Inchoate Random Abstractions left me this comment a few weeks ago:

A beauty supply store? In the Chicagoland area, they sell the huge bottles of Tresemme at all of the large drug stores and even some of the grocery stores (e.g., Walgreens, Dominicks and Jewel-Osco). It’s on sale this week at Dominicks for $3 for a 32 oz. bottle.

Sure enough, I went to the grocery store for lunch. In a belt tightening maneuver, I bought groceries instead of bringing my lunch this week. I found a bottle of Tresemme for $3 as you stated. I think that might actually be the regular price there all the time!

Unlike Judith Levine, I also bought Q-Tips, but not before checking the unit pricing. Make sure you are checking the unit pricing. Sounds a bit crazy, but whip out that cellphone. I bet it has a calculator, and do the math. It will save you money!

I ended getting a loaf of bread, some cheese and a Soup at Hand cups, which were on sale. I think lunch this week was pretty cheap. I didn’t even eat the cheese yet because it’s not spreadable. I’ll have to take it home over the weekend to eat it.

I’m off for the weekend to a yarn/fiber show. If I’m feeling frisky, I’ll post a photo of it since I finally remembered to take my digital camera.

She’ll say it once. She’ll say it again. Today is a great day to start saving! Email me at mapgirlsfiscalchallenge at Google’s mail service if you want an ING Direct referral. I’m not savvy enough right now to make links embedded into my blog.

Coupled with that is “Today is a great day to start moisturizing.” Being wrinkle-free is like saving money. Start early and your daily investment of time and lotion will pay off in saving your skin from wrinkles in the future. My mom is wrinkle free at 64, but I wish she had salted away a little more cash. I watched her apply lotion everyday. Too bad I didn’t watch her save money every day.

Yes, your Frumperella isn’t uber-fashionable at work, but I’m still looking youthful. God bless that cute boy over the weekend who thought I was only 27. I found my first age spot last week, but given that I lived in CA for 5 years, I’m lucky I don’t have more. It’s the daily application of face lotion with sunscreen that’s saved me from aging too quickly.

So start saving and use some lotion/sunscreen/eye cream TODAY! The rewards in the future will be great!

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to readers of Jonathan’s My Money Blog. Thank you for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment and say hello, especially if you are a new PFBlogger.

I have a few rules about commenting, mostly sign a moniker, any moniker, and please be nice and civil. You should know that I don’t publish out many comments in the middle of the day because I work. But the Haloscan comments appear immediately. (Yes, I have two commenting systems, because I am a dork.)

I hope you liked visiting PayCheckCity and the other resources I have listed on my blogroll. Thanks!

Rich of Queercents writes about The Purse. So for all you budget fashionistas out there, what’s your Coach (or whatever brand) count? Do you revel in your good deals? Did you earn your purse as a reward to yourself? Crow about them here in the comments!

I left a comment at Queercents. I have 4 Coach bags. I’m not ashamed to admit it. I’ll give you a story about each one:

1) Baxter Bag: Black, approximately 14 years old. I bought it with my first tax refund after working as an intern at Wharton all summer. I still have it and it fits a lot of stuff, even if it’s out of style and everyone thinks it’s a bowling ball bag. It’s a great mini-satchel.

2) Grey purse: Bought it at the Outlet shops in Petaluma, CA. It’s a small thing that carries my wallet, keys, cellphone and lipstick when I’m out clubbing. It’s too small for anything else, but perfect when I’m wearing an outfit without pockets.

3) Black neoprene purse: Also from the Outlets at Petaluma. It’s boxy with an adjustable strap. Everyone loves it. I get the most compliments on this bag, even though I bought it at least 6 years ago when I still lived in CA. There is something really cute about a little lunchboxy bag that’s not actually a hard case.

4) Signature Demi Pouch: Gold, received Summer 2006 at my cousin’s wedding. It was a gift from a family member. The gold is very cute and trendy. I kind of like it. I’ve been thinking of getting this bag for a while, because of the size, but never got around to it. Couldn’t really justify adding another purse to my collection.

5) Bucket Hat: It matches #4. A few years ago, my mom asked me for a bucket hat to wear while playing golf. I get her exactly what she requested, knowing that she still likes Coach brand stuff, and then she doesn’t wear it. She wonders why I don’t buy her anything anymore. She doesn’t use the gifts she’s requested! I hate that. Since I found it languishing in the front closet, I took it, and I wear it when it rains. It’s perfect with my purse since I match. The guys at work make fun of me for it, but I don’t care. SOMEONE ought to wear the darned thing before it goes out of style completely. It’s part of my aspiring ‘ladies-who-lunch’ image.

Here’s an image for you: Mapgirl is windmilling her arms wildly in your face, shouting,’It’s almost time for open enrollment!’

For those new to this phrase ‘open enrollment’, it’s that time at the end of the year when companies allow you to switch around your benefits packages. Usually it means open enrollment for your health plan, 401K, Flexible Spending Accounts, etc. At this time, you’ll study different healthcare and prescription plans and rack your brain on what’s the best deal for you and your family. If you don’t already have a budget, now is a good time to set one so you can take advantage of open enrollment.

I typically plan out my healthcare expenses for the year with Flexible Spending. I know that I will spend at least another $4000 on dental expenses in 2007, and that $5000 is the maximum I can set aside. However, I only put aside $3000 this year. I need to ask myself if I’m willing to take another cut each paycheck to cover the maximum amount. 26 paychecks a year divided into $2000 is about $77. Could I set that aside for my health? Yeah, I probably could. And that will reduce my tax burden, which is pretty cool.

PaycheckCity.com is my favorite place for open enrollment calculations. I will run some numbers there, then punch them into a spreadsheet in different scenarios so I can see what effects changing my 401K contribution will have, or changing from an HMO plan to a PPO plan and the accompanying change in payroll deductions.

I know it’s not yet November, but time is really going to fly by if you don’t sit down and plan a little now. Later on, you’re going to get overwhelmed with information about plans, and the last thing you will want to do is figure out a brand new budget and what you can afford. (Heck, in the 5-10 minutes it took for me to write this post, I just figured out that I can probably afford $77 per check because I already have an idea of what I’m spending.)

Other news: I got the first of my replacement crowns yesterday. It’s a little weird, but I celebrated by having pork medallions for dinner. Tasty!

Let’s just say, I have insurance on the brain right now.

For some insurance-related goodness, check out InsureBlog today.
On why you should go with a professional insurance agent for health insurance.

On Long Term Care policies.

Both are better than I could have said it. When I’m ready, I’ll explain all my insurance woes. It’s running the gamut. Give me a few days to get my head unstuck from the sand and deal with it and then Gentle Readers, I will write, and write, and write till I’ve exorcised the insurance demons and wrangled those expenses back into their Pandora’s Box. (I’m experimenting with the writing. How do you like my mixed metaphors?)

Every year for Columbus Day weekend, I like to go camping. For the past 3 years, it’s been a mud pit at the fields where my friends and I like to go. This year was no different, except that it got really nice on the last day which made the rain the previous day worth suffering through.

My jeans got muddy while we were hiking around. I wore ankle boots, but kept my jeans low over the tops so I wouldn’t get mud on my socks and have wet feet inside my boots. That defeats the purpose of Gore-tex boots if you still get your feet wet over the top of them.

Unfortunately, I should have worn a pair of gaiters. I don’t usually think about gaiters unless I’m in the snow, but I’ve seen friends use them to keep out dust from trails and now, the mud. Gaiters would have kept the mud off the cuffs of my pants, which would have helped.

I got kind of paranoid about washing my jeans, fearing the mud wouldn’t come out. Finally I dumped them into a separate wash by themselves, which is NOT a frugal manuevuer, but I figured I wouldn’t contaminate a whole other load of laundry with dirt if I did this, so it probably evened out. Miraculously, the dirt came out. It’s only on the very bottom of the cuffs that you notice any staining from the mud at all. Luckily the soil does not have a lot of clay in it, so you have to stare closely. I hate that dirty denim look that is so popular lately. It’s gross. I’m so glad I’m not sporting that look naturally.

So if you know you’re going out where it’s muddy, get a pair of gaiters over your boots and cuffs to keep the dirt off. It will save your jeans from a separate wash, and from staining and getting ruined.

The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize has gone to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank.

I’ve written about them here before because I really believe in his banking model. Microfinance and lending is a powerful force for change in developing nations. I think we should try it more in the US.

However, the thing that sticks in my craw is the headline that CNN put on it from their front page, “Bank for dirt poor wins peace prize.” The article itself has this title, ” Bankers for poor win peace Nobel,” which is just awful headline grammar if you ask me, but at least it doesn’t say ‘dirt poor.’

Why is economic standing still a value judgement? I don’t think that’s very fair or rational. ‘Dirt poor’ implies that people living in poverty are unclean and creates an image of the poor that infects the mind in a insidious way that continues the value judgement upon an economic status, which maybe correlated, but not necessarily causative.

What am I trying to say? I’m trying to say that it’s great that Grameen has won the Nobel Peace Prize. I have written about them before because I honestly believe they do amazing work. But I am disappointed that CNN has called Grameen’s clientele dirt poor, because these are people who have made a serious commitment to improving their lives, contribute to capitalism in a tangible way and deserve our respect for taking the steps to getting out of poverty. I respect a client of Grameen Bank much more than a CNN Millionaire in the Making. It’s easy to make yourself a millionaire when you already have some money. It’s quite another to break a cycle of poverty lasting for generations.

Ok end of my ranting. Back to work you serfs!

The Washington Post has a new permanent section about Identity Theft. You may need to register, but it is worth it. (or use Bugmenot.com) By the way, The Checkout has changed columnists, but it is still a good resource.

CNN/Money has another Millionaire in the Making article. I love these because I love stories about real people. I like them because they are local to my area (Yay Charm City!) and they have a real story with a challenge in changing spending habits. I think that’s really important because it shows that you can change your stripes and become a saver even if you aren’t great it at it right now.

Her at Make Love Not Debt with some winter heating advice. She’s got some great ideas that will really help cut your heating bill down. Or you could just knit yourself a hat for wearing indoors. I personally love throwing on a cozy shawl myself.

Frugal Duchess points us to an article about compulsive shopping. Sometimes, especially after my recent spending binge, I wonder if I am a compulsive shopper that controls myself only by avoiding shopping altogether.

Another one from the Duchess. It’s from last week, but I’m still catching up. This one is about paying for afterschool programs and finding/raising extra money for them. It doesn’t apply to me since I don’t have kids, but I like some of the ideas in there.

Debt Hater on what you are worth. She’s not talking about net worth. She’s talking about healthcare and taking care of your body. Pretty interesting topic since access to healthcare is probably one of the worst things about the US. It’s so expensive that people have to make choices between their health and their bills.

My attempts at Prosper are the classic description of ‘failure to launch.’

I’ve bid on two loans and was out bid at the last minute on both. I’m not someone who sits around and waits for the bidding to finish. I have better things to do than stare at a monitor when I get home from work. I let myself be outbid on the first one. On the second one, I actually rebid for a lower interest rate to give it a try. Dinged again.

I’ll keep plugging away at Prosper, but I sure feel funny about obsessing about bidding. I wish I could be a little more worry free about it.

Both of my bids were for very low risk borrowers. I’m being conservative about it all since I’m not sure Prosper is going to work for me. From reading other Propser experiences, it sounds like I should diversify my bids between high and low risk borrowers and I’ll have more success. I’m not sure. I’m still deciding how I feel about this, but I think I haven’t given this enough of a chance to work.