New Series - Your Stories

The other day I received an email from one of my readers letting me know about this amazing deal he found. While I was excited for him, it also got me thinking about how I can showcase this on my blog. So, I've decided to start a new series called Your Stories. Now this series will completely depend on my readers, and if all my readers have their own blogs, well then welcome to the first and only reader's stories. (Though, they can always guest post!). If I have any readers who don't have their own blog and want to submit a post please do so! Just email me at alwaystheplanner (at) gmail (dot) com. I promise to protect your anonymity, unless you ask me otherwise.

So without further ado...

Eating Out

This reader of mine, let's call him Joe, decided he wanted to take his girlfriend out to eat. Like most people, he has been on a saving money kick. So he decided to shop around and came across the website restaurant.com. They sell gift certificates for participating restaurants at a very good discount. He decided to go ahead and buy two gift certificates. This it itself is a successful personal finance story, but Joe decided to take it one step further. I'll let him tell you in his own words (I've taken out some personal details).

I scored a $25 certificate for $2. Yes, $2. The normal price is $10, but I found an online code that brought the price to $2. I also bought a $25 GC for $2. There are some restrictions, like having to get a certain amount of food, and for Restaurant 1 they tack on the gratuity to the prediscounted price.

So having only ever used one restaurant.com gift certificate before I asked him to tell me how it went:

Great success! $2 got us a $25 credit towards our meal. The waiter knew exactly what it was and took it no questions asked.

Bam!!

So my friends, if you haven't already checked out restaurant.com it might not be such a bad idea. =)

iPhone Lust

Lately I have had a serious case of iphone lust. In fact, it has been so bad that if it weren't for my boyfriend and sister I would already have one, whatever the costs. There are so many reasons I want one, but the biggest is that I believe it will help me better organize my increasingly busy life. I even found out I can get a discount through my place of work, which would mean that after the initial costs it would only be $25 more a month than I currently spend on my phone.

Luckily, I've come to my senses about needed an iphone this very minute. Though I still really really want one, and I still plan on getting one, the key word here being "plan".

It is not going to be cheap for me to get an iphone and before I can get one I need to have the money in the bank to pay for all the initial cost:

$199.99 - iphone

$175 - canceling other wireless service

$36 - initiation fee

For a total whooping amount of $410.99. How much do I have that I can use towards this at the moment? $117. Therefore, I need to save $294 before I can get an iphone. I currently put $75 towards my slush fund (that will fund my iphone) a month. This means 4 more months until I can get an iphone, unless I figure out how to save more money towards this cost. I just got an $80 reimbursement from my flexible spending plan that I'm seriously considering putting into this fund. It would mean I could get the iphone in January instead of February.

Here is where my competing goals come into play. I'm also focusing on saving for travel at the moment and a big part of me thinks that $80 needs to go into my travel fund, which is paltry at the moment.

Sigh, decisions...

What would you do?

photo by Brian Wilson

A Constant Struggle

I find that personal finance never gets easy. It is a constant back and forth as you try to figure out what works best for you. Sometimes it makes sense to focus on saving, other times to pay down debt. And when you get to your near perfect place and your emergency savings is completely funded, something always happens. The next thing you know you are focusing on building your savings back up because there actually was an emergency.

It just seems that whenever I'm doing well, things happen that put me back. Either it is my own desire to get new and shiny things (i.e. the iphone). Or, everything just seems to break at once, like when my camera, phone and glasses all broke within two months of each other.

It is in this frustration that back and forth causes, where it is easy to think - what's the point. This is the most important time to remind yourself that it is going to be okay. The bigger goals of financial security are worth it. Eventually life will get easier, but only if you stick to your financial plan. I also believe that during these ups and downs it is worth it to rethink your priorities. For example, even though I'm not going to make my savings goal this year, I'm focusing on beefing up my travel fund. Because, when it comes down to it, if I don't have enough money in my travel savings before this summer, I'll end up pulling from my emergency fund to cover the costs. For me, that is never a good idea.

Frustration happens, you just can't let it take over.

picture by remuz [Jack The Ripper]

$20

I can pat myself on the back again. I actually made this $20 challenge week. I spent no money until last night where I spent exactly $20 on pizza and beer.

I know Friday isn't technically over yet, but since I'm running a road race early tomorrow morning and I have a paper to finish and a midterm to study for I can guarantee I'm not going to spend money tonight.

I also want to apologize for not posting much lately. My life is going to return to what counts as normal for me after the end of this week and I'll have more time to both read and comment on my favorite blogs and actually write some posts!

Till then folks...

An Update

Last week was not a good one for money - my $20 weekly challenge was a total fail. I don't have my budget with me so I can't tell you exact numbers, but after $20 for a co-pay, $20 at a grocery store, $27 for dinner with a friend, $5 for lunch it was my worst week ever!

I have to be really careful with the money I have left it make it last the next two weeks so I'm going to be more serious about keeping to my $20 limit this week.

I spent my entire weekend doing work so today my brain feels like mush. Definitely not good for a Monday. Sadly, I didn't get everything done that I wanted too. It was good to learn that things took me a lot longer to do then I expected. At least knowing this will help me plan better for the future.

So I didn't end up doing any reward shopping (though I did make it to Trader Joes). I've decided to table my shopping for a bit. Yes there are things I still really really want, but now that I have a winter coat and a good pair of gloves I don't need any of them. I'll be posting again soon about planning for the holiday season.

To Blackberry or iPhone

As I often talk about on this blog, my life has gotten significantly more busy since I started school, especially since my job itself has gotten busier than usual. So even though I had to get a new phone recently (my completely died), I've been debating investing in a blackberry or iphone. I'm really beginning to think the extra cost each month would be worth it.

So here are my issues:

• I would either have to pay a cancellation fee to get out of my current provider if I wanted an iphone, or
• If I got a blackberry with my current provider, I would have to pay full price.

Either way it looks like it would be expensive. There are guides online that teach you how to get out of a contract without paying the fee and I could always ask at&t to do it, but there is no guarantee that any of that is going to work. I have no idea how to get a new phone at a discount if I just got a new phone.

Suggestions anyone?

Photo by William Hook

I Love Fall

Even though I'm feeling very busy, I also feel like I want to go out and do fall things! I want to go apple picking, carve a pumpkin, make this pumpkin butter!

Even though fall means the end of summer, I love it. The weather is great, the colors on the trees are amazing, and I get to pull out and wear some of my cold weather clothes.

One of the drawbacks of Fall is that is always makes me want to go shopping. I want stock up on sweaters, skirts and boots. This is where being busy is a good thing. I don't have time to browse the stores, and there is always something else I could be doing besides spending my money. To keep myself from spending like crazy this fall, I'm using the wish list I created as guidelines to what I can spend my money on.

Thanks to my mom and a target gift card I've already gotten my winter coat, one sweater dress, and a pair of really good gloves. Next on my list are a pair of camel colored flat boots and a few more winter skirts/dresses (and tights to wear with them). Luckily, I still have a $100 rebate card from buying my phone I can use for some of these purchases.

I've decided to use shopping as a reward for getting my work done this weekend. If I can get to the point where I have good drafts of everything I have due in the next two weeks then I can spend a few hours shopping. If the urgency of needing to get stuff done doesn't motivate me, hopefully this will!

photo by Grant MacDonald

Feeling the Stress

Just a warning this post rambles a bit.

So far balancing school and work has gone really well. Yes I'm very busy with both, but I haven't felt overwhelmed. This month is slightly different. While I'm not feeling overwhelmed, I am feeling stressed. I have a lot due this month, more than I do at the end of the school year. I'm also working on some big projects at work, so I feel busy all the time. I'm worried about finding the time to get everything done, and done well.

Luckily I don't have any plans this weekend. So now I just have to make sure I get things done. I've been toying with the idea of planning my Saturday like it is a work day. I'd get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, but instead of commuting to work I would lock myself in our home office and not take a real break again until lunch. I'm contemplating this because sometimes I surprise myself at how much I can get done in one day at work. I just can't decide if this will stress me out more or make things easier. I guess the only way to really know is to try.

A Quick Update

Since I've started three different posts this weekend and haven't found the time to finish one I thought I would give you a quick update now and work on a longer post this weekend.

I've decided to focus my student loan energy on the smaller loan. I just think the psychological benefits outweigh everything else and during a time where I feel strapped for cash it will be nice to be making progress towards something!

I've actually done a great job on my $20 a week challenge. Here is my spending:

• $3 on hot chocolate from the grocery store (so I won't buy a $2 hot chocolate form dunkin donuts every other day)
• $6 on pizza
• $1 at the vending machine
• $2.50 on soup for lunch today

$12.50! I even have a little splurging room if I want to buy something else tonight. Since I plan on doing some work and then relaxing I doubt I'll go over $20.

My Student Loans

As October began I realized that one of my student loan payments hadn't been deducted from my checking account. I pay one manually and the larger payment is done automatically. A little time spend searching and I realized that both my loans had gone into deferment since I started school. I had not planned on deferring my loans while I was in school, but this opportunity got me thinking...

I currently pay $166 towards one of my student loans and $65 towards the other. The larger payment goes towards a balance of $12,332 and the smaller towards $2078. In a lot of ways the smaller one annoys me the most. I think it is because I know I could pull from my savings and pay it all off at once, however I don't want to pull from my savings.

So, if I concentrate on the smaller loan (only paying the interest on the larger loan) I could put $20o towards it every month. I would use the extra $30 towards the interest on the other loan, and would pay anything over that out of my $700 monthly spending money budget. By focusing on my smaller loan I could pay it off in a year! While it might not make a difference in the long run I'm really beginning to think the psychological benefit of doing this would be huge. I would just feel so good having paid it off because then I could focus on my larger loan. Plus it would be one less payment to make every month.

I haven't decided if I'm definitely going to do this yet, but I'm heavily leaning towards it.

Goals & Another Small Challenge

Since my last small challenge was so successful I've decided to give myself another one, but this time roll it into my monthly goals. So here they are:

1. Keep the Balance - This was a goal last month as well. This month is going to be harder since I have a lot of work due for school. It means I'm going to need to be disciplined when I'm doing work and plan ahead of time.

2. Small Challenge of the Month - I'm challenging myself to only spend $20 from Monday to Friday each week this month. To clarify, this means each week I get $20 to spend each week, not $20 for the whole month. I imagine this is going to be hard, but considering this is a five weekend month, it will also be vital in helping me with goal #3.

3. Stay at or under Budget - Self-explanatory.

4. Keep up my Running - I need to start running in the morning so I can get in at least 3 runs a week. I'm running a 10k at the end of the month so this is non-negotiable.

Now in spirit of goal #1 I'm going to get back to work!

Picture by iChris

My Wish List

As always, during a time that I'm trying to save as much as possible the list of things I want seems to be growing. Here is my wish list of things I would buy if I had a big chuck of change to spend.

• A New Winter Coat - I could probably get by with the one I have, but I would really like a nice coat that will last me a while.
• Really Warm Gloves - I can argue this is a necessity because my fingers go numb so easily. My gloves from last year have been completely warn through and the other pairs I have are not warm enough.
• A Pair of Tom's Shoes - Either these or these.
• Fix My Ipod - The sound on my ipod touch broke and it is $180 to get it replaced.
• eGo Helium Portable Hard Drive for a Mac
• A New Camera - My camera broke at the beginning of the summer. In a perfect world I would get this one (with a touch screen)! But in all honestly I would be thrilled to have this one (in green) or this one. I consider this a necessity, though technically it probably isn't.
• A Pair of Flat to Low-Heeled Camel Toned High Boots. Does anyone have any suggestions?
• A Couple New Winter Skirts for Work - I have a $50 Target gift card that I'm hoping I can use for this purchase.

Now that is a list of wants.

September Goal Update

I actually had goals in September. The first time in a very long time I've had monthly goals.

So how did I do?

1. Keep the Balance

I feel really good about this one. I wasn't overwhelmed and I still have some time to relax. Granted I'm incredibly busy at work and with school, but overall I'm doing well. I even think I could take a third class without too much more stress!

2. Stay within budget

I don't have the numbers in front on my right now, but I think I only slightly went over budget, maybe by $50 or so?. This doesn't count a birthday gift I bought for my boyfriend or a bridesmaid dress I purchased. If I want to be honest and count those then I'm way over budget.

3. Make a list of all the things I need/want to buy and go from there.

So I did this today. Does that count? I'm actually going to post this list so you can see my personal wish list (and hopefully help me decide what I can do without).

It felt good to have goals this month, so I'm going to continue this. October monthly goals coming soon...