Debt Free by Thirty: The Plan

I recently decided that I want to eliminate my student loan debt by the time I turn thirty, which is twelve months away. Right now I have $9,188.92 to go.

Obviously I need a game plan.

Here's what I figured-

*Right now around $53 per month goes toward my principle payment (my total payment is about $80/month).

*I have $3,000 of loan forgiveness which should be credited by the end of the school year.

*I'm planning on putting my tax return toward my student loan. I'm planning for another $2,000 there.

*This leaves me with around $300 per month to pay on my loans to make this happen.

Yuck. I'm not looking forward to this, but I know I can do it. And with interest rates so low, even my Summer Saver only gets me 0.7% more in interest than I pay on my loan. So while I love the feeling of saving money, I also know that it's not much more beneficial to wait on my student loan.

If I go with this plan, I can keep contributing to my Roth IRA, my 403(b), and still save around $300 per month. And Dave Ramsey would be proud. It's "WWDRD?" approved.

Bloggy Secret Santa

Serendipity is hosting a Blogger Secret Santa gift exchange for Christmas, and I'm in! There's a $15 limit, so it's totally reasonable. I think it will be super fun to try to come up with a gift for a fellow blogger based on what they tell me and by reading their blog stalker style to determine what they would like. And, I'll get something in mail too, which is always fun! You should do it!

Serendipity also asked us to write a bit about our likes and dislikes. So here goes:

I like jewelry, especially necklaces. I don't like animals. I like quirky movies, I can never have enough lip gloss, and I love to read.

I feel like that's enough to go on. I'm excited!

October Was a Bad Month...or Was It?

I just did some balancing and tallying for October, as I had not tracked my spending all week. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. I had an unexpected quincienera gift to buy, the dentist, a shopping trip, a 5k I signed up for, a class I took through LAUSD, and a bunch of little things I spent money on. And sure enough, I ended up pulling $50 out of my E-fund to make sure I would be good until I get paid next Thursday.

I was sort of mad at myself for having to do that, but then I remembered-I managed to save $2000 this month. (Or $1,950 if you count my $50 from my E-fund).

I guess it wasn't too bad of a month after all.

I carried $500 of that over from September's budget, but the rest came from my October paycheck. This puts me on track for my Roth IRA contributions, and leaves me with $1,000 in my savings. I'm not sure what that money's for. I go back and forth on what to do with it, so for now it will just sit in my Summer Saver to earn my good interest rate.

But, it made me realize that even when I go a little off track, I've come a long way from when I was using credit cards every month and had no idea where my money went. All I knew was that none of it was going to savings. And now I have a healthy savings account. And that feels good.

Do you ever realize that you aren't doing so bad after beating yourself up?

Teacher Spending

It's pretty common for teachers to spend their own money on their classrooms. So common that people don't see it as a problem.

It is a problem. What other job would ask you to buy supplies without getting reimbursed? Do nurses buy their patients medicines? Do bankers buy their own...crap, I don't even know what they use. Pens? (Every business needs pens).

I think you get my point. I usually fight hard against buying things for my classroom, because it's simply unfair. This year, for whatever reason, I've spent more than I planned already. Here's the damage so far:

*Online grading program: The school says they bought a membership, but it took so long to materialize that I bought a membership to Jupiter Grades for $49.95. This is an online grading system so students and parents can check their grades 24 hours a day.
*Snacks-these are for my class reward system (bonus bucks). One of the incentives is a snack, so I went to Big Lots and spent around $20 on pretzels, granola bars, fruit snacks, and bottles of water. (I refuse to buy candy. They get enough junk, so I try to buy things with some semblance of health to them.)
*Pencils-this is also something the kids can buy with bonus bucks. Rather than be SUPER annoyed by kids telling me they don't have a pencil and asking to borrow one, I "sell" them for two bonus bucks. For whatever reason, they've been selling like crazy this year. I've spent around $5 so far, which isn't a ton, but I know this is going to keep adding up throughout the year.
*Markers/Crayons-before school started I hit up Walmart and got colored pencils, markers, pencil boxes, erasers, sharpeners, and crayons for my classroom. It makes doing projects a lot easier and these are honestly just necessities for any classroom. I spent about $25 on these items.
*Halloween-this isn't required, but I bought my student's erasers and "scary" rings for Halloween. Again, I'm anti-candy, but I wanted to get them a little something. I usually get Halloween pencils, but with class sizes over 40, I went for the more economical erasers. I spent about $5 on this.

Total so far: $105. And it's October. :/

I'm definitely going to try to cut back, but I know it's not totally over. So, for all the parents who complain about buying back to school supplies, please know that the teachers get it. We buy school supplies too. I try to make my supply lists contain only what is necessary, but if I didn't have a pretty lengthy supply list, I'd spend even more of my own money than I already do.

Any other teachers wan to chime in with how much you spend? I have a feeling I'm on the lower end of the spectrum, actually.

Spending Week: The Dentist

Last week I had my dentist appointment to get my filling replaced. This is the one that has fallen out a few times, and the dentist was worried it might be a root canal. Luckily I dodged that bullet!

I talked about my dental dilemma about a month ago, but essentially the metal fillings are free (via insurance) and the nice, white, non-mercury filled ones cost me $110. Yuck. Before I went in, I was leaning toward the metal one, especially since this filling likes to come out (it's happened twice already). I shared my concerns and she said that the white ones usually stay in better. I told her it's always been white ones that have popped out and she offered me a deal: if it comes out, she'll put in a metal one and refund me the money for this filling. Basically a money-back guarantee.

It worked. Partly because it's towards the front on the bottom and the metal would be visible. And I'm vain like that. For the other cavity I have that is on the top in the back, I'm going with metal. Bring on the mercury.

Since I didn't plan on getting the white filling, I didn't budget for the expense. I am trying to make up the amount in other areas of my budget, but if I have to I'll use my emergency fund to cover the amount.

What would you do/have you done in this situation?

Unexpected Deals at The Limited

Last week the boyfriend and I went out for a date night. We hit up a new spot for Happy Hour sushi, and then went to the movies since the tickets are $5 each on Tuesdays. This theater is at the mall, and we had some time to kill, so I wandered into my favorite store, The Limited.

This is not normally where I go for discount clothes, but they do have a pretty good clearance rack. And that night, they were even having a take an additional 40% off sale. YES. Though I had not exactly budgeted for this trip, I did a little retail therapy after a long day at school and picked up a few things.

I got this skirt, which is super fun. I wore it with black tights and boots and a black sweater. Orange isn't usually in my color palette, but with the black lace I thought it was fun. Original cost: $80...I got it for $11.99. I got a lot of compliments on it from the kids, many of whom called it my "Halloween skirt."

I also got a super cute purple vest. My school color is purple, and we're supposed to wear it every Monday, so I thought this was a good find. I wore it with a white button down and dark jeans, along with the super cute matching purple necklace I got. The vest was originally $50, I got it for $10.19. The necklace was originally $25, but I got that for $6.59. 

 
All told I spent $31.29, which I think is great. I decided that I will make this my October dress code reward (assuming I stick to the dress code), which means most of it will come out of next month's budget.

Apparently this is my week of spending posts, since I've got another one coming about spending money at the dentist and how much I've spent on my classroom this year. Neither of which is as fun as the last few posts about real shopping.

Birthday Gift Cards Part Two-TJ Maxx

My lovely friend Becca gave me a gift card to TJ Maxx for my birthday. I had some time to kill before my mom's birthday dinner, so I stopped for my free Starbucks drink and then did some shopping at TJ Maxx. I got some great deals in the clearance section. Here they are:

Super cute bowls-I LOVE these bowls. One is a bright pink, the other teal, and both are a bamboo like design on the inside. Suggested price was $20, TJ's price was $8, and I got each one for $3 in the clearance section. Score!

I also stumbled across some good Christmas finds, and all for people who I do not think read this blog. So, I will share. I got some super cute stationary and pen sets for my sixth grade co-teachers for seven bucks each. I snagged some cute cards for my grandma (because she is the queen of thank you notes), and a bed caddy that I think she'll like to keep books and such near her without cluttering her nightstand. The cards were marked down to $2 and the caddy was originally $13, but marked down to $3! And last, I got 24 fun pencils for my classroom for another $2.

I spent $4 out of my own pocket, and am super excited about my finds. I am seriously enamored with the bowls, and I think the bed caddy is so cool, I may just keep it. And, I am thrilled to start my Christmas shopping with some deals...especially since my best idea for the boyfriend's gift is extremely pricey. But more on that later.