no spend november: lessons learned

Well it's officially the end of November, which means the spend embargo is over.

I was fairly successful--I didn't spend money on Starbucks AT ALL. That's so impressive for me, you guys. I only bought those 2 WJC nursing shirts as far as clothing goes--also an impressive feat. I cheated TODAY and got mcdonalds for breakfast because we were seriously out of everything breakfast related and I refused to eat leftover turkey for another meal, but that brought my total for the month on fast food to $5.50. That's also not too bad! Overall I did a great job, if I say so myself.

Anyway, here are some lessons I learned:

-It's easiest when you have people on board with you. My mom constantly reminded me if we went to a clothing store (never looking for me, usually for her or my brothers) not to buy anything because I wasn't supposed to be spending money on clothes. She also helped me out and bought me a skirt that I really, really wanted to wear to the Nutcracker in December. My friend Chelsea helped me stay strong when I really, really wanted to get some Starbucks. Sam and I ate at home the entire time I was in St. Louis and when he was here.

-I have a TON of clothes that are perfectly fine. Shopping in my own closet made me realize that I have a lot of clothes that I never wear and that fit and look fine still. I do not need any new clothes, for real. A better idea would be to wait until I reach my goal weight to go shopping for anything new. That would be some real motivation!

-I don't even really LIKE fast food, so why do I stop and get it all the time? Convenience? Honestly I'd rather just have a pb&j (obviously sausage biscuits are immune to this) than any other gross value meal. I think that I was really able to kick this habit this month.

-Brewing coffee at home and adding some peppermint mocha creamer leaves me just as satisfied as the stupid $4.70 latte at Starbucks. Seriously. $4.70. Stupid.

-I have a terrible habit of offering to pay for things and then letting people pay me back. Lesson learned here: ask for money up front.


Overall, no spend November was a success. I saved a lot of money. 90% of the money I spent this month was on gas, which is a whole other story in and of itself. I hate the gas prices in this country. It makes me so angry. I'm going to buy a Prius asap. I think I learned a lot about my habits and spending and definitely know that from now on, I'm going to think a LOT more about my purchases before I actually make them. 

sibling love

I'm pretty sure neither of my brothers read my blog, but whatever. I think the blogosphere should know just how much I adore my little brothers, don't you?

Meet Nicholas. 16 year old drummer extraordinaire.

 Nick and I were apparently prepared from more of the same genes than Zach and I, because we look scary similar. Seriously. Pull out our pictures from our respective 13th birthdays and its difficult to determine who is who {acknowledging I was NOT an attractive 13-year-old}.

 We both love roller coasters and amusement parks, although he's terrrrified in this picture. I can't remember the name of the ride, but it was super fast (at Cedar Point).

 Our temperaments are very, very similar. Quick to anger, quick to forgive. Usually I can rationalize with him better than anyone else can.

 We share a love for our dogs. Still miss handsome Mr. Charlie.. :(.

 I love that he'll be goofy with me, whereas a lot of other people won't.

Clearly a fan of the thumbs up in this joint. I love Nick because he makes me laugh, and because he is so different from me, yet so similar. He's so smart, and surprises me every day with the knowledge that he has. He's an amazing musician...you know those people who can hear a song and then play it from memory? Yeah, meet Nick. Although we are seven years apart, we've become super tight since I moved home in May and I love it.


And here's Zachary. 22, soccer player extraordinaire.

 See what I mean about Nick and I looking more similar? No offense to Nick, but I think Zach hit the market on the genetic lottery. We looked more similar when we were younger, probably because we're only about 19 months apart. People used to think we were twins when we were little, but we don't get that anymore.

 Zach is much more mild tempered than Nick and I. Maybe it's a middle child thing...

...because Zach is a lot like Sam, who is also a middle child. He is the peace maker, the even tempered one. He is able to think about things calmly, rationally, and keeps his thoughts to himself a lot of the time.

 Zach also shares the puppy love. Obvi our family was obsessed with Charlie. Zach is the athlete of our family. What I attempted, he excelled in.

 The thumbs up are also a running theme in the fam, too, I guess. Nick is Zach's shadow. If I didn't think Nick would kill me, I would retype an essay he wrote in 5th grade which is HILARIOUS. It's all about his name and how he would change it to Zach because that's clearly the better name ;). My mom asked Nick when they were redoing their wills who he wanted to be his legal guardian, me or Zach. Nick picked Zach, and when my mom asked him why, he said, "Molly makes me do my homework and she doesn't have an X-box or let me eat McDonalds all the time." Super awesome reasoning ;).

My grandmother told me the other day, "You and Zach were always two peas in a pod." It's totally true. Maybe for some people it's hard to have a sibling close in age but an opposite sex, but it totally wasn't for us. We played together (even Barbies, thanks bro), even if we were over at a friends house. We fought rarely (except an incident where he unbraided my American Girl doll's hair...and when he beat me once at Harry Potter trivia...I told you I was quick to anger).


Anyway, moral of the story. I love my brothers, a lot. I'm so lucky to have siblings that I get along with (for the most part). I know it a lot of people aren't as fortunate.

christmas pinspiration

I'm in the market for a Christmas wreath.

A DIY Christmas wreath.

If you'll recall, the last time I made a wreath it went pretty well, so I'm thinking I'm capable of making said Christmas wreath. I've been doing some research on Pinterest, of course, and here are some ideas I like:

source

source

source

source

 

source

What do you guys think? I think I'd be capable of all of these, but I'm not sure which one to attempt...

thankful is the theme

Is anyone else getting frustrated by the fact that Thanksgiving seems to be getting skipped over more and more in favor of crazy sales and Christmas decorations? I went to Target on Halloween to buy some candy to pass out and they already had all of their Christmas stuff out. Seriously?

I don't even really like Thanksgiving food (truth), but I do really appreciate the sentiment of the holiday. There are so many things I have to be thankful for every year, and I know many of my family and friends do as well. SO even though Christmas is my favorite holiday ever, I'm going to spend the next 36 hours relishing in this holiday. And then I'll go shopping on Black Friday because even though I think midnight sales are pushing the boundaries of ridiculousness, I'll still go.

A lot of my facebook friends have been doing this, but I decided to save it and do one big long post about the top 10 reasons why I'm thankful this year.

1. I'm thankful that my mom, my best friend, is getting more and more healthy every day. I don't really know how I can explain exactly how thankful I am for this...let's just say I love NIH.

2. I'm thankful that I have a pretty spectacular boyfriend who loves me and supports me in everything I do. And he lets me rant about school, which is pretty spectacular in and of itself.

3. I'm thankful that my parents are supporting me as I go through this year of stress known as nursing school. While their monetary support is great, the little things that make it so wonderful: having someone do my laundry, or pack my lunch, or going to get my ice cream when I don't feel good and have 3 more hours of studying to do.

4. I'm thankful for the fact that my youngest brother and I have developed such a special bond over the last year AND that his seizures are under control.

5. I'm thankful for Zach, and the fact that he is healthy and can play soccer this year (and next!).

6. I'm thankful for Bella and Albert, because although they don't fill the void that was left by Charlie, they do a pretty good job of making me forget how sad I am about him. And I'm thankful that Bella loves me the most.

7. I'm thankful that my grandparents are healthy, and happy, and love being around me as much as I love being around them, and that I am able to have dinner with them once a week.

8. I'm thankful for my friends, old and new, who make everything in life just a little bit easier.

9. I'm thankful for the fact that I am healthy.

10. And because I feel like one of my things I can be thankful for can be superficial: I am thankful for my iPhone, because I don't know what I would do without it.


What are YOU thankful for this Thanksgiving?

word.

I found this on Pinterest today. I would love to say I wrote it, but instead, I'll just share it. I agree with every single one of these.

via Pinterest

Random Sunday

I have a huge test tomorrow morning, and naturally instead of studying I'm doing all other sorts of things.  Therefore, I'm reimplementing the "10 random thoughts in 10 minutes" posts and getting some things off my mind.

1. It bothers me when others don't mind if things aren't organized. I like for everything to have it's place, and it bothers me when it's not in that place. The other day I opened up our "phone book drawer" in our kitchen, and there was SO MUCH STUFF in it: takeout menus, birth certificates, price lists for various salons around town, rulers, scissors, etc. Guess what WASN'T in it...the phone book. Drives me INSANE.

2. Albert smells like vanilla. Apparently he got a bath right before my parents picked him up, but seriously, he smells like Bath and Body Works "Warm Vanilla Sugar". Not a super masculine smell.

3. I despise studying. Considering I've decided to become a professional student, one would thing I would learn to enjoy it. Not so much.

4. I have this thing about books. It's really hard for me to get rid of them, even if I hated them. I can usually find some good in every book, but there have been a few in recent years that I thought to myself "Why are you putting yourself through this torture?!" on page 15. That being said, I never get rid of them when it comes time for a garage sale. Why do I do that? I barely have enough room as it is for the books I DO like. I need to remember this next time I'm purging my room.

5. I need to learn how to crochet. One of my childhood friends make super cute crocheted hats and sells them, and then donates 10% to a different charity each month. Even better! (Check out Crochet4Cause on Facebook).

via iHeartOrganizing

6. I bought some really fun knobs from Anthropologie (the blue one in front) when I was in Houston (which reminds me..I still haven't blogged about Houston. Sorry Anna!) with the intention of having my dad hang them up for me so I could hang my necklaces on them. Haven't done that either. They are currently taking up space on my desk. Sad.

7. Jackie and Sara come visit so sooon! One month and 5 days.

8. Literature reviews are super lame.

9. Potty training a dog is not fun. Especially when your mom says "here, watch him real quick while I get dressed" at 6:45 in the morning, and the next thing you know the dog has peed all over your comforter. Awesome.

10. Snail mail is underrated. I LOVE snail mail. Let me know if you want to be pen pals :)


What's been on your mind lately?

Albert

There's a new puppy in the house.

That's right. A new puppy. "Already", as I've heard 30239813 times.

I don't really feel like I need to 'justify' our decision to get a new dog so shortly after Charlie passed away, but I guess I'll try to explain a little bit.

Charlie was an amazing dog, as I've said about 45 times in the last month. He was the first dog I ever loved, and I miss him so much that I still get tears in my eyes if I try to talk about him. The other day I sat on our couch with black pants on and stood up and there was red hair all over me (our house isn't that dirty, but mannn dog hair clings to EVERYTHING). It's enough to set me off for at least 30 minutes.

So, as you're probably thinking, "If you can't even handle a little dog hair, are you really ready for a new dog?" Honestly, I don't know. Are you ever ready? We talked about it as a family and realized that while nothing could EVER replace Charlie, we had to think of someone else.

Yep, Bella. Home girl has been in a spirally into a deep depression. You might think that dogs can't get depressed--not true. Since the day Charlie passed away, she has been sleeping in his bed during the day. She won't come downstairs in the morning to eat (truly shocking because she used to steal all of Charlie's food, and his treats, and his bones...). She doesn't care about going for walks, which is ALSO shocking because she used to bark at me whenever I put my shoes in the morning because she thought she was going for a walk. The only time she's been happy is when another dog is around, which is rare.

Enter Albert.

 Home boy is SO CUTE. He's only 9 weeks old, and he's going to be Bella's new BFF.

 This is originally the coloring of Cavalier I wanted before Bella, even though I think she's super cute.

 Oh hey, I'm super cute.

 I look like a sad dog, but I'm actually not at all.

 What's up guys?

I love him already. So does Bella.

Also, I feel it's necessary to clarify he is not named Albert after Albert Pujols. He's named after King George VI (the king from The King's Speech). Obvi his nickname is Bertie.

no spend november update

It's Friday. Thank goodness.

We're over 1/3 of the way through November (I can't believe it!) so I figured this would be a good time to update you on how my month of not spending unnecessarily is going!

I did cheat, I admit, and bought a milkshake when I was in St. Louis. I was craving it like no other and to save my sanity (and Sam's), I totally caved and bought one. Total cost: $3.21. Other than that, I was SO good...although I might mention that Sam's parents provided us with dinner both nights. I was resourceful though and found stuff in Sam's apartment for breakfast each morning (he sleeps so late that I'm usually on my own for breakfast. Sorry for revealing all of your secrets, Sammy), and Sam was ever the gentleman and bought us our lunch both days. He's not in on the no spend November thing so I maintain that it's okay that he spent money and I didn't :).

I also had dinner ($9) with Chelsea before we went to an activity for school, so that was a slight cheat, but I used some left over money that I had from Houston, so it wasn't in the money I originally budgeted for the month...so I mean yes I did spend money, but it was cash that I had originally taken on vacation a month ago. Therefore, it's not going on my total. If you think that's REALLY cheating, tell me! :)

That's ALL I've spent on food. $3.21 in 11 days. I haven't even bought Starbucks, which is amazing, because the holiday coffee flavors came out on November 1st, which was after I had committed to this thing but has been ABSOLUTE torture for me.

I did spend some money on clothes, but I'm kind of making it an exception. I'm only in nursing school for 1 year, and I haven't bought any school clothing since I've been here. The dept of nursing has specialized jackets and t-shirts, and the order form is due Monday, so I did spend some money on that. Again, money that I had already budgeted, but it was $59 which is kind of a lot.

I also spent $20 on a resume portfolio, because we had an employment fair, and I needed one. I actually already had a nice one, but loaned it to a friend and never got it back, so I had to get it a new one. That was a necessity, however, because no one at my house or Sam owned one so I didn't know who to borrow one from. I'll also use it again as I start going to job interviews (hopefully) in the spring!

Other than gas, that's all I've spent this month. About $80! Not too bad. I am really impressed with myself because, and I'm really laying it all out there, last month I spent $450 on clothes. $450. In one month. Super unacceptable. I didn't even realize it until I added up the total at the end of the month. Ugh. Hence No Spend November!

Here's to frugality! Hope everyone had a splendid week, and I'll update you all again soon!

glee + adele = amazing.

SPOILER ALERT: This video is from next week's episode, so if you don't like to watch performances ahead of time...don't watch this.

If you're like me and you DO like to watch performances ahead of time, watch this right now. It combines two of my greatest loves: Adele and Glee. I admit when I heard they were doing this mash-up I was super skeptical that they could pull it off, because Rumour Has It is super fast and strong and powerful and Someone Like You is so breathtakingly beautiful and haunting, and they are super, super different. However, the creative genius working over there are Glee as proved me wrong once again.


Without further ado:

school. sucks.

via

"It means no worries."

Ryan Gosling or a Puppy

Do you like Ryan Gosling? Stupid question, of course you do.


Do you like puppies? (the answer better be yes...)


Then you'll love this website.

Is Ryan Gosling Cuter Than a Puppy?

Check it ouuuttt!

No Spend November

Perhaps you've heard of a little tradition called No Shave November that men boys think is sooo clever and I think is sooo disgusting? Well I do happen to think that the name is pretty clever, so I'm copying for that purpose only.

I have been on a spending TEAR this semester. Part of that was my iPad (still justified), part of it was my trip to Houston (well worth it, still need to blog about this), another part was a certain someone's bachelorette shindig (not complaining), but the rest of it has been complete nonsense (EXCEPT any trips to St. Louis. I would spend every last dime I had going to see Sam). I buy clothes like crazy, and attempt to justify it in terms of retail therapy. Believe me, this year I've definitely needed retail therapy, but not to the extent that I've taken it. Last weekend was the first time in like 6 months that I've been in J.Crew and walked out without buying anything. It's sick I tell you.

The other significant portion of my spending goes towards food/coffee. I love, love, love my Starbucks but paying $5 for a latte just isn't cutting it anymore. I also am super lazy and if there isn't food in the house, I just stop and get something on the way to school (or home), and that's not cutting it anymore either, especially w/ my BFF's wedding in just 6 months.


Therefore, I present to you, NO SPEND NOVEMBER*.

That's right. For the entire month (minus a few concessions), I will not be buying the following things:

1) Any type of fast food, food in a restaurant, food in a gas station, etc. If I'm driving to St. Louis, I'll be packing a lunch to take with me and eat. If I'm driving to KC from St. Louis...well, Sam, you better feed me.

2) Any Starbucks coffee. This is particularly difficult because I just got a text message an hour ago with picture proof that holiday cups are back and better than ever at sbux. Damn.

3) Clothing items that are not a necessity. This includes everything EXCEPT a winter coat. Because I do not have a winter coat and things have the potential to get a tad bit chilly here in Missouri in November. Also, I refuse to wear my high school letter jacket which despite being the warmest coat I've ever owned would be super tacky and I would rather walk through fire than ever have to wear that again. Even if it mean keeping me warm...although I guess the fire would do the trick..anyway.

4) Shoes and/or bags. The reason for this is three-fold. A) I do not have room for any more shoes and/or bags in my closet. B) I bought a coach bag last year and as of today have owned it one year, and it is in perfect condition and therefore I must keep using it. C) These count as clothing items.

5) Cosmetics. I have everything I need to last me for like 3 years, let alone the month of November.

6) Music/Movies. Glee's music blows this year so this shouldn't be hard. The movie rationale is for the fact that I need to remember that Christmas is coming and I already told my rents a bunch of blu-rays I wanted. I am still allowed to go to the movies because I will never, ever give this up. 



Now for the concessions.

1) A new collar for Bella. While not a necessity for me, it could be considered a necessity for her. Home girl is getting a little bit chunky and I don't want her to choke herself, plus where it used to be silver it's just now a gross white color and I can't stand to look at it anymore.

2) Black Friday. Anything goes on Black Friday IF IT IS FOR SOMEONE ELSE. I will allow myself to do some Christmas shopping. I will not be purchasing any clothing for myself. I will also be allowing myself Starbucks on this day because I need my caffeine on this day at least...otherwise I will punch a person in the face because there are some crazy people out there on BF.

3) MU v KU game. Obviously going with other people so I will not impose the freeze on them, plus if I'm at a football game for that long there's no way I won't be able to eat anything without going into a diabetic coma, and Arrowhead's new frisking policy makes sneaking in food way too hard. Don't you miss the good old days when your dad and aunt loaded up your winter coat with all kinds of food and "soda". I say soda because you know that's not what they were really sneaking in in their six year old's pockets. Role models!

That's it. Those 3 days I will allow myself to have some concessions. I am publishing this on my blog because I need to be held accountable for my actions. I realize this will mainly consist of Sam, but still. I need to learn to curb my spending now before I'm faced with the actual payment of my massive student loan from nursing school.

SO on that note...who's joining me!? :)


PS: Happy return of Glee!


*No Spend November was influenced by Allison at Smart and Sassy With Sprinkles and her September Spending Freeze, which I was not a part of because I just haaad to have my iPad. Ugh. Thanks for the fab idea Allison!