Hello Target, Please Take All My Money.

In January of 2005, I overdrew my bank account for the first time. I had had a checking account for three years at that point, and I don't even think I KNEW you could overdraw - I had always been careful with my money, and after years and years of baby-sitting, I had a significant cushion. Eventually, I started transferring more and more money into my savings account, partially because of the higher interest rate, and partially just because I felt so bad-ass saying that I had a savings cushion (because there's nothing like financial stability to make me feel bad-ass). In January of 2005, however, apparently I was overzealous with my checking-to-savings transfer of funds, because I will never forget sitting at my desk that January day, entering my account information, and seeing my balance come up with a NEGATIVE sign in front of it. IN RED. Y'all. I was a good student. I obeyed rules. I did not get into trouble. And there I was, IN THE RED. I might as well have been going to hell. Because - GASP - I had dipped into my savings account. AHEM. First world problems.

After that I started being more careful, but I also started spending more. I don't really know why. Because I was living on my own for the first time? Because I could? Anyways, fast forward a few months to that fall, when I was beginning my first year at UVA. I vividly remember sitting at a computer in the library and logging in to check my account activity, where behold, Wachovia informed me that I had just spent $31.64 on a cup of coffee at Starbucks ($1.64 for the coffee + $30 for the overdraft fee). I immediately burst into tears, embarrassed and furious with myself for just having to order that cup of coffee on my way to campus. That is, to this day, the most expensive cup of coffee I have ever ordered.

After wiping my tears and leaving the library, on the advice of my mother, I signed up for overdraft protection (which at the time cost $10/month) and had my balance emailed to me daily. Naturally, of course, once I took those precautions, I never overdrew from that account again. In fact, thanks to the Most Expensive Cup of Coffee Ever experience, I hadn't overdrawn in nearly five years...until last Thursday, when I overdrew from Preston's and my joint account.

I was sitting at the computer, making my merry way through my thesis (and by merry, we understand hellacious), when I got an alert from our bank about 'insufficient funds.' It was a total shock. Preston and I try to live pretty frugally, and neither of us spend that much, right? WRONG. I had forgotten about a large check that I had written to my Mom, and all of a sudden, there we were. In the red. Our bank had automatically transferred money for us from our savings account, so we were still ok, but it was enough to shake me. Instead of crying about it, however, I took a careful look at our account activity with Preston, and what do you know. It turns out I might as well have SOLD MY KIDNEYS to Target this month, because holy goodness I don't even think I can tell you how much money I have spent at Target over the last two weeks. It's just too embarrassing even to type it. In addition to buying necessities (cleaning supplies, vitamins, random groceries, etc.), I had also bought supplies for care packages for my two best friends, my Grandmother, and my two brothers, two birthday gifts, a DVD for myself (because clearly the most efficient way to finish my thesis is to buy the Masterpiece Theatre Emma on DVD for distraction motivation), toys for the dogs, and WHO KNOWS what else.

Aside from my Target addiction problem, as we looked through our account activity, Preston and I came to the conclusion that we had just had a really expensive month. Between Preston's weekend baseball games (which are often in the middle-of-nowhere New Jersey) and my two trips to Virginia, we had spent a lot of money on gas. I had been splurging on produce at the farmer's market, and I'd been out to eat a few times with friends. I had had an extra (and uninsured...growl...) gynecological visit in July. We had each bought new phones, and I had bought a new computer; we will eventually receive $500 in rebates for those purchases, but none of them had yet arrived. I hadn't been paid since June (except for my eensy weensy library salary), and Preston's paycheck was due the next day. Basically, we had just spent a lot more money than we had been making. It was as simple and as scary as that.

After transferring some money from our savings account to hold us over until school starts and I am paid more regularly, we committed to being much more cognizant of what we were spending. For example, last night before I went to the grocery store, I made up our weekly menu on Google Docs, wrote down what we needed, went to Trader Joe's and didn't buy ANYTHING that wasn't on my list. Our total for the week was noticeably less than it had been in weeks past. I am banning myself from Target for the foreseeable future, and if I want coffee, I can make it myself or use Starbucks gift cards. I do NOT need new clothes, jewelry, or a new laptop case from Etsy (no matter how much I want them). In fact, I need next to nothing. We need next to nothing. Which begs the question: where on earth is our money going?

In an effort to answer this question, and to be more careful about where and how we are spending our money, I will be documenting every cent we spend in September. Until then, we will definitely be more aware about the money that we are spending, but I'm kind of excited to track exactly where our money is going (in addition, of course, to being slightly embarrassed that it's come to this). We're going to try to put everything that I earn this year into our savings account (Preston makes more than twice what I do...this is less impressive than it sounds), and live on Preston's salary alone. Based on the numbers, we should be fine, but it's definitely a little scary to think about it. Scary or not, however, I definitely want to feel more in control of our finances than I do now. I also want to stop selling my soul to Target. Because based on my spending habits last month, they must own at least half of it.