Blogger is acting nuts!

Sorry for less posts than normal, I am having a problem with my blogger interface.

I will be trying to make it work though. You just might not see any pictures.

Having a job with no Vacation pay.. and taking 3 weeks off!

I don't know about you, but I have one of those jobs where I do NOT get paid while I am on vacation. I am a nanny, I don't even get sick days! If the family I nanny for goes away- I do not get paid either. That is the major downside of my job.

I know that I am going to Disney this month (August 22nd- 26th!) and that I am going to Ireland for 2 weeks in September or October. That means I will be missing 2.5 weeks of work- and pay! Plus lets not forget that I will need spend money for both trips.

Vacations are so relaxing, but the stress leading up to them is the worst!

In my case I have to cut way back on spending to make up for the 2.5 weeks I will not get paid- sadly my bills still need to get paid during that time.

Here is what I am doing:

• I am not eating out- as much as I can help it. I do have a Panera and Dunkin Donuts Giftcard just incase I get weak!
• I am eating food out of my freezer and cabinets- this needs to be done aways, so it is keeping my weekly grocery spending to about $10 a week- milk and fresh fruits. I have tons of frozen meat/veggies.
• Setting aside money each week for spend money while I am on vacation- this helps trust me!
• I am working as much as possible- 1 day off in 21 days, then I plan on working basically every day from the time I get back from Disney until the time I leave for Ireland- there is a 3 day weekend I have to take off to visit my sister at college for family weekend.

Nothing that I am doing to cut back on spending is super hard. In fact they are things I should be doing anyways, I am just trying harder at doing them.

How do you save up for vacations? Even if you do have paid vacation time?

Plan for my last few hours in PA

I have a few more hours in PA at my parents until I head back home to NY, I try in fit in as much as possible while I am here. So here is the plan for the day:

First I went and got Donuts from Yum Yums and coffee from Wawa, here is Mitch enjoying some :)

We are going to go to Target- I want to get some boxers to wear to bed- yeah thats right boxers!

Then we are going to Trader Joe's- which I love to pick up some snacky items.

Then to a store called "Doggie Style" if i Check in there with my Foursquare app, I get a free dog toy!

Next Panera Bread for lunch- we will use my Panera Rewards card!

Finally we will go to the Produce Junction (I took that picture Last time I was there) The produce is so cheap- I always stock up on tons of fruits and veggies while I am in town. I will let you know exactly what I got and how much it cost.

Until next time in New York.....

Why cleaning out the fridge/freezer is important- True story!

I am annoyed with myself- for oh so many reasons today!

I have been putting off cleaning the fridge for a few weeks, mainly because there has been hardly any food in there. I was away for a few days last week/ I have been working so much and I can eat while at work, I just haven't kept a lot of food in the fridge.

Honestly there were maybe 5 types of beverages, a ton of condiments, some eggs, bread, onions and potatoes in there.

Now, I don't know about you, but I keep my onions and potatoes in the pull out bins in the bottom of the fridge. (oh the horror- I know better than to do that, but it keeps them from going bad quite as quickly)

I went to grab a potato earlier- the ones on top were soft so I threw them out, then I spotted them. My delicious sweet potatoes that I had forgotten all about- black, moldy and smushed! I knew there was a weird smell in there- hence me cleaning it out.

I am so annoyed at myself $5 bag of delicious/healthy sweet potatoes wasted! UGH!

Needless to say everything in that drawer was thrown away- probably $10 worth of potatoes :(

Luckily that was all that needed to be thrown away in the fridge. Now onto the freezer....


I ended up throwing away some frosted over bagels, and waffles- that had never been opened- but were expired. Another $5 worth of items! I'll say it again UGH!

Then what did I find? A bag of Mexican shredded cheese- the exact same kind I bought last night at the grocery store because I had none! And on a side note I paid $3.59 for the bag last night- yeah you read that right, the coupon chick paid that much for cheese! I know for a fact that the exact same brand/size/type of cheese that was in the freezer cost me $1.25!

So here is the point of this whole post- Know what you have on hand and use it!

I am officially on a very limited grocery shopping list for the month of August. I will let you know what I end up making each week- with the stuff out of the freezer and cabinets. I have a ton of frozen veggies and meat. So beyond milk and some fresh fruits there will be no real shopping for me.

This will be good because I will save a lot of money over the next month, and I will be using up stuff so I do not end up having to throw things away because they are expired.


PS- how cute is that fridge?

My computer has arrived!

I am oh so very happy! Finally my new Dell has arrived! I will be blogging much more now, so enjoy the deals!

Big News: I bought a new Laptop!

Finally after months of wanting a new computer- and when I say wanting I mean NEEDING a new computer, I bought one! I currently have a desk top, which is not practical at all seeing as though I am rarely home... now I will be able to blog at work and make sure the time sensitive deals are posted :)

I bought the Dell from Walmart.com, I think I got a pretty great deal, but the real benefit is being able to stay ontop of blogging and so much more while away from home! So starting next week when the laptop comes in, the blog will be busy with new posts-and I can not wait!