It was a very active and relatively low-spend weekend. Did a 10-mile run/walk to my Saturday Zumba class, took line-dance lessons at a country bar Saturday night, and then another 5 mile hike on Sunday. Luckily, dance rehearsal got cancelled. Otherwise, I don't think I would have made it out of bed today.

In other news, I've been obsessing over the Vegas trip. Need to make a bucket list and start fine tuning a realistic budget for the trip. I also need to refigure my goals for the year (the car and personal loan). I think they'll still be doable even with the trip, but that will depend largely on my yearly evaluation which happens within the next month. Fingers crossed that it's as big a bump as everyone's leading me to believe...

So

this happened earlier in the week. Now I'm faced with a new goal of saving for an efficient, but fun vacation. Looking Forward mentioned something called MyVegas. I looked it up and now I'm hooked. Basically, you play slots for the the chance to earn real rewards like buffets, show tickets, and yes, even comped rooms. I'm hoping to be able to use these rewards by my trip to help defray the cost. Even three rewards at $40 each will save me $120. I'm also trying to get my family to play as each person can only redeem three rewards, but so far they haven't shown much interest in it.

Added bonus: by the time, I actually make it to Vegas, I will probably be all gambled out...

Yesterday, I made a choice. It's not one I regret as this was a goal I've wanted far longer than I've been wanting to get out of debt.

Frontier Airlines was running a special sale. Tickets from Dulles to Vegas were $15 one-way. The other way was $109. Altogether it was about $125/person. While I want to go to Vegas, my mom was the real motivation behind the purchase. She's always wanted to go (she loves casinos, but just the penny machines ). I've been wanting to surprise her with a trip for years. (Last Christmas, I framed a Vegas skyline puzzle and she asked me if it came with a plane ticket...) I decided it was worth the $250 to knock off one of her bucket list items.

...But it didn't stop there. I went ahead and also got them for my brothers. To be fair, this is all of our presents for Christmas this year, so that $400 I budgeted for November and December will be open for debt repayment.

All told (stretch seating for two people), 4 round-trip tickets from DC to Vegas for $610. Not a bad deal in my humble opinion.

We've also already worked out tentative plans for the pets and my mom is going to look into using her credit card points for the hotel. (She also gets free hotel offers from the sister casinos of the one here, so we may also be able to use those.)

For the next few months, I will take $100/month and put aside all snowflakes into a new Vegas account in Capital One 360. This will be our first ever real vacation as a family and even though we're all adults, I've never been more excited!

Quick Editor's Note: I did not go into more debt to fund this, but it will be taken out of the money I allot to debt repayment. There are some other opportunities in the works that will hopefully offset this minor setback that I will elaborate on later.

I went way overboard. Part of it was last-minute plans that cropped up.

Saturday I went on a blind date. When I date, I usually offer to split the bill. Never have I been taken up on the offer, but it's a polite gesture. This guy said 'Sure. Okay.' If there wasn't already 0 chance of a second date, that'll do it. (I'm thinking he took me up on it because he could tell I wasn't interested...)

On Friday afternoon, I made brunch plans with a former coworker. We're trying to get her back for a program, so I met her Sunday morning. There goes another 20 bucks.

My brothers and I hadn't coordinated Mother's Day plans. Turns out, the little one and myself were planning to go home and surprise her. The older one (who lives at home) mentioned that she'd been really sad because she was having trouble streaming Frozen. We also both planned to pick up Frozen on DVD for her. So the little one got the movie and I got food so she didn't have to cook.

All in all, most of the expenses were worth it. All I can do is try to be better next time...

It's status quo over here. I'm hoping the dance gig kicks in more soon. Trying to make this weekend a no spend weekend except for one check that I have to turn over for some cheer gear for the coaching gig.

I'm also debating surprising my mom for mother's day. She already got her present, but I may pop in for the day to say hi since my ex used my car today and was nice enough to fill the gas tank.

So I got paid for my first show. It was supposed to be 50, but she gave me $75 since I did a solo and was basically one of the main dancers. Normal shows are $100 which is way more than I had thought. Side note: this month is Pacific Islander month, so hopefully there will be the opportunity to do a few more shows this month.

I also cashed out my dietbet winnings. $74 and change to lose 10 lbs. I'll take that!!

Unfortunately this money won't go to snowflaking my car. I'm still having major problems getting my credit card spending under control, so I'm using both of those to pay the card to avoid taking extra money from my car payment. (I'm hoping to get this under control in the next month or so as that extra spending was for bike and show stuff.)

Had my first Polynesian show last night. What a rush! I even did a solo because we were short on dancers. The woman who runs the program seemed impressed (although she did say I had to work my fast hip movement...). She gave me 75 since I went for it and did the solo. Shows are normally 100. I volunteered to do a lot more. She said they were waiting to see how I did in NY first one, but I think they'll book me more now. I'd much rather spend my Saturday nights getting exercise and making money

I went from nothing happening to lots happening. What's that saying about 'when it rains, it pours'...

Made some major decluttering progress. Spent yesterday switching out clothes. Ended up with a bag that I donated to Goodwill containing the clothes and some of the items I couldn't freecycle. I also set up the Pet and Car Accounts in Capital One 360. I'm not putting a whole lot to either for now, so it will be awhile until they're useful, but they're there and the payments (however small) are automated. The list stands at:

Switch out winter shoes (Done)
Switch out winter clothes (Done)
Donate unused clothing to trim down clothing collection (Done)
Break budget down further/set up maintenance accounts (Done)
Clean up work emails (Done)
Clean up/organize work computer documents (In progress - this will not be done in April, but I was able to do quite a bit this month)
Clean car (Done and it's shockingly still clean!!)
Cash out change bank (I counted this and it's less than 10 bucks, so I've decided to let it build)
Organize makeup and throw out old makeup
Read all fashion magazines or get rid of them (50% Done - every time I seem to make progress, I find another stack)
Freecycle things I haven't touched in months (Done)
Identify 3 items to list on Ebay (66% Done - found two and listing them on Craigslist instead as their small)
Organize cheer goodies box (Done)

Later this week, I'll share some of the unexpected upfront expenses from my new jobs, the results of my foray into social dieting, and an extremely impulsive purchase that I don't really regret at all. Told you it's pouring...

Got my adjusted phone bill from when I

switched phone plans. Apparently the combination is even cheaper than the second plan (135/month) because the bill for the month where I was partially in my first plan and partially in the new one came to 119. I'm one very happy girl

I know I promised an actual numbers update Tuesday, but when I started the draft, I realized it would be more prudent to wait until May so the numbers would reflect all of April.

Haven't made too much additional de-cluttering progress. I did find two more batches of magazines cleaning up last weekend, so I'm bringing those home for my upcoming 3 day weekend. De-cluttering and organizing stands at:

Switch out winter shoes (Done)
Switch out winter clothes
Donate unused clothing to trim down clothing collection
Break budget down further/set up maintenance accounts (90% Done - just have to actually set up the accounts)
Clean up work emails (Done and inbox is still on 1 pg)
Clean up/organize work computer documents (In progress)
Clean car (Done)
Cash out change bank (Hellooo snowflake!)
Organize makeup and throw out old makeup
Read all fashion magazines or get rid of them (50% Done)
Freecycle things I haven't touched in months (Done)
Identify 3 items to list on Ebay (Still searching...)
Organize cheer goodies box (Done)

I haven't done an actual financial update in a bit, and payday is next Tuesday, so I'll update my totals after that.

Happy Friday!!

So a little bit ago, I wrote about my two potential

part-time jobs. I must be crazy...or really bored...because I've decided to take both of them. Tonight is try-outs, and I will be helping select next year's team. Rehearsals for the polynesian dance job are every Sunday evening. It's a lot of fun, and I'm not nearly as terrible as I thought I would be. Shows are flexible, but I was told they're pretty much every weekend during the summer. I get to choose which ones I can/want to do, so I can make as little or as much as I want with it.

I honestly think it will probably break even when you consider the gas I use to drive to rehearsals every week, but it's a lot of fun, great exercise, and keeps me busy, so I'm less likely to go out shopping.

I think I will make some money from the cheerleading job, but the stipends don't get paid until the end of the season. I've already thought through some potential options for cutting gas costs since I will be driving a lot more than I currently do.

Does organizing pounds count too? Today, I shed some extra and put some where they need to be by running/walking 4 miles to the gym, doing an hour-long zumba class and walking back home.

After resting for a bit, I had an incredible amount of energy, so I organized my box of treats that I use to fill my cheerleaders' goody bags. They're now all neatly organized in little containers. I also went through a box of crafts I'd gotten from Freecycle, picked what I wanted for the cheer box, tossed the unusable stuff, and put the rest back to freecyle again. I also found an old Polaroid camera, some kids hangers, and a cookbook to freecycle.

I found another pile of magazines under my bed, so I'm spending my relaxing Saturday night flipping through those and then I'll try to freecycle the pile before recycling them.

All that plus laundry. Boomskis!!

Yesterday, I had a

flat tire. Since they do a complimentary car wash, I decided the afternoon would be a good time to tackle cleaning. I forgot to take pictures (and even if I had, I'm still not completely sure how to even upload pictures...), but it's so nice and pretty now! It took awhile as the dog hair gets stuck in the seats, but I finally got it to a presentable condition. This weekend, I hope to tackle the cheer goodies/freecycle/eBay tasks. Happy Friday!

Switch out winter shoes (Done)
Switch out winter clothes
Donate unused clothing to trim down clothing collection
Break budget down further/set up maintenance accounts (Done)
Clean up work emails (Done)
Clean up/organize work computer documents (In progress...)
Clean car (DONE!)
Cash out change bank (Hellooo snowflake!)
Organize makeup and throw out old makeup
Read all fashion magazines or get rid of them (90% Done)
Freecycle things I haven't touched in months
Identify 3 items to list on Ebay
Organize cheer goodies box

So, I drove to work today like any other day. Except that today my tire pressure light came on. My car's been running a little louder than normal, but I figured it was struggling to get out of the winter blues and just need an oil change. When the light came on, I thought 'Oh, that's why it's been running weird. I get to work, and drumroll please...

My tire's flat...not just flat, but flaaaaatt.

Now, I get to take it in this afternoon. The oil change had been budgeted out of the extra money I throw at my debts, but now I'm faced with a decision, tap the EF or take more from the debt repayment fund. I budgeted 470 for my next paycheck to go to my car. 300 will bring it to 7 grand and (lots of) change.

Should I put that 170 to any additional car costs or tap the emergency fund? I don't feel like this is a true emergency, but I also don't want to derail my debt repayment too much...thoughts? Advice? General musings?

So a few months back, before I started this blog, my EF was right at the 1000 that Dave Ramsey prescribed...and then my ex happened. It's a whole big story, but the short version is that even though we're broken up, I lent him money (about 450) because he's going through a rough time. Like I usually do when I willingly give away money (which really only happens with very close friends/family), I counted the money gone. Thus, my EF is about 550. Lo and behold, the ex called today with 300 to give me. Color me surprised! I'm going to put 200 back to the EF and keep the other 100 for the circus on Friday (not that I'm going to spend 100 of course!).

Side note...has anyone seen the new $100 bills? They look so cartoonish.

Only made some minor progress this weekend. Set up two additional savings account for specific expenses: pet fund and car expenses. There will only be a very minimal amount going into these accounts, so they'll take some time to build up, but it's a start.

Also, got rid of the fashion magazines, minus two. So the list stands at:

Switch out winter shoes (Done)
Switch out winter clothes
Donate unused clothing to trim down clothing collection
Break budget down further/set up maintenance accounts (50% Done)
Clean up work emails (Done)
Clean up/organize work computer documents
Clean car
Cash out change bank (Hellooo snowflake!)
Organize makeup and throw out old makeup
Read all fashion magazines or get rid of them (90% Done)
Freecycle things I haven't touched in months
Identify 3 items to list on Ebay
Organize cheer goodies box

I've been looking for additional ways to make some money/fill my time. A couple of the things I've looked into are polynesian dance and coaching cheer. Both of these are ads I found on Craigslist. My first polynesian dance rehearsal is Sunday, and that really only pays 10/hr for actual gigs, so I have to decide whether it's worth the drive for rehearsals/gigs. It does sound like a lot of fun and not too commitment heavy, so I may give it a shot for a bit and see how I like it.

The cheerleading position is a bit tougher choice. I currently coach for the local youth cheerleading team in the fall and winter in a strictly volunteer capacity. While it is still not certain, I received a tentative offer to assistant coach the varsity squad of a local high school. Given my full-time job and living arrangement, I don't have a substantial amount of free time. However, it seems like practices will somewhat fit in with my schedule and both my job and babysitting family are flexible and willing to work with me. Here's where I stand:

The Pros: It's paid. It's coaching at a higher skill level than recreational which would be more challenging and fun for me. I'd get to choreograph on a more competitive level.

The Cons: The pay is paltry, especially considering that I'd be adding a 25 minute commute twice/day 2-3 times/week. I'd be leaving my current girls, some of whom have been with me from the beginning. I'd be losing the friends I've built in the other adult coaches. The older girls in my current organization may find themselves without a coach as I'm usually the only one willing to coach the older girls.

Any thoughts/advice? How did you decide whether or not a part-time job was worth the effort?

I haven't made as much of a dent as I'd like in my challenge, but I did manage to clean out my work emails. From 152 down to 43. I'm one of those who likes to keep my inbox sparse, so once it goes over to the next page, it starts to bug me...Tonight, I have lots of laundry that's been waiting patiently to be put away. And my weekend goal will be the magazines since I'll be at my mom's.

In other news...My dog's fifth birthday was yesterday! Since he lives with my mom, I'm going to go home tonight and spend the weekend with him. This usually involves a gas fill-up and a trip to PetSmart for either his food or some special treats. We also spend a fair amount of time at the dog park, but that costs me nothing I was debating buying him some brand new toy, but the reality is that he has his favorites and loves playing at the dog park/being outside more than some new toy. So I plan to bring a book, maybe pack a light lunch, and just let him enjoy being outside all day long.

Since I'm more likely to accomplish it if I have a list, here's the things I'd like to do:

Switch out winter shoes (Done!)
Switch out winter clothes
Donate unused clothing to trim down clothing collection
Break budget down further/set up maintenance accounts
Clean up work emails
Clean up/organize work computer documents
Clean car
Cash out change bank (Hellooo snowflake!)
Organize makeup and throw out old makeup
Read all fashion magazines or get rid of them
Freecycle things I haven't touched in months
Identify 3 items to list on Ebay
Organize cheer goodies box

I'll try and revisit this weekly.