Moving!

It seems like only yesterday that we moved my fiance into his (our) condo but actually it has been 10 whole months. Now it is finally my turn to move in officially. While his move involved trucks and moving men and backbreaking work, mine has been relatively low key so far. That doesn't mean we're not exhausted beyond belief after sorting through five years of stuff, most of it so important I haven't felt the need to move it over with me during the last ten months.

We made two trips to Goodwill to donate lots of unneccesary clothing and household items. Unfortunately they do not accept furniture so I've been struggling to get rid of the last of mine. We kept a few pieces, gave away a few, and turned in a t.v. and computer monitor to Best Buy where I had to pay $10 (for the computer monitor) but got a $10 gift certificate in return.

The journey is finally almost over. Just have to get rid of a few more things and have one final meeting with my landlord (cross you fingers for me). Then we can begin the new journey of finally living together (for real!) as an engaged couple. I'm excited to start the next chapter of our lives and also excited to no longer be paying rent!

Budget 6/24 - 7/7

There are a lot of IFs in making this budget. I have been looking forward to the day when I no longer had to pay rent on my Very Expensive Storage Facility, aka my apartment, for SO long and it may finally be here. But to make a very long story short, I may still be on the hook for July's rent. Then again, there's a very good chance I will not have to pay. So here are two budgets - best case scenario and worst case scenario.

Starting Balance = $1,296 (woohoo my pay isn't be lagged anymore)

Best Case Scenario Budget

Aunt Sallie Mae - 406

Perkins Loan - 93

School Loan - 54

Utilities - 45

Sprint - 100?

Laptop - 70

Groceries - 100

Misc. - 128

Wedding - 400

Stupid Sprint has not yet applied my discount. I will have to call them when I feel a little better.

Worst Case Scenario Budget

Rent - 725 or half of 725 @ 360

Aunt Sallie Mae - 406

Utilities - 45

Groceries - 55

Misc. - 65

and everything else waits for two weeks.

So yes I am really hoping that my landlord and I can work this out in the best possible manner. I think worse comes to worse I would just give my landlord half of July's rent and if he really demands more tell him to wait for two weeks as I have given him more than enough notice I was vacating and I've been a darn good tenant for five years. BTW I cannot wait to never have to utter the words "my landlord" ever again. Goodbye serfdom!

Also we've been experiencing a tad bit of domestic stress as of late but I am excited to officially live with my fiance. As much as it has felt like we've been living together this past year I can now see that until you have to part with your wonderful girly accouterments for the greater good it has not been the real deal.

Where it Went 6/10 - 6/23

I'm home sick today and lack my usual witty energy to write about my finances but alas it's payday so accountability tells me I must. If it's any indication of how I feel, I managed to drag myself downstairs to put on laundry only to discover I had brought along fabric softener instead of detergent. Then I had to drag myself back upstairs to get the right bottle and back downstairs (no small feat in an apartment) and now two hours later I lack the strength to return to the basement to put said laundry in the dryer.

Oh well, here's where my money went over the last two weeks. I got a little off track due to the music festival - not so much money spent there but money spent in preparation for the trip - and as a result didn't pay old Aunt Sallie until today. Luckily my payment wasn't technically late.

Budgeted/Actual
Aunt Sallie Mae - 406/0
Defaulted Student Loan - 260/260
Nice Collection Agency - 125/125
Festival - 150/387*
Fiance Birthday - 100/105
Misc. - 62/80
Father's Day - 0/30

*Yikes, that hurt to calculate but about 1/4 of that money was spent on clothes I can wear again. $25 was spent on the requisite commemorative t-shirt. Looking back it was an expensive, but awesome time and I don't feel so bad about it. Life is meant for the living.

I ended up with about $50 left over as well which is rare for me but I will figure out a way to incorporate it into my next budget which will be posted really soon.

The fiance and I are done with expensive trips for the forseeable future thankfully and all focus will now be on wedding savings.

A Year of No Fun Money

The wedding is still over a year away. Plenty of time to save up money, right? Yes...but also a whole year of my life where anytime we think of something we want - a video game system, a vacation, an electric fireplace for the condo - we have to stop ourselves and say "we can't afford to buy that yet because we need to save for the wedding." And I know these aren't things we need and we have already traveled quite a bit this past year...but it still something that's tough to get used to.

Case in point. This morning I was innoccently perusing classified ads on craigslist and saw something I absolutely do not need but desperately desperately want. I won't even say what it is to avoid the inevitable bashing by anonymous readers but trust me when I say that having this item would make me very happy AND it was a really good deal. Owning this item, I could revive an old and cherished hobby of mine, spend quality time with my future husband and get some recreation and exercise. But it was not to be.

Alas, luxuries have got to wait for at least one more year. And it's good in a way because planning a wedding takes a lot of time and money so I'm glad we're not rushing into it. Yet sometimes I wish we had eloped.

17+ Years Til Retirement

So I know I've posted recently about how my new job isn't as great as I originally hoped it would be. I've had a couple of nice conversations with some of the Old Guard in the past couple of days which makes me think it will get better though. Also, there's always the light at the end of the tunnel, retirement statements.

I just got my retirement statement and I'm still trying to figure it all out so what better way then to post about it?

According to my statement, I joined the Retirement System in April, 2007. While that is technically true, I have credited service going back to September, 2006. What this means is sometime between now and retirement I have to buy 8 months of service from the system. When I do this, hopefully in the next two years, I will be on track for a retirement date of September 2027! Woohoo, I'll only be 47 years old then!

Actually, damn, I just reread that part about how your benefits are reduced if you have less than 30 years of service...but they're a lot better after 20. I don't know, the wording is really vague. Must do more research. (I've posted about my retirement system before if you want a little more background.)

My account balance (3% of what I've earned since joining) is currently at $2,433.22. This would be what I get back from the system if I leave before I vest. It isn't much but it's good to know. I earned a whopping $83 in interest this year too!

Death benefits! Yikes! In case of my untimely demise, my younger siblings stands to inherit my ordinary death benefit of $43,260 plus my contributions to the retirement system. As long as this figure is less than $50k it's tax free. That's all well and fine but let's hope he never needs to know about it.

My fiance and I love to talk about our hypothetical early retirement plans, maybe moving to the islands and working "fun" jobs. In the meantime we plan on keeping our noses to the grindstone.

Oh wait, there's also my 457 retirement plan. This program is optional and I'm glad I joined because making my savings automatic (coming directly out of my paycheck before I can touch it) has proved the only successful way I have learned to save money. And look how well my funds are accumulating compared to the last time I posted about it? What recession?

All in all I am learning to appreciate my job just a little more.

Budget 6/10 - 6/23

Even though we just went away to Orlando the fiance and I are hitting the road again tommorrow. A festival awaits our wallets but luckily we've already paid for most of this trip several months ago.

I am going to budget myself some walking-around money that's a little bit higher than I would normally allow myself, but since we won't need as much groceries hopefully everything will balance out.


My paycheck is still being lagged. It's sort of frustrating. What's the fun of getting a raise if you don't get to see it? I'm told that it should even out soon but here's what I have to work with for the next two weeks.



Starting Balance = $1113*



Aunt Sallie Mae - 406
Defaulted Student Loan - 260
Nice Collection Agency - 125
Festival*- 150
Fiance Birthday - 100
Misc. - 62



*My fiance actually owes me $50 that I've been holding out on collecting until this trip so I'll have more spending cash while we are away for 4 days.



It's also his birthday coming up so I'd like to do something nice for him but I won't spoil the surprise by posting about it here.



I'll be back next week and hopefully with my budget in tact!

Where it Went 5/27 - 6/9

Here I am! Work isn't SO sucky today but it's busy. So here's a quick little report on where my money went the past two weeks compared to the budget I laid out for it:

Budgeted/Actual
Rent - 725/725
Perkins Loan - 93/93
School Loan - 54/54
Utilities - 45.90/45.90
Sprint - 100/100
Capital One - 210/211
Laptop - 70/75
Groceries - 100/?
Misc. - 75/140
Fiance - 432/400

Big news is of course, I paid off my "Boyfriend Debt!!!" Now I finally don't owe my fiance any more money and all of our shared money will be going towards the wedding account. More on that to come!

I'm still trying to figure out what the heck is going on with my apartment lease but at the very very worst I only have one more rent payment to make.

Stay tuned in a few for the new budget!

My New Job Sucks!

Where have I been? Inquiring minds want to know. Well the answer is working and unlike my first impression, my new job is not all it's cracked up to be.

First, the money. My paycheck is still being lagged so I am making LESS than I was at the old job despite the fact that my salary is technically more.

Second, the rules. For some reason I am now obligated to tell my receptionist every single time I have to use the bathroom, grab a soda or go to lunch. And when I come back. Despite this, my new boss glares at anyone that dares to leave the office for even a minute. Well not everyone....

Third, the double standards. Due to a weird office layout, dumb luck, or my perceived incompetence, my cubicle is in Siberia. Everyone in Siberia is exiled from the rest of the office where the non-stop office party takes place. They have a fridge, breakfast treats, a couch, chats, etc. But God forbid anyone from Sibera dares to intrude on the fun! Blank stares, dead expressions, the fun literally is frozen if you stop by ("what, do I smell?").

Next up is my "mentor." She sits in the non-stop office party and if she is on the phone and you come by her cube (trekking all the way from Siberia!) she will turn her head the other way and pretend she doesn't realize you are there (never mind the fact that she summoned you). But if she dares come to your cube and YOU are on the phone she will just stare at you until you end the conversation. She comes equipped with such motivational phrases of "I don't know why we do it this way," and "this is good enough I guess."

The last and very best of it all is the Newer Girl! She just started last week and through some freak happenstance (or my percieved incompetence?) she was placed in a cubicle right in the middle of the non-stop office party! No Siberia for her. She gets to hang out on the couch and socialize with everyone else.

The work itself is okay. Just every day is a lesson in humility. I am getting very frustrated and just wish my co-workers had some basic human decency.

I'll try to post more about money tommorow (it's budgeting time again!) but I can't guarantee I'll be in a better mood by then. :-(

Budget 5/27 - 6/9

Time for a budget. Some bad news, some good news and some great news!

First the great news, I got my vacation compensation finally! Only 9 weeks after I stopped working at my last job they decided to finally give me my unspent vacation money back! Before taxes it totalled $1,342!!! But after taxes I got a little less than $700 back. Screw you tax man! Also I contributed more than usual this pay period to my 357 retirement plan (good news I suppose).

Other good news, my utility bill stands at a measly $45, the lowest I ever remember seeing it and a far cry from my sad sad days of my payment agreement. It may be one of the last payments I ever make on my own to the utility company as I have finally told my landlord I am moving out! There's still a little bit of uncertainty as to whether I have to pay for July's rent but I am hoping the answer is no and this budget will also see my last rent payment ever!

Now the bad news. First we got stuck in traffic on Mother's Day and I decided to use the web on my old cell phone. Bad idea! Despite the pains I endured to make sure I was on the best cell phone plan for me, I had failed to realize that unlimited texting did not unclude any web access. So I racked up $35 in charges in one day. But the worse news is that I apparently have managed to let my credit card escape the deep dark confines of my wallet and get used for non-emergencies such as sneakers and wine. The damage: $210! So soon after I got my balance down to zero!

Anyway so here's the new budget in which I will account for the above and allocate my vacation earnings accordingly:

Starting Balance = $1904

Rent (last one?) - 725

Perkins Loan - 93

School Loan - 54

Utilities - 45.90

Sprint - 100

Capital One - 210

Laptop - 70

Groceries - 100

Misc. - 75

Fiance* - 432

I currently owe my fiance $288 in old debt plus $205 for a festival ticket. With the money I give him I will almost erase these debts AND he will filter some of the money into the wedding account! Once I move out officially I will be able to pool all my additional money into this account! I seriously can't wait for this day!

Where it Went 5/13 - 5/26

Before I explain how I did on my budget the past two weeks, I want to talk about the $10 I didn't spend but should have. We returned from our Disney vacation after enduring several days of rain and one sunny day...in which I was too cheap to pony up for sunscreen that I didn't remember to bring. And oh man am I in pain now.

I would love to write more about our trip (and will) but I'm swamped at work and cringing in pain right now. There's really no excuse for me to have been SO stupid. I used to be a certified life guard for Pete's Sake! And yet one day at the water park (fun) has led to three days of agony (and counting). Last night was spent furiously spraying vinegar on my burns and other home remedies such as milk and mustard (yes mustard). I have aloe but it stings too much. Readers please please wear sunscreen whenever you will be in the sun. And this concludes my public service message.

Now onto the budget:

Budgeted/Actual

Aunt Sallie Mae - 406/406.96
Defaulted Student Loan - 260/260
Nice Collection Agency - 125/125
Perkins Loan - 93/0
School Loan - 54/0

Sprint - 64/0

Misc./Disney - 111/140

Clothes - 0/151

New cell phone - 0/54

I've been meaning to own up to this for some time but you may have noticed I've been buying some new clothes lately and this certaintly is not typical. Unfortunately the past few months I have been putting on some weight and I don't fit into half of my old clothes. That and the need to update my work wardrobe has added a new line in my budget...one that sucks. I've been trying not to dwell on this for a while now but it's not really going away. :-( More on this subject (and my plan to combat it) later I promise.

I didn't pay my other student loans yet as I'm still one payment ahead thanks to April's extra paycheck (and unlike Aunt Sallie's loans, these don't accrue interest daily).

I got a sweet new cell phone thanks to renewing my contract with Sprint. That's all for now but look forward to some good news and a new budget in a later post.

I got a new laptop!

Greetings from Sallie's Niece's Headquarters - now not broken! I had been dealing with a semi-broken laptop for months now...which I just didn't want to deal with because I kept telling myself "it's not really that broken" to "well I can't afford a new laptop right now." But finally last week when my fiance was out of town the problem got worse and worse and yesterday we decided to set out in pursuit of a computer that would not make me want to give up computing forever.

Originally we set out to purchase a netbook...small and affordable..they sounded really cool. AND picking up and playing with the netbooks we saw I did kind of appreciate the novelty of the mini cmputers..but they were just too small. I really never bring my laptop anywhere except from the couch to the bedroom (haha) so I didn't need something so portable and I wasn't willing to sacrifice keyboard and screen size just to save a couple of bucks. In fact, the laptop I ended up purchasing was cheaper than the netbook I was eyeing.

So I ended up with a Compaq Presario X2 CQ60. I'll spare you the technical mumbo-jumbo but the fiance who knows more about it signed off the on the specs and I signed off on the price ($389) after first eyeing a sign in the store that said "ask about our open box specials" and we ended up getting it out of the box for ten percent off!

And since I of course did not have $400 floating around in the bottom of my purse the fiance and I decided that he should apply for a zero percent interest Best Buy card to charge the computer on. I would have tried applying in my own name but I'm still working on rebuilding my credit. We were approved and I have six months to pay the sucker off at no interest (around $75 a month). So yes another unexpected expense right before our Disney trip but I really needed the computer for my sanity (and wedding planning) and I really love it! They keyboard is very easy to type on. Look forward to more blog posts now that I have a functioning laptop!

Budget 4/13 - 5/27

The combination of my utility company telling me I owe them nothing (?) and the Sprint online access to my account not operating right now has made this budget a little sketchy. Also and here's the big thing: next week we're going to Disney World!!!! So here's my best estimate of my budget for the next two weeks (i.e. the things I know HAVE to be paid):

Starting Balance = $1113*

Aunt Sallie Mae - 406

Defaulted Student Loan - 260

Nice Collection Agency - 125

Perkins Loan - 93

School Loan - 54
Sprint - 64?
Misc./Disney - 111

*My paycheck is still being lagged $180 every two weeks. :-(

It really stinks that I haven't gotten my vacation payout from my old job yet. That $800 would have helped a lot on our upcoming trip! Luckily we're flying free, staying for free and have one free park day so it's not a super expensive vacation. Here's hoping that check arrives in the next few days but in the meantime I'm very excited to be going on vacation!

Where It Went 4/29 - 5/12

I know I sound like a broken record but things have got to get better for me financially when I can get out of my friggen apartment lease. Worst case scenario (and what's looking likely to happen) is that I have to pay rent for the months of June and July and then NEVER AGAIN. It's not so bad I realize and I'm very lucky to have not one but two places to hang my hat, but ugh, the money I'm wasting! I could be saving in my emergency fund, I could be contributing to the wedding deposits, heck I could be out buying ten news pairs of shoes each month with an extra $725!



My spending has been a tad out of control now that the warmer weather has kicked in as well. I felt like going for a walk and oh look there's a restaurant...why don't I get take out? Also I've been social a little more and well that aint free. I don't regret it though, live is meant for the living and I've never claimed to be a hard core frugalist.

So here's where my money has gone compared to the budget I set two weeks ago:


Budgeted/Actual
Rent - 725/725
Perkins Loan - 93/0*
School Loan - 54/0*
Groceries - 100/70
Dry cleaning - 60/54
Misc. - 101/180
Dinner out - 0/63
Mother's Day - 0/50
Makeup - 0/30

*Not yet due

Wedding
Reception Deposit - $2000 - from my parents
Photographer Deposit - $500 - from my fiance


There's no turning back now, we're getting married!

Some Wedding Plans

Finally I have a free moment in which to write about our upcoming wedding plans. We have set a date with the church two weeks ago and as of a couple of hours ago our reception venue's deposit has been paid! It's too late to back out now, we're actually getting married! :-)

The wedding is next July, you read that right, 2010. Sometimes it seems like way too far away and sometimes it seems like it is already sneaking up on me. Why July 2010? Several reasons really:

1. It gives my parents some time between my sister's wedding last summer to save up for yet another wedding. It also gives my fiance and I some time to save up for the things we'll be paying for.


2. My work schedule and several of the people in our lives are much more flexible in the summer.


3. Because being engaged for one year is too short and two years is too long. A year and a half is just right.


4. We like summer weddings!

Anyway it should be one excellent wedding. And I know in the past I've droned on and on about how weddings were a waste of money and selfish on the part of the couple but I take most it it back now - I'm a giant hypocrite and I'm excited for our wedding. We are going to make a conscious effort to make sure the guests have a good time too which includes 1) providing excellent food and 2) holding the wedding in a resort town in the sumer so that guests can go on a mini-vacation if they so desire.

Next week we're also meeting with a photographer. This process has been tougher than picking a groom, I swear! Wedding photography is all so beautiful and it's really an aesthetic as well as financial choice.

That's all for now. I'm looking forward to going through this exciting process with my groom-to-be!

Budget 4/29-5/13

Gearing up for the 100th episode of Lost! Very excited even though I have to watch it without my fiance and fellow Lost junkie who is traveling this week for work.

Don't have much going on with my budget since I paid most of my bills in the last pay period. Still have to pay rent (ugh) since my landlord has not yet found someone to take over my lease. Cannot wait until I'm officially out of my apartment.

Wedding stuff needs to get paid for soon but I'm more of a financial intermediary right now since my parents are kindly paying for the reception. More on that later, we're very excited to be making some plans!

So here's where my money is going for the next two weeks:

Starting Balance = $1133*

Rent - 725
Perkins Loan - 93
School Loan - 54
Groceries - 100
Dry cleaning - 60
Misc. - 101

*My paycheck is $180 less than what it will be when I am done with "lag pay" at my new job. :-(

Where it Went 4/15 - 4/28

Readers, I suck at saving. :-(

I try and try to put aside just a bit of my paycheck each month but it never works out. I know that having it done automatically from the payroll at work would help but I still want to build up a reserve fund that's connected to my checking account so I never have to battle the Evil Overdraft Monster again.

I blame the nice weather and my need for new clothes for work but I spent more money than I planned during the past two weeks. I also treated my fiance to a nice dinner out. One of these days I'll be out of my apartment lease and will be able to save more but now it's just discouraging.

So, without further whining, here's where my money went the last two weeks compared to the budget I planned:

Aunt Sallie Mae - 420/420

Defaulted Student Loan - 260/260

Nice Collection Agency - 125/125

Perkins Loan - 93/93

School Loan - 54/54

Sprint - 48/64

Capital One - 125/125

Utilities - 74/74

Clothes - 100/75

Emergency Fund - 100/0

Misc. - 163/260

Way too many bills to pay with one paycheck so I'm going to pay the other two smaller students loans again today to split that up for the future. At a reader's suggestion, I did figure out that the interest does accrue daily so the day you pay the amount due is the reason for the last discrepancy.

Much more to report concerning the wedding and other plans but that's all I can do for now!

I'm Floursing at my New Job (and so is my plant)!

Three weeks have gone by at my new job and I'm really loving it! For the first time in a while I have been excited to go into work! And yes, sure, there are times when it can be tedious and all the stereotypes about office life are there - especially since I'm now sitting in a cubicle instead of my own office (sigh). But I really think that this position is a place where I can bloom. And much to my parents' delight, I now have an official legal position as opposed to my less traditional title in the last office. "A lawyer at last!" they proclaim - just in time for them to publish my Engagement Announcement in the paper. Coincidence?

Shtinkycat recently wrote about her late blooming flower and what it means for the market (a great entry!) so I'm going to borrow this concept to explain my career progress as demonstrated through my little office plant.


I got this little guy a few years ago when I first started my last job. It was a gift from my ex-boyfriend and it's actually sprouts from a larger plant. It sat in my office window for a long time and although the leaves turned red a bit, it never really grew. Still I brought it along to my new job because I liked it and there was no way I was leaving it at home to my destroyed by my cat.

Wouldn't you know that a mere week in the office and the plant has sprouted up so much! Like me, it is very content with the new light and finally has somewhere it can grow!

Does anyone know what kind of plant this is by the way? I am so dense when it comes to these things.

Aunt Sallie, you Hussy!

As promised, a little rant against my dear Aunt Sallie Mae. I don't hate her like some crybabies out there, I really don't. Her loans and loans from similar lenders enabled me to get a great education, which led to a fulfilling career, yadda yadda yadda. But sometimes she just gets on my nerves.

So I owe her a lot of money. I don't really pay attention to how much because I figure it's not at SO bad of an interest rate (4.85%) and the monthly payments aren't SO bad ($406.96).

But yesterday when I went to make my payment I noticed something I had never seen before. My monthly accrued interest was $415 - $9 more than my monthly payment. What the heck! I think the last time I looked at that box it said something to the effect of $353, so at least I was making a small dent in the principal. But to be accruing more than I'm paying? That's just nonsense.

In January I posted that my total outstanding debt to Aunt Sallie was $76,243.81. Guess what my total is today (yesterday's payment has not yet posted)?

$76,363.78

Yes about $120 more than it was 4 months ago, despite my timely payments. Stupid hussy apparently accrues interest daily. Who does that?

Here's what she has to say:

3) Why is a different amount applied to principal/interest every month?

Your education loan is a simple interest loan. Interest accrues daily on the unpaid principal balance. The number of days between payments determines the amount applied to interest from each payment. The formula for calculating simple interest is as follows:

Principal balance x Interest rate x Number of days between payments / 365.25

So I'm gonna have to play around with the interest calculator and maybe up my payment amount because there's just no way I'm gonna accrue more student loan debt. I don't want to be a freshman forever.

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.

Where it Went 4/01-4/14

I'm feeling really sick. Took yesterday off and today I'm just slugging through. I had a bit of a crisis earlier this morning which I'll explain the next post but the moral of the story is I really need to focus on my emergency fund...stat.

Anyway, here's where my money went compared to the budget I set two weeks ago. Cash withdrawal was a little high - got roses for my mom for Easter, etc. I didn't buy quite so much new clothing as I planned (though I still need to do more shopping) but I ended up paying more for groceries since I didn't want my fiance to pay way more than me. That being said, we got a lot of food - which is good since he's out of town this week and I don't have a car to get to the supermarket.

Projected/Actual

Rent - 725/725
Credit Card - 275/150
Clothes - 100/75
Groceries - 50/100
Misc. - 125/200

I still have some cash on hand . Didn't end up paying my whole credit card balance as I didn't want to be stuck with no cash just in case but I'll knock it out today.

Happy Tax Day! Stay tuned for my upcoming budget and details of my very scaring morning!