It's time...15 Things Friday

1. Last Wednesday, the day before I moved, I was walking through the subway station lookin good, feelin confident. That came to a screeching halt when a woman tapped me on my shoulder and told me I had a big rip in my pants...right on my butt. Wow. I ended up having to go shopping for new pants over my lunch break. I decided to try the Gap and there was a big sale on jeans. Fortunately, flare leg jeans are back in style because it's much more flattering for my figure so I swiped a pair (or two). Definitely money I didn't want to spend when I knew moving would cost a bunch.

I got these for 40% off

2. I decided to rent a car for my move. We have a company discount with Avis so I chose that one, especially since the location was right across the street from my new apartment. Since I'm not 25, I was only allowed to get a smaller car and there's a $35 fee for being "under age". It was supposed to cost me $150 total but fortunately they didn't charge me the under age fee...apparently they dont take it too seriously around here.

3. No one helped me. I moved out of a place that had 3 roommates and all of them were home the day I moved. They sat on their butts in the living room and watched me and never once offered to help. They even had an elevator so a single trip would not have been much effort at all and would have saved me a lot of time. Needless to say, I was glad to leave that place.

4. I filled up my car with half of my crap and on my first trip to the new apartment I got a parking ticket. New York streets are crowded. Cars are parked on both sides of the street and there is room for two cars to drive through to the other side as long as they're small. Like so:

A few other cars were double parked (my first time learning this expression and actually using it!) so I figured, as long as a car can get through, I'm fine to double park here too. Wrong. So very wrong. Apparently we were all parked in a bike lane and we all got tickets for $115!!

5. The ticket said I was no where near my car to move it. Wanna know where I was? I had to chase my landlord around to find the key to my place! I called and he said "the keys are in the apartment." I ran up quickly to find the door locked. They weren't answering the phone so I had to run around the block to their office and get him to let me in. In the 10 minutes I was away from the car I got the ticket. Crap.

6. My apartment is in the middle of the block. To find legal parking, I had to park around the corner on the next street over. Just in case carrying my stuff up 4 flights of stairs wasnt enough, I now had to walk with it pretty far first.

7. When I was all said and done, M and I went to Target while we had a car available (the Target is far away and we had way too much to carry). Prior to our trip I made a list of what I needed: an air mattress, dressers, a night stand and a book shelf. I knew it was going to be expensive but I figured at least that was all I needed. Man, was I wrong once again. M moved to NY into an apartment that was already furnished with kitchen supplies and bathroom stuff etc. We had to get all of that stuff, plus my room didn't have any light fixtures or air conditioning so I needed a lamp or two and a fan. Oofta, it was a VERY expensive trip. To top it all off, they were completely out of air mattresses. The isle literally was empty except for one Buzz Lightyear twin mattress.

8. I researched a lot of beds online but with it being Labor Day weekend, none of them would arrive until the middle of this week. Fortunately I found an Aerobed at Bed Bath & Beyond that was relatively close to my house and I could get it right away. Unfortunately it was more than I wanted to spend but it's great quality and it will be my bed for a long while. There goes even more money.

9. I quit waitressing. The poor management was out of hand and I kept getting only one shift a week. They had been promising to increase my schedule once football started but they didn't. Everyone else got more and more shifts but I only got one and it was always the worst shifts. It was typically good money but so not worth it.

10. I started babysitting instead! I signed up for SitterCity last week and it has been great so far. I started working for a family with a two-year-old boy. I only work Monday and Wednesday evenings and it's enough to more than pay my loans each month. Any additional shifts I get (which it sounds like I'll get quite a few, not only from this family but from another family that just interviewed me yesterday!) I can put money towards loans, savings and extra spending money. I will do that 50% savings, 25% credit card payments and 25% spending deal again.

11. Restaurant.com is amazing. M and I have been talking about using more Groupons so we can take advantage of NYC better without breaking the bank. I got an e-mail yesterday from Restaurant.com with a promotion to get a $25 gift certificate for $2. No way, right? Way! I typed in our zip code and found a cool restaurant a few blocks away and we get to enjoy a whole meal for the two of us for practically nothing! Party on dude! Check it out in your area, you wont regret it!

12. Broadway week is coming up in about a week. You get 1/2 off tickets to a number of cool shows without having to wait in line at TKTS. My co-worker and I are going to see Chicago and M and I might see Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

13. My Express card will not be paid off next month. It's very frustrating but after all the extra expenses with moving, there's just no way I have money for bigger payments. Additionally, my savings will not be increased like I thought it would with that extra paycheck. I feel like a failure about it but at least with extra babysitting gigs, I might be able to get it back on track. My new goal is to get it down to $0 by December.

14. FOOTBALL IS BACK!! M and I went to a bar to watch the game last night and man did it feel good to scream "first down!" or "touchdown!" with everyone! We don't have cable so I will be forced to watch at a bar. I'm going to need to figure out how to not spend so much money every time I go though. Bar food and drinks can really add up. Sunday the Vikings play and I couldn't be more excited! I'm bringing my girlfriends to the Vikings Bar and I hope it's just as great as the one on How I Met Your Mother.

15. I finally started working out again. I'm very close to the Central Park Reservoir so M and I have been going on the weekends.

Who wouldn't want to run around that!?

Unfortunately my iPod shuffle stopped working and my bigger iPod is not meant to jiggle around on a run. Until I figure out my iPod problem I will be sticking to the treadmill. It's not easy getting into the swing of things again but I know it will help a lot, especially since my poor person's diet is not stellar for weight loss.