Friday, May 1, 2009

May Goals

  1. Adhere to the shopping challenge. I'm not supposed to shop for a month for ANYTHING except necessities. I've done one of these before by myself, but now that I have a partner to hold me to it...it should be better.
  2. Focus...Mr. Chase. I'm going to do it...I'm going to do it....
  3. Watch eating out...I eat too much sugar, too much fattening foods. I'm going to try to buy healthier and eat healthier, which would mean less spending.

I feel like the key to adhering to these goals is monitoring them more. For the past few months, I've posted and then not reflected or cared about the goals for another month...so this month I'm going to try to update more often...and post about it...

I do have to purchase my bridesmaid dress for SPBFF's wedding, so that's a given that I'll have to pay for that this month. Mother's Day and one birthday to pay for as well...

April Goals - Results

Okay...I admit, I've been neglecting my pf blog. I suck. I've also been neglecting my pf in general. Ughhh, I must do better. On to the results...

  1. Don't overspend. This one is getting old...but as a serious shopaholic, I have to keep it at #1 so it's always fresh on my mind. PASS - I didn't overspend. No transferring money from savings to checking, but then again I didn't try to save anything either. I'm supposed to be putting all my extra money to Mr. Chase, see #3.
  2. Find a side hustle. Something to bring in additional revenue. Right now, it's looking like tutoring. The faster I can finish paying off Mr. Chase, the faster I can open a Roth IRA and start focusing on paying off my car. I've got lots to accomplish in my financial future! PASS - Tutoring is officially my side hustle...now I just have to commit to some clients. I've passed up on 3 potential clients. With school ending pretty soon, this may be on hold until September. I do have a fabulous blog that I'm a part of called {budget}fab* but that's not technically a side hustle yet.
  3. Focus on pushing all extra money towards Mr. Chase. He's almost out of here...seriously, he is. By the summer, I think he'll be gone. FAIL - I miserably failed at this one. I'm not sure where my extra money went. In fact, it may still be in my account...I have NO clue and that's pathetic. Let me see...the best way for me to do this is to automatically transfer the money I would be saving to Mr. Chase every payday, but I didn't do that. :-/ I SUCK. I'm going to transfer the extra money right now....
  4. Try to find financially smart ways to cook/eat healthy. I've noticed a few extra pounds which isn't a huge deal since my weight tends to fluctuate but still...I need to start building better habits. FAIL - I've still got those extra pounds and I still don't work out or eat as healthy as I should. I'm starting to think sugar is the culprit for my extra pounds. This month...I'll do better.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

April Goals

April Showers bring May Flowers...and I hope it rains money for me in April, so I can water down Mr. Chase and grown some Financial Flowers. :)

Major things I need to pay: birthday gift (x2), bridesmaid dress...that's all I can foresee for the month of April right now. I'll allot $300 for those items, since my bridesmaid dress is right around $200.


April Goals:


  1. Don't overspend. This one is getting old...but as a serious shopaholic, I have to keep it at #1 so it's always fresh on my mind.

  2. Find a side hustle. Something to bring in additional revenue. Right now, it's looking like tutoring. The faster I can finish paying off Mr. Chase, the faster I can open a Roth IRA and start focusing on paying off my car. I've got lots to accomplish in my financial future!

  3. Focus on pushing all extra money towards Mr. Chase. He's almost out of here...seriously, he is. By the summer, I think he'll be gone.

  4. Try to find financially smart ways to cook/eat healthy. I've noticed a few extra pounds which isn't a huge deal since my weight tends to fluctuate but still...I need to start building better habits.

So that's it. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

March Goals - Results

So my birthday month has come and gone (pause for sadness) but I did have an excellent birthday. Here's my goals for March and How I Did.

  1. Don't overspend. PASS. I accomplished this! YAY!!! I didn't purchase anything I didn't have the means to.
  2. Put all extra money toward credit card. PASS. I handed my federal tax return over to Mr. Chase. That was all my extra money. I also put two rebate checks I received towards Mr. Chase. I didn't put my state return towards Mr. Chase yet. I will say that I used some of the money to purchase two dresses for my birthday. Dresses that yes, were expensive, but they're amazing and I have two weddings and some trips out of town. So I plan to rewear those babies like there's no tomorrow. To me, that justified spending what I "had." I know I should've been a good girl and put the entire state return, but it was my birthday and I wanted a dress!
  3. DO YOUR BEST. FAIL. I didn't do my BEST. I bought two dresses that I didn't need for Pete's sake. (which by the way I just googled to find out who Pete is)

Friday, March 13, 2009

The Difference: Free Download

Jean Chatzky will be on Oprah today to discuss her new book The Difference. The book will then be available for download on Oprah's website from 11am Friday to 10:59am Saturday! Click here to download and receive your free copy!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

How I Did

I committed to following everything that I swiped my debit card for in February, and I'm happy to report I succeeded!! YAYY!!!! Now, on to the dreaded task of reporting how I spent, lol...

Food 295.67
Fees 3.5
Apt Bills 173.69
Gifts 104.84
Credit Card 200
Rent 1003.48
Clothes 214.49
Personal Grooming 159.49
Gas 45.76
Personal Items 55.83
Entertainment 213.5
Business 49.86
Cell Phone 82.81
Computer Software 84.9
GLI 50
Dior 13
$2,750.82

YIKES!!! That bottom like is ultra scary. I will add some brief notes to the totals...the gifts section came from Valentine's Day and I set a goal of no more than $100, which I exceeded by a mere $4.84 so I'm pleased with that. My clothes are higher than expected, I did have two purchases that I had previously made at Express & Piperlime that were due this month, so these were factored into what I spent. Normally, I'd say I spend about $100/month on clothes. My personal grooming was higher than normal because I had to get my hair done, which is an expense I'm really trying to cut back on by learning to better take care of my own hair. Entertainment was definitely higher than ususal because I went on a ski trip with boyfriend, and it cost me $92 to participate. I also signed up for tennis classes, which were $86, so that isn't a traditional monthly expense, although I plan to re-enroll at the conclusion of the class. I had to purchase virus software for my computer to keep it protected, so I purchased two years to avoid having the added expense next year. So that's very unusual. All-in-all, I spent WAY more than I would've EVER anticipated. This will definitely make me think twice this month before swiping my debit card for any old thing! And the funny part is that even though I had non-traditional expenses come up this month, don't they always come up? I mean every month there will be an unexpected expense...like this month, I have a birthday and most likely another hair appointment. It makes me sick to think about it...lol

March Goals

For February, I give myself a pat on the back. Not a huge pat, just a pat...but a pat nonetheless. Here are my goals, and here's how I did:
  1. Don't overspend. Valentine's Day is this month and while I LOVE to shower boyfriend with gifts...I shall refrain. I think we (boyfriend & I) should pledge to spend $100 MAX for V-Day. Our love is solid, I don't need material things to solidify anything. Ehhh, so-so. I could've definitely spent less, but I don't feel that I overspent. I didn't incur any debt.I'll try to do better again this month.
  2. Put all extra money towards my credit card. The tax refund is looking pretty solid right now, so hopefully I can knock out my credit card (for the 3rd or 4th time, I'm losing track at this point.) FAIL. I didn't do it...period. I spent most of the extra money I had. Of course, I haven't thought about moving any extra money yet, so I technically still can...I plan on paying off the good old Chase credit card with my tax refund. Again, I'll keep striving this month.
  3. Track what I spend. Every single penny, nickel and dime. PASS! I tracked everything that I spent in the month of February and I was definitely SHOCKED at the outcome. So I think the exercise was well worth it.

Now it's time to set some goals for March. Sidenote: This is my birthday month!!!

  1. Don't overspend. Period, point blank, self explanatory.
  2. Put all extra money toward credit card. Including my tax refund! This is going to be painful, but I know I can do it. If I was a good girl before, then I'd have extra money to shop for Spring. But alas, I wasn't a good girl, and I swiped Mr. Chase, so I have to pay him back! Next year, I'll smile as I burn up the mall for some Spring clothing.
  3. I can't think of a heartfelt goal to put here. So I'll go with DO YOUR BEST. I can do a better job at hitting these goals than I've been doing. So this month, I'll really aim to hit the mark on them. Isn't it funny that we free up extra money in order to do other things and we end up spending it, but not for what we intended? Ughh, I've gotta do better. Lord, please give me some gut-wrenching determination!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Update

Remember this goal...

  • Push all extra money towards credit card debt. I've decided to take all of my extra money and put it towards my debt. This in addition to my tax refund, which I hope will be grand. What's the point of me saving money that's earning 3% interest, while I'm racking up interest on my credit card at a rate of 8.99%?! Not a huge difference, but over time...I'm sure it is. So as of now, all savings is halted...I have more than 6 months living expenses saved up, so the next responsible thing to accomplish is to pay off my debt.That's it...simply said. No fancy resolutions, just simple goals. HIT/MISS. No extra money yet...I get my first paycheck for February this Friday, which means I will then push all extra money from January to the CC. I'd planned to push $200 at a minimum to them, so that will at least be done.

...well I did push that $200!!! YAYYYY for me! Next up is getting through the rest of February and putting a whopping $400 towards Mr. Chase (as I'll lovingly refer to him now).

I set a goal to only spend $100 for V-day for Mr. Man...and I did that!! YAYYY!!! I shopped around and ordered all my things through the internet and managed to get great gifts that I think he'll love. I can't tell you what, in case he reads...lol. One of the gifts he never would purchase for himself though, so hopefully he won't make me return it. lol.

I am still seriously tracking all of my expenses for the month. Faithfully. That can be sooo annoying at times. But I've done a great job of it. I did use Mr. Chase 3 times for internet purchases, but included them on my spending log since I'm going to pay those back immediately. At the end of the month, I'll post an overview of my spending to see where it all went for February. This should be interesting...oh! And I don't think my money is spent the same way every month either, so it makes this exercise all the more interesting because in March, my spending pattern will be completely different.

I have not overspent...I did spend $27 at H&M for a khaki pencil skirt and a teal skinny belt. I also used a 20% off coupon for the skirt, taking it from $19.90 to $15.92 and the belt was $9.90. That was a semi-impulse, coupon induced purchase. But that's the only one! Oh yeah...and I'm obsessing over purple polish since seeing he's just not that into you, so I plan on purchasing a bottle of that. Not too bad for a working girl, who's a compulsive shopper at times...

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

February Goals

I would have to say that I'm pretty happy with my January progress. Being mindful is a beautiful thing. By just being aware of when I'm swiping, I have reduced the amount of money I carelessly piss away. And I'm proud of me. Next up...February! Since February is a short month, it gives me less time to act up, hence...I'll add another goal to my list:

  1. Don't overspend. Valentine's Day is this month and while I LOVE to shower boyfriend with gifts...I shall refrain. I think we (boyfriend & I) should pledge to spend $100 MAX for V-Day. Our love is solid, I don't need material things to solidify anything.
  2. Put all extra money towards my credit card. The tax refund is looking pretty solid right now, so hopefully I can knock out my credit card (for the 3rd or 4th time, I'm losing track at this point.)
  3. Track what I spend. Every single penny, nickel and dime.

January Goals: Hit or Miss?

Below are my goals that I set for myself in January and whether I Hit or Missed:

  1. Don't overspend. I know what I make, and I know what I have to pay. So when that money is gone, that's it. Period. No credit cards. I will accomplish this by monitoring my spending and truly thinking through purchases before I swipe my debit card. I have a closet FULL of clothes...so much so that I wear things once and often forget about them. I gave 35 sweaters and 13 pairs of shoes to Goodwill and my closet is still full...I have clothes in waiting?! No more... HIT. (Cue the cheers) I did however have to swipe my credit card for Michelin tires at the dealership. I'm beginning to think that I got hoodwinked.
  2. Push all extra money towards credit card debt. I've decided to take all of my extra money and put it towards my debt. This in addition to my tax refund, which I hope will be grand. What's the point of me saving money that's earning 3% interest, while I'm racking up interest on my credit card at a rate of 8.99%?! Not a huge difference, but over time...I'm sure it is. So as of now, all savings is halted...I have more than 6 months living expenses saved up, so the next responsible thing to accomplish is to pay off my debt.
    That's it...simply said. No fancy resolutions, just simple goals. HIT/MISS. No extra money yet...I get my first paycheck for February this Friday, which means I will then push all extra money from January to the CC. I'd planned to push $200 at a minimum to them, so that will at least be done.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Death to the Michelin Man

So here I am, not spending, and maintaining happily....and daggone if I don't casually drop my car off at the dealership to get the Maintenance Required light turned off, and I get SMACKED with a $1300 bill!
Okay...I'm breathing...let me start from the beginning. I just put about $1100 into my car no more than 6 months ago, and I was told that it was for early maintenance and the light wouldn't come on. So...I'm thinking this is just a matter of switching off the light. Lo & behold, my car needs service at 30,000 miles and 40,000 miles. So, the maintenance required was truly required. AND on top of that I needed new tires...which my car happens to have top of the line Michelin's according to the dealer. And he's right, I didn't find them anywhere for under $200 each. (squirming). As soon as I buckle down and get it together, I get hit with this. I don't even drive my car everyday, I METRO!!! And my car is only a 2005 with 39,000 miles on it. How and why is it costing me this much money?!!!!
I digress, I'll continue to stay motivated in spite of that goal buster. Life happens and I'll keep failing forward.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Suze Orman Has a Plan for You in 2009

Visit Oprah's site by January 15th to receive a free download of Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan. The book also sells on Amazon for $5.49.
I'm not sure how good the book will be, but it's free, so what is there to lose?!
YAY to the freebies!!!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Set a Goal Not to Quit

I got my monthly eNewsletter from Dave Ramsey and there was a very interesting paragraph or two at the top about setting a goal to not quit in the new year. So another goal is "Don't Quit on my Goals that I've set."

Think back to December 2007. Doesn’t seem very long ago, does it?

Well, now we’re finished with 2008. We’re all making the new year’s resolutions that will last to mid-January—lose 20 pounds, get out of debt or maybe even read a book. Statistics show that most of us will quit before we get anywhere close to those objectives.

This year, set a goal to not quit!

If you had stuck with the goals you made last year, then you would already be done. Wow! Last year went by quickly, and so will this year, so don’t let the time get away from you. The sooner you make something part of your routine, the less you’ll notice that you’re doing it, and the quicker you’ll be finished.

Don’t make a goal and then look at it as something you have to do. That’s the wrong attitude. Soon you’ll come to resent doing the thing that is supposed to make you better. Remember that every time you pay off a debt, get on the treadmill, or do something else productive, you become stronger and get closer to your target.

Think about when you graduated from college. You were used to going to bed at midnight or later. But now that you have a job, you need to get up earlier. So you start going to bed at 10 or even 9:30 p.m. You didn’t like it at first, and it took some adjusting. But now you’ve done it so much that you don’t even notice. It’s part of your routine.

Getting out of debt, losing weight, or anything else is the same way. Do it for a while, and it goes from being difficult to being a bother to just another thing. By the time beating debt becomes just another thing, you are reaping the rewards from it, which makes the process fun. And when it’s fun, the year passes quickly.

Whatever your financial goals are for 2009, we have resources to help you. Go and seize the year with full force!

Happy 2009!!

I'm late...I know, but Happy 2009!

Nothing much new here...boyfriend and I have decided to set goals and stick to them. Boyfriend tends to be much more disciplined than me (hehe), so this should prove to be a worthwhile exercise. I read a brief blurp in Shape magazine about setting goals...and according to a survey (by some college or research institute) it's better to set monthly goals. So if I stay, "I'm going to save $50 this month" vs. "I'm going to save $600 this year," I'm more likely to save the $50 on a monthly basis. Setting realistic short goals on a monthly basis tends to provoke people to save more over time than setting a large long term goal.

So with that in mind, here are my January goals:
  1. Don't overspend. I know what I make, and I know what I have to pay. So when that money is gone, that's it. Period. No credit cards. I will accomplish this by monitoring my spending and truly thinking through purchases before I swipe my debit card. I have a closet FULL of clothes...so much so that I wear things once and often forget about them. I gave 35 sweaters and 13 pairs of shoes to Goodwill and my closet is still full...I have clothes in waiting?! No more...
  2. Push all extra money towards credit card debt. I've decided to take all of my extra money and put it towards my debt. This in addition to my tax refund, which I hope will be grand. What's the point of me saving money that's earning 3% interest, while I'm racking up interest on my credit card at a rate of 8.99%?! Not a huge difference, but over time...I'm sure it is. So as of now, all savings is halted...I have more than 6 months living expenses saved up, so the next responsible thing to accomplish is to pay off my debt.

That's it...simply said. No fancy resolutions, just simple goals.