Today was a good day. I slept in, met up with a friend and went for a walk. It was chilly, but I'm really glad we went. Good to work out some stress!

After the walk, I went grocery shopping. Got a great deal on chicken tenders and ground turkey and came home with several pounds worth of each.

Being single, its hard to make meals without wasting food. So I utilize the freezer an awful lot. Including storing veggies, fruit & bread.

This afternoon, I made up sloppy joe with 1 pound of the ground turkey and divided it into 6 portions. Next, I browned 1 pound ground turkey with onion and made taco meat, which I portioned out into 5 containers.

The remaining pound of ground turkey went into the fridge to be made into meatloaf tomorrow. I would have done that today as well, but I forgot to pick up eggs at the store.

Then I took the 3 pounds of chicken tenders and divided them up into 13 portions. 12 were frozen and one was used to make buffalo breaded chicken for dinner.

Then I cleaned out the freezer. Unfortunately, there was some wasted food to be tossed. But now, I can easily see what I have in there, so at least thats something.

I have plenty of meals in the freezer, so for the next two weeks, any grocery purchases are going to be fruits, veggies & dairy.

Here's a small list of meal starters in the freezer:

Taco meat - 5 portions
Chicken tenders - 12 portions
Sloppy Joe - 6 portions
Precooked ground turkey with onions - 6 portions
Turkey Bacon - 5 portions
MorningStar Chick'n - 6 portions
MorningStar Crumbles - 2 portions
1 loaf wheat bread
1 loaf rye bread

So here's a rough idea of my meal plan for the upcoming week:

Dinners:

Monday: Meatloaf muffins
Tuesday: Pasta w/ ground turkey sauce
Wednesday: Sloppy joe w/ pasta
Thursday: Shake N Bake Chicken
Friday: BLT

Staying on track with packing breakfast, lunch, snacks and drinks for work. No spending on food there I stuck to my Weight Watchers plan too, and lost 3.2 pounds this week!

I've already premade food for tomorrow. I'm planning ahead for tomorrow night too. I have a happy hour in honor of a coworkers upcoming wedding. I'll go after work, stay for 1 - only 1 - drink and then I'll head home to a nice big dinner.

I've had the heat off the last two days. Its supposed to get colder again, so I have it set to kick back on when the temps in the house go under 65. Right now its 68 in the house. Any lower during the night and I get sick. Sinuses get all messed up and I already have a cold, so I don't want to aggrivate it. Otherwise, I would definately let the heat stay off as long as possible.

Today was a no spender. Never even left my house. About 1pm, my mom dropped my nephew off after his karate class. We've spent all day watching movies, playing with the cats, playing games and eating popcorn. And I'm wiped out. Just put him to bed about 15 minutes ago and I'll be following soon after.

Tomorrow, his mom will pick him up in the morning. I'm heading out to lunch for an informal high school reunion with a few old friends. Should be fun.

I'm off on Monday and I'm planning on using the day to help out a family friend and get some things done around the house. I want to clean out my freezer and make some meals for the upcoming week. I'm working on a meal plan now as I have $24.22 left in my grocery budget to last until payday next Friday.

In other news, my raise will hit with this new paycheck. It won't be much, but every bit counts.

The temps here have picked up. This is good because my nephew is small for his age and has absolutely NO meat on his bones. As a result, he's always cold, even with tons of layers on. So when he visits, I up the heat to 67 degrees. The heat has only come on a few times this evening, which is good

Packed 100% of food/drinks for work this week and stayed on my Weight Watchers plan. Yay!

Today I had:
Breakfast: Cheerios & Milk, apple
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Pasta salad, slice of (FREE) tomato pie
Dinner: Shake n bake chicken, baked red potatoes

I've done a little too much grocery shopping this week. My goal for next week is to do 1 big shop and 1 veggie shop. Shouldn't be too hard.

I went to a book club meeting with some friends at a local pub. $8.00 spent for a LOT of fun. Not my taste in books (Sci-Fi) and not really my book club (crashed a friends with their permission). But now I think I want to do a book club with some friends.

Went to the library today and picked up a couple of movies and books (a few recommended by the club last night). Stocked up on lots of entertaining options.

Tomorrow I'm having my nephew for the day & then he's spending the night. I picked up 2 movies from Redbox. The library kids selection was very slim and even though I won't be returning the movies until Sunday, 2 kids movies for $4.04 is totally worth it.

I also have food planned, games, cards, and my camera ready to catch all the cute moments. Its been awhile since my nephew & I have hung out, so I"m excited.

I'm working on cleaning up my paperwork and organizing my files. Its a big job & I'll take some before and after pics. Did I mention its a BIG job??

Still 100% packing food for work. Spent about 20 mins working out yesterday. Which I count as good since I spent 2 hours after that cleaning the house, running up & down the stairs, mopping & vacuuming

The only spending I've done yesterday & today was grocery shopping. Spent about $26.00 so far.

Tonight I'm hosting a LOST party. My two best friends and my two good work friends are coming over. I'm doing Shake-n-Bake Chicken and roasted red potatoes. Leftovers will be lunch tomorrow. And to make things easier on my self : last night I pre-portioned milk, cheerios and yogurt for breakfast tomorrow. I'll just pack up the chicken tonight & I'll be ready for tomorrow.

I received the 2009 sewer bill yesterday. It was a little under 1/2 was it was for 2008! I was able to reduce water usage and a neighbors issue with a burst pipe was apparently affecting me as well. Since it was fixed, my bills have gone down a lot!

This month, I'm challanging myself to spend NOTHING on eating out at work. Day 1 went well. Packed breakfast & lunch and I stocked up my desk drawer with snacks & a backup lunch (soup) just in case. Made dinner at home tonight as well. Yay!

As a bonus, I stayed within my WeightWatchers plan, which is another February goal

Worked out in my living room and according to my Heart Rate Monitor, I burned nearly 400 calories. Not bad for a quick work out! This meets part of another February goal - working out several times a week!

The kitty has found a new comfy place... my bathroom sink. Its cute as anything! But I can't seem to get a good pic of when he's sleeping. Still, I thought I'd share.








I'm starting my own personal challange of no longer buying food at work. I've prepacked food for tomorrow. One day at a time

Hope everyone had a good weekend! I did Friday I went to a happy hour & then to a friends to play cards. A guy I'm seeing met up with us at the friends and he & I ended up watching a movie at his place.

Yesterday, I went to a local wrestling show. Kinda like WWF or whatever its called now. A friend was participating in it and a group of us all went to show our support. It was kinda cheesy, but really fun. There were a lot of people, including kids. They have another show in the beginning of March & I think I'll take my nephew to it. And possibly my friend Mike. It would be right up his alley $15 to get in, but the show was worth it.

Today I'm heading to the movies with my mom. Its been months since I saw a movie in the theater. She wants to get out of the house and there's a small independantly owned theater where matinees are still under $6.00. Not too bad!

When I come back tonight, I have a to do list waiting: Do laundry, make a meal plan, clean the kitchen, pack food for work tomorrow. All easily done!

On Thursday, I was given my raise for 2009. 3.13%. Not too bad considering most companies in my industry stopped raises alltogether for 2009 and some are stopping their company match program. I also know that I was at the high end of the scale for raises.

And I inherited a free tv from my sister and nephew. After Christmas, my sister bought my nephew a new 13 inch tv for his bedroom. I took the one that he previously had, with a built in vhs and am putting it in the spare room. I also have a spare dvd player, so I'm going to use it for work out tapes. Plenty of room to work out in the spare bedroom. And when summer hits & it gets too hot to work out upstairs, then I can easily carry the tv down to the basement to set up shop down there

I've been utilizing the library a LOT again. Movies & books, with some magazines thrown in for good measure.

For February, I have 2 mini goals:

1. Pack all meals/snacks for work for the month, with 1 time eating out option
2. Attempt to use as little as possible out of my entertainment budget, but still be well entertained. We'll see how creative I can get!

Went to the store today. I'm back doing Weight Watchers & I've been eating at home/packing lunches more. But I'd eaten down the pantry & freezer. So I needed to stock up.

Ended up spending $93.00 at Walmart and about $11.00 at the local produce stand.

I still have a couple of things to get from the Super G by my house on a few things that either Walmart was out of OR is less than Walmart's price.

So now I'm stocked up. I had a big salad for dinner, with pasta in it.

Tomorrow I am having:

Breakfast: Cheerios & milk, 1c yogurt
Morning Snack: All Bran Crackers
Lunch: Large salad with pasta in it.
Afternoon Snack: Mini popcorn
Dinner: To Be Determined - probably pasta

Tomorrow night I'm having a few friends over to watch LOST. Can't wait for it!

I've been really busy the last few weeks and a LOT of things have been piling up. My kitchen was disgusting and I had presents, paperwork and stuff all over my living room.

Well today, I took care of it. Did 3 loads of laundry with no use of the dryer. I took my Christmas tree down, and drove it over to the land refuce recycling drop off. Free recycling! Then I vaccummed up the millions of needles all over the floor. Organized my ornaments and packed them all back up. By packing them better, I went from 4 bins of Christmas ornaments, lights & knickknacks to 3!

Then I cleaned up the living room all together. Finally, I moved into the kitchen. Did dishes by hand AND ran the dish washer. Made dinner, cleaned up again. I just need to wash the kitchen floor, but I won't get to it til next week.

And since my January goal is to NOT purchase food/drink at work, I pre-made and pre-packaged food for the week. I have breakfasts and snacks covered. I made a big salad & thawed sloppy joe for lunch tomorrow. Tomorrow night I'll make lunches for Tues/Wed. And then Wed night, I'll make lunches for Thurs/Fri. That way I can catch a break every other day

I budget a large amount for gasoline each pay period. With the prices so low, I'm coming in way under budget. I filled up the car today and I have around $23 leftover. I won't need to refill the tank this payperiod, so I'm setting the funds aside in a savings account for gas for when I travel during the summer

Ugh, Jan 1st & I'm sick AND I managed to duplicate a payment to my mortgage, overdrawing my household expenses checking account. I've set up a transfer from ING Savings to cover the deficit, but man thats annoying. And I only have myself to blame. I've NEVER overdrawn an account before.

Yesterday was awesome. I was let out of work 3 hours early. Had an inpromtu lunch out with some friends. Headed home and got dressed up. Met friends for a quick Happy Hour at the pub. My friend bought the first round and wouldn't accept any money from me. So yay free drink!

Then I headed to a friend's house to help set up for a party. It was a LOT of fun.

Today I had all these grand plans of stuff to do and now I'm just spending it on the couch. I made a quick run to the closest store for food and I picked up a redbox movie.


I already have a yearly budget & January budget set up. Im working on my financial goals, which I normally have done by mid December. But a few things are up in the air & I'll have more info by Jan 15th, so I've got tentative goals until then.

I'm also planning on working on some mini challanges for myself. January I'm going to work on packing breakfast, lunch & snacks for work. With only 1 time expected to eat out (monthly work lunch out). That a LOT of packed food. It'll be a challange.

Took food to work, but did buy a soft pretzel to supplement lunch. Cost: 55 cents.

We just got an email that our work cafeteria is getting rid of the salad bar & the hot entrees. That will leave the unhealthy grill options, pizza and sandwiches. They will have prepackaged salads though. Sign of the times. Our company contracts the cafe out to another company. Its plain to see that they're cutting the budget. But its good motivation to pack my lunch more.

Tonight I watched my nephew for a little bit, came home & hung out on the couch. I made some lunch for tomorrow, already have preportioned milk, cheerios & yogurt set aside for breakfast.

I plan on having meatloaf & baked fries for dinner, but will have to stop & pick up the potatoes first.

So things have been a little out of control for me lately. With eating and with spending. It's been off & on for a few months, but I've finally hit a wall. I am feeling the ill effects of gaining a few pounds back and of using extra cash for eating out or entertainment instead of focusing on savings.

Well, I'm getting back on track. I have a meal plan for the week (following my Weight Watchers plan) and I have a spending plan for this pay period (which started the 28th).

Today I bought cat food & a few groceries. I skipped getting lunch out and made food at home. I'm staying in tonight. Watching movies from the library and free on Comcast On Demand.

Tomorrow should be a laid back day as well. Tidying up the house, doing laundry, maybe heading to a friend's house to play some board games.

I'm going to start journaling my spending again. Never hurts, right?

Layoffs at work today. I don't really want to talk about it, but just to say that I spent most of today waiting to hear my status.

Some were let go, some were given options to do different things (in a lesser position) or to take severence. I am one of the few in my area whose position remains unchanged. I will take on different responsibilites, but in a good way.

I'm fairly new to this position (compared to others) and people who had been with the company MUCH longer were not spared. I feel relieved and guilty at the same time.

They rolled out of the situation in a way that was secretive. So rumors flew and I was left at my desk for hours waiting for my turn to get info. They were doing things one by one.

I have a plan if I was laid off, but I know there are people in my office that don't have plans or emergency funds. I am sad for the whole situation.

In other news, my heat is STILl off, today was a no spender. I've already packed all my food for work tomorrow.

I am heading to my parents house to fix my sister's computer and just to talk things out with my dad. I've never been in a layoff position before, but he has. And I think it would be good to get some perspective.

Its chilly here and I wanted something warm for dinner. So I thawed spagetti sauce with ground beef, mushrooms, peppers and onions that I had made last week and froze. Then I made a single serving of spaghetti, and took 2 slices of wheat bread and turned it into garlic bread. It totally hit the spot!

I've noticed that when I am focused on Weight Watchers, that I save money because I eat a true portion size, instead of overeating. Which, in turn, helps my grocery bill!

Otherwise, bought some veggies and cat food today. All budgeted. No entertainment spending/eating out today.

Still no heat on

Got paid today. Paid my mortgage & normal monthly bills. Put gas in my car and put $237.00 in an extra payment to my student loan.

I put the extra money from the electric budget ($37.23) and a few other catagories into savings. I like to build up a small amount in a freedom account for any expected 'unexpected' expenses (if you know what I mean).

Since I have all these planned savings and planned overpayment of my student loan, I sometimes have a tight month cash/spending wise. But its by choice. I want to meet my goals and for the most part its not a hardship for me to do so.

Last month, I had a lot of events - camping, a concert, and a wedding. So I spent more entertainment/gifts wise. So this motnh the entertainment budge is a little smaller

I also filled up the tank and made a BIG grocery run. I plan on doing some baking and I wanted to try making my own bread. Now I'm set except for getting some more milk and veggies later next week.

So now, after all is said and done, I've got a small amount left for discretionary spending.

From today until the 15th, I have:
-$16.02 in the gas budget (But I usually only fill up once a pay period).
-$36.96 for groceries
-$19.21 for entertainment/spending (this was already a lower amount than usual)
-$6.00 for cat litter
-$15.28 for personal items (really need to stock up in this catagory)

My goal is to stick to all of those budgeted amounts. To not go over in any catagory AND to not move funds from one to another. Its doable, mainly I just need to plan food and keep myself entertained VERY cheaply

Luckily, there's a lot of good tv on right now. And what I don't watch during the week, I can catch up on with Comcast On Demand and the internet

For meals,

I plan on having oatmeal for breakfast, tomato & cucumber salad & a cheese sandwich for lunch. Dinner will be pasta most likely

Thursday: Cheerios & milk for breakfast, pasta salad for lunch, meatloaf muffins for dinner.

Friday: Cheerios & milk for breakfast, salad w/ meat for lunch, tacos for dinner.

Happy 1st day of Fall! I'm enjoying having the windows open

Today, I went over in my grocery budget. It resets on the 15th, but I'm probably going to need one more run to the produce stand in the meantime.

I went over knowingly though. I found a good deal on blueberrys (end of season?) and bought 4 pints. I've already frozen them and will use them in blueberry banana muffins. Very healthy muffins and much less calories than store bought ones, which is great since I'm doing Weight Watchers. Blueberry muffins are kind of my guilty pleasure

I have already prepacked food for tomorrow and have snacks to put in my desk drawer.

I worked out for 1/2 an hour tonight and plan on taking a walk tomorrow. Either heading out to a local park or just walking around the neighborhoods close to mine.

Today my sister and I took my nephew and a friend to the Oktoberfest. She had free tickets (saved $7.00). Free rides for the kids and fairly cheap food, drink and beer We stayed a few hours. I spent $6.00 out of pocket. And it was a great day!

Tonight I pre-sorted food for the week and made lunch for tomorrow. To prepare, I pre-portion 1 cup Cheerios into individual plastic bowls. I premeasure 1 cup milk into individual containers. I pre-portioned 8 oz of yogurt into containers. I also cut up 4 containers worth of carrot sticks. So now I'm ready to go forward with my meal plan.

Monday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & milk
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Meatloaf muffin, carrots
Snack: mini bag of popcorn
Dinner: Tuna sandwich on Rye, salad
Snack: To be determined

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & milk
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Pasta salad, pears, carrots
Dinner: Tuna sandwich on rye, baked fries, salad

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & milk
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Turkey bacon BLT; salad
Dinner: Spaghetti with ground turkey, salad.

Thursday:
Breakfast: Pears, Yogurt
Snack: carrots
Lunch: Cheese sandwich, pasta salad
Dinner: Chicken, roasted potatoes

Friday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & Milk
Snack: Fruit smoothie (homemade)
Lunch: Sloppy joe over pasta, salad
Dinner: Chicken taco salad over baked tortillas

Now I just have to follow through with the plan

Packed breakfast for work, but forgot (translated into was too lazy to make) lunch. So I spent 1.03 on a salad, .55 on a soft pretzel, and .85 on baked doritos. I did have dinner at home though!

And I spent some time this evening making a large salad with pasta for lunch tomorrow.

Today, the A/C was off all day, and it rained earlier, so its nice and cool with just a tad of humidity. I am getting excited for Fall. I get this sorta nesting feeling this time of year. I want to bring out blankets and candles and prepare to snuggle

Tomorrow, I am heading to my parents house after work. I'm supposed to watch my nephew for a few hours and set up my dad's new computer. I will probably get dinner out of it.

I have to prep for my camping trip. Pick up a poncho (roughly $7) since its going to rain this weekend. I'm sharing a tent with some friends (free). My share of the camp site for the weekend was $20.00. And two of the girls are going to buy food on Thursday night, so I'm looking at probably another $20.00 towards that. I am really excited to be going, even with rain!

And, I forget if I mentioned this or not, but I'm going to a wedding at the end of the month and its pretty fancy. So I went shopping last weekend for a dress. Is it me, or did all the stores stop carrying dresses except for in the juniors department? I finally found on, which I liked all right, but was pretty expensive. Well, I remembered the cute dress that I wore to my high school reunion last year and suddenly I have a dress that I love! Taking back that other one on Thursday!

I ended up going to a party last night instead of staying in. Brought some drinks from my fridge as a contribution, so no out of pocket spent.

This morning, I slept in, made breakfast, lunch and dinner at home. Premade food for tomorrow. Deep cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the living room. Cleaned the upstairs bath including lots of scrubbing. Did three loads of laundry and only used the dryer once for bathmats. Hung everything else inside.

I cleaned out the closet and put together four more large bags of clothes to donate. Mostly went through old suits and dress clothes that no longer fit and are not needed in my current work situation.

I painted my toes, gave myself a facial, organized my jewelry. Played with the cats, talked to some friends, made lists of things to do and goals

And I still managed to watch some tv, take a nap, and generally enjoy myself. I feel like I got a LOT accomplished!

The A/C has been off since last night. And the best part was that today was a no spender.

Made some muffins this afternoon. Tweaked the recipe a bit and they came out GREAT! Big, tasty and healthy.

Today, I cleaned, played on the internet, watched a movie, read a book. Tonight I'm supposed to hang out with this guy. I'm hoping to talk him into staying in and watching a movie.

I already have food packed for work tomorrow. Breakfast of cheerios & milk; morning snack of muffin. Lunch is spaghetti salad.

And while I was writing this post, the guy just called. Wants to stay in. Make me dinner at his place. So today will still be a no spender! Woohoo!

Went to the movies and an early dinner with mom today. She needed some cheering up and it was well worth it, but it was spending (from my entertainment budget) that I was hoping to avoid today. Oh well.

Turned the AC back on this evening. Its very hot and humid and unlike most days in the last two weeks, I'll actually be home tonight and all day tomorrow. Might was well be comfortable.

I am working on a meal plan for the week. I'm hoping to not spend any money Monday through Thursday. No eating out, no snacks at work, no happy hours. It used to be that these days were common, but lately, I've been all over the place with my spending. Time to get back on track.

I earned a $25.00 Amazon gift certificate from a credit card that I use & pay off each time. It was a planned benefit and that gift certificate is going towards my Christmas shopping.

I also stocked up on soda at the store today. Its rare to see a sale on 12 packs at 5 for $10.00. So I stocked up. I then took the codes from the 12 packs and signed up for Pepsi Stuff for the first time. Sometime next year, I might get something free from that. Never hurts. I'm also going to ask coworkers to give me their points if they're not using them.

This weekend, I have lots of plans. Tomorrow, I'm going to a happy hour with work friends then meeting other friends at a nearby bar. I plan on having dinner - the shrimp at this place is AWESOME! I'm going to keep the total night's spending under $20.00

Saturday, a friend and I are going to look for dresses to wear to a wedding. Its pretty formal and I have nothing that fits anymore. Hope I can find a good deal, because my budget is TIGHT!

Sunday and Monday are completely unplanned. I have some movies from the library and a few novels. I have a well stocked kitchen for yummy meals. I plan on going to my parents one day and hiking the other. I hate to travel this holiday weekend.


As for money plans, I have a lot of planned spending coming up:

Next weekend, I'm going to the beach since I missed out on going last weekend. Just for the day.

The next weekend, I'm going camping and whitewater rafting.

The following weekend is free. Then the next, I have a concert Saturday night and a wedding Sunday afternoon. We're planning on getting a hotel room for the wedding and heading back Monday morning.



So lots of stuff going on. Now I'm looking to do this without breaking my budget. I want to be able to put extra funds to the student loan, which now has a balance of $6,579.98! Woohoo!

On the upside, my electric bill was only $69.01! I had the air back on the last few days and was able to turn it back off yesterday. I want to keep it off as much as possible for two reasons: I LOVE fresh air and I love the lower electric bill

Last week it was my credit card that was taken. This Friday, I went to a Happy Hour and my cell phone was taken. UGH.

The theif has cajones. He took the phone right off the table. There was a lot of confusion due to it being a LARGE table with lots of different people coming and going. So I really shouldn't have left it out on the table.

At least I was able to shut it off immediately after I realized it was gone. And I was able to get a new phone on Saturday for $19.99 after rebate.

I've been spending like crazy, bought some more new clothes. Its been out of control lately. I'm a little mad at myself for gettiing so off track.

So, I'd like to talk about the things that I'm doing right.

-Turned the A/C off Friday morning til this afternoon. Humidity went back up and I had guests today. Still, my electric usage has been a LOT less than last month.

-Air dried 2 loads of laundry this week. One of which was towels and sheets, which I normally use the dryer for. I ended up hanging a couple of sheets off doors since I only have drying racks & hangers, not a clothes line.

-Made a meal plan for the week. I have already premade meals for tomorrow.

-Got a decent deal on low-fat ground turkey - bought two packs of 3 pounds each. I browned 3 pounds up tonight and packaged them as two 1 lb packages, and five 1/5 pound packages for individual meals. Took a third of the 2nd package and made meatloaf muffins. Tomorrow night, I'll make sloppy joe with the other two pounds. I just need to get one thing from the store first.

-Cleared more clothes from the closet. Organized my Fall/winter stuff and I know I'm set for the season.

-Cleaned the smelly cat litter boxes with water and vinegar and it REALLY made a difference. Nice, cheap solution!

-Did my own nails. I actually find this to be relaxing to do myself.

-Bought bananas and blueberries really cheap and have frozen a bunch for baking and smoothies later on


I also have several big expenses coming up. In the next two months:

- Concert with friends. Ticket, gas and at least one drink while there: Estimated $100.00

- Camping and white water rafting, gas, tent site, food: Estimated $150.00

- Wedding of coworker, slightly out of town. Gift, gas, hotel (a group of us are sharing a room), and breakfast: $130.00

- One more trip to the beach and boardwalk. Gas, tolls, parking, dinner, and maybe games: Estimated $80.00. (Gas being around $50)

***All of these expenses are probably over estimated, but I'd rather overestimate than underestimate.

Today I packed breakfast (cheerios & milk), lunch (pasta salad and grapes) & snacks (carrots and strawberries) for work.

On the way in this morning, I filled up the car with gas at 3.69/gal! Glad I did it, on the way home that same station was sold out. The next lowest price in the area was $3.80. I spent $48.58 of my $60.00 budget. I've put the remaining funds $11.42 in a savings account.

After work, I headed into the area around the University. (5 mins from work in the opposite direction from home). I parked in a free parking lot and walked two miles around the campus. I got a little nostalgic as this was my undergrad school. (Yay free healthy exercise, de-stressing and entertainment all in one)

I've been trying different places for walking as I tend to get bored. I'm definately going to keep the University on my list!

After work, I headed home. Made dinner (Big salad, with pasta and a side of baked fries).

And now I'm vegging. The cats are fighting, so I have to keep yelling at them I'm watching free movies from Comcast, giving myself a pedicure and playing on the internet. Great start to the weekend!



Tomorrow morning, I'm getting up early & heading to a local state park for an hour long hike. $3.00 admission, but its so worth it!

Then in the afternoon, I have a party to go to. Its a big cookout with crabs and beer. Its a little far away and pretty much an all night party, so most of the guests camp out. The guests chip in $20.00 and bring a dish. I'm bringing brownies.


And just cause I'm still ridiculously happy about paying off my student loan, I've been making all kinds of spreadsheets. I REALLY want to have this paid off by my 30th birthday, which is in April. It would be a HUGE stretch, but I'm going to try.

I'll get the check from my mom this weekend and the first thing I'll be doing is putting that $2047.54 to the student loan. (Which is the original $5,000.00 minus the payoff on Student Loan# 1 minus funds set aside for a complete new wardrobe when I hit my weight goal and vacation funds).

Once that hits Loan #2 and the extra payment I just sent of $225, I'll have a balance of roughly $6,744.74. Down from today's balance of $9017.28. Thats a pretty great start!

Booo! The electric bill went up. $94.97! Still under budget, but I'm not too happy with the amount. I got the amount online, but I'm waiting for my paper statement to see what the usage was. With the rates going up, its hard to tell if that bill is really all that out of line.

I've been home all day with a migrane. So its been a no spender. All the things on my to do list went out the window. Oh well.

Today, I've set the AC at 78, but it hasn't kicked on in hours. I've kept the window shades drawn and thats helped. I am utilizing a fan in the living room. A bit before going to bed, I'll lower the temp a little more and use my bedroom fan to keep things cool.

I get paid tomorrow and I've worked out a zero based budget for this pay period. My goals are to stay within the budgeted amounts for entertainment spending ($39.75), groceries ($50.00), gas ($60.00) and cat expenses ($31). I'll hold myself accountable here because I really need to get back on track with this kind of spending.

I've also premade food for work tomorrow. Cheerios and milk for breakfast. Salad with chicken for lunch. Popcorn as a snack. I've made a tentative meal plan for the rest of the week.

Wednesday Dinner: Chicken and baked fries
Thursday Lunch: Meatloaf muffin and pasta salad
Thursday Dinner: Sloppy joe over pasta
Friday Lunch: Salad with chicken
Friday Dinner: Turkey BLT

I've been spending like crazy. Too much on food, too much on going out. Just too much. Well, I'm getting back on track tonight.

Payday is tomorrow, I'm working a $0-Based budget for this pay period. I plan on sticking strictly to it. And to get myself started, I made a meal plan. (Woo-hoo!)

Also, to save electricity and becuase I just wanted some fresh air, I turned the A/C off and opened up the windows. Its 66 degrees right now, but in the sun tomorrow, it'll be close to 90. I was worried about leaving the cats home in the heat, but I read on wikipedia that cats tolerate heat better than humans.

So I'll be closing up most of the windows, and drawing the blinds to keep the sun out. Worst case scenario, they'll chill out in the basement (pun intended). The basement is really cool during the summer.

Here's the meal plan. I work one from Tuesday to Monday, based on my Weight Watchers meeting.

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & Milk; Yogurt
Snack: Granola
Lunch: Meatloaf muffin and pasta salad
Dinner: Buffalo Shake n Bake chicken; tomato salad

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & Milk; Fruit Cocktail
Lunch: Salad with roasted chicken; Cheese sandwich
Dinner: London broil; salad w/ light italian

Thursday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & Milk; Yogurt
Lunch: Peanut butter & Jelly sandwich; salad
Dinner: Sloppy joe over egg noodles; tomato salad

Friday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal; Fruit cocktail
Lunch: Sloppy joe over egg noodles; cucumber salad
Dinner: Pasta with meatsauce; salad

The weekend's up in the air until I know what I'm doing.

During the week, I plan on walking and/or working out at least 4 times. Definately doable. I'll keep you updated.

Breakfasts and Morning Snack:
T: Cheerios & milk, 1c fruit cocktal, 1c strawberries
W: Cheerios & milk, yogurt, strawberries
Th: Cheerios & milk, 1c fruit cocktail, 1c strawberries
F: Cheerios & milk, yogurt
S: Waffles, yogurt
S: Cheerios & milk

Lunches:
T: Cheese sandwich; salad w/ turkey
W: Meatloaf muffin, salad w/ turkey
Th: PB&J, salad w/ croutons
F: Turkey salad in wheat pita; cucumber salad
S: Sloppy joe over pasta; cucumber salad
S: Morningstar crumbles taco salad

Dinners:
T: Tuna sandwich
W: Buffalo chicken tenders, baked potato
Th: Tuna sandwich
F: Grilled chicken, green beans
S: London broil; baked potato, salad
S: Penne with morningstar chicken, salad

I decided to take inventory of the food I have in my fridge, pantry and freezer in order to meal plan and use up some of the things I'd forgotten about.

I also had gone shopping today and got some good deals on olive oil (51oz for $8.99) and Cheerios. You'll also see that recently I've gotten some dirt-cheap deals on whole wheat pasta & chicken, so I've got lots

The breads and most of the meats are frozen to be used as individual servings since I'm usally cooking for only one.

So here is it, in no particular order.

2 - 51oz olive oil
Popcorn kernals
Blueberry muffin mix
peanut butter
sugar free jam
angel food cake
fat free croutons
bread crumbs
2 boxes Barilla Plus Penne
4 granola bars
SF FF syrup
4 boxes whole wheat spaghetti
5 boxes whole wheat penne
1 1/2 bag no yolk egg noodles
1 1/2 boxes generic cheerios
4 14oz boxes real Cheerios
3/4 bag baked tortillas
1 box whole wheat rotini
1/3 box regular elbow noodles
1/4 box whole wheat elbow noodles
3 packs of shake-n-bake
1 box brown rice
1 package tuna (for salads)
4 jars pasta sauce
4 cans tomato sauce
2 cans tomato paste
1 can diced tomatos
12 ff chocolate pudding
5 servings of Crystal Light mix (assorted)
8 cans of tuna in water
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
4 cans green beans
1 can peas
2 cans pears
4 cans fruit cocktail
apple sauce
5 bottles of 2liter soda
eggs
ff cheese slices
12 ff yogurts (8oz)
1/2 pack ff mozzerella
1/2 pack ff cheddar
assorted salad veggies
2.5 pound pre-grilled chicken tenderloins
3 - 1lb packs Purdue Chicken tenderloins
2 - 10oz Perdue Shortcuts Oven Roasted Turkey
7 Lean Cuisines/Healthy Choice
2 boxes whole wheat eggo muffins
6 Morningstar veggie Sausage patties
4 Veggie burgers
1 box Morningstar buffalo bites
1 lb ground turkey
3 lb bag frozen strawberries
8 tyson grilled chicken strips
5 lbs potatoes
4 granola bars
5 12 packs of soda
6 pre-portioned frozen sloppy joe
8 pre-portioned frozen meatloaf muffins
3 pre-portioned serving London Broil (freezer)
1 1/2 bag Morningstar Chick'n
3 loaves lite wheat or rye bread
1 bag frozen corn
1/2 gallon milk
1 lb turkey bacon
4 whole wheat pitas
1/2 gal sf ff strawberry ice cream
1/2 gal sf ff mint choc chip ice cream
homemade turkey meatballs
homemade banana bread
6 Tilapia fillets
1 bag Morningstar crumbles
1 Lite Whipped cream


In addition, I have staples, such as butter, salad dressings, seasonings, flour, sugar, vinegars, ect. I'll post my meal plan tomorrow.

Monday:
B: Cheerios & Milk, carrots
L: Pasta salad, Cheese sandwhich
D: Penne with sauteed veggies in red sauce, salad

Tuesday:
B: Cheerios & Milk, carrots
L: Large salad, meatloaf muffin
D: Tunafish on Lite Rye; Tomato salad

Wednesday:
B: Cheerios & Milk; yogurt
L: Large salad, meatloaf muffin
D: Buffalo Chicken; baked fries

Thursday:
B: Cheerios & milk; pears
L: Sloppy joe over pasta; salad
D: Tunafish on Lite Rye; cucumber & tomato salad

Friday:

B: Oatmeal, yogurt
L: Pasta salad
D: Tilapia & Rice