Last day in the Midwest

So it's the last day before I ship off to New York City, and I feel .... strangely .... nothing. Hmm. I should be excited--which I am, in my own way. I should also be nervous--which I am as well. Instead, those two emotions have collided within my chest to produce a supernova of apathy. Besides going to the garden store with my mom, watching Recker & Boerger deliver our new fridge, packing and watching TV, there has been little to mark this day as special. That's ok. Excitement would probably wash over me like a whole ton of surf water.

Joel is in Ann Arbor today with a co-worker; I haven't heard much from him but I'm not surprised. He's probably enjoying himself, although he did send me a text message saying the University of Michigan is beautiful. If Joel is offered a job at GM or anywhere else in the Detroit auto industry after he graduates, we'll most likely be moving there next year. That means our graduate school options have shifted from Ohio to Michigan, which isn't all bad. Joel's looking for his masters in aerospace engineering, and U of M caters to a lot of Detroit engineers. Plus, Michigan also offers one of the best MFA programs in Creative Writing in the country--nice. I haven't officially decided that an MFA is the way to go for grad school, but it's looking better as I try to meld my two undergraduate majors (Journalism and English Lit). Plus, if I go into an MFA program I'll definately have to kick start the old writing habits, which have laid pretty dormant these past four years. That shouldn't be a problem...perhaps New York will give me some inspiration.

Speaking of New York, I should probably outline my travel plans because the next time I unfold my computer, I will be at NYU. Things will get off to an early start tomorrow morning: I will probably wake up around 4 a.m. and leave for the airport around 4:45. My plane leaves at 7, landing in New York around 9:12 (according to Delta). Like I've said, this is my second time flying and my first flying alone, so hopefully the incredible depth of my maturity (haha) will silence my nerves. God knows I can't afford to panic tomorrow. When I panic, I tend to freeze and become weepy, so heaven forbid the off chance something goes wrong.

I then plan on taking a cab to La Guardia to my dorm, the Palladium on E. 14th Street. NYU is roughly situated in Greenwich Village, but Palladium is on the northern edge of campus, putting me on the borders of Greenwich Villach and Midtown. The building is quite huge, however browsing on Google Maps yesterday revealed a Trader Joes in the first floor of the building, as well as a Walgreens down the street. The comforts of home never leave you. I then check in, pick up my NYU ID, and unpack in whatever room I've been assigned. Sometime that morning/early afternoon, I need to walk down to Union Station (a few blocks down the road) to buy my Metro Card. Around 2, a bunch of Summer Publishing students will be meeting in the Palladium lobby to head down to the Woolworth building (where we'll be taking our classes) together. This will be good, considering it'll be my first time on an NYC subway and I definately don't want to get lost there.

I'm almost finished with packing, though; I have almost everything crammed into my one suitcase, carry-on and new hobo-bag/purse. I need to find my small flashlight in case of an emergency, though, and pack the few items I'll need from the bathroom. My father just reminded me to bring my anti-bacterial hand sanitizer as well--can't be picking up the swine flu, you know. Haha. (Seriously, he said that.)

Thoughts during procrastination

Actually, I should probably be doing LESS thinking and more DOING right about now. Procrastinating a mere four days before leaving for New York University's Summer Publishing Institute probably isn't such a great idea, considering I still have boatloads of homework to do. And packing. As well as the intense "psych-ing up" process that has to occur before such a drastic life change.

Perhaps it's because the way I cope with change is to ignore it, but work has been moving pretty slowly around here--even though my plane leaves 7 a.m. Sunday morning. I could chalk it up to all the mental preparation I've been doing: mentally going through the whole "flying to NYC by myself" thing, practicing my cab-getting skills, memorizing the layout of LaGuardia airport. And all that is for simply getting to the dorm! I'm actually not as nervous about the day-to-day of the Institute itself. Everyone is meeting in the lobby of Palladium (the dorm where we're staying) an hour before orientation so that we can all take the subway to the Woolworth building together. And then, for all the classes, I'll be with the same group of people--some of which (I'm hoping) will also be new to the big city. What does make me anxious are all the things I'll have to do myself: flying, negotiating the airport, finding a way to 140 E. 14th Street. For many my age, these things are second nature. However this is only the second time I've flown, the first time by myself and this is, by far, the biggest city I've ever been to. Call me country mouse, but I know I'm going to be dumbfounded by what I'll find in New York City this summer.

The problem is, I am determined to succeed at the Institute. This means taking everything new in stride, projecting an aura of confidence, and believing that the world of professional publishing is something a small-town girl from Ohio can not only handle, but kick everybody's ass along the way. I want to impress these big-city editors and prove to them that this IS the career for me. To do this, I really need to get over my insecurities. I try to tell myself that I am fulfilling a lifelong dream in coming to New York City--especially to study book publishing (my dream career besides being an award-winning writer). Hopefully I'll make some friends while I'm there, go sightseeing, go out a few times, learn a few things so that I'm more tempting to future employers, and experience everything I've ever dreamed about New York.

Getting there is still a ways away, though. These past few days have been ... eventful ... but I definately haven't accomplished everything I could. Tuesday I did my manuscript editing assignment, sending that in on Blackboard. It wasn't too hard considering its resembled the critiques we did in my journalism, narrative non-fiction, capstone. Today, I got some important errands out of the way, things I needed to do before leaving: got my hair cut, got my glasses tightened, bought make-up, bought a new water bottle, spent some time with Kim. Tomorrow, I really need to finish the rest of my homework. It's actually not too difficult except for the fact that's it's creative: I have to come up with one "terrific" idea for a new magazine launch, and then five ideas for potential book launches. Yikes. I guess I'll really sit down and brainstorm tomorrow. I also need to do laundry, pack and organize everything I'll need for six weeks in New York.

The money situation has been stressful, though. Like I told Kim tonight, I get anxious when I don't have a steady paycheck. I spent quite a bit of money today, but that's because haircuts and good make-up is so expensive. I've been DSW twice and (miraculously) didn't buy anything, despite the $10 gift certificate burning a hole in my purse. I think I've convinced my mom to make a I'll-miss-you purchase, since I would really like new brown sandals (the Old Navy flip flops just aren't cutting it anymore). We'll see about that. Other than that, I've been holed up at home for three weeks now, wasting post-graduation time doing puzzles, reading Stephen King, watching way too much Law & Order and HGTV ... the usual. I've also been anxious about Joel up at GM. GM is expected to go into bankruptcy next week and Joel is almost certain he'll be laid off. Hopefully this isn't true (his co-op position hasn't been cut yet!), but if it is, at least he'll be home this summer. God, I keep holding out for the stockholders to save the company at the last second. I only hope GM comes out of this alive; Joel really loves it there and it would be simply fantastic for him to have a job offer waiting after graduation next year.

Well the times, they are a-changin'

I'm thinking of changing things around here on the Penny Foolish blog. While the spending idea is great, I don't think I have the stamina to keep it up. What I do have is lots of silly thoughts and ideas for a regular blog, and so I think Penny Foolish will become something new entirely. Hopefully it won't become as trivial or personal as my Xanga of yore, but I hope to expand to new topics and discussions of the world around me as a recent college grad. Of course, money will play into this worldview as I will be poor, thereby keeping my title as Penny Foolish.

I'm sorry if anybody actually reads this blog and enjoyed its previous format. I promise to continue talking about my financial situation in depth, as it still pertains to my life, but hopefully you'll enjoy the other thoughts bouncing around inside my head as well.

Austere Times? Perfect

An interesting article from the New York Times about scrimping and saving.

In an Age of Austerity, the Misery Thrive

Millions of Americans have trimmed expenses because they have had their jobs or hours cut, or fear they will. But a subset of savers are reducing costs not just with purpose, but with relish. These are the gleefully frugal. (read more)

I find this article fascinating because more and more I find myself researching different ways to save money, even if most of the tips are not feasible for a college student. Just last week I spent hours on a site with healthy and cost-saving recipes, planning (of course) for living on my own next year. I actually think this is a problem, and more than an obsession. Who knows if it'll fade once the recession disappears. Hopefully not, because I'm learning a lot!

Good news of Friday? I haven't spent a dime all week, and I got paid this week!

Bad news? I wrote a check for my car payment, which I plan on mailing tomorrow. Expect an update soon. Plus, I gotta shell out some dollar bills for a haircut tomorrow as well.

Paying for a big city experience

So awhile ago, I said I’d let everyone know how I was planning on paying for my time at NYU this summer. Of course, that involves a lot of work so I delayed the task for as long as possible. Unfortunately, now that I’m spending my Sunday working an eight-hour supervisor shift at the university library (I’ve worked here for four years, which allows me to supervise as an undergrad), I have the time to tell you. Be excited.

Like I mentioned (or may not have mentioned…I can’t remember) before, I was recently accepted to New York University’s Summer Publishing Institute, where I’ll be getting a six-week crash course in the book and magazine publishing world. I’ll be living in a NYU dorm in Greenwich Village and then taking classes downtown in the Woolworth Building (located right next door to Ground Zero). I’ve been planning on attending the institute (if I got in) for more than a year now, so when I received my acceptance e-mail, there was no question as to my response. I admit, I did have one moment of pause when I considered how much it was really going to cost, but I survived that and am now happily enrolled.

Let’s get down to the basics. Tuition for the program costs $4,900. To live in a NYU residence hall costs $275 a week, or $1,100 a month (good by NYC standards!) I could have paid for a meal plan, but opted not to considering that I will be spending the majority of my time away from NYU’s campus (and therefore NYU dining halls), it was expensive and even the program itself recommends against it.

To confirm my place in the program (you had to respond within two weeks of receiving your acceptance letter, or else risk losing your spot), I had to send in a $500 deposit that will go toward my tuition, as well as payment for the first three weeks of housing ($825). The remaining housing payment is due by June 1, and I’m not sure exactly when the rest of tuition is due, but I assume it’s around that time.

Here’s my plan to pay for it all:
-My parents have agreed to pay for my housing. I initially had to write the check for $825 (which about gave me a heart attack, seeing my checking account drop that fast), but my mother recently paid me back. I didn’t record that expense in here because, well, it wasn’t really an expense at all.
-I have around $3,000 in my savings account and I plan on withdrawing $2,000 of that to go toward tuition.
-I expect that my grandparents will give me $1,000 for a graduation present (since that is the amount they gave my cousin), and that money will also go toward tuition.
-I have entered a competition in Miami’s English Dept., with monetary awards given out for big winners. They may have decreased the payout because of university budget problems, but originally first prize was $5,000, second place $3,000, etc. IF I win one of these awards, the entirety of it will be used to pay for the program.
-If I don’t win an award (which is more than likely), I have plans to save at least $1,000 in my checking account by the end of the school year, which will go toward the program as well.

That totals $4,000 on my dime. Now, we’ve already paid $500 on tuition, so all that’s remaining is $400. My parents said they would pick that up as well.

Now while I’m there, I’m going to have to pay for food (the dorms have kitchens, but I’ll have to supply the basic ingredients) and a Metrocard to get around. There’s also the inevitable cost of living, which is obscenely high in NYC. I understand that I will have little capital upon returning home, but I will have at least a part-time job/internship at Dayton Daily News awaiting me, which does pay (minimum wage). I’ll be spending the rest of the summer looking for full-time jobs, in the hopes of making up the money. However, the experience will definitely be worth it and I have high hopes that graduation from the program will help me land a (better) job quicker than if I had never gone. It will definitely provide me with that leg-up that’s so desperately needed in this job market, plus there’s no replacing six weeks in the city.

To offset this, I do have some good financial news. My checking account received a flush of cash recently, with my mother paying me back that $825 as well as bringing me my state income return check ($114). Also, when I originally did my taxes, I thought I owed Uncle Sam $274. I wrote the check, glumly, but thought that was the end of that. Then, my mom tells me that we did my taxes wrong and that instead of owing the government, I was getting a return of nearly $400! That means in the upcoming months I will be paid back the $274 I originally sent the IRS, and then returned $400 more! How exciting! Add that on top of the fact that during this pay period, I will work 30 hours for the first time since leaving my old job at the student newspaper, and it’s been a good few weeks. Well, let’s just say it’s been a financial rollercoaster but at least I’m now on an upswing.

Grocery trip

Amount spent: $33.29
What: Groceries

So my groceries cost a little bit more this time around, but hey, I'm trying to be healthy. I bought some dried cranberries and cashews to make trail mix, and I'm planning on taking it (in little baggies) to work for a healthy snack. Oh yeah...that's what weeks of watching the Food Network will get you. Plus, now I'm pretty much stocked for food until the end of the year.

Night out

Amount spent: $7.00
What: Starbucks

Amount spent: $6.00
What: movie

All I can say is that...it's the end of March. Thank God.

Errands!

Amount spent: $15
What: medicine

Amount spent: $4.50
What: toothbrush and orange juice

I said there would be more, but look! I went to the grocery store and only bought what I truly NEEDED. No extra goodies allowed. Hopefully this will be the last of my spending this month. My boyfriend is visiting tomorrow night but hopefully we can keep that cheap as well, perhaps even spend-free for me!

Oh, and how did CVS know I needed a refill on my prescription...yesterday? I technically don't even run out of pills until tomorrow, but when I called the pharmacy to put in a refill request, they said it was ready for pickup! Hmm, very strange.

Graduation fees

Amount spent: $25.45
What: cap and gown

Can you blame me? I gotta graduate, and for some reason Miami is insistent that we're all matchy-matchy.

More later, but I gotta run.

Explanations

Amount spent: $24.40
What: gas

This purchase comes at the end of an exhausting bout of check writing, in which my checking account was severely depleted. However these expenses (not exactly purchases, I would say) were not recorded here for several reasons. First, they came at a severe emotional toll and left me completely unenthused to record them. Second, I believe I was trying to deny to myself that my bank account was growing dangerously low, and perhaps I thought if I denied that I spent that money, I wouldn’t have spent it at all.

But the fact remains that I did write a $274 check to Uncle Sam for taxes owed, and a $875 check to NYU housing as a deposit for their Summer Publishing Institute, which I will be attending in June.

But don’t hyperventilate yet. Let me explain. First of all, the $875 will be paid back to me because while I will be paying for the bulk of the NYU program (to be explained at a later date), my family has graciously volunteered to pay for housing. Unfortunately, I had to send a check for the first three weeks with my deposit and letter of intent, and so I had to cut the check. However, my mom has said this money will be refunded me soon, or at least whenever I see her next. I’m not going to press her too hard because I’m really appreciative of their help, however that sum will be returned.

The $274 comes with a bit of better news. You see, when I first did my taxes I believed I owed that amount, which was unfortunate but I wrote the check anyway. Well, yesterday I received word from my mom that after going over my taxes a second time, she realized that I missed a worksheet and didn’t include a deduction that I was due. She will be filing an Amend Sheet for me, but because of this goof-up, I will not only be receiving the $274 back, but I will be receiving a refund close to $400!

You see how complicated this can be? Although I won’t get refunded in full for awhile, knowing that I have this money relieves me to no end. My checking account was dangerously low (well, it still is) for awhile, and so I have plans on transferring $1,000 to my savings account once I hit $3,000 in checking. Knowing I have $3,000 in checking allows me too much freedom in my purchasing power, and I need to be reined in. Plus, squirreling away that extra $1,000 somewhere safe will make me feel much better in the long run.

In other news, I have learned that this obsession I have with saving (see above paragraph) is a psychological condition, known as hyperopia—marked by far-sightedness and an inability to enjoy the fruits of my labor in the form of purchases. Well, at least it has a name. Like I said, I do have a plan for paying for NYU but due to time constraints (I’m hoping to duck out of my internship early) I need to cut this short.

I feel ya

Boy do I know...

The Costs of Owning a Car
New York Times

How much does it cost to own a car? Wheels readers debated that question after I posted an article about how the recession has helped to decrease driving. I have since found that the cost of car ownership is probably a whole lot more than you think. If your estimates are based on what you paid for your vehicle, plus the cost of gas, oil and repairs, you’re forgetting about insurance, depreciation, parking fees, tolls and registration, among other things.

Rest of the story here.

Horrible time for saving

Amount spent: $274.00
What: Taxes

Amount spent: $26.09
What: CO Bigelow products

Amount spent: $63.37
What: Gap jeans

Amount spent: $13.40
What: Gas

Amount spent: $19.48
What: Groceries

So let's just go ahead and say the budget is already blown for March. It's not even over, let me tell you. I know most of this is pretty inexcusable...I know, $63 for Gap jeans when you're supposed to be on a budget? And what's with this shopping at CO Bigelow?! They're never good for the wallet, so why did you allow yourself to wander into their midst?

I honestly don't know what to say for myself. I had to pay Uncle Sam $274 because I apparently didn't pay enough in federal taxes this year. I'm getting $100 or so back in state refunds, but I clearly won't break even this year. My only explanation for CO Bigelow was that I needed new face cream. Ok? Plain and simple. I have dry skin that is also very sensitive, and it's winter. Under these circumstances, the aforementioned skin becomes very painful and it's damn near impossible to live with such unhealthy-ness chipping away at your beautiful face. Impossible, I tell you! Now, my old skin treatment used to come from Bath & Body Works. It was $20 but I was OK with that. I had soy, which meant it was "all natural," thereby containing no harsh chemicals that would turn my face into a giant tomato. It was also heavy enough to moisturize my parchment dry skin in winter's harshest months. Well it was spring break, and I drove to my neighborhood Bath & Body Works to buy a replacement jar because I was running dangerously low. Unfortunately, I was informed that they had stopped carrying that line. However, I might find it at CO Bigelow, at the mall.

Well you can imagine the conundrum that I now faced. Should I walk down to Target and find a replacement face cream from the budget rack, a mystery substance with the high probability of being yet another disappointment. As much as I hated to be high maintence, I knew I need to find that cream or a replacement akin in quality. So I went to the mall that night, with my brothers as company. I told them we were merely popping into CO Bigelow, finding a lotion and leaving, and they seemed OK with it. At CO Bigelow, I was informed that they had stopped making my face cream altogether. However, the store had such a cornucopia of specialized lotions, I knew I could find an suitable alternative. And I did. I also found a lovely lip balm with shea butter and almond oil that made your lips feel like satin. It was $5. The lotion was $20.

Now we were in the mall. I felt bad heading for the door, so I asked if my brothers wanted to do a bit of shopping. We headed to the GAP. Now I've never bought anything at the GAP, ever. However I had made a mistake that night. I had made the mistake of wearing a pair of jeans that were much too small for me. They clung to my legs and made my ass look much too unnatural, but they were all I had clean so I wore them. At home, I never thought much about how these jeans didn't fit me...I didn't realize that I had gained a few pounds since I last shimmied into these jeans and the junk simply couldn't fit in the trunk anymore. But at the mall, your entire appearance comes in sharp perspective. On parade for all the chic to see, you begin to recognize your body's every flaw, your bad hair and your horrible wardrobe choices. That's why the mall is so dangerous. Feeling so bad about yourself, the only balm for this wound is to shop for a NEW identity, and hey there are countless stores at your disposal.

That's the way I felt walking into the GAP. I realized how much my jeans didn't fit...I realized that many of my jeans didn't fit...and I realized how much I needed NICE, grown-up jeans. Jeans that ran with even sizes, instead of the 5's and 7's I had been fiddling with in the junior section of Kohls for years. 5's and 7's never quite fit me correctly, but they were cheap. So I always disregarded the more expensive, even-sized jeans of the mall and choose their trashy cousins instead. With a rush of indignant rage, I realized, standing in the GAP, how much I had short-changed myself over the years. How much I had sacrificed my own dignity (look at me now, walking around in these ridiculously tight jeans!) for price. Well no more. I walked right up to a table with boot cut, dark washed jeans, immediately found a size 6 and didn't look back. Luckily, I only bought one pair of jeans, but the damage was done. On the flip size, I now have this great pair of jeans that fits me perfectly and that will last for years to come. Hey, it might even turn out to be a wise investment.

The other purchases were out of necessity. And hey, I almost stayed in my grocery budget. And I'm still doing OK on gas. Unfortunately, there is trouble ahead. I was accepted to NYU's Summer Publishing Institute and while my parents have wrote the $500 deposit check, I will writing a check to NYU housing in the upcoming days. Stay tuned.

Panera lunch

Amount spent: $9.24
What: lunch at Panera

Mmmm, did I mention how lovely and delicious Panera food is? Especially when it's a bowl of French onion soup and half a Caesar salad. Better than fast food and a much better way to spend time with the boyfriend before he heads back to school.

In other news, I need to stop eating out. It's only March 14. My budget is already blown--yikes.

Days of research, days of spending

Amount spent: $7.77
What: lunch at Skyline

Amount spent: $27.46
What: gas

Amount spent: $6.35
What: four DVD rentals at Blockbuster

Amount spent: $17.63
What: lunch at Skyline (for two)

Amount spent: $180.98
What: car payment

Amount spent: $6.75
What: parking in downtown Cincinnati

Don't panic; I haven't lost my resolve to rein in my spending just yet. As bad as this may look, remember that I'm still trying to get into the habit of recording my purchases in this blog again, and so more than a week of purchases are merely catching up with me here.

Most of it is self-explanatory. The car payment was a necessity, as was the gas (I still can't get over how cheap it is compared to last summer). I have been eating out a bit too much lately, although I'm lucky my cravings have merely been for Skyline. The larger bill was when I paid for both my boyfriend and myself, the smaller when I went out with my younger brother. We probably didn't need to eat out, but it was the least I could do considering he went downtown with me, keeping me company while I conducted research for a journalism capstone project (that's where the $6.75 garage fee comes in). I was going to pay for him, however the waitress perceived that we weren't on a date (thank goodness) and gave us separate checks.

I would like to point out the relatively low bill for DVD rentals at Blockbuster, though. Last summer, when I was determined to catch up on the first two seasons of Big Love, DVD rentals cost me a small fortune. In fact, it was getting so expensive I had to hold off renting until my coffers were refilled. It seems, though, that Blockbuster has switched financial philosophies. Now, rentals for new movies are $1.99 and old movies are merely $.99. Whereas four DVDs last summer would have put me back $16-$20, now I barely broke $10. Amazing.

A new year, and a new goal

Well, it's good to be back. After reading a former co-worker's blog, I started to become slightly nostalgic for my times tip-tapping away at the keyboard about my purchases, usually during some down time at work. So here I am, readers...back with a vengeance.

I also wanted to jump start Penny Foolish again because money is yet again a problem. No, I haven't graduated from college yet (although money will definitely be an issue then), nor has gas risen to $4.00 a gallon. Yes, reading over past posts, I can hardly believe times were so hard this summer. The last time I filled up my car, gas was $1.60 and it costs me around $25. Good times, right?

Wrong. With the country now in a recession, and the job market looking more and more formidable every day, the money problem has now escalated beyond whatever financial panic there was a mere six months ago. I remember high crude prices driving the markets down this summer, sometimes down to the dreaded 11,000 level. Well, it's tanking around 7,000 now and (to make a very long, complex story short) with banks failing, the real estate market in the gutter and the biggest automaker in the country--GM--now facing bankruptcy, one can hardly believe what a pickle we have found ourselves in. Who knows if President Obama's multi-billion dollar stimulus plan will work (it definitely won't yield any short-term results), but people are hunkering down for the worst.

The crash of the US financial system has also coincided with the loss of my job at the student newspaper. There, as a senior managing editor, I was making $8.15 week. Combined with my job at the library, I was pushing the maximum of 30 hours per week allowed for student workers, however the dough was rolling in. I've been yelled at a few times for going over hours (sometimes by more than 10 hours!), but my last big paycheck was more than $400. Score. Now, as a second semester senior, I've been forced to retire. I've picked up a substantial number of hours at the library, but I haven't yet seen a paycheck post-newspaper income. If I could break $300 a paycheck, I'd be happy, but I doubt this will happen.

In addition, the beginning of the spring semester saw an excrutiating period of financial hemmoraging from my checking account. With no paychecks after winter break, I was shelling out money left and right for school, which included a hefty bill at Dubois, an expensive parking pass, etc. I continue to pay my car payments and insurance bill every month, and now I'm shelling out $50 a month on gas, driving to Dayton for an internship twice a week. At the time, I was beginning to panic, and I knew I needed to take action.

So I made a budget. Now, I have bad history with budgets, but I needed one this time--and I needed to follow it. And now that I've rediscovered my Penny Foolish blog, I've decided this blog will keep me on track. I did pretty well for the month of February, however I know there were a few small purchases that I forgot to include in my final tally. Using this blog as a tool, I can monitor those purchases and look for ways to pare them down in the future. For readers, this may also be an interesting look into the spending habits of a college student (not just one on summer break), if you're interested in that sort of stuff.

So here it is. Every month, I will pay:

Car Payment: $180.98 -- The same every month, and will be until kingdom come. I just have to get used to it.

Insurance: $85.09 -- It went down when I turned 22 in September. Let's hope that pattern continues.

Gas: $50 -- Hopefully two fill-ups a month, each at $25 a piece, will work. I drive an hour to and from work, twice a week, so gas is always on my mind.

Groceries: $30 -- I set this one after a particularly large grocery bill. I'm determined to eat what I have and only buy what I'll eat. The dining hall can take care of the rest.

Eating Out: $20 -- This one is hard to keep, and last month I went over by $20. However, if I manage my social calendar well and watch my wallet when my boyfriend and I go out, this can be done.

Living: $20 -- This one is also hard, and a little vague. I've decided that living covers what everything else doesn't, from shampoo to iTunes songs. This will definitely impact any potential trips to the mall, but I think I can stand to wear the clothes I have.

Medication: $15 -- You can make your own assumptions about a "medication" that I purchase every month, but since it is a necessity, I didn't think it fair to include this in my "Living" category.

Last month I was over by $4, which wasn't bad considered my overage in both the "Eating Out" and "Living" categories. Luckily, that was offset by a lack of trips to the grocery store. I could decrease my goal in that category accordingly, but I don't want to potentially short-change myself (haha, literally). Most of it was due to trips home and a benevolent mother.

Anyway, my spending goal each month is $401. Like I said, last month I went over by $4, but I made $691.52. So there was net gain of $301.03. Not bad, but I definitely can do better.

This blog will official kick off the start of March, in which column there are no expenditures so far. I know that gas will most likely see a hike this month; even though I don't have my internship during spring break (now), I will be driving down to Cincinnati a few times to conduct some research for a senior journalism project. I have tried to make cuts where I can so far, though. I am not (as you see) going on any spring vacations, and I did not participate in my college's "Green Beer Day" yesterday, saving me $50-$100. My mother will hopefully pay for some of my groceries before I go back to school as well, so hopefully that makes up for the missed week of work.