HouseHappy's Personal Finance Blog

In the winter, I had the programmable thermostat turn the heat on right before I got up in the morning. I turned it back down while I was at work & turned it up again right before I got home & then back down again when I went to bed.

I've noticed that I follow a different plan altogether with the a/c. I leave the temp up higher while at work all day, set to start cooling a little bit more when I'm about to get home. I stay downstairs most evenings and utilize the ceiling fan, so the air still isnt being used that much.

HOWEVER, when I'm going to bed, I turn the temp down more because I am completely unable to sleep in high temperatures and humidity. Its still not that low a temp (I freeze when I go to my friend's houses. But I'm wondering if it a/c is being wasted because I use it the most at bed time.

What do you guys think? Or how do you do it?

Ever since Janet Evanovich's newest book came out in June, I've been wanting to buy it. But I held back. I put myself in the VERY long waiting list at the library and intending to put the book on my Christmas wish list (I have the whole series in hardback & this is the 13th book).

Well, I received an unexpected gift certificate to Amazon.com and I've been toying with the idea of buying the book with it. Well, due to general laziness & unwillingness to commit to buying anything right now, I've put it off.

Well.... I checked my library account online to see if any of my many requests came in .... and the Janet Evanovich book was there!! So I"m stopping by the library to night to pick it up. And I'm going to save the gift certificate for Christmas gift purchases!

I'm glad that I waited

Yesterday was a no spender. Today will be too. I'm hoping for tomorrow as well.

Our paychecks go up online prior to payday. We get paid the 15th & 30th & today I saw my check with all the overtime.

Once I took out my regular budgeted expenses, minus my car repair amount a planned gift to a friend for a Breast Cancer Benefit, and a couple other things that I'm setting money aside for, I have $480.22 to go to my student loan.

I'll be able to do at least another $500.00 at the end of the month. I'd really like to see the balance go down by $1,000.00 this month, so I'm going to see if there's a way to find a few more dollars. Definately doable!

I was asked after my last post to give examples of all the food that I bring to work. (Thanks Moi Aussi!) I usually pack some food for breakfast, lunch & dinner, all of which I’ll eat at work during the week. At least while the overtime lasts.

I’ll admit to being pretty lazy and/or tired, so I try to make things easy on myself by preparing food on the weekends and putting it in the freezer to be able to grab and go later. I also make a lot of salads, which are really quick to make & can be prepared a day or two ahead of time. I also use fruit, which is easily grab and go or quick to cut up. I’m not above using canned fruit or veggies either.

I also take time once a week or so to make up individual servings of snacks that I can grab & go… like dry cereal, crackers and baked Cheetos. I just have a basket of baggies that sit in my pantry ready to grab when needed.

All of this helps because I’m very portion-conscious. I’m not a fan of leftover and I’m watching what I eat, but I refuse to eat only diet food.

Here are some examples of my breakfasts. I mix & match, but usually have one fruit & one grain-type item.

-Strawberries & Splenda or Lite Cool Whip
-Sliced green apples
-Fruit cocktail
-Banana
-Dry Cheerios
-Dry Rice Chex
-Oatmeal (the individual packs that you just add water to)
-Granola bar


Lunch Examples (sometimes I switch lunches with dinners)
-Sandwiches – turkey & chase, peanut butter & jelly, tuna salad. I vary them up by using different types of breads, pitas and wraps
-Different types of salads
– Big ones with Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, green pepper and I vary my dressings a lot, as well as change things up with toppings (green beans, sunflower seeds, croutons, bacon bits, cheese, chicken and/or turkey)
– Cucumber & tomato salad (a summer favorite)
– Pasta salad with a little pasta & a lot of veggies and turkey pepperoni (very filling)
-Crackers with Peanut butter
-Crackers with sharp cheese & turkey pepperoni
-Soups in the winter-time


Dinner Examples, which could easily become lunch examples:
-Pasta with meat sauce or with red sauce & chicken strips
-Sloppy Joe (easy to freeze) with toast, bun or over pasta
-Meatloaf muffins (made with ground beef & stuffing – also easy to freeze)
-Chicken – lemon, shake-n-bake, barbeque
-Veggie burgers (can be cooked in the microwave) with bun
-Breaded chicken patties – on a bun or with a side of pasta
-Beef stew (easy to freeze)
-Chili (easy to freeze)

Sides/Snacks- baked cheetos, fruits & veggies, green beans, peas, apple sauce, baked fries (sliced potato baked with Old Bay), crackers and microwave popcorn

I drink lots of water (a minimum of 64 oz a day), have sodas at my desk (limit to 1 a day).

Hope this is helpful to anyone looking for meal ideas!

-I made a financial goal of tracking all of my spending from for the whole year. I've kept up with the tracking and its actually gotten pretty easy. Its crazy to see some of the numbers for catagories. Once the year is ending, I'm going to reevaluate my catagories.

-I counted up all my overtime hours from January 1st through last week... 316 hours! Plus 18.5 that I'm working towards for this week. My goal is to get 20 hours a week for the next three weeks.

-Just a few updates for today: I worked 7am to 8pm, with a trip to the library on my lunchbreak. Today was a no spender. I packed my breakfast, lunch & dinner. I already have tomorrow's food planned. When I get home tonight, I'm going to take a quick walk, then make the food, then veg in front of the tv for awhile.

I recieved a $24.67 cash back credit on my Amex card! I use it for gas, so that'll go to my next purchase.

I truly enjoyed my short time off. With all the OT I've been doing, I haven't had a decent amount of downtime in a very long time. I did little spending, lots of relaxing and nothing that I needed to do around the house, other than mow the lawn.

My goal this upcoming weekend is to plan most of my Christmas shopping. Over the weekend, I recieved an unexpected $25.00 gift certificate to Amazon.com from my Amazon Chase card. I had put the air conditioning bill on it, then paid it off immediately, but apparently it earned the gift certificate anyway! I'm going to put 1/2 of the g.c. towards a book that I've been dying to get and 1/2 towards a Christmas gift. Plus, I have a $5.00 off coupon from purchasing my Harry Potter book through Amazon. I'm also eligible for another $25.00 gift card from my points which I'll use for a gift. The rest of my Christmas money is already in savings.

I kept my A/C on all weekend, but at a higher temp most of the day, utilizing the fan & being downstairs in the day. At night, I turned the temp down a little more so that I could sleep comfortably. There's a lot of humidity right now & its messing with my sinuses.

I've been doing pretty good money-wise. I just sent off another $284.54 as an extra payment to Student Loan #1. I get paid again on the 15th and the check will include 41.5 hours of overtime, all of which, minus my weightwatchers fee and an unplanned gift expense of $43.00, will go to the loan.

My hair dryer, that was already on my list of things to replace, completely broke last night, so I"m going to buy one today. I have the cash for that earmarked in my personal items catagory in my budget.

This week I'm working between 16 & 18 hours of overtime between Tuesday & Saturday. All of which will go directly to that loan.

I've been listening to Dave Ramsey again & all I want to do is to pay this student loan debt off. I really can't wait!

On a side note: I lost 2 pounds this week! For a total of 6.8 pounds.

My goal for this week is pack my lunch every day. I spent 55 cents on a soft pretzel today & I'm picking up some veggies from the grocery store, but I am hoping to make Wednesday through Saturday no spend days.

Today work has been going SOOOOO slow! Its because I'm taking vacation days for tomorrow & Saturday, making a 4 day weekend out of it. I usually work on Monday, my day off, but I'm staying home that day too. I'm not going anywhere, but plan to veg tomorrow & get some stuff done over the weekend, ending with yet another veg day on Monday!

This week, I managed to add 18.5 hours of overtime into my week. I brought lunch to work yesterday, as well as dinner, but when I took out my bread to make a pb&j sandwich, I found mold on the bread.... Ewwww! So I ended up buying a salad & soft pretzel from the work cafe for $3.09. Since I'd already spent that day, I did grocery shopping after work, picking up a few 'treats' to enjoy this weekend.

I packed my food today- A banana and strawberries & cream for breakfast, a big salad for lunch, sloppy joe & green beans for dinner. And a few snacks in between.

Tonight after work, I'm heading out to a local bar for a few drinks. We call it The Pub. Its a bit of a dive, but we know the bartender and the drinks are cheap. My goal is to only spend less than $15.00. I'd REALLY like it if I spent less than $10.00, but I think I might buy the guys a beer. They got me last time.

So tomorrow is going to be a no spender. I'm planning on staying in, making some of my favorite meals, enjoying some fresh fruit & ice cream for snacks. I have several movies from the library, as well as a few movies from my own video collection that I wouldn't mind watching again.

Enjoy your weekend everybody, I'll probably be MIA for a few days, since my internet at home has been spotty.

Some quick updates:
-I made my 12 no spend days for the month!
-I ended up working 20.5 hours of overtime last week
-Yesterday, I bought 4 deoderants, 1 V05 shampoo and 1 conditioner, and 3 Aquafresh toothpastes for 8.33 (or 88 cents each)
-Today, I bought hair products with a gift card to the local pharmacy
-I'm looking for another prescription transfer offer to another pharmacy to get some kind of incentive gift card. Every little bit helps
-I worked 6 hours of overtime today
-I put my car back in the shop because of the check engine light coming back on. Total cost was $135.59.
-My overtime goal for this week is to do 16 hours between now & Thursday. I have vacation time for Friday & Saturday. I plan on using the 4 day weekend as a mini vacation. I'm not going anywhere, but I am going to get some much needed rest.
-I lost another pound this week. I'm down 4.8 lbs so far!

And one random thought---does anybody else get annoyed at those Visa commercials where everyone is paying with their debit card & its going smoothly, then everything grinds to a halt when one guy wants to pay cash? I can't stand those commercials. Which is ironic, because I use my debit card more than cash

I'm piggybacking on Ima's post, but I am pretty excited. I've been waiting for this bill, because of it being the first month where I was using the a/c. Mine was $69.54! I am SO happy! I budgeted $120.00 & I'm going to put the extra right towards my student loan! Yay!

I went out last night, so I didn't have time to make food for today. I'm working 7am to 8:30pm today. I packed stuff that I could just grab, so I was covered for breakfast & snacks, but no lunch or dinner. So I ended up ordering with some coworkers.

I love this local salad place. They give you these HUGE salads & large homemade wheat rolls that are bigger than your hand. Very yummy. The salad was large enough to have a third of it & the roll for lunch & I'll eat the other 2/3 for dinner. All for $8.00 including tip. Very yummy!

Tonight, I'll get back to packing food. I only need to make breakfast & lunch for tomorrow. Dinner will be with friends.

Yesterday was a no spend day. I worked 7am to 9pm with a ½ hour lunch, earning 5.5 hours of overtime. I was invited out after work, but I declined because I didn’t want to spend money. Plus I wanted to go to bed early. So I came home, made food for today & went to bed. I was back up at 5:45 am (which is a feat, since I am NOT a morning person & my normal work shift is 11am to 8pm).

Today I’m working 7am to 8pm & then I’m heading to a friend’s house for dinner & movie night. I offered to bring stuff, but she refused, so today may be a no spend day too. We’ll see. I hate coming over empty handed.

I’m making some changes in my current goals. The plan was to replenish my emergency fund after it was hit with the hot water heater & air conditioning problems. However, I have $5,000.00 in my ING account earmarked to pay back a first time home-buyer incentive loan at 0% due in Sept/Oct of 2009. I’ve decided that I’m comfortable with having this as a back-up e-fund. So what I am going to do is put all my extra funds directly to student loan # 1. I’m really motivated to pay it off quickly, because it’s in my parents’ names. If for any reason, I have to touch my emergency fund. I will immediately stop paying down the loan & work on rebuilding the e-fund.

I’m getting paid on Tuesday. I have very little overtime in this check, but I’ll be putting 194.55 towards the student loan. Next pay period (August 15th), I’m hoping to have over 40 hours of overtime to put towards the loan. I REALLY want to get this paid off! If anyone has any comments about my plan, please let me know. I’ve thought this through in terms of my comfort levels, but I’d like to hear other opinions as well.

Today was no spender number 11 for the month. And today I had my annual review. I did really well & I"m receiving a 6.2% raise. I've already set my 401k withholdings to add 3%. Normally, I'd do the whole amount, but my monthly budget needs to be redone & I have wanted a bit more wiggle room for unusual catagories (hoa fee, sewer bill, ect). If I find that I have more than I need, I'll up my 401k contribution in the next paycheck.
But I am VERY happy with my raise. It was pretty much top tier for my department.

On a frugal note, I've had the A/C off since Friday with no problems. Its been very windy lately, so the house has been pretty cool.

Today was another no spender. I'm two away from my goal of 12 for the month of July! I'm looking to make tomorrow number 11. I've already pre-made food for tomorrow's breakfast, lunch & dinner.

I'm working from 7am to 8 or 9pm tomorrow. They've extended overtime hours in a push to meet our month end numbers. So I'm going to take advantage this week. Since I only worked 3 hours of overtime on Monday (my day off), I wasn't planning on making my 20 hour goal for the week. But now its back on. We'll see what I can get done

Today I extended my hold on my Netflix. Its been on hold since May & it was to restart in August. I went online to cancel, but they gave me to the option to extend the hold until October. Perfect timing. I LOVE to celebrate Halloween by watching lots of cheesy horror movies, most of which my library doesn't carry. Also, I have a week's vacation in October, so I'll have plenty of time to watch movies.

In the meantime, I have several movies on request at the library & I'm keeping a list of new releases that I want to watch, but my library doesn't carry. I'll get to them in October too.

My parents friends bought a new grill, so they gave me their old one. Its about 9 years old, but kept in really good shape. My dad is checking it over to make sure its safe, but free is good! Now I just have to learn how to grill

Yesterday, I only worked 3 hours overtime, but I also got my car inspected. So there was some cash out for the 2 year renewal plus gas.

Today, I packed my lunch, so it'll be a no spender. I'm getting a bit bored with the foods that I'm bringing, so I'm going to set aside some time to meal plan some different foods for next week.

Today is the end of my 6 day workweek and I have a few minutes before heading out of work to update some things--- Spending:
Friday was a no spender. Today, I'll be buying gas, but brought my breakfast & lunch to work, so no cash out there.

Harry Potter 7 arrived at my door from Amazon with the free standard shipping. I feel almost bad about it because people paid for extra for the guarenteed delivery & I didn't, but we both got the same service. But I am really EXCITED to read this new. And a little sad, because its the last. At least this series is one that I will reread several times.

So although I have a ton of things I should get done around the house. I'm going to spend the weekend reading Harry Potter & watching some movies from the library. I currently have Last Holiday (with Queen Latifah, Norbitt, Maxed Out, and the Good German. So I think I'm going to make tonight a movie night & tomorrow a book day.

Then Monday, its back to work for some overtime. My goal is to get at least 20 hours in this week. Definately doable!

I had grand plans to stop by the library & the grocery store on the way home from work yesterday, but I was just too tired. So I skipped the stops & went home, ending up with a no spend day.

Today I packed breakfast & lunch, but didnt pack dinner, so I ended up grabbing a sandwich. I'll stop by the grocery store on the way home tonight & pick up the tomatos & banana. I plan on making food for tomorrow & then going straight to bed. I am BEAT!

I'm still doing all the overtime I can, which is good, because I'm in the middle of this monster project & I just want it to get finished. It is really stressing me out. I'm looking at it possibly being done by Saturday, if some of my coworkers pitch in tomorrow, which they probably will. I will be so relieved when its over.

I am planning on cashing out a gift card through MyPoints this weekend. I have a friends birthday coming up & it'll be great to use to buy the gift. As soon as I figure out what to get him.

Today was pretty much a no spender. I brought all my meals to work today. After work, I'm going to run to the library to pick up some free books & movies to go through in the upcoming week & weekend. Then I'm going to stop at the grocery store to pick up tomatos & bananas. That will be my only spending today.

I'm back to using cash for groceries because I finally used up all of my gift cards from work. I had $50.00 that I budgeted for myself on the 15th & the 30th. When I just use my debit card, I overspend. With the gift cards, I stuck with that figure (outside of a Walmart run). So I've been thinking about buying some more gift cards and when that money runs out, then thats it. I'm going to mull this one over a little more.

Quick overtime update, I worked 7 hours Monday, 3.5 hours yesterday, 3 hours today. I'll be doing 3.5 hours on Thursday & Friday and a 1/2 hour on Saturday. So my total for the week will be 21 hours.

I was tracking my daily spending (none for today) and I added up my no spend days for July. 6 so far! I think I can make it to 12. We'll see

Couple of updates since its been a few days since I've posted.

I did some major grocery shopping and a little overspending on Sunday, stocking up on some things. Other than the grocery shopping, I hung around the house, did laundry and made some meal plans.

Yesterday, I did some overtime from 8am to 3pm, then grabbed some cat food on the way home. I'm in the middle of a BIG project at work, so of course, I got a migrane from the stress, but it didn't go full blown & I've been able to deal with just taking pain meds.

Last night I weighed in at Weight Watchers. I lost 3.2 pounds for the week & my mom lost 2. I'm happy that she seems into it. I kinda think she'd have quit if I didnt go.

I packed my food for work yesterday & ate dinner at home last night. Today's a no spender-- I packed my meals for work today too. Both days people invited me to order out with them, but I said no.

Since I've overspent in the groceries catagory & I need (WANT) to replace my ailing wireless router, I am going into super non spend mode to save money.

I'll try to post from work, but right now, I pretty much have no internet at home.

I'm waiting for my first electric bill from the summer with A/C. I have really no idea how it'll be. I did turn it off for awhile, but its back in the 90s again and VERY humid, so its back on

I packed a salad for lunch at work today. But it didn't sound that great to me. What I really wanted was Subway. However, I talked myself out of it. I ate the salad, I have fruit for snack later. And when I get home tonight, I'm treating myself to a big pasta dish for dinner. Yummy.

So today will end up being a no spend day after all.

Today is a no spender. I packed breakfast, lunch and dinner for work. I worked 8am to 8pm again with a 1/2 hour lunch.

When I got home last night, I cleaned the downstairs, prepared today's food and made food for work on Saturday. So when I come home tonight, I'm going to sit in front of the tv & veg. There's some good tv on tonight. Monk and Psych are both back on. I am a bit of a movie & tv addict. I love them for the same reason I love books. I like to see into other worlds.

I was able to do 11.5 hours of OT this week. My goal for next week is 22, but its likely to be 21, since I have to take my car back to the shop. My car had a recall on some airbag part & they had to order it. Its free to replace, but its inconvenient & I'll have to take a hour long lunch to do it, instead of a 1/2 hour.

Today is payday & I'll pay my normal bills through epay tonight.

I left work early yesterday to see the Harry Potter movie with my friends. I already had made the time up earlier in the week.

Well, when I came in to work today, I received an email about a floor meeting that occurred a 1/2 hour after I left.

I asked a coworker what I missed and she said it was pretty bad, they're doing layoffs. But in a Florida site, not ours.

At first, I thought she meant us. She even said thats how it was presented in the meeting. I am SO glad its not us. But I'm going to start doing some searching.

I had applied for another position within the same company, but I have yet to hear back about it. Because of this, I have an updated resume. I plan on keeping it updated.

Anyway, I am thankful no layoffs are occurring here. And I am happy to say that if something like that happened, I do have a plan in place. That makes me very happy

So, in the meantime, I am taking advantage of every available minute of overtime to build my savings back up (the numbers to the right have not been updated recently).

In other news, I packed my breakfast, lunch & dinner for work today since I worked 8am to 8pm. I am planning on going home & packing again for tomorrow. I'll be working another 8am to 8pm shift with a half hour lunch. Its surprising how easy it is to work such a long shift. I think its because the work I"m doing is interesting. At least thats something

I wrote before about Murphy moving into my spare bedroom. Lately, its seems as if everything that could go wrong, has. And just right as my work stopped offering overtime. I've been a little worried because I wanted to pay myself back as quickly as possible.

Well... today they announced unlimited overtime again! I'm very excited. I have some appointments & things this week, but I'll be able to get 11.5 hours in this week. My goal for next week is to do 22 hours. Definately doable!

I am still working on the roommate thing. Its been tough. Word of mouth is a no-go and I've only received scam replies on my Craigslist ad. I'm going to keep trying though.

Today has been a no-spender so far. But after work,I'm heading to a second bar to meet up with some work friends. I'm limiting to ONE drink and then I have to the grocery store very quickly. After that, I'll be heading home to make my food for tomorrow.

Well, as Dave says, it feels like Murphy moved into the spare bedroom. Its just one thing after another for me.

I took my car into the shop today for the check engine light and a belt squealing. I asked them to call with an estimate before starting any work.

So they called me back, trying to upsell me on a dozen different things. She gave me an estimate of 809.85. I said no to most of the upsells, but the major problems are going to cost me $599.95. I have $500.00 in my car repair fund and I'll spring for the rest out of my overtime.

What sucks the most is that I was planning to use that car repair money for new breaks, which I'm going to need soon. Oh well.

I am working on the finding a roommate/2nd job situation & I'm MUCH more highly motivated now.

Also, today I"m at work for the last possible overtime for July. Some of my coworkers are ordering from my FAVORITE place, but I declined and will instead eat the peanut butter and crackers in my desk.

I will be spending tonight though. Here's the background- I've been loosely following the weight watchers plan, but recently cancelled my online subscription to save some money. Over the weekend, my mom started asking me about the plan & to look at my materials. My mom is seriously overweight, with some major medical issues. She's also battling depression. Her doctors have told her that she needs to loose weight, but she's made no effort.

It really hurts my family to see her like this & for about a year now, I've been encouraging her to join weight watchers with me. However, she wants to do the meetings & thats not something I"m really into.

When she brought WW up over the weekend, I jumped on board & told her that I wanted to go to the meetings & would she come along as a buddy & she actually agreed! So I'm going to buy the monthly pass, so that we can go together for the month & once she's into the program, I'll stop going to the meetings (and continue online), but we'll still be weight loss buddies. The monthly pass is $39.95, but well worth it if I can help my mom get healthy!

Yesterday was a no spender. Today, I'll be spending a little on some needed items.

I brought my lunch, drink & snacks to work today, so no spending there.

On my way to work today, I got gas. On my lunch break I'm heading to the dollar store for dishwasher detergant & 2 other things. Then I'm heading to the library, where I owe them a $0.25 fine.

Either after work or tomorrow, I'm heading to the grocery store. I also need to stop by Walmart for some staples. I'll be using gift cards for both.

Its interesting, but its been MUCH easier to stay on my food budget using the gift cards. Its a mental thing, but its kinda like the envelope system for me. Once this last gift card runs out, I"m thinking about getting some more to help me stay on budget.

No news on the room renting front. I've had no responses to my Craigslist ad. So I'm going to keep looking. I also think I'm going to resubmit my ad on there, just to get it back on the top of the list.

Tonight I'm hanging out at home, watching a library movie & reading. Tomorrow, I'll be running errands & cleaning.

On monday, they've opened some overtime, so I'm going in. I also need to drop off my car to the repair shop. My check engine light is on & I have to get my car inspected by the 20th. Hopefully, its just a sensor like I think it is, and it won't be too expensive. I REALLY hope so!

Today's a no spend day for me. I brought food to work & I'm heading straight home afterward. Tonight, I'm planning on making food to take with me to work tomorrow and Saturday.

The Transformers movie yesterday was AWESOME! It was well worth the money. I bought the tickets for my friends & I. They bought the lunch afterward. It worked out really well!

I haven't had any response to my Craigslist ad for a roommate yet. With the holiday, thats expected, but I'm hoping to have some response today.

I woke up really ill this morning, but I dragged myself into work because we were having a work party and I had made brownies. I lasted most of the day, but ended up leaving 3 hours early. Then I came home & took a 3 hour nap. I'm finally starting to feel better, which is great, because tomorrow I have plans to see Transformers with my friends.

The last few months my work has been saying overtime is going away, but then saying its back on. This month, it looks like they're actually not offering it. Except for 4 hours for tomorrow. But I've decided not to go. One, so I can rest up since I'm still not 100%. And Two, because I have 10am tickets to Transformers.

So other than sleeping and playing around on the internet, I've gotten almost nothing accomplished today. I did have a no spender though, which is great!

I put an ad on Craigslist to rent out my spare room. We'll see how it goes. I'm very worried about renting to a complete stranger. I'd much rather have a friend of a friend. But having the roommate would really help me meet my goals.

Since I have planned spending on going to the movies tomorrow & to see Harry Potter later this month, I've pretty much eaten up my enterainment budget.

So what I'm planning to do is this: Utilize the library for free movies, utilize my home video library to rewatch some of my favorites like Rear Window,The Lord of the Rings trilogies, The Great Escape, and a few classic horror movies.

Reading-wise, I have some books from my mom to read as well as I'm re-reading my Harry Potter books in preperation to the new installment. I am also waiting patiently for my turn at Janet Evanovich's Lean Mean Thirteen from the library.

I also have a group of dvds and video games to take to a resale shop. If I like the place, I'm going to thin out my video collection even more.

I'm really going to put the word out about my spare room. See if anyone at work knows anyone who's looking for a room. I'm also going to ask my sister if she knows anyone. Before I have anyone move into that room, I do have to do a few things:

-Put up hanger rods in both of the closets
-Move my furniture & paperwork out of the spare room
-Fix the downstairs toilet. (I've turned off the water to it because it runs non-stop & is wasting water and I need to fix it anyway)
-Make room in bathroom, hall closet, kitchen & entry closet.
-Replace my wireless router (Its only working 1/2 of time. Its definately the router thats the problem)

So I'm looking at some spending to rent out the room, which I will put off until I know I am really renting the room out.

Saturday:
-Worked 8-5 with a 1/2 hour lunch
-Mowed the lawn myself (my neighbors all pay someone to do what takes me about 20 minutes)
Sunday
-Picked up one of my prescriptions using a gift card I earned for bringing in a new prescription last month. Did not buy anything else, so I still have $17.34.
-Used a coupon for 1 free 22 count of Always
-Bought a 40 pound bad of cat litter for $9.99. They had a sale tag up from the prior week. It rang up at $19.99, but when I showed them the tag, they honored the sale price.
-Weeded the rocks by my front door, trimmed the bush back away from my kitchen window & electrical box
-I tackled the thorny bushes at the back of my property. I didn’t make much headway, but I was able to trim back enough that I won’t get scratched when I mow the lawn.
Today:
-I took my parents to the movies today. $19.00 for the 3 tickets. The last few times we’ve gone, they’ve treated, so it was definitely my turn
-Got 2 free movies from Redbox using online codes
-Made brownies for a work party tomorrow, plus giving $5.00 to the pot for a gift. I used brownie mix that I had at home, so no spending there.
-My car has to be inspected at the end of the month. But my check engine light is on. My Dad & I checked all my fluid levels & sensors, but it’s still on. So I need to take it in, this week or next. Luckily, I have money in my car repair fund
-Today I did some make-ahead meals. I made myself a quick pasta dinner while waiting for my ground beef to finish defrosting and then I made the work brownies, salad & pasta salad to take to work tomorrow, a large batch of sloppy joe to freeze, and I tried a new recipe – Mealoaf muffins, which I’ll freeze as well. They turned out really well. Now I just need to see how they freeze.
-On the upside, its been really cool here, so no A/C on.
-I always struggle with food and eating out, so that’s going to be my main focus this month

I got paid today & I"m putting all my overtime towards the A/C. This still leaves me with a VERY large balance. I'm transferring money from my ING account to pay it, then I'll be paying myself back. I'm expecting about $700.00 of overtime in my July 15th paycheck. Then about $280.00 in my July 30th check. I'll still owe myself about $1700.00 after that.

Unfortunately, they announced that overtime has stopped indefinately at work. So I'm going to be looking at other avenues to pay myself back as quickly as possible.

Today is a no spend day. I packed my breakfast, lunch & dinner and I'll be having a snack when I get home. I'm out of library books and movies, but I have a large to-do list to keep me busy this weekend.

Tomorrow, I'm packing my lunch again. I have leftover tuna fish and I'll make a salad & some breakfast stuff. Tomorrow night will be dinner at home.

There are several movies coming out soon that I REALLY want to see in the theater. So I'm saving my entertainment budget for this paycheck (which lasts me til the 15th) to buy tickets for Transformers and for Harry Potter. I am VERY excited to see both.

There's an annoying guy that sits by me at work. He's nice enough, but really negative about EVERYTHING... except money.

He's about 22, recently got engaged. This is his first real job. We got to talking about money and he was saying that he has no debt, no obligations. That he & his fiance are working toward buying a house next year after getting married.

I asked if his fiancee was on the same financial page that he is. I gave some 'gentle' advice and said that they sould talk about finances and goals prior to getting married.

He told me that they had done that and in fact, she wants to live off of her salary for the bills and mortgage & completely save/invest his income! Then he said that he has no use for credit cards and will be paying for the wedding in cash. They REALLY are on the ball with money.

I am VERY jealous. I wish that I had such defined goals 6 years ago. Well, I have them now & I am doing everything I can to be sucessful.

On a lighter note, I've been trying to eat better and excersize. One of the women at my work says she's going to be my 'trainer' and make sure I'm staying on track. She's just teasing, but it was funny, because she's really going to check in with me daily to make sure I'm doing well (she's also got the same goals). It'll be great to have a buddy!

I'm still working overtime, although I only got in 1.75 hours today due to oversleeping and a doctors appointment.

My movie night with my friends was a bust. A 1/2 hour after we got there, the electricity went out. So we spent the night talking instead.