save us a lot in the end.

Needless to say, the BF is a pretty awesome dude. And I'm so very fortunate that he is in the position to help out where he can and already does.

All that being said, it's time for me to get back to work. I have a lot of catching up to do! Hope you're all having a great week.

Alright. So my paycheck cleared and here were are:

September 15: Pay off CC

8/28: $1,563.88
9/10: $0

Goal Complete!

September 15: Have $1,000 in EF

8/28: $252.56
9/10: $1,00.25

Goal Complete!

By End of year: Get SM4 Loan down to $6,000

8/28: $12,729.32
9/10: $12,363.75

I know, it seems like not a ton when you're only down $400 or so-- but the money I had left over to pay my loans included all of my minimum payments as well. Next month there will be a much bigger dent on the loans themselves. Also, I will hopefully have some leftover budgeted money to put toward it at the end of this month. We'll see how I do!

Nonetheless, it feels good to have that CC paid off and a little money saved. I know that $1,000 is pretty easy for me to blow through without a job (hence why my CC was so high already), but I really do want to focus on these loans. Perhaps I'll re-evaluate after the first of the year.

---

So yesterday I spent all day at a nonprofit volunteering my creative services, and it was a blast. They also bought our group lunch and dinner, which was really nice of them. I brought coffee from home and ate breakfast before I left, so yesterday was a no-spend day.

BF also gave me his activated 5-day bus/train pass from this weekend, so for the next few days I'll be riding for free. Woo! I called my mechanic over the weekend, but never heard back. I need to call again today... as I really need it fixed by this weekend.

---

Today I'll be bringing coffee/lunch. BF and I are driving down to Columbus tonight to see the USMNT play their qualifier against Mexico. I told him I couldn't buy my ticket, as it wasn't in the budget-- so if he wanted me to go with, he would have to cover it. And cover it he did. He really is a sweetheart, that one. I'm thankful that only one of us is facing a serious student loan problem. Outside of the car loan he just got, he's debt-free. I'm sure it'll make our future marriage much happier the less debt we've got.

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I have a super busy day at work today, so I'm going to get going. Hope you all are having a wonderful week, though!

So yesterday I felt like crap... and consequently spent the majority of the day in bed. Thankfully, however, I woke up feeling pretty good today... and now am having one of the more productive days I've had in a while

Rode my bike to a friend's this morning to go on a 3 mile run. Yesterday I agreed to do the 4.5 mile leg of a marathon relay that's happening in 3 weeks. Last week I tried to run 2 miles and felt like death. Needless to say, I have a lot of work to do in 3 weeks. Today's run was rough. And we definitely took a couple of walking breaks. It doesn't help that my 3 mile ride to her house wore me out before I even got there. Nonetheless, I'm happy I did as well as I did and I'm excited to run the relay.

After I got home from my bike/run/bike, I started on my laundry, cleaned most of my apartment, went to the grocery store, washed the hand-wash only clothes I have (a task I've been putting off for a while), hardboiled the 8 eggs that had today as the "use by" date, and phew. I am beat. And my feet are incredibly tired now.

Feeling really good, though!

I spent just under $25 at the grocery store. Had a lot of stuff leftover from last week, and I'm stocked up on many of the essentials. So I'm feeling pretty good.

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My pay check should ideally clear tomorrow. Pretty pumped to allocate that money. I did make a mistake in my calculations, though. I forgot my landlord hasn't cashed my check yet... so that's $475 less that I can allocate to student loans. Glad I caught that prior to making that payment. That means I can only really allocate about $775 to student loans this month-- but that is still largely additional payments, because I had already paid this month's Sallie Mae bill last month.

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Tonight BF's roomie is going to come over to get this whole car-fixing process started. I need to call my mechanic to see when I can drop it off, though. I really need my car by this coming weekend to get to drill. Bah. Stupid car troubles. Tonight is also Ice Cream Sunday! BF and I have a weekly ice cream date... and it's something we always look forward to

That's it for me! Hope you all are having a wonderful Sunday.

So I hounded my boss enough that yesterday he cut me a check. Our payroll person has been out for the last couple of weeks, and I guess a problem with our servers has made it difficult. Nonetheless, I am $4500 less poor. At least for now.

I deposited the check this morning, so hopefully by Monday I'll be able to move it all around. That's when the fun starts. Pay off the CC, put about $750 in my EF, and then fix my car. After that, it's time to hit those student loans. I just need to make sure I keep enough in my account to cover rent and utilities for next month, and some grocery money, and the $200 I set aside for medical expenses (I need to schedule an appointment).

I sat down with my spreadsheet and worked it out, and it seems I'll be able to put a total of $1,250 toward student loans comfortably, assuming a budget of $500 for car repairs. I'm reeeeeally hoping it's not even that much, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.



If I pay off the CC, pay up the EF, and put $1,250 toward my loans, I should be left with $1,569 in my account-- which will get me to my next paycheck, ideally, including those repairs. Potentially more, if I underestimate a couple of those expenses. That would be nice...

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So that's spending on big ticket items, here's the recap of spending over the last week:



"Health and fitness" is my insurance payment, and my rent should sneak in next week when my landlord cashes my check. But as you can see, food and dining is only at about $63-- which only includes a $10 non-grocery purchase (ice cream for BF and my weekly Sunday tradition). Woooo!!! If you compare that to the same time period last month, you see a rather large difference:



Have I mentioned I love Mint?! Something about being able to visualize the difference graphically really resonates with me.

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Last night did end up going out with friends. All of my drinks were covered by BF and his roomies, as I drove home (so I only had a few anyway). Cooked enchiladas before going out. BF really liked them. We'll be making that again.

Not sure exactly what the plans are tonight, but hopefully it won't be too crazy. I'm exhausted from going out last night, and not really wanting to do too much celebrating. I'd be happy just lounging around my apartment all night, in all honesty.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to really do a number on my apartment. It sorely needs to be cleaned. It's probably not a terrible idea to look at my grocery situation and decide what I'll be cooking this coming week. I'm happy to say that I actually cooked all 3 meals I intended to make. That's pretty good for me. I usually have grand plans, and then end up throwing food away because I'm too lazy to cook... ugh.

Nurturing better habits here!

Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend!