Dimples' Divine Domain
My journey to financial empowerment.

Yes I am indeed not perfect. I could elaborate more on this but I won't. First things first: My Holiday/Christmas Gift budget plan is flawed. My initial plan was to charge my purchases to a credit card that has a $500 limit on it and then to pay off the card when I receive my Christmas bonus at the company Holiday party. What's the flaw you ask?? Well I am counting on money that isn't in my hands yet. I know for sure that I will get the Christmas bonus and I know it will be @ least $500 bucks cash. But in order for me to be financially savvy I need to stop the assumptions. Assumptions and money management do not mix. And I am all about managing my money. I had only charged about $32 on the credit card which I paid off yesterday. I am going to take $250 of my credit snowball money and use that for my Holiday budget. I will use another $250 from my income in December towards my Holiday budget, totaling the $500 I had initially set as my spending limit. So no more

I am heading down to South Florida today to go spend Thanksgiving with my parents and siblings. There will be no spending on Black Friday for Dimples. The only thing that caught my eye was a desktop computer at Best Buy for $199 but it is an early bird special and I don't think I am willing to wake up at 3 and fight through crowds and crowds of people just to get a computer. So I am good. Only place I may shop at is Macy's and that will be for clothes for my godsons for X-mas. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy your long weekend. I know I will. Love, Peace, and Hair Grease!!!

2 oz. Bath & Body Works ® Signature Collection Body Lotion with any purchase (a $3.50 value). Offer valid now through December 5, 2007 . To Redeem In Stores: Print this offer and present it at any Bath & Body Works Store . Authorization code is 6809 . To Redeem Online ( Shop Now ): 1. Add any merchandise to your shopping bag. 2. Add your FREE 2 oz. Bath & Body Works ® Signature Collection Body Lotion, a $3.50 value. 3. At checkout, enter promotion code WELCOME1106 .

So I am challenging myself to spend no more than $150 on Christmas gifts. Big ticket folks will be my daughter and my mom and I have no clue what I am getting them. Here are the gifts that I have bought: From My Deals Blog : You can get a set of 3 Built a Bear Shrek Babies for $9. Just go through the link, add the item, use $5 off code 91885 at checkout, and total will be $5 + $4 shipping = $9 I just bought this for my godson. I also purchased a 6 items of this fragrance from Bath and Body work 2 days ago. My total was $21.60 Per Single Ma: Select six (6) Bath & Body Works Signature Collection items (any scent) that are on sale 5 for $25. Remember to select SIX of them though. When you view the shopping cart, your total should be $30 plus shipping costs. Then type in the promotion code FROSTY and click apply. Your subtotal will be reduced by $10 and shipping will be reduced to $0. Easy gift set for 20 bucks! I will split this up into 2 sets (3 in each set) and give it t

Macys' coupon for Big Sale event happening on 11/16 and 11/17 from store opening until 1 pm: $10 off $25 or more @ Macys Kmart currently has a two coupons out: 20% off any 1 item for KMart - 11/11-11/17 and 11/18-11/21 (2 coupons) I found some nice items on Kmart circular for this week. And they become even nicer after the 20% off: Sylvania 15" digital LCD TV Sale Price: $199.99 Price after coupon: $159.99 Nextar X4-T navigation system Sale Price: $199.99 Price after coupon: $159.99 Concourse Elite 360 5-pc. luggage set (also available in navy with yellow inside) Sale Price: $69.99 Price after coupon: $55.99 Emerson stainless-steel .9-cu.-ft. 900 watt microwave oven Sale Price: $49.99 Price after coupon: $39.99 I vaguely remember reading on someone's blog that they wanted a luggage set with 360 wheels. Che

Tis the season to be shopping! La la la la la la la la la. And you better use some coupons! La la la la la la la la la. Alrighty, here is an update of coupons, new and old: Barnes & Noble Coupon: 25% off one item H6T9C3U - Expires: 11/18/07 Barnes & Noble Coupon: 20% off one item F9B7F8X - Expires: 11/18/07 Barnes & Noble Coupon: 20% off 1 Item (Printable Coupon) Expires 11/18/07 25% off any 1 item from Barnes and Nobles (ends today 11/18) Gap: 30% off purchase BKJWVQ59VZ8D - 11/15 - 11/18 only 20% off any 1 item for KMart - 11/11-11/17 and 11/18-11/21 (2 coupons) $10 off 30 Bath and Body Works Printable coupon or online code: VELVET10 (till 12/2) Office Max $10 off 20 Coupon is good until 11/30 Avenue: 20% off purchase : 71300 - Expires 11/16 Avenue: $15 off any dress - Expires 11/20 Chadwicks 30% off one item : CHVEGAS - Expires 12/03

After my near ESS breakdown and some encouraging words from fellow bloggers (Sistah Ant and Single Ma *wink*) I decided to go ahead and give into my shopping itch BUT within a planned budget and only for things on my wish list. I can only purchase things off my wish list IF they are on sale and I can use a coupon to get even more of a discount on them. I am not planning on getting everything on my list so I set my budget to $500 until the end of the year. Macys was having a lovely sale today and I had some even lovelier coupons. Tee hee. I should have gotten arrested for this steal I got. If you have read my Wish List you know that I want a Wolfgang Puck cookware set. Well after doing some research I decided to either get a Martha Stewart set or a Cuisinart set. Both have the highest ratings when it comes to quality and dependability. Macys had both on sale today. The Martha Stewart 13 piece set was on sale for $139.99 and the Cuisinart 7 piece Chef set was $99.99. Of course

With Christmas funds being the buzz right now, I thought I would share my fav coupons and deals going on right now. Might as well get as much of a discount as you can right? Dimples Favorite Coupons and Deals: 20% off any 1 item for KMart 25% off any 1 item from Barnes and Nobles (ends today 11/12) $10 off 30 Bath and Body Works Printable coupon or online code: VELVET10 (till 12/2) Office Max $10 off 20 Coupon is good until 11/30 KOHLS 30% off online coupon code (Nov. 8 to 13th): GIVETHANKS Shoes.com 25% off and free shipping offer code: luckybreaks7 Ended last month 20% off any 1 item from Linens N' Things: print coupon or online code: NOV1207 (ends 11/12) 15% off $75 or more from Macys: online code MGP72 (I don't know if this works. If you try and it does, let a sistah know) Alright that's all I got for right now. If you have any feel free to post a comment and I will update my list. I think I will do a weekly post like this until the end of the year. Don't

Itchy palms. Long hours on the computer. Seeing sales everywhere. 30-60% OFF!!!! Extra 15% OFF CLEARANCE! FREE SHIPPING!!! BONUS GIFT WITH PURCHASE!!!!! In the past 5 days I have almost purchased stuff online 7 times. 7 TIMES!!!! On each 'attempt' I got as far as the "place order" page. All 7 times I stared at the screen for about 15 minutes and started thinking about all the repercussions of that purchase. Then, mentally, I see the words, "DEBT AINT CUTE [INSERT REAL NAME HERE] ". I quickly hit the "cancel order" button and run my shopping addicted, going into withdrawal, itchy palms, jittery azz over to the cookie dough ice cream in the fridge. The next two months are gonna be the craziest two months of my year. I gotta make it. *sigh* I gotta make a ice cream run. Someone ate the whole box of cookie dough I bought on Thursday.

I have been slacking on my blogging game. I apologize. Things have been a lil crazy in Dimples' World. Trying to make some grown-up decisions and also getting a head start on my plans for 2008. Here is my November Budget: I upped my Misc budget from to $150. I have a couple of doctors appointments for this month and I am also going out of town for Thanksgiving. The Cable/Internet category should really just be Internet since I am done with the cable. I am so happy I made that choice. I watch all my shows online. And I watch them when I WANT to. Not when it comes on. This plays nicely into my crazy schedule. Now I can get more important things done and catch up on my free time, which is usually the weekends. I just realized today that my daughter's fav channel, Disney, shows full episodes online. So I am good to go. I just need to get her her own computer so she doesn't have to use mine. Unlike desktops, laptops are fragile. I am looking into getting a numbe

I was talking to a friend about my microwave checking out on me and guess what? She had one she doesn't use and is less than a year old. And it's black!! She bought it for her apartment and but it turned out to have a microwave when she moved in. She said I could have it for free! A black microwave for free! Life can't get no betta yall. Here is my updated Wish List: Camcorder Living room set Bedroom set for Dimples (mahogany/dark chocolate color) Sleigh or Platform Bed (Dont know which one I want yet) Shredder LCD TV - 20in Bedroom set for Sweet Pea (lilac or periwinkle in color) LCD TV 26in Dining room table set (mahogany/dark chocolate) Desktop computer (just the PC) projector projector screen Wolfgang Puck cookware set Microwave (black) = $0 (free) Grill Techie cell phone - Palm pilot or iPhone type (I am so tired of the cheap azz free phones) All Tyler Perry's Plays that are on DVD Transformers DVD Why Did I Get Married DVD Rolling File Cart = $8.56

Annnnnnddd it's dead. Yep. Died on Saturday. I have had that microwave for 7 years. It's the one my parents purchased for my dorm room my first year in college. So I will be in search of a new microwave. Preferably a black one. I don't know what it is but I HATE white appliances. I am looking to spend no more than $30. So if you guys see one in an ad or something hit me up with a comment and let a sista know. Off to work. Damn time change had me up around 5:30 this morning. Ugh!! Yall have a peachy day!!

Looks like Discover is getting into the bank bonus game. Here is the info that was sent: Great rates and a $25 Discover Gift Card Get a $25 Discover Gift Card when you open a new Discover Bank CD or Money Market account by November 16, 2007. Sign Up Today! To receive this special promotion, either call 1-800-347-7000 and mention the following offer code or enter it when you click on the link below. Special Offer Code: SC0110 I didn't even know they had a bank. Their APY is 4.79% and minimum opening deposit is $2500. Speaking of APYs, ING Direct lowered their rates once again. They went down to an APY of 4.20% from 4.3%. And Capital One finally lowered theirs to 4.75%. Here is a Discover Business Card offer: 0% Intro APR on Purchases & Balance Transfers For a limited time only, earn up to an extra $60 Cashback Bonus with your Discover Business Card. Apply by December 31, 2007 to start earning an extra $10 Cashback Bonus each month you us

Its that time again. Here is how I did in October: I did ok this month. I still exceeded my budget by $4.24 which is better than last month. I'm on a learning curve and I am sure I will start coming up under my budget.....shoot I might even do that this month. :-D Income: I brought in an extra $135.14. A combination of income from my blog, Pinecone, ACOP, and Ebay. Miscellaneous: I have officially awarded this category my Budget Buster. Damn! damn! damn! Over by $166.36. Key things that contributed to busting this budget was my trip to get an oil change that resulted in me paying $64.93 for an oil change, air filter change, and fuel injection cleaning. I am glad I had all that done because I saw a huge difference in my gas mileage. I also had two doctors visits this month, one for me and one for my daughter. The copay was $15 for each visits. And to think I increased my Misc budget by $18 like that was gonna help. LOL. Anyways......I need to get a handle on th

Dimples' October End of the Month coming to your computer screen soon! Life is good. I have completed both projects at work. I am free for the weekend. I have had a couple of drinks............ :-D I feel like I am on top of the world! Aaannnddddd scene.

Work is kicking my tail. I have two major reports due by COB tomorrow, hence the lack of posts on DDD. I shall be back in full effect by tomorrow evening. Until then enjoy my archives. :-D