Well today was a spender, but not too bad.
I packed my lunch, but part of it kinda got ruined (long story), so I ordered a salad with some people from work. $7.00, but I ate 1/2 today & I'll have the other 1/2 tomorrow. AND I'll pack the rest of my food too.

On my lunch break, I went to Boscov's. I've been wanting a big fluffy robe, but have been putting it off. I figured now was the time to check out the sales. I found one just like I wanted at 75% off. I ended up paying 13.50 for a $54.00 robe! NICE. And I paid cash from my clothing budget.

One of my coworkers lives in my neighborhood & she waved me down on the way to work today. She had shut her front door with her house & car keys inside & therefore couldn't drive to work. So I brought her and she presented me with at $5.00 lunch voucher for our work cafeteria. So I'm going to hold onto it. I'm planning on packing my lunch for 3 weeks starting tomorrow. When I make it through the 3 weeks, I"m going to treat myself to a free lunch!

Overtime is still available at my work thorugh the 28th. I never made it in on Monday due to a fall on ice. I was really sore, so I stayed home and had a no spend day. Since then, I worked 2 hours OT yesterday, I did 1 today & I'll do another 2 hours tomorrow.

Then next week, I"m going to do 8 hours Monday, 2 hours Tuesday & Wednesday, getting in as much as possible before it ends. All that money is going directly into savings.

I"m having my family over for dinner Monday night and I've asked my dad to help me fix my ice maker & help me install my programmible thermostat. I'm afraid to do it totally by myself.

I worked 12-5 yesterday & am working 5 hours today. So I made my 10 hour overtime goal for this week after all. I am working 8-5 tomorrow & I'll put in another 2-4 hours of ot later this week. I packed my food again yesterday & today.

I'm preplanning my meals for the week & after I get home tonight, I'm going to make some spagehetti sauce for dinner & to freeze. I'm also going to make some blueberry muffins to freeze as well. I'm going to premake tuna for sandwiches, and salads for the week. The easier things are to grab and go, the better.

I FINALLY have all my tax info together. One of my w-2s never 'arrived' so I had to wait & request a copy. Normally I break pretty much even on my taxes, but due to the job change, house purchase & tuition expenses, I'll be getting a little over 900.00 back. ALL of which is going to my savings goals.

I had bought a programable thermostat, which I am going to attempt to install tonight. The directions make it look pretty simple, but who knows!

I didn't find a cabinet knob that I liked with the wood on the cabinets, so I'm going to hold off. I want to pick a paint color before I make a final decision anyway, so I'm going to walk through Lowes later this week to get some ideas.

I haven't had a no spend day in a while, and the only reason that I didn't yesterday was because I stopped by Happy Harry's with my mom and while I was waiting for her to make her purchases, I found some panty hose on clearance for 19 cents each. They only had 2 pairs in my size, but I got them both. GREAT deal! Worth breaking the no spend day for.

I've got a couple of movies from my Netflix Trial, so I'll be having a movie fest tonight while I'm doing all my cooking--I have an old movie I"ve been wanting to see, plus GridIron Gang, and the Illusionist.

I get paid tomorrow I'll be putting 387.86 towards savings for this paycheck. In January, I put 300.97 toward savings. So I've already beat last month. And I still have another paycheck with lots of overtime coming on 2/28.

With this paycheck, I'll meet sever mini savings goals. I had moved some around from my original plan, so bear with me if its a little off from what I previously said.

I've met my mini goals for:

-2008 HOA fee
-One Time Lawn Service (for 1st mowing since the grass is overgrown since I bought the house)
-Lawn Mower
-Garden Hose
-and some partial savings will go to outdoor furniture

Well, its been a long week. I've put in 14 hours of overtime this week. And I'm going to try to get as much in while its still available. I have set mini goals for myself & have set up small rewards as well. I was only going to work 12 hours this week, but I decided if I work 14 hours, I would use part of the overtime to renew the next 2 months of my XM Radio subscription. That got me out of bed this morning.

If I work 10 hours of overtime next week, I will use one of my overtime hours to preorder the new Harry Potter book. The week after (if theres still overtime), I will award myself with a lunch out at the salad place.


I've been motivating myself to do this overtime with these small rewards AND with the knowledge that all the overtime (with the exception of the XM, the book and the salad) will go towards my savings goals.

I've found it to be more rewarding to me to have smaller goals. Even if they're something I would have just moved money around for when it came time for them. So here's an example of a few of my mini goals and when they'll be reached, thanks to my overtime and other extra income. I would like to point out that I may have overinflated the amount needed, but I like to overestimate instead of under.

Lawn Mower: $200.00 Completed 2/15
Garden Hose: $30.00 Completed 2/15
Car Repair Fund: $500.00 Completed 2/28
Christmas Fund: $400.00 Completed 2/28
Vet fund: $200.00 Completed 3/15
Outdoor Furniture: $300.00 Completed 3/15
Homeowners Assoc 2008: $90.00 Compltd 3/15
Sewer Bill 2008: $200.00 Completed 5/15

I also have larger goals for my New To Me Car fund and my emergency fund, but they won't be met with just my overtime for January & February. I have an expected inheritance of $2,500.00 that will go to the new to me car fund later this year.

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.

Well, when I bought the house, I knew I was going to have a sewer bill to contend with & I had a montly amount in my budget, but for some reason, I didnt remember to prepare for the bill for this year. I just got a bill for $167.32 due 2/28/07. It'll cover the year of 2007. Since I just bought the house 3 months ago, the sewer savings doesn't have that amount in it yet. So I used my overtime & savings from this paycheck to pay the sewer bill in full. It'll set me savings plan back a little bit, but so be it. At least I have the cash on hand to handle the bill.

On the upside, I did a little overtime yesterday. AND my parents took me to see The Departed--surprisingly good!

Ima's post about frugal things we did today got me thinking. I've been getting a little lax in some areas, so my focus is going to be to focus on the little things. Today I packed my lunch, drank only water. I'll be premaking food for tomorrow as well, I have plenty of tv to enjoy & this weekend I'll enjoy the movies from my free trial from Netflix.

I also have several library books to get through. I just finished Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich. That series is REALLY good. Very funny.

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.

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.

I ended up going to the grocery store yesterday, so I did spend after all, but all expected. Today, I packed my lunch for work (yes, I work Saturdays). I drank all water, no soda & am making dinner at home. Then I'm going to watch cheesy movies on the sci-fi channel.

I've been doing some cleaning as well. I cleaned the kitchen & washed the floor. i took the rest of my Christmas decorations down to the basement. I'm taking the tree to be recycled tomorrow & then I'll super clean the living room. I also need an oil change, so I'm going to try to fit that in too.

I came home to a $75.00 rebate in the mail for my contacts. VERY nice. That'll go straight to savings.

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?

I take a medication for my stomach that, last year, under my new insurance plan would no longer be paid for. The alternative was going to try an over the counter medication (per my doctor), but since I'd have to take multiples of the medication, it would have worked out to be about $70 to $80 dollars a month (depending on sales & coupons).

Luckily, right before I left my previous employer, I had refilled my prescription & had enough to last me until this month.

When we signed up for our benefits in October, there was a small blurb that some stomach medications were now being covered under the plan again, however, when I called the ins co, they couldn't tell me which ones.

Well, I went online today & found out my prescription is one of the ones they cover! So instead of paying $105.00/mo or $70.00/mo. Its now covered for $45.00/month. MUCH more managable!

Potential savings is $60.00!!! Nice!

By the end of the week, I'll have put the funds from my old bank into my new one. When that happens, I'm going to make a transfer to my ING account:

13.00 saved from cancelling XM Radio
18.00 from suspending Blockbuster
40.00 overage in savings for my quarterly water bill
90.00 over from electric bill (over estimating until I get a full month of heating under my belt & then again with air conditioning)

So a total of 161.00 will go into savings. Off to a great start!