Negative numbers are no fun

They say that one of the top reasons why most marriages end in divorce is because of money.

After yesterday, I gotta agree with that statement.

Yesterday was stressful at work, but I stayed late to finish everything. While I was waiting to approve something, I logged into my bank account online. Now, being that it's the end of the month, I knew I'd be a little low on funds. This is because the majority of my bills are due at the end of the month--i.e. rent, student loan, and storage.

But I can tell you this. I did not expect to see -$700.54 as my balance.

I immediately tried to comprehend what the hell I could've spent that much money on. I sure as hell knew I didn't just go out on some shopping spree. But I think I was too panicked to really do the math. So I called my mom.

36 minutes later, we basically figured out I had made two mistakes. #1 was thinking I could transfer a substantial amount of money from checking to my other savings account without really checking to see if I had money in there. That basically messed up alot of it. And, I paid off my Discover credit card on which I had charged my new tires on. So that was a hefty payment--normally I'd have that extra $357 in my account. #2 It actually hurt me to have my automatic savings transaction this pay period. Had I canceled that, I would've had enough funds to cover all my bills.


When I got home from work, I got into bed and cried in the dark. I cried because I felt like a failure. I mean, I'm 26 years old, I should know how to manage money. Right? RIGHT. I was also angry because I WORK HARD for my money. How unfair is it that I work and yet I have none?

At one point when I was on the phone with my mom, she said, "You know if you had a mortgage payment right now, they could take away your loan because you don't have money in your account." This really made me upset because if I can't buy my own place--where the hell am I supposed to live? I can't live with my parents the rest of my life. And renting is just like throwing money out the window.

During my hysterical crying fit, I actually had the thought that since I didn't have a cent to my name (which obviously isn't true--I have more than enough in savings, but I don't want to borrow from savings because I'm afraid I'll never pay myself back) I would have to go to the food bank for groceries. And then I thought of next month when I'd have money to spend again and how everytime I'd go to the grocery store, I would set aside $12 or so for items to donate to the food bank so that I could help someone else.

Obviously, I can be (sorta) melodramatic. But I haven't overdrafted my account like that EVER. So you can imagine why it was such a big deal to me. Thank god I have overdraft protection. Plus, my parents owed me some money. So basically, all I owe the bank will be the amount my automatic savings withdrawal took earlier this month, which I have already scheduled to transfer tomorrow.

So everything will be okay.


Have you ever cried over money? How do you deal with the stress of it all and still maintain your sanity?

I love a deal.

Hi my name is Wonderful and I have a confession to make. I've gotten really addicted to those daily deal websites. You know what I'm talking about--the Groupon and LivingSocial of our lives, if you will. These darn things are getting me to spend wayyyyy too much money lately.

I open my email and I'll see, "$10 for $20 worth of frozen yogurt," or "$20 for $60 worth the spa credit at this really cool spa that you couldn't otherwise afford," and I WANT WANT WANT IT. Over the past month, I've bought like four different deals.

I have an hour long hot stone massage, a shopping spree at the GAP, and food at a bbq restaurant to use. Heck, I'm even using a Groupon to buy my Halloween costume this year. I'm not sure if this is pathetic or really awesome.

Don't even get me started on those sites that have different deals each day of the week BUT allow you all week to purchase them. Those are way too tempting too. Although, in my humble opinion, they aren't as popular as the daily deal sites. Either that or I'm subscribing to the wrong ones.


What about you? Have you fallen into the daily deal craze?

Money, money, money

A former co-worker of mine (turned friend) got laid off oh, last summer. At the time she was about six months pregnant and seemed confident that she would find another job or start working for herself. Since she had the baby, I've seen her a few times--mainly going over to her house and drinking tea and eating cookies and catching up. Well, when her unemployment wasn't cutting it, she joined some health company, where basically the more people she gets to buy the product, the more money she makes. And I was supportive of that, since she has a family and all. The key word here is was.

Since then, she and I haven't hung out at all. Yet I constantly get Myspace invites, Facebook messages, and IMs from her asking me if I would like to "get free lunch and learn how XXX company can help me save money!" Um. No. Thanks. I don't have any desire to go to any of those things. At the beginning, I would just politely RSVP "no." Then she began with the Facebook chats, begging me to come. I told her I understand where she's coming from, but I have no interest in it. But here's the thing. All of these invites have not stopped. Like, seriously, NO means NO.

So the latest IM from her came on Monday. Only this time she admitted she knew I wouldn't go, but would "love it if you told your family and they came." And I told her, honestly, my family better things to do, and they definitely won't go. And then, THEN she started in on my current co-workers, asking what our office number was, and their extensions. I ended up giving them to her but not without telling her that no one would be interested, especially my co-worker that is disabled. And of course she took that opportunity to pitch more of the product she sells and that's exactly why said co-worker should come, and yadda yadda yadda.

I've told her outright that I'm not interested. But we used to be friends. Before she turned into this crazy marketing person. I'm not sure what to do. Do I just ditch her as a friend? Do I ignore her until she gets a real job again? Or do I confront her and flat out tell her how offensive it is that she keeps asking me and that I can't deal with her anymore?

Here's my other situation. One of my best friends in college, recently started selling Mary Kay. Since she and her hubby moved back to Texas, she's been staying at home watching their kid, while he's been substitute teaching and applying for Phd programs. She used to work full-time when they lived in New York, so I think part of her is bored being at home all the time. Plus, the extra income could help them afford trips (to see me) and other things.

She's not as bad as my old co-worker. She told me about it the last time we talked, and this week I received emails from her saying she was selling it now and stuff. But here's the thing. I don't buy Mary Kay products. Heck, the last time I bought makeup was probably circa 1990. Just kidding. It was probably more like 2 years ago, minus the regular upkeep of mascaras and nail polish. So, I understand why she's doing it, but I don't want to buy anything. I don't need it. But at the same time, I don't want her to take my lack of interest as not supportive of her. But I also don't want to feel pressured into buying anything either.

*sigh* When did friendships become complicated?