About the Money, Honey

In an attempt to be less poorer, I made an appointment  earlier this week with a very knowledgeable man who I will call Mr. LeLender. He is a bank guy and is known for his way with money. He can save like an absolute boss, and I figured a little sit down with him might give me some ideas about how I can stop hemorrhaging money and start squirreling away for my future...Remember, I am almostthirty!

When I whipped out my spreadsheet that I had prepared (because I am SERIOUS this time), he was duly impressed. Not only was he impressed, but he told me I am actually not that bad off...WHO KNEW?! With the money I have left over from my absolutely must pay bills, he claims I have quite a bit of money to pay down my credit card debt and stash in my savings account. Eureka!

Hold up. If I have money, where the heck is it? ...What I had failed to factor into my monthly finances were the trips to Target (Who can leave there without spending at least $50?!) and my daily eating out expenses.

Oh right. Food...

Monday- Coffee at Dunks in the AM and dinner at Sal's Pizza.
Tuesday- Coffee at Dunks in the AM and dinner at Siam Orchid or Moritomo or Dos Amigos or Boloco...OR MAYBE a grilled cheese.
Wednesday- Coffee at Dunks in the AM and dinner at Siam Orchid or Moritomo or Dos Amigos or Boloco...OR MAYBE fish, couscous, and a veggie.
Thursday- Coffee at Dunks in the AM and dinner at Siam Orchid or Moritomo or Dos Amigos or Boloco...
Friday- Coffee at Dunks in the AM and dinner at Remi's or The Barley House or Hermanos or The Common Man
Saturday- A garlic bagel and coffee (or a latte if I'm feeling luxe) at The Works in the AM. For lunch, perhaps Live Juice or In a Pinch or...wild card. Followed by dinner somewhere depending on which city I am in that weekend.
Sunday- A bagel and coffee (or a latte if I'm feeling like a high roller), lunch somewhere at The Works in the AM. Lunch is usually purchased at Live Juice or a sandwich place and then dinner is usually cooked at home.

Yikes. After typing up that very real schedule of take-out and eat out, I guess it's no wonder I always find myself coming up dangerously close to $100 to my name at the end of a pay period. I really should feel more embarrassment about this...To be frank, as I am writing, I just ordered a delicious hot chocolate from True Brew Cafe at Gibson's Bookstore: Goodbye, $3.00! Although yesterday, yes, yesterday (snow day!) I also had a hot mid-day writing hot chocolate, it cost $3.50. Same size. Same place. Look at me saving money!

Anyways, after speaking with Mr. LeLender, I walked away feeling optimistic about my financial future. He made some suggestions that I went home immediately and implemented:

1. Pay off my Banana Republic credit card and then NEVER use it again...We'll see about that last part- the $10 bonus cash is irresistible.
2. Increase the amount I deposit into my secret savings and then stop robbing from myself.
3. Start an additional savings account for Christmas expenses, which inevitably sneak up and screw me every year...Merry Fricken Christmas! Enjoy that thoughtful gift card I bought you with my secret savings money!
4. Quit eating all my money... Twice this week I ate in. Wednesday night I enjoyed a delectable tuna melt and tomato soup a la the roomie fantastic, and last night I embarked on a culinary journey to make linguini and artichoke hearts with a squash medley. (The journey included cutting the squash, boiling the linguine and opening a can of artichoke hearts and dumping them into a skillet with tomato sauce...tricky stuff.)

For 2014 and especially in the 64 days leading up to the end of my almostthirty era, I want to feel abundance. After doing some serious soul searching, I have come to realize that coming from a place of scarcity leads me to make foolish decisions and only furthers my intense anxiety surrounding money. I intend to work with abundance in my heart and mind and make wiser choices about how I spend the money I have. In order to feel abundance you must act with abundance. I'm still figuring out just what that will look like, but I know that it is possible. Here's to following my Core Desired Feelings! (If you don't know about these- watch this video by the genius Danielle LaPorte- you must.)

The Desire Map

Daniell has not only inspired me to address my money issues in a new way, but she has ultimately helped me transform my desire to write into the courage to write. With the encouragement and partnership of my best friend for life (BFFL), Kate, my words are flowing more fluidly than ever! We have so many ideas that we teamed up to create a blog chronicling our friendship and adventures. Please check out our joint effort: Project Themoir.


Peace and Pizza,

-Krystal

P.S. I meant to celebrate Dry-uary this month. As in, not drinking until February. As you can see by the glass in the picture, I lasted one day.