Happiness!!!

I am happy to report that I traded in my Saturn and bought a Scion XB.  I am not a materialistic person at all.  The shirt that I'm wearing is at least 5 years old and has been worn weekly.  I just don't buy or covet stuff very often.  However, buying this car has brought something out in me that I never knew about myself before; I do not want anyone touching it, I do not want the kids to eat in the car, the car is dirty and I don't want to take it to the car wash because it may get scratched, so I guess I need to buy stuff to wash the car at home.  I got the car on September 29th, and for the first few days or so, I could hear the song, "Isn't she lovely," playing in my head!  It was brought to my attention that this was the first major purchase that I didn't suffer from buyer's remorse.  Tomorrow, I'm going to open a new account with a local credit union, and it will drop my interest rate by 1.3%.  I need all of the savings I can get!

I'm almost done with Christmas shopping.  I just need to get a few things and that's it.  I'm pretty stoked!  I made some great purchases!

My sister from another Mr. or the other Pea to our Pod, Jules, is giving my daughter her iPod because Bethany is a music lover just like her.  I originally wanted to buy Bethany an iPod, but Jules told me that I can't do that!  So, I went with plan B and decided to get Bethany a docking station/alarm clock for her room.  I had a gift card for Bed Bath and Beyond for $30 and they had an iHome docking station for $49.99, but I also had a 20% off coupon, so I paid $13.50 for it.

Kyle wants a watch and I have a $10 cash card for Kohl's.  I signed up for their news letter and got a $5 off gift certificate, plus, in the mail, I got a 30% off flyer.  When it's all said in done, I will pay $0.22 for it.

I've had points on my American Express card for over a year, and I don't use the anymore, so I'm not accumulating any more points.  I found that I could get a $25 gift card for Bath and Body Works, so I got it. I bought 4 kitchen soaps and 3 small lotions and only had to pay the sales tax which was $2.19. These items are going to four special ladies, so I paid $.44 per lady!

I'm giving my parent gift certificate for a couple of places where they go out eat.  In our community, we have a program where I can buy the gift certificate for 1/2 price, but my parent will get to use the full price.

I signed up for the JCP points thing and I got an email for a free $10 gift card for any purchase over $10.  I went there today and bought Bethany a pair of earrings for $10 and they didn't charge me sales tax, so they were free!  These are actually for her birthday or maybe stocking... not sure yet!

I've been doing a lot of baby sitting the last couple of months, so I've been putting my earnings away for Christmas.  Because of the bathroom, the car, and the computer, we're going to have a super small Christmas, but that's okay.

I'm not sure if I'm the only one, but I wish that we could spend quality time with family and friends many times during the year, instead of buying gifts and spending one evening with family and friends.