I Love Tracfone!

I posted a couple of months ago asking about people's experiences with Tracfone or other prepaid phone services. I took the plunge at the end of April and just have to RAVE about my Tracfone. I love, love, love it! I bought a phone that included 400+ minutes, a year of service, double minutes for the life of the phone (example: you buy 200 minutes and it automatically doubles to 400), no roaming charges, and international calling for the same price as local calling. I can't sing its praises enough! I get great reception and no hassle. I highly recommend it!

Removing the Stench of Graduate School

Last Friday, I cleaned and packed for my upcoming move virtually all day. My room and car sparkled by 9pm. I also sorted through papers and my filing system and got rid of all excess. I guess the cleaning made me feel free or young or something. This was proven on Saturday during an outlet shopping jaunt when all of the sales people seemed to think I was quite a bit younger than I am. They greeted my mother and ignored me at a restaurant and in several stores. A sales guy at the Polo outlet called me "miss" rather than the usual "ma'am". At Barnes and Noble, the sales girl tried to get my mom to sign up for their discount program by stating that "Even your college student [looking at me] can use it!" Hee!

And now I find myself wanting to shop, shop, shop. I've bought more in the last two weeks than I have in the last two months. I'm allowing myself a bit of this until I can shake the "freedom" out of my system. I think part of it is that I have been dressing older for the last three years and now want to dress my age. I also find that I want a wardrobe/lifestyle overhaul right before every major life change.

I think it's time to reign myself in now. ;)

Frugal Eyewear Version 2.0

Last year, I blogged about my quest to find frugal eyewear. You can read about it here. As I posted before, I have crazy prescriptions AND the bonus gift of a gigantic head. Don't worry- my head does not appear gigantic in person. It is only when buying hats and glasses that the enormity of it becomes apparent.

Anyhoo, these factors complicate things a bit. I wear toric contact lenses most of the time, but it is important for me to have glasses to let my eyes rest sometimes. I get a year's supply of lenses for about $116; $101 after rebate at Wal-Mart. When I first started wearing lenses (13 years ago!), my poor parents had to pay $300 for ONE pair of lenses that had to last a whole year. Needless to say, that was a disaster, but the contact situation is now under control.

The cheapest glasses at a store such as Wal-Mart still run $300+ for my prescription. I do get the optional "compressed" lenses to reduce the Coke-bottle-ness of my prescription. I also found last year that cute plastic frames tend to hide the thickness of my lenses. Last year, I got glasses at www.39dollarglasses.com for about $118. I was happy about that but I decided to try and go even cheaper this year. I wound up using Zenni Optical for a total of $68 shipped. I'm a happy camper and will update when I receive them!

Saving For A Vacuum Frugal Style

I have wanted the Eureka 437AZ Optima Lightweight Upright Vacuum since the fall. At that time, the only place I could find it was at Amazon for $80. I decided to get creative in how I saved for it. I saved coins for a while and wound up with $35.61. I took it to a Coinstar machine and had it counted and converted to an Amazon gift certificate for free. Next, I took part in a survey that netted me a $10 gift certificate to Amazon. I also have saved random bills throughout this time- $1 here, $5 there . Today, I counted and realized that I am only $4 away from my goal, so I am going to go ahead and order it! :) Walmart.com is offering the same vacuum for ~$10 less, but by the time I found it, I already had $45 in Amazon gift certificates. At least I will not have to pay sales tax!

Sephora Order!

My dear dad was kind enough to give me a $50 gift card to Sephora for my birthday. He even walked into the store by himself to get the card, so he deserves a lot of credit. ;)

I decided to buy online since I had a coupon code for free shipping with a $50 purchase. I also went through www.luckymagrewards.com to get 7% back on my total purchase. That should nearly offset the tax that I had to pay, so ordering online paid off in that way as well.

I took the opportunity to order a couple of pricy things that I wouldn't otherwise buy.

Here's what I ordered:
* Nars Afghan Red Lipstick, $23 (the search for the perfect red lipstick continues)
* Bourjois Volume Glamour Mascara, $13.50
* Sephora Cheek Stain $6 (50% off)
* Sephora Short Handle Crease Eyeshadow Brush $7.50 (50% off)
* 3 various samples for free

I only paid ~$3 in tax which will be reimbursed to me. Yay!

The End

On Tuesday evening, I had my last class. Did you catch that? Last. Class. Whoooo!

I am done with the classes part of my degree now. I still need to finish my dissertation and will be working on that a bunch over the next couple of months. The last step for the doctorate will be the one year internship beginning at the end of August.

What will I do with all my free time????????????

Thanks to all of you bloggy friends who have been so sweet and supportive. I have appreciated your kind words more than you will ever know.

And now, let the blogging begin!

Ruth Graham

I think this is beautiful. From Yahoo! News:

"Ruth was my life partner, and we were called by God as a team," Billy Graham said in a statement. "No one else could have borne the load that she carried. She was a vital and integral part of our ministry, and my work through the years would have been impossible without her encouragement and support.
"I am so grateful to the Lord that He gave me Ruth, and especially for these last few years we've had in the mountains together. We've rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven."

Milestones

Right now I am working on the last paper that I will ever write for class.

I am SO. HAPPY.

P.S. It is due tomorrow. ;)

We Interrupt This Blogging Break to Bring You Shoes

I haven't been blogging lately because I am SUPPOSED TO BE GETTING PAPERS DONE. Ahem. Side note: Finals are next week and after that I will be blogging like crazy.

BUT. When there are shoes on sale, I must tell you about it. Flip Flop Trunk Show is having a pretty nice summer sale here. I've ordered from them before and they have good service. The shipping is kinda high, but use code TOUTIE15 for fifteen percent off your order. I ordered the beauties above for $29 down from $69. (Yes. I realize that I paid more for these shoes than for one of these chairs. Obviously my priorities are in order.)

P.S. Honeymoon girl, it's your turn. ;P

Want to See The Cutest Dog In the World???

Here he is. And I can enjoy him frugally since I don't have to feed him or pay his vet bills. ;)

My 25th Birthday

Today is my 25th birthday!!!

P.S. There are tons of food freebies to be had on your birthday if you sign up for emails at different restaurant's websites.