Lowering Expenses, One Day at a Time!

I just got two bits of good news that will both help me save more of my hard-earned money for Italy! First of all, over spring break the boy wanted to go down to Georgia to visit his sister, but (as mean as this sounds) I didn't really want to go. She is way older than us (like seriously-- only 3 years younger than my parents) and lives in a small town, not to mention he hasn't even seen her in 10 years. So what the heck would we do around there for a whole week? I didn't really want to spend all the money to go there if it would be boring. But anyway, those plans fell through, so that right there saved me about $200-$300 bucks!

Also, I got accepted to go to Milwaukee in April for a conference! Our department gives us $350 to spend at conferences, which is good except it's for everything-- flights, hotels, food, etc. But I seriously lucked out because our two professors are renting a van to drive us there, and they offered to pay for all the van and gas costs! Which means, I probably won't have to spend a dime of my own money to go there! That in itself is bitchin' enough, but also let's take a moment to appreciate how awkward/fun/crazy a 10 hour road trip with our professors is going to be... I can't wait!