Today we close on our new house! I’m excited and terrified at the same time!
I’ll keep you posted on how it goes . . .
$50 from Erewards & Upromise! October 29, 2008
I am so excited, today I realized that I had over 100 erewards points! I promptly redeemed them for $50 paid into my Upromise account. Including this new $50, I now have $66.85 in my Upromise account. This amount (plus any additional I earn) will be transferred over as an extra payment on my student loan in December.
Just a heads up, if you have a Upromise account and want to earn through erewards, you need to sign up for erewards via the upromise link, otherwise I don’t think you can redeem your erewards points through Upromise.
Halloween Nostalgia October 28, 2008
This morning when I looked at the tv listings, I noticed that “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” is on tonight on abc 8/7 central. It just made me smile as I remembered being a little kid and getting all excited about the cartoon holiday specials. My favorite is still “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” with Burl Ives.
What was your favorite holiday special?
Painting Tips from Sherwin-Williams October 27, 2008
My husband, C, and I have been in a debate whether or not to paint the living room and dining room in our new house ourselves, or if we should hire professionals. We’ve asked around for painter recommendations, and most of our friends didn’t have positive things to say about those they hired. So, we are now leaning towards doing it ourselves, and then if it really sucks, hiring someone to repaint before we sell the house.
My sister recently did her own painting project, and she recommended I check out Sherwin-Williams. I guess they sell kits for painting (all brush sizes and tape included), special plastic coverings for your crown molding, fantastic paint that usually only requires 1 coat, etc. So, since they were already closed yesterday by the time I decided to check them out, I went to their website and found awesome tips on how to paint your own home, including a little video on painting technique!
We are going over to the store tonight to check out supplies and look at colors. I have high hopes, since simply visiting their website made me feel a lot more comfortable with the whole process.
Books that I think I’d like to read October 26, 2008
After reading all these personal finance blogs for a few months, I’m really getting interested in learning more. I’ve found myself spending a lot of time on Amazon and in Barnes and Noble looking at books on personal finance (and related topics). From reading the blogs, I know that the best way to increase my personal wealth is to get the books from the library, rather than spending a lot of money on them! So, once my move has calmed down and I finish reading Modern Girl’s Guide to Life, I would like to (literally) check out the following:
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Your Money or Your Life
Ebay 101 (Now that I’ve mastered selling on Amazon, I’d like to try selling on Ebay)
Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want
Smart Women Finish Rich and/or Smart Couples Finish Rich
Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing
One Year to an Organized Life
Most of these books were suggested by the different blogs I read. For those of you who have read these books, what is your opinion? Should I add any others to the list, or not bother with some of these?
October Debt Summary October 25, 2008
Debt at start of blog (July 2008): $51,497.33
Debt at end of October 2008: $49,624.64
Difference: $1,872.69
Current Breakdown:
Car loan (at 5.75%): $25,598.79
Grad School Loan (at 6.55%): $8,717.98
Undergrad Loan (at 3.35%): $15,307.87
This month I managed to snowflake an extra $39.68 towards the grad school loan. This was due to selling some DVDs on Amazon for a total profit of $23.96, and my previously mentioned scheme of snowflaking any budget leftovers below $25.
Job Hunting — New tactics (for me) October 24, 2008
So my job hunt feels like it’s come to a virtual halt. I applied for four positions last month, and I have not heard back from any of them. Also, this month in my on-line searches, I haven’t seen anything that even remotely resembles a job that I would want/am qualified for/pays in my range. So, while I still continue to search jobs on the web, I have also decided to do some networking. This tactic may seem obvious to many of you, but for me it’s kind of a new approach. (In the past, I’ve always just applied for a job off the web, interviewed and been hired). Over the last 2 weeks I have gotten in touch with a majority of my friends and former co-workers in the area.
It has been fun to see old friends, and this has been somewhat useful. My friend who works at the University informed me they were on a complete hiring freeze, and that’s why there aren’t any positions open right now. She will keep me posted when that changes. I got in touch with another former co-worker, and she informed me that she is leaving her job, and will put my name forward for the position, so that’s a plus. Another old co-worker asked me for my resume, though she works for the University with the hiring freeze, so I’m not sure how much that will help, but again, the more people that know about me and that I’m seeking employment, the better.
I also signed up for a networking event through my graduate program. It’s mostly for current students, but they said alumni could also attend (I finished my degree in ‘07). It’s an event with local employers specifically seeking MBA graduates, so hopefully that will be a useful event.
In addition to networking, I’ve also began brainstorming new places to search jobs, and begun exploring some new websites/career paths. In the past I have worked mainly in higher education, but now that I have an MBA, it’s probably a good time to look into branching out. What do you think? What tactics have helped you in your job searches?
Good Deals at Bath and Body Works yesterday October 22, 2008
I went to the mall yesterday to return some clothing to the GAP, and ended up wandering around a bit looking for new tennis shoes. I was unsuccessful on the shoe front, but I ended up scoring a great deal at Bath and Body Works. I was just thinking to myself about all the stuff I’m going to need to buy when we move into our new house next week (toilet paper, hand soap, cleaning products, etc) when I passed Bath and Body and noticed that they were having a hand soap sale!
Soaps were only $3 a bottle! I love their soap, but I refuse to pay $4.50 a bottle for it. So I stocked up on 1 for each sink in my new house. (I was tempted to buy more, but then I remembered that on the day after Thanksgiving, they usually drop to $2 a bottle, so I will wait and really stock up in a month). Then, when I went to ring up, the clerk informed me that they were giving out coupon books with any purchase, and that you could redeem the first coupon on the spot. The first coupon was a free item, $13 value or less with any purchase! She encouraged me to go nuts and find whatever I wanted. Being the early Christmas shopper that I am, I checked my sister’s Christmas list, and picked out the $10 “Lambie” slippers she wanted.
So, yesterday I bought 5 bottles of handsoap for $15, and saved an additional $10 off my christmas shopping budget! I was also proud, because that was ALL I spent at the mall yesterday. Though I was feeling really temped to get myself a treat (milkshakes at Johnny Rockets sounded so good), or buy another sweater at GAP, I managed to resist.
The Modern Girl’s Guide to Life: Ch. 2 & 3 October 21, 2008
Yesterday I read chapter 2, “Your Cheat Sheet for Fabulous Entertaining” and chapter 3, “Mod-Girl Etiquette.” Chapter 2 was full of some great recipes that I can’t wait to try, and also a lot of fun tips for how to throw a great dinner party. I particularly found the section on “How to make a martini Bond would kill for” interesting – I had no idea that the more expensive the vodka, the lower the impact of the hangover.
The ediquette chapter really took me by surprise. I had expected a section on thank you notes and tipping, but I was pleasantly surprised that she also included the following:
- tips on gift wrapping and gift giving
- tips for effective party mingling (the section on ”how to remember names, and what to do if you forget” was of particular interest to me)
- how to sound smart at an art gallery opening and at the opera
- Wediquette (everything from the shower to the toast) – this was helpful as I am heading into my 4th term as bridesmaid and my 2nd term as “maid of honor” this spring.
The Modern Girl’s Guide to Life: Ch. 1 October 20, 2008
I started reading The Modern Girl’s Guide to Life by Jane Buckingham last night. I had seen it on-line, and I finally ordered it (used) from Amazon.com a few months back. To quote from the back of the book, it is “A stylishly smart collection of practical advice for the busy modern woman.”
Last night I read chapter 1: “The only thing you should ever fake . . . being a domestic goddess.” It was basically a light-hearted but usefull discussion on basic cooking, cleaning, and laundry. A lot of it I already knew, and I didn’t 100% agree with all of it, but there were many things I found useful.
A few examples of things I didn’t know:
- How to tell if fruit is at its freshest when you buy it — I’d had a few guesses, but this was very helpful
- The correct internal temperatures for beef and chicken to avoid food poisoning (note: need to buy a meat thermometer)
- How to sew on a button (so that others can’t tell it ever fell off)
- How to fold a fitted sheet (and not have it look like a disaster)
- Some time-saving cleaning strategies
- The difference between single ply and double ply bedsheets — Apparently single ply is softer.
I bought this book to be more of a “reference” than a book to read for fun, but the writing style is so conversational and entertaining, that I think I will end up reading it cover to cover, and then setting it aside as a reference. It’s almost like reading a bunch of women’s magazines all condensed into one.
