Spending Summary

Posted on May 11, 2012 by

So far, my spending has been very limited for the month of May…and I guess, I guess it needs to be. I’m living at home for a few weeks, so I haven’t had to buy food, gas, pay rent, etc…so really all of this spending is extraneous.

  • 5/1/12-5/4/12 – No spend days!
  • 5/5/12 - $29.86 at Walmart (craft supplies, Marie Claire, & York Peppermint Patties) + $2.86 at Sonic (Cherry Limeade Slushie!)
  • 5/6/12-5/10/12 – No spend days!

So far so good! It’s really great for me, because I tend to be an emotional spender and the last few months haven’t been fantastic, but it seems to be out of my system! This weekend there will be some spending ;)

But not this kind of spending…avoiding getting that gleam in my own eyes

I’ve been going through my wardrobe to clear it out the stained, ripped, and ill-fitting, but because I have lost some weight, none of my clothes really fit that well anymore, and since I will be working this summer, I’ll need at least a few things, PLUS I need to donate what I don’t want anymore to declutter. I’ll be checking out some consignment shops and some “New to You” shops! I hope to spend no more than $50 total (which I think is pretty reasonable considering I’m PURGING my closet), because I also plan to continue working out and don’t want to purchase an entire new wardrobe 2-3x. Just a little here and there to get me through it. I’m also altering my shirts that are a little too big to try to make them fit again (instead of making me look like a box monster). I’m not courageous enough to do that with pants; however, I’m more of a skirt girl and they’re more kind with fluctuating weight than blue jeans!

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Finance Snapshop – May edition

Posted on May 3, 2012 by

So I said I was back, and I am! It’s actually taken a lot of thought to figure out where I wanted to go from here, you know, fresh starts and all that jazz ;) So after outlining a few ideas of traditional posts I’ve done that I like and figuring out new things to push my comfort zone, I’m starting with the basics. Where I’m at. It’s hard for me to look at myself, because the knowledge of what to do and what not to do is in my grasp, in my head even! And yet, here I am.

Not quite in financial ruin yet

Pretty Much

Pic. Source

So I am in no way in financial ruins. Every time I look at my bank account and get a frog in my throat, or open my wallet with a shudder, I try to put things into perspective.  The well-being of others does not rely on my financial success; I am not bankrupt, I am not homeless, hungry, or sick. I’m just a broke college student with no one to blame but herself who needs to make better life choices and actually stick with them. So where am I at right now?

  • Discover: $1,401.49
  • Checking: $155.01
  • Savings: $0
  • Cash: $100.05
  • Loans & Interest: $13,753

This puts me at a cool -$14,899.43 as far as networth goes. Well, looking back at it almost a year ago, I’m down by $4,752.43 from -$10,146. I was really confused until I remembered that I anticipated $3750 in loans that I ended up not taking out that were accounted for and that I valued my car at $5000 (it has since had some…problems); however, I really tanked my savings and cash (plus I got that…credit card). And even in writing this post I wanted to mislead myself and look at my networth as having “gone up,” when it really didn’t at all. I never had the loans I was taking into account, so my networth was never that low in the first place. Denial is not just a river in Egypt, y’all.

Of course, I’m not exactly pleased about this, but a great quote by Thoreau is “Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.” Of course we should always learn from our mistakes (like don’t charge Christmas to your card, and when you get reimbursed for expenditures, treat it as a reimbursement and not as “Ooooo free monies!”). Or, in my case, even though I KNOW KNOW KNOW that credit card money is not actually my money, to not say “I have $400 left of my limit! That’s $400 I have to spend!” And curbing emotional spending. And hobby spending (knitting can get expensive). And not just avoiding my finance-related life out of shame. I really love the PF atmosphere and am genuinely interested in it and getting better. I need self-control. And I need it soon.

As of right now, I’m living with my parents until I leave for an internship in Pensacola, FL on May 24. There, I will have free housing and meals, and a $3000 stipend. That last bit is pretty important because as of August, many things will come to a head.

  1. My Discover Card will have an interest rate (est. 17-20%)
  2. Tuition. I dropped my 2 minors in order to drop my tuition from $3200 to $1500, so that helps, but at least half of it is due the first week of August…so $750 bones…
  3. Rent & deposits on my first ever big girl apartment
So the plan is to get an additional job while in FL (the internship is 30 hours a week, so I would have the time) so that I know for sure I can take care of all of those financial obligations. The next step is building up my EF  and savings. And loan interest repayment…but I’m getting into another post entirely here :)


Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Back to Reality

Posted on May 1, 2012 by

After a shockingly rude awakening, I am back! I don’t want to delve into too much personal detail, less out of respect for those involved, but more because I am finally able to let sleeping dogs lie, and typing it all out will just make me angry about it again :) . A pretty short and sweet summary of the last few months:

  • Got dumped out of the blue in February, 2 days before Valentine’s Day, by my boyfriend of nearly 4 years
  • Racked up what is as of now $1400 in credit card debt
  • Blew through all of my savings and standing money (I’m sitting at having about $300 to my name)
  • Had a stalker…twice
  • Got an internship in Pensacola for the summer :)
  • Lost 30 lbs
  • Got a dog
  • Was fired from not one, but two jobs
  • Graduation pushed back to December ’12

I suppose that’s the major update as to why I haven’t been around, but I need to get back on track, both personally and monetarily. This is the longest I’ve been single since I’ve started dating (serial monogamist, me, no!), so I’m hoping to do a little self-discovery along the way. Gonna have to revise my goals and figure out a life plan that doesn’t revolve around someone else!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Volunteering: Long-Distance

Posted on January 6, 2012 by

One of my major new year resolutions this year was to volunteer a minimum of once a week. Because some weeks do not lend themselves to going out & walking dogs, I decided that I could do online volunteering…during whatever busy week the future might hold. Well, that week turned out to be this one. I have been at a business conference for a corporation that is being held in Boulder, CO (~1300 miles away) since Monday & won’t leave until tomorrow, leaving little time for in-person volunteering. So how could I help out some initiative via online methods?

True Story

Thanks to Erin (@dogatemywallet), I now have a resource! You must create a profile and set your interests (so that they can better recommend opportunities), but there are no charges or minimum requirements (i.e. you aren’t required to do X events a month). They show needs for data entry, web design, logo design, brain-storming, & a plethora of other opportunities. From my experience with it these last few days, many of the people looking for help are nonprofit organizations who may not have the resources to hire someone. I first suggested a name for an organization (not chosen) & then  moved to an ambitious transfer of a smaller website over to wordpress. I’m still working on it, but it’s proven to be a little more than I thought it would; however, through doing these things, I am helping a non-profit & completing my New Year Resolution.

So if part of your new year resolutions or even just general lifestyle lends to this type of action (or if you want to give back but are really busy), check out Sparked! I’m going to be looking for other online resources as well, but this is a great starting point.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

January 2012 Budget

Posted on January 4, 2012 by

Walking in a Winter Wonderland of Debt Repayment

I’m both intimidated & excited by the amount of spending present here. The former because I’m afraid my income for Jan ’12 will not be sufficient and the latter because the spending primarily consists of EF-building & debt repayment. I anticipate an income of ~$90 from my job at the end of the month, & ~$100 from baby-sitting for bf’s nieces. This leaves me with ~$525 to pay (of $715). I am not sure what the stipend for my new job looks like; we have training relatively soon that will tell me. If it is not sufficient, to the plasma/consignment shop I go! Because I’m a little worried about being able to afford it,  I have my budget items ranked by importance :) I know this isn’t how a budget traditionally functions; however, although all of these items are important, not all of them are urgent, and I have to keep that in mind.

  1. $195 – GRE Testing Fees – Taking this in January; honestly, it will probably get put in the credit card & then this money will get added to my credit card payment. This also includes my fee to apply for graduate school (in my mind the 2 fees are so tied together they’re one).
  2. $150 – Credit Card Payments – To lower my carrying balance to $1000. Goal is to have it to zero by May ’12. APR is 0% right now, so all should be good :)
  3. $150 – Savings Deposit – Part of my goal to bring EF up to $2000 by the end of ’12
  4. $60 – Food & Dining – Way lower because I have a meal plan this semester!
  5. $140 – Student Loan Interest – This is ~14% of the interest I currently owe + how much interest is accrued per month (so that it doesn’t accrue half of what I pay again).
  6. $20 – Hobbies – This is to pay for a deal at Yoga Bliss that aligns with one of my 10 New Year Resolutions; it’s a 10 sessions for $20 within 30 days. I am not sure what the timeline of the deal is (by when it should be purchased), so this could potentially be pushed back to February or even March (or never & I could just pay the cost up front later, but I’d rather not).
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Good-bye 2011

Posted on December 31, 2011 by

The local news station has proclaimed 2011 to be a “meh” and “off-feeling” year; however, after reflection, it was a pretty good year for me, with only a few bumps.

2011 Year Highlights

Went to Canada! I got to travel to Canada for an internship in June & July. It was my first time leaving the country, my first time seeing real snow, and my first time touching a glacier lake (and seeing an elk!!!)

Intercontinental! Visited a total of 8 states (not including my home state)!

B+ Average! Altogether, I made about a 3.2 GPA this year; I’m pretty satisfied!

BoF was Born! Started Budget or Fudget ;) (& made new friends) AND started actively tracking my finances 

Car! Got my first car (which has been a bit of a clunker lately, but, irrelevant!)

Career! Kept my job for the year (& got a raise) !!! Got a new job! Plus, I finally decided on a potential career, so now grad applications

2011 Year Bumps

Pets: We lost 2 treasured family pets

Fire: Our family home burned down in Nov. 2010, which isn’t 2011, but many of the repercussions are still being felt.

Injuries: My mom had 3 surgeries on her hands; 2 planned (both hands for carpal tunnel) & 1 unexpected (accident at work). My dad recovered from a combined surgery on his elbow, forearm, and hand. Other members of our family are also sick with chronic illnesses that are not going away.

There were many good things and many bad about this year, but 2012 has the potential to be much better :)

So Happy New Year y’all!

Woo hoo! (Actually, I don't really like fireworks. Pretty, but really really loud).

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Ten for Twelve: 2012 Goals

Posted on December 27, 2011 by

When I was in middle school, I used to make outlines of new year resolutions, pages & pages of different goals under different categories: III. Beauty – A) Paint nails every day. As I grew, I dropped this habit. I started 2011 without any real goals. One was to figure out what I wanted in a career when I am finished with school, and I think I have (leadership consultant…maybe eventually a business consultant). After seeing my 2011 financial year in review, I hope to make 2012 my year. For me, 2012 has its own theme already:                                        2012 YOU ARE MINE!!!

To make this a reality, I’ve thought long and hard (and evaluated what’s realistic based on my long-term goals – you know, paying off my loans & getting in shape etc etc), and I came up with the ten for twelve.

  1. Keep a mock portfolio – I’d really love to start investing; however, I am not comfortable with my current level of knowledge. Instead of using my hard earned bones to do it, I’m going to keep a “mockfolio” for the year to see if I like it, to see if I am comfortable with it, and to see if I make any Monopoly money.
  2. Yoga every day – I used to love yoga and took a hardcore class in it 5-6 years ago (8 hours a day for 2 weeks), and was really into it. I have a mat, so I think I am going to do the cheap version of this cool wall dec. I found & print out positions to put on my wall.
  3. $0 on Discover Card – Right now (with 0% APR), I am carrying about $1000 (thanks Christmas/groceries/careless spending). Not a big deal. Once it’s down again, I’d like to not carry a charge (unless it’s necessary/practical)
  4. $2000 in Savings – I currently have $200 in savings, and through monthly contributions, I would like to build it up to $2000 by December 2012.
  5. No loan interest – I currently have $579.65 in interest on my unsubsidized student loans. I would like to have that (and the ever-accruing interest of ~$55/month) paid off (and consistently paid off) by August 2012.
  6. $1928 Debt Repayment – Starting in August 2012, I will be paying $482/month of my loans off. This is ~15% of my total loans. My ultimate goal is to pay all of them off by Nov ’14 (the end of my grace period) 
  7. 3 Quality Blog-posts/week – I have been inconsistent at best when posting new posts, so I want to start generating more. That being said, I don’t want to be running a post-mill; I want them to be high quality! I also had a goal of expanding my financial knowledge (which I hope to be doing with the mockfolio project)  that I haven’t been fulfilling.
  8. Volunteer Once/Week – I want to do something worthwhile with my time. I don’t think that 52x/year will be too much. I know that it’s impractical to say “I want to build a house every week!” but there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer in various capacities, sometimes even helping out online :)
  9. Run a marathon – [by December 2012] ‘nough said. Some super training’s about to go down.
  10. Lose weight – Side effect of #9. I like my old pants; I’d like to wear them again. 

What are your goals for 2012? 

P.S. Pick Design stolen borrowed from The Happy Homeowners‘ 12 in 12!!!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 6 Comments

2011 End of the Year Report

Posted on December 26, 2011 by

To help establish my financial goals for 2012 (which will be an entirely different post), I broke out the bank accounts to see where all of my spending was in 2012. This proved to be more difficult than I thought it would. For one, before I started this blog, I didn’t keep track of my finances at all, so the only records I have are from my bank account (no cash), and I don’t know what I bought while in Canada, just what I spent. I know some of it (from parts of July), but I think for now I’m just cutting my losses. This big spending report includes my spending from my savings account, checking account, and charges to my Discover Card.

I broke my spending up into what I considered my major spending categories.

Basic Overview: 

  • Vending Machines – $136.99
  • McDonald’s – $169.25
  • Academics – $2,124.18
  • Redbox/Netflix – $106.95
  • Campus Convenience Store – $176.09
  • Walmart – $1,918.96
  • Bookstore - $272.88
  • Gas Stations – $698.61
  • Clothes/Haircuts - $724.82
  • Fees & Payments – $1,575.16
  • Eating Out - $1,095.95
  • Miscellaneous/Groceries – $610.64
  • Spent in Canada – $2,778.71
  • Air Travel – $1,061.71
  • Fees & Transfers (from Savings) – $266.99

This puts me spending $13,717.35. My total income (payroll & loans) was $13,149.25. This puts me in the red by $568.10. Now you could be saying, $13,717.35, that’s not a lot of money to spend for an entire year. Well, that’s without spending any money on housing and only a bit on tuition. No, most of this is on useless junk and fast food (no wonder I gained 23 lbs this year).  I took a look at what I spent over $1000 on and here’s what I came up with:

  • Academics - $2,124.18 - This consists of preparation to go to my internship (e.g. passport, $150 to work in Canada, etc) and tuition payments.
  • Walmart - $1,918.96 - This one I’m super ashamed of. Some of this is on groceries naturalich, but most of it is on nonsense (e.g. snackcakes, candy, school supplies, etc)
  • Spent in Canada - $2,778.71 - I don’t know what all of this is for. Some of this was travelling to Banff, some of it was the ticket home (which should go under airfare, but I do what I want ;) ).
  • Air Travel - $1,061.71 - These were tickets to go to Dallas & Colorado & Canada & fees. Some of these were reimbursed, so that’s included in the income (which is still in the red :( )
  • Fees & Payments - $1,575.16 - Oh goodness. Some of these were overdraft charges, and a lot were transfers from accounts & withdrawals
  • Eating Out - $1,095.95 - Pretty self-explanatory. This also includes birthday dinners & V-day dinners. BF & I have a deal: go dutch [unless it's your birthday].

So now that I have these numbers, I can make a realistic set of goals to help control it for 2012 (goals that you all will see soon).

There is also some spending that won’t be reflected on this within the next few days. I currently have $104.87 in my checking account, $130 in cash, & $100 in my savings account. I will be putting $100 from cash into savings (to bring it up to $200!!) I will keep the remaining $30 to spend in Colorado if necessary (did I mention that I was going to Colorado? I have a business conference the 2nd-7th!). I will put $50 of the $104 in my checking account onto my Discover card as payment (pay what I can when I can), and $30 of that for a shuttle to the airport in Colorado.

This results in $30 in cash, $200 in my savings, and $24 in my checking account  for the end of 2012. I also end this year with a final total of $13,013 in loans (with an additional $536 in interest). I’ll also have $1073.26 on my Discover card.

So (not including my car, which is in the shop right now), I’m at $254 in the green…and $14,622.26 in the red…giving me a net worth of … drumroll please … -$14,368.26. :( One positive is that there was a marked decrease in my spending after I started this blog v. before, so hopefully that continues. I don’t think I’ve ever gone so long knowing what was in my accounts haha :)  

2011 wasn’t exactly my year, but 2012, you are mine!!!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

New Job & Less Loans

Posted on December 20, 2011 by

This post could be more accurately titled: “How I got lucky and was offered a job that offers free housing (because I am suddenly ineligible for the loans I was using to pay for it,” or, “How $3750 of my student loan debt disappeared in a day.”

Some back story. Beware, this story is full of dumb mistakes and wasteful spending. Read at your own risk.

Warning - Warning - Warning

I was admitted to the institution I am currently attending with a full scholarship and then some (raking in $1500+ a semester in extra cash after housing & tuition & fees are paid off). I ended up squandering that money on Chinese food, digital cameras, a computer, and feeding myself and a lazy boyfriend at fancy restaurants – plus expensive gifts (leather jacket, anyone?). I felt rich and careless…and acted as such. At the end of the day I have nothing to show for this time period. The computer is horrible (I had to replace it), the digital camera just broke, and the majority of it was just squandered away. The summer after my sophomore year I worked and brought in a few thousand dollars…which was spent on Rockband and food (squandering). Next year, same as freshman year. That spring I lost my scholarships and had to take out my first loan. This was June of 2009.

Remarkably (and luckily I might add), I was given a scholarship from my mother’s workplace and continued to receive another that covered my tuition. I could have made it without loans. Alas. Instead of getting and keeping a job, I lived off of loans. Infinite money. Thousands of dollars. This continued until my senior year, when I got my current campus job (which I have been at for 1 year – record for me woot woot!!!). Horror suddenly gripped me as I decided to take a fifth year and go to an internship in Canada. I was suddenly taking out loans to pay for my passport, to pay for my plane ticket, and then, how was I going to pay for next year?!

Loans. And a bit of what I made this summer. I started this blog in July 2011, when I was still in Canada. I had been reading a few personal finance blogs and was about fed up (and completely ashamed) of my bad habits.

So here I am, in my fifth and final year as an undergraduate. I took out $7000 in loans for this year, $3750 a semester. This pays for all of my residential housing (I live on campus as a stipulation of a leadership position I hold), and I still hold one scholarship that pays for my tuition. The rest I cover from my aforementioned job. I was anticipating nearly $17,000 in student loans by the time I graduate (much of that unneeded, but you learn I guess).

Not to further overuse this image, but truth.

Then, new job offer! I was offered a job last Friday as a resident assistant, a job I had applied for in March…one of the perks of this job is that it pays for your housing!!! Woot! I now didn’t need my loans for the spring semester ($3750). I planned to cancel them. Planned a dance. Party. Celebration. But. Apparently I was not the only one to reach this conclusion, although the federal government reached it by other means.

I am apparently not making satisfactory academic progress. Not that I’m graduating in May mind you. Really, what it boils down to is that one of their requirements is you complete your degree within 133% of the credit hours of your degree, a cap of about 160 hours. As of last semester, I hit 164, for a lot of reasons. Mainly because I switched majors, went to summer school for 3 summers (taking many hours), and took the max nearly every semester. So, even if I wanted to keep my loans, I wouldn’t be allowed to. No looking back now.

I just think, of how lucky I am, because I’m not sure what I would have done without that new job. Tis the seasons indeed. This drop in my debt has made my goal of paying of my student loans by the time I graduate from graduate school (May 2014) a complete reality. Although this has really been a blessing in disguise (as much as it would have been a horror story otherwise), I’m really thankful for all of you out there that are helping me budget along. I’m a completely different spender (in that I know there’s no magic “free” money) now, and although I look back with shame, I learned a lot.

So for those of you making those bad choices, stop! And for those of you rectifying your decisions, congratulations and hats off to you!

-L.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Link Love – December Ed.

Posted on December 17, 2011 by

Here’s some December Link Love! Ch-ch-check ‘em out!!!

Happy Blogger-versary! “Celebrate the SPF 1 year anniversary giveaway at Sustainable Personal Finance where you can win an iPad 2 package (co-sponsored by Prairie Eco Thrifter), a bunch of green tech gizmos and cash.”
- Sustainable Personal Finance & Prairie Eco Thrifter

Make your own Detergent! “What do you think? Is 33 minutes of your time worth saving $23.88 a year? (Or $191.04 over the life of the ingredients I invested in last year?)”
-Girl with the Red Balloon 

25 Free Finance Tools: “Budgeting money is stressful for most but this is even truer for college students. Luckily, the Internet is loaded with free tools and apps to get you started on securing your financial future.”
-Grad Money Matters

Bottoms up! “And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works.” (taxes explained via beer)
-Fabulously Broke 

Do’s & Don’ts! ”Maybe that’s the thing. Maybe I’m a weirdo, and everyone else starts blogging so that NO ONE will ever read what they have to say. And if that’s the case, I’ll give you 10 ways to make sure you never gain a single reader, other than maybe your mom. Or the crazy stalker that’s trying to hunt you down and steal locks of your hair to make a voodoo doll.”
-So Over Debt

13 Stats! Women & Finances – Educate yourself! :)
-Smart Money Chicks

You can do it! “Six months ago today, I started blogging (again) at Blonde on a Budget. My first post was one of the toughest I have ever written, but I was right about one thing: the feeling of being maxed out is something I will never forget.”
-Blonde on  a Budget

Bucket List! Really makes you think, what’s on your financial bucket list?
-Fabulously Fru-girl

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments