Money Brain

"I work all night, I work all day, to pay the bills I have to pay
Ain't it sad
And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me
That's too bad
In my dreams I have a plan
If I got me a wealthy man
I wouldn't have to work at all, I'd fool around and have a ball..."

Ah, how wise our Swedish friends from ABBA were.

While the #shoppingsabbatical @corrinrenee and I are taking together is a great thing for me financially, it's starting to wear me down mentally and emotionally.  

Things I've learned over the past month that are positive:

• I own far more clothes than I need.
• I really don't like a lot of them and need to donate them.
• There are several items that would fit if I'd suck it up and get them altered.
• I've got life pretty good if I can look in my closet and know I could wear a different outfit for each day of the month (at least).

Things I've learned over the past month that aren't so positive:

• I was spending a lot more money on clothing, shoes, and accessories than I thought I was.
• I have to avoid my favorite shopping spots all together, or I *will* buy something for myself.
• Even though I'm not buying for me, the amount of clothing purchased for Jack has increased over the past month. (Gee, I wonder why?)
• Shopping is far more emotional for me than I thought it was. I use it to make myself "feel better" way too much.

 

Daily Spending 01.23.12

I doubted that I would be able to keep up with this little venture. 
I also doubted that it would change my spending habits.
So far, I've proven myself wrong on both.
I don't usually like to be wrong, but I'll let it go.
It's one week 'til payday (monthly for me), and I still have plenty of money in my account AND haven't touched what I put into my savings account. 
That includes my spending in Vegas.
Shaping up to be a good year so far.
Maybe I can save up for a small road trip this summer.
And maybe the girls' trip to New Orleans we keep talking about.

No wonder I ain't got no money

Amazon Prime Account - Is It Worth It?

As I continue to review my money situation, I am trying to make sure that all of the programs I am a part of are really worth it.

Today, I'm looking at my Amazon Prime account, due for renewal in November.  The Prime account gives me free 2-day shipping on eligible orders and $3.99/item shipping on next-day orders.

Cost/year: $79
Orders placed with Amazon last year: 118
Orders that I would have had to pay at least $3.99 shipping on (2-day shipping): 60 
Items that I would have had to pay at least  shipping on (next-day shipping): 15
Total saved in shipping: $239.40 + $67.35 = $306.75

Total savings of: $306.75-$79 = $227.75

 

September Spending Update

TxTag = toll road fees, b/c I now think I'm too good for free roads :-p
Food = dining out (and gaining weight)
Daycare = $ to wrangle my 2 year old for 9 hours a day
Grocery = groceries and other necessities
Shopping = clothing, entertainment, other stuff I really don't need
Gas = the ridonk about of $ used to fill up my Chevy truck every week.
Savings = I do actually remember to do this from time to time.

September Spendings 09/01/11-09/12/11

TxTag = toll road fees, b/c I now think I'm too good for free roads :-p
Food = dining out (and gaining weight)
Daycare = $ to wrangle my 2 year old for 9 hours a day
Grocery = groceries and other necessities
Shopping = clothing, entertainment, other stuff I really don't need
Gas = the ridonk about of $ used to fill up my Chevy truck every week.

New Month, Fresh Start

Happy Feb. 1! I don't know about you, but each month, the first day of the month is a clean slate to me. It's time to start over fresh. Eat healthier, exercise more, stress less. I'm going to try to do all of those things, but my main focus for this month is to spend less money on my lunches. We had been doing a lunch group at work, but I'm not sure that's going to happen much this month because we're all so busy. So, I'm on my own to eat healthier and more cheaply. I'm going to track how much I spend every day.

Monday 2/1:
Lunch from Target

1/2 ham & cheese sammie: $1.49
macaroni salad: $1.49
20 oz Pepsi: $1.39

Total: $4.37

What's for dinner tonight?

I seriously have *no* clue how I could spend this much at H-E-B this month and still can't for the life of me think of anything in the pantry or fridge I can make for dinner tonight. It baffles me.

Smart Spending

I was reading the May issue of Marie Claire and came across this spread on smart spending. I think I will pass on professional pedicures if I can have Jimmy Choos instead. :)