Frugality

I am not a cheap person.  I like to indulge, oh boy, can I indulge.  My love for indulging has forced me to realize that if I want to indulge, I have to be frugal.  One of the top lessons I have learned as an adult is that I have to prioritize my expenses.  Would I rather have a new Louis Vuitton purse or go on a second vacation in a year?  Would I rather have a new fence installed in my backyard or go out to a grand dinner at a new hotspot?  You know you are an old person when your answer is: Fence!!  I want the fence!

Here are some of my favorite lessons on how to be frugal without being a cheap ass:

1.  Energy Saving = Money Saving.  Duh, right.  I remember when I was in elementary school they did this whole "energy awareness" thing where they  handed out books about a girl whose parents got mad at her because she always left lights on and left the water running when she was brushing her teeth.  What a bitch!  Now that I pay my own energy bills, I have converted all of my lights to CFL bulbs and try to keep lights off as much as possible.  Candlelight is so much more soothing.  I also turn the heat and air conditioning temps down (or up) at night and during the day while we are gone.  Right now, our heat goes down to 62 degrees at night and during the day and up to 68 degrees when we are at home in the evening and on weekends.  During the winter, this saves us about $50 per month.  Another thing that I try to do is unplug appliances when not in use.  This is one of those things that I often forget about, but apparently it can make a difference in your energy bill.  I've never noticed a huge difference when I've done this, though.

2. Desk lunch.  Bringing a lunch to work can be a real drag.  Sometimes I just don't feel like packing anything up and other days I just don't want to eat anything that we have in the house.  When I started wedding planning, I knew that I had to save money somehow and I resolved to only go out for lunch once a week.  I've stuck to this for at least a year and have to say that I can see the difference in my savings account.  It's still a struggle some days.  Eating at your desk can be lonely.  I live for that one day when I get to go to a restaurant and socialize.

3. Credit Card Rewards.  There are lots of credit card rewards programs that offer shoppers little incentives.  My credit card allows you to earn points towards travel vouchers or restaurant/clothing store/gas station gift certificates.  There are the famous airline credit cards for frequent fliers.  My husband's credit card has an amazing reward that for every $2500 you spend and pay off you get a $25 gift card.  We usually use these gift cards on our grocery bills and the combination of those gift cards and our wedding gift cards, we have paid maybe $20/week for groceries for the past three months.  It's definitely worth investigating all of the different reward programs to see if one will work for you.

4.  Pre-gift buying.  I start thinking about gift-giving way in advance of the celebration day.  For Christmas, I keep a list of people I need to buy for and ideas.  I usually start looking at this list in September and try to have ideas for everyone by October 1.  That way I can try to find the items on sale or take advantage of coupons.  I usually can get really great gifts on a limited budget.  I also utilize websites such as Rue La La and Groupon to stock up on gifts for birthdays or other occasions.  Having a stockpile of fun gifts for people makes my life a lot easier.

5.  Ebates.  If you don't use ebates, you are selling yourself short.  Har har.  Seriously, though, ebates is amazing.  Go to ebates.com and sign up if you don't have an account with them.  There are hundreds of retail websites that use ebates and they each have a different percentage off.  So, if I want to buy something at JCrew, I got to ebates first, search for JCrew and go to the JCrew website through the ebates site.  Currently the JCrew website gets 3.0% cash back.  After you make your purchase, your ebates account is credited.  Every four months, a check is sent to your home with the total of your cash back.  After Christmas this year, I received $85 cash back because I did all of my shopping online.  It really pays off, as long as you don't forget to go to the ebates website first before you start your online shopping.  I have forgotten this dozens of times!

6.  Track your spending.  I don't really budget, but I have a set dollar amount that I want to save each month.  I then track every penny spent on a spreadsheet so that I can make sure I can save my goal.  For me, this makes me think about each purchase that I make.  Before I splurge on something, or even before I buy a $10 frame at Target, I have to stop and think about whether I really want it or whether I'd rather see an extra $10 saved that month. 

7.  Big box stores.  When Mike and I moved in together, we talked about getting a Sam's Club membership.  One of the big arguments against it was that why do two people need to buy things in bulk?  Eventually we got a membership and it has saved us a lot of money.  We buy all of our cleaning supplies, household necessities and more packaged foods (like oatmeal, granola bars, nuts, spices) at Sam's.  They are ridiculously cheaper than at other stores.  Plus, it saves me from a lot of extra trips to Target.  I used to have to go to Target at least once a week for some household item, now I go to Sam's maybe once a month. 

8.  Spare change.  Mike and I have a central spot where we dump our spare change.  It's a big tupperware bowl in our spare bedroom.  Once that sucker gets full we take it to the bank and cash it in.  Usually it's about $70+ and we maybe take it to the bank twice a year.  What we've done in the past is take it in right before we go on a vacation and use it as spending money. 

Those are my (not so) original ways that I save my pennies.  The only thing I love more than watching my bank account grow is a chocolate frosted donut.

Gran Fiesta Tour

One of my long held beliefs is that the Mexico pavilion at Epcot Center leaves a little something to be desired.  They recently added a large restaurant right outside the main building that is decent.  As a kid, I once begged my mom to let us eat at the "fancy" restaurant that is inside the big Mayan temple building and sits along the River of Time.  She relented and the dinner was a big disappointment - flavorless and oniony. 

The only bonus to the Mexican pavilion is that there is a ride inside the temple building.  The ride used to be super dorky and I thought that there was not a chance in hell the ride could be made dorkier.  WRONG! 

A few years back, the ride was updated to include Donald Duck and his singing duck companions.  Together I guess they make the Three Caballeros?  I'm not big into the Disney cartoons, so I have no idea if this is a real thing?  Or just a thing that was made up for the ride. 

The "grand" result is that it's the exact same ride, using the same photos and videos from the early 1980's, except now there is a cartoon duck over the photo doing silly things.  I don't know if kids will find this amusing.  For adults, just visit the La Cava del Tequila first and then you will probably find it a gas.  Me, most of the ride I'm staring at the scenes thinking "What in the hell is going on here?"  I still don't quite understand if the point of the scenes is that Donald Duck is running away from the other two caballeros because he's afraid of performing.  Does Donald Duck have performance anxiety?

The only saving grace is one of the final scenes where there is a "It's A Small World" type fiesta with only Mexican children dancing around and there are fireworks on the wall.  Those make me feel good because I'm a Fourth of July baby.

This ride is pretty terrible.  1 out of 5 or 3 out of 10 stars.  Suck city.

Lazy Girl's Workout

Since turning 30, I have learned a horrible secret.  When you get older, a moment on the lips can actually mean a lifetime on the hips.  Biology is no joke, my metabolism basically shut off when I turned 30.  It sucks. 

I've never really been one to formally workout.  I have never had a gym membership.  I hate the idea of spending money on fitness and I prefer to spend time with friends and family rather than in the gym.  This doesn't mean I never work out.  I go to community ed yoga/pilates classes and during the warmer months I love nothing more than long walks and hikes with my cutie Kirby.  Let's look at a picture of the sweetheart. 

He makes my world better.  Okay, so back to being lazy and working out.  Like I said I don't really like working out, but now that my metabolism has crapped out I have to fit in burning calories somehow.  Here's some simple little things that I do to try and burn more calories throughout my day:

1.  Standing as much as possible.  This is kind of a new thing for me, but I actually have been enjoying the rewards of it.  Have you heard of standing desks?  Well, I have and would like one at my desk, but due to the cost it's currently out of the question.  Which is a bummer, but I have taken to doing some of my daily tasks while standing.  I have researched and found lots of different information as to exactly how many calories an hour standing will burn, but the average is 100.  Sitting is around 70 calories per hour.  So, just that little bit will burn you an extra 30 calories per hour. 
2.  Short walks.  When my mom and I were last in Disneyworld, she wore an odometer, or whatever those things are called that count your steps.  We were walking an average of 13,000 steps per day.  And we were eating crap.  And I lost weight.  So, steps matter.  I try to find little tasks at work that will take me on a walk.  For instance, whenever I have mail I always take it to the furthest mail bin that I can find to get a little walk in.  I also pace, which could be it's own separate category.  Sometimes when I am thinking, I like to pace and lately I've been doing it for the calories burned benefit as well.  It's a nervous habit, but stressed out people are usually thin.
3.  Staying on my feet after work.  Sometimes when I get home from work it's really easy to just sit on the couch and watch TV until Mike gets home.  Lately, I have been avoiding this bad habit and staying on my feet until at least after we are done with dinner.  My routine is to feed the dog, take him outside on a short walk to go to the bathroom, then start dinner and do any little chores that need to be completed.  When Mike gets home we eat and then, weather permitting, take Kirby on a long evening walk.  Again, it sounds really dumb, but I have found on those days when I fall into the TV trap, my waistline feels it.
4.  Weigh-in every morning.  I weigh myself every morning.  EVERY MORNING!  I like to know exactly what food does to my poundage.  I think this is a good way to figure out what you can eat during the day.  For instance if I have gained a pound from the day before, I know to cut back on my snacking throughout the day or increase a workout in order to get back to my base weight.
5.  Five-pound weights.  One of my problem areas is my arms and back.  I always gain more weight in these areas and right now I'm feeling majorly top heavy.  I try to do simple arm exercises every day with five-pound weights in order to tone up those key areas.  They are simple to do and you can do them while watching TV, which is a huge bonus for me.  With more toned arms, I feel better in sleeveless and summery clothes.  Planks also help, but you can't do those while watching The Real Housewives.

I'm always trying to find good cheats to working out.  My grandma was (and still is) tiny and she never had a gym membership, but she does stay on her feet all day every day.  Just another useful thing I can learn from my grandma. 

Moving Towards Transition

Sometimes Christmas can get the best of a person...as it did me this year.  Prior to our wedding, which was October 19, things were crazy busy.  I was overwhelmed.  People kept asking how they could help or what tasks they could do, but it wasn't the amount of things it was a general feeling of disorganization and the sense that there was no way to organize it. 

The absolute worst day for me was the day before our wedding.  Our house was an absolute disaster.  We had one of Mike's coworkers staying at our house the night of the wedding to take care of Kirby.  Mike's friends were going to be getting ready at our house prior to the wedding.  One of Mike's good friends was going to be staying at our house the week after the wedding while we were on our honeymoon.  I was mortified that these people were going to see my house.  I can't even explain the mortification of it.  It is something that I actually have to repress deep down inside of me and totally forget because the pain of remembering how dirty our house was and how many people saw it like that might kill me.  At the time, though, there was no time for me to clean it.  I was working full-time, nights were taken up with wedding appointments; it was a disaster. 

Before the wedding I kept thinking that once we were back from San Francisco, everything would calm down and I could just spend my nights and weekends nesting away.  This just didn't happen.  My days at work were spent in frantic disarray.  Work was busy.  I came in early, left late and didn't take lunch breaks.  Then I went on a girls' weekend trip.  Mid-November, Mike was gone for a week long training in Alabama and I decided to deep clean the house.  Serenity now.  Right?  Wrong.

When Mike got back I realized that Christmas was a mere month away.  Our thank you cards were not finished, I hadn't even considered Christmas gifts for anyone, only a few wedding gifts were put away, work was still busy...  This started a month long frenzy of the holidays.  I worked long hours at finishing the thank you cards.  Almost immediately afterwards I started working on our Christmas cards.  I spent two days ordering multiple gifts online only to have some orders not go through or others be back ordered.  We put up our holiday decorations, but still had stacks of boxes of wedding presents that needed to be put away. 

What I'm trying to get at is that my soul is exhausted.  The last few months have been the best as I've been enjoying newlywed bliss, but all of that fun and excitement has left me tired and aching for calm.  I've spent the beginning of this month in various states of relaxation and it's been nice.  Slowly I've been getting my motivation back and I'm feeling better about tackling life.  Yay! 

Me No Spell Good

I was at an awards banquet recently and this cracked me up.  Obviously this wasn't a Spelling Bee.

Kali River Rapids

 I'm going to do something kind of unethical today.  I'm going to review a Disney ride that I've never been on before.  How do you feel about that?  I feel fine.

Kali River Rapids is a water ride at Animal Kingdom.  I just don't feel the water rides, something about them doesn't appeal to me.  Plus, I've seen the people coming off of Kali River Rapids and they are SOAKED.  Dripping wet and having to try to dry off their clothes with the hand dryers in the rest room.  So, even on the hottest days I've passed.  Although, in 90 degree Florida weather, it's awfully tempting and would probably feel refreshing.

I've always been curious what it's like inside there.  This guy looks like he's having fun:

The ladies in the blue, however, seem miserable.  Where are your ponchos girls?  Maybe I'd try this one out if I was wearing a dorky poncho.  MAYBE.



I guess this isn't so much of a review as a warning.  Do not go on this ride if you don't like having wet underwear.  That is all. 

Do You See What I See?

Weirdest Christmas decoration EVER.  What the eff is going on here?  How does this stuff pass through quality control?  Because this decoration was actually found at a very upscale store where snowman fellatio does not fly.

I would be great at quality control because I can spot innuendo a mile away.  You can't tell me that the creator of this piece didn't know what they were doing.  They always know.  Besides, what is the alternative here?  That someone created a sculpture of a snowman making another snowman?