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Wrapping Up... ;)

December 23rd, 2015 at 03:01 pm

Who can resist a good xmas pun?? In fact, I had all of my gifts purchased and wrapped a couple of days ago. Grabbed a couple more last minute things for DH, mom, and my grandfather (who I kind of forgot about until then). Spent more than I would have liked to this year, but what do you do? I think maybe next year I'll have conversations with friends and family prior to the season starting - I'm sure there are others in my life who wouldn't mind spending a little less. This year I dropped about $600 all together. In my world, that's quite a chunk of change :/

***

Now that shopping has been done for a couple of days, I've been trying to wrap up all of my home projects prior to the holiday. DH is off work until after the new year, so I've been trying to take advantage. Yesterday I organized the attic. I can't believe how much room is up there now! Every time I move something out of the house I'm reminded of how much easier it's going to be to move in April... and now I have another whole carful of stuff to take to Goodwill. And a lot of stuff fits in my Honda Fit.

I've also got a few things that I need to sell - my army stuff, largely (I guess that's more than a few things. More like 4 bags worth), as well as a ring an ex boyfriend purchased for me. I think it's time to let that one go. lol. Pretty ring! I hope I can get a little bit of money out of it.

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Yesterday DH and I finally added me to the (now) joint bank account. Now we just need to actually start using it. We paid for the new chair and the honeymoon booking out of it, and it's now only at about $2k. Not too bad given the only money we've put into it was from wedding gifts!

Now we have to start feeding money into it, and changing our bills to come out of that account. Which, I think, will be a project for the new year. At that point, I'll set up a new Mint account so we can readjust the budget to include everything.

***

Last night I went to see "Sisters" with my SIL. I feel like I've gone to the movies more in the last 2 months than I have in the last two years. lol. Our tickets were only $5.60 each, though! I forget how much cheaper it is to go during the week. Those weren't even matinee tickets... The movie, by the way, was HILARIOUS. Perfect for us two gals Smile I'm so lucky that the two of us get along so well. I do have a (blood related) sister, but she's 8 years younger than me and incredibly socially awkward (mild special needs), so I never had the kind of relationship with her that you see in the movies. My SIL, however, is the same age and we have the same sense of humor. Over the last couple of years she's become one of my best friends. It's been something I've missed, and something I cherish greatly.

Speaking of relationships with women in the family, I just finished reading "Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan - an older read, but so very good. It's been on my shelf for a couple of years now. Just got around to it. Just a great read. Now that we've scaled back our books to one bookcase (from about 6), I'm going to attempt to read everything we own! That's a challenge that will keep me from purchasing more books for sure! Now I'm riding the Chinese theme and started "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck. A couple chapters in, and so far so good!

***

The last few things to wrap up today:

- Visit the butcher to get meat for tomorrow's dinner
- Laundry
- Make trip to Goodwill
- Clean carpets (borrowing mom's upright cleaner)
- Do some editing

Christmas Eve is DH and I's day to just sit around, watch movies, relax, and make a really lovely dinner for just the two of us. We usually exchange our gifts over the course of the day. So I'm very much looking forward to that. It's nice to have some quality down time before we run all over kingdom come on Christmas day.

Probably wont update again until after the holiday, so everyone have a Christmas full of joy, love, and gratitude Big Grin

9 Responses to “Wrapping Up... ;)”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1450889042

    I love your entire post today! Nice work on your decluttering. And I really like that you are reading your books before getting rid of them. Frugal and productive at the same time. Merry Christmas!!

  2. Butterscotch Says:
    1450889636

    I loved the Joy Luck Club! If you're interested, there is another great one called The Kitchen Gods Wife which I loved even more. Check it out!

  3. Ima saver Says:
    1450894158

    I still can't get over the cost of movies. I use to go a lot as a kid. Tickets were 14 cents for under 12 and 25 cents for adults. (I stayed under 12 for a long time!) Merry Christmas!

  4. CB in the City Says:
    1450894561

    I will chime in with Butterscotch -- all of Amy Tan's books are worth reading. I saw her speak in person and she is an amazing lady!

  5. snafu Says:
    1450895855

    If you have items in 'secondary' storage like attic, I hope you'll look at the vlogs and internet dialogue relating to Marie Kondo's 'art of decluttering and organizing.' Her book is a quick read and available at most libraries. Selling quality jewelry is always a disappointment as value is primarily in the eye of the buyer. Diamonds for example, only have value because of the spin added by De Beers in their promotions like...'diamonds are forever.'

  6. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1450916245

    I'm with the others on Amy Tan - love, love, love her books!

  7. VS_ozgirl Says:
    1450949779

    Merry Christmas!!!

  8. alice4now Says:
    1450956867

    Merry Christmas! Sounds like a wonderful way to spend the evening with your hubby!

  9. debt-free by thir-ty Says:
    1450969839

    Your Christmas Eve sounds amazing. I wish DF and I could start something like that since we do a lot of running around Christmas Day too. Have a merry Christmas!!

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