Black Friday Recap

Black Friday is probably one of my most favorite times of the year. Of course I am a shopaholic, and now am required to send my credit cards into hiding until they say $0.

I left the house at 7, hit zero traffic and until an early lunch at 10, I had zero wait in lines. After lunch the lines in Kohl's and JoAnns wrapped halfway around the store! But my last stops of Target and Walmart were uneventful. Overall, I managed to get everything I wanted, and more. My best deal was a nearly $400 digital camera, case. extra battery, and memory card bundle that I paid $177 for. Epic awesomeness. I got a lot of $2 DVDs and $5/$10 Blu Rays I wanted to see. A $49 Blu Ray player and a $39 Wireless HP Printer. There were definitely some excellent sales. I also did 90% off my Christmas shopping for the fiancé. Just some stocking stuffers and he'll be done!

My overall savings was about 45%. I won't post the totals I spent, because they are absolutely disgusting, it's amazing how things add up so fast. After the bills are paid off, next year I really have got to be smarter about it. Got too carried away. Maybe going to a job with lower pay and less hours isn't a good plan, nah. it'll be fine because I won't be spending so much in gas and wear and tear on my car.  Just remind me that my Christmas money needs to go to my bills!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone out there on the inter webs reading this. Hope the holiday finds you safe and with loved ones.

Lately, I have been having a hard time feeling very thankful. My medical tests to determine my dizzy problems are very frustrating as everything comes back normal. I mean I'm glad it's nothing serious, but I would like to know what it is so it can be prevented in the future. On top of that, my mood has been less than stellar. Had a lot of depression and I don't even know what to call the other emotion, all I know is that it isn't a happy one.

I know I have a wonderful fiancé who has been putting up with way too much right now. Between being overworked and me being the way I have, he still manages to love me and treat me awesome. My cat is great too, he is always happy to see me when I come home, and never wants me to leave.

In this economy I am lucky to have a job that pays well and has benefits. I am greedy though, and want to find another one that is closer, but I know the pay and benefits won't be as good. That will make things even tighter than they already are. I know after the holidays the credit cards have to go away until they say $0 on the statement. Oh well, I'll figure it out. Now, to wait for the phone calls....the holidays are not the time to do job hunting!

I have 2 nice cars, I love my Soul, and Squishy is a blast to drive! Not many people can say that.

So far I spent my Turkey day paying bills, looking at sales online, knitting a scarf and reading a magazine. My fiancé will be home soon....

New Chapter

Some recent events in my life have made it quite clear that it is time to start a new chapter of my life. It is time for me to find a new job. I still love my current job, I just know it's time to move on. The hour commute on top of already long hours is too much. I am ready for a new adventure. I am going to miss a lot of people, but luckily most of them are on Facebook.

I am looking for a driving job closer to home. I have a couple places picked out that are close to home. One is a school district and the other is a inter-city bus company. As much as I love school buses, my first choice is the inter-city bus company as there are opportunities for full time employment, and therefore benefits. We'll have to wait and see. All I can do is put in my application and hope for the best.

I am very lucky to have such a supportive fiancé. He has been wonderful through all the chaos lately and just wants what is best for me. I cannot wait to be able to call him my husband. :-) <3

Miscellaneous Posting

I am very happy to say that by using coupons and store loyalty cards, I saved $145 in a month. This was the first month I kept track of my savings. Dorky me set up a nice Excel spreadsheet that keeps track of it for me. I wanted to show my fiancé just how important coupons and sales are, especially now we are planning a wedding!!!

Speaking of wedding, I am getting a head start on the planning process. I signed up on The Knot. I am very impressed by the site setup and all the information that they have on there to help organize your planning. I went ahead and started our wedding website. The guest list has been developed, we will be collecting physical addresses soon! Of course, we got an early jump on our registries (Target and Bed Bath and Beyond). They are far from being complete however!

I am hoping to get some input on places to hold the wedding and reception! Please feel free to send me a message! I have a couple ideas in mind. We're looking for something country, rustic, natural. it is going to be a fall wedding (October 20, 2012 hopefully). I know several of my Facebook friends have had some beautiful weddings, so any advice would be appreciated! Also, I am looking to find out about costs....I have no idea how much anything runs. I am going to try and do as much of it as possible on my own. One last wedding thing, anyone know any good justice of the peaces? We are not looking for a religious ceremony.

Switching gears (no pun intended), I am hopefully returning to work tomorrow afternoon assuming the doctor rewrites the note. I have been out of work since Oct 20th due to some weird dizzy thing. After a lot of rest, I am finally well enough to safely drive a school bus. I am excited to go back, plus I want to show off my gorgeous ring! Lol.