Tuesday, April 15, 2014

My Birthday: How I Treated Myself on a Budget

Birthday on a BudgetHappy Birthday to me! Happy birthday to me!

Sunday was my birthday and all I wanted to do was have a weekend off from work of all kinds. While I didn't fully succeed in that, farm work never really stops, I did treat myself by taking the weekend off from my part-time job. I also didn't make or look at my to-do list all weekend! My only goal was spending time with my family, my pets, and doing some relaxing :)

I took off a little early from work on Friday and went home, played with the dogs and spent some time outside doing yard work. While this may not sound like a relaxing weekend "break" to you, it was for me. I only wish I had time to do household projects more often. I actually really enjoy working outside.

Then, Friday evening I took a nice, long, hot bubble bath, did some reading for fun and went to bed early. I already had plenty of bubble bath under my bathroom sink, so this activity only really "cost" me the hot water. I am thinking about making these relaxing baths more of a regular occurrence, like maybe monthly?

Saturday I had a quilt class already lined up. It was free since I had completed my block from the time before. After that, I went out to the farm and got some sun and helped with a tree planting project.

Saturday evening, my family and I went to supper at a steak house and my parents paid. Thank goodness for great parents! After that we had birthday cake at my house, made by my mom.

Sunday was spent relaxing at my parents house playing family games.

I'd say my frugal birthday weekend was a success overall. I am even being treated to a birthday pedicure next week! (My parent's got me a gift certificate.)

How do you celebrate birthdays in your family? How have you attempted to make them more frugal?

BREAKING NEWS: I got an email this past weekend from the CEO of one of the store cards I have a balance with. The stores are going to be ceasing all operations permanently in the next few months. Do I need to be worried about getting this balance paid off before then? Will it be affecting my card? Please if you have been through this before let me know! It is one of my larger balances that I was leaving toward last. Should I accelerate my payments toward that one in particular because of this?

Note: If you are interested in guest-posting at Shoeaholicnomore, email me at shoeaholicnomore[at]gmail[dot]com!

10 Comments:

At April 15, 2014 at 8:42 AM , Anonymous Debt Busting Chick said...

Happy Belated birthday. It seems as though you had a relaxing weekend and some good family time. Sounds perfect to me.

 
At April 15, 2014 at 9:40 AM , Blogger shoeaholicnomore said...

Thanks Debt Busting Chick! I really enjoyed my weekend. Though it did make me wish I never had to work weekends... Sigh! Maybe after the debts are eliminated!

 
At April 15, 2014 at 12:57 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Shoe!

First, it was an email which strikes me. I would get in contact via phone with a live person to hear the news. I mean, you just never know now a days. If they are ceasing operations, what I would do is concentrate on paying off that debt. You just never know what can happen with the company, and what a kicking it would be if you needed to have to find the rest of the balance or even have to dip into your emergency savings fund.

Cheers,
Jen

 
At April 15, 2014 at 1:18 PM , Blogger shoeaholicnomore said...

Jen,

Great suggestions. The first I did was panic... In case you couldn't tell that for yourself. LOL! I agree, getting someone on the phone is a great first step, then based on what I find out, I can go from there! Thanks for taking time to weigh in. :)

 
At April 15, 2014 at 6:15 PM , Blogger debt debs said...

Funny, I had the opposite reaction about the debt, like maybe it would be forgiven (or given up on!). I know nothing about this, so please don't take my advice. Have you ever tried to negotiate paying only a portion of the amount owing, to be forgiven for the rest? This is what happens a lot in extreme debt situations. Hayley @ Disease called Debt has experience with this.

 
At April 15, 2014 at 6:16 PM , Blogger debt debs said...

oh and belated Happy Birthday!!! Glad you had a good birthday weekend!

 
At April 16, 2014 at 2:22 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy Belated Birthday! Glad you enjoyed your weekend!

 
At April 16, 2014 at 9:00 AM , Blogger shoeaholicnomore said...

I'm really not sure what's going on with it... I need to call, just haven't had time yet. I haven't tried to negotiate for lower amounts and having the rest forgiven because most of my balances are under $1k so I'm not sure they'd go for it. Additionally, I don't have a lump sum sitting around that I could pay all at once either... But I did try to negotiate for a lower interest rate on one my cards last year or so, maybe I should call them all again.

 
At April 16, 2014 at 9:01 AM , Blogger shoeaholicnomore said...

Thanks Debt Debs! It was a relaxing weekend, but I'm paying for it now since I didn't do my usual household chores, I've had more to do in the evenings this week... Oh well! I know I won't take every weekend off that like all the time, so it was worth it!

 
At April 16, 2014 at 9:02 AM , Blogger shoeaholicnomore said...

Thanks centstolove! I'll be checking our your blog now as I hadn't heard of it before. Thanks for stopping by!

 

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