money money money

so reading everyone's 20sb posts about money for this month's blog carnival made me stop and think about my financial situation. and while some months i could be doing less spending according to the schwab financial fitness quiz and my credit report i'm actually doing really well. i got an 89 on the financial fitness quiz which surprised me but i have always been pretty careful with my money and i was also curious about my credit score, i checked it on freecreditreport.com and everything looked great but was also curious of my credit score... so i took the plunge and paid $8 to one of the companies to see my number and i was again pleasantly surprised how high it was, especially with all my student loans. i have tried to be good and save money this year and i made it one of my goals this year to save $20,000 in 2010. and i'm really close to that right now. i figured out the other day that i saved almost half of what i made (after taxes) teaching this year, and i was really proud of myself for that. and especially right now having no idea what i'll be doing after mid august knowing that i have money saved up so i can still pay my bills. especially when my student loans each month are about $550

i feel really lucky that i have managed my money so well and after looking more at some of the advice that i got on the financial fitness quiz i want to do more with investments, but i need to figure out how... i know having my money in a savings account is doing me nothing. i am lucky that i don't have any credit card debt like so many people i know and that i'm not living paycheck to paycheck. last spring when i moved back to the states i was living like that and i wasn't making enough to cover my student loans/rent/car payment and having to take money out of my non-existant savings was hard, especially because i tried to save money when i was living in ireland so i could have savings for when i moved back to the state.

and one thing that has enabled me to do so much saving, though it is slowly killing my soul has been living at home since september. where i live rent isn't cheap, for a 1 bedroom apartment i'm looking at $800 a month plus utilities, so everything i've been able to save will one day be going to the housing fund, so i will have to be better with my money. because i've splurged this year - i bought a new macbook pro, a nice mountain bike, went to (and bought tickets as gifts) to a few concerts, did a lot of shopping (thought almost everything i buy has to be on sale). i also love the meeting up with friends for dinner and drinks, i love traveling on the weekends to see friends and it all adds up. i also splurge every three weeks to get my mani/pedi. but i try to be good and stick to my budget. i also just found this awesome website - www.mint.com where you can track all your spending and it connects to your bank accounts/credit cards/loans and lets you know where your money is going. i have a feeling it is going to be my new favorite website for financial related things.

so how do your feel about your financial situation?

Disclaimer: This post is part of the 20SB Blog Carnival: Friends & Money, sponsored by Charles Schwab. Prizes may be awarded to selected posts. The information and opinions expressed in this post do not reflect the views or opinions of Charles Schwab. Details on the event, eligibility, and a complete list of participating bloggers can be found here.

slight disappearance

so the last two weeks have been pretty crazy to say the least. i had my first day off yesterday in two weeks, i finished my first year of teaching, moved to connecticut and worked my first week at camp. so it has been a bit of a madhouse for me and in the few minutes i check my email at night, the last thing i want to do is blog though i've had so many funny things to write about. though it has been pretty crazy, things have been fabulous.

school ending was pretty bittersweet for me, i had an amazing first year teaching. honestly my student teaching was a million times harder than my first year. my co-workers (especially in my department) were incredible as mentors and friends and making me laugh. my students were fabulous, they (for the most part) listened and respected me, i think enjoyed my class and hopefully learned some history. i was really sad on the last day of school to tell them that i most likely wouldn't be returning next year, and they weren't happy to hear that. my first period made me cry, they made me a poster of the class and all signed it. so that was really sweet. but i just found out yesterday that i officially do not have a job in the fall. there is a slight possibility that could change it, but right now i have no idea what i will be doing in september. so extremely frustrating that with two weeks left in the school year i was told i won't have a job and the way things ended. but i will have amazing recommendations from my vice principal and my supervisor.

so school ended last friday the 18th, i helped out at graduation (which was cool and nice to see and cheer on all the seniors) and then drove up to connecticut. and then camp started on sunday. it was a crazy, but awesome week. we had 36 10-12 year olds sailing. and it was a tiring, but learning week. i'm learning a new camp and a new position, but really enjoying it. i'm super excited for this week!

and i've just enjoyed living in connecticut this week. the weather has been super hot (which i'm loving) and i'm enjoying hanging out with everyone. though amy and i did fall asleep at like 9.30 on friday night. oops! but we made up for it last night! which was a blast!

so hope everyone is having a good weekend! my reader has exploded and my blogging will be near non-existant this summer. i will try to keep up with my where in the world wednesday, i was really upset that i missed last wednesday. first one i haven't done!

where in the world....berlin

It's Wednesday and that means it's time the lovely Jess over at Classy in Philadelphia's , Where In The World Wednesday!

If you participate, please take the button the fabulous Feris made to use in your post!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world...it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling.

This week I am in one of my favorite cities in Europe BERLIN! I can't believe I haven't done Berlin yet! I went to Berlin with 2 amazing friends back in November 2005. It was out first adventure outside of Ireland when we were studying abroad and it was a crazy few days. We had to spend 2 nights in the Stansted Airpot - yay for being young and being able to do that. And hey it saved 2 nights in a hostel. I absolutely LOVED Berlin. The history was incredible and I was so impressed with Berlin.The trip also had one of the funniest/drunkest nights out I've ever had. I miss traveling with those two girls.

me and the BERLIN WALL! - i actually touched it and stuck my hand through the fence!

The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe - it was brand new and extremely powerful. A city block of cement blocks.

View of Berlin from the Observation Deck of the Reichstag

Reichstag!! SO MUCH HISTORY!

One of the many funny face photos from our photoshoot at the Brandenburg Gate...

so participate with where in the world wednesday and go over to Jess's blog - Classy in Philadelphia and share your link :)

trying to stay positive

thanks for all the love yesterday with the job situation - it isn't looking good so i'm coming to the realization that i won't be back next year and it is hard. i'm not telling my students until friday (the last day of school) and i am dreading it. finals are going well so far and yesterday during my prep i cleaned out most of the papers from the large pile on my filing cabinet that were waiting to be filed and organized my filing cabinet by leaving one blank and my answer key to start bringing everything home. and in the process i filled up a recycling bin. it was empty when i started. i will say a majority of it is my midterms. here is exhibit a -

i'm thinking of all the other things i want to do/possible job ideas and it is frustrating because this is the exact place i was in last summer when after july 28th i had no idea... well now after about august 18th i have no idea. but as i've said many times it all works out and things happen for a reason. so all i know is 3 more days of waking up at 5am. i have 3 more finals to give. and i am done. and on my way to connecticut for the summer :)

also, here is the long awaited erin with bangs photo - i thought i took one but i hadn't so i took it this morning as i left for work. to compare is the pre-haircut photo after school the day i cut it.

and went to dinner with erin and after we went and sat along this lake and chatted for another 1.5 hours. which was glorious. and then sister and i sporkled for a while this evening which was a ton of fun. we mostly did geography and history trivia. so it was fun :)

ohhhhh! and in july with my best friend and my roomie we will be seeing LADY ANTEBELLUM and TIM MCGRAW in concert! i am soooo excited for this! yay!

if you could have any job what would it be....

limbo and a concert

5 more days of school! and honestly i can't wait for the year to be over. in a matter of two weeks i've gone from loving my job and having an amazing first year teaching to dreading coming in to work and counting down until i can leave. and i hate that feeling. and it has nothing to do with my students or what i am teaching, honestly they make me laugh and have been the biggest part i think in why i've had such a successful first year. i am still waiting to find out if i have a job next year and i probably won't know for a few more weeks. so i'm still in limbo. a limbo i have been in since march. and while up until about 2 weeks ago it looked good as if i'd still have a job next year, but there has been talks of more cuts and more budget issues since june started. and it is completely frustrating. the morale of the teachers is so low right now, i've cried pretty much everyday on the way home from work last week, and we had a 1.5 hour staff meeting on friday afternoon. i am so stressed about this and i just want to know either way. if my position is cut, well i'll be upset but i'm looking at it as a blessing in disguise, because there are other things i would like to do besides teach but i'm dreading looking for a job. it is pretty much too late to be applying for a teaching job. so i've kinda started looking at other ideas. but what i'm interested in isn't really hiring - museum education or i need a more education - in archives/library science or higher education and i'm looking into some of the federal type job and toying with the idea of going abroad again. so i'm kinda holding off looking for another job for a few more weeks until mid july because hopefully i'll know then. and i can have more of a plan. but i know i don't want to be in jersey anymore if i don't have my job.

but in good news, there are 5 more days of school and i've survived my first year teaching! i had my first final on friday and they did well on it, so i have finals until thursday and then friday is the last day of school with graduation on saturday. then saturday afternoon i'm on my way to connecticut for the summer! yay! i can't wait!


and last week was a great week outside of the work drama. i went out with erin on tuesday and finally saw satc2 which i was ehhhhh, about. parts of it were cute and i laughed, but again with the whole cheating/infidelity aspect, and seriously what were they thinking with the whole middle east thing, i saw it as mocking their culture and how ignorant american travelers are. and with the fashion, completely over the top. and it just wasn't them. and then on wednesday i went out with a hs friend of mine also living in the area teaching and saw killers. it was the katherine heigel & ashton kutcher and while it wasn't amazing. it was funny and it was a good way to not think about all the school drama.

and then thursday was AMAZING! my parents, sister and i went to the new meadowlands stadium to see the DIXIE CHICKS, KEITH URBAN and THE EAGLES!!!!!
the concert was pretty fabulous! keith & the dixie chicks each played for an hour and the eagles for 2 hours. and the new stadium is pretty cool, my dad and i went on an adventure before keith started to walk all around it. and of course it started to POUR as keith started, but about 3 songs in it stopped raining, and his show was awesome. at one point when singing - you look good in my shirt (one of my favs) he jumps off the stage and goes around the ground level seats directly opposite ours. we had 14th row seats on the bottom tier and when it looked as if he was going to come over to our side my sister and i ran down to the wall and he was 10 FEET AWAY from us!! so that was incredible! the dixie chicks were pretty awesome too. when they did - not ready to make nice - wow! and my fav wide open spaces :) and then the eagles. honestly there are no words for the awesomeness of the eagles. i grew up listening to the eagles with my parents. and my dad was super excited when i told him i was getting tickets because he has been waiting years to see them. and honestly for a group that was created in 1971 and most of the guys are ancient, you couldn't tell. they were incredible. hearing hotel california, take it easy & desperado live was incredible. the only thing i wish they had done new york minute & tequila sunrise, but they have sooo many amazing songs!

the eagles - hotel california

the dixie chicks!

keith urban when he was directly across from us.. yummmm!

ticket and the view from our seats

sister and i during keith urban

new meadowlands from the top

old meadowlands stadium

and in random things:
- i got bangs two weeks ago and i'm really liking the difference
-anyone else like talk radio? i have satellite radio and while i'm slightly more liberal i love listening to fox radio. for some reason listening to crazy conservatives makes me laugh and i love to hear their crazy ideas and thoughts and then make fun of them.
-has anyone else listened to cosmo radio? it is xm162 and absolutely hilarious! i found it on accident and it is one of my new favorite xm stations, it is talk and they hosts are hilarious and i really enjoy listening to them talk about celeb gossip, fashion, tv/music/radio, sex and life.
-i have 4 books i need to read before saturday when books need to be returned to the library. ready, set, READ!
-i need to pack for connecticut.

how was your weekend? what has your favorite concert been?

where in the world... swansea, wales

It's Wednesday and that means it's time the lovely Jess over at Classy in Philadelphia's , Where In The World Wednesday!

If you participate, please take the button the fabulous Feris made to use in your post!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world...it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling.

Looking through all my pictures, I realized I hadn't used anything from Wales yet. In February 2008 I went to visit my sister who was studying abroad in Wales.So here are a few of the photos from that fun weekend away.

we went out to mumbles, a gorgeous little beach and lighthouse close to where she lived in swansea

more mumbles

some boats at the marina in swansea

sadly the weather wasn't the best, but i would love to go back to wales, it was a really awesome country!

so participate with where in the world wednesday and go over to Jess's blog - Classy in Philadelphia and share your link :)

a list

so in the last two weeks my life has been busy and i've somehow skipped blogging. so in the last two weeks i have:

-signed up for a half marathon
-stayed in new jersey for 2 weekends in a row
-wrote 3 finals
-read 7 books (seriously)
-ran a little for that half marathon
-enjoyed some bike riding
-shopped
-cleaned and organized my room/closet
-met multiple people out for dinner
-had the worst migrane of my life
-family get together for memorial day
-been chosen as my sorority alumni chapter secretary
-still been waiting to see if i have a job next year
-thought about packing for my summer in connecticut
-spent way too much time at school. like 7.10am to 5.15 pm most days

so while most of it wasn't too exciting, i was busy!

i am psyched about this half marathon - my running is just slow for me and i hate how out of shape i feel. i seriously worked out last in december with the ski team and before that last february when i was constantly at the gym in ireland. so being slower than i used to be running wise is making me not motivated, when i need to get out there and not make excuses. i'll be running it with 2 college friends from the crew team (both who have run marathons and half marathons before) so we are texting and calling reminding to run, but with all the years of team sports i miss working out with someone next to me. but my goal is to run this half marathon in under 2 hours, so about a 9.15 mile. which right now i'm around a ten minute mile, but back when i was in hs i could do for a longer distance about a 8.15 mile and my fastest timed mile was a 7.05. so just going to keep plugging away. any tips?

and i've been reading a lot again. i've really missed it. i'v read 7 books in the last two weeks. i know - pretty crazy. but i'm a fast reader and these have all been chick lit and fun reads.
Last Song - Nicholas Sparks
Beachcombers - Nancy Thayer
Falling for You - Jill Mansell
Miranda's Big Mistake - Jill Mansell
Millie's Fling - Jill Mansell
The Brightest Star in the Sky - Marian Keyes
The Death and Life of the Great American School System -Diane Ravitch (ok, maybe not chick lit, but AMAZING)

and i'm currently reading the new Ann Brashares - My Name is Memory. one of the things i love about summer is reading a lot more!

and here is the countdown. i have 9 more days of school! 3 more teaching days! finals start on friday and are all next week. whooo! so close. and then i'm in connecticut! i can't wait!

anyway, i'm up waaay late for me on a school night and this is already a late night week. i'm seeing satc2 with erin tomorrow, another movie with cate on wednesday annnnd the dixie chicks/keith urban/the eagles on thursday! eeeeee! (thank god finals start friday morning, so i don't really have to teach!)

read any good books lately? any fun plans this week? any running advice?

where in the world.... flying

It's Wednesday and that means it's time the lovely Jess over at Classy in Philadelphia's , Where In The World Wednesday!

If you participate, please take the button the fabulous Feris made to use in your post!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world...it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling.

so while looking through my photos i noticed i have a bunch from flying... so this week i'm going to celebrate some of the photos from my various flights and the adventures they brought me to.

sunrise over atlantic/ireland in september 2007 - when i moved back to ireland! this was probably one of my favorite flights ever - because i was going back to ireland!

over scotland somewhere - december 2007 - on my way to spend christmas in edinburgh

an itty bitty plane with propellors - kinda a scary flight. on my way to see sister in wales in feb 2008

so still on the ground... but my plane in london - flying back to the states july 2008 on holiday

flying into san diego to start the 2 week road trip out west in august 2007

flying into nyc from the west coast road trip in 2007

i love flying and planning trips and traveling. it seems like forever since i went on a real trip. what has your favorite flight been?

so participate with where in the world wednesday and go over to Jess's blog - Classy in Philadelphia and share your link :)