Playing Hopscotch with My Money

Semester grades are in and I'm very pleased about what I got:

App. Stats: A-
Dance History: A
Calc II: A
Nutrition: B+
Comp. Sci: B

I'm very happy that I got a "B" in C.S. Last semester I got a "C" in CS 135 and I'm very pleased that I was able to get a better grade in a harder course.

Work was interesting today. Another "Banquet Girl" and myself were busy serving 120 people for lunch but apparently there many, many arguments between employees today. One cook quit today leaving the already short-staffed kitchen struggling. We have a lot of banquets and weddings coming up so I really hope they replace the cook (and hire a couple more!).

I got my economic stimulus check about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I was expecting it to be $600 but I got $300 instead. I've spent most of it- I bought a couple of pieces of clothing but most of it was spent on prescriptions. What's left will be saved.

The past week and a half has been very relaxing and I hope the summer continues that way.

Didn't think there was such a thing.

Earlier I wrote that summer classes will cost me $1034 + books. Well, that is no longer true.

My friend is taking core humanities (require classes for our university that are like English) at the local community college and was telling me how easy the class is. Since English is not my forte, I decided to take the CH at the community college as well.

Besides an easy GPA booster, it also costs half as much ($185 compared to $380) and I will not need as many books (at the CC you need 2. At Uni you need 7). And it will completely transfer.

I had to move my schedule around for summer and fall so I'll be taking two classes over the summer instead of 3. I will be taking the next level of CH (there are three total) at the CC but I still had to be enrolled in 12 or more credits at my Uni in the fall. So one of the classes I was planning on taking in the summer I will take in the fall to keep me as a full-time student.

This also makes my cost for the fall semester much cheaper and the course load is going to be easier. I'll probably be able to work during the semester.

I can't believe it's April already...

Most important news: I turned 19! A month ago actually, on March 7th. I still can't believe that I'm in my second semester of college and 19.

I quit my job. I'm taking more classes this semester and the homework for each class has increased. My boss says I'm welcome to come back anytime.

I have to work during summers but I'm not sure I want to continue working during the semesters. Especially now that I'm getting into more higher up classes and the work load is only going to increase more. I want to have some free time instead of going from class to homework to work. I will decide on whether to continue working or not during the school year later.

I've registered for my classes for Summer and Fall terms [Summer term is optional]. I'm taking 3 classes over the summer. On the upside I don't have to worry about taking these classes over the regular semester, putting me a little ahead of schedule, but the scholarships from the school don't apply to the summer term. It will cost me $1,034 for the Summer term. I've stepped up my scholarship search and applied for two more (the scholarships are outside my school. I found them on Fastweb.com). Luckily the $1034 is not due all at once.

I filed my taxes early this year and got my refund a couple weeks after I quit my job. Perfect timing as my refund will get me through April and May. I put it in savings to collect interest and will withdraw it as needed.

I will be getting an economic stimulus check of $600. Yay! This will go towards tuition and books for the summer.

I haven't contributed to my IRA in awhile (bad Cassandra!). I will over the summer though. My goal for the summer is to spend as little as possible (just food, gas, rent) and save everything else.

That's pretty much it. I don't expect to be online much over the next month: finals started in one month!

I’m a Catholic and since Lent is beginning just a few days from now, I’ve been thinking about what I will be giving up.

Last year I gave up Myspace and Facebook for Lent and I wanted to do the same this year. However, I thought that might be cheating (give up something I know I can easily live without temporarily), so I’m taking it one step further and I’m giving up the internet all together. I expect to be going into withdrawal symptoms within a week of Wednesday.

So, starting Wednesday, I will not be around for a long time. When Lent is over I’ll be sure to update all of you on anything financially related (and probably not-financially related).

Be good and try to behave yourselves.

One of the down sides of the area in which I live is that we get snow in the winter. I'm not a big fan of snow and I'm less of a fan of getting snowed in. On the bright side, getting snowed in also means that I can't spend money, like I was intending to do yesterday. So Mother Nature forced me to have a no spend day.

On a different note, I finished my taxes yesterday (which was what I did instead of shopping). The pages I filled out are a "rough draft" of sorts. I haven't received any W-2s, interest statements, etc., so I filled out the tax forms using estimates and by going through pay stubs and bank statements I've received this year. I also found out that I can't get a credit for contributing to my IRA because I'm a student, which disappointed me.

I filled out the 8815 (Exclusion of Interest From Series EE and I U.S. Savings Bonds), 8917 (Tuition and Fees Deduction), and the 1040. If my estimates are close, I should be getting about $450 back. My dad says I need to change the number of exemptions I have so that less is taken out of my paycheck and therefore the less I receive come tax time.

I need to go into work later this week to change the accounts I have a direct deposit into, so when I'm there I'll change my exemptions from 1 to 2.

The money I receive back will be put into my IRA as I haven't contributed to it in a couple months.

I don't normally pay much attention to the envelope Wells fargo sends me to send my check in. But today I read the inside flap-they had printed useful instructions on how to send in my check.

Did I include the check? Yep.
Did I include the pay slip? Yep.
Did I remember to write my account number on the memo line of my credit card? No..

It may be just me, but that doesn't seem like a good idea. I've had mail get lost before, so I'm worried that if I write my card # on the memo line, my letter will get stolen and then I'll have to deal with possible credit card fraud.

I wrote the card # on it this time- I haven't before.

What do you think? Write the card number or not?

I'm just about finished with Christmas shopping.

For 10 friends (almost all of whom went out of state for college), I made gift bags full of things representing inside jokes. The supplies cost $23.

For my father I bought 42nd Street on DVD. We both love musicals and saw 42nd Street when it came to town: $17.

My mom wanted a picture of my brother and I, so we got her that and a necklace and earring set: $15.

A baseball cap with my school logo on it for my aunt: $16.

A bowl of potpourii for my Grandma: $12.

A gift card to the game store for my brother (loves video games): $15.

Christmas cards (32) and 2 rolls of wrapping paper: $10.

So far I've spent $108. I have one last person to shop for and I want to buy a Christmas tree. The grocery store a couple blocks away is selling small ones (a couple feet tall, max) for $16. I expect to spend no more than $40 for the tree and the last gift.

I'm pleased with everything I've bought so far. I think I've done well in spending as little as possible while still getting good gifts. Christmas shopping is fun!

On another note, I switched my savings account another type of savings account at my bank and now I'm getting 4% interest rate. Much better!

I got my credit card a couple months ago (don't worry, this isn't going where you think it is). And to ensure that I don't spend money that I don't have, I've been recording each credit card transaction in my checking register.

But this is causing me a big headache. Every time I check my checking balance online, the balances are always different and I have to go through each transaction to make sure my balances are correct. It gets more annoying when I've written checks and they don't clear right away.

There's nothing wrong with this method, it's just that it's starting to get annoying. I don't like spending 15 minutes every week going through my checkbook.

Do you have any tips on how I can simplify this? I'm very good with my credit card-I buy gas and groceries every week on my credit card and I always pay my bill the moment it arrives in the mail.

It's been a long time since I've been on here. And so much to update on!

First college is going well. I have a love-hate relationship with my Computer Science class. Love it when my programs work, hate it when they don't.

I'm experiencing some computer problems. Last week, my hard drive failed. Taking 3.5 of the 6 pages of my English essay that is due a week from today with it. Even worse, I have nothing, absolutely nothing, backed up. I know, I know! So I bought a 2 GB flash drive yesterday. If something happens to my flash drive, I will cry. I learned my lesson though- after spending $230 on the new hard drive, the service fee, and the flash drive.

There was a bad communication problem at work. Even though I was laid off, they still consider me an employee so I'm on call for the weekends. I'm happy that I get to stay there, I like where I work, but I don't really like being on call. The good news is that they said they would let me know by Wednesday of every week if they needed me on the weekend. So I'm still working, not as much, but the past few weeks I've been doing overtime so it's slightly making up for it. I'll also be serving a lot of banquets in December, which means I'll be making tips.

As for Christmas gifts... I have a few gifts already but I have no idea what to get my father, boyfriend, or grandma for Christmas. I'm hoping that the light bulb will suddenly go off and I'll know just what to get them.

I'm hoping I'll be able to come back and update more, but with limited access to a computer (I'm using my father's), I can't say when I'll be back next.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Got back from the DMV and grocery shopping. I spent sooo much today.

$19.95 Smog Check
$28.25 for my car title
$83 for registration
$64.89 on groceries.
Grand total: $196.09

Ouch. Groceries cost so much because I also bought my Halloween costume. Good thing that Halloween and registration comes only once a year.

On the bright side I don't need to go shopping for the rest of the month. I don't need gas for another week and a half and I'm good on groceries for 1.5-2 weeks.

I'm going to do some job searching today. I applied again to the store I used to work at and while I don't REALLY want to work there, I know they're willing to hire me again and it's a decent job. Only problem, I'll be surrounded by clothes. I may have to leave my credit card and money at home whenever I go to work.

I'm blaming this one on being blonde (well, former blonde).

Just over a month ago I bought my car from my parents. And guess what I forgot to do?

Register it! It had been registered in August under my parents name but since the car is now mine it needs to be registered under my name.

So Thrusday I'm heading down to the DMV to do so. I'll have to pay about 2 weeks of late fees and I'll have to get new plates...

Darnit, darnit, darnit!

How could I have forgotten about this? The people at the DMV scare me enough as it is (seriously, they are scary!) now they're going to be mad at me and give me a hard time about registering late...

I want someone to go with me (even better, to go in my place!).

I picked up my car yesterday from the dealer. They said I also need my transmission and brake fluid changed, but I'm going to take my car to Pep Boys to get that done. It will be cheaper at Pep Boys.

I'm glad to have my car back. I like my mom's car but it drives differently than mine and it's kind of hard to to get used to. My car drives much, much smoother now that it's fixed.

I'm glad to have my baby back, I missed it!

Life has a sick, sick mind. It has a knack for allowing things to explode all at once.

This Saturday past we had a banquet. It was for a small amount of people, but because my work had laid off several people those of us who were still there were very strained. And to top off the fact that I was running around, picking up the all the extra jobs I too got laid off.

My last day is this Sunday.

I don't NEED to work. My aunt gives me money each month and starting in December my parents will give me money each month. I work to save money. So, I can either find another job right away and continue saving or I can take the rest of the semester off and take $25 or so dollars a month from my savings for spending money.

And the icing on the cake: the dealer called me today to tell me what had to be done to fix my car and how much it was going to cost.

$1,250.

The tire rod, alignment, and something else I can't remember now all need to be completely fixed. They also have to order new parts for my car.

If life were a person, I would probably hit him right now.

We went down to Pep Boys and they said the tires would cost $49 each.

I made an appointment at the Dodge dealer for Monday to have them fix my tire rod. Pep Boys said that it was missaligned and they weren't able to fix it. I have no idea how much it will cost to have it realigned but I'm hoping no more than a couple hundred.

I'm extremely thankful for whomever left the note. I wish I knew who did. If I ever get the chance to do something like this for someone else, I will.

This made me realize that I really, really need to educate myself about cars. I know my oil has to be changed every 3 months or 3,000 miles. Aside from that I am extremely ignorant about how cars work. (And that reminds me .... I need my oil changed next month.)

I could tell within seconds of driving my car home from Pep Boys the difference that new tires make. It drives much smoother and I feel more in control and there is still some work that needs to be done. I'm not driving my car until it's fixed so I'm using my mom's for the time being.

Though I wasn't planning on buying anything this week, I'm going to go to Barnes & Noble tonight and buy a couple "beginners" books on cars. Maybe I'll find ways that I can improve my car.

Moments like this make me more than happy that I have a savings.

Today I arrived at my car and discovered a note on the front windshield. At first I thought it was a ticket but it was a napkin. On it was written "Your front right tire shows a lot of wear and is low". When I got home I took a look at my tire and sure enough, LOTS of wear. The top portion of the tire is worn so thin that you can see what looks to be the metal stitching below. [I know nothing of tires, so I'm just guessing that it's metal stitching.]

On the way home I stopped by my parent's and showed my dad the tire. He agreed that with the note and said Thrusday (the day that I don't have classes) I need to go down to Pep Boys and have my front tires replaced.

My dad said my tires will cost between $100-125 each to replace. I don't have to dip into my savings to cover the bill, my dad said he'll pay for the tires, but it made me realize that having an emergency fund is very much a necessity.

I don't know who wrote the note, but I'm glad they did. Because they noticed my tires (and I know I probably never would have), they probably saved me from a lot of headhache later on.

Winter is coming up and rumor has it that my work will be closing earlier during the winter due to lack of golfers. Completely understandable, very hard to golf in the snow.

But I don't like it.

This means that I will go from making $400-$500/month to $300-$400/month. It's not as much as a problem now that my dad got a new job (YAY!!) and my parents will be giving me money every month to pay for my bills and whatnot, but it does mean that I'll have to put less into savings each month. I was hoping to put $400 into regular savings and $100 in IRA, but now it looks like it will be $300 into regular savings and $100 into IRA.

Good, but not what I was hoping for.

Here's what I plan on spending each month:
-$25 DSL
-$100 gas ($25/week)
-$60-80 groceries (depending on if I need to buy kitty litter/food)
-$80-90 fun money. A girl has got to act like a carefree college student every once in awhile, right?

The above will be covered by my parents. What I earn is strictly for saving.

Today is September 29th, 2007.

I logged onto the Wellsfargo account to check my IRA balance and I noticed that paid me interest already for the month of September. Only they said it wasn't paid today, but tomorrow.

When I saw that interest had been paid on September 30th, I freaked out. I thought that I had slept through an entire Saturday and not only did I miss work, I also missed the chance to get some homework done! Then I checked my cell phone and saw that it was in fact the 29th, not the 30th...

This is the first time I've noticed Wellsfargo paying interest early-or any bank for that matter. Is this a common practice?

College offers a lot of opportunities for free, or at the least very cheap, fun. There was a concert at the music hall entitled "Ethos" for $7. It was a classical concert and normally I would jump at the chance of a cheap classical concert...

BUT

At Walmart, there was a FREE Plain White Tees concert in the parking lot. It was also a lot closer, so by going I not only saved on the ticket price, but I also saved on gas.

The only reason I went is because a friend of mine really wanted to go and didn't want to go alone. I had never heard of Plain White Tees prior to the concert, but now they've earned a spot on my "Music To Buy When I Get Around to It" list.

Someday I'll remember to log onto iTunes Music Store or stop by Target to get their CD. When that will happen I don't know...but someday.

My dad had a couple interviews last week and both are setting up offers. If they offer him enough my parents will give me a monthly allowance of $300, which means that I will be able to save all of the money I earn.

On a fairly unrelated note, I love college so far! The first two weeks I didn't really care for it, but now that I've adjusted and I'm completely settled into my new home and routine, I love it. I could do without the homework (can't we all!) and I'm not liking Sociology as much as I thought I would. Sociology 101 is interesting but... it just doesn't "fit" with me. So I'm going to change my minor but before I declare another minor I'm going to take several elective classes to find something I really like.

I still love Math so no changes there.

Computer Science is hard but I'm becoming better at it. Not my favorite subject, but I'm kind of glad it's required for Math majors to take CS (I believe we have to go up to 300 level classes).

As for Geology... I like looking at all the pretty pictures in my textbook.

I'm back after over a week without internet.

A LOT of things have happened this past week and money is going to be very, very tight for the next couple months. To explain, let me back up a little:

June of 2006 my father and his business partner opened up a restuarant. The restuarant thrived for awhile and we got the best reviews and was compared to some of the top restuarants in our city. Unforuntetly, the business partner turned out to be less than honest and because of her the business, and my family, went bankrupt.

My parents are currently filing for bankruptcy and had to auction off our house (bank declared foreclosure), which took place last Friday. We obviously had to move. My mom found a condo that we were able to afford and the plan was for her, myself, and my brother to live there. My dad's new job was in California.

But his security clearance didn't go through on time and he lost his job. So he moved back here and will also be living in the condo. Now, this condo is just under 1,000 sq. feet and could honestly fit inside my old room with room to spare (my old bedroom was about 1,100 sq. feet). [Needless to say, our old house was huge and it's quite a shock downsizing that much.]

I decided that while I love my living with my family, I love them alive even more and living with them could be hazardous to their health/life [The closet that would have been mine was SMALLER than my old shower.]. So I moved in with my Grandma and some family friends.

My monthly expenses have obviously changed. Right now they look to be:

Gas: $80
Food: $60
DSL (My grandma didn't have DSL before I moved in and I need it for school): $25
Music: $60
Total: $225

My monthly income will be about $400 (post-tax) and my Aunt has decided to send me $100 every month to help out.

I could get by without her helping me but I want to save as much as possible because I will have to dip into my savings for this month (the cost of moving...aaagggghhh) and I will be buying a car on the very near horizon.

I haven't forgotten about my IRA, but I will have to decrease my deposits for the time being. I'm thinking $50 a month for now.

While I hate what's become of the restuarant we worked so hard on, this entire experience has taught me so much. It's the reason I've been saving so much and have opened up my IRA. It's taught me how to budget not only my money, but my time. While I was a senior in high school I was working full-time to help with the family bills.

It sucks, but this only proves the saying that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger true (and I have the muscles built from moving as evidence!).

I'll be popping in and out, whenever I have a moment that I'm not working on homework.

I really try to keep my spending in check. And 98% of the time, I am able to pass up spending. It helps working a job that requires long hours and having my paycheck automatically deposited into my account.

My monthly expenses are small-music lessons ($120-150) and gas ($70) and because of that I'm able to save much of my paycheck. [Starting in September, I'm thinking of going to every other week for my music lessons so that would cost $60-90/month.]

For reference, this summer I've been making about $1,000/month post-taxes. [My upcoming paycheck (the one I will receive this Friday) should be much larger than normal. I worked two weddings on Saturday and I am expecting a large amount in tips (for banquets, the tips are given to the Events Coordinator who then splits it up among the people who the banquet based on how many hours they put in).] Once school begins I expect to be making between $300-500/month.

This means on average I saved about $800/month this summer, allowing myselfing only $200/month to spend on my necessities.

I haven't been giving myself a lot of free spending money because I thought if I didn't have a lot of money at my fingertips (i.e. in my checking account), I wouldn't have the urge to spend, spend, spend.

I was wrong.

Knowing that I have almost $12,000 in my savings got to me and transfered $300 into my checking to spend on clothes and whatnot for school. I was thinking that if I bought these things now, I wouldn't need to go shopping for awhile.

I'm betting that I'm wrong again.

So I ask you this: do you think it is healthier to go on a major ($300-500) shopping spree once a year or do you think it would be better (or easier to control) if you gave yourself $30/month to spend on anything you wanted?

My vacation to Philly and D.C. was a total blast. Best week of this year so far.

The only downside to my vacation was that I overspent my money (whoops!). I spent roughly $380, making me $30 overbudget. Not too bad, considering how much shopping we did (hehehe).

This trip to D.C. has made up my mind about wanting to move there after I finish school. So much to do and see and the buildings are sooo pretty (pretty much all I took pictures of were the buildings!). Plus, Tysons II was SO much fun! I am a purse fanatic and Tysons II had Chanel, Versace, Gucci, Dior, Prada, Marc Jacobs, etc. My Aunt said she was embrassed to take me to all the stores because I was cooing and petting the purses (but they were so pretty!).

I feel kind of bad about overspending so this month I plan on making it up by putting $150 into my IRA.

I don't regret going over my budget because I love everything I bought and I didn't go that much over budget. Next visit I'll know to bring more money.

For awhile I've been contemplating opening an online savings account. I was leery of it for awhile- maybe it was my small fear of technology taking over the world.

But I doubled check the APR that my bank is offering and while it's higher than what many banks offer, it's still lower than what online banks offer.

So I applied for a Money Market Savings Account with GMAC. I'm opening the account with $500, the minimum required to avoid fees. After the account is opened, I will transfer the rest of what's in my savings to the online bank and close my regular savings.

On another note, I realized that it's been awhile since I've added my tips and whatnot into my Challenge money. I'll be leaving on Wednesday for D.C. for a week and decided to use my Challenge money for my trip. After rolling all the coins and counting up the loose bills, I came up $297. My goal was to bring $350, so I'll withdraw the remainding $53 from my checking. Any money left over from the trip I'll decide what to do with later.

What a shopping day!

Today I went down to the university to pick up my school ID and to find my classes. I went with friends which was a big mistake. I was able to find each of my classes, but I didn't find them in the order that I have the classes plus I also followed my friends to their classes. I'm going to take another trip down to the university in a few more days by myself.

I also got a list of books I need for my classes. 5 books are required with a 6th book being optional. I'll wait until the second or third week before I decide if I need the optional book.

I managed to buy all 5 required textbooks online today. It took me a couple hours, but I finally found the best prices for each book. 5 books for a total of $250 (including shipping). The most expensive one being my Calculus book at $78. The university sells it used for $110 (new is $150), so I saved quite a bit of money! Best of all, the same Calc book is used for the next Calc level. If I had bought my textbooks at the university it would have cost me between $361.42-501.72.

Not only did I buy my textbooks, I also bought a few basic supplies. I bought a 5 subject notebook (I'm taking 5 classes so it works out perfectly!), a large binder that has a pencil pouch and expandable file in it, a large tote bag, and some pens and pencils. The bag is huge-I'm fairly certain that I could fit in it. I spent about $40 on the supplies.

It was a fun day. I enjoyed the hours it took to find everything.

Today and tomorrow we are having our estate. From 9am-3pm (so today's sale is already over).

All I can say is, wow!

Things went quickly! And people were knocking on our door at 8am trying to get in early to get "the good stuff". Pretty much every single piece of furniture sold within an hour and a half. All that is left is some knick-knacks and one chair.

One poor, lonely, abanded chair.

I no longer have a proper bed. I have a mattress on the floor. All of my knick-knacks, books, purses, etc. still belong to yours truly. Maybe I'm selfish, but I didn't want to get rid of my stuff. I didn't even want to get rid of the "family" stuff. Our house seems so...spacy.

I'm working tomorrow so I won't be here but I'm boxing up all of my good stuff and putting "Do not cross" tape across my door.

For the rest of the night I will be reading. Harry Potter of course!

My state offers a scholarship to residents who are attending any 2-year/4-year in-state college (funded, I believe, by the tobacco industry here).

The only requirement is a certain GPA (3.25).

I received a letter today from the treasury stating that I had been awarded said scholarship (yaay!) and for every credit up to 12 credits, the scholarship will pay $80. That's $960/semester.

Subtracting the other scholarships I received, all I have to pay for the first semester's tuition is $592.50.

That doesn't include books, registration, all the other fees, etc. All in all, I'm expecting the first semester to cost about $1,200.

I've also been thinking about pledging a sorority (don't know which one), which will cost about $700-1,000/semester.

I'm very lucky, paying for undergrad will not be a problem.

I rarely give money to the homeless when I'm in my car. If I'm walking in or out of a building I'll stop to give them my change. But for some reason or another I feel too vulnerable handing them money from my car.

Today, however, I broke this "habit" and gave a man $4.00 from my car window. He had a sign that said, "US Veteran needs help". As the relative of many family members who have served, the sign pulled at my heart strings and I couldn't drive past him without giving him something.

I stopped by the bank to deposit another $100 into my Roth IRA and guess what I found when I stepped out of my car?

A $5.00 bill.

A dollar made by being kind. Me thinks I will keep this fiver and not spend it.

It was incredibly slow today at the restaurant and I earned a grand total of $7.00 in tips.

I earned $40.00 by housesitting for another neighbor that returned a couple days ago. I decided this $40 will be used for gas, with the reminder going to the Challenge.

Old Balance: $111.00
+ $2.00
New Balance: $113.00

I started babysitting and housesitting when I was 12. It's a great way to make money.

I'm 18 now and most of my neighbors no longer need babysitters. However, they still need housesitters.

I made $20 this week by watering the plants for one neighbor. I'm taking care of another neighbor's hamsters while they're out of town (they get back tonight).

Another $20 into the Challenge...

Old Balance: $91.00
+ $20
New Balance: $111.00

Eyeglass World is having a great sale-buy one pair of glasses and get two free. Lens and everything is include. I needed a pair of sunglasses (never had one before) and decided to take advantage of the sale.

I bought three pairs of glasses for $214.57. New prescriptions lens too.

The sale only lasts until July 21,2007. They are also having sales on designer glasses, sunglasses, and contacts.