Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

Time to try something different with spending. Now that I’ve moved to mostly debit and cash for my daily spending on lunch, gas and whatnots, I’m having a hard time tracking spending again. I am going to have to write stuff down once more.

I can tell that most of what I’m buying is lunches out. But I’m not disciplining myself on it. Usually I can eat lunch for less than $6.00, but lately I’ve been lax in my oversight. I’ve had lunch for $9 one day and $7 another.

Part of the problem is dining out with other people and getting what they want to eat. The plethora of options out there is making sort of crazy. I thought I’d have nothing to eat around the industrial park I’m in, but slowly I’ve realized that there are lots of options, but many of them are much more expensive than I’d like. I can’t eat a $6 club sandwich or reuben every day from the delis around the office. Sometimes it’s so little that I end up with a bag of chips, which ends up being a dollar or more extra.

If you haven’t tried writing down what you’re spending, give it a try. I go through this exercise periodically when I’m wondering where the money’s going. It’s worth doing, even if it’s only a week.

No, not talking about politics here. I get enough of that in DC just be living here.

I’m talking about my credit cards and this year’s goals. The bathroom renovation was a major setback for me. But I ran some numbers and I’m *slightly* better off than I initially reported on my Net Worth IQ graph ($200, not enough to change the graph really.)

I knew deep down that the main thing for me is that I can pay installment credit off very well. My problem is the revolving credit. I use one credit card regularly. The other one is a balance transfer card and sits in my desk. It’s never been swiped, ever. So while I’m great at paying off the balance transfer card’s mega balance, the smaller balance on my revolving card never seems to disappear completely. I have some regular subscription charges that go on it, but that’s not really why. On a day to day basis, it’s the card I use for regular purchases, like books or clothes. One thing I learned from one of my girlfriends is never to buy food on credit. Thus I also never purchase gas on credit either. (Too bad I only learned that since I started blogging.) All consumable items are paid in cash or debit. This strategy has definitely helped, but I need something more.

I need patience.

I figured I can pay everything off, but I also figured out it will take me about 2 years. And I’m REALLY impatient. I have no windfalls coming towards me. I have two CD’s about to expire that will cover about 2/3rds of the balance on the small card, and then I can put that one away by October or November.

FMF serves up the chuckles. His advice is spot on, “Come on, people, control your spending!” Just the reminder I needed before splurging on a trip to London for NYE with friends. I have to remember to keep my pennies tightly clenched in my fists. What is it he says in Croupier? “Hold on tightly. Let go lightly.” (Let it be known that despite my well-established fetish for blonds, Clive Owen is simply ridiculous looking with blonde hair. Ah ladies, but he’s dangerous. Very dangerous. I wish he was 007 instead silly, pouty-mouthed Daniel Craig. Twit.)

I wager FMF doesn’t really listen to rap music. I don’t really think of P. Diddy as a “bad boy rapper”. Then again, the last and only serious rap album I bought was Fear of a Black Planet. What do I know?

I’ll just keep repeating to myself, “Come on, people, control your spending!”

As we head into the holiday season and enjoy today’s holiday of gluttony, I just wanted to take a moment and reflect on the abundance in my life.

During my regular knitting gathering this week, we were talking about S.A.B.L.E., Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy. For those of you who don’t knit, ’stash’ is your yarn stash from which you can pull to make projects. It’s your warehouse of yarn. For many women, building stash is a comfort. It’s saving yarn for use in the future, like a quick knit baby sweater when you don’t have time that week to run to the store to buy a baby shower gift or pick up a specific baby yarn. For other women, it’s just plain old hoarding out the wazoo.

In 2007, I’ve purchased very little in the way of new craft items. I think I’ve spent less than $150, whereas I might spend $400 in a typical year. Last year I realized that I needed to stop buying yarns and fiber because I spend a lot of time blogging and no longer craft like I did before starting MFC. My stash is overtaking my small apartment.

One of the knitters, Lanea, is on a book buying moratorium this year because she realized that she and her husband have way too many unread books in the house. I know that I could read every book I have in the house and not buy a new one for at least 2 or 3 years, if not more. And that doesn’t include what’s still at my mom and dad’s house. That’s probably another 2 years’ worth of books.

A friend called me one night recently and I started to futz around and clean up my closet. Ostensibly, I was looking for my sweaters since we had our first hard frost of the season on Monday night. But really I was culling my clothing. A storage box of sweaters turns into a box of t-shirts and shorts for the winter and that means a quick inspection of my drawers and closet racks for things that can be donated to Goodwill. I realize that I have lots of spiffy clothes for work, but I was choosing not to wear the silk shirts and sweaters because I didn’t want to spend the money to dry clean them. And yet, I am loathe to get rid of them. Finding them was finding a new wardrobe for work. What is the cost of cleaning them when it saves me money on buying new clothes?

My friend on the phone asked me how many pairs of shoes I had. I thought this was a trap because he’s a guy and I’ve been accused of being Imelda Marcos. But I felt better when I guessed 30-40 and he said he had the same. (I am now going to have to inventory them for my own satisfaction.) As I told him my guess, I was staring at a pair of boots, thinking of the Baby Phat pair that Single Ma wants. My boots are old and out of style, but they’re still in reasonable condition. They will last me another year. Frumperella isn’t going to mind since these boots won’t turn into shoeboxes at midnight.

If you look around your life will you find what you need within the possessions you have? Think about that because at its core is an assumption that you can discern your needs and wants and separate them like sheep from goats. Do you have unacknowledged abundance in your life? Will finding it help you re-prioritize your spending in the next month?

During the winter season there’s all kinds of propaganda about peace on earth and goodwill towards man. There’s pap about transcending material things and putting other people first. It’s all b.s. since everyone goes into a gift buying frenzy. Everything seems like such a damned good deal so it’s ok to spend on yourself a little while you spend on everyone else. But that’s a false correlation. It’s not ok to spend on yourself if it’s going to break your shopping budget.

If you think before you shop about what you really have in your life, you will see that you probably have plenty. I write about material things, but I know the same principle of hidden abundance counts for immaterial things as well. I have my life, my family, my supportive friends. For the first time in many years, I can say have good oral health. My cup runneth over and I didn’t even know it till I stopped to think about it.

This weekend was full of a lot of poor decisions. This is a really long blow-by-blow so skip it if quotidian stuff is boring to you. I wrote to remind myself that one bad decision often leads to another in an effort to try to recoup the loss from the first mistake. And then sometimes fate just intervenes and you have to accept the loss in the name of fun and safety.

I feel bad for the commenter who says that their mom had bad things happen to them. That’s regretful. But an anecdote of one person doesn’t make for a national statistic of people who bit off more than they could chew with their mortgage. It’s shared blame, no doubt, but the first finger points directly to the person in the mirror.

Starting with Friday:
Friday was actually a very good day for financial decisions. I got a free lunch. I ate all my lunch food for the week. I went clubbing for free. I wasn’t on a guest list, but the email the DJ sent out said free before midnight. The bouncer tried to charge me $10. I told him no way. The email said free before midnight. He asked if I was on the guest list, I could get in for half. I said wasn’t on the guest list because the email said free before midnight. I stood my ground and didn’t pay a cover. A nonchalant attitude helps in psyching out the bouncer. I spent $7+tip on a cocktail, got two free sodas for tipping the bartender a dollar on one of them, and tipped the bathroom attendant $1, because it’s de rigeur (And I really hate doing this, but I hate even more the dirty look she gives when you don’t.) I spent $10 for the night. Sounds pretty good, huh?

(more…)

Well, I bought that lovely chicken on Sunday. I have proceeded to eat one meal of it and the rest will go to waste if I don’t eat it for dinner tonight and figure out what to do with it ASAP. (This was drafted for posting on Wednesday day, but never got around to posting. I DID end up eating dinner at home last night.)

The weather is still really hot to start making soups, but I have about 6-8 cups of stock ready to go. I ran out of tupperware for freezing it.

Monday night I got hijacked because my friend was feeling lonely. That was a painfully expensive dinner since she wanted to eat Asian food and the only place nearby was a Japanese restaurant.

Tuesday night I could have had a ham sandwich at work if my friend from OH had told me she was going to be late. This was planned, but after Monday night’s budget fiasco, I really didn’t need to dine out expensively again. (It’s either expensive Italian or a pastry from Starbucks and I don’t like sweets for dinner)

Lunch? Well, I needed to catch up on some work gossip on Tuesday, but I managed to have a sandwich at work on Monday. I hope to have sandwiches the rest of the week.

This is how I end up wasting food a long time ago. I always bought groceries I never ate. I am not interested in wasting food again.

What sucks about dining in is the lack of flexibility on what I get to do socially during the week. I mean honestly, if a friend calls you last minute to have dinner (as was the situation on Monday) do you value your leftovers more than friendship? Ugh. I hate that notion. Of course I don’t! But what was I going to do? Say no, I have to go home to eat when she was obviously hinting that she wanted to tell me she was pregnant and I am the first person besides her spouse she was going to tell?

I do not resent going on Monday one bit. I am just telling you the situation because it’s this is the position my friends put me in, variously going through job crises, emotional trainwrecks, etc. I can’t always invite them home to eat since usually that puts them out because there isn’t enough for two, my apartment isn’t presentable, or they live far enough away that they it’s asking them to drive a fair distance.

The things we do for love and money or love of money?

I got invited to go to the movies with this new group of people I met last week. I had a great time with them that I definitely wanted to hang out. To do it cheaply, I wanted to eat at home first and then meet them at the theater.

Well, I never got to go. I got stuck in traffic all for some stupid rubberneckers on the highway. Really, people. Come now. The cop is pulled over with lights flashing. WHO CARES WHO HE’S STOPPED? Don’t you want to get home and eat?

Admittedly, I was too kind to cut off the co-worker droning on about their problems, hence my late departure from work. But you’d think that my turning around to code something would be a sign that she should cut it short.

Either way, instead of paying $9 bucks for a film, I spent nothing tonight. I would have had a no-spend day today, but I tanked up on gas and bought a Coke out of the vending machine.

Gotta love traffic. It wastes your time, and yet it can save you money. HARUMPH.

James of DINKs Finance reposted a list of saving tips from Jane Bryant Quinn. It’s a good list and a great way to take stock of where I am.

1) Save all your cash gifts: - Not really doing it, but I hardly get cash gifts anymore.

2) Pay Yourself First: Got the 401K going on. I stopped doing an automated payment to savings from my checking account though. I need to get that started again.

3) Trim Your Spending By 5 Percent: “This is easier said than done.” No kidding. But I am trying this week to cook more and dine out less.

4) Don’t Spend Your Next Raise: I don’t know if I’ll be getting one next year, but this year’s raise allowed me to move my 401K contribution back upwards.

5) Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster: Contemplating this, but I have too much credit card debt.

6) Refinance Your High Interest Loans: Yep! Paying 7.9% and 10% for the credit card debt instead of 15%+.

7) Pay Cash For Everything: I am trying this out and so far it is working pretty well for me.

Stop Buying Books: I think I’ve spent less, but I know that in the past 2 months, I’ve read about 6 books for fun and only bought one of them. I did buy another, but it was a tech book for work, which could be tax deductible, but is not because of the threshold amount.

9) Pay off Your Car and Save The Payment Money: The car is paid off, but I am not saving the payment money for another car. Instead, I’m saving it in my 401K! WOO HOO!

So according to her, I seem to be doing ok, which is good. I need the reminder that I’m doing a LOT better than I used to be. Looking at where I was 3 years ago when I purchased my condo, I’m doing well. When I compare to 5 years ago, I’m doing FANTASTIC. Sometimes all I need is some perspective on my activities because lately I’ve been feeling a bit down about money.

It was $11 I didn’t need or use anymore.

In fact, that snappy iPod I won last year has gone AWOL. Frankly, I don’t really miss it. I was balking at spending the $50-$100 needed to get a car adapter which is all I would use it for anyway. No iTunes spending for me.

I am trying to stick only to the essentials, which is why I decided to go to the Gogol Bordello show in DC next month with my friends. They said it was a fantastic time, so if I am going to spend time doing anything with that crowd, this looks to be the event. I am eschewing all the weekly happy hours and only attending social events at people’s homes so that I can bring food/booze, and good times. That somehow always seems cheaper than hitting happy hour every week.

I am in the midst of planning my annual large camping trip. For some reason, I’m being completely silly about getting a car. I keep thinking that I can fudge it in some manner so that my friends can pick me up from the airport when I arrive and deliver me to a hotel before I leave. (10-days without a real shower means I need to wash up before flying.)

Savvy Steward asked me about putting money into a Roth IRA. Currently I do not have one, and with my Debt-O-Meter as is, I am not sure where I’d squeeze out the extra cash to put money there. I backed off on maxing out my 401k contribution so I could have a little more money to throw monthly at credit card debt and put cash into my pocket.

I am seriously considering forgetting getting laser vision surgery next year. If I cut back medical FSA spending to only $1000 to cover new chi-chi glasses with all the fancy coatings, a flu shot, asthma/allergy meds, various other teeth stuff and other prescriptions, I would be able to bring home another $3k in cash to put into a Roth. As it is, I REALLY want to see without glasses and because I put my teeth before my eyes, I really was looking forward to finally having surgery done next year. (pun unintended, but it works here.)

If you total my 401k, Medical FSA, Traditional IRA and random cash savings, I save about 27% of my gross paycheck. Mind you, I can only do that because I have some side income coming in every month from blogging and this and that. If I had no other side stream of income, I’d go back to working at the yarn shop.

In calculating statistics, I figured out that I only need to bank away an extra $110 every check to round out to a 30% savings rate. How cool would that be?

But I HAVE to get out of debt first. I MUST.