April 2013 Budget Recap

Tags

budgeting, personal finance, spending

*NOTE: This budget is for shopping/food/gas only, or expense that I can control fully. I’m not including fixed expenses (mortgage, utilities, medical bills) because they’re fixed and honestly pretty boring to talk about. My TOTAL spending is not reflected in this budget. “Food & Dining” = Eating Out + Groceries *

Blown Budgets:

1. Food & Dining  (this category is eating out PLUS groceries together)

2. Groceries

We’re drinking a at least 1 green veggie smoothie every day now so we’re constantly buying produce.  We stocked up at Fresh and Easy, Trader Joe’s, and Costco this month.

3. Clothing

• Forever 21 haul - $45.35
• Urban Outfitters studded sweatshirt, pleated faux leather skirt & a geometric top – $32.58
• A long sleeved, light weight workout top for mosquito coverage at night in Fiji, from TJMaxx – $18.48
• Brandy Melville Eve Silk shorts from Ebay (and NEW with tags! yay) – $7.75
• Brandy Melville Monet top from Ebay – $24
• Brandy Melville LA Bones top from Ebay – $19.99

4. Shoes & Accessories

• Vintage Chanel purse circa 1997, Ebay (and I got it authenticated just in case, phew.) – $1,534.09

Overall budget:

-$1909

The Verdict?

GUESS what item tipped the scale from bad to worse! lol.

Next months plans:

• We cleaned up the garage and we’re getting ready to empty out the kitchen for the kitchen reno while we are gone on vacation
• We’re leaving on Saturday!!!! omgomgomg!
• HAH last month I hoped that I wouldn’t go crazy with pre-vacation spending…..and that definitely happened.  Oh well.  
• Aside from Fiji/NZ/Sydney I’m going to Michelle Phan’s Generation Beauty Event!  I recently got a free invite and luckily I was able to bring Serena along with me…. GIRLS WEEKEND VACAYYY!!! So excited for that as well! May is going to be AWESOME. 

♥ E&I

March 2013 Budget Recap

Tags

budgeting, personal finance, spending

*NOTE: This budget is for shopping/food/gas only, or expense that I can control fully. I’m not including fixed expenses (mortgage, utilities, medical bills) because they’re fixed and honestly pretty boring to talk about. My TOTAL spending is not reflected in this budget. “Food & Dining” = Eating Out + Groceries *

Blown Budgets:

1. Food & Dining  (this category is eating out PLUS groceries together)

2. Groceries

We’re drinking a at least 1 green veggie smoothie every day now so we’re constantly buying produce.  We stocked up at Fresh and Easy, Trader Joe’s, and Costco this month.

3. Clothing

• American Eagle jeans (for a DIY frayed shorts project) from Goodwill – $5.59
• I’m choosing between 2 bathing suits from ASOS (my choices here) – $67.82
• I bought a Wildfox tank (see here) and a chiffon sweatshirt (see here) using $30 of sellers credit from Crossroads, but I only paid for the tax – $2.37
• I bought a new rash guard for diving/snorkeling for our upcoming Fiji and Hawaii trips from Athleta, as well as an Old Navy coral tank top – total, $50.57
• From Goodwill, a LuluLemon windbreaker (on me, here) and Paper Denim Cloth jeggings – total, $7
• From Goodwill, a Free People lace convertible top (see here) – $7.99
• From TJMaxx, a pair of black Paige ponte leggings for a steal (see here) – $10.86

Overall budget:

-$156

The Verdict?

Ehhh…  I think I’m getting a little too excited about beach vacations  I probably shouldn’t have bought the rash guard but as soon as I put it on I didn’t want to take it off. Haha.  Here’s to hoping I have the willpower to return one of those ASOS bathing suits too.  At least I went to two different malls this weekend and I didn’t buy a thing… this number would have been much worse.

Next months plans:

• Spring cleaning will go into full swing… when Justin and I are in Fiji, dad’s going to supervise the kitchen renovation.  We’ll have to make room in the garage for materials storage for contractors and we’ll have to tidy up the kitchen to prep for it.
• I need to finish those DIY shorts before we leave for warmer weather
• I’m getting ready to release a giveaway on my YouTube channel
• Hopefully I won’t go to crazy with pre-vacation spending

♥ E&I

Shopping vs. Priorities

Tags

hobbies, personal finance, priorities, saving, Shopping

(This will most likely be a rambling post… just a forewarning)

I’m the type of person that gets REALLY hooked onto hobbies when I’m first starting out.  It happened with my Etsy store in 2009 (I’ve since put it on hiatus), extreme couponing in 2011, and now it’s happening with my YouTube channel.  I tend to get very focused (even up to a fault) on that project/hobby/interest and it feels like shopping and spending money falls to the wayside.  To keep myself sane  while working my 9-to-5 job I feel the need to regularly flex my ‘creative muscles.’  I think it helps me feel fulfilled as well.  I used to think shopping was pretty harmless but it DOES happen more when I’m bored or feeling bad about myself.

These hobbies all have one thing in common… saving money or increasing cash flow.  Now that I’m partnered up with StyleHaul I’m trying to focus creative energy towards creating YouTube videos for the next 3 months to set up an earning baseline.

…lol even when I’m not trying everything still comes down to personal finance.

I forgot where I read this, but it is true that ‘you can save as much money as possible, but it will be nowhere near as effective as earning more money.’  There is no earning ‘limit’ you can hit compared to saving money.  You can only save so much.

I feel really really lucky that my Etsy and YouTube hobbies have the potential to earn some money on the side.  When I was first starting out with YouTube I was (and I still am) happy to earn even $2/day.  Every little bit helps!  I’m still very new to the world of making YouTube videos and how the community works.

Anyway I guess the point of this post is that when I become absorbed into a new hobby, shopping sort of falls off the list of things to do.  Buddy’s getting older now too… and spending time with him is very important to me.  Spending time with Justin is also very important (obviously).  Being healthy is important.  Saving money is important.  Earning money is important because I can then support myself and my family.  As I’m getting older I’m trying to make smarter choices with my time and resources.  I know that as a teenager and an early 20-something shopping was a big time rush and something to do “as a hobby.”  But I’m trying to find more fulfilling things to do.  Buying a Chanel purse (what, two years ago?) was a very fun shopping highlight for me but doing DIY projects, working out at the gym, spending time with family are really doing much more for me.  Of course I still do love shopping but I’m (hopefully) realizing that spending time buying things that just sit around isn’t really a good use of my time.  

Who knows maybe next week I’ll turn it all around and go on a crazy shopping spree (hey I’m human)… but hopefully not. ;]

♥ E&I

February 2013 Budget Recap

Tags

budgeting, personal finance, spending

*NOTE: This budget is for shopping/food/gas only, or expense that I can control fully. I’m not including fixed expenses (mortgage, utilities, medical bills) because they’re fixed and honestly pretty boring to talk about. My TOTAL spending is not reflected in this budget. “Food & Dining” = Eating Out + Groceries *

Blown Budgets:

1. Food & Dining  (this category is eating out PLUS groceries together)

2. Groceries

I’ve been buying a lot of food in bulk from Costco along with some other general merch (paper towels, detergent, etc.)  I tend to categorize my transactions a bit later than the actual date, so I’m thinking a lot of the spending was shoved into the “groceries” category.  But oh well.

Overall budget:

$75

The Verdict?

Hooray!  Despite breaking my food budget I miraculously ended up in the green.  I think it’s mainly because I’ve been focusing my efforts on 3 things:  cooking, going to the gym, and making YouTube videos.  I haven’t been to the mall in a month.  I occasionally browsed Marshalls and Target but I didn’t find anything “fun” that was worth buying.

Oh!  And a new tip.. I just started using Unroll.me (a FREE service) so my email inbox doesn’t get clogged up.  I’m signed up for a TON of deal sites and even though some of the deals can be good, a lot of it is just junk.  Unroll.me will send you one mass email per day (if you wish..you can edit the frequency) of ALL of those email subscriptions.  I highly recommend it.  You’ll see all of your emails broken up into different categories and their email subjects.  I think this also helps out with compulsive spending.. I don’t see the shopping deal sites as often, so I shop less.

Next months plans:

• This weekend Justin and I will be completing a scuba diving certification course to prep ourselves for Fiji in May.
• Justin has moved everything in!  We’ll be doing some spring cleaning especially in the garage.
• Continue going to the gym at least 2x per week.  I’m on day shift now, which makes it harder, but I think I can do it.

♥ E&I

January 2013 Budget Recap

Tags

budgeting, personal finance, spending

*NOTE: This budget is for shopping/food/gas only, or expense that I can control fully. I’m not including fixed expenses (mortgage, utilities, medical bills) because they’re fixed and honestly pretty boring to talk about. My TOTAL spending is not reflected in this budget. “Food & Dining” = Eating Out + Groceries *

Blown Budgets:

1. Food & Dining  (this category is eating out AND groceries together)

I only ate out $60 worth of food!  I am in the red this month because of groceries. We barely ate out.

2. Groceries

OH my word I spent SO much money on groceries this month.  After making green smoothies and regular fruit smoothies at least 5x a week the fresh produce and my surge of cooking at home has blown this budget out of proportion.  I tried to stock up on meats and fish… I froze them… but now here I am at the end of the month with just two little pork chops & some ground pork left in the freezer.  And I had bought TONS of ground meats and chicken thighs.  ALL GONE NOW.  We also did stock up on some pantry items, but still.  Living with Justin means food disappears FAST! Wooh!  I guess I should hit up Costco more often now but it scares me to buy too much food and waste it.  Fruits disappear so fast because Justin and I are making smoothies constantly!  I’m so surprised at how much we spent, but looking at the numbers, it’s all there and accounted for.

3. Gas & Fuel

4. Home Decor

• I splurged at an estate sale.  I bought 2 bamboo chairs for the patio, a giant agave plant in a metal planter, moss balls originally from Pottery Barn I think (instagram here), some little hammered gold bowls for jewelry and whatnot, 2 glass lamps that were originally over $400 (instagram here), and some more plants.  A home stager was going out of business thus the crazy finds (instagram here).  -  $145
• Target pillow on clearance – $8.13

Overall budget:

$-300

The Verdict?

Uhm… how can I spend less on groceries?!  Haha.

Next months plans:

• Clean up, donate…. I was originally thinking of blog sale but I may just go the Crossroads route because its faster.
• I’m selling my snowboard for the same amount I bought it in 2009!  $120!  I hope it goes through… the deal should be done by next week. Yay!!!  $120 to spend on groceries. LOL.
• The 7th will be our 2nd year anniversary.  Time flies!
• Still have to organize our stuff since Justin has moved most of his things in.  The garage is a mess!

♥ E&I