Budget Confessions

(photo by me)

If you’ve been following my blog for awhile, you may know that I’ve been trying to stick to a budget since January.  For a recap, go read my Spring Update and Summer Update.

I have a confession to make.  Despite creating this budget and “trying” to stick to it, the fact of the matter is that the only month since January that I stayed in budget was February, which also happened to be the shortest month of the year and the month of my birthday (= b-day money to spend).  Some months I’ve only gone over by a little bit, some months I’ve gone over budget by a couple hundred dollars.  The problem is that I got used to having that student loan every semester to get me through, and right now I’m having to face the harsh reality of not getting a lump check all at once. I’m starting a new job on monday, which will fully cover my rent, groceries and regular monthly bills.  However, it leaves very little extra for non-necessities.  I will be substitute teaching as well, but that won’t provide much more, and it’s inconsistent in hours.  Thus, I’ve decided that it’s time to institute a shopping ban ala Sally from Already Pretty.  I think that this is the only way that I can curtail my shopping enough to make ends meet, and start paying off my student loans.  My previous budget plans gave me a bit too much freedom, and I abused it greatly.  So here’s my new shopping ban, in place until I either get a full-time job or December, whichever comes first.

• I will give myself a $15 a week allowance for spending at thrift stores, vintage shops, or on Etsy.  No malls.  If I don’t spend my allowance one week, it rolls over into the next.
• I will be allowed one $50 free day per month, which I can spend anywhere I like.  This is to keep me from feeling too deprived.  This is also because I can’t give up Anthropologie for four months; I’m addicted.
• I haven’t decided what to do about shoes yet.  I’m leaning towards buying no shoes at all during this period.  If I decide to allow it, then only three specific pairs will be allowed – a pair of brown dress pumps, a pair of ballet flats, and a pair of knee-high boots, because those all fill gaps and can be worn professionally.  Definitely no sandals are allowed, as I have more than enough for now.
• All other non-necessities besides clothes, shoes and accessories will be in a separate budget area.  I haven’t decided yet how much I will budget for this each month.

Hopefully with this plan, I can keep from going further into debt, start paying off my loans, yet not feel completely deprived.  I’ll keep you updated.  Wish me luck!

(And Alechia don’t worry, our Anthro date is still on.  That’s my free day for this month  )

Spring Budget Update

(Photo by me)

Well folks, we’ve hit the month of May, which is the final month of the budget I set out back in January and the month when I get my summer semester student loan and start a new summer budget.

Here’s a re-cap of my budgeting up’s and down’s:

Fall 2008 – I receive my third student loan as a graduate student.  I managed alright the previous two semesters, so I don’t really feel the need to set a budget for myself.  However, at this time I am also becoming more aware of my personal style and how I want to dress.  I also discover the beauty (and pain) of coupons for Ann Taylor Loft, Express and Victoria’s Secret.  I buy clothes and other things, including several new pairs of shoes (since at this time I also discovered the value of Borns and Clarks).  By December, my loan is shot, and I live paycheck to paycheck for several weeks, only spending money to get groceries and pay bills.  Enter my New Year’s Resolution, which was to set a budget and control my shopping.

January 2009 – I consider the value of buying quality items and buying fewer items (still a philosophy I hold to ).  I go through a very methodical process of figuring out how much money I have total for the semester, what expenses are certain and necessary, and how much I have for the non-necessities.  I create nice pretty spreadsheets, because that’s just the way my brain works.  Then I spend $200 buying my beloved Fluevogs, pushing myself way over budget for the month, and back-slide.  I vow to be more responsible.

February 2009 – Partially because it is the shortest month of the year, and partially because of birthday cash, I didn’t go over budget this month.  I got several new items, many of them thrifted, and enjoyed having new things in my wardrobe.

March 2009 – I went over budget again, mostly because: a) I had to pay taxes b) I had to buy new glasses.  I spent some time reflecting, gave myself some shopping challenges, and spent some more time reflecting on lessons learned.

April 2009 – I create some new shopping guidelines for myself to help me control my spending.  However, I’ve only really shopped once since then, partially from being busy, but mainly because I have used up the loan (again).  I’ve also been learning to love what I already have, and have been embracing the challenge of working with the wardrobe I already have, as well as creating pieces from scratch for it.

So that’s leading up to now.  I’m spending some time reflecting and getting ready to prepare my budget for the summer, which will be somewhat different.  The summer semester is shorter, but it’s also my last, so I will need to be preparing for interviews, which includes some grooming (hello manicures!) and some work wardrobe shopping.  My shopping guidelines will remain in place, but I’m modifying them to allow for buying shoes at the mall and having one (or two) outlet mall trips.  Stay tuned!

Budgeting Lessons Learned in March

• Always take a calculator with you when you shop.  It’s amazing how a quick trip to Target can turn into a $90 expenditure.  Adding up prices on your calculator as you add them to your cart helps you reconsider whether you really need the item.
• If you go over budget, keep writing down what you spend.  The worst thing you can do is decide that sense you’ve already broken your budget, you’re entitled to a spending free-for-all (which is what happened to me in January).
• Carry a notebook to write down cash purchases or hold onto receipts and tally them at the end of the day.  Small cash purchases can add up very quickly and it’s the easiest area to cheat in.
• Buy quality items that will get lots of use and fill your needs now.  Yes, I could get a great deal on sweaters and knee-high boots right now, but I wouldn’t get to wear them until October.  At this point, it’s better for me to buy for the season I’m currently in.  When I have a better set of staples and a fuller wardrobe, then it will be time to buy off season.
• Never punish yourself for buying something that you love.  And don’t beat yourself up if you fail.  Just forgive yourself and start from scratch next month.
• I’ve found that with this budget, I have a bad tendency to overspend the first few weeks of the month, control myself and barely spend anything the last few weeks, then go crazy again when the new month starts.  I have to work on controlling that.
• Just because something is on sale or you have a coupon doesn’t mean you have to buy it.  Point in case: LOFT’s Out with the old, save on the new sale.  Yes, I love the idea of it and I think it was a wonderful promotion.  But did I really need to get a new pair of black pants?  Yes, they are lovely, flattering and made of cotton/spandex so they don’t violate my polyester rule.  And yes, I got fifteen dollars off of them.  But, with my limited budget, did I really need them now?  I’m not so sure.
• Beware of going into a store “just to look around”.
• Learn to play with the toys you have.  Take advantage of what’s already in your closet.  Challenge yourself to work with what you’ve got.  If you’re crafty, spend your free time sewing or knitting new outfits (with fabric and yarn you already paid for) instead of going out and spending more money you don’t have.
• Record everything:  your budget will suffer if you cheat.  I didn’t record that $70 I had to pay in taxes.  I didn’t record spending money on new glasses.  Yes, these weren’t typical purchases, but they are still taking money out of the total I have available.  Not recording them is only fooling me into thinking I have more than I do

New Year's Resolution

(photo by me)

Since I’m in graduate school, I’ve mainly been living off of my student loans.  That means that I get most of my money in a big chunk in the beginning of the semester.  This has revealed some of my poor money habits to me.  It’s very easy when you have $4000 of your student loan left to justify lots of shopping (I need nice clothes for when I enter the work world, right?).  But then when it gets to the end of the semester, I suddenly realize that I’ve used up all my loan, and still have to wait til mid-January before I get my next one.  All this has helped me to see that I am somewhat addicted to shopping, and that I need to come up with a plan for next semester so that I will actually be in control of my money while still purchasing a few choice items that I may actually need.

Here’s my resolution plan:

Step 1: Use a list of basic essentials to keep my shopping focused.  I’m using Sally’s list as a starting point, then customizing it to my own needs.  This way, I’m buying things that will be more versatile than say, a crazy printed dress that goes with nothing else in my wardrobe.

Step 2: Create a budget.  This is also re-learning basic money management for me.  The plan right now is to immediately budget the necessities that occur regularly, and then determine what I have left per month for non-necessities and stick to that limit.  So I will have a set amount each month that I can spend on non-essentials.  If I find a $100 pair of shoes one month, then I have to cut back in other areas of spending, like cosmetics and entertainment.  If I get my hair cut and colored, then I might have to buy less clothing.  Etc, etc.  I’m still continuing  my Fluevog plan as well to encourage sewing and crafting to earn more towards clothes.  However, I have to make sure that what I spend stays within my budget.

I realize that this might not be enough structure for me, so at the end of each month I will re-evaluate my budget and figure out what I can do to improve it.

Fluevog Update:  I have “earned” enough money for the Fluevogs, but I’m waiting a little longer (probably til my birthday in February, which is when the next Fluevog sale should happen) before I actually purchase them.  I want to be a bit more responsible with my money before shelling out $250 on a pair of shoes.

Step 3: Buy items because you really love them, not because you have a coupon/ it’s on sale.  I have a bad habit of buying things that I’m not really crazy about simply because I have a coupon for the store.  If it’s not something that I totally love, why should I be spending my money on it?

Hopefully, with these strategies, I can be a bit more responsible with my money, and a bit more prepared for entering the “real world” of full time work come next August.

Money slips so easily through your fingers

(photo by me)

   I had a very unpleasant realization about money yesterday: I have lost my ability to control how I spend.  I started off this semester with a $4000 student loan and a bi-weekly paycheck from my graduate assistantship.  As of today, I have only about $100 in my bank account.  Total.  And about $10 left on my credit card.  How did I let this happen?  I have discovered a weakness I have:  when there is more money in my account, I spend more than I normally would.  Some things that I buy I may really need, like a nice pair of shoes for work.  And yet, I really didn’t need so many clothes and whatever that I used up my entire loan.  

   I had tried to create a spending and crafting plan to save money for a pair of Fluevogs last month.  According to that plan, I have hypothetically saved $300 towards my Fluevogs.  And yet, when they went on sale last week for $200, I didn’t have that much money in my account.  So, while the plan sounded like a good idea, it needs some tweaking.  Because even though the idea was to knit, sew and alter stuff so that I wouldn’t shop as much, I still went shopping every time I had a paycheck.  Even this week, when I realized how tight my money was, I couldn’t resist utilizing some coupons for Express and some extra money I had received for some photography work.  Couple that with the fact that I wasn’t paying attention to what payments had gone through on my account, and I overdrafted.  My bank account has overdraft protection, so I wasn’t penalized, but still.

   My realization is that I have to learn to manage my money again.  I will be posting more about my plan around New Year’s, since my resolution is to learn how to control my spending.  I’m going to set up a budget so that I can make it through the semester and I’m going to tweak my spending/crafting plan so that I can actually save money for essential wardrobe items.  I’m going to learn to think through my purchases more carefully instead of rushing to the mall every time I get a ten dollar off coupon.  I’ve developed an addiction to buying clothes, and I have to learn to control that before I go completely broke.