Manage my money better

this is going to be really difficult, cause im the queen of impulsive shopping! but i want to put some extra effort into this. i’ll start with food – good logistics/organisation is the key here, cause sometimes i buy food that goes bad before i get round to preparing it. i’ll try not to do this from now.

I want to learn how to manage my money better; so i can be able to pay my debts, buy exactly what i need not want just what i want, be able to go shopping without using excess money.

I want to learn how to manage my money better; so i can be able to pay my debts, buy exactly what i need not want just what i want, be able to go shopping without using excess money.

So I use to be a really bad shopaholic. I would spend $800 in one day on junk I didn’t need. I would even spend money that we didn’t have. So I got credit cards and then I didn’t pay those back. Wow, such the right way to do everything wrong. I finally got my credit cards paid though and I ripped them up. I stopped spending money we didn’t have and I stopped spending all our money in one day. I cooled down a lot!!! That was years ago.

NOW, I pay our bills, except I hold back on our phone bill and things that are more important to get so I can buy other things that are just plainly described in one word: Luxuries. So now on our phone bill I am about a 2 months maybe 3 months behind bc I was too lazy to pay for the months we were left behind.

BUT, now that my husbands hours have been cut down so much and we aren’t making as much as we were before, we’re lucky to pay what we can. I’m learning to not take money for granted. Now I feel the relief of just having everything paid and not having to worry about it. So once money starts picking up I’ll really see if this is working for me. If I am really learning my lesson. That when we get our money back up that I will pay everything now, not holding back (unless we really need to). Plus it’ll help us move forward, we’ll have more control that way and we will actually get more done. I wanna kick myself in the ass for not listening to the voice in the back of my head. Time to start acting more like a RESPONSIBLE adult.

The economy really sucks right now.. It’s even really affected my husbands job. I CAN NOT wait til things pick up again. It’s not a great feeling to get paid and be piratically broke in the same day bc of bills and your job that cuts your hours way down. I’m thinking of not closing our bank account but to leave about $30 in the bank for the things that get taken out monthly. Then take the rest of the money out and mark envelopes of the bills we need to pay and get out of the way. So that way we won’t be using our debit card and lose track of our money then get over drawn.

omg, I really really really really hope things pick up soon. I am staying positive. I am trying to not let this pull me down. I keep reminding myself that even bitter times can be blessings in disguise. That in the end everything works out, if it’s not working out then it’s not the end. It can only get so bad then it’ll pick back up. Things could be worse than the situation we are in. I should be grateful for everything we have. and this will pass. It’s not ALWAYS going to be like this. And despite how it’s not under our control, in a way it is. There are other options we have. This even gives my husband the opportunity to go to college now.

Things will get worked out.

I’ve spent a total of $30 out of the last two weeks worth of paychecks. I would say so far so good but I know I could have cut back on some things. For example, I bought bottled juice for breakfast, when I have reusable bottles at home that I can fill with juice. Also, I need to find a way to politely tell my coworkers that I don’t want to go to fancy restaurants with them because I’m on a budget. I’m trying to save up for a new Macbook before school resumes in September, so every little bit helps.

On a good note, I haven’t given in to the candy/fast food/shoes/clothes temptation yet, and I hope I can stick that out all summer.

On a bad note, I was rejected for my first credit card application. I was planning to build my credit by substituting credit for the debit I use currently, then paying off the balance immediately. I buy everything cash anyway, so it wouldn’t be much of a change if the cash went through the credit card instead of the seller. I was probably rejected for two reasons…first, I’ve never had a credit card so I don’t have established credit…and second, I’m still in college and already have over $11000 in loans. I’m not sure if they considered the fact that my tuition is $52000 per year and I’m not just taking out loans for fun.

Well I could probably cross this off the list. I’ve learned to MANAGE my money beautifully. Between new-found mint.com (SIGN UP, it’s amazing) and my homegrown spreadsheet and never missing payments anymore and never charging on my credit cards anymore and taking charge by closing my useless .01% interest savings account to open a 1.65% savings account and opening my first 401(k) soon & understanding what it is, I’ve become terribly good at this, and I’m more than a little proud of myself. Still I feel my finances are in too much of a shambles—well-managed, but in a shambles!—to feel right saying I’ve done this.

I can still feel capable and proud about it, though, and I do.

I decided to buy things little by little instead of all at once. I’m using ideas from “The Richest Man in Babylon”... it seems like my budget is feasible for now, but we’ll see.

My pay rate for my first summer job changed, so now I should be making $380/wk for Session I. I’m not sure if I want to up my lab job to 40hrs/wk for Session II though for $600/wk though. I feel like I should take a break before classes start again.

I’m averaging $40/wk for groceries, but produce is getting crazy expensive so that may increase. I’ll also have to factor in a phone bill whenever I get a cellphone. My summer class was $4000, but I got a grant for half of it :D That takes 1/2 a load off my mind.

There are a few big things I’ve wanted to buy for a while, but I don’t know if I should forget the budget temporarily and just get everything, or get things little by little. I’m spending the same amount either way but it feels weird by hundreds of dollars worth of things all at once.

I noticed that I do spend money on tiny things I can bring from home. For instance, I drive to work and see I forgot to bring my water bottle so I buy one to get spring water. If you do this a few times a week you can spend a few dollars more than needed. When I do this I also often neglect to bring fruit, end up buying it so that is another few dollars. It is worth taking time to prepare for work to avoid these lapses! I am trying this now for the week with new resolve.