Just when I almost gave up on my 2009 goals, I looked them over and realize that I may have a fighting chance to complete at least half of them.

1. Land a permanent full-time job - COMPLETED

2. To have my own place by the end of the year - not so much... this is moved to next year.

3. To build my savings back up: $3000 for Savings #2 (COMPLETED... I'm at $3198) $1500 for Savings #3 (half way there... I still have 2 months left if I redirect what I was throwing at savings #1)

4. To have $12000 in Savings #1. (Most likely will not meet this, have about $9200) - the plan is to get this as high as I can for this year and then next year have a slightly higher goal that I should be able to reach if Goal #1 stays the same.

5. To have student loan down to $11,500. (Only $900 more to go) - Most likey won't complete, but so close... new adjusted goal... $12000 by the end of the year.

6. To have no credit card debt (COMPLETED - will be using cash for Christmas this year)

7. To finish my accounting class (completed)


After my trip back home to Virginia back in April-June I pretty much gave up on any attempts to accomplish my goals set for this year. I think to be honest I didn't care at the time, especially after my dad passing. Sometimes I think he gives me a little push to keep going and not just give up.

Here I come November and December.
So ready for 2010.

I've noticed that in the past few weeks I've switched to completely cash only. Even no debit card. And by doing this my savings/checking accounts have been fed and are somewhat full.

Now that I have completely paid off my credit cards and keeping them unused for some time now, I cringe at the thought of swiping them and charging them back up. And even if I did just pay they off right away that's still money down the drain on something that I probably didn't need in the first place. As I was looking through some old statements I came across the fact that about a year ago I was spending close to $800 a month on my credit card. It never dawned on me that I was doing that because I make payments every week. Yup, every week just to keep the balance down. That was a year ago. Fortunately, now that I have a steady job and steady source of income... keeping fingers crossed that it stays that way... I'm finding that my time and money is more valuable to me. That $800 plus whatever other bills I had, student loans, insurance... etc... was eating up all my income. Well not all because i was still saving too. More like saving to spend. I don't know why it just hit me like a wall laying in bed last night looking at my last pay stub that hey... I made... $xx,xxx. amount of money so far this year as a gross salary... and $xx,xxx amount net pay... where is all that money now? Not that I completely spend it all, but still... I should be at least $x,xxx... richer that I was last year.

Then I tried to give myself all these excuses like, well I did pay extra to my student loan. Well.. that was only like $5000 in a year... started with $17,000... when to $12500. I didn't even contribute that much to my Roth last year... that was only $2,000. So where is the rest of it? I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't gone into some of my savings and my savings would have stayed stagnant.

So, I guess I've had my ah-ha moment. I always thought that I was good saver. Handling money was my thing, excel spreadsheet and all. And I could just make a budget. But I can barely stick to my day planner let alone a budget. But I think now that I'm fully aware of the situation, I'm more apt to being good in the store.

My question to myself is... "am I going to use this today?" If I can't say yes then I guess the purchase can be put to another day. And who knows I may just forget about it and save myself some more money. Of if it comes to clothes, my biggest weakness, "will I wear this to work tomorrow?". Because chances are I will not wear it the next day... and maybe if I'm lucky I'll wear it within the week. Like those two new pairs of shoes sitting on my bedroom floor... I bought a month ago... still sitting in the box. I needed to replace my work shoes because the sole is starting to come off and I happened to find the same shoe online... on sale and bought them. But I don't know why I have to keep wearing my beat up ones.

I'm going to start now and maybe I will start seeing some real progress with savings and net worth!

I just wanted to say thank you everyone for your kind words. Sometimes, I think it's better to talk about it with people that don't know me personally, only because the people that do just want to hover. And I know they have my interest at heart, but sometimes the best way to get through something tough is to be treated like normal. Well at least I think so. (*btw, if you have no idea what I'm referring to, see my previous 6.8.09 post)

And hopefully I will be blogging more often than even before everything.

But in the mean time, since I'm not currently working (I had an interview this morning, I moved on to the next set of interviews, so I will see how that goes). But yeah since I'm not currently working I have a huge and I mean huge stack of magazines like 2 years worth of "Family Circle", "First", "Good Housekeeping", etc that I am going to go through for saving advice/tips. They are my grandma's (she is a pack rat), but since I have nothing else better to do, I figure I'll just sit around and go through magazines looking for different ideas on savings, instead of going out and spending money on entertainment. Plus, I get to do all the crossword puzzles that some of them have. lol.

But yeah that's pretty much it. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone.

Happy Blogging!

So, I haven't written in awhile, since before my family was suppose to come visit me the first week in April. They did and I'm glad they did. And here is something very personal but my dad died of a massive heart attack the day before they were suppose to fly back home. They originally weren't going to fly out here to California to visit because of airfare prices, but they eventually dropped low enough that they could come visit and I was unknowingly able to see my dad for the very last time. We had a nice ceremony over here for him, since he is a California native and most of his family is from here. I ended up going back with my Mom, brother and sister to Virginia up until last week to help them out a little and to make sure they were going to be okay. So with that, I had to leave the job that I was currently at so that I could make the trip home. It was worth it, because I truly believe family is the most important thing (to me anyways), and nothing should come before them. So now, I'm back in CA and hopefully can find a job again so that I can get back on my feet. Thank goodness for my emergency fund I was able to stay in Virginia for a over a month and still be okay as far as bill wise and I still have enough to cover me hopefully until I find another job. And lucky for me... I paid off my credit cards before I went my family came... so... I have no credit card debt which definitely helped the financial situations so I could focus on other more important things.

When I was back in Virginia, my old retail job was willing to take me back for a short while and was going to pay me what I was making before I left (which is a lot more than they are paying the majority of the staff.) I'd thought about going back since I was going to be in town for a little bit, but I decided against going back for the simple reason that I came back to help my family and if I'm at work all the time, I'm not really spending time with them. And secondly which was part of the main reason was that I would have to buy new clothes and new shoes to come back to work. I didn't bring any work clothes with me and I didn't have proper shoes to go to work in. That retail job doesn't let you wear tennis shoes or sneakers and you have to dress sorta business casual. And all I had with me was tennis shoes, flip flops and denim jeans. So I figured by the time I bought new shoes and new clothes... I basically spent my entire paycheck already. Not worth it.

But yeah that's pretty much it.I think I'm going to change up my blog a little bit and focus more on saving and ways to save rather than the totals in my accounts because it's so depressing seeing it go up just to go back down again. So we shall see how that goes.

It's a raining Sunday here in the Bay Area or at least where I am. I usually don't particularly care for raining days but day eh not so bad considering that we do need the rain. And plus, sometimes I feel as though rainy days are for relaxing.

February came and went really fast. I'm glad. February kinda blew work wise. I'm so over ALREADY working for the place I'm working at. I'm ready to move on. The people there are really Catty and if they spent half the time working and minding their own business than sitting in each other cubicles talking about other people in the office, MAYBE just maybe they wouldn't need my help as a temp. Just maybe. Oh well. There's the real world for you. My aunt tells me that they are just worried about their jobs and are threaten by me, ( I think she's just saying that to make me feel better)... I personally choose to think that they are just plain mean and I don't care if the economy is rough and people are getting desperate, it doesn't give them a free pass to be rude to other people. But enough with work.

February was a good month saving wise I guess. I mean I did save quite a bit for being such a short month. I think mainly because I got back my Federal return and my $1 Virginia State tax return, haha. $1. I'm not expecting California state tax anytime soon. It was only like $30 anyways.

So here is the rundown of my financials,

Savings #1: 10,572
Savings #2: 2,212
Savings #3: 851

Roth IRA: 1,675
401K: 1089

DEBT:
Credit Card: 671
Student Loan: 13,610

I applied an extra $200 along with my monthly payment to my student loan this past month since I got my Federal Tax return back. I figure I might as well put the money to good use instead of spending it.


Well, that's pretty much it. Tonight we are having pasta. MMM... instead of going out to Olive Garden my family opted to go to this place that makes fresh pasta and take it home to make. A lot cheaper than going out that's for sure. And everyone got to pick out which pasta they wanted! I can't wait to try it.

So I'm working this contract job. The job itself should not be that hard. Basically what I'm doing is reconciling accounts. Well... I know what I'm doing for the most part. I get the general idea of it. But... every time I think I can handle it on my own (been there about 3 weeks now) something unusual arises. The exception to the rule. How come I get all those. So now it looks like I don't know anything because I keep getting the exception to the rule. And since I'm one of those that likes to know the answer instead of just pretending it's not there I'm asking all these questions. They are probably getting tired of me. Man I can't wait until this contract is up. I first I really liked it. But now not so much. Everyday there is a new crisis... a problem which I identified that was never corrected before or something similiar. I don't understand how payroll deductions errors can continue for over a year with out being corrected? How did they balance at year-end. Oh well. I guess I'm glad to be done at the end of March.

Plus I got the rudest letter today from one of the chapter contact person regarding a letter that I had sent about updating the account. The man said that basically it was useless for me sending the letter and that the letter regarding payroll was not his department and he doesn't appreciate me sending him the letter and that he is retiring come June and I quote these were his exact words, "If I can find an idiot to take this job" he doesn't want me to send confusing letters to the new person that doesn't have anything to do with the job. HELLO! First off the account updates were apart of his job. And secondly the note regarding the payroll was a Copy of the letter that I send to another department. I figured since he is the contact person he should know what's going on with his chapter. Gee whiz. The second letter wasn't even addressed to him he was just CC on it. He has got to be one of the rudest people I have ever dealt with. I copied the letter and posted it on my bulletin board at work. This is to remind me never to be rude like that man. I don't care how frustrated I am. Reminder to always be professional and respectful.

What a way to ruin a person's day. I must say I know that I just have to let it go and not take it so personally. Still I want to do a good job at work. And some people just make it hard.

And I know this post has nothing to do with saving or money. I'd just thought I'd share an eye opener that made me realize that I am definitely in the "Real World" now.

So I went to the Home & Garden Show today. I've never been to one. I must say I really enjoyed just walking around to the different booths. I don't have my own place yet but it definitely getting me excited and pumped to eventually to get to the point that I can get my own place. I guess it gives me another motivation to keep saving and budgeting!

So I decided that I putting aside money outside of my savings. I guess more like spending envelopes. These are for upcoming purchases. Like for a new cell phone plan come April when I finally get my own plan. And for my plane ticket and hotel room for my friends wedding in April as well. And then a gift fund for B-days and holidays. This way I don't have to go into my savings for these. Plus, I won't put this stuff on my Credit Card. I don't know, we will see how well this works for me.

All I know is that going to the gym is actually helping my wallet. Haha. I've been going to the gym right after work for the past week. And when I get home after the gym I'm so tired that I just stay home and don't go out and spend money.

But that's pretty much it for my week/weekend ramblings.

this morning I forgot my lunch.

I had it all packed and everything, ready to go. In fact this morning was the first morning in a LONG time that I just popped out of bed and started getting ready. Usually I just hit snooze and drag myself to get dressed to go to work. In fact I had made myself a pretty decent breakfast too.

And it wasn't like I was rushing either. I sat down and ate breakfast and just walked out the door without my lunch. So I had to buy lunch today. Booooo! Because by the time I realized that I forgot it I was already in the parking lot at work. Go figure.

Well at least I have lunch already made for tomorrow.

So there went $8 that I wasn't planning on spending. But, I did have Chipotle, which I haven't had in months. It was yummy. So I guess it wasn't that bad forgetting my lunch, hehe.

Gosh my mind is all over the place though. Besides forgetting my lunch, I can't even remember what day it is. I keep thinking it's Tuesday. And for some reason at 10AM today I was thinking it was a 11Am when I was looking at the clock and thought to myself only 2 hours until lunch break when it was really 3 hours. Work is taking over my mind so much that I can't focus on the little things, lol. I can't wait for the weekend to come!!!!

So with my job, technically I'm only suppose to work 35 hours. the hours are 9-5 with an hour lunch. I asked my boss if I could come in at 8 and stay til 5 so that I can get the full 8 hour pay. She agreed. So I'm working the complete 40 hour week. That 5 hours doesn't seem like much. But in one month that would be 20 hours of pay that I would be giving up. And if I were getting paid $15/hr that would be $300 a month that I'm missing out on. And that is a lot of money. At least it is to me. That's a student loan payment right there. I'm being good though. Whatever extra money I make is being put to good use, either to my Credit Card, Student Loan or savings. Hopefully it will help make a dent in my goals.


Here are my updated numbers

Savings #1 10,336
Savings #2 1,661
Savings #3 675

Roth IRA 1,675
401K 1089

Debt
Credit Card 1,003
Student Loan 14,039

So, I definitely did not do a NSD. In fact I spent $300 on a 2-year gym membership with 24 hour fitness.

Costco.com is running a sale on their gym membership. $299 for a 2 year membership. That you can use at all locations except for Sports and one other of their clubs. I can't remember. But after everything is calculated it comes out to roughly $12 a month. That is really really good considering it's usually around $60 a month. There is no expiration date. So the 2 year starts whenever I bring it in for the first time to activate it. And costco says that if I have any issues that I can return it and get my full-refund. Which is great.

Also. I bought Turbo Tax on there too. They are running a rebate until 1/25 $10 off. This is only online though. And they are cheaper than other places.

So I spent a lot but then again in the long run of things, I guess I saved a little too. Good now I can get my behind to the gym. No more excuses that gym membership is too expensive, lol.

Today I just got bitten by the cleaning bug. I packed up most of my Holiday decorations except for the Tree. I like looking at it so I'm going to wait a couple of more days to take it down. But everything else is packed away. Speaking of Holiday stuff. I bought Christmas wrapping paper on sale at Cost Plus Market for $0.50 EACH. Original Price was $2.99. That's crazy. But I kept my cool and only bought 3 that I really liked. So I have some for next year. I'm trying really hard not to overspend next year or any year after that.

Back to cleaning, I dumped all my magazine before Dec in the recycle. I organized all my paperwork into binders with labels and everything I need at easy access. I even saved all my photos on my computer to disk just in case something happens to my computer.

And I did a bunch of other little things. I figure I better ring in the New Year right.

I got a sewing machine from my Grandma for Christmas. I love it. She couldn't have picked a more perfect gift for me. And I don't even remember ever mentioning secretly wanting one. Now I can make all my crafty stuff. I already put it to good use and sewed a tote bag, two to be exact. And the best part yet, my grandma also had big box of fabric pieces that she was going to throw out. Now I have all this fabric for free! Talk about providing hours of entertainment for free, lol.

My goal this week is to spend less than $50. I think this is doable. I mean I already filled up gas Yesterday so I won't be needing gas for at least another week and a half. I don't spend any money on food because I eat breakfast at home and I take my lunch everyday and dinner is usually on the table once I get home. I love Grandma's house, hehe(but can't wait to get on my own!). And that's pretty much it. I can't see whatelse I would spend money on this upcoming week but we shall see. Bills don't count because I have already planned for those to come out once my paycheck hits. Trying to cut back on the non-essential spending. So far so good.

Geez, I didn't realize how much time has past since I last posted.

Well I've been busy moving. I moved at the end of September to the Bay Area in California. It's been quite an adjustment, more than I thought it would be. I am getting use to it as everyday passes by. At least now I'm not quite so worried about getting lost. I didn't work for almost 2 months. So my finance took quite a hit. I haven't quite hit below $10,000 on savings yet. I'll have to update my stats soon. But luckily I was able to land a temp job in the mean time as an Sales Auditor. Basically I reconcile this company's sales for their stores. I will be temping with this company until the end of January possibly February. But hey at least I'm working now and I'm finally getting stuff to put on my resume.

It's a good thing that I'm staying with family for the time being. But I really am motivated to hurry up and get on my feet and get on my own.

I'm also started taking an accounting class at UC Berkeley online. It's through their continuing education program. This way I'm getting more accounting background to add to my finance degree. It an entire accounting certificate program. At least this will keep me until I get the funds to go to grad school and get my MBA.

But yeah, so far so good. I'll have to update everything soon, maybe this weekend once I have more time to sit down and get everything together again. Still unpacking yet hehe.

I'm moving to California on Saturday... my flight is 7am. I'm still not completely packed and I have two more shifts until I'm done with work. I've really cut this down to the wire, but really I didn't have much of a choice. Everyone around me basically squeezing the life out of me.

I am however glad to be almost done with my part-time job in retail. Enough of retail... and the drama between co-workers and managers. I never knew adults could act so childish. They talk about each other behind each other's back and then get angry when they find out they were talked about from the other person. I don't think they even realize how hypocritical they are being. Oh well. I'm done with that chapter and moving on for the better.

So I'm moving to CA to start over and begin a new life. I figure now is the right time because I have no attachments or obligations. Some people think I'm crazy, but I can't let them hold me back. One of my managers told me "We are all for people trying new things. But don't be embarrassed if you need to come back, you will always have a job with us." I mean I know he had good intentions when he told me that, because frankly I'm not the first one to just pick up and leave. There have been others before that come running back because things didn't work out. However that's them, not me. I'm determined to make this work for me.

You can't expect to win the lottery if you never play. Right? lol.

As far as the accounts go... pretty much stable... all the money recent in go right back out to pay for moving expenses, ticket and so on. I guess I should get back to packing.

Sometimes at work I just want to rip my hair out. And I think it's one of those days today. At my part-time job... retail. I get it... it's summertime... and the kids are out of school. I get it. Back-to-school shopping. But is it really necessary to let the kids run around in the stores... running and bumping into other customers? Is it okay to let them stand on tables... and climb on ladders that says "EMPLOYEES ONLY", hide under the racks???

I mean I remember when I was a kid... if I even thought about doing anything of the sort... I would get it at home. My brother and I were to behave in public... no bribery with toys or food... because those were the rules when we were out in public.
And I'm not saying that all the kids were out of control, there were just a few that just wouldn't stop today. Or maybe I'm just overly sensitive today since I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.lol.

Anyway... I'm moving in September. Moving across the country to California. I have a really good situation out there... and I can't pass it up. I'm young and willing to take the leap while I have the chance. And I'm all about new opportunities and new places. I'll be staying with my Grandma until I get on my feet. Hopefully I won't need long because I'm a pretty independent person and don't want to cause a burden on my Grandma. Plus I need to establish CA residency... so I can finally start looking at CA grad school and can get in-state tuition where it counts. One of my life goals is to get my MBA. So this is just one step closer to completing that.
I'm excited about the change of scenery.

I'll have to do my mid-month update later. I don't really feel like looking up all the numbers.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Well, actually it's no longer a problem because I took care of it right from the get-go.

My friend/co-worker the one that I occasionally give rides told me that she was going to buy a used car. I told her that was great and good luck and so on. Well the next day she came up to me asked me if she could ask me something. I was like sure what is it. And then she asked if I would be a co-signer on her car note because she doesn't have enough credit to get a car on her on. Before she could even explain herself why I told her flat out no.

It's not that I don't trust her to pay her car note I'm sure she will, I know she will actually. However, I'm not willing to take that chance. I'm working really hard to get and maintain a high credit score and all I need is for one thing to ruin that and ruin a friendship. I asked her why she didn't ask her brothers or dad. She told me that her brothers don't have enough credit either and her dad is out of the country right now.

All I told her is that for the sake of our friendship it would not be in my best interest to co-sign on her car note. Especially since I plan on moving in the next few months I don't need that note on my credit report if I plan to buy a place.
And I left it at that. She said that it was all right and that she was just asking. I'm just really shocked that she asked me to do that for her. Do people really ask other people that are not in their family to co-sign with them???

It's a shame that I take my finance seriously. I don't want to end up on Judge Judy. lol

Hmm... it seems that I must have caught the declutting bug too! haha. I did a whole lot of shredding, bundling up newspaper for recycling, consolidating and purging a lot of stuff. Keyword being stuff. I really just need to throw a lot of stuff out but for someway I just convince myself that it has sentimental value to me and hang on to it. Usually later down the line I end up throwing it away or donating it.

My family is all going on vacation tomorrow for two weeks. I'm left here to take care of the house and the cat. Me and the cat are going to be best friends once the two weeks are over, haha. I am sort of looking forward to the empty house... more cleaning and I can actually sit down and focus on tasks with no distractions.

By the way I was able to get 30 items for the food bank donation at work... for less than $20. I was only one out of 4 people to bring food in. I knew it would end up like that. Not that I was keeping score or anything, I actually really enjoy these types of community action projects. The next community action project is back-to-school supplies for underpriviledged kids in our local area. I can't wait for that! I love shopping for school supplies that is so much fun!

Next week I'm volunteering at this event serving food, helping with setup and clean up. I'm not quite sure what organization it's benefiting, I did at one point know, I just forgot. I know the proceeds from the event are going towards helping children.



And as far as financial update... Still no credit card debt! WOO HOO! I'm staying strong. I think as I'm trying to build back up my savings I'm going to put some of that money towards my IRA... at least that way I can get closer to my goal of maxing out 2008 contribution.

That's pretty much it. I'll be back in a couple of days to post end of June Results. (ooOOOoooo scary thought... June is almost over) yikes! Time flies!

As I think about yesterday, I'm thinking that I was a bit harsh on my friend/co-worker.
We got into it yesterday about some things. She's my brother's age, two years younger than me, I just now realize that I sort of treat her like a younger sibling.

I was getting annoyed yesterday, because she asked me for a ride home from work. (that I don't mind because she's on the way, not really... but it's not that far.)But then... once we got into my car she wanted me to drive to some fast-food place so that she could get food... (it was around 11pm). The one she wanted was not in the direction I was headed. So I firmed stated "no" and that she needs to pick some place on the way, because I'm not driving all around the creation wasting gas. She got mad at me. I know it sound really petty, but I was annoyed at the fact that I had a conversation earlier in the day that I was trying to cut back on my driving to save on gas, so for her to forget about that and not understand, I just don't get it. I told her that she would understand once she got a car and started paying for her own gas.

I know this sounds really selfish of me, but I like it when I get off of work at different times that way I dont have to worry about giving rides home. I mean every now and then I don't mind, but when it becomes often like almost every shift, that's where I draw the line, because they aren't offering gas money and I'm not asking for it. So it's better that I don't give rides home... that way it's just a straight 7 minute drive home with no detours. I'm not a taxi.

So, I just got back from San Francisco. I love that city.

Anyways... just ONE of the many highlights of my trip was when I spent the day in the city by myself. I was a little hesitant about it. I went the day before with my aunt who is from the area. So I decided the next day I would go by myself and go exploring. Anyway I was standing in line to buy a day pass for the Cable Car. $11 for an All Day Pass. This couple came right up to me and gave me both of their All Day Passes for FREE. They said that they were done for the day and didn't need them anymore and that I should use it and I should give the other one to someone that I thought was nice. I almost fainted. I thanked them so much for being so kind, not that I really needed the free tickets, but I was just shocked of their kindness. I thanked them plenty. So I rode of the Cable Car, my round trip. I was done with all my riding by 3pm. So... I stood around waiting to give the two tickets to two people that I thought would enjoy them. I found these two ladies. One had a tour guide book in her hand. So I gave the two tickets to them, because they were like me just visiting the city. I hope they had a nice trip like I did!!!

I feel like I'm on a lucky streak right now, too many lucky occasions to explain. But anyways, I feel as though I want to give back for being so blessed right now. My job is holding a food drive for the local food bank. Tomorrow I'm going to go to the store and see what I get get for $20 to for the food drive!!! All about paying it forward right?