So I did my taxes & it turns out I owe a bit. I was expecting that and I have the savings to pay them, but I feel the need to go into SuperFrugal mode and try to cashflow it back into savings within the next month or so.

In SuperFrugal mode, I look for both big and small savings. I am going to limit entertainment spending, limit grocery spending, work to find additional sources of income and basically do anything I can to conserve spending and earn more.

The hardest thing for me, will be entertainment. Lately I've been a lot more social at work, with friends and dating. All of which entails spending. So this will be the trickiest.

Today was a no spender, which is good.

Tomorrow will not be one, as I have a date and will be offering to pay for dinner this time around. (Expected Entertainment spending $25.00?)

Wednesday, I'm having friends over to watch LOST and plan on offering them dinner. I will stop at the produce stand for veggies for the week, but will make dinner out of my freezer/pantry. (Groceries $10.00)

Thursday, my work group is going out to lunch. I'm hoping we can keep it really, really cheap, but as there's 10 of us, I'm only 1 vote. Worst case scenario, lunch will be about $10.00. I'll be staying in Thursday night. (Entertainment $10.00)

The weekend is up in the air, we'll have to wait and see what social things I have going on.

For frugal entertainment, I plan on doing the following:

Playing Wii with the nephew
Watching Library movies
Reading Library books

All of these I've said before, but I get a lot of enjoyment out of them and free is always good!

I just updated my request list at the library. Plenty of movies for me to watch as they become available.

Oh and to keep track of freezer food: I used 1 ground turkey with onion for pasta sauce for dinner. I used another to take to work for lunch. (2 ground turkey w/ onion used)

Packed 100% of food/drinks for work this week and stayed on my Weight Watchers plan. Yay!

Today I had:
Breakfast: Cheerios & Milk, apple
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Pasta salad, slice of (FREE) tomato pie
Dinner: Shake n bake chicken, baked red potatoes

I've done a little too much grocery shopping this week. My goal for next week is to do 1 big shop and 1 veggie shop. Shouldn't be too hard.

I went to a book club meeting with some friends at a local pub. $8.00 spent for a LOT of fun. Not my taste in books (Sci-Fi) and not really my book club (crashed a friends with their permission). But now I think I want to do a book club with some friends.

Went to the library today and picked up a couple of movies and books (a few recommended by the club last night). Stocked up on lots of entertaining options.

Tomorrow I'm having my nephew for the day & then he's spending the night. I picked up 2 movies from Redbox. The library kids selection was very slim and even though I won't be returning the movies until Sunday, 2 kids movies for $4.04 is totally worth it.

I also have food planned, games, cards, and my camera ready to catch all the cute moments. Its been awhile since my nephew & I have hung out, so I"m excited.

I'm working on cleaning up my paperwork and organizing my files. Its a big job & I'll take some before and after pics. Did I mention its a BIG job??

Still 100% packing food for work. Spent about 20 mins working out yesterday. Which I count as good since I spent 2 hours after that cleaning the house, running up & down the stairs, mopping & vacuuming

The only spending I've done yesterday & today was grocery shopping. Spent about $26.00 so far.

Tonight I'm hosting a LOST party. My two best friends and my two good work friends are coming over. I'm doing Shake-n-Bake Chicken and roasted red potatoes. Leftovers will be lunch tomorrow. And to make things easier on my self : last night I pre-portioned milk, cheerios and yogurt for breakfast tomorrow. I'll just pack up the chicken tonight & I'll be ready for tomorrow.

I received the 2009 sewer bill yesterday. It was a little under 1/2 was it was for 2008! I was able to reduce water usage and a neighbors issue with a burst pipe was apparently affecting me as well. Since it was fixed, my bills have gone down a lot!

Went to the store today. I'm back doing Weight Watchers & I've been eating at home/packing lunches more. But I'd eaten down the pantry & freezer. So I needed to stock up.

Ended up spending $93.00 at Walmart and about $11.00 at the local produce stand.

I still have a couple of things to get from the Super G by my house on a few things that either Walmart was out of OR is less than Walmart's price.

So now I'm stocked up. I had a big salad for dinner, with pasta in it.

Tomorrow I am having:

Breakfast: Cheerios & milk, 1c yogurt
Morning Snack: All Bran Crackers
Lunch: Large salad with pasta in it.
Afternoon Snack: Mini popcorn
Dinner: To Be Determined - probably pasta

Tomorrow night I'm having a few friends over to watch LOST. Can't wait for it!

A while ago, I posted about having a big WANT for a new digital camera. I didn't buy one though and planned to start saving for one.

I'm glad I waited, because my parents gave me $100 towards a new camera or lamps. I chose the camera.

The original price was $149.95. After the $100.00 cash, a $25.00 gift certificate and $1.56 credit balance on my Amazon account, I paid 23.39! I will have to get a memory card, but I'm going to get that locally from a store. Amazon's prices were a bit high compared to what I've seen.

Can't wait to get the camera!

Spent $5.50 on produce today. Not too shabby

I went into the local branch of my bank today. Explained the situation about the mortage payment being duplicated on 1/1, which caused the checking account to overdraw. They refunded the $40.00 of fees that were put on the account. YAY! I didn't even have to come right out & ask, they just offered.

I'll be calling my mortgage company on Monday to discuss their $35.00 fee that they charged. Unfortunately, I think I won't have an easier time of it, but I hope to be sucessful.

Yesterday I was off work, but ended up dealing with doctors stuff all day. Doctors copay & medicine cost $34.70.

I did end up going out with some friends to Buffalo Wild Wings. We sat in the bar area & played trivia on the tvs. I split the order with one of the guys & drank water. Ended up paying $10 including tip. Not too bad for 4 hours of entertainment.

Took food to work, but did buy a soft pretzel to supplement lunch. Cost: 55 cents.

We just got an email that our work cafeteria is getting rid of the salad bar & the hot entrees. That will leave the unhealthy grill options, pizza and sandwiches. They will have prepackaged salads though. Sign of the times. Our company contracts the cafe out to another company. Its plain to see that they're cutting the budget. But its good motivation to pack my lunch more.

Tonight I watched my nephew for a little bit, came home & hung out on the couch. I made some lunch for tomorrow, already have preportioned milk, cheerios & yogurt set aside for breakfast.

I plan on having meatloaf & baked fries for dinner, but will have to stop & pick up the potatoes first.

Got a lot of Christmas stuff done. My best friend, her boyfriend & I all have known each other since we were kids. We have a tradition of doing some Christmas decoration shopping at some really awesome places, getting our trees, watching Christmas movies, ect.

So yesterday, we went to the Christmas shop (not the Christmas Tree Shop) but an place that is a like a Garden Center/Christmas decor place.

I came away with a few Christmas gifts and a huge tree. Its more cost effective to get the fake trees, but I can't bring myself to do it

Afterwards, we had pizza, talked, played some games & watched Its a Wonderful Life. Good times!

Today, we (my friends & I) went to Ikea cause they just moved & needed some things. I bought a picture and frame ($9.99) to go in my kitchen and a shoe rack ($9.99) to house shoes left in my entry. I also came home with lots of decorating ideas

Tonight I'm watching a library movie, decorating the tree and resting. Tomorrow I have another day off and I'll be doing laundry & cleaning. After I sleep in

Last night I went out with my sister to a local bar/club. Did some dancing and had a lot of fun. The place was in the city (meaning more expensitive) and I brought drinks for my sister. Out of pocket expense: $38.00.

Today I am helping a friend move. I'll be home to take a quick nap, shower & pack then I'm heading to West Chester (about 40 mins away) for a birthday party/outing. I'll be spending the night there and coming home in the morning.

I already have a card & a gift and I plan on spending $20.00 when we head to a local bar for the party.

Sunday I am going to get some stuff done around the house and then Sun night I'll be going to my nephew's 8th birthday party. Its at a roller rink! I already have the gifts for him - Legos! Not one of those Star Wars/Indiana Jones sets, but true Legos that you build stuff with out of your imagination.

Currently I'm trying to NOT purchase a new digital camera. I do not have one currently and I desperately WANT one. But its not a necessity. Since I didn't find any awesome deals around Black Friday, I'd put it out of my mind... until my sister showed me her new one.

Anyway, she was telling me some feature on it that wasn't on the camera we both had previously been looking for. So I went online today. And saw that the camera that she got was down to $89.99. She paid $129 yesterday. I might just give in & buy it. A Cannon 9.2 Megapixal camera for $89.99 is a really, really GOOD deal.

So things have been a little out of control for me lately. With eating and with spending. It's been off & on for a few months, but I've finally hit a wall. I am feeling the ill effects of gaining a few pounds back and of using extra cash for eating out or entertainment instead of focusing on savings.

Well, I'm getting back on track. I have a meal plan for the week (following my Weight Watchers plan) and I have a spending plan for this pay period (which started the 28th).

Today I bought cat food & a few groceries. I skipped getting lunch out and made food at home. I'm staying in tonight. Watching movies from the library and free on Comcast On Demand.

Tomorrow should be a laid back day as well. Tidying up the house, doing laundry, maybe heading to a friend's house to play some board games.

I'm going to start journaling my spending again. Never hurts, right?

Today was going to be a no spender, but I ended up at the doctors office instead. $24.54 for both the copay and meds. It could have been worse. At least nothing was spent on eating out

And as a side note - I just used up the last of my HSA. $1000.00 for the year, and still 2 months to go.

Did some clothes & Christmas shopping this weekend. I splurged on myself and got a lot of clothes, shoes & accessories. Got some great deals and a lot of stuff! I had the money in my clothing fund, so it was all paid for by cash.

I had a $20.00 mall gift card, a $10.00 coupon to Victoria's Secret, a coupon for free undies from V.S., and a $10.00 of coupon for Yankee candle. I was able to get a lot of gifts for low cost. Very nice!

I previously mentioned turning on my heat. It stayed on for 2 days, after which I turned it back off since my sinus & ear infections cleared up and the temps went back up a little. I'm hoping to keep it off again, at least until the end of the week (November).

I received the electric bill today... $55.60 down from last month's $61.77. Woohoo!

This week, I'm on vacation. My plans are to do some decorating around the house, maybe some painting. I want to do some organizing, some cleaning. And with the remaining time, I want to rest. Just give myself some down time.

Its been stressful at work lately and I was really sick the last few weeks. I wasn't even able to take a sick day to get myself healed. Nobody would have stopped me from taking one, but I was really needed at work.. so I just pushed myself. Now I'm paying. So I plan on catching up on my sleep, recharging my batteries and getting ready for the holidays.

I have books to read, movies (from the library) to watch, and a bunch of projects that I want, but do not need, to do.

I love this time of year & have been on a big horror movie kick. I've been utilizing the cable and the library to watch a bunch of horror movies, and today I picked up 3 from Redbox for free with a coupon code. I love free!

Hope everyone has a good week. I'll try to post this week, but I make no promises

Got a nasty cold and am feeling down right yucky. If there wasn't so much going on at work, I'd stay home tomorrow. So to cheer myself up, here's some numbers!

Today, I spent:

- $3.70 on breakfast & lunch at work because I was feeling too sick to make anything myself.

I received:

- 1 large box of Snowcaps candy from a coworker
- $20.00 gift card to the local mall from my employer

The mailman brought:

- $25.00 Pier One gift card from My Points
- $10.00 off $25.00 purchase to Lowes coupon

My current healthcare plan is:

- Going up $12.00/paycheck or $288.00/year for 2009

A similar healthcare plan option is:

- $10.50/paycheck LESS than my current plan for 2008
- Which is $252.00 LESS than my 2008 plan
- And $540.00 LESS than my current plan for 2009

My current Dental plan is:

- Increasing $0.25/paycheck. In 2009

The alternate Dental Plan is:

- $1.90/paycheck LESS than I am currently paying

(I would like to mention that the two plans are pretty much identical, just with two different companies – both of which prominent in my state)


My Health Care Spending Account will save me an estimated:

- $226.50 Tax Savings

Total Student Loan Payments this paycheck:

- $169.06

And the best number yet...........

.....
.....

Total paid to student loans in 2008 to date:

$8475.20 !!!!!!!!!!!!

I packed breakfast & lunch for work. On the way home, I went to the grocery store and picked up romaine, cucumbers & tomatoes for $6.50. Not too bad.

No heat on right now. My goal is to keep it off at least til November. It helps that the temps have increased a little.

I've already packed food for work tomorrow. I'm heading out to happy hour after work. Expected spending (bringing cash), $15.00.

Saturday, I'm probably going to head into work to get ahead on some stuff. Then Sat night I'm going to a party. Just have to bring some beer with me.

Sunday will be a complete stay at home day. I'm thinking I might try a hand at making pizza dough. I can freeze what I don't eat.

Work is tense right now. The people I work closest with are all competing for a limited number of positions. Not pleasant since I consider them all hard workers.

Tomorrow's happy hour is with people at work, but not directly in my department. I'm interested in hearing their take on things.

I baked 2 dozen Blueberry Banana muffins last night. Yummy. Ate a few & froze the rest.

Tonight I made 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies. Most of which, I'll be taking into work tomorrow.

Its cold in my house right now. 49 degrees outside, 63 inside. Not too bad with the heat off. But I'm chilly. The stove kept the kitchen warm for awhile, but now I'm freezing again. I'm layering up and am cozying up on the couch with a blanket. My goal is to keep the heat off as absolutely long as possible. I get cold fairly easy, so I have to work hard to stay warm

And since my entertainment budget is blown with a work lunch out today, I am making plans for the weekend. Watching my nephew for a few hours tomorrow night. Doing some computer work at my parents on Saturday. Saturday night will be movie night in. Sunday will be a cleaning day.

I have to pick up cat litter and some veggies after work tomorrow, but after that, except for going to my parents (who live 10 minutes away), I really don't have a need to leave the house. No heat, no gas, no spending

Got paid today. Paid my mortgage & normal monthly bills. Put gas in my car and put $237.00 in an extra payment to my student loan.

I put the extra money from the electric budget ($37.23) and a few other catagories into savings. I like to build up a small amount in a freedom account for any expected 'unexpected' expenses (if you know what I mean).

Since I have all these planned savings and planned overpayment of my student loan, I sometimes have a tight month cash/spending wise. But its by choice. I want to meet my goals and for the most part its not a hardship for me to do so.

Last month, I had a lot of events - camping, a concert, and a wedding. So I spent more entertainment/gifts wise. So this motnh the entertainment budge is a little smaller

I also filled up the tank and made a BIG grocery run. I plan on doing some baking and I wanted to try making my own bread. Now I'm set except for getting some more milk and veggies later next week.

So now, after all is said and done, I've got a small amount left for discretionary spending.

From today until the 15th, I have:
-$16.02 in the gas budget (But I usually only fill up once a pay period).
-$36.96 for groceries
-$19.21 for entertainment/spending (this was already a lower amount than usual)
-$6.00 for cat litter
-$15.28 for personal items (really need to stock up in this catagory)

My goal is to stick to all of those budgeted amounts. To not go over in any catagory AND to not move funds from one to another. Its doable, mainly I just need to plan food and keep myself entertained VERY cheaply

Luckily, there's a lot of good tv on right now. And what I don't watch during the week, I can catch up on with Comcast On Demand and the internet

For meals,

I plan on having oatmeal for breakfast, tomato & cucumber salad & a cheese sandwich for lunch. Dinner will be pasta most likely

Thursday: Cheerios & milk for breakfast, pasta salad for lunch, meatloaf muffins for dinner.

Friday: Cheerios & milk for breakfast, salad w/ meat for lunch, tacos for dinner.

Today my sister and I took my nephew and a friend to the Oktoberfest. She had free tickets (saved $7.00). Free rides for the kids and fairly cheap food, drink and beer We stayed a few hours. I spent $6.00 out of pocket. And it was a great day!

Tonight I pre-sorted food for the week and made lunch for tomorrow. To prepare, I pre-portion 1 cup Cheerios into individual plastic bowls. I premeasure 1 cup milk into individual containers. I pre-portioned 8 oz of yogurt into containers. I also cut up 4 containers worth of carrot sticks. So now I'm ready to go forward with my meal plan.

Monday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & milk
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Meatloaf muffin, carrots
Snack: mini bag of popcorn
Dinner: Tuna sandwich on Rye, salad
Snack: To be determined

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & milk
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Pasta salad, pears, carrots
Dinner: Tuna sandwich on rye, baked fries, salad

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & milk
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Turkey bacon BLT; salad
Dinner: Spaghetti with ground turkey, salad.

Thursday:
Breakfast: Pears, Yogurt
Snack: carrots
Lunch: Cheese sandwich, pasta salad
Dinner: Chicken, roasted potatoes

Friday:
Breakfast: Cheerios & Milk
Snack: Fruit smoothie (homemade)
Lunch: Sloppy joe over pasta, salad
Dinner: Chicken taco salad over baked tortillas

Now I just have to follow through with the plan

Went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to get a wedding gift off their registry. Online, BB&B said the item that I wanted was in stock. When I got there, they said all the remaining items on the registry had to be ordered. So now I have to go off the registry.

BB&B had a big clearance section up front and I managed to snag some good early Christmas gifts.

I spent $12.51, and got a Glitter spun Candle set with a holder, red berry wreath and a pillar candle for a friend of mine. Budgeted $10.00, spent $3.74, saved $6.26.

I was able to get a large Maple Syrup candle in a very manly jar with stopper - perfect for a guy friend of mine. Spent $3.79. Budgeted $10.00, saved $6.21.

I also took care of getting some small gifts for just under a dozen coworkers. Just a little token gift that I'll wrap in tissue paper and a ribbon bow. I got 4 Yankee Candle Christmas (2.49) scented votives and 6 glass votives in evergreen (also $2.49). For about 50 cents and a handlful of tissue paper and ribbon, I have 10 work gifts!

I ended up getting a wedding gift at Linen's N Things. They matched the 20% off Bed, Bath & Beyond coupon. Spent 23.99. A little more than planned, but oh well. I also grabbed a wedding gift bag and card at the dollar store $1.50.

I did go to the movies today with my mom & nephew. $8.00. Picked up a soda at the dollar store and brought my own popcorn from home. (The theatre allows outside food).

Mom insisted on lunch, so we went to a local place. She treated. Which was fine, cause she owed me for some socks and stuff I picked up for her the other week, so now we're even

She wanted to stop at the Halmark store. Looked at a few cute things. And my nephew was VERY enamoured with a musical Halloween card featuring Star Wars characters. I went back in and splurged on it. $4.99. And he will carry this thing around for weeks!

Now I'm home, watching the first 3 episodes of Sons of Anarchy on Comcast On Demand. I am about to make dinner and get some stuff done around the house.

The air's still off. And I checked my electric usage today. I've used 297 KWH this billing period with about 6 days to go. Last month, I used 383. I've got the air off and am using minimal electric, so I should come in well under last month's usage.

My goal for October is to have air and heat off the whole month. There's been a big temp drop in the last few days, but hopefully it won't go any lower in the next month or so!

Its a happy Friday for me because I have a day off from work and the only goal I have is to do nothing I have the windows open and its almost chilly in the living room.

I'm still in my pajamas. I already made breakfast and lunch and am watching an Agatha Christie movie "Murder Most Foul". I REALLY love mystery movies.

Its been a busy week for me, and the down time is much needed. And as a side benefit, today will be a no spender because I am staying home all day.

A/C is still off. I've up to 13 days of no A/C this billing period.

Yesterday, I stocked up on books, cookbooks and movies from the library.

I got a TON of free stuff from our work outing on Wednesday. In addition to the free lunch and fun that we had, I took home a bunch of leftovers. 3 cans of soda, a bottle of water and a HUGE catering pan of salad. With all the good greens, peppers, cucumber, and more.

Stopped me from having to go to the produce stand for a full veggie trip. I just quickly grabbed tomatoes (1.46) and carrots (2lbs for $1.49). Saved approximately $6-8 dollars.

And I had a nice big salad for lunch and am planning another with dinner

I did some grocery shopping this week and was able to get some good deals. I've also had to change the way I buy some things due to packaging downsizes and/or prices.

Doing Weight Watchers, I consider 8 oz yogurt a serving. Only Acme carried the individual 8 oz yogurts. but they just downsized to 6oz. So I have switched to the 32 oz Dannon container and am just portioning it out into plastic containers for easy travel to work.

At the Acme, I was able to get a couple of good deals, including .... 101 oz Olive Oil for $9.99!!! A good deal around here is 50 oz for 9.99, so this was a steal!

I spent some time at the Dollar store yesterday. I needed to stock up on cleaning supplies, hand soap, and food storage containers.

I also scored with large bags of hashbrown potatoes at the dollar store. Its tough to find any frozen potatoes where the only ingredient IS potatoes. So I bought two!

On my grocery list was popcorn kernals. Acme had a 2 pound jug of them for... get this... $6.99! Walmart, where I usually get the popcorn was $3.99, up from $3.49. But now they carry a 2 lb bag of generic kernals for $1.50. Great deal compared to Acme's $6.99! And I just put the kernels into the old jug from my last purchase.

Soda prices are increasing and since I already have an unhealthy addiction, I'm working hard to cut back on my soda use. I'm drinking more water and I made a pitcher of generic crystal light fruit punch. No soda today so far.

I've started thinking about Christmas and plan to make my list this weekend. I have rough ideas, but I'm going to nail down gifts for each of the people on my list. Also, my Mom's birthday is coming up. I got her a book for $7.99 and I plan on cooking dinner for her and my dad.

This weekend, I have to get a wedding gift from Bed, Bath & Beyond. I have a 20% off coupon and plan to spend about $25.00.

So lots of spending, but a very tight budget. I'm hoping to save money any way that I can, including coming underbudget in my entertainment catagory. Time to get creative!

Lots of stuff going on. Cleaning, organizing, laundry, ect.

Returned a poncho to Kmart since it was unopened during the camping trip. $4.99 back in my pocket.

Returned the dress that I had bought for a wedding. Using one from my own closet

Did 3 loads of laundry today, only used the dryer once. And thats because I ran out of doors to hang the sheets/blankets on - no outdoor drying line.

Turned A/C back off tonight, although it wasn't running all that much even when its on. Its nice to have the fresh air coming through the house! I've guestimated that I've had 10 A/C off days in this billing period, which doesn't end til the 27th.

I'm working on my grocery budget. Its been challanging to eat healthier on a strict budget.

Packed breakfast and lunch today, but splurged on a soft pretzel. I've already packed breakfast for work tomorrow, but no need to pack lunch! We're having a work outing at a local state park. Free subs, yum.

I have a great idea for the outing tomorrow. Since the park charges by the car, not the person, we're parking in a local shopping center and carpooling into the park. We should be done around 2, I'll carpool back to my car and then I'm going to use the parking pass that the driver used and head back into the park for an hour walk. Gotta work off that sub

We leave for Jim Thorpe tomorrow! I am really looking forward to it. So far, I've paid $19.00 in camping fees, $15.00 in drinks (alcohol is allowed at the site), and $4.99 for a poncho.

I still have to put in my share for all the food and give the girl driving some gas money. And what I get out of it is 3 days of fun with some new friends!

I also went out and bought some sweatpants. Good idea in the cooler weather and I only own one pair right now and I pretty much live in sweats during the winter. So an extra pair is always useful. I also picked up a backpack and a long sleeved teeshirt featuring my college football team. Its all cute and girlie in pink and grey (not the team's colors).

This week the air has stayed off. I have the windows open and in the evening, there's no need for ceiling fans.

While I'm gone this weekend, my mom & nephew will look in on the cats. I told my nephew if he plays with the kitten for 20 minutes, I'll give him a dollar We'll see how that goes.

I'll be back late Sunday. Have a good weekend everyone!

Packed breakfast for work, but forgot (translated into was too lazy to make) lunch. So I spent 1.03 on a salad, .55 on a soft pretzel, and .85 on baked doritos. I did have dinner at home though!

And I spent some time this evening making a large salad with pasta for lunch tomorrow.

Today, the A/C was off all day, and it rained earlier, so its nice and cool with just a tad of humidity. I am getting excited for Fall. I get this sorta nesting feeling this time of year. I want to bring out blankets and candles and prepare to snuggle

Tomorrow, I am heading to my parents house after work. I'm supposed to watch my nephew for a few hours and set up my dad's new computer. I will probably get dinner out of it.

I have to prep for my camping trip. Pick up a poncho (roughly $7) since its going to rain this weekend. I'm sharing a tent with some friends (free). My share of the camp site for the weekend was $20.00. And two of the girls are going to buy food on Thursday night, so I'm looking at probably another $20.00 towards that. I am really excited to be going, even with rain!

And, I forget if I mentioned this or not, but I'm going to a wedding at the end of the month and its pretty fancy. So I went shopping last weekend for a dress. Is it me, or did all the stores stop carrying dresses except for in the juniors department? I finally found on, which I liked all right, but was pretty expensive. Well, I remembered the cute dress that I wore to my high school reunion last year and suddenly I have a dress that I love! Taking back that other one on Thursday!

Went to the movies and an early dinner with mom today. She needed some cheering up and it was well worth it, but it was spending (from my entertainment budget) that I was hoping to avoid today. Oh well.

Turned the AC back on this evening. Its very hot and humid and unlike most days in the last two weeks, I'll actually be home tonight and all day tomorrow. Might was well be comfortable.

I am working on a meal plan for the week. I'm hoping to not spend any money Monday through Thursday. No eating out, no snacks at work, no happy hours. It used to be that these days were common, but lately, I've been all over the place with my spending. Time to get back on track.

I earned a $25.00 Amazon gift certificate from a credit card that I use & pay off each time. It was a planned benefit and that gift certificate is going towards my Christmas shopping.

I also stocked up on soda at the store today. Its rare to see a sale on 12 packs at 5 for $10.00. So I stocked up. I then took the codes from the 12 packs and signed up for Pepsi Stuff for the first time. Sometime next year, I might get something free from that. Never hurts. I'm also going to ask coworkers to give me their points if they're not using them.

Spent a bit much last night. All cash, but still it was WAY more than I wanted to spend. At least I had a great time

I've had my A/C off since Wednesday night and I was loving it. However, its been threatening rain since last night and the humidity is high. Not so good for the allergies.

My goal is to keep my A/C off at least 10 days this billing month for my electric. So far, I'm on day 3. Definately doable.

This weekend, I have lots of plans. Tomorrow, I'm going to a happy hour with work friends then meeting other friends at a nearby bar. I plan on having dinner - the shrimp at this place is AWESOME! I'm going to keep the total night's spending under $20.00

Saturday, a friend and I are going to look for dresses to wear to a wedding. Its pretty formal and I have nothing that fits anymore. Hope I can find a good deal, because my budget is TIGHT!

Sunday and Monday are completely unplanned. I have some movies from the library and a few novels. I have a well stocked kitchen for yummy meals. I plan on going to my parents one day and hiking the other. I hate to travel this holiday weekend.


As for money plans, I have a lot of planned spending coming up:

Next weekend, I'm going to the beach since I missed out on going last weekend. Just for the day.

The next weekend, I'm going camping and whitewater rafting.

The following weekend is free. Then the next, I have a concert Saturday night and a wedding Sunday afternoon. We're planning on getting a hotel room for the wedding and heading back Monday morning.



So lots of stuff going on. Now I'm looking to do this without breaking my budget. I want to be able to put extra funds to the student loan, which now has a balance of $6,579.98! Woohoo!

On the upside, my electric bill was only $69.01! I had the air back on the last few days and was able to turn it back off yesterday. I want to keep it off as much as possible for two reasons: I LOVE fresh air and I love the lower electric bill

Last week it was my credit card that was taken. This Friday, I went to a Happy Hour and my cell phone was taken. UGH.

The theif has cajones. He took the phone right off the table. There was a lot of confusion due to it being a LARGE table with lots of different people coming and going. So I really shouldn't have left it out on the table.

At least I was able to shut it off immediately after I realized it was gone. And I was able to get a new phone on Saturday for $19.99 after rebate.

I've been spending like crazy, bought some more new clothes. Its been out of control lately. I'm a little mad at myself for gettiing so off track.

So, I'd like to talk about the things that I'm doing right.

-Turned the A/C off Friday morning til this afternoon. Humidity went back up and I had guests today. Still, my electric usage has been a LOT less than last month.

-Air dried 2 loads of laundry this week. One of which was towels and sheets, which I normally use the dryer for. I ended up hanging a couple of sheets off doors since I only have drying racks & hangers, not a clothes line.

-Made a meal plan for the week. I have already premade meals for tomorrow.

-Got a decent deal on low-fat ground turkey - bought two packs of 3 pounds each. I browned 3 pounds up tonight and packaged them as two 1 lb packages, and five 1/5 pound packages for individual meals. Took a third of the 2nd package and made meatloaf muffins. Tomorrow night, I'll make sloppy joe with the other two pounds. I just need to get one thing from the store first.

-Cleared more clothes from the closet. Organized my Fall/winter stuff and I know I'm set for the season.

-Cleaned the smelly cat litter boxes with water and vinegar and it REALLY made a difference. Nice, cheap solution!

-Did my own nails. I actually find this to be relaxing to do myself.

-Bought bananas and blueberries really cheap and have frozen a bunch for baking and smoothies later on


I also have several big expenses coming up. In the next two months:

- Concert with friends. Ticket, gas and at least one drink while there: Estimated $100.00

- Camping and white water rafting, gas, tent site, food: Estimated $150.00

- Wedding of coworker, slightly out of town. Gift, gas, hotel (a group of us are sharing a room), and breakfast: $130.00

- One more trip to the beach and boardwalk. Gas, tolls, parking, dinner, and maybe games: Estimated $80.00. (Gas being around $50)

***All of these expenses are probably over estimated, but I'd rather overestimate than underestimate.

I needed some new pants and shirts for work. I WAY overspent. I plan on taking back a few of the items. I had 20% off and didn't do too bad, but I got a few unnecessary items.

Today was a no spender for work food. But, I did stop off and buy romaine lettuce, tomatoes and peanuts from the produce store.

Then I got 2 25 pound bags of kitty litter from Walmart. I went with their brand, which is cheaply packaged, but is pretty good. The brand I previously bought was 30 pounds for $5.52 ($0.184 per pound). The new brand's bag was $3.94 ($0.1576 per pound). Great deal, since I buy a lot of litter

I turned the A/C off Thursday night and its been off ever since. Weather has been beautiful here. Lots of breezes and fresh air blowing through the house. I'm loving it! Plus so little electric used!

Today I was going to head to the beach, but I woke up in the middle of the night with the nastiest sinus headache and I decided that the beach wasn't such a great idea after losing hours of sleep.

So I slept in, took a drive through a very scenic area about a half hour away and then went to a different, but local State Park. $3.00 admission, since I never got around to buying my yearly pass. This trail was 3.6 miles. It should have been an hour hike, but... took a wrong turn on the trail and ended up backtracking a bit due to some missing signage. I ended up hiking for an additional 40 minutes! I was beat by the time that I was done, but I made it

No eating out today. I made myself breakfast at home. A sandwich for lunch at home. And I'll be making dinner at home later. I was thinking about getting some take out since I'm 'on vacation'. But I'll be having dinner out with friends tomorrow, so I'd better save it for then!

Kidney stone is 100% gone. Thank goodness! Its been a rough week. I haven't made food at home in days, so now I need to get back on track.

I turned the air off Thursday night and have opened up all the windows. It was SO nice out. I was even a little cold last night! I have been trying to keep my electric bill low this month.

I stayed in last night, but did get takeout for dinner.

Today, I'm going to cull more clothes from my closet and clean the upstairs. I am hanging out with a friend tonight. We'll probably head out to dinner. Nice and low-key. Maybe watch a movie.

Tomorrow I'm going with my mom to visit a family friend who is ill. I hope seeing me will cheer her up. She keeps asking about me.

I'm off work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. No big plans, I just wanted a few days off. I plan on heading back to the beach. 2 hour drive. I'll pack drinks, breakfast & lunch. Splurge on some beach fries. Spend all day at the beach and head back late afternoon.

Other than that, I'm just going to be doing stuff around the house. watching movies borrowed from the library and catching up on some books that I've been meaning to read.

In regards to the student loan, I've sent another $62.56 to it. I hate that it takes SO long to have the payment post to the account. I really can't wait to pay it off!

As for the second job, I had postponed my interview at UPS due to being sick. Then I postponed it a second time for the same reason. This wasn't a real interview, just a group walk-through and paperwork fill-out. Well, now, the shift that I wanted no longer has walk throughs available. BOOO! With my current work schedule, the only other shift that would work for me, would mean that I have to go in at 3:30 am. Thats so not going to work.

So now, if I want to pay off this loan by my April Birthday goal, I need to find roughly $2418.00. I am going to work on it, including selling some of my aunt's furniture that I don't have any use for.

Right now, I have $15.00 cash and $80.00 in checking. (after monthly bills). $20.00 goes to my Weigh Watchers fee. $15.00 goes to stocking up on cat food/litter/supplies. $25.00 for groceries. $35.00 spending money until Friday, when I get paid.

If there are any leftover funds, they go towards the student loan. So I'm going to work VERY hard to make that happen.

Today I packed breakfast (cheerios & milk), lunch (pasta salad and grapes) & snacks (carrots and strawberries) for work.

On the way in this morning, I filled up the car with gas at 3.69/gal! Glad I did it, on the way home that same station was sold out. The next lowest price in the area was $3.80. I spent $48.58 of my $60.00 budget. I've put the remaining funds $11.42 in a savings account.

After work, I headed into the area around the University. (5 mins from work in the opposite direction from home). I parked in a free parking lot and walked two miles around the campus. I got a little nostalgic as this was my undergrad school. (Yay free healthy exercise, de-stressing and entertainment all in one)

I've been trying different places for walking as I tend to get bored. I'm definately going to keep the University on my list!

After work, I headed home. Made dinner (Big salad, with pasta and a side of baked fries).

And now I'm vegging. The cats are fighting, so I have to keep yelling at them I'm watching free movies from Comcast, giving myself a pedicure and playing on the internet. Great start to the weekend!



Tomorrow morning, I'm getting up early & heading to a local state park for an hour long hike. $3.00 admission, but its so worth it!

Then in the afternoon, I have a party to go to. Its a big cookout with crabs and beer. Its a little far away and pretty much an all night party, so most of the guests camp out. The guests chip in $20.00 and bring a dish. I'm bringing brownies.


And just cause I'm still ridiculously happy about paying off my student loan, I've been making all kinds of spreadsheets. I REALLY want to have this paid off by my 30th birthday, which is in April. It would be a HUGE stretch, but I'm going to try.

I'll get the check from my mom this weekend and the first thing I'll be doing is putting that $2047.54 to the student loan. (Which is the original $5,000.00 minus the payoff on Student Loan# 1 minus funds set aside for a complete new wardrobe when I hit my weight goal and vacation funds).

Once that hits Loan #2 and the extra payment I just sent of $225, I'll have a balance of roughly $6,744.74. Down from today's balance of $9017.28. Thats a pretty great start!