Layout:
Home > Archive: June, 2013

Archive for June, 2013

Trying to spend money

June 21st, 2013 at 08:55 pm

I woke up today ready to spend money. Gear up! Let's go!

It started by stopping at the small local grocery store on the way to work. I picked up taco shells, cherries (on sale), Dortitos (so's lunch--also on sale), Tostitos (so's snack food--on sale), and water. $23 just like that.

I got into work and ordered my new brown sandals to wear to work with my skorts. It is starting to get warm here, so I'm really looking forward to wearing my skorts again. I honestly do not have any shoes to wear with the skorts, so I'm glad to replace the sandals I used to wear with them. Just boring brown hiking sandals. Bought them online with my swagbucks gift certificates and spent $24 out of pocket. Hopefully, I will get them early next week.

On my lunch hour, I took the bus to Meijer. I bought 3 cloth bags worth of groceries, but it wasn't too bad. I bought celery, lettuce, blueberries, ice cream treats (now in the work freezer til I go home), oatmeal, dry milk, frozen waffles, frozen green beans, frozen broccoli. SO is going on a trip, so asked me to pick up a few things, so I also got lunchables, cheese for sandwiches, sub buns, Miracle Whip. He'll eat sandwiches while he's on the road to avoid buying out to eat food. Gotta love a man who looks to save money like that.

I was able to get most everything on my list. I know I have to spend some money on Monday for my class, so I may pick up a few grocery things on that day like grape tomatoes. I start my Accounting class on Monday, but it only meets on Mondays, not Mondays and Wednesdays. Thanks snafu for asking what's up next! The class requires a packet of papers for the class, so it isn't something I can get online for cheaper. Darn.

Not sure what the weekend plans are yet. Depends on what the weather does. If it is nice, we may go out on SOs boat. If it is not nice, we might work on the yard. It's all a wait and see. I like having definite plans, so living with SO has been good training for me to learn to go with the flow. I don't always like going with the flow. Know what I mean?

I'm trying to spend money by paying the company that brought us top soil for our yard. They delivered it two weeks ago, but still have not yet charged my card for it. Last year, we ordered fill dirt from them and they charged us for all of it but the last load. I called them a few weeks later to let them know they hadn't charged us and they said they would take care of it. Never got charged.

A few weeks ago, I ordered the top soil and they questioned me about the fill dirt. When I said 'yep, I called you about that and was still never charged.' She said she would add last year's last fill dirt load to the top soil charge. OK, I'm fine with that. It is a good company and the drivers are super-nice and super-responsible about where to put the load of dirt you're ordering.

So I called them yesterday, trying to get them to charge me for the top soil. They said the billing person wasn't there and she would call me back later in the afternoon. No phone call. No phone call today. Guess I'll wait a week to see what happens and then try to call them again. Don't you want to take my money?!?

Wooohoooo!!!!

June 20th, 2013 at 03:04 pm

Last night was my final in my summer Economics class and she already posted our final grade--I earned an A-!!! That makes me very, very happy. Now I have a small break until my other summer class starts up. I plan on going to the library tonight and get a few pleasure reading books to enjoy. Ahhhh. Bliss.

I haven't spent any money since Saturday. I was tempted last night to get a little something to celebrate the end of class, but I just drove on home. I think being a homebody is the easiest way to save money. I just want to go home, so I don't spend money. Our internet is acting up, so I can't even shop online. If I was out and about, I'm positive I would spend money. Even a little bit.

Lately it feels like all I do is go for a run, go to work, go to class, and do homework. It makes the end of the class even sweeter to not have homework hanging over my head. I was just thinking that it would be nice to have something to look forward to. Even a small vacation. Wait, have I already said that once? Probably. I think it is important to have something in life to look forward to. If I was completely free, I would totally plan something every year to look forward to. Something kinda big, like a road trip out west, or a trip to Paris. Just having something on the calendar. Not necessarily "I already bought the tickets" but "we are definitely going to Hawaii in February 2015." Something to plan for. Something to look forward to. Although 2015 might be too far away for what I'm thinking.

It looks like my lawyer bill will be paid off in July and then I can work on some of my other financial goals. I want to donate more ($1000 total for the year). I want to build my savings back up ($2500 by the end of the year). I should add those goals to my sidebar.

My Weight Watchers quest is still going strong. I am on my 3rd week of following it closely. I have learned that I am one of the unlucky ones that can't really go over my daily points. Can't use my activity points, can't go into the extra weekly points they give you. Bummer. I often joke that I run to be able to eat french fries. Not too many french fries in my future right now!

I plan on going grocery shopping tomorrow. I have a list. I would like to go on my lunch hour and ride the bus, but I'm afraid I might have too big of a list to do that. We'll see. I might try it anyway! It will definitely make me stick to my list then!

Spendy Saturday

June 17th, 2013 at 07:12 pm

I started to write a narrative about what I did on Saturday, but I'm just not feeling it. So, I'll list it.

Household: $10 at Kohl's (finally got that tablecloth!); $16 at Verizon (new screen protector for my iphone); $4 at Meijers (cat food). Household budget is now $18 over budget.

Grocery: $13 at Family Fare (water, cherries); $27 at Meijer (celery, mushrooms, strawberries, grape tomatoes, bread, garlic bread, apples)

Entertainment/Out to Eat: $11 at the Chinese restaurant. I was going to go to Noodles for BOGO, but I finished all my errands and Noodles wouldn't open for another 40 minutes. Not worth it. So I went towards home and ended up eating Chinese after I got home and went for a run.

Car Maintenance: $57. I budgeted $100, so this area is now under budget.

Gifts: $22. Bought a pair of PJ pants for boyfriend's birthday that is coming up.

I did all my errands and was home before 11:30. I quickly changed and went for a run. After my run, I cleaned up and went and got myself Chinese. SO was out racing his dirt bike, so I had the house to myself for a while. In the mail I found two checks--one from the ex for his part of the student loan and a $10.15 survey check. Love incoming money!

I'm thinking of taking the extra money from the car, the leftover money from my clothing budget, and my amazon gift certificates to buy myself a pair of brown hiking sandals to wear to work. It looks like they are going to be around $75. I have been looking whenever I go into a store and have not found a pair that I like. I threw out the old ones that were 10 years old and needed to be retired.

Yesterday seemed to be one of those days where you don't really get anything accomplished, but wasn't relaxing either. It just happened. It just was. No spending happened and I went with SO to his hockey game.

Today is work and class. I thought I needed to go to the grocery store for some bananas, but I think I have enough fruits and veggies for my lunches for the week. I'm going to try and see if I can put off going to the grocery store as long as I can.

Fiddle Dee Dee

June 14th, 2013 at 05:57 pm

I'll spend it all tomorrow. (Sorry Scarlett O'Hara for the steal of your line)

I have had a very pretty run of NSDs lately. I have to find something else to fixate on, because it is getting a bit tedious reading it, I'm sure. I think I spent money on Monday and then haven't spent anything since. Today should be another--but tomorrow will definitely be a spend day.

First the Bug goes in for his 140,000 mile service. They said at the dealership when I made the appointment that it shouldn't be too bad. I have budgeted $100, so we'll see where land. Then, onto the grocery store. I'm running out of healthy food to eat, so have to get more. Tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries--things to eat with no weight watchers points. And cat food. Don't forget the cat food.

After that, I'm heading over to Noodles, where I have a BOGO coupon. I'm going to eat one there and take one to go. I love their Japanese Pan Noodles. I'm going to try their Bangkok Curry as my other dish. Then onto Verizon, where my boyfriend's best friend works and I'm hoping to get him to put a new screen protector on my phone. Mine is peeling up at the corner. It has lasted two years, so I'm not complaining. I'm not getting a new phone and I can turn him down without feeling too bad about it. Wink

On my way home, I'll hit my local grocery store for bottled water (wish our home water didn't taste so bad--even with a Britta pitcher it sucks), and they have cherries on sale. Oh wait, before that I will finally go to Kohl's and get that tablecloth.

While I'm at the dealership, I will work on my homework (very few distractions there). I will bring my coffee from home and will probably eat my bagel on the way. I will bring a Banana to snack on.

Boyfriend is thinking of going dirt bike racing on Saturday, so I might have part of the day at home by myself. It does give me a bit of incentive to get my errands done early so I can go home and watch my DVRed shows! Actually, I only have one show on the DVR right now--an Iron Chef America. I could get a bit of cleaning done and blast my music! Now THAT is something to look forward to!

It's a sign! It's an omen!

June 13th, 2013 at 02:10 pm

It's a coincidence, Dad.--The Simpsons

Yesterday ended up being an accidental NSD. I had totally planned to spend money at Kohls, buying that red tablecloth I didn't buy on Monday. I planned on spending about $10 out of pocket. I have a $10 off of $10 card and a 15% off coupon.

I left class around 9 PM and could hear the thunder and see lightning. By the time I was near Kohls, it was pouring rain and thundering like crazy. I figured it was a sign to not go to Kohls and spend money---so I went home! Watched a bit of the hockey game, read a couple pages of my book and went to bed.

Today when I opened up my email, there was a coupon for 20% off at Kohls. I was going to use the coupon for 15% off, so driving right on by worked well for me this time!

On a non-money related issue, I've been back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon for over a week now. I am an online member and it is very easy for me to stop tracking and fall off the wagon. Also, it is very easy for me to get back on. So, I'm back on. Swimsuit weather is here and I just need to drop a few pounds. I know weight watchers works--that's how I lost all the weight in the first place. I just need to buckle down a bit and follow the plan. It does seem to get easier to make good choices and decide that the cupcake just isn't worth it sometimes.

Kind of like finance.....

Counting Down

June 11th, 2013 at 02:10 pm

Only 3 more Economics classes! I like the professor and the information is OK, but I will be so glad to not have homework hanging over my head. By next week Thursday, the class will be over! I may have to celebrate by getting some take out Chinese! ;-)

Last night after class I went to Kohl's, as expected. I just didn't find anything I wanted to buy--even with the $10 gift card. I was wandering around the store, picking things up and putting things down and suddenly thought "this is dumb" and walked out of the store. After mental debate, I just might go back and buy the red tablecloth that I was eyeballing. I've had "red tablecloth" on my wish list for a while, so I think for $10 out of pocket, it's an OK deal. I'll do that Wednesday after class.

Then I went to Meijers and bought milk, bananas, bread, watermelon, tomatoes, butter, grapes, and some Crystal Light drink mixes (coupon). I'm trying to kick the Diet Coke habit and I thought having some flavored something would help. I've also been buying fizzy fruit juice drinks to help with this too. Diet Coke is so hard to resist to me! I spent $22. I still have $132 left out of my $250 food budget.

I am so ready for a vacation--only it isn't going to happen. I do have the 5th of July off, making that weekend a 4 day weekend, but we have no real plans. The only thing from having me throw a fit is the fact that our neighbors talked about a trip to Mexico...and at the Homeowner's meeting we found out that they have never paid their HOA dues since they moved in. Since I want to be fiscally responsible, I know that a vacation isn't in the cards. I would dearly love to go camping in the pop-up, but boyfriend just isn't a camper. He was excited about the pop-up, but only as a vehicle to have at the dirt bike track for race weekends.

Mom is coming to visit me in September and I've taken time off for that, so maybe she and I will go pop up camping! :-)

NSWeekend

June 10th, 2013 at 02:50 pm

It was a NSWeekend this weekend. I went shopping on Friday at the grocery store and didn't spend another dime. I will today!

Saturday we went to the homeowners association meeting in the morning. An hour and a half of not-so-exciting stuff. Afterwards, we resisted all temptation and went home. I cleaned the house while boyfriend worked on the yard. We're having sprinkling put it in a few weeks and he wanted to start getting ready for that. We just had black dirt trucked in to give our poor grass seed a bit of a boost. Lots of yard work things being done this year! After I cleaned the house, I went for a run.

Side note: I am actually proud of myself for running 4 times last week. That I actually got up out of bed and went for runs--or did them after doing something else is something that is not easy for me to do. I want to get more exercise into my life and I do enjoy running. There is a Nike app that I use and can have people cheer for me on facebook. It seems to be the thing to get me out of the house and on the road. I hope I can keep this up.

When we were both done with our chores, we watched motocross, then some hockey, then went to bed. While I watched these sports, I was also paging through a magazine and looking at recipes to try to figure out what this week's new recipe was going to be. I hardly ever just watch sports.

Sunday we woke up early. Too early. I was hoping to sleep in to do more catching up on sleep. Oh well. By 9 AM I was inline skating on the paved trail near our house. I have to drive to the park to get to the paved trail, which is a bit of a bummer. But the trail itself is beautiful and I skated about an hour--just out and back.

Came home and prepared food stuff for the week. Lunches, made the cookies from this week's new recipe, made up taco meat for boyfriends tacos that he will eat for dinner or a snack. Just did all the kitchen stuff in one shot. Then relaxed until boyfriends' hockey game.

Today I ran in the morning before work. I was afraid it was going to rain on me, but it held off (yay!) and I was able to run 2 miles. I notice that my morning miles are much slower than miles I do later in the day. Legs just aren't awake yet, I guess. I'll work until 5, then go to class. Right before class I'm dropping off my old microwave to a co-worker who is collecting kitchen stuff for a young woman who seems to need everything to get on her own. My microwave was just sitting in the attic since boyfriend and I moved in together, so I offered it to her and she accepted.

After class I hope to go to Kohls, then Meijers. I have a $10 off $10 coupon they sent me, plus a 15% off coupon. I'm going to check out the sandals because the pair that I've been wearing for 10 years finally died. If they don't have something I like, then I'll get some kitchen towels or something similar. Then to Meijers for fresh fruits and bread for lunches.

It's Friday--hoooray!

June 7th, 2013 at 09:03 pm

Yesterday managed to be a NSD--which always makes me happy. Went to work, walked at lunch, went to the library after work (no puzzles to tempt me), got home, changed and went for a run. I ended up going to bed at 9:30. I was sitting on the couch, writing in my journal about how short-sleeped I felt, and thought "how dumb am I? Go to Bed!" So I did.

I can tell I am short on sleep because I'm slightly irritated at things that would normally not bother me. And I want to eat everything in sight. And I have attitude about EVERYTHING. So I went to bed. Brilliant!

Today I went to the grocery store on the bus at lunch. Keeps the list short and sweet and you can only carry so much home on the bus! I bought bananas, celery, cherries, 2 bags of coffee beans (on sale and I had a coupon!), 2 boxes of ice cream treats (another coupon), a diet coke (oops), and I was very, very hungry so I bought a pre-made fruit cup. The fruit cup was well worth the 1.75--cured my hunger in a healthy way and reminded me how much I love melon. Need to get some melon for the lunches--not in a pre-made container!! Total for it all: $30. Should last me most of next week.

It looks like that will be my only spending today. I plan on eating tacos for dinner (everything already at home), boyfriend has some leftover pizza to eat. Tomorrow we have a Homeowners' Association meeting, but other than that, no plans. He wants to work on the yard and I need to do some cleaning in the house. I really am a homebody. I love that we don't really have plans.

I love reading about other people and how they need to tighten their belts--like CB is doing. It inspires me to try to follow their lead. I need to keep on the straight and narrow myself--and in looking at the budget, I have five cents left in the personal care category. So no buying from there for the rest of this month! The rest of the budget is doing OK, but it IS only the 7th!

Low spend Wednesday

June 5th, 2013 at 04:46 pm

Yesterday when I went to buy the cheese sticks for boyfriend's lunch, they had only 2 left. I bought the two and the cashier let me know that they were getting a truck in that night and would have more in the morning. So, this morning on my way into work, I stopped by and bought 6 more for next week's lunches ($6). I hope that is the only spending I will do today.

The farmers' market is on campus today, but after much mental debate, I realized I have enough in the house right now, so I just walked over and looked, but didn't buy. Maybe next week. A big factor is that I have class tonight and don't have a good way to keep stuff from baking in the car while I'm in class. I just might bring a cooler next week!

I find out how I did on my test tonight. After tonight, only two more weeks of classes. I think I can. I think I can. I'm so ready to read a pleasure book without the threat of homework hanging over my head. I also know that eventually this will all be worth it, but it does seem very far off. There are days when I wonder why I'm even getting a 2nd degree. I like my job; my pay is decent. Why am I stressing myself out?

On a good note, I am in love with google docs. I now keep my budget there and can easily access it from work and home and anywhere else. It's so nice to be able to update it or pull it up to see where I stand.

Tuesday, Tuesday

June 4th, 2013 at 09:50 pm

Yesterday ended up being a NSD. I didn't mean to do it, but when I tried to buy the cheese sticks for lunches, they didn't have any. So I didn't end up spending anything.

I did have a test in my class, so I was stressing about that. Instead of going for a walk at lunch, I studied. Not sure how I did; I didn't feel very confident when I turned it in. More of a "well, might as well turn it in now because I'm not going to get any smarter in the next five minutes!" I had already gone over my answers once and just decided to turn it in and go for a quick walk around the building.

Today I have made up for yesterday. I bought my gas for the month ($125), picked up my cleaning ($17), bought water, cheese sticks, bread, lunch chocolate, parmesan cheese, and tortilla chips ($19). I received a $5 Amazon gift certificate from swagbucks and found 27 cents on the ground.

I will be going home after work and riding the bike on the trainer while watching some TV. Then, onto studying and reading for tomorrow nights class. It's an exciting life I lead!

May numbers

June 3rd, 2013 at 03:06 pm

I managed to make the last day of May a NSD. Yay! Then I spent a lot of money on Saturday. More on that in a minute.

May numbers
Item---budget---spent
Rent---$550---$550
Cell Phone---$67---$66.60
Donation---$50---$50
Student Loan---$366.04---$366.04

Gas (car)---$100---$100
Household---$100---$93
Grocery---$300---$270
Entertainment/Restaurant---$100---$50
Car Maintenance---$0---$0
Clothes---$50---$75
Personal Care---$100---$24.95
Gifts---$50---$87

Extra money in: $381.04 (sold a textbook, did good on surveys 'n stuff, money from the ex for the student loan)

All extra money not spent in a certain category this month went towards the Visa bill.

Saturday was a spendy day: Groceries $41, Personal care $77 (hair cut & color, plus eyeball stuff, face wash, girl stuff), out to eat $17, household $43 (mostly cat food & litter). Whew! What a way to start June with a bang!

Yesterday was a NSD. The in-laws came over to borrow the power washer. The summer session of hockey started up. I studied for my test today. I still don't feel ready. But I doubt I ever will. Not sure about my decision to take a 6 week summer course!!!