I’m all grownsed up

March 28th, 2008

This post might get a bit long and boring, but bear with me.

One of my goals this year (#53) was to get on a written budget. Like a serious, I know where every dollar goes kind of a budget. This is really difficult for me, because I don’t write things down, ever. I just email myself reminders to do things, or scribble it on a little piece of scrap paper that I find 3 months later, or write it on my hand middle school style.

In every other part of my life, this works out fairly well. I don’t forget things like appointments or birthdays, but when it comes to money, I will forget that I bought Thing X if I don’t write it down within 1 second. I always have checked my bank statements online everyday, but that’s not always so reliable. So, after thinking about it a bit, and reading a few different financial blogs, my plan of attack has been something like this:

1. Have a name for every dollar of each paycheck

Every single dollar gets put somewhere ahead of time, whether it’s a savings account, bills, meeting up with friends for dinner account, buying a gift for someone, etc.

One of my biggest problems in the past is that I wasn’t good at setting money aside for things I knew were approaching. So, I might know that in three weeks I’ll be taking a weekend trip to blah-blah, but I wouldn’t budget for it.

Now I am actually setting this money aside ahead of time and thinking about how much I’ll spend on whatever it is. Example: I know that I want to roundhouse kick my busy-body, spinster, insane neighbor in the head one day, so I can budget ahead of time how much it will cost when sues me for her dental bills. Really, I know this isn’t rocket science, but making myself do this is really big for me.

2. Find some sort of budgeting tool of some kind. Force self to use tool.

I started with Quicken, but I couldn’t get it to sync up with my accounts. Then I switched to Mint.com, which I am going to marry and have a money baby with, more on that soon.

3. Do not buy stuff! Force self not to buy stuff! Bribe self that once the credit card is payed off,  maybe you will buy those Marc Jacobs sunglasses as a reward, but until then, do not buy anything you big baby!

In January, Smaussie (which stands for Small Australian, because she is small and from Australia) and I had a no-buy showdown. We agreed that we wouldn’t buy anything besides food and necessities from January 1 - March 1, and we held each other accountable for it. I highly reccommend a no-buy showdown if you have a Smaussie in your life. It will save you a bunch of cash. After it was over on March 1st we went to H&M and I bought 3 pairs of shoes and a spring jacket and was sweaty and thought I would throw up when I handed over my debit card.

These three things might sound kind of basic and obvious, but following this plan has made a really big difference for me. I feel in control. I can do anything! I believe in me!

Alright, now that the boring stuff is out of the way, let me tell you all about why I love Mint.com. Or better yet, let me show you.

Dang! look at that, every account is right there. It’s so convenient, I love it. I blurred out the balances, so back away from the screen, you creep. 

Mint has so many cool little tools, and charts your spending. It also emails me when bills are due, and when I’m getting close to exceeding a budget. It emailed me today that I went over my grocery budget by $1. whoops.

Look at these adorable charts:

Here’s a good example. I went to 7-11 to buy a bottle of wine last week. When I clicked on it in my statement, this little chart pops up. It says that the US average at 7-11 in February was $42. How do they know that? I can’t say, but it’s a fun thing to know, and also kind of gross. I bet that’s $42 a month in hot dogs and churros.

It’s also tells me I go to Jewel a lot. I knew this already. And btw, that Check 000000347 was for rent, not anything fun.

The most horrible discovery was when it told me I was a yuppie. I can just hear Mint mocking me from the screen, “Grande coffee with a soy topper please.” , 

There is the financial news! Do you want me to talk about cupcakes? No, that’s next time. Now I’m off to see the main squeeze play with Team Band.

And, I’m crossing this off the list. Of course this is an on-going thing, but dang it, I want to cross something off, I deserve it.

Love, me

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