I've been out of commission exercise-wise for about a week now. I finally did get to the doctor's on Wednesday and was told I had neck spasms (aka torticollis) that would only go away with muscle relaxers, high dosage ibuprofen and ice packs. Today is Saturday and my neck is still giving me fits. Wah!
To make things worse, hubby and I are going through a rough patch right now so I believe my stress level is partially to blame for my slow recovery time. I made a grave error in judgment, have taken full responsibility for the mistake and now it's just a matter of waiting to see if hubby is willing to meet me halfway. There were some good signs last night so I remain hopeful even while I feel deep hurt and pain caused by my actions.
As for the budget, I decided to pull $50 from my overdraft protection budget. I have about $300 I can use so I'm hoping this $50.00 will help me get through the month without needing to take any loans. I did spend $20.32 in the last 3 days, primarily on food for DH and I since I haven't really been able to stand up and cook for a long period of time without pain (or dizziness from the drugs).
Amount Spent: 20.32
Total Remaining: 33.11 ($50.00 added from overdraft protection account)
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Adventures in Extreme Budgeting - Days Five and Six
Day Five
Tuesdays are my 12 hour teaching days. I'm on campus from 10am to 10pm and by the end of the day, I'm usually exhausted, feet and head hurt and I'm ravenous. I had a hard time getting up because of my neck pain so I ended up leaving the house later than usual and I didn't eat breakfast which is a big no-no for me. I ended up stopping by McDonald's when I got close to my job and spent $3.75 on breakfast. I did pack lunch which was a Lean Pocket, apple and Fiber One bar. But I didn't eat the dinner I packed because I teach from 4-10pm straight through. I wanted to go straight to my car so I left my dinner in the office fridge and went to Jack in the Box for a Jumbo Combo (some of the worst shit you can have if you are supposed to be watching your caloric intake). Spent $4.01 and ended up with the farts for the entire drive home.
Amount Spent: $7.76
Total Remaining: $31.43
Day Six
I finally bit the bullet and went to see a doctor at Urgent Care about my aching neck. That was $15.00 for that visit. The doctor said I was suffering from torticollis (or twisted neck) which results in severe muscle spasms. He said there were any number of causes but torquing my neck seems to be the catalyst. I was given Flexeril (a muscle relaxer), high dosage ibuprofen and told to use ice packs to help reduce the inflammation and swelling. The medicine co-pays came to $10.00. Oh yeah, I also spent $4.00 on lunch since I started getting hungry in the doctor's office. Damn! I've got $3.43 of discretionary spending left. At least, I didn't blow most of it on junk. Health and medicine are expenses I can justify so if I have to pull a little money from one budget to my discretionary spending (without borrowing from anyone), I'll consider this move within the guidelines of the challenge. Normally, I blow discretionary income on magazines, food and other crap.
Amount Spent: 29.00
Total Remaining: $3.43
Tuesdays are my 12 hour teaching days. I'm on campus from 10am to 10pm and by the end of the day, I'm usually exhausted, feet and head hurt and I'm ravenous. I had a hard time getting up because of my neck pain so I ended up leaving the house later than usual and I didn't eat breakfast which is a big no-no for me. I ended up stopping by McDonald's when I got close to my job and spent $3.75 on breakfast. I did pack lunch which was a Lean Pocket, apple and Fiber One bar. But I didn't eat the dinner I packed because I teach from 4-10pm straight through. I wanted to go straight to my car so I left my dinner in the office fridge and went to Jack in the Box for a Jumbo Combo (some of the worst shit you can have if you are supposed to be watching your caloric intake). Spent $4.01 and ended up with the farts for the entire drive home.
Amount Spent: $7.76
Total Remaining: $31.43
Day Six
I finally bit the bullet and went to see a doctor at Urgent Care about my aching neck. That was $15.00 for that visit. The doctor said I was suffering from torticollis (or twisted neck) which results in severe muscle spasms. He said there were any number of causes but torquing my neck seems to be the catalyst. I was given Flexeril (a muscle relaxer), high dosage ibuprofen and told to use ice packs to help reduce the inflammation and swelling. The medicine co-pays came to $10.00. Oh yeah, I also spent $4.00 on lunch since I started getting hungry in the doctor's office. Damn! I've got $3.43 of discretionary spending left. At least, I didn't blow most of it on junk. Health and medicine are expenses I can justify so if I have to pull a little money from one budget to my discretionary spending (without borrowing from anyone), I'll consider this move within the guidelines of the challenge. Normally, I blow discretionary income on magazines, food and other crap.
Amount Spent: 29.00
Total Remaining: $3.43
Monday, February 1, 2010
Adventures in Extreme Budgeting - Day Four
No spending to report for Sunday (Day Three) as I was laid up in bed with a sore and stiff neck and shoulder. Today, I had to run some errands which included mailing a book. I am a member of Paperbackswap.com where I trade used books with other people. I post my books, mail them via media mail and receive credits to order more books. Today, I needed to mail off "Bootcamp for Brides" but I was short $1.00 on postage so I dipped into my "fun" budget to scrounge up a buck. I also had to mail a form extending my reduced payment on my student loans but I searched high and low for a stamp and envelope around the house. This month's budgeting is making me extremely aware of what I'm spending and if I can get away with spending next to nothing each day, so be it.
Day Four
Amount Spent: $1.00
Total Remaining: $39.19 (spent $10 less on my cell phone bill so I'm adding it to the discretionary spending)
Day Four
Amount Spent: $1.00
Total Remaining: $39.19 (spent $10 less on my cell phone bill so I'm adding it to the discretionary spending)
Sidelined with Injury
For the past three days, I've been suffering with intense neck and shoulder pain on my right side. I thought this was a simple strain brought up by sleeping in an awkward position but now that the pain is lingering (and in some cases, getting more intense), I've decided to make a date with the Not-So-Urgent Care clinic on Wednesday to see if I might have Frozen Neck Syndrome. Pain is radiating from the back of my ear through the middle of my upper back. I've tried Advil, heating pads, Icy/Hot cream all to no avail. Unfortunately, tomorrow is my 12-hour teaching day that I cannot miss and I've got a feeling that I'll be popping pills pretty much for the entire day.
Lingering pain, muscle and joint stiffness and longer general recovery time from the aches and strains of getting older is no joke. I exercise pretty regularly but if my body decides to lock up, there isn't much I can do to stop it. This is really one of the aspects of turning 30 (more like 35) that sucks beyond belief. I am more acutely aware of pain than I've ever been before. My recovery time just ain't what it used to be.
Lingering pain, muscle and joint stiffness and longer general recovery time from the aches and strains of getting older is no joke. I exercise pretty regularly but if my body decides to lock up, there isn't much I can do to stop it. This is really one of the aspects of turning 30 (more like 35) that sucks beyond belief. I am more acutely aware of pain than I've ever been before. My recovery time just ain't what it used to be.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Adventures in Extreme Budgeting - Day Two
Not much to report today as I had no discretionary spending. Yay! Keep this up and I might be able to survive this challenge in one piece.
I did, however, do the household grocery shopping and made out like a bandit. I went to Smart and Final, a local non-membership warehouse store, for the bulk of the shopping. I normally go there to purchase big packs of meat, double sized boxes of cereal and cleaning supplies. Our monthly food budget is $200 (for two adults) and I'm a serial food stretcher. I've been known to throw some cooked rice into some scrambled eggs to stretch them. Or toast some bread ends and make bread crumbs for meatloaf instead of buying a canister of bread crumbs. And I never let anything go to waste. A half a pound of meat or fish is just as good as a full pound to me. I just bulk up the meal with vegetables and rice (we basically eat rice everyday although I prefer brown while DH likes white).
Anyway, my goal was to spend under $100 for everything on the list. I ended up spending $81.18 and got double the amount of meat I normally get (which included 6lbs of chicken legs, 2 whole chuck pot roasts, 3lbs of stew meat, 1lb of ham, 3lbs of polish sausage, 2lbs of boneless beef ribs, and 3lbs tilapia) We now have enough meat, rice and vegetables to last for about 2 weeks or more, depending on how I stretch it.
I'm not a big coupon clipper. But I do take advantage of savings cards, always on the look out for manager's specials (particularly on meats that I can freeze and store) and scour the weekly ads beforehand for the best deals and do the bulk of my shopping at that store. Since Smart and Final is a warehouse store, they often don't have everything I need so sometimes I end up clipping some coupons for the supermarkets for the few items I need to get from there.
Since I'm laid up with neck strain from sleeping funky last night, my husband went to go see some scary movie by himself. Good thing because the smell of popcorn would have messed with my resolve to eat better and not spend frivolously.
Day 2
Amount Spent: ZERO
Remaining: 30.19
I did, however, do the household grocery shopping and made out like a bandit. I went to Smart and Final, a local non-membership warehouse store, for the bulk of the shopping. I normally go there to purchase big packs of meat, double sized boxes of cereal and cleaning supplies. Our monthly food budget is $200 (for two adults) and I'm a serial food stretcher. I've been known to throw some cooked rice into some scrambled eggs to stretch them. Or toast some bread ends and make bread crumbs for meatloaf instead of buying a canister of bread crumbs. And I never let anything go to waste. A half a pound of meat or fish is just as good as a full pound to me. I just bulk up the meal with vegetables and rice (we basically eat rice everyday although I prefer brown while DH likes white).
Anyway, my goal was to spend under $100 for everything on the list. I ended up spending $81.18 and got double the amount of meat I normally get (which included 6lbs of chicken legs, 2 whole chuck pot roasts, 3lbs of stew meat, 1lb of ham, 3lbs of polish sausage, 2lbs of boneless beef ribs, and 3lbs tilapia) We now have enough meat, rice and vegetables to last for about 2 weeks or more, depending on how I stretch it.
I'm not a big coupon clipper. But I do take advantage of savings cards, always on the look out for manager's specials (particularly on meats that I can freeze and store) and scour the weekly ads beforehand for the best deals and do the bulk of my shopping at that store. Since Smart and Final is a warehouse store, they often don't have everything I need so sometimes I end up clipping some coupons for the supermarkets for the few items I need to get from there.
Since I'm laid up with neck strain from sleeping funky last night, my husband went to go see some scary movie by himself. Good thing because the smell of popcorn would have messed with my resolve to eat better and not spend frivolously.
Day 2
Amount Spent: ZERO
Remaining: 30.19
Adventures in Extreme Budgeting Challenge - Day One
Well, today was payday. Under more normal circumstances, this would be cause for a small celebration but I'm furloughed (meaning, my salary has been cut by 10% each month) even though my expenses haven't changed. I had already put together a spending plan for the month which included my normal bills: mortgage payment and food, car note and insurance, credit cards, student loan payment, cell phone bill, gas for car. But I also had to add to this list, repayment ofnthe credit card that my husband used to pay for my car repairs in November. I also have to double up on a credit card payment this month because I maxed out the card on basic expenses like gas and food. So yeah, I'm up shit's creek right now and my side hustle doesn't begin until March. In the interim, I will be living off of $40.00. What this means is that my discretionary spending for the month of February is $40 total.
I've never spent less than $100/month on discretionary spending so this is really going to be an adventure in extreme budgeting. However, if I can survive this test, I will be back in the black again and my side-hustle earnings will help boost my payment on my credit cards and allow for some money to go into savings.
I did make two separate discretionary purchases today. The first was for $5.12 from the Dollar Store. I needed to purchase some cassette tapes so I could record an interview I was conducting for an article I'm working on. I found the tapes for $1.60 but the store I was in had a $5 minimum purchase policy in order to use a debit card so I also got some Ziploc bags (which we needed), and a bottle of rubbing alcohol (which we also needed. The second purchase could have been avoided had I not let myself get hungry. I spent $4.69 at Jack-in-the-Box on food I have no business eating. This has to stop. The reason I have no savings and living pay-check to pay-check (besides this furlough mess) is that I'm not planning ahead which in turns means I'm living by default instead of by choice.
Even though I look forward to coming out of the end of February, more financially stable and happy, I've got a feeling that with this challenge, February is going to feel like the longest month on record.
Day 1
Spent: $9.81
Remaining: $30.19
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Closet Shopping (aka Clothes Shopping on an Extreme Budget)
The new semester starts back on Monday and I really need to change my look. Here in California, professors can sort of get away with more casual dress than our counterparts in other places because we have the weather and a "go with the flow" attitude. The problem for me is that my casual look made me look like a student that just doesn't give a damn. It doesn't help that I look no older than 25 years old anyway. But I'm on a EXTREME BUDGET on crack so I also can't just run out and paint the town Nordstrom's, New York and Company or even Old Navy!
As I was scouring clothing websites last night, I saw a pair of gray trousers on sale at Target and decided that first thing in the morning, I'd go see if I could find them. The price was right at $17.99. So off to bed I went with visions of hitting the bargain clothing jackpot. But when I got up this morning the closet door was open for some reason when I noticed a pair of my navy trousers that I hadn't worn in ages because they had become too snug in the waist. But I lost 15 pounds and 15" overall last year (4 of which came from my waist) so I decided to give them a try. Lo and behold, the trousers zipped up easily and they still looked great. Excited by my discovery, I pulled out a pair of red trousers and got the same result. Voila! Just that quickly, I discovered two pairs of dress slacks that I can wear to work. I decided to see what else I could find since I was tired of rotating the same 3 pairs of pairs (two of which were jeans; one pair obviously way too big now that I've lost weight). I ended up finding 3 skirts, 3 slacks, and 5 blouses that I could wear to work. Yipee!
I also pulled out my "Imelda Marcos ain't got nothing on me" selection of black shoes and found a pair of kitten heels that I bought while on vacation and never wore; rediscovered the pointed toe ankle boots that my husband bought for me in 2004; and found a pair of Bandalino kitten heel slingbacks that I got for $30 from Marshall's a little over a year ago. All I really need is a new handbag but I can wait until March to get a new one.
This has to be one of the best shopping sprees ever. I didn't spend a dime. I didn't have to stand in a line or hassle with the dressing rooms or deal with unorganized crap that looks picked over a thousand times over. Some pieces will need to be altered because they're a bit too big in the hips (I'm top-heavy) but I go to a fantastic local cleaners that does amazing alterations and I use coupons to save on my tailoring costs.
This whole exercise taught me that I really need to slow down and think about the stuff I buy before I run off to the shops fully steam ahead without some thought and a plan. For now though, I'm just happy I saved the $17.99 and gas and still came out ahead.
As I was scouring clothing websites last night, I saw a pair of gray trousers on sale at Target and decided that first thing in the morning, I'd go see if I could find them. The price was right at $17.99. So off to bed I went with visions of hitting the bargain clothing jackpot. But when I got up this morning the closet door was open for some reason when I noticed a pair of my navy trousers that I hadn't worn in ages because they had become too snug in the waist. But I lost 15 pounds and 15" overall last year (4 of which came from my waist) so I decided to give them a try. Lo and behold, the trousers zipped up easily and they still looked great. Excited by my discovery, I pulled out a pair of red trousers and got the same result. Voila! Just that quickly, I discovered two pairs of dress slacks that I can wear to work. I decided to see what else I could find since I was tired of rotating the same 3 pairs of pairs (two of which were jeans; one pair obviously way too big now that I've lost weight). I ended up finding 3 skirts, 3 slacks, and 5 blouses that I could wear to work. Yipee!
I also pulled out my "Imelda Marcos ain't got nothing on me" selection of black shoes and found a pair of kitten heels that I bought while on vacation and never wore; rediscovered the pointed toe ankle boots that my husband bought for me in 2004; and found a pair of Bandalino kitten heel slingbacks that I got for $30 from Marshall's a little over a year ago. All I really need is a new handbag but I can wait until March to get a new one.
This has to be one of the best shopping sprees ever. I didn't spend a dime. I didn't have to stand in a line or hassle with the dressing rooms or deal with unorganized crap that looks picked over a thousand times over. Some pieces will need to be altered because they're a bit too big in the hips (I'm top-heavy) but I go to a fantastic local cleaners that does amazing alterations and I use coupons to save on my tailoring costs.
This whole exercise taught me that I really need to slow down and think about the stuff I buy before I run off to the shops fully steam ahead without some thought and a plan. For now though, I'm just happy I saved the $17.99 and gas and still came out ahead.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
