The Irony.

Thanks Addicted To Saving

Extreme Couponing

If you have not had a chance to watch this interview on ABC concerning Extreme Couponing, I urge you to do so.  The show, which airs this evening on TLC, is an interesting spin on individuals who have extreme stockpiles and compares their couponing obsession to hording. I can relate to a few things the couponers have to say such as comparing couponing to a game but I don't quite understand having the 3,000+ rolls of TP in your house.  If you can't watch it tonight, it does air three more times between now and next week.

We're Home!

After spending several hours on the road, Mr. M and I are home from all the holiday fun.  Sorry for the radio silence but I could not get blogger to work from my blackberry...need to work on that.  We DID stick to our no-dining-out rule and dinned on snacks while we traveled. 

We haven't been perfect on the no-dining-out challenge but I can count the number of times we've eaten out {our dear friends are moving = dinner out, surprise birthday dinner for best friend = dinner out and two board meetings} on one hand.  Ironically, I have LOST weight this holiday season.  Double bonus!

Facebook and Christmas

This Christmas has been a tough one for me. I can't explain why but it was nice to see this today to remind me of the true reason of Christmas even if it is in Facebook form.

It seemed like a great idea

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This year, I thought that we could save money if I baked my friends gifts. Great idea in theory but horrible in execution. I'm starting to feel overwhelmed and out of the Christmas Spirit. 


Next year, I've got to come up with a better gift idea as it's becoming clear to me why everyone starts their baking in November.

Intruder

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Last night was an interesting night for Mr. M and I as someone tried to break into our home while we were sleeping.  Not to sound like an elitist but we live in an affluent neighborhood (which *ahem* is why we're working on our debt snowball to begin with) which is located in a small city.  It's a great place to live so to have an intruder try to get into our master bedroom last night was a little unnerving. Luckily, the police arrived in record time and monitored our street for a while to make sure the intruder didn't come back.

Ironically, we had discussed discontinuing our alarm system for the next year as a way to pay more towards our debt snowball.  That plan has officially been nixed.

Celebrations



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This weekend was full of school celebrations. The first was my baby sister graduating from college! Even on a cold {seriously cold} day in December, it was wonderful to get our whole family together to watch the youngest member of the family achieve her dreams.  Mr. M and I stuck to our No-Dining-Out plan by packing a picnic to eat for lunch after we drove the several hours to the University. I wanted to eat outside on campus but due to the wind and temperatures, we nixed that and ate in the car. Very 1960s of us...but we're trying to stick to our guns on the NDO this month.

The other great news is that I made a 4.0 this semester in grad school and received the highest grade in my research class. So, so excited! I'm paying for this degree completely in cash so it will take me longer but I think, in the long run, will be more rewarding when I'm not faced with a monthly bill.

No Dining Out - Week 1



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We've done fairly well during our first week of No-Dining-Out this month. Mr M and I did have to travel to another state over the weekend but it was for business and his work covered our meals.  Our only slip up was yesterday as we both had a board meeting that was over lunch at a local restaurant but we drank water and ordered the cheapest thing on the menu. Only three weeks to go...

Wal-Mart



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 I thought share my Wal-Mart experience from this morning.
Battleship Travel Game– 5.24
Battleship Travel Game – 5.24
Hippos Travel Game – 5.24
Hippos Travel Game – 5.24
Total: 20.96

With 4 $5 off coupons that I found on Hip2Save, I spent a grand total of $.96

I paid more in tax ($1.26) than I did for the actual items.

Total spent on part of my godson's gift = $.68. {The other 2 games are for my angel kid} I also plan to give him 3 of the free toys that I scored at Hallmark. Total amount saved...{drum roll}...$55.

Murphy strikes again!



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So Monday morning, I run to my car to get to work and realize that I have {of course} a flat tire. After a trip to the local tire shop, I now have two new tires and a $250 bill. Luckily, we had our emergency account to pull from which we will now work on paying back.

I guess it’s an early Christmas to me…thanks Murphy.