Total Money Monday

 I’m not a natural when it comes to personal finance.  I love shopping and having nice, top-of-the-line, shiny, brand new things.  However, I’d also really like to be financially secure.  I read Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover a few years ago and the envelope system definitely worked for me.  I just stopped when I moved to Minnesota two years ago and since then I haven’t been the best budgeter.

The truth is, I’m in a better financial situation that I’ve ever been.  I mean, I’m not rich by any stretch of the imagination.  There’s just no reason for me to live paycheck to paycheck at this point in my life.  And that’s exactly what I’m doing.  That’s why I was at the bank withdrawing cash on Black Friday instead of standing in line for a new TV (something I REALLY, REALLY WANT too BTW). 

After looking at my particular financial situation, I will be changing a few things though.  For example, I only have two credit cards and will be concentrating on paying off the bigger of the two first.  The interest on the bigger card is significantly more and paying that card off will save me upwards of $80 a month to roll into other debt.  My student loans, however, have the same interest rate so I’ll go ahead and concentrate on the smaller one first.  Those are my only current debts (~$2,800 in credit cards and ~$45,000.00 in student loans) but my student loans are more than what my grandmother’s house cost when they bought it in the 1970s!

The next difference is I won’t be pouring all of the residual cash after I pay my monthly expenses into my student loans or credit cards quite yet.  Why you ask?  Because rent in MSP is expensive.  I’m pretty sure that what I pay for my 500 square foot basement studio actually pays the entire mortgage on my landlord’s triplex.  Since this is actually one of the few major cities where buying actually makes more sense than renting, I’ll be buying a house. 

I’m hoping that I’ll be in a place by the end of winter or beginning of spring in 2016.  There’s no way I’ll be able to save up a full 20% down payment by that time but even if I do an FHA loan with 3.5% down and have to pay PMI, I’ll still be paying less than I am now.  And then I can deduct an interest from my taxes.  I’ll also have more space and the opportunity to have family come visit, maybe even move up, or at least look at getting a roommate to help fund my debt snowball. 

After I buy a house, then I’ll start focusing one student loan at a time, followed by my mortgage.  In the meantime, I’ll be visiting the bank every two weeks and filling up envelopes.   I’ll do another post on how I setup my envelopes to work for me right now.

Do you have problems budgeting?  This method is the only one that has EVER worked.

Do you regret taking out student loans?  I wish every day that I could turn back time and not go to graduate school.

Five for Friday: What’s Getting Me Through Minnesota’s Premature Winter

• Remote start

I’m so glad my cheap ass came up off the money for this to be installed early in the season.  While getting it done in late October didn’t actually save me much cash, it did give me a jump start on some ridiculously early November snow. 

Whatever happened to November Rain?

• Peppermint tea

My job keeps the thermostat at frostbite and forbids any sort of fans or heaters at desks.  It’s incredibly difficult to type in gloves so I try to keep a cup of piping hot something near me during the winter.  My drink of choice right now is Stash Peppermint Herbal Tea.  It actually tastes like a peppermint stick minus the sugar.  

• Weird Christmas music

Literally every musician on earth has put out a Christmas album.  My goal this winter is listen to as many rando Christmas songs as possible.  So far I’ve been listening to bluegrass holiday music but I’m going to start randomly clicking on one of the 29 pages of artists on Amazon’s Christmas album section and randomly start buying stuff.  

I'm pretty sure they're not talking about snow...

Oh, if you think it’s too early for Christmas music, it’s not.  As soon as the first snowflake hits the ground, it’s all fair game.

• Online shopping

I’m not leaving my house if the bottom of my pants are going to get wet.  So far, I’ve purchased makeup, shower gel, two coats, a pair of jeans, some perfume, and a set of hubcaps.  And I have them all delivered to my job so they don’t get stolen or wet.  

• Coolant

Fun fact: I’m incredibly cheap and don’t trust easily.  So when I was told over the summer that I needed radiator fluid, I didn’t believe the shop.  I just had a radiator flush the summer before and my car wasn’t overheating.  Plus, my manual only suggests one flush every 100,000 miles.  

I mean, last winter my car did stay a little chilly and never really got warm but my car is ten year old car so that’s to be expected.  Stuff won’t work as awesome as it did when it was new.  Well, this year it was flat out terrible so I purchased some premixed coolant online (my car requires a certain kind and it’s just easier to buy it directly from the manufacturer).  When I added the coolant, between the radiator and the overflow area, my car almost took a gallon of radiator fluid.  Oops!  I’m assuming that when I had my last flush that they either didn’t fill the overflow area with coolant or there was a bubble in my radiator hose that kept enough fluid from getting to the radiator when they did it.  I did check for leaks but it doesn’t look like anything major is happening in there.

Will I start trusting the oil change guys?  Nope.  But I will make a point to promptly Google what they tell me from now on and check it out for myself.

Do you trust your car people?  Unless it’s my family, no way.  Plus, I’m pretty good with a wrench and can fix most stuff for myself.  #girlpower

Are you doing anything to prep for winter?  I’m going to sneak in a heating pad or electric blanket to keep on my lap next week.  I’m such a rebel.

A Perfumed Eulogy

Anybody who knows me, or has sat or stood within smelling distance of me, will tell you that I’m all about that bass fragrance.  My favorite perfume ever, without question, is Attraction by Lancôme.   I love it.  It’s classic, it wears down to just the right amount of scent, is feminine without being a walking bouquet, and it has a rich, romantic base.  I would marry and have babies with it if I could. 

But, alas, I cannot.  You see, they stopped making my favorite perfume.  After realizing that I couldn’t just run to my local counter and pick up another, I nursed my current bottle for 2 years.  Now I’m to the point where nothing will spray out of the bottle and have been looking for similar scents for a while now. 

I’ve discovered a lot about my fragrances over the past two years.  For example, spicy, peppery, or citrusy scents just make me sneeze.  I don’t love the smell of patchouli.  I do not care for the majority of floral or powdery perfumes.  Heavy vanilla notes make me smell like an old lady.  I prefer amber and cedar base notes.  I like white floral fragrances like neroli and ylang ylang but can only tolerate gardenia when it’s mixed with a stronger base note.

Some perfume that I’ve tried so far but rejected are:

Tom Ford Black Orchid:  It’s like they bottled a hippy.  I have 5 vials of samples and 4.5 will go unused.  I ended up putting this is some stinky face cream I had and it masked the mushroomy smell it had.

Lancôme Tresor in Love:  A lovely fragrance but not enough depth for me.  Sweet is the first word that comes to mind when describing it.  I had 2 vials of samples and have used most of them.  I’ll actually probably end up buying a full bottle of this.

Lancôme Miracle: Again, a lovely fragrance but just not my thing.  It also gives me a little bit of a headache.  I do spray it on letters, stationary, and gifts that I’m mailing because after a few days it gentles a bit.  I’ve gone through bottles and bottles of this through the years.  I currently have a big bottle that I got a few Christmases ago.  I’ll likely keep replacing it, mainly for sentimentality though.

Burberry Body:  It’s okay for days where I’m outside chopping wood in the snow.  It’s way too peppery for me to wear into the office.  I found a large bottle for $30 at TJ Maxx so I picked it up.  I won’t be replacing it.

Flowerbomb:  I love this smell but it’s never going to take top spot on my dresser.  It’s too floral with very little richness.  The lady at Macy’s loves to spray this on me.  I go at lunch on days when I’m going out after work to get doused.  It’s too expensive to buy a full bottle on my own since I don’t love it but I’d gladly receive this as a gift.

Rose de Chloe:  Similar enough to Flowerbomb but it still doesn’t wear down to what I need it to be.  I’m probably going to get a small bottle before Christmas.  I've been using a sample for a while now.

 

Marc Jacobs Honey:  I don’t really love any MJ fragrances.  They all give me headaches and I think the Honey one tried to give me hives.  I have a friend that collects these fragrances so I just used hers.  I’m

pretty sure she can’t actually smell.  Also, the bottle looks like something Justin Bieber's perfume team designed.

Miss Dior Cherie:  It’s okay.  I wear this to work because it’s light.  It’s definitely a floral but not too heady.  Overall, not my fave.  I have a large bottle of this that was gifted to me.  I’ll continue to use it but probably won’t replace it.

 

Lancôme Poeme:  I loved this scent in the store but it’s just too rich.  It’s heavy on the amber and musk but the top notes aren’t sharp enough to balance it out.  I just finished the bottle I bought back in 2005.  The bottle is heavy and beautiful.  And, if you know a collector, I’d definitely recommend it as a gift since it adds something that you just can’t find in most easily accessible perfumes on the market

won’t go looking for a replacement.

Chance by Chanel (the original):  This is probably the closest I’ve come to getting a similar fragrance.  I get samples of this from a friend’s mom that works at the Chanel counter.  I’ve probably used 30 little spray vials  over the past few years. I really should just buy a bottle. 

Cheap honorable mentions:

I do like some fragrances that aren’t $150 a pop.  One good example are the Britney Spears’ collection of scents.  The one in the blue bottle, Curious, is my personal favorite but the pink bottle, Fantasy, isn’t half bad.  These are the fragrances that I travel with since I like how they smell but won’t start crying if they get lost or broken since they’re affordable and easy to find.

The other honorable mention goes to a Bath and Body Works product that I put on at night that just makes me feel silky and smell womanly.  It’s the Amber Blush body cream.  And you can’t really get cheaper than BBW when they’re having sales.  And it’s a rare day when they don’t have coupons that make it even cheaper.  Normally, I pay $6 for the body creams but I usually have to buy 3-6   tubes to get it to that price.  I don’t mind since I usually only make 1-2 BBW trips a year. 

I’m still on the hunt for a complete dupe to the fragrance.  I can still pick up a bottle on eBay but beauty products from eBay and Amazon make me nervous for some reason.   Hopefully, the one person letter writing campaign I’m waging on Lancôme works and I won’t have to actually take the risk.

Have you ever had a company discontinued one of your “Holy Grail” products?  I still mourn my Spaced Out MAC blush, too.

What’s your favorite perfume brand?  Mine, by far, is Lancôme.  I’m not a huge fan of their cosmetics though.   

I Lost My Minneapolis-St. Paul Restaurant Week Virginity

Alternative title: I’m a Gluttonous Pig (and That’s Okay)

LINKS AT EVERYTHING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE

I’ve officially been in Minneapolis two full years now and, until yesterday, and never participated in Restaurant Week.  Minneapolis-St. Paul Restaurant week, for those that aren’t aware, is a quarterly occurrence where restaurants offer a limited menu for a discounted price.  Some only offer lunch, some offer dinner, and I think maybe some do brunch.  And the restaurants that participate are typically on the more expensive side.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to dropping serious coin on a fantastic meal but there’s risk in going to a place you’ve never been to before that I’m not always willing to take.  

Inside Seven

Anyway, as a chubby girl who loves food but doesn’t love cooking, that makes zero sense that I’ve missed 8 cycles of this magical event so I finally decided to participate.  After discussing options with friends, we finally decided to go to Seven.  I’ve walked by Seven so many times while out on the town but have never been inside.   While it can look intimidating at night from the street, the inside is actually really warm and welcoming while being modern.  There’s no obnoxious techno or subtle jazz playing in the background.  The tables are a distance from each other and the size and furnishings of the dining area is perfect in that you can have a normal volume conversation with the people at your table without it echoing or bothering your neighbors.  

Seven at night

Seven Roll

Seven is somewhat unique in that there are two separate menus.  One is traditional steakhouse and the other is that of a classic sushi bar.  We started with the Seven roll and escargot.  These were full price menu items that we wanted to try in addition to the limited menu provided during Restaurant Week.  And they were worth it.  The Seven roll was the perfect combination of seafood, fish, and rice.  The roll held together using a fork or chop sticks (I’m from Louisiana, I don’t do chop sticks).  The escargot was tricky because, well, I’m déclassé and couldn’t manage the tongs.  Finally the maître d’ came over and told me that it was A-OK to hold them in my hand and dig in with a toothpick.  After that, it was amazing.  They were buttery and soft and garlicky and paired well with the bread we were given.  I ordered the Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc for this course.  It paired very well and, especially since I only allowed myself one glass, I was happy with my choice.

Escargot

That’s right, give me the meat juice!

Next we ordered the Waldorf salad.  This is a salad and tasted like a salad.  Basically, we ate the blue cheese and then moved on.  We both ordered the filet mignon as an entrée.  Of course, we did.  I got medium rare because I’m a cave-woman and my buddy got it medium well.  We both enjoyed it.  It was well seasoned and juicy and the meat was definitely the jewel of the meal.  The mashed potatoes were okay but basically served as a conduit to get meat juice into my mouth.  The asparagus was asparagus and was fine.  I’m not a big fan of vegetables so, while I ate it, it could have been left off for all I cared.

The next and final course was dessert.  We debated over the blueberry bread pudding or the brownie but both settled on the brownie.  My friend couldn’t finish hers.   I powered through because I’m a professional.  I’m glad that I did because this was the best brownie I’ve ever had.  It was warm and gooey with the perfect amount of melting vanilla ice cream on top.  It was garnished with a slice of strawberry.  I ate it all.  I would have ate my friend’s if I had less self-respect.

Who am I kidding? It's because I was too lethargic to reach over the table.

While the food was primo, I left talking about the service.  I’ve never had better service in my entire life.  Everything was timed excellently.  As someone who worked in restaurants off and on through high school and college, I know all about the disconnect that can exist between the front of house and kitchen.  I don’t know what sort of voodoo is happening at Seven but everything was seamless.  The wait staff had personality, gave honest feedback, and was more than attentive without being too present.   

My only complaint is that our reservations were earlier than valet started so I ended up spending $18 on parking.  The fact that that didn’t ruin my night (I NEVER PAY FOR PARKING) is a testament to how amazing this experience was.  Honestly, Restaurant Week really works out for restaurants too because now I’m definitely going back here.  When family and friends visit, this is where I’ll be taking them.  When I have a special occasion meal, this is where I’ll be suggesting. 

http://mspmag.com/Contests-And-Promotions/Restaurant-Week/

http://mspmag.com/Eat-And-Drink/Find-Restaurants/Seven/

http://7mpls.net/

http://7mpls.net/index.php/blog