HouseHappy's Personal Finance Blog

Fern had a great comment/question in my last post. And I thought I'd address it in its own post. (Hope you don't mind, Fern!)



Fern's Comment:

"I love your methodicial and ambitious plans for paying off the loan (sounds like me). But let me ask you this, just to double-check: what's the rate of your student loan vs. your mortgage? Don't federal student loans have fairly low rates?"



First, there's actually not much difference between the two rates. I have a good deal on the mortgage rate and the student loan rates were slightly higher at the time I was in school. So the student loan is only 0.125% less than the mortgage.

And for me, a lot of this is mental. I graduated high school 11 years ago and college 7 years ago. I don't want to still be paying for a school I went to almost a decade ago!

Plus, paying off my mortgage is not something I will be able to do in the immediate future (like in the next year or two). I plan on paying it down as quickly as possible, but in the short-term, I'd just love to be debt free, but the house! And I can be there in about 6 months!

So I have this goal of paying off my last student loan by age 30. My 30th birthday is April 27th. And if I work really, really, really hard, it just might happen.

Currently, I pay an extra $263.00 to the student loan each month. I have a plan for coming up with the rest of the funds for doing this.

Its seemed like I could easily pay off the loan by the end of 2009, but I would miss my birthday. However, I made a VERY detailed spreadsheet and I can do it by...

1. Trimming other budget catagories and putting the extra funds to the loan.

2. Lowering my 401k percentage TEMPORARILY (but still making the company match) to add an additional 45.00 per paycheck in take-home pay.

3. Trimming my Christmas budget by $159.00 to put towards the student loan.

4. I have 3 months of the year where I don't have a $125.00 car insurance payment. Those 3 months (Feb, Mar & April) will go to the loan.

5. I have an annual inheritance that I should receive in March. $475.00

6. Taking funds from my vacation, house and When-I-Make-My-Weight-Goal clothing budgets $300.00. None of these catagories are needs, just wants.

7. Cashing out savings bonds that my parents had given me. $1144.92.

8. Selling an extra wireless internet setup and my TI-83 calculator. Expected $45.00

All of this should get me within $35.00 of my goal. I just need to stick to the budget and come up with the additional $35.00.

Knowing its that obtainable, I will work hard to get it done. Anything I can do to keep this goal!!!

I baked 2 dozen Blueberry Banana muffins last night. Yummy. Ate a few & froze the rest.

Tonight I made 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies. Most of which, I'll be taking into work tomorrow.

Its cold in my house right now. 49 degrees outside, 63 inside. Not too bad with the heat off. But I'm chilly. The stove kept the kitchen warm for awhile, but now I'm freezing again. I'm layering up and am cozying up on the couch with a blanket. My goal is to keep the heat off as absolutely long as possible. I get cold fairly easy, so I have to work hard to stay warm

And since my entertainment budget is blown with a work lunch out today, I am making plans for the weekend. Watching my nephew for a few hours tomorrow night. Doing some computer work at my parents on Saturday. Saturday night will be movie night in. Sunday will be a cleaning day.

I have to pick up cat litter and some veggies after work tomorrow, but after that, except for going to my parents (who live 10 minutes away), I really don't have a need to leave the house. No heat, no gas, no spending

Got paid today. Paid my mortgage & normal monthly bills. Put gas in my car and put $237.00 in an extra payment to my student loan.

I put the extra money from the electric budget ($37.23) and a few other catagories into savings. I like to build up a small amount in a freedom account for any expected 'unexpected' expenses (if you know what I mean).

Since I have all these planned savings and planned overpayment of my student loan, I sometimes have a tight month cash/spending wise. But its by choice. I want to meet my goals and for the most part its not a hardship for me to do so.

Last month, I had a lot of events - camping, a concert, and a wedding. So I spent more entertainment/gifts wise. So this motnh the entertainment budge is a little smaller

I also filled up the tank and made a BIG grocery run. I plan on doing some baking and I wanted to try making my own bread. Now I'm set except for getting some more milk and veggies later next week.

So now, after all is said and done, I've got a small amount left for discretionary spending.

From today until the 15th, I have:
-$16.02 in the gas budget (But I usually only fill up once a pay period).
-$36.96 for groceries
-$19.21 for entertainment/spending (this was already a lower amount than usual)
-$6.00 for cat litter
-$15.28 for personal items (really need to stock up in this catagory)

My goal is to stick to all of those budgeted amounts. To not go over in any catagory AND to not move funds from one to another. Its doable, mainly I just need to plan food and keep myself entertained VERY cheaply

Luckily, there's a lot of good tv on right now. And what I don't watch during the week, I can catch up on with Comcast On Demand and the internet

For meals,

I plan on having oatmeal for breakfast, tomato & cucumber salad & a cheese sandwich for lunch. Dinner will be pasta most likely

Thursday: Cheerios & milk for breakfast, pasta salad for lunch, meatloaf muffins for dinner.

Friday: Cheerios & milk for breakfast, salad w/ meat for lunch, tacos for dinner.

Happy 1st day of Fall! I'm enjoying having the windows open

Today, I went over in my grocery budget. It resets on the 15th, but I'm probably going to need one more run to the produce stand in the meantime.

I went over knowingly though. I found a good deal on blueberrys (end of season?) and bought 4 pints. I've already frozen them and will use them in blueberry banana muffins. Very healthy muffins and much less calories than store bought ones, which is great since I'm doing Weight Watchers. Blueberry muffins are kind of my guilty pleasure

I have already prepacked food for tomorrow and have snacks to put in my desk drawer.

I worked out for 1/2 an hour tonight and plan on taking a walk tomorrow. Either heading out to a local park or just walking around the neighborhoods close to mine.

Today my sister and I took my nephew and a friend to the Oktoberfest. She had free tickets (saved $7.00). Free rides for the kids and fairly cheap food, drink and beer We stayed a few hours. I spent $6.00 out of pocket. And it was a great day!

Tonight I pre-sorted food for the week and made lunch for tomorrow. To prepare, I pre-portion 1 cup Cheerios into individual plastic bowls. I premeasure 1 cup milk into individual containers. I pre-portioned 8 oz of yogurt into containers. I also cut up 4 containers worth of carrot sticks. So now I'm ready to go forward with my meal plan.

Monday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & milk
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Meatloaf muffin, carrots
Snack: mini bag of popcorn
Dinner: Tuna sandwich on Rye, salad
Snack: To be determined

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & milk
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Pasta salad, pears, carrots
Dinner: Tuna sandwich on rye, baked fries, salad

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & milk
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Turkey bacon BLT; salad
Dinner: Spaghetti with ground turkey, salad.

Thursday:
Breakfast: Pears, Yogurt
Snack: carrots
Lunch: Cheese sandwich, pasta salad
Dinner: Chicken, roasted potatoes

Friday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & Milk
Snack: Fruit smoothie (homemade)
Lunch: Sloppy joe over pasta, salad
Dinner: Chicken taco salad over baked tortillas

Now I just have to follow through with the plan

Went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to get a wedding gift off their registry. Online, BB&B said the item that I wanted was in stock. When I got there, they said all the remaining items on the registry had to be ordered. So now I have to go off the registry.

BB&B had a big clearance section up front and I managed to snag some good early Christmas gifts.

I spent $12.51, and got a Glitter spun Candle set with a holder, red berry wreath and a pillar candle for a friend of mine. Budgeted $10.00, spent $3.74, saved $6.26.

I was able to get a large Maple Syrup candle in a very manly jar with stopper - perfect for a guy friend of mine. Spent $3.79. Budgeted $10.00, saved $6.21.

I also took care of getting some small gifts for just under a dozen coworkers. Just a little token gift that I'll wrap in tissue paper and a ribbon bow. I got 4 Yankee Candle Christmas (2.49) scented votives and 6 glass votives in evergreen (also $2.49). For about 50 cents and a handlful of tissue paper and ribbon, I have 10 work gifts!

I ended up getting a wedding gift at Linen's N Things. They matched the 20% off Bed, Bath & Beyond coupon. Spent 23.99. A little more than planned, but oh well. I also grabbed a wedding gift bag and card at the dollar store $1.50.

I did go to the movies today with my mom & nephew. $8.00. Picked up a soda at the dollar store and brought my own popcorn from home. (The theatre allows outside food).

Mom insisted on lunch, so we went to a local place. She treated. Which was fine, cause she owed me for some socks and stuff I picked up for her the other week, so now we're even

She wanted to stop at the Halmark store. Looked at a few cute things. And my nephew was VERY enamoured with a musical Halloween card featuring Star Wars characters. I went back in and splurged on it. $4.99. And he will carry this thing around for weeks!

Now I'm home, watching the first 3 episodes of Sons of Anarchy on Comcast On Demand. I am about to make dinner and get some stuff done around the house.

The air's still off. And I checked my electric usage today. I've used 297 KWH this billing period with about 6 days to go. Last month, I used 383. I've got the air off and am using minimal electric, so I should come in well under last month's usage.

My goal for October is to have air and heat off the whole month. There's been a big temp drop in the last few days, but hopefully it won't go any lower in the next month or so!

Its a happy Friday for me because I have a day off from work and the only goal I have is to do nothing I have the windows open and its almost chilly in the living room.

I'm still in my pajamas. I already made breakfast and lunch and am watching an Agatha Christie movie "Murder Most Foul". I REALLY love mystery movies.

Its been a busy week for me, and the down time is much needed. And as a side benefit, today will be a no spender because I am staying home all day.

A/C is still off. I've up to 13 days of no A/C this billing period.

Yesterday, I stocked up on books, cookbooks and movies from the library.

I got a TON of free stuff from our work outing on Wednesday. In addition to the free lunch and fun that we had, I took home a bunch of leftovers. 3 cans of soda, a bottle of water and a HUGE catering pan of salad. With all the good greens, peppers, cucumber, and more.

Stopped me from having to go to the produce stand for a full veggie trip. I just quickly grabbed tomatoes (1.46) and carrots (2lbs for $1.49). Saved approximately $6-8 dollars.

And I had a nice big salad for lunch and am planning another with dinner

I did some grocery shopping this week and was able to get some good deals. I've also had to change the way I buy some things due to packaging downsizes and/or prices.

Doing Weight Watchers, I consider 8 oz yogurt a serving. Only Acme carried the individual 8 oz yogurts. but they just downsized to 6oz. So I have switched to the 32 oz Dannon container and am just portioning it out into plastic containers for easy travel to work.

At the Acme, I was able to get a couple of good deals, including .... 101 oz Olive Oil for $9.99!!! A good deal around here is 50 oz for 9.99, so this was a steal!

I spent some time at the Dollar store yesterday. I needed to stock up on cleaning supplies, hand soap, and food storage containers.

I also scored with large bags of hashbrown potatoes at the dollar store. Its tough to find any frozen potatoes where the only ingredient IS potatoes. So I bought two!

On my grocery list was popcorn kernals. Acme had a 2 pound jug of them for... get this... $6.99! Walmart, where I usually get the popcorn was $3.99, up from $3.49. But now they carry a 2 lb bag of generic kernals for $1.50. Great deal compared to Acme's $6.99! And I just put the kernels into the old jug from my last purchase.

Soda prices are increasing and since I already have an unhealthy addiction, I'm working hard to cut back on my soda use. I'm drinking more water and I made a pitcher of generic crystal light fruit punch. No soda today so far.

I've started thinking about Christmas and plan to make my list this weekend. I have rough ideas, but I'm going to nail down gifts for each of the people on my list. Also, my Mom's birthday is coming up. I got her a book for $7.99 and I plan on cooking dinner for her and my dad.

This weekend, I have to get a wedding gift from Bed, Bath & Beyond. I have a 20% off coupon and plan to spend about $25.00.

So lots of spending, but a very tight budget. I'm hoping to save money any way that I can, including coming underbudget in my entertainment catagory. Time to get creative!

Lots of stuff going on. Cleaning, organizing, laundry, ect.

Returned a poncho to Kmart since it was unopened during the camping trip. $4.99 back in my pocket.

Returned the dress that I had bought for a wedding. Using one from my own closet

Did 3 loads of laundry today, only used the dryer once. And thats because I ran out of doors to hang the sheets/blankets on - no outdoor drying line.

Turned A/C back off tonight, although it wasn't running all that much even when its on. Its nice to have the fresh air coming through the house! I've guestimated that I've had 10 A/C off days in this billing period, which doesn't end til the 27th.

I'm working on my grocery budget. Its been challanging to eat healthier on a strict budget.

Packed breakfast and lunch today, but splurged on a soft pretzel. I've already packed breakfast for work tomorrow, but no need to pack lunch! We're having a work outing at a local state park. Free subs, yum.

I have a great idea for the outing tomorrow. Since the park charges by the car, not the person, we're parking in a local shopping center and carpooling into the park. We should be done around 2, I'll carpool back to my car and then I'm going to use the parking pass that the driver used and head back into the park for an hour walk. Gotta work off that sub

We leave for Jim Thorpe tomorrow! I am really looking forward to it. So far, I've paid $19.00 in camping fees, $15.00 in drinks (alcohol is allowed at the site), and $4.99 for a poncho.

I still have to put in my share for all the food and give the girl driving some gas money. And what I get out of it is 3 days of fun with some new friends!

I also went out and bought some sweatpants. Good idea in the cooler weather and I only own one pair right now and I pretty much live in sweats during the winter. So an extra pair is always useful. I also picked up a backpack and a long sleeved teeshirt featuring my college football team. Its all cute and girlie in pink and grey (not the team's colors).

This week the air has stayed off. I have the windows open and in the evening, there's no need for ceiling fans.

While I'm gone this weekend, my mom & nephew will look in on the cats. I told my nephew if he plays with the kitten for 20 minutes, I'll give him a dollar We'll see how that goes.

I'll be back late Sunday. Have a good weekend everyone!

Packed breakfast for work, but forgot (translated into was too lazy to make) lunch. So I spent 1.03 on a salad, .55 on a soft pretzel, and .85 on baked doritos. I did have dinner at home though!

And I spent some time this evening making a large salad with pasta for lunch tomorrow.

Today, the A/C was off all day, and it rained earlier, so its nice and cool with just a tad of humidity. I am getting excited for Fall. I get this sorta nesting feeling this time of year. I want to bring out blankets and candles and prepare to snuggle

Tomorrow, I am heading to my parents house after work. I'm supposed to watch my nephew for a few hours and set up my dad's new computer. I will probably get dinner out of it.

I have to prep for my camping trip. Pick up a poncho (roughly $7) since its going to rain this weekend. I'm sharing a tent with some friends (free). My share of the camp site for the weekend was $20.00. And two of the girls are going to buy food on Thursday night, so I'm looking at probably another $20.00 towards that. I am really excited to be going, even with rain!

And, I forget if I mentioned this or not, but I'm going to a wedding at the end of the month and its pretty fancy. So I went shopping last weekend for a dress. Is it me, or did all the stores stop carrying dresses except for in the juniors department? I finally found on, which I liked all right, but was pretty expensive. Well, I remembered the cute dress that I wore to my high school reunion last year and suddenly I have a dress that I love! Taking back that other one on Thursday!

Today was a no spender. No a/c either. I was supposed to hang out with that guy I've been seeing, but we had some miscommunication and decided to reschedule. Truth be told, I'm not sure that we have anything going right now. He's a great guy, but I'm not feeling the chemistry.

Tonight I made all my food at home. Premade some food for tomorrow, but plan on stopping at the produce stand on my way home to stock up on salad stuff.

Also, I found the greatest drink coasters in a Pier 1 catalog. At $15.00 for a set of four, its a bit pricy for me. So I did some online research thinking that if I could find the wood bases, I could stain them, use patterned scrapbook paper and use a clear coat of sealer. But I can't find the kind of base coaster, so I'm putting that idea on hold til I can browse some craft shops. They would make great Christmas gifts.

I ended up going to a party last night instead of staying in. Brought some drinks from my fridge as a contribution, so no out of pocket spent.

This morning, I slept in, made breakfast, lunch and dinner at home. Premade food for tomorrow. Deep cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the living room. Cleaned the upstairs bath including lots of scrubbing. Did three loads of laundry and only used the dryer once for bathmats. Hung everything else inside.

I cleaned out the closet and put together four more large bags of clothes to donate. Mostly went through old suits and dress clothes that no longer fit and are not needed in my current work situation.

I painted my toes, gave myself a facial, organized my jewelry. Played with the cats, talked to some friends, made lists of things to do and goals

And I still managed to watch some tv, take a nap, and generally enjoy myself. I feel like I got a LOT accomplished!

The A/C has been off since last night. And the best part was that today was a no spender.

NorthEast is getting some harsh rain today. I've been up since 6:30 - cats woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep. It was only raining lightly this morning, so I ran to the produce store and got some potatoes, a green pepper, peanuts in the shell and tomatoes. $7.97. Not too bad. Right after I walked back in the door, it started pouring and got really windy.

Now I'm back home to watch old NCIS episodes on dvd borrowed from the library. Now I'm watching Monk & Psych, which I taped last night. In between, I've been cooking and playing on the internet. And I'm pretty sure I'll be grabbing a nap soon.

As for teaching the kitten to fetch -- he was jumping all over the older cat. To distract him, I throw his toys, (or a pen, whatever's handy) across the room. Today, all I had on hand was a piece of scrap paper. I balled it up and threw. He batted it around and then brought it back to me. I threw again and he brought it back to me. This lasted like an hour because if I didn't throw again, he would pick it up and put it on my lap. Too cute!!

Today is a great day to do nothing. I was invited to a party, but I am definately not going if its raining. If I stayed home all night, I'd be fine with that. I could fill up my time with finding new recipes and playing video games. Much like my college days!

Made some muffins this afternoon. Tweaked the recipe a bit and they came out GREAT! Big, tasty and healthy.

Today, I cleaned, played on the internet, watched a movie, read a book. Tonight I'm supposed to hang out with this guy. I'm hoping to talk him into staying in and watching a movie.

I already have food packed for work tomorrow. Breakfast of cheerios & milk; morning snack of muffin. Lunch is spaghetti salad.

And while I was writing this post, the guy just called. Wants to stay in. Make me dinner at his place. So today will still be a no spender! Woohoo!

Went to the movies and an early dinner with mom today. She needed some cheering up and it was well worth it, but it was spending (from my entertainment budget) that I was hoping to avoid today. Oh well.

Turned the AC back on this evening. Its very hot and humid and unlike most days in the last two weeks, I'll actually be home tonight and all day tomorrow. Might was well be comfortable.

I am working on a meal plan for the week. I'm hoping to not spend any money Monday through Thursday. No eating out, no snacks at work, no happy hours. It used to be that these days were common, but lately, I've been all over the place with my spending. Time to get back on track.

I earned a $25.00 Amazon gift certificate from a credit card that I use & pay off each time. It was a planned benefit and that gift certificate is going towards my Christmas shopping.

I also stocked up on soda at the store today. Its rare to see a sale on 12 packs at 5 for $10.00. So I stocked up. I then took the codes from the 12 packs and signed up for Pepsi Stuff for the first time. Sometime next year, I might get something free from that. Never hurts. I'm also going to ask coworkers to give me their points if they're not using them.

Spent a bit much last night. All cash, but still it was WAY more than I wanted to spend. At least I had a great time

I've had my A/C off since Wednesday night and I was loving it. However, its been threatening rain since last night and the humidity is high. Not so good for the allergies.

My goal is to keep my A/C off at least 10 days this billing month for my electric. So far, I'm on day 3. Definately doable.

This weekend, I have lots of plans. Tomorrow, I'm going to a happy hour with work friends then meeting other friends at a nearby bar. I plan on having dinner - the shrimp at this place is AWESOME! I'm going to keep the total night's spending under $20.00

Saturday, a friend and I are going to look for dresses to wear to a wedding. Its pretty formal and I have nothing that fits anymore. Hope I can find a good deal, because my budget is TIGHT!

Sunday and Monday are completely unplanned. I have some movies from the library and a few novels. I have a well stocked kitchen for yummy meals. I plan on going to my parents one day and hiking the other. I hate to travel this holiday weekend.


As for money plans, I have a lot of planned spending coming up:

Next weekend, I'm going to the beach since I missed out on going last weekend. Just for the day.

The next weekend, I'm going camping and whitewater rafting.

The following weekend is free. Then the next, I have a concert Saturday night and a wedding Sunday afternoon. We're planning on getting a hotel room for the wedding and heading back Monday morning.



So lots of stuff going on. Now I'm looking to do this without breaking my budget. I want to be able to put extra funds to the student loan, which now has a balance of $6,579.98! Woohoo!

On the upside, my electric bill was only $69.01! I had the air back on the last few days and was able to turn it back off yesterday. I want to keep it off as much as possible for two reasons: I LOVE fresh air and I love the lower electric bill

Last week it was my credit card that was taken. This Friday, I went to a Happy Hour and my cell phone was taken. UGH.

The theif has cajones. He took the phone right off the table. There was a lot of confusion due to it being a LARGE table with lots of different people coming and going. So I really shouldn't have left it out on the table.

At least I was able to shut it off immediately after I realized it was gone. And I was able to get a new phone on Saturday for $19.99 after rebate.

I've been spending like crazy, bought some more new clothes. Its been out of control lately. I'm a little mad at myself for gettiing so off track.

So, I'd like to talk about the things that I'm doing right.

-Turned the A/C off Friday morning til this afternoon. Humidity went back up and I had guests today. Still, my electric usage has been a LOT less than last month.

-Air dried 2 loads of laundry this week. One of which was towels and sheets, which I normally use the dryer for. I ended up hanging a couple of sheets off doors since I only have drying racks & hangers, not a clothes line.

-Made a meal plan for the week. I have already premade meals for tomorrow.

-Got a decent deal on low-fat ground turkey - bought two packs of 3 pounds each. I browned 3 pounds up tonight and packaged them as two 1 lb packages, and five 1/5 pound packages for individual meals. Took a third of the 2nd package and made meatloaf muffins. Tomorrow night, I'll make sloppy joe with the other two pounds. I just need to get one thing from the store first.

-Cleared more clothes from the closet. Organized my Fall/winter stuff and I know I'm set for the season.

-Cleaned the smelly cat litter boxes with water and vinegar and it REALLY made a difference. Nice, cheap solution!

-Did my own nails. I actually find this to be relaxing to do myself.

-Bought bananas and blueberries really cheap and have frozen a bunch for baking and smoothies later on


I also have several big expenses coming up. In the next two months:

- Concert with friends. Ticket, gas and at least one drink while there: Estimated $100.00

- Camping and white water rafting, gas, tent site, food: Estimated $150.00

- Wedding of coworker, slightly out of town. Gift, gas, hotel (a group of us are sharing a room), and breakfast: $130.00

- One more trip to the beach and boardwalk. Gas, tolls, parking, dinner, and maybe games: Estimated $80.00. (Gas being around $50)

***All of these expenses are probably over estimated, but I'd rather overestimate than underestimate.

My credit card was stolen when I went to a bar on Friday. I know it happened at the bar, but I'm not sure how. I didn't even know that my card was missing until the fraud department called me Saturday morning.

They called asked me about the charges. Let me know I wouldn't be responsible for the two large gas charges and one T-Mobile bill that the theives used. They said I'd get a new card and they'll send me an affidavit to sign.

Even if they hadn't called, I pay off my credit cards as soon as a charge posts, so I would have noticed the fraud charges. But it was great that the company noticed them first!

In other news, I turned the A/C back on last night. Getting humid again. I don't think that it ran much during the day since I kept my blinds closed and set the temp to 80. But its run a few times since I've been home.

I needed some new pants and shirts for work. I WAY overspent. I plan on taking back a few of the items. I had 20% off and didn't do too bad, but I got a few unnecessary items.

Today was a no spender for work food. But, I did stop off and buy romaine lettuce, tomatoes and peanuts from the produce store.

Then I got 2 25 pound bags of kitty litter from Walmart. I went with their brand, which is cheaply packaged, but is pretty good. The brand I previously bought was 30 pounds for $5.52 ($0.184 per pound). The new brand's bag was $3.94 ($0.1576 per pound). Great deal, since I buy a lot of litter

I turned the A/C off Thursday night and its been off ever since. Weather has been beautiful here. Lots of breezes and fresh air blowing through the house. I'm loving it! Plus so little electric used!

Today I was going to head to the beach, but I woke up in the middle of the night with the nastiest sinus headache and I decided that the beach wasn't such a great idea after losing hours of sleep.

So I slept in, took a drive through a very scenic area about a half hour away and then went to a different, but local State Park. $3.00 admission, since I never got around to buying my yearly pass. This trail was 3.6 miles. It should have been an hour hike, but... took a wrong turn on the trail and ended up backtracking a bit due to some missing signage. I ended up hiking for an additional 40 minutes! I was beat by the time that I was done, but I made it

No eating out today. I made myself breakfast at home. A sandwich for lunch at home. And I'll be making dinner at home later. I was thinking about getting some take out since I'm 'on vacation'. But I'll be having dinner out with friends tomorrow, so I'd better save it for then!

Kidney stone is 100% gone. Thank goodness! Its been a rough week. I haven't made food at home in days, so now I need to get back on track.

I turned the air off Thursday night and have opened up all the windows. It was SO nice out. I was even a little cold last night! I have been trying to keep my electric bill low this month.

I stayed in last night, but did get takeout for dinner.

Today, I'm going to cull more clothes from my closet and clean the upstairs. I am hanging out with a friend tonight. We'll probably head out to dinner. Nice and low-key. Maybe watch a movie.

Tomorrow I'm going with my mom to visit a family friend who is ill. I hope seeing me will cheer her up. She keeps asking about me.

I'm off work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. No big plans, I just wanted a few days off. I plan on heading back to the beach. 2 hour drive. I'll pack drinks, breakfast & lunch. Splurge on some beach fries. Spend all day at the beach and head back late afternoon.

Other than that, I'm just going to be doing stuff around the house. watching movies borrowed from the library and catching up on some books that I've been meaning to read.

In regards to the student loan, I've sent another $62.56 to it. I hate that it takes SO long to have the payment post to the account. I really can't wait to pay it off!

As for the second job, I had postponed my interview at UPS due to being sick. Then I postponed it a second time for the same reason. This wasn't a real interview, just a group walk-through and paperwork fill-out. Well, now, the shift that I wanted no longer has walk throughs available. BOOO! With my current work schedule, the only other shift that would work for me, would mean that I have to go in at 3:30 am. Thats so not going to work.

So now, if I want to pay off this loan by my April Birthday goal, I need to find roughly $2418.00. I am going to work on it, including selling some of my aunt's furniture that I don't have any use for.

Right now, I have $15.00 cash and $80.00 in checking. (after monthly bills). $20.00 goes to my Weigh Watchers fee. $15.00 goes to stocking up on cat food/litter/supplies. $25.00 for groceries. $35.00 spending money until Friday, when I get paid.

If there are any leftover funds, they go towards the student loan. So I'm going to work VERY hard to make that happen.

Deposited the check from my mom today and immediately set up an online payment of $2,050 to the student loan.

Woohoo! Once it hits, I should have a balance around $6,760.86. Sweet!

I was prepping for the party on Saturday, only to have pains in my side. I had a kidney stone a few years ago and knew what was going on. Called my mom and spent 12 hours at the hospital. UGH.

All they could do is confirm I've got a nice big one. And its 1/2 way through, but stopped for the moment. They sent me home with meds to wait it out.

I'll get a bill, $50.00 for a copay, everything else will be out of pocket.

I spent yesterday at my parents house. Nothing happened. Still waiting for the stone to pass. I went into work today, but was so tired and uncomfortable, I made plans to stay home tomorrow.

I talked to the urologist's office that I used for my previous stone, they told me if the stone doesn't pass on its own, then I'll need to go in Thursday for a procedure. Lucky me.

I'm drinking TONS of water. I'd rather pass it than have any procedures. I'm at my house again tonight. I've been cleaning and mopping in the hopes of moving around might get the thing going. I'm prepped with meds and if it starts moving again, I'll take them right away.

Luckily, I have sick days at work. And although its the worst time ever to be out of the office, I think they'll be ok without me.

Today I packed breakfast (cheerios & milk), lunch (pasta salad and grapes) & snacks (carrots and strawberries) for work.

On the way in this morning, I filled up the car with gas at 3.69/gal! Glad I did it, on the way home that same station was sold out. The next lowest price in the area was $3.80. I spent $48.58 of my $60.00 budget. I've put the remaining funds $11.42 in a savings account.

After work, I headed into the area around the University. (5 mins from work in the opposite direction from home). I parked in a free parking lot and walked two miles around the campus. I got a little nostalgic as this was my undergrad school. (Yay free healthy exercise, de-stressing and entertainment all in one)

I've been trying different places for walking as I tend to get bored. I'm definately going to keep the University on my list!

After work, I headed home. Made dinner (Big salad, with pasta and a side of baked fries).

And now I'm vegging. The cats are fighting, so I have to keep yelling at them I'm watching free movies from Comcast, giving myself a pedicure and playing on the internet. Great start to the weekend!



Tomorrow morning, I'm getting up early & heading to a local state park for an hour long hike. $3.00 admission, but its so worth it!

Then in the afternoon, I have a party to go to. Its a big cookout with crabs and beer. Its a little far away and pretty much an all night party, so most of the guests camp out. The guests chip in $20.00 and bring a dish. I'm bringing brownies.


And just cause I'm still ridiculously happy about paying off my student loan, I've been making all kinds of spreadsheets. I REALLY want to have this paid off by my 30th birthday, which is in April. It would be a HUGE stretch, but I'm going to try.

I'll get the check from my mom this weekend and the first thing I'll be doing is putting that $2047.54 to the student loan. (Which is the original $5,000.00 minus the payoff on Student Loan# 1 minus funds set aside for a complete new wardrobe when I hit my weight goal and vacation funds).

Once that hits Loan #2 and the extra payment I just sent of $225, I'll have a balance of roughly $6,744.74. Down from today's balance of $9017.28. Thats a pretty great start!

I mentioned before that I'm being gifted some money from my mom. Well, my first student loan is a private loan in my parents name. So they went and paid off the loan today as I asked. And I'll get a check for the difference.

I am SO happy to have that paid off. I hated having debt in their name and now I'm FREE from it!! Nice!

To top it off, the balance was less than I expected. And because it was paid off before the next due date, I was able to send that loan's monthly payment of $225.00 went to Student Loan #2!

Now I need to work on Student Loan #2. The current balance is $9017.28 (before this new payment hits).


Edited to add: Although the gift paid off the last $1,652.46. I'd just like to say that I got that balance down from:

Dec 31, 2005 $15,694.69
Feb 28, 2006 $15,100.52
Jan 31, 2007 $12,512.40
Oct 3, 2007 $8,813.28
Jan 8, 2008 $4,973.31
Mar 1, 2008 $3,795.49
Today: $0.00!

Booo! The electric bill went up. $94.97! Still under budget, but I'm not too happy with the amount. I got the amount online, but I'm waiting for my paper statement to see what the usage was. With the rates going up, its hard to tell if that bill is really all that out of line.

I've been home all day with a migrane. So its been a no spender. All the things on my to do list went out the window. Oh well.

Today, I've set the AC at 78, but it hasn't kicked on in hours. I've kept the window shades drawn and thats helped. I am utilizing a fan in the living room. A bit before going to bed, I'll lower the temp a little more and use my bedroom fan to keep things cool.

I get paid tomorrow and I've worked out a zero based budget for this pay period. My goals are to stay within the budgeted amounts for entertainment spending ($39.75), groceries ($50.00), gas ($60.00) and cat expenses ($31). I'll hold myself accountable here because I really need to get back on track with this kind of spending.

I've also premade food for work tomorrow. Cheerios and milk for breakfast. Salad with chicken for lunch. Popcorn as a snack. I've made a tentative meal plan for the rest of the week.

Wednesday Dinner: Chicken and baked fries
Thursday Lunch: Meatloaf muffin and pasta salad
Thursday Dinner: Sloppy joe over pasta
Friday Lunch: Salad with chicken
Friday Dinner: Turkey BLT

Today my Dad stopped by and helped me detach the stopper in my bathtub so that I could clean the drain. I had been trying to get the thing out for 2 weeks. It was stripped.

He was able to get it done in about 5 minutes with the right tool. He gifted me his time and the tool for future use. I went to Lowes later and boought a new stopper. Man its nice to have a clean tub again

Later in the day, I went over to my parents house with a movie. We had lunch, talked and watched the movie.

During lunch, my Mom let me know that she's gifting my sister and I each $5,000.00 from her inheritance from my Aunt's estate. I tried not to accept. But my sister could REALLY use the money due to getting into some credit card debt and because of some medical issues my nephew is having. And I don't think they (my parents) feel its fair to gift her and not me.

At least my sister has already said all the funds will be going to pay off her biggest card. Which will ease up payments and help her snowball towards the rest of the debt.

My Mom asked that I use some of the funds for a mini vacation and some clothes. I think she feels like I don't do things for myself so much anymore. I will do as she asks with some of the funds for those reasons and then I plan on putting the rest of the money to good use.

I will say that I was already setting up a new clothes budget. With my weight loss, I need a new clothes. I've dropped 4 or 5 sizes in the last year. I've bought enough clothes to get through the summer, but now I'm at the point I need to pretty much completely redo my wardrobe. Underclothes all the way to sweaters. So I'll set the funds aside until I hit my goal weight. And then I'll work slowly, but build up a really good wardrobe.

I have less than $1800.00 on student loan #1, which I will pay off. I plan on using $400.00 towards a vacation fund. $400.00 towards new clothes. $400.00 to home repairs that I've been putting off. And the remaining amount will be going towards Student Loan #2.

Once Loan #1 is paid off, I'll have $200.00 going to Loan #2. Plus the normal payment for Loan #2. Plus the income from my likely 2nd job, which I have the interview for this Thursday. I could have the second loan paid off by August 2009. AND thats without getting a roommate.

I had off on Friday, did some stuff around the house, ran errands, then met my friends from work for happy hour. I had a good time.

Yesterday, I went to a family wedding. So it was a no spender. I wore a dress that I've had for a while, with shoes and purse from my closet. No spending necessary for the wedding. Other than a donation to a charity in leau of a gift, which I had previously donated.

I wanted to go walking today and I wanted to go to Walmart for a few items, as well as the local produce place (I cant call it a stand since its in an actual building and runs year round). Well, today, I combined the two. Instead of driving to a park then stopping at the stores, I walked it. In 90 degree heat. Not really the best idea I ever had. But it went well

According to Mapmyrun.com, my walk was 2.34 miles, not including actually getting into the stores. I bought a jar of popcorn kernals, some razors, cucumbers, lettuce, celery and eggs. All of which made it home safely. Also picked up a Redbox movie with a coupon code, so it was free!

I try not to use credit cards, but I got an offer on my Old Navy Visa for two transactions outside Old Navy and I'll get a $20.00 voucher to Old Navy So I used the card for the Walmart and produce place.

So now I'm doing some laundry and watching some laundry movies. And later, I'll watch the Redbox movie, Fool's Gold.

I'm off tomorrow and Tuesday, and I had these grand plans to head to the beach. But its a lot of gas and I'm thinking I might just head to the park for some hiking and hang out at home the rest of the time. No matter what I choose to do, I wont be at work for two more days, which is great

In other news, I have accumulated 5,077 points with MyPoints. And I'm close to getting a $25.00 Amazon gift card from my Amazon card. The MyPoints gift cards and Amazon gift card will be going towards Christmas.