Won't Go Down Without a Fight

January Was Great

2012-01-27T07:25:00.004-05:00

January was a great month for me. I feel like I have gotten so much accomplished.

~ I wrote down my schedule every day of things that I would like to get accomplished & actually got 95% of it done. If it wasn't finished, I put it on the next day or two & it got completed then.
~ I started working out & watching how much I eat (not what, just how much) and I have lost 4 pounds!
~ I read 3 books & I am working on my 4th
~ 2 Rooms have been decluttered! The office (& craft closet) & my bedroom. I wanted to do one each month, but to be honest, I didn't think I would even get one done;)
~ Stayed under budget with Groceries
~ Paid off my 'targetted' card!!

All of this stuff has seriously boosted my attitude & made me such a happier person! I LOVE it. And I have to thank all of you guys for keeping me focused & cheering me on. I honestly don't think I would have kept track of everything if I didn't have this blog & so many wonderful people commenting!

Here's to an AMAZING February! Bring it on ~~ We can do this :)

Last Week of January!

2012-01-24T06:42:00.002-05:00

Wow - January is going pretty fast! I am still pretty pumped about paying that card off this month thanks to DH OT.

As it sits I will be coming in under budget for groceries :) I won't be doing any more grocery shopping this month, so I think that will stay where it is now. Just need to watch my misc & I will be okay.

How are your January Goals? Are you staying on target?

It's Gone!!!!

2012-01-20T07:27:00.003-05:00

WOOHOOOOO! DH was able to pull 3 OT this week so I was able to rearrange things to pay off the Citi Today!!!!! I am so flippin excited that I am totally beside myself! I am so thankful for DH being selfless & working the OT when it is offered... he really is an amazing man that will stop at nothing to take care of his family. So very thankful for him.

On Tap is a F/N Visa that is sitting at $2,814.36 ---- I am hoping April for this one --- It would have been paid off in February with hopeful tax return, but we have decided to put that in the savings account & get some quotes for our Furnace/Air replacement. That really has to be done as well & it would be so nice to do it without charging it to something! CASH is where it's at! ;)

I hope everyone has an amazing frugal weekend!!!

Some OT

2012-01-19T06:52:00.002-05:00

DH had worked 3 OT in the first two weeks if the year --- he has also gotten 3 so far this week! It looks like there is a chance that we can get rid of the Citi by the end of the month!!!!

Hope your week is going well!

Two Down, Two to Go - Mid Month Update

2012-01-16T07:04:00.003-05:00

Wow ~ can you believe we are halfway through January!? It has been going by so fast - but I feel like it has been successful so far.

Here is where I stand halfway through the month.

Groceries - $234.20
Misc - $60.71
Books - 3
Gym - 7
DH OT - 3 (yippee! This will be on 1/20 Check!)

Groceries are a bit higher then I would like them at this point. But we were totally out of snacks & I did spend an extra $20 in snacks at the grocery store because they were on sale - got some Fig Newtons & Quaker Granola Bars (both were 5 for $10, so I got 5 of each) I hate to overspend like that, but in all reality, it saves us because I make up a 'snack bag' that stays in the car ~ When anyone in the car complains that they are hungry (either after skiing or just while out running around) they just grab something from that bag. (so it sort of saves us money & it also helps us to keep our junk food in check - little granola bites are only 90 calories & it takes the edge off the hunger! haha)

Everything seems to be going well on this end. Just going to keep on rolling with keeping my schedule & tracking EVERYTHING! It feels good to schedule & track. I think I like it!

Today is going to be a misc spend day - we have a roller skating activity for girl scouts. (it is $4 per person, so we will spend $12 - DH is going to go with us today) It will be a fun cheap family day.

Hope all is well in your corner!

Still Good

2012-01-13T12:56:00.002-05:00

Things are still pretty good here in our little corner.

Monday ~ $6 at WalMart
Tuesday ~ $7 at Brunch - I would have spent $2.01 bc of what I got to eat, but we were there for one of our friend's birthday celebration, so I gave my other friend half of what the birthday girl's bill was ($10)
Wednesday ~ No Spend
Thursday ~ No Spend

Today was DH payday & I was able to make a $100 Snowflake! Which goes with the territory because we are finally getting some snow around our area!

Cheers to a great weekend!!!

First Snowflake!!!

2012-01-10T07:21:00.001-05:00

I just made a $25 snowflake to the Citi Card! Woot Woot! Not much but I am super excited about it! :)

tweak in the plan

2012-01-09T07:11:00.002-05:00

Hope you had a great weekend! We sure did! Wish it was still going ;)

There has been a small tweak in our plans. Our furnace/air & roof if not replaced are going to keep us from selling this house when it comes time. Furnace is from the 80's.... So we have decided that with our income tax return we are going to get a few estimates on a new furnace/air & then with a possible bonus in March, putting it towards getting our roof done. DH friend has a roofing company, so this will only cost us materials, beer & pizza... maybe $100 bill to the two guys that will do it. DH will help. So our pay off may not be as high as we were hoping, but I am still going to keep it at $18k. This is just one of those things that could cause a huge snag in our selling. But if we have new air/furnace & roof.... I truly believe that this house will show well. So instead of putting anything on a credit card later, we just thought that we would pay cash & get it out of the way.

I have also set up our Credit Union Account how DH & I think it should be. $100 total going in - $70/week to cover property taxes & homeowners insurance - $20/week going into a temporary savings that will help with any extra we may need for things like the roof or even after that is done, we will need to get a load of gravel, mulch - little expenses that will fix the house up a bit to make it nicer to sell - $10 into EF (the one that we will not touch!) So I have completed one of my goals for the year! Woot Woot!!! It was such a simple one but one that I had never gotten around to doing...

Tweak it til it squeaks, right?? Enjoy your week!

Close Week

2012-01-07T07:01:00.002-05:00

Okay - so I am closing my first week in January. It didn't end up being a bad week at all. (with the exception of dd being sick)

Grocery to date - $66.27
Misc - $14 (on friday I purchased a few little things ~ $3 at Hallmark for valentine's for dd school, $4 at Michaels for red lights on clearance that DD & I will use for decorating for Valentine's Day and $7 at Five Below for toothbrushes & a little surprise for DD for feeling better)
Gym - I have gone 3 times - trying to plan to go today after our family ski morning (but if I don't, I will count my skiing as my exercise for the day)

So far this week there was no OT - DH said that they worked a bit of it, but he was the very last person on the list. He did tell me that will put him number 1 starting on Wednesday - so he thinks that he may get one in next week & then maybe one the following week --- that will go straight to our Citi Card... still pushing to pay it off by the end of this month... it is going to be tough, but I have to try!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! How did your first week turn out???

Happy Friday!

2012-01-06T07:38:00.003-05:00

Here's hoping that when DD wakes up she is feeling better & able to go to school. She went most of the day yesterday after her ibuprofen at 8am without a fever... hope it stayed. (when going to bed it was on the rise again, hope it was just the hot shower?!) I really needed to get out of the house, so after dinner I met one of my friends at the gym (both of us have colds, so we just hung out on the elliptical taking it easy for a bit ~ a little is better then nothing!)

DH got paid this morning - nothing earth moving - I have to wait for him to get his gas for the week & then I will throw a small snowflake at the Citi - probably only around $18, but hey, it's something!

Enjoy your Friday!

thanks for all the well wishes on dd - I sure hate when the kiddos are sick!

Progress

2012-01-05T07:10:00.004-05:00

Well, so far my week has been okay - I am up to $66.27 in groceries for the month so far. Yesterday & today DD is home, she is sick with a fever. Which is such a bummer because today they were going sledding with her teacher - just their class for a class treat because they had gotten up to 100 points (they earn points when they get compliments from other teachers for behaving in the halls or during specials) The sad thing is that is what dd suggested! And she won the vote! Oh well - her teacher told me that she will make it up to her & they will do it again without having to earn the points. Have I told you that I LOVE her teacher this year? She is AMAZING!

I have also already read 2 full books so far this year! Yesterday alone I read one with DD on couch... I should have gotten my butt up & cleaned, but I just hung out & sat by her all day - there is always today...

Hoping to get back to normal soon!!! Happy January!

Oh - and I was wrong on the balance on the Citi - BLAH! I had forgotten that we did not change where the gym membership comes out of... it has now been changed... so going forward we have $713... Still not bad (the interest + gym membership increased it by like $90)

Tuesday To Dos

2012-01-03T07:05:00.002-05:00

Okay - So it is back to normal today in our house. DH back to work (thankfully ~ there were all but 7 people laid off this week & next week!) DD starts back to school - again, thankful for that as well! She has been so full of energy the past few days & just doesn't stop! haha... she needs a little more structure again! So - this week I am starting off with my goals in mind - I have scheduled my gym time, I have also scheduled my 'cleaning' goals as well. (DD takes after me, I need the structure too!) I was hoping for a no spend today, but I actually have to get bananas & salad at the grocery today.

I sadly cannot wait until Friday & to start tracking my payoff progress & snowball goals! I am really hoping to be able to put something in every friday for my snowflakes, even if it is just $5!!! I want to see it increase every week!

Hope your week is off to a good start!

15 months ago....

2012-01-02T08:58:00.004-05:00

Okay - so time to post the nasty numbers & where they sit at this time.

October 2010
CC + 401k Loan + Personal Loan + Water Assessment - $65,370
Second - $18,841.39
Total - $84,211.39

January 2012
CC - $45,615.36
Second - $18,406.66
401k Loan - $1,862.20
Total - $65,884.22

So the total down is $18,327.17! I guess I didn't really realize how much we went down. We have had a few AMAZING windfalls that won't repeat themselves, but that was a huge chunk this past year. Just think if we could have stayed away from credit cards - that total would have been so much more!!!! But we didn't think that we would have to relocate. That news came about in September/October-ish. We had about $12k in windfalls - $3,500 in tax return, $3,500 in a March Bonus for DH, another $5k in bonuses/OT. So our personal progress was only about $6k. But $18 is $18 & I will take it... this past few months has given me a nice jump letting me plan out some nice 'snowballs' to get rolling. Before this year, we were only able to stay afloat by paying mins ~ we would have to use credit to buy our groceries & also gas for the cars... we have come a LONG way & I am so proud of us thus far...2012 is going to be a great year especially with this huge fire under our butts of having to relocate!

How did you do in numbers for 2011?

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T09:19:00.004-05:00

I hope everyone had a safe & happy New Year's Eve Celebration! We stayed in with DD & enjoyed some family movie time! (one of my favorite things to do!)

I am so excited to get things down to business! I did go to the grocery yesterday but will post with this month's goals since most of the week is in January :)

Hope all is well!!! Be posting soon! (and no, that isn't where I am - I wish I could have found something similar in SNOW!)

Snowflakes!

2011-12-31T08:42:00.002-05:00

Okay - so I don't know why I have never thought of stealing Jolie @ Shaking the Money Tree's Snowflake Tracking Idea before, but after seeing how much extra she was able to pay, I totally need to track just out of pure curiosity! She was able to track $4,350 in Snowflakes!!!! WOW That is all I have to say about that!

My Rules - a snowflake will include any amount of money that goes above the minimum payment for a targeted card.

This is going to be fun!!!! Thanks Jolie!

Straight Talk

2011-12-30T09:02:00.003-05:00

Okay - so I think I have my rules made for Carla's No (low) Spend Challenge.

Here Goes
1 ~ Groceries ~ $300
2 ~ CASH ONLY
3 ~ PAY OFF CITI! This is my big one this month - lots of other participants are doing a savings goal, I am going to 'save' by paying every extra penny I have onto the Citi Card - it is currently sitting at $730
4 ~ Misc - $75 for the month

A few things that are going to help me get what I need to do done this month -
~Track every penny every day
~Work Out
~DeClutter/Deep Clean upstairs of the house (2 bedrooms, office, linen closet & up bathroom)

How will you reach your goals???

UPDATE - Just paid on Citi - Balance is now $600!!!

You Better Watch Out....

2011-12-28T09:46:00.004-05:00

..... Your Next Citi! I am so tired or paying you monthly - game on

I got Citi down to the $700s - Really Really Hoping to get it gone in January! This bad boy is going to get hit weekly!

Hope your holidays were successful & you are off to a great start gearing up for 2012 - I personally can't wait ;)

ALSO - January starts Carla's NO (LOW) SPEND MONTH CHALLENGE!!!! - Are you game???

Our 12 in 2012

2011-12-22T07:47:00.002-05:00

Coming up with our 2012 Goals were a bit different this year. Usually there are just some goals that I would like to achieve, but this year they are real goals with real potential to do great things. (sounds silly, but I had to take under consideration what is going to be happening with the transfer ~ which we still have no idea when this will take place - could be as early as summer of 2012 & late as summer of 2013. Hence getting really serious really quickly!)

1 ~ Pay off $18,000 in Debt ($10k is our comfort zone - we need to push it. This may be tough, but with blood sweat & tears, I think we need to give it a fair fight)
2 ~ Keep track of daily spending (every year I put this down & I am good until I get about 2 months in - I need to make this work for me, that is the only way that I am going to be able to get close to #1)
3 ~ Get back to Using Coupons (I need to get back on track with this - there is tons of money to be saved out there & I haven't been getting my chunk for the past 6 months! But I am also going to track it - I want to know how much I am saving each time that I go to the grocery)
4 ~ Monitor Monthly Progress (I think this is going to be huge - I MUST keep track of how I am coming with my goals monthly. I think this will have a HUGE impact on if I am able to get things done like I want...my little corner of the blogosphere is the perfect place to do this)
5 ~ CASH ONLY (we did pretty good for most of the year - just had an issue right at the very end... we will get back to the habit!)
6 ~ $1's & $5's back into a mini EF Fund (I loved when we had like $50 just in case - there were times that since we were using cash, we needed to get milk & had no $ - that was a great place to check!)
7 ~ Set up my Credit Union Account Correctly (we currently have $100 going into the account per week - this covers property taxes, homeowners insurance & also could cover Christmas & EF. I just have to get it into the right categories there - right now it just sits in a pile & sometimes we have been known to get into it & get $100 if we are traveling to family's house or something - we can't afford to do that anymore - time is no longer on our side with debt payoff! We must get to work NOW!)
8 ~ Dinner Menu based on what is on sale (Healthy foods & also want to try to make one new recipe per month - more is okay, but atleast 1 new per month)
9 ~ Gym twice per week (more then that would be great ~ but twice per week would work too!)
10 ~ Family Game Night one night per week (it seems that the older DD gets, the less time we make to do something fun as a family - so in our goals, we are going to set a family game night once per week - we have chatted about this & the family is all for it! now to enforce it!)
11 ~ Family Activity one night per week (again - as DD gets older, the less we do all together - I would like this activity to be something that gets us out of the house & moving ~ something FREE - hiking, biking, swimming, skiing...skiing & swimming are already paid for for the year, making them no cost to us at this point)
12 ~ Read 30 Books (this is basically just making sure I am also taking time for me)

There you have it - our 12 in 2012. Hope everyone is having fun getting their goals together! I can't wait to see them & to cheer you on!

Have a great day!

Christmas Spending

2011-12-21T07:39:00.002-05:00

UGH! Okay ~ I was totally on a roll with paying things off & doing fantastic ~ Christmas happened. I had this great plan of just putting aside some $ from each check. DH had gotten a few weeks of OT so I was so excited. Well, when DH & I were talking, he told me he thought I should put that stuff to debt. Well, that left no $ for Christmas...YIKES! So out came a credit card! (insert 60's horror flick scream here) Well, needless to say, I busted my budget & spent way too much. Instead of the $500 I was going to spend, I spent $1300! OUCH!!!! Well, all of the OT has since gone to paying of Christmas. (DH & I have learned our lesson - he even said that we should have done it my way - taking a little extra cash from the OT checks) Here is the bonus - we have paid off our Christmas spending with the OT - but that could have been my CITI card! :( Looks like Citi will get pushed back a month with hopes of getting it paid off by January. I'm not totally bummed out - we did what we did together & have learned a lesson. We fixed it - but it just sets our plan back a weee bit.

We have been looking at our '12 in 2012' goals. Will post them soon!

.......so looking forward to the spending to be over..........

Awards!

2011-12-18T07:39:00.003-05:00

Krystin @ Misery of Money has given me an award
It's the Liebster Award. Thank you so much krystin!!! Watching you kick financial butt has been an inspiration to us all! :)

"Liebster" is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. What a gift to be awarded with such kindness! As for the details...The Liebster is a way to show a little Blog Love to bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers

The rules:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have fun!

My 5 Choices are

1 - Frugalicious @ Becoming Debt Free
2 - Mysti @ Digging out From Our Mess
3 - Jennifer @ our Brains and Our Debt
4 - Ms. 444 @ 444 Express
5 - Serendipity @ Serendipity's Guide to Saving

There are so many amazing PF Bloggers - this was so hard to choose!!! Lots of my longtime friends have over 200 followers too! I choose all of you for being amazing & so supportive! I could not be where I am without any of you!

I will be back soon to check in - we have another Christmas Celebration today ~ I need to get some salsa made!!! Happy Sunday & be back soon!

Anyone have any good spending freezes or any sort of challenges going on starting after the holidays??? I could really use one!

Best of Intentions

2011-12-12T06:59:00.003-05:00

Trust me - I was really hoping to get to post more lately but there just hasn't been time for anything! I do promise that after the holidays for sure I will be back more & really going hard at the debt! Things have gone pretty well so far - I haven't really gotten to go shopping much during the past two weeks (so that is probably a good thing!)

I just have a few odds & ends to pick up for Christmas, but other then that, I am done. Where it is going to hurt the budget is that in the past few weeks I have been so busy that I have only spent about $25 at the grocery the past two weeks, well, today I need to do some major grocery shopping - we have NOTHING! hehe...

Hope everyone is having a great December so far - please don't write me off, I promise I will be back! (and I love all of the support you guys offer! I will need that after the holidays to get some stuff accomplished with my debt!)

Bu-Bye - Best Buy!

2011-12-02T06:53:00.003-05:00

it's gone baby! Just finished scheduling my $689.91 payment!

Next on tap is a little card I like to call 'citi' ;) $1,715 balance, watch out... your on deck!

Happy Friday

Happy December!

2011-12-01T06:51:00.002-05:00

Can you guys believe that it is December already?!?! This year has gone so fast & to be honest I haven't kept track of much. This past few months since we have learned of DH transfer, we have been hot & heavy to get rid of the debt. I am hoping to PIF the Best Buy tomorrow!!! That would kick some serious butt! ;)

I don't have all of my December Goals Ready - but I know for a fact that with this being December1, it starts now ~ I must TRACK EVERYTHING!!! ;)

I wish I had November totals, but I was very un-PF blogger & didn't track a thing!!! EEK! (I had the best of intentions though!)

Cheers! (I'm sure I will try to be back tomorrow especially if I am successful in paying off that card!)

Still Running!

2011-11-29T07:10:00.002-05:00

Yikes! I thought a little break would come after the Thanksgiving Holiday here - nope - Not a chance! This week & next week I will be busy every single day with Holiday Shop at School - Yep - when I look in the mirror, SUCKER, appears on my forehead!

Things are going well financially - DH has been working some OT, so we have gotten to put a little extra $ onto our Best Buy Card. I am hoping to have it paid off by next week! That would be awesome - then we will be working on a $1700 citi card. That I am hoping to have gone in January? (Positive Thinking being done over here!)

Almost done with my holiday shopping as well - I have to purchase just a few more things & I am done.

How are things going out there with you???

Not Slowing Down

2011-11-15T06:41:00.002-05:00

Okay - so I have to accept that things are not going to slow down until after the holidays. I feel like I am running full speed ahead! The only thing I need to make sure of ~ keeping my $ in my wallet & just using cash... if I can stick to that during all of the craziness, I will be just fine.

Hope all is going well for all of you!

You're AMAZING

2011-11-05T07:42:00.002-04:00

You guys are so amazing by all of the positive words! It was hard for me not to keep the $ and go shopping for Christmas - but I have a plan for Christmas gifts! haha ;) I can honestly say that I wouldn't be doing what I am doing if it weren't for all of you! You guys hold me accountable & I love you all for it!!! Thank you!!!

Now ~ about that Christmas plan....

For the next two months, just November & December, I have bumped up our 'cash out' from $80 to $100 per pay - $20 increase just for the two months. This money pays for groceries & incidentals during the week. Well, I am going to challenge myself to just use the left over money from groceries during the week to pay for Christmas Gifts. So if I do our groceries at $40, that means I can take $60 and purchase Christmas Gifts. Should I finish buying gifts early because I have great $40 weeks, I will change the budget back to $80 out every week sooner so that it can get used for the $0 budget & go toward a debt. What do you guys think? Think it can work out? The $20 alone is $160 ~

My Christmas List

DH - $50 (given to DD to purchase for Dad)
Me - $50 (again given to dd to purchase)
DD - $200 (that is my total cut off this year - nothing more, hoping for less)

My Dad - $50
My Mom & Step Father - $50

DH Mom & Dad - $50

Niece - $30 (she & dd always exchange b/c they are the only girls in the family)
Cousin Draw Name - $30

So that comes to $510 - I am going to kick it down to $500 -- my goal is to finish Christmas for $500 --- now, that is still going to be a very nice Christmas for everyone! Our budget used to go to $1,000 with tons of people included, but we can't do that anymore!

Do you have your Christmas List set ??? Do you shop all at once or do you just pick things up as you see them?

Something Magical Happened...

2011-11-04T06:51:00.004-04:00

Today was the day that DH got a bonus check deposited! (also regular pay today)

with the funds, I have since paid off...

Sears ~ $1,381.26 ($40 per month & 24% interest)
Lowes ~ $1,369.07 ($40 per month & 24% interest)
401K Loan ~ $708.21 ($42 per week! - $168 or $210 per month!!!!)

A total of $3,458.54 has been cleared from our debt!!!!

We are on our 0 Based, so our checkbook says $0!!! But that is OK! I am pumped! DH has also worked some overtime this week, so he will have a bigger check next week! Woot Woot!

Next up - Best Buy $1,100 (hoping to throw DH OT onto this next week - get that bad boy below $1k!

Taking it to $0

2011-11-03T07:15:00.002-04:00

Up until this point, I have never really used a 0 based budget ---- well, that is changing. We have so many things to get accomplished & paid off in the next 2 years that I have to be aggressive now. We are going to start this week taking it down to $0 every pay check. We do have a credit union account that we keep for taxes/homeowners - that will be our safety net (this gets $100 per week) Our property taxes are due after our income taxes will be filed, so if we had to dig into that account a bit for an emergency, it would be fine. We are really attacking it head on - finally! If anything, this transfer is just the hit we need to get our butts in gear. I just keep thinking how much better off we will be moving with $0 debt.... that will make things so much easier!

Let's do this! ;)

Happy Thursday!

November, really?

2011-11-01T07:38:00.002-04:00

Yikes! Where did October go?!? October was a total whirlwind for my family. So much going on & so many new things to learn (ie dh job)

October went pretty well ~ I did sort of loose track of $ though. I didn't spend on a credit card - it was all cash. So that is a bonus! Based on the receipts that I do have (I doubt that this is all of them)

Grocery - $305.45 (budget was $300)
Misc - $175.98 (budget was $100 --- but $100 of this is an unplanned purchase that will save us money actually - we got a Roku box & we cancelled our cable all together - total savings of $100 per month!)
DD Bday - $187.47 - this is party supplies & gifts for dd -- no food though, that fell under the grocery

So all together, it doesn't look so bad ;)

Today is the start of the new month & I have my head clear & ready to roll. I am going to stick to my budget, track my spending & also get back to trying to pay off. Cash Only will also be key this month... Christmas Shopping has to begin. Last year we cut down on who we purchase gifts for - we are going to stick with that same list this year.

Goals
Grocery - $300 (increased it to $300 b/c of Thanksgiving)
Misc - $100
Christmas - $300
DD Photos - $75

That should do it - I am also hoping to pay off one of the 401k loans that we have out - it is sitting at $800. That will give us back $42 per week back into DH check! Woot Woot! That will give us a boost that we need to get other things paid down!

How do your goals look for November?

Going Well

2011-10-25T06:15:00.002-04:00

Things are going well - I am certainly staying on track with my budget - not spending too much & spending all cash... couldn't ask for anything else, right?!?!

Nothing else really going on - just busy trying to get things ready for DD birthday party on Friday night. She has 13 coming so far - with a possible 2 more. It is just a fun home party with some games. I just have to pick up a little bit more & we will be set. She wants to make cupcakes - sweet - that saves so much $ when you can just whip up something from a box! ;) We will be making some bat sugar cookies also. That will be fun.

This past weekend we spent not one dime - dd & I were at girl scout camp - it was a perfect weekend for camping actually - it was like 55 during the day & sunny --- just really nice

Hope all is going well with everyone - I will be thinking Christmas as soon as we get Halloween over with - speaking of Christmas, have you been seeing the decor going up already?!?! That is CRAZY!

Cheers to a good day

PS - no more firm word on DH job... still just a huge ball of uncertainty - oh well... just keep swimming ;)

Thanks

2011-10-20T06:48:00.002-04:00

Thank you all so much for the support - It is going to be a little 'bump' in the road but DH & I are confident that our plan will be okay. We are still holding onto him being here for atleast another 8 months. (it is possible even a year) There are a few areas that he can transfer to ~ when those 'bids' go up he will come home to talk to me about them. We have our top 2 in mind ~ those are the places we have already checked out a bit & would be happy to go to. (but honestly speaking, if we need to go somewhere else, so be it - that's what we will do) So if one of the top 2 comes into play, he will sign up & see if his seniority will take him where we would like to go. Right now it is just a big blob of uncertainty ~ that is what is stressful. But like I said, we are very confident that we will be okay. We aren't hugely underwater on the mortgage, probably about $15k - but enough to make it so that we wouldn't be able to sell right away. It will be okay. I have my wonderful Hubby to help me through the tough times & you guys to help me with the power of positive thinking!!! Like my previous post - maybe this is the driving force we needed to really get the debt gone. I just think of how much happier we will be once we are free of it & able to move on.

This month is going pretty well - I don't know exactly where my groceries stand, but I do know that I haven't used anything other then CASH! So I am on track there... will probably just have to wait to start getting back to keeping track in November.

Starting to think of Christmas around here - have you started yet?

Long Time

2011-10-19T07:10:00.002-04:00

Wow - it has been a while since my last post. Thing is, there is so much going on that I really don't have much to say about it.

We found out that they plan to shut down dh plant that he works at. He will be offered a transfer, don't know when & don't know where. With DH having 18 years currently, he plans to follow the job wherever it may take us. Right now, we couldn't move if we wanted to. Our house is worth less then we paid for it (less then we owe on it) So the plan right now for us is to continue on our path of paying things off as much as possible & getting some money into savings. We have decided that no matter what happens, dd & I will stay in our house working on our bills & getting on the right side of our loan until she is done with 4th grade. At that point she would be moving up to the middle school & it would be all new & new kids joining in (3 elementary schools come together there) so it would be a good time to make the switch (in our minds) as well as getting us in the right position for our financials to make the change. If DH needs to go before that, he will find an efficiency close to where he needs to be & just come home on the weekends. There is a $5,000 moving allowance that we would probably just keep into an account for him to pay for his month to month expenses for the first 6 months or so.

At first, I was really bummed - I love my life & how things are going (with the exception of the debt) I am super involved in school & love every minute of it. BUT now I am looking at it like a forced change to help us get to where we need to be. My family is still together & we all have our health, what else do we really need? DH is going to watch to see where transfers come up - some of them are about 3 hours away from here, we can still come 'home' for weekends to visit family at 3 hours. I have since made peace with this & am ready to get to where we need to be financially. Getting rid of this debt is more important that ever. In a way, I think that if we weren't 'forced' to make this change, we may have had this debt forever. Just chipping away a little at a time & probably taking 10 years to get it paid off... now, it is really at the front of my mind. We will do this

I hope all is going well with all of you! Off to go catch up on your blogs!!!

Welcome October

2011-10-03T07:17:00.003-04:00

Wow - Things have been so busy around here! The good thing is that we really aren't spending much!!! DD was sick Thursday & Friday with a super high fever - she seems to be tons better now - no fever since Saturday afternoon! Woohoo! Came early this year for sure! Atleast it was Thursday Friday, so she could have the rest of the weekend to feel better as well!

September ended on a good note - I was under in all of my categories. I also as 1 short in my jazzercise goal. But that is okay ~ I was home taking care of a sad feverish little girl.

Speaking of that little girl - her birthday is the end of the month. She has decided that she would like to have a home birthday party & play party games. I have a budget set of $100 for everything for her birthday party & then $100 set for her gifts. (she doesn't really want anything this year, so I am sure that I will come in under my $100 budget) All Cash of course :)

This month's goals are pretty close to last month's goals - just trudging... I do have some good news to share though - We knocked off our next 'little cc' last Friday!!! It had a $588 balance & it is Gone Baby! We also sold a pair of my old skis & got $188 ~ that check is getting deposited today & when it clears, I will throw it at my next goal which is sitting at $1050. I am really hoping to get this paid off by the end of November. DH & I are totally in sync & trying to kick butt together! It is great :)

Cheers to a great month ahead!!!

Last Week September

2011-09-26T06:46:00.002-04:00

This is already the last week of September & I have finally found what I need to do - getting back into routine. I think it all started with Jazzercise. I feel like I get so much more done when I go exercise! (plus have the energy to do everything on my list!)

I am on track with all of my spending & monthly goals. There just isn't a huge amount left over lately to put onto things. I am hoping that by February that will change. (atleast that is what my calculations tell me if I stick to them!) Also - by June, it looks like I will be able to start thowing $400 or $500 a month onto some of the big doggers... That is what I am looking forward to. But until then I am just going to stick to my budget & have a goal of no spending except cash - I think that is really all that needs to be done. We have decided to step away from the 0 based budget - when there isn't anything left over & we need something that we didn't budget for, we grab a credit card. SO that being said, we are going to start leaving the extra $20 - 30 in the account & just keep it there. Because when you go into Target & have a credit card to pay for something that really is about $10, you end up throwing close to $100 on a credit card because you have it, what's the difference, "I need this" - so we have changed things up a bit :) I truly think it will really work for us for the better. I am also going to get back to my 5s & 1s in an envelope - when we have them, we use them and stay away from the cards, so I am going to do that again - it was a great cash stash to have & I am not going to call it an ef - just a little stash. (need $6 for milk, grab it from the envelope) I think once we find what really works, we will be able to get on the right track. it isn't that we aren't on the right track, we have paid off a little more then $50k in debt in the last 3 years, but it is just taking a little longer then we had planned. We do good & then a credit card materializes & all of a sudden we have added $1500 to our debt again.... I do think we are finally headed down the comfortable, right path.

Has anyone else out there struggled a bit like we have lately?

This week is pretty quiet -
Today - Jazz - #6 of the goal of 8! I also need to run to drop off a few things to people & to school - along with picking up some 'straggler' fundraiser forms - $0 No Spend (I hope!)
Tuesday - Jazz - #7 - Set up for conference dinners at 3:45 ~ have ours at 4:30 with dd teacher - swim lesson at 6pm. - $0 No Spend
Wednesday - Jazz - #8 - Planning meeting for PTA council Event - $0 No Spend
Thursday - Probably a 'catch up on everything from the week' Day
Friday - Jazz #9 (here's a +1 to my goal!)

Hope you enjoy your week!!

Getting There :)

2011-09-21T06:55:00.002-04:00

So I am on my way of 'getting my groove' back! This week has been a quiet week for me & I am caught up on the laundry, dusting, floors, all that wonderful stuff! I am up to date on things with my fundraiser (for dd school) I will have to work on that nightly until I sent it off on Tuesday ~ I am a little bit ahead where it comes to room parent duties & also with my 'donuts with dad' event to be held the middle of October. Things are looking good!

Financially ~ things are going well - I haven't spent much at all. I am on target with my grocery bill, my misc as well. Everything is definitely coming back to me as it should be :)

Hope everyone is having a great week & is on target as to where they want to be when September ends next Friday (wow, only a week and a half until October starts! EEK!)

JP Wants her Groove Back...

2011-09-15T06:41:00.002-04:00

Goodness, DD has been back to school like 3 weeks now & I am still trying to find my groove! My goal is to get back to business & have things in order by the end of September. My problem isn't spending, it is just how I am managing my time & I feel sort of rushed to get things done. And on top of that, I haven't been keeping track of my spending.... it has been cash, but I still like to see where I am spending it. Like when I thought I had $30 in my wallet, but now i look & there is like $7? Where did that $23 go? So I need to start taking a little better care when it comes to that stuff. Atleast it was cash & it was left over from groceries, so it isn't designated to anything...

If you have school age children, do you have this problem too? Finding your groove when they go back to school??

DH is Working!

2011-09-12T06:40:00.002-04:00

Yeppers - that is right - DH is one of the only 15 people working in the whole plant of 400ish. I am thanking my lucky stars this week for sure.

Things are pretty good - another busy week on tap.

Today ~ have to get into school to get a paper out - also need allergy shots, hit the library & to grab a few of my coupon deals at the grocery
Tuesday ~ Jazz - then need to go to the dentist - have a meeting in the evening for Girl Scout Leaders. (service unit meeting)
Wednesday ~ Planning meeting for the District 13 PTA Conference
Thursday ~ Jazz - First Girl Scouts Meeting in the afternoon
Friday ~ Jazz & then a 'Snoopy Date' with DD - She has been saving her $ to go to Build a Bear ever since she heard that Snoopy was introduced (we had heard from the girls at BAB back in July ) So she wants to be there the day he comes out.. No biggie, it is all her money :) My good girl! Friends of ours may join us as well.
Saturday ~ DD sleeping over at SIL house (the girls have been bugging us to get together for a sleepover)

Should be a fairly inexpensive week on tap for me. What about you? Expensive week or inexpensive week ahead?

So Far So Good...

2011-09-08T06:17:00.003-04:00

This week has been the chaos I thought it would! But I am also spending what I thought I would also.

Tuesday was great ~ I had soup & water for $5.25 - Aldi for $10
Wednesday ~ I went to pick up 6 boxes of cereal & 2 boxes of granola bars for $11

So far $5.25 Misc & $21 Groceries for those days - today I must admit, I need to get milk!

So today we find out if DH will be laid off next week or not - it was listed that his whole department was going to be laid off - well, he decided that it as time for a change & he put in for a different department - he had been working the same department for 16 years doing the same thing (he is a laborer) and he wanted a change & also saw an opportunity to not be off for the next few weeks that are down. He switched departments at the beginning of this week & will know if he will be working next week today - they are working 15 people in his department & it all depends on seniority. We shall see... But this department also has more of an opportunity for OT & he said that he would really like to get some to work with for paying things down to start making progress. I truly do have an AMAZING Husband :)

Hope everyone's week is on the up & up!!

The Start of a New Week

2011-09-06T06:47:00.002-04:00

I hope everyone had a great weekend & my friends in the States enjoyed Labor Day! We had such a nice weekend & didn't spend too much extra. This week basically starts my whole PTA year - next week starts my Girl Scouts Year. Time to get busy!

On Tap

Tuesday ~ Jazzercise (I started back last week & feel great about it) I am also going to do lunch with a friend - So today should be about $5 - well, that's all I am taking anyways!
Wednesday ~ First PTA Council Meeting - I am serving on the Council Board as a Delegate at Large
Thursday ~ School PTA Meeting - I am serving as 2nd VP
Friday ~ I have Room Parent Meeting in the am & then I have kick off for Fall Fundraiser in the afternoon - this chicky has a busy week - but you know what? It should be pretty cheap! That is the bonus about being involved in things at DD school - I don't have time to go & spend anything!!!

This week I will go ahead & set a goal of spending about $10 total on misc & then probably only about $20 in groceries. DH went to grab a few things for me yesterday & Aldi was closed, so I have to run through there today. I am thinking that groceries may go up a little bit going forward because we have been really trying to eat healthier, tack on that prices are through the roof & that gives everyone a bigger grocery bill.

Hope you have a great week lined up - hopefully it is cheap too!!!

So Busy!

2011-09-04T06:30:00.002-04:00

Wow - time is certainly flying by! Sorry for the lack of posts, between not having much to say & also having no time...

September Goals are pretty straight forward -

Grocery - $300
Misc - $100
Next CC - $500 (would like to cut it in half if not able to pay off completely)
Purchase Christmas Gifts for two people on my list

Nothing much else here! Hope your September is off to a great start!

Filling Jars...

2011-08-30T07:31:00.002-04:00

Okay - so when filling your jars ~ do you fill them monthly or do you fill them weekly??

grocery - misc - gifts - entertainment.... and so on

Dear JP....

2011-08-26T07:49:00.002-04:00

STAY AWAY FROM STORES!

Okay - just needed a little note to self... with DD in school yesterday it was all I could do to not wander into a store to browse...

today I have a couple little errands to run - Cash only (do not take in Debit Card)

How are you doing the end of this fine month of August???

Back to School....

2011-08-25T06:52:00.003-04:00

Today is the day - DD goes Back to School.

She was nervous at first, then last night at open house she started to get excited. Her teacher seems wonderful & she is sitting in a class of 17 ~ most of her class seems to look decent. (last year she had some trouble with too much going on in the class & too many kids being disruptive) I am really hoping for a positive year!

Today I plan to come home & try to get my house in some sort of 'back to order' status! It has been like a bomb all summer. I just have had better things to do! With that in mind, I think we will end up with a No Spend! BONUS ;)

Tomorrow I plan to close up August & get going on September - Wow - September.... I will also be trying to list my Christmas Goals! I want to get started in September with my gift buying!

Hope you have a great frugal day!

Not too much...

2011-08-24T07:49:00.002-04:00

So nothing much going on here - just enjoying the last few days of summer with dd.... 2nd Grade Bound Tomorrow! Where does the time go???

Next Up...

2011-08-22T08:01:00.002-04:00

Sears Card with $1,385 currently...

I am hoping to get this card paid off by the end of October. DH has 2 down weeks already scheduled, so this may be a little tough, but that is going to be my goal.

This week has a lot of little things going on - DD starts school on Thursday.

Monday (today) - DH took the day off of work (he has some vacation that he has to use or he loses it) so we are planning on going to spend the day at the amusement park. Should be fun & pretty cheap. I am looking forward to having a fun family day :)

Tuesday - I think maybe we will have one of dd's friends come over & possibly go swim? Then we have to do the Kindergarten Open House (I have to set up a table for GS & also for the fall fundraiser)

Wednesday - DD has a swim lesson & then we will probably play at a park or something with a friend... then we have to go to Open House for DD, plus I have a table for the fall fundraiser to set up

Thursday - Start of School :(

It is going to be a tough change to get used to! I will miss her so much!

Hope everyone had a frugal weekend - we were camping with the in laws, so it was free after getting there.

Changing Gears

2011-08-19T07:53:00.002-04:00

So with the help of DH - I have decided to change gears in how we are paying debt. We were paying the little balances first going up. Well - we broke the debt into two --- our first set of debt is all small balances that we want to pay off by February 2012. The rest is well, the rest... Those are the big dogs that we will chew up one by one based on interest as we get there. DH & I decided that we will attack the biggest interest rates first in the smaller section - Why wipe out a 0% when we can try to wipe out a bigger interest one? Save us a bit of money - I'm not saying this is our answer, but this is what we have decided to try to do. With that in mind, we have our first order up today --- SAMS CLUB - $408 -- this has on tires for DH car... (remember the whole car, thing, yes?) Instead of me putting $ on a 0% card, I am wiping out the SAMS card today (that has 22% interest) This will make it so that we used the $ for 2-3 weeks without having to pay any interest on it!

So I am happy to report that today, we are atleast $408 less in debt :)

I need to start getting excited about paying off debt ~ any suggestions???

Happy Friday!

Store Discounts...

2011-08-17T06:47:00.005-04:00

You all are so very right - the common theme among all of you guys is that I should stay away from the card even though there are discounts.... DH always tells me "30% of $0 is Still $0!!" I am doing very well with other discount offers - I have been deleting them without opening them in my in box.. the temptation is too great sometimes! AH - I hate being such a Consumer!!!

Spending is staying in control this week so far - Tuesday our plans feel through so we ended up with our Thursday plans & what I had as a budget for Thursday was $7 - we spent $5 - (I just paid for dd's friend to swim) They had a blast.

Rafiki - Thank you so much for the kind words about dd - she is extremely sweet & I feel truly blessed

Old Navy Card..

2011-08-16T07:13:00.002-04:00

Is locked up... I intend to keep it that way. They send those coupons that you get extra % off and such - so I hate to get rid of it all together ~ I think I will just continue on this basis that I am going. If I am going to purchase something from Old Navy or Gap, I will use it with only what I can afford to pay off that week. If I find that I do not use it properly, I will cut it up & be done with it. But for the past 6 months I have been good about it - I can count that I have used it twice & then immediately paid it off that month.

Yesterday was good - we went to a movie with DD's friend - I had $7.75 left on a gift card & so it only cost me $6.75 to see SMURFS out of pocket with dd. I told DD that we will not be buying a drink there, when they have a water fountain if she is thirsty. I asked her if she wanted popcorn as we were walking in & she said "Thats okay mama, I know we are trying to save money" I truly have the sweetest little girl ever. So of my budgeted $ for yesterday, I only spent $6.75 - Def a bonus day!!!

Today dd was supposed to have a play date at a friend's house, but friend's mom is sick --- So today I have asked if our Thursday plans wanted to move to today ~ so I may spend $ today vs Thursday --- it looks like a great pool day - 81 & Sunny!

Hope your week is going well !!

Focus....

2011-08-15T07:45:00.003-04:00

Need to Focus on keeping this week under wraps.... For some reason I have a sick feeling about how this week is going to go! I need to stay inexpensive this week so that I can keep money going towards my debt... I have goals that I haven't posted but want to get to! (Pay off Goals - by the end of the year)

I am having issues... maybe someone can help - we went shopping & I used my Old Navy Card... I just paid it off, AGAIN... for the 5th time this year -- it is hard to make progress when I am just paying off the same card over & over again... suggestions anyone? I guess it really isn't much different from just paying cash for the purchase, is it? If I paid cash, I wouldn't have been able to put that $ towards another card anyways, right?

This week -
Monday - Movie - have $7.75 on a GC - just have to pay for one ticket & then I am going to split with the other friends that will be there the popcorn.
Tuesday - DD is going to a friend's house - that will be a NO SPEND DAY!
Wednesday - A friend is going to go with us to the pool ~ hoping to spend no more then $10
Thursday - Not Sure Yet
Friday - Not Sure --- Leaving for Camping for the weekend with family through Monday

I am really hoping for a cheap week --- It MUST be!!!!

Good Luck this week!

Back to School Goals...

2011-08-12T21:48:00.003-04:00

As mentioned before - Back to School is almost more of a "New Year" then the new calendar year to me. It is almost like a fresh start to get some things accomplished. I have been thinking about what kind of goals I can stick to & really follow. I hate to set the bar too high because then if I am off track & there is no way to get there, I will just give up - I would rather set my goals within reach & meet them with effort.

Here are a few...

~~ Emergency Fund - $1,500 by June 2012
~~ Track Daily Spending
~~ Track Coupon Savings --- I guess I need to get back to couponing first, huh?
~~ Try to Start Selling on Ebay again ~ I have been just handing things down to friends with kids that are smaller then dd.
~~ Fiscal Fast once per month (5 day span is probably a good starting point)
~~ Go to the Gym 3xs per week
~~ Come up with a weekly chore chart for myself so that I am getting everything done that I would like around the house (ie, washing windows, cleaning fridge, stove... all those things that I neglect doing on a regular basis, I do them as little as I can - mostly just spot cleaning & then a normal cleaning every other month - would like to have them done on a monthly basis)
~~ Purchase Holiday Gifts for 2 people each Month starting in September
~~ Actually Start to SNOWBALL (any $ left from the end of the week, needs to go into a snowball payment that I make once per week - I think if I can start doing this, I will reach my pay off goals a lot quicker)

I seem to be the Queen of Best Intentions...

Those are a majority of my goals for the 'School Year' - how about you? Do you just do your main goal list at the beginning of the calendar year, or do you see the 'school year' as a new year?

Happy Weekend!

Oh Bummer...

2011-08-12T07:23:00.002-04:00

So Thursday was a bust --- Shopping with DD.... and lunch....

$32 at the Gap - dd jeans & a zip hoodie - dd has an athletic build & HATES the skinny jeans out there - Old Navy Jeans don't fit right either - she is between sizes there as well... Gap is the only one in 5 different stores at the mall that we could find a pair of jeans ~ just one pair - on sale for $19... not horrible

$60 at Justice - dd's unders & got a few shirts. Had a coupon & we are all set for the beginning of school.

$9.50 for lunch at Chick - Fil- A

So right around $100 is what I spent for the day --- Bums me out - but it was fun. DD is all set with a few things for school & we had a fun lunch together... a little bonding time :)

Today I have a budget meeting for PTA & then we are potentially heading to spend a day at a local swimming hole. (will cost us about $10 to get in there)

Hope it is a good frugal day for you!!! (and weekend!)

Bring on Another

2011-08-11T07:39:00.002-04:00

So nice - Wednesday ended up being a No Spend also ! When we started this week, I wouldn't have thought that I would have had a few no spends! This is wonderful for the pocketbook for sure ;)

Today I probably won't be so lucky. We need to go do a few errands & I also told DD that today we would go to Justice & she could potentially pick out her First Day outfit. She needs underwear (and unfortunately, we spent about $18 trying different packaged underwear & they just don't fit her right & they aren't comfortable to her.) So at the very least, we will be purchasing some unders for her. (but I have a coupon!)

Nothing much else really going on in the financial world here - hope your week is going well!!!

Tuesday - No Spend!

2011-08-10T07:22:00.004-04:00

Tuesday was a nice No Spend Day!!!

I guess my week is going great so far! $2.25 is all that we have spent!

Today we are meeting friends at the zoo - should be fun.

75 cents not 50 :(

2011-08-09T07:50:00.002-04:00

haha - so we get to the movie & they raised their prices. $1.50 during the week - $2 on weekends & 75 cents on half price Mondays. All in all we spent $2.25 (my niece was with me) Did pretty well - I had told the girls that we were not going to purchase anything there - it was super nice, our other friends that we met had purchased a large popcorn & she gave my girls a cup full of it. (she did ask if they wanted more, but they both were good with just the cup) I did offer to give her a few dollars, but she politely refused. That was a lifesaver as well (that she gave the girls a little popcorn) when I saw they had popcorn, I really thought I was going to cave & buy my girls some. But we managed to get out of the theatre spending only the $2.25 to see the movie.

I was able to save $20 from my grocery money last week to put towards the $100 for camping with the family. (I owe my SIL $100 on the 19th - I already paid her the other half a few months ago)

Groceries are at $62 - which is pretty good for the first two weeks)

Today we are headed to a meeting for PTA Council this am & then we are supposed to meet friends at the park after lunch. They are calling for rain, so I hope we can make it to the park! I could use a little butt time in the sun ;) (I could also use a day in to clean, but the mess will be here when I get to it, right?!?!?)

Hope your week is going frugally!!! :)

Cheap Week Plan!

2011-08-08T07:20:00.003-04:00

I wish I could be on 'Fast' like Sharon, but this week I need to have a few $s in my pocket. We had planned on Friday to go to a dollar theatre & see a movie, but it was showing in 3D. So instead of going to the 3D version that dd & I didn't want to go to - we decided to tell our friends that we were not interested ($4.50 instead of $1!) Well - they decided to wait as well & want to go today - the bonus, I think it is only 50 cents today ;) Hence the reason for 'cheap week' instead of the full on fast.

It is going to be a great week for us! We have plans every day this week & more requests rolling in since school is almost here. I cannot believe it is almost time for school - I am getting nervous for dd! (but the trick is to not let her see that I am nervous about it! haha)

Are you fasting this week?

Thank you!

2011-08-07T07:28:00.002-04:00

Thank you all so much for all of the kind words. You guys are wonderful & blogging is just the best thing ever in my book for when it comes to support!

The bearing was the problem - the reason dh didn't think it was, is because he just replaced it 3 months ago! He had purchased a cheaper one & this time he purchased a more expensive one - hoping that isn't the problem again. There are a few positives about this situation - we still came in under $500 total & DH has brand new tires, an axel & now a new bearing... if he would have taken it to a shop, they said it would cost him between $600 - $700 depending on the time it took them. So we saved $ & also have brand new tires (needed done) all for under what it would have cost to fix just the problem through a shop. I am just happy that the problem is now fixed & we can get back to other things!

I did not get to the grocery yesterday - I had a meeting that was from 1 - 3:30 & then one of dd's friends moms called me & said they were headed to the pool - so I came home & took dd to the pool instead ~ Needless to say, I am pushing my 'fast' to start on Monday since I need a few groceries to get me through the week - we are out of milk, fruit & produce, the 3 most important things in our diet! (dd is lost without milk! all she drinks is milk & water - I am going to encourage that for as long as I can!)

....Cars....

2011-08-06T08:07:00.002-04:00

The thing about cars.... they are wonderful when they are paid off & all yours BUT when they hit a certain point, they start to need a little attention. DH's car has 110k miles on it ~ he has been having a little bit of trouble with it. It runs wonderfully, there is just something wrong in the front end that he has been trying to figure out & fix for about 2 weeks now. It started off that it was loud & it sounded like tires were needing to be replaced - did that, nope, not the problem.... then last night was an axel - nope.... not that either... today is going to be a bearing... goodness, I hope this is over soon --- We don't have the $ in the EF right now to be paying for all of this work, so, yep, you guessed it - it is going on a credit card... With all of the repairs, we are still under $500 & I am sure that is less then it would be to have taken it to a shop to get it fixed... just diagnosing the problem is pretty expensive.

just when I was feeling good about things & on a good roll.... such is life....

oh - and he also came home with the news that there are going to be two 'down' weeks at work - where he will be laid off (getting about 65ish% of his pay) One is September & one in October --- As soon as he told me, I came up with a 'plan b' budget for September.

So - it is most definitely in my best interest to start to prepare now!!! ugh

We are out of groceries, so I will be shopping today to get what I need for the week ~ then I will start my "FAST" tomorrow!!!

Wednesday...

2011-08-04T07:39:00.003-04:00

Well, my $30 goal for the day ended up being $0... It was good & bad all in one... the Good - I spent $0!!! The Bad - it came with dd having a belly ache. She was just not interested in going to eat or going to a movie ~ the day ended up on a positive note. Her belly ache was gone by dinner & we have plans to go to the amusement park with dh today --- he took the day off so that we can spend the whole day there in hopes that maybe it won't be so busy either ;)

I am coming up with a goal list for 'Back to School Year' -- it will cover September ~ December --- it is almost like the beginning of a school year is the beginning of a year for me (vs. January) I have the list sitting next to my computer & I keep thinking of things making it a hefty list so far... eek!

I feel a 'Frugal Fast' coming on - anyone else???

Positive Week

2011-08-03T07:57:00.003-04:00

This week seems to be going pretty well --- over the last two days I only spent $5 & that was to get my daughters friend into the pool. They had a great time together there. It is so hard to believe that there are only 3 more weeks until school starts! This is crazy, the summer has gone by so fast!

I hope your week is going well & you aren't spending a ton!!

Happy August

2011-08-01T07:43:00.003-04:00

Last 3.5 weeks of summer vacation. We have done pretty well so far this summer & I am super happy about that! In most summers I have spent tons of money on silly things like Chuck E Cheese & such - this year we have spent most of our time at the pool, park & zoo.

I am not ready for summer to be over - DD & I have been having so much fun together. It is going to be sad to see her go back to school :(

This week should be okay -
Monday - pool with a friend $0
Tuesday - pool with a friend - $5 ~ I will pay for her to get in
Wednesday - we are going to a movie & lunch - I am expecting this to run us around $30 tops - I have $7 left on a movie gift card & I will take in a few little snacks for dd -- lunch, I will just go as cheap as I can...
Thursday - DH is possibly going to take off & we will go to amusement park (just gas will be needed)
Friday - not sure yet ;)

Hope you have a frugal first week of August Planned!

Decision is in...

2011-07-31T07:11:00.003-04:00

We have decided that we are just going to get back on track & where we want to be. If we don't do it now, we may end up not being where we want to be (being able to pay mortgage the last week of the month) until the end of December ~ everything is thrown off kilter until then & then who knows how long it will continue. So we are going to suck it up & with a little hope & some sweat and tears, maybe we can get my goal of $200 into the EF. We will try!

Thanks for all of the comments! You guys are Great!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Question for today....

2011-07-30T09:06:00.002-04:00

Okay - so here is the hot question I have for the day...

Do you take the hit of not putting $ in the EF to get everything caught up & back on track by the end of the month or do you limp along for a few months to get caught up & use creative budgeting so that you can put the $400 into the EF???

Closing of July & August Goals

2011-07-29T08:10:00.003-04:00

Wow - August... already.... I am going to close out July even though this last pay for the month is today ~ since a majority of the week is in August, I am going to count it as August.

AWESOME NEWS for today - I put another $100 into my EF!!! Balance is now $200!!! I am so EXCITED :)

July ended up being pretty good - I think I ended up with 12 No Spends - towards the end I didn't mark them down. I think I will just take a different approach in August - Unless I am doing the freeze like some of you will be doing. I will just make every day spend less... Sometimes I find myself overspending on those days that I am running errands in preparation for my "no spends" that I am hoping for during that week... so I think that just watching my spending is best.

All of my other categories sort of pittered out this last week - I wasn't tracking them. So I will go back to my old tracking method... just saving all receipts and doing 1 or 2 tallies during the month to see where I am.

August Goals

~Grocery - $250
~Misc - $150 (back to school will go in here too)
~Save up $100 from Grocery Cash taken out weekly to pay for Family Camping Trip - I already gave my SIL $100, just owe her $100 - then will have to use some grocery cash for food for the weekend.
~$1 & $5s back into EF Home Cash Envelope - I was doing awesome at this before summer - now that summer is here, it is easier to grab $5 at a time to go get ice cream... need to get back to business with this one!
~$200 into the EF!!

As for no spends - I am not going to worry about tracking them - if I can remember to put them down, great, if not, that is fine too - like I said, spending less each day is better for me then no spend!

Have you thought of your goals for the month yet?

Enjoy the weekend! I know I will ;)

Some School Supplies (?)

2011-07-28T07:04:00.003-04:00

Well, I decided last night was as good of a time as ever for picking up some school supplies - $38 later - DD has most of her supplies - she still needs about $10 worth of stuff (those are just supplies - not anything for her to wear or anything)

She needs shoes - sneakers, brown & black shoes --- I am still looking for a pair of trekkers (like lands end has) but I haven't found anything we like yet. I may check ebay or something for those.

Clothing - she needs jeans & a few other pants - We had a 'fashion show' on Tuesday & she tried on all the items in her closet in question - they still fit! Being that she likes those clothing items, I am not going to replace them right now. She will grow out of them soon enough & I will have to buy new, so I am not going to get ahead of myself. A few pants still fit her around the waste & she loves them, so I am going to just put a hem in them for capri pants. She can wear them this fall before cold weather hits. I am also planning on hitting the clearance racks for shirts. That is what I did last year for her - I bought a bunch of summer t-shirts on clearance & she wore them the first two months of school - Then I picked up a few solid long sleeve ts for her & she still wore them during the fall & winter! Needless to say, I don't plan on spending much. I think I am going to set my 'back to school budget' at around $100 - then when fall items start going on sale, I will start shopping for warmer styles then.

So much for a No Spend Day :( Maybe today.....

July - Almost Done...

2011-07-26T06:57:00.002-04:00

July has been a pretty decent month for me. There hasn't been much spending at all. So far we are under in our grocery & misc budgets. No spends are lacking a bit but still have potential!

Today - we are supposed to hit the zoo with some friends - that is free since we have a pass.
Wednesday - Swim lessons - $15
Thursday - Park Day with friends - should be another free day
Friday - Maybe just a pool day

This weekend looks nice too :) Then August is crunch time with getting ready for Back to School.... didn't it just end?!?!

Woohooo

2011-07-24T10:39:00.002-04:00

Okay - so yesterday was the family reunion that is usually coupled with canoeing ($35) Well, it was so hot that the kids were just playing in the river and splashing around that we didn't even go canoeing! I was so happy!!! And also with the heat & chance of thunderstorms, we didn't travel to SIL house and the other amusement park! So I had planned to spend no more then $160 this weekend, we have spent $32! DD ended up going home with other SIL to spend the night and DH & I went to WalMart to pick up a few things $21 in groceries & then we went to Taco Bell for dinner $11. ($11 went to my misc spending) So we are doing pretty well!!! I am sooo excited!

Today I am going to head out to get some groceries

Tomorrow - I will have niece here for the day. Depending on the weather - we will either head out to see Judy Moody at the dollar theater or we will hit the pool - so I will probably spend $10 total tomorrow....

Also - We have our first $100 in our EF!!!! WOOOOHOOOOO

Such a happy weekend in our neck of the woods!

Hope yours is going well too!

Thanks

2011-07-23T08:14:00.002-04:00

Thanks for all of the support guys with the bank issue... and the advise. DH check ended up being pushed throw to show the deposit around noon - when I called, they said that all of the transactions were not processed & it was nothing personal. (kind of what I thought, that is what happened last time) On a positive note, for some reason all of the First Merit ATMs were down around us for some reason? Well, I didn't have cash to go to the amusement park with, so we went to the amusement park & spent NOTHING! Woohoo! That makes number 10 for the month for us on No Spend!

Bank Frustrations...

2011-07-22T07:14:00.002-04:00

so I woke up this a.m. being pretty happy that today was payday (last week dh didn't get a paycheck because he was on vacation the week before - so he had gotten a double check the week before that) Well - we did well everything was paid, but it is just stressful for us to go on two weeks with $40 in the bank -- usually it is only for a few days & then there is a paycheck, but that is just not something that we are used to seeing... kudos to those of you that don't get a paycheck weekly, that has got to be tough to get used to! So anyways - I get up this a.m. so happy that there is going to be $ in the bank... I log on to the account.... still just $40... SERIOUSLY!?!? This is the second time within probably 8 months that this has happened to us... something is wrong on the bank's end! Hopefully it will be like last time & we will get the $ in there by the end of the day --- I am seriously considering switching banks... maybe just switching full time to the credit union? suggestions? (the reason I know it is on the bank's end is because I checked the credit union where our tax/homeowners/ef $ goes & it is in there like it should be... speaking of ef - today is the first day that the ef $ has gone in there since we switched it! so exciting!!)

On a happy note -
Monday - No Spend
Tuesday - Grocery $16
Wednesday - No Spend
Thursday - No Spend

I am up to 9 for the month & 79 for the year (excluding a few months that I didn't keep track)

This weekend is going to be a tough one....

Today we are supposed to meet a friend at the amusement park - dd & I are going to prepare early & make sandwiches & snacks so that we aren't spending $ on food --- I am going to throw $20 into my pocket just as a little spending $ though... no more then that!

Tomorrow we have a family reunion & we typically go canoeing --- that is $35 --- is it bad that I am praying for it to storm? it is a 40% chance of thunderstorms.... After that we are supposed to go to my SIL house to spend the night & go to her pool that she belongs to $20 for the family to get in - again... thunderstorms, can you come through for me?!?!

Sunday we will travel to another amusement park that is an hour from sil house (which our passes get us in) We are already planning on packing some pb & j sandwiches ---- Thunderstorms - HOLD OFF! This should be an inexpensive trip ;) just a full tank of gas getting home....

I WILL NOT spend more then $160 this weekend.... you can bet on that ;)

How does your weekend look?

A Fresh Week

2011-07-18T07:16:00.003-04:00

What a great weekend this past one was. We had NOTHING that we needed to do! It was much needed.

Saturday ~ $60 at Sams on Groceries
Sunday ~ No Spend

Monday ~ $30?? today is dd's swim lesson - so $15 - I am also going to go run a few quick errands while we are out.
Tuesday ~ $0 -- tomorrow we are supposed to go to a waterpark with friends. Our passes get us in, plus we have coupons to use that will get our friends in as well for free. I have already talked to her & we plan on packing lunches & not spending any money at all... it is always a bonus when you get your friend that you will be with to know that you really don't want to spend any $ - she was totally on board. They are pretty mindful of their money - They actually are what I want to be with our money! If we just keep working.... we will!
Wednesday ~ haven't decided yet what to do then
Thursday ~ we are supposed to get together with a couple of friends, this friend wants to go somewhere that costs $, I am just not into that so I will have to talk her into going to the zoo or something free.
Friday ~ we are going to be meeting friends at the amusement park for the evening - our passes take care of that cost! woohoo! DD has been saving her own $ to buy something with her allowance, so I am hoping to not spend a dime! I may have a $20 in my pocket - but that is all that I will take. We will take snacks & eat dinner on the way there (it is 1.5 hours away) our dinners usually consist of pb&j when we have nights that we go to the parks! Maybe some noodles & we are good to go :)

Here's Hopin!

Home

2011-07-16T07:44:00.003-04:00

I am so happy to be home for the weekend! We have been go - go - go since dd got out of school the second week of june. it is catching up to me! As much as I love summer & spending time with DD - I am almost ready for school to start so that I am not spending money & things slow down! (don't tell dd this!) Honestly, I would homeschool in a second if I thought that I would be good at it. I just wish summer would slow down a bit... this weekend will be just what is needed - I plan on spending most of my time at the pool hanging out with dd & dh.

Yesterday proved to be another no spend day as we did not hit the pool with dd's friend. That is fine by me, I saved $5!!

I have a lot of work to do to catch up with my goal of no spend days --- maybe I can plug in a bunch this week.

How are you doing mid-month?

Good Week

2011-07-15T07:52:00.002-04:00

This week was pretty good for me. I ended up having 2 for sure 'no spend' days and two days that I did spend Misc $ on. Wednesday was a $35.06 at Target on misc things - milk, bandaids, cat food, cat litter, coffee creamer ~ that sort of stuff... Then Thursday I spent $5 for dd swim lesson. Today is teetering on the edge... if I spend $ it will be $5 to take one of dd's friends to the pool with us. My house is in shambles right now because the bathroom is still on its way back together & I hate to have the girls running around here where there are tools & such. We shall see how it goes.

This weekend should be a pretty uneventful one - THANK GOODNESS! I'm pooped & just want to hang out. Even just go hit the pool ;)

Hope your weekend goes well - and it is cheap ;)

Great Start to the Week

2011-07-13T08:02:00.002-04:00

So I have had a great start to the week - 2 No Spends so far!!! I am pretty excited about that for sure!

We are also supposed to go to DH parents house ('the lake' is our reference to it - about 1.5 hrs away) this weekend again, but we just have been on the go so much & we were just there 7/3 - 7/6 (where I spent about $100 in unnecessary $). We still have to get the bathroom back together & we have just been running since school let out... not to mention that next weekend we will see everyone about an hour away at a family reunion. DH is totally with me on sticking around here for the weekend & trying to get stuff done, not to mention just spending a little family time maybe even just hanging out at the pool... & that will save us $$! It just makes things so nice when DH is on my side & totally appreciates my suggestions. I truly am a blessed woman to have such a great husband!

Nothing huge going on the rest of this week - tomorrow dd has swim lessons so that will cost me $5 (we had gotten a $25 gift card for the gym b/c we referred someone there, her last lesson was paid for by that card & I have $10 balance on it, so her lesson tomorrow will only cost me $5!!!)

Maybe I will get a no spend in today?!?! That would be nice for sure! That is what I am shooting for.

How are things going with you?

Pretty Good...

2011-07-11T07:42:00.002-04:00

So far things are going pretty well. I haven't had many 'no spends' per see but they haven't been big unnecessary spends either. They have all been grocery trips with the exception of my allergy meds that needed refilled. This week we have a bunch of little things going on. I am thinking a zoo trip today before the storms hit this afternoon, then this evening dd has her swim lesson. (let me tell you - these swim lessons have been the greatest thing EVER for her! She is really fine tuning her skills & it is AMAZING!) I think we have found something that she enjoys - looks like she is all in for Swimming, Tennis & Skiing. (she isn't a big 'team' sport person.)

The rest of this week I am hoping to have atleast 3 'no spends' --- but I will accept the way things have been going this month - the "$10 for milk, fruit" type of trips... I have been sticking to my lists & that is what has been saving me big time!

Hope you have a financially successful week ahead too!!!

Out of town & lost track :(

2011-07-07T06:54:00.002-04:00

Yikes - we were out of town from Sunday ~ Yesterday & lost track of how much $ we spent - it was cash that we had with us & I didn't do a good job & write down everything - I should find an app for that on my phone ~ anyone have an app that they like to use to just track the misc spending that they do?

Back to tracking EVERYTHING! :)

Hope you are doing well so far this month!

We have a plan...

2011-07-01T07:58:00.003-04:00

Thank you all for your comments about the EF! I see that many of you are happy that you have one or are struggling like I am to get mine in check!

DH & I now have a plan - I sent him to the Credit Union yesterday to increase the $ that comes out of his pay each week & gets deposited over there. The credit union is where we put a deposit each week for homeowners insurance & property taxes, along with a small deposit for Christmas. Anyways - I had DH change his deductions so that we will send an extra $15 per week over to the credit union & it will get put into a separate account for an EF. It isn't much, but it is a start, you know? Then as we are able to put additional $ into it, we will do so. I do feel better that I have a plan in place! Maybe when I get used to that $15, I can have DH increase it by another $5 & then continue until we are where we want to be...

Happy July! Hope you have your goals all set! Mine are on the sidebar - nothing to extravagant for the month - just trying to keep the spending in check & also just getting that EF started is a big step for us.

Have a safe & happy 4th (those of you who are US readers) - the rest that aren't - have a wonderful weekend!

End of June...

2011-06-30T07:08:00.003-04:00

Wow - so June went so fast! So glad it is on it's way out for sure ;)

Looks like I will only get to 13 no spends vs the 15 I was hoping for. My grocery was great I only spent $164.65/$250 - but went over a little bit on the Misc by $13.97 + I had to break out a cc... not sure where that is standing right now, will update it & reflect it in my total debt once it is all settled. I told DH that our EF has to get to $1500 - he kind of giggled at me :*( He said that would be awesome & he would love it, but he also said "Good Luck with that one" We have been putting all of our money towards debt to try to get rid of it - so of course we ended up needing it... humpf...

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to go about saving for your EF when you are really trying to pay off debt?

Stressed

2011-06-29T08:55:00.002-04:00

Okay - so this is going to be short & not very sweet --- just as things are starting to look good & we are on track & going to what should be, murphy steps in --- now, he isn't hitting us too big, but big enough that we have to pull out the credit card. He hit us for about $1,000 in the last few days - DH car & our septic tanks - Septic tanks were scheduled to get pumped next summer, but dh checked in & they were in dire need & could not go much longer - $300 to get them both pumped (* but that is sort of preventative - that could be a HUGE bill for us if we had a problem with them) And we are going to get hit with a bit more here this coming weekend... under our bathroom sink (again, I was hoping to remodel the whole bathroom next summer) started to leak - now there is that smell of wet/old wood - so dh is going to be working under there & who knows what else we will find... just praying that it won't be too much... how stressful that probably close to $1500 (rounding up just in case) can be racked up in a matter of under a week, but it will take probably 3 months to get that paid off! :/ humpf

I guess that is what I get for getting too confident!

Oh well - just keep on keepin on, right?!?

Last Week

2011-06-27T09:36:00.002-04:00

Well, the last week of June is upon us. Will we make our goals??? How does it look for you?

I am doing just fine when it comes to my grocery goals ~ I am a little over where my misc is concerned, but not huge. I am starting this week with 12 of my 15 no spends so I am on target with those.

Today is my rescheduled swim lesson for dd - so I will have to spend $5, as I still have a $10 credit on file. Then I am going to meet SIL to pick up niece - she is spending the night & we will have her tomorrow for dd to play with her. That should be fun. I will most likely take them for ice cream tonight ~ then tomorrow we will probably go swim (I have a guest pass avail. so it won't cost anything) I even have a credit for the snack bar, so it won't cost anything if they want a snack either! Woohoo!

Today - swim lessons & probably ice cream - guessing $10 total
Tuesday - no spend? (would be #13)
Wednesday - we are looking at going to the park with friends ~ no spend? (would be #14)
Thursday - we are planning to play with friends after working out, will need to spend $3 to put dd in childcare room while I work out with friend - she will put her kids in there, so it will be fun for them)

Looks like I will only get 14 of my hopeful 15 'no spends' in ~ bummer! Better luck next month, right? 14 isn't bad though!

How are your June goals? Will you make it??

Heck Yea!!!

2011-06-24T07:54:00.002-04:00

Woohoo - it is a wonderful morning! This am I paid off the Old Navy (@ $109 - but hey, paid off is paid off!) Insert Austin Powers "yeah baby" here!

I also managed to squeeze in a no spend yesterday #11 of the month. DD's swim lesson was cancelled due to a storm that was passing through. So I didn't need to spend $15 ;) Today though, I am going to go take DD to get her hair trimmed. That is about it for today ~ there is a cute little store that she likes to go into, I may let her pick something out for niece there - her birthday is next week - I already have a couple of cute little things that I have picked up, but I will let dd pick out one more little thing. and maybe in lieu of her allowance this week, I will treat her to something little too. So I am setting a limit of $35 for the day. I will take cash so that I don't spend any more then that.

Next on the hit list is getting tax $ together - that should be finished by next week which will be nice - and then after that, I have the Lowes Card scheduled to be paid off on the 22nd! That one is close to $400 & it will be nice to get rid of that one too!!! I am so EXCITED!!!

Have a great weekend!

Mid-ish Week Update

2011-06-23T07:10:00.002-04:00

Okay - well, kinda midweek, yesterday was anyways. Nothing huge going on in our neck of the woods. Yesterday we had a no spend day #10 of the month - I have a feeling that I may not make my goal of 15 - I do decent of not spending a lot, but I need to work on combining those days that I do spend to just get things done at one time. Today I will be spending because DD has a swim lesson ~ she does private lessons every other week for $15 - it is so much better to put her in those at $15 then to pay $10 per class to have her sitting around waiting her turn with 8 or 9 other kids. Today she also has a dentist appointment ~ Tomorrow I will be spending too, as I am planning to take her to get her hair trimmed. I wish I had enough time in between her dentist & swim lesson to get her hair trimmed, then I could have everything being paid out in one day... maybe I can push her swim lesson back? I will have to text her instructor & see what she thinks.

Nothing else really going on - dh had an overtime last week so I am planning on paying off the old navy card this week! I am pretty excited about that! Tax money is on track also, so things are going pretty well. These little cards will be nice to knock out of the way - I plan to have all of my little things paid for before the end of the year so that I can start to work on the big boys... those are going to be a pain in the but & tedious, but need to be done more then ever!

Hope your week is going well

Start of a new week

2011-06-20T07:33:00.003-04:00

What an exhausting weekend! I am pooped! We were at SIL about 2 hours away & got caught in a horrible rain storm on the way home with extremely heavy rain & flooding on the highway! Took about 30 minutes extra to get home ~ thank goodness we weren't farther away when that started! We were probably 30 minutes from home & the last 30 minutes took about an hour. Storms have been horrible everywhere this year ~ I guess it is just counter of last year when we didn't have much at all.

We don't have much on the schedule this week - dd has a playdate today coming over for a few hours. I was thinking that maybe tomorrow dd & I will go to the library, beyond that is still a mystery! I am planning on a nice quiet CHEAP week. I have 9 of my 15 no spends ~ today may or may not be one, depending on if we go to the grocery tonight or just wait until tomorrow.

Nothing else really exciting going on here - just the norm stuff. On tap for financial is just getting tax $ in order to get that completed & off the books for next month. Then I can get back to bill pay off. Old Navy will be next after taxes. I am honestly hoping to get that paid off in July as well... we will see ;)

Later Justice Card!

2011-06-17T07:42:00.003-04:00

Woot woot! I was planning on paying this baby off next month, but I went ahead & did it today - now it was only $61, but hey, paying it off is paying it off, right?!?!?

Thursday was a no spend day - #8 for the month - still need some more to make my goal, but I am pretty sure that with two weeks left in the month, I will make it ;)

This weekend will only cost us about a tank of gas & that is about all... so it should be pretty inexpensive. We may head to the amusement park this evening & I will take $20 from some of my grocery savings to throw into my pocket. We typically don't spend anything when we are there, but it is always nice to just have it.

Hope you have some fun frugal plans for the weekend!

Misc Funds Gone for Month

2011-06-16T07:10:00.004-04:00

Okay - so I have used all of my misc funds for the month. I had totally forgotten that I hadn't renewed our Zoo Membership. That is one thing that dd & I will go do on an off day just to get out of the house. Add that to the $10 misc that I had spent earlier this month at Five Below & we are now 64 cents over our $100 budget. My grocery is pretty low, so if we need to pull a little bit from that, we will have to do that.

We are headed to my SIL this weekend out of town - so we may need to use $20 - 40 in grocery money just to have handy. I will have to take a dish... thinking maybe a veggie pizza. Something simple.

The week is going good. Just busy - the usual. Summer time... always busy

I have been thinking of my July goals & they include having the tax money on time ;) ~ pay off the old navy ($110) and paying off the justice cc ($61) ---- yes, I know, I used the old navy again - shameful, but I had to pick up a few things for dd & I just didn't have the cash to do it - so she is set for summer now ~ and I plan to pay it off in July

How is your week going?

UPDATED ~ Question ~ Do you pay off by balance or by interest???

A few No Spends...

2011-06-14T06:48:00.002-04:00

So far so good - Sunday & Monday were 'No Spends' making 6 for the month. I feel pretty good since I have been back to tracking.

Yesterday we met one of dd's friends at the park & today one of her friends is coming over to play for a few hours. Tomorrow we are going to either hit the zoo or go pick strawberries. We are staying busy with lots of free & cheap activities. Just my style - I really need to get to the library! Maybe we will go this afternoon ~ there is an activity going on at 1 - I will have to see what time dd's friend is going to leave.

I have been good - I haven't ordered too many more books - I think I ordered $5 worth last week & that was 4 used book with free shipping, so it wasn't bad. Maybe dd & I should start going to garage sales, I wonder if she would like it. I just hate the temptation of wanting to buy stuff that I really don't need. (so maybe my $1 books for dd isn't such a bad deal after all - I might get them for 50 cents at the garage sale, but how much other stuff and I going to end up with?!?)

I think that maybe next month I will start thinking of christmas. It would be nice to get some people done & out of the way - I saw this really cool thing at JCPenney for my in laws that they could put in their camper ~ I think it is perfect! It is a coffee pot, toaster oven & griddle/grill all in one! it is totally cute!

Anyone else starting to think of the holidays & getting ahead?

Still Hanging in there

2011-06-12T07:10:00.001-04:00

Just a quick update that I am still hanging in there & going strong with my goals.

Just need to keep it up ;)

Hope your weekend is going well!

First Day of Summer Vacation

2011-06-10T07:19:00.003-04:00

Today is the first day of summer vacation. I am so happy that school is out - to be honest with you, I was DONE! I have a horrible habit that I totally need to break when it comes to school. I really need to work on it. Something will come out that there are volunteers needed or chair needed ~ so I will let it pass me by because I do enough in the school... then it comes back that there was no one to do it. So then I feel bad & say "I'll do it" Then I end up not able to find anyone to help me so I do it all myself. I am SO tired of that & already burned out. That is the #2 reason I am SO happy it is summer. (#1 is that DD is home with me & we can do fun stuff!)

So now that I have that off my chest, I feel much better ;)

This week went by pretty well -

Tuesday - No Spend
Wednesday - $5.50 grocery for milk
Thursday - No Spend

Today I will end up spending a few dollars as we are going to an 'End of School' Swimming Party & we are to take a snack to share. Shouldn't be so expensive - I am assuming that I will spend $10 or less.

I have 4 no spend days under my belt for the month so far. Not too shabby :) Should be able to pull a few next week as well. I am trying to set up some free activities for dd & I.

So far so good !

Enjoy your weekend!

Mid Week Check In

2011-06-08T06:30:00.002-04:00

Okay - so I am off to a great start so far! Thank you all so much for the kind words of basically 'past is done, it was a tough month for everyone, get back to it ;)' That's why I love you all so much! Everyone has a few snags along the way & you guys are all supportive when that does happen! Thank you!

Monday - I went to the grocery store & only spent $20.01 at Aldi & $5.97 at Giant Eagle - I am just rounding to $26 on groceries
Tuesday - I had a No Spend! Woot Woot! # 3 of the month :)

Today should be a no spend for me as well. I will be at the school all day for Field Day with the kiddos.

My next order of business is getting about $500 collected for my tax bill due in July. I have most of the money, but what happened is our taxes went up (we passed our school levy last fall) and our homeowners had gone up. So that accounts for the extra $ that I need to come up with. So there is no trying to pay anything extra off right now until the middle of July when I can start working on bills again. The extra paycheck in July will basically pay for it, but I am trying to save up a bit now instead so that I don't have to come up with all $500 at one time. As I have an extra $20 or anything left from our groceries, I am putting them in an envelope so that I can use it for taxes. Every little bit helps, right?!

Have a wonderful Wednesday & Stay to budget!!!

Where I Went Wrong

2011-06-06T07:01:00.002-04:00

Holy Smokes! I just went back in the check book to see what happened in May.

Hold on to your seats -

Gas - $168.63 (not bad)
Grocery - $437.11 (seriously?!?!? I haven't clipped a single coupon in weeks - this is horrible!)
Misc - $1,370.12!!! This total includes $450 for our amusement park passes, $350 that went to pay in full the balance we had with the dentist for work that just got completed, a few $25 co pays, checks needed ordering, our coffee pot broke (so add in $70 for coffee pot - I know, we should have gotten a cheapy one, but we just decided to replace the one that broke b/c it lasted 9 years) some eating out & true misc junk spending... that doesn't even count the computer that we had to buy!

YIKES! Thank goodness June just started - I have a chance to get caught up & back on track --- no looking back, just ahead... honestly, I don't think there is one thing that I regret spending $ on... my saving grace is that it was cash. Back on the wagon for sure

Okay - June

2011-06-05T07:09:00.002-04:00

Okay - so lets do this... Lets start with my goals.

Groceries - $250
Misc - $100
No Spends - 15
Gifts - $50 (father's day - niece)
Home - $100 (garden, deck stain)

this month needs to be CHEAP & Simple! DD is done with school on Thursday. But this week I am in school every day. There is something going on each day (field day, student appreciation...) I will have to front some $, but will get reimbursed by Thursday as well. I am in charge of Student Appreciation. I am going to do popsicles after they are done in the bounce houses & then I am going to do popcorn & waters when they are watching a movie in the gym. The rest of this month is pretty quiet so far ~ so it should be nice.

I have been trying to get some little things done around the house to make it a nice summer - in May I revamped dd's books. She is starting to get into the beginning chapter books, so I wanted to purchase some for her. well, I was on Borders & if you look up a book, they have under the 'add to cart' option, "# used from $1.04" - so you click on that & can see the conditions of the used books that are avail. for purchase. $40 is free shipping, but you have to purchase a few new books as well - well I got a few activity books for dd & for niece for her birthday, plus got 16 used books, all for $42 & free shipping! So I was pretty happy about that for sure! I know where to buy books now! Most of them are in AMAZING condition for $1.04! and with free shipping, where could you go wrong?!?! oh yea, the budget that I was supposed to be sticking too! ;) hehe But anyways - I also just finished a magnetic chalk board under her bed (she has a loft bed & under the loft bed we have rope lighting, bean bag chair, another fun organizing thing, and most importantly she has curtains to close up for when she is under there!) That is her new reading spot ~ there used to be toys under there, but I did some cleaning up & she loves to read under there now.

Those of you with children, have you done anything in preparation for your kids to be home for summer? Any other ideas???

Off to read the paper & get a refill on coffee!

Has it been that long?!?!?

2011-06-03T21:50:00.002-04:00

Wow - what a month - May went by in a whirl-wind... There has been so much going on with the end of the school year/scout year ~ throw in family parties, picnics, birthdays.... go on & on...

Well, needless to say - I am SO WAY off budget these days - May was so expensive & totally kicked me in the butt for sure.

I really need to get back on the horse & get some June goals up here... These next few months will be challenging to stay on budget with DD going to be home starting on the 9th... I really need to get my butt in gear!

Hope everyone is doing well out there --- Also - my computer crashed big time - we ended up having to purchase a new one, I know... bad move. (but we do all bills & everything online) So.... I have no 'favs' on my new computer ~ so if you swing in here, make sure you leave a comment so that I can get to your blog again ;)

Back soon with some June financial goals.

So Busy!

2011-05-05T06:25:00.002-04:00

This week has been so busy!!! Every single day I have had something going on - the good part - I haven't had time to spend money!!! Woot Woot!

So far I am on the right track with my spending & month goals (I know I am only coming up on closing the first week, but hey - if I can just take one week at a time, maybe I will do better!!!) So far I have 3/15 No Spends & $42.01 spent on groceries. Pretty good I'd say! :)

Hope you are all on track! (Short & Sweet Today - I gotta hop in the shower!)

Marvelous May

2011-04-30T07:25:00.003-04:00

May is a busy month for our house - but it is filled with wonderful things - Most of which is usually plenty of sunshine!!! :) It is also my birthday, mother's day & then picnic season kicks off at the end! What's not to love?!?!?! Gardening, going outside, washing cars, opening windows, happy smiling & loud children giggling throughout the neighborhood.... Love it!

Groceries - $300
Misc - $100 (to include my bday/mothers day)
No Spends - 15
Dr. Apts/Dentist - $230 (2 appointments @25 each & one dental @180)
Gardening - $50

I am going to go with $50 for gardening ~ I cannot wait to have some stuff growing & to be able to spend some time out back getting it all going! (Especially after paying $6 for tomatoes this past week! EEK!!!)

It is definitely going to be tough to keep the spending low this month. But it is a must!!!

Today we are going to my mom's house to do our Easter celebration/ cookout. She & my step-father always cook outside over the 'spit' - the ham is absolutely amazing when it comes off!!! YUMMO!

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend! Are you ready for May??

May Goals on My Mind

2011-04-26T06:17:00.002-04:00

This year is going entirely too quick! I feel as though we were just celebrating Christmas & thinking of the new year goals! Hard to believe that we are just about 1/3 of the way done with 2011! That just brings me to realize that I really need to step up my game - I am not getting nearly enough done as I had hoped this year!

A few of my goals revisited...

1 ~ $1 Bills to go to Home EF --- Thanks Canadian Saver at Saving4Later! She's doing it with $5s... I thought I would start with $1s... then work my way to $5s ;) ~ I am doing pretty well at this - I have even thrown in some $5's here & there - but I find myself going & using them sometimes... Is anyone doing it & also using them here & there when they need a little extra cash?
2 ~ Fully Fund with Cash the following:
Tires for my car - $400 ~ Check!!! Did this just fine :)
Amusement Park Passes - $450 ~ we decided against doing this again this year - gas prices are going up & up & if we are going to take a year off to get some stuff accomplished, then we really need this to be the year
Lake Passes - $230 ~ still working on this
3 ~ CASH Basis still ;) ~~~ yeppers! doing just fine with this!
4 ~ Pay off $10,850 (that would PIF 6 bills currently coming into the house) Maybe I will shoot for an $11,500 --- a little bit more of a challenge ~~ $2,705 -- not where I want to be --- time to step it up

May is going to be a definate spend less in my house!

Groceries - $300
Misc - $100 (to include my bday/mothers day)
No Spends - 15
Dr. Apts - $50 (there are two that I have in May)

Here's a question - since I am not where I want to be with my paydown at the time being, should I roll my change & put the 5s & 1s into my 'snowball' to put on my targetted card??

Back From Waterpark

2011-04-23T06:54:00.004-04:00

I am happy to say that we did not spend not one extra penny while we were at the waterpark. It cost us the $150 and also gas to get there - we packed our own food & also did not do anything extra :)

I did schedule a $150 payment to the best buy card!!! woohoo!

Today we are going to color eggs & do some grocery shopping.

Tomorrow is Easter (Happy Easter to you all if you celebrate!) We will be headed to my SILs for an early dinner.

Monday is a day off of school for dd - not sure what we are doing yet... it all depends on what the weather is like!

By the way - I did do jazz on thursday ;)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Not Much

2011-04-20T07:16:00.002-04:00

Nothing huge to report here - I do have nephew again today. (My SIL pays for child care when she is working - she feels that it is only fair that she goes to work & gets paid so the person watching her children at that time get paid as well ---- I never accept $ from her if it is a night or weekend - we just 'switch')

Tomorrow will be hard to go to jazz because it will be the only day that I go this week - in that case, should I just skip it????

DH got in 2 hours of OT on Monday - they shut the line down early, so he didn't get the full 4 hours that they usually work if they do. But that will still be like $60 after taxes added into next week's check!

Still working towards getting our Best Buy PIF ASAP. I am going to start making extra weekly payments & see if that works (I cannot find anywhere how many payments I am allowed to make in one month, so I will start with my big one this week - hoping around $150ish if not more - then I will start to pay once per week if I can) Most cards will let you schedule like 4 payments --- some don't care how many times you pay them!

Happy Wednesday

April is Half Over?

2011-04-17T07:44:00.002-04:00

So when did that happen??? April is flying & thankfully the $ for April isn't so much ;) We are doing pretty good for April. Our first week trip has me watching & tracking every penny!

Here is where we stand so far

~ 3 of 12 No Spends
~ $0 for Misc
~ $36 of $40 for Easter Spends
~ $92.90 of $220 for Grocery

This week is a short week for DD/DH with Good Friday Off.

Monday - I have a fundraiser meeting with about 4 or 5 people coming in to present for next year - so I assume that it will be a No Spend Day for me
Tuesday - I told my SIL that I will watch nephew (she will pay $40 per day)
Wednesday - Watching Nephew - so Tuesday & Wednesday will add $80 to my budget :) woot woot!!
Thursday - this will be my only day to go to jazzercise :( Then we are going to an indoor waterpark for the night with SIL/BIL Niece/Nephew - we had decided this while in Florida to use some of the money we didn't spend. It was money we had put aside for our trip & we came in under budget - so DH had suggested that we should go & not feel bad about it - DD will have a blast - who am I kidding - so will I ;) So we also planned to take the $ that I make by watching nephew tues/wed & will use that as spending money with hopes of coming home with a bit to put towards a snowflake.

I had taken the $ from the 5s & 1s envelope on vacation with us for traveling money - I am happy to report that already we have $35 back in there. PLUS we have about $40 in change ~ I am so proud of us for sticking to this & putting the $ aside. This has been a big deal for us.

Some of our pay offs are still looking good

Best Buy being paid off in July ~ $1067
Little CC being paid off in August ~ $550
Sears being paid off in October ~ $1600
401k Loan being paid off in December ~ $2200

I keep running the numbers & it will be a challenge, but DH & I are staying pretty positive.

How are your goals looking for the month? are you on track for your year?

Thanks!!

2011-04-13T06:44:00.002-04:00

Thanks so much for all of the kind words about my trip! It is so nice that everyone shared in my joy of no credit cards & realizes what a big deal it was for us!!!

This week has been so far so good :)

Monday - Errand Day - G.E. $2.05, Aldi $6.45 & CVS $2.73 (Jazzercise)
Tuesday - No Spend! (Jazzercise)
Wednesday - I am hoping for a No Spend again today - Will update you later to know it if happened! Today I have a meeting & then I am helping in dd school for an hour.

Thurs - Meeting in Am & then a GS meeting ~ Hoping for a No Spend
Fri - Hoping Jazz & then probably a little Easter Bunny Shopping OR depending on my mood, maybe a No Spend ;) (probably weather dependant - if it is nice, I will most likely go out, but if it is chilly, then home is where I will end up!)

Hope your midweek is well!

Home Sweet Home!

2011-04-11T06:44:00.003-04:00

So glad to be home! We had a wonderful time on our trip for spring break, but I must say that it feels great to be home. I am so proud of us too - we went on a trip and did not pull out a credit card once to pay for anything!!! The determination & restraint we are showing to not use CCs is huge for us! I feel good about the trip & the amount of $ we spent. We spent $850 over the course of the entire week (Friday - Sunday) $400 of it was indeed gas. $150 was food - we took my in laws out to dinner one night ($80 alone there) then we had the remainder spread out throughout the trip. We went to Nick Suites Hotel & that took the remainder of the money - dd was the only one who spent any $ and that was her money that she saved up & got from a great report card. We did well - I am proud of us that we did go & went on a budget & stayed to it.

Now on to April!!!

Groceries - $220
Easter - $40
Dr. Appointments - $75
Misc - $100
No Spends - 12

Hope April is off to a great start for everyone!!

Closing Up March :)

2011-03-30T07:10:00.003-04:00

Okay - so I am going to go ahead & close up my March. I am not doing any grocery shopping & any spending I do will be on our 'florida budget'

March brought some interesting spending with it... car fixing, pipe fixing.. (forgot to tell you about that! Pipe broke under the sink - Nice... created a waterfall in the basement ~ all I could do was laugh because if I didn't, I would have been crying!) Our electric bill is going to be a little bit elevated this month because we have had on the fans & dehumidifier for a few days now to dry out the basement. Here's how it looks...

Groceries - Budget $300 ~ Spent $278.07 - Woot Woot!!!
Misc - Budget $260 ~ Spent $414.57 OUCH! But atleast that was all cash and didn't go on a credit card!!!
No Spends - Goal 17 - actual 12 (5 short - probably the whole weekend spending for the fixing of the car & also the docs & meds for dd)

I attended Jazz 14 times so far - plan on going Thursday, so that will make 15 - pretty good in my opinion! Shooting for 10 for next month (since I am gone for the first full week)

April Goals ---

DH has gotten a few OT's so I plan on sticking those on the Best Buy card that sits currently at $1066. My goal is to have that paid in full by June. We have avail $1000 to use for Florida. I am really hoping to come home with $300 (really hopeful of this - may be tough considering that it took $55 to fill up my car yesterday with gas & it is a 22 hour drive from our house) But if I can come home with that $ from Florida, then I will put it onto the Best Buy with hopes to pay $500 or more this month. I am so excited! :)

Groceries - $220
Easter - $40
Dr. Appointments - $75
Misc - $100 (this is after our trip)
No Spends - 12

Hope you had a good March! Lets look ahead for an even better April!!!

Here's Hopin

2011-03-28T06:24:00.002-04:00

Goodness - I am hoping that DD is now getting to the getting better stage - She had an ear infection & tons of 'junk' in her lungs, so we spend the weekend administering breathing treatments & amoxicilian... Yesterday she was 'tired' but lets hope that she is definately on the mend to go back to school today! She has been sick 4 of the last 5 weeks! There was one week that she was healthy & then BAM! (AGAIN!) Glad it was last week & not this week. Friday we are leaving for Florida.

On tap for the week - I think this should be a decent week.

Monday - Jazzercise ;) I had dh go to the grocery yesterday, so if anything today, I will hit CVS.
Tuesday - Jazzercise & also DD has Art afterschool that I will be helping with
Wednesday - I am helping in School for Spring Picture Day
Thursday - Jazzercise - want to go in before we leave -- Probably will run a few errands for the trip
Friday - Possibly Jazz - Not going to push it - I may have too much to do! Then we leave.

I am hoping to have a few 'No Spend' Days -- not nearly as many as I had hoped to clear for the month - but I will just try harder next month!

Hope your last week of March is great - Looking forward to a new month here for sure - although, I am going to start it off with a Major Hit to the Misc Budget!!!