Happy New Year, everyone!

I always look forward to working this time of year because it's so slow and people are so laid back. This year hasn't been like that at all, though!! I had to work 4 hours of overtime yesterday. Ugh....I'm hoping that today is slower and that I won't have to work at all for the next two days.

On a side note, my boyfriend and I went to Sequoia for dinner on Saturday before seeing Legally Blonde The Musical at the Kennedy Center. I used my Entertainment card to get $17 off of our bill at the restaurant. We split the bill, so we'll just say that I saved $8.50. Since I paid $14 for the Entertainment book, I have $5.50 left to recoup the cost of the book. Not a bad deal so far!!

Everyone have fun tonight and be safe!!

I just finished all of my Christmas shopping!! Doesn't that always feel good? I did it all online except for one quick trip to Target tonight. I had already gotten my mother a Netflix gift certificate, but then she told me that she wants an electric toothbrush. So I bought her one tonight.

I never ask people what they want for Christmas. To me, it's something that I have to see that I think they would like. I guess I've had good luck (or they're all lying to me and really hate their gifts). So, I had spent quite a bit on 6 months of Netflix for my mother, but I felt like I had to get her the toothbrush because she never asks for anything specific. My mother sacrificed so much for me as I was growing up, I don't really mind buying her something that she really wants. She deserves it.

She's going to be so pleased with her gifts. And that makes me happy :-)

I just bought tickets for me and my boyfriend to see Next To Normal at Arena Stage. It was $138 total....$66/ticket +$3/ticket fees. Probably not the smartest decision, but this class I'm in ends the day before. This class has been stressful and I've had to put my bf on the side while I worked on projects. I think it will be a nice night out in celebration of the class being over. It's just money, right? Or should we be more frugal and get a movie from RedBox that night? Ugh.

I'm never really sure how much my year end bonus is going to be, so it's always a surprise. They gave me $3,250....which came to $2,530.01 after everything was taken out. It's not bad. I've gotten more in previous years, but with the economy and everything that's going on, I'm happy to get a bonus at all (and to have a job).

I don't have plans to spend it, so I threw all of it into my ING account.

I've gotten in the habit of stopping on the way to work to pick up a can of Red Bull. But not just any can, the huge can...16.9 ounces. And this stuff is SO overpriced!! I'm a fool for buying it, but I don't drink coffee and I enjoy it. But it costs $4.09 with tax. Isn't that insane?!?!?! I'm spending over $20 a week on that crap!!

I think that I'm going to try to make some green tea in a travel mug for the ride to work. That will be really cheap (and a LOT healthier than a can of chemicals). Hmmm....maybe this will be a good New Years Resolution.

I just got cable television. Seriously. I had it before, but cancelled it in 2002 because I was travelling so much for work. I didn't miss it, so I just never renewed it. Well, my boyfriend could not stand watching the fuzzy picture that I got with my bunny ear antenna. Every time he'd watch football he'd yell "I can't even see the ball!!" :-)

When I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he said that he wanted me to get cable. So, I did. I got him other stuff too, but he's thrilled about me having cable. It's amazing how something so small can make him so happy. It's exciting to me too...there's so many shows that I haven't seen!

I am a little concerned that cable will be a HUGE distraction from my schoolwork, but time will tell. And I'll just suck it up and deal when it comes to the bill.

I got a flat tire a couple weeks ago. And by flat I mean, it pretty much blew apart. Anyway, I went to get a new tire this past weekend and the guy told me that I should get two, so that there's no pull because I'd have one new tire and one old tire on the front. I know it sounds like I was being upsold, but I really trust the garage that I go to. A few years ago, they told me that I needed a new battery, but I declined. A week later, my battery was dead.

So, I got two new tires, an alignment, and a headlight replaced for a grand total of $569.32. Ugh. Why does this have to happen right around Christmas time? I've got presents to buy.

I begin my next MBA course on January 10th. Thankfully, it only requires one textbook. I just bought it used off of amazon. $80 for the book and $3.99 for shipping = $83.99 total.

The course I'm currently taking doesn't end until January 10th, so I haven't been able to sell those two books yet. I'll let you know when I do.

Yesterday, I paid off my last remaining credit card balance. I had transferred the balance to an interest free credit card about a year ago and the interest free period is about to expire. Sending in that last payment of $6, 399.77 felt great!!

You know what didn't feel great? Seeing my checking account drop by almost $6,400!!! Wow, that hurts!! But it's definitely for the best. Now I can just use my everyday credit card that I pay off every month and get airlines miles for all my purchases. My FICO score is at 767 right now. It will be interesting to see how my score is affect by getting rid of this debt. I'll have to check in about a month.

I just bought the Entertainment Book for 2009. It's that big book full of coupons and discounts. I actually bought it through ebates.com and got $6 cash back on the already discounted $20 price!! Not bad, huh? I'm going to see if I can recoup the $14 that it cost me.

You can get yours through ebates and get the same deal. And if you don't have an ebates account, you can use my referral link (http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?id=Ak%2Fk1f6gv6ivpY5TuF89YQ%3D%3D) to sign up. If you use the link, you'll get $5 in your ebates account when you buy the book. That way, you'll pay $20 for the book but get the $6 cash back and the $5 sign up bonus, so the book only cost you $9!! Very sweet deal!! Just FYI: I also get $5 if you use my referral link.

I'll keep you posted as to how recouping my $14 is going :-)

My boyfriend and I went out to eat last night with his roommate and her boyfriend. At the end of the meal, we were trying to figure out how to split the bill when the roommate's boyfriend suggested credit card roulette. I had never heard of it before. Basically, everyone puts their credit cards in a pile and the server blindly picks one.

It was just his credit card and mine, so I had a 50/50 chance at a free dinner. The waitress picked the cards up and mixed them up behind her back and then dropped one on the table. It wasn't mine!! So, I didn't have to pay any part of the $204 bill!!

I actually felt bad and offered to just split the bill, but he insisted since it was his idea. I did leave the tip, though. It's definitely a chance, but it feels good to win!!

My boyfriend and I went to Dunkin Donuts this morning because he likes his coffee. And, of course, I can't resist their breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. While he was paying for his breakfast, I some folded up dollar bills by his foot. I picked them up and asked them if he dropped them, but he hadn't. It was 3 dollars. And I felt guilty, but I wasn't about to ask a room full of people if they had dropped cash. Anyone could have claimed it. So basically I got my egg sandwich for 50 cents.

I rarely find money and I always feel guilty about keeping it. If it had been a lot more, I would have tried to find the person who dropped it. What do other people do in this situation?

So, my school's football team is in the playoffs!! We went down there last weekend for the first playoff game and they won. I think we're going to go down this weekend too. It's about an hour and a half from where I live. We could definitely come back after the game, but we're probably going to get a hotel room. That way, we can have some fun with old friends and not have to worry about driving. That's probably not the best decision money-wise, but this doesn't happen that often. I think that a friend is going to stay with my boyfriend and me, so that will cut down on the cost.

I had a great time last weekend, so I'm looking forward to this weekend!!

I just checked out my FICO score and it went up from 761 to 767. That's not a big increase, but any increase is good, right?