So here we are at week #50 of my silly little blog. I really can't believe that I didn't stop doing it months ago when I started running out of things to write about and when I paid attention enough to notice that some weeks less than 10 people were reading. I guess it got to a point where I figured I had committed to doing it for at least the year and damn it, I was gonna finish it. We're now at wee #50 which could mean 2 more blogs since there are 52 weeks in a year, but I think I will go one further and give you guys a full year wrap up the first week of January. That way I can make sure that all my deposits are made, checks are cleared, bills are paid and deposit bottles are returned!
I have been thinking a lot about the saving that I have done this year and how important it is to me and I do realize that I obsess on it and that I stress about money and I think I'm broke even though I have saved a minimum of a couple of hundred dollars every month this year. I just can't help it because I feel like saving money and running my crazy budget is the only thing I'm good at. It's those feelings that are making it extra hard to find a new job because even if I could find one that would make enough to pay my bills (I haven't yet) I know I won't be able to save as much which makes me sad since it the only thing I feel that I do well. I'm kind of caught in a web of my own OCD and lack of self confidence. Wow... enough with the psychotherapy... this blog is about money, not feelings!
So its Christmas time and we all spend more money around this time of the year. We know that we're going to do it so the best thing you can do is try to be somewhat prepared. I had mentioned before that I set aside two paychecks from the months that had five weeks specifically for Christmas shopping and so far its working out well. I have done most of my shopping and still have cash left which is nice. I guess I could possibly go over budget, but even if i do its not like I had no money saved to buy the presents. It's also nice to get some bargains around this time of year so pay attention to print ads and sales online. You might find a great gift at a good price or you might find something you already needed at a special price!
While I was doing my budget for this week I noted the 'year to date gross pay' on my paycheck and remembered that I had a few weeks when I was out of work after my gallbladder surgery and the pay for this weeks came from an insurance company. When I added the insurance gross to my current 'year to date gross' and then my estimated gross for the last three paychecks of 2013 I found that I will probably make about $7000.00-$8000.00 LESS this year than I did last year because I have been offered no overtime at all. It upset me because my goal is always to make more, but I guess I should be happy that at least I was able to save even with a smaller income.
All right... enough of all that... this week I got a paycheck for $613.82 and $39.12 went to my 401k. I'm going to take $460.00 and put it in my mortgage account since its the second week of the month. The remaining $153.82 is going into my regular checking account. Spoiler Alert: I will probably do almost the same thing with next weeks paycheck too. I did do my standard $20.00 vacation transfer, but that's all for this week. There will be more saving before the end of the year, but a lot of my goals have been reached or are very close so I'm just trying to keep things on track and not stress about spending for the next few weeks! Here's the wrap up...
Here is the week 50 wrap up:
$39.12 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund
Which makes the 2013 totals:
$1769.30 in my 401K
$1000.00 in the vacation fund
$109.90 in the piggy bank
$700.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$288.87 in my vet bill savings
$2277.41 in my money market
$1877.40 in my car account
I've talked many times about credit cards and how they can be used in a very smart way. I my credit card for gas (all though I'm looking into something new that I'll talk more about soon), food when we go out to eat and some big purchases. I already got one $50.00 cash back check earlier this year and on last months credit card statement my cash back total was $49.98 which sounds awesome, but its only paid out in $50.00 increments so I have to wait until my next statement to get the $50.00. Now that's a funny little story, but what it comes down to is that just for using my credit card I have earned $100.00 of FREE money! Don't leave that money on the table... start using your credit cards in a responsible way and earn some free cash!!
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