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. =)

Labels: emergency fund, wedding account

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!

Labels: budget, christmas savings, emergency fund, savings

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

Labels: air force, debt, emergency fund, goals, money, weekend plans

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

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