I lied

Having a life really sucks the money right out of you. I caught an earlier flight back from Ohio and went out with my girlfriends last night. Unfortunately between drinks, late night food and brunch this morning, I completely bailed on the idea that I wouldn't have to spend money this week. I found my Sex and the City crew and had a wonderful time with them so I'm not too mad at myself. It makes being in New York much more bearable with them by my side.

I also met up with two friends, one from Sweeden and one from far away NJ, for dinner tonight so there goes more money. Ooops. I can't swallow the idea of bailing on plans because I'm broke. Especially when you can't help that your friend from Sweeden is here and you haven't seen her in years. It sucks.

I'm supposed to go make spaghetti for my lunches this week. The idea of that sounds awful because it is hot and humid and our kitchen does not have air conditioning. The idea of cooking meat sauce and pasta over the stove to make our kitchen even hotter sounds like pure torture. Instead I will watch a movie in my air conditioned room and hope it cools down later tonight. Dilemmas dilemmas.

This just in...I only work Saturday and Sunday brunch shifts this week. I wish it was more but I'm happy to at least be working some! Bring on the loan payments and extra money!

15 Things Friday

1. I cut up my credit cards. I haven't used them in a while since they've been out of my wallet but I was cleaning my room last week and I realized I should just cut them up. It felt pretty good.
2. My phone replacement didn't cost any money. By the time I get to work on Monday I will have my new phone (albeit the same kind of phone) and I hope it works much better. 
3. My entire night consists of watching When Harry Met Sally. I'm not mad about it!
4. Have you seen any of the new shows on USA? Necessary Roughness or Suits are both very enjoyable!
5. The convention center I've been at this week had a separate convention for 31 Products. Their stuff is super cute but I'm poor so I won't be able to buy anything. 
6. My mom started a similar personal consultant company with Jockey. There is a big old sale for the end of their spring line and my mom bought be a bunch of cute jackets, tops and accessories. Thanks mom! I tried to link you to the catalog of sale items but it's a pdf so if you're interested, let me know and I'll e-mail it to you. 
7. I have not been to the gym once since July 1st. I hate that I nearly wasted this month's membership. I have to make the most of it once I get back to make it worth it. I will start Sunday morning with pilates. I'm pretty excited because Jennifer Anniston does pilates and who doesn't want to look like her? 
8. My exhibit booth this week was right outside an Einstein Bro's Bagels. We had one at the U of M and they had awesome strawberry cream cheese. The past two days I asked for a bagel with strawberry cream cheese and I kept getting plain cream cheese. The line was really long and I didn't want to complain so I let it slide. Today however, they finally got it right. Score!
9. As much as I complain about the city lately, I'm ready to go back. Actually I'm ready to go anywhere that I have friends. I've become a spinster whose only entertainment is food and tv. I always felt bad for the single women who had to stay home on Friday nights watching Say Yes To The Dress and now I will be one of them.
10.  I want to switch banks. I'm sick of terrible ATM fees and since Wachovia switched to Wells Fargo, my accounts are in two different bank names. The bankers get very confused when I explain that I opened my savings account after Wachovia switched. Not my fault. Most of them seem to have bizarre fees these days though so I don't know what makes the most sense.
11. I'm about to call Sallie Mae. They have lumped all my loans into one billing group so I can't make an isolated payment to one loan. When I typed into Mint.com what I pay each month to each loan, it would not submit my information because it's not enough. Thanks Sallie Mae. 
12. The "where are you from?" question is getting harder and harder. I flew to Ohio from New York, however I'm from Minnesota. "Oh, so you moved from MN to New York?" No, actually I moved to South Carolina and then I moved to New York. It's way too much explanation for what should be a one or two word answer, especially to strangers. However, when I used to say I'm from Minnesota, people would instantly want to talk about Brett Favre since it's the only thing they associated with that state. GROSS. But now they talk about our embarrassing politics and government situation...I kind of wish they would talk about Favre again...kind of. 
13. Sister of my Heart is also a good book. I don't think I've ever read this much. When I was younger I had a challenge from my nana one summer that I would get $1 for every book I read, I wish that was still in effect. 
14. As I've mentioned before, I want to move back down south. M might want to move with me and we've been talking about checking it out over Labor Day weekend. There's a Gamecock game that weekend and I really want to go. Tickets are already expensive though and I'm in the process of apartment and furniture hunting, which costs a million dollars. Fall is turning into a huge money suck and I really wish I was working more lately.
15. Anatomists are hilarious. The anatomy conference I've been at has opened my eyes into the lives of anatomists and it was the best entertainment I had. One of them had a beard like the picture below and a married anatomist tried to take me on a "date" by offering to buy me a coffee from the free coffee cart...he thought he was hilarious. Best of all, today was casual Friday and most of them chose to wear Hawaiian shirts.

Imagine this mustache on a balding anatomist in a suit, not a baseball player.

Happy Friday!

Minty Fresh

Well I've decided to try Mint.com. Here's the video to explain how it works:

I'm sick of logging in to all six accounts almost every day to keep track of every dime I have. I'm sick of spreadsheets that almost never add up (although I will likely still use the one I have since Mint doesn't seem to give me everything I need so). Most of all, I need free advice on how to manage my money because I feel like there are so many options I can put money towards and there is never enough coming in to satisfy all of those options. I get overwhelmed when I try to focus on too many goals at once.

While I was making an account and loading all of my financial information into their site, I looked like this

I know, I know, my hotel room has some pretty sweet decorations.

It was scary giving them all of my financial information because ummm what if they steal all my money? It's not like I have much to give anyone but I can't really spare to be ripped off right now (or ever). I have done a lot of research on reviews for this site and it seems legit and so far fairly informative about where I stand financially. Although when I saw that I probably won't have my credit card debt paid off completely until June of 2012 I looked like this

ouch!

 

 

Apparently Mint.com has met Dave Ramsey because once one card is paid off they transfer that payment to the other card. It will still take almost 2 years. Crap. Crap. Crap. However, when I make more a the restaurant, more money goes to this debt so maybe I can bump it up to at least a month or two.

They also let me create goals of things I'm saving for, such as my Dallas trip for the 1/2 marathon and my best friend's wedding next fall. It tells me how much I will need to set aside each month in order to afford each trip. Ouch x 2.

I do like that this is an online service because conveniently there is an app for that. They will alert me when financial goals have been met or there are issues with my spending habits. I can also access my financial info on my phone where ever I am instead of only on my computer where my spreadsheet is. 

The only thing I don't like about this site is that I can't allocate funds like I do with my spreadsheet. It only keeps track of money in and money out and gives me a big lump sum of what is left. This is why I have to keep my spreadsheet because that lump sum needs to be broken down into my monthly expenses so I know how much I really have to spend.

According to Mint.com, I spend way more than I earn. Surprise Surprise. It's helpful to have it spelled out for me and then have it tell me where to cut back. I'm very thankful that when I get back from Ohio I have enough food in my cabinets so I can make my meals for the week without having to spend more money. I'm also thankful that I will be picking up more shifts at the restaurant so I can make more progress on my financial standing. Money is stressful but I will keep on working at it!

Coincidentally, TrueLife:I Can't Afford My Lifestyle is on while I type. It helps to know I'm not the only one...although with America's debt constantly on cable news, it's hard to forget I'm not the only one.

On a separate but awesome note, I tracked down a Buffalo Wild Wings and I'm currently enjoying some Honey BBQ boneless wings for free. Business trips aren't bad!

Cable is awesome!

I feel so much more connected to current events and pop culture after 24 hours of cable. It's also kept me sane in a very quiet hotel room. Tosh.0 is hilarious, my new goal for living in New York is to get on Cash Cab and Michele Bachmann is crazier than ever...no surprise since she's a Minnesota politician...I'm from Minnesota so I can say this. 

I ventured out to Wendy's last night and a guy pulled into the parking lot, rolled down his window and tried to talk to pick me up. I ignored him. He walked in and tried to talk to me again, I said "no thanks". Then as he was driving away and I was walking back to my room he was still asking if "I was sure". Yes sir, I'm good. Leave me alone creeper! Another old sketchy man kept asking me what sports I play. Normally this is fine but after the parking lot creeper I was paranoid. He asked if I played basketball. Nope. Do I play volleyball? No sir. Tennis? No (that's kind of a lie but I wasn't going to burst into a dialogue about the few times I've recently attempted to play). Finally he gave up and luckily he didn't follow me to the parking lot. I never feel unsafe in New York but in small town Hicks-ville? Totally. So now I stay inside and order in. Dominos is on its way as I type.

I tried working out in the hotel fitness room last night. One of the treadmills didn't work and the other one felt like it was going to fall apart with every step I took. I know I haven't worked out in a while and I've eaten like a fat kid lately but I knew I didn't weigh enough to be the cause of this weary treadmill. After 15 minutes I gave up, mostly out of exhaustion concern that I would break it and be charged for it.

The conference today gave me plenty of time to read. I'm reading The Soldier's Wife, it's really good. Go read it. Anyway, clearly work was suuuuuper exciting. My company has it's location in it's name yet someone today asked me where our company is located. Someone also tried to pitch me a book idea...not even close to my area of expertise work at all. My favorite was a woman who was not there for the conference approached me to tell me her niece is very talented at drawing medical pictures and maybe she could work for our company (we have medical books, among others so it wasn't completely off base). Sorry lady, we don't exactly draw the pictures in our books anymore...She even showed me a picture of her niece's work on her phone. Sorry, that is not going to change my answer, especially when her example was not even close to medical related...as if that might be a factor. I know I've mentioned that people in New York are weird but it really is all across the nation.

Pizza's here! I hope you guys have some weird people or things in your day today! It's the spice of life apparently.

Cow tipping ya'll

Well I've made it to Ohio. Before I left the airport I saw two signs similar to this:

I was thrilled to be back in the Midwest but cow tipping brings Midwest to a whole new level. Guess I'm not in Kansas anymore...although I'm much closer to it!

Before I left I managed to update my budget. Although I threw it out the window for the past few days or even a week. I assumed it would be awful but surprisingly I broke even. I've paid my August loans, put money in savings and now I'm working on the company dime this week so I will be just fine.

We had an employee meeting at the restaurant last night and fortunately all this travel has not cost me my job. I told my boss I will be back at the end of this week and can I please get back on the schedule. He said "yes" so I'm excited to get back to work. Mostly I'm excited to get my second paycheck again. However, as a reward for showing up to the meeting we received a lottery ticket so maybe I won't need a paycheck after all...a girl can dream, can't she?

Well I'm off to go explore the hotel fitness room...I can't run a half marathon in March if I don't get back on track. There's not much to do in Ohio, especially without a car, but I'm perfectly content with a full night of cable TV in my king size bed, quite a contrast from my big city apartment.

Oh hey there!

So apparently when you leave the office for an extra day after a long weekend and the other assistant quits, work really piles up! It has really been cramping my blogging style so sorry about that! Work has been busy and when I'm finished I typically turn into a ball of lazy. I haven't worked out in weeks and laundry is high on my to-do list. There's a little thing known as my budget that I haven't looked at in far too long and I have not had a single shift at the restaurant. Lucky for me (and maybe you!), I have a work trip alone to Ohio starting tomorrow and I am sure to have lots of downtime perfect for blogging!

Here are a few bullets of what's been going on:

• I spent too much in South Carolina. When things are so much cheaper than in NY, I go spend crazy...not ideal but it was ok. 
• I bought a cute dress at Ross in SC. I wore it to work when I got back and it split down the butt while at lunch...good thing I had a sweater and a belt to tie around my waist so I managed to only look like a tool instead of a naked tool. 
• I joined a book club to meet fellow New Yorkers. The first book is Infinite Jest, which turns out is 1,076 pages. That was not a bright idea. I will have to join them on their second pick instead I think. 
• I have received a lot of great books for my birthday and I'm loving it. I'm a slow reader so I will have days upon days of entertainment with all these new books. If you use goodreads.com, add me as a friend: Specialk32  It's a great way to keep track of books you've read or are wanting to read. 
• I relaxed at my Aunt and Uncle's house this weekend with M. It was wonderful to sit a the pool, enjoy a delicious birthday dinner, and bask in the peace and quiet. The city is constantly loud, crowded and dirty so get always are always welcome.
• As I mentioned I haven't been working at the restaurant. I was gone for 4th of July and they hadn't scheduled me for 2 weeks. Now I'm gone to Ohio this week so once again, not scheduled. Fortunately I was smart and put my last two paychecks towards loans so those are taken care of for August. Summer months are slow in NYC because everyone is away at the Hamptons (don't we wish!) and for whatever reason we just hired 3 new girls so we are short on shifts. I'm hoping once I get back and football season starts, things will get a lot busier again. I sure hope so because I'm counting on some extra money for the new apartment...I am not a fan of sleeping on floors when I pay so much for a bedroom. There's a staff meeting tonight so if there's anything juicy I'll let you know. 
• I need a new phone. Yes, I got a new one in April and it already sucks big time. No, I have not dropped it or got water or sand on/in it. It randomly shuts off or randomly freezes to the point of me having to take the battery out and restart it at least 5 times a day. This happens anytime, which is not ideal when your phone is your alarm clock for work. I don't believe I have insurance and I know Verizon is going to charge me an arm and a leg for something different. What I really want is an iPhone but I know that won't happen. I'm stopping there after work today so we'll see what the damage is. 

Anyway, once I update my spreadsheet and catch up on work I'll be right back to blogging. I'm sure Ohio will have all sorts of great stories...or not. Anyone know of anything to do or see in Columbus? Any great eats? I have a solid 5 days there with nothing but a few shifts at a book conference to do!

Plane Etiquette

There really should be a list of required ways to behave when flying. As much as I wish the human race had common sense and can functionally normally, they continue to baffle me! If you want to be quirky and weird and inconvenient to others on a regular basis, fine. But you should alter your behavior when you're forced to sit on in close quarters with a large group of people for hours on end with no way out. It's just common courtesy.

If I were in charge of all airlines, I would provide this list of mandatory rules:

1. Don't recline your seat. There is no need for a teeny tiny recline when you're really just invading the already limited space of the person behind you. Rude. If you must recline, don't constantly move around and have the seat bouncing all around because it's equally annoying for the person behind you and you will probably spill their drink. Double rude.

2. When in the boarding area for your flight, be patient. You will get on the plane eventually, no need to crowd the line and push your way to the front. It is not first come, first serve so chill out.

3. When you are waiting for take off or when you've just landed and you're allowed to use your cell phone, text. It's just more polite to keep the plane relatively quiet. If you must talk on the phone, which I really don't mind too much, use your inside voice. I don't want to hear about your whole explanation the flight and what your exact plans are for once you get off the plane. And for God sakes, do NOT use your speaker phone. There is no need for the whole plane to hear your conversation.

4. When  you are boarding the plane, sit in your assigned seat. It's not that hard really. Usually you can pick the seat you want when you book the flight so it shouldn't be a huge shock when you board. Please do not sit in some random seat and then get all confused and argumentative when someone comes along claiming that is their assigned seat. It's not that hard. Everything is labeled by row and seat letter so please just avoid confusion and a bunch of hold up among others that are trying to board the plane. If you want to sit next to your beloved because you can't live without them for a few hours, fine. Take your assigned seat and then once people are settled, ask politely to switch with someone. But wait until everyone has figured out where they need to be etc.

5. If someone is wearing headphones or sleeping next to you, it is not a good time to strike up a conversation. I understand it can be fascinating meeting new people and hearing their stories, but sometimes planes are great for getting away from life for a little bit. You're forced to turn off your cell phone and I always like to enjoy that time as quiet "me" time. Respect that.

6. When your plane lands and you're towards the back of the plane and especially sitting in a window seat, just stay seated. You will not be the first one off the plane so there is no point in being impatient. The ceilings are too low for you to stand up straight so you end up hunched over the person in the seat next to you and it makes things feel crowded and rushed. Make sure all your stuff is packed and then just relax.

7. If someone is annoying on your plane, relax. You do not need to complain under your breath or make obviously annoyed noises. It will only make you equally annoying. Just turn on your iPod and ignore them.

There are probably many more but those are my biggest take aways from this past weekends traveling experience. Fortunately, the planes landed everywhere on time and very safely. Other than the odd ball people I traveled on planes with, the trip was absolutely wonderful and I can't wait to get back.

Many more updates, financial and non, to come tomorrow! Hope everyone had a great 4th weekend!