I am never ever (EVER) getting back together...

...with White House Black Market, and I am so excited!  I put in my two weeks today, and I start a new chapter in my life on October 9th.  Through connections and the grace of God I was offered a position as a credit analyst at Bank of America.  The crazy thing is that I honestly wasn't even looking (although I should have been).  Student loans start November 1st, and now I can actually pay them. Yay!  This is definitely one of those situations where God knows what we need when we don't even know what to ask for.
          The best part is that I still get to dance.  I'll still be teaching at PCA three days a week which will definitely keep me sane.  There are many of my students that I've adopted as little sisters, and I would miss them like crazy.  I'm also planning on competing in my first pageant since Miss Ohio on October 14th (it's going to be a big week for me!).  Prayers and support are appreciated...clever segue...
          And the Children's Miracle Network Fundraiser Cabaret is this Sunday.  Only 80 seats, so make sure you claim one.  Miss Delaware's Outstanding Teen is performing, and there is a wonderful cast of entertainment.  Tickets are $10 (cash or check please) and it's at 5pm at 27 Anderson St.  Middletown, DE.

And if you can't make it, you can always donate here:

http://missamericaforkids.org/donate/janemariecovel

It finally feels like my life is piecing itself back together, and I haven't been this happy in a long time.  Thanks for your role in that, whatever it was.  Have a fantastic weekend, and as always, I'll keep you posted.

Love,
Janemarie

Knowledge is...guilt? (finance tip #2)

As promised, another finance post!  Okay so this is something that I learned to do my senior year of college that I got away from this summer.

WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN!

Sound simple?

Kind of.

I LOVE to shop.  It's a problem.  Not only do I work in a beautiful boutique, but I'm a gifter.  If I had the money I would buy presents all of the time.  It's very difficult to stay on budget, especially when you let yourself fall into the "ignorance is bliss" mentality of spending.

This will catch up with you eventually, and you will not like it.

I told myself that September I was going to start tracking down everything I spend, but a week into it and I hadn't written down a thing.  I had to go through all of my online banking and eventually caught myself up.

It wasn't pretty :/

If I had been writing everything down as I bought it, I can guarantee I would have guilted myself out of buying at least of couple of "must haves."

It's all about being aware of your habits and telling your money where to go instead of the other way around. (For all of you health nuts, this is the same concept as keeping a food diary).

Your spending tracker can be as simple or as complicated as you like.  Personally, I have two.  One is a notebook that I carry in my purse so I can write down a purchase immediately.  The second is a spreadsheet with columns for income, source, spending, source, total income, total spending, and net income (a positive number for the last one is generally a good thing lol).

Take a 30 day challenge and just try it.  You might be shocked by what you find out.

Love,
Your fellow shop-a-holic