A Bazillion Trillion Dollars

You may or may not be aware that there is a $500,000,000+ Powerball jackpot up for grabs.

Now, I haven't purchased any kind of lottery ticket since my 18th birthday, but I'm seriously considering getting a Powerball ticket today. Mainly just for fun.

$500 MILLION dollars is so much money that, to me, it might as well be Eleventy Bazillion Trillion dollars. I don't think I could spend that much money if I tried.

Here are a few things I could think of doing if I had that much money:

• Buying Chris his dream sailboat.
• Making sure all my parental units and Chris's parental units could retire comfortably.
• Giving each of my siblings and Chris's siblings dollarz.
• Opening a rabbit rescue- Ryan's Rabbit Rescue. Then I could save all the buns!
• Starting my own kickass coffee shop/music venue.
• Learning Italian... in Italy!
• Building us a medium-sized dream home on the water somewhere.
• Going on a year-long worldwide adventure/vacation.
• Hiring a personal trainer.
• Starting a fine wine collection.

What would you do with that much money? 

On a Budget

You guys, I have been spending WAY too much money lately. Some of it is due to unexpected expenses (like trying to get my poor bunny's goopy eyeball fixed), some of it is because I tend to justify buying "extras" when I'm stressed/depressed (which has been a lot lately), and still more is because I'm lazy (but you already knew that).

So, it's time to buckle down: It's time, my friends, to come up with a budget. And then, once that task has been completed, I have the difficult follow-up task of actually sticking to that budget!

Besides identifying all of my fixed expenses, I need to figure out what stupid crap I'm spending the rest of my money on. And then I need to eliminate those things from my life. Here's what I've come up with so far:

-Lattes: Good lord, I LOVE a good latte... but they're $3-4, and that shit adds up.

-Good beer and wine: I have, unfortunately, reached that point where the nasty cheap stuff doesn't tempt me much anymore. If I'm going to sit down and have a glass, I'd like to enjoy it. But, buying a six pack that costs $9 once-a-week and then buying the occasional nice bottle of wine that costs $10+... well, that shit adds up.

-Meals out: Chris and I enjoy going out to breakfast (for awhile we were going once a week), and it's not hard to convince me to go out to dinner. When I'm at work, it's really easy to justify getting a sandwich or salad or slice of pizza from a local business for lunch. That's just laziness; it takes like 2 minutes to make a stupid sandwich at home! Anyways, I'lls I'm sayin' is, is that shit adds up.

So, the second part of all this, as evidenced above, is that I've been a little unhealthy lately. I've been eating and drinking poorly, as well as not putting exercise high on my list of priorites. That shit's gotta stop.

The solution here, I think, is to start planning meals in advance and to shop for cheap-but-healthy things. Chris went ahead and got us a Sam's Club membership, so that we can buy some of our staples in BULK. Things are cheaper in the long run when you buy them in BULK.

What are you doing to keep yourself financially healthy?

Happy Feet

An alternate title to this post could be: "How I Justify Spending More Than My Monthly Car Payment on a Pair of Shoes."

Ack!

So, I've been looking for a pair of boots for the fall/winter. And I'm INSANELY picky when it comes to what I wear (that is not to say that I'm fashion-conscious... it's more to say that I know what I DON'T like, which is a lot).

I've essentially been scouring the internet for a pair of lace-up combat(ish)/workboot(ish) brown boots. And again, that's not to say that I knew exactly what I wanted, but I certainly knew what I didn't want. This does not make it easy to find good boots, folks. And I started reading reviews of some that I liked the look of that were reasonably-priced, but most of the reviews said things like "cheaply-made," "the soles starting falling apart after two weeks," etc. Plus, the idea of buying shoes without trying them on makes me want to vomit a little- it's too risky.

The other thing about me is that I expect a lot out of my clothing. I envisioned this pair of boots as wearing many different hats (ha!). I wanted to be able to wear them to work under my flared jeans, and I wanted to be able to wear them with skinny jeans and skirts/dresses for gigs. I also wanted something that would keep my little toes warm when it's cold, and I wanted something that would hold up in inclement weather. I also wanted to be able to try on a pair before taking the plunge. And I wanted all of this for around $50.

Well, I was walking around the shopping area near where I work on Tuesday before dinner with a girlfriend, and then I saw them: THE boots, in the window of a local shoe boutique. They were beautiful, and they looked like the boots of my feet's dreams. But, I was sure the local boutique was expensive (they all are around here), so after several minutes of drooling, I walked on my way, in my boring, cheapy shoes. But, I passed them again on Wednesday, and I contemplated walking in to try them on, but, I knew I needed to get home to workout, shower, and eat before heading to band practice. So, once again, I left them.

On Thursday, while out for a walk on lunch, I meandered my way towards the boutique, and, to my horror, the boots were no longer in the window.

That got my butt through the door. And there, on the shelf, were THE boots. I picked up the one on display and noticed that they were lined with wool (mmmm, toasty toes!), that they were waterproofed (wearable in inclement weather), and that they looked killer. Plus, they were made well (something I'm not always used to, as I'm cheap). I spoke with the sales lady, and she went back to get a pair for me to try on (only two pairs in my size were left!). And I put my foot in the right one and laced it up, and good lord, it was comfortable. And you can either wear them all the way laced up or fold the top part down (apparently, this is stylish). I spoke with the saleswoman about how they would last for years, and then I looked at the (ack!) pricetag. Ack! These boots were worth a pretty penny (although, I noticed that there were boots in the store twice as expensive!). So, I told the woman about how I got paid on Friday and I left the boots there.

Today (Friday), I went by after having asked for my mom's advice (she said to spend the money if I will wear them for at least two seasons), my sister's advice (she reminded me of the Friends episode where Monica HAS to have a pair of boots and then they are so uncomfortable she can barely walk, but then encouraged me to treat myself), and pretty much anyone else who would listen to me (I did not have one person advise me not to buy them!) and bought them! Yay payday! Yay new boots! I'm very happy with my decision, to say the least. Talk about a pick-me-up after a long week! These boots are Scrumtrulescent!

Check 'em out:

So, the top layer folds down and can snap into place...

And the lining can fold down too, if you want!

Did I mention that my feet will be very warm this winter?

On.

I think I may have mentioned this before, too: I'm excited for my new boots!