On Social Expectations and Set-Backs

Well, I've experienced a bit of a setback.

First, I spilled a drink on my keyboard. I had to buy a replacement. $11, but I'm not counting it since it's necessary.

Second, I've had a lot of social obligations lately. I purchased $68.35 worth of gifts this week, for a friend who is getting married, a relative who just moved, and a friend who is having a baby (not the one who is getting married).

And then yesterday I had lunch out with friends and dinner out with family. $15.73

On top of that, I purchased three Lorac lip glosses for $9 total from Haute Look (free shipping). I did this before any of the above spending happened. Really, I was trying to get ahead of the game for the holiday season. I also bought a $3 12-pack of Pepsi Throw-Backs.

So if you're with me, that's $96.08!

I'm so depressed. I pretty much know that this month is going to end in the red. I'm going to work my tush off to make up the deficit and be back in the black during November.

I think I'm getting it....

This week, I spent $2.86 so far! I bought a ready-made Starbucks frappuccino ($2.06) and a candy bar from the vending machine at school ($0.80).

The whole bento lunch thing seems to be working. Today I had fried rice (I made it myself) with a Dr. Zevia, yesterday I had a turkey and cheese sandwich with carrot sticks and grapes and a Dr. Zevia, and Monday I had lentil stew and rice with a Dr. Zevia.

Made with my pressure cooker

Who knows what tomorrow will bring! (Besides more Zevia....)

Weekly totals 10/22/10

Here are my earnings for the week:

Swagbucks: $10

mobilExpressions: $5

Viewpoints: $10
Total income: $25

Last week's rollover balance: $31

Breakdown of "fun money" I spent:
$12.40 at Whole Foods on Zevia
$2 on Mamapedia for a $5 starbucks gift card
$7.55 at Starbucks
$7.41 at Chik-fil-A
$21.25 for my BENTO BOX!!!!

Remainder: $5.39

About my bento box....

I spent 12 days deliberating about buying a bento box. My concerns were:

• the cost
• would I use it
• what is the right size for me
• would it be BPA free
• would it be microwave safe

I focused on would I use it first and foremost. I started packing my lunch in one of those rectangular "single use" plastic food containers, kind of bento style. I found that, on days when I packed my ghetto bento, I was more likely to skip fast food and eat what I had prepared.

cloth cover that came with my bento

I mean, there's just something cool about opening a box of food that I've designed special for myself. And yeah, I know I could have done that (and did do that) without a proper bento box, but I decided to go ahead and get it.

The good news is, I found a bento box on Amazon that is the right size for me (650 mL - I don't need a big lunch), BPA free, and microwave safe.

And it was significantly cheaper than the bento I originally wanted. I spent around $22 on it (thank you Amazon gift certificates). Plus, the bento I originally wanted is too much bento for me.

So there you have it. I'll post my creative bento lunches that involve creative repurposing of leftovers from time to time.

My first bento box lunch!

...with a Zevia, of course.

The pickle is dil

I didn't buy anything extraneous for this bento. You're looking at a grilled turkey-and-cheese sandwich cut into thirds, some sour cream and onion chips, a side of loquats, a dill pickle "oval" cut into a heart, and a Dr. Zevia.

It was fun to eat and I felt satisfied but not full.

$5 Starbucks giftcard for $2

I just bought a $5 Starbucks giftcard for $2! That will certainly help me stretch my money....

I don't know why I'm addicted to Starbucks.

Chuck Reynolds, sxc.hu

You can get a $5 Starbucks giftcard, too. Click here and pay $2. You can also donate 5% of your $2 to a local school. I don't have kids so I picked a local school at random.

Also, don't forget to register your Starbucks giftcard online to get free upgrades (soy milk, extra flavors, etc).

Weekly totals 10/15/2010

Here are my earnings for the week:

Swagbucks: $25

Associated Content: $8.78

Triond: $1.38

uPromise: $24.71

Misc:

Total earnings: $59.87

Here are my splurges:
Throwback Mtn Dew, $1.08
Taco bell, $5.24
Starbucks, $7.44
Sonic, $3.93
HCW, $1.54 (purchased some mail in rebates and coupons)
Membership, $4.56
Calling card, $5.00 (my little brother is in the UK and it's cheaper to call this way)

Total spent: $28.79

Total remaining (less 8 cents from last week's overage):  $31

Not bad, not bad at all!

It's all about the routine?

Ivan Prole, sxc.hu

This morning, my routine was all out of whack. I woke up and instead of doing my ritual black seed oil - drink water - shower - eat breakfast - brush teeth - check email - pack bag - make lunch - leave, I loafed around on the internet.

And then I looked up, realized I wouldn't have time to take a proper shower OR make my lunch if I wanted to make my first lecture.

Crap.

So I ate Taco Bell for lunch, wasting $5.24.

I've really got to work on my morning routine. I could have put that $5.24 towards a new pair of shoes or something!

So far so good...

This week, I spent $1.08 after tax on a 20 ounce throwback of Mountain Dew.

Wewt~

That's it, at least so far!

Oh, and today, for some weird reason I decided to come home and COOK because I was hungry after my lecture finished.

Uhhh... I didn't have any knee-jerk reaction about fast food. I just decided coming home and cooking would be the logical thing to do.

Weird....

And on top of that, I made carrots from scratch. Yes, that's right. I had four carrots that weren't quite at that rubber stage, so I washed and peeled them, sliced them, and cooked them on the stove. Oh, and I made rice. I mean real rice, not instant rice.

It's not that I don't know how to cook, or that I dislike cooking. I just never did it before unless I felt like cooking. And it wasn't that I felt like cooking today, I was hungry and didn't want to tap into my free money.

Hey, big spender....

I bought a new messenger bag for school. I know, I know...

My previous bag was too small to carry my laptop. And my laptop isn't ridiculously huge or anything, it's just that my bag is ridiculously small. I felt weird walking around carrying my laptop, like I was a walking target.

So I bought a Sherpani Flora Major. I shopped around and found the best price, even though it meant buying a color that I don't like. By doing this I saved a significant account of money.

I bought it from Amazon.com for $58.99 with free two-day shipping since I have the free Prime membership as an Amazon Student. Macy's had it for $69.99 + $12.50 shipping, and after cash back by using upromise and a free $10/$50 coupon, it still would have cost $70.49! So I think I did pretty good.

Still, this just about wipes out all my earnings so far this month. I did debate about counting it as a necessary school purchase, but it's not necessary. I could have kept carrying  my laptop.

Fast Food Junkie

Ugh, I hate PMS.  Today I spent:

$2 at a bake sale at college
$3.32 on coffee at college
$6.12 on taco bell for a late lunch after college.

That's $11.44 on a small amount of food!  Meh....

Sonic happy hour

Today I went for a drive with my dad, and I treated us to Sonic drinks. Two large cherry vanilla cokes - $2.39.