Beginning to Feel Like Home...

Yesterday I went to my friend Shelby's house to pick up an old dresser of hers, which is bigger than the one I had in my room. So, I put my old dresser in the dining room, where it totally works. I put some serving dishes, table cloths, and other dining room related items in the drawers, so it's functional and cute. Then I took my overflow drawers, which were those rolling tupperware ones and put them in my large hall closet. 

After that, I was on a roll. I hung up a bunch of pictures, rearranged some lamps, and did a little cleaning. I still have more to do, but just hanging up a few things on the walls really makes it feel like home.

I also wrote my rent check last night...ouch. I am SO over January. My E-fund is pretty much empty and I am broke until payday. Payday, however, is going to be a big one, so that helps. 

Keeping Your Move Cheap

I know I had a simple move, and that these strategies won't work for everyone, but I did several things that I know saved me money on my move. Some are a little more effort than their more expensive counterpart, but I think they're worth it in the end. Obviously this worked because I only moved a few miles from my old place, so take what you can and apply it to your local move. Here's what I did to move on the cheap...

1. Beg boxes off the supermarket. I didn't buy any boxes for the move. I went to Ralph's and got several for free. Yes, they were banana boxes with a hole in the bottom, but they worked. They were more than happy to give them to me, and that definitely saved me some dough.

2. Why just use boxes? I took my biggest suitcase on wheels and moved books on one trip, and clothes and two more trips.  I also used reusable grocery bags for books and other items. Since I moved close by, I took them over (I had about ten of them since I borrowed some from my mom), emptied them, and refilled them again. I filled up laundry baskets with shoes, put dirty clothes in trash bags, and got creative in how I moved just about everything.

3. Goodwill, don't trash. This one was hard. It's so tempting to just toss things in the garbage when you're moving, but that's not only bad for the environment, it's bad for your taxes. I took a few loads to Goodwill and got receipts for what I donated. I had to write items on the back so I can remember come next year, since they just gave me blank receipts. Which is weird. I'm going to write "yacht" on one of them. Just kidding. But, it felt good to know my unwanted stuff didn't go in a landfill and that I will benefit from it later.

4. Avoid renting a truck. I folded down the seats in my RAV4 and got a TON of stuff in there. Bookshelves, dresser, coffee table, they all fit no problem (not in the same trip, mind you, but they fit). i did luck out because the boyfriend was moving the same weekend (to live close to me. Awwww.) and he rented a truck. And had his brother and best friend help him. So when the truck was empty they moved my bed, couch, and TV hutch in the truck he rented. But, since my move was so close if I really had to, I think I could have gotten away with just my car if I had to.

5. Move little things. I took cleaning supplies, spices, condiments, tupperware, plastic utensils, my dish drainer, trash cans,...anything and everything. I think in my less frugal days I would have just bought a lot of these things new, thinking it wasn't worth it to move my $3 bathroom trash can. But this time I emptied it out, lined it with a grocery bag, filled it with cleaning supplies and took it over to the new place. There are plenty of unavoidable new purchases, might as well cut down on some of them. 

6. Say yes when friends offer to help. I hate moving and I hate to ask people to help me, because they hate it too. But, I had some generous friends and family offer to help me, which made everything more bearable. I did some googling of  how to move on the cheap and came up with articles about how to find movers for a good price and how to pack for the movers. I've never used movers, and have depended on muscle and the kindness of my friends to make my moves happen. Obviously I return the favor and offer to help when they move. Again, I know this only works for a local move, but I am thankful to have such lovely friends who help me out. 

Just Did My Taxes!

Our W2's were in our sign-in sheets this morning, which means I did my taxes as soon as I got home tonight! I love doing my taxes, because I always get a refund! This year it's about $2,500, more than any other year I can remember! YES! I have big plans for that money...E-fund, car loan. Wow, I'm boring. But I'm SO excited to get my car loan paid down! I feel like I could be back on track to get my car paid off by the end of June if all goes well.

I know that setting it up to get a refund is like giving the government an interest-free loan. And I have thought about changing my deduction...I just don't know how much I'd need to save each month to make sure my taxes could be paid. Anyone have any advice on this area?

Anyway, today is a good day! I'm off to plan my February budget and salivate at the thought of my tax return. :)

Delicious Vegan Recipe #1: Avocado Spring Rolls

Last week I decided to give being vegan the ol' college try. I am committing to a solid month of veganism to see how it affects me. This recipe is from a cookbook called 500 Vegan Recipes. I'm not a huge fan of everything in there, but this one was a hit for me, my sister, and my non-vegan boyfriend, who requested I make them for him over the weekend. You should try it!

Ingredients:
Baby spinach
1 cucumber, seeded and cut into matchsticks (that's what the recipe says. I didn't have much luck created matchsticks, but just go for skinny slices).
Shredded carrots
2-3 avocados, sliced
Chinese rice noodles (I used Thai style noodles, and the whole package was WAY too much. Half would be plenty)
Dry rice paper/spring roll wrappers (I had to hunt for these, but I found them at an Asian market. It was 40 for 99 cents. If that's not frugal, I don't know what is.)

Cook the noodles according to the package. When you strain them run cold water through them and keep them moist. This also cools them, which you want since they are fresh and not fried spring rolls.

Set up a work station with your ingredients, a damp dishtowel to build the rolls on (they stick to everything), a pan of warm but not boiling water, and a plate with a bed of lettuce on it, so they won't stick to the plate.

Start by placing one of the wrappers in the warm water for about ten seconds. It will curl up, so you have to hold it down in the water. Place the wrapper on the dish towel and layer 3-4 spinach leaves, the cucumber, avocado, carrots, and then noodles. Keep everything smallish, if it's too big they're hard to roll. Wrap it up like a burrito. This took some work and some of mine are really ugly. But they still taste awesome! I had enough to make about 12 rolls. I shared them and both times had about four leftover, which I ate for lunch the next day.

The process is a little tedious, but it's sort of fun to make them, and they're REALLY good. I bought some sweet chili dipping sauce at the Asian Market too, which made them even more amazing. These won't disappoint, vegan or not! And they're pretty frugal too. Enjoy!

This is my Confession...

I haven't really been tracking my spending this month. I started out doing it, but a few factors led to my downfall:

1. The move. I didn't have internet for a week or so, and I usually do my tracking by using a combination of receipts and my online banking system. No online system, and with things in boxes and between the two apartments, I just lost track, to be honest.
2. Excel. See, up until this month I've used the old fashioned pen and paper method to keep track of my spending. I divide the paper into categories and add up my totals in each category by hand. I  decided to switch methods because I'm a pretty computer savvy person, and it seemed silly to use paper when Excel will do the math for me. BUT, here's the downside. On paper, I can look at see if I already added a purchase, since I have to write down each one individually. On Excel, I just have the running total, so I found myself asking, "Did I record the $4.79 I spent at Taco Bell on moving day?" and having no idea of the answer.
3. I'm overspending in certain categories and I don't know how to fix it. I overspent on groceries, and I'm going to have to buy more food again before payday. I don't know about the fun/eating out category, though I suspect if I'm not over it's pretty damn close. I've just sort of given up. I still have a cushion in my checking account, and I'm looking my statement up online everyday to make sure I don't go over.

Basically, I'm over January. I'm ready for a fresh start, my budget on paper, and my yearbook stipend, which will be in this check. I'll also (hopefully) be getting at least part of my deposit back from my old apartment, so I can replenish the E-fund. And I am salivating at the thought of getting my W2 so I can do taxes and get my return. I want a fully-funded E-fund again and to be able to make an extra payment on my car! And a dining room table. Oh February, February, wherefore art though February?

Okay, I'll stop. And yes, I know I could have been better and more organized...this is me admitting that I'm human. Blech.

Maybe There's Something to being Reasonable...

I have a tendency to be a little extreme. This has demonstrated itself in my life in many ways over the years. I was extremely Christian in high school and college...to the point of being judgmental and dogmatic. I was extreme in my spending habits-shopped all the time and wanted lots of "stuff" to make me feel good and successful. I was (and still am) sort of extreme about achieving academically. I didn't get straight A's in undergrad, but I never got below a B, and graduated with high honors from my grad program. I went straight from undergrad to grad school, literally only taking one weekend off after graduation. And now my extremeness extremity tendency to be extreme manifests itself in my attitudes toward finance.

This isn't always a bad thing. I am proud of my academic accomplishments and they have put me where I am in my career. I have gotten out of credit card debt and worked hard at being more responsible and paying down my car loan.

But I think sometimes I need to be a little more reasonable with myself and others. I've been mulling over this for the past few weeks, since I read this from the website of the Episcopal Church the bf and I have been attending:

"We are biblical in the best sense of the word. We are not fundamentalist Christians who believe in the literal infallibility of the Scriptures. Rather, we believe the bible is the story of how the people of faith understood and responded to a God who acts in history. Each book of the Bible is a record of what people at a particular time wanted to say about their experience with God.


We are a historical church in the sense that we are conscious that our beliefs and practices are deeply rooted in the past. We are also historical in the sense that history involves the passage of time and that the passage of time involves change."


I thought to myself, "How reasonable!" This is exactly how I want to believe. I value the Bible and Christianity deeply, but I've been struggling with my faith because I felt that I had to believe EXACTLY what my conservative college and church taught. Frankly, I don't. And this was keeping me away from church and from God. When I read this, something clicked for me. 


These thoughts that it's okay to be reasonable and maybe it's good not to be so extreme were still in my head when I was reading Get A Financial Life by Beth Kobliner last night. I picked it up at Book Swap a few weeks ago, and read a chapter before I went to bed. Her guideline for debt is that it should be no more than 20% of your annual take home salary. 


Not, "Never go into debt EVER." Just a guideline to go by. 


How reasonable. 


I'm not advocating for debt. I still want to pay off my car early and hope to avoid credit card debt for good. But, I think what Ms. Kobliner suggests is very reasonable. It would be good to keep in mind when buying a car or financing another large purchase. I'm sure she'd say that NO debt is best, and obviously that's what I'll shoot for. But it was refreshing to read financial advice that didn't make me feel like ordering a pizza is a sin if I still have a car loan. 


Do you ever think you're too extreme in certain areas of your life? Or do you value that passion as it helps you succeed?

Freebie Beyond My Expectations

A few months ago on The Freebie Blogger they had an offer to sign up to be a special member at Bath & Body Works. They mailed me a little pink card with spots for January through May. The deal is that you go in on a Thursday anytime during a given month and you get some sort of freebie. I figured it would be one of the mini lotions or something, but I'm a sucker for free, so I stopped in last Thursday to check it out.

To my happy surprise, I got to take home a full-size hand soap, a mini hand sanitizer and one of their holsters for the hand sanitizer. (Why do people need those holster things anyway? I don't get it.) SCORE. I'll definitely be there each month. As of now, the freebies are in my closet with a few other Bath & Body Works items that I haven't used. They'll either be little gifts or I'll get a decent collection and then sell them as a group on Ebay. I was stoked about getting that stuff for free.

Basically, I'm just bragging since it's too late to sign up for the program. Oh wait, the moral is: take advantage of freebies, no matter how small they seem. You may be pleasantly surprised. That sounds like a weird fortune cookie or something. I haven't blogged in a while, leave me alone!