Too Groggy To Post

Man, I was going to write a bad ass blog about how one week down my budget is going perfectly. All my planned bills are paid, the amount I wanted to put in savings is in there, and I still have a good deal of leftover cash that should more than last me until the next payday as long as I stay smart (I was almost dumb last night, BTW).

But holy hell am I groggy. During the last hour of work today I got duper drowsy, and when I got home I laid down and fell asleep. Let me tell you so you will better understand, I never nap. Ever. I woke up some time later, thinking it was time for me to go to work, not realizing I was still clothed. When I saw Holly, I was super confused because I thought she was at work. I honestly had no idea what time or even day it was. I was seriously just lost, and it was a freaky feeling.

Well, I got through my thursday night television programming, but I don't feel like I have properly recovered. I am still groggy as hell. I don't know what's wrong with me.

I Messed Up

In my spreadsheet, I forgot to include under the "Paid for by card" section a couple of bills that come out automatically. This plus the next two bills that are to come out this pay period, would put me negative 16 bucks. Lucky for me, one of the bills is DirecTV, and does not come out automatically. Hell, it's not even due until the end of the month, it would just be more convenient to come out this pay period. So I'm in no danger of coming up with an overdraft fee. I just have to take a twenty from my cash amount and deposit it in the bank tomorrow. That's what I get for fucking with Mondo Tees. I just have to spend wisely, which shouldn't be too hard as long as I don't leave the house and succumb to movie temptations (I so want to see Zombieland). I underspent on groceries, and I have plenty of food. I have plenty of gas. Probably the only thing I may need to spend money on is my pets. I should be fine.

For now.

Damn You, Mondo Tees!!!

You got me!

Holly and I went to the Drafthouse South Lamar last night, which is connected to Mondo Tees, to see Paranormal Activity. I'll talk more about that movie over at NILBLOG. We got there super duper early because this movie sold out like 6 showings instantly and has some major buzz, so getting there early makes sure we get a good seating spot. It also means I have time to wander over to Mondo Tees to have a little looksie.

In my last post on Mondo Tees I talked about how much cool shit they have. In person, they have even more! Unfortunate for me, the Antichrist poster I loved so much was super sold out. I did chat it up a bit with the guy working there (I can't remember his name, I'm terrible with names), but he was a super cool guy. He showed me a copy of that Antichrist poster (not for sale) but so I could see all the little details I couldn't in the online version. But then he took it away. Later, talking to Holly about it, I had to force myself to feel myself to feel better by telling her "What if I paid the money to buy and frame the movie, see, the movie, and it sucks ass?" (God I hope not).

But I did see the variant Troll 2 poster I wanted, and was talking to the guy about it. I showed him my last blog post about Mondo Tees, and after laughing about "I Love You, I Hate You", he did let me know that the copy of the Troll poster that he had out was the last one left. He said it normally is 50 bucks, but he would sell it to me for 30. I checked my cash, and barely was under the amount, so out came my debit card. So yes, I now have the last Troll 2 variant (although it is still listed for sale on the site for some reason). But yeah, I spent about 33 bucks on my card, not cash. The only reason I even had my card is because you need it to show the Alamo people when you buy your tickets online.

DAMN YOU MONDO TEES!!!

But check this shit out. He also showed me this bad-ass poster all the Fantastic Fest attendees got for free. But then you put on 3D glasses and the badass-ness of the poster triples! Yeah, an awesome giant monster poster in 3-D! And he threw one of those in for free! Thank you, man.last one. That was like a fuck fifty. Two tolls on the trip to the Alamo and back. That was 1.50, with the remaining fifty cents going to the Graceland bucket. Then another ten-ish for food and drink during the movies, Come on, it was past midnight when the movie started and I'm freakin 35! I can't do these midnight movies so much anymore. Hell, I almost fell asleep during one of the most freaky moments of the movie, and the only reason my eyes shot open was the gasps/yelps/freaked out cries of the crowd. But then I'm sure eating those fat nachos didn't help with my sleepiness.

Amount spent: I'm not even going to bother counting right now.

And since it's sunday, GO GIANTS!!!

Bummer

See, I'm not the only one who thinks Mondo Tees has the best posters. That Antichrist one I showed you the other day is no longer on the website. More than likely this means it's sold out.

What are you gonna do?

Well, I am on the strictly cash part of my budget now. I did check DirecTV and they should be sending me an invoice during this pay period, so I do have it set up right. Everything is just getting paid as soon as those bills go out. Nothing wrong with that.

I did get the email about paying the 50 dollars now for the YouNeedABudget software. See, I really would like to use this software. It is getting amazing reviews and results. Problem is 1) I don't currently have 50 bucks, and 2) it isn't Mac compatible. Oh, but wait! YNAB version 3 should be coming out by the end of the year with big improvements, and most importantly, Mac compatibility! Here is where they get you. Right now, YNAB is 50 bucks. When YNAB3 comes out it will be 60 bucks. But if I buy it now at the 50 dollar price, when YNAB3 comes out, I get to upgrade for free, saving 10 bucks. I'm hoping I get into a beta test so I can figure if it is worth it.

I am starting to think I may have come up with a system that will work great for me as long as I stick with it. I do like that YNAB has classes and a message board for support, not just of the technical variety either. A whole group of people with the same goals giving each other help and support. Though, honestly, I already have that in my girlfriend who has been nothing but awesome about me doing this.

Bottom line, do I spend money to save money, or trust myself with my own resources? Holy cow, when I typed that "trust myself" part, and knowing it concerned money, I almost right away went to YNAB.com and gave them my 50 bucks, just because I have always been notoriously bad with my money. But NO! I WILL BE GOOD!!!

But for everyone else who hasn't created a crazy, whacked out Excel spreadsheet, you should at least check out www.youneedabudget.com.

It Has Begun.

I am way too tired to tell you all I have done today to get my master plan started, but it has begun. I'll just mention two quick things that I find are important.

1. I transferred 75 bucks to my savings today. This may sound like nothing to you, but to me this is huge. The only reason I have a savings account to begin with is because they required I start one to open a checking account. So it has been sitting there with five bucks in it forever. Today I made my first ever transfer of money into it. And I plan on staying in a financial situation where I won't have to touch that money until I am ready to touch it. And yes, I plan on adding to it every paycheck.

2. After getting paid, I paid my cell bill about an hour before they sent me a text saying my account balance was ready to be viewed. I filled my car up with gas, and that should be enough to last me until my next pay period. All I have left is Insurance and DirecTV (which I have to check, but I may have already paid that). Come to think of it, I don't think Netflix has come out yet. Regardless, I left enough in my account to cover the bills I have left to pay, and I took the rest out in cash. I put my debit card away, and all my extra spending will be strictly cash only. I think when I can see how much I actually have, I will be more careful with how I spend it.

October is the beginning of what I know is going to be a great time for me and Holly. She's saving. I'm saving. We'll definitely hit Graceland next year for my birthday. Also, with any luck, we can put a down payment on a house in the distant future.

I'm just excited.

And Like That I Blow It

For real, this HAS to be my last irresponsible crazy shopping excursion. I have a problem, and it's going on at this moment. No, it's not compulsive spending. What it is is that I get wacky ideas in my head, and they fester until I act upon them. I am not an interesting person. Not knocking myself, but I'm not a painter, or a lumberjack, or Carson Daily.

I know I have a lot of people who love me and I love them right back. But I somehow feel the need that I have to rant, not only in print, but in audio and video, especially for the other blog I (re)started, NILBLOG, where I can rant about stuff like how everyone completely overhyped District 9. Yeah, it was a good movie, but not the greatest thing since string cheese.

I have also wanted to try to do a video podcast every week where I rant about whatever. I am fully aware that the only people who will care or watch would probably be my Super Awesome girlfriend, and my mom, who shouldn't watch because there will be harsh language.

Where am I going with this? I drove around to the only place that was open, Walmart (you may kill me in comments, yes), and bought a microphone for the computer. I already have a camera. I also figured this would be a cool way I could communicate with my brother who lives in the Ukrane, especially if he doesn't have a Mac, where we could just use ichat.

While I was there, I noticed they had a very affordable 2gb sd card for Holly's camera. She just got it working, but she has no card. So I got her one. It was a good amount of room for a very affordable 10 bucks.

I also got a new 2 gig memory card for my PSP. For crying out loud, people! My current card is so small it can barely hold a save!

Here is how I see this. I am about to get married to a strict personal budget. It will take a bit of work at the beginning . There will be speed bumps, temptations, all kinds of things I am committing myself to. I KNOW what Holly is getting for her birthday. I am 90% sure what she is getting for Christmas. Oh, she'll cry , "no, no, don't get me anything!", but it's already settled. I know we will be going to Graceland for my birthday in May. It will be a great financial marriage.

Having said that, tonight was the bachelor party.

Amount spent tonight: 47.24

You Have Been Put On Notice

What I am writing and saying is me. If you are a family member and are afraid you may be offended by my language, be aware I will probably be dropping more F-Bombs than that chick in that lame SNL biker chick skit this week (even though it was only one F-Bomb). If you want some tender shit, visit McBroke. I am a very crass (yet still nice) individual. Get used to it.

Last Day of Sort-of-Normal

I was a little lazy today in my spending. I had some money left over where I can quite possibly start the savings account a month earlier than anticipated. And there were a few things I needed. First of all, at work I was so messed up from my meds. I needed something in my belly, and I hadn't eaten breakfast. II was also thirsty, so I headed to the dollar store for a soda, some crumb donuts, and powder donuts (for my co-worker Casey, who hooked me up with a soda yesterday). That came to 4.41.

Later I decided that I wanted to get a huge mug from Smokey Mo's for drinks. I don't have a good mug at work, and wanted to get that knocked out of the way. It cost 5.41, but the benefit is that I can always head over and get an iced tea refill for a dollar, which is way cheaper than Dollar General sodas (and less sugar!). So I am more thinking of it as an investment.

Last, I bought three Springsteen albums we got in in great condition that I wanted. It was final splurge of the month, and I had been waiting for Greetings and The Wild to come in forever. Both were in great condition, as was the copy of Born to Run. Now I just need The River and Nebraska if great condition copies ever come in. But those three cost me a whopping 10.25. That's right! Three great albums for 10.25! Take that, iTunes!

Total spent today: $20.07

Tomorrow is October 1. It is also Pay Day. It begins my hard core spending regiment. I'm going to do my best to stick with it, but even more so to spend under my projections.

One last thing. My ledger isn't matching up with my bank spending history, so it's time to take a look and fix that problem.

Mondo Tees I Hate You

For being so awesome. You have been a really bad temptation lately. So, so bad. Mondo Tees, just writing about you right now I am just tempted to jump in my car and head down to Alamo South Lamar and go crazy. First of all, I have already purchased a poster from you months ago during the Night of the Creeps screening. I also had it signed by the director and the man himself, Tom Atkins. Here is a picture of the poster (not my signed copy).

I have this poster, spent 30 bucks on it at the event, and it still sits in the other room rolled up without a frame. I so want to get a frame for this and hang it up, but frames that large are not cheap.

Now you make the most awesome T-shirt I have seen since my Second Amendment one. I saw it the other night while at the Alamo for a free screening of Capitalism: A Love Story (go see it), and had to have it. But then I had to fight it. Frugal.... frugal..... frugal! What is the shirt? Check this out! Awesome, right? A must have for someone like me. A classic play on the old Jason takes Manhattan poster , not to mention that I do heart TX (well, Austin, anyways), and really love Leatherface. as far as horror characters go, he is right below Jason Voorhees for me. I even had Gunnar Hansen, the original Leatherface sign my first edition DVD of Texas Chainsaw Massacre! So needless to say, the shirt is a must have for me. And it was right there in reaching distance. I had the money. By "have the money" I mean I can buy it and not go negative and be fine, but I will be setting myself back in my savings plan. I let it go.

Ha, I haven't even mentioned the super awesome Troll 2 shirt they have, or the ultra limited, glow-in-the-dark, signed and numbered variant Troll 2 poster. But look at that poster! It's 50 dollars! But it is glow in the dark! Signed! Numbered! Variant! Anyone who knows me knows my absolute love for Troll 2. It is without a doubt the best worst movie ever. Don't believe me? There is a documentary about this movie called Best Worst Movie Ever. To me it is legendary. So these items to me are like taunting a recovering cannibal with a plate of human kidney.

And I'm not even close to done yet! Director Lars Von Trier's new movie, Antichrist, just played at Fantastic Fest. I am dying to see it and want to know as little as possible as I can about it. The first trailer to me war haunting, creepy, and beautiful all at once, and I have heard this movie is kind of messed up. I'm hoping that they will show it again for a "Best of the Fest" showing, like they did with Let the Right One In last year. But then again, that would assume that Antichrist was one of the best films of the fest. Well, they had to go off and make a beautiful poster for the event that I would love to have on my wall.

Think I'm done? Picture this shit on your wall! Mother of Christ, I swear to God I think Mondo Tees is plotting to break geeks everywhere with their awesome products. Not only to you have to shell out at least 30 bucks for the posters (not complaining about the price because the quality is well worth it), but then you have to drop however many dollars it takes to buy frames the size of these posters. And these aren't little neeny (yeah spell check, I know it's not a frickin word!) posters.

I love movies.

I love original, quality movie poster art (and these posters are without a doubt art).

I love you, Mondo Tees.

I hate you, Mondo Tees.

Temptation. I must fight it. Think about the long run.

And I'm not even going to get started on the fact that there is a super bad-ass genre film fest in the city I live in (going on right now), along with two other film festivals throughout the year.

Maybe the best way to save money is to live in a podunk little shit-heel town in the middle of nowhere, and cut yourself off from the internet. Then what would you have to tempt you away from your money? A 77oz Dr. Pibb at the local convenience store?

Well, let's wrap this epic up with our daily spending. On the way home for lunch from work I stopped and bought some ice cream for Holly and myself, which was good because she deserved it. She spent all morning busting her ass on the backyard. So that was 3.98. And tonight I had to go get some toilet paper, because I don't think there is enough to last until payday, and a four pack of AA Energizer batteries for our digital cameras (yes, we both got our old Kodak digital cameras working and hooked up, YAY!). I had a dollar off coupon for the TP (and I don't buy that cheap shit, BTW. Charmin ultra strong all the way. There are some things you should treat yourself right to, and tp is one of them!), and a 2 dollar coupon for the batteries. So the total at HEB was 8.83.

Total spending of the day: $12.81

And visit www.mondotees.com for some rad merch.

Temptation

Oh, so much temptation out there. You'll probably see so many posts about temptation. I need to fight it in order to be able to save. I need to realize that whatever pleasure I may get from this event or item will be short term, and right now I need to think about long term. I have so much right now. Really, so much. Well, I don't have a digital camera so I could take a picture of the DVDs and books and other assortments of stuff I have. I could have my girlfriend take a picture on her camera and email it to me, where I could convert the.......blah blah whatever. Too much hassle. But you get the picture. I have too much stuff.

I know I'm bad. For example, I use the calender on the mac for work schedules and other events. I also have posted when certain bands are playing, and when certain movies, CD's, and DVDs are coming out. For instance, I just found out that one of my favorite bands from the 90's, Polvo, put out a new album. The clips on Amazon sound great. And while I will admit that there was a time when I would do the whole Napster/Bit Torrent thing, I quit doing that a while ago. I figure people should get paid for their work. Period. So on my calender, on October 1, one of the entries in Pay Day. One is Dr. Appointment (note to self, reschedule tomorrow), and one is Get New Polvo Album. I have getting this event as an event so important that I must date it on my calender. I just checked my iTunes, and I have 20.2 days of music, not to mention that I can check out CDs at my work. I can hope that someone eventually sells a copy of the album to us at work, but that would be unlikely. But the point is I have stuff. I don't need that album. I can live without it until I build a solid savings account.

Don't let that last paragraph fool you into thinking I am a totally smart man. I love horror movies with a passion, and apparently the movie that is getting the huge buzz as the freaky shit right now (though I am at the moment in a mode where I won't believe the buzz until I see it) is Paranormal Activity. It was some uber-cheap haunted house something something. They had one midnight screening here in Austin, but you had to be a Fantastic Fest badge holder. Oh, I can go into another whole Moby Dick long post about how much film fests are temptations for me. Well, I was snooping around the web, and saw they added 5 more midnight screenings for anyone. One on Thursday, two on Friday, and two on Saturday. Thursday was already sold out. I awoke Holly from her slumber and asked if she would be up for it, and she said yes (why wouldn't she? She loves the haunted house horror movies!).

So like that, no internal financial debate with myself whatsoever, I spent 20 bucks on 2 tickets, and I have no money left in my entertainment budget. Granted, it probably won't go through the bank before I am paid again, therefore coming out of my new October entertainment budget, and even if it did come out before pay day, I have the money to cover it (especially since we didn't get the Monday Night Football ticket hook-up). But paying for something and hoping it will come out of your account at a later date to me is one of the worst things you can do, and has screwed me so much in the past. I sometimes wonder how much money in my life, including when I was married, went to overdraft fees. I wonder how many of my work hours went to absolutely nothing.

October is here, and that means my new budget/spending/whatever keeping track of things goes into effect. This will begin my start of building a savings account, and never having an overdraft fee again. Wish me luck.

Spending today: Got some cat food, breath mints for my dog (please, please work), and a cat toy. It's one of those with a weird mousy looking thing at the end of a rope connected to a stick. So far it just freaks my cats out. But that came to 20.54, which leaves about 10 bucks for my pet budget for the month. Then Holly wanted some ice cream, which sounded yummy. So I got her back for getting me ice cream the last two days. So that was 3.98. Then of course the impulsive movie tickets, which were 20.

Total spending for the day: 44.52 ouch.

Good Day

First of all, I have tho most bad-ass girlfriend in the world. Remember how I wanted ice cream in that last post? Well about 10 minutes after I wrote that, she called me, just having gotten off work, and said she was getting ice cream and wanted to know what kind I wanted. She totally got me ice cream! And get this. She doesn't even have a job where she can read my blog, so she didn't even know about my ice cream craving! How awesome is that? And a bonus? More ice cream today when I got home.

I made the rest of yesterday with no money spending. I also made it today with no spending. I was fine enough to drive home for lunch and have my chicken tequitos. I also get to get my special greeting from Oscar, my pup. By "special" I mean I let him run and meet me outside, and he piddles everywhere from excitement. That was nice.

I did resist going to the store and getting a big Gatorade. I think that is about it as far as being good financial wise. Football wise, though.... First of all, my Giants shut out the Bucks, so that is awesome. Unfortunately they kicked so much butt they did very little passing once they were way ahead, and I didn't get many points off of Mario Manningham in my fantasy game. Oh, and I started Drew Breeze, who was a let down, and sat Brett Favre, who had a killer game. So all in all, my Giants are kicking ass at 3-0. But I haven't won a fantasy game yet. Oh well. With any luck we'll be going to the Monday Night Football game tomorrow night, which will unfortunately open another whole can of financial worms, but it's football, so it's worth it.

Total spent today: $0

All Doped Up and One Place To Go

Today was my second day back to work since the back surgery. I have all kinds of meds and pain pills to take. Usually I can handle them. I don't get all funky feeling in the head or anything. I'm pretty much normal, just with less pain.

Not so today.

By the time lunch came around, I was pretty foggy in the head. I only live five minutes from work, so I usually just drive home for lunch and eat some corn dogs or whatever other gross substance I can throw in the oven. Today, though, I was way too impaired to drive home. Being unprepared, I was forced to spend money.

Probably the best bang for my buck is at Smokey Mo's, a BBQ joint a couple of shops down from where I work. I can get a half pound of brisket for about 5 bucks, with free bread. That's a lot of sandwich! But at the same time, that set me back 5.39, which is not what I wanted to do. Bummer.

So here is what I need to do. I'm not going to quit coming home for lunch all the time. I love coming home to see my animals in the middle of the day. I just need to grab some microwave meals and keep a couple on hand at work in case I can't drive home. BOOM! Problem solved! One of my personal goals is to better prepare my shopping lists when I grocery shop, so this will just figure into that.

With any luck, the 5.39 will be all I spend today. Let me tell you, Ice cream is sounding pretty awesome right now, especially since it's hot in here. Must....fight.....it.

What Am I Doing?

Well, I signed up for a free Quicken account to get a visual idea of where my money is going. Seeing where all my money is going in a pie chart is a little scary, especially when I see how big my 'dining' and 'entertainment' chunks are. So I know right off where I need to do some chopping. To be completely honest, I already knew I was spending too much on these things.

They also have a goal feature, and I set a specific amount to each category, allowing myself only specific amounts for certain categories. I started doing this in the middle of the month, so I wound up having to adjust certain levels (entertainment, dining) as I went along.

I also created a quick little Excel spreadsheet, mapping out my bills, how much I plan on each check to put into savings, how much I have left over, and how much of that I have to spend on crap like dining and entertainment per week. I'm thinking of taking that amount out of the bank every pay period, and going straight cash for the frivolous things. If I run out of money early, tough cookies. I have this spreadsheet set up to go to the end of the year.

I'm also trying to find a second job, or maybe even one that pays more than I make now. I was close, oh so close, to getting an old job back with a good company I used to work for with good pay, but I somehow blew the second phone interview, because it was right after that I got the email denying me the job. That one hurt. Hopefully a second job will come along soon. I know with the holidays coming soon, something should open up. Hopefully something not to hard on my body.

Time to get ready for work. First day back after being gone for two weeks due to the surgery. They'll have me doing probably nothing but register since I'm on lifting restriction. But I can't take any more time off. This surgery break cost me all my sick time and almost all my vacation pay. After that I would be on FMLA pay, which is only 60% of my normal pay, and there's no way I can live on that.

Just To Clarify

I know that corporate lawyers can be a nasty lot. So for the record, the name of my blog "McBroke" in no way has anything to do whatsoever with McDonalds. I'm not being political here. I am not wishing for McDonalds to go broke. Hell, I have enjoyed a Quarter Pounder with Cheese from time to time.

Nope. Basically, I'm a Mc. I'm a Mc, and I'm always broke. I am hoping to change that. Not necessarily become McRich, but I would be happy with McWell-To-Do. So you corporate lawyers (who have not, and in all likelihood never will contact me), know that I am harmless, and not trying to start a revolution. The only revolution I would like to do now is of the Dance-Dance variety, and due to my current physical condition, that's not happening.

Oh, and Flash Forward, you wrapped your dirty little claws into me. Hopefully ABC won't bungle this, and we get another Heroes on our hands. And please don't try to ever come up with a cheesy tag line like "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" or "Are You on the List?" You had a good solid pilot. I think good enough to get some good word of mouth going. Maybe have an encore showing for those who missed it before next Thursday, and let the show promote itself. NO CHEESY TAG LINES!!!! Don't ever let me see a commercial that asks me "What did you see?". Don't do it.

This post/rant is brought to you by Oxycodone and Valium. I'll try to keep future posts more level headed.

Things Need To Change

Hello. My name is Dalyn. I am 35, work in a bookstore making less than 9.50 an hour. I havae no college degree. My savings account has 5 dollars, and my checking account has a little over 100 dollars in it. I get paid one week from today. I have a girlfriend who lives with me who has a better grasp at saving money than I do.

The good is that I do have a job. I also have health benefits, which is great seeing as how I just had spinal surgery, and constantly need to pay for office visits and prescriptions. I own my own car. I have no credit card debt whatsoever. I also have no credit whatsoever (well, if I do, it's probably bad). I live in a nice house with my girlfriend and room mate in the Austin area, with my rent only being 300 bucks a month, plus 1/3rd electric. Sweet deal!

I'm your average geeky man-child. I love video games. I love technology and gadgets. I think I dream in Hi-Definition. I always have to own every DVD, gadget, game, or book that interests me. These are bad habits I recognize.

I recently started an anonymous blog about everything I hate. I spewed some bile for a few entries, just to get some steam off my chest from working the retail world. When I read a book on Columbine, and saw that one of the killers pretty much did the same thing (well, not for the purpose of letting off steam), it kind of put a damper on my attitude about it, and I stopped writing. Hell, I can't even remember the blog name or password to just go and flat out delete it.

So my new goal is a positive one. I want to go into 2010 on the right foot financial-wise. I want to spend better, build up an actual savings account, and network with other people like me who are just trying to get rid of bad habits and use whatever tools available to build a better life financially. One day I would like to travel to another country with my girlfriend. One day I would like to buy a house of my own. But most important for now, I want to stop living paycheck to paycheck.

Okay, now let's go see if this Flash Forward is all that it cracked up to be.