Net Worth-- February 2008

It's that time again. Time to take a look out our bank account and find out what we've done this month. Things have likely gone down a bit considering the job situation, but we're no worse for wear. With both of us working this next month, I anticipate a good beating to our liability (the car).


Assets:
Checking: 1800
Savings: 2000

Liabilities:

Car: 4500


Budget Results:












Income This Month:

Substitute teaching: 216
Plasma donation: 100
Return of deposit from other apartment: 175
Random check from prev. employer: 13
MySurvey check: 60
Gifts: 200

Difference-- checking: 200




Net worth: -700



Yikes! However, never fear! We made it through the month with less trauma than originally thought, and work income for March has already exceeded that of February. (I only counted income actually received in February, not work that has been done but will pay in March).

I'm pleased to see our gas expenditures have been reasonable. That is even with a way-overpriced oil change and a trip out of state. We're still new to the area, so I want to track this for a few months, but I hope that perhaps we can adjust this budget down a little bit. Although, in a few months gas may be over $3/gallon again. If it is, I'm buying a scooter.

We went overboard on eating out this month-- nearly $100 worth of fast food. I worry about this next month because we will have more freedom with more cash. Lubby and I will have a talk to determine our goals for this month and see if we can come up with a game plan for curbing spending in that area and attacking our car payment again. Everything else has been terrific.

Looks like next month we will get free Internet as well (they screwed up our order so they overcharged us last month). One less thing to pay for.

All-in-all, I am pleased with this month's report even though we're in the red. We've done well with what little we've had and stand a more-than-promising chance of making twice what we made this past month. I expect a huge chunk out of the 'liability' column next month and a positive net worth.

For January's states, click here.

How to save on your energy bill

Got a couple of bills today, electric among them. It was actually very exciting!

Budget for energy for February: $150
Spent in February: $90 (aprox)

That's a difference of about $60! Here's what we did that seems to have contributed:

• Turn off the heater. It's been pretty warm-- even close to eighty some days. However, our apartment stays cold, so it has been a sacrifice. No heat and a high of 39 is cold, but blankets, some fire wood, and more blankets keep the chill at bay. We do use it if it is going to be cold for a good while, like when we had an ice storm a few weeks ago.
• Limit lightbulb use. We try not to use the lights during daylight hours.
• Unplug stuff. We're actually not very good at this, but we try to turn off our surge protectors and unplug many of our appliances/computers/etc. when they are not in use. "Ghosting" electricity can really drain your wallet... apparently... (Note: Do not unplug your refrigerator! I do not want to be responsible for that!)

I know it's not a list of 35 things-- that may be coming at a later date. The point is that you don't have to do a million drastic things to see a difference in your bill. Our first bill was about $70, and it was only for about 10 days! From people I've talked to around here, average monthly bills are about $150.

I hope we can keep this up through the summer months as well. Of course, you'll know when we know.

Rebate Fun!-- good for newbies

We're up visiting my family for the weekend, and yesterday my mom and I just happened to have to go by Walgreens to pick up a prescription...

Mom has been following my couponing adventures through my blog and phone calls, and she was really excited to get all of her free stuff! We are both get in, get out, no extras kind of people, so there wasn't any danger of us picking up extra stuff just because it was nearby on the shelf. Following is a play-by-play, so if you're new to rebates this should be helpful.

As we came in the store, I picked up my papers, the circular, and the rebate book. Flipped through the circular; there were no fantastic deals that lined up with the rebates this week. (I knew this because I already knew what the rebates were. If you are a newbie you will likely want to go home and check it out, or resign yourself to only getting things for free and not getting two or making money this month).

Opened the rebate book to the center yellow pages and pointed out the first few that had the giant, red FREE next to them. We then went on a scavenger hunt for the items listed, making sure the size and price matched up. (Note: Found out from a cashier that at this particular Walgreens they had their rebate items in shelf-displays. I did not see where it said 'free after rebate' or anything, but knowing they were on displays makes them easier to find. Also, if you check out a display, it may behoove you to check the rebate book to see if it's on special.)

Checked out. She got $10 lip gloss, $10 foundation, $2 contact solution, $4 hair-spray-type-stuff, and 4 papers ($6). One $1 coupon (provided by the cashier who clips her coupons and brings them to work-- Thanks!) made the total after tax $32.98.

With the rebates, she'll get the full purchase price with a 10% bonus for getting it on a Wags GC. The rebate will come out to 28.56. I gave her $3 for my two papers. So, her total was/will be $1.43-- She didn't even have to pay for one of her papers if you look at it that way.

We came home and I had her log on to Walgreens.com, find the EasySaver Rebate section (which took some finding, but we got it), create an account (it's free), and enter her rebates.

She's very excited and looking forward to adding coupons to the mix as well. She keeps saying, "I'll never have to pay for milk again!" I like that.

Revised budget for February and March

Things change. We didn't get jobs as fast as we could have hoped in this economy. So, our budget for the next few months is going to take a hit. Here's what February looked/looks like:

425 Rent (had 1/2 off, but finished out our pet deposit)
150 Electric
200 Groceries
300 Gas (cars)
20 Water
35 Internet
1130 Total


March looks like this:

430 Rent (we got $20 off for participating in a community event)
150 Electric
150 Groceries
300 Gas
20 Water
35 Internet
1085 Total

Thankfully we've been able to stop paying our car until we get our feet under us. We had been paying about double to quadruple the payment, so we don't technically have to make another payment until April. Now, if we don't make another payment until April I will be very sad. We've lost a lot of ground already in intrest.

All the reading about frugal living and couponing has me inspired to cut my grocery bill in half. Since we were able to comfortably get what we need this month for about $200-- including a lot of convenience foods like frozen waffles, granola bars, etc.-- I am confident that with coupons and watching for deals I should be able to take us down even one more notch.

Unemployed no more!

My husband just walked in. The first thing he said to me was "I have a job."

There are no sweeter words to a wife's ears.

CrackerBarrel... Yum. Neither of us have ever worked in food services before, so it will be a new experience. There's a temptation to feel dejected because, after all, he has a college degree! However, we're just happy to have a promise of a source of income. He was really mostly looking for something part-time, and they can likely give him close to 40 hours. He also might be leading music very part time at a church for a pretty decent amount of money. I'm very optimistic about having a full-time teaching position of $40,000+ by the fall, so by then his income will be gravy.

I have it worked out so that if I continue to do the things I've been doing (subbing, plasma, voice lessons), I should make enough money to pay for March's bills by the time they arrive. I've also applied to work at Kaplan as a teacher (I had insanely good test scores in my day). Plus, I really need to get going on my jewelry business that I've been letting slide for the past two months.

Now that Lubby (my nickname for my husband-- Lover+Hubby) will be working, we can get back to living more of our normal life without dipping into our cash reserves and start paying on our car again.

Oh, and by the way, I gave the plasma thing another shot. Everything worked out this time and I made $40. I plan to go tomorrow and make another $60. (They're running a special; next week and the weeks after it will be $20 and $40).

Coming later, either tonight or tomorrow, is a revised, bare-bones budget for February and March. We have a lot to cut out, and a lot of catching up to do if we want the car paid off by June or July.

Couponing lesson learned

I guess you could chalk this up to a rookie mistake...

There are not coupons in every Sunday paper. I am fairly certain I knew that, but I got carried away in the couponing-mania of it all. So, on Sunday we bought two papers and, after extracting the Walgreens and CVS ads from one of them, threw them away. Disappointing? Yes. Lesson learned? Yes.

Next week I am confident there will be coupons again. I will, however, check my sources (currently couponmom.com) to be sure there are new coupons available BEFORE I spend 3 dollars.

Taking Care of Business

Wow! This week has been exhausting! My personal goal of posting once a day has (obviously) taken a back burner the past five days. Made a little money and focused on the more important things in life.

Wednesday-Friday I substituted again for a friend in my discipline. It was a blast in a lot of ways-- much easier than just walking into a classroom without really knowing what's being covered-- but it was also totally exhausting. I pretty much came home, collapsed into a puddle, and went to bed early. Made about $240 gross and will get paid in late march.

Wednesday and Thursday we went to donate plasma. Didn't get to either day. Long story. Unfortunately my husband will never get to donate. I probably could if I'm not dead next time I go (long story-- I'm fairly sure the blood pressure machine was broken), and if I can swallow my indignation and frustration well enough to sit through that again.

Friday evening through this afternoon my husband and I attended a marriage conference. We enjoyed it very much and loved getting to spend the time focusing on each other and our relationship. I know I would have gotten more out of it if I had a little bit more sleep the past few days, but it was important to have that time anyway.

Things can get ugly out there, ladies and gentlemen. There were over 400 people there who attended for free because they gave it to anyone who had lost their job in the last 6 months. Money is the number one cause of fights in marriage-- I'm sure you've all heard that statistic. If you can't support and cling to your mate in these times, the prognosis isn't good, folks. Take care of your relationship with each other before anything else right now.

If you've lost one or both jobs, a lay-off is looming, or if you're just worried about what could happen, talk about it. Hug, cry together, reassure each other that you still love each other and you're in it for the long haul. Then make a plan. Cut everything that's not vital to existence. Go donate plasma together. Make sure your man knows that you are proud of him for delivering pizzas so that you can have a roof over your head. A man who will swallow his pride to provide for his family is a hero, not a failure. If you are that man, I am proud of you. There isn't a better gift you could give to your wife than to provide for her.

Where we live it's pretty warm, so we haven't had the heat on for weeks. My fingers are pretty cold right now, but it's not miserable with a blanket and a warm laptop in my lap. My first student for my private lessons comes tomorrow. I can donate plasma and take sub jobs (as much as I'd like to avoid that some days). My husband is going to do his best to have a job by the end of the week, even if it's delivering pizzas for Domino's. We bought a couple of papers again tonight so that I can continue clipping coupons for next month's groceries. We're taking care of business so that we don't have to live in fear, shame or guilt. We're in this together-- for better or worse, richer or poorer.

Coming up-- our budget may be changing. A revised plan until we get our feet under us. Hopefully we'll get to eat more than peanut butter and ramen noodles, but we'll see what we can do.