Dinner and the Theater on a Dime

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Every year for my mom’s birthday, my brother and I try to do something special for her. In recent years, we’ve taken her to dinner and to the theater. She never gets to go otherwise, so it’s a pretty perfect gift for her. This year, we got tickets to see My Fair Lady at the Arena Stage. The show was fabulous. It’s always so cool to see a performance in that format, and they did an excellent job.

Dinner and the theater can be pretty pricey, but I co-opted my brother into helping me discount our evening. He got the tickets on Goldstar. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a great service that allows you to get discounts on area shows and events.

Instead of going out to a pricey restaurant, I hosted dinner for us at my house. My mom loves a pretty table, so I took extra time to make a lovely setting for her. I polished the silver (not my strong suit!), got out the nice linens, and bought flowers for a centerpiece.

Our menu was the following:

Hors d’oeuvre: Bucheron Sevre Belle (Goat Cheese), Onion Jam, and Crackers

Main Course: Jeffrey’s Roast Chicken from the Barefoot Contessa – Highly recommend this. It’s easy, delicious, and inexpensive.
Cauliflower Puree
Green Salad with goat cheese, dried cranberries and sherry shallot vinaigrette

Dessert: Apple crisp with vanilla ice cream

Wine: Silver Oak (Note: I purchased this during my non-discountess days and was looking for a special occasion to drink it. At $75/bottle, it’s not a go-to discount wine, but it is delicious. It’s like wine-butter. Mmmmm.)

Total bill to serve mom a special dinner at home: $64.86 (split with my brother, it became $32.43 a piece).

Compared with a $100+ bill from a nice restaurant, I think that’s not too shabby! Plus, I think my mom enjoyed eating at home more. She gets a kick out of seeing us entertain. And because of her, we were able to learn from a master!

Discount Dressing for Success – Bridesmaid Style

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My dearest friend from high school is getting married next spring, and I’m so excited to be a part of her day! She picked out a lovely color from the JCrew chiffon collection for the bridesmaids – dusty shale. We each get to pick our own dress, which is nice because I get to find a cut that is flattering for my figure. Of course, the style I want is FULL price at $250 – sort of steep for the Discountess.

Thank GOD for Ebay! I went on last night only to find my dress in my size on sale for $149.99. I immediately snapped it up. Some are worried about shopping on EBay, but after I checking out the seller, I felt good about the purchase. They had some pretty solid marks in their favor. Namely, these:

1. The seller was based in southwest Virginia. JCrew’s warehouses are based in SW VA, and if you ever get down there, they have a RIDICULOUS J Crew outlet in Lynchburg. I have been several times, and it’s awesome. This isn’t the outlet that you find in a Mills Mall, but a store that actually has current clothing from the catalog that has been overstocked in their warehouse. I’m pretty sure that’s where this person got the dress.

2. The dress was listed New With Tags (NWT). Never worn, not smelly. YES!

3. The seller was listed as top-rated. After selling 4317 items on EBay (most of them from JCrew), I figured they were good for the sale.

The dress is expected to arrive this week, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

Budget Check In – I Still Have a Shopping Problem

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So I’m officially one month down in my budgeting process. I figure that now is a good time for a gut-check moment. First off, I should say that I did officially save this month. Woo hoo! Whether or not I saved in the right areas, is a different story. Here’s where my budget checks out as of 10/31/12.

I’m over in the following categories:

Auto/Transportation – 14% over
Cash/ATM – 10% over
Personal Care  – 14% over
Groceries – 25% over
Shopping – 89% over (Clearly this one needs work – EEK!)

I was even or I only used part of the budget (i.e. I saved) in the following categories:

Bills/Utilities (includes rent, gym, etc) – Even
Business/Office – 16% used
Entertainment – 48% used (I was pretty surprised at this one!)
Food/Drink – 83% used (Again, surprised.)
Dry Cleaning – 26% used (I think this one is an anomaly)
Gifts – 70% used

Given all of this spending/saving, I managed to save more than my target amount for the month. But, I ended up having to use half of it to buy a train ticket for my Thanksgiving trip, so my final savings this month is 62% of my target amount.  Therefore, I rule this month as a marginal success.

Clearly, I need to address the shopping issue, but I’m pretty proud of myself that I managed to curtail spending on eating out. That is another big downfall for me (I say this as I have dinner plans tonight at Napoleon with friends).

I’ll admit I’m starting to get nervous about November and December budgeting. They are going to be tough months, especially with the holidays. I have at least three parties that I plan to throw in the next few months, and I need to buy Christmas presents – eek! My plan is to combine the shopping and gift budgets during the next two months to buy presents, and who knows what I’m going to do about the parties.

I’m contemplating buying lottery tickets in the hopes that I have a financial windfall. Fingers crossed!

I Miss Mani-Pedis

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I love a good mani-pedi. I have this great spot near my house in Georgetown that does a fabulous job, and at about $50 for a mani-pedi, it’s a pretty good price too. They even give you a back rub when you’re done – I’m a sucker for a back rub.

BUT, I started adding up the cost, and I realized I need to cut back. $50 a month for 12 months is $ 600/year. I’m not saying that I’m never going again, but I’m going to try to hold myself to once a quarter. I’m hoping that will be enough to keep my nails funk-free.

Hurricane Sandy provided a great chance for me to try out an at home manicure and pedicure. I’ve been watching my buddies at Vicky’s for years, so I’ve seen what they use on me. All happens to be available at drugstore.com and Target (oh and CVS, but buying it online is waaaay cheaper). Here are my products:

Base coat: Seche Clear

Nail Color: OPI A-Taupe the Space Needle
(Note: I prefer to buy my favorite nail colors. Even if I am getting a professional job, I take my own polish with me. That way, I can touch up any chips later on and make the work last a little longer.)

Top Coat: Essie Top Coat

I did take the time to file and buff my nails and trim the cuticle. It does take a little extra work, but I think the results look less like a home job. Then I did base, 2 coats of polish, and top coat, and here are the final results.

Not too bad if I do say so myself. If only I had my back rub…

Proof: Halloween Costumes Don’t Need to be Expensive to be Awesome

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Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. Any excuse to dress up in something ridiculous and head out on the town is a-ok with me.

This year, given my current budget strife, I needed to produce a costume on a dime. For those of you attending parties tomorrow night, I highly recommend this one. especially if you have a friend you can rope into doing it with you.

50 Shades of Grey Fan Club

Nightgown – $19.99 (TJ Maxx)

Grey tie – $9.99 (TJ Maxx)

Reading Specs – $12.99 (split between 2 people)

Curlers, fancy earrings, and book – Free from my own collection

Riding Crop – Free from a friend (don’t ask)

Grand total: $36.00

Bonus – Not only was this costume HILARIOUS and easy to put together, but it was also the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn. I highly recommend it for those who are costumeless at this late hour.

Budget Fail – Part Deux

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So my week of budget failure continues. I went to TJ Maxx today to purchase my Halloween costume, and managed to spend $67.80. Of COURSE, I picked up 2 unnecessary items including an adorable pair of sunglasses that were $7.99 (Naturalizer – who knew?!) and some lavender linen spray. Still, I shouldn’t have spent that much and to make matters worse – they double charged me for one of the items. Ugh! I didn’t notice until I got home, and there is very little hope that they will believe me when I try to reverse the charge. Grrr.

The good news is that I didn’t buy this.

In my former life, this Tory Burch coat would have been marched to the cash register as soon as I saw it. But now that I am the Discountess, I know better.

NOTE: This is still a pretty good deal for any interested Washingtonians out there, and it’s $449. Now, I realize that you can buy 6 coats for that price at LL Bean, but this is a good price for Tory.

Last one to get to the  TJ Maxx at Metro Center, is a rotten egg! Oh and there are other good Tory deals there too – definitely worth checking out!

Not-so budget vacation

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Just returned from a fabulous long weekend visiting a good friend and her fiance in L.A. I was worried about maintaining my Discountess-ness while there, and it turns out I was right to stress. Here’s my current state of affairs:

1. Shopping budget – blown. Even with the money I saved from not heating or ACing my house this month, it’s all gone.

2. Food and Drink Budget – teetering on the brink. I have about $60 left, which anyone in DC will tell you is about 3 glasses of wine until the end of the month. Sad.

3. Transportation budget – blown. That included a $40 parking stint at Dulles airport, which was the cheapest option I might add!

The good news is that I had an awesome time. My friends and I cruised Manhattan Beach and saw all the surfers. I scored this awesome pair of earrings at a local boutique called BLVD. See below.

 

 

 

We also went to this adorable bookstore (like, the old-fashioned kind that has real books and is not hosted online). And, my life will be forever changed by the discount fish tacos at this place!

I’m deeming this a cultural/vacation success, but a budgetary failure. I have 6 more days in the month, but they include a visiting friend this weekend, a Halloween party (costume needed!), and two outings for drinks with friends. We’ll see if my bank account makes it.

 

Leather Love

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I have been obsessing over leather recently. OBSESSING. But my shopping moratorium has limited my ability to buy anything, let alone leather.

I saw this Iris and Ink shirt a few weeks ago on Refinery 29. Gorgeous, and not too expensive at $230.  So, I decided to save for it.

As luck would have it it’s been pretty mild in D.C. for the last few weeks, so I haven’t needed AC or heat. Boom. Pepco money has been redirected to the shopping budget, and it just increased by 50%! Hallelujah!

BUT, my plans were foiled. The stupid top wasn’t available when I went to purchase it. GRR! I wasn’t going to let that deter me though. I’ve already planned out several new outfits with my new leather top. The horse is officially out of the barn, and I’m making this happen.

Next stop was ShopStyle.com, where I looked up other leather tops. Whaddaya know? There are TONS. I ended up buying this one from Lord & Taylor, and I’m in love.

It was originally $174, but reduced to $129.99. And a quick search of RetailMeNot.com revealed a coupon for 25% off any purchase from L&T, bringing my total to $97.49. BARGAIN.

In case you are interested, here are some other good (read SALE) options out there:

Faux Leather T – BCBG:

Brown Leather – SEE by Chloe:

Laser Cut Coral – Warehouse:

RennFest 2012

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I am now entering week 3 of living in Georgetown, but not shopping in Georgetown. I’ve been trying to find other, cheaper activities to occupy my time, so I don’t succumb to the temptation. It turns out that finding inexpensive entertainment takes some real creativity, which is how I ended up going to the Maryland Renaissance Festival on Sunday.

The real entertainment of RennFest is the people watching. It is AH-MA-ZING. It’s like going to a medieval people zoo, except none of the specimens are locked up. Seriously, you can just go and walk around and stare and you’ll be entertained­—free of charge.

The real hard-core RennFesters come in costume and act the part the entire time they’re there. We’re talking corsets, kilts, flower head dresses…the works. See example here:

Also, the food is pretty good, and not necessarily so medieval. They had gyros, chimichangas, and funnel cake. And, consistent with most fairs and festivals these days, you can pretty much get anything you want on a stick. Of course, you can also get a full smoked turkey leg which is ridiculous – especially when you watch someone eat it. Since the entry fee is $22 (6 day passes are available if you really want them), most of the food and games are subsidized too, so you’re not looking at spending a ton of cash.

Here’s my total tally of expenses:

  • Adult entry ticket – $22
  • 2 Snake Bites (half cider/half beer – they are like the pumpkin spice latte of beer drinks YUM) – $8
  • 1 Italian Sausage – $4
  • 1 Funnel cake – $5
  • Joust – FREE

Grand total for all that ridiculous fun: $39. Even better – I still have $61 left over for the rest of the month. SUCCESS.

 

 

 

Apple of My Eye

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Now that I’m back from Vegas (with $0 spent I might add!), I’m taking my weekend by storm. Today, I’m headed to a fabulous party hosted by my friend and fellow blogger of The Poe Log. The party – called Porktober™ – is the pork-themed event of the year (you can follow the party progress on Twitter @Real_Porktober). It includes a full roasted pig, bacon bar, and other pork products for all to consume.

Clearly, with such a bounty of food, I cannot show up empty-handed. In keeping with my money-saving theme, I wanted to find something that I could make that would be a) fabulous and b) free (well free-ish). So, I opted to make an apple cake. I recently got some apples after my other friend and fellow blogger of Cardigans and Couture who went apple picking and graciously shared some of her goods with me. I had all of the other ingredients on hand, so it seemed like a no-brainer. Plus, apples and pork go together like my MasterCard and Bloomingdale’s – a perfect match.

Here is the recipe courtesy of another friend and her fabulous mom. I hope it tastes as good as it looks!

Apple Cake

6-7 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

2 c. plus 6 tsp. sugar

3 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. oil (canola or vegetable)

4 eggs

½ c. orange juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 c. flour

3 ½ tsp. backing powder

Mixed sliced apples with 6 tsp. of sugar and 3 tsp. of cinnamon and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix remaining sugar, oil, juice, eggs, and vanilla. Sift flour and baking powder together and slowly add to the wet ingredients. Once combined, add in the apple slices reserving enough to layer on the top of the cake. Pour the cake into a greased and floured angel food cake pan and place it in a pre-heated 350° oven. Bake for 1 ½ hours or until a toothpick comes out clean.