Yesterday, I packed breakfast and lunch for work. I was able to get out a little early, so I met my parents and nephew at the movies for Hellboy. Geeze $8.00 for a matinee, RIDICULOUS! I did enjoy the movie though. And I was able to resist drinks and snacks. I snuck a bottle of water, refilled at work before leaving.

Today, I went to a local state park and did a 1.5 hour hike around a pond. In the 90 degree weather, what was I thinking?!? At least I enjoyed myself. But I came home dirty, sweaty and tired! The park had a $3.00 admission, but it was worth it. I feel so relaxed now

Tonight, I'm staying in. I have movies from the library, a book my mom gave me and a house to clean. I need the down time

Finally received my new computer A/C adapter today. Boy did I miss the internet! I survived, but if I don't have to, I don't want to

Lots of things going on:

-First, my new Student loan #1 balance $2181.08! Sweet!!!

-Second, I had to put out $49.00 for the new adapter. Thats after discounts and free shipping for screwing up my order and causing a nearly 2 week delay.

-Third, my work may be sending me to Arizona. Tempe, to be exact. If the trip goes through (the company's cutting back on travel), then I'll leave Sunday the 15th, work Monday through Thursday. I would have flown back on Friday, but I'm going to take a mini vacation and stay a few extra days. I'll have to pay for hotel and food for those extra days, but the flight back is still on the company.

This is an unplanned expense and I really don't have the funds just sitting around. But if I'm getting flown to a place I've always wanted to visit, then I'm going to take advantage of the trip.

I'm hoping to even get in a bus tour of the Grand Canyon. We'll see. I've been pricing them at around $150.00 for the day. But this will include several hours of driving, lunch, an actual tour of the Grand Canyon and Park Fees. The alternative would be renting a car and I just don't see the point in that.

-Next, the kitten got sick $70.00 in vet fees. Ugh. He's a cutie, but man, is he expensive.

-In frugal news, my electric bill has stayed low. Prices have been rising, but my bills stayed the same, meaning my usage went down. I need to watch using the dryer though. I saw some increased usage the month before when I was trying to shrink some clothes to get a few more wears out of them before giving them to Good Will. (That was actually successful, by the way).

-Also,no heat in the last month. Windows stay open most of the time, sometimes I use the room fans. But no central heat/air! I'm hoping to keep that up.

-AND in great news, my car insurance premium went down by about $75.00/year. I don't know exactly how it happened, but I'll take it

-I am really working on getting back into Frugal mode. I've been spending all over the place. New clothes, vet bills, eating out. All of that needs to get back under control. Especially if I get to Arizona.

-When I get back, I'm going to get a part time job. I've been talking about it for about a year now, but haven't really followed through for various reasons. With the kitten and continued weight loss, at least two of those expenses will continue. So more income will allow me to continue to pay down the student loan while taking care of these additional expenses.

-I'll update my side bar soon. Its safe to say that my clothing & vacation funds are back to zero. Ugh.

Yesterday morning, I received my stimulus funds by Direct Deposit. Yesterday afternoon, I mailed $600.00 to Student Loan #1. I'll have to update my sidebars

I'm trying to get back on track. Lately, I've been all over the place with my spending, but no more. I'm back on track and planning things out.

Today, I spent 3.80 on 7 large tomatoes & romaine lettuce from the produce stand.I was hoping for a no spender today, but I was running out of veggies.

Tommorow will have some spending as well, as I have a dentist appointment. But it is a planned expense and the funds are available from my HSA.

Electric/Gas-wise, I've had the heat on one night in the last two weeks. I'm looking forwards to the much lower bill.

I also am working to cashflow the vet bills from the new kitty. To start, I plan on spending as little as possible from my entertainment budget and putting the extra funds towards the vet. We'll see how many otheways I can save towards the vet bill.

Well, I'm off to make dinner & something to take to work for lunch. (See, I'm planning ahead).

Today I flexed a few hours at work and went to a much needed eye exam. Its both for routine vision and a medical exam for an eye condition. It was a big bill for both plus a year supply of contacts.

I actually order 3/4 of a year supply because I do wear my glasses maybe once or twice a week. That supply will last me over a year.

AND since my prescription changed again and I haven't had new glasses in over 2 years, I still need to get the glasses. But they will be 100% covered under my vision insurance. Whew.


And I know its a little late, but here's my meal plan for the week:

Tuesday:
B: cheerios and milk; canned pears
L: turkey and cheese on rye; salad
D: Pasta with Morningstar chicken strips; cucumber & tomato salad

Wednesday:
B: cheerios and milk; canned pears
L: turkey and cheese on rye; salad
D: Taco salad; baked fries

Thursday:
B: cheerios and milk; fruit cocktail
L: turkey and cheese on rye; salad
D: Tuna wrap; cucumber & tomato salad

Friday:
B: cheerios and milk; fruit cocktail
L: turkey and cheese on rye; salad
D: Sloppy Joe over pasta


I know the breakfasts & lunches are bland & repetitive, but its a busy week at work and I won't have to think about what to pack... its just grab & go since its already in preset servings. I did that Monday night.

I went to 3 different places for groceries today. I'm well stocked in the pantry & freezer, so this paycheck I was planning on stocking up on soda and my only other purchases will be veggies, dairy & bread.

Today I spent a total of $32.48 and got the following:

4 - 12 packs of soda (to take to work)
1 - 8 pack of 12oz bottles (for work)
10 - 2 liter bottles of soda (for home 79cents each)
1 - 2 lb bag of hash brown potatoes
1 - package of English Muffins
1 - 100% natural whole wheat bread
6 - Large tomatoes
1 - bunch of Romaine Lettuce
1 - large green pepper
3 - large cucumbers


The reason I bought so much soda is that I was able to get name brand soda (coke) for 79 cents per 2 liter bottle AND I was able to get the 12 packs plus the 8 pack for $9.00 total. The soda will probably last me about 3-4 months.

I will probably get more salad stuff towards the end of the week. And on Monday or Tuesday next week, I'll restock veggies & dairy. That'll take me into my next pay period. My grocery budget for this pay period is $50.00. It'll be tight because of the soda, but its doable.

Today, I brought breakfast & lunch to work. I did spend $3.49 tonight to the veggie stand to get romaine lettuce and tomatos. I wasn't going to buy any more groceries, but I really wanted the stuff for salads. So now I'm set for the week grocery-wise.

I didn't spend anything at the car repair shop, but they also didn't fix the problem. Somehow, they say that the fact that the driver side controls don't work for the passenger window has NOTHING to do with the fact that they just fixed the passenger side window. And to fix it, would be over $400.00. So I told them to forget it. I hate that place. I only took the car back there last week because if the squeal was due to the belt, it would have been covered under warrenty at their shop. It was, but then I let them do the window. Big Mistake!

I'm going to shop around prices and my dad said he would take a look at it. We'll see.

In other news, I got 3 free cans of soda at work.

And the best news of all, after a few weeks of a plateau, I lost 2.8 pounds this week. Less than a pound and a half, I'll be at the 30 pound mark! Hopefully, that'll be next week!!!

My car is back safe and sound. I paid a total of $338.34, which will come from my car repairs fund. I will be working to build it back up as needed, but currently its not a priority.

The shop gave me a lot of problems that I don't want to even get into. They finally fixed the squealing. It was a belt that had been replaced two years ago. It was still under warrenty, so they fixed it. Total cost: $0.00

In addition, I had asked them to look at my passenger side door. The motor would not move the window. So the window motor needed to be replaced.

Plus, my car had been riding rough. The techs noticed and determined I needed new spark plugs. Which I really do.. they haven't been changed since I bought the car. So they charged me for the spark plugs, but not for the labor.

Thats nice!

Until on my way home, when I checked my window. It worked once from my drivers side controls. Then it didn't. It works from the passenger side controls though. So I will be making a call to the Service desk tomorrow. I'm ticked!

In other news, I packed my breakfast & lunch for work today and ate dinner at home. I've already premade my food for work tomorrow. Tomorrow night's dinner will be at home as well, but then I'm heading out to meet some friends at the Pub. I plan on taking & spending only $10.00. Definately doable, the prices at the Pub are CHEAP!

I dropped my car off to the repair shop last night. I'll hear back this morning about an estimate, hopefully it won't be too bad.

Yesterday, I spent $9.00 at Olive Garden for lunch plus tip. Last night, I bought groceries.

Today I packed breakfast & lunch:

Breakfast: Hard boiled egg plus hardboiled egg white, 8oz yogurt

Lunch: Turkey on Rye, salad with ff sundried tomato dressing

I went from Saturday until yesterday with no spending.

Today I used my HSA debit card for the first time. I went to the doctors. $20.00 copay. Got a prescription to fill, which I will do tomorrow. Probably $10.00.

Tomorrow, I have to go for a test. $20.00 copay. Then from there who knows. I am so glad that I filled the HSA account. Because if this health problem is what I think it is, its going to mean some procedures.

In the meantime, I took lunch to work and am having dinner at home. I'll be packing lunch for work tomorrow.

Tomorrow night, my sister's throwing a surprise party for her boyfriend's birthday. I'm the excuse, so I get to bring him to the bar a 1/2 hour after everyone else. No drinking for me because of my health problem. But I'll be buying a shot for the birthday boy.

Then I'm planning a low key weekend. Not feeling so hot, so staying home is a good idea. Maybe I'll have my nephew over to watch some movies and play games. He's a lot of fun

Today was payday and I went a little crazy. I packed my lunch, but still managed to buy breakfast and lunch at the office cafe. Thats not what I want to be spending my spending/entertainment money on since I have a lot of things coming up in the next two weeks.

Oh well, tomorrow's another day. I did some grocery shopping to vary up my meals this week. Tomorrow, I'm having a turkey pita and salad for lunch. For dinner, I'll have the lunch I packed today, which was sloppy joe over pasta.

Part of the problem was I didn't do my meal plan this week. But I finished one tonight. I have a plan and I'm going to stick to it.

Just a reminder to myself. The reason I don't want to use my spending money for eating at the cafe are as follows:

I want to:
-Go to Work Night Out at a local bar on Thursday
-See Cloverfield in the theater on Friday
-Buy a new book

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

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

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

- Gift tags $1.00

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I've got some upcoming spending planned.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I made it my goal to stop using credit cards altogether this month. I realized that I have a tendancy to use my credit cards between paychecks and then use my hard earned overtime to pay them off. So I never carry a balance, but I spend more than my budget allows.

So its the 23rd day of the month & I haven't used the cards since before I started this self-challange. Its starting to get 'tough' now (at least mentally). Because I won't be paid again until the 31st.

I have 2 checking accounts: My main checking and my "House" checking.

The balance in my main checking is $189.95. I have budgeted:
$10.52 to groceries
$27.11 to medical expenses
$20.00 to entertainment
$40.00 to Weight Watchers membership (I pay ahead)
$10.00 to Netflix
$72.32 to Vacation
$10.00 to Cat expenses

The House checking has $227.65:
$47.65 to Trash (paid quarterly)
$80.00 to Water (paid quarterly)
$100.00 to Vacation Savings (to be used next week)

I have slush money in a savings account attached to my primary checking of $106.10, but I never touch that money if I can help it.

To make it til next Wednesday without major spending will be tough.
Wednesday: I have a work outing tomorrow night at TGI Fridays.
Friday: Halloween party at firehall with cash bar
Saturday night: Hanging out with friends. I just have to convince them that cooking is better than ordering out.
Sunday will be the first day of vacation & I don't plan on leaving the house
Monday and Tuesday entertainment will come out of my 'Vacation Budget'.

So I can do it, but it might be tight.

I budgeted $100.00 for the party. I spent $124.87. I WAY overspent on alcohol. BUT the leftovers will be put to good use. I plan to use the beer and Smirnoff Ices when hosting future, smaller get togethers. I have a bottle of wine that I plan on gifting to a friend tomorrow for his birthday. I have a large amount of Captain Morgan, which is my preferred drink (since watching my weight) and this will last me a LONG time.

I stuck to snack stuff for the food, picking up pretzels and cheese curls at the dollar store. I got chips and dip, carrots, halloween candy and soda from the grocery store.

My friends were nice enough to bring food too. We had meatballs and rolls, a cake, pita chips in the shape of bats and dip. Stuffed mushrooms and shrimp. My friends were very generous!

The food was pretty much gone by the end of the night, the leftovers were eaten over the rest of the weekend or given to my family.

I was able to borrow a dress for my costume (I was a Stepford Wife). I used my own pair of heels, jewelry and make up. I did buy fake eyelashes.

And I'll be able to reuse the costume for another party next friday

I have to say that the party was pretty sucessful and worth every penny. But I've learned my lesson to plan better with the alcohol.

I packed my breakfast, lunch and dinner for work today since I'm working 8am to 8pm. But I spent some money on a soda and some pretzels from the vending machine to settle an upset tummy this morning. I'm fine with it, since the funds come from my entertainment spending. And I'll still be eating the rest of my meals today.

For lunch I have a tuna wrap with shredded lettuce and a salad. For dinner, I have pasta salad with more veggies than pasta. I have a banana for snack. I was in the mood for ligher fare when I planned my food for today.

Tomorrow will be a large salad for lunch and meatloaf muffins with baked fries for dinner. Very yummy

Since I’ve been tracking every cent of spending this year from January 1st on, I was able to easily track how much I’ve spent in Medical expenses this year. Then I estimated what I’d be spending now through December. I came up with an obscene (at least to me) amount……. $968.99 !!

I need to not be so expensive. Geeze. I know a majority of the expense is my main prescription, which is $132.00 quarterly. But still. What have I been doing? Well, there’s been dentist appointments, sick visits, prescriptions, eye doctor appointment, gyno appointment and over the counter meds. But geeze! I can’t imagine what it’d be without insurance.

Anyway, I’ve decided to go ahead with the Health Savings Account through my work. They take the money out of my account pre-tax. I get a debit card to use from the account. All of which seems easy to use.

Now to figure the amount out. Now I know what I’ve spent this year, with nothing out of the ordinary. I’m set on contacts, but in the upcoming year, I’ll need new glasses. Actually, I need them now, but I want to wait until my annual appointment before investing in a new pair. Just in case my prescription changes. Which it better not, or those contacts will be useless.

I also don’t want to put too much into the account & then have a lot leftover in my account. At least the IRS allows us to go 3 months into the next year to use up any balance left in the account. So I’m figured that I’m going to estimate that I’ll be spending about 1000.00 next year. Well, really I’m figuring that it’ll probably be closure to $1100.00 with the glasses, but I want a little wiggle room until I’m comfortable with the account.

I currently have budget 82.00/month for medical. And the out of paycheck would be roughly 82/month. According to my benefits website estimator, I’ll be saving $326.50 in Federal & FICA tax savings. Which sounds good to me.

So I’ll be enrolling tomorrow. Whew. That was tough.



In other news,I had a no spend day on Monday and today. Also, the Breast Cancer benefit went really well. I had a few drinks, got a bit generous and ended up spending/donating $38.00 total instead of my planned $15-20 amount. But hey, it went to a great cause.

I have several things coming up in the next few weeks. On Sunday, I’m treating my sister & my nephew to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair. Tickets for the 3 of us will cost roughly $90.00. Then I’ll need some spending money. But it’ll be worth it. I really liked the PA Ren Fair as a kid and I know that my nephew will LOVE it.

I have set aside $100.00 towards my Halloween party. And roughly $200.00 towards my vacation week. I want to set aside a few extra bucks, but I’ll be waiting until my 10/30 pay check to use those funds. Which is halfway through my vacation, but works out just fine.

I get paid on the 15th and I’ll be sending 413.00 towards my Student loan. It’s a bit lower than the $500.00 per paycheck than I wanted, but I actually ended up doing a little less overtime than I expected and I’ve recognized that I’m getting a little burnt out on the overtime. So now I’ve rethought my goal and I’ve lowered it to $400.00 per paycheck. Which is still a VERY substantial amount.

So in conclusion, today I’ve made a couple of big decisions. And I feel good about them

Yesterday was almost 90, today was in the 80s. I was in shorts and tee shirts all weekend. This crazy weather is making me sick too. My allergies have been going crazy.

Its benefits enrollment week this week. I haven't taken advantage of our company's Health Savings Account since they just started offering it last year. Since I"m on 3 different daily meds, I am going to sign up to at the very least take that much out for the year. But I have a lot of questions about the plan and the company provides the information in a manner that is very hard to understand. I'm putting a call into HR tomorrow.

I am working on the plans for my Halloween party. I think my costume is going to be a Stepford Wife. I have a coworker thats going to lend me a dress. I already have shoes and a purse and all I'll have to do is buy some white gloves to complete the outfit.

I am planning on some food & booze for the party, but I encouraged guests to bring their own bottle as well.

I am SO looking forward to my week off at the end of the month. I plan on visiting a family friend with my Mom one day. I want to spend the day at the hair salon and I am going to splurge and get a pedicure done. I know a classy, but cheap place. I plan on spending at least 1 or 2 days just lazing around. And the rest of the week is up on the air.

Well, back to work. I'm here til 8pm. Then I'm heading off to an Breast Cancer Benefit that my friend is having at a local bar. $5.00 cover and 50% of the drinks go straight to the charity. I have $15.00 to spend and thats it. But all of it will go to the cause!

Also, in Weight Watchers news I lost another 1.4 pounds this week for a total of 16.6 pounds! Slow but steady! And I FEEL so much better. And I noticed that I'm enjoying food so much more

Well, I’m feeling regret over all my purchases, but still I’m going to be using everything that I bought. So now I’m in Buckle-down mode. I am making a meal plan for this week. I already packed all my food for today: Breakfast is a banana and Rice Chex. Lunch is more snacky, than a real lunch, but I’m having strawberries, a banana, a hardboiled egg and one hard boiled egg white. Snack is popcorn. Dinner is Turkey Sloppy Joe over whole wheat no yolk egg noodles. This is one of my favorite meals, so YUMMY J If I get hungry at any point after dinner, I have instant oatmeal to snack on.

I’m working on Christmas stuff. Some of my friends/family are hard to shop for, but I want to get it all done by the end of this month. I have a $25.00 amazon gift certificate to put towards it and I’m requesting another $25.00 gift card from my points. I have $400.00 in my Christmas fund budget and I am planning to add another $100.00 towards it for a tree and outdoor decorations, which I didn’t have much of last year.

This month marks my 1 year anniversary in the house and I have to say I’m still loving it !!! I am looking forward to the winter. I love bundling up under a mound of covers J

In other news, I’m going to have to be making some big decisions soon about work. I love what I’m doing, but the job itself is getting tedious. I love the unlimited overtime, but I really don’t know how long that’s going to last. Anyway, a quality position opened up with means going to an Exempt status (which means no OT). There are some trade offs, such as 4 weeks of vacation. I think it comes with a raise, but now sure of the dollar amount. I would need it to at least match the 10% shift differential that I’m currently getting, plus a bit more. The main benefit would be the possibility for further advancement. Hopefully it’ll lead me to higher positions.

My manager asked me to apply, and I did. I have an interview today. If I get the position, I’m really going to have to punch down my budget. I’ve gotten a bit sloppy, knowing the overtime will carry me if I go over budget in some categories, like groceries and eating out. We’ll see how it goes.

My electric bill was 74.03! Way under the 120/mo that I budget for electric and gas. I probably have another month of low bills before I have to turn on the heat. Possibly two months if the the weather holds.

Today, I'm taking a half day today and am planning on picking up my nephew after school. In the meantime, I plan to do some spending.

I want to find some of those plastic deck chairs to have outdoor seating for my party. Some of my friends/coworkers smoke and I don't want it in the house.

I also want to pick up some party supplies, including disposable plastic shot glasses to make jello shots. Its a tradition with my friends.

I'll also be keeping an eye out for some decorations for my downstairs bathroom. It has absolutely nothing in it, so I want to get a trash can, some guest towels, ect.

I am also going to do a little clothes shopping. I do actually 'need' some long sleeve tops to get me through the winter. I'm also going to look for short-sleeve on sale to stock up for next year

I also am planning to pick up some toiletries at Eckerds with a gift card that I have from a prescription transfer.

And in the midst of all this, I'm goign to be looking for some Christmas presents. I really want to have all my shopping done by the end of October.

So have a good day all & I say Happy Shopping

Yesterday I brought food for work, but still bought a soft pretzel because I was extra hungry. I also gave $5.00 towards a gift for a coworkers baby shower. Then I grabbed some groceries --- normal stuff, plus veggies, cheese & pepperoni to make pasta salad for the shower. So yesterday was a spendy day, but all planned, except for the pretzel.

Today is a no spender, I brought breakfast, lunch & dinner. I'm making that pasta salad tonight after work.

Tomorrow I'm packing breakfast & a snack, but lunch will be covered by the food at the shower.

Tomorrow night, I have a friend coming over. We'll be making dinner and watching a movie. Yummy.

I'm doing a lot of stuff tomorrow, but it'll still be a no spend day if I can help it

Overtime update-So far I've worked 14.5 hours of ot this week. I'm aiming for over 20. Definately attainable.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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