Almost there!

This morning, I wondered what I would talk about when I finally become debt free. Payday is tomorrow and (God willing) I will finally be out of credit card debt. It feels fantastic, but I also realize that I have plenty left to do before I am anywhere near stable financial ground. May is my first month attempting to follow a real budget (rather than just tracking expenses…which I actually wasn’t very good at), and there is this pesky savings goal called an emergency fund that I must begin saving for. My new goal is to have $1000 saved up by early July, which is when I presume that my current job will be ending.

I wish that my debt-freedom could come in happier times, but the reality is that I must just keep looking ahead to those next goals – a new job and an emergency fund.

Extra income

$110 in unexpected extra income for April was a nice bonus/surprise. I did some last-minute babysitting (for the first time in forever) and some yard work for an older couple.

It all went to my credit card - probably putting my balance just under $400. Yesss!!

I hope to be able to scrounge up at least as much extra income in May - I'll shoot for $150. Here's hoping!

I'm here...

Sigh. The job search process is a long one these days. Mine has just begun. At some yet-to-be determined point this summer I will be unemployed. I feel as though I shouldn’t search for jobs on the clock at my current job, which leaves me limited time in which to search, but at the same time, I consider myself lucky to still have a job in this environment.

Applied for two jobs today, one in my field and one related to volunteer work I have done in the past. I’m less hopeful about that one – except for the fact that it was a new posting on a job board.

In other news, I hope to get back to running (yes, I’ve fallen off the wagon already) and blogging. Consider this post my first attempt.

And although I have yet to work the numbers out exactly, I believe I am down to about $500 in debt. Woohoo for one of my goals to be on track!

Thanks for reading. I promise you happier musings tomorrow.

Slightly random Tuesday musings

1. Week 3 of couch-to-5k. It’s going well so far. I mentioned before that I would consider myself to be a better runner (not at all a good one!) at the start of this program than are most participants. I feel week 3 is the first big leap up in level of difficulty.
2. I’m still undecided on whether or not I like my new running shoes. I plan on seeking out and investing in some inserts for them soon.
3. Two days from now my debt will be down to three digits! I am very, very excited about this.
4. Easter candy is far too tempting to be out in stores for so long. I remember seeing it out alongside the Valentine’s Day goodies!
5. Maybe if I was a better cook, I wouldn’t have such a desire to eat candy so often!

Payday Progress

(A bit late; just got back from a work conference.)

Remaining debt: $1210 (aargh.)
Checking: $110.00
Savings: $25.00

Couch to 5k: Day 1

I have finally decided to try the program that everyone has been raving about for so long. It calls for three sessions/week (fits in perfectly with my desire to work out 4 times per week) that last 20-30 minutes each.

Now, let me say that I am NOT a runner. It is something I have never been good at, although I have played sports virtually my entire life. However, I need to also say that I am not quite a ‘couch’ person either. I probably spend, on average, two to three hours per week at the gym.

So my initial impression of the program is two-fold. First of all, I am in better shape than the average beginner, and so these first few weeks are not going to be much of a challenge for me. That said, I loved being on a treadmill for 20 minutes and having something to follow along with. My usual habit is to jump on the treadmill and run until I can’t any longer – which, I promise you, was never 20 minutes. I may or may not jump ahead a few weeks to something that pushes me further…weeks 3 or 4.

Dear Diary...

Fitness goals – lose 5lbs by end of March
-write down everything I eat
-smaller dinners
-exercise 4x/week (I’m upping this from earlier; I really enjoy exercise once I get started on it)
-no soda or juices from concentrate

Reading goals – finish two books by the end of March
-read 1hr/day
(not a goal, but pick a fiction and non-fic book for April)

Finance goals-
-start up a savings account for money down for a new car and begin automating payments
-reduce CC debt to 3 digits ($250 towards debt on 3/12 and 3/26)
-replenish emergency fund to $500 by May


I’m a big believer in small rewards – at least for myself- because I know that I can keep them as ‘rewards’ and that I respond well to them. Here are my little rewards for accomplishing the month’s goals

Fitness reward-
http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=17082&vid=1&pid=719973

Reading reward- a new book. I love books and bookstores and haven’t bought a book of my own in forever!

Finance reward – spending a $25 iTunes giftcard that I received for Christmas.

No-spend days have proven themselves to be very difficult. I fear that is one goal I will not achieve this month. I am working about getting better at it, but there is something about my office culture (or maybe me) that makes it difficult to say no to the coffee/lunch/afternoon break that everyone else takes at the café.

Working out has been going much better. I have already been to the gym twice this week for fairly intense (for me) cardio workouts. I can already tell a difference in my stress level and in how well I am sleeping. Something else that has been motivating me is the fact that I stepped on a scale for the first time in months over this weekend. Ouch. There is nothing like those black and white numbers staring you in the face! I have gained about seven pounds of stress weight since the New Year. I also caved in and purchased a new pair of running shoes over the weekend. For $50 they aren’t the best pair but they should last me at least through the summer.

Payday Progress

Remaining debt: $1150
Checking: $94.00 (excluding March rent)
Savings: $0

(Two friends owe me money that will go a long way towards replenishing my savings. I'm not going into detail about it here- but I should see that money in about two weeks.)

Basically all that comes out of my checking is gas and fun - and I'm not planning on having time for much fun over the next two weeks (March is only slightly less crazy than February) so I should be more than set.

I am beyond excited that in two short weeks my debt will be down to three digits! I need to start setting aside some money in a travel fund, as I have personal trips coming up in May and June, so my debt repayment will slow down significantly after the next check.

Ready for March!

So February crazies are finally winding down – and I couldn’t be more excited.

In the last month I…

Have not cooked a single meal for the wonderful man
Have probably gone to the gym once a week, if that often.
Eaten chips and salsa for dinner more times than I can count
Ruined my eyes with the amount of reading I’ve done for work
Enjoyed too many after-work drinks with co-workers (when we finished reading applications after dinner hours)

In this coming month I am planning on….

Going to the gym three times a week
Cooking one meal per week from scratch (hey…starting slowly!)
Get back to drinking primarily water
Deep clean my apartment
Purge (donate) all of the clothing that I haven’t worn in the past year
Sticking to a budget religiously

Here’s hoping!

February's budget

This post should really be titled “What to do when a budget gets totally out of whack”. But alas, that seemed like far too many words. Thankfully February is a short little month and seems to be coming to an end rather quickly.

What made the budget get so off track? Actually, that question should really be “what made me get so off track?” And the answer, my friends, comes down to two bad habits that I have been trying desperately to get away from.

The first is poor planning. I never truly took the time to sit down and figure out what reasonable amounts for food and gas would be for the month. I spent more money than necessary on food-and let too much go to waste, a major pet peeve of mine. I simply underestimated how much I was traveling this month, which caused the other thing that got my budget off track. Extra traveling led to more fast food purchases than normal. (Both the wallet and the waistline are unhappy about those purchases!)

My plan to combat the February disaster? I’ve already begun planning my March budget. March is shaping up to be a good month! Something very exciting will happen. For the first time since I was (I think) a junior in college, my credit card balance will be under $1000. Three figures! I cannot tell you how excited I am for that to happen. I already have a mini-reward planned out for myself, which includes using up an iTunes and fast food gift card that I was given for Christmas. What fun!

One little thing I should metion

Before I get so involved in moving stories and apartment hunting and all of the details of budgets and homemaking etc, I should probably mention one little fact.

M(the man) and I are not.getting.married. There. I said it. And I should mention that we are not getting married yet. We plan on being married. And one day in the fairly near future. But that day will not happen before we move in for a variety of reasons that I am sure I will end up explaining at a later date.

On that note, I should probably mention one of my favorite benefits of working at a college. It's Thursday afternoon, and because most every student on campus plans to go out partying tonight (it's a small and crazy place; so yes, I really do mean almost every student)...campus already has that great weekend feel to it. I know I'm getting excited and I'm sure not to be the only one. Bring on the weekend!

Yours, mine, and ours

We're still a few months away from beginning to look at apartments for next year. but this whole two-into-one household thing is quite a process, and so we're starting early.

Our very first order of business is finding out what all we own, so that we'll be able to figure out what we do and don't need to buy for our new abode. This is slightly easier for the man who lives on his now than it is for me, because i have a roommate and also have a few things still at the parents' house that I never brought with me after moving out after college.

To that end, we are each working on building spreadsheets of what we have. He has lumped all of his things into one big spreadsheet; I have several documents spread out by room. Because mine are all nice and separate (bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room) they are going to be the master lists when we merge the two. We'll be able to see what we have duplicates of and what we can purge (one of the multiple sets of silverware) and what we still need to purchase (a kitchen table).

What can I say? We are both ridiculously into planning down to the last meticulous detail. Right now we're both hoping that this means our move will go off seamlessly!

First post!

I have been wanting to start a blog for a while now, but haven’t quite figured out how to write the first post so here goes. Consider it a sort of ‘about me’.

I am a twentysomething with my first job out of college. I chose a career for love and not money, which of course means that there isn’t much money to go around. I find personal finance incredibly interesting and exciting; here is my attempt both to journal about my own finances and to share what I have learned along the way.

And another interesting tidbit about me – I will most likely be combining finances with another (non-spousal) person, and sooner rather than later. This is uncharted territory for both of us…and it is sure to be an interesting ride! Stay tuned for more!