2009. Dang, I seriously can't believe how fast time flies - I mean I can't believe that 2008 has come and gone! Out with old, in with the new right? Soooo ... out with the old spending habits, in with new ones.
I'm still pushing myself to stick to my 20.00 a week allowance. Its really hard... but what can you do? The last two weeks weren't good budget wise - a lot of activities and shopping - but yesterday I took back 100.00 worth of things that turned out to not fit or I had something similar, so that makes me feel a bit better. My dad's parents were also very generous with us for christmas, so my parents will be depositing a large amount into my savings account. Hooray! And... mom also gave me 105.00 to use to get a present for myself. I have no idea what to get - but she said I had to get myself something - I'm in trouble if I use it for groceries.
Speaking of groceries, BF and I went grocery shopping for the first time in awhile yesterday. He spent 40 at safeway and I spent 20 at trader joes. We got lots of lunchmeats, yogurts, pastas and sauce, veggies, and some stir frys. Not bad! Hopefully that should keep us going well into the next pay period. And a friend is treating us to dinner tonight, so yay!
My current fun fund total is 410.00 - I'm so proud of myself! I mean, I did put the 105 from mom in there... but seriously - over 400 in less than 6 months! I have been craving a new agenda... so I may get that... but we'll see.
And tonight I'm going to purge my MAC makeup collection again to try and get rid of things. It turns out that blues are not a good color on me... so anything bright blue is going to go. Oooh I think I have 50 something in my paypal, so I'll put that into savings too.
Anyway - hope everyone is having a fab start to 2009 and that this year is better (financially!) than 2008.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Monday, December 8, 2008
allowance? yes please!
After taking some advice from the efficient money handling BF, I've decided to start giving myself a weekly allowance. 20. Yup. A big fat whopping twenty dollars to last me each week. It can go toward eating lunches out, coffees, anything that I want. And the best part.... if I don't spend it, it can roll over - or I can put it in my fun fund! I will also do the same on weekends - 20 to go toward eating out, movies, bars, etc.
Last week I had $3. Lol. Way to go me. And today, it rolled over to some photos being printed at target as part of my mom's christmas present. So far today I've spent 10 for another part of my sister's present... that came out of my checking account. So I have 20 and no clue what to do with it.... I think I'll sit a bit on this one.
I've been really good with money lately - I haven't gone shopping at all this month (okay, I know Dec is only 8 days old but still).... I have been tempted but I keep reaching out to BF and my mom for support to not spend. It's rough - I'm tellin' ya. But... I hope it just for the time being.
I'm cold. In fact, I've been cold all day. It seems as if December has finally caught up with Northern CA and I might have to turn the furnace on tonight (if I can figure out its location). Temps are supposed to drop to 41 overnight - and that's pretty cold. It's so hard to get up in the mornings too! I think tomorrow will definitely be an ugg day...
Anyway. Almost time to go home here - so hooray for that.
Last week I had $3. Lol. Way to go me. And today, it rolled over to some photos being printed at target as part of my mom's christmas present. So far today I've spent 10 for another part of my sister's present... that came out of my checking account. So I have 20 and no clue what to do with it.... I think I'll sit a bit on this one.
I've been really good with money lately - I haven't gone shopping at all this month (okay, I know Dec is only 8 days old but still).... I have been tempted but I keep reaching out to BF and my mom for support to not spend. It's rough - I'm tellin' ya. But... I hope it just for the time being.
I'm cold. In fact, I've been cold all day. It seems as if December has finally caught up with Northern CA and I might have to turn the furnace on tonight (if I can figure out its location). Temps are supposed to drop to 41 overnight - and that's pretty cold. It's so hard to get up in the mornings too! I think tomorrow will definitely be an ugg day...
Anyway. Almost time to go home here - so hooray for that.
Monday, December 1, 2008
New month, new plan
So I still haven't fully recovered from a 20% pay cut. I feel really bad - especially with Christmas right around the corner - I had wanted to do nice things for my family this year ... but we'll see.
Anyway. So BF and I have kinda worked out a plan for me. Each week I will take out 20.00 for food, snacks, coffees, etc. On my lunch break (I made a sandwich today!), I went to the bank and withdrew 470.00. 450 for this half of the month's rent, and 20 cash to keep for the previously mentioned weekly cash. I did splurge on a hot apple cider today (2.80), but that was on a gift card. I do have to go pick up part of mom's christmas present today (1.50) so that will come out of my 20.00 as well. However... I did sell some unused mac makeup for 25.00 - so that is in my paypal account at the moment.
I spent about 50.00 at safeway and trader joes on Sunday. I bought things for breakfasts and lunches at work (cheeses, yogurts, crackers, salami, veggies for pasta salad, frozen pizzas) that I can prepare and bring ahead of time. Hopefully this will squash my urge to eat out in the financial district.
94.00 today went to paying my car registration... eeek. That one hurt. But at least I only have to register my car once a year - and my parents were nice enough to fill my gas tank up! And those gas prices - holy moly! I saw under 2.00 in SAN FRANCISCO this weekend! I actually snapped a photo with my iphone at one station, lol. I do owe them 60.00 for car insurance though... that will come out of the cash that I squalled aside last paycheck.
I'm trying to keep christmas presents around 50.00 to each person this year - I've already ordered my sisters (30.00+15.00) so hers is done... I have to order my mom's and finish it up and I have no clue what to get my dad. He usually asks for a shirt... and then I give him a close to 50 something dollar gift card to peets.
Soooo... trying to keep things on a low level right now. Since I now have Fridays off I'm thinking of volunteering or doing something good so that I don't sit around the house and mope all day. We'll see how it turns out.
Ooop BF and I need toilet paper... maybe costco run/$1.50 hot dog dinner tomorrow night!
Anyway. So BF and I have kinda worked out a plan for me. Each week I will take out 20.00 for food, snacks, coffees, etc. On my lunch break (I made a sandwich today!), I went to the bank and withdrew 470.00. 450 for this half of the month's rent, and 20 cash to keep for the previously mentioned weekly cash. I did splurge on a hot apple cider today (2.80), but that was on a gift card. I do have to go pick up part of mom's christmas present today (1.50) so that will come out of my 20.00 as well. However... I did sell some unused mac makeup for 25.00 - so that is in my paypal account at the moment.
I spent about 50.00 at safeway and trader joes on Sunday. I bought things for breakfasts and lunches at work (cheeses, yogurts, crackers, salami, veggies for pasta salad, frozen pizzas) that I can prepare and bring ahead of time. Hopefully this will squash my urge to eat out in the financial district.
94.00 today went to paying my car registration... eeek. That one hurt. But at least I only have to register my car once a year - and my parents were nice enough to fill my gas tank up! And those gas prices - holy moly! I saw under 2.00 in SAN FRANCISCO this weekend! I actually snapped a photo with my iphone at one station, lol. I do owe them 60.00 for car insurance though... that will come out of the cash that I squalled aside last paycheck.
I'm trying to keep christmas presents around 50.00 to each person this year - I've already ordered my sisters (30.00+15.00) so hers is done... I have to order my mom's and finish it up and I have no clue what to get my dad. He usually asks for a shirt... and then I give him a close to 50 something dollar gift card to peets.
Soooo... trying to keep things on a low level right now. Since I now have Fridays off I'm thinking of volunteering or doing something good so that I don't sit around the house and mope all day. We'll see how it turns out.
Ooop BF and I need toilet paper... maybe costco run/$1.50 hot dog dinner tomorrow night!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Just plain tired..
So yesterday morning on our way to work BF and i had a great chat about ways to strategize and save money. Work was going good... until a 12 o'clock meeting.. .where our company sat us down and told us that this year there would be no bonuses. And effective dec 1, we would all be reduced to a 4 day work week... with a 20% pay decrease. This is bad. Very bad. 20% of my pay... is more than half my monthly rent.
Needless to say... the past day hasn't been very good. I go between feelings of anger to sadness.. I know its not the end of the world and heck I should be lucky I still have a job... but I feel so crappy. I feel like I can't afford presents this year, and I've been contemplating getting a part time job. I will hate to leave my coworkers... but hey I have to feed and shelter myself, know what I mean?
Happy early Thanksgiving... more later.
Needless to say... the past day hasn't been very good. I go between feelings of anger to sadness.. I know its not the end of the world and heck I should be lucky I still have a job... but I feel so crappy. I feel like I can't afford presents this year, and I've been contemplating getting a part time job. I will hate to leave my coworkers... but hey I have to feed and shelter myself, know what I mean?
Happy early Thanksgiving... more later.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Outlet madness
So I'm back from my long weekend away with my mom - I had a great time! We went wine tasting, ate some fab food, and most of all did some hardcore shopping! We actually hit up three outlet mall centers and I wanted to make out a little list to see what I spent compared to what I wouldn't have if I didn't get everything on sale. That's right. Every item I bought was on sale. Yay! So here we go
Stop 1:
Nordstroms
Pair of shoes marked 47.99 originally 79.95
total at Nordstroms: 53.00
total saved at nordstroms - $32
Coach
2 keyfobs - skull and crossbones (sis for christmas, koala for me) - 16.00 ea marked down from 29.00 - saved 26.00
1 silk scarf - 14.99 marked down from 54.00
total spent at Coach - 50.63
total savings at coach - $65!
Banana Republic
1 dress, marked 54.99 - 50% = 27.50
1 luxe hoodie marked 59.99 - 50% = 29.99
1 shawl neck shirt marked 29.99 -50% = 15.00
1 sweater vest marked 21.99 - 50% = 10.99, plus addtl 50% = 8.24
1 dressy top marked 37.99 - 50% = 19.00
1 embellished top marked 36.99 - 40% = 19.00
total = 130.00
HOWEVER, BR was doing a special promotion - use your BR card for an extra 25% off!
New total = 100.72
total savings at BR - $148.46!
Stop 2
J. Crew
1 knit beret hat marked 29.50 - 30% = 10.65
1 fleece collar knit market 49.50 - 30% = 34.65
total at J.Crew = $59.59
total savings at J.Crew - $23.70
Cosmetics Company Outlet
1 MAC eyeshadow marked 10 (retail 14)
1 MAC palette marked 25.25 (retail 38)
1 MAC shadestick marked 11.75 (retail 16.50)
total at CCO - 50.64
total savings at CCO = $ 21.50
GAP Outlet
1 white blouse marked 29.99 - 40% = 18.99
1 headband marked .47 - 40% = .28
plus an additional 10% off my total
Total at GAP - $17.71
total savings at GAP - 14.02 (plus that headband at a quarter?!)
Stop 3
Burberry outlet
1 pair shoes marked 430 discounted t0 230, marked down to 99 plus an additional 50% = 49.00
total at burberry - 53
total savings at Burberry - $377!
total spent on shopping - $329.29
total saved - $633.97!!!
wowee folks - that's a huge savings - almost two times what I really spent! so although I did spent a lot of money... I also saved a ton too! Buying things on sale and clearance at an outlet center really helps a lot, not to mention I got my holiday party dress for about 25 and change an those burberry shoes! so excited!
anyway... off to get some rest here, not feeling so hot so I'm hoping I can beat a cold that might be coming on. Cheers!
Friday, November 7, 2008
I love Fridays.
I really, really do. Friday - the day that the hours can seemingly melt by - or even if they dragged you wouldn't mind since the weekend is coming up.
With Veterans Day coming up on Tuesday, I took Monday off to have a 4 day weekend. And since I've been saying that I need a vacation for quite some time, my mom and I are going up to the wine country to overnight, relax, eat, and just have some healthy downtime. I'm quite excited - as our rooms were 87 a night - so that seems like quite a deal (compared to the other places that were 250+ a night!).
This evening some of us are going to a comedy show where I was able to get discounted tickets. If you sign up for goldstar you get a weekly email with events in your area - most of the time with half price or even FREE tickets. I'll get us some pizzas with coupons from dominoes and voila! Dinner and a show.
With the holidays fast approaching it starts to be time for holiday shopping. BF and I have already given each other gifts for the holidays - so all I really need to worry about is mom, dad, sister, roommate, and perhaps a friend or two. With my new found photo obsession I was thinking of blowing up some of my prints and framing them for my parents. Or maybe I should just stick to the peets gift card I get dad every year, but we'll see.
Anyway - time to get back to "work". Updates later..
With Veterans Day coming up on Tuesday, I took Monday off to have a 4 day weekend. And since I've been saying that I need a vacation for quite some time, my mom and I are going up to the wine country to overnight, relax, eat, and just have some healthy downtime. I'm quite excited - as our rooms were 87 a night - so that seems like quite a deal (compared to the other places that were 250+ a night!).
This evening some of us are going to a comedy show where I was able to get discounted tickets. If you sign up for goldstar you get a weekly email with events in your area - most of the time with half price or even FREE tickets. I'll get us some pizzas with coupons from dominoes and voila! Dinner and a show.
With the holidays fast approaching it starts to be time for holiday shopping. BF and I have already given each other gifts for the holidays - so all I really need to worry about is mom, dad, sister, roommate, and perhaps a friend or two. With my new found photo obsession I was thinking of blowing up some of my prints and framing them for my parents. Or maybe I should just stick to the peets gift card I get dad every year, but we'll see.
Anyway - time to get back to "work". Updates later..
Monday, November 3, 2008
November november
Oh November - you've come up so quickly and October ended so fast!
For the month I spent a bit too much money.. although I did go through a purse this morning and find a check made out to me! So I'm going to deposit it into my fun fund.
Since payday was Friday, on Saturday morning I transferred a chunk into my savings account. I also withdrew almost half of November's rent and am keeping that into an envelope to later turn into a cashier's check for BF. Sounds confusing.. but I'm hoping that it will help me cut down on costs.
My mom purchased us a slow cooker... so I'm way excited. I'm really hoping that this will make lunches and dinners easier and more fun. I'm getting a bit tired of peanut buttery and raspberry jam... so we will see. Again - I do wish we had a microwave at work! Although the bagel bites have been doing well.
Today I do have to make the journey to safeway - they have some meats on sale (i'm thinking beef stew and chili), plus I need more jam, cottage cheese, and some spices. I'm trying my best to scope out some sales so that I can save more money that way. I do need to go to Walgreeens to get my medicine...so that will be another 25 there too. Ugh!
Anyway - I think I'm going to catch up on some other blogs and I promise (really hard this time!) not to neglect this so much.
For the month I spent a bit too much money.. although I did go through a purse this morning and find a check made out to me! So I'm going to deposit it into my fun fund.
Since payday was Friday, on Saturday morning I transferred a chunk into my savings account. I also withdrew almost half of November's rent and am keeping that into an envelope to later turn into a cashier's check for BF. Sounds confusing.. but I'm hoping that it will help me cut down on costs.
My mom purchased us a slow cooker... so I'm way excited. I'm really hoping that this will make lunches and dinners easier and more fun. I'm getting a bit tired of peanut buttery and raspberry jam... so we will see. Again - I do wish we had a microwave at work! Although the bagel bites have been doing well.
Today I do have to make the journey to safeway - they have some meats on sale (i'm thinking beef stew and chili), plus I need more jam, cottage cheese, and some spices. I'm trying my best to scope out some sales so that I can save more money that way. I do need to go to Walgreeens to get my medicine...so that will be another 25 there too. Ugh!
Anyway - I think I'm going to catch up on some other blogs and I promise (really hard this time!) not to neglect this so much.
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