Money in and Money out.

Hey look! It's Sunday and I'm actually updating? Gasp! First off, I can't believe that I have four people following this blog! That's super exciting! Thank you for taking the time to read about little ole' me. :) I think the above image perfectly sums up my spending for the weekend.

I got asked to work on Friday which I was super happy about, so I actually got some income this week! I'm almost excited to start working again...sad I know. In other news, I haven't started my internship yet. I hope I'll hear back from them soon with the go ahead. I picked up my newly hemmed pants from the tailors so I'm all set. Just waiting for that email....

Alright, here is how my week went Wednesday-Sunday since I posted earlier this week.

Wednesday- diet coke and pop tarts from the vending machine at school- 3.50-super healthy...I know.

Thursday-no spend

Friday- large french vanilla coffee with just cream from dunkin donuts-2.35-but I had a gift card! yay! Also, I made 115 dollars working the coat room at work from 5:30-11:30 p.m. Yay!!!!

Saturday- Saturday was expensive!
I picked up 3 pairs of pants (black and gray) if you are curious-1 black and 2 gray if you are super curious-from the tailors. The total cost for the dress pants from Express (if you are super super curious :p ) was 21 dollars. That was actually super reasonable with the pants hemmed at 7 dollars a pair. Especially considering that I am short it is a necessary investment.

After the tailors I went to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for baking to send my belated Valentine's Day gift to the fiance. OOPS! However, in my defense he hasn't even bought me anything yet. lol. And no..he isn't a cheapskate or not thoughtful-he basically has no life/time-since he usually works 6 days a week, and he leaves his house at 5 a.m and doesn't usually get home until 8 p.m. or later. Usually on Saturdays he has to do SDO for his unit-which means that he needs to stay on duty for 24 hours straight without sleeping. I'm a very understanding fiancee. lol.

Ok, so the store. Well I was actually proud of myself. I fought the brand name monster for the most part and tried to buy mostly store brand ingredients. Go me! I also stuck to my list for the most part and only added 3 other things. Here's what I bought in case you are interested. All I know is that it is Sunday and I have a Civil Law midterm on Tuesday, and I'm procrastinating by dragging out this post for as long as possible. :)

1 loaf of French bread @.79- this wasn't on the list
1 package of butter @ 3.00
1 Mild Cheddar Cheese block @2.00-also not on the list
1 set of 3 disposable 8x8 pans- @1.25
1 box of Keebler Club Select Crackers @3.29-ok..so I got a craving for cheese & crackers...
1 12 oz bag of store brand semi-sweet chocolate chips-@ 2.28
1 12 oz bag of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips @ 2.99- (decided to compare the two to see if there is a difference or not)
2 oz of Folger's instant coffee @ 2.99
1 7oz of Marshmallow Fluff @ 1.49
1 8oz of heavy whipping cream @1.75
Tax: .99 cents-ugh!
Total: 22.77

Oh yeah- I got a 3 dollar pinecone research check in the mail too on Saturday-so Saturday wasn't a total loss!

Not too bad actually! I'm proud of myself for sticking to a list for the most part and buying ALMOST everything that I could generic. So what am I making for my sexy fiance?

-Cappuccino fudge and chocolate chip peanut butter muffins. I thought that they would be good items to ship since I'm in Illinois and they have to get sent to North Carolina. I'll post some pictures when I'm done if my baking comes out right!

So total spent on Saturday- 43.77-sigh. He's worth it.

And no spend today!
Have a good rest of the weekend everyone! How was your spending for the week? Any interesting purchases? I'd love to hear from you!

-Smart Sorority Girl
...(although looking at my Swagbucks counter-I'm pretty sure that you figured out that my first name is Lauren....

Does being borderline OCD cost you more money?

Ok...I'm going to say borderline because I'm not really that OCD. I have no fear of germs. I don't feel like I need to complete tasks over and over again, like flip a switch on and off ten times in a row, or feel like something bad will happen to me or my loved ones if I don't complete a task. I'm not diagnosed as OCD. I don't take any form of medication, and I have never had any therapy regarding OCD. Also, I don't intend to insult anyone who may suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or know someone that does.

However, I do have slight OCD tendencies. I triple check to make sure doors are locked, curling irons turned off, know where my phone is at all times, and confirm about ten different times in an hour that I do, in fact, still have my Chicago CTA pass on me, etc. It's so bad when it comes to doors that in college I had times when I was almost at the bus stop a block away, and I had to turn around and go back and make sure it was locked. I almost went to the point of developing a system like marking my hand with a highlighter or something after locking the door so that I could indeed, accept that I had locked the door.

However, I do know where the door locking obsession stems from. Once in my junior year of college, I accidentally left my keys in the front door of my apartment all night long. One of my room mates flipped a shit. Sorry for the language. She had every right to, but it was an honest mistake, and thank god nothing got stolen, and no one broke in. She was also a horror to live with even prior to the door locking incident.

She freaked out when I washed dishes in the dishwasher and there was food that got stuck to the plates. I had grown up where you could pretty much put a plate that had food stuck onto it into the dishwasher and come out with a sparkling clean plate. I had just never used a dishwasher that well-didn't work that great. She was really a nightmare to live with though for other reasons, and I'd actually start to panic/feel sick to my stomach when I would hear her keys in the door. Well at least that's all in the past now.

Anyway, so the door thing makes sense to me. I've gotten a lot better with it now that I'm living at home while I finish up my certificate program. There's pretty much always someone home when I leave so I don't have to really worry about locking the door.

So how does being borderline OCD cost money? Get to the point you say?-well here it is.

Mostly it happens with school. I panic if I have to print out a paper at school and don't have a stapler or a paper clip. I actually carry a stapler and a bag of staples with me. There's been countless times when I've gone into Walgreens to buy a stapler if I had forgotten one because I get close to a panic attack when I think that I'm not prepared for something.

Case in point.

Yesterday, I went downtown when I didn't have school because I needed to turn in some paperwork at the firm that I will be interning at. Ok-no problem. I had filled out the paperwork the previous day and I grabbed a file folder and put the paperwork in it. I was about to head off to the firm. Then I started to think...should I put this in a manila envelope? I don't have one with me. Will a file folder be ok? But it won't look professional? And I have my social security number written down? But it's not like someone at the firm is going to steal my identity...This followed with imagining that someone had actually stolen my identity. Then I thought-well the university office probably has envelopes. I could get one there. I chickened out though. I felt guilty for going to the office once when I needed to staple something. One staple and I was nervous that time.

Sigh. I think I'm the exact opposite of PF bloggers sometimes-because I hate getting free stuff. Correction-I find it incredibly awkward to go to a table at a job fair and take a pen, piece of candy, etc. I usually decline free samples from stores. In the odd chance that a classmate brings something for the class to eat I always turn it down .Which I realize, is not rational behavior but...well I'm weird.

Don't get me wrong. I love free stuff from the internet, free gift cards from Swagbucks, free money from surveys, it's just the person to person thing that is awkward. And I've worked at places where I am the one giving away the free stuff so it's not like I judge people for taking free stuff or anything-I'm happy when they do. I also love giving stuff away, baking for people, buying them candy, and I don't want/expect anything in return.

Anyway, I digress. So I decided that I wouldn't go to the office and get a free envelope which I'm sure they wouldn't have minded giving to me. I went to Walgreens and lo and behold-they didn't have a simple manila envelope-all that they had were file folders (not helpful) and bubble envelopes for mailing things. Luck has it that there is a Staples a block down from the Walgreens. I set off and find my prize-manila envelopes at Staples. In a pack of 10-for 4.99. FML. I still bought it though since I was so worried about the presentation of my paperwork, identity getting stolen :p , etc.

Next came my other dilemma. I still had to fill out the envelope. Could I have asked Staples if they minded if I filled out an envelope really quickly at their store? Yes. Did I? no. Could I have waited until I got to the lawfirm and filled out the envelope in the lobby? Yes. Did I? No. I thought " What if someone from the firm comes in and sees me? That would be awful!"

What did I do? I went to the Starbucks that I go to everyday when I'm downtown for school, but I hadn't planned on visiting that day. I sat at a table for less than a minute, filled out the envelope, and then I bought a tall hot chocolate because I felt guilty for using the space and not purchasing anything. Then I left to go to the firm. The very same Starbucks where they all know me by my name! WTF is wrong with me! Was I so scared that they would be mad that I wasn't ordering anything, even though I've spent hundreds of dollars at that Starbucks this year?

Well it all worked out in the end. I turned in the paper work in the beautiful manila envelope and met with my internship coordinator at school. But seriously...my actions were kind of, if not very ridiculous.

I think that I need to start taking the mentality of "Ask and you shall receive" or even just "Try asking before spending 3 dollars on hot chocolate and 5 dollars on manila envelopes!"

Am I the only crazy person out there or is anyone else ever scared/embarrassed to ask for free things? It can be anything from a staple to lower interest rates. I'd love to hear from you!

North Carolina on my mind...and some other things that have been happening lately.

Well...I just got home from North Carolina. I left on Thursday and came home this morning. Short trip but it was great to see the fiance. I'm really blessed to have such wonderful parents because they paid for half of the ticket and my fiance paid for the other half. Although I told them to count it as my President's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, and my Birthday gift. Just kidding about the other three holidays. :) I flew into Fayetteville on Thursday and we went down to Raleigh overnight and a explored a little which was fun. The college campus that we visited near downtown Raleigh made both of us a little jealous. lol. The weather was fabulous and I was wearing dresses and shorts all weekend. I can't tell you how much fun it was to return to freezing cold rain in Chicago. :p. Ah well, such is life.

Aside from my weekend my internship process went extremely well. I applied for nine positions. I was asked for seven interviews. Out of the seven I went to four of them. Out of the four of them I received three offers. I made my decision to intern at a firm where they seemed the most willing to teach me and they appear to want me to succeed. It's definitely going to be a challenging and they aren't messing around. I'm actually kind of scared. However, I need to get out of my comfort zone so this will probably be all for the best. I would have gone to the rest of my interviews, but as soon as you make a decision you need to cancel all the rest. Which makes sense to me.

Here is what I spent this week to the best of my knowledge:

Monday- No Spend
Tuesday-Coffee- 2.32
Wednesday-Coffee 2.32/Walgreens- 17.49-cheap sunglasses/sunscreen/razors/mentos
Thursday- 8.49 at airport-chicken burrito and large diet pepsi-and when I mean large-it was freaking huge! I feel kind of bad though because I didn't finish my burrito and ended up throwing it away. I wasn't feeling good for some reason that day-maybe the stress from flying. I don't get scared to fly-it's just stressful making sure that they don't lose your luggage-etc. Which incidentally, I thought had happened to me because they had to do a gateside luggage check and when the conveyor belt didn't have my suitcase on it in Fayetteville after having gone from Chicago-Charlotte, NC-Fayetteville-I almost freaked out. Luckily, it had come in on an earlier flight and was waiting in the office. Thank God!
Friday-no spend
Saturday-breakfast for 2- 10.59
Sunday-coffee-2.32

Well that was my week! A little pricier than usual but I made ten dollars in paypal from Swagbucks this week and I got a ten dollar deposit from half.com. Every dollar counts!

I hope everyone had a good weekend! I'm going to throw out a question for the first time ever-
What do you do online to make money? I use half.com to sell books, pinecone research, and swagbucks. Any suggestions? I don't mind tedious surveys, etc. as long as they actually pay. Thanks in advance if you answer!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope that you will all have a wonderful day. Spend the day with your loved ones and realize how precious life is and how lucky you are for every day that you have together with the someone special in your life. Three years ago February 14th took on a whole new meaning for me. It made me realize the gift of life and the important roles that people play in our lives. Love one another, enjoy the day, and don't be afraid to tell someone how much you love them and how much they mean to you.
...There's a blank box that keeps showing up and I can't get it to go away...weird.

6 interviews! I was not expecting that!

I have six interviews lined up. OMG! I have four interviews between Wednesday and Thursday. I'm actually starting to panic. Time to say a prayer! (If only this was a paid internship) Wish me luck!

I feel so torn...Part 1

Hello fellow readers (all two of you) :)!

Greetings to LBC Teacher thank you for your nice comments! I'm definitely a fan of your blog. I wish I was as good with updating as everyone else. Sorry, I've kind of been lazy and not really inspired to write lately. Ok, well first I'll post the spending that I have done lately from what I can recall even though it will be guesstimates since the receipts are in my purse downstairs and I'm too cozy in my bed to get up and get them...at 3 p.m. on a Friday. Have I mentioned that I only go to school two days a week and Wednesday was closed for the Snowpocalypse that we had here in Chicago? Moving on, next I will do my best to explain why "I feel so torn" as mentioned in the title of this post.

Spending Report January 24-Feb 4
Monday-no spend
Tuesday- Starbucks- 2.32 (giftcard) and 2 notebooks-5 dollars
Wednesday-Starbucks-2.32 (giftcard)
Thursday-Saturday-no spend
Sunday-heavy cream-4.50-which we didn't even use to make our delicious chocolate coffee cupcakes with bailey's frosting-omg! It was heaven! We took the rest of the Bailey's frosting and just dipped strawberries into it. Yum!
Monday-no spend
Tuesday-coffee 2.32 and Walgreens-8.50
Wednesday-present-no spend

I'm the most upset with Tuesday's spending because my spending was on candy and junk food at Walgreens. It was completely unnecessary and a waste of my money. Oh well. I don't plan on spending money for the rest of the week but I do need to order my fiance's Valentine's Day present this week. I need to stop procrastinating and get on that! I have absolutely no excuse not to get it done.

Ok..well here is why I am feeling so torn and I guess it started all with a phone call at 3:55 a.m yesterday. Did I mention that there is an hour time difference between Illinois and North Carolina? Also, the fiance gets up by 5 a.m. his time-----gross gross gross! As I was in the middle of typing this my dog just threw up. Poor Dudley!----Alright, so he called me at 3:55 a.m and let me tell you how happy my sister was when he called (not) because we share a room. He called to say good morning since we had talked for less than a minute the day before. Then he told me that he had a four day weekend from February 18-22 and asked me to think about flying down there.

I actually got a little upset/frustrated after I got off the phone with him for two reasons.
The main reason is that I don't have a job right now because I thought originally that I would be a lot busier with school-also I wouldn't have a way to get to the job during the day. Don't even get me started on the 1966 mustang that stays in the garage all winter or the 1986 camero that no one touches. Sigh. Anyway, I don't have a job so I'm not making any money, so no money should pretty much equal very little spending? Right? He doesn't seem to get that. I have probably at a very close guesstimate-1,000 to my name not counting some savings bonds. That 1,000 goes towards my credit card and birth control every month. I can't afford a plane ticket right now. Do you know who can though? The fiance. He is making around 3,000 a month plus another 1,000 which is meant for housing. So basically, the army pays for his housing. He also doesn't really have any expenses except for gas, food, and cable/internet. I don't want you to get the wrong impression. I am NOT the type of girl who expects for the man to pay for everything. I am extremely independent and I hate even going to my parents to ask for money. I know long distance is hard but I just don't have the money to do it right now.

The second reason I was upset is that I have been telling him nonstop that my interviews for internships will be starting soon. This is a huge deal for me. I told him over and over again that I needed to find out what would be going on with my internships. I just sent in my cover letters and resumes, and the school said that we should be expecting calls for interviews in the next couple of weeks. Ummm yeah. What am I supposed to do if I get a call for an interview and I have to tell them that I won't be able to make it since I'll be in North Carolina that day? Absolutely not. I have worked my ass off for my grades and I will not jeopardize a huge opportunity for myself (even though they aren't paid internships). Basically, you need legal experience of any type if you want to get your foot in the door and even be considered for jobs.

A third reason, look at that I guess I had more than two reasons. A third reason is that I have sacrificed a lot in this relationship. I've counted it up and although it isn't consecutively, we have spent over a year apart in the 20 months that we have been together. I'm not even making that up. And apart from the time we haven't been able to be with each other, there is also something else. I know that we would never move somewhere because I have a job opportunity. It's the army. They tell him where and when to go somewhere. If we were to move it would be because of the army. I'm not bitter and I can handle that type of lifestyle...it's just I feel like this internship is something for me-and call me selfish-but I don't want to sacrifice something when I don't have to.

Wow...this turned out to be a lot longer than I originally thought. I haven't even gotten to the actual part about why I am feeling so torn. I think that I'll make this part 1 and put part 2 up soon. OMG!!!! Just as I was typing this....I got a call for an interview!!!!! I can't believe that I already got a call! That's crazy! I just submitted my letters two days ago! Yay! That just made my day!

Ok..well I'm in a much better mood now....but part 2 will still come soon!