I get paid tomorrow I'll be putting 387.86 towards savings for this paycheck. In January, I put 300.97 toward savings. So I've already beat last month. And I still have another paycheck with lots of overtime coming on 2/28.

With this paycheck, I'll meet sever mini savings goals. I had moved some around from my original plan, so bear with me if its a little off from what I previously said.

I've met my mini goals for:

-2008 HOA fee
-One Time Lawn Service (for 1st mowing since the grass is overgrown since I bought the house)
-Lawn Mower
-Garden Hose
-and some partial savings will go to outdoor furniture

I got way off on my spending this week & last week. But I'm good to go again. My goal is to pack my lunch each and every day for the next month. Definately doable.

Today I've got a migrane, so its a no spend day for me. I've taken some pain meds, closed the blinds. When I feel better, I'm putting in some of Lost Season Two, so I can catch up. I'll have sloppy joe for dinner tonight. I had some in my freezer, so all i have to do is make some pasta to go with it.

Later, I'll premake salads for the next 3 days & some tuna to take for sandwiches the next 2 days. I have frozen sloppy joe for one day this week & frozen pasta sauce for another. That'll get me through the week. I'm hoping to hold off on grocery shopping til I get paid on the 15th.

I've been working dilligently at the overtime being offered. So I've been overworking, plus I've been eating badly AND I've been stressed about a friend. We had a surprise birthday party for her this weekend, but this week she had a cancer treatment & has been a bit down. She took a radioactive pill that kept her in isolation for 3 days. I've been visiting for 30 minutes at a time, and bringing her books & movies to keep occupied with. But its been taking its toll as well.

So today is my day of rest and as long as my headache's gone, I will go in for 8 hours of overtime tomorrow. My goal was to try to do 10 horus of OT this week, but our office is going to be closed at certain times this week, so I probably will only get the 8 hours in. Still good though

Well, its been a long week. I've put in 14 hours of overtime this week. And I'm going to try to get as much in while its still available. I have set mini goals for myself & have set up small rewards as well. I was only going to work 12 hours this week, but I decided if I work 14 hours, I would use part of the overtime to renew the next 2 months of my XM Radio subscription. That got me out of bed this morning.

If I work 10 hours of overtime next week, I will use one of my overtime hours to preorder the new Harry Potter book. The week after (if theres still overtime), I will award myself with a lunch out at the salad place.


I've been motivating myself to do this overtime with these small rewards AND with the knowledge that all the overtime (with the exception of the XM, the book and the salad) will go towards my savings goals.

I've found it to be more rewarding to me to have smaller goals. Even if they're something I would have just moved money around for when it came time for them. So here's an example of a few of my mini goals and when they'll be reached, thanks to my overtime and other extra income. I would like to point out that I may have overinflated the amount needed, but I like to overestimate instead of under.

Lawn Mower: $200.00 Completed 2/15
Garden Hose: $30.00 Completed 2/15
Car Repair Fund: $500.00 Completed 2/28
Christmas Fund: $400.00 Completed 2/28
Vet fund: $200.00 Completed 3/15
Outdoor Furniture: $300.00 Completed 3/15
Homeowners Assoc 2008: $90.00 Compltd 3/15
Sewer Bill 2008: $200.00 Completed 5/15

I also have larger goals for my New To Me Car fund and my emergency fund, but they won't be met with just my overtime for January & February. I have an expected inheritance of $2,500.00 that will go to the new to me car fund later this year.

My motto on overtime is get it while it lasts! It has been offered off & on over the last month. The first week, I worked 8 hours, the 2nd 9 hours, the 3rd 4 hours, and this week I worked 8 hours on Monday, 2 hours today & I plan to do 2 hours tomorrow & possible 1 or 2 hours on Friday. I'm iffy about Friday because I'm getting a little burned out.

Every hour of overtime is roughly $19.00 post taxes & 401k. I am hoping the overtime offering will contue through the month. My goal will be to do 8-10 hours next week and the week after. We'll see how it goes.

All my overtime will be going towards my savings goals. If I do the 2 hours ot on Friday, then those funds will go to fund another 3 months of XM radio, which I was going to cancel in March. I listen to it daily at work & I figure this treat would motivate me to work on Friday as well. We'll see how it goes.

I fell off the wagon a bit with packing my food, but I'm track again today. I packed salad for lunch & a tuna fish sandwich & baked fries for dinner. Yummy.

Well, I went a little off my diet/packing lunches yesterday & today due to general laziness & stomach issues. I'll be back on track tomorrow. I'm going to premake pasta salad for tomorrow.

My office is offering overtime for an uncertain amount of time, so I'm going to take advantage while I can get it. I'm going to do 2 hours tomorrow & I'm coming in on my day off Monday & do 4 or 8 hours depending on a possible appointment I might have. My goal is to do 8-10 hours this upcoming week.

We're having a surprise birthday party for my best friend this weekend. I'm in charge of bringing chips & dip, veggies & dip & cake. I am getting the cake from a specific bakery because my friend loves it so much. I also got her a few things for a gift, but I still need to come up with a good present to go with them. I plan on going to the store tomorrow night for all the food.

I have decided to put off looking for the second job... as long as the overtime is available, it'll work out better for me. Once the OT dries up---I WILL get a second job.

On the bright side I went to the dentist today-- no cavities I LOVE my dentists office. They're out of network, but they've always been willing to fill the claims for me anyway. Under my new dental coverage, my out of pocket expense for my dentist was supposed to be $75.00. They charged me $22.00. I know they could be making more off me, but they don't. And thats whey I LOVE them.

Well, when I bought the house, I knew I was going to have a sewer bill to contend with & I had a montly amount in my budget, but for some reason, I didnt remember to prepare for the bill for this year. I just got a bill for $167.32 due 2/28/07. It'll cover the year of 2007. Since I just bought the house 3 months ago, the sewer savings doesn't have that amount in it yet. So I used my overtime & savings from this paycheck to pay the sewer bill in full. It'll set me savings plan back a little bit, but so be it. At least I have the cash on hand to handle the bill.

On the upside, I did a little overtime yesterday. AND my parents took me to see The Departed--surprisingly good!

Ima's post about frugal things we did today got me thinking. I've been getting a little lax in some areas, so my focus is going to be to focus on the little things. Today I packed my lunch, drank only water. I'll be premaking food for tomorrow as well, I have plenty of tv to enjoy & this weekend I'll enjoy the movies from my free trial from Netflix.

I also have several library books to get through. I just finished Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich. That series is REALLY good. Very funny.

One of my New Years Resolutions was to track my spending for the full year. I'm off to a good start. I'm tracking my spending & money put towards savings. I have a basic excel spreadsheet & at the end of the month I'll add up the catagories. I can already tell you I'll be over budget in groceries, but thats ok.

I was planning on working 8 hours overtime today, but I have an issue I need to resolve at the bank, so I'm going to work 4 or 5 hours & try to make up the other 3 or 4 between tuesday & thursday.

My goal today is to be productive:
I have a small to do list
-work overtime
-go to bank to close acct
-call & make drs appointment
-call trash co & discuss notice of increase of rates (they said there will be an increase, but didnt say how much)
-clean kitchen
-clean & dust living room
-change sheets
-clean bedroom

For any Nora Roberts fans: Tonight is the first of 4 of her books made into tv movie on Lifetime. I'll be taping it!

Finally got about 2-3 inches. It was very pretty to watch out the sliding glass doors this afternoon. It should be cleared up by morning, so no troubles

I've done very well spending wise. I got a salad (one of those huge ones from the specialty place) for $6.50 on Saturday.

Today I spent $28.63 for gas & $21.94 for groceries. Unfortunately, I forgot the bread, so I'll be stopping again tomorrow, but then I'll be set for awhile.

I've premade food for tomorrow, since I'm going in for 8 hours overtime. I will eat at home tomorrow night.

Today, my parents took me to see Dreamgirls. It was REALLY good. Their treat, which was awesome of them. They wanted to take me to lunch too, but I knew eating at home would be better for my diet.

I also got my electric bill today. $69 vs $63.00 of last month & $61.00 of the month before. I attribute the increase to being home more around the holidays & the fact that I've turned the heat on finally in the last week. Still a good number, since I've budgeted $150/mo to electric. The extra is going to my different savings goals.

Other than basic discussions on finances, I don't normally talk to other people about their debt (except online), but in the past few months, I've found out that a coworker has $20,000 & growing in debt and one of my best friends has about $15,000. I find these numbers to be amazing!

But then I took a look at their lifestyles compared to mine. And realized that there were a lot of differences. Comparing myself to the 'Joneses' actually made me feel good about the steps I've taken to help me reach my financial goals. And its motivated me as well.

For the updates--I packed my lunch every day this week. This is the 3rd week in a row. NICE! I had no spend days Tuesday through Friday. My intention was to have lunch out at work tomorrow, but I decided to take a personal day instead. So instead of working, I'm going to see my nephew in his new karate class, go to the library & head to the grocery store. I still might get that salad that I was looking forward to...we'll see.

I am really trying to stick to my grocery budget, but I need to stock up on a few things that I wasn't planning on. So I'm going to take a look at my list--determine what can be held off until my next payday & then just get whats needed this week.

I'm hoping, but not expecting any more overtime to be available at my work. If it does, I am signing up for as much as possible. All the extra money will go towards my financial goals.

And I hate to say it, but I still haven't been looking too hard for that part-time job. I WILL get on it this week. I promise.

Well, its cold today. I actually had the heat running last night. I can count the number of days that the heater's been on, since I moved, with one hand!

I finally get to pull out the cute gloves & scarves I bought last year. I pulled out my down comforter & have a several layers of blankets to cuddle under. I also have a few downstairs for sitting in front of the tv.

Today was another no spend day. I've been drinking only water. Staying on the diet too. I don't weigh in again til Monday, so we'll see how it goes. I packed all of my food. The only non-packed food is the free pretzel I got at work on Tuesday.

My work is offering a second day of overtime (pretty much unheard of) for next Monday & I'm going to sign up.

I haven't spent much this month (year). I'm really trying to rein in spending to be able to meet my financial goals this year. Its helped that I was sick the last two weekend---didnt leave the house, so easy to not spend.

No luck on the part time job search yet... but I'll admit to putting it off a little too. Due to both laziness & health issues.

I will be stopping for gas, probably tomorrow or Friday, but other than that, I'm holding onto my goal of no spending. Saturday will be my treat to myself-- salad from the place down the street.

No spend day today for me. I had one soda (still having the touchy stomach). I'm having dinner at home tonight & I'm going to try to get through a bit of chores--all easy stuff since I'm just starting to feel normal again.

I'm working on a to-do list for the house. I want to see what I can do on my own. So here's a few things to get me started:

-Replace seal in downstairs toilet (because its been running)
-Replace all of upstairs toilet interior--seal, ball, ect due to drip & old parts
-Tighten lock on front door...its a little loose (I'll be able to handle that tonight
-Put clothing rods in the spare bedroom closets, maybe some shelving.
-Put a door on mysterious alcove in the upstairs, making it into another storage closet. I'll have to take a picture of it, we can't figure out why it was put there in the first place.
-Pull fridge away from wall & fix ice maker (probably need a new doohicky--I know what it is, but I can't remember the name)

I've been doing some internet research, getting ready for these projects & I'll be taking them on one at a time.

Brought my lunch every day this week. I've been thinking of eating out tomorrow, but in the end I'm going to bring a frozen dinner instead.

I spent a few minutes today mapping out expected money that will be put towards my financial goals. The smaller ones will be easy, but I need to get a roommate and/or 2nd job to reach the biggest goal of fully funding my emergency fund in cash (as opposed to savings bonds/ect).

I've been lazily looking for that 2nd job, but I'm going to really get started in the search. I would like a flexible position, more than min wage, but if I do go min wage, I'm thinking about working for a video store so I can get free movies as a bonus. Plus, I really don't want a stressfuly position and I'd think I'd really enjoy the video store. Well, thats a last resort, so I'll see whats out there first.

By the end of the week, I'll have put the funds from my old bank into my new one. When that happens, I'm going to make a transfer to my ING account:

13.00 saved from cancelling XM Radio
18.00 from suspending Blockbuster
40.00 overage in savings for my quarterly water bill
90.00 over from electric bill (over estimating until I get a full month of heating under my belt & then again with air conditioning)

So a total of 161.00 will go into savings. Off to a great start!

Today was a no spend day for me. My parents invited me to movies & they paid for the ticket. I declined going out to eat with them because I'm still getting into the whole WW thing & I didn't want to risk eating out. Its easier to retrain your eating habits when you start out at home.

Over the last two days, I've done some cleaning and organizing. Yesterday, I made some meals to freeze. I have sloppy joe & pasta sauce all set up. I have a few frozen dinners in the freezer, so when I get lazy, I still have healthier food.

Today, I had shake n bake chicken and baked fries for dinner and I'll be taking the leftovers to work tomorrow. I also premade a salad for lunch.

I've drank over 96 oz of water today...which has led to a lot of bathroom runs

I have a few goals this week:
-get an oil change-
-close my 2nd checking account (with Bank B)
-open a new 2nd checking acount (with Bank A-- where my primary checking is)
-set up the new direct deposit to the new checking account
-bring lunch every day this week, including Saturday
-stick to the diet (even though I started on Saturday, I won't reweigh myself until next Monday. For every pound that I lose, I'm going to put a dollar into savings)

Just like a million other Americans this year, I'm resolving to lose weight & save money. In some cases, the two go hand in hand.

I restarted Weight Watchers, which I'm excited about. I have to track what I eat. Since healthier food can be more expensive, the fact that I have to plan food and watch portion sizes, will help counteract some of it. Plus, since eating out is harder to deal with while watching what I eat, I'll be forced to eat out on a much less frequent basis.

Here are my detailed 2007 Financial Goals:

1. Track all spending for the full year. (Previously, I've only tracked a few months at a time)
2. Limit soda intake & purchase. (this is a VERy bad habit of mine. I'm going to drastically decrease this from a couple of sodas a day to one 12 pack every 2 weeks.
3. Find a part-time job, put all extra money into savings. Also, continue looking for a roomate. (I'm hoping to find one through word of mouth since Craigslist didn't work out. I ended up with more scams than serious inquiries)
4. Increase 401k withholding
5. Put expected 2,500 inheritance into ING as a New to Me car fund. I hope to get another 3-4 years out of my current one, but its good to get started saving early.
6. Replentish my Car Repair Fund back to $500.00 (Need to save 164.10)
7. Save all change & deposit monthly to savings for Christmas. My goal is to have a cash only Christmas again this year (Already starting w/ $14.64)
8. Put insurance payout(from inheritance), estimated 400.00 into savings
9. Since my car insurance is broken into nine monhs of payments, put the extra months payments (March, April, May) into savings
10. Suspend blockbuster online every 2 to 3 months. This will give me a change to build up a queue of movies that I want to watch without wasting the subscription. On the off months, I can utilize my library for entertainment
11. Cancel XM Radio subscription when it comes due again in March
12. Review cable/phone/internet bill in September. My promotion rate runs out in October. My goal is to get rid of the phone (using only cell phone).
13. Switch previous job's 401k to an IRA
14. Review credit report quarterly for inaccurate information (using free credit reports)
15. Fully fund emergency fund with cash (have additional funds in savings bonds, ect, but I'd prefer cash) Goal is to increase cash by $3932
16. Find additional sources of income, such as babysitting, running errands, ect. Or find savings in normal expenses. My goal is to find at least 2 per month

I'm having some serious thoughts about my plans for next year. I want to work on planning, self-control and re-evaluting my decisions. I'm still working on my goals for 2007.

I also have been taking some pictures with my new FREE cheapo digital camera. I wanted to share some of my inherited and second hand furniture. There will be more pics to come.

This is the 1920s wardrobe that I inherited from my great aunt. I've loved this piece since I was a kid. its sturdy, roomy, and pretty. I REALLY love it.