Surviving the Summer!

DFA made all my dreams come true

This entry is going to be a bit all over the place, and I apologize in advance if you lose track of what’s going on, but I just have so much to update you on! The first thing worth mentioning is that I survived Bluesfest. No, not because the main stage collapsed and nearly killed some people, but because I made it through financially! Normally, I easily spend about $500 on this summer music festival and this year I spent well under $100 total. The festival is a 2 week affair and I managed to only go on two days (the best 2 of course) and only buy 2 beers and one bag of the best freaking popcorn EVER.  The tickets are normally $40 each if you don’t buy them in advance, but I was so lucky to have some friends who kept their ears open for me and I got each ticket for $20 and $25 dollars respectively! It was practically two for the price of one! The beers on the other hand, well they were a bit pricey at $6.50 each (I think, I honestly don’t really remember since I was drinking before the show too) and the popcorn was a steal of a deal at $5 for a bag (I’m telling you, this popcorn is un-freaking-believable) – total comparable savings (this year to last year): $437 – WOW! I realize that I did pretty darn well in saving this money, but I think that it’s safe to say that the one thing I miss most from my past spending habits is the amount of concerts I used to go to. I really love music and I especially like to support independent artists so I really try to stay out of the loop when bands come into town. The major aspect I miss about not going to shows is that now I see some of my friends a little less as a result, but they understand and now that I have proven myself with my frugality, they seem to get it. I did get to see the Black Keys, DFA 1979, and Mother Mother with my friends, so I think I got a heck of a deal for what I ended up paying overall!

Apparently this is what a cakewalk is...

In other exciting news, I just got back from my first day at my new job and let me tell you – I think I’m going to do really well! I’m definitely feeling optimistic about how this new job is going to work out for me. I’m extra excited to see what my new paycheck is going to look like, i.e. how much faster can I get this debt paid off! There are always so many deductions and now I’ll be in a new income tax bracket, so I’ll just have to wait and see what happens I guess. Truth be told, the money is nice, but I will miss my old job; the team that I worked with really got my sarcastic sense of humour and they were just all around smart, friendly, and attractive group of people. It’s tough when you find a job you love but you plateau because there are no other opportunities available in your office; but I definitely feel lucky to have opportunities present themselves to me instead of having to go out and look for a job like so many others in this $hitty economy. Although, right now is just the honeymoon phase of my new job, so I am still a bit apprehensive about getting into the mindset that it will be a cakewalk. If it doesn’t go well, you know you will hear me bit¢h about it on this blog!

In case you have been wondering what has been happening with my whole lost/stolen wallet fiasco, I am happy to report that I finally have all my cards back. The police called me last week to tell me that since the amount of money that was actually stolen from my wallet and the actual cost of the contents of my wallet was so insignificant that they were closing my case – which I totally agree with. There really was no reason to keep the case going and waste police resources, but I’m still glad I filed a report in the event that someone did eventually get caught with my precious deer wallet and $2 bill! I learned a couple more interesting things about the loss of my credit card though. The first was that it takes forever for them to send a replacement card. I got my credit card weeks later than my health card and drivers license. The second thing I learned was that you can still make payments to your MasterCard using the number of the old account; they just keep a linkage to all of your past numbers and the payments go through like magic. However, there is no way to purchase anything with your credit card until you receive a physical copy in the mail. This is obviously a smart idea otherwise some jacka$$ could call in and jot down your number and start spending away all willy nilly. Oh, and remember that special ‘limited time offer’ that they gave me to increase my credit limit? Well they made the same offer again. It was really annoying! I can’t wait for when I get to call them back and have the amount lowered to $5,000!

My debt doesn't wear pants.

Now there’s a bit of crappy news. My savings account has been decimated! Since I was unable to access my credit and it took forever for my boss to approve my vacation, I had to spend over $700 on a return flight for my brother’s wedding. Let’s just say the service better be excellent and freaking sexy. My savings has plummeted down to a pathetic $400, but my new action plan to boost it back up seems to be right on track. Instead of the measly 10% I contributed before, I now have 15% to play around with, and it certainly makes a difference. I also forgot to mention that I still haven’t even filed for my medical costs and I have three paychecks coming in August! That could really be a kick in the pants for both my savings and my debt repayment. Alright, I am now sitting at 26.83% of my debt paid off and I only have 6.17% to go before I have 33% paid off! My goal was to be at that percentage by the end of October, but I think I am about ready to blow that figure out of the water! Wish me luck!