Bitch On a Budget

[thebitchonabudget-blog]

Payday came and with it beer. (December 16th, 2011)

Well, actually beer has not come, and I don't PHYSICALLY have my paycheck in my hands, but I digress. Today is payday and with it comes a glorious $379.12 check, which I will cash in and enjoy for the next two weeks. 

Now, I thought this would be the PERFECT opportunity to write a small something about Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza (if you celebrate this, please contact me I have much to ask), birthday, New Years, the winter solstice, an anniversary, your cats birthday, honestly WHATEVER you plan on celebrating within the next month. 

Honestly, I love holiday shopping. Actually let me clarify, I love finding something someone will love and still have enough money in my pocket to buy myself a cute scarf; I swear if I could, I would spend every cent I have on scarves. The point is, I love shopping for great things at great prices, so I'm going to let you onto a few secrets of mine:

Number one:

If you are not now, you should run your behind over to www.livingsocial.com and create an account. You can find great things like discounts on restaurants, movie tickets, stuff for kids, even vacations at ridiculously low prices. I mean an all inclusive ticket to China for 8 days with a tour guide, hotel, airfare, and all your attraction tickets paid for for $1,200 CANADIAN Dollars (roughly $1157.74 USD), about $700 dollars LESS than what I spent when I went to France this summer, yes I did stay I month, but that didn't include hotel or most of my meals. So it's a pretty good deal. You can get $50 dollars to spend when  you pay $25 dollars at a restaurant and all sorts of good shit like that.

Number two:

Etsy.com. Please tell me you've heard of it at LEAST. It's a great site with lots of homemade goodies. Example, if you have a friend who, like me, is obsessed with Harry Potter, go on over to Etsy and buy him/her a necklace with a hogwarts letter in it. Or how about you get them an Education Decree from Dolores Umbridge HERSELF? Lots of good stuff for under $10 dollars. 

Number three:

1saleaday.com. This is probably my holy grail. I swear you will NEVER stop looking at this site. I check it EVERYDAY. I mean two days ago they had a 64GB iPad for $380. I can resell that and make an easy $150 profit at least. You can find great toys, jewelry, clothes, phones, etc for great prices.

Now the rules of gifting are quite simple.

1) Never spend more than $25 dollars on the gift of a friend. You may think that's too little, but no. It's not. I highly doubt your friend will spend more than that on you, plus you can find GREAT things for that price, and if you want to get them something GREAT, get together a group of friends and split a great present.  

2) I would recommend spending no more than $50 dollars on a best friend, unless of course you have massive amounts of money to spend. 

3) Boyfriends can be slightly tricky. I wouldn't recommend you spend more than $25 dollars on a boyfriend less than 4 months, and no more than $50 on one you've been dating around a year. After that I think adding about $50 per year is adequate. So if you've been together 3 years, look at spending around $150, if money permits of course.

I have found that homemade gifts can be better than something you buy at the mall. Try looking at cookie recipes, and perhaps make your friends cookies. You can also go online and search for easy DIY projects. I made iPad cases out of felt and decorated them as owls and gave them as gifts. 

But most of all, with the holidays so near, it's not just what to buy, it's what to GIVE. Whether you give a day helping out at a local food bank, a school, a church, a homeless shelter, a rescue shelter, or an old folks home, make this year one to remember. Give a dollar, a five, or a twenty to a cause you believe in. Stand by someones side who needs you most. Take in a family who cannot afford Christmas dinner. Buy homeless children presents. Do something. Trust me, the feeling is 300 times greater than any present you'll get, I guarantee it. 

[thebitchonabudget-blog]

Here's to messing up all your plans. (December 12, 2011)

I'm sorry to report, that I returned to my old ways of spending carelessly. Well actually, that isn't all true my dears. I have no bought anything USELESS, I've just spent a lot of money in the past few weeks. 

I guess most of it's justified. I mean, I spent it mostly on food, Christmas gifts, and paying bills. 

I will admit I caved in, and bought The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the day it came out. I had to buy the bundle which ended with a total cost of about $80 USD. Of course, we just passed Black Friday (my favorite holiday), and luckily I was able to restrain my shopping, only creating a max dent in my back account of $100 USD. 

I'm pretty damn proud of myself. 

For the past few weeks I've been adding $50 USD into my "savings" account, so I currently have a total of about $150. It's not much, but boy it's something. I know it'll get much easier from here on because my scholarships, loans, and grants are basically paying my entire next semester, including housing so all I REALLY have to worry about is my weekly spending and cutting back on the outside food.

I've also been applying for Scholarships like crazy, I've finished about 5 already and I plan on continuing my search. 

I've finished my application for Florida State University, paid my application fee, and paid Florida International University to send over my transcripts, as my high school already sent theirs (crazy how a school which I have not attended in 2 years is quicker to send transcripts than the one I'm currently enrolled in). 

Well that's all on that note. :) 

I'll report back soon!

[thebitchonabudget-blog]

10/07/2011 - The PROPOSED Financial Plan, Week 1.

One of my biggest flaws will probably always be my inability to stick to things. Be they blogs (except of course this one ;D), agendas, to do lists, saving money, etc. I make all these great fabulous plans, only to have them all blow-up in my face.

I refuse to let this happen once again. I'm hoping that by talking about my plan and telling everyone about it, I won't want to look like an "all talk, no action" bitch. I see myself as a Momma Bear to all you poor little Baby Bears. 

You don't have to see it that way, its cool, but I do. 

NOW for the financial plan:

I work an average of 22.5 hours a week at $9 p/hr, that's per hour to any of you who have yet to need a job and are probably living off your parents. Oh how I loath you (out of envy of course). I get paid every other week a total of $379.12 after taxes. 

My payment for my dorm is currently $710 and must be paid off by the 15th, except for $230 which I have a month to pay off. I must unfortunately choose between whoring myself out and asking, no better yet, begging my parents for money. We'll see how that goes. I will need about $150 dollars from them, which I will be paying back. I promise.  

This will help me pay for next week, leaving me with only $50 and whatever change I have saved from 6 months of working at Pei Wei to live off of for two weeks. 

I still plan on having my "Cultural Fridays" with my best friend, Christina, where we do something out of the ordinary to celebrate the beginning of the weekend and to catch up at the end of each week. You know, as if we don't see each other everyday :). 

This Cultural Friday, Christina and I are both broke and struggling to pay our bills, so instead of going out for food, we have decided to make our own Asian Buffet. Tonight, among my normal groceries, I will be purchasing extra necessities for a delicious SUSHI NIGHT. Oh yes, homemade sushi. 

I will post pictures and possibly even a recipe either later tonight or tomorrow morning. :) 

Happy Friday!

[thebitchonabudget-blog]

"Money is not the most important thing in the world. Love is. Fortunately, I love money." - Jackie Mason

[thebitchonabudget-blog]

Welcome to My World.

I guess this would be the perfect moment to introduce myself. 

My name is Grace. I'm 19, I live in South Florida, I work as a receptionist for $9hr and I love spending money. Any of my few close friends will tell you I have a major problem when it comes to saving money. My BANK will tell you I have trouble saving money.

They actually did. Yesterday. I got a letter in the mail saying that they converted my Savings account into a Checking account because I withdrew more times than they are LEGALLY allowed.

I think it's safe for me to say that I have a problem. 

I love eating out, which I must admit, is where most of my problems are. I love clothes, but I don't shop TOO much, though I guess I could admit to shopping more than necessary. As of today October 6th, I can proudly say I haven't entered a mall since August. I may have more clothes than the average individual, but I'm a bargain shopper. I buy from the clearance section to be exact. I only splurge when I have what is in my opinion a ridiculous amount of money, and that Coach purse is REALLY calling my name. 

The truth is that I don't understand why being in college is synonymous with going hungry. Maybe it's because most college students, like me are so used to spending money left and right when they get it, that by the end of the week they have no money. 

This is a project not just for me, it's for others who find themselves in a similar situation. 

I owe my school $710 within the next month and my bank $576.76 that needs to be paid for as soon as possible, or else I face the wrath of... INTEREST. 

I want to get these payments over and done with before BLACK FRIDAY (my holiday of choice) so I can reward myself a bit. 

This is my short-term goal for the moment.

In the long run, I want to save up enough money to be able to put a down payment on a Fiat 500.

I will post my financial progress each day. 

Best of luck!