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.