Trying a new way to save money away.

The other night, I was reading The Simple Dollar, and he posted about a two-account system for savings. And I've been thinking about this ever since in the back of my head. I think that I an adapt this for my own routine. So, here's my plan...

What I would ordinarily do is on Bill Day I'd transfer the difference of my checking account balance and my paycheck to my ING savings account. This works, but it leaves me to my own devices for the whole month with my whole paycheck. This is not always the best thing, especially when I get in one of my "shopping therapy" moods.

So, my plan is this. Once all the bills are paid, I'll transfer nearly all of my money out of my checking account into my savings leaving only $100 behind. On one day, each week, I'll set up an automatic transfer of $100 from my savings to my checking.

Hopefully, this will (a) force me to subsist on $100/week, (b) have more money in savings at the end of the month, and (c) gain a small amount of interest for having more money hang out in savings longer. Of course, the ultimate goal of this money is to pay off my 2008 taxes by the end of the year (an not go to prison). I'm planning on writing a post about the whole taxes thing later tonight, so hold on for more details.

Anyway, I'm going to enact this plan for July and cross my fingers that it works (and that I don't overdraft my checking account.

Bill Day (July 2009)

Today was payday, which can only mean one thing... it's also Bill Day.

This is the first "official" Bill Day since starting my blog. I anticipate that this will be easier than usual, since I've been putting my receipts in the Quicken each week for my Where'd my money go? posts.

(1) Balance checking account

(20 minutes later...) Starting Balance: $4,016.29

(2) Ordinarily, this is where I'd transfer the difference between my paycheck and the balance to savings. But, as I'll post about once this is finished, I'm going to try something new for July. So, we'll leave the full balance where it is... for now.

(3) Bills

Rent: $925 (I posted before about my rent being annoyingly cashed late. So, today I got a money order at the bank. Luckily, I know the people at the bank really well, and they waived the $5 fee for me.)

Insurance: $75.16

Care Credit: $1,176.26 (Balance Paid in Full! Thanks Laura for the advice, and thanks mom, for the money.)

CitiLoan: $217.19
Cell Phone: $50.97
CitiCard: $170
Student Loan: $105.66
Gas: $38.45
Cable: $70.85
Electricity: $65.09
Mastercard: $131.00
Netflix: $18.01
TiVo: $13.08

Total Bills: $3,056.72

Money Left for July: $959.57

It's Tuesday... Where'd my money go?

I've been off my schedule this month due to unforseen circumstances. So, here's my "Sunday" post on Tuesday. It's also the end of the month, and I've been thinking about some new things lately, so I'll probably make a few posts tonight.

It's Tuesday... Where'd my money go??

June 23 - 30, 2009

$8.99 - Amazon.com - I was week. I saw Black Sheep via Netflix over the weekend. And it was just so fabulous that I had to own it. Luckily, it was under $10, or I probably wouldn't have bought it.

$35.21 - Target - All necessities: shower stuff, mouthwash, laundry detergent, drinks ($0.79 vs. $2.25 at work), and cat litter. Plus, I had to get some new headphones, because I keep breaking the ones I have, but those were only $10.

$11.12 - 7-11 - UGH. Yes. Cigarettes. It was a 2-pack sale deal, but still. I need to quit. It's just so difficult right now.

$27.75 - 7-11 - Gas for the car. An unfortunate necessity.

$19.86 - Groceries

$12.05 - The Little Store - Drinks at work and a pack of cigs. (I should be slapped.)

$7.14 - 7-11 - Cigs again. Seriously? That's for one pack and nothing else. I remember when I was pissed that the price went up to $2.50/pack. I really need to quit.

TOTAL MONEY SPENT (Debit Card): $122.12 (ouch)

Now for the cash...

Starting cash $14

$85 - Cash Withdrawl (one $50 and one $35)
$5 - Tuesday Lunch
$8 - Wednesday Lunch
$13 - Thursday Lunch (big group lunch out for Chinese buffet)
$5 - Strawberries (big group out berry picking on Thursday)
$1 - Drink on the way home
$6 - Friday Lunch
$4 - Walgreens (needed Tums at work)
$12 - Saturday Lunch (for me and J, whom I owed for dinner the night before)
$3 - Weekend drinks
$6 - Monday Lunch
$5 - Tuesday Lunch
$3 - Extra drink at work today

TOTAL CASH IN: $99
TOTAL CASH OUT: $71

Difference: $28

Actual Cash Left: $28 YAY! Balanced.

What to do with $1,000?

So, I got $1,000 from my parents to help cover the vet costs. So, where's the question? Use the $1000 to pay the vet bill. But here's my conundrum...

(1) The vet bill is $1176.26 that is on a credit card that is only usable at the vet and is interest free for 3 months.

(2) I owe a total of about $5000 in state and federal taxes for 2008.

(3) There's only about $330 in my savings account.

So, what should I do?

(a) Pay the vet bill in full and have a net loss of $176.26 in my accounts.

(b) Use the money to pay part of my taxes right now, which would reduce fees and penalties that would be accrued over the rest of the year.

(c) Put the money in savings to gain a bit of interest until I eventually use it to pay the taxes at the end of the year.

I can kind of see the up-sides and down-sides to each option. Of course, no matter what option I pick, I need to tell my mother (when she asks) that the money did go to the vet bill. But she has no clue of my overall financial status. I think that right now, I'm leaning toward paying the state taxes with this money. The state tax has the lower amount owed, and with this money and what's in savings now, I could probably pay the whole thing in July. This would mean ZERO penalties and fees from the state of CT, but no payment to federal.

Hmm. I, of course, welcome opinions and additional options. I just deposited the check today, so I'm going to have to wait a few days anyway to make a final decision on this money. I just wish that things weren't so complicated right now.

It's Monday... Where'd my money go?

I was too tired last night to write this post. But now I'm home, watching The Young & the Restless (my newest addiction), and ready to pour over my spending from the last six days. Due to my busy weekend, last week's Sunday post was postponed to Tuesday. So, this is only covering from last Tuesday through today.

June 16 - 22, 2009

$9.13 - 7-11 - Yeah, it was a shitty week, so yesterday, I went out and got some cigarettes. UGH. I wish that Toaster Strudel was my only vice.

$7 - Cappuccinos - Friday's comfort lunch of pancakes. YUM!

$32.11 - Target - Target is a wonderful store that has the power to SUCK money out of me. They were having a great DVD sale. (Major League for $3.98 and House Season 4 for $18.99! I couldn't say no.) The rest was groceries, which did include the best Toaster Strudel of them all Strawberry & Cream Cheese.

$6.65 - Dunkin Donuts - Bagels for lab meeting. It's the tradition that the person presenting at the meeting in the morning buys breakfast for everyone. Seeing as how I only present about four times each year, it's not too bad.

$7.47 - The Little Store - Snacks and drinks at work. Sigh. I need to stop doing this.

$13.96 - Krispy Kreme - Donuts for lab meeting. I drive way out of my way to get Krispy Kremes for the meeting instead of walking the 1/2 block to Dunkin Donuts, because Dunkin Donuts is the spawn of Satan. Plus, everyone gets Dunkin Donuts; it's nice to mix it up. (Krispy Kremes are WAY better.)

$8 - Groceries

$14.29 - 7-11 - Yes, the shitty week required more cigarettes that I would like (ideally, none).

$84.42 - City Tax - UGH. It's once a year, and it always surprises me. But it's based off the value of my car, since my car is a POS, it could have been a lot worse.

$1176.26 - Vet Bill

+ $55.36 - Surprise settlement money

+ $1000 - A gift from my mother to help defray the vet costs.

Now for the cash...

Starting Cash: $3

$35 - Cash withdrawl
$10 - Thursday Lunch (me and a friend to whom I owed a lunch)
$6 - Monday Lunch
$7 - Coffee at Target ($6.31, but the change went in the change bucket)

TOTAL CASH IN: $38
TOTAL CASH OUT: $23

Cash left over = $15
Actual cash left over = $14

Just remembered I gave Lyndsey $1 for a lottery ticket. So, WOO! Balanced.

TOTAL MONEY SPENT THIS WEEK: $1,394.29 Of course, this is far from a usual week. But there are places were I could have definitely spent less money. And thank my parents so much for that extra $1000 to cover most of the vet costs.

Additionally this week, I blogged about this when it happened, but it's worth mentioning again here. I opened a new ING savings account with $20 for future vet costs for my surviving cat.

Also, my Amazon Prime membership was up for renewal. Since I'm curbing my spending all over the place, I decided that I'd be spending less at Amazon in general, so I wouldn't use the Prime as much. I canceled the membership and put the $79 that I would have spent to renew the membership into my savings account. It's a win-win that will hopefully pay off in the long run.

Posts coming soon

I know that I'm still really new at this whole blogging thing (aside from my personal journal) and that there aren't very many people that read this or expect anything from me. But I just have to apologize for the lack of things going on with Addicted to Toaster Strudel lately. I still need to write a few more history posts, and I need to do this week's Sunday post. But today was just one of those days where it's so difficult to make myself do anything. Part of it is that I'm planning a trip to the bank tomorrow, and I wanted to write it all in one post. And part of it is that it's just been a difficult week in general.

But I'll get better. I plan to write the Sunday post tomorrow after work.