How do you gift card?

As I mentioned last week, a $50 L.L. Bean gift card was among the losses I took when my car was broken into… or so I thought! As it turns out, the card my grandfather gifted me for Christmas was in my room all along (sorry thieves, no sweaters or monogrammed luggage for you!). Seeing as things can disappear so quickly, I figured now would be as good of time as any to use that sucker up.

When I receive a gift card there are usually a few things that I think about before taking the plunge on a purchase:

*Is it on the “Looking For” list? If I’m planning on purchasing something anyways, why not use someone else’s money?

$74.99

As sad as it is, the only warm winter jacket I have is from high school.

$39.50

With all the time we spend outside, a cooler has become a big necessity! Plus, at this price, I have enough extra to do a monogram!

*Am I making up reasons to buy this? With the funds in my hand, it’s easy to convince myself that I need certain things. Sometimes I don’t really have anything that I could use from the store in question. At that point, it’s probably better to either wait for new merchandise to come in or trade the card in for a store that I’m more likely to find something at.

$40

As great as it would be to have a Camelback, I don't know if I would buy it so that I could use it on a hike or if I would be going on a long hike just to use it...

*Should I save it for a rainy day? When it comes to retail or restaurant cards, it’s nice to have a little fun money laying around for the times I’m on a spending freeze. A negative to doing this is that you might never end up using that manicure gift certificate (d’oh!).

*Could I go to another store for less? Even with free money, I wouldn’t buy sheets from Macy’s if I knew that Marshalls had the same quality for half the price.

$22.50

I'm in the market for a cute umbrella... but I could do better than $23.

*Am I spending money that I wouldn’t have otherwise? Isn’t it funny how you start out with a gift, but end up using money out of your own pocket?

$69

These weatherproof flats would make rainy days so much more fun, but would cost me an additional $20 plus shipping.

*How can I stretch the funds? Usually, I’m all about using my card along with any sale or promotion that a company offers. Three shirts for the price of one… count me in!

$16.99

Under $20 for a cute swim cover-up... so tempting!

I know, I over think shopping sometimes… but it usually helps me make the most out of my money! How do you gift card: are you a splurger (J.Crew card for cashmere mittens) or practical spender (Visa gift cards on groceries)? P.S. What do you think I should buy?

Reality Bites

I was so, so naive back when I finished up my bathroom reno. I loved the idea of a simple white soap dish with a fresh, clean bar of soap; it would be so hotel chic…

or not.

Enter my friend Tilex and

my new $4 soap pump from Marshalls...

and a nice little swap was made.

I found myself using the glass shelf to catch my necklaces on as I went to bed at night so adding the soap dish was the perfect way to reuse my purchase. Speaking of soap dishes, check out the dish turned glasses holder in this bedroom reveal (cute, right?).

So, when did reality sink in after one of your projects? Other than soap dishes, what else should I not try in my home?

Rockin' the Resolutions

It's the first week of February and we all know that means it's time to reflect on the resolutions we all blogged about in December/ January. I might be a bit biased, but I must say that I get an A+ for my work on the thrifty resolutions I made for 2010...

1. Solve the great coupon conundrum:
Well we all know that I solved it not once, but two times (unfortunately). We'll see if I'm still keeping up with the new system six months from now.

2. Sign up for a rewards program:

Nate and I had been talking about getting a joint credit card for our expenses for a while so this was the perfect opportunity to sign up for a rewards card. After looking at the many options, we went with this card. With no annual fee, 2% cash back on grocery and gas, and 1% cash back on everything else, it was a good choice for us. While some other cards might offer great rewards in gift cards, this will actually put some cash in our hands at the end of the year.

source

Before you worry about the fact that two unmarried people are sharing expenses on a credit card, let me explain how we are working out the payment details... The card is in Nate's name so technically he is the one responsible for paying the balance. He owes me a rent check each month (since I own the house we live in) so he just deducts my half of the monthly credit card balance and gives me a check for the difference. I pay for all of the house related bills on my own so his monthly contribution always comes in the form of one lump sum.

I'm happy with the rewards that we're earning jointly (already over $7 in the past few weeks), but I still feel like the other personal charges I'm making could be earning me money as well so I plan on possibly looking into a personal card in the next few months.

3. Spend less on the house and more on school:
I'm happy to say that this resolution doesn't necessarily have to happen! Like I mentioned in this post, my company has offered to pay for my master's degree (tuition and books) and I will no longer have to funnel all of my extra cash into paying for it myself. What will I do with the $800-1,000 I planned on putting towards school per month? Well, some will go into house projects (new appliances and windows), some will be put aside for the future, and some will go to fun (I would love to go on a real vacation this year!).

Wow, I feel so accomplished already! I guess this means I'll have more energy to put into The Ten Party Project. Speaking of which, I think I might postpone the potluck party to week two of the Olympics. I didn't send out any invites yet (with all of the hectic car break-in stuff) and I just don't feel like I have the time to get everything organized in one week. If I'm changing the date, do you think I should go with a weekday evening or a weekend? When would you be most happy to attend a potluck?

How much did your break-in cost?

Thanks so much for all of the supportive words this week! You all are the best!! The break-in put me in a total funk, but thanks to that emergency fund and several phone calls, I've sorted most everything out.

So, I’ve broken down the costs of my hair , face, pet, tree, and transportation... why not look at what that pesky car break-in ended up costing me? I know, I must like making myself suffer or something... ;)

Imagine: You've just run 13 miles, it's 38 degrees outside, drizzling, and you get back to the parking lot to find your car with a broken window...

New car window:
With the temperatures in the 40's and drizzly, I was not excited about driving around with a gaping hole in my car. I wanted to get the window taken car of asap so I called the dealership first. They must have the supplies on hand, right? At $350 and an estimate of three days to get the window in stock, I wasn't sold. The next place I called (Glass Doctor) not only had the window, but also said that they could come to my house and replace it in the next hour!
$235

Thrifty tip: Prevent your car from being broken into by keeping it as neat and tidy as possible. I thought the bags, towels, and tennis rackets would convince a thief that the lump under my jacket was just more mess, but they took the risk anyways. Think about how upsetting it would be if someone broke your window just because they thought your purse was somewhere in your mess.

New locks for house:
Someone had my home address (driver's license) and house keys... the cost of new locks was worth the feeling of security.
$80 (I might return one $25 lock later)

Cash:
I'm so glad that I don't carry cash!
$0

Replacements:
*Driver's license~ $10
*Wallet~ $15
*Coupon organizer~ $5
Is it sad that this is one of the first two things I was upset about losing was my brand new organizer? Nate thought about it too, "our Subway 2-for-1 coupons were in there!" After borrowing a little cash from Nate, I ran over to Marshall's and snagged a new one.

I just might like this one more!

Yep, labeled and ready to go. No thief is going to keep me down!!

*Gift card~ $0 Thanks to the great people at Rogue (local running store), my stolen $100 gift card will be canceled and replaced without a problem!
Thrifty tip: If you lose a gift card, call to see if you can replace it by scanning the credit card it was purchased with.

*Credit cards, checkbook, debit card~ $0 I might have to wait 5-7 business days for the replacements to come in, but I'll be happily live off of Nate until then :).

Grand total: $345 (ouch!)

The $$$ total doesn't tell the entire story; there are a few losses I'm taking as a result of the break-in. The things I won't be replacing are:
Camera~ $270 (Nate is letting me use his point and shoot)

I'll miss you old buddy, we went through so much together!

Purse~ $30 That's what backups are for, right?
Cell phone~ $0 Thanks to my old backup and a new SIM card, I'm set.
Thrifty Tip: Don't forget to freeze your phone account! People love placing international calls on stolen phones!!

Misc. pens, chapstick, etc~ I have plenty of these things as well.
Jewelry~ $40 *Sigh* I'll miss that necklace :(.

What did the thieves get out of this? There wasn't any cash in the wallet, but they did get away with charging about $80 on two different credit cards. Oh, and there was that $50 L.L. Bean gift card (if they're into that kind of thing) {Edit: the card was in a different purse!}. My camera was inside the purse, but the charger wasn't so they'll have to buy one if they want to use it and pawning it will be really risky considering I've submitted a police report. Really, unless they love coupon organizing or my taste in purses, the total amount they've walked away with is less than the price I paid to get a new window! Honestly, why not just go into the window business instead??

So, here's where I usually ask how much your break-in cost, but really who (other than me?) wants to relive that sort of thing? Instead, this might be a good moment to look at what you carry in your purse daily. So, how much would you lose if your purse was stolen?

Edit: I forgot to mention another thrifty tip on purse theft... always check the surrounding streets, bushes, trash cans, etc for your belongings. Often, people just go for the money and toss the rest as they leave the scene. (I wasn't so lucky this time.)

Car Break-In

My window was broken and purse stolen (wallet, credit cards, driver's license, checkbook, house keys, phone, camera...) while I went out for a run on the city hike and bike trail. I thought the purse was well hidden, but someone obviously knew it was there.

I'm busy canceling my cards, freezing my phone account, buying new locks for my house, and ordering a replacement window. I’ll be back blogging once I’ve sorted this whole thing out and found a new camera to take pictures with.

I suppose you might say that I have "a case of the Mondays."

20 Minutes + Boxes

I'm loving the boxes.

Unimpressed? Check out the before:

Yes, seriously. I told you Nate brought in a major amount of stuff (see all of those spirals from his college courses that he just had to keep). It's crazy how much smaller piles get when you organize them into boxes (one other box of stuff moved to another room).

I can't decide which layout I like the best...

What do you think... 1, 2, 3, or 4?

Oh, and I can't forget to give a shout-out to Lauren of Life Uncluttered for giving me the Sugardoll Award earlier this week! Go checkout her blog; it's too cute!!