Living Wage

I mentioned previously that I was inspired by by Emily at EvolvingPF who directed my attention to the concept of living wage. I've decided to do a comparison between their numbers and mine (for a single adult) to see how I was doing.

The living wage broken down into categories

Clearly it's a high cost of living area, but I believe that's supposed to be reflected in coming up with the living wage in the first place.  Here are a few things that stand out:

Housing:  Over 50% of any budget is a lot!  Honestly though, I don't know how you could find a one bedroom apartment for what they are suggest as housing cost, so I'm curious as to where they get their data, and if this includes utilities or just rent.  I suppose one way of doing it would be to live further away and commute, thus adding to transportation costs.

Moving Update

I'm finally 100% moved in.  My last payment for the old apartment is complete!

It was nice that we had two full weeks of overlap in which to move everything.  I think that made it a lot less stressful.  We kept the loads small and manageable.  I think the biggest loads we brought over took us two elevator trips at most.  It helped that I was moving a short distance so this was possible.  We moved everything with our car.  We didn't have to rent a moving truck which kept our expenses to just the gas for the car.

We Sold Some Furniture which actually made moving a great success in our finances!

I don't like to buy things.

I don't think it's surprising that I'm fairly careful with my purchases.  I don't splurge on wants very often, although I can understand that it takes time to overcome emotional spending.  Instead, most of my every day purchases are food (good quality food, but still food from a grocery store such that I can make my own meals).  Frugality is a clear way of life for a number of people interested in personal finance.  However, sometimes things come up that can disagree with that frugal nature.  Right now I'm struggling to justify to myself that there are a couple of things that are really worth my time, money and attention.

1. A new prescription for my glasses.  It's been about two years since I last went to the eye doctor.  I HATE going to the eye doctor even more than I hate moving.  I know a lot of people avoid the dentist with a similar level of dislike, but for me, it's the eye doctor.  I have a fear of things near my eyes and have passed out on more than one occasion when they do the glaucoma test (the pressure test where they blow air into your eye...).  I need to suck it up and schedule an appointment.
2. A new bike. 

Striving Towards Goals (Why I Save)

Presentation went well!  *Big sigh of relief* And now back to life...

The one thing about grad school is that it certainly pushes you to work harder than you ever thought you could.  I think I dreamed about my presentation the little bit of time I actually closed my eyes last night.  I have been working through what I wanted to say all day as I was finishing the slides.  I was hoping that I would be able to just go home and crash after the talk.  Unfortunately, it seems that I've ingested just a little bit too much caffeine in the last 24 hours for that to happen...

So instead I'm sitting comfortably curled up and watching TV via hulu and enjoying it.  I have mentioned before that my internet access and my climbing membership are two things I pay for because I really value them, even if I don't need them.  While I think it is important to be realistic about what our needs truly are and fulfill them first, it's also okay to spend a little bit of the money you have earned.

I wish I was a minimalist...

I spent most of the weekend moving boxes and some furniture and getting it organized and things put away.  Moving is probably about half done at this point... and I'm sore.

I tend not to buy a lot of things.  Clothing, shoes, accessories... I feel like I've more or less stopped shopping for the past few years unless I was replacing clothing that had worn out.  But after moving a chunk of my stuff over to the new apartment it certainly seems like I own way to much stuff.

I'm Moving!

This has been a rather hectic month - even more so for my budget.

I've been talking about moving in with some roommates for some time now but it's going to happen within the next two weeks!  I had been planning for this to happen sometime over the summer but I'm excited to get it done before it starts to get really hot.  (My current apartment doesn't have AC and lugging furniture around in +90˚F heat is not what I call a good time.)  By moving in with roommates I will be saving quite a bit of money each month that I'm hoping to direct immediately towards my emergency fund.