Budget 4/15-4/28

I logged into my bank account this morning and almost had a friggen heart attack. My balance was $30. WTF? Where is my paycheck? After a frantic call to my fiance and a rush to check the mailbox at my apartment I sludged into work, still feeling sick, and now frantic about how I was going to be able to pay my bills.

A call to my former employer's personnel office delivered the news: the last paycheck would not be direct deposited but instead mailed home. They told me it was mailed on Monday so I could expect it today and tommorow - ludicrous considering I live three friggen blocks from the office. Had they told me in advance I could have picked it up in person. I made plans to run home at lunch and check the mail (well not run since I have a terrible cold) and hopefully get the check into my bank account before my $385 worth of automatic withdrawals hit my account.

Ten minutes later, however, a messenger delivered my paycheck to my new office. Problem solved. I ran down to the bank and in it went. It even was $400 more than my old paychecks since I received my lag payments back.

But....how is it that I don't even have a measly $400 saved in my Emergency Fund yet? I am a miserable failure. Must work harder as today could have been disastrous and expensive.

Anyway, a LOT of bills were paid today. Here's where my money will be going in the next two weeks.

Starting Balance = $1562

Aunt Sallie Mae - 420* - more on that hussy later
Defaulted Student Loan - 260
Nice Collection Agency - 125
Perkins Loan - 93
School Loan - 54
Sprint - 48 (est.)
Capital One - 125
Utilities - 74
Clothes - 100
Emergency Fund - 100
Misc. - 163

Because of the oddity of the bigger paycheck and the three paycheck month I paid a couple of things out of the traditional order (i.e. the Perkins loan, School loan and utilities). This development should give me a little more cash during the next pay cycle.

I paid off the rest of the credit card balance for the clothes I bought for my new job.

It's nice to see my utility bill payment go down dramatically since it's not cold anymore and I finished paying off the overdue amount. I will be talking to my landlord this week about finally ditching my apartment so I can really focus on building my savings - for life and for the wedding.