IT MAKES "CENTS" TO ME for MONDAY - DECEMBER 22nd

Hi everyone,

How are you? I've got a little bit of a cold, which has made working this crazy retail season a little challenging. I am resting a lot and drinking lots of fluids.  Thankfully, I'm making it so far :)

Have you noticed that gas prices have been dropping in your area? I have. I haven't been keeping track of prices, but I think gas is less than $3 a gallon in my area.  I was at exactly a half tank of gas.  So I drove to Whole Foods, bought a Sunday paper and got $20 cash back to fill up the tank...and based on my previous experience at the gas station, I "knew" that $20 wouldn't fill it up. Well, I guess there's a first time for everything.  Not only was the $20 more than enough. It only cost me $17 to fill up a half-tank and get it above the "full" line.

Here's a pic of me looking across the street at another gas station and thinking, I really am glad to have money to put gas in the car.  Now I have $3 dollars left over. What will I do with it? I will put it into my cash envelope and specifically the one marked for "gasoline"...so I'll have a fund ready to go for the next time I need to fill up.

After work, I needed to do a little bit of shopping. One thing I always ask myself lately is 1)Do I really need it? 2) Is there something I have at home that can fulfill the "need" that I have until I can afford to pay for the item I want?  Well, I had two things on my list - new heavy duty black socks to wear while I"m at work and a contour make-up brush. 

I decided the contour make-up brush could wait, because I have another brush that can serve the same purpose. However, I really needed the socks. They seem to get lost all on their own.  I ended up buying a set of 6 pairs of Gold Toe heavy duty cotton black socks. They are guys socks, but I love them because they're so comfortable. It's the perfect thing to put on my feet when I'm spending all day on the sales floor at work. It makes being on my feet so much easier. When my feet are comfortable, I can work better :)

This is what I ended up purchasing last night after work.

I needed the socks and I knew that I'd get my 20% employee discount. What I forgot about is that they were also eligible with a 20% off coupon. The socks originally cost $20 for  set of six. With taxes it would have cost $21.50. When I got to the register, the associate reminded me that I could use a coupon. That was a really nice surprise. That's $4 extra dollars that I saved....that translates to eggs, bread, or some coffee or a gallon of gas...or something like that...so with the coupon and my employee discount, it ended up only costing me $13.76 with tax.

That represents a savings of 36% off of the original price. I'm happy with that.  I'm very happy with that :) :) 


What are some things that you've saved money on lately that brought a smile to your face? 

Oh, after work, I went for an ocean drive with my father. I was wiped out after a super busy sales day. It was a beautiful evening and it was still just light enough to see some things. I loved driving past Old Fisherman's Wharf because the lights from the buildings were dancing off the surface of the water...just beautiful :)

I've got three more work days before Christmas and then things will slow down just a bit before New Year's Day :) :) :) 

I plan on going out for coffee and a visit to Asilomar State Beach on Christmas day. What about you all? If you celebrate Christmas or some other holidays, what plans do you have?

I pray that you will all have a very Happy Holidays!!!!  That is the news from the ocean shores of California today.

Love and hugs,  Heather :) :) :)

IT MAKES "CENTS" TO ME FOR FRIDAY - NOVEMBER 15th

Hi everyone,

How are you today? How has your week been?  My week has been crazy and good and everything in between.  We're starting to get into the "BUSY" season at work. It'll stay busy until the end of the year.

I very rarely spend money on new clothes because I am on a really limited budget, so it's not worked into my budget, even when I really could use some new clothes. However, today was payday, and I decied that some new shirts for work were really needed. My goal is to have enough work clothes in my closet, that I could have one new outfit to wear every day of the week for 7 days, so that I don't have to wash the same thing over and over again.

I happened to be working in a department today that sells Ralph Lauren clothes for women. So I took a look at some basic long-sleeve tops. I ended up purchasing two black and one dark gray top.

Now listen to how I saved some serious "cha-ching" aka money, on the tops that I purchased today.  Most employees at work have a store credit card that they use.  We are required to have one in order to get the employee discount. However, there is also the option of having a prepaid store card. That's the one that I took, since I MUST put money on it FIRST before I can use it. 

So I happened to be looking at these tops, because I've purchased Ralph Lauren tops in the past on clearance and I've always had good luck with them. They also wear really well in the wash and still look good. so I know it would be a good deal, even if they were full price.


I saw these tops.  They are normally $32.98 each. However, they had a clearance tag price of $29.99 each.  When I checked the final price at the register, they were ringing up at $24.99 each. That's great !!! There was also a "use your card" discount of 20% on sale and clearance.

So I used my prepaid card and got 20% of the current clearance price. That dropped the cost of my tops to $19.99 each at the register.

So with all three tops together plus 7.5% sales tax, my total came to $64.47..

But wait, it gets so much BETTER.  Since I am an employee, I also get an additional employee discount of 20%. So that will bring my overall total down to $51.58.

Before I go into how much of a percentage I actually saved, let me throw in a picture of the cute little pocket on the left arm of each of the tops.  I don't normally like pockets on the front of any top. This is small, subtle and on the side. So strictly from a style viewpoint, this is fantastic.

Okay, if I had paid regular full retail price for all three tops and 7.5% sales tax, this would have cost me exactly $106.36.

However, since they were on clearance, there was a 20% "use your card" discount and my 20% employee discount AND the fact that I paid cash on my card FIRST....well, now my 3 designer tops only cost me $51.58 with tax.

That means I saved a GRAND TOTAL of 52% off the original retail price with tax. I'm really proud of that.

Now my next goal is to start building my collection of work pants. I literally have one pair that I wash every day. In fact, I will wear one of my new tops to work tomorrow.


Next week, I'll share more about how I give every dollar a name. I get paid every week, which is really nice. It's making "giving every dollar a name" much easier.

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs to you all, Heather