30 September 2010

October Goals

1.  Finish moving stuff out of my parents' house.  For Real this time!

2.  Cook 3 new recipes.  I really want to work on broadening my cooking horizons, so we don't eat the same things all the time!

3.  Stay in my $250 grocery budget.  Last month I spent way more than I wanted to, and I hope that come November I can bring this budget down to $200 but I find that with stocking my pantry in a new house its taking up quite a bit of cash. 

4. Earn 2 Amazon gift cards through Swagbucks. (more on Swagbucks soon)  I earned one in 2 weeks so I think I should hopefully be able to earn 2 in October.  We'll see though :)

5.  Stay in my $100 eating out budget.  I went over in September because of the girls nights out, so I really have $90 when I take out what I went over.  I think this is doable since I have no big plans and I managed to stay at 50 other than the girls nights last month. 

6.  Get up to 83 books.  We'll see.  I'm kinda far behind in this goal.

7.  270 minutes of Pilates.  I have the 10 minute pilates video that has 5 different 10 minute workouts on it.  This goal gives me a day a week off from doing 10 minutes which should be totally do-able. 

Tomorrow: A review of how I did in September

28 September 2010

Weekly Money Check-Up

My Pretty Pennies usually hosts the Weekly Money Check Up, but she's on a break right now, so I've used her first four questions and made up my own final question this week.  



1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on household stuff ($50 on a shredder, end tables, lamps, and lightbulbs).

2. Today I feel confident towards money. I'm getting stuff in order and starting a travel fund!


3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was a nice walk with Wesley and the pooch last night.


4. I will consider this week a success if I can get all my blogging in.  I owe you October Goals and a final September review.

5. My favorite place to visit is Paris.  Can't get enough of the food!

27 September 2010

Recent thoughts on money...

Wesley and I talked about money about a week and half ago.  Since we've recently moved in together it was a go over expenses kind of talk, figuring out who is paying how much.  Turns out I was paying more than him, and probably a lot more once he ditches his smartphone and our cell bill gets lowered.  So we shuffled a few things around.  He'll be helping with some pooch expenses and taking care of our Netflix subscription.  I also suspect I'm going to start asking him for cash each month to help with the groceries.  Not a ton, but maybe an extra $20 to even things out a bit. We'll review things again once we get our electricity bill.  And likely again when we get new phones mid-October. 

Also, I've been pondering the whole travel thing as of late.  I love to travel, but as it sits now I don't have money for travel fit into my budget.  I've been thinking I should start putting away money every check to save in a travel fund.  The only problem I have with this is that it is hard for me to save money while I have debt.  I feel like that while I owe money all my money should go to eliminating my debt.  But if I don't save money to travel, either I won't travel or I'll just stick it all on my credit card and pay a higher interest rate when I don't get it paid back A.S.A.P.  I think I've convinced myself with that last sentence.  If I put money on my credit card and don't pay it off right away, I'm charged a 13% interest rate.  Whereas my current debts are at a 0% or a 6.8% interest rate so it makes way more sense to save the money and the higher interest rate!

I'll be starting an automatic deposit into my savings for $30 each paycheck I think.  Hopefully I'll be able to up that when I get my raise in December. 

24 September 2010

Goal Check-Up Friday

1. Keep increasing steps or play Just Dance regularly. Still sitting at only 2 Just Dance sessions this month.  I may get one in tomorrow if I don't have too much homework after my morning online webinar.

2. Get Book Count up to 75 books.  I'm up to 5 books this month and 72 total. 

3. Stick to my $100 monthly eating out budget.  I've used all of my eating out budget this month, except for the money I had put aside in the budget for the girls nights.  Girl night #1 is tomorrow and we switched from sushi to French so I might wind up spending more than expected.  We'll see!

4. Finish the move and unpacking.  Still slowly moving stuff.  I don't think I'll finish with this goal this month.  But classes lighten up in October, so I should be able to plan sometime to clean out the old room. 

5. Stay on track with homework. Still doing awesome on homework!  I'm ahead on assignments for my all day Wednesday class, and I hope to get all my assignments for the 6th done before Wednesday.  That would leave me with a final project left and 2 weeks to do it.  My evening class has a big assignment due on the 6th, which I started and hope to finish by Tuesday.  My weekend class starts tomorrow, so we'll see if that throws a wrench into the rest of my plans. 

6. Try 3 New Recipes. I think I've finished this.  I made roast chicken, homemade pizza (twice!), and a new crockpot dessert last night.  Yay me!

21 September 2010

Weekly Money Check-Up










 This post is part of My Pretty Pennies Weekly Money Check Up.



1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on groceries ($30).
2. Today I feel optimistic towards money. I figured out that I should be entirely debt free by mid 2015, and that is not factoring in any extra money that I will hopefully be making or any raises beyond the one I get for getting my degree.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was get my Just Dance action on.  For some reason I'm loving dancing to "Can't Touch This".
4. I will consider this week a success if I play Just Dance one more time.  
5. The thing I am most looking forward to about this autumn is boots!  I LOVE wearing knee high boots with tights, a cute skirt, and a comfy sweater. 

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If you'd like to join in, answer these questions on your blog and link it back to My Pretty Pennies.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on _____.
2. Today I feel _______towards money.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was_____________.
4. I will consider this week a success if I _____________.
5. The thing I am most looking forward to about this autumn is ________________.

18 September 2010

Goal Check-up Friday

Brought to you this week- on Saturday!

1. Keep increasing steps or play Just Dance regularly. I played Just Dance again last night (so 2x this month) and I’m hoping to play again after work tonight.

2. Get Book Count up to 75 books. I’ve read a total of 4 books this month (just finished another school book). That puts me up to 71 books total, so I need to read 4 more books in under 2 weeks. It’ll take some work!

3. Stick to my $100 monthly eating out budget. I’m doing okay so far. With the two planned girls night outs this month, I have another $14 left for the rest of my eating out. This is totally do-able! I shouldn’t be going out with Wesley since we eat in during the week and he has plans both Sundays that we might ordinarily go out to breakfast. This should be plenty for 2 school day dinners!

4. Finish the move and unpacking. Everything in the apartment is unpacked, but I still have a bunch of stuff at my parents’ house. I plan to do a run over there today and/or tomorrow for more stuff.

5. Stay on track with homework. Still doing awesome on homework! My hope is to get everything that is due next Wednesday and Saturday done today. I’m on desk all day (which allows plenty of homework time) and I should have most of the evening to myself. I think that I can do it!

6. Try 3 New Recipes. So far I tried a new roast chicken recipe in the crockpot (a delicious dinner last night). I’m planning to make homemade pizza for the first time by myself on Sunday and Jambalaya (from a rice mix) on Monday. I don’t know if either one counts as an official recipe, but its cooking new foods which was the point of the goal. :)

13 September 2010

Weekly Money Check-up

This post is part of My Pretty Pennies Weekly Money Check Up.
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on Household furniture. I bought two bookshelves, a desk chair, and a few hanging wall files for $100. Wesley will be reimbursing me for half that though. .

2. Today I feel stressed towards money.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was watched Stargate SG1 and ate pizza.

4. I will consider this week a success if I manage to get my household to-do list done.

5. One of my most memorable birthdays was my 7th. It was Egyptian themed. My mom made cool Egyptian jewelry invitations (out of paper) that determined which team the kids were on for the mummy wrapping contest (with TP of course). I had a black cat cake and I started the party by throwing up in the hallway before everyone got there!

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If you'd like to join in, answer these questions on your blog and link it back to My Pretty Pennies.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on _____.

2. Today I feel _______towards money.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was_____________.

4. I will consider this week a success if I _____________.

5. One of my most memorable birthdays was ____________________.

10 September 2010

Goal Check-Up Friday

1. Keep increasing steps or play Just Dance regularly. I stopped with the pedometer, because I kept forgetting it on the dog’s early morning walks and I’ve only managed Just Dance once so far :|

2. Get Book Count up to 75 books. I’m up another 3 books! 2 were for school but I read them cover to cover so they count! I’m close to finishing a 3rd school book and a second personal choice.

3. Keep track of what I eat 90% of the time. psht. I’ve slacked. I may be dropping this goal.

4. Stick to my $100 monthly eating out budget. I’m doing good so far! Only $25 of my eating out budget spent and we are 9 days in! I’m doing some meal planning for next week so hopefully I can stay on track! I also decided to up this budget this month to $120 (I pulled the $20 out of my salon/barber budget) since I have 2 big events.

5. Finish the move and unpacking. I’ve brought some more stuff to the apartment but I still have a lot to do on the moving end.

6. Stay on track with homework. I am doing awesome on homework! It helps that I haven’t had much of it. I’ve got all my stuff done for one of Wednesday’s classes and some reading to do for the other.

And a new goal I’ve decided to add:

7. Try 3 New Recipes. Nothing new tried yet, but hopefully next week I’ll be trying one or two new dishes!

08 September 2010

Oh the Vet Bills!

Yesterday I had to take the pooch into the vet.  I have the cheapest vet (and best IMHO) around yet it was still the highest vet bill I've ever had!  I wound up spending $193!  193!  I was budgeting about 125 for her 3 yr shots and her heart-worm medicine for the year.  What happened?  Well to start, apparently she also needs a new heart-worm test every 2 years, even if she's on the medicine year round.  Then she has been rubbing her butt on the carpet for a while which means she needs her glands expressed (if you don't know what this is- google it but be prepared for the answer) which I wanted done ASAP.  During her checkup, it also became apparent that I needed to clean her ears every week (I had no idea!) and so I had to tack on ear cleaning solution to the bill.  And finally, she had chewed up a patch of fur on her hind quarters which I guess required antibiotics to heal properly.  And hence- $193.  Sigh. 

On top of all this, the vet also informed me that she would need to come in for a dental exam/surgery to get her teeth cleaned and possibly pulled. Which starts at $150 if she doesn't have to have any teeth pulled.  I wound up scheduling this for next Tuesday. 

And on top of that, I just shelled out $184 on flea medicine for the year and some dog food and another $250 just a week and a half ago for the pet deposit.  Pets can be really expensive!

And now a question for you dear readers- if there are any of you.  :)  When the month has started and you have an unexpected expense like this teeth cleaning, do you adjust your budget numbers or just put it all in the actual column and consider it going over? 

Either way, I won't be throwing as much money at the credit card as I would have liked to. 

07 September 2010

Weekly Money Check Up


This post is part of My Pretty Pennies Weekly Money Check Up.


1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on vet bills- 193 for the annual checkup, yearly medicines, and 3 yr. vaccines .
2. Today I feel irritated towards money.  (probably because I had to pay the vet bill this morning).
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was snuggle up with Wesley and watch Shutter Island.
4. I will consider this week a success if I have fun on the weekend's camping trip.
5. My first job was as a scorekeeper for trapshooting when I was in 6th grade.  I was very good about saving half my money every week and it helped me buy my first car.

---
If you'd like to join in, answer these questions on your blog and link it back to My Pretty Pennies.



1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on _____.
2. Today I feel _______towards money.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was_____________.
4. I will consider this week a success if I _____________.
5. My first job was ____________________.

03 September 2010

August Books

Seeing as its only shortly into September, I thought that I'd tell you about my August books rather than doing a check-up on my September goals.

Books I finished in August:

57.  Paper Towns by John Green  ****  I thought it was an enjoyable book, although it felt like the middle third was a different book than the first and last thirds.

58.  The Wall by Peter Sis  ***  Good, great art, nothing spectacular, but a good and interesting read.  

59.  The Adoration of Jenna Fox  by Mary E. Pearson  ****  A thought provoking and philosophical sci fi novel.

60.  Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child ****  A solid addition to the Jack Reacher books.

61.  The Arrival by Shaun Tan ****  A fantastic wordless graphic novel that is beautifully illustrated and tells an important and universally understood story.

62.  Eva by Peter Dickinson **  eh.

63.  Nothing to Lose by Lee Child ****  Again, another solid Reacher book.

64.  Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork  ****  Good sight into the mind of a teen with Asperger syndrome and a solid but predictable story.

65.  Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins *****  This is the final book of the Hunger Games trilogy and while others had mixed views on this, I thought it was great.  I don't think Collins could have come up with a better ending and I feel satisfied about the series as a whole.  And please Suzanne Collins,  DO NOT write any more books to the series, despite how much I loved them, any more would detract from this story.

And two bonus books that I forgot to add into my tallies somehow!

66.  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling *****  I think this is at least my 7th reading of the book and I still love it.  I'm almost done with the third one again. :)

67.  Drive by Daniel H. Pink ** This book had good ideas, but I felt like it could have been a much shorter summary. 

Well now that I remember these other two books, it seems I was closer to my August goal than I thought!  This doesn't change my goals for September, it just means I'm a tiny bit closer.  Only have to read eight more books instead of ten!

01 September 2010

August Checkup and September Goals

August Goals
1. Increase my steps regularly so that I am up to 7000 steps.-   PASS I made it up over 10,000 steps with the amusement park and kept it high most of the week so I'm sitting at 8300 steps as my current daily standard

2. Get my book count up to 70 books.  FAIL  I only made it to 65 books by the end of August.  In a few days I'll tell you what I read in August. 

3. Keep track of what I eat at least 80% of the time for the rest of the month.  PASS  I did great on this.  The only time I didn't track was my staycation and one Sunday!


4. Freezer Cook 2 meals. FAIL I only managed one. 

5. Keep to my eating out and vacation budgets. PASS  Okay, so I might have failed on the vacation budget but its close enough and I think I stayed under.  I know I stuck to the eating out budget.  :D

6. Have a smooth move with as little costs as possible. PASS  Move went smoothly, only costs were the frozen pizzas for the movers!  Well, and dinner at a local hamburger joint because the kitchen wasn't ready yet.


September Goals

1.  Keep increasing steps or play Just Dance regularly.  This is kind of a wishy washy goal.  When the Wii gets set up my plan is to skip tracking steps and focus on exercise video games every day.  Until that happens I want to work on my steps. 

2.  Get Book Count up to 75 books.  This is what I need to be at to be on track for the end of September.  This means I have to read 10 more books this month.  Which might be too ambitious, but I'm going to try!

3.  Keep track of what I eat 90% of the time.  Really, its not hard to add things into livestrong so I have no excuse not to, but I'll say 90% to give me a little leeway.


4.  Stick to my $100 monthly eating out budget.  That means approximately $20 a week.  I'm hoping I can manage this, even with two girls' night outs at the end of the month, one of which will cost me $25 on its own.  


5.  Finish the move and unpacking.  There is still stuff at my parents' house.  My hope is to get all that I want coming with me to my house and in its proper place by the end of the month.  


6.  Stay on track with homework. This is another loose goal, what exactly does "on track" mean.  Basically I'd prefer not to be rushing to finish things the night before they are due.  It's my final semester in school and I haven't managed this goal ever before so now is the time to prove I can!  Really I'll settle for not rushing to finish things the same day that they are due.