Happy New Year, everyone!

I always look forward to working this time of year because it's so slow and people are so laid back. This year hasn't been like that at all, though!! I had to work 4 hours of overtime yesterday. Ugh....I'm hoping that today is slower and that I won't have to work at all for the next two days.

On a side note, my boyfriend and I went to Sequoia for dinner on Saturday before seeing Legally Blonde The Musical at the Kennedy Center. I used my Entertainment card to get $17 off of our bill at the restaurant. We split the bill, so we'll just say that I saved $8.50. Since I paid $14 for the Entertainment book, I have $5.50 left to recoup the cost of the book. Not a bad deal so far!!

Everyone have fun tonight and be safe!!

I just finished all of my Christmas shopping!! Doesn't that always feel good? I did it all online except for one quick trip to Target tonight. I had already gotten my mother a Netflix gift certificate, but then she told me that she wants an electric toothbrush. So I bought her one tonight.

I never ask people what they want for Christmas. To me, it's something that I have to see that I think they would like. I guess I've had good luck (or they're all lying to me and really hate their gifts). So, I had spent quite a bit on 6 months of Netflix for my mother, but I felt like I had to get her the toothbrush because she never asks for anything specific. My mother sacrificed so much for me as I was growing up, I don't really mind buying her something that she really wants. She deserves it.

She's going to be so pleased with her gifts. And that makes me happy :-)

I just bought tickets for me and my boyfriend to see Next To Normal at Arena Stage. It was $138 total....$66/ticket +$3/ticket fees. Probably not the smartest decision, but this class I'm in ends the day before. This class has been stressful and I've had to put my bf on the side while I worked on projects. I think it will be a nice night out in celebration of the class being over. It's just money, right? Or should we be more frugal and get a movie from RedBox that night? Ugh.

I'm never really sure how much my year end bonus is going to be, so it's always a surprise. They gave me $3,250....which came to $2,530.01 after everything was taken out. It's not bad. I've gotten more in previous years, but with the economy and everything that's going on, I'm happy to get a bonus at all (and to have a job).

I don't have plans to spend it, so I threw all of it into my ING account.

I've gotten in the habit of stopping on the way to work to pick up a can of Red Bull. But not just any can, the huge can...16.9 ounces. And this stuff is SO overpriced!! I'm a fool for buying it, but I don't drink coffee and I enjoy it. But it costs $4.09 with tax. Isn't that insane?!?!?! I'm spending over $20 a week on that crap!!

I think that I'm going to try to make some green tea in a travel mug for the ride to work. That will be really cheap (and a LOT healthier than a can of chemicals). Hmmm....maybe this will be a good New Years Resolution.

I just got cable television. Seriously. I had it before, but cancelled it in 2002 because I was travelling so much for work. I didn't miss it, so I just never renewed it. Well, my boyfriend could not stand watching the fuzzy picture that I got with my bunny ear antenna. Every time he'd watch football he'd yell "I can't even see the ball!!" :-)

When I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he said that he wanted me to get cable. So, I did. I got him other stuff too, but he's thrilled about me having cable. It's amazing how something so small can make him so happy. It's exciting to me too...there's so many shows that I haven't seen!

I am a little concerned that cable will be a HUGE distraction from my schoolwork, but time will tell. And I'll just suck it up and deal when it comes to the bill.

I got a flat tire a couple weeks ago. And by flat I mean, it pretty much blew apart. Anyway, I went to get a new tire this past weekend and the guy told me that I should get two, so that there's no pull because I'd have one new tire and one old tire on the front. I know it sounds like I was being upsold, but I really trust the garage that I go to. A few years ago, they told me that I needed a new battery, but I declined. A week later, my battery was dead.

So, I got two new tires, an alignment, and a headlight replaced for a grand total of $569.32. Ugh. Why does this have to happen right around Christmas time? I've got presents to buy.

I begin my next MBA course on January 10th. Thankfully, it only requires one textbook. I just bought it used off of amazon. $80 for the book and $3.99 for shipping = $83.99 total.

The course I'm currently taking doesn't end until January 10th, so I haven't been able to sell those two books yet. I'll let you know when I do.

Yesterday, I paid off my last remaining credit card balance. I had transferred the balance to an interest free credit card about a year ago and the interest free period is about to expire. Sending in that last payment of $6, 399.77 felt great!!

You know what didn't feel great? Seeing my checking account drop by almost $6,400!!! Wow, that hurts!! But it's definitely for the best. Now I can just use my everyday credit card that I pay off every month and get airlines miles for all my purchases. My FICO score is at 767 right now. It will be interesting to see how my score is affect by getting rid of this debt. I'll have to check in about a month.

I just bought the Entertainment Book for 2009. It's that big book full of coupons and discounts. I actually bought it through ebates.com and got $6 cash back on the already discounted $20 price!! Not bad, huh? I'm going to see if I can recoup the $14 that it cost me.

You can get yours through ebates and get the same deal. And if you don't have an ebates account, you can use my referral link (http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?id=Ak%2Fk1f6gv6ivpY5TuF89YQ%3D%3D) to sign up. If you use the link, you'll get $5 in your ebates account when you buy the book. That way, you'll pay $20 for the book but get the $6 cash back and the $5 sign up bonus, so the book only cost you $9!! Very sweet deal!! Just FYI: I also get $5 if you use my referral link.

I'll keep you posted as to how recouping my $14 is going :-)

My boyfriend and I went out to eat last night with his roommate and her boyfriend. At the end of the meal, we were trying to figure out how to split the bill when the roommate's boyfriend suggested credit card roulette. I had never heard of it before. Basically, everyone puts their credit cards in a pile and the server blindly picks one.

It was just his credit card and mine, so I had a 50/50 chance at a free dinner. The waitress picked the cards up and mixed them up behind her back and then dropped one on the table. It wasn't mine!! So, I didn't have to pay any part of the $204 bill!!

I actually felt bad and offered to just split the bill, but he insisted since it was his idea. I did leave the tip, though. It's definitely a chance, but it feels good to win!!

My boyfriend and I went to Dunkin Donuts this morning because he likes his coffee. And, of course, I can't resist their breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. While he was paying for his breakfast, I some folded up dollar bills by his foot. I picked them up and asked them if he dropped them, but he hadn't. It was 3 dollars. And I felt guilty, but I wasn't about to ask a room full of people if they had dropped cash. Anyone could have claimed it. So basically I got my egg sandwich for 50 cents.

I rarely find money and I always feel guilty about keeping it. If it had been a lot more, I would have tried to find the person who dropped it. What do other people do in this situation?

So, my school's football team is in the playoffs!! We went down there last weekend for the first playoff game and they won. I think we're going to go down this weekend too. It's about an hour and a half from where I live. We could definitely come back after the game, but we're probably going to get a hotel room. That way, we can have some fun with old friends and not have to worry about driving. That's probably not the best decision money-wise, but this doesn't happen that often. I think that a friend is going to stay with my boyfriend and me, so that will cut down on the cost.

I had a great time last weekend, so I'm looking forward to this weekend!!

I just checked out my FICO score and it went up from 761 to 767. That's not a big increase, but any increase is good, right?

I've been battling with Verizon Wireless for over a week now. One of the issues has to do with a billing problem. I was told that I had to move from a 450 minute plan to a 900 minute plan when I last upgraded my phone. Well, a customer service rep told that I didn't have to do that at all. So, long story short, I've been paying $20 more per month than I should have been for quite a while. Verizon gave me a $276.78 credit today to make up for it. It's definitely not the total amount that I've overpaid because they lied, but I'll take it. Verizon's customer service is notorious for being awful, especially with billing issues. I'm just happy that I got them to credit something. Of course, it took about a week dealing with the regular customer service people and then I emailed the CEO. That got results ;-)

It's kind of interesting. I know that the email doesn't go directly to the CEO, but if you use this link to email the CEO, it shows that you mean business. The link to his contact page is at the bottom of that page.

The trip to Atlantic City was fun!! It's definitely not Vegas, but the Madonna concert was awesome (much better than I expected) and I got to gamble a bit. Ok, more than a bit. I went over my gambling budget by about $70. But that's okay. I don't gamble very often.

We ate at PF Chang's, so dinner was cheaper than I expected. I guess I threw the money I saved in the slots.

My friend and I are going to Atlantic City this weekend to see Madonna in concert!! I'm really excited even though the whole trip is going to cost an arm and a leg. The tickets to the show were about $380 each with fees, we got a hotel room at the Tropicana for $280 (so $140 for me), and I figure about $100 on gas, $100 on food and drinks, and $200 to gamble with. I usually only spend $100 when I go to Atlantic City for one night, but I figure $200 was a nice comfortable number. I don't have to spend it all.

That's a grand total of $920. Wow. Definitely not the smartest move money-wise. Oh well. It should be a blast!! And maybe I'll even make a little money in the casino.....

My car was up for it's annual inspection this year. I went over to the inspection station and was pleased that there was only one car in line. Usually it's a lot more and takes hours to get to the front of the line. When I was my turn, I gave the guy my car and went to the waiting room.

I chilling and playing Tetris when the guy came back in and asked to talk to me. All he said was that there were "issues." Well, he showed me that the wheels had a little shake in them and I would probably need to repack the bearings and possibly need a brake job. I knew that something was wrong with the wheels because it kind of clicked if I turned the wheel all the way in one direction. And I don't know anything about cars, so he could have told me anything. But what he said made sense, so I gave him the thumbs up.

In the end, they gave me front brake pads and front grease seals for a total of $377.47. Ouch. That hurts, but I feel really good knowing that my car is up to snuff.

I've been lusting after the Blackberry Storm ever since it was announced. Yesterday, I received an invitation from Verizon Wireless to a "Private Sale" from November 17-21. And The BB Storm is on the brochure!!!

An official release date and pricing details haven't been released by Verizon yet, but there's buzz all over the internet that it will be available on the 17th and will cost $220 with a new two year contract. Signing a new contract isn't a big deal for me, but that's a lot of money to spend on a phone, even if it is more than just a phone. I currently have a Razr, so I'm thinking that I can sell that for about $40 on Ebay. I'm going to buy a Storm no matter what, but I'm just wondering if that's a smart move or not. The "Private Sale" says that there will be special pricing too. Maybe it'll be cheaper than $220....

I mentioned before how I'm questioning if Prosper is a good investment or not being that the economy is what it is right now. I just logged into my account and one of my loans is past due. The payment was due on October 30th and today is November 7.

I know that I'll make more money on this because I'll get a slice of the late fee, but part of me is still concerned that this person may just not pay at all or declare bankruptcy. Being that these types of loans are unsecured, I would have no recourse in that situation. The positive side is that I don't make large loans to people....only $50. Still, it's $50.

Is anyone else seeing an increase in the number of late payments through peer-to-peer lending services?

I am probably one of the most impatient people in the world. One of my pet peeves is figuring out what everyone owes at the end of meal or at a bar. I usually like to get separate checks to avoid that situation, but it's no possible in some cases.

This past Saturday night, I went out with my bf and a pretty large group of his friends in order to celebrate his birthday. Dinner was relatively cheap and the group was smaller, so paying there wasn't a problem. We met up with a very large group of people at a bar afterward. With that large a group and in that setting where people are just kind of all over, it wasn't possible to get a separate check or even keep track of who had what.

Long story short, the easiest thing to do was for my to charge the entire bill and have people pay me what they think they owe. Yes, I realize that I'm not very likely to get paid back exactly what I'm owed, but it would have taken at least an hour to sort the bill out. I'm okay with that. So, I charged the full $836.15 (which included an 18% tip) and people threw money at me like I was a stripper. I got about $530 because not everyone had cash. They all seemed very good about it and people came up to me and said that they still owe me more or that they'll get a check to me next time they see me.

I think that it worked out rather well because we weren't there forever figuring out who owes what. And I may lose some money, but it saved me the headache of the alternative. And I actually got more cash than I expected right then. I figure if my portion of the bill was $100 and my bf's was about $100, then it worked out just fine.

And it will actually be interesting to see who follows through with giving me more money like they said they would. These are my bf's friends, so I don't really know quite a few of them.

Does anyone else end up paying because they're too impatient to deal with sorting a bill out among a group of people?

I set my passive income goal to be $110 for the month of October. Let's see how I did:

ING Direct Account Interest: $31.64
Online Surveys: $51.70
Ebay: $1,055.00
Total: $1,138. 34

This isn't a realistic view of a typical month. The money that I made off of Ebay was from selling 4 tickets to a Madonna concert. And really, those 4 tickets cost me $1,098.65. So, I actually lost $43. 65. How should I count that? I'm going to take the optimistic view and say that it was a profit because I actually sold the tickets and didn't eat the entire cost.

As for the online surveys, I don't count that money until I request a check from them. Should I be counting it each time I complete a survey and earn money? I can't request that money until I've earned a set amount. I don't really think of it as mine until I request a check.

Am I doing this all wrong? FAIL? How do others handle this type of account?

This weekend is definitely not so frugal. Last night, five of us went to The Capital Grille. The meal was awesome, but it ended up being just under $100 for each person!! And that was with the $50 gift certificate that my boyfriend had. Probably not the best decision, right?

I'm justifying it in my mind because we went and had a great, expensive dinner and then went to a cheap bar for a couple beers and then went home. As opposed to most people on Halloween that go out and have a cheaper dinner but spend tons of money in a bar. We wanted to avoid the masses and keep it low key and I'm thinking that I probably spent the same amount of money as I would have if we went to dinner then to the pub crawl through Georgetown. And it was much more relaxing.

One a side note, my boyfriend and a couple other people wanted a bottle of wine with dinner. He asked for something "moderately priced." My jaw fell open when the waiter suggested a $60 bottle. And I think I went into shock when they finally agreed on an $85 bottle. My friend's boyfriend and I don't drink wine and made comments all through dinner about the sacrifices the other were going to have to make because they wanted that wine. It's probably a good thing that I don't drink wine!

And tonight will be even more money because we're going out to dinner with friends for my boyfriend's birthday and then to some other bars. And my bf wants a Nintendo DS Lite and I can't decide if I should get him one. It is his birthday, but that's a lot of money. It' $130 for the unit and $40 for the game he wants. Aah....decision, decision.

Happy Halloween, everyone! It's so nice that it falls on a Friday this year. No worries about getting up tomorrow after being out late. I don't have any really big plans for tonight. My boyfriend and I are eating a nice dinner out with another couple and a friend. I've never been to the restaurant before, but it's a really nice steakhouse and the online menu doesn't list prices. That can't be a good thing, right? We're going there because my boyfriend has a $50 gift certificate. I'm thinking that won't even be enough cover his portion of the bill. But oh well. I love trying new restaurants and we are saving $50 overall (well, he is).

After dinner I'm thinking that we'll just go back to someone's place and hang out and drink. I'm awful at dealing with large crowds, so being in a packed bar isn't really something I want to do. And most bars are really packed on Halloween. So, getting some booze and staying in will be really cheap. Maybe it will even out the large bill for dinner.

Everyone have fun tonight and be safe!

I think that I came up with a strategy to pay off my student loans from undergrad. I only owe about $7,220 right now. These were subsidized loans, though, so they've gone into deferral while I'm in grad school and the government pays the interest during that time. Not bad, huh?!?

The loan will be in deferral until May 2011. So, I'm going to start stashing money beginning in January 2009. If I put away $260 every month for 28 months, I'll have $7,280 by May 1, 2011!! That will be enough to pay the entire loan off!! And there's no point in me paying it off early if I'm not being charged interest during the deferral period, so I'll be making interest off that money too (I'll just create a new ING Direct account).

I'm excited that I have a plan for that!! Woo!

So, the post about how I just paid a huge bill in because I'm impatient got me thinking about other ways that I'm awful with money. Here's a few (I'm sure there's more):

• I've never balanced my checkbook. I never saw a reason too. I always have a general idea about how much is in my account, so I don't keep track of what's going in and out. Now that all of this information is online, I check that quite often and peruse through it to see if anything looks out of whack.
• I don't pay myself first. When I get paid, I look at what money was left at the end of the previous pay period and move that over to my ING Direct account. I think that's safer than paying yourself first and possibly running low on funds. Of course, that could probably be avoided if I balanced my checkbook, right?
• I'm not a DIYer. I'm awful at home improvement type stuff. I'd gladly pay someone to do something for me in order to avoid the hassle. Usually if I try to do something, I make it worse and it costs me more money in the long run. I'm more than willing to pay for convenience.
• I've never lived off a budget. I've made them before, but never actually tried to keep to them. I'm thinking of trying, but there's always something fun that comes up that I can't say no to. Maybe I'll work on this.
• I'm an impulse buyer. Sometimes I just get the urge for something and go out and buy it. I have restraint for the most part, but there's definitely times when I just want something regardless.

So, there it is. Lots of flaws (and probably a lot more I haven't admitted to)

So, my checking account has a maintenance fee of $9 a month if your balance goes below $2,500. I usually move all my money over to my ING Direct account, so my regular checking account always falls below $2,500 at come point in the month. I've been meaning to change it to a free checking account that doesn't have any maintenance fees, but, well, I was lazy. I just switched it over.

Laziness can be expensive!! At $9 a month, that's $108 a year!

I just cashed out my points in OpinionOutpost.com for a total of $51.70. It takes me a couple-few months to hit the $50 minimum to cash out, but I hit it yesterday, so I'll take the cash!!! The check with take 4-8 weeks to get to me, though. Still, it's not bad.

So Prosper is down while they are registering with the SEC. I've been wondering if it's such a great investment now with the economy being what it is. Since people are experiencing tougher times right now, it seems as though defaults on loans would increase. And Prosper loans are unsecured, so lenders are taking on quite a bit of risk. I guess the only way to decrease that risk is to diversify by making many smaller loans to different individuals.

I only have 5 Prosper loans out and haven't had anyone default so far. Has anyone else had that experience and have some insight into the concerns that probably many people have?

Well, I was going to try to make it through October without turning my heat on at all. I was doing so good!! I got home this morning and the thermostat said 62 degrees, so I turned the heat on. That's acceptable, right? Hmm....

I joined my gym a little over 5 years and it was $50 a month. Since then, it's gone up 3 times at a cost of $5 per month each raise. I have a feeling that it will be going up again soon. Anytime they do something like replace carpets or get some new equipment, the monthly fee seems to go up. Right now, I'm paying $65 a month as a single member. Is that a normal price? What does everyone else pay?

Just to note, my gym is kind of high end. It has water slides, racquetball courts, a climbing wall, and free child care. I don't have kids, so I don't use the child care at all. They say it's "free," but that really means that the cost is spread out over all the members of the gym. I'm torn if I should keep my membership if the cost goes up or go someplace else. This place is so close to my house, though. The next gym would take 20 minutes to get to instead of the 5 it takes for my current gym.

I remortgaged my condo back in March. It wasn't a great experience (I'll elaborate on that in another post). Ultimately, my mortgage was sold to Countrywide. I wasn't very happy about this, but it's not really in my control.

Well, about a month ago, I got a letter from Countrywide informing me that one of their former employees may or may not have sold all of my personal information. Great, right? So, I get two years of a credit monitoring service. It's definitely not worth having your personal information compromised, but it's pretty interesting motnioring your own credit. My score is 761. Not bad, huh?

So, I just logged into my ING Direct account and the interest rate has dropped from 3% to 2.75%. When did that happen? Aren't users supposed to get an email if the interest rate changes? I guess it's kind of expected with everything going on with the economy, but still....

I just got an email from Prosper that they will be in a "quiet period" while they register "promissory notes that may be offered and sold to lenders through our site in the future." During that time, they won't be accepting new member registrations for awarding new loans, but all existing loans will remain unaffected.

Hmmm....this kind of sucks because I like to do one new loan a month (as a lender). It says that the registration can take up to several months. I guess we all have to put new investments in Prosper on hold.

So, I'm pretty new to all of this paying-attention-to-your-money thing. I have some things in the pot that will create some passive income. And I think that I'd like to make $100 a month that way. That's a good goal to start off with, right? It feels safe....not too high.

I have an an account that earns interest with ING Direct and I do some online surveys that offer cash. Oh, and I have some things to sell on Ebay. Is that considered passive? Hmmm.....maybe I should just call that extra cash, meaning money made outside of my regular income.

Anyway, there we go.....$110 a month. Check back for updates!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, my 401(k) summary since the beginning of the year. I will not panic. I will not stop investing. I'm only 30 years old. Everything will be okay.

Now I need to convince myself of this.

Since October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, I decided to be a vegetarian for the entire month. The thing is, I LOVE meat. Almost to an Atkins Diet level. So, my friends were a little surprised and didn't have much faith that I could do it. I'm happy to say that it's going well!!

There's plenty of articles about how being a vegetarian will save you money. I'm not really sure about that. I bought groceries and the total came to $120!!! Granted, I needed some spices and they're pretty pricey (why are they so expensive?!?!?!), but still.

There's also a lot out there about how being a vegetarian is good for the environment. I'm definitely not a hippie, but I do believe in doing "green activities." Every little bit helps, right?

I'll give you another update at the end of the month on how it all went.

Has anyone tried doing this? Did you save money? Any full time vegetarians out there?

So, I've been tracking all of my expenses for the MBA program that I'm enrolled in, from the GMAT study book I used before the GMAT test to all of the textbooks. Tuition alone is $718 per credit, so that will add up to $30, 156 for the entire program. There's a lot more to the cost of school than that, though. My first class just ended and my next one starts on Saturday. These two classes are already paid for.

So far, I've spent $4,777.40. My employer has kicked in $3,500 towards tuition, leaving me with $1,277.40 out of my pocket.

So, I started grad school a couple months ago. I'm getting my MBA and should be done in a little over 2 years. Anyway, I just had to buy my first textbooks. Wow....I forgot how expensive they are. I bought them used through Amazon.com:

1. $37.50 + $3.99 shipping = $41.49
2. $46.98 + $3.99 shipping = $50.97
Total $92.46

That's a lot of money for 2 books. I guess the plus side is that I'll get some of that money back when I sell them. Hmmmm....we'll see.

Hi there!! So, I've been reading personal finance blogs for about a year now and I finally decided to throw my hat in the ring. I'm just going to be talking about what I'm doing, both personally and with my money (the good and the bad). I hope this turns out to be entertaining and maybe even informative. I'm not a master with money, but I seem to be getting along just fine. I hope you enjoy.

Let's roll.

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party ad network. Those advertisements will be identified as paid advertisements.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers’ own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

I don't intend for any of my posts to be considered advice. I am not a professional financial advisor. I may talk about certain approaches to saving and spending, but rely on the readers of this blog to determine if those approaches are right for them.

Hi Everyone!

So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I'm just a normal 30 year old guy living in the Washington DC metro area. I graduated with my undergraduate degree in 2001 and I just went back to grad school in August 2008. I'm scheduled to be done with that in December 2010.....it seems like it's going to take forever to get there!!

I started this blog in the Fall of 2008 because I like personal finance blogs so much and I thought that people may want to hear about money and my life. I love new experiences! Because of that, I tend to spend quite a bit on doing things. Most of the time, this is travel. Maybe coupled with a concert or something. I just love to see and try new things. Life is fun, you have to get out there! Well, if you have the money.

I chose the name NotSoFrugal because I'm not really frugal at all. Probably not a very good trait for a personal finance blogger, right? I think a lot of people are like this so maybe they can relate. I do try to be frugal most of the time, but other times I just whip out my wallet and go.

I intend to keep this blog anonymous, so I won't be mentioning specifics of where I live and work. Sure you know it's DC, but that's a rather large haystack.

So, welcome. Feel free to say hello and offer your own thoughts on my posts!