Beachgirl's Budget Blog

Beachgirl's Budget Blog has moved

2009-02-22T09:45:00.003-05:00

As the title says, I've moved my blog. I decided it was time for something new. I've been using Wordpress for my law school blog and decided to use it for this blog as well.

So, without further ado, you can find my new blog at http://beachgirlsblog.wordpress.com/. Please update your blogroll and your RSS feeds.

*I will keep this site up for a while, but I will probably take it down eventually.

To-Do List

2009-02-20T07:49:00.006-05:00

I've found that by creating a to-do list each week, I am more likely to complete what's on it then if I don't. And by posting it on here, it creates more accountability for me. So, here's my to-do list for this weekend:

Finish book review (Completed 2/20)
Finish entering aunt & uncle's answers in memory book (Completed 2/19)
Complete chapters 25, 26, 27, & 28 in Civil Procedure E&E (Completed 2/22)
Dust
Vacuum
Clean bathroom
Finish one of my cross-stitch pillows (Completed 2/20)
Touch-up doorway with paint (Completed 2/20)
Sort through top drawer in filing cabinet (Completed 2/21)

ING Referrals

2009-02-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

If you're interested in opening either a savings account or checking account with ING, here are some referral links. You will receive a free $25 bonus by clicking the link and opening a new account with a minimum of $250. (I will receive $10.)

If the link comes up as invalid, try a different link. I will try to keep them updated. Also, links are good until 3/19.

Orange Savings Account

Electric Orange Checking Account

Made some $ via Half.com

2009-02-19T06:30:00.000-05:00

I listed a couple of DVD's a couple days ago that I no longer wanted on half.com and have sold 3 already.

Listing Price + Shipping Fund: $25.51
Commission: $2.75
Total earned: $22.76
Shipping: $7.19
Total in pocket: $15.57

Not too bad for movies I didn't even want anymore.

Good, but busy, weekend

2009-02-16T06:51:00.003-05:00

I had a good weekend, but as I said in the title, it was also busy.

Friday after work, I met a lady who wanted to buy my old tv. I had listed it on Craigslist and within a couple hours, she contacted me. I got $30 for it. I also went through one of my filing cabinet shelves and got rid of anything I didn't need anymore and reorganized everything. I found quite a bit to either shred or recycle. Then I mostly relaxed the rest of the night.

Saturday, I woke up, ate breakfast while watching Friday night's newest Battlestar Galactica, and took a bath. Then, I went to Walmart, grocery store, and the bank. I'm slowly accumulating stuff for school like extra shampoo and other toiletries. I know I won't have a lot of time to make trips to Walmart to buy that kind of stuff, so I'm stocking up. I reorganized part of my closet to set up my stockpile. This way I can see what I have and what I'm getting low on. After I got home from all of that, I chatted with my Mom. Then I met up with a friend for lunch and to see He's Just Not Into You. I thought it was pretty good. Plus, they had a new trailer for the upcoming Harry Potter movie, so I was happy! After that, I came home, watched a movie, and worked on my cross-stitch. I also got an e-mail from Ebates letting me know that my Big Fat Refund had been sent to me. I earned $207.94 from Oct-Dec. If you're interested in signing up and earning a $5 bonus, click this link.

Sunday was spent at home but I had a lot to do. I did laundry, worked on 3 chapters of my law school prep materials, fixed a roast for dinner, put away some stuff in my apartment, and did some other stuff. I wasn't sure I'd get through it all before T came over for dinner, but I did. We watched the last season of Coupling, a British TV show that I highly recommend (although the first 3 seasons are better than the last season). We hung out til 11 and then I went to bed. T is moving away at the end of the month, so we've been hanging out quite a bit. I wish he wasn't moving, but I know it's better for him.

Today, I technically have to work, but the building I work at is closed (run by the gov't). So, I'm working from home today. Yeah! Always nice to get up and not have to rush around.

Good News & Bad News

2009-02-13T08:02:00.002-05:00

I've got some good news and some bad news. On the good news front, I received my federal tax refund today. It was direct deposited into my bank account. Yeah! That's an extra $542 to put towards law school.

As for the bad news, one of my best friends (and former roommate) lost her job yesterday in NYC. She e-mailed me this morning. She's in total shock. I'm trying to be there for her as best I can (given that we don't live near each other). It's definitely a scary time out there. I'm glad that my job is pretty secure.

Weekend To-Do List

2009-02-12T06:30:00.006-05:00

I have a few things to do before the end of the weekend, and making a to-do list helps me to make sure I do them. And by posting it online, it's an extra layer of accountability...so here goes:

Read Chapters 21, 22, 23, & 24 in Civil Procedure E&E (Completed 2/15)
Follow-up appointment for wisdom teeth on Friday (Completed 2/13)
Do laundry (Completed 2/15)
Work on cross-stitch pillowcase (Completed 2/14)
Work on typing up other aunt & uncle's memory book answers (Completed 2/15)
Sell old TV (Completed 2/13)
Get new pants hemmed (Completed 2/12)

Update: Another week of accomplishing my goals. Yeah!

January Net Worth

2009-02-10T06:30:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, my net worth decreased ($615.31) this past month. While I added to my savings, my 401(k) decreased by over $2,000. Yuck!

January Snowflaking

2009-02-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here's how I did for the month of January on snowflaking into my law school account:

$83.12 earned from other savings accounts in December
$60.00 Christmas presents
$20.00 Discover cashback bonus
$3.00 Pinecone survey
$29.96 left over from Fuel
$125.42 Interest earned

Total: $321.5

Wisdom Teeth are out

2009-02-05T18:23:00.002-05:00

My wisdom teeth are gone. I'm not doing too bad. There's a bit of pain, but it's not horrible. My left lower lip and lower chin are swollen. I made mac&cheese for dinner. It tasted so good after not having food since breakfast. I also had some pudding and jello.

The procedure itself was uneventful...especially since I don't remember any of it. :-) I fell asleep shortly after they put in the IV and I woke up in the recovery room. The bleeding hasn't been too bad either.

My friend and I watched a little tv. Right now, he's at home having dinner and walking his dogs. We're going to hang out a good chunk of the weekend.

I'm just glad it's over!

Top 10 Referrers in January

2009-02-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

A great big thanks to everyone who reads my blog and links to it. Here are the top 10 referrers for January:

109 in 2009, January Update

2009-02-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

It's already been a month since the new year began, so it's time to do a status report on how I'm doing on my 109 in 2009 goals. Earlier this month, I wrote about how much I'd alread accomplished, having completed 7 of my goals in just the first half of the month. So, how did I do the rest of the month...

7. File federal taxes --My W-2 was posted online on Friday 1/30, so I was finally able to do my taxes. I'm getting a refund of $542.

8. File state taxes --I owe VA $2.

31. Pay Seat Deposit 1 -- I mailed the check for $500 to GW on Friday, 1/30.

33. Fill out FAFSA -- After I filed my taxes, I finished my FAFSA and submitted it.

75. Buy at least one new suit -- I found a black two-piece pant suit at Kohl's. It's machine washable and only cost $28.60 for the jacket and $36 for the pants. I haven't worn it yet cause I need to get the pants hemmed.

Weekend To-Do List

2009-01-30T13:48:00.009-05:00

I have a lot of things I want to do this weekend, especially in preparation for getting my wisdom teeth out on Thursday. So, here is my to-do list for the weekend:

Read Chapters 14, 15, 16, & 17 in Civil Procedure E&E (Completed 2/1)
Work on typing up aunt and uncle's answers to memory book questions (Completed 2/1)
Work on cross-stitch (Completed 1/31)
Wash my sheets (Completed 2/1)
Return movies to Sean (Completed 1/31)
Return movies to Scott (Completed 2/1)
Create spreadsheet on credit reports (Completed 1/31)
Finish and file taxes (Completed 1/30)
Complete and submit FAFSA (Completed 1/30)

Wisdom Teeth, Part 3

2009-01-30T09:09:00.002-05:00

I had my consultation on Tuesday with the oral surgeon to get my wisdom teeth taken out. He mostly looked over my x-rays, asked me about my medical history, and then went over everything with me. The receptionist gave me an estimate of about $250 that I'll have to pay. Not too bad.

In at GW Law

2009-01-27T17:59:00.001-05:00

I got my acceptance e-mail for the George Washington University law school. I'm so excited! So, now I know where I'm definitely going, and I will be sending a letter to George Mason letting them know I'm declining their offer.

Wisdom Teeth, Part 2

2009-01-26T13:05:00.003-05:00

I have my consultation with the oral surgeon regarding my wisdom teeth tomorrow. I also scheduled the actual surgery for Friday, February 6. This way I'll only have to take one day off and have the weekend to recover. Hopefully, I won't have any troubles, but I'm preparing myself that I could since I'm older and the position of my wisdom teeth (the lower ones are right near my jaw bone).

The one thing I'm happy about is that I'll get to enjoy the Super Bowl this weekend. I don't really care about the game so much since I'm not a fan of either team, but I wanted to have fun with my friends and eat lots of food. This way I can eat lots of food before I can only eat soft foods for a bit.

Wisdom Teeth

2009-01-23T07:39:00.002-05:00

So, I get to have my wisdom teeth taken out (only 3 since the fourth never developed). All three are impacted and one has broken through the gum. Yuck! I go for a consultation with the oral surgeon on Tuesday and then I'll get them out shortly after that. I'm hoping I can schedule it for a Thursday so I don't have to miss too many days of work.

I plan to stock up on lots of soft foods like pudding, soup, macaroni and cheese, applesauce, etc. so that I have food to eat while I can't chew. The worst part is that my jaw bone is set right where the wisdom teeth would be so I don't know how that will affect taking those two out. Figures that one of the bottom ones isn't the one that's not there.

T, my guy friend, said he'd take me to my appointment and help me out. It's convenient that he works and lives in my complex so he can swing by often to check on me.

On the money front, at least my insurance will cover most of the cost. I only have to pay a $75 deductible and 10% of the total cost (insurance covers 90%).

109 in 2009

2009-01-19T12:12:00.003-05:00

It's only the middle of January and I've already completed 7 of my goals for 2009.

9. Make sure I have electronic copies of financial data for 2008 -- I generally keep up with this each month so I just had to do the ones for December.

20. Check 1 credit report in first third of year -- I checked my Experian credit report.

26. Read Law School Confidential -- I got this book for Christmas and read it while I was home.

27. Read Planet Law School II -- I got this one too for Christmas and read it while home too. I'm currently working through a revised version of the 8-month prep before school starts in the fall.

29. Read Learning Legal Reasoning -- I had ordered this online last year but hadn't read it yet. I read it as part of the PLS prep program.

30. Order LEEWS CDs -- I ordered this online a week or so ago, and received it in the mail last week.

64. Reset my internal clock so that I can sleep in a little -- I didn't have much trouble with this. It's nice being able to sleep an extra 45 minutes from what I was doing before. Now I have to work on the cats not waking me up.

What is snowflaking?

2009-01-16T08:42:00.001-05:00

The other day I posted my monthly snowflake report, and a reader posted a comment asking what snowflaking is. So, here is the basic concept of snowflaking...

The concept and practice of snowflaking, or using small amounts of money from spending less or earning more to achieve your financial goals is a great debt reduction tool, but it isn’t limited to just debt reduction. Snowflaking is a universal money management concept that can be applied to whatever financial goals you are striving to achieve in life.

December Snowflaking

2009-01-15T06:58:00.002-05:00

Here's my rundown for how I did snowflaking in December:

$3 Pinecone survey
$.42 left over from groceries
$51.35 left over from fuel
$20.00 left over from eating out
$74.20 Interest earned

Total: $148.97

Giveaway at Single Guy Money

2009-01-12T06:42:00.002-05:00

Single Guy Money is having his first giveaway of 2009, offering up a chance to win a $100 gift card to either Walmart or Target. To get your chance to win, simply leave a comment here telling him what you'd do with the money if you won.

Download Suze Orman's New Book Free

2009-01-09T06:30:00.000-05:00

Oprah is doing a series of shoes about building your "Best Life". Each day, she's had various experts talk about different aspects of your life and how to improve them. Yesterday's episode was about finances. She had Suze Orman on. And, as part of the show, you can download a free copy of Suze's new book "Suze Orman's 2009 Action Book". Just click on the link before Thursday 1/15 at 11:59 pm CT.

December Net Worth

2009-01-06T06:30:00.000-05:00

December was pretty good. My Net Worth increased by $2,363.39 for the month, to $68,846.93. My 401k was up for the month (5.41%), however, for the year, it was down (41.22%). Hopefully 2009 will be a better year for my retirement account.

Top 10 Referrers for December

2009-01-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my top 10 referrers for December:

109 in 2009

2008-12-31T07:00:00.011-05:00

Over at We Like Money and The Third Degree, they are creating a list of 109 things they plan to do in 2009. I decided to participate as well, So, without further ado, here is my list:

Financial:

1. Pay bills on time each month
2. Pay fall tuition
3. Pay spring tuition
4. Bring my lunch to work every day
5. Bring dinner to school every day
6. Pay balance on cruise
7. File federal taxes
8. File state taxes
9. Make sure I have electronic copies of financial data for 2008
10. Get promoted, or at least a good raise
11. Try not to buy anything unless I really need it
12. Continue putting aside at least $1500 each month towards law school
13. Snowflake extra money towards law school
14. Keep open cards that I use regularly, have longest history, and have largest limit
15. Close credit cards that I don't use
16. Keep up to date with my financials
17. Change my withholding for 2009
18. Update Net Worth monthly
19. Stay on/under budget
20. Check 1 credit report in first third of year
21. Check 1 credit report in second third of year
22. Check 1 credit report in last third of year
23. Not go over my cell phone minutes

Law School:

24. Stock up on supplies (shampoo, toothpaste, etc) before school starts
25. Stock up on cat supplies before school starts
26. Read Law School Confidential
27. Read Planet Law School II
28. Complete abbreviated PLS2 pre-law school study plan
29. Read Learning Legal Reasoning
30. Order LEEWS CDs
31. Pay Seat Deposit 1
32. Pay Seat Deposit 2
33. Fill out FASFA
34. Finish Getting to Maybe
35. Reread Getting to Maybe during school before exams
36. Work on outlines weekly
37. Finish outline for Contracts
38. Finish outline for Civil Procedure
39. Take practice tests for Contracts
40. Take practice tests for Civil Procedure
41. Attend all classes (unless absolutely necessary to miss)
42. Read all assignments
43. Don't procrastinate
44. Buy law school books
45. Buy law school supplies
46. Get parking pass for school
47. Learn way around law school
42. Read all assignments
43. Don't procrastinate
44. Buy law school books
45. Buy law school supplies
46. Get parking pass for school
47. Make at least 1 really good friend in school
48. Learn way around law school

Apartment:

49. Thorough cleaning of apartment before school starts
50. Vacuum at least once a month during semester
51. Clean bathroom at least once a month during semester
52. Pick up after myself so things don't get too messy/dirty
53. Continue recycling
54. Sell/donate/get rid of unwanted items
55. Cook meals for week over weekend once school starts
56. Organize apartment efficiently for school
57. Wash dishes daily (or at least put in dishwasher)

Personal:

58. Cut hair in March
59. Cut hair in June
60. Cut hair in September
61. Cut hair in December
62. Remember to take my vitamins every day
63. Spend time with friends before school starts
64. Reset my internal clock so that I can sleep in a little
65. Reset the cat's clocks so that I can sleep in a little
66. Remember to take some "me" time during school
67. Go to the doctor's for my yearly check up in May/June
68. Go to dentist in June
69. Go to dentist in December
70. Try to find a day during school when I can relax in the bathtub for a bit

Misc:

71. Update work resume
72. Update school/legal resume
73. Blog on law blog at least once a week once school starts
74. Blog on PF blog at least once a week once school starts
75. Buy at least one new suit for work
76. Print memory books for family
77. Scan pictures for memory books
78. Finishing adding family's answers to memory books
79. Reread HP1
80. Reread HP2
81. Reread HP3
82. Reread HP4
83. Reread HP5
84. Reread HP6
85. Reread HP7
86. Go see HP6 in theater
87. Reread other books and get rid of ones I don't want
88. Pack for cruise
89. Go on cruise
90. Take lots of pictures on cruise
91. Finish the cross-stitch pillows I have before school starts
92. Create scrapbook of college years
93. Scan pictures for scrapbook
94. Scan documents for scrapbook
95. Order scrapbook
96. Decide which shows I will Tivo during law school
97. Delete any shows I won't watch anymore
98. Decide if I want to continue my magazine subscriptions
99. Remember to send out Birthday cards during the year
100. Remember to send out Anniversary cards during the year
101. Stock up on cards to send out ahead of time
102. Send out holiday cards after finals
103. Attend work functions when possible
104. Attend school functions when possible
105. Go to at least 1 Baltimore Orioles game
106. Buy cream for eyes to help reduce black circles/puffiness
107. Create a to-do list each month
108. Complete to-do list each month
109. Use time driving to school to talk to my Mom

I will periodically post on this blog how I'm doing, but to keep up with it on a more frequent basis, click here or on the link at the right under "About Me".