Behold....the budget

And here's the scary part, sharing my budget. The budget I know is precisely what I need to adjust.

Here we go...

Income $1,612

Car payment $370
Car insurance $130
Cell phone $120
Rent $590 + $50 garage fee

Utilities $80 (lower in the summer months)
Credit cards $150

Gym membership $27

Gas $100

Total $1,617

I'm about $5 over my income, and this leaves no extra money for food or entertainment. That's a problem, I need to eat and a social life is important. I don't really have much to cut back on, I don't have a savings or retirement fund.

So what are my options?

1. Lower gas - driving less and carpooling with friends

2. Use tax refund to pay down credit cards

3. Research cheaper car insurance

4. Cancel garage.

That's what I'll be working on this coming week.

Cheers

Making the Most of My Time and Money

Until today I was working 2 jobs for a total of 30+ hours a week, taking 16 credit hours and 15 hours a week for PRSSA. Whew, busy girl. While gathering all my financial information for this blog, I had to examine my income.

Job 1

25 hrs/week

$13/hr + quarterly bonus

$1,300 gross monthly income + $390 quarterly bonus

Job 2

8 hrs/week

$10/hr

$320 gross monthly income

Total gross monthly income $1620

I started looking into my schedule and discovered that instead of working at Job 2 on Mondays and Wednesdays for 4 hours, I should work for 3 hours at Job 1.

Job 2

4 * 10 = $40 gross day

8 * 10 = $80 gross weekly

32 * 10 = $320 gross monthly

Job 1

3 * 13 = $39 gross day

6 * 13 = $78 gross weekly

24 * 13 = $312 gross monthly

It's not a significant enough to continue working more hours for same amount of money. This schedule has my work days ending earlier, allowing me more time for studying and extracurricular commitments.

Now that my gross monthly income is set at $1,612, I need to work on bringing my expenses down. That's for another post.

Cheers,

Ms. Manda

Me, me, me!!

Hi! I'm Amanda and this is my 6 month journey to spend less and save more money.

I've always been bad with money; spend more then I make, impulsive shopping, frivolous spending, and never saving for a rainy day. I want to be better with my money, especially since I'm graduating in December. I need to learn how to save money, budget better and more.

As a princess, I want the biggest, best and brightest things, which won't be fun to give up or reduce. But the whole point is to cut back on my spending and save more.

I have 3 goals to accomplish this...

1. Stop impulsive spending

2. Get 3 months worth of bills in savings

3. Reduce budget

I'll be challenging myself weekly, keeping track of it here, and reflecting on my progress. I won't lie, I'm nervous as hell to stop spending so frequently. I can't think of much to do without money. Life of a princess, I guess.

And away we go...

Cheers,

Amanda