End of Jan. wrap up

Wedding news- I have decided to take another short trip to Ohio to look at wedding venues. So far one is $850 or $950 to rent out for the whole day depending if it is a Friday or Saturday. The other place is a lot nicer, but is $1700 or so. This doesn't include catering or decoration, but both places allow you to pick your own caterer which is good. Hopefully I can get a better feel for each place when I visit and my fiance trusts me with whatever choice I feel is best.

Update

So, as of the 2nd week of Feb. my schedule will change to Thurs. and Fri. off. I am so excited as it has been over a year since I have had a Fri. or Sat. night off without having to take a vacation or floating holiday!! Also, I plan on using 2 floating holidays that week so that I can take a 4 day trip to OH. I originally purchased a megabus ticket for $28.50, but had to change it and ended up paying $8 more. Still, $36.50 isn't bad for round trip bus fare for 350+ miles.

Saving, saving, and more saving!!

So my fiance and I have come to an agreement, if I can save $6000 by Sept. 1st to put towards a house down payment, then we can get married in Sept. or Oct. Of course I will also have to be able to afford the wedding which we will probably keep pretty small and I will hopefully have a little help from my family. Time for me to get into super frugal mode. In addition to having my yearly budget I think I am going to do a monthly Budget as well.

End of 2009 Update/ Happy 2010!!!

So even though I had to work on New Year's Eve, I ended up having a wonderful New Year's. My boyfriend, now fiance came to pick me up at midnight and proposed to me!!!!! I wasn't expecting anything until possibly our upcoming anniversary on the 12th. I am so excited to get married. This will definitely require some adjustment in the personal finance department, but will be well worth it in the long run.


I really should have posted this before the New Year, but here are my final 2009 numbers:

Savings: 1400+250= $1650 total saved!!

Starting Debt:
$32,000*

Ending Debt:
$17,490*

Difference:
$14,510*(balance & interest paid)


*I rounded to make the numbers even.

I also completed my goal to get my citi bank loan which was originally $20,500 to under $10,000 and it now stands at $9955!! I think I did a pretty good job this year since my net salary for my full-time job was only $28,000. I am not even sure what my take-home pay was but $28,000-$14,510 is $13,490 which means I lived on even less than that for this whole year!! Once I figure out my net pay for both my full-time and part-time jobs hopefully I can have a more accurate number, but I think those numbers speak for themselves.

I have debated on whether I am truly a "Frugal City Dweller," but with numbers like that to back me up I think I am pretty frugal. At the very least I put more of my income towards debt than living expenses which I am proud of.