Get Rid of Stuff Sunday!

After I came home from visiting my family last weekend with all of my clean clothes, I realized that I need to get rid of some t-shirts. I keep my t-shirts under my bed in a plastic case which barely fits under my bed it's so stuffed! With all of my clean laundry it really wasn't fitting under the bed. I figured this would be a good place to start getting rid of stuff.

I realized my t-shirt collection is a little ridiculous. And it's not because I wear t-shirts all the time. I only wear them to work functions (as appropriate) and to work out. In my sorting process I counted and I had almost 50 short sleeved and long sleeved shirts. Wow. No wonder they wouldn't fit under my bed!

I went through all of my t-shirts and sorted them: t-shirts from high school stuff (yes I do still have a few!), t-shirts from college, t-shirts related to my job, t-shirts I only wear to sleep in, and t-shirts to get rid of.

There was a good chunk of them that I can't get rid of because they relate to my place of employment. And there were a few that I realized I had sentimental attachment to. When I wrote this post I really thought that I didn't keep things that I didn't use. And when it comes to my every day sorts of outfits, I don't think I do. But when I looked through my t-shirts I realized otherwise. I have a few shirts that I don't wear but I'm holding on to. They're the puffy-painted-made-with-your-best-friends-sort of shirts. The kind that I'm not sure I could get rid of because no one would want them. Maybe I could make them into rags or something, but it would make me a little sad to cut them into pieces. There aren't that many of them, maybe 3 or 4,but they are wasting space and that makes them clutter I guess.

I'm proud to say that I got rid of 10 t-shirts for my first on Sunday "Get Rid of Stuff Sunday." Maybe not simplifying as much as I could, but I'm happy about it.


Today I'm grateful that I can fit that bin under my bed without shoving it! Success!

Saving money by visiting my parents?

I drove to PA this past weekend to visit my parents. It was nice to spend Father's Day with my family and I had a great time.

I generally take Amtrak (sidenote: I looooooooove Amtrak) home because my parents will pay for my ticket and I can read or do other stuff on the train. However, a couple of times per year I drive home to pick up a few things and drop off a few things and do massive amount of laundry. Numbers below are estimated, but pretty close to accurate for the spending and saving of the weekend.

Spent
Gas: $40ish
Meals out: $15 (met up with some friends)
Tolls: $25ish

Saved
Laundry: $15.00 (I brought home a $h!t ton of laundy. It costs $1.50 to wash and $1.50 to dry in my building which I didn't have to pay since laundry at home is FREE!)
Fans: $30 (I broke my fan last week in a moving-it-while-it-was-on-accident. Basically 2 of the blades broke and the fan was horribly unbalanced and made terrible noises. I was kind of pissed because I just bought the fan this year and I don't have central air--just window units. My parents had 2 fans in their basement that they don't use, so they let me take them back to DC. Score!)

Income
Plato's Closet: $6.55 (I'm kind of pissed that they only took 2 items out of the 4 bags of stuff I brought over. There are a few items that I'm going to try to see if a local consignment store will take. And I still need to go to the cash for gold place.)

Time with the family... priceless!

Today I'm grateful for: another new favorite blog which gives me my morning laugh.

Keeping it Simple

I'm on a mission to simplify my life. I have a lot of stuff. Maybe not as much as some people, but I hate clutter! I need everything to have a place and a purpose.

I've decided I'm going to try to get rid of 7 things every Sunday. I'm calling it my "Get Rid of Stuff Sunday" because I adore alliteration. The "stuff" can be anything from books to clothes to shoes to paper clutter, but the main thing it all has in common is that I don't use it. If I can earn a little extra $$$ from getting rid of the stuff or help someone else in the process, awesome! But the main goal is to only have stuff that I use.

The reason I chose the number 7 is because I can choose one thing each day of the week, but it's not a super overwhelming number.

I'm going to lay out some ground rules/expectations:
(1) The stuff must be lying around my apartment for awhile (aka something I've been saving) and must be something that I would not be throwing out in my daily life (example, I can't throw out a piece of paper that I just used or food container or trash bag and count it in my 7 things)
(2) I will make every effort to sell, donate or freecycle items so as not to be wasteful.
(3) I will recycle items as necessary
(4) Sometimes I will post pictures

I'm cheating a little for my first Get Rid of Stuff Sunday and doing it on a Friday. I have a huge pile of clothes, purses and shoes (way more than 7 things!) that I am taking to Plato's Closet today when I drive to PA to visit my parents. I'll let you know how much $$$ I make! I'm counting all of those bags (I have about 4 large grocery bag of stuff) as my 7 things for this week.

Today I'm grateful for: time with my thoughts.

Revolutionary Road

The boy and I watched the movie Revolutionary Road last night. What a depressing movie! I don't think there are any big spoilers below, but you might not want to keep reading if you don't want to know about the movie, just in case. However, the movie got the boy and me talking.

It seems like the couple, Frank and April, are going through the motions of life. They aren't happy. He's working for the money. She feels trapped at home. They make a plan for happiness, but it ultimately doesn't work out. They have a glimmer of hope, a goal to look towards, but ultimately the lure of a raise (and some family issues) keeps their dream from happening.

The boy and have had several conversations where we talk out what our goals are for the future in terms of our careers. Neither of us are deeply happy at our current jobs. He's been at the same job for 5 years and he likes it okay, but it's not his passion. I like my job okay, but it is definitely not a long term position. His job could be a long term position, but that thought doesn't excite him all that much.

I know what I want in a job. I told him a few of those things and he seems to think it's a long shot to find it. He thinks I should be a teacher. It could be something that I'd be good at, but I don't know if that's what I really want for myself. I really would like to be a stay at home mom who does something lucrative (like real estate or event planning) part time. I didn't tell him the SAHM part, because I think it would freak him out. We've only been dating since the end of January after all!

We're risk averse, I think him more than me. I don't want us to go through the motions of life without really being happy. I like the boy. I could see a future with us. He wants a lot of the same things as I do... to travel, to be successful, to find a passion. I think between the two of us we could make that happen.

I want a goal. I want a glimmer of hope that turns into the real thing. I just don't know what that means. Universe... I'm open to new paths. Lead me in the right direction!


Today I'm grateful for: the weekend being almost here. I'm going to visit my parents and sister, so it'll be a lot of fun!

I've been tagged!

So I'm superexcited to have people who are actually reading my blog. I just got tagged by Rochelle to do "Seven Facts" which I've seen floating around on various blogs. Thanks! It makes me feel popular. :)

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your original tagger(s) and list the rules in your post.
2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they've been tagged.

My Seven Facts
1. I'm trying so hard to be more calm, less stressed and always see the positive side of things. I think it might be working.
2. When I saw this quote "the cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea" I almost cried. It describes my philosophy of life exactly.
3. I don't drink coffee. I think it's gross. And caffeine gives me heart palpitations.
4. I love Mexican food. I didn't start eating it until college. Thank you for introducing me to Chipotle.
5. I enjoy my own company. Living by myself was the best decision I've made in a long time.
6. I don't share girl scout cookies.
7. Every time I see one of DC's famous buildings/monuments (Washington Monument, Lincoln, Capital Building, etc.), I smile inside and think about how lucky I am to be living here. I hope I always have that feeling.


I'm still new in the blog world so I'm not quite sure who to tag. If you haven't done this yet and want to, tag yourself? Maybe?

Today I'm grateful for: people actually reading and commenting on my blog. Thanks!

May Update

I just got my credit card bill in the mail from May, so here is my May spending update:

Quick Snapshot:
Total income: $3,335.80
Total expenses: $2,586.01
Total saved: $749.79

Breakdown on income:
Wages: $2,555.80
Gifts Received: $200.00 (the two gift cards I got)
Medical Reimbursement: $130.00
Rebates/Free Money: $450.00 (this includes money that was owed to me from a car issue)
Monthly Total: $3,335.80

Breakdown on expenses:
HOME EXPENSES
Rent: $850.00
Renters Insurance: $112.00 (paid yearly in May)
Electricity: $22.81
Cell: $82.95
Cable/Internet: $239.65 (there was a snafu with my bill and this is two months of payment)

TRANSPORTATION
Car Insurance: $492.95 (paid twice yearly in May and November)
Gas: $38.50
Bus/Taxi/Metro Fare: $35.22
Maintenance/Upkeep: $50.00

DAILY LIVING
Groceries/Drug Stores: $66.98
Dining/Eating Out: $78.68
Dry Cleaning: $36.52
Clothing: $246.99

HEALTH
Rx/OTC: $15.00
Gym/Exercise Class: $20.00 (new mat for yoga)

ENTERTAINMENT
Netflix: $9.44
Movies/Music: $20.50 (treated the boy to a movie... this is the first time I've been to a theater in months!)
Gifts/Donations: $113.08 (wedding, mother's day)

MISCELLANEOUS
Cash: $39.00
Unclassifiable: $15.74 (misc stuff from Target)

Total Spent: $2,586.01


So if it weren't for that extra money that came in, I would've spent more than I made. May does have a few expenses that aren't so regular and added up: the renter's insurance, the car insurance, and gifts. All that was almost $700... ouch! I also probably shouldn't have gone clothes shopping and spent that $246.99. That number is just convincing me to stick to my no spend on clothes June. I'm already halfway there!


Today I'm grateful for: a (mostly) clean apartment.

Shopping Temptation

I have no problem not spending money when I stay away from the temptation of it all. But yesterday I met up with some friends for dinner in a restaurant attached to Tysons II (a superexpensive mall). I was running early, so I thought I'd just browse for a little while. I'm happy to say that I didn't buy anything, but man was I tempted! Ann Taylor had some beautiful dresses...


Walking around the mall makes me feel like what I have isn't good enough. I get the same feeling from women's magazines. They both make me want to buy.


But I have enough. I have nice clothes with good labels (mostly). I have things that I like and enjoy wearing. But I get bored. Fashion trends change. A new season comes.


I try to convince myself that shopping at secondhand stores is as good as going to the mall. Is it? Is it really?


Is there a way to quiet your inner shopaholic?


I wish I could just be good at being frugal and not care so much about what other people think...


Today I'm grateful for: discipline

Gift Card Swap?

I got another gift card from work, but this is one that I probably won't use. It's $25 to Ticketmaster and there aren't really any concerts coming up that I'm dying to see. Has anyone used any of those gift card swap sites with success? Which would you recommend? Thanks for your help!

Investment Update

Interest rates right now suck. So when my CD came due, instead of tying the money up for 9-17 months at 1%, I decided to roll the money into the High Performance Money Market Account that I already have. The guy I spoke with at the bank said that I was actually getting an equivalent interest rate with the MMA as I would with a CD. Plus the MMA money is liquid, so I can move it around as necessary. The interest rate still sucks, but I'm slowly moving money from the MMA into mutual funds and bonds. I also think that I'm going to put a chunk of that CD money into my Roth.

However, the bank guy did sell me on Wachovia's Way2Save program. The gist of this program is that you can transfer in $100 a month and you get a 5% interest rate for the first year. Then every time you use your check card or make a payment from online billpay, $1 from your checking account is moved into your Way2Save account. The catch is that you can only start with a $100 deposit. I have about 6 bills that I pay monthly online and I usually go to an ATM about 1 or 2 times per month. That means that each month I would automatically be saving about $108 dollars at a 5% interest rate.

Using the Way2Save program is going to help build up money at a good interest rate AND I still get rewards for using the check card because it is linked to my Wachovia rewards credit card. Win-win.

My only dilemma is that I like the safety of using the credit card because it isn't directly linked to my cash. God forbid something ever happened and my check card number was compromised, it would be way more difficult to get that money back.

Today I'm grateful for: my growing financial knowledge. I felt really confident talking to the banker because I knew what he was talking about.

My First Carnival!

I've already spent $64.51 on eating out this month. The goal for the entire month was $60. That is sooo not happening since it is June 8th. I am positive that I will be eating out several more times this month. I guess I should concentrate on ways to earn a little extra income since I'm clearly going to be spending much more than I would like.


I'm in my first carnival! I submitted my article about why credit cards don't suck. Check it out here. Thanks to Money Energy for hosting. I'm still figuring out this whole blogging culture, so I'm pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to be a part of a carnival! Go me!

Are there any carnivals that you regularly submit to that I should consider?




Today I'm grateful for: me time.

Old Clothes and Clutter and my Spending Philosophy

A good friend of mine is going abroad for the year which means she is clearing out all of her stuff. I love decluttering and packing so I offered to help, but I did not know what I was getting myself into. My friend has piles and piles of clothes. The reason she has so many clothes is because she rarely gets rid of them. She still has clothes from high school and she's 25. She goes shopping with friends who convince her to buy items that she doesn't love, so she builds up more and more clothes. She sees something that is just okay, but it's cheap and she buys it. An article of clothing reminds her of something special, so she keeps it even though it doesn't fit. She probably only wears about 1/8 of her wardrobe. I had no idea how many clothes she has because she wears the same things over and over again.

This experience caused me to really think about what's in my closet. I don't want cheap crap in there. I occasionally fall into the "it's cheap and cute enough" trap when buying clothes, but I need to stop. I want to build a quality wardrobe of classic pieces. I'd rather have a few designer labels than 100 Old Navy t-shirts. I’d rather have a closet with a few things I love and wear all the time, than a closet overflowing with clothes I like and hardly ever wear.

My feeling is if you don’t use it, wear it, look at it, or absolutely need it for the future, it's clutter and you should get rid of it. I try hard not to get emotionally attached to “stuff.” After moving every 1-2 years for the last 8 years, I’ve realized that it’s stupid to move things you just “like.”

And I guess this is part of my spending philosophy.
(1) Spend money on a few quality items rather than a lot of cheap items.
(2) Clutter is bad. If you don't use it, get rid of it.
(3) Love everything you own.
(4) Don't let other people convince you into buying something you don't love.
(5) Memories are with people, not with stuff.

What's your spending philosophy?

Today I'm grateful for: the boy. He makes me laugh and makes me feel like I'm special.

Weddings...

Two of my good friends recently got engaged. And I get to be in both of their weddings. Hooray! (FYI that was sarcasm.). While I am so happy for them and love their future husbands, I am not looking forward to the expense associated with being in said weddings. I've already had the pleasure (sarcasm again) of being in one friend's wedding and it was quite pricey.

Wedding Related Expenses:
(1) Bridal Shower gift
(2) Bridal Shower expenses
(3) Bachelorette Party expenses
(4) the Dress
(5) alterations on said Dress
(6) shoes to match with said Dress
(7) travel to/from wedding
(8) hotel room for probably 2 nights
(9) Wedding gift
(10) hair and makeup cost

The thing that makes me the most frustrated is that both of these weddings will be in New England in the summer of 2010 within a six week period. That means that I have to deal with airfare to the same area twice in such a short amount of time. LAME.

This article offers some advice for making the best out of wedding season. My only hope is that they chose dresses that aren't superexpensive and that can be worn again... or at least sold so I can recoup some of the cost.

On a slightly unrelated but still wedding-related note, the boy invited me to be his date to a wedding in July. I've met the couple getting married, but don't really know them all that well. He doesn't seem to be this couple's biggest fans, but still feels obligated to go to this wedding (which is in NJ and the only option for lodging is a bed and breakfast) and get them a pricey gift. He said that since he is bringing a date now, he thinks he should spend somewhere around $150. This is after he dropped some serious cash at the Bachelor Weekend. For most of the weddings I've attended, I've gone with gifts in the $50 range (I've gone to all of them sans date). Is that way too cheap? Am I being a tightwad?


Today I'm grateful for: trashy TV. It might not make me any smarter, but man is it entertaining!

June Goals

June Goals:

(1) Earn $20 extra this month. I plan to sell old clothes/books/accessories to Plato's Closet when I go home (why won't they open the one in Fairfax already!?!?!?!). If that isn't $20, I might also sell the gold jewelry that I don't ever wear.
(2) Spend no money on clothes this month (this might be tough because of #1).
(3) Spend $140 on groceries/drugstore purchases for the month, $60 on eating out... or less.
(4) Know where all my cash is going for the month (I started this month with a zero balance on cash, which should make this easier).
(5) Check what interest rates are looking like.... My CD comes due on 6/7 with a maturity value of $6,835.70. I need to figure out the best way to invest this money.
(6) Create an investment statement. I'm really going to do it this month.
(7) Comment on at least 1 blog per day
(8) Read (or re-read) at least 1 PF book. Review it on this blog.

Today I'm grateful for: Another school year winding down and the possibilities the summer brings.

May Goals Update

An update on my goals for May. I think I did pretty well. (And can someone tell me how to format the crossed out font? I'm not sure how to do that!)

May Goals:
(1) Create an investment statement (as recommended by ABCs of Investing)
I did this and then it got erased by my own blogger stupidity. I kind of lost my motivation. Will do this in June. I hope.
(2) Get a new yoga mat for a good price
Done. Spent $20 on a mat I got from my instructor. Maybe not the best price, but it was easy and I had been putting it off for awhile.
(3) Check into quicken vs. mint and if they will work for me
I did a little bit of checking into this and I think I'm going to keep doing my spreadsheet system for now.
(4) Use flipswap or gazelle to get rid of old phones/ipod and hopefully make a few bucks
Done. Made $5.25 in Amazon Giftcards on Gazelle and $20.66 cash from Flipswap. I traded in my broken Garmin, 3 old cell phones, my broken laptop, and my old, old ipod.
(5) Spend less money the second half of the month than the first (esp. no more clothes shopping!!!!!)
May was a spendy month in general. Didn't go clothes shopping though the second half of the month though.
(6) Comment on at least 1 blog per day
Did good at the beginning of the month and it tapered at the end of the month. I've had a few comments on this blog, which I appreciate since I just started. Thanks for reading and please comment to say hello sometime! I will do my best to consistantly comment on others' blogs in the future.

Overall goals for this blog are happening slowly and steadily. Which I guess is how longer term goals should be happening, right?

Long Term Blog Goals:
(1) Make monthly goals so I can be held accountable
May. Check. June. I'm working on it.
(2) Keep track of my spending and saving
I'm definitely doing this.
(3) Try my hand at budgeting
Slowly getting better at this.
(4) Get advice and encouragement from others
Slowly building a following on the blog which I think will help in this department though I did get some advice about my healthcare plan.
(5) Start being more pro-active with my investing
Slowly doing a little more research.
(6) Gain a small stream of passive income from this blog and other endeavors
Slow and steady. Emphasis on slow. ;)
(7) Read and review PF books
Didn't really have a chance to do that this month. I need to read more in general.
(8) Experiment with new ways of saving money
Haven't done this really yet.
(9) Allow myself some time each day to write
I've written almost every day in May (since I started the blog), even if I don't wind up posting anything. I don't get to write very much at my job and I like having this outlet.
(10) Give myself a public gratitude journal
Done. And will continue to do.
(11) Have a record of my mid- (/almost late) twenties
Done. And will continue to do.
(12) Continue to learn about the world of blogging
Slow and steady. I find new and interesting blogs every day. How do you keep up with all of them???


Today I'm grateful for: having goals. I think it's so important for me to have something to strive for, but not getting mad or upset if I can't reach them.