June Goal Wrap-Up

It's time to review my June goals.

Goal #1: $50 on Entertainment

Obviously I didn't make this goal, spending $93.65 on entertainment. One of the reasons I went so far over is I redefined what 'entertainment' means. I used to have a separate category for going out, but I decided to combine it with entertainment. Because really, isn't that what going out is?

Goal #2: Continue Running

I did great with this one! And in fact, today is the official start of my marathon training!

Goal #3: $100 on Dining

Failed. I spent $165.02.

Goal #4: Finish 40 inches of the blanket I'm making

35 inches, 5 inches short. =( I think I may finish those 5 inches tonight so I can officially make this goal!

Goal #5: $150 on Groceries

$129.74!!

Goal #6: Think seriously about participating in a triathlon with Team in Training

I've decided to wait on the triathlon and just focus on finishing the marathon. One thing at a time. =)

Not As Well As I Thought

I forgot to add movie tickets I bought this weekend into my budget. So instead of $7 I'm now $30 over budget. Not great, but still better than I have been doing. I keep a little padding in my checking account that will cover this, so I won't have to touch savings. At least I can be thankful for this.

Here is how I spent my money compared to last month:

                              May                 June

Clothes:               $143.44           $14.50

Computer:           $19.90              $0

Dining:                 $21.63              $165.02

Donation:            $50.00             $25.00

Entertainment:  $187.96            $93.65

Fees:                    $2.95                 $0

Gifts:                    $106.16            $42.47

Groceries:           $92.11               $129.74

Health:                $5.0                   $20.00

Hobbies:             $32.44               $0

Household:         $24.63              $30.89

Media:                 $0                      $0

Personal Care:   $12.54                $54.16

Sports/Fitness: $0                      $0

Transportation: $68.50              $134.75

Total:                   $767.26            $710.18

I'm pretty happy I spent less this month, now I just have to get my spending under $700. 

A Month Wraps Up…

Can you believe June is basically over? July starts tomorrow which means there are only two months left of the summer! I’m going to try and enjoy each and everyday, because it always goes by way too quickly.
So how did I do this month? Did I come under budget like I hoped? Sadly, no. But for once I’m only over budget by $7. I’m actually very proud of this since the past few months I’ve gone over budget by an average of $50.

I don’t have my budget with me right now so I can’t give you a breakdown of what I’ve spend where, but I will give you one tonight.

Target Date Retirement Funds

What do you think about target date retirement funds? Do you invest in them? I do, and I always assumed they were an easy way to invest for retirement. However, now I'm not so sure.

My doubts started when I read CNN Money's interview with Suze Orman:

Q. I'm surprised you don't like target-date retirement funds, which I've always
thought of as a simple solution for people who want to leave the investing to a pro.
A. Target funds automatically take money out of your stock funds and add it to bond funds just because you're getting older. Give me a break! You should invest in bonds only when interest rates are going down. But target funds base all their decisions on one factor: your age.

This led me to a little google research where I came across an article from bankrate.com.

...too often, employees don't use target date funds properly, and you have to wonder whether one fund can really be appropriate for everyone who retires in a given year.

Tim Swartley, of the trust department at Univest Corporation in Souderton, Pa., cautions that the asset allocation of a particular fund won't suit the risk tolerance of all individuals who plan to retire in that year...

Another potential problem is that employees aren't given enough information
regarding the philosophy behind target date funds and how they should invest
their money.

Now I'm beginning to wonder if this is the right place for me to keep my money. At this point in my life I want to be very aggressive. I'm okay with having all (or almost all) of my retirement savings in stocks since I won't be touching this money for a LONG time. I think the first step is for me to find out what exactly is going on in my target fund and then go from there.

How do you feel about target-date retirement funds?

Foreclosures

Last night I watched a heartbreaking story on nbc nightly news about foreclosures. What is happening with subprime mortgages is upsetting enough. However it turns out that many people have had to give up there pets as well as there houses. You can watch the segment here. Click on "As foreclosures rise, more pets left homeless".

Marathon Training

I ran my first marathon the same year I started graduate school. The decision to train for one was made on a lark. I had just moved to a new city and was getting to know a new roommate (who would soon become one of my best friends) and was feeling a little lost. Part of it, I was soon to realize, was because I had never been in school and not participated on a sports team. So when I saw an advertisement for a marathon training program where you raised money for a cause I believed in I got excited. First I convinced my roommate to join me, and then jumped in. Mind you, before this I had never even run in a 5k, and in fact HATED running.


The journey of those next 4 months was intense. I learned to slow down, eat while running, how to deal with losing my toenails, and eventually learned to LOVE running. I also further developed skills such as, mental toughness, focusing on my goals, learning to deal with the ups and downs, and dedication. As I'm preparing to start training for another marathon it strikes me how much personal finance is similar to running a marathon.


1. Mental toughness. I'm convinced running a marathon (especially your first) is 10% skill and 90% mental. You have to convince yourself you can do it, or you will never cross that finish line. Personal finance is similar, you will never change your bad habits or keep the good ones without being mentally ready. Just as your brain is what keeps you going at mile 21, it also keeps you saving money when temptations to splurge are all around you.

2. It is all about goals. - Training for a marathon is all about focusing on your goal. Times will get tough, but just because you have a bad day doesn't you stop all together. And we all know how much personal finance is about focusing on our goals


3. There will be ups and downs. - When you are training for a marathon you are running a lot. You have awesome runs where you feel strong and amazing, but soon after you may have a run that makes you want to crawl in your bed and never get out. You may be down and end up skipping a few days. But, just as we do when we spend too freely, you pick yourself up and get back to training. One bad run doesn't doesn't ruin everything. And one (or three) bad days of spending doesn't change or ruin our personal finance goals. Not if we are focused on our goals that is. =)


4. Dedication. - To run a marathon you have to be dedicated to months of training. To be smart with our money that dedication can never go away.


Finally, nothing feels better then crossing that finish line. And as I'm sure you will agree it feels awesome to reach a pf goal!

Weekend Recap

Thanks to my mom and my boyfriend I managed to have a pretty inexpensive weekend. On Friday night bf and I picked up pizza and went to see my mom. We had a good time with my mom and sister (my dad's traveling) eating pizza and hanging out. My mom liked the gift we gave her, an asparagus cooker with matching tongs and plate. (The asparagus cooker was exactly what she asked for...we added the extras.) And my sister bought the small carval cake. Total amount spent $28.62.

The next day we had to drive my sister and her friend to the airport, but because of a delay we didn't end up leaving until later then planned and didn't get home until 4. My mom and I did have time to take the dogs to the park, which is always fun. That night we went to go see Get Smart. Very very funny. If you are a die hard fan of the original you might be disappointed because Maxwell Smart is a different character. But I enjoyed it, he is still very funny and definitely worth seeing. My mom treated me, so that was nice. 

Sunday I picked up a ring that was getting re-sized. My bf bought it for me for Christmas and we finally got around to fixing it. Thanks to splitting it with bf it only cost $22.39. 

Overall it was a good weekend. Thanks to bf again I only spent money on one of my train tickets bringing my total amount spent for the weekend to: $63.26. Only slightly over the $60 I wanted to send. And, best news of all I still have $20 a day for the rest of the month!

I'm feeling pretty good about actually having money left over in my budget. I will probably have to go to the grocery store one more time, and I need to pick up some lotion, but besides that I don't really have any expenses coming up either. 

This Weekend

Today is my mother's birthday so I'm heading out to CT for the weekend. I'm hoping it will be a cheap weekend, but there are obviously going to be some costs because it's her birthday.

My sister is leaving to go out of the country tomorrow so tonight will be hectic with packing and all that good stuff, so we are going to play the birthday low key. And we already bought her gift so I won't have to worry about that.

I'll have to buy my train tickets a little over $20, my sister and I will split costs of take out and a small carvel cake (hopefully no more than $20 per person). And tomorrow my mom and I will go see Get Smart, for two tickets that should cost me about $20.

That's $60 right there. It's amazing how easy it is to spend $60. Hopefully I won't spend more than that.

Work Boots Website

Are you looking for work boots or work shoes? If so you should definitely check out this website. The brands they have include Converse, Cocrocran, Bellevile, Bates, Rocky, Magnum and Wolverine. So there are a lot of choices and all good brands. There is also free ground shipping on orders over $50. I love free shipping. Check it out!

If I Had Money To Burn

I would definitely buy the old Get Smart dvds. (Not the new movie, though I will be seeing it.) 

When I was little I loved Get Smart. I was a dedicated Nick at Night watcher and it was by far my favorite. I've been waiting for the tv dvds to come out for a long time, and about a year ago they did!

Sadly they are not cheap. It is 25 dvds for $199.95. That comes to only $7.99 a dvd, but still way over my price limit.