March thus far

March is thus far off to a great start...I was able to pick up an extra shift at work and have so far made over $500 in tips and for a third of the way into the month and without my paychecks included I am doing great. With that money I have been able to pay off my rent and all my bills. I have even instituted an envelope system which other bloggers seem to live by. Basically I have just put the amount of money I can spend on food and dining out into an envelope and once the envelope is empty, no more buying food :(

So I've decided to cut my food budget by more than half, where I've been spending $150 on eating out and $150 in groceries, I decided to spend $60 on eating out and $60 in groceries. Which is $15 a week for each.
It hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be, I even have $3 left over from last week and I've had 6 no spend days so far.

On the other hand, this week I have two midterms (yay...) but after Thursday it is all downhill from there, meaning Spring Break 2009!!!


Unfortunately I am not doing anything cool. I am going to try and start getting stuff ready for my move out of my apartment and do some work for my classes as well as try to pick up some extra hours at work.

On a more exciting note I am planning on going to the Renaissance Festival this Sunday (if you don't know what that is look it up, it is amazingly fun!). I have decided to spend about $100 at the fair (two tickets, food and fun) and this will be out of my tax refund. I've decided to call it my version of 'stimulating the economy' and then I'll save the rest in my emergency fund.

Have a great week and wish me luck on my midterms!

Pictures From My Vacation

Cupids arrow at the Embarcadero, I left my heart ... sigh.

A common occurrence I'm sure but near the Ferry Building there was a real life modeling photo shoot. Poor girl, it was about 40 degrees, I was shivering in my full winter gear.


A Castro gay bar, only in San Francisco.


I know it's a cliche but the bridge really is magnificent, my sis and I were on this little charter boat just flying across the ocean, I was afraid my camera was going to fall in the entire time.


The San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, we went to see The Nutcracker on my birthday. This is also where I had my first legal drink (white wine), but they didn't card me, such a let down.


We don't go all out for the holidays in Tucson so I was thrilled at the 60 ft tall Christmas trees all lit up and sparkling.

The Christmas decorations at the Westfield Shopping Centre, an elephant could have jumped through these wreaths. I felt like such a tourist rubbernecking in the mall.


The view from my hotel window in the Hilton (aren't I lucky!), that is Coit tower on the hill, a memorial to the firefighters who served in the 1906 earthquake. The hills here were at a 60 degree angle, much funner going down than up.


Another pic of the tree, isn't it pretty?


This is a small beach near Ghiradelli Square, which has been officially dubbed 'my spot'. I collected shells and driftwood and tested my bravery by running in to my shins. The water was just a couple degrees above freezing but as I've been to the ocean only a handful of times i couldn't help myself.

When I move here this mall just may break my budget, about 7 stories and having all the high end stores I salivate over online. One of the best features was the food court, one of the best steak meals I've ever had was there. The circling escalators which were fun at first though got old very quickly.

No Longer AWOL

I'm back...
As anyone not currently living in a cave should know, it is a financially scary time, but I am personally feeling great about my financial situation. I have been at my current serving job for about seven months and I still really like working there. I have been making awesome tips (though unfortunately not as much as last month, people are getting stingier, but not by much). I should be able to hoard away nearly $1,200 this month, and an additional decent amount (in my piggy bank) for my next trip. This will bring my San Francisco move fund to a total of $5,000, over 20% of my highest goal!!! Having a round number and a decent start on my grand total is really inspiring me to save more.

This inspiration has turned me (at least for the last two weeks) into a savings fiend. Thus far, I have had about 14 no-spend days and I expect to have a couple more before months end. I am also actually excited about working and making more money, I've been asking for more hours which is unusual for me.

Unfortunately my big savings account (which is Wells Fargo Bonds) is not feeling as inspired, I think I have lost about $200 in all, not bad considering the financial disasters happening everywhere. So I think after I get five grand in this account I'll stand working on a CD, which brings in less interest (though at least I'll be gaining money instead of losing it) and I may want to invest a small (possibly $1000) amount in the stock market in something that is sucking right now but which will improve sometime in the future like an electric or water company...any ideas?

But one thing which is in trouble financially is my university. My poor school has had to make about $200 million in budget cuts this year meaning that they have started slashing left in right. Two of our museums have closed and the others have dramatically reduced their hours and staff, they've cut the arts programs by 75% (though the sports programs are going strong...hmm) and they've laid off nearly 100 professors.
It could be worse, the other state school in Arizona has cut their scholarship program.

I'm just hoping my finances remain strong, and that all your has also remained healthy!!!

I will write more tomorrow about my vacation, and hopefully upload pictures.