Sorry, I've been a little MIA for a bit. Things at work have been crazy. Citi just announced a joint venture with Morgan Stanley. I work for Citi -- Global Wealth Management/Smith Barney. In the midst of all this chaos, I took a few days off to head over to London, where my sister lives, to help her out.
So to bring you up to speed on where I stand re: my financials -- not much has changed. I've made some strides on my smaller credit cards but then ended up having to charge on the 'bigger 'card.
I'm trying to get to a point where I can completely switch to the "cash" method -- not actually carrying cash -- paying everything through my debit card. I had a few bills (cable, mobile, and gym) set up as automatic payment through the 'bigger' card. However, I've moved my mobile and gym over to my debit/checking card. My aim is to get my cable over by the time the March bill rolls around.
I'm also considering removing the data plan service on my mobile/iphone. Do I really use the internet/email options on my iphone? I do maybe once a day but it's never for anything super important. Most of the personal emails can wait until I get home to check. (And those who really need to reach or email me know my work email.) I also have those applications such as finding a bar/restaurant in my immediate area but I have yet to use them. So if I want to save a good $35-40/month, this may be the best thing to do.
I've had 2 successful NO SPEND TUESDAYS this month. Hopefully I can squeeze one more in this Tuesday. I had one failed attempt two weeks ago. It was purely poor planning on my part. I really didn't plan my lunch very well. I ended up breaking down to get a bag of chips -- which also didn't help in the "Getting Ph-It" part. So it was a double whammy day.
I have made some good strides on saving any $5 bills that make their way into my hands. Last week in particular, I had $20 worth of $5 bills. Those went straight into the piggy bank. All in all, my piggy bank is probably providing me the best "return" -- meaning it's one of the areas that are in the positive.
I do have a bit of good news!!! I just found out that I will be getting a bonus this year. YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. It's not close to what I made last year but, considering the economy, you will hear NOOOO complaints from me. I'm hoping to put away $1000 and then use the rest to pay off the 2 small credit cards. I think I may have a small balance left. STILL!!! If I'm left with one big card and one itsy bitsy one, I'll be so psyched!! And then I'll try to impose the snowball method. Once each card is paid off, I'll take the amount that was used to pay off the smaller card and add that to the amount that is going to the bigger card. (keeping my fingers crossed)
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Its all in my head
While reading a multitude of financial/debt blogs, I decided to incorporate a couple of tips -- No Spend Day and $5 Deposits.
No Spend Day
I read about how some people picked the work week or the weekend to NOT spend any money. ?!?!?! Ummmm...I know myself...that would be a SERIOUS undertaking and damn near impossible. I wouldn't even attempt that one. Instead, I decided to pick one day out of the week to not spend money. Whatever I would've spent, I would deposit into my savings account. What day did I choose? Tuesdays.
I did allow myself one exception -- the cost to get to work in the morning. I live in NYC so it's just a matter of me jumping on the subway or the bus for$2. I could walk to work but I don't like getting sweaty on the way to work. And right now, it's just too dang cold. So I've allowed myself to take public transportation in the morning. Otherwise, that is it.
I was prepared this past Tuesday. I took my breakfast. I prepared lunch the night before. I already had milk at work for my morning coffee -- due to expense cutbacks, my company no longer offers milk for coffee and, as of late, no more starbucks coffee machine. Thank God the regular ole drip coffee is decent.
All was going well on Tuesday. Then lunch time rolled around. Someone close by opened a can of diet coke (insert the noise of the can top popping). I HAD TO HAVE ONE!!! I will occasionally have a diet soda every blue moon but normally not until late afternoon. It's never a "I MUST HAVE IT". However, I knew I couldn't because it was a no spend Tuesday. Shoot. I swear I could hear soda cans popping open EVERYWHERE. Moments later, my cube mate opened a bag of chips for lunch. I wanted that too.
It's all in my head. The second you tell yourself you will be denied something, you just want it. That's exactly what was going on.
I was talking to my cube mate about the whole thing. We were both laughing about it. She said that she was going to grab a soda later and asked if she could get me one. I declined -- that's just cheating the system. The money would still be spent.
LUCKILY, my cube mate had a meeting on the 15th floor - where most of our sr management sit. On that floor, the sodas and water bottles are free -- obviously for them and guests...but every once in a while, we're able to snag one. When my cube mate came back from a meeting, she brought me a surprise - diet coke can. It was the best tasting diet coke. Okay, that was an exaggeration. I was quite happy with it though.
I hope I can mentally get over this.
As for the $5 deposit, I read one blog where some decided to put in the piggybank any $5 bill that came across his hands. Interesting concept. $1 bills would be too much -- you can come across $1 bill too many times. $10 bills would be too costly as would $20. So I picked $5. Oddly enough, since the beginning of the year I've only come across one $5 bill. Then again, I don't really deal in cash.
No Spend Day
I read about how some people picked the work week or the weekend to NOT spend any money. ?!?!?! Ummmm...I know myself...that would be a SERIOUS undertaking and damn near impossible. I wouldn't even attempt that one. Instead, I decided to pick one day out of the week to not spend money. Whatever I would've spent, I would deposit into my savings account. What day did I choose? Tuesdays.
I did allow myself one exception -- the cost to get to work in the morning. I live in NYC so it's just a matter of me jumping on the subway or the bus for$2. I could walk to work but I don't like getting sweaty on the way to work. And right now, it's just too dang cold. So I've allowed myself to take public transportation in the morning. Otherwise, that is it.
I was prepared this past Tuesday. I took my breakfast. I prepared lunch the night before. I already had milk at work for my morning coffee -- due to expense cutbacks, my company no longer offers milk for coffee and, as of late, no more starbucks coffee machine. Thank God the regular ole drip coffee is decent.
All was going well on Tuesday. Then lunch time rolled around. Someone close by opened a can of diet coke (insert the noise of the can top popping). I HAD TO HAVE ONE!!! I will occasionally have a diet soda every blue moon but normally not until late afternoon. It's never a "I MUST HAVE IT". However, I knew I couldn't because it was a no spend Tuesday. Shoot. I swear I could hear soda cans popping open EVERYWHERE. Moments later, my cube mate opened a bag of chips for lunch. I wanted that too.
It's all in my head. The second you tell yourself you will be denied something, you just want it. That's exactly what was going on.
I was talking to my cube mate about the whole thing. We were both laughing about it. She said that she was going to grab a soda later and asked if she could get me one. I declined -- that's just cheating the system. The money would still be spent.
LUCKILY, my cube mate had a meeting on the 15th floor - where most of our sr management sit. On that floor, the sodas and water bottles are free -- obviously for them and guests...but every once in a while, we're able to snag one. When my cube mate came back from a meeting, she brought me a surprise - diet coke can. It was the best tasting diet coke. Okay, that was an exaggeration. I was quite happy with it though.
I hope I can mentally get over this.
As for the $5 deposit, I read one blog where some decided to put in the piggybank any $5 bill that came across his hands. Interesting concept. $1 bills would be too much -- you can come across $1 bill too many times. $10 bills would be too costly as would $20. So I picked $5. Oddly enough, since the beginning of the year I've only come across one $5 bill. Then again, I don't really deal in cash.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Tried to get off on the right start
I created a new savings account through e-trade. This will specifically serve as my emergency fund account. I don't plan on tying this account to anything else -- therefore I won't be attempted to use it. I deposited $25 into the account. Currently the account is set to accrue 3.01%. My resolution is to deposit $75/month into this account.
So I started off feeling good about my resolutions. One baby step in the right direction.
And then...
I get an email re: Bloomingdale's 50% sale. CRAP CRAP CRAP. I ended up buying THREE dresses - 2 for work and 1 for fun/weddings. The damage????...$675. However, I got really really good deals on them. STILL...they weren't completely NEEDED. This is how I justified it - I always need new work clothes. After losing approx 55lbs, I am still in the process of rebuilding my wardrobe. I was able to get away with spending the $$ on having all my clothes taken in (as much as I could). Some turned out better than others. The idea was to slowly replace those with newer items once I lost the remainder 25 lbs. I'm still working on the last 25 lbs. (sigh) However, the need for new work clothes remains. So I told myself it would be better to buy on this super sale.
So I started off feeling good about my resolutions. One baby step in the right direction.
And then...
I get an email re: Bloomingdale's 50% sale. CRAP CRAP CRAP. I ended up buying THREE dresses - 2 for work and 1 for fun/weddings. The damage????...$675. However, I got really really good deals on them. STILL...they weren't completely NEEDED. This is how I justified it - I always need new work clothes. After losing approx 55lbs, I am still in the process of rebuilding my wardrobe. I was able to get away with spending the $$ on having all my clothes taken in (as much as I could). Some turned out better than others. The idea was to slowly replace those with newer items once I lost the remainder 25 lbs. I'm still working on the last 25 lbs. (sigh) However, the need for new work clothes remains. So I told myself it would be better to buy on this super sale.
That's my problem. I can justify a purchase - well, most of the time. I try to refrain from shopping by not going to the stores. DAMN THE ONLINE SHOPPING.
The 3rd dress -- I could've waited until closer to the next wedding I must attend. I just couldn't resist as the sale brought the dress down to $44 for a black cocktail dress.
I have pretty low willpower when it comes to shopping sales, enjoying food, enjoying drinks, etc.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year Resolutions
For the past few years, I've been trying to write down my new year's resolutions and have tried my best to keep with them. 2007 was a good year for keeping with resolutions. 2008 wasn't as good but I did meet just a couple. Hopefully 2009 will be a good year as well. I am trying to be specific with my goals but not to extreme. So here goes....
I've broken these up into 3 parts: debt, savings and personal
1. Pay down debt:
a. Pay off visa which has shy of $2k
b. Pay off half of Amex which has shy of $6k
2. Build up savings:
a. Increase my CD funds from $13.4K to $20K.
a1. Any interested earned on the CD goes back into the CD
b. Build up SB savings account by direct deposit from paycheck - $250/mo.
b1. use $75/mo of these funds to go into the emergency fund
(I have now set up an E-trade savings account that earns 3.01%)
c. NO SPEND TUESDAYS.
This is a completely new one. I read some blogs on different ways to earn extra money or save extra money. One suggestion was to pick a day to become no spend days. So I've decided to take this on. And the money I would normally spend on this day (lunch, bus/subway fare, etc) will go into my savings account.
d. Extra income earned through ebay business/surveys/cash back/etc will go be split - 50/50 debt and savings.
e. Save $5 bill. This will be deposited into my piggybank.
Another idea I found through other blogs.
f. Any change (coins) will also go into my piggybank.
g. If any bonus is paid at work, 50% will go to debt, 15% CD funds, 10% savings, 10% me.
3. Personal:
a. Lose another 25 lbs. (approx 2 lbs/moth).
2008 I completely plateaued. 2007 I lost a little shy of 60 lbs. So I need to get back on the losing track.
b. Join 2 classes at the gym - mini trampoline class and another (perhaps pilates or yoga)
c. Run at least one 5K in the spring, summer and fall
d. Check out new single events -- or venues to meet more people (ie...wine tasting event...my church's monday night coffee house
And that would be it, folks. Wish me luck!!!
I've broken these up into 3 parts: debt, savings and personal
1. Pay down debt:
a. Pay off visa which has shy of $2k
b. Pay off half of Amex which has shy of $6k
2. Build up savings:
a. Increase my CD funds from $13.4K to $20K.
a1. Any interested earned on the CD goes back into the CD
b. Build up SB savings account by direct deposit from paycheck - $250/mo.
b1. use $75/mo of these funds to go into the emergency fund
(I have now set up an E-trade savings account that earns 3.01%)
c. NO SPEND TUESDAYS.
This is a completely new one. I read some blogs on different ways to earn extra money or save extra money. One suggestion was to pick a day to become no spend days. So I've decided to take this on. And the money I would normally spend on this day (lunch, bus/subway fare, etc) will go into my savings account.
d. Extra income earned through ebay business/surveys/cash back/etc will go be split - 50/50 debt and savings.
e. Save $5 bill. This will be deposited into my piggybank.
Another idea I found through other blogs.
f. Any change (coins) will also go into my piggybank.
g. If any bonus is paid at work, 50% will go to debt, 15% CD funds, 10% savings, 10% me.
3. Personal:
a. Lose another 25 lbs. (approx 2 lbs/moth).
2008 I completely plateaued. 2007 I lost a little shy of 60 lbs. So I need to get back on the losing track.
b. Join 2 classes at the gym - mini trampoline class and another (perhaps pilates or yoga)
c. Run at least one 5K in the spring, summer and fall
d. Check out new single events -- or venues to meet more people (ie...wine tasting event...my church's monday night coffee house
And that would be it, folks. Wish me luck!!!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Happy Holidays
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.
Wish everyone the very best in the new year - joy, love, health and wealth.
Anyone want to 'fess up to any new year's resolution? I'm in the process of fine tuning mine. I promise to post them. Lord knows I will need all the support/help/encouragement I can get.
Wish everyone the very best in the new year - joy, love, health and wealth.
Anyone want to 'fess up to any new year's resolution? I'm in the process of fine tuning mine. I promise to post them. Lord knows I will need all the support/help/encouragement I can get.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Taking it to the bank
So it's that time of year where I "release" the piggy. Meaning...I release the stopper in my piggy bank and let the change flow. I collect coins all year long and count it up at the end of the year.
I used to have a coin counter but that busted literally after 3 or 4 uses - cheap ass thing. I still had the roll sleeves so I just counted them up myself. No biggie.
What was my tally?
$130.50. WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I had coins leftover too. If I couldn't actually fill up a whole sleeve, I put those coins back into the piggy.
What to do with this small bundle?
I've already told myself that any "extra" income I come into will be split - 50% savings and 50% debt. I have a small little exception for this though. I've decided to use $50 of the 50% savings to send to my maternal grandmother in CA as a Christmas present.
I used to have a coin counter but that busted literally after 3 or 4 uses - cheap ass thing. I still had the roll sleeves so I just counted them up myself. No biggie.
What was my tally?
$130.50. WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I had coins leftover too. If I couldn't actually fill up a whole sleeve, I put those coins back into the piggy.
What to do with this small bundle?
I've already told myself that any "extra" income I come into will be split - 50% savings and 50% debt. I have a small little exception for this though. I've decided to use $50 of the 50% savings to send to my maternal grandmother in CA as a Christmas present.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Ups and Down for the Week
So I didn't really end this week on a high note. I did a little bit of shopping - bought 3 pairs of shoes. Only one pair was DESPERATELY needed for work. One was necessary but not dire - I needed new ballerina flats which I wear as walking shoes in the city. My old pair literally RIPPED in the rain. I have another pair that I can't just wear with anything. I did show SOME restraint by waiting until the 25% off coupon kicked into effect. Does that count for something?
This is one of my problems. I can initially hold off on purchases. The moment I can find two semi-good reasons, I'll go for it. I have a hard time denying myself for too long. Low willpower. (sigh)
I had a friend's holiday party -- luckily didn't spend any money on food/drinks that night. However, my friends and I did split a cab on the way home. Oh wait...back up...I did spend $$ for a cab to the party as it wasn't that close to the subway. Plus, I was in super high heels. I did stay in the rest of the weekend -- well, this was partly attributed to my being semi-sick.
One really good note - I wrote all my christmas cards today. And guess what? I didn't have to buy any cards, not any extra/new ones that is. I try to stock up on cards post-holidays when they are 75% and higher. Most of the time, I still have to buy an extra box. This year, I really took a look at my list -- who do I really keep in touch with...to whom do i want to send a personalized card? As for the rest...those whom I don't really keep in touch with but don't want to leave them high and dry...I may just think of some sort of e-greeting. I'm still figuring that out.
This is one of my problems. I can initially hold off on purchases. The moment I can find two semi-good reasons, I'll go for it. I have a hard time denying myself for too long. Low willpower. (sigh)
I had a friend's holiday party -- luckily didn't spend any money on food/drinks that night. However, my friends and I did split a cab on the way home. Oh wait...back up...I did spend $$ for a cab to the party as it wasn't that close to the subway. Plus, I was in super high heels. I did stay in the rest of the weekend -- well, this was partly attributed to my being semi-sick.
One really good note - I wrote all my christmas cards today. And guess what? I didn't have to buy any cards, not any extra/new ones that is. I try to stock up on cards post-holidays when they are 75% and higher. Most of the time, I still have to buy an extra box. This year, I really took a look at my list -- who do I really keep in touch with...to whom do i want to send a personalized card? As for the rest...those whom I don't really keep in touch with but don't want to leave them high and dry...I may just think of some sort of e-greeting. I'm still figuring that out.
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