Last Weekend of 2008!

Since I was at home and mostly house-bound due to the extreme snow conditions, I did not spend too much. I went to a party with a friend on Saturday and shopping on Sunday before my flight back to California. I had a wonderful holiday and it's good to be "home," though it's still weird to think of this city as my new home.

Friday
$0, I spent the day at home with my family (we were snow-bound almost all week!)

Saturday
$4.46, 7-11

Sunday
$63.11, New tote! (I used the rest of my holiday bonus to pay for it and I have $15.28 leftover that will go into my Travel Fund.)

Total: $67.57 (This was all I spent from Friday, December 19th until yesterday!)

2008 In Review

This has by far been an incredible and interesting year!

Personal
I spent time in NYC for New Year's (and my last Spring Break) and I took a university course in India for 3 weeks in January. I graduated college, got a job in my industry of choice and started this blog after becoming engrossed in the world of personal finance. I learned to budget on an entry-level salary, got my wisdom teeth pulled, broke up with my boyfriend of 1.5 years and got a promotion. I also went on 2 dates with a new guy.

Financial
I watched as the economy (and the financial markets) spiraled downwards. All I can say is, I am glad to be young in such tumultuous times! I have been contributing 6% to my Roth 401k at work to garner the full 3% match since becoming eligible in October. I opened a Roth IRA at Vanguard. I started saving with my very first paycheck and have over $4K in my emergency fund as well as some savings in a travel fund, gift fund and car maintenance fund. I received a holiday bonus at work, of which I saved some and splurged as well.

I am looking forward to 2009: the first week will include the beginnings of my training for my new position and my 23rd birthday! I'm off to Vegas tomorrow for New Year's and the long weekend.

Happy New Year!! :)

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate it) and are enjoying the holiday season. I have had a great and relaxing (if a bit boring!) week with my parents and younger brother. I'm almost finished with my second book as I type this.

Today was fantastic and I received great gifts: clothes, a spice rack, a food processor, 3 cookbooks and a purse, among a few other smaller items like a globe paperweight and a world map with pins for my cubicle. (Sensing a few themes there?!)

I always feel spoiled but my parents always say they want to give more - lol. I'm just happy to know that they are very financially stable and can afford to buy lots of gifts for my brother and I during the holidays.

Merry Christmas! :)

Bachelorette Party

The first of my very close girlfriends is getting married in June. This morning, I received an e-mail from her sister-in-law who is planning her bachelorette party! I am very excited to be invited and I think it will be a blast, even though I only know the bride-to-be. The plans are to do a wine tasting weekend for 2 nights in May. While I am not a huge wine connoisseur (I drink white zinfandel and the occasional white), I think this would be a lot of fun to have a girl's weekend.

My friend's sister-in-law said that the tentative cost for the weekend would be $200, which would include accomodations, 1 nice dinner and wine-tasting. (My initial reaction is that this approximate price is a bit low... what about the other meals?)

That said, these are the types of trips that my Travel Fund is for! The majority of what is in my TF will be depleted from my upcoming Vegas trip, but each month I save $50 automatically plus I put the occasional extra income or monthly budget leftovers in there as well. I am glad I have been notified so far in advance, so I can plan to save for it, too! :)

Have you ever done a bachelorette party/weekend? Any advice/tips?

Done Christmas Shopping!

I was able to get to the mall this afternoon to finally buy my Christmas present for my Mom. What I got her ended up being on sale and cost me $63. Since I had $90.07 left in my Gift Fund, the remaining $27.07 will be put into my Travel Fund to help with Vegas!

On another travel note, my parents offered to pay for my Vegas flight as my birthday present since I won't be home to celebrate! So, the $190 that I paid for the flight is going straight back into my Travel Fund. Hooray!

"Deep Freeze"

At least, that's what the news is calling the storm that is happening in my home state at the moment. I'm glad I arrived when I did on Friday, as the airport has been nothing short of a disaster since Saturday. However, my family and I have been cooped up inside as the roads are now layers of snow upon ice upon snow upon more ice. Dangerous!

The worst part? I was planning on buying my Mom's Christmas present when I got here. I'm hoping the roads are clear before the 24th so I can make a quick trip to the store. (I know exactly what I am getting her and unfortunately it is not available online but it is in stores.)

At least the snow is fun to play in and watch! Plus I'm all cozy with blankets, chai and my family. :)

Happy Holidays!

I am home in the Northwest until the 28th. It's wonderful to be back with my family (including my younger brother, who just returned from a semester abroad in Europe) and our dog. The house is beautifully decorated for Christmas by my Mom and there are all sorts of yummy things to eat. It's nice to get all my favorite meals while I am home!

It's a perfect white winter wonderland here with another snowstorm expected tonight. That means I'll be inside for the entire week, though that will certainly include a few restaurants/bars with old friends - some $ has to be spent, right? ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday wherever you are!