While I’m not thrilled that it’s Monday, I must say I’m excited about the short week! Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday! This morning I’m also excited about a few random things:

-They say there’s a cold front coming!!!! It would be awesome if we could have a Thanksgiving where it’s NOT 90 degrees outside! (Mostly because I really want to wear my new sweater dress with some tights.)

-I’m “running” a 5k on Thursday! Yay! (I probably won’t be able to run the whole thing, but I consider it a victory that I’ve been working out fairly consistently because of it!) I also haven’t decided if I prefer to go by myself, or if the BF should come too. Last year he was mad I didn’t tell him, but he’ll also have to stand around for a while as he waits for me to finish. Besides, I’m worried I’ll have a worse time than last year!

-My electric bill came in this morning….$58!! That’s almost $30 less than last month! I’m way more excited than I should be about this!

-I’m baking snowflake cookies this week for my sister’s birthday! Have I mentioned we’re throwing her a small surprise party? Yay!

-My cousin’s 8th birthday was ridiculously fun. It was in a private party place where they have one of those big jungle gym’s for the kids. Except halfway through one of the adults thought it would be a good idea to get….next thing you know my mom, two of my aunts, my sister, and a couple other of my 30 year old cousins were in there too! They had a pool table, air hockey, and all you can eat food. AWESOME.

-I forgot my breakfast today. Not so fun, actually.

-I know I shouldn’t, but I really want some cheetos puffs with my lunch today. They are ridiculously addictive…

You know you’re kinda pathetic when the thought that excites you most is getting home, putting on some pj’s, and spending the night watching 2 DVD’s of Gossip Girl. Yes, that’s me right now. I can’t wait to go home tonight!! (Although chances are I won’t get to do that. The BF will probably want to see me or something….ugh. lol.)

I let loose a little bit last weekend and spent some big bucks (total exaggeration) on some quality baking products. Did you know vanilla is upwards of $12 for just 4 ounces?!! Crazy! And maple syrup is about $7 for 12 or 16 ounces? Geez….even so, I find it hard to use the crappy stuff. The good stuff is worth it!

My mom ended up paying for the Gingerbread Workshop and it was so much fun! I was worried at first about being the only “big kid” there with my mom….eventually a group of adults came in, and it turned out I had met one of them through work! What a small world….After the workshop I treated my mom to Moe’s and we went to Costco (where my mom bought me the Martha Stewart Holiday Treats magazine!! Eeeek! I’m so excited!)

Saturday we also had the baby shower for my cousin, which was also fun. I didn’t include it in my spending yet (since we haven’t bought it yet), but I’m chipping in to get her a car seat for the baby. It should be close to $20 in the end.

Sunday was low-key. I’m not sure what I did all day, but I know I spent the day in, had my dad deliver my hand-me-down coffee table from my sister, went to dance class, then did an hour of stretching. Not too exciting, but it was a good day.

Groceries – $135.01 / $12.89 remaining!
11/13 Publix (Baking stuff) $38.16
11/14 Costco $30.00
11/19 Publix $30.27 (misc. stuff)
11/19 Publix $36.58 (alcohol…mostly for baking, but maybe now I can do some “entertaining”?)

Entertainment – $8.52 / $34.29 remaining
11/14 Moe’s $8.52

I actually owe a co-worker money from when we went out to lunch on Friday, but I’m just planning on including that when I pay her back. Next time we go out I’m paying for her lunch.

This weekend I only have two things planned: my cousin’s 8th birthday tomorrow, and my dance class on Sunday. I may also stop by the greek festival that is going on practically across the street from me, but it depends on how much it costs to get in. I also rented Strictly Ballroom. I saw it before, loved it, and my mom hasn’t seen it yet, so a movie night is in order. I also have a list of things I want to bake. The Vegan Pumpkin Walnut bread was a HUGE success both with the family and my co-workers. If you haven’t tried it yet….do so! This weekend I’d like to make some cranberry banana bread (tried it before, it was very good, plus it helps that I have wilting cranberries and over-ripe bananas at home), some homemade pesto (I have tons of basil growing wild), and maybe some pumpkin bars if I can find someone to eat them.

Have a good weekend!

I recently made my first big payment towards my car loan. $500 in addition to my monthly payment. At first I was very happy with myself. However, a few nights ago as I was re-examining my spreadsheet (re-building, actually) I started to feel a twinge of remorse. $500? That’s a lot of money…

Particularly when I look at my emergency fund. I managed to get it back to $9k, and I thought I was happy that. But the more I think about the car fund vs. the efund….the more I wonder if I’m doing the right thing. Am I?

I’ve been going back and forth since then: am I better beefing up the E-fund some more? Or do I make a dent in my car loan while I have the income to do it?

In favor of the car loan:
-Right now I’m scheduled to pay $1,500 in interest over the life of my car loan. The more extra payments I make, and the earlier I make them, the more interest I will be chipping off that total. (The $500 payment will save me $100 in interest over the life of the loan.)
-By making extra payments I’ll be done paying my loan faster. Right now if all goes as scheduled I have 2 payments less to make!

In favor of the E-fund:
 -Stuff at work is getting worse. It wouldn’t be all that surprising if  I find myself out of work sometime in the near future. I’m going to need to use the Efund at that point.
-So let’s say I’m out of work….the fact that I only have 53 payments remaining versus 55 makes no difference to me at that point, right? I’m still on the hook for the next X number of payments that are due while I’d be looking for a new job.

A few additional points to consider:
- $9,000 is just under 4 months of my expenses (no retirement savings, but comfortable living). While under normal circumstances I think that 4 months would be fine, in my case the industry is practically at a standstill. Until the economy is back in full swing, it’d be really hard for me to find a job in this industry. I have no clue how long it would be before finding the next job, and I have no clue if I’m ready to change industries…
- I also have my down payment fund to “save” me. While I would hate to have to draw from it, I have to recognize it is there should I need it. If I use the DP fund as an emergency fund, I have enough to live comfortably for a year at the least. However if I use up that money I’d be starting over when I finally feel ready to buy property. A bit of a tradeoff.

What would you do if you were in my position?

It is FINALLY cold here! After being in the 80’s all through October (and 90’s before that) it finally dipped down into the 60’s last night. Time to break out the hot chocolate and sweaters! Oh, and all sorts of pumpkin recipes of course! Expect me to be busy in the kitchen this weekend!!

Entertainment – $56.66
11/1 $15.00 Pottery
11/2 $18.18 Netflix
11/7 $13.55 Five Guys
11/8 $9.93 Qdoba

Clothing – $31.88
11/11 $31.88 Drycleaning

Household – $51.50
11/11 $38.50 Poster Frames
11/12 $3.00 Bank Fee for rent payment

Gas – $40.92
11/9 – $10.01
11/12 – $30.91

Groceries – $52.10
11/2 – $46.44
11/6 – $5.66

Other
$24.99 Wireless Router. (Will either be covered with my internet allotment or my Amex GC)

Apart from my going out to eat twice last weekend, I’d say I’ve had a good couple of weeks. I’m not the least bit remorseful about going out to eat those two days though. (It was good food!) I just have to remind myself that I’m halfway through my entertainment money.

I know I told myself I wasn’t going to spend anything in the household and clothing categories, however I’ve had a bag of dry cleaning waiting for months (I wish that was an exaggeration) so it was about time I took it in. I took advantage of my schedule on Wednesday, otherwise it’s tough for me to make it before closing. As for the poster frames, I’ve had two posters sitting in my living room ever since I moved in. I’m considering hosting my mom a birthday brunch later this month, and I want to make my place presentable. My posters now look AWESOME. It’s amazing what just a couple of frames can do to make them presentable! I still have two unframed posters left, but those won’t be going in the living room, so they can wait. (Now I just have three smaller frames that need hanging…..hmmm….)

I’m also impressed with how productive my day off was. I took care of almost everything on my list…..including paying for my renters insurance (it was about time!), sorting out my health insurance (only pending a personal decision on my part), finalizing my car insurance quotes (only need to officially sign up now, but I need the internet for that), watching a full DVD of Gossip Girl (very important), getting the last bit of info I need from Comcast (only need to make a decision on the modem), going for a run and dropping off my dry cleaning. The only thing I didn’t do was redeem my DSW coupon for $10 off (those bastards sent it to me AFTER I went on my shopping spree! I figure I’ll get tights or something right around $10….but not until December). I figured it wouldn’t be wise for me to put myself in such a vulnerable position when I’m so close to my clothing budget. All that, AND I had time to use Whole Foods’ free wi-fi while savoring their delicious black cherry soda. It really was a nice day.

The only thing bad about having a Wednesday off is I was super confused about what day it was the next day. Was it Monday? Wednesday? Arrgh! The highlight, of course was only two days remaining in the week. I’m tempted to say I wish all weeks had Wednesdays off. It was provided a nice breather.

As if this post couldn’t get any longer….

This weekend should be another good one! On Saturday I’m going to the Gingerbread House Building Workshop with my mom and sister (we may sign up for the competition if it gets all three of us in for free to the workshop, otherwise we’ll be paying $15 each when we get there), then that afternoon is a cousin’s baby shower. That should be fun…..I’m not expecting any lame games, but its always nice when the family all gets together.

In light of the cold weather I’m also expecting to be baking something. For one, something with pumpkin in it…..and then perhaps some kind of bread. I’m oddly excited about that.

What are your plans for the weekend?

As a few others have mentioned, it’s Open Enrollment season. In the past nothing too exciting has happened, apart from a few dollar increases here and there.

Luckily the dental and vision plans have remained the same. Unfortunately no changes in the 401k either (still no company match in sight). The most drastic change is in our medical coverage. Aside from the $4 a week increase they are doing a complete overhaul of our plan…

We used to have a plain old open access PPO, however in 2010 we are converting to HRA’s, or a Health Reimbursement Arrangement. Basically,how that works is that our company gives us a pool with a certain amount of money (in my case, $750 for a single person). Whenever I get treatment for something, or a prescription it draws from this amount. Their reasoning is that this will hopefully get people to think about where they get their treatment instead of just heading to the emergency room automatically (that was one example), or getting an MRI someplace expensive when you could save several hundred dollars elsewhere. The one cool thing is that our provider now offers a feature that will tell us how much a certain facility charges for a procedure or whatnot. (If they offered it before it was VERY hard to find. I never found anything like that!)

Once that $750 is gone (the amount is higher if you have others on your plan) we have a $2,000 deductible we have to meet ($1250 out of my pocket, plus the $750). At that point I believe we pay 20% of any cost. At $4,000 the insurance kicks back in at 100%.

It doesn’t sound too bad, particularly when you throw in the fact that any preventative care visits are $0. So that wouldn’t draw from my deductible. Within a typical year I would only go to the OB/GYN for my yearly checkup anyway, and perhaps the general physician as well. So all that is free. However the problem is my BC pills….

With our current plan I pay $50 for every three months of BC pills. However, I did some research, then called our pre-enrollment hotline to find out how much I would pay next year. The answer was…..$70…. A MONTH!

Not good. This was after the “discount”. So, calculated over the entire year, it would bring the total to about $850. That’s $100 OVER the money I get! UGH!

I realize that’s not horrible. I paid around $240 out of pocket this year for the pills, so right off I’m going to have some out of pocket savings. I was just hoping this new plan would eliminate my spending!

I also realize that another option would be switching to cheaper pills. However, when I take into consideration how I felt before I switched pills….that is not an option. (I was experiencing some pretty serious depression before I switched to Yaz.) I would gladly pay $70 a month to NOT feel that way again!

So I suppose my real question is…how much should I put into my FSA?

$100, just to cover the pills? Or should I add in some more in case anything comes up? $200? In case I feel like getting new contacts (since I’m not getting Lasik for now), or in case I need some other prescriptions? The FSA is a “use it or lose it” deal, so I’d rather not put much more than I need!

Your advice would be much appreciated!

Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day, and surprisingly our company is giving us the day off. (Well, technically it’s one of the 3 days we can choose to have free, and this happened to be the last opportunity for that before the year ends.) I was a little hesitant to take it, as we’re going through an awkward stage at work where no one wants to ask for days off for fear we’ll get our heads chopped off. (Speaking of which….I need to check out when I’m taking the rest of my vacation days….) Well, I spoke to my boss and she says since it’s a “use it or lose it” situation I might as well take it. So I am.

I don’t want to let the day go to waste (after all there’s plenty I should be doing at work) so I’m hoping to be super productive!! Here’s a list of all I want to get done:

1) Sleep in a tiny bit. Nothing crazy, like noon. But it’d be nice to sleep in until 7:30! Check! Slept until 8! It was awesome!

2) Work out. What I do depends on what I did on Tuesday night (I’m supposed to run). Went for a run, but wimped out when it got too hot.

3) Sort out my car insurance issues. I will either renew with my parents (although probably not, because it bothers me that while I’m on their policy my name doesn’t show up on the card as a “named insured”….isn’t that asking for trouble?), get a new policy with the same carrier (should be about the same price, but I’d need to officially change my address, which sounds like a hassle), or get a new policy with a new company (I’ve already received a quote from them, and it’s comparable). (Still need to take care of this)

4) Sort out my health insurance issues. Mainly finding out how much my BC is going to take from the deductible with the new insurance plan so that I know if I’m going to need a FSA this year. Unfortunately I will still need a FSA this year. My pills are getting much more expensive!

5) Call Comcast to find out about their internet rates/offers. (Yes, I’m still internetless.) Conclusion: I’m going with Comcast’s offer, but am still deciding if I should buy or rent a modem.

6) Watch some Gossip Girl! Yeah, just had to throw that in there. Check! It is such a soap opera! lol….I can’t believe I’m enjoying it…

7) Take some clothes to the drycleaners. Check! so expensive! I decided to go with the “eco-friendly” place instead of the cheap local place I used to go to….let’s hope I don’t lose any buttons this time!

8 ) Bake something? Didn’t do any baking, but that’s ok. I was plenty busy!

That sounds like a pretty full day, so I should stop there. Although I should throw some cleaning in there….that 2nd bedroom needs to be organized, and lots of junk needs to be thrown out!

It’s official, my thumb drive is dead.

I was an idiot to not back up those files, when I KNEW that thumb drive was the only place they were stored. I’d thought before “what if I lose it?!” and still did nothing. So, a word to the un-wise…..back up your files!!

Thank goodness for this blog though!  Thanks to my posts I don’t have to do much to remember what was on my budget, what the amounts were, and I’m really glad this happened right at the beginning of the month. I didn’t have too many expenses to re-enter. This also gives me an opportunity to rethink my spreadsheets and make any tweaks I’d been too lazy to do before.

Other than that trauma, I had a pretty great weekend.

Saturday morning went a little like this: made buttermilk pancakes (from scratch, of course) while watching gossip girl, watched some more gossip girl, got in a quick workout. Showered, did laundry, folded/stored clothes, cleaned up the apartment while singing and dancing. It was great. Later in the evening we had dinner at Five Guys (yum, but definitely the last time I go to that location…..too crowded) and then went to the movies (something we hadn’t done in a while).

Sunday morning a family friend delivered a piece of furniture (like a wardrobe without the doors….but not quite a bookcase) so now I don’t have to buy a bookcase as I was considering doing! After that we met up with my sister and BIL at the arts festival and rounded out the afternoon with a burrito from Qdoba. Afterwards I went to my dance class, and I ended the evening with a quick run and an hour of stretching. Dinner was a sweet potato made at home. (Man, do I love sweet potatos!)

I was all excited this morning because I was ready to post my weekly spending again! The good news is I didn’t spend much this week….the bad news is my USB thumb drive is not being recognized by the computer here at work. CRAP. I just hope it works when I get home because it’s been a WHILE since I’ve backed up those files….all my financial spreadsheets are on there!!! [sigh] I’m crossing my fingers it’ll work.

Anyway, I didn’t do much spending. From what I recall I only have a charge for Netflix, $15 for the pots I fired from my pottery class, and a trip to the grocery store. I think. I know I haven’t eaten out since dinner on Halloween, so I’m proud of that.

I’m doing well on my challenge for this month. So far I’ve worked out every day. While I technically didn’t work out on Monday, I worked out twice on Tuesday. I’ve even progressed to a new level of the Couch to 5k program! That’s big news for me.

I’m trying to be a little picky with how I spend my time and money this month. My flamenco classmates are preparing for a show, and I won’t be performing so I’ve chosen to skip classes this month. That should allow me to save all of my “dance money” towards my bellydance costume. Since my Sunday classes have already been paid for, that’s $130 I’m saving right there! I may start back up with flamenco in December after the show is done with. We’ll see how I’m feeling.

Another time “drain” from previous months was the Whole Foods classes I was going to. Not a waste of time by any means, but time consuming. This month they apparently haven’t scheduled a lot of classes, but one of the few that caught my attention was a Gingerbread House Building Workshop!! It’s $15 to attend. Should I take it? Or is that totally lame of me? lol. (Not that lameness has ever deterred me in the past….) Mostly I’m concerned if it would be worth my $15 for a workshop.*

As for my weekend, I’m hoping to go check out the galleries with the BF tonight. Since my mom is out of town (and she’s my usual gallery partner) I’m hoping the BF will enjoy it! There’s also live music at the park, so that should make it more interesting. On Saturday I’m going for a run, and then maybe going to an Art Festival not too far from my apartment. I’m calling my sister tonight to see if she wants to come too. Saturday night is jam packed with activities around the city, so if we have nothing better to do we could always find something to do. Sunday morning is up in the air, but in the afternoon I have my dance class!

It should be a good weekend….plenty of things going on, but no rigid schedule to make it stressful.

*The workshop fee is waived if you decide to enter the Gingerbread House Contest that they are hosting. Registration for a family is $25. Maybe I should check that out instead and make a house with my little cousins? Sounds like a lot of pressure though….

New Note: I just paid my Amex bill which means….I should be getting another $25 rewards card within the next two weeks!! Yay! I’m thinking I’ll either use that towards the workshop if I decide to do it, or use it to buy myself a set of heavier weights. (I currently only have a 5lb set.)

I just realized I never told you all about how my pottery classes went!

 To summarize in one sentence: it was fun, and I think I’ve gotten it out of my system for now.

 Now, in more detail. It really was fun. The best part is that I got to learn some actual technique (my previous “teacher” was self-taught, so he didn’t have as much formal technique), and my work improved tremendously from my previous experience with just one class. My pots went from tiny 2” tall cylinders to much larger 3, 4, and almost 5” pieces. (I haven’t actually measured them, that’s just my guess.) The ladies in my class were nice, and there were always plenty of studio members around to help out.

 As for the bad stuff…..it’s far. Almost 30 miles from my apartment. It also cut my Saturdays right through the middle (1-4pm, and I always had to leave at noon to make it on time), so I’m actually kind of glad they’re over now. I also hated the cleanup process, but what can you do about that? Lol. I was also slightly annoyed that the class only included the firing of one piece. I ended up firing 4 since I figured I could make these Christmas gifts for some family members, and each additional piece was $5. Finally, I was annoyed when my beginner’s luck started to dwindle about halfway through the second class. Suddenly I was completely unable to pull a piece properly. I’m not sure what happened, lol.

 Either way, I’m totally glad I did it. It was fun, and as I mentioned before I got it out of my system. I feel a little sad saying I’m no longer “dying to sit at a pottery wheel”, but that’s the truth. Perhaps in the future the fever will build up again and this time I’ll know where I can go.

 I went for my final session this Saturday, in which we glazed (i.e. painted) our pieces. Nothing fancy, just picking out colors and dipping them in the glaze. I had a lot of fun since we were mostly unsupervised and I really got to talk to my classmates. Either way, the pieces will be fired this week (unless they were fired already this weekend) and they’ll be ready for me to pick up over the weekend! I’ll let you know how they turn out!

 As for the numbers: $125 for class time and instruction + $15 for additional fire pieces = $140 for 18 hours and 4 pots. Not the cheapest entertainment, but certainly not bad for a unique experience, and possibly 4 Christmas gifts!

Is it ok if I skip this wrap-up altogether this month?

 Yes? Good. Because, um….I kinda failed at all my goals.

 Anyway, moving on, I’m determined to make November a better month, however I’m taking a slightly different approach. I’m going to try and take my mind off money (keyword: try) and focus a little on myself.

 One of the things I want to focus on, while this isn’t my “getting fit” blog (oh, you poor thing, how I’ve abandoned you), I definitely want to focus on not hating my body anymore. Ever since my boyfriend has gotten in shape, my physical state has been steadily deteriorating.  I always joked around that as a couple we maintain a pretty stable weight…. when one loses, the other gains. And now I’m starting to see that it’s true! I’d like to blame it on stress at work, and how I majorly snack when I’m stressed (I’m talking about entire cans of chips and/or pints of Ben & Jerry’s in one sitting) there’s really no excuse. I simply have to hold myself accountable.

I actually weighed myself this weekend, and the damage was less severe than I thought. About 4 pounds. Not great, but I feel like I’ve gained 10 pounds, and I feel disgusting. It’s that feeling I have to get rid of. I purposely left the scale at my parents house because I don’t want to obsess with a number. I want to focus on how I feel.

 One of the key and underlying components of this is that I need to learn to manage my time. That includes finding time to sleep, limiting my TV time if need be, making time to prepare dinner, and of course, exercising.

 November Goals

1.  Do some form of exercise EVERY DAY. No excuses. Holidays are usually my cop-out days, but I’m running a 5k on Thanksgiving. That means the hardest day has been taken care of!! My plan includes running outdoors whenever possible, and any other day I can’t get outside will involve one of the many DVD’s I have. Dance classes don’t count anymore. (On Sunday, not only did I go to my dance class, I went out for a run, AND I did a whole hour of stretching. Go me! This post was written in advance, so I’ll assume that on Monday night I did as planned: dance class, then some Core Secrets afterwards. I did no exercise Monday night. I skipped dance class, but danced around at home while practicing our dance choreography….BUT I woke up early this morning and did the Core Secrets workout. As long as I go for a run tonight, I’m counting the Core Secrets for Monday.)

2. Plan my meals. I want to create a loose meal plan for each week. This will probably be my toughest goal, since it requires (go figure) planning. But it’s also the most important. Not only it will not only keep me healthy and give me the energy I need to workout every day, it’ll also save me money.

 And of course, I’ll throw in some money goals just so I don’t find myself in shambles in December:

3. No new clothes or shoes. No new “household” expenses, unless it’s for cleaning or related to the tables I need to repair.

4. Pay an extra $400 towards my car loan.  (I’m hoping that I’ll have a total of $100 extra left from Entertainment, and Gas, and possibly Groceries. My $300 ST Savings will go towards the car loan.)

 A few other unofficial goals would be keeping up with my reading schedule for Anna Karenina (probably not gonna happen, since I’d need to read about 30 pages a day, and I’m already behind), getting and keeping the apartment clean (although I need to), and repairing that side table!

 One thing at a time though….