I have officially switched out of my $30 bucks a pop nice MAC foundation and back to drug store brands… and am quite jubilant about it. One little recessionista step for me. I stumbled upon the April InStyle feature on Best Beauty Buys for 2009 on the treadmill this morning and instead of rushing out to the mall to buy more urgently needed makeup, I scampered over to Target.
They published a shopping list for the category, and I have listed the only items in their “inexpensive” category below, i.e. what you can find in the drug store. (A lot of the best beauty buys are apparently $100+, not so recessionista friendly. Even the inexpensive picks average around the $8-10 range, which depending on your priorities... isn't always so attractive.)
LIPS: Loreal Paris Colour Riche, Revlon Super Lustrous, Maybelline Shine Seduction
EYES: Loreal Paris Voluminous Mascara (on my list), Loreal Paris HIP Powder (I can vouch – I love this stuff!)
CHEEKS: Loreal Paris Bare Naturale Mineral Doux
FACE: Max Factor Erace Cover Up (on my list), Loreal Paris True Match Foundation (what I bought tonight!)
Showing posts with label Small Expenditures that Add up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Small Expenditures that Add up. Show all posts
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
A Fantastic Discovery
In my city there is a beautiful public library, designed by a famous Argentine architect… I used to live in walking distance and I loved climbing up all of those stairs to browse through the stacks and look out on the city. But after walking over this past weekend and they didn’t have ANY of the books I was looking for… I decided to make a journey to a different library. One of the other suburban libraries on the other side of the city, which is run-down and looks shockingly similar to my elementary school library. And they had ALL of my books, plus some awesome ones I had forgotten were on my to-read list. And I was in, out, and back in my car in 10 minutes. Nice. Not so attractive, and yet efficient. Good moral lesson, I do believe… saving money will never be the intuitive choice, it seems. And fantastic discovery, given books are one of those small purchases that really do add up for me! Totally worth the extra time shlepping it to the suburban library!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Are Monthly Savings Goals Best?
Just got to thinking...
Every month we do our round-up of the past month’s goals… check off how we did, and make new goals for the next month. And a lot of folks make long-term (annual) savings goals for themselves. But are these the right time horizons?
Studies have shown that people who think they’re saving for the next month think they’ll save LESS, but actually save MORE. And the people who think they’re saving for four months away think they’ll save MORE, but actually save LESS.
Implication: Short-term goals are more motivating, actionable, and set you up for success.
But what is the BEST short-term time horizon? Is it a month... or a week? Most of our financial transactions (housing, utilities, credit card payments, etc.) group up into a month’s time span, so that makes sense why we default to the month. But I’ve been noodling over whether it makes sense to have ANY shorter term goals as it relates to other expenses. After scanning my expenses, the only thing I’ve come up with is ‘eating out’ costs. The last time I tried to budget by week on my eating out costs I didn’t do very well. I tend to spend my budget in four big outings, rather than space them out over the month with more economical dinners. So maybe I could split my savings in two and try to budget over two week periods there.
Another area I haven’t really touched yet is the money I spend on food and other items at work when I use my employee badge. To date, I haven’t really worried too much about how much I’m spending on my card. It’s usually small dollar stuff on things like food. I could try to institute a weekly cap on my ‘badge spending.’ That would definitely work… although I don’t like the sound of it!
Every month we do our round-up of the past month’s goals… check off how we did, and make new goals for the next month. And a lot of folks make long-term (annual) savings goals for themselves. But are these the right time horizons?
Studies have shown that people who think they’re saving for the next month think they’ll save LESS, but actually save MORE. And the people who think they’re saving for four months away think they’ll save MORE, but actually save LESS.
Implication: Short-term goals are more motivating, actionable, and set you up for success.
But what is the BEST short-term time horizon? Is it a month... or a week? Most of our financial transactions (housing, utilities, credit card payments, etc.) group up into a month’s time span, so that makes sense why we default to the month. But I’ve been noodling over whether it makes sense to have ANY shorter term goals as it relates to other expenses. After scanning my expenses, the only thing I’ve come up with is ‘eating out’ costs. The last time I tried to budget by week on my eating out costs I didn’t do very well. I tend to spend my budget in four big outings, rather than space them out over the month with more economical dinners. So maybe I could split my savings in two and try to budget over two week periods there.
Another area I haven’t really touched yet is the money I spend on food and other items at work when I use my employee badge. To date, I haven’t really worried too much about how much I’m spending on my card. It’s usually small dollar stuff on things like food. I could try to institute a weekly cap on my ‘badge spending.’ That would definitely work… although I don’t like the sound of it!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Gratuitous Gratuity.
Since I often criticize the Guy about some of his financial practices and spending habits, I thought I would brag on him for once. The Guy has helped break a bad habit of mine – overtipping. I know this isn’t a character flaw, and it feels odd to even talk about. But it really was a consistent issue of mine, and it stands out among the rest of my frugal principles. Maybe because I used to be a waitress, but sometimes I would even tip 50% on restaurant and bar tabs. I just feel bad otherwise. It’s a weird psychological thing that the Guy has cured me of for the most part. And maybe one day I will be able to return to service generosity, but for now I need to stick to 20% until I can really afford it…
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
San Francisco Paradise + Back to Reality...
Had a lovely time in SF last weekend, and the verdict is… I can really see myself living there. So that goes on the list of possible cities and possible grad schools. As for my trip budget, I didn’t do so well.
Unexpected boon: The Guy’s friends with cars shuttled me around everywhere, so I didn’t have to worry about taking cabs. Super convenient, and really nice of them.
Unexpected bane: M left me all alone on Saturday when she had to work. From 10 o’clock to 4 o’clock I was left alone to wander the city on my vacation. So I shopped. $300 worth of shopping. Each individual item I bought was a good value, so I felt okay about it as I went along, but at the end of the day I felt a little sick. That was supposed to be my whole budget for the trip. I never would have spent that much if I had been enjoying time with friends. I’m going to return about $80 worth today or tomorrow. Ex-Shopping, I would have been $25 underbudget for the trip. Including shopping, I’m $275 over budget.
But life goes on, and I'm back to reality. I updated my personal goals and trackers for February. Somehow I managed to mess up my Networth report from last month, so it no longer records my huge dip downwards in January. But trust me, I’m not in denial, and just glad to be moving on. I’m really excited that I’m completely on track to be able to accomplish one of my goals (#1 Never carry a credit card balance) in 3 short months. Now that I’m almost done, I think I might add another travel fund goal onto the end. I want to get 100% whole on my emergency fun and then start putting a greater dent into my B-school savings fund. Then I can focus on ramping up the other two.
I also updated my February mini-goals (small expenditures). Making progress on bringing my lunch to work, but slipping a bit on my coffee budget. Still not bad, but I have a gourmet coffee maker at home that I should be putting to work!
Unexpected boon: The Guy’s friends with cars shuttled me around everywhere, so I didn’t have to worry about taking cabs. Super convenient, and really nice of them.
Unexpected bane: M left me all alone on Saturday when she had to work. From 10 o’clock to 4 o’clock I was left alone to wander the city on my vacation. So I shopped. $300 worth of shopping. Each individual item I bought was a good value, so I felt okay about it as I went along, but at the end of the day I felt a little sick. That was supposed to be my whole budget for the trip. I never would have spent that much if I had been enjoying time with friends. I’m going to return about $80 worth today or tomorrow. Ex-Shopping, I would have been $25 underbudget for the trip. Including shopping, I’m $275 over budget.
But life goes on, and I'm back to reality. I updated my personal goals and trackers for February. Somehow I managed to mess up my Networth report from last month, so it no longer records my huge dip downwards in January. But trust me, I’m not in denial, and just glad to be moving on. I’m really excited that I’m completely on track to be able to accomplish one of my goals (#1 Never carry a credit card balance) in 3 short months. Now that I’m almost done, I think I might add another travel fund goal onto the end. I want to get 100% whole on my emergency fun and then start putting a greater dent into my B-school savings fund. Then I can focus on ramping up the other two.
I also updated my February mini-goals (small expenditures). Making progress on bringing my lunch to work, but slipping a bit on my coffee budget. Still not bad, but I have a gourmet coffee maker at home that I should be putting to work!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The Tax Return Report + Work Challenge
I’ve already gotten my prepared tax return back and filed, and the report back is more favorable than I thought! $2,038 return altogether ($1,607 federal and $431 state).
I could contribute another $1200 into my Roth IRA to hit the $4,000 maximum for 2007 and the deadline is April 15th so I have some time, but I don’t think I will end up doing this. I’m already feeling pretty good about my Roth monthly deductions, and I think I could really use the money to get whole on my emergency fund, so that’s probably what I’ll do.
Add in whatever small amount comes in with Mr. Bush’s rebate checks, and that might be a nice little boost.
Also, I’m taking up Krystal’s Challenge over at Give Me Back my Five Bucks to not buy my lunch or any snacks while at work until March 31. I have to say I’m pretty good at this already. I take my lunch most days, also bring healthy snacks from home, and (because I work for a food company) there are usually surprises left out in the office for those days when a craving strikes. It takes so long to walk all the way down to our cafeteria that I’m usually not motivated to do that either. So I don’t think this will be too terribly hard. But a month’s a long time, so we’ll see.
I could contribute another $1200 into my Roth IRA to hit the $4,000 maximum for 2007 and the deadline is April 15th so I have some time, but I don’t think I will end up doing this. I’m already feeling pretty good about my Roth monthly deductions, and I think I could really use the money to get whole on my emergency fund, so that’s probably what I’ll do.
Add in whatever small amount comes in with Mr. Bush’s rebate checks, and that might be a nice little boost.
Also, I’m taking up Krystal’s Challenge over at Give Me Back my Five Bucks to not buy my lunch or any snacks while at work until March 31. I have to say I’m pretty good at this already. I take my lunch most days, also bring healthy snacks from home, and (because I work for a food company) there are usually surprises left out in the office for those days when a craving strikes. It takes so long to walk all the way down to our cafeteria that I’m usually not motivated to do that either. So I don’t think this will be too terribly hard. But a month’s a long time, so we’ll see.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Addendum: ATM Fees
This is harder to track, but I’m determined to do it. ATM Fees.
I don’t like to keep cash in my wallet. $20 in my wallet feels like nothing. So easy to spend on gum, trinkets, food, manicures, etc. – small stuff that I don’t need! So I’d rather avoid the temptation by keeping my wallet on E most of the time. And yet this strategy always leaves me stranded (oh no, the parking ramp doesn’t take cards, etc.) and running to the nearest ATM which inevitably charges a $3 surcharge, plus my bank’s own surcharge. My new strategy is to keep $20 at home, so if I’m ever running out of the house and I know I will need cash I can grab it and avoid the fee. That way it’s on hand, but not in my wallet. Otherwise, hoping just tracking the total amount will shock me into managing this better.
I don’t like to keep cash in my wallet. $20 in my wallet feels like nothing. So easy to spend on gum, trinkets, food, manicures, etc. – small stuff that I don’t need! So I’d rather avoid the temptation by keeping my wallet on E most of the time. And yet this strategy always leaves me stranded (oh no, the parking ramp doesn’t take cards, etc.) and running to the nearest ATM which inevitably charges a $3 surcharge, plus my bank’s own surcharge. My new strategy is to keep $20 at home, so if I’m ever running out of the house and I know I will need cash I can grab it and avoid the fee. That way it’s on hand, but not in my wallet. Otherwise, hoping just tracking the total amount will shock me into managing this better.
Caffeine Addiction
One of the favorite things that men writing about women’s finances love to do is counsel us about our “latte habit” – that $4 a day that adds up… fair.
[No mention of fantasy sports entry fees, online gambling, or the fact that the last time I looked around my local Starbucks, the gender split was pretty much 50/50. But never mind.]
Taking it to heart, or at least so no one can accuse me of being unawares of the cost of my caffeine, I’m going to start tracking my monthly spending on coffee.
We have a coffee shop within my actual workplace. Great for that 4:30 slump when you realize you’re not leaving in the next hour. Bad for the monthly paycheck deductions on my employee badge. But luckily, my workplace also tracks coffee shop spending as a separate line item on my paycheck, so this should be pretty easy to monitor and tamp down a bit. My goal is to decrease coffee costs each month, and make sure that it is always at a reasonable level. Awhile back I bought a great Cuisinart machine for home, which grinds the beans, and has an alarm clock, which has more than paid for itself in AM coffees. If I can stay disciplined on this for the mornings and stomach the mass-brewed stuff on my floor’s kitchen for the afternoon pick-me-ups, this should help!
[No mention of fantasy sports entry fees, online gambling, or the fact that the last time I looked around my local Starbucks, the gender split was pretty much 50/50. But never mind.]
Taking it to heart, or at least so no one can accuse me of being unawares of the cost of my caffeine, I’m going to start tracking my monthly spending on coffee.
We have a coffee shop within my actual workplace. Great for that 4:30 slump when you realize you’re not leaving in the next hour. Bad for the monthly paycheck deductions on my employee badge. But luckily, my workplace also tracks coffee shop spending as a separate line item on my paycheck, so this should be pretty easy to monitor and tamp down a bit. My goal is to decrease coffee costs each month, and make sure that it is always at a reasonable level. Awhile back I bought a great Cuisinart machine for home, which grinds the beans, and has an alarm clock, which has more than paid for itself in AM coffees. If I can stay disciplined on this for the mornings and stomach the mass-brewed stuff on my floor’s kitchen for the afternoon pick-me-ups, this should help!
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