Additional Income for June 2008:

I decided at the end of last month to start looking at my income differently, to start finding ways to bring in alternative income. Here are the results of my first month with this attitude:

$125, Payment for guest-speaking in May
$500, Selling my camera on eBay
$43, Other Selling on eBay

TOTAL: $668
WHERE IT WENT: $500 to Cali fund; the rest to down-payment fund, which I’ve become a little more serious about

Even Bank Tellers Use ING

Today, my brother stopped by his Washington Mutual, and the bank teller (glorified sales person) tried to sell him on a savings account.

“No thanks,” Brother said. “I have an ING.”

“ME TOO!” the teller exclaimed.

Grand Total to Vacation: $817

The good news is that this is way under budget, as expected. How did I spend that $817 on my trip; where did the money go? After some quick analysis tonight, here’s what I discovered:

PREPAID SPENDING:
$54 Flights
$330 Hotel

ON-TRIP SPENDING:
$193.40 Food (We took turns paying, without too much of the nickel-and-dime business)
$82.43 Clothes (Totally unprepared for the HEAT!!, I bought a pair of shorts, a sun dress & new sunglasses, which I forget to pack)
$150 Transportation (buses, BART, rental car on Saturday)
$7.02 Toiletries (Again, what I should’ve packed)

The extra (”leftover”) money is going promptly to my savings. I’m even more serious about the downpayment fund here in Chicago now, having compared our real estate prices with California’s (OY!).

Want to know which places were my favorites? Whether you’re headed to SF or just enjoy hearing about trips/travel/food, check back here tomorrow.

I’m leaving for Cali tomorrow!

I can’t believe it’s been three months since I posted about my upcoming Cali trip. Tomorrow is the day I take off, and I’m so excited!

Having saved my full goal of $1000, I am financially prepared to take in all this long weekend has to offer. San Fransisco, here I come!

Here’s the breakdown of costs, so far:
*Flights, $54 taxes (My dad gave us his credit card points again, meaning free flights! I didn’t factor this into my $1000 budget because I paid for it a while ago.)
*Hotels, $330 for my share of four nights in a four-star hotel (purchased through a TravelZoo promotion.)

More to come! And while I’m gone, I thought you might enjoy hearing advice from Cali natives in the know. Kim of Kim’s Kitchen Sink will be guest-posting with her SF tips on Friday, and SF Money Matters will be giving her stellar advice on Monday. Enjoy, and see ya back here next week!

Do People Go into Debt for Wedding Rings?

My out-of-town friend this weekend, in passing, was telling me about her future diamond. “I don’t care if he has to go into debt for it,” she said. “It better be big!”

I laughed, and told her that she better be joking. She was joking, right? She just laughed.

This is something I’ve never even heard in passing, the idea of taking out a loan to pay for an engagement ring. I guess anything’s possible, especially in debt-filled America, but seriously: Do people actually go into debt for wedding rings? Do you know anyone who did?

Advice from Dostoevsky

“…a youth of our last epoch– that is, honest in nature, desiring the truth, seeking for it and believing in it, and seeking to serve it at once with all the strength of his soul, seeking for immediate action, and ready to sacrifice everything, life itself, for it. Though these young men fail to understand that the sacrifice of life is, in many cases, the easiest of all sacrifices, and that to sacrifice, for instance, five or six years of their seething youth to hard and tedious study, if only to multiply ten-fold their powers of serving the truth and the cause they have set before them as their goal–such a sacrifice is utterly beyond the strength of many of them.”

Every day, I am more and more convinced that all of the worthwhile things in life, I mean the really worthwhile ones, take hard work, discipline, faithfulness and TIME. Dostoevsky, back in like 1890, understood something he wished the young people would: sacrificing time now will mean gain later.

In other words:

THE NOW: Working hard, putting my time and effort into a 9-5. Hiring, managing, working, learning. Giving a few years, maybe five or six, to really growing as a writer, editor, manager. Setting aside large amounts of money from every paycheck. Not having my own house or a new car.

MEANS, THE LATER: Skills and experience, and the accompanying benefits. Character. Huge financial savings. The ability to buy my own house or start my own business or whatever (i.e., more options, more freedom).

Inspired by the speaker who shared this quote and who advised the audience to be its own worst boss (setting higher standards for your work quality and job performance than your employers), I am inspired for the future. I’m encouraged that, no matter what I have or haven’t already accomplished, if I’m willing to sacrifice, other things are possible.

Goal reached!

Take a look at the sidebars to the right, and you’ll see my Cali Vacation! fund is at 99% ($991 out of the $1000 saved), thanks to some recent eBaying. I’m just going to leave it at $991 for the next week and then transfer it all back to my bank account, where I can pull $9 from somewhere else.

This vacation is going to be well-prepared-for with plenty of funds. Whatever I don’t use will just go back to savings.

yeah! Goal #1 reached!!

I’m Not Giving Up on My Jetta

The car dealership figured out what’s wrong with my car: a burned-out clutch. This is very good news. Why?

(a) They can fix it. (b) It’s under warranty. = $0 and I don’t have to get a new car.

I can keep driving my paid-off vehicle AND there’s even more good news!

Apparently, a burned-out clutch wastes fuel. So after the clutch is fixed, my car will be getting its best mileage, thereby saving me more money!

This is the best news ever.

(No, that’s not my car above. It looks like it, though. Image borrowed from this site)

Sometimes I Really Feel Like a Girl

I am learning that, at least when it comes to my car, I am all emotion.

A few hours ago, sitting outside a random Culver’s, watching my VW Jetta from a safe 50 feet away, it was all I could do to not start crying in public. While I had been driving home in insanely bad traffic, my car again put out a burning smell. This time, though, there was smoke. I turned on my emergency lights, moved to the right lane and pulled into the nearest parking lot, Culver’s. One phone call to Dad, and I was assured everything would be fine. While I waited, though, a few thoughts went through my mind, thoughts like, Maybe I deserve a milkshake.

I am also learning that, at least when it comes to bad days, I want sugar.

My dad was leaving the house to meet me, so we could caravan to the dealership, hoping, hoping to prove finally that my car really is possessed by some serious problem. So while waiting I wandered into Culver’s, my emotional voice saying, Yes, you should get a milkshake! You’ve had a bad day! It’s only a few dollars! and my rational, PF-brain voice saying, No, no, you cannot have a milkshake! You spent $18 ($18!!!!) dollars on a terrible lunch you ordered out with coworkers, one of whom just turned down the promotion she’d already accepted last week. You blew, what–like 30% of your restaurant budget?–on one bad meal. No, you can’t have a milkshake now!

And I am also learning, at least when it comes to money and life and relationships and work and time management and family, very little is easy.

My Weekend Wallet

I’ll start with a confession: I almost never have cash on me, unless someone has paid me back for something. Even then, just give me a few days and I’ll spend it on something, probably food. My former co-worker tells me this is terrible, that everyone should carry cash, everyday. I know, I know, I tell her. But I won’t. I just never do. If I have it, I spend it, and I probably won’t remember on what. Credit/debt works for me because I can track it.

Besides, where don’t they take Visa nowadays?

Anyway, now that that’s out there, here’s a record of my credit card’s action this weekend, just because I find it entertaining. I did stop and get $20 from the bank (shocking to me), but only because I was anticipating the only-cash-unless-over-$10 policy at the Greek place. Turns out we didn’t go there, but my cash is now gone, of course:

Friday (half day!!):
Movie with friend at budget theatre: $4
Cake with friend (I paid since he paid for lunch): $8.50
Shopping (when did it stop being fun?), buying nothing: $0

Saturday:
Cupcakes with friends: $4
Greek pita at my favorite place for Greek pitas in the city:
Pizza at my favorite pizza place: $15
Grocery store: Sunday paper for my parents and two pints of gelato: $10.95

Sunday:
Treated to lunch at Wendy’s: $0

Total spending: approximately $42