I’m a Mysterious Shopper!
Posted on August 18, 2008 - Filed Under Alternative Income
Thanks to Spilling Buckets latest posts, I’ve signed up to be a mystery shopper in an effort to increase my alternative income. I registered with both of the companies they have reviewed so far and have already received my first assignment. Unfortunately, I had to decline it because it was too far from home. I’m excited to receive more assignments and hopefully make a little bit of money in the process.
It’s Getting Bad: Toenails
Posted on August 16, 2008 - Filed Under Housing
Issues with my roommate persist. This morning I found a pile of toenails on the coffee table. I kid you not, a neat little pile of six toenails. Totally gross.
With no interest from buyers and very little interest from renters, I’ve been considering a third option when it comes to my housing situation and that is buying out my roommate. We own the house 50-50 and he told me yesterday that he’d be willing to sell his share for $5,000 which is the amount he put down when we bought. It’s an offer that I’m seriously considering. There is a lot to think about because there is a lot of money involved. Not only the $5,000, but also the mortgage that would be fully in my name making me fully responsible for it. It’s a scary thought, but also exciting because I would own the home full out and I think in the long term, it might turn out to be a good investment.
As always, I’ll try to keep you guys posted as to what happens.
The Numbers - July ‘08
Posted on August 13, 2008 - Filed Under Monthly Update
As July ended, I knew I had spent much more money than usual. But once I ran the numbers, I was pleasantly surprised.
I managed to save 23 percent of my income and my net worth actually increased by 8 percent!
With the exception of my housing expenses, my largest expense categories were once again gas and eating out. I spent $128 on gas in July and $110 on eating out. Since almost all of my eating out has a social aspect to it, I’m happy with that number.
Other July tidbits:
- Donated 10 percent of my income to charitable causes
- Paid $50 extra to student loan
- Added $150 to emergency fund
- Added $150 to Vanguard Investment fund
- Added $25 to Prosper account
- Added $350 to Roth IRA
Steadily Contributing to the IRA
Posted on August 12, 2008 - Filed Under Investing, Retirement
After I ran my July numbers, I found some extra money lying around and used it to add $500 to my Roth IRA which brings my total contributions for the year to $4,300! I’ve updated the graph in my sidebar to reflect the changes. Now, I only have $700 to go before I hit the $5,000 limit. Once it is fully funded, I will either increase contributions to my emergency fund, to the Vanguard Investing fund or perhaps pay a little extra to my student loan.
I Hate This Feeling
Posted on August 12, 2008 - Filed Under Blogging
When I haven’t blogged for a while and there is so much to catch up on. I hate that.
An awful lot has happened in the last week or so and I will try to summarize over the next few posts. I need to write about my job situation, my housing situation, a little bit about my personal life, and I still need to write about my July numbers before August comes to a close.
On a positive note, I’m home from work today and it looks like today is going to be a no spend day! I’ve actually had a bunch of them in August. The problem is the days I have spent money in August - I’ve spent A LOT of money!
Not So Fast or Pride Comes Before a Fall
Posted on August 5, 2008 - Filed Under Work
So remember when I was feeling so confident the other day…as if they were just going to hand me my old job back…well, it’s never that easy.
HR called today and confirmed an interview for tomorrow morning with the department director. Everything was looking good and I was still feeling good. Then, on my way home from work today, I got a call from the director. She told me I was still welcome to come in for the interview but she wanted me to know that she is being told to prioritize internal candidates. So she just wanted to let me know that so I didn’t think she was wasting my time. We will still go through with the interview on the off chance that there are no internal candidates.
I was completely caught off guard and really bummed. I had been really banking on this and had pretty much quit caring about my current job. (Yes, I know that’s terrible and stupid)
I get that internal candidates should have priority, but honestly, they are still going to have to train any internal candidate so I still think it would be wise on their part to select me because I could just jump right in where I left off. I understand that they may be questioning my loyalty as I did choose to leave on my own volition. I left solely for the money; I had liked what I was doing and I learned that the money wasn’t worth it. So maybe loyalty gets rewarded by them hiring an internal candidate. We’ll wait and see. I’m still praying that it all works out however it’s suppose to. I’ve never been accused of being too much of an optimist, but my hopes are still relatively high that something will work out here.
And all this leads me to: what next? I definitely don’t want to stay where I am, so if it doesn’t work out at my old employer, I guess I will be on the hunt for a new job. That should give me plenty to post about. But I should know a little more after tomorrow.
They Called Me Back!
Posted on August 2, 2008 - Filed Under Work
As you know, I submitted my application to my previous employer on Thursday night. Well, they called me at work yesterday and everything sounded really favorable. This was just a call from HR to confirm that they received my application, but she sounded like she was familiar with my situation and we chatted for a few minutes. Everything sounded really promising and she said the next step would be for the hiring director to give me a call next week. So I’m feeling very confident.
I made sure to ask about regaining my old schedule of four 10s and having Friday’s off and she said if it worked before she didn’t see why it would be a problem now. Of course, nothing is really up to her as she is HR, but I don’t believe my director will have a problem with this either - at least I hope not! It’s one of the main reasons I want to return.
Now, the greatest challenge continues to be caring about my current work. I’m trying very hard people, it’s just not easy.
keep looking »