Wednesday Already *Updated with pics*

I have not really been on top of things lately; I haven't posted anything in a week and even today I don't feel very creative. But I have to snap out of it; I have been feeling blah for way to long so starting right .... NOW I'm going to have a better attitude and start doing the things I like to do again.

Over the weekend I learned how to use my sewing machine! Who would have thought it was actually that simple. I was lucky and I was the only person to show up to the free class so I had one-on-one with the sewing expert. I think I will be able to at least do the basics. Look out everyone, home made lounge pants are on the way! LOL

I also need to start back up with my t-shirt designing stuff; bedazzeling and iron-on, stenciling and scrapbooking. Wow, I have a lot of hobbies! I need to stop watching so much TV or move my stuff so I can watch and work at the same time. Mmmm... maybe I will move my desk around or something. Oh yeah, and I'm now addicted to FaceBook! If you're on there, come be my friend. :)

I will have to be honest and say that I'm not keeping up on my 2009 goals; some I'm doing Ok on and well, some I'm just not there yet. I have yet to start on decluttering any of my rooms or work on decorating anything yet. I'm hoping to paint this weekend! If it looks OK, maybe I will try to post a picture. But the one thing I'm GREAT at is shopping smart; last night at Nordys Rack I was able to buy a sweater vest-type of thing for only $4.34 including tax! Ok, so I bought 2 of them plus another jacket that will be perfect for the spring time (if it ever gets here). The jacket was originally $138 at the regular Nordys store, rack price $54 but it was marked down 50% plus 20% employee discount ... final cost $21. Seriously over $100 savings than what someone bought it at the main store!

Somthing has to give

Last night I went to two different grocery stores; I needed some toiletry stuff plus food so I stopped at Wal-Mart and Winco. $153 later, I was home and exhusted! I'm trying to keep track of what the regular price is at each store I shop to see where I should pick up the staples. So far I'm realizing I need to shop at 3 different places (maybe even 4) for everything; personally I think this is a pain but when you need save a few bucks, you do what you have to do! Tonight I was planning on stopping at Freddies to pick up the items they have on sale from the paper Sunday; not much, TP, bread, 5 for 10 cereal deal. Maybe once I know where the staple items are the best price I can try to avoid so many stores. I'm not a huge fan of buying my groceries the same place I buy electronics. Mmm, now that doesn't seem right because I have no problem stopping at Freddies to pick up fresh meat. Maybe it's just me, I don't want to shop at Wal-Mart for food; I don't buy ANY store brands no matter where I shop so that's not the issue. Does that make me a snob? Not that I really care about designer food marts because I have no problem going to Winco; just as long as it's not the first of the month when all our welfare dollars are being spent. Wow, it looks like I'm in a GREAT mood today! I think my mood reflects how I feel about my personal finances and health. I just learned my electric bill for Dec-Feb was over $325 putting my bi-monthly bill over $550! When money is already tight, that was just something I didn't need today; or any other day for that mater. But just like everything else, I will find a way. As for my health; I missed 2 days of work last week (thank goodness for PTO time) and finally went to the doctor. Unfortunately I have to go back today for more tests. I have some sort of kidney infection and something is going on with my appendix. Good times!

On a brighter note.... I'm excited for Saturday! I'm going to a class on how to use MY sewing machine. It's been sitting for probably over 2 years since I have NO clue how to work it. I have so many ideas in my head for my machine; I just hope I don't get too fustrated and give up.

Just thought of something else to be happy about; a co-worker of mine asked if I would mind if his family prayed for my health. I'm not a big prayer person but I thought it was really great to have someone I work with care enough about me to pray.

I heart Prada

I never have buyers remorse after spending too much money, and this is another example of that. In the last 2 days, I have spend $342 at Nordstrom Rack stores (this is after my employee discount, a savings of $70). I know this is a TON of money that could have been use to ... fix my broken car, pay down on credit cards, a mini-vacation trip well the possibilities are endless. But what I did buy was well worth it; well at least in my mind.

Classic 2 inch black leather Prada

Classic leather Prada flats with a buckle

Now, I'm not completly selfish; I did buy my baby a few TOTALLY necessary Juicy things!

Now, don't you think this pretty little girl will look lovely sleeping in her new comfy bed! Ok, let's not kid ourselves, you know the baby sleeps in bed, under the covers with us! Plus, she is going to be so stylish going out-and-about in her new carrier! I can't wait to try it out. Just hope I can wait ONE more day to give it to her for Valentine's!

Ok, here is a breakdown of what I spent, and why I think it's perfectly OK to buy all that I did!

Prada heels, regular price: $395, Rack price $80 minus employee discount $64

Prada flats, regular price: $340, Rack price $80 minus employee discount $64

Juicy doggie bed: regular price $95, Rack price $39 minus employee discount $32

Juicy carrier: regular price $325, Rack price $117 minus employee discount $93

I also bought a few Northface pull-overs for me and my guy for a total of $65ish. Granted those we probably didn't need, but something that will last a long time and still a good deal!

Now you know why I need rehab for shopping!

Another disaster grocery shopping

Not only is our one night at the water park costing us $360, last night we went to the grocery store to get food for the trip. My guy and I talked about it and decided we would only eat out once and the rest of the time we could make something in the room. There is a microwave and frig so off to the grocery store we went. Since I've been lazy and hadn't looked/cut coupons in a while, we just went to Winco. We had a game plan to get sandwich stuff, chips, easy mac n'cheese and popcorn. Once again, $76 later we were on the way home trying to figure out how this ONE trip is costing so much more than we planned. Did you know that when you buy sandwich stuff you need to get: cheese, mayo, meat (2 different kinds) and bread. Now when you add that all up it's only $10 which is much more reasonable than going out to eat; but since I was at the store I decided to pick up some soup for lunch and more yeast and about 50 other things I probably already had or didn't really need, like the chocolate cover banana chips that I'm currently eating!

How do you walk into a grocery store with a list and not buy anything else?

Right now our Christmas present to L is at $434, plus I will need to put gas in my car and I'm sure that stop at the gas station will result in some snacks for the road. Now, I've never been one to deny L anything and normally when we stop for gas/groceries/Wal-Mart and she asks for a snack/drink/gadget at the check out its no big deal; really whats another $1 ... but now that I'm (we're) trying to save and watch spending, a dollar adds up quick. How do you teach kids that a dollar at every stop adds up to $10 by the end of the weekend and we just can't afford it anymore.

Procrastination

Wow, have I learned a BIG lesson today. This weekend we are going to the Great Wolf Lodge in our area; this was the “big” Christmas gift to my boyfriend’s daughter. She has been planning this day for the past 2 weeks so there was no backing out now. Today, I went to make the reservations and realized that the price had jumped $140 in two days! OUCH; this was not what we were planning on paying. I had looked earlier in the week and noticed the deal of about $190 and although this was kind of high, it was still reasonable but $360 (after tax)! I probably did the wrong thing by continuing on with the reservation, but I didn’t want to break her heart. I looked everywhere on-line to find a discount code, but found nothing. So, not only did I break the bank but I have now over spent money that planned for another trip next month. Today's lesson: when you see a good deal, it’s OK to jump on it. Sometimes no matter the price, you have to do it

Just stopped for toothpaste

Wow, I never realized how hard it was just to stop at the dreaded Wal-Mart for just 2 items. Before I left my house, I flipped through the coupons I haven't looked at yet to see if there was anything that I needed and could save a few bucks on. And of course, there was ... 3 different coupons for razors; each $2 off. I knew I need one and so did my boyfriend, so at least I was going to save $4 total. But what I didn't think about was the rest of what I was going to end up with ....

Since I went to the grocery store right after work, I didn't think about taking anything out of the freezer for dinner; 1st problem, had to buy fresh meat, 2nd problem, once I figured out what I was going to cook, I had to get all the supplies. I was just going to do a quick hamburger; I needed sliced cheese, tomatoes, buns, then decided to get some baked beans. Oh yeah, then the milk for some healthy shakes. I did think twice about a few other items; pickles, lettuce, a special marinade; I am proud of myself for saying NO to un-needed items.

After all said and done, $73 at Wal-Mart. To add to the useless dinner items, I needed cat food $10 and Duraflame logs $17. Ok, maybe the logs were not a NEEDED item but we really like to sit and watch TV with a fire, plus then I can turn the heat down.

How does everyone do it? How do you make dinner at a reasonable hour (before 8pm) when you forget to take something out of the freezer? Plus, dinner is normally leftovers for my guys lunch the next day. If I don't make an extra plate, then I would have to figure out a lunch for him. How do you remember what you have in the pantry so I'm not buying extras at the last second.

Trying to shop with a mind-set of not spending useless dollars is harder than I thought!

My Blog Name

Over the weekend I told my boyfriend that I decided to start a blog; after he laughed, he asked my blog title; Shopaholic in Rehab. Once again, he laughed. But I explained to him why I came up with this title. If you know me, I'm a HUGE shopper. I work at a retail store one day a week or less just for the 20% discount. Honestly it cost me more money to work than what I get paid; but for some of my purchases, it really makes sense to save 20%; plus I get to look at what comes in first!

In the past few months, I have spent a lot of money on myself for new work clothes. Yes, I need to dress nice for work and I was sure I had enough (if anyone can ever really have enough clothes) but I just kept finding deals that were too hard to pass up. But did I really need anything?

During the holidays, I was snowed in and home alone for 5 days. I put on good under-garments and took every item out of my closet. I stood in front of the mirror and tried on every shirt and dress. Wow, all this time I thought I had tons of clothes but that was not the case. Well, technically I do have tons but after 2 longs days of trying on EVERY shirt, I realized that most didn't fit as I've gained a lot of weight in the past year, and some just were out of style. I found some things in my closet that I had forgot about still with the tag. I'm sure this sounds crazy to have bought new clothes but never wore but then I looked at the tag and saw how good of a deal the item was; but was it really. Sure, I bought a name brand shirt for $3-4 but if I never used it, so it was basically wasted money. And that's where it hit me ....

I needed a 12-step program for my shopping habit. But there isn't one, so I made my own. No more purchases just because; no more using the excuse that I HAD to buy it because it was almost free. If I wasn't going to use the item within the next week, I didn't need it. I had to put myself in "rehab" for shopping. I'm trying to learn how to survive with what I have, how to just say NO, how not be envious of the new styles and love the classics I have. I'm sure I will fall of the wagon from time to time but for the most part I think I will do OK.

To keep myself honest, I will post all my shopping adventures; I think this will make me think about what I buy or want. Trust me, I'm sure I will need support and comments whether not it was a smart purchase or a waste of money.