Nursing Shortage my ...

I know I have only been aggressively seeking employment as a nurse for about 2 weeks, but seriously?!? Not 1 call back?!? What in the world is going on here? I could have sworn that all my professors and people I ran into and chatted with about nursing said "ooohhhh nursing...you will never have a problem finding a job!" Well they were all wrong, with at least 5 hospitals closing in Northern New Jersey and the dismal economy I guess no one is really hiring right now... let alone hiring a brand new graduate nurse. I have applied to 7 different hospitals and have yet to hear anything back from any. Well actually I have heard back from 1 saying they are not hiring any new graduates right now.... a whole entire hospital and not 1 spot open for a new grad? I find it hard to believe but okay... crossed that place off the list and added another. **shrugs** I'm hoping I find something soon because my pockets are quickly deflating.

Playing Catch up

I have not posted on here in forever. But I passed the NCLEX! I had a major delay in getting my ATT number so I had to wait longer than I expect but I passed! I'm super excited and so ready to embark on a new chapter in my life. Here is a quick update since the last time I posted. I was seriously broke... still! :-( I did not expect that I would just be taking and passing the boards, in fact I though I would be employed by now. So the money I had saved and the loan money is completely gone.... long gone. So I took a part-time job at Macy's just to get by. Now I am aggressively looking for a nursing job and I am hoping to be employed by Thanksgiving or mid-December at the latest. The job at Macy's is not cutting it at all, but I'm hoping that things will turn around for me financially now that I am officially a nurse.

My 23rd Birthday

Birthdays always make me reflect on my life, I'm another year older and not a penny richer. In my eyes, there is something terribly wrong with that, so I'm setting a personal goal to have at least 50% of my entire debt total paid off (including student loans) and at least $5,000 just sitting in a high interest savings account for whatever I choose to do with it by my next birthday.

My life has not been a total flop though, within the past year I've done some things that I am proud of. For example, I received a second bachelor's degree, refinanced my car to save some money, started my very own blog that's doing well (well I started two, but this one is not nearly as popular as the other), and learned so much more about myself. I've made great new friends and overall I'm happy. So Happy Birthday to me!

Snowflakes: Amazon

I recently sold 4 old nursing textbooks on Amazon for a total of about $117, minus shipping I probably banked about $105. I then made a payment to Geico (my car insurance) for the amount I had made. It did not fully cover the expenses, but it certainly took a chunk out of the amount that actually came out of my pocket. I have a few more books left on Amazon to be purchased, I'm hoping the sell soon since back to school is finally here.

I wish I had more textbooks to sell, but I finally think I've cleaned out most of the books I do not wish to keep.

What is WRONG with me?!?

I have a serious problem with spending money. I know my money is limited, yet I still find ways to spend it on nonsense! I just spend, spur of the moment, just buy it/pay for it. Then later, I get upset with myself. I have a serious problem with self control when it comes to money. I mean it's not like I'm buying $1,500 shoes or $5,000 purses but still $20 here and there all adds up when you have no money coming in. I don't know what to do with myself, I'm seriously considering only putting a $20 in my wallet at the beginning of the week and leaving my debit card home. If I spend the $20 in one day, too bad! Tough love, right?!? I really need to get a handle on my spending.

Shrinking Funds

The summer is officially over and I do not have a job lined up yet, actually I still don't even have my test date yet. I'm waiting to get my fingerprints done and a background check first, then I get the test date. I applied to a few hospitals online and went to one open interview type of thing, I haven't heard anything yet. I could have sworn we were in a nursing shortage! Only one of the 23 students graduating with me has a job lined up so I don't feel too bad. I'm enjoying not having a job, but my funds are quickly depleting. I'm thinking about getting a part-time job just to hold me over, but I really don't want to have to do it. I'm really enjoying the time off and just hanging with my friends, lounging around the house, and just doing nothing. Plus, if I had a job I would not be able to go to Fashion Week! After Fashion Week maybe I'll look for a part-time job, doing something really really easy. I don't want to have to think! I feel like I've been in school forever....thinking and working forever. It's nice to have a break.

Snowflake Funds

This is a list of a few different survey sites that I use and any income from them will be considered snowflakes and applied to the bills.



ThisSiteisforreal.com

Cashcrate.com

Opinion Outpost

Mysurvey.com

SurveySavvy.com

Survey Slacking

Lately I have been slacking on completing my surveys because I have been busy with blogging (mainly for http://www.theantihairslave.com/) and doing lots and lots of school work. I finally finished with school. YaY! So I plan on doing more surveys in my spare time, so hopefully I will have more snowflake money!



I want to build a snowman! haha

Snowflaking? What is that?

Okay so I read about snowflaking on a few different sites but I still had no idea what it really is. The author of I've Paid for this Twice Already clears it all up.

"Snowflaking is a spinoff of the Snowball approach to debt reduction popularized by Dave Ramsey. With the Debt Snowball method, you figure out what amount you can pay to debt every month, and then you keep paying that amount, even as your debts shrink and your minimums get smaller. To implement it, in a nutshell, make a list of all your debts, order them from either smallest to largest or highest interest to lowest interest (that is a debate in itself), and you focus all extra money above the minimum payments on a single debt (either the smallest total or the highest interest, I use interest order). As you eliminate debts, you apply the payment you were making to that debt to the next debt in line until the snowballing effect of decreasing minimums and increasing amounts applied to particular debts eliminates all the debts on your list.
Well, what are snowballs made of? Snowflakes! I have a set amount I pay to debt without fail every month that is above my minimum payment due (about $800). On top of that, I also try to collect up little bits of money wherever I can and I apply those as well to my top priority debt as immediately as possible. I take surveys online, I sell possessions on craigslist and ebay, I have yard sales, and any money I get from these endeavors goes directly to my debt. I also keep a very strict accounting of all the money that comes in every month and what I spend and everything left over at the end of the month not earmarked for future expenses also goes directly to debt. These are my snowflakes. I have averaged over $200 extra going to pay down my credit card debt every month due to these snowflaking efforts.
Many small snowflakes make a snowball, and no amount is too small for me to snowflake. I used to pay my credit card directly every time I collected a snowflake through their online interface, but now that I have moved my credit card debt to another card with a 0% interest offer, I collect the snowflakes and pay them once per week (I am limited to the number of payments I can make to this card a month). If you are able to and your debt is not at 0% interest, I highly recommend the “pay snowflakes immediately” method. The faster your balance is reduced, the less interest you will accrue.
So, that is my snowflaking method. Small efforts matter, and many little things can add up to a huge snowstorm. I use it because of anything I’ve tried, this has kept me the most focused and deliberate about debt reduction and eliminated debt the fastest. I cannot take credit for the idea or the implementation, many many other personal finance gurus and bloggers alike have used this method before me, and I first read about it on an iVillage Debt Support message board. I am just a subscriber to it. Maybe someday I should read some Dave Ramsey and learn from the granddaddy of the snowball himself."

Sounds like a great idea right? I'm going to start doing this... I'll save all the snowflake money then use it to make the payment higher on my priority bill. My priority bill is the credit card bill with the highest interest that I am semi-aggressively paying off.

RN Job Hunt

I feel like I'm a bit on a wild goose chase because I have been sending my resume over the internet to different hospitals and I have yet to hear back. I'm starting to think that replying online to open positions is not the best way to go about searching for an RN position as a new graduate. Maybe I'm just impatient too, I have only applied to three different hospitals within the past 3-4 weeks. I could have sworn I would have heard back already... I mean helloooo isn't there a nursing shortage?!? :-) I think I'm going to go to a few different open houses if I can find some, with that being said I'll have to remember to print up a few resumes while I'm at school since it's free!

A Deeper Look inside my pockets

I'm still in debt and while the majority is student loans and a car that I owe about $7,500 on I still have some credit card debit that needs to be addressed. I'm currently working on paying them off and not use them to purchase anything, but it gets hard.

Capital One $435.81

Store Card 1$728.72

Store Card 2$388.80

Household Bank $ 2,388.10

Store Card 3 $483.86

Store Card 4 $191.28

The grand total is not too bad, I know people with a lot more credit card debit than me, but still this is pretty bad. I have been semi-aggressively paying off the card with the highest balance while making payments over the minimum on all the rest. I know being debt free is important to me so that's what I'm currently working on. Also, why anyone needs 4 different store credit cards is beyond me so once they are paid off... they are getting cancelled.

Money for Magazines?

At this point in my life I can't justify shelling out money to buy magazines, there are a few that I have 1 year subscriptions to because I requested them as my survey reward payment but other than that I don't purchase them. For the most part I just go online to the magazine's website to see what's going on or I could always head over to my local library and spend the afternoon catching up on my magazine reading. I have to say I really do enjoy reading magazines and I am often inspired by different magazines for blog posts on my hair and beauty blog (http://www.theantihairslave.com/) but I'd rather save the money.

H&R Block

I saw a commercial recently that caught my eye.... H&R Block now offers classes on tax preparation. I thought it was pretty neat because all my nursing professors talk about how they deduct their continuing education credits, journal subscriptions, and other career related things such as scrubs and sneakers. I have no idea how to go about itemizing and I would like to learn. I am seriously considering take the course. Here is some more information on it:

This course will give you the skills you need to prepare tax returns for H&R Block.* You don't need previous experience.

What You'll Learn:

• Tax theory
  
• Easy step-by-step skills for preparing tax returns
  
• How to apply the latest tax topics and tax law changes
  
• How to talk tax clients through the filing process

Why Take the Course from H&R Block:

• We created the tax preparation industry
  
• Learn from the industry's best tax experts
  
• Receive hands-on training with everyday life case studies
  
• You may be given the opportunity to begin a successful and exciting career with H&R Block, the tax industry leader
  
• You can choose to take your course at a time convenient for you: days or nights, weekdays or weekends

In addition, the H&R Block Income Tax Course is recognized for 4 hours of credit with The University of Phoenix®.¹

My First Place

Now that I'm finally going to be starting my career I can't get past getting my own place. I even went to check out some new condo's that are being built within the area of a prospect employer. The place was out of my price range for someone just starting out, but I've made up my mind that I want something along those lines. It was a beautiful condo with two bedrooms and a den that could be used for a nursery or office, in my case an office. Two bathrooms, two walk in closets, and tons of other great stuff. I've hung up the floor plan in my bedroom at my parent's house as inspiration and motivation to save!

No more impulse buys

I recently changed wallets and the new wallet has less card holder slots so I was forced to remove all my store credit cards from my wallet. Which has already saved me $248.... I went into Express just to do some window shopping and looking around but I spotted a really cute leather bomber that I really loved at that time. I tried it on and said okay I need a leather jacket (I don't have any) I'll get it, but then I remembered that I didn't have the store card so I didn't buy it. I kept thinking about it throughout the day and I realized that I would rather have a tan colored leather jacket for the fall, so by not carrying the card I narrowly escaped a impulse purchase. Plus the very next day I got coupons for Express in the mail so just in case I decide to purchase the jacket later, at least I would save 30%.

State Boards

Yay! I'm getting so excited about school being almost over. I just passed the Hesi, which is my school's exit exam. I've been hearing that the Hesi is harder than NClex, I'm hoping that's true so I definetly pass that on the first try. I don't know how much it would have cost me to re-take the Hesi, but I'm glad I don't have to so that's extra money in my pocket because my school paid for the first attempt. I just sent off the preliminary paperwork to the State of New Jersey to start the process rolling to get my Nclex date. It cost me $195, but it's money well spent.

No Review No Cash

So remember a while back I wrote how I left my job but they promised they would give me my review and retro that they owed me for months before I left? Well they still haven't. I'm not waiting around for it for anything in particular but I do want it because I earned it and worked for it. I hate when people play with my money.... It's really annoying.

I wrote a couple emails so we'll see what happens.

Money Spent and Money Saved

I was able to save a few dollars by purchasing a used tire at $40 including the tip for the nice guy working at the tire repair shop. Hopefully, this will last me until the start of the winter. I plan on buying four brand new tires so that I’m safe this winter. I’m so happy that my check from school finally came. I deposited the $3,000 check into my account this morning. I need to pay my grandmother back, because she was nice enough to lend me the money to pay for my Kaplan RN review course. That’s $400 dollars, leaving me with $2,600 dollars.

Money Spent

I spent right around the amount of money I was shooting for over my mini break from school, not including the $399.00 I spent for the Kaplan NCLEX-RN review course. But, unfortunately I got a flat iron and now I will have to spend additional money on a new tire.... GREAT! Just my luck! Every time I turn around I have additional unexpected expenses popping up. I guess that's just life, right? Right... But that doesn't mean it doesn't suck!

Happy 4th Of July

Go enjoy some free fireworks!

Sold Another Book

I sold another book on Amazon.com, I just listed two last night and one of them already sold. That is one of the pros of using Amazon.com as soon as you list your item it may sell. Now I'm just waiting the 5 business to have the money deposited directly into my checking account (my new account with Commerce mind you.) So if there are any students out there with books left over from classes, trying listing them on Amazon.com

Sovereign Bank Sucks

I recently deposited cash and a check at a drive in window, the cash was not immediately available. Since the cash was not immediately available like I expected (since it normally has been in the past) I overdrew on my account, not once but three times. All three times were very small amounts on money ... ranging from 3-5 dollars. So of course the bank charged me $33 three separate times for a total of $99. I feel as though this is crazy, it's almost like robbery. I went to the branch to complain and see if the charges would be reduce or removed entirely, of course they would not/could not remove the fees. I very calmly deposited enough money to make my account "green" again and I left the bank. I have many things attached to this checking account, but that will not stop me from taking my services elsewhere. I have one or two more paychecks coming from work, my school refund check will be deposited into that account as well, and I have one bill that will be paid online through that accounts system on June 26th. After these things are done, I will remove the money and take it to Commerce Bank where I opened a new checking account minutes after I left Sovereign Bank.



Commerce attracted me because of it's numerous convenient locations, not to mention that number is increasing due to the TD Bank merger. The benefits of my new checking account include the best banking hours available. Commerce is open 7 days a week and they have relatively late hours when compared with other banks. The penny arcade, pour in all your change, and get a slip with the amount of money, then give the slip to the teller for cash! It's free and easy and I can't wait to use it. I also got a free Visa Check card printed up right there, it took less than 5 minutes. The account also has free online bill pay and online banking.

Just Shoot Me Already!

I am convinced that the Financial Gods have it out to get me. Every time I turn around there is a unexpected expense or something crazy going on with my money. Just like now, my $6,000 student loan for summer session 2 was turned into two separate payments. So that means two separate refunds instead of one large check. I already paid for summer session 1 via personal check, but the lovely people at my school decided to divide up the $6,000 requested for summer 2. The first half disburses on July 1st and the second half on July 27th. Remember, the whole point of taking out more than I need to pay for classes was to cover my expenses because I want to devote all my extra time to studying and preparing for nursing boards. So tomorrow I will have to make a trip to the financial aid office and see if there is something that I can do to get the money disbursed sooner.

Where's my Breadstick!?!

I recently saw an article on AOL.com about how different restaurants are making cutbacks due to the current economic status of the US. I thought it was interesting and browsed the comments. One commenter said that Olive Garden is now only giving 2 breadsticks in the dish once you finish the first batch. I laughed out loud and said noooo that can't be true. So when the opportunity arose to go to Olive Garden I went and let me tell you IT'S TRUE! Olive Garden happens to be one of my favorite places to go for lunch because of the unlimited soup and salad deal. So I told my BF about the breadstick thing in the car on the way there, he didn't believe it either so when the waitress sat our second batch of breadsticks down and there were only two in there we laughed. I was kind of shocked at the cutback, but my BF said he thought it was just a way the company was trying to eliminate wasted food as well as many monetary cutbacks. The people are Olive Garden were more than willing to bring out more breadsticks, still two at a time, but at least they offered to bring more. I mentioned I would have never noticed if I didn't read about it online. My dear BF replied, "I would have noticed, but I would have just thought it was because we are black." *blank stare* Anyway, our poor waitress had to make several trips back and forth for more breadsticks, so I wonder if the lack of productivity will counteract the attempt to save money?

RN Job Hunt

Graduation is right around the corner. I'm starting to narrow down my top three choices of hospitals. This is a very exciting time for me, but it is also a very stressful one as well. I want to make the right choice when choosing a place of employment. I know that salary is important, but it is not as important as other things, such as benefits, retirement plans, 401k's, etc. I'll continue to post on this topic as it gets closer to that time.

Easy Ways I Save

I am currently really trying to limit my spending as much as I can. A few ways that I do it are by doing my own hair most of the time. I try to limit a salon visit to once every month or even once every other month. I purchased brand new rollers from ebay for a lot cheaper than I would have paid in the stores. I already have a hooded dryer so it works out well, plus with the summer here I just avoid using heat in my hair at all. I rely on braid-outs, twist-outs, and wet bunning to get through, just because I don't go and get my hair done doesn't mean I can't look good! I also do my own manicures and pedicures, the more you do it the better you will get. Since the summer is here light colors look best and they are the easiest to use when compared with dark colors. I also do my own waxes. Do it yourself beauty is a great way to save some change! Check out my other blog, The Anti Hair Slave for more DIY beauty tips and tricks.

Yearly Review

I officially resigned from my current job, the weekend of the 28th and 29th will be my last days. However, my 1 year review was due at the end of May and it still has not been completed. I complained and was assured that it would be completed and I would still get the retro that I am entitled to. I mean it really does only seem fair sincce it is about a month overdue, which actually isn't as bad as my 90 day review which was three months late.

Opinion Outpost $100.00

YaY! I'm excited because I hit the $100 dollar mark with Opinion Outpost! If you want to sign up use the link and I'll be the referrer. Then you can refer your friend and family and get more $ rewards too!

Overdraft Fees

I heard on AM radio this morning that the total amount that banks made on overdraft fees was about 17.5 billion dollars last year. That is outrageous, I wonder what the banks are doing with all that money. I'm sure everyone knows about overdraft fees and the best way to avoid them is good management of your checking account. I don't think that most people write checks knowing the money is not there (well I hope not) I really think it's more of a matter of judging and timing when deposits will clear or when other charges will hit.



What ways (free ways) do you avoid overdraft fees?

This Site is For Real

I joined ThisSiteisForReal a while ago. The first month I did enough offers to receive a check. My first check was for $11 and some change. I have sense forgotten about this site, especially since there are no reminder emails. The only emails you get from them are emails confirming offers that you have completed. Anyway, today I went on and saw that they had some new high paying offers (in the $2.00 range) I did a few and brought up the amount in my account. If you want to sign up please use this link http://www.thissiteisforreal.com/start.php?rid=324116 Then I will get credit as being the referrer... Thanks. I wonder how much I could possibly make in one month if I really sat down and did a few free offers a day? I don't have much time for it lately so I haven't been active with any of the paid survey sites or sites like this one. One of the good things about this site is that there is also an online forum where members can write about what offers they actually got paid for and which ones did not seem to work. On the forum people even post pictures of their checks for non-believers. You really do get a check as long as you make $10.00 and don't worry the balance is carried from month to month if one month you don't hit the $10.00 mark.

However, just today in about 10 minutes I went from $0.00 for June earnings to $6.15 so just a few minutes a day and you could really do well...except I know I won't spend a few minutes everyday. Maybe it's more like a few minutes a week.

Decisions, Decisions...

Student loans, personal loans, maintaining or leaving my job...decisions decisions. I decided to go with the student loan over the personal loan just because I don't have to start paying back the student loan as soon. With the personal loan I would need to start making payments the very next month. Even though the interest rates are roughly similar the student loan seemed like the best opinion, and to my surprise my dad was very willing to co-sign this time. The loan was approved today for the requested amount of $6,000. Of that $6,000 $2,688 will go towards my last summer session. $399 will go towards taking the Kaplan NCLEX-RN review course. That leaves me with $2,913 to go to various things, including re-taking the HESI (hopefully I won't but if I needed to I could pay for it,) my car insurance for the months of July, August, and possibly September (hopefully by September I will have an RN job but this is just in case money for that,) and finally the fee for the actual NCLEX test, which I hope I will only need to take once. Anything left over by the time I get my job will be used as a payment on the loan.

The second new thing going on in my financial life is that I have resigned for my job. I have decided to leave because I was only working two days a week (Saturdays and Sundays,) and for the rest of the summer I want to dedicate my weekends to other things since my weekdays are fully booked. I'm not one bit sad about leaving, in fact I'm looking forward to the extra time to get other things done. My spending habits for the rest of the summer are going to be very limited, but that is OK. Most of my time will be used towards studying for my big tests. I can't wait for school to be over...it was a fast 16 months but also a difficult 16 months, Nursing classes are no joke.

Drugstore.com

I found this site by accident while searching for CVS pharmacy sales online. Anyway, turns out it's a pretty decent site. Drugstore.com has just about all the products you can find in your local pharmacy. The perks of the site include it's affiliation with Beauty.com which is like an online Sephora if you order somethings from Drugstore and other items from Beauty.com they will ship together and you will be billed together, there is free shipping on all orders over $49 so stock up on sale items or do your monthly pharmacy shopping there to save even more. Drugstore.com can also fill your prescriptions and have them sent to your house...I've never done that, but apparently it can be done. Another thing that's cool is the 5% cash back (to be used at Drugstore or Beauty) on every single order. My favorite thing is the email of products you buy when they are on sale, it's a great reminder and notification that stuff you use is on sale. A perk about the Beauty.com site is that you get to pick three free samples with your purchase.

Gym Membership

I have been thinking about joining a gym once I get a 'real' job for months now. I never work out now, because I just don't have the time. I tried going once or twice with a classmate during our lunch break, but I would rather spend that time studying, so I stopped going. Then I came across an article in the June issue of Fitness magazine about 5 women who spent various amounts of money on fitness. The prices ranged from $30 to $4,600 and all the women (including the woman who only spent $30) had fabulous results. Now I am re-thinking the gym membership and I think I might just buy some dumbbells and a work-out DVD. The key to success with fitness is sticking to your regimen not spending tons of money for a gym membership. For now, I'm skipping the gym membership. I'd actually prefer to work-out in the comfort of my own home anyway.

Inbox Dollars

I joined Inbox Dollars a long long time ago and I just recently made the payout amount which is $30.00. There are a ton of different ways to make cash like the paidemails, cash offers, cash surveys, cash games, cash shopping, and through referrals. I only did the paid emails which is why it took so long, to make the payout amount. You get a $5.00 bonus just for signing up. Again, I recommend creating a g-mail email account if you are interested in any survey companies because g-mail has the best spam filter. I requested my check back in May and it should be sent on July 1st. The company waits two months before sending the check to ensure that your account stays active. To stay active all you have to do is click on the links in the emails, that's all. My check is in the amount of $27.77 which includes an upgrade to Gold Status. So if you sign up use the link so I'll get the referral! Thanks guys! :-)

DIY - Waxing

So I'm on a bit of a Do it Yourself kick. I've been trying to do more things myself instead of paying for someone else to do it. So far I have been doing my own hair, nails, and skipping the dry cleaners. I have all the rollers I need and the hooded dryer to do my own rollersets. I have the foot spa and tons of bath salts to do my own pedicures. Plus most of the clothes I have dry cleaned do not even require dry cleaning. Now, I have another idea to save me more money. I used my amazon rewards certificates (received through doing online surveys) to purchase the GiGi mini pro waxing kit. It includes everything I need to do my own waxes, which could really end up saving me lots of money. The kit includes Mini Heater with Adjustable Temperature, Honee Creme Wax 14oz., 8 each of Petite, Small and Large Spatulas, 25 each of Small and Large Natural Muslin Strips, 2 each of Face Strips and Body Strips, Pre-Hon, Antiseptic and Benzokal Lotion, 2oz. each, After Wax Cooling Gel 2oz., Slow Grow Skin Maintenance Lotion 4oz., 2 Collars for 14oz. cans, Rest Bar, and technician's manual. I'm so excited I can't wait for it to come!

• Armpit wax = $15


• Lip wax = $ 8


• Bikini wax = $35 (regular) $50-75 (brazilian)

Most women get waxed at least monthly, so that's a lot of money I could save by just doing it at home. I've gotten pretty good at doing my own armpits so I'm on a mission to learn even more and since this kit is basically "free" I might as well try. I'm pretty good with these types of things so I am fully confident in my abilities. I'll keep you updated.

Mortgage Hell - a real eye opener

"Welcome to my mortgage hell" written by Meghan Daum is a very interesting article in Glamour magazine. It was all about women who got themselve in over their head financially by purchasing a home they actually couldn't afford, well actually they could afford it but they were severely overextending themselves financially to have these homes. The article hit home because I guess I have fantasizing about how great everything will be financially once I get a nursing job and the first story was about a nurse who makes $92,000 a year and ended up losing her home. Ouch! I read it and could hear my bubble bursting in the background. It really stressed the fact that you always always always need an emergency fund in my head, the woman had a series of unfortunate health events, without a savings account or emergency fund she started missing payments and eventually the bank took over her home. This article really scared my into doing tons and tons of research before I buy a home and I will make sure I have a substancial down payment and pick something that has a comfortable mortgage payment. That article was a real eye opener. I would recommend it to anyone who is even thinking of purchasing a home.

Eyebrow Threading

I love the look that eyebrow threading gives. The closest place that does it by me charges $20, that is too expensive so I recently have been going to Charm's to get it done and they only charge $8. I have also been using my tweezers ($1.00 from elf.com) to keep them looking decent so that I can prolong the trips. There are so many different ways to cut corners, if you are aware of how much you are actually spending and seek out ways to cut back. This way you don't have to give up what you want, just find ways to do it cheaper.

Frugal vs. Cheap

I had to take the loss and purchase an air conditioner for my room. Last summer my ceiling fan broke and I just used a window fan, which didn't really work well but I was being cheap and didn't want to buy an air conditioner because the summer was almost over. Yesterday was the hottest day so far and it was unbearable in my room, I couldn't imagine spending the entire summer in those conditions. I did a few internet searches and found that my room only required about a 5,000 BTU air conditioner. Luckily Target had a 5,200 BTU air conditioner on sale for $79.99, I purchased it and I am no longer uncomfortable in my room. This lead me to start thinking about the difference between being frugal and being cheap. I think last year I was being frugal since the summer was about to end I just toughed it out without the air conditioner. If this summer I didn't purchase one then that would just be cheap. Being cheap is when you can afford something and need the item but you just don't purchase it because you don't want to spend the money. Being frugal is waiting to purchase the item, waiting for a sale, clipping coupons, or re-using/repairing an item. So here is the million dollar question: Are you frugal or just cheap?

Lunch Costs

Bringing my lunch to school is proving to be a bit of a challenge. My first class starts at 8am and my last class doesn't get out until 8:30pm most days. It's hard to pack enough food to cover me for the entire day, including snacks. Plus if I manage to do so, I have a hard time keeping it okay to eat. My car is very hot and sometimes I have a lot of things to carry around with me, textbooks, notebooks, purse, and home care bag. I have been trying to not buy things to eat, but it's a bit harder than I thought. I'm still working on it though, last week I ended up buying almost all my meals outside. This week I will try not to do that, it gets expensive. Today I purchased 9 boxes of Suddenly Salad because it was on sale at Stop & Shop 3 boxes for $5.00. I made two boxes and divided it up into 4 containers. I also purchased some beef bologna because it was on sale buy 1 ($3.99) get 1 free. I put one in the fridge and the other 3 freezer(bologna goes fast around here.) I already have bread, cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomato, etc. at home so I'm all set there. I also got some cereal bars, more containers, small juices, yogurt, cucumbers, sliced olives, and granola. I purchased everything either on sale or using coupons and I spent about $40 total, which I think is very good considering how much I ended up with. I'm sticking to my goal of not buying a single food item outside this week. Everything is coming from home! Let's see how I do.

Baby Shower Gift

I had to attend a baby shower today, I really didn't want to go. I'm broke and I can't really afford a gift, but the Mother-to-be is a very young girl and I feel like she needed the support of people who she actually likes (and also like her) at her shower instead of a bunch of her mother's friends whispering about her and how old she is. Anyway, I stopped a few yard sales this morning pre-baby shower and I was surprised to find brand new baby books... cool one's too. How to be a posh mom, Going Green baby or something like that and a few more. I purchased three in total for $5... the mother-to-be loved my gift and spent most of the time at her shower flipping through the pages. This just goes to show you that you don't always have to spend a lot to get something great. Right in the midst of all the pink onesies, pink dresses, and pink everything else was my gift of books. It was a break from the same thing and it's something educational as well. I would have liked it too.

Education Costs

My summer 2 bill (last bunch of nursing class) is due on June 25th. I just received the bill via email earlier this week. Grand total: $2,688.00 Which is around the same amount that I paid for summer 1. To pay for summer 1 I took out a personal loan, which I am currently making monthly payments on. I did not take out a student loan, because I would need a co-signer and I don't exactly have anyone capable for doing it for me. I would do the same thing for summer 2 but they (my credit union) usually like to see 6 month payment history before issuing another personal loan. So I am going to try to do it that way, but if not I may have to turn my father and do a little begging to get him to co-sign the loan.

I also found out today that the Kaplan NCLEX RN review classes are going to be around $400, so that's another education expense.

Financial Goals

My financial goals for the rest of the summer are pretty straight forward. Manage to pay all my bills on time and avoid overdraft fees from my checking account. It sounds easier than it really is. Here is the problem, I will no longer be working full time. Instead, I will be working 16 hours a week. Fortunately, my car payments are taken care of. Luckily, I save up enough money to cover them while I am in school...they are on autopilot so that's one less thing on my mind.

Here is the tricky part: I HAVE TO STILL PAY ALL MY OTHER BILLS.

Already, it is proving to be a bit of a problem. Mainly because for one week I did not work at all. A long term goal I have for myself is to not live paycheck to paycheck. My parents do it and it's terrible...I see and feel the stress that it causes. So I WILL NOT live paycheck to paycheck in the future. I'm working on it, and I'm sure I will be able to accomplish this goal.

Ask & you shall receive

Imagine my shock when I opened my Macy's Bill and realized I had not paid my previous month's bill. A whole load of four letter words escaped my lips that I won't repeat here, so needless to say I was pissed. Only at myself though, I had completely forgotten about this bill. I've kind of let my organization slip due to some other issues, but no more. I have begun reorganizing all my bills and expenses and this will not happen again. I also wondered if there was anything that I could do to have the fee removed, so I called the customer service line at Macy's and told them that I had honestly forgotten all about the bill. They reviewed my "perfect" payment history and immediately removed the late fee. So that saved me $29.00 I was a little bit surprised that it was so simple. Don't worry I have no plans on doing it again ever, but it is nice to know that even bill collectors have a heart. :-)

Gas :-(

I have a 2005 Dodge Neon, I did not know what sized engine it has so I checked around online. Apparently, it has a 4 cylinder engine...I'm not sure what impact that plays on gas but that's what it has. I think a 4 cylinder is actually the smaller size. The gas tank holds 12.5 galloons and today it cost me $38.85 to fill it up. It was not entirely empty either, I still had a little under a quarter of a tank left. I'm hoping that this will last me all week, the car should get 29mpg (city) or 36 mpg (highway). I do a lot of driving that I cannot avoid so, it's really up in the air.

I'm curious as to how much other people are paying to fill up their tanks, so leave it in the comments section.

Cash Crate May Earnings

So May has ended and my earnings are in! I made a modest $20.44 from Cash Crate, the check will be mailed out next month on the 15th. I plan on using the money for gas. I could have earned more but I stopped completing offers (I only do the free offers.) For June my goal is to match May's earnings or beat it.



Here is my breakdown of earnings:

• $10.50 from offers


• $0.00 from shopping


• $0.00 from surveys


• $6.94 from referrals


• $3.00 BONUS!

DIY! & SAVE!

I am on a mission to learn how to do things myself. I am prety crafty as it is and I'm kind of good at putting things together, following directions, etc. So I figure that if I learn how to do more things myself I can save money. For example, my dog really needs to go to the groomers, but I plan on washing him and cutting his hair myself. So instead of paying 50-75 dollars I won't have to spend that and I can use it for something else. Also, I need an oil change, instead of paying 20-30 dollars I am going to ask a friend of mine to show me how to do it myself. From now on I am going to consider if what I am about to pay for can be done my me instead for free.

Unexpected Purchases

I really really hate having to buy unexpected things... especially now since I am not working nearly as much as I use to. I found out that I needed to buy "different" scrubs for my clinicals this summer. Every Thursday and Friday I need to wear scrubs that are not white, black, demin, or surgical blue or green. Since the almost $200 set they made us buy at the beginning of the program is white I had to go out and buy new scrubs. I went to Life Uniform and picked some up on sale. I got one solid set and two tops that match the solid bottoms and 1 more pair of bottoms that match the two printed tops. I spent about $70 but I can do 6 different combinations with what I purchased and every piece I purchased was on sale.

Coupon Clipper

That is the question! Are you a coupon clipper? If so, do you actually USE them once you get to the store?

Bye Ez Pass

I'm putting my EZpass on time out. I currently spend $125 dollars a month on EZpass. I can't afford to keep having EZpass charge my credit cash $25 to re-fill it so I'm back to saving my change and tossing it into the lovely toll baskets on the parkway. :-( I'm thinking of ways to avoid using the parkway all together to cut back on tolls without spending more gas. If I could put the $125 that I spend towards better things like my car insurance payment, I'll be better off.

Mint.com

Mint.com is a very cool site that I discovered thanks to a personal finance forum (if you sign up tell the Secret Stash referred you.) It is basically a personal finance software that is free. You have to upload all your accounts into this system and them it tells you exactly where your money is going. It was cool to see it...I never realized that I'm spending about $125 on EzPass a month. The site also helps you find lower interest rates on different credit cards to help you save money. I'm especially a fan of the big pie chart that shows where all your money is going. It is going to be instrumental in opening up my eyes and helping me find ways to cut back on spending. They even have a blog Mint.edu with lots of information if your new to the whole world of finance (that would be me!) It's worth taking a look at.

Lunch Money

Soon I will be back in school. My first class starts at 8:00am and my last class does not get out until 8:00pm (ARGH!) I know for a fact that when I'm on campus I spend lots of un-necessary money on food.



$1.25 for a drink

$1.00 for a candy bar

$2.00 for the starbucks on campus

$5.00+ for the actually lunch



I can't afford to do this daily. I want to bring all my own food from home, the only thing is that I can get a little picky when it comes to food. Plus I like to snack often. Here is the plan: each Sunday I will "prepare" for the upcoming week, by separating out what I will take to school. I'm develop a "meal plan" so the speak and pack up small containers of different salads, sandwiches, or even left overs (I will have access to a microwave) so I can just grab and go in the mornings. The only thing is that I have to hope that someone in my house doesn't eat it before I get to it, which tends to be the story of my life. Added bonus: Maybe I'll be able to eat a little bit healthier too.

Pay Yourself 1st

How many times have I heard this? Probably a million times. A while back I started an automatic deduction from my paycheck to go straight into my ING Savings account. I set the amount very low, $12.50 per paycheck to be exact, I get paid weekly so it's $50 a month. Then on top of that I'll add some extra money in there every now and then. I haven't been adding lately, but I was surprised to see that the amount has increased pretty steadily. Imagine if I would have alloted more money! But the bottomline is that it's true... You always always always have to pay yourself first, otherwise you won't save.

Addicted to Amazon

Ever since the first books sold, I've been looking all around my house for more things to sell on Amazon. It's addictive I think. It all started innocently enough when I was clearing out some space for Nursing textbooks. In order to make room I took out my old community health books. I decided to sell those on Amazon and the very next day two of the books had sold. So I immediately put some more books up and they sold as well. Most recently I've sold the 3rd season of Sex and the City DVD's and my MTV power yoga CD. I got the Sex and the City DVD's as a gift, I've watched them and no longer need them (I want the pink velvet boxed set of all the entire series) and the MTV power yoga CD I got for free by redeeming some survey points. All in all I've made out well, and beware! I've got my eyes peeled for additional things to sell on there! :-)

Thursday

I broke down and got my hair done. I spent $50 plus tip. I got a relaxer, deep condition, trim, and wash & set. But now I look better! Yay!

Gift Baskets

For Mother's Day this year I was broke. I still wanted to do something nice for my mom and gram so I made them baskets. I thought it would be easy and cheap, I used to work at a florist back in high school so making the basket was no problem. Staying within budget however proved to be a problem. I made a BBQ basket for my mom because she loves to BBQ and a Baker's Basket for my gram because that's what she loves. I ended up spending about $150 for both baskets, but it was worth it in the end. They both loved their baskets and the best part is I got an order for another basket. That was definitely not the goal, but my step dad wants me to make him a basket for his parents 50th anniversary. I have $100 budget for this basket. I will HAVE to stick to this budget because I don't want any out-of-pocket expenses for this project.

Wednesday

Here we go... I spent $7.10 or something like that on White Castle. My weakness is food... I was on my way to visit my friend and I stopped. I probably shouldn't have, but I did anyway. I'M WEAK!!! BUT MY CHEZ BURGERS WERE GOOD! Next time I won't do it, I'll eat something from home instead.

Tuesday

$15.00 on gas ($3.65 a gallon, got me to 1/2)

$20.90 on postage

___________________

$35.90



Oh man! I didn't want to have to spend any money. I had to get the books shipped out that I sold on Amazon.com I was going to walk to the post office to save gas, but it started raining and then I remember I work tomorrow @ 7am and if I didn't stop to get gas today, I would have to wake up earlier to get it anyway so I just got some today. That was the grand total spent for Tuesday.

Cash Crate

I'm new with this whole snapshot thing, but this is a snapshot of my Cash Crate Account. I just started this and already there is $10.08 in the account. It's easy to do, I do them when I'm at work with nothing else to do!

Here is the sign up link.

SOLD!

I sold three books on Amazon.com just that fast. I was very very surprised. I made $59.80 after Amazon fees for three old textbooks. One person ordered expedited shipping which cost me $10.20, then the other two were about $5.35. All together it cost $20.90 to ship the three books. Which leaves me with a measly $38.90 for three old textbooks. Approximately 12.97 per book. Something is better than nothing, right? I was not using the books for anything and they were just taking up space. If shipping wasn't so high I would have done a little better, but oh well. I plan on moving the $38.90 over to my ING savings account.

Turning Old Clothes into Ca$h

I opened an account at a local second hand shop and every season I have been taking clothes there. Each time I go and drop more clothes off, I check my account. I usually have about $50.00 but I end up spending it right away. From now on I will use that extra money I get from clothes I no longer wear and save it. I will deposit it right into my ING account and leave it there. If you have clothes that you just don't wear anymore I would suggest trying to find a local second hand shop in your area. Most places split the sale 50/50 while others split it 60/40. Check your local yellowpages for a consignment shop near you.

Survey Savvy

Survey Savvy is one of the better survey sites. There are no points to collect, instead you get paid for each survey you complete. The only downside is that I don't get too many surveys from them. I've completed 13 surveys and the pay out was $25.50 total. The best thing about this survey company is that they offer multiple ways to get cash. You can take surveys to get cash, you can also get incentives when you refer people and when those referrals complete surveys.

Use this link to sign up and I'll get an extra incentive and you can start earning cash too!

Monday - Spent $0.00

I went through the entire day without spending a penny! YaY... I'm happy. Tomorrow might not be so great. I'm off tomorrow ... maybe I can just stay inside, do a little cleaning or something and not spend any money. We'll see! I'll keep you posted.

Amazon

I have never used Amazon to sell anything before, but I'm going to try it out. I normally use E-bay, but I think Amazon might be a better route. I have a bunch of text books from my Community Health days that I no longer use and no longer need. I guess I'll be able to get a few extra bucks for selling them, maybe enough to buy the textbooks I'll need for this summer? Doubt it, but I can try! I listed five books, it was very very easy...way easier than E-bay. This is probably an off season for textbooks, but if they don't sell I'll relist them towards the end of August. I wish I had more books to sell, but that's it for now.

No Money Left Over

This past week was a rough one. I paid all my bills and had 0.11 cents left in my checking account. The problem was that I took a lot of days off from work in order to get myself all set for final exams. I had no gas money, no spending money, no nothing. I was trying to just stick it out until this Thursday. In order to do this, I would have had to limit my driving and eat food from home. I was not able to survive. Saturday I ended up taking $60 out of my other account. I used some for gas and the rest for food and snacks. I spent Saturday with my boyfriend and he ended up spending $100 also on gas and food and snacks. So together we spent $160 ... That is crazy. In one day we spent $160 and we have nothing to show for it. We really need to get a better handle on our finances, especially if one day (way down the road) we'll be married and living together. Anyway, that's a whole other story.

Tomorrow I start tracking every single penny spent... this should be interesting.

Where does it go?

I'm sorry to say that I haven't the slightest idea as to where some of my money goes. It's crazy and a terrible problem. I get paid, then pay all the bills I need to pay, once that's done everything else goes out the window. I'm so fast to whip out my debit card and just buy stuff. So here is the experiment: starting on monday I will write down every single penny that I spend whether it be cash or debit or credit. Everything gets written down for at least a week, I might stretch it out longer depending on how things go and I will update here where my money went. After this experiment is done I will create a budget and try my very best to stick to it.

Net Worth

I don't even think "worth" is the correct term for this in my case. I just used the handy tools over at http://www.networthiq.com/ and my Net Worth is..... ((drum roll please)) (use this time to sit, if you aren't already) - $16,720. I am in the RED! Deep Red... That's more like a maroon.

I have no home of my own, no personal property, no stocks, no bonds, no annuities, no retirement fund, no nothing. All I have is my car and we all know that's a liability, especially in these times. I just paid $3.69 for a gallon of gas, but that's another story. I have a lot of work to do to get myself out of this deep maroon state.

Inside my Pockets

I'm in DEBT! Agh! I hate even admitting it, but I'm in it. One of my goals is to be out of debt by this time next year. So I'm giving myself 12 months to get out of debt. Another goal I have is to save at least $5,000. Anyway, let me give you a little picture of where I stand financially.

What I owe:

$4,000 on different credit cards
$8,500 left on car loan
Loads in student loans

I'm currently enrolled in school full-time I'm doing an accelerated program and if everything goes well I'll be a RN by August this year. YaY! The only down-side is that I will have to go from full-time to part-time at my current job. Part-time meaning just saturdays and sundays, if that... and since I'm making only $10.81 an hour times are going to be hard. Hopefully this blog can keep me on track with my spending and help me see the error of my ways! On the brighter side, I managed to save enough money to cover my car payment until September (by then I should be into my career ~ hopefully.) I will need to pay $233 in car insurance a month plus make payments on all my other bills. UGH! So there you have it.... my finances in a nutshell.

Ipsos i-Say Panel

Ipsos boasts claims that it is "one of the largest survey-based research companies in the world, and among the most trusted research brands in North America." I joined a while back and when I joined you would get points for doing surveys, then you could allot your points to different give-a-ways. I never won any give-a-ways and I stopped doing the surveys. Now they have re-vamped their rewards system so you get points for doing surveys and then you can redeem your points for different things. So far all the surveys have been given out 8-9 points for completing them (surveys are about 10 minutes.) Once you hit 50 points you can start redeeming them. I haven't redeemed any points so far.

Use this link to sign up. It will take about 2 minutes and you will be entered to win $5,000.

Online Surveys

No one I know has ever gotten rich off of doing online surveys. I have made a few extra dollars here and there and I've also redeemed points for some cool items. The first thing I would do is to create a Gmail account specifically for survey use, Gmail does a great job of sorting out junk from survey invitations. That's the first thing, then I would start signing up for different surveys. What companies are good? That's where this post comes in. I have been doing online surveys for about a year and I have sorted through 'good' companies and 'bad' companies. I can help point in the the right direction depending on what you are looking for, for free. Don't pay for one of those sites that finds them for you. That's how I started... I paid about $30 (I've since made it all back plus some, but still) I'll let you know which companies I like and still use today.