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…  

 Comments: I went to the social security office and they went through the paperwork with me and they determined that my earnings statements were correct.  Turns out that my undergraduate college, my previous employer, did not pay take social security out of my paycheck.  Following the social security administration’s suggestion, I emailed the university.  I will have to wait until they open up in spring to follow up on this matter more.  While I was reviewing my records in the office I also came across a short term job I didn’t have any information on.  It was taking notes for a student with disabilities for one semester.  For some reason in my mind I came to believe this was volunteer work but it was paid work.  I need to get some kind of record from the institution for this work as well. 

Goal #2: Open a Health Savings Account

Issue:  A few months ago I became ineligible to be on my parent’s insurance because of my age.  I get a one size fits all and covers virtually nothing insurance through my university.  I needed an alternate way to save for health care expenditures.  The Health Savings Account would be a perfect way to meet the gap. 

 Status:  Ineligible for the HSA

Comments: I knew that one problem with opening a Health Savings Account would be the fact my university student insurance wouldn’t really qualify as a high deductible insurance.  But, still I went to my bank to see if there was any way my university student insurance which has many of the characteristics of a high deductible health insurance would allow me to open up a HSA.  The answer was no. 

 Goal #3: Start a personal finance blog

Issue: I was expecting to land a job with the law firm that I was working for this summer but that did not happen.  With the disappearance of the six figure job I realized that I need to take charge of my finances right now to ensure the kind of financial security I wanted to have. 

 Status:  Started online blog and I am continually posting to it.  This has made me more accountable about my personal finance decisions.  It has also exposed me to 500 and counting spam comments per day.   

 Goal #4: Get a holiday job for my winter break

Issue:  I need money because (1) this year I do not have any parental support for my living expenses and (2) I have a huge spring tuition bill looming because all my outside scholarships were used for my fall tuition bill. 

 Status: In the process of completeing. 

Comments:  I am currently working a holiday job.  The earnings will be just under $1K.  This is really tiny when compared to my living expenses and my tuition bill, however, I am glad that I was able to make some money during the break. 

 Goal #5: Set a budget   

Issue: I am spending much more money than I think I am because there is no monthly budget or record keeping going on. 

 Status: Struggling.

 Comments:  I am currently revisiting several ways to find a budgeting method I would like to try for 2010.  I think using all cash would be the easiest but then I worry about building a credit history.  I will provide an update later on about my budgeting adventures.

 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. 

 Frozen fish

This may be the most expensive item on the list compared to everything else.  I usually like to get a large bag of frozen salmon and tilapia from Sam’s Club when I am home and this usually lasts me the whole semester.  The fish pairs nicely with the rice.  Salmon is high in omega-3’s and tastes great without the addition of any special sauces.  While tilapia is lower in omega-3’s than salmon, it is a fish that matures fast so it has lower levels of mercury. 

 Bread

 I eat a lot of bread because I can easily make sandwiches.  Sandwiches are nice and compact for someone like me who is always on the go with 50 lbs of books.  Whenever I go home I always get a loaf of homemade bread.  I am thinking about bringing back more than one loaf after Christmas because I heard you can easily freeze bread. 

 So, there you have it.  What are some cheap and healthy eat’s that are your fridge or pantry MVP’s?

Budget $1,000 

Fixed                                       $815   

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

Variable                                 $85     

• Gas                                 $35
• Food                              $30     
• Entertainment      $10
• Misc.                              $10
• Buffer                            $0 

Other-November                   $100     

• Oil change                      $25 (?)
• Tag Renewal                 $25 (?)
• Gas for trip home      $50

I will be the first to say that this budget is a little tight for two reasons.  I have a lot of expenses with my car falling in November and psychologically it was difficult for me to go past $1k.  The gas expense for my trip home is very much on the conservative side.  I am hoping to find someone else from my school going in the same direction so that we can split the cost of the gas.  I think my insurance has already been paid for the quarter and I am in the process of confirming this.  My entertainment budget is very small and that is because everyone is starting to settle down and gear up for exams. 

My buffer constitutes any money that I may make from selling books on Amazon, selling giftcards or items that I no longer used.  I give myself pretty free reign on what I use this money for. 

(P.S. Sorry for the wavy figures.  For the life of me I couldn’t figure how to make my figures line up. )

Update 10/23:  I got confirmation that my  policy was paid off until early February so I edited the budget to reflect that.   Also, the person who I was hoping to give a ride to in return for half of the gas money will not be going home until Christmas.  So, I gotta foot the gas bill home.

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. 

Personal Finance Father: Child, how much do you earn?

Jane: Well, I found a penny on my couch yesterday, and I found another one in the road when I was walking and another one in the little paperclip holder at school.  Altogether that is .03 cents for this month, father. 

Personal Finance Father: I see Jane. Right now you do not earn more than three penny’s, and you may feel there is no need to budget.  But consider your future.  You will soon graduate and will start working and surely there is a chance that you will earn more than .03 cents. 

Jane: Oh father, I sure hope so.

Personal Finance Father:  Jane, as penance for your personal finance sins I am going to ask you to recite five Our Personal Finance Father’s and to look at your expenses and to construct a budget.   Promise me you will try it out for a few months.

Jane: I promise father.  I will try this budget thing.  I hear that some even claim budgets are sexy.