Chicky Finance: January 2008

Have a spend NOTHING day

Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 comments (4)

Today is the choosen day..It is my "Have a spend NOTHING day". Yep you've heard it right..Today I am not going to spend even a dollar..How? Work 8 to 5, eat lunch at home, go to home right after work and cook diner with the things I already have at home..I hope I don't get depress tomorrow and spend twice as much..

Last couple days I've been trying to come up with things to generate extra income. I came up with the list below;

1-List some of my books on Half.com

2-When I was at college I was a store manager for a retailer and my boss was super happy with my work ethic so I decided to call him up and suggest that I can do some accounting work for him. He was pleased with my offer so for $200, I will spend 2hrs per month to put his store's books together..

Chicky

Grocery and something else...

Posted on Friday, January 25, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Spending

Yesterday I went to Trader Joe's for my grocery..I only bought couple of things, damage $16.85..What is the average grocery shopping should cost for 2 people, lets say for a week? I'd like to buy healthy things, just because I want to pay less does not mean I will buy $1.00 frozen food for diner.. I also stopped by Target last night, I still don't know why I went there..Damage: $24.00 and I really regret that shopping, in fact when I got home I decided to take them back to Target..So tonight I am returning them back to where they came from.

BTW, as you know I dont have any cards anymore, therefore whenever I charge something on my debit, it effects my monthly budget.

I am just so melancholic...

Chicky

Trying to Reduce Fix Expenses

Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 comments (1)
Labels: Budget, Saving

I am a newlywed..That means my husband and I've not had a chance to combine our income yet. Together we make a little over $150K..We have no student loan and only 1 car payment which is mine. He takes care almost %90 of our house, utility expenses. I came up with a list that has all of my fix expenses per month;

Actual:
-Cable $70
-Gym for two $60
-Car Payment $700

-Cell Phone $80

-Gas $200
-Netflix $8.95
-Hair $85
-Grocery $300 includes my lunch at work
Total: 1,503

Projected
-Cable $70
-Cell Phone $40 ( I'm going to lower the plan I have)
-Gym 0 (Cancelling gym working out outdoor)
-Car Payment $700 (Planning to increase this amount)
-Gas $200
-Netflix 8.95 (only luxury I have)
-Hair $85 (instead going every 4 weeks I will go every 7 weeks
-Grocery $300 includes
Total: 1,363

That leaves my pocket quite a bit of cash every month to pay off my CCs to be exact around $2000 which I can put towards CCs..Who knows perhaps I can get rid of my debt within a year! What do you think?

Small Financial Resolutions

Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Goals

There are 3 easy financial resolution in 2008 that I want to make them habit;

1- No New Credit Card Debt..Not even a dollar! That's why I cut all of my credit cards.If you want to learn how to cut your credit card here is the link http://www.wikihow.com/Cut-Credit-Card-Debt :)
2-Have a spend nothing day every week. This is going to be hard.
3-Find $100 every month..Maybe working longer hours, doing some odd jobs or start making money online..
4-Open Roth IRA account and contribute as much as I can. First I need to educate myself about this subject.

Dave Ramsey: The Total Money Make Over

Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 comments (5)
Labels: Must See

According to Dave Ramsey's book first I need to save $1,000 for EF..He mentions that I need save this within a month or so, he also says; in order to reach this goal I should save, work, do whatever it takes and then focus on snowball effect of debt reduction. Although most snowball reduction focuses on interest rate, Dave Ramsey's plan suggests that I should focus on the smallest amount..Different approach...

Here is my plan mix with Ramsey's plan for February;

Pay Car loan $700
Pay off citi card balance :$500 (Ramsey rule: pay it off)
Pay Wells Fargo Loan min requirement ($15,000 balance): $600
Pay Wells Fargo Credit Card (balance: $2,000): $600
Pay min payment for rest of my CC: around $300
Pay Quicken (balance $1,000): $500
Put $500 towards EF

So my plan is for February to put towards debt: $3,200

Save:$500

By the way, I've cut all of my credit cards...Yep really ALL of them. Now I only have my debit card. For people who decide to cut their CC, I have only one suggestion: Make a copy of every credit card you have (back and front) and nicely file them together.

Free Lunch at Borders Book Store

Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Saving

Today I was supposed to meet with my friend in Beverly Hills. However, I don't want to

spend money on silly things that's why I decided to cancel the plan. Instead I went to Borders and got free lunch and 2 free books :) How?

Here is how;

I received an e-mail coupon for $5 from Borders, in addition I got Complimentary drink coupon, so I went to Borders down the street, got my spinach cheese sandwich and non-fat latte for absolutely FREE. I also had 2 books at home that I bought couple months ago but never had a chance to read them, so I took them for exchange with something I would be more interested in reading. ( I got "The proper care & feeding marriage" and "Mortgage Secrets All Browers Must Learn") At the end of day I had 2 free books and free lunch. If I were to pay for these books, I would normally end up spending $43. Good deal isn't it? :)

Have a good weekend and free shopping!

Movie: Maxed Out

Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Must See

Yesterday I watched Maxed Out which was recomended by mydebtblog.com . It was such an eye opener for me. It basically talks about if we spend the way we spend currently as nation and individual, we will be paying back our debt until we DIE and beyond..It is kind of sad to watch but at the same time as I said earlier, it is an eye opener. You Must See!

ps: Lunch expense today is $2.99

I Hate Making Car Payments!

Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Loans

I Hate Making Car Payments! But I love my car.. My GTO is going to cost me around $36,000 and I am down to $23K.. 17th of every month I must make $700 car payment soooo sad :( But

you know what? Once I am done, I'm going to keep it for 15yrs! I am so determined I don't care if I have a baby in next 5 yrs, I will still use my sport car and I'm not going to beg for SUV, instead; I just will be hot m.o.m.m.y because as I said I just HATE making car payments...By the way, starting from March I will be making $1,000 towards car loan instead of $700 that way I can get rid of this loan in 2 yrs vs 3yrs.

I am Determined to Save Money on Lunch at Work

Posted on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 comments (2)
Labels: Saving

I'm so frustrated because I spend so much money on lunch time at work..When I first started my current job around 6 months ago, I was so happy because suddenly I had money that I never had before..So mistakenly what I did is every day I went out lunch spend $10 and then stoped by shopping center near my work to see if anything interested me. I ended up spending $20, 30, 40 sometime.

Since a couple of weeks I've been reading many PF blogs and I noticed that my behaviour has been changing. I don't go to shopping center during my lunch anymore..As far as bringing food from home hmmm.. I have such a busy schedule that I can not really prepare my lunch bag at home..I've tried and ended up forgetting my lunch bag at home which was very frustrating. I bring diet cokes, and snack from home.

And I think I have a better solution for my lunch. I started going subway, getting $2.99 salad or sandwich and coming straight back to my office. That means I spend only $3.00 for lunch everyday. Total for a month my lunch expense should be only $60.00..That's perfect! Let's see if I can keep up with my plan.

I can "entertain" myself for FREE

Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Saving

Yesterday I was thinking about the ways I can entertain myself for free ( when I say free, it also includes things I have been already paying mothly bases such as monthly fee for gym). The list is, in fact, much longer than I thought so I decided to share with you;

1-Read book ( I am such a bookworm so this option appeals me alot )

2-Run, play frisbee with my dog

3-Teach new tricks to my dog

4-Play tennis

5-Go to Gym (I pay $29.00 every month regardless)

6-Clean house

7-Cook meal

8-Go to Borders bookstore and read as many magazines I want

9-Chat with mom (she lives in Europe) by using SKYPE which is free

10-Study for CPA exam

11-Wash the car ( saves me $20.00)

12-Wax the car (saves me alot)

See many things to do right? Instead of going shopping and spending money I don't really have.

How To save in Starbuck?

Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Saving

I love Starbucks especially the one near by my home.. Seems like I can get more things done there...Anyways girls and boys Starbucks is expensive! There is no way you can save money if you love starbucks UNLESS you follow my golden rules;

Here it goes;

1. Always order "Tall", don't worry it is going to satisfy you as much as "grande" does

2. Don't buy pastries or food they are not only overpriced also too much calorie

3. What about regular coffee or tea instead of Grande gingerbread latte with whipcream? It is going to save you a couple of bucks every time...ps: Regular coffee only 5 calories vs latte,mocca 200-400 calories

Believe me you will still enjoy your coffee, conversation with your friend and get done as much work!

Welcome 2008!

Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 comments (1)
Labels: Goals

2008...I believe this year will bring me happiness more than ever...Reasons? So many.. I have goals, motivation and right attitute! What else do I need?

Goals;

Reduce debt
Run 5K
Become better at Tap dancing
Become better at skijoring

and many more...

In this blog I will focus on reducing debt as you can imagine...What kind of challenges women face when it comes to saving money? Why are we target for all advertisers to consume more and more?Why our weaknesses are being detected and targeted by big retailers?Those are some questions I will ask mysef time to time and try to alter my behaviour when it comes to consuming and spending more money than I can really afford..