So, I should be in bed now, but here I am. To sum up the last few weeks. I took 2 weeks off from Job #2 (now #3) to get away, I was burning out and I had planned to use that time to find another more stable gig, which I did.

I ended up starting that gig one week in, so I never had much of a vacay and then when I knew for sure I was hired, I changed my schedule w/job #3 except they didn't and I ended up having to take off last week from the new job and actually started there this week.

Now, if that is as clear as mud, let's proceed ;)

This is the first full week @ the new job. So far, so hard. Not impossible, just different. One more day then I'm off till Sat, but then I go into job #3 fri and sat nite. The upside of it all, I'm 100% off on Sunday! I opened up another checking acct for that paycheck to go to and got a savings acct thrown in for good measure. I'm shy to say how many checking accts I have, it's really ridiculous, but it works for me.

This week I reprinted my budget, I need to revise it and I need to sort out what bills come from which checking acct. Right now the hours @ job #3, in my best guess, will be about 8-10 hours a week. I kept that job b/c it's on my way home both fri and sat, no extra driving, so it'll either pay for gas and it'll pay for clothes I already get @ a discount and I'll continue to sock away 10%. Anything extra will go for food and then bills.

Main job pays main bills, rent, utilites, food, car, student loans etc. Job #3 goes to pay off credit cards till they are paid in full, then it goes toward student loans and such.

So that's my not so brief update. I really suck @ promising to updated in xx days then vanishing for xx weeks, so I'll post when I post...how 'bout that :)

Okay, I can KICK myself for having not signed up for this sooner, but as the wise Maya Angelou always says, "You did then what you knew how and when you knew better you did better"

I signed up for an ING savings account. I opened it w/$50. On the 15th & end of the month I'll squirrel away another $50.

What I'm I saving for? Nothing really @ the moment, just getting into the habit. The act of moving and house watching and realizing how much cold hard cash I spent on renting has piqued my interest in owning my own home.

A teeny tiny part of me is saving for a future down payment, but teh main part of me is getting into the habit of not missing $50 each month. I'd like to do this for the rest of the year and come January up it to $75 a month.

By then, based on where I'm @ debt wise (remember I'm also hoping to go back to school and pay in cold hard cash), I'll start looking into opening up a few CDs. I've always wanted to do this thing a friend of mine told me about. Open 6 CDs, each one month later and as each one matures, roll it over. There's a name for it, I'll have to google it…brb…

Found it…Zeus bless Google

CD Laddering Strategy

Instead of simply letting your matured CDs rollover, you can purchase multiple CDs with different maturity dates and take advantage of higher interest rates that are normally associated with longer-term CDs, and still maintain frequent access to a portion of your money. By staggering your CD investments using a strategy known as "CD laddering," you can typically increase the earnings potential on your CD portfolio while maintaining greater access to portions of your money for the duration of the investment lifespan.

Here's a better example via about.com

For example, assume you have $10,000 sitting in a passbook savings or money market account and you are chafing at the bit every time you receive your bank statement and see the paltry interest your funds are earning. You research CD rates and identify the bank with the best deals that meet your criteria. Then you purchase five CDs: CD #1 for $2,000 for a one-year term, CD #2 for $2,000 for a two-year term, CD #3 for $2,000 for a three-year term, CD #4 for $2,000 for a four-year term; and CD #5 for $2,000 for a five-year term.

Each CD is like a rung on a ladder. When the one-year CD matures, roll it over into a new CD for three years (or whatever term you decide to use for your ladder). When the two-year CD matures, roll it over into a new CD for three years. When the three-year CD matures, roll it over into a new CD for three years, etc. You can choose a shorter or longer term, but the key is to use the same term for each one once you start rolling them over at maturity. At the end of four years you'll have five CDs with one maturing every year, so you'll never have all of your money tied up long-term or at lower than market interest rates.

CD laddering is a smart way to protect yourself against fluctuations in interest rates while giving you the security of knowing that you will be able to access at least some of your money within a relatively short time frame.

One of the perks of moving is, I had to update my car registration for the new county. I don't know if this is done in other states, I know it's not done in NYC, but each year you pay property taxes on your vehicle for it's valued price and something about miles driven.

Anyhoo, I was all prepared to shell out $212 for my current county, but waited to see if I should do it @ the new place instead, and knowing the gov't I was highly doubtful, if I overpaid, I'd get anything back.

Lucky for me I waited.

It cost me about $165, a $47 savings. And that's not all. I also updated my mailing address for my car insurance. My payments went down about $30. So the move, though the extra miles costs me more in gas...figures *rolls eyes*, netted me about $75 bucks.

Tempted to go blow it in Vegas, I'll be mature and pay that "savings" to Orchard Bank this month. Unlike the slots, in this case, my house wins :)