Interest is good!

Okay folks, i'm excited. My accounts at IGOBANKING raked in $15.53 [$13 from my EF alone!]! That extra cash was added to my House DP fund, and i should get another $10.00 or so from ING and EMIGRANT combined when they post the interest tomorrow. Looks like next month it will rise to over $400.00. I eliminated the "money games" for this month because I sent all my extra cash to my roth and to my emergency fund.... but boy do i love getting paid interest!

It's a small start, but it makes me feel better knowing i'm doing something about my eventual home purchase!!!!!

~*~*~*~*~*~45 Days Until I Graduate College! ~*~*~*~*~*~

networth

okay, i just ran the numbers on my networth [this is what i do when i'm at work and the pool is closed due to poor air quality for a whole week and there is nothing to do but answer the phone and tell people no... you can't swim]

my Networth should increase by $973.32 for December and November if i keep to the pretty side budget that preps me for total independence. If i take out my x-mas savings money [because it will be gone by jan 1st] my current Networth would be $17,882... considering the 973.32 each month i'd only need to get $171.36 to have a networth of $20,000 by January.

looks like i'm aiming for a new goal!

~*~*~*~*~*~47 Days Until I Graduate College! ~*~*~*~*~*~

I already feel motivated again

So my lack of motivation is gone... I'm completely wired and back in the game!!!! just the idea of shooting for something I really want, my own place or at least the ability to have my own place is setting me on fire!

The networth crossed the $18,000 line because i sent that extra $100 to my Roth and sent an additional 121.57 to my invisiline... I feel excited to pay down debt again!

And of course with that little extra I sent, the figures I posted yesterday need to be updated! I still can't do it until November 2008... but if i find $251.43 i'll have my debt done in March... and if i find $400.00 I can move out in October!

1. November: --> Debt 2167.43 -->EF 3793.83
2. December: --> Debt 1688.43 -->EF 4011.15
3. January: --> Debt 1209.43 -->EF 4228.47
4. February: --> Debt 730.43 -->EF 4445.79
5. March: --> Debt 251.43 -->EF 4663.11
6. April: --> Debt 0 [Extra 227.57 to EF] -->EF 5000 + extra $108.00 moving out

then in May i can roll over all of those savings [479+ 217.32= 696.32] amounts to moving out:

1. May: Moving out Fund: 804.32
2. June: Moving out Fund: 1,500.64

Then in July, since i'd have to move to another place... i'd only have $500.00 to save each month

1. July: 2000.64
2. Aug: 2500.64
3. Sept: 3000.64
4. Oct: 3400 +100.64 house dp and I could move out Nov 1st 2008

a Place of my Own:

Lately, i've been thinking a lot about my living situation... The past few weeks I've felt more like someone who rents out a room in an apartment... then someone who has an apartment with a friend or two... It just doesn't feel like my place anymore...

I guess what i'm saying is if the girls want to resign a lease and we can find a place were my rent is 800 a month or less, I think i might re-sign a short term lease because at least I won't be living with strangers... if they don't want to short term lease it, then i'll peace out to craigslist?

I looked into the idea of getting a studio apartment... but for $50 more a month, I can have a 1 bedroom apt, 200 square feet more, get more utilities included ,and be closer to work. On the high end, this will cost me $3,400.00 on move in day.

• the 1st months rent: $1,1995
• Security Deposit: $500
• Refrigerator: (high estimate) $700.00
• Living Room Furniture: (high estimate) $1,000.00

In addition to all this, my budget, assuming i don't make anymore money then I do now, would look something like this:

• groceries $150; Home Supplies $45; gas/car maint $200; cell and utilities $100; Insurance [car+ renters] $130; Fun $50.00; Roth $100; Laundry $20; Rent $1195; gifts fund $50; EF/House DP $160

which is really do-able.. since I'll have my emergency fund set up and can start saving at least 160 towards the house dp. and i should also be making more money and with school done, i can always pick up an extra shift here and there at work....

but how long before I get to the point where all my ducks are in a line? Lets see:

If i take the $100 left over money and send it to my invisiline and keep paying $217.32 to my emergency fund I'll be ready to start saving for the ultimate move in April at the latest.

1. November: --> Debt 2289 EF 3793.83
2. December: --> Debt 1810 EF 4011.15
3. January: --> Debt 1331 EF 4228.47
4. February: --> Debt 852 EF 4445.79
5. March: --> Debt 373 EF 4663.11
6. April: --> Debt 0 [Extra 140 to EF] EF 5020.43!

then in May i can roll over all of those savings [479+ 217.32] amounts to moving out:

1. May: Moving out Fund: 696.32
2. June: Moving out Fund: 1,392.64

July 1st i need a new place to live... so lets assume i find a place for $800 a month. My budget would look like this:

• groceries $150; Home Supplies $45; gas/car maint $200; cell and utilities $100; Insurance [car+ renters] $130; Fun $50.00; Roth $100; Laundry $20; Rent $800; gifts fund $50; House DP $55; Moving out $500

1. July: 1892.64
2. Aug: 2392.64
3. Sept: 2892.64
4. Oct: 3392.64! I could move out Nov 1st 2008! and have the holidays in my new place!

Since its only 4 months, i either need a month to month deal or a 3-6 month lease.

So the race becomes getting that emergency fund to $5,000 and getting the invisiline balance to zero.

eco friendly me

Lately, I feel like I really haven't been too Eco friendly... So today at work I brought my own coffee mug for my hot Choc so i didn't use a paper cup.

I also think its time i went through my car and took out all the junk I don't need in it... especially with gas prices starting to escalate again. It will be good for my wallet and good for the enviornment... I must think "baby steps..." Its been a while since i was truly being eco friendly.

I'm also saving all the plastic bags that my OC post comes in... I'll use them to cushin my breakables when i eventually move... [won't have to buy packing supplies and i won't have to replace things that will break!] but who knows when that will be... I could end up re-signing my lease... or getting my own place. Only time will truly tell.

I'm also thinking about getting rid of some of the things i never bothered to unpack since my first move... they are mainly decorative figurings including some harry potter halmark figures... but part of me is wondering if i haven't bothered to unpack them if i should really keep them???? But I won't make a decision until January on these things since i'll have more free time on my hands with school done.

i also went through some of my clothes and started to part with some things i haven't worn in ages.

~*~*~*~*~*~49 Days Until I Graduate College! ~*~*~*~*~*~

Networth Update.

I went ahead and ended up passing the 17,800 mark for my networth and i haven't even bought those extra Roth shares yet... or played around with my money games!

I have to deposit my roommates rent check and some cash i got house sitting today after work. Once those clear, i'll buy the extra roth shares and watch it get uber close to my annual goal! woot.

I'm going to use part of the house sitting to cover some purchases i made in this month because i did some shopping. I'm also going to use some of it to get a much needed haircut. who knows what will be left later.

Peace Out!

Fires...

A few of my friends have been evacuated... its just all so close... but i do hear that the Santiago Fire is 50% contained possibly?

some administrative changes

In keeping with the simplifying of my finances... and the fact that I can't keep commit to a single decision i make lately... i'm changing things again because I need to feel secure... and right now I don't feel secure.... I'll start small with a confession.

I was sad to see my Future W fund since the "future" is so uncertain. So i got rid of it. I rolled the money over into my House Downpayment fund. Who knows when it will come back, but for now its one less account to worry about... and to think about.



I also decided that I would rather have my Real Emergency Fund larger then maxing out my Roth. I'm 21... I can wait a little bit before I aim to Max out my Roth... and right now I think i'll feel better knowing that I'll have a true Emergency Fund if an emergency comes my way. Inorder to do this, I had to revamp the budget. I broke it down by Paycheck on one of the sidebars, but here's what I ended up with:

1. Groceries $170.00
2. Basic Home Stuff $45.00
3. Gas and Car $200.00
4. Electric and Cell Bill $100.00
5. Insurance [car+ renters] $127.00
6. Fun Money $50.00
7. Roth IRA $100.00
8. Emergency Fund $217.32
9. Invisiline $379
10. Gifts Fund $50.00
11. Laundry $20.00
12. Rent $600.00
13. House Dp Fund $50.00

I have $100 left over at the end of each month to help with Holiday shopping and random end of the year expenses.

Financial Priorities for the remaining bit of 2007:

• Bring Emergency Fund as close to $5,000 as possible
• Focus on eliminating my last debt AKA "the Invisiline"-- I can't move out or begin to save to move out with this taking $379.00 a month and I think i'll feel better when its gone.
• Keep my Roth contributions at least $100.00 a month and put at least $2,000 in my Roth for 2007.

~*~*~*~*~*~54 Days Until I Graduate College! ~*~*~*~*~*~

the money guru's of MSN...

Well, with the new decision to fund the Roth to 10% i went to my guru's at MSN money for a little reasurance and advice.

and while i'm still gonna put in 10% or max out [which ever is less]... i'm going to take my extra money at the end of the month and half it between the real emergency fund and the roth because i have until April to Fully fund the Roth for 2007... and i really want to get my emergency fund as large as possible to i have the money for my Move when it comes around the corner.

---
I'm thinking that i'll rent out a room from someone for 3-6 months [i'll be debt free and can save and really start looking for a place....] then get my own apartment or place. I also found another condo in RSM for around 179,000... meaning around 36,000 for a Downpayment... which is finally less then i make in a year before taxes --which makes it feel a lot more do-able!

~*~*~*~*~*~57 Days Until I Graduate College! ~*~*~*~*~*~

I still need to Find $1,198.77

Free Rice

Found this website that helpings to improve your english skills while feeding the hungry at the same time.

For every correct answer you give, 10 grains of rice go to feed the hungry.

Check it out and do something good in that 5 min work break you have.

www.freerice.com

random stuff

I finally got around to linking my IGOBANKING account to BOFA... So from now on I won't have to send the money to ING... wait for it to clear... then send it to IGO... and wait for it to clear.... Now i can go from BOFA to IGO!!!!! eliminating the middle man one step at a time makes finance simplier.

Lately i've been really spendy... Still!!! I bought another season of scrubs off e-bay... and i'm still waiting for season 2 of the office to come via amazon's market place... and i covered dinner for a friend last night cause she forgot her wallet [and to be honest... i don't care if she doesn't pay me back]...

While all this spending is still fitting in the budget [i used my month's fun money for the 2 DVD TV shows and the eating out is still coming from my grocery money for the month....] but I know I need to try and cut back... otherwise the roth won't be filled up on its own.

I'm just a little grouchy today... my shoes and socks are wet from pulling the lane lines out of the pool because i didn't want to take them off and freeze my toes on the wet deck... but their cold anyway because my shoes and socks got wet... Last night I got another friend goodbye hug from Mo and with today being the 15th... this would have marked 7 months for us so i'm nastalgic and I'm also fighting in my mind with something Blake said to me last night... Just make sure he's worth it....

And for no apparent reason... a nice old guy i signed up 2 weeks ago for a gym membership just brought me a pretty rose from his garden because he has so many! I think my day just got a bit better.

~*~*~*~*~*~61 Days Until I Graduate College! ~*~*~*~*~*~
I still need to Find $1,198.77

Creating some Motivation

This past week or so i've felt this need to be re-inspired financially. After the big car payoff it seems that no matter where i put my money for the most part i don't get that extra zing...

If i "pay more" to my last debt [invisiline]... it just sits in a savings account to earn interest-- not that i'm complaining or anything like that cause i'd rather have the interest verses toyota.... but the feel good feeling is gone... I know i'll be able to pay the thing off in full by the time the interest rate changes... there's not a big challenge with it...

I just can't seem to motivate myself... I know i'll end up with at least $2,000 in my Roth even though i need to find an extra $200 or so.... But I need something to strive for again... So i'm going to try to re-motivate myself by Racing against myself.

Right now my Gross Annual earnings for the year are $29,987.71. I'm going to aim to put away 10% of my Gross income into my roth. [As of now that means: $2,998.77 ... but this will change in 2 weeks when i'm paid again.]

As of Today I've contributed: $1500 and have will have another $300 in scheduled monthly contributions by January 1st. I need to Find: $1,198.77 to contribute 10% of my income.

~*~*~*~*~*~63 Days Until I Graduate College! ~*~*~*~*~*~

I need to Find $1,198.77

paycheck breakdown

So apparently when i was originally trying to figure out my take home pay... i was dead on!!!!
I make $1,104.16 every 2 weeks [woot woot!]

Paycheck 1:
Groceries 170; Basic Necessities 45; Gas and Auto 200; Utilities and Cell 100; Fun 50; Roth Contributions 100; Car and Renters Insurance 127; Invisiline minimum payment 126; Laundry 20; EF 100; gifts 50; Future W 15 ____LEFT: $1.16

Paycheck 2:
Rent: 600; Invisiline 253; house downpayment 25 ________LEFT: $226.16

This month i'll be going and getting my passport so that should run me around $100.00 with the picture. I'm hoping to add an extra $100.00 around to my ROTH at the end of the month which should leave me around $20.00 for some money games.

~*~*~*~*~*~64 Days Until I Graduate College! ~*~*~*~*~*~

A possible January "raise?"

So i came to work today and found a very pleasent e-mail. The e-mail was informing me that my employerer is going to council to propose a change in my benifit tier. I'm currently a 3 tier employee which in the land of benifits means that any leftover benifit money can be added into my paycheck for half the value. I currently get $134.50 a paycheck in cafeteria cash [$269.00 a month]

They want me to be a 2 tier employee. This means i get the whole amount of unused benifits added into my paycheck. $207.18 a paycheck [414.37 a month]... that's a nice chunk of change... hope they pass it! It would start in January. i also chose KP over Blue shield because they jacked up the rates and i'm not thrilled with my Doc... plus my apt is right across the street from a KP.

In other financial happenings:
The individual price to buy more shares of my ROTH is finally above all my purchase prices that i've made since i got it. It's current value sits at $1,532.43 woot. =) I'm not adding this change in to my networth [i only add actual contribution amounts] but it makes me smile.

Friday is also payday so i'll see what i'm actually making a month without estimating.... we'll see how off my skills were.

My sister's birthday is in December, but she had me buy her birthday present yesterday cause it was on sale from an online store. Luckily for me, my electric bill is running on the small side this month and so the $100 bucks i allot toward my cell and the electric bill is going to help offset this amount.

I still need to come up with $25.08 to cover the rest.... but i turned in some gas reciepts from work for just around that amount... plus i'll have the checks from my roommates to cover their part of the electric bill [i pay it and budget to pay the whole thing, then they pay me their share]. So it looks like i'll be a-okay.

I need to keep this month in line as much as possible financially because i need to purchase my passport... and i'm house sitting for someone for a week and a half and its going to take me more gas and what not to get to work and school then normal.

I'm hoping if i watch it i'll be able to get the passport, cover my sister's present, and throw some more money at the ROTH.

~*~*~*~*~*~66 Days Until I Graduate College! ~*~*~*~*~*~

a re-occuring trend

I noticed that whenever i get paid later in the month, [ie the first paycheck comes more towards the 10th or later...] that those are the months i hold on to more of my money.

Maybe its that fear or charging too much and not having the money to cover it... but its something I noticed... I'm more likely to eat out of my pantry a few days longer or not order the pricier items on the menu at dinner when i'm waiting for the paycheck.

When i physicially have the money in my accounts, it doesn't tend to last me as long...

Not really much to report on my end finance wise. I'm just chilling until friday. Friday i'll find out how much i will make with a normal check... which should help since i think i calculated it wrong.

I saw Furry Man last night and it wasn't as awkward as Saturday night was... and i really think i can do it and wait it out... which is really nice...

~*~*~*~*~*~68 Days Until I Graduate College! ~*~*~*~*~*~

And this is my 300th post on my blog!

The Networth

Since this is a financial blog, i should really get on the ball and back on track.

Looking at my Networth this morning, I'm realizing i'm getting toward that annual goal of mine...
and since i really need something to shoot for... my monthly challenge is to get that sucker to hit $17,800.00

if everything goes to plan, i'll hit 17,700.00.... so i want to shoot a little over that. 17,800 is where i'm aiming. *** crosses fingers***

The Relationship continued...

Thanks for some of the support and comments about my last post. [i responded back to some of you already]...

Despite everything... I really needed someone to talk to last night and he came through for me... I saw my mom and sister last night for the first time since the talk and it didn't go well.... throw that in with my boss making me cry in his office... and i really did need a shoulder to vent to... and he came through for me... and it was so nice.... He just let me vent out the last few days... kind of like things were normal between us... but i know they aren't.

I'm pretty sure i'm going to see him tonight with a bunch of people to celebrate a friends birthday... That will be nice... and fun! [dave and busters yo!]

Only time will tell if this will pan out or not... and i'm praying that it will... yup, chalk it up to the crazy things one will do ... Like waiting for a man to realize how much i'm willing to do here to make this work... [ps-- i'm stubborn as hell in a cute way!]

thanks everyone.
Just Getting through one day at a time.--- me

a bad few days....

I've had an emotional few days and the lack of posts just goes to show for it.

My boyfriend and I aren't together anymore... but at the same time were both not giving up on each other which is complicated... but were trying to make it work. Originally he planned to go to school part time and get a part time job, use some savings and ease into the big college feel [3 years at a JC can knock you on your feet when you go full time at a big school]

Well... he has to be full time for his Insurance [he's on his parents plan]... but could only find 4 academic classes... classes harder then the ones at the JC... and no fluff just to get by. Needless to say he's stressed out...

add the fact that he can't find a decent non-retail gig in his area and that his dad is being way too generous financially with helping him out when he is more then willing to use savings to stay afloat....

The boy also can't handle a lot of things going on at the same time... never has been able to...

So Between school and all that other stuff.... he's having trouble getting down to see me even for group and church stuff, let alone give our relationship the time and effort it needs...

So were no longer together... we both don't hate eachother.... and we both don't want the other out of our lives.... So i guess i'm taking the chance and waiting it out till i graduate... seeing him when i can at church and we're definently staying friends.....

I really hope come January he'll be a little more settled and will let me take some of the burden of our relationship and be the one to drive up to see him... even if its for an hour or so...

Normally when problems come my way i suck it up, build up another emotional wall and close it off... this time i'm fighting for what i think iscright.... and there's no promises as to what the future holds... But i'm waiting....