Start of Month Update- May 2010

I'm going to start doing updates- one at the beginning of the month, and a follow-up at the end. Here at the beginning of the month I intend to set out my budget, savings and debt pay-off goals, and any money making goals, with steps (hopefully) to meet them.

Then at the end of the month I'll give a quick breakdown of how I did, and any unexpected happenings- extra cash, bonuses, trips to the doctor, that kinda stuff. So here I go.

Budget-

At the moment my budget for May doesn't look good. I have about $250 in the bank, and I still need to pay rent ($350). Just about all "fun" is suspended until I have a job. I have $15 at ING right now that I'll be moving into my working account as soon as I can transfer it. I should have that available Friday.

Anticipated spending breakdown-

• $350, Rent
• $20, Internet
• $15, Gas
• $1, Lotto (scrounged change)

Bills that will get paid if/ when cash becomes available (in order of personal importance)

• $50, Fed Loan 1 (x2, then defer)
• $15, CC1
• $100, S. Mae (x3, behind)
• $300, Other Student Loans (if in repayment, est.)
• $365, CC3 (x2, behind)
• $235, CC2 (x2, also behind)
• $100, Dad

Estimated total to bring everything current is 2450, and that's without any savings and short about $50 in gas. Real total needed is $2500 after taxes. In reality, I will go as far down the list as possible, paying the current month's due only, plus $50 or $100 of the back amount. That brings my total needed to a more manageable $1850 (max), while simultaneously trashing my credit and keeping the fed from garnishing my wages.

Savings and Debt Goals-

These are pretty easy-

• Don't get in more debt
• Save $20 if I can
• Get all bills to within $200 of being current
• Get deferral/ forbearance paperwork sorted and sent in

Income Goals-

These are further broken down into two groups- Real Life Income and Online Income

Real Life Income-

• Get two jobs (probably server jobs) earning at least $250 a week each (at minimum wage, that's about 34.5 hours/ wk each) by 7 May 2010
• Increase each job to $300/ wk by end of May

Online Income-

• Earn average of $10/ day for month. Some will probably come from AdSense (<$1/day), some from Amazon. Most will probably come from freelance writing.
• Write at least 20 articles for each of 2 (pre-chosen) article publishing sites
• Claim (and write) at least one paid article each week from both AC *and* Seed.com
• Write 20 articles for informative website
• Set up, optimize, and begin posting on book review site
• Add a "recommended" page to food blog

Other Goals-

I have some other things as well that I need to work on. As with most things in life, they have something to do with money, but maybe not directly.

• Reconcile savings and debt repayment goals with actual life goals
• Make motivational calendar with "Move!" date on it
• Work out minimum budget for big golfing trip, moving slow and camping
• Come up with 15 story ideas and turn one into a finished draft >25,000 words
• Clean and organize room once a week on "day off"

Okay, I think that's more than enough to work on for one month. It's only about 30 days, after all, and a couple are already gone.