Vixen On A Budget

Back in Action?

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:55:00 +0000

It is so weird to be coming back to this website. Surreal in fact.

My debt has only continued to pile up through my early and in to mid-twenties. Unexpected expenses tend to be the biggest culprit. My inability to save ahead for these things is pathetic.

I picked up one of my favorite guilty pleasure reads (Save Karyn) recently and realized that I needed to do something about my debt. I always have a budget going, but I have such a hard time sticking to it. It feels like every couple months I'm attempting to get myself back in gear.

The only time I have ever felt fiscally responsible was when I had this blog.

Writing and posting about my finances took the secrecy away. I couldn't hide from it. In fact, the positive feedback only made me stronger in resolve to stick to a budget. So, I've decided to turn back to what helped me five years ago when I had first moved out on my own.

First action: Figuring out where I'm at in terms of my finances. I don't even know what my debt looks like at this point. Only a vague estimate. Please don't pay attention to the bar graphs on the side in the mean time.

Vanishing Act: Where did Vixen on a Budget go?

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:19:00 +0000

A lot has happened in the last year:

I moved in with my boyfriend last July. Started having severe anxiety over school, work and my relationship. Decided to take some time off of school.

Incurred extensive amounts of debt because I dreaded going to work (and despised the two hour commute).

Currently, things are looking a better. The relationship is a lot more stable. I'm still not in school and facing a major dilemma as to whether go back now or wait six months until I'm 24 which would save me considerable amounts of money in the long run (future post on this matter). I work at a new location that is five minutes from my house. More importantly, I love my job once again. There is no pressure, yelling, or chaos in my workplace. Which is hard to find in a restaurant.

Now, I just need to start getting my finances (and health) back on track.

The Quarter is Ending!

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:04:00 +0000

Finals are just around the corner. I have one next week and then eight papers (two of which are over twelve pages) due the week of finals which is the week after next. I'm nearly delusional with all the writing I've been doing.

Financially? Eek! I've been so crazed with school that the last thing I'm thinking of is budgeting. I'm hammering out a new one for the month and trying to sort out my cash flow at the moment. Expect a budget by the end of tonight.

Much to my chagrin, I still haven't gotten my stimulus check. As soon as I get that, I can put the money I pulled out of savings back in. I have direct deposit and the letter said I should have gotten by today. Hmmmm?

My pretty little garden is doing wonderfully. The basil is amazing and the first jalapeno just appeared!

I'm attempting to catch up with everyone right now. I predict lots of reading for the next couple weeks. I miss everyone's blogs!

There goes my savings.

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:58:00 +0000

For whatever reason, my university is going to require that I pay out of pocket for my summer tuition and eventually get reimbursed in July. That will drain ALL of my savings (1,200 dollars) and leave little to pay for books. I'm not even sure how I'll pay for books.

Time to start selling stuff. Oy.

The economy has caused me a 30% pay cut.

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:37:00 +0000

Lately, I feel like I'm suffocating. I can hardly keep up with all the schoolwork. It's causing me to be forgetful which has resulted in two parking tickets. Oh, and I need to buy like four more books for my classes. That equates to about 200 dollars. I'm expecting my stimulus check to catch me up at the moment.

The economy has really hit my restaurant. I've gone from averaging a hundred dollars a day, to eighty five dollars a day... to seventy dollars a day.. That's a 30% pay cut. I love my job, but regretfully, I'm going to have to leave to a better bar and/or restaurant. I have a girlfriend of mine who averages two hundred dollars a day at a fancy schmancy hotel in Pasadena. I'm willing to make a forty five minute drive (no traffic) to earn that type of money.

Oh, and the corportate restaurant chain I work for may get audited. Lovely. Fucking lovely.

The herb garden is wonderful. I've already used the basil and rosemary. The tomato and jalapeno plants are blossoming.

(Pardon the cursing. Oh, and I updated my bars!)

Quick and Dirty.

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:54:00 +0000

It's the third week of the quarter and I'm dieing. Taking an extra class is kicking my ass. On top of that, I've been working closer to 35 hours a week while taking more than a full load. I'm also picking up an extra shift Thursday before I go to school all day (oy!). I'm virtually working full-time these days. I can't do this.

What does this all equate to?

My finances are looking awfully good. I've been spending more money on food at school, but able to curtail going out since my life is AT school.

On the downside, I haven't been able to post here on the blog or read other people's blogs. I have to admit, I'm sorely missing it. A heavy dose of Strange Bird, Gilded Butterfly, Well-Heeled or countless other PF Bloggers would be lovely right now... but I have to go write a five page paper!

Saving Money With Being Eco-Friendly

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:14:00 +0000

I've always been an eco-friendly gal. In fact, I have quite a few friends who refer to me as the "hippy". It's not just the interest I've had in environmentalism since I was a child (seriously, my mother would buy me books on the subject), but my liberal stance on many issues.

I've realized lately though that I'm definetly not doing my share in the world. I use paper towels; I print up plenty of stuff for school that I could attempt not to; I don't buy all organic products (although in the shift).

How does this effect me financially? I've been wanting to subscribe to two different magazines for some time now. I LOVE getting magazine subscriptions in the mail. I nearly sent off for a subscription today when I took another moment to think about it. How much paper would that be using up just to sate my lust for reading? How many books do I already own (over 300)? How many pieces of paper, trees, and pollution went into that? In reality, I could read wine reviews online easily. I could find political articles like they have in Vanity Fair easily online.

In reality, I don't need magazine subscriptions when I can get that information online. In the process, I save myself money as well as helping the environment.

Beyond that, there are so many ways that eco-friendly products will save you money in the long run. A pack of dishtowels will cost more initially, but over time will last a lot longer than the equivalent rolls of paper towels in terms of price. My previous post on starting an herb garden will require an initial output of money, but once again will save me uber-amounts of money in the long run. B and I use garlic, jalapenos, green onions, cilantro and tomatoes on a weekly basis. I use rosemary and thyme a couple times a week. We'll be saving money, but we'll know for a fact that we are gardening our products without pesticides. Furthermore, the products won't be shipped.

I currently re-use the stockpile of Trader Joe paper bags I have. Once those give out, I'm going to get a cloth bag to carry my groceries in. B and I will often walk to little eateries around here instead of driving. There's lots of little changes that can add up in the long run.

How do you save money while being eco-friendly?

Saving Money With An Indoor Herb Garden (Part I)

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:58:00 +0000

For my boyfriend’s birthday next month I’m planting an herb garden. We’ve been discussing the idea for a good three months now. B and I only go out to eat maybe once a month. The rest of the time is spent at home nibbling and cooking up new items. Hence, an herb garden is a good investment for us. I’m also considering a tomato plant and some sort of chili pepper for the patio. Green onions are also on the list. We tend to use these three items more than anything else seeing as Mexican food is are typical fare, followed by Italian.

The herb portion of the garden is going to be indoors. He has a set of windows in the kitchen that extend out of the house. There has to be a term for them that I’m not aware of. Anyhow, they are currently barren and provide ample space for the project.

Research
After scouting quite a few sites, I ended up finding Backyard Gardener. It is quite comprehensive and sorted alphabetically. This enables me to look up the specific herbs B and I have wanted to plant. It also details how to plant these items in pots. Garden Guides has an article specifically on growing herb gardens indoors.

Basil, Thyme, Green Onion (Chives), Cilantro (Coriander), Rosemary and Garlic are on my list. From what I’ve read, they will all grow well indoors.

As for what chili pepper to grow, I decided on jalapeno, as that is B’s favorite. We make pico de gallo once a week which utilizes jalapeno, tomato, cilantro and green onion. Just think how much money that will save us! Plus, B always feels like he has to make a huge amount of pico de gallo since he wants to use up everything he bought. Now we can make smaller amounts. Oh, and from what I read on Pepper Joe’s, jalapenos grow well indoors and are a smaller variety than other pepper plants.

With tomatoes, it seems I need to start them off first indoors and then "harden" them before transplanting outside. I also have the option of purchasing ones that are ready to be transplanted already.

The next step is too look into where I will purchase the seeds, soil, pots and fish emulsion oil (organic food for plants). It seems I will also need a spray bottle for the fish emulsion oil. Look forward to a Part Two of this endeavor.!

Budget: Version 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:03:00 +0000

Between the fact that my tips have declined, my paychecks have increased (I've been trying to pick up extra shifts) and I blew the first budget to hell, it's time for a new one!

Foremost, I want to state that considering I don't have a fixed income, it's somewhat difficult to come up with a budget. Originally for my income, I figured that I make on average a hundred dollars a shift plus two biweekly checks of roughly 150. That gave me the grand total of 1900 dollars a month (16 working days x 100 dollars + 150 dollar checks x 2 pay periods). Unfortunately, tips have declined with the economy going down. So, I need to reconsider my income. Now, I'm figuring that I make on average 85 dollars a shift plus two biweekly checks of 200. That gives me a grand total of 1760(16 working days x 85 dollars + 200 dollar checks x 2 pay periods).

Fixed Expenses:
Rent: 600
Car Payment: 272
Auto Insurance: 181
Gym: 45
Cell Phone: 86

Flexible Expenses:
Gas: 100
Credit Card: 200
Savings: 150
Food/Entertainment/Everything: 126

Oh, dear, god. That's not a lot to get by on in terms of going out and food. I totally admit that I'm the standard 22 year old who likes going out. A LOT. Curses. Drats.

Where in the world is Vixen On A Budget?

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:34:00 +0000

Funny you should ask. Finals went well. I escaped unscathed! I ended up with my grades being three A's and one B. I'm really psyched about the grades because I expected to be more like: A, A-, B+, C+. Yay!

Finals lead into Spring Break. I worked six days straight right after my last final. Then an overnight trip to the desert to visit my grandparents. More work followed by an impromptu trip to LAS VEGAS! I've never been as an adult and it was quite a bit of fun. Everything was far more affordable than I imagined.

I got back from Vegas at like 12pm yesterday and headed right to school for my first class of the quarter. Heh. Fall quarter I took twelve units. Last quarter I took fourteen. This quarter I am taking TWENTY.

It's going to be quite the quarter.

Financially, everything is stable but I blew the budget to high hell. I made up a new budget while in a four-hour long class yesterday (multi-tasking!). My tips have dropped and I want that reflected in my budget. My income isn't quite as much as it was a few months ago. I'll put up the new budget today.

Now... I have two weeks worth of blog reading to get done. May the force be with me.

Finals this week.

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:56:00 +0000

I have two finals tomorrow and another on Thursday. I'll resurface later this week from the piles of studying I need to do. I might have to pull an all-nighter! Ugh.

Sudden Technorati Boost?

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:23:00 +0000

For the longest time my authority level on Technorati has been a meager 1. I've seen other newer blogs have higher authority scores. Furthermore, it has never accounted for any new posts. The little display icon has always been from the very first day I registered it.

No more!

I happened to glance at it today and found that it had suddenly spiked to 25! Okay, I know, nothing fantastically high, but still! It's finally receiving the pings for my newer posts. I don't know what happened to suddenly cause the site to start receiving my updates but I'm thrilled.

Still sticking to your resolutions?

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:06:00 +0000

We all made resolutions for the new year, but are you still sticking to them? I want to search for some sort of public poll done that surveys people as to how long they keep their resolutions for. Like last month, let's take a look at mine:

Create, tweak and come up with a functioning budget: I came up with a budget for last month. I still haven't even reviewed it and it is four days into this month. While I'm happy I took a mid-month look at it, I'm disappointed that I haven't taken the time to review it or develop another one for this month. I really need to prioritize my time and devote more to personal finance. I'm making a promise to myself to make a Version 2.0 in the next 24 hours. Grade: C-

Keep all receipts: I've actually started getting pretty good at this one. I've been religiously tucking receipts away and using my debt card for everything. If I spend cash, I don't remember at all. Grade: A

Have two thousand invested in a high-interest savings account: This is by far the goal I kicked ass at last month! I put half my tax refund right into savings and bumped it up to almost a thousand. Now I just need to open an ING or Emigrant account and keep saving. Grade: A+

Credit Cards paid off: I'm steadily working away at this one. I moved from one-third paid off to over 42% this month. 300 more dollars will go to it this month. Grade: A

Invest 500 into wardrobe: I lumped clothes and auto fund into one for my budget. I used up the entirety of that last month. So far, fifty spent on clothes this year. Grade: D

Develop dietary and exercise plan that fits my schedule: I started the month out strong, but about a week and a half ago, everything fell by the wayside. I've been so ridiculously busy with classes and work. I really need to prioritize this better. I've been good about making healthier choices, but haven't gone to the gym in a week and a half. Grrr! Grade: C

Oy! The Carnival of Personal Finance is huge this week!

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:23:00 +0000

Wow! I can't believe how many submissions there were. Lots of great articles. I submitted Learning To Be Content On Birthdays in light of the one I just celebrated. By the way, the birthday party Saturday night was absolutely insane and wonderful. I had sssuuuccchhh a good time! I still feel a little hung over. Heh.

Amanda over at Value For Your Life wrote a great article on Risk-Taking For Regular People that argues the merits of making educated risks.

I'm quite glad I came across Sudden Windfalls over at Small Cents because it is such a neat little blog! I smell something new I'll be reading often.

One of the most ethical posts featured in this Carnival is over at Money and Values: Is Your Money Funding Genocide? While I avoid certain corporations that are unethical in their practices, this post addresses investing in Mutual Funds that may be supporting the Sudanese government with ethnic cleansing of non-Arab Darfurians.

I absolutely love Debt-Free Revolution's post on using a budget to get out of consumer debt. This quote particularly stood out, "Yes, my first three budgets were actually the nightmares the dreaded “B” word tends to conjure up." I just had my first month of budgeting, and erm, I need to tweak it. Desperately! This post was perfectly timed for me considering I was about to throw the concept out the window.

Earning Money Via Survey Sites.

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:50:00 +0000

I just redeemed my first check over at MySurvey. That will be ten dollars in the mail. All in all, I prefer Pinecone more, but MySurvey's questionarre's are generally more brief (you receive less dinero as well) and you can complete them in a two or three minutes. Considering I probably did a half hour's work to accumulate that ten dollars, I'm quite satisfied. If you are thinking of joining, it's really easy and simple. Just click on my affiliate link!

On another note, I just received another check from Pinecone today. That's two I'll be depositing with my paycheck today.

I'm going to spend the next hour cleaning out my car. That will be followed by calling Toyota and finding out if my warranty covers a timing belt because Lilith (my car) is making funny noises. Take a shower, go pick up my check, deposit it and come back home in time to review last month's budget, adjust a new budget for March, review how my goal's for the year are going and LAST create a few mini-goals for this month.

I'm officially 22 as of yesterday.

Learning to Be Content on Birthdays.

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:53:00 +0000

I grew up a Jehovah's Witness and consequently not celebrating holidays. I don't feel as though my childhood was ever deprived out of the lack of holidays. Yet, now that I'm grown and have decided that religion wasn't the one for me, I love holidays. Like seriously, I really get into it. My birthday is no exception. The past two years I threw ridiculously large birthday parties that included me taking the day off work and shelling out hundreds of dollars. I think I spent about three to four hundred on each party: decorations, food, and lots of alcohol. Not only the parties, but all the going out with friends beforehand (and after).

This year is quite different. Tomorrow is my 22nd birthday. I'm still having a party this year (on Saturday), but this time I let a friend do the planning. Furthermore, I'm not spending nearly as much money on it. I have forty dollars in gift cards to Target and will buy any food or mixers there. I don't plan on spending more than seventy-five out of my own pocket. Last, I'm still going to work that day.

Beyond the party, I'm not doing any heavy going-out this year. I don't feel the need to like I did the previous two years. I go out enough as it already is as I've found out by examining my spending this month. Today I have the day off from both work and classes and I'm not picking my sister up from school as I usually do (she has try-outs). Instead, I'm actually on campus and working on homework, studying, etc. Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm still going to all my classes. My man is taking me out somewhere afterwards and that sounds perfect.

I'm content not doing a whole week of celebrating my birthday. Hell, I don't care if the party doesn't have 80-100 people like the previous years. I'll be happy if just fifteen of my good friends show up and it is a low-key kickback.

I obviously am still celebrating my birthday via a party and going to dinner the night of, but I'm learning to be content with not having a huge Mardi Gras festival.

Where does your tip go?

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:17:00 +0000

Over at QueerCents, Mike wrote a fantastic article, "Tipping Etiquette: Why Do We Tip?". He gives a balanced perspective on questioning the tipping system and ultimately that he still does tip his servers because that is the bulk of their wage and the job is physically (and mentally!) demanding. What is seldom mentioned that commenter Mary Sue points out is that servers don't keep all of their tips. It is often split with buspersons, hosts, expediters and/or bartenders. Furthermore, servers have to claim a mandatory 8-10% in tips every night whether they made that money or not. In the comments section, I left a hefty comment that breaks it down:

"As a waitress and bartender, I obviously have some passionate opinions about this subject. All in all, I make very good tips because I go the extra mile for customers. I remember people’s allergies; I offer free dessert if the cook’s take too long on the entree; I bring a refill before you need to ask. That said, I will still have people sometimes that tell me I was fantastic and then leave only three dollars on a fifty dollar check.

What people don’t realize is that I’m being taxed on my overall sales, not the actual tips. If I do a thousand dollars in sales, the government expects me to claim that I made 80-100 dollars in tips (8-10%). In reality, at least a third of people don’t tip 15%. Let’s say I made 120 dollars that night (12%). Out of that, I give 18 dollars to the busperson, another five to the bartender and ten to the expediter (the person who runs out the food). That leaves me with 87 dollars or 8.7% gratuity over the course of the night. What if the food was taking a long time that night and I only made 10% off the bat? I’d be walking with seventy dollars or 7%… yet the government still expects me to have made more. I don’t want to risk an audit so I claim that I made more than I did. I get taxed on money I didn’t even make to avoid an audit."

March Lunch Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:09:00 +0000

Krystal over at Give Me Back My Five Bucks has initiated a challenge for the month of March (and even beginning in February for some of us eager beavers): No spending money on lunch, snacks or coffee while at work for the month of March. Considering that I work in a restaurant and usually get free meals, I've expanded mine to no spending while at school. Which is next to impossible for me.

With that said, I have a salad, granola bar, diet soda, water bottle, and two mini-boxes of junior mints in my backpack. Of course, resisting to spend at school is going to get harder through the next month. Especially when finals roll around. Here's to reducing needless spending!

Two other ladies on my blogroll are participating as well:
Strange Bird
Saving Diva

My head is spinning off into space!

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 03:17:00 +0000

It feels as though the last few days has been a mad frenzy of action. I can hardly keep my head screwed on straight. Here's my spending for the last few days before I forget what I've spent my money on:

Going out: 34.67
Medical stuff: 44.99
Car expenses (oil change, etc.): 35.47
Groceries: 20.53

Friday Tips: 100
Saturday Tips: 85
Sunday Tips: 93
Monday Tips: 87
Check: 274.53
Pinecone: 3.00

To Do List (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
Clean Out Car
Organize Bedroom
Weed Through and Donate Old Clothes
Laundry
Make Phone Call to Office of Transcript Evaluations
Prepare for Spanish Composition
Incorporate Weights Into Exercise Routine

February Budget In Review

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 02:08:00 +0000

An important part of maintaining your budget is examining how well you are doing throughout the month. Waiting until the end of the month to see that you went a hundred dollars over in food expenses could have been prevented if half way through you realized you were already twenty dollars over. That said, let's take a look at my budget:

Foremost, I want to state that considering I don't have a fixed income, it's somewhat difficult to come up with a budget. For my income, I figured that I make on average a hundred dollars a shift plus two biweekly checks of roughly 150. That gave me the grand total of 1900 dollars a month (16 working days x 100 dollars + 150 dollar checks x two pay periods).

Fixed Expenses-Amount Spent-Difference
Rent: 600- 600- 0
Auto Insurance: 181- 181- 0
Car Payment: 272- 272- 0
Cell Phone: 86- Not paid yet- n/a
Credit Cards: 300- 300- 0
Savings: 150- 190- +40.00

Flexible Expenses-Amount Spent- Difference/Amount Left
Clothing/Auto: 50- 0.00- 50.00
Gas: 80- 16.43- 63.57
School Supplies: 10- 12.94- -2.94
Household Items: 11- 8.43- 2.57
Entertainment/Going Out: 60- 36.10- 23.90
Food: 100- 49.89- 50.11

Income- Amount Expected- Difference
Checks: 242.76- 150.00- +92.76
Tips: 624.00- 800.00- -176.00
Pinecone: 6.00- 0- +6.00

Total Income: 872.76- 950.00- -77.24

Explanation
For my fixed expenses, I only need to pay off my cell phone at the end of the month. Everything else is already taken care of. My uncle slipped me forty dollars last night so I put it towards my savings. I resisted the urge to get my toenails done or blow it on delicious wine. As for my flexible expenses, most of the categories still have money remaining in them. I've already used up two thirds of my 'going out money'. Le sigh. As for food, thirty dollars was towards Valentine's alone. I doubt I'll use the rest of the fifty this month. I went slightly over in school expenses, but I had to buy a reader for a class. Nothing I could do to avoid that.

My real concern is in my income. Tips have been considerably less this month. That bothers me. I've been averaging 89 dollars a night instead of my usual 100. Fortunately, my checks are higher because I've been picking up extra hours with training to be a manager. Hmph. We need to do something about that income! At least I get a third paycheck this month, although I want to spend the least amount possible out of it.

Valentine's Is A Success (thus far)!

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:05:00 +0000

I'm currently awaiting the arrival of the boyfriend. Everything is done! Here's a list of everything I prepared for my inexpensive yet fantastic Valentines:
-Hot Olives (tri-blend of olives with a bunch of spices-Rachael Ray Recipe)
-Cacio e Pepe Chickpeas (chickpeas with Pecorino and pepper-Rachael Ray Recipe)
-Manitaropita (pastry filled with mushrooms in a white wine sauce-Trader Joe's)
-Garlic Hummus (TJ)
-Artichoke Parmesan Dip (TJ)
-Cold Black Olives
-Olive Loaf (thinly sliced and toasted-TJ)
-Brie Cheese (TJ)
-Green Leaf Lettuce leaves

Dessert:
-Dark Chocolate Truffles with Blackberries and a Dollop of Whipped Cream

I'm serving it with Sauvignon Blanc. I laid out a spare comforter on the floor along with a bunch of pillows. The food is going to be laid out buffet style one the coffee table. The only slight problem is that I can't figure out how to get the fireplace on! Curses!

Additional Income: Bartending Net Profits

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:49:00 +0000

The bartending gig went really well. I had a BLAST. In terms of money, I made enough money to cover the initial overhead costs of buying my own bartending equipment, gas and some extra leftover. Seriously, it didn't even feel like I was working. I was essentially getting paid to mingle and party. Now that I have my own equipment, the next gigs will all be pure net profit (minus gas).

Now I just need to figure out how to get frequent gigs!

Additional Income: Bartending

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:39:00 +0000

Similar to not writing about things going on at work until everything was secure, I haven't wrote about my newest source of income: bartending. I'm now a private bartender. I put out an ad on Craigslist advertising bartending for private parties. I'm already booked for this Saturday night. Current emotions include nervousness, anxiety and excitement. I booked the party over a week and a half ago and have already spoke with the woman a couple times regarding what types of liquor, garnishes and accoutrements they should buy. Furthermore, I made up a menu list of all the possible drinks I could make with the items available.

I'm uber-nervous. This little side project also involves me going and purchasing bartending supplies. I've been looking around online at places around me that carry bar supplies. Not a good selection. I'm going to buy a few staples now, but purchase the bulk of my liquor pourers online.

Oh, and I printed up business cards a week and a half ago.

Why am I so nervous? It's seriously just a party of thirty to forty people. Nothing big; nothing too fancy. Just a plain old Valentine's party. I've been bartending on Sundays at work and I know how to make drinks. Like over two hundred of them. I'm fine. Erg.

Ridiculously cheap, meaningful and romantic Valentine's.

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:51:00 +0000

If you are visiting from the link over at The Street, please check the updated Valentine's post.

I knew what I was doing for Valentine's last month. It hit me like a lightning bolt from Zeus (thank you divine inspiration). My man and I first started dating nearly a year ago. Our first two months of dating were filled with amazing moments and memories. Like two or three months in, he was over on an extremely warm May day and I decided on a whim to take him to a local creek that I love. He brought the blanket, wine glasses and two buck chuck. We stopped by Trader Joe's and picked up raspberries, pita bread, hummus, a gorgonzola spinach salad and dark chocolate. We hiked far from humanity and spent three hours under the canopy of trees (it's a preserve of sorts) discussing philosophy, the plausibility of reincarnation and destiny. It was amazing... in every way possible.

This year: We are both so busy. I'm going full steam on my B.A. and he recently went back to school after nearly ten years to get his M.A. (he's quite a bit older than me). I waitress and balance friends and family; he works full time as a high school Language Arts teacher. Tuesdays I get off school earlier than usual, but he has class until ten pm. It's the only time I am at his house before he is. Soooo, I'm going to turn the fire on, lay out blankets and pillows and set up a picnic on the coffee table. I'm still debating whether to have the original food items from the picnic or to make us dinner. Regardless, I know he will love it.

Your Money or Your Grades.

noreply@blogger.com (VixenOnABudget) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:06:00 +0000

Midterms are this week and students are scrambling to pull all-nighters to study. I have both my midterms on Thursday and was so busy with work over the weekend that I didn't get a chance to study. I found myself facing a dilemma yesterday: was it worth it to take the night off work to devote to studying?

-I'm not scrounging to pay the bills; missing one day of work will not set me behind in the scheme of things. Actually, not being able to afford food might be a good thing at this point.

-Furthermore, I can always pick up a Wednesday night shift later this month when I'm no longer concerned about midterms.

-I know that studying really does improve my grades on tests. It wouldn't be time wasted.

-These grades are going to affect my potential for future earnings. I got a 4.0 last quarter and am aiming for at least a 3.5 this quarter.

-One of the midterms accounts for a third of my grade in a class while the other is HALF the grade for the class. These are not tests I can afford to do mediocre on.

Final Decision: I ended up taking the night off work to devote to studying. I made huge headway and in retrospect am really glad I took the night off. There is a lot more material to cover than I originally predicted. The extra night may be what gives me the edge on Thursday.