1) I received my tax return last weekend! Wahoo! I used it to pay off my balance for the cruise I’m taking in May with my mom, as well as putting a huge chunk toward my credit card. It pains me to admit that after a trip to Savannah and St. Augustine, as well as the Christmas holiday, all within a six-month span, my credit card got to a scary balance. Obviously, I still have a ways to go before I’m a solid money manager. But I should have that paid off by March or April, and then I can get back to building my savings up again. Sometimes, I play around with the idea of detailing my spending on my blog – to give me accountability – but I don’t think I honestly want to do that. I just need to be accountable to myself.
2) All that said, I recently looked up my credit score to see if it’s improved since last year – and my score has improved 120 points since January 2014! I guess something I am doing is working (well, I suppose keeping a low credit card balance for a year and beginning payment on my school loans has helped!) Refinancing my car loan has been on my mind for a while now because I know I can get a lower rate, now that I have less debt and a better credit score. What I currently pay monthly is exorbitant for how old the car is. And, while I do plan on trading the car in within the next year or so, I also think I’m a good candidate for refinancing now. Time to make some calls!
3) We have a Trader Joe’s in St. Petersburg now! And I am soooo thrilled. I went there with my mom on Sunday afternoon and picked up a bunch of random stuff. I didn’t really have a list… I just wanted to look around and pick up a few things. And I wound up with a full basket! So far, everything I bought has turned out to be super yummy. On the list: Greek yogurt, tomato basil marinara, cookie butter (of course!), dark chocolate sea salt caramels, beef taquitos, and a ziti freezer meal. It’s all been delicious! I have a feeling that TJ’s will be a regular stop for me during my weekly grocery run.
4) Can I take a minute to toot someone else’s horn for a minute? My good friend Jessica, whom I had the pleasure of meeting last year and who is just as genuine and lovely as she appears to be on her blog, is launching a brand-new course, all about getting gutsy to reach your goals. If you have a big goal that you want to achieve, but you haven’t taken the steps to turn it into reality either out of fear or not knowing where to begin or another reason, this course, 30 Days of Gutsy, is exactly what you’ll need. You’ll receive 30 inspiring, action-based lessons, all designed to help you take the steps you need to achieve that big goal you have. I am ridiculously proud of Jessica for this course (she truly lives up to her “#getgutsy” name!) 30 Days of Gutsy starts on March 1, so you have until tomorrow to register. Yes, it’s a bit last minute but I highly, highly recommend this course. If there’s anyone I want to help me with my goals, it’s Jessica. Go here to register, and then come back at the end of March to tell me how much you loved the course. (Because you’re going to love it!)
5) Happy Friday! My weekend plans border on Boring Adult Behavior, but hey! I think it should be a fun weekend. Tonight, I have book club where we plan to meet up for dinner and then play shuffleboard! Yes, shuffleboard! (Don’t knock it ’til ya try it!) On Saturday, I’ll be parking myself at Starbucks for most of the day to finish up a big freelancing project (and luckily, my working date partner in crime will be there, so we can chit chat, too!) And then Sunday, I’ll get some nephew time, and also a tooon of cleaning time.
What are your weekend plans? Any “must-have” items I need to buy from Trader Joe’s?
Ohhhhh going into Trader Joe’s without a list is a dangerous, dangerous thing for me! The closest one to us is only 20-ish minutes away (depending on traffic), but it involves getting on 95 so that discourages me a lot of the times!
My weekend plans are pretty low-key which is how I’m trying to live my life these days – otherwise my energy’s gone by mid-day! Tonight maybe hitting up the grocery store (because I KNOW how to party), tomorrow binging on the third season of House of Cards with my cousin, and then Sunday meeting a friend for coffee in the morning, and probably spending the rest of the day in bed!
Your boring adult behavior sounds fun to me! There is nothing better than a low key weekend in my book!
Good luck with your finances. I find that it helps for me to take a look each month (and year) to see where the bulk of my money is going. This not only makes me more accountable to myself, but it helps me to be more aware, which I think is 90% of the issue. If you are blindly throwing money at something (or if you have hidden fees or interest payments), you can quickly regroup and change your ways before it’s too late! I think that interest payments due to not paying off your CC balance are one of those hidden things that need to be nipped it the bud, pronto.
I regularly go to TJs to buy the whole milk ricotta, olive baguettes, brie, heirloom cherry tomatoes, and herb and garlic pizza dough (deli, not frozen). And of course wine. In frozen food, all the Indian food is excellent, tamales, chicken gyoza dumplings, chile lime chicken burgers.
Boring weekends are the best. I still can’t get over those cheeks! He is just the cutest. Way to go on improving your credit score, 120 points is no joke! I heard that keeping a balance of less than 1/3 your limit helps to improve your score. I actually plan to request an increase once we get the mortgage approved just so I can keep my balance at a lower percentage. I absolutely need a list when I go to TJ’s but despite that I always end up buying extras. We try to go once a month to stock up on staples like rice, quinoa, coffee beans, nut butters, frozen produce, seasoning, nuts and seeds, etc. I’m usually disappointed with their produce but that is likely because Pete pulls our produce straight off the truck at work so he gets the best of the best. Perks of working at a grocery store! Definitely look for sea salt dark chocolate covered almonds. And prepare to eat the entire container in two or three days. They are SO good. I try to only buy a couple times a year because I have zero self control with them. We are actually hoping to get up there tonight after the gym. Other than that, I will hopefully be running 9 miles at some point this weekend, celebrating my sister’s and Pete’s birthdays on Sunday, and spending Saturday afternoon reading because Cancel the Wedding is SO good and I have had zero time to read this week!
If you like peanut butter + chocolate, then you should definitely try the dark chocolate peanut butter cups. They are ah-mazing. I also love their pretzel roll buns, great for hot sandwiches or burgers! I also get our meat from them now, too and a ton of other things for our pantry. It’s one of my favorite places.
Nephew time sounds so fun. We have a trivia night, I have lunch with a friend, we may go visit D’s gram (she’s not doing well, sadly) and we have a brunch on Sunday. Oh, and because winter sucks, more snow on the way. But I have lots of good books to read and a few workouts to accomplish so it will be a good weekend no matter what.
I love the honey sesame almonds at TJs and I eat it with the honey greek yogurt also from them. Mmm.
Man being an adult is hard. I already used up my refund on a leather jacket (200) and new tires. 🙁 Gone in a snap!
Your nephew is darling. I love the squishy cheeks.
I have a busy weekend. I have a Fennel Off with Anita and her bf and Sugarface. Her boyfriend and I are competing to see who has the better fennel main dish. SUCKS BECAUSE It’s TONIGHT AND TWO GROCERY STORES DIDN’T HAVE FENNEL. I CAN’T WIN WITHOUT FENNEL. Then after that tonight I want to do Urban Exploring with Thomas. Basically we try to get on high vantage points with our cameras and tripods and take photos. It’ll be our 2nd attempt, first in Austin. Then wedding tomorrow. Then kite festival Sunday. EEP. I also have 3 writing deadlines for the food blog. GOIJEOIJTOIJWR
I second Nora’s suggestion for trying TJ’s dark chocolate PB cups. They are to die for. I have to buy the smallest package of them because I can not be trusted to have a big container of them around. 😉
My weekend is pretty quiet now because the cold bug I got on Monday got worse and I ended up going home sick today. So I am missing a friends birthday get together tonight, I”ll miss run club tomorrow, and I had to cancel a brunch I had planned with Allison. Womp womp. 🙁 But hopefully I am back to 100% soon. I tried to push through this bug but it just wasn’t working so I am surrendering and hoping the extra sleep/rest will help me kick it for good.
Hooray for an early tax return! 🙂
Oh, and you’ll be a regular at TJ’s… I promise you that! some of my favorites: Boursin cheese, Olive Oil Kettle Chips, Salsa, Barbara’s Oat Crunch, Social Crackers, … 🙂
That squishy baby! SO CUTE!
Thank you so very much for the lovely shoutout. I’m blushing over here! It means the world, truly.
TJ’s is AMAZING. I’m obsessed with the soy & flaxseed tortilla chips (sounds weird, but I promise it’s not). They also have COOKIE BUTTER, which is lifechanging!
I love that little man’s cheeks! Oh my goodness!
Kudos to you for getting that debt paid down and improving your credit score! I always feel so excited when I pay a debt or pay a bill… guess we’re adults now, huh? Ha!
So awesome that you’re taking another cruise in May! I’m sure it will be amazing! Jerry and I are planning on taking one either this year for our anniversary or next year if we can swing the cost of plane tickets to get to Florida (my grandma lives there too).
First of all, because I don’t think I’ve said anything yet, congrats on your new nephew. How fun! And so glad he made it safely and healthily. 🙂
You’ve reminded me, I really need to do my taxes already. March will be gone before I know it and I’d rather get my refund sooner rather than later.
Congrats on paying down your credit score and getting your credit score up! Those are some serious PF victories. 🙂
OMG I love TJ’s! It’s my one-stop shop for groceries. <3