Extra Gig Money

So now I'm a gigging musician and my guitarist has guaranteed me $50-$100 per gig. It's not a lot of dough and barely covers my gas expenses to rehearsal and the gig, but that's not why I play music anymore. Now I play for the pure enjoyment of it, to have fun, play some excellent tunes, keep up my bass chops and get better, make friends, meet people, etc.! But it's nice to have the extra walking around money, that's for sure. Plus this weekend I made $175 for two gigs, so that's actually a nice substantial amount of extra $ for the week. I bought one of my boyfriends breakfast on Sunday morning and bought the other boyfriend dinner on Sunday night and was happy to do it!

My New Money Life

I will not quit Job #2 b/c the extra $ is just too good to pass up. Sure, it would be great to have my evenings free, esp. now that I'm playing in a band again, but big deal, ultimately. I'd just be sitting around the house watching tv/reading or out at Happy Hours spending $.

So I have much more $ at my disposal now that I am sans a husband and stepchild. Unfortunately it is temporarily going to lawyers' fees and some ridiculously expensive car repairs over the past couple of months (Oct: $700+ and last week: $881!!!). But I still have a nice chunk of extra $ to spend on ME. I am also spending a small amount of $ on my BFFF, JR, but that is worth it to me in order to have him with me and be my constant companion. I refuse to spend $ on a man again but hanging out with JR is different b/c 1. He is so much fun and makes me so happy and 2. I WANT to treat him to drinks, movies, etc.--not HAVE to do it.

Retail Therapy: My Version

These things are not expensive but do enhance my quality of life and provide a little therapy these days.

Bought:

1. Brain game word book (bought with coupon)
2. Big bottle of Coconut Rum (the value $25 bottle, heh heh)

Need to buy:

1. New David Bromberg CD
2. Luxury robe from...? Victoria's Secretions?
   
3. New Sports bras (time to replace anyway)
4. New dainty underthings (that he hasn't seen/touched!!!)
5. New rugs to replace his as I don't want to see them anymore
   

Well It's All About Priorities, Isn't It?

We were standing around the office yesterday. The subject of shopping came up and somehow it was pointed out that I, Adela, am the Master of Financial Wisdom, Coupons, Smart Shopping, etc. Another girl said that she took the Dave Ramsey financial peace class and they wanted her to cut her shopping budget way down, but she didn't agree with doing so. She said her clothing budget is $100/month and that was as far down as she could go.

I didn't tell them that I NEVER go clothes shopping. I mean, I've gone clothes shopping what, twice this year? And once for a bathing suit. I did admit to going to Taxi Taxi and getting stuff during their $1 sales but that's just b/c I couldn't imagine the looks of horror I would get from these other women when I confessed to never going clothes shopping. Oh my God. I've got better things to do with my time and my money.

But this is why I am going to be SO wealthy when I'm in my 40's and she won't! (She and I are the same age exactly!)

At Least Now I'll Be a Lot Richer Moneywise

It's amazing how much damn money S cost me. Now that he's out of my life and budget, my re-done household budget through January 2010 is much fatter. I am going to have SO much more $ by the end of the year. He was SO expensive to keep: massages, clothes, car repairs, haircuts, cell phones, cell phone plan, gas, movies, wrestling Pay per Views, DVD's, XBox and games, PSP and PSP movies and games, Starbucks, CUSTODY BATTLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! And his daughter too. And I have a copy of his Social Security statement to prove that he has never made any significant income--EVER.

So yep. My days of footing the bills are over. Any men that dare to cross my path in the future better be prepared to SPEND. And one more thing: if I ever get married again, there WILL BE A PRENUP. I now know that marriage is a contract and a business arrangement in addition to all that other stuff it's supposed to be too.

Changed my W-2

It's always a challenge to try and stay one step ahead (legally) of the KGB I mean IRS. I have recently changed my W-2 at Job #2 so that hopefully having more $ taken out from here on out will soften next year's tax bill. Having a second job really hurts a gal, as far as the tax bill is concerned.

Reasons to be optimistic:

1. I have never adjusted my W-2 ever since I started working a second job back in 2007
2. I continue to max out my FSA at work (a measly $1,500, but still, every penny counts)
3. I did not do any skin care classes this summer at the public library, so will not be "punished" for that extra income

Reasons to be a little worried come April 2010 anyway:

1. S didn't work 8 months last year and this year he was employed all year; hence his income will be a lot higher
   
2. I contributed only the bare minimum (well, with a .05% on top of that because I like round numbers!) to my 403(b)--but I did that last year too since I was the only one working and we needed all the cash we could get at the time for living expenses and frankly, I am gonna keep this up anyway and open a Roth IRA as soon as is humanly possible! I'd rather pay the taxes now than when I retire anyway since I do expect to have my income keep going up, up, up...
   

Bad Grocery Shopping Idea

Since I am always at freakin' work or in the car I thought I would force S to help me out with the grocery shopping, which I do 100% of. So I sent him and the baby to get groceries last week--I needed nothing at the time, I usually eat on the road so I just told him to get what they needed. When I shop for the household I typically spend $60-80 at the most. They spent $122!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And they got mostly JUNK food: chips, salsa, doughnuts, chocolate, soda. Arrrrgh!

Good Deals

While shopping for a new bathing suit (badly needed--my old one is getting too saggy for comfort and modesty!) I decided to stop by the dress dept. I found 2 $70 dresses that would be great for work since I'm trying to find things easier to jump into in the morning since mornings are very difficult times for me. Dresses totally fit that bill, requiring no matching except for jewelry and shoes! And they were on sale for $15 each!!! Yesterday I wore the black and white one and got 3 compliments throughout the day, including from S!

I've also gotten lots of good coupons lately including: 15% off my next JC Penney purchase (going to go get a couple new summer tops), coupon for Boston Market, buy 1 Cici's pizza buffet get 1 free, 20% off my next Payless Shoes purchase (gonna go get some black sandals for summer and since they've got BOGO 'til Monday get the baby some good summer sandals), and coupon for Souper Salad. Got to love coupons and good deals for things you need and are gonna buy anyway!

AT&T MC Sucks But I'll Use Them Anyway

Those bastards gave me an offer I couldn't refuse: transfer balances over at 0% interest until March 2010. Although I didn't want to give them any more $ on general principle b/c I despise them, I transferred $4K over, freeing up totally my Visa and most of my Discover card. This will help our budget breathe a little easier, for although the $4K came with a 3% fee of $120, I'll be saving well over that in the Visa/Discover interest fees over the next 10 months.

Retirement Funds: Creeping Back Up

Slowly, but surely? Over a couple grand earned in the past month!

Taxes, How I Hate Them

Damn these taxes. It looks like I finally finished them today on Turbo-Tax. B/c S did not work hardly at all last year our income went down, but then so did our taxes. I'm just frustrated b/c I save every damn little receipt through the year on every last little possible deduction and this year it doesn't make much of a difference b/c the standard deduction is still higher. Damn! I am going to have to adjust my W-4 at Job #2 eventually to help out with next year's almost-certain tax blow, but I'm thinking I'll do that sometime in the early fall. I still need that extra $ to make as much of a dent in this debt as possible, right now!

BTW I HATE it when people talk about getting a tax return. I want to shake them and say, "You stupid idiot!" The 3 years I've been filing married-jointly have been ok, except for last year which sucked b/c I made all that extra $ at my 2nd job(s). The 1st year we were married we had to pay $700+, which is almost tolerable. Last year sucked and we paid $2,200--OUCH!!! This year looks like we'll be out $500+. Now that's more about the right speed, but if I adjust my W-4 hopefully we won't be pinched too bad next year again.

Budget Done thru Dec. 2009

I completed the excel spreadsheet of our household budget through Dec. 2009. Lots of cool things will happen this year, such as:

• Paying off the PT Cruiser, c. Aug-Sept.
• Paying off the Discover Card, c. Nov. or Dec.
• Although this is not the best thing in the world to happen, it may not mean much in the long run so I'll list it: we got our appraisal from HCAD and it said our home value went down, so that means our property tax bill next year is less. Hey, at least we'll save $ on that!

Taxes Went Down

My last paycheck (3/13) reflected -$30ish bucks in taxes. I called HR to confirm that this is the new tax base. Nice little raise there, and much needed since our budget is, as always, tight as ever and I have the psychological need for a safe cushion, unlike DH who would spend every dime if he could.

Boooo Economy

So the rumor I heard is true. The public library has no funds for programming this summer. This means my Teen Skin Care program will probably get no bookings; at least, I haven't received a single phone call and it's already March. Usually my summer is getting booked by February. Crap! That was an extra $1,040 I made last summer. Well, at least my summer will be freed up so I can spend time with the baby in July as well as work on my documentary.

Balance

Although I keep inching our debt repayments (CC's) as close to maximum as possible, I still struggle with paying the debt off AS FAST AS IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE compared to breathing easier, having a life, and reducing marital strife.

I redid the budget today again--and when I say "budget" I am actually speaking of one of our many budgets via Excel spreadsheet. The budgets are:

1. A household budget that consists of my and S's take-home salaries.
2. Another budget that consists of my salary from Job #2.
   
3. An overall budget reduction spreadsheet.
   
4. All of our numerous savings accounts, of which there are roughly 12, each with its own purpose.

Today I redid budgets #2 and #3. I reduced that particular CC payment from $300/month to $200/month for a few months, thereby extending that CC payoff by a couple of months. But if it means we don't have to WORRY so much and I can take Thursday nights off from Job #2 from now on and I can relax more and not be so uptight about spending an extra few bucks here and there, then it's worth it for me, for my mental health, for my marriage, etc. etc. I keep having to remind myself of that!!!

I HATE AT&T Universal Mastercard

Those bastards! I have been with them since I went to Spain as a college student in 1992 (or so). I have transferred 2 other CC balances to them so they can be paid off at the APR rates of 6.9% and 4.9%, respectively. I had another portion with them that was at a reasonable ~10%. Well, logging onto their website today I see that my next payment due is more than I expected. A closer look at the most recent statement revealed that the 10% portion has just jumped up to 17%!!!!!!

I called them up, furious and demanded them to lower that rate. They said I can either accept the new terms or I could reject them. If I chose to reject them then once my card expired it will automatically be cancelled. I said fine, I reject!!! Assholes. I am not surprised though. Like Dave Ramsey says, they are all snakes.

Budget done thru Sept. 2009

I have done the household budget through mid-Sept. 2009. I tried to remember occasional irregular payments (life insurance, vehicle inspection, etc.) but I am sure I forgot one or two. The final adjustment I've made is to add 2 haircuts for me since I totally forgot about those. Regardless, the budget looks pretty good and this is with lowballing DH's take-home salary. In other words, the budget has a good amount of wiggle room and this is a worst-case scenario so I do feel like breathing a big sigh of relief. Of course, it is not set in stone since I am also guessing at how much extra $ I will be bringing home during the summer when I start to teach skin care classes at the public libraries again. I should start to get bookings for those hopefully this month and next and then we'll have a much better idea of what my extra summer income will look like. Speaking of which, I did give myself a sizeable raise. Last year I charged $80/class. This year I raised it to $95/class. DH agreed that I should keep it under $100 for the psychological effect, but that's still a good sized raise! So last year I did 13 branch libraries; perhaps with my increased fee I'll do less this summer but that is all right with me since that is a lot of work running around and doing all those classes!

Gas is $1.39 near my house so again, one reason the budget is looking good is that I went ahead and reduced my gas costs projection a little more in the beginning of 2009 since it does not seem that gas prices will jump anytime soon. I still have my summer gas costs at a high rate, however, and I am NOT adjusting those. Credit card APR's and payments are currently still low and the first jump in rates does not occur until April. The next APR jump is in May and the final one is in Oct/Nov. But I will worry about those when they happen. Who knows, maybe DH's salary will increase by then anyway, either to a raise or promotion at work or he will be working at the jail by then making $28/hour.

Regardless, I have now spent one entire year contributing the minimum (2%) to my retirement account and I am itching to get back up to the 10% neighborhood. So when DH's salary goes back up for whatever reason, I am going to open up a Roth IRA toot suite, even if it's just a small one while we're still paying off our debts. So the end of 2009 looks pretty good and we should be completely out of debt by early-mid 2010. Dare I even imagine what that will feel like?