Today

Today we went to the Taste. Not the Taste of Chicago, the Taste of the Town in Which We Live.

We left the house with $50.

We came back with one large inflatable hammer, one plastic sword, a play gun, a racket and ball type toy, a bloated belly, heart burn, and one henna tattoo. Oh and $6.

The end.

Impulsive Shopping

Remember a few weeks ago I bragged about all the things I didn't buy at Costco? Well, that Nikon D60 has been tempting me for months now. Every time I walk into Costco there it is - right at the entrance - all boxed up and ready to go. And from what I could tell, a pretty good deal - the camera, two lenses, a camera bag, and a memory card all for $700. But I have this issue with spending money, especially when we already have a decent camera.

Then, just after the New Year Mike got his profit sharing check from his company. Mike has warned me that this will be the last profit sharing check for a few years, because the last few months of 2008 have been slow. Anyway, right away I'm thinking of all the ways to spend the money - camera! snowblower! laser surgery! drop the kids off at Grandma's and head to Vegas! or California! Wii! WiiFit! And right away Mike wants to put it into savings to save up for a second home. (as a side note - as we were discussing our new found wealth Quinn pipes in, "Let's go back to Disney World now!")

Our final conclusion was that we would spend a small portion of it - purchase a new camera and a snow-blower. Both things we've been wanting for a few years now. (We were also thinking of buying Wii, but really, do we need it? Not really. I promised myself I wouldn't get the boy's video games until they were older - like 8 or 9 or something.) The rest of the money will be going into a separate savings account (separate from our checking and other saving's accounts) and will begin a collection for our vacation home.

And although I already knew what kind of camera I wanted - I wanted to ask others just to make sure. I was happy to find that it was listed on Steve's Digicams website as one of the "best cameras". I was also happy to hear from a few of you that you either have that camera or one similar. The consensus seemed to be, that no matter what, I'd be happy with either the Nikon or the Canon, but that I need an SLR (this we knew).

And so today I braved the snow and the toddler and headed out to Costco while Quinn was at preschool. Anxious as all heck to get myself a new camera. I walked in the door looking for what has tempted me my last 5 visits.




And it wasn't there.










No worries, though. I just ordered it online!

And the money keeps finding it's way out of my pockets...

So last week Jennifer left a comment on this post - the post where I talked about going to a Cub's game. She said something about the only way she'd go to Wrigley is if they were playing the Cardinals. And I thought, hey, I love to meet new people, especially people I feel I have a lot in common with, and so I looked up when the Cubs would be hosting the Cardinals and invited her to come to the Big City and watch the Cardinals LOSE to the Cubs. (okay - my invite was a little nicer, but now my husband has made me promise to cheer for the Cubs, and since he cheered for the White Sox while they were in the process of winning the World Series, I figured I might as well fake it as a Cub's fan for him.) Anyway - she accepted my invitation and so began the mad rush to get tickets. Of course all tickets sold through the Cub's website were sold out - it's only one of the biggest rivalries the Cub's have. And so I turned to Stub Hub - where people who hold season ticket's can sell them for outrageous prices to saps like me - who just want to have a good time. After a few days of trying to figure out if this would really happen I got the go ahead from Jennifer to order the tickets for Saturday's game. BUT WAIT - holy shit - those prices went up and there's no seats with 4 next to each other - actually the only seats I see have 1 seat, nobody could sit together - and those were expensive. So we looked into Sunday's game and with many frantic emails "1st baseline or 3rd baseline" "infield or outfield" "Shit - the seats I was just looking at are gone." "Is xxx too much money?" "Okay, I'm getting them." "Okay - done - but wow, that's expensive." I got the tickets ordered. And now we're both freaking out just a little, I think Jennifer is planning on paying me with one dollar bills she's going to stash away between now and Aug. 10th so that her husband doesn't know the true amount these tickets have cost. At least when he looks at the tickets the price on there is LESS than the commission amount StubHub took when we ordered the tickets. The price on the tickets is about 80% less than the amount we paid per ticket. Yeah - um, but it'll be fun, won't it?

I think that should say, "That's Right...You just paid a shitload of money for these tickets."

There they are - four seats, all together. Nice and safe on my kitchen table.
Wait, I think I better go move them.

***Also we're planning on meeting up with some other bloggers in the Chicagoland area after the game for some pizza (I think!) and beer (for sure!). If you'd like to join us let me know!

Exposing the Truth Behind $25 Saving Coupons

Okay. So we've all fallen for these sales, right? The "Spend $50 now, and we'll give you a $25 savings coupon (or whatever it is called) to use in a week or so." The catch - you have to spend at least $50 in order to use the coupon when you come back. But still, it doesn't sound that bad, does it? Now let's do some math, shall we?

So - first trip to the store you spend $50, but let's be honest, it's impossible to spend exactly $50, so let's round up to $55.
Then - the next trip you NEED to spend another $50 in order to use that savings coupon you were rewarded with a few days/weeks ago. But of course, it's impossible to spend exactly $50, so let's round up to $55.
So - we have $110 in STUFF and we saved $25 off of that $110. That means you save 23% off of ALL your purchases. But really, unless you really needed all the stuff you scrambled to buy (to reach the $50 goal), that's not a huge sale, nothing to write home about, anyway.

Even if you happen to be able to find good deals on STUFF while this sale is going on, then you might feel like you're saving a lot more money, but it'll still be around 23-25% off. And that's just if you stay close to the $50 goal - if you go above that without reaching $100 - you're actually getting even a less of a deal. Usually, when you reach $100 (the first time), you'll be rewarded with TWO $25 savings coupons, to be used later - and at that later time you'll need to spend $50 for EACH coupon, so again, you'd only save about 25% off of your STUFF. So unless you really need more STUFF, then is it really worth it? I tend to think these sales get you to buy STUFF that you really don't need, just to reach the goal and "save big"!

This place is beautiful!

Last night we went out to eat at Brio. Oh how I love Brio, until we get the bill, and then I think, "Why does all the really good food have to come from really expensive restaurants?" Anyway, it was our first time there with the kiddos and when Quinn walked into the restaurant he exclaimed, "Oh! This place is sooooo beautiful!" Maybe we should vary his restaurant experience from the mall eatery, McDonald's, Ed's, and Omega (like Denny's). But then again we walk out of those places not feeling like we just spent a week's worth of grocery money for One Meal.

What's Your Fettish?

Last night while out with some friends I found that I may not have a fettish. One friend LOVES to by coats and has about 15. Last year she purchased 5 coats before Christmas. Another friend LOVES to buy shoes...and did not state how many she has. I'm not sure what I could consider my fettish...it's hard for me to spend money on things - I love to look at purses and would like to have a whole collection. Maybe that's what it would be if I could spend the money.
Oh...but I do love Robeez. They're shoes for Quinn and so cute and comfortable and he cannot kick them or pull them off. He only has three pairs, one of which he has out grown already. I was tempted today to by him another pair, but resisted the urge. The pair here on the left is his newest...he also has a pair with bears on them and a pair with octopi on them. The octopi ones he outgrew after the summer.