kashi's journal

Today I got up early and went to the Farmers Market. I was reading an article this morning in my latest Organic Style magazine about how it makes more sense to buy locally grown produce when you have the chance rather than organic produce at the market, simply because it's much fresher (duh). So, I headed out, and $13.25 bought:

Two green bell peppers
Two white bell peppers
Two purple bell peppers
Five zucchinis
Three eggplants
Six ears of corn
A bunch of greens (Indian Spinach, I think)
Several tomatoes

I stopped by the grocery store and picked up three avocados, a head of romaine lettuce, three gigantic peaches, and a package of organic eggs ($15). I also bought the Sunday paper ($1.75). I walked into Michaels to pick up their August class list and did not buy thing.

Later, I realized that the toilet had broken, so I paid $5 for a new flapper, and fixed it myself.

I'm pretty happy with the day. My August savings goals may be in jeopardy because I may take a few cake decorating courses with a friend (they are half price this month). I'd have to buy decorating tips too, so it would end up being approx $58. However, I have bought almost all of the groceries this month (almost $200) so BF can take care of that next month.

I just realized that I didn't spend much at all on eating out this month (maybe $10 max). BF and I didn't eat out together much either. That's why that grocery bill is so darn high *sigh* but better groceries than restaurants, I guess.

Off to figure out the tastiest way to prepare eggplant...

I'm on my own this weekend, and I had two goals for today: 1) have a rare no-spend day 2)try to eat better than I normally do. I successfully completed number one, but not without difficulty. All day I caught myself thinking about things I wanted to buy..."oh I should go to the grocery store and pick up some avocados"..."I could really use another cute skirt"...."I could buy that cookbook, it looks wonderful"..."I wonder if that infomercial teeth-whitening product really works"... etc etc etc. I have not left the house all day (other than to get the mail) and that is the only reason I have not spent anything today. Unfortunately, goal #2 failed miserably. I filled my desire to shop with an excessive amount of chocolate. I succeeded in doing a little cleaning, a load of laundry, and a load of dishes today. Otherwise, the rest of my time has been consumed with eating chocolate, thinking about shopping, watching tv, and finishing my book. The peace and quiet and lack of planned activities is a welcome relief, though.

We shall see how tomorrow will fare....

What did I just say about needing to stay out of the stores? I stopped by JcPenney last night because they were having a big sale (as always) and I knew they had lots of curtains. I bought some for our bedroom. I'm still not sure if they are perfect or not; I'll have to live with them for a few days to see. They were half price, though. I also bought a skirt at half price, which I'm wearing today, and I've already received one compliment on it.

In any case, I spent about $70 yesterday. I made a dessert last night for a dinner party we're going to tonight. BF is going out of town for the weekend, so assuming I stay out of the stores and keep myself busy at home, it should be a no-spend weekend. Today is payday, so I put $75 in savings and $25 to my Roth. The prescription still isn't ready and probably won't be until next week, so that goes into August's budget, along with my car repair. All I have left to spend on this month is rent.

I put 17% of my salary into savings & retirement this month. I think I've been calculating my "percent of income spent" wrong, because I'm counting things twice on my spreadsheet (once in the category, and again in the credit card part if it was charged). If I'm looking at it right now, in July I spent 81% of my income and put 17% toward savings, so that makes for a total of 98% used. Not bad. I had a lot of cash flow this month, though, with an extra paycheck and my rent deposit returned (and no rent paid in July). Next month will be tighter. Time to batten down the hatches!

Goals for August:
$150 to emergency fund
$50 to family fund
$100 to Roth IRA
$100 to Christmas gift fund
$100 to smaller college loan (twice the payment due)
get my car fixed (the main part, anyway)

I'm still irritated with my job. I stayed home from work yesterday and tried to get over a stress-induced headache. In the afternoon, I stopped by the post office to mail out a few things to my family and my requisit half.com book. A few more groceries and home needs at Target found their way into my car. I stopped by Michaels and bought decorative candle holders for my apartment and a Christmas gift for my mother that was $20 off (I'm already done with her Christmas gift! yeah!). I wandered through Barnes and Noble and nearly came out with nothing, until I saw a magazine about businesses in my area. It had a big section on good and bad car repair shops with consumer reviews. Given my current track record of having a car shop tell me every year that I need to replace my serpentine belt, I bought it. After getting gasoline, I went home, put away the groceries, hung up my new decorations and some that had been waiting to be hung, did two loads of dishes, and oiled our new kitchen island top again. Dinner was in the crockpot and turned out ok (not enough spices, I need to get better at that). BF and I decided to ride our bikes to the library instead of vegging out in front of the tv. I really needed that! It was so refreshing! I want to go bike riding again tonight.

Post Office: $9
Target: $50
Michaels: $80
Barnes and Noble: $11
Gas: $18

Total Spent: $168

All I have left budgeted to spend on this month is one prescription, rent, my car repair, $50 to savings and $25 to Roth IRA. I'm way over budget again. I don't even want to think about it. Our pantry is completely stocked, so I need to stay out of the stores!

Just a few things:

1 - I just found out that I'm not gong to get comp time at work anymore. Before, if I had to come in early or stay late for a meeting, I got that amount of time to use as I wished (like personal time or vacation time). I'm salaried, so I don't get paid time and half for that time. Now, I'm not going to get it at all. I'm just going to be expected to do whatever these people ask me to do. Did I mention that I'll never get an increase in vacation time, either? That even if I'm here for 30 years, I'll leave with the same two weeks I started with? I'm putting my job search into overdrive. This place is NUTS.

2 - I sold another book on half.com - only $3 total, but it's better than nothing.

3 - I really am proud of paying off all my credit cards in full. My current debt (college loans) now stands at just under $15,000 (if I paid it off today). I really wanted to get under that amount, and I'm under it now! Yay!

My car is going to cost about $700 to fix...and that's only to replace the things that I can actually hear going wrong (i.e. catalytic converter rumbling and a belt squealing). I suspect I need my brakes looked at and my tie rods replaced. I can barely afford to replace the catalytic converter, so the other things are just going to have to wait. My car is probably not worth much more than $700. It's tempting to buy a newer car (and everyone is saying DO IT), but the cost of these car repairs is nothing compared to what a monthly car payment would be. If I spend $1000 a year on repairs, that's still only $83 a month. I'm not going to find a car payment for that, and even if I could, it would likely be a piece of crap car that would need additional repairs anyway. *sigh* I wish I made a lot of money so I could buy a brand new car and not have to worry about this for a while. At least the repair estimate was only $20.

After hearing that painful estimate, I went to the grocery store and blew $100. I know, silly. It's funny how I feel that repairing my car is not worth it but sugar free pudding is. We are stocked for a while now, especially in fruit.

I paid off my other credit card in full ($380). I sold a book on half.com and was paid for it today ($4).

I applied for a few jobs last week...we'll see if I hear from anyone. I need to make more money if I am ever going to get out of this state, buy a new car, buy a house, etc etc etc.

Saturday and Sunday were no spend days. I don't think I've ever said that. How refreshing!

Last night I went to Ikea and bought several things for our apartment, totaling about $64. I got

this mirror, which I had been dying to have for the dining room, and this print for our bedroom. We already have this one in the bedroom (are you sensing a beach theme?) so it will look nice. We are ticking off the days until we can get away and move to the west coast, but until then, we are making our bedroom into our own ocean oasis. I had to go to the doctor yesterday (UGH) so I felt I deserved a treat, and I got a $1 frozen non-fat yogurt cone at Ikea. They are surprisingly delicious! We stopped by the MOA, got a baby gift for this weekend, and BF bought some new clothes. We ended up ordering pizza for dinner (he paid). Not doing so well on the diet circuit, but the apartment is getting better and thus my spirits are lifting a little.

This morning I've been researching jobs. I'm trying to decide how I should reinvent myself. I desperately want to be a copyeditor but no publishing firm in this city will hire me (I have little experience) and I don't want to move to the east coast. I was looking into becoming a paralegal, but it sounds like they do most of the work, while the lawyers get the credit and the big bucks. I think next I'll look into desktop publishing.

It's always Monday.

I didn't bring my car in this weekend. I did a little shopping on Saturday (just some necessities and a couple of small gifts). Ate lunch at Taco Bell but ate dinner in. Wasn't feeling too well in the evening, so I mostly read my book. On Sunday I ran to the Farmers Market and bought the most beautiful petunia plant. It's about three times the size of a normal hanging plant. I can't wait to hang it up on the deck! It's been in the 90s for almost two weeks though, and close to 100 all weekend, so I haven't hung it up yet. Today we've gotten a bit of relief, finally, with 77 degrees. The weather here is nuts, and that's one of my primary reasons for wanting to get the hell out of dodge. My sort-of-not-really-in-laws bought us lunch on Sunday, and I made dinner for all of us.

I got my rental deposit back from my previous landlord today - YEAH! I'm so happy it came. I'm going to pay off my other credit card with it, and this month's bigger college loan payment. Not the most exciting to most people, but I know savingadvicers will appreciate how good it feels to pay off a credit card. Of course, it will be a temporary happiness if my car repair is exorbitant.

Hoping to get back into my frugal ways this week...

Also, I'm wondering how Laura (FrugalTexan75) is doing. Haven't seen her around lately....hope things are ok!

Today is payday. I put $100 to my college loan, $100 to Roth, $100 to emergency savings, and $25 to family savings. I'm pretty proud of myself! Yesterday I went to the doctor (finally) and got three months worth of allergy med refills. It was a big outlay of money at once, but at least I don't have to worry about it for a while. AND I had the nicest doctor I think I've ever met. Bonus!

I have been completely stressed out lately. The apartment is so overwhelming, because it's all in boxes, and we are merging our stuff. "do we keep this one? or this one that looks exactly like it?" It's hard. My sweetie has been really great though, doing most of the cleaning while I do most of the freaking out. I'm at the point where I want to throw all of my stuff out the window just to make it less cluttered. I've also been feeling down about my ever-increasing weight (hello? what is my problem??) and my job. My car sounds like a lawnmower with high pitched squeal (belts and muffler, no doubt). People honestly stare as I drive by.

So, I'm a little stressed.

Luckily, my girlfriends are coming over tonight to hang out. I really need some relax and let-loose time. I also really need some alone time. Maybe I will try to get out of the house on my own this weekend.

My finances this month are equally out of whack. I've already spent over $1500 this month (that includes savings) and I have about another $1500 budgeted to spend. It's a three paycheck month, though, and I'm expecting my rent deposit back any day now. The thing that is going to throw me way off course is my car. I talked to a repair shop last night but they charge $80 labor just to diagnose the problem, and the guy was soooo condescending (I WAS a woman walking into a repair shop alone, after all). I'm going to look around more tomorrow for a place with people who don't make me feel like a stupid 12-year old girl.

Looking forward to the weekend! Hoping to keep spending at a minimum (other than the car problem). I think I need a vacation, so I'm thinking about visiting my parents later this month. We'll see if that's feasible.

1. Pay off other credit card fully in July, so I have no more credit card debt. Only charge onto cards what I can pay off each month, not more. Preferably pay everything in cash instead of using cards.

2. Have a total of $1400 in emergency savings by the end of December.

3. Have a total of $1400 in Roth IRA by the end of December.

4. Save $25 a paycheck toward savings fund for family member.

5. Pay $100 a month to smallest college loan.

6. Keep an eye on electricity consumption, and install programmable set-back thermostat to help with that.

baselle said: What's your big goal? What's inspiring you to save money?

and I've been thinking about that ever since.

MAIN GOAL:
1 - Have enough saved to move out of state comfortably, without racking up debt. I would have moved away two years ago, but I didn't have anything saved, and my parents flat-out refused to help me. That just made me more determined to do it myself without help from anyone. I can't even find a new job here, so I'm worried that I will have a really hard time finding work anywhere. Thus, I want a financial cushion.

OTHER BIG GOALS:
1 - Have money for a downpayment on a car. Preferably $5000, but I know that will be difficult.
2 - Save for retirement by socking away money every month and knowing my investments.
3 - Pay off my college loans.
4 - Buy a house, and have enough of a cushion to support that huge investment.

What's really inpiring me to save money is my desire to not be poor or credit-reliant because of a big blow to my finances (like a giant car repair, coming up soon). I don't want to be one of those people who are one paycheck away from being homeless, and I have lived far too close to that for too long.

More short term goals coming soon...

It's the middle of the year already - how the heck did that happen?!?! I went back to last December and pulled up my Goals for 2005. They were:


-pay off credit card in January. like, after the first payday in January.
This didn't happen, but I paid it off this month (so only half a year late)

-start a Roth IRA in January and contribute to it every month.
Started the Roth in February. Contributed in March and April. May and June hiccups, now I'm contributing again.

- sock at least $5 per pay period away in my emergency fund. ($5 is for really bad months...otherwise I want it to be much, much higher than that)
January, February, March, and April were pretty good. I had a road block in May and June but am contributing again.

- pay off my car insurance in February. try to be frugal about the wedding I will be going to.
Paid off my car insurance in April. Then I switched to a much lower rate in June. I was actually really frugal with the wedding.

- pay off one college loan in March.
Paid it off in March!

- increase payments on the other two loans starting in April.
I couldn't do it in April, May, or June. July will be different.

- fully pay car insurance premium in June, without going so broke that I have to put groceries on the credit card.
Since I changed insurance carriers, this didn't work. It's a monthly automatic draft now.

- keep spending to 100% of what I make each month...not more.
And I TOTALLY sucked at this. The only month I did that in was June, and that's only because I didn't have to pay rent on an apartment.

So, I have a lot to think about. What are my goals for the remainder of 2005?

So, after all of my complaining yesterday about my former landlord...he called yesterday and said he has my old place rented for June! I already sent in my July rent check, but he will tear it up. I'll meet with him this weekend to go over the checklist and get my deposit back! Yeah!!

I told BF that since I didn't have to pay rent on the other place, I could give him half of our current rent now (he already paid it in full himself, knowing that I had to pay rent on the other place). He refused to let me pay, saying that I let him stay with me for a year rent-free (which is true), and we can start splitting the cost in August. He really is a fabulous guy.

That freed up $600! I paid off my 0% interest credit card, put $50 to my Roth, $50 to savings, and $150 to holiday gift savings. That only leaves $34, but I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY to have that stupid credit card bill over and done with. I have another credit card bill to pay off later this month, but that will be easy, and I'm so glad I don't have that debt hanging over my head anymore. Really, I'm dancing around the living room.

This is also a three-paycheck month for me. I have things budgeted out, but I'm really going to try to spend less than what I've got written down. Plus, I'll have that extra deposit money coming back to me, so I'll be able to put $300 more in savings and $200 more in my Roth.

What a great day! I guess that money tree really is working. I bought one at Home Depot a couple of months ago, and it is flourishing, even at the new apartment. According to principles of feng shui, you're supposed to put a money tree in the southeast corner of your house to bring in good money vibes...that's where mine is! (or, I have a great boyfriend and have been lucky...but I like the money tree too!)

Groceries: $165 paid by me (total spent, $240)
Paid to Credit Cards: $443
ATM (cash): $100
Eating Out: $115 paid by me, no idea what total spent was
"Extras": $418
Target/Walmart: $121 paid by me (total spent approximately $430)

The only thing under budget was gasoline at $74.

Nothing to savings. Nothing to Roth IRA.

135% of income spent.

YIKES!

I also had to pay rent on my old place today. I'm locked in a lease, and I gave my landlord the requisit 2 months notice (which would be July 31), but he had been looking for a renter for July 1. He had over 50 phone calls in June and did not select a renter. I'm a bit miffed about this. It would have been nice to be getting my deposit back now instead of paying out. But, oh well, I'll never be paying that much for rent again.

Today, more shopping coming up. We're going to look at furniture and such with BF's parents. I'm not thrilled about the expenditure....my credit card bill for July is already over $300. It's really hard to keep BF (and his parents) reigned in and not spend a lot.

July goals:
-Keep grocery expeditures at a reasonable level (preferable no more than $160 total)
-Keep eating out bill at $30 paid by me (unrealistic, maybe, but we'll see)
-Keep Target expenditures at $40
-Keep ATM at $60
-Put $150 toward savings and $150 toward Roth IRA

This weekend will consist of moving heavy stuff up stairs. Enjoy the 4th holiday, USA-ers!

Bit the bullet this weekend and moved all of my stuff into the new place. It took all day Saturday and Sunday. It's amazing how much crap there is lying around the house, and how much space it takes up. I'm really happy to be in the new place, though. It has SUCH a good vibe.

Spent $52 on dinner for moving helpers. $5 on packing tape. $22 on gas (yikes! price went up again). $5 on donuts.

I'm exhausted! and my sweetie's stuff will arrive this week, so more stuff to move in the near future. I have no idea where we are going to put it all. Right now the whole apartment is chaos! I can definitely use the exercise, though.

My car has recently decided to begin resembling a lawnmower in sound. It's loud enough that people stare as I drive by them. I'm not quite sure what it is, and I really don't have the time to be dragging it around to repair shops. I have yet to find a trustworthy mechanic in this city. Everywhere I go, they want to replace the serpentine belt, flush the transmission, flush the power steering, replace the air filter, etc etc etc. I know enough now to know that is bogus. My serpentine belt cannot possibly need to be replaced every three months.

Now I'm thinking that maybe I should postpone my lofty goal of paying off that college loan at the end of this year, and instead funnel my extra cash into a savings account for a newer car. I could have $2000 saved up by December (more, if I paid the minimum on that loan, but I don't want to do that).

The question is, what kind of car do I get? I want an environmentally friendly one with good gas mileage...that pretty much means a hybrid. It would be nice to have a hybrid SUV so at least one of us had a car that could carry larger things. I trust Ford about as far as I can throw them, though, and I think that's the only option for a hybrid SUV right now!

Moving is so expensive. I'm lucky to be getting a break on rent soon, and my deposit back, to compensate for it.

I have a cold that just will not go away. I can't believe how much it is NOT reacting to cold medication, or vitamin c, or zinc, or orange juice, or massive amounts of sleep. I don't think my system is so run down that I can't fight it. Everyone around me seems to have it as well, and they can't get rid of it either. ugh.

Friday: payday. paid some to credit card. was home alone, so I ate frozen pizza and watched tv.

Saturday: packing, packing, packing. moved stuff. returned something to target, bought more stuff for the new place, but boyfriend paid. dinner at home.

Sunday: moved stuff. visited with friends, who took us out to dinner. free day.

Monday: ordered pizza, boyfriend paid. gasoline, $16. fell asleep as soon as I got home.

Tuesday: stayed home from work, sick, slept most of the day. groceries and cold medication: $50. haircut and color, $90. I would have canceled the hair appt had it not been for my interview the next day.

Wednesday: interview went pretty well until I started choking and coughing. if I don't get the job, I will blame it on that, because I am completely qualified for the position. paid cable bill, $57. paid more to credit card. I need to get an anniversary gift for my sweetie, but I am so tired. I don't feel like shopping tonight. I feel like going back home and crawling into bed.

I have a job interview on Wednesday. It's basically the exact same position I have now but at a larger agency and hopefully for more pay. I'm not too thrilled about it, because I'd like to get away from this job, but I'm going to go in and talk to them anyway. The nice part is that it would shorten my commute down to about 5 minutes.

Weird dreams last night...about two of my cats that have passed away. They were both alive in my dream, of course. I've had fitful sleep all week.

I've eaten out a couple of times this week but didn't have to pay for it. Still, not good for my ever expanding waistline. My coworker and I walked four times this week though, so that's awesome. I'm seeing more definition in my legs already.

Paid off my credit card again but put more on it last night - new things for the new apartment. Lots of cleaning supplies. I mopped all of the floors except for the room with the most stuff in it. I'm going to go back with more stuff this weekend and really scrub the rest of it. I hate moving into an apartment that isn't pristine, and since most people (and landlords) don't clean things, I'm taking it upon myself. I really don't mind though, because then I know how clean it really is. It turns out that BF's stuff is not coming until the end of June, so now I have more time to clean and lug my stuff over there.

I have a cold, but it's much less severe than everyone else's. I've been sucking down vitamin c like crazy!

The massage fell through this month, but I'm getting a haircut and color touch up before my interview. About the same amount of money, so it fits in the budget.

Hoping for a productive weekend with good sleep!

One of my college loan payment places is saying they never received last month's check. I've paid it early or on time every single month for the past four years. From the tone of the email, you'd think I had been late on every single payment. I'm really irritated with them. This is the second time they have not processed my payment; last time it showed up and I received no apology.

So, here's my new plan. Since I just paid off one of my college loans, I'm down to two. This one will not take me long to pay off, the other one is still in in the tens of thousands. I was going to pay this one off slowly and put more money toward my savings account and my Roth IRA, but now I think I am going to put lesser amounts into both and work really hard to get rid of this stupid loan so I don't have to deal with these people anymore. I've mapped it out in my budget, and I think I can do it by the end of the year. With my previous plan, I would have paid it off by the middle of next year. I'd rather get rid of it faster. I'm considering taking on a part time job just to get rid of it even faster.

It's probably not what the loan company was going for...I imagine they like having people drag their payments out for an eternity. Perhaps if their customer service representatives were more amiable, I would have stuck with my longer-range plan and racked up more interest. But now, I have a challenge...how much can I throw at it every month? I'm also going to pay them online instead of by check from now on. No "it got lost in the mail" that way!

Friday: Didn't have to pay for lunch - nice!

Saturday: Went to look at a table and chair set for sale, but it was too big for our new place. I was soooo tired all day long. I didn't want to do anything. We went out for brunch, BF's treat. I tried to pack up some stuff as best I could. I was really wiped out...from what, I don't know. Everyone around me has been ill lately, so maybe I was fighting off an illness. Frozen pizza at home, and I went to bed early.

Sunday: Woke up super early and jumped online (first mistake). Logged on to amazon.com and placed an order for several books (second mistake). I got really good deals on them, but I am supposed to be downsizing here! Total was $53. Packed up both cars with my stuff and moved it to the new place. It was a hot, sticky day yesterday, but at least it wasn't raining! We went to Target to buy a ton of stuff for the new place; BF paid. I paid for a few more bathroom things at another store ($26). I bought dinner for both of us ($25). By then we both had pounding headaches, so we went home.

My apartment is being viewed again by another potential renter today (*crossing fingers*). I tried to make it look as nice as possible, and it looks pretty good with two carloads taken out of it. My massage therapist is coming tonight, that will be another $80.

I'm going to try to make at least one more trip to the new place with a bunch of stuff this week, before Thursday. We really need to get cracking on cleaning over there, before his stuff arrives. I imagine I'll be over there every night for the rest of the week.

I listed 11 books on half.com yesterday. What I'm wondering is, how can I possibly compete with wholesalers who list brand new books for $0.75? I think my like-new hardcover book is worth much more than that.

Spending Tues/Wed/Thurs:

- groceries paid for by BF, approx $75
- magazine renewal for two years, $16
- donation, $12
- gasoline, approx $18
- groceries for Thursday's dinner, $9
- ATM $40

I have a lunch meeting today, which I will most likely have to pay for, so I took out cash.

Tonight's girls night is a quiet one, no club hopping, which is just fine with me. It looks as though it will never stop raining, so I'd rather stay in anyway. Besides, more money saved that way, since dinner is NOT at my house for once.

I still have no idea when I can move out of my current apartment, but I'm going to start moving stuff over there anyway. I have a lot stored away in my closets that could just as easily be stored over at the new place. Hopefully it will stop raining long enough this weekend to let me carry boxes in and out. I'll wait to move out the big stuff, like my bed, until the last minute. BF's stuff will get shipped here next week, so next weekend will be us moving him in. I'm really hoping to fully move in during the last weekend in June. That would be SO nice because I wouldn't have to pay so much rent for July, and I am really itching to get into the new place. We'll see.

I've been doing a lot of walking and keeping my caloric intake somewhat under control this week. Maybe I'll be thin someday!

Still need a Father's Day gift idea...I can't think of anything. He is so hard to shop for! I wanted to go home to see him, but now we'll be moving BF into the new place instead. Which means I still need a gift. No idea.

Monday's Spending:

$147.78 to pay off stupid credit card that I need to put into a bowl of water in the freezer in order to stop using it.

$100 to 0% credit card. Hope to put another $100 toward it when the bill is due later this month. Should be fully paid off in July.

$135 payment to utterly pointless college loan that will haunt me until I am 32.


and that's it! no shopping. I found out that my apartment will be viewed by two prospective renters tonight, so I busted my butt to put things into boxes and out of sight. Also did a ton of measuring at the new place. We are devising a plan to redecorate to our liking and create more counter space in the kitchen and stay within a modest budget. Tough.

I got my makeup primer in the mail yesterday! So exciting. My t-zone is still nicely matted, 3 hours after applying it. It came with a few free samples, including lip plumper. OH MY GOD. It said "expect a somewhat intense tingle." I thought my lips were going to fall off!!! Were they plumper after I endured that pain? I have no idea. They felt swollen, in any case! Not something I would do on a regular basis.

Seriously, why does it always seem to be Monday?

We went out of town to visit relatives on Saturday night, so I haven't spent anything since then. It was nice to get out of the house and go somewhere else! We got back late last night, though, so not much accomplished around the house. and no packing done whatsoever.

My fish are all still alive. I am going to test to their water again after work and see how they are really doing. I still need to call the pet store and see how they feel about me bringing fish in.

Tonight: heading to the new place to drop off a bunch of BF's stuff. We may end up doing some shopping (cleaning supplies, new toilet seat, all that fun stuff) and maybe go to the grocery store too. I'm not sure which of us is going to pay for that, or if it will be dutch, or what.

The rest of the week is pretty wide open. I might go over to a friend's house for a girls night sometime this weekend. I'm not sure if it will be a stay-in sort of night (cheaper!) or a go-out-on-the-town sort of night. I'd be happy with either one, but I'd be happier with less spending.

Picked up the keys to our new apartment today . I'm so excited. I wish I could move in right now. The place is sooooo nice. Plus, my new neighbors downstairs appear to be rather loud individuals...making me really happy to be moving.

Bought a sale book at the bookstore, $6.37. Four t-shirts (desperately needed for work), $30. Target, $19.28. Lunch, $11.

I've been monitoring my fish closely and treating their water for parasites and fungus. The other large fish is behaving erratically now. I think it has a lot to do with the babies, which have matured now. At least four of them are males, and they are chasing my females around like crazy, wearing them out. Most of the females have taken to lurking in the back of the tank or at the bottom in the corner. I have to call the pet store to find out if they will take most of my males, because I don't want them killing my females!

Thanks for the kind words on my last post. You all are the best. That's why I like this board so much!

I came home tonight to find that one of my first fish had died. She had been behaving a bit oddly for the past few days, but with no visible symptoms, I didn't know how to help her. Very sad. It's a toss up for me - do I get a pet that will live a long life (like my 17 year old cat), and know that I will get attached and be devasted when that animal dies, or do I keep pets (like fish) that have much shorter life spans? I still manage to get attached.

Also, I've come to the realization that I've been spending much less time in the Discussion section of this board lately because of the influx of people just dying to pick a fight. I've liked this board more than many others because people ordinarily carry on civilized conversations and agree to disagree about things. However, I'm not interested in hearing about how all democrats are evil and all republicans are wonderful (or vice versa), that by shopping at Walmart I am devil spawn, and that (speaking of devil spawn) I had better hurry up and embrace someone else's religion, or else. If I wanted that, I would frequent a politically-based message board, a social justice message board, and a religious message board. I'm here because it is a savings message board, something that you'd think all cultures, religions, races, and political biases could relate to on some level.

I assure you I am not talking about everyone - there are plenty of people who share different values and political/religious beliefs from my own here, and they don't bother me one bit. It's the people who are just here to pick a fight. It's unfortunate that every message board on the internet draws in that mentality eventually. Can't we all just get along?

*sigh* I'm going to get a beer, turn on the tv, and mourn my fish.

I just placed an Avon order with a coworker who just started selling. I know how much she and everyone else in her position makes (I did payroll for a while during a crisis) so I feel good about helping her out. Non profit pays nothing, particularly to the people doing the dirty work. My salary isn't huge or anything (especially not considering my education) but I'm still amazed that I get paid what I do. and I feel a bit guilty as well. Anyway, Avon order, $24.

I also ordered makeup primer online, a bit of a splurge at $38, but it keeps my face happy when wearing makeup. I have a lot less breakouts when I use it under foundation. A small bottle lasts about 8 months, and I'm all out.

Paid my electric/gas bill, and all my bread baking must have ratcheted up the bill! It was almost $40, a new high. I will enjoy that price while I have it, though, because at the new apartment it will probably average $100 (electric heat).

Yesterday's gasoline for the car: $18.13, and cash: $20. I got free tickets to a major league baseball game yesterday, so BF and I went to enjoy ourselves. He spent a ton on concessions, but his money is his money, so I didn't hassle him too much. It was my first baseball game ever! and tons of fun. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, but I think a big part of it was his company. He explained a lot of the game to me too, and that made it more enjoyable. We also took the new train for the first time. How I wish it extended throughout the whole city!

Tonight, cleaning is on the agenda. I think today will be a no-spend day!

114% of income spent this month. *sigh*

Didn't pay off much on my 0% interest credit card, but I paid off my other one in full.

I switched car insurance companies because it was a $256 yearly discount. whoo hoo!

The massage lady took a significant chunk of money, $190. I'm really glad she didn't call me again this month for another appointment. Once a month max from now on.

Spent what I budgeted on birthday/mother's day/baby gifts!

Earned about $20 on eBay.

I did really great in my "extras" category: only $30. That's a record low! and gasoline, only $57.

My huge budget buster this month was groceries: $265. What the heck? I have never spent that much on groceries in one month!! I really need to make an effort to stick to June's grocery budget.

With any luck, I will be able to move out of my apartment at the end of June. That would save me $160 in June. Overall, this move will save me $145 a month, or $1734 a year. Plus, I will be with the man that I love. I am really happy about that.

June goals:
--Pay off other credit card (again) and stop charging things on it
--Pay $200 to 0% credit card
--Spend no more than $80 on groceries
--Stick to rest of budget
--List more books on half.com
--Clean & donate as much stuff as possible, so I'm hauling less over to the new place!

Yesterday we took a trip to Ikea to peruse their merchandise, and to get some decorating ideas for our new apartment. What a great time! I could do without the weekend crowds, but that store has so many neat gadgets and things, and most things are so inexpensive. A lot of it is too cheaply made as well, but there are some treasures. I finally found the frames I was looking for, 6/$4.24. Later I bought some white paint for them, $4.58. That will be a project for tomorrow, if the humidity drops! We didn't buy anything else at Ikea...we decided to wait until we are in the new place and can do some measuring, and will go back on a weekday when we are less likely to be trampled by the crowd. We need to make a budget for this project so we don't go crazy buying stuff!

We stopped by Target and bought too much. Even with a gift card, I spent $25.18 of my own money. I got a great bowl though, one that will work well for bread rising. Indian food for dinner (BF's treat), and he bought some red wine for dinner tonight. I've been up for a while already today and baked the cake for tonight's dessert (still have to frost it), and am working on making bread as well. I have a lot of cleaning to do before BF's parents come over (or rather, WE have a lot of cleaning to do, but he has to get out of bed first!).

Hopefully it will be a no spend day.

I went the grocery store. AGAIN. Seriously, what is my problem this month?! That brings the grand monthly total up to $264.71. It's ridiculous! I went because my BF's parents will most likely be coming over for dinner this weekend, and I wanted to prepare dinner at home rather than going out and spending their money. I say that because I know we would have to fight to get the check, and because they are paying for so much stuff for their other kids.

So, the menu will be cheese and spinach lasagna, green beans deliciously prepared somehow (a friend gave me a weight watchers recipe, maybe I'll try that), french bread, salad. For dessert, mexican chocolate cake with mocha buttercream frosting. I got low fat cheeses and all that to compensate for the decadent dessert.

I also bought a number of low-fat snacks. I know they are not the cheapest nor are they necessary, but I want to successfully lose weight, and they will help. The problem here lies in that I am not really a vegetarian. I am a carbo-lacto-tarian. I could live on bread, cheese, and chocolate happily for the rest of my life! Unfortunately that is not conducive to a healthy body...bummer!

Otherwise, I'm doing great financially. I haven't eaten out all week. I brought my car in to the shop tonight because it's had this hideous underbody rattle for a couple of days. I was cringing, thinking they would want to replace my entire muffler or something. Turns out it was the heat shield, which the guy said is basically unnecessary anyway considering my driving habits. They took it off for free and sent me on my way. I hope that was a good idea. It was free and it doesn't rattle anymore, so that's nice.

I'm still really excited about our new place! Gazing at a pile of books I have sitting by my computer, I'm reminded of all the packing I have to do...and how I should really start listing this stuff on half.com!

We decided on a place!!! We filled out an application last night, and will probably sign the lease this evening. Yippeee!!!!!!!!!! It's so nice. It has all hardwood floors, brand new kitchen appliances, a dishwasher, funky lighting, a washer and dryer in the unit, a dining room (which I really wanted), a deck, and lots of natural light. The people downstairs seem really nice too. Now I just have to give my landlord notice. and start packing!

I made three ebay sales and was finally paid for all of them. I mailed out two yesterday ($10.79) and will mail one out tomorrow. Other than that, I have been really good about not spending.