An Appful of Dollars

As I've mentioned previously, I am trying to be more conscious of my finances,and have enlisted my iPhone to assist me with this goal. I started out by creating a simple list of monthly expenses and by (finally) setting up an online banking account. Now, I am trying to become a little more sophisticated in my efforts.

I have started using Saver and AceBudget, a couple of apps which allow a user to input all expenses and see where the money is being spent each month.

La De Da

After putting it of for a while, I finally opened a checking account back here. It feels good not to have all those graduation checks just sitting there. I also went to the mall, where I got a new wallet. Other than that, it was the same old routine.

I didn't mention it earlier, but I got my law school schedule a few days ago; I have an 8:00 class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so I'll really have to get up early in order to make the commute. Lets hope it works out. I also learned that I'll have to read A Civil Action, which shouldn't be too difficult.

Got Ca$h?

I am running low on cash right now... I think I have about $100, including my account and the money in my wallet. I'll survive for the rest of the semester, but I will have to restrain myself from any foolish spending.

I hope I can pace myself until Monday is over; things should be a breeze after then, but I have a lot of stuff to do in the meantime. I can't afford to slack off too much.

A Brief Sojourn

Yesterday was productive in that I got to turn in some Yearbook film and deposit a Christmas check from my grandfater (something I needed to do since I'm running low on cash).

Today was more productive. I was able to go to Philadelphia to search an archive, something I desparately needed to do before break. It took longer than expected, but I got something done at least. I also got some reading for another class done while I was on the train, always a good thing. After returning to Bryn Mawr, I went to Chorale. I think the trip tired me out, because I had trouble staying awake when I wasn't singing. Finally, I finished up the first page of my comic series and created the quiz that you see below:

Math is Hard. Let's Go Shopping!

Thankfully, today was a tad more productive than yesterday. After a dental checkup, my mom dropped me off at the mall, where I got passport pictures taken and got a new pair of tennis shoes. I then wandered from store to store, and also got a couple of CDs. Afterwards, my mom and I went out to dinner together.

It's sort of funny; I can be pretty frugal in some respects but also disregard money. I've been able to make do with the same pair of shoes for a year and a half, and I've kept the same old backpack throughout college. I'm also pretty restrained when it comes to clothing. Yet, when it comes to less practical things like books, CDs, or DVDs, I can spend a ton of money if I'm not careful.

Money Down the Drain

After an uneventful morning, I called the testing center. Apparently, they had me scheduled for 9:00, which is really odd. I am pretty positive that I didn't misread the number I wrote down (it is very clearly a 4), and, since 'nine' sounds nothing like 'four', I couldn't have misheard it. My guess is that the person in the center misread the appointment. Oh well.

They said that I would have to call a different number to deal with billing, but would allow me to make a second appointment (the earliest date they could get me was November 26th... argh). When I called about getting a refund, they first offered a voucher for a second appointment, but, since I had already made the appointment, a voucher wouldn't work. They then gave me a partial refund, which is better than nothing, but nonetheless means that I wasted thirty or forty dollars for a test I didn't take.

This afternoon, I got an email from my sister, in which she announced that she had signed up for AidsWalk. I called to wish her luck, but she was busy and couldn't talk very much.