Starting early..

So, my 2015 goals are generally focused on money.. This will be the year I get my ass in gear and pay off bills (including my car).. 

BUT, it's not just about paying off bills.. It's also about saving money for now (I'd love to have my $1,000 'emergency fund' finished by the end of 2015), AND saving for retirement.. 

Last year, on my 30th birthday, I started putting in $15/paycheck into a 403b account.. My job, thankfully, will match 1/2 of your contribution (up to 4% of your salary).. I found this last part out (the 4% part) just recently, so I decided to up my contribution to 2% of my paycheck.. And will continue to up it each year by 1% more.. In most cases, my contribution should be around $25-30/paycheck.. 

If you have the option, at your job, to contribute to some kind of retirement plan, please take advantage of it.. I'm barely making ends meet some paychecks, but I make sure to keep that going in.. Because while it may be hard now, I can work more.. If I end up 80 and broke, I can't get work too easily..

Also, this paycheck is when my auto deposit starts in my savings account.. It's at a bank that I can't physically touch, and has a decent interest rate (.75% APY).. Plus, some of the money I make on the side too..

This paycheck was interesting, as it has all my changes on it, PLUS I had 24 hours of overtime on it.. So, this made my 2% contribution to my 403(b) $59.. Lmao.. Oops, forgot about that part.. Eh, can't hurt me.. 

Got Christmas paid for, and got some ideas to bring in extra income (will talk about that once I get it rolling, since I'm the queen of false starts).. Now, onto working a bunch and starting off 2015 on the right foot (my first paycheck of the new year falls on the 1st)..

Payday Thursday..

So I don't know why I said I was going to start Payday Thursday's this week, as any bill that isn't going to get something turned off (electric, rent, car insurance, etc) isn't getting paid so I can finish Christmas.. 

I know, bad reason.. But I know I will be making enough in the month of January to cover it all and get back on track.. And my plan is that this won't happen next year..

Saving money, and even spending money, on a single salary is horribly hard.. Especially when I find myself spending money to have some fun, which is usually something like a movie.. While I don't usually buy myself clothes (I still hate shopping for myself, even after losing 106 lbs), I have no problem buying stuff for my house, or other people.. 

So this month is gonna be about keeping tabs on how much I spend (besides Christmas gifts) on a 'normal' month.. I will keep all receipts, and towards the end of the month, I will add up what I spent, and where, and use it for my budget for January..

I already have a preliminary budget done, but I'm intrigued to see if I'm accurate.. Probably not.. Lol

Short and Sweet..

Today is payday..

I'm planning on sticking with "Payday Thursday's" and posting about money on that day every week..

Only 21 days til Christmas!! Holy crap!! 

Gonna go soak my tired body in a bath and then go to bed.. Good night, blogosphere..

Payday Thursday..

This is something new I'm hoping to keep going on my blog.. Basically to keep me accountable, and to show others how they can save money while I try to do the same..  And I will make mistakes, because I know I am a shopaholic (even if it is with coupons).. But I'm willing to work my booty off to save more money and get myself out of debt..

So, to put it all out there, I made a page of all my debt I owe, and then I will post a monthly tally up with what I have saved towards what..  I plan to use the Envelope System to save towards the bigger ones, because I've gotten burned by paying payments, then the bill gets sold to another company but doesn't reflect my payments..  And the list does include my car payment, my credit card payment and my student loan bill (which will thankfully be put in deferment now that I'm enrolled in school again)..

My budget for May:

• Rent (for next month)-- $550
• Phone Payment-- $100 (PAID)
• Electric Bill-- $200
• Credit Card-- $150 (PAID)
• Internet-- $25 (PAID)
• Car Payment-- $236
• Gas-- $200
• Disney payments-- $100 (PAID)
• Holiday & Garden-- $100
• Food-- $100

Total Bills: $ 1761/month or $880.50/paycheck

This budget is for the bare minimum of my bills.. For the month of May and June, my goal is to save for my vacations that are in June and July.. Any savings will go towards them and making sure bills get paid while I'm gone..  Yes, I will plan to save my change still.. Yes, I will put any extra towards my excess bills.. But the next two months are going to be about having fun, because after that, I will be working a lot and going to school full time.. So until then, if it's not in my budget, it's not getting bought.. :)

MAY IS A NO SPEND MONTH!!

January Recap..

It's already the end of January, in case you hadn't noticed.. lol.. And while I haven't accomplished much this month, I've learned a lot of what not to do in the future..

MONEY

Here is my "savings jar".. It's an Equal jar that I cleaned out.. :)

I put ALL of my change in here, I don't spend any change at all.. So at the end of the day, it all goes in here.. I started saving prolly right before Christmas, and so far I've saved $34.94.. :)  The bad part is that I've saved and used almost all my $1's and $5's.. I've only got $3 saved that way.. I've had to use a lot of my money, including all my eBay sales, for groceries and gas..

I'm learning that I need to bring in more money than my job is currently allowing me to.. While I'm trying to work some overtime, I either get called off or I have so many deductions that it makes the overtime disappear.. SO, I've decided that February 1st to the 22nd is a NO SPEND PERIOD..  If it's not on my budget, it's not happening..

Another goal for February is to bring in at least $200 outside income.. I'm going to try making stethoscope covers and maybe nightlights and sell them on Etsy.. And then I will still sell things on eBay.. Just filed my tax return.. Should be getting a pretty decent return.. Plan on putting at least $500 in my savings account, then using most of it to get caught up on bills.. I also plan to buy a deep freezer for making things in bulk in the future..

GOALS

** I wasn't able to finish Wicked as quickly as I'd planned originally.. I find it is a very long book (a little over 400 pages, with small words).. So I plan to finish it and still read another book in February..

** Got an appointment with the advisor at IUS to get classes scheduled for Summer 2014 in a couple of weeks.. I'm excited to get that ball rolling.. Gonna look into enrolling in an ASL class at UofL too, but I have to figure out if I have to pay another application fee..

** Getting excited about my trip to see my brother, SIL, niece and nephew.. Like, countdown excited.. lol.. I can't wait to take pics again at our grandpa's graves, I can't wait to see them (of course), and I can't wait to see their new house..

** I'm hoping to make a trip to Chicago in April.. To see Jeff Dunham.. But that all depends on if there are tickets when I get my tax return.. There are still good tickets left for Friday night..

Well, I hope you guys had a great January.. And here's to a great February.. :)

Amazon versus Couponing..

I am facing a money saving dilemma right now..

I don't buy much (name brand items) without coupons.. It's against everything in me to pay "full price" for anything at a grocery store.. If I don't save money somehow, whether it's by buying store brand, on sale, or with a coupon, I will NOT buy it..  This helps me save money or buy something that I want, like movies.. Which I still would try to find ways to save money..

My dilemma right now is to buy cat food on Amazon or to wait and buy it with a coupon at the grocery store.. 

Through Expotv, I get Amazon gift cards for doing video reviews on things I already own or buy, so they are basically free to me.. I can do 3 or 4 videos and get a $10 to $15 Amazon card out of it.. So I have free money basically to use on cat food, and the kind I want is on sale online for the same price that Walmart has.. BUT, if I pay cash for it, I can use a $3 off coupon!  So I'll save $3, if I pay cash, but I'm on a strict budget now that it's just me..

I say this is a dilemma, bc I'm trying to save my Amazon cards for a Kindle, but I gotta do what I gotta do, I guess.. lol

We Have Made Progress..

Sorry about the lack of Pinterest posts, but I can't get my pics to come off my phone right now.. I'll fix it and hopefully post tomorrow..

I apologize for being gone for the past 3 days, but I have been having a rough time with A.. BUT we hopefully came to a head today.. After a lot of crying, a lot of talking, and a lot of thinking on both our parts, I think we are on our way to working on our issues..  He is going to find a therapist (hopefully within the next few days), and he even came to the conclusion that he hasn't been helping me with OUR bills.. This made me happy that he realized that by himself bc I've been trying to talk to him about money for a while.. I just hope it sticks..

Now, onto weight stuff!!!  I weighed myself today, and I weighed in at 198.8!!! HOLY CRAP!!  I just hope it stays around that number.. I'd love to show a ONEderland weight to my bariatric team on the 7th..

It's hard to believe that in a little over a week, it will have been a year since my surgery.. And I'm still losing.. Slowly, but it's still coming off.. Which means it's not going back on.. YAY!!  I will also post progress pics prolly Friday.. and of course, my year progress pics on the 8th.. :)

Can you believe it's almost Christmas?!?!?!  Where did this year go???

Being a Grown Up Sucks..

Well, sometimes it sucks..

I wish I could grow money.. I wish I could win the lottery (but not waste $$$ playing it, of course).. I wish I could just live like they do in the movies..

Well, cupcake, you can't!!

Being with a BP makes life interesting.. and not always in a good way.. We have been together almost 9 months, living together for 4, and I have still yet to learn how to communicate with him properly..  I worry about making him mad, which happens 8 times out of 10..  and then I get sad, or mad, or both..  I admit, until a couple days ago, I really hadn't done much research into how to live with a BP.. 

A week ago, I finally told A that I wasn't happy anymore.. I hated that I wasn't happy anymore, but I didn't want to fake it.. I hate that he's so impulsive when it comes to certain things (a BP trait?  not sure yet), like money.. Money is a big issue with me, as I'm sure you've learned over my time here.. I want to save for our future (and our WEDDING!!) but he wants to spend it all now..  But he said that he would "fix it", that WE would fix it..

I don't know how true that is.. I am looking into therapists, trying to figure out what kind of therapy he needs, and if we can do this together, or if he needs his own therapist.. Basically, our communication sucks..  I haven't been in any other long term relationship (last relationship lasted 6 months), so I don't know if this is normal, or what to do..

Any advice???  I'd appreciate anything you can give me..

Oh yeah, and tomorrow's entry is all about my Pinterest tries!!  :)

Saving My Pennies..

I've been talking about saving money for a while.. I think we all want to save money, but don't always know how..  I'm one of those people that have no idea how..

While I'd like to blame my variable income, it's my own issues with money.. I was lucky to receive one of Dave Ramsey's wonderful books from a friend of mine last year.. And while I have yet to read it all, I do plan to.. lol.. BUT I've gone online and saw what the gist of it is..

** Have a $1,000 emergency fund
** Pay off big bills first

And yes, that's all I remember.. lol.. Well, seeing as I am not moving jobs (hopefully) any time soon, I need to learn how to save with what income I have.. Because I truly would love to save enough money in the next couple years (prolly more like 5) to put a down payment on a house..

While I will never be a great saver, like TeacHER Finance, I can try to save as much as possible and still pay off bills, right?!   Yeah, I originally thought so.. and had been on track with my original savings plan.. UNTIL my car decided to spring a $107 leak.. My car is my life.. seriously, I drive for both my jobs, and drive 3,000 miles/month..  So it had to be fixed.. Thankfully it was cheap, but it blew out the $64 I had saved..

BUT, thanfully my tax check will be in my bank on Monday!!  WOOHOO!!  So that will replenish the $64, plus a bit..

I make about $1500/ month (if I work like I should), plus I get a mileage check in the middle of the month that is about $400.. so my plan is to keep going with my weekly deposit, and adding an additional $10 a week to it.. PLUS putting 20% of any extra money I get (mileage check, tax check, etc).. so my $2600 tax check will net my savings over $500!!  I'm halfway towards my $1,000 emergency fund!!

The rest of my tax check is going towards moving (aka first month and deposit) and I do plan to spend some of it frivolously (because I'd be lying if I said all of it was going towards savings).. 

OH!  I also have gotten back into the habit of not using my change.. I'm trying to carry paper money now, because I'm less likely to spend a lot if I have to look at it coming out of my hand (unless it saves me money to use plastic, like with the Target Debit card).. So all my change is going into either my savings or to my change purse for laundry money..

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I'm sure most of you are interested in where my weight loss stuff went, and while I haven't really been feeling it (or 100% well these past few days), I do plan to blog tomorrow about all I've been up to.. :)

I Hate Bills..

Especially medical bills.. But anyone who likes them is crazy, I guess..

I got a summons for tomorrow back in February for a little over $400 in past medical bills.. and all I could say to myself is "REALLY?!"  I have tried to get this collection agency to send me a bill to make payments over the past two years..  and thanks to my paper hoarding, I have proof that I haven't received a bill from them since 2008..

My game plan?  To go into that court and offer to do payroll deductions for the PRINCIPLE amount.  I will fight to the death to not have to pay for the filing fee or the interest, since I have tried to contact and get paper bills from them for the past few years.  We'll see I guess if it works..  fingers crossed that it does, bc seriously that's another $200 added to the amount..

That is $200 that could be going towards my next project.. which is for another blog entry.. ;) 

Well, It's Monday..

It's official.. I HATE MONDAYS!!

I'm not sure why, but something bad always seems to come with them.. This Monday, it's an overdraft fee!  I haven't had one of those for months (which is awesome for me).. and it wasn't even for something I did/spent.. I won't go into details, but seriously, I'm pissed bc I had my bank account down to the $1 (I've been using cash for anything non-bill related).. and now it's fucked up.. grr!!

This sadly means that I will have to cancel my gym membership a week sooner than I'd planned.. :(  Guess I'll just have to workout outside this coming week.. Then on Monday, I'll bring my workout bag with me to Orientation so I can go to the gym at work straight afterwards.. :)

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Weigh in was as bad as I expected.. Hell, I ate 6 pcs of chicken/tomato/green pepper pizza yesterday.. Wonder why I gained over the past two weeks.. HOWEVER, I'm shocked to see I only gained 5.2 lbs.. Yes, that's a lot over the past 2.5 weeks, but for me, it's not really..

Weigh In for 10/03: 248.8 lbs

Difference from last weigh in: +5.2 lbs

So as I sit here, eating my breakfast of Oat Fit Cinnamon Roll 100 calorie pack (won it from Kris Gets Healthy's blog), 1 pc of Healthy Life (carb-friendly) toast with ICBINB spray, and green tea, I am trying to rack my brain how I'm going to lose those 5 lbs and then some.. 

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My goals for this week:

** Lose 1 lb

** Get on the ball with 5k in 100 days running

** Count calories EVERY DAY!

Up In The Air..

That seems to be my motive right now.. Seriously, my work schedule has been so screwed up that I don't know which way is up, so to speak..  I've worked 76 hours in the past 7 days (with 1 full day off).. And sadly, it doesn't look to be getting any better any time soon.. Next week, I'm going to try to keep my schedule "normal" and take shifts if I can get them.. bc the week after that will be totally screwed up, time-wise..

The week after next, I start my new job.. and I'm not sure what my schedule will be exactly.. I wish I did, so I could plan stuff better, but right now everything is up in the air.. including working out.. Right now, I will be working 6 days a week, but the money is too good to pass up.. Yes, I will be keeping as many of my clients as I can physically keep.. :)  If I work as much as I should be, my bi-weekly paychecks should clear $1000 after taxes.. :)  That makes me happy..

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I'm thinking that with my first paycheck I will enroll in WW Online.. This way I can have all the stuff on my phone and no excuses not to count points.. Yes, that's another thing.. Tomorrow, I plan to start Weight Watchers.. AGAIN.. lol

I also am changing my Weigh In days to Mondays, bc with them being on Fridays, I kinda give myself the weekend to go off the deep end and then the rest of the week to "fix it".. So this way I can't go crazy during the weekends.. :)