HouseHopeful's Personal Finance Blog

Getting back on track

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:44:59 PST

So things have been a little out of control for me lately. With eating and with spending. It's been off & on for a few months, but I've finally hit a wall. I am feeling the ill effects of gaining a few pounds back and of using extra cash for eating out or entertainment instead of focusing...

Woo-Hoo! I'm back!

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:00:04 PST

The new computer came on Monday. I wasn't able to spend time online until tonight though. I'm so happy to be back online!

Things I've done this week:

-Earned a $25.00 amazon gift certificate with card rewards
-Earned another $25.00 gift card from MyPoints
-Did some really good...

Won't be around much for a while

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:28:50 PST

Hey everybody!
My laptop broke and I've ordered a new one. Paid cash for it, but it won't arrive until after Thanksgiving. I'll be checking out the site when I can, but probably won't be posting for awhile. I have to say, I miss you guys! Have a good holiday next week.

HH

Once Again, Best Laid Plans...

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:51:28 PST

Today was going to be a no spender, but I ended up at the doctors office instead. $24.54 for both the copay and meds. It could have been worse. At least nothing was spent on eating out

And as a side note - I just used up the last of my HSA. $1000.00 for the year, and still 2 months...

I need to lock my wallet away

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:21:25 PST

Lately I've been a lot more social. Which means going out with friends to parties, bars, restaurants, ect. Which means spending money. And I've been spending way too much. I just need to focus again.

SO I declined going out last night & tonight. Made my meals at home. Did some...

Quickie - Heat Edition

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:29:12 PST

Just a quick note. The heat is still off. I had turned it on for that day or so last week, but its back off. Currently its 67 degrees in my living room, so I'm definately not suffering

Not such a relaxing vacation day

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:28:42 PST

Today was really busy. I went to lunch with my parents and some family friends. I ran errands, returned some clothes, took movies back to Redbox, got some groceries and bought a new cat carrier (last one was broken and not fixable).

I took the cat to the vet, where she had some...

Spending & Saving... plus horror movies

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:46:23 PST

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...

Had to turn on the heat.... booo!

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:30:54 PST

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...

Lets Talk Numbers!

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:49:47 PST

Got a nasty cold and am feeling down right yucky. If there wasn't so much going on at work, I'd stay home tomorrow. So to cheer myself up, here's some numbers!

Today, I spent:

- $3.70 on breakfast & lunch at work because I was feeling too sick to make anything myself.

I received:

-...

Little Spending, No Heat & Work is Tense

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:37:57 PST

I packed breakfast & lunch for work. On the way home, I went to the grocery store and picked up romaine, cucumbers & tomatoes for $6.50. Not too bad.

No heat on right now. My goal is to keep it off at least til November. It helps that the temps have increased a little.

I've...

Lay offs today - I was spared

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:05:15 PST

Layoffs at work today. I don't really want to talk about it, but just to say that I spent most of today waiting to hear my status.

Some were let go, some were given options to do different things (in a lesser position) or to take severence. I am one of the few in my area whose...

Awesome dinner - Leftovers

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:13:28 PST

Its chilly here and I wanted something warm for dinner. So I thawed spagetti sauce with ground beef, mushrooms, peppers and onions that I had made last week and froze. Then I made a single serving of spaghetti, and took 2 slices of wheat bread and turned it into garlic bread. It totally...

Why I Want to Pay off the Student Loan

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:22:25 PST

Fern had a great comment/question in my last post. And I thought I'd address it in its own post. (Hope you don't mind, Fern!)

Fern's Comment:

"I love your methodicial and ambitious plans for paying off the loan (sounds like me). But let me ask you this, just to double-check:...

Goal of paying off Student Loan by age 30

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:38:51 PST

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...

Baking and Cold Weather

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:57:20 PST

I baked 2 dozen Blueberry Banana muffins last night. Yummy. Ate a few & froze the rest.

Tonight I made 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies. Most of which, I'll be taking into work tomorrow.

Its cold in my house right now. 49 degrees outside, 63 inside. Not too bad with the heat...

Payday - this month is TIGHT!

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:48:46 PST

Got paid today. Paid my mortgage & normal monthly bills. Put gas in my car and put $237.00 in an extra payment to my student loan.

I put the extra money from the electric budget ($37.23) and a few other catagories into savings. I like to build up a small amount in a freedom account...

First Day of Fall

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:43:19 PST

Happy 1st day of Fall! I'm enjoying having the windows open

Today, I went over in my grocery budget. It resets on the 15th, but I'm probably going to need one more run to the produce stand in the meantime.

I went over knowingly though. I found a good deal on blueberrys (end...

Oktoberfest and a meal plan

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:28:51 PST

Today my sister and I took my nephew and a friend to the Oktoberfest. She had free tickets (saved $7.00). Free rides for the kids and fairly cheap food, drink and beer We stayed a few hours. I spent $6.00 out of pocket. And it was a great day!

Tonight I pre-sorted food for the...

Gift Shopping and focusing on electric

hmartin427@hotmail.com (HouseHopeful) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:28:09 PST

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...