It’s so sad to not see the kind of progress I had in the past.  Maybe it’s not lack of progress–maybe it just hurts to see the big chunk taken out of my net worth from taxes.  I feel like I was really close to breaking out of the ($90)s, but I guess it’s still 10k better than when I started posting it in October.

We’ve been looking at houses, and generally where we’re going to live when I move out of my current place.  My commuting costs will go down a little.  I’ll have to pay for parking daily again–but I can opt for a monthly pass, and all of it will be pretax either way.  If we don’t find something really cheap and livable I may move in with my sister for a few months, or may just look for an apartment.  The issue is that most apartments are going to cost me the same amount as a mortgage, which is completely crazy.  No decisions made at this point.

March was pretty good.  The budget came apart toward the end of the month as I was driving to the farther train station pretty much every day, in preparation for the arrival of my nephew. That weekend also involved a bunch of eating out (dinner, breakfast waiting on visiting hours, hospital snacks), and not doing the food shopping/planning that I had gotten pretty good about.

So there’s my spending pie for the month.  Over half of my spending on principal payments, and another chunk on interest.  Those ratios are going to go down a lot.  The spending on transportation was higher than usual because of the amount of gas and parking, and the food spending was more than I would like. I really have to stay disciplined come May.

I say come May because April is turning into a very expensive month.  Some of that is concert tickets–I’ll get $100 of it back, but I’ve spent about 2/3 of my gas budget less than halfway into the month.  I’m making minimum student loan payments, so that I can add as much as possible to savings in the next few months before I move.  I’ve spent a lot on fast food–not being home means no time for cooking. My Amazon Prime membership renewed, which I wasn’t really planning for, and I had to buy a shower gift.  I also have to get my car re-inspected this month.

Plus the taxes.  Oh the taxes!  I had to pay for Turbotax prep for two states, and the federal.  When I don’t have two jobs, the amount I have withheld should cover things more sufficiently, so I think I’ll avoid this pain next year.  Here’s hoping.