Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge....

....In reference to the above mentioned matter, lol I need to stop writing letters to clients...ha ha.

Ok if you are familiar with the PF blog world there is a blogger out there that you keep visiting their blog even though they drive you crazy when it comes to their finances. Seriously...I relate it to the container of coffee haagen daz in the freezer-you know it's bad for you but you keep coming back to it and can't wait to take another bite out of it. In this case- I'm talking about that blog. The blogger is notorious for spending extreme amounts of money and then spends a long blog post trying to justify it. One example...birthdays. Now the blogger mentions that she/he/it (I'm keeping things anonymous out of respect for the blogger) is planning to spend around $300-400 for an upcoming birthday.

I was also one of the many that read his post and thought that she/he/it was crazy. And then...I bought stuff for S's birthday. Did I spend too much? Yes. Do I regret it? Only slightly.

S does A LOT for me. Right now he pays rent and most of the bills. He gave me his car to drive when I moved down here. He pays for groceries and almost all the dinners we have out. He spends a ton of money on me. Yes, yes I know we are going to be married soon and all that..but he does a lot for me and never asks for anything in return. Just recently he paid $500 for us to fly out to Chicago for MY friend's wedding. We are splitting the plane tickets for Thanksgiving, but that is the kind of guy that he is. I was the one that actually mentioned that I wanted to start paying bills and help out with costs now that I am working. This month I paid the cable bill which was around 113 for cable, phone, and internet.

Anyway, I spent a good amount this month. Can I justify it? Guilty as charged. He loved his presents and had a great birthday. That's all that matters to me in the end. Since this is a PF blog I'll be honest with what I spent. Feel free to comment about my overspending. I deserve it.

American Eagle- 5 shirts/sweaters- $174.14
Best Buy- Season 5 & 6 of Always Sunny in Philadelphia -$37.43
Hallmark- 7.09- card and gift bag
Rite Aid- 2.97- tissue paper
Food Lion-20.28-candles, chocolate cheesecake, and pop

Total: $241.91

It was a lot...I know. But I'm just going to be more frugal this month. I've come up with a tentative budget and I'm going to post it soon. Good night blog world.

Where am I at?

Well I've put my student loans out for the world to see so now I am going to show you what really matters-the money. My checking accounts, savings accounts, and my debt which is as up to date as it can get.

Let's get the Ugly part out of the way:

CREDIT CARDS

The first number is the amount owed-the second is my credit limit
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Discover Card: $1,783.32/4,400
First Financial Bank: 0/3,750
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Bank 1 (Not actual name of bank)

Checking account 1: $110.75
Checking account 2: $437.77
Savings account: -70ish not very sure about the exact amount since I don't have online access to it.
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Bank 2

Checking account: $1,498.03
Savings account: $20

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Ok... I'm going to take Mysti's from Digging Out from Our Mess, idea and do a GBU- Good, Bad, and Ugly

GOOD

* Everything added up I have $2136.55. Now it's not a lot granted but I only make 1224 a month right now after taxes. The good thing about it is if I had to...like if my credit card became instantly due I would be able to pay it off immediately in its entirety...after completely draining my bank accounts lol.

*Another good thing. It's not usually good to have a credit card balance but if you do most people say that you should only carry about a 1/3 of the credit limit as a balance. Right now I am only a couple hundred dollars off that mark. 1/3 of my account would be 1466. I am 339 dollars off from that mark.

* My credit score is 770.

BAD
* The fact that I have any credit debt at all

UGLY
* I need to create a 1,000 emergency fund, followed by 6 months of expenses. I really want to work on saving money and paying off my credit card. My credit card payments will be able to go towards my student loans and savings. My goal is to pay off my loans a lot faster than scheduled.

Well I put everything out there. How about everyone else...where are you at if you don't mind me asking? I love hearing about how everyone else is doing good or bad. If it's bad...you can only go up from where you are at.. :) and if it's good then you should be proud of what you have accomplished :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

REALITY CHECK

Victoria's Secret $-51.36
Food Lion $-38.44
Food Lion $-24.16
Rite Aid $-18.39
Bank FEE $-.30
Discover Card Payment $100.00
Discover Card Payment $200.00
Mario Triccoci $85.00
Denny's $19.64
RDU $40.00
GAS $ 44.15
Mash House $ 54.41
TWC $113.57

789.42

Upcoming expense: 22.25 birth control

From October 3-21st I spent 789.42. It's crazy how fast money goes when you aren't keeping track on your nickels and dimes. I'm still working on creating a budget. S's birthday is in 6 days and I need to go shopping for him tomorrow. I want to spend a reasonable amount.

I'd like to explain the Mario Tricocci expense though since usually I spend about 15 dollars on my hair for a haircut. I went back to Chicago for a wedding that I was in, and the maid of honor told me that she would book me a hair appointment at a salon...she never did. I scrambled to find a salon open on a Sunday that could take me at 10am or earlier. Mario Tricocci was the only one that I could find. The Mash House- I went out to dinner with S and for the first time in a very long time (well not the first time in a long very time that we went out to dinner-we tend to go out a lot...) but the first time in a while that I picked up the check :) I love having a job! Victoria's Secret...S came home from being gone for a month *blushes* and got something fun and frivolous. On the plus side of the 700 that I spent this month 300 of it went to debt repayment :)

Well that's it for now. Time for bed!

It really is like army wives...and sallie mae has come a knockin'

I finally feel like a grown up. Sallie Mae knows that I'm done with school and with it student loans go into repayment. I'm probably going to be paying 300-400 a month in student loans. I've been visiting the Sallie Mae website everyday. It is on its way to be coming my most visited site.

In other news, my fiance is home! I got onto post on Friday night at 7pm which is when we were told to go to the battery. The troops finally arrived there at 9:30. I didn't really mind the wait though because 1. I had nothing better to do than wait. 2. I got to speak with some wives that were really nice in his unit. I hadn't really talked or met anyone in FRG really so it was nice to meet some of the wives. It was only a tiny bit awkward at one point. We had spent two and a half hours talking about pretty much everything. Then one of the wives said that she doesn't really go to FRG meetings because her husband doesn't want her to be around officer wives. The other wives said that they can be snobby and wear their husbands rank and always have coach purses.. It was at that point that I said "Well my fiance is an officer but I promise I'm not mean." I decided that it was better to say something than not say something and them to find out. Especially...since my fiance is second in command of his battery and he was actually acting commander of the battery because the Battery Commander's child was born during that time. They were like "Oh you didn't seem like one."

I want to be completely honest right now so as not to get the wrong impression. I wasn't angry or annoyed or offended or hurt in any way. It's life. And you know what...my dad was an enlisted NCO in the national guard for 30 years. He sacrificed and put me and my brother and sister through private school for 13 years on a very small salary. I have nothing but respect for enlisted soldiers. I don't believe in this whole- I won't talk to you because my husband is this or that. I got to see S and I had totally put the whole situation out of my head almost instantly until today. When S got home he said that one of his soldiers came up to him and said his wife wanted to apologize to me. She didn't realize that I was S's fiance. S told him not to worry about it and that I honestly didn't mind or care.

It's just crazy to think that someone was so nervous that they offended me that they had to apologize to their "boss." I mean I appreciate it but no apology was needed. I just want to be Lauren, not ma'am or Mrs. _____ or Mrs. Lieutenant_______. I really hope that they won't be standoffish next time I see them. I just want friends. I don't care who your husband is or how much their pay grade is. I hope that they are able to see that. Also, the only coach purses that I own were bought waay before I was even dating S. :p I just don't want to be treated differently.

One last thing-S and I have discussed splitting some of the bills. I'm actually going to be able to make my budget now! Stay tuned for my pitiful wages. :p But hey...they pay the bills. :)