Ah, Summer. Here in Portland it is time for the most glorious three months ahead. People suffer with rain and gloom for nearly nine months, just to enjoy the perfect summer, filled with bike rides and beer, music festivals and iced coffee, and lots of ice cream.
I have enjoyed all of those things over this holiday weekend. I hope you all had a wonderful, restful weekend, too.
At the expense of sounding trite, I can’t believe it is July. And I know I seem to say something similar every month, but this year in particular is flying by.
In June, I worked a lot – I’m really happy with the direction things are going and no matter how busy I am, I hope no one thinks I’m complaining. I’m having fun, paying off debt, and learning new skills!
So how did I do in June? Well, first let’s remember that in May my student loan payments were abysmal. As in, the lowest I’ve paid since I started the blog. But as I mentioned, I was waiting on a large reimbursement. The money came and I think I did a good job at evening things out.
In July, I was able to put $1,300 to my student loans and $800 to my emergency fund. I mentioned before that I was feeling a bit vulnerable with my lack of savings, so I wanted to pad it a bit for sanity’s sake. I am very happy with those numbers, but a bit sad as I could have done better. I got a little swipe happy on all the convenience food, energy boosting coffee, and stress busting drinks.
This has been a pattern for months, which I’m not proud of.
So this month, I’m putting away the credit card, and going on a cash diet. I’m only spending cash, so if I don’t have the money at the time, I’m not buying it. I can easily see how you can spend more money with credit cards.
While I’ve been a good pf blogger and have paid my balance in full every month, I’m still spending more. Of course I’ll have the money to pay for it two paychecks later (i.e. at the end of the month), but if I don’t have the money NOW, then why should I buy it?
I’m excited about this cash diet, as I need to be more frugal as my parents are coming to visit in a few weeks and we will spend the weekend in Seattle.
Aside from Seattle and a music festival, I don’t have much planned for the summer. I am however counting the days until FinCon. I am so freaking excited! I can’t wait to meet everyone and get the chance to explore New Orleans.
So far, I’m slated to have a pretty awesome summer. How about you? What are your plans?
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14 comments
Sounds like your cash approach may be a good one, Melanie. Never-the-less, $2100 debt repayment/savings in a month is awesome. I’m just so against spending money these days, I think my new frugal ways have become ingrained but I’m not complaining! Enjoy your nice weather, now that you’ve got it!
Glad I’m not the only one who thinks that this year is going by with lightning speed! I’m looking forward to a trip to the beach in a few weeks. I have a feeling that the rest of the summer will fly by, and before we know it it’s going to be chilly again.
Holy Cow, I’m always so impressed with your numbers, especially since I remember your day job salary (roughly). You kick butt at the hustle! Cash and debit are definitely my friend more than credit. I only have 3 auto payments (netflix, etc) on my credit card because I don’t fully trust myself yet. I know I could slip up pretty quickly!
Yeah, the $2100 I put to debt/savings is more than my take home pay from my day job. Thank goodness for the hustle and the reimbursement check. I am going to hustle my way into a higher pay bracket!
Carrie from Careful Cents is having a cash only challenge this month. You should check that out. I know the cc thing can get out of hand. It seem every time I want to use my debit only, my fricken producer makes me go out and buy hard drives, which he does reimburse me for, but not right away hence the credit cards. Sometimes I just don’t want to keep track of due dates. But anyway, sounds like a nice summer so far and hope the weather stays nice in Portland. I don’t have any big travel plans except going up to bass lake for a weekend to visit a friend.
Good luck with your cash diet and I hope you update us on how it’s going for you!
I definitely need to go on the cash and food diet this month after helping my friend move last week. Sometimes I think we need the “indulgences” to motivate us toward success. And I am counting down the days to FinCon too! Can’t wait!!
I did the “cash only” thing today at the grocery store… and it worked! I always use my debit card, but this time, I only brought a certain amount and that was all I could spend!
Have a great week, Melanie 🙂
I just got back from a 2 week business trip & feel like I need a cash diet. Actually, a no spend month would be better 🙂
Every month, I attempt a “cash diet” for any extra spending other than necessary expenses, and every month I fail a little bit because I always leave my credit card in my wallet! I really need to leave that damn thing at home if this cash diet is going to work. Good luck with it!
Congrats on the really big payment (plus savings!) I need a cash diet too — or at least to have my EF padded enough that I can draw on it instead of needing to go to my credit cards. *Again*. 🙂 Good luck in July —
Great job on putting a huge chunk of money toward your debt AND a huge chunk of money in your EF! That’s awesome!
Let us know how your cash diet goes. Sounds promising!
Congrats on the $1300 debt repayment and $800 in savings, that’s AWESOME!!! 😀
I’m also going on a spending diet this summer. I was doing the exact same thing as you, spending on the credit card and while paying it back in full. But, it seems like I’m spinning my wheels and not saving enough.
Good luck on your cash challenge! 🙂
My summer is going great so far as well! It looks like your financial situation is getting better and better!