I’m in luck this week. I’m headed to Las Vegas for a work event through Friday. This trip is especially timely since, in an effort to stretch out my sad $200 budget, I haven’t been able to go to the grocery store for two weeks. Pros of my Vegas trip include the following:
1. Staying here.
2. Free Food (and wine for three days).
3. The weather.
Cons include being in close proximity to this, this, and this – not to mention the roulette table. We’ll see how I do…
I had dinner with an old friend on Friday. Typically, when we meet up, we’ll go get sushi or have a few glasses of wine somewhere. However, I’m still in save mode, so I opted to cook a homemade meal—pasta with onion and bacon and a green salad. I have to say that this is actually one of my favorite dishes anyway, so it is even better that it’s so inexpensive to make.
Here’s the recipe:
½ c. pancetta or good bacon
1 onion, minced
1 28 oz. can whole plum tomatoes, drained and crushed
1 tsp. crushed red pepper or more (optional)
1 lb. pasta (I prefer penne, but linguine is also good)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese
Boil salted water for the pasta.
Cook the bacon or pancetta in a skillet over medium heat until done. Remove the meat, and turn off the heat for a minute or two to let the oil cool down a bit. Turn the oil back on, add the onion, and cook it until it browns. Crush and add the tomatoes and the red pepper to the onion mixture (I think it’s easiest to crush them with my hands, but you can also use a fork). Turn the heat up to medium high. Cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture becomes saucy (about 10-15 minutes). Crush the bacon into bits and stir back into the sauce before serving.
Top pasta with sauce and Parmesan and viola! It makes 4 servings at about $2.50 per serving. Fast, cheap, and delicious.
Seriously, I can’t take it. The evil marketing gods know how to push every one of my buttons. What – a sale? With lots of shoes? That may not be available at this bargain basement rate EVER again? I. MUST. SHOP.
Keep in mind that I have more than 70 pairs of shoes (my mother totally judged me when she heard that), and there is very little likelihood that I could get something at this sale that I absolutely needed. That is my brain talking, of course, but my credit card and my heart are singing a different tune. I managed to resist the sale so far, but I know I will eventually succumb to one of these because I get a about a million a day. I’m a real sucker for an extra 30% off final sale at J. Crew. It’s only a matter of time.
My October shopping budget is $200. Zero dollars spent so far. We’ll see how long I make it. It’s only the 6th after all…
This was not for the faint of heart. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great things about the Aveda Institute, but it does require patience and an open mind.
I got there at 6, but they mixed me up with another client and by 6:30 I still wasn’t with a stylist. I asked at the desk, they realized their mistake, and presented me with my stylist. She was very friendly with funky Rihanna-style hair. Like this.
After about :30 seconds, it became apparent that she was a novice and an over-sharer. I learned that she’d been to styling school 3 times, but kept quitting before learning to cut. Red flag #1. She also told me that her funky hair was a result of a “relaxer incident”. Red flag #2. Apparently, her colleague over-relaxed her hair to the point that it all burned off. At this point, I started to get nervous.
After my hair was washed, we went to work. The stylist meticulously divided my hair and put it up by sections, a la Scary spice. Then, took two sections and started to cut. I could tell she was scared, and trust me, she wasn’t alone! She cut a tiny bit in the back, and then wanted to ask the supervisor a question. When the supervisor arrived, she basically took over. I was thrilled, especially when the supe told me that my stylist didn’t know how to cut bangs yet. Say what?!
The supe gave me a great cut, and told me I looked like Heidi Klum. A bit far-fetched, but I’ll take it. The best news was my cheap haircut was 20% off because I had to wait – leaving my grand total at $18.40 INCLUDING tip at 25%.
While somewhat alarming at times, it was all in all a good experience. I would definitely go back. If you decide to do this, here’s what you need to know:
1. You can request a 2nd year or “learning student” when you make your appointment. They are about to graduate and be released into the salon world. It’ll cost you a whopping $5 more, BUT they won’t put the fear of God into you. Bonus.
2. Only go if you have a simple hair cut in mind. If you want something drastic, I’d stick with someone more seasoned.
3. Give yourself plenty of time for the cut, i.e. don’t make dinner reservations immediately after.
4. They have other services! Scared of a haircut? Try a mani-pedi or a facial, a little bit easier and less permanent.
In case you were curious, this was the final result. Not the best picture of me, but my hair looks good!
I need to get my hair cut. Most women know that this means dropping upwards of $75 for the cut and an extra $5 – $10 (depending on how stingy you are) on the tip! At one point several years ago, I was paying $90 plus tip for a blunt cut bob that anyone could do. Unreal!
Given my new-found frugality, that is not going to work anymore. I’ve always heard about the Aveda Institute – the cosmetology school that trains up and coming stylists and estheticians. They offer services (supervised by the teachers) at a far discounted rate. Their haircuts range from $18 to $23, and they offer a full suite of spa services including nails, waxing, and facials.
I have my first appointment for a haircut and blow dry tonight. I’m thinking of something like this.
It’s not too far off from what I have now, so I’m hoping that it will be pretty easy to do. Wish me luck!
I’ll spill the details on the results tomorrow.
Ladies and gentlemen, today, I am a sad sack. Reason why = I finally made a budget. Well, actually I didn’t really make a budget as much as look at what I spent in the last month to see where I should save. All I can say is WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING??
My financial advisor sent me a handy-dandy excel spreadsheet to track my expenditures, but I took it a step further and looked at every expense I had in the last month. Here are some eye-opening facts about me:
I love drugstores. In particular, drugstore.com (free shipping on orders over $25!) and CVS, but I have been known to stop at a Rite Aid now and then. Want to know WHY I know this? Because I spent $148.42 at them last month, and I can’t tell you what I bought. Perhaps some toiletries or cleaning supplies, but more than likely, it was another lip gloss to add to my collection of almost 30. I have serious problems.
Speaking of problems, other problem areas for me include iTunes ($51.05) and the grocery store (which we know from yesterday). I spent $370.32 on groceries last month. According to my financial advisor, who I’m hating more by the minute, that number should be cut in half. Bye bye meat and wine – hello ramen noodles and D.C. tap water!
There are, of course, two dollar figures conspicuously missing from this post – food/drink and clothes. Frankly, I can’t own up to those, but rest assured, they will be tackled along with the aforementioned problem areas.
Now that I’ve had my come to Jesus moment, the next stop is figuring out what I actually should be spending each month to save some dough. Stay tuned for more to come on that front.
So I headed to the Safeway this weekend to buy groceries for the week. According to my financial planner, I should only be spending $150 – $200 on groceries per month. I went to see if it was possible, and frankly, I don’t think it is.
First, I used my Safeway app on my phone to apply coupons to anything that I was planning to buy that was on their list. That saved me a whopping $2.13. Then, I went through the store and bought 20 food items and 3 birthday cards – some of which were on the club card savings. AND, there was no meat, no wine, and no household products either, mind you. This is my measly cart.
And for all of this effort, my stuff STILL cost $75.44 – half of my costs for the month. I usually get 2 boxes from a local CSA each month. Those are $30 a piece, so basically that taps out my monthly budget.
I’m going to have to get real creative to make this stuff last – I think I have some chicken in the fridge. But I don’t know how to make this last – and, seriously, I cannot live without meat or wine. It’s just not possible.
Is there a cheaper grocery store anywhere in D.C.? Does anyone know how to game the system??
I just got a save the date for my best friend from high school’s wedding in California next spring. She and her fabulous fiancée are trying to put together a great wedding on a small budget without scrimping on the details, which is why I loved her save the date idea.
She sent out personalized postcards from the scenic town where they are getting married with a hand written note to each recipient. I loved the personal touch. Granted it probably took forever to write them all, but what a fun and inexpensive idea for a save the date or party invite.
You could make your own invitations with postcards from your favorite places, like this one I picked up at this adorable restaurant Jack’s Wife Freda the last time I was in NYC.
Or you could create your own using a site like Zazzle or Snapfish for $.95 a piece. Not bad!
My newly acquired financial adviser announced in our first conversation that I live a lavish lifestyle. I still don’t totally believe her. As a young, single professional in Washington, I have certain unavoidable expenditures nee NEEDS. That said, it did get me thinking. I would like to buy a house one day, and to do that, I need pay off my debts and start saving some serious cash. But, I’m not willing to do it at the expense of my livelihood. I love to go out, try new restaurants, see my friends, SHOP…and recently (as in, for the last several years), I’ve been doing that without much thought about my savings account. This is my attempt to turn that around.
And so, this great experiment begins. Can I live in a big city on a budget and still have fun and do the things I want to do? I guess the answer is…we’ll see.
Here goes nothing…
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Poor Little It Girl shares her petite style and outfit ideas, but focuses on affordable fashion that fits well and looks great.
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The Discountess of Washington 