Week #41 - Big Expenses Are Looming...

So this blog will be posted on October 11th and I have almost a month worth of big expenses coming up. Some good, some bad... but all expensive! I know you may not care at all what I have to spend money on, but I don't have much else to say this week so I'm gonna lay out all the things I have coming up and what they may cost. If nothing else it will make me feel better because in case you haven't noticed... I love making lists of things!

1. The weekend of the 12th & 13th is the weekend of what Northern Rhode Island knows as 'Autumnfest'. It's a yearly celebration of Columbus Day/Fall that takes place in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. I grew up going to Autumnfest and thinking it was so awesome that I couldn't wait every year. I have to admit that it hasn't aged well and I find it kind of boring now, but I still go. Its not a huge expense, but when you spend most of your day at a 'fair' of any kind you end up spending way to much money on crappy food. Thins like $3 slices of pizza, $7 baked potatoes and $9 apple crisp. There is also tons of music, fireworks and some other stuff that's free, but it will still cost $20-$30 for the weekend. If you're morbidly curious about what you've read here you can get more info at www.Autumnfest.org

2. On October 19th I'll be going to the 'Rock & Shock' convention in Worcester, MA. Its an annual convention of horror movie stars and retailers. I don't usually buy much, but the stars sign autographs that range from $20-$50 each! I'm hoping to only get the 1 person I really want on a poster I have signed by a lot of stars already, but I may get sucked into another 1 or 2. Its also about $25 per person to get into the convention so that's a pretty expensive day! Its last minute since the convention is tonight (Friday), tomorrow and Sunday, but you can check out the details at www.RockandShock.com

3. Starting on October 20th I'll be on vacation and in Disney World for 7 days. All the big stuff has already been paid for and we got a special meal plan that should take care of most of our food needs, but everyone knows there are always other expenses on vacations! I'm assuming that the whole thing will cost another $200-$300 easy on top of what we already paid for hotel, tickets & airfare!

4. When we get back from vacation the weekend of November 1st & 2nd is the Rhode Island Comiccon. Its about $20 to get in, but we might have a chance at some free tickets which would be awesome! Either way this convention has a lot of Star Wars actors at it this year. I have a Star Wars box set that has been signed by a ton of actors from the original trilogy and at this convention I will be able to add signatures from the actors that played: Zuckuss, Greedo, Admiral Ackbar, Lt. Renz, 4-Lom and Bosk! That may not mean much to you, but I think its pretty cool... unfortunately it will probably cost close to $200 for the weekend!! You can get more into at www.RIComiccon.com

5. The weekend of November 23rd & 24th there is yet another pop culture type convention. This is the Super Mega Fest in Framingham, MA. This one really only has 1 actor that I'm interested in. Its Oola, the green female dancer from Jabba's palace in Return of the Jedi. I'm sure it will be about $20 to get in and $25 for her signature on my Star Wars box set. Check it out at www.SuperMegaFest.com if you're into this stuff.

That's all of the big planned events I have coming up, but its October so its time to start thinking about Christmas shopping which is always a big stress and expense. We are also in the middle of dealing with the issue that caused damage in my bathroom. Its going to be covered by insurance, but with deductibles and depreciation it might end up still costing me money. Lastly, I got rear ended on my way home from work last week. Now that will be covered 100% by insurance, but it will still be a big stress and inconvenience!

Ok... now that I told you all the stuff I'll be doing over the next 2 months I guess I'll tell you about my paycheck. This week I got a check fro $620.35 and $39.56 went to my 401k. This is the check I put toward my mortgage, but I'm also going to do some saving with it this month. I'm putting $100.00 in my regular checking account to hopefully help with some of the above expenses, $50.00 into my quarterly loan repayment account, $25.00 towards future vet bills and the remaining $445.35 will go towards the mortgage. In addition to my paycheck I also did my $20.00 vacation transfer and I returned $11.00 worth of cans that went into the piggy bank! Now to wrap it all up....

Here is the week 41 wrap up:
$39.56 to my 401K
$50.00 to the quarterly loan payment account
$25.00 to future vet bills
$20.00 to my vacation fund
$11.00 to the piggy bank


Which makes the 2013 totals:
$1412.74 in my 401K
$820.00 in the vacation fund
$96.90 in the piggy bank
$550.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$225.00 in my vet bill savings
$2027.41 in my money market
$1477.40 in my car account

For this weeks bonus I'll point out that you can get free stuff in random places sometimes. I go to the same gas station most of the time because its the cheapest in my area. They have been running a promotion for the last month where if you buy $20.00 or more worth of gas you can get a free 1 liter bottle of Poland Spring water! Even if you don't really want it, its still worth taking!

Lastly I'll suggest you check out the facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/OCDSavings because I have been trying to post some special sales and savings that I find on-line and in stores! Also feel free to add your own findings to the facebook group for everyone to see!!