Monthly Challenge - July

End of July! I have reached and surpassed my second Monthly Challenge goal of $150.

Here's the summary:

$50.00 - Rent Reduction
$69.01 - Amazon Sales (-S&H)
$18.92 – Pay Per Post
$23.30 - Online Surveys
$120.00 – Research Participation
$35.00 – Craigslist Sales
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$304.13 (Goal + $154.13)
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Since I found a new tenant for the other apartment in the house I live in, my landlady has given me $200 off my rent next month. Since this already surpasses my $150 challenge, I shall raise my August challenge to $400. I hope I reach it! This money will go towards paying for Fall semester miscellaneous fees at my university.

Budget Slip-Ups and August Goals

I went over my budget much more this month (+ $146.17) than last month (+ $27.25). The main culprit areas were: Groceries (+ $74.49), Eating Out (+ $27.81), and Misc (+ $50.80). I really must be better about my budget than I am right now. Especially impulse grocery purchases (though I have a pantry full of stuff that needs to be used up), and impulsive eating out when I am too lazy to cook.

I spent a good three hours today reorganizing my kitchen and pantry and taking stock of all the food I have at home – all cleanly entered and color-coded in Excel. I know… it seems mad, but it will prove very useful the next few months. I am amazed at how much stuff my small pantry holds! I am even more amazed at some of the things I purchased. No doubt at some point I thought I was going to cook and eat these things, but they were stupid purchases anyway. I will have to be very creative the next few months, and I am not looking forward to it, but it will be fun to restock once I have used up a lot of this stuff.

Here are my goals for August:
• I’m going to halve my grocery and eating out budget to guilt myself into cooking more at home and using up supplies that I already have.
• Stick to the budget as much as possible.
• Maximize my snowflakes and send it towards paying my semester university fees (my tuition is paid for by my department, but the miscellaneous fees are not). This would be approx. $330 for the whole semester.
• Talk w. payroll and see if my extra pay (for the 5hrs/wk I am working on a grant application for my professor) can be sent separately directly to another account so I can use it for internship applications and/or travel expenses to India at the end of this year. If they can’t do this, set it up myself through the bank.
• List more stuff on Craigslist and Amazon, and hope it sells.

I Love Craigslist

I pulled out a bunch of stuff I was not using and snapped some pictues and posted them on Craigslist yesterday. I have already got one buy (a set of baking pans for $5.00) and three more potential buys. Isn't it fun? Most things were small, but I also had a couple of pieces of furniture that I don't really need. I think the key is to post pictures on there too.

I've had a couple of no-spend days in the past week. My challenge of cooking at eating at home is working fine. I made some parsley-oregano pesto last night and tossed it into some rotini pasta with some garlic, olives, artichokes, dried pepper flakes and romano cheese. It was delightful. But today and tomorrow, I am lunching out with friends. My budget is looking awful right now.... all negative numbers.

New Source of Income Confirmed

I talked in the last post about the possibility of generating some income as an English speaking partner for an international student. I met with her - she is sweet. We've agreed to meet 2hr/day 4x/week @ $7/hr. That's $56/week. Isn't that nice? More money towards savings and debt-reduction!

Money, Money and....

I feel that I should start labeling my posts “More Money 1”, “More Money 2” and so on. Since I started getting serious about my savings and debt-repayment, I have kept an eye open for new avenues of generating income. I would love to take a secondary job and generate some regular income. However, since I am a graduate student working hard on qualifiers prep and my dissertation proposal at the moment, I don’t have too much time to spare to work any decently paying second hand job. So I look around here and there for small scraps of work that I can do without too much effort or travel. And I have been incredibly lucky in finding a bit of money here and there. Here are a few sources of income that are either coming in soon or that I am considering right now.

1. My friend whose dog I pet-sat last month is going out of town again with her family and asked me if I would pet-sit again Thu-Sat. Yay! That’s another $25 coming in.
2. I saw a note in one of the university buildings for an English speaking partner for an international student. Two hrs/wk @ $7.00/hr. I called, and she and I have agreed to meet today and see if this is something that we would like to do.
3. An additional 5 hrs of research assistantship/wk in the Fall semester.
4. I found a new tenant for my landlady for the room next-door. According to an agreement that I had with my landlady, she will now give me $200 off the next month’s rent.
5. Selling more stuff on Craigslist and Amazon.
6. Any other ideas???

That’s all that I have right now. Most of them are very small income generators. I do keep an eye out, but money is hard to come by – especially in a small college town, and especially in the summer. I would appreciate any other ideas about what to do and where to go to look for more money!

P.S. Yesterday, I participated in the simulation research study. They are going to pay me $120 that will be added to my payroll. I won’t get it at the end of this month – too late for that. Also, they will probably take part of it out in taxes, but I think I shall still count it as a whole $120 this month towards my monthly snowflake challenge.

No Secret

I was, and probably still am very skeptical about the “Law of Attraction”. I think it’s an over-exaggeration to say that if you are always positive, you can make anything you want come hurtling through the universe to you. However, I do concede that having a positive frame of mind and a positive approach to things leaves your mind open to new ideas and prevents inertia or hopelessness to take over. For the past few months I have been very focused on money – making more, saving more, and spending less. The latter two are more easily accomplished than the first – making more money. However, I have seen that once I start looking for money, it seems to just come to me.

I got an email from one of the advisory staff about joining a simulation study that they do each year. It’s a whole day’s work, and they’d pay me $120/-. Needless to say, I signed myself up. So on Tuesday, I will receive $120 more to add towards my snowflaking efforts. YAY!

P.S. I just met my second monthly challenge - and with this simulation study and a few more things, I think I might just be able to even double it!

My Yard Sale...

... was a complete washout. I sold a few things on Friday which just covered the advertising cost. But on Saturday, once I had set everything out and was ready to do some business, it rained cats and dogs and a lot of my stuff got wet, and no one came to buy anything. I'll list a few items on Craigslist and freecycle, but am terribly disappointed in how the whole thing turned out. On the plus side, I met a few interesting people who came browsing. I also got a free advertisement coupon when I placed my ad, but I don't think I am going to place another ad for a garage sale since I am not sure I want to have one anymore.

The Art of Frugal Gift Giving

There is a Goodwill store next to the bus-stop where I board my bus from. I was several minutes early today and decided to get out of the heat and humidity and look through some of the store’s offerings. I have found several barely-used, wonderful items at thrift stores. Today, I spotted a seemingly brand-new book of cocktails, that I picked up for a cocktail-crazy friend’s birthday (in September). The total price - $0.89. :-)

I like to receive gifts – and I like to give them too. I am always giving things to people – usually my little sister, but to others too. And most of them aren’t fancy or pricey. I give things to people at random times – it does not always have to be a birthday or anniversary. For example, while I sell my used textbooks on Amazon, I give away lots of the fiction books that I read (they don’t fetch any money on resale). I know a friend who is as voracious a reader as I am – and she is always excited at receiving a “new” book. I am constantly picking up other things too – pots left by the curbside for a gardening friend, coupons that I don’t use for another frugal friend, and so on. And most of the fun gifts I have given and received aren’t too pricey. Here are a few tips for frugal gift-giving:

• If you can, make it – Gifts that are made by hand – handmade cards, crafts and so on, offer a double serving of joy to the receiver – firstly, any handmade gift is unique and one-of-its-kind. And secondly, there is no doubt that if you spent enough time, effort and energy to make something, you most definitely care. I try and make things that I myself enjoy – mostly jewelry or crocheted items. I have fun making them, and a packet of beads or a roll of yarn is delightfully cheap too.

• Keep an ear open at all times – I often hear people saying, “I don’t know what to get her – I never know what she would like.” I rarely run into this problem because I keep my ears open. People will often inadvertently tell you about things that they like and enjoy and would want – a friend of mine is always saying how her shoulders ache – a perfect person to gift a massage to. My sister is always shopping – she’s a perfect person to give a gift card to. I keep a notebook in which I jot down things when people give me these hidden hints. Come birthday, anniversary or Christmas time, I get my notebook out and know what to give them. Knowing what you could give someone can help avoid last minute expensive gift-buying or splurging on something that the receiver would probably not use.

• Keep and eye open at all times – Most times, the gifts I give are not bought right before I give them. I sometimes pick up gifts months in advance if I see a good deal – like the cocktail book from this morning. Or at a garage sale or store close-out. However it is also important to remember that you have bought people something. I have a “gift shelf” where I store anything that I have bought intended as a gift. Periodically, I’ll clean out my home and place things that I want to give away on this shelf too.

• Your gift does not need to cost any money – Some of the best gifts are free. For instance, I offer to babysit friends’ children while the couple has a fun night out. I offer to drive my sister to the mall, carry her bags and help her shop although I despise long shopping trips – and she loves the company and my perspective. I once donated a vacation day to a grieving co-worker, and was astonished at how touched he was. Time, effort and energy don’t cost a great deal – but can be heartwarming. I believe that the best gift that one can give another is just “help” – through any small way.

It was my birthday last Thursday, and the best gift I received was a boxful of second-hand books purchased at the library sale for $5. Frugal – and fun! Happy frugal gift-giving!

PayPerPost Paid!

I got my first payment from PayPerPost. $18.92. I don't think I am getting any more payments from them though, because I don't seem to qualify for any of their opportunities. If I had a non-blogger URL, I might. We'll see.

Other news... I'm holding a yard sale this weekend. I spent $20 on advertizing it and getting the signs, labels etc. I hope to take $100 bringing my profit to $80. That is the goal, at least - we'll see what happens. Wish me luck.

June Budget Roundup

I've got to rush, so I'll make this quick. My June budget was was $27.25 over budget. While this is not too alarming, I did go over on two categories.

Groceries - over by $50.44
Eating Out - over by $48.43

Since I saved over $75 in my Misc category, I didn't go over by too much - maybe I need to re-evaluate my budget!

Monthly Challege - June

June has ended, and thankfully I have reached, and even surpassed my first Monthly Challenge goal of $150.

Here's the summary:

50.00 - Rent Reduction
48.77 - Amazon Sales (-S&H)
15.00 - Gas Grill
25.00 - Dog-sitting
19.00 - Online Surveys
35.00 - Found Cash
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$192.77 (Goal + $42.77)
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Random Thought: What I Am Grateful For

I am grateful that I have been forced to become financially aware when I am at my lowest earning power. I know that any job after I graduate will only bring in more than the $13,500/year that I earn now. If I was to run into financial trouble proportionate to this at my highest earning power, I know I would be experiencing hell. Thank God for this wake up call – being more financially aware now than I have ever been before, I can now plan my finances in a way that will allow me to dig myself out of this hole, and save for a wonderful youth and career, and a safe and comortable retirement.