May Spending Recap

May was a fly the seat of your pants month which didn't bode well for my budget. I was still high on coming back from vacation, the bf returning and summer finally arriving and didn't quite curb my spending as I had hoped.

• Clothes & Beauty: Budgeted: $100, Actual Spend: $138. With the start of summer, I wanted summer gear. I also wanted to paint my nails again & be girly. The good thing is I don't see myself needing to buy any more nail polishes for the summer so I think I can bring this budget down & shift some cash over elsewhere (i.e. eating out!). I also am going to see if I can sell some of my clothes online.
  
• Eating out: Budgeted: $110, Actual Spend: $170. I never improve here! I know this is my biggest weakness & I guess I am just not willing to give it up either. I can trace this back to two big meals. One, I treated my family to lunch (~$70) & another was when I treated the bf to a nice dinner (~$60) to celebrate things going well at his work.
  
• Entertainment: Budgeted: $50, Actual Spend: $53. Watched some movies & played some bingo. I am happy here.
  
• Gas: Budgeted: $100, Actual Spend: $170. I didn't drive any more than usual but gas prices keep going up and as a result I keep spending more on it. I think as the summer goes on, this will become my big budget buster.
  
• Groceries: Budgeted: $100, Actual Spend: $135. What put me over here was gardening stuff that I debated throwing into misc. Since the gardening items related to herbs which I plan on using cooking, I decided to put it in here. I really should put the herbs here & the supplies in miscellaneous but I can't be bothered to split the receipt up into multiple categories. This is my first foray into growing herbs and I am excited at the idea of being able to pick & choose herbs on a whim.
  
• Misc: Budgeted: $20, Actual Spend: $55. I spent $50 buying some health items. If I had a health category, this would go in there but since I don't Miscellaneous it is.
  
• Total Budgeted: $480, Actual Spend: $721.
  

Over by $241. Not good! I realize that I am not willing to compromise on Eating Out so I am going to increase it by $50 for June. I am also going to up my Gas category up by $50 as well. Clothes & Beauty will be decreased by $50 because I don't see myself needing to spend much here.

Old Navy Graphic T's

I heard that Old Navy was selling its Graphic Ts for $3 today. Well I had to go out in the direction of the mall anyways so I stopped by to have a look. I got there at 9:45 (the mall opened at 9:30) and all the xs sized Ts were already gone! I was able to find 2 smalls with cute prints on them. None of this 'Can't Touch This' print BS. I've progressed to wearing more mature graphic Ts if I wear them at all.

The first one I got was a was a white T with a dandelion in the shoulder area and another was a nice aquamarine blue with a fish applique. I am actually not too crazy about the fish T but I love the color. Maybe I can remove the applique and still use it or give it to a friend.

All in all, $6 for two Ts is great.

Hillary Duff looking fashionable....or at least I think so

Why is it that Hillary duff can wear all these things together & still look hot? I am not a Hillary Duff fan but I saw this pic while I was doing my normal reading of celebrity trash & I love the way she looks in this outfit. Now I would never wear it. Short shorts when you're not on some tropical island isn't something I would rock. Or even knee high boots with cutoff shorts with a tank top with a scarf.

In other news, I went to The Bay today because they were having a one day sale on purses & it was pandemonium I tells ya! So many woman fighting over purses & shoes. The place was almost trashed like it was boxing day. There were some great deals (i.e. purses for $20) but by the time I got there, there was virtually nothing left except for some really unfortunate ugly choices so I left empty handed and my wallet is that much happier.

Nestlé NOIR Mousse Délicate Review

I received two full sized boxes of Nestle Noir Mousse Delicate chocolates last week thanks to Ginger and I have already chowed down through one box! I am trying my best to leave the other one untouched in it's shrink wrap so I won't be tempted to storm through it. I want to give the box away or bring it into work & let somebody else besides me & my stomach enjoy these bad boys.

First impressions. I really like the packaging. I feel like I am eating chocolates made for grown ups as opposed to how I feel when I eat a Butterfinger. Nowadays, I don't normally sit there & just eat a chocolate bar, rather, I incorporate chocolates & chocolate flavorings into my foods. i.e. Chocolate milk, chocolate cheesecake, chocolate chips in waffles...you get the idea.

Taste. Um, is there any way to screw up chocolate? I am sure there is but I think I'd really like anything that tasted remotely like chocolate. I tried out the Milk Chocolate version and in the box, there are 10 little chocolate squares. It was a pleasant surprise because the last thing I want to do is fight with myself to break off a piece of the chocolate bar. It is a little big to pop into your mouth but for those of you who are up for the challenge, I am sure you can make it happen. With the warm weather, the chocolate shell just melted in my mouth. The center part AKA the mousse was the best part. I loved the texture & the taste. It's hard to describe but it was nice and 'airy'. With all that being said, like I mentioned above, I like almost anything chocolate so for those people that are picky with their chocolates & prefer high end chocolates, I am not sure this is what you are looking for.

I'd imagine you can buy these at your local grocery or shoppers drug mart type store but I don't really go by the candy aisle often & can't say for certain.

Random musings

A bunch of tidbits since I don't have anything coherent to say...

• My account @ Canadian Tire is all set up. It was easy peasy & customer service was great at helping me login online. The lovely lady even told me about a promo where if you set up an automatic deposit, you get $25. Sweet! Since I'd be moving my money anyways so basically free money for doing what I normally would have done.
• The weather is lovely! Finally warm enough to show those legs & other limbs that normally don't get any sun.
• Gas prices are going up! Major bummer. I am sure $1+ is just around the corner
• With the weather getting better, I am also trying to run outside and be more active. I want my summer bod back!
• I just received my $10 cheque from Hotspex. Took a while (about 2 months) that I had almost forgotten about it. But it was a pleasant surprise and that's 10 more dollars I didn't have earlier today.
• I also received some free chocolate thanks to Ginger! Two boxes of Nestlé Noir Mousse Délicate. Delicious! I will write a proper review soon. It also reminded me of other reviews that I have half-written that I should wrap up.

Freebie Fridays

It's not Friday but it's free so I deem today Freebie Friday. My birthday is coming up which means I get to take advantage of lots of birthday related freebies. i.e. free dessert & Sephora goodies.

This year Sephora is giving out mini lip glosses (pictured left) for birthdays. I can't say no as I love lip glosses. My normal lip routine is some Aquaphor w/ a lip gloss on top reapplied throughout the day. I currently have 3 in purse depending on what I am in the mood for. So I might try swapping one of these out for one that's already in my purse.

Last year Sephora was giving out a small container of body wash that smelt like some sort of coconuty dream. My bf loves coconut so it was a winner. I used to not be able to say no to free but now I won't get something even if it's free unless I know I'll use it.

Long weekend to do

It's the long weekend & I have nothing exciting planned unlike the rest of Toronto. No cottage to go to, no road trips to drive on and no partying to be had. It's sad but I love having a long weekend mostly to myself every once in a while.

I have a long list of things I want to do.

• Sort through my clothes & figure out which I want to try selling/give away for free. I think I'll try & take pics of the more promising items & put them up online somewhere & see if I can sell them. The rest will probably have to go to salvation army.
• Yoga
  
• Help my mom do some gardening.
  
• Grocery shopping.
  
• Organize my makeup. It's getting frustrating opening up the cupboards under my sink to see my eyeshadows & such lying around didy dadling. I also want to see if I can finish depotting my shadows & transfer them into palettes.
  
• Pamper myself --> face masks, foot soaks, bubble bath, groom eyebrows, paint toe nails...you name it, I am doing it.
  
• Get work presentation done --> I work well with a fire under my ass and I've put this presentation off for as long as I can. It's challenging and I love it. I've been constantly wanting to be challenged and this is definately it. But I also get frustrated because things aren't always right the first time. Some times, I need to throw out some of the work I've done and start from scratch. Working on the material for the presentation definitely isn't clock work so I really need to start on this today and not Monday night.
  
• Make lunch to take into work next week
• So the world doesn't think I completely anti social, I am planning on meeting & talking to other people by help my brother paint along with a few other people and also meet a few friends for drinks hopefully when the weather is nice so I can sit outside in some patio & bask in the sun.