THE SHOES

Just had to post the shoes that I got to wear to the wedding this weekend! I know, they are fabulous, aren't they?

A Weekend Full of Spending

I am extremely busy today, but don't want to forget about ALL the weekend spending that I did. I spent A LOT....So, here is a bullet list

Gas - $28.50
Hair Cut and Colored - $85.00
Walmart - $18.42
Devines - $8.00
Dinner - $20 (went to a bachelorette party and didn't realize that tip was already included, so I added a $3.00 tip. Kinda makes me mad...)
Express - $118.78
Dillards - $218.88
Belks - $22.00

TOTAL-$519.58 (YIKES!!!!!!!!!)

Needless to say, I am broke...No more needless spending for the month of October....However, I feel that I can justify the shopping. My old roommate's wedding is this weekend and I just found out the ex is going to be attending; thus, I need to look HOTT...Enough said.

Free Jewelry

I didn't have the turn out that I expected last night. I don't know whether people just don't have the money to spend on jewelry so would rather not attend and therefore not feel obligated to buy or whether it just wasn't a good night or whether my friends just really aren't good friends after all. I am hoping it was one of the first two and not the last. However, out of the 5 girls that I did have show up, they really spent the dough. I ended up having $760 of jewelry purchased; thus, giving me $380 in FREE JEWELRY.

That is where the sales pitch comes in because it wasn't exactly free. I had to pay taxes and shipping. The shipping wouldn't have been so bad, but the taxes on $380 are a bit steep. All in all, I spent $93.60. This money is definitely coming out of next month's shopping budget as I have depleted all of this month's budget. So, I put it on a credit card. OUCH... At least I will get rewards from my credit card and can pay it back before interest kicks in.

On the bright side, I got 17 pieces of jewelry for $93.60. I am excited to add this jewelry to my wardrobe as I hardly have any jewelry at all.

Because I have been a little over zealous this month with spending, I had to withdraw $200.00 out of my emergency fund to make it through the rest of the month. I am hoping that I can manage NOT to spend all of the $200.00 and be able to replace some of the withdrawn funds at the end of the month. However, I have gone over in several categories.

So far the damage is:

Groceries - $301.26/$300
Shopping - $418.46/$150.00
Gas/Auto Maintenance - $247.36/$160

(Keep in mind that there are still two weeks left in July. I filled up my car yesterday with gas so maybe (highly unlikely) I will be able to wait until August before filling up again. But, I know that I will need to buy more food before the month is complete.)

Jewelry Party Part 2

As I am sure that most you can guess, I am a sucker and ending up spending $48.69 at the Premier Jewelry Party last night. But, I killed two birds with one stone. Not only did I get myself two cute bracelets and a scarf, but I got my step-mother a birthday gift.

I got one bracelet by signing up to host a party in August. And guess what - I get 30% of my sales to use towards FREE jewelry. And if my guest spend over $450, I get 50% of my sales. Sounds great to me because there was a lot of very cute, affordable, jewelry that I would love to add to my collection for my new job.

In addition, by signing up to host a party I got my step-mother's gift for $10. I only had to purchase one item. (This is how I got suckered into buying the second bracelet that I got). If I didn't buy one item I had to pay full price for my step-mother's bracelet which cost $49.00. So, in the end, I won by getting both bracelets for $48.69.

I got the scarf for free also!

Although I have attended several of these parties, I have never actually hosted one. I think it is time my friends re-pay the favor and come over to shop!

Jewerly Party

One of my friends is having a premier designer jewelry party at her house tonight. You know the kind of party where you invite people over and then YOU, as the hostess, gets free or discounted stuff depending on how much your friend's spend. I told her that I would come, but I have absolutely no money to my name. I have gone a little wild this month spending (see Michael Kors purse) and I am at the point of no return. Is it rude to go to the party and not buy anything? I don't want to not show up at all, especially since I told her that I would be there, but I "DO NOT" have any money. What if I bring a friend that I know will spend money, would that be better? Have any of you ever been in this situation and if yes, how did you handle it?

I've Been B-A-D

I have had this obsession lately with buying a new purse. Not only do I want one purse, but I want two. One chic bag for work and one clutch for the evening. Can you blame a women? So, after scouring ebay . . . I have finally purchased the work purse. It is a Michael Kors Chesterfield, medium sized, shiny black patent leather, satchel. It is absolutely adorable. Not to mention that I got it for a fraction of the actual cost. Essentially, I paid $157 for a bag that retails for $348 + tax. I cannot wait to get this little beauty in the mail. Wanna see a picture?

Cocktail Attire

This upcoming weekend the bf and I are attending an engagement party out of town. We had originally planned to stay the weekend, but how cancelled our reservation for Friday night and decided to drive up Saturday morning. This leaves us with only the expense of one night's stay. $100 saved!

However, the engagement party requires cocktail attire, and I have nothing to wear. I may be able to put something together out of my closet, but I just don't want to. I am going to have to resist the urge this week to go shopping.

Grocery Shopping

The bf and I had a rather inexpensive stop at the grocery store last night. This week I worked really hard at planning our weekly menu with items that were on sale at Kroger. My portion of the grocery bill for the week was $25.30. We bought:

green onions - 50 cents a bunch
strawberries - $2.50
grapes - $1.29 a pound
chicken - $1.79 a pound
Ragu - 3/$5
Fettuccine noodles
frozen french fries
grated Parmesan cheese - $4.99 (a little more expensive than I would have liked)
light cream cheese spread
premium beef hot dogs - 2/$5
wheat hot dog buns - $1.89
pickles
4 cheese rolls - $3.49
chicken broth - .69 cents
Tilipia - $6.99 a pound
instant grits
lemon juice - $1
bacon
chili sauce

That gives us enough chicken for six meals, tilipia, and hot dogs. We bought enough hamburger meat last week to make five meals. So the next few trips to the grocery store should be even less than the $50/$25 a person we have been trying to stay under. So far, so good, for this month. Too bad it isn't always this easy.

Up Next on My Wish List

As I discussed in a previous post, my mother bought me two suits for my birthday. One happens to be a tri-colored blue suit. And I have found the perfect pair of heels to go with it. Aren't they adorable? The price tag - not so much.