See Jane Get Rich

Over budget by $63.63

February expenses were much better when compared with last month.   My gas use was very low because I was stuck inside for a whole week due to the snow storm. 

My food expenses have gone up because (1) I am eating out a whole lot more with friends and (2) I am feeling down about my legal career prospects and haven’t really had the energy nor the desire to cook.

Financial Goals for Fall 2009 – Update

 I had several personal finance goals for this fall semester and here’s how I fared on them.

Goals:

• Goal #1: Correct my social security earnings statement
• Goal #2: Open a Health Savings Account
• Goal #3: Start a personal finance blog
• Goal #4: Get a holiday job for my winter break
• Goal #5: Set a budget

 Goal #1: Correct my social security earnings statement

 Issue: What I saw on my paystubs and income tax statements did not correlate with what I was seeing in my social security earnings statement.

 Status: Done but…   Read the rest of this entry »

Food can be one of the biggest expenses after housing.  This is especially true if law school (job or family) takes up most of your time (check) and you are not very good at cooking (check).  My twin goal every month is to keep my food expenses low and try to spend the least amount of time in the kitchen.  I want things that are simple to cook, relatively healthy and filling.

 You know my penchant for free food usually in the form of free sandwiches, free chipotle burritos and free pizza from school.  But, a girl can’t keep living on just the free stuff.  To keep my food costs down and my tummy full, there are a few items that I routinely eat:

 Rice

Basmati rice is my favorite kind of rice due to its unique texture and because it isn’t sticky.  It is also super simple and easy to make.  I cook white basmati rice in a rice cooker.  This will usually take 15-20 minutes.  I will make more than I need so I will have rice to eat for a few days.  You can pair rice as a side to almost anything.  Also basmati rice packs a good nutritional punch because it is a good source of iron, selenium, thiamine, and niacin. 

Spaghetti/pasta

I have a lot of spaghetti, pasta and macaroni in my cupboards because it is cheap and filling.  I usually like to make spaghetti and meat balls with melted cheese on top or have it with just the sauce.  Pasta is an excellent complex carbohydrate with almost no fat. 

 Eggs

I love eggs.  They are such a great source of cheap protein, and if you throw away a few of the egg yolks then you can lower the fat content as well.  The only downside with eggs would be the sodium content.  I like to make French toast or scrambled eggs for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. 

  Read the rest of this entry »

How Sexy is My Budget?

Budget $1,000 

Fixed                                       $815   

• Rent & Utilities
  • Rent:                   $750
  • Internet:            $25
  • Electric:             $25
• Car Insurance         $0
• Cell Phone                  $15 

  Read the rest of this entry »

I took out $50 for my month’s expenses and right now with 11 more days to go I have in my wallet a grand total of $5 bucks.  Where did it all go?  Maybe it was time to take that big drastic step I knew would come one day. 

Jane: Forgive me, personal finance blogging community, for I have sinned.   I confess to you Gentle Reader, to all the Great Personal Finance Bloggers, and to you Almighty Personal Finance God that it has been a long time since I have kept a budget.

Personal Finance Father:  (attempts to hide shock and surprise) Daughter, do not fear. (takes a deep breath) How long has it been since you failed to keep a budget?

Jane: Oh, Personal Finance Father, I actually never kept a budget! (looks down with guilt) I have heard of these budgets but they seemed to be like some kind of fantastic myth for people with orderly finances, but never something that could accommodate my wild, unpredictable law school finances.  Read the rest of this entry »