Yep, today was a no spender. I haven't had one in quite a while. Today my nephew came over to play with the kitten and we watched The Bee Movie (borrowed from the library). Then I drove him to his Little League game, where I hung out with my mom.

Afterwards, my nephew went with my mom & I went to the park for a 2.6 mile walk. It felt great.

After that, I stopped back at my parent's house, because I promised my nephew I'd play Wii with him. Spent an hour doing that while my mom ran a few errands. (My sister, who is my nephew's mom, was at work today).

After that, I came home, got a shower, make myself meatloaf muffins, baked fries and a tomato salad.

Now I'm cleaning up and organizing and watching tv. Tomorrow will be more cleaning and laundry, with a walk at a different park. I will be spending for gas, though.

I have several outings planned for this upcoming week, but I'm trying to keep my entertainment spending low. We'll see how that goes.

Tuesday, my work group is going out to dinner with a peer from a site in a different state. He doesn't know anyone here, so we're trying to keep him company in his off time. I'm hoping I can keep my dinner bill under $10.00.

Wednesday, a group of coworkers from my old department are heading out to a local pub. We have reservations for the upstairs deck and we plan to enjoy cheap drinks, dinner, and good company. I'm hoping to keep my bill under $15.00

Thursday night, I'm meeting my sister and some of her friends at a different pub. This night could probably be accomplished for under $15.00.

Other than those outings, my entertainment will have to be free. I'm planning on taking food to work, and entertaining myself at home or at one of the great parks around my house.

Yesterday morning, I received my stimulus funds by Direct Deposit. Yesterday afternoon, I mailed $600.00 to Student Loan #1. I'll have to update my sidebars

I'm trying to get back on track. Lately, I've been all over the place with my spending, but no more. I'm back on track and planning things out.

Today, I spent 3.80 on 7 large tomatoes & romaine lettuce from the produce stand.I was hoping for a no spender today, but I was running out of veggies.

Tommorow will have some spending as well, as I have a dentist appointment. But it is a planned expense and the funds are available from my HSA.

Electric/Gas-wise, I've had the heat on one night in the last two weeks. I'm looking forwards to the much lower bill.

I also am working to cashflow the vet bills from the new kitty. To start, I plan on spending as little as possible from my entertainment budget and putting the extra funds towards the vet. We'll see how many otheways I can save towards the vet bill.

Well, I'm off to make dinner & something to take to work for lunch. (See, I'm planning ahead).

Today I flexed a few hours at work and went to a much needed eye exam. Its both for routine vision and a medical exam for an eye condition. It was a big bill for both plus a year supply of contacts.

I actually order 3/4 of a year supply because I do wear my glasses maybe once or twice a week. That supply will last me over a year.

AND since my prescription changed again and I haven't had new glasses in over 2 years, I still need to get the glasses. But they will be 100% covered under my vision insurance. Whew.


And I know its a little late, but here's my meal plan for the week:

Tuesday:
B: cheerios and milk; canned pears
L: turkey and cheese on rye; salad
D: Pasta with Morningstar chicken strips; cucumber & tomato salad

Wednesday:
B: cheerios and milk; canned pears
L: turkey and cheese on rye; salad
D: Taco salad; baked fries

Thursday:
B: cheerios and milk; fruit cocktail
L: turkey and cheese on rye; salad
D: Tuna wrap; cucumber & tomato salad

Friday:
B: cheerios and milk; fruit cocktail
L: turkey and cheese on rye; salad
D: Sloppy Joe over pasta


I know the breakfasts & lunches are bland & repetitive, but its a busy week at work and I won't have to think about what to pack... its just grab & go since its already in preset servings. I did that Monday night.

Even with the car problems and the toilet, March has had some good stuff going on.

I had some cashflow goals for the month and I think I've done pretty well so far.

I've managed to cashflow:

$27.00 for the Defensive driving fee (yay!)

$156.93 of my $338.84 car repair fee (yay!)

$0.00 for my new pantry door (boo!)


ALSO, my new balance on the student loan is $3,795.49! WOO_HOO!


But I'm ok with not having the funds for my pantry door. First, the one I wanted is not currently available. I'm hoping Home Depot will restock soon. Second, I may be able to fund the purchase through a gift card from Mypoints. I'm just waiting for some points to hit my balance.


I've been sticking to the Lunch Challange. Today I brought:
Oatmeal & pears for breakfast; cheese sandwich & salad for lunch; soda from home; free water at work

Tomorrow, I have planned:
Breakfast: Cheerios with milk, Lunch of spaghetti salad - tons of veggies, turkey pepperoni & a bunch of spicy goodness! YUMMY! Snack will be popcorn.

I also have been talking to someone from Craigslist about my room. Hopefully they'll be able to meet this weekend. Anyone with advice about how to handle bringing a roommate into your house, please share!

Today, I brought breakfast & lunch to work. I did spend $3.49 tonight to the veggie stand to get romaine lettuce and tomatos. I wasn't going to buy any more groceries, but I really wanted the stuff for salads. So now I'm set for the week grocery-wise.

I didn't spend anything at the car repair shop, but they also didn't fix the problem. Somehow, they say that the fact that the driver side controls don't work for the passenger window has NOTHING to do with the fact that they just fixed the passenger side window. And to fix it, would be over $400.00. So I told them to forget it. I hate that place. I only took the car back there last week because if the squeal was due to the belt, it would have been covered under warrenty at their shop. It was, but then I let them do the window. Big Mistake!

I'm going to shop around prices and my dad said he would take a look at it. We'll see.

In other news, I got 3 free cans of soda at work.

And the best news of all, after a few weeks of a plateau, I lost 2.8 pounds this week. Less than a pound and a half, I'll be at the 30 pound mark! Hopefully, that'll be next week!!!

First, about weekend spending. There was none! I vegged Friday night after a long work week. I did pop back out around 9pm to go to the grocery store. I didn't want to have to deal with the Saturday morning crowds.

Yesterday & this morning was hanging out with the nephew. This afternoon has been all about cleaning and watching Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. And recovering from the Nephew's visit

I have gotten a LOT accomplished. Its amazing how changing your sheets & dusting and vacuuming the house can change things

As for the upcoming week, I drop my car back to the repair place for work tomorrow. The window motor was fixed and the window will go up & down if you use the passanger controls. But they do not work from the driver side controls. I'm hoping its an easy fix that would require no extra charges. But if its the driver side controls that have the issue, I'll have to decide if I want to have it fixed (for a cost) or leave as is for now.

I'm trying not to spend until payday on Friday. I have a full tank of gas and tons of groceries. So unless some entertainment spending comes up, all of the extra funds in those 3 catagories can go to the Student loan as of Friday.

In an effort to keep up with eating at home & my lunch challange, I've made a meal plan for the week.

I have a desk drawer of oatmeal, crackers, granola bars and microwave popcorn.

Monday:
Breakfast: oatmeal & pears
Lunch: Salad, cheese sandwich
Dinner: Pasta, baked potato

Tuesday:
Breakfast:Cheerios with milk, hard boiled egg
Lunch: Pears, large salad
Dinner: Meatloaf muffin, baked fries, green beans

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal, hard boiled egg
Lunch: Cheese sandwich, salad
Dinner: Sloppy joe over egg noodles, green beans

Thursday:
Breakfast: Cheerios with milk
Lunch: PB&J sandwich, pasta salad
Dinner: Pasta w/ sauce; salad

Friday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal, fruit cocktail
Lunch: Pasta salad, cheese sandwich
Dinner: Turkey BLT; baked fries; salad

Saturday:
Breakfast: Cheerios, fruit cocktail
Lunch: Large salad with penne in it
Dinner: London briol, leftover baked fries; peas

As you can see, I can never get enough of salad, be it just cucumbers & tomatoes or a big salad with lettuce, cucumber, tomato, peppers, carrots, eggs, cheese & pepperoni. I've always been this way

I had a great week, no spending for food, except for Monday. I had a great networking opportunity at work to have lunch with a few of my peers, my manager & her manager and I took it. I spent $9.00 for lunch and was able to take leftovers home for dinner. It was definately worth it

The rest of the week, I did really well. But I have to start planning a little better. I have been stopping at the grocery store a little more often than I usually do.

So tomorrow, I'll be heading to the store for veggies & milk and I will not be going grocery shopping again til next weekend (payday).

I am really enjoying this challange and its working well because I've been changing things up with my Weight Watchers plan. I'm trying to find new ways to get dairy & whole wheat in. I've sorta hit a plateau in my weight loss journey and now I'm focusing more on varying up my meals.

Todays a no spender. I sucessfully packed breakfast & lunch today. I'll be having dinner at home as well. I plan on organizing some recipes while watching last night's Big Brother & tonight's LOST. My goal is to go to bed early, since I was out late last night.

Last night's spending was $10.00 exactly. I LOVE the Pub, its so Cheap! There was a band, loud & not that great, but we had a great time.

I dropped my car off to the repair shop last night. I'll hear back this morning about an estimate, hopefully it won't be too bad.

Yesterday, I spent $9.00 at Olive Garden for lunch plus tip. Last night, I bought groceries.

Today I packed breakfast & lunch:

Breakfast: Hard boiled egg plus hardboiled egg white, 8oz yogurt

Lunch: Turkey on Rye, salad with ff sundried tomato dressing

Today was a no spender and a beautiful day! I spent about a 1/2 hour on my deck, in the sun. But it was still too cool to stay out there all day

Monday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal & pears
Lunch: Olive Garden linguini marinara, one breadstick and salad.
Dinner: Taco Salad made with MorningStar crumbles and baked tortillas

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Hard boiled egg, oatmeal
Lunch: Meatloaf muffin, salad
Dinner: Turkey BLT, baked fries

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Hardboiled egg, oatmeal, pears
Lunch: Pasta salad, baked chips
Dinner: Sloppy joe over egg noodles, green beans

Thursday:
Breakfast: Cheerios, Granola bar
Lunch: PB&J sandwich, small salad
Dinner: Meatloaf muffin, leftover baked fries, green beans.

Friday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal, bran crackers
Lunch: Leftover Pasta salad, baked chips
Dinner: London Broil, baked potato

Saturday & Sunday are up in the air. But if I'm home, Saturday's dinner will be shake n bake chicken with corn muffins and Sunday's will be tilapia with rice.

I brought breakfast & lunch to work today. And now its lunch time and I realized that I forgot to bring my bread for my turkey sandwhich. I have the turkey & all the fixin's, but no bread. Then I went for my salad, and I have this huge one with lots of veggies & salad supreme seasoning. BUT no dressing. UGH! Foiled!

So now I'm munching on a granola bar & having a soda from home. I may even have some oatmeal. But there's no way I'm buying anything to eat.

Hopefully, I'll get out of work today. At least I know what I'm having for dinner. Turkey sandwich & salad

Brought breakfast and lunch to work today. I also stocked up my desk drawer with snacks - granola bars, crackers and oatmeal.

I donated $5.00 towards a Baby Shower gift for a coworker. But since thats a gift and not food related, it doesn't bust the Lunch Challange

Its been intersting to see what other people are doing with the challange. I was able to see how everone did last week & I'll be checking back to see how everyone's doing. If you're interested in checking it out, visit

Well, its Week 2 of the lunch challange. I'm off work tomorrow and will be heading to the movies with my mom in the afternoon. I plan on eating lunch before I go skipped food at the movies . So no money spent on food during the hours of 9 and 5. Well, really 7 & 4 since thats when I work

Monday:
Breakfast: Fruit cocktail
Lunch: Tuna Wrap
Snack: Cheerios
Dinner: Meatloaf muffin & baked fries

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Hard-boiled egg plus egg white
Oatmeal
Lunch: Turkey wrap, baked chips, small salad
Snack: Carrots
Dinner: Pasta with Morningstar Chick'n
Small salad, garlic bread

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Hard boiled egg plus egg white
Cheerios
Lunch: Turkey wrap, side of pasta salad
Snack: Granola bar
Dinner: Leftover Tuna sandwich, baked chips, large salad

Thursday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal, pears
Lunch: Turkey sandwich, small salad, baked chips
Snack: Carrots, granola bar
Dinner: Shake n bake chicken, baked potato, corn muffin

Friday:
Breakfast: Pears, cheerios
Lunch: peanut butter & jelly sandwich, salad
Snack: carrots
Dinner: Sloppy joe over egg noodles, salad.

Saturday & Sunday are up in the air since I don't know what my plans are yet.

Today I brought my breakfast & lunch to work. Plus I scored a free sandwich from leftovers from a meeting of the higher ups.

For breakfast, I had:
Hard boiled egg, plus 1 egg white
18 All Bran crackers

Lunch: 1 diet soda brought from home
Large salad with lots of yummy extras
Turkey Sandwich on Rye (free!)

Snack: baby carrots

I utilized free water at work for the rest of my drinks for the day.

Dinner will be at home - haven't decided what yet.


This weekend I'll be working on a meal plan for the week and I'll be posting my daily food report. I am really committed to this challange. Thanks to Krystal for coming up with challang! For more details, go to

Today's start to the lunch challange went well! I did stop by the grocery store tonight to pick up salad fixings. For tomorrow, I will have:
Breakfast: Oatmeal, fruit cocktail
Lunch: A BIG, yummy salad and all bran crackers
Snack: Carrots and pudding.

Then tonight, I made a TON of phone calls, all financial related.

-First, my car insurance to confirm the final payment was received to pay through July. It was. There was also a 'convenience fee nicely tacked on for $4.00, which the rep kindly waved. ($4.00 saved!)

-Second, I called a company that I had signed up for a trial with as part of a Cash Crate offer. The shipping & handling was supposed to be for 99 cents. But my card was charged for $1.89. The rep said that they only billed for the 99 cents, but since the credit card is showing $1.88, they would credit back 99 cents to the charge. I pointed out that then the amount I paid them was only 89 cents and she said thats fine, she could only credit back in the amount of the 99 cents. (so 10 cents saved!)

-Third, a RIDICULOUS phone call with Comcast. They had made a billing error last month and charged me for phone & internet, but not cable (although they gave me the $10.00credit for the special I was on). I had pointed out the error last month, but the rep told me it was a system glitch and they would fix it in the next month's statement. Well, they did find the error & decided to charge me $50.00 for it. In reality, I should have owed about $40.00.

So I called to challange the charge and talked to what had to the be stupidist person alive. It took him 40, yes 40, minutes to understand that I was being double billed this month because I was not billed last month. All I wanted was for the bill to be corrected by $10.00 and the guy just kept reading the bill to me over & over. Then he refused to get me a supervisor. So I asked him to just transfer me to one of his peers. I figured a different set of eyes on the problem would help. He also refused that. I didn't want to hang up, because the hold times were ridiculous. If I could get an in house transfer, it would be a lot quicker. But he still refused.

Just when I was going to hang up on him, he put me on hold (without my permission) and then he transferred me to the New Jersey Sales department, which couldn't help me, even though they tried. I got a 2nd rep on the phone who helped me in like 5 minutes and gave me an $18.96 credit, which was more than I was even asking for! I got to talk to a supervisor after that and the guy told me that he was going to pull the first rep off the floor right now to have a discussion about what he did. Whether the supervisor did that or not, I don't know, but I seriously hope he did. (So, $18.96 saved!)

-And as I apparently am a glutton for punishment, I decided to start calling credit cards that I am no longer using (for over a year) and wanted to close. I closed
- Gap
- The Limited
- Chase (I actually transferred the line to another Chase card prior to closing it)
- Sony Visa.

All closed me within 5 minutes, with very little hassle! I received a lot of 0% offers, but refused them all. I don't have any credit card debt to transfer anyway. (No monetary savings, but I did get a big splash of peace of mind!)

I still have two store cards & 4 major credit cards open. Although I am not going to be using credit cards, I am keeping those few open for the time being.

I plan on keeping it a low key weekend this week. I have been fighting a migrane, we're in for a big snowstorm and truth be told, I'm just stressed about some familiy stuff.

I have some library movies & books and I've taken to pulling stuff from my dvd collection that I haven't seen in awhile.

Also, I put up an add for a roommate on Craigslist. Last time that I did it, I mostly got scams and scary people. So hopefully, I'll do better this time around.

Today I decided to join Krystal at work's February-March Lunch Challenge! As she describes it, the challange is "...to not spend any money on lunch/snacks/coffee/tea during work days from now until March 31st". This will be tough for me, but definately doable! Wish me luck!

For more info on the challange, visit:

I only have a few bucks left in my entertainment/spending budget, so I'm planning a frugal weekend.

I'm planning on getting through some paperwork, cleaning, organizing, ect. I have a couple of movies from the library. I'm so into Agatha Christie movies-- Poirot, Ms Marple, ect.

Tomorrow's big plans are to take my cat to get her hind nails clipped. I had her declawed (where they take the front claws), but the back ones are still there. And they're long. My cat gets too freaked out for me to try to clip them myself. And of course, it creeps me out. So I'm happy to schlep her over to Petco and pay them $10.00 to do it. Its not something that has to be done regularly, but its budgeted into my petcare budget.

Then I may go over my sisters. She's been ill and her bf just broke up with her (what a jerk). So if she's still sick, she'll be staying home from work. IF she does, I'm going to head over with comfort food & movies.

If not, I've rented Saw IV and Sydney White and I'll be chilling at my house. Maybe heading to my friends for dinner and video games. (boy, its like college all over again)

Sunday is going to be fun. Dorky, but fun About 5 or 6 friends of mine decided we'll be having a movie marathon of the Lord of the Rings movies. We'll all be contributing food and drinks and we'll watch the movies in our pjs.

My contribution will be corn and blueberry muffins for breakfast, a big salad to go with lunch, and sodas. It looks like we'll be having wings, meatballs, beef and more. We'll probably talk through most of the movies, but it'll be a fun and relaxing day.

I am working on my mealplan for the upcoming week. I have been trying to make one freezable meal each week, so that I have a mix of options in the freeze.

Two weeks ago, I made sloppy joe. Last week, I made meatloaf muffings. This week, I'm going to make meatballs for meatball subs. And maybe I'll make some chicken taco filling. I am looking for new recipes, so if anyone has any suggestions, please share!



And I've decided to start sharing my library list. At any given time, I have several movies, magazines and books borrowed from the library.

So here's what I have at home right now:

-Agatha Christie's Ms Marple: Sleeping Murder
-Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse
-Bones Season 1, Disc 1
-Cooking Light Annual Recipes
-Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Incredible Theft
-Agatha Christie's Poirot: The King of Clubs
-Mission: Impossible III
-Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
-Weight Watchers 365 day Menu Book
-Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
-You're Broke Because You Want to Be by Larry Winget

Today was a no spender. Packed a hard boiled egg, banana and oatmeal for breakfast. A meatloaf muffin & salad for lunch. And I had dinner at home - Sloppy joe over egg noodles. YUMMY

Last night I did my taxes. I'm getting back $393 from Federal and $18.00 from taxes. I planned my withholdings carefully to ensure I wouldn't get a large tax refund. I'd rather have my money upfront

I just checked my CashCrate balance, which was $18.80 for January.

All of this is going to my student loan. Plus I'm expecting about $475.00 in an inherited insurance distribution.

My goal is to get that student loan paid off this year. I need to get my butt in gear and get a 2nd job. It's necessary if I want to get that loan paid off.