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Archive for October, 2010

Found a new slogan.... and a quarter

October 19th, 2010 at 10:27 pm

I get the "Debt-Proof Living" daily tip in my email and she closed with a good quote today. I printed it out and put it next to my computer.

"Wherever I am, whatever I do, there is a way to do it for less," Mary Hunt, Debt-Proof Living.

Words to live by.

I found a quarter today. I had not found anything for several days and all of a sudden a good find

I will add that to the penny I found the other day.
$1.83 = old found money total
+$.26 =

$2.09 new found money total.

Very Thankful This Morning

October 19th, 2010 at 02:48 pm

My DH arrived safe and sound last night after being away from home since the end of June. He was working in Pennsylvania and we live in Texas, so it took him 2 days to drive home. I am just always so thankful that God takes care of him and gets him safely back home. He makes good money, but I sure hate for him to be gone.

Spending:
$20 - Christmas gifts for DGS to give to relatives (art magnets).

Catching up on recording stuff...

October 18th, 2010 at 08:14 pm

Nothing too interesting to report. I just wanted to catch up on recording my spending since I haven't recorded anything since last Wednesday.

Thursday:
T-shirt to support breast cancer awareness, $10.
Friday:
Snack from vending machine = $1.
Saturday:
Kroger, food = $68.31
Palais Royal:
clothes for wedding = $31.00
Babysitting = $20
Sunday:
Kroger, food = $37.75
Today bought muffin and hot tea, $2.20


saved $9.55 using coupons
add to old $20 challenge total of $52.54
= new total for $20 challenge = $62.09

Carnival

October 14th, 2010 at 07:11 pm

DGS and I went to a free carnival with some friends last night. The university I work for provided this as part of our homecoming week festivities.
We got free cotton candy and carmel corn and got to ride a few rides.
Ya gotta love free entertainment!


Wednesday spending:
McDonald's : $6.48
Walgreen's: $4.98
saved $9.50 with coupons
add this to $20 challenge
old total: $47.56 + $4.98 =
new total = $52.54

No Spender!

October 13th, 2010 at 09:52 pm

Finally had a no-spend day yesterday. My DGS begged for Taco Bell before we went home, but I stood firm, and said, "No, we have been spending too much money and we have good food at home."
So, I made it through all day without spending.

Also, we went to our first cub scout meeting yesterday. It was good. I decided I wasn't going to mind going to the meetings with him and in fact I look forward to it. Don't know if I will go camping all weekend or not, but that's okay. We weren't really doing anything together and this is going to be a great opportunity to do some good things together. We have 8 in our troop.

I found $.15 today.
Old found money total = $1.68
new total = $1.83

weekend spending

October 12th, 2010 at 06:47 pm

Sorry, this is a boring blog post. Just recording my spending and saving.
I know I have been spending too much money on stuff, so I thought I would start recording it here to see just how much I have spent and on what.
I plan to do this all month. Then I can go back and take a look and add it all up.


Found money = $.04 over the weekend.
Old found money total = $1.51
New total = $1.55

Found money, Monday = $.13
new total = $1.68

Spending, Friday =
Walmart = $70.70 includes a BD gift for a party my DGS went for $17.00.

Spending Saturday =
Walmart = $80.00 groceries and household stuff.
saved $5.05 with coupons. This will go into my $20 challenge.
J.C. Penney's = 49.75. Sheet set, one pair Levi's for DGS, two new wash cloths.
Saved $30 with coupons.
Add this to $20 challenge.
old $20 challenge total = $22.51
+ 25.05=

New $20 challenge total = $47.56


Spending, Sunday =
McDonalds = $5.88
Church = $200.00

Monday spending =
Yoga class = $3
Child care = $20
grocery store = $6.97

DD getting married

October 7th, 2010 at 05:31 pm

Well, our DD and her SO are making it legal on Oct. 23. They already have a very sweet and precious 5-month-old baby boy. They have been wanting to get married for awhile, but not finding the right time. Yes, I know the right time would have been before she got pregnant, but that didn't happen, so now they are going for it. They said they wanted to do it in October because this is their favorite month.
My DH and I talked it over and decided on what we thought we could afford to chip in for their small ceremony and reception (party).
Our DD is 30 and already has the baby and living on her own with SO, so we don't feel obligated to go all out for a wedding and they don't have much money right now since our DD is staying home with their baby. But we are very excited and happy that they are finally getting married. She is our only daughter and we have waited a long time for this day. So, even though we have a lot of debt right now, we are giving them $1200 to help them with expenses and as a wedding gift.
They are going to the JP and then having a recption/party at a friend's house afterward.


Spending--
muffin this morning = $2.26
pizza last night = $10.80
grocery story = $19.45
Dr. Haynes = $24.00
Found = $.03
New found money total = $1.51

New $20 challenge total = $22.51

To join Cub Scouts or not to join Cub Scouts....

October 6th, 2010 at 10:18 pm

Okay, so my DH and I are raising our DGS 6-year-old. My DH works out of town for months at a time. Currently, he has not been home since he left at the end of June. So, I am almost totally responsible for our DGS.
I work 40 hours a week, take care of DGS, our home, our dog, our cat, and our one-acre lot of yard to mow and attend to.
I had been excited to get DGS into scouts when he was old enough. So, when he brought home the flier from school about joining he was excited about it.
We went to the meeting last night and here is where I start doubting if we can do this.
They expect the parents or parent or guardian or whoever to attend all the meetings with the scout and go on weekend long camping trips in the cold and sell a whole bunch of popcorn.
I can probably go to the meetings and I don't mind selling popcorn, but I am not going to be camping all weekend. I just can't do that and work full time and take care of everything else. And I'm pretty sure my husband won't be willing to do it even when he is home.
So, even though I did pay DGS's $19.75 fee last night to get him signed up, I'm thinking about telling DGS that we are not going to do that and we will just have to find other activities that won't be so time consuming.
I am the kind of person who really needs my down time and some me-time. I am not getting enough as it is, so I don't think this would help.
They really made me kind of mad, because they say on the flier that the boys will get this cool rocket thing for coming to the meeting, but they wouldn't give you one unless you signed up.
Don't get me wrong, I think scouting is great. I think my DGS would really enjoy it and get a lot out of it. But I just don't think I'm up to it.
And that really makes me kind of sad and bummed out about it. If I didn't have to work full time, I think I could do it. But not the way things are now.

I found $.60 the past two days on the ground.
Yay!
New found money total= $1.48

$20 challenge-
previous total = $21.88
new total = $22.48

$20 challenge

October 5th, 2010 at 02:55 pm

Spending -- weekend and Monday.

I didn't have a chance to record my spening since last Friday so here goes.
I am recording all my spending (besides regular bills) here because every time I try to use a small notebook and pen in my purse I end up forgetting or misplacing my notebook or something happens.
So,,,, since I always know where to find my blog, here goes.
Saturday --
$22.00 - Dollar General - cleaning supplies, and stuff, stock up. Saved $11.00 with coupons.
$87.00 - Walmart - groceries and Halloween costume for DGS. saved $10 with coupons.

Monday --
$3.00 - Yoga class
$10.00 - baby sitter
$3.40 - McDonald's Happy meal for DGS
$17.50 -- grocery store, food.

I found 11 cents in change yesterday

I am starting my $20 challenge, for the year, with my coupon savings and my found money. (I know it's late but I have just recently returned to SA).

Coupons = $21.00
Found money total = $.88

$20 challenge = $21.88, this is going into my new living room furniture fund. Yay!

Our Family Finances

October 1st, 2010 at 07:45 pm

My DH is a catastrophic insurance adjuster. He has been working in Pennsylvania for the past 3 months, working claims for Allstate.
He makes really good money doing this job, but, there have been long spells where there was no work for him.
He has been doing this job since 2005 and I have learned to save our money for when he is not working. It makes budgeting very difficult. Part of our credit card debt was from the last time he spent not working.
I handle all of the finances for our family. He never looks at or pays a bill. He has no idea what we owe and what kind of savings we have. He just trusts me to do all of that.
My husband has always been a very hard worker. We owned a small lumber yard and construction business for many years. We finally went broke doing that in the 90s because the economy was so bad where we lived. But, he always worked 6 days a week and many times he roofed houses because he could make a lot of money doing it.
He went to work for the state for a few years and that steady income was so nice. Always knew what we would have to work with for the month. But, he got to where he didn't like his boss and co-workers so he wanted to do this adjuster thing.
He tried to get a job last time he was home, but didn't even get any interviews. In this economy I guess it is good he has the job he does have now.
But, it is hard with him being gone so much.
We miss him and like I said, financially it is not very reassuring to not ever know how much money you are going to have to work with.

Always before, I would start paying off the CCs by the thousands because his pay is so good.
But, this time, I have decided to just pay $1000 per month extra toward the debt. That way we will have plenty in our checking and saving account to tide us over until the next time he works.
He has been gone about 3 months this time, and I think he will be home soon.
So, maybe he can be home a couple of months for a break and then go somewhere and work for another 3 or 4 months.
We shall see.....

Spending today...
$4.64 = salad for lunch
$6.10 = Walgreens, lotion and cough medicine
$1.00 = car wash to vacuum out car