I had a really fun weekend. I gained and lost financially. Recap:

Yesterday, BF and I went shopping. I managed to spend about $160 on clothes. However, I bought a pair of jeans I love (I've really been needing new pants), and a couple bras (which I was in desperate need of). I got 2 new shirts- one of which I wore with a pair of dress pants to dinner last night, the other which is a nice plain teeshirt (versatile). I managed to only spend $7 at the bar... very nice.

Today, BF's Gram took us to Sam's Club unexpectedly. This was fantastic. The amount of money we'll save in food will more than compensate for the money I spent on clothes. Just trust me on that one For brunch, Gram cooked popovers and other breakfasty goodies (delicious, by the way). For dinner, BF and I went to my parents' for a cookout (also delicious). So the only money spent today was on flowers for mom (just because, and just because they were on sale for about $2- very pretty), tolls and gas money, and the tomatoes and lettuce mom asked me to pick up for the BBQ.

I feel quite spoiled between the dinner and Sam's Club run BF's grandparents provided for us. They're incredibly wealthy people, but I'm still trying to figure out why I deserve such treatment. BF and I talked with them about money over brunch, which was an interesting experience, if not a bit entertaining. They are a true testament, however, that if you scrimp, save, and then work the stock market, you can be very financially comfortable later in life Still practically kids in thier 80's, I love them to death.

So overall it was a great weekend. BF and I have been having a bit of fun before this semester really kicks into gear. I have a few more snags to work out as far as registration and my loans go. I have some calls to make in the morning before class. At any rate, I should get going. I need to pack my lunch for tomorrow. It's back to the 'ole routine! And we're looking at cars tomorrow, I believe. woo!

Have a great night, everyone!

Yesterday was a blast. It was indeed a bit pricey, but I still managed to have a wonderful time and dinner was FANTASTIC. The boys were incredibly impressed. Even mine, who doesn't particularly care for eggplant

Today we're off for more shopping. There were a couple stores along the way we wanted to check out yesterday on the South Side, but a lot of things were closed by the time we got to them. Not on that list was the Culture Shop (my all time favorite store there). They were having a sale- 50% off all clothes. I was doing very well not buying clothes for the last few weeks, but seeing this really changed things I cant usually get a skirt there for less than $40-- the reason why I own none. But $20 is much better, so I bought a skirt and a pair of pants (so comfy!) for $35, which is really good. If I could buy clothes like that just anywhere, it wouldn't have been an issue, but I dont see too many indian import clothing/accessory/jewelry/home decor stores. heh.

Work tonight, so I'll be making a little more moolah. Then out to the bars, but I'll be drinking cheap. Our friends leave tomorrow morning, and I'm happy to say I'll be relieved. It's been great having them, but entertaining is quite a bit of effort (and money)!

Later guys!

So I did my grocery shopping today and decided on a menu for wednesday night, so that's out of the way now. I also printed and filled out the registration form for the spanish test I'll be taking. I worked for a while, but tonight was slow and I didn't make too much. eh. You win some, you lose some, that's the nature of the waitressing game

I made a couple different purchases earlier aside from the groceries. I bought a book on kanji- a necessary evil if I do end up living in Japan for 2 years (which hopefully I will!). That was a little under $20 with my B&N members card. I also bought a set of ramekins at Target, because I'm making these baked fruit cobbler cups on wednesday. They are quite yummy, but last time I made them I didn't have ramekins, so it was lacking in presentation to be sure. I did keep myself from buying a CD I've been eyeing. I figured study materials and kitchen things could be passed off as somewhat necessary, but alas, music is not at the moment. heh.

My to-do list for tomorrow is rather lengthy:

1. Go to the bank.
2. Pay parking ticket (ugh. I'm saving $3 by paying it in person rather than online, though).
3. Drop off registration form.
4. Get some info at my university about cross-registration.
5. Psychology club meeting.
6. Work at 4:00.

Whew! I'll be taking an early bus, for sure! Everyone have a great night!

Last night at work we were expecting a rather large party of 25 people. Usually on mondays we only have 2 servers in and one of my coworkers takes the hosting position so my boss can have the day off. Because of this party, my boss came in and all 3 of us worked as servers. They called in and said they wouldn't be coming (I think it was more of a misunderstanding than a calling-off, but that's a different story). Thus, we were over-staffed.

My boss said he would go home, and we could resume our usual posts, but then my coworker that was going to host took another table! This kind of sucks for me and my other coworker (read: his girlfriend), considering we were supposed to take all the other tables (the host gets paid more than the usual $2.85 or whatever it is us servers get paid hourly). As you can imagine, my other coworker, this guy's girlfriend (a really great girl, I love her to death) was a bit upset. It seems her BF is kind of a jerk when it comes to money-making and the like and gets angry with her anytime she makes more money than him. I'd kick the guy to the curb, but thier relationship is really none of my business, though I know the interest points in the relationship and they're pretty dim (ladies, if you stay with a guy 'cause you think he's gonna get you a green card, you need to re-evaluate the situation).

At any rate, my boss wanted me to work this morning, anticipating a busy lunch shift, so I told him I'd come in if I could go home early last night. It was very slow in the restaurant, and I needed to pack and clean and whatnot. Besides, it worked out better for my coworkers because the one wouldn't be a sly cheat (my boss would stay and they would both remain servers for tne night).

It really bothers me how dishonest our one server is. He has a bad habit of taking tables he knows tip good because they are "his regular customers." Dont get me wrong, this kid has worked at the restaurant for 5 or so years, he's gonna have people requesting him. He does, however, take tables when people dont even ask, which is not cool on his part. It messes the schedule up and he does it for his own monetary gain. He's also withheld cash in our tip-out, which goes to the bus people and chefs. There are times I've thought about it (particularly when the bus boys stand around and do nothing), but I never once have. I just dont find it morally right to break the restaurant's rules and cheat other people out of money. Ugh. They would never fire this guy though, because he's been at the restaurant for so long and does his job so well.

I guess the man at the table is a bit better than the man behind the scenes.

On a happy note, however, I'm leeeeeeaving!!! Tomorrow!!! hehehe.

I got everything on my to-do list done yesterday, save getting stamps. I'll be getting a couple from my boss today, though, and mailing my bills. Oh, and I had wonderful luck at Macy's returning my gifts. The jewelry Gram bought for me ended up being much pricier than I had thought, so I exchanged it for another necklace I liked a bit better, earrings that had a little more pizzaz, and a really cute wallet that holds checkbook and all.

I looked at shoes for nearly an hour and they either had nothing in my size, or I didn't like it. My sandals are about to bite the dust, and I'm looking for something a bit more casual, but still cute. No luck whatsoever. We went to KMart to find me a duffle bag, and it seemed the shoe-fairy was shining down on me. I found 2 pairs there that were very cute and comfy. Slight heel to both, but comfy enough to where I think I can live with it. Oh, and they were buy one get one half off! woo!

Aaaaallllmost reeeaaaaady!!!! One more day of work! Wish me luck!

1. Go to Macy's and exchange the gifts Gram bought me (She gave me very serious permission in case I dont care for the jewelry she bought).

2. Make up a shopping list for vacation (about done).

3. Pick up perscription.

4. Buy stamps and mail bills.

5. Go to the bank (this is a biggie!)

6. Go to KMart/Walmart for a duffle bag and/or picnic basket.

7. Go to the grocery store.

8. Clean out fridge.

9. Clean the apartment.

I'm going to save taking the trash out for tomorrow, in case something sneaks its way in. So much to do!!! I cant believe we're leaving on wednesday! Well, better get crackin!

I'm going to at least partially blame BF for it though. Yesterday he had his car in the detail shop to get the windows tinted (something about making the airconditioner work less while we're driving across the country). He had nothing to do, so asked me to meet him downtown. I figured, okay, I needed to get my hair cut anyway. We ate subway, I got my hair cut, took the trolley to the area where he was getting his car done, went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to pick up a bottle opener (ours vanished sometime during the move). I ended up getting loaf pan and somehow we managed to NOT buy trash bags, though we can only buy them there and have been out for about a week. Ugh.

Regardless, I spent $17 on food I shouldn't have. I should have just stayed at home all day and eaten here. We certainly have enough food. On top of it all we ate out the night before. I spent enough at restaurants/food courts in two days to get me groceries for two weeks! BF tells me not to beat myself up over it, but if I dont, who will? I didn't mind going out for our anniversary, but spending that much on mall food and subway seems silly when I have all that food at home. Perhaps this beating up of myself will keep me from doing it again anytime soon.

Erg, well, I have a double to day. Wish me luck!

Work last night was busy and a bit of a letdown. Sometimes just being a waitress is enough. It's not even the money, but the drop in morale one gets when they work thier butt off, and still end up with the bare minimum in tips. Why does anyone ever tip 10% if they are completely satisfied with the service?? Especially if it's a table of 7 very demanding people who see to it to interrupt one another every chance they get while a poor girl is trying to write down who wants what sushi and hey that guy over there changed his mind six times! I usually dont complain about my tips, ever, but there are just times that you wonder if you did something wrong. At any rate, enough of that rant.

I expect the rest of the week to be just as crazy, if not more so.

I went to the asian grocery store and trader joe's yesterday, to pick up the last few things needed for recipes I have planned for the week. Ended up spending $45 (I'm so bad at keeping on grocery budget, but at least I'm not eating at restaurants this week). I shouldn't have to shop again before vacation, however.

I did make a frugal choice or two last night. I took snacks to work to avoid a trip to the vending machine. I also decided against going to the bar after work (something I seemed to desparately want to do), and opted for a beer at home, in front of my laptop. I made a menu list for the rest of the week, and if I stick to it, I dont think anything will go bad in my fridge before I leave for vacation on the 20th.

Today I'll be cooking stir-fry, as I have bean sprouts and snap peas that will go bad if I dont cook them soon. I figure it'll leave me leftovers at least for one meal, if not two. That's lunch, as I have work at 4:00. Here's hoping I dont lose my mind! Or my feet dont fall off...

So I'm starting a new book today, but I still have to figure out which one I want to read, as there is a huge stack ready and waiting for me. At any rate...

Yesterday's trip to Aldi's was a success. I ended up spending $20 after BF reimbursed me for his "half" of the groceries (we keep groceries separate still, but we split the cost of any items we will both use). After grocery shopping, BF and I grilled out. We made cheddar bratwursts and grilled corn. Mmm. And each had a beer, of course After that I went on to work, where it was quite slow despite Mother's day, and then went home and watched a movie ("mirrormask"-- fantastic) with BF.

I got a check in the mail yesterday as well, for a poetry contest I won. $50 for submitting a poem to the contest (it was run through my university). Not bad, if you ask me

BF wants to go work out in a little bit, so I'll be joining him. Then it's back to reading in the sun This summer sure is turning out to be wonderful. Work tonight at 6, but I'll enjoy myself until then! At any rate, everyone, have a great day!

So in light of the summer, I went, well, a bit spending crazy. Of course, mostly at restaurants. But I'm getting myself in gear once again. Today I was going to run the race for the cure, but my feet hurt when I woke up and I was quite tired. I guess that saves me $35, but I still wanted to do it... either way. I still have yet to call my mom today, though I gave her her gift last weekend (a hoodie representing my university... she specifically asked for one). That was $40.

I finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. LOVED it. I read straight through it in 3 days, mind you, that's not a short book... cant wait to buy the 6th, but I'm holding off because I just bought a book, and have a whole pile I'm still waiting to read. As for books, I bought a Barnes and Noble membership. While most will tell me that buying books off of amazon is cheaper (and be entirely correct), I'm a sucker for bookstores. I love going in and feeling the books, and smelling them, and all that creepy stuff that goes along with being a true book lover. If I cant handle the book, I'd rather not buy it... with the exception of obscure psychology books-- which Barnes and Noble are suspiciously short of. I'll leave those to amazon. At any rate, I get 10% off anything in the store, including the cafe. I get 20% off all hardcovers, and40% off all hardcover bestsellers. The clerk also told me they send me great coupons and I can order my textbooks through B&N and get my discount on them as well. Sweeet.

Today I need to hit the grocery store, if not for any reason but I need a reason to not go to a restaurant. Grr. I believe I'll be hitting Aldi. We'll see how it goes... later then!

I'm a woman on a mission this summer. I'm doing a great deal of pleasure reading before the fall. Yesterday I finished Prozac Nation, which was excellent. Not quite what I expected, but it was very good. Then last night I started Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, i.e. the 5th book. I decided it was a good idea to read it before I went to see the movie. The beginning is a bit slow, the reason I ended up trailing away from it the first time I tried to read it, but I have faith that it will pick up and be wonderful

Yesterday I spent $6 at Aldi's. BF was at class all day, so I took a walk to the bank and then to said grocery store. It was a nice long walk, in the beautiful weather. I bought another bag of salad mix: $1.99 because it's the mixed baby greens that I like, I also bought butter ($1.99), and a tub of asiago cheese ($1.99). Not bad. I forgot that Aldi's has a produce department (I'm not sure why, I read about it all over here! hehe). So next time I'm going to buy produce, I'm going there instead of Giant Eagle. Though at this point it seems I'll be shopping there for just about everything!

I did stop on the way home at this custard stand. Partly to see what it was all about, and mostly because I was hot (84 degree weather'll do that to ya!). They're a bit pricey ($3.89 for a small waffle cone), but it was gooood. Twisted mint and chocolate soft serve custard. Mmm. I'll have to keep away for my own good! Apparently, though, they're opening a mediterranean restaurant next month (eep!), so I'm pretty excited.

We went to Dick's, and found zero selection for roller blades, so I'm holding off for now.

My application with the KEYS program is currently "under review." Everyone cross thier fingers for me!

I'm off again today, so more reading and sunbathing will ensue! Perhaps I'll cook again tonight. yay!

...end up buying 5. I guess that's how clothing stores go. I needed a new tie for work. Bad. I went to Burlington Coat Factory, because that's where I like to find cheap ties (that are also very cute!), and I left with not only a tie, but a new bathing suit (I needed a longer top), a pair of shorts (I only own one pair), and a new teeshirt (something a little more spring-like). I forbid myself from spending any more money on clothes this month, I dont care if my birthday IS coming up. Usually I'm not one to go hog-wild on clothes (I usually break the bank in restaurants), but this nice weather has me buying all sorts of stuff, especially with vacation coming up next month (Eek!). I regret no purchase made today, but I'm putting a cap on the clothes spending for the month.

As for work, it was rather slow. I walked out with about $50, which really isn't bad considering we didn't have a whole lot of customers. I'm off for the next two days, and I'm still deciding what to do. Because I'm on summer vacation, I have no papers to write, no textbooks to read. I'm positively excited. I think I'll sit outside, read a book, and sip on wine all day. Then make dinner for BF and I. I'm going to make spaghetti with mushrooms, zuchinni, chicken, and broccoli. Perhaps I'll do a butter and parmesan topping as opposed to a tomato sauce, make it a little more summer-y.

Thursday I believe BF and I will be buying roller-blades. This is a purchase I've thought about quite a bit. I think I'll ask my parents to reimburse me for them for my birthday, but we'll see. Regardless, I want a nice pair. I love to skate and haven't on a regular basis for years, but it's excellent exercise, something I can do about anywhere, and after the cost of the skates, it's free! I'm not talking those crazy stunt skating gigs, just in the park when it's nice type of deal, and there are surprisingly a couple paths downtown for bikers and skaters, so it's something I could do leisurely downtown as well. I'm imagining picnics at one of the nice parks by our apartment, then skating on warm afternoons. Mmm.

Aside from all that, just more reading and such. And working out. I've been doing a great job keeping up with this exercise routine. Hopefully we'll start seeing some great results! Eating better helps as well! heh. At any rate, I'll update again soon (perhaps when I stop in for another glass of Pinot Gregio tomorrow afternoon amidst Prozac Nation). Later everyone!

For the last year or two I've somehow forgotten that going to the thrift store is actually really great. I've been paying $50 for a pair of jeans at American Eagle here, or throwing down $70 for a dress at Express. I did, however, read an article in my university's newspaper, and they were talking about the thrift stores in the area, and how it's such a great idea for us college students (who OBVIOUSLY have no money, we spend it all on booze anyhow!) to shop at said places to save on cash. WELL, I did venture with BF to our local Goodwill, and boy did I feel like I hit the jackpot. My bounty:
3 Dresses, all adorable and spring-like, one of which is from Express (go figure!). Each at $4.99.
1 pair of bootcut stretch jeans, Gap. $5.99.
1 Shirt by American Eagle, $4.99
1 bath/beauty set (cucumber eye thingy), $0.99

My grand total was $23.51. Only that little bit for 3 dresses, a pair of jeans, and a shirt. I strongly doubt I'll go shopping ever again without first hitting the thrift store. I'm amazed. Really. BF wasn't able to find anything... that has more to do with the fact that he wears a funky size (he's a pretty small guy). Unfortunately, he's not small enough to fit into these awesome orange pants we found... haha. There were a few things that we both really liked that we just weren't the right size for. But I still feel like I won the lottery in the clothes dept. Especially since I really needed new jeans.

That, unfortunately, was not the only spending done today. We hit applebees and I got my favorite santa fe chicken salad (the half portion, of course). BF got mashed potatoes and a dreamscicle-booze-drink of some sort because he got his wisdom teeth pulled thursday morning. That was $26 total because I decided to try the apple chimicheesecake... bad idea because it was DELICIOUS. Remind me to stop trying new desserts. The ones I love already are bad enough

I've known for a while that dining out is my weakness. I really need to put a cap on it, though. It gets out of control when I dont monitor. I just realized that I blew a ridiculous amount of money at restaurants just in the last week, though. It's kind of a downer :/

Tomorrow me and BF are going to the exchange to trade in some of the Xbox games my dad gave us for ones we'll actually play. Did I mention my dad gave us an Xbox and a good 15 games for it a few weeks back? He bought the Xbox 360 and I guess had no use for it anymore... Cha-Ching! I think that's pretty sweet. We would never have bought one otherwise, but it's cool that we have one now, and didn't have to pay for a thing. Besides, we have the Sims (woot)!

We're also hitting the movie theatre to see the new Aquateen Hungerforce movie (yay!). HOWEVER, I already mentioned to him that we will NOT be eating at a restaurant tomorrow, which he seemed just fine with because he cant eat anything solid anyway... Ah, speaking of wisdom teeth, I guess it was drysockets I had after mine were pulled... which would explain the awful pain I endured for a couple weeks afterward. Yay. BF was researching it online, and the information he found said it's much more likely for women to get drysockets than men, and it's likely that women who are on birthcontrol will get it. Go me. I'm just happy I'm no longer waking up every night at 4 am. I'm also happy I'm no longer taking narcotics to get myself back to sleep when that happens. Ah, the joy that was my wisdom teeth...

I think that's it for tonight.

Oh wait, no. I got my security deposit in the mail from the old apartment. That's exciting! Woo! Now I'm done...

Some other bloggers here commented earlier this week about laziness and its pros/cons in the financial field. I'm not so happy to say that today I learned a valuable lesson:

Never go to HR Block.

The fact that I paid $60 to do what I could have done just drives me up a wall. I thought my taxes were complicated, but really all I had to do was put in one additional peice of information that I didn't have last year, and I get everything back. That information was nothing more than my tuition statement. Ugh. I could have done it myself.

Not only that, but they didn't do my state taxes... it would have been extra. So I have to file those myself. Ridiculous.

On the upside, my federal is filed and I'm getting $810 back. Not too shabby at all! Of course, the majority of it will be put back into student loans. Perhaps a hundred of it or so will go to my challenge. Just because And another hundred will go toward my emergency fund.

I packed my dinner tonight and had lunch at home. So all money spent today was on groceries, perscriptions, and tax preparation. Boo.

My grocery budget is coming along fabulously. I managed under $10 for the week, and I'm fairly confidnent that I'm going to reach my goal of spending under $50 for the month. I haven't really spent any money on campus either. 5 cents for a cup with hot water in it, but I've been reusing the cup for the last 2 days. Bringing my tea to campus with me...

I'm meeting a new friend for coffee tomorrow on campus. It should be nice. We've been talking over Facebook [for those who dont know, it's a university-based networking community type of thing]. He goes to my university and seems pretty cool. Let's hope I make a lasting friendship! I've been feeling rather social lately. I keep telling myself that I dont know anyone here, but really I've made quite a few aquaintences. I wish a few of them were closer friends, but I guess that comes with time.

At any rate, I better get going. I've got class in the morning! Everyone have a great night!

So I've been pondering this idea for a couple weeks now... There's this new coffee shop that just opened up near my apartment. It's a really small, quaint place. I went to check it out yesterday and I inquired the owner about who does thier baking, mentioning that I do some myself. The guy gave me a free cup of coffee and said he'd try some of my baked goods. So last night, I made some Chocolate-dipped almond biscotti and one of my chocolate chip coffee cakes and brought it to the coffee shop this morning on my way to class. He gave me another free cup of coffee this morning and told me to come back later and he'd tell me how he liked it. So on my way back from class I stopped in and it turns out that he really liked the biscotti! He told me to make another batch, and told me to cut him a deal on it and he'd sell it in the shop!

I'm totally excited. For a couple reasons... I've always wanted to bake, whether I owned my own bakery or made baked goods for a restaurant etc. And even though I wont be able to make a huge profit on this biscotti, it's something! I dont mind putting in the extra time if it's baking. I love to bake!

It costs about $6 a batch for supplies. I figured if I charged him $15 per batch I'd make $9... not bad for 2 hours of work and made from scratch. If he sold them for $1.50 each, or even $1.25 each he'd still make a profit of $15-$10 per batch. He said he didn't get around to trying the cake yet. That would probably be a bit more profitable because you can cut it into more peices. At any rate, the idea of making a little extra cash while doing something I enjoy is enough for me!

I'm just proud of myself for asking. They say you never know until you ask, and I went for it! And I got 3 free cups of coffee and a cinnamon roll in the process! Doesn't quite make up for the supplies necessary to make the first batches I gave to him, but regardless I think it was worth it to make the connection.

In other news, I used my coupons and did some grocery shopping.

Campbells healthy select soup... on sale .90 off, coupon doubled makes an additional $1 off 2
Total price: 2 for $1.50 or 0.75 a can
Total saved: $2.80

Coupon for 1 free Pria Energy Bar
Total price: $0
Total saved: $1.35

Prego Sauce $2 each. Coupon doubled makes an additional $1 off 2. And I'll be mailing in to get one of them free. After rebate...
Total price: 2 for $1.50 or 0.75 a jar
Total saved: $3.00

Cottage cheese doubles 1.12 each. Coupon doubled makes 1.00 off 2.
Total price: 2 for 1.24 or 0.62 each
Total saved: $1.00

Glade air freshening spray on sale for 0.88. Coupon buy one get one free.
Total price: 2 for 0.88 or 0.44 each
Total saved: $1.00

Pure Protein bars on sale 1.00 each. Coupon buy one get one free.
Total price: 2 for $1 or 0.50 each
Total saved: $1.50

Total saved: $10.65

Yay!!! More to add to the challenge... totals to be posted later

I woke up at 10:30, and lounged and played video games until around 2:00... so I'd claim that to be pretty lazy. On the flip side, I will be going to the gym with BF here in about an hour. I was going to hit the grocery store today because it's right by the bank. But then I realized it's MLK day, so the bank's not even open. So I'll go tomorrow. I was going to hit Giant Eagle anyway when I run to best buy to pick up the WoW Expansion pack I preordered. $40, but I definitely play it enough to make up for it... and it's a highly anticipated purchase

BF designed a flyer for the restaurant I work for, and in return they gave him $100 DOLLARS in gift certificates for his work.. they were on a deadline and he got it done quickly and it looked great. But at the same time, it seemed a bit much. At any rate, $50 of it is to Kiku, the restaurant I work at, and the other $50 is a trade certificate, which can be used at a bunch of places. So BF said he was going to take me to one of our favorite restaurants! Yay!

I work tonight, and it should be fairly busy. We have a big party coming in. Usually mondays are pretty slow, but this will be a pleasant change. Besides, the big party is for a close friend of the restaurant. He's a great tipper

My coworker suggested going to this indian restaurant after we get off work. I've got $15 left in my dining budget, so I may have to take her up on that offer Besides, school starts in a couple of days. After that, we wont have much time to hang out. Especially considering I'll be playing that expansion game... hehe. I'm such a dork.

So I went into super-frugal mode today. I decided to take home a couple of my ties from work and wash them myself. They get really gross from the restaurant, and I usually just replace them because getting them drycleaned isn't really worth it in my opinion. I've probably spent $50 on ties in the last 7 months. Granted, I buy them at Burlingon, usually for about $7 each. But I wanted to experiment to see if I could clean them at home. So I took 2 of the ones that weren't shiny looking (I figured these would be the easiest), and soaked them in a solution of water, baking soda, and vinegar. They're hanging to dry right now. Let's cross our fingers! I'm not expecting them to be perfect, but not quite as spotted would be nice...

I also picked up a copy of the Sunday Paper and spent a while clipping coupons and recording them onto a spreadsheet. Then I looked through sales ads and I'll be making a trip to the store tomorrow after I run to the bank to clear up the mess that is my account. I was going to go today, but I'll be out tomorrow anyways. So today will be counted as a no-spend day because the savings made from the coupons should exceed the cost of the newspaper ($1.50).

Me and BF are eating in tonight... teriyaki steak and rice, brussel sprouts for me. Mmm. I ate leftovers for breakfast and lunch. I also planned out my menu (loosely) for the week.

It feels good to be making all this progress! I'm just hoping once the semester starts that I'll be able to keep it up. At any rate, I hope you all have a great day!

Challenge Total $37.62
+ change $0.50
+ no-spend day $1.00
New Challenge Total $39.12

Well, this is it. The finals are over, and now it's time to... SHOP! erg. Not so frugal this time... I found my Christmas dress. Not at the most frugal of stores and certainly not the most frugal of prices. But as BF's Gram said to him today, "every girl has to do that every once in a while. She has to make herself beautiful." And boy, is that what I intend to do! The only things left to get are earrings. I need some pretty pink ones... and pink nail polish too, all I have is reds and purples for some reason. My dress is BEAUTIFUL. I love it, and it is one of those dressy but not so much that I have to wear it to a formal event. Actually, I put a suitjacket over it and wore it to host at work the other night. Glamorous. And I got the shoes-- rampage-- for only $23.

And now that the crisis over what to wear has commenced... I need to buy presents. Erg. Now here's the update: I'm crafting gifts. Which is awesome. I love home made gifts. I'm doing hot chocolate jars and cookie tins. The problem: BF. We had decided to not get each other gifts this year, and just go shopping after Christmas for stuff for the apartment, but nooooo. He had to go shopping with his buddy today and got me something... well, he got me 2 things.

He wouldn't tell me what he *bought*, but he let me know that one of my presents was that I didn't have to pay for ANYTHING on the car. WHAT?! He said he's giving me back the $1000 I gave him to put toward the car and that I wouldn't have to pay anything on it, unless I wanted to claim it as my car when it comes time to get a second, and we'll figure it out then. That's a pretty cool deal in my book. He said I'm financially stressed enough, and I work too hard. I'll take it!

Now you're probably wondering what the problem is with all of this, and well.. I dont know what to get him!!! I thought I was in the clear! But nooo. Erg.

The upside is that he said Gram might be getting me all-clad pans!! *Shriek*! I guess they would match the all-clad measuring cups and spoons she got me last year... I always love her gifts I suppose that's the upside to dating a boy that comes from a wealthy family, but sometimes I feel a little akward. This whole foray about what to wear on Christmas drove me up a wall until I broke down and went to the most expensive store I could think of. (I wont even utter the name on this site, I think God would strike me down instantly) The good news is that it honestly wasn't too expensive for what I got, especially considering the prices for most items not on sale there... and I did pay full price. The crappy thing I noticed, though, was that even though I shopped online for about a month before I set out to buy dresses, the selection was entirely different in the store than it was online. This had an up and a down. Up for the dress, and quite down for the shoes. I cut a great deal, but they weren't necesarily shoes that I liked too much. Eh, you win some, you lose some.

But we have a car!!! And I have a beautiful new dress. Life is good right now... ah, must not forget, NO SCHOOL FOR A MONTH!! Woo hoo! Night, all!

One more final to go in about an hour or so. Then I'm *home free*!!! I bought a new book today to celebrate: The Devil Wears Prada... much looking forward to drinking a nice cup of hot tea and curling up tonight. The house is all mine. BF went back to visit friends and family in Ohio, and though I'm pretty jealous, I'm looking forward to time away from eachother. We're always cooped up in our tiny apartment together. No wonder we drive eachother nuts! hehe. Tomorrow I'm going to look for shoes and a dress to wear on Christmas. Saturday I think I'm getting together with a keyboardist to work on some music, and then Sunday me and a friend are going to do some christmas shopping and crafting together. Yay! I feel like I have a life... and the best part is that I have NOTHING to study for. I've just got a list of books I want to read. Happiness... I just have to make it through this french test. Eh. We'll see...

Well, this is it. Finals week. I've got one more paper to write tonight, one final tomorrow, and 3 more up until thursday night. Busy times indeed.

I've been doing waaaaaay too much spending lately, but the good news is it's the time to sell my books back (thank goodness), and I'll have more time to work over the break. woo! I'm so ready for the break to begin. I'm at that point where I'm just done with classes. I dont really have the motivation to do anything at this point... I just have to make it through the week. The good news is I could fail every one of my finals and my grades wouldn't suffer a bit. heh. I guess that's the upside to working my tush all semester... less pressure at the end.

So I really need to refrain from spending any unneccesary money for the rest of the month. I went to the mall with BF yesterday because I REALLY needed jeans. I also really need a new dress to wear on christmas. BF's family holiday gatherings are formal, and I've exhausted everything I own over the last year. I need new heels too. argh. At any rate, the trip to the mall was dangerous. I ended up buying a pair of jeans that I love, as well as a sweater that I love- no guilt there, as I need more winter clothes. But I really didn't NEED that eyeshadow I bought, or the goodies from victoria secret. BF was with me, he kinda *persuaded* me to get a couple things, but paid for one of 'em (as he should!) and the perfume I got was relatively low-cost. $15 aint bad for Heavenly. It was a small bottle, but it came with a little bottle of the lotion too, which is nice. If I bought the little bottle of the perfume separately I would have paid the same amount, so I made out like a bandit.

As for now, I'm avoiding spending too much on groceries. I'm completely out of fruit. That's a problem. And I need to buy more tea. I've been drinking so much of it. It's nice though, because if I want to stop at starbucks to get something I spend SO much less on tea than I would on a specialty drink. And starbucks is just so convenient from work. And my boss has me make coffee-runs all the time. eh.

Alright... enough of the rambling... I need to get working on this paper. Have a good night, guys!

All I have left is finals now... not to say that's not enough. I sold one of my books back today because I know I wont even use it to study. I have plenty of other material. I'm still musing at how inexpensive books are going to be next semester. It's pretty crazy. I'm used to paying over $300, and it's closer to the tune of $100 this semester. woo!

So I started a new blog. And I used adsense, so we'll see if I generate any revenue. I'm not expecting to have some huge boom, but I figure I'm on the computer enough and write well enough (when I can be snide and use plenty of profanity) to generate at least a few dedicated readers, and that's enough for me. I've always wanted to be a writer, and though it's not a novel (that'll come later on), it's a start.

At any rate, I'm working tomorrow... an extra night this week. I can definitely use the $. I think I may go do some xmas shopping on saturday if I'm feeling up to it. I know BF wants to go see the new 007 movie. I'd like to see it too!

As for spending today, I did buy one of my books for next semester after selling an old one back. I also went and got lunch at Bucca di Beppo. Mmm. Apple gorganzola salad... so good. A bit pricey, but it was well deserved. I've had a rough week and me and BF have both been super-cranky lately. A few arguments have gotten pretty out of hand due to a great lack of sleep on both of our parts. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

Well then, I'll end this with a bit of self-promotion... check out my links listed if you could and read my intro post to "The Modern Day Woman's Guide to the Existential Diet." Leave some comments to let me know what you think! I love input! Goodnight guys!

So the fight for this so-called vehicle that me and BF are trying to acquire continues. As it turns out, we both forgot how RIDICULOUSLY expensive insurance is, hence we will not be getting the Mazda, sadly. We're opting for something a bit cheaper, more to the tune of 7k. Most likely a Japanese something or other. We like those. So we are downscaling yet again (thankfully)!

I saw someone else post about thier credit score... I looked at mine the other day. Well, it was really a case of "all the other kids were doing it." Well, not so much kids... BF looked at his in lieu of this whole car purchase to see if he could get a loan. Turns out he is in poor standing because of a huge ordeal that went down last year. He went to the hospital, and had to pay emergency room fees. The hospital looked at his insurance card and the woman TOLD HIM that the particular hospital we were at accepted it. Well, that just wasn't the case. Not to mention, he moved from his previous residence in the student housing, so when the hospital started sending him the bills that were thought to be taken care of, he didn't get them. Nor did his old roomate call and tell him he had mail waiting there, nor did the hospital call him to inform him of anything. Eventually, collections were called upon by the hospital and they eventually found him (they have a knack for that). Needless to say, his score suffered.

He was talking to his Gramps about all this, and amidst the conversation, his grandfather asked him to look up HIS. Gramps is a bit computer illiterate, so BF got all his information. He's 2 points lacking of a perfect score. Turns out Gram has too many charge cards at dept stores At the same token, they have accounts that are still open and in good standing that date back to the 60's.

So after all this, I sucked it up and got mine. I'm in fine standing. My accounts are relatively new, and I have no credit cards. I've also had quite a few inquiries, though I noticed that most come from silly credit card companies and JCPenny for some reason. But I have a "fair" score. I'm okay with that for the time being. All my credit is student loans anyway.

At any rate, I'm still trying to put together my financial goals for 2007, but with this car thing still looming and not quite over-with, I'm gonna put it off just a while longer. For now, I'm just going with the flow and making sure I can get the rest of my xmas shopping in before the holiday actually arrives! I'll talk to y'all later!

Got home from class today and started cleaning... got the laundry going, loaded the dishwasher. These things were desparately needed. A bunch of dirty clothes needed unpacked from the weekend, and we entertained a bit last night, so there were glasses everywhere. Wish I would have tidied up pre-entertainment, but eh. I'm a college kid, my apartment isn't supposed to be spotless. At any rate, made my bank run after class, and ran to the store to pick up a few things I needed.

I'm back on track as far as the healthy eating goes. I was gonna hop back on the bandwagon yesterday, but my boss and coworker invited me to go to lunch with them... thai food. Sooooo good, but coconut milk and corn fritters are certainly not the healthiest of choices. Pizza for dinner. erg. At any rate, I'm going to the gym today with BF to catch up on some working out... Hopefully I'll make a couple more trips this week. I guess starting this "diet and exercise plan" wasn't the smartest of ideas right before a holiday weekend

Financially, my month ends tomorrow, which means I've got some calculating to do! I know this weekend threw a monkeywrench into my spendings, but hey, a girl's gotta live! I know I didn't do half as bad as I did last time I went home, but I also have eaten at nice restaurants twice in the last week. Anyhoo, better get back to cleaning!

I'm afraid eating healthy is going to have to win this one. I took a look in the mirror the other day after putting on a pair of pants that are quite a bit too snug... got the "sausage" effect my mother so loves to remind herself of (ugh). But besides the fact that I've gained a little extra padding, I'm a bit uncomfortable with it, and my sedentary lifestyle is by no means healthy. The only excercise I get is at work, which dont get me wrong, can be a workout some times. The term "exercise" hasn't graced my vocabulary, however, since before the start of the semester.

As for food, I've been eating whatever, and as much as I want. Now, people tell me I'm young, and yes I know that, but my metabolism has slowed down a great deal in the last couple of years, and I'm struggling with it. I've always eaten a lot. Since I started eating I've eaten a lot, and up til the point where I graduated high school, I was incredibly thin as well. Not anorexically thin, but a nice athletic build. Thunder thighs or none, I looked good. Now, the idea of kicking a 20 year long eating habit, ha! I need a little help there.

I signed up for the self.com reach your goal plan for a few reasons. A) It's a place online to input all workouts and meals I do/consume. B) It's got meal plans all set up for me that I can loosely work with. C) I find it fun that I can follow a set of rules, and it keeps me from straying from them. D) The recipes they give you look really good, and I love to cook.

Now, I'm not going on the food exactly because it will, in fact, break my budget. However, I will be going to the store today to purchase some healthier alternatives to the crap I'm eating right now, and I'll also be heading off to the gym today for the first time in 3 months.

It always kills me that it takes about 3 months of constant exercise and eating well to lose the same number of pounds it takes you 1 to gain. Ugh. At any rate, I'm going to enjoy my shopping trip and my trip to the gym. I've got the week off, so I'll have some time to hit the gym, and next semester I've got no early early classes, allowing me plenty of time to keep up the good work come the spring semester. Later guys!

Alrighty. so I decided that I wanted to post a picture of myself... Just because (perhaps it will start a new epidemic among savingadvice users??), but mostly because I like putting a name to a face. I'm sure many of you are the same way...


This isn't a current picture, my hair is much different now...


My hair pretty much looks like this, but I'm wearing stage makeup in this pic and it makes me look MUCH older than I am...

Aside from all that hoo-hah. Going to Burlington today. I need to pick up a new tie for work, as well as get a pair of gloves and look for new work shirts.

As for the saving/paying off loan deal, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I'm in debt, yes. And I'll be further in debt ever semester, and the minimal amount I can pay on those loans now will not make that big of a difference in the end. So what I've decided to do is pay off the interest, and then put all other extra funds into the savings account. I'll worry about paying those large sums when I have the job to do so. At any rate, I better get going. I've got to run errands before work. Later guys!

Alrighty. I had quite an eventful financial day... found another penny in the stairwell at the university. woo! And even better, when I went to the bank, I noticed (again) the cute national city piggy banks that they had sitting on the counter and asked the girl what they were all about and what one had to do to get one (I've been eyeing them for a couple weeks. So adorable!). Turns out they're a promo item, and even though I didn't just open an account or sign up for a CC, she gave me one! Yay! So now I have a REAL piggy to feed all of my change to... a la Lux! hehe.

I did break down and go grocery shopping. I'm almost to my limit of $ spent for the month in groceries, but I figure it should last me to the 28th. I hope... I also kicked my butt into gear, and I'm going to start eating healthy again. I kinda fell off the bandwagon a bit, but the gals here are inspiring me. So let's hope it goes over well. I'll add a little something to my blogs about it, but no adding to the challenge (I add mine a bit differently than everyone here... it wouldn't work). Speaking of which, I put $47.75 into my savings today, which bumps my $20 challenge up to $417.26. Woo!

At any rate, I'm looking at a no-spend day tomorrow. I'm thinking a relaxing day of playing silly videogames with BF. Sure it'll be a late night tonight, too, considering I get to sleep in tomorrow! yay... I love days off...

So I have this incredible weakness. It's called luxury. A friend of mine told me once that I'm a girl with a champagne lifestlye, kool-ade budget. hehe. Boy, was she right. I managed yesterday to head to the Giant Eagle Market District- which is the mothership of all Giant Eagles. I'm talking the produce/bread/meat section of the store is the size of a normal store, and the selection is wonderful. they have an entire cheese section and a candy store. Talk about my dream... Besides the fact that me and BF always forget that we should skip a meal before going (free samples run free in this place), we always forget that we always spend waaaaay too much here. But to continue my story...

Before we left the house, me and BF picked something out of my wonderful Jamie Oliver cookbok to make for dinner. Quesedillas. So we had to stop at the store. The Market District pulled me in, and I ended up leaving not only with the fixins for this tex mex dish, but 8oz of brie, fancy crackers (BF's incredibly wealthy grandparents have turned me on to this delicious snack... I am way too spoiled), 2 bars of lindt dark chocolate w/orange and one with pear. mmmmm.... The rest of the food I got was real grocery food, but I must say, this was a tasty snack that was well worth the extra $.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's really important to me to have that little bit of snooty luxury to offset the eating-ramen-because-I-have-no-money moments. I wasn't even planning on grocery shopping yesterday, but I'm glad I did because those quesedillas were really good! And BF liked them too! I'm loving this cooking at home bit, I'm finally cooking things that he will eat and request in the future! Speaking of which, we got another package of the zatarain's jambalaya mix as well because he liked it when I made it last week. woo! We picked another zatarain's mix. We'll see how it goes.

I knocked a couple off my list yesterday as far as xmas goes, but I didn't set foot in a store. Many of you know the pleasures of mypoints. Well, I participate as well, but national city has a very similar program going right now, and they're giving bonus points for specific stores. Target happens to be one of them. So I took care of my lil brother and either a professor or friend of mine. It's a sort of bath gel/lotion set thingy, and really it would work for either. So we'll see... 20 bonus points per dollar is good for me!

total spending yesterday included: $20 for my copy of WoW (thanks all who commented on MMO's... it made me smile), $16 on lunch, because it ended up being much pricier than I had thought, and didn't want to make BF pick up the total bill, even though he told me he'd buy me lunch. $31 on groceries, but BF is going to reimburse me for some of the food I bought. I dont mind putting the initial down on my card, I earn points that way! I calculated it out, and he owes me $12, so It'll be $20 total.

Overall, not too shabby. Today will be a no-spend day. I've got chili to make before my ground beef goes bad, and WoW to keep me busy before work. I'd have to say it was a good investment!

Well, it's my day off. I talked to BF yesterday about what he wanted to do, and we decided on going to best buy. He plays this silly game called world of warcraft... it's incredibly popular among kids my age (and younger). It's one of those games that millions of people can play together online. He spends a bit of time playing this game.

Now, I've watched him play, and it's pretty cool... kind of a pseudo fantasy game (knights, wizards, etc) and I think I'll like it. Not to mention, if we play together it could be a nice activity with relatively low cost after it's purchased (you have to purchase an account that is so much money a month to participate in the online thingy). Me and BF dont go out a whole lot during the winter, and it'll be even less this year because we dont have a car, so I've decided to buy this game and see what all the hubbub is about.

It's $20 and comes with a free trial month of the online play-time. So not too bad at all.

Last night, I bought a pizza for me and BF because he paid for my bottle of wine. But the poop-head bought a meat lovers! I thought he was getting a hawaiian pizza, so I was horribly dissapointed. He did offer to buy me lunch today because of his "changing of his mind last minute." Let's hope he holds up on that offer!

Perhaps I could shop around for some xmas gifts as well today... ooo fun! I love xmas shopping!

Aside from all that, I've got no news! Just trying to enjoy my day off... I was in great need. Later guys!

So me and BF left the house around 11:30 to go to lunch at our favorite mediterranean restuarant. I ended up running into the wife of the owner of the restaurant I work for. I said hi, she and her two friends ended up sitting at the table next to us. It was nice, and we talked cordially and all that. I was really confused when the server came back with my credit card sans pen, etc. It turns out she snuck from the table to "use the restroom" right after I gave the boy my card and paid for our meal! It was so suprising, and of course I insisted that she shouldn't have done so, but of course I was pretty psyched. So my lunch was free (as was BF's).

We caught the matinee of "The Departed." It was really good, and ended up not costing too much. I did, however, buy some new guitar strings and a capo, since my ex band member walked off with mine. Boo.

Me and BF hit the grocery store on the way home... we DESPARATELY needed food. I just couldn't bear the thought of eating ramen AGAIN. I needed solid food. So I stocked up on frozen veggies, apples, cottage cheese, chili, and a few other random things. When we got home we were so excited to have options! haha. I felt like a kid in a candy store.... pretty sad. ha.

Tomorrow is laundry/homework day, then work. I guess my coworker is dressing up for halloween at work. I may do the same, though I dont have a costume. Ah well. The first year I've ever not dressed up... But I really cant afford the extra expense and it kind of crept up on me. Either way, better get going!