About Me

Denise

I'm a freelance journalist and crafter who dreams of starting my own business-- a hometown Tiki bar. I am a former New Orleans Bourbon Street bartender.

The challenge: I can't use my primary income to fund the tiki bar. I can only use money I earn in other ways. Part of the challenge will be to develop new, creative revenue sources. It's like a pumped-up,long-term $20 challenge.

**2008 Tiki fund goal: $1,500**
$1107.31 in fund, $392.69 to go

***Monthly Tiki Fund Total***

Sept: $0
Misc. writing
Saving act. interest
lottery tix

August: $74.17
$5.03 Web sales
$37.50 eBay profit
$24 Google Adsense
$5 festival prize
$2.64 saving acct. interest

For a full breakdown of Tiki fund money, visit my $20 challenge page.

***Personal Savings Goals for 2008***
$5,000 into my IRA
$2,000 into hubby's Roth IRA
$2,000 into 529 plan
$6,000 into savings account
$3,600 into brokerage account
$650 into new car fund
Total: $19,250

***Progress Report***
$5,000 in my IRA. GOAL MET!
$2107 to Roth, GOAL MET!
$1500 to 529 plan, $500 to go
$5343 to savings, $657 to go
$2355 to brokerage, $1245 to go
$463.17 in car fund, $186.83 to go
Total: $16,768

***
Debt to pay off:
Student Loan: $14,348.68
(Down from $40,000 in 2001)
By the end of the year, I'd like to pay an extra $1,000 on top of my normal payments.
***
Mexico Vacation Goal: $6,000 by Feb, 2009
Fund total: $3,872.53
***
All of these goals will be a little harder to reach this year because I am now self-employed and the hubby and I had our first baby in April.

We have always lived on one salary only. But we aren't quite sure how a new baby and giving up my full-time job are going to affect our finances.

***The Big Picture***
Me 33, Hubby 35
-No credit card debt
-No car loan
-House paid off because we moved to a cheaper city

My Pages

$55.97 closer to a tiki bar!

January 26th, 2008 at 02:31 pm

Thanks to some craft sales and another Amazon book sale, I'm adding another $55.97 to the Tiki Bar fund. It isn't a lot, but it sure feels good to make some progress! I've also decided to raise the Tiki Bar Fund savings goal to $1,500, since I'm almost half way to my original goal of $1,000.

Posted in Small business goals, Savings | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “$55.97 closer to a tiki bar!”

koppur Says:
January 27th, 2008 at 09:49 am

very nice! what do you craft?
thriftorama Says:
January 28th, 2008 at 11:25 am

All kinds of things. Right now, I'm mostly making "monster" theme tote bags and reusable grocery bags. In the past, I've made a lot of buttons, pins and jewelry. I'm likely going to be taking those up again.

Thrift-o-rama and the quest for a Tiki Bar

One girl's quest to shore up her personal finances and save for her own business

$55.97 closer to a tiki bar!

2 Responses to “$55.97 closer to a tiki bar!”

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