Lessons & Life

I'm thinking about lessons and life and how things always seem to happen for a reason. I'm not particularly religious or even spiritual but I do have an extremely positive attitude and outlook on life. I've always believed that no matter what things will always work out for me because that is the way it has always happened in the past. I believe set backs like my car accident happen in order to teach me something new. It happened the month that I decided to start getting my finances in order. Coincidence? Maybe or maybe not. My perspective is that this happened so that for once and for all it will be hammered into my head the importance of financial planning and frugality.

I just got off the phone with the body shop and my car should be done in 3-4 days pending the authorization for repairs by my insurance (I guess they found a few more things as they dug down). 3-4 days isn't bad at all. I'm particularly grateful for Kia Spectra I've rented in the meantime but I'm going to be so excited to get my own car back.


I had a very mellow weekend spent mostly with a sick SB. Saturday we had breakfast in Mission Beach then went to the park to relax and read. I got a little sun which felt amazing. Both of us were tempted with buying new things....me, clothes at Banana Republic's Spring Sale, him a new Toyota Prius (!!!).

SB has been wanting to get rid of his Nissan Xterra for about a year now. It is financed and he has about two more years on it (an '04 that he bought brand new in '05). Due to rising gas prices he started thinking how great would it be to have a hybrid. He did the research and found out his short boards would still fit in the back (with the seat down) and the racks he has now would most likely fit on top for my long board and other sporting equipment for when we go camping (next trip already planned - more on that soon). We've discussed a number of times and initially I was all for it. But that was pre-blog and pre-ephiphany. He didn't want to put any money down and he wanted to finance the whole thing including what was left on the Xterra. Last weekend I told him I thought he should hold off until the Xterra is paid off and he has money to put down on a new car. While he did sort of agree with me he ended up going to the dealership on Saturday anyway. I was worried that he would leave with the new Prius but he ended up walking away! I was so proud of him. He still wants a Prius but agrees that it is smarter in the long run to wait.

I've been saving my reciepts but I don't have a run down to post for my daily spending. I'll have that tomorrow - but I've been really good!!

Despite the fact that the accident set me back $500 I think I will still be able to put aside some money at the end of the month even though it may only be about $100. Also, SB told me he didn't want pay him anything for rent next month so that I can build my emergency fund back up in April. Yay!

What's that saying . . .

about the best laid plans? Something about them going to hell anyway?

Well. . . yesterday morning I was involved in a car accident! My car is in very bad shape. More importantly, I am okay and no one was injured although I do feel sore today (neck and shoulders). However, I have a wonderful insurance agency (Travelers) and they have totally taken care of me and have been so easy to work with. A claim estimator was able to view my car that same morning and by the afternoon it was in the body shop starting to get worked on! Wow! The woman at the front counter at the body shop said that a 1 day turn around rarely happens. The damage to my Civic (2006 - I've only had it a year!! Photo is of what Simon looked like pre-accident) is estimated at this point at $4300 but they won't know for sure until they get into it. Ugh. Poor Poor Simon.

I have a $500 deductible so there goes my emergency fund and any other savings I was hoping to add to this month. At LEAST I hadn't spent that money on shoes or something. I'd be kicking myself now.

The lesson here (is this a week of lessons or what!?) is this: Emergency Funds are serious!!! Thank goodness I had at least started saving or else I'd be on the phone to my dad and he would NOT be pleased with me. To say the least.

This is the first accident I've ever been in. It happened on a busy stretch of freeway near an interchange that gets very backed up. It's hard to describe what happened but basically I was exiting the freeway from the extremely slow moving right hand lane onto a freeway exit. Often cars will exit the freeway by going down the shoulder because that lane tends to back up quite a ways up the freeway. I had stayed in the lane to exit - not the shoulder - but in order to be safe I looked over my shoulder as I was merging.....and the car in front of me stopped and I hit her. So it was totally my fault. My civic was no match for her '98 Chevy Tahoe - barely a scratch on her bumper but my civic just crumpled. I managed to get it to work (I was almost there) okay but I was so shaken up I couldn't stop shivering. I ended up staying a few hours at work because my boss had to prep for a meeting with a very important person and then I took off to get everything taken care of. SB met me at home even and drove me around and took me out to dinner to make me feel better (I still could barely eat even though I hadn't had anything all day!).

Ugh, accident's are bad for the stress level!!!

Anyway, hopefully my car will be fixed and as good as new in a few weeks. Until then I'm driving a rental Kia Spectra and it's like driving a roller skate . . . but at least it's going to get me from point A to B until Simon is back. But I will say that my drive to work this morning was nerve wracking! I was so afraid of a repeat from yesterday I took a new route to totally avoid that bad traffic area . . . I've always taken driving for granted but I never will after this. Anything can happen out there! Be safe!!

On the financial side of things, here's a recap of my spending:

Day 2, Tuesday I didn't spend anything at all!

Day 3, Wednesday (Accident Day) I had to put down a deposit of $300 for the rental car that I will get back when my the car comes back to them in one piece. I don't have to pay the $500 deductible to the auto body shop until I pick up my car in April probably.

Where does my money go? Day 1 of 31

Okay so now I don't feel so bad about smuggling in vodka to Padres games at Petco Park ($8 for a cup of beer??!!). I'm not the only one who has been known to hide a little liquor now and then in my purse (or pants)! Good ideas QL and Andy - I like the way you think! I'll have to remember those tips for the next time I'm in the mood to bar hop again! ;-)

Small baby step toward getting more organized: I entered in all my bill due dates into my outlook task reminder. There are two bills due right at the beginning of the month (one on the 2nd, one on the 5th) and I've been pretty consistently late on. I've set the reminder to ding me one week in advance so I'm sure to see it and go online to make the payments.

I've decided to track all my purchases for the next 31 Days. I have a tiny spiral bound notebook to keep in my bag along with a pen. Each time I spend a dollar or swipe my card I'll record the expense and note whether it was an essential or non-essential purchase.

Yesterday was Day 1 and I spent:

$34.89 on gas ($3.52/gl + $0.45 charge for using my debit/visa card! Grrr!) - an essential purchase as it's my gas to commute to work this week.

I'm looking forward to gaining more awareness on my purchases!

Another thing I've been thinking a lot about is my gym membership. Now, I actually use my membership to LA Fitness so it's something that I've been struggling with whether I should get rid of it or not. My membership costs $39.99/month. On average I go to the gym 3-4 days a week, sometimes 5 if I'm super motivated. Mondays I do a weight class with this ancient woman with an AMAZING body. I want to look like her when I'm 70 (she's my motivation!)! Tuesdays I run on the treadmill 3 miles. Wednesdays I do Step/Weight aerobics. Thursdays is my night off since I usually meet a friend after work for coffee - it's our weekly gab session. Fridays if nothing is going on I'll run 3 miles on the treadmill. Saturdays are another off day. Sundays are negotiable - if SB is motivated (and I'd say he is 75% of the time) we'll go to the gym together for a long run on the treadmill or we'll run outdoors along the Mission Beach boardwalk or around Mission Bay. To be conservative, let's say I use it 3 days a week (no Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday), that means I essentially pay $3.50 each time I go.

I called my gym rep a few weeks ago to see if they would lower my membership rate. I've been a member for over a year and when I initially signed up I bought the upgraded plan that included access to access to any club in California for an extra $10/month. This was important to me at the time because I was living in another county and when I saw SB on the weekends I wanted to have the option of going to his local gym with him. Since I live here in San Diego now with SB I don't need the upgrade anymore . . . but get a load of this - they won't let me downgrade, only upgrade!! I asked if I could quit my membership and rejoin with the lower rate but they'd charge me the initial membership fee of $150 again. What a racket!!

I know there are a lot of things I could do at home but I think what I love about the gym and keeps me going back is the group mentality. I love the classes! Also, I'm not too keen on running by myself outside due to recent news about rapes in the area. EEEK!!! So, that being said - I'm pretty convinced I'm a gym rat.

My university has a gym that I'm considering trying out. This Friday I'm going to go over and check it out - I've actually never been in there. I'm sure it'll be cheaper but I don't know how much. If it's a good deal and they offer similar classes I'd be willing to switch. I'm also planning on seeing if there is a YWCA in the area. If none of these options pan out, I'm going to cancel my LA Fitness plan and rejoin under SB's membership. They have a friends/family promotion where you can add someone for only $40 and pay $29.99 a month.

I'm curious though - what do you do to stay fit yet not spend a lot of money on it?

Lessons

After I woke up from my Sunday morning nap, SB and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful temps and head outdoors to the park for some sun and fresh air. As I was getting my things together (book, sunglasses, beach towel) I realized that my purse seemed to weigh less than usual. I went digging and realized that my wallet wasn't there! Ack!! We searched my car - under the seats, in the glove box, in the trunk - searched the living room and bedroom . . . then SB asked me where was the last time I saw it. I remembered closing my tab at pub #3 and SB remembered me having it there as well. I didn't remember having it at the sushi restaurant we went to afterward but I didn't pay there (SB and J split the tab). So, either I left it on the bar in pub #3 or it fell out of my bag at the restaurant (I did get up to go to the restroom once, and the bag I was carrying isn't my typical zipper close purse I take most places - this was more of a causal beach bag) SB was amazingly wonderful about the whole situation and didn't allow me to freak out. We pulled up to the restaurant and I hopped out and ran up to the hostess. And they had my wallet!!!! The hostess said our waiter tried to run after us after we left but we had already taken off. Whew!!! Disaster averted!

In other good news, the transfer I made from my temporary savings into my checking account #1 on Sunday morning saved me from any overdraft fees (I just called my bank to double check that non were going to hit tonight).

Therefore, today's post is about lessons!! I had two very close calls and I learned a lot from these.

#1 Lesson: If I'm going to get fired up for a night of drinking I need to plan in advance what I am going to spend and take out cash from the ATM. This serves two purposes:
1) When the cash is done, so am I (or I'll have to use my looks and winning personality to get free drinks - ha, kidding! SB would not be a fan of this method.);
2) I'll have cash for a cab if I go a bit overboard - that way I don't have to do the walk of shame home. Always smart to have an exit plan. :-) (FYI, SB drove us home on Sat. & was okay to do so - but you never know!)

#2 Lesson: I need to re-evaluate what I carry in my wallet so if I ever DO lose it won't be as big of a disaster. I reread Trent's post at The Simple Dollar about what is in his wallet. Tonight my plan is to reorganize what I carry with me. Currently I carry two bank/debit cards (I have two accounts that I use for different purposes. One to pay bills and buy "essentials" like gas - the other is for my "play" money. It's a new system that I just started using this month.) I also carry all my credit cards and store credit cards - obviously don't need to carry these bad boys anymore. I have my social security card which is probably a big no-no. I have my work i.d. and my d.l. I also have a lot of other random crap in there . . .

#3 Lesson: As you noted Andy, it's a good idea to come up with a budget so I know how much is okay to spend. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with a night of fun and I think that it's a great way to blow off steam. I'm not a bar fly so this is probably something I do every few months (more during the summer, less during the winter). I need to really figure out how much discretionary spending is okay. I allocated $100 this month but that was a total arbitrary number.

Well . . . as I said, I learned a lot and I narrowly missed the disaster of losing my wallet and losing out even more money on a bank fee. Luckily, karma was on my side and I'm definitely taking note!

The Morning After - Dealing with Regret - Moving Forward

So . . . I got caught up in the weekend festivities and ended up at a couple bars last night with SB and our friends J and T. I'm experiencing the morning after regret coupled with a mild headache/hangover. No sympathy for me though.

I ended up spending about $30 last night. I don't know if it was the great 80s cover band, the $3 vodka & redbulls, or the fact that I just wanted to thow my hands in the air like I just didn't care (ugh). The damage overall could have been worse (or so I tell myself now). However, in the interest of full disclosure - I didn't balance my account before I left so my last purchase combined with my gym membership automatic payment (more on this unnecessary expense later) put my account over by $4! This morning when I checked to see exactly how much I spent last night (big mistake - if I was going to go out, I should have decided how much I was going to spend and brought cash) I transfered funds from my temporary savings (not emergency fund) to cover any bank fees that may hit on Monday. Big sigh. Why oh why did I do that - I was being so good!?

I guess the worst thing I could do at this point is continue to beat myself up. This was a set back but I'll continue making other good choices, learn from this, and move on. This was just one baby step backward . . . I'm still going in the right direction. Right?! Ugh.

I'm going back to bed - I'm pretty sure I can't hurt my wallet there.

Mom & Dad: Taking a little from both.

On Thursday I woke up thinking it was Friday so I am doubly glad that it's Friday today! I'm not wishing my life away - just particularly excited about the 4 mile run tomorrow with SB and a few other friends. It's St. Patty's Day Weekend and traditionally that means one big pub crawl where I have been known to blow a lot of money on Guinness and Irish Car Bombs but this year I'm taking the frugal approach (and the sober approach) and staying in with SB. After the run there is free beer and pizza for participants but I don't think that will sound particularly appealing at 9 AM in the morning.

I put my name on a car pool/van pool list at work - currently no one is driving from Pacific Beach to North County but I'll get called if anyone is interested. I even looked into the bus but looks like that's not a viable option because of the distance (40 miles one way - sigh!). I could totally get on board with the bus or train since I see that as extra time to read (I'm reading my way through the Harry Potter series - currently on book 5) but alas. It's not meant to be for now.

Today I thought I'd write a little about my parents and their very opposite points of view on personal finance as perhaps it would give me some insight on my own habits.

You could not meet two more opposite people. My mom is a true free spirit in every sense of the word. I've never known her to have a job that lasted more than 3 months. She spends her free time writing, reading, attending workshops and seminars. She is interested in holistic healing and the power of acupuncture and Qigong. She was an extremely nurturing mother and I feel that my brother and I were very lucky to have her as a stay-at-home mom growing up as we were always doing SOMETHING fun, especially during the summers.

My dad, on the other hand, is a rigid retired Navy officer. He worked for 30 years for the Department of Defense. He sees things either as black or white - shades of gray never exist for him. One of his favorite things to say to me when I couldn't decide about something was "Mal, it's a one or a zero - make a decision". Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words - that's my dad's motto. We never really vacationed with Dad. We went camping on occasion but summers meant that we were around the house helping with some sort of home improvement project.

As you probably guessed by now, their marriage did not last and they divorced when I was 5. I lived mostly with my mom and then spent a few years in high school with my dad. I can't even picture them being together - it doesn't even make sense in my mind how it could ever have happened. I guess opposites do attract but that doesn't mean things work out in the end!

So, my mom was totally irresponsible with money. Since she didn't work she lived off of alimony I guess - I don't even know!! I'm not sure how much that was but it provided her with a fairly comfortable living. However she could blow a lot of cash and frequently take me out shopping on a Sunday afternoon for new clothes only to have our electricity shut off on Monday. I remember once the water was shut off at our house for two days and we had to steal water in buckets from our neighbor's hose to "flush" the toilets. I remember being young and thinking it was odd but my mom always made a game out of it. If the lights were shut off she'd light candles and we'd sing and read stories. Invariably, the lights or water would come back on in 24 hours and things would be back to normal.

My dad would die if that ever happened to him - but it never would because he was so frugal. In September he would give me $200 and tell me that was my money to spend on clothes for the school year but to budget wisely because other than my allowance that would be it. Dad bought a nice home and furnished it but took his time - paying for things one at a time before going on to the next item. He frequently gave me lectures on money management - he tried to teach me how to balance my checkbook when I got my first account when I was a teenager.

In college when I got over my head in credit card debt for the first time, my dad was SO disappointed in me. He actually paid of my credit cards (I had about $4,000 on four cards) for me. Unfortunately I didn't learn my lesson - when it happened again he told me that I was on my own. I respect him for that. He said that if he bailed me out again I'd keep making the wrong choices so I had to have a personal investment in my own growth . . At one point I needed $5,000 for tuition but he wouldn't give it to me straight out - instead, he wrote up a contract for a loan and made me sign it. I'm actually STILL paying that loan off but I'll tell you what - that is the FIRST bill I pay every month and I'm never late. I'm still trying to earn back my dad's respect when it comes to that in my mind.

As for my mom, one thing that I admire about her is that if she only had $10 in her pocket, she would give it away no questions asked if she knew someone she cared about needed it more than her. She's generous to a fault. While I've never ever had problems with paying my utility bills, in the past I've taken her approach to money - if you've got it, spend it - you only live once. Yet, I admire my dad's frugality. As a result, he's been able to retire early, purchase a second vacation home (on a civil servant's salary - impressive!), and travel quite a bit . . .

I want to take the best out of each parent and create my own philosophy on personal finance. I want to be frugal with my money. The next car I buy I'd like to pay for fully with cash (my dad has done this with all of his vehicles - which often meant that he drove cars for 10 years before getting new ones . . . but he didn't care). I want to know where every dollar is going and track all expense. I want to live on a budget . . . but I also want to live life and enjoy and have fun. I don't think my dad really knows what fun is. Or maybe his idea of fun is just totally different from mine.

I think that since my PF epiphany that I've made some real changes. My first test came when a friend asked me to go shopping with her in Pasadena the day after I decided that this was it - I'm making a change. The thought crossed my mind that it would be so easy to just let things go one more month and join her. In the end I decided that one more pair of kicky pumps from Saks is not going to make me feel any better about myself - what IS going to make me feel good about myself is the security of having an emergency fund, of having zero credit card debt, of not having creditors calling me because I have an account that is past due or in collections.

In the end, I want to take with me mom's easy going attitude and fun loving spirit but my dad's awareness and respect for money. I think these two perspectives can be melded and balanced into one that I can live with and be happy with. . . .

Gas = Eeek!

I have a major case of Spring Fever - at work I find myself staring out the window daydreaming of the weekend, making plans in my head for everything I want to do and see. If only it were Friday afternoon.

I don't have much to comment on related to finances. I've been pretty good about not spending money - my only relapse was yesterday I spent $3.10 on dinner on the way to SB's softball game. I also gassed up my car and dropped $41 on filling her up. Good lord prices are out. of. control!!! $3.51/gallon was the BEST price I could find near my work and the cheap station by my house was $3.48 this morning. This morning's news was talking about the prices and how we aren't going to be seeing any relief for a long time. Ugh. These prices will make me change my habits for sure - I won't be making the trip up to Riverside to see best friends more than once a month . . . I looked into taking the train to work but unfortunately the time tables aren't convenient - I wouldn't be able to get to work on time.

SanDiegoGasPrices.com has a list of the lowest and highest gas prices . . . looks like one station is already selling at $3.99/gal! Eeek!

A bit of the Monday Blues . . .

I'm feeling a bit of the Monday blues but I got super excited when I logged on to blogger minutes ago and saw that I have my first commenter! Thank you!!! :-)

It was a good weekend and I got A LOT accomplished . . . wasn't quite as frugal as I would have liked though.

The run down:

Saturday morning SB and I drove from SD to Riverside to move the last of my things out of my old townhouse. I had to rent a U-Haul for my queen sized bed. That cost me $164 PLUS $35.00 in gas. We ended up taking my more fuel-efficient civic instead of SB's SUV - gas for the trip up and back for the car was about $20.00.

After we dropped off the U-Haul at the San Diego location, I took SB to Chili's for a "Thank you" beer for him and a "I'm SO GLAD I'M DONE" mango margarita, chips & salsa. That cost $18.

Then we went across the street to Target to pick up some items. Before I go into what we bought, I thought I'd bring a little background "rationalization" into the shopping. SB has been living the bachelor life for five years and his apartment greatly reflects that. In the kitchen: mismatched plates, cups, and pots and pans. I don't have my own kitchenware because I'd been living with a roommate who already had everything. Now, I COULD have lived with R's tacky mismatched plates, bowls but I didn't want to. We picked up a new set of sage green plates and bowls for $25.00. We also picked up new bathroom rugs because his were threadbare and pretty disgusting and he didn't want to use mine (pink!). We split the cost of the rugs (picked out a neutral tan color) - about $40. We also got a cabinet for the bathroom to hold towels and my makeup and accessories (not enough room under the sink for these things and no counter space) - SB bought that item. At the check out counter I ended up dropping $110.00. I bought one item that really didn't count as a "moving item" or a "necessity" - a pair of pink over sized Jackie O style sunglasses for $17. I KNEW that I probably shouldn't have bought them but since I lost my last pair about two months ago - I've been dying with out a pair.

Saturday evening SB and I unpacked my things & rearranged furniture. I was AMAZED by the transformation that the apartment went through. It looks great now!

On Sunday, SB and I met our friends A & N for breakfast at Pipe's in Cardiff. SB treated me to breakfast - we ended up splitting the Vegetarian Scramble. On our way home I washed my car $3.99 with coupon. We stopped at Vons grocery story to pick up a week's worth of supplies - I spent just over $20 and picked up lunch supplies as well. My last purchase of the weekend was $28.00 for an entry into next Saturday's St. Patrick's Day 4 mile run. No, not necessary but running is a hobby and these races help provide me with motivation to keep running and stay in shape.

Sunday afternoon I did some uncluttering- focusing specifically on my clothes. I have a lot of clothes . . . decided that I really didn't need them all and couldn't even STORE them all in our tiny closet (photo above is not our actual closet but the size is pretty close!). It was a somewhat painful process but oh so necessary:

I used the method employed by a show I've seen on the TLC Channel where teams from the show help people unclutter their homes (can't remember the name, I've only seen it a few times but it's a good show!). I created a Definitely Keep pile, a Maybe pile, and a Toss/Donate pile. I made 10 second decisions on each item and tried not to let my emotions sway my decisions. I ended up throwing out my prom dress even though I've kept it for 10 years for "sentimental" reasons and I don't even know why - it's not like prom was that great!! (I didn't have a date - long sad embarrassing story - SIGH! I ended up going with a group of friends.) For the Maybe pile I used a technique I'd heard about (can't remember where so I can't give credit). Basically I asked myself "Does this item reflect the person I am presently or the person I will be in the future?". If it didn't it went into the Toss/Donate pile. This process took several hours and sometimes I had to try on some things to see if they still fit and to get SB's opinion (I learned that guys aren't the best at giving advice on clothes - everything he said was "yeah, looks good."). As I was going through my Maybes there were some items that I just couldn't decide on - I like them and they fit the requirement of it reflecting me as a person presently or in the future but I didn't know if I would ever actually WEAR them. So I used a third technique that I had heard of (again, not sure where I got this bit of advice from): I hung these items up in my closet with the hanger facing the opposite way. If I end up wearing an item from a backward hanging hanger, the next I hang it up I'll put in the closet hanging the correct way. At the end of six months if I still have any items hanging the wrong way I'll know that I should just donate/give them away! Pretty smart, huh?!

By the end of the evening I had all my clothes washed, hung up in the closet or folded in my dresser and the bedroom looked GREAT. It definitely felt good to get rid of all the extra clutter that I had in the way of clothes and accessories.

As I was in the shower last night I had a thought (I do some of my best thinking in the shower!). I quit smoking last year. I wasn't a heavy smoker but I smoked about a pack a week for almost 5 years. It was a bad habit picked up from my ex-boyfriend. It took me a long time to break the habit - I was never able to just quit "cold turkey". I basically weaned myself off the smokes . . . cutting down the frequency and trying to be more self-aware of when and why I smoked. For instance, I loved to smoke on my way from work - helped relieve the stress of the workday. For many months I wasn't smoking regularly but I'd relapse, purchasing a pack and smoking it all in a weekend (leaving me feeling and smelling like crap). In the end, I ended up switching out one bad habit (smoking) for one good habit (running) and can't remember exactly when my last smoke was - several months ago for sure. While I still occasionally crave a cigarette I know I'm never going to purchase another pack EVER. I have a feeling that practicing frugality and giving up bad spending habits is going to be a lot like quitting smoking for me. I'm going to get better and better over time until one day I can look back and say "Wow, I can't remember the last time I dropped $200 at Banana Republic for no good reason" or "Wow, I can't remember the last time I had a bank over draft charge." It's hard in the beginning but it will get easier and easier . . .I'm hoping to replace my bad spending habits with the good habit of blogging!!!

So with that said, I'm looking forward to not spending one dime on anything other than gas this week with the except of a cup of tea with G on Thursday. Other than that I've got everything I need. I look forward to the challenge!!

It's Friday!!!

Who else is excited that it is Friday??


It's been a good productive week and I'm looking forward to my first weekend of "frugality".


This week I downloaded a free credit report from Equifax through Annualcreditreport.com. The results were sobering:


I have 9 Negative accounts and 1 in collections....

The balance owed for account in collections is $270.00

The following is a break down of closed accounts that are not in collections (although I never paid the debt off):

Account #1: $43.00 (utility company that I had back in my early college days)

Account #2: $410.00 (cell phone company - again this is very old from back in my early college days)

Account #3: $4,418.00 (my first credit card that I opened in 1998).

Account #4: $0.00 (refinanced student loan - I no longer owe anything here because I consolidated my loan)

Grand Total : $5,141.00

Deep Breath. Okay. So that sounds like a lot but it is really not that bad. I mean, other than the fact that my credit is in shambles it COULD be a lot worse - right?!

Here's the bright side: In the year since I've had my car - I've not missed one payment and the account is in good standing!!

There was one error: It lists my credit history as being "0 years". I'll make sure they update them - should be "10 years" as 1998 was the year I went to college - got my first credit card and my first student loan.

Sigh, at times this feels like an overwhelming process but I know that each small baby step is a step in the right direction.

In other news, this Saturday SB and I are going up to Riverside to collect the rest of my things from my old apartment. I'm not looking forward to paying for the gas for the drive back down (we're renting a u-haul and taking his SUV) but this is a necessary trip. I'm going to spend the rest of the weekend DE-cluttering - i.e. going through my closet and drawers and tossing out/donating clothes. Now that I share closet space with SB there just isn't enough space . . . plus, I really don't NEED a lot of this stuff anyway. I'm ready to clean out the cobwebs and have a fresh start!

Friday nights we usually treat ourselves by going out to eat or doing take out. We usually don't go overboard - Mexican food from one of the hole-in-the-wall places here is a usual go-to . . . or pizza. Instead, tonight I'm making a frozen skillet meal I got on sale for $5.00 at the store. This small change will make up for the fact that on Sunday morning we are meeting out-of-town friends for breakfast.

A talk with the BF - Priorities and Goal Planning

Last night I came home with a "Personal Finance High" as I called it! Ha ha. I felt so good about my progress yesterday and I was excited to tell SB about my epiphany and goals. We had a good talk and I told him about my new ING Direct Account and encouraged him to open one up at the end of the month (he said he would!). Then we discussed our future goals and did a littlere prioritizing.

A little background on SB and I - we've been dating Since November 2006. We also dated from 1998-2001! We rekindled our romance after 5 years - I always felt he was "the one that got away" and apparently he felt the same way about me and sent me an email asking to get together. We met for a beer, shared a few tears, and the rest is history! This month I moved in with him officially (I have been basically living with him since November but paying rent at my own apartment). I'm excited because this move means that my rent is going down from $700 to $450 a month! I'll be putting that $250 savings into my ING account FOR SURE come April 1.

We are discussing marriage and I could tell that R was feeling majorly stressed out about expectations in terms of The Ring. I let him know that despite everything that is said about diamonds being a girls best friend and lasting forever, having a huge rock on my finger just isn't me. I explained that I'd much rather buy something delicate and inexpensive - I joked that at our 10 year anniversary he can give me a bigger ring for putting up with him so long! Ha!

We discussed eloping! We want to go to Hawaii this fall on vacation (IF I save up enough money AND my credit cards are paid off) and he suggested we just get married on the trip and not tell anyone until we come back. Surprise! We're tanned AND married! We are both low key people and I never imagined us having a big wedding but this idea is slowly starting to set in and take hold - could be good! I'd miss having my best girls and my brother there but at the same time how cool would it be to have an incredible intimate ceremony in a rain forest or next to a waterfall on a tropical island?? Plus the honeymoon would be wrapped in. All told, we could save a lot of money. When we got back we could through an inexpensive reception/party at the beach and invite friends and family and just have a really good, laid back time. Further discussion is needed but the more I think about this the more I love it!

Another thing we talked about was our desire to move in about a year to North County, specifically Solana Beach or Encinitas. It probably doesn't come as a big surprise that San Diego is an expensive city to live in. I heard a news report the other day that said the average single childless adult needs to earn a MINIMUM of $13.71 just to get by in this city. WOW! Surfing is a huge part of our lifestyle and we've always wanted to live coastal . . . as in less than 10 minutes from the beach, closer if possible. So that just raises the expenses as the closer to the water you live, the higher the rent. We talked about trading in our current apartment ($900/mo for a one bedroom/one bathroom) for a two bedroom/one bath place in the range of $12-1400/mo. But now that I'm on the Personal Finance buzz I told him we should think about staying put where we are for a few more years - maybe even 3 to 5 years. Yes it is SMALL and CRAMPED but we are saving money here. We live six blocks from the water and the neighborhood is good. Instead of renting a more expensive apartment if we save for a few years maybe we can afford to purchase a house! It might be further from the coast then we want but then we'd have space to raise a couple of kids and adopt some puppies. :-) The downside is that I will have to continue my commute. I work in North County and drive about 80 miles a day. I've heard reports that the price of gas is expected to rise to $4/gallon this summer. That could definitely hurt my budget. I think I need to look into car pooling and other options - maybe the coaster (commuter train).

Nothing major to report today in terms of my pocket book. Went to the grocery store to buy lunch food for the rest of my work week so I don't have an excuse to go out. Yesterday I transferred money into my B of A account to fix the overdrawn account (negative $21 - UGH!).

Next up: a look at my credit reports. I'm almost afraid to look.

Start as you mean to go on

What does that phrase mean exactly? I've heard it a few times in my life. To me, it means begin today with the actions that will contribute to the success you want to achieve in your life. That is exactly what I intend to do.

I'm tired of the stress that my financial mismanagement has brought me. What is so ridiculous about this situation is that I could have taken steps to rectify this YEARS ago but I was too disinterested, didn't see the relevance, or just too consumed with wanting to live my life that I let it all go.

Fortunately, I am young enough that I can dig this out and start planning for a happy, stable, financially wonderful life.

I am proud of my progress today because I got out my credit card statements and student loan statement and figured out exactly how much I owe, what my APRs are, and what my due dates are. This is where I stand as of this morning:

Store credit card #1:
My limit is $100 and I'm over the limit with a balance of $103.53. My APR is a shocking 24.90%.

Store credit card #2:
My limit is $200 and my balance is $199.44!! How close am I!?? My APR is 21%.

MasterCard:
My limit is $300 and my balance is $335.39 - I'm over the limit with this card as well. My APR is 9.90%.

Visa:
My limit is $500 and my balance is $550.77 - again with the over the limit. My APR on this card is an out of this world 28.24%!!!!! Holy Moly!

My total debt on credit cards is $1,189.13.

Okay, so that's not totally horrible, right? It's not completely out of control in terms of the amount but good lord do I suck - 3 out of 4 cards are over the limit and I'm only 61 cents from being over the limit on the 4th card!

Here is the run down on my student loans:

My loans are consolidated under 1 roof so I only have one payment. My balance is $21,238.43 and I am over 30 days late - I a payment of $315.21 was needed to get in good standing. My APR is 3.25%.

So after I did this research, I immediately went online and made payments through my online bank account to all of the above accounts bringing them back down to below the limit. Then I went to ING Direct and opened up an Orange Savings Account with a 3.4% APY. Some of my favorite Personal Finance Bloggers have said a lot of positive things about this online bank so I'm gong to give it a try and see how it goes. Because I opened the account with $250 they gave me an additional $25! So my emergency fund already has $275.00! Yeah!!

I have started developing a game plan in terms of paying down my debt and increasing my savings. Initially my reaction was to tackle the credit cards immediately so that I'm no longer paying the outrageous interest but what would happen if SOMETHING happened and I needed some money - maybe I blow out a tire or two on my car, get in an accident and have to pay the $500 deductible, or something worse. I'd be screwed! So, I've set my initial goal for my emergency fund at $1,000. That means that I am already almost 28% there! Go me!

Once my emergency fund is saved up, here is my plan:

1) Tackle the credit card debt . . .
2) Dig into my delinquent accounts (I haven't even looked at a recent credit report . . . that is a baby step goal that I will accomplish soon) . . .
3) Pay off my car loan
4) . . . and finally pay off my student loan.

After finishing 1 and 2 my plan is to increase my emergency fund to $5,000 - that is roughly two months take home pay. Since I'm single and don't have any kids, if I were to lose my job this should be enough to cover expenses. I'm confident that I have the brains and skills to get another good job in two months . . . or at least two BAD jobs - LOL! But in actuality, I have a stable job with a very stable organization so I'm not worried.

This feels so good - I'm starting as I mean to go and I feel FAB-U-LOUS! I have taken some great strides today towards decreasing my debt and increasing my savings. Small baby steps that I will take next:

-Contact Bank of America (I have a second checking account with them - not my primary account that I use to pay bills) and figure out how much I am overdrawn. I will do that today on my lunch break. I will deposit the amount of money that I will need to bring the account to zero PLUS the amount of money I'm budgeting for gas & groceries for the rest of March.

- Find my auto loan statement and find out what my balance/apr/due date is.

Intro

Hi! Thanks for stopping by to my new blog! I thought I'd start off with a little bit of background on me.

I’m a 28 year old female college graduate. I have a boyfriend for purposes of this blog I’ll call him “SB” and two cats - no kids. I live in San Diego, California (born and raised!). I am an executive assistant which in a way is kind of ironic. I’m paid to keep another individual extremely organized and on top of things yet my own personal life is often full of disorganization!! I manage to keep up appearances but in reality my financial life is horrible!!

I have been struggling with debt since I started college in 1998 and opened up my first credit card on campus at one of the tables in front of the bookstore. I even remember my first credit card purchases - a couple of shirts from a catalog that cost $75. I didn’t fully grasp the responsibility that credit came with and at 18 I was joining a sorority and more focused on looking good and being cool then paying my bills on time or even getting good grades. I wish I could travel in a time machine back to that time so I could give myself a good talking to! If only!!!

As a result of many many bad choices over a period of about a decade, my credit is in the toilet. Over the last few years I’ve opened my eyes and realized that living paycheck to paycheck is far more stressful then not having the right clothes and newest things/technology/etc. I’ve been reading several personal finance blogs for almost a year now and in January 2008 became ready to step up to the challenge. I’m a grown woman and I need to take my finances seriously.

Why a blog? Well, I want a place to record my progress and write down my weekly/monthly/annual goals. Additionally, I need accountability which I think I can get from the Internet community - from what I’ve seen from reading other blogs online there is a lot of positive support out there! No longer do I just want to have the appearance of financial success . . . I want there to be substance behind it!

My New Year’s Resloution for 2008 was to get back on track financially so I started balancing my checkbook weekly . . . every Saturday or Sunday I set aside about 20 minutes to write down all my expenses. In January I paid $70 in overdraft fees because I let a couple of weeks go by and wasn’t on top of the money in my account. OUCH!! In February I was more on top of my game and finished out the month with $4 in my checking. Yes it was VERY close but at least I wasn’t negative! It was progress I could see - let me tell you, I have been the QUEEN of the overdraft . . . I’m sure my bank loves me (or hates me) for all of those fees. I am hoping to continue to make small baby steps that will snow ball and I will be able to say I am DEBT FREE in a few years!

I am also interested in making positive changes in terms of my physical well being because I believe this will ultimately help me get more organized and financially secure. I joined a gym in December of 2006 and have regularly used it 2-3x a week for over a year now. In October 2007 I ran my first 10K race!! This year I plan to continue my running and working out. I’d love to run a 1/2 marathon or full marathon but haven’t put down a specific date to do that yet.

Here is my initial game plan:
a) Save $5,000 for emergency fund (not sure if this is too high? This is about two months take home salary for me)
b) Figure out how much I owe on my credit cards and pay them off starting with the ones with the highest interest rate (store credit cards, etc.)
c) Save $3,000 as a moving fund - SB and I want to move to Solana Beach or Encinitas together so that I’ll be closer to work and we’ll live in a nicer area. I’ll use that moving fund for the deposit and a new sofa (pay cash not charge!)
d) pay off student loans, my Honda Civic, bad debt that I haven’t paid on, buy a house (this seems SO far off it's not even funny....)

Obviously I need to start saving for that emergency fund immediately - I’m budgeting 5% of my income for that - about $100. Next, I need to figure out exactly how much money I owe on my credit cards and start paying those off slowly - of course the question is do I start now or wait until I have the emergency fund built up?? SB and I would like to move by next summer (June 2009) so I need to figure out how much we each are going to contribute into this fund. Finally, I need to figure out what the heck is going on with my credit report so I can start a game plan for undoing my negative debt.

This seems a little overwhelming but I know I can do this - I need to stay focused and organized. I can do this!

For March here are my “baby step” goals:

- balance/reconcile my checking account weekly
- pay bills on time (seems like a silly goal to write down but haven’t been doing this!!!)
- read a personal finance book - I’ve heard good things about the book “Your Money or Your Life”. I will check this out from the library instead of buy it!
- Create a budget . . . ???
- End March with a positive balance and no bank overdraft charges!!!!