So my rent went up + new spending plan

The 3%+ increase wasn’t unexpected, but it’s never good to see fixed expenses going up (especially during a time when energy and grocery prices are increasing so rapidly).
I’ve also put together a new budget spending plan, just in time for July! I’ve been a little too liberal with spending lately, and its time to be [...]

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Gas. Hurts.

For the month of May I spent over $200 on gas. This month, on top of the gas expenditures, I have to take my car in the shop for an oil change and minor repairs (~$120?).
Like most Californians, I’ve adjusted (slowly and reluctantly) to the painful reality of increasing gas prices. I am mentally preparing [...]

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Why PearBudget still rules

So, right before I depart for a weekend get-away, I sat down, combed through my credit card activities, and manually entered in all my expenditures into my trusty PearBudget spreadsheet.
Yeah, I admit, I got a little tired of entering in every. single. expense., but guess what? Actually typing in $66 (dinner with CB) or $132 [...]

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Hair, hair, everywhere - part 2

It’s been over a year since I did a hair post, so… lo and behold, the hair post of 2008!
Inspired by a comment from reader Stacy:
One thing that I discovered was eating up a chunk of money is my hair. I tallied up how many times I got my hair cut and highlighted last [...]

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C.A.S.H. still saves me cash

It’s now the middle of March, and I still haven’t bought any clothing, shoes, or accessories since the end of December 2007.
Which means I made it through after-Christmas sales, New Year’s Day sales, Holiday Clearance sales, and now am in the process of resisting Spring sales.
Which means, I really, really want to buy something!!
I stopped [...]

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Car, oh, car

Well, I thought that because I don’t have a car payment the cost of owning and operating a vehicle would be… I don’t know… LOWER?
I’ve done a quick tally of all the costs associated with my car:
Gasoline/parking: $150 a month
Auto insurance: $125 a month
Oil change/maintenance/repairs: $85/month
Total: $150+$125+$85 = $360.
So every month, my car get $360 [...]

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Our budgets, ourselves

After being inspired by this early retirement extraordinaire, I decided to take a closer look at my budget to see if there is an area I can cut or trim.
I operate on a $2,000/month budget - it’s a pretty good plan for ME. (I’ve followed it fairly well since the beginning of this year). A [...]

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Xtreme!! Retire at 30?

I just found this blog: http://earlyretirementextreme.com/. The title certainly is NO exaggeration! The author, Jacob, is a 30something PH.D. who lives in the Bay Area. According to his blog, he has consistently saved 70% of his net salary for several years, and have managed to have an extreme early retirement in his 30s.
Wow. Can I [...]

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C.A.S.H. saves me cash

C.A.S.H. stands for Clothing, Accessories & Shoes Hiatus - yeah, I only came up with this oh-so-clever acronym a month AFTER I decided to go on the hiatus.
Some things I’ve noticed so far:
1. I still browse online occasionally, but I don’t feel the urge to jump on “deals”. I’ve passed on $30 BR pants because [...]

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January 08 report

I’ve been good about keeping track of my money.. so I’m feeling proud just ’cause of that.
Spendng $$$: I budgeted $1958.16 per month, but only spent $1,651.62 (fixed: $1,134.75, variable: $516.87, and irregular: $0). My unofficial goal is to keep my monthly spending lower than 1 paycheck’s net amount, which I have done [...]

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