Day 67: Make More Money

dough and a dear designs

For the first time in a long while, I have only one job. And for the first time since high school, I'm working only part-time. I make enough for the essentials. But I don't really make enough to put EXTRA money aside or have any sort of savings.

See Operation: Make More Money !!!


To keep myself busy (and to avoid spending senseless money), I've been crocheting my little fingers off! Blankets, hats, headbands, baby sweaters, wrist warmers...You name it, I'm making it. The more time a project takes, the less inclined I am to empty my wallet on other activities!

This week I opened my very own Etsy shop! I'm beyond excited to share my creations (and make a little extra cash to boot :) ) Every piece is custom made to your liking! New items will be added weekly!

Browse the shop, share with your friends, and let me know what you think!!
(Also browse my closet at Because I Shop Too Much where members sell and swap their gently used clothing and accessories!)

Post Valentine's Discounts

Today I didn't buy heart cupcake pans.
They were 75% off. And pink. And I wanted them.
They probably would have cost a whole dollar.

That's self-control, people.

Day 61: Month 2 COMPLETE!

So! The results for February are in!

This month I saved
$581.74 !!
*happy dance*

February was a tough month. Like, a REALLY tough month. As I mentioned before, there are so many birthday celebrations and Valentine's Day...and it was easy to let the rules fall by the wayside. Especially when wandering through the dollar store and around every turn is something sparkly or covered in chocolate.


If I'm being honest, with myself and you, I was pretty loose with the guidelines.
I took almost $70 in cabs...and only one of those trips was actually necessary. I went to the bar, a few times. And I signed up for an expensive gym.

Anyway, with the saved money, I'll be paying an additional hundred dollars to my credit card which has the highest interest rate of all my loans. Rather than make an additional payment to my student loans this month, I need to set some money aside until I find myself another second job.

Until someone decides that paying me to socialize and eat donuts and blog from about 11am-2pm everyday will be beneficial to their business, I need to stash some emergency cash for a bit.

If anyone hears of any job descriptions that fit...you know where to reach me..

Day 58

Most of this Fast has been pretty sucky.
Don't get me wrong, it's kind of an adventure to find new ways to save money and it's had some fun moments.

But for me it's mostly been a lot of misadventure. (Like, buying energy drinks and calling them 'groceries'. Or giving people homemade gifts in hopes that they look 'thoughtful' rather than 'cheap'.)

Counting pennies is tedious. Staying in every weekend is boring. My bank account is just screaming, "It's GAME TIME! There's so much money here! SPEND it!" Sigh. I'm not feeling sorry for myself because I obviously signed onto this on my own accord, I'm just whining.





I'm sort of dreading doing my calculations tonight because I know I didn't save nearly as much this month as I did in January. But this is a learning process. And what I'm learning is that, well, not spending money is tough. It takes a lot of thought and planning. And a LOT of Pinterest "research."

Day 56: T.R.O.U.B.L.E

Besides being difficult and completely overwhelming, my Spending Fast is also pretty selfish.
I took it upon myself to make the decision to just stop spending money. Everything revolves around me. How I'm going to get home, what I'm going to eat, how can I get this or that, my wallet is empty....

I, I, I. Me, me, me.
I imagine I sound like quite the nightmare.


I didn't think of anyone else when I committed to this. Before I stopped spending my money, I should have at least had the decency to run it by the one guy that I spend the most time with! He spends so much on me. He gets me dinner, he gets my drinks, he buys my cabs home. Essentially, while I'm cutting my spending in half, his is DOUBLING.

I try to carry my weight by making dinner or cleaning his apartment while he's at work, but I realize it's not necessarily equal.
So after a number of tense nights and quite the argument (and an apology burrito), I've decided that for the sake of my relationship I need to set aside an envelope of cash at the beginning of the month. We can use it for drinks or the movies. Whatever we want.

Since one of the objectives of this Fast to focus on nurturing relationships, I'd say the boyfriend's good mood falls under the NEEDS catergory. Wouldn't you agree?

Sriracha fixes everything.

What kind of weirdo dinner is this?
Oh, the kind of meal a girl puts together when she refuses to go to the grocery store for the rest of the month.

Last egg and last beer in the house.
Hmph.

Day 49!

Can I vent for a sec? Yeah? Thanks!

SO, in January I switched electricity provider's to one that is more cost-effective. Because, well, duh. Wouldn't you?
And then, these past two months I've been living like a little Eskimo girl in my apartment to cut costs on my electricity bill.
Seriously. I've been going to sleep wearing thermal underwear, two pairs of socks, a scarf, and sometimes (ok, MOST nights) a hat. It's prettayprettay sexy.
Or I stay over at my manfriend's house where I trade my lack of heat for his stinky bachelor's pad. Sigh...

keeping warm in my newly crocheted pompom hat!

Yet somehow my bill last month showed that I used 911 kilowatts of electricity in my < 400 sq ft apartment! And this month I was even more conscious of my electricity usage than I was in January...and I still somehow used over 750 kilowatts. (This is roughly the amount a small business would use for a month.)

I'm just baffled. And frustrated. And COLD!
Anyone have any suggestions? I realize that it's only logical that my bill would be higher in the winter months, but it has nearly doubled from December to January.

rant over




Anyway! Everyone keep your peepers open for a link to my new Etsy shop in the next week or so! I'm so excited to be able to share my new custom made crocheted accessories!