The Quarter is Ending!

Finals are just around the corner. I have one next week and then eight papers (two of which are over twelve pages) due the week of finals which is the week after next. I'm nearly delusional with all the writing I've been doing.

Financially? Eek! I've been so crazed with school that the last thing I'm thinking of is budgeting. I'm hammering out a new one for the month and trying to sort out my cash flow at the moment. Expect a budget by the end of tonight.

Much to my chagrin, I still haven't gotten my stimulus check. As soon as I get that, I can put the money I pulled out of savings back in. I have direct deposit and the letter said I should have gotten by today. Hmmmm?

My pretty little garden is doing wonderfully. The basil is amazing and the first jalapeno just appeared!

I'm attempting to catch up with everyone right now. I predict lots of reading for the next couple weeks. I miss everyone's blogs!

Earning Money Via Survey Sites.

I just redeemed my first check over at MySurvey. That will be ten dollars in the mail. All in all, I prefer Pinecone more, but MySurvey's questionarre's are generally more brief (you receive less dinero as well) and you can complete them in a two or three minutes. Considering I probably did a half hour's work to accumulate that ten dollars, I'm quite satisfied. If you are thinking of joining, it's really easy and simple. Just click on my affiliate link!

On another note, I just received another check from Pinecone today. That's two I'll be depositing with my paycheck today.

I'm going to spend the next hour cleaning out my car. That will be followed by calling Toyota and finding out if my warranty covers a timing belt because Lilith (my car) is making funny noises. Take a shower, go pick up my check, deposit it and come back home in time to review last month's budget, adjust a new budget for March, review how my goal's for the year are going and LAST create a few mini-goals for this month.

I'm officially 22 as of yesterday.

My head is spinning off into space!

It feels as though the last few days has been a mad frenzy of action. I can hardly keep my head screwed on straight. Here's my spending for the last few days before I forget what I've spent my money on:

Going out: 34.67
Medical stuff: 44.99
Car expenses (oil change, etc.): 35.47
Groceries: 20.53

Friday Tips: 100
Saturday Tips: 85
Sunday Tips: 93
Monday Tips: 87
Check: 274.53
Pinecone: 3.00

To Do List (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
Clean Out Car
Organize Bedroom
Weed Through and Donate Old Clothes
Laundry
Make Phone Call to Office of Transcript Evaluations
Prepare for Spanish Composition
Incorporate Weights Into Exercise Routine

Cheap Night In.

Rented movie (Departed) and Chicken Enchiladas! My man has a NF subscription so it didn't cost me a dime. Although, I did have to run by the store to pick up a few things (6.88). I'm excited that we'll have leftovers for tomorrow. No worries of any cooking. Last night was productive at work. I walked with 13o dollars. Today I made 90. Sad face on that one. I usually walk with 120 on Saturdays.

Obviously, this post is far more abbreviated than normal. I'm thoroughly exhausted between closing last night and opening this morning. Back to back shifts KILL me. My feet are throbbing.

On a positive note, I've been sticking to the meal plan... and my work pants feel looser!!!! Tomorrow's goal is to get some exercise in. Ugh.

Possible Carnival Post.

I'm contemplating submitting a post for the next PF Carnival. I'm putting in serious effort to make a post that is on par with other writers. Truth be told, I don't think I measure up. Grawr.

I'm leaving the house soon to go pick up my little sister. We are going out with our eldest cousin to celebrate her engagement (that equals me paying for my sister and I). Fortunately, my cousin said we can pick where to go for dinner. Normally, she has expensive tastes. Since the ball is in my court, I'll pick something that's nice but isn't going to empty my coffers.

Needless Library Fees

Officially, I receive the dunce award. I have close to thirty books checked out from my school library at the moment. They are spread out among InterLibrary Loans and ones from the campus. Well, I knew that several were due back today. They are ILL books so I can't renew them. I've been keeping my books either at the boyfriend's or in the trunk of my car so that I have them on hand. When I got to school today, I realized I had taken all of the books out of my trunk when I was cleaning the car out. Grawr. Stupidity on my part.

According to the school's policy, it's only a 25 cent charge per day on the books. There is two do back today; two tomorrow. While the fee for the school is minimal, I'm not sure if it is more expensive since they are from other libraries. I'm assuming it's not worth my time to drive all the way back home and waste all that gas. I'd go through nearly a quarter tank between driving out here and driving back.

Income versus Expenses.

I haven't spent a penny since Friday (at least not of my own money). That's three days without spending any money. I realize that in reality, I don't spend excessive amounts of money. While in most people's cases, they need to lower their expenses; I need to up my income. Due to being sick and a babyshower this week, I'm working three days a week for the past few weeks! I should be working four! That isn't to say there isn't room for me to cut spending out; I'm completely aware of that. It's just, my spending isn't as bad as I thought it was. I'm use to working six days a week, possibly five; school is really changing things.

I started compiling a list of goals for November last night. It looks like a good set and I can't wait to get started on it.

I also started an eat healthier regimen today and plan to participate in another blog group's November Meal Planning. It's better for the body and the budget. Why start on a Tuesday, on a seemingly unimportant day? Well, there is something going on two months from today and my goal is to lose twenty pounds. Actually, I want to lose thirty, but twenty is much more realistic.

10-22- Sunday
Tips: +110.00

10-23- Monday
Tips: +96.00

The Good and the Bad.

The good: The CapitolOne card is paid off in full. That was my highest interest card, second-highest balance and the one I tended to always be a day late on. I'm not counting it in this month's expenses/income because it came out of the financial aid money and the purpose of daily tracking is to find out what a typical month looks like for me so that I can create a budget. I will count it in my three month total though.

The bad: All the electricity went out in my house last night and no one discovered it until this morning (house owner is out of town and I was at the boyfriend's). The person who discovered it grabbed nearly everything out of the fridge and freezer. There are still some things in the freezer that were mine that I won't be eating. All vegetarian products. Besides that, the only thing she left in the fridge that was mine was lettuce and asparagus which is still good. There is an electrician here now, but not sure how much it will cost. This is one of those times I'm glad I don't have my own place. I don't have to foot this bill.

The good: I cleaned out my bins and shelf in the fridge. I also realized that I failed to mention that I cleaned out my pantry last week. I discovered lots of food I didn't realize I had and tossed the stuff that was bad. I'm currently eating popcorn I didn't know I had. Furthermore, I've started cleaning out my bedroom. Normally, I keep it quite tidy... but with the onslaught of starting my upper-division courses and practically living at the boyfriend's, it has turned into a chaos zone.

The bad: Browsing through the mail, I found that I got an evelope from Wells Fargo thanking me for joining their rewards program... I never did that. Wtf? As long as there is no yearly fee, I don't care. But, I didn't sign up for this service. It makes me fearful that someone stole my identity; who would sign up for a rewards program with that info though?

Unexpected Charges.

How we all love unexpected charges on bills! I went to pay my Cingular cell bill online just now and noticed that it was ten dollars more than normal. After careful perusal, I noticed there was some sort of download fee. I'm not one of those people who downloads the latest ringtones or anything of that sort. I promptly called the help number and was only on hold for maybe two minutes (points in Cingular's favor). Unfortunately, the girl helping me sounded like SHE wanted to kill me and I was making her life completely miserable. I'm sure she's having a bad day. The call took less than five minutes. End result: The charge was sent back to the company that made it and it will take 1 to 2 business days for it to be removed off the bill.

I'm rather satisfied. In other news, I spent more than I should have yesterday.

10-18- Thursday
1.35 - school expense (new catalogue for quarter)
2.65- groceries
15.00 - going out (celebration for my perfect score on the midterm exam)

Total: -19.00

No spend. No happy.

Today is looking like a no-spend day, although not by choice! I had only a slice of toast today and was waiting for my boyfriend to get home at his normal time of between 2:30 and 3pm. He ended up not home until a little after 4pm due to a meeting he neglected to mention. Starving at that point, I suggested we go out to dinner. I had decked myself out in more make-up than I normally put on (he's one of the few men who likes when women get dolled up). Now, I'd like to mention that we rarely go out. We're talking once a month here, maybe twice. I've been in the house all day studying and was waiting for him to get home to eat. He ended up not wanting to go to dinner; he already ate a bunch at the meeting. Le sigh.

I feel bad that I'm so bummed out over this. I shouldn't be reacting like this. In reality, I shouldn't be spending the money anyhow. But, I really, really, really, really wanted to get out of the house. He offered that we could go after his homeowner's meeting, but I doubt he'll want to. Instead, I made myself a salad of lettuce, tomato, lemon and pepper. The fridge is rather bare. We just came upstairs to watch a movie and what is he doing? Eating Reese's he stashed in the freezer.

Grawr.

Grocery Mishap.

That was odd. I just typed up an entire post and it got deleted. Grrr.

Anyhow, my post was over the fact that on Sunday, I had been charged 2.99 a pound for the Roma Tomatoes I had bought instead of the sale price of eighty eight cents. It wasn't worth my time to drive back to the grocery store and receive thirty five cents back (I was rang up fifty one cents when it should have been sixteen or so cents). I ended up calling the grocery store and talking to the supervisor. I very politely and saccharine sweetly informed her that her checkers may possibly be ringing up the tomatoes incorrectly. I didn't want my money back, but I wanted to make sure that others weren't overpaying as well.

On a side note, the girl who rang me up was really rude. I resisted telling the supervisor that.