I've been posting so frequently in the last few days! Hope you all arent getting sick of me!

So I sat down and did a breakdown of my numbers currently, something I've been meaning to do for a while. I added up all the student debt I have right now. $14,964.81. AHHHHH!!!! Looking at that number makes me queasy, especially considering that's not where it ends! I still have more schooling! My measley EF right now is at $225, which is a dangerous low. My vacation savings, after you take away the rent check I'll have to pay and expenses that will be due either while I'm away or when I get back is at $95. hahaha. I'm sure this isn't funny, but the upside is that I still think I'll be okay. I've got this next week ahead of me, and I'm more than sure I'll have the alotted $500 or so I was planning on spending for the trip.

Now, some more number crunching. My estimated income for every month is around $1390. This is assuming I average $60 every night and $20 every lunch shift. Obviously, these averages are not always on the dot. Usually, I make more than this average. I added up my expenses: rent, electric, gas, cell, perscription, transportation, internet, life insurance, and groceries. That was $617 altogether. I added an extry $83 to round it off to $700 and account for things like eating at restaurants, entertainment, and clothes.

This $700 in expenses should make up approx. 50% of what I make in a month, leaving me with an extra $700 to distribute. So why is it that I dont have $700 in my checking account at the end of every month? Well, I spend it. Erg. The goal? To live on that $700 a month. I'll dip into $50 more if necessary (our utilities aren't always on the dot either), but I think that should be more than enough.

I figure the remaining $700 can be alotted to both my EF and my debt, which though I am still in school and not REQUIRED to pay off now, scares the living something out of me, and needs to be taken care of while the interest is still piling high.

So, here are my financial goals:

1. Get my EF up to $1000 by the first of the new year. I dont think this should be difficult. Eventually I want it to reach $2100 (that's 3 months' expenses).

2. Keep track CONTINUALLY of my finances, to the penny, for the next year. I have a bad habit of trailing off every once in a while... that seems to be the periods when my spending gets a little out of hand.

3. Live on $750 a month. This of course means that my "pleasure spending" needs to be capped pretty tightly. It needs to remain in that $83 range.

4. Take all money that is not spent on my expenses (within the $750) or put into the EF and send it all to my debt.

Some shorter-term goals:

1. No eating at restaurants until I go on vacation (the 20th of this month).

2. No Starbucks for the rest of this month.

3. No buying clothes for the rest of this month.

4. Save up $500 by vacation.

So... I talked with BF about a bunch of things that I see going wrong with the relationship, and we're going to change/work on a few things... like becoming better friends. We dont talk as much as I'd like to.

But nonetheless, I feel much better about things. We're still planning on moving--together-- in April. But our plans for marraige are going to be pushed back a bit. I want to start, and perhaps even finish grad school before then. But we'll see what happens.

Oh, and luckyrobin, my friend is gay I dont think he's too interested in stealing me away. hehe.

As for today, I'm going to campus early to work on some stuff for class. There's a poetry reading/workshop at 1:00, which I'm really excited about. I love poetry and it'll be nice to go do something on campus that isn't going to class. I just wish I had someone to go with.

After that ends, I have nothing to do until class at 6:00. Which means working on more homework/readings.

It seems as though I may have to pack lunch AND dinner today... But perhaps not. Maybe I'll stop and get Wendy's or something. I've had a good week, and I've only used 20 cents of my Food on Campus budget, which is $20. A junior bacon cheeseburger and a baked potato... or maybe chili. It's so cold! At any rate, $2.23 for a meal aint bad at all.

I need to figure out what I'm going to get/make for BF for Valentine's day. He has just about everything he wants. That makes it pretty hard. I'm not big on buying things for people for the sake of buying them. I try to put a lot of thought into my gifts. So that will be one of the day's ponderings. What to get the boy who doesn't really care for chocolate or candy, and wants nothing? Sigh. This could be hard...

CHALLENGE TOTALS:
February total: $12.72
Year total: $142.29

Some other bloggers here commented earlier this week about laziness and its pros/cons in the financial field. I'm not so happy to say that today I learned a valuable lesson:

Never go to HR Block.

The fact that I paid $60 to do what I could have done just drives me up a wall. I thought my taxes were complicated, but really all I had to do was put in one additional peice of information that I didn't have last year, and I get everything back. That information was nothing more than my tuition statement. Ugh. I could have done it myself.

Not only that, but they didn't do my state taxes... it would have been extra. So I have to file those myself. Ridiculous.

On the upside, my federal is filed and I'm getting $810 back. Not too shabby at all! Of course, the majority of it will be put back into student loans. Perhaps a hundred of it or so will go to my challenge. Just because And another hundred will go toward my emergency fund.

I packed my dinner tonight and had lunch at home. So all money spent today was on groceries, perscriptions, and tax preparation. Boo.

My grocery budget is coming along fabulously. I managed under $10 for the week, and I'm fairly confidnent that I'm going to reach my goal of spending under $50 for the month. I haven't really spent any money on campus either. 5 cents for a cup with hot water in it, but I've been reusing the cup for the last 2 days. Bringing my tea to campus with me...

I'm meeting a new friend for coffee tomorrow on campus. It should be nice. We've been talking over Facebook [for those who dont know, it's a university-based networking community type of thing]. He goes to my university and seems pretty cool. Let's hope I make a lasting friendship! I've been feeling rather social lately. I keep telling myself that I dont know anyone here, but really I've made quite a few aquaintences. I wish a few of them were closer friends, but I guess that comes with time.

At any rate, I better get going. I've got class in the morning! Everyone have a great night!

I went to Giant Eagle this morning to pick up my prescription. I also grabbed just the few things that were on my list for the week. I used a couple coupons and saved a couple of bucks.

Total spent: $7.10
Total saved in coupons and sales: $2.14

All savings go to my challenge money. I've got to go to campus today unexpectedly for a psych club something or other, so I'll be downtown. In my down time, I think I'm gonna head to HR Block to get my overly complicated taxes taken care of. At least ask about their rates. I packed a dinner to eat before work. So it should, for the rest of the day, be a no-spend day. I may work on a paper while I'm on campus as well.

Last night at work ended up being much busier than I had anticipated, and I was the only server for some reason. So I made decent money. Woo! I like those days... Let's hope tonight will be a good tip night as well. Everyone have a great day!

CHALLENGE TOTALS:
February: $9.89
Year Total: $139.46

So me and BF went out of town for the weekend. We just got home, and even though we set the thermostat at 60 because we were gone, it's only 53! We've increased the temperature, but our little furnace that unfortunately couldn't is working its tail to no avail...

My trip was GREAT. I got to visit with family, and me and my mom went out with our cousin last night. I got to spend time with loved ones, and it was very inexpensive on my end. The only thing I paid for was Wendy's for mom and me because she had no cash on her. AND I ended up coming home with more than I went with for FREE. Yay!

2 pairs of jeans. Mom gave me one of hers that didn't fit her right, and we went shopping. Hit a great sale at JC Penny.
1 shirt.
1 pair of great boots.
1 can of spray to waterproof them (thanks again mom!)
1 bottle of Pinot Gregio
Half a family package of string cheese (mom wont eat the non low-fat kind anymore)
A whole container of Ferrero Rocher chocolates (Thanks to my Aunt and Uncle!)
Small package of granola.

Not too shabby! And I hit Ulta on our way to Ohio and took advantage of a freebie that was posted... a smashbox lip palette. Woo. I also had a 20% off coupon I recieved for being on their email list. AND my coworker gave me a $25 gift card there that she said she wouldn't use. So I spent $3 total and got the lip palette, moisturizer, a really cute shade of urban decay eyeshadow, and a 4 color combination eyeshadow from Covergirl. Not bad at all!!

But now I'm home and things are good. I've got class tomorrow, despite the single-digit weather. BF said he'd give me a ride to class, though. Whew!

I've decided on my own challenge for the month. In January, I spent $175 on groceries... just for me!! This month I budgeted $50, and I'm stickin to it. I'm gonna aim as low as I can. The money I save will go toward my student loans, but if I get under $50, I'm putting the money toward the challenge. Only food grocery items apply. I budgeted a separate amount for non-food grocery items. So here we go! I haven't grocery shopped at all in February. Yet. I think I'll be set for the week. I bought enough yogurt and apples to last me 2 weeks. So that covers lunch both days I'm on campus. But we'll see. At any rate, I'm gonna get going. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Alright... here it is!

$ Earned at work: $1019.70 [not so great at all...]

Expenses:
Groceries: $172.79 [$100 budgeted] $72.79
Dining Out: $98.00 [$45 budgeted] $53.00
Food on Campus: $7.92 [$15 budgeted] $7.08
Clothes: $9.40 [$15 budgeted] $5.60
Entertainment: $55 [$55 budgeted] $0
Gifts: $3.00 [$10 budgeted] $7.00

So about $106.11 over budget...

On the upside...
$20 Challenge total for January: $129.57
$ paid on student loan: $175
Total No-Spend days: 10 [my goal was 7]

Considering the fact that $140 was stolen along with $150 in gift cards I was going to use to buy my books, I can honestly say I did well. I made very little money this month compared to normal, which sucks. But I was able to pay my bills AND buy the World of Warcraft expansion, so I really have no room to complain. And I can only see positively into February. Life is getting back to normal.

I got my final W-2 in the mail today, so I will be taking a trip to HR Block to get my taxes taken care of. I'm not sure what thier rates are, but I'm sure it's going to save me a lot of confusion, as well as money, in the long run.

At any rate, I'll be getting off here now. I have to get ready to go to court. Everyone wish me luck!

...an expression that I like to hear!

Yesterday I worked my double, and despite the fact it was FRIDAY, the restaurant was dead. I got to leave early. A girl BF met in one of his classes works at this restaurant that we really like downtown. It's more than a little pricey, but BF got gift certificates from my boss for designing a flyer for Kiku (the restaurant I work at). We called up his friend and it turns out that she had just got cut as well, so she decided to stay and have a couple of drinks with me, BF, and her boyfriend as well.

Me and BF got food while our new friends just drank. We all had a few cocktails. I'm sure the bill was a bit hefty. But as it turns out, Julie's boyfriend is a supervisor/manager at the hotel next door, and he was able to "put it on the house." I felt a bit strange letting these people I just met pay for my food and booze, but he insisted, and it was the hotel that was paying for it anyhow. So I got a meal and wonderful conversation for free I have to say we lucked out... especially since we still have our gift certificates.

Today I was supposed to make more biscotti, but I still need some more supplies, and consequently, I need BF to drive me to the store. It's really cold out, and the store further away has better prices. So I may be grocery shopping today and baking tomorrow.

I did, however, manage to update my finances. I had forgotten a few things, and I'm still wondering where about $30 has gone, but at any rate, we're up to date. My challenge money has almost hit $100, and that's pretty exciting. It's only been a month! I cant believe the month is almost over as well... it seems it flew by. I've got enough put aside to pay the bills and whatnot, though. After tonight, monday, and tuesday, I feel I'll be entirely prepared for February.

I got a freebie in the mail. Celestial Seasonings tea and zinger... I'll have to see how that goes. I love tea... haven't been drinking nearly enough of it. At work I try to drink a lot of green tea because it's free and it's good for me. But I've also been trying not to run to the vending machine. Yesterday I decided instead of buying sweets that I would just make a pot of coffee, and make myself a "froo frroo coffee drink": sweetener, coffee, cream, chocolate syrup, with a little whipped cream on top. Luckily we have all these things at the restaurant. It made my stomach hurt from the sugar, but at least it kept me from buying/eating anything else! hehe.

BF is still asleep... yes, at 3:13 pm. He's gotten on this funky sleeping schedule again. Makes things difficult to schedule. At any rate, I better get going. I think I'm going to wake him up...

Yesterday was a no-spend day, which not only means that I'm adding $1 to my challenge money, but that I've reached 7 no-spend days for the month.

I've hit my goal!!!

I think that's pretty exciting! Today is a planned no-spend day as well. I'm off school, and work at 6:00. I'll be eating in and doing homework in the mean time. I'm sure I have plenty I could make for dinner. I'm incredibly proud of myself as I look over my budget and the money I've spent this month. Most of it was on groceries... but that was more or less because of this biscotti endeavour I've started. I haven't spent any money on clothes or food on campus. Granted, I've only had 3 days of class, but still! I went out to eat the other night, and that was unplanned, but other than that, I've stayed on budget with my dining out. And we only ate out 3 times this month as well. Not too shabby.

I'm going to come up short on my "pay myself" bill, but only because I had to buy all those books that gift cards would have otherwise paid for... if they hadn't been stolen. Overall I've done really well this month. I'm starting out 2007 right!

Challenge total $92.51
+ No-spend day $1.00
+ Change from work $0.30
New Challenge total $93.81

My challenge money is growing!!! I've almost got enough for that plane ticket to Orlando that I'll need to be buying here in the next couple of months. I've got a lot in the way of vacations planned this year (which is great because I haven't gone on vacation in years). I'm visiting my friend who lives in Orlando... I met him the last time I went on vacation many a year ago and we've been great friends since. And me and BF are taking a trip across the country. So there will be much expenses in the way of gas and such.

The tenative plan is to stop in Missouri and stay with a friend of his. Then, his friend will be coming with us to the Grand Canyon. Then we'll be driving to stay with my friend who moved to Arizona just after I moved to Pittsburgh, then we'll be driving to San Diego to visit our friend that just moved there for work. There has been talk of stopping in Denver because I've never been there and I'd love to see it. My brother lives out there, but we cant stay with him because I'm not on speaking terms with my father (we haven't been for years). It's tempting though, a free place to stay and all...

I'm taking 2 weeks off of work during the summer for the road trip. Florida will only be for a few days during the week, so it shouldn't be a big deal. I'm totally psyched, though. The furthest west I've ever been was Indiana, and that was only for 2 hours! I'm looking forward to seeing what the other side of the country has to offer! Just a lot of money to save up. I've decided that part of my tax return (assuming I'll be getting money back) is going to be put into my challenge money, and consequently will be used for my vacation(s). I cant wait until summer! Eeek!

So I spent some time baking up my first couple batches of biscotti for the coffee shop today. I got paid $20 for 40 peices. That's about twice the cost of making them, so I'm content with it. They'll be selling them for $1 each, so I'm profiting the same as the coffee shop. Fair deal. I'm much more excited about the fact that something I MADE is being SOLD. hehe. That $10 profit went to my challenge money.

Work was incredibly busy today. I have to say, I haven't seen a saturday that busy in a looong time. I guess spring and fall are the busy times at my restaurant. So winter has been a bit slow. At any rate, I walked out with $155 after tipping out 20%. That's awesome. And I had plenty of change to contribute to my challenge.

In other frugal news, I got a freebie in the mail today. Samples of dove shampoo and conditioner. A friend also sent me a Paul Mitchell set that he picked up at a hair show he was working a while back (he does lighting and camera work at these big hair conventions). So I dont have to buy more conditioner afterall! Or my favorite hair product... and it takes me close to a year to get through a bottle anyways. Also, last night when I was at Eat n Park I snagged a few little thingies of that sugar free welch's blackberry jam. It was so good I decided to snag a few. Muahahaha. Also, my coworker decided to move to Este Lauder makeup and skincare, so the Ulta gift certificate that she got for Christmas she decided to give to me. Along with 2 tubes of Victoria Secret lip gloss. I'd have to say I made out pretty well.

So things are working out well on the financial front, despite all of the setbacks due to the mugging and whatnot. Though I still have to go to the bank and have them take care of those overdraft fees. Oh, and the coffee shop owner told me that he heard that my mugger was caught. Let's hope! If so, I'll be getting a call here soon to appear in court.

Still waiting for 2 of my W-2 forms from Ohio from early 2006. Hopefully they'll come soon. I need to go to HR Block and get my taxes done. I got my form from the restaurant, and as a previous post said on here, I totally had that "I made THAT much this year?? Where did it all go???" reaction. Of course, then I take a look through all of my reciepts, and it makes sense. Food. haha. And clothes.

At any rate, I'd better get going here. I should get to bed. I've noticed my challenge money is growing substantially. I've gathered quite a bit of change... and with that book I sold on amazon and the profit I made from the biscotti, I'm not doing too bad.

Challenge total $78.63
+ Change from work $1.53
+ Biscotti profit $10.00
New Challenge total $90.16

So I went into super-frugal mode today. I decided to take home a couple of my ties from work and wash them myself. They get really gross from the restaurant, and I usually just replace them because getting them drycleaned isn't really worth it in my opinion. I've probably spent $50 on ties in the last 7 months. Granted, I buy them at Burlingon, usually for about $7 each. But I wanted to experiment to see if I could clean them at home. So I took 2 of the ones that weren't shiny looking (I figured these would be the easiest), and soaked them in a solution of water, baking soda, and vinegar. They're hanging to dry right now. Let's cross our fingers! I'm not expecting them to be perfect, but not quite as spotted would be nice...

I also picked up a copy of the Sunday Paper and spent a while clipping coupons and recording them onto a spreadsheet. Then I looked through sales ads and I'll be making a trip to the store tomorrow after I run to the bank to clear up the mess that is my account. I was going to go today, but I'll be out tomorrow anyways. So today will be counted as a no-spend day because the savings made from the coupons should exceed the cost of the newspaper ($1.50).

Me and BF are eating in tonight... teriyaki steak and rice, brussel sprouts for me. Mmm. I ate leftovers for breakfast and lunch. I also planned out my menu (loosely) for the week.

It feels good to be making all this progress! I'm just hoping once the semester starts that I'll be able to keep it up. At any rate, I hope you all have a great day!

Challenge Total $37.62
+ change $0.50
+ no-spend day $1.00
New Challenge Total $39.12

Another no-spend day. Cha-ching! And I added $5 instead of $1 today for a few reasons...

1. BF suggested going to one of our favorite restaurants and I declined (not an easy task).
2. I had decided to make that Steak Au Poivre that I meant to make before instead.
3. After assessing the pantry, all I would have needed was butter and brandy, but I decided to make a recipe using things I already had in stock.
4. I ended up eating for free at work instead of coming home to cook for me and BF. I'll be making that teriyaki steak for dinner tomorrow on my day off

I've continued using my semi-envelope system. And I've continued staying at home during the day. My grocery budget has hit the $30 mark... but I'm going to try and not buy too much for the rest of the month. And I started planning my meals for the week. I've definitely got some leftovers to get rid of over the next couple of days.

We ran out of dish liquid... I'm looking for a recipe to make my own. We only really use it for pans anyway. We put all regular dishes in the dish washer. I know you can use baking soda to clean many things, so I'll be looking into that.

Tomorrow, like I said, is my day off. I plan to lounge. Not much different than what I've been doing for the last few days Which would explain why I haven't really spent any money... hehe. I might get a head start on some of my reading for class... or continue a crocheting project. Who knows. I'm definitely cooking dinner, though, that's for sure!

I'm feeling really good about cracking down on myself. I read a few articles online and decided that I dont really go to enough measures, and it's ridiculous that I'm so in debt when I make 20k a year. Granted, I do live on my own and pay bills, but seriously. How can I be almost $15k in debt already? I need to start spending less on silly stuff and pay off my loans already. The longer they sit, the more interest they'll accumulate. I dont want to be totally screwed when I start my grad work.

I'm a smart enough girl to make this work. I'm not anticipating being completely free of debt when I graduate, but I'd like to be much less in debt and save a bunch on interest

Time to start REALLY acting like an adult! Later, y'all!

Challenge Total $31.71
+ no-spend bonus! $5.00
+ change from work $0.91
New Challenge Total $37.62

So I decided to start using an semi-envelope system. Semi meaning that I'm not going to put every penny/dollar I earn into an envelope... But most of it! That way I dont have much cash on hand and I can just deposit my money when I need to write a check or such. I figured it would keep me from spending the money I have on hand. It'll also be better for my insurance, which I pay quarterly. I end up not saving anything in the off months (though I plan to) and have to come up with the whole of the bill every 3 months. If I stash it in an envelope it wont get spent. Let's see how it goes...

In other news, I started a spreadsheet of how much I pay per item on all the reciepts I've kept since May. It's interesting to see what stores have the cheaper prices. I only really shop at 2, so it's kind of entertaining. I also hopped on the ball and went to store locators for Aldi and Save a lot in my area. Not sure why I didn't do this sooner.

Today did in fact end up being a no-spend day. My coworker bought me dinner after I got off my shift. I made decent money as well. Tomorrow will be yet another night, though saturdays are generally bad for me in the earning department. I'm the last server in... bleh.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be another no-spend day. I'm rackin 'em in this week! It does wonders for my challenge, that's for sure. I'm hoping to do some cooking. I got the ingredients to make my zuchinni soup. That may be on the agenda... and I want to plan my meals out for the week tomorrow. And make a list of the purchases I've been planning for a while. Perhaps sort them into want/need categories and develop a plan for eventually obtaining them?

BF had talked about going to a party after I get off work, and though it could be fun I'm not sure if I want to foot the bill for the liquor store. I'm thinking I may just go home to a relaxing evening in my PJ's.

Me and BF preordered our copies of the World of Warcraft expansion the other day... that means I have to shell out $40 to him here soon. There goes the entertainment expense I also have to journey to the bank yet again to try and get things sorted out, because until I do I cant play my beloved game anyway... my account is heavily overdrawn so they suspended my online account. Erg. I also cant transfer any money to my emigrant or pay the interest on my loans until then as well. So annoying.

At any rate, I better get some sleep or I wont wake up until 4 in the evening. Sheesh. I cant believe how late it is. No wonder I have a headache... I need to eat.

Goodnight/morning, everyone!

Challenge total $29.25
+ Change-work $1.46
+ no-spend day $1.00
New Challenge Total $31.71

... and I have an incredible lack of motivation. Translation: studying, not so easy. Grr. At any rate, I'm almost done. Other good news: I had a no-spend day. The first in a while... once I get started spending, it's really hard to stop. BF talked me out of going out for lunch. Thank goodness! Erg. I went into my bank account today and updated my spreadsheets... turns out I missed a few things, but the good news is that I had more in there than I thought I did. I forgot to record a deposit for some reason :/ Either way, I'm all up to date, and I'm going to start cracking down on myself again.

Same with my eating habits. I had quite the breakdown last week, and things started getting pretty messy in the eating area. It doesn't help that I haven't gone to the gym in a week. It's finals this week, though, so I'm waiting until all is said and done to get my butt back in gear! Still working on my goals for 2007. There's so much to think about! At any rate, I think it's going to be a wonderful year. 2006 was full of changes and excitement. 2007 is going to be about getting things under control.

I'm pretty sure we're getting a car this weekend. BF is on a mission to find a cheap Honda back home... so lets cross our fingers. I just signed $1000 over to him today to put towards the cost, but I'm trusting him... he's quite the car expert, so I have no doubts. At any rate, it's a very exciting time for the 2 of us!

I still need to finish my xmas shopping. A friend of mine mentioned wanting to come and visit me from back home, and she brought up going shopping together, which I thought was a wonderful idea. We go shopping for our boys every major holiday that we possibly can. Of course, she's single now... it'll be fun either way, though. I love and miss her so much! She and I are incredibly close and dont get nearly enough time together. So let's hope she may come up this weekend. Well then, better get off to work!

Well, this is it. Finals week. I've got one more paper to write tonight, one final tomorrow, and 3 more up until thursday night. Busy times indeed.

I've been doing waaaaaay too much spending lately, but the good news is it's the time to sell my books back (thank goodness), and I'll have more time to work over the break. woo! I'm so ready for the break to begin. I'm at that point where I'm just done with classes. I dont really have the motivation to do anything at this point... I just have to make it through the week. The good news is I could fail every one of my finals and my grades wouldn't suffer a bit. heh. I guess that's the upside to working my tush all semester... less pressure at the end.

So I really need to refrain from spending any unneccesary money for the rest of the month. I went to the mall with BF yesterday because I REALLY needed jeans. I also really need a new dress to wear on christmas. BF's family holiday gatherings are formal, and I've exhausted everything I own over the last year. I need new heels too. argh. At any rate, the trip to the mall was dangerous. I ended up buying a pair of jeans that I love, as well as a sweater that I love- no guilt there, as I need more winter clothes. But I really didn't NEED that eyeshadow I bought, or the goodies from victoria secret. BF was with me, he kinda *persuaded* me to get a couple things, but paid for one of 'em (as he should!) and the perfume I got was relatively low-cost. $15 aint bad for Heavenly. It was a small bottle, but it came with a little bottle of the lotion too, which is nice. If I bought the little bottle of the perfume separately I would have paid the same amount, so I made out like a bandit.

As for now, I'm avoiding spending too much on groceries. I'm completely out of fruit. That's a problem. And I need to buy more tea. I've been drinking so much of it. It's nice though, because if I want to stop at starbucks to get something I spend SO much less on tea than I would on a specialty drink. And starbucks is just so convenient from work. And my boss has me make coffee-runs all the time. eh.

Alright... enough of the rambling... I need to get working on this paper. Have a good night, guys!

... and it was okay. I say okay because there was a good deal of unplanned spending, and a little excessivity in a few areas. Groceries kind of creeped up on me in the end because of this reformation in my eating habits. But next month shouldn't be too horrible in the way of things like clothes. It's just all that xmas shopping! Erg. At any rate, I'm hopeful in the face of December. Let's see how it goes...

Got home from class today and started cleaning... got the laundry going, loaded the dishwasher. These things were desparately needed. A bunch of dirty clothes needed unpacked from the weekend, and we entertained a bit last night, so there were glasses everywhere. Wish I would have tidied up pre-entertainment, but eh. I'm a college kid, my apartment isn't supposed to be spotless. At any rate, made my bank run after class, and ran to the store to pick up a few things I needed.

I'm back on track as far as the healthy eating goes. I was gonna hop back on the bandwagon yesterday, but my boss and coworker invited me to go to lunch with them... thai food. Sooooo good, but coconut milk and corn fritters are certainly not the healthiest of choices. Pizza for dinner. erg. At any rate, I'm going to the gym today with BF to catch up on some working out... Hopefully I'll make a couple more trips this week. I guess starting this "diet and exercise plan" wasn't the smartest of ideas right before a holiday weekend

Financially, my month ends tomorrow, which means I've got some calculating to do! I know this weekend threw a monkeywrench into my spendings, but hey, a girl's gotta live! I know I didn't do half as bad as I did last time I went home, but I also have eaten at nice restaurants twice in the last week. Anyhoo, better get back to cleaning!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alright. So it's the midpoint of my financial month (which always starts the 28th, as far as I'm concerned). I sat down and tracked my progress in spending/savings. I have to say, I'm doing pretty good! Last month at my midpoint I was $47.55 OVER the budget. This month, I'm $141.51 UNDER the budget, so happy dance! The only area where I'm over budget is groceries... big surprise. hehe. The good news is I'm only over by 2 cents. woohoo! Let's just hope I can keep myself from buying groceries for the rest of the month. heh. We really have plenty of food. And that shopping trip to the market district was a bit pricey, but always is But the good news is that we only ate out once this month, twice if you count the money I spent at the coffee shop with my french buddies. Dining out is my one big flaw, but I did really good this month. Yay for me! Aside from that, I've put $175 toward my loan this month, and put $146.75 into savings. That totals $321.75 towards my $20 challenge thus far, which is more money than I've spent! Of course, I haven't paid rent or anything so it's a little skewed... At any rate, being a hermit is paying off! hehe.

So last night me and BF actually went out. My neighbor is a comic, and he took us to the club he plays. We got in for free-saving each of us $30. I did end up spending $16 on food and drinks, but I took it out of my entertainment allowance. Next time I'm just going to buy drinks. $6 for 2 cokes isn't cheap, but when you get into the club for free, I think it's worth it.

Today I went to class, and then scheduled for next semester. A big fiasco, but I'm happy to say that I have NO 8am classes. Yay! Not sure how my boss is going to like the schedule, but he's good at working around it. Which reminds me, I've decided to stay in Ohio for black friday. I need a little more time with my friends and family this month. Now is homework time, and then work at 5:30. Let's hope I make some money! I didn't do too well on saturday. I want tonight to turn it around!

I did have to stop at the store on the way home to buy some needed *feminine supplies*, but aside from that I'm not spending any money today. I'm still in the process of getting my emigrant account set up, but I did finally take care of setting up my online banking as well yesterday. That'll be convenient from now on. Either way, this is getting long... I better go!

p.s. That comedian last night had all sorts of jokes about shopping at costco and sam's club. It was pretty funny! I thought of you all...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well, my day started out rather groggy (me and BF were up just a little too late last night), but on the way to class I found $0.40 on the ground! woo! That went in my coin jar for the $20 challenge. Class went well. Now the ugly...

Library Fines

grr. I love using the library, because borrowing is free... when you return the movies back on time. grumble. At any rate, that was an $11 fee. The good news is that I saw the whole sheet of people who paid fees today, and someone owed them $66! I'm glad I didn't wait THAT long...

Made my monday bank run. I deposited $50 into my checking and the remaining $74 into my savings. I was also happy to see that my savings has accumulated another $.69 in interest. woo! Every little bit helps, of course.

At any rate, I've taken a look over my records, and I honestly have to give myself a pat on the back. I think it's amazing how this community has helped me take control of my finances! I'm just a kid, and I haven't done enough over the past couple years. I'm glad I found you guys before I ventured out on my own. Thanks! This is my favorite spot to blog, and will remain so for years to come, I'm sure!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

$20 challenge total: $245.51

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

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

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

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

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

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

November Budget and Goals:

Rent, phone, elec, cable: $450
Transportation: $60
Insurance: $26.75
Perscription: $25
Loan interest: $65
Groceries: $80
Food on campus: $40
Salsa Classes: $20
School expenses: $20
Dining Out: $50
Clothes: $75
Entertainment: $20
Xmas gifts: $50
Misc: $20

Total Budgeted: $1001.75

Estimated income (by the 28th):
17 nights @ $60 => $1020
4 lunches @ $10 => 40
2 paychecks @ $30 => 60
Total:$1120

Goals:
1. To be under budget.
2. To be over income.
3. To have 3 no-spend days.
4. To put $250 toward the $20 challenge.
5. To only eat out 4 times this month.
6. To knock 3 people off my xmas list.

Sooooooo. I gave myself a little more slack as far as the budget goes. I realized that it's damn near impossible to only spend $40 in groceries in a month. I spent $100 last month (and me and BF keep our food separate), so I'm shooting to only spend $80 this month. Clothes is up a bit, only because I'll be buying new work shoes here in about a week. And I understand that just because I cut myself a little slack doesn't mean that I can slack off, I'm just expecting myself to be under budget this month.

Hopefully it'll work out. I took inventory in my kitchen again this month, and even wrote out a list of possible dinners I could make posted on the fridge- so when I'm wandering around saying "we dont have any food!" I have a list to look at, and say, "oh wait, yeah we do, I'll make ___." And I cooked twice yesterday, so I give myself credit. ha. Well, I think I'm gonna cut this short here, well, not really short, but ya know...

Alright, considering that October is a few days away from ending, I figured I'd jump the gun and add everything up. I need to use the figures to structure November's budget anyhow... so here goes:
Rent: 431.68 = 18.32 under
Groceries: 101.06 = 61.06 over
Transport: 59.06 = 5.06 over
Food on Campus = 43.62 = 21.38 under
Entertainment, misc: 339.68 = 289.68 over
Salsa Classes: 0 = 30 under
School Expenses: 58.45 = 48.45 over
Total: $334.55 over

Estimated Income: 980.00 (by today)
Actual earned: 1110.14
(which means I'm 130.14 over, yay!)

Total added to $20 challenge:
$190, but that doesn't include my change jar... which has over $15 in it.

Total times I ate out this month: 7 (I went out of town though... )

My Progress a la Goals:
1. Come up under budget. NO. Not quite, but my budget really didn't give me ANY slack... I need to revise for next month.
2. Come up over income. YES. I actually got this one. yay!
3. Put at least $364.25 into my savings account. NO. Midway through the month I realized I should be paying off some of my loan, as it has 14% interest... I did manage to get my principle down, though, so I feel I did one better.
4. Have at least 4 no-spend days. NO. I only got one...
5. Knock off 2 people from my xmas list. YES. I did manage to finish buying gifts for both my lil sis and BF's Gram, so that one was done.

Okay, so 2 out of 5... I guess it's better than none?? I'll try harder in November, and not forget as much in the way of my budget... going out of town really takes a chunk out of the dining out and such, so we'll see if my trip back home this month can be any better. I'll be eating turkey at the family's anyhow! Well kids, thanks for helping me along!