I'm a spazz and i finally have an amazing roommate

So apparently last night I left my house and car keys at my boyfriends. How'd that happen since I woke up in my bed and didn't know until i tried to leave for work????

he picked me up last night, so naturally he was going to drive me home... (i took a light nap on the couch cause he was working the night shift and we were not going to head to my place till 10:45 so he could make sure i got home and then leave for work from my place (my place is closer to his call place and the freeway)...

well the other day, I gave the boyfriend his own key to the apartment (the double and my favorite roommate ever) said it was a good idea since we both know him and it would be good for someone to have a key that's always around in case of an emergency... and so when he tucks me in late at night he can lock the bolt on the door for safety reasons...

So HE unlocked the door last night with HIS key... mine are still in his car (aka fell out of my purse) or back on the kitchen counter at his house since he handed me my cell (which i almost left there in my sleepy state)...

my amazing roommate got up at 6:25 AM and got me to work by 6:45AM.... I LOVE HER!!!!! she also offered to pick me up after work if i can't get a hold of the boyfriend by that time so i don't have to walk home... (but i might walk home)

Kiva Loan # 2

I finally deposited my CC rebate check so i made another Loan on KIVA!


Mrs. Eal Nub is 32 years old and lives with her husband Kub Matt in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. To help support their three children and their education expenses, she sells fish in the market and he works in construction. Mrs. Eal has been renting her stall in the market since 2007 and is now applying for a loan in order to purchase this stall. This will eliminate her current monthly rental costs. By reducing her business overhead, Mrs. Eal hopes that she will be able to focus on increasing her business inventory to include vegetables, pork, and beef.


Name:
Eal Nub
Location:
Russey Keo, Phnom Penh,, Cambodia
Primary Activity:
Fish Selling
Loan Requested:
$1,200.00
Repayment Term:
16 months - repaid monthly
Loan Use:
To purchase the stall she rents in the market
Date Posted:
Jun 27, 2008

I won't get the funds back from this loan for a really long time, but I liked the fact that she really wanted to buy her stall and expand her business to bring more food to her community. =)

Okay, Spendy spendy spendy

yup, that's me.

I went ahead and wrote everything i need to purchase into the budget for the apartment with the exception of costco-- i'll wait another month--... I was pretty good until i won a free makeover session with Mary Kay-- and droped $150.00 on beauty supplies...

July Budget

• Laundry $20
• food $120
• water $16
• gas $140
• car ins $88
• ebill $45
• cell $55
• household $25
• fun $50
• house dp $351.67
• Extra Money spent to get me through June $89.68
• roth$188.85

---

• rent $795
• Apt spending $394.20

Now before you start... I know I went overboard... but I'll be working the 4th of july (holiday pay) + I have a work inservice day I have to attend (more hours) + I should be recieving the check for working the polls on election day. All that i'll add to the savings. Plus my raise and retroactive pay has yet to be applied and as of the 20th-- the paperwork was still on my bosses desk.

Monthly Goals:

1. max out my Roth this month for the year
2. set a little bit aside for the house. =) $351.67
3. pay for the fun "were all moved in party" using my budget!

Its time to get back on track.

update to the update...

I called my mom and told her i'd give my sister the house keys... and that i probably won't be there come october.

She needs to get sober for herself, not because i'll stay in her life if she does.

A little elaboration:

I had a comment on yesterdays post that I wanted to elaborate on...

"I'm confused. Why does that mean you are going to have to call your mother? Why do you want to hang on to the housekeys? I thought you told her yourself that you were cutting her out of your life until she stopped drinking permanently?"

honestly... I'm just as confused with the whole situation.

She didn't want the keys back when we sat and had our talk... so i still have them. When We had our talk, i don't think she realized that I wasn't going to go over and say hi anymore... She figured i'd keep my apartment and still come over to do laundry--- not keep my apartment, go to the laundry mat, and not return her phone calls... when i didn't return the phone calls, she started going to my sister and asking her what was going on. My sister told her i'd never speak with her again and that i'd disowned her. So, my mother called and left an angry message demanding the house keys back since i'd never talk with her again.

Which isn't true. I don't know if i'll never talk with her again. It is my sincere hope that my mom will turn her life around... and one day --maybe-- we'll find common ground. but she's had 22 years of lying to me... and i don't know if i can forgive and forget that even if she's sober... the damage has been done... but she's still my mother.... and i don't have a father anymore...

The problem i'm having is that "Apparently" she's sober right now (from what my sister tells me and the voice mails i've recieved.)... but she's not doing a program----- And from our conversation yesterday, Apparently everytime she's told us that she was going to try to get better-- she never did. That hurts.......
She admitted to lying to me about it for 22 years.... and now she's claiming she can do it without a program because she never tried to stop before and just kept lying to me about stopping.

I wasn't born yesterday... its hard to quit...

I'm supposed to see my sister in a few days... and I think i'm going to go ahead and give her back my old house keys anyway... my mom is under the impression that she's going to see me for her birthday, and that's in October... i'm not sure if i'm going to go....

Phone call just adds to a long day...

Yesterday, after working a truly busy day at one of my job's sister locations... i got a voicemail from my mother... apparently since i haven't been returning her calls she's been speaking with my sister...

who apparently told my mother that I "disowned her" and would never "speak to her again." which is not the case, but since she doesn't know that she's telling me to give my sister my set of house keys...

Looks like i'm going to have to call my mother...

and the negative adds up...

The electric bill payment went through today. So far this month i'm in the whole $97.59... looks like the roth is going to be really short this month.....

Roth= $4,811.15
House Dp= $2,474.19

July challenge, kiva, and a loveseat!

I'm participating in the July Challenge at Give me my Five bucks Back: I figured with gas rising i really need to keep everything in line so i can start saving up for my next car maint check up. http://krystalatwork.blogspot.com/

I got an e-mail from Kiva while i was gone. The people in Uganda have made a partical payment!! woot woot.... and with all the spending this month, i have another CC rebate check so i'll be able to make another loan! Any suggestions as to lo-cal??? Country??? region????

oh and the double is awesome as a roommate and totally just bought us the cutest little love seat that matches the apartment decor! I LOVE MY ROOMMATE!!!!!!

I've had a few calls from my mom since the last time i spoke with her... and i haven't returned them... but i've been talking a lot more with my sister lately so i know information is getting relayed her way... but i'm working through it one day at a time.

I'M BACK!!!!!!

No I didn't fall off the face of the planet-- I got back from VaCaTiOn!!!!!

Yosemite was truly amazing (and expensive). While I was able to cram it all into the budget (a miracle in itself) gas was $5.29 a gallon there and the campsite was not where we thought it was... which meant driving 28 miles to the valley everyday... and even with that i was able to make it work....
BUT then I got hit with some things that mean i won't make my savings goals for the month...

Had to pay my roommate $60.00 to cover the barstools she bought... (budget still intact)

I had to buy some clothes to wear camping and to wear at work. It's summer and i basically owned no shorts and found out that the gym pants i'd been wearing to work had holes in them.... $80.00 later (because i found a pretty dress too) My budget was okay... but I had no wiggle room left this month and i was going to have to play out the pantry game if you know what i mean.... AKA can't spend a dime.

Then I get a letter from AAA... I called and they told me they never took off my multipolicy discount... and charged me $54.00 more...

Now i'm in the red for the month... So my roth won't get as far as i hoped it would, and my house dp probably won't grow anymore.

But my vacation and the pictures i took were worth it!!!!!!!!!

unexpected...

I had my be-lated birthday gathering, and while most of the people didn't show up for some excuse or another, i had an awesome time with the 10 who did--- and its funny because the ten who showed up bent over backward to be there!!!! I have amazing people in my life!!!

We went to Bj's and had an amazing time-- great food and EXCELLENT Service. On my way out i told the whole front end to tell the manager that my server was great and it was the best time i'd ever had at BJ's.
Which is funny because a few nights ago i went to fridays and had such a horrible experience that i complained to the manager for the first time in my life. The manager gave us 5 free dessert coupons to use on other visits in hopes that we will come back. I spoke with him after we paid our bill and I still tipped the server 20% on my portion of the bill while i know my friends didn't... i didn't want him to think i was looking to get anything comped so we waited till we were done--- i know what resturants think of 20 year olds...) I'm only planning on going back for free dessert. I'm done with Fridays. and I Salute BJ's

Now i normally don't drink ever because of my mom... so i only have one drink when I do and its aways either at a special occassion or a back yard BBQ with lots of friends. I've never drank alone and never will. So to comeserate the night I finally tried their long island ice tea (i love it!) and my friend ordered me another one for funzies... well the bill came and we definently spent. I figured i'd chip in more to make sure the server was well taken care of. I figured i'd get it last and put whatever we were short on there-- Well the bill came my way and we were 80 short, so i asked if everyone had pitched in... Thankfully it hadn't gotten around to everyone (my relief) so the last couple was going to add theirs in and they wouldn't let me pay a thing!!!!! they covered the rest of it and then some even though tip was included. I kept making sure it was okay with them, and they insisted.

I was blown away frankly! and the night just kept getting better as it wore on. we went back to my boyfriends house and played loaded questions... it was awesome. Eventually as midnight was nearing i just started napping on the couch like normal (i'm always the first to fall asleep because of my early morning hours.) but it was an awesome night. I love my Friends!!!!!!!!!

----
on another note, i bought the Sunday paper for the coupons today since it stopped getting delivered... I might have to look into a subscription to get rid of the horrible 1.25 fee.

Annual income report thus far...

So far this year i've made $20,200.31. =) Not a bad chunk of change, considering that if i don't get a raise (which i am-- paper work pending) and I don't work any holidays or overtime (which I will because i have to with the nature of my job)

• i'll make $40,623.38 for 2008!!!!!!!! Holy Cow Batman! Woot Woot!

Just maxing out my Roth IRA alone means i'm saving 12.3% of my income (before taxes) and that doens't include the CAL PERS... I think i'm doing lovely thus far. I started retirment saving at 21 and maxed out my 2007 Roth.... and i'll do it for 2008. not to many people can say they have done that! So change that and go do it too!!!!!

MY ADVICE TO YOU

:::::::::: make retirement is a priority:::::::::::

its a long way off now, but if you get in the habit of it, you'll always have money in the bank.

I've mentioned before about playing with the idea of getting a second job, but to be honest, I don't think i'm going to. I could, I'm young and i'm done with school-- but to be honest-- i think I i'll be doing myself a better service keeping my availability open to work Overtime at my current job (OT is a little shy of 25 an hour), and actually looking presentable at work and not like I just rolled out of bed on 5 hours of sleep (I actually did my hair and make up today).

Plus the boyfriend is going to be working more hours and I enjoy the time i get to spend with him. So i would hate to sacrifice our relationship for extra money a month. It's worth more to me to stay at home with him, cook him a nice meal, and play for card games then to work a double shift.

The Scooter Debate, a mom update, and LIFE

It's funny that one of my readers mentioned this in the comments of another post because I was thinking about it just the other day. ...
now that you're not moving in with your mom, you can get that scooter to help (drastically) save on gas right?
lol. I actually thought about doing just that (part out of smite, part to save on the gas money--- gas is $4.49 a gallon now) but since i'm not moving home, i can't justify dropping 3-4,000 on a scooter to save 100 bucks a month in gas-- it would wipe all my savings out. In the long run it might be a good investment, and i may do it later on in the future (like if i'm married and my husbands car breaks down, we could get a scooter and share the one i have)... but i can't justify the cost right now. If i was moving home and didn't need to buy a fridge, or pay rent... it wouldn't be such a huge chunk of change i'd have to front. I'd go really frugal for a month or so, use my stimulus check, and only have to take a bit from savings... but that purchase now would wipe me out.

As for my mom--
I talked with her a few days ago. While i'm not sure she picked up on the finality of my choice (i believe she thinks i'm still going to come around the house, just not live there) she took it better then i thought she would have. She knew it was coming. The boxes in my room went the other way as i took them from her house, i spent less and less time there each and every time i came... I spoke to her less because i couldn't look her in the eye...
She told me she was going to call my grandpa and see if he could spend some time with her (I think this is a good idea-- she left me a voice mail saying she called him on my phone the other day). I'm going to call him myself in a day or so to see what's up. Maybe she'll get help and get clean... maybe she won't. For now, i need the distance.

Yosemite is coming up in a matter of days, and while I have a funny feeling its going to cost a lot more then i was expecting (just think gas as i drive towards northern california), im going to enjoy the trip regardless though. I deserve a vacation (not because i'm entitled-- but because i've paid off my debts and made good choices that allow me to pay for the vacation with cash and afford to put money towards retirement.) Even i know that going on a vacation and trying to save money in the same month are going to be hard, and i know i won't make my goals, but they are there so i don't go overboard while were away. =)

I also have a dentist appointment for a cleaning (that i need to reschedule), and for some reason it always costs me an arm and a leg even with my insurance. I need to reschedule because my fridge is coming the same day, and so is my bestest buddy!

I even got up early and made breakfast while i was still in my apartment this morning. (now that's a first). I guess the world likes me today, so i'll like it back.

Payday!

It's always nicer to come to work after a few days off and remember that today is payday! woot.

With the minimal overtime and the holiday pay from last monday, I decided to put that extra toward the Roth, So July won't have to front as much cash-- As planned. I dropped it $179.74 so for July, i'll only have to put aside $91.27 into the budget to max out my roth..... to think this would all be taken care of if my boss would have just let me have that overtime... oh well.

To make my new goal for my house fund, i'll need to find $138.36

The nice thing, is that my rent will be lower then i thought for this month. It's $1450 which will cover July, not 1495. The new lease and the price agreements will start in Aug. I'm splitting the difference with my roommate so i'll only be sending a check for 775 (not 795) and she'll pay 675 (not 700). So that's only $118.36 to go.

I'm also cashing in all the recycle that the boyfriend and i have been collecting, and i'll roll all my spare change when i get back too... we've been saying we'd do it forever and i'm finally getting it done one way or the other.

=)

House DP Fund at: $2,461.64
Roth IRA Fund at: $4514.54

Gas is 4.39 a gallon.... and today i have to fill up... =(

(yin and yang) The good and the Bad.

I'm definetly excited to say that the house downpayment fund is $2,126.34!!!!! But with the prospect of having to pay rent, the house saving will be a lot less then what i was actually planning on having. My end of month Goal for June was to clear over $3,000 and I assumed i'd max out my roth all at the same time... But things need to change now that my whole situation is changing.

The prospects are not to lavish for this month.

• i'll still be short $271.00 in my roth...
• My wedding fund is gone (that stimulus check went to the fridge)...
• and we can't forget the $200.00 my Emergency fund is short because of the home furnishings I bought for the place (we added some cute bar stools+ patio furniture)
• the house downpayment will be way low. 600 under my goal.
• Gas is exploading and i have a road trip to yosemitee planned with my BF. But the trip is just what i needed so there are no complaints there.

But financially, i'll be facing some June gloom.

Here's what i'm going to do.

• I originally wanted $1,000 padding as my mini emergency fund. I ended up with 1,200. I kept $500.00 in my electric orange account as padding and put $700 into a cd set to mature in September with the interest going towards the house. I did this because the interest rates were dropping like crazy and i didn't need my money as liquid. I'll take that extra $200 and put that into the emergency fund in September when the cd matures. So now its apart of the REAL Emergency Fund. Once the other cd's mature, i'll put them back as account padding now that my money needs to be more liquid with monthly rent payments.
• I'm not going to save up for a wedding right now. I'm going to put that raise toward the house downpayment. My BF is actually getting the opportunity to go part time with his job with some set hours. he will be contract till the end of the year, but they want him to get his class B liscence and that comes with a pay raise. He's also going to start saving up for our future and his debts are getting smaller each month. So together well both be moving forward. I'll start saving for a wedding after he pops the question and we have a date in mind.
• I'll play with the budget.

--If there is anything leftover in these categories at the end of the month, here's where its going:

• groceries, laundry, water, eating out, electric, cell, and household= house
• gas & fun= Yosemitee I'm paying for gas and the campsite. My boyfriend is doing food (and a nice dinner while we are there) + supplies (what we don't have we can hopefully borrow).
• Overtime + Holiday Pay= ROTH (i'm trying to eliminate one thing at a time)
• Poll worker pay= I'm working the polls for Tuesdays election. I'll send that money towards the Roth or the house (depends when i get compensated).

My new monthly goal is to pay for yosemitee with no worries and enjoy myself while i'm up there, get the house downpayment to at least $2,600.00, and make a list of the last few things i'll need in my apartment so i can budget to buy them slowly, or find them for dirt cheap.