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Archive for November, 2006

A great find!

December 1st, 2006 at 04:01 am

I packed my lunch today, but I did buy a soft pretzel for 55 cents. Stayed on my diet, but was able to get a snack since my stomach was kinda upset.

I've already packed my food for tomorrow. Blueberry muffin & fruit cocktail for breakfast. Salad for lunch. Tuna salad sandwich & homemade pasta salad for dinner. In an effort to stay healthy, I make the pasta salad with wheat pasta & a heavy dose of veggies... more veggies than pasta. Very yummy!

Since I have the house now, I've been toying with getting a second checking account, where I put my money for my mortgage & the utilities each month... my "house" fund. AND I've had a digital camera on my wish list for a long time. A nice & simple one that can take a couple of pictures that I can download to my computer.

Well, there IT was... today in the mail, an offer for Free checking from a reputable local bank that gives a free Suntone Digital camera, with instillation software, carrying strap and USB cable with the opening of a checking account. PLUS if I bring unused checks from my current account, they'll give me $10.00 cash. Can't beat that.

I think I'll go over tomorrow & sign up. Then I can set up a portion of my direct deposit to go into the new account.

Its still warm here, I don't have the heat on. It was so warm that when I get up in the morning, I'll be opening a few windows to get some fresh air in.


first electric bill & random updates

November 28th, 2006 at 01:08 am

Well, I got my first electric bill. To be totally honest: I was being a little psycho & going online & checking to see if the bill was up yet on a daily basis. Its up today & its $66.80. Feeling pretty good about that. Of course, thats without having the heat turned on all month. We'll have to see how high it gets next month.

Now I have a grasp on all the montly bills. Nice!!

My free month of Blockbuster Online is up. I've really liked the plan, with the option to get movies in store as well as through the mail. But I think I'll do a free trial of Netflix, then make the decision on which I like better.

The good thing about the Blockbuster is that you can return movies at the store, get a free instore rental & they're already mailing the next one on my list. I'm a huge movie freak & its awesome, because new releases come out tomorrow & i'll be returning one of the movies to get Clerks II. I'll go right before work, so its pretty much guarenteed in stock!

Today was a no spend day. I stayed pretty lazy since I had a bit of a rebound headcache from the migrane. Feeling a lot better & by tomorrow, it should be gone.

Also, I've started a diet. It helps that I can eat pretty regular with it, just making sure to get lots of veggies & fruits in & to limit the fattening foods. Today I've had a banana, large salad, 1/2 a BLT (with light on the bacon & mayo),& some peanuts. For dinner, I had some chicken & baked fries. Later, for a snack, I'll have some natural popcorn.

I've planned my meals for the week. Tonight I'll prep my food to take out to work tomorrow.

In the meantime, we're still having warm weather. I'm jealous of all the people with snow! If we're lucky, we might see some in January!

migrane & spending

November 26th, 2006 at 02:51 pm

I had a migrane Friday & Saturday. I was at work when it started, so I stopped & got lunch so I could quickly fill my stomach & take my medicine. After that, there was no spending. I ended up calling off sick again from work on Saturday, eating up my last 2 sick days of the year.

No cash spending yesterday, but I did order 2 gifts online. I also ended up ordering a book for myself about home maintance for women. I really need the help, since I want to be as self sufficient as possible.

I'm heading to the movies later with my family. Then I'll stop at the grocery store. Salad stuff only.

I received a $65.00 rebate from sears for the delivery charge on my washer & dryer. WooHoo.

Happy Turkey Day

November 24th, 2006 at 02:33 am

Hello All!
Hope everyone survived the holiday! Mine was a trip all right!

I've been in my house only a month & I was already volunteered to host Thanksgiving. Luckily, we just do immediate family, so there were 5 of us. Since I've never cooked a turkey before, my sister came in the morning to help.
My parents provided the turkey, I provided all the other food. A lot more than I realized, but I didn't blow the budget.

So we cooked all day & as the turkey was just about to come out of the oven, I hear a crash from inside the oven. For the last 45 minutes, we put an additional pan of extra stuffing in to cook. I used a glass pyrex pan & it apparently shattered for no apparent reason! The glass broke, the stuffing fell through the rack & immedately started burning. I had to disconnect the smoke alarm, open up all the windows. The stuffing was a loss (and its my favorite), but at least we had enough for the group from what was stuffed in the turkey.

Then, after we cleaned the kitchen, I took some of the extra chairs back to the basement, only to find water on the floor. A hose must have burst in my dishwasher, leaking through the floor into the insulation. Luckily nothing was ruined. My dad has experience with dishwashers, so he's going to look at it this week. In the meantime, I got to wash all the nasty pots & pans by hand.

Then, to top the day off, as I was putting my china (the set I inherited from my aunt) into the china cabinet, only to bang the gravy boat & break it. UGH. At least I know I can find one on ebay.

On a good note, we had a good time, good food, no family fighting, and I have tons of yummy leftovers for tomorrow.

I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping. I hope to finish it by the end of next week. In the meantime I'm buckling down on all spending.

I am still waiting for my first electric bill. I've only turned the heat on for 2 days so far. I had it on today, and turned if off when we had to open the windows to let the smoke out. I never needed to turn it back on. Apparently the winds have shifted and our November warm wave is back on.

Well, off to enjoy the sleepiness of triptofan (ignore the spelling).

no spend & found 11 cents

November 17th, 2006 at 02:03 am

No spending today (other than paying some of my monthly bills). I packed all my food, found 11 cents. I found a cheaper, but identical version of a Christmas gift I've already purchased. So I'll be returning the gift to Pier One & getting the cheaper alternative, saving $12.00!

I'm off to premake my food for tomorrow. I do better packing at night than in the morning.

Oatmeal & blueberry muffin for breakfast (already pre-made or pre-packaged).

Homemade pasta salad & other 1/2 of tuna sand for lunch.

Large salad with all the fixings for desert, plus pretzels and a banana.


no spending day

November 16th, 2006 at 01:55 am

Spent no money today. Got paid & will write out all my bills tomorrow, including my first mortgage payment. I have a planned lunch to pack tommorrow.
blueberry muffin breakfast
salad with bacon & cheese & 1/2 tuna salad sandwich for lunch
pretzels for snack
sloppy joe for dinner

with my work schedule, I tend to eat lunch at my desk around noon & take dinner at 4pm.

one more thing...about the cat & $

November 14th, 2006 at 02:12 am

I love my cat, Colbi. She's cute, she plays with toys, she follows me around the house, she loves to snuggle AND she greets me at the door when I come home at night.

BUT she has crystals, so I have to buy special cat food for her. And when I take her to the vet, like I did today, we have to do urinalysis tests to make sure they didnt come back. We only do it every year or two, but its pricey.

Plus, she's 5 years old now & the vet noted some gingivitis. No biggie, but her gums are swollen & they look painful. So, now I need to get her a teeth cleaning. More $$$.

I had been thinking about getting a second cat, but with the costs, I've decided against it.

Even though the vet today was VERY costly, when we go to bed & she snuggles with me, I'll know its worth it Smile

busy weekend of organizing & cleaning

November 14th, 2006 at 02:03 am

I've spent my off time this week organizing around the house. I sorted through all the glassware & china that I brought from my aunt's house. Most is in the kitchen or displayed in the china cabinet, but I have a big plastic tote of extra glassware in the basement. I might give them to my sister when she gets a new place.

I have 2 totes of halloween stuff-two because some of the things are bulky & I didnt want to sqwoosh anything.

I have 2 totes of Christmas stuff, which includes ornaments, house decorations & more.

I also have another bin of gift/craft stuff, such as paints, cards, tissue paper, ect.

I did a couple of loads of laundry, all on cold water, and I only ran the dryer once. I really like my towels & sheets to go through the dryer, everything else is hung in the basement. I have one drying rack & a makeshift line made of a pipe that the previous owner left.

I still have yet to turn on my heat. Nice!

I had to turn off the hot water heater timer. It kept turning off & then not starting back up when it was supposed to. I had one too many ice cold showers in the morning. I plan on having my handy dad take a look at it.

Also on my to do list: buy & install a programable thermostat.

I am really trying to keep the house neat & organized. I'm not the most tidy person, so I'm making a daily effort in the hopes that it'll become an easy routine.

On the upside, I cashed in some of my points at Mypoints & I received the gift card today!

lotsa freebies from work

November 8th, 2006 at 11:16 pm

In the last 2 weeks, I've received a package of microwave popcorn, a large bag of peanut m&ms, a $100.00 gift card to Walmart & a free lunch. Tomorrow, they're giving me a free flu shot.

I've been doing a lot of spending due to a weird work schedule, but I'm packing all my food tomorrow. I do need to stop for gas, but other than that, no spending for me.

I've settled in nicely in the house. I finally got all my Aunt's furniture in. I'm going to take some pictures soon, which I'll share online.

I'm still waiting for my first month's utility bills. I have estimates, but I really want to see the realistic figures...should be fun

Thanks to All !

November 3rd, 2006 at 03:58 am

I just wanted to say thanks for all the well wishes with the house. I appreciated everyone sharing in my excitement!

And Basalle, I probably should change my name now that I have the house, but I think I'll keep it. I like the possibilities it has...plus as I learn the ins & outs of homeownership, there will be more to learn & be 'hopeful' about.

Boomeyers: I took your idea & used some of my plastic storage bins as coffee & end tables. I probably will give in soon & buy some soon though. I have a good idea what I want in style & in the type of wood to match the tv stand. I'm going to look at an offbeat furniture store about 1/2 hour away. I think I'll be able to match it and possibly get a good deal in the process.

Also, thanks to LuckyRobin & LuxLiving for the pre-move advice. Unfortunately I had a cold when I moved, so for every hour of work, I spent about an hour sitting or laying down. The overnight bag with the clothes, meds, ect came especially in handy since the bag contained Nyquil. VERY handy!

Thanks again to everyone for all your support. I really appreciate it. This board is always friendly and has great ideas! I'm inspired by you all!

Settling in and spending

November 3rd, 2006 at 03:50 am

I'm settling in the house just fine. I've yet to turn on the heat, although the temperature took a dive tonight. I'm just using a down comforter to stay warm.

I packed my lunch today and made my dinner at home. I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

I spent $2.00 today. $1.00 for a large bottle of ibuprofin & $1.00 for a 200 count box of sandwich bags. Yay Dollar store.

I normally work 8-5 on Saturday, but I took a 1/2 day. I have a friend who runs a moving company on the side & he's going to move my Aunt's furniture for me. Some pieces will go into the basement & some will go in the living/dining room. I called around for prices & this guy is giving me at least a $100.00 break on this.

Also, I gave my storage unit 10 days notice for vacancy as their policy requires, but since I wouldn't actually be moving until after my next due date, under their policy, I would owe them another month's rent. HOWEVER, since it was just one day, they waived it. $110.00 saved due to niceness!

I am pretty proud of myself for staying organized. As I unpacked, I recycled all the boxes & put all the empty storage containers in the basement. Now I'm going through & sorting & labelling all my holiday decorations for Christmas & Halloween, as well as craft stuff, old paperwork from my aunt & other things. Everything is labeled clearly & stacked neatly. This is a HUGE deal. No one in my family has ever had an organized basement! I'm the envy of my parents.

Next big project is to tackle THEIR basement!

I would also like to mention that I had accumulated about $80.00 in gift cards from MyPoints & other promotions, which is used for things for the house & its projects. That money went a long way.

I've become very lax about discretionary spending and my goal this month is to track all money as well as limit cash usage. I have a few different office parties to contribute to in the next week, which won't help, but I'm trying to offer to contribute food, not cash. That way I can control my spending. Smile

Hope everyone is staying warm & cozy. As the temps start to drop, I recommend hot chocolate, extra socks, cozy blankets & snuggling with animals & loved ones!