September 2012 recap

Probably not going to have time to talk about September for the week anyways. So far life in the East is not bad. Used to the things going on. So far grades are not TOO bad. I got A's and B's hopefully no C's. It's a big improvement from undergrad SMH.

Well got to keep it up for another week! Then I will relax and have some fun hopefully. Well lets talk about money.

Currently I have categorized my spending and my goal is hopefully stick to it and save somewhere? I will try harder to get to where I need to be!

$1000 monthly breakdown

Food (Groceries) $100

Clothing- $90

Dining- $40

House -$25

Toiletries $35

Etc $30 

Gas $50 

Rent $550

Utilities $80

Others

Etc other 

school

car

Food- I spend like $20+ on groceries a week. Probably less if I stop buying snacks and focus on veggies and fruits. Meat I should stop buying until I finish the food!

Clothing It's so sad that I love shopping but I'm trying not to do so much online shopping

Dining To be honest I don't eat out but in case I guess? Well more $ saved

House - Honestly I don't think I will buy much house things for awhile.

Toiletries It's crazy expensive some things are! I hope I rarely use it. I got contacts and sigh... $! Maybe wear glasses until I can get it for free

Etc Random stuff that I have not clue where to put probably random things

Gas  I hopefully get gas once a month and not have to spend so much.

Rent Given. Sigh

Utilities Bill are crazy high. It's not easy with a big house and 4 people but I'll try and see... Water is about $20 and electricity so far is about $45 avg. I suspect winter will be double. I also need to get a heater... sigh. I'm pretty sure I underestimated but we will see! 

others- Things that shouln't be added to my budget becasue it's inevitiable and not avoidable.

Etc other - Stuff that is probably rare and one time. Like flight ticket

school- Any school related shouldn't be in budget. 

car- given sigh. 336.42

So how did I do???

Food (Groceries) - $231.12

- Very over but I did buy lots of canned goods/tv dinners, snacks. I think if I stick to less stuff I can keep within $100. Save some money first then buy snacks. Got to keep track of coupons and stuff too!

Clothing- $66.58

- In budget. Yay. but I know my $35 slim socks were a splurge. I really bought $30. I didn't add the shoes.... shoot. That's like $30.. still in budget!

Dining- $8.37

I have no life. 

House -$25

Really ridiculous cost

Toiletries $42.02

Can't believe the stuff I need

Etc $30.48 

Really random things

Gas $43

Got a $7 gift card... We'll see but gas isn't too bad

Rent $550

EW

Utilities $65.58

Double EW

Total- $1053.41

This month -53.41

So I'm overall over. I need to spend less here and there in Oct. I probably need to get some medicine and thermometer. I haven't been feeling too well. I want some running shoes. Trying to find cheap ones but it's hard!  I will be eating out with one of my best friend next week so probably spend some money. I do have a few free weekends so it could get costly. Hopefully things work out!

Others

Etc other $350 for plane ticket

school- 557.69

car- $366.42

total  $2327.52

Stressed?

In about 12 hours I take one of the most stupid test I've heard of. A professor who picks the most minor and stupid information in a 200+ word text taught in a month.... FML. 56 questions and even knowing the basics won't help. Or so I've heard. I don't know if I should stress or just be happy to not fail too bad. I don't mind failing this test but I want to do well. I like what I'm doing and want to do better. I hope what I'm doing will get me somewhere. I don't want to just "pass" I want to ACE everything. It's a difficult journey so far and I been getting a bit homesick. I do enjoy the family I met and hung out with.

I hope my life here will continue to get better and I make more friends and find something great here. I hope my choice was the right one.


On the other hand, I cannot cannot wait till Nov. I really hope things will only get better and that I won't be disappointed in my grade tomorrow.

I do have confidence I'll do well and make it!

I'm excited for a home cooked meal tomorrow :) yay for Full Moon festival early dinner!




Random insert

Awhile back I went to Morimotos to waste money enjoy some high class iron chef Japanese cuisine. I been here 2 months and all I want is sushi. I'm tempted to buy some Japanese rice and cook that for dinner. I love the chewy texture of short grain rice (?) I might have been Japanese or something but I do love Chinese food. Ahhh the dilemma. Well It was a costly dinner but the food did not disappoint. The lychee martini was pretty strong and I wished I asked for  more lychee. We got the omakase and sushi platter plus an extra dessert. My most memorable was the toro. IT WAS DIVINE. The sashimi were all very fresh... flown from Japan. Sushi was delicious as well. I loved how intricate the food was put out. The chocolate dessert was yummy but I was not like other chocolate desserts that made me swoon. I would definitely drop by when I make bank.  The restaurant was very modern and the bathroom was nice. I love nice bathrooms haha. Suppose to be the best around and I would give it 4/5 just because I would rather save $$ and eat more. I think I can get regular sashimi/rolls at other places and would taste delicious too as long as it's fresh. I do have to give it to Morimoto for having fish that's not freezing cold/water but fresh and not fishy. Not many places have their fish that way. They usually have it around in the fridge and won't taste the same. It might not be as fancy but to me Japanese is all about simple. I did love what I ate but being a cheap Asian, I'll go elsewhere.

brain dead

Honestly, these past few weeks went by so fast and crazy! I feel so behind in my classes despite the studying. HOW CAN ANYONE HAVE ENERGY TO STUDY AFTER GOING TO WORK?! Classes from 8-4:30 most days,  then hours of studying... I really have no life! I am going strong but I still need a break! I'm heading to Staten Island for some family time. :) Even though I have a hard test coming up. But I think I deserve some fun after 2 test.

Sadly my my destressor is retail threapy. If I feel stressed, I rely on online shopping. It's definitely not a good habit but I'm excited to see packages and wear new things. I'm going to be positve and hope for the best.

Gotta get these 4 years done and make $!

On the plus side of east coast, I got to eat more seafood and not go broke!

$3 mussels! super easy and yummy!

 $5 lobster. I don't get why people pay so much to steam it sometimes...



Oh and my loves~ 

 Is it sad that I named them as well? My cute baby arpakasso.

Well I wonder what's going on outside of school... haha. Without Facebook I seriously wouldn't know about the iPhone5. I don't think it's worth the upgrade for me. The iOS6 upgrade had most of the stuff 5 was promoting. Except faster speed and longer screen. I kind of dislike the longer screen b/c it will stick out of my pockets more and can get stolen. But that's just me. It's kind of interesting that 10 years ago smaller was better. I personally prefer smaller phones.

It's long day tomorrow. Despite it being Saturday. FML, FML

Money talk

Been antisocial and no life for a month or so. Sometimes a bit lonely here being independent and hard to meet people but otherwise it's okay. I do have some lovely company.

No I don't have them all but I did buy two from Japan and bf bought me 2 in SF and much bigger size. I may be old but I love anything cute! I don't think that will change. My poor kids will have such a childish mom! I don't have any pictures lying around. Obsession with alpaca stuff animals is not healthy for my wallet either. But they are so hard to resist. They are Arpakasso or Alpacasso that are from crane machines in Japan. I always found alpaca funny animals and they are so soft!

Anyways the main topic is Money and lets see what I said...

Rent- $550

Bills $50?

Groceries $100?

Gas 50?

Dining $50?

Clothing (Shoes/Accessories/etc) $100?

Toiletries/Makeup $25

Save/spend $75? (+100++)

That didn't happen. My defense is that I needed to buy things to settle down and obviously and that cost lots of money. 

Let's review Month 1- August spending

Rent- $550

Utilities- $50.69

Groceries- $203.04

Gas- 0

Dining- $13

Clothing - $92.27

Toiletries/Makeup- $86.71

Miscellaneous $764.07

House- $181.90

Car payment- TBA

School- $21.95

Total- $1,963.63

Yah I am totally over budget. Lets break it down a bit. So Rent is set. Utilities was high because I have one roommate that had to turn on AC when the house is empty and not that hot. UGH! I will do the same in winter though. I know utilities will fluctuate so I'm not that worried and expected it to go over.

Groceries... My defense is that I bought enough protein to last me for months. My weekly groceries now consist of just fresh produces, milk, breakfast and some sandwich goodies. I even stocked up on snacks for at lest few months. Obviously my next month grocery budget is already over... but I am just stocking up so I don't have to buy so much later when I'm too busy. I shop pretty thrifty I think and I will try to buy cheaper things from now on. My goal is under $20 a week. 

Gas- Didn't drive that much but buying things for the place did eat up some gas. Good thing car is pretty gas friendly

Dining- Went out with roommates and end up spending money. Ordered cheap though. We try to opt happy hours and get the most out of our money. It's hard to eat out alone anyways. Except cafeteria but I can live off sandwiches.

Clothing- I stayed in budget! OMG. well I did went a bit crazy buying shoes this month. I'm still searching for gym shoes but might just wait till I go home to get it. I don't have time to work out. I did get a Yoga mat. Hopefully during a break I can do a workout video... Pretty glad I didn't succumb to online shopping that much.. I am still on the lookout for shorts.

Toiletries/makeup- I had to re buy lots of liquid items and sanitary stuff so it end up adding up. I think I'm set for at least half a year so it will even out.

Miscellaneous- These were kind of random house items, supplies and furniture. Stayed pretty in budget buying major things like a bed. I could have settle for a used bed but I didn't really want to deal with someone's bed. GROSS. It's a shame I have to give it up in 4 years.

House- It's suppose to be mostly household items like cleaning supplies and paper napkin stuff but I threw in some furniture and bedding so it's a bit messy. Spending a lot more than I imagined.

Car- So my parents bought me a new car and it of course cost money. Luckily interest is cheap so we can pay it off slowly. I am sad that there is some scratches already. One I did and one I have no clue where it came from. I don't love owning a car because it's a lot of responsibility. Just means more money my parents will have to put up with. Sigh

School- I already spent $500+ in Sept. and over $1000 in Oct. on stupid supplies/equipment. I hate it. fml

Overall. I think by Oct my budget will come into play. I am more conscious now about spending money and hopefully it will work out.

Back to studying... life of a student fml