HOLY FUCKING JESUS CHRIST I HAVE NO MORE CREDIT CARD DEBT!!!!!!!!!!!
i just got an email from my credit card... my statement is ready and i owe $718.90. i looked in my bank account and i had $2,823.46, plus i have $1,000 more in my emergency fund. i have no big purchases coming up and nothing pending to pay. i got a bunch of travel reimbursement from work recently and i cut back on a couple expenses. and i was like FUCK ME I THINK I CAN PAY THIS OFF RIGHT NOW. and then I DID!!!!!!!!!
so right now i have about $3000 cash and my only debt is my student loans, which are at about $117,341. i have to go celebrate. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
2011 goals and progress to date
so i kind of got off track in terms of keeping track of my finances but now that my bank is on mint it is going to be much easier for me. the good news is that i am still more or less on track with my budget even though i didn't keep track of it for a number of months which i think is really exciting and means that i have actually truly changed my spending habits.
my current debt:
- student loans: $133,409.61
- credit cards: $4027.57
so here are my goals and resolutions for 2011, both financial and otherwise:
- run at least one full marathon. i ran 2 half marathons last year and have started training for the flying pig here in cincinnati in may.
- learn about at least one new band per month and go to at least one live show per month. i am a joke among my friends due to how little i know about music and i think it is time i started to fix this. plus this is a fun goal and i like those.
- go to china in the fall (and maybe also korea and/or japan). i have $1000 saved right now and will need to save $122/month through october to make this happen. also a fun goal.
- pay off all of my credit card debt by december 31, 2011. at a scheduled rate of payment of $355.00/month, this should be achievable!!! i am about to crap myself with excitement just thinking about this so i will move on.
- continue to pay off my student loans with my loan repayment money (currently i am scheduled to get $29,850 this year). corollary goal: don't get fired (my job has been sending out lots of scary "please take the buyout" emails and i think layoffs are coming soon). subcorollary goal: if i do get fired, get another job in nonprofit/government so i can keep getting lrap and not get fucked in the ass by having to pay the loans off myself.
2010 was overall a really good year for me both financially and personally and i am really excited for 2011!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
do your taxes online for free
if you earned less than $58,000 in 2009, you are eligible to file both your state and federal taxes online for free with h&r block via the beehive. i have used the beehive for 3 years now and it is totally legit. this was originally a service only for former americorps members but now anyone can use it as long as you meet the income eligibility cutoff. make sure you click on the beehive link above to get to the right place so they don't try to charge you at the end.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
new year = time to refocus on my debt
blogging about debt got kind of boring for me (obviously). i can't promise that i'm going to be writing much on here now but since it is a new year, i have been taking some time over the past few weeks to refocus on my financial goals and to track my progress.
since i started this project one year ago, i have paid off a lot of debt:
over the year i learned to live within my means (mostly). i no longer have to run home after every trip to the bar or to dinner to put my receipts into my budget immediately so that i know how much i have left to spend. i have learned what it feels like to not overspend and i continue to do that. i drink cheap beer (and actually i drink less overall which is good for my health too). i eat smaller meals and take advantage of specials. i sometimes choose eating out over grocery shopping, but i'm allowed to do that so i don't feel bad.
over the holidays i went clothes shopping for really the first time in the past year. i have picked up a few things here and there (a bathing suit when i was going to new orleans, new black shoes when i wore out my old ones, etc.) but had not done a full shopping trip. things were getting bleak and i was wearing sweaters with holes in them to work. i waited so long because i was scared that i would go into a store and overspend and freak out. but it turns out i was just fine. i was shopping after christmas so there were tons of sales.
i went in knowing what i needed to buy and did not buy anything that was too expensive (i really wanted some awesome, fit me perfectly $99 seven jeans from nordstrom rack but resisted) or that was not something i loved (i said no to some cute super cheap $12 sneakers because i wasn't crazy about the color) or that did not fit me exactly right (i walked away from an adorable, originally $200+ marked down to $40 ann taylor gray and white houndstooth jacket because it was a little too big). none of this would have happened before. i was very proud of myself and i did not feel sick afterwards which is a good sign.
my financial goals this year are to continue paying off my debt and to continue to refine my budget. i have learned that i have to be realistic about certain things... while i wish i lived in a world where i was only going to spend $50 per month on household items/toiletries/etc., or that i never had to pay for big car repairs, or that i never had to go to the doctor, but i do not live in that world and i need money allotted for those un-fun things.
i have also decided that i am going to set aside $100/month for a vacation. i have not had a real vacation since i went to mexico in august 2008 and while i was going to try to wait until the end of this whole credit card paying off ordeal to do it, i have realized it is going to take me longer than i expected and if i don't have any fun in there anywhere, i'm not going to make it. where will i go? i'm hoping for hawaii in december 2010 and china/japan in august 2011. plans are in the works and i just have to get my finances in order. i am still aiming to pay off $5000 of credit card debt this year so budgeting is key.
happy new year to any readers out there. how did 2009 go for you? and what are your financial goals this year?
since i started this project one year ago, i have paid off a lot of debt:
- student loans: $177,741 in december 2008 to $156,466 in december 2009 = $21,275 = 12% of my student loan debt paid off
- credit cards: $15,737 in december 2008 to $11,670 in decemer 2009 = $4067 = 26% of my credit card debt paid off
- auto loan: $1,167 in december 2008 to $0 in december 2009 = $1,167 = 100% of my auto loan paid off
over the year i learned to live within my means (mostly). i no longer have to run home after every trip to the bar or to dinner to put my receipts into my budget immediately so that i know how much i have left to spend. i have learned what it feels like to not overspend and i continue to do that. i drink cheap beer (and actually i drink less overall which is good for my health too). i eat smaller meals and take advantage of specials. i sometimes choose eating out over grocery shopping, but i'm allowed to do that so i don't feel bad.
over the holidays i went clothes shopping for really the first time in the past year. i have picked up a few things here and there (a bathing suit when i was going to new orleans, new black shoes when i wore out my old ones, etc.) but had not done a full shopping trip. things were getting bleak and i was wearing sweaters with holes in them to work. i waited so long because i was scared that i would go into a store and overspend and freak out. but it turns out i was just fine. i was shopping after christmas so there were tons of sales.
i went in knowing what i needed to buy and did not buy anything that was too expensive (i really wanted some awesome, fit me perfectly $99 seven jeans from nordstrom rack but resisted) or that was not something i loved (i said no to some cute super cheap $12 sneakers because i wasn't crazy about the color) or that did not fit me exactly right (i walked away from an adorable, originally $200+ marked down to $40 ann taylor gray and white houndstooth jacket because it was a little too big). none of this would have happened before. i was very proud of myself and i did not feel sick afterwards which is a good sign.
my financial goals this year are to continue paying off my debt and to continue to refine my budget. i have learned that i have to be realistic about certain things... while i wish i lived in a world where i was only going to spend $50 per month on household items/toiletries/etc., or that i never had to pay for big car repairs, or that i never had to go to the doctor, but i do not live in that world and i need money allotted for those un-fun things.
i have also decided that i am going to set aside $100/month for a vacation. i have not had a real vacation since i went to mexico in august 2008 and while i was going to try to wait until the end of this whole credit card paying off ordeal to do it, i have realized it is going to take me longer than i expected and if i don't have any fun in there anywhere, i'm not going to make it. where will i go? i'm hoping for hawaii in december 2010 and china/japan in august 2011. plans are in the works and i just have to get my finances in order. i am still aiming to pay off $5000 of credit card debt this year so budgeting is key.
happy new year to any readers out there. how did 2009 go for you? and what are your financial goals this year?
Saturday, September 12, 2009
eating cheap
if you read my other blog, you know that i love food. cooking and eating out. ever since i started my budget in january, i have been learning new ways to eat out cheap (but still eat well). here are some tips i have learned. i hope they are helpful.
1. eat dinner at home before going out with friends and then just get an appetizer
if you are going somewhere to eat out that you don't really care that much about, just eat something at home and then get something small. then you can still have the social aspect of going out to eat but will not spend a ton of money on a meal you don't really care about. also, by getting something cheap you will not make people uncomfortable by just sitting there sipping water with lemon while they all feast on steaks or whatever. it's better to be eating something i think in order to fully participate in what is going on.
2. take advantage of weekly specials and happy hours
in the past few weeks i have had half off fish and chips at rookwood pub, a $2.95 burger and fries at mccormick and schmick's, half price sushi at dancing wasabi, $10 all you can eat pizza at pizza night at take the cake, $7 burger madness at arthur's, and a $35 three course restaurant week meal at nicola's. there are tons of other specials out there too, in fact here in cincinnati pretty much every restaurant except the really expensive places have some kind of weekly special. and the places that don't are almost guaranteed to at least participate in the occasional restaurant weeks that come around.
3. become a secret shopper
a friend of mine tipped me off on this when she took me out to a $250 meal at jeff ruby's waterfront... for free. what you do is sign up on the website, do a few reviews of crappy places (she had to do smoothie king a few times), and then you get the hookup to good places. i have not done this yet but i am planning to soon. seriously, this is an awesome way to get some seriously good meals for free. the only catch is that she says the reviews take a couple hours to write, but still, it's totally worth it if you are willing to take the time to do that.
4. order off of the extra value menu at fast food places
i don't eat fast food much but recently i took a trip to chicago on the megabus so we stopped at wendy's on the way there and mcdonald's on the way back. at wendy's i got some buffalo chicken tenders for $4.35. this seemed expensive to me since i didn't even get a drink or fries. at mcdonald's, i checked out the extra value menu. i got a chicken sandwich and a medium fries for $2.80. even if i had added a drink this would have been like $4. much cheaper than getting the combo thing which was like $6. it is possible that this chicken sandwich was smaller than the regular one but i don't think so... i think the only difference was that there was no tomato on it. and who wants one of those gross anemic fast food tomato slices anyway... so not worth $2.
5. drink water
do you know how much money i save simply because i do not drink soda? i mean i even drink beer and wine and coffee and all that, just not soda. any time i am eating lunch out i just get water. it is free and saves me probably $1.50 to $2 at every single meal. i have never been a soda drinker so this is not a sacrifice for me at all, but if you are and you can stop drinking it i promise you will notice a difference in your budget.
1. eat dinner at home before going out with friends and then just get an appetizer
if you are going somewhere to eat out that you don't really care that much about, just eat something at home and then get something small. then you can still have the social aspect of going out to eat but will not spend a ton of money on a meal you don't really care about. also, by getting something cheap you will not make people uncomfortable by just sitting there sipping water with lemon while they all feast on steaks or whatever. it's better to be eating something i think in order to fully participate in what is going on.
2. take advantage of weekly specials and happy hours
in the past few weeks i have had half off fish and chips at rookwood pub, a $2.95 burger and fries at mccormick and schmick's, half price sushi at dancing wasabi, $10 all you can eat pizza at pizza night at take the cake, $7 burger madness at arthur's, and a $35 three course restaurant week meal at nicola's. there are tons of other specials out there too, in fact here in cincinnati pretty much every restaurant except the really expensive places have some kind of weekly special. and the places that don't are almost guaranteed to at least participate in the occasional restaurant weeks that come around.
3. become a secret shopper
a friend of mine tipped me off on this when she took me out to a $250 meal at jeff ruby's waterfront... for free. what you do is sign up on the website, do a few reviews of crappy places (she had to do smoothie king a few times), and then you get the hookup to good places. i have not done this yet but i am planning to soon. seriously, this is an awesome way to get some seriously good meals for free. the only catch is that she says the reviews take a couple hours to write, but still, it's totally worth it if you are willing to take the time to do that.
4. order off of the extra value menu at fast food places
i don't eat fast food much but recently i took a trip to chicago on the megabus so we stopped at wendy's on the way there and mcdonald's on the way back. at wendy's i got some buffalo chicken tenders for $4.35. this seemed expensive to me since i didn't even get a drink or fries. at mcdonald's, i checked out the extra value menu. i got a chicken sandwich and a medium fries for $2.80. even if i had added a drink this would have been like $4. much cheaper than getting the combo thing which was like $6. it is possible that this chicken sandwich was smaller than the regular one but i don't think so... i think the only difference was that there was no tomato on it. and who wants one of those gross anemic fast food tomato slices anyway... so not worth $2.
5. drink water
do you know how much money i save simply because i do not drink soda? i mean i even drink beer and wine and coffee and all that, just not soda. any time i am eating lunch out i just get water. it is free and saves me probably $1.50 to $2 at every single meal. i have never been a soda drinker so this is not a sacrifice for me at all, but if you are and you can stop drinking it i promise you will notice a difference in your budget.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
long time no write
if you can't tell from my total neglect of this blog, my budget and finances have not been at the top on my mind lately. saving money and sticking to the budget is sooo much harder in the summer it turns out... there is just so much more that i want to go out and do. on top of that there are trips (i went to chicago in june, michigan in july, and new orleans in august) and visitors. all of this costs money. plus i am busier so it is harder to do things like update my budget every day and write on this blog.
i need to get back to it though because while i am definitely not abandoning my budget by any means, i am still not exactly sticking to it either. last month i had a lot of issues. first of all, i totally overspent on all of the following things:
so i came back from new orleans all ready to get back on track but almost immediately i was back in bad budget land... my friends lina and alex came to visit at the beginning of the month and we went to the state fair, ate out a lot, and i had a bbq and bought a bunch of food and beer and stuff for that. then i decided i absolutely needed a new blow dryer and straightener (i mean the old ones were really terrible but still) and of course had to buy expensive ones. and then last night i decided spur of the moment to go out for a $60 dinner. i am not doing a very good job here.
i talked to bryan, aka my financial guru, about all of this and he does not think it is as bad as i do. his thing is, as long as i make active decisions about things and do not put things on the credit cards, it is ok to spend more and save less on a month by month basis. i have put a lot of thought into it and i realized that i am not willing to sacrifice my social life for my budget so that means that i am going to continue to go out and meet people (which is a big goal of mine right now) and that means spending at least some money. what i can do is drink cheap beer, eat at home and just have an appetizer, etc. but i am not willing to give up socializing, or honestly even cut back on it at all, because it is really important to me to be meeting new people and expanding my social circle, and that doesn't happen if you stay at home.
i am still paying off $800 per month to my credit cards (well not this month since $200 has to go to the emergency fund) so i feel like i am doing a good job and am allowed to make choices like this. also, i found a couple friends who want to move in with me so hopefully in october or november we will be moving to a new place which will cost me less money (both rent and utilities/cable/etc.). so that is another thing i am doing for my budget.
i need to get back to it though because while i am definitely not abandoning my budget by any means, i am still not exactly sticking to it either. last month i had a lot of issues. first of all, i totally overspent on all of the following things:
- trip to new orleans: i had budgeted for it but still spent too much
- car repair: my damn car's check engine light keeps coming on
- entertainment: my friend had a going away party which involved going to dayton, staying in a hotel, going to a club, etc. it was a cheap trip compared to other trips and while it was a ton of fun, financially i probably should not have gone
- clothes: my shoe situation was getting desperate so i got two new pairs. i also got some cheap, crappy clothes for new orleans (i was down there to volunteer with habitat for humanity), a bathing suit, and some new work clothes (which honestly i probably really did not need but they were on super sale)
so i came back from new orleans all ready to get back on track but almost immediately i was back in bad budget land... my friends lina and alex came to visit at the beginning of the month and we went to the state fair, ate out a lot, and i had a bbq and bought a bunch of food and beer and stuff for that. then i decided i absolutely needed a new blow dryer and straightener (i mean the old ones were really terrible but still) and of course had to buy expensive ones. and then last night i decided spur of the moment to go out for a $60 dinner. i am not doing a very good job here.
i talked to bryan, aka my financial guru, about all of this and he does not think it is as bad as i do. his thing is, as long as i make active decisions about things and do not put things on the credit cards, it is ok to spend more and save less on a month by month basis. i have put a lot of thought into it and i realized that i am not willing to sacrifice my social life for my budget so that means that i am going to continue to go out and meet people (which is a big goal of mine right now) and that means spending at least some money. what i can do is drink cheap beer, eat at home and just have an appetizer, etc. but i am not willing to give up socializing, or honestly even cut back on it at all, because it is really important to me to be meeting new people and expanding my social circle, and that doesn't happen if you stay at home.
i am still paying off $800 per month to my credit cards (well not this month since $200 has to go to the emergency fund) so i feel like i am doing a good job and am allowed to make choices like this. also, i found a couple friends who want to move in with me so hopefully in october or november we will be moving to a new place which will cost me less money (both rent and utilities/cable/etc.). so that is another thing i am doing for my budget.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
