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It's almost 2 a.m. and I'm awake writing a blog post.  I know I should be sleeping, since I have to be at work at 5:45 a.m. for opening shift, but right now I really don't care.  

I can't remember exactly when, or the reasons why, I became so interested in personal finance.  All I know is that at some point I became extremely interested in finding out information on budgeting, retirment accounts, various methods of saving, reducing spending, etc.   It was hard to make sure everything was running smoothly while I didn't have a full time job between graduation and now.  Today, I do have a full time job but its not a career job and its NOT making me the big bucks... in fact, I'm pretty sure I'm sitting in a really low income bracket if you translate my money to USD.

But thats not the point.  The point is that having a relatively steady monthy paycheck really helps out my budgeting.  Budgeting is something I've always been fascinated with, but in practice have never really grasped.  But I'm trying to make it work...  I've been using PearBudget's online application and finally subscribed now that my free month is up.  So far its been not bad.  I had to figure out how to allot my monthly paychecks and I figure once I get the rest of November down I will figure out a better way to adjust my spending/saving habits.  My biggest problem on this go (all 1.5 months of it) has been what currency I budget in.  Since most of my accounts (all of my savings, student loan, credit cards and BoA checking) are all in USD, I figure that should be my main currency.  However, living and working in Vancouver means that my paycheck, daily expenditures and RBC checking account are all in CAD.  

I've figured the best solution to this problem is to budget in USD... this way, when I say I've spent $40 CAD on my phone bill this month, which, if charged to my credit card, would show up at only $37 USD, I would have $3 extra dollars at the end of the month in my banking account which would immediately be whisked over to savings.  Right now I think this works reasonably well since it is, in a sense, overinflating my costs a bit while forcing me to spend less money, since my budget can't tell the difference.  

In addition to my budget, I opened up a Vanguard Roth IRA last December (which as of today has lost almost 50% in the tanking US economy), created a 6 month living expense emergency fund and opened several other small superflous savings accounts such as car, home and travel which I deposit very small amounts into every month.   In regards to the little savings accounts, I already have almost 200 in one and almost $100 in the other two from depositing a measly $10-20 dollars a month.  It reminds me that even the smallest bit DOES make a difference... I am almost $400 richer this year (disregarding the IRA) than I was last year because of putting aside $50 a month.   If I had put away $100 a month instead, I would now be looking at an extra $800.  I am hoping that the $100 in my "Home" account will grow into a down payment by the time I am ready to buy property.  Clearly I will need to deposit more than $10 a month, but that is a story for another post.

Today I opened up my first CD.  Call it a trial run, but this is my opportunity to check it out before I incorporate CDs into my everyday portfolio. For this CD I mearly took $150 out of my travel fund and rolled it into a 9-month, 3.75% CD.  I will make exactly $4.18 off the CD, which is under $1 more than I would be in my 2.75% savings account (again, darn the tanking US economy!) but, as I mentioned, its a good chance for me to check out how this thing works... how I'm feeling about having my money tied up/losing the liquidity, how I feel when I get it back, experimenting w/ the possibility of dropping/rising interest rates, etc.

I know its a bit early for me to be making any goals for 2009, but I've decided to get a head start on the new year.  Fow now, I only have 4, and some are pretty abstract:

1) Increase my emergency fund back up to 6 months of living expenses

2) Max out my Roth IRA contribution

3) Increase my monthly student loan repayments

4) Increase my net worth

5) Learn patience!

I am sure these will change and become more concrete over the next month and a half until 2009, but I think it gives me a pretty good head start.  By increasing my student loan repayments, I can cut 5 years off my loan, saving myself THOUSANDS of dollars!  And my student loans aren't even that high!  Its amazing what your money (even not making much) can do with a little persistence and patience! My debt won't disappear and my net worth won't increase overnight... its something I'm going to have to keep working at for years and years.  One of my favorite personal finance blogs, Get Rich Slowly, had a great article up on Oct. 16 that gave 10 unconventional money saving tips.  #10 is to "Focus on getting over the $100,000 hump."  That is what 2009 will be about.  Obviously, I won't be reaching that hump, but it'll be my focus.  

I guess my primary focus should be paying off my debts, because as low as the student loan is, it is still more than my current savings interest rates are...  However, maxing out my IRA contribution should (and will be) paramount.