April's Come and Gone!

I've been working, and then skipping to the bookstore or Panera or Sbux last month to cram some physics up in my noggin. Most of the time I probably looked like this

 

This month should be a little more hectic, unfortunately, as I'm counting down the days til the MCAT. I'm working less hours, thanks to a flexible job, but that also means that I'm getting less monies! And these monthly expenses aren't getting any cheaper. In addition, spending time studying at a place that sells coffee means that I will buy a cup. In addition to that addition, I've been spending money buying practice tests (running $35 a pop) to mimic the real test. There's about 8 total available. I'm not planning to do all of them, but if I'm feeling brave and do, that's $280 out the window.

Man, studying is expensive! Not only is it costing me job hours, I'm spending money on materials for my brain and stomach. I could probably study at home, but I have such a short attention span. The internet is my enemy (pinterest, reader, etc.).

For April, I managed to do MOST of my goals.

1. Drive slower. Hm, I don't think so. I calculated my mpg and for the two fill-ups I did in April I went from 28.8 mpg to 27.6 mpg. Oh well. Honestly, I wasn't very motivated with this.

2. For my emergency fund, I managed to put away $167. I put an extra $50 to my student loan as well. 

3. And I am on top my study schedule! I revised it though, so I gave myself some leeway.

4. I caught up with a friend I haven't kept in touch with for over a year. I went over to her place, and we talked and caught up, and it was nice. I should do this more often!

5. I haven't started looking for an apartment.

Now Hello May! I'm ready to tackle you with vigor! My goals for this month:

1. Blog more, duh! Writing and tracking my thoughts is such a nice release. I need to practice formulating sentences in some sort of coherent order anyway, since I have to write essays in the test.

2. Stay within budget. I spent very little on eating out last month. $109 to be exact, and that's a whoppin' record for me. However, I spent about $20 on coffee, and only $7 on boba. This month, I'm expecting less from my paychecks and hopefully I won't drown in my budget because it will be really tight.

3. Do an oil change.

4. Check my credit report. I love doing this so it should be easy!

5. Contribute $20 to a brand new CORGI FUND! My boyfriend and I have decided to get a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. They are so adorable. However! No purchase will be made until we create a solid budget to account for all regular and irregular expenses, and we KNOW that we will be able to take care and cherish it for its whole life. I always hear stories of people who found out they aren't able to afford or take care of a dog and so they give it away to a shelter. How traumatizing is that to a pet! My roommate from college did this to a two month old puppy. Actually I ended up taking care of that puppy while she was on spring break, and when I was gone for the weekend she gave it away. Anyway, I want to make sure we're well prepared.

 

Monthly Check-Up and April Goals

It's the last day of March! Let's see how I did for this month..

1. Study everyday for the MCAT.
Fail. I studied most weekdays, but Fridays and Saturdays are my weak spot.

2. Save up at least $500 for emergency fund.
Pass! I saved up $500 and another $500 from my tax refund =)

3. Use apartment amenities.
Nope. Not even a little bit.

4. Stay within budget for eating out.
Fail. I went over my budget of $150 by twenty dollars. If this keeps up I might have to rearrange my budget a little. I really don't want to, so I'll give myself another chance in April for this amount.

5. See where blogging takes me.
So far, so good! I'm getting to know a few people, but I'm not putting a lot of effort into blogging yet. First month is going good and I hope to keep this bicycle rolling!

For April, I have some of the old goals, and some new ones as well! Goal-setting is definitely more fun than goal-keeping.

1. Drive slower.
Most of my driving takes place on the high-way or free-way, and usually when there is no traffic. Instead of going with the flow of fast traffic, I'm going to pace my speed and keep it to the limit (and out of the way of other drivers). This will help with mileage and also, I'm usually not in a rush, so why go Speedy mcSpeederson?

2. Put $300 away for emergency fund.
I'm getting less hours at work now (so I can study more), so saving $300 would be really awesome.

3. Stay on top of my study schedule.
Also one I need to do.

4. Call up an old friend I haven't talked to for awhile, and catch up.
I haven't been very social lately, and it's easy to get stuck with one circle of friends. I've lost touch with a lot of people I was close to, and I need to be more reachable. Plus, it'd be nice to get a break from books and from the apartment.

5. Start looking for an apartment to move into.
Not that our place is bad, but our lease is expiring in a few months, and I'd like to move somewhere where 1. Rent is cheaper, and 2. The car won't be broken into (it wasn't a big deal, but the landlord wasn't very helpful in the situation).

I hope everyone had a great March. I spring cleaned (wanted to say sprung cleaned?) today, and it feels great! The place has a lovely bleach and chemical aroma though but that's okay. All being said though, I'm ready for a new month!

Someone Else's Dollar

Like most people this past weekend, I went to go watch the Hunger Games. Luckily I did not have to wait in line for good seats. But we did buy a large drink and a $4 BOX OF CANDY (why, conglomerate why!), and a few minutes before the movie started I rushed to the restroom to drain my bladder.

After bursting into the stall in the ladies' room I saw something every frugal person would love to see:

There was one very crisp dollar bill on top of the toilet-paper-roll-plastic-container (someone please give this thing a name!). It was sleeping peacefully, laid out neatly, with nil a crease nor fold on the corner. As if some old lady gently laid it out there, as if it were delicate laundry to dry.

I thought, should I take the money? I was tempted. I looked at it. I touched it. I flipped it over, and flipped it back. I looked around to see if there were cameras. Hey, I've read a lot about social experiments.

Then I thought, well this ISN'T lost money. Lost money is a crumpled folded up dollar or coins in an empty street. Lost money is the lint-ridden bill in the corner of the public laundry machine.

No, someone deliberately put the dollar bill on this shelf, if not only laid to wait patiently.

..So I left it alone. It was only a dollar, after all. Someone else can have the karma of smuggling it in their wallet.

Lo and behold, once I exited the stall, there was a little girl, doe-eyed, waiting impatiently in front of my stall. She's not even looking at me, but eyeing the insides of the stall. As my last foot exits the barrier of the stall, she rushes in, grabs the dollar, and walks out.

Wow, I thought. I almost took this girl's money! The little angel on my shoulder patted me on the back. Of course, I'm assuming it's the girl's money.

It begs to ask when "lost" money becomes your money. When is it okay to keep it for yourself? Is it ever? Is there a limit to how much "found" money is okay to keep? Would you have picked up the dollar

Weekly Check-Up

 (New Girl!)

I managed to have a few "no-spend" days this week but when I did spend, boy did everything add up!
Gas: $63
Eating Out: $29
Hunger Games: $15
Boba: $3

I actually have free movie passes (from Christmas), but I don't go to theatres except once in a blue moon. Of course, when I actually decided to go for the Hunger Games, I went to the wrong theatre and couldn't redeem the tickets! Oh well. The next big blockbuster I want to watch is the Avengers =) So that should be a really nice treat.

The eating out portion for this week is slightly less than the other weeks, but honestly I expected it to be very very low since we cooked all five weekdays! It's really interesting to see the fluctuations from week to week.

I also went over my boba budget =( Oops.

Anyway, it's the last week of March already! My little bloggy blog will almost be one-month old. I'm glad I'm paying more attention now to my finances and that I got to know a few of you pf bloggers. I can't wait until I'm done with the MCAT so I can put more dedication towards this blog.

Weekly Links

Just a few sites I found interesting this past week. I haven't been on task with all the plethora of blogs out there, but there are some great reads!

1. What Do I Need to Do After Losing My Wallet? (LifeHacker)
This is one of my fears, and I've never lost my wallet or had it stolen from me. If someday I were to lose it, I would go beserk!

2. So Why Aren't You Saving Money? (The Frugal Toad)
This a nice reminder. So many have the mindset of, "I'll always have time to save later."

3. You're on my List, Damn it! (The Problem with Young People Today Is...)
I love lists. I have several of these lists too, including words I will look up later on.

4. DIY Bracelets (The Good Stuff)
I found this on pinterest I think. The bracelet looks very easy to make and looks so good next to the michael kors watch. Now I just need a diy gold watch :)

5. Budgeting and Savings Rules of Thumb (Little House on the Valley)
The 50/30/20 "rule" was what got me into budgeting, but now there's no percentages set in stone. I'm more of a save-whatever-i-can person. There's just so many ways to save, and no one person is the same!

Money and Boba: About Me

I haven't done an "About me" post yet, and I've yet to figure out how to add pages on blogs and such so I'll start here.

I'm 22 years young, and am living life in the limbo after graduation and the cusp of adulthood. I work in a "dead end" job that's mostly office work, and my hours are very flexible since the company is privately owned. I deal with medical cases at work so it's not a dud in that aspect at least. I get to practice in my career and gain experience that way. I love my co-workers and I'm at a place where I'm respected at work and I am now someone people rely on for questions, etc. I don't necessarily love my job because it can be high-stress sometimes, but I don't hate it. The pay can always be better (I think i'll be saying this forever and ever).

I love to budget. Love. You know how an ant will carry a big lump of sugar twice its size? Yea that's me with budgets. I will carry.. budgets.. that are twice my size. Not a great metaphor but what I'm saying is that I'm willing to tackle it even thought I don't *know* everything about finances. Hope you get ma drift.

But really, here's a few more blurbs that don't define me, but pertains to my budget:
- I live with my boyfriend and we split our budgets 50%, down to the dollar.
- I pay the bills. But I can talk to him openly about anything that seems off.
- My main liabilities are rent and my student loan.
- My parents take care of my car (payments and insurance), and phone. Not because I asked them to, but because they've determined to take over this for me. I love my 'rents.
- Having a large emergency fund is important to me. I need the security, and the control (over my money).
- I am a big homebody. Going out can be great, but I absolutely adore having inside parties. Movie nights, "wine and cheese" potlucks, game nights = indefinite awesome. I also dislike public restrooms, maybe that's why.
- I would very much like a corgi one day.

I started this blog because I love jotting my thoughts down. I'm a big pen and paper advocate because I love the authentic feel of pushing ink on a clean white piece of parchment, but with all this studying I'm not digging these callouses and blisters on my fingers. So typing it is! I also love to read about personal finance on other blogs, so I joined the two together.

Everyday, I get one day older (ha! wise ol' me), and I want to make sure I'm on the right track towards financial maturity. I don't have anyone to "teach" me, and I don't discuss finances with my parents much. So what would any person do this day and age? Go online! So here I am dudes and 'dettes, stay tuned for my adventures with boba and monies.

Student Loan STD

 "I used to love cereal...and now it's all I eat"

Do you have student loan STD?

A friend sent me this link and it is absolutely hi.la.rious. Give it a watch.

But it proves a point! Know what you're getting into or you'll be without bed frames and have roommates into your thirties. However, their answer for avoiding said student loan "std"?

"Have rich parents

"Play the lotto

I know it's for comedy, but the video could be more helpful by being more educational and actually provide good solutions. Perhaps that's too much to ask from collegehumor?

My number one tip would be is to educate yourself on student loans. Know the interest rates and all the terms and agreements upon taking out a loan, whether federal or private. Know how much you will owe. Do some calculations. Crunch some numbers. Just KNOW a little more BEFORE blindingly accepting some money. What are your tips? Are you fiscally active?