September Update…

Cash Only System…

September is moving right along. I am pleased to say that I’m loving the cash only system. It is absolutely wonderful. I will also say that I am less anal as well with balancing everything. While this may be a bad thing for some people, I think that it is working well for me because I was becoming obsessed with writing down every dime that I spent. I was spending so much anyway that 1) it didn’t help and 2) I never had time to go over my spreadsheets. So I use the Bank of America Keep the Change Checking account and use it solely for my personal spending. I am able to track it that way. I use my other bank account for unexpected expenses like my car repairs this month.

Car Repairs…

Speaking of car repairs, I just spent $260 to get my car serviced, including cooling and transmission flushing, oil change, tire rotation and winterizing. Right now, my car is 4 years old and has 45k miles on it. I drive about 100 miles a day, 4 days a week downtown to work. The dealership serviceman also told me that I would need 4 new tires before winter because they were near bald. This is scary business especially considering the sheer amount of driving that I do daily. So, I am going to do my research and try to find a good deal on the tires and have them replaced soon. Winter here in Chicago is approaching quickly.

Employment…

As many of you know, I had 2 call back interviews and I am in wait and see mode. I also haven’t heard back from another firm and sent them a follow-up letter that still expressed my interest. I would love to work for either firm and would be blessed to get an offer. I am still doing my best to network, network, network but it is extremely hard with my schedule and completely wrong and difficult to make personal calls from work regarding employment at another company. So, I am forced to make many of my calls from home on Fridays since I need a new cell phone and the only one have now is cheap and completely unreliable. Yet another expense that I will incur soon. I am going to bite the bullet and get one with a PDA because I need a way to keep up with my crazy life.

Savings/Investment Update…

Right now, I have approximately $4,400 in my ING accounts. Once my funds become available, I am looking to move my long-term savings of $4k to Emigrant since they have a beneficiary designation form. I will keep my short-term savings with ING and continue to fund it with $100 automatic investments every month. This account is for my sister’s wedding next year.

I opened another ShareBuilder account to get a $25 bonus. I am hoping to be able to invest $200/month into ShareBuilder. I chose SPY, which is the S&P 500 Index.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading this long post. LOL!!!