Friday, July 30, 2010

Weekend Plans...

The weekend is here again. What are your plans?

I have to work late today since I am working both jobs. I have to work the part-time job tomorrow and then I am traveling to Indiana on Sunday with my parents and sister for our annual family reunion. It's going to be a busy weekend. =)

I got paid yesterday from my full-time job and $104 today from the part-time job. All my bills for August are already paid. =)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

No Spend Month...

What is a no spend month? I will already tell you...I won't make it a month without spending any money so I just want to clarify. Thanks.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Weekly Status Report....


Here is my last weekly status report for the July reporting period which ends on Wednesday. I think I will end the month $100 in the black.

I did go grocery shopping on Friday to get items like soap, toothbrushes, ramen noodles, frozen tilapia, water and dishwashing solution. I buy most things in bulk from Sam's Club so I won't need these staple items again for many months.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Weekend Plans...

This week flew by and I am looking forward to another weekend off.

I get paid $104 tomorrow from the part-time job so that will bring my part-time income for the month to a total of $451. Not shabby. =)

I don't have any plans yet for Friday night. I have a softball game early Saturday afternoon and we are golfing 9 holes on Sunday morning. My Dad paid for the golf outing a month ago but we got rained out so we got a 30-day raincheck. I am hoping to go and see the movie "SALT" on Saturday. It looks like it's going to be pretty good. Hopefully we can catch a matinee. I also have a Groupon worth $35 at a Columbian Steakhouse so the BF and I will probably do dinner and a movie on Saturday. I am hoping to have at least one date night each month if possible. I think my Mom is going to cook on Sunday so we'll probably join my parents for Sunday dinner.

I am going to an out of state charity networking event next month. I can drive but I will have to pay for fuel and a hotel room for two nights. I was invited by the head of a firm that I would like to join so I think it's a terrific opportunity. I think I found a hotel today for $59/night so it is going to cost me ~ $200 max with taxes, fuel and any meals.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

No Spend Day...

Yesterday was a No Spend Day!!!

I have to work just Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week at the part-time job. I have another weekend off. =)

Monday, July 19, 2010

Weekly Status Report...


I had a great weekend.

I went to visit my grandmother on Friday at the nursing home and then I went home and watched the season finale of Grey's Anatomy on my DVR...OMG...great episode!!!

I played two softball games on Saturday and then went to a picnic for the BF's family reunion weekend. Sunday was Church service and a brunch with his family as well. The brunch was at a relative's home in Kenwood which is a rather mixed cutural upper crust area of the South Side. Obama's house was only a few blocks away. Anyway, the house actually had a banquet area in the back of it...amazing!!! The art on the walls was just beautiful. I had a great time. I finished Sunday up with a pedicure and a visit and dinner with my parents. =)

Here is my progress report for the month so far. The monthly reporting period ends next Wednesday on July 28th since I finally get paid again on the 29th from my full-time job. I also get paid one more time this reporting month on Friday for my part-time job. That should be another $100 and it's looking pretty good for the budget this month.

I don't anticipate or plan any additional personal care but I do have a doctor's appointment next week so that will be a $30 copay added to miscellaneous.

You will notice that transportation costs are low this month. I decided to have them charged monthly to my credit card along with my utilities so I know each month the exact expense for budgeting.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Weekend Plans...

What are your weekend plans?

I don't have any plans for Friday evening. I may have to stay home and do some work for the Bank along with a little laundry and cleaning up. I have two softball games on Saturday so I should be nice and tired by the evening. I wouldn't mind picking up 9 holes of golf on Sunday morning. We can golf just 9 holes relatively cheap for $20 with a cart in some places. Then the BF has a dinner for his family reunion going on this weekend on Sunday night. That's about it.

I got paid today from the part-time job....$190...Yeah!!! I got holiday pay for the 4th of July. Since I am a VP, I only get paid once a month at my Banking job. I like getting paid once a week from the part-time gig and having some income come through during the month. I think this will be the first month since I probably started working that I will actually stay within budget. This will be no small feat.

I took out $40 for the weekend and I am hoping to make it last. =)

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Happy Wednesday…

We are halfway through the work week. Yeah!!! I know I should feel the same way I do about Monday that I do about Friday, but these days I live for the weekends and some time to breathe. What’s so special about this weekend you might ask?!?! I don’t have to work!!! Yes, it is my first weekend off since I started working my part-time job about a month ago. I did ask the manager and she said she tries to give everyone at least one weekend off each month. I am actually off next weekend too. I think my schedule was just crazy for those two weeks because they really needed the help. A wonderful trade off is that they actually gave me time and a half for working the July 4th holiday so my paycheck on Friday is going to be higher than expected. Go Chitown!!!

I took a family friend out for lunch yesterday. She is 24 and moved here to Chicago to take the IL bar exam. She is such a sweet girl. My Dad asked me to reach out to her and make sure she’s okay and if she needs anything. She actually found me on Facebook. She is also still looking for a law job post taking the bar and a lot of her classmates are as well. It’s a tough market right now but I hope it loosens up soon. I think we’ll be good friends down the line. The lunch cost me more than I hoped at $60 including tip but I took the CTA train instead of jumping in a taxi and that saved me about $15. I work in the South Loop and the restaurant was in the North Loop on the Magnificent Mile. It cost about $10 each way with tip for a taxi ride depending on the time of day and traffic. Lunch time and rush hour are always a mess.

Needless to say, I am going to be over budget on Food & Dining but I am still doing pretty good for the most part this month. My hours are down with the part-time job over the two weeks. I just work 9 hours this week and next week but then I am back to 12 hours the last week in July.

So far, So good. =)

Monday, July 12, 2010

Status Report & Interview Update…

Happy Monday!!!

I am exhausted right now and I don’t know why at all. I got a decent amount of sleep last night too. It must be my diet which has consisted a lot of McDonalds over the past few weeks. The dollar menu is my friend.

The interview this morning went pretty good. I spoke to the recruiter afterwards and he said I was up against some pretty tough competition for the job with gentlemen that have 10+ years of experience in Loan Workout. I only have 2 years but he felt like my law degree and 10 years of Banking experience were a plus on my side so we’ll see.

He and I also spoke briefly about being more proactive in terms of looking for other workout positions. His company works with a lot of mid to large banks so he said he would be more than willing to help me in my efforts to find another position elsewhere if this particular position failed to work out. I should know something by the end of the week or early next week.

Below is my status report for July. I decided to use my budget for the rest of 2010 instead of adjusting it for one-off expenses like my annual home insurance premium and quarterly water bill that were due this month. I plan to save/accrue monthly going forward for these committed expenses.



Utilities: Going forward I will accrue $40/month for my quarterly water bill. It usually ranges between $100-$110/quarter although it was low at $92 this time around.

Transportation: This committed expense will now be charged to my rewards credit card monthly along with utilities.

Miscellaneous: My annual premium this year for my home insurance was $220. Going forward, I will save/accrue $20/month in a savings account to pay this annual expense. It is lumped in miscellaneous this month. I also have to pay $50 this month for my annual family reunion dues. I will write that check out this week and mail it off.

I worked a lot last week with the holiday so I expect to earn another ~$150 direct deposit this week from my part-time job. So far, so good.

Friday, July 09, 2010

Weekend Plans & Interview...

Weekend Plans:

What are your weekend plans? I don't have any immediate plans. I only have to work at the part-time gig on Saturday from 2:30-8:30pm. The rest of the weekend is free. Thank goodness. =)

Interview:

I have an initial interview on Monday morning with another bank doing the same thing I do now in loan workout. I think the job could have good salary potential in the $90k-$100k range but it's at a smaller community bank. Unless you've been under a rock, there is always danger and risk with banks in the current economic environment. My current employer is one of the most stable banks in Chicago. While I love the company and I like the work and my coworkers a great deal, my superiors refuse to bring my salary up to market. I'm still cheap labor.

I've spent my entire career with one company...it may be time for change.

*** On a side note, I got paid $155 today from the part-time job.

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

June 2010 Recap...


Well I was able to put together a recap for June after all. There was minimal impact to my net worth but like so many of you know, I am not good at staying on budget. I dipped even further into my savings to make it all work. I hope this part-time job will make me appreciate the mighty dollar and how hard I have to work to earn it so that I am more conscious about my spending.


The chart above shows how I did in comparison to my actual budget. I blew it. Below is a further breakdown of the expenses. All of my student loans are now in repayment. I will need to make further adjustments to account for the higher student loan payment amount. Hence...the part-time job. I am looking now at how I can cut committed expenses.

I put off dry cleaning for 3 months and couldn't do it again. I know I need to go to the cleaners when I start saying I don't have any clothes and think about online shopping.

The Memorial Day cookout took me for a large lump sum and started the month on the wrong foot. I won't be having anymore gatherings at my house for some time to come.

This was a big month for personal care products. I am wearing my hair natural in an effort to curtail my hair care expense when I was going to the salon once a week, to every other week, to every four weeks to now every eight weeks. I still have to buy the products which are relatively expensive but my hair is no longer falling out and I actually get a lot of compliments. I will need to buy some proactiv again in July but I won't need any hair care products until August. Even then, I won't need to purchase all of the products (i.e. shampoo, deep conditioner and leave-in conditioner). I will just need the leave-in-conditioner. If anyone is looking for good products for naturally curly hair...Mixed Chicks is wonderful. The website is http://www.mixedchicks.net/.

My credit scores are steadily climbing in the right direction. I know some of my classmates that only make payments on their student loans when they can. I am trying to ensure that I am always able to meet my monthly debt obligations. Once I get my spending and debt payments under control, the next goal will be to work on getting back to saving for retirement.

As a side note, I am no longer just looking for legal job opportunities, I am also pursuing other Banking opportunities and I am going to refocus on getting my own practice in real estate and family law up and running. So, I will be spending whatever free time I have getting back up to speed in those areas of the law, working on my business website and putting plans into action.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Progress Report...


I survived working the entire July 4th weekend at my part-time gig. Thankfully, I work full-time at a Bank so I had Monday off to recuperate. The Chicago weather even cooperated. It was beautiful yesterday when the forecast was calling for thunderstorms. =)

Here is my progress report for July. I am putting together a monthly recap for June after all. I will post it in a few days.

One thing I am noticing now that I am working two jobs is that I don’t have the time to spend as much money as I was spending. On the other hand, I did not participate in the bring your lunch to work challenge because I wasn’t home enough. Since I have to work some nights during the week and weekend, I am splitting my time between my house in the Suburbs and my BF’s house in the City since he’s much closer to downtown. So if I buy groceries and don’t go home, they’re not much use to me. I did go to Aldi yesterday to buy bagels and cream cheese along with chicken salad and crackers to keep in the fridge at work. Now, I won’t go over to Starbucks each morning and get an iced tea with a cheese bagel….that was costing $5 every morning.

I decided to have my transportation charged to my credit card like I do with my services from AT&T so I will know each month my transportation costs. I am getting close to having enough reward points to get a $25 statement credit or $25 rewards check.

Friday, July 02, 2010

Update…

The days are long. I am tired. I don’t like working the second job at all. We are getting let go early today at 3pm at the Bank for the holiday weekend but I have to stick around downtown because I have to work from 5-8pm tonight at my part-time job. I also have to work from 1-7pm on Saturday and then I have to work on Sunday, the 4th of July, from 11-6. They changed my schedule abruptly on Monday.

This is some BS!!! I don’t really care what anyone says….I don’t think the extra money is worth not having any time to myself and time to spend with my family and friends. I am so disenchanted with just about everything right now and how all of this crap turned out. Four freaking years of law school (part-time evening I might add), a licensed attorney and I can barely afford the loan payments. I am a lawyer and I have to slave all day at the full-time gig and then go stand on my feet all night and all weekend for $10.75/hour.

I am not happy…period.