Frugality Game: Final Episode: The Dog Days are over!!!

The Frugality Game is over guys!!! And I have a surprise for you! : I WON!!!
I know I didn't think I'd win, in fact I was pretty sure I would end up coming second after Jackie but let's just say that Jackie hasn't been quite as transparent about her spending as she should have been. (the sneaky wench. Haha!)
Now if you remember, at the start of this game, it was my sister Jane who was all gung-ho about playing this game because she was certain she would win. She was so excited in fact that she created a spending log sheet on which we each had to fill in exactly how much money we spent every day. Now I and Jane had been faithfully filling in our purchases every day, but Jackie got kind of lazy with keeping track of her purchases, and that is why Jane and I thought she was not spending any money at all. But it turns out that she has been spending money. And quite a lot of it at that.
 I only discovered this recently when I had lunch in my favourite restaurant with my sisters. I was begging Jackie to at least give me an estimate of the little money she had spent for my blog. But she kept brushing me off. Finally I said "well, I've spent more than $300, you don't have to tell me exactly how much you spent, but just tell me if it's more than $100, or more more than $150..."
She laughed derisively. "Trust me, I've spent way more than that."
I dropped my fork into my chicken alfredo. "You have? ..Exactly how much more have you spent?" I was starting to get a bit excited, but I was trying to hide it for her sake.
She sighed dramatically. "Well... I had to buy a lot of things this month for the apartment. And then there is gym membership, your birthday present, these clothes I just bought. And lots of other stuff. And that's just October. I spent so much money at the end of September that I don't even want to talk about it. In all, from the end of September till now I'd say I've spent about... more than $600."
"What? I can't BELIEVE you!" I said in an admonishing voice, though I was grinning from ear to ear. "I mean, honestly, I've been telling everyone on my blog that you've been so financially prudent, and that I'm proud of you and this is how you repay me?"
She had the grace to look ashamed and started wringing her hands. "Well, it's really, really hard to save you know."
I was reminded that I'm a shopaholic too and I know how hard it is to save, and I felt sorry for her. "Well don't worry. Even though the frugality game is finished we'll still keep trying to save, and eventually we'll get there, right?"
"I have to get there. I'm broke. Don't expect a Christmas gift from me, kid." She joked.
"Haha, you're funny...You are joking...right? right????
She just winked and said she had to go.


So that's it folks. I've WON!!!! I'm so happy. I didn't even realize yesterday was the 21st till my friend mentioned it and then I started freaking out in the middle of the cafeteria. But I didn't even care. I made it guys. Thanks to the fantastic followers who read along and/ or commented on each post (thanks especially to Zabrinah, Isabel, and E.)
So it'll be back to regular programming from the next post. Blogging about random stuff, though I will keep you up to date with my tales of getting over my shopaholic tendencies. I'm not going to give up on myself. I'm better than I was last month, and I want to be better next month than I have been this month. I just gotta keep my eyes on the prize. And off sale racks and high priced eyeshadow.

Frugality Game : Episode 2

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   Ladies and gentlemen, I have discovered a brilliant way to avoid spending money: get sick. Trust me, it works. I was sick a week before last with a bad cold, and I didn't spend a dime. Not one dime. In fact, if I could be sick without the side effects of....sickness, I would cuz then I'd be a millionaire in no time.

   That was a joke by the way. I never want to be sick again. Missing a week of school and of work isn't worth it. But what I wasn't joking about is that I spent no money that week. And get this : Miss Frugality Jane is still in the final position of the Frugality game as she has bought two dresses which are indeed nice, but which came up to a total of $160. Add that to the two bags she bought a couple of weeks ago and you can understand why even she accepts that there is no coming back for her now. Especially since my other sister Jackie has continued to be so financially prudent.

   Me? I'm still somewhere in between. I had to go to the hairdresser on Monday because when I was sick I completely neglected my hair for a week and it started to look weird and being the hair obsessed girl I am, I just couldn't handle it. So first thing Monday morning I practically flew to the salon to have it treated and trimmed, and between my sobs and hysteria, my hairdresser seemed to understand that I needed her to do it, cuz I just couldn't handle it anymore. Well, she did a brilliant job, but I ended up spending $90 on that brilliant job. Now add that to my purchase of Victoria Secret underwear I did not need, and other various little items that I SO did not need (like did I really need those two $7 each sparkly barrettes? No.) and I'm up to a total of $200+. Which isn't that bad, considering that Jane has spent  $400+ so far. I don't know how much Jackie is spending, but I do know that it isn't a lot at all. The girl has not been shopping in ages!

   I don't understand what is up with her. She used to be such a shopaholic when I was growing up. In fact, she is the reason why I became a shopaholic. But I guess I'm really proud of her. And of myself.

   What I cannot understand however, is why Jane is spending so much. And why all at once. You see, unlike Jackie and I, who used to shop often but not spend a lot, Jane rarely shops, but tends to spend quite a bit when she does shop. This is because she likes to have clothes of good quality so she won't have to shop again for awhile. Now this is logical, and does make sense, but it is just unfortunate for Jane that she is seeing all this high quality stuff all at once in the month that she decided to initiate the Frugality Game.

  The irony of this is not lost on me. In fact, I chortle every time I think about it. Much to Jane's chagrin.

  So that's the frugality game update.

   In other news, I am about to be submerged in a ton of Literature mid semester essays, so you will have to forgive me if my updates are not as frequent as I'd like them to be.

p.s. By the way, I celebrated a birthday recently and one of the gifts I received, among jewellery and shoes, was an Oster hair dryer that is so powerful I think it could tow a truck! I'm really glad I received it because I would not have thought of buying an Oster hairdryer. I thought they only made toasters. Who knew?

 Have a great week guys!

Frugality Game : Episode 1

Disclaimer : This pic is not mine and is used compliments of cyberescue.co.uk

   My sister Jane was convinced that she could succeed in spending virtually no money this month. As in zero dollars. On Wednesday when I was telling her that she has to spend money SOMEtime, she said in a very serious voice "No, I can spend no money if I cook everyday, if I don't go out with friends, if I don't leave the house, if I don't do anything."

   I rolled my eyes at how serious she had become. This game has really brought out her competitive streak. As soon as I got home Wednesday evening she announced that she had spent no money that day.

   "How much money did YOU spend?" She asked brightly.

   "I don't wanna talk about it." I mumbled.

   "Haha! See? I'm winning already!"

   "Yeah, yeah. Don't judge me. I had to buy lunch."

   "Well, if you would cook in the morning like me you could bring your own lunch to University."

   "But I can't cook.

   "Well, whose fault is that? You're so gonna lose this game."

   Ooooh, that was low.

   I turned away from her and consoled myself by planning my next blog post.

   However, my buying lunch is no longer a problem as my sister has relented and said lunch doesn't count. Nor do grocery bills or anything like that that is absolutely necessary. I mean, you've gotta eat, right? Instead, only the purchases that are not necessary, like say, buying a snack when you've just had lunch, or eating out for dinner when my mum has already cooked dinner, will be counted.

   Anyway, my other sister Jackie has also joined the frugality game. She like me, is a shopaholic used to be a shopaholic. In fact, sometimes I wonder if I get some of my impulsive shopping habits from her. Therefore, I was worried that she might not last out this game. However Jackie has actually spent the least amount of money out of the all of us so far.

   But onto the struggles of yours truly in this darned game. Well, it's been really tough on the Misnomer so far. And was especially hard this week as the mall I work in had a mall-wide sale.

   Yup. Mall-wide. And up to like 60% off in certain stores too.

    Can you imagine how an alcoholic feels when being confronted with liquor after two months of being sober? Well, that's how I felt when I was confronted by the giant sale sign after being clean for three days.