Mini Milestones

I have a spreadsheet I call Mountain Tracker, where I've been tracking my debt progress since, yikes(! ) July 2008. Its sort of frustrating to look at, because it seems as though its just stayed relatively steady since then. Tracking tells me a couple things: 

1. Moving is expensive. My numbers were at an all time low right before I moved last fall. They spiked a little, and then sloooooooowly started back down. Note to self: stay put.
   
2. When people say "don't use your cards" they mean it! Really. Don't. For some reason, I thought that I could continue to use them, as long as I kept paying off my new purchases and contributing to my outstanding balance. I have a years worth of wasted effort in spreadsheet form to prove that this doesn't work. 
   
3. I've been doing it wrong. 
   

Don't worry. I'm doing it right now. I've found a good balance of paying down my debt, and saving enough that I can cover unexpected expenses, without using my cards. This, is fairly obvious to most people, I just had my "ah-ha!" moment a little later. I've set up a another spreadsheet to track my Mini Milestones along the way while I work my way down to 25%, 50%, 75% and finally.... paid off!   

Don't worry... I'm still rambling on about cooking, budgets, clothes I shouldn't buy and other random anecdotes over at my new blog, Dos Pajaritos. Come say hi, and I promise to update here every now and then... perhaps at every mini milestone. I'm getting pretty close to 10%...

A year gone by...

I missed my blogs birthday. I think that makes me a terrible blog mother or something. My first post, Personal Finance What? is dated July 15th and I say a couple of things that make me chuckle a little. From Saving Cent to my Seattle Girl transition, I've learned a lot about myself, my spending habits and personal finance. Oddly enough, I feel like I'm doing a better job budgeting and saving now that the frequency of my posts has dwindled, but I know I wouldn't have made it this far without the blog, and all of you that I check in with now and then. 

I'm trying to incorporate a little finance and goal setting into my new project -- and hopefully fewer and fewer budgeting fails while I continue to work towards (this). 

Such. a. Slacker.

June goal setting? Are you kidding me? 

Hey y'all! Sorry for my random disappearance...I'm not sure what it was exactly, I just really lost my motivation to post here. Part of the problem... is that I have a few blogs. Maybe come winter I'll come back to this project, but for now you can find me with the rest of my interests (including living within my means!) at: Dos Pajaritos 

June Goal Setting

I'm home from Mexico and it was absolutely fabulous. I managed to stay within my $400 budget... which allowed me to live lavishly poolside indulging in the daily happy hour margarita (or four...), go on one scuba dive where I saw an enormous sea turtle and an eagle ray, purchase an adorable dress for A's niece, have a couple of dinners out, and come home with two bottles of tequila! Not too shabby. I missed one day of class, but aced my final anyway. Whoop!

Now that its wedding season again... I've been picking up quite a few extra shifts at my second job which is helpful as I try and save for the secret plan (I haven't leaked it yet, have I?) while trying to pay off that pesky debt. I'm feeling a little defeated.... looking at my spreadsheets it just doesn't seem to be moving. I'm going to have to continue to work on trimming my budget, and being harder on myself when it comes to unnecessary spending! Hard to do in the summer months when everyone wants to hit up an outdoor happy hour! Anyone have any fun summer plans? I feel an idea for a series brewing... maybe next week.

June Goals!

• Minimum three shifts at job #2 for some extra cash flow!
• Create a new budget which allows for a little more progress...
• Keep going with my no shopping for 3 months plan!
  
• Continue efund savings for secret plan!
• Keep grocery spending under $200
• Get Michelle Obama's arms
  

I'm with Paranoid...

I don't want you to enter this contest either. I am sorely in need of a new laptop.... and this one is gorge!

If you really must.... check it out.

Hablaremos en junio!

Voy a Cancun! A tomar el sol y por lo minimo cinco margaritas cada dia! Que tengan una semana buenisima !

Sunburns aren't Sexy

No, no, no they are not. The sun has been hit or miss around Seattle this Spring and the last thing I want to do is waste my four precious days in Mexico on a sunburn! I've gone the way of the dark side (or the light side depending on how you look at it) and visited the tanning bed! Eeeeek! It felt so very college freshman to do so!

While I don't usually condone tanning, I think there is something to be said for building up a base to help protect against sunburn. These folks certainly agree, and while they are most likely very biased, their list of tenets makes me feel somewhat justified in my actions. Best yet.... I found a coupon online for one week of free tanning - so my precautionary approach has zero ill effects on my dwindling Mexico budget!

Beautification on a Budget

As much as I adore the man who cuts my hair, I really dread paying him that $90. I can't help but think of all the other things that money could go towards! Shoes! Denim! The ever responsible commitment to debt reduction! Its not that I don't think he is deserving of my cold hard cash, he does a phenomenal job - its more that sometimes I just don't have that extra cash in my budget! Luckily, here in the city, a girl (or boy) has got options!

Platinum: You utilize your budget, but aren't afraid to splurge a little on your hair. A cut will typically run you from $50-$200 and the city is your oyster. You have options! (Also here or here!)

Full foil: A couple of Friday's ago I came into work and just had to get bangs cut. I've been wishy washy on them for a couple of years....pondering whether or not it was possible for me to get straight across fringe and look as good as Zooey Deschanel. Thats tough. She is aaaaaadorable. Anyway....so on my lunch hour, I wandered down the street to the closest Rudy's (also with locations in Portland and Los Angeles) and one of their stylists took me right away! Incredible. My bangs are adorable and she cleaned up my cut. I walked out of there having paid less that $30 and have sent loads of new clients her way.

Partial Foil: So maybe its the end of the month and you're feeling a little low on cash, looking less than fresh, and $30 is sounding pretty steep given thats over a weeks worth of soy lattes. Consider the beauty school! Seattle happens to be home to a Gary Manuel Aveda Institute and you can get cut from an Aveda student for a mere $15-$20! Extra bonus: includes a stress reliving shampoo and style! Check and check!

Bic it: No, don't bic it. Really. Just because you don't have money for a hair cut, does not mean that you cannot get your hair cut! Future stylists are on the lookout for hair models to use for job interviews! I have hair modeled twice. Once for a fashion show, and once for an interview - both came with a free cut and color. Awesome.

Halfway May Goals?

Better late than never, right?

• Zero shopping for three months. I mean zero people. I just dug into my Cancun budget to buy a new swimsuit. Its adorable, but did I really need a new one? I can justify it, tell you its been at least two years since I purchased a new suit (totally true) but I'd be just fine without it. I'm hoping a shorter limit on the no-spend plan will help me stick to it. So nothing.... until August 15th. Thats right, August 15th. Daaaaaamn.
• $100 grocery budget for the rest of the month! (I should be under this....)
• No more cinnamon rolls with morning coffee. (I'll explain later....)
• Hit the gym 3x/wk minimum (see above)
  
• Ace my policy class!
  

Thats all I have time for now! I'm running out of the office to get my weekend started! Have a great one everyone!

I blame the market.

Don't you just adore FruGal? Getting ready for work the other day, I was pondering my absence from the blog world and wondered if it mattered. When I checked my email, the lovely FruGal had left me a comment! Way to make a slacker blogger feel like her incessant ramblings matter!

Oh, financially savvy friends, where on earth do I start? Life just took me for a bit of a tumble I suppose. Nothing drastic really, run of the mill ups and downs coupled with an insanely busy schedule. Lets start with the ups, shall we?

Exhibit A:
See that? Don't I look content? I am. Maybe I deserve a slap on my not so frugal hand for using my hard earned cash for lift tickets rather than paying down my debt, but sometimes a girl needs a break. I am proud to say that I got in some really excellent days of snowboarding this year on my beautiful bamboo board. Bliss.

Exhibit B:

My grandmother is turning 92 this year. She once said to me that one of the most important things in life is to always have something to look forward to. Its been a bit of a grueling Spring quarter. With the stress of Exhibit C and D, the weather (its 45 degrees and raining today) and trying to stay on top of my two courses in addition to my M-F 8-5 gig, and the occasional weekend catering job, I have been busy. Lucky for me, on one of those beautiful days of snowboarding on the mountain, a plan came to be. In just eight days, I get to go here. Amazing. I had enough airline miles for a free ticket and a free place to stay. I have budgeted $400 for food and drinks, but I imagine I'll spend half that. I have two assignments due the week I'll be gone, so I've been working to get those done early next week so I can stop stressing and start packing. A tan is exactly what I need.

Exhibit C:

How about this economy, eh? I've been lying low, working hard, trying to sleep but having a lot of difficulty doing so, just waiting to find out if my job was safe. The university I work for faced some severe budget cuts. For months now, there has been uncertainty about layoffs, and the atmosphere has been stressful; people running frantically from meeting to meeting and whispering behind closed doors. The good news is, I'm still here. Phew. (That felt like a close one, but likely was not...)

Exhibit D:

Well, now for the bad part. Anyone catch this article in the New York Times? Apparently now that finance is dead, my graduate program of choice, Public Affairs, saw an increase in applications this year of 82%! Whaaaat? You see now why I blame the market? I've been taking courses as a graduate non-matriculated student for the past year in public affairs, and kicking ass in them. My plan was to apply this year, and be accepted in the fall so that I continue as a matriculated student. Through my work, I get six credits of tuition every quarter. Free grad school is awesome. Awesome until.... you don't get in. Thats right, rejected. Bam. Just like that. I understand that the applicant pool was especially strong this year, and that in only applying to one school I was really putting my eggs all in one basket.... however.... I'd be lying if I didn't say this derailed me a little bit. My boyfriend and I are cooking up a fun and exciting alternate plan while I wait for the next application deadline.... I have a special efund for it and everything... but you'll have to wait to find out what it is.

There we have it... sorry for the disappearance! I'm back on the wagon!