I was one of those kids that did well in high school without much effort. I went to class, did my homework, and always ended up on the honor roll. While I did well, if I had realized what an impact high school would have on the rest of my life, I probably would have taken some SAT Test Prep classes though Club Z! Tutoring Services and gotten into an ivy league college!

Their tutors provide one-on-one tutoring (which is a rariety, especially for test preparation) for tens of thousands of students, nationwide. They can help improve grades, raise test stores, hone study habits, and give students an overall confidence that they could not obtain struggling on their own.

My favorite place to grocery shop is SuperTarget, so when I was near one while out-and-about for work yesterday, I had to sneak in and stock up on some of my favorite Archer Farms products. Thankfully it was cold enough to leave the groceries in the trunk all day while I finished work!

• $103 SuperTarget

Two huge Target recycled bags full of pretzles, chips, edamame, pop-tarts, rice, frozen veggies, yogurt, oatmeal, sushi, bread, milk, and steak…all Archer Farms or Target store brand. I couldn’t get half of what I bought at a regular grocery store for that price.

I’m either going to have to move closer to a SuperTarget or petition them to build one near me. They are fantastic.

My husband bought me an early Christmas present two weeks go; a new HP Mini laptop. It’s cute and portable and does everything I want a laptop to do while fitting into my purse, but I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t used it.

Sure, the touch pad on my old laptop doesn’t work and the battery doesn’t last long, but it’s still in working condition. I talked myself out of a new laptop a few months ago and embraced my old laptop, which is why I can’t fully switch to my new one.

I’m going to be traveling a lot in the upcoming year, and Karen is making me a cute carrying case, so maybe then I’ll make the HP Mini my primary computer.

Have you ever been torn about a present? Ever get something new yet you can’t let go of the old?

Payday is here again…

• $376 car payment
• $169 Sallie Mae
• $34 Sprint
• $1350 Chase

The Chase payment was the combined total of three separate credit cards, one of which will be paid in full next month! That takes us down to two credit cards left to be paid off!

I finally got something other than a bill in the mail today. Apparently when you make 36 on-time student loan payments, your interest rate is reduced 3%.

That means that my Sallie Mae graduate school loan (about 25% of my total loan amount) is now officially financed at 1.3%. My undergraduate loan (the remaining 75% of my total loan amount) reaped similar benefits a few years ago, and is financed at 1.8%.

Maybe Sallie Mae isn’t such a bitch after all!

• $20 Chipotle
• $25 Target
• $135 Costco
• $21 TJ Maxx

Why we always eat first before going shopping, I’ll never know.

The day started out looking like we were going to have to plunk down some big money. When I left for work, all the panel lights in my car turned on, so I switched cars and left my dad and husband to figure things out. My dad called the dealer and my husband inspected my car later in the day, and they determined that it was just being persnickety because of the cold and nothing was wrong. Phew!