I installed that thermostat on Monday & I am LOVING it. I can set it for 5 days & 2 days (work week vs weekend). But what I really love is the hold feature where I can change the current temp, regardless of where the settings are automated. I can put a temporary hold on where it will go back to the auto temps at the next scheduled change, or a perminant hold that can only be turned off manually.

So tonight I'm heading to bed earlier than I normally do, so I set the temporary hold to what I keep it set at during the night. That way, when the morning hits, the heat will be up again through the automatic settings. But my heat will go lower earlier than normal since I'll be snuggled up in bed.

And tomorrow when I leave for work and will not be home for at least 8 or 9 hours, I'll put the perminanat hold on to 60 til I get home.

Obviously, I'm easily entertained... but I couldn't help sharing, because I think its neat

Yesterday was a no spend day. Today I packed all my food for work, but I am stopping at the grocery store on the way home. Just a quick stop, will do the bigger shopping once I have a meal plan in place for the week.

I'm working 11am to 3 pm tomorrow, so I'll pack a sandwich for lunch. I may go to the matinee movies tomorrow, which I'll pay for out of my enterainment budget. If not, maybe I'll get to the movies next weekend.

My mini-goals for this week are to pack my lunch/dinner & snacks every day this week and to work a minimum of 10 hours of overtime. (My workweek runs Monday through Sunday)

I worked 40 hours of overtime in February and I"m going to beat that figure for March.

Yesterday I packed my food for work. I'm working so much overtime, I'm taking both my lunch AND dinner at work. I didn't spend a dime on food at work. However, I did stop at the grocery store for some salad stuff. Spent $12.01.

Today I packed again & I'm heading straight home after work, so today will be a no spend day.

I've been doing ridiculous amounts of overtime. Its getting to the point where people are teasing me for working so much. I'm averaging about 10 hours a week. I've already met my 10 hours for this week, but I"m thinking about coming in Sunday for a few extra hours. Probably 11-3.

I increased my 401k witholding, while I have the OT & I'm looking to keep it there even when the OT runs out.

I've been throwing all my extra income straight into savings, but I think I'm going to put some of it to paying down my student loan. I really want to get that one down since my parents cosigned for it. They don't mind it, but it bothers me that they're associated with that debt. I have always been aggressive with the payments, but less so since I bought the house. Its time to step up on those payments!

Since I recieved my latest & highest electric and gas bill, I've been looking at ways to lower it.

I installed a programmable thermostat. I set them really low, but now I'm in the middle of a nice sinus problem, so I've actually increased my settings. The cold weather can seriously effect my sinuses, which can easily turn into an infection. So I'm keeping the heat up a little higher at night in an attempt to avoid medical expenses and time off work.

I normally leave all the extras in the kitchen unplugged, so only the fridge, dishwasher garbage disposal & kitchen clock radio are plugged in all the time. (I don't use the microwave or toaster that often).

I have no lamps in the living room currently and the ceiling light works off a switch. Currently, I have my tv, dvd player, stereo, and cable box all plugged in. But I"m going to swich the cable box to a direct plug in to the wall & all the others into a surge protector that I can turn off at night. I can't leave the cable box off because it'll reset & be a pain in the butt.

Upstairs in my bedroom, I have a tv, vcr & dvd player. I also have the cable, comcast phone & internet box which needs to be plugged in all the time. So I will leave that plug & my wireless router plug in the wall & put my tv, vcr & dvd player on the surge protector, which I will unplug during the day when I'm not home for 10 hours at a time. Hopefully, it'll help a small bit.

I have nothing plugged in either of the bathrooms. I don't leave my laptop plugged in, unless I am home & the battery needs to be recharged. I leave the lights off unless I'm in the room. I dont leave the outdoor light on when I'm not home because my neighbors provide plenty of light for when I come home.

I wash only full loads of laundry & I rarely use the dryer.

I hand wash my dishes by hand mostly, and only use the dishwasher about once a week when I do a bulk of my cooking.

In an effort to conserve heat, I always keep the doors to my downstairs bathroom & walk in closet shut, since they don't have heating vents. No need to heat those tiny rooms.

I am really trying to look at all the 'automatic' things I do & see if I can do them differently. We'll see how it goes for March's bill.