Law School is Over for the Semester

by

I had a final Monday and another final Wednesday and that was it for the semester. I have to do a little work for my clinic but I am basically done until next semester starts. I wish I could say that I’m confident that I did well enough on my tests to stay in law school. I feel okay about one of them but I’m worried about the other one. I don’t have a high enough GPA to bomb on a final and still maintain the minimum GPA for law school. It has always been very difficult for me to gauge how well or poorly I performed on a law school final. I’m hoping that I did good enough on the final but all I can do now is wait. Unfortunately, I will probably be waiting for a while. Based on my past experience I probably won’t receive my grades until after the next semester starts.

On a positive note, if I do manage to stay in school my next semester will be easy. I only have 9 credits and they are all pass/fail. I will have to do my 30 page R&W and I’ll have to actually appear in court for my clinic. Those are both things I’m dreading so next semester won’t entirely be a cakewalk but compared to my other semesters it will be pretty easy.

Is Frugality Becoming Trendy?

by

With the economic downturn tightening budgets I have seen several articles discussing how frugality is now becoming cool. They usually support this claim with a few anecdotes from ordinary citizens. Based on my own observations I doubt that frugality is actually becoming cool or even becoming much more socially acceptable. There are more people becoming frugal from necessity or perhaps because they are worried about the economy. They aren’t becoming frugal because they want to though, they are becoming frugal because they have to or because they feel that they need to be frugal due to the economy. Perhaps people will discover that a frugal lifestyle is a good choice regardless of whether it is necessary. My guess is that once the economy recovers the vast majority of these people will abandon their frugal ways and return to being regular consumers.

November Credit Score

by

My credit score for November was 729 up from 722 the month before.  My credit score seems to be staying in the 720 range the past few months which makes sense since I am not doing anything that should have much effect on my credit.  720 or better is considered good credit so this is good enough for me.  I don’t plan on borrowing any money but it can be helpful to have good credit regardless.

I receive my credit score for free from one of my credit card companies.  I never use that particular card anymore.  The only reason I ever sign in to my account is to see my latest credit score.

November Investment Income- $39.17

by

November was another bad month for my retirement savings.  My monthly investment income went down from $41.34 last month to $39.17 this month.  I actually made more money in interest and dividends last month than what I’m projecting as my income.  This is because I received a quarterly dividend payment and I earned interest on accounts that I don’t consider part of my retirement savings.

Disclaimer:This is not my actual investment income. To get this figure I first add up my retirement accounts, emergency fund, and any other money I consider permanent savings. What the total of my savings would earn at 6% interest for a month is my monthly investment income.

***
Get Cash Back from Top Stores with Big Crumbs!

November Expenses- $1027.14

by

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for November.

Household $530.00
Transportation $127.09
Food $33.31
Entertainment $212.47
Debt/Education $90
Phone $34.27
Total $1027.14

I just missed my target of $1000 for monthly expenses.  My household expenses were high because they include Christmas shopping.  I have very little shopping left to do this month so my household expenses will decrease.  Entertainment was way too high for the month.  Now that I have the gambling bug out of my system this expense will be significantly reduced.  I did manage to get my food expense lower and plan to maintain this expense at the same level this month.  My food expense only includes lunches out or snacks that I buy.  I plan to get rid of my car this month so my transportation expense will decrease.  The total for November is artificially high because it includes payment of my auto insurance.  I will get back most of that when I cancel my insurance after I get rid of my car.  I expect to get my expenses well under $1000 this month, I just have to make sure Christmas or other unexpected expenses don’t get out of hand.