I got into ABQ yesterday around 10 am and then after picking up my car ($24 parking for 6 days) I headed over to Costco. On the way I filled up my tank at $2.99/gal ($30.xx).
I spent around 2 hours in Costco. I picked up kitty litter, oatmeal, Amy's soups, Lentils, toilet paper, dishwasher pacs, brownie bites (cheaper than Walmarts), hummus, vegge patties, bananas, grape leaves, various veggies, cooking spray and a pair of gloves you can wear and still use your smartphone. All told .. $172. Ouch. The money comes from a variety of accounts though - groceries, household, Kari, and fun money.
Then I headed to Walmart (right next door to Costco 
)At Walmart I picked up floor mats for my car, a steering wheel cover, chair back massager (on sale), a dash mount for my phone (which I think I might return because I don't think it's gonna work), hand warmer (gift for next year - on sale), vegge corn dogs, various frozen meals, bread, a baking dish, cat food, OJ, some junkfood, sparkling cider (for NYE), auxiliary cable, etc. I can't find my receipt right now (must be in car) but I think it was around $130. Again, the spending will come from various categories - Kari, Fun Money, Groceries, Gifts, Car, etc.
**The groceries I picked up should give me a pretty good stash for a couple months. So I'm hoping that I can keep my grocery spending in January and February to $50 each or less. We'll see. 
I received $250 in cash for birthday/Christmas money, so I used some of that to buy some things I'd been wanting (baking dish, aux cable, floor mats, massager, etc.) I also used some of it to do some major stocking up on food goods.
Kari definitely was glad for me to be home. She pretty much has not left my side since I got back.
In the mail I had the $1k check from the car dealership, which I photo deposited this morning. It won't be available until around the 7th. Once it's available, I'll send most of it to my car loan.
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I've been thinking about the advice I received on my last couple posts. I don't think I'd feel good about moving anywhere else as long as I still have debt. Plus I really would like to stick it out with the current group. So ... I think I'm going to give myself one more school year here. It would give me 3 years of experience, put me in a debt free situation again as well as give me time to build up a moving fund, and hopefully in 18 months or so I'll be on a more even emotional footing as well.
This coming ten days (including today) my goal is to focus on cleaning and decluttering my house/laundry/dishes/cooking ahead, (2 days worth of focused time), spend 2 focused days working on electives, spend 1 focused day working on final project, 2 focused days on work/school, and 3 days of just relaxation.
Next week I need to get Kari's nails clipped (sorely overdue!!), return the outfit I didn't wear, contact BofA about dad's estate, and possibly return the dash mount device.
Glad to be Home
December 28th, 2012 at 05:48 pm
December 28th, 2012 at 06:02 pm 1356717775
December 28th, 2012 at 06:06 pm 1356717999
December 28th, 2012 at 06:19 pm 1356718766
That sounds great. I think a plan would help during the hard times. & you have so much going on in your lfie right now that I could see why moving and upheveal wouldn't be appealing. But also doesn't mean you are stuck forever.
December 28th, 2012 at 06:51 pm 1356720686
December 28th, 2012 at 07:04 pm 1356721485
I love veggie corn dogs!
December 28th, 2012 at 07:41 pm 1356723680
Swimgirl - Morningstar corn dogs are probably one of my favorite vegge products.
December 28th, 2012 at 07:54 pm 1356724451
December 28th, 2012 at 08:07 pm 1356725268
December 28th, 2012 at 08:49 pm 1356727764
December 28th, 2012 at 09:02 pm 1356728550
I don't have a Costco card, I used a gift card my dad gave me last year. If I could've made it to Costco to fill up, it would've been $2.88/gallon instead. Un fortunately I was on empty and didn't know how far I could go on the last blinking bar.
I use the Gas Cubby app to track mpg, etc.
Costco is worth it for the items I got there - I just don't get into ABQ often enough to make a membership worth it. Although I may have no choice - when I was there yesterday they made me give them my info before I could use the gift card. So they may be starting to limit how many gift cards one person can use before having to purchase a membership.
December 29th, 2012 at 03:42 am 1356752570