I have been super busy getting ready for my surgery on Monday so I haven't had much time for anything! We got paid today and everything is already been paid so I don't have to do anything. I like it like that!

Had my preop appt yesterday. I had to my the doctor $342. That takes me to the deductible of $300. Then all I will be responsible for is 10% of the hospital bill, up to $1700, which is my max out of pocket.

I thought I had so much to do at work that I might have to come in on Friday, which is a holiday for us. But I have really buckled down and got it all done. Just a couple more things to get ready and I will be able to leave early today! What a relief!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! I won't post for a while due to the surgery but I will be back as soon as I can!

I have used the tax calculator at IRS.gov and the one at turbo tax. The irs shows an estimated refund of $1200. Turbo Tax shows an estimated refund of $800. So I figure somewhere in between. I no longer qualify for the EIC since I only have one child...well I just might squeeze in under the limit for a credit of $7.

My surgery is a little over a week away and I am starting to get nervous. Still have plenty to do around the house and at work to prepare.

I am feeling pretty sorry for myself today. I took a look at my sidebar and realized that out of the 5 goals I had for 2013, only one of them happened. And that involved spending money, not saving it. I just don't feel like I am in a good place financially. My car is a 2002 model with over 200k miles on it. It probably won't last another 2 years and I don't know how I will replace it.

I made a very stupid financial decision about 2 years ago and took out a loan against the title of said car. Well, over the last two years I have taken out more money and well...that loan is up to about 4k. At the time I didn't feel there was any other option. But if that option wasn't there I would have found another way I am sure. So know I am paying the price. I have vowed to not take any more out of it until it is paid off, about 18 more months. And if I get a tax return I am going to put that toward it. This is part of the reason I can't afford another car...can't do another payment.

My child support ends in two years and I don't know how I will survive without it. I know expenses are supposed to go down with the end of child support, but I don't see that happening. I just can't cut my kids off totally. It took DS until he now(age 20) to become self sufficient.

Sorry for the pity party. Just not feeling good about the decisions I have made and the choices that have gotten me where I am. I feel like I am making smart financial choices now but it is too little too late.

On Monday I send Ex-DH an email letting him know about DD's MRI today. I told him the cost and how much needed to be paid upfront. I asked him how he wanted to handle his half since we now are to split all unreimbursed medical expenses for DD. I didn't hear from him all week. Then late last night I got an email from him.(A little background...he pays for the health insurance through his work and I reimburse him for half of it each month.) So anyway...he told me to keep the money that I would have sent him to put toward the upfront amount. I was shocked. I couldn't believe it. I was expecting some long drawn out email saying that he is already paying too much and that he didn't feel that he should have to pay that. It almost knocked me out of my chair.

On the financial front...today was payday and everything was already set up. Nothing to actually do. I like that everything is on auto pilot. It makes my life simpler.

So I went online this weekend to try to renew my license. I followed all the steps and was charged $14.99 for what I thought was the renewal. As I went through the steps I found out that I am not eligible for online renewal and the charge hadn't shown up on my credit card. Well it showed up today. Turns out what I purchased was a drivers license guide. This is a rip off! It doesn't tell you any information that you can't find on the DDS website! I can't believe people actually pay for this! So I promptly called and cancelled and they are refunding the money to my debit card. I just can't believe there are people out there dumb enough to fall for this but I guess there are since this company stays in business!

So we went down to Canton today(the closest shopping area, which is about 50 miles away) to do some shopping. We always eat lunch at Olive Garden when we head down that way...it never disappoints!

Anyway...We went to Rue 21 and I got DD 4 shirts and 2 pair of pants and DS 4 long sleeve plaid shirts. Then I used a coupon on my phone for $10 off for every thirty we spent. SWEET!!

Then we went to rackroom shoes. I am in desperate need of shoes. All I had was sandals and it is getting kind of cold for those here. So DD got a pair of boots and a pair of loafers. I got two pair of clogs. And the salesperson gave us a $10 off coupon. SCORE!!

Next we ventured to Kohls. I had several shirts to return that didn't fit. I exchanged them for 3 shirts and purse. I didn't have a good winter purse. I then used a 15% off coupon on my phone. Plus I got $2o in Kohl's cash that I will use on clearance items. LOVE IT!!

So without printing a single coupon today I managed to save quite a bit of money. Do you ever check online coupons before you head to a store? Now days you can just pull the coupon up on your phone and they can scan it in. Super Convenient.

I ended up spending more money than I planned but I think we got alot for the money we spent.

OH and if you are looking for a new laptop...Best Buy has a basic laptop available for $229 with free shipping. I asked my IT guy and he said this is a great deal. I bought one for each of the kids for Christmas and now I am done. That is all they are getting, besides maybe a few stocking stuffers, which are usually things like toothpaste, brushes, and other personal care items.

I have updates my sidebar with the total income from survey money last month. $169.08. Not too bad for a little bit of my time. I have already earned $70 this month. I also have earned $22 from ebates that was credited to my account last week.

I guess that is it. Sorry for the wordiness. I guess I should probably post more often then it wouldn't be so long.

I have a debit card with paypal that offers 1% cash back whenever you use it as a credit transaction. Since it is linked to my main checking account, I have started using it for alot of things. We(DD has an additional card on the account) spent $620 in eligible purchases last month so we earned $6.20 back. It is being deposited into my account tomorrow.

I have really slacked on the surveys here lately. Just can't find the time to do them and when I do find the time, I don't qualify for any of the surveys available. I really need to get back in the groove with them.

I had an eye exam yesterday morning and bought new glasses. I thought that insurance would cover them but apparently I didn't make it clear that I wanted a glasses exam not a contact exam. So now the insurance will pay up to $200 toward my contacts and I got a 20% discount on the glasses. But I had to scramble to come up with $263. It is amazing to me how when I need the money I can always shuffle something around to make it happen. My mom calls it robbing peter to pay paul. The upside is that my contact prescription in my left eye was not very good since I have astigmatisim. So I got a different kind of contact with a different prescription and I am seeing a whole lot better out of that eye. It is a huge difference!!

I have my budget planned through December. Things should be on auto pilot through my surgery.

I was pleasantly surprised my car tags this year. I have to renew them next month. I was expecting them to be around $500. But my car is $68, DS is $88(which he will pay for) and DD is $20. Apparently when we bought DD's car, we paid a higher ad volerum tax and we only have to pay $20 per year for as long as we own the car. But all told, the tags are $177. Alot better than $500!