Week #20 - 'extra' money

Allrighty.... well, I can't say that I'm not still somewhat disillusioned with saving money, but I do still have an end of the year goal in mind. Its either to reach a certain balance in my money market savings or to leave my current job and start something fresh even if it means spending some of my saved money in the process. That being said, I'll keep going with the blog for the time being.

I want to bring up the the money market I opened a couple of months ago because it was getting a much higher interest rate than the one I already had. I logged into my banking website today and saw that, because its an adjustable rate, the interest I got for the past 30 days was almost double what it was for the month before. In just 2 months I have gotten over 3 times the interest I got all of last year combined on the same account with close to the same balance. So again, I'm pleeding with you... make sure your money is working with you to the best of its ability!

This week I got a check for $615.36 ($39.12 was put into my 401K pre-tax). The month of May has 5 Fridays in it which means 5 paychecks for me and since I go my budget on a weekly basis it means that there is an 'extra' paycheck. I got an 'extra' paycheck in March which worked out well becuase I had medical bills to pay from my gallbladder surgery. Well, this months extra check is also great timing. I'm going to New York with 2 friends to see some bands that have not played in many years. I had to buy a ticket ($35) and chip in for a hotel room ($90) and then there will be gas, train, food and lots of t-shirts & other swag to buy. My plan for this weeks check it to simply bring it to the bank and cash it. I will use the cash to cover all the weekends expenses and then figure out what to do with the left overs when I get back and see what I spent in total.

Even though as of now I did not deposit any money I did make my $20 vacation transfer and I also returned some cans & bottles and added $5.75 to the piggy bank. I'll also see what I have left when I get back from NY and all the bills for the weekend are paid and decide where to deposit the left over cash. I'll let you know where that money ends up next week.

Here is the week 20 wrap up:
$39.12 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund
$5.75 to the piggy bank

which makes the 2013 totals:

$641.06 in my 401K
$400.00 in the vacation fund
$36.00 in the piggy bank
$200.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$75.00 in my vet bill savings
$562.82 in my money market
$562.81 in my car account

I know we are still a month and a half away from the HALF YEAR recap, but just take a look at the numbers in my 2013 savings totals for a minute. Even if you don't make enough or your bills are to high to have put $500+ into different savings accounts maybe you could have set up a weekly transfer like I make for my vacation savings or maybe you're throwing away cans & bottles that you could be returning for free money! Just by putting aside $20 a week I saved $400 for a vacation and from returning deposit cans/bottles I have another $36! I know some of you comment and let me know that you enjoy reading this every week and some of you have offered advice on ways to save, but do any of you have a total of money you have saved this year either on your own or because of this blog? Let us know!!

Lastly (once again) be sure to join the facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/OCDSavings and contribute your own tips and hints for saving money!