June Expenses

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Here is the summary of my June expenses.

Rent/Household

$481.30

Utilities

$116.85

Transportation

$615.73

Food

$126.50

Medical/Dental

$218.22

Entertainment

$64.63

Debt

$108.64

Total

$1781.37

The Utilities total includes the purchase of a new cell phone and my last natural gas bill. With not having those expenses in July this total should come down significantly. The transportation total includes a parking ticket,car repair, insurance, personal property tax, and registration. Since none of these expenses should recur this month this total should also be reduced significantly. I spent too much on food last month, I plan to cut that down to $75 for this month. My entertainment expense should be slightly lower this month.

My medical/dental expense will be larger this month because I’m having lots of dental work done. I hope to use any money saved from cutting other expense categories to pay down my debt so the debt expense total should also increase.

Festival of Frugality #81

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Welcome to Tight Fisted Miser and the Festival of Frugality. If this is your first time here I invite you to browse the archives after you read the Festival posts. If you like what you see go ahead and subscribe to my feed.

Since today is Independence Day in Belarus and tomorrow is the 4th of July here in the United States(and lots of other places) I decided to include some related tidbits of trivia.

There were a lot of entries this week and I did my best to divide them into categories. Although there were some entries that I didn’t think were completely on topic I’ve included all posts except for some multiple submissions. I’ve had a couple of people write that they were not able to get the carnival form to work so I apologize to anyone whose submission was left out. Ok, On to the Festival!

Editor’s Picks

“A penny saved is a penny earned.” Benjamin Franklin. In addition to being a pioneer of frugality, at age 70 he was the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Shannon Christman presents Ten “Necessities” That Really Aren’t posted at Saving Advice. I agree with this list although I do use some of the items.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Does Size Matter: How Small A House Are You Willing To Live In? posted at The Digerati Life.
I really like these tiny houses but I think it would be simpler to just live in a van down by the river.

The Happy Rock presents Benefits And Drawbacks Of Spending Cash posted at The Happy Rock. I think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks although I’m sure many will disagree.

Mark McGuire presents How NOT to go to a Bar or a Club posted at TheLocoMono Website. This post shows how you can be a Tight Fisted Miser and still have a social life.

Clever Dude presents Frugality is more than just saving money at Clever Dude Personal Finance & Money posted at Clever Dude Personal Finance. My thoughts exactly.

Saving Money and Debt

The continental was paper money issued by the Continental Congress to pay for the costs of the American Revolution. Due to over-issue and lack of confidence in the government, the notes were soon nearly worthless-“not worth a continental.” According to John Witherspoon, the New Jersey clergyman who signed the Declaration of Independence, “For two or three years we constantly saw and were informed of creditors running away from their debtors, and the debtors pursuing them in triumph, and paying them without mercy.”

Super Saver presents Lessons From My Mom – Save For Big Ticket Items posted at My Wealth Builder.

Eric Stanley presents Saving Money – A Top Strategy For Saving Money posted at Personal Finance Blog Articles.

Tim Ramsey presents Reduce Credit Card Debt Quickly posted at My Debt Relief Blog.

Aaron Wakling presents Boat Show Financing – Never, Ever Use It posted at The Credit & Credit Card Blog.

Warren Wong presents Grow Your Pile Of Money posted at Personal Development for INTJs.

Stephanie presents Payday Loans posted at Stop the Ride!.

Free Stuff

“Live Free or Die” is the official state motto of New Hampshire. New Hampshire was one of the original 13 states. It’s neighboring state of Vermont was not one of the original states.
Apparently great frugal minds think alike. I’ve been meaning to look further into this couchsurfing thing.

Moorea presents How to Live and Travel Rent Free: House-sitting and Couch-Surfing! posted at Queercents.

MoneyChangesThings presents CouchSurfing: They Leave the Light On For You posted at Money Changes Things.

PiggyBank Raider presents Free (And Useful) Tools! posted at PiggyBank Raid.

Dorky Dad presents Visit Amusement Parks for FREE! posted at Trying to get it right.

Creative Frugality and Frugal Philosophy

Amy Allen Clark presents How to Construct an Airing Rack posted at The MotherLoad.

K T Cat presents The iPhone and Sushi posted at The Scratching Post.

Wallowgirl presents The Pros and Cons of Henna Hair Coloring posted at Wallowing in debt.

Thomas Humes presents Wealth Creation- Don?t Start With the Wrong Concept of Wealth posted at Wealth Building World.

Mer presents 11 Simple Kitchen Solutions that Really Work posted at Living Behind The Curve.

Katie McKay presents I Am 26 Years Old and My Mom Cuts My Hair | The Frugal Law Student posted at The Frugal Law Student.

Shadox presentsToilet Paper posted at Active Duty Military Money and Matters.

Dough Roller presents A Frugal Way to Buy a Mac or iPod posted at The Dough Roller.

DHM presents Drastic Budgeting in the Kitchen posted at The Common Room.

FFB presents The $7.99 VIN check posted at Family Finance Blog.

j2r presents Grocery Shop Club Cards – A little secret | journey2retirement.com Blog posted at Journey2Retirement.

FMF presents Save Money with a Whole-House Fan posted at Free Money Finance.

inswatch presents The Importance of Comparison Shopping posted at Home Insurance Guide.

Argonautica presents Avoid Vet Prices and Save Big on Pet Meds posted at Golden Fleece Blog.

KRG presents Food And Nutrition Programs: Government Assistance Part I posted at FILAM PERSONAL FINANCE.

Annette Berlin presents 10 Money Saving Vacation Tips posted at Frugal Journey.

Tiffany presents You Beautiful Cheapskate posted at Natural Family Living Blog.

MoneyNing presents Groceries That Help Make Us Rich posted at Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning.

Ted Reimers presents Cheap Colleges posted at CampusGrotto College Blog.

Mr Credit Card presents Using My Reward Points to Save on My Summer Vacation (Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog) posted at Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog.

MoneyDummy presents All Those Crazy Coupons! posted at One Money Dummy Getting Smarter.

Everything Else

Wenchypoo presents Who Needs Universal Health Care? posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Money Limerick Contest Results – And The Winners Are? posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

Jason Elder presents Understanding Chapter 12 Bankruptcy posted at A Bankruptcy Lawyer’s Blog.

The Skilled Investor presents How to lie with statistics: Investment performance charts ? A Tip from The Skilled Investor posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog.

Allen Taylor presents Investing – Gold Shares – The Leverage Factor posted at Investing World Today.

Eric Hudin presents Smart Estate Planning Strategies for Average Joe posted at My Estate Planning Career Blog.

Grace presents Senior Money Pit aka Grandchildren posted at Graceful Retirement.

Check Out Some OPP

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Here are some other people’s posts(OPP). These are all topics that I was going to write about but other bloggers have already written better posts on them than I could.

“How to start a Roth Ira” from Get Rich Slowly. I just opened a Roth IRA with T. Rowe Price and just made my first $50 monthly investment today. I’m happy with them so far.

“Finding Health Insurance Options” from My Money Blog. My health insurance started this month. I was able to get health insurance with more coverage through eHealthInsurance (aff link) for less than I could with the student health plan. You would think that since most students are young the group insurance would be cheaper than individual insurance for a 39 year old but that was not the case.

“Sprint SERO Cell Phone” from My Money Blog. This is where I got my new cell phone and I think it is a pretty good deal. I did have some problems getting my phone and service though. First I had a difficult time verifying my identity. They wanted me to tell them my last two addresses. I move often and once I’m gone from a place the address is gone from my mind. I couldn’t provide them with that information and had to call back later from the phone number listed on my credit report. Since this is my mother’s phone number who lives three hours away this was a hassle and delayed my credit approval.

After I got that fixed my phone was on back order for two weeks. The entire time I was given the message that my order would be ready to ship in 48-72 hours. Also every time I tried to call them they were experiencing heavier than normal call volume. If you’re experiencing heavier than normal call volume every day than it is just normal call volume. The company that sent the phone is a contractor for Sprint so now that I have the phone I expect better customer service.

“The Present Versus the Future” from The Simple Dollar. I have made a lot of bad financial decisions from not being patient. As a kid I’m sure I would have eaten the marshmallow right away. I might still write a post about this.

A Fun Free Night

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I had the night off from one of my jobs last night so I decided to get some food and watch a movie. First I went to Buca di Beppo which I had a free $10 gift card for that they had sent in the mail last month. I actually had 3 gift cards because I dug a couple others out of the junk mail trash basket. I sold the other 2 on eBay and kept this one for myself. I ordered a small spaghetti marinara for $8.99. With the local sales tax of over 10% the total came to $9.91 coming pretty close to using all of the card without any money coming out of my pocket.

While they were preparing my order I walked over to McDonald’s and rented a movie from Redbox. Since I had a free promo code the rental was free. Since promo codes are good once per credit card by using a different card every time I have plenty of free rentals coming to me. I then went back to Bucca and picked up my order. Their small spaghetti is enormous. I’ll be eating spaghetti for days. Then I walked back home and watched my movie while eating some spaghetti. It was an enjoyable evening at home and it was completely free.

Law School Limbo

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I had my hearing before the readmissions committee yesterday. Being an introvert it really wasn’t something I was looking forward to but the committee was surprisingly sympathetic. I received their decision today which was sooner than I expected it. The decision of the committee is to defer their decision. I have to attend counseling and when/if they are satisfied with the progress I’m making there I’ll be readmitted. It sounds right now that they are leaning towards not readmitting me until the winter semester. I’m not thrilled with that idea because that means I’ll be 41 when I graduate and I feel like I’m losing valuable time. I don’t have as many working years ahead of me as the younger students. Of course this option is much better than not being readmitted at all so I need to remember this is a positive thing.