Vent Post - Broke Female

This is a quick vent post that is the direction of 'what really grinds my gears' type thing.

As you all know, I'm broke - and will be for quite a while... It's expected and it continues... haha

HOWEVER with the Black Friday deal, Cyber Monday, and now a Cyber week. I have an issue.
Where I understand and even participated in the 50% off deals that were going on, I had an issue.
Issue = Have you SEEN my closet?????
I have a plethora of clothing. I donated over 40 shirts to goodwill 2 months ago and I still wade through my clothes. I could probably go a month or longer without doing laundry! (No joke.... you've all seen the VS sales of 5 for $26 on underwear...so that's not a problem)

And now here's the thing - most people say "Oh donate some of it!" DONE, did it.
Or I get the response "You don't need all that clothing..." And here is the issue ... that is INCORRECT.

As a female I require/own:
formal dresses, cocktail dresses, casual dresses, work dresses, multiple pairs of shorts (especially since pastels are in style right now), skinny jeans, normal jeans, boot jeans, maybe ONE pair of cargo pants if I'm lucky enough to have occasion to wear those, dress pants, dress shirts, blouses (yes different from dress shirts), work blazers, suit pieces, vests, tshirts, tanks, casual shirts, and THEN you have all types of bras. Let's not even get into the sport clothing requirements or the PJ's I own. Or the fact that for formal dresses you have to have multiples cuz you can't wear the same dress from one wedding to another......

Anyone remember this movie?? Funny but oh so true.....

I won't even address the number of shoes I own... 

So yes, women have clothing, lots of clothing, enough to clothe a house of 15. HOWEVER, each person would look different. Cuz a woman has to be ready for any occassion!

Hiking - yes
Snowboarding - yes
Wedding - yes
Swimming - yes (5 suits to be sure)
Company party - yes
Ultimate Frisbee - yes

I'm not sure who exactly enacted the decree that we must be ready for any situation at any time or that you have enough random clothing to MacGyver an acceptable solution if needed. When sometimes you should really just not do it:

Too funny not to share.... haha

This isn't really a complaint and I know most women don't complain. We do like to dress up. But as I am currently living on the broke edge, I have to say.

This sh** is expensive.

I'm not even talking designer clothes or anything like that. Just in general, it's expensive. Even at 50% off it adds up quick. So quick.

And on an ending note..... Can SOMEONE explain to me why the average (NON FANCY) Victoria Secret Bra is $50??????    :(

Okay, vent over.

Confessions of a Broke Girl

So, here I am to confess.
Here I am to show everyone that we all fall off the budget truck occasionally...

Kinda like this......

Or maybe more like this.....










Either way, falling off the budget truck is terrifying and painful.

Usually when you're on a budget and you go to 'grade' yourself at the end of the month. There are around 5 possible reactions that can range in severity:

1.) "Omg... I'm WAY under budget!!! YES!! I can go get a milkshake to celebrate~" (Best scenario)
2.) "Oh good - I'm under budget this month" *pats self on back* (Pretty amazing and awesome)
3.) "Snaked in riiiiiiiiiiiiight at budget. Sh** .. could've done better..." (Good but not fulfilling)
4.) "Efffffffff I went over budget. This sucks. No more hanging out with friends for a while" (Truth)
5.) "OMG WHERE DID MY MONEY GO...." *cries in corner*  (Still cries in a corner)

So, as this is the last week in October and I go to 'grade' myself knowing full well it's not been a cheap month...knowing full well it's Halloween and I have a sweet tooth... and knowing full well the likelihood of a 1 or 2 score is impossible. I still was not expecting my grade.... (Damn rose colored glasses)

He's so angry......

And I did have the typical reaction
"OMG... MY MONEY...NOOOOOOO..... *cries*....."

And the Onion is right... it's my fault but it still hurts. The realistic kick in the booty of "I'm not a movie star?" is a harsh one.
Not that I was rockin movie star purchases - just to keep the slate clean...

A majority of my money went towards forms of exercises classes... (yoga, cardio, etc...) that I SHOULD have budgeted into my month. SHOULD SHOULD SHOULD but didn't like a fool.  :(

I made mistake numero uno! Which is spending money I didn't have. I didn't go over by a few bucks (that would have put me in slot #4) I went over by a few HUNDRED.

There were also car expenses in there and loan payments... things like that.

But nothing that should have SURPRISED me.... nothing that I shouldn't have BUDGETED for....

My weakness? .... should I say?....

I spent $90 on books this month alone.... this month alone
(for those of you slower than most, this means cumulatively together... you really don't want to know how much I've spent on books year to date.... to give you an idea, this year alone I've read over 150 books......so yeah... let's not judge... let's just focus on the month of October 2013 shall we?)

^ That price could have been avoided... If I could control the reading urges... and look for sales like I do for clothes  *facepalm*

I also ate out more than I should have this month....

Again - it wasn't necessarily really any ONE thing that sent me over, but it rarely is.

I fell off the budget truck this month ..... hard....

THANKFULLY there is always a buffer built in for this possibility and I'm not destitute... as long as I don't continue to do this.

So...for those of you that are my friends and I hang out with you on a weekly basis... realize when I say I can't afford it... I really honestly cannot afford it.... *see above example*

Can't do it...no way, no how.

I can hangout and I can chat and watch a movie or make dinner and such....but probably no extensive adventures for a while.....   :)

~A

Memories v. Money - Run with the Bulls

Lots of people think you need copious amounts of money to do things truly memorable. Money gives you something that is a one of a kind experience and cannot be matched. 

I'm not saying money CAN'T get you that greedy greedy but what I'm saying is that you shouldn't blame money problems to why you aren't living life. I'm a firm believer in the below sayings:

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans." - John Lennon

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” -  John Lennon

 I've found in my old age few years in life here so far that some of the best memories happen when you have the least amount of money. I maintain this is why I was so happy in college. Broke and Happy. LOL 

But in all honesty, most of us in college didn't really mind that we were broke. We were surrounded by friends. Surrounded by people that we were fine just walking around, chillin' in a dorm room, or studying till 3am.

Without money. 

True, in college you have almost no responsibilities or a care in the world and getting a job changes all that. Suddenly you have to CARE (*gasp* OH NOES) and make money to pay for bills. 

**SIDE NOTE** I had to pay for books which really...the cost of that is almost equal to a mortgage... no joke... p.s.  wtf...  haha

So now that I'm currently broke again. You go back to basics - Cheap fun!!

Thankfully there are websites that help with finding cheap things and adventures to do. (Groupon, Livingsocial, Specialicious, etc...)  If you have not heard of these websites...1) What rock have you lived under? and 2) I can't help you much in this post - just stop now.... ;)

So now I stalk these websites like it's my job looking for random ones-y twos-y things that are 'worth it' for the cost.

Danny found one! :)    We had both never been to a winery~ 

This wine is named after the owners daughter~

SOOOO cheap $25 dollars later. We have a wine tasting at The Winery at Bull Run that includes:

9 wines to taste:  (Usually $15 each)

The Reds

The Whites

 A snack was included. (Usually another $8 dollars)... I don't have a pictures cuz we ate the hummus with a baguette in record time.... and it was delicious. The baguette was fresh out of the oven and the hummus was home made.  :D 

The deal also included $24 at their gift store where we bought wine stoppers that you can twist and open up to drink as well as locally made honey. (It's the wine stoppers they have on the wine bottles at the tasting that cause the wine to pour out at a slower rate and are cute) 

Random fact on Honey. Natural/locally made honey can possibly help relieve seasonal allergies as the honey is processed with a majority of the allergens close to where you live. HOWEVER, you can only find possible relief via LOCALLY made honey. The stuff you find in stores is just mostly sugar and high fructose corn syrup... and that relieves nothing but your sweet tooth. :\  (more info follow link: How Honey can help)

So for $20 bucks we spent around 2 1/2 hours just chatting and having fun.... for $20 bucks. 

I'm sure the alcohol probably had some effect for this happiness

Being silly = free

We had food, drink, the outdoors and this amazing view:

Yes...we each got our own glass of wine

To be fair... We each did have to pay for the above glasses of wine. However it WAS ladies night so my glass was only $4. (YAY for cheap again)   

And we had SO MUCH FUN! It was lighthearted running around and laughter. It even had horses in the distance prancing around and frolicking in a field. I mean.... Disney magic was happening.

This may be an a little exaggeration, lie, alcohol induced hallucinations bending of the truth.  But really the best things happen for little money and great company. 

I hope to find more adventure like this while I'm broke... at least I hope I can find more.  :)

BEST quote of the day from our 'Run with the Bulls' Winery: 

Danny: Would it be weird if I chased after those horses?
Me: Yes...however...this doesn't mean I don't support you in this edeavour.

Danny: What if the other horses chase me?

Me: Really....it just takes one angry horse to ruin your day.... 

~A 

Coupons... a broke girl's best friend

Let me say something real quick. Just give me a quick vent moment before starting this out.

When starting something hugely new...liiiiike jumping off a bridge buying a house, please do not delude yourself with thoughts of grandeur. You will hit the water and break limbs be completely broke and frustrated while floundering in uncharted territory. 

However, I personally love having goals and projects on the personal life.

Doesn't mean I'm rich and singing show tunes from the rooftops. (Well.... maybe sometimes.. :P )

My point being - your home is your home. Take time to make it special but also realize that you aren't a Kennedy and nor do you have the funds for installing a wet bar, guest house, and Olympic size pool in the backyard.

...bummer....

What you do have funds for?

Coupons!! 

Be proud of being stingy with money! haha

So remember back in the day when you moved, you would hit up the local post office and they have those 'moving packets' that had coupons in them? Yeah. They don't have those for easy access anymore.
A few bad apples ruined it for the rest of us by skimming those coupons regularly instead of when they move so now, you have to show actual proof of move OR you can just change your address officially online.  :)

When you do ... the world opens up and the heavens sing in amazing notes in the shape of COUPONS.

Look at those gorgeous bar codes~

These are your best friend, your little secret, your wonderful amazing helper in the money suck that is decorating a new house. And those coupons you get from changing your address, ARE GOLD.

Let me drop some rough estimates on places we've spent money so far....

Home Depot: Approx $200  (Coupon for 10% off entire purchase)
Bed, Bath, & Beyond: Approx $150 (Coupon for 20% off entire purchase)
Target: Approx $100 (Coupon for 10% off entire purchase)

This is everything from bath mats, to shower curtains, to those shower hooks, to cabinet/drawer liners, to garbage bags, to paintings, to clocks, etc.... It's amazing what you spend money on.

Macy's has also been quite the B.F.F. during this time and I would say we've spent probably around $400 there so far. We did get lucky at one point though and went when they were having a '25% off everything' type sale. So Lady Luck was looking our way sometimes.

Even with all these coupons I'm still broke this month. I still pay bills weep, cry, and scream and cringe as I see my credit card swiped again and again to make my house mine.

But it is mine. And I love being able to say that.

And even though I die a little on the inside as the money flows out of my bank account, I smile as I walk into my kitchen:

Worth it

I grin and giggle as I see my newly painted office and wonderful desk~

SOO Happy it's NOT PINK haha

Those things above make the effort worth it. Make all my broke days and frustration melt into a sense of accomplishment and a single word. "Mine"

We did this, we helped create this home, this beautiful place to stay and relax.

Still broke as broke can be.... but I'm happy.   :)

~ A

Painting Project - The before - Part One

I call this part one because let's be honest.... We're in the beginning stages. Which means there's only one way to go...

Spend more money  *sigh*

Painting.... I know we touched on this briefly before.  And here I'll share some photos:

 So, we taped up the plastic to cover all the floors to make sure we don't spill anything (this is very important) and we called it our 'Dexter' decorating. (If you don't get the reference, look up the TV show 'Dexter'.....  :D )

After a few days of priming and painting though..... all the good plastic taping intentions were gone out the window. It all pulled off, got rumpled and just became a pain in the rear end.  >:[
So then you get a system of 'Move the ladder, move the plastic to make sure it encompasses ladder, climb, paint, repeat'

Side Note: Painting... hates short people. I MAY be bias...just sayin...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

We then also taped everything else:

Yep... the 'Sweet Frog' room

We taped the baseboards, the closet, the window, and the door frame. What we did not tape and a few days later wish we had? The ceiling and the wall. Now... the ceiling would have been all around the best idea. The wall I mean is that one on the left side (in the picture) is my accent wall. I really should have started with that wall painting, waited for it to dry, taped it off in the corner, and then painted my neutral walls.

Did I do that? Of course Not....

Did I do this the hard way? Absolutely...every chance

So what do I need to do?? buy more paint (contractor white for the ceiling) and fix the mistakes  .... *cries in corner*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

So after taping and before painting you also do putty fixing:

Look at alllllll those holes we had to fill in -__-

So, the people we bought from were firm believers in having nothing on the floor.
I agree with this technique as it makes your home more pleasing to the eye and easier to clean.
HOWEVER, that means when we puttied in all the holes.... there were a bazillion...

We were impressed.

Also, after you putty the walls you get to sand all of it before painting. Then after sanding you have to clean all the walls T.S.P.

Please note: When handling T.S.P. please wear gloves, we didn't.... our hands looked burned afterwards and were slightly itchy.... pretty sure it's not a good thing.

This whole painting business has been quite involved and convoluted and a learning experience. I get frustrated by it but it's enjoyable at the same time.  :)

(If I had to do it again.... I'd probably hire someone..... LOL)

We are STILL in the middle of painting and I hope to have more pictures soon of the completed rooms.

I'll mention a few other noteworthy moments so far in our paint adventure:

- The first primer we used on the walls?
Never dried and became an oily substance that when we used the second primer to cover it up....wasn't quite sure what color it wanted to be. We currently have a trippy white/green color thing going on....
- Get two ladders....
If you have multiple people painting, you DEFINITELY need more than 1 ladder.Otherwise, you're holding up both rooms and won't complete either one in a timely manner.


~A

Budgeting When You're Broke

I am very familiar with being broke. Not to brag or anything (shakes head).

When I graduated from college my first job with a stellar 4 year degree.....paid under ....let's just say not a whole lot to live on....in an area (NOVA) that you can't even live by yourself on that salary, much less feed yourself.

This was of course after applying to multiple places (15...who counts?) in one night much less for 2 months with 4 interviews and no call backs (discouraged didn't begin to describe it...). HOWEVER, I wanted to not be broke so I did a temp job and part time job till I finally got my full time job.

I was soooo excited cuz even struggling broke full time is better than completely broke part time.

Helloooo silver lining ~~ Full time *victory dance*  (ARR eflon on flickr)

In my first year of employment, I was able to save 15% of my GROSS salary. *pats on back*

Did it suck? Yes
Did I go out much? Nope
Did I buy nice things? Nope
Did I eat out much? Maybe 2 times a month?

Really what it boils down too - I cut out all luxuries. All of them that were possible.

This first year is also when average gas prices were $4.11 a gallon.

That sucks... a lot....

If you're interested in having a completely OCD budget like myself, this is usually how I start it:

Add together the 2 paychecks you get a month, immediately subtract out how much you'd like to put in savings. (Please note: How much you put is savings is dependent on how much debt you have, debt should ALWAYS come first.)

Let's say I make 10,000 per month (I wish!!) and I want to put away 3,000 in savings.

Create a template and AUTOMATICALLY say you only have 7,000. You no longer have that 3K, it's not there, you don't have it, pretend it doesn't exist any more. (Unless you have a huge emergency, in which case, of course you access this).

Next, you should take out rent and/or debt payments (loan payments for college, car, house, etc...)

Let's say this person has a monthly Condo fee of $2,000.00
HOA fee of $350.00
Cell phone fee of $100
Internet & TV fee of $150
Utilities fee of $250

We are now left with how much? $4,150.00

Now let's estimate some other fees: Do you have animals? Subtract the insurance.  Do you have a gym membership? Subtract that out (note: the gym is a luxury....running outside is free....). Do you have other monthly expenses? Subtract them out now AND ALSO review them and ask yourself if you ABSOLUTELY NEED THEM. You may find out you don't..... *crosses fingers*

Estimate you gas money: I'll be honest - Mine is usually around $150 a month (oooooouch)

All these things add up, and I know none of them look particularly new. Do you see where I'm trying to go with this??
We all have rent, we all have cell phones, internet, utilities, etc...    Buckle up and take a good look at where your money is going!

OH GAAAAWWD NOOOOO (ARR Intelligent Sweetie Flickr)

I remember one month (after my first year of work) when I was feeling good and comfortable and I looked at my budget.... I had spent $200 on books.....in 1 month...ONE... yeaaaaaaaaaaa. I can't do that. I can't even rationalize that... honestly.... hahaha   It was me being stupid and not looking at where my money was going. HUGE MISTAKE - I CANNOT BE TRUSTED IN A BOOK STORE.  :\   

You might cry at the results you find and be terrified at how much you spend.

That's okay.

This is a learning experience. It's to make you think before you swipe that credit card. Cuz guess what?? You shouldn't swipe it if you don't have the funds to back it up!!!

Rules to live by:

1.) You should always have enough if your checking to pay off your credit cards fully.  
Why would you have a CC with a limit of 50K....if your GROSS salary is 50K....this is just trouble waiting to happen...seriously

2.) You should always put money towards savings - ESPECIALLY if you have a lot of debt.
Even $50 a month is something to work with. The goal is to have around 3 months of expenses available in your savings at any given time. 

3.) Do NOT live paycheck to paycheck
You should not be looking at a check of 5K thinking, 'OH I have a complete 5K to spend on whatever I want' No... it's time to be responsible (And thank your guardian angel that you somehow ended up with this check). Bills, Debt, and Savings come first. You can't buy that iPad when you have to pay rent.

What have been my main 'other' expenses this month?

Food
Paint (Daaaaaaaaaaammit)
Gas

I think that's it... I may have a $5 movie night in there or two. Cuz I am a full believer in the reward system. 
If I'm doing great with my budget IT SHOULD NOT HURT ME TO SPEND $5!!  Why? Because I've built that buffer in there. If I'm budgeting well, I can make a mistake, or have an unexpected expense, or maybe my car gets towed, and I'll be able to pay for it. WITHOUT freaking out that I won't be able to eat this month.


A budget is there to catch you when you fall, not to prevent you from flying.

People run into trouble only when they haven't thought about that 'falling' part, the 'consequences' aspect. A good budget-er should never be saying"

"Hrrrmmmm rent or booze, rent or booze? Well rent I pay in 2 weeks but I want booze now. Booze it is!"

^No.... just no.

Safely tuck away the money you MUST have and then all the rest is yours.


~A

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

~P.S. If you would like help with your budget feel free to ask me questions or leave a comment. I even have a blank template I can send you if you're interested~

Paint.... just take my money.....

So after buying a house, naturally you want to make a budget. You know, to make up for that sudden brokeness and the emptiness of the bank account?

But some things are just unavoidable.... such as the below:

Yeeeeaaaah... that's not a liveable color...

Ummmmm......No... Well... if it's the guest room..maybe.... haha

So this is what I'm dealing with. I have a powder pink room and a pastel green guest room. We also have a green living room with cherry floors.... no... just no.

SO the best laid plans and blah blah blah came crashing down when we went paint shopping this weekend.

Here I am on a budget of "NO SPENDING AT ALL" (maybe not that severe....) and then we go to the paint store....   anybody know how much a normal gallon of paint costs? ummmm Around $50 bucks. Soooo If you want to paint 3 rooms... the paint alone (estimating 2 gallons per room - NOT including primer) is around $300 plus the tools to pain (paint brush, roller, tray, tape, etc....)

LUCKILY I had a coworker looking out for me and let me know that Sherrwin Williams was having a fabulous 40% off sale  *victory dance*

Meaning what could have been horribly detrimental to my budget via paint firing squad... turned into more of a sissy shot to the shoulder:

180.28 + 106.64 = $286.92  (ouch)

 Not too bad. However... this was just the 4 gallons of paint, a paint brush, and some tape.... that's it.

So we went down the street to ACE Hardware and bought some more things cuz they had a 20% sale. Where we spent another $40 dollars.

So our total so far was: $220.28

We didn't buy primer or rollers or any of those things at this point cuz Danny's Dad luckily had a lot of that and we could save money borrow share use this as long as it's in good condition upon return.

So back to my budget..... or lack there of.....  *cries*

This is just the first step... we are also calling around for carpet cleaning (estimated at around $180 NOT including pet treatment) and then I thought about maid cleaners (estimated around $100 depending on number of people and number of hours) and I think to myself......

Budget? What budget?

Oh and P.S.  Why is PAINT THE MOST EXPENSIVE  *eye twitch*  In what world does that make sense??  

In all seriousness though, my budget = me not buying and spending frivolously so we can afford to get things done that need to be done. 

Which doesn't necessarily mean you DON'T have the money, but that you actually have the discipline to use it for 'the greater good'. (not cookies or alcohol)

For me right now that's my house. For some of you it could be savings... or a car.... or a computer.... or heck, a trip to Disney world (please take me with you)!!

Budget is the difference between controlled splurging (little of an oxymoron there) and someone telling you 'this is the reason we can't have nice things....'.

Discipline! (And reward system) My pretty house is going to be a HUGE reward. :)

So....bye bye happy money.....   

Can't wait to invite my friends over and celebrate~~  :)

~A

(If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment)