Yikes! I kind of forgot that someone special had a big birthday this weekend! After the gift, the card, the tissue paper, the cake and the dinner out, I spent $70!
That put me about $40 over for the week. But I only started with $70, so I only ran $10 over budget (for this week). I started with $70 because, as I mentioned, I bought a new $30 cell phone.
So the question is:
Do I hold myself to my budget and only give myself $60 for next week? Do I decide that my budget of $100 was too modest and raise it to $150?
No and no. I'm just going to start over tomorrow and give myself the $100, and hopefully I won't have another unexpected money situation next week. I think it would be demoralizing to start the week behind, again, and too hasty to just raise my budget since I've only be trying it for two weeks.
I made an extra $145 this weekend ($90 from second job, $55 from babysitting), and my bills are paid. The debt is going down, so I'm going to try to not be hard on myself and also try harder to stick to the budget!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Well, I didn't spend any money Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday! Today I spent $1.75 on some produce from the farmer's market, and tonight I'm going out with some friends. I have a good excuse to stop at one drink, though, since I'm working tomorrow morning at Job #2.
I got a call from one of the local charities, and they'll be picking up any clothing I don't want next Thursday. I totally have too many clothes, so this weekend my little apartment will be filled with three mountains of fabric: Keep it, Sell it, or Give it Away.
I got a call from one of the local charities, and they'll be picking up any clothing I don't want next Thursday. I totally have too many clothes, so this weekend my little apartment will be filled with three mountains of fabric: Keep it, Sell it, or Give it Away.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Budgeting going well!
I've only spent $56.35 so far this week, and that includes a $17 grocery bill and a $30 phone. I haven't spent a dime in the last two days! I'll get paid for 11 hours at the second job tomorrow, and I'll be working 12 hours at the second job this week. Plus, I'm babysitting Saturday night, which usually gets me $60-$80. All together, that's an extra $300! Yea!
I tried to forecast my spending through April, to see if opening up a Roth IRA is a good idea. If I keep working at the second job, it might be do-able, but tight, and I'll have to keep Christmas spending to a minimum, which is tough because I come from a big family that tends to go overboard on gifts. I really want to be rid of the Credit Card debt by July 2008, and kill the student loan debt by October 2009. I'd really like to contribute to the Roth, though, especially since I plan on going back to school full time in 2010, and I know it will be nearly impossible to max it out while I'm a student.
I tried to forecast my spending through April, to see if opening up a Roth IRA is a good idea. If I keep working at the second job, it might be do-able, but tight, and I'll have to keep Christmas spending to a minimum, which is tough because I come from a big family that tends to go overboard on gifts. I really want to be rid of the Credit Card debt by July 2008, and kill the student loan debt by October 2009. I'd really like to contribute to the Roth, though, especially since I plan on going back to school full time in 2010, and I know it will be nearly impossible to max it out while I'm a student.
I don't need rock bottom to bounce.
I was reading the most recent Women in Red article over at msn.com, and Dunleavy mentioned people "hitting the wall". She says that often times people need to hit rock bottom to bounce back. I'm sure that's how it starts for a lot of people, but that's not how it was for me.
My debt accrued in college. Lots of it is student loan debt, which I'm ok with. But alot of it is credit card debt. I worked at least 10 hours a week while I was in school, and up to 40 at some points. I worked full time whenever possible during the summer. I commuted to school, and paid for my own books, transportation, and supplies. Although I lived at home, I usually bought my own food. I love to travel, so a chunk of my debt is from that, and I purchased a laptop. Everything else seemed important at the time- clothes, food, ect. As my years at college progressed, I kept charging when I needed to, and worked enough to pay the minimums. My cards were never in collections, but occasionally I would be unorganized and not pay my bills on time. I've only been over 30 days late once on one card. Still, you only need to be one day late on one card to see your interest rates go through the roof. One day, during the summer before my last year of school, I got an offer for a high-limit credit card with a 0% balance transfer offer. Great, I thought, I'll have more money to pay this off, since I'm working all summer, and I'll save on interest! But that didn't happen. The balances continued to rise, and I continued to just make minimums. When I graduated, I owed more than 75% of the credit available on all four of my cards.
I got out of school, got a job, and settled into a new apartment. I knew I needed to tackle the credit card debt. It had been bugging me for over a year when I made the balance transfer. Now I had a comfortable salary. Once I was settled into the new job and the new place, I started making a budget and seeing how much I'd be able to pay off each month towards the balance. The more I think about it, the more determined I am to get rid of debt. It will never be easier than now. I don't have kids. I don't have a mortgage. I don't mind living like a college student.
I could have just continued to pay minimums. I could have bought a new car, or all new clothes. I haven't hit bottom yet, and I never want to. But I'd like to think I'm just as serious as anyone who has hit bottom. I eat ramen, I don't shop, and I'm going to be debt free.
My debt accrued in college. Lots of it is student loan debt, which I'm ok with. But alot of it is credit card debt. I worked at least 10 hours a week while I was in school, and up to 40 at some points. I worked full time whenever possible during the summer. I commuted to school, and paid for my own books, transportation, and supplies. Although I lived at home, I usually bought my own food. I love to travel, so a chunk of my debt is from that, and I purchased a laptop. Everything else seemed important at the time- clothes, food, ect. As my years at college progressed, I kept charging when I needed to, and worked enough to pay the minimums. My cards were never in collections, but occasionally I would be unorganized and not pay my bills on time. I've only been over 30 days late once on one card. Still, you only need to be one day late on one card to see your interest rates go through the roof. One day, during the summer before my last year of school, I got an offer for a high-limit credit card with a 0% balance transfer offer. Great, I thought, I'll have more money to pay this off, since I'm working all summer, and I'll save on interest! But that didn't happen. The balances continued to rise, and I continued to just make minimums. When I graduated, I owed more than 75% of the credit available on all four of my cards.
I got out of school, got a job, and settled into a new apartment. I knew I needed to tackle the credit card debt. It had been bugging me for over a year when I made the balance transfer. Now I had a comfortable salary. Once I was settled into the new job and the new place, I started making a budget and seeing how much I'd be able to pay off each month towards the balance. The more I think about it, the more determined I am to get rid of debt. It will never be easier than now. I don't have kids. I don't have a mortgage. I don't mind living like a college student.
I could have just continued to pay minimums. I could have bought a new car, or all new clothes. I haven't hit bottom yet, and I never want to. But I'd like to think I'm just as serious as anyone who has hit bottom. I eat ramen, I don't shop, and I'm going to be debt free.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
I hate interest.
The interest on my accounts posted yesterday, and as much as I feared it, I decided to see how much I was giving away to the credit card companies. It's at least $247 a month. Ouch.
I can't wait until interest is working for me and not the other way around.
I can't wait until interest is working for me and not the other way around.
Monday, September 17, 2007
About Retirement
I started my current job back in December, and I hadn't figured out how to log into my retirement information until today! I had to get through 3 different sets of log-ins! And call a customer care line for help! And reset passwords that I don't remember setting the first time! My Goodness! I can't complain though, because I have great benefits and my employer automatically starts a 401(k) and funds it 5% without any contributions from me.
So I finally logged in and changed my fund to a 2050 target retirement, transferring a lovely $1275.15 of free money into some aggressive territory.
I also signed a new cellphone contract. I'm on the cheapest plan now, which really isn't cheap at all, but I'll be saving about $15/month. I did get a shiny new phone. Not a iPhone, but it did set me back $30. Now my weekly budget is down to $70! I think I'll be ok, because I'm going to some Grad School Fairs this week, and they tend to have tons of free food.
So I finally logged in and changed my fund to a 2050 target retirement, transferring a lovely $1275.15 of free money into some aggressive territory.
I also signed a new cellphone contract. I'm on the cheapest plan now, which really isn't cheap at all, but I'll be saving about $15/month. I did get a shiny new phone. Not a iPhone, but it did set me back $30. Now my weekly budget is down to $70! I think I'll be ok, because I'm going to some Grad School Fairs this week, and they tend to have tons of free food.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
I'm becoming a little obsessed with signing on to my credit card's website just to see the $0.00. So wonderful!
My weekly spending amount seems to be a good guess so far. I have $1.83 left and one day to go. Sunday isn't really an expensive day for me, and I bought some groceries yesterday, so I should be just fine. I might buy myself some chocolate with the nickles of dimes I have left.
My weekly spending amount seems to be a good guess so far. I have $1.83 left and one day to go. Sunday isn't really an expensive day for me, and I bought some groceries yesterday, so I should be just fine. I might buy myself some chocolate with the nickles of dimes I have left.
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