Livin' Cheap

Living on $3.57 per day

Ok, so Celeste and I went to Target and Publix last night. I spent $48 at Target and $23 at Publix. I had a list for both places and only deviated from it twice: once to buy a $4 DVD and once to buy some grapes.

Forty-eight dollars at Target?! Yeah, I know, but I made that money go a long way. Everything I bought, except the DVD, was legitimate:

a three-month air filter for my AC ($5)
English muffins ($2.99, compared to $3.99 at Publix!)
peanut butter ($2.25)
toilet paper ($7)
face wash ($4.75)
moisturizer ($8)
"Old School" on DVD ($4)
contact lens solution ($8)
fabric softener dryer sheets ($6.25, on sale from $8.99 and I had a $0.75 coupon)

At Publix I bought enough groceries to get me through next Friday. I realized that I don't really budget when I'm shopping for food. Sure I shop sales, paying attention to BOGO (buy one, get one free) items, utilizing coupons, comparison shopping between Publix and Target, but I don't go in thinking, "OK, I need to stay under $30." Rather, I just fill my basket with items from my list and whatever produce is ripe and I know isn't too expensive. And I wonder why my food spending is out of control, right?

My $23 got me bread, eggs, grapes, lettuce, frozen broccoli, frozen squash, six yogurts, a box of Strawberry Frosted Mini Wheats (they were buy one/get one and I had a $1-off coupon!), two cans of black beans, a jar of salsa, pretzels, and some honey. And this weekend I'll spend another $3 or so on granola from Earth Fare.

This morning I woke up 10 minutes early, which gave me enough time to make an egg and English muffin sandwich. I wrapped it in tin foil and brought it to work to eat with my coffee. I packed a lunch of PB&J, pretzels, grapes and a string cheese. I should definitely have enough food to get me through next Friday. But it seems illogical to think $25 of food can feed me for a week; that's only $3.57 per day or $1.19 per meal! But then again, how much does a homemade PB&J really set me back?

What I need to have is a separate budget of perhaps $15 a week or $40 for two weeks to designate toward eating out/nightlife. The thing is, I'm definitely going to meet a friend for lunch or dinner at least once during a two week period. I'm definitely going to meet up with friends downtown on Friday or Saturday night. If I don't have a designated amount to cover those activities, then I spend and feel guilty because I spend on things I didn't plan for, and I end up shooting my budget dead.

On a side note: Writing down every last purchase is already having a huge impact. I'm always aware of my spending, to a certain extent, but having to manually subtract my $48 Target trip from my ever-dwindling account balance forced me to process the purchase. That's a good thing.

So, now I'm wondering: Do you have a separate budget for dining out and/or entertainment? How much do you give yourself?

How do you budget for food?

Ah, it is finally payday! While I was digging through a drawer last night in search of an envelope I found a blank checkbook register. I decided I need to start tracking my purchases, not just via online banking, but in real time, old fashioned pen and paper style so I can become hyper-aware of where my hard-earned dollars are going.

I wrote down my account balance and then started subtracting for my power bill (it's a low $60 this month!), my automatic transfer of $40 to savings, my Discover Card payment ($50) and my car taxes, which are due at the end of the month ($186).

My motivation to account for my money doesn't stop there; I'm going to the ATM today to take out $100 for food for the next two weeks. I have a lot of trouble budgeting for food. I'm not sure what I should plan to spend on it for a two week period. So I'm going to experiment with $100 and see where that gets me two weeks from now. I'm obsessed with coupons, making lists and store sales, so I'm going to try to make this $100 go the distance. I'm going to Target tonight to get toiletries and household items and any food items that I know are cheaper there than at Publix, like peanut butter, for example.

So, in an attempt to work out a realistic food budget I'm curious: How much do you spend on food for a month? How many people does that budget cover? Does that amount include toiletries/household items?

Reality check: Not as fun as a check from grandma

I have $12 till Thursday. I haven't had such a low balance in my checking account in months, so what happened? I'd like to come up with a clever yet believable excuse, but instead I just printed off my May bank statement to explore my recent transactions. I broke out the colored highlighters to help categorize my spending: Groceries; Gas; Dining out/nightlife; Miscellaneous; and Target. I know, how pathetic that Target gets it's own category?!

The breakdown (not including bills):

 

    Groceries:               $19
    Dining out/bars:     $145.47
    Gas:                          $141.01
    Miscl:                       $53.46
    Target:                     $55.46

So, I spent $338.47 on food and entertainment (beer) from April 23-May 20. Needless to say, that's more than my projected budget.

Gas really tested my spending plan, but the $141 includes two trips to Chapel Hill, which I remember budgeting for. In general, I average about three tanks a month and budget $100, just in case there are any out of town trips or a lot of unexpected driving across town. Any money left from the gas budget usually goes into my food/entertainment budget.

Now, Miscellaneous and Target... The only thing I can account for from Target is $9 on a prescription. The miscellaneous purchases include a shirt from Gap, a book from Amazon.com, a late fee from Richland County Public Library and the cost of obtaining my credit report. But what the heck did I buy at Target? I'm guessing it was stuff like shampoo and face wash, but I really can't remember.

So, since I have three days till my account is replenished, I have plenty of time to devise a new budget. My most troubling points are shopping at Target — granted, some grooming items and groceries are actually cheaper there than at Publix — and not planning meals. I'm taking the next few days to plan out grocery shopping, including setting aside money for toiletries and weekend entertainment. Hopefully my mini, self-imposed intervention will have a significant impact on my account balance.

More on my budget overhaul tomorrow. It's almost 5 p.m. and time to meet my friends to catch up — without spending any money. I expect to report that I still have $12 when I blog tomorrow.

Blah, blah, blah, give us all your money

I saved $275 on my new glasses thanks to insurance and the people at Devine Eyes. Of that money, I now have $6 left. My car died on Assembly street on Wednesday night. The Maintenance Required light switched on about a week ago, but I ignored it thinking it was just a Honda trigger wanting me to do unnecessary maintenance at a certain amount of miles. Definitely not. It came on because my car required maintenance. Imagine that.

My poor, sick Accord has had a little trouble starting lately, but not enough for me to think it needed costly repairs. The ailments were like hiccups compared to swine flu. But it definitely caught my attention when I was the first car waiting to turn left at a busy intersection and it just died. Angry drivers honked behind me and gunned past me in the right lane, flashing mean, squinty-eyed looks at my car as they swerved around me to turn left. I pretended not to notice as I called for help and helplessly tried to restart my car.

Yesterday I crossed my fingers and drove to my trusty mechanic. I had just finished my first cup of coffee when they called to tell me the results of the diagnostics: "Blah, blah, bad ignition switch, blah, blah, blah, $215, OK?" I absolutely hate being ignorant about car repairs. I just have to trust that they're being kind and fair to me. I never leave an auto shop feeling good; I always feel sweaty, nervous and taken advantage of. Since my car was broken I said, OK.

After lunch I went to pick up my car. I begrudgingly paid the $215 and walked out to my car, twirling my key ring around my finger. I go to start it and it coughs, sputters, whines, and says, "Please, just let me rest." It doesn't start and sounds a thousand times worse than when I dropped it off!

Apparently they killed my already weak (their words) battery while running tests and fixing my ignition. I was fired up and said, "So wait, YOU kill my battery and now I have to buy a new one?! It worked a few hours ago!"

I told them I wasn't comfortable with my experience at the auto shop at all and that their diagnostics should have told them my battery sucked. I went on about how I don't trust them and don't think this is fair and that they should have started my car to see if it worked before calling me to come pick it up. I might as well have been mumbling quietly to myself because the mechanic, who is probably accustomed to getting yelled at, barely batted an eye at me. He apologized and said this isn't how he likes to do business, blah, blah, blah. Since my car didn't work, I handed him my MasterCard again, this time for a $54 battery. It's a six-year battery, and should have been $85, but I got a discount since the dead battery in my car was also supposed to last six years and didn't.

Hmm, what will I spend my $6 budget surplus on? Probably beer -- I need one after that ordeal. 

Four-eyed Fun

My grandpa always teases me that boys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses. But I think if I wore my new glasses out I'd still get free drinks. My old glasses were from several years ago and no longer enhanced my vision. Even watching TV in them was a challenge.

Having no idea how much glasses cost, I budgeted to spend $300. I was in the mall and stopped in at Lens Crafters because a sign out front offered "$100 off a complete pair of eyeglasses." Perfect, I thought. I dragged my friends inside and we proceeded to have an eyeglasses montage, trying on the most ridiculous pairs before getting down to business. I found a D&G pair that I loved and a pair from Ralph Lauren that looked fabulous on my face. The D&G frames were $175 and the RL glasses were $215; lenses start at $125. So a complete pair would be $200-$250 after tax and with the discount. I thought that was reasonable and was excited to stay under budget. But of course I shopped around before buying.

I also looked at Devine Eyes, which is where I go for eye exams and contacts. Not only do they take my insurance, which is amazing news, but the employees seem to really love their jobs. At Lens Crafters a grumpy associate sat me down and actually laughed at me when I pulled out my contact prescription, not realizing that contacts and glasses have different prescriptions. At Devine Eyes two employees spent at least 30 minutes helping me pick out frames, suggesting new pairs based on how I felt about the last pair I tried on. Rebekah helped and also made me try on ridiculously funny glasses for her own entertainment. I ended up with a really cute pair of glasses that cost ... drum roll, please... $25!

I budgeted $300 and spent $25. How great is that? For every dollar I save, though, I think of five more things I "need" to buy. Of course.

A food funk

I'm in a food funk. I've been shopping without purpose and now I'm feeling the effect when I look for something to eat. My most recent bank statement shows purchases at Moe's, Marble Slab, Sumo Japanese Steakhouse, Longhorn, Auntie Anne's, Jersey Mike's, Biscuit House, Village Idiot and Grilled Teriyaki.

It's obvious I've been eating socially. Sumo and Longhorn were two separate birthday dinners for friends; both Village Idiot and Grilled Teriyaki are results of late night adventures; Auntie Anne's was an impulse buy during a recent mall visit while shopping with friends; Moe's and Jersey Mike's were "let's get lunch" trips with coworkers; and my trip to Marble Slab was masking guilt for not hanging out often enough with old roommates.

In addition, I recently bought a ton of fresh veggies and some fruit from Publix. My body is craving nutrients because I'm feeling the calorie overload that comes with eating out. I bought two yellow squash, a zucchini, a cucumber, a ripe on the vine tomato, a potato and a head of lettuce. Most of the lettuce, one squash and the cucumber went bad. The only reason the fruit I bought is still good is because it is frozen.

My problem is that I'm not planning ahead. I'm just grabbing and buying whatever I feel like eating at that moment. I probably went to the store hungry. At least my impulses were all healthy buys, but there's no point in buying healthy food just to throw it away a week later.

Every Sunday is grocery day, so I can start fresh this weekend. It's a good thing, too, because pretty much the only thing to eat at home is the frozen fruit that I bought with good smoothie-making intentions. However, the thought of dragging out the blender and cleaning it are excellent deterrents.

So what's the lesson? Well it's a back-to-back rerun: (1) Don't shop when hungry and (2) plan ahead for going out to eat so I don't end up on either end of the spectrum (feeling deprived from never going out or feeling gross from always going out).

Cars, clothes and credit cards

I've been MIA from the blog scene for two weeks. But during that time I've been very productive. I found a roommate and signed a lease in Chapel Hill, which is excellent news. The deposit on the apartment isn't as much as I expected and my half of rent is $100 less than I'm paying now.

In addition, I've decided to pay off my car this month. I have the money sitting in savings, dormant and staring at me when I do online banking. The interest my savings accrues is minuscule and I won't need the money for anything else till August. It's going to take a huge chunk of the savings, but I can build the account back up with the would-be car payments during the summer.

I checked my credit report on Saturday. Annualcreditreport.com is the only official site to check the three major reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. In January I checked Experian and bought a bogus credit score called a Vantage Score, so this time I looked at Equifax and bought my FICO score. I'm pretty pleased with myself and my score. My debt to credit ratio is getting better each month and I don't have any negative marks from late payments or anything. I already marked my calendar to check TransUnion in September.

What else have I been up to? Shopping! When I got accepted to law school I knew I'd need some clothes that didn't include T-shirts so I signed up for emails from my favorite stores so I'd know when the major sales are. The Limited emailed me about a buy one get one 50% off sale and they sent a coupon for $30 off a purchase of $100 or more. I bought some new dress pants ($70), a skirt ($60) and two shirts ($45 and $40). It would have been $215 plus tax, but because of the sale both shirts were 50% off, so before the coupon my total was about $179. I handed the sales associate my $30 off coupon and she said she actually had a coupon for $50 off of a purchase of $150 that I could use. I paid $129 for $215 worth of clothes.

I know readers urged me to go to TJMaxx and Ross for dress clothes. I went there. And I went to Plato's Closet. Plato's had a crappy selection and at the other stores everything was way too big. Apparently they don't carry small sizes. At The Limited everything fits perfectly, another reason I like going there. When my clothes fit, I feel good about myself. I'd been budgeting for the purchases, so I don't have buyer's remorse. All I have left to get is a suit jacket ($158 at The Limited), but I'm waiting for a $50 off of $150 coupon to come in the mail.

Here's a bit of irony: Since I'd been planning on this purchase I was excited to not have to use my credit card. But as the girl was ringing up my purchases I opened my wallet and discovered my debit card was missing. I'd left it in my rain jacket from the night before when I ran to Publix during a monsoon and didn't want to take my whole purse inside. So, I had to put my shopping trip on my credit card. As soon as I got home, though, I paid off the new purchases.

Brushing saves money

Reasons to celebrate: My power bill was only $60 and I don't have any cavities! I had a dentist appointment on Tuesday and was terrified I'd have a cavity or two and then have to figure out how to pay for fillings, but my diligent brushing has paid off. When I start school I'll have health insurance but not dental, so I also asked about how much the cleaning/xrays will be at my December appointment ($138), so I can plan ahead.

Things are falling into place, but I'm struggling right now. I have the shopping bug and it's taking all of my strength to keep from buying new summer clothes. I also want new clothes for the fall. So what's a girl to do? No, I'm not going to use my savings or my trusty MasterCard, but I have compromised with myself. I decided that after I pay the deposit on my apartment at UNC, after I reserve a moving truck, after I order more contact lenses, after I pay off my car, MasterCard and car taxes and after I get two haircuts at my favorite salon, then I'll buy some new clothes. Until then, I need to stay out of stores and occupy my time in other ways.

But a love from the past, J. Crew, keeps testing my resolve. The spring catalog arrived in my mailbox the other day. Page after glossy page of high cheekboned models donned wispy thin cardigans, favorite Ts and gladiator sandals. I relegated the catalog to sit under a stack of newspapers on my desk for the time being. But just moments after, I opened my laptop to check my email, wherein I found a 20-percent off coupon code for jcrew.com. Talk about teasing. I clicked. I know, I should have clicked delete, but I wanted to look at their suits, you know, since I'll be buying a suit this summer -- er, at least that's what I told myself.

My browser history displays evidence of my weaknesses: I visited The Limited, J. Crew, Banana Republic, Nine West, Gap, Coach and Target... But I didn't buy anything. Luckily I'm the type of shopper that likes to try items on before I commit, and I have an aversion to returning things through the mail; I prefer instant refunds.

Non-shopping ways to entertain myself: I'm going to check out the Urban Tour on Main Street tonight. What does that mean? It means free food and beer. Seriously. Check out the Web site. Take a walking tour of downtown Cola, strolling in and out of shops while enjoying live music and free grub. In addition, the Columbia Museum of Art will offer pay-what-you-wish admission into the "Turner to Cezanne" exhibition. It's from 5 to 8:30 p.m. tonight (May 7).

THIS WEEKEND: Now that I can see the weekend peaking over the horizon of  a really long week I feel so tired. I'm going to Chapel Hill on Saturday to sign a lease with a girl I met a couple weeks ago (yet another reason to celebrate!). I'm so excited about finalizing the living situation, but the thought of driving eight hours on Saturday makes me feel ill. I'm going to hit up the library tomorrow, though, and browse their book on CD selection. Maybe listening to books will make the time fly by.

Sunday is mother's day, but since my mom lives on the left coast my only obligation is to drop a card in the mail and give her a call in the evening. I want to go through my clothes and donate some more stuff on Sunday. But as I type this my eyes seem to grow heavier with each letter that appears on my computer screen, so designating Sunday as a nap day sounds pretty wonderful, too.  

Roommate search update

I went to Chapel Hill on Saturday to meet prospective roommates and check out some apartments. I met a girl who is a rising a third year law student at UNC. We had lunch at Cafe Carolina (it's like Panera) and bonded over the fact that we're both sorority dropouts. Afterward, I went to one of the apartment complexes to see if it felt like home.

The apartment has two bedrooms, two huge walk-in closets and two bathrooms. There's a ton of storage, which I love because my house now only has one tiny closet. I could definitely see myself living there. The apartment is about eight minutes from campus, which isn't bad, and it has tennis courts, two pools and is well-maintained. Also, it's only $440 each, which is less than I'm paying for rent now.

After viewing apartment #1 I met a boy, potential roommate #2, at his apartment to see if we'd get along. He was really cool and seemed like I'd have fun living with him, but he doesn't like using the heat or AC, even when it's really hot or cold out. I'm all about conserving energy, but I don't want to be uncomfortable in my house. After living by myself for two years and trying not to run up my power bill, and after freezing in my living room all winter, I'm looking forward to splitting bills with someone and actually being able to use the heat or AC without wondering if my bill will be more than $100. So, I crossed him off my list. At least he was up front about his cheapness.

When I got back to Columbia I emailed girl #1 to see if she liked me. She said yes, so it looks like I'll be living with her this fall. I'm excited but skeptical because finding her was too easy, too good to be true. I'm waiting for the catch. Hopefully it will all fall together. She's going to tour the apartment this week; she didn't go with me on Saturday because she was in the middle of studying for exams. If she likes it as much as I did then we'll figure out the deposit and lease soon. It will be a big relief to have an apartment secured.

Yesterday I mailed my second seat deposit to UNC, so I'm done giving them money until the fall. The second deposit isn't due till late June, but since my grandma sent me the money I wanted to go ahead and pay it and be done. Oh, on a side note, I was excited to notice that a one way trip to Chapel Hill used less than a tank of gas in my Honda.

Now, I'm pretty much sticking to a conservative budget and enjoying free stuff around town. Artista Vista was so much fun; City Art definitely had the best food and the glass blowing demonstration at One Eared Cow Glass was the most entertaining part of the night. Well, either that or the guy who tried to hypnotize me (it didn't work).

There's more fun next Thursday — May 7 is the 2009 Urban Tour along Main Street. It's another free food/drink and entertainment event, so I'm definitely going to that.  I'll post more details about it next week.

I'm going to Target tonight (to return a dress), so next time we'll see what misadventure I stumble into.

Nearly free ice cream!

Tonight is 31 Cents Night at Baskin Robbins (the Forest Drive location). From 4 to 10 p.m. you can stand in line with everyone else and get a scoop if ice cream for less money than it costs to park at a meter for an hour.

I attended 31 cents night two years ago and loved it, but I don't have patience for waiting, especially when I have a tub of rocky road in my freezer already. If you go, bring some kids. You can stand in line while they learn about DARE and get fingerprinted. Aside from ice cream, there will be other stuff kids like, too, like bounce houses, dance and karate exhibitions and a basketball contest. Don't feel bad about getting two scoops — proceeds benefit the families of fallen firefighters.