Expenses, 24 October 2008
Up-to-Date Expenses:
Gas x 6: $260.00
Car Tax and Decal fee: $89.38
Bank fee: $25.00
Maryland Renaissance Festival: $48
Parking: $1.50
EZPass x 3: $105
Car Loan: $88.71
Student Loan: $174.01
Church/Charity: $130.00
Groceries: $15.42
Gas bill: $25.28
Internet: $44.99
Panera: $6.55
Verizon: $59.52
Income: $2775.60
Expenses: $1073.36
Net Effect: $1702.24
Sigh! I love paycheck Friday! This is my last paycheckfor the month and I still have a few more expenses for the next seven days (like my rent for next month), but overall, I should be saving a good chunk of change…thanks to the bonus!
This weekend B and I are going to my cousin’s baby’s baptism so I need to get a gift after work for that. Then Sunday B is running in the Marine Corps Marathon, so we have to get to DC at the buttcrack of dawn and I’m going to have to Metro to a few different spots along the way to provide fresh socks. I’m going to do my best to not let it stress me out; metroing anywhere that I’m not familiar with…heck, GOING anywhere I’m not familiar with stresses me out, usually. I’m just going to try to relax, though, because I’m just so glad that I have the opportunity to do something nice for him, even if it’s just providing fresh socks and sticking sweaty gross ones in a plastic bag. My friend, H (of the clothing swap!), is also running, so maybe I can hang out with her boyfriend. I think that the only thing he and I have in common is the Redskins, but that should be enough, right? I hope so!
In other news, I got gas for $2.44/gallon yesterday at Costco…I figure that just this week I’ve saved about $8 just by going there instead of the next cheapest station close to me.
My Expenses, 22 October 2008
Up-to-Date Expenses:
Gas x 5: $231.00
Car Tax and Decal fee: $89.38
Bank fee: $25.00
Maryland Renaissance Festival: $48
Parking: $1.50
EZPass x 3: $105
Car Loan: $88.71
Student Loan: $174.01
Church/Charity: $130.00
Groceries: $15.42
Gas bill: $25.28
Internet: $44.99
Panera: $6.55
Income: $1541.80
Expenses: $984.84
Net Effect: $556.96
I kinda like doing this daily expenses thing. It’s really helping me to see where my money is going exactly.
So on Monday I went to Costco and walked around with a notebook, pricing things. I’m glad that they have most of the things that I normally buy, for less than I’d pay at the grocery store. I was disappointed that they didn’t have my shampoo / conditioner because that is something that I have to buy all the freaking time. I have really long, thick hair…like, super thick. It’s thicker than anyone else’s that I know. This requires more shampoo and conditioner than the average person uses, so I go through it rather quickly. It would probably save me time and money if I were to cut it, but I love it long and B always freaks a little when I get a haircut. I might cut it when it gets to my waist, so that I can donate it to Locks of Love again. I did that back in college, but my hair hasn’t been long enough since then to remove 10-12 inches and still have my hair at a length that I like (past my shoulders).
Either way, Costco has some AWESOME deals despite not having my normal hair stuff. I can get a 24-pack of Sugar-Free Red Bull for about $1.40/can…since I rarely drink them, a 24-pack is a 2-3 month supply for me. At the gas station near my apartment, I can get them for about $1.67/can, so this is a better deal.
I was pretty good about not writing down prices for things that I don’t normally get, except for a few things that I know B likes, so that I could let him know how great this place is. Now I’ll have prices to compare to the local grocery stores and their deals. I expect that I’ll be going to Costco often, especially as long as they have the cheapest gas in the entire state of Virginia (as of this morning, $2.44/gallon).
My Expenses, 21 October 2008
Up-to-Date Expenses:
Gas x 5: $231.00
Car Tax and Decal fee: $89.38
Bank fee: $25.00
Maryland Renaissance Festival: $48
Parking: $1.50
EZPass x 2: $70
Car Loan: $88.71
Student Loan: $174.01
Church/Charity: $130.00
Groceries: $15.42
Gas bill: $25.28
Internet: $44.99
Income: $1541.80
Expenses: $943.29
Net Effect: $598.51
I filled up for $2.50/gallon at Costco yesterday!! $35 for approximately 14 gallons of gas. Yay!
My Expenses, 17 October 2008
Up-to-Date Expenses:
Gas x 4: $196.00
Car Tax and Decal fee: $89.38
Bank fee: $25.00
Maryland Renaissance Festival: $48
Parking: $1.50
EZPass x 2: $70
Car Loan: $88.71
Student Loan: $174.01
Church/Charity: $130.00
Groceries: $15.42
Gas bill: $25.28
Income: $1541.80
Expenses: $863.30
Net Effect: $678.50
Still sitting pretty! Also, I was excited to see gas for $2.99/gallon today until I saw that I can get it for $2.69/gallon at the closest Costco to where I live. Awesome!
My Expenses, 15 October 2008
Up-to-date expenses:
Gas x 3: $156.00
Car Tax and Decal fee: $89.38
Bank fee: $25.00
Maryland Renaissance Festival: $48
Parking: $1.50
EZPass x 2: $70
Car Loan: $88.71
Student Loan: $174.01
Church/Charity: $130.00
Income: $1541.80
Expenses: $782.60
Net Effect: $759.20
Today after work I’m going to have to get gas (boo!), but the gas station has it for $3.12/gallon (yay!). I might be able to get a tank for less than $50 which would be super. I’m also going to have to bite the bullet and go grocery shopping…for things like milk, eggs, and random other ingredients to make biscuits to go with tonight’s Wednesday Night Dinner. I borrowed a GREAT cookbook from the library that I’ll post about later and it’s estimated in the book that the biscuits will cost about 16 cents apiece to make…we’ll see. The other part of my meal is just chicken fettucine and I’ll need stuff like milk and oil to get that going. Luckily the chicken and the fettucine was provided for by my parents the last time I was at their house, so it’ll be cheap for me.
I’ve also got to do something about lunch. I’ll bet that I’ll have enough leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch (maybe Friday’s?), but after that I’m really going to have to start getting PB&J ingredients. Also, I’ve been eating leftovers at home for dinner each night recently, so the only time that the Ramen was broken into was over the weekend when I really wanted some…I know…you don’t often hear of someone craving Ramen, but I totally was. Mmm.
My Beach Goal Met!
So here’s what I spent, rounded to the nearest dollar since I don’t have all my receipts on hand:
Two bottles of wine as gifts: $8
12-pack of Coors Light: $10
Two bags of Doritos: $4
Gas: $55 for entire trip minus 30 miles…so add in approximately $6 since I averaged about 21mpg to equal $61
Total: $83
I also found out that I should be getting back $7 or $8 from the $35 that I originally spent for my one night, since another person came and is staying for a couple nights. This would bring my overall estimate of $135 down to $110 or $111. Not too bad.
My New Budget
Okay, new budget!
1. Rent/Utilities/Phone/Internet/Food – $1380
2. Savings – $175
3. Loans – $262.72
4. Gas/Tolls/Car Insurance/Car Maintenance – $500
5. Entertainment/Gifts/Clothing/Donations/Miscellaneous – $182
I changed my savings goal to reflect a few things. Three percent of my pre-tax salary already goes into retirement (with a 50% company match), and $250 on top of that was just too much. I always went over budget on other things. Also, even though I’m trying to keep my budget under $2500/month, I earn about $2670/month. So, theoretically, I’ll already sock away $170 in addition.
I think my estimate for the car stuff is okay, but I’m not sure. We’ll see how that one goes.
The first catergory should be okay, assuming that I don’t go nuts with my cell phone again and if I can make a concentrated effort to stay under budget with groceries. I just received several pounds of mahi mahi (that I helped catch!!) from my parents with some ground venison as well, so I need to look for ways to cook/fry/grill all that and have it stretch for a while. I need to make a diet plan complete with costs of food. I also should hit up Costco, which I’ve never done though I have a membership (paid for by my parents). I’m also paying attention to weekly deals at Giant and CVS (and maybe Shoppers Food Warehouse).
I’m curious to see how this will go and what will need adjusting. My food budget will be smaller this month since I’ll be at the beach for 5 1/2 days (my parents will pay for my food). My auto expenses will rise, though, due to two beach trips (about 750 miles total for both trips).
Here goes nothin’!
My Outer Banks Vacation
Ah! I suppose that it’s good to be home, though I had a lot more fun LAST week. Some highlights of my trip:
1. Awesome tan
2. Four-Wheel Driving on the beach (only female in my family to go from the main road several miles on the sand to the house)
3. Deep Sea Fishing (also the only female to do this, with 11 of my male relatives) – I caught seven dolphin fish and one tile fish
4. Relaxing and having a wonderful time with the family.
Since my father’s side of the family all live in Northern Virginia, we see each other a fair amount, plus or minus a few people (usually the college kids), and everyone gets along with everyone else (except one cousin who didn’t show for the vacation). I love watching the older cousins hanging out with their younger cousins or playing games in and out of the pool. Everyone talks to everyone else, laughs at family stories, and is genuinely happy to be around the relatives. So I love getting together with my family even more than getting together with my friends (minus B, of course). If he’d been able to come, I might have had a lot more fun, though I probably wouldn’t have gotten to go fishing.
Anyway, I did pretty well money-wise this trip. My dad filled my tank up before we left for OBX, so I only paid for a tank and a half of gas…and the gas was cheaper down there! My total spent was $88.85(on gas) plus $4 (tolls), but I received $40 from my aunt and uncle (they gave each of the cousins that amount as a 2008 birthday gift), so my real cost was $52.85….Unless you count the groceries I bought…I brought a family size box of Special K and a bag of 24 small potato chip bags…So my total cost was under $75 (for reals!). Not bad for an entire week’s vacation. Also, I’ll probably get a few pounds of fish out of it, so if I get enough, that’ll drive down my real cost.
Anyway, that’s it for now. This afternoon I’m going to (finally) get my inspection/emissions done (with coupons up to $5 off). This will include them destroying my lug nuts and installing new ones or some such thing for nearly $100. I’m also worried about my brakes…they passed inspection last year, but the mechanic said that I’d need to get them fixed in the next six months or so…clearly that time has passed. Wouldn’t you know that all this comes right before my three-paycheck month? I bet I know where it’s gonna go.
My Bouquet Catch
What a nice weekend!! I’ve always loved the Fourth of July and even though B and I didn’t wind up going to any cookouts, we had a great night at my apartment, sitting on my balconey, watching fireworks a little ways in the distance. My complex is very close to some townhouses and residential neighborhoods, so there were a bunch going off at once. B is from Connecticut where fireworks are illegal (I think?) so he wasn’t used to fireworks that were unassociated with a public show. We decided not to drive out to a public show because it was somewhat rainy, so we saved gas and any expense to get in (though the nearly all are free to get into, you can get charged for parking or any food you may want to buy).
We also rented a couple movies at the Redbox at the Giant close to my apartment. I looked online and got codes, so got the movies for free. Only we didn’t return them on time, so I still had to pay a dollar (plus tax) for each one. B and I have trouble agreeing on movies, so we ended up with The Comebacks and P.S. I Love You. He lucked out and didn’t have to watch the chick flick with me; I watched it yesterday after he left and cried buckets. It still makes me want to cry right now when I think about it (It’s soooo good, though!!).
Saturday was my cousin’s wedding, and we got there late. It was all my fault. And when we sat down, I was under a drip (we were outside and it had rained earlier) that kept hitting my right shoulder every thirty seconds or so. After coming in late, there was no way I was going to draw MORE attention to myself by trying to scoot my chair and B’s, so I just dabbed at it with a tissue that my dad handed to me. I also had to deal with him laughing too loudly right behind me.
It was a lovely ceremony and a fun reception for such a small wedding. I’d estimate that there were fewer than forty people altogether, and only about four or five single ladies which made it easy as pie for me to CATCH THE BOUQUET!!! This is the second time I’ve caught one, and here’s what’s funny: both times the bride threw it too high the first time, it hit the ceiling, I picked it up and handed it BACK to the bride to throw again, and THEN caught it. That first wedding, though, a year ago, has already ended in divorce. I hope that’s not an omen for my cousin. I hope that it’s not an omen for ME, either!! B said that if I want him to propose, I have to get the hat trick. I don’t think those are the rules.
On the way home, we filled up on gas at $3.97!! Cool!
My Favorite Article of the Week
Please read “Tear Down That Wall” by Michael Reagan. Mr. Reagan, son of President Ronald Reagan, discusses what should be done about our gas crisis, namely allowing drilling in United States territory where it isn’t presently allowed.
I know that many who might read this completely accept the global warming myth, despite the earth’s temperature actually getting colder each year for the past ten years or so. Unfortunately, the scientists that speak out against global warming alarmists are largely ignored by the media which dictates what average Americans know about the world. As a bonus, please read “Global Warming and the Price of a Gallon of Gas”, John Coleman’s Comments Before the San Diego Chamber of Commerce. The creator of the Weather Channel is outspoken and makes much sense.
If we are allowed to drill in Alaska and other places in our own country, we won’t receive gas for another, what, 10-15 years? That’s absolutely true. Our economy is heading for a recession; unemployment rates are going up. One way to combat this is to open more refineries, allow more drilling, and create more jobs. Maybe it won’t help much and maybe it won’t help for a dozen years or more, but we have to do something now so that our economy isn’t completely crippled by proposed cap and trade laws and astronomical gas prices.
If you feel like I do, please visit AmericanSolutions.com and sign the “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.” petition. If you completely disagree with me, I don’t really care. Simply disregard the post. I’m not here to argue, but to give my opinion.
