Thursday, March 23rd, 2006

Coffee (Deli on Smith St.) .75
Cafe 28 (Bagel w/egg and cheese) $2.53
Metrocard (30 day unlimited) $76.00
LF Flatiron $25.05 (hoodie) $25.05
Pac Foods (Chinese Food) $11.86
Union Pool (drinks) $20.00

Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006

"Lucky Magazine"

Coffee Settepani Cafe .75
Netflix $19.50
American Spirit Cigarettes $8.00

Yes, there is a magazine dedicated solely to shopping, and for whatever reason they decided to call it "Lucky". Inside this magazine they supply silly little stickers for you to mark the pages having items you either YES want to buy for sure or MAYBE for things you are thinking about buying, but NO they definitly don't have NO sticker, that would defeat the purpose! The purpose of the magazine is to tantalize women and get them to consume! Well, as all great marketing strategies have worked in the past, this one works too. It happens to be my "bathroom magazine" at work, it's part of our yearly chunk of many magazine subscriptions, FHM, BLEEKER, New York Magazine, Vogue, TIME, and the list goes on... Being the solo female at the office I somehow gravitate naturally to the ladies choice, and consumers eye candy, "Lucky". Today I did it, I caught myself marking the page with one of those idiotic YES stickers they provide, and the page marking begins, just like that I became a page marker! I'm now fixated on the new Dove Skin Vitalizer and a very over-priced Marc Jacobs summer bag, yellow and oh so freaking adorable. ugh.
(note, I tried to link to the Dove Skin Vitalizer so you could see it, and guess what? It's been recalled, great now what am I going to do?)

Tuesday, March 21st, 2006

Coffee Settepani Bakery .75
Cafe 28 (bagel w/2eggs) $2.17
Duane Reade (ibuprofen) $2.99
Union Square Wine Store $8.66
Garden of Eden (bread and tomatoes) $4.82

Monday, March 20th, 2006

"The Grocery Debacle"

ATM Fee $1.75
Coffee .75
Cafe 28 (2 eggs) $1.44
Sunac Food Market (groceries) $25.96

I have often forgotten to mention the stupid amounts of money I have wasted on ATM fees, I'll start tracking them from now on, I get mad at myself for being careless about my searches for ATM's that won't charge me...
I also get so mad at myself for doing my grocery shopping at the Sunac Food Market, it's purley out of conveinence, my default pit stop. It's right off my train stop, and when it's cold I don't want to walk the extra mile to the local Key Foods or Associated where the mark up on these products is far less. I spent nearly $30.00 and when I got home all I had was milk, butter, a sponge, a salad, a box of mac n'cheese, oh, and some cookies. I walked past the new Trader Joe's, thinking I would make my grocery stop off there, and there was a line up 14th street to get in, insanity! The Grand Opening was Friday the 17th, I think it'll be about a month until the coast is clear to even attempt to go in there. It's all the talk right now, especially opening so close to the Whole Foods in Union Square. Conveinence costs, that's what it comes down to. I was eavedropping on a conversation between 2 girls on the L train last night, they were talking about the cost of laundry detergent, and the one girl said she bought hers at the dollar store and it was so much cheaper there, and the other girl said she never even thinks to go to her local dollar store (well, she's totally missing out). They both discussed their live-in boyfriends, both obviously in freshly domestic situations, and compared the spending habits of their men. One girl said her boyfriend was cheap, she said he's the type that will go out of the way, walk the extra mile to get a good deal, whether it be on toilet paper or detergent... She said that time is more precious to her than a dollar or two, and it kills her that he goes out of the way to save that extra buck. It really made me think, especially in a city like New York, we get so used to having everything we need right at our finger tips, instant gratification always, but what's the big deal? Why are we always in such a hurry? In this scenario her boyfriend seems to be the smart one, a person I would possibly even seek finacial advice from.

Sunday, March 19th, 2006

Sunac Food Market $12.61
Barnes & Noble $24.93

It's always a splurge to buy a new hardcoverbook, but in my research on reading materials, this, just like Not Buying It, comes up in my searches... Actually, when you go to Amazon you can buy them together as a sort of package deal. Now I'm kicking myself for not doing that in the first place, I could have saved a few... The book I bought is called Money, A Memoir, by another woman writer, Liz Perle.

The first thing you read before the table of contents is a quote:

From birth to eighteen, a girl needs good parents.
From eighteen to thirty-five, she needs good looks.
From thirty-five to fifty-five, a good personality.
From fifty-five on, she needs good cash.
I'm saving my money.
-Sophie Tucker

I'd say that Sophie Tucker was a sassy woman, and a darn smart cookie of her time. Stylishly elegant as well, I do love this statement she makes, and how Liz Perle uses it within the preface of her book.

I'll give an update on this book as read it this week, I can already see that it will be insightful and honest, and it looks as if her research touches upon a lot of my true insterests of the psychology of spending, especially again, being a woman...

*Sidenote: I wore my new blue hat over to Doug's yesterday, he complimented it right away. I told him it wasn't the $64.00 hat that I had my heart set on, but instead I settled for the one that was only $4.70, he said he thinks this one, the one I bought, was much better looking and stylishly unique. I agree.

A well spent, Hat Crazed Weekend:

Saturday, March 18th, 2006

Enids Brunch $16.00
Eckerd Pharmacy (mascara, nail polish remover, tic tacs) $4.73
Cigarettes and bottle water $9.17
Chopin Chemists (face wash, facial mask) $18.44
Coco Cafe (tuna sandwich and tea) $10.00
POP (blue hat) $4.70
Dumont (burger, salad, 2 beers) $32.00
Rachel 2nd payment for bed $150.00

Friday, March 17th, 2006

Cafe 28 (bagel w/eggs) $2.17
POP (white knit hat) $4.70
Coco Cafe (sandwich) $10.00
Clem's Bar $32.00 (drinks)
Cab Home $6.00

Ouch, it's Sunday as I write this and feeling like I'm making a confession, and maybe even asking for forgiveness. I wasn't very careful with how I was spending at all this weekend. POP, a new hipster botique discovery that put me in my hat frenzy, with the 75% off sale, such a frenzy I had to go back Saturday and get another hat! Does a girl really need as many hats as I have? But, "my hair is short, it's keeps the head warm" I exclaim, as if this is a valid excuse. Rachel and I spent one of our last Saturday's together before she leaves NY, and we hit all of our favorite local stops, and had the popular, tres hip and tasty brunch at Enids. Chopin Chemists being another neighborhood goodie, it's a holistic pharmacy that provides a woman with all the essential, pure necessities of skin improving products, where I spent a well deserved $18.44. Which then as you can see the rest of our day was food consumption, I hit Coco Cafe twice this weekend, and since the doctor, Erin was here from Philly for a visit we had to enjoy the best burger in Brooklyn, a Dumont burger. I've paid off the bed to Rachel, which is good, I think I'll be laying in it either watching movies or reading a lot this week to come, because somebody needs to keep this lady away from stores, bars and resturaunts. Back to mac n' cheese and Netflix.
**P.S. that Bell+Howell camera i bought and realized I couldn't use, I gave to Rachel as a going away gift! She can take pictures in Chicago and send them to me!