thrifty finds 1-15-12

my local savers was having 50% off for the holiday this weekend, so i ventured down there to look at baby clothes.  $57 later I left with:
 

6 pairs of jeans for charlotte (gap, old navy, childrens place)
3 pairs of jeans for mommy (old navy, levi)

  

2 sweatshirts and a sweater for charlotte



3 onsies



2 pairs PJs and one skirt



shoes for mommy

3 sweaters for mommy

And the outfit she's wearing today!

homemade sugar scrub

anyone who knows me, knows that i love me some sugar scrub.  now that i've been on a budget, it's been a little out of my price range.  it's usually $20 for a smallish tub that i end up having to ration*.

so in the spirit of being more crafty, and also because i have sugar in my cabinet that i won't be *eating* due to my weight loss attempts, i looked up how to make it myself..

holy crap is it EASY!!!

here's the gist.

50% white sugar, 50% brown sugar.  mix and place in container (i used a glass storage container that normally goes in the fridge).

pour some sort of oil until the sugar is almost saturated (i used olive oil).

add a bit of vanilla extract or any type of essential oil.

mix it up a bit. 

voila.

my skin is SO soft.  for approximately $3.

now i know what to make for my clients next christmas!  if i can find cute packaging, i might try to sell on etsy. 





*and yell at j if he decides to use it!

honeymoon part one

there have been a lot of things i've wanted to blog about over the past few weeks, but i am paranoid that the people i would be blogging about would somehow stumble across this and make things messier than they already are.  so i'm going to refrain from it until i can think of some way to make the issues more vague.

there are also several personal struggles that i am going though right now, but i'm not sure how to blog about them appropriately.  i'm sure they'll come out in time.

so in the interest of avoiding another 12 month span between blog posts, i will tell you the story of how i thought i ruined our honeymoon.

when we started planning the honeymoon, i had a very specific idea in my head of what i wanted it to be, as i'm sure most brides do.  i knew i wanted to go somewhere exotic and unusual.  no hawaii or mexico for me -um.. WAY too common.  this is what i wanted:
 

 so i started researching the greek isles (and telling everyone that's where we were planning to go) and i bargained with myself that if we stayed in a more budget hotel and not the $500 per night private villas it wouldn't really matter because HELLO! we were in the GREEK ISLES!  then that stupid volcano in iceland erupted and we decided that maybe going near europe wasn't such a good idea.

so my next choice was something like this:

 
it turns out that a private tahitian hut in the ocean with a glass bottomed hot tub is so far out of our price range that it would have cost more than our actual wedding.  so that idea was scratched.

then i thought that perhaps something in the caribbean would be better suited to our price range and schedule.  it was too overwhelming to pick the best island to visit, so i called a travel agent who specialized in honeymoons.  i told her that we wanted to go to the caribbean but under no circumstances did i want to stay in a cheesy sandals resort in jamaica. that's when she suggested barbados.

i started looking at hotels in barbados and found some amazing hotels (including the one where tiger woods was married).  i picked out 3 hotels that seemed pretty luxurious, but not too outrageous, and sat down with j to make a decision.  j pointed out that since we were on a very fixed budget, we could afford these hotels, but we couldn't afford much else besides food.. and wouldn't we want to do a bunch of activities while we were there?   we hopped onto expedia to see what the price range of hotels was in barbados and HOLY CRAP HERE'S ONE THAT IS $2000 CHEAPER THAN WHAT WE PICKED OUT!!!!!!

i didn't book it right away, because i am very anal prudent about getting past the marketing bull and finding out what a place is really like, so i had to spend 2 days googling and reading all 500 reviews on every single travel review website that i could find. overall,  the coconut court beach hotel got very favorable reviews from fellow travelers.  the gist of the reviews were that yes, the hotel was old and a little outdated (no 1000 thread count sheets here!), but the staff was superb, the location was outstanding, and the beach was the most perfect spot of beach on the whole island.

we decided to book.  because REALLY, how much time will we *actually* spend in the room, even thought it *is* our honeymoon?  the beach and location are WAY more important, right? and $2000 is a lot of island tours and yummy meals and alcohol and snorkeling trips and shopping, right??

we are practical people.

so we booked the resort, sent in the deposit, and looked forward to our first major vacation together and jared's first time out of the country.

to be continued... 

inspiration

inspiration always strikes me at the most random times.  usually i'm in the middle of something else and i have to stop what i'm doing so that i can do the new thing right. this. minute.  for example, i'll be blow drying my hair when i decide to make a new recipe for dinner.  so i stop blow drying to go take stock of the ingredients i have and make a shopping list.  with wet hair.  i have no idea why i can't finish the first thing i'm doing and THEN start the new thing.  i can either look at it as a super annoying habit, or multi-tasking at it's finest.. i think it's really just adult ADD.

so anyhow, i recently started reading a blog done by lori, a friend of mine from highschool - it's called  no more sweatpants.  it's a fashion blog that details her journey to be more creative with the clothes in her closet and to test her fashion boundaries.  i've spent most of my morning reading her archives and i am totally inspired to do something similar.  since i started working from home, i have become very lax in my outfits.  when i started gaining more weight, i slipped even further.  i'm typing this at 11:30 on a wednesday morning and i am still in my pajamas and fuzzy bathrobe.  in a few minutes i will most likely change into either workout clothes or jeans and a hoodie to run my errands.  if i meet a client i will wear the only pair of dress pants that fits me and a neutral colored cardigan. it's BORING.  and i feel FRUMPY.  which makes me feel worse about myself.  not cool.

i would love to get dressed up a little, but i'm terrified that i will look ridiculous because or how large i am right now.  but that is TOTALLY stupid.  i'm going to look the same size in jeans and a hoodie as i would look in nicer jeans, a sweater, cute shoes, and some accessories.   yeah i'll look big, but i'll also look put together.  this will make me feel better about myself which will help lead to better food and exercise choices which will lead to a smaller body and more confident me.

the other thing that inspires me about lori's blog is that most of her clothes are thrifted or from the places that i like to shop (ross, target, kohls, etc).   they're not expensive, yet she makes them look fantastic!  i've always been frugal, but a little wary of thrift stores.  lately i've been wanting to give them a go - make it more of a treasure hunt - and satisfy my shopping desire without spending money i don't have. 

so today, after i put on my jeans and sweater with cute shoes and some accessories, i'm going to drop by the local thrift store to see if i can find something unique to jazz me up a little. 

i'll let you know what i find.

i heart freebies

some cool girl put together this site full of freebies that she's personally tried out - no more sifting through loads of crappy links to find out that you actually have to purchase something to get your "free" sample!

the pink wallet

another excellent shopping trip

here is the rundown:

container store:
returned $31.71 worth of christmas items that i received and wasn't going to use
purchased: receipt file, paper file for jared, travel toiletries case, travel makeup bag, small reusuable shopping bag
total cost after gift card redemption: $8.09

walgreens:
transferred a prescription to receive a $25 gift card
purchased: 2 bottles of water, 3 bottles of flintstones gummy vitamins, 1 bottle of one-a-day for men vitamins, 2 bottles of fructis styling products, 1 package of 9 volt batteries, 3 eyeliners.
total before sale: $77
total after sale before coupons: $61.94
total after coupons: $47.94
total after rebates: $27.95
total after $10 register reward earned for buying the vitamins: $17.95
total cost after giftcard: $0

the limited ( i needed a suit and some work clothes for my sales meeting next week)
purchased: 1 necklace, 1 ring, 1 brooch, 2 pairs work pants, 1 pair jeans, 1 blazer, 1 cardigan sweater, 1 cami, 1 shirt to wear under suit. everything except the jewelry and 1 pair of pants was full price. (the jewelry and 1 pair of pants were on super clearance and their tag prices totaled $29.36)

i don't think the clerk should have given me so many discounts, but she was super nice and i'm not gonna complain!

first she took off $8.99 from the jewlery, even though that was the highest priced item and the clearance jewelry wasn't buy 2 get one free like the others.
the she took 50% off of the higher priced pair of pants (they were buy one get 50% off, but is should have been for the lower priced item) so i saved another $34.75.
she gave me a 15% discount on every item because i am a student and it's a special they have going right now. that equaled: $43.69
then she took of $30 for a coupon that i had brought in with me
then she gave me another 15% discount because i used my limited card (i won't have interest for 90 days, AND i get free pant hemming!).
my total, had i not received any discounts besides the clearance items would have been: $360.98
what i actually paid: $226.51
this is a savings of ~37%

total spent out of my pocket for $477.78 worth of merchandise? $234.60
savings percent? 51%

i rock.

day after christmas = best shopping day ever!

today i hit the after christmas sales to get some good deals. i try *really* hard to not buy christmas decorations and things before christmas because they always go 50%-75% off the day after!

here's a summary of my loot:

petsmart - christmas treats and toys 50% off

everything in this photo was $33.70. but i had a $5 coupon and a $25 gift certificate, so I only paid $3.70. hopefully these chews will last a few months!

then i went to target and got the following at 50% off:
1 can mulling spices, 2 cans of christmas cookie sprinkles, 3 travel coffee mugs (one electrically keeps the beverages warm), 2 cool pillows for my couch, 2 rugs for the kitchen, 8 red placemats, 3 catnip toys, 2 packages of dog treats, 3 packages of cat treats, 3 ornaments, 1 snowman candle, 1 can chicken spice rub, 1 can beef spice rub, package of 3 extension cords, set of queen flannel sheets, 1 bathroom hand towel, package of 4 kitchen towels, table runner, kitchen towel/potholder set, tablecloth, 2 snowman candle holders, 2 votive candle holders, 1 package of napkins, and one decorative "jingle bell tree". total spent: $157.85

i also stopped by jc penney because i had a coupon, but they didn't have much and there were a ton of annoying people there. i did still get 2 ornaments (75% off) and a $50 waffle maker for $20. we've been wanting a waffle maker for awhile!

i wanted to go to cost plus and check out their decorations and holiday wine, but on my way there i got a call from a prospective tenant and had to go show the house. i may try to head over there tomorrow if i have some time.

then i went to the gap.com and got a cute striped hat, and a nice wool coat and some dressier pants for j (i think the coat will be his anniversary present). everything was on sale and then i got an additional 25% off with the code "sale". value: approximately $225.. and i spent just over $100 which included shipping and tax.

i also went to walgreens and transferred a prescription, receiving a $25 gift card in the process!

all these savings will make up for having to pay full price for the wii* fit and all the accessories i'm sure we'll have to buy!

*j's dad got us a wii for christmas!

resolutions

j and i have decided to have a little competition.. since he can't seem to quit smoking, and i can't seem to lose 15 pounds.

at first, it was going to be the first one to their goal would get a special prize and the looser would have to do something embarrassing.

but i couldn't think of a prize good enough, or a punishment embarrassing enough to actually motivate me. i have been trying to lose 15 pounds for years, obviously i have a hard time finding something to motivate me. the standard ones like looking better, feeling better, etc just don't seem to be enough. darn high self esteem and boyfriend that loves me just the way i am. plus, i would rather j stopped smoking anyway.

so then we thought that we could make it a mutual goal and plan a prize for both of us - but we don't get it until we both reach our goal. that way, we can encourage each other and it's just a win-win situation. i think we're going to plan an elaborate weekend trip or something. we have a week to work out all the details, since the challenge starts on jan 1.

the other thing we want to do in 2009 is get our finances in order. i have decent credit, but a bit of debt.. j has no debt and makes good money, but has lousy credit. we're going to attempt to live on just his salary in 2009 and use mine to pay off debt and save. it's going to be tighter than we're used to, but at least his salary covers all our bills and a bit of spending money for both of us. i think i'll do ok with it, but j is an impulse-shopper that doesn't keep track of things too well so we'll see. our spending money is going to be cash, so as long as he remembers to go to the atm every week, we should be fine.

i love the new year.. fresh starts and new changes.. things always seem so promising!

i heart walgreens

for those of you that haven't discovered walgreens easy saver catalog yet, you are missing out!

here is a run down of everything i bought and how much it ended up costing me.

12 bars of zest soap
4 bars of olay soap
8 bars of ivory soap
3 packages of cadburry chocolate eggs
1 tube of colgate toothpaste
1 bottle of garnier nutritioniste skin serum
1 bottle of thermadent mouth rinse
2 bottles of olay bodywash
1 bottle of garnier hair gel
1 bottle of old spice bodywash
4 cans of healthy choice soup
2 fuzzy dog toys
1 package of breathe right nose strips
1 package of gel pens
1 bottle of tide
2 birthday cards
1 tube of vaseline hand cream
1 gillette razor with blades
3 trial size herbal essence shampoos
3 trial size herbal essence conditioners

that's a lot of stuff, right? let's see how much i paid (including sales tax).
total before coupons and rebates: $121.66
less manufacturers coupons: $ - $9.60
less register rewards i earned for buying all that soap and bodywash and the razor: -$37.00
less rebates from items in the easysaver catalog: -$29.96
less 10% rebate bonus for putting the rebate on a giftcard: -$2.99
GRAND TOTAL: $42.11

that's right folks, i saved $79.55 just by being a smart shopper

there are two more free after rebate items that the store was out of and I need to get. some listerine mouthwash ($3.99) and some naturemade vitamins ($8.00). that's another $13.19 in savings (counting the extra 10% on the giftcard). i will buy $12 worth of soap to get the $12 in register rewards and then use that to buy the mouthwash and vitamins. that will add another $25.19 to my savings - making it $104.74!

and i won't have to buy soap for the rest of the year!

cutting out the extra

2008 is going to be a busy year. between my regular job and my soon-to-get second job and 2 MBA classes that meet 3 nights a week and 2 puppies to take care of and the 20 pounds i need to lose, i don't think i'll have a whole lot of extra time.

which is why i decided to see if i could survive without owning cable this year. i'm on the phone with comcast right now waiting to cancel it.

my cable is costing me $75 a month (with HD and DVR and all the good necessities). and i don't really watch it that much - it's background noise, really.

so by canceling, i will save $900 this year. it's a start.

i don't think i will be too deprived. i still have netflix and my playstation and the internet (which my company pays for). i think that you can watch most shows online now anyway - and my friend seth is going to hook up my computer to my tv so that i can watch it on the big screen.

i will be giving up a little bit of convenience, but i think i'll be ok and actually turn out enlightened from the process.