Mid December Blues

So it has been 16 days since I begun this adventure. I still have not bought anything for myself. I know it is hard to imagine but I am still going strong.

So this weekend went through Ayden's baby clothes and got 2 bags ready for the consignment stores. I brought Ayden's cloth diapers which had became to small for him to Blueberry Baby. I had 10 of them and priced them between $10 - $15. They were in good condition and the store owner told me to price them that way. If they sell I will get 60% credit towards a purchase at Blueberry Baby. I already have in mind what I will get, there are these hand knitted shoes that are so cute for Ayden but about $30. We will see in 3 months or so if everything sold.

I also went through my pantry and refrigerator and threw away all the expired products and organized it so I would know what was in there. We have tons of canned good and pasta products that we will need to use.

I also went through my entire lingerie chest and organized it. I have 1 drawer entirely filled with swimsuits (2 look acceptable and all the others don't quite fit like they used to). I have 2 drawers filled with flannel pants and pajamas. I also have 1 drawer for bras, 1 for underwear, and 1 for slips, etc, and 1 for nylons and tights. At least 25% of these items still have tags on them. I can not think of anything I particulary need. In fact I have 2-3 of essential items such as black tights, nude bra's, etc.

I also went to Once Upon a Child. They are quite unpredictable, sometimes I make out good and get $50-$60 or sometimes I just get $10 for what he has outgrown. Yesterday I was able to pick up a check for $35 for a rather large gift bag full of his outgrown clothes. However, I really believe they are random because some of the expensive items that were in there they did not end up taking. That check will get mailed and deposited in my bank account.

So let me tell you about the massive amounts of mail I have been receiving. For about the last week I have gotten 2-3 catalogs in the mail each day with enticing offers from 10% - 30% off my purchase or free shipping. I have managed to leaf through all these catalogs and have not purchased anything either. Jcrew had some tempting items in it though and I do have a old gift card with about $20 on it from a previous return.

I also returned my vacuum that Joe bought me. It was a electrolux upright carpet sweeper type vacuum and it was over $100 but I was completely disappointed with its performance. I brought it back to Home Depot where the associate was really nice and took about 30 minutes looking for the vacuum and finally told me that they do not carry that brand and I should probably go to Lowe's. I dragged the vacuum to Lowe's and they were amazed at my crazy vacuum which would only turn off once you disabled it (the power off button was broken) They gave me a store credit for $110 because I did not have my receipt. I probably will end up losing this gift card before I am able to spend it but we will see.

Tonight I will be packing for my trip. I will need to bring both summer and winter clothes because we are going on a cruise to the Caribbean and also going to visit my parents in Massachusetts. This will be especially challenging because I will be in the metro area during the after Christmas sales.

8 days later

Well it is 8 days later. The reason why I haven't posted is because I have been super busy.

Last week was absolutely crazy at work, but fortunately my NCOIC SFC Harvey is finally back from Iraq. I also got orders to pcs to New Jersey which I am not entirely thrilled about.

So last week I managed to avoid shopping with my own money at least. I was helping with our holiday ball and I got to go shopping with that money. Of course I had help and we used tons and tons of 40% off coupons at both Michael's and Jo Anns which made it all the better.

So let's get back to the ball . . . We were given the option to wear a dress or our uniform. I had both with me. At the last minute I decided to wear a dress.

Now, I am sure you are wondering how I managed to do this if I am not spending any money? Well I could have used the loophole and purchased a dress because one of my original stipulations was I could buy things I needed for work and a dress would be just that. But I didn't. On the Army post that we live at there is a After 5 Boutique where you can borrow dresses.

I am sure all you readers are rolling your eyes and have already made up your mind that clearly I have found the mecca where all 1980s prom dresses go to die. Well I happened to find a brand new dress, if I can figure out how to post a picture I will. I wore my new shoes that I bought for my uniform and jewellery that I dropped some serious cash on in Qatar (see previous post). So this ball ended up being no cost to me. However I did lend some parts of my uniform out to a few folks that either forgot or randomly lost a award somewhere between the front door of the hotel and the banquet room.

I did have some old dresses, which now have a new home at the After 5 Boutique. For the other ball I went to I also wore an old dress, which was a pre pregnancy dress (kudos to me) and my new patent red high heels. One of the reasons why I have sworn off shopping for the year.

This past week I also received in the mail my Nordstrom's and Gap Bills which had coupons in each. There was a $20 Nordstrom Note and a $20 gap reward. I think I will give those to my mother or buy someone else something with them.

That is all for now

Meegs