2 posts tagged “saving”

Purchases made today:  1 coffee

But I deserved it!  Seriously.  Yesterday one of the attorneys in my office (who also happens to be one of my closest friends) mother went into the hospital.  Very serious.  She had a trial today that I offered to cover. 

I haven't had a trial trial (like a real trial) in....3 years now?  Those dumb Megan's Law hearings don't count to me.  Nothing like meeting your client the morning of trial.  It was a drug case, an excellent case for the defendant as there really wasn't much tying hiim to the evidence. 

Which STRESSED me out.  It's no big deal when you think/know your client is guilty.  But when you think they aren't, or you think you should win....that is stress.  Combined with feeling kind of rusty in a courtroom, my nerves were a little frayed.  Plus, I only have one suit that fits me right now and I was worried that it, too, would end up being a little too tight.

So after a late night of preparation and a sleepless night of toss and turns, the case ended up being continued anyway because the Judge was out sick.

Go figure.

But after all that, hell, I needed a cup of coffee.  Better than a beer, right?

Now, the old me probably would have headed over to a little boutique and bought a shirt or some other little present for myself.  That's my problem.  Emotional spending. 

The thought to do that never even occurred to me today.  Now that's progress!

Did I mention this in my last post?  I can't remember, so I'm going to post about it anyway because it makes me so happy. 

I was a gold freak back in the '80s.  Yeah, think Mr. T.  Me and my gold rope chains and gold hoops.  Well, all good things come to pass - now I HATE gold and the price of gold is high.  I haven't worn gold since 1980 and I never will ever again.  Blech.

So, last week I gathered a few old 14 K gold rope chains and 4 rings that ex-boyfriends gave me.  Tacky, tacky, tacky jewelry.  I saw that a nearby jewelry store was buying gold, so I figured I'd sell it.  I thought at most I'd get $30-40.

I walked out with $430.  Cash.

I immediately crossed the street to the bank, deposited it, and transfered that $430 over the my Gap Visa credit card, which had a balance of $1700.  Wahoo!

The good fortune didn't end there!  I then called my cable company to downgrade my cable.  Basic cable in Philly starts at about $60.  I also have internet and On Demand.  My bill was $130 a month.  I was going to downgrade to the most basic of basic packages.  Fortunately for me, however, the employee on the phone couldn't figure out how to enter the right codes into the computer to downgrade my package.  After a few minutes, he gave up in frustration and gave me a new 6 month promotional package -- for only $69 a month I'd have the EXACT same package that I was paying $130 for!  Wahoo!

I then hiked over to Urban Outfitters to return a sweater I'd gotten as a Christmas gift.  I only wore it once and the seaming had come undone.  Normally, I probably would have stashed it in the back of my dresser and forgotten to return it until it was too late.  I took it over, made my exchange, and got some $ back because the sweater was now on sale!  Wahoo!

Then I darted on over to ING and got a free coffee.

I went home over the weekend to collect the rest of my gold.  Based on what I sold last time, I think I have well over $1000 in jewelry.  Well, let me rephrase that.  Chase Visa will have about $1000 in jewelry.

I've also been putting up some things on ebay  - yarn, computer stuff, crafting supplies.  I'm making quite a return on the yarn.  Stuff that has been sitting in the attic for the last 2 years.  I never realized the amount of EXCESS I engaged in....It's kind of disgusting.  There's just so much STUFF.  Stuff I don't need. Stuff I bought to feel better but never really felt any better after I had it for a while.  Kind of like how gum loses the flavor too quickly.  I'll post more on this later - my tendendcy to engage in retail therapy.

It's a new way of living for me.  Bringing my lunch to work, not eating out, not buying 2 starbucks everyday.  I thought it would be really hard, but it's kind of liberating.  For the first time this month I won't be panicking when my student loan payments are deducted from my checking account - there will be at least $300 left over so they won't bounce.  That feels a helluva lot better than any new pair of Steve Madden shoes feel.

By the way, these  things really do work.  (Just saw an informercial on them, thought I'd pass on some good $$$ saving advice).