The girls and I had our hair cuts at the hair academy yesterday. Total cost for 3 haircuts, including tips, was $53. This is a savings of probably close to $75 for all three of us.

I am very satisfied with the results. My haircut is just as nice the haircuts I have gotten at my usual salon. I should note, though, that I don't have "tricky" hair or have a very special cut. The girls are happy with their haircuts as well. The oldest wishes she had asked for more layers, but that was more of a communication error. She wants to grow her hair out longer but didn't specify she still wanted layers. Her stylist was new, too, and didn't ask her about them. Now she knows.

I will go back to the hair academy in the future. In addition to the "stylists in training", there were experienced teachers on the floor constantly collaborating with the stylists to make sure they were on the right track.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to try to save some money on hair maintenance. My advice, thought, is to bring some patience with you! These stylists are typically young and inexperienced. They are not nearly as efficient as the more "seasoned" stylists. It took a little over 2 hours for shampoo, scalp massage, hair cut and blow dry. My stylist was being super careful not to make any mistakes! But that is how they learn, and I would rather she be too careful than to be scissor happy and hack away at my hair carelessly!

The surprise vacation for our 2 year anniversary turned out to be to Puerto Rico, woohoo! We were informed about a hurricane when we arrived at the hotel, and then our return flight was uncertain because of the tropical storm, but actually the weather was great for the majority of our trip. There was one day where it was kind of overcast and scattered storms, but we still managed to swim that day.

Now that I am back I have to catch up on my budget and then prep to return to school next week. Back to packing my lunch and following a schedule! I have already cut up veggies for salads for the week. I picked up some deli turkey and I will boil eggs this weekend as well.


The girls are all set for school, they've been picking up clothes here and there throughout the summer. I'm all set for school. Tuition is paid for fall semester. I'm also ready to get back into my classroom. I'm well rested from the summer and energized to start up again. I'm going to need that strength for this semester!

I went ahead and scheduled hair cuts for the girls and me at the local school, we go this afternoon. My regular stylist charges $40, while the school charges only $12! Even the budget hair places around here start at $23, and that is not including wash and blow dry, so I was shocked to hear that our haircuts will only be $12 each! I'm very excited about trying them out. I'm sure it will be fine, our hair styles are pretty simple. I have faith in the young talent out there! Besides, it's just hair, it will grow back!

I've been using Ynab for a few months, and it has been eye opening. For starters, I've always claimed that I didn't spend a lot on clothes and personal maintenance like skin and hair. Well. I was wrong. For the past 3 months I have spent significantly more on clothes and upkeep than I budgeted for, what I thought I was spending. I am way more vain than I ever realized!

Tracking and seeing my spending on these items has made me think, how much of my resources do I really want to be spending on appearances? Looking at me, you wouldn't think I spend a ton, I don't look like a high maintenance woman. But it is still a decent amount of money considering my income. Especially since I also include clothes and personal maintenance for my 2 teenage daughters as well. I can't imagine what some of the truly high maintenance women I know spend on appearances. I just don't want to spend that much money, I have better things to be spending my money on right now!

I figured out how to pay what I need to for the month of September, until I get my full-time paycheck at the end of the month. I won't be able to save anything in September, but at least all of my bills will be paid.

I'm so eager to move forward financially. This past year has been almost a step backwards financially. The money that I was making was going towards my tuition or towards braces for my kids. Not a whole lot of money was left over to advance the numbers, but it was used for important things nonetheless.

On a positive note, I started attending the 5:15 AM workout classes at my gym, 5 days a week. I don't know how I actually started doing this. I've been telling myself to wake up early to work out for years. Never done it. Yet this summer, I just started doing it. I think I just wanted to DO IT. To see what it was like to ACTUALLY FOLLOW THROUGH with something! I just sort of "turned off" the whiny voice in my head that wanted me to go back to bed. I knew it was there, I just, ignored it. And nothing bad happened. I get up, get dressed, make coffee, and go to my class. Boom, it's done. Here I am, 2.5 months later, still getting up and doing my classes. Go figure!

I've been missing from SA for wow, nearly a year. A circus was running through my life and I couldn't bear to put it all in words, it was too exhausting. But I've been reminded of the importance of journaling as a way to clear your mind, organize your thoughts, and reduce stress. Not to mention that it helps me manage my financial plans more effectively.

If you remember, last year I took an teaching assistant position because I came back to the school district after the year had started. This resulted in a big pay decrease for me, but I'm back teaching this year. I return in a few weeks. I'm super excited to be teaching again, I love my current school and students!

I have to get through September with no pay, as our school district only pays once per month. I started using YNAB a few months ago, so I have developed a budget with my remaining funds to get me through until my first paycheck again. Now the trick will be not to go over this budget! I really want to make it through this last sparse month successfully, so I need to make good choices with my money.

DW planned a surprise anniversary trip for us so I may not be on very much next week. But I look forward to catching up on everyone's blogs!