Archive for January, 2007

Saving 60 percent on clothes

Published at January 31, 2007 in Personal Finance. 5 Comments

I really needed some new clothes for work so my wife and I went shopping. I tend to like good stuff and my wife is more frugal, so we ended up at Ross. What a gold mine for me! I got two pairs of slacks and 6 shirts for just under $100 total.


These were name brand items like Kenneth Cole, Claiborne, etc.

Yes these are generally close out items, but for men especially it isn’t that big of a deal. Seriously, where else can you get $70 slacks for under $20? The most expensive single item was just under $20 and most were in the $10-$13 dollar range. When we got home I added up the retail prices and it was just over $300.

Now that is the way I like to save money! Another good place to get clothes is Kohl’s online. They usually have some good discounts and I get a lot of shirts there.

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Out of the gate with a bang

Published at January 24, 2007 in Personal Finance. 1 Comment

With our debt reduction plan in hand, we are ready to make it all happen this year. The good news is that because of changes in my employer’s accounting, I paycheck schedule changed to where I could make some earlier than planed payments.

What I was able to do was make a big enough payment on each of our cards so that we were either well below our max or at least not over it. This will save us a bunch in over-max limit charges making it easier to pay down and put us about 3 months ahead of schedule on the credit cards. Gotta love that!

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Best idea I heard in the State of Union

Published at January 23, 2007 in Misc. 2 Comments

Health insurance is a hotly debated topic and we all know this. The idea that is proposed in the State of the Union is a cross between government run and private insurance. For the most part I’m completely against government running of anything other than the military, but I like this idea.

In essence the idea is that a tax break would be given to cover health insurance costs. This allows individuals to buy whatever insurance plan that they deem necessary instead of the government dictating what they will get. If I heard correctly the tax break would be structured similar to depend credit. I wish it would be structured like a 401(k) or health saving accounts, where the cost would come out completely before taxes.

I noticed during the panning of the camera that it didn’t show Hillary. I wonder what she thinks of that idea?

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Comped show tickets are wonderful

Published at January 6, 2007 in Misc. 0 Comments

Living in Vegas, there is always a good show to see, but they sure can be expensive. One of the perks of my job is that we often get comped show tickets, and last night my wife and I went to go see Danny Gans at the Mirage. We usually delegate Friday nights as our ‘date’ night, so it was perfect timing that I got the tickets.


We first went and had dinner at the Samba Brazilian Steakhouse. Yes it isn’t cheap, but when you want good food for a nice night out, you should spend a little. It was our first time at this restaurant and while it was a bit noisy due to it being open and right next to a high traffic area of the casino, the food was great. I had a 16oz New York steak that was cooked to perfection and my wife tried the Halibut.

Anyway, we had a wonderful dinner and saw the show. Danny is a really good entertainer and we had a wonderful time, but I had a surprise for my wife. I was lucky enough to not only get comped tickets to see Danny Gans, but I also got comped tickets to see Jay Leno about an hour after Danny’s show.

We goofed off while waiting to go back into the theater, and then while walking back Duane “Dog” Chapman and his wife walked right by us along with Carrot Top. Not being shy, my wife quickly walked right up to Dog to say hi. He may be the big bad dog on TV, but he is one of the most polite people you could ever meet.

Jay Leno was pretty good and we got to see two great shows for nothing. Dinner wasn’t cheap of course, but considering what we spent for the entire evening it was a pretty good value!

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