The No-Spend Zone

Budgeting for Impulse Spending

I'm a gamer girl and a geek - two titles I've never denied.  With this in mind, I beg that you indulge me in the ridiculous debate with my inner spending demons that is to follow:

Not unlike summer blockbuster movies, it seems to be that time of year when hot XBox 360 titles are being released.  Having saved so much money in preparation for my new house, I am viewing the next couple of months with uneasy trepidation.  Will the grip on my savings account loosen for the sake of what may end up being momentary entertainment?  Or perhaps, with a budget, it's possible to indulge on a game or two without putting my household payments in jeopardy?  This may require more foresight than I care to spend on the matter, but it's something to think about - I know that I am a notorious impulse spender, and seeing those games popping up on store shelves is not going to help.  Do I simply avoid game retailers all together, or do I allow myself a "gamer fix"...so long as I keep the price tag to a minimum?  Knowing me, I think the smart thing to do is just to review the upcoming game titles and decide which ones I "have to have" over the ones I'd "like to have".  For example, Bioshock 2 and Mass Effect 2 are a must - especially considering that I've played the first games in both series and I'm 100% in love with them; Prototype and Batman: Arkham Asylum are slightly lower on my interest scale, if only for the fact that I have no previous experiences with these titles to decide if I'll like the game structure.  So if I concede to the purchase of two games (at $59.99 each) while holding out on two others, that seems like a fair bargain considering my previous inability to deny myself the pleasure of instant gratification.

What with me being so financially prudent lately, I don't think it's that big of a sin to gift myself a present or two.  ...however, we'll see how I feel about my dip in funds once I get my hands on my new house!

(No) help wanted

One of my credit card companies keeps trying to offer me financial advice. Considering the mess these companies claim to be in, and the millions of mini-messes American consumers are in because of their credit card ideas, I can't help but think they are not in any position to be hawking advice on savvy spending.

Or are they?

Sure, I like the new format of my statements. My spending is grouped in categories: gas, retail, restaurants, government services, and so on. But now they want to give me advice on investment planning and health insurance. They actually tell me to read the fine print. Too bad at least for a little while longer, their own disclosures, which arrive in the mail in very fine print, are written in a language I would describe as dissertation-meets-calculus.

I just can't seem to take the offer seriously. I figure tracking my expenses on a simple spreadsheet is a good start for me to really watch my budget. So far, I've figured out that I'm really frugal! My biggest expense is housing, of course, and I give away another chunk of my income to retirement savings -- and I'm eons away from retirement, should it exist when I become a granny.

How do you figure your budget? Wait. DO YOU do any budgeting at all? It sounds like a pain, but every financial professional I've spoken with say it's a must do if you really want to rein in your spending. Writing it all down works like a food diary might. When confronted with it in black and white, it becomes a little more real. Some even recommend using cash as much as possible, to seal into your brain that this is REAL money you're spending.

Figuring a budget is a big change for me. I haven't really worried about money before, and I know I'm lucky to be able to say that.

I'd like to keep it that way.

The Health Insurance Theorem

We've all heard it before. Whenever you have Health Insurance, you never get sick. The moment it's gone, every ailment known to man flocks to your poor, penniless body.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I went on vacation over the weekend. A great time that included a ride on a boat and a swim in the lake. Those who know me know this, but I'm not a fan of swimming. Something about the water and me don't agree. One can say we're arch-enemies even. But I figured water and I could put aside our differences just this once and enjoy ourselves.

I was wrong.

Upon existing the lake I began noticing a rash appearing on my skin. Something similar happens when I visit Guyana (my parent's home country where I refuse to drink any "Kool Aid"). While in Guyana, I determined the unclean water must contain something I'm allergic to. But imagine my surprise when it happened here--and badly at that. The rash rapidly spread all over my arms, legs and neck.

Of course I don't have health insurance, so I had to decide what to do. If I went to the doctor, I could end up being charged a ton of cash just to be seen for five minutes and told, "Rub some cream. You'll be fine." Then again, if I just treated it myself and it was worse than I thought, then I'm in serious trouble.

Because this happened before, I knew it was a skin allergy, most likely contact dermatitis. So, after doing some quick research online, I decided to treat myself with hydrocortisone cream and Eucerin. I figured I could try it for two or three days, hope for the best and if it gets worse, bleed myself financially dry at the doctor's office.

Either way, medication is crazy expensive. I still ended up spending $8.99 on a 1oz tube of hydrocortisone (1oz!) and $13.99 on the Eucerin. For that much money, this better work. Anyway, when it comes to things like this it's a dangerous line to walk. Health Insurance is important, but be prepared to never use it when you got it. When you don't have it and something comes up, research, research, research. The internets can provide a plethora of information that can come in extremely handy.

The Beats (And Bucks) Stop Here

As if my last post wasn't enough of a budgetary alert against frivolous spending on iTunes, apparently starting back in April of this year they've hiked up the prices of "hot tracks" (whatever that consists of) to $1.29!  Through my research it seems less of a decision on Apple's part and more one based on the pressure they have been receiving from record labels.  This is an unfortunate decision, and one that's sending me swiftly running back to the trusty embrace of my file-sharing networks (Limewire, BitLord, etc).  I'm especially fond of torrent downloading, which is an easy and quick way to download large files in various formats - and did I mention it's free?  Sure, the legalities of such data-sharing programs can be dubious at best...but trying to charge me $1.29 for a frikkin' Beyonce song rates right up there as a separate but equal criminal offense.

From Dollars to 'Dancing Queen'

Taking a break from the constant whining over the state of my house-buying procedures, it hit me in the face the other day that I have been shoveling money away without even realizing it.  Somewhere around the area of $552, to be exact.  According to my iTunes "Purchased" folder I've bought 552 songs since December of 2007, way back with my first purchase of Amy Adam's 'Thats How You Know'.  I had no idea the ease and convenience of the iTunes Store was really a subtle marketing scheme to trick consumers into racking up large bills through a bunch of seemingly small purchases...every song sells for just $.99, and oftentimes buying entire CDs via iTunes saves you money over in-store purchase prices.  I suppose it could be argued that I am saving money over buying entire CDs when I really only want one song (because let's be honest, can anyone name me one other Lupe Fiasco song besides 'Superstar'? Anyone??), but when you stand back and look at just how much you purchased over a relatively short amount of time it starts to dawn on you that maybe you could have held off on the ABBA compilation.  Sure, $11.99 might seem like a good deal, but adding up all the small purchases can equal a total cost more weighty than you'd expect.  Also, the convenience of buying off of iTunes can be deceiving - I looked up the exact same CD on BestBuy.com and found it to be even cheaper ($9.99).  So remember: think before you click!

Taking A Break Can Cost You

Sometimes, you just want to get away from it all, but you really can never get away from spending.

On Monday my friends Sean and Erin came into town. The two got engaged recently (cue the end of Kevin's youth) and came to Erin's home state to get a dress and set up the catering before coming by our place for the week to visit. Yesterday, they drove up to Erin's home town of Chapin and invited my roommate and I for the weekend--specifically a huge party on Sunday dubbed the Jimmy Buffet buffet. Free food and lots of drinks? I certainly couldn't pass it up.

Well, nothing good is free my friends, but with proper consideration and controlled spending, you can make it as close to free as possible.

For example, the first expense came from filling up gas. In order to save money, my roommate and I decided I should drive, for the simple reason that I drive a Honda Civic, and the miles per gallon on that baby rocks. The next expense came from arriving and realizing that Erin lived on a lake and owned a boat. Unfortunately for me, I don't own a swimsuit. We decided to go to Walmart, where I spent $15 on a nice pair of trunks. While I could have easily made the decision to not go swimming, I decided spending the money was worth it in the long run because I live near a beach and a really good pair of swimming shorts can last you forever. Lastly, we went out to get some dinner at La Fogata (a place I HIGHLY reccommend. The service was beyond fantastic and the food tasted amazing). There were a lot of options on the menu of varying prices, but in order to save some money I decided to go for something on the cheaper end as opposed to splurging on a huge meal I may not finish, which would be pointless to bring leftovers home because I'm staying at someone else's house. Anyway, in the end, I only ended up spending $12 on a deliciously filling meal.

So, while no vacation is completely free, just taking a few moments for some cost cutting thinking can go a long way to make your little trip cost a little less.

In the black

So the day that new laws that are supposed to help us crazy, credit-card-lovin' spendthrifts who contributed to the recession by pretending we never had to pay our bills go to the president's desk, I got an offer for a super special credit card in the mail.

Gulp.

I only have a couple of plastic wonders in my wallet. I use them very, very wisely -- and I have the credit score to prove it. But when a card pitch says "it is limited to only 1 percent of U.S. residents" that means I really should look into it, right? What would you do? How many cards do you have?

This could offer the mother of all rewards points/bonus miles/cash back not to mention the card is made of carbon. I've recently lost a big chunk of my income, and this could be just for emergencies.

PleasecanIhaveitpleasepleaseplease.

I'm making a better choice. After shredding the application, I'm off to visit my parents. They're the reason I use the cards I do have wisely and why I'm not flailing (yet) despite a huge reduction in pay.

Gotta give 'em credit for that.

 

Is Courtroom Drama In My Homeowning Future?

Remember the good 'ol days when I naively thought that my owning a house was just a matter of days away?  Silly me, for thinking that the seller bank would complete & sign their side of the contract with any amount of expediency.  The more I'm having to put up with their constant delays the more suspicious I'm getting that this entire venture is a giant scam in order to con me out of my $7,000 when it becomes impossible for me to complete the Bank of America loan process by the designated closing date (June 12th).  Previously when the closing date was first set that gave us 21 business days to work with, and our BoA representative even stated that that was pushing it.  That was on Tuesday of last week when we sent off the signed copy of our contract for the seller's approval and signature; then came Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday...  We didn't get the contract for 5 business days, leaving us with just 16 business days to beg and plead with BoA to secure our loan as quickly as possible.

I'm also in the process of finding reasonable home insurance, but for a quote I need BoA to complete an appraisal on the property...something which they told me just today would take up to two weeks!  This is going to be down to the wire, folks, but I'll be damned if the seller bank thinks that I'll be coughing up my $7,000 when the fault isn't on me.  Here's hoping that it doesn't come to that, but I am more than prepared to find myself a lawyer.  How much money do those cost nowadays?? 

'Saver's remorse'

This is a priceless story about when to spend and when to scrimp. I'm a cheapskate first, but the practical side of my persona follows closely.

Have you ever had any home-repair/car-repair/hide-from-the-landlord/fix-your-athletic-gear mishaps that ended up costing more to correct than if you had just shelled out the cash to have someone else do them in the first place?

After pouring drain cleaner down my tub a few years ago, I called in a handyman to get to the bottom of why the water was pooling around my ankles every time I took a shower. No matter how little water was coming out of the shower head, the drain couldn't keep up. The handyman used a snake to break up what we guessed was a massive hair clog down below.

But a few weeks later, when the problem came back more fiercely -- the toilet and sink were backing up too -- I finally called a professional plumber. He discovered a tap root growing into one of the drainage pipes in the crawl space of my house. It took a full day's work on the part of him and his assistant , and the repairs cost about $500.

Considering I'd already paid for several bottles of liquid drain opener and a less-skilled worker to fix this problem, I was out close to $700 by the time my shower was returned to its past state of comfort.

D'oh!

Welcome to home ownership, Amanda!

The Value of Friends and Freelancing (beyond alliteration!)

Today a great thing happened. I received a check in the mail. And it's all thanks to a friend and freelancing.

Since becoming unemployed, my buddy Ben Morse has been helping me out by throwing some freelance work my way for Marvel.com. I met Ben when I first arrived at Wizard back in 2007. As one of the staff writers, Ben taught me the ropes and really helped me feel better after my sudden move from Florida to New York. After a couple months of working together, Ben got a job at Marvel Comics and left Wizard. However, we still kept in contact, going out for drinks with the other guys, meeting up at parties and talking on AIM.

Well, what must have been two days after losing my job, Ben contacted me to see if I'd be interested in doing any freelance work for Marvel.com —writing a few web-based stories here and there and getting paid on a case by case basis. Of course, I leaped at the chance. I mean, it's Marvel Comics. When I told people I worked at Wizard Magazine they looked at me kind of funny. Like I role played Dungeons and Dragons in my free time. But Marvel Comics? Well, after the success of Iron Man and soon Captain America and Thor, being connected to comics rocks!

Anyway, I started going stuff almost right away. Ben continuously sends me things that pop up and I even contribute weekly to the Tuesday Q&A feature (check out some of my Marvel work here, here and  here!) And, as I mentioned at the beginning, I got my first check from Marvel today for $120! Yay money!

If you're like me, I highly suggest looking into freelance work. There's a lot of opportunities available across the net, and it not only throws a couple of dollars your way, but it also keeps your writing skills sharp. And never forget the value of friends. They can help you out in ways you can't even imagine and in ways that are more valuable than money.

So, in that regard, thanks to Bridget, Ben and Jim Gibbons for all the help you've given me.