Weekly Money Check Up

From My Pretty Pennies...enjoy.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on getting my hair did...$100 including tip.

2. Today I feel great towards money. Due to my birthday, I am way under budget in a lot of categories compared to where I normally am at this point in the month. And there are more birthday coupons to use!

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was this is a big cheat, but my mom's cousin signed the bf and me in to Disneyland today for free, since it's my birthday. Connections! But other than that, it would be going to church for the first time in a few months.

4. I will consider this week a success if I get my birthday thank you notes written and mailed.

5. If I could could quit my job for a month and travel throughout one country, I would choose just one country??? Umm,  a big one. Italy? Since there's so much to see there and I only saw two cities on my first trip there.

Best Week Ever

Well, it's close at least. Due to some random generosity and since next week is my birthday, I've been able to eat out several times without spending a penny!

Wednesday-Rubio's for dinner, using my birthday coupon for a free meal
Thursday-Yearbook Adviser Dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. The rep from the publishing company takes us out for a fancy dinner with drinks and appetizers once a year. YUM!
Friday-Free happy hour at Shakey's from the union. This too is a once a year tradition which we all look forward to.
Saturday-friend treated me to birthday pedicure (haven't had a professional one in over a year!). She told them we were celebrating, so the nice lady at the salon gave me a free parafin treatment on my hands. They feel so soft! Then we went out to a BBQ place where they have 22 microbrews on tap. A group of friends came who covered my meal and my drinks. One friend couldn't make it until after, so she took me to the movies last night as well. So nice!
Sunday-went to Marshall's and used most of the gift card my grandma sent me on new sheets (the old ones just looked dingy, no matter how clean they were). Then my friend Shelby took me out to sushi to celebrate my birthday (we always treat each other to a birthday dinner instead of exchanging gifts.)

I'm feeling very loved and lucky that I have so many generous friends I get to spend time with. It's nice to have a gift that involves quality time, and I truly am thankful! And, it's definitely been a HUGE plus for my budget. I was expecting October to be really spendy, but barring any emergencies, it looks like I'll be able to pay a little more on my car at the end of the month!

Birthday Freebies!

So my birthday is next Tuesday the 12th. I plan to post pictures of my birthday celebration, but there is another reason I love October...the birthday freebies I get from restaurants! Just today I got a bunch of them in my inbox, and I'm expecting some more in the days to come. I'm listing them not just to show off, but to encourage you to go to these restaurant's websites and sign up for birthday freebies too!

Daphne's Greek Cafe-Free combo meal
Rubio's: Free meal up to $7
Red Robin: Free burger
Ruby's Diner: Free sundae
Pick up Stix: Free order of cream cheese wontons
Starbucks: Free drink of my choice
Del Taco: Free milk shake
BJ's: Free pizookie
Denny's: Free grand slam breakfast (has to be on your actual bday)

I'm thinking all these freebies will make staying in my eating out budget much easier this month, which might be nice to get me back on track! I'll post any others I get over the next week...I'm expecting El Torito and Acapulco for sure and we'll see what other ones I forgot about. I told the bf that I'll be a cheap date this month!

Sidebars Updated...

I updated my sidebars as of payday today, and the good news is that I have a fully funded Emergency Fund! I've got Baby Step 1 complete. I definitely chose to do this out of order, but I went with $100 per month while aggressively paying off my debt. I have been happy with this system, and plan to keep $1,000 in there until my car loan is paid off, when I'll up it to 3-6 months expenses. It's funny, that money doesn't really feel real to me, because it's not on the table to spend...but if I ever need it I will definitely be glad it's there!

October is an expensive month for me, so I was only able to pay an extra $155 on my car. :/ I set aside $100 for Christmas this month, as well as $100 for Halloween (costumes for the bf and myself...I'm making him go along with my ridiculous idea, so I'm covering his). Hopefully I will have extra left over for Halloween and I'll be able to slide a little more over to my car at the end of the month. But, I adjusted the sidebar and I'll do so again when my regular payment goes through on the 15th.

I'm also really, really, really going to try to stick to my "fun" budget. I've been going over on this for the past few months, and I need to get it in line. I am going to use my debit card but carefully track it this month. I think the cash system was getting me in trouble, because having all that cash at the beginning of the month made me a little spendy. We'll see how that goes. If I can stick to it, then the extra on any other budget lines can go toward my car at the end of the month, instead of me playing musical money and moving things all around to cover eating out.

Top Referrers for September

Thanks to these lovely lady bloggers who directed traffic my way!

1. TeacHer Finance
2. Shaking the Money Tree
3. Give Me Back My Five Bucks
4. Debt Marathon
5. Budgets are the New Black

I read all of these blogs regularly and you should too! :)

My Errand List for the Week

I have a lot to do this week, so I made my to-do list broken down by day. And I'm sharing it with you to see if it will make me stick to getting it all done:

Monday: Mail book at Post Office (sale from Amazon), grocery store (stick to meal planning), drop off bag at Goodwill, get cash from ATM for fun for the month.
Tuesday: Clinique gift with purchase, free lotion at Bath & Body Works (coupon), buy mattress pad (use coupon for 20% off), free mascara coupon from Sephora, pick up book at library
Wednesday: Doctor's appointment 4:15
Thursday: Yearbook Adviser Dinner (free night out! Yeah!)
Friday: Shakey's event with teachers union (more free food!)

Miscellaneous: Reschedule hair appointment again, pay extra on car payment, new shirt or dress for reunion, organize files (this might not get done this week)

If I get all this done it will definitely be a productive week...and a little pricey actually. But it's the week of payday, so that makes sense. We shall see if I can do it. I broke it down by day to help me stay on track with all of it, hopefully that helps.

Weekly Money Check Up

Here are my answers to My Pretty Pennies Weekly Money Checkup. She does hers on Mondays, but I just sorta grab it and do it sometime toward the end of my week. Because I'm organized like that. Enjoy!


1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on $23 for my dinner and part of a friend's for her birthday. We went to Olive Garden and I resisted wine and drank water and had soup, salad, and breadsticks.

2. Today I feel impatient about money. I get paid Monday, and I'm ready for a fresh start in my budget categories and to get moving on my car debt...I want to make another lump sum payment!

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was went to a Kings pre-season game. I got to go for free with a friend and all I did was pay $7 for parking.

4. I will consider this week a success if I make dinner at home 5/7 nights. I want to work on not burning through my fun money at the beginning of the month.

5. The thing I am most looking forward to about this autumn is wearing my boots with dresses and tights. And the holidays-Halloween, my birthday, and Thanksgiving.