Keeping The Reins Tight….

May was a busy month; it flew by and on Thursday, I’ll be able to catch my breath!

I spent the whole month utterly frustrated and ran a whopping ZERO miles. A serious calf and a chunk of scar tissue floating around your knee will do that . On the flipside, my net worth increased from -$20,442 to -$18,560. The increase was in my retirement accounts; a so-so month in the market and regular contributions moved the balances upward. A few big expenses (tires and an emergency room visit) hindered my ability to save; I’ll need to penny pinch in June to stay on my savings schedule.

How did I do with my May Goals?

A whole lot of FAIL!

1. Sell the mountain Bike - Fail - I’m lazy. There’s nothing else to be said.
2. $650 in alternative income - Success! - Thanks to my tutoring clients, meeting this goal was easy.
3. $100 in groceries - Fail! - See goal #5.
4. No more plants - Wash - I couldn’t resist the urge to plant two more trays of green peppers. I’ll recuperate my money (+ extra) when the plants flower.
5. Track my expenses - Fail! - Whoops!

During June, I plan to:

1. Track my expenses - I should be doing this, I have a budget and the tools. I’m sick of failing month after month.
2. $26 in Restaurant Spending - A quick meal and one sit-down dinner with friends should be enough eating out.
3. Snowflake Immediately - Even if it’s only a three dollar check from Pinecone Research, I need to send it immediately into my savings account.

I’ll be spending two weeks in California for a conference with all expenses being reimbursed. Thus, I should be able to save substantiality during June!

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There are 7 days left in the 2007-2008 school year. At this point, I’m too exhausted to be excited about two months without teenagers. Besides having my summer off (from students but not from work) being in math education has its perks. At the end of each year, Uncle Sam cancels part of my Perkins Loan; 15% for the first two years, 20% for years three/four, and then 30% for year five. My loan provider decided today was the day to write of this year’s 15%, in a roundabout way, I was given a $475 bonus.

In a few days, the state of South Carolina write off $3000 (+ interest). To get this write off, I indentured my soul to this great state and still owe another three years of my life. I despise the lack of movability but I really like loan write offs; a nice trade off, I suppose.

This time next year, I’ll be getting the same write offs, a very nice retention bonus and hopefully a few bonuses due to my students test results. My kiddo’s rocked out the only 100% Algebra passing rate in the district; I’m confident that despite having a new batch of kids, I should be able to beat the horrible 51% state average.

With the loan write offs, I’ll finally break the through the -20k net worth barrier!

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Did you know that a Chase Freedom Card only earns 3% cash back on the first $600 of purchases in your top 3 purchase categories? I certainly didn’t and was utterly disappointed upon discovering the gross miscalculation of cash back earned a $900 tire purchase.

With gas prices going through the roof, I’ve thought about getting a Citi Driver’s Edge. The 6% cash back on gas would be of great help. I’d be able to shop around for the cheapest gas instead of finding the cheapest Shell station to earn 5% back on my Shell Mastercard. An extra 1% (with Driver’s Edge) + an additional 3 cents per gallon savings (the usual difference between the Shell and BP), would shave a few extra bucks off the gas bill.

As soon as I move, I’m going to buy a decent road bike. I can then bike commute (~15 minutes to work) and my savings rate will no longer vary inversely with the price of gas.

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‘Take one down, pass it around, …’

A few weeks ago, Starbuck’s opened up a store out here in upper class suburbia. Their ability to pick profitable locations in this area has been baffling. The store were I worked is in a non-affluent part of town, far away from a major thoroughfare and by a hodgepodge of shops with no customer traffic. We barely turned a profit and customers used to clamor for a more convenient location.

They got their wish and I have 8 free drink coupons!

The new store sent a postcard announcing the grand opening and a coupon for a tall (12oz) drink of choice on the house. When I threw out all the other crap I get, I noticed many of my neighbors had thrown their postcards into the trash can by our apartment mailboxes.

After a bit of digging, I scored 7 more postcards. The plan is to root through the trash can before bed and find 2 more coupons.

10 drinks @ $4 a piece for free?

I’ll take it.

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I lasted eight months without touching my medical fund. Alas, in the last few weeks, I’ve managed to drain the entire thing and there’s a chance I’ll need to dip into the emergency fund.

The main culprit?

An MRI of my knee, it’s been a horrid 6 weeks since I went down with an injury. Despite following an extremely cautious rehabilitation plan and allowing ample time for a recover, my calf / knee is still not right. I’ve mentally set aside $1,200 for this expense (the cost of last year’s MRI) and anxiously await the call back from insurance with my final bill. I paid a measly $10 to see the Specialist (in endurance sports medicine). The doctor described the need for an MRI as a medical emergency, will insurance see it this way? Only time will tell.

On top of my knee troubles, my contact lens prescription expires on the 24th. I plan to change eye doctors but have not had research/find a new one. Thus, it was imperative that I stock up before my prescription expired. My vanity and love of athletics cost a cool $191.92. Despite my zillion different budgets, I never thought to set aside money for contacts.

May’s been a rough month for my bank accounts (medical expenses + $915 tires), being unable to run is also making extremely unpleasant.

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