Living Paycheck to Paycheck

I already went over my $30 June Dining Out Challenge limit–ALREADY!  I dropped $40.77 at Pub Dog in Severn, MD this weekend for a pal’s birthday shindig.  That covered tip, a pizza split between B and I, and 14 8 oz. mugs of beer, also split between us.  Even though I went over, B is going to pay for my oil change this weekend which will make up for his share of that plus the gas we used by driving my car to freaking Severn, MD and around for the rest of the weekend.  On Sunday morning, he drove ten miles to meet up with a few people, and went in their car to a restaurant only to find that it was less than a mile from my apartment…he could have even walked there, but the idiot “friends” who KNOW where I live didn’t suggest that…nor did they invite me to brunch, implying to B that it was a guys’ thing.  It wasn’t.  To be honest, I wouldn’t have wanted to go, anyway (for financial reasons), and B only went to see a friend that he hadn’t seen in over a year. 

I digress.  Anyway, Pub Dog has this weird “deal,” I guess, on beer.  If I order one drink, they’ll give two small mugs for $4 total.  If B or I order TWO drinks (but they have to be the same beer) they’ll give four small mugs for $4 total.  It seems rather silly…but financially pretty good.  We drank Blond Ales all evening before we went back to our buddy’s house where we played beer pong and drank Bud Lights.  I met a guy I’ve heard about for years from the birthday boy and another good friend of mine, so we bonded over our mutual friends, libertarianism, and beer pong where we won four in a row (beating birthday boy and B who doesn’t like being my partner because I always lose—hahaha!!) until I had to go home.  Sigh!  I love winning!

Final Tally! 

Income (from beginning of May):

Paychecks: $2409.97
VA State Tax Refund: $165
Revolution Money Exchange Pay-Out: $35
Federal Tax Refund: $1529
Money Paid Back to Me: $100
Federal Rebate: $600

Total: 4838.97

Expenses (for this week):

Gas (three trips): $144.82
Tolls: $35.00
Entertainment: 17.65
Rent/Water/Fees: 1033.66
Groceries: $158.69 (Got a lot of June’s groceries, hair dye, and allergy medicine)
Other:  $9.00 Service Charge on my bank account…I had less than $750 in my checking at one point, I guess.

How does this look for my Bare Bones Budget Categories?

Category 1:  Rent/Utilities/Phone/Internet/Food — $1467.78 / 1,345
Category 2:  Savings — $50 / 250*
Category 3:  Loans — $262.72 / 262.72
Category 4:  Gas/Tolls/Car Insurance/Car Maintenance — $460.26 / 480
Category 5:  Entertainment/Gifts/Clothing/Donations/Miscellaneous — $121.04 / 70

TOTAL: $2361.80 / 2409.97 from the original budget, with $48.17 going into savings (*along with “extra” tax money and things).

This also goes to $2361.80 / 2610.80 (the ACTUAL amount I have per month because of the two extra paychecks per year) for a difference of $249.00.  So this isn’t so bad, especially since my June groceries won’t be so expensive.

My savings will be allotted thusly:

$25 into Gift fund
$25 into Emergency fund
$1500 into Car Lump Sum (due NOV 2008!) account
$83.17 into Revolving Savings — this account is for when I go under or over on a given month and to fund “wants” periodically.

Other ”extra” money will stay in my checking for now.  My car insurance lump sum will be coming up this summer and I can’t even guess how much it will be.

Also:  Anyone closely following the blog might note that I’ve switched things from different categories and removed some expenses (like the Target bill payment).  I switched the Loudoun car tax to Misc., and I removed the bill payment because the point of this was to show what I spent vs. earned in May, not what I’m paying for now because of April or March.

I’m glad that I did this, but in the future I might just put down my Bare Bones Budget categories instead, since this turned into a lot of searching online for my online banking totals and credit card “recent activities”.

Okay, maybe it’s not a windfall…it’s more like I’m an idiot.

When I created my Bare Bones Budget, I settled on $2409.97 as my monthly limit by adding two paychecks together since I’m paid every other week.  I failed to realize that there are 52 weeks in a year, and I’m paid 26 times…which becomes 13 months.

So my REAL monthly budget should be $2608.33.  I just “found” $200 a month…sort of.  I was paid three times in February and will be again in August.  This is pretty great, all in all.  I figure that I’ll still try to keep to the Bare Bones Budget, but I probably won’t cry if I fail or something (I hate failure.  The best way to get me to do ANYTHING is to make it into a competition with someone.  I’ve never lost a staring contest because I will keep my damn eyes open while tears are pouring out from the strain before I’ll let myself lose—this is not terribly good for my eyes or for curing my stubbornness, but it’s awesome for my self-esteem).

Since I already had the one paycheck, I’ll only count the August one in with my budgeting and things.  I figure that a lot of it will go to gas as I travel this summer, and some gifts from July through Christmas.  And I can use this to show my best friend that yes, I can afford to live without a roommate.  YAY!

End of the third week! 

Income (from beginning of May):

Paycheck: $1204.98
VA State Tax Refund: $165
Revolution Money Exchange Pay-Out: $35
Federal Tax Refund: $1529
Money Paid Back to Me: $100

Total: 3033.98

Expenses (for this week):

Gas: (Three trips):  $147.75
Tolls: $35
Groceries: $84.17
Internet: $44.99
Gas Bill: $38.84
Target Bill Payment: $105.47 (Since this was for last month, this includes stuff from my party, my mom’s birthday, a couple general expenses).
Charity Donation: $30

How does this look for my Bare Bones Budget Categories?

Category 1:  Rent/Utilities/Phone/Internet/Food — $275.43 / 1,345
Category 2:  Savings — $1010.61 / 250
Category 3:  Loans — $262.72 / 262.72
Category 4:  Gas/Tolls/Car Insurance/Car Maintenance — $330.89 / 480
Category 5:  Entertainment/Gifts/Clothing/Donations/Miscellaneous — $135.47/ 70

NET EFFECT: $2015.12 / 3033.98 OR $1015.12 / 1204.98 if you look at what I actually earned for the month so far and take away the $1000 I put into my Money Market account from my tax refund.

Coming soon: another paycheck and a big ol’ rent payment.

I’m afraid that I’m going to get into a fight with my best friend.  Not one of those “I hate you!” fights, but one of those “I’m so frustrated with you for not doing what I say when I know I’m right!” kind of fights.  She’s the frustrated one, though, not me–at least not yet.

A week ago she asked me if I was getting a roommate when my lease ends and I said “no”.  Now I’m not 100% sure about this, but right now I have no options and I flat-out refuse to live with just anybody.  I learned the hard way that living with someone that you hate (and hates you right back) sets you up for a world of depression; having to stay cooped up in your bedroom so that you won’t have to see the roommate, trying to find things to keep yourself out of your own place, arguing about bills, chores, etc.  At one point in college, one of my only outlets for my inner turmoil (I know, I’m overdramatic) was coming to class early and telling my friends what my Psycho Roommate had done that day in great, story-teller fashion.

Anyway, my best friend said, “But you have to!” and I immediately bristled.  I HATE being told what to do by anyone (except my bosses…because that’s their job).

I told her that I didn’t have to and she said something about how if I were living paycheck to paycheck (which made me wonder if she’d found my blog–but I don’t think she has because she hasn’t said anything about it) I needed to save money.  I know that she is definitely concerned about whether I have enough money to live, but I also know that her big complaint is that I’m not going out to restaurants and bars with our friends anymore.  This month it was mostly because of not having enough money until my tax refund came in (got in on Friday morning, $1529 woohoo!), but also because I haven’t missed it.  At this point, I don’t enjoy going out to dinner and seeing my money going down the tube, even if I stick to water and something cheap.  I’d much rather hang out at my place or someone else’s.  I don’t consider dining out to be a necessity and I don’t know how to express it without someone getting upset with me.

This is one of the reasons why my boyfriend and I work so well together: he’s just as broke as me, maybe more so.  When we’re together, we’re able to back each other up about not spending too much.  All his money is going to pay the normal expenses and whatever is leftover is paying off loans or things that will help him out in the future, like a personal training course that will pay for itself in no time once he’s done and finds a part-time job at a gym.  He never encourages me to spend money when I don’t think that I should (although I’m not always as supportive of him–if you lose a razor, buy a new one, don’t wait two weeks until I can bring you your spare!).

Anyway, I’m not going to live with someone who is not a trusted friend.  It’s also a lot easier for my friend to say that I should since she’s married and doesn’t have to live with anyone but her husband, the person she loves and trusts the most.  I’m going to try to avoid this becoming a real disagreement, though.  I know that she cares about me and that’s where this comes from.  What it really boils down to (after all the rambling) is how much my peace of mind is worth.  What is the dollar amount per month I am willing to pay just to let go of a huge amount of stress?  The only stress in my life right now is being judged for my financial choices (and, a little, about what my living situation will be in September); nothing is wrong with home, work, family, or my boyfriend.  I’m curious as to how much anyone reading this blog would pay to block out the biggest stressor in his/her life.  If you feel like commenting about it, please do!

I totally caved.  Yesterday, I bought groceries for the first time in well over a month.  I really wanted to stick to the Pantry Diet, but, honestly, the only way I had left to do that was to have spaghetti or mashed potatos for every meal–including breakfast.  So, as I sat at my computer yesterday morning, eating leftover mashed potatos before getting ready for Mass, I made up a grocery list and went directly after church.

I’m just under the $100 limit I set for myself at the beginning of May for the May Grocery Challenge at Give Me Back My Five Bucks, though I’m running low on milk, but I don’t want to go over the $2.04 I have remaining.  On the other hand, I’ve never stayed this close to $100 with groceries and I’m pretty proud of myself.

I wasn’t expecting to have to buy Drain-O for my bathroom sink, but it didn’t cost too much.  I also had to buy things that I was out of (due to the pantry diet) that I like to have on hand: flour, baking powder, pancake mix.  Other non-monthly expenses were toilet paper and toothpaste.  The most “luxurious” item purchased was boxed wine.  My best friend and I (and sometimes her husband, sometimes my boyfriend) get together every Wednesday, usually at my place, for Boxed Wine Wednesdays.  It’s cheap and delicious, if unclassy.  One box will generally last 2 1/2-3 visits depending on how much we drink and how often I imbibe on other days of the week.  I wouldn’t be able to afford BWWs otherwise.  Two weeks ago, for example, my best friend and I killed two bottles of wine between us (I was given a few bottles for my birthday last month and haven’t bought boxed wine in a while), one of which she brought.  If we each bought a bottle of wine each week at $7 apiece, we’d spend approximately $672/year, for a total of $336 each.  Instead, I’m paying under $200 a year on the boxed wine and drinking tons of beer and wine at her house on most weekends, evening it out.

In the future, I think that I’ll try to keep my grocery budget to something slightly easier like $120/month, especially during allergy season when I live off of generic Claritin.

About once a week I’m going to try to post what I’ve spent…for everything.  This is for my second week.  I’m also going to include money I’ve received.

Income:

Paycheck:  $1204.98
Revolution Money Exchange Payout: $35
VA State Tax Refund: $165
TOTAL: $1404.98

Expenses:

Gas: (Two trips):  $102.51
Tolls: I’ll post this when the $35 is automatically taken from my account.

How does this look for my Bare Bones Budget Categories?

Category 1:  Rent/Utilities/Phone/Internet/Food — $107.43 / 1,345
Category 2:  Savings — $10.61 / 250
Category 3:  Loans — $262.72 / 262.72
Category 4:  Gas/Tolls/Car Insurance/Car Maintenance — $148.14 / 480
Category 5:  Entertainment/Gifts/Clothing/Donations/Miscellaneous — $- / 70

NET EFFECT: $528.90 / 1404.98

I was able to avoid shelling out money for Mother’s Day by using a gift card I’d received at Christmas, so I was pretty happy about that.

About once a week I’m going to try to post what I’ve spent…for everything.  So, so far for May:

Student Loans: $174.01
Car Loan: $88.71
Cell Phone: $47.79
Loudoun County Car Tax: $64.39
Electric Bill: $45.85
Groceries:  $13.79 (Milk, eggs, allergy medicine)
Gas: $36.??
Tolls: I’ll post this when the $35 is automatically taken from my account.

How does this look for my Bare Bones Budget Categories?

Category 1:  Rent/Utilities/Phone/Internet/Food — $107.43 / 1,345
Category 2:  Savings — $-64.39 / 250
Category 3:  Loans — $262.72 / 262.72
Category 4:  Gas/Tolls/Car Insurance/Car Maintenance — $36.?? / 480
Category 5:  Entertainment/Gifts/Clothing/Donations/Miscellaneous — $70

My take-home pay each month is $2,409.97.  Knowing that I have not been living within my means, I decided to make a “Bare Bones Budget”.  What always screws me up when keeping a budget is budgeting per expense, instead of grouping things together.  Each month when I pay my rent, I have to pay mandatory fees and my water bill together with it.  So that always varies between $1032-37.  I could choose a number within that range, but why not add my other utilities in?  And if I’m adding necessary utilities, why don’t I add in the unnecessary ones like cell phone and internet?

So I’ve broken my budget into a few categories:

Category 1:  Rent/Utilities/Phone/Internet/Food — $1345
Category 2:  Savings — $250
Category 3:  Loans — $262.72
Category 4:  Gas/Tolls/Car Insurance/Car Maintenance — $480
Category 5:  Entertainment/Gifts/Clothing/Donations/Miscellaneous — $70

The only problem with a bare bones budget is that it doesn’t leave room for surprises (unless you count Category 5’s “miscellaneous” option.  Already this month I paid my county car tax for $64.39…technically, that could go in either Category 4 or 5…or 2, “Savings”.  With my $250/month, I want to put $200 into the savings for paying my car loan, $25 into an “Emergency Fund” which I don’t really have yet, and another $25 into a Gift Fund.  It seems like every month, I have another gift to buy, and sometimes more than one.  In July, I have two weddings and my grandmother’s birthday.  I want to start putting money aside specifically for that.

To do that, I’m going to start splitting up my bank accounts.  I have two checking accounts, two savings accounts, and one Money Market account.  The Money Market has the most money in it and is the savings for paying off my car.  My most often used checking account will stay the same pretty much; it’ll be used for Categories 1, 3, and 4.  One savings account will be the Emergency fund, one will be the Gift fund, and the lesser used checking account will just hold whatever money is leftover at the end.

If this is too hard, I may I have to fiddle with the numbers as I go.  For example, $250 is more than 10% of my take home income, and I already have 3% of my salary before taxes going into a 401K (with 50% match), so it might be best to put more into travel as this summer approaches and gas gets higher.

In other news, this weekend my boyfriend went grocery shopping for Saturday night’s dinner so that he could cook for me.  I told him that I didn’t want him to buy food so that I could stick to the pantry diet, but apparently he disapproves and didn’t want to stick to it himself.  So he bought me a package of lunch meat and bread for this week’s lunch while he was there.  I’m so used to not having that kind of food that I cooked lunch and came to work before remembering.  That’s the best part of this diet-that’s-not-really-a-diet:  I’m finally learning how quick cooking can really be.  This gives me hope that in the future, when I’m a parent, my children won’t starve to death.

Last night I dreamt that I was at some sort of office supply store with a shopping cart, just kind of throwing things in.  I started thinking about whether I needed any of those things because I was becoming horrified–I’m not supposed to be spending any money on things I don’t need right now.  So I put all but maybe two things away.  I woke up wondering how I could be so stupid for even buying THOSE things when I realized it was a dream.

I can’t decide whether this is supposed to tell me that I need to relax on the no spending thing, or that I need to beef up my resolve.