Month: January 2014

Birthday Stuff

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My Birthday 

It turns out the jeweler charges to alter the length of a necklace even if you purchase it from them. I found that out the day before my birthday when we went to the mall so I could cash in my free burger from Red Robin. I ended up buying the aforementioned $16 necklace from JCPenney after all, but it was on sale for only $11.20. I also got a second necklace from them for $9.99. On top of that, a few days before I ordered a cute necklace from Silver Jewelry Club (http://www.silverjewelryclub.com/default.aspx/) for $17.95 ($12.95 for the pendant and $5 for a chain). I’ve had that website in my bookmarks for years and check it every so often but never see anything I like until recently. So that concludes my jewelry buying for awhile. I tend to buy multiple inexpensive necklaces all at once and then won’t buy any for years.

I took the day off work for my birthday, which was the Tuesday, January 7th. To be technical, I just swapped days and worked on Monday instead. It was super cold (negative numbers) so Joe worked from home and drove me to work and picked me up. He was worried my 13 year old car wouldn’t want to start in such extreme cold weather. I do miss that parking garage at my old job! Now I park in a lot, and while my car is much closer to the building, I have to clean it off when it snows. Boo hoo!

So anyway, on Tuesday I opened my present from Joe which was a 50 mm camera lens. Then we went for an early matinee at the cheapie theater to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 which I really enjoyed despite not really getting into the first one. And even though the weather closed the area schools so there were a ton of kids in the theater, everyone was well behaved so it was all good. After the movie we had lunch at a Thai restaurant I had been wanting to try forever. It was a bit disappointing because it wasn’t as good as I was anticipating, but it still was nice trying something new.

I can’t remember what else we did that day. Probably nothing. It’s tough having a birthday in the winter, particularly when it’s been so cold and snowy this one.

Birthday Freebies

Since I like to document my birthday freebies every year, here’s the latest list where the ones I’ve redeemed have an asterisk next to them:

Buona Beef – Free original 7″ Buona Beef if you’re part of their Primo Club. Email comes 4 days before your birthday and offer is good until the 1st of the following month.

Classic Cinemas – Free movie ticket if you’re on their MovieTime Email list (which also sends other freebies throughout the year). Coupon arrives in your inbox the day before your birthday and is good for 30 days.

Culver’s – Free one-scoop sundae for being part of their club. Offer is good for 14 days from your birthday.

Half Price Books – 15% off entire purchase for being on their email list (they also send great coupons throughout the year). Email comes on your birthday and the coupon is good for 14 days.

Hooters – 10 boneless wings free for being part of their eClub. Email comes a couple of days before your birthday and the offer is good for 7 days following your birthday.

Houlihan’s – Complimentary entree up to $15 for being part of their eClub. Email arrives 4 days before your birthday and offer is good until 10 days after your special day.

IHOP – Free Rooty Tooty Fresh N’ Fruity (or menu item of equal or lesser value) for being part of the My Ihop Club. Coupon arrives a week before your birthday and is good for a week following your birthday.

Jason’s Deli – $5 off any item for being part of their Birthday Club. Email comes 5 days before your birthday and coupon expires 9 days after your birthday.

* Kellogg’s Family Rewards – Free code worth 100 points for being part of the rewards program. E-mail comes in on your birthday and the offer expires at the end of your birthday month.

* Noodles and Company – Free bowl of noodles for being part of their E-Club. Email arrives a week before your birthday and coupon expires at the end of the month.

Red Mango – 500 points ($5 value) is added to your Club Mango card. Email comes a couple of days before your birthday and the offer is good for 30 days.

* Red Robin – A free burger is added to your Red Royalty card and is good the entire month of your birthday. Email notice comes in on the 1st of the month.

Smashburger – Free shake with the purchase of any entree for being part of their SmashClub. Email comes a few days before your birthday and expires only 4 days from your birthday.

Sonic – Your choice between medium Tots, a 14 oz. CreamSlush® Treat, or a medium Soft Drink for being part of the My Sonic club. Note: You will be asked to choose these before they give you a coupon to print. Email comes on your birthday and the freebie is good for 14 days.

* Swagbucks – 50 bonus Swag Bucks added to your account. Email comes on your birthday. Expiration date is unknown.

* Starbucks – A free handcrafted beverage of any size when you have an account and registered card on that account. Email comes 5 days before your birthday and offer is good until the 1st of the following month. In addition, there’s a 15% off code for orders made on the site. You can use both offers.

Happy New Year

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I’m a bit late wishing everyone a Happy New Year because I’ve been dealing with a little drama at my volunteer job. You see, I decided to resign effective December 31st so I could focus on some new goals for the new year. When my replacement was chosen in mid December I trained her and then she promptly fell off the face of the earth, not responding to any requests (aka keeping the adoptable pet profiles updated on Petfinder and AdoptAPet). A week later she sent an email explaining she had been out of town with no internet access but would begin making updates in two days time (why she agreed to take over the responsibilities knowing she was going out of town that same day is beyond me, not to mention why, knowing she had a backlog of updates, she decides she’s not doing anything for an additional two days when I had told her most requests should be competed in 24 hours). Based on an email I was copied on last night, she still hasn’t done diddly squat since agreeing to take over on DECEMBER 19th! I really don’t understand people like her at all. Whether you’re getting paid or not, if you agree to do something, you should do it. Some people really lack integrity. But it’s not my problem, so whatever. I really need to focus on myself in 2014 and not let people like her bother me.

I’m not going to do an official 2013 year in review here with links and whatnot because I’m just not feeling it. The year brought many changes: leaving my job of a decade in January, learning to survive on one salary, getting down to my goal weight, finding part-time work in August, adopting our two rats, and saying goodbye to one of them right before Christmas. It wasn’t the best year due to having no money to go on vacation and still not finding fulfilling work, but that doesn’t mean I’ve given up. It’s a new year full of possibilities. Sure, those could be that we have even less money than last year since Joe found out back in November that his entire department is being eliminated this July, but a lot can happen between now and then. This will be the third time he’s gone through a restructuring so he may get lucky again. However, if he does get let go without finding another job within the company, he will get a pretty nice severance package that will keep our income (and benefits) the same until early 2015. We won’t be able to contribute to his 401k, however, which will suck, but I’m crossing my fingers that it won’t be long before we’re contributing again. Because you know how I stress about saving enough for retirement. I do not want to work until I’m in my 70’s or live on a low fixed income. Just thinking about it makes me super anxious.

New Year’s Eve always depresses me so this year we decided to treat it like a regular day. We made a couple of nice steaks for dinner, watched a movie (the follow-up to Firefly, Serenity), and went to bed before 11 pm. It was great! Just skipping the NYE specials on TV stopped the hopelessness I tend to suffer from at the end of every year. Those damn shows make me feel like I should be out partying even though that’s not me at all and I wouldn’t even enjoy myself. Then I start feeling like I’m boring and blah blah blah and by the time I go to bed I want to kill myself. Not really, but kinda. So it was nice skipping that whole roller coaster ride of emotions.

The following morning we hit the mall to do some shopping since it’s always dead and everything is heavily discounted, but wouldn’t you know it, I came home empty-handed (Joe got socks). But I’m ok with that. What l learned this past year is that I’m not that into buying stuff anymore. At least not to the extent I used to be. For one, I’m much pickier, so I don’t see a lot of stuff I actually want. For another thing, even with the stuff I see and technically like, the first thought I have is, “do I really need it?” and the answer is usually no, so I don’t buy it.

That being said, after watching the Happy Endings marathon on VH1 (why oh why was this awesome show canceled? Oh that’s right, because people would rather watch fake reality TV showcasing people behaving like morons), I’m determined to find a delicate sterling silver necklace like the character, Penny, sports in the show (exhibit A / exhibit B). The problem I’m having is that the standard size chain sold is 16″ and thanks to my little neck it doesn’t sit high enough on my collarbone like I want. I need a 14″ chain but they are really hard to come by. My only other option is find a necklace I like and spend $15-$20 to have it altered at a jeweler. So far I’ve found one necklace I like for $16 at JCPenney of all places, but it seems silly to spend the same price on a cheap piece of jewelry to have it fitted to my desired length. It would make more sense to buy a higher quality necklace from a jeweler, which they’d adjust for free, but I haven’t seen any I like. Such problems I have, right? That’s ok, though – I like having a mission.