My Christmas Savings!
I found a shirt for B as a Christmas gift. It has his favorite football team on it, but it’s also a speedwick shirt that’s supposed to be great for running. Now that he’s running 10+ miles a day and wanting to enter marathons, he’ll be able to use it a lot. Once I went through ebates and found a coupon code for free shipping, the cost was just under $25. I haven’t decided what else I’m getting him yet…perhaps something else football related, like a team blanket since he never has enough covers on his bed. His birthday is in January, so I might wait on that for then.
So aside from sites like ebates and mrrebates, here is another site that you might want to check out to get the best prices. I typed in the information for the shirt that I was getting B and was surprised to find that tons of other people had been searching for it, too, so it must be a fairly well-used site. BeatMyPrice.com seems pretty good; you enter in the product, the website where you’ve found the best price so far, and then the price itself. It’ll take you to a page which lists all the other prices people have seen it for and where. Some even have links to coupon codes (which is where I found the free shipping on an order of $19.99+ from ESPNshop). If you’re shopping for something rather expensive, it’d probably be a great place to look when you think you’ve found the best deal you can.
So far I’ve spent right around $99 on Christmas gifts and probably saved over $40 with coupon codes, ebates.com, and BeatMyPrice.com…and that’s not counting what I’ve saved from just buying things on sale. Yay!
My Scam?
Right now I’m trying to think of ways to make more money and/or save more money to pay down my debts. I really don’t want to get a second job. I’m out of the house from 6:45am-5:05pm every workday…at least. That’s assuming that I don’t run any errands, go see friends, etc. which I do probably 3-4 days of the week.
Another job would ruin one of the things that I like best about my current job: free evenings. When I was a teacher, I constantly brought work home and the work never went away…more just piled on. I love that once I walk out the door at 4pm, I don’t have to think about work until I walk back in at 8am…although I usually get to work about fifteen minutes early. Even so, the evenings are my chance to relax, especially the evenings when I’m by myself and no one will judge me for watching reruns of Reba, Still Standing, or 8 Simple Rules.
I e-mailed my dad about taking on a contract type job at his small business, doing minor bookkeeping like I usually do every year. Because I created an entire spreadsheet to do all the adding/subtracting for me last year, this year I’ll have to do basic math and then plugging the numbers in. If all their credit card statements, bank statements, and payroll statements are in order (which they never ARE because my mom is the office manager and she’s…forgetful?) I estimate it will take me approximately twelve hours to complete. If I plan these on afternoons after work, I can get a free meal at home AND save some gas by not driving during the high traffic time. We’ll see what he says.
Another way I want to save (scam?) money is to go outlet shopping with my mom (and dad?) when we’re at the beach in a week. I figure that I can get them to buy clothes/shoes for me, saving me some money. 
Is this horrible? Though I’d maybe like to lose three more pounds, I’ve already lost enough that I’ve gone down a bra size (because THAT’S where I want to lose weight! *Fumes*) so I’m going to need a couple new ones. My favorite work shoes are falling apart, so I’ll need a new pair so that I don’t look like a vagabond. These are just a few purchases that I’ll be forced to make soon, so I’d prefer if I didn’t have to shell out my own money.
I was hoping to get to a Redskins game this season, but I think it’s just too expensive for me right now. Bummer. I’m not saving money by not going, though; I’m just not spending it on THAT.
So mostly my ways to earn/save money are to get money/material goods from my parents. I’m a terrible daughter.
My Struggles Since Graduation
A good friend of mine, a Psychology grad student, e-mailed myself and our friends last night to ask for three things that we’ve struggled with since graduation. I didn’t have to spend much time thinking about it, so perhaps everything I said wasn’t worded well, but I thought that I’d share it with those of you who read this blog:
My Peace of Mind
I’m afraid that I’m going to get into a fight with my best friend. Not one of those “I hate you!” fights, but one of those “I’m so frustrated with you for not doing what I say when I know I’m right!” kind of fights. She’s the frustrated one, though, not me–at least not yet.
A week ago she asked me if I was getting a roommate when my lease ends and I said “no”. Now I’m not 100% sure about this, but right now I have no options and I flat-out refuse to live with just anybody. I learned the hard way that living with someone that you hate (and hates you right back) sets you up for a world of depression; having to stay cooped up in your bedroom so that you won’t have to see the roommate, trying to find things to keep yourself out of your own place, arguing about bills, chores, etc. At one point in college, one of my only outlets for my inner turmoil (I know, I’m overdramatic) was coming to class early and telling my friends what my Psycho Roommate had done that day in great, story-teller fashion.
Anyway, my best friend said, “But you have to!” and I immediately bristled. I HATE being told what to do by anyone (except my bosses…because that’s their job).
I told her that I didn’t have to and she said something about how if I were living paycheck to paycheck (which made me wonder if she’d found my blog–but I don’t think she has because she hasn’t said anything about it) I needed to save money. I know that she is definitely concerned about whether I have enough money to live, but I also know that her big complaint is that I’m not going out to restaurants and bars with our friends anymore. This month it was mostly because of not having enough money until my tax refund came in (got in on Friday morning, $1529 woohoo!), but also because I haven’t missed it. At this point, I don’t enjoy going out to dinner and seeing my money going down the tube, even if I stick to water and something cheap. I’d much rather hang out at my place or someone else’s. I don’t consider dining out to be a necessity and I don’t know how to express it without someone getting upset with me.
This is one of the reasons why my boyfriend and I work so well together: he’s just as broke as me, maybe more so. When we’re together, we’re able to back each other up about not spending too much. All his money is going to pay the normal expenses and whatever is leftover is paying off loans or things that will help him out in the future, like a personal training course that will pay for itself in no time once he’s done and finds a part-time job at a gym. He never encourages me to spend money when I don’t think that I should (although I’m not always as supportive of him–if you lose a razor, buy a new one, don’t wait two weeks until I can bring you your spare!).
Anyway, I’m not going to live with someone who is not a trusted friend. It’s also a lot easier for my friend to say that I should since she’s married and doesn’t have to live with anyone but her husband, the person she loves and trusts the most. I’m going to try to avoid this becoming a real disagreement, though. I know that she cares about me and that’s where this comes from. What it really boils down to (after all the rambling) is how much my peace of mind is worth. What is the dollar amount per month I am willing to pay just to let go of a huge amount of stress? The only stress in my life right now is being judged for my financial choices (and, a little, about what my living situation will be in September); nothing is wrong with home, work, family, or my boyfriend. I’m curious as to how much anyone reading this blog would pay to block out the biggest stressor in his/her life. If you feel like commenting about it, please do!
My Toll Road
Living where I do, I have to take the Dulles Toll Road commuting each day, 50 cents getting on and 75 cents getting off, for a one-way total of $1.25. I drive about 3 1/2 miles to get to Route 28, then take 28 to the toll road. On most days.
Twice this week I’ve been late enough leaving my apartment to have to take the Dulles Greenway which turns into the toll road. Before I moved out to Ashburn, I had no idea what the Greenway was, or how it was different from the toll road; I quickly learned. The Dulles Greenway is a privately-owned toll road, where a one-way trip costs $4.25, so I avoid it whenever possible, even though it is much faster. If I leave at 6:45am, I’ll only save about eight minutes by taking the 65mph Greenway; if I leave at 6:55, I generally save about 15 minutes, which is the difference between being late and not.
I noticed, though, that I got much better gas mileage this week. Normally I average between 17-19 mpg commuting, and have gotten as good as 22 mpg highway (I know it’s horrible and I’d do better without an SUV, but I HATE driving small cars). By the time I get gas this afternoon, I’ll have driven about 280 miles instead of about 225 (my gas tank is rather small; I usually don’t fill up past 14 gallons). I think that this is due in large part to my two Greenway excursions (totalling an extra $6), and one afternoon that I met up with a friend for a few hours and drove home without any traffic.
Anyway, I just saved about 3 gallons of gas at $3.59/gallon near my apartment. So, I’ve saved about $5. This wouldn’t work every week; in no way do I think that if I took the Greenway five mornings a week, I’d save five gallons of gas. Maybe I could save about 3 gallons. So if gas really skyrockets, it might become cost-effective, after all.
My Groceries
Recently, I found myself saying to a co-worker, “I have to go buy groceries tonight; I don’t have anything for lunch.” I’m trying to always fix myself lunch before coming to work so that I don’t have to buy downstairs at one of the two fast food options in my building. Although one day I got to work early and bought two sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddles and they were totally worth it. SO delicious.
Yet, not something I can have habitually. Anyway, I started thinking about grocery shopping. I throw down all sorts of money everytime I go, while my pantry stays somewhat stocked with things that I never use. I have tons of uncooked spaghetti and lots of other things that I can makes meals out of for weeks, if necessary.
Therefore, I’ve decided not to shop for groceries unless absolutely necessary. I’m going to tweak “absolutely necessary” for a few items; I have one Claritin tablet left and MUST buy more, but I will get the generic kind. Some of the things that I’ll cook will require milk, eggs, and vegetable oil, all of which I’m running low on (i.e., teaspoon of v. oil, one egg, a few cups of milk). I have enough of everything else I might require for a while.
I’m curious to see how long it will take to eat all the spaghetti, rice, etc. Maybe this won’t be the most nutritious month ever (but I do have some frozen veggies!), but I’ll be able to fix that when I resume shopping–and whenever I eat at my parents’ house. I’m estimating that this will last about a month, with approximately 90 meals. I hope that this will also get me used to cooking nightly, which will then make it easier for me to plan meals, which will hopefully make it easier for me to plan my meals around sales at the grocery store.
So…as little grocery shopping as possible…starting…now!
