Deal of the month: free HD channels for a one-time fee of $12.
Last year I bought a 32'' Vizio HDTV when it went on uber-sale. It's a great TV and up until a few days ago its only purpose was for me to watch DVDs by hooking it up to my laptop; usually Pride and Prejudice (1995) or the Lord of the Rings special features - I like to watch those while I'm cleaning or cooking or doing homework. Cable is in very expensive and it's kind of a temptation I don't want to give in to, even if I had the money; something about having all those channels at the touch of a button makes me feel like if I had cable, I would watch TV way more than I should. I haven't watched much TV in years, and in general, I don't think I'm missing much.
However, during the first week of the winter Olympics I started feeling sad that I was missing out on them. I felt a little too awkward to invite myself over to one of my friends' houses with cable, and anyway I had a paper to write. But it still bothered me. Enter a $12 antenna from Best Buy, and now I get all the network channels for free, in HD! I know this isn't a revelation, but that was definitely $12 well spent! I've been happily watching the Olympics since. And it's nice to know that if I want, in the morning I can turn on the news to check the weather instead of using the internet. As a plus, if I ever take up learning Spanish or Chinese, I get three Spanish channels and one Chinese channel (which so far has only seemed to show crazy game shows).
Showing posts with label frugal living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frugal living. Show all posts
Financial Reflections and Goals for 2010
I'm approaching the end of my first year of keeping a budget! I'm proud of this accomplishment, but I have so much farther to go before I'll be where I want to be in the struggle between controlling my money and having it control me. So before I start in on the negatives, here's what I'm proud of from the last year:
The most obvious goal is: don't spend more than you make in one month. For several months in 2009 I bankrupted myself by using September's first paycheck to pay off the rest of August's expenses. Naively I thought I could get by on one paycheck for September, and when I couldn't, the cycle continued.
Not anymore. I want to start 2010 with a clean slate, which means spending this month living on one paycheck - for real. Luckily, I'll be going home at the end of the week, so I won't have to worry about food/gas/electricity and all of the uncertain expenses of living on your own. Unfortunately, this month is also December. Because my family is awesome and supports me so much, they deserve Christmas presents. But in order to start off 2010 clean, I gave myself a budget of $50 for all of my Christmas shopping this year. Here's how it worked out:
Besides this Christmas spending, I've tried to absolutely reduce all non-necessary spending to zero this month. The one slip-up came when I took on an extra shift at work in the middle of the day - I hadn't brought anything in for dinner because I thought I would be home, so I bought something because I was starving. But, I'm on track to start the new year in the green.
One thing that this month has taught me so far is that it's really not all that hard to not spend. There's enough food in my kitchen to last a couple weeks. After about a week I wouldn't be eating fresh vegetables or fruit anymore, but my nutrition wouldn't take a very big hit. It just takes meal planning creativity and getting myself up off the couch. Last night I made homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese, which definitely hit the spot on a cold and dreary Seattle night.
So besides actually living within my means, here are some other financial goals for next year:
For about a year I've been saving up to go to Italy with my parents this summer. Once that trip is over, I want to keep saving monthly:
- Build a $500 emergency fund. Within five months at the latest (putting away $100/month) I want to have $500 in the bank to be used in case of emergencies: unexpected car costs, health costs, and other unforeseen and unplanned emergencies.
- Keep a $200 fund for recurring expenses. Keep $200 set aside at all times for recurring expenses throughout the year: textbooks, out-of-pocket tuition expenses, and gifts. This way these expenses won't take me by surprise and bankrupt me ($200 is a lot when you make just under $8,000 a year!).
- Don't make a large purchase until all of it has been saved. This one is probably a no-brainer, but unfortunately I need to make it a rule. Last year I was saving $3- or $400 for a TV and caved to purchase a great deal when I was still $100 short. While it's been a great TV, ultimately I don't need a TV and I'm a little ashamed that not waiting until I had all the money ready meant that I had to do some scrambling to cover that $100 I didn't wait for.
My usual method for saving for fun things (like the TV, or things like a weekend trip to Victoria) is to take 10% off each paycheck and put it in savings. This is a small enough number that I can manage its loss, but it still adds up relatively quickly. The amount of time it takes to save for something also has the added benefit of helping me realize if I really want it or not. Of course, sometimes I just sabotage all my well-thought-out plans. But I'm determined to learn from my mistakes.
- I actually stuck with it! Every few days, for the last year, I've gone over my statements and transferred everything into my meticulous budget spreadsheet. Now it's habit.
- I got in the habit of saving. Except for a few months where I was too cash-strapped, I've been putting away $100 or $200 each month toward going to Italy. After that trip I plan to continue saving. Saving makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
- Contrary to my fears, now that I can look at the whole year in review, most of my budget slip-ups weren't from profligate eating out expenses or other small expenses - it was because every few months I made a pretty major purchase - a computer, a TV, birthday/Christmas gifts, a mattress (I couldn't avoid that last one, but still). Luckily resisting big-ticket impulse spending is fairly easy. I'm now entrenched in a stubborn "I'm poor" attitude.
- I'm getting a lot better at cooking and making use of what's in my kitchen. My diet has definitely improved.
- Try as I might, this year I just kept getting poorer. After the summer I quit my tutoring job, because it's very hard to be a full-time student with two part-time jobs. Then financial aid kept decreasing in conjunction with tuition going up 14%, culminating with this quarter where suddenly I had to start paying out of pocket for books and $100 of tuition. Yikes. I'm trying to get out of here with as few loans as possible, but I definitely need to plan for this next year. The situation will likely get worse.
- I suck at not eating out. Lunch isn't the offender - I'm very good at either bringing it or going hungry. It's going out to dinner with friends. The answer obviously isn't to become a recluse, so the most likely way to deal with this cost is to trim spending elsewhere. I already order the cheapest things on menus and don't get drinks.
- In general, I need to think long and hard about whether I need something or just want it before I buy. This has been getting easier in the last couple months: I rarely go to places where I have the opportunity to buy things. Mostly I just go to the grocery store. When I did my Christmas shopping yesterday I almost felt empowered; passing chic clothes, handbags, and all sorts of baubles, I thought, "I don't need you! I already have everything I need to make me happy!"
The most obvious goal is: don't spend more than you make in one month. For several months in 2009 I bankrupted myself by using September's first paycheck to pay off the rest of August's expenses. Naively I thought I could get by on one paycheck for September, and when I couldn't, the cycle continued.
Not anymore. I want to start 2010 with a clean slate, which means spending this month living on one paycheck - for real. Luckily, I'll be going home at the end of the week, so I won't have to worry about food/gas/electricity and all of the uncertain expenses of living on your own. Unfortunately, this month is also December. Because my family is awesome and supports me so much, they deserve Christmas presents. But in order to start off 2010 clean, I gave myself a budget of $50 for all of my Christmas shopping this year. Here's how it worked out:
- Every few months I get a free $25 amazon gift card as a perk for using their credit card. I saved the latest one and used it to buy presents for my dad, stepmom and boyfriend. Score!
- My mom, stepdad and sister came to a grand total of $54, but to help offset this I sold some old textbooks today and got $36 back! Yes!
- Everyone else will be getting yummy and lovingly-wrapped baked goods.
Besides this Christmas spending, I've tried to absolutely reduce all non-necessary spending to zero this month. The one slip-up came when I took on an extra shift at work in the middle of the day - I hadn't brought anything in for dinner because I thought I would be home, so I bought something because I was starving. But, I'm on track to start the new year in the green.
One thing that this month has taught me so far is that it's really not all that hard to not spend. There's enough food in my kitchen to last a couple weeks. After about a week I wouldn't be eating fresh vegetables or fruit anymore, but my nutrition wouldn't take a very big hit. It just takes meal planning creativity and getting myself up off the couch. Last night I made homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese, which definitely hit the spot on a cold and dreary Seattle night.
So besides actually living within my means, here are some other financial goals for next year:
For about a year I've been saving up to go to Italy with my parents this summer. Once that trip is over, I want to keep saving monthly:
- Build a $500 emergency fund. Within five months at the latest (putting away $100/month) I want to have $500 in the bank to be used in case of emergencies: unexpected car costs, health costs, and other unforeseen and unplanned emergencies.
- Keep a $200 fund for recurring expenses. Keep $200 set aside at all times for recurring expenses throughout the year: textbooks, out-of-pocket tuition expenses, and gifts. This way these expenses won't take me by surprise and bankrupt me ($200 is a lot when you make just under $8,000 a year!).
- Don't make a large purchase until all of it has been saved. This one is probably a no-brainer, but unfortunately I need to make it a rule. Last year I was saving $3- or $400 for a TV and caved to purchase a great deal when I was still $100 short. While it's been a great TV, ultimately I don't need a TV and I'm a little ashamed that not waiting until I had all the money ready meant that I had to do some scrambling to cover that $100 I didn't wait for.
My usual method for saving for fun things (like the TV, or things like a weekend trip to Victoria) is to take 10% off each paycheck and put it in savings. This is a small enough number that I can manage its loss, but it still adds up relatively quickly. The amount of time it takes to save for something also has the added benefit of helping me realize if I really want it or not. Of course, sometimes I just sabotage all my well-thought-out plans. But I'm determined to learn from my mistakes.
Filet Mignon
Last Friday I made dinner for my boyfriend's birthday and invited two of our best friends over to help celebrate. I decided to pull out the stops and make something that we could never afford out: bacon-wrapped filet mignon. I was so busy preparing for dinner and having so much fun when we were eating it that I completely forgot to take pictures, which is a shame, because it was beautiful and delicious!
My first-ever dinner party was a success, I'm happy to say. On the menu was bacon-wrapped filet mignon, cooked to medium-rare perfection thanks to the handy meat thermometer I got off Amazon (I'm far too paranoid to cook meat to anything but well done without one). I also made rosemary-garlic red potatoes and steamed asparagus. Our friends brought a 2002 Merlot and we drank the rest of the red zinfandel that I used in the sauce. For dessert I bought a box of Ghiradelli walnut brownie mix (delicious!) and served it with fresh raspberries on the side.
The hardest part was timing everything so it was all done when they arrived, especially since almost everything had to go in the oven at different temperatures. The potatoes could have cooked a little longer, but everyone said they tasted great. I was pretty nervous and jittery while cooking the filets - I almost never cook beef - but I'm sure with practice it'll get easier. Although the presentation on the filets wasn't the best (some of the bacon was falling off), they tasted great.
Cost
I bought everything except the wine at QFC.
4 ~8oz filet mignon: $37.60
4 slices of bacon: $1.40
Red zinfandel: $8.49
2 T shallots: less than $0.50
6 red potatoes: $1.71
2 cloves garlic: $0.26
1/2 onion: $0.63
Rosemary and olive oil is negligible, and I had both already.
Ghiradelli brownie mix: $1.99
Raspberries: $6.99
For a total of $59.57 for four people, or about $14.89 a plate! While this is certainly not a meal I can afford to make every month, it was a great special occasion meal and muuuch cheaper than buying it at a restaurant.
And now for the recipes!
Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat; turn oven to 375 degrees F. Add 2 tablespoons butter and let foam. Add the steaks and cook for 4 minutes per side. You should get a nice sear on each side. Remove the steaks and put them in the oven on an oven proof platter or casserole dish.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining butter. Once melted, add the shallots and cook for about 1 minute until they soften, then add the wine and thyme. Raise the heat to high and let most of the sauce bubble away. Reduce heat to low.
Cook the steaks about 8-10 minutes. When the steaks are close to cooked - 140 degrees F at their thickest point - remove the steaks from the oven and let sit for 2 minutes. Toss the steak in the pan with the sauce, and then serve with a coating of the red wine sauce.
Combine ingredients in a gallon-sized ziplock bag and shake until potatoes are evenly coated. Cook potatoes for 30-40 minutes at 425 degrees F or until outsides are golden brown.
My first-ever dinner party was a success, I'm happy to say. On the menu was bacon-wrapped filet mignon, cooked to medium-rare perfection thanks to the handy meat thermometer I got off Amazon (I'm far too paranoid to cook meat to anything but well done without one). I also made rosemary-garlic red potatoes and steamed asparagus. Our friends brought a 2002 Merlot and we drank the rest of the red zinfandel that I used in the sauce. For dessert I bought a box of Ghiradelli walnut brownie mix (delicious!) and served it with fresh raspberries on the side.
The hardest part was timing everything so it was all done when they arrived, especially since almost everything had to go in the oven at different temperatures. The potatoes could have cooked a little longer, but everyone said they tasted great. I was pretty nervous and jittery while cooking the filets - I almost never cook beef - but I'm sure with practice it'll get easier. Although the presentation on the filets wasn't the best (some of the bacon was falling off), they tasted great.
Cost
I bought everything except the wine at QFC.
4 ~8oz filet mignon: $37.60
4 slices of bacon: $1.40
Red zinfandel: $8.49
2 T shallots: less than $0.50
6 red potatoes: $1.71
2 cloves garlic: $0.26
1/2 onion: $0.63
Rosemary and olive oil is negligible, and I had both already.
Ghiradelli brownie mix: $1.99
Raspberries: $6.99
For a total of $59.57 for four people, or about $14.89 a plate! While this is certainly not a meal I can afford to make every month, it was a great special occasion meal and muuuch cheaper than buying it at a restaurant.
And now for the recipes!
Pan Seared Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon in Red Wine Reduction Sauce
- 4 filet mignons wrapped in bacon (6 or 8oz each)
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons minced shallots (or to taste)
- 3/4 cup red wine (I used a red zinfandel)
Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat; turn oven to 375 degrees F. Add 2 tablespoons butter and let foam. Add the steaks and cook for 4 minutes per side. You should get a nice sear on each side. Remove the steaks and put them in the oven on an oven proof platter or casserole dish.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining butter. Once melted, add the shallots and cook for about 1 minute until they soften, then add the wine and thyme. Raise the heat to high and let most of the sauce bubble away. Reduce heat to low.
Cook the steaks about 8-10 minutes. When the steaks are close to cooked - 140 degrees F at their thickest point - remove the steaks from the oven and let sit for 2 minutes. Toss the steak in the pan with the sauce, and then serve with a coating of the red wine sauce.
Rosemary garlic potatoes
- 6 red potatoes, quartered
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- rosemary to taste
Combine ingredients in a gallon-sized ziplock bag and shake until potatoes are evenly coated. Cook potatoes for 30-40 minutes at 425 degrees F or until outsides are golden brown.
A Halloween Murder Mystery Party
Who says hosting a dinner party has to break the bank? I certainly don't!
For Halloween this year my friend Katie and I decided to throw a murder mystery party. We began planning for it in... oh, August. She decided to take care of the housing and the actual dinner, and I would take care of the murder mystery. I researched online for a few days but couldn't find anything for free. I wasn't about to pay $60 to buy someone else's party, so I decided to write my own. It's actually wonderfully fun and a good exercise for a creative writing major.
Writing your own murder mystery party takes a lot of time and planning, but can be really rewarding! Here are some tips for writing your own:
If the cost of dinner would be prohibitive, you could ask each guest to bring a dinner dish (or at least a bottle of wine). Our group of friends rotates hostess duties, so at the end of the day we all come out pretty much even.
Happy partying!
For Halloween this year my friend Katie and I decided to throw a murder mystery party. We began planning for it in... oh, August. She decided to take care of the housing and the actual dinner, and I would take care of the murder mystery. I researched online for a few days but couldn't find anything for free. I wasn't about to pay $60 to buy someone else's party, so I decided to write my own. It's actually wonderfully fun and a good exercise for a creative writing major.
Writing your own murder mystery party takes a lot of time and planning, but can be really rewarding! Here are some tips for writing your own:
- Choose your theme! The possibilities are limitless: Hollywood glam, pirates, Jane Austen... we chose to do a Halloween-themed 1940s murder mystery.
- Look at murder mystery kits online. Many of them provide party samples and character descriptions. They'll also help you familiarize yourself with murder mystery party formats.
- Decide on your party size and guest-list. It's a lot easier to plan your guest list in advance. You'll have to make up each character, and it can be helpful to pair guests with a certain character personality at the get-go. As you can imagine, the smaller the party the easier it will be to create fully-fleshed characters. For our party we had ten characters.
- Start by writing a party premise. What happens leading up to the murder? Here's ours:
Hollywood Actress Jean Heather is throwing a dinner party to celebrate her newly released film Double Indemnity, and you’re invited! Not long into the party, Jean realizes she forgot to buy mint for the mojitos! Jean's fiancé, Harold, runs down to the grocer's to buy some, but he never returns. Eventually Jean gets worried and goes to look for him - and finds him sprawled in the lobby. While waiting for the police to arrive, the guests start to wonder if foul play was involved, and if one of the guests themselves could be the culprit…
- Now you'll need to create the characters, decide on whodunnit (and why and how), and plan the order of events.
- After you're done with all the writing, it's time to create an invitation! (Or, if you're not the creative type, ask a friend who is)
In addition to the invitations, there are of course more things that need to be printed out: character descriptions, objectives, the evidence, nametags, and the solution to be read out at the end of the party.
The name tags and objective (A) envelopes waiting for everyone at the start of the party.
- And finally, think about printing off awards to give to the guests who guess the murderer correctly, best actor/actress, and best costume!
If the cost of dinner would be prohibitive, you could ask each guest to bring a dinner dish (or at least a bottle of wine). Our group of friends rotates hostess duties, so at the end of the day we all come out pretty much even.
Happy partying!
My cousin's wedding
This weekend was my cousin's wedding. It definitely qualified as both frugal and awesome! The wedding and reception were held outdoors at my grandpa's house. It was such a beautiful setup! The ceremony's backdrop was his garden, and the only additions were wreaths of flowers arranged around the archway where they were married.
My cousin had ten bridesmaids, including my sister and I and her two sisters. We ordered our dresses online from a Hawaii-based website and they were only $40 each, including shipping! It was a bit crazy getting everyone coordinated, but I know my cousin had a great day.
Her husband is hispanic and his family cooked most of the food for the reception. It was some of the most delicious Mexican food I've ever eaten: tamales, rice, tortilla soup, this amazing pork-and-tomato stuff...My mom contributed a ham and the cake was amazing as well.
The whole event was family-designed from top to bottom, from the homemade table decorations to the music during the reception - my grandfather's rock 'n roll band! What a great weekend!
My cousin had ten bridesmaids, including my sister and I and her two sisters. We ordered our dresses online from a Hawaii-based website and they were only $40 each, including shipping! It was a bit crazy getting everyone coordinated, but I know my cousin had a great day.
Her husband is hispanic and his family cooked most of the food for the reception. It was some of the most delicious Mexican food I've ever eaten: tamales, rice, tortilla soup, this amazing pork-and-tomato stuff...My mom contributed a ham and the cake was amazing as well.
The whole event was family-designed from top to bottom, from the homemade table decorations to the music during the reception - my grandfather's rock 'n roll band! What a great weekend!
Financial reflections after five months of budget-keeping
Now that May's over, this is the fifth month that I've been tracking my spending and attempting to keep a budget.
I have a pretty detailed and (if I may say so) awesome budget spreadsheet that I made back in the beginning of December, when I had no idea where all of my money was going, and my mom said I could go to Italy with her and Mark next spring break, if I could pay for it. So I decided to make a budget that would reel in my spending and help me save up for Italy.
In December my plan was to give myself a spending cap, and then record all of my spending on a spreadsheet. By the end of December I learned it wasn't enough just to have a number in mind that I couldn't exceed; I would think, "well, I should still have enough money to eat out/buy that for my apartment/get a couple shirts," and by the end of the month I'd spent much more than I'd meant to.
So in January I created the itemized awesomeness that I've been using ever since. First, there are sections for each source of income: what I'm projected to bring in, and then, next to it, what I actually bring in (this fluctuates because some months I miss work, others I pick up extra cover, etc). Below that are my fixed expenses, the things that I always have to pay: rent, parking, utilities, internet, groceries, gas, and also my monthly savings. I've been putting away $200 a month for Italy since December, and I'm on track to go to Italy. I'm glad I have these saving habits ingrained now, because after the trip I can just keep saving and have a nice chunk for emergencies or future trips or whatever.
My fixed expenses plus all of my savings amount to 80% of my monthly income (52% fixed expenses, 26% savings). I read this article
on MSN about keeping your basic living expenses below 60% of your total income - and I'm glad I'm able to do that.Next come the variable expenses. School-related expenses take up about 10% of the remaining income, though they're only incurred once every three months. The last 10% is for the fun stuff. I realized that by allowing myself to budget in fun stuff (like two movies out a month, and $50 on eating out - roughly eating out once a week), I generally don't spend more on those things than I would have before.
Of course, all that is very nice in theory. What I've learned over the last five months is that in some areas, I fight my budget tooth and nail. Each month the eating out tab has been higher than I want it to be, and every couple months I decide to make some bigger purchase that puts strain on other areas. There is built-in flexibility, but I really wish I was more in control of impulse spending (which usually happens in the middle of the month when I say, "hey, look, I have a lot of money left over!"). But I'm going to try and not beat myself up about it too hard. The first step is to figure out where the money is going - and I've got that down. Now the goal is to really try and reel in spending.
The most obvious place to cut is eating out. Despite my best intentions, I eat out a lot. Usually for lunch, because I figure, "it's only five or six dollars." But that adds up alarmingly fast. Keeping my kitchen better stocked with lunch foods and making lunch the night before will help. Most days I'm out of the house from 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM at work and school, so if I don't pack lunch, I'm starving. During June my goal is to only eat out for lunch once a week, if that. After summer's over I hope to reduce that number to zero, except for the rare case. But little steps.
Eating out less for dinner is also a goal - or rather, the goal is to stick with the original goal, which is once a week.
I guess also, looking at the itemized lists of everything I've purchased over the last five months, most of it is stuff I don't really need, or it's stuff I could have gotten cheaper if I'd looked harder. Especially stuff for my new apartment. So in the future, I really want to ask myself, "do I need that," not just want it, before I make a purchase. And if I really decide that I do need it, I should shop around online and look at thrift stores (or make it myself) before buying it. I really do have all the necessities already - all of the other things on my list are just things that would be nice.
So, I've got a way to go before I'm confident and comfortable with my spending habits. But at least I'm getting there.