I quit the gym

I feel like a total failure. I have had a gym membership for a few years now. I went at 5:30 AM religiously for a year when I first got it. Then I didn't go for awhile. Then I went sporadically.

Every month I watched that money come out of my account and the guilt weighed heavily upon me (pun intended). I would continue the cycle of going then avoiding over and over.

I don't even want to know how much money I spent on all those months for the privilege of carrying around a plastic barcode that got me in. Maybe at a later point I will figure it out, but not right now.

I feel like a failure because it was yet another 'oh there jolie goes spending money and not committing to something again'. I have a history of that though less so, recently.

Did I lose weight? oh yes that first round coupled with WW, I lost a ton. And I felt fantastic!!! But it's all back and I feel horrible, physically, emotionally and financially.

Free Samples

Sometime back in early September, at the same time I ordered some free samples from P and G, I found another site here in Canada that also gave out free samples.

A lovely box arrived yesterday with them. The kicker is, I can't even remember what webpage I got them from. They came in a box with Shoppers Drug mart written all over it. I checked my favourites and my emails where I would sign up and register and can't find a site, so I can't even recommend one to you. Unless one of you wise readers also receives from the same place????

LOL anyways there were quite a few little items in the box.

Something for him...

something for her...

And something for the house.

Banned from Kindle

....until Christmas. It's a self ban. Lordy that one click easy purchase is addictive and shot my personal allowance spending to h*ll. I am chalking it up to it being a brand new item. A novelty. The kicker is that a lot of the books I bought on there were ones I used to own and had garage saled at a certain point.

I am so swamped at work these days and I don't need to be visiting literature memory lane right now. If I want to read there are lots of books for school I can use.

So tucked in my drawer my lil kindle is. And there it can remain until I have a few days off at Christmas, and hopefully Santa will bring me some better self control

The Power of Music - Remembering, on 11/11/11 at 11

Where the money stands

as of November 6th

Debts

Mortgage - $32 658.66
Vehicle Loan - $8 895.99
Total Debt - $41 554.65

Savings/Planned Spending
Xmas 2011 - $1200
RRSP - $2675
RESP - $8300

Keurig or Tassimo?

No, No, I am not shopping. Not 'real' shopping anyways. Fantasy shopping perhaps.

As the Christmas season approaches I am seeing a lot of commercials for both products. I know next to nothing about them, nor do I know anyone who has one. So as part of my fantasy shopping, I thought I would throw it out to you.


I went to Sears Canada for pricing information and found the following:

Keurig

Costs range from $89.99 to $189.99 on the webpage.

Costs for K cup thingies: $13.99 for 18

Tassimo

Costs range from $129.99 to $149.99

Costs are $24.99 for 70 disks

I am a fairly boring coffee drinker. I currently drink from a $29.99 machine from our wee local hardware store. A name so memorable, I have gotten up three times as I have written this blog entry and have forgotten before I sat down at the laptop. (lazy AND a bad memory LOL). I buy Folgers for less than $10 a container and drink it black. If I am going fancy, I get a Timmys for $1.52 and drink that black too.  I've never had an expresso or a real latte. When I was in the city last weekend, I went to a starbucks for the first time. I didn't even know what I should order. I ended up getting a salted caramel something or other for $4.15 for a Tall, which apparently means small LOL

Who has one? Do you like it? Is it worth it?

Why I do declare....

...it to be 'use it up' month, in the Money Tree house. Samples of this and small bottles of that. Lotions and potions and vials. Food items in the freezer and pantry. Small notepads breeding quietly in drawers until there are so many you don't know which one you wrote in.

Not just at home. At school too. How many scotch tape does one girl need active in her desk. Or boxes of staples. Or pens. Or sticky notes (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm love me my sticky notes)

Necessary? yes.

But where does this burning need to use up come from?

I think I am feeling completely out of control with my money lately. I know the end of the year is approaching and I haven't met a  lot of my goals or did as much debt damage and savings as I would like.  Penny wise but pound foolish? perhaps. But I need to start somewhere to get my chit back in order and feel in control and productive again.

So I shall see how many little things I can use up by  the end of the month. It always gives me a good psychological feeling.