November Goals

I haven't done goals in a while, so please bear with me. But during November, I'd like to...
- Make a dr's appointment for yearly check up (way overdue)
- Make an eye dr appointment. I still have about 2 months' worth of contacts (my year supply should've ended a while ago, but I've been using my glasses a lot), but my insurance restarts in January, so might as well use it
- Get $600 for my EF before the month ends. Currently I have it scheduled to $570, but getting $30 extra shouldn't be a problem
- Finish all Christmas planning. Shopping can/may happen during Black Friday or thereafter, but I want to have it planned out 80-90%
- That said... draft Christmas cards. More on that later
- Optional: Get $200-$300 for non Christmas-related Black Friday sales**

I added $290 to my Christmas fund thanks to my part time job's pay ($200), $10 extra in rewards from my credit card, and the Oct. mistake overage ($80). I will open the jar tonight and post about it tomorrow if I get a chance. I am at $505 for my goal, so if I have $85 in the jar, I've met my goal! (Edit, double counted the $80, so I need $165 to meet my goal)

Known unusual expenses for this month:
-$80 Amazon Prime. I get more than my money's worth with that membership, so I will definitely continue it, and share it with my family
-Dr appointment + Eye Dr appointment (no idea what the total will be, but let's set it at $100. My dr loves poking me with needles for some strange reason!)

About my goals... I won't lie, because lying never goes well. But that last goal is because I want to buy an unbudgeted, completely 'want'-type gift... for my dad. See, he hid pulled money for months early this year and managed to buy an iPad. You may remember me ranting about that iPad. What I didn't mention was that my younger sister took it one day a few months later (I think May) and left it in the car. Someone broke into the car and stole it, together with her purse and the car radio. The broken window had to be replaced afterwards. But anyway, my dad loved that thing. He's a gadget man. I may hate the iPad and all their hype, but he worked (literally and figuratively) for it, and it was taken from him. My sister never replaced it, of course, and my dad never would demand such thing. So yeah. Long story short, I'd like to contribute for him to get one. But not to worry, that is an optional goal. I won't jeopardize getting my EF to where it needs to be. I may use partial Christmas funds if I'm falling that short. But if anything, the bulk of that will come from any hours I get at my part time job, which has been scheduled to slow down significantly (but hasnt yet).

Cheers to a good November! And can we please tell the stores we still need to get through Thanksgiving before they start the Christmas music?!

Just a quick check-in

Yup, we were alright after the storm, and glad to see most other bloggers were not severely affected. We saw lots of flooding (what can you expect, being in low, plain ground with no hills or mountains or anything to shelter or handle the winds). Some trees down, power went down in some areas (my brother lost power for a while), but otherwise, everyone is alright. Time to restart the rebuilding process.

Thoughts go out to families/friends in the more affected states (NY/NJ) and everyone that was affected by this storm.

It was so cold today (well, 40 degrees) that it was just one of those miserable days to be in at work, especially having to commute to/from it, with lots of closures due to flooding and standing water. Haven't even felt like checking up my accounts much, not that I need to. But this gloomy weather and gloomy situation overall is quite a downer.

Stay safe! Though the storm is through, it has created a lot of dangers (like the aforementioned standing water, flooded roads and branches across streets). Try to minimize travel as much as possible, but since that's not always an option, just stay extra safe. It's not so much your driving that has to worry you; it's everyone else's! And some people around here cannot drive in the rain. Period

... And now my phone bill went DOWN! + Storm

Ok, strange morning today. Woke up extra early at my parents' house, since I spent the night over. It's blowing, howling, and raining hard. The town where I work is a flood hazard. Every time we get rain, the town floods. I'm talking about up-to-your-ankles flooding in the downtown area (where we are). So I was getting ready half hour earlier, in case my commute took longer because of traffic, but my manager called and say not to risk it. We're calling it off today because it's dangerous, and the town is expected to be blocked off by noon because of the water, so they didn't want us getting stuck there. Hurray!

I get some tea ready and turn to my emails. I see I have two unusually timed bills... my student loan 1 and my phone bill.

For whatever reason, my phone bill caught my sight quicker, as it said I owed $16 instead of $76. I've checked it out in the statement, and it says that because of "some changes", my bill has been changed. The only changes I made was change my due date from the 13th to the 18th because that works better with my budget. Now, I'm all up for such a reduction, but I don't want my December bill to be the standard $76 plus the difference! So I called and the lady confirmed the billing was correct (she didn't know/couldn't tell why the amount was different like that, but confirmed that my December/January and so on will only charge me for the $76. I'll take it! I'm still paranoid they may try to mess up in December, so I took the girls' employee information and made her make note on my account that I had called and asked in this regard.

Then I moved into my Student Loan 1, and that one had nearly doubled! Normally at $40/mo, the total due was $80. What was more alarming was that it said it was overdue. I will not have any sort of late charges or late marks on my account if I can help it! Again, with this one, I had moved my due date from the 13th to the 20th. I know it's a long jump, but the girl I spoke with said it wouldn't affect my bill. So after talking with a rep (and getting put on hold for two separate 35min waits), she had to get a supervisor, and they fixed it. They said that the timing of me changing the payment might've confused whoever processed the payment and they applied it to the prior month. Now it's back to $40. It's a good day already!

The storm is raging outside now, so I'll continue doing more cleaning I didn't get done yesterday, and hoping the electricity doesn't go off or something fun like that. Thoughts with everyone else who is in the affected areas. Stay warm, dry and SAFE!

My phone bill went up! And more.

Last night I was prepping for this morning- Payday! So I was sorting through the stuff I had to do, and opened the phone bill online. And noticed it went up!... by 14 cents. Do you notice when a set bill fluctuates, even by a bit? It seems what went up was the Federal Universal Service Charge... whatever that means. Yes, I did track it down! Oh well. I'll survive and adjust.

Today, I'm heading from work 1 to work 2 with a 1hr commute as a break in between (woo hoo). I'm very, very thankful for the extra work, especially since it was supposed to be very, very slow this month, and the extra money is helping me rub a few sore spots from my budget (like when I paid the car off partially with my monthly car insurance contribution because both funds were together in the same savings account... it was only $90, but still!). I'll even be able to put $50 into my EF! Small, humble beginnings.

I brag a lot about my small blue book (mentioned/pictured here and here). I left it at work yesterday by mistake, and I'm sad to report it has made me a bit anxious! Although the book is safe, I guess I need to have it accessible. That's something I'll have to change soon. Perhaps I'll pass all my plans into an spreadsheet, just in case. I still like the constancy of it. Having things physically written down vs in a spreadsheet makes a difference for me.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and good luck to you guys on the northeast/hurricane path, as you prepare for a cold/windy weekend next week! I myself am a bit excited about it. I like storms and hurricanes. I hope I'm the only weirdo from your group that does too! Stay safe!

Oh, and head over to Judy's blog and check her awesome preparedness tips. She has all the bases covered! Wish I could do half the things on her list!

Leftover funds and work shoes

For the past 12 paychecks, I had been either at zero days before the next check came (9 times), or needing to borrow from the future check (3 occasions). I was not liking borrowing from a next paycheck, even if it didn't really put a dent in my budget. If I was $20 short, I'd just take it from my Misc budget for the following two weeks. Well, that sucks when your Misc budget is only $40 for two weeks!

So I am very pleased that despite all the turmoil my account saw with trying to pay the car off early, I have $27.06 left. Not even sure why I'm so excited about that...

What to do with this? Well... These past few weeks (well, the last 2-3 months), I've been consistently working at my part time job, which is quite physical. Long, long hours of standing, moving, running... you know the drill. The shoes I use for that are, well, definitely not heavy-duty work shoes! They are dressier shoes, more for going out, and as such, provide no extra comfort or support. But they are my only low-heel black shoes, so off to work with me they go. They see action about 6 out of 7 days a week. Which probably has been the cause that my last 2 similar pairs have met their shoe-maker about 4 times earlier than they would've  The soles eat all the way through to the shoe, the pressure shifts to one side and just destroys whatever support they were to offer...

I can guess you know where this is going! I went looking online for good non-slip shoes. I still can't bring myself to pay $40-$60 for good shoes. But I found these nice shoes online, good brand, great reviews and decided to go for it. They were only $25.05 after shipping, offers and coupon. In addition, I'll get about $4.50 in cash back at some point (thanks Lena and Judy for mentioning those rebate sites!).

I still dislike spending money on me. A lot! I don't feel guilty, and it's not like it would've meant that much to me to put that money to savings or something. But I just don't like getting 'nice things' for myself. Especially not that 'pricey'. Oh well. I'm excited for the shoes to come! Hopefully they are comfortable and make my work life (and body) happier in the long run. I'll take photos of them once I get them. I know, I must be very bored if I'm willing to photograph shoes!

Budget Love

Have I mentioned I love my budget and how it works?

It's not the same as saying that I make a lot of money and have all I want. I've spoken probably enough to give out that my discretionary budget is tiny. But what I do love about it was how I set it up about a year and a half ago; in 2 week increments. Everything either gets paid on the first paycheck or on the second paycheck. There are no-in betweens. No mess, no hassle to deal with. I know this isn't possible for many people, but if you can make it work, it is a huge stress reliever to only deal with the stress of bill paying once every 2 weeks.

Yesterday I finished writing down my budget through Oct 2013. Not only ending on that date because it's 12 months from now, but also because that's when my budget will stabilize again. There will be money moving from one debt selection to another one as things get paid off. Amounts will be split or joined. It took me a while to finish this; about a week, really. Up until now, all I needed to do was copy the previous month and I'd be set. But can't do that in the foreseeable future without missing something.

The chances my budget will be seeing starting Nov, besides the lack of the car loan, will be a focus on building my EF, and once that's achieved, CC1 will be getting the bulk of the hits. After that one's out of the park, Loan 1 (smallest) will go next, followed by CC2 (which is closed, so it doesn't accrue interest). I'm truly happy to have a plan set down. Whether I can follow it up or not is a different thing, since I don't know what may come up, but so far, unless my discipline lacks, I've been pretty able to follow through. All of this excitement will end in September, making Oct 2013 my "new normal" for the following 12 months.

I look forward to my next two big moves; completing my $1000 EF fund by January and getting rid of CC1 by March. I know Judy has been looking at her future budget, but how about everyone else? What's your next big thing shuffling around your funds?

Petty theft

For the past 4 or so years, I've been wearing the same kind of sunglasses. And trust me, they're not all that fine! They're the Target brand (I think Merona?), and were usually for sale at $7.99/ea. I don't know why, but they just sit nicely and provide very good coverage from the sun. I really, truly like them. I like them so much, I've gone through 5 pairs in those last 4 years. First pair was worn to the ground; second pair had a bad lens-to-floor accident; third pair was stolen after I left them in one of our service halls at my part time job; 4th pair is still MIA since a month ago. 5th pair was stolen Saturday.

It happened once again at my part time job. Except that unlike the first time, this time it was in possibly the most public, foot-traffic heavy area of our service halls. Literally *every* department can go through those halls. There's always someone walking by there. I always leave my sunglasses hanging from our dept board. Most people know they are mine. Other people also hang things like their car keys, reading glasses, jackets and coats, etc near that board.

But after 10hrs of work on Sat, I discover they are gone. Really, why would someone do that? They're the cheapest glasses sold at Target! They were chipped on the left side! Paint was already coming off on the handles. They don't even look that nice, and cannot be resold. They also have no money hidden inside. I know, I checked!

I guess it doesn't bother me that they're gone. (Though I did like them a lot, and my Target stopped selling that exact model last year; I know this because I got the last 2 pairs of our store!) It bothers me that people I work with potentially took them. The same people I'm helping day in, day out. It upsets me that people I know would steal. I left a passive aggressive note asking for them to be returned. I have some faith left in humanity, don't I? I don't think I'll get them back, but I can hope. I don't want to have to go sunglasses hunting!

But I really don't want to change!

Recently at work we got new computers. Which is fantastic, since mine kept freezing up, crashing and other fun stuff. I mean, if my productivity could be measured (which would be as easy as counting grains of sand near the shore at a beach), it had considerably gone down due to computer issues. I'm talking in the 30-40% productivity decrease. It was NO fun waiting 4-5min for a two-page document to print, or taking 20min doing a form that used to take me 5min. So I am truly grateful for the upgrade.

Our old computers had Windows XP. This is the one I like the most and I was most used to. Yet it didn't dawn upon me until the brand new shiny computers arrived, that we would have to upgrade to Windows 7. Ouch.

I am loving Windows 7/Office 10 so far. It is fantastic! It is SO much better than Windows Vista, which I have on my laptop, and so far, seems pretty stable like Win XP. However... it is completely different! We got the new computers in on Wednesday. Still today at 5pm, I couldn't find how to do some tasks. Out of the 8 business hours, I'd say at least 2-3 have been spent trying to figure stuff around. And I am very technologically inclined! Needless to say we got thrown into this without any warning or training, but I figure they think that because we're young(er), this stuff should run in our veins. But it doesn't! Me and my office partner (we're both the same age) are slowly working our way through the new OS and all the changes that came through it. But it takes time. Any change takes time.

That's been me this past week. Not ready for Monday at all, but not like I can stop it. Have a great rest of your weekend!

Christmas Jar

Remember that cash Christmas jar some were talking about last year? Because of my lack of cash budgeting, I am sure I don't have that much in mine, but I think I have more than $70. Not the $400 I originally wanted, but I'll take whatever I can.

Last year I made it a goal to get at least $600 total to spend on Christmas related stuff.

So far, I have $225 + ???:
-$30 worth of Target Gift cards
-$110 in rewards from my credit card
-$85 from October's overage
-??? in Christmas jar
-Two $25 gift cards to different restaurants, which are not located within 50 miles from me. I may try to sell them (though it seems the most I can get is $38 cash) or use them with my half brother. I'm leaning towards using them if I am to lose that much value out of them by selling... (not accounted for)

I guess I'm not in that great of a shape, pending whatever I walk away with in my jar! I may be able to add an additional $200 this coming Friday, since my budget is a lot more relaxed and I've worked quite a few hours at my part time job.

I still have no idea what to get anyone for Christmas, but unlike previous Christmases when I play the black sheep and completely avoid my family, I want to get everyone something, if just to be nice (Thanks, book of Decencies!). So far, the only thing I know I want to get for my brother and his spouse is a customized throw blanket with their family name. Specifically, this one. That alone is $50 after shipping! Though if I spend $50 on each family member, that's still only $300, which means I'm in a good place. I'll go find some other gifts to add to my list... and open the Christmas jar as soon as I have at least 4 of 6 gifts figured out. Did you start a Christmas jar last year? If so, when do you plan to open yours?

Re-balancing my books

The bloggers of the PF world have spoken, and I will be building up my EF before going full strength on my debt. I think that makes sense. Not sure how much I trust this plan, but these ladies and gents have more experience than I do, so I'll go for it.

What does that mean in the very short term? Let's compare.
Original plans: EF refilled by end of Apr, CC1 paid off by end of Jan, $2000 car fund complete by May.
New plans: $1,000 EF by end of Dec, CC1 paid off by end of Feb, $2,000 car fund complete by May.

Huh. Yeah. I am confused as well. But doesn't seem the building up of the EF first changes things a whole lot. I guess on my original plan, the priorities were the CC1 and rebuilding that car fund at the same time as rebuilding the EF, so they both took a lot longer than fully dedicating to any particular one. I'm alright with this plan.

It seems I may also be able to give myself a $10 cost of living increase per two weeks starting January. That's pretty nice. I'm giving myself a raise! I'm such a good boss. So instead of $150 for personal/food/misc/gas, I'll have $160. Hurray! I'm just hoping gas doesn't go up to eat that extra.

I'm off to take a nap. This week has been WAY too long...

So what now?

I know I'm combining quite a few different debt repayment methods, but hey, as long as they work, there's no harm, right? I started with the snowball, paying the smallest first, but switched to the avalanche to get rid of the car loan, and I am thinking I may stay with the avalanche, because I'm tired of paying interest.

With the car gone, that frees up $410/mo to pay things. The car was my second highest expense after rent ($450), and a very far second from the next highest item ($133 for my Student Loan #2). I could easily rebuild my EF in 2 months, no problem.

However...

To be entirely honest, I don't think I am ready for an EF. I'll give you a few seconds to consider that.

My problem with an EF is money that is there. I know it's there. And even though I won't go spending it foolishly on myself or something like that, history has shown that something non-emergency will come by and sweep it away (90% of it will have to deal with my family). If I don't have it, I can't spend it, right? I will eventually complete my EF, of course. But for right now, it may be a triumph of hope over experience to re-complete it right before Christmas... I have a bad feeling that if I do, it will be gone before New Year's hits.

After surviving April through September of this year paying the steep price to re-complete my own $2000 loan (which was used to pay off the car), I don't want to put myself into the same situation. Because it truly, truly sucks. And I got no benefits out of what my funds were used on.

So instead, I will stick with one of my original modification to my plans, which is to pay off CC1 with the extra money. If I stick with it, it will be gone by January, and save me an additional $80 or so in interest. And then I can work on my EF under less stressful times. Jan - May are usually very financially stable for me, so if I can hope on that, it should be the best time to have an EF last.

I know it's probably a bad idea to forgo an EF for such a long time... and I can trust myself not to spend the money on me, but my family is another matter. I believe my best alternative is to go this holiday season without an EF or intended funds. I'll scrape by a Murphy fund (~$300), and if that goes away, no biggie. Still gotta run the numbers on this plan, but I'll let you know!

Bye bye, car loan!

I just made my last payment on the loan, to the ring of $2,632.03. $2000 came from that repayment I have been working on since April this year (which came as a bonus last March!), $410 will come from what would've been a regular payment and the remaining $220 come from my PT checks for last week ($90) and this week ($130). I was barely making it, and I wish my brother could've contributed to his car, but right now, I don't care! I'm just happy and excited.

Since it's after hours, this withdrawal wont hit my bank until tomorrow (or Sat, or Mon). I get paid tomorrow. I just did it early because I couldn't help myself. I HAD to do this!

I'm working tomorrow at my PT job right after my FT job, so there wouldn't have been much time to celebrate... so I'm doing it today! I'll also be working Saturday... I am really thankful for the extra money, especially since it goes away once Nov starts and the hotel gets less busy.

Have a wonderful weekend!


(I know I should be working on my EF, but that's coming! Trust me, I just NEEDED to see this first due gone!)


Update, with photos!

Switching wardrobes

You can give me all the grief you want on this one. Whenever someone complains of lack of space because of too many clothes, some of which they haven't seen in a year or two, I'm the first one to say to donate or toss them.

Well... I finally got around to switching my wardrobes, since the temperatures dropped from 81 degrees on Friday to 52 on Sunday and 55 today and yesterday. I have 2 boxes (paper cartons actually) under the bed which is where I store my off-season clothes. One of those boxes appeared to have some clothes I was unsure of last season; a few with brand new tags. I guess last time I switched clothes I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with these, so I stored them in hopes I'd know better this time around.

I really don't know that much better this time around, so over 3/4 got folded back and will go to donations sometime this weekend. However, I kept 1/4 of the items, which I was unsure of... and they were put away in hopes I'll know better next time around.

So much for 'do as I say, not as I do'! What's your rule with clothes? Do you switch them around with the changing seasons? What about those items you haven't worn for a year or two? Do you keep them in hopes one day you will use them, or do you get rid of them?

Halloween Beckons

Yikes! Is it October already? That means Halloween!

For anyone that was ever curious, it seems a pillow case can fit about 47lbs of candy, or about 1.6k pieces! Arent you glad they make those small trick-or-treat bags?

Are any of you passing candy? I bought 2 bags of misc candy for really cheap a few weeks ago (thanks, Walgreens!), and will be giving that out to my parents so they can pass the candy. Down where I rent, Halloween is a BIG thing. And I mean big. They see in the 200's of kids every year. People drive from all around town and park their cars close to the neighborhood so they can benefit. Most people run out of candy before they run out of children!

At my parents, when we first moved  in, we would see maybe 60-80 kids. But recently, the numbers have dwindled to pretty much none. You still get the occasional small group of kids, but is it really worth it to buy a bunch of candy for the chance that kids drop by?

How do you calculate how much candy you buy? Also, what do you do with the leftover candy? (If you eat it all, we wont judge!) I took all of the leftover candy last year to a dentists office last year, where they were offering to send them over to our troops out in assignments. I guess that's one good way to save your teeth and do your good deed of the month!

Down to the last window

Dear diary,

I know we haven't spoken in a while. But it was mostly your fault for talking back to me. You weren't supposed to do that, least of all sneer at me messing up my last grocery receipt! But I come today to talk about my car. I must've jinxed myself when I mentioned on my blog that I was looking at other cars out of fear something may happen to my current car. You more know than anyone that I really dislike this car a lot. It's sort of like the uncle who insists your name is Benitto and asks you to pull his finger. Repeatedly. In front of other adults.

Yeah, we do have that sort of relationship, but as long as it takes me from point A to B in a single piece, we can stay friends. But these past 2 weeks it is taking our friendship to the limit. Need I remind you the car has never had working A/C? Oh? You remember? Ok, good. I wont gripe about that then.

The car has had a faulty R rear window for as long as I can remember. It had already been repaired twice before it went kaput and had to be stuck on the fully-closed mode. Last weekend (on Monday morning no less) I had to abandon trade the piece of junk with my dad's expensive piece of junk because the R front window decided to break and wouldn't go up. At 6:58am. Fast forward to the following Sunday, and me and my dad are enjoying quality time trying to fix that front window. However, the car decided that it really did not want to be fixed.

So we gave up and stuck a piece of wood to secure that the window would stay up. I thought 2 windows (L front and L rear) would be enough for all intents and purposes. And seeing that I was willing to compromise, the car decided that for the first time ever it would eat the only key to it within 50mi and lock itself. I pout all the time, but not like that! So we had to break into my own car. I suggested to my dad we put on winter masks. That should totally creep out the neighborhood.

How fashionable is this? Totally perfect for trying to pry your car open at 2 in the afternoon from your own driveway!

After all, it's not every day you see a pair of thieves trying to break into an old car with a pair of pliers and some long cables. 1.5hrs and 2 pieces of steel cable later, the car's paint was ruined and the door was opened. Hurray!


But oh, if I had only known my 'joy' would be so short lived. These silver linings have a shorter shelf life than dollar store milk gallons. Driving the perilous 5min commute from work to the room I rent on Wednesday evening, I gently pulled my two L windows down, just a crack to air the car that had been sitting in the sun for 9hrs. Only to find out the L rear window stayed down and wouldn't go up.

I went from 3 windows to 1 in less than 10 days! I am thankful that fall and cooler temps are among us. Actually, I didn't say thankful! I don't need any more punishment for being too complacent  I'll keep you updated as to what I'll do with that car... for now, please just stop laughing at my grocery store visits. It's not nice!

Sincerely, Tanner.

Musings for the week

I had forgotten there was nothing fun about working too many days. Somehow I pulled a muscle in my back sometime on Friday, and it really hurts; still hurts. I seem to be getting hurt/sore more often these days, and I should start paying attention to things. It didn't help I was feeling lousy on Thursday to begin with! I told you I was crazy to consider getting another part-time job. I think one is enough. For now.

Though speaking about jobs, recently I was asked again why I am at my part time job, since it is a LOT of very physical work (restaurant/hotel type setting). I may sound like a fool sometimes, but I truly enjoy it there, and I enjoy (most) of the people I work with to the point they've become an extended family to me. I also like my managers, and at the end of the day (or at the bottom of the night), I'm getting paid to socialize. It aint so bad if you put it that way.

I'm looking forward to the Friday after next when I get to figure out how to pay off the car. I can send a check and play the timing game, or pay it online and get charged about $10~$20 extra. I also promise I will stop talking about paying off the car by the 13th (or whenever the loan clears). I'm just very excited to see it gone.

I went back to my trusted old blue book and looked at the following paychecks, and sort of realized I've left $235 for paycheck 10/26 floating around, unaccounted for, that would've otherwise gone to either paying off the car or continuing paying off my self-loan. I enjoyed about an hour of daydreaming about perhaps buying a Kindle (the more I look at it, the more it looks like a big-time fancy want toy, but the more I'd like to have it), or maybe saving it to buy the new Blackberry 10 once it comes out in January, or buying a ton of books to keep myself entertained. Maybe buying some winter clothes? Something for me for a change. Would be nice, but we all know where that money is going. Sometimes it sucks being responsible! C'est la vie.