Well, April is shot

Oh boy.  It is only April 4th and I’m already anxious for May because I feel like this month is shot (financially).

Why?

1.  Sailing class:  Work pays for it (!) but I have to pay the taxes (what, sailing isn’t work related??) which are about $150.  In addition, I needed/wanted a windbreaker ($50), sunscreen ($6), and sunglasses ($6).  Please don’t make fun of my cheapo sunglasses!  I feel like I should wear some pants that aren’t made of denim or cotton, but I’m going to go to my first ‘on the water’ class to see if that is truly necessary.  He claimed we don’t typically get wet.

(By the way, I’m really pumped about this.  In addition to 12 hours of lecture, for the next six weeks I get to spend 3 hours on the ocean learning to sail.  This is really the kind of thing I want to spend my money on.  If I love it enough, I can take part two for another $150 out of my pocket.)

2.  Energy bill for 2.5 months instead of one, so $75 instead of the budgeted $30.  That doesn’t include my other bill for trash and some other services, which is about $10.

3.  Pay IBM/Lenovo for battery replaced under warranty because I threw away the broken one  when I moved.  I seriously want to smack my head against the wall for this.  They are overcharging me at $120, but I decided not to get crazy and order on online to send them.  With my luck this month, they will check serial numbers and bill me $200!

4.  Computer.  Um, this was not a prudent purchase.  I estimated that it would cost roughly $200 to upgrade, but did I really want Vista Home Basic, not Premium?  Is 1G of RAM really enough?  (Not for Vista.)   For an extra $15 I could get a 6-cell battery instead of a 4-cell, and 120G instead of 80G.  So I justified spending almost $300 to upgrade.  Then add in taxes and California’s $12 recycling fee (what?), grand total $341 for the upgrade.  That is 75% more than originally planned!  One the brighter side… I used my Visa Signature card, which doubles the one year warranty (great perk if you buy anything electronic).  I will have this computer a long time.  Oh and for those hipster Mac lovers out there, sorry, I just couldn’t do it.  My main concern was running programs I’ll use for school, MATLAB, on a Mac (which I know you can do, but I never have).   The price was a factor too.

So, as you see, April is totally shot…

How am I making up for it?  Instead of putting $400 in the e-fund, I’ll put $150.  Instead of the usual $75 I spend on dinner dates with T, I’m only going to spend $40 (or less).  I won’t spend any of my “home” budget, except whatever I need to do laundry.  I’ll use my $100 cashback bonus check towards the battery payment to ease that blow.  I had hoped to replenish my clothes fund, but that’ll just have to wait (no new clothes for even longer).  Entertainment is obviously shot for this month, perhaps next.  I found a way to take care of everything except the taxes so far, and those haven’t yet been deducted from my check.  Really, I don’t have to pay for the computer purchase until next month, so I might split it between two months.  I pay each credit cards at least twice a month.  I know, I’m weird.

In May, I’ll make up for my pathetic savings in April by saving my entire economic stimulus check.  It is also an “extra paycheck” month for me, so I should be able to save at least another $500 in the e-fund, no problem, and perhaps add some money to short term savings.  I’m counting my chickens before they hatch, but I should be able to save $1500 in cash in May.  My sister is coming to visit in May, so imagine I’ll spend some money doing things with her, but still.

Hmmm… So when does May come??