Other possible titles for this post include:
“Pay your bills on time, dummy”
“Ignoring responsibilities does not make them go away.”
“Putting out fires.”
I bet you have no idea what I am going to talk about today, huh? 
Yesterday I had the best of intentions of making a serious dent in my to-do list. First up, I wanted to blog. Well if you saw my meltdown on Twitter then you know that went over less well than I had hoped. Something way beyond my control was messed up behind the scenes and I spent a solid block of my morning on the phone with my hosting company. They were very helpful (and calm…me, not so much) and after a while we got everything straightened out. I still ended up losing the post, which was unfortunate, but a small price to pay to have my blog intact!
(Lunch: Mixed lettuce with Dr. Preager’s vegetable burger, purple potatoes, tomato, mixed vegetables, homemade hummus, and balsamic vinaigrette.)
After the meltdown, I rewrote the Suck It Up Saturday post and moved forward with the day. “Still plenty of time to get things accomplished,” I told myself. So I start shuffling through the pile of papers I have neglected to organize since I moved home in December. Think things like my marathon confirmation, my Foodbuzz contract, the documents to my car, car insurance ext.
Did you catch that last one? Car insurance. Since I was 16 I have paid my car insurance, except instead of paying it directly to the company I paid the Bank of Mom and Dad (it’s very official). So I thought nothing of it when I received a new written policy last month after I purchased a new (used) car.
Long story short, Chef Bob told me that this policy was in my name and my responsibility and I nodded my head like a good kid telling him I understood. Except I didn’t and the bill is due not later than June 6th and I had not thought a thing of it. Only by chance because I was going through those papers did I figure out that I had a bill to pay. Talk about a naive moment. I was not proud, but it was certainly a reality check that these things take organization and work to stay on top of.
(Dinner courtesy of Chef Bob: Unnamed vegetable burger with goat cheese, onion, and ketchup. Served alongside corn (x3) and the best asparagus I have ever had.)
Fortunately, my parental units are crazy organized when it comes to finances so Smutha Mutha and I had an impromptu financial lesson where I was able to get all sorts of things ironed out. Whew. Getting myself settled in D.C. is certainly going to be a learning experience. I anticipate a lot of curveballs ahead.
(Master editing skillz so no one can find me at work. 
But this is my version of ‘keep calm and carry on.’)
The day was pretty much shot after that. I was mentally wiped. So the remainder of the evening was spent going to 2 grocery stores to acquire this weeks haul. Despite my best attempts to stay around my food budget (which includes returning $9 cherries, thank you very much), I failed miserably. I am such a sucker for new food finds. But check out how cute these little peppers are! I can’t wait to snack on them!
(Food and technology. Two of my favorite things.)
Today I am focusing on going through the boxes I never unpacked from college and throwing away unnecessary items. This is, after a long workout. Boy do I need it.
If you made it to the end of this post, mazel tov. Please answer today’s questions and enlighten me on a subject I clearly know nothing about.
Questions: Who taught you how to manage your finances? If you taught yourself, what did you use as a resource to guide you?
I received a coupon for a free package of Dr. Praeger’s vegetables burgers at Fitbloggin’. Regardless, I would buy them anyway because they are the best.
My mom taught me alot, but pretty much everything I do financially now is based off of Dave Ramsey. Pick up a copy of his book The Total Money Makeover. It will seriously change your life!
Michelle (Chasing Chelles) recently posted..Clothes Hunting and HIIT
Food budget? That should not exist
Matt @ The Athlete’s Plate recently posted..ProMax Lower Sugar Protein Bar Review
My mom helps me manage my finances but I’ve had to learn a lot on my own (and I’m still learning – ugh). DC is going to be such an awesome experience for you! It was for me
I packed up and moved there as soon as I was done with college. Peace out Ohio, hello DC. I never looked back and spent the best 4-years of my life there (yes, even better than college). You’re going to love it and I’m so happy you’ll be close by! I can’t wait to do meet-ups. Also, whenever you want to visit Amish counntry, you know where to find me 
Julie @ Wearing Mascara recently posted..All dressed up and no Bikram to go
Budgeting! That’s hard and it takes time to learn. Try to pay bills online…it’s much easier and faster. Once you set it up once then all your account numbers are remembered.
And kudos on even trying to have a food budget! My husband and I are about $150 a week! And we’re 2 people! And I coupon! Yikes!
i learned the hard way. by making numerous mistakes and ruining my credit. in fact, I remember getting my first credit card and maxing it out even though I had no job. many years later, i’m still working on repairing damage to my credit that I did over 10 years ago!
i’m still not as fiscally responsible as i’d like to be. i still like to indulge on occasion, and am more inclined to buy something that’s $500 now and worry about how to pay for it later rather than actually saving for it.
but i’m getting better. it just takes work.
i recommend the blog moneyunder30.com even tho i’m 32, i still get a lot of useful information from it.
sell the car before you move to dc get a bike and use the metro
I sort of had to learn financial responsibility by necessity – couldn’t get loans, parents weren’t giving me money, I wanted to go to school. It ultimately set me up to do much better financially in the long run.
Since you are moving to DC, I’ll suggest reading columns by the Washington Post’s personal finance expert, Michelle Singletary: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/articles/Michelle+Singletary/
Her recommended approach to personal finance is smart and no-nonsense.
Victoria (District Chocoholic) recently posted..Goumas- Chocolate-Covered Nuts
I’ve always been pretty good with my money — I’m the type of person who won’t spend money on something unless I really need it. (I haven’t been clothes shopping in forever, which is quite depressing) My mom has taught me a few things here and there, and the rest I think is watching other people and learning from their mistakes, basically.
Two suggestions: If you want an actual text, I would pick up a Dave Ramsey book. My mom and stepdad started following whatever plan he has when they got married about 10 years ago and they say it’s awesome.
Also think about selling your car if you’re moving to D.C. I think you just bought it (?) which kind of stinks, but you’ll save so much money being in the city. You can use the metro or ride a bike to get around.
Just some thoughts. Turning into a grownup stinks when you have to deal with all of these money issues. I’m going to cry when I get my first bill for student loans.
Samantha recently posted..Interval Love
I just got a mac and iphone. I was wondering what program you use for a mac and how to connect your blog to your iphone?
Julie @ Lettuce Choose Healthy recently posted..Mac bloggers help!
I use Ecto to blog on my Mac. I have heard bad things about it (like it eats posts and whatnot) but that has never happened to me so I use it. As for looking at my blog on my phone, I just log into wordpress on Safari to do blog work. There may be a fancier way or an ‘app for that’, but using the Internet works too.
I hope this helps!
I highly recommend the I Will Teach You To Be Rich book/blog and Suze Orman is good too. Both are a little different, but you’ll find what works for you.