Apparently attempting to go to bed at 6:30 is a bad Idea...

So here I am at 11:30 wide awake.

I figured I would give you an update on my monthly goals while I'm up.

Here they go :

-No Spend Month. Outside our fixed bills and a few other things listed here, we will not be spending any extra cash.
This has been going great! I have slipped up a few times, but not nearly as many  as I had anticipated.
Overall I am proud. Only a little over a week left!

-Read atleast one book
One of my goals for 2012 is to read one book a month, here's to hoping I get off on the right foot.
Finished my book in one night!
So Proud.

-Set aside $400.00 for our move
This is a big amount, but I we only have two more months and so I really NEED to set atleast
$400 aside.
1-08-12 : $20.00
1-12-12:  $65.00
1-13-12:  $80.00
1-14-12:  $75.00
1-21-12: $131.00
1-22-12: $60.00
Total: $431.00
Crossed this one off early! And we are still adding to it.


-Contribute daily to our sealed pot
We started this in December, and my Pot is already getting heavy! So far so good, I hope we can keep it up!
Piece of cake. I love throwing money into my pot!


-Start maintenence on Austons car
Auston's car is going to need a few things done before it will be able to make the 1,500 mile drive up to NH.
Change of plans.
Austons car is staying here until July, it broke :( and repairs are to much.
- Drink 64 ounces - roughly 6 glasses - of water a day.
I don't drink enough water. My day is full of milk, and tea, and soda. The thing is - I LOVE WATER. I just don't drink enough of it.
Well now!
Apparently I don't drink 6 glasses of anything daily. Although, I have increased my water intake by atleast double what it was before hand.
Actually - I think I'll go get a glass right now.

And there you have it folks. My Monthly goals update.

Weekly Spending Breakdown.

What a week!
I only had 2 No-Spend days, which isn't cool!
Here's how our spending went:

CAR SAVINGS
2012-01-20	Car Fund	$5.00
TOTAL FOR CAR SAVINGS		$5.00
CLOTHING
2012-01-21	Socks	$1.07
TOTAL FOR CLOTHING		$1.07
EATING OUT
2012-01-19	Breakfast	$3.21
2012-01-21	Burger King	$10.67
TOTAL FOR EATING OUT		$13.88
GAS
2012-01-17	Gas	$7.00
2012-01-20	Gas	$27.84
TOTAL FOR GAS		$34.84
GIFT
2012-01-17	Valentines day Cards	$2.50
TOTAL FOR GIFT		$2.50
GROCERIES
2012-01-16	Grocery Trip	$15.00
TOTAL FOR GROCERIES		$15.00
HEALTH
2012-01-21	Austons Meds	$7.84
TOTAL FOR HEALTH		$7.84
HOUSEHOLD ITEMS
2012-01-16	Cleaning products	$25.00
2012-01-17	Paint Supplies	$17.50
TOTAL FOR HOUSEHOLD ITEMS		$42.50
TOTAL		$122.63

Car Savings : Right on track, hopefully after the move we can put more towards this each week.

Clothing : Its not exactly clothing, its a band I have to wear to cover my tattoo's at work (I make mine out of socks) I lost my last one, so I had to buy new socks to make a new one!

Eating out : Ouch, one morning I woke up to late to eat at home, so I ran through a local place for something quick before work. Then today Auston and I were running around doing errands, and decided we were starving, and our savings are right on track, so we splurged a little.

Gas : Can you believe it, I filled my tank! If you haven't noticed before, I usually only put $10.00 in at a time. Its hard when you live on tips, you don't know how much you are going to make the next day, so you don't want to waste it all in your gas tank. And yes - $27.00 does fill my 9 gallon tank.

Gift: I had Little M with me this week when we were shopping for cleaning supplies, and she wanted to get M and my stepmom Valentines day cards. So I let her choose from the $1.00 section.

Groceries : Well, a girls gotta eat! This was just a small trip though.

Health : Auston is on a lot of meds for his migranes, and today one of his prescriptions needed to be picked up.

Household Items : UGH, I didn't realize there was an inspection coming, so we spent a lot of money to make surewe could clean this place from top to bottom, and we needed some paint because the dog has scratched up a few doors. Lovely.

Overall: My spending was higher than I would have liked. But most of it was on items that couldn't wait. So I must be content with where we are.

How did your spending go this week?

6 weeks and counting..

In six weeks we will be loading up our 16" budget truck with all of our worldly possessions.
In Six weeks my dad will be flying down from California to help us drive the big truck. (I'm a chicken)
In six weeks we will be saying goodbye to all of our friends and family down here, and hello to my mom and brothers up there.
In six weeks I will be crying uncontrollably and everyone will finally realize just how scared I really am to make such a drastic change. Though it really is for the better.

IN JUST 6 WEEKS!

I havn't made a move like this in 5 years.

I have it down to a science though, I need 102.33 a week for the next 6 weeks to be able to afford my move.

That is a piece of cake, especially once you factor in my tax return an birthday money.
Plus, of course, when I can I add much more that that.
Just yesterday we were at $106.oo/week

After work tonight hopefully the number will slip to less that $100 a week.

I'll be back later with my weekly spending update.

Enjoy your Saturday :)

If its not one thing its the next!

Auston's car was acting wierd the other day.
Turns out the most likely scenerio is the censors in his car. On top of already having to buy 4 new tires and a couple of other minor things, its not looking like his car is going to be fit for driving 1,500 miles next month. We just don't have that kind of money.
The new plan of action is to leave it down here until July, when Auston and I planned on coming back for a visit anyways. Then in July, once it has been fixed up and all shiny new, we will make the drive.
For now its must stay put.

My poor baby.

My Plan for the Next Five Years ...

In about a month I will be turning 20!
The big Two-Oh. right?

This is Part one Of a Two Part Series. (the next will discuss 25 things I want to do before I am 25)

To me it's a big deal, I have been playing grown up for quite some time now, paying my own bills, managing my money. But it has all been in a day by day basis, with no real plan for the future.
Its always in the back of my mind. I know I SHOULD be saving, I SHOULD have some kind of a plan, but when you're 19 its okay to make mistakes. I am, however, done with living like that. I am the kind of person who needs to know where I am going.
Auston and I have sat down and we have figured out where we want to be in five years.
I have written it down and now I will share it with all of you.
Now of course, five years is a while down the road, and plans may change. But this is a rough idea of the things we hope to accomplish.

My Five Year Plan

20

• Fund my $2,000 emergency fund - A large feat, considering it currently sits at $0.
• Sign up for a Sign Language course
• Start saving for adoption – Start sewing&selling to raise money
• Start a Retirement Plan
• Get married – Small, intimate wedding, filled only with people we truly care about.
• Plan a weekend away for Auston and I (sealed pot money)

21

• Increase Emergency Fund to $4,000
• Continue with learning sign language
• Save $1,000 to Spend New Years Eve in Times square (12/31/13).
• Start adoption process
• Start saving for a down payment on a house. (atleast 3,000)

22

• Increase Emergency Fund to $6,000
• If I wasn't successful in the previous year, continue adoption process.
• Take a vacation out of the country
• Make $40,000/year
• Be consider “proficient” in Sign Language
• Continue saving for a house down payment.(atleast 6,000)

23

• Increase Emergency Fund to $8,000
• Start looking for a house to buy.
• Get something – Anything – published.

24

• Increase Emergency Fund to $10,000
• Start creating my dream bathroom, in whichever house we chose to buy. : )
• Make atleast 3 extra Mortgage payments.

Now, you may notice that I only plan on saving roughly $2,000/year. This is for a couple of reasons 1) so we will have money to do other things with, such as vacations and toys. and 2) so that we can put a good amount towards a downpayment on a house. 3) this doesn't include our retirement plan (as I have yet to decide on one).

I believe saving is extreamly important, but I also think it is important to live, and to have fun with the money you earn. After all, we have no guarentee of tomorrow, what if I were to save and save and save, in hopes of one day living a dream life full of money and things - just to never make it there. I want to live responsibly, but I also want to live in the now. Not in the tomorrow.

How about you, do you have a plan?

Do you think I am saving to little, or just enough?

A Rant About how Exciting it is to Move...

Today we had a Fabulous, Lazy day at home.
It was also a No-Spend Day. :]

A little piece of home <3

As our move gets closer I find myself excited, and impatient. I am so delighted by the changes that are coming our way. Both Financially and in our everyday living.
I will have a stable job, and the air we breath everyday will be fresher.
I will be closer to my mom and brothers and my cost of living will be going down.
I will be able to see the stars at night, and I will be able to swim in the lakes that I grew up in.
I can share with my love the joy of living simply in an area where the nearest large city is still only 109,565 people. Out side our front door currently is a population of just under 10,000 , not to mention the nearest city (which is only a 10 minute drive) that has a population of 821,784.
He can learn the upside to silence, to not having light polutions, to being able to stand out your front door and not see a 6 lane road.
Everywhere I turn I am seeing endless possibilities for happeness, and stability in our lives.

I know, I'm ranting now.
Auston and I just have some amazing plans and I can't wait to see them lived out.
Some time in the next few posts I will let you in on all of the things I hope to accomplish by the time I am 25. I must admit, its an awesome list.


How about you, do you love where you live, Or do you wish you could leave? What is holding you back?

Weekly Money Check-Up

Courtesy Of My Pretty Pennies
1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on rent.

2. Today I am thankful for my day off! This past week has been so incredibly exhausting.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy Cuddled up and watched a movie with my loveyy. 
 4. I will consider this week a success if I pack and move 80% of the house.

5. My purse contains... Purse? What purse? My back pocket contains my Debit Card, My ID, and some cash.

Where will you be 5 years from now?

Next month I will be 20!

I can hardly believe it! Life has been flying ever since graduation, almost two years ago.

Along with everyones 2012 goals, and monthly goals, or weekly goals, and plans to pay off thier debt and homes, I have also seen a couple of other bloggers post a 5 year plan.
Niki Talks about hers here
And Michelle also has hers posted
I haven't made a list like theirs yet, though I really do think I am going to shortly.

Five years from now I will be turning 25! That seems so impossibly far away. Its not though, and I know those years are going to go much faster than I think.
I also know, that I have big dreams, and hopes for the future and if they are not planned out properly, they probably won't happen.

What kind of dreams you might ask?

Well for one, I know I want to get married. Auston and I have been talking about it forever, we can juust never fit it into our budget. How unromantic.
We want to adopt, special needs (blind or deaf probably) preferably. This will take a lot of planning, and reasearch and saving.  (More on this subject matter to come in a future post)
I want to take classes, on something, and maybe go to college. That has never been high on my to-do list, but lately I have been finding things I might like to go for. Finance being one of them.

As you can see, I have a couple of rather large ambitions. I have more to add, but I don't want to ruin my post by giving it away to early...

I know this post is kind of choppy and pieced together, I can't seem to focus tonight.

What do you think? Do you find it helpful to have a long-term plan?

Catching up- Last weeks spending&saving

I have been such an awful blogger these past few days.
The truth is simple, I have been exhausted. Between work, and packing, and Austons brother being in town, and Auston's car breaking down.
Really, I'm still feeling less than enthusiastic, but I figured I'd get on here and show you how well my No-Spending went last week.
I am proud to say that I did even better than I had expected. I was aiming for 4 no-spend days and I wound up with 5! I can't remember the last time that happened.
I also added $220 towards my move in March!
I was stoked by how much I was able to put away this weekend.

On the downside...
Last night, on our way to family dinner we noticed Loveyys car was acting up, it wasn't shifting right. So we turned around. Today they took it up to AutoZone, and they told us it had to do with the internal censors.
NOW, all this car talk is greek to me, but it is going to cost around $200 to fix it. OhMyLord. Thankfully, Auston's mom said she would get it fixed for us. I don't know what I would do if we had to pay for that too. I might just break down and cry from all this stress and lack of sleep tonight.
That sound nice.


So here it is, last weeks spending:

BANK FEE
2012-01-10	Cashier's Check Fee	$2.00
TOTAL FOR BANK FEE		$2.00
CAR SAVINGS
2012-01-12	Car Savings	$5.00
TOTAL FOR CAR SAVINGS		$5.00
EATING OUT
2012-01-10	Steak N Shake	$15.28
TOTAL FOR EATING OUT		$15.28
FIXED BILL
2012-01-10	Car insurance renewal	$110.00
2012-01-10	Partial Rent Payment	$300.00
2012-01-12	Electric Bill	$70.00
TOTAL FOR FIXED BILL		$480.00
GROCERIES
2012-01-12	Small Grocery Trip	$8.77
TOTAL FOR GROCERIES		$8.77
TOTAL		$511.05

I hate bank fees! I was charged because my cashiers check was under $500.00 - crap on them! I haev never paid anything at my bank before, because all of my checks are ususally much higher than $500, this was an unpleasant suprise to say the least.

Eating out - I know I wasn't supposed to. Honestly though, I'm not upset. I still managed to put away a good chunk of money and Loveyy and I really had a nice time.

Fixed bills hit me hard this week, but they have to be paid. On the bright side, I have no more bills for the rest of the month! : )

I already explained my grocery trip here. It was just a couple of odds and ends, at a really great price!

All in all, I am really proud of our spending this week.

Also, I am trying to put together a craft swap. I think it would be so much fun!
Go here for details
As of now no one has responded. : [

______________________

And now I shall leave you with this -

 Ellie loves the box!
Annie- Not so much. : )

Paying it Forward - Craft Edition.

I saw something similar to this Idea on Facebook, and I thought it would be perfect for my bloggy community.

On facebook the status said the first five people to comment on the status would get a homeade gift by the end of 2012. Sounds simple enough, you would in theory have almost a whole year to put something together.

So here is how I'm doing it:

I propose we do a swap, that way everyone can participate, and it won't just be me (attempting) to make something awesome for everyone.

• Everyone who follows my blog, and then comments below that they are interested in participating will get two people who they are to craft something special for in 2012. Feel free to sneak around their blogs a bit to find more about them and things they may like.
• The deadline for entering will be January 31. I will be mailing you the person you are gifting for by the end of the 1st week in February.
• Gifts are to be shipped sometime during 2012, hopefully we dont wait ALL THE WAY till December, but hey, if you must you must. Crafting takes time.

I know that not everyone lives in the USA, like I do, and I understand that not everyone wants to pay to ship overseas so Either below, or in a private e-mail, let me know where you are from and where you are willing to ship too.

Once you have decided to join, email me at Ar.Antonis@yahoo.com with your mailing address. (only the person who is crafting for you will know this.)

Feel free to share this on your page, just link back to me, so we can have as much paritcipation as possible.

The more The Merrier :]