So, I made the mistake of opening mail before going to bed last night. Among them was a bill for $200 from my dentist. I got a couple of fillings done last month, but I'd paid my $80 copay at the time. I figured it was just a billing mistake, along with the $20 they said I owed from the visit in October. So, I called my dental insurance company. Turns out that, no, I'm just fucked. My dentist did a fancier filling that they don't cover, plus my deductible, plus they don't cover work on molars fully. So now I owe them $200. That I don't really have. And it's probably just that I got to bed at 2am last night, but I really want to cry. Plus they haven't submitted that x-ray for a pretreatment estimate like they said they would in October, so I can't go ahead and schedule my root canal. Plus I have to submit more paperwork for my FHSA.

And I broke my coffee mug this morning. Not a happy camper.

So, I'm flush right now. And Old Navy is having a 2-for-1 sale and I'm trying to convince myself that it's worth it to spend $85 if I save $30 (btw - it's probably not). I also have some overtime, paychecks and bonuses from being fired and a tax refund and I have to figure out what to do with it. The obvious answer is save it/invest it. But I could really use a new computer ($700-$1200), I want a video iPod ($300) and there's airfare for the upcoming wedding to consider ($300-$400 - hopefully I can do it with frequent flyer miles).

Do I deserve a treat? Yes. Do I deserve a $250+ treat? Probably not.

Not to mention I really need to talk to someone about investing. I don't like being a grown up sometimes.

ETA: Oh yeah, and I want a bike that has, like, working brakes. So, that's another $300.

ETA 2: Oh holy fuck, I just spent $120 at Old Navy. Free shipping for Old Navy cardholders doesn't kick in until you pass $100. I passed $100, put in my $10 bucks back certificated and found that shipping was now suddenly back in because I was now under $100 again. So, I bought another sweater. Luckily, I'm assuming at least $40 worth of merchandise won't fit and/or will be the wrong color for me and I can return it guilt free. Still, dayum.

There's something disturbing about putting together a budget and realizing that you are living above your means (I didn't budget in concessions money because that's sporadic). Especially when you've spent your spending money for the month and it's the 15th.

On the other hand, I've gone from having $20 a week to spend on things other than groceries (August 2005) to having $70 a week. Sure, it goes down to $60 when I move into the new room, but this means that buying furniture is doable, except for that whole "attachments mean committing to something and that's scary" thing. This also means I feel much less bad about the clothes I've been buying.

MY TAX REFUND HAS ARRIVED! MY TAX REFUND HAS ARRIVED!

::does a small happy dance of glee around the office::

Next on the agenda, it's TV buying time!

Tax return is FILED! I have a large amount of money that will be heading into my bank account in 8-16 business days. WHEEEE! NEW TELEVISION AND FLIGHTS TO CALIFORNIA AHOY!

Yay for this article on Slate. Richard Griffith was awesome in History Boys and while maybe not Oscar worthy, the reasons that Slate gave for being overlooked are very, very true.

Oy.

I am freezing my buns off here at work and feeling wonky enough that I may skip yoga. I just want to go home and sleep.

Yesterday I spent $200 on stamps for work and $40 on shoes - I realized on Monday that my workout sneakers have a huge crack in the sole when I was walking on the snow and suddenly had a wet foot. I got them from Target for $13 right before London and have gotten decent use out of them - maybe not enough for normal shoes, but good enough. I also got a nice pair of wedges for dressier/work shoes. I got some flats at Old Navy last week that fit fine in the store but are now too big to the point where I'm falling out of them. At least they were only $8. Credit card bill this month is going to be huge - I've racked up $660 of work expenses, plus the dentist, plus a couple of big ticket items... ugh.

I also picked up my bridesmaid dress, which I haven't tried on its latest iteration - the latest alteration was just adjusting a roushing line so I didn't look pregnant, so that's fine. By the way, I highly recommend Ellie's Bridal in Alexandria - they've been awesome throughout this whole ordeal. I've done 3 fittings with them without incident.

I'm having a first and leaving my computer in DC for the trip - it just doesn't make sense to take it. So, I'll probably be incommunicado for the next few days.

Ugh. Tired and nauseous. Skipping yoga.

Two new knitting projects on the rise, one of which is secret. The other is knit fuzzy dice for work's silent auction and just proves you can find a knitting pattern for everything.

Why will no one let me do my taxes online for free (state and federal)? I don't want to pay, but I am pretty and dumb or maybe pretty dumb unable to read federal forms and am teh poor. I mean, I'll pony up the $10 for H&R block if I have to, but... you know, that's a movie I could see instead.

Ah yes, another bored Sunday.

But it's been a week. I've been negotiating the time difference, insomnia, getting back to work, tummy woes and getting stentoriansista out to California with me. Not to mention yesterday, stentoriansista, mel21clc and I went a-shopping. We took mel21clc to David's Bridal to get her a bridesmaid dress where she dealt with a whole bunch of rude associates and had to call Pennsylvania to get her dress. Pennsylvania was far more pleasant than Springfield, thank goodness.

Then we went off to Costco where I got a sewing machine!!! I got this Brother machine and it looks like Amazon has it for $30 less than it was onsale at Costco with free shipping. Huh. I'm going to doublecheck model when I get home, but seriously, we are not amused, even if I'm not actually paying for it. I also got my usual 6 pounds of pork, giant bag of craisins, shampoo & conditioner, etc... I did refrain from getting my giant wheel o' brie. Ran to Pentagon City to Gap, Sephora and Williams-Sonoma where I got some nifty cooling racks and a roasting cookbook. One of these days I'm going to buy myself a roasting pan with a rack. Until then, I'll continue my precarious pan w/ chicken on a cookie rack arrangement. Hasn't given me problems so far.

Friday, I attempted three recipes from Simpler the Better... and only one was really successful. I tried grilled steak fajitas, which gave a salsa recipe that had waaay too much tomato and not enough avacado seasoning. Plus the tortillas weren't as hot as they should have been and the steak was too chewy and not in small enough chunks. I also make a garlic parmesan corn side dish, which had way too much cream - I don't think I boiled it long enough. The winner of the night was the white chocolate mousse, which was great except that I forgot I don't like white chocolate mousse that much. I'd put them in wine glasses for pretty presentation, but the best fit were my ginormous glasses, which had 4 servings of mousse in two containers. Too much. But I really like this cookbook, as it's not a lot of ingredients and looks like good, easy food.

Then ran out and saw Dreamgirls which was seriously fantastic. I enjoyed all of it and for Buffy fans, the demon in "Once More With Feeling" is in this. He doesn't sing and dance, but he's definitely in it.

I have to figure out where and what to spend my borders card on. I'm definitely going to get my hypnosis book and maybe I'll grab a DVD or something with the rest. Trying to figure out if I should splurge on a couple of books I know I want or wait until they're in paperback. Anyway, now I'm just hanging out at work, listending to Pandora and waiting for it to be 6 so I can go home and do laundry and get ready for tomorrow's clothes swap. Swapping! Of the clothing! So I can get wearable things!

Ugh, this week is going to be busy busy busy.

I just opened up an IRA. The stockbrocker kept saying it as Eye-rah, which kind of made me want to hurt him lotses. Yearly maintenance fee, which kinda sucks, but it's my parents' stockbrocker who they've had for years and so is trustworthy to me.

I get to break up with my roommate tonight. Except that I can't say "It's not you, it's me..." because it's totally her. Violating our lease agreement. And being nasty about it. And not cleaning the kitchen.

Holy shit, my credit card bill is ridiculous. Even when you take out the $300 of work expenses. Next time a relative visits, I won't treat so much. (Did I treat that much? Don't know) The stuff I'm returning will take $50 off the bill, so that's slightly less ridiculous, but holy crap.

So, yes. After Sunday's circular window shopping and the failed ebay auction, I went to craigslist, where I found this futon. The seller and I have been dancing around possible times, trying to coordinate with goingdriftless' schedule (why the FUCK don't I have a license yet! I mean, even if I did, I'd have to wait a year to get a zipcar membership, but I could work something better out), possibly my boss is renting a zipcar for me, blah blah blah yay consumerism. If that falls through, I could potentially buy a futon online (but OMG expensive!) or from Target or someplace (OMG still expensive!). If the little brother does come visit Memorial Weekend, I would like a place for him to sleep. This is part of my impetus for this, but I'd also like the gaping hole that is our living room to go away. I mean, I could always charge $5 per person and host a mini-rave on Friday to help pay for it. That's how empty my house is right now. Old Roommate moved out a month ago, New Roommate has all her furniture in her room (including a couch - not that I'm bitter) and Other Roommate is too busy getting sexxed by That Guy that she doesn't care. Hell, I've seen her once in a week and a half.

I suppose I could get a papasan chair from Pier One on Saturday or something. It'd end up costing $70 for frame and cushion, if I wanted to get the ottoman too, it'd be $105 without tax. I think I'd rather have the futon, though.

I also need at least one new bra. My current neutral bra which I wear all the time has broken both underwire bits. I've had it a year and a half, so eh, no big, but I go underwear shopping so rarely, I don't know where to go. Add my large band and small cup size and it's not very easy to find bras. Especially for cheap. Maybe Fredericks of Hollywood or something, but I don't want to look like a hooker.

I just want it all to magically appear and for me not to have to do any of the work. Also, I'd like all furniture sales to not be on Sunday, otherwise known as the day I work.

I'm roasting a chicken tomorrow (I have decided, it shall be so) and the more I think about it, the more I want to make that avocado, mango & spinach salad from Beltane, crack open a bottle of wine and sit down and have a nice dinner. With another person present (not my roommates). I'm lonely for good conversation, I guess. Maybe I should have a dinner party or something, but I was thinking more along the lines of my family's Sunday dinners. I guess I miss those.

Someone take away my credit card so I won't buy this taffeta for the corset top and everything that exists in reprodepot.

I mean, the taffeta's a good deal, right? And first time orders ship free! And I totally need to use this fabric to make a dress to use up that brown fabric! And... and...

Crap. I'm going to be Oprah's Debt Diet now, huh.

Holy cats, you guys, Maryland Sheep & Wool is a week from Saturday! ::runs around in a happy sheep craze::

If it turns out my potential rides my friends can't make it, I will stay home and cry.

I am reminding myself that I do not need to buy any brown themed fabric from G Street tomorrow. I don't need to. If nothing there suits my fancy, that's absolutely fine. I'll just get myself some fabric scissors.

Of course now that I've checked my bank account and my credit card balance, I am FREAKING OUT about money. Half of the credit card is work reimbursements, but my roommate hasn't cashed my rent check yet. I've got extra cash from various work jobs. The world won't end if I don't get a few yards of fabric even if I have a coupon.

Anyway, I'll see how I feel in the morning.

So, I've been thinking about what I want to buy right now about as much as I did right before I moved. When I moved it was the basic "what do I need to survive?" Now, it's more "what do I want?" Do I need kitchen canisters? Not really. Would they make using the kitchen easier and make my cabinet not full of bags of rice & pasta? Yes. Do I need to get more plates? Glasses? A brita filter? A silverware separator? A DVD player? The kitchen cubes that are the sore of the coveted Target trip?

Not really.

I also don't *need* my gym membership or my netflix or the cable modem or all the yarn or the spinning wheel.

I guess what I'm asking myself is if convenience and enjoyment are enough justification.

I am happy to report that my beloved new cable modem did not go on sale/on rebate with the current set of circulars. All of the wireless routers went on sale, but I already had one of those. The ebay search for the cheap DVD/VCR is turning fruitless - I might get one for $40-$50 with shipping, which is a good deal for a combo, but more than I want to spend. Target has goingdriftless' kitchen cubes for $15 plus a $5 gift card, so that's definitely worth picking up. I miss my kitchen storage. They also have a difference DVD/VCR for $90. I think I need to check different websites and/or craigslist.

In the next 3 days, I have to find time to go to the gym I got a day pass for, sew my skirt and now probably go to Target. Actually, I could probably do one for each day. The skirt didn't take that much sewing time. Provided I can actually get the sewing machine to not jam up at the sight of my fabric. The Target day will probably also mean that I'll make some crockpot pork. Hmm. Maybe I'll just do that tomorrow, do the skirt Tuesday and gym on Wednesday. That'd probably work. I think.

It's Sunday, so expect some other pointless updates through the course of the day. Probably still about DVD players.

Oh my gods, y'all, I just spent $100 at Costco. Now, $20 was a new swimsuit, which I've been wanting for yonks (and a speedo for $20? GOOD DEAL. Plus is super cute), $20 was vitamins that should last a year ($12 for 300 vs. $8 for 100 at the grocery store), $15 was 6 pounds of pork chops that I'll freeze in groups of three, etc... Everything was a good deal, but $100? I'm freaking out. In the long run, the $15 I spent on contact solution will beat the $20 I'd spend over the course of the year, but seriously y'all? I'm freaking out. Especially since I spent $80 on groceries yesterday, $50 on clothing at the beginning of the month and $60 for the cable modem.

Plus, the costco frozen yogurt gave me a slight headache.

::does the OMG MONEY dance in a corner::

Costco is a lot of fun, but it was a lot more fun when my mom bought everything for me.

I'll spare you guys the actual grocery list, but I've decided that I'm making beans & rice for lunches next week and pancakes & bacon for dinner! I've been craving breakfast food lately, so yeah. I'll be buying turkey bacon and pancake mix at the grocery store tomorrow.

Stopped by Linens 'n' Things before work to buy a container to hold my canola oil (when the Aunt moved cross country, she gave me several giant tubs of things - Woollite, olive oil, canola oil) when I realized that it'd be easier & cheaper to buy a thing of oil at the store and refill from that. Bought a corkscrew. Funny story - when I was frustrated and tired and miserable and on my second trip to the grocery store, I decided to buy a bottle of wine. Halfway to the checkout, I stopped and exchanged the cork bottle of wine for one with a screw top (classy, I know, but quite tasty - but their cabernet is too bitter for me). Got home and lo and behold, there was no corkscrew! If I'd bought that other bottle, there might have been some death and/or temper tantrum.

Anyway, tomorrow is grocery shopping and then I'll make me some pancakes and then probably watch some netflix and then head to stitch 'n' bitch. Saturday, if goingdriftless is going to Costco, I'll tag along to see if I can find a cheap DVD/VCR combo (or just a DVD player).

Will be switching gyms this month. Didn't realize that there's an alternative to the YWCA that has a pool and is slightly cheaper - I've got a guest pass that I'll try out either Saturday or Monday. Cheaper but further away alternative is also open later, a HUGE plus (YWCA closes at 4:30 on weekends - ridiculously early).

Hmm. Maybe I'm just babbling. Today's been weird, and I've only been up for 4 hours.

So, I found this rebate for a cable modem and got all super happy about it. Then I noticed the fine print: "The rebate offers listed on this page are not valid at the following retail locations: Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Costco, Costco.com, Fry's Electronics, J&R Electronics, jr.com, Micro Center, Office Depot, Office Max, Outpost.com, RadioShack, Staples.com, Target, and Wal-Mart."

Poop. But wait! Since it mentions some of those websites, what if I buy off of a major retailer website? Like bestbuy.com! And then do instore pickup and I might even get it tonight! Yay! But let's call the rebate people to make sure. The rebate people? Super confused. After being put on hold several times and getting a supervisor, I am told that yes, I can get a rebate if and only if the receipt says bestbuy.com and not BestBuy. So what does that mean? That means I call Best Buy. After getting ahold of Mike, a very nice guy with a not too high IQ, and jumping through a bunch of odd hoops, I am told that any order made for in-store pickup will have a bestbuy.com order number and will be from bestbuy.com.

So I ordered the modem. I don't have a receipt yet, but the print out of various webpages and emails all have the best buy logo on them but also say bestbuy.com in pretty big letters. I suspect I may end up highlighting things. I also predict all hell shall break loose in 8-10 weeks when I do not receive a rebate check.

My next hurdle for the day - waiting the 45 minutes to 5 hours to get the "ready for pickup" email.

I sure hope I haven't made customers_suck with these calls - I got snippy towards the end, but always said thank you, at least.

So, this whole cable modem thing. Amazon is running a sale on a linksys that ends up being $45 after rebate. SWEET! Also, free shipping. But then, I'd have to wait 2 weeks to get my internet back. I miss my internet greatly. I was actually going to buy a modem tonight. The only problem is that the rebate expires TONIGHT, so I have to decide. Comcast approves both that modem (but not version 2... and I can't tell what version they'd ship, though probably 3 or 4) and the D-Link I was looking at.

Also, would a linksys modem work with a d-link router? I don't see why it wouldn't, but... hmmm. Don't ask me to make difficult decisions! Especially with a deadline!

I am currently sans internet at home and therefore will only be updating at work. See, my roommate moved out and took the cable accoutrements with her. I knew about this. However, people had only mentioned that she was taking the wireless router and not the cable modem. I have a D-Link router that works great, but not the modem. So, when I went to go set up internet yesterday, I was unpleasantly surprised. And actually rather mad.

So I took a bath. Why a bath? Because the shower curtain was also the roommate's. So, 15 minutes in Bed, Bath & Beyond later, I have a shower curtain, liner & hooks. With coupon, it was less than $20. So then I stopped into Radio Shack to see about a cable modem. The cheap ones are $80. I'm going to see what Best Buy has after yoga, but I may end up getting a used one off of craigslist. Because, $80? Not cool. I mean, I suppose we could split that between the roommates, but damn. Hmm. Best Buy online has one for $60 - if we split between roommates, that's doable.

So, yesterday blew. I got home from the NC trip at 1 am (wedding was fun, but that was a lot of time in the car. A LOT. On Friday, it took us 3 hours to get to Fredericksburg. A LOT). Slept in too late to make it to a_muse_amused's Easter thing, plus hadn't called her to confirm and arrange rides. Ran to the grocery store, got home, ignored the text from CMK (CLUE! CLUE ON AISLE 4 PLEASE!), cleaned like a mad woman. Swept & mopped all major living areas, including walls, cleaned my mini-bathroom, scrubbed out the tub (There was no shower curtain! It was easy!), ran the dishwasher, washed the living room curtains and cleaned one of the heating grates (it was seriously gross). Was about to get a start on my room when I realized that I'd been cleaning for 2.5 hours and could no longer think. Sat on my bed and watched TV for a bit. Decided to start cooking my brisket. Realized that all of the salt in the house had been my no-longer-roommate's. Went back to the grocery store, got more garlic, salt, vanilla and a bottle of red wine. Because I was in that place and the recipe called for it (or balsamic vinegar, which I was going to use). Cooked the brisket (OH MY GODS, SO GOOD), drank the wine, watched some TV and collapsed.

I do not know what to do with myself about the internet. Spent a lot of the day going, "Oh, I need to email Roommate about the cable modem... except I CAN'T." (I didn't want to call her on Easter)

So, after yoga tonight, I have to make spaghetti, install the shower curtain, change the sheets on my bed and not collapse. Well, I'll try anyway.

Still haven't found a metroaccessible place to buy air filters. Well, one that's not really far out of my way.

My taxes are filed. I should be getting a nice return in the mail soonish. Which means that I can pay back a friend some money, switch gyms, get a gym bag and just maybe buy myself a new set of sneakers. I should probably save more than I will, but I'm getting the refund on a debit card.

Yay money!

ETA: Boo for the IRS for rejecting my efile and for H&R Block not letting me refile. My guess is that I got my AGI wrong or something. Aw fuck, now I have to call that temp agency that refused to send me a copy of my W-2s. How much do I not want to talk to them? Lots.

So... I know I'm getting a tax refund. I still have to put in two W-2s from temp agencies, but that's less than $1000 combined, so I'm not worrying too, too much.

I know I'm putting half of my refund into savings. (Well, not really, because H&R block will do your state taxes for free if you get your return on a debit card, so I'd put money from my checking into savings and use the debit card for a while) But what to do with the other half? I'd like to leave half of the half (so, one quarter) just kind of hanging out... potentially MD Sheep & Wool $$$, potentially just to give my checking a boost. I think the other half will be used to buy a gym bag so I don't have to put my gym clothes into a backpack. And new workout shoes. And the Dresden Dolls CD that comes out in April.

Once you start consuming, it's hard to stop.

I have an aunt and uncle who live in Kuai. My aunt really wants me to come out and visit at some point, to the offer of 'if you pay half of the airfare, i'll pay half.' And you know, dude! Hawaii! Sort of cheap! Free housing!

But I have no vacation days and not a whole lot of free time and I need to get my saving up so I can open my Roth IRA so I can start some serious saving for things like retirement or home purchase. According to this, I can take up to $10k out without penalty for home purchase. (Honestly, I have no idea if that is enough for a deposit, but hey, yanno).

I've always said that I'm going to get my savings account up to a certain point and then I'll open it up. And I checked my savings account balance and did some math and I am TWO MONTHS AWAY from getting to that point.

This boggles me. I've double what was in my savings a year ago and I've gone from taking money out of my savings to get by to this. Sure, my checking account is fluctuating rapidly, but I'm really happy that I've at least gotten this far. Of course, I just did a bit more research... Charles Schwab'll take the account for free but it requires a $2k deposit instead of $1k.

This is a good start.

I'm still waiting on 2 W-2s from the two temp agencies I worked at last year, but I WILL BE GETTING A REFUND. A big refund. Probably not as big as everyone else's, but enough for make my checking account not quite so sad. If I get the H&R debit card refund, I can file my Virginia return for free. I'm trying to decide if I should or not.

( Potential Chili Recipe )
Culinary types, tell me if I'm missing something.

Social Security office was a breeze, calling the urgent care people ended very easily. Had to upgrade my webhosting from $3.50 a year to $4 a month because my bandwidth keeps getting exceeded (and this is cheaper than the $6 a month extra bandwidth). I am SO HAPPY to have my debit card.

I'm excited to eat my beans and rice for lunch in a few minutes.