HouseHappy's Personal Finance Blog

I love to use the library for entertainment. In addition to fiction and non-fiction books, I utilize it regularly for dvds. It helps that there is a library 5 minutes from my work and another location is 5 minutes from my house.

At any given time I have a running list of requests for the library. I update the list every week or two, getting on the wait list for newer movies. Then I suppliment my dvd selection with older tv shows.

My county has several locations and they all have inter-library loans. So if my work or home library doesn't have what I want, I can get it from one of the other ones. And I can return books and movies at any of the locations. Our system is really well run.

I am a HUGE movie watcher. I cut out my Netflix membership two months ago and I use the library to fill its void.

Now, not every movie I want to watch is available from the library system. So I keep a list of things that I want to watch, but can't get at the library. When I have some time off from work later in the year, I plan on starting up the Netflix for a month and watching the dvds from the list.

And through the magic of the library, I have discovered many different shows. I have been watching classic movies, 70s tv shows, A&E specials and more.

I also use the library for workout dvds. I've tried pilates, Leslie Sandsone, Tae Bo, Pilates and move. Its been a lot of fun.

I know I'm lucky to have such a great library system, but I encourage everyone to check theirs out. You never know what your library has to offer.

Today was a no spender, so was yesterday. I packed food for work and didn't buy any thing else from the cafe even though I was tempted to several times

This weekend, I am watching a bunch of dvds that I borrowed from the library. I'm fighting being sick, so I really don't plan to do much this weekend, except maybe de-Christmas the house. I had grand plans of recycling the Christmas tree again this year, but the State Park that I dropped my tree off last year to is not accepting recycled trees this year. So now my trash company will be taking it.

So anyway, I've been watching the first season of Hitchcock Presents, which I like a lot. I also picked up the first and only season of Kolchak: The Night Stalker. I had never heard of the series (I think it was from the 70s), but its really very funny. Its about a reporter to investiages strange occurances. Think zombies, vampires and werewolves.

I have a meal plan set up for this weekend and other than going to the grocery store on Sunday for salad stuff, I don't think I'll be leaving the house this weekend.

Hope everyone has a good one!

I haven't had time to sit down and set any goals, personal or financial. I've been having some health issues and its kinda thrown things up in the air for a little while.

I have been feeling better, so I'm trying to get back into a good routine.

I purged some stuff in the house over the last few days, which made me feel better. I have a few things that I want to put up for sale on Craigslist.

Today, was a no spender. My mom did treat me to a movie. We saw National Treasure 2, which was cute.

I made my meals at home today. I premade food for tomorrow. I am really going to work on not spending money at the office cafe. With being sick, I've been relying on it a lot instead of packing. But I've made a meal plan for the rest of the week and I"m going to stick with it.

I do plan on getting some goals together this weekend. I already have an idea of what they are, I just want to sit down and define them before sharing.

Good luck to everyone in the New Year.

I'm trying to stay away from the sales, but I picked up a few quick things at 50% off.

-A new tree skirt. Mine ripped last year & I went without one this year, but I was able to get a really cute one for $10.00.

- 18 pack of glittery ball ornaments to match 2 sets that I bought last year $4.99

- Gift tags $1.00

- 2 pack of Guinness mugs for a gift for Christmas 2008. I have a friend who is a Guinness freak, so this was a great find for $10.00.


Also, I'm thinking about using the $20.00 Old Navy gift card that I received for Christmas. I have managed to destroy 3 shirts with dumb spills of food or drink. I haven't been able to get the stains out, so now they've been made weekend hang-around-the-house clothes. Old Navy has some henleys and long-sleeve fitted tees for $10.00 or less. I think I'm going to go ahead and grab a couple. I'll probably use $20.00 out of pocket and buy 4 for the price.

I sent $2,575 to my student loan. Right now I have 2 emergency funds. I took one of my emergency funds, some money leftover in budget catagories, some acrued interest on savings and sent it all to Student Loan #1.

This will bring my balance to under $5,000.00, which was a goal I set for myself awhile ago.

My main 2008 goal is to completely pay off that Student Loan. Its in my parents name and I just want it to be over.

I had another movie night with friends. I made a meal out of food from the freezer. We had some leftover beer and watched a movie that I had borrowed from the library. It was a lot of fun.

The last paycheck that I received from work as missing the last 9 hours of overtime that I earned before taking my new position. I spoke with my manager and it should show up in my December 30th paycheck. All of it will be going directly to Student Loan#1.

Last month, I cleared out my balance from MyPoints for a few small gift cards to use for Christmas. I haven’t really paid attention to how long it takes me to build a balance with MyPoints. But since I literally cleared out the balance to zero, I’ve been watching it build back up. It went from 0 on November 5th to 790 as of today! I’m sure that I could have done better as I’ve missed some of the offers, but still, its growing quickly

Also, last week, I signed up for Cash Crate. I spent about 10 minutes signing up for a couple of offers. Then I let it sit for a few days, waited for the offers to be validated. Then I cancelled the free trials. I only did 3 to start out with. I was able to cancel them within 10 minutes. Altogether, I put in about 20 minutes of time (mostly while I was watching tv) and a small fee of $1.95 for one of the offers and I now have a balance of $29.75, a copy of my credit report and score and the opportunity to earn more with the program.

I’ve been staying within budget for groceries and entertainment/spending, which has been my goal for the month. I have plenty of funds left in the grocery budget. But not so much in the entertainment/spending budget. I have cut that budget amount down quite a bit and although I have money, I prefer sending it towards Student Loan #1.

So I have about $5.47 until the 30th. Not including the $20.00 that I have in my Christmas budget to spend on dinner out with my mom on Christmas Eve. I should be able to do it though since most of the holiday weekend will be spent with family. And the rest of next week will be spent working or with family. We’ll see how it goes.

I have a $60.00 grocery budget for this paycheck, which must last me until the 30th. I went shopping yesterday and bought $27.06 worth of groceries. I bought eggs, 2 liter bottles of soda, oatmeal, romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, green pepper, and potatoes.

I plan on making another run next week, to stock up on perishables and other items, such as Barilla Plus pasta, salad dressing, popcorn, and red wine vinegar.

I’m set on meat and canned veggies right now. So I am using up what is in my pantry. Any grocery funds leftover will go into a Wal-Mart trip I’m planning next month.

I have a meal plan, including making dinner for friends for movie night on Wednesday.
I am really trying to stick to my budget. Its going to get touch, but it is doable.


As far as my entertainment/spending goes. So far I’ve spent $3.00. It was for a toll to go to a co-workers party. I brought some leftover beer from my party and a little token hostess holiday gift.

Today I’m staying home. Doing laundry, watching tv and organizing the house. I plan on spending some time prepping food to take to work for Monday and Tuesday. I find it a lot easier to do this on Sunday and Wednesday and then in the mornings, I just grab and go 

The Wawa, a convenience store, closest to my parents house was found to have a card skimmer on its ATM machines. The ATM is very popular because Wawa doesn't charge any fees for using their ATMs.

I've used that ATM dozens of times. Luckily, I haven't used it recently. But its still scary. The photos in the paper showed almost no visual difference to the ATM with and without the skimmer machine.

So, I will definately be on the watch when I use an ATM. And I advise all of you to do the same.

Today was a no spender. Packed my lunch. Ate dinner at home.

Tonight, I'm vegging on the couch. I am playing on the internet, enjoying the Christmas tree and watching CSI.

I did my Christmas cards. All 10 of them. Most are obligatory cards for my mom's side of the family. I see them maybe twice a year, but its really important to my mom that we stay in touch with them.

Most of my friends, I stay in touch with by email, so no need for cards.

I am completely done Christmas shopping, but I still have some funds in my budget for the work holiday outing to a bar on Friday and some money for gas to go to a Holiday party at a coworker's house in the next state. About 40 minutes away.

This paycheck on Friday was supposed to be my last paycheck with overtime in it, but in a clerical error, it was missing.

So now I know exactly what my take home pay is under this new salary. Not so fun. Until I pick up a roommate or a part-time job or both, my budget is going to be TIGHT.

Out of this upcoming paycheck, after 1/2 my mortgage payment, the cable and water bill are paid, I'll be have the following budget:

$50.00 Gas
$60.00 Groceries
$35.00 Entertainment/Spending
$110.00 Student Loan #2
$53.00 Medical
$10.00 Personal items
$110.00 Car Insurance
$40.00 Weight Watchers monthly pass
$20.00 Oil Change

My goal is to stick exactly to the budget. I have money in my checking for quarterly bills like trash and medical, ect but I really want to stay on budget and not go over. It'll be tough given my grocery budget and spending budget being so low, but its doable.

I'm planning on doing movie nights with friends vs going out to the bar. Utilizing the library and internet for entertainment. Making and sticking to mealplans. And focusing on exercise and weight loss.

All of this is definately doable. Especially since this time of year, I LOVE to sit at home watching Christmas movies, sitting with the tree lit up and lights off and having a glass of wine. Very relaxing!

Well, I finished my Christmas shopping yesterday! And bought myself something in the process

Yesterday, my friends and I went to a local Garden Center that does a big Christmas Shop. We spent a few a few hours wandering around. My friends both bought a ton of Christmas stuff. I got two small decorations, a gift for the last person on my Christmas list and one ornament gift for my nephew.

Then we bought Christmas trees! Very fun. I got a nice big tree and it was priced under my budget.

And I ended up buying a mirror for my living room. I've been looking for one for awhile. My friend had just bought a black framed mirror at a good deal from Lowes. She mentioned that there was a tortoise gold one that would go great for my living room. So we headed over there.

I've been pricing mirrors for awhile and for the size and style that I want, I'd be looking at spending about $200.00 or more. The one at Lowes was on sale for $49.95. With the brackets necessary to hang it and a $10.00 off coupon, my total was $43.43. I am SO happy!

I have a Christmas budget of $369.81. Which is an odd number, I know, but that includes interest on the amount saved. It also includes $35.00 in gift cards. I’ve also managed to get $54.00 in free items.

I still have a few purchases to make. I have most of my gifts planned out. And I still have to get a Christmas tree.

At this point, it looks like I’ll be coming in under budget for Christmas. I don’t want to jinx anything, but all extra funds will go to my student loan. So I have some good motivation in keeping under budget.

I heard back from that friend of a friend that looked at my place 2 weeks ago. He's decided to stay where he's at right now. Its a shame, because I think we would have gotten along great.

But because I was really liking that idea of rental income, I put another ad on Craigslist. Hopefully, I won't get a lot of spam.

In the mean time, I am putting out the word out with my friends. Maybe somebody knows somebody.

Vegging on the couch. Hopped up on cold meds. Watching movies from the library and netflix (which I'm cancelling at the end of the month). Snuggling with the cat and mainly being bored. I was feeling a little blue and happened upon this website.

Its funny & cute. The internet speak is a little hard to understand at first, but still SO cute!

Today was a bit spendy. I am sick with who-knows-what and feeling like crap. So I bought lunch ($2.40) instead of making it this morning. Then tonight, I bought dinner and a lunch to take to work tomorrow ($12.50) on the way home so I didn't have to cook.

I still went to my weight watchers meeting, which I was dreading because I went a little off-plan this week. I am only up a pound, which is AWESOME!

Anyway, I'm feeling like crud, so I'm holed up at home for the night. In my new $10.00 fleece pants, a long sleeve tee, my big robe and under two blankets. I'm watching a free movie from the library - Ghost Rider, which is a good movie, even if it has Nicholas Cage in it.

After that, I'm watching Chuck and Heros and going to bed at a nice, early 10pm. Maybe 10:30 if I feel up to watching the Hills

I've been going between being excited about my reunion to not really wanting to go. Part of the problem was not having a date (although I could have taken a guy friend if I'd wanted to) and part was not having anything that I really wanted to wear.

After trying on dozens of dresses, I had settled on wearing a plain black dress that's part of a dress suit I had, but I really wasn't happy with it. Then today, I stopped by Old Navy on the way home from work. I had planned on grabbing some pants that I had wanted for $10.00 and getting out of there, but then I passed the dresses.

I tried this one on and I LOVE it! $29 on sale. And I'll be able to rewear it to a holiday party I have to attend on the 15th! Now I'm more excited about going tonight. It should be fun, its at the local country club. There'll be a buffet and dancing.

I did some major cleaning and some purging yesterday. I feel very organized now. I did a ton of laundry, most of which is hanging in the basement, line drying.

I had that appointment with the potential roommate and I know he's looking at another place. He's supposed to get back to me at the end of the week. My feelings won't be hurt if he doesn't pick me, but I am really hoping that he does. The extra income would be great!

I went to the movies with my parents. I ate before I left and declined a going out to eat invitation. I paid $6.50 for the movie, which no other spending today.

Tonight I'm paying some bills on line and working my budget around.

I placed several dvds for sale on Craigslist. We'll see how it goes.

I premade lunch and snacks for work tomorrow. Now that I'm not working those long hours, I've been guilty of overpacking food. But I have breakfast and lunch for tomorrow and I'll have dinner at home tomorrow night.

I've got some upcoming spending planned.

-I have plans to meet my sister and her boyfriend at a local bar on Wednesday night. I plan on spending under $20.00

-I'm in charge of bringing shrimp to Thanksgiving. I'll be picking up about $15.00 worth. And if there are any leftovers, I'll be taking them home with me

-Friday is my 10 year high school reunion. I finally gave up on finding a dress that I liked and I'm just going to wear a business suit that I already own. Its pretty tailored (from Express) and I have a shiney satin tank top to wear underneath it, which I bought for $9.80. There will be a cash bar, so I plan on bringing $20.00 cash and will stop when it runs out

I've been wanting a small table for my kitchen, but have been putting it off. I found one through Craigslist for $50.00, but decided not to get it because I thought it would be too big for my kitchen. Then Monday, I came home to a table at the end of my neighbor's driveway, put out to trash. I grabbed it, cleaned it up and its now in my kitchen. For free

They just put out matching chairs for the trash, but upon inspection, the chairs weren't usable. Broken, crooked, ect. So I'm still keeping in eye out for chairs. But I'll make do with what I have for now.

Tomorrow, I'm meeting that friend of a friend so that he can see the house & the spare room. I did some cleaning and organizing. If he decides he wants to take the room, then I'll have to put in closet poles/shelves and move the dresser and desk in that room to the basement. But I won't do any of that until I know he's interested in the room.

I've been thinking about what to charge for the room, and I still have to come up with a firm number by tomorrow.

I haven’t posted in a few days because things have been crazy. I worked a total of 17.5 hours of overtime last week and I’ll have completed 9.25 hours this week.

After today, I will no longer be overtime eligible. I start my new position at work tomorrow (the beginning of the new pay period). I’m a bit nervous about starting in the new department, but hopefully it won’t be too bad

I would have worked more OT this week, but I’m fighting being sick. I actually went to bed at 9:45 last night. I’m taking vitamins and Sudafed, so hopefully I won’t get too sick.

I packed all my meals for work or made them at home up until today. I’m planning lunch out with some of my coworkers since I’m leaving the department. And then tonight a bunch of us are heading out to the local bar. I chose it since it has cheap drinks, which I’m limiting to 2 for tonight.

We got paid today, and I received $529.00 in overtime. I am going to put some aside for expected yearly expenses such as my HOA fee (75.00/year), sewer bill (estimated 170.00/year), $20.00 towards Thanksgiving and the rest towards Christmas and a few home projects that I've been putting off. I have funds in my savings for these expenses, but I decided I’d rather keep that money in my savings for the upcoming year.

I am going to purchase closet shelves/poles for the 2 closets in my spare bedroom. I have a friend of a friend who is looking for a new place to rent. I’ve met the guy several times and like him a lot. It’s a bit of a hike from my house to his work, so I don’t know how beneficial that would be for him, but we’re going to meet on Sunday to talk it over and so he can see the house. Which means that I need to clean up on Saturday!

On the Christmas front, I’ve finished shopping for everyone, but my two best friends. They’re the hardest to shop for, but I’m sure I’ll think of something. I’ve utilized several gift certificates and online specials and have gotten several gifts for free. To date, I’ve bought presents valued at $215.27, but only spent $152.34.

I just have the 2 people left on my list. Plus a hostess gift for a Holiday party and some small gifts (I’m thinking baked goods) for my 2 good work friends. I’m staying WAY within budget and any extra funds will just go back into savings towards Christmas 2008.


I’m still trying to stay in ‘Super Frugal’ mode. I plan on putting the Overtime in my last 2 paychecks (an estimate of $500.00 total) towards my student loan, just to be able to end on a good note for the year. As of January, I’ll be looking for alternate sources of income. Part-time job, roommate, ect. I plan on sitting down and making financial goals for 2008 soon, can’t wait to share those!

This time last year, I made it all the way to after Thanksgiving before turning the heat on. This year, I made it to today.

Last night it was 30 degrees out, but 60 inside. And the cold was giving me a sinus headache. Tonight, I came home to 57 degrees inside. And its actually sleeting outside. So I turned the heater on and I'm going to have to buckle down in other ways.

I set the heat to 63 and I'll turn it down when I leave tomorrow. But not too much, because I was feeling guilty all day at work for leaving my poor kitty without heat

To date, I have lost 22.8 pounds! I have a while to go, but now that I'm taking a good hard look at all the extras in my budget, I've been thinking about the Weight Watchers fee.

Currently I pay $39.95 monthly which includes meetings and online access,which I use on a regular basis. I've been thinking hard on trying to go it alone, but the support at the meetings is really helping me. So I decided to keep it in the budget.

I am motivated though... once you make your goal and maintain it for about 6 weeks, then you get to be a Lifetime member, which means that the meetings are free! So I am definately working towards that goal for my health, my self-esteem and my pocket

I forgot my wallet today. Luckily, I packed food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm working from 8am to 8pm today. I was going to stop at JC Pennys on the way home to look for a dress to wear to my 10 year high school reunion. I have nothing appropriate and its been years since I bought a little black dress. So I'm going to invest in one, knowing I can reuse it for things coming up in the future.

So Today will be a no spender

I figured I'd share the Mealplan for the rest of the week.

Thursday: (working 11am to 8pm)
Breakfast: Southern potatoes (leftovers)
Snack: All Bran crackers
Lunch: Large salad with chicken
Snack: Peanut butter & crackers
Dinner: Pasta salad (leftovers)
Snack: Banana

Friday: (working 8am to 8pm)
Breakfast: Banana and hard boiled egg
Snack: 1c Rice Chex
Lunch: Tuna wrap (leftovers)
Snack: Tomatoes with Italian dressing
Dinner: Meatloaf muffin and baked fries

Saturday: (working 7am to 5pm)
Breakfast: Hash brown Casserole (with meat)and banana
Snack: 1 c rice chex
Lunch: Large salad with chicken and croutons
Snack: Popcorn
Dinner: Chicken taco salad, with cheese, tomato & lettuce over baked tortilla

Sunday:
Breakfast: Turkey bacon BLT
Snack: apple
Lunch: Large salad
Snack: baked tortillas
Dinner: Eating out, To Be Determined

Today is a no spend day. I packed all my food, I'm working from 7:15am to 8pm today, so I packed breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

Breakfast:
Hard boiled egg
1/2 cup of southern style potatoes


Snack:
Banana

Lunch:
Pasta salad and a tuna wrap

Snack:
All bran crackers

Dinner:
Meatloaf muffin and baked fries

I packed a soda and other than that I'm drinking water all day.

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment and I have to pick up my winter coat from the dry cleaners. I already have tomorrow's meals packed/planned.

In other news, I got a free flu shot from work yesterday.

I'm working on tweaking the budget and planning the spending my last bit of overtime. Its not going to go to my student loans, but instead to planned expenses like my HOA fee $75.00 and my yearly sewer bill $180.00, so that I can leave those funds in the savings account for future expenses.


AND the best news is that the most updated balance of Student Loan #1 is now at $7,733.11! Yay!

It was previously:
October 3,2007: $8,813.28
April 30, 2007: $12,312.40
January 31, 2007: $12,512.40 balance
February 28, 2006: $15,100.52 balance
December 31, 2005: $15,694.69 balance

That makes me feel good. I'm sad that the paydown on the account is going to slow down, but I plan on picking up a part time job in the new year, after I've settled into my new position at work.

I had this grand plan of not spending money at all this week. I made a meal plan and prepacked my food today. Then it all went to heck when I got into work . I ended up spending $0.55 on a soft pretzel because I was SO hungry this morning. Even after my breakfast.

Well, now I know better. I am going to bring extra snacks for these types of situations. Also, I think I'm going to leave my wallet at home tomorrow.

Well, my week of vacation is winding down and I have to say I’m feeling relaxed and happy. I had a budget of $164.00 for the 9 days. I’ve spent 101.08, leaving $62.92. I’ve already committed $40.00 of the fund towards starting a money market account that I will receive a $25.00 bonus for opening. I plan on having dinner out tomorrow night, which I have $14.00 cash for. The remaining amount of my Vacation fund will go towards my student loan.

I also plan on getting hair cut tomorrow, but that comes out of my personal items budget.

I made it through October without using my credit card. I feel good about it. I wanted to carry on the non-credit card use, but I've decided to make an exception. I do a lot of Christmas shopping online & I'd feel safer if I used a credit card instead of my debit card for the purchases. I will be paying off the card as each payday so I will not be charged interest. And the card will not be used for anything other than Christmas purchases. Definately do-able!

Today my parents and I went to the movies and grabbed some lunch. Then my dad and I went to get a 13.97 kit to replace the fill valve, flapper and tank lever and then my dad helped me install it. Ok, I watched and he installed. But no more running toilet! I am thankful to have family members to help me out with this learning about home ownership stuff!

I’m on Day 3 of my 9 day vacation and I can honestly say that I don’t know what to do with all this downtime. I’m used to working 6 day weeks, 10+ hour days and trying to fit a social life in between. I’m not going anywhere for my vacation, just hoping to veg a little, spend some time with my family and get some stuff done around the house.

Sunday, I ran some errands with my mom. Stocked up on groceries and went to Borders.

Yesterday, I hung around the house. I was set to watch a few scary movies, but I just couldn’t seem to sit down. So I did some cooking instead. I baked blueberry muffins, peanut butter cookies and banana bread. I made chicken taco filling, meatloaf muffins and hash brown casserole. All of which will be frozen for future meals and snacks.

Last night, I weighed in a weight watchers last night. I’ve lost a total of 20.8 pounds!!!! I still have a while to go, but man, does it feel good! This is a plan that really works for me.

I also started a migraine last night. So now I’m on meds and trying to relax. I’m finding it very hard to do so. So today, I am really going to try to veg on the couch. I’ll be doing a little cleaning here and there. I feel better when my house is organized.

I’ve set myself a strict budget for the time off. And I’m keeping track of my vacation spending. I want to come in under budget if I can.

So far I’ve spent:
$8.00 on dinner out with friends
$12.58 on 2 books from borders (the library doesn’t have this series)
$17.73 for movie rentals
$15.00 for lunch for Mom & me

Total: $53.31

I got that job that I interviewed for on October 2nd! There was a lot of internal back and forth before I applied and accepted the position. In the long run, this position is going to greatly benefit me, but there are going to be some short-term financial impacts.

Here’s the run down:

PRO - I’m going from non-Exempt to Exempt status
PRO - I move from an 11am-8pm schedule with Saturday hours to Mon-Fri 8am to 5pm
CON - I lose overtime eligibility
PRO - I gain 2 more weeks of paid vacation
CON - I lose my 10% shift differential for working nights and weekends
PRO - I gain a 7.5% raise in base salary, with another review coming up in the Spring.
PRO - I have a much greater opportunity for advancement from this position, plus I am more attractive to outside companies given the new job title.

This last one was the most important. Currently, I work in a department of 80 people or so. Yearly, maybe 2 or 3 promotions open up a year. The new department has about 15 people and there are several opportunities for advancement in that department as well as several other departments. Also, I now have a much more attractive position to put on my resume. This will give me management and quality experience, which will make me eligible for more experienced positions in the future.

Overall, I am losing overtime and essentially taking a 2.5% pay cut. But given that I just had an annual review that went into effect in September, I am about 3.5% ahead of what I was making 3 months ago.

Since I've been doing so much overtime, I've become pretty lax with some spending catagories, just using overtime to pay for it. Well, that stops NOW.

I need to buckle down with ALL spending. I am going into what I call Super Frugal Mode. That means curbing spending, lowering non-essential expenses, being more rigid with eating out and grocery spending.

It also means looking into alternative ways to get extra income. I am thinking of taking up a second job for the holidays. And I am looking into the possible roommate situation again. I am just so scared of opening my home to a stranger. And I got burned with Craigslist. But I am putting out a LOT of word of mouth through friends and coworkers, hoping that I’ll hear of someone needing a place to stay for a while.

In the end, I am VERY happy with the new position. I think I'll really enjoy it! And I am good at, but bored by my current position. This is also give me more time to work with other aspects of my life, such as losing weight, exercising and being social! This was definately the right decision for me!

In January, one of my financial goals was to track ALL of my spending on a daily basis for all of 2007. I am currently on track with that goal. At the end of the month, I total up categories, look at areas that I’ve under and overspent. Then I move on to the next month. But now I’m asking myself, what am I doing with that information.

Well, first of all, I used that data, to determine the amount of money that I’ve spent on medical expenses this year and used that information to get an estimate on how much I probably will spend in 2008. I used that info to make a decision on the amount I would like in my Health Savings account.

I used the grocery data to realize that I have grossly underestimated my grocery expenses, so I am doing 2 things. I am working harder to make my grocery money work for me. AND I have increased my budgeted amount to a more realistic number.

I am looking at house expenses to get an average of money put toward the house, so now I can create a more accurate number in my budget for house stuff/repairs.

I have seen that I grossly overspend on entertainment and need to adjust accordingly. This is going to be my focus for the next few months.

Its great that I have been keeping track of my spending, but unless I use the information, the time and effort that I’ve put into this project has been wasted. So in the upcoming week, I am planning on reviewing all the data to get a better idea