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.

A Month of Firsts

This month will mark a big series of firsts and dilemmas for me and I am excited yet a little nervous.
The first one was Voting! I am thrilled to say that I am now a citizen who has done her patriotic duty for the first time. Yay Obama!


The second one is that I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner at my tiny apartment this year as my grandparents don't feel up to it. I'm trying to think of ways to make an absolutely fabulous dinner that will shock and awe while not breaking my budget. I have a list of foods that I want to prepare, but I may need to stop at the thrift store to pick up another casserole pan and some other things that I am not sure of. I'm hoping it will go well because I think it will be a good step in cementing my own adult identity by making my own traditions and showing my grandparents that I can cook without burning down my house.

(one can hope!)

I was very happy with myself for almost meeting my financial goals last month. I was able to hoard away $1200 in savings, well actually more like $1170 because I forgot to account for my phone bill. But $30 off is not bad. I bought myself a nice sushi dinner in celebration and enjoyed it greatly.

This month is taking off slowly. Yesterday and today were not very lucrative at work but I hope that my profits will increase through the month.

Another thing that is taking a minor hit at my finances is my attempts at a social life, but as this is something I feel is good for me, I won't chastise me too much. I have started dating but I guess I am a little embarrassed about my increasing frugality. I am proud, but I feel weird saying "I can't afford to go out to dinner" because I know he will pay for me, and I don't like it. None of our dates have been very expensive but compared to my lack of spending seeing $10 or $8 in my food category is a little depressing.

But it is a small price to pay for happiness.

On another hand, I may get my financial column. I am almost giddy at the thought. I am hoping this could provide both valuable experience and some extra cash. As my potential employer may glance over this site, I won't put an estimate but I hope to get enough to start saving in a Roth IRA next year as well as provide a bit of breathing room in my budget and save more for a potential vacation.

It is a very long way off, but I want to start saving for a big trip in three years. I haven't quite decided where I will go, possibly either Greece or Asia.

Fingers crossed on all accounts!

Happy November all, and good luck on Christmas shopping.

Fall has hit Tucson

The temperature is a steady eighty degrees, the leaves are green and still fully attached to their branches and the girls are still flaunting the mini skirts. Yes...fall is here in full course in Tucson but as we don't actually have seasons we don't notice. We see pictures of New York or Connecticut where they have falling leaves in bright orange, but all we have is thousand degree heat and cold winter, no in between.

I forgot the time of year until I went to the grocery store and I was shocked...orange and yellow and greens! It was amazing. Unfortunately I was a bit overzealous and I now have a pumpkin, several squash, a big bag of potatoes and onions and yams and corn. And for a good measure, a can of cranberry sauce. It's like Thanksgiving a month early. But when you don't have a car, carrying a pumpkin on a bike isn't fun.
Now all I need is to figure out how to cook a pumpkin.
Any ideas?
Happy fall guys!

Trying to learn the ways of my fore-mothers

Another Monday…I’m not sure whether it is the economy or something else, but it has been rather slow this last week at work. For the amount of people, my tips have been great but there hasn’t been as many customers. It has been a double hit because I am not getting as much money from my sister, one hundred less so that s hurting my budget a bit. I am still able to save quite a bit of money, but I am not able to make my goals yet. Oh well…I am trying to save money in other ways. I went to CVS last night and got a couple needles and thread. I did manage to repair a long rip and although it has a long bumpy scar, (battle wounds) it is now wearable. I am very proud, because I loved that sweater and now I don’t have to replace it. I am also going to try and hem a pair of pants, a it trickier and time consuming but it will give me something to do while watching TV. I am also excited about my next grocery shopping excursion because of all the Fall produce, squash and corn. I’m thinking of getting a pumpkin or two, carving one for Halloween and seeing if I can eat the other. I actually have never tried eating a pumpkin, other than as pie or bread or seeds. We’ll see.
My school had an internship fair last week and I came back very excited. I pitched an idea for a financial column to a smaller paper, and I didn’t get laughed at. I don’t know how likely it will be that little ol’ me will get a financial column considering I’m still figuring it out, but I hope that will be an asset. Instead of lecturing readers, I want to catalogue my experiences and those like me, starting out and confused, and have it be fun, informative and casual. It would be fun, if I get a group of legitimate experts and do a dear PF columnist and find out the answers for people. So my fingers are definitely triple crossed. If I don’t get it, then the editor said I could apply for a summer internship, which I’d love to do. I am hoping my server career ends with this job.
I just finished paying for my winter vacation and I’m already mentally planning out my next one. Give the amount I am saving for my move, I’m not sure if I should, but part of me is saying that I should enjoy the money I save as well as squirreling it away. If I do plan one, it will be a small one near the beginning of next school year, early August. It will also be cheaper because I will only have about 8 months to pay for it, which would be about $1000 to play with.

Learning from history

This sounds very strange but in some ways I am enjoying the financial crisis. Not in the way I like going to Disneyland of course, but in a 'watching-history-being-made' way. I've read in a lot of different blogs and papers that because of this crisis, we may switch to a cash-based economy. I am all for that. I'm just glad I've not too much damage to my credit score and that I'm becoming more responsible.
One of my favorite PF bloggers 'Brunette on a Budget' did a long post about the upside of the 'whatever we are in', some of my favorites are;

Climate change. According to a government study, carbon dioxide emissions fall whenever energy consumption declines. Our freezing will be the planet's salvation.

Foreign policy. In the good old days, the United States got in lots of trouble by invading first and asking questions later. Now we couldn't afford to invade Grenada if we had to.

I for one and trying to relearn some of the more old fashioned feminine skills except they mostly cost money. I want to learn to sew, because I have quite a few items of clothing that have holes or which need hemming, and I'm to lazy and frugal to take them to an alteration shop. Come on guys, $15 for a hem that takes them like 5 minutes, jeepers. I know the extreme basics, but the only sewing kit I have is one of those dinky travel ones, and I've already lost 80% of the items in it. So I need to buy a sewing kit.

Maybe this situation our country is in can teach my generation and the ones afterward about the joys of not having thousands of dollars in debt. Maybe we can grow up to be savers instead of spenders.


I also want to grow a garden, but as I live in a small apartment with no yard I'm not sure how that would work. I've thought about a window box sort of thing, but realistically, what can I hope to ream from a small window sill garden, not exactly a grand harvest.


Now onto my financial issues:

So far I have been doing very well on my financial goals. Compared to last week, I have been a very good PF blogger. Thus far I have had four no spend days, and the rest of the days have been very much in budget. I am still one with my Martha Stewart streak, in fact I really want to learn to make bread. I have not spent anything online since the last time I posted except for a couple songs for my Ipod.
I received my gloves, coat and DVDs in the mail. I am currently in love with my gloves, they are soft and pretty and furry. I also got the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (I'm a nerd, sue me) which I am currently plowing through. I love getting DVD sets, they last forever and provide me with hours of entertainment. The only bad from the bunch was my J Crew jacket. I was really disappointed but it really was too big so I sold it to Buffalo Exchange. Sigh

Well I am going to dicth you I can work on my resume, my school is having an internship tomorrow that I'm going to crash. I am going to hand out my resume and a pitch for a financial column I'm hoping someone will jump on.

Wish me luck!