Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All

As part of starting out the new year, I cut off almost ten inches of my hair. It’s been growing for specifically this purpose, but it was starting to drive me crazy near the end.

Now the ponytail is off to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. They have a simple program and their minimum length is only eight inches. Most other programs are up to ten or twelve inches now.

The hair donation restrictions just keep getting harder and harder to reach. Every time I do this, I swear it’s going to be the last time because hair that long is such a hassle.

But look at how much money I save:

• one haircut a year: $66 (tip included)
• a trim every month for a year: $792
• a cut every two months for a year: $396

Is my discomfort worth $330 plus part of a wig for a cancer patient? Probably, right?

Tags: Life, Money by Ms. SP
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Due to a surprise getaway, I’m definitely behind on my year-end wrap-up projects. So here, as a companion piece to my 2008 Netflix cost analysis and rental rankings, is my 2009 information.

Plan: 3-at-a-time
Cost per month: $18.35
Cost for the year: $220.20
Number of discs viewed: 59
Cost per disc: $3.73

Number of bonus Watch Instantly items viewed: 5

My overall DVD consumption dropped by 36 discs because of two factors. One, I was really busy this year. And two, a lot of shows went for free on my cable’s On Demand feature. I could just stream it to my TV whenever I wanted.

Even with the higher cost, I’m not at a point where Netflix is no longer good for my budget. I had planned to cancel cable this year, but Comcast made me a better deal. I’ll have to see how things go in 2010.

In the meantime, here are my rankings of what I’ve seen by how much I actually enjoyed watching them.

Special Programs (in order of most-enjoyed to least-enjoyed)

1. Time Management from the Inside Out
2. Richard Rodgers: Some Enchanted Evening
3. Broadway: The American Musical: Episode 1

Television (in order of most-enjoyed to least-enjoyed)

1. True Blood: Season 1
2. The Big Bang Theory: Season 1
3. The Big Bang Theory: Season 2
4. The Office: Season 5
5. How I Met Your Mother: Season 3
6. How I Met Your Mother: Season 2
7. Wonder Pets (various)
8. Generation Kill miniseries
9. The Sarah Jane Adventures: Season 1
10. Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Season 1
11. Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Season 2
12. Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest
13. 30 Rock: Season 3
14. Twilight Zone: Season 1 (partial)
15. Heroes: Season 3 (partial)
16. Babylon 5: Season 1 (partial)

Movies (in order of most-enjoyed to least-enjoyed)

1. The Reader
2. Bolt
3. The Wrestler
4. Kung Fu Panda
5. Frozen River
6. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
7. Wanted
8. Tropic Thunder
9. Akeelah and the Bee
10. Milk
11. Doubt
12. Frost/Nixon
13. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
14. Changeling
15. Slumdog Millionaire
16. Watchmen
17. The Tale of Despereaux
18. Rachel Getting Married
19. Monsters vs. Aliens
20. The Visitor (will see in the next few days)

Tags: Money, Movies, TV by Ms. SP
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Last year, I felt I spent too much money on Christmas presents. I decided to see if I could focus on using my Discover Card cash back amount to stave off the January how-much-do-I-owe!? shock this year.

Since my November statement just got sent, I can announce my results.

I cashed in $100 in cash back money for four gift cards. I have $5 and change left in the account. That doesn’t seem like a lot I know. This wasn’t my expectation either.

In a way, I’m happy because this means I actually spend less than I think I do. I focused on putting more purchases on this particular credit card throughout the year and all I ended up with was $100.

For me, I’m not going to try this strategy again. Even though I’m pretty frugal, I did find myself spending unnecessary money because of the cash back justification.

It’s just better to be smart throughout the year, save for holiday gifts as if they were a larger purchase, and be sane at Christmastime.

I hope my four gift card recipients will like their presents though. I think they fit well.

Tags: Money by Ms. SP
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