Keepin' it Clean

Along with getting my finances in order, I'm working on keeping my house more clean and organized lately. Overall, it's going pretty well. Dishes still pile up sometimes, and I don't always get everything put away before bed, but my place is much more orderly than it had been in the past. My latest "trick" to keeping things clean is the fifteen minute spurt. Sometimes, the thought of cleaning is nauseating. Like, I can't imagine getting up and doing all the cleaning I need to do...either I'm tired, busy, or just plain lazy. But, I can usually convince myself to get up and clean for 15 minutes. Whatever gets done is done, and something is better than nothing. 

Honestly, it's pretty amazing how much gets done in 15 minutes. I just did it now and I was able to put away all my stuff from my weekend trip (actually away, not just throw into my bedroom or the bathroom), hang up some laundry, put away the five pairs of shoes I had scattered around the house, make my bed, and clear off the coffee table. I also do little things, like close the shower curtain and closet doors, which just makes the house look a little more presentable. Is there still more cleaning to do? For sure. But for the amount of time and effort, it was definitely a worthwhile venture.

Ikea Trip!

So, my roommate and I have lived in our apartment for two years this month. When we first moved we spent a good amount of money on furniture, art, and of course basic necessities. Lately, we've been finding ourselves saying, "It's been two years, maybe we need new..." I changed our shower curtain liner last week (we cut it in half, since the opening to our shower is really narrow. So that was actually free, since I found the other half in our linen closet.) We washed our bathroom curtains, since they were looking rather dingy. And today we went to Ikea, in search for new curtains for our dining room. We've sorta hated our dining room curtains since about a week after we bought them, and decided to replace them.

We didn't find curtains, but we did buy new cutting boards ($2.99), a new bamboo plant ($1.99) and some more art for our place. We bought these prints, along with frames to add some color. I actually love these and I'm really excited to put them up!

We also bought this poster with a blue frame. This is a big one. My vote is to put it over the stove in the kitchen, since we have literally nothing on the walls in there. We'll see what the roommate wants to do though.

We split the cost of the posters and frames. I bought the bamboo and cutting boards and roomie is going to buy some large spoons, since ours mysteriously disappeared (seriously, how do you lose spoons!?!). So anyway, my share came out to $37. I am happy with that amount...definitely not breaking the bank and adding a lot of color to our apartment. Yay!

$20 Ice Cream

So last night the roomie and I decided to walk to Rite Aid to get some ice cream before the fireworks. So, I grabbed $20 from my cash stash (or the envelope system, if you prefer). I didn't have any smaller bills, so I slid the twenty into my back pocket, grabbed my phone and sunglasses and headed out.

I ordered a double scoop-one mocha almond fudge and one cookies and cream. I reached into my pocket to get my cash...not there. Tried all my other pockets...gone. Argh!! Apparently between pulling out my phone to text friends about meeting up my money was dislodged. Luckily the roommate paid for my ice cream, but since there were tons of people on 2nd Street, I'm sure my money was long gone. Booooo.

I mean, the ice cream was delicious...but probably not twenty dollars worth of delicious. Oh well. :/

I booked my flight to Portland!

Today I went online and bought my ticket to Portland for August 17th-21st. I am flying out of Long Beach (YES! So much easier than LAX), and my grand total came to $215. I budgeted up to $300, so I am happy with this amount. I also just researched and it looks like JetBlue does not charge a checked bag fee...nice! I will have to double check that as it gets closer, but that's definitely a plus. I'm so excited to go on a trip and to see my friend Shelley! We've already talked about a hike, a trip to the Oregon Coast and the Tilamook Cheese Factory. We want to do a picnic in Washington Square park and of course check out a microbrewery or two. :)

Anyone else have any Portland suggestions?

Taking Advantage of Summer Vacation

Thanks to the holiday weekend, my direct deposit went in yesterday, which is technically five days early. Hurray! Because of 16 hours of extra pay (coverage and professional developments during the first week of summer), plus my yearbook adviser stipend, I was able to bring in about $500 extra this month, even with the furlough days taken off my check. YES! This is good, because July is going to be an expensive month. And it's all fun stuff, which I am okay spending some money on.

Fun Stuff:
*Buy plane ticket to Portland to see my friend Shelley in August (budgeted $300, hopefully I can get it cheaper).
*Camping in Sequoia: Budget for campsite, food, gas, and a sleeping bag. I am hoping to spend no more than $100 on this, since I can split costs with friends going. I may borrow a sleeping bag so I can save some money there.
*River trip: My best friends family always goes on a vacation, and somehow I have been invited for the last five years or so. :) I am just going for a long weekend, so the expenses are food, gas for my car, and some cash to cover the gas for the boats and jet skis. I am not sure how much this will be, but it shouldn't be too crazy.

I am really excited about all of these trips! I love to go places, and I definitely feel like I am taking advantage of my summer vacation. Also, none of these trips are outrageous-definitely bargain vacations. Because of careful budgeting, I was still able to pay $570 on my credit cards this month. If I can keep my other costs down, I might be able to throw a little extra at my debt at the end of the month, but I'm okay with it if I can't.

I am excited that my total credit card debt is under $2,000. That means that I should be able to pay off my credit card debt in full next month, using my summer school income. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Vacation isn't just about relaxing...

I am exceedingly proud of all I accomplished today, and the beauty of having a blog is that I have a place to shamelessly brag about all I got done.

*Six loads of laundry (lights, darks, brights, sheets, towels, and delicates) washed, folded, and put away
*Cleaned out and reorganized all dresser drawers and closet
*Cleaned kitchen (dishes, counters, sink, floor)
*Watched my Netflix movie and three episodes of thirtysomething
*Talked on the phone with three people I wanted to catch up with
*Met with my friend Adam to plan our camping trip in a few weeks

I know this is weird, but this might be my favorite day of vacation so far...I love feeling accomplished and having a clean house. Granted, I don't want to spend every day of my vacation like this, but I'll feel pretty satisfied when I go to bed tonight.

I'm famous!

Okay, not really. But I am the topic of Almost Frugal's weekly post, "This is what frugal looks like." Check it out!