Day 48: Food Budget 3 Week Update- Learning

By some crazy miracle, I finished the first 2 weeks of the food budget challenge with $2 left over. The miracle came in the form of generous people in my life. Week 3 sadly was an all out fail, but I knew that it would be hard going into it. With that in mind I will call it a week of learning about myself and my food spending- I don't regret the experiences that came with the spending, but I think I could have easily spent less, but it would have hurt my pride just a little bit.

Here are the challenges with trying to hold myself to intense (for me) spending rules-

• I think there are valid reasons to break my own rules (good-bye parties and guests) 
• I sometimes use that as an excuse to spend money when I can have the same experience not spending it (ordering more expensive food than I need) 
• I am really bad at communicating my need to spend less.

Recapping week 3: First, there was the dinner that cost me my entire weekly budget so I could say good-bye to a friend, followed be another good-bye dinner that I justified over-spending on because I had babysat that day. Then, I was great at not spending money, because my parents were in town and covered all but one meal and I insisted on paying for that meal. (Did you notice the theme that for all 3 weeks, I had other people spoil me? I did, and I am grateful for them. I am grateful, both because they spoil me and because it challenges me to recognize that I have everything I need.)

The good-bye dinner for Christie was well worth it. Moments like that are an experience I would rather allow myself to enjoy than freak out about. We went to Cha Cha Cha, a reasonably priced tapas place- the issue I need to figure out is how to be polite about the reality that I don't want split a check on a family style meal when I can't eat half the food on the table (I am gluten free). I have read other budget bloggers take on the social side of budgeting, but it is still crazy awkward to announce "sorry, I can't do this because I can't afford it" especially when it isn't an over priced request. My friends are very responsible spenders and spending the money didn't put too much of a dent in my bank account it just prevented me from meeting my arbitrary goal of $25-35 per week.

In the post linked above one of the best tips she gives is not treating it like I am missing out. The truth is: I could have ordered a salad, skipped the sangria and still enjoyed a wonderful meal with amazing company. I wouldn't have been missing out. I mean it is kind of like being on a diet. Sure you eat less amazing food, but you feel better, you're healthier, and you are less stressed. After all I am talking about learning to live on a healthy budget, I am not trying to go on a hunger strike. 

The actual finical fail was the next day- at a table of 3 good friends I need to learn to be responsible for myself and just order one taco and load up on chips- seriously if there are free refills on chips there is no reason for me to spend extra money. Plus, I need skip the margarita already! They would have all been super supportive of me ordering less and spending less and I would have enjoyed the same experience with less food and no alcohol (even if Tacolicious has the best tequila in the city.)

Buying one meal for my parents while they were in town I think is extremely valid. I am an adult and they were my guest. They paid for so many great meals while they were here so I really can't justify not buying them one dinner. In fact, I have a hard time justifying the reality that it was the only meal. (I know they enjoyed their time and were happy to pay, but still one of the reasons I want to get out of debt is so that I can afford to be a host.) The meal I paid for was very reasonably priced. Dinner was just $80 for 4 people- we even had wine and desserts for that price! I also chose a place that I really love. If you are ever looking for a great meal that helps the community you need to check out Old Skool Cafe in the Bay View. I do some volunteering with them and I love their mission. They employ low-income youth, empower them to run the restaurant, and help them develop the skills they need to find jobs in San Francisco. Sharing a meal with my parents at a place that has meaning is worth the budget cheat. The wine and the dessert, however, was something that I could have skipped. I justified spending a bit more for the experience, when I could have had the same experience without the wine.

In conclusion, Cheers to the learning experiences! Succeeding in the first 2 weeks tells me I can do it, and I probably should do it more often. It also helps me feel better about 3 meals that were out of the budget challenge. Nonetheless, it is a humbling moment when I feel like I am going doing so well on my spending but I look at my bank statement and realize my little cheats are adding up.

If you have any tips or stories to share I would love to hear how have you handled dieting or budgeting while celebrating people who matter in your life? or if other thoughts pop out from this post, let me know!

Oh, and my outfit for the day:

Day 48 

It is a typical Summer day in SF

cold, wet, and foggy

Scarf: Free not sure who gave it to me, Top: Vintage from my grandma's closet, Jeans: Gifted by Christy they are Mossimo and can be found at Target (They fit me better than my $200 jeans. I might need to rethink where I buy my jeans when I am allowed to buy them again. But I don't like the way they are faded, so I might be experimenting with fabric dye soon, and that makes me happy.) Shoes: Izod on sale for $16 from a store on Haight Street.

Day 47: Updates on what I haven't been blogging about

I missed over 2 weeks of blogging. The whole staying at a friends while airbnbing my place is a bit distracting from blog time/organizing my life in general. I did complete 2 guests blogs and 2 client stories, but I still need to write 1 more client story for Old Skool and one more guest blog for Femgineer- I am not sure how I am so far behind.

But for a recap of what I have been up to in the more than 2 weeks I missed of blogging- I ran a half marathon, got almost an entire wardrobe for free from a friend, went on an Alcatraz night tour, helped Old Skool win a shrimp and grits cook-off, went to Napa, had a mild credit disaster, paid off my highest interest rate credit card, completed my first three weeks of the food spending challenge (the last of 3 weeks was a fail, but that is another blog post), had my parents visit (also its own wonderful post with great photos to come), booked a venue for the Do Good Lab Gala, and one of my dearest friends moved.

Photo highlights:

Bethy and me at the See Jane Run half Marathon

Creepy photo of the hospital at Alcatraz. They only open it for the night tour and it is really intense. Also, we went the same day as the race, so I was ready to take a nap on this table.

The view from the back yard in Napa.

Clearly over more then 14 days I wore a bunch of outfits, these are the ones I felt like posting.

 Left: Top: Mod Cloth (bought with gift card) Jeans: Indi, custom made, Shoes: Gifted from my parents. I wore this to my friends house for her clothing give away.

Middle: Necklace: Vintage hand-me-down from mom, Top: Calvin Klein Gifted, Jeans: Gifted, Shoes: Gifted. I got most of this at the give away.

Right: Blazer: Gifted by Jenny, Top: Boutique in Austin, Necklace: Boutique in Houston, Jeans: Gifted from Christy. I wore this to Christie's goodbye dinner. :(  

Left: Blazer rom Anthropology, Top: Hand-me-down from Rachael, Jeans: The Loft Gifted by Christy, Shoes: Ambiance, Scarf: H&M. I wore this on a day when I felt like I had dressed like a slop for ages, but I still wanted to be comfy. It was a good writing outfit.

Right: Blazer Anthropology, Necklace: Sunset Craft Fair, Shirt: Gravel and Gold, Jeans: Gifted, Shoes: Bass. I really don't remember why I wore this, but I absolutely love the necklace (see below). 

Tune in tomorrow for more outfits and other random updates. 

Side note: considering this blog is mostly motivated by my desire to face my debt I probably should have focussed more on the part about paying off one of my cards. The babysitting and airbnb thing are proving to be worth while side gigs. So, please do a happy dance in my honor. Thanks!

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 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.

Day 7 & 8 and personal finance tool/options

First: I have to admit I often wear the same clothes multiple times in one week, but usually no one notices because I see different people. Well,  now that I am documenting my outfits that doesn't work.

Second (and more importantly): I set up my Mint account and my Credit Karma account today. I was super happy that a) they were both super easy it was to set up b) my credit score is good (I don't know if it is wise to tell the world I have good credit, but I do and I am excited!) c) they both gave me options for how to save money and how to improve my credit score. Overall, I am excited about my endeavor to become financially stable. If you haven't created an account I recommend you do. 

Day 7

Cardigan: Taget $20, Shirt: Modcloth $27 (wore it Wednesday and Thursday- but I only wore it 4 hours on Wednesday), Pants: Target $20 bought with Gift Card from Candace 4 years ago, Shoes: Izod on sale for $14 (3 months old and I have already worn a hole in the back heal)

Day 8

 Scarf: Free and I think it was gifted or I got it at a clothing swap, Necklace: hand me down from my lovely grandmother, Blazer: Target $20, Top: The LOFT $25 over 5 years ago, Jeans: Indi custom jeans, seriously you send in your measurements and they send you jeans that fit, but I think they went out of business. (You might notice that I bought 3 pairs of $200 jeans in the past few years. All of them were on sale for $80-90. I am still unsure if these were a good or bad choice. I think all three of them fit better than less expensive jeans I have bought in the past, and I am not planning to buy more jeans anytime soon.) Shoes: Ambiance sale $27

I chopped my head off in the posts, and that is unfortunate because I wore an awesome braid today. 

Freebee selfie

I just posted this because like this and think it is more fun than the actual selflies, but you can't actually see the clothes.