- Church offering/giving : $134.00
April 24th: $73.78
- Fresh and Easy: $68.45
- Henry's Farmers Market: $5.33
April 25th: $69.87 (propane tank refill and flowers for the garden)
- Lowes: $42.36
- Walmart: $27.51
April: 26th: $0.00
April: 27th: $51.18 (Flowers for "Mothers Day" + Card +Internet)
- Ralphs: $11.85
- Henry's Farmers market: $4.34
- Cox Internet: $34.99
April 28th: $0.00
April 29th: $326.38 (also my fiance's Birthday)
- Rainbow Outlet Store: $40.00
- Home Depot: $7.38
- Chili's bar and Grill: $29.00
- Home Owners Association Bill: $250.00
April 30th: $0.00
Monthly Bills/obligations left to pay: $0.00 | Extra Money at the end of the month: $102.52!
I'm taking $50.00 from the extra money this month and putting it towards our costco membership bill which is due in August since I don't have money set aside for that bill yet. With this taken care of, we officially have all the money we need to cover our "Annual" bills that we don't monthly budget for! Woot!
Normally, when I get an annual bill that's not included monthly in the budget, I pull money out of a savings account earmarked for that bill, pay the bill, and then immediately save up that amount for next years bill so I don't have to worry about how i'm going to find $X amount in the budget when the bill "unexpectantly" shows up. I don't count these funds towards my emergency fund or to my short term emergency fund either because they are earmarked for bills.
The remaining $52.52 we have this month will go towards our emergency fund. Next month I should see a good chunk of overtime from the lifeguard class I co-instructed earlier this month. Since we still have a few annual bills that we recently paid back in February and March, I would like to begin to set aside the money for them since funds will only be tighter next year when we begin to add my fiance onto my work policy. We only have 2 left to save up for:
My Fiance's Car Registration: $154.00 We already have mine saved up. (this assumes we won't downsize to a one car family next year... Right now, we only drive around my car anyways and if he doesn't have a job come February, we will cut down to one car, turn his into the california state program for older cars and get $1,000.00 for his clunker. This way we don't have annual SMOG tests, registration fees, added car insurance fees, and maintenance on an older car...)
AAA membership Fee $48.00
So next month I'd like to get one of these eliminated, assuming our honeymoon plans work out in our favor... Yes, I said honeymoon plans... we think we may be able to get away with an inexpensive budget friendly honeymoon after all. When I participated in the LA Marathon for Child Share, my fiance and I stopped by a booth for Carnival Cruise Lines and signed up for one of those timeshare/travel opportunity lectures to get a free vouchure for a 3 day cruise to Catalina Island and Encinada Mexico.
If this pans out and we get the vouchure, we can redeem it for a date 30 days in the future up to 18 months from when we get it... and conviently 2 days after we get married, that cruise line departs... making it an idea honeymoon since I have never been to Catalina before. We go to the travel thing on Monday.
HI...has your boyfriend exhausted his options on job searching? Has he considered signing up at every temp agency in town? I temped for years before I settled into a permanent job. If he has an education, and I think you said he has graduated college, there are legal agencies, Manpower, Kelly, Volt. I have worked for them all, and they pay well into $20/hr. And they usually have benefits. He could also sign up and show up every day/morning at Labor Ready or also Home Depot, Lowes were the illegals stand around waiting for day hire work. (He'd probably be selected first cuz he can speak English and it wouldn't be against the law to hire him!) He should sign up at every hotel in the area for a banquet server position. They always need big, strong guys to set up and break down banquets. There are vending positions at all the major ball parks. He just has to be more proactive. Right now it is easy for him to say I'm doing everything, filling out three job apps a day online - sorry, but that isn't doing everyting. There are tons of jobs in hospitals and nursing homes. Also fedex always needs package handlers. This work will kick his butt but that's life. He doesn't have to spend his entire life there. Also, he should fill out an application at every moving company known to man. Good Luck! Right now he's living like a KING in a beautiful remodelled apartment that his financee is paying for while she sleep on some strange people's sofa because his parents dont' like the idea of you sleeping in your own HOME! That's your blood, sweat and tears paying for him to live High. He should be sleepiing at the church folk home...Once you are married, and if he's still not working, how long are you planning to be happy with that, not to mention the additional cost of carrying that? Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteActually, my friend Eric (who's been unemployed for a while is going to be joining the army) ran into me the other day and we got to talking and he actually just emailed me those links yesterday, along with a few others because I didn't know that they existed.
ReplyDeleteHe's going to start looking at them on Monday.
For the record, my fiance actually feels really bad that he hasn't gotten a job... especially for the reason why... He would have a job today if it hadn't been for his shoplifting record from a long time ago...
Honeymoon:
ReplyDeleteI took my mother on that cruise in 2009 for her 70th birthday. It was the first cruise for both of us. Although we live near Culver City, neither of us had never been to Catalina either. We had a great time. We didn't spend alot of money. We walked around Catalina and looked in the shops. I wish we would have rented a golf cart to really explore, but we waited until late to go into Catalina to avoid the lines at the boats taking us to shore. In Ensenada we didn't leave the dock. There was a small shopping building and we purchased some cute, cheap souvenirs. We also took pictures of the sea lions that we lying on the shore beside the ship. The shows on the cruise are awesome. We waited until the last night on the ship to shop in the gift shop at discounted prices.
FedEx:
My boyfriend started at FedEx as a package handler and within two years he became a driver and was making excellent money. I'm not sure if FedEx will hire someone with a record though. They have an extensive hiring process.
Shoplifting:
Have you guys looked into getting the shoplifting expunged from his record. I'm not sure how expensive it is, but in the long run it may prove to be worth it so that he can become employable again.
Good Luck! Hang in there.
For his record: It will fall off in a year and a half automatically, so it won't be an issue long term... when he moved here, we actually thought it was already off his record and when he was turned down for the first job, we found out it was still on there.
ReplyDeleteI really wish he was able to get that first job... it was at the local gas station, walking distance from home. We haven't given up on Walmart yet... but its time to look at those day work places and continue the hunt more aggressively.
I hope you guys DO go on a honeymoon! I think this is the one memorable area that you should splurge on. I personally don't remember much of my wedding and we only took a short honeymoon because I was worried about missing work since I didn't have vacation time, but it was the best time of my life! Even with it being short, we haven't had the opportunity to do anything like it since and eight years and two kids later, it will probably be awhile. Enjoy this special time together while you can, as life's plans don't always align with your own!
ReplyDeleteTry call centers. The job sucks, but they are always looking for callers. I worked at one part time for two and a half years while I paid off debt. The longer he is between jobs, the less favorable it looks to employers. If he really wanted a job, he'd try a little harder. The shoplifting record is not unfair. He made a mistake and now he's paying the price. Unfortunately, so are you.
ReplyDelete