August Tracking Adventure Week 2

Woop. The second week of my August Tracking Adventure has come to a close and here are the results:


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Circle K		$21.01		Gas
Pharmacy		$30.00		Pharmacy
Subway		$9.00		Food
OnCue		$8.30		Food
Louie's		$36.00		Food
Target		$10.83		Miscellaneous
Aldi		$47.93		Groceries (joint account)
Crest		$53.67		Groceries (joint account)

Groceries $101.60- This is more than I planned on spending... Groceries come out of our joint account so the boyfriend and I are both paying for them. Now, I do meal planning and I take a list to the store so how is my grocery spending so high? Because I take the boyfriend with me and let's just say he doesn't understand the concept of sticking to a list. (*side note-boyfriend does appreciate my budgeting and attempting to save money here and there, he even fist bumped me when I found black beans for 0.61 instead of the 0.99 I thought I was going to spend)

Food $53.30- So I think I did pretty close to the same as last week... I went out with a couple of friends on Saturday and spent more than I would have liked to but I did have leftovers for my boyfriend afterward so really I got 2 meals out of it.

Pharmacy $30- I spent $30 on my birth control, sounds high but I actually get 3 months at a time.

Gas $21.01- I filled up the tank this week, the pump stopped at 20.89 but I was shooting for a nice whole number... #fail

Miscellaneous $10.83- I bought a dry erase board to go on my fridge to write out what we are having for dinner each night. Even though this was for the house it wasn't a necessity so I paid for it myself instead of taking it from our joint account. 

Total spending for Week 2: $216.74

I spent more than Week 1 but I'm not too upset about it. I'm really proud of myself for sticking to this tracking thing for 2 weeks. My meal plan is set for next week and I don't have any plans that will involve money spending so I'm thinking Week 3 is going to be a hit!

(PS I originally included the dates on the spreadsheet above but when I pasted it into Blogger it caused funky things to happen so I deleted the dates.)

"The One Where Eddie Won't Go..."

Anyone else here a HUGE fan of the TV show Friends?

If you’re not then we probably can’t be friends. (See what I did there?)

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It started airing when I was 4 so I didn’t really start watching it until middle school but I have watched all the seasons multiple times at this point in my life. When I was younger I didn’t understand all the jokes or the situations but now that I’m a “grown up,” and I use that term loosely, a lot of the episodes really make me think!

The most recent episode that really hit home with me was the episode, “The One Where Eddie Won’t Go.” Joey had moved out of the apartment that he lived in with Chandler and spent gobs of money decorating it in a way that the other friends thought was tacky (PS I am a huge fan of 90% of Joey’s décor, it was definitely my style). After he was fired from his acting job as Dr. Drake Ramoray on “Days of Our Lives,” Joey came to the realization that he was going to have a hard time paying for everything in his apartment which of course he bought on a credit card. He receives a Visa bill that is so big it has to come in two envelopes! In the end he has some guys come to his apartment to pick up all of his animal statues and other furnishings to take them back to the store, I’m assuming for full credit back to his Visa.

Now as I was watching this episode it was probably around 10 pm one night, and because I live the life of an old lady, I was in bed. And during the whole thing I just couldn’t help but think “I wish I could return everything I bought on credit…” Which lead me to think “WHAT IN THE HELL DID I BUY?? WHERE IS IT ALL??” Looking around my house, I do have a lot of stuff but for as much credit card debt as I have you would think that I would have the nicest stuff that money could buy! There were times that I would put my groceries on my card, or gas or things like that which were necessary purchases but most of the time I would spend money on nights out with my friends (who were also living beyond their means) or on clothes that don’t even fit me anymore. I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to watch that particular scene in that episode of Friends and tell my old self that one day I would be in a similar position to Joey (although I’ve never had a credit card bill that was delivered as ‘envelope 1 of 2’) having credit card debt that I couldn’t really afford.

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The worst feeling, in my opinion, is knowing that you have all this credit card debt and it seems like nothing to show for it. I used to say that I didn't regret any of the choices I've made in the past because they got me to where I am today but my credit card is definitely a regret. But I'm working on it now and I'm dedicated to paying it off. 

Although, I wish this was TV and I could return all my purchases like Joey did because I would do it in a heart beat.

August Tracking Adventure Week 1

Alright everyone! The results are in for my August Tracking Adventure, Week 1.

Let's take a look at my spending:


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August Tracking Adventure:
Date:		Where?:		Amount:		Category:
8/1/2017		Circle K		15.16		Gas
8/1/2017		Circle K		4.84		Food
8/2/2017		Braum's		5.33		Food
8/3/2017		Chipolte		10.72		Food
8/3/2017		Eley's		7.02		Groceries
8/5/2017		Walgreens		16.25		Make up
8/5/2017		Chiltepe's/Pie Junkie		24.32		Food
8/6/2017		Petsmart		45.51		Dog food (joint account)
8/6/2017		Crest		43.40		Groceries

Groceries $50.42- Normally Sunday is our shopping day, I had totally planned on not going to the store this week but that didn't happen. When I went to Eley's on Thursday I bought some frozen berries and some ketchup and when I got home I didn't put the berries in the freezer and when I remembered and went to do it the bag had somehow come open and let's just say my kitchen floor enjoyed the berries. I bought stuff for sandwiches so I'm hoping to not spend money on junk food at the gas station this week.

Dog food $45.51- My dog is huge, therefore she eats a lot. We buy 38 pounds (what a weird amount) of dog food about once a month. This is one category that I will never skimp on. My dad is a vet so any vet care we need is seriously discounted, I also take my dad's advice to buy good dog food. We try to get Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach but this time we got Purina Pro Plan Chicken and Rice. Also, this is something that comes out of our joint account (duh) and I'll go into more details in another post about our joint account and what comes out of it. 

Food $45.21- This is not a shock to me. Last week I worked 52 hours and brought my lunch most days... but on the days I worked 12 hour shifts I would take a lunch break and go to the gas station and get snacks. I need to stop doing this for budget and health reasons. On Saturday, I went out with a girlfriend of mine for girl's night out while the boyfriend was at a bachelor party. We went to a Chiltepe's, a Mexican restaurant in a popular area of town and then we went to Pie Junkie for some pie (obviously). 

Make up $16.25- During our move from apartment to house I lost my mascara and my eyeliner. I'm sure that some people would be like, "Joley, do you really need those?" The answer is yes, I'm a ginger and I have blonde eye lashes so when I wear my contacts I have to have eyeliner and mascara or I look dead. 

Gas $15.16- I need gas to get to work. This wasn't a full tank, it normally takes $19-$20 to fill up. I will have to fill up tomorrow before work. 

Grand Total For Week 1= $172.55

I can't say that I'm surprised by my spending for the first week, but I can tell you that I am going to do better next week. I bought deli meat and some veggies for sandwich and right after I post this I am going to make a raspberry lemon oatmeal bake from Budget Bytes.

Wish me luck for Week 2!

Friday Finds!

I don't know if this post can be considered "Friday Finds" since it's almost 9 pm on Friday night when I'm writing it, but I wanted to hop on here and give some blog love! Without further ado, here are some blogs or posts that I found this week that I want to shout out to:

1. How Much Can BillSnip Save You?: Mel over at brokeGIRLrich always writes great posts but this one is by far my favorite one for the week! She talks about a service called BillSnip which is a service that can possibly save you money on some bills! I don't want to give away all the deets in my post so hop on over there and read it! 

2. Millennial Money Diaries: Jing from Millennial Money Diaries does something super awesome on her blog and that is break down EVERY DOLLAR SHE SPENDS during the day. I love that. I seriously spent all day at work yesterday reading her money diaries all the way back to May! 

3. Free Isn't Always Free!: Tyler from I Am The Future Me wrote a post back in December of 2015 (talk about #FlashBackFriday) where he talks about the future costs to accepting a free king size bed. I super love this post because I never thought about the future costs of free things! Thanks Tyler!

Those were my 3 favorite finds from this week, I hope you give them a visit and that you enjoy them as much as I did! 

What were your favorite finds this week? 

Budgets for dayzzz, y'all!

Here is something that probably about 90% of my friends, family and acquaintances know about me: budgeting is my life. There is no exaggerating that fact. I have a note saved in my iPhone of bills and various budget categories, a similar word document saved on my work computer, and multiple little slips of paper in my purse with budget notes written on them at all times.... When I say budgeting is my life, I mean it.

I feel like everyone should have a budget of some sort to help keep track of your money, and make sure your money is working for you. There are tons of different budgeting methods that you can research and try out to see which one fits you best. Or if you're like me, you can take bits and pieces from different methods and make something that is totally your own. 

Here are a few budget methods that you could be a good fit for you:

50/20/30 Budget: 50% of your income goes to "essentials," which are things you HAVE to pay for, such as housing, utilities, food and transportation... 20% of your income would then go to savings... 30% would be "personal expenses," Mint describes those as cell phone bills, gym memberships and coffee shops etc.

Zero Based Budget: This is one of the budget methods that I use to make my custom budget method. A zero based budget is where you "give every dollar a job." This is the preferred budget method of personal finance guru Dave Ramsey recommends. If your paycheck is $1000 then you plan for each of those $1000. 

Envelope/Cash Budgeting: This is another portion of my custom budget method. Basically you figure out how much you need for certain things, let's say $50 for groceries, you put that in an envelope and once that $50 in the grocery envelope is gone then you have no more grocery money until you get paid again. You have to have some self control with this one, you're not supposed to borrow from one envelope to put money in another envelope. If you get to your next payday and you have $10 left in your grocery envelope you can either only put in $40 or you could put in the normal $50 and have some extra for the week.

After you decide which budget method (or if you're like me, which combination of budgets) sounds good for you, it's time to plug in your numbers! Most people will tell you that to create a new budget you need to track your spending for a month, others will tell you that you can go thru your bank statements and figure out where you spend your money. Once you've got that done you can re-evaluate how much you spend on your daily Starbucks trips or in my case, Whataburger.

Now that I've rambled on explained some different budget methods and how to create a budget, I'm going to tie it all together and tell you why this is my first in depth post! I am going to use the month of August to track my spending and start a fresh budget. Honestly, I've never tracked my spending for a month... I just pick a number for my budget categories and go with it, and I'm not saying my budget has been failing me but I know it could be better.

Wish me luck on my August tracking adventure!

Does anyone have any tips on coming up with a new budget? I'm definitely all ears!

Pleased to meet you...

Hi, I’m Joley, and I have credit card debt (Hi, Joley!). 

[Let me go ahead and preface this post by saying, I am not the best writer… There will be grammatical errors in my posts 😊]

I am a 27 year old, living in the Oklahoma City area with my boyfriend and our precious fur baby. We just spent a week (in the miserable Oklahoma heat) moving into a house that has much more room than our tiny apartment had. On top of the more room there is also a nice size backyard where our dog can run around and wear herself out.

I work at a local bank as a teller supervisor, and I can honestly say that for the first time in a long time, I love my job. I have been in banking for 6 years and I wouldn’t want to work in any other field, partially out of comfort (after 6 years, this is all I know!) and partially because I love what I do. 

Why am I writing this blog? Because I’m in debt. 

When I was about 21, I opened my first credit card… It was all downhill from there. Fast forward to today and I am in some serious debt. I say its serious debt but to some people it might not be quite as serious, but for me when I think about it, I want to puke. Luckily I have a super supportive family and group of friends to give me a barf bag or an emotional boost when I’m feeling really bad about it all. 

This is actually my second attempt at blogging my way thru my debt (points if you can figure out what my last blog was called) but this time I’m hoping to be more successful in both paying off the debt, and continuing to blog.  

*All opinions are my own and are in no way the opinions of my employer… (I have to say that.)