Friends, Readers, Countrymen (& women): Although it hasn't been an official year yet since I started this blog (that happens next Friday), we are on the eve of what prompted the blog last year: Lent
Last year, you traveled with me when I resolved to give up shopping for forty days. While it wasn't a total success, it definitely helped me reflect on how I think about money and, more importantly, how I spend money.
I wish I could tell you now that I'm better off financially than I was almost a year ago, but sadly, I'm not. In fact, I'm worse off now due to having to purchase a new vehicle and various financial roadblocks we've hit along the way. For all my new-found understanding of how I spend, I really haven't changed my habits very much, if at all, which is disappointing on a lot of levels. But I'm not going to throw in the towel just yet.
This year's Lenten challenge is kind of a doozy. It's definitely going to be hard, but in a good way. Starting tomorrow, I am not allowed to purchase any food or drink item at work. If I didn't bring it in my lunch bag, I don't get to eat it. No work cafeteria, no Wawa, no Real Pizza, no lunch outings with my co-workers (sorry, girls!), no snacks or soda from the vending machine, no buying a candy bar from the sheriff's officer trying to raise money for his kid's sports teams. Nada. Since I started tracking my spending, I realized I'm wasting around $30 a month eating out when I can easily bring it from home. In fact, on some of the occasions where I grab something at lunch, I already did bring something from home, but didn't feel like eating it. That attitude has got to go. Yesterday, I had my last turkey sandwich from our work cafeteria. Today, I'm going to have my last $5 lunch combo from the pizza place down the street. Tomorrow, I'm finally going to finish off those leftovers from this weekend. Hopefully, it's not moldy.
Are you giving anything up this year?
Showing posts with label budgets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budgets. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
spring cleaning
Is it cold where you are? If you're in New Jersey (which I know most of you are), it's been downright frigid this week and snowing a little bit every night (yuck).
Even though the first day of spring is 43 days away (but who's counting), on Saturday, I was feeling quite motivated by Punxsutawney Phil's prediction of an early spring. I decided I would clean all those things that fall by the wayside. You know, the cleaning you should do, but that gets bumped to the bottom of the list because the tub is gross, the floors need to be washed, and the laundry needs to be done.
Here's what I tackled:the Brita pitcher
the Keurig machine
my makeup brushes
the washer
the dishwasher
the microwave
the glass stove top on my oven
the bathtub
And here's what I used:
A gallon of white vinegar and a few other cleaning supplies I already had around the house. The vinegar probably cost about $4, though I don't remember because I bought it so long ago. I used about half the gallon for Saturday's cleaning extravaganza.
The Brita pitcher was the easiest, obviously, since all it required was washing the pitcher out in hot, soapy water and replacing the filter. Did you know you're supposed to soak the new filter for 15 minutes before inserting it in the pitcher? I didn't. Oh the things you'll learn when you actually read directions!
For the Keurig, I followed these instructions I found on Pinterest. I put the drip tray and K-cup holder in a pot of hot soapy water and wiped the outside down with a few Clorox wipes. I dumped out the remaining water in the reservoir and washed that out as well. I filled the reservoir back up with 48 ounces of white vinegar and proceeded to run the largest cup cycle until I couldn't smell the vinegar anymore. Actually, I had to have The Hubs sniff the last couple cups for me because I became desensitized to it. I haven't noticed any difference in the taste of my tea, but at least now this is done for another six months or so.
Next I moved onto the washing machine. My LG washer has a "tub clean" cycle, so I just poured the vinegar into the tray where my detergent usually goes. About half way through, I got the idea to put the bath tub grippers in as well. Once the cleaning cycle was done, I just opened the door to let it air dry since front loaders have a tendency to get mildew-y (yuck!)
Then I took a lunch break - Cleaning is hard work! ;-)
I cleaned my makeup brushes using a method I found here - very easy, very effective. Since I was in the bathroom anyway, I cleaned the tub. This was my only non-eco cleaning - I love the Kaboom Foaming spray.
I simultaneously cleaned the dishwasher and microwave at the same time using a method I found at One Good Thing. For the microwave, nuke a bowl containing 1 cup vinegar & 1 cup of water for about 5 minutes (depending on how high your power is) then remove the bowl (carefully!) & wipe up the stains. You can also add a lemon peel to the mixture for a fresher scent. I took the hot bowl of water & vinegar, dumped it into a pot on the stove, and brought it to a rigorous boil so it could get any stains off the bottom of microwave too. Easy peasy.
The dishwasher uses the same premise, although instead of using a diluted vinegar solution, you do one cup of straight vinegar in the top rack of your empty dishwasher. Run the hottest cycle available (newer dishwashers might have a self-clean cycle). In our dishwasher, this was a "normal cycle" with a "Sani-Rinse", since our sensor is half-kaput and only certain buttons work on it. The instructions also say to run a second, shorter cycle with baking soda to freshen the inside and loosen stains, but I skipped this step due to the aforementioned sensor issues.
I tried to clean our glass stove top last using this method, but it didn't work for me. I think the number one issue was my liquid wasn't hot enough, but I also didn't have any rags which were big enough for the whole stove top. Instead, I used a hand towel, a kitchen towel, and a washcloth. The instructions also mention you might have to repeat the steps, but I was over cleaning at that point. Groundhog Day was on repeat and I was ready to park myself on the couch.
What are your favorite cleaning methods? Anyone else out there getting more bang for your buck?
Even though the first day of spring is 43 days away (but who's counting), on Saturday, I was feeling quite motivated by Punxsutawney Phil's prediction of an early spring. I decided I would clean all those things that fall by the wayside. You know, the cleaning you should do, but that gets bumped to the bottom of the list because the tub is gross, the floors need to be washed, and the laundry needs to be done.
Here's what I tackled:
And here's what I used:
A gallon of white vinegar and a few other cleaning supplies I already had around the house. The vinegar probably cost about $4, though I don't remember because I bought it so long ago. I used about half the gallon for Saturday's cleaning extravaganza.
The Brita pitcher was the easiest, obviously, since all it required was washing the pitcher out in hot, soapy water and replacing the filter. Did you know you're supposed to soak the new filter for 15 minutes before inserting it in the pitcher? I didn't. Oh the things you'll learn when you actually read directions!
For the Keurig, I followed these instructions I found on Pinterest. I put the drip tray and K-cup holder in a pot of hot soapy water and wiped the outside down with a few Clorox wipes. I dumped out the remaining water in the reservoir and washed that out as well. I filled the reservoir back up with 48 ounces of white vinegar and proceeded to run the largest cup cycle until I couldn't smell the vinegar anymore. Actually, I had to have The Hubs sniff the last couple cups for me because I became desensitized to it. I haven't noticed any difference in the taste of my tea, but at least now this is done for another six months or so.
Next I moved onto the washing machine. My LG washer has a "tub clean" cycle, so I just poured the vinegar into the tray where my detergent usually goes. About half way through, I got the idea to put the bath tub grippers in as well. Once the cleaning cycle was done, I just opened the door to let it air dry since front loaders have a tendency to get mildew-y (yuck!)
Then I took a lunch break - Cleaning is hard work! ;-)
I cleaned my makeup brushes using a method I found here - very easy, very effective. Since I was in the bathroom anyway, I cleaned the tub. This was my only non-eco cleaning - I love the Kaboom Foaming spray.
I simultaneously cleaned the dishwasher and microwave at the same time using a method I found at One Good Thing. For the microwave, nuke a bowl containing 1 cup vinegar & 1 cup of water for about 5 minutes (depending on how high your power is) then remove the bowl (carefully!) & wipe up the stains. You can also add a lemon peel to the mixture for a fresher scent. I took the hot bowl of water & vinegar, dumped it into a pot on the stove, and brought it to a rigorous boil so it could get any stains off the bottom of microwave too. Easy peasy.
The dishwasher uses the same premise, although instead of using a diluted vinegar solution, you do one cup of straight vinegar in the top rack of your empty dishwasher. Run the hottest cycle available (newer dishwashers might have a self-clean cycle). In our dishwasher, this was a "normal cycle" with a "Sani-Rinse", since our sensor is half-kaput and only certain buttons work on it. The instructions also say to run a second, shorter cycle with baking soda to freshen the inside and loosen stains, but I skipped this step due to the aforementioned sensor issues.
I tried to clean our glass stove top last using this method, but it didn't work for me. I think the number one issue was my liquid wasn't hot enough, but I also didn't have any rags which were big enough for the whole stove top. Instead, I used a hand towel, a kitchen towel, and a washcloth. The instructions also mention you might have to repeat the steps, but I was over cleaning at that point. Groundhog Day was on repeat and I was ready to park myself on the couch.
What are your favorite cleaning methods? Anyone else out there getting more bang for your buck?
Thursday, November 15, 2012
my first word
was N-O. And like most kids, I said it a lot.
It's funny to look back on because now, as an adult, I have a difficult time saying no to pretty much anything. I think (based on absolutely no research) that's common in women. The Hubs probably hates it, since now by default, he pretty much does whatever I'm doing in our spare time. Plan your party? Sure. Host Thanksgiving dinner? Okay. Help you move? We'll be there with bells on.
While I am a people pleaser, I don't say yes to things because I want the laurels. 99% of the time, I enjoy whatever I'm doing and, more importantly, helping people is what feels right to me. I'm a "fixer" by nature & if whatever you need done makes your life easier/less stressful, then I'm glad to help out.
Unfortunately, saying yes can add up, financially speaking. This week, I had to decline an invitation to a friend's bachelorette party. The reason was two-fold: I have obligations with The Hubs' family that weekend which can't be changed, but also, it would have been expensive. With the holidays coming up and having so many financial "situations" (for lack of a better term) the past few months, it's money I just can't spend right now.
I'm bummed, but the best decisions are always the hardest ones, right?
It's funny to look back on because now, as an adult, I have a difficult time saying no to pretty much anything. I think (based on absolutely no research) that's common in women. The Hubs probably hates it, since now by default, he pretty much does whatever I'm doing in our spare time. Plan your party? Sure. Host Thanksgiving dinner? Okay. Help you move? We'll be there with bells on.
While I am a people pleaser, I don't say yes to things because I want the laurels. 99% of the time, I enjoy whatever I'm doing and, more importantly, helping people is what feels right to me. I'm a "fixer" by nature & if whatever you need done makes your life easier/less stressful, then I'm glad to help out.
Unfortunately, saying yes can add up, financially speaking. This week, I had to decline an invitation to a friend's bachelorette party. The reason was two-fold: I have obligations with The Hubs' family that weekend which can't be changed, but also, it would have been expensive. With the holidays coming up and having so many financial "situations" (for lack of a better term) the past few months, it's money I just can't spend right now.
I'm bummed, but the best decisions are always the hardest ones, right?
Thursday, October 18, 2012
three points
I was passing the time at work reading A Cup of Jo 's archives yesterday and I happened upon a post about authenticity. Joanna's mother wrote this to her regarding the subject:
For Better:
Writing down daily expenses/purchases in a mini-notebook, including anything auto-debited from my account
Transferring chunks of money into my short-term savings account - I've learned that the less money I see in the "available" column, the less I spend overall.
Spending less money on groceries, overall. I'll have a post about that soon.
Being able to say no/put things back/be more realistic with my purchases. For example, I was in Target on Tuesday, and put back more than a few things that I just didn't need.
"It seems to me that being authentic is being brave enough or just candid enough to be honest about what you are experiencing or who you are, whether it is popular are not... Whenever you are honest, you are speaking for a thousand silent people who don't have the voice to say what they really feel or are really experiencing. So, if you ever talk about [the thing you went through], you will touch a million hearts. Because you are speaking for more than just yourself. You are never alone in what you are feeling."It resonated with me the whole day. I think I've done an okay job being authentic (so far!) with those that read this blog, but lately, I think I've been sticking my short-comings in the corner and not acknowledging them as I should. I don't want, nor can I afford, to resort back to the "ostrich syndrome" (sticking your head in the sand to avoid something). So with that, here's a list for you of what I've been able to do and what I still need to do in my financial life.
For Better:
Still Needs Work:
Has Been Totally Ignored:
So that's where I'm at. I'm getting there. Like most things, this takes a lot more time and effort than I initally think it will. I try not to get too frustrated with myself, but the perfectionist in me makes it hard somedays. I still get moody and want to buy a shirt sometimes, but I'm getting better at realizing that shopping high is going to last about as long as my bad mood.
In the wise words of Alanis Morisette: "And what it all comes down to/ Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet"
How are you doing in your financial life?
Thursday, October 11, 2012
den decisions
Hello, world! I'm back. A little tanner, a lot more tired, and still with a few bucks in my pocket (just barely).
Disney went swimmingly. I spent a bit more money than I anticipated - maybe about $50 more - but overall, it was good. Buying snacks & fruit in advance definitely helped. By the time we go back for the next race (in two years), I'll be a pro.
Today, I want to talk about our next big purchase: Re-doing our den. Which, actually, will be a series of smaller purchases. Last night, we decided it's finally time to stop procrastinating and start doing. The reason is kind of gross. For the past two summers, Molly has gotten fleas. I don't know how she's getting them because we put the drops on her (and now, she wears a flea collar too), plus I vacuum and wash everything more frequently than I'd like to. I've come to the conclusion that they must be living in our Berber rug and the only way to totally eliminate them is rip it all out and start over.
We don't plan on staying in this house very long (if it were up to me, I'd put it up for sale tomorrow), so we're looking to do some smaller updates instead of spending a large amount of money on a total renovation. Our first objective is to figure out what kind of flooring to put down.
I've been in luuurve with the idea of staining the concrete underlayment since I saw Chris & Julia do it in their basement. The hubs is digging it too, and it's currently the front-runner. My favorite bloggers on the planet, John & Sherry at Young House Love, did it too (& then, they re-did it with an oil based floor paint).
The second option would be to install some kind of hardwood or laminate flooring to match the existing flooring in entryway/living room/kitchen. We estimated we'd need about 300 square feet of flooring; The room is shaped like a wide "L" & is 21' feet long.
Our design dilemma is how to make the room function. Currently, the TV is mounted on the wall directly across from the sofa, about 6 feet away, which means you're always kind of staring up at the TV & it can get uncomfortable (we watch a lot of TV). That also leaves a lot of empty space on the other side of the room. We're having a hard time trying to integrate the room as a whole or divvy it up into two separate, but equal spaces.
But this isn't a design blog- it's a money blog. Back to the flooring. Staining the concrete looks like it might be our best bet financially. To tell the truth, I had a bit of sticker shock when looking at flooring prices. Of course, everything I liked (bamboo/cork options) was between $3 and $5 per square foot. Realistically, we need to be under $2 per square foot, plus any additional tools we'd need like underlayment. We haven't set an "official" flooring budget yet, but I think anything over $800 is out of the question (& that's for everything, not just the flooring).
Yesterday, I spoke with our contractor/handyman, Jack, whose done most of the work on our house so far and he's going to email me a quote for prepping the concrete that's already there. While this is a step we could do ourselves, I think buying or renting the tools we'd need might be about the same as paying him to do it. Plus, we can barely hang a picture, so I'm not sure this is the first major project I want to jump into.
We don't have many local flooring places in our neighborhood (in fact, I can't think of any), so we'll most likely be shopping at Lowe's. The hubs has a credit card there and we'd get 5% back on any purchases, which is nice. I'm going to do some Craigs List-ing, too, but I don't know how successful that will be considering the amount of flooring we need.
Any one else have a current house project going on or have any experience with flooring? The hubs and I are definitely not DIY-ers; I prefer reading about it to doing it any day of the week!
Disney went swimmingly. I spent a bit more money than I anticipated - maybe about $50 more - but overall, it was good. Buying snacks & fruit in advance definitely helped. By the time we go back for the next race (in two years), I'll be a pro.
Today, I want to talk about our next big purchase: Re-doing our den. Which, actually, will be a series of smaller purchases. Last night, we decided it's finally time to stop procrastinating and start doing. The reason is kind of gross. For the past two summers, Molly has gotten fleas. I don't know how she's getting them because we put the drops on her (and now, she wears a flea collar too), plus I vacuum and wash everything more frequently than I'd like to. I've come to the conclusion that they must be living in our Berber rug and the only way to totally eliminate them is rip it all out and start over.
We don't plan on staying in this house very long (if it were up to me, I'd put it up for sale tomorrow), so we're looking to do some smaller updates instead of spending a large amount of money on a total renovation. Our first objective is to figure out what kind of flooring to put down.
I've been in luuurve with the idea of staining the concrete underlayment since I saw Chris & Julia do it in their basement. The hubs is digging it too, and it's currently the front-runner. My favorite bloggers on the planet, John & Sherry at Young House Love, did it too (& then, they re-did it with an oil based floor paint).
The second option would be to install some kind of hardwood or laminate flooring to match the existing flooring in entryway/living room/kitchen. We estimated we'd need about 300 square feet of flooring; The room is shaped like a wide "L" & is 21' feet long.
 |
| rough rough rough sketch |
Our design dilemma is how to make the room function. Currently, the TV is mounted on the wall directly across from the sofa, about 6 feet away, which means you're always kind of staring up at the TV & it can get uncomfortable (we watch a lot of TV). That also leaves a lot of empty space on the other side of the room. We're having a hard time trying to integrate the room as a whole or divvy it up into two separate, but equal spaces.
But this isn't a design blog- it's a money blog. Back to the flooring. Staining the concrete looks like it might be our best bet financially. To tell the truth, I had a bit of sticker shock when looking at flooring prices. Of course, everything I liked (bamboo/cork options) was between $3 and $5 per square foot. Realistically, we need to be under $2 per square foot, plus any additional tools we'd need like underlayment. We haven't set an "official" flooring budget yet, but I think anything over $800 is out of the question (& that's for everything, not just the flooring).
Yesterday, I spoke with our contractor/handyman, Jack, whose done most of the work on our house so far and he's going to email me a quote for prepping the concrete that's already there. While this is a step we could do ourselves, I think buying or renting the tools we'd need might be about the same as paying him to do it. Plus, we can barely hang a picture, so I'm not sure this is the first major project I want to jump into.
We don't have many local flooring places in our neighborhood (in fact, I can't think of any), so we'll most likely be shopping at Lowe's. The hubs has a credit card there and we'd get 5% back on any purchases, which is nice. I'm going to do some Craigs List-ing, too, but I don't know how successful that will be considering the amount of flooring we need.
Any one else have a current house project going on or have any experience with flooring? The hubs and I are definitely not DIY-ers; I prefer reading about it to doing it any day of the week!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
tricks for treats
Well, Readers, I'm all packed up for our four day Disney excursion. I'll be back Monday to detail if I was able to stick to the budget. I am happy to report that I did not buy any new clothes for this trip, which honestly, might be a first. Actually, I did buy a new pack of socks, but those I can use all the time, so we won't count that ;-)
I'll leave you with a Yahoo article about how stores trick you into spending more money. There's some sneaky stuff going on- like increasing the size of the shopping cart so you spend more money (just another reason to use the handheld basket on smaller trips).
One of the points I could definitely relate to was rasing the price on an items just to mark it down so you feel like you're saving more money. Their example was people are more likely to buy a mixer for $399.00 marked down from $499.00 rather than buy the same mixer which isn't on sale for $349.00. Another trick is the 10 for $10 "deal": I definitely will almost always buy more of something when it's marked 10/$10 (which is what they want!) I can't tell you how many times The Hubs has said something like "You know, you don't have to buy ten of them."
Do you ever fall victim to one of their price tricks? Knowledge is half the battle!
Also, speaking of knowledge, check out my sister's blog for a post about Banned Books Week and see how many of the classics you've read. I've read a paltry 9 out of 46 books. Had I read this morning, I would've gone to the library instead of buying magazines for the plane ride tonight!
I'll leave you with a Yahoo article about how stores trick you into spending more money. There's some sneaky stuff going on- like increasing the size of the shopping cart so you spend more money (just another reason to use the handheld basket on smaller trips).
One of the points I could definitely relate to was rasing the price on an items just to mark it down so you feel like you're saving more money. Their example was people are more likely to buy a mixer for $399.00 marked down from $499.00 rather than buy the same mixer which isn't on sale for $349.00. Another trick is the 10 for $10 "deal": I definitely will almost always buy more of something when it's marked 10/$10 (which is what they want!) I can't tell you how many times The Hubs has said something like "You know, you don't have to buy ten of them."
Do you ever fall victim to one of their price tricks? Knowledge is half the battle!
Also, speaking of knowledge, check out my sister's blog for a post about Banned Books Week and see how many of the classics you've read. I've read a paltry 9 out of 46 books. Had I read this morning, I would've gone to the library instead of buying magazines for the plane ride tonight!
Friday, September 28, 2012
mish mash
I have a whole mess of financial thoughts running through my head today.
First, Molly is sick today. Actually, she's been sick since about Wednesday, but this morning it started to get worse instead of better. I took my child to the doctor like any good mother, only she's not covered by my health insurance. $255 later, we had blood drawn, a shot, meds, and new food to take home. I had to put that on our joint Chase card since this is the paycheck where the mortgage comes out and we're going to Disney next week.
Speaking of Disney, I managed to put aside $300 to take with me. We leave Wednesday night and come back Monday afternoon. Saturday will be taken up with race day, so I'm hoping that other than food, my expenses will be minimal and I'll be able to come back with some of that money.
Yesterday, I received an email that my job is not continuing my health plan in 2013. Next month I have to decide whether to jump onto the hubs plan or to take the other plan that's offered. I'm leaning towards the former right now, but it'll depend on what kind of coverage they'll offer for my post-op doctor visits and physical therapy when I get knee surgery later this year. It's very frustrating decision to have to make. I'll admit I had a "poor poor Kathy" mindset last night, but I'm getting over it.
It's not all bad news, though. I've been very good at documenting my spending this month and I think I've managed to reduce spending - not by much - but a little. I was able to stick to a budget when buying a bridal shower gift last week and spent less than I usually would. I even went to Home Goods yesterday with some co-workers and didn't see anything I wanted to buy! That's huge.
Any news with my readers - who's got big weekend plans? We're having people over for the Jets / 49ers game on Sunday since the tickets were too expensive for us to actually go.
First, Molly is sick today. Actually, she's been sick since about Wednesday, but this morning it started to get worse instead of better. I took my child to the doctor like any good mother, only she's not covered by my health insurance. $255 later, we had blood drawn, a shot, meds, and new food to take home. I had to put that on our joint Chase card since this is the paycheck where the mortgage comes out and we're going to Disney next week.
Speaking of Disney, I managed to put aside $300 to take with me. We leave Wednesday night and come back Monday afternoon. Saturday will be taken up with race day, so I'm hoping that other than food, my expenses will be minimal and I'll be able to come back with some of that money.
Yesterday, I received an email that my job is not continuing my health plan in 2013. Next month I have to decide whether to jump onto the hubs plan or to take the other plan that's offered. I'm leaning towards the former right now, but it'll depend on what kind of coverage they'll offer for my post-op doctor visits and physical therapy when I get knee surgery later this year. It's very frustrating decision to have to make. I'll admit I had a "poor poor Kathy" mindset last night, but I'm getting over it.
It's not all bad news, though. I've been very good at documenting my spending this month and I think I've managed to reduce spending - not by much - but a little. I was able to stick to a budget when buying a bridal shower gift last week and spent less than I usually would. I even went to Home Goods yesterday with some co-workers and didn't see anything I wanted to buy! That's huge.
Any news with my readers - who's got big weekend plans? We're having people over for the Jets / 49ers game on Sunday since the tickets were too expensive for us to actually go.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
magic isn't cheap
Next Wednesday, the hubs and I are traveling to the Most Magical Place on Earth (I feel the need to capitalize that, for some reason), as his cross country team is competing in the ESPN Cross Country Classic. Back when we first found out about the trip, we were both pretty psyched. I say we, because I was invited to attend as a chaperone. Sidenote: There are few words in the English language that make you feel old than chaperone.
Before you get your undies in a bunch about taxpayer money being wasted on a non-district employee such as myself (like my Mom), you should know we were responsible for paying our own way. Additionally, the girls cross country coach decided this year, the team would "upgrade" from a value resort to a moderate resort. For those of you who don't know, here are the differences:
Value Resort: Your basic amenities - food court, gift shop, pools (but no water slides), a lot of walking, sometimes long waits for the shuttles. Basically, we would be at the Wide World of Sports hotel (or other Value priced hotel) with every other cross country team attending.
Moderate Resort: A bit more upscale. There's a food court AND a table service restaurant and there are more pools (and some have water slides). The walking is about the same as well as the transportation (Disney shuttle).
I stayed in the Port Orleans Moderate resort when I went to Disney at 17. Honestly, I don't remember anything special about it. The two times the =hubs and I have gone to Disney as adults, we've stayed near Downtown Disney (because we're drunks). Personally, I would've been fine with spending less money on a Value resort this time around. But then again, when there aren't 500 obnoxious high schoolers around our resort while I'm trying to sleep - I'll be grateful.
Granted, I'm sure we saved some money by traveling in a large group, but some things are expensive in Disney no matter which way you look at it. The biggest of these is food. I did some research the other night on this and there are a few websites with helpful suggestions, but the most informative one is Mouse Savers. Every tip you could ever imagine for any Disney vacation is there.
The number #1 tip I found was that you can now bring your own water into the theme parks and fill up at the water fountains as your day goes on. Considering bottle of water usually cost at least $2, this is definitely going to come in handy. You can also bring snacks into the park as well. This weekend, we'll be picking up some travel-friendly snack packs to bring in with us.
The hubs and I also agreed to keep our meals light. He's decided to stick with two meals a day, so if he eats breakfast, he'll skip lunch, and munch on the snacks until dinner. I can't skip meals without turning into an angry bear, so my plan is to bring oatmeal that I can mix up in the room to eat for breakfast then hit the produce stand of whatever park we're in that day (there's one in every park) for a cheap, nutritious filler. Hopefully, when our day starts to wind down I'll be able to grab a few pieces of fruit for the next day as well.
For times that we have to eat in the park, Mouse Savers points out a few money-saving options:
Before you get your undies in a bunch about taxpayer money being wasted on a non-district employee such as myself (like my Mom), you should know we were responsible for paying our own way. Additionally, the girls cross country coach decided this year, the team would "upgrade" from a value resort to a moderate resort. For those of you who don't know, here are the differences:
Value Resort: Your basic amenities - food court, gift shop, pools (but no water slides), a lot of walking, sometimes long waits for the shuttles. Basically, we would be at the Wide World of Sports hotel (or other Value priced hotel) with every other cross country team attending.
Moderate Resort: A bit more upscale. There's a food court AND a table service restaurant and there are more pools (and some have water slides). The walking is about the same as well as the transportation (Disney shuttle).
I stayed in the Port Orleans Moderate resort when I went to Disney at 17. Honestly, I don't remember anything special about it. The two times the =hubs and I have gone to Disney as adults, we've stayed near Downtown Disney (because we're drunks). Personally, I would've been fine with spending less money on a Value resort this time around. But then again, when there aren't 500 obnoxious high schoolers around our resort while I'm trying to sleep - I'll be grateful.
Granted, I'm sure we saved some money by traveling in a large group, but some things are expensive in Disney no matter which way you look at it. The biggest of these is food. I did some research the other night on this and there are a few websites with helpful suggestions, but the most informative one is Mouse Savers. Every tip you could ever imagine for any Disney vacation is there.
The number #1 tip I found was that you can now bring your own water into the theme parks and fill up at the water fountains as your day goes on. Considering bottle of water usually cost at least $2, this is definitely going to come in handy. You can also bring snacks into the park as well. This weekend, we'll be picking up some travel-friendly snack packs to bring in with us.
The hubs and I also agreed to keep our meals light. He's decided to stick with two meals a day, so if he eats breakfast, he'll skip lunch, and munch on the snacks until dinner. I can't skip meals without turning into an angry bear, so my plan is to bring oatmeal that I can mix up in the room to eat for breakfast then hit the produce stand of whatever park we're in that day (there's one in every park) for a cheap, nutritious filler. Hopefully, when our day starts to wind down I'll be able to grab a few pieces of fruit for the next day as well.
For times that we have to eat in the park, Mouse Savers points out a few money-saving options:
- Split a large meal between the two of us. For example, you can get half a rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes & vegetables for about $10 in at least one restaurant at all the different parks
- Buy kids meal portions at counter service restaurant - no kid required!
- Anything offered as a combination meal you can actually get a la carte. So instead of buying a sandwich, fries, salad, and drink, we can pick & chose what we'll actually eat. No wasted food OR money.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
no news, good news
My apologies to the blog fans/readers out there for the lack of posts. Unfortunately, nothing too exciting (money-wise or other-wise) has been going on in our lives to blog about. My first payment on the new loan is coming up in a week or so and I've been dutifully documenting all my expedentures in a notebook that goes everywhere with me. It's not as hard as I envisioned it to be - except when I throw out a receipt and have to jot down the approximate amount of money I spent until I can get onto my online banking and see how much it actually cost.
May has been a pretty quiet month on the spending front.. a few impulse spending moments here and there, but nothing too budget busting. The hubs and I agreed I need to try and save a car payment per month... the Katmobile is still trucking (for now), but I know in a year or so, it's going to be time for another and I need to be prepared. I'm hoping to save around $300 a month. I have to get down to the credit union to increase the amount they deduct from my paycheck for savings ($100 a paycheck, instead of $50) so that will cover most of it. The rest I'll just transfer over into our "Reserve" account - $20 a week, perhaps? Sounds managable.
Anything exciting going on the big bad world out there? Do tell!
May has been a pretty quiet month on the spending front.. a few impulse spending moments here and there, but nothing too budget busting. The hubs and I agreed I need to try and save a car payment per month... the Katmobile is still trucking (for now), but I know in a year or so, it's going to be time for another and I need to be prepared. I'm hoping to save around $300 a month. I have to get down to the credit union to increase the amount they deduct from my paycheck for savings ($100 a paycheck, instead of $50) so that will cover most of it. The rest I'll just transfer over into our "Reserve" account - $20 a week, perhaps? Sounds managable.
Anything exciting going on the big bad world out there? Do tell!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
bundle of joy?
I think since the hubs and I started dating, it was pretty much a given (to everyone else, at least) that we would get married. So by the time we actually got married, five years later, everyone else was ready for us to start popping out kids. I fairly certain I've disappointed my fair share of in-laws with every holiday that goes by and I don't tell them I'm knocked up.
To be honest, I've never been much of a kid person. With the exception of my younger cousin, neice, and nephews, I couldn't stand children for longer than an hour or two. I had one babysitting job as a tween and that barely lasted one summer because I thought I would rip my hair out - never did that again. Ironically, kids l-o-v-e me. More than dogs do (and I l-o-v-e dogs). My mom tells me she was the same way and that I'll feel differently once my close friends start having kids. But after reading this article on Yahoo! yesterday, I'm more skeptical about having kids than ever before:
The article gives a few talking points to go over regarding the first year with baby. The most important that jumps out to me is: Will you both work or will one of you quit to care for the child? I've always said if we had kids, I would want to stay home with them until they went to school or at least work part-time. Unfortunately, at this juncture, if I got pregnant tomorrow, that option would not be on the table. We need both incomes. So then we need to factor in child care costs which averages around $1,000 a month in our area. My mom works full time and the hubs' parents are two hours away, so family help isn't something we can't count on on a daily basis.
Then there are the other obvious expenses: diapers/wipes, clothing, food, etc etc. An economy pack of newborn diapers (236 count) on Amazon costs $48.00 and a newborn can go through between 8-12 diapers per day which means that pack won't even get you through a whole month. Hopefully, you're lucky enough to get a bunch of hand-me-downs, but even buying used clothing can be expensive when compared to how fast kids grow. Lastly, there are the little expenses that you might not think about, but can add up: co-pays for doctor's visits & your health insurance premiums in general, car payments if you'll need a bigger/safer car, and all the fees associated with sports/scouts/clubs as they grow up.
The financial planner in the article recommends paying off all your credit cards and automating your retirment savings before having children. He also recommends living on less and cutting out any extra spending that you can (he suggests 90% of your take home income & stashing the extra 10%).
My bank account is screaming already.
Now I know those of you with children will talk about what a joy it all is and how it's totally worth it - but since I don't have kids, I don't particularly buy that logic. I have frequently asked my mother if all this (picture me gesturing to myself) was worth it, usually after reading an article like this. For some reason, she keeps saying yes. Maybe she's getting senile. Right now, I'm perfectly content to snuggle up with my 35 pound fur baby who, barring any emergency surgeries, will probably cost me less than $10,000 to raise. At that rate, I can adopt a second!
To be honest, I've never been much of a kid person. With the exception of my younger cousin, neice, and nephews, I couldn't stand children for longer than an hour or two. I had one babysitting job as a tween and that barely lasted one summer because I thought I would rip my hair out - never did that again. Ironically, kids l-o-v-e me. More than dogs do (and I l-o-v-e dogs). My mom tells me she was the same way and that I'll feel differently once my close friends start having kids. But after reading this article on Yahoo! yesterday, I'm more skeptical about having kids than ever before:
Now, I understand (and they point out in the article) if you really sat down to tally everything up, you would never have kids and that no one is ever "really" ready. But, since I'm blogging about money, is there really a bigger decision that captures the essence of the word "personal finance"? The choice to have a child(ren) is probably one of the biggest personal and financial decisions a person will ever make, so we should go into it as informed as possible.The government's most recent annual report reveals a middle-income family with a child born in 2010 can expect to spend roughly $227,000 for food, shelter and other expenses necessary to raise that child - $287,000 when you factor in projected inflation...the bill does not include the cost of college or anything related to the pregnancy and delivery.
The article gives a few talking points to go over regarding the first year with baby. The most important that jumps out to me is: Will you both work or will one of you quit to care for the child? I've always said if we had kids, I would want to stay home with them until they went to school or at least work part-time. Unfortunately, at this juncture, if I got pregnant tomorrow, that option would not be on the table. We need both incomes. So then we need to factor in child care costs which averages around $1,000 a month in our area. My mom works full time and the hubs' parents are two hours away, so family help isn't something we can't count on on a daily basis.
Then there are the other obvious expenses: diapers/wipes, clothing, food, etc etc. An economy pack of newborn diapers (236 count) on Amazon costs $48.00 and a newborn can go through between 8-12 diapers per day which means that pack won't even get you through a whole month. Hopefully, you're lucky enough to get a bunch of hand-me-downs, but even buying used clothing can be expensive when compared to how fast kids grow. Lastly, there are the little expenses that you might not think about, but can add up: co-pays for doctor's visits & your health insurance premiums in general, car payments if you'll need a bigger/safer car, and all the fees associated with sports/scouts/clubs as they grow up.
The financial planner in the article recommends paying off all your credit cards and automating your retirment savings before having children. He also recommends living on less and cutting out any extra spending that you can (he suggests 90% of your take home income & stashing the extra 10%).
My bank account is screaming already.
Now I know those of you with children will talk about what a joy it all is and how it's totally worth it - but since I don't have kids, I don't particularly buy that logic. I have frequently asked my mother if all this (picture me gesturing to myself) was worth it, usually after reading an article like this. For some reason, she keeps saying yes. Maybe she's getting senile. Right now, I'm perfectly content to snuggle up with my 35 pound fur baby who, barring any emergency surgeries, will probably cost me less than $10,000 to raise. At that rate, I can adopt a second!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
bullseye
I had to go to Target last night after work. Here's what was on my list:
Here's what I left Target with:
Holy No-Willpower, Batman.
- blackberries ($2.49)
- spinach (2/$4)
- drain cleaner (our tub is clogged... so gross)
Here's what I left Target with:
- blackberries ($2.49)
- spinach (2/$3.98)
- drain cleaner ($3.99)
- a big box of borax ($3.99)
- two clearance bottles of Old Spice for the hubs (with mini deodorants attached! $3.38 each)
- a new collar for Molly (actually needed - her old one got chewed up at day care somehow - on clearance - $2.98)
- a pack of denta-sticks for Molly ($2.49)
- two cups of greek yogurt (2/$2)
- a package of Lean Pockets ($1.97)
- an eye mask for sleeping ($1)
- two ice cube trays in the shape of stars for our annual July 4th party ($1 each)
- 2 bananas (0.24 cents each)
Holy No-Willpower, Batman.
Friday, April 27, 2012
clothes make the (wo)man
Yesterday I had one of those mornings where I hated everything in my closet and felt like everything looked terrible on me (I'm sure all the female readers out there can understand). I have a love/hate relationship with my work clothes. I don't exactly have a job that necessitates a "power suit", but I feel like I should do more than wear slacks & button down everyday. Somedays I take the phrase "dress for the job you want, not the job you have" to heart and somedays I barely make the dress code.
Then I started looking at my other clothes which are a mash-up of nicer, "adult" pieces and things I've owned from the juniors section for the past five years. Blah. Hating it. Unfortunately, there's still no room in the budget for extraneous shopping trips. I need to start shopping smarter when I do buy things and pick up pieces that can work for the office and for down time. I know there are folks out there who swear by thrift stores, but I've never had any luck with them. There is a consignment shop near our home, but the prices there are the same as if I bought a new shirt from TJ Maxx.
How do you budget for clothes? A friend of ours used to get a clothing allowance for his job- he would buy one new polo shirt a year then spend the rest on beer. The hubs has a standard uniform of khakis(work)/jeans and a Ralph Lauren polo shirt. Anyone else out there a Maxxiniesta?
Then I started looking at my other clothes which are a mash-up of nicer, "adult" pieces and things I've owned from the juniors section for the past five years. Blah. Hating it. Unfortunately, there's still no room in the budget for extraneous shopping trips. I need to start shopping smarter when I do buy things and pick up pieces that can work for the office and for down time. I know there are folks out there who swear by thrift stores, but I've never had any luck with them. There is a consignment shop near our home, but the prices there are the same as if I bought a new shirt from TJ Maxx.
How do you budget for clothes? A friend of ours used to get a clothing allowance for his job- he would buy one new polo shirt a year then spend the rest on beer. The hubs has a standard uniform of khakis(work)/jeans and a Ralph Lauren polo shirt. Anyone else out there a Maxxiniesta?
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
sugar lips
That title has nothing to do with money and everything to do about the massive amount of sweet treats I've eaten today. Free breakfast at work... is there anything better? (actually, a glass of milk would be awesome right now, but I'll manage.)
I'm currently waiting on Card #1's decision about my credit line (read more about that here) and I have another financial transaction pending that I'll be able to divulge more information about soon, hopefully. In the mean time, it's been awhile since we checked in at Financial Literacy Month, so let's catch up!
Step 17: Save for Your Goals. The tips for savings are "make it automatic, turn a hobby into an income, downsize, & use gifts wisely." I already started the automatic savings ($50 taken out pre & post tax into separate accounts), but I don't really have a "hobby", unless you know somewhere I can get paid to lay on the couch and watch Law & Order SVU. We don't really have a lot of stuff to begin with in order to downsize, and we recently used our tax return to re-bolster our savings account; However, if I get monetary gifts for my birthday or Christmas, I'd be lucky if they lasted a week in my wallet. That'll be a goal to work on at the end of the year.
Step 18: Where Does All the Money Go? Seriously! Where is it? This step is about tracking expenses. I hate tracking expenses, even though I know it's a necessary evil. I just can't seem to commit to carrying a piece of paper or a notebook around for more than a week. Instead, I've been trying to log onto my online banking every few days to analyze/catagorize where the money is going. Next week, I'll be breaking down this month's spending and see where I can do better.
Step 19: Identify Fixed Expenses. Sounds easy!
Mortgage: $600.00 (includes taxes)
Water/Sewer: $40.00 (paid quarterly)
Cell Phones: $178.00
Cable: $125.00
Student Loans: $205.00
Credit Cards: $300.00
My total fixed expenses are about $1,200 or one paycheck per month. I did not include the electric bill, because that's our biggest variable expense! It's like a roulette wheel every month on what it's going to be.
Step 20: Identify & Plan for Periodics. It's crazy that I never even thought to pre-budget for these expenses before now. "Often, we know when these events will occur, but still fail to plan for them." Uh, hello, that's me! As I touched on yesterday, birthdays are an expense I don't specifically budget for, even though they come at the same time every year. Renewing my car's registration is another one (for the hubs too!). I do a fairly good job at budgeting for Christmas. Usually around October I start pestering everyone for gift ideas, but I've also been known to buy things throughout the year in order to spread out the spening.
Step 21: Document Your Spending. FLM suggests uploading your monthly expenses into their worksheet or a similar one in Excel or Quicken. I know my SIL uses a spreadsheet tracker. I guess I better jump on this bandwagon!
Step 22: Identify Ways to Reduce Spending. One way I've reduced spending that I've briefly mentioned before is carpooling. I now only have to get gas 3-4 per month instead of 5-6 times. It doesn't seem like a lot, but with as prices on the up & up, saving an extra $60-$70 a month comes in handy! I also use the GasBuddy app on my iPhone to locate the cheapest gas near me. A penny saved is a penny earned, right?
Step 23: Save Money on Groceries. Ugh, yes, this is what we need. You may recall the other week when I noticed we spent almost $500 on groceries in March 2012. And there's only two of us in the house. FLM's website encourages weekly meal planning. One of my co-workers does this with success, but I really haven't been able to get into it. What I plan out on Sunday just doesn't translate by Thursday when I want chicken instead of fish. Instead, I've been utilizing my favorite stores apps to make lists and stick with them and trying to set an overall budget. It's a work in progress, but I'm getting better.
Step 24: Share a Financial Tip for Change."When you identify ways to reduce spending, you are being honest with yourself about your finances. Being honest with yourself and others about your finances will ensure your success." Well this blog is one big lump of honesty - the good, the bad, the ugly, it's all here.
Step 25: Document Your Desired Spending. In other words, indicate how you would like to change your spending. I actually just revamped my budget last week and set up e-mail alerts so I know when I'm at or near my budget threshold. I decreased spending in a few catagories (namely personal catagories like health/clothing).
Step 26 (for good luck): Protect Yourself by Performing Personal Financial Check-Ups. Check in on your home/auto/health/life insurance policies to make you're covered in a way that best fits your lifestyle. There's no sense in paying for stuff you're not going to use!
How is your financial literacy month shaping up? I think it's clear my goal for May needs to be an exhaustive documentation of my month's expenses! Has anyone received a good financial tip lately?
I'm currently waiting on Card #1's decision about my credit line (read more about that here) and I have another financial transaction pending that I'll be able to divulge more information about soon, hopefully. In the mean time, it's been awhile since we checked in at Financial Literacy Month, so let's catch up!
Step 18: Where Does All the Money Go? Seriously! Where is it? This step is about tracking expenses. I hate tracking expenses, even though I know it's a necessary evil. I just can't seem to commit to carrying a piece of paper or a notebook around for more than a week. Instead, I've been trying to log onto my online banking every few days to analyze/catagorize where the money is going. Next week, I'll be breaking down this month's spending and see where I can do better.
Step 19: Identify Fixed Expenses. Sounds easy!
My total fixed expenses are about $1,200 or one paycheck per month. I did not include the electric bill, because that's our biggest variable expense! It's like a roulette wheel every month on what it's going to be.
Step 20: Identify & Plan for Periodics. It's crazy that I never even thought to pre-budget for these expenses before now. "Often, we know when these events will occur, but still fail to plan for them." Uh, hello, that's me! As I touched on yesterday, birthdays are an expense I don't specifically budget for, even though they come at the same time every year. Renewing my car's registration is another one (for the hubs too!). I do a fairly good job at budgeting for Christmas. Usually around October I start pestering everyone for gift ideas, but I've also been known to buy things throughout the year in order to spread out the spening.
Step 21: Document Your Spending. FLM suggests uploading your monthly expenses into their worksheet or a similar one in Excel or Quicken. I know my SIL uses a spreadsheet tracker. I guess I better jump on this bandwagon!
Step 22: Identify Ways to Reduce Spending. One way I've reduced spending that I've briefly mentioned before is carpooling. I now only have to get gas 3-4 per month instead of 5-6 times. It doesn't seem like a lot, but with as prices on the up & up, saving an extra $60-$70 a month comes in handy! I also use the GasBuddy app on my iPhone to locate the cheapest gas near me. A penny saved is a penny earned, right?
Step 23: Save Money on Groceries. Ugh, yes, this is what we need. You may recall the other week when I noticed we spent almost $500 on groceries in March 2012. And there's only two of us in the house. FLM's website encourages weekly meal planning. One of my co-workers does this with success, but I really haven't been able to get into it. What I plan out on Sunday just doesn't translate by Thursday when I want chicken instead of fish. Instead, I've been utilizing my favorite stores apps to make lists and stick with them and trying to set an overall budget. It's a work in progress, but I'm getting better.
Step 24: Share a Financial Tip for Change."When you identify ways to reduce spending, you are being honest with yourself about your finances. Being honest with yourself and others about your finances will ensure your success." Well this blog is one big lump of honesty - the good, the bad, the ugly, it's all here.
Step 25: Document Your Desired Spending. In other words, indicate how you would like to change your spending. I actually just revamped my budget last week and set up e-mail alerts so I know when I'm at or near my budget threshold. I decreased spending in a few catagories (namely personal catagories like health/clothing).
Step 26 (for good luck): Protect Yourself by Performing Personal Financial Check-Ups. Check in on your home/auto/health/life insurance policies to make you're covered in a way that best fits your lifestyle. There's no sense in paying for stuff you're not going to use!
How is your financial literacy month shaping up? I think it's clear my goal for May needs to be an exhaustive documentation of my month's expenses! Has anyone received a good financial tip lately?
Friday, March 30, 2012
The B Word
You probably know by now I'm not a very good budgeter. Yesterday, I had $23 to my name. Thank goodness today was payday. I have a lot to do with not a whole lot of money, so it's time to buckle down and analyze my spending habits.
Some financial experts (I use that term loosely) recommend carrying around a small notebook and jotting down everything you spend money on for the month, but I'm not disciplined enough to do that for more than two weeks or so. The good thing is having a PNC Virtual Wallet account almost elimimates that need by offering a "Spending Zone" tracker where I can catagorize my purchases.
First, let's look at where my money should be going. I used a budget calculator which figured out the max I should be spending in each catagory:
The only catagories I'm "under" the limit are Housing and Transportation - sometimes Food. Yikes!
Now let's look at what I'm actually spending money on. I'm primarily basing this off February's spending because March was really a fluke with the whole bats in the attic mess, but I'm also taking into consideration the fact that our electric bill isn't $300 every month and I'm also contributing more money towards credit cards.
Here's the corresponding number breakdown:
House: $640 ($600 for the mortgage, $40 water/sewer)
Auto: $85 ish for gas & EZPass - I probably should raise this number to about $100 per month to factor in oil changes. Hubs pays the insurance so it's not included
Debts: $470 for credit cards & student loans
Utilities: $200 for phone & electric ($90 cell phones, probably an average of $100 for electric, although in the winter this number can climb a lot higher) I did not include cable b/c the hubs pays for that on his own
Food: $500... MUCH higher than I expected
Everything Else: $345 (mostly stuff for Molly, ATM withdrawals, & Wawa coffees)
For a total of about $2,285 or $185 over budget every month. And Savings didn't even make it onto the pie chart (good thing I opened that credit union account to have some automatically put away!) Obviously something's got to give and it's clearly food. I really need to get serious about coupons and shopping the sales.
It's kind of depressing to see yourself in the red after trying so hard to stay in the black. Hopefully I'll hit the Mega Millions tonight ($546 million dollars!) and I won't have to worry about it. But in the mean time, I'll keep working for a fatter wallet.
Day Thirty Two Spent:
$20 ATM withdrawal (work raffle, lottery tickets, coffee)
-------------------------
Day Thirty Two Saved: $50.00
Some financial experts (I use that term loosely) recommend carrying around a small notebook and jotting down everything you spend money on for the month, but I'm not disciplined enough to do that for more than two weeks or so. The good thing is having a PNC Virtual Wallet account almost elimimates that need by offering a "Spending Zone" tracker where I can catagorize my purchases.
First, let's look at where my money should be going. I used a budget calculator which figured out the max I should be spending in each catagory:
 |
| (click to make it bigger) |
Now let's look at what I'm actually spending money on. I'm primarily basing this off February's spending because March was really a fluke with the whole bats in the attic mess, but I'm also taking into consideration the fact that our electric bill isn't $300 every month and I'm also contributing more money towards credit cards.
House: $640 ($600 for the mortgage, $40 water/sewer)
Auto: $85 ish for gas & EZPass - I probably should raise this number to about $100 per month to factor in oil changes. Hubs pays the insurance so it's not included
Debts: $470 for credit cards & student loans
Utilities: $200 for phone & electric ($90 cell phones, probably an average of $100 for electric, although in the winter this number can climb a lot higher) I did not include cable b/c the hubs pays for that on his own
Food: $500... MUCH higher than I expected
Everything Else: $345 (mostly stuff for Molly, ATM withdrawals, & Wawa coffees)
For a total of about $2,285 or $185 over budget every month. And Savings didn't even make it onto the pie chart (good thing I opened that credit union account to have some automatically put away!) Obviously something's got to give and it's clearly food. I really need to get serious about coupons and shopping the sales.
It's kind of depressing to see yourself in the red after trying so hard to stay in the black. Hopefully I'll hit the Mega Millions tonight ($546 million dollars!) and I won't have to worry about it. But in the mean time, I'll keep working for a fatter wallet.
Day Thirty Two Spent:
$20 ATM withdrawal (work raffle, lottery tickets, coffee)
-------------------------
Day Thirty Two Saved: $50.00
Thursday, March 22, 2012
5gether
Does anyone know where the name of today's post came from? It's from the geniuses that developed this little diddy:
Can you believe it's been twelve years since that series aired? Me either. Anyway, "5gether" was the first song off their sophomore album 2gether: Again. It popped into my head while reading the article "5 Tips to Cut Custs on Your Home" What? You're not reminded of fictional boy bands while reading finance articles? Weirdo.
Absolutely none of the recommendations are helpful to us at the moment. None of the homes in our area are even selling for me to fight a property assessment (though this tip did help my mom last year!), we can't even afford basic remodeling right now because of the costs of removing the zoo from our attic, I'm fairly certain we have the cheapest mortgage we could have scored (and a low interest rate to boot), and we don't have a business that needs a home office, at least not until this blog goes viral.
The only tip that got me thinking was #3 - Know how much mortgage you can afford. I distinctly remember being on the phone with Wells Fargo during the pre-approval interview and almost having a heart attack when we were approved for a $1,600 per-month mortgage. Once I picked my jaw up from the desk, I remembered I was only paying half that amount. $800 per month still seemed like a lot, especially with our wedding right around the corner. I never did a monthly mortage calculator back then, so why not do one now?
Most mortgage calculators tell you to take your gross monthly income and multiply it by 28%. This percentage accounts for monthly payments for principal and interest, mortgage insurance (we have it), property taxes, homeowners insurance, homeowners association fees (don't have it), and payments for a home-equity loan or line of credit (don't have either). I used my take-home pay to do the calculations - I don't see the point in figuring out what I could afford before everything is taken out, since that's not what goes into my bank account every other Friday.
Day Thirty One Spent: $0.00
--------------------------------
Day Thirty One Saved: $0.00
Can you believe it's been twelve years since that series aired? Me either. Anyway, "5gether" was the first song off their sophomore album 2gether: Again. It popped into my head while reading the article "5 Tips to Cut Custs on Your Home" What? You're not reminded of fictional boy bands while reading finance articles? Weirdo.
Absolutely none of the recommendations are helpful to us at the moment. None of the homes in our area are even selling for me to fight a property assessment (though this tip did help my mom last year!), we can't even afford basic remodeling right now because of the costs of removing the zoo from our attic, I'm fairly certain we have the cheapest mortgage we could have scored (and a low interest rate to boot), and we don't have a business that needs a home office, at least not until this blog goes viral.
The only tip that got me thinking was #3 - Know how much mortgage you can afford. I distinctly remember being on the phone with Wells Fargo during the pre-approval interview and almost having a heart attack when we were approved for a $1,600 per-month mortgage. Once I picked my jaw up from the desk, I remembered I was only paying half that amount. $800 per month still seemed like a lot, especially with our wedding right around the corner. I never did a monthly mortage calculator back then, so why not do one now?
Most mortgage calculators tell you to take your gross monthly income and multiply it by 28%. This percentage accounts for monthly payments for principal and interest, mortgage insurance (we have it), property taxes, homeowners insurance, homeowners association fees (don't have it), and payments for a home-equity loan or line of credit (don't have either). I used my take-home pay to do the calculations - I don't see the point in figuring out what I could afford before everything is taken out, since that's not what goes into my bank account every other Friday.
$2,200 x 0.28 = $616.00 per month
I'm just squeeking under the max by $16.00. Phew!
The other calculator the article suggested was a Maximum Monthly Debt Repayment (MMDR) calculation of your gross monthly income multiplied by 36%. The MMDR includes mortgage payments, credit cards, student loans, car loans/leases, ailmony, child support, or other debt with more than ten months of repayment left. It's noteworthy that the ideal percentage is 36%, but in places where the cost of living is higher, like the northern NJ/NYC region, the percentage may go as high as 45% Here's mine:
$2,200 x 0.36 = $792.00 per month
Here is where I blow past the recommended 36% and even topple the cap of 45%. Between the morgage ($600), my student loans ($205), and my credit card payments ($350), I'm closer to using 52% of my monthly take home pay just for debt. Wow! No wonder it's tight during the winter months when the electric bill gets sky high as well.
What's your percentage look like? Off the chart or small and sweet?
Day Thirty One Spent: $0.00
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Day Thirty One Saved: $0.00
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Income, Savings, & Budgets, oh my!
While perusing MSN Money today for blog inspiration, I came upon this article about savings & budgeting. Admittedly, I have never been very good at either, which is how I racked up credit card debt in the first place (obviously). I have a PNC Virtual Wallet checking account which has a spending tracker as well as a short term savings account & a long term savings account, but I don't really check up on my spending very often.
The author says "I realized that it wasn't the little luxuries here and there that got me in trouble. It was the large, irregular expenses -- like vacations, major repairs and the holidays -- that did all the damage. To avoid overspending, I had to do a better job of planning for those." Dammit if he didn't just take the words right out of my brain.
He realized that committed (or fixed) expenses needed to stay below 60% of the household income in order to be able to contribute a decent amount of money to a savings account. What I like about his plan was he didn't advocate getting rid of your TV or only having pay-per-use cellphone like so many financial "experts" advise. The only task is to keep it under 60%, which is great for us, since we love our TV and our iPhones.
He also states if it's too hard to keep the committed expenses under 60% due to credit card debt then to use the money that would be going into a savings account to pay the debt off faster. "Every dollar in interest that you don't pay is just like getting a guaranteed, risk-free, tax-free return on your money equal to the interest rate on the debt."
My monthly take home pay is approximately $2,100 so 60% of that is about $1,250. Now let's try to break down my monthly fixed expenses:
$650.00 mortgage
$100-$150 electric bill (I used $125 for the actual calculation)
$40 water/sewer bill (note: this is actually paid in 4 installements of $120)
$90 cell phone bill
$347 credit card payments (this is for the new payment plan I came up with for this month)
$203 student loans
$25 EZ Pass
$120 in gas (averaging 1 fill up every 5 days at about $30 per tank)
Total: $1,660 - or about 79% of my take home pay and I didn't even include food on the list! No wonder it's a struggle to stay afloat some months.
The good news is I've already taken a few steps to reduce some of the expenses. A few weeks ago, I detailed how we switched to a new electric provider. March will be our first full month with Constellation, so hopefully, we will see the savings on our next bill. Last week, I started car pooling with a co-worker, which should cut my monthly gas budget by at least 25%, though I'm hoping for about 40-50%. It will also decrease the amount EZ Pass takes out for tolls, since I won't be using it as frequently.
I also decreased my retirement contributions for the time being while I work to pay off the credit cards. Previously, I was contributing 12% of my pre-tax income to two different plans, in addition to what was being taken out for my pension. I knocked the outside contributions down to 3%, but there's not much I can do about the pension (even though I'm 98% certain there won't be a pension by the time I'm old enough to collect it).
Unfortunately, there's not too much I can do about the student loans. I'm already on an interest-only payment plan with Sallie Mae for the next three years. I'll have to look into ways to decrease our cell phone bill without getting rid of the iPhone (I love it. So so much.)
Day Twenty-Two Spent:
$5.00 Acme
-------------------------
Day Twenty-Two Saved:
$40.00 - found money in my badge! score!
The author says "I realized that it wasn't the little luxuries here and there that got me in trouble. It was the large, irregular expenses -- like vacations, major repairs and the holidays -- that did all the damage. To avoid overspending, I had to do a better job of planning for those." Dammit if he didn't just take the words right out of my brain.
He realized that committed (or fixed) expenses needed to stay below 60% of the household income in order to be able to contribute a decent amount of money to a savings account. What I like about his plan was he didn't advocate getting rid of your TV or only having pay-per-use cellphone like so many financial "experts" advise. The only task is to keep it under 60%, which is great for us, since we love our TV and our iPhones.
He also states if it's too hard to keep the committed expenses under 60% due to credit card debt then to use the money that would be going into a savings account to pay the debt off faster. "Every dollar in interest that you don't pay is just like getting a guaranteed, risk-free, tax-free return on your money equal to the interest rate on the debt."
My monthly take home pay is approximately $2,100 so 60% of that is about $1,250. Now let's try to break down my monthly fixed expenses:
Total: $1,660 - or about 79% of my take home pay and I didn't even include food on the list! No wonder it's a struggle to stay afloat some months.
The good news is I've already taken a few steps to reduce some of the expenses. A few weeks ago, I detailed how we switched to a new electric provider. March will be our first full month with Constellation, so hopefully, we will see the savings on our next bill. Last week, I started car pooling with a co-worker, which should cut my monthly gas budget by at least 25%, though I'm hoping for about 40-50%. It will also decrease the amount EZ Pass takes out for tolls, since I won't be using it as frequently.
I also decreased my retirement contributions for the time being while I work to pay off the credit cards. Previously, I was contributing 12% of my pre-tax income to two different plans, in addition to what was being taken out for my pension. I knocked the outside contributions down to 3%, but there's not much I can do about the pension (even though I'm 98% certain there won't be a pension by the time I'm old enough to collect it).
Unfortunately, there's not too much I can do about the student loans. I'm already on an interest-only payment plan with Sallie Mae for the next three years. I'll have to look into ways to decrease our cell phone bill without getting rid of the iPhone (I love it. So so much.)
Another silver lining is that Molly seems to be quite content to chew on my shoes, so it looks like I won't have to buy her a new toy anytime soon.
 |
| it's not like I wore those boots regularly, or anything. |
Day Twenty-Two Spent:
$5.00 Acme
-------------------------
Day Twenty-Two Saved:
$40.00 - found money in my badge! score!
Monday, March 12, 2012
So App-ealing
It's going to be a slow week at work, so there will be plenty of time for posting. If there's anything you'd like me to write about, please let me know in the comments!
I figured I would share some of my favorite iPhone apps that help me shop smarter. All the apps are free, so hopefully they'll save you some money, too!
Are there any apps I missed? What helps you?
Day Twenty-One Spent:
$.75 vending machine Cheez-Its
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Day Twenty-One Saved: $0.00
I figured I would share some of my favorite iPhone apps that help me shop smarter. All the apps are free, so hopefully they'll save you some money, too!
- CardStar - Essentially a virtual wallet where you can store all of your loyalty cards, even non-grocery cards like Best Buy Rewards, Hallmark, etc. This way you can get rid of the pesky key tags (or in my case, the whole additional card holder for the regular size ones). It also provides you deals & coupons to the stores you have saved.
- ShopAdvisor - Say you see a shirt in Macy's you really like, but it's not on sale and you don't have any coupons. Just scan the bar code into ShopAdvisor and it will search for the product until it's within your budget.
- Coupon Sherpa - A database of mobile coupons for grocery & department stores. There are also links to printable coupons that you can e-mail to yourself & print out. I actually haven't used this app too much because stores in our area do not scan coupons from your phone. Plus our printer stopped working and I haven't fixed it yet.
- Buy Me a Pie - This is the app I use when I'm shopping somewhere that doesn't have its own mobile app (like BJ's). Helps to keep my impulse spending in check.
- SavingsStar - Made by the same people as CardStar, you load your grocery/drug store loyalty cards into the app then select coupon offers you think you would purchase. After purchasing the item, a rebate is applied to your account. The hubs and I share an account and we've gotten about $7 back in rebates so far (the rebate is linked with your Paypal account)
- Weekly Ads - Just what it sounds like, the weekly ads for stores near you. This is great, since we get a very limited supply with our mail and most end up in the recycling.
- Gas Buddy - While not a "shopping" app., this little guy has come in handy lately! It shows you the prices of gas in and around your area. The only beef I have with it is there isn't a way to distinguish cash versus credit price differences.
- Locavore - Tells you what food is in season for your area and helps you find local farmer's markets, both of which are cheaper than buying food brought in from other places
Are there any apps I missed? What helps you?
Day Twenty-One Spent:
$.75 vending machine Cheez-Its
----------------------------
Day Twenty-One Saved: $0.00
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Frugal Foodie
Confession: I went shopping today. It was food shopping, though, so it's okay! In accordance with the rules, I made lists and used coupons . I was still over budget, but more on that in a minute.
I used the "Buy Me a Pie" app for the iPhone to make a list for BJ's. I purchased 17 items, 11 items of which I had coupons for. And I had two coupons for Listerine.. holla! The items I didn't have coupons for I made sure the price matched the quantity (for example, 3 tubs of lunch meat for $8). With coupons I saved an extra $26.
Last night, I used the Target app to make a list of the things we needed; However, when I got to the store this morning, I realized the list I made was only valid until the 25th. Now, none of the items I had saved were on sale anymore. Not to worry though. Most people don't know that Target is one of the best kept secrets in the grocery market. Everyday, they mark down packages of meat $2 or $3 because it is at it's "Use or Freeze" date. Today, I was able to score two packages of hamburger patties (4 patties in each) for ..... are you ready for this?? ..... 0.29 cents!!!
The burgers were originally $5.49 and marked down to $3.29, plus, each package had a $3 coupon on the front. I also scored ground pork on sale for 0.99 cents ($2.00 coupon off $2.99) and two packages of chicken breasts (with 3 breasts in the package) for $1.14. I spent a little bit more for a package of Archer Farms steaks wrapped in bacon (originally $9.39, on sale for $6.39). We rarely eat steaks or bacon by themselves so it actually makes more sense for us to buy the steaks this way.
The last stop I made was unplanned. Our local Pathmark is going out of business and I wanted to see if there was anything left in stock we used. I was able to pick up some of my favorite cleaning supplies (7th Generation & Clorox Greenworks) for about 60% off. I also picked up some baking supplies, a few of our favorite Lowry's marinades, and three boxes of tea.
I did spend a bit more money than I planned (about $40 over budget), but it helped me learn something very important about myself: the bright tags of a clearance sale are my siren song. I lose control very easily when I see a 60% off sign. Even in Target, those little red-orange clearance stickers got my heart racing and made me a little breathless. Next time, I know to stick to my lists and coupons and then get in my car and drive home.
Day Five Spent: $247.09 [budget: $200]
BJ's: $140.39
Target: $46.98
Pathmark: $59.72
Day Five Saved: $0.00
I used the "Buy Me a Pie" app for the iPhone to make a list for BJ's. I purchased 17 items, 11 items of which I had coupons for. And I had two coupons for Listerine.. holla! The items I didn't have coupons for I made sure the price matched the quantity (for example, 3 tubs of lunch meat for $8). With coupons I saved an extra $26.
Last night, I used the Target app to make a list of the things we needed; However, when I got to the store this morning, I realized the list I made was only valid until the 25th. Now, none of the items I had saved were on sale anymore. Not to worry though. Most people don't know that Target is one of the best kept secrets in the grocery market. Everyday, they mark down packages of meat $2 or $3 because it is at it's "Use or Freeze" date. Today, I was able to score two packages of hamburger patties (4 patties in each) for ..... are you ready for this?? ..... 0.29 cents!!!
The burgers were originally $5.49 and marked down to $3.29, plus, each package had a $3 coupon on the front. I also scored ground pork on sale for 0.99 cents ($2.00 coupon off $2.99) and two packages of chicken breasts (with 3 breasts in the package) for $1.14. I spent a little bit more for a package of Archer Farms steaks wrapped in bacon (originally $9.39, on sale for $6.39). We rarely eat steaks or bacon by themselves so it actually makes more sense for us to buy the steaks this way.
The last stop I made was unplanned. Our local Pathmark is going out of business and I wanted to see if there was anything left in stock we used. I was able to pick up some of my favorite cleaning supplies (7th Generation & Clorox Greenworks) for about 60% off. I also picked up some baking supplies, a few of our favorite Lowry's marinades, and three boxes of tea.
I did spend a bit more money than I planned (about $40 over budget), but it helped me learn something very important about myself: the bright tags of a clearance sale are my siren song. I lose control very easily when I see a 60% off sign. Even in Target, those little red-orange clearance stickers got my heart racing and made me a little breathless. Next time, I know to stick to my lists and coupons and then get in my car and drive home.
Day Five Spent: $247.09 [budget: $200]
BJ's: $140.39
Target: $46.98
Pathmark: $59.72
Day Five Saved: $0.00
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