Simplicity

Ever since I was little, I've dreamed of being an adult and living a fabulous life. See, when you're a kid, growing up seems so simple, so pure, and so easy. Turns out that while it's often fun, growing up and being independent isn't always easy. The older we get, the more responsibilities we take on, and four years out of college, I'm already feeling the burn! Between budgeting, paying bills, keeping on top of my job and working my way through grad school, I'm just feeling…overwhelmed.

To top it off, I'm constantly fighting the want vs. need battle (and often losing).  Life is one big instance of dangling a carrot in front of a donkey, only I'm the ass and a pair of new Louboutins is the carrot. I waaaant those pretty things and I deserve them, dammit!

I wish the ten year-old version of myself understood that even though I grow up to be a nice, hardworking girl, I still struggle, and still find myself wanting to storm into my room and slam the door in protest. But now instead of being mad that my parents are making me eat the rest of my gross string beans before leaving the dinner table, I'm dealing with much scarier things like 401k plans and credit card ARP. Bleh.

I know everyone goes through this at one time or another, so it's nothing abnormal. It's kinda like a quarter-life crisis, plus a couple years :) Thankfully, I'm blessed to have a wonderful support network of friends and family around me, who always help keep me in check. I've decided that over the next few months, I'm going to work on simplifying my lifestyle so that I don't feel overwhelmed by everything. I'm not exactly sure how to do that, but I'm open to suggestions if anyone has ideas!

My first step is setting up a budget (I'm awful with money, although the intention is always there). After doing some research, I decided to use Mint.com which, if you aren't familiar with it, is freaking amazing. I'm terrified of the word budget, but this program is great, and FREE! Plus, they have a blog, and use Twitter, which makes keeping on top of it so much easier. What I love the most is that the program allows you to link your checking account, credit cards, student loans, rent/mortgage, etc. to your budget account, which automatically tracks your spending. Seriously. It also reminds you when payments are due, and can track any savings to keep you up to date on net worth. This is something I really needed to see laid out, to understand where I was with spending vs. savings. And it made me realize that I just have too many bills right now to keep on top of, so hence why I'm in a new mindset of being more practical. We'll see if it works :)

Here's a sample screenshot of the Mint.com program (not mine, obviously) in action:

Pretty cool, huh?  I'm going to give it a shot for a few weeks and see how I do.  Please still let me know if you have any good suggestions for how to streamline stuff and make life easier... I need all the help I can get these days :)
 
xoxo,
Olivia

Time Management 101

Lucky me is spending the evening at the Acura dealership getting an oil change, state inspection and the bump on one of my tires looked at... I have a feeling that last item is going to be pricey. Eeep!

Anywho, I'm always amused with how people pass their time in the waiting area. It's an interesting study in time management and multi-tasking. A few people are focusing on business stuff, which is smart since we're all stuck here basically doing nothing. I'm doing business stuff, too -- reading for my International Business class. Go me!  And then there's a person clipping their nails and tweezing their eyebrows.  Personal grooming in public = not alright.

I'm sure I'll doze off in a few but for now happy being productive. What a random post!

Xoxo,
Olivia

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

It's Taxing Business

We got a few inches of snow overnight here in the DC area, so my office delayed opening until 11:00 a.m. Since I was already awake, I went ahead and finished filing my 2009 tax return so I could get my monies back. Yay for a productive morning!

My morning was also made better by seeing this on my way into work:



Haha. Only in South Arlington. Anyway, back to taxes....

Filing seems pretty straightforward when you're single and don't own any property (like moi), so I usually try to get everything done as soon as my W-2 forms come in. That way, The Man isn't keeping my monies when I can be earning interest on it. Mad props to people that have properties and businesses and all sorts of other stuff that complicates the process. I don't have the energy (or brainpower) to deal with that stuff!

Oh, and I should mention that I get some help doing my taxes. I use the H&R Block online "Basic Federal/State" program, which is about $45.00. This includes both the Federal and State returns, as well as the e-file option (no signatures or mailing things in -- this cuts down on the turnaround time for the refund). I've used this program for about 3 years now, and it always keeps the previous year's information, which is great for comparison purposes and for my records. Two thumbs up!

I'm really happy with my return this year. To my fellow Georgetown peeps, if you're paying out of pocket for your tuition, you should be eligible for a Tax Benefit for Education. I was, which is why I'm loving life right now. Doesn't make up for the thousands I've paid for tuition, but it helps ease the pain! Also, there's a new program this year called The Making Work Pay Tax Credit, which adds a few hundred to your tax return as well. Overall, not too bad.

Well, that's all for now. Don't forget to file your taxes by April 15th!

xoxo,
Olivia