Kind of a meh week. I bought a big ol’ ham for July (50% off), some toiletries and some treats like ice cream (BOGO Free) which is why this week’s a little high for non-meat week.
Total Spent – $76.88
Saved – $64.12
I had a coupon for “Buy Ritz Crackers get Wheat Thins Free” and there was a store coupon for “Buy Wheat Thins and Crystal Lite get $2″. I also had a $1 off for 2 boxes of Ritz Crackers and $2 off of two containers off Crystal Lite. In addition, Ritz crackers were BOGO Free and the Crystal Lite was 2 for $3.
So it was:
2 boxes of Ritz crackers for $1.50Â ($2.50 for 2 – $1 coupon)
1 box Wheat Thins for $0Â (Buy Ritz Coupon)
2 tubes of Crystal Lite for $0. ($2 from Wheat Thins deal plus $1 off)
Total – $1.50
Not bad. 
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If you’re like me and a little lost on what exactly the new legistlation does besides cause normal people to go on angry rants about how much they hate the industry, I have a link for you.
Bob Sullivan of MSNBC’s Red Tape Chronicals has a FAQ of sorts, explaining away the common myths and helping to dig out the truth.
“The legislation caps interest rates and fees. FALSE.
The banking industry was able to successfully kill provisions that would have capped rates. The bill does address exorbitant fees — such as a $39 fee for a payment that’s one day late — but it punts questions about rates to the Federal Reserve, which is directed to set up “reasonable” and proportional fee schedules. Those rules might be the most important part of the legislation, as increasingly, credit card fees are a bigger problem for consumers than finance charges. Stay tuned.”
The article is explained in layman’s terms, so everyone should be able to get a basic grasp on what is going on.
I’d write more, but I’m preparing for next week where I’m doing double posting duty for my Spring Cleaning and De-Clutter week. You’ll (hopefully) get one post in the morning with advice on de-cluttering and cleaning one room at a time and then one ‘normal’ post later in the day.
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If you’ve decided to start doing your nails at home, you may be like me and realize that the actual painting of your nails isn’t as easy as it looks. It can 
be bad enough when you’ve got the brush in your dominant hand, but when you switch hands it can be down right disastrous.
So here’s the cheap and easy way to get a perfect french manicure look.
Tools –
- White polish
- Sheer pink polish
- Clear top coat
- Masking Tape *
- Scissors
Follow your regular manicure routine until you’re ready to apply the polish. At this point, cut 10 small pieces of masking tape into the shape you want the bottom of the white band of polish to be.
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You often hear about how to dress and interview for a corporate or white collar job, but for some reason people
have decided that this knowledge isn’t needed when you’re trying to snag a part time or minimum wage job. Apparently those jobs aren’t ‘worthy’ enough for our attention, but with so many people being laid off and others just looking for a second job, competing for what used to be positions for bored teenagers and kids home from college, your interviewing skills and sense of style are suddenly going to be very important.
Getting the Application
Always apply in person. It’s much easier to ignore anything online. If they direct you to an online application anyway, ask the manager for his or her name and the phone number for the store so you can follow up in a few days if you haven’t heard from them.
Make sure you’re dressed neatly and you are carefully groomed. You don’t have to break out the business suit, but you need to look serious. A nice skirt (or khakis) and a fashionable top (or wrinkle-free polo) would be nice, but a pair of dark jeans and fashionable, dressy top would also work for casual clothing stores.* Many clothing stores will make note of what you were wearing and your attitude when you applied, and some many even toss your application immediately if you don’t have the right ‘look’. So style your hair, brush your teeth, put in your contacts and spit out the gum.
Don’t rule out working weekends or nights on your application unless you absolutely, positively can’t do it. That means things like already having another job, unable to pay for childcare, having to take care of ailing parent, etc. Wanting to go out with your buddies who weren’t laid off isn’t a good reason. With so many workers wanting the same job, you can’t afford to be picky right now. You can probably get some weekends off, but you’re simply not going to be hired if you’ve got finicky hours listed.
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There is nothing worse than seeing a gorgeous pair of sandals on a pair of nasty, dry, cracking feet with grody toenails. Ladies, it is NOT hard to take care of your feet with a little bit of effort once a week, and if you do it at home you can definitely fit it into all but the very tightest of budgets. For the price of one pedicure at the nail salon or spa, you can buy the necessary tools to do a self-pedicure for months.
The Pros of a DIY Pedicure -
- The Price – It cost me $30 to buy all the stuff I need. I might have to replace my buffer or
filer for $2 in a few months, but it’s still cheaper than a professional pedi. - The Time Saved – There’s no travel to and from the salon. You don’t have to wait for the technician to finish with a previous client. You can read e-mail, watch TV or write a blog post while you wait for the polish to dry.
- Convenience - You don’t have to work around business hours. If you want a pedicure at 8am on a Sunday, you’re fine. Only get peace and quiet when the kids are in bed? Give yourself a pedicure at 10pm.
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(Read the Introduction and Part One)
Clothing – Clothing is one of the easiest categories to make money off of if you’re satisfied with small gains. You’ll often find items with the tags still on, making things easier, but make sure you really check the garment for holes, missing embellishments, stains, etc.
You have to have a good eye for fashion, quality and fabric. A nylon blouse from Walmart might not sell for more than the price you bought it for, but a silk blouse might be among the treasures you find in the pile and you can pull a decent profit on high quality items. Classic styles and items from the 1930′s through 1960′s (and reproductions) are in high demand, but good luck getting people to buy a vintage tie-dye muumuu that smells like pot. Even with styles from the 1980′s coming back (and we’ve all seen the poofy sleeved mermaid bridesmaids gowns on the lawn), you have to carefully pick and choose because only the true hipsters want some of the less flattering styles that we wore back then.
You can sell clothing on your own at a website or eBay, which will allow you to collect the biggest percentage of the sale, but the onus is on you to do the marketing/business side of things. You could also sell to a vintage clothing shop, which would pay you under ‘retail’ value for the item because they need to make a profit too. Or you could try a consignment shop, where the shop will take a cut of the sale in exchange for doing the business side of things.
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Not as good a week as the last few. It was both a meat week and we had to pick up some toiletries and things like brown rice that never seem to want to go on sale. I also bought more fresh produce than I normally do because a lot was BOGO free.
Total – $200.35
Saved – 98.11
The only saving grace is that we’re TOTALLY stocked up on non-perishables and meat. The only things we’ll have to pick up next week are milk, bread and possibly eggs.
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Sorry, no real post today.
My lab work came back and my hormones are negative. Apparently my body decided the whole 6-8 weeks after a natural miscarriage is for candy-asses and decided to restart the cycle after 3 and a half with a vengeance.
We’re cleared to start trying again after next cycle.
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No, I’m not talking about hosting one (although that will usually net you at least $100), I’m talking about the fine art of buying under-priced items and reselling them.
There are a few co
ns to this little plan to make money:
1. It increases clutter in your home. – You do have to hold the items until you can sell them and if you’re buying items that need to be cleaned up you could have several projects at once.
2. You have to know what you’re looking for. – If you just buy random junk and try to sell it you won’t know how much to pay for it and how much you can resell for.
3. It takes a lot of time and effort to sell for the best price. – You can’t just buy an item, post it on eBay and hope for the best.
That said, it’s possible to make a decent amount of money on the side if you’re willing to do the work.
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Sorry for the lack of post today. I was experiencing some severe bleeding and had to zoom off to the doctor’s for some more blood work.
My levels were at 67 last Thursday (and have been dropping steadily for the past four weeks), so the blood work is just to make sure that my numbers dropped to ‘negative’ and this is the return of Aunt Flo and not me hemorrhaging or something. ‘Cause that would kind of suck. The hemorrhaging I mean. I’ve never been so glad to see my period, even after that little scare when I was in college – also Mr’s fault 
.
I’ve also never been so glad for health insurance. Total bill for the past 4 weeks of various medical treatments – $3346. Total paid out of pocket – $201 and change.
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