Shopping Detox

Jour 147: Farmer's Market fun times

2012-05-26T19:28:00.000-06:00

I should note that nobody was dressed like this at the farmer's market.
Not even me. Come on, it was 9am. Who has time for pantyhose and pearl necklaces at that ungodly hour?

You guys! I woke up randomly early today and decided to make the most of it. This was for two reasons:

1) Mireille Guiliano suggests in French Women Don't Get Fat that French people like to try new things
2) In Drop Dead Healthy, AJ Jacobs notes that when you try new stuff, it's healthy for your brain (i.e. brushing your teeth with your left hand once in a while, or that sort of thing)

I've been meaning for ages and ages to get to the Farmer's Market, but it's hard to get there since it begins early and ends early, and when you show up around 1pm many of the vendors are already closed.

The vendors didn't look like this. I assume the leggy pin-up girl types stay behind at the farm so that their middle-aged hippie-ish parent types can do the actual selling.

But I was out the door by like, 9am! It was unimaginable for a die-hand sleep-in-till-noon-on-weekends person like me. And the market in the morning is a TOTALLY DIFFERENT THING! Way less crowded, and the people selling things like eggs were still there! I was able to get farm-fresh eggs!

Anyway, Farmer's Markets are the best place for food for three very important reasons:

1) supporting local economy
2) cheaper than supermarket produce
3) healthier and tastier food!

I can't say that I'm not a convert. I'd love to be but... sleeping in. Come on. My willpower in the mornings is negligible and while I know that theoretically going would be a good thing, staying in bed for 3-4 more hours is more important at the moment.

But I'm looking forward to making delicious food this week using my fresh new stuff! Do you guys go to your local farmer's market? Why don't they open in the afternoons, like, seriously?

Jour 146: 31 Days of Lipstick update #2

2012-05-25T23:29:00.001-06:00

Nooo! Don't kill yourself by shoving the lipstick up your nose, vintage advertising lady!

Hey, guys. So, here's the thing. Today I more or less threw in the towel re: 31 Days of Lipstick. Not for lack of lipstick, but because I think I've learned my lesson.

That lesson is: I now know which lipstick colours look good on me, and which don't.

I'd been reaching randomly into my lipstick drawer and using whichever tube I pull out. But I can now tell just by looking whether or not a colour is going to look good on me.

Looks good on me:

- Bright orange/pinky colours
- True reds
- Most pinks

Doesn't look good on me:

- Bronze
- Coral
- Brown (why does brown lipstick exist? Who does this look good on?)
- Purple

By trying out all these different colours has also served to remind me of how many lipsticks/glosses/stains/balms I currently own, which will help me not buy more when I'm out and about.

I want to try something new for June, though. I've already done 29 Days of Tights and 31 Days of Lipstick; what else should I try and familiarize myself with for a month?

Jour 145: The Beret Baguette Ride

2012-05-25T00:34:00.001-06:00

Oh, French Beret Baguette Bicyclists, how can I join you??

Hey guys. Life is hectic ATM and I was like, "What to post??" and then I remembered this a-mah-zing article I came across that's so perfectly Shopping Detox appropriate, I thought I'd share it with you.

This group in FRANCE did a thing where they went to ride BICYCLES while dressed in 1930s STYLE. How much more me can you get? Bikes + France + retro style = MY DREAM LIFE.

Check it.

Jour 144: Avocado Recipe Day!!

2012-05-23T23:47:00.000-06:00

Avocados = om nom nom.

So, Pinterest is seriously increasing my repertoire of recipe ideas. I've always liked cooking, but somehow seeing these amazing combos of ingredients that I already love has expanded my repertoire so much! Namely, with things to do with my favourite vegetable (fruit?), the humble avocado!

My Food Pinboard includes these a-mah-zing avocado recipes:

Avocado + chickpeas + garlic =

Avocado hummus!

Avocado + spinach + bread + George Foreman Grill =

Avocado spinach panini!

Avocado + egg + naan bread =

Avocado breakfast pizza!

Avocado + pasta + lime =

Avocado pasta salad!

Avocado + pasta + parmesan cheese =

Creamy avocado pasta!

Are you guys avocado fans? Or is it just me? And is it a fruit or a vegetable (I can't figure it out?)

Jour 143: Introducing... accountability 2.0!

2012-05-22T23:57:00.001-06:00

Hey, so you remember how I set up that bar graph over on the left-hand side of the blog?

<-- over there?

And how it had these sad numbers like, I had paid off 0.85% of my debt, but I should be at like, 12% paid by now? It was sad, you guys. It was getting me down. And then... epiphany! I had been doing the math as though I'd been responsibly paying down my debt regularly since January, which is TOTALLY NOT TRUE. I mean, I've been doing my best attempt at frugal living but things like cat surgery got in the way there for awhile.

Budget 0 ; Kitteh +10000!

So, I've readjusted the numbers and it makes me look much more successful. See, I'm trying to pay down my debt in 3 years (like Gail Vaz-Oxlade generally advises). Rather than having a January 1 2012 start and a January 1 2015 finish, I've adjusted it to be a May 1 2012 start and a May 1 2015 finish.

Basically, from this moment on, I shall be a debt-paying-down machine! Seriously! And step one is that I pro-actively called me cell phone provider today to clarify what sorts of fees I'll have to pay in 31 days when I switch phone carriers. The friendly (too friendly?) person on the phone let me know that as long as I wait until my contract expires (in 31 days), I won't have to pay any contract cancellation fees! Saving $100!

Wooooot!

Oh, you guys, I can't wait to have a cell phone. I mean, not that I use mine anymore (since it died 67 days ago), but I imagine all the fun times ahead of me. I'll join Instagram! I'll be able to take pictures of things! I can download library books! I can learn what this Angry Birds thing is all about! I'll find some sort of frugality enhancing app! Somehow, this will help me get in shape! HAVING A PHONE WILL ENHANCE EVERY ASPECT OF MY LIFE. Maybe.

But for the time being, I'm totes happy looking at that chart over there, and seeing that I'm just about where I should be vis-a-vis debt repayment.

xo

Jour 142: Personal Finance Haiku Day

2012-05-21T22:12:00.003-06:00

So I'm taking part
in the Wordcount Blogathon
blogging every day

for the month of May
No big deal for me, you say
since I blog daily

and have for a year
(and a half) But au contraire!
It is just as hard

I'm tempted so much
to take a day off from here
but I persevere!

Luckily, today
is Haiku Day for us
Blogathon bloggers

These sorts of theme days
help to create new content
to help blog today.

And so, I present
Personal Finance Haiku
to entertain you.

Queen Gail Vax-Oxlade

Patron saint of PF blogs

Won't you comment here?

Personal finance

So much more than budgeting

But that's part of it.

Jour 141: Oh hai there link love

2012-05-20T19:05:00.002-06:00

Oh, hey there. Just chillaxin' in this bathtub full of flowers.

Did you guys catch my interview with Bill from Credit Card Assist? He made me sound v. smart and glamorous.

Mochi & Macarons (who, every time I see her avatar, makes me want to eat a macaron) posted about "me too" spending, when your friend is buying something and suddenly you find you are, too.

The Prarie Eco-Thrifter has this good reminder that the most green thing to do is not to buy unnecessary things!

My Thirty Spot wrote this post with the greatest title ever, "summer slimming secrets to whittle your middle."

Fabulously Broke in the City writes the best how-to posts about simplifying your life, and this one about purging your wardrobe is super-helpful at this time of year!

And once you've purged your old clothes, Blue Collar Red Lipstick has tips on selling things at consignment stores.

Gail Vaz-Oxlade is not only a genius at finances, but she also posted this delish recipe for sweet-potato stuffed cannelloni. Is there anything she isn't great at?

Jour 140: What is the deal with weddings?

2012-05-19T20:39:00.001-06:00

Brigitte Bardot is like, "Yeah, I'm in the middle of my wedding, but why should that mean I can't have a quick smoke and catch up on the mid-1960s celeb gossip."

So, I may have mentioned once or twice that I'm thoroughly obsessed with TLC's Say Yes to the Dress. Part of it is because Monte and Lori are geniuses at customer service, and part of it is how Monte and Lori are able to solve everyone's emotional problems by providing the perfect dress. (And part of it is how, even when other consultants are in charge of appointments, Lori and/or Monte have to run in to take over the appointment and save the day).

Monte and Lori: saving the world, one crazy-ass dress at a time

Part of it is just that the wedding industry mystifies me. Seeing what wedding dresses women want shows so much about their personality - and so many of the women choose dresses that are SO UGLY. It's also mystifying how one dress can make them break down crying because they feel so fat, and then a practically identical dress can make them cry because they feel so beautiful.

And also? How they all can't decide on anything without their mother/evil bridesmaid BFF's approval? Maybe it's just me, but I haven't let anyone tell me what to wear since I was like 3. Seriously, ask my Mom. I would never let anyone tell me what to wear, ever. (One of the many reasons I did not make a very good Brownie)

Because what 6-year-old doesn't want to wear a brown shirtdress with an orange neckerchief?
Oh wait, no 6-year-old in the world wants to wear that.

Anyway, so much about current wedding "tradition" has been made up in the last 100 years. Diamond engagement rings? Invented by de Beers to help flagging sales. Strapless princess dresses? A secret conspiracy by dressmakers because making sleeves is too time-consuming.

My feelings on weddings are no great secret: the thriftier, the better! Here are some posts I've written in the past in praise of thrifty weddings, such as my mother's $73.34 wedding, or Kate Middleton's surprisingly thrifty wedding [And she totally wore a dress with sleeves! Representing the anti-strapless contingent!]. Or for what not to do, check out my audit of Kim Kardashian's wedding (and subsequent divorce).

What do you guys think about the wedding industry? Is it all just a weird, made-up thing meant to bankrupt people and ruin friendships and make single people feel tragic and lonely? Were weddings invented by the romantic comedy industry to make finales for every romantic comedy ever made, ever?

Where would Julia Roberts, Katherine Heigl, Meg Ryan, Sandra Bullock, Cameron Diaz, Kate Hudson, or Reese Witherspoon be without those big wedding movie scenes?

Lessons from Bea Danville: What goes underneath it all

2012-05-19T00:11:00.001-06:00

When I was a teenager, my fabulous mother gifted me with this genius vintage book: Dress Well on $1 a Day by Bea Danville. I can't believe I left it behind when I moved, but my mother graciously sent it along to me so that I could remind myself of this wisdom. And now, I share this wisdom with all of you. [Click here to read previous installements from this series]

Today's lesson: Undergarments

(or, as Bea calls them, "What goes underneath it all")

How important is your foundation? It is perhaps the most important part of your entire wardrobe. The reason for this is that without the right clothes underneath, those on top will appear at a distinct disadvantage, as will your own figure.

Ever girl needs a foundation of some kind, even if she is a size 5 model. [Note: aw, how sweet! Models used to be size 5, and not size 00] It is true that the corsets and brassieres worn by the models bear little more than a superficial resemblance to those which support the size 52 matron. [Note: wait, I don't think I understand 1950s sizing. Size 52??] Nevertheless, however small they may be, all the haute-couture models wear a foundation, which is usually a power net roll-on. (Power net, as its name implies, is a strong, light, two-way stretch elastic. Don't be deceived by its apparent delicacy. A roll-on made in this material is quite effective enough to pull in the small or average figure) [Note: I think this is what they called Spanx in the 1950s]

[Note: If you're thinking, what does this 21st century blogger know about these old-timey undergarments? The answer is: I have done a lot of theatre in my past. Here is a pic from 2009 of me wearing a girdle, stockings with suspenders, a slip, and tying on this crazy fake shirt shenanigans.]

Before you buy a foundation, it is wise to stop for a moment and decide what purpose it must serve. Foundations have a dual function: first, to make your figure seem to be perfect by restraining it into a smooth line and, second, simultaneously to mold your figure into the current silhouette. As the Corset and Brassiere Council says on behalf of its manufacturer-members, "Once a silhouette is established, foundation garments enable you to wear it." [Note: I just did a quick Google search to see if the Corset and Brassiere Council still exists and... there is no evidence that it ever existed at all. Sadness.] So, as you can see, when you buy a corset or brassiere, you are buying much more than something to hold in your stomach or raise your bosom line.

What style of girdle should you wear?

It is rarely necessary for a girl to go to a custom corsettiere to be individually encased in a girdle. While this is a luxury that is pleasant to indulge in [Note: what in the what? Getting encased at a custom corsettiere does not sound as fun as, for instance, a nice mani/pedi], there are so many styles and types of corset available that one of them is almost sure to feel and look as though it were made specially for you. It is only if you have an unusually difficult problem that part of your budget money should be set aside for special corsetry.

[Me again here. Hi! She then goes into the different types of figures: the junior, the average, and the full. I don't think it's super important to post all that stuff here right now, as I don't imagine many of you are wringing your hands about which style of corset to buy.

This whole section makes me very glad to live in a time when you can just wear a big sweater and not worry too much about corsets. Although, Bea and I are in total agreement that if you don't have good undergarments, it can wreck your entire ensemble.]

To prove Bea's point, check me out in this other theatrical photo. You can't see that I'm wearing a girdle and stockings with suspenders, but it is apparent that my dress drapes in a very lovely manner - not being cut off with some sort of gauche pantyline or other grossness.

Jour 138: Things I want to buy now

2012-05-17T22:00:00.000-06:00

Oh, my teen years. I looked basically just like this.
But not with the little racist doll thingie.

I've been reading through my old journals as part of the research for this trilogy of young adult novels I'm writing. Firstly, it turns out that I was quite hilarious in my jaded, faux-cynical teenage angst-filled years. It's like this weird blend of stuff I'd totally write today mixed in with sudden ALL CAPS WRITING about COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE YOUNG MEN.

Anyway, something that I used to do all the time was write out lists of the stuff I'd like to buy when I have money. Not like, "One day I shall purchase a mansion!" but more like, "I'd like to buy that new lipstick I read about on the newsnet newsgroups, when I get my allowance next week." Basically, due to lack of money, I obsessed about the things I'd like to buy/own until I finally sold enough CDs or whatever to have money to buy them.

I'd like to re-institute this policy. Now that I have money (and fake money, i.e. credit cards and overdraft), I've lost that sort of willpower. Which I guess wasn't really willpower, it was just me not having any money. But now I'm a grown-up, etc., and so I shall make lists of Stuff I'd Like To Buy and think about them before I get hungry/bored one day and buy random things.

5 Things I'd Like To Buy Today

1. A pair of Sanuk shoes.

These shoes that are not shoes, but sandals! I think this means they have sandal bottoms but covered-up tops. They are both cute AND apparently make your feet not smelly. And for someone who will be biking to work every day for 45 minutes in the summer? Non-stinky, comfy shoes may come in handy. Cost: $60

2. A red flashing light for the back of my bike.

I used to have one, until someone TOTALLY STOLE IT OFF MY BIKE LAST YEAR. This is kind of non-negotiable, if I'll be biking home at nighttime and want to be visible. Estimated cost $20? Maybe?

3. Marcelle BB cream

Have you heard of BB cream? It's allegedly this miracle product that combines moisturizer with foundation with the Fountain of Youth. Mainly I want this because every time I go in a store to ogle it, they're totally sold out! Which means it must be great, right? $22.95

4. Clarins Instant Smooth Crystal Lip Balm

This is the COOLEST THING EVER! There's a core of pigmented lipstick surrounded by tinted balm (there are some good pics here) This is supposed to duplicate the effect of having been sucking on a popsicle, which Cosmo says is the look every woman wants in the summertime. Estimated cost $25. Cost for an actual popsicle $1.50

5. Mortar and pestle

I think this will help with my new oatmeal/chia seed smoothie regime, since I can't seem to grind the oats and chia seeds as much as they're supposed to be, with my blender. I think that mashing them with a mortar and pestle will be supremely satisfying and fun. Plus, it will make my kitchen look like it's owned by someone who's an amazing chef. Estimated cost $20.

Total expenses if I bought everything I want: $123.45

Votes? What do you think I should buy or not? To me, I want each of these items basically equally as much as each other.

Jour 137: My new healthy lifestyle

2012-05-16T22:32:00.001-06:00

- flapperdoodle.blogspot.ca

So, I'm on a kind of vague crusade to become a healthier person. This has been spurred on by two factors:

1) I'm still in the midst of reading Drop Dead Healthy, which just makes me think more about health and

2) I accidentally stepped on a scale a few weeks ago and found out that I weigh about 20 pounds more than I thought I did. [Note: That explains a few things, such as why some of my dresses feel so tight in my arms (apparently these 20 lbs all wound up in my upper arms)]

I could try and do this arm exercise... or I could just carry piles of books around at work.

Anyway, I've always sort of vaguely thought that I should a) exercise and b) eat food groups other than carbs and cheese, but now I've got a sort-of plan. It goes like this:

1) Bike to work whenever possible! It's 45 minutes each way, so that's good cardio, I think. And also it fits into my normal day's routine, instead of trying to shove some pointless exercise into another part of my day when I'd rather be doing something else. Plus, I get to wear my awesome skull helmet:

2) Eat fruits and vegetables whenever possible. As for this second part, I have found a few excellent sources of fruits and veg [Note: it is a minor miracle that I have not come down with scurvy yet in my life]. Namely: smoothies!

Seriously. These make-ahead oatmeal smoothies are LIFE CHANGING.

It's perfect. Through Pinterest, I found this great recipe for oatmeal smoothies using almost entirely ingredients that I already have (oatmeal, chia seeds, strawberries, bananas, yogurt, rice milk) and it's completely delicious! Eating breakfast is apparently very important (esp. when you are biking 45 minutes to work) and this is a quick way to eat vitamins while also at work.

To this end, with some of my birthday present money, I purchased a hand-held blender that makes the whole smoothie-making process 10000% easier (since it's so much easier to clean the thing).

Are you guys healthy? Does spring and the thought of tanktops make you realize you need to perhaps work off some of the layers of blubber you developed over the sweatery winter?

Jour 136: 31 Days of Lipstick, halfway point catch-up

2012-05-16T11:46:00.002-06:00

Lipstick luuurve!!

Presenting a recap, thus far, of my 31 Days of Lipstick project:

Day 1: Tarte cosmetics LipSurgence in Charmed. A mod 1960s-style glossy pink, nice texture, very moisturizing. Very Megan Draper-ish.

Day 2: MAC Ruby Woo. The same classic red they use on Joan from Mad Men! You can wear it full-strength for a retro look, or just dab it on for a hint of red.

Day 3: Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Peach Parfait. Odd nudey-beige-sparkley colour, not really flattering on me. Threw this one out.

Day 4: Cover Girl Lip Perfection in Enchantress. GORGEOUS bright orangey/pink. Moisturizing too!

Day 5: Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent. Matte neon pink - works sheer with lip gloss, too! Make sure your lips are sufficiently moisturized before attemping this, or any matte lipstick - very unforgiving for little flaky lip bits.

Day 6: The Balm "Letter to the Editor." Bronzey sparkley sheer - packaging is *so* cute, but this colour does nothing for me. Do I keep it b/c the packaging is cute, or toss b/c it doesn't work for me? Hmm...

Day 7: MAC Viva Glam Gaga. Creamy pale pink w/ cool autographed case! Very mod, like a more matte version of Day 1's "Charmed."

Day 8: MAC Lady Danger. Bright orangey red - perfect for summer!

Day 9: MAC Suntint in Full of Grace. Smells & tastes delish + SPF 20 = full of win!

Day 10: Joe Fresh fuschia lipstick (no name listed on package). Super creamy, very cute.

Day 11: MAC Faux. Another matte pale pink - similar to Day 1 and Day 7, maybe a bit warmer. Didn't realize I had so many mod pale pink lipsticks... hmm..

[You may notice I've been wearing a lot of MAC lipsticks thus far. I don't actually have 31 MAC lipsticks, I'm just using up my favourite ones first. The rest of the month will be a crazy mishmash of like, Wet 'n' Wild and other drugstore glamour, I suspect]

Day 12: NYC 8 Hour Lipgloss in Cherry Ever After. Nice bright red, but it only lasted about 1 hour. False advertising? Also: must remember to apply gloss *after* 45 minute bike ride to work as my hair, and also stray mosquitos, stick to my lips when I wear gloss.

Day 13: MAC lipglass [haha, I found another MAC product hiding!] in Fashion Pack. This was part of their limited edition Barbie line from a few years ago. Peach/pink sparkley cuteness!

Day 14: Sheer pink lipgloss from Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush line. No name on the package, but it's a nice sheer pink, not too sticky, and tastes super-yum.

Day 15: Smashbox O-Gloss "intuitive lip color". Allegedly, it goes on like a sheer gloss but blossoms to a flattering tone to your skintone. Whatevs, it feels nice and smooth and gives me a nice kiss of colour.

Day 16 (today!) TBD: I will go and randomly reach into my lipstick drawer [what, don't you have a lipstick drawer?] and apply whatever I grab first.

If you can't get enough, you can follow my continuing lipstick adventures at @annhepburn (you don't actually have to join Twitter to follow that link and follow along), although I'll have another review at the end of the month.

Jour 135: I got pay-it-forward-ed!

2012-05-14T23:08:00.004-06:00

"Hello? AMAZING STORY calling!"

So, I was biking home from work just now and, about 1/8 of the way home (i.e. 10 minutes into my 45 minute commute) the chain came off of the thingie. And a few things occurred to me:

1) I should probably learn how to fix my bike
2) This is the sort of situation where it would have been nice to have a working cellphone
3) This sucks, especially since I have the sort of brakes where you pedal backwards to slow down or stop.

So anyway, I coasted along, going down hills at full, uncontrollable speed, and then coming to a stop whenever the land got flat and/or uphillish.

Unfortch, I live in Saskatchewan where it's mostly flat.
So there wasn't a lot of up and/or downhill momentum.

But THEN!!! (!!) I passed by a kindly stranger, walking his dogs along the path. And he asked why I was going so slow, and I said the chain had come off, and he was like, "I'll fix that for you." AND THEN HE TOTALLY DID!

I didn't expect him to at all. I had come up with a plan to go by the bike repair store tomorrow to have them ~~fix it~~ show me what to do, but then suddenly I was able to bike home again!

It was a bike miracle!!

Oh, and also the guy taught me to fix it, so it was also a FRUGAL MIRACLE because now I don't have to go to the bike store the next time this happens!

A real life pay it forward situation. So, I am now full of pay-it-forwardness, ready to help out some stranger somewhere... likely with some sort of fashion emergency. Will it be you? Only time will tell...

Jour 134: Sunny Daze Link Luuurve

2012-05-13T18:07:00.002-06:00

SUMMAH!!

It's sooo nice outside today! I think this might be... actual spring? There's been so many false starts here in the last two months, where's it's nice one day then snowy/rainy for the next week. But I think this nice weather might be here to stay!

Here are some links to enjoy in the sunshine!!

You Want Me To Wear What memorializes Betsey Johnson's now-defunct clothing line. Now where will we go for clashing colours and layers of ruffles?

Find Me Frugal(er) is resisting the urge to chow down on free food.

Gail Vaz-Oxlade reminds us all you don't have to spend a penny to show your Mom how much you love her on Mother's Day!

Andrea from So Over Debt gives us a good reality check: don't spend money you don't have. Sounds obvious, but it can be tricky when there are so many ways you are able to spend fake money.

Barking Up The Wrong Tree has 5 easy tips to help you lose weight.

Jour 133: 5 Frugal craft ideas for Mother's Day

2012-05-12T22:19:00.001-06:00

Mother/daughter matching hairdos and outfits are ONLY ACCEPTABLE on Mother's Day.
And ONLY in illustrations.

So, my mother is a pretty frugal lady. I don't tend to buy her anything for Mother's Day, other than a card (I wrote a post about this last year), and she's totally fine with that. However, if your mother is the sort of person who likes getting gifts, or if you need to slowly wean her off of getting Mother's Day gifts, here are some ideas:

1) Homemade beauty supplies, like homemade conditioner, homemade lipbalm or homemade moisturizer.

2) The gift of an experience! Take your Mums out for brunch, to the theatre, or make a home-cooked meal for her. Or pay for her to go to a yoga class or for a spa treatment.

3) Or, if you're getting her a card, why not make a thrifty home made card?

4) Personalize a deck of cards with 52 things you love about your Mom!

5) A hand-stencilled throw pillow with a quote from her favourite author, or song lyric

If you do give her a giftie, why not top it off with an adorbs homemade gift bow from a magazine page?

Ask Auntie Annabelle: How did you start writing this blog?

2012-05-11T21:52:00.001-06:00

Ask Aunt Annabelle

My advice blogging muses, Ann Landers and Dear Abby

"Hi Annabelle,

So, what's the deal with this blog? Do you really write a new post every day? How long have you been writing this blog? Have you paid off all your debt? Where did you get the idea to write a blog?"

- Friendly Adoring Ladylike Superfan Elephant

Hi FALSE,

What an interesting series of questions! How did I get started? Basically, I read a bunch of books about people who challenged themselves to improve and/or change something about themselves for one year.

These books included The Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs (where he obeyed the Bible, literally, for one year); Sleeping Naked is Green by Vanessa Farquharson (where she made one environmentally friendly change everyday for a year), Living Oprah by Robyn Okrant (where she did everything Oprah said to for a year), and Up For Renewal by Cathy Alter (where she follows magazine advice for a year).

Yes, Julie and Julia is the classic of this genre, and I probably saw that movie the same year too, although I haven't read the book. Wait, or maybe I did? Anyway, I know the story of it.

Meryl Streep is adorable, Amy Adams has a terrible wig, boeuf bourguignon, etc.

Anyway, so, at the end of 2010, I suddenly realized that I could do something like this too. I had been following "live" blog projects like 365 Fashion Rehab, where the two shopaholic bloggers didn't buy clothes for a year, and thought maybe I could do the same thing. My initial plan was a crazy version of 365 Fashion Rehab crossed with Sleeping Naked is Green, where every day I would eliminate the purchase of a new sort of thing and, at the end of the year, I would have paid down my debt.

It became immediately obvious that this was crazymaking. If you go back do some of my earliest posts (easy to do, since I usually number them), you will see that I did things like list ongoing rules I would try and keep for the whole year, which didn't really last longer than a few months. Though I did try to keep up, rules like "don't buy any Starbucks drinks after you use up this $25 gift card!" were just doomed to fail.

I could maybe go without Starbucks drinks in the summer, but what's autumn without a pumpkin spice latte? Or Christmastime without an eggnog latte? SAD ANNABELLE TIMES, that's what.

Gradually, I have realized that a) I don't have the kind of willpower and/or a movie deal to get me o stick to insane goals like that and b) this isn't about a 365-day gimmick, but about trying to alter my everyday lifestyle. Like how the best diets are just when people learn to eat well, instead of only drinking cayenne pepper infused maple syrup for two weeks, right? It's a lifestyle change, not a crash budgeting diet.

Oh, and because I post every bleeding day (why did I decide to do that? I forget. Now I'm afraid if I miss a day I'll lose all my momentum) I have obviously branched out to talk about fashion, and books, and TV shows, etc.

I have also developed an insanely large amount of adorable 1960s images on my Pinterest page, due to all the scoping out for pictures I do for this blog.

All that to say, in the past 1.5 years of writing this blog, I have not gotten rid of my debt, but I have made some proactive steps. I mean, the debt hasn't gotten bigger, which is nearly an accomplishment, right?

Now, writing on the blog everyday is just part of my routine. And for days I get stuck, luckily I have Bea Danville to help me out.

Do you have questions for Ask Auntie Annabelle? Email me at annabelle(at)shoppingdetox(dot)com, or post them on the Shopping Detox Facebook page or tweet it up!

Jour 131: Doing it all for my future self

2012-05-10T22:54:00.001-06:00

I've been reading AJ Jacobs (of The Year of Living Biblically and The Know-It-All fame)'s latest book, Drop Dead Healthy. It's all about his quest to try to be the healthiest man in America by trying a variety of exercises, diet regimes, and other oddball experiments.

The best part so far is, after he takes a Paleo exercise class, his French instructor sniffs, "You are trying to be the healthiest man in the world? I am being the healthiest man in the world." Oh, the French. Never change!

Anyway, another interesting part is when he talks about the work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Thomas Schelling. Jacobs paraphrases Schelling's theory of egonomics as, "The key to making healthy decisions is to respect your future self. Honor him or her. Treat him or her like you would treat a friend or a loved one."

So, Jacobs used a photo-aging App, aged a photo of himself, and taped the picture of Old AJ on the wall for inspiration.

This is a very healthy way to approach things, I think. I have been known to think, "Yes, I am staying up too late on a school night, but that's not my problem. That's Morning Annabelle's problem!" And then I wake up the next morning, cursing the cavalier attitude of Night Annabelle. Similarly, I eat things sometimes thinking, "Yes, this is really fatty and unhealthy but I want to eat it, and the after-effects aren't my problem. That's Annabelle Next Week Out Bathing Suit Shopping's problem!" And so on and so forth.

So, like any respectable blogger with a serious procrastination issue, I found this website and aged my photo:

Current Annabelle

Old Annabelle!

I have to say, Old Annabelle looks pretty great here. She has clearly kept up with a good skincare regime. I also appreciate that she's kept up the same bright red hair colour. (Is ombre still cool in the future?)

So now, when I really want to buy that [insert noun, e.g. nailpolish, or chai latte, or sundress, or leather flip-flops, etc.] I will think, "But would Future Annabelle be happy with that? Or would she be happier to have actual money in the bank, and a smaller debt?"

Future Annabelle is very responsible. She'd want me to not buy the [noun]. She's off somewhere in the distant future, enjoying her debt-free existence. Hopefully not living in the wood somewhere, using twigs mixed with mud as clothing. But if she is, I'm sure she has a good reason for that. [e.g. someone told her that French people do that]

Jour 130: Biking FTW!!

2012-05-09T23:39:00.001-06:00

It's warm out and I finally got my bike out of retirement and biked to work!! [Note: yes, I did take it out of retirement a few weeks ago, but it wasn't quite bike-worthy weather yet. But now it is!!]

Of course Frugal Icon Marilyn Monroe rode a bike. Why isn't she better known for her frugal ways?

Biking is the greatest because:

a) my bike is beyond super cute
b) I don't have to wait for the bus all the time
c) I don't have to feel bad asking other people to drive me around
d) it's so fun! With the wind in your hair, etc.
e) it's 45 minutes of cardio everyday that I bike to work! [*Note: really 90 minutes, as it's 45 minutes either way]
f) SO FUN!!!
g) kinda French, somehow, isn't it?

Are you biking yet?? Check out my tips on how to look fashionable whilst biking, which are def. useful, but not when it's hot and sunny out and you're biking 45 mins. I had to pull a Stephanie Kaye and bike to work in gym clothes, then change into work adorableness once I got there.

Jour 129: Famous people who don't (know how to) drive

2012-05-08T21:47:00.000-06:00

Look out, lady driver!

So, I don't drive. Not just that I choose not to, but I am, in fact, unlicensed and quite a spectacularly bad driver. I suspect it's partly to do with having grown up without a car and, thus, no instinctive understanding of the rules of the road.

I would also like to note that I am a champion at parallel parking. It's just, you know, turning left and right and knowing when it's my right of way that I'm not so good at.

Anyway, I'm in good company! Check it:

Ray Bradbury (author) has lived in Los Angeles for 64 years without a driver's license. Currently 91, he's my non-driving, published-author hero now. (source)

Elvis Costello (musician) didn't learn to drive until he was 32. (source)

Albert Einstein (genius) never learned to drive, preferring to ride around on a bike or use mass transit. AND HE'S A GENIUS, so... (source)

Tina Fey (comedienne) had a license, but it expired and she let it go because she didn't want to go to driver's school again. (source)

Dan Savage (sex columnist) says, "Why don't I have a driver's license? Because I never learned to drive. And my husband has one... so, why do I need one?" (source)

David Sedaris (essayist, bon vivant) says, "I never learned to drive a car. And so I never really developed aggression skills." (source)

So, no reason to feel ashamed if you (like me) choose not to drive! These people are all SO COOL and not driving is (wait for it) FRUGAL!

Jour 128: How loyalty can save you money

2012-05-07T19:09:00.000-06:00

One time I got to sit under a hairdryer hood like this!
It was exactly as cool as I had thought it would be.

When I was a kid, I didn't have a regular hairdresser. Neither did anyone in my family, we'd just show up at Top Cuts or whatever and get our hair cut by whoever was there. I wandered around, hair-wise, through my teen years - enjoying some fancy salons (where they offer you cappuccinos!) and a variety of fabulous men and women.

Eventually, I found my hairdresser. I think this is like how, on Say Yes to the Dress, Monte is always like, "When it's your dress, you'll just know." That is how it was when I found my hairdresser. We had fun growing out, then cutting off my hair; dying it red, bright red, blonde, and brownish. When she switched salons, I followed her.

When I moved across the country, I found a hairdresser before I found a doctor (OK, that was partly because doctors weren't accepting new patients but you can always find a hairdresser). Anyway, I settled into another great rapport with my new hairdresser.

I have had a lot of stuff done to my hair in the past... but never this.
And why is she on the phone? So many questions.

I've also developed a good relationship with my massage therapist. It's great to have that routine where you can book ahead 6 weeks, they save the spot for you... and you get discounts! Lots of places have a small discount, like 10%, for booking your next appointment ahead of time. And, I was reminded today, that when you have a good relationship as a regular client, when you have to cancel at the last minute - you don't get charged the cancellation fee.

Also, a good hairdresser and a good massage therapist are worth their weight in gold. It's not just that I get along with these two ladies in a personality manner, but also my hairdresser gets my hair (no puffy triangle head shenanigans) and my massage therapist has the magic touch with my frequently clustered knot that always seems to show up in my right shoulderblade.

My Frugal Companion is great for lots of stuff, but he doesn't have sufficient training to massage my knotty back for a full hour. How do massage therapists' hands keep from hurting?

Loyalty saves you money in lots of other ways, too, like at coffeeshops or other places you go. This is why you pay so little for a cell phone plan when you get a 3-year contract; by becoming a loyal customer, you get some perks.

Like awesome hair, no cancellation fee, and a relaxed back. What more can you ask for?

Jour 127: Insurgent Link Luuurve

2012-05-06T20:33:00.004-06:00

So, the YA community is freaking out this week because Insurgent, the sequel to Divergent, just got published. Vikki from Pipedreaming wrote this great article both discussing the series, and why it's taken off like it did (winning Book of the Year from Goodreads, among other honours). Like, they were selling copies of this today in the grocery store. I liked, but did not luuurve the first book, and am interested to see how the second book goes.

In these books, society is divided into 5 factions, and so here are the links, divided by faction:

Linkergent

Amity (The Peaceful): Nancy from The Reluctant Retiree ponders why so many retirees get so dressed up for grocery shopping.

Abnegation (The Selfless): Andrea from So Over Debt is cooking real food! With ingredients and everything! AND Fabulously Broke in the City is also thinking about cooking, namely, 7 simple ways to remove the barriers to cooking.

Dauntless (The Brave): Making Sense of Cents discusses life's little splurges - fun things she doesn't stress about spending money on.

Erudite (The Intelligent): Erin from My Thirty Spot has some great tips for surviving brunch season when you're on a diet.

Candor (The Honest): Fabulously Fru-Girl wrote this thoughtful piece about her feelings about marriage - I agree with lots of what she said, marriage isn't the be-all, end-all for everyone.

Jour 126: 5 tips for frugal travel shopping and packing

2012-05-05T21:58:00.001-06:00

Not a frugal tip: standing inside of the airplane's propeller thing.

So, I just got back from a "vacation" (if attending a conference where you are presenting two talks can count as a holiday... wait, there was a hot tub, so YES IT TOTALLY WAS A HOLIDAY) and here are my best frugal tips for packing for a weekend getaway:

1) Remember all of your IMPORTANT STUFF! Nothing is worse than showing up at your destination and having to buy something dumb and cheap that you totally own but forgot, like a toothbrush, floss, or hairbrush. Then you get back and you have too many toothbrushes or whatever. My crucial things to pack are: tweezers, toothbrush, floss (even if you don't use these on a daily basis, it is guaranteed that as soon as you're on holiday you will get a singly unsightly hair, gummy teeth, and popcorn kernals stuck between your teeth), underwear, socks, your wallet, house keys, and ticket to whatever transportation and/or conference you require.

Remember to pack your prophylactic toothbrush!
... And also your prophylactic condoms.

2) Remember it's still real life. Although it's tempting to say "whatever happens on holiday, stays on holiday!" that is not true in terms of shopping. It feels like a fake life where you can buy anything BUT THAT IS NOT TRUE. That being said, in general, when shopping on holiday don't buy stuff from stores you have in your home city. Being on holiday is not an excuse to buy stuff you've been wanting to buy but can't afford back in Real Life.

3) Pack a SWIMSUIT!! Even if you don't think you'll be going swimming or going somewhere with a pool, lake or hot tub, you never know when one will appear. Frankly, just keep a swimsuit in your suitcase 24/7, so that it'll always be there even when you forget. I was on a holiday once and totes forgot my swimsuit and the hotel had not only a pool, but also a WATERSLIDE. I was DEVASTATED.

Because you don't want to miss out on these swimsuit-related Super Fun Times!!

4) Don't order too much food in restaurants. If your hotel room doesn't have a fridge, make sure you don't order too much food at dinner! Nothing worse than not being able to doggie-bag it.

5) Don't forget to shop around. Relating back to #1 - make a plan for which stores you'd like to visit and give yourself enough time to hit them all up. Speed shopping can be a rush, and fun, but it doesn't give you enough time to consider whether things are smart purchases or not. Additionally, when in a new city, you may find some cool thing in a new store - and then discover the same cool thing in another store one block away, for cheaper.

Happy travels!!

Jour 125: The frugality of ombre hair

2012-05-04T23:18:00.003-06:00

Are you guys familiar with ombre hair? (pronounced OHM-BRAY HAIR) It's where your hair is darker on the top, and then gets lighter at the bottom.

90210's Shenae Grimes rocks the ombre trend.

I recently realized (after going ombre myself) that, if you're going to colour your light hair darker, it's really quite a frugal thing to do. Because the ends are supposed to be lighter, so all I need to do is get the roots touched up and the ends can keep fading.

I realize, however, that having light hair and dying it darker is not the usual run of things. If you have dark hair and you dye it light, it's the same though, kinda? You can just keep redoing the roots, but not necessarily the rest of your hair.

Whitney Port's ombre looks half cute, and half like someone who hasn't gone to the salon for a touch-up in awhile. Which I guess is also frugal?

Blah blah blah. I know that *not* dying your hair is the most frugal thing, but my red hair has been fading from the brighter colour it was in my youth (I think... I've been dying my hair so long I'm not sure when it started fading) and dammit, I like bright red hair.

[Note: this is not me, but my hair is similarly bright red at the top, and blondey red at the bottom]

As with the TV thing, though, I can afford to do this *and* pay my bills *and* pay down my debt so it's OK. If my finances tanked out, I suppose I could deal with not colouring my hair. Having a pro hair cut/colour is one of the indulgences that I'm willing to spend a little more on, at least for the time being.

But, for the time being, ombre seems to be the way to go. My hair is long, but I don't have to pay for enough dye for the full length, it looks shiny and red and I'm happy.

Ombre!!

Jour 124: 5 Reasons I'm Keeping My Cable

2012-05-03T22:46:00.003-06:00

[Note: this post is inspired by a recent Twittversation between myself, @serendipity85, @budgetorfudget and @geekymath]

Because who doesn't put on an evening gown while watching Dancing With The Stars?

So, a super-frequent suggestion on personal finance blogs is to stop getting cable and rather, to rely on Netflix and/or Hulu and/or other streaming sources for your television viewing. Speaking as someone who went without cable for like 3 years, I feel like I've experienced both sides of this and have come out overwhelmingly in favour of keeping cable.

This is totally only my own opinion, and I totally get why people would choose to go without, but for me, the cost of cable is totally worth it.

Top 5 Reasons I'm Keeping My Cable

1) I get to watch TV the same time as it's on. This is so fun, especially with live shows like The Voice and even with other shows like Downton Abbey or Pretty Little Liars or Revenge. When you have to wait until the next day (to watch it streaming or from iTunes) or next year (to get the discs or watch it on Netflix), then you have to live your life in this hermaphroditic bubble to prevent any spoilers from seeping through your ears. So often I see people on Twitter being like, "Don't spoil this show! I don't get to watch it until tomorrow/next week/year!" And to those people I say, "Then don't go on Twitter while the show is airing." Spoilers are inevitable. If you aren't going to watch live TV, protect yourself accordingly. The entire Twitterverse can't go silent on your behalf.

I'm pretty sure Emily Thorne from Revenge doesn't have cable, but that's understandable because she's too busy with the learning ninja moves and destroying lives and whatnot.
Once she's finished wreacking her revenge, I'm sure she'll get cable, though.

2) Background TV. When you stream shows or download them or whatever, it's like a time commitment. You don't go through that for shows that you don't really care about and that's like, 99% of what's great about cable. You can turn the TV on to some random thing that's in the background while you cook, or blog (holla!), or do your taxes, or whatevs. I'd never download or purchase an entire season of, for instance, Say Yes to the Dress, but it's the perfect background TV. [Other good background TV includes: reruns of Law and Order, any programming from the cooking channel, or true crime shows. Or any of the Real Housewives franchise]

I am in such love/hate with this show. I never mean to watch it, but it's always on, and I always wind up screaming at the idiot brides, "Don't listen to your pageant mother, buy the dress you like, OH MY GOD WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU! Monte, MAKE IT STOP!"

3) Having TV keeps you home to watch your shows, which saves you money, because you aren't going out and... you know, buying stuff. Or whatever non-cable-owning people do with their free time.

4) My TV is too old to stream video on. Also, I don't have a Blu-Ray or XBox or whatever else you can use to stream Netflix stuff, so if I want to stream anything, it's on the laptop. And that means I can't use my laptop for other things (i.e. blogging [holla!], checking email, writing a novel, etc., etc.). So cable TV allows me to multi-task!

I could make like Carrie Bradshaw, and blog while staring out the window, but my apartment window looks out at the dumpster/smoking area of my building, which leads to less inspiration than a good rerun of Top Chef: Las Vegas.

5) Lots of streaming stuff isn't available in Canada. Netflix is, so I hear, better than it was last year when I gave it a free trial, but there's still way less available in Canada than in the US. And Hulu isn't available in Canada, and American TV shows aren't all available to stream from websites so... if there's a specific show you want to watch, it's way trickier to watch in Canada. And if you do watch it on a network website there are those awful ads you can't FF where the volume gets so loud and that's annoying.

So there. I know I'm not convincing anybody to suddenly order cable, but it seemed like the Pro-Cable argument wasn't being represented very much in the blogosphere.

Are you, like me, a dinosaur clinging to cable? Or do you download stuff on your fancy gadgets? Or are you just tragically missing out on the adventures of Monte and Lori and the whole gang on Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta??

Jour 123: Glamorous celebs who cut their own hair

2012-05-02T20:51:00.002-06:00

So, I recently wrote about some things that I feel are worth some extra expense, including a professional haircut/dye job. That being said, my most popular post of all time, ever, is this one: how to cut your own bangs.

That may work for some people, but I've had far too many home-based haircut fiascos that I generally leave that work to the professionals.

But here are some notable fashionable celebrities have been known to cut their own hair from time to time...

Sophia Loren
If you looked like this, it kinda doesn't matter what your hair looks like. Anyway, Sophia Loren hates beauty salons and has always done her own hair and manicures. Only a jail term served for tax evasion is keeping her out of the Frugal Icons Hall of Fame. (source)

Gina LollobrigidaI swear I remember reading this somewhere in a book, but can't find proof on teh internets. Her hair was very fine and curly, which was why she was able to get away with randomly cutting off bits every now and then. Her poodle 'do was "The Rachel" of her day, apparently.

BeyonceThe new mother recently trimmed two inches of her own hair off. "I recently cut two inches myself - I just parted it in the middle and chh-chh-chh!"[Note: I'm pretty sure this is a one-time only situation, but still. A nice frugal effort from Mrs. Jay-Z] (source)

Kate MossKate has been known to cut her own bangs at home, with kitchen scissors. (source)

Helen Mirren
[Note: Can I be her when I grow up? K THX BYE]
"For the last 20 to 30 years, I’ve only ever been to the hairdressers if I’ve had to go for a part I’ve been playing. I simply put my hair in a ponytail and cut across the top — it creates natural layers and just falls right. I colour it myself too." (source)

Have you guys ever cut your own hair? Did you wind up looking as fabulous as these ladies?