It's been a while since I've posted - been super busy these last few months. We moved in July, finally got a renter into our townhouse last week, I am working OT, but not as much as before, been sick off & on and generally been living a lot.

We have had a LOT of social obligations. Never dull for me!

-My daughter turned One this month. We had a little party that my mom paid to be in a restaurant (she HAD to do my nieces and didn't want to be seen as favoring my sister's kids - that was her choice).
-Last weekend, I was at a bachelorette party.
-This weekend, my husband is going to the bachelor party.
-In September, we are attending a housewarming for friends (child friendly event)
-In September, we are attending a friend's house party (kid friendly)
-In October, we have 3 weddings - 2 out of state

We also are waiting for the rental income to come in. We have a renter, but are also using a property management company. Because of the renter starting mid-month and the PM fees, we won't see a full month's rental income coming to us until the middle of October, which will go to the 11/1 mortgage payment.

I have lots of cashflowing/savings goals -
-cashflowing budget deficit
-cashflowing wedding events/gifts/travel
-save 1 month Rental Mortage buffer
-save 1 month New Mortgage buffer
-Save 5k Rental Efund
-Cashflow tickets to an event in Oct
-cashflow new furniture

Fun stuff, people! I will say, that we are not revolving any credit card debt as we have been spending a lot. I am so thankful for overtime!

I also want to note that usually I buy Christmas gifts all year long - but not this year as I didn't want to move all the stockpile of gifts! So I need to get busy on that

We had a plumbing issue a week or so ago. Yesterday, we had someone come in to do some drywall repairs. This is the 3rd patch in the same spot of the livign room ceiling and it went from ceiling and into the wall. It was getting challenging to fix, so we paid someone $250 to do the work right. To me - worth every penny. To my husband, worth MUCH more - he was so frustrated with that area.

Next thing up will be painting the ceiling and living room. We are splurging for help on this so we can get it done before the baby and get the wall up the stairs and in a very high ceiling area. We are picking a neutral color so we can utilize this paint job for the potential sale of the house next year.

Gonna be somewhat pricey (versus DIY), but we have OT funds to go towards it!

In the last 2 weeks, I have replaced the downstairs toilet, replaced all the interior of the upstairs toilet. Fixed a leaky faucet.

And this week, a pipe leading to the hot water heater started leaking. We attempted the repairs ourselves, but without luck. So we had a professional come by $190 later, all fixed!

We are left with the problem of the pipes. The home builders used an inferior piping. I knew that buying the house (and it factored into the pricing). However, joints are gathering moisture & some are leaking. Replacing parts of the piping will not stop further issues in other areas, so I got a quote for replacing the pipes in the whole house. $5950. Yeesh. I will be doing research & certainly working out a budget & getting other quotes. We have time to plan, but its likely it will need to be done.

After a long period of inactivity due to heavy social schedule, plus lack of energy that I have been attributing to the thyroid, I FINALLY have energy to get things done.

Sunday, my family, my boyfriend & I took both my nephew and the bf's nephew to the PA Renn Faire. I spent quite a bit, but it was so worth it. We really had a great time!

Monday, I stayed home & started in on getting things done. This mostly consisted of napping then organizing the kitchen/pantry now that my Roommate moved out. The boyfriend is moving in Dec 1st,but in the mean time, I can clean, organize & enjoy having the house to myself!

In the last week, based on some promos I found - I earned 18 Redbox credits. I used 2 over the weekend.

I am pickingup some ideas on Pinterest. Tonight,I painted my keys with nail polish to make it easier to tell them apart. I have a house key, a screen door key, key to my parents, key to my work desk, key to the mailbox and a few misc ones.

Here's a quick of the final paint job! As you can see, I love different colors



Between yesterday & today, I worked full days then:
-Cancelled lawn guy (now that the broken foot is officially healed)
-signed up for 2013 Medical from work
-Called in a prescription refill
-returned books to the library
-picked up a window sealing kit at the dollar store & 1 organizational tote for the kitchen
-relisted several items on craigslist
-Cleaned out fridge(had to - there was a big cherry limeade spill) and then cleaned the kitchen, wiped down cabinets, counters, ect and washed the kitchen floor. Also polished the kitchen table
-Cancelled subscribe & save deal that I got on Amazon
for toilet paper
-ordered a book on amazon for my mom in that same deal (she'll be paying me back)
-requested 2 $5 Amazon gift cards from swagbucks
-requested reimbursement from insurance for prescriptions paid out of pocket
-picked up prescription
-made appointment with guy of Craigslist to sell my old mower (now I use the reel mower)
-Put several items to sell on my county's Classifieds group on facebook
-obtained 40 MyCokeRewards from a friend off the Classifieds (I use these rewards for soda coupons). The boyfriend and a friend collect them for me. I am always looking for more codes though!
- started wrapping my coaster gifts for christmas
-updated new points into my coke awards
-Waiting for $10 earnings to hit my InboxDollars account so I can request my $40 payout. I earned it by ordering 3 bottles of wine for total of $15.01. These will be used for holiday partys and were already on my to-buy list
-working on swagbucks - want to get to another 450 points
-finish laundry
-fold laundry
-put out Halloween decorations
-watched Netflix movie
-made dinner at home

Tomorrow, I am doing a (cheap) dinner and a (free) movie with a friend. So my to-do list is much smaller:

1. 10/15 budget
2. 10/31 budget
3. 11/15 budget
4. budget after BF moves in (paying 1/2)
5. Have fun with friend!

Happy Friday All! It's been a stressful week and I am looking forward to some relaxing this weekend.

Today was payday, so I budgeted out everything:

In cash, I have:
$40.00 towards Wine Tour
$77.49 towards Groceries
$90.00 Entertainment spending

I paid some bills:
Mortgage
Electric
Reimbursed mom for some Halloween Decorations

And I bought Groceries
-Acme $5.49
-Farmer's Market $10.30
-Walmart $29.46

My manager let us out early (WOOO) and I was able to get all my errands done & get home by 2:30. I had time to clean my room, prep food for the wine tour tomorrow, clean the bathroom and help the new roommate move a dresser upstairs. She has her stuff here, but will start actually living here tomorrow.

Once she left, my previous roommate came by & picked up the last of her stuff. She gave me the $75.00 she owed me and the keys. I did an inspection and found that she left a couple of things:

-1/2 bottle of Pino Grigio
-1 clean tupperware bowl & lid
-a bunch of salad dressings (1/2 used)
-1/2 jar of vodka sauce
-protein shake
-1 full large, unopened bottle of V8 Splash
-3 bags of frozen mixed veggies
-1 bag frozen steamer red potatoes
-1 bag frozen broccoli
-1 lb ground turkey burgers (frozen)
-1 bag broccoli & rice
-1 bag Tyson grilled chicken strips
-2 opened 1/2 full bags of veggies

Most of it usable - I will get rid of the opened veggies (freezer burn), vodka sauce & some of the dressings - but all the freezer food is good and healthy! So Yay Freebies. I then had to move all the food around in the freeze to free up 1/2 the space for the new roomie.

And since I did that, I took a freezer inventory: (boring, I know - but its really good for planning)

-1 1/2 bags turkey pepperoni
-2 - 4packs of breaded chicken patties
-6 servings chicken breast
-4 frozen turkey burgers
-1 container lime sherbert
-4 tilapia fillets
-2 1/2 bags Morningstar crumbles
-1/2 loaf bread
-4 veggie burgers
-4 servings turkey bacon
-1 bag no sugar added strawberries
-1 bag no sugar added blueberries
-1 bag broccoli
-1 pint blueberries
-8 bagel thins
-1 bag broccoli & rice
-3 bags mixed veggies
-1 bag grilled chicken strips
-4 pack water ice
-9 meatloaf muffins
-4 servings sloppy joe
-3 cinnimon raisin bagel thins

The rest of my night will be dinner, making the rest of food for the wine tour tomorrow, cleaning up the kitchen & dusting/vaccuming the empty room. Hope everyone has a good night!

I haven't gotten everything I wanted to off the To-Do list this weekend. But I have accomplished what I needed, which was getting some serious downtime.

Friday I went to a coworker/friend's after work & helped fix a problem with her computer. Payment was in beer, it only took 5 minutes

Then I went home and did some kitchen decluttering & laundry & watched a bunch of library movies & DVR'd shows!

Saturday, I did some grocery shopping & then took an inventory of my fridge, freezer & pantry. Did some meal planning! I am out of grocery funds

Saturday night, the BF came over. We watched the original Fright Night on dvd. I made dinner with breaded chicken patties I found in the freezer & a half box of macaroni noodles & pasta sauce from the pantry. Salad from the farmer's market trip. He supplied ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

This morning, I made scrambled eggs with cheese & hashbrowns and tonight I will be getting a nice dinner at his place, so we're even

I am spending the day watching DVR/Netflix doing some organizing, paperwork & cleaning. Heading to my parents to pick up something then to the his place to hang out before dinner.

Just finished prepping a bunch of food for this week! Some partially prepped, some fully.

Breakfasts and morning snacks:
3 servings almonds (Mon-Wed)
5 servings strawberry yogurt (Mon-Fri)
5 servings celery & carrots with ranch dip (2 made, 3 to be made) (Mon-Friday)
4 servings cottage cheese (Mon-Thurs)

Lunches/Afternoon snacks:
Salad with macaroni leftovers (Mon)
Salads (Tues-Fri)
Leftover breaded chicken patties (Tues, Thurs)
Tuna sandwiches (to be made )(Thurs-Fri

Meal Plan for Dinners: Will be home for dinner Mon, Wed, and Thurs
Chicken taco salad
Shake n Bake chicken & potatoes
Chicken patty & macaroni (leftovers)

I planned today to be a yard work day as I just borrowed my dad's weed whacker and hedge trimmer. The temperature has lowered significantly & I was able to open up the windows and turn off the a/c. I woke up on my own this morning (as opposed to an alarm) and was outside in the yard by 9:15 am.

So today, I:

-Mowed the lawn
-Weed whacked around deck and air conditioning unit
-Weed whacked walkway in backyard
-Raked and bagged the yard
-Cleared the deck of debris blown onto it.
-Trimmed shrub in front of my house. This was a BIG task as 1/2 of the bush is dead on the inside. Its not the prettiest now, but I need to borrow a saw from my dad to get rid of the bigger dead branches.
-Weed whacked grass growing in crack in driveway.
-Bagged up all trimmings (4 full bags full).
-Piled all the yard waste into the car, as well as my 2 big tomato planters full of dirt and dead plants. -Took it all to the free yard waste disposal site.
-When I got home, I vacuumed out the car VERY well.
-I took the hose & rinsed out all planters that are now empty
-Did 2 loads of laundry.

And that was by 1pm.

Then I:
-made lunch
-made jello shots for a BBQ tomorrow
-unloaded the dishwasher
-cleaned the kitchen
-vacuumed and mopped the floor
-polished the kitchen table
-watered the plants

I have a few more things on my to-do list, but I made myself a nice margarita first & sat down to take a break

The rest of my list is to:

-replant a plant (DONE)
-bring up last load of laundry
-clean the living room (DONE)
-vacuum and dust the living room (DONE)
-take cleaned out planters to the basement now that they are dry (DONE)
-vacuum upstairs bathroom floor (DONE)
-take a shower (DONE)
-make a yummy dinner
-PLOP MYSELF ON THE COUCH, watch some movies and/or read a book. No other work for the rest of the night. Even though my bedroom is a mess and so is the upstairs bathroom. That could be tackled tomorrow.

At least I knocked off a TON of stuff of my to-do list! hee-hee

My father is a wealth of homeowner knowledge. He has had his own home for 30+ years as well as 25 years of experience repairing appliances as his job. Because of the nature of his work, he has had 2 major back surgeries & cannot do a lot of what he used to. But he is still willing to help me repair things & to pass the knowledge onto me.

For example, last night, he helped me replace the garbage disposal. He let me do a lot of the physical work & talked me through things. But I know that 1. I can do this myself 2. When it comes time to do it in the future, I will have the knowledge. Thanks Dad!

He’s taught me tips of the trade and how to use tools. He gifted me my own (pink) tool kit when I bought the house & has given me many hand-me-downs. Extra screwdrivers, hammers, a drill with bits. But mainly, he’s given me the knowledge on how to repair things.

Since I’ve bought the house, he’s helped/taught me how to:
-paint a room
-replace the innards of a toilet
-fix a plank on the deck
-clean out dryer vents
-repair dryer issue
-walked me through a hot water heater leak
-change out a garbage disposal

He’s made sure I’m not afraid to try things myself. I certainly can get help when I need it (like around major electrical jobs), but I have the basic knowledge to do things for myself when I can.

So THANKS DAD!

Well, while I am settling finances in preperation for buying a car, I am in a self-imposed spending freeze. I bought some veggies today, but other than that, am hoping to have no spending until at least Tuesday.

This weekend, I am carless. I will mostly be at home until my mom gives me a ride to a bbq tomorrow (in her neighborhood) and I will borrow her car tomorrow night to get to work Monday.

However, life happens & I had to find ways to make due.

1. I have a problem with the kitchen sink. My dad has promised to come over Tuesday night & help me fix it. In the meantime, it will drain small streams of water, but clogs the second a larger stream happens.

I have been handwashing dishes, then rinsing in a big mixing bowl. Then pouring the water in the bowl into my downstairs bathroom sink. Its not pretty, but it works.

2. My tomato plant is growing & I needed to stake it. Howver, I have no plant ties or twisty ties or anything like that. So I used gift ribbon. Its kinda pretty to be honest



3. I am bringing a veggie tray to the bbq tomorrow and in addition, I wanted to bring a gift. So I am portioning off some of my mint & giving that as a gift. The host loves plants & recently gave me some aloe, so I know she will appreciate this.

4. I wanted a plant stand to put my Meyer Lemon tree nearer to the window. I re-used an old ikea table that was down the basement. Works perfectly!