Broke Girls Love Bags

I'm going to do a little promo for my friend Karen, creator of Venezie Bags. I've been a loyal fan from the beginning and her bags just get cuter and cuter every time.

She has a contest going on her blog to name her latest design. It needs to be a New England name (go ahead and use Google to look some up!) and you can enter as many suggestions as you see fit.

If she likes your choice, you win a free bag! I carry a few of these and get comments all the time, so show her some support Broke in Love fans!

Growing your waist while shrinking the bill

On the train home the other day, I was reading the Improper Bostonian as I usually do when I'm short on books and have exhausted my ipod playlist. I was shocked at the number of ads for restaurants offering deals to get bums in the seats. Most of the deals were 3 courses at fancy places you could never afford if you were concerned with wallet weakness. The bottom line: if you're looking for a special night out, check your local high end dining establishments. These places are especially screaming for business and devising innovative ways of offering high quality food at lower prices. Also, if you're like us and like a good glass of wine and little bites of different things, a lot of places are now offering tapas menus to get people in for lower prices.

So get on Google or pick up your local arts and entertainment magazine to find those deals! Dining specials are the perfect way to try out a new place...and save a little cash in the process.

Don't forget to check out Restaurant.com for certificates to bring the price of that bill down. We use these often!

For the Boston blokes and babes, lets not forget Restaurant Week! (this year it's over 2 weeks!) If you're not in the Boston area, see if your local city or town arranges one of these weeks.

No Cost Fun: Explore your local Parks

I know it's winter and it's bloody cold. But when I looked at the weather report for the weekend and saw the big sun shining, it was easy for me to ignore the 36 degrees. I called up another couple and asked if they were up for a hike and happily they joined as well!

Getting out and exploring your local parks is something I really encourage. I'd been to Blue Hills Reservation before, however had taken an easier route the past few times. Turns out the other couple had hiked the harder trails which were extremely challenging (to the tune of me on my tummy clinging onto a rock at one point to bypass the ice). We had a great journey from where we parked by the pond in the picture below to the observation tower where the picture was taken.
Hi there little car. Right there by the snow covered pond in the distance. The magic of exploring your local parks is, a lot of times it's FREE. Also there is nothing like having your loved one by your side as you walk in the peaceful woods. And having him there to pull you up when you need the extra leverage. :)

So get out there. Get out the local guide books. Wikipedia your local area and find somewhere to explore. Don't have rocky hills to climb? Walk somewhere flat. I know you people have ponds and farms near by.....Get out there and enjoy nature together! It's a great way to get free exercise and to spend a day away from the malls and stores that tempt our wallets!

Low Cost Fun: Take a Road Trip!

Thank goodness the price of gas has leveled out a bit so my next suggestion will be met with fewer eye-rolls than 6 months ago. Take a road trip. Get out the travel guides for your area. Go online and do some cyber exploring of the towns (or for us, the states!) near you. Taking a road trip, having a basic understanding of where you are going, opens the doors for some 2 hours in a car induced communication (as well as plenty of eye rolling as your partner gets heated at the other drivers on the road).

We began our Sunday quest by going to Maine. Originally I'd wanted to have gone up for a night away to a B&B and even found a few low cost options due to the time of year. But I had to take a look at our accounts and ask myself what was really important? A night away, when we don't have any children and only a bird to really bother us at home. Or a nice drive, new scenery and some tasty food? Option #2 won, especially since I got my Dyson for Valentine's Day (a steal on a DC17 at Bed Bath and Beyond. They will match the current online price of 345.00 AND you can use your 20% off coupon. SCORE).

So ahead we went, after gassing up the car and plying ourselves with coffee. We hit the Maine border and I told the Bloke to pull off...so we took a beautiful coastal route to the town we were going to donate some hard earned cash to. We got there, barely. Note to self...start out on a road trip well fed. One piece of toast and some strawberries hours earlier does not a happy couple make. We got there, pulled into the beautiful town of Ogonquit to a restaurant I'd read about and wanted to try. The issue, the place was PACKED. 2PM and PACKED. All of the parking around the little shops were full, leaving us to drive a mile away and walk.

This was the best thing that could have happened, other than our terrible hunger, we took the Marginal Way along the water and what a sight! (photos would have been included here however I was too hungry on the way there and since it was unpaved, the Bloke wanted to take the regular street back BOO). Finally we got to MC Perkins Cove, were seated at a table with a beautiful view, and enjoyed our belated Valentines meal of lobster rolls and fries (mine with tempurai-sh sweet potato fries!) Ok. I had a bloody mary too seen below and it was GOOD!

The view, the fresh air, the food, it was the perfect get away for us. We saved $125.00 on lodging and still had a lovely day. We got home and felt like we'd done something! So many times when you're watching your wallet, we get the "Poor Me's". I can tell you, feeling the cool wind whip across my face, holding my husband's hand as we struggled along icy Marginal Way, the "Poor Me's" never entered my mind.

Total cost of Day:

Gas: $12.00
Lunch: $75.00 (Lobster rolls and fries X 2, Bloody Mary, Beer and split dessert). This is high as it is our big dining out of the month and can easily be adjusted to your needs! I would have happily stopped at a road side shack for lobster rolls, something that is much easier in the summer!

Saved: $125.00 on Accommodation

Weekend Update

Ahh if only this was going to be as funny as SNL's Weekend Update. It's not. How did the talk go this weekend? Short answer, it didn't. Why? Well the good thing is we accomplished a lot this weekend. The bad thing, we spent money we probabally should not of (notably the 600.00 on suits for the Bloke tops highest on the list). To be fair, he wears suits for work and hasn't bought a new suit in a year and a half...and his, well, some leave something to be desired. The question is, did we need to buy them NOW? The answer is no. He knows the new suits=having to pay for the new suits so I'm hoping these give him a new lease on closing deals. I have to say, being outfitted in a new suit makes me feel fresh. So Bloke. Do it. Work those new suits.

The B's are Famous (again)

Last year I had a moment of fluffy lovely feeling and submitted our love story to Boston.com. Well, they love us so much it is back online for 2009 :) Click this link to view the story, show us some love.

Have you talked with your partner about money?

I, for one, have not. Well that's not completely true. We've talked about money. We've talked about goals. We've talked until I am blue in the face about where were are LACKING and where we need supplemental income. And I complain when the Bloke does nothing about it. I stew and complain and feel it all falls on deaf ears.

But isn't part of this my fault? I do the bills. I mange the money. I've always been that person in the relationship, shouldering the stress and worry of how we will pay the bills. How I will feed us. How to avoid finance charges. The Bloke has access to our accounts but that isn't enough. Ask me how much our current primary mortgage payment is? $2541. 07 (I'm currently stalking our refinance guy to get that down!). Ask the Bloke. I can guarantee he has no idea. But who's fault is that, his or mine?

We do talk about money...in fact, it's a big topic of conversation. We say things need to change. But he goes to his computer and I go to mine and spend time online and on facebook and ignoring what is blatantly needing to be done. Taking a good HARD look at our incomings and outgoings and making a plan. I have a budget, I follow it for the most part (hah) but that's not really what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about outlining our top 3 priorities for the year and being alligned on them. That's important, getting his buy in. I've asked him what his financial priorities are and I can tell you he does not include saving money for when I'm out on maternity leave (God willing next year). That's a big problem.

So, on our 'to do' list this weekend is to look at everything TOGETHER. We have a lot coming in over the next few months (heafty tax returns, some good commision on the Bloke's deals) but the outgoings are still there plus more (a heavy credit card bill from last month is currently the cross I bare). I lay awake and fret and worry and it's not fair to me to handle that on my own but it's not fair to the Bloke for me to be passive agressive about my disatisfaction at the situation. So there. Hold me to it.