Cutting My Expenses

What is the difference between one month and another? 2 PAYCHECKS!!! and less spending.

I began January on a wrong foot, too many holiday expenditures carried over to my January bills and with the payment of our flight and hotel to Costa Rica, it looked bad.

In January I paid $2,218.06 in bills plus $300 to the parents, for a total of $2518.06.

In February I have so far paid $437.97 in bills plus $300 to the parents for a total of $737.97.

The difference between January and February, aside from the $1780.09 is that I cut spending. Instead of eating out, I'm taking my lunch to work, even if it means eating hot pockets, puddings, and fruits. I've also been pretty good about the shopping. I only spent money on Costa Rica items and Valentines gift for my honey.

Action Plan for March:
-I'll probably spend about $1000 for Costa Rica
-I'll take lunch everyday to work
-I'll save at least 60% of my paychecks.
-Don't shop or buy things you don't NEED
-Prepare for heavy savings month of April - We'll see who can spend less (Competition between us two)

Budgeting with Goals

There are a lot of great money blogs out there that try to give you advice on how to budget your money, but they don't really tell you what they do. They tell you:
- To have an emergency fund
- Monitoring your money isn't the same as budgeting your money
- To have a budget and track everything you spend

Even though they are all great tokens of advice, if you are looking to save, I recommend
1. using ONE CREDIT CARD and PAY IT OFF ONLINE and
2. having TWO SEPARATE BANK ACCOUNTS, one you spend money on, one you save money on.

Why is this smart?
If you use one credit card, you can easily track all your spending, some even categorize your purchases so you can see what you spend most on (i.e. gasoline, dining, shopping, travel, etc.), you can earn money through the points credit cards offer today, and you can make one easy payment online without having to pay for postage stamp. The trick: PAY your bill IN FULL, AND ON TIME

If you have one account or even two accounts with the same bank, you don't separate your spending money from your savings easily. I recommend having two separate banks if you know you'll be tempted to transfer money from your savings account to your checking account. Having two accounts with two separate banks makes it easier for you to not see the money you are saving. The trick: If it's "out of sight, it's out of mind" and you wont be tempted to spend it, it also makes it harder to go online and transfer money from your savings account to your checking account.

Recommended Credit Cards:
Chase Freedom - No Annual Fee, 3% Bonus Cash Back
Capital One No Hassle Miles Rewards- No Annual Fee, 1 mile/ dollar for first $1000 a month, 2 miles / dollar above $1000 spent a month
Chase Sapphire - No Annual Fee, 10,000 Bonus Points after 1st use, 1point/dollar spent

Urban Dictionary

Natali's facebook status was to copy and paste your first name definition from urban dictionary.

Nancy: nancy is a beautiful, amazing, awesome kid.
she's bootylicious and funky fresh.
she's a perfect ten and the most amazing person you will EVER meet. everyone who meets her loves her very very much.
nancy is pretty much the sex.

Jonathan: Loyal, Generous, Handsome individual (s), who is/are without a doubt the very best person to love. Jonathan(s) is/are Intelligent, Subtle, Strong, Rock-like Men. They are the best Friends and very best Lovers.

So then I started to look up our possible kids names, and realized maybe we shouldn't go with some. Kai is decent. Nate and Wes - I'm embarrassed to even post what it means... definitely NO.

Sophie: A Sophie Is A Girls Name. The Meaning Of The Name Is Wisdom. And Its Origin Is From The French Lands. People Who Are Called Sophie Tend To Try And Be Better Than The Last Time. (Jonathan says MAYBE).

What does your name mean?

Hurry Up and Wait.

In college I would always need to hurry up to stand at the bus stop and wait for it to come. Or we would need to hurry up to class and wait for the GSI's because they're running late. Well now, I feel like I'm starting that pattern again. I hurry up to do something, just to wait for the next thing to happen. Why can't things run smoothly? Hurry up to the bus stop and right when you get there the bus arrives? Why am I in such a rush to grow up? What is the purpose of my life? Lately I feel like I've been pushy about the wedding, I used to feel in a rush to buy a house (but I still think that if I had the means, I should have), I feel like I'm in a constant hurry to do things and finish. What do I do when I'm finish?

Should I be anxious for March 6th to arrive? It's the first day of our trip to Costa Rica. But at the same time, I don't want it to get here so quickly because Jon hasn't gotten his passport yet, Jon hasn't email the hotel about the activities yet. Should I email them? I've been asking him for about 2 or 3 weeks now and he hasn't done it. On the other hand, when March 6th arrives and I'll be making my way to Costa Rica, it's going to be a bittersweet day at work. So what is the hurry of getting to March?

I feel like I have a lot of things going on in my head. I'm glad I already filed taxes, I took care of bank accounts, I took care of the goods, but now I still need to take care of my money and follow up on the ownership of my car. When I sleep, I feel like I am worrying and planning my day in head, AS I SLEEP! I feel overwhelmed sometimes. I'm glad Jonathan is able to come often and visit me, or else I would go crazy. AND my room is now relaxing, welcoming, and peaceful, so I can now rest when I'm home.

I'm a mess. I wish work wasn't so secretive. I don't like secrets, especially when it affects a lot of people. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

New Pillows (for Nancy) and New 42" TV (for Jon)

Fun weekend with my love once again :) We ended January with less money than we made this month... kinda

Saturday Jonathan and I had a nice romantic date with fun and jokes throughout the night :)
Sunday we ran a bunch of couple errands like a married couple. We went to Sam's Club, Bed Bath and Beyond, Costco, Ikea and Target. We had so much fun, making each other laugh and trying to jam a huge tv box into my tiny car.



And I returned the brown pillows that I wasn't too sure of and bought orange world map pillows. At least Jon liked these better than the embroidered ones.


Thanks babes for a fun weekend!

Remodeling My Room - Almost Done!

I am almost done! I am loving the way things are turning out!

Yesterday I bought white matching pillow cases for my 4 pillows, my down comforter, white duvet, curtains, a curtain rod, and decorative pillows (which I'm not too sure of yet). My bed is almost done, just need minor details here and there added to give it some color. My window is done! It's got modern blinds, curtains, and a curtain rod! My walls still need some work. When I went to Ikea yesterday I was tempted to buy the painting from my favorite Showroom model, but decided to wait and buy real art.

2 people for 2 years, 2 months and 2 days

Jonathan and I have officially been together for 2 years, 2 months, and 2 days as of today! I love you with all my heart my love. Thank you for a fun and relaxing weekend. I hope we have many of these to come, without the long distance part. Thank you for these fun memories and for the rest to come!

Thanks to the CAL v USC LBSA Tailgate, I found my Love.