Layout:
Home > Archive: February, 2008

Archive for February, 2008

Got gas? [RANT]

February 29th, 2008 at 03:43 pm

The title wasn't meant to be a double entendre, but now that I think about it, I did feel uncomfortable gurglings in my GI system yesterday after I went to the gas station. The guy asked, What d'ya want? and me in my blissful ignorance and assurance with having just visited the ATM, told him to 'Fill it up, regular.' The price of regular gas was $2.97, and I started doing the math in my head to pass the time. "13 gallon tank, so that's roughly $39 for gas...sigh..."

Well, guess what the total ended up being? $43 friggin bucks. No friggin way. But I checked the pump and turns out my lovely Camry has a bigger tank than I'd thought. I probably should beat my head hard for not "knowing" my car as well as i should, but back to money issues- $43!

For this month, gas spending was $20 for each Sunday ($80) plus this monster fillup. So $123. I did do some extra driving this month, shuttling my parents from their South Jersey house to Newark Airport, also drove to have dinner and see friends in the Edison/Raritan area. I guess I should be glad my daily commute is only 10-15 minutes (7 miles) each way.

I know I can't stop the rising price of gas but i guess i could be more careful about the amount of driving I do. This month I have been pretty bad about lunchtime jaunts- hopping in the car instead of walking/running the 1-1.5 miles from my office to the post office or Dunkin Donuts or whatnot. I can't really cortail weekend driving unless I become a total hermit (I'm already 90% of the way to achieving that dubious title) so, I don't know, maybe I'll just drive the speed limit instead of 5-10 miles above?

Every little bit of gas economy helps, especially in this day and age of outrageous gas prices!

My electricity bill came (ominous music)...

February 25th, 2008 at 11:32 pm

...ha ha, I'm just exaggerating here. Last year, I was in tears when my electricity bills for the coldest months of January and February were both approaching $200. And mind you, I am living in a

Ouch! Bills!

February 7th, 2008 at 12:47 am

After the rent, utilities/water and cable, my other bills come out to around $400/month. I was thrilled the past two months when my cc bill was closer to $300, due in part to my "smarter" grocery shopping strategies (cook more, buy less prepackaged foods).

And then...it all goes down.

Got my biannual car insurance bill. Yes, it is a necessary evil. But it adds another $480 on top of my regular monthly expenses. Ouch.

Also, I know this month's elecricity bill is going to be astronomical. Probably close to $200, given the cold late January cold spell.

Looks like I won't be able to contribute much, if any, to savings this month. Boo.

Picking up spare change

February 2nd, 2008 at 10:37 pm

I'm a believer in, "find a penny, pick it up" regardless if it is heads up or down. However, I really don't often find change lying around! For kicks, I started a tally of the change I found on the ground. So far it's been a whopping 28 cents.

I have read stories of people who find an AMAZING amount of money in parking lots, public parks or camping grounds, store floors, etc. I guess those people are just very fortunate!