Oh Happy Day

1. Tomorrow is pay day
2. I got all my insurance stuff in the mail so I can finally get a check up
3. Tonight is my friends birthday party

This is how I feel:

Before and After: Yellow Edition

Because I'm just now becoming an adult I don't have nice furniture. Well, my bed is pretty nice but other than that my apartment is furnished with laminate furniture from Target and barely put together items from Ikea. My natural instinct is to donate everything and just buy new stuff. My natural instinct is probably the reason I'm broke. Now that I'm trying to save/make more money my new natural instinct is to try to sell it on Craigslist. Unfortunately for most of what I own it'd probably be pointless. My dresser is poorly assembled and laminate and I could probably get MAYBE $30 for it which wouldn't really be enough to buy a nice/sturdy dresser. Even if I managed to find an old dresser that I could fix up I drive a Hyundai....how would I get it home? My boyfriend is thinking about trading his car in for a truck so maybe if that happens I can start purchasing bigger items but until then I'm on my own.

So the only solution was to take what I already owned and make it better on the cheap. Once again the solution is paint. Seriously, paint can fix anything.

Vase Before:

Not bad but incredibly boring and didn't mesh with the look that I'm going for in my apartment.

Vase After:

So pretty! While it's not much of a change the bright yellow (and dried flowers from my honey) actually looked like a put in effort to designing my living room. Plus, it was incredibly easy to do: Step 1 Clean dusty vase. Step 2 Spray paint vase and let dry. EASY.

Now on to my sad laminate dresser. Fun fact, if you ever want heartache and disappointment try to spray paint laminate. IT WILL ONLY END IN TEARS. Luckily, I learned that lesson on a small bookshelf/night stand thing (that I sort of fixed with layer upon layer of acrylic) so I knew to suck it up and hand paint my dresser. I wanted the shabby chic look without the shabby chic price (Shabby Chic dressers are listed at $300+ on Target.com!!!!) so I used this Crackle stuff from the Martha Stewart craft line. Basically, you coat whatever you want to paint in the crackle gel, you let it dry, and then you paint over it. The crackle gel cracks underneath the paint giving furniture an aged and vintage appearance.

Dresser Before:

Pic stolen from Target.com because I forgot to take a before and I'm far too lazy to do it now.

Dresser After:

Again, so pretty! I know it's not much but it has made all of the difference in my bedroom. I never really put much into design techniques but just by painting two items in my room it looks completely different and so much better.

Up close:

The crackle effect gives the laminate depth and the extra I spent on new knobs from Home Depot really paid off. I'm so freakin' in love with this new dresser and even though it won't last me for the rest of my life it's perfect for right now and cost me a total of $20 bucks to fix up.

Vase Upgrade

Ever since I agreed to stay in my apartment another year I've been trying to make it more "home-y". For the last seven years I've moved once a year and I've gotten to the point where most of the time I don't even hang my frames up because I don't see the point. Now that I can really settle in and make my place my own I'm trying to upgrade it on the cheap. Best way to upgrade on the cheap? PAINT! I spent around 20 bucks on spray paint and acrylics and so far I like the upgrades that I'm doing.

Vase before:

There was nothing wrong with this vase before but it just no longer felt age appropriate. My home has always been a hodge-podge of colors, patterns, and decorations and I wanted something more cohesive. I decided that I wanted the main colors to be blue and yellow with accents of white and black.


After:

All it took was a few coats of spray paints and now it has the grown up feel that I was looking for. Instead of going out and buying all new things (with money I don't have) I can upgrade what I already own.

Obligatory Instagram pic to make it appear that I have some sort of artistic ability.

Also, I should let it be known that I have no artistic ability. None. But if I can spray paint or paint something and it can come out okay ANYONE can.

Grocery Store

So I broke down and went grocery shopping. Ugh, I know but it was sort of necessary. I was basically out of soy milk, which I use for creamer in my morning coffee, and trust me, the world is a better place when I have my morning coffee. I've been having a daily cup of joe since I was 13 and the caffeine headache I get when I don't feed my 12 year habit is insane. Also, I had no fresh veggies or fruit. I was a vegan for 4 years and before that a vegetarian for 2 and even though I now eat everything I still need a pretty hefty serving of fruit and vegetables.

I wanted to be a frugal as possible and honestly I think I did pretty well because I only spent $15!! I can't remember the last time I have spent that little for food (besides take out). Even on a quick run in to pick up snacks for Girl's Night I spend around $20. So, for 15 bucks I got a pretty good selection: head of lettuce, 3 peaches, 3 bananas, 2 large cucumbers, 1 large tomato, yogurt, 1 large can of tuna, box of mac n cheese, 2 cartons of soy milk, 3 packages of ramen noodles, and a store brand sprite. I needed (or craved) the ramen and sprite because I have a pretty gnarly hangover from too much whiskey and the mac and cheese was free with the purchase of the can of tuna.

If I can manage to shop like this more often (only buying small amounts, buying store brands, and using coupons) I think I can definitely get my spending under control.

Also, my boyfriend decided to be an absolute sweet heart and buy me lunch meat and cheese (which is why I wanted the lettuce and tomato) which will taste delicious on the fresh bread that I'm in the middle of making.

EDIT:

Look at this delicious, fresh, homemade bread. As soon as I was done snapping this photo I cut a slice, slathered it in butter, and ate it up. Amazing!
I used this recipe but modified the time. My oven cooks very quickly so I baked the bread at 375 degrees for 15 minutes and then at 250 degrees for 10 minutes.

Cable Savings

So I made the dreaded cable canceling call today. Luckily (or perhaps she was just doing her job properly) I got a service representative that was willing to cut me a deal. She was able to offer me the new customer service price and free DVR services (for only six months) at a rate of $83.98 a month. After 6 months $10 will be added for DVR services. Since my old bill ranged between $127 and $130 I have a total savings of around $43!! Yes, it could be better (I could have had the balls to cancel completely and discount myself from the time sucker that is my tv) but saving nearly 50 bucks a month after a simple phone call is pretty legit.

So, let's review my current stats!
Rent, water, and utilities: $736 or less a month
Texas has had an unprecedented heat wave of a 100+ temps and my utilities bill has never topped $99 so (hopefully) the max I will pay for these services is 736 bucks.

Netflix: $16.23
Gym: 17.31
Total for credit card: $33.54 (less than the $50 I guessed on my last post)

Fixed bills
Cable: $83.98
Phone: $100
Loans: $300
Total: $483.98

Subtotal=$1253.52 a month (not including food or gas). I estimated (or hoped) that I could get by with spending $200 on food and $100 on gas a month which means the final, super awesome, brand new grand total (hopefully!!!) is $1553.52 a month.

So after being more precise in my calculations and making some phone calls I have saved an estimated $59.48 a month.

It's probably pretty premature to start preening over savings I haven't seen yet but I feel that I'm on the right path to fixing my finances. Also, once I actually start getting some paychecks (and, you know, buying food) I want to possibly start selling things on Etsy. If through refurbishing furniture and selling it here in Austin and selling things on Etsy I can manage to come up with a couple extra bucks a month then I'll be in an even better spot.

The Begining

I am broke as fuck.

I'm not even being dramatic. I'm not really sure how it got to this point. Okay, that's a lie. It was excessive shopping and ill-advised spending that got me here. And honestly? I'm really great with money. I'm just not as great as I could be. Not as great as I SHOULD be.

So here's the breakdown. I just started a new government (aka low pay) job. Don't get me wrong, I'm in love with this job. I get full medical, dental, and vision for less than 5 bucks a month. Suck on that private sector. I won't get my first pay check until September 30th. Until then I have $27.88 in my checking account. I want to go as far as I can with out dipping into my savings ($702.04) but I doubt I'll make it all the way as my cupboards are close to bare.

After checking my back account online I started to realize a few things about myself and my shopping habits and I really became disappointed in the person that I am. I tell myself that I'm too broke to pay my cell phone bill, car insurance, and car payment (thanks Mom!) but I can still afford going out to eat constantly, expensive cable, and grocery trips that routinely run around $100 a week (I live alone; what can I say, I can pack a lot of food in this little body).

So I figured that since I'm 25 (almost 26) that it's time I get my shit together. I've got to shape up and take some of the burden off of my awesome Mother.

Here are my current monthly expenses:
Rent: $606
Water: +-$30
Utilities: +-$80
Cable: $127
Phone: No bill but I'd like to pay my Mom around $50-$100 bucks a month
College Loans: $300
Netflix: $16.23
Gold's Gym: $17.31
Total fixed bills: $1251.54

YIKES. This doesn't even include weekly expenses that vary like gas, food, and the possibilities of having a social life. I typically spend about $400 a month on food/social events (shut up, I know). My goal is to cut that in half. I haven't gone grocery shopping in about a week which is huge for me. If there is food in the fridge I'm eating it even if it's not what I was craving. For instance, last night I had canned tuna, and a cut up cucumber with dressing and croutons.

While I know my hourly rate I'm not sure what my pay checks are going to look like after taxes and my new and awesome retirement fund but I doubt I'll get more than $1000 a pay check. I'm hoping for around $800-$900. All together I'll barely be scrapping by and that just won't cut it. I want to have a substantial amount in my savings, I want to be able to travel one day, I want to pay off my ridiculous student loans before I'm dead. There's also some back bills that I have to pay off before I can really see any sort of difference.

Visa Credit Card: $17.31 (gym membership)
Target Credit card: $20.40
Dr Office (no insurance): $281
Clinical Labs (no insurance): $200
Total bills due: $518.71

Ugh, excuse me while I thank God again for my new awesome insurance. The best part about the medical bills (that once amounted to around $800)? I had to go to the doctor to get a physical for a job I DIDN'T get. So not only did I have the pain of not getting the job, I didn't get the job plus LOST almost a grand. Life's hysterical.

So, like I mentioned before I'm cutting my food and going out budget. I just started seeing a great guy and we've been eating out/drinking a lot. Luckily, he's broke too so he supports my decision to stay in more. Also, I plan on calling my cable company tomorrow and canceling my cable. This kills me, it really does. I love cable. I love my shows. But it'll cut around $50 bucks off of my cable bill (cable + DVR service). To be perfectly honest I'm hoping the cable company won't let me leave. A girl I work with tried to cancel her cable and they ended up allowing her to only pay for the first 100 channels and she cut her bill substantially. I know I'm weak but I'm trying.

I honestly can't think of any thing else that I can cut (I know that I'm not looking that hard). If I maintain the strength to end the cable then Netflix will entertain me. I'm going to see how the first round of cuts go and then if I have to I'll take more things to the chopping block. Hell, just quitting my ridiculous random splurges at Target should help me out. Also, I want to start some sort of side project where I refurbish old furniture for profits. I've started by fixing up my old place on the cheap.

So this blog is dedicated to getting me out of debt, saving up for a trip (dream=Hawaii or a weekend in Vegas with my girl friends), and my new adventure in repairing old furniture.

Good luck to me!!