The Financial Convo Update

I mentioned in another post that BF and I were planning to talk about finances. We haven't talked too much about this before, so it was kind of a big deal. There's definitely still more to cover, and I won't share everything out of respect for his privacy, but it was interesting for sure.

We talked about our debts...nothing too scary or surprising here. He has some, and he's working on it. Not with gazelle-like intensity, but working on it all the same. 

He doesn't do an official budget. He says he knows about how much he spends and tries to be aware of it. I told him I used to do that, but I then when I started budgeting I realized how unaware I really was. He acknowledged that budgeting would be a good idea, but he just doesn't do it. Right now, it's not my business, so we left it at that.

We talked about setting a budget for how much we spend going out together. Right now we're not looking to reduce the amount, just keep track of it and try to split it equally. We're past the, "he should pay" point in our relationship, so this is a good thing. I'm going to track it for both of us this month and keep him posted on where we're at. I'm excited about this, since I feel like it's a baby step for us budgeting together.

I mentioned that in the future, I want to be "in charge" of the finances, but that no matter who is in charge, both people need to know what's going on and it needs to be discussed regularly. He agreed. I also mentioned that I'd like to do FPU together before we get married. I said that even if we don't agree with every detail, it's good for getting us to talk about all aspects of money. He seemed open to that as well.

All in all, it wasn't earth-shattering. But, I think it's good that we opened the door to this conversation and I'm sure it's one we'll revisit often. I have a few concerns, but nothing that I think is insurmountable. 

I'm Sold on Fresh & Easy!

I know I'm late on this bandwagon, but I have to say I finally shopped at Fresh & Easy today and I am quite pleased with my purchases. I had a $5 off when you spend $20 coupon, so with that I was out the door for $16.12. Here's what I got:

*Baby carrots (16oz)

*Frozen mango

*Frozen berry blend

*1 can black beans

*2 cans white beans

*Pre-cut tomatoes

*Pre-cut red onion

*Bunch of celery

*1 lb of tangerines

*3 pears

*Fresh cilantro

*Salad mix

*3 bananas

*2 cucumbers

I have two more $5 off $20 to use in future weeks, and I'm sure I will. I joined Weight Watchers this week, and since fruits and veggies are zero points, I definitely wanted to stock up on those items. I made a great bean salad tonight with those ingredients, with plenty left over for lunch and to bring to book club tomorrow night. 

This is not a one-stop shop, but for produce it's great! They have some good deals on things like chips and meat too, but I'm trying not to eat those things. :) 

Money-Talk in the Relationship

Tonight the BF called me on his lunch break and among other topics mentioned, "Maybe we should talk about the financials, so that we know what's going on with the other one when we're trying to plan things."

YES!

I think this was sparked by talks of going on some sort of Spring Break trip and me stating that while I could afford it, I wasn't sure if I wanted to afford it right now.

Honestly, it's something I've been wanting to talk about with him, but I wasn't sure how to bring it up. Yes, all my personal information is on the internet, but I don't assume everyone else wants to talk about it. But, things are serious and we've used the M-word, so it's definitely something we should cover.

I'm super curious and excited to put this all out there. I probably won't share too much after we talk...it's not his blog and I'm not anonymous, so I don't want to overshare. But, I would love any input people have on how to go about this conversation...questions I might not think of or things to keep in mind. Really, I'd love advice on this one as it's pretty much uncharted territory for me.

Weekend Update: The Positive and Negative Edition

+ I paid an extra $234.19 on my car on payday.
+ I at 91% of my car paid off! Only $2,700ish to go!
- My check seemed smaller than I expected, so I need to talk to my payroll person at work tomorrow to try to see what's going on. Hopefully it means more money mid-month and not that I did my math wrong.
+ I sold three more books on Amazon, so I'll have some extra funds to put toward my car tomorrow.
+ I hosted my first party at my new place, a happy hour for my teacher friends. It was great and made me want to keep entertaining.
+ My boyfriend did all the dishes afterward, so I didn't have to clean up after the party. Even better!
+ I found a breakfast place with a $3.99 special that comes with bottomless mimosas for an hour.
- I drank a little too much this weekend.
+ I made salads for my lunch ahead of time, so I will actually eat my salad stuff instead of watching it go bad because I'm too lazy to put it together in the mornings.
+ I finished my online class and now have all my classes done for a raise!
- It always takes a few months for that to actually happen.

And that, my friends, was my weekend. More pluses than minuses, so I'm pretty content.

February Recap

February was a fabulous month for me financially. Here's why:

I got my yearbook stipend (approx $400).
I got my income tax returns (approx $2,600).
I got my old apartment deposit back ($572.50)
I sold a bunch of books on Amazon (approx $150)
I was under budget (approx $100).

Where did that all go? Well, I spent about $400 on my new apartment (dining set, curtains, frames, artwork, etc.). I replenished by emergency fund, which required $800, and did let myself go shopping, where I spent about $90. And it was a hair appointment month and a car insurance month. But I digress.

I paid a total of $1,825.89 extra on my car payment this month. Please read that again. But add !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to the end of it. Because I'm pretty excited about it.

And I get to pay even more tomorrow, because it's payday. Holla!

Increasing Contentment by Cleaning

This is in line with yesterday's post, and it may be something I've talked about before, but I've been thinking a lot lately about taking care of what you own not only to maintain it's value and save money, but to increase your satisfaction and contentment with what you have.

I spent a lot of time this weekend cleaning and getting things done in my apartment, since I'm having a get together here on Friday. I finished hanging up all my pictures (look for more apartment posts later this week), and did even more cleaning. After I vacuumed the living room, I used the brush attachment on my new vacuum to clean all my couch cushions. I hate to admit this, but I realized as I was doing it that I had never done it before.

I've had the couch for two and a half years.

That's embarrassing. But I realized that some of the undersides of my cushions were in sad shape. After I cleaned it, it looked great and I took a few more seconds to admire it when I walked by it throughout the week. I also got a chair from my friend Shelby and washed the cover, which made it look brighter. I got out the wipes to clean my laptop screen and keyboard. I cleaned my makeup brushes and organized my makeup case.

Another example? I love my boyfriend, but his car is a MESS. Mine's not perfect either, but I notice that I am much more satisfied driving in and riding in a clean car. (I am already coming up with my plan to borrow his car for something and clean it out for him. It's partly to be nice and partly because I'm selfish and would like to ride in a clean car.)

Since I got my boots repaired and shined, I've been enjoying wearing them and have gotten more compliments on them. I did pay for that, but in the future I could shine them myself.

I think taking the time to clean my apartment and take care of my stuff genuinely makes me happier. It's not having the stuff itself, but it's taking pride in what I do have that makes the difference.

I guess I could have made this a really short post and just typed, "Hey, you should clean more." But then it would be Twitter.

By the way...

my car loan is less than $4,000! :)