It’s been a while since I last posted. I have been way busy this past week and without internet until last night. My week off was nice. I spent one day at a local amusement park and one at the zoo. The other two were filled with packing and IKEA shopping for the new apartment. And of course, the weekend was moving and unpacking.
I was keeping track of money, but forgot to write anything down and promptly forgot. I know I was doing well up until the move, so I suspect if I went over my $100 budget it was by $10-$20 max.
The new apartment is still in disarray. There are boxes everywhere and flattened boxes that need to be taken out to the dumpster, but it is slowly being put in order. At least my kitchen is in enough order that I haven’t eaten out since Sunday morning which is good for both my budget and my waistline.
In great financial news- I found out I got a scholarship for fall semester for $1200! That’s only $100 less than my loan was short. Unfortunately, I already put it on my credit card and paid the 4% charge to do a 0% interest balance transfer, but it is still looking good. The money won’t disburse until late September, but I should be able to pay off that pesky credit card debt right away or at least come darn close. More on that in the September Goals post though!
I’ll post a review of how I did on my August goals and my goals for September tomorrow.
31 August 2010
24 August 2010
A Little Rant...
I meant to post yesterday for My Pretty Pennies' Monday Money Checkup, but she didn't do it this week. Instead you get a little rant today, brought to you by... My Scale!
I hopped on the scale this morning- as Tuesday is my usual weigh-in day when I'm on top of things and actually following through. Imagine my surprise after a week and a half of tracking my calories (and coming in about 100 calories over what livestrong says I need for losing two pounds a week) I found myself up half a pound! Granted half a pound is not a ton, but even when I lower my activity level on livestrong I'm still eating low enough to be losing a pound a week and instead I GAIN HALF A POUND! I'm just so sick of it. Sigh.
What a way to start off my staycation.
In other notes- I'm off to the amusement park today. I expect to pay $10 in parking fees, but we will be packing a lunch and I got free tickets. Should come away starting off the staycation on the cheap side.
I hopped on the scale this morning- as Tuesday is my usual weigh-in day when I'm on top of things and actually following through. Imagine my surprise after a week and a half of tracking my calories (and coming in about 100 calories over what livestrong says I need for losing two pounds a week) I found myself up half a pound! Granted half a pound is not a ton, but even when I lower my activity level on livestrong I'm still eating low enough to be losing a pound a week and instead I GAIN HALF A POUND! I'm just so sick of it. Sigh.
What a way to start off my staycation.
In other notes- I'm off to the amusement park today. I expect to pay $10 in parking fees, but we will be packing a lunch and I got free tickets. Should come away starting off the staycation on the cheap side.
20 August 2010
Goal Checkup Friday
I’ve been slowly but surely making progress towards my goals.
The only progress on the long term goals is the book I finished and the car payment that was debited from my account on Wednesday.
- I made it to 6108 steps Wednesday but went way way under yesterday. :( I should still be able to make it to my goal if I get back on track today.
- I just finished listening to another book, so that brings me up to 63 books.
- I’ve been regularly using livestrong.com to track my eating- only missed one day so far!
- I’ve eaten out a few times lately and only have $4 left to last me until Monday. Any other eating out will be part of my staycation budget (or possibly a moving expense). I had some delicious sweet tomatoes on Wednesday which was well worth my $10. I think $4 is totally reasonable since my plans this weekend involve packing, cleaning, and reading. And because I’m cheap I can stretch $4 to two fast food meals if I need to.
- In general I’m over budget this month. Partially because of the school payment and partially just because I’ve been over spending in some categories. I think my under budget in other categories will put me at even with my income except for the school payment. Well, actually likely not since I have to buy more things for the new apartment.
The only progress on the long term goals is the book I finished and the car payment that was debited from my account on Wednesday.
18 August 2010
Books of 2010
Since I will be posting books that I have read at the end of each month, I thought it might be a good idea to give you a list of the 62 books I’ve read so far (along with a star rating). Each rating is out of 5 stars.
January
1. Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke ****
2. Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke ***
February
3. Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke ****
4. Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke ****
5. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger ****
6. Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson **
7. Don’t Know Much About Literature by Kenneth C. Davis ***
March
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett ****
9. The Spark by Chris Downie ****
10. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins *****
11. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins *****
12. Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult ****
April
13. Die Trying by Lee Child ***
14. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss *****
15. Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke ***
16. Tripwire by Lee Child ****
17. Running Blind by Lee Child ****
May
18. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie *****
19. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett *****
20. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne *****
21. Echo Burning by Lee Child ****
22. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney ****
23. Without Fail by Lee Child ****
24. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko ****
25. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech *****
June
26. Whisper in the Dark by Joseph Bruchac ***
27. Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander ***
28. Persuader by Lee Child ****
29. Rescue Ink by Rescue Ink ****
30. On Writing by Stephen King ****
31. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann ****
32. Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins ****
33. The BFG by Rolad Dahl ****
34. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead ****
35. Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary ***
36. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit ***
37. Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo ****
38. The Enemy by Lee Child ****
July
39. Shacking Up: The Smart Girl’s Guide To Living in Sin Without Getting Burned by Stacy Whitman ****
40. Forever by Judy Blume **
41. Bite Me by Christopher Moore ***
42. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Ciseneros ****
43. Going Bovine by Libba Bray *****
44. One Shot by Lee Child ****
45. Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block *
46. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling ****
47. Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles ****
48. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie ****
49. Someone To Love Me by Anne Schraff **
50. Imani All Mine by Connie Rose Porter ***
51. Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling ****
52. American Born Chinese by Gene Yang ****
53. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan ***
54. The Hard Way by Lee Child ****
55. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi ****
56. Stitches by David Small ***
As you can tell my reading is somewhat diverse in genre and age range. Part of this also comes from the childrens and young adult classes I’ve taken over the summer.
If you are curious about what any book is about, or what I thought of something in more detail, post it in the comments and I’ll let you know.
January
1. Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke ****
2. Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke ***
February
3. Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke ****
4. Carrot Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke ****
5. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger ****
6. Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson **
7. Don’t Know Much About Literature by Kenneth C. Davis ***
March
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett ****
9. The Spark by Chris Downie ****
10. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins *****
11. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins *****
12. Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult ****
April
13. Die Trying by Lee Child ***
14. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss *****
15. Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke ***
16. Tripwire by Lee Child ****
17. Running Blind by Lee Child ****
May
18. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie *****
19. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett *****
20. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne *****
21. Echo Burning by Lee Child ****
22. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney ****
23. Without Fail by Lee Child ****
24. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko ****
25. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech *****
June
26. Whisper in the Dark by Joseph Bruchac ***
27. Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander ***
28. Persuader by Lee Child ****
29. Rescue Ink by Rescue Ink ****
30. On Writing by Stephen King ****
31. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann ****
32. Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins ****
33. The BFG by Rolad Dahl ****
34. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead ****
35. Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary ***
36. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit ***
37. Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo ****
38. The Enemy by Lee Child ****
July
39. Shacking Up: The Smart Girl’s Guide To Living in Sin Without Getting Burned by Stacy Whitman ****
40. Forever by Judy Blume **
41. Bite Me by Christopher Moore ***
42. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Ciseneros ****
43. Going Bovine by Libba Bray *****
44. One Shot by Lee Child ****
45. Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block *
46. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling ****
47. Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles ****
48. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie ****
49. Someone To Love Me by Anne Schraff **
50. Imani All Mine by Connie Rose Porter ***
51. Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling ****
52. American Born Chinese by Gene Yang ****
53. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan ***
54. The Hard Way by Lee Child ****
55. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi ****
56. Stitches by David Small ***
As you can tell my reading is somewhat diverse in genre and age range. Part of this also comes from the childrens and young adult classes I’ve taken over the summer.
If you are curious about what any book is about, or what I thought of something in more detail, post it in the comments and I’ll let you know.
16 August 2010
Monday Money Check-Up
This post is part of My Pretty Pennies Monday Money Check Up.
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on _this semesters tuition- 1340 not covered by my loans. :(
2. Today I feel _hopeful_ towards money.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was_frisbee golfing with Wesley.
4. I will consider this week a success if I _don't go over my eating out budget.
5. One movie that always me think of the summer is _The Lion King (I remember seeing it at on a summer night at the drive-in).
Head on over to My Pretty Pennies to see her check up and others.
Staycation Plans
My staycation with Wesley is scheduled to start a week from tomorrow. Unfortunately, it’s looking like he’ll wind up working for a few hours on Wednesday, but we have some exciting plans nonetheless. We also have some boring plans, as I suspect we both will need to do more packing before the 28th move-in date. I’m still excited about having almost a week off of work and school though!
Plans for my time off (and expenses):
1. Eating breakfast at our favorite local diners ($20 for 2 breakfasts out)
2. A day at the local amusement park ($10- we got free tickets, we can drink free water, we can walk there, but we’ll likely spend a little money on snacks or a meal at the fast food place across the street)
3. A night camping (this may or may not happen, but I’d expect around $25 for food, a camping spot, and gas)
4. Trip to a zoo (we have two zoo options for this, one would run around $5 to get there and get in, the other would run around $10 to get there and get in. Plus another $10 to eat lunch out works out to $15-20)
5. Walks and bike rides (free! There are plenty of places to go on walks around us as well as bike ride and we plan to take advantage of it)
6. Movies and TV (free! we plan to spend plenty of time lounging around and relaxing in front of the TV set)
7. Frisbee golf (free! Plenty of frisbee golf courses in the area and I hope to try out a few I haven’t been to)
Total expected cost: $65-$70 out of the $100 I have budgeted
I expect that the camping will fall through and we’ll go to the more expensive zoo (since there is a restaurant we love near there) so it will probably be closer to $45 spent. And seeing myself so far under budget I’ll probably bump that back up to $65 with a few more meals out :) Having the extra $35 leftover in the budget is good though, it gives me extra cash if the move turns out to be more expensive than expected!
Plans for my time off (and expenses):
1. Eating breakfast at our favorite local diners ($20 for 2 breakfasts out)
2. A day at the local amusement park ($10- we got free tickets, we can drink free water, we can walk there, but we’ll likely spend a little money on snacks or a meal at the fast food place across the street)
3. A night camping (this may or may not happen, but I’d expect around $25 for food, a camping spot, and gas)
4. Trip to a zoo (we have two zoo options for this, one would run around $5 to get there and get in, the other would run around $10 to get there and get in. Plus another $10 to eat lunch out works out to $15-20)
5. Walks and bike rides (free! There are plenty of places to go on walks around us as well as bike ride and we plan to take advantage of it)
6. Movies and TV (free! we plan to spend plenty of time lounging around and relaxing in front of the TV set)
7. Frisbee golf (free! Plenty of frisbee golf courses in the area and I hope to try out a few I haven’t been to)
Total expected cost: $65-$70 out of the $100 I have budgeted
I expect that the camping will fall through and we’ll go to the more expensive zoo (since there is a restaurant we love near there) so it will probably be closer to $45 spent. And seeing myself so far under budget I’ll probably bump that back up to $65 with a few more meals out :) Having the extra $35 leftover in the budget is good though, it gives me extra cash if the move turns out to be more expensive than expected!
14 August 2010
August Goals
So last time I told you about some of my big goals. The problem with big goals is that it is easy to lose track of them, so we make shorter term goals to accomplish. Here’s what I’m trying to do for August:
1. Increase my steps regularly so that I am up to 7000 steps. Basically, I’ve decided that each day I want to walk at least 100 more steps than the day before. Just started a few days ago, but so far so good.
2. Get my book count up to 70 books. As I said yesterday, I’m sitting at 62. 68 puts me on track and 70 puts me slightly ahead for the end of August.
3. Keep track of what I eat at least 80% of the time for the rest of the month. I just started using livestrong.com again (I love their new version of the myPlate feature) and I need to keep up with what I’m eating. I’m not prepared to commit to losing x pounds per week, but counting is the first step
4. Freezer Cook 2 meals. This might be cheating, since I just cooked one, but I’m new to freezer cooking so I’m starting small.
5. Keep to my eating out and vacation budgets. This gives me $35 for eating out the rest of the month and $100 for our staycation which can include meals out as part of the staycation. It might be tough but Wesley (which is what I hav decided will be DBF’s code name) owes me a meal cuz I paid for the last one, so that helps :)
6. Have a smooth move with as little costs as possible. I move the last weekend of August, out of my parents house and into an apartment with Wesley. I hope to keep my move expenses to the beverages and pizza that we will pay our friends in, but we’ll see if more is needed.
Lets hope I can finish these goals!
Next Time On Whooshing Sounds: A little bit about my Staycation plans.
1. Increase my steps regularly so that I am up to 7000 steps. Basically, I’ve decided that each day I want to walk at least 100 more steps than the day before. Just started a few days ago, but so far so good.
3. Keep track of what I eat at least 80% of the time for the rest of the month. I just started using livestrong.com again (I love their new version of the myPlate feature) and I need to keep up with what I’m eating. I’m not prepared to commit to losing x pounds per week, but counting is the first step
4. Freezer Cook 2 meals. This might be cheating, since I just cooked one, but I’m new to freezer cooking so I’m starting small.
5. Keep to my eating out and vacation budgets. This gives me $35 for eating out the rest of the month and $100 for our staycation which can include meals out as part of the staycation. It might be tough but Wesley (which is what I hav decided will be DBF’s code name) owes me a meal cuz I paid for the last one, so that helps :)
6. Have a smooth move with as little costs as possible. I move the last weekend of August, out of my parents house and into an apartment with Wesley. I hope to keep my move expenses to the beverages and pizza that we will pay our friends in, but we’ll see if more is needed.
Lets hope I can finish these goals!
Next Time On Whooshing Sounds: A little bit about my Staycation plans.
13 August 2010
Goals
Yesterday I told you where I’m at in terms of finances and health, today I’ll be sharing where I want to be.
My Debt:
Undergrad loan- I’m hoping to have this paid off (with a little help from my parents) by April 2011 at the latest. That will allow me to only be paying off my grad loans and start a few months early.
Grad School Loans- I will start paying these off as soon as my undergrad is done, or June 2011 at the latest. I plan to pay off extra on the smallest loan first, which would be the 7000 I owe to Direct Loans and then transfer my extra payments to the higher loan. My goal is to have these paid off by June 2014.
Car Loan- Because this has the lowest interest of all my loans, I do not plan on putting anything extra towards it until the student loans are paid off. My loan is scheduled to finish being paid in July 2015, but I hope to pay it off at least a few months early and finish in December of 2014. I will likely then upgrade to a newer version of my current car and start the loan over again (although a smaller loan since I will have a higher value trade in)
Credit Card- This is top priority for me, since the interest will go up come April 2011. I will have it paid off before then. I’m hoping to have it finished off in October 2010.
My Health:
I would like to lose 35 pounds by the end of December. This puts the average at a little less than 2 pounds a week. This is my optimistic goal. A more realistic goal would likely be to have that lost by April 2011, but I’m shooting for December and not beating myself up if I fail!
Looks like April 2011 will be a big month for me!! All these goals (hopefully) coming to fruition!
Misc:
I am in the process of working through my 2010 goal of reading 100 books this year. I am currently at 62 books and counting! If it wasn’t for the two lit classes I’ve taken this summer, there would be no way I could be doing so well with how busy I am. My commute filled with audiobooks also really helps.
Next Time at Whooshing Sounds: A more detailed August goals
My Debt:
Undergrad loan- I’m hoping to have this paid off (with a little help from my parents) by April 2011 at the latest. That will allow me to only be paying off my grad loans and start a few months early.
Grad School Loans- I will start paying these off as soon as my undergrad is done, or June 2011 at the latest. I plan to pay off extra on the smallest loan first, which would be the 7000 I owe to Direct Loans and then transfer my extra payments to the higher loan. My goal is to have these paid off by June 2014.
Car Loan- Because this has the lowest interest of all my loans, I do not plan on putting anything extra towards it until the student loans are paid off. My loan is scheduled to finish being paid in July 2015, but I hope to pay it off at least a few months early and finish in December of 2014. I will likely then upgrade to a newer version of my current car and start the loan over again (although a smaller loan since I will have a higher value trade in)
Credit Card- This is top priority for me, since the interest will go up come April 2011. I will have it paid off before then. I’m hoping to have it finished off in October 2010.
My Health:
I would like to lose 35 pounds by the end of December. This puts the average at a little less than 2 pounds a week. This is my optimistic goal. A more realistic goal would likely be to have that lost by April 2011, but I’m shooting for December and not beating myself up if I fail!
Looks like April 2011 will be a big month for me!! All these goals (hopefully) coming to fruition!
Misc:
I am in the process of working through my 2010 goal of reading 100 books this year. I am currently at 62 books and counting! If it wasn’t for the two lit classes I’ve taken this summer, there would be no way I could be doing so well with how busy I am. My commute filled with audiobooks also really helps.
Next Time at Whooshing Sounds: A more detailed August goals
12 August 2010
The Baseline
I feel it is only proper to start off this relationship with where I sit now.
My debt:
Undergrad Student Loans: The agreement was that my parents would pay for school on the back end. So far they give me some money here and there to help, but the majority of the payoff was all me.
Starting: 12,641
Current: 6,050
Grad School Student Loans: 3 loans in total 2 subsidized and 1 unsubsidized (my parents will not be helping me with these)
Starting: 26,000
Current: 26,000
Car Loan: Okay, so I probably didn’t need the new car I bought 2 months ago, but I got a super low APR, and I deserved it! I spend so much time commuting that it was worth it to me to buy a car I loved that gets FABULOUS mpg.
Starting: 22,000
Current: 21,360
Credit Card: This debt is half consumer debt and half a school payment that wasn’t covered by my loan. It is currently sitting on a card with a promotional 0% APR until my statement closes in April.
Starting: 2600
Current: 2600
My Health:
I’m short. I’m only 5’3” and therefore according to all the dr. charts I should only weight 125-135. From past experience I feel healthy and mostly good at 135 which is my goal. I wouldn’t be opposed to being 125, but we’ll see if I want to shoot for 10 pounds lighter when I make it to 135. At my current weight that means I have about 30-45 pounds to lose. I have never been this heavy before in my life and it does not make me happy.
A note to add to this is that recent tests seem to suggest that I have hypothyroidism which can cause weight gain, which would likely explain the fact that I am 20 pounds heavier this year than I was last year. Hopefully this will all get sorted out next week and I can start a medication that will help me take off the weight and resolve some of the other issues I’m having that are likely being caused by my thyroid.
Next Up: My Goals!
My debt:
Undergrad Student Loans: The agreement was that my parents would pay for school on the back end. So far they give me some money here and there to help, but the majority of the payoff was all me.
Starting: 12,641
Current: 6,050
Grad School Student Loans: 3 loans in total 2 subsidized and 1 unsubsidized (my parents will not be helping me with these)
Starting: 26,000
Current: 26,000
Car Loan: Okay, so I probably didn’t need the new car I bought 2 months ago, but I got a super low APR, and I deserved it! I spend so much time commuting that it was worth it to me to buy a car I loved that gets FABULOUS mpg.
Starting: 22,000
Current: 21,360
Credit Card: This debt is half consumer debt and half a school payment that wasn’t covered by my loan. It is currently sitting on a card with a promotional 0% APR until my statement closes in April.
Starting: 2600
Current: 2600
My Health:
I’m short. I’m only 5’3” and therefore according to all the dr. charts I should only weight 125-135. From past experience I feel healthy and mostly good at 135 which is my goal. I wouldn’t be opposed to being 125, but we’ll see if I want to shoot for 10 pounds lighter when I make it to 135. At my current weight that means I have about 30-45 pounds to lose. I have never been this heavy before in my life and it does not make me happy.
A note to add to this is that recent tests seem to suggest that I have hypothyroidism which can cause weight gain, which would likely explain the fact that I am 20 pounds heavier this year than I was last year. Hopefully this will all get sorted out next week and I can start a medication that will help me take off the weight and resolve some of the other issues I’m having that are likely being caused by my thyroid.
Next Up: My Goals!
Hello There Blog World!
So after spending such a large chunk of my free time reading about other people's trials and tribulations with getting themselves out of debt (and frequently also the battle of losing weight) I decided it was time I gave it a try, so here I am!
The purpose of this blog is to keep me accountable for the goals that I set for myself in the areas of my life that need the most work (that would be my waist and my pocketbook) and to share the tips and tricks that I learn along the way.
So here goes!
The purpose of this blog is to keep me accountable for the goals that I set for myself in the areas of my life that need the most work (that would be my waist and my pocketbook) and to share the tips and tricks that I learn along the way.
So here goes!
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