Friday, June 15, 2012

all made up

I think I've discovered July's challenge - no going to Target unless absolutely necessary (like for food). I cannot go into that store without dropping the big bucks. See this post for an example. Or just keep reading.

Last night, I stopped by after work to pick up three Father's Day cards. I walked out with $70 worth of stuff. Now about $30 of that was food related (our favorite DiGiorno's & chicken was on sale) and $10 I actually spent on cards (note to self: discuss later how ridiculously inflated card prices are). Which still leaves me with $30 of over-spending on stuff I probably didn't need.

Three of the items I bought were new skin care products (cleanser, scrub, & moisturizer). About a year ago, I started having a tough time with my skin. In the time since, I've tried just about every product on the market - natural, chemical, homemade - you name it, it probably was on my face at some point. Target had the Aveeno line of products on sale and they had a new line I (somehow) hadn't tried - Smart Essentials - made to combat "environmental toxins and a hectic lifestyle...resulting in noticeably stressed skin". While I don't think I have a hectic lifestyle, per sey, I do have stressed skin, which in turn is stressing me out! All in all, I spent about $25 on the three products, though they did throw in a bonus trial size of their brightening moisturizer.

The night wasn't all about spending though. After I returned home, I realized I hadn't cleaned my makeup brushes in a loooong time which I'm sure wasn't helping my skin. I did some googling (actually some Pinterest-ing) and found a 'recipe' of sorts for a DIY Makeup Brush Cleaner. It worked really well, too well actually, I had to change the water my bowl once because it was so gross. What I used:
  • 1 cup of water
  • 2 tablespoons of white vinegar
  • two squirts of 7th Generation dish soap (didn't have any others on hand- though most diy cleaners suggest using Dawn blue)
  • a few shakes of tea tree oil (already had it on hand - bought it awhile ago for about $10)
I swooshed my brushes around in the water for about 30 seconds, then ran them under hot/warm water for a few more to get the cleaning solution out, and laid them flat on a towel to dry. I learned you shouldn't leave the brushes upright to dry because the water will erode the glue which holds your bristles on! Not that I have super fancy makeup brushes.. but it wouldn't do me (or my bank account) any favors to have to buy new ones. Now I need to get in the habit of cleaning them regularly.
Anyone else have a favorite homemade cleaning recipe?

Monday, June 11, 2012

little green notebook

No, you don't need to re-wipe the crusties from your eyes (although you might want to), this really is a blog entry. Unfortunately, since the last time we spoke, nothing exciting has come to pass, either financially or otherwise. However, I knew I needed to fill you all in on my May challenge - documenting each outgoing dollar on paper - and not just reviewing it later in my bank statements.

I'm happy to report that I was successful, for the most part, in writing everything down. The weekends were the hardest and sometimes I would need to log into my online banking to review the previous days expedentures, but I did it. I'm not sure it helped me spend any less per sey, but it did make me more aware of my spending which has carried over into this month. It definitely wasn't as hard or burdensome as I made it out to be and it was pretty much second nature by the end of the month.

Just by doing a quick  flip through, my biggest expenses was Molly-related items (two vet visits, day care, food, etc), gas, and eating out... there were a lot of birthdays in May, and therefore a lot of celebrating. Nothing was budget-busting, but I probably could've planned it a little better. Luckily, June looks like it'll be a bit easier to digest.

We're halfway into the month, so it's a bit late for a monthly challenge, but if you have any suggestions for a July financial challenge, I'd love to hear them! It keeps things interesting (and keeps me blogging!).