Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

Since I’m not posting a lot of new stuff, at least I can put up the monthly ‘maintenance’ post on my goals and net worth.

Goal #1
Specific - Contribute to my 401k plan

I got squared away with contributions in February. I did have to bump up my contributions, to 10% for the last 11 months of 2008. That’s more than I need to get the full match over the course of the year, but just barely. Because I also have a Roth 401k available, I decided to kick in a little money into that account just to get it started. Frankly, it’s kind of dumb for me to have one until I can get my credit card debt squared away.

Grade: Pass!

Goal #2
Specific - Reduce my credit card debt
Measurable - By 50% or $9,137 (rounded up to $10K)
Achievable - Monthly payments of $762

I had to put my Lasik surgery on a credit card, but I sent in the paper work for my Medical/Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) reimbursement. Hopefully that won’t be too delayed.

I’m still stagnating on this goal however since I don’t seem to be able to stop charging onto my cards. I usually leave them at home, but I’m slowly ballooning in weight and planning wedding travel so that any progress I made was negated by new charges. Even if I leave them at home, inevitably, I need them to make a purchase online later. Reviewing my charges again, I forgot, I gave lots of baby gifts too.

Grade: Fail. I need to do some more thinking about this and how to make it happen. More than anything, I’ve tried moving to carrying a lot more cash and that does seem to help a little.

Goal #3
Specific - Reduce my credit card debt on my highest balance card ~$10K
Measurable - By 50%
Achievable - ~$450 a month

Grade: Pass. I’m paying $500 a month which meets the goal. But honestly, this still feels like a pyrrhic victory.

As for Lent, I am getting accustomed to diet soda, and yet, I’m getting quite fat. I’m not sure where the correlation is, but I think some of it is from my altered dining habits. I tend to eat heavier meals with my new boyfriend. Usually I will skip dinner or just have a light snack, but lately I’ve been eating a lot more food. Not just with my boyfriend, but also at the office. This new job is making me quite fat. I am looking for a used treadmill. Hopefully, I can find one on Freecycle soon so I don’t have to join a gym.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not perfect here when it comes to Lent. I did have a few sugar sodas last month. There are days when the stress gets so bad at work that I need a kick of sugar to get through the day. I’m not really sorry though.

Also, I decided to eat less red meat during Lent this year. I’ve been eating more tofu and chicken. But I did have bison (making a market for an alternative meat!), a few burgers and a grilled steak taco, or three. But given my penchant to make roast beef in the winter, I’m doing a lot better. I’ve gone a whole week without red meat this Lent. (Crap. I just realized that I have a wedding rehearsal dinner/party for a wedding on Good Friday. Merde. I might as well hide in my hotel room that night or else wait till midnight to drink. Oy vey.)

The Money Blog Network has asked us how are we doing on 2008 goals. I’m putting the juicy stuff up front. Not so great.

Goal #1
Specific - Contribute to my 401k plan

Oy. I am having a rough time of it right now. Because I work for a large firm, much of this process is automated. The 401k Plan Administrator is the same place where I have a rollover account. Because of this, I have to call the company and do it manually. This means I will have to bump up the percentage contribution to make up for the lost contributions for my first 3-4 checks. Not bad, but annoying.

Grade: Fail. Until I call and fix the problem, it’s a failing grade.

Goal #2
Specific - Reduce my credit card debt
Measurable - By 50% or $9,137 (rounded up to $10K)
Achievable - Monthly payments of $762

I had to put my Lasik surgery on a credit card and I’m still trying to figure out where to submit my papers to get reimbursed. While I have been making larger monthly payments, I have also been charging new items on my cards, like two new suits for work

Grade: Fail. Until I can get an FSA reimbursement check and trim my spending, I’ll be stagnating on this goal.

Goal #3
Specific - Reduce my credit card debt on my highest balance card ~$10K
Measurable - By 50%
Achievable - ~$450 a month

Grade: Pass. I’m paying $500 a month which meets the goal. But honestly, this feels like a pyrrhic victory. I’m so badly behind on Goal #2 that it seems silly to mark this as a pass. Also, it seems dumb to mark this a pass after only 30 days. I am set to send in a $500 payment for February though, which is due in a few days.

As for my annual Lenten sacrifice, I am doing my usual soda sacrifice with a twist. I will only be allowed diet sodas. I hate the taste of diet, but to get myself used to its flavor and meet my dieting goals, I am going to use the 40 days of Lent to get used to the taste. I will also give up beer and other bubblies. Unless it’s diet, no go.

I’m still thinking of the rest of my goals. I am a little thrown off by Lent’s arrival so early. I can’t think of what else to do this year.

To recap my Lenten goals, I wanted to make smarter choices with my money on a daily basis and stop drinking bubbly drinks. I have to say, this year would be rated a miserable failure on both counts, but not without an upside.

1) I have a weakness for root beer. I broke the bubbly drink rule for Lent about 4 times. Once for a frosty pint of root beer. Once to drink a soda my friends left behind after surgery to wash down medicine when I was out of plain juice. (I can argue medical dispensation on that one, but that’s so cheesy.) Once for a beer in haste, and once for the free drink I couldn’t turn down. I think there was another beer in there too. All in all, pretty lousy compared to past performance. On this one, there is no upside.

2) On smarter choices about money, I think I did ok, but really not as well as I might have liked. I can’t say there was more money in my pocket at the end of Lent this year than at the beginning. The little daily habit choices didn’t seem to have a good specific, measureable impact. But there was an upside.

I made more of effort to dine at the cafeteria at work. I was frequently serving myself meals of less than $5. I also started shopping more often at Target for groceries like juice and frozen dinners. I brought in coffee to make at my desk rather than buy. And I have started eating a little breakfast at home, even if it’s just a slice of bread and a slice of cheese. Just putting a little something into my tummy before 10AM has been good. The cheese isn’t lowfat, and I am probably doing something to my cholesterol levels, but I am getting some calcium I wouldn’t otherwise get in my diet. (Milk is disgusting and I’m lactose intolerant for non-aged/cultured dairy products. I like my dairy to have gone through charm school and get some “culture”.)

As the weather gets warmer, I’m also enjoying sandwiches more often. I actually hate sandwiches and cold food. But the warmer weather invites it.

No lie. I went to the movies on Friday night. It was a free promotional event at a movie theater/cafe. So the film was free! (Actually two films for free! Gotta love sneak previews and the chance to be on another blog!) Because my friends work there, I was getting offered extra drinks the bartenders had poured incorrectly for other tables. Though I violated Lent by drinking a rum and Coke, who was I to turn down the free drink? It saved me from ordering a drink of my own. No, I didn’t ask for it. It magically appeared. The waitress who brought it didn’t even know I was going to be there. Someone else must have told her where we were sitting because we weren’t in her section.

Restaurants screw up orders all the time. It doesn’t happen every day necessarily, but is there something wrong with accepting a drink they were going to pour out anyway? If you’re in the industry, please let me know if my friends have just put themselves at risk for a drink that was going into the drain. Seriously, if they were going to serve it to another table, then fine, I wouldn’t take it. I figure the good karma factor came in pouring a beer for the table next to us out of the pitcher our table ordered since I didn’t think we were going to finish it off. If they added the drink to our check, then fine then too. No, I didn’t add in the price of that drink for the tip we left the server. She wasn’t the source of the drink and she seemed confused by our table’s order of meatless potato skins for Lenten Fridays, which was then delivered late.

One of my good friends has a relation in the bar/nightclub industry. We can’t go anywhere without his getting extra strong drinks. Even when he doesn’t want them. The bartenders see him, and it’s like Norm from Cheers. They call his name, they wave, they pour his signature cocktail with a double shot of alcohol, which in fact is not the way he likes it. But bully for us! We get the crazy strong cocktails which end up with everyone drinking about one drink less for the night. (Or else one free beer.) All in all, a cheaper night out than originally planned.

So don’t be a mooch, one of my perennial fears. And don’t expect the perk. Just be hopeful. And don’t take advantage of your friends. I really don’t know why they foisted drinks on me. (There were actually two and I was able to give away one to someone in our party.) But free is free!

1) The commenters saying online bill payment is the way to go are absolutely correct. However, there is a small catch at the moment with doing this. I’m shopping for a different checking account in VA. I am royally irritated with Wachovia for charging Quicken users from avoiding the Wachovia website. While I have been training myself to download directly from the bank’s website, I don’t like it. I’m actually looking at Bank of America once more. Many years ago in California and Maryland, I banked with BofA. I found their online payment site very easy to use and convenient. Who knows when I’ll get around to do doing this, but I will soon, hopefully.

2) I cannot wait for bonus season to get here. (Nevermind, since drafting this post, I got paid the bonus today rather than on the regular paycheck cycle! Whee! Kick up your heels and do a happy dance!)

3) I ate at one of my favorite restaurants that carries Old Dominion Root Beer. I completely forgot and broke Lent by having a soda. The restaurant is the Lost Dog Cafe in Arlington’s Westover neighborhood. They freeze the glass so cold, that the soda freezes in the glass. It’s AMAZING. There’s no ice at all in the cup so they serve you a full pint, just like they would with a beer. (of which they have many, a bit like the Brick.)

4) My homeowner’s insurance is due. It’s $55 more than last year because I filed a claim, but I can still pay it in one lump sum, which is good.

5) I liquidated some of my emergency fund for some car repairs and to finish paying off one of my credit cards because the balance is less than $500.00 now. I am down to two cards, one of which is 0% till June.

I forgot one night and had a beer. (That was because we were out to listen to a friend recount a tale of woe. I completely forgot and said, “Oh, just bring me one of those.”)

I haven’t had a french fry since Lent (and only some when I got fish and chips since New Year’s.)

I don’t know if I’m saving much money. I was really busy at work and ate out most of the time for lunch and for dinner. But I did make two active choices to buy groceries over dining out. The recent Target trip helped.

Since the start of Lent, I’ve had two no-spend days.

Other than that, work is picking up, so don’t expect a lot for the next few weeks. I really love my job right now. It’s interesting stuff and I’m really grateful for my team. We’re all co-workers from a previous employer and the work chemistry is fantastic. I spent a good chunk of last week on a collaborative project and the fruits of our labors are well-received.

Also, Happy Belated Birthday to Flexo! He’s a good egg.

Happy Lunar New Year! How are your Julian Calendar new year’s resolutions going?

I’m a big believer that every day is a new day and a new opportunity to make a change in our lives. If you’re not following your budget this month, that’s no reason to stop trying to make your budget tomorrow or next month. So what if Lent started on Wednesday? Tomorrow is Thursday and a perfectly good time to start if the concept is new to you.

I love Lent because it’s another shot at any new year’s resolutions I’ve made and failed at keeping. It’s a specific period of time during which I can try to discipline myself once more. Since today was the first day, Ash Wednesday as one of my commenters noted, I will note what I did to keep Lent.

1) I avoided the cans of soda in my desk, even though I **REALLY** wanted one today. My friend and I went to eat lunch at her apartment and she made me coffee instead. (We got Panera take-out so she could walk her sick dog.) Later I heard my boss open a can of seltzer at his desk. I swear he was doing it to torture me. I am conditioned to crave soda after I hear a can pop open.

2) Even though I bought lunch, I made the decision to go get groceries and cook dinner at home tonight. I feel this was a good choice because I have a ready supply of food in the house now so I don’t get tempted to go out for dinner. I probably saved $3-5 as I hoped to do, and I got my ‘allowance’ out as cash back, thus saving myself a side trip to the bank!

Take a moment and think back to any goals you sent at the beginning of the year. Are you working on them every day? Every week? Every month? This doesn’t just apply to your finances. What about your diet? Your exercise? Your homework? Your house projects? Your craft projects?

Onward and upward, my friends!

Last year I wrote about what a lousy Catholic I am, but I do keep Lent. I’ve been really busy this year due to Daylight Savings Time changes this year. I’ve had a lot of upgrades scheduled midweek at odd hours, etc. It’s why I never posted yesterday. (BTW, you guys in the PF Blog world do know about this right? Your computers are all fixed?)

Bear with me here. I promise this post really is about personal finance, but you have to get through some of my personal history with Lent to get to the good stuff.

(more…)

Today is Easter. While Lent officially ended on Thursday, I counted my Lenten piggybank money today. I also broke my soda fast on Saturday, though this year, I was sorely tempted many times by the hospital vending machine. Coca-Cola really is the nectar of the gods.

I got:
1 $5
23 $1
2 Quarters
11 Dimes
10 Nickels
16 Pennies

$30.26 Total

So less than a dollar a day during the 40 days of Lent. I know, you’re thinking that it’s a pretty lame figure. But I can tell you right now, that’s already $28.00 I didn’t spend because I didn’t leave those bills in my wallet. I hoard quarters for the laundry, so I’m surprised there were any quarters in there at all.

I tend to use my credit card or debit card for all my daily expenditures. I have been working on buying everything with just my debit card. For the last two paychecks I’ve done pretty good with that. There’s only a few things I’ve put on credit in the past month, mostly recurring subscriptions. I even paid for the first two months’ of car/home insurance with debit.

For anyone who’s thinking that I’m not saving enough for retirement, don’t worry. This experiment was in addition to my 401k and regular savings. I just wanted to see what kind of cash I could save if I tried this route. I found myself often not depositing into the piggybank thinking that I might need that cash for the next day. It definitely helped me budget a little more on a daily basis. I was much better about spending less than $15 a day on food, often trying to spend less than $10. I found myself yanking out $40 bucks from the ATM and reminding myself to drop a few dollars into the piggybank. I tried to make sure that I would come home at night with some money to drop in rather than have absolutely nothing. I was actually *excited* to put in my money, kind of the way little kids are when they get their first bank.

I guess the other reason there isn’t more in there is that I went away for a week. I could have taken the bank with me, but it wouldn’t have reflected my true spending activity since sometimes my mom would give me a few dollars to eat at the hospital cafeteria when she didn’t bring me a sandwich. (I don’t really like sandwiches, mainly because my mom didn’t really know how to make them when I was a kid. I am proud to say that she’s much better now after living here for 30+ years. Though perhaps it shouldn’t have taken this long…)

The main lesson learned? I’m not sure. I’m still thinking about the meaning of this sacrifice. If asked me if I lost out on anything, the answer would be no. I suppose this represents $30 bucks worth of sodas that I gave up this year, but probably not the beer I didn’t drink.

Subsidiary lesson? Cut a bigger hole. I had a hard time stuffing wads of dollars into the bank because I cut the slit too narrow.

Is it worth doing again? Yes, I think so. I think I’ll do this again and I won’t wait for Lent. I am going to keep this piggybank and try to make an effort to put money into it in a more disciplined fashion. I really liked that I became more conscious of how I was spending money on a daily basis by using this in conjunction with a Paycheck Challenge.

So far so good, no beer, no soda, no champagne. And I set up an automatic savings program with ING. Recently I changed my 401(k) contribution so that I’d only be adding 10% of my income and have a little more cash in hand to pay down my current debts and add to my cash cushion.

Since I’m participating with the No Credit Needed Network, I wanted to make sure I met my target goal sometime this century. BTW, I didn’t save $1000.00 in two months. That’s what I started with, but I’m trying to hit $4,000.00. It’s the same goal as the Save-O-Meter, which I updated today to 30%. Slow and steady is the way to go. I love the compounding interest I’m earning right now. I’ll be buying another CD soon with ING so I won’t be tempted to dip into savings.