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

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

I've been tracking my Christmas Spending. I've bought a Christmas tree and gifts for my parents, sister, nephew, best friend, best friends boyfriend, two friends, and a small work gift.

Total Spending: $271.88. That includes $65.19 in gift cards used (from cc rewards & MyPoints).

I have 3 small gifts to get still and then I'm done. Estimated expense: $35.00

Woohoo. Almost done!

Got a lot of Christmas stuff done. My best friend, her boyfriend & I all have known each other since we were kids. We have a tradition of doing some Christmas decoration shopping at some really awesome places, getting our trees, watching Christmas movies, ect.

So yesterday, we went to the Christmas shop (not the Christmas Tree Shop) but an place that is a like a Garden Center/Christmas decor place.

I came away with a few Christmas gifts and a huge tree. Its more cost effective to get the fake trees, but I can't bring myself to do it

Afterwards, we had pizza, talked, played some games & watched Its a Wonderful Life. Good times!

Today, we (my friends & I) went to Ikea cause they just moved & needed some things. I bought a picture and frame ($9.99) to go in my kitchen and a shoe rack ($9.99) to house shoes left in my entry. I also came home with lots of decorating ideas

Tonight I'm watching a library movie, decorating the tree and resting. Tomorrow I have another day off and I'll be doing laundry & cleaning. After I sleep in

Did some clothes & Christmas shopping this weekend. I splurged on myself and got a lot of clothes, shoes & accessories. Got some great deals and a lot of stuff! I had the money in my clothing fund, so it was all paid for by cash.

I had a $20.00 mall gift card, a $10.00 coupon to Victoria's Secret, a coupon for free undies from V.S., and a $10.00 of coupon for Yankee candle. I was able to get a lot of gifts for low cost. Very nice!

I previously mentioned turning on my heat. It stayed on for 2 days, after which I turned it back off since my sinus & ear infections cleared up and the temps went back up a little. I'm hoping to keep it off again, at least until the end of the week (November).

I received the electric bill today... $55.60 down from last month's $61.77. Woohoo!

This week, I'm on vacation. My plans are to do some decorating around the house, maybe some painting. I want to do some organizing, some cleaning. And with the remaining time, I want to rest. Just give myself some down time.

Its been stressful at work lately and I was really sick the last few weeks. I wasn't even able to take a sick day to get myself healed. Nobody would have stopped me from taking one, but I was really needed at work.. so I just pushed myself. Now I'm paying. So I plan on catching up on my sleep, recharging my batteries and getting ready for the holidays.

I have books to read, movies (from the library) to watch, and a bunch of projects that I want, but do not need, to do.

I love this time of year & have been on a big horror movie kick. I've been utilizing the cable and the library to watch a bunch of horror movies, and today I picked up 3 from Redbox for free with a coupon code. I love free!

Hope everyone has a good week. I'll try to post this week, but I make no promises

Had to turn on the heat tonight. The living room has been 61/62 in the afternoon/evening, probably a little lower in the night. Outdoors has been about 45-50 degrees. Tonight temps are supposed to go WAY down and while I've been pretty comfortable, I'm sick right now and the cold is messing with my sinuses. Sinus AND an ear infection. Lucky me.

So, I'm going to turn on the heat to 65 and I'll turn it down when I go to bed. I've put the down comforter on my bed, have pulled out the sweaters and I'll be setting the programmable thermostat to kick in right before I get up for work, to go lower during the day & kick back in right before I get home from work. Hopefully it won't turn on too much.

Anyway, I'm just trying to make it through work tomorrow and then I'm on vacation for 9 days! I have plans for Christmas shopping and doing some stuff around the house. But first I have to rest up and get better.

Tonight, I'm watching The Strangers. I love, love, love horror movies. A friend had rented it from Blockbuster & offered it to me to watch. All I have to do is return it to the Blockbuster, which is right near my work. Easy to do & I got a free movie out of it!

Went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to get a wedding gift off their registry. Online, BB&B said the item that I wanted was in stock. When I got there, they said all the remaining items on the registry had to be ordered. So now I have to go off the registry.

BB&B had a big clearance section up front and I managed to snag some good early Christmas gifts.

I spent $12.51, and got a Glitter spun Candle set with a holder, red berry wreath and a pillar candle for a friend of mine. Budgeted $10.00, spent $3.74, saved $6.26.

I was able to get a large Maple Syrup candle in a very manly jar with stopper - perfect for a guy friend of mine. Spent $3.79. Budgeted $10.00, saved $6.21.

I also took care of getting some small gifts for just under a dozen coworkers. Just a little token gift that I'll wrap in tissue paper and a ribbon bow. I got 4 Yankee Candle Christmas (2.49) scented votives and 6 glass votives in evergreen (also $2.49). For about 50 cents and a handlful of tissue paper and ribbon, I have 10 work gifts!

I ended up getting a wedding gift at Linen's N Things. They matched the 20% off Bed, Bath & Beyond coupon. Spent 23.99. A little more than planned, but oh well. I also grabbed a wedding gift bag and card at the dollar store $1.50.

I did go to the movies today with my mom & nephew. $8.00. Picked up a soda at the dollar store and brought my own popcorn from home. (The theatre allows outside food).

Mom insisted on lunch, so we went to a local place. She treated. Which was fine, cause she owed me for some socks and stuff I picked up for her the other week, so now we're even

She wanted to stop at the Halmark store. Looked at a few cute things. And my nephew was VERY enamoured with a musical Halloween card featuring Star Wars characters. I went back in and splurged on it. $4.99. And he will carry this thing around for weeks!

Now I'm home, watching the first 3 episodes of Sons of Anarchy on Comcast On Demand. I am about to make dinner and get some stuff done around the house.

The air's still off. And I checked my electric usage today. I've used 297 KWH this billing period with about 6 days to go. Last month, I used 383. I've got the air off and am using minimal electric, so I should come in well under last month's usage.

My goal for October is to have air and heat off the whole month. There's been a big temp drop in the last few days, but hopefully it won't go any lower in the next month or so!