Keeping The Reins Tight….

As of 01.31.2008, I’m worth a whopping -$27,992.35.

My assets and debts break down in the following manner:

The $18.80 in library fines I owe is classified in the ‘other’ category. I’ll knock that out next time I’m in the city. The rest of the debt is my student loan balance which is the main factor in my net worth.

I’m hoping to have 3 months of expenses stashed in my emergency fund by the end of March; I should be able to get close. With that, I should be worth about -26.5k when the month ends!

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This week’s Better Budget Challenge is a great way to reflect on the first month of 2008. The challenge was the following:

Step 1: Get your free credit report

At some point last year, I looked at both my Transunion and Equifax credit reports. I’m going to have to keep checking (and then write it on my schedule) until I can get the reports for this year. Experian has always given me a bunch of issues due to my many (8) addresses in the last six years. So I had my fingers crossed as I entered my data.

Today was a different story, everything pulled right up. All of the records looked great; there were no extra accounts, all my payments were recorded correctly, and only one credit inquiry in the last year. However, Experian creates a nice circle graph of my debt to credit ratio. Thanks to the student loans, this is ridiculously high. The ratio is currenlty in the 60% range but since I have zero revolving debt, I don’t think there is that much damage being done to my FICO score.

Step 2: Next, you’ve had a few weeks (or more) to use your budgeting program that you’ve discussed in.

The combination of Mint and my hacked Pearbudget spreadsheet is working pretty well. I need to modify the spreadsheet to track my income as well as allow multiple inputs in one category on the same day.

Either way, this is the first time I can recall my online bank statement, register, and computer register all having the same balance for the month. Woot!

Step 3: Finally, take a look at your recent spending habits.

The only thing that jumps out to me is my gas bill for January; not a biggie as the reasons behind the big bill don’t bother me. I’d like to come in under budget ($150) for February and that should be no problem.

I was still able to put an extra $174.73 in my HSBC savings based on what I saved from the 15th - end of the month. Thus, for February, I want to tweak my money flow so there’s not this extra amount of money sitting in my checking account earning .000001% interest.

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As an ex-Barista, any time Starbucks is in the news my ears perk up. This morning, the New York Times presented a double whammy.

The first article was par for the course based off of my experience. Last year when I moved on, the store I was working at was operating at a loss. We struggled to hit customer goals, sales goals, and it was an all out gloom and doom situation. Towards the end of my stay, I vividly remember scrubbing the drains during the ‘rush.’ (which was no longer much of a rush)

This was a drastic change from when I first started. I used to absolutley loved having the opening shift, I’d get to work at 5:00am, clean up the store, get ready for the day and then BAM! From 7:45-9:15 it was an all out customer blitzkrieg. Over time, the number of customers started to slow down; changes in management, horrible barista’s, questionable hires and raising prices seemed to drive many people away. The ‘regulars’ started coming in fewer times a week, ordering smaller drinks or moved their business to the store that was about a mile away.

One line in the article:

‘emphasizing the role of its baristas and focusing on the quality of its coffee, promoting “the theater of the craft and bold celebration of the provenance of the bean.”‘

really hit home. The barista’s at my store were awful. Not just awful, but really awful, I would only allow two of the twenty three to make my free drinks. If I was going to pay for my drink, I’d usually drive a mile to a different store. That should speak volumes about the quality.

Looking back, the reason the worker quality suffered was due to continual expansion. About every two months, all of the good employees were being rounded up and shipped off to open new stores. This was a constant process, and there were no long term employees who knew their stuff left to do the training.

I’m 99.9% sure that my old store will be one of the one’s that closes its doors. It’ll be sad for a bit, but if helps the company get back the atmosphere and quality made me want be an employee, the closure will be a baby step in restoration of the Starbucks brand.

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We are writing to inform you that based on the recent drop by the Federal Reserve, HSBC Direct has adjusted your Online Savings Account rate to 3.80% APY*. At 8x the national savings average**, you are still earning one of America’s highest savings rates.

With the FED’s rate drop, I knew HSBC wasn’t going to stay at 4.25%. For some horrible reason, I held onto the hope that it would stay darn close to 4%. I can 3.80% but once I hit my emergency fund goal, it will be time to look for CD’s that offer better interest rates.

I hate losing free money.

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Aldi, without a doubt, is my grocery store of choice. These days, it seems like I’m shopping there less and less. Since I live smack in the middle of suburbia, Sunday morning is the optimal time for knocking out any errands with minimal stress. Aldi, for good reason (minimal profits), doesn’t open on Sunday for the few odd birds like me.

It would be absolutely wonderful if Aldi would open every Sunday between 9:45 - 9:50 am. I could swing in, get what I need and then head home. It would fit my typical Sunday morning schedule (below) perfectly!

5:30 am : Alarm goes off, take the dog for a quick walk and scarf down a bowl of oatmeal.

6:15 am : Walk to the gym, workout.

7:15 am : Back in my apartment, take the dog out, eat some yogurt and oatmeal.

7:40 am : Waste five minutes trying to find my cold weather running gear.

7:45 am : Head out the door for a run, realize that it’s a lot warmer than I thought and mentally prepare myself to be miserable for the next hour.

8:45 am : Return from the run, take the dog out, start the coffee machine.

9:00 am : After a quick shower, make / eat an omelette while checking the weekly grocery store ads (online).

9:15 am : Head to CVS to pick up some face wash, 52 cents after coupons!

9:30 am : Arrive at Bi-Lo with my grocery list.

9:45 am : Leave Bi-Lo with a cart full of groceries but with no eggs or milk.

9:46 am : Drive through Aldi’s parking lot to get out of Bi-Lo’s, starting moaning about Aldi’s Sunday’s hours.

10:00 am : Arrive back at my apartment.

I will have to watch my milk consumption and can only have one hot breakfast this week; the minor hassle of rationing my intake as well as having to push back next weeks schedule is definitely worth it.

I’ll save an extra $2.50 per week which over the course of the year, will allow me to buy an extra pair of running shoes and a tank of gas with the money I will save. That is a very nice return on a small inconvenience.

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