Well, last night our snow storm turned into an ice storm. I can only open one of my car doors, my trash can is iced over. Today was the scheduled pick up, but they won't be able to get to my trash I tried shoveling my steps again, but the snow is covering about 2 inches of ice and the temperature is still dropping. So I gave that idea up.

I haven't been to the grocery store in over a week, so since I'm stuck in the house, I'm going to have to use up whats in the pantry and fridge. I have a little salad stuff left, and plenty of pasta and tuna fish. So I'll be set.

I get paid at midnight tonight. But I kinda doubt I'll make it to the grocery store even if I make it to work tomorrow. So I'll probably eat the pantry stuff through Friday.

Yesterday, I left work early. I felt a little foolish leaving early, so when I got home I decided to be productive. I cleaned the kitchen, cleaned, dusted and vacuumed the living room & organized a lot of my paperwork. Then I went upstairs and FINALLY put away my clean laundry and cleaned my bedroom.

I'm going to lay around this morning, but this afternoon, I'm going to change my sheets, and finish up the paperwork.

I really need to organize my basement, its like Christmas exploded down there, but I'm putting that off for a while. I REALLY need to be motivated to do that.

I got way off on my spending this week & last week. But I'm good to go again. My goal is to pack my lunch each and every day for the next month. Definately doable.

Today I've got a migrane, so its a no spend day for me. I've taken some pain meds, closed the blinds. When I feel better, I'm putting in some of Lost Season Two, so I can catch up. I'll have sloppy joe for dinner tonight. I had some in my freezer, so all i have to do is make some pasta to go with it.

Later, I'll premake salads for the next 3 days & some tuna to take for sandwiches the next 2 days. I have frozen sloppy joe for one day this week & frozen pasta sauce for another. That'll get me through the week. I'm hoping to hold off on grocery shopping til I get paid on the 15th.

I've been working dilligently at the overtime being offered. So I've been overworking, plus I've been eating badly AND I've been stressed about a friend. We had a surprise birthday party for her this weekend, but this week she had a cancer treatment & has been a bit down. She took a radioactive pill that kept her in isolation for 3 days. I've been visiting for 30 minutes at a time, and bringing her books & movies to keep occupied with. But its been taking its toll as well.

So today is my day of rest and as long as my headache's gone, I will go in for 8 hours of overtime tomorrow. My goal was to try to do 10 horus of OT this week, but our office is going to be closed at certain times this week, so I probably will only get the 8 hours in. Still good though

My motto on overtime is get it while it lasts! It has been offered off & on over the last month. The first week, I worked 8 hours, the 2nd 9 hours, the 3rd 4 hours, and this week I worked 8 hours on Monday, 2 hours today & I plan to do 2 hours tomorrow & possible 1 or 2 hours on Friday. I'm iffy about Friday because I'm getting a little burned out.

Every hour of overtime is roughly $19.00 post taxes & 401k. I am hoping the overtime offering will contue through the month. My goal will be to do 8-10 hours next week and the week after. We'll see how it goes.

All my overtime will be going towards my savings goals. If I do the 2 hours ot on Friday, then those funds will go to fund another 3 months of XM radio, which I was going to cancel in March. I listen to it daily at work & I figure this treat would motivate me to work on Friday as well. We'll see how it goes.

I fell off the wagon a bit with packing my food, but I'm track again today. I packed salad for lunch & a tuna fish sandwich & baked fries for dinner. Yummy.

Well, I went a little off my diet/packing lunches yesterday & today due to general laziness & stomach issues. I'll be back on track tomorrow. I'm going to premake pasta salad for tomorrow.

My office is offering overtime for an uncertain amount of time, so I'm going to take advantage while I can get it. I'm going to do 2 hours tomorrow & I'm coming in on my day off Monday & do 4 or 8 hours depending on a possible appointment I might have. My goal is to do 8-10 hours this upcoming week.

We're having a surprise birthday party for my best friend this weekend. I'm in charge of bringing chips & dip, veggies & dip & cake. I am getting the cake from a specific bakery because my friend loves it so much. I also got her a few things for a gift, but I still need to come up with a good present to go with them. I plan on going to the store tomorrow night for all the food.

I have decided to put off looking for the second job... as long as the overtime is available, it'll work out better for me. Once the OT dries up---I WILL get a second job.

On the bright side I went to the dentist today-- no cavities I LOVE my dentists office. They're out of network, but they've always been willing to fill the claims for me anyway. Under my new dental coverage, my out of pocket expense for my dentist was supposed to be $75.00. They charged me $22.00. I know they could be making more off me, but they don't. And thats whey I LOVE them.

I started this job about 6 months ago. As a 13 person training class, we all seemed to gravitate towards eating lunch together. Some packed & some bought from the cafeteria. We all worked 8am to 5pm.

After the 6 week training period was over, we switched to our regular schedule 11am to 8pm. So when we look 'lunch' at 4pm, the cafeteria was closed. This was about the same time that I was in the process of buying the house and due to laziness, I started going out to eat with my coworkers. This lasted about 6 weeks and when I moved into the house in October, I started packing my lunches again. I also started eating alone because everyone either had a different lunch time or they still went out to eat.

Well, a few of us had a conversation about lunch & I talked about preferring to make eating out a treat instead of an everyday occurance. And a few weeks later, I noticed that one of my coworkers started bringing his lunch and eventually he started eating with me! I rubbed off on him! Plus, now I have a lunch buddy.

Well, I worked yesterday & I'll work tomorrow. I'm trying to gear myself up mentally to work the full 8 hours of overtime & still come in 2 hours early either Tuesday or Wednesday.

I've been holding steady on my soda resolution. I haven't cut it out completely, but it has been drastically scaled back. I have to admit to buying a soda from a vending machine last week. I had 1 can of soda at work (my emergency stash). I had an upset stomach, used the emergency can & still needed another one to make it through the day. Oh well. I'm going to pack 2 emergency cans to stash at my desk next week. Lately I haven't needed the soda at work, so the 2 cans will stay for awhile.

I've been really sucessfuly on my packing lunch resolve. I've packed every day so far this month & it really hasn't been a hardship. Partly because I'm still doing weight watchers & since I preplan my food & its easier to control what I eat when I bring it, packing is beneficial.

I've lost about 8 lbs this month & I'll do my weekly weigh in again tomorrow, so I'll give another update soon.

Lots of good tv on right now, so I haven't been watching alot of movies. But there are a few that I really want to see, so I signed up for the monthly free trial of Netflix. I'll check it out, then make my decision between that & Blockbuster Online.

Well, I'm off to watch the Dresden Files on Sci Fi. Interesting show. Then I'll be watching Dirt. REALLY good show.

The idiots at the power company incorrectly marked their power lines, so when my parents' neighbors had people working on their sewer line, they dug right into the power line & cut their electricity (and therefore heat). It was off most of the day and way into the evening. So my sister stayed at a friends and my mom & nephew spent the night at my house. (I only have one bed). My dad works nights & wouldn't be home til 5am, so he crashed in their family room, which has propane heat since its an addition.

Since they came over last night, my mom treated us to dinner out first. Nice free dinner. Then we watched Barnyard (which was funny) and put my nephew to bed. Then I got my mom to watch Jackass Number Two. I couldn't believe she watched it! So not her type of movie, but she was totally into it!

Anyway, they just left. I'm chilling until around 12:30, then I'm heading to the movie store (where I have a coupon for a free movie) and the library. I also am making a quick stop at the grocery store for a few items I couldn't get from the other store.

-I will have $154.00 in my 1/30 paycheck from overtime, that will go directly to savings.
-I have 130.00 from my 2/15 paycheck that would have gone to car ins that will now go to savings (since I paid the ins through the credit on my Sony card).
- I will have another $310 + in my 2/15 paycheck from overtime that will go into my savings account too

I only did one hour overtime on Friday, but I plan on going in for a whole 8 hours on Monday. Very aggressive, but overtime will not last long. Then I may or may not come in early on Tuesday & Wedensday. I don't want to get burned out.

On top of that, we're planning a last minute surprise party for my best friend. Her boyfriend emailed me on Friday. So I'll be helping with food & prep, which will probably lead to some unexpected expenses, but thats ok. I'm going to take $20.00 of that sony credit & use it towards food & whatnot.

I had jury duty today & the courthouse prohibits bringing any food or drink into the building. I caved & got some baked cheetos from the vending machine, spending 85 cents. It would have been a no spend day otherwise.

My work is offering more overtime from today to the end of the month. I already did 8 hours on Monday, but I'm going to do an additional 2 hours tomorrow. Then I'm debating on how much to do next week. I'm thinking a 1/2 day (4 hours) on Monday (my normal day off), 2 hours on Tuesday & 2 hour on Wednesday. OR just sucking it up and doing an 8 hour day on Monday again. I don't have to commit to anything now, so I'll just play it by ear.

On the upside, I just got my 150.00 credit for opening & using a Sony Card. I had used the card for a normal purchase, and paid it off immediately. So I am using the credit to pay my car insurance and groceries for this month. Then I'll put the budgeted money for those expenses into my ING. VERY nice!

I premade my lunches/dinner for both tomorrow & Saturday already. Tuna fish, salad and baked fries. Yummy. And I don't get too tired of having the same food back to back. I have been trying to vary my food a little more, but sometimes is easier to just double up on premaking the food, so I can just skip a night.

I think I have all the paperwork necessary to do my taxes, so I'm going to do a preliminary draft by hand to see how I come out. Shouldn't be too hard, then I'll use one of the free file options & check my work against that, before submitting them.

I've been doing pretty good with my soda intake. I used to have about 4 to 5 sodas a day, now I'm down to maybe 4 or 5 a week. I'm feeling pretty good about it.

At work, we just had a conversation about soda & I realized something pretty funny about myself. My coworker brought at 2 liter bottle of soda to work instead of cans in an effort to keep costs down. We started talking about the price of 12 packs of cans and I mentioned that I don't really see sales for 4 packs for $10.00 that often anymore. My coworker said, she keep seeing the 3 for $9.00 and that she refuses to buy it at that price. I said, I'm the same way, I'll wait til the next sale.

Then I realized that in the past, I would have definately waited for the next sale rather than pay $9.00 for 3 packs, but if I ran out of soda & wanted one, I'd still grab one from the vending machine at 75 cents per can. Lets do the math... 12 x .75 = $9.00! So out of stubborness, I'd end up paying 9.00 for a 12 pack from the vending machines just because I didn't like the sale at 3 for $9.00! ugh! That was really dumb of me.

Luckily, I no longer do the soda out of the vending machine (in the effort to pack my lunches & limit my soda intake. But it wonder.... how much money have I wasted being stubborn about the price I'd pay for a 12 pack??

Today will not be a no spend day...I'm paying some bills (electric, cable, ect) and I'm stopping back off at the grocery store today to get the bread & few other items that I forgot yesterday.

I'll be prepacking my food for tomorrow. In an effort to make things easier for myself, I try to premake for 2 days instead of one. Its been going pretty good so far.

Tonight's dinner will be a blt on wheat and pasta salad (with more veggies than wheat pasta).

I'll take the leftover pasta salad tomorrow, along with the leftover tuna fish from today's lunch. Very easy!

Finally got about 2-3 inches. It was very pretty to watch out the sliding glass doors this afternoon. It should be cleared up by morning, so no troubles

I've done very well spending wise. I got a salad (one of those huge ones from the specialty place) for $6.50 on Saturday.

Today I spent $28.63 for gas & $21.94 for groceries. Unfortunately, I forgot the bread, so I'll be stopping again tomorrow, but then I'll be set for awhile.

I've premade food for tomorrow, since I'm going in for 8 hours overtime. I will eat at home tomorrow night.

Today, my parents took me to see Dreamgirls. It was REALLY good. Their treat, which was awesome of them. They wanted to take me to lunch too, but I knew eating at home would be better for my diet.

I also got my electric bill today. $69 vs $63.00 of last month & $61.00 of the month before. I attribute the increase to being home more around the holidays & the fact that I've turned the heat on finally in the last week. Still a good number, since I've budgeted $150/mo to electric. The extra is going to my different savings goals.

Other than basic discussions on finances, I don't normally talk to other people about their debt (except online), but in the past few months, I've found out that a coworker has $20,000 & growing in debt and one of my best friends has about $15,000. I find these numbers to be amazing!

But then I took a look at their lifestyles compared to mine. And realized that there were a lot of differences. Comparing myself to the 'Joneses' actually made me feel good about the steps I've taken to help me reach my financial goals. And its motivated me as well.

For the updates--I packed my lunch every day this week. This is the 3rd week in a row. NICE! I had no spend days Tuesday through Friday. My intention was to have lunch out at work tomorrow, but I decided to take a personal day instead. So instead of working, I'm going to see my nephew in his new karate class, go to the library & head to the grocery store. I still might get that salad that I was looking forward to...we'll see.

I am really trying to stick to my grocery budget, but I need to stock up on a few things that I wasn't planning on. So I'm going to take a look at my list--determine what can be held off until my next payday & then just get whats needed this week.

I'm hoping, but not expecting any more overtime to be available at my work. If it does, I am signing up for as much as possible. All the extra money will go towards my financial goals.

And I hate to say it, but I still haven't been looking too hard for that part-time job. I WILL get on it this week. I promise.

Well, its cold today. I actually had the heat running last night. I can count the number of days that the heater's been on, since I moved, with one hand!

I finally get to pull out the cute gloves & scarves I bought last year. I pulled out my down comforter & have a several layers of blankets to cuddle under. I also have a few downstairs for sitting in front of the tv.

Today was another no spend day. I've been drinking only water. Staying on the diet too. I don't weigh in again til Monday, so we'll see how it goes. I packed all of my food. The only non-packed food is the free pretzel I got at work on Tuesday.

My work is offering a second day of overtime (pretty much unheard of) for next Monday & I'm going to sign up.

I haven't spent much this month (year). I'm really trying to rein in spending to be able to meet my financial goals this year. Its helped that I was sick the last two weekend---didnt leave the house, so easy to not spend.

No luck on the part time job search yet... but I'll admit to putting it off a little too. Due to both laziness & health issues.

I will be stopping for gas, probably tomorrow or Friday, but other than that, I'm holding onto my goal of no spending. Saturday will be my treat to myself-- salad from the place down the street.

No spend day today for me. I had one soda (still having the touchy stomach). I'm having dinner at home tonight & I'm going to try to get through a bit of chores--all easy stuff since I'm just starting to feel normal again.

I'm working on a to-do list for the house. I want to see what I can do on my own. So here's a few things to get me started:

-Replace seal in downstairs toilet (because its been running)
-Replace all of upstairs toilet interior--seal, ball, ect due to drip & old parts
-Tighten lock on front door...its a little loose (I'll be able to handle that tonight
-Put clothing rods in the spare bedroom closets, maybe some shelving.
-Put a door on mysterious alcove in the upstairs, making it into another storage closet. I'll have to take a picture of it, we can't figure out why it was put there in the first place.
-Pull fridge away from wall & fix ice maker (probably need a new doohicky--I know what it is, but I can't remember the name)

I've been doing some internet research, getting ready for these projects & I'll be taking them on one at a time.

Well, I've survived 2 work weeks in a row of packing my lunch & snacks. I'm on week 3, but I plan on treating myself next Saturday with a huge salad from the salad place. They always taste better when someone else makes them, plus I can get all the extras on it, that I wouldn't normally use at home-- green peppers, egg, mushrooms, ect...

I had 2 no spend days on Sat & today, mostly due to the fact that I've been sick again with my stupid stomach. which led to me having some soda this weekend. Overall, I've been doing really well. To combat the urge to 'binge' on soda, I'm using a 2 liter bottle instead of cans. I tend not to drink as much from the big bottle.

I went to Walmart today, which is a little out of my way, but Oh so worth it when I need to stock up on my staples. I got a LOT of stuff for 45.01. I stayed under my grocery budget & I still have about 15.00 left to buy more salad fixings next week to last me until the next payday.

And I got a free lunch today, went out with my parents & I was able to eat healthy at the restaurant they picked. Broiled flounder, baked potato & salad bar. I had the leftovers for dinner.

Well, tomorrow I'm working 8-5 (as opposed to my normal 11-8 schedule). I've packed a salad & sandwich for lunch & I'm having shake n bake chicken, salad & baked potato for dinner. I'll do the rest of my meal planning for the week tomorrow.

And I'm going to actively search for a part-time job this week. I hope to have one by February.

Brought my lunch every day this week. I've been thinking of eating out tomorrow, but in the end I'm going to bring a frozen dinner instead.

I spent a few minutes today mapping out expected money that will be put towards my financial goals. The smaller ones will be easy, but I need to get a roommate and/or 2nd job to reach the biggest goal of fully funding my emergency fund in cash (as opposed to savings bonds/ect).

I've been lazily looking for that 2nd job, but I'm going to really get started in the search. I would like a flexible position, more than min wage, but if I do go min wage, I'm thinking about working for a video store so I can get free movies as a bonus. Plus, I really don't want a stressfuly position and I'd think I'd really enjoy the video store. Well, thats a last resort, so I'll see whats out there first.

Today was a no spend day. Nice!

-I transfered 87.00 to savings today.
-I'm depositing 7.98 from a rebate to be transferred to savings.
-I'm depositing 26.00 cash from overage on cat supplies. This is part of my budget for her annual vet visit. So it will go into my ING until that appointment later in the year
-I'm transferring 5.38 from my Emigrant account, which will go to savings. Then I'm closing it. I really do not like their website or customer service.

I've already packed my food for tomorrow. I'm sticking to the diet, which helps with packing.

I get paid tonight: so tomorrow will be a spending day as I pay my mortgage, student loan #2 & car ins. Then I will have a certain amount in my checking already designated to certain catagories. This must last me until the next payday on the 30th.

$215 medical
$50.00 gas
$25.00 personal items (toiletries, ect)
$15.00 gifts
$15.00 clothes
$50.00 groceries
$35.00 spending (for whatever I want, including entertainment & eating out).

I also have money set aside for my monthy & quarterly household bills: trash, water, cable, electric, sewer.

I also have cash set aside for an oil change and $10.00 cash left from this last paycheck's groceries that will go to buy some staples at Walmart.

Earlier I mentioned a topic I wanted to bring up, but I couldn't remember, well, I finally did!

My work is sponsoring a discounted membership to BJS. There are 2 within 15 minutes of my house. The normal yearly cost is $45.00, they are offering 15 months for $30.00.

Being single, I don't know how much the membership would actually save me, but I was wondering how many people here use discount warehouses like BJs & Costco.

I just don't see how I would buy enough as an individual to have my cost savings in 15 months justify the $30.00 upfront cost, but the offer is oh, so tempting

Packed my lunch again today. No soda, either. I made a tuna sandwich & pasta salad (light on the pasta, heavy on the veggies--very yummy).

Someone decided to dump a very large wood plank at the back of my property. Its too heavy for me to move by myself & even if I moved it, I don't know what to do with it. I was thinking of putting it up on Craigslist for free. Maybe someone will want it & they can take it away for me. That'd be REALLY nice.

Also, I had a question to put out there for you guys, but I am completely drawing a blank. Its driving me crazy, but as soon as I remember, I'll put it out there.

I took my lunch to work every day last week and yesterday & today. I've been eating at home, which is good for both my pocket & my diet... by the way, I lost 5.5 pounds this week (well, actually 9 days)!! The next few weeks probably won't be such big losses, but I'm off to a good start.

I had no spend days Saturday & Sunday. Monday, I spent:
225.00 for student loan #1
12.69 for cat food
Tuesday: 1.00 library fine
Today: Another no spender

I have a meal planned that I'll pack later tonight. I've rented a few movies from the library, so I'm set on entertainment.

I've been offered 8 hours overtime (which never happens), but it means that I would work on Monday 8-5. I'm going to sign up though & that money is going towards some little fix-its around the house-- like redo the toilet components because they're old.

I've been keeping up with the posts here. Its very motivating to read about what you guys are doing.

I'm getting concerned, this is my 3rd or 4th migrane in the last 2 months. They never come this frequently. I have a possible theory that these recent ones might have been caused by my pillows. I bought some new ones a few months ago & they're thicker than I ususally like. I've been using them anyway, but now I wonder if I'm sleeping funny & the higher pillow isn't stressing my neck and back, which may cause migranes. I'm switching back to my old pillows today & it'll just be wait & see from here.

This is the first time I've been feeling better all day. My mom was nice enought to drop me off some lunch. I'm trying to stay on the diet today, but its hard because the pain meds make me all weird & I need to keep eating to prevent nausea. I'm doing ok so far. I weigh in tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.

I had a ton of things to do today, so now I feel behind. So I'm just going to replan the list later & get it all done by next week.

Well today will be a no spend day too. I offered my mom money for lunch, but she refused. I'll do something nice for her next weekend, like maybe invite both my parents for dinner next week.

Yet another no spend/no soda day. I'm feeling a little better than yesterday, but I'm having to force myself to eat today. I think I might end up in the doctors office on Monday if I don't feel better.

Anyway, I am completely out of salad stuff, so I'll make a grocery run late tonight or tomorrow. I have $10.00 cash and that'll be it. Later this weekend I'll head to walmart for some staples-instant oatmeal, ff pudding, generic crystal light.

I've been doing well on my diet, but I'll have to wait & see how it goes when I weigh in on Monday.

I stopped by the library today & got the remake of the Omen, a horror movie & a kids movie. I updated my list of movie requests with the library & they'll email me when its my turn to borrow the movie.

I have a large to do list for the weekend, but since I work tomorrow from 8-5, we'll see what gets done.

Today was a tough one. Even though I premade my lunch for today, I wasn't feeling that good & wanted comfort food. I resisted temptation, mostly out of laziness. Also no soda again today. I'm planning on bringing some to work tomorrow, because if I'm not feeling better, I might need the soda to settle my stomach.

I have a huge to do list for this weekend. too large to share, but I better be feeling better, so I can get it all done.

No spending so far today--I will get gas when I get off work, but thats already in the normal budget. I've drank 96oz of water & NO soda! Day two of being anti-soda is down. I am going to allow myself a few days of the week with 1 soda a day, but no more.

Tonight I'm taking down my Christmas Tree & instead of paying to have it picked up (thanks a lot, new County Trash Law), I'm going to shove it in the trunk of my car & haul it to the local park for recycling. So I'll use some gas, but no cash.

Aside from pack up the Christmas stuff, I plan on making a tomato & cucumber salad for lunch and pasta salad & tuna fish sandwich to take to dinner tomorrow... very yummy.

Tomorrow's also trash day & when I took some stuff out today I realized that all my trash is made up of grocery bags. I haven't used a single 'real' trash bag in over a week! NICE!

Also, I gathered all my dry laundry from the basement today. I let everything air dry from the last 2 loads. I only use the dryer for socks & undies & for towels & sheets. I'll have to take a picture of the drying laundry sometime, its not a pretty sight. I use a drying rack and a pole attached to my basement ceiling that the previous owner left. Hey, whatever works, right?

Today was another no spend day. I packed my (healthy) lunch/dinner for work. I drank almost 96 oz of water. And here's the kicker---I had no soda. This was hard for me, I'm a HUGE addict.

I'm heading off to pack my food for tomorrow. I'll have toast & an apple for breakfast (since I get up later in the day), a tuna sandwich for lunch, and wheat pasta with meat sauce and a salad for desert. Yummy.

I don't plan on spending tomorrow, except for filling up my gas tank, which is an expected expense.

Today was a no spend day for me. My parents invited me to movies & they paid for the ticket. I declined going out to eat with them because I'm still getting into the whole WW thing & I didn't want to risk eating out. Its easier to retrain your eating habits when you start out at home.

Over the last two days, I've done some cleaning and organizing. Yesterday, I made some meals to freeze. I have sloppy joe & pasta sauce all set up. I have a few frozen dinners in the freezer, so when I get lazy, I still have healthier food.

Today, I had shake n bake chicken and baked fries for dinner and I'll be taking the leftovers to work tomorrow. I also premade a salad for lunch.

I've drank over 96 oz of water today...which has led to a lot of bathroom runs

I have a few goals this week:
-get an oil change-
-close my 2nd checking account (with Bank B)
-open a new 2nd checking acount (with Bank A-- where my primary checking is)
-set up the new direct deposit to the new checking account
-bring lunch every day this week, including Saturday
-stick to the diet (even though I started on Saturday, I won't reweigh myself until next Monday. For every pound that I lose, I'm going to put a dollar into savings)

Well, my goal this week was to not spend between Tuesday and Friday. I did pretty good, but not perfect.

Tuesday I spent $3.49 for donuts that I bought for a work party that I had forgotten about.

Wednesday & Thursday were no spend days.

Friday I spent no cash, but I did buy groceries. I stayed within budget, but I'm definately going to have to revamp my goal amount for groceries. I think I was being a little too optimistic.

Saturday, I spent no money, and got free soda & pizza at my nephews birthday party.

Today I have a migrane, so I am home & haven't spent a dime. And because I was so sick this morning, my mom stopped by with lunch for me. So I got a free sandwich. Thanks Mom!

Tomorrow I'll probably still be recovering from the headache. So my only goal is to clean up around the house & plan my food to take to work all week.

oh, and I still have one Christmas gift to get, but thats it.

Well, its been a busy week. I opened up a checking account last week, got a free digital camera. I signed up for a portion of each paycheck to go into the 2nd checking account to cover household bills.

I earned 1.12 setting up the new checking account with my mortgage company. They send your checking account 2 small deposits for you to verify & then they let you keep it.

I received an $18.00 rebate from Staples for the paper shredder I bought from them for $17.99. (so I came out .01 ahead).

I signed up for the Sony Visa offer today and was instantly approved. As soon as I get the card, I will make a gas purchase & pay it off immediately. Then wait for my $150.00 credit to appear on my account.

I've been bouncing the idea around of either getting a roommate or getting a second job. I REALLY like my privacy, but I don't really want to take on another job. So I put an ad on Craigslist about the room & seemed to only come up with spam as responses. And possibly a scam...7 of the replies were from people out of the country all with the same style to their emails all requesting me to call an out of the country number. I ignored those.

So I think I am going to try to get a part time job in January and take my time finding a roommate. I hope word of mouth works better for me.

In the meantime, I have been OVERSPENDING. Its not been good. But I've been able to use cash instead of the credit cards at least.

Also, I referred a friend from my old job to a position with my new one. If she's hired (and I think she will be) I should get a $500.00 bonus. Which would at least cover my overspending (and then some).

Goals for the upcoming week:
Stick to budget--I always seem to manuver money around when I decide I want something...take a little from this catagory & a little from that.

Not this time, I am going to spend $14.00 at the grocery store for salad & fruit stuff & thats it til payday on the 15th. The car is gassed up, so I should be good to go. We'll see.

Well, I got my first electric bill. To be totally honest: I was being a little psycho & going online & checking to see if the bill was up yet on a daily basis. Its up today & its $66.80. Feeling pretty good about that. Of course, thats without having the heat turned on all month. We'll have to see how high it gets next month.

Now I have a grasp on all the montly bills. Nice!!

My free month of Blockbuster Online is up. I've really liked the plan, with the option to get movies in store as well as through the mail. But I think I'll do a free trial of Netflix, then make the decision on which I like better.

The good thing about the Blockbuster is that you can return movies at the store, get a free instore rental & they're already mailing the next one on my list. I'm a huge movie freak & its awesome, because new releases come out tomorrow & i'll be returning one of the movies to get Clerks II. I'll go right before work, so its pretty much guarenteed in stock!

Today was a no spend day. I stayed pretty lazy since I had a bit of a rebound headcache from the migrane. Feeling a lot better & by tomorrow, it should be gone.

Also, I've started a diet. It helps that I can eat pretty regular with it, just making sure to get lots of veggies & fruits in & to limit the fattening foods. Today I've had a banana, large salad, 1/2 a BLT (with light on the bacon & mayo),& some peanuts. For dinner, I had some chicken & baked fries. Later, for a snack, I'll have some natural popcorn.

I've planned my meals for the week. Tonight I'll prep my food to take out to work tomorrow.

In the meantime, we're still having warm weather. I'm jealous of all the people with snow! If we're lucky, we might see some in January!

I had a migrane Friday & Saturday. I was at work when it started, so I stopped & got lunch so I could quickly fill my stomach & take my medicine. After that, there was no spending. I ended up calling off sick again from work on Saturday, eating up my last 2 sick days of the year.

No cash spending yesterday, but I did order 2 gifts online. I also ended up ordering a book for myself about home maintance for women. I really need the help, since I want to be as self sufficient as possible.

I'm heading to the movies later with my family. Then I'll stop at the grocery store. Salad stuff only.

I received a $65.00 rebate from sears for the delivery charge on my washer & dryer. WooHoo.

Hello All!
Hope everyone survived the holiday! Mine was a trip all right!

I've been in my house only a month & I was already volunteered to host Thanksgiving. Luckily, we just do immediate family, so there were 5 of us. Since I've never cooked a turkey before, my sister came in the morning to help.
My parents provided the turkey, I provided all the other food. A lot more than I realized, but I didn't blow the budget.

So we cooked all day & as the turkey was just about to come out of the oven, I hear a crash from inside the oven. For the last 45 minutes, we put an additional pan of extra stuffing in to cook. I used a glass pyrex pan & it apparently shattered for no apparent reason! The glass broke, the stuffing fell through the rack & immedately started burning. I had to disconnect the smoke alarm, open up all the windows. The stuffing was a loss (and its my favorite), but at least we had enough for the group from what was stuffed in the turkey.

Then, after we cleaned the kitchen, I took some of the extra chairs back to the basement, only to find water on the floor. A hose must have burst in my dishwasher, leaking through the floor into the insulation. Luckily nothing was ruined. My dad has experience with dishwashers, so he's going to look at it this week. In the meantime, I got to wash all the nasty pots & pans by hand.

Then, to top the day off, as I was putting my china (the set I inherited from my aunt) into the china cabinet, only to bang the gravy boat & break it. UGH. At least I know I can find one on ebay.

On a good note, we had a good time, good food, no family fighting, and I have tons of yummy leftovers for tomorrow.

I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping. I hope to finish it by the end of next week. In the meantime I'm buckling down on all spending.

I am still waiting for my first electric bill. I've only turned the heat on for 2 days so far. I had it on today, and turned if off when we had to open the windows to let the smoke out. I never needed to turn it back on. Apparently the winds have shifted and our November warm wave is back on.

Well, off to enjoy the sleepiness of triptofan (ignore the spelling).