Must NOT Shop

It is funny that I consider myself OCD – I am a Virgo, so it’s imbedded in my character, if you believe in that stuff. When I think of OCD people, I think about hypochondriacs and neat freaks. I have described myself as lazy to some extent, something I definitely don’t associate with OCD (though anyone that’s watched Hoarders will understand that OCD has nothing to cleanliness or energy) and I lack discipline. Funny, then, that when I say that I am on my second month of my disciplined budgeting, I am being very OCD and accounting for each penny spent.

In May, once I committed to making this a new 12-month project, I made a radical financial decision. I took a HUGE chunk of my savings and paid off my existing credit card. This was a scary decision! There is something to be said for having a large savings balance. There is also something to be said about paying interest to a banking institution on a monthly basis. Ultimately, none of this matters if I just start shopping indiscriminately and racking up that credit card debt again!

The two financial decisions I made recently may seem to be somewhat separate, but to me, it makes no sense to implement one and not the other. If you are too scared to look at what you spend on a daily basis, you aren’t holding yourself accountable for your own financial decisions. If you are too scared to open a credit card statement, how long do you think that can continue before you begin to hit credit limits, or incur over the limit fees, or default rates? How can I avoid using my credit cards if I have no concept of what I pay out in bills and living expenses? And, talking about it keeps me honest.

I get paid once a month. For a shopaholic, it’s a long time in between highly anticipated shopping trips. For the near future, my primary focus is to not use credit cards and stay balance free. I cannot wait to reach some goal (that I haven’t set for myself yet) and enjoy the fruits of my labor. In the meantime, every penny counts!

Can I go Cash Only?!?

I am going to stop shopping or at least stop spontaneous shopping!  I know this sounds weird considering my recent post was lamenting about financial responsibility and that we all have a right to shop without judgment.  However, that does not mean that I am oblivious to the pitfalls of overspending or racking up too much debt. 

Before we bought our condo, I was so frugal.  I didn’t care what I wore to work.  The apartment we rented was so outdated; I never spent money on decorating.  It would have been a waste of my money!  Now, I buy anything I want.  One extreme to the other…

Balance is a difficult thing for me.  I either go to the gym gung-ho for three months or I don’t go at all for four.  I do the same thing with shopping.  The first step is to figure out how I can shop and buy a couple things over the course of the month instead of feast and famine.

Do I really NEED to buy it ALL and NOW?  Last year I finally convinced the bf we should take up camping (a feat in itself).  It’s an affordable way to vacation, and many campgrounds allow dogs.  Because we had never been camping, we had almost no equipment.  Instead of buying a couple sleeping bags and a tent and acquiring everything else come with time, I cleared out the packing list REI provides on their site.  Nowadays I hate lacking anything, whether I need it or not!  The second step is to edit the list of things I want/need.

None of this matters if I can’t be consistent in achieving these goals.  If I decide not to use credit cards, I need this to become part of my financial budgeting.  It doesn’t make sense to go through this process if next month I throw it all out the window to buy the pair of sapphire earrings I want without saving cash to pay for them.  This is really where all the hard work comes into play!  I get paid once a month, so until I get through an entire month, it’s all just lip service.  So, that leaves the final step of consistency in applying this discipline over time – not just week to week.

As I eluded in my last post, this is still a new project.  I still haven’t figured out: do I budget to buy myself a little something each week or do I wait until the end of the month and use leftover cash for the next great buy?  What happens when an unexpected event comes up, such as a vet visit for the Bear?  How will I respond to maybe not getting that one thing that month?  I know these issues sound simple – just don’t buy it, you don’t need it, who are you trying to impress… How do you decide when you can buy something?  Do you just charge it, wait till you save the money, talk yourself out of needing it?  I cannot be the only one that struggles with these decisions.  I can’t wait till I make some of them!

Heather

a whole lotta nothing!

I have nothing!

My weekend kitchen experiment last Sunday was not quite what I was looking for.  Great idea; I think the recipe could be better.  I’m going to try again with some changes.  I’ll report back…

Vacation plan is forming.  Unfortunately it is fairly far into the future.  Too early to book so I just can’t discuss.  I’ll report back…

No shopping lately.  Working a bit on discipline.  I have a couple of financial goals I’m working towards, and this shopaholic is suffering from withdrawal.  Literally!  I’m two weeks in to my new plan so it’s too early to know if I’ll be able to stick with it.  I’ll report back…

We’re going camping with the Bear in July.  We’ve had no spring or sun, just rain.  Hopefully we’ll get summer here in New England.  Right now, who knows?!  I’ll report back.

So, I have a whole lot to look forward to, but right now… just a whole lotta nothing!

Heather

Material Girl for Life!

How do you deal with paying for your shopping habits? Do you allot a certain amount of your paycheck to buy that one certain thing you’ve been eyeing for the past month? Do you shop the year away charging it and pay off the credit card bills when you receive your tax refund? Why do we blame people for wanting nice things? Why blame the American way of life? I believe there is a disconnection of perspective between materialism and fiscal responsibility.

People think living beyond our means is an American ill… Well, I surely don’t believe it is! People have been spending other people’s money for thousands of years! The triumphs celebrated by Roman emperors were paid for by taxes or booty. Monarchies around the world have paid for priceless jewels, gowns, balls, palaces, lovers – the list is infinite, with tax money, state resources, and others’ lives picking up the tab. There have always been people who want what others have or just to have nice things because we work for our paychecks.  If the bills are paid on time and you have 6 months of living expenses in the bank (a la Suze Orman), then who does it hurt?   

Cocobear gets a paycheck in treats when she does her job, heeling, sitting, recall, etc. I get my paycheck for showing up to the office each week and completing my tasks. Why shouldn’t we enjoy what we work for if it brings us joy?

One of the first albums I owned as a little girl was Madonna’s Like a Virgin, which OF COURSE is the home of the timeless Material Girl. I was seven years old. I’m not saying it was destiny, but I’m not saying it wasn’t…

Essie’s French Affair Swatches & Review

I have finally gone through the Essie Spring 2011 French Affair collection and swatched all of them!  I am not the best photographer, and I hope to improve; but in the meantime, I hope you can at least get an idea of what each polish looks like.

Nice is Nice

Topless and Barefoot

French Affair

Coat Azure

Sand Tropez

Kisses & Bises

I ordered this collection early in my polish spree, thinking it had a good array of soft pastels and neutrals.  I really like all the colors.

• Nice is Nice is a nice lavender purple that is very wearable in the spring.
• Topless and Barefoot is my least favorite, but I still prefer the soft pinkish nude better than Ballet Slippers, which IMO is an overrated color.
• French Affair if a soft pink with a good amount of pigment – I like to see the color.
• Coat Azure is just a fun blue that will make a perfect pedi one of these summer days!
• I am surprised at how much I liked Sand Tropez.  I was worried it would zap all color from my hands, but it really was a tan neutral color that I could see.
• Kisses and Bises reminded me of the OPI Cotton Candy I would get over acrylic tips as a teenager.

Finally, I didn’t find any of the colors too fussy, which I was worried about especially with the lighter cream colors.  I don’t believe I’ll buy an entire collection again, but I am happy with this purchase!

Where in the world?…

I spend my year dreaming about the one trip we’re taking next year.  I was hoping this year would be a bit different.  Last year included no trips abroad.  It was definitely not by design, but it was my biggest disappointment of the year.  We need to make up for that!

Our trip for 2010 was intended to be to St. Lucia in the Caribbean.  Unfortunately a hurricane hit the week before we were to travel and caused significant damage to the area we were to stay.  So, we postponed our vacation all the way to March 2011.  That meant no travel for 2010…. and it was a LONG winter here in Boston!

Originally our trip for 2011 was supposed to be to Italy.  This is the second and most likely final visit to Italy: Florence and Venice on the first trip and Rome and Amalfi Coast on this one.  Here is where my OCD planning set me up for heartbreak!  Instead of waiting to book our postponed vacation for September, the time I wanted to travel to Italy for my birthday, I re-scheduled the original trip for March to Turks and Caicos.  It was beautiful, but it just didn’t do it for me.

Mudjin Harbor, Middle Caicos

But now I don’t know if we can do Italy in September.  The bf has limited vacation time and I’m trying to eek every last bit of his time into fun stuff for me!

I started to think any trip would be better than none.  Maybe I can settle on a 5-night trip to say Barcelona or Portugal instead of the 7 to 8 nights in Italy.   Maybe I could live with that compromise…

This morning, I was at the park with Cocobear to play with the neighborhood fur babies.  I was chatting with Cocobear’s boyfriend’s owner about my recent change of plans, when a neighbor approaches and joins in the conversation, not really knowing my original destination.  “My favorite place was when we drove down the coast of Italy and just would find the most beautiful places on the Amalfi Coast…”

TORTURE!

So now what to do?  My life has halted until this decision is made!  There is nothing I would rather do than to book this trip to Italy.  The trip is planned.  I have a complete itinerary.  Do we just hold off for this year?  Next year is supposed to be Hawaii….  Where do we go if we can’t do Italy this year?  Anywhere we go still has to be the greatest!  Where in the world would you go if you could only go on a 5 night vacation?  Where is your favorite place?

NOTD – Butter LONDON All Hail the Queen

I shop in OCD spurts.  I like to have everything I want from that category before I can move on to the next.  I also LOVE color!  My favorite color changes on my mood, sometimes by trend, and varies often. So what better than nail polish to add a splash to my everyday workwear?  This year I started off with this new obsession with a bang!  I’ve purchased dozens of polishes from several different brands across all colors.  With this blog recently lying idle, what better place to show off my new found obsession and maybe help people with a couple of swatches along the way.

A couple months ago, I came across swatches of the Butter LONDON All Hail the Queen polish.  It’s a taupe with pinky-purple undertones (my professional opinion – ha!) with what is described as holographic shimmer.  Just in the bottle it’s beautiful… It applied so smoothly!  And with the Seche Vite top coat, which is my current holy grail, it looks so sleek and professional, people think I have a gel nail manicure.  Sorry for the picture quality…

I just love it and this may be my current fave (though I have a ton of new colors still try and share with you!)…

Anti-Age ME!

Skin care is very important. I spent most of my 20’s getting carded or just being told I look so young in general. Even the best, clearest, healthiest skin ages because of exposure to the sun, smoking and drinking, free radicals – whatever those are, but you get the idea. For my own skincare routine, I’ve always followed the 3 step method: cleanse, tone, and moisturize. For moisturizers, I’ve tried several and I like a few, but I just don’t ever trust that what I am doing is helping. A lot of people, bloggers giving reviews, dermatologists and aestheticians, are generally trying to sell products. And, because I’ve never needed to address skin issues with a doctor, and I’m way too cheap to visit a spa for a facial, I’ve never consulted a dermatologist. I just don’t know who to trust, so I decided to come up with my own routine based on some rudimentary Internet research and some discriminating evaluations of reviews.

My search started with what is the key ingredient to anti-aging formulas and what is the best vehicle to get it into my skin. Vitamin A is the winner. In its prescription strength, Vitamin A is known as Retin-A. For over the counter anti-aging products, it can be found in a lower dose, Retinol. Retinol has apparently been found to have the best results for over the counter products at reducing fine lines and the signs of aging. Retinol concentrations that are considered effective can be found in the form of a serum or a lotion. I am not a cosmetologist or dermatologist. I am not going into more science here, but that is the general idea of where I started. Also, because Retinol products can cause skin irritation and make it more susceptible to sun damage, it should only be used at night. I recently saw an aesthetician’s vlog where she was saying the moisturizer is not where the money should go, the retinol serum underneath is. Now, here’s my grain of salt, she’s selling the products she uses in her salon. So, I will take that info and go elsewhere for product recommendations. Thanks and no thanks!

Now I need a night moisturizer as well. I am totally going to take her advice here and look for an affordable yet respectable moisturizer. Neutrogena, Aveeno and Olay have always been my go-to drugstore skincare brands. Why not look to my old faithfuls?! All have products that I considered are highly rated by reviewers on Amazon.com as well as other online retailers. All are extremely affordable and can be found in my local drugstore or my good ole fav, Amazon. Which one will I try first? Whichever one I want and I will try them all at one point in time or another.

So, a nighttime routine changes it is. Because I am going to be adding a fairly harsh addition to my skincare regimen, the retinol, this will be the only change to my current routine. Unless I have a harsh reaction to the retinol products, I will give it the 6-8 weeks to see if it’s worth the extra effort and money. Then, I can start work on my day routine.

In case you’re wondering about the specific products, I think I’m going to start with the Philosophy Save Me and the Aveeno Active Naturals Positively Ageless Night Cream with Natural Shiitake Complex combination. After I use the Philosophy tube up, barring any adverse reaction, I will move to a 0.5 Retinol formula. That way my skin can get used to the Retinol. Wish me luck on my new regimen and let me know if you see any improvements!

Heather

P.S. I forgot to add a warning in case anyone decided to try facial products containing Retinol.  When using Retinol products, you MUST wear a broad spectrum SPF lotion during the day!  These products do make skin photo sensitive.  Also, if you have a reaction using it nightly, use it 2-3 times a week until your skin adjusts to the product, increasing frequency if symptoms subside, stopping if symptoms persist.  Happy fighting!

Supernatural Brownies… for dinner!

I have NO idea why I was supposed to wait a day before cutting into these brownies.  My theory is that it gives time for the crust to harden some and the center will stay moist while the outer layer dries out?  Who knows… I almost made 2 pans of these when I read this step in the instuctions, but I can’t have 2 pans of brownies hanging around this place, and if they didn’t come out right, I surely wasn’t going to bring them to my co-workers!  Even then, I added an experiment in the mix.

The primary differences in recipes from the previous two weeks… Tons of butter – 2 whole sticks; uses both brown and white sugar; and, the chocolate was semi-sweet.

I weighed the chocolate chips on a kitchen scale.

My experiment comes with the sugar step and a side-story. The one magazine I’ve received for years faithfully is Cooks Illustrated. The May/June 2009 issue has a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that is to die for!  It calls for letting the sugars (also a mix of white and brown) melt in the butter mixture for 10 minutes in order to create a caramelized and crustier exterior, which in turn causes the moisture to concentrate in the center, making crusty outside with chewy guts.  I thought, why not try this with this recipe?!  I didn’t like last week’s, and I was nervous about another dull outcome, so I figured what could I lose.  Clearly this isn’t a scientific experiment or there could be only one variable, but in reality, the goal is a good pan of brownies.

The outcome is a good brownie with a couple issues.  The edges were super chewy, by any standards, and not hard chewy.  The bottom crust was also chewy, so that was good as well.  But, the part of the science that concentrates the moisture in the center was a bit much for a pan of brownies.  Cookies allow more moisture to evaporate because more surface area is exposed to the heat.  The brownies couldn’t let as much moisture escape because of the pan.  So, though the center is dense and fudgy, chewy, it’s a tad too much for me.  (After 45 minutes, a toothpick came out with only a couple crumbs, so this is not a raw batter issue)  Brown sugar contributes moisture as well.  The 2^nd issue was a slightly caramel/butterscotch flavor, which I assume comes from the brown sugar as well as the caramelization of the sugars during baking.  I don’t add extra chips or nuts to my brownies, so it’s not too much of a foreign flavor, but it is there, and I can only assume why.

I wonder if these issues would also be remedied if I only used white sugar.  That may be an experiment I do on the DL and, if they are good, I’ll share… Overall, these are still very good brownies.  I would not wait overnight for ANY brownie recipe ever again.  It’s just not fair!

Supernatural Brownies

Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers, by

Nick Malgieri

Makes 24 2-inch brownie squares

Ingredients:

• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

One 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan, buttered and lined with buttered parchment or foil

1. Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and pre-heat to 350 degrees.

2. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and turn off heat. Combine butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set over pan of water. Stir occasionally until melted.

3. Whisk eggs together in a large bowl, then whisk in salt, sugars, and vanilla. Stir in chocolate and butter mixture, and then fold in flour.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 45 minutes, until top has formed a shiny crust and batter is moderately firm. Cool in pan on a rack. Wrap pan in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature or refrigerated until next day.

5. To cut brownies, unmold onto a cutting board, remove paper, and replace with another cutting board. Turn cake right side up and trim away edges. Cut brownies into 2-inch squares.

Two more recipes to go, and it’s a good thing!  I think I’ll be over brownies for a little while!

Heather

 

Brownie Quest – Left me hungry!!!

I am SO disappointed with this recipe… WHY, you ask?  Because the smart guy that wrote it has you wait for the brownies to cool, then cover and wait OVERNIGHT!  These brownies better be super because it is unnatural to leave a pan of brownies that long!  But this pan of brownies looks just SO DAMN GOOD that I couldn’t wait till tomorrow to show you!

The name of this recipe is Supernatural Brownies.  YUM!!!  I was so disappointed with last week’s recipe, if these are anywhere as good as they look, it will be worth the wait.

Tomorrow I will be having Supernatural Brownies for dinner with the recipe, pictures… and my review!

Crackly Shiny Candy Crust!!!

Heather