She Does Better

Emilie Burke

2017 Quarter 1 Spending Ban: Cosmetics, Books, and Clothes

// Finances

Reading Time: 2 minutes

In the middle of last year, I issued my own categorical spending ban. For quarter three- July, August, and September- I told myself I was not going to spend any money on books or cosmetics. I was successful and did not violate my ban once!

Going into quarter four- October, November, and December- I reflected on my progress and was really pleased with myself. I made some progress getting rid of half-used things around the house. When Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina, I gathered all the unopened cosmetics in the house and donated them all. The frugal part of me was happy because I didn’t have to just throw great things away; the aspiring minimalist in me was happy to get those out of the house! Proud of all the progress I made, I decided to expand the ban into that quarter.

Unfortunately, I was not as successful in quarter 4. I broke my spending ban three times. I bought two bottles of dry shampoo and and two books: [easyazon_link identifier=”0529101505″ locale=”US” tag=”burkedoes-20″]Make It Happen by Lara Casey[/easyazon_link] and [easyazon_link identifier=”0718085221″ locale=”US” tag=”burkedoes-20″]Grace Not Perfection by Emily Ley[/easyazon_link]. [easyazon_link identifier=”0529101505″ locale=”US” tag=”burkedoes-20″]Make It Happen[/easyazon_link] was so good!

The goal of these spends is not just to absolutely forbid spending but to forbid frivolous spending when I have so much already.

Going into this next year, I’m going to be extending my ban. In addition to not being allowed to spend on Cosmetics and Books this quarter, I’m going to also not spend any money on CLOTHES. Yes, you read that correctly! With a recently acquired LLR addiction, it will be hard, but I do not need any more clothes! I have so much hanging up in my closet and in my drawers that I never wear! WHY AM I COLLECTING CLOTHES?!

This quarter, I will go through my drawers and closets (yet again) for a purge. In that, I will REMOVE EVERYTHING I have from the draws and closet. Then I’ll go through what I have and think deliberately about what’s going to get to stay. Hopefully, I’ll have some more clothes to donate! I’ll own less (without going the whole minimalist/capsule wardrobe route yet because I’m not ready) and hopefully get more use out of what I own.

I will not buy any more clothes, including workout gear, lingerie and underthings, shoes, or dresses. I may borrow or rent a dress for the upcoming ball, but I will not buy one.

As always, the rules of my category spending ban still apply:

 

  1. I cannot buy things in these categories (cosmetics, books, and clothes).
  2. I can be gifted these things, but I cannot ask for them as gifts.
  3. I can do book exchanges with friends and pay postage on those exchanges, but I cannot buy new books for these exchanges and I must read the books I get from these exchanges.

When are you trying not to spend on this quarter?

Spending Log // Week 2

// Finances

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Welcome to this week’s Spending Log! This is my explanation of all the money I spent in the last week. The week number aligns with the week in the year. My hope with the spending logs is that over time I can become increasingly more intentional and transparent with my spending.

[table caption=”Week 2 Personal Spending” colalign=”center”]
Date, Expense/Description, Category, Amount
1/10/17, Tech Ladies Founding Membership, Professional Development, 297
1/10/17, Pages of Purpose, Fitness, 16
1/10/17, Yoga, Fitness, 14
1/11/17, Milso Box, Gifts, 204
1/11/17, Five Guys, Food, 20
1/13/17, Circle K (Coffee for Casey and Donuts when we were out of coffee), Food, 7
1/13/17, Pedicure, Self-Care, 35
1/13/17, Walmart (Stuff for Frank), Gifts, 17
1/14/17, Circle K, Gas, 20
Total, , , 630
[/table]

HOLY MOLY I SPENT A LOT OF MONEY LAST WEEK. Two transactions accounted for over $500 of that though, so not nearly as bad as it could have been.

On Tuesday, I bought my Tech Ladies Founding Membership. It was $300 unexpected dollars, but it will be so worth it. I have already adjusted my budget form February on to create the sinking fund for this going forward.

I also bought Pages of Purpose, which I’m sure will be a great investment since I loved the last book I read from Krissy Mae Cagney. Then I went to Yoga with Angie.

On Wednesday, I bought a six month subscription of the Milso Box for a friend whose fiancee just deployed. Subscription boxes are always fun and I think she’ll like it! It was obviously an expense, but it’s my way of reminding her she’s on my mind even from afar.

That same day, Casey came home after a week of being gone and asked for Five Guys, so… we got Five Guys. That Friday, Casey was off, but I did not get coffee for the house, so I went out and got us coffee and donuts.

On Friday, I treated myself to a much-needed pedicure. It was 70 degrees (my favorite spring-ish weather in January!) and it had been over 10 weeks since my last one! Much-needed, much-deserved.

Otherwise, I bough gas and some stuff for a friend’s Ranger School care package.

I need to not spend money next week.

 

Spending Log // Week 1

// Finances

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Welcome to this week’s Spending Log! This is my explanation of all the money I spent in the last week. The week number aligns with the week in the year. My hope with the spending logs is that over time I can become increasingly more intentional with my spending.

[table caption=”Week 1 Personal” colalign=”center”]
Date, Expense/Description, Category, Amount
1/2/17, Babysitting: Four Hours, Income, +55
1/3/17, LuLaRoe: Subscription for Laura’s Christmas Present, Gifts, 27
1/3/17, Amazon: Won a $10 Gift Card at Work (Used on Groceries for the House), Fun, +10
1/6/17, Friday Night Lights Entry Fee, Fitness, 10
1/6/17, Taco Bell, Food & Groceries, 16
1/7/17, Protein, Food & Groceries, 9

Total, , , 62 Spent and 55 Earned = Net -7
[/table]

On Monday night, I babysat 4 kiddos for 4 hours and made $55. The parents were more generous than my usual babysitting fees. I’m really glad they could enjoy Rogue One, and I could enjoy some kid time. The extra money is nice too.

On Tuesday, I won a gift card at work that I used toward some groceries that I had to buy from Amazon for the house (which comes out of different money).

For Christmas, I got Laura a LulaRoe subscription over three months. She loves how soft they are and I’m glad I can introduce them to her.

 

At the end of the week, I competed at Friday Night Lights at Redpoint Crossfit in Fayetteville, NC (videos here). It was only $10 to compete and it was local. In my opinion, it was a better way to spend $10 and a Friday night than some shitty bar. I placed second and rewarded myself and Casey with Taco Bell.

I was planning to go to Nashville this week, so I picked up some pre-packaged protein packets to take with me. Unfortunately, that trip got cancelled because of the bad weather. I will still be submitting for reimbursement for this when I submit as I will just take this protein with me.

2016 Financial Year in Review // December 2016 Debt Repayment

// Debt Repayment

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Let’s start by briefly looking at how I did this last month.

[table caption=”December 2016″ colalign=”center”]
, November, December, Change, Percent Change
Loans,,,,
Car Loan (USAA), 16090.32, 16130.48,-40.16, -0.24%
ECSI, 8180.38, 8121.46,58.84,0.71%
Upstart, 4002.35, 3858.55,143.80,3.59%
Credit Cards,,,,
Southwest (Chase), 1904, 1719.39,184.61,9.69%
Amazon (Chase), 905.11, 0, 905.11,100%
Discover, 2274, 2228,46,2.02%
Combined Debt, 33356.16, 32057.88,1135.72,33.84%
[/table]

Okay, so December has felt OMG soooo long money-wise. I don’t have enough self-control for the holidays. Let’s be totally real here. It’s so HARD. I spent way more than I should have and came way under on my money goals. Did you notice I really didn’t share anything on my holiday budget? It’s because I CAN’T KEEP ONE. I know that this is a weakness of mine. Unfortunately, I thought I had this “under control” this year. False. I did not set up enough boundaries for myself. I did really poorly and I know it. Ugh. I will have to be better at it next year. Note to self: your spending was out of control this month. That being said, I still paid off debt, but I would have liked to have paid off another $1000 which if I could have if I had been better.

So how did I do this year?

[table caption=”2016 in Review” colalign=”center”]
, January, December, Change, Percent Change
Loans,,,,
Car Loan (USAA), 0, 16130.48,-16130.48,-100%
ECSI, 8686, 8121.46, 564.54,6.50%
Upstart, 5860.96,3858.55,2002.41,34.17%
Credit Cards,,,,
Southwest (Chase), 4576.42,1719.39,2857.03,62.43%
Amazon (Chase), 1340.34, 0,1340.34,100%
Discover, 864, 2228, -1364,158%
Delta Amex, 801.21, 0,801.21,100%
Combined Debt with Car, 21226.18, 32057.88,-10831.70,-51.03%
Combined Debt without Car, 21226.18, 15927.40,5298.78,24.97%
[/table]

Overview

I started off the year making $38,000, taking home barely $2000 in a city where I paid $800/month in rent and 140/month in parking. Half of my paycheck was spent just for a place to park my body and my car.

Then I got a raise to $48,000/year. This was my salaried income for most of the year. On this salary, I 1. transitioned to living on last month’s income, 2. moved from Baltimore, MD to Raeford, NC, 3. watched my sister graduate from the University of Miami (FL), 4. had mouth surgery that I did not have dental insurance for, 5. visited Columbus, GA (when Casey was at Fort Benning), Atlanta, GA, Charleston, SC, Naperville, IL, Baltimore, MD, Home in New Jersey, Nashville, TN and San Diego, CA for my first ever FinCon, 6. supported my dad who has been unemployed for most of the year, 7. spent loads of money on maintenance on a car that traveled me far, but wasn’t worth the money, 8. finally caved and took out a car loan on a gently-used 2015 Honda Civic., and … some other things. Overall, it was a busy year.

This month, I transitioned jobs and now make $65000/year from my salaried position, plus any freelance income.

A note on freelance income: Burke Does is now profitable. Not just slightly, nicely. I mean this year. 2016. Burke Does made more money overall than I spent on things I wanted in the months where no money came in. I did a bad job of planning my freelance income and instead let these all go to lifestyle inflation. In 2017, I will be considering my freelance income part of my regular income. I will also have to set aside money for future BD projects- something I did none of this year. I have also decided I can spend ZERO money on blogging education until I’ve made it through EBA and SEO SS in full. Some of my long to-do list is here. Also, I aggressively set aside money for taxes this year, so I’m sure that I will be able to bless myself with a nice chunk towards my debt once my taxes are done.

Reflection

For the most part, ^that section is the facts. That is some of the things I did. But it’s not how I feel. One thing I really learned this year: it is a lot harder to clean up a mess than it is to make it. Really. I had paid off over $7K of debt before that got side tracked by the second half of the year. If we’re being totally honest, after moving I feel like I never really bought all in. I found myself meeting people for coffee or drinks- things I would have definitely declined when I was living in Baltimore. I got lazy. We started getting into the habit of not-lazying in the second half of the year, but by then I was repairing new damage instead of just continuing on my journey.

What I’ve been working to do (with Casey too!) is change some of our small spending patterns that really add up. For example, we really like Friday night pizza. If we don’t have a frozen pizza (<$5 at Aldi’s), we order Domino’s Delivery which costs $15. If we grocery shop at Aldi’s, we can keep the bill to less than $70. If we go to Harris Teeter, we will always break $100. Aldi’s is the further drive, though, so it’s hard to justify it if it’s not for a big grocery shop.

Coming the new year, I’m going to start keeping a “spending log” of what I bought and why I bought it. I need to make spending more of an emotional process. I need to know my own boundaries better. I need to stop thinking I can just “peruse” LuLaRoe (hint: I can’t). I need to make spending painful again, so I will.

Goals

My calculator thing in my excel spreadsheet tells me I should pay 14,400 towards 12,000 of principle this year. I would like to pay TWENTY THOUSAND dollars of debt off  in 2017 (maybe 16K in principle?). It is absolutely a reach goal. I’m going to find an extra $500/month on what already feels like a tight as can be budget. It is ambitious. I have no business setting it, but I am determined to get there. I hope you’ll stick around with me this year as I work really hard to hit this goal.

That is not my only goal. Here they are:

  1. Build emergency savings fund to 4K.
  2. Be financially prepared for Ricardo’s Wedding ($2000 by August) and FinCon ($1500 by October)
  3. Pay off 20K of debt

Did I just set 30K worth of goals? Why, yes, folks. I unashamedly did. You know why? I just told you that I make $65,000 + freelance income. I can live comfortably at 1801 month. Going into the new year, I’m sucking it up and getting it done.

Current Debt-Free Date: April 2019.

November 2016 Debt Repayment

// Debt Repayment

Reading Time: 2 minutes

I shared a bit on the changing situation of my debt progress at the beginning of November. In case you missed that, you can see it here.

Beginning of November

End  of  November

 Change Percent Change

Loans
Car Loan (USAA) 16090.32 16090.32 00 0%
ECSI 8180.38 8180.38 0 0%
Upstart 4002.35 4002.35 0 0%

Credit Cards
Southwest (Chase) 1365.00 1904.00 -539 39.27%
Amazon (Chase) 0 905.11 -905.11 –%
Discover 2274.00 2274.00 00 0%
Combined CCs 3639.00 5083.11 -1444.11 39.68%

Combined Debt

 31,912.05  33,356.16 -1,444.11 4.53%

Debt Progress

When I sat down in the beginning of the month to write that reflection post, I recognized that things had gottten hard. I hadn’t been spending willy nilly, but the fact that I had just taken out that car loan had felt very overwhelming to me (and rightfully so) and was something I need to work through. This month, though, was still hard. My mouth was not done costing me more money. Then since I was already screwed, I got in a downward spiral and I bought one Christmas gift for Casey and one for me, each of which were bigger gifts, even though they were only one. It’s a totally destructive thing, right? “Well, I’m already screwed.” I’ve caught myself in this sort of mindset before and been able to snap myself out of it- usually whatever Amazon shopping spree I went on results in a lot of returns & refund requests. That’s not the case or possible this time around, so it is what it is.

emilie-54

Looking forward to December

I’ve already started planning what it will look like in an effort to not be self-destructive. Casey and I had a long conversation about Christmas. We’re forgoing gifts to get the couch covers I so desperately want and the Christmas decorations (read: tree) that we don’t have. Communication really does make a huge difference.

Because my emergency savings right now is only at $95 (being totally transparent here), I’m going to focus exclusively on that this month. I have $387 in debt repayments that I have to make, that I have, in fact, already scheduled. They are:

  • ECSI – $93
  • Upstart – $188
  • Discover – $47
  • Paypal – $59 (pays this off)

The remaining $813 that I would normally put towards my debt, I am going to direct wholly towards my saving account, leaving me just $82 shy of my goal of $1000 for me to refocus on paying down my debt. I’m going to be starting with my Amazon card with hope of having it paid off by February, with my Southwest card paid off by May, and my Discover card in August.

It’s kind of disappointing that I won’t be credit card debt free by the end of this year, which had been my goal all along. In some ways, I feel like a failure. These are feelings I will need to work through myself. In the mean time, I will refocus on my why and think about strategies to get this stuff taken care of.

Deep breaths, one paycheck at a time.

Current Debt-Free Date: April 2019.