It's been 5 days since my last update. Whew! Thankfully, my absence was not accompanied by a ridiculous spending binge (5 days may not seem like a lot, but you would be surprised at how much I gain from this platform in accountability!).

Not sure I have much exciting news to report. Replaced my elliptical for $82 - it arrived yesterday, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to breaking it in today Since my Dietbets ended, I've slipped up on my workouts/eating well. I'm telling you, with me it's all about accountability. ha.

Still waiting for my Swagbucks giftcards to hit so I can make my purchases for the trip. Today I'll be heading out to return the swimsuit I bought (and hopefully find a replacement), as well as taking a look at a couple of stores to find a couple of warm weather articles.

Also hitting Trader Joe's and Aldi for a few items. The last couple of days we've been working through leftovers from our superbowl get together, and had dinner at a friend's last night.

We did get some groceries Sunday in preparation for said party, and made a trip to Walgreens for a couple of things DH needed. I armed myself with a couple coupons - I had been meaning to stop there to pick up a few things as well. DH was impressed with my couponing. Saved an additional $7 on items that were already on sale. And I stocked up on a few of my essentials: Dove soap, our St. Ives face wash (that DH loves an insists on), as well as dry shampoo for me.

I kept our meals light this week, so I only had to purchase a few items at the store:

- BBQ Chicken w/ mac & cheese (chicken I bought last week and the mac is leftover from Sunday)
- Hot Dogs (also leftover)
- Thai Chicken Soup
- Poached Eggs w/ asparagus, toast & bacon
- Meatloaf w/ mashed sweet potatoes

Only need some veggies for the soup, and the meatloaf will be our "fancy" dinner for V-day. Can't say it's really that fancy... but nothing says romance like loaves of meat. haha. We wont be exchanging gifts. I'll prob make him a silly card like I always do, but beyond that we'll just spend some quality time, probably watching movies or something.

I'm going to bake bread, probably tomorrow or Friday - for the toast. DH was insistent on bacon this week. I've been trying not to buy it because it's expensive and not good for us (albeit delicious). But he'll probably make breakfast this weekend, and it's a holiday. Guess bacon says romance, too...

Tonight I'm meeting another member of my BNI group for happy hour. Drinks are $3, so I'm not expecting to spend more than $8 all together, with tip. So definitely not a no-spend day, but all planned spending.

In terms of goals, I'm not doing terribly great. My writing challenge has been kept up with, but I still need to get on updating my quickbooks so I can get all that info to my accountant and get our taxes in order. And then open and close all the accounts I need to have everything in order. Talking to my friend at Huntington about opening a business savings - that way I can transfer a percentage for taxes and not end up like I am now, scrambling to save up for them. Still need to close my old checking and savings accounts and deposit that money in my business account for that tax payment.

And, of course, I need to get back on track with my weight loss goal. Or at least just back on track with my workouts.

So that's that. I hope you are all having a lovely week!

I can't believe that the month went by so fast. Just seems to be more and more so the case the older I get... ah well. Hopped onto Mint and took a look at my spending for the month. Things are a little off for a few reasons, but here's the snapshot:



My CC payment bar is off because of my balance transfer. But I actually paid off the remaining $200 after the transfer and then the minimum payment on my Amazon Visa.

Given that I've counted all grocery purchases made at the end of this week for this coming one, they didn't apply to the January grocery budget. Also, I filled up the car twice - I just started using the joint account a bit more at the end of the month, so that isn't accounted for here.

I was just under on the restaurant budget, which was a bit frustrating. Still not awful, but I would have preferred to eat out less. There were a few other times that DH paid from his account, too. I'm hoping to do less dining out in February. Internet has been over every month for the last 6 months. I may have to reassess there - but paying $10 more still seems like a better deal than increasing our plan most likely. Will have to look into options.

The "business expense" overage was due to filing my sales tax, and the "Everything Else" at the bottom was my Q4 local tax. I had forgotten that both of those hit in January.

"Shopping" also included a $20 pair of slippers that I paid from the other account. My feet have been suffering this winter, despite it being relatively mild. DH bought a pair to replace his go-to pair that began falling apart. I didn't own a single pair, and when I tried his on I realized that was the solution to my frigid toe problem. 2 pairs of socks hasn't worked, but these things are like magic.

So all that being said, my "No Non-Essential Spending Month" wasn't entirely successful. But I have been practicing more mindfulness with my spending - thinking through purchases rather than just impulse buying. And I didn't go hideously over budget. I'm just going to continue on that trend.

February will also be the first month we're operating mainly out of the joint account. I'll be closing my PNC account here shortly, and DH will do the same. So we'll get a much clearer picture of where we're both spending. Which I'm sure will be enlightening!

I think that's it for me now. Hope you all had a successful January!

I feel like such a nerd getting excited, but my balance transfer finally posted in my account, and not a day too soon (given that email yesterday about the interest rate increasing). It's so fun to see that number so low now - there's $200 left, because the new card has a lower credit limit. But the plan is to pay that off and then that card will be closed eventually. Or set in a drawer for emergencies for the time being. Either way, the thought of saving roughly $35/month (or more, with that rate increase) is really exciting. And that money will sit there until after I pay off the other CC with roughly the same amount. After I get this tax mess in order.

***

Went to dinner last night. It was really nice to spend time with my friends - it's been a while since just the three of us hung out. The restaurant, though... sheesh. New Indian place that just opened up, and maybe it's just the growing pains, but I had probably the worst service experience of my life. The food was okay. I went with the Tandoori chicken to keep it healthy - hadn't eaten any dinner at that point. Stuck with water. The total was about $15 after tip. Will not be returning there any time soon.

***

Today I need to get gas (for the first time this month!). Driving down about 45 min away with a friend for his holiday party, then we're going out. Staying at his friend's down there. Which is convenient, but I wont be sleeping in my own bed for another 4 days. Which is stressful. Nonetheless, the party should be good - we get 2 free drink tickets. Afterwards I'm only planning on having 1-2 drinks. Wont have to drive at that point, but I just haven't really been interested in drinking a lot. Don't want to add the calories or spend the money, really.

Tomorrow I guess we're going to brunch as well? I was asked last night which place I wanted to go to. This is why I like driving separate... sigh. These meals out are really adding up... I might try and convince him to forego that, particularly because I'm probably going to get lunch out at least one day next week. I'm going to stick (relatively) around my sister's campus so I don't have to do the back and forth so many times.

I think that's about it for me today. Let's hope the next few days go smoothly. Everyone have a great weekend!

It's been one of those weeks. Nothing horrible or tragic has happened, and I still have much to be thankful for. But it seems like almost every aspect of my life is in conflict or flux. Things with DH have been tense since we started talking about him going back to school - mostly communication problems. We seem to have worked through them for the most part, but I was in an awful funk most of yesterday after our 3rd tear-filled discussion on the subject the night before. There's just a lot to be worked out, and I think the uncertainty makes me anxious, and then he's been getting on the defensive when I bring up those concerns. We've addressed that. And I think we're finally at a point where we feel like we're playing for the same team. But it didn't come until after a bit of a breakdown yesterday.

That, however, stemmed from my mother - the usual point of stress in my life. My relationship with mom consists of 2 things: her talking (mostly complaining) and then her asking me for things - either directly, or more frequently "woe is me-ing" until I offer to fix it. I hate to sound so callous when it comes to talking about her. But it's an awful, one-sided relationship that she's never addressed (why would she?) and I haven't either. Mostly because I'm terrified of hurting her feelings.

To avoid the risk of rambling and sounding like a spoiled brat, I wont go into the specifics - but at her passive-agressive non-request, I'm driving 1.5 hours away next week and staying over at my mom's (new, way out in the boonies) house for 3 nights so I can cart my sister to and from class (40 min away!) while she's on vacation in Mexico. She called last night to ask for a few more things, and that's when the breakdown happened.

I've been trying hard to practice empathy with her, and see things from her side - but it may be time to have a serious chat with her. All I can think is thank goodness I'm moving. It feels sad to want to get far away from my mom. I truly want a healthy, enjoyable relationship with her. It's just been challenging to say the least.

So on top of tension with the husband and the family, my business plans have been up in the air (given DH's desire to go back to school), and taxes are stressing me out. At least my weight loss is still going well. And yesterday the kitties were extra snuggly.

All that complaining now finished... I really do need to pull myself together. The show must go on.

***

Dropped my local tax payment for 2015Q4 in the mail. Sent off my sales figures to the accountant for the second half of 2015 to get my sales tax filed and paid.

My Swagbucks from our honeymoon purchase credited to my account yesterday, so I bought two $25 gift cards to American Eagle to purchase the new swimsuit I picked as my reward for losing the weight. The rest will be stored until we need it - or I'll just buy Target or Amazon Giftcards to use toward groceries.

On my Chase Slate card it says that the balance transfer has been complete, but it's not showing in either account yet. So more waiting there. Just got an email saying that my interest rate just went up to 19.24%, so hopefully that'll go through before I get charged again.

Still under budget about everywhere - including gas. Actually, I haven't spent a single dollar on gas this entire month. I guess that's good given I'll have to fill up probably a couple of times with this whole taxiing my sister around nonsense.

Tonight I'm supposed to go to dinner with a couple of friends. I reluctantly agreed. We have so much food at home. We just haven't gotten together in so long. It's looking like I would spend $12 + tip. Not horrible, but also not money I really want to spend. Maybe I'll just eat a light dinner at home and get soup or something. We aren't going until 8pm, so that's probably not a bad idea.

Saturday night I'm going to a work holiday party with a friend, and then we're going out in my hometown - something I haven't done in years, and will be interesting to say the least. I won't be drinking too heavily, so I'm expecting not to spend more than $20, and hopefully half that.

Today I need to finish up editing a set I shot last week, and do some administrative work. I also might stop by the store either today or tomorrow. I'm almost out of coffee, and Giant Eagle is running a couple of really great sales that I'd like to take advantage of (including a couple of things that are straight up free if you're part of their program).

On track for only spending $200 on groceries this month. I'll take the victories where I can!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Spent some time yesterday actually charting out the budgets on the new (joint) Mint account. My plan is to be paying everything out of it by next month. DH and I had sat down a few months ago to talk over expenses and what we estimate we spend. He doesn't do any sort of budgeting, so it's going to be a learning experience finding out how much we actually spend between us.

I got a little more granular than I did with my own categories - mostly because I think it'll be useful at the end of the year to see where we're spending, and where we can cut down. My husband is a numbers guy. So even though I'm sure he wont be checking in on the account much, it'll be better for me to illustrate things later on. Not that I want to preemptively win arguments, but I really don't think he knows just how much he spends, and when we have to cut back drastically (for instance, if/when he goes back to school), it'll be easier to find where we can reduce.

***

Got a couple of checks in the mail that have been long overdue. So that's nice. Pretty much all of that income will be put toward tax savings. I also need to calculate out my income for the second half of 2015 so I can send it to my accountant and get my sales tax paid. That will be a project for today.

***

Today I'll probably swing by a mailbox and drop my Q4 local tax payment in the mail. Hooray for taxes... :/

***

Yesterday was a no-spend day. Not a very productive one, but I didn't leave the house until the evening - to go to a friend's for dinner. So free dinner as well. Tonight we'll cook. Thinking I'll make my Italian chicken again. DH really enjoyed that, and I'm making zoodles to go with it (zuchinni noodles) to make it a bit healthier. I need something a bit lighter after the *delicious* meal of enchiladas and black bean soup I had last night.

Speaking of healthy, as of yesterday I hit my goal weight for my Dietbet! Now all I have to do is maintain or lose more for the rest of the month and I'll for sure get my money back (and then some)! Feels really great

***

That's it for me! I hope you all have a lovely day!

Well, relatively spendy, anyway. We were out and about quite a bit. Dinner out Friday night (DH paid), Saturday we hit the store and bought snacks on our way out of town (DH paid again), then had dinner out that night as well (again, DH paid).

So yesterday when we got breakfast out, I footed the bill. About $20. Needless to say, I'm happy that we'll be eating at home the rest of the week. My stomach will be grateful. And even though DH paid, I'd like to be spending less together as well.

He's going to be switching his direct deposit over to the joint account today, so that will be good. I'm still waiting for the balance transfer to go through on my CC. It was supposed to hit today, but with the bank holiday I'm assuming it will be tomorrow? Hoping, anyway. Then my savings will be transferred to my Ally account for tax savings.

My non-essential spending didn't work out so well this week. I've been using swagbucks and ebates a lot lately, and I see deals and think it makes sense to take advantage of them. Nothing too crazy - but I purchased a $25 Sephora gift card to get the extra points. I'm going to have to buy new mascara here soon, and that's where I get it. Specific kind, the kind I like and feel good splurging on. Then in order to get my $10 Target gift card and the 4% cash back at Ebates, I spent $27 on a pair of leggings on sale at Athleta (the heavier performance ones for working out). The ones I wear the most are starting to rip at the crotch. lol. I reeeeally like the ones I picked out, and I generally buy them at around the same pricepoint at Marshall's or TJMaxx.

So that goal is a bust, but at least I'm taking the time to think through my purchases and not impulse shopping. Both of those would have been purchases I would make this year. And I'm still under budget for the month in all categories. Baby steps, I suppose.

***

Speaking of work out wear, I'm on schedule to win both of my Dietbet games next week - only a half a pound to go! That means I'm down 6.2 pounds now and I'll be getting back my $45 + winnings, if I make that goal. It feels really great

It's going to be a busy week, so I should get back to work. Hope you all enjoyed your weekends, and those of you who have the day off, enjoy that as well

I can't believe it's already Friday! What a week. Things are feeling better in terms of the uncertainty mentioned in my last post. I've been starting to think through options, and that helps. I feel less out of control in the situation.

Yesterday I went to the grocery store - spent $48.45 at Aldi and $53.81 at Target, which seems like a lot, but I got enough to pretty much cover us through the rest of the month. And I still have $25 left in my budget to still stay under $200 for the month. The Target run included purchasing 2 bottles of vitamins - which was pricey, but were needed, and also got me a $5 gift card. I also got another 5 Lean Cuisines, as they were still on sale for $2 each, and I had a coupon off of 5. It's nice to have them around just in case, and I doubt I'll find a better price. Used my coupons again, as well as Cartwheel for the first time. Still waiting for my Target RED debit card to come in the mail so I can start using that. But the Chase card came. I'm just waiting for the balance transfer to go through - which should be on the 18th.

Last night I had a meeting with someone I met photographing an event a few months back. I sent him a photo I took of him meeting the former mayor, and he promised me a drink - the first I've had since New Year's. It was nice, and it turns out he has contacts in Nashville - both in the photography and urban planning worlds (that's what my degree is in), so it's encouraging that he's offered to put me in touch. I need all the help I can get.

Because it's the 15th and photos work again, here's where I'm at:



The internet is autopay, and doesn't come out until the 20th. The credit cards I've actually paid on this month - not sure why that's not up there. And the car payment should post today (I dropped it off yesterday).

But most important observations: Only $12 in shopping! "Shopping" includes anything other than what's included in the other categories, so it's also my misc. Also $0 in gas this month. I think I only spent $40 last month, with it being so very cheap and my not leaving the house much these days. haha. It's nice to not be running all over the place. Business expense really shouldn't even be on there - I need to switch those autopay accounts to my Huntington.

Next month there wont be a finance charge category, theoretically

I'm thinking I'm going to look into consolidating my student loans - at least my private ones with Sallie Mae. My interest rates are through the roof (I'm talking like 9.5%), and it would at least be worth it to try so I can start making a bit more progress on them - or at least not losing a crapton of money every month.

So that's that. Halfway through January, and making a bit of progress! Here's to an equally (if not more) successful second half!

The last few days have been busy with work, so I haven't had much time to update - not much movement on my goals, though, either. I'm hoping that once this photo set gets done that I'll have some time to set aside and knock out much of the stuff in my sidebar list.

Not much to report in terms of financial news, except Amazon was late delivering another package, so I contacted them and they extended my Prime membership for free another month. So that was nice. Need to drop off my car payment today - just hadn't gotten around to it quite yet, but it's due tomorrow.

Feeling a little down today after a conversation with DH last night. It seems things are going to be a bit up in the air over the next couple of years. He wants to go back to school (which is good - he should), but that puts a lot of things into question in terms of what I'm going to do - particularly with my business. If we're moving (possibly twice) in the next two years, that doesn't give my business much time to get established. And definitely not enough to be able to support both of us, as well as the additional cost of having a baby in a few years. Just makes me wonder if I should start thinking about getting a "real" job now, or when he does go back to school. The original idea was to push ahead with my business so that when babies do come I have the flexibility of working less. That's probably not going to be possible if he's not pulling in more than a stipend.

Not impossible, but definitely much to think about. It's got me a little stressed to say the least. I don't deal well with uncertainty and things shaking up my plans. I want to be supportive, it's just difficult when I've got anxiety about the whole thing. Either way, I know we'll figure it out, whatever "it" is. Until then, just focusing on saving. And working through options so I feel like I have some semblance of control or direction. If we weren't planning on having kids in a few years, I wouldn't be sweating it at all - things are just so much more complicated when I throw that in. Funny how that happens.

***

In some good news, I'm doing great with the budget. I will have to go to the grocery store this weekend, but I've still only spent $52/$200 for the month, and it's almost half over. I can't believe how quickly this month is flying by!

Alright. Back to work! Hope you are all enjoying your week!

Things are still moving along. Making some changes to maximize my savings. Non-essential spending month is going okay. Did have to buy a new Brita pitcher the other day, but used a gift card we got from the wedding to purchase. Added $19.99 to my snowflakes (I'm adding them as I use them). Our previous is an off brand we've had for years, and it's still functional. DH said he wanted to get a bigger one, but I was going to hold out. Until I bought a new filter for it at Target. Turns out they've changed the size of their "universal" filters. They don't fit our generic one, and I'm not sure I'm going to find ones that do fit. So looks like DH got his way after all :/

Also decided to look into some ways to save at Target, given it's my secondary grocery store. I usually buy what I can at Aldi, then head there. I signed up for a Target RED debit Card. It basically links with your already-existing checking account, but then you get 5% off every purchase, and a few other nice little perks. Given how much money I tend to spend there, it seems like a worthwhile thing to have. I also downloaded the Target Cartwheel app to my phone, and I've started looking at their online store coupons. Printed out a handful the other day and used a couple for things that we needed already - Magic Erasers, with the discounts, were cheaper than the Target brand. Also picked up 5 lean cuisines for lunches. They were on sale for $2/each, and I had a coupon. A lunch for under $2 seems like a worthwhile investment to me, and I really do enjoy them. They also work well as "emergency" dinners if I don't feel like cooking.

Progress on the rest of my goals is fairly stagnant. I've spent $52/$200 of my grocery budget. The list of other financial stuff will likely be done in a day. I just need to get a day to power through it all.

I've still got 3 lbs more to go on my Dietbet - and 2 weeks to accomplish it. Starting to get a little nervous, but I know I can manage it if I'm diligent. I'm definitely feeling/looking better. Ordinarily I wouldn't focus on the number on the scale so much, but I have to in order to win the challenge and get my money back so...

Need to continue my video series as well. I've just been so wrapped up in this TV show I'm loving that I've been watching that on the elliptical instead. Need to get back in gear!

As for savings goals, I really need to do some collecting from clients. I've got about $3k in open invoices, and would love to have that money to put in my savings for taxes. It's been difficult to save much at all when I don't have much coming in.

In good news, though, I have a shoot today! Booked last week, with another one later in the month. So at least I'm working. Things are still managing to be busy.

At any rate, hope you all have a great day!

Our NYE party was a hit - only about 10 people all together, but I still made a nice spread: hot sandwich roll, honey glazed smokies, and caprese skewers. As well as some hummus, salsa, chips, etc. DH handled the bartending for the night. We had made up homemade sour mix the day before and if how I felt yesterday was any indication of how much I enjoyed them, well...

Thankfully, we do have quite a bit of food left. A lot of lunchmeat and some ciabatta rolls, so we'll do sandwiches a couple of times this week. Tons of leftover drink fixins as well, but I think I'm going to take a break there. haha. I've been sick for the last week or so. Drinking as much as I did NYE was probably a mistake, but it's a holiday... Now I'm focused on getting better ASAP. It's starting to get rather miserable.

I don't have much to report on the financial front. Yesterday was a NSD. Today will be much of the same. I do need to go through and pay bills, but I decided that January will be a no-spend month. At least outside of the essentials. So far so good! Yesterday DH and I literally laid around all day, hungover. We watched a couple movies - Interstellar and the Lego Movie. Both were incredibly good. Then the rest of the day I finished the book I was working on, "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck. Another good find. Not terribly exciting in the plot department, but a nice calming read that speaks to how peoples' attitudes change as they encounter abundance. Interesting stuff.

After finishing, I made myself some tea and started another in bed. Decided to tackle "Walden." It's one I've never read, but you hear a lot about. And I think it's perfectly tied into my theme of Making Space. I opted out of sitting on social media for hours this morning and got a good chunk of pages this morning read as well

***

I sat down and thought through some of my goals for the year, and usually I write out a list of 10-20 things I want to accomplish. And usually they sit in that list all year without much accomplishment. I decided to do things differently this time around. I'm going to set basic monthly goals, but other than that I'll just stick to making good daily decisions (a la "Making Space") and record my accomplishments as I meet them. I'd rather celebrate the things I'm proud of than be perpetually reminded of the things that have no longer become priorities.

Not to say that I don't still have goals It's just hard to tell at the beginning of the year if something like NaNoWriMo will still be a priority in November. Things change, and I like to stay flexible. So instead, I'll tuck things like that away in my mind, and re-evaluate when the time comes.

For January, my goals are:

- No spend month, outside of essentials (no clothes, home items, beauty products, entertainment, etc)
- Cut grocery budget to under $200
- Win Dietbets (lose 6.7 lbs by Jan 25)
- Finish 28 Days with Sue Bryce Program (I purchased this last year and never went through it)
- Go through pricing course with photog friend

As for overarching financial/budget goals with DH, I've decided to not even have that conversation. haha. We went over our basic goals when we had the original (stressful) conversation, so until we really know what this is going to look like, I'm holding off. Instead, my goals will be to get things actually set up! In January, I would like to:

- Set up Mint for Joint Account
- Switch DH's direct deposit to Joint Account
- Switch all autopay bills to Joint Account
- Figure out account structure and open/close necessary accounts (personal and business)
- Enter all of my backlogged income and expenses into Quickbooks so I have an accurate look at what I'll owe in taxes

So I will add these January Goals to my sidebar, and hopefully we'll see some progress!

Wishing you all a lovely New Year!

Who can resist a good xmas pun?? In fact, I had all of my gifts purchased and wrapped a couple of days ago. Grabbed a couple more last minute things for DH, mom, and my grandfather (who I kind of forgot about until then). Spent more than I would have liked to this year, but what do you do? I think maybe next year I'll have conversations with friends and family prior to the season starting - I'm sure there are others in my life who wouldn't mind spending a little less. This year I dropped about $600 all together. In my world, that's quite a chunk of change :/

***

Now that shopping has been done for a couple of days, I've been trying to wrap up all of my home projects prior to the holiday. DH is off work until after the new year, so I've been trying to take advantage. Yesterday I organized the attic. I can't believe how much room is up there now! Every time I move something out of the house I'm reminded of how much easier it's going to be to move in April... and now I have another whole carful of stuff to take to Goodwill. And a lot of stuff fits in my Honda Fit.

I've also got a few things that I need to sell - my army stuff, largely (I guess that's more than a few things. More like 4 bags worth), as well as a ring an ex boyfriend purchased for me. I think it's time to let that one go. lol. Pretty ring! I hope I can get a little bit of money out of it.

***

Yesterday DH and I finally added me to the (now) joint bank account. Now we just need to actually start using it. We paid for the new chair and the honeymoon booking out of it, and it's now only at about $2k. Not too bad given the only money we've put into it was from wedding gifts!

Now we have to start feeding money into it, and changing our bills to come out of that account. Which, I think, will be a project for the new year. At that point, I'll set up a new Mint account so we can readjust the budget to include everything.

***

Last night I went to see "Sisters" with my SIL. I feel like I've gone to the movies more in the last 2 months than I have in the last two years. lol. Our tickets were only $5.60 each, though! I forget how much cheaper it is to go during the week. Those weren't even matinee tickets... The movie, by the way, was HILARIOUS. Perfect for us two gals I'm so lucky that the two of us get along so well. I do have a (blood related) sister, but she's 8 years younger than me and incredibly socially awkward (mild special needs), so I never had the kind of relationship with her that you see in the movies. My SIL, however, is the same age and we have the same sense of humor. Over the last couple of years she's become one of my best friends. It's been something I've missed, and something I cherish greatly.

Speaking of relationships with women in the family, I just finished reading "Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan - an older read, but so very good. It's been on my shelf for a couple of years now. Just got around to it. Just a great read. Now that we've scaled back our books to one bookcase (from about 6), I'm going to attempt to read everything we own! That's a challenge that will keep me from purchasing more books for sure! Now I'm riding the Chinese theme and started "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck. A couple chapters in, and so far so good!

***

The last few things to wrap up today:

- Visit the butcher to get meat for tomorrow's dinner
- Laundry
- Make trip to Goodwill
- Clean carpets (borrowing mom's upright cleaner)
- Do some editing

Christmas Eve is DH and I's day to just sit around, watch movies, relax, and make a really lovely dinner for just the two of us. We usually exchange our gifts over the course of the day. So I'm very much looking forward to that. It's nice to have some quality down time before we run all over kingdom come on Christmas day.

Probably wont update again until after the holiday, so everyone have a Christmas full of joy, love, and gratitude

Thanks to everyone who posted such lovely comments on my last post. You all are always so wonderful Today is the 3 month anniversary of that beautiful day! Which means...

We've passed the midpoint of the month - and it's been a rough one over here.

In GOOD news:

- I sold another piece of equipment, and after Amazon fees, I'll be getting about $465. That will of course go straight into my tax savings.
- Worked with a friend who is an insurance agent, and restructured DH and my auto insurance (as well as my renter's policy) into one account. My policy premium dropped from almost $80 down to $55/month... which is even less than I was paying before the rate hiked for me. They also reimbursed part of the month I already paid.
- I caught up on my invoicing, and have almost $5k due right now. I'm not in a *huge* hurry to collect it all right away, mostly because if my clients drag their feet til after the new year I can consider it 2016 income, so it wont count toward taxes for this year. Which would be nice. heh.
- I went to a holiday party for a previous employer/current client. I'm designing their new website, but because of wedding season and election season (they are political consultants), things went on hold. Once the new year kicks in, that's a $6k project that will be completed.
- I've still got a considerable chunk leftover in my restaurant and fuel categories, so I guess tiny wins there?
- Pretty much completely done xmas shopping. The only thing I have left to do is design our "Family Cookbook" for our group of friends. I'll be printing them through Blurb - the high end magazines. So that'll be an additional $50 or so, but that literally wraps up all of my shopping.

In some less than good news:

- Over budget in my "Shopping/Misc" category, though, it's a late fee, a parking ticket, shipping charges for sold items, and just one purchase at Victoria's Secret. A girl needs a new bra every now and then. lol. So at least it's not rampant impulse spending...
- Not much left in the grocery category. And we've gone out to eat more than I'd like this month. Granted, DH paid for that most of the time, but I'd rather just establish the habit a bit better.
- Our internet payment hits in a couple of days and is going to be $30 more than I expected. We need to re-evaluate our plan. ugh.
- Another local tax payment due. Just paid Q3 (albeit quite late).
- We still haven't printed or mailed our xmas cards. heh. Needless to say, that has been a bit of a trainwreck, and now I just want it done. Tried to get them finished, and my design program kept crashing. Which is ominous for many reasons. But it needs done. We still haven't sent out those thank you cards from the wedding :/

***

In completely non-financial related news, the new Star Wars movie was AMAZING. We saw it last night, and it was everything I could have ever hoped for. Seriously.

***

Cancelled Hulu yesterday - the shows I follow there have all ended for the season. I brought up the idea of leap frogging services with DH. We don't have cable, but we do have Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, and Amazon Prime... and it seems silly to have them all at once when we can do one per month (with the exception of Prime - we pay for that a year at a time, so that would always be around). Seems like a fun challenge. Just need to get him onboard entirely. Would only be a savings of about $25-30 per month, but that's still $300 over the course of a year we could put toward another goal.

At any rate, I hope you all enjoy your Friday!!! The weekend is almost here!

It's not quite the middle of the month yet, but I'm already feeling a bit discouraged on the budget. It's not terrible, but there were a few unexpected (and stupid) costs I didn't anticipate.

$169/300 in Groceries, so I need to reign it in for the rest of the month for sure.

$0/150 in Restaurants. Woooo! I'll prob spend a little on Sunday, but beyond that we've been doing really great.

$130/100 in Shopping/Misc. This is my catch-all, and it included a $35 late fee on my CC (stupid, and really no good reason that I paid it late) and a $37 parking ticket from a couple of months ago that got lost in a pile... it was $25 originally, so again. Stupid. I did purchase a small purse yesterday - I've been searching for one to replace mine, so that it matches my wardrobe. I found one for $20 at Target. I also purchased a new bra at VS. I have a hard time finding ones that fit me correctly (and unfortunately not because they're too big. haha). But I had a coupon for $10 off and it's really quite a need at this point. Still went with an inexpensive one, so I ended up spending about $30.

$17/80 in Fuel. I'm so thankful that I don't drive a ton for work. Most days I work from home, and when I do drive it's quite a bit of distance, but I've been averaging about $60/month for my tiny Honda.

$79/65 in Car Insurance. I have one of those devices that tracks my driving patterns, and apparently they think my driving hasn't been going as well for the last 6 months because it jumped :/ Upon investigating, the reasoning doesn't make much sense - and DH and I are going to have a friend switch our policy so that the two vehicles and our renters insurance are all together. That should reduce our payments by at least a bit. I was a bit miffed about that for sure.

Christmas shopping is still under budget. And almost complete! Which gets us to our crisis...

DH asked for a new Brown's t-shirt (die hard, and ever-hardened Cleveland fan he is). I decided to design him one custom and ordered it a few weeks back. It was $50 for one screen-printed shirt, which is a lot. But I trust the company (have used them in the past), I chose the more expensive t-shirt with the fabric DH likes, and the print quality is great. When I received the shirt yesterday, I realized I had made a big (rather, tiny) mistake - the stuff printed on the shirt was waaaay too small. I hadn't planned it correctly, and it looked rather ridiculous.

I immediately called them and explained my situation. It is certainly my fault that the dimensions weren't correct. But I also uploaded a proof so they could see what the shirt was intended to look like. If anyone actually checked it for QC, they would have noticed the discrepancy right away (because they see these every single day).

They were so very helpful - not only ran the shirt again for free, but upgraded my account to get better pricing and then on top of it ran another shirt for me using their other (cheaper) printing process so I could see the difference. They expedited the order so it would get to me before xmas, and I was left in awe at having such a great experience with them. I'm sure I'll end up doing additional t-shirts in the future, and I'll definitely be going with Scalable Press.

They saved Christmas

I guess I'm just not used to that level of service and I appreciate it so much when I do encounter it. It definitely inspires me to want to create that kind of environment for my own clients.

So that's that. Busy weekend coming up - shooting an event tonight and a proposal tomorrow evening, which should be a lot of fun Then Sunday will (thankfully) be relaxing and fun, hanging out with my SIL.

Hope you all enjoy your Friday and weekend!!

So DH and I had the "big talk" as far as money goes. It was exhausting and upsetting, but I think ended just as it needed to. I think we both had a much better understanding of how the other feels, and there was a bit of soul searching that needed to happen on both of our parts.

Money is awkward. And tied up in so many emotions. My primary thought is that I want to handle our finances (such a large part of our life) as a team and not compartmentalize and treat things as "his" money and "my" money - an easier position to take given I make drastically less money than he does. So his aversion to paying everything out of our joint account came off to me like he's not in it, or doesn't trust me, or several other hurtful messages (not that I think he intended any of that). What I hadn't really realized is that he felt very unappreciated for the amount of support that he's given me up to this point. There's no doubt whatsoever that my being able to run my business rather than working a more traditional job (and enjoy a rather amazing quality of life) is because he is willing to cover a greater share.

What I didn't realize is that I do a pretty poor job of voicing my appreciation of that fact - so in the end, I'm not really recognizing his contribution to the "team" as well as I should. So no wonder he's entirely comfortable. There's work to be done on both sides. But, of course, that's marriage.

It's going to take a LOT of transition and getting used to. But we did agree to put all of our money into the one account and use that to funnel it out toward expenses. I'm not sure if we'll end up keeping our separate accounts open or not - I suppose I'd like to in case we want to buy gifts or a surprise or something, but I guess we can do that on our credit cards as well.

So that conversation also came with a breakdown of our total expenses and I'm going to end up setting up some sort of a budgeting system. I don't think he really "believes" in budgeting, but after taking a look at what we'll have going out and what our savings goals are, I think he could do with being convinced That exercise is also going to bring to light what I need to make to hit our goals - and will motivate me to do what it takes, even if I have to start a part time job or find some other way to generate income. Particularly now that my business is slowing down. This isn't just me anymore. And I told him that if he feels that I'm not making enough and thinks I should pursue a more traditional job, that's an opinion he's allowed to have and something that we'll decide on together.

He also doesn't really "believe" in savings accounts. He just lets the money sit in his checking account - which is fine, I suppose. He doesn't spend it. But for tracking purposes I tend to like having a way to see the progress a bit more clearly. I guess in that way, I do like a bit of compartmentalization. heh.

So - that's that. I think in the beginning, there's going to need to be a lot of trust built for him to be comfortable. But I know we can do it and get to a point where we are both comfortable and happy with the direction things are moving in.

***

In other news, I've booked two shoots for this week (both proposals), and invoiced a couple of clients that still have outstanding payments. Also went to Trader Joe's and Aldi yesterday to pick up a few things, and made fresh baked bread - which I've been craving for the last week or so. That was really nice

Though not *exactly* a point of excitement, I can't believe that we're here. Sigh.

I sat down and created my budget today - finally going through what I should expect coming in this month. I really need to go through and get a hold on my accounting. I got Quickbooks for my business back in May, but I haven't backlogged everything yet, so I'm not entirely sure what my tax situation is going to look like. That's a big priority for the month.

I also mapped out what I plan on doing for xmas, and that is looking pretty grim. I need to scale back a bit. We don't have a ton of people to buy for, but it all adds up... That being said, I finally got out of my mom what she wanted, and I picked up a purse for her on Nordstrom Rack yesterday. No crazy Cyber Monday deals, but it was already marked down almost 50% and at least shipping was free for the holiday.

DH and I mentioned the joint account again yesterday and resolved to figure out how we're going to really use it. Hopefully that conversation will come soon. We still have to put me on the account as well. We also acknowledged that our honeymoon will probably not be taken right after xmas, as we still haven't planned any of it. Which is fine by me. We'll figure it out. We're just not really in the mindset to plan a vacation. I'm sure once the weather starts to get chilly that will change quickly

***

As for today, I'll be heading to the grocery store and then having a marathon work session. We have pretty much nothing in the house at the moment... but beyond that there should be no spending!

So that's that. I hope you all enjoy the day!

So November has almost come to an end. It's hard to believe. I know they say that time goes faster the older you get, but holy cow...

Yesterday went to Aldi and spent about $53. That put me over my grocery budget for the month, so that was a bit of a downer. I also went over my shopping/misc budget as well, as I purchased a sweater for our xmas card photo. Only $16, but that was enough. I only spent $13/$200 of my restaurant budget, so I've got wiggle room. Which is good, because I'll be heading out to grab the last of the xmas decorations I'd like today. I was going to wait another week so we could just attribute it to the December budget, but I'd like to get the tree up on Friday when DH and I will both be home and not out Black Friday shopping.

So that's that! The rest of the week will pretty much be a no-spend after that! Looking forward to time with family and friends. I think it's going to be a lovely holiday.

Hope you all have a good one!

What a weekend! A bit spendy - but so much fun. Yesterday I had a Girl's Day with my sister in law. We got lunch at a cute little cafe in the area, then got tattoos together It was her first, and a really exciting milestone for her. She went with a word that symbolized an overseas living experience as well as her new, post-divorce take on life. I went with something small that could easily be covered up, but it says, "Yes, I do." During my marriage vows I was so excited and full of conviction that I messed up and said yes, then corrected myself. I think that's a great moment to remind myself of. Being so happy that I forget the formality and just say "yes!"

So our girls day consisted of lunch, tattoos, then beer and pizza, finished off with karaoke (which was a blast). Not the girliest of girls days, but I kind of like that

All in all, I spent: $11 at lunch, $70 on my tattoo (including tip), then $20 in beer. All of which was accounted for in my budget. That being said... here's my mid-month checkup:

***

We are half-way through November, and I am not in the red for any category!!

Left in the budget:

- $38 Shopping
- $150 Groceries
- $189 Restaurant
- $40 Fuel
- $30 Business Expenses

My shopping budget is the tightest at the moment, but there really are no items that are urgent. I decided to not buy an additional pair of glasses or contacts this month. Those can wait. Same with any clothing purchases or home goods. I think we'll be good on that front until we move, now that our new chair will be delivered Thursday!!

Not to mention, I should probably roll that over to next month anyway, with Christmas coming up.

I'll be heading to the grocery store either today or tomorrow. We've been doing really well with eating at home, most days. We falter a little on the weekends, but overall it's been a good month for food. We will be attending 2 Friendsgiving celebrations, and bringing a side dish, so that'll add a bit. But I still think we can remain within our budget for sure.

At any rate, time to put some beef and broccoli in the crock pot and get some tasks done around the house. Hope you all have a lovely Sunday!

Looking over October, I feel that I did really well. I went over budget in the categories that I generally do: groceries, restaurants, and shopping (which is anything not included in my usual expenses). Honestly, looking at them, though, I tend to aim really low. So I'll be readjusting this month to be a bit more realistic.

That being said, I hope I spend far less than those targets I set this month. We shall see.

Here is the basic breakdown:

[img]13634[/imgLooking over October, I feel that I did really well. I went over budget in the categories that I generally do: groceries, restaurants, and shopping (which is anything not included in my usual expenses). Honestly, looking at them, though, I tend to aim really low. So I'll be readjusting this month to be a bit more realistic.

That being said, I hope I spend far less than those targets I set this month. We shall see.

Here is the basic breakdown:

Tax Savings: $2,000
Rent: $350
Groceries: $300
Shopping: $300
Student Loans: $260
Restaurants: $200
Credit Card: $200
Car Payment: $182
Cell Phone: $87
Fuel: $80
Car Insurance: $69
Internet: $67
Business Expenses (misc.): $500
Renters Insurance: $11

Things will change this month, too, because I'll be getting my name changed and then opening up our joint account. So this budget is kind of a stop-gap as well until DH and my finances are combined. But that's still essentially what I'm hoping for as a max. So that's that.

***

As for this weekend's update, I ended up out all day yesterday. Went straight from my shoot in the morning to the area where my shoot was in the evening. Didn't want to be in the car an extra hour. So I stopped for lunch and then hit a little antique store, where I found an end table! I've been on the hunt - this one was a cute mid-century modern, exactly what I wanted, and was only $45. So that was my planned purchase for this week, perfect after hitting my workout goal for the week

I did stop and grab some beer yesterday as well, on our way to a couple of parties for Halloween.

Also, ordered 5 pairs of glasses from Warby Parker to try on at home. It's free to try them on, so I figured I would give it a go. I haven't gotten new glasses in a couple of years, and I think a new pair will keep me from wanting to wear my contacts all the time. So essentially, it will save me money in the end. Though I need to get more contacts as well. Hoping I can stretch my 12 week supply to over double that, only wearing them for work (which is slow in the winter) and special events. Given that order is about $80, I feel like it'll be worth it. And then I can wear those glasses for 2-3 years. I'm so thankful my vision stopped getting worse. At least it's predictable now!

Alright - that's enough for now. Hope you all had a lovely weekend! ]

Things will change this month, too, because I'll be getting my name changed and then opening up our joint account. So this budget is kind of a stop-gap as well until DH and my finances are combined. But that's still essentially what I'm hoping for as a max. So that's that.

***

As for this weekend's update, I ended up out all day yesterday. Went straight from my shoot in the morning to the area where my shoot was in the evening. Didn't want to be in the car an extra hour. So I stopped for lunch and then hit a little antique store, where I found an end table! I've been on the hunt - this one was a cute mid-century modern, exactly what I wanted, and was only $45. So that was my planned purchase for this week, perfect after hitting my workout goal for the week

I did stop and grab some beer yesterday as well, on our way to a couple of parties for Halloween.

Also, ordered 5 pairs of glasses from Warby Parker to try on at home. It's free to try them on, so I figured I would give it a go. I haven't gotten new glasses in a couple of years, and I think a new pair will keep me from wanting to wear my contacts all the time. So essentially, it will save me money in the end. Though I need to get more contacts as well. Hoping I can stretch my 12 week supply to over double that, only wearing them for work (which is slow in the winter) and special events. Given that order is about $80, I feel like it'll be worth it. And then I can wear those glasses for 2-3 years. I'm so thankful my vision stopped getting worse. At least it's predictable now!

Alright - that's enough for now. Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

So as I mentioned yesterday, my debit card wasn't working at Aldi - then yesterday I noticed a couple of transactions that were not ones that I made. After scrutinizing a bit further, I took a look at my card. Lo and behold, my sister-in-law and I had accidentally switched cards when we went to dinner on Sunday. So I was not victim of identity theft after all! She came over yesterday to switch back and have some lunch. All in all, a great resolution.

***

This morning I took a look at my budget (as I'm trying to get into the habit of doing ever morning) on mint. DH caught a glimpse and asked what my Mint page was - I explained to him and told him where I was going over budget. Taking a look at my restaurant budget, I've spent $146 and I budgeted $100. When we took a look at it together, I realized I had only gone out to dinner or lunch 3 times this month! The rest were stops to get coffee or pick up breakfast from Dunkin. While that all adds up, I'm super proud of myself for our very few trips out for dinner. All that cooking has paid off! My grocery budget is also about $30 over, but I only budgeted $200. Lastly, I'm over on my shopping budget. Allowed myself $150 and have spent $288 - so almost double. This is both my clothes/homegoods/entertainment as well as misc budget. Pretty much anything that doesn't fall in my normal expenses gets dumped here. Honestly, I think I need to give myself a bit more wiggle room on that one. But not by much. haha. I did buy 2 sweaters, a coat, 2 kindle books, and home stuff at IKEA and Big Lots (most of the IKEA purchase came out of joint money, though). My Hulu subscription is also included in this. All things considered, at least I scored some amazing deals. That being said, I need to be on a spending diet and don't want to rationalize purchases.

***

My Huntington transfer hit my account today, so I'll be transferring that now to DH's account and my tax debt from last year is over and done with. Woo! Took me far longer than I wanted it to, but with the wedding things got tight there for a bit. Now I need to really start saving for this year's taxes. I'm supposed to finish a job that will pay $6k, and my thought is that most or all of that will go toward my taxes. But in case (for whatever reason) that falls through, I'm going to start saving regardless. Then once I have things under control, I'm going to start setting aside 40% of every payment I receive. Like I should have been doing all along :/

***

That's it for today! Hope you all have a good one!

My last post was about how crazy it was that it was May already... heh. As you can see, I haven't been writing much this month. Things have been busy (which is good), and now I'm getting more organized.

I got a few checks from clients, so I've sat down and started allocating money. I transferred another $1,000 to A to continue paying him what I owe for taxes. I also made payments on both of my credit cards and student loans. The one company put me in forebearance when my military payments started processing, which is awesome. That's $90 every month I can put toward my higher interest loans.

I also saw that a little over $4k was paid by the government to one of my loan providers. Hopefully there'll be even more coming, but it's exciting to actually see these things being processed! And that's $4k I don't have to worry about paying.

***

I need to make my Q1 estimated tax payment - which will be about $1,600. I'm meeting with an accountant today, so I'm going to hold off until after I talk to her. I'm also heading to the BMV today to get my license and tags renewed - because my birthday is on Friday!

That being said, the weekend is going to be a busy one. Friday we're going out to celebrate. Thankfully, we don't have much in the way of plans on Saturday (rest!), but Sunday I've got a shoot, a client meeting, and I'm helping my future sister in law move... so it'll be tiring. It's good to stay busy, though!

***

I am quite excited to meet with this accountant. I know I'm doing things a bit haphazardly right now. I want to make sure everything is legit and organized well so if - god forbid - I get audited that I'm in a good place to take care of that. I also know that once I get married and combine incomes with A that things need to be separate and well organized.

All that said, it's time to start working! Hope you all had a great month, and have an even better one come June

And by that I mean, I'm cleaning and working out. haha. The fiance's parents and sister are coming up to have dinner for his birthday, which was earlier in the week. It'll be a nice day

Spending this week was a little more than expected with his B-day. I got him an e-cigarette as a gift, as he's quitting smoking. We also had a really nice steak dinner that was almost $100. I have a separate budget for his birthday stuff this month, so I'm still not exceeding anything on my usual budgets.

Next weekend we'll be doing our "big" celebration, and I'll be spending quite a bit. Thankfully, I've taken on a couple more projects this week, and I'm getting paid for a big one soon. I'd feel guilty for the spending, but honestly he's helped me so much financially in the past few years. His 30th deserves to be big.

Speaking of his helping me, we transferred $4,800 to my account yesterday so I can finish filing my taxes. The payback period will begin as soon as I have this month all figured out.

The only other expense I had this week were the save the dates for the wedding - I designed them myself and the printing was pretty cheap. We spent under $50. Now it's time to collect those addresses!

Coming up this week, I need to make my car payment, take care of the cable bill, and grab some more groceries (though that should be no more than $30).

It's going to be a fairly busy week - I've got a prospective client meeting tomorrow morning. Thursday I'm going to this BNI networking meeting - to check it out, and evaluate whether or not the dues are worth the referrals I would get. I don't mind paying a few hundred dollars if it actually pays off. And I feel like the corporate side of my business is something that is expanding quickly, and really well suited to my background in marketing. Saturday I've got a baby session in the morning and then I'm photographing an event in the evening - then going directly to dinner with friends, and then to the hotel room to party for the fiance's party.

It'll go quickly, but I've still got so much planning to do!

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your Sunday

It's been a low-spend week so far - and a productive one! So things are looking good right now. I'll be heading to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things, but it shouldn't be more than $15 worth of items.

I do need to drop off my car payment, but beyond that my bills are current.

I spent some time the other day going through my monthly budget and making things a bit more realistic based on my actual spending. I mapped it out for the rest of the year, so I had an accurate number for each month, particularly for expenses that happen a limited number of times per year. It also gave me a better understanding of some of my recurring monthly expenses that have gotten away from my estimates (particularly business expenses). I decided to cancel a couple of them because I'm probably not using them enough to warrant the expense.

Also need to send back a pair of shoes I purchased on Zappos. They don't fit, and in all honesty I don't really *need* them, so back they go. More money in my account.

***

It's my fiance's 30th Birthday tomorrow, and it's really going to be a couple of weeks' worth of celebrating. Tomorrow I'm taking the day off work to hang out with him. I'm going to make breakfast, and we'll probably go out to dinner.

Next weekend I'm throwing him a surprise party, and getting a hotel room downtown for the night. So from a financial standpoint, that should be it - but of course I want to get him a gift as well. I'm going to keep it as simple as possible. Mostly because I just don't have the cash to do anything crazy. But the guy is letting me borrow over $5k for my taxes. And he only turns 30 once! I'm going to get him an e-cig starter set, as he's quitting smoking after his birthday (hooray!). If I can come up with anything else cool in the next 24 hours, I'll do that as well, but I feel like that will be enough.

So that's it - Things are moving along, and business is picking up. Just have to keep swimming

I have this bad habit - one I'm sure I share with many people in this country and around the world, but a bad one nonetheless. If you ignore something, it isn't real. You don't have to deal with it. If something is ailing my body, I don't go to the doctor. A diagnosis acknowledges its existence. Kind of like once you name that stray dog you took in, you know that dog is yours forever.

This time, it was taxes. It's April, and the deadline is quickly approaching. I hadn't actually started filing until this past week. I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn't have to acknowledge just how bad until I actually saw a number. So I lived my merry, blissful life spending what I wanted ignorant of the actual damage.

Now that I've seen the number, it's a pretty big blow, and the comfort of that ignorance is pretty much shattered. More so because I underestimated what I would owe by about $2,000. And my savings have dwindled in the last few months while business has been painfully, painfully slow. This is my first year living solely on my business income (without a rather large contracted, part-time job to cover me in the winter months). I didn't realize just how much I was going to need to save prior to the winter to really get me through. Or what my tax burden really is.

Make no mistake, this was all my responsibility and poor planning. But in some ways, this was a good learning experience for me.

All I can say is that I'm thankful I have a fiance that is able and willing to lend me the money until business picks up. Because if I didn't, I'm not sure what I would do. I really am so very lucky. I feel terrible regardless asking him to front me $4,500 - but I'm confident I'll be able to pay him back in the next few months, so it will all be fine.

I just need to start paying estimated taxes during the course of the year and saving for next winter. Really, I should have been paying estimated taxes all of 2014 - but in honesty, never really learned how to go about doing that (I'm sure it's not difficult). I do for my local taxes, but not federal.

I think the biggest learning experience is understanding just how much of my income I'm going to be able to realistically use. I need to do a better job of budgeting my income in an after-taxes capacity.

Again, these are all things that I should have been doing this year. But nothing I can do about it now but move forward a smarter, more responsible person. And next year not be silly and ignore the problem until it solidifies into a tangible emergency. I've really let things go in the financial department, and it's time to start picking up the pieces.

Sheesh. Being a grown up is hard.

***

In other (better) news, we took our trip to Nashville last week to scope out neighborhoods and get a feel for whether we'd like to move there. I'm happy to say we loved it, and it showed the positive side of things feeling more "real" by actually naming and experiencing them.

We're both definitely ready for a change, and it seems like it's got a lot to offer at a rather affordable cost of living (at least compared to some of the other cities we were considering). It's got a great night life, a few neighborhoods that we really enjoyed, full of creative people doing what they love. And, of course, the (much) warmer weather is a huge plus. So as of right now, I'm 98% certain we'll be moving there next May when our lease expires.

So yay for that!

***

And an update re: work - things are starting to pick up, and it feels good to be busy again (and, of course, having a stream of money coming in).

So that's my life right now. Time to get to work!

What. A. Week.

Things started out rough, but they've increasingly gotten better the closer to the weekend we've gotten. Go figure

I hopped on Mint and took a look at my monthly budget and spending to see the damage, as February will be coming to a close in a measly 2 days. Seriously, how fast is time moving this year. Amirite?

Income *---

Income this month was pretty much alarming. I budgeted for $3,250. I actually only made $1,422. Part of the difference is about $1k in outstanding invoices that my clients haven't paid. But still my budget was supposed to be a conservative number - in reality I expected to book another wedding or two (particularly because my bookings were so poor in January).

In good news, though, I did have a contract signed this week, ending my painful dry spell. And I've met and/or talked with a handful of prospective clients this week - and feel confident that at least two of them will be booking with me for 2015.

Still no 2016 dates on my calendar. I'm not sure if people are just procrastinating more this year, but ah well. We're planning on moving out of state in May 2016 - so it's probably not terrible that my calendar isn't full of weddings in Ohio.

Spending *---

I've got to say I'm a bit proud of myself. Most months my budget is awash with red come the end of the month. This month? I only went over in two categories: Business Expenses and Credit Card Payments. Clearly I'm not upset to be paying more on my CC.

I have a really hard time staying within my budget for my business. Most of the time, they are necessary purchases - printer ink cartridges, parking downtown so I can work my big project, prints for clients, etc.

I was $150 over my budget. The only "extra" I purchased this month was an online class for $50 that was worth every penny. The $50 in printer cartridges was unexpected as well. I also spent $190 in client prints - which are included in their packages, so they're non-optional. I guess I kind of forget how much it all adds up.

Nonetheless, I'm very proud of myself for not going over in any other category. I did have some purchases that I'm sure were non-essential - clothing purchases (all work clothes), some nail polish that was definitely more "my day has been crap so I'm going to treat myself" than a necessity. I did buy lunch a couple of days, and I'm going to keep that to a minimum going forward. We didn't really go out much this month, though. So our entertainment spending was record-breaking low.

I didn't use even half my budget for restaurants, and I used zero of it for bars/alcohol. I also managed to only spend $16 on gas this entire month. I'm not sure how that happened, but I'll take it!

Rest of the Year Outlook *---

Looking at my bookings for the year, I've got $30k total income so far. My goal for the year was to hit $42k - so I've got $12k to book still.

I looked over my model to readjust my goals:

- 2 more weddings in 2015
- 7 portrait sessions
- 5 event/commercial
- 10 weddings for 2016

If I can make those targets, I'll meet my goal. I think that's entirely doable, and I hope I'm right. Well, I hope I go above and beyond my goal really - because my expenses are going to be way above my predictions (particularly in the case of my business), and I want to make sure I'm not struggling. Running a business is just frickin' expensive. But honestly, it's everything to me.

Anyhoo, I hope you all had a great February, and will have a successful March! Bring on the nice(r) weather!

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day - and stayed warm! There was an incredibly crazy snow storm here in Ohio yesterday. Thankfully, we didn't have to leave the house - but I really feel for anyone that had to brave the roads.

Our low-key celebration was enjoyable as ever. It mostly consisted of watching movies and eating a TON of food. The fiance brought me breakfast in bed (

Wednesdays are usually grocery shopping days for me - a friend of mine has it off every week, and we like to run errands together. I thought our dinners this week would be entirely pork-centric, with all the meat in our freezer. But then the fiance and I decided to cook a nice dinner for Valentine's day. We absolutely hate dealing with crowded restaurants on holidays. We also have some fish that's been in our freezer for a while, and he's wanting to make fish tacos.

He'll also be out of town the beginning of next week, so I'll be keeping things simple.

So our meal plan for this week:

Tonight: Leftover meatballs + pork pie that a friend brought over
Thursday: Pork Roast with Carrots
Friday: Tilapia Tacos with Coleslaw
Saturday: Bacon wrapped scallops with a veggie of some sort
Sunday: Pork Quesedillas
Monday: Sausage with rice, veggies
Tuesday: Leftovers

***

Like I said, we're doing a fancy dinner, and I'm pretty sure that's just going to be my "present." I told him I didn't want to do gifts - I bought him a card, and I'm sure I'll do some kind of dessert as well. But I feel spending a lot on v-day is just so much after celebrating Christmas a couple of months ago.

In other fun news, I read this article on where Valentine's Day originated. And it makes me feel like celebrating is even more silly.

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/02/bloody-sexy-drunk-origin-valentines-day/

Fascinating stuff! That being said, I'm certainly not a V-day hater. I'm all about opportunities to share and appreciate love. It's just crazy the amount of spending that goes on. It seems so frivolous. I think I'll feel more excited about it when I have kids and can do fun crafts and make cards

***

Spending update:

- Bought gas on Monday: $16
- Bought chocolates for mom's b-day: $20

Took a look at Mint this morning, and I'm still within my budget in all categories. Not too shabby! Now I just need to do some booking...

I have a meeting with a potential wedding client tonight, and spent all day yesterday putting together my welcome packet. So hopefully that will wow them into booking me Let's hope!

Everyone have a fantastic day, and enjoy a productive week!

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?

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'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!

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!