Guess what I bought with rebate $$ - Part II

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These fabulous shoes! I've stretched my current pair of black heels to the brink and when

I took them to be repaired for the 100th time, I was told to buy new shoes.

Awesome.

Luckily, I have my rebate fund dedicated to purchases like buying shoes.

So after searching the mighty three discount stores - Ross, Marshalls and T.J. Maxx  - and the Internet, I decided to walk into a local shoe boutique on a whim during my lunch break. That is when I found my replacement shoes in their sales section.  I compared their price on-line {thank goodness for a blackberry} and realized that I was saving $30 than what was on 6pm and Zappos. Double score!

It is SO nice to pay in cash.

Birthday weekend.



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The past 72 hours have been a birthday celebration for Mr. M and my dear friend {and neighbor} HW who are 16 hours apart.  Since HW's husband is in Iraq and away for her birthday, I thought I'd throw them a joint birthday party so I could A) keep the cost down and B) have a great excuse to see everyone.

Amazingly, I feed 30 or so people on a $50 party budget and since I had planned for this a few months ago, I was able to save up for it.  The party was great as it lasted until the wee hours.

Since the Holidays are quickly approaching, here a few budget saving websites to help with your party planning that won't stop your debt snowball from rolling.

http://www.southernsavers.com/

http://hip2save.com/

http://freesamplefreak.com/

Free Toys!

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Yesterday, I saw on Hip2Save this great deal that Hallmark was giving away a free toy to the first 5 people who came to store and said the secret phrase.

Now I don't have children {yet} but I do have a godson who needs a Christmas gift so I thought, why not, and went to the story.  I scored not one but two of these toys {we have two Hallmarks here} and was told by the staff that I was the first one since the promotion started to come by. Seriously?

These toys are $15 each so I saved $30 and since no one really knows about it, you may have a shot to get a free one as well. Even if you do not have children {neices or nephews}, you can always donated it to a local shelter.

How I felt today.

Today was tough day and it took everything I had not to walk out the front door. I am now extremely motivated to get out of debt as fast as possible so I can STOP being dependent on a paycheck.

The Review

Mr. M and I haven't seen a raise of any kind in the last three years and I found out from our Budget Director a few weeks ago that I won't see one until 2012 if we're lucky.

Seriously - 2012!?!

That's why our hearts skipped a beat at the end of the summer when Mr. M's boss wanted to give him an evaluation. Not to brag on my husband but he does very well at his job which is in collegiate sports.  He works long hours and always puts in 110%. How do I know? When people learn of my last name, they usually tell me in the next breath that they enjoy going to games because of my husband.  So when Mr. M was told that he was having a review, we were hopeful that it would be A) positive and B) come with a raise. A little raise would do...just something to help us fight this snowball.

That review was in August and he found out the results on Monday. Yep - November 1st.  And guess what? We got one out of the two things we hoped for - the review was positive. However; there is no extra money coming our way.

::Sigh::

It instantly reminded me of the final episode of Mad Men. I couldn't find the scene when Joan is offered her new promotion but this clip is enough.

Simply Stated.



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B.Y.O.C.

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Did you survive Halloween? We almost didn't financially speaking. Our neighborhood is a hot spot for Trick-o-Treating to the point that churches will bus kids in for a night of free candy. So of course, our neighbors deck their houses {us included} with all kinds of decorations. I have two boxes now dedicated to Halloween decorations alone and always buy this stuff when it's on sale or they're giving it away.

When I first moved to the neighborhood, I thought that my neighbors were over exaggerating on the amount of children actually door to door on Halloween. Never the less, I thought that I should be on the safe side and purchased a bunch of candy {if I remember correctly, I spent $50 the first year} with the thought that I could take back what I didn't hand out.

I was such a fool. I ran out in less than 2 hours.

The next year, I hosted a B.Y.O.C. as in Bring Your Own Candy. My thought was that I could host a party with food and drink and spend LESS than I would on candy for the kids. Over the last few years it's worked out pretty well and this year was no exception. I personally bought eight bags of candy and they were gone in an hour. Thank goodness for my friends for the back up!

PS. About the buses - that's actually true as we had five churches this year.