I had a fruitful weekend.
To be more precise, I had a fruitful 25 hours. Two nights of bad sleep during the week apparently equated to 11 hours of sleep Friday night and 12 Saturday night. Whee.
But in and around that, I managed to get a few things done. And quite a bit of money saved.
First of all, I (finally) set up a hair appointment. I generally get it cut and colored every six weeks. It’s been probably 10.
This means that the length is pulling the top down flat against my head while my wavy hair flares out. Or as I like to call it Bell Head Syndrome.
So next week I’ll get over to the beauty school. Three hours and $30 later, I’ll look decent again.
I also managed to work out both days. I’m hoping to lose a little weight before FinCon.
Granted, “work out” for me means 10-minute videos from YouTube. But they’re designed to tone/build muscle. And more muscle means more calories burned. And yeah, less jiggle.
I also got around to hitting the nearby Skecher Outlet. It only took me about five months.
Honestly, I was a little disappointed by the pricing. A lot of the shoes were maybe $10 less than retail. Not to mention that I had trouble finding my size.
So a couple of my pants remain without shoes that technically match. I’ll live, but… sigh.
At least I was able to find the black ones I wear all the time. At $20 less than retail. Plus a back to school sale was BOGO50. So I got both pairs for $56 after tax.
I’ll also get a $10 off certificate for spending $50 or more. Maybe I’ll go back and get another two pairs. Nothing more frugal than stocking up on a sale, right?
But the biggest savings of the weekend was insurance.
The accident last year meant a $400 increase in car insurance. (Thank goodness for annual payments, or the hike would have come much sooner.)
Safeco’s rate is only $100 more than what we paid last year — and home insurance was also cheaper. We’ll save $620 total. Not bad for 40 minutes’ work… and about three totals hours of research/stress.
The lower car premium means we can avoid the projected shortfall in the car insurance fund. Which slightly lessens the painfully high credit card bill we’ll get at the end of August. Slightly.
All in all, a productive, if sleep-filled, weekend. I count it as a win.
Did you guys find any good deals this weekend? When’s the last time you compared car insurance prices?
I’ve noticed the same thing as you when visiting the “Outlets” and shoe shopping. I used to buy shoes for like half of retail. But now it seems they may be $10 cheaper or less. Soooo I just combine a coupon or rewards when purchasing new shoes at retail stores. My question ….what’s going on with socks?….I was shopping recently and a pack of “1/2 socks” was like $15…used to buy shoes at the Outlets for that price!
Yeah, the cost of socks is absolutely insane. Hanes had a sale, so I stocked up for Tim. He needed some for the first time in years and years. As for shoes, I agree that if all of the prices had been only $10 less than retail, I’d have just waited for a good Shoebuy sale. But $34.99 (especially with the BOGO50 deal) was better than I’ve ever managed at any shoe store, even with coupons/cash back. So I pounced.
Productive AND sleep filled, I’d say. That’s great!
I volunteered my time to help PiC with some stuff this weekend which also got him off the hook for $125 worth of hobby rentals, for each adult, so I feel like that was our grand discount for the weekend. Of course it wiped me out for the whole weekend, too, so I’m not sure that was totally worth it.
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I think that does count as a discount, but yeah that’s a lot of wear and tear. But you earn wife points in addition to savings, right? I hear those can be traded in for fabulous prizes.
Nice work on the insurance saving! I have my car and home insurance at separate companies and I should really look into combining to see if there is anything to be saved there.
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Definitely do it. All insurance companies will give you a discount if you combine. The trick, of course, is to find a company that has lower rates on both.
Have you tried the Sketcher’s go walk shoes? I love mine! That’s awesome on the insurance savings! I quote mine out at least once a year to every six months but it’s not to be. I’ve been with State Farm for 18 years (oh my gosh) and no one wants to give it to me for any less! So frustrating.
Weekends used to be a time of shopping. It would make my head hurt updating the budget on Mondays and categorizing all the purchases! Now I spend at least 1 weekend day in my pajamas and I’m lucky to buy groceries. Maybe I need to step away from the computer. I told Mr. Crackin’ tonight that the first rule of eating at home is to buy the food and the 2nd rule is to actually cook it! Problem solved. Tonight we had hot dogs! Baby steps back into gear when you find yourself slipping…
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Yeah, I hate weekends where we have to buy things. I much prefer sitting around and sleeping and otherwise relaxing.
I’m afraid this weekend wasn’t much of a much for me. We didn’t really get out, except to the hobby store. Did use a 40% off one item coupon, so I suppose there’s my savings. 😉
I’d hoped we could go somewhere–the Farmer’s Market, the beach, the Asian Games Workshop. But we didn’t get out the door in time, there was a beach advisory so we couldn’t really have gone swimming if we’d gone, and MrH’s shoulder was bothering him and he wasn’t up to the drive. Ugh. Our next two weekends are eaten up with other commitments, so we probably won’t be able to do those things then, either. Double ugh.
But I’m glad your weekend was good! It’s kind of cheering to know good times are out there, and someone I know is having them. Excellent deal on the shoes, too!
Sorry your activities didn’t pan out. It’s a good thing I got so much done this time because next weekend I have to work overtime. Other than finally getting that haircut/color, I don’t predict anything else productive happening.
I am also a Sketchers fan, because they seem to last so long. But they are pricey (at least in my book) so that’s great you found a deal. I cannot seem to always have the right shoes for every outfit, and have largely stopped caring. Women’s fashion is too complicated for me, or at least too expensive.
My recent deal was two bras, 4 undies, and a purse (zipper on my only 1 broke) at Kohls for $23 shipped. Super boring but I needed them!
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Wowza, that’s some savings!
And yeah, Skechers are freakin’ expensive. Usually I wait for Shoebuy sales, preferably when Mr. Rebates is offering 12-15% off. That ameliorates things a bit. Still, I’m thrilled to find ones I liked at that price.
Go you and your cheap haircut! I (gasp) cut my own! I used to go to the salon to the tune of $250 for a cut and highlights, but ouch!! That hurt every month or so! So now I just grew it out and cut my own layers and let the sun do its thang for my highlights. So far I don’t look too much like a hobo (or at least that is what I keep telling myself!)
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Hey, if I could cut my own hair, I totally would. But I can’t cut a straight line — even when I’m following a drawn-out line. I might try if I had all one length, but I definitely wouldn’t trust myself with layers. It’s awesome that you can save that much, though.
It sounds like 11 hours of sleep Friday night and an additional 12 hours on Saturday night gave you a chance to recharge your batteries.
Dianne and I were camping in the Williams area for 3 nights last week and were able to finally let down. It feels good to do that every now and then!
Take care.
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Tim’s paranoid about scorpions, which suits me just fine since I have no desire to camp. But I know most people love it, so they can have our spots!
That is so interesting you say that about Sketchers! I have a pair of their shoes that I love, but I too only saved about $10 off sticker price. I’ve had them for about 6 months and they still look as good as new considering I wear them daily for my commute and running errands and I have gotten my money’s worth out of them. I’m still just ticked I only saved $10, ha!
I love back to school sales – it’s a great time for everyone to stock up on office supplies, clothes, etc.!
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If there isn’t an outlet/the outlet prices aren’t good, use Shoebuy when it has a sale and go through a cash back site. Sometimes the cash back is as high as 15%, and Shoebuy routinely advertises on those sites for 15% or $20 or $30 off. They really are great shoes.
Sounds like you had a great weekend. This past weekend I got a ton of work done on our retaining wall project. Besides that had happy hour with friends, went to church, worked on the blog…typical weekend stuff for me.
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I need to work more on the blog. I fly by the seat of my pants each time. I think maybe twice a year I have more than one post finished at a time. Glad you had a relatively mellow, if somewhat busy, weekend. Way to go on the retaining wall. I wish we were/had the energy to be handy.
Mmmm, delicious sleep. Your hair is a steal of a deal! I can’t get mine cut for that price in my small town. Yay for schools.
My weekend savings were stocking up on fruit in the okanagan while I was there. I have some canning in my future and delicious fruit to snack on all week.
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Yeah, the $30 price is just ridiculous. I’ve tried a couple of times to follow people out of the school, but it never works out. I think it’s the universe telling me to stick with a good, cheap thing.
I hope you have fun (delicious, delicious fun) canning. It makes for great cheap, thoughtful gifts. Or just delicious snacks.
Sounds like a (hopefully) relaxing and recharging weekend.
General life stress has basically resulted me in spending all my spoons. My downtime has mostly been consumed by Mad Men. With which I identify so freakin’ hard right now.
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Ah, spoon theory. There really isn’t a better way to explain energy limits, is there?
Inre: Mad Men. So… you smoke constantly and cheat on your wife? Not that I’m judging. But seriously, I hope the show provides you some downtime to relax. When things are crazy, you need an outlet. Be that books, TV, movies, sports, whatever.
Sounds like a super recharging weekend! I’m kind of jealous of the amount of sleep you got, I’m not going to lie. Haha! I get 7 hours straight on a really good night, but Little Miss just started sleeping through the night a few weeks ago so I really shouldn’t be complaining. She used to wake up 3+ times a night – ahh.
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If it makes you feel less jealous, realize that I need eight and a half to nine hours’ sleep to function. Seriously. My “bad nights” mean I get about six and a half to seven, and I’m a mess. Ah, life with chronic illness.
Glad Little Miss is waking up less. And at least she’ll eventually sleep in (sorta). Our cat will never understand why our sleep is more important than her desire for food/company around 6 a.m.
I should probably think about getting my haircut before fincon too – it’s been since January 🙂 I go to beauty schools too, but only when they’re free so I’m just on the hook for tip.
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Wow, I couldn’t go that long. It’s only been about 10 weeks, and I’m tempted to lop it all off.
I’ve never seen a free offer at a beauty school, so that’s pretty cool. On the other hand, the place I go doesn’t accept tips. So at least I’m off the hook in that department.
Big win! We find we are usually able to do the same with insurance costs (and sometimes internet too). A couple of hours of pain and frustration is totally worth it if you can get your costs cut significantly for the year. Well done!
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Yeah, I’d say it still works out to a pretty decent hourly rate, despite a little stress.
As someone with curly hair, I’m very familiar with the “style” you described. I call it mushroom top, when I have it. 🙂
Nice work on the insurance savings!
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Yeah, that’s actually a good way to describe it. Now that I think about it, my head kinda looks like the goombas from Super Mario.