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Archive for July, 2012

Lunch Date Denied!!!!

July 31st, 2012 at 06:45 pm

The lady that i work with asked me to lunch today. Of course I said NO!! I brought my lunch. She didn't leave right away so I quickly ate my lunch so there would be no chance of me changing my mind!

I got my budget for August and September done. If I don't get this renter situation under control by the first of September I am going to be in real trouble. Hopefully it will all work out though.

Renter's Update

July 31st, 2012 at 03:33 pm

The sheriff called me yesterday. He is trying to serve the renters with the eviction notice but they won't answer the door for him. He said that there was a truck in the driveway. He is going to keep trying but eventually will just have to tack and mail it.(post on the door and mail a copy to him).

I brought my lunch again to work plus some fresh fruit to snack on. I took some chicken out of the freezer for dinner tonight.

Today will not be a NSD as it is Tuesday and I always fill up on Tuesday and Friday. After I fill up I will know how much I overbudgeted for gas this week. It should be at least $25.

Today's results

July 31st, 2012 at 12:49 am

Today turned out to be a pretty spendy day. I went to the grocery store after work. I had to get my sister some milk and we needed milk and orange juice. I spent 17.64. Total spent today is 24.16. Ouch. It is amazing how little things add up.

My sister gave me the 200 for my dd clothes. It has been deposited into my account. I look like I have lots of money(for me) but it is already accounted for.

I was really tempted to eat out tonight. We had a bunch of errands to run after work and it was 6:30 and I was starving. Instead I bought a kit kat(yes I accounted for it in my points) and had a snack. It hit the spot. I then came home and ate my planned meal of nachos. That felt good.

No eating out: 4/4
Tracking food: 4/4
NSD: no 2/4

Resisted Temptation

July 30th, 2012 at 03:26 pm

I usually stop at BK on Monday mornings to get an orange juice and a milk for my oatmeal. Instead I stopped at the gas station and got a milk that is twice the size for less money. It should last me all week.

I am really excited about this challenge. I know I can do it. I brought my lunch today and some fresh fruit to supplement my meals.

Today won't be a NSD as I got cigarettes and milk this morning. I am thinking about quitting. I had thought I would quit for my 40th birthday in December. But I think I should probably just go ahead and quit now. I know it won't be easy which is why I keep putting it off.

Seems I have gotten a fan which has nothing but negative things to say. I appreciate the rest of you sticking up for me. This person obviously can't see how hard I am trying to make changes in my life. If your intention was too make me feel bad about myself, you must understand that I don't need you to make me feel bad about myself. I beat myself up on a regular basis. You simply will not make me feel any worse about myself especially since I am trying so hard.

Another NSD

July 29th, 2012 at 11:20 pm

Today was another NSD. In fact I didn't leave the house at all. Tomorrow I will need to get milk and orange juice.

My sister is giving me $200 toward DD school clothes. I am looking good for the 10th. We are waiting for that date because it is a sales tax holiday. She doesn't start school until August 17. If my mom can give me some money toward the clothes than I will be sitting pretty. I really need a couple new bras and an internet site my sister sent me is having a sale. Although I have the money in my account I can't get them because I will be short on the 10th.

Really looking forward to the week ahead. I am in a good place regarding my diet and budget. I am eager to do well on the no eating out challenge. That will really help my budget.

no eating out: 3/3
tracking food: 3/3
NSD: 2/3

NSD

July 28th, 2012 at 11:46 pm

Today was a NSD for me. The only time I left the house was to go to my Mom's for my DD to do some work around there. I am making dinner now. My brother gave me some fresh corn on the cob so I am making that. I made a green bean casserole and mac and cheese to go with it. It is a no meat kind of night.

I have done well sticking to my diet today. I haven't entered my dinner yet, but I am sure that I am going to go a few points over. Good thing for the weekly points!

My daughter gave me the $30 she owed me for the vet bill for her dog. Now I am just $200 short for the 10th of the month but I am hoping that my sister/mother will contribute some to the school clothes shopping. I am sure it will all work out.

No Eating out: 2/2
Tracking food: 2/2

Grocery Store Results and Other Savings

July 28th, 2012 at 12:45 am

We went to the grocery store and I spent $115. I had budgeted $200 so that is an $85 savings. YEA! I will have to make a trip next weekend to get orange juice but that should be all.

My prescriptions came in $10 less than I had budgeted.

I filled up my car for $25.25. I fill up every Friday and Tuesday. When I fill up on Tuesday it is usually around $35-40. It is never more than $50. So that is at least a $25 savings since I budget $100 per week for gas.

I had talked myself into getting a salad from zaxby's tonight and starting the challenge tomorrow. But my daughter wouldn't let me and since she was driving I couldn't argue with her. I had told her about the challenge and asked her to help me. Help me she did. So now I gotta rustle something up for dinner. She has already eaten at a church picnic. Guess I will make some nachos and settle in for a quiet night at home.

First Casualty of New Satelitte Programming

July 27th, 2012 at 08:04 pm

Well...I didn't think I was going to lose any of my shows since I downgraded my satellite package. But I found the first show last night. Anger Management. The new Charlie Sheen show. I hadn't gotten to much into it so it is not a huge loss. But my tv recorded thirty minutes of a screen telling me it doesn't get this channel. Interesting I know.

I ate my lunch I brought today. Cheddar potatoes and broccoli. It is a weight watchers meal. That is usually what I eat for lunch. Have a bunch of them in the freezer. Not planning on buying anymore when I go to the grocery store. Want to use the ones I have first. I am also on my second bottled water for the day. I need to incorporate some fresh fruit back into my diet. Will make sure to pick up some of that at the store.

Today is Payday

July 27th, 2012 at 04:17 pm

And most of it is already gone. Pretty Sad actually. But at least the bills are paid. I have $175 left in my account after everything is paid. Lets hope I can grow some willpower and leave it alone.

I have $200 budgeted for the grocery store. I am going to try to come in under $100. Shouldn't be too hard...just buying what we need. We are going to try to eat what we have on hand. That will take some planning but I think we can do it. We actually have a ton of food on hand.

One of the suggestions I got yesterday was to open an internet savings account. That was a good idea. I opened an account with Ally and put $50 in it. I have set up my direct deposit to have $50 from each paycheck put in it. I mean if I could spend that much on eating out than i should be able to save that amount as well.

Weigh in last night was terrible. I gained two pounds. I really need to get my motivation back. I have been struggling with that lately.

Hopefully the tenants will be served today or tomorrow. They have seven days from the date of service to respond. And on the eighth day I can put them out. Just hoping that they leave in the seven days. Really don't want to have to remove them.

Why is this so hard????

July 26th, 2012 at 06:14 pm

I ate out at lunch again. I brought my lunch but it wasn't what I wanted. So I went to Arby's and bought food that I didn't need. Why is it so hard for me to resist? It is like the money sitting in my checking account is burning a hole in my pocket. I am fine if I don't have any money in my account.

I also have my weigh in tonight. So I probably blew that as well. My will power is non existent. I have to get this under control or I am wasting the money that I give to weight watchers each month.

Blew it Last Night

July 26th, 2012 at 02:51 pm

I blew it last night. Before I realized what i was doing I had ordered a pizza. Even worse is that I ate most of it. So I blew it on finance front and diet front. I am back to being committed this morning. Will shortly eat my oatmeal for breakfast.

I went to the court house yesterday and began the eviction proceedings for the renters. Hopefully they will get out soon. I hope i don't have to pay someone to empty out the house and dispose of their property.



Changes Made in my Finances

July 25th, 2012 at 03:14 pm

Thank you guys for all the ideas posted. I have read them all and agree with everything said. The changes I have made are below.

I went from the 250 channel package on my satelitte to the 120 package. It is 50 less a month. And hopefully i won't even notice the difference. It still has to two channels i watch plus all of my local programming. I also dropped the HD channels. I won't miss that as my tv is so old that it doesn't even look like HD.

I also looked into cancelling my home phone. However to have internet service, the price would be the same as what I am paying now. The price of just internet is the same as the price for internet + phone. So I kept the home phone. They tried to sell me a larger internet package for $10 more a month but I stood my ground and refused it.

I have made a decision to reduce my eating out/grocery money. Starting on Friday I am only going to buy things we are out of. We will eat from our massive supply of food. The freezer needs to be cleaned out anyway

I changed my cell phone package as well. I went from 2100 minutes to 1400 minutes. I am nervous about this. We haven't gone over 1400 minutes in month but now that I changed I am scared that we will go over the minutes. I will just have to keep an eye on it.

Many of you mentioned having my kids help with meal planning. My DS doesn't live at home anymore and DD already does most of the cooking. We are both going to make an effort to eat at home more often and eat out not at all.

This is the beginning of changes that Iplan to make. Hopefully it will all lead to more money into the budget.

My Budget- The Cold Hard Numbers(please look at and help me)

July 24th, 2012 at 09:25 pm

Okay...so I have posted my income and expenses here looking for some guidance. I already see one thing...dining out is huge! i really had no idea that we were spending that much eating out.

This is from the 29th of June until the 27th of July. I have included the amounts budgeted for gas and prescriptions and groceries. I have tried to make this as accurate as possible.

Income
Salary - 1950.00
Child Support - 677.92
From DS For Car Payment and Insurance - 350.00
Transfer from Savings - 320.00(this was the balance in Savings)
from Mom for Health Ins for DD - 245.00
Advance from Mom for IRS Refund - 953.00

Total Income = 5395.92(wow!)(three paydays)

Loan Payment - 200
Amy Misc - 149.88(Cigerattes, Weight watchers, Eharmony which expires this month)
Vet for Dog- 33.40
Auto Fuel- 373.93
Auto Service - 285.47
Dining - 398.72(WOW!! Includes DD birthday lunch)
Entertainment - 7.99 (netflix)
Groceries - 659.12
Household - 48.50
Medical - 820.05 (include prescriptions and DD ins policy)
Misc - 12.31
Cell phone - 229.06(it is actually around 300 but exdh pays towards $135 toward it each month.)
Water - 62.27
Loan from MIL - 100.00
Car Insurance - 247.87
Son's car payment - 300(I included the $ he gives me in income)
Telephone/Cable/Internet - 174.92
Credit Card - 50(only a $600 balance)


Total Expenses = 3978.49

Rental Expense:
Mortgage - 550
Power - 179.00
Insurance - 69.62

Total Rental Expenses = 798.62

Income - 4495.92
Expenses - 3978.57
Rental Expenses - 758.02

Will have 502 left in my account on Friday. However...I need to make another house payment on the rental property but since I will be short on the 10th for my sallie mae payment(first one) and DD's insurance I can't make that payment. There is only one house payment because my mom actually pays for the house I live in plus the power bill. I need to start giving her money but can't find it in the budget.

I will try to not be offended by any comments. Listing my dining out was a real eye opener. I am spending almost 600 on groceries and an additional $400 on eating out! That is $1000 a month on food! Seriously! No wonder I am overweight!

Anyway...any help would be appreciated.






Verdict on Car

July 24th, 2012 at 07:18 pm

Well, it is the rear ball bearing that is bad on my car. That is what I thought it was going to be. But they needed my car for a couple of hours to fix it. So my mom brought me to work and will pick me up at the end of the day to go get my car. I told them to go ahead and change the oil and rotate the tires while I was there. Saves me from coming back in two weeks.

My mom is getting her finances straightened out since my dad died. She is losing about 2200 per month. Which means that she won't be able to help me out as much. I am not sure what I am going to do. I rely on her help so much. I make pretty good money and I don't understand why I am always broke. I just don't get it. I have looked back through the month and there isn't any extravagent spending. We probably only spent $50 dining out. We have cut that way back buy it hasn't made a difference. I am just frustrated. And in three years I will lose the child support I get. i have got to figure something out before then or I will be screwed.

Thanks for reading my ramlings. I just have to vent sometimes.

I Blew the Budget over the Weekend

July 23rd, 2012 at 05:17 pm

My weakness is eating out. I control it pretty well through the week, but the weekend I usually blow it. As I did this weekend. We went out to mexican on Friday and we got Subway on Saturday. Now I have $26 left in my account for gas. I am going to have to get that check from my mom early. She is fronting me a refund from the IRS of $953. I had originally though I wouldn't need it until Friday. But now I need it sooner. I used twice as much gas today alone because I made the 25 minute drive to work and realized that I had left my computer at home. I had to go back and get it. And I was actually going to be on time this morning. Bummer.

There is something wrong with my car that I will need to take into the repair shop. It is making a rubbing sound and jerking to the left every so often. I hope it isn't a costly repair. I just don't have the money to get it fixed, but I guess I will have to find it somewhere.

18.57 Left until Payday

July 20th, 2012 at 09:01 pm

I don't get paid until next Friday and I have 18.57 left in my account after I deduct my fuel allowance. I probably won't use the full $100 for fuel, but I deduct it just in case. I have enough left to buy some OJ and milk should we need it.

I weighed in at WW last night. I lost a pound. Not quite sure how. I really ate with reckless abandon last week. I guess I just didn't overeat. Hopefully this trend will continue. I have lost 17.8 pounds since April. It is coming off slow but I don't feel deprived. If I had to be real strict I don't think I would lose anything. At this rate I haven't had to give anything up, just eat it in moderation.

Update on Life

July 18th, 2012 at 06:02 pm

I have been gone a while. I slipped into a deep depression and am just now digging myself out.

My dad died two weeks ago. It was expected and probably a little of a relief. he had been sick for a long time.

Financially I am just keeping my head above water. The renters haven't paid rent in a while and I have made the first steps to evict them. He keeps saying that they are going to move out but I feel that I am going to have to legally evict them. I hope to get some decent renters in so that I have a steady income from them.

I made a stupid decision a few months ago to take out a 2000 loan. At the time I was desperate but now I have one more monthly payment that I am struggling to meet. I still owe my employer 900 toward a loan last November. I am hoping that things improve shortly. My mom paid off my car note with my dad's insurance money so that should allow me to start making payments on my student loans. They are close to being in default and having my tax returns held. Lose one payment...replace it with another.

I found out in January that I no longer qualified for the state run insurance for my dd. I found an insurance policy for her that is $467 a month and has a 3500 deductible. My mom is helping me with the monthly premium. But since then we have hit the deductible because she was having issues with what we thought was her gallbladder. 3500 later and we still don't know what is causing her pain. Have another test scheduled. When I got the insurance I had to put my ds on the policy as they wouldn't insure just a minor. The good part of this is that the hospital has programs for low income families and since he is the insured they will likely look at his income and we won't have to pay very much of the cost. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I joined weight watchers and was doing good up until the last two weeks. I have been struggling with finding good things to eat.

That is about all going on. I have missed you all and have thought of you often.