Aug 03 2010

Freedom and August Stuff

Category: Life, New York Marathon, Project GeekGirl, planet finance, running — GeekGirl @ 7:11 pm

I turned in my final paper Sunday evening. With that, I’m out of school for the next month. I also worked my last Saturday at the running store last week. I will have Saturday and Sunday off this week for the first time in around a year. Wow. All this extra time is mind-blowing for me. Of course I have a ton of stuff that I would like to get done over the next month. The number one thing is cleaning/organizing. I have so much clutter. Over the next month I’m going to get rid of as much as I can. I’m just sick of looking at it. Here are some of the things that I’d like to accomplish this month:

  • Clean out closets
  • Get a dresser/chest of drawers
  • Clean living room furniture (Might do this myself)
  • Get my bike fixed
  • List my books on Half.com
  • Clean out bathroom
  • Reorganize kitchen
  • Shred all extra papers and reorganize all my papers

I’ve got a lot to do, but I think it’ll make me feel a bit better to have a nice clean, organized home.  I also have a few financial things that I’d like to take care of this month:

  • Get my finances back in order. – I stopped using my budget a couple of months ago and hadn’t updated my Networth since April. Bleh. So not like me.
  • Pay off Hospital Bill #1 – I think it’s only $200. I have to call and check
  • Consolidate a few of my accounts. They’re getting entirely out of hand.
  • 10 No Spend Days – These are hard for me because I’m not organized and tend to go to the grocery store every day.  I waste a lot of money doing this.
  • Workout a plan to start tackling my student loan debt and Hospital Bill #2
  • Shop for flights to New York for the  marathon. I’ll be staying with my friend RTB so I just need to pay for the flight and make sure I have cash for miscellaneous fun stuff.
  • I also have a couple of super-secret income generating projects that I’ll be working on this month. More deets on those as soon as I figure them out.

Of course, the usual stuff is still in place. Hit all my runs. Stretch, ice, crosstrain. All that good stuff. I also want to relax and read at least 1 good book. I miss reading books for the heck of it.

What are you up to this month?

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Today’s Run: 5.5 miles | 57:34 | 10:28 pace
This run was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. When I stepped out this morning I thought it was semi-cooler. It might have been in  my head, though. Once I made it to the beach, the wind picked up and it started pouring. That in turn made the temperature drop and I had a great run. It’s nice to see that I can run faster that I have been. As long as I stay consistent this summer I should be fine when I get to New York.

Did you run today? How was it?

Jul 27 2010

Mini-Meltdown

Category: New York Marathon, planet finance — GeekGirl @ 8:27 pm

I bank with Schwab. Though they have a branch or something downtown, I still have to mail in my deposits. In general, I have no problem with this, but lately it’s been causing me a bit of grief. The latest grief? I think my deposit got lost in the mail. Usually if I get my check in the mail on Saturday, it posts on Monday. Well, it’s Tuesday evening and it hasn’t posted. I called and they said they don’t have anything.

After the initial panic I rationally transferred over the necessary amount from my ING account. Hopefully, it will post tomorrow. Here’s the thing though. My boss is going out of town on Thursday. So, if I don’t tell him by tomorrow I might not be able to replace the check. So, do I suck it up and go ahead and have him put a stop-payment on it? I’m not hurting for cash or anything. But it might be 2-3 weeks before he’s back in town. Can I wait that long? Honestly? Yes.

Add to this the fact that I’m having anxiety about my “future”. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. Due to some issues I’m limited in things, but for the most part I have NO idea what I want to do. I just know what I don’t want to do. That’s remain in the tech industry. Though, in all honesty it hasn’t been bad to me. So…sigh. I have no idea.

I also want to move, but because I’m not sure what I want to do is it wise for me to buy here. And what happens if I lose my job or can’t find work? Then what? Will I be homeless? I don’t want to be a homeless lady.

And…now I can’t breathe again. . .

This is what’s coursing through my little head all day and night. I don’t know what to do. Right now, I’m drinking wine. Not sure how that will help, but I had to do something. (Though I think I’m just obsessing. It might be time for me to take  a step back.)

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Today’s Run:   5 miles | 55:33 | 10:58 or so
Decent run. I meant to go about 5.3, but I got super hot at the end and walked the rest in. No biggie. I got the time I needed and I think walking that little bit was a great cool down. There was really no reason to push or anything. I just felt like I could go any further.

Off topic – Fort Lauderdale stinks. It was hot and still this morning. No airflow or anything and everything smelled like bumjuice. Yes. Bumjuice. You don’t even want to know what that smells like.

Jul 21 2010

Banking Woes

Category: C.R.E.A.M., planet finance, running — GeekGirl @ 8:45 pm

I have about 1 to many checking accounts. For the most part I’ve been able to keep them in order and pay the proper things out of the right accounts. Until now.

Last week, I realized that I hadn’t paid for the Jetta. So, I hopped onto the VW account and sent off a payment. No big deal. That was on Saturday. On Tuesday, I was updating all of my information in Quicken and realized that the money hadn’t been taken out of the account yet. I logged in and it showed that it had been paid, so I assumed that it just wasn’t showing yet on my banks account. Then I got a notice in the mail saying that my credit union account was overdrawn. This is the account that I don’t put too much money in for the most part. It’s for recreational stuff.  I usually keep less than $200 in that account.

Well, I’m still getting notices and as of now I’m at -$284. I’m going in tomorrow to get the account squared away and also to close it. Since I won’t have my side job anymore this account is pointless and inconvenient. It also just begs for stuff like this to happen.

I should be freaking out, but I really do not care. It’ll all be taken care of tomorrow and life will go on.

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Today’s Run: 4.67 miles |  50:00 | 10:43
This was my first “Steady State” run. I decided to do most of my speedwork at the gym until it gets cooler. Otherwise all that is going to happen on these runs (at least until I’m way more fit) is that I’m going to blow the hell up on my runs. So, I did 20 minutes @ 11:00ish, 15 minutes @ 9:53, and then 15 minute cool down around 10:53 or so. I felt really good and there were no issues with my banged toe.

I’m hurting from hitting the door yesterday. My foot hurts and so does my hamstring and neck. Hopefully, it will feel fine shortly. Also, my left knee is bothering me, but what else is new. Since I fell on it last year in Peru it’s been a whiny bitch. I should NOT have done those squats last week.

Tomorrow: EZ 45 – 60 minute run. Will cut short if still achy or my knee is bothering me.

Jun 18 2010

Putting It Out There

Category: Life, Project GeekGirl, planet finance, this is what a feminist looks like — GeekGirl @ 8:17 pm

Every day I come home from work and rejoice if my neighbor is out. He never freaking leaves the house. If you recall, I live in a unique set up. It’s a 2 bedroom, but 1 bedroom has a private entrance. So that room is rented out to someone else and the door separating us is locked and my landlord has the key. It’s been this way for years. This was done as a temporary fix when my ex and I broke up and I was figuring out what I wanted to do.

I have no privacy. I can hear and smell everything he does and vice versa. Every burp, fart, piss, etc I hear. I honestly don’t think that’s the case for him (my neighbor) because my apartment is big. My bathroom is on the other side of the house and my bedroom is separated by his bathroom and closet. Plus, I’m hyper aware of this, so I make sure to be discreet.

I want to move. I’ve wanted to move for years. If you recall, in 2008 I tried desperately to buy a condo. Two contracts went out and both of them fell through. Last year, I just didn’t care and had lots of medical bills to pay. This year? I think I’m ready to move. I got a raise and can afford a bit of a nicer place. I love my neighborhood…hell. I love my apartment minus the fat guy living in my second bedroom. However, to get in a place this nice that is private it’s going to run me at least $1000 a month. When I told my dad about this he just sighed and said, “It’s time for you to buy a home.”

As he pointed out, in this area paying $1000 for a 1/1 is ridiculous. I can surely buy something for that or less.  I just need a little bit of patience and a lot of luck. My credit is good. I have no credit card debt. My hospital bills will be paid by the end off summer. I’ve got a bit of change in my pocket. My student loans are high, but in good standing/not up for repayment yet.  It might be time.

So…I want to be shopping for a place by September/October. If not a home of my own, a new rental. It’s time to go. I need a change and I’m tired of not having privacy. I want space. French doors. A washer/dryer of my own. I want to play my flute whenever the fuck I want. I want to play music during my early morning workouts and vacuum the floors at 8 am. Holy shit! I. Want. Freedom.

I’m stating it here. I want to move. Hopefully to a place of my own. This means the next few months need to be lean. I’d like to pay off the last of my hospital bill. I think I owe another $300. I have a doctor’s bill for about $900. I’d like to cut that in half. I’d also like to take another $2000 – 3000 with me when I’m ready to buy. That’s ambitious, but September/October I want to be shopping for a HOME.

It’s out there in the universe. Now it just needs to happen. (With my help, of course.)

Note: This works out well because I’m also watching what I eat and staying home for marathon training. The next few months might be intense, but I think they payoff on ALL fronts will be worth it. By the end of the year I’ll hopefully only have 2 classes left until my bachelor’s degree. I’ll have run New York and hopefully bought a freaking home. I’m so muthafucking ready for good stuff to happen. I feel like all I ever do is work and never see the benefits. Bring them on!

May 04 2010

I Can See the Light

Category: C.R.E.A.M., planet finance — GeekGirl @ 7:49 pm

save

Since many of you follow me on Twitter, this is probably redundant. Anyway, I got a freaking raise!!! A nice sized raise, at that. Woohoo!!!

I’m not quite sure how much my my take home pay will be.  My boss told me, but I was so happy about getting a raise all I heard was Charlie Brown style-grown-up-talk.  Since it’s a percentage I do know it’s at least $125 or so more per check. Woohoo!!! This is huge and tosses my paycheck to a decent amount. I’m pumped.

Over the past couple of months I’ve done a lot of work to get my savings back in order. Things are tight due to my hospital bills that I’m paying down. I’m down to my last $700 on the big one that was about $5000 last year. My goal is to have that one out of here in the next 3 months. That will be the last of my bills from my near-death experience. I then need to tackle my PT bill from last year. I thought all of my visits to the PT were covered.They weren’t and I racked up a $1000 bill. I’d like that to be out of here by the end of the year. I’d love to see at least half of my raise go to my retirement and investment account. I’d love to up the ante on those 2 accounts. They’ve been neglected for so long due to illness and stuff.  Finally, I need to really start tackling some of my student loans. Particularly my first one from eons ago. That bitch is going down.

So, in summary, my raise will be used to knock some bills out and boost my savings. The best thing??? I can quit my second job this summer!!! I’m going to stick it out for a couple of months since my school workload is light for the summer, but I will quit no later than fall. Further, I’m going to budget out that money, too.

It’s so nice to start seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

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Apr 12 2010

Taxes Filed

Category: C.R.E.A.M. — GeekGirl @ 8:56 pm

Somehow I lost my W-2 for my primary job. I meant to get a copy from my boss, but kept forgetting to ask for it. Today I finally ran by the accountants office today and grabbed a copy. I just finished a my taxes and will be getting quite a decent return.  Enough to pay off my hospital bill. Woohoo.

Now this presents another issue. It appears that I’m being paid less than I’m supposed to be paid. I need to ask about that and get that issue resolved. I got a raise ages ago, but my W-2 doesn’t reflect that, so…Sigh.

Mar 31 2010

April Stuff

Category: Project GeekGirl, planet finance, running — GeekGirl @ 7:29 am

Woohoo….April is my birthday month, so I’m pretty darn excited about the upcoming month. Sure I’m not really one of those people that does the whole celebrating of the birthday or anything, but it still makes April super special to me.

March blew by really fast, but I managed to do some of the things I intended to. Mainly, I set up a couple of automatic deposits. One to my Roth IRA and another to my ShareBuilder account for investing. It’s really not much. About $50 a month, but I feel like I’m breathing some life into my retirement planning. That will hold me while I bang out many of these hospital bills. Budget wise, March was meh. No emergencies or anything like that, but I did spend too much hanging out with the Vegan. I’ll try to control that a bit better in April. Fitness wise, running was ok though I didn’t get in my long runs like I wanted too. I stopped Shredding though due to being super busy. So, we’ll work on that.

April is going to be a super busy month. Here are some of the things I’ll be working on:

  • Blogging more. I’m considering blogging through the month of April. It’s a great way to celebrate my big birthday! Under consideration tonight.
  • Take more pictures. I’d love to do a Wordless Wednesday or Photo Friday type of thing. I’m still trying to force myself to take more pics. Just…everything I do is so boring.
  • Work on paying off the accrued interest on my new student loan. (There is a whole long involved post coming in regard to the student loans. I just saw what my payment amount is going to be and almost had a heart attack.)
  • Get new glasses. (I got new contacts. My prescription changed quite a bit, though. No more astigmatism!)
  • Pay for registration for car.
  • Pay off gyno bill. (Long story, but Aetna DENIED coverage to find out if I have cancer. Thanks a lot assholes!)
  • Come up with a manageable debt repayment plan for the rest of the year.
  • Rework my budget so I can quit the running store.
  • Setup site so I can take on some freelance work. This would be to replace the money from the store.
  • Run 30-35 miles a week. I don’t care how it’s done. 1 long run, split runs. I don’t give a shit as long as I hit my mileage. :-) (I’m still doing 20-25…just skipping long runs. So, we’ll do away with them. As long as the mileage is the same who cares? Note:  This is due to the fact that I’m not training for anything in particular right now.)
  • Shred/resistance training at least twice a week.
  • Better time management. I am letting the Vegan occupy time that I don’t have. Even though it sucks, I need to set some boundaries or I am going to flunk out of school/not be marathon ready for fall.

I’ve got a lot on my plate this month. Particularly financially. I want to make some more headway on a few things, though. Wish me luck, y’all.

Mar 03 2010

March Stuff!

Category: C.R.E.A.M., Life, planet finance, running — GeekGirl @ 7:59 am

Yes. I’ll be doing this, too. It seems like everyone on the internets is raving about all of the weight they lost by doing Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred. (I got it for free since I had an Amazon gift card for $10.) What can I say? I’m vain and want my abs back.

I’ve been running really consistently for at least 4 months (no less than 4-5 runs a week) and hadn’t really dropped any weight. . .until this week. I hopped on the scale and realized I’ve lost SEVEN pounds. I’m not really sure how that happened, but I’m not really going to look a gift horse in the mouth, either. I think some of the weight loss is due to eating a really strange diet last week. I was often out of food and would get tofu or something from the Whole Foods hot bar. I also ate a lot of oatmeal and didn’t run. I need to analyze it a bit because maybe something I was eating prior was making me bloat or something. (I did away with all cheese and veggie burgers…so maybe that’s it?)

So, I weighed in this morning at 118. I’d like to get down to 112, but I’m not really a numbers person. If everything firms up and I get strong but stay the same weight I’m fine. (That’s actually why I wasn’t losing any weight while running. Everything got firm, but my weight stayed up.) What I want to see is some muscle tone like I used to have and nice flat abs. They’re almost there, I just need some toning and stuff. If I get up the nerves I’ll post some before pictures. (Doubtful.)

In other, not so great news – I’m broke. No. Seriously. B-R-O-K-E. I had to take out of my school money to pay for Gio’s surgery. That was $670. I had to get an eye exam, contact lenses, buy $300 in school books. Financially, this year is not off to a good start. In addition to that, I keep buying stuff. Mainly food, but I know I can eat cheaper food.

I’m hoping that this month goes super smoothly and I can get back on my feet financially. I’d like to not use my credit cards at all and stay within my budget for this month. It’s the only way that I can keep my finances from getting further out of control. For the time being, I’m in savings mode. I need to stick every single penny away to build my Emergency Fund back up to $1000 and to replace my school money. Hopefully, there will be no more financial surprises.

I’ll have my race pics posted later. I have to do a screen grab to catch them and don’t have the software on this box.

Onward, bitches!

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Jan 12 2010

Time to Leave ING Direct?

Category: C.R.E.A.M., planet finance — GeekGirl @ 8:42 pm

I use ING Direct for my Emergency savings, IRA, and to hold my school money. When I opened the account years ago, I think my interest was around 5% or so. That’s awesome. It was hanging on at around 2% for a while. Now it’s slipped down to 1.2 or something. That’s pretty pathetic and barely worth the trouble of moving money back and forth and stuff. It might be time for me to take my money elsewhere.

I’m not sure if I’m going to find anything better. I like Ally. There interest is only at 1.49%, but they have some interesting options for CD’s including a “No Penalty” CD. I really like that idea. I love that I can’t really touch CD’s, but I would really like to know that the money is available if there is an emergency. Otherwise, I’m not quite sure where I would go. I could consolidate my money and just put it all at Schwab or the local Credit Union. It would be far easier to access and the interest isn’t that different from what I’m getting.

Do any of you know of places with better interest rates?

Dec 31 2009

2010: Goals And My 1 ‘Resolution’

Category: C.R.E.A.M., Life, planet finance — GeekGirl @ 4:44 pm

Well, it’s NYE. Woohoo! 2009 is almost behind us and it’s time for a brand new start in 2010.  Overall, 2009 was truly boring in my opinion. Nothing much really happened. Which, in all honesty is fine. It means I wasn’t sick, I’m still employed, have a home, and my family is healthy. (Including Gio.)

Last year, I set a few financial and career goals. Let’s see how I did:

1.  Open a retirement account. I did this! I’m now the proud owner of an IRA with nothing in it. Ha ha ha.
2.  Save up 3 months of living expenses in my emergency fund. Great big FAIL. I have savings, but I didn’t put anywhere near as much away as I would’ve liked. I used the money to pay off some bills and stuff.
3. Move to a credit union. I did this! Unfortunately, it doesn’t really suit my needs. However, I am keeping it as my “Freedom Account”. More deets on this later. I did move all of my $$$ away from Chase, though. So yay!
4.  Pay off hospital bill. Well, at least as close as possible. I’m half way through this bill, and have tacked on another one. Boooo…But all of my payments were on time, etc.
5. Start paying down my original student loan debt and find ways to lower my current one. Ha ha ha! No.
6.  Look into getting my paralegal certification. I know what needs to be done. I just need to do it. Since I have all this extra time. Ha.
7.  Take a vacation this year. Boy did I! I went to Peru and crossed off one of my “Places to See Before I Die!”

All in all, I did ok. Nothing to great, but I did make some headway on a few things. Financially the year was just blah. It didn’t help that I went on a bit of a spending spree. I bought a new iMac, went on a “extravagent” vacation, and bought a new car.

In 2010, here’s what I’d like to do financially:

1.  $1000 in emergency fund. (More if possible!)
2.  Keep about $500 in my Freedom Account. This is where medical stuff and irregular expenses will come from. Gio’s doctor visits and stuff like that. Not sure how I’m going to fund it.
3. $40 a month to my IRA.
4.  Keep putting away $77 a month to go out of the country. Most likely Patagonia, but we’ll see.
5. Pay off all hospital bills by the end of the year. I’ve got about $3500 to go.
6.  Make a dent in my initial student loans. I’m thinking $60 a month, but I’m waiting on some information fromo Sallie Mae.
7. Figure out how to make more income, but quit my second job. Once again, no idea how to go about this.

So, what else  would I like to see in 2010? I’d like to see some change. I feel like I’ve been stuck in the same fucking rut for about 5 years. No matter what I do, I can’t break free. Same job. Same apartment. Ugh…I’m not happy. I’m not sure what needs to change, but something has to. I’m going crazy here. I’m bored, lonely, and feel like a failure. I’m not even sure why I feel like a failure.

This part I have to sit and ponder. I have no idea what to do to change my life. Period. I feel so lost.

Finally, my one resolution for the year is to NOT THROW UP. After going 3 years without throwing up, this year I threw up twice. Both due to alcohol. So, it’s time for me to say bye bye to the booze for a bit.

With that, here’s hoping for a great 2010.

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!

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