Readers, you all know I’ve been looking for a new laptop for quite a while. My old one had no battery life and it was falling apart. However, I wasn’t about to just go get one until I had the money to do it. But, as I said in my last post, I was eagerly awaiting a $600 income tax refund.

Here’s my new baby:

oooooo shiny!

It’s lovely. Windows 7 Home Premium is much better than Vista. And it’s huge! 17.3″ screen but it weighs less than 6 pounds. Plenty of RAM because I’m always multi-tasking, and better functionality in general.

I’m actually surprised I found something I liked so quickly, and that they had it in stock when I wanted it. Typically, if I’m having computer problems, I’ll end up having the old machine shut down (and in one case, catch on fire!) before I’ve had the chance to find a replacement and back up all my files.

The best part – since I needed a laptop around the same time my tax refund was coming in, I didn’t have to go with the absolute cheapest thing on the market. Instead, I got a laptop from a company I trust, that’s well-reviewed by real users. It’s also refurbished, which makes me feel better about buying it than it would buying something brand new. And, for all PF-er’s out there, I got something I’ve wanted for a long time:  a number pad on the keyboard. That’ll make doing math and working Excel on here much easier.

The total cost:  $454 with taxes. Saved over $200 on it by grabbing it when I did! Notice, no shipping costs there. I chose to pick up my machine in the store instead of having it shipped because, 1) I’m never at home during the day anymore, and 2) it was much, much cheaper.

This makes my life easier in a number of ways. I don’t have to worry about constantly backing up my stuff on an external hard drive or fight with a power cord that won’t stay in or snap the loose pieces back together every time I open up my computer. Also, since I went the frugal, refurbished route, I’ll have over $100 left of my tax refund here in a couple weeks. I’ll have to decide what to do with that, now, won’t I?

So now I have more adventures to chronicle here: the new laptop!

Training week 2 was no less stressful, with all the bank compliance testing I have to take as well just the craziness/disorganization we’ve all been dealing with since our main office is in St. Louis. And BF would tell you that I’m pretty much Satan in the mornings … not used to getting up before 7 just yet! And get this:  they have to take us to St. Louis for a week for training instead of bringing that training to us. It’s a 3-hour trip, so they’re putting us up in a hotel and paying for our meals for the week, but geez! That’s a long time to be gone from home. It’s been a bit hectic in our department, too, so I wonder if that means that overtime is going to be in the picture almost right away. Given that almost all my coworkers have kids and busy lives outside of work, I can see myself either jumping into those opportunities or basically getting pushed into them when they come along. That’s a lot of extra pay, though, and volunteering will get me noticed, especially if I keep my work performance up.

In other news, I got all my tax info in yesterday and sat down and did my taxes in a little less than an hour online. Not bad! I made a little over $21K last year – the most I’ve ever made, again. Between federal and state, I’m only getting a $600 refund. I took a hit because I cleaned out my educator’s retirement fund last year after I said goodbye to the community college. Also, I think I’ll take fewer exemptions so I get more taken out with each check. It stinks to think I’m giving the US government an interest-free loan of my money, since I typically get my taxes back in a refund each year, but I also have to keep in mind that I’m in a slightly higher tax bracket now. Not going to take any chances and end up owing the government money next year.

Another benefits packet came in from my employer in the mail. To be frank, I feel completely unprepared to have multiple choices with health insurance with the company, but it’s better than none. I chose a cheaper PPO option because I searched and found that my current doctor is covered by them, and I really just need my 1 check-up with her a year as well as birth control or the occasional antibiotic if I’m really sick. After some long consideration, I also signed up for dental and vision, and I agreed to start a 401K. The company will match my contributions up to 3% currently, so if I didn’t do it, I’m missing out on free money to go toward my retirement. Scary thought, retirement, but I do need to get on that, and this is the most painless way of doing it. The total cost is $135 a month, and it all gets deducted from my paycheck before I see it, so I don’t have to mess with anything. I’ve already applied for my benefits online, but the packet in the mail gave me the option to make changes. I could add a lot more to my benefits plan, but as I was going through, I kept calculating what my take-home paycheck would be. Sure, I could add long-term disability and accidental dismemberment and a big chunk into a pre-tax health savings account … but if I take all those options, my take-home pay is going to be pretty much the same as my previous job. Well, that’s not going to get me anywhere! I’ll just have to be patient and try to keep myself on track, especially with all the savings goals I have going right now.

Here’s where I say I’m sure I’ll be able to stay on track and do all the things I want to do. But to be truthful, I’m not sure. My job is a big bump in pay, but not big enough given that my costs are going up – those of us “enjoying” this winter in the Midwest with the higher utility bills, and with all those benefits I’m paying for now that I’m in the new job – I’m not sure I’ll be able to get everything in without putting myself in another paycheck-to-paycheck situation.

I’m revising at least one of my big 2012 goals here soon. Not sure which. Mind you this is just the drawing board, but I have some ideas. I’ll hang on to my old car a little bit longer and make sure I’m out of credit card debt (and, possibly, the private student loan) before I take on a new car payment. And as for buying a new place? Well, BF is no longer keen on moving in August when our lease is up, so we may stay in our cheap condo longer so we can save more money up.

- Adjust to new work schedule, which has been, due to weather, closer to 7:30-5:00, away from home. Lots of getting up early and coming home late, crabby and hungry, then staying up too late trying to get stuff done/relax a bit.

- Adjust to either clear skies and spring-type weather to 5 inches of snow over the next couple days, in a city that doesn’t handle snow plowing very well for some reason.

- Survive mortgage loan training (this will actually be for 8 weeks so I’ll keep it on for February too). Learning a whole new system at our company, too.

- Finish all my new-employee stuff like tax forms and required compliance stuff so I can legally work for the company and all that good stuff.

- Figure out a new budget given my new pay. Starting next months, I have to figure in the costs of my health insurance, life insurance, automated savings plans, and (*gasp*) 401K contributions. Exciting but scary all at the same time.

- Go through my health insurance options through my work. There’s 2 PPO plans including one with an HSA plan and a separate HMO plan. Big differences between all 3. By February 1, I have enroll myself in one that may (or may not) be right for me, but I can’t switch again until November.

- Make a meal plan and go to the grocery store once a week. Because otherwise we’re going to be eating spaghetti or pizza here every night. Which isn’t good for my diet.

- Deal with my family still dropping with very little notice. And also calling me at all hours of the day and night because they think I have more free time.

- Figure out how to get in a quick workout after work when it seems EVERYONE in town goes to the gym after work, and it’s January. Tons of the New Year’s Resolution types there now. I hope they’re gone come February.

- Get a new wrist brace because my wrist is hurting like hell when I type. Also need to consider getting it checked out. (owww)

- Plan BF’s birthday party – he’s turning 27! He doesn’t want a gift, but I’m completely stumped as to what to do for him. B-day ideas, anyone?

- Try to relax on weekends instead of spending the entire time catching up on housework since this place is now going to hell during the week. Hence why getting an announcement that my wonderful sister will be coming to visit THAT DAY is a bit stressful.

- Figure out what I did with my big purple day planner that I used to use all the time. I feel naked/helpless without it!

Anyway, once all this smoke clears and I actually get to WORK work, I’ll be fine. For right now, you may not see much of me. And I’m putting off the search for a car until closer to summer. Oh, well. Some things just gotta give, right?

Screech! Hit the brakes! Seriously, I have to slow down and think here! Yes, I will have all that money coming in, and I will have more flexibility in my budget than I ever had before. But – why change and become a spendthrift?

I simply have a case of “paycheck rich,” otherwise known as “lifestyle creep” or “Keeping up with the Joneses.” I want stuff, and I’ll have the money to get stuff. But I have to keep reminding myself that I have some serious goals that I will never accomplish if I just keep buying a bunch of stuff. And unless it’ll seriously contribute to my life, I don’t need any more stuff in this already cluttered house.

The only things I want to invest money are the same ones I’ve been working on for a while, but putting off because saving and paying down debt is just a tad bit more important. I’ve thought long and hard about these things, and I’ve come up with a short list of things I will invest some money in, while I save the rest or use it to get ahead on my debt repayment plan:

• A working laptop. No offense to my old Compaq (as I’m using the device to compose this post), but this thing has gone to crap and is going further south each day. BF seems to think I’ll be happier with a tablet, and even though those have come down in price, it doesn’t replace a portable computer for me. After some consideration, I’m going to wait for my tax refund to come in, take some more time for comparison shopping, and make this purchase in cash. Also, I need to see if someone who likes to tool around with old broken computers would be willing to pay me anything for this. Even $25 for this would be awesome, considering I want to spend more than $300 on my laptop this time around. I’m not going to just buy the cheapest model available but really think about what I need in a computer. Some of my specifications include better processing (goodbye Windows Vista, hello Windows 7!), more RAM for multitasking, more security, and more durable construction for traveling with it. Date of completion:  end of February 2012. 
• A newer car. This has obviously been on my wish list for some time. And it’s about time. However, I keep coming up for reasons to put off getting rid of my beater Chevy. For one, it still runs and gets fantastic gas mileage. Things lacking on it, such as a working A/C, power locks, and overall safety in that tiny car, can wait a bit longer while I add to my saved-up down payment and comparison shop and inspect some used cars around here. And, big surprise, I’m going to find something affordable. My overall goal is to land a car and payment that’s $300 or less each month. I’m going to give myself a bit more flexibility with this goal, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets moved back some more. Date of completion: May 2012 (but wouldn’t be surprised if it took till August). 
• Only a few quality additions to my wardrobe: a new coat that’s not black (you ladies who don’t like brown with black can relate!), a good pair of running shoes, and dress pants and jeans. That’s right:  I have to replace my pants! I’ve lost weight on my workout plan and plan to keep going, but super-baggy jeans and pants aren’t exactly nice/professional-looking, and I want to keep moving up at work. I’ll still be stingy with this, committing only $100-200 for new clothes over the next 2 months. And, of course, cheap as I am, I’ll likely wait until spring fashions come into the stores to look for pants and coats on clearance. Date of completion: March 2012. 
• A new home. BF and I loved this condo as our first place together, but after living with all the issues here (hello loud, destructive neighbors and mildew eating our belongings), we are ready to move on! But the question is:  when? Should we tough it out one more year? And then, will we rent another condo or buy one? What’s our plan to save for the down payment and our budget for mortgage payments and all that? Holy crap … that’s a lot of questions, and my head is now spinning. Date of completion: obviously unknown.

Of course, this is all after I pay off my credit cards in a few months. That’s well ahead of schedule, and I can’t wait!

Now, while my diet isn’t totally bad, after a short time of keeping a food journal, I’m shocked at just how much crap I really eat, even though I thought previously that my diet wasn’t that bad!

Here’s a sampling from 2 Thursdays ago:

• Breakfast:   1 cup of oatmeal prepared with water, 1/4 cup Craisins, 1 tsp Splenda artificial sweetener, cinnamon. with 2 cups of coffee with creamer and more Splenda.
• Daytime Snacks:  1 granola bar with honey.. Also, during the work day, I drank 3 cups of tea (without sweetener, thankfully) and 1 bottle Diet Dr. Pepper.
• Lunch:  2 cups pasta with marinara sauce with 2 pieces of garlic bread (I took 2nds – bad girl!). 1 cup low-calorie juice which, unfortunately, contained aspartame sweetener.
• Dinner:  1 Jimmy John’s turkey sub without mayo and loaded with lettuce, tomato and sprouts w/ a large dill pickle on the side. Another Diet Dr. Pepper.
• Nighttime Snacks: 2 cups light-butter microwave popcorn. I mindlessly ate almost the whole bag!

Now, I’m not into counting calories, nor should I be. I learned a long time ago that I should eat when I’m hungry instead of starving myself since that will ultimately slow down my metabolism, and if I stick with healthier foods, I won’t over-indulge. But that’s not exactly what I’d call normal. Did you see all that artificial sweetener? Ick! My poor liver. The sodium in that dill pickle I indulged in with what otherwise could have been a semi-healthy dinner is enough to make me worry about my old blood-pressure worries!

Part of this diet craziness is that I eat a lot of smaller meals and tend to graze a lot, given my weird work schedule and that I don’t cook full meals because BF isn’t around to eat them with me. Except on weekends, when I tend to plan nice meals at home, we both fend for ourselves. BF, being a guy and also having no debt, is much more likely to eat his lunches out or in the company cafeteria. And he gets to eat his meals on a regular breakfast-lunch-dinner schedule. Must be nice.

Here’s the great news:  now that I’m starting my new job Monday, I’ll be on a fairly normal 8-4 schedule. Likely, I’ll have a lot more time in the evenings to make myself better dinners and I’ll put more effort into it since BF will be there to help too, but breakfasts and lunches will be more pressed for time. I’ll have to focus on using my free time in the evenings on making lunches for the next day, or do more cooking in bulk. But I have to keep the budget in mind. Eating lunch out is not going to be an every-day option for me like for BF, but taking a lunch will require me to keep more lunch-bag friendly ingredients in the pantry.

This is going to be an adventure. In my next post, I’m going to focus on my other diet/health struggles:  my fight against junk food binges, caffeine, and alcohol. Not only does it sap my wallet but also my health. Here come the big changes …