Well, I've been lucky enough to get a few free things this week.

- Several books/movies from the library
- Borrowed movie from friend
- 2 Hershey bars from work as a promotion
- Gummy lolli-pop (friend's leftover Halloween) Am giving to the nephew.

Other updates:

- Heat kicked back in last night. Woke up to a living room of 62 degrees. That was tough this morning as the last week or so has been 67-70!

- Made it out of the pub on $3.00. Had fun, didn't drink a lot and basically spent nothing!

- Water bill came in for the quarter. It went up a bit, but I haven't looked it over to see if increased rates or usage caused it. Roughly $6.00 difference.

- Am working to use the dishwasher less and handwash dishes. Managed to do that the last 2 nights.

- I am working hard on Christmas shopping. I'll share my status on gifts and spending - maybe tonight.

- My goal for the rest of the week (Wed through Friday) will be no spenders. Definately do-able!

Hello All, Happy Friday! Today is a no-spender, but the rest of this weekend is going to be spendy. I've got a book signing and birthday party tomorrow. And then my mom & I are driving about 30 mins to get me some new tires at her previous place of work. They're having an employee sale and I'll get 20% off. We'll wait around while the work's being done & maybe hit a movie. I haven't had any mom time in a while, so it'll be worth it.

I have been working on a grocery list/meal plan. My pantry and fridge are very bare. I do have some foods frozen, but even the freezer looks empty. However, I'm working with a tight grocery budget. I found some extra funds and have the grocery budget set at $100 for the 17 day pay period.

This is the meal plan through next Friday:

Tonight:
Dinner -Meatloaf & baked fries
Saturday:
Lunch - Cucumber salad & tuna wrap
Dinner - Pasta with meat sauce and Cucumber salad
Sunday:
Lunch - Big salad, Tuna wrap
Dinner - Shake n bake chicken, potatoes
Monday:
Lunch - Buffalo chicken salad w/ Blue cheese
Dinner - Taco wrap w/ green beans
Tuesday:
Lunch - Meatloaf and salad
Dinner - Turkey bacon BLT & salad
Wednesday:
Lunch - BLT and salad
Dinner: Pasta with meatsauce, garlic bread
Thursday:
Lunch - Sloppy joe over pasta
Dinner - Buffalo Shake N bake chicken, salad
Friday:
Lunch - Tuna wrap and salad
Dinner: Baked Potato soup, BLT

Today was a No Spender. Yay! Its cold and rainy here and all I want to do is curl up under a blanket. But instead, I managed to get myself to the gym, make dinner and pack food for tomorrow. Thats something at least

Being cold and rainy, the heats kicking in at night. I set it at 64 during the night last night and 62 while at work. Normally, I'm not comfy unless its 66 at least, but I sucked it up and layered and kept the heat at 64 tonight. The problem really isn't layers for me, its my sinuses. So I know I won't be able to do 64 for forever

Tomorrow is payday. I will have 3 weekends in this pay period, so its a little longer than normal. My entertainment budget is going to be tight. I have a book signing for a friend on Saturday. This is a big deal and I'm totally willing to support him by purchasing the book ($18). Then I have another friend's bowling & bar birthday bash that night. I'm hoping to make it out of that night on $20. We'll see how it goes.

I'm working on Christmas gifts. I also have the one friends birthday on Saturday and another's the first week of December. So I'm going to be looking for deals this weekend! I know there's some super clearance stuff at Kohl's and I've been using free prints from Snapfish to frame for gifts too.

Ha! Totally made my Most Frugal Night Out tonight! I went to my weekly "Pub" night. A local dive bar with karaoke and bartenders that I love. I met up with the usual group, ran into some friends that just happened to be there. I enjoyed the music, talked with friends and only had one beer. So for the cost of 1 beer, plus tip, I spent $3.00 for 3.5 hours of fun.

I normally won't spend that little, but I was trying to meet my entertainment budget AND I wasn't feeling in the mood to drink, so it all worked out.

Today's 5 Things were:

1. Gym (DONE)
2. Library (DONE)
3. Dinner at home, make lunch for tomorrow (DONE)
4. Call & cancel dentist appointment. Let them know I'll be switching dentists and will need my records. (DONE)
5. Put air in tires. (DONE)

- Well, I had a stone hit my windshield last week and I was able to have someone come right to the house & fix it this weekend. Never had that happen before, so I'm not too sure about the work done. The crack is very much better, but there still is an indent in the windshield. Anyone know if that is normal? I'll be doing some research tomorrow.

- We received an email from work that based on the changes in the economy and the way our company has worked together, we'll be receiving a $500.00 bonus that will be added to our 401k. YAY

- I stayed within my grocery budget for this pay period. I have $3.80 left & I only need some milk, which will be $1.78. Woohoo!

- I did NOT stay within my entertainment budget. I added $20 to it from other budget catagories when I realized that $38.61 was a little unreasonable I HAVE stayed within the $58.61 amount and I'm pretty happy with the result.

- So basically, I have $2.00 that I will use for milk and $6.00 for a beer after work tomorrow with friends. The overage in budget catagories will roll over into next paycheck's budget.

- This next pay period is going to be TIGHT. I have a good friend who is an artist (not his main occupation, but is his true calling). He has a drawing being published in a book and there will be a book signing this Saturday. I want to support him and buy the book, but its $18.95, so I'm gonna have to wiggle that right into my budget.

- I did 2 loads of laundry today, used the dryer only once.

- The heat has been off the last 2 days, but the good weather will not probably last long. Whatever, every little bit helps

- I have not put any items up on craigslist yet. This will be my goal for the weekend! I need the extra cash and I have a few good items - desk, wireless router, small ikea tables, extra plastic storage bins.

Today's 5 Things were:

1. Laundry (DONE)
2. Clear out/organize emails (DONE)
3. Start Christmas shopping (DONE)
4. Give the plants a little TLC (DONE)
5. Hit the gym, dinner at home & prepack food for tomorrow (DONE). (I made this one item since its pretty routine a few days a week! lol).

This was a good weekend. Friday, I went to the gym after work, hit the grocery store & went home. Did some cleaning to prep for an overnight houseguest and went to bed early.

Saturday, a friend drove into town from about 45 minutes away. We headed downstate about an hour & a half to go to the Pumpkin Chunkin. If you've never heard of this, google it. Its a BIG 3-Day event, started for charity. Apparently 20,000 people show up for it. Its a contest where people make cannon-like machines and trebuchets (think catapult and slingshot combo) to fling pumpkins high into the air and compete for pumpkin-throwing distance.

The machines were impressive. The cannon-like ones were so forceful that they would shoot the pumpkins and they would clear the clouds and be lost to the eye. People apparently come from all over to see the event. Some people come for an excuse to drink. Its byob and there are a lot of tailgaters.

My friend and I did not bring drinks, but I did pack my lunch. Ticket and parking were $10.00. I spent $7 on water & beach fries. Definately worth any penny!

We came back to my place afterwards, made spaghetti for dinner, watched tv & just caught up. It was a really relaxing weekend!

Today, I went to the farmer's market for $8.05 in vegetables. Then I came home and spent the day just hanging out. I really enjoyed the down time. Managed an afternoon nap & am planning on heading to bed early, lol.

Here are some pics of the Chunkin:

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.

I had a GREAT weekend. Friday night I went to the movies with friends. We saw Zombieland, which was very funny. One friend had free movie passes & refused to let me reinburse her, so I splurged and bought us sodas as a treat ($5.00).

Saturday, I hit the gym, then packed & drove up to a friend's house in the center of West Chester, PA. About an hour drive through some pretty areas, which I enjoyed.

A group of us had tickets to a Brewfest. 40+ breweries to sample. We had great weather and we able to walk around tasting beer for a few hours.

Here's a pick of just a bit of the crowd.



That night, we ordered pizza (my share, $4.00) and stayed in and played games & watched movies. I spent the night and today, we met up with another friend to walk to the local Chili Cookoff 1 block from their house.

68 different groups participated. $10.00 for a wristband and unlimited chili tasing options. Weather was great again and I enjoyed being outside on one of the possible last good weather days of the season. The only other spending was for a fresh lemonade ($3.00) and for a Phillies tee-shirt ($10.00). This has been on my to-buy list for a while & they had cute shirts for a great price.

Here's a view of the tents & crowd.



The tents were run by local businesses and groups and a few had themes.





On my way home today, I stopped at Sears to return a dress (29.99 return). I went to the farmer's market for fresh veggies (4.15) and Walmart for other groceries (6.26).

I am now doing laundry (which I find kinda relaxing). I'm making dinner at home & lunch for tomorrow. Then I'm putting my feet up for the rest of the night.

I hope everyone had as good a weekend as I did!!

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.

Yesterday, I went to my nephew's baseball game. Spent $5 at the snack stand. Was still feeling really off and I splurged for some food & caffine to help that out.

Afterwards, instead of hitting the gym like I planned, I went home. I thought I'd take a half hour nap & then hit the gym. I laid down & slept for 3.5 hours! Crazy.

I woke up, got dressed, and made some food before heading out to the ghost tour with friends. Ticket was already paid for and someone else drove, so no spending for that even. I really enjoyed it, but it was a bit cheesy. I'd love to go back to Fort Delaware during the daytime and explore.

This morning, I woke up and headed straight to the gym. Then I headed to the grocery store & farmers market. I had a set list, and stuck to it. This pay period (30th thru 14th) I have a budget of $80 for groceries. So far, I've spent 54.97. I have $25.03 left and should be ok since the only items that I have to purchase would be perishables.

Then I came home. Suddenly, I felt really ill and a migrane came on without any warning. I must have pushed myself too hard this weekend, since Friday's migrane came back with a vengance. I have a physical scheduled later this month. I am going to have to talk to my doctor about this.


I would like to thank everyone who picked up my 5 Things. I just wanted to put out there some small goals for myself and the fact that others are joining me, helps motivate me as well as keep me accountable!

Today's 5 Things were:

1. Gym (DONE)
2. Grocery shop (stay within budget)(DONE)
3. Meal plan, pack food for tomorrow (DONE)
4. Clean kitchen (DONE)
5. Prepack library bag (to return), gym bag (DONE)

Tomorrow, my goals are to have a no spend day and to do the following:

1. Gym again
2. Clean living room
3. Laundry
4. Prapack food for Tuesday & Gym clothes
5. Return shirts to Old Navy

So I've learned that although I have a To-Do list, things don't always get accomplished. Lol - I'm sure it happens to everyone

I did not accomplish my calls yesterday, but I completed the other items on my 5 Things list.

Today, I had off of work. I have running non-stop trying to keep my house, life, finances and health in working order. And today, my body told me to STOP. Got myself a nice little migrane.

Today will be a no spender (not that I wasn't planning on that already). I'll be spending most of the day sleeping, but as I seem to have a pattern with migranes, I should feel better for awhile in the afternoon. So I revamped today's 5 things to be the following.

1. Have a me day and rest!(IN PROCESS)
2. Make a yummy lunch & dinner at home (LUNCH DONE, WORKING ON DINNER)
3. Play with the cats (BEEN GOING ON ALL DAY)
4. Upload pics onto computer to send to family (DONE)
5. Read through the posts I've missed on here and post myself (DONE)


I really enjoyed the play that I went to last night. I kept on budget with dinner out, spending $14.00 (including tip) for shrimp and a salad bar. Pretty healthy and yummy.

The play that we went to, Girls Night, was really awesome. The actors were very good, the plot was interesting and the songs and feeling of the play were just plain FUN. It was a really great night.

Tomorrow, I am going to my nephew's baseball game in the morning (FREE). My best friend is meeting us there, so it'll be good to catch up with her (Also FREE)

I hope to hit the gym tomorrow afternoon (depending on the headache) and then tomorrow night I'm taking a Ghost Tour with some friends at Fort Delaware. I'm really looking forward to this one. We will take a ferry over and have a 2 hour guided tour.

Sunday will be grocery shopping & housework. I'm asking my parents over for dinner. Should be a pretty frugal weekend overall.

Today I enjoyed some awesome weather and a half day off from work. I still made it to the gym and worked out for a bit.

Then I hit the grocery store. My budget for this pay period is $85.00 and I spent $26.94. I won't need any further groceries until my veggie and fruit shop at the Farmer's market this weekend.

After I got home, I watched borrowed dvds and made meatloaf muffins and browned ground turkey with onions to put in the freezer. And I still made a separate meal for dinner - Cajun Rice with beef. Unfortunately it wasn't that good. I won't be keeping that recipe. Oh well.

As I said before, my spending focus is grocery & entertaining. Today started a new pay period & I spent on plan with groceries, and spent nothing on entertainment today. Its a start

Out of the 5 Things I set for today, I accomplished.

1. Hit the gym (even though I have a 1/2 day of work! DONE
2. Sort paperwork, file & shred DONE
3. Grocery shop & attempt to get below budget! DONE
4. Try a new recipe for dinner DONE
5. Sort 5 items for Craiglist & list them for sale NOT DONE - PAPERWORK TOOK WAAAY TOO LONG!

Tomorrow's 5 Things are as follows:

1. Bring packed breakfast, lunch & snacks
2. Call & close extra money market account
3. Call & cancel Dentist appointment (need to find a new one in plan, which will be cheaper)
4. Go to dinner & a play with Mom, Sis & friends and ENJOY!
5. Stay on plan with eating. Packed all day food. Stick to fish, baked potato & salad for dinner out. Keep bill under $20.00!

Long day today. I ran some errands, bought kitty litter & some groceries, had dinner with a friend & did a bunch of chores around the house.

I've been focusing on little things to try to get myself back on track. I've been struggling with my weight and my finances and I've been gradually getting better

My current focus is entertainment spending. I've got $25.00 to last me until payday (the 30th).

Thats definately doable. I have a bunch of stuff to get done around the house this weekend and a few free activities planned such as Newphew's baseball games and a Horror Movie Night at a friend's house. I do have spending activities planned, including Pub Night tomorrow night. I'm going with only $10.00 to spend. That should get me 2 beers, plus tip. Keeping it simple

Last weekend, I went to a Half Way to St Patty's Day party that a friend threw (totally free). And then I went to the local Oktoberfest. My sister had free tickets and I only spent $10 on beer & food.

And I actually have a bunch of social activities planned in the next few months. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm doing new things and (sometimes) meeting new people.

For example, between now & the first week of November I have the following planned:

- Girls Night Out (its a play) with my mom, sister & best friend. My mom bought the ticket, but we'll probably do drinks after (est $20?)

- Kennet Brewfest - $30 All Day Beer Tasting. I am staying with friends in West Chester overnight

- West Chester Chili-fest. $10.00 all you can eat Chili tastings in a beautiful downtown area.

- Fort Delaware Paranormal Tour. Going with a bunch of friends, involves a ferry ride to a very historic local site. Ghost Hunters did their live Halloween special there. I'm really interested in how thats going to go!

Well, I am just working hard to not overspend on other items (eating out, video rentals) and save the money in my entertainment budget for these bigger events.

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!

My friend & I were talking about money being tight due to additional expenses. Car repairs for him, home expenses for me.
So I challanged him to pack his lunches/snacks instead of buying. I said we could do it starting tomorrow, all the way to the 15th of the month.

He seemed interested, but then also said he's probably going to fail. I'm hoping he'll change his mind. And it made me determined to complete the task just to show him its doable.

I've challanged myself in the past and would do it for a week or two, but then fall off the wagon. Not this time though, cause I want to prove to him and myself that I can do it

In other news, I took a few minutes today to think of free or low cost ways to entertain myself this weekend. I've kept the weekend plans free as I've been doing a LOT of socializing lately and just wanted a low-key weekend to myself.

So this weekend I plan to have fun & get stuff done off my to-do list:

1. Perform maintenance on my lawn mower.
2. Mow the lawn
3. Pull weeds, trim the shrub
4. Clean out my car
5. List & take stuff to Good Will
6. Clean the house top to bottom
7. Hit the library for books and movies
8. Walk in the park, at least 2 times.
9. Do my nails
10. Go through photos that I collected from my Aunt's house after she passed
11. Hit the farmers market for produce
12. Go to nephew's Little League game
13. Visit friends at their house Saturday night
14. Try a new recipe for dinner Sunday