phew... its been a bad week.....

Sorry I haven't been blogging much this week. I got a little tap on the hand for my excessive internet use at work and I am making a huge effort to only be doing business on business hours... Especially since I decided to report my boss to HR... But that's another story I'll get into at another time. But that doesn't mean I'm gone for good in the blogging world or anything like that... It just means I'll be making trips to the library with my laptop to blog after I'm off work.... which should have been what I was doing before all this.

But on to the crap that's been this financial week. It seems like all was really going well in February for me... I fully stocked the Emergency Fund, and come next week I'll be able to max out my retirement for 2007... I sold stuff on line and set the parameters for Money Madness March... all good.... all good...

and while those are fixed and will happen.... Some how I miscalculated the amount of money I was using to go towards stuff some where along the line and I'm really glad i had some padding in my BOFA account because when everything is deducted my account was off 46.61.

It's a good thing I'm house sitting for 2 days and they are giving me a pretty $50.00 check. But where did I go wrong?

• I didn't check something I sold online before I shipped it... of course it was the only one I didn't check.... and had to issue a refund to the buyer... a refund I spent before i received it, so it became money I had to then Find in the budget..... --- Money reminder: Don't spend it till you get it.
• Secondly, My new hobby (scrap booking) is a pretty penny... those stickers and words can add up fast and I wasn't being very careful. ---- Money Reminder: Take the few extra moments to add up your amounts before you hit the register. Seeing the total before the tax just might make you buy one thing less.
• I forgot to deduct the $30.00 i spotted my boyfriend for the birthday party we were going to because he doesn't get paid till this Friday and we both went in and got the twins some presents together.
  

It just goes to show that even those who seem to have it together still struggle with the "I WANT" and overspend. I'm guilty.... I ended up wrecking my budget from other areas and found enough money to cover everything else so i'm good and in the clear now because of that one check...

But hopefully by the end of the month i'll have: The money from my boyfriend, the electric bill reimbursements from my roommates, and a $25.00 rebate check from my Credit Card company. That all together should be ruffly $75.00 that I can then put into the House Down payment fund, and thus hopefully end this month on a high note.


As for March Money Madness Month:

1. My trunk is half way cleared out (each time i go inside I've been taking something with me. )
2. I have been driving better and using neutral and I think its stretching my car MPG further... enough so that my boyfriend is trying to drive more friendly himself.
   
3. I sorted my change in the jar by denomination and I'll deposit it in March with whatever is left over from February.
4. I've listed all the books I don't want anymore on half.com (if they don't sell by the end of May they are getting donated or tossed.)
5. I can't change my car insurance policy and can't join on my mothers because I'm the soul owner of my car and her name is not on the title. but when my insurance is up I'll either go with Mercury or AAA... which ever is cheaper although I'll loose my multiple policy discount because I won't need renters INS anymore... so i'll have to fiddle with the numbers.
6. My boyfriend is saving the water bottles at his house for me to recycle and I've got a bag I need to cash in from my apartment.
   

I've also decided to itemize everything I spend money on here on this blog to really foster some creativity and motivation as i pair down.

Happy saving!