Tag Archives: bills

Working on Budgeting (or Spending Money To Save Money)

Posted on July 15, 2015 | 4 comments

I’ve been trying to find a way to help make paying my credit card debt easier. And at the same time, I’ve been working on figuring out the best way to create a budget.

I’ve been able to make a really basic budget by listing all the expenses that I know that I have every month (rent, utilities, online subscriptions). So I know what the minimum I need to make each month in order to survive (I’m almost there). But knowing how much money I need to make to pay essential bills doesn’t really help me for budgeting things that change from month to month like groceries, shopping, gas, and other expenses. Those seem really tough for me to budget for because I try my best to set aside a certain amount for it but things come up and then my entire budget falls apart. My system doesn’t allow for flexibility and unexpected expenses.

And I’ve tried lots of budgeting ideas and systems in the past. The big problem that I’ve found with almost all systems is that they were designed for someone with steady income. That’s not something that I have. While my box office job is pretty steady with my weekly pay (that would only change if I’m missing lots of hours that I can’t make up), my research job and babysitting work is not as stable. So I needed to figure out how freelancers budget (even though I’m not a freelancer).

I was searching around online and happened to come across You Need A Budget. This is totally going to sound like I’m being paid to say all this, but I swear that this is all my opinion and I’m not getting anything out of it (unless YNAB would like to give me a copy of the software for free!).

I’m in the middle of a free trial, but so far I’m loving this budgeting system. It really works for someone who has more random income. Basically every single purchase and deposit is recorded. You set aside how much you’d like to spend in categories like bill, savings, debt, and anything else you want and then you put in how much you have spent of each one. The idea is that while you may start out by using this month’s pay to pay this month’s bills, eventually the money you make one month will be going toward the bills you will have in the future (which will end the paycheck to paycheck lifestyle).

This might not really be helping me pay down my credit card debt, but it is helping me work on a budget and figure out where I can spend money that makes sense. And hopefully one day I can start working toward putting money away for the future and other things like vacations. But for now, the main plan for me is to figure out a realistic budget and to see if there is more money that I can be putting toward my debt and not toward things that really aren’t needed.

Like I said, right now, I’m doing a free trial of this system. But I’m pretty sure that I’ll be paying for it when my trial ends (I think it’s about $60). But I’d love to hear from any of you who also use You Need A Budget so I can figure out more tricks and tips to maximize the system and really get serious about figuring out my money situation.

Update: Since posting this blog, I have decided to spend the money to keep the YNAB software after the free trial. It’s really awesome. If you want to buy it, you can use this link for 10% off!

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Default ThumbnailA Fresh Budget (or Starting Over With YNAB) Default ThumbnailFinding New Money Issues (or Looking At Doing A Fresh Budget) Default ThumbnailGoing Back To An Old Habit (or Finding Control With Budgeting) Default ThumbnailFood And Budgeting (or Combining The Two Things I Often Struggle With) Default ThumbnailBudgeting and Spending (or Sharing YNAB With A Cashier) Default ThumbnailWorking On Money (or A Prosperous Heart Update)

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Posted in Saving, Shopping, Tough Stuff

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Busy Time (or Scheduling Again)

Posted on April 18, 2014 | Comments Off on Busy Time (or Scheduling Again)

I’m really starting to get a hang of having 2 part time jobs. It’s not easy, but it’s starting to make more sense in my life.

The recruiting job is going well. I’m still pretty much working from home all the time, and I’m starting to have more success at it. My boss is pretty happy with my progress, but I’m hoping I get much better at it pretty quickly. The money that I earn from successful calls would be really nice.

The box office job is going pretty well also. I’m still waiting on getting my own login information for the computer systems, but I’m able to borrow another person’s login for now so at least I’m able to do all the work I need to do. It’s still a bit weird to be doing some of the same work I’m used to doing but it’s still pretty different. I’m not pushing ticket sales as hard as I used to and there’s no pitch to join as a member. I’m also not feeling the same motivation to try to get people to buy more (or fancier) ticket because none of the sales in the box office are commissionable. But I’m sure that the box office will feel like normal very very soon.

And finally, my money situation is getting better. After taking my NYC trip, my savings account was pretty much wiped out. My unemployment was ending (because I was still using an old claim and it was almost done) and I didn’t know how much I’d be making at either job. At the beginning of this week, I didn’t know how I was going to manage to pay my rent at the end of the month.

But I got paid from my recruiting job (I missed the cutoff for the mid-month payroll at the box office job so I won’t get my first check there until the end of the month), I got my new unemployment started, and my tax refund came in. This all happened in 2 days. And I finally had my rent money in place (and was able to pay it early which I like to do).

I always say that somehow things fit into place for me. And I’m starting to have more hope that that is really how it will work out. I’m not sure how things will be next month, but maybe I’ll get more successful calls from my recruiting job or more hours in the box office. It’s all a little up in the air but it looking like a much more realistic lifestyle now.

Sorry if this is a somewhat boring post, but that’s where I am in life this week. But to add some excitement, here’s a set of photos my dad just sent to me. The top picture is Tucker when we adopted him and the bottom photo is Tucker yesterday (about 4 months later). He’s getting so big!!

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Default ThumbnailDouble Shift Days (or Hoping To Make Enough Money By Payday) Default ThumbnailBusy Busy Busy (or Triple Job Day) Default ThumbnailTemp Job Time (or Feeling Like It’s An Old Job Again) Default ThumbnailEarly Days (or 2 Weeks Of Long Shifts) Default ThumbnailStaying Super Busy (or Another Job) Default ThumbnailScheduling Conflicts (or Maybe I Should Stop Planning)

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New Routine Time (or Time Management At Home)

Posted on April 10, 2014 | Comments Off on New Routine Time (or Time Management At Home)

Now that I’m spending 4 hours each day working from home, I’ve gotten into a bit of a routine. But this routine isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Because I’m still dealing with some hip pain, I’m not out doing a lot of stuff each day. I also haven’t returned to spinning yet. I know that I need to get that back into my schedule soon.

I’m pretty much working from 10-12 and then again from 1-3 each day. After 3, I try to go out and do something, but that’s not always working out. I tried the other day to drive over to Griffith Observatory (not to hike, just to be out and enjoy the view), but traffic was so horrendous that after driving for over an hour and not even being half way there, I just turned around.

Soon, I’ll start working back at my old job again for some evenings and weekends (I’m working this Friday evening and Saturday all day). This will be a sporadic thing, so I’m still looking for job #3.

But the part of my routine that I need to break now is the fact that I’ve found out that if I don’t make an effort, I can spend my entire day at home and not go out at all. This happened yesterday in fact.

I need to start making more plans for my afternoons and evenings. I won’t necessarily be able to have regular plans since my hours at my old job will be random, but I will know my schedule a week in advance so I can try to go out and have some (hopefully free) fun.

I’ve gone through the issue of getting into a good routine a lot in the past, and I just have to do it again. It’s not a horrible thing, but I’m glad that I noticed as soon as I did that the new routine that I’ve gotten myself into isn’t a good one (or at least one that I should be doing on a regular basis).

I’m still hoping to get back into acting classes soon, but money is beyond tight right now. Because of all the unemployment I collected last year, I owed money on my taxes. I had enough to pay it, but after paying a few of my monthly bills, I’m almost out of money. I will get paid from my new job next week, but it won’t be enough for my rent. I’m not sure how I’m going to figure this all out, but just like before, I know that somehow it will.

Maybe before the end of the month I’ll be able to find another new job and then I can add that into my new routine.

In the meantime, if anyone has any fun and free things that they like to do in LA (and hopefully are close to the westside so I don’t have to drive super far), I’d love to hear your suggestions. I need to start booking up my afternoons!

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Default ThumbnailFitting It All In (or Getting Better At Time Management) Default ThumbnailEarly Days (or 2 Weeks Of Long Shifts) Default ThumbnailI’m Back (or Planning On Keeping My Routine) Default ThumbnailGoodbye To July (or Looking Forward To Having Steady Work In August) Default ThumbnailDouble Shift Days (or Hoping To Make Enough Money By Payday) Default ThumbnailScheduling Conflicts (or Maybe I Should Stop Planning)

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Back To Real Life (or One Week Of Normalcy)

Posted on September 18, 2013 | Comments Off on Back To Real Life (or One Week Of Normalcy)

I’ve been back from Maui for a couple of days now. The first day was spent being pretty jet-lagged and sunburnt (even though I had sunscreen on my back, I got burnt while snorkeling).

I spent Sunday doing my usual chores and preparation for my work week. And then I found out on Monday that Friday will be my last day of work for a while. We will have another month of unemployment, which will be nice.

I haven’t quite figured out what I will do with the unemployment. I’d really like to see if I could find a new day job that fits in better with my life. Ideally I would find something that is work from home, but even something with more flexible hours would be nice (at my current job, I can only work scheduled hours not off hours). But I’ve found that many jobs that allow for that either don’t pay well or pay in a weird way (like transcription work that paid a couple of cents per line typed).

I put it out on Facebook and twitter that I’m looking for a new job and I’ve already gotten some offers of babysitting and organizing work, but those won’t be enough to be my only jobs if I decide to leave my current one.

If I can’t find something new and better, in late October, I can go back to my old job. I know it will be there waiting for me.

This is the same scenario I was in with the last unemployment month I had with this job. But I didn’t work as hard as I should have to find a new job. This time, I’m much more motivated. I’m starting to look at jobs now.

I think it’s pretty funny that I just had a week of relatively unscheduled time and was looking forward to getting back to a schedule only to find out that my scheduled time will only be for a week.

But I’m making the most of my last week of work. On Monday I had a really good sales day (I need it since it will be my last “real” paycheck for a month). And when I did my Sunday errands, I got everything I needed to make lunches for each workday (I’m excited to not have to go pick up a last-minute lunch this week).

And on Friday at 1pm, my last shift for a while will be done and I’ll be celebrating my freedom for a while. Until I freak out about how I’m going to pay my bills for October.

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Default ThumbnailFinding A Work/Life Balance (or Preparing to Not Be Unemployed) Default ThumbnailUnemployed Again (or Trying To Not Make It Feel Like Summer Break) Default ThumbnailBusy Unemployment (or Maybe I Over Scheduled) Default ThumbnailBack To Normal (or Catching Up On Life) Default ThumbnailMaking Time For Real Life (or Trying To Not Just Live Virtually) Default ThumbnailMy Strength In Real Life (or Helping A Friend Gave Me Some New Confidence)

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