KiwiJo09's Personal Finance Blog

So we moved into our new apartment last Sunday. It's been a slew of arguments on and off. But I think we finally came to the conclusion last night that we both just need time to settle in. We are only people.

But, it's been great. I don't think we'll be spending very much money. We've been packing lunches and eating in every night. It's been less than a week and I'm already tired of sandwiches. I'm sure we can find something else to pack for next week.

And I've been doing some meal planning in order to keep us in a budget. Basically, I look at what's on sale (for meats) in our local grocery store and get recipes online for those meats. The first grocery shopping trip was expensive. Thankfully, it won't be as expensive the rest of the time.

But we are still going to be spending more than we've earned for this month because of the cost of moving. Next month will be better financially. As far as the living goes, we're still getting settled, but everything is going to be okay. My dad is coming over on Saturday so I'm really excited and I want to have our place clean by then. Yay!

Yesterday, DH's boss told him she is selling a light blue sectional couch for $100. We were originally looking at a sectional from Ikea that would have cost us $800. I was also browsing Craigslist for used sofas/sectionals, but I wasn't finding anything in good condition and for a decent price. So this came at a perfect time. Even with the fees for a storage facility for the next 49 days, it evens the price out.

She is also selling a queen sized mattress, frame, and box spring, but I'm not sure what the price is on that. We do need a new mattress though. Ours is foam, not memory foam, just foam, and it's killing my back. I'm really excited.

We found a place to live. We are moving out at the end of October. If I could move the date up closer I would. I am just so excited. It's our first place! We have been shopping a few times, and honestly, it's been amazing. Now, we found out that Hubby got a job that he was going for with AT&T. It's a premisis technician job. Basically, he installs UVERSE TV. I'm so happy for him.

He's been looking for a full time job for over a year now and he finally got one. And it gives us a significant raise in income, about $400 extra a month. And with our move approaching, it couldn't come at a better time. Ugh, I'm just so excited!!!

I feel so hyped lately. I found a survey website that actually pays you to take their surveys and got my first payment today! I found that shell added a rewards card and signed up for that. And I already use a BP credit card to cash in on their savings. Super exciting stuff!

So I haven't updated here in quite some time, at least since February. We finished paying off our credit card debt and are still working towards paying off Hubby's car and are actively looking for our first home. We are looking into buying a townhouse. It has been a slow-moving process. But I think we've finally found a place we like. Unfortunately, the bank won't even process our pre-approval until we have $10,000 in the bank. Right now, we have $8,300ish, so we're going to have to buckle down and save to get it up. But we'll probably be too late for this particular townhome by the time we save all that money. We save about $600/month give or take.

Anyways, we've looked at our budget and cut a few things, but I think we're finally ready. Thank God because I am sick of driving 45 minutes to an hour to work every day!

Hubby and I realized that our budget was not working. I mean, we weren't really trying and we both needed to cooperate in order for it to work. So, during the month of December, we created a new budget. We use YNAB and did a "fresh start". And we are really doing well! The month is almost over and the only thing we've overspent on was medicine, because we both got sick. Our personal funds were dropped from $100 per person per month, to $30. We cut a few things, and it worked out perfectly.

Now, with everything going on, we are very close to paying off our debt. And we are closer than ever to getting our own place. The new budget has been a challenge. I input all our transactions in the software, and it gives us these reports. Basically, we are living within our means now and saving more than ever.

And after I input all the transactions, it automatically updates our budget. And then I email the leftover amounts to Hubby. It's full disclosure. I can't hide any overspending, and he can't claim that he didn't know we didn't have the money in the budget. It's going to work out really nicely. After we pay off the credit cards, we'll finally be able to apply that extra money to saving for our own place. And I'll start putting money away for a new car for myself. In a few years, I expect to be able to buy a better car.

As of right now though, I'll take the little victories.

We are officially at the lowest point in our credit card debt ever. We are under $1900 in credit card debt! Only a few months of payments and we'll be all done!!! Woot!!!

Hubby and I began a new budget. Our old one just wasn't working for us. I mean, we weren't trying as hard as we need to be to get where we want to go. I've taken away our credit cards again and we're only using debit. So if we don't have the money in checking, we don't have it. We spent a lot of our savings on Christmas presents, so we're bringing that back up. Now, we're above $1,000 again. Our goal for that is somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000. I have no idea when that's going to happen. Right now, we're very focused on spending little and bringing in a lot.

We should have our BP credit card paid off again at the end of this month and we'll be working on the Capital One card again. It's gone up because of interest, but we'll be okay. I have no doubt. We had started using the credit cards again and that's why I had to remove them from our wallets. I figure, if we need money, we'll dip into savings.

Honestly, I'm tempted to close all our credit cards and just live on debit, but right now, it's how we're building our credit, paying them off and then working well. It's always a challenge to stay on budget.

We're down to paying off our last credit card! I'm so excited!!! After this, we'll be saving a lot more per month and able to go out if we'd like, as well.

Just one more credit card!

My boss and I are going to have a competition to see who can spend the least amount of money throughout the month of September. Unfortunately, my finances include both myself and my hubby and my boss's only account for his actions so we'll need to be extra careful about spending.

I think it's just what we need to get serious about our bad spending habits. We were able to pay down some debt from August to September, but I know we could have done more had we just buckled down and kept at the low spending. The winner gets 100 gold in World of Warcraft. (Yes, I play. Yes, I'm a nerd.) It's less about gold and more about the stimulation of competition for spending less. I'm a competitive person, so this might actually work out for me.

We have paid off my Hubby's MC. And we have our savings up to $677.58.

We're doing well saving money lately. But we were really bad and spent money on our credit cards and it put us two months behind. I'm really upset about it. But, we aren't giving up.

We are going back to not using credit cards and only spending money we have and paying off the credit cards. One bad month isn't going to stop us. We are going to continue paying off credit cards. It's just going to take us two months longer and that sucks.

Unless, Hubby can find a full-time job any time soon. Fingers crossed!

Regular payday savings today. I didn't get paid that much, :-/ Hopefully next week will be better for savings. I added $54.54 from my paycheck + $1 for the stock market rise today.

$414.79
+ 54.54
+ 1.00
-------
$470.33

It's been the number one reason I contribute money to savings. So even more money today!

$412.79
+ 2.00
-------
$414.79

Almost there...

Hubby got paid today, so we added money to our savings account.

$350.47
+ 62.32
-------
$412.79

Feels good to see that number climb.

I didn't have the chance to update very much, but I'm happy to report that my savings account is up to $350.47! I get paid this Friday and I'm not expecting to have to buy anything, so that's kind of awesome.

Our original savings was at $176.19. My dad paid me back $160, so I put that into savings. Then, $1 for stocks yesterday, $1 for stocks today. $1 for undisclosed reasons And $3.61 for gas. And another $2 for stocks that I apparently forgot to record. Stocks have been so crazy lately!

$176.19
+160.00
+ 1.00
+ 1.00
+ 1.00
+ 2.00
+ 3.61
-------
$344.80

$176.19
+ 1.00
+ 1.00
+ 1.00
--------
$179.19

Two days of a good stock market and we had a no-spend day. We're looking good now

We've been funneling money into savings like crazy the past few days. I just checked the stock market and it was up again today! So there's another $1 into savings.

$176.19
+ 1.00
-------
$177.19

Added money to savings for gas & stock rise.

$171.54
+ 3.65
+ 1.00
-------
$176.19

Two additions:

$169.54
+ 1.00
+ 1.00
--------
$171.54

First one is for the stocks going up today. The second is for undisclosed reasons.

We've made our first car payment. Ah! So scary and nerve-wrecking. I made a larger payment than what was due, so we should be ahead of schedule.

I can't wait for this car to be paid off. I'm never doing this again!

I finished my first baby blanket. I think it's great, and I posted it on Etsy and Craigslist earlier today, but I haven't gotten any hits on it. Anyways, thought I'd post it on here. Hopefully it'll sell and I can get some extra income.



If you or someone you know is interested, you can buy it at my etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/hospitablegirl?ref=top_trail for $30.

Got gas. Added the amount per gallon to my savings account.

436.51
+ 3.73
-------
440.24

I was just looking at my Mint account and loving our comparison between last month and this month on spending on food & dining. And then I decided to look at a comparison of overall spending. This month, we did so much better on controlling our spending than last month. And our savings is the proof. But there's also charts.

We were able to pay all bills from left-over money from this week. Which means all of Hubby's paycheck (most anyways) was put into savings. This is my dream come true!

$231.79
+204.72
--------
$436.51


I love that number!

We're having a no spend day today. So we added $1 to our savings account. We also had an automatic transfer yesterday of $25.

$200.79
+ 25.00
+ 1.00
-------
$231.79

In one of my last entries, I wrote that I'd be thinking of ways to make money. Well, I figured that on my spare time I can crochet and make baby blankets and sell them. I'm thinking between e-bay and craigslist. E-bay is good because it's beyond local but you have to pay fees. Craigslist is good because there's no fees but it's only local. Ideas? Suggestions?

Got some gas yesterday at the tune of $3.77. Had a gift card too! So I didn't even pay for it! Added $3.77 to my savings.

$202.02
+ 3.77
--------
$205.79

I had to buy bird food, but I had a coupon for $2 off. So, I'll add it to my savings.

$200.02
+ 2.00
--------
$202.02