Bank Gal's Finances

Shuffling Around.

2009-09-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

I received a doctor bill for $180 the other day. So part of the money that I was going to put into my emergency fund I'm just going to leave the $180 in my checking account and then pay the doctor bill. =(

I've also decided to turn that old Vegas Account into a Wedding Account, since Joe & I are getting married in about 6 weeks. I won't put a lot in there, probably $200 to cover a few of the costs, but my parents are paying for most of it. Like I said before, it's going to be a super small, simple, but lovely ceremony. It'll probably cost less than $1,200, which is fine with me.

So the next time I make a post with my debt/savings, you'll see that some money has been moved around. =)

$500 Extra!

2009-09-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

My pay day is on Wednesday, the 30th, but we can check our pay statement 3 business days prior to our pay day. So I checked my paycheck and it is $500 more than I was expecting.

Being that I'm part commission, my last paycheck of the month is usually unpredictable. It includes any overtime I've worked, plus my regular 2 weeks of pay, plus my commission for the previous month. I can usually come up with a ballpark figure and I budget off of that. I knew my paycheck was going to be pretty nice, more than it was for the summer months, but I wasn't expecting what I saw!

I always aim and budget for lower, that way if I do get more, it's a surprise. I thought maybe it'd be $100 more than what I had budgeted for, but it's $500! I double checked it to make sure it wasn't a mistake and everything matched up. They just didn't take out as much as I expected for taxes.

So what am I going to do with my extra $500? Well, since I'm already putting extra toward the BofA loan anyway during this paycheck, I decided I'm going to put $400 in my Emergency Fund, an extra $80 in my slush fund and an extra $25 in my Christmas Fund. I'm so glad to be able to put more money in my E-Fund which I have ignored for so long!

Weekend Plans & Future Plans.

2009-09-18T17:39:00.001-07:00

I am very happy to have this weekend off. After a long week (3 days at my branch and 2 days in a consumer lending class), I'm definitely in need of some "me" time. I really like to set goals for myself on the weekends, otherwise I end up laying in bed watching TV or doing nothing! I feel like if I set goals to achieve, I have a more productive and fullfilling weekend.

Some things on my agenda are:

Get oil changed in car.
Get gas for car.
Pick up lunches at the grocery store for the work week.
Finish reading Dreamfever by K. Moning (almost there!).
Start another book.
Watch at least one of my Netflix DVDs.
Go running at least once.
Do laundry!!!!

It all seems pretty do-able and not very stressful. But being structured helps me feel like I had a more complete weekend.

So, in addition to my update about the weekend, I also have some BIG news. J is officially in the US Air Force. He ships out to Boot Camp on December 29th, the day before his birthday. Because of this, we are getting married sometime in November. It will be a very simple, very small, but lovely and intimate wedding. Honestly, I could care less about the wedding, I just want to be married to the man I love. =)

We weren't expecting his ship out date for Boot Camp to be until February or March, but now it's happening a lot sooner than expected, which is both good and bad. Good, because he gets Boot Camp over with faster and starts earning money sooner than expected. Bad, because I thought I'd have about another full year to get that BofA loan paid off. While he is in Boot Camp I'll be paying whatever little monthly bills he has with his paychecks, but I'll also be taking a portion of the money for myself to pay down my debt.

After Boot Camp, he goes for about 60 days of technical training for his job and then after that, we will be moving to our first duty assignment. This means I will be giving up my job to move with him. Our plan is to have that big BofA loan paid off completely before we move. It will make things so much easier. Of course, I'm planning on working after we get settled on the base, but I'm honestly looking to take at least a month off work to get moved in, get aquainted with our new area, and to relax a little.

Anyway, our goal will be to get as much debt as possible paid off before we move. We want to pay off the BofA loan, then start working at the credit cards, and finally the car loan. Obviously the car loan is the largest debt item, however it is the lowest interest item right now. As I stated yesterday, I'm not really putting a lot of money in savings right now, but I would like to build up to a $1,000 to $1,500 Emergency Fund, possibly more depending on how the debt looks.

There is a lot to be done within the next 6 to 9 months, but I know that if I keep focused with paying down the debt, we'll make it. =)

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

- Bank Gal

Update!

2009-09-17T21:27:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to make this as quick as possible. I was actually planning on going to bed early tonight, but then I decided I needed to balance my checkbook and check on some of my fave PF blogs. :) While I was at it, I thought I'd post a little update. I've included my debt and savings spreadsheet for you. I've increased my net worth by a little over $800 this month. While it's not a lot, it's certainly an improvement.

I've been going back and forth, back and forth between if I should I build up my emergency fund (which is currently at $475) or if I should put all my excess money to the BofA loan. I've decided to put everything toward the BofA loan. I am contributing a little each paycheck to savings and emergency fund, but not much. I'm making the minimum monthly payments on all my other debts and anything extra I'm putting toward BofA. As of this last paycheck, I had enough left over to put $200 extra principal to the BofA loan. And I'm planning on putting another $500 on it with my next paycheck.

I've put a lot toward the BofA loan already this year. The balance at the beginning of the year was close to $9,500. And now it's down to almost $6,000! That is a huge difference. Ideally, I'd really like to have the whole thing paid off by next June, but that means putting roughly $750 toward the BofA loan each month... it's quite a stretch. $500 is definitely more reasonable.

I'm also thrilled that my 401ks seem to be growing by leaps and bounds every time I check on them. They make my situations seem a little less depressing.

My car alerted me yesterday that my oil is due to be changed soon. I have a $50 Visa gift card that I'm going to use to pay for that instead of digging into my emergency fund. I'm very thankful I've kept that $50 Visa gift card instead of blowing it on pointless stuff!

With all the bills paid already, I have about $155 left until I get paid on the 30th. That should be plenty to last me until payday with some of it even left over.

Anyway, I'm off to bed. But I just wanted to give a little update. Night night!

- Bank Gal

Brief update.

2009-09-08T07:43:00.001-07:00

I know I've been MIA lately. Work kept me very busy last week since I worked 8 hours of overtime. All I can say is, I can't wait for my paycheck at the end of this month. With my overtime, my bonus (which is a little more than double what is was the last 2 months), and my regular paycheck, it's going to be a nice payday. Of course, the extra is going toward debt and some savings.

J is still working on Air Force stuff, which is going very well. He finds out his job on Wednesday and won't ship out to BMT until February or March. He's got almost all of his debt paid off, which is super exciting for him. Now our focus is going to be getting mine paid off. Our wedding is also tentatively planned for November.

Anyway, I will update with my savings/debt numbers later today if possible.

- Bank Gal

Weekly Spending: 8/24 thru 8/28

2009-08-29T09:48:00.000-07:00

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

Overtime!

2009-08-28T15:02:00.001-07:00

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

Weekend Spending: 8/22 thru 8/23

2009-08-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

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!

Weekly Spending: 8/17 thru 8/21

2009-08-21T20:27:00.000-07:00

Starting Balance = $376.64

Monday --
Amex Payment: -$71.48
Blockbuster: -$4.99
Sushi for lunch: -$8.00
Dinner out w/a co-worker: -$13.00

Tuesday --
NO SPENDING

Wednesday --
NO SPENDING

Thursday --
Starbucks: -$8.21 (breakfast & lunch)
Gas: -$25
Fred Meyer: -$16.20 (gift bag and card for sister's b-day and new pens for work)

Friday --
Deposit: +$220
Transfer to Vegas Account: -$10
Transfer to Christmas Savings: -$50
Transfer to Slush Account: -$30
Transfer to Emergency Fund: -$100
Nordstrom Payment: -$30
Coffee: -$1.59
Subway: -$8.20 (lunch for me and a drink for a co-worker)

Ending Balance = $219.97

Still have enough money until the 31st to pay for insurance, Netflix, and get some dog food. Looking forward to my weekend, even though I have to work tomorrow. Below is also a snapshot of my current savings and debt balances.

How I'm spending $220!

2009-08-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

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

Unhappy.

2009-08-20T12:13:00.001-07:00

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

Weekend Spending: 8/14 thru 8/16

2009-08-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

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

Weekly Spending: 8/10 thru 8/14

2009-08-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

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

Checkbook Registers: For Dinosaurs or Still Cool?

2009-08-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

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.

Being sick saves money.

2009-08-10T09:52:00.001-07:00

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.

Not doing very well.

2009-08-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

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

PF Mad Lib

2009-07-24T11:10:00.001-07:00

So I'm stealing this from a few other PF Bloggers that I've been following lately, My Pretty Pennies & Always The Planner, whose blogs I really adore!

Hi my name is Bank Gal . I currently have .83 cents in my wallet. When I started managing my finances I was worth -$48,480, and now have a net worth of -$45,066.78. I currently work at a large bank and have been doing it for 5 years. I make roughly $55k per year. I want to have $2 million waiting for me when it comes time to retire. Aside from learning about finances, I really enjoy The Sims 2 & reading. I think the world would be a better place if child abuse didn’t exist. I had broccoli & tomatos for dinner last night and it was yummy. I have had 8 significant others over the course of my lifetime (counting awkward middle school relationships). One thing that makes me different is I'm distantly related to Marilyn Monroe. Now that I’m done with this mad lib, I think I’m going to get back to work.

If you want to do the mad lib, here it is:

Hi my name is (blank) . I currently have (blank) dollars in my wallet. When I started managing my finances I was worth (blank), and now have a net worth of (blank). I currently work (blank) and have been doing it for (blank) years. I make roughly (blank) per year. I want to have (blank) waiting for me when it comes time to retire. Aside from learning about finances, I really enjoy (blank). I think the world would be a better place if (blank) didn’t exist. I had (blank) for dinner last night and it was (blank). I have had (blank) significant others over the course of my lifetime (counting awkward middle school relationships). One thing that makes me different is (blank). Now that I’m done with this mad lib, I think I’m going to (blank).

I do have an update to make, but I keep putting it off because I had some personal emergencies and basically had to drain all my savings, including my Christmas accounts and Vegas accounts. Plus, some other things have come up that are making me re-think this "pay off all my debt" instead of saving. I think I'm going to be saving more now, but I'll go into depth later.

Take me out to the ball game.

2009-07-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday night, my co-worker Jessica, my friend Kim, and some other girls from the company we work for went to Portland's PGE Park to watch a Beavers baseball game... or so we thought. Before I elaborate, Thursday nights at PGE Park as always "Thirsty Thursday". Cheap $2.50 beers and really expensive $6 hotdogs and $8 hamburgers. I, however, don't drink beer so the cheap beers didn't matter to me. I was going to have some fun with my girlfriends.

We get there and the parking is $10, but because Jessica is riding with me, she offers to pay for half, which was a-okay with me! Then we go to buy the tickets, which were normally supposed to be $8. But instead of it being a baseball game, it's some fancy exhibition soccer game and it's $16 for general admission.

It's 7:15pm, it's bright and sunny. It's also 92 degrees outside. I immediately buy a bottle of water... which was $3.75. Within an hour I've drank the whole thing. So Kim and I go back for water and food. I opt for a $6 chilli-cheese dog and another $4 water. By the time we finished our food and got back to the stands with Jessica and the other girls, the game was almost over. I had no idea soccer games were so much shorter! I'm used to baseball where it can take 4 or 5 hours for it to end. 20 minutes later, we're back outside and leaving.

Jessica wanted to hit one of the local, trendy bars, but I politely declined, telling her I had a headache (which I did). But truthfully, I couldn't think of spending anymore money. I expected parking to be at least $8, as it is usually expensive in Portland and I planned on the $8 for a ticket. But that's only $16. I ended up spending $35 on evening that I thought would be closer to $20 or $25. Not that $10 or $15 makes a huge difference, but I hate those little surprises.

Not to mention it was soooo hot outside. I'd much rather have spent my $35 in my favorite air-conditioned sushi joint (with no fee to park) right by my house. And after 8:30pm, the sushi is all 20% off, too! But oh well, it was still fun to get together with the girls. :)

The next time we plan to hit up Thirsty Thursday, I'm going to eat a big, cheap meal before we go. And it won't be 90 degrees.

Slowly but surely.

2009-06-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

I'm slowly but surely getting my debt paid down. After taking money out of my emergency fund last month to pay down a huge chunk of my BofA loan, it seems as though I'm starting to make headway. As I said in a previous post, I am not putting large amounts of money in savings right now. I'm not in jeopardy of unemployment, so I choose to hack away at my debt in large sums.

Last month, after taking money from savings and some from my paycheck, I was able to make a $1,750 payment to BofA. This month is a little less since I'm not taking any money from savings, but I am putting a total of $900 down on BofA. I've done the math and if I can make a payment of at least $650 each month, I can just about have that BofA loan paid off by this time next year. Any extra payments I make on this loan just helps me pay it off that much faster!

Now, next month I won't be able to contribute nearly as much to the BofA loan due to the fact that I took two weeks off work in June, thus cutting my July commission check down drastically. I can probably take money from savings, however, to help add a little to that payment so I can continue on my route to getting rid of this awful loan. I'm also making more than minimum payments on my other debts as well.

As you can see, my savings total went down $493.71 from last month, mainly due to the fact that I withdrew almost all of my emergency fund to paydown the BofA loan. However, my debt total has decreased dramatically! Last month I had approx $48,500, now I'm at $46,311! That is a big jump for just one month! I know not everyone is capable of this, but paying down these debts in such large chunks is really helping! I can't wait to get rid of it! Watching it decrease each month really helps keep me motivated.

Being Boring Saves Me Money!

2009-05-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last night, some girls and I from work were supposed to go out salsa dancing. But after a really long work week, we decided it was time for a rest. Not only was that a good thing because I have an awful cold right now, but it probably saved me at least $20! The salsa club had a $10 cover charge, not to mention any money for parking, food, and drinks. Most clubs do have at least a $5 or $10 cover charge on Friday and Saturday nights, plus outrageous drink prices. I rarely, rarely drink so that isn't a problem for me and I go out to bars and clubs even less!

I never go out dancing with friends. My fiance hates bars, clubs, etc., so we usually Netflix in our weekend entertainment. If we go to the movies, we always try to go to a matinee to avoid those high ticket prices and we never buy food or candy from the movie theater. This can save couples a ton of money!

Last weekend, my dad invited me to see the new Terminator Salvation. We went on a Friday night at 7pm. Our two tickets cost a total of $20. Then my dad got popcorn and I got a delicious ICEE at the cost of another $10 or $15. What an expensive night out! Now, since my father makes well over six figures, he doesn't mind treating his eldest daughter to a movie and I'll let him spend the money on me because I don't get to see my dad all that often even though we live under the same roof! We both work long hours (his are longer) and you can say I got my strong work ethic from him.

Truthfully, I'm a really boring person. I typically prefer to go to the gym on Friday and Saturday nights because there aren't a lot of people there. And usually on the week days after work I am too tired to do anything but sit in bed with my laptop, surf the 'net, read a book, or watch a DVD I already own. Entertainment is one of the least largest portions of my budget, so I don't feel too guilty when I make a Starbucks run before work.

By the way, I really enjoyed Terminator Salvation.

- Bank Gal

Starbucks Double Charged My Debit Card!

2009-05-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

A transaction I made at my local Starbucks over the weekend for $6.88 charged my debit card twice! This is the first time anything like that has happened. So I went down there on my lunch to ask if they could credit it back. The lady at the register was just going to give me a coupon for free drink, but I purchased two drinks (one for myself and one for a co-worker) on the charge they billed me twice for. Why would I want a coupon for one free drink when I really paid for two? She didn't seem to know what else to do and asked me to come back tomorrow when the manager was in, which was okay with me since I am not working tomorrow.

I got back to my branch (I work for a very large bank, by the way) and was telling a co-worker about the Starbucks slip-up and she said "Didn't you read your e-mail? The bank was notified by Starbucks that they had a glitch in their system and some people got double charged on their debit cards and it'll be automatically refunded in a couple days." What a relief! I had no idea! I should've taken the free drink coupon, Lord knows I spend enough money there. But oh well! I just thought it was funny I was charged twice since in all my years of banking and working in a bank, I'd never had this happen to me before. Guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

I'm also patiently waiting for the bank to reimburse me for mileage and parking due to me from a training class I took for work a couple weeks ago. I submitted the reimbursement last week and I still don't have it in my account. I'm hoping it'll be there tomorrow. I don't need the money right now, but it's around $70 and I plan on putting that $70 toward some debt! Anything is better than nothing, right?! I'll call our Travel Reimbursement department on Friday if it's not in my account by then.

Bank Gal Returns!

2009-05-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

First off, I should apologize for not updating sooner. I haven't forgot about this blog! Work has been crazy, I worked a little overtime this week, which is always good for the paycheck, but not so good for my personal sanity. ;) I want to update this blog at least once a week with stories about my life as a Personal Banker and my own personal finances.

On Wednesday, I applied for a new position within the bank I work for. I stayed up all night to work on my resume and even skipped dinner to make sure it was absolutely perfect before I applied. Everyone has been busy due to our recent merger with another bank, so I don't expect to hear from the recruiter until late next week or even the following week. I hope I get the job, because it is a nice raise in my base salary, plus higher commission payouts. It also involves working with a more sophisticated clientel, specifically our business clients.

As I promised in my first post, I should probably give you a list of my personal debts/assets. I would very much love to be debt-free. Even if I only had my car payment, that would be fine with me. Now, it seems as though the more money I make, the more money I spend. I used to have quite a bit of money in the bank and no credit card debt. But that has changed over the last few years. I hate to admit it. It seems ironic that a banker who knows all about personal finance would have such debt. I don't have as much as some people, but I have way more than what I'm comfortable with.

I'll be the first to admit I've made some stupid choices. I haven't used all my money wisely. But that stops now. No more. I'm getting rid of my debt once and for all. Not all of it is from unwise spending, however. I did have several large medical bills that needed to get paid, so I put those on credit. But I am absolutely done spending on unnecessary items. I want this debt gone!

Here is a look at my income, expenses, debts, and savings. As I said in my previous post, I do work on commission, so my projected monthly bonus fluctuates. My goal is to put all of my bonus checks towards my debt. First, I'll tackle the BofA Loan because it has such a high interest rate. I want that gone ASAP. Next I'll focus on the credit cards. And lastly I'll tackle the car loan. I plan on putting most of what is in my emergency fund account toward my debt. I'm not worried about losing my job, so I'll probably leave around $500 in my emergency fund and put the rest toward the BofA Loan. I'm pretty happy about how my 401k is looking, I didn't think it was that high, so I'm very excited about that. I will probably continue to add $100-$150 each month to my various savings accounts to keep those growing, but the bulk of my money will be going to pay off debt!

It was quite a shock to tally up the debt totals. I feel ashamed and embarrassed. A lot of the PF blogs out there talk about their debt and income and savings. I hope to achieve financial freedom and build my savings/retirement!

If anyone has any blogging tips/paying off debt tips, please share them! =)

- Bank Gal

Take It To The Bank

2009-02-17T22:30:00.000-08:00

I'm jumping on the Personal Finance blog bandwagon. It seems like (almost) everyone is blogging about their finances these days -- from debts to savings to investments. So, to be totally trendy, I decided to do the same. What makes me different? Well... keep reading!

I am a 20-something young woman who has been working in the banking industry for 5 years. I'm a Personal Banker for a large banking corporation in Portland, OR. I am not an investment representative/accountant/financial consultant. What do I do exactly? Well, my title simply means that I open up your bank accounts. You get the wonderful experience of sitting at my desk while I open your checking account, savings account, credit card, money market, certificate of deposit, etc. My job is sales. But it is also to find the right type of accounts for my clients, which is my favorite part of my job.

I have no formal education in finances/accounting. All I have is my 5 years of extensive banking expertise. I'm in no way, shape, or form a professional writer. So please be gentle.

In addition to my own personal finances that I will be blogging about, I will also share stories from my daily life as a Personal Banker, because lets face it, everyone knows what it is like to be a bank customer, but not everyone gets to know what it is like on the other side of the teller counter ( or the banker's desk! ).

In my spare time, I love to read, play with my Siberian Husky, Sinatra, and hang out with friends. I'm also prone to obsessing over my personal finances, shoes, and my hair. I'm also addicted to Starbucks. I have a wonderful fiance, Joe, and we are getting married in August 2010. We hope to move to the East Coast by 2012 and have all our debt paid off, plus a nice chunk of emergency savings, and a small down payment for a starter house. Big goals, but I think they can be accomplished in the next 3 years... hopefully!

I will update everyone on my current financial status/goals soon. I look forward to sharing this with everyone. :)

- Bank Gal