Day 26 & 27: My other side gig (Babysitting)

I am babysitting in Napa and the view from my room is pretty AMAZING. One of the first things I did when I lost my job was let my friends with kids know that I would babysit- the extra money has been so helpful and this week's gig takes the cake. I am spending 2 nights in a gorgeous home watching one of two boys while the parents are downstairs in meetings all day.

I also posted a profile on Care.com but I haven't received any requests and I haven't applied for many jobs. With my new program in the fall bringing in a smaller paycheck than I have had and my need to get out of debt, I am hoping to find some extra income watching tiny humans.

Back to the Napa recap: this place is breathtaking.

Some fun pics of the actual kid. He is seriously too cute to handle. He is two and bossy, but so much fun. If being a mom only consisted of days like today, I swear I'd be on that.

Obviously the day ended with wine by the fire pit. 

As for the outfits; there were a few because kids are messy. Also, the selfies were more fun because this house has a ton of fun mirrors:

Day 26

Started out in a Scarf: Free, Cardigan: Banana Republic Hand-me-down, Dress: Old Navy $20 (bought with Groupon) The dress got soaked playing with the boy by the pool and became a swim suite cover when I realized I hadn't packed on.

After pool time I wore: Top: Hand-me-down, Tank under top: Old Navy, Shorts: Gifted The LOFT (Isn't this kid the cutest! he is wearing a train shirt and he loves being in photos)

Day 27

Top Layer: Hand-me-down, Top Second Layer: Seamless T on sale $18, Shorts: Anthropology (on sale $30)

I realize I am so fabulously lucky to have friends that needed a sitter in Napa during their work retreat. If you are not in the same boat, but want to travel and babysit simultaneously I found some websites that have some babysitting/nanny gigs. I have not used them, but I think it sounds like a good idea.

Escape Normal Jobs
Work Away
Aupair.com

One last thing: THIS PLACE HAS CHICKENS!!

Day 25: Sunday Simplicity

Day 25

Scarf: Hand-me-down, Top: J Crew via Buffalo Exchange (and yes it is super wrinkly- we can just pretend that is part of the Sunday casual look), Jeans: GAP gifted by Christie, Shoes: Gifted by my parents, Sweater (in hand): Vintage

Day 24: June and July Food Spending Goals

Spinach, Heirloom Tomatoes, Almonds, Chunks of Aged Cheddar, 

with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic salt

In the scheme of goals I set and blog about, this one is one of the ones I am most scared of posting. I am pretty terrified I will fail and everyone will see that when it comes to yummy things- I have no self control. Still, I need to take on my fear of failing at this and instead hope that just maybe I will succeed.

I spent this much on food in these months:

January $0 (This according to my bank statement, and I think I was in shock from loosing my job, so it might be true. I mean I had to have eaten something, but I have no idea what. Also, I know that I spent a good amount on my bf's birthday dinner, so I am thinking it is wrong.)
February $133
March $263
April $530
May $551

As you can see the numbers are going up too much in the past few months. So, with the beginning of June I am committing to spend less. MUCH less. It is so hard, because to be honest I was feeling good about how much I was eating at home and not spending until I looked at my budget review. I love food, and I love eating with people in fun places. It is my biggest budget vice (much more than clothes). Close to $200 of this past month was spent buying some things bulk in order to save and in order to support fair trade, but still that keeps me at $351 and that is excessive for one person who isn't making much money and needs to pay down debt.

The goal is the keep the number at $190, in general, but I think I might need to aim lower for 2 months. As in I want to eat on $25-35 a week. To be clear I am starting the 2 months off with pasta, rice, quinoa, and a bunch of other staples. I also have multiple gluten free mixes for pancakes, corn bread, pizza dough and such. Mostly, what I need is produce to make these food items into a meal. With so much in season in the summer I am planning to hit up the cheapest farmers markets and save some money while supporting local farmers.

I also need to limit what I spend eating out. For the most part any meal out in the city will kill my $25 for the week in one sitting and more likely take the following weeks money as well. I am also just not going to drink. I love wine and a good cocktail but I need to save the money (plus cutting the calories can't hurt.)

There will be 2 exceptions to this budget that I need to figure out: My parents and my older sister. I cannot have my family see the city for the first time, and not feed them AMAZING food. So, I will need to find some extra money for that.

As for today's outfit, here she is:

Day 24 

(I couldn't decide on the photo, so I posted both)

Sunglasses: Buffalo Exchange $10, Earrings: Random store in Texas Hill Country $5, Scarf: Hand-me-down, Jumper/Romper (not sure which title is best): Scavenged from a stack of clothes left over from a fashion show = Free, Bag: Hand-me-down, Shoes: Gifted by my parents

Yesterday I wore this to the theater: 

Day 23

I went to see Arcadia at ACT- it was so good!

Necklace: Gifted from my mom (She wore it when she was my age), Dress: Gifted by Jenny, Belt: no idea I have had it forever, Shoes: Ambiance (I wear them more often than I should)

Day 21 & 22: On Day 21 my BF Surprised me with tickets to Mumford and Sons

I woke up full of anxiety and energy yesterday.

As I blogged about on Tuesday, I set up an airbnb account. After a evening run I got home and found a request for the Wednesday! The very next day! I have no idea what inspired me to say yes. My bed is broken an although my room had the appearances of being clean, it was not. Also, I had known for over a month that my BF had a surprise planned for me that night, and all I knew was that I would be outside for a good deal of the evening. So, I was super excited about that, but it meant I had to fix my bed and finish cleaning my room, buy new bedding, pack to hang out in other people's apartments for 4 days and look amazing by 4 pm.

First: I fixed my bed that has been broken for months, using random boxes I found and filling them with old magazines creating a lift to support the broken beam. I feel resourceful and proud of the accomplishment.

Then I made an expensive trip ($188, and that was after I put 3 items back!) to Target for new bedding and such. I am going to do a room before and after post. This image is just a tease.

Now for the fun part. I had no idea what to wear for my surprise because I didn't know what I was doing. I wanted to wear pants because being outside implies sitting on the ground. I wanted warmth, because SF is crazy chilly at night, and I wanted slightly elegant in case it was someplace outside but nice. 

Day 21 (going out) 

my errand outfit wasn't bad, but I was too busy to take a photo

Top: Converted Dress from Modcloth (it is a dress but it is so short I can NEVER really wear it that way) Layer: hand-me-down cardigan, Jeans: Earnest Sewn (they are my have, I love how they fit!) Shoes: on sale at Ambiance, only a few months old and they already have a hole

Surprise time!!! He kept acting like he didn't know where we were going and I could pick the next bus stop and my surprise was that there was no surprise, but as we got off the BART in Berkley I was pretty sure there was a surprise and a good one, because we never leave the city on BART. So, when the bus driver said next stop The Greek Theater and I almost squealed. I did jump across the aisle between us and kiss him.

MUMFORD!!!!

He had gotten us tickets to Mumford and Sons, they are my favorite band. The show was so good, even the concession nachos (that I should not have spent money on, but I had to because I forgot to eat during that list above) tasted better than normal nachos. There were songs that almost brought tears to my eyes. They closed the show with two harmony pieces that really were phenomenal. The audience was mostly amazing, in that we all sang along and such. It was so fun having the sunset during the show. Overall, I just think they are actually talented and they do a great show and their songs inspire me. And it is cheesy how much I love them.

Nonetheless, the best part: BF doesn't even like Mumford, he doesn't listen to them except that they are overplayed on the radio, and I hadn't even hinted that I wanted to go, and there was no special occasion- he was just being awesome.

Day 22

Top: Vintage fabric made into super flowy top, Necklace: Hand-me-down from mom, Jean: Levi curvy $70ish 2+ years old and loosing shape, Shoes: Bass and one of my fave pairs

You can't really follow up the best day ever, but today happened anyway. I took Ella on a long walk, and bought some apartment improvement stuff. Mostly, I just thought about how much I loved last night. 

Day 20 (again) Selling Shoes

As I mentioned in my last post I am trying to purge my apartment. I found some beautiful tennis shoes. They are new, not my size, and not my style. I am selling them. I posted them on Copious. You can buy them through the link.

buy them here

buy these here 

buy these here

Day 20: My New Side Gig (Airbnb)

I found this post yesterday: 15 Side Gigs to Make More Money Today. I think it has some really great ideas. (Side note: I am stalking this woman's blog. I think it is full of great advice and I need to tell her that soon.)

Speaking of side gigs- the photographer from airbnb just left my apartment. I am posting my room for rent a few nights a week/month while I am doing some roaming this summer to cut down on expenses. I live in the heart of one of the most touristy parts of San Francisco, so I figured why not let some people enjoy my space while I bring in some cash?

I stayed at an airbnb apartment in Paris and a shack in Austin during my last vacations. Both experiences were perfect in their own way. I loved having an apartment to share with my travel buddies on both trips. The Paris place was on the 6th floor with no elevator, but I got to sip wine with my legs out the window sitting on the roof. The Austin shack was in a sketchtastic neighborhood, but the back yard gave access to the river and it was beautiful! (Also, it might have taken us a day to find the AC, and in the Texas heat that was killer!) I really liked that both places had some cons mixed in with their pros- it made the experience more real. Our Paris place wasn't in a neighborhood where travelers stayed, and it was nice to leave the tourism and just be in the city each night when we got home. As for Austin, I have spent so much time there before that trip I just wanted to be in the city and avoid the suburbs or anything that felt too much like being a tourist in a place that feels like home. All told: I think airbnb and couch surfing are the best ways to travel.  Hotels are great and all, but there is just something lovely about being in a neighborhood and staying in a home. (Confession: I have never been a couch surfer, but I have hosted one. He was a great guest and oddly enough we have run into each other multiple times since he stayed with us.)

If you are interested in my place here is the link to my listing:Private Room in the Historic Haight.

An additional plus: the whole thing has me excited because my room is actually kind of clean, and so is my apartment. It is fake clean and I need to now go through all my storage and odd hiding places to purge my apartment of random excess, but I am so excited to continue simplifying my space!

As for my clothes: With all the cleaning and such I have been pretty lazy about my clothes. I most likely will wear a work out outfit today (I need to run 6 miles) and the same outfit as yesterday for the rest of the day. I have a meeting tonight, but it is in my kitchen- hence no reason to dress up.

Sweater: Hand me down from Rachel, Top: Striped T-shirt that was woven with no seams (supposedly making it fit better, but I think really just creating a great pitch for the price to be silly high, but I bought it on sale for $17), Jeans: Gifted from Christy, Shoes: Wedged Ankle Boots bought on sale from ShoeBiz- they got holes in the almost instantly and ShoeBiz wouldn't allow me to return them... 

Day 19: Credit Transfer vs Personal Loan

I made the very exciting decision to start a program in the fall to train for becoming a hospital/hospice chaplain. I am thrilled! I am also aware that this is the opposite of my plan to find a job that pays me more than I was making. This makes my need to be budget conscious a much more intense goal.

As I mentioned a few posts back I created accounts on Mint and Credit Karma. From what I can tell I have a few options and things I need to consider. I need to reduce the interest I am paying on my debt in order to get it paid back in a reasonable amount of time. I also want to lower my payments, and oddly my credit score should improve if I take out more credit (not more debt) and diversify my credit  in order to reduce the percentage of credit I am using and prove my ability to pay back multiple forms of credit.

For months/years I have received pre-approved offers for personal loans and credit transfers. I am working on determining the pros and cons of these two options.

Credit Transfer:

• Zero interest for 6-18 months feels like a great deal
• Con- if I can't pay the full amount in 18 months the interest come back to get me
• pro- I could possibly do a follow-up transfer of the remaining amount before the interest kicks in
• Con- the market could change in 18 months and I might not be eligible for the second transfer
• Con- if I use the card for anything else, the payments I make will go toward the new balance not the old, so I can't use the card at all 
• pro- I don't plan to use the card and I have other cards I could use if I NEED to, but only if I need to
• Con- balance transfer fees

Personal Loan:

• More time to pay but has interest the entire time
• Con- interest
• Pro- much lower interest than I have now
• Con- It is a set amount, I can't save money by paying it faster, it is what it is once it is set
• the interest is lower so the set amount is lower in the long run
• Pro- it diversifies my debt
• Con- I have never had a personal loan and new things scare me (that is a fake con- me being scared isn't a valid reason to not make a wise financial choice)
• Pro-it moves me to only paying one payment each month (less payments to think about means fewer chances for me to miss a payment)

Things to think about:

• How much can I afford to pay?
• How fast do I think I can reasonably pay it?
• How will it impact my credit?
  
  

Even though I really love the idea of zero interest I am leaning toward having more time to pay and diversifying my debt. Also, the zero interest plan does require I pay a transfer fee and that might end up being really close to the interest I would pay with the loan.

Now, for todays photo: Today is a dreary day and I need to spend all of it indoors cleaning my room. Therefore, there will be no selfie. I am wearing 9+ year old velour pants and an overpriced striped t-shirt, but my dog is really cute all wrapped up in my blankets.

 This is Ella, she is my favorite. 

Please note: I am not a credit councilor, and I am not giving you advice. I am talking about what I am doing to figure out my credit/debt situation.