Hello,
Starting school got me off blogging for a bit.
It has been a pretty rough month. Usually by the time school starts, we are okay but not great money wise.
This year, we were skidding. The Dude didn't work for a few months at the beginning of the year, I splurged out on an iPad, we had dental costs, and all this added up to a tight summer. We were just about at living on credit cards stage of the game. So, this is the year that my financial aid doesn't go through smoothly! I didn't put my student ID # on the tax form, and didn't find out until Wednesday of the first week. Financial Aid is having a whole host of other issues this year, and I am looking at 5-6 weeks before I will get my check. Even though work started on the 13th, we don't get our first paycheck until the 10th of Sept. Luckily the Dude is making good money and gets cash tips, but it has still been scary.
I was given the option of a $2000 emergency loan, to tide us over.This is good. It costs $10 and will come out of my loan money before my money reaches me. So, we should have been okay. Then my computer died! It was 6 or 7 years old and the screen went nasty. It is back to school time, so we were able to score a pretty good deal, but of course a big chunk of the money is tied up in rebates, which will also reach us in 5-6 weeks. And I still have to send those rebate forms in. Luigi is playing flute this year, and the entire rental for the school year went through, instead of just the first month. $250. And Rin is playing bass clarinet, to the tune of $150 for the first payment. And then there was rent for a month, and the $2000 is gone.Very disappointing how things pile up at once. But we should be okay. However, good that we are learning to spend less.
We have had some expenses. I have started tracking them on my iPad. Rin has gone goth and needed hair dye. There have been some trips to the coffee shop, a Subway sandwich or two, a movie and a drag show. We also paid for parking a couple of days. For weeks 10-13, there has been $60 on unneeded stuff. Not great.
In positive news, we are stocking up on produce at great prices, and getting better at using it up.We are freezing peaches today: 25 pounds for $16!
The Dude and I have each lost 30 pounds on South Beach. New clothing purchases may go into the need category soon
