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Archive for August, 2009

Slowly Getting over the Plague

August 23rd, 2009 at 01:59 am

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 Smile

Made a new budget

August 17th, 2009 at 03:20 am

Made a new budget tonight. I am working on spending little on eating out & food, but since I didnt make it to the grocery store today, I'll be buying my lunch tomorrow. After that, I'm hoping to make it through the rest of the month without eating out at work. We'll see how it goes Smile

As for today, I had a VERY frugal day. I bought a bottle of soda & bag of cheddar popcorn for $4.00 and headed to a friend's house for a John Hughes movie marathon. Between my movie collection and hers, we had 3 movies to watch for free. Lots of fun and worth not getting to the grocery store for!

Reading aka My Book Addiction

August 13th, 2009 at 10:08 pm

I've been reading my butt off lately. Tons of books from the library, from friends collections, ect.

I have a Stephen King book club at work, a sci-fi book club with some friends, and an online book club. I knew I was a reader, but I just realized how active reading is for me!

I even listen to books on tape at work. I'm currently reading (listening to) the Uglies Series by Scott Westerfield. The books are Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras. I just finished Pretties.

I have to laugh because its a series of teen books, but it has such adult themes, I would recommend it to anybody. Its about society, violence, Big Brother, appearance, rebellion and more. I found it through a recommendation from GoodReads.com. Check that site out if you're a reader Smile

The reason I bring this up here is that I get hours and hours of enjoyment for free by utilizing the library and friends personal libraries, as well as online tools. Its something I really enjoy and its very, very frugal!

I'm going to keep updates of what I've been reading. I'm always looking for suggestions, so please let me know if you have any!

Currently reading:

World War Z - Max Brooks
Every Which Way But Dead - Kim Harrison

Ready for Tomorrow

August 9th, 2009 at 11:59 pm

In an effort to continue getting back on track, I've packed food for work tomorrow. I'm also recommitting to Weight Watchers and can't wait to get started.

I've prepacked:

Breakfast: Cheerios & milk
Snack: Banana
Lunch: Pasta salad
Snack: Apple and peanut butter

I also have a bottle for water & 1 diet soda. There should be NO food spending tomorrow. Although, I do have to get gas and some groceries tomorrow.

Tonight I'm enjoying some movies that I already own, a book from the library and the big thunderstorm outside. All free things!

Cleaning and Hanging Out

August 8th, 2009 at 05:44 pm

Well, today is going to be a hang around the house kind of day. I plan on cleaning and organizing. I'm heading to a party tonight, so I already got up and made jello shots. In my group of friends, its the thing I'm always asked to bring. Easy to make & fun to eat! LOL.

This week, I bought a curtain rod & hung curtains that I had from back in my college days. Its been on my To Do list since I got the house, but I've been very, very lazy. The curtains were from Pottery Barn and they REALLY make a difference in my bedroom.



Also, its only going to be 83 today, so last night I turned the air back off & opened the windows. I'll be turning it back on tomorrow as its supposed to be in the mid 90s for Sunday.

So my goals for today are the following:

- Organize Financial Paperwork
- Redo Budget
- Deep clean kitchen
- Deep clean living room
- organize clothes/household items for Good Will. List them & pack in car for delivery
- Do nails myself

And because I've been camera happy again - here are some cute kitty pictures. Believe it or not, playing with the cats can be a HUGE stress reliever Smile




Missed you guys!

August 4th, 2009 at 12:47 am

So, I've been absent for quite a while. Long story short, I had some health problems, house problems, car problems and generally a rough time lately. I've gone through my emergency fund & managed to add some credit card debt. UGH.

I should be able to pay off the credit card in the next month or two. Once I start sticking to a budget again. Some of the circumstances were beyond my control, some of the debt is from letting go of my finances and just working on getting myself back on track.

Things have pretty much gone to hell in a handbasket. My house is a mess, so I'm working to get that in order again. Next is my finances. Luckily work is NOT out of whack, so at least there's that.

Today was the first day I've had the energy to even take care of stuff. So today, I went to work. Then ran errands & did chores Smile

-Went to the vet for prescription cat food
-Acme for free Redbox dvd
-Weeded the rocks in front of my house (1/2 hour)
-Cleaned the kitchen & cleaned out the fridge (REALLY a nasty mess)
-Ran the dishwasher
-Made dinner
-Packed food for work tomorrow
-Washed out my trash can (also a nasty mess)
-Did 2 loads of laundry. Hung up one load.
-Changed litter boxes and washed them out
-Sent birthday & thinking of you cards
-Tended to my tomato plants, picked all the ripe ones. Unfortunately, I had to throw away some that were over-ripe or split Frown Still, have a lot of good ones!
-Saw that I have 2 peppers actually growing after all!
-Organized pictures on my computer.
-Brought down floor lamp from bedroom to living room since the ceiling fan motor blew & the light no longer works either.

-Now I'm going to make up my bed, watch the Redbox movie and go through all my paperwork to set a budget & pay my bills.

I will have a working budget before I go to bed tonight and I plan on keeping you all updated. I missed you guys!