Additional Income and Balance

(source)

Since paying off my credit card debt earlier this year, I’ve been working toward some other financial goals. Mainly, maintaining a better savings account, you know, or one at all.  I’ve recently signed up for Betterment to help me invest and actually make my money work harder for me, I use SmartyPig which also has a good interest rate, and I use my bank’s savings account as a more liquid account. The truth is, I have no idea how to invest, and I’m hoping that the new tools will help me learn a bit more.

I work full time already, and teach dance once a week, and have taken on occasional babysitting jobs in order to add more to my savings. It is sometimes a difficult balance though.  Managing full time work, teaching, dancing with a new company, babysitting and having a social life all while studying for a major exam in January can sometimes make me feel spread a little too thin.

Recently I had to turn down an on going babysitting gig, even though the money would have been really nice, for a few reasons, one of which being it would mean I would lose my Sundays.  I need my Sundays open for teaching practice as well as assisting our teams get ready for Regionals in November.  Sure, the job would have meant an additional $160 a month, but it would also have meant not being prepared for an exam I’ve already shelled out $840 for.

Sometimes, realizing I can’t do everything is more difficult than I realized. I have to remind myself to say no every now and again, so that I don’t lose my sanity, or sleep.

How do you maintain balance between earning additional income and life in general?

2 Comments

Catherine, August 18th 2011 | Tags: , , ,
Posted in 2011, goals, life, money

Choices: The Expensive Coffee Debate

Starbucks on Briggate

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I read several Personal Finance blogs, one of which being Consumerist.  I have to admit, lately I haven’t been as focused on reading all the blogs in my reader feed as I normally am, but this particular post caught my eye.  Apparently, Katie Couric interviewed Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, on CBS Sunday Morning.  In her interview she asked him questions about the price of Starbucks’ coffee drinks, and implied that the CEO and the company have, acted irresponsibly by continuing to offer expensive coffee drinks, when people could no longer afford to pay $5 for a latte.

First, I am not a coffee drinker, so I don’t typically spend any money in places like Starbucks.  Also, I tend to only go to Starbucks when I have a gift card.  So, for me, Starbucks falls into my “luxury” category of spending.  This means, it is not something I NEED to spend money on, but sometimes a hot chocolate makes me feel good so it’s a treat.  Dining out, going to movies (and getting snacks at the movie theater,) shoe shopping all fall into that category for me typically.  What I’ve learned, especially in regard to money, is life is full of choices.  Ultimately, it is the consumer’s choice to pay $5 for a coffee.   If you can’t afford the coffee, don’t buy it, there are plenty of less expensive options available to people.  I do not hold Starbucks responsible for a person’s inability to pay for a coffee.  The same way that I do not hold Christian Loubiton responsible for making gorgeous shoes I can not afford.  In my mind, any coffee made not at home, or that has flavors added to it is in essence, a “designer,” coffee, and with “designer” labels comes cost.  If you can not pay the cost, you shouldn’t be purchasing the items.  I believe that attempting to scapegoat the company is simply trying to shif the level of responsibility off the individuals.  It’s your money, people! Starbucks isn’t forcing you to shop there!

In the comment section of the post at Consumerist, one person brought up a great point. This particular commenter stated that he continues to go to places like Starbucks because he enjoys the atmosphere, but also because he knows the higher cost of the coffee goes into better paying salaries and benefits for the employees of the company.  By patronizing Starbucks he is voting with his dollar for a company that treats its employees well and offeres competitive benefits.  This was interesting to me because the reasoning was similar to friends I have who WON”T shop at places like Wal-Mart.  They don’t agree with many of the corporate policies, so they choose not to shop there. Do you vote with your dollars?

The fact that this was even an argument seemed ridiculous to me.  Why should Starbucks change their pricing if their sales are still strong? 

What do you think?  Has Starbucks acted irresponsibly in the face of the recent financial crisis?

5 Comments

Catherine, March 30th 2011 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in 2011, blogs, in the news, life, money, wtf

Purchases: Shopping Made Fun Again

For the last five years or so, I’ve kind of hated shopping.  It felt like most of the time I never had money to shop, and when I did have some money, I could never find what I was looking for.  Then, when I began my debt destruction plan, shopping for clothes that weren’t super necessary became a distant memory, and I really stopped shopping altogether.  It became too sad, walking around, looking at all the things I knew I couldn’t afford to buy.  Plus, there were times throughout the last few years when I haven’t felt great about my body, and it felt like finding anything that fit in a way that wasn’t unflattering was nearly impossible.

I knew there were items I needed for my work wardrobe, so, when I received my tax refund, I set aside some money (after paying my debt off completely,) to start filling in the missing pieces.

I didn’t take pictures in the dressing room while I was shopping on Saturday, but I was able to find images of the things I purchased at Ann Taylor Loft on their website.  Well, all except a grey cardigan, but I’m sure you can visualize that ;) I wasn’t able to find the tops I got at Gap, so, those will have to wait until I actually wear them, I guess.

Just for fun, here are my purchases!

Jacket, something I definitely needed.  I don’t own any lightweight, slightly dressy jackets. This means I always wear cardigans or hoodies.  Hoodies, are not what I would deem work appropriate.  I’m pretty sure my boss agrees ;)

This top looks really cute under the jacket, and goes with dressier pants, or jeans, and will also go well with a pair of shorts that I have. Win, win, win, right?

 

I wasn’t sure about this dress at first.  The truth is, in the dressing room, the first time I put it on, I didn’t put it on correctly and I kind of hated it.  Then, when I tried it on a second time for Mikela, I figured out the lining of the dress, and I liked it better.  I only have a couple of casual dresses so this was a great addition.

Basic work pants.  I already have a pair of these in black, and this pair will replace a pair of American Eagle pants that are missing a button and have a wonky hem after four years of wear.  I’m planning on purchasing another pair, probably in black again because I really like the way they fit.  Although, my first pair was regular sized, I purchased this pair in petite.  The woman working in the dressing room was super helpful and let me know that going with a petite size would help with the issue I had with the length of the pants I tried on Saturday.  Her suggestion was also to go up a size if I went with the petite pants, which was a great suggestion.

 

3 Comments

Catherine, March 14th 2011 | Tags: , ,
Posted in 2011, life, money, shopping

Victory, Achieved

Reaching goals rocks. Even though I knew I had accomplished this goal, seeing it in an email from Mint.com made me smile, and totally made my day.

What little things make your day brighter?

2 Comments

Catherine, March 13th 2011 | Tags: , ,
Posted in 2011, accomplishments, money

Sacrifice, My Social Life and Personal Finance: Part 3

Security token devices

Image via Wikipedia

The final piece in my personal finance series, I wanted to share some things I found helpful along my credit card debt free journey.

1. Personal Finance Blogs

I started reading more and more Personal Finance blogs because they often offer good advice on paying off debt.  Plus, it helps to keep you motivated, and inspired when you would really rather throw in the towel.  It’s tough making sacrifices, especially when the people around you may not completely understand what you’re doing. So, having a little “support group,” like this can be helpful.

Some of my favorites: The Simple Dollar , Get Rich Slowly, Free Money Finance

2. Mint.com

Mint.com was a huge help in actually creating some kind of workable budget.  It tracks your spending, and breaks things out by category for you.  In addition to this great feature, it shows you options to help you save more on things like your savings account, or credit cards. Check out: Mint.com

3. Online Banking

Being able to see the balance in my bank account was really helpful in remaining mindful of my money.  In addition to that it was a great reminder of WHY I was working so hard to pay off my debt, filling up my sad, sad savings account.

4. Family Support

For Christmas, the year I started getting serious about paying off my credit card debt, I asked my family to forgo gifts and instead I wanted to use whatever money they were planning on spending toward my debt.  This gave me a big kick start.  My parents did end up getting me small gifts as well, but, going into a new year knowing I was on my way to being debt free was the greatest gift.  Of course, it’s fun to get gifts on Christmas, and at birthdays, it’s exciting to open them up, but I also knew that the only thing I really wanted twas to be debt free.  Having “things” wasn’t going to push me forward to that goal.

Catch up on parts one and two here:

6 Comments

Catherine, March 12th 2011 | Tags: ,
Posted in 2011, accomplishments, goals, life, money

Sacrifice, My Social Life and Personal Finance: Part 2

Credit cards

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You can catch up with part one here!

So, I began a more aggressive repayment plan, and am proud to say that as of right now I have only $975 left.  Once I get my tax return money back I will not only be completely credit card debt free, but I will also have enough to pad my savings account in a significant way.  It’s been a difficult, and sometimes socially strenuous process, but I am so excited and proud of myself.

You see, in the past year and a half, I’ve had to make some choices about how I spend (or not spend,)my money.  Do I continue to put $300+ toward my credit cards, or do I go to several movies a month and brunch once a week?  It wasn’t always easy to choose paying off my debt, because, honestly? Joan’s on Third tastes a lot better than breakfast at home, by myself does. It wasn’t fun to have to say “I’d love to go to that concert, but, I really can’t afford it.”  Not because I found it embarrassing, but because it was hard to know I’d be missing out on something fun with my friends. I know that in this process, I didn’t really budget enough for “fun,” but it was because I wanted to be debt free as quickly as possible. It did make me feel really isolated at times, and I knew it was my own doing, I could have very easily given up on my plan and simply charged things, adding it to my pile of debt I was already paying off. The thing is, once I had a plan, once I could see that it was possible to be debt free by this year, I didn’t WANT to give up on it.

However, now that I am in the home stretch, and I can see the end in sight, I do believe it has been worth it.  Not having all that credit card debt hanging over my head is going to feel so great.  I do still have student loans, but since I am planning on going back to school this year to finally continue to finish my Bachelor’s degree, I’m not as concerned about it just yet.

I didn’t use any magic (or even a debt snowball) to get out of credit card debt, I simply made the decision to be debt free, and began paying significantly more than the minimum balance on my credit cards.  I started with the highest interest, then began consolidating my debt to make it easier to pay off.  The last move I made was to Chase, which does have, with their Slate cards, a Blueprint feature.  In the end I did use their pay it down feature which showed me, if I wanted to be debt free by June of 2011, what my payments each month would need to be.  Seeing that was extremely helpful, and when things would get difficult, or I would be depressed about staying in, I would look at that website and visualize June 2011.  I could see that zero balance in my head and it would make it just a little bit easier to turn down fun things I wanted to do. Have you made sacrifices to reach your financial goals?

Because people ask, here is a brief list of things I have gone without, or gone with less frequently in order to make those higher credit card payments:

-Regular hair cuts and color.  I splurged in May of last year just before my 10 year high school reunion, but otherwise I’d been using haircolor from a box, and would go about a year in between haircuts. I used to be a haircut junkie.  I would get my hair done every 8-10 weeks I think, and it was awesome.  I really did miss it at first, but when you’re paying for all your own haircuts and color, turns out, it’s pricey.  I will be getting my next haircut in March when I’m in San Francisco over St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

- Mani/pedis.  I got one after the Disney half marathon in September of last year, and before that the last one I’d gotten was a Valentine’s gift from Travis the year before.  As much as I would have loved to have my cuticles managed on a regular basis, it just didn’t make sense to shell out $30 for something I could mostly do at home.

- Weekly brunch- for a while, my girlfriends and I were doing weekly hikes followed by brunch.  This was one of the hardest things to forgo, because brunch was such a great transition from hiking.  We were all hungry, we needed to eat…but spending $12-15 once a week on brunch just didn’t make sense financially.

- A SmartPhone- Actually this one is no longer true.  Last Monday, when I woke up, my phone was totally dead, and even though I was 2 months away from qualifying for an upgrade, I decided that saving $50 verses spending an extra $20 or more for an interim phone didn’t make sense.  So, I upgraded early, and will use some of my tax refund to cover the cost of my new phone.  Yes, my phone bill will increase by quite a bit, but now that I don’t have a $300 credit card payment, I can afford to spend a little more for a phone that is more functional for my lifestyle.

- Meals Out – Travis and I do our very best to eat in as often as possible. We definitely have fallen off the wagon, and it isn’t always easy to eat what you’ve got, but it has saved us a ridiculous amount of money.  It also helps that when we cook at home, I usually have leftovers to take for lunches which means I’m not eating out two meals a day.

There are lots of ways to save money, but ultimately it becomes about choices. How badly do you want to be debt free? What’s important to you right now? I can’t make those decisions for you, but I know for me, getting myself out of credit card debt was important.  Important enough to put some social outings, and luxuries on the back burner.  It helped that I had a timeline, and that I could see the end.  However, there were certainly times when it felt impossible.  Months when I had to split up payments, or times I had to put something on my card due to an emergency I wasn’t prepared for. It hasn’t been the easiest road, but in the end, I’m proud of myself for accomplishing my goal.

Stay tuned for Part 3: Helpful Blogs and Tools

1 Comment

Catherine, March 8th 2011 | Posted in 2011, accomplishments, goals, lessons, life, money

Sacrifice, My Social Life and Personal Finance: Part 1

Credit cards

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In my life, I haven’t always taken the same path as most of my peers.  I didn’t go to a four year university after high school. I made this decision for a lot of reasons, and at the time, it was the right decision to make.  It allowed me to grow up a bit more, follow my heart and continue to dance, and grow as a dancer.  It also allowed me to experience the amazing city of San Francisco.

When I moved back to Los Angeles, I continued my different path to Cosmetology school, then to Make-up school. I’ve held many different jobs, and have learned many different skills.  While attempting to make a living as a make-up artist, I realized a lot of things about myself.  First and foremost, that while I really enjoyed doing make-up, what I loved most about it was making people feel great, and not long hours on a set, and also, not making any money.  However, I did not want to return to a retail career path.  I have been extremely lucky that my parents have been very supportive of me in many ways over the years.  Some people have criticized me for how much my parents helped me financially when I moved back to Los Angeles.  However, I have never been ashamed of their help, and I have never lied about nor denied the amount of help they have given me.  I am eternally grateful to them for allowing me to continue to find and blaze my own path in this world.

But, the real point of this post, is how I got myself out of credit card debt. You see, I woke up one morning, when I was working full-time managing the front desk of a gym while attempting to also work as a make-up artist, picking up student film work and test shoot work with photographers, when I realized, I felt far too old to continue to have my parents help me in the manner they were. At my full time job, I usually made just enough money to cover rent or food and utilities.  So, my parents helped me out with the differences.  During this time, I was not going out very often, and I very rarely saw my friends on social occasions, because I couldn’t afford to go drinking, or out to dinner or to movies with them. It was a difficult time emotionally because I felt really lonely often.  So, I took a full time, salaried job with benefits so that I would no longer be dependent on my parents financial help.

That was four years ago.  During that time as well, I began to slowly chip away at the credit card debt I had accumulated over the years.  I don’t remember what the total was when I started, but it had to have been over $10,000 between several credit cards.  I began by paying as much as I could and slowly chipping away at the totals.  Then, I began utilizing 0% balance transfers to consolidate my debt.  However, it wasn’t until last year, when I accepted the first job I ever truly took just for the money, that I made a firm mandate to myself.  I had gotten myself down to about $8,000 in credit card debt, and I vowed that I would do my best to pay that debt off in two years, a year if possible. It helped that Travis had already paid off his own credit card, and student loan debt.  Travis was a huge motivator for me, in terms of really seeing what actually having a plan and then a savings could mean for the future.  Aside from simply having an emergency fund (which even now I don’t really have,) seeing Travis save for, and purchase his 1968 Camaro in cash, was inspiring.

Stay tuned for Part 2: How I did it, and what I gave up!

6 Comments

Catherine, March 1st 2011 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in accomplishments, lessons, life, money

The Whole (Chicken) Shebang

While meal planning this week, we decided to make Paprikas for Tuesday Night Dinner.  Part of the reason we did this was because it’s delicious, but also because we knew that whole chickens were on sale for 99 cents per pound at Ralph’s (Kroger).  We purchased two whole chickens for about $4 a piece and ended up with about four times as much meat as if we’d spent the same money on just breast meat, which is what we would normally do.

So, yesterday, Travis cleaned and quartered both chickens, using a method he found online, which he claims was very easy.   You can see for yourself, this guy is from the French Cuilinary Institute, so it’s legit ;)

Two whole chickens is a lot of meat, so we froze two breasts and several legs and wings, and used four legs for our Paprikas.  Then, everything that was left (bones etc.) went into a giant stock pot with some carrots and onion to make, well, stock.  We’ll then freeze this homemade stock to use in recipes until it runs out.

So, long story short, two chickens for $8 will stretch us through about six meals.  I call that a major winner winner chicken dinner. ;) Don’t you?

3 Comments

Catherine, February 2nd 2011 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in food, Groceries, life, money

Guest Post: The Benefits of Packing a Lunch

Clare is one of my favorite people, and was one of the first people I looked up to on these here interwebs.  Back in the day (of 1997 or so) I was a fledgling personal webpage owner (and an avid Hanson Fan page owner), and Clare had an adorable site that I just adored.  We became friends, and the rest, as they say, is history.  Clare graciously agreed to help me out while I’m in Phoenix this weekend!

~*~

Greetings, readers of See Tiny Run. My name is Clare and I’ve had the pleasure of being one of Cat’s friends for thirteen years now. I blog at Never Niche. Cat asked if I’d be interested in a guest post while she’s out of town this weekend and clearly I am. 

Cat photo documents her meals and exercise on a regular basis. I’m not much of a food blogger, mostly because I know readers’ eyes will glaze over when they see that I eat the same things day after day, but I’m definitely a foodie in real life. I’m also always interested in meal planning for less money, cutting corners, and eating great food without breaking the budget. For this guest post I will be discussing the importance of packing a lunch. This is a topic Cat is passionate about too, as she has written about her frustration with it here, here and here . I think it’s something any young working person struggles with, including myself.
 
Anyone with common sense knows that packing a lunch will save you a world of money. It’s no secret that having food prepared for your work day can help cushion your finances every week. But let’s lay it out in black and white terms…
Here’s a photo of the lunch I brought to work yesterday (like my 1960′s mustard-colored Formica? Me too.):
 
- apple
- reduced sugar granola bar
- cottage cheese
- Safeway brand frozen lasagna (I know, not the healthiest thing ever. My entree is usually a tupperware of homemade veggie chile that I crockpot on the weekend.)
- bagel thin with organic peanut butter topped with blueberry and almonds
 
I brought this food to work yesterday and had coffee from the machine in the building’s kitchen. But let’s pretend I didn’t set myself up for success. On the way in to work, let’s pretend I stopped a Starbucks for just a grande coffee (not even a frou-frou drink) and tipped one dollar. Total cost? $3.11. Then the mid-morning rolls around and I’m hungry so I go downstairs and buy an organic granola bar from the vending machine. $1.50. When lunch rolls around, I scurry out of the building and go to the sushi restaurant nearby and get two rolls and miso = $9.80 including tip. I eat in a hurry in order to get back to my desk in time. When my stomach grumbles in the mid-afternoon, I go down to the vending machine again and get a bag of chips and a soda. $3.00.
 
By the end of this pretend work day, I’ve spent $17.41. If this was my routine for the week, that total comes to $87.05. Just off the top of my head, I can think of a pretty pair of boots for that price. Or 1/4 of a plane ticket to the west coast to see Cat. Or $87.05 that I could transfer into my Roth IRA because I didn’t really use it. Etcetera! It’s important to imagine your money as part of a bigger whole and see the bigger picture. Dining out isn’t truly damaging unless it’s a constant habit.
 
I would much rather plan ahead and include plenty of lunchables in my $50/week grocery budget. It feels incredible to not spend a single dime during the work day. It’s okay to treat yourself to lattes, lunch at a restaurant with co-workers, and even the vending machine. It’s unrealistic to think that anyone can feel satisfied eating and drinking things that are only brought from home. Everything in moderation!
Happy lunching! Cat will be back and blogging on Monday.
  

4 Comments

Catherine, January 15th 2011 | Tags: , ,
Posted in 2011, blogs, food, Guest Post, lunch, money

Fuzzy Math

Division (mathematics)

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My math skills are terrible. I have a hard time with basic arithmetic, especially when expected to add or subtract numbers in my head.  I never fully memorized the multiplication tables, and don’t even get me started on fractions.  However, I’m good with a calculator, and I’m usually good at keeping an eye on my checking account balance to ensure I don’t go overdrawn.

However, the other day, I must have done some math incorrectly, or, my theory is that my bank (which I will very likely be switching,) showed the incorrect total in my available balance line.  I woke up this morning to a notice that they had enacted my overdraft protection.

I am annoyed.  Annoyed because I knew money was REALLY tight until my next paycheck (and this paycheck will be even tighter since until recently I didn’t have any paid time off, and was not only off for Christmas but got sick just before,) but I had no idea picking up a rotisserie chicken, some bread and a couple other items to the tune of $14 would send me into the red.

Needless to say, this was not the best way to start my morning, but I’m going to simply shake it off and keep going.  It’s Thursday, after all, and only two more days before the weekend, and 10 days to my race!

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10 Comments

Catherine, January 6th 2011 | Tags: , , ,
Posted in life, money
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