I'm a savings geek

I know that my updates have been non-existant lately but that's because 1) I'm in the final two weeks of the semester (why did I think a Summer semester was a great idea?!) and 2) I'm on a self-imposed shopping ban. I'm going to California in September so I'm obsessively saving to make sure I have enough $$ to do some serious shopping.

I have never saved in my life so this is all new to me and, weirdly enough, I kinda like it. I opened a high interest savings account tied to my regular chequing account to make it easier for transfers, withdrawals, etc. Then I started transferring everything into it that's left at the end of the pay period. I get paid every other Friday so on payday morning I check my account, whatever's in there other than my paycheque goes into savings. Next I cut out Starbucks. I was drinking one, sometimes two, Starbuck's coffees a day. There's no reason for me to drink them at all. I drink coffee at home in the morning before I leave for work so I didn't need that second, or sometimes third one. Now I rarely even want a SB anymore and the money that I saved goes straight into savings (I put $5 per day). After that I cut out going for lunch. I bring lunch now at least four days a week, most weeks every day. I figured that I don't even like anywhere around here for eating out so why was I bothering?! Lunch was costing me a good $7-9 per day, at five days per week so it wasn't worth it. Most people at here at work bring their lunch and I like how it gives me more control over what I'm eating. Coffee and lunch alone have saved me $65 per week, which all goes directly into my savings. It's sad that those two things total almost what my car payment is.

That wasn't enough for me so then I started putting away even more. I set up a Bank The Rest program at my bank so whenever I spend any money on my debit card it rounds it up to the nearest $5 and puts it in my savings account. Also, whenever I save any money I put the amount I save into my savings. The other day I got a pair of work out shorts for $12.50 were regular $35, so I put $22.50 into my savings as soon as I got home.

It doesn't sound like I'm doing much but trust me, those little things add up! I've been trying to think more abou what I buy too before I buy it. Until this summer I used to be a terrible impulse shopper, handing over my debit card before I even thought about buying something. I have so many things that still have tags on them because I've never worn them. Now I find when I think about things I either 1) decide that I don't really want/need it or 2) realise how much I do want/need it and feel satisfaction knowing that I will get use out of what I bought. This is working out well because I realised that if I want to go out and buy, say a new bag or something, I can afford to get it with one paycheque in cash, not credit, and still have money for living comfortably left over. It's a great feeling.

Honestly I don't even miss the money I'm saving and I get a little kick out of opening up my online banking and seeing that my savings account is more than double my chequing account (and I just got paid!). The best part? I've only been doing this since July 11th!! Right now I can shop pretty well in California and I can't wait! I have no doubt that I'll spend every last penny but who knows... maybe I'll start this up again when I get back after my trip and go on more frequent shopping binges, instead of getting one thing here and there.
I haven't been able to cut out makeup and magazine shopping but I see them as nessecites. Magazines for reading at the lake every weekend and makeup, well that's a given! ;)

Birthday presents!!

I just realised how long it's been since I last updated... oops! Sorry about that! I'm in the final two weeks of my classes (I will NEVER take a summer semester again!) so needless to say things are insane. I'd like to say that I'll never procrasinate with school again but you know how that goes...

Anyway, quick update! I got the bags I wanted for my Birthday.

From my husband I got the Coach Heritage Stripe Tote in Berry/Khaki:



My brothers got me $$ and a Coach gift card so I got this Coach swingpack:



And also from my husband I got this cute Coach cell phone charm (long story but my other one had a magnet in it and erased everything in my phone):



Other presents were:
- The Hills Season 3 from my sister
- Candles from my sister
- $$ from my parents (LA money!!)
- Cake Beauty gift set from my parents
- $$ from grandparents (more LA mnoney!!)
- Slippers and body stuff from a friend
- Earrings from a friend

Very successful Birthday! I also need to post pics of the Birthday card that my super talented friend made for me. I'll get to that later.

Also later I need to post pictures of my awesome new brunette hair. It looks great, I've had a lot of positive feedback, it looks and feels healthier, I just really like it.

Anyway I have to get back to my school work now. I have a really boring week at work so I'll make more updates this week.

Message board

Last post of the day I swear!

I had to share this because I think it looks too damn cute. It's a cheap message board that I got from Wal*Mart that has photo frames at the bottom. I thought it was a great way to show off some of the pictures I have from the Spice Girls and Justin Timberlake concert (yeah teeny bopper, I know) as well as random pictures I didn't know what to do with.

New sunglasses!

I got a gift card from my husband for Sunglass Hut (for no reason!) so on Friday I decided to go spend it. I really thought I'd end up with a pair of D&G or Burberry but surprisingly I ended up with a super cute pair of Vogue sunglasses. Huge bonus was that they were cheap enough that I even have a little bit of $ left over from them.

I <3>

<3 Coach!

It's my Birthday in just over a week (August 5th) and since a Coach store finally opened up in Calgary I have a couple of things on my Birthday list. I created an online registry and emailed it to my husband and parents. I went to the store on Friday and my mum told me that she can either buy me a bag or give me $$ towards one. I have no idea what my husband's buying me. *fingers crossed*

Here are my new must-have beauties:

I want this dress!!

I admit it, I'm completely obsessed in love with The Hills. I was just looking at pics of the stars and I fell in love with this dress that Audrina's wearing. I love it and I have to have it! Does anyone know who it's by and where I can get my hands on one? Or something similar?

The pictures issue...

They're taken and uploaded from my camera but since my internet is down at home and I'm borrowing it from my cell phone Photobucket is uploading them super slow. Once they're all uploaded I'll add them to the posts.

With any luck the phone company will be out here soon to get the line fixed. The house next door to us is in the process of being built and apparently one of the construction crews there damaged our phone line... so no home phone and no internet for over a week. Makes me sad.

Scrapbook pictures

I decided to be creative on the weekend and hit up Michaels looking for new pictures for the house. I ended up getting three pictures for $1.50! The catch? They're not pictures, they're scrapbook pages. They were all 50% off (50 cents each) and all in the colours I was looking for art in. I got cheap IKEA frames and I'm really happy with the results. Even if I don't keep them forever and replace them with real art in the future at least I didn't waste much money on them and I have something on the wall right now.

Master bathroom scrapbook art (colour scheme: neutrals with splashes of green):

Main bathroom scrapbook art (colour scheme: pastels and black):

Do I love jeans this much??

I caved in. I bought skinny jeans. I haven't worn skinny jeans in oh, I don't know, 12 years or so?! I bought white ones because they looked so damn cute on the model in the store and I don't own any white pants. I haven't owned white jeans since I was 13. I haven't worn them yet... I'm having a major shoe dilemma because I don't know what shoes to wear with them. These are the jeans:

These are the tops I was thinking about wearing with them:

What shoes do you suggest??

Good Buys at Wal-Mart?

We moved into our brand new house at the beginning of May. Brand new houses are great and all but a little too empty for my liking. I didn't notice it so much in our old house (also brand new) but I think that's because back then I wasn't as into interior design as I am now. I look back at old pictures of the old house and hate how plain and empty everything all looks so I was determined to quickly fix that in the new house. Of course, that all takes a lot of $$, especially when it's all done at once... so bargain hunting it is!

One place that I've been surprisingly happy with is Wal*Mart, which is funny because as a rule, I can't stand the place. Yet I've managed to get some cute (and cheap!) buys there.

This mirror. It fits perfectly with the theme of our house but cost only $39! (Excuse my look!)

The TV stand. So it may not be the best looking but it does the trick and has enough cubby holes for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, games, controllers and anything else my husband has to have. Only $119! (picture was taken not long after we moved in so excuse the mess!)

The vase and twigs. I needed some green in this room to liven it up a bit but I suck at keeping house plants alive. Vase was $4.97, twigs were $2.97. Total: $7.94!

Mirror. Definitely not the nicest out there but it hangs with less damage to the wall than IKEA ones and it does the trick. I can successfully see my whole outfit before I leave the house. A steal at $9.97! (Picture was taken not long after we moved in so excuse the mess!)

As much as I hate Wal*Mart, I can't help but love the price of the things I found there.... so even though I try to avoid it whenever possible I now know that it doesn't have to be complete torture and I might get something out of it.

Hair...

I had a bad haircut... maybe... I'm not sure... you tell me.

I went to get my hair done on Saturday morning. My plan was a cut, hilites and a protein treatment. I walked out with a cut and a protein treatment. First issue was he didn't want to hilite my hair. Little background: my hair is naturally dark brown with goldish undertones. Ever since I was 15 I've been getting it lightened blonde, not bleach blonde all over but chunk blonde foils so that the overall look is pretty light (a lot of people think of me as a blonde, let's put it that way). Add that to shampooing, blow-drying and straightening every day and now I have pretty brittle hair. So he wouldn't hilite it. He said he would do it if I really wanted him to but he strongly advised against it, he didn't want it to break off in his hands or get into an even worse condition. Fair enough.

His plan is to give it a protein treatment and then do an all over colour, since 1) I can't let the blonde grow out, then I would have half and half hair and that would just be nasty!, 2) I need some strength and health back into my hair, and 3) (more his reason than mine) he thinks I will suit a darker colour better since he said I have the right features and skin colour for it.

He was willing to do it on Saturday but I was too nervous, especially since I expected to come out of there lighter than I was when I went in. I stuck with the cut and treatment and told him I'd think about it. I did ask a hairdresser friend for her opinion later on in the day and she agreed with my stylist.

So on July 28th my hilited and over processed blonde hair will be a coppery brown all over colour. Weird hey. I'm not even too sure what a coppery brown is... he said it won't be as dark as my natural colour but I can't place what it looks like. Who has coppery brown hair? Will it even suit me?

Anyway, back to the cut. Before June I had long hair (picture below) that I'd had long for years. I got sick of it and wanted something shorter and more stylish. So then I got it cut shorter, about shoulder length, slightly longer at the front, side swept bangs (also had for a while), straight and blunt. On Saturday I just wanted a trim and my stylist cut some layers in. I don't know if I like them. My hair is really fine so I think it makes my hair look thinner. And I'm worried that I went from stylish and sleek to boring and layered.

What do you think???

***Pictures aren't working for some reason... will figure it out and have them posted within the next day or so***

Welcome to my (new) blog!

This isn't my first blog. My other one is only available to close friends and people who I can really reveal my inner most thoughts to. This one is more about the other side to me, the sickeningly shallow and materialistic part of me that I just can't help but indulge. This is about my quest to be me again. To not let my hectic day to day life get in the way of what I really love and who I want to be.

Who am I anyway? I'm 23 years old (soon to be 24), married (since Jan 2008), working in Payroll/HR, part time student (Management major, Accounting minor), dog owner to a two year old Bichon Yorkie and have a passion for interior design, beauty and style. I love everything related to either one of those things and my secret desire is to centre my life around them. Since that doesn't seem like it'll happen, blogging will have to do.

Stay tuned for more posts in the near future and enjoy my blog!