Free Trip to the Mall

On Thursday I had the best kind of mall day-I didn't spend any money and I left with some goods!

First, I went to pick up my Clinique gift with purchase. I did actually pay for this, but it was done ahead of time so it was part of last month's budget. Which made it feel free. :)

I love free makup!

Next, I went to Victoria's Secret and used my coupon for a free pair of lacy hipster underwear. (Does anyone else despise the word panties?). I chose solid purple.

Then, I went to Bath & Body Works for their freebie for April. This month I got a free foot lotion. The promotion card I have ends in May, but it's been awesome to get stuff every month! I put this in my stocking stuffer collection. I'm also thinking about grouping all of my Bath & Body Works freebies into a lot and sell them on Ebay after I get next months freebie.

Last, I went to Sephora inside JC Penney and used my coupon to get a free sample of bare minerals. I put this in my stocking stuffer stash, since I don't use this brand anymore.

Yes, all in all a very successful trip to the mall. It was fun to "shop" with a friend after work. I got my shopping fix without doing any actual damage to my budget. Score!

Small Sacrifices for Big Goals

I am sitting at work uploading yearbook photos, so I just have to keep an eye on their progress. So I thought I'd sneak a quick blog post in here. I noticed someone commented on my taking internet off my phone post that it was a "good start." It made me realize I do a lot of things to save money each month. Some I've just never had, so it wasn't getting rid of anything, just being frugal from the get go. Here's my list of "luxuries" I go without:

*No cable (never had it since I've been on my own)
*No internet on phone (as of a few days ago)
*No Starbucks unless I have a gift card. I used to go once a week (sometimes twice), but now a co-worker brews coffee and I have that about once a week...I bought a bag of coffee to contribute and might do that again before the year is up. A much better deal!
*I bring my lunch 99% of the time. No time to go off-campus. The exception is an occasional Subway sandwich that I buy before work, or when we have conferences/open house and go off-campus for lunch as a group.
*I have the cheapest Netflix option ($11/month with tax).
*I've stopped buying books, DVDs, and CDs. I use the library, Netflix, and coupons for free downloads of music instead.
*I stopped buying salon shampoo and conditioner (sniff, sniff) and wait until Organix goes on sale to buy it.
*My TV is super big...not the screen but it's a big old bulky one. No flat screen or blue ray or any of that nonsense. :)
*I don't get pedicures or manicures anymore, I do them myself.

Those are the ones that come to mind. I do allow myself other luxuries, like eating out, but I definitely cut corners where I can. I choose what I sacrifice so that I can have some of the other things that I want. And the longer I live this way, the less I even think about it. Starbucks doesn't seem like an option anymore, so it doesn't bother me.

What luxuries have you given up on your quest to reduce debt? Does it feel like a sacrifice?

Leaping Back into the 20th Century!

In looking for ways to save more money and bring down my bills, I made a call to T-mobile asking about taking internet off of my phone. I have it now, but I rarely use it. Most often it's when I'm bored, to check Facebook. That's certainly not a necessity and with a possible layoff and higher rent than I've had before, I'm looking at ways to cut costs wherever I can.

I save ten bucks a month by taking this option off of my phone. The catch is that if I want it back, it's now a more expensive option so I'll pay more for it if that time comes. Honestly, I don't love how it works on this phone, so if I get a new phone they would have charged more anyway.

I feel good about this little tweak to my budget. Yes, it's only ten bucks a month...but every little bit makes a difference, and I'll throw a book in my purse for those bored moments.


Have you done any "downgrades" to save money? Were they worth it?

Pay Day Update

Well, today was payday, so my sidebar for my car is updated once again! I did my regular payment early and paid an extra $193.84, bringing my balance down to $1,994.17. Under two grand! I feel so close, but that's still a good chunk of change to pay off! I have an extra $100 in my E-fund right now, and as much as I'm dying to put it to my car payment, I know my car registration should be due in the next few months, so I am going to leave it there for that purpose.

I should also get a mid-month payment of about $80 for covering some classes at the end of the month, so that will go to my car as well. I'm a little behind as far as my goal of paying it off by June, but I'm going to try to be extra frugal so I'll have an extra balance in my other budget lines to put towards my car at the end of the month.

Honestly, June is semi-arbitrary...it's one year early, which would be nice, but going into July to pay it off isn't the end of the world either. It's just that once I set a goal I'm competitive with myself to get it done. Anyone else like that? What goal have you set for yourself that you're working on right now?

April Goals

I don't usually do monthly goals, because then I forget about them and never revisit them, but I have a few I really want to focus on this month. So let's try it for April!

1. Go to DMV and get my address changed. I also need to ask if they already sent the bill for my registration to my old address. It doesn't expire 'til August, but I don't want to have any problems there.

2. Start recycling for cash again. I stopped largely because I didn't have anywhere to store cans and bottles and it annoyed me to have them in my car. But, I want to start up again now that I have a back porch where I can put them.

3. Go through bookshelves, DVD's and CD's again to see if I have anything worth selling.

4. Finish and ship National Boards portfolio!! This is not optional, it HAS to happen!

5. Plan and start finance lessons in my yearbook class after our deadline at the end of the month.

Fighting the "Nothing to Eats"

Monday is payday and my budget is just about spent for the month. I have a few activities this weekend that I budgeted for, but other than that it's slim pickings for me. Last night the bf and I had this conversation:

Me: "what do you want for dinner?"
Him: "I don't know, what do you want?"
(repeat about five times, pausing about ten minutes in between each time.)
Me: "Okay, seriously, what are we doing for dinner? I have pulled chick'n from Trader Joe's and one pretzel roll. I'll let you have the roll and I'll just eat the chick'n. I also have some frozen edamame."
Him: "Won't you be hungry if that's all you eat? We just worked out. I have hot dogs at home."
Me: "Gross. I have frozen potato burgers too."
Him: "No, that's gross,"
Me: "Well I could scrounge up a dinner wtih stuff here, I just don't know if you'd want to eat that."
Him: "Let's go to German Night. I'll pay."

The thing is, when it's just me, I can totally improvise a dinner to avoid going to the store before payday. Tonight I am eating edamame and those potato burgers with no bread. And I'm totally fine with that. He can do the same thing at his house wtih hot dogs and fish stiks. And if we lived together we probably would have each just improvised our own dinners, but since we don't live together neither of us feels like we can serve the other one ridiculous crap for dinner.

My meals this weekend are...interesting. I have food, it's just not typical. This morning I toasted some stale bread and put jelly on it for breakfast. Snack was a grapefruit that someone at work brought in from their tree. It was just so-so. Lunch today is a frozen meal from the pre-weight watchers days. It's a lot of points, but I should be okay if I plan the rest of the day carefully. I'm also going to use up all my stuff in whatever combinations necessary. It's funny because my rent check never gets cashed until at least the tenth and I have $1,000 in my E-fund...but I'd rather eat odd combinations of food than go over budget or start this month's budget early. But it's trickier to play that game when BF is over and I can't imagine pulling it off with kids.

Is anyone else that stubborn with their budget? Or am I crazy?

Unemployment Info?

Well it's that joyous time of year again...my third annual pink slip notice! That's right, once again the budget is in the toilet and LAUSD is giving me a pink slip. Each of the previous two years have resulted in them rescinding it before June 30th, which means I've never actually been unemployed. I've got some tricks up my sleeve and am hoping I'll be safe once again, but since I need something to do with my nervous energy, I have decided to ask some questions about unemployment and try to make an emergency budget, should it come to that. The problem is I know almost nothing about how it works.

Any Californians out there want to give me insight on how unemployment works? Here are some of my questions...

...is it based on how much you made?
...what is the maximum payout?
...if you get some work but not full-time do you still qualify?
...what's the cap?
...how often do you get paid?

And any other insights would be appreciated. If I can find out enough info to actually create a budget I'll post it for you horror amusement.