Yesterday, I met up with friends at the bar we call The Pub. Its a weekly tradition that I've been moving away from and am trying to go only every couple of weeks. I took cash in, and came out with only $10.00 spent. Thats good considering that I only had $38.57 in my Entertainment budget. Now that amount is down to $28.57.

I'm carefully planning my Entertainment spending to make sure I stay within that goal.

Tonight, Thursday & Friday will be stay at home nights. This means no entertainment spending. I need to get some stuff done around the house and after being with people 24/7 last week on the cruise, I'm looking forward to a little alone time

Saturday, some friends and I are driving about an hour & half away to the annual Pumpkin Chunkin Contest. Its $9.00 entry for all day entertainment. Basically people build these contraptions that chuck the pumpkins and they battle for creativity and distance. Never been before, but should be a good time. I'm planning on packing food to take with me. I'll also remember to bring the camera!

Saturday night, at least one of my friends is staying at my house. We plan to just stay in and watch movies & hang out. I'm going to make spaghetti for dinner with items that I already have in my house.

Then Sunday will be chores/grocery shopping and I'm hoping Monday will be a no spender. This leaves Tuesday for another $10 Pub night and then Wednesday through Friday as no Entertainment spending. Its all definately doable and I have a TINY bit of wiggle room in the budget to use as needed.

Woohoo! Today at 3:30, I started the beginning of my 10 day vacation! I don't go back until Tuesday 11/3

After work, my friend & I went to the dollar store (picked up a makeup travel bag = $1.00). Then to 2 Halloween stores to look at costumes for the Halloween party on the ship. I wanted a new, cute costume, but couldnt justify the price. So instead, I am going with an old sorceress costume that I have (free!).

We went to Michael's crafts after that. My friend is trying to be the skipper from Gilligan's island and wanted to make a life preserver to go with his costume. He got all those items and I ended up buying a piece that was meant for a floral arrangement, but would actually make a good sorceress wand. $2 and it made my costume feel like new! I am hoping to hit the costume stores AFTER Halloween and maybe pick up a good deal on a costume for next year.

I leave for the cruise on Sunday, so I'm spending tonight & tomorrow organizing, cleaning & packing. I am spending time with the kitties who I feel BAD about leaving.

Today's 5 Things:

1. Get bloodwork done before work (DONE)
2. Clean downstairs bath (DONE)
3. Clean out fridge (To be determined!)
4. Do laundry (DONE)
5. Take deck furniture into basement (NOT DONE - came home after dark)

I also cleaned my bedroom and walk in closet, so I did accomplish more than I thought I would.

I also entered Savings Bonds that I have into the treasury calculator. I have a little over $1000.00, which I mean to cash in soon. However, I was checking a specific one that a family member gave me in 1980 and my mom just found in some old paperwork. That thing has a face value of $75 and is worth over $240! I'm heading to the bank to cash that one & 2 others out. I'll leave the rest alone for now & deal with them in 2010.

Hope everyone has a good Friday night!

Well, I have a budget for Christmas. Normally I'm done my shopping by the first week of November, but I'm running late with this vacation coming up. I'm hoping to have it almost all done by November 15th.

I've already ordered some photos that I'm planning on giving from Snapfish at less than 5 cents per photo. I also supported my nephew's school & bought brownie mix at $10 (ripoff!) which I will make & bring into work at the holidays. I also got a great steal on some painted pub glasses for 2 of my friends for $0!

Family Presents: $156.75
Friend Presents: $84.00
Shipping to London for Uncle: $8.00
Gift wrap/Ribbons: $5.00
Cards: $2.00
Work Party: $20.00
Postage: $8.00
Trees: $60.00
Baking: $10.00

TOTAL budget: $353.75 All of which, I have saved and ready to spend!

Today I am taking a night off from being social & I'm getting a few things done around the house. And maybe I'll do a little playing around with clothes to pack for the trip! Lol, I am SOOOO excited.

And in a nice little surprise, the weather warmed up here & I've had the heat off the last two days.

Today's 5 Things:
1. Pay Bills
2. Go through, file & shred paperwork
3. Clean upstairs bath
4. Organize closet
5. Start pre-packing

Tomorrow's 5 Things:

1. Get bloodwork done before work
2. Clean downstairs bath
3. Clean out fridge
4. Do laundry
5. Take deck furniture into basement

Oh boy, its getting colder. I'm in the fleece pants and have the down comforter on the bed. The kitties are snuggling with me, so I know they are noticing the tempreture changes, lol.

We're expecting a Nor'easter soon and that is going to make things even colder. I may have to turn the heat on, but I am trying to hold off until the last possible second. I think we're in for a very cold winter.

Today's spending was .55 for a soft pretzel and $7.50 for groceries. Tomorrow, I'm hitting a movie with a friend.

OH! And I found the missing $12 from my budget. I forgot about a return credit on a credit card that I no longer use. I'll put that towards my next gas purchase

Today's 5 Things:

1. Meet buddy at gym (DONE - spent 1 hour for strength training and cardio)
2. Grocery store (DONE)
3. Pack food for tomorrow (DONE)
4. Upload photos to send to mom (DONE
5. Start new stretching routine (for flexibility) (DONE)

Happy Monday All!

If you haven't already noticed, I am a fan of lists and plans. Following them is always a challange though, because I don't like being told what to do. Even if I'm the one doing the telling! LOL

I have a spending plan, meal plan and workout plan for this week. While at work today, I made a little chart on paper:

MONDAY
Planned Activities: Work, Gym
Planned Spending: $0.50 library fine
Meals: Pasta salad/Shake N Bake Chicken
Exercise: Gym 45 minutes

TUESDAY
Planned Activities: Work, Gym, Civic Association Meeting
Planned Spending: $8.00 groceries
Meals: Sloppy joe/Tuna Wrap
Exercise: Gym 45 minutes

WEDNESDAY
Planned Activities: Work, Gym
Planned Spending: $0.00
Meals: Tuna sandwich/Pasta with meat sauce
Exercise: Gym 45 minutes

THURSDAY
Planned Activities: Work, Park for walking, Nephew's baseball game
Planned Spending: $0.00
Meals: Salad with pasta/Soft taco
Exercise: Park 25 min walk

FRIDAY
Planned Activities: Work, Gym, Movies
Planned Spending: $10
Meals: Turkey Meatloaf Muffin/Salad with pasta
Exercise: Gym 45 minutes

SATURDAY
Planned Activities: Gym, Kennett Brewfest (beer tasting event); Spending night in West Chester
Planned Spending: $15-20 dinner
Meals: Salad & meatloaf for lunch/Dinner out with friends
Exercise: Gym 45 mins in early am.

SUNDAY
Planned Activities: West Chester Chili Cookoff
Planned Spending: $10.00 Cookoff Entrance fee, $5-10 drinks
Meals: Unknown breakfast; chili lunch, salad at home for dinner
Exercise: Walking around cookoff


In other frugal news:

- My heat is still off. I even had the windows open for a few hours yesterday.

- Most of my entertainment (other than planned events) has come in the form of books and movies borrowed from the library & new Fall shows on tv.

- I'm packing all my food for work & saving a bundle

- The addition of exercise into my routine has helped me sleep better and have more energy. Hopefully, in the near future, it will help with some of my health issues.

- The laundry I'm doing tonight will not need the dryer, so all of it will be line dried in the spare room.

Happy Tuesday! I'm planning on having a No Spend day today, so it should be a good day!

The air/heat are still off at the house. Its been over a month now. The temps started dropping again, but I'm just layering up in the house as needed. Yay Fall!

I packed breakfast (cheerios & banana), snack (banana blueberry muffin) & lunch (pasta salad & carrots). I plan on hitting the gym after work and then staying in tonight to watch the Biggest Loser.

I'm passing on going out to the Pub that I usually go to on Tuesdays. Some of the group dynamics have changed and its just not a fun anymore. It makes me sad, but probably isn't a terrible thing as I wont be drinking or spending money

I talked before about my 5 Things list. Its meant for me to accomplish some goals for the day, but without being overwhelmed by a huge To-Do List. Here are today's 5 Things.

1. Go to the Gym after work
2. Go to the library
3. Finalize budget for pay period starting tomorrow
4. Go through financial paperwork, shred & file as needed
5. Make dinner at home

My pantry & freezer are looking a little bare, but my budget this pay period will not allow for a big grocery shop. This is where planning is extra important. I also have a handicap in that I want to incorporate a lot of fresh produce in with my meals and that can really add up. Darn me for loving fresh salads! lol

Here is my meal plan for the week:

Monday:
Lunch - Cucumber & tomato salad; Beeforoni
Dinner - Pasta with meat sauce

Tuesday:
Lunch: Pasta salad with Turkey pepperoni
Dinner: Buffalo Shake N Bake Chicken and potatoes

Wednesday:
Lunch: Tuna wrap with salad
Dinner: Meatloaf muffins and fries

Thursday:
Lunch: Sloppy joe over pasta
Dinner: Tuna wrap

Friday:
Lunch: Salad with Meatloaf muffin
Dinner: Dirty rice with beef

Saturday:
Lunch: Salad with pasta & turkey pepperoni
Dinner: Shake N bake chicken & potatoes

Sunday:
Lunch: Salad & Dirty Rice with beef
Dinner: Pasta with & morningstar chick'n

I may incorporate more salads and/or canned veggies as needed with the meals.

So my grocery plan between 9/30 and 10/14 is as follows:

Mid Week (9/30-ish)
($7.00) produce stand

Weekend #1:
Farmer's Market - ($19) for apples, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, green pepper, mushrooms, bananas, onion
Grocery Store - ($28) for turkey bacon, ground turkey, milk, soda, salad dressing, stuffing, popcorn, cereal and animal crackers.

Weekend # 2
Farmers Market - ($17) for lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, green pepper, onion and carrots.
Grocery Store - ($2) milk

Sorry this is going to be long...

Well, once again, I'm sick. It seems like since my immune system went down for sickness a few months ago, I've been catching everything. I had a stomach bug two weeks ago & missed several days of work. Thursday, I started with a head cold. I've spent the weekend pretty much in bed because I can't spare any more sick days. Fun, huh?

So my money situation is still what it was a few weeks ago. I have a little credit card debt, the emergency fund is low and I would like to have more income.

In spite of all this, I recently signed up for a 7 day cruise to the Bahamas. I got a great deal on the cruise ($550 for 7 days) and have some savings bonds (that my parents just found in their safety deposit box) that I'm going to cash. I know I could use the funds to pay down the debt, but I really want to do the cruise.

I'm not going to make excuses. I plan on being tight with spending in all other areas, stick within my savings bond budget for the trip and work to sell things, get a roommate and a 2nd job.

So yeah, maybe not the best financial decision, but I think its the best for my overall well being.

In other news, today will be a no spender. I am going to eat out of my pantry until payday on Tuesday. I'm hoping for a no spender tomorrow as well.

I'm working on a meal plan for the week. I am spending today mostly on the couch, with a little light cleaning to ensure my mental health I'm watching Agatha Christie movies borrowed from the library, reading (books also from library) and am enjoying having the windows open and getting fresh air.

The air has actually been off since 8/31. And I'm planning on joining the No Heat Challange. My goal is to keep the heat off as long as possible!

So I came down with the sickness this week. I was home sick from work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I was sick enough to have to ask my mom to drop off food & supplies.

I did get out today to make a library run, grab some food & pick up a few redbox movies. An hour long errands trip and I needed a 2 hour nap to recover. Hopefully, this is the upswing and by tomorrow I'll be able to get some stuff done.

Right now, I have a list of like 35 things to do. Some big, some small. I did have an energy spurt this afternoon and was able to clean the kitchen and wipe down (anti-bacterialize) the downstairs bathroom. LOL - at least there will be no reason for spending tomorrow, except maybe a grocery shop.

Now that I'm not sleeping 18 out of the 24 hours a day, I've been playing on the internet. I'm working on a meal plan, new budget and, 4 months early, a Christmas list.

First, I listed every Holiday related expense. Then who is on my gift giving list. And now I'm working to identify what gifts to give. I do have one theme this year... With the new digital camera, I have lots of pics with friends and family and I plan to print out a couple and frame them as gifts. This is going to play a BIG part of my Christmas giving this year

Made a new budget tonight. I am working on spending little on eating out & food, but since I didnt make it to the grocery store today, I'll be buying my lunch tomorrow. After that, I'm hoping to make it through the rest of the month without eating out at work. We'll see how it goes

As for today, I had a VERY frugal day. I bought a bottle of soda & bag of cheddar popcorn for $4.00 and headed to a friend's house for a John Hughes movie marathon. Between my movie collection and hers, we had 3 movies to watch for free. Lots of fun and worth not getting to the grocery store for!

Well, today is going to be a hang around the house kind of day. I plan on cleaning and organizing. I'm heading to a party tonight, so I already got up and made jello shots. In my group of friends, its the thing I'm always asked to bring. Easy to make & fun to eat! LOL.

This week, I bought a curtain rod & hung curtains that I had from back in my college days. Its been on my To Do list since I got the house, but I've been very, very lazy. The curtains were from Pottery Barn and they REALLY make a difference in my bedroom.



Also, its only going to be 83 today, so last night I turned the air back off & opened the windows. I'll be turning it back on tomorrow as its supposed to be in the mid 90s for Sunday.

So my goals for today are the following:

- Organize Financial Paperwork
- Redo Budget
- Deep clean kitchen
- Deep clean living room
- organize clothes/household items for Good Will. List them & pack in car for delivery
- Do nails myself

And because I've been camera happy again - here are some cute kitty pictures. Believe it or not, playing with the cats can be a HUGE stress reliever

For the month of May, I was 100% successful in packing food/drink for work! Yay for me I'm going to try to keep it up next month with maybe one exception when my work group goes out for lunch. You know, I find that I eat better food of more variety when I pack my lunch? Who woulda thought?


For the month of May, I have also kept the heat and A/C off for 29 days straight! It may be more, but at the end of April, there were a few days where I had the A/C on and I can't remember which ones. I'm hoping to keep the air off as long as possible. If I'm reasonably comfortable with the windows open and air off, then I'll do it. When summer hits & the humidity goes on, the air will go on


I went grocery shopping today, purchased almost everything I'll need for the week. Just have to head to the Farmer's market tomorrow for fresh produce. I have a grocery plan for this pay period and I hope to purchase the rest of my staples tomorrow and will only need to hit the grocery for milk, eggs & yogurt and the Farmer's market once more between now & the 15th.

Total Grocery Spending today: $36.29. This included some more expensive items such as olive oil and five 12 packs of soda (at least 5 weeks worth of soda). I also purchased a treat for dinner!

Now for social obligations: As I've said before, I'm working with a limited budget right now & am wrestling with the conflict of wanting to have a social life vs not spending too much money for entertainment. So, with planning, I seem to find my balance

- I planned to stay in tonight - so I got that treat at the grocery store - shrimp. LOVE it. Its yummy AND very low in points (for the Weight Watchers I'm following). I have books & movies from the library. In fact, I'm about to watch Murder on the Orient Express Since the shrimp came out of my normal grocery budget - tonight is Free!

- Tomorrow, I am going to my nephew's baseball game at 9:30. I'll pack a water & snack for the games. (Free) After, I'm going to the park for a 2.5 mile walk. (Free)

In the evening, I am spending time with some good friends. I'm hoping to convince them to stay in so that we can catch up. Maybe make some dinner together. Shouldn't be a problem because we've done it many times before. (Free - or just the cost of food)

- Sunday, I am supposed to meet an old coworker and a friend of hers for lunch and drinks. I think we'll be hitting a local restaurant I know where I can just get a small app and a single drink. No need to overdo, especially since I'm watching what I'm eating (Estimated spending: $10)

- Tuesday, I am meeting friends at a pub for karaoke. Well, they'll be doing the karaoke and I'll just be watching Plan on buying a few beers. (Est spending: $10)


- Thursday, a friend is having a book club meeting at a local bar. They serve their own beer. If I go, and I haven't decided yet, I'll just get a soda & bring my book to talk about (Est spending: $5 tops)

- Friday, I'm going to a minor league baseball game. Very local. My nephew's class is singing between innings and most of my family is going. I plan on eating ahead of time (est cost: ticket, drink $15.00)

Saturday, I'm going to another one of my nephew's baseball games (free). Saturday night, I'll be heading to a friend's house for a small party. I'm bringing veggies on my new to me veggie plate! (est cost $3.00)

So lots of obligations and none too costly. The trick is to not spend a ton of money on eating out and drinking!

Previously, I talked about setting a walking goal for the summer. I still plan to do it, but haven't figured out how to incorporate the elliptical into that

And lastly, here's a picture of my little boy kitty. He's watching the storms roll in over the field behind my house. Such a little cutie!

Sunday I did the Philadelphia Breast Cancer Walk. It was very moving. Thousands of people walking for such an important cause. Here are a few pics to give you an idea of the crowds.

The people in the all pink tee shirts are all breast cancer survivors participating in the opening ceremonies.



This is a view of all the people in front of us waiting for the walk to start.



This is a view of all the people behind us at the same time.





Yesterday, I ran errands, but resisted eating out & came home to make dinner.

Today I had a doctor's appointment. $30.00 coapy. Afterwards, I met up with a cousin to head over a family member's house to start a plan for cleaning out it out for sale since she's moved into a nursing home. Its a long complicated story, but lets just say that I've met them both on only one occasion, so this was awkward.

We took the family member to her house to discuss what we would be doing. There is a TON of stuff to go through. Thousands of books, cookbooks, instruction manuals, tons of cookware & old construction equiptment. Its going to be overwhelming, but I think its doable.

While we were there, we cleaned out her fridge. Unless it was very old, they didn't want to throw out anything. So we split the stuff up between my cousin, a neighbor and myself. I came home with a bunch of stuff that I would never eat because its sketchy if its safe. And a bunch of baking supplies that I have no idea what to do with.

I did, however, come home with some english muffins, 2 containers of butter (frozen), 2 containers of cool whip and a large package of chicken wings. Also came home with some pine nuts, so I'm going to make some pesto - or at least try to



She also gave me a marble cutting board and a very nice italian piece of cermanic flowers. Really pretty. I didn't ask for any of the things, but I think it made her feel in control to give things away, so we let her.




And actually, we had an interesting conversation about how she packed so much stuff in there, never wanting to let stuff go. Its something that I've seen discussed before. Its leftover from living during the Great Depression. Somebody might have a use for it someday!

Finances seem to be getting tighter & I
have a lot of upcoming house expenses. I FINALLY paid to have professionals come out to spray for the carpenter bees. $190.00 for a one time treatment to kill them. In 2 weeks, hopefully, I'll have my sister's boyfriend's company to come out and replace the gutters & soffits. That should be around $800-$900.

In good news, I spent nothing but the doctors copay. I'm still packing breakfast, lunch & snacks 100% for work! So has my friend. I think he'll finish the 2 week challange with me. But I plan on continuing through the rest of the month.

I called Comcast about dropping my cable or lowering it to the extreme basic. But I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do. I have til Monday to make up my mind.

I also responded to a couple of ads looking for rooms to rent from facebook. Getting a roommate would REALLY help right now.

In more good news, I've had the heat/air off since before May 1st. Not sure exactly when it went off & stayed off, but I'm hoping to keep it off for a long, long time.

Also, my garden is doing very well, but I don't have any updated pics. I'll try to post some tomorrow.

Made some calls today. Set up some annual doctors appointments for the first quarter.

Called my electric/gas company & signed up for budget billing. I've never done it before becuase I just set the extra budgeted amounts aside for when the bills are higher in the winter. But then I just decided to make it easy on myself and just have them do it. I confirmed that they still send a statement with the actual cost of the bill regardless of the budgeted amount. Saves me a headache.

Now I really have to dig into being frugal. My take home pay has decreased some due to insurance, ect and it means reworking the 2009 budget. We'll see how it goes. The budget billing will actually help me cash flow wise in the next few months.

Ugh, Jan 1st & I'm sick AND I managed to duplicate a payment to my mortgage, overdrawing my household expenses checking account. I've set up a transfer from ING Savings to cover the deficit, but man thats annoying. And I only have myself to blame. I've NEVER overdrawn an account before.

Yesterday was awesome. I was let out of work 3 hours early. Had an inpromtu lunch out with some friends. Headed home and got dressed up. Met friends for a quick Happy Hour at the pub. My friend bought the first round and wouldn't accept any money from me. So yay free drink!

Then I headed to a friend's house to help set up for a party. It was a LOT of fun.

Today I had all these grand plans of stuff to do and now I'm just spending it on the couch. I made a quick run to the closest store for food and I picked up a redbox movie.


I already have a yearly budget & January budget set up. Im working on my financial goals, which I normally have done by mid December. But a few things are up in the air & I'll have more info by Jan 15th, so I've got tentative goals until then.

I'm also planning on working on some mini challanges for myself. January I'm going to work on packing breakfast, lunch & snacks for work. With only 1 time expected to eat out (monthly work lunch out). That a LOT of packed food. It'll be a challange.

So I have this goal of paying off my last student loan by age 30. My 30th birthday is April 27th. And if I work really, really, really hard, it just might happen.

Currently, I pay an extra $263.00 to the student loan each month. I have a plan for coming up with the rest of the funds for doing this.

Its seemed like I could easily pay off the loan by the end of 2009, but I would miss my birthday. However, I made a VERY detailed spreadsheet and I can do it by...

1. Trimming other budget catagories and putting the extra funds to the loan.

2. Lowering my 401k percentage TEMPORARILY (but still making the company match) to add an additional 45.00 per paycheck in take-home pay.

3. Trimming my Christmas budget by $159.00 to put towards the student loan.

4. I have 3 months of the year where I don't have a $125.00 car insurance payment. Those 3 months (Feb, Mar & April) will go to the loan.

5. I have an annual inheritance that I should receive in March. $475.00

6. Taking funds from my vacation, house and When-I-Make-My-Weight-Goal clothing budgets $300.00. None of these catagories are needs, just wants.

7. Cashing out savings bonds that my parents had given me. $1144.92.

8. Selling an extra wireless internet setup and my TI-83 calculator. Expected $45.00

All of this should get me within $35.00 of my goal. I just need to stick to the budget and come up with the additional $35.00.

Knowing its that obtainable, I will work hard to get it done. Anything I can do to keep this goal!!!

This weekend, I have lots of plans. Tomorrow, I'm going to a happy hour with work friends then meeting other friends at a nearby bar. I plan on having dinner - the shrimp at this place is AWESOME! I'm going to keep the total night's spending under $20.00

Saturday, a friend and I are going to look for dresses to wear to a wedding. Its pretty formal and I have nothing that fits anymore. Hope I can find a good deal, because my budget is TIGHT!

Sunday and Monday are completely unplanned. I have some movies from the library and a few novels. I have a well stocked kitchen for yummy meals. I plan on going to my parents one day and hiking the other. I hate to travel this holiday weekend.


As for money plans, I have a lot of planned spending coming up:

Next weekend, I'm going to the beach since I missed out on going last weekend. Just for the day.

The next weekend, I'm going camping and whitewater rafting.

The following weekend is free. Then the next, I have a concert Saturday night and a wedding Sunday afternoon. We're planning on getting a hotel room for the wedding and heading back Monday morning.



So lots of stuff going on. Now I'm looking to do this without breaking my budget. I want to be able to put extra funds to the student loan, which now has a balance of $6,579.98! Woohoo!

On the upside, my electric bill was only $69.01! I had the air back on the last few days and was able to turn it back off yesterday. I want to keep it off as much as possible for two reasons: I LOVE fresh air and I love the lower electric bill

Kidney stone is 100% gone. Thank goodness! Its been a rough week. I haven't made food at home in days, so now I need to get back on track.

I turned the air off Thursday night and have opened up all the windows. It was SO nice out. I was even a little cold last night! I have been trying to keep my electric bill low this month.

I stayed in last night, but did get takeout for dinner.

Today, I'm going to cull more clothes from my closet and clean the upstairs. I am hanging out with a friend tonight. We'll probably head out to dinner. Nice and low-key. Maybe watch a movie.

Tomorrow I'm going with my mom to visit a family friend who is ill. I hope seeing me will cheer her up. She keeps asking about me.

I'm off work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. No big plans, I just wanted a few days off. I plan on heading back to the beach. 2 hour drive. I'll pack drinks, breakfast & lunch. Splurge on some beach fries. Spend all day at the beach and head back late afternoon.

Other than that, I'm just going to be doing stuff around the house. watching movies borrowed from the library and catching up on some books that I've been meaning to read.

In regards to the student loan, I've sent another $62.56 to it. I hate that it takes SO long to have the payment post to the account. I really can't wait to pay it off!

As for the second job, I had postponed my interview at UPS due to being sick. Then I postponed it a second time for the same reason. This wasn't a real interview, just a group walk-through and paperwork fill-out. Well, now, the shift that I wanted no longer has walk throughs available. BOOO! With my current work schedule, the only other shift that would work for me, would mean that I have to go in at 3:30 am. Thats so not going to work.

So now, if I want to pay off this loan by my April Birthday goal, I need to find roughly $2418.00. I am going to work on it, including selling some of my aunt's furniture that I don't have any use for.

Right now, I have $15.00 cash and $80.00 in checking. (after monthly bills). $20.00 goes to my Weigh Watchers fee. $15.00 goes to stocking up on cat food/litter/supplies. $25.00 for groceries. $35.00 spending money until Friday, when I get paid.

If there are any leftover funds, they go towards the student loan. So I'm going to work VERY hard to make that happen.

Booo! The electric bill went up. $94.97! Still under budget, but I'm not too happy with the amount. I got the amount online, but I'm waiting for my paper statement to see what the usage was. With the rates going up, its hard to tell if that bill is really all that out of line.

I've been home all day with a migrane. So its been a no spender. All the things on my to do list went out the window. Oh well.

Today, I've set the AC at 78, but it hasn't kicked on in hours. I've kept the window shades drawn and thats helped. I am utilizing a fan in the living room. A bit before going to bed, I'll lower the temp a little more and use my bedroom fan to keep things cool.

I get paid tomorrow and I've worked out a zero based budget for this pay period. My goals are to stay within the budgeted amounts for entertainment spending ($39.75), groceries ($50.00), gas ($60.00) and cat expenses ($31). I'll hold myself accountable here because I really need to get back on track with this kind of spending.

I've also premade food for work tomorrow. Cheerios and milk for breakfast. Salad with chicken for lunch. Popcorn as a snack. I've made a tentative meal plan for the rest of the week.

Wednesday Dinner: Chicken and baked fries
Thursday Lunch: Meatloaf muffin and pasta salad
Thursday Dinner: Sloppy joe over pasta
Friday Lunch: Salad with chicken
Friday Dinner: Turkey BLT

I've been spending like crazy. Too much on food, too much on going out. Just too much. Well, I'm getting back on track tonight.

Payday is tomorrow, I'm working a $0-Based budget for this pay period. I plan on sticking strictly to it. And to get myself started, I made a meal plan. (Woo-hoo!)

Also, to save electricity and becuase I just wanted some fresh air, I turned the A/C off and opened up the windows. Its 66 degrees right now, but in the sun tomorrow, it'll be close to 90. I was worried about leaving the cats home in the heat, but I read on wikipedia that cats tolerate heat better than humans.

So I'll be closing up most of the windows, and drawing the blinds to keep the sun out. Worst case scenario, they'll chill out in the basement (pun intended). The basement is really cool during the summer.

Here's the meal plan. I work one from Tuesday to Monday, based on my Weight Watchers meeting.

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & Milk; Yogurt
Snack: Granola
Lunch: Meatloaf muffin and pasta salad
Dinner: Buffalo Shake n Bake chicken; tomato salad

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & Milk; Fruit Cocktail
Lunch: Salad with roasted chicken; Cheese sandwich
Dinner: London broil; salad w/ light italian

Thursday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & Milk; Yogurt
Lunch: Peanut butter & Jelly sandwich; salad
Dinner: Sloppy joe over egg noodles; tomato salad

Friday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal; Fruit cocktail
Lunch: Sloppy joe over egg noodles; cucumber salad
Dinner: Pasta with meatsauce; salad

The weekend's up in the air until I know what I'm doing.

During the week, I plan on walking and/or working out at least 4 times. Definately doable. I'll keep you updated.

I've set up my budget for July. My pay just was deposited, but since I don't have any spending needs, I'm going to try to wait until July 1st before using up the budget.

After monthly bills that I pay in the first half of the month, I have:

Gas: 60.00
Groceries: 50.00
Enteratinment: 39.75

Any extra goes to my student loan. I plan on coming under budget in all 3 of the above catagories.

I track every penny spent and have been doing so since January 2007. I was looking at my March spending and thought I'd share. Its been a really conservative month, except for groceries. I've gone a little overboard, but mostly I was stocking up on some REALLY great deals. Like whole-wheat pasta for 67 cents. You really can't beat that!

I've been lucky at having lots of free entertainment with friends and family. And yesterday I even got to enjoy some AWESOME time outside thanks to some nice weather. Most months aren't like this.

March 1
Cell phone $38.61
Student Loan $767.05
Groceries $20.16
Gifts $33.48

March 2
NO SPEND

March 3
Groceries $21.29

March 4
Car Repairs $338.84

March 5
Groceries $11.99
Library Fine $1.25
Drinks out $10.00

March 6
Gas $46.24

March 7
Groceries $13.82

March 8
NO SPEND

March 9
NO SPEND

March 10
Groceries $3.84

March 11
NO SPEND

March 12
NO SPEND

March 13
NO SPEND

March 14
groceries $32.48

March 15
NO SPEND

March 16
NO SPEND

My car, a 2002 Hyundai Sonata has been making a squealing noise for a while. Mostly when it starts up after being cold for awhile. Its likely a fan belt, but I've been putting off the repair.

Well, the noise has gotten worse. To the point of being embarrassing. At least the car is still running perfectly. So I made an appointment for next Tuesday to have it looked at. Hopefully, it won't be a big expense, but I do have funds in my car repairs savings.



As for today's Lunch. I'm right on track.
Breakfast: Hard boiled egg, all bran crackers
Snack: Granola bar
Lunch: Turkey wrap with lettuce, tomato, red peppers & light mayo, plus a salad with light italian dressing.

I brought a soda from home and have had several bottles of water, all refilled from the free filtered water at work.

Tonight will be dinner at home, so today will be a no spender.

Also, I got my electric/gas bill, its 132. 21. Thats about 12.21 over my budgeted amount for electric/gas. Oh well, time to revamp the budget since prices are going up. I know its certainly not my usage thats increasing. I'll be able to pull the extra funds from other household accounts. I'll be fine.


Tomorrow is payday and I already have a budget in place for the funds. I plan on being ultra frugal for the month of March. I'd like to cashflow as much of the car repairs as possible, although it probably won't be much. We'll see how it goes.

I had another movie night with friends. I made a meal out of food from the freezer. We had some leftover beer and watched a movie that I had borrowed from the library. It was a lot of fun.

The last paycheck that I received from work as missing the last 9 hours of overtime that I earned before taking my new position. I spoke with my manager and it should show up in my December 30th paycheck. All of it will be going directly to Student Loan#1.

Last month, I cleared out my balance from MyPoints for a few small gift cards to use for Christmas. I haven’t really paid attention to how long it takes me to build a balance with MyPoints. But since I literally cleared out the balance to zero, I’ve been watching it build back up. It went from 0 on November 5th to 790 as of today! I’m sure that I could have done better as I’ve missed some of the offers, but still, its growing quickly

Also, last week, I signed up for Cash Crate. I spent about 10 minutes signing up for a couple of offers. Then I let it sit for a few days, waited for the offers to be validated. Then I cancelled the free trials. I only did 3 to start out with. I was able to cancel them within 10 minutes. Altogether, I put in about 20 minutes of time (mostly while I was watching tv) and a small fee of $1.95 for one of the offers and I now have a balance of $29.75, a copy of my credit report and score and the opportunity to earn more with the program.

I’ve been staying within budget for groceries and entertainment/spending, which has been my goal for the month. I have plenty of funds left in the grocery budget. But not so much in the entertainment/spending budget. I have cut that budget amount down quite a bit and although I have money, I prefer sending it towards Student Loan #1.

So I have about $5.47 until the 30th. Not including the $20.00 that I have in my Christmas budget to spend on dinner out with my mom on Christmas Eve. I should be able to do it though since most of the holiday weekend will be spent with family. And the rest of next week will be spent working or with family. We’ll see how it goes.

Today was a no spender. Packed my lunch. Ate dinner at home.

Tonight, I'm vegging on the couch. I am playing on the internet, enjoying the Christmas tree and watching CSI.

I did my Christmas cards. All 10 of them. Most are obligatory cards for my mom's side of the family. I see them maybe twice a year, but its really important to my mom that we stay in touch with them.

Most of my friends, I stay in touch with by email, so no need for cards.

I am completely done Christmas shopping, but I still have some funds in my budget for the work holiday outing to a bar on Friday and some money for gas to go to a Holiday party at a coworker's house in the next state. About 40 minutes away.

This paycheck on Friday was supposed to be my last paycheck with overtime in it, but in a clerical error, it was missing.

So now I know exactly what my take home pay is under this new salary. Not so fun. Until I pick up a roommate or a part-time job or both, my budget is going to be TIGHT.

Out of this upcoming paycheck, after 1/2 my mortgage payment, the cable and water bill are paid, I'll be have the following budget:

$50.00 Gas
$60.00 Groceries
$35.00 Entertainment/Spending
$110.00 Student Loan #2
$53.00 Medical
$10.00 Personal items
$110.00 Car Insurance
$40.00 Weight Watchers monthly pass
$20.00 Oil Change

My goal is to stick exactly to the budget. I have money in my checking for quarterly bills like trash and medical, ect but I really want to stay on budget and not go over. It'll be tough given my grocery budget and spending budget being so low, but its doable.

I'm planning on doing movie nights with friends vs going out to the bar. Utilizing the library and internet for entertainment. Making and sticking to mealplans. And focusing on exercise and weight loss.

All of this is definately doable. Especially since this time of year, I LOVE to sit at home watching Christmas movies, sitting with the tree lit up and lights off and having a glass of wine. Very relaxing!

Well, I finished my Christmas shopping yesterday! And bought myself something in the process

Yesterday, my friends and I went to a local Garden Center that does a big Christmas Shop. We spent a few a few hours wandering around. My friends both bought a ton of Christmas stuff. I got two small decorations, a gift for the last person on my Christmas list and one ornament gift for my nephew.

Then we bought Christmas trees! Very fun. I got a nice big tree and it was priced under my budget.

And I ended up buying a mirror for my living room. I've been looking for one for awhile. My friend had just bought a black framed mirror at a good deal from Lowes. She mentioned that there was a tortoise gold one that would go great for my living room. So we headed over there.

I've been pricing mirrors for awhile and for the size and style that I want, I'd be looking at spending about $200.00 or more. The one at Lowes was on sale for $49.95. With the brackets necessary to hang it and a $10.00 off coupon, my total was $43.43. I am SO happy!

I did some major cleaning and some purging yesterday. I feel very organized now. I did a ton of laundry, most of which is hanging in the basement, line drying.

I had that appointment with the potential roommate and I know he's looking at another place. He's supposed to get back to me at the end of the week. My feelings won't be hurt if he doesn't pick me, but I am really hoping that he does. The extra income would be great!

I went to the movies with my parents. I ate before I left and declined a going out to eat invitation. I paid $6.50 for the movie, which no other spending today.

Tonight I'm paying some bills on line and working my budget around.

I placed several dvds for sale on Craigslist. We'll see how it goes.

I premade lunch and snacks for work tomorrow. Now that I'm not working those long hours, I've been guilty of overpacking food. But I have breakfast and lunch for tomorrow and I'll have dinner at home tomorrow night.

I've got some upcoming spending planned.

-I have plans to meet my sister and her boyfriend at a local bar on Wednesday night. I plan on spending under $20.00

-I'm in charge of bringing shrimp to Thanksgiving. I'll be picking up about $15.00 worth. And if there are any leftovers, I'll be taking them home with me

-Friday is my 10 year high school reunion. I finally gave up on finding a dress that I liked and I'm just going to wear a business suit that I already own. Its pretty tailored (from Express) and I have a shiney satin tank top to wear underneath it, which I bought for $9.80. There will be a cash bar, so I plan on bringing $20.00 cash and will stop when it runs out

I haven’t posted in a few days because things have been crazy. I worked a total of 17.5 hours of overtime last week and I’ll have completed 9.25 hours this week.

After today, I will no longer be overtime eligible. I start my new position at work tomorrow (the beginning of the new pay period). I’m a bit nervous about starting in the new department, but hopefully it won’t be too bad

I would have worked more OT this week, but I’m fighting being sick. I actually went to bed at 9:45 last night. I’m taking vitamins and Sudafed, so hopefully I won’t get too sick.

I packed all my meals for work or made them at home up until today. I’m planning lunch out with some of my coworkers since I’m leaving the department. And then tonight a bunch of us are heading out to the local bar. I chose it since it has cheap drinks, which I’m limiting to 2 for tonight.

We got paid today, and I received $529.00 in overtime. I am going to put some aside for expected yearly expenses such as my HOA fee (75.00/year), sewer bill (estimated 170.00/year), $20.00 towards Thanksgiving and the rest towards Christmas and a few home projects that I've been putting off. I have funds in my savings for these expenses, but I decided I’d rather keep that money in my savings for the upcoming year.

I am going to purchase closet shelves/poles for the 2 closets in my spare bedroom. I have a friend of a friend who is looking for a new place to rent. I’ve met the guy several times and like him a lot. It’s a bit of a hike from my house to his work, so I don’t know how beneficial that would be for him, but we’re going to meet on Sunday to talk it over and so he can see the house. Which means that I need to clean up on Saturday!

On the Christmas front, I’ve finished shopping for everyone, but my two best friends. They’re the hardest to shop for, but I’m sure I’ll think of something. I’ve utilized several gift certificates and online specials and have gotten several gifts for free. To date, I’ve bought presents valued at $215.27, but only spent $152.34.

I just have the 2 people left on my list. Plus a hostess gift for a Holiday party and some small gifts (I’m thinking baked goods) for my 2 good work friends. I’m staying WAY within budget and any extra funds will just go back into savings towards Christmas 2008.


I’m still trying to stay in ‘Super Frugal’ mode. I plan on putting the Overtime in my last 2 paychecks (an estimate of $500.00 total) towards my student loan, just to be able to end on a good note for the year. As of January, I’ll be looking for alternate sources of income. Part-time job, roommate, ect. I plan on sitting down and making financial goals for 2008 soon, can’t wait to share those!

Today is a no spend day. I packed all my food, I'm working from 7:15am to 8pm today, so I packed breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

Breakfast:
Hard boiled egg
1/2 cup of southern style potatoes


Snack:
Banana

Lunch:
Pasta salad and a tuna wrap

Snack:
All bran crackers

Dinner:
Meatloaf muffin and baked fries

I packed a soda and other than that I'm drinking water all day.

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment and I have to pick up my winter coat from the dry cleaners. I already have tomorrow's meals packed/planned.

In other news, I got a free flu shot from work yesterday.

I'm working on tweaking the budget and planning the spending my last bit of overtime. Its not going to go to my student loans, but instead to planned expenses like my HOA fee $75.00 and my yearly sewer bill $180.00, so that I can leave those funds in the savings account for future expenses.


AND the best news is that the most updated balance of Student Loan #1 is now at $7,733.11! Yay!

It was previously:
October 3,2007: $8,813.28
April 30, 2007: $12,312.40
January 31, 2007: $12,512.40 balance
February 28, 2006: $15,100.52 balance
December 31, 2005: $15,694.69 balance

That makes me feel good. I'm sad that the paydown on the account is going to slow down, but I plan on picking up a part time job in the new year, after I've settled into my new position at work.

I got that job that I interviewed for on October 2nd! There was a lot of internal back and forth before I applied and accepted the position. In the long run, this position is going to greatly benefit me, but there are going to be some short-term financial impacts.

Here’s the run down:

PRO - I’m going from non-Exempt to Exempt status
PRO - I move from an 11am-8pm schedule with Saturday hours to Mon-Fri 8am to 5pm
CON - I lose overtime eligibility
PRO - I gain 2 more weeks of paid vacation
CON - I lose my 10% shift differential for working nights and weekends
PRO - I gain a 7.5% raise in base salary, with another review coming up in the Spring.
PRO - I have a much greater opportunity for advancement from this position, plus I am more attractive to outside companies given the new job title.

This last one was the most important. Currently, I work in a department of 80 people or so. Yearly, maybe 2 or 3 promotions open up a year. The new department has about 15 people and there are several opportunities for advancement in that department as well as several other departments. Also, I now have a much more attractive position to put on my resume. This will give me management and quality experience, which will make me eligible for more experienced positions in the future.

Overall, I am losing overtime and essentially taking a 2.5% pay cut. But given that I just had an annual review that went into effect in September, I am about 3.5% ahead of what I was making 3 months ago.

Since I've been doing so much overtime, I've become pretty lax with some spending catagories, just using overtime to pay for it. Well, that stops NOW.

I need to buckle down with ALL spending. I am going into what I call Super Frugal Mode. That means curbing spending, lowering non-essential expenses, being more rigid with eating out and grocery spending.

It also means looking into alternative ways to get extra income. I am thinking of taking up a second job for the holidays. And I am looking into the possible roommate situation again. I am just so scared of opening my home to a stranger. And I got burned with Craigslist. But I am putting out a LOT of word of mouth through friends and coworkers, hoping that I’ll hear of someone needing a place to stay for a while.

In the end, I am VERY happy with the new position. I think I'll really enjoy it! And I am good at, but bored by my current position. This is also give me more time to work with other aspects of my life, such as losing weight, exercising and being social! This was definately the right decision for me!