Five Ways I Saved Dollarz on Vacation

The above is a picture of me spending dollars on vacation.

I just got back from another San Francisco trip. Bet you didn't know I was going, did you? Yes, I just went in August, but I went again last Thursday for a short trip.

Why?

When I graduated from college, I was dead set on moving to San Francisco. Fortunately and unfortunately my job connections and housing options here in Seattle were much more financially practical, so I stayed up here. At this point I promised myself that if I lived in Seattle, I had to make an effort to visit San Francisco as often as possible. I was shooting for twice a year, and have met that goal now for this year!

Another reason I went was that tickets were super cheap. After taxes and everything, I paid just $99 to fly on Virgin Air. This was ROUND TRIP. Sweet.

Since I had not started a "wine bottle savings account" for this trip, I started a small cash stash in a jar that I wouldn't have to break, since I didn't want to have to break a WBSA after just a month and a half. I put as much babysitting money as I could spare in a little jar. By the time it was time to leave, this jar had about $300. I spent just $180 on vacation. Yeah, that's a lot for three days I realize, but hey, I could easily spend that at home in three days as well. Besides...it could have been more!

Here are some things that I did that kept it from being more.

1. Snacks. I brought my own snacks. The night before I left I went to the natural foods section at Fred Meyer and bought some granola flakes, potato chips, pistachios, and allergen-free sugar cookies. Though these are not the healthiest things, they were the best things I could find that I wasn't allergic to that would travel well. I snacked on these things as much as I could throughout the trip so that I wouldn't have to buy snacks so often.

2. Public transportation. Except for two cab rides split three ways, I took it everywhere, including to and from SeaTac airport for the first time ever! The only reason we took a cab is because we saw some cops raiding a donut shop right by us and wanted to get out of the bad-seeming neighborhood ASAP.

3. Staying with friends. I am lucky enough to have extremely generous friends who will host me in SF. I hope they know how much I appreciate them, and I also hope they know that they are required to stay with me each and every time they visit Seattle.

4. Drinking less. I tried to limit my alcohol intake as much as possible. Everyone knows I love my drinky-drinks, but I didn't want to spend all my cash OR be too hungover to enjoy San Fran.

5. Eating good meals. Because on vacation I eat out a lot, I made sure to eat healthy, filling meals (that were allergen free, of course.) This helped so that I didn't want to snack as much in-between. I was also good at not splurging too much on coffee-like drinks or sodas in between meals.

Next step in achieving good San Francisco-related savings habits? I'm starting an ING Savings Account called "San Francisco". This will help to spread the cost of a plane ticket and expenses over several months through an automatic savings plan.

This way I can go back soon and pick up my heart that I left there. <3 <3

Severe Budgeting.

Interesting fact: As I started writing this entry, "Head Like a Hole" by Nine Inch Nails came on the radio. The beginning lines of this song:

God money, I'll do anything for you.
God money, just tell me what you want me to.
God money, nail me up against the wall.
The god of money don't want everything he wants it all.

I actually just looked that up, and there are conflicting sources of whether the line is "God money" or "Got money". I always thought it was "Got Money" but oh well. It's still about money. As is this entry.

The past months have been hard for me. My monthly housing payment has increased significantly, since I own my place now rather than rent. This was expected, so it isn't a huge deal.

But, on top of that, I owe a family member some money because they helped me with money for a down payment. I'm working hard to get this paid off as soon as possible, but it's hard! I was paying $500 a month toward this debt at first, but I was beginning to struggle a bit to have anything left at the end of the month. This month I knocked this amount down to $300, and am still struggling a little!

I decided to put myself on a stricter budget to make my dollarz last longer throughout the month. What's been happening is that I get paid once a month. I pay all my bills, buy things I've been wanting for a long time, get groceries, whatever. Then, as the month nears the end, I don't have anything left and I'm scrounging through my babysitting money and anxiously awaiting my mileage check from work.

This month I decided to do something. I took the money that was left in my checking account after paying several bills and buying some clothes (about $60 worth) and divided it by four. I also did some rounding. This amount ended up being about $180.

The first week I did great. It was hard, but I did great. This week, however, it is not working. I haven't even really been buying too much "frivolous shit."

Week One's expenses involved the following:

Gas: $12.70
Cold Care Tea, Dayquil, Cat Litter $11.90
Nyquil, Gummi Vitamins: $18.59
The rest are estimates, as I lost my records, but here's what I can remember.
Groceries at Whole Foods: ~22
Vintage Mixer at Rummage Sale: $10
Butternut Squash at Farmer's Market $1.75
Coffee Drink: $4
Manicure: $15
Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients @ PCC: ~8
Dental Bill: ~$20
Acupuncture and Herbs: %59

I'm at a loss for where the rest went, and regretting that I lost my records. Sometimes I forget how important that stuff is! The loyal readers of Ruling at Life are anxiously waiting!

This week has been worse. I did some babysitting and tried to save part of that money, but am going to have to spend some of it. This week my records are rounded. I do not want to do that next week. Here's what I have:

Special Eczema Wash for my feet: ~$25
Vitamins from Vitacost.com: ~$19
Tons of veggies and some bags of beans: ~$17
Soda at Lunchtime (I brought my own lunch!): ~$2
Soda at Billy McHales (socializing with coworkers): ~$3
Paying the Tailor to alter my trench coat so that it is way better: $28
Gas: $19.23
Food to make dinner @ PCC: ~$8
White Coffee Drink: $4
Groceries at Trader Joe's (including Food, Snacks, Shampoo, Probiotic Vitamins): ~$37
Money set aside for Acupuncture: $60

So far that adds up to about $163. But I know I'm missing something, because I added some babysitting into that, and I'm still coming up short. This is what I get for keeping shitty records. I will be better this next week.

I also found some $20 socks for $6. These are special socks because they help with the eczema on my feet. I am going to buy these.

Anyway, by looking at this data I have figured out many things. But, the thing that sticks out the most is that I have to spend a TON of money for health conditions. This sucks. But is necessary if I want to get better.

For example, I do NOT like spending money at bougie grocery stores such as PCC and Whole Foods. But because of my allergies, it's sometimes necessary for me to do so. For example, at Whole Foods I bought some Soy Free Earth Balance. Needed, as the only other butter that is free of butter, soy and coconut tastes pretty bad.

The money spent at PCC was on chocolate chips and chocolate bars that are soy and dairy free. (Hard to find, believe me!) This might be a little frivolous, but a girl needs her chocolate sometimes. With the chocolate chips and soy free earth balance I can make my own cookies, which is better than spending $5 on a package of Newman's Own cookies that taste like health food. (Newman's Own are the only allergen free ones I can find.)

The vitamins that I bought are Oregon Grape capsules. Those help with inflammation, which is good for my feet. It will be cheaper to take the capsules than to take the tincture, which I have been doing.

And acupuncture and the chinese herbs I have been taking are necessary for my eczema. I've tried to skip out on those and notice a very significant difference in how I feel and how my skin acts.

So, that's how it is. I am hoping that all this money spent on this stuff is an investment to help to cure my health issues, but we'll see. It certainly makes me feel better right now.

Now that I'm done, this is one novel of an entry. I'll check back in next week on how the budgeting is doing. Another important note: I am trying to do a lot of this with cash, which is helpful to make everything a little more tangible.

And now I leave you with a picture of Trent Reznor, from dietrichthrall.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/.



"God money's not looking for the cure.
God money's not concerned about the sick among the pure.
God money let's go dancing on the backs of the bruised.
The god of money's not one to choose"

Please note his dreamy "hurt" look and his hott scarf.

Food.

Bought nearly 24 pounds of produce/food today at MacPherson's produce stand. Cost me $17.05.

Celery, butternut squash, four apples, two pears, tomatoes on the vine, broccoli, cabbage, onions, potatoes, a yam, an avocado...

I will be set for a while.

I've been doing really well improvising dinner on what I have here. Usually mix a grain (rice, barley, quinoa) with a ton of veggies and some kind of protein (usually beans or lentils.)

I have a ton of food allergies, so anything with cheese has been out of the picture lately. And meat's just too damn expensive. It's been good.

This week's meals have included:

Vegetables and Chicken Curry in Rice Milk
Half bag of frozen vegetables, some curry paste whisked into rice milk, and a chicken breast dumped into the crock pot. (You could definitely do this with coconut milk, too, but I'm allergic to coconut as well.)

Spaghetti
Pasta, pasta sauce and garbanzo beans with a ton of veggies. I know that garbanzo beans are weird in pasta, but I needed protein and didn't want to have to use meat. I used to use TVP, but am allergic to soy. FML. When cooking for one sometimes a whole jar of pasta sauce is too much, so I use half and freeze the rest for next time. I should start making my own pasta sauce, though, as that's even cheaper, I think.

Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Soup
Butternut squash cut up into cubes, red lentils, two tablespoons of ketchup (sub for tomato paste, haha, didn't want to go shopping!), cinnamon and cumin, and a cube of chicken bouillion and some water. A squirt of lime juice. Dumped into the crock pot, cooked. Really, really good.


Beans and Rice
Made rice last night, but didn't get a chance to do anything with it. Hot-soaked some pinto beans this morning, cooked them tonight. While they were cooking I simmered some tomatoes from the produce stand with some onions and seasoned the shit out of them. Also used some leftover taco seasoning that I found while cleaning out my cupboards. Added the rice and some spinach. I like spinach in everything, slightly wilted. It's good for you.

Also did some red beans and quinoa last week. Threw in a can of tomatoes. Turned out nice.

All these allergies as well as some budget restrictions (read: I haz a mortgage) are forcing me to be thriftier, more creative, and more healthy. Win win win. I like it.

Taming the American Apparel Addiction

Or, maybe not taming it. Mine isn't that bad, I guess. But it's pricey, even though it's not bad.

American Apparel. Have you heard of them? They are a company that is "sweatshop free." They pride themselves on having sweat-shop free, well fitting, nicely colored, hip clothes. They also pride themselves on being run by a sleazy man in underwear. Or so I've heard.

Sleazy man in underwear aside, I really enjoy their clothes. In the winter I live in their leggings. And cardigans. I love their t-shirts, and have been drooling over some of their stuff for months now.

Why not buy it? Because it's expensive. I mean, it may not be expensive by normal person standards, but for me it is. I hate dropping $50 to $70 on just one or two things. Too much.

After a year though, my precious black leggings have started to develop a hole in the crotch. It happens when you wear them almost every day. It's understandable. But it's just not wearable anymore. I dreaded having to go into the store and drop $26 on one pair of leggings. But, they do last quite some time. And they fit perfectly. And they're the perfect length. So, FML, I needed to go get some.

Of course, I'm an idiot and forgot about the wonders of Ebay. Until last night. I got on Ebay and looked that up hard. And what did I find? For the normal price of one pair ($26) you can get two pairs shipped right to your house.

And I did just that. One black pair and one white pair. Satisfaction. (So far, at least. We'll see what happens when I get them. Maybe they'll be awful knockoffs? But I doubt it.)

Of course, I couldn't stop there. I've been after their seersucker skirt for months, too. Price: $38. For a skirt that I could sew myself, if I could sew. This is why I have been putting off this purchase.

A quick Ebay search revealed that I could get this skirt for $28.99. So you know what? I did. It was payday, and I've been thinking about it for a long time. Plus, it's just the right length to wear over leggings with boots.

In the store, these clothing pieces would have cost me a total of $97.20 approximately.

On Ebay, these things cost me approximately $55.

Oh, thank you Ebay. Now, if only you had that damn white button up shirt that I want from good old Overpriced Apparel. But, with all the money I have saved, maybe I can afford it.

Besides, I kinda like going into the store and hitting on the hipsters, even though they are far, far too cool for me.

Twitter

Hi,

Just made a twitter for this blog. It is "ruling_at_life". Add it. It might be interesting.

Free Furniture

I have a cute place. (I think, at least.) And, it is mostly furnished with free or cheap furniture. Much of this furniture is temporary and just waiting for an upgrade--but definitely serves its purpose for now. Examples:




This is a dresser that I got from some people I used to babysit for. I think it is beautiful. It's nice because it has a mirror and drawer space.



This is one of my best side-of-the-road finds. It is an Ikea shelf. I found it a block from my house on the day after Halloween last year. Everyone who sees it says that they want one, but can't afford it. All it cost me was some dragging for a block and some super glue to repair one of the shelves.



This is two of the three parts of my vintage sectional couch. I got it for free off of Craigslist. I love it, except for the fact that it is old and worn out. But it folds down and lines up with the other section to make a bed, which is rad. I'm seriously thinking of reupholstering it once I have the money saved. But, I also have a cat, so that might be counterproductive.




These two shelves both came from different sources. The one on top was one of two that I found on the side of the road and hauled home. The one on bottom came from my old work. This is one of my least favorite set-ups for my place--I can't wait to replace this with a vintage credenza to hold all my media needs. But, some things have to wait.



One of the two matching ones from the side of the road.



This used to be a barstool, but now I have no need for a barstool, so it is a plant stand. It's kind of ugly, but I think paint might make it nicer someday.



Second plant stand. Modems are hiding in the bottom. I hate visible modems.

Coming soon: Cheap furniture post. I think my most expensive piece cost $125. And that's the one I like the least.

Best Buy's Price Matching

The other day I was buying a DVD player at Best Buy. This was, of course, after I had compared prices at Target. I wanted a reputable brand, as my last two DVD players have died on me because they were cheap.

All over the store, there were signs about price matching. Best Buy swore up and down that they would match the price of any other store.

Before hopping into line with my $41 Sony DVD player, I googled the model number on Google shopping. Sure enough, I found the same DVD player on Amazon for around $39.

When girl started ringing me up, I showed her my evidence of a lower price elsewhere, and she matched that price. This saved me three dollars, which is equivalent to a cup of chai with rice milk, 1.5 avocados, or a pair of cheap socks.

I was happy.

Yelping My Money Back

I went to the dentist yesterday.

Boy, do I like my new dentist. I can't remember if I talked about it before, but I wasn't happy with my old one. I didn't realize HOW unhappy I was with my old one until yesterday when I had an incredibly pleasant cleaning done.

How did I celebrate this pleasant cleaning? Why, by writing a semi-unfavorable review about my old dentist on Yelp, of course!

For those who are interested...

In short, I recently felt one of the fillings that the old dentist had done shift around as I was flossing. At my dental visit yesterday, my new dentist told me that I would need to have it replaced. This is after it being done less than a year ago!

Happily, my old dental office read my Yelp review this morning and offered to refund me the money for that filling. This is so nice. That filling was expensive, as I had to pay for it out of pocket. Hopefully the repair will be covered by insurance, so the refund will more than cover the work that needs to be done. It will also help pay for the time I will have lost having to have that tooth worked on twice. Dental appointments in general are kind of a time suck for me.

Basically, when in doubt, ask. Oh wait, I didn't ask. When in doubt, write a bad Yelp review. It might just pay off. Thank god it did for me.




**Photo courtesy of the flickr of shakespearesmonkey

Finances and the Single Girl

It is a known fact that I do not really like being single. It gets lonely and I don't get to have sex nearly as often as I'd like. But that's beside the point. This is a finance blog. Here are the ups and downs of my wild bachelorette lifestyle.

Let's start with the good...

I'm only responsible for myself. I don't have some trashy boyfriend pissing away my savings or an annoying husband trying to share one of my three retirement accounts. I don't have to worry about taking care of someone if they get sick or hurt, or bailing someone out of debt. Just me. And Darby, but he's easy.

I have more time to work.Because I have no one to report home to, I am able to spend these years of my life working two jobs to save a little extra. I enjoy both of my jobs, so I don't see it as a time loss at all. Sometimes I wonder what will happen when I am married and have kids and don't have time to babysit. Will I miss that money? Yes.

I always have leftovers.With only one person to feed, I always have enough dinner left over for the next day's lunch, sometimes even for two meals.

I am able to focus on my own financial goals.Of course I will still have financial goals when I am no longer single (if that ever happens), but now is a great time to be able to focus that much more. I feel like I can be more efficient at this point without the distraction of a really hot boyfriend (I mean, um, normal looking partner.)

The Bad...

My mortgage is really expensive.Sometimes I think of how nice life would be if I only had to pay half a mortgage. Or all my married coworkers who are buying big houses together. If I were half of a couple-y unit, I too could have a bigger space and a cheaper mortgage. I also would require less social interactions, so maybe I could save even more by moving out of the city a little bit. Of course I am thankful for what I have, and wouldn't trade it for a freeloading boyfriend at this point, but sometimes i get a little jealous of the people who only pay half of what I am paying for housing.

Less total income.If I were part of a couple, we would be making more money total (hopefully) and spending less on bills (for example, I would only have to pay half an internet bill, half an electric bill, etc.) Now, I'm sure me and my super-hot man friend could find a way to spend this money that we were saving, like for example on cable so we could sit around and grow fat together. But generally having that much more money would be nice.

Security.If I lost my job, I would have someone to help me out. Not that I don't already. It just might be easier to ask my hot boyfriend for help for a little bit than asking my family and friends.

In general, I am quite happy with my situation. Many people in my position might feel like they couldn't do some of the things that I have done financially. But I have, and on the income of a preschool teacher/social worker. Not bad. Financially, I don't really feel all that deprived at all. Now it's time to work on the loneliness and lack of sex part.

A Day Off and Meal Planning

I am so thankful to have a day off after my vacation (which was wonderful, by the way.) I am so lucky to work for an agency who gives me adequate vacation time. I don't think I've actually taken a paid vacation since 2006! It makes all the difference.

Today is everything one would want or need to do after a vacation--relax, snuggle the needy kitty who missed me, and GET SHIT DONE. This involves going to my favorite coffee shop, running errands, and doing laundry.

My first step is to do some meal planning for the week. I have been failing at this lately. I was doing it monthly, as you may have read about before, but honestly it was stressing me out way too much. So I went to big monthly grocery shopping trip for the staples, and then filling in the gaps where needed. Maybe not the most cost-efficient way, but the stress reduction helps a lot.

This week I decided to write all my meals in my calendar so it would be right there when I looked at my appointments for the day:



Notice it says "curry". Yep.

The rest of the week:

Tuesday: Stir Fry--I have veggies to use up

Wednesday: Hummus Plate--going to try it with dried garbanzo beans

Thursday: Quesadillas

Friday: Pizza (I am babysitting my god daughter at my house, and I can make a vegetarian pizza. She can help, if she wants!)

Saturday: Enchiladas--having more lovely vegetarians over.

Sunday I will figure out.

Today I will also fill up my car with gas, and do other little odds and ends. I love San Francisco, but I am still happy to be back at my lovely home.