the month is over

well, the month of May has finally ended... i paid my first month of rent to the landlord... wasn't too too bad. I have 13 more months until the lease is up, but i'm very happy in my apartment. In the land of organization, i think i really like my electronic envelope system. It was nice not to have to pine back and forth over a lot of little things to try and remember how much i had already spent... instead i was able to just "look at" what was left.
=D

With the month now over, I took half the money from some of my "envelopes" (grocery, basic necessities, bills, and fun.... (not gas)) and stuck it into a "Special Day" account... (i'm not telling y'all what that's for) but because my electric bill was so low (it had 8 days on it with no cooking and no fridge plugged in) I ended up with about 50 bucks in there when i combined a few bucks here and there from the accounts. A decent start i think because i won't need this money for awhile. I also decided that the meager $41.00 a month in "savings" that's worked into the budget will go towards a 3 month stockpile of cash (a goal of 6000). Once my car is paid off i'll have 300 dollars more a month to put towards some other goals... retirement, more dental work... etc...

I still have no idea what my take home pay is going to be each month or how much that new raise of mine will really effect things. It seems no matter what i do, something happens on one of my paychecks and it sends everything slightly wacky.. but most of the time its a blessing in disguise so i'm not complaining there.... Lately i'm been turning down overtime. As my debt gets smaller and smaller, a large part of me is getting weary from working 13 hour days... My boss asked me to work friday, but my friends want me to do a dinner at their house... i'm doing dinner at their house. It just isn't worth the extra 100 bucks to wake up at 4:30am... stay at work till after 1:00pm... drive home... then come back at 4:00pm and stay till 9:00pm....... it might be different if it was a day i already had off... but i think i'm done working doubles.... working on a day off is definently not out of the question... but i can't keep killing myself with these long butt hours. The last couple of days where i've had time off have been really nice. sure i've been lazy... but i think part of that was because classes are finally done and i had to recover from my wisdom teeth.

But i have to admit, i'ts nice to get a full 8 hours of sleep... i have no idea how i functioned the last symester... part of me wonders if i'll be able to do it again when fall term starts... i have a feeling i won't be able to. Which means i really need to focus to make my life a little easier on me and attempt to hit all like 7 books i have to read for my course on China...

I also haven't started my second job yet, and the way its going... i'm not sure she's gonna really need me... if she doesn't need me, i might not get a different job... even tho i have a lot of saving goals once i'm done paying off my car. the payoff schedule changed slightly. I guess i sent them more then i thought i would.

• May: 2414.89
• June: 2131.49
• July: 1846.15
• August: 758.84 (an addition paycheck month)
• September: 464.06
• October: 167.25
• November: 0.00 ----------> paying 168.40

paying my dues...

Well its friday, payday. Time to pay up to all the people i owe... this month sure was pricey.

• I paid my mom the money i owed her for my victoria secret shopping. Woot for overtime and the like...
• I paid for my ring. [i'm not sure if i mentioned the ring or not on here, but i finally got my mom to break and buy me a purity ring for my 21st birthday. It was a $400.00 ring for 112 with tax... i love how my birthday is next to mothers day... i can cash in on their sales!]And i love it... i really love that ring. [in case you have no idea what a purity ring is... i basically won't be sleeping with anyone until i'm a married woman. No, the old ways have not died in the 21st century. I'll be a virgin and where white proudly] I paid half for it using some birthday money and my mom paid the other half, but we put it on my new mervans charge card cause it saved us an extra 15%.
• I paid the 213 for a new driverside mirror for my car... and my friend installed it for me for free... and it only took 15 minuets. Yes, a dumb mistake... but thankfully i have learned from it... and learned how to balance the OOPSY's of life. woot for auto main accounts.
• I also got the car washed and waxed [since it hasn't been waxed in about a year...] but i used part of my CC rebate for it, so it was only "20" not 43 with tip. I also used the extra money in my gas account for this, so its dwindeling down. But without having to drive down to fullerton, my gas and maint account for my car should go up by the time i need to pay for the 25,000 mile check.... but part of my tires are starting to get bad cause i turn too hard and too fast... but the boys keep looking at them regularly... but those should be coming up soon and they know a guy who can give me a deal... woot.
• I paid for my wisdom teeth removal. $650.00... all i can say is yeah for saving in advance.
• I paid for the b/f's birthday present out of the normal budget.

got the rent check so i'll write it later today and drop it by the office on saturday.

I think i'm getting a better grasp on budgeting and handling my money... which is making me happy. even with my shopping and sending money to pay down my car loan, i have $200.00 extra this month, but i'm hanging on to it. just to make sure everything is balancing right. I also need to do a costco run with danielle real fast on Saturday so i might use part of the money for that since were still stocking up.

blah

So i broke my drivers side mirror... who's to blame... my tiny garage... but my boyfriend and Hotel Boy think they can fix it so i'll just need to buy the parts... thank God!!!

i spent 142 bucks at Victoria secrets... 3 bras and some underware....

and i didn't buy a lamp. i took the spare one we didn't plug in from the living room. so i save a little money there.

can't wait to get paid on friday:

• pay rent
• pay mom for VS... it went on her credit card so i could use some special offers to save 25 bucks...
• pay for mo's birthday present
• pay ring...
• see how much is floating in the balance.

and wisdom teeth removal today means i'll be MIA for a few days... wish me luck!

update

I've decided to spend the overtime i'm getting on my next paycheck.

I need to get a few new bras, a couple of lamps for my bedroom, and mo's birthday gift.... so i'm pretty sure there won't be anything left over from my second paycheck for any more auto payments...

but so far progress is good and i'm excited!

car

okay drum roll please...

as of the 15th of this month, i will have sent 2,393.00 to my car!!!!!!!!! and possibly a little more from my final may paycheck!

• $600.00 from my move out fund
• $608.00 from AAA refund
• $25.00 from my Credit Card gift
• $499.92 from the rest of my moving out fund
• $360.30 from Retro pay from back raise
• $300.00 from my regular auto payment.
• woah!

Assuming my calculations are correct this is what happens to my payoff schedule:

April: 4801.31---------------4801.31

May: 3326.32---------------2464.10

June: 3049.19---------------2181.04

July: 2770.15---------------1896.03

August: 1689.20----------------809.07

September: 1400.81----------------514.63

October: 1110.45----------------218.17

November: 818.08------------------0.00 paying 219.67

holy cow!!!!!

I got a raise!!!!!!!

I logged onto the online surver at work which shows you a virtual copy of your paystub... i got a raise that illusive 6-month raise from November!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I now make $14.3593 instead of $13.8071 and theres retro pay on it too.....

My pay check was 1413.30!!!!!!!!!!! and i didn't work overtime!!!!!!!! Wahoo for an unexpected windfall!

After the $753.00 of monthly expenses i alloted to pay for with paycheck one, there's 660.30 left on my paycheck... i have an 800 rent payment and a 300 car payment left.

If i take the 660.30 and call that my car payment, i know my next check will be at least 800 to cover my rent, with some extra. So i'm going to send the 660.30 to my car for now.

I'm also debating about emptying out the rest of my moving out fund this month too [a little shy of 500 bucks]... oh heck why not? This is sooo crazy! I thought moving out a month early was going to extend my car payments, but it looks like i might be excellerating them with all this extra unexpected income... I'm also due for another raise for my annual review soon [but it won't go on my paychecks for at least 3 months and they will have to retro that too... lol] so i'll get another small windfall in a few months as they play cetch up.

New Financial Dreams: Key word Dreams...

1. Pay off car still by the end of the year... hopefully by the end of summer.
2. start small retirement contributions after car is paid off, approx: 100 a month
3. Set up an orthodontist apointment to finally finish the work my first set of braces started...
4. Put some more money away for school... i keep re-thinking getting my credential... but i should put the money aside for it incase i decide to, that way i don't have to rely on loans. Next week i'm going to head down and get some information from CSUF after i take my finals.

those are the immediate esc goals for the year...

1. then i want to start putting money away for a house downpayment... I'll definetly renting for the next year... possibly two.... but who knows where life will take me...
2. i also want to set some money, a small amount aside for something else... i just don't want to say what it is...

more than half way there

the $600 from my moving out fund posted on my auto loan and this morning I sent them the $608 from my AAA refund. I also got one of those 25 dollar CC rebate checks, and i sent that over there too. I can't wait for it to post tomorrow... which is payday!

birthdays are fun!

Yesterday i turned 21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and it was fun... and totally not a bad drunken fest or anything else like that.

I think in total, i might have had about half a drink, lol... so no hang over, no ill side effects. But it was so funny... everyone kept trying to buy my first drink... my bestest friend and hotel boy were fighting over the honor... then my sister showed up walked over to our waiter and paid for it... Then when the final bill came out [dessert... and a couple non alcoholic drinks for a few ppl under 21] mo snatched it before beth could.... but blake left early and threw a 20 on the table, which covered the 8.00 tab.... lol

I don't think the bartender actually put everything on the tab... but my bestest friend ended up finishing most of my drinks... [i didn't like what the bartender gave me as my first drink... and actually ended up taking my sisters and calling it my own.]

but a good night.

and to top it off, I got the money for AAA so i will be able to send 1508 to my car this month!!!! Woot. Totally fantastic in my opinion cause this is how all that changes the pay off schedule:

April: 4887.55 ----------------- 4801.31
May: 4621.15 ------------------3326.32
June: 4352.92 -----------------3049.19
July: 4082.85 ------------------2770.15
August: 3010.92 ---------------1689.20
September: 2731.62 -----------1400.81
October: 2450.40 --------------1110.45
November: 2167.25 -------------818.08
December: 1882.15 -------------523.71
January: 1595.09 ---------------227.31
February: 1306.06 ----------------0.00 paying 228.87
March: 1015.04
April: 722.02
May: 426.98
June: 129.92
July: 0.00 paying 130.81

Looks like i'll be done in Feb if i only make $300.00 payments [minus the extra 800 in aug] Can't wait for my raise and my second job!!!!!!

For friday

okay, Friday is pay day and i've decided that the first paycheck will be used to pay for everything except my rent and my car payment. The second monthly paycheck i'll use for my rent and my car.

I have no idea how much my paycheck will be, but it won't have overtime on it and neither will the next one after that so i should have an acurate figure of what i make before i get my raise at the end of this month.... and knowing the city, it will take months to go into effect and they will have to retro pay me.

So paycheck 1: Expenses = 753

• Groceries: 140
• Car insurance 110
• Renters insurance 17
• basic necessities 45
• gas and auto maint 200
• utilities- electric 100 (Estimate)
• Cell : 50
• Fun: 50
• Offering: 50
• savings 41

Paycheck 2: Expenses 1100

• rent 800
• auto loan payment 300

I know my second paycheck won't be 1100... and my first will be more then 753.. and between the two i have enough.... but i don't want to send money over to the car from paycheck 1 until i'm sure i have enought for my half of the electric bill... which won't be accurate since our fridge isn't here and we havn't really been cooking like we would. ...

but it looks like a plan!

trying something new

I think i'm been kind of over obsessive about money lately...

SO i think i'm going to try the envelope system... but electronically.... Last month i set up small savings accounts labled groceries, basic necessities, gas and auto, etc... and they are all hooked up to my checking account at ING as well... so we'll see how that all goes.

~Moved~

i have only a few boxes left...

I moved for 12 hours straight.... 1:00pm-1:00am... and the refrigerator can't be picked up until Sat...

I officially heart My Bestest Friend and Mo... and my mom... holy cow how crazy did they work for me???? crazy hard...

but the place is starting to come together... i'm so tired... i had to get up at 4:30am for work... i'm on 3 hours of sleep... and when i get home, i have to talk about the carpet with Javier and June.

no over time

So, the paycheck i get to get next week won't have any overtime on it after all...

I didn't end up working Monday night, which was a good thing since i was definetly way too tired and needed to pack and do laundry for the big move today!!!! (holy cow... this day is finally here!!!!)

So at least i'll know what i'll be making for sure each month... although the little extra is always nice... but i'm getting 608.00 back from AAA from removing me from my mom's account and that will be thrown on the car...
plus i have 1200 in my moving out fund... so i'm pretty sure over the next month (as i'm waiting to start my second job) i'll be slowly putting that on the car too... oh and i broke under the $5,000.00 marker for my debt... wahhoo

I owe $4,790.51... [AAA 608... plus 600 from the moving out fund... and 300 auto payment... i'll probably be sending them a nice pretty 1500 bucks for may!!!!!!] nice.

that blemish will soon be erraticated!!!! i'm almost debt free... i can feel it and it feels good!!!!