Personal Finance Hits and Misses

So far May has been a pretty successful month, personal financewise.  I mentioned before, that it's a three paycheck month (woot!), and I'm working extra hours at two other jobs, so I should be able to sock away some money this month since I've been failing to do so since starting my new (not really new anymore though) job in January.

Hits--Yesterday, I wore a dress that I've had for years, but haven't worn in a while since it was hiding at the back of my closet.  This is a dress that I wear mostly in the fall and spring, since it's knee-length, but has long sleeves, and it looks kind of weird with tights.  As soon as I showed up at work, I got a compliment; as soon as I got home from work, I got another compliment.  It was then that I realized I get compliments every single time that I wear that dress, AND the dress only cost me $3.  True story.  Magic dress.

Misses--This Bike To Work Month, I've barely biked to work.  Instead, I've been driving all the time.  In my defense, my brakes don't really work in the rain, and I could walk, but it's been that really hot, heavy rain with high winds, so I would be completely soaked by the time I arrived at work.  I'm enough of a ragamuffin already, I don't need to look like a completely disheveled ragamuffin.   Thankfully, I'm still driving on that tank of gas that I got $.30 off per gallon.  That comforts me, somehow.

Hits-- New Nuun Dispenser!  Remember when I was agonizing about what to do with all those nuun containers?

I got some good feedback, and I found out that you can recycle them at Whole Foods, but I also went to their website and discovered this:

It's a 100 count box that has a variety of flavors and no plastic!  Double bonus, my house feels a bit more like a pharmacy, and these packets are easier to tuck into my purse for those times when I need an electrolyte boost on the go (that's not really a thing, but I like the taste of this stuff--work with me).  I also discovered a 20% off coupon before I ordered this, so all you need to remember is that I'm awesome.

Hits-- Discovery!  ModCloth, which is my source for most online spending, changed their return options a while back.  Returns are always free, but where you used to be able to drop off packages at UPS, which was on my way to work (old job), they have since changed to Fedex/USPS, which is less convenient.  Thankfully, the post office is on my way to job #2, but since I only work at job #2 once a week, it's still kind of a pain and I end up doing more driving than I would like.  Today, I discovered a Fedex dropbox right down the street from me!

Pretty nice dashboard, eh?

I've walked by this dozens of times, I'm sure, but never really noticed it before.  Now I can walk down the street with my ModCloth returns whenever strikes my fancy!

Hits--Free U2!  I've mentioned before that the librarians who used to have my position were serious hoarders.  To that end, I've been getting rid of all the extra CDs that they've acquired over the years (four copies of REM's Monster, really?), and we're going to have a big CD sale at the library.  I also, took a few bits and bobs for myself since I still listen to CDs in the car.  I've been rocking out to The Joshua Tree for the past couple days, and I feel pretty smart about it.

Misses--Credit Card Balances.  I just got paid today, and it seems like my dream of saving a lot will not come to pass as much as I hoped.  I don't know how it keeps happening, but I just always seem to owe $250 on my Amex, and paying that every time I get paid, means not saving $250, which irks me to no end.  Yes, I just bought two plane tickets, so that's why it's up there this time, but hopefully my May of limited spending will keep it much, much lower and let me save more and more.

How about you?  Any big hits or misses?