Working out on a budget? Yes, please!

So last year I decided I was ready to make a commitment to the gym. I joined for about $50 a month and was locked into a one-year contract. "No problem," I thought. "It's 10 minutes from my apartment and the $50 a month is motivation enough to go. And they have great classes! And it's an all-female gym!"

Yes, it was the perfect place to get myself back in shape! I went every day for about two months straight. I was devoted. I saw major results. I was thrilled!

...and then I was over it. Getting home from work at 6 p.m. every evening, rushing to make a quick dinner so I could get to the gym, then getting changed for the gym, going back out to go to the gym, getting home from the gym around 8 p.m. to shower and then go to bed around 10:30 p.m. I had no time to really relax or if I had to run errands after work, or want to hang out with friends, it would throw off my whole work out schedule. And when I started school in November, FORGET IT. No time! So I kind of just quit. December was my last month of payment so luckily no more $50 a month for nothing!

But I still need to get back in shape. I need to do some serious toning on my arms and chest for these gorgeous bridesmaid dresses I'll be soon wearing! Plus, every year I get older, I see a little more sag on my bod... yuck.

I decided the best way to do things is to start at home. If I try doing some workout DVDs at home that will allow me to still come home and have time to relax, begin making my dinner or at least have time to eat a sensible dinner and do homework or whatever else I need to be doing.

So for Christmas my mom got me 5 lb. weights and a yoga ball (DVD included, so that helps!). And the other day I googled "best workout DVDs." Luckily, Fitness Magazine's top 10 workout DVDs popped up right away so I looked into them.

Once again, Amazon amazed me! If I had gone to the store and bought three workout DVDs, I would have spent probably $60+. I bought three workout DVDs, with GREAT reviews (and again, from Fitness Magazine's top 10 list so I trust them!), for $27/free shipping on Amazon!

Here I am, with my one time cost of $27. I know the gym and workout DVDs are a huge difference in an actual work out, but for someone who just wants to tone up and be moderately active I think it's a great trade-off for the cost.

Book Club

The Last Song didn't do it for me. It will probably be the last Nicholas Sparks book I ever read.

Our next book is She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. This book was recommended to me by a co-worker and it was one of Oprah's Book Club books, so I'm looking forward to reading it.

The past couple of books we have read have been sappy, so I'm looking forward to a someone of a darker book. I can't do ghosts, or rapes or anything like that. But this book is about a woman overcoming a very tough life and all that she's been through.

I also got it for $4 on Amazon.com. Used books online are a great way to save money.

At Home Hair Dye = A Messy Success

So for about the last year I've been letting my roots go QUITE a bit before I get them touched up. Budget is the main reason. Luckily, my hairdresser does a great job for a great price: cut & color for $80. However, $80 + tip hits the wallet hard these days. Roomie let me in on her secret that she dyes her hair at home quite a bit. The more I thought about it, I was willing to try it out.

Background on my hair:
I have EXTREMELY curly, frizzy hair. I started straightening/flat-ironing it after I graduated college a few years ago. After about a year of doing that, I ruined it. It's a hot mess most of the time with major heat damage. I also started dying it (professionally) a really dark brown, which then turned into black for about a year. I've finally talked my hairdresser into toning down the black and getting it back to a dark brown so we've slowly been working on that. Needless to say, it's damaged from coloring, too.

Anyway, I figured since it's so dark it'd be hard to mess up with at-home-dye.

Garnier Nutrisse was on sale for $5.99 at Target this weekend so I picked up a box. Last night I didn't have anything to do so I figured it was a good time to try it out. I was TERRIFIED! I put down a few old towels, and put on an old t-shirt and boxers. I mixed my solution and soaked my hair in the dye, which got EVERYWHERE. My clothes were ruined, my counter is now stained with dye, and my skin still has dark brown droplet that no amount of scrubbing can take off.

When I got in the shower to rinse, it looked like a muddy mess all over my shower walls and liner. I thought there was no way that I did this right! But, for right now it seems to look pretty good!

I'm still wearing it curly for a few days so I can't tell exactly what it looks like, but I think it worked out well! I'm hoping this is a good budget fix for my hair. This is the color I got: Soft Mahoganey Dark Brown (Rasberry Truffle).

Christian Siriano for Payless

Let me state for the record, I am NOT a Payless kind of girl. Not that I don't adore a great bargain - I've just never found anything there worth wearing. It looks like what it's priced at. However, I've just been checking out the new Christian Siriano shoes online at Payless. I should also add that I absolutely adore Christian Siriano.

Now, I can't get too excited about these shoes because things always look better in pictures online before you get the store and actually see them in person. But there is where pair that I'd LOVE to try on! And another really cute pair of flats!

Check them out for yourself: http://www.payless.com/store/catalog/brandlisting.jsp?trail=1014%3A600002&catId=cat10376&brandId=600002

Beauty on a budget - Take 2

So, as you may recall I downgraded my Lorac concealer to Sonia Kashuk, which ended up being an amazing find! I figured I might have the same luck with her foundation as well.

I was out of my MAC Studio Fix and NARS bronzer and decided to take a little look around Target. I decided on Sonia Kashuk foundation and Physician's Formula bronzer. This cost me about $26 as opposed to $60. I was super excited to try both of these so the next day I used them and was absolutely not impressed. The bronzer didn't add a single thing to my face and I'm not really a fan of how the foundation went on.

After days of putting this on and feeling like my face is just missing something, I decided to give in. I realized - Once you go MAC, you never go back. Saturday I went to the mall and bought my regular Studio Fix and bronzer.

I decided I'll continue to use the Sonia Kashuk foundation to work and on weekends until it runs out; as long as I use the NARS bronzer it's fine. But when I go out I'll definitely reach for my Studio Fix!

Lesson learned: When it comes to the basics, you just can't give those up.

Beauty on a budget

So I've been trying to save money in little areas every way that I can. I'm running low on ALL of my makeup right now and I've already switched from my BadGal Lash mascara to Cover Girl's new Lash Blast mascara and I've got to say it's pretty impressive for a drug store find.

Yesterday while I was at Target I decided to take a look for a new concealer. Right now I use Lorac, and I LOVE it, but it's just a bit pricey for a small tub of concealer and I was hoping to find something comparable for a little cheaper. I wandered over to the Sonia Kashuk section and found a palette of concealers for $10. The palette includes 2 shades of concealer, 1 neutralizer and 1 translucent powder. I used it last night and this morning and I love it! I'm so excited that I was able to find something so great at low price. I definitely recommend it for anyone with a light-medium tone. It only comes in one option of colors so anyone with a darker tone is out of luck on this one.



I think I'll also try some of her foundation when my MAC finally kicks the bucket. I don't think I can part with my Nars bronzer though. Some things you just don't mess with.

Make me lose my breath...

Okay so Beyonce had her "baby boy" making her lose her breath, but these shoes yesterday made me lose mine:



I've been seriously needing a new pair of brown pumps for a while now and haven't found anything! So I saw these and totally fell in love. Unforuntaely they didn't have my size so Roomie told me to check Amazon.com.

I've never done that before for shoes or any item other than a book! Such a great idea! Unfortunately they didn't have this exact color so I got the Chocolate color:




They were sold on Amazon at a discounted price along with free shipping! I can't wait til they come in next week. I haven't gotten a new pair of shoes in a hot minute, and with the serious budget cuts in my life, it will be another long while until I can afford another pair. But these were a necessity since the others were beat.