Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Staying Home, Saving Money

I find that I spend too much money when I go out. So many places calling my name, so many things to buy. So today, I decided to stay home. Not too hard to do, especially when it's cold outside, and dreary. Because I didn't have anywhere to go, I didn't get out of bed until afternoon. I love staying up and reading until all hours and sleeping as damn late as I want. Winter break. Love. It.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Preventing an ER Visit

I developed a really scratchy, itchy throat last Monday. Then, I got a cough. And it got worse in a hurry. The last time it got that bad that fast, I ended up with pneumonia. So I went to Redi-Med and demanded some antibiotics. I got a Z-pak and some cough syrup that was VERY relaxing, if you get my drift. I hate feeling so unmotivated, but it's nice to have the time to stay all day in bed if I want. Saves money, too!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Staying Home and Saving Money, Sort Of

If you stay home, you are less tempted to spend money. Except for Amazon. I bought some books I'd read in my youth, but somehow have disappeared. Still, they didn't cost me very much, so that's a good thing. I will stay home this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and try to get better. I have a mild cold coming on, complete with cough. Ugh.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Five Below is the Bomb!

Spur of the moment road trip to Indy with a friend who showed me one of her favorite stores, called Five Below. Sort of like a dollar store, except slightly better quality stuff. Dog beds for $5? Done. Makeup kits? Done. Eyeliner kits? Done. Retro gifts? Done. Cell phone cases? Done. Headphones? Done. T-shirts? Done. We NEED this store in Fort Wayne. Awesome cool stuff and a good way to get neato stuff for cheap.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Goodwill Shopping Again

I went on Saturday; I went again today. Found another pair of Unlisted heels. Not as high as the others, but the heel is wide, so I can walk in them, and they are MY size this time. They are a bit more glittery than I want them to be, but they are black. I fear I will go on an Unlisted binge, picking up every pair of heels in my size.

I also got some Etienne Aigner shoes. They are black with a little buckle that looks like a horse's bit. A jointed snaffle, for you connoisseurs. I found a couple shirts and a long sweater that will look great with black leggings. I haven't found the outfit in my mind yet, but maybe. My body is ill-suited for skirts. It's a miracle when I find one that works.

Today's total of two pairs of shoes, two shirts and a sweater was less than $21.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Well, I Went Shopping

I went shopping today. And I didn't really feel guilty about it. Bought some stuff to make some lined zipper pouches with, and I'll probably be whipping up some Christmas ornaments made out of pine cones.

Bought some new makeup too. My eyes have been watering lately, and I wonder if my year-old makeup is somehow contaminated.

I also had an image in my mind for a new outfit. Thanks to the weather, one chain of thrift stores was planning to close early. I did get a few things--new running shoes for $4 per pair. I bought a Tommy Hilfiger striped shirt that I thought looked pretty sharp. I also got some cords. I have to shorten a pair of them, but I should be able to do that. Couldn't find the outfit in my mind, however. It might show up eventually.

It was nice to shop again. And I didn't even feel guilty. But I think part of that was trying to get my mind off something else.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The Complete Tightwad Gazette RULES!!!

I highly recommend The CompleteTightwad Gazette. I've read it over and over again to give me some sort of hope. I'm not as tight as I could be, but I'm doing what I can to conserve. Take water for instance. I have a garden every year, and I use my bathwater to water the garden. Yes, it takes a few minutes, and some muscles, but I find I water every plant individually, and no water goes in between plants. I also collect rainwater. During the drought of 2012, I was able to keep my garden watered and my water bill manageable. Once a week, I give the garden a good watering with the hose. I don't keep track of how much I save, but I know it makes a difference. My water bill is rarely more than $60, unless I skip paying it for some reason.

I also rinse out baggies and reuse them.


The Complete Tightwad Gazette has success stories from people, which are inspiring. America is a wasteful country (if you work retail, you see it firsthand) and it's enough to make me want to go dumpster diving. I think I would, if I had a pickup truck. I saw a five foot long vanity being thrown out because of a dark knot in the wood on the door of the cabinet. It could have been painted over, or just sanded and stained, but no. A perfectly good vanity was thrown out. It could have been donated, but the powers that be didn't want to bother.  

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Playing the Wait Until Payday Game

In my last post, I said I was becoming a bit of a miser. Since I will only have one class next semester, and my hours will probably be cut at my other job, and I may have yet another part time job starting in March, I'm thinking things will be awfully lean in the next few months.

I'm out of bar soap, so I am putting off getting soap until payday. The reason for that is it seems like whenever I go to the store with the intent of getting just one thing, I end up being out $30 or so. I usually get the one thing, but then I see stuff while I'm there and think, "well, I'm running out of that so I'll get some." Or, "that's a great price. I'll stock up." So in order to keep from spending money, I will play the waiting game.

Right now, I'm using shampoo to bathe with. And I have a bunch of tissue from the tissue boxes I used as entry boxes for an event a month ago. So there are actually TWO things I need to get, but I'm putting it off. I've got soap, I've got tissues. So I'm fine.

Now to see how long I can live with this plumbing situation...

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

I'm Becoming a Low-Rent Hetty Green

It's getting so every time I get paid, I don't want to spend any money. I'm saving an emergency fund, which means I'm trying to skimp on everything else. I still don't have a credit card, and I'm not even sure that I want one. My plumbing is screwed up, and last night, I forgot to check the toilet for the water level. I did too many dishes in the kitchen sink, and the toilet overflowed. I didn't realize this until I encountered the sticky, smelly brown goodness coating the floor a couple of hours later. I busted out the mop bucket, and poured a generous amount of Pine Sol (Sparkling Fresh!) and some bleach and got busy. It's a small bathroom, but the mop got disgusting rather quickly, so I had to dump the water into the bathtub, and reload it with fresh water, Pine Sol (Sparkling Fresh!) and bleach.

It's not like I'm completely broke. It's almost like a game--how long can I stand to wash my dishes in the tub (I've already broken one glass) and deal with a toilet from hell before I say "fuck it all, I'm sick of this shit!" (literally) and call someone to clean out the sewer line. It's bad enough I have to run a hose from the washing machine out the back door, but dish washing in the tub? Oh, if my one neighbor only knew, she'd had a coronary. She asked me the other day if I was "planning to clean my yard this year." Leaves on my lawn is the least of my worries right now.

Hetty Green was a miser, but she was a RICH miser. I will probably never attain her level of wealth, but no doubt she would approve of me putting off cleaning my sewer line, and putting off going to the dentist, getting a mammogram and gluing my glasses frames over and over again, just to keep from spending money. I think she took it to extremes, however. If I could just save about $5,000, I could breathe a little bit easier at night. But I get so far, and something happens, and the emergency fund goes poof! It sucks. So that's what recovering from bankruptcy does to you. You become guilt-ridden at the slightest expenditure. I don't really WANT to buy food, but I must eat. I haven't quite lowered myself to living off food banks and giving up the grocery store. I would feel guilty if I did that, because I AM working. And there are people who need the food banks worse than I do. It's just that I've become rather cheap. When you are broke AND you don't have credit cards, you hope, pray and wish that NOTHING happens, so you can build even a tiny emergency fund, so you don't have to depend on your ex-boyfriend to pay for your car repair bill. (And yes, I still owe him $688 bucks.)