So I survived the week and made it to pay day! Even though pay day is on Monday, the money is in my account today! Gotta love direct deposit! Not that I really need the money today, it just makes me feel more at ease to know it's here in time for the weekend. Anyway, on to the spending!

Starting Balance: $162.22

Monday --
Blockbuster: -$3.98

Tuesday --
Subway: -$6.50 (lunch for myself & a co-worker who paid me back in cash)
ING Deposit: +$.05

Wednesday --
NO SPENDING!

Thursday --
Parking: -$3.20
Starbucks: -$3.64
Blockbuster: -$3.98

Friday --
iTunes: -$6.45
Starbucks: -$4.45
Car Insurance: -$117.47

Ending Balance: $12.60

Woo! I made it! I know I could do it, but I'm thankful it's pay day, even though most of the money is already eaten up for bills. I need to take a trip to Wal-Mart today to restock some necessities, but I have no other plans aside from that. I hope everyone enjoys the weekend! Next week is going to be loooong for me.

- Bank Gal

Labels: weekly spending

Most people probably wouldn't be excited about working on their day off, but I am. I decided that I want to work 6 days next week, so I asked my manager to e-mail other branches and see if anyone wanted to take me on my day off next week (Wednesday). Of course, everyone is short-staffed and e-mails poured in! So I'm working 8 hours of overtime next Wednesday (total of 48 hours next week). It sucks to give up a day off, but I'd just sit around at home anyway. I don't have any plans and any errands I need to run on Wednesday I can easily do this weekend or one night next week.

So I'm super excited about my overtime, which will be an extra $185 just for sitting there. Not to mention any sales I get from being there. So I'm very happy about my overtime. I'm actually considering offering to work 6 days a week once a month to pull in a little extra money each month. It doesn't hurt to have a little extra, plus it gives me an additional day to make sales and help my commission check.

I will update my weekly spending report later this evening.

- Bank Gal

Labels: extra money, overtime, work

I had a pretty good weekend. It was my little sister's 20th birthday on Sunday, so my family decided it'd be fun to go to Hooters. We actually had a blast! I had never been before, but it was pretty decent food and we took a lot of funny pictures. Anyway, here is how my spending looked this weekend:

Starting Balance = $219.97

Saturday --
Starbucks: -$6.61 (tea & breakfast)
Subway: -$14.15 (bought lunch for myself & my best friend)
New Wallet: -$9.74 (super cute & on sale!)

Sunday --
Dog Food: -$7.60
Starbucks: -$5.66 (tea & breakfast)
Netflix Membership: -$13.99

Ending Balance = $162.22

My insurance should be out of my account by the end of the week and that will leave me with about $45 until payday next Monday. That is definitely do-able since I skipped Starbucks this morning and I packed my lunch today; not only will it save me some money, but it's healthier too!

J paid me back for the $210 credit card payment I made for him last week. In fact, he gave me $10 extra! So after plotting for a week how I was going to spend the money, I decided the best thing to do was split it up into a couple different accounts. I really need to beef up my savings a little, especially since I have nothing saved for Christmas and I've taken so much out of my emergency fund lately. Here is how I'm dividing up my $220:

• $100 to Emergency Fund
• $50 to Christmas Savings
• $10 to Vegas Savings (not really doing much with this account, just tired of seeing it at zero)
• $30 to Slush Fund (the money is going to my hair appointment I have next week)
• $30 to Nordstrom credit card

I thought about putting it all toward a credit card payment or all to the Emergency fund, but I decided that putting some in each account was a good idea and I'm even putting a little toward debt too.

I'll update later on my weekly spending and current balances.

- Bank Gal

Labels: christmas savings, debt, emergency fund, savings

I've been really unhappy with my job for a long time now. I've been working for the same company, at the same office for almost four and a half years. I've become really restless and unhappy over the last year or year and a half. I'm in desperate need for a change and I'm seriously considering putting my resume out to different banks in my area.

I'm not worried about not being able to find another banking job, because I've been in banking for five years and I have quite a bit of experience. But I really feel like a change would be necessary. I'd like to work for a smaller bank or even possibly a credit union. Currently, I'm in sales, but I'd really prefer to be in operations or management. The fluctuation of my commission and constantly worrying about hitting my monthly goals is so stressful that I'd rather move into operations or management with a set, guaranteed salary. Sometimes the stress of commission is just not worth it.

Part of me is scared to put myself out there and make a change, but the other part of me that is so unhappy desperately needs something new, fresh, and different.

One of my co-workers recently took on a new position at a credit union, with higher pay, no uniforms (our bank we work for requires uniforms), and an easy Monday-Friday 9am to 5pm schedule. And it really has me considering a switch. I think this weekend I might scour all the banks in my area and submit my resume to them.

After all, you can't go anywhere in life without taking risks, right?

- Bank Gal

Labels: career, change, job, risks

I had a pretty good weekend. I was off on Saturday and had no concrete plans except for a spa appointment I had booked weeks ago. Mom and I went to church on Sunday for the first time in forever, which was nice! Plus, I'm still fighting this stupid cold, so it was nice to relax. After I made my update on Friday, I did some additional spending, so I'm going to start with the rest of Friday's spending and update through Sunday.

Starting Balance = $761.98

Friday --
McDonalds: -$6.55

Saturday --
Coffee: -$1.59
Rite-Aid: -$27.61 ( Prescription, new shampoo, and gum )
Papa Murphy's: -$3.49
Hollywood Video: -$7.57 ( Usually I go to Blockbuster, but they didn't have the first season of Entourage, so I went to HV instead )
J's Credit Card: -$210 ( Since he's out of town and has no way to make a deposit, I'm putting money in his account to cover a credit card payment, but he's mailing me a check this week to pay me back )
T-Mobile: -$62.53
Starbucks: -$15.00 ( I have their Gold Card membership, so I like to put money on the card instead of using my debit card each time I go in there )

Sunday --
Victoria's Secret: -$51.00 ( Birthday present for my sis, plus a little something for me! )

Ending Balance: $376.64

I also took $70 out of my slush fund for the planned spa appointment that I made a few weeks ago and had budgeted for ahead of time. I know it seems silly to spend money on spa appointments, but it really does make me feel better.

I have plenty of money left in my budget for my insurance payment, gas to put in my car, dog food, and my Netflix bill. I'm going out to dinner with a co-worker/friend tonight. And tomorrow is my day off and I'm hoping to spend it relaxing by the pool with my mom.

I hope Monday goes by fast because I'm already itchin' for my day off tomorrow!

- Bank Gal

So this is my first Weekly Spending update. This will be a great way to help keep track of what I'm doing. I also plan on updating with my debt and savings as well, but I might do those in separate updates, but I'm not sure yet.

Starting Balance = $536.18

Monday --
Car Payment: -$500.82
Coffee: -$1.49

Tuesday --
Airport Parking: -$3.00
Starbucks: -$4.05

Wednesday --
Subway: -$5

Thursday --
Coffee: -$3.47
Blockbuster: -$4.99

Friday --
Paycheck: +$965.41
Starbucks: -$6.79
Victoria's Secret Payment: -$75.00
Transfer to Emergency Fund: -$30.00
Transfer to Slush Fund: -$105.00

Ending Balance: $761.98

Savings Account Balances --

Emergency Fund: $250.27
Slush Fund: $202.67 ($28 of that is for my gym membership & $100 is marked for another bill to pay later)
Christmas Savings: $0.43 (will be putting more money in this account in a few weeks)
Vegas Savings: $0.29 (this is on hold temporarily til I can find room in my budget to fund this)
401k #1: $7,070.92
401k #2: $185.75

Total Savings Balances: $7,710.33

Debt Balances --

Crappy BofA Loan: $6,489.57
Credit Card #1: $3,946.16
Credit Card #2: $2,123.61
Credit Card #3: $300.31
Car Loan: $31,916.97

Total Debt: $38,287.05

I'm trying to build my savings balances a little bit before I start paying off more debt. I just get scared when I don't have much of an emergency. I at least want to get to $750 or $1,000 before I do any extra debt payments.

I'm still sick, so I'll be laying low this weekend. Resting, renting movies, that sort of thing. Just looking forward to feeling better. I hate being sick! Have a good weekend, everyone!

- Bank Gal

Labels: weekly spending

As a banker, I use my checkbook register religiously. I don't just use it for checks (because I don't write many checks, I use online billpay), but I use it for all my debit card transactions and everything that goes on in my checking account. To me, it's shocking how many people don't use a register to keep track of their accounts. And usually, such behavior results in overdraft fees.

I usually don't have much sympathy for customers who don't keep track of their accounts. Most people will say they look at their online banking, but even online banking doesn't show everything. I know that when I put gas in my car, gas transactions never show up on my online banking until they've been officially posted to my account. What about checks written that haven't been cashed yet? Those don't show on the online banking until they've processed and cleared the bank. So how do you possibly get an accurate balance in your account without the check register?

Maybe I'm just old-school, but I've been keeping a register for over 6 years and never in my life have I had an overdraft fee. I always stress to high school kids who come in for their first checking account that they need to use a register. I'll even pull mine out and show them how it works and explain debit versus credit. I try to educate our customers.

So I'm just curious, how do you keep track of your account?

I don't think I could ever give up the check register. I realize a lot of people use their credit card for all their primary spending, which then I understand it might not be necessary to utilize the register. But it just scares me when I learn people who use their debit card a lot and do multiple transactions every single day don't use a register.

If you have a system that works for you, then great! But you'd think that after hundreds of overdraft fees, some people would learn their lesson and watch their spending a little more closely. I've seen customers with upwards of $2,000+ overdraft fees each year. That's like an extra mortgage payment or 3 pairs of Manolos, or 400 trips to Starbucks.

I'll keep my register because I like being in control and know exactly what my balance is at any given time.

This weekend I was terribly sick with a horrible sore throat and a nasty cough. I still have the cough, but my throat seems to be better this morning. I was afraid I had bronchitis or even strep-throat. But it seems like it was just a 48-hour bug. Unfortunately, it completely ruined my weekend. However, it kept me indoors so I didn't go anywhere or spend any money, which is a good thing because I have $33 until I get paid on Friday. That shouldn't be a problem since I'll be bringing my lunch to work most days this week and buying the cheap coffee from the gas station next door instead of hitting up Starbucks.

J leaves for Boston on Tuesday where he'll be doing work for his dad and talking to an Air Force recruiter while he's there. And even though I'll miss him terribly, it will definitely save me money. It's much easier to budget for one person than it is for two people, so J being gone will essientially save me some money.

I'm also going to start posting my weekly budget, like the way My Pretty Pennies does. I love how she starts with her beginning balance, then her weekly spending, then the ending balance. She is paid monthly, where as I am paid every 15th and 31st (or 30th). So, each pay day I'll begin with my starting balance, then list my weekly expenditures, then my ending balance, then start all over again on the next pay day. I'm excited to track it like this and I think it'll help keep me focused.

Labels: budget, money, sick

So I haven't updated lately because frankly... my finances are just depressing and it sucks to write about it. But I feel like if I keep writing about it and tracking it, things are bound to get better. Lots of things are happening in my life lately.

My unemployed future-husband is considering joining the Air Force, which I totally support 110%. He is a wonderful man, but unfortunately he has no education and has been out of work for the last 13 months. His younger brother recently joined the Air Force and loves it, so my fiance (who I will call J) have discussed long and hard about the Air Force option. Honestly, there aren't many options, but this seems like the most logical. We are in our mid-20s and while I have my career established, he does not. I know we want to get married and have a family within the next 3-5 years, but we can't do that until he gets his career set. Unfortunately, the Air Force doesn't need recruits, so they are never in their office and don't return J's phone calls. In the mean time, J's dad in Boston has some work for him to do where he can make $600 a week, so J is leaving on Tuesday to go back to Boston for a month to earn some quick cash.

Aside from that, on Wednesday, I received a phone call from a collection agency. At first I thought it must be a mistake, so I called them and they said I owed $133.25 to PGE from my old apartment that I moved out of back in April. So I called PGE and talked to them and they said I owed $91 from a February-March bill I never paid (WHAT?!) and another $31 from a March-April bill I didn't pay (SERIOUSLY?!) and $11 from a small April bill. I tried hard not to cry on the phone. I couldn't believe it. I've never missed a payment or made a late payment to anything in my life. And now I was being sent to collections?!

So I looked at my bank statements and low and behold, I totally missed those two payments they said I owed them. I never received any information from PGE because they didn't have my new address, but they did have my current phone number, yet I never received a single phone call from them. I am just furious... at myself for forgetting those payments, at PGE for not calling me, and at the stupid collection agency.

I had no choice but to pay the debt, so I called the collection agency and made a $133.25 payment (plus $4.50 fee for making a phone payment). I'm going to call them on Monday and request that they send me a receipt for payment in full so I have it for my records. But I'm utterly furious and upset about having a collection on my credit report now. I've worked so hard to have perfect credit.

I also did a $2000.00 balance transfer from my Nordstrom Visa to my bank's employee credit card which offers 0% interest for 12 months and after that the rate is only 5.25%. That still leaves about $300 on Nordstrom. My BofA loan is down to $6,500 and my Chase credit card is at $3980. So it's getting paid down, just not fast enough. My savings has taken hit, especially after the $133.25 I just had to pay, plus I had another emergency I had to drain my savings for back in July.

As far as my finances go, things aren't going very well at all. And it just makes me depressed. =(

- Bank Gal

Labels: collection, debt, emergency fund, finances, savings