I had a lot to do last night! I went to the grocery store before going home for our bi-weekly shopping trip. I haven't gotten the totals together for what we saved, but feel that it was quite good. The good news is that we are well stocked on all canned goods and snacks. The only things I will have to buy in the foreseeable future will be things that are an exceptional good deal. I will have to curb myself since I enjoy grocery shopping. I guess that relates to when I couldn't do grocery shopping on a big trip. had to buy just enough to get through. I have really come a long way!

When we got home, I stripped my sheets and put them in the washer. I Sorted through years of pictures and then I constructed the display board for DS's senior night at the soccer game on Friday. DD helped with that. I asked DD to make dinner, which she did. She doesn't usually mind cooking. She rather enjoys it most of the time.

My sheets didn't get dry until about 11:00(including the comforter). So at 11:15 I did a lice treatement and got in the shower. I am exhausted this morning! Just wanted to stay in bed for a little while longer.

I had to stop on the way to work and get a bag of ice. It was $1 at MCdonalds. I like their ice better because it stays in little cubes instead of freezing into one big block of ice and you can't beat the price. I like to drink my sodas for breakfast and lunch with ice.

I didn't have to pay to get into the soccer game yesterday, but I did stop at Walmart to get more lice treatment medication. Spent $23.40. I can't tell you how much I have spent trying to get of the damn things. I am so ready for them to die and be gone!

I have to get gas today so it won't be a NSD. I also have to get a board to make a collage for my son's senior night at the soccer game. Not sure how much that will cost me. Will have to go through boxes of pictures tonight to put on the board. And I need to find all my scrapbooking stuff...it is packed up in one of the boxes in the basement. Just not sure which one. Should have done it over the weekend, but forgot. Of course it wouldn't be me if I didn't wait for the last minute to do it.

I started thinking about it and I haven't ordered Pizza is quite some time...at least 2 weeks. I used to order at least once a week, more like twice a week. There was always pizza boxes in the fridge with left over pizza. The delivery guy greets our dog by name. It was just simpler. But I haven't ordered pizza since I don't know when. This is huge for me! I am doing my coupon thing again and we have a ton of food in the house so I am not even tempted to order pizza. Haven't even really thought about it. GO ME! I can't wait until cheer is done and then I can get rid of eating out those two nights a week., not to mention all the gas I will be saving!

Today would have been a NSD, but my son has a soccer game and I am sure I will have to pay to get in. Bummer. Oh well. There is always tomorrow. I think I will get some disposable razors today since I will already not have a NSD. I need them badly. The razor I shaved with wasn't very sharp and I have patches all over my legs of hair it missed. I completely missed the back of one of my legs. Nice.

I thought that I had won the war on the lice on my head. It had been a week or more since I had found any on my head. I found two yesterday. Seriously??? We have been battling these suckers since before Christmas. I am almost to the point of letting them live peacefully on my head! Not really, but it is tempting. Does any one have any suggestions?

Yep! No more relying on my parents to get me places. I have my car back and it is running great! I feel liberated! I will miss seeing that large balance in my checking account though.

It appears that I have lost some weight. My starting weight is less than it was two weeks ago. I didn't make that connection at first. I guess getting off my thyroid medication really has helped. I still haven't had a period yet.

Went to rite aid last night and saved $20.46. I had to get abreva so it was kind of expensive trip. But the abreva was on sale and I got 3 UP rewards.

I have had $75 in my wallet for a couple of weeks now. I never carry cash, but I am finding that I like having it in case I need it. I also haven't been spending like I normally do. Usually when I have cash I spend it pretty quickly. BUt I have had the same $70 in my wallet. I am quite proud of myself. That is huge for me!

I am so excited. They called me this morning to tell me that my car was ready to be picked up! It will feel so good to have my own car back now. And the $100 I gave my parents for gas money will now come back to me. I can't remember how much gas is in the car, but it can't be too low as I never let it get real low.

On a positive note, I can't remember the last time we ate out. Since I have been doing the coupon thing we have had so much food at home that we don't need to eat out. We even went through taco bell yesterday just to get drinks. It didn't even sound good to get the food. I hope I can keep this up. I can't wait until Cheer is over than we won't have the two days of eating out a week.

I have set a mini goal for myself with my weight loss. I am going to set a goal of 5 pounds. I think this will be easier and won't be so overwhelming...like thinking about losing 70 pounds might be. So I am going to take it 5 pounds at a time. My starting weight is 214.7. I bought a bunch of lean cuisines to have at work for lunch and I have bagels here for breakfast. That is how I lost weight before. Lets hope it still works for me.

Went to the grocery store to get the sale items that I needed(wanted). I saved $31.74 at the grocery store. I also went to CVS. I bought 4 items and spend 12.88 Opp. I used coupons and EC Bucks to get a spin brush, allegra, tampons, and a razor. I got 16 in EC Bucks back. Very good shopping trip. I am getting frustrated with Ingles. They don't have items that are listed for sale and I have to search the store to find the items that are on sale. Might start omitting them from my list of stores. Total saved today was $64 and I transferred that amount to my household maintenance account. I did get 6 bottles of Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner for 1.25 each.

Took J by to look at the house yesterday. Hopefully he takes the house. He said that he is lazy by nature so I don't know if doing the stuff around the yard would be too much for him. We shall see. Keep your fingers crossed.

Waiting to pick DD up from her dad at 5:30. She needs to do a lice treatement. I am finally lice free, but she still has them. We are going to be more aggressive to get her rid of them. I truly believe they are from the devil!

Yesterday was technically a NSD. I took $100 out of my account to give to my parents for gas money, but other than that, I spent no additional money.

DD has her last competition in Tampa on April 9. I sent out an email yesterday to my two sisters to see if they could help with the costs any. One sister has volunteered to drive us down there so she can stay with her friend...and we won't have any gas expense. The other sister is sending me a check for $250 to help cover expenses. I can't wait until this last competition is over. I am about tapped out and don't know what I would do if I had to continue paying the fees. This is likely be her last competition ever as she really dislikes the team she is on now and the only other one within driving range is about 10K per year. There is no way I can do that.

I sent ex a text message asking if he was still going to have about 500 for me today. he hasn't responded yet. that probably means no. Hopefully he has pretty close to that amount. We shall see.

I have an opportunity to get some ot this weekend. I need to prepare our books for the accountant. It shouldn't take long, but any ot would be great!

Well...the last two days have been close to NSD's, but they weren't. I got breakfast both days. I need to go to Food Lion and get some frozen lunches so that I have enough food to make it through the day.

Payday is still a week and a half away, but I am excited for it. Even though I am back to 40 hours, I am going to pretend that it is still 30 and put the additional in my EF and then start paying off credit cards. If I could live on the $725 that I got every two weeks, than I should still be able to live on it. We shall see.

When people on here post how much they make, it makes me realize that I do pretty good for the amount of money I make. I used to feel bad because people were posting about how much they saved or paid toward debt because I couldn't keep up with them. But now I now why. I just don't make that kind of money. I just had this realization when someone(love the life you live?) posted their monthly budget. It is no wonder that I can't keep up with them.

Today was a NSD. I went to the soccer game, but my father bought my ticket. Thanks Dad! I didn't even have to pay my co pay at the doctor because I had a credit balance. My co pay was reduced from $40 to $20, so last time I overpaid.

Worked from home today because of the car situation. Didn't have a ride to work until like 1:00, so just decided to work from home.

Possible new renter is going to look at the house this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.

I talked to my best friend today and told her that the ex is moving out of the other house. She knows of someone who is looking for a house. I told her I would charge him $450/month if he will clean things up and make the house more presentable. I really think it would be a good deal for him. I hope he takes it. I would then be not as bad off as if no one was living in there. Plus he would clean the yard up and make it nice again.

Ex husband told me today that he is moving out of the house. They found something cheaper and closer to where he works. Thanks for the notice! I don't know what I am going to do now. I don't think I can rent it for what he pays. At best I think I could rent it for $450-500/month. That is less than the payment is. I can't afford to not have income from that house. I guess I will go back to like before, just barely keeping my head above water. At least the power bill will be less. I hope I can get it rented. I doubt seriously that I can sell it, but I would love to.

Yesterday was a NSD. I went to day and bought some more water. Food Lion has it on sale for $2.99. I think I have bought enough to get us through to when it will be on sale again.

Today is payday. Since I have already set everything up, there is nothing for me to pay today. YIPPEE!! I also received my federal refund today. That puts my auto repair back up to have enough money to cover it. I told my ex yesterday that I needed a substantial payment this week. Let's see what he considers substantial.

Yesterday was a nsd for me. I haven't had one of them in a long while. But I bought bagels at the store on Wednesday and have been eating them for breakfast. I also bought some frozen meals and have been eating them for lunch. I can't keep eating the way I was eating and continue to gain weight. I have to start to go down.

I decided to do my grocery store tonight because I had the car for the evening. Wasn't sure when I would have it again. I got everything on the list and a few extras. The cash register rang up at $71 and I instantly started thinking about transferring the difference between what I had spent last night and tonight with what the budget amount was ($50). I already envisioned doing it. I went out to put the groceries in the car and realized that I didn't get any meat. I went back in and got two roasts and two things of chicken. Another $41 spent. So I didn't get to transfer any money! Bummer! On the flipside, we have enough groceries to get through another two weeks.

I also have made dinner every night this week. That is the most nights in a row in a long time. We even have some left overs for my son to eat.

Went to the grocery store last night for a few items. I have heard somewhere that you want to get everything once a week at the grocery store because everytime you run in for something you spend an average of $40. I spent $31.88 last night and the only thing I was going in for was bagels and cream cheese! Will have to remember this for next time.

Latest on the car -- still going to be around the 20th before they get the engine to put into the car. I "borrowed" from the repair fund to go ahead and pay my mortgage. I was going to pay it Friday anyway. WIll just have to put it back into the car repair fund.

It is a rainy yucky day here. The kind of day that is good for sleeping! Wish I could still be in bed!

The war against lice rages on in my house. We treated again last night. I bought new pillows. We washed all the sheets and comforters. Spent $49 at walmart for treatment, pillows and pillow cases. We just can't seem to get rid of them. DD found hardly any in my hair but I found a TON in her hair. The nasty little creatures just refuse to die! At least most of the ones I found on her were dead.

I went online to check my refund status and due to processing delays, it is now expected to be paid March 15. That is huge problem for me since I have too many expenses that are due on the 11th. It was supposed to have been paid on the 4th, which was in plenty of time for the other expenses. Now I am not sure what I am going to do. But I will figure it out...I always do. If ex would have the $1000 he owes me, I would be in the clear! I am still torn about that. If I evict him for non payment, I doubt that I will get anyone in there to pay the mortgage. Right now I feel the smarter thing to do is to let him stay and get the money a little at a time, as opposed to no money at all. He said that he should have money for me today. But I can't get in touch with him to find out for sure.

Found out that the cheer competition doesn't start for us until 4:00 on Saturday. That means that I can cancel the hotel for Friday night and drive over Saturday morning. I am riding with one of the other mom's since I still don't have a car. I put the $150 I saved for the hotel room in my EF.

To kill time yesterday while DD was in cheerleading, I went to the outlet malls to walk around. In the kitchen store, I found a set of Pfaltsgraf dishes for $29. We are in desperate need. We only have 2 bowls and 1 small plate. So I purchased them. I also got a new measuring cup as our old plastic one is getting really hard to read. I had a fry daddy also picked out but decided to wait on that.

When I checked our mail yesterday I found a check from my ExMIL to help with purchasing senior pictures for DS. I was really surprised, but delighted. She is going to try to come for his graduation so I must make sure she gets one of the 8x10 pictures.

Well, I finally ordered my son's senior pictures. I had no idea they would be so expensive, which is why I have been putting it off. But I got an email today for 20% off. That saved me $79. I feel like I got a good deal but still spent $349. I took the money from my car repair, but have the money in my savings account if I need to replace it before my next payday.

And once again, I have all my payments set up so there is nothing for me to do. Kind of a letdown. But at least stuff is getting paid!

I looked at how much my ex owes me for the house. If he would give me what he owes me, I would be sailing very smoothly. I am torn. Do I let him stay knowing that I will get the money in drips or tell him to leave with no guarantee of getting it rented, especially not for what he has agreed to pay. I know he doesn't have the money. It just seems that he has the worst luck of anyone I have ever met. That is part of why we split up. Too much drama. I just don't know what to do.

My state income tax refund is in my account this morning! I filed on Monday night. That was really quick. I now have enough for our trip to Columbia next weekend.

Went to the grocery store last night and spent $168. That was $18 over my budget, but I got ALOT of food. I am glad that I am including grocery money in my budget now. It sure makes a difference knowing that we have food in the house.

Well, the repair shop just called and they can't find an engine for my car. They said it will be about 3 weeks before anyone has one. That really sucks. So I guess that I am going to be relying on my parents for longer than I had planned. Bummer. That killed my good mood.

I can see it!!! I only have one more payment for my daughters monthly Cheerleading dues. And only two more expensive trips to take. I am looking forward to having that extra money each month. I also have been told that I can go back up to 40 hours/week. That will help alot. But what I think I am going to do is take the extra money in the check and put it toward credit cards. That would be $240 a paycheck put toward credit card debt. I could get them close to paid off in 2 months. I mean I am used to living without that money so it shouldn't be so hard to put it toward credit card debt. I would also like to be able to start giving my parents some money toward my house payment. So far I haven't been able to give them very much. They are paying the house payment and the power bill. I am excited about my financial future. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and this is one instance where I want to go toward the light!

Someone else mentioned that they traded their points for cash so I decided to see if my points could be cashed in for cash and they could! I spent 3500 points and got $25 in cash deposited into my checking account. I will get another 100 points when I pay for my car and will be able to trade in another 3500 points. These are points associated with my debit card, not a credit card.

My checking account looks huge right now since I put the check from the bank in there. Of course it is all going to pay for the repair to my car. I wish that is what my balance looks like all the time! I will get there.

I dropped the car off this morning to have the engine repaired. I can't wait to get my car back! They said it would be about a week.

We had the cheer competition this weekend. DD's team came in first place! She was so excited. I was excited because I came in under budget for the weekend. I still had $20 left. We even took a taxi to the marta station, my feet were killing me with all the walking we had to do. Staying at my sisters was a great visit! I love seeing her.

My Ex gave me $100 this weekend. He still owes me like $400 for the month of February. I told him that I had to have at least $300 this week. We'll see. He hasn't gotten his engine up and running yet either.

Going to file my taxes tonight. I need to make sure I have enough time to get them back for our trip to Columbia, SC in two weeks. Hopefully they will show up by then.

The bank called yesterday and the loan can be closed this afternoon. So I will be able to take my car to the shop on Monday. Only one more week and I will be close to getting my car back. I can't wait!

I gave my parents some gas money yesterday for the next week. I also plan to give my sister some gas money for coming to get me tonight. DD has a competition in Atlanta this weekend. We saved the hotel fees by staying with my sister. This is a huge competition, something like 1000 teams in all different levels competing. They are saying that it could take 30-1hour to get tickets, and parking will be a nightmare! Thinking I might take Marta, which drops us off right at the center. Or will have my sister drop us off and pick us up.

I have budgeted money for the weekend and I have it in cash. That way I won't go over the amount of money I have to spend.

And I will finally be able to get my car into the shop! Then just 1 short week and I will have it back! I can't wait. I hate having to rely on other people for rides. And I don't like the fact that my parents don't have a car most nights.

I transferred $57.99 into my car fund since I didn't have to all of my gas allowance for the week. I will give my parents some more money tomorrow toward gas for the next week. Will probably have some left of my gas allowance for next week.

We have a cheer competition this weekend. I am saving money by staying with my sister in Atlanta. It is a huge competition. The awards ceremony doesn't even start until 9:00 on Sunday. Probably won't make it home until Monday morning since my sister doesn't want to drive so late at night. Once again, relying on other people to get where I need to be. Can't wait for my car to be fixed!

My parents rode with me to Calhoun Monday night so to kill time we went into Goody's. I purchased 5 shirts for $31. I was in desperate need of some shirts. I feel like I got a good deal. they were all marked down.

Still waiting on the bank loan to be approved. Should be either today or tomorrow. They are having an appraisal done on the mountain property.

My budget is doing well, still within my range. Hopefully my ex will have some more money for me on Friday so I can order my son's senior pictures. I can't believe how expensive they are!

Not much Financially to report. I am waiting on the bank to approve the loan so I can get my car fixed. I hate being dependent on other people. It is getting really old really fast.

My checking account is in a good position. I transferred $100 to my savings account. The budget is looking good through February and into March. Will have to tweak a little bit. Went to the grocery store yesterday and spent $160. But I had budgeted $150 so I feel good about what all I bought. Actually made dinner last night. It was good. Just living a boring life.

Well, my parents and I have been thinking about this alot and have decided to have the car fixed. It will have a new engine and a new transmission. Should go for another 100000 miles. We are taking out a loan big enough to pay off what I owe to the high interest finance company. Therefore, even though the loan is for more money, with the better interest rate, my payment won't go up any. Just have to pay for another 3 years. Bummer. Only had a little over a year left to pay for the car.

I just got the estimate for my car repair. 4902.95. OUCH!! That hurts! My mom suggested that we go to a local bank and take out a loan to pay off my car and pay for the repairs. They would cosign for the loan. With their good credit, the payment would probably be about the same as it is now with my high interest rate. She has suggested using the car as collateral, but then I had a thought. If there is a wreck or something and their name is on the car, someone could come after them for money. So now I think that a signature loan would be the way to go. The rest of the car is in good working order and the transmission is new. So I definately feel that repairing it would be the way to go.

Well, I got my car back today. The mechanic said it could last a long time or it could last a day. It makes a funny noise every once in a while. But because of this, my mom won't let me drive it very far, including to work. They brought me to work again today. I am trying to get an estimate for a new motor. My mom suggested trying to trade it in. But I think the smarter thing to do is to get a new motor. That way I am only going into debt for the cost of the motor, not $10k - 15K or more for a new to me car(because they would add the balance still due on my car to the loan). Plus the two major things would have a 100000 mile warranty's. There isn't much else that could go wrong. What do you think?

I am losing my good nature about this. At this point I am close to tears. I need to resolve this quickly.