Budget Whaa?

20Nov08

 I fail at budgeting this month. fail

 I’ve made all of my payments to my debt mountain, but  everything else feels chaotic. I tracked my spending through  the first half of the month, but let it slide once the move-in  costs ate my entire paycheck. I’m feeling frustrated about  my no shopping challenge (don’t worry, I didn’t get these….  yet.) and considering rescheduling the challenge, disguised  as a new years resolution.

 I came home from California late Monday night to discover  that A had moved most of my belongings for me while I was  away. He is the sweetest. Our new home is coming together,  but slowly, as we’ve both had busy weeks. I can’t wait for  everything to be neat and tidy! Turns out, we have basically  zero living room furniture and are on the hunt for a couch,  bookshelves and some sort of small dining room table – as budget and style friendly as we can find. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes. 

Had a huge exam for my policy class yesterday… I’m hoping I did well, as I’m feeling like my applications are really depending on a good grade from this class!

Also, I’ve been meaning to get another soup up for my soup series! Heres hoping I can get my act together tonight and get another recipe up tomorrow!


Filed under: debt, goals, graduate school, housing, money, saving, soup series, stopping shopping   |  7 Comments

7 Responses to “Budget Whaa?”  

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  1. 1 Pleasant Girl on November 20, 2008 said:

    We’ve really lucked out using Craigslist for furniture. So far we’ve bought a low bookself and a dining set. All the pieces match our current furniture! Totally lucked out! For the bookshelf, dining table & the four matching chairs came to exactly $189! All the pieces brand new would of been over $700 easy.

    Since I don’t have a job anymore, sticking to the challenge has been a snap! I will confess that I did have to go buy a crisp white blouse to wear under my suit jacket for interviews, but that’s it. I didn’t really consider it breaking the rules as its something that I required. I think I only spent $17 for it.

    That’s so sweet that your main man helped you along while you were away! Aw! What a sweetie!

  2. 2 paranoidasteroid on November 21, 2008 said:

    I second the Craigslist recommendation, and if yo have an IKEA nearby, check their returns area. There’s usually some decent stuff back there!

  3. 3 Karen on November 22, 2008 said:

    Craigslist and IKEA are GREAT! Could not stop looking at those shoes in the photo on your blog post. Too cute!

  4. 4 Abigail on November 23, 2008 said:

    Moves are stressful. I know that much well. So don’t get too down on yourself for losing track of budget info. I’m a depressive and so when my meds need upping or when Seasonal Affective Disorder hits especially hard, I basically curl up into a little ball (emotionally) and can’t deal with the outside world of financial responsibility.

    We all fall down on the job a bit. It’s part of being human. Which as a Type-A personality I find horrifically repugnant. (Tim and I have a running joke wherein he says, “Abby, you’re only human.” and I reply a muffled, “Blasphemy!” from whatever pillow I have half-buried my head in.) But as someone with severe fatigue, I’m learning to accept that you can’t be perfect all the time. Or even most of it. And it’s just such a waste of energy to pretend otherwise!

    On a slight side note:

    I was actually going to list a table on CL. It’s your basic blonde Ikea table, technically round but with small folding leaves that let it fit into more square areas. No (matching) chairs, though, which could be a deal breaker. But it’s otherwise in good shape.

    Drop me an email if you want a picture. I was gonna ask $20 for it. But ya know I’m sure we can do a fellow-blogger discount of $15 or so if you’re interested. We also have a couple of chairs that don’t match at all. Not even each other. But you’re welcome to ‘em part & parcel to the table. Might only be useful as a stop-gap measure but then you could choose to worry about it at a later date.

  5. 5 Seattle Girl on November 24, 2008 said:

    @ Pleasant Girl…. I’ve been checking craigslist like mad! Made some calls about a couple of couches today…we’ll see. There is a whole lot of GROSS on there too! Especially in the couch department! Nice work on finding things to match!

    @Paranoid…. excellent call on the returns section. I know just what you’re talking about! I trip to ikea is definitely on the agenda

    @Abby…. thanks! I think we’ve got a table coming in from A’s sister though…also without any chairs…but matching chairs seem like they should sort of be easy to find?

  6. 6 Abigail on November 25, 2008 said:

    Free table is best! That way you can always pay a few bucks for matching chairs at thrift stores or garage sales or on CL.

    Just don’t plan on buying them retail. I am routinely horrified by prices, even at low-level places like Fred Meyer you’ll be *lucky* to pay $50 a chair (!!!)

  7. 7 Seattle Girl on December 1, 2008 said:

    Abby….. I found chairs for $20 a pop at ikea! Marvelous! They look lovely with our table.


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