My son needed some under armor for soccer. It seems that the coldest spot in the county is at the soccer fields. So I went today to get him an under armor shirt and pants. $90!!!! I couldn't believe it! Hopefully they will last him a couple of seasons, but geez!!!

On the up side, it is nice to be able to purchase something that he needs without having to wait and try to come up with it!

I have been struggling with eating out lately. I am trying to not continue. I hadn't planned on eating out last night. My daughter had cheerleading until 8:15, but my husband should be home by 6:00 in order to cook dinner for when we get home. However, last night, my son had a soccer game that I didn't know about and didn't know about until 6:30 last night. So DH went to the soccer game while I was at cheerleading. The game didn't start until 7:45. So in order to prevent having to eat REALLY late, I got a bucket of chicken at KFC. If I had known about the game, I could have done something inthe crock pot. That is frustrating to me. So tonight we will be eating at home!

One benefit of the open shelves in the kitchen is that we can now see all of the items that we have to be eaten. I told DH that he needs to work on eating all of those cans of vegetables and stuff.

Payday is Friday. I already have payments set up in the bill pay for the utilities...by the due dates! All except for cell phone, which will only be 10 days past the due date, not the usual 15-20.

I'll admit it. My family(especially me) is spoiled about name brand sodas. I just don't like off brands. So each week, I see where they are on sale and purchase them. I try to stock up on them.

CVS had coke products on sale last week 4/$14($3.50 each). Now that isn't a great price, but I bought 6 and received $10 in extra bucks plus a $1.00 off coupon. And when I purchased the 6, I had $14 extra bucks and a $3.00 off coupon. So the 6 12-packs cost me $4. And I still got another $10 Extra Bucks. So I went back to CVS yesterday. They had sodas 3/$11. I got 3 12-packs...used the $10 Extra bucks and the dollar off coupon. They ended up having to adjust the dollar off to be only .99 cents off or else they would have owed me a penny! So I got 9 12-packs of soda for $4. That makes them .66 each! I know that, technically, you should take into account what I had to purchase to get the original $10 EB, but I don't remember as I just started using them.

We took out the cabinets to make room for the larger fridge yesterday. Today I went to Home Depot and got the items needed to put shelves up in their place. We got those up! YEA!! It looks alot better than i thought it would, since it isn't enclosed yet. But we moved all of the food items out of the pantry and that is now strictly storage. This is good because we put the litter box in there so it is better to not have food in there. Major improvement in my opinion!

I spent $200 at home depot because I bought my husband a new cordless drill. I figured that if he had this, he might finish some projects around the house. It was a wise investment I think.

My bank is updating their website so I can't get on to check my account. I know about how much was spent yesterday, but I always get the exact amount from the website. So I will get that updated tomorrow and figure out exactly where I stand.

Don't know if I did too much this weekend or what, but I can hardly keep my eyes open. Been like that most of the afternoon. Will be going to bed shortly.

I had budgeted $150 for the circus last night. I don't have an exact total yet, but we spent less than $100! We even ate at the arena(i was planning on eating on the way to save money, but due to time we weren't able to!) I am very pleased! will take the extra and apply to my daughters cheerleading.

my item on ebay sold for $49.99. I am only about $8 short of the $100 goal for the month. I will try to list some items this afternoon, but I have another big project on my agenda for the day. I do have a tv listed on craigs list, but no one has contacted me about it.

I am going to put the brackets up for the shelves today. Right now everything that was in those cabinets is piles on the counters. The kitchen is a disaster!!! So I want to get that straightened up. Can't live like that for long.

Even though my ex-fil sent me the measurments and I sent them to my DH, the fridge didn't fit. I didn't think it was going to fit. But DH said that it would. So we ended up tearing out the cabinets! This was on my list of things to do...but didn't plan on doing it this soon! I wanted to tear out the cabinets and put floor to ceiling shelves there, like a pantry. So it just got done sooner than later! We will have to do it a little at a time in order to get it finished. It all worked out!

We are still cramped due to the extra fridge and tv hanging around. I have them listed on craigs list so hopefully they will sell soon.

I received my tax refund this today. I made Jan and Feb mortgage payments already today. YEAH!!!

My DH also gave me some money. Since I don't depend on his money, everything he gives me can be put directly into savings most of the time. I split it between household maint, Christmas fund and vacation fund. He also paid for another load of firewood, so we should be set on firewood for the rest of the season and some of next! YEAH!!

I have almost $400 in my various savings accounts. That is the most I have ever had saved! It feels so good! I just keep looking at my balance. Can't stop! Plus, there is $250 sitting in the account that I have paid my sister that she hasn't taken out yet. So on paper, I look like I Have $250 more than I actually do!

We are going to the circus Sat night. they are calling for snow flurries where I live...should make for an interesting drive home as we won't be getting home until late. I have budgeted $150 for the circus. Think I might just take cash with me and when it is gone, it is gone. But I hate the idea of not having any access to any other cash in case of emergency. I could take the debit card, and leave it in the glove box...that way if I get the urge, I have to walk back out to the car. That might work.

I have been getting lots of questions about the item I have listed on ebay. It has 1 more day. Hopefully it will sell. That would put me close to the $100 challenge for the month.

I am having a cord of firewood delivered this evening for $100!! It is a great price and it is all seasoned. YEAH! Now my husband will have to get busy to get the shed ready to store firewood, instead of just stacking it by the house.

I had planned for this expense so it is no problem. I could take the $50 out of the household maint account, since that is the type of things I planned it for(that and propane are the big ones). But I am going to leave it in there. I just started that account and we will need propane in the next couple of months.

It feels really good to be able to purchase items without stressing about how I will get what we need! This is a calm that I haven't felt in years, if ever!

Our driveway is a gravel driveway. we rented a bobcat last year and took out more of the mountain behind us so we can park behind the house. But we have a spring in the mountain that constantly runs and pours water into the driveway. So although we had 3 loads of gravel delivered last year, it is now gone and our driveway is a BIG mudpit.

DH couldn't work today because it is raining and I guess he had had enough. So he drove to the quarry to get some gravel. I have been saving for it, but hadn't gotten that far. So...the 3 loads of gravel that we got last year were about $500. He filled up the bed of his truck with 1.5 tons of gravel directly from the quarry for $25!!! yes, he will have to spread it but he doesn't mind the labor. if he isn't doing something, he goes insane and he usually finds something that I see as a waste of time(hence the gravel on a rainy day!). So if we can get a load of gravel every couple of weeks like that, we should be in good shape again! I dont know how far that truck load will go, but getting even a load a week will make a difference!

Well, So far I have already used $40 of my $125 Gas budget since Friday. YIKES! I might make since we don't have any away soccer games next week, but it will be close! I don't have to go to the game on Friday...it is just down the street from my sister's house, so I feel comfortable not attending the game. YEAH! I jumped right on that!(last time I missed a game, my son broke his ankle...it was the one and only game I have ever missed!!!)

I kind of want time to go fast so I can get on with the budget...but i don't want time to fly so that I miss life! Make Sense? I am excited about the budget and the fact that I am finally growing up!

I ate my bagel this morning...back to being good! Just have to be disciplined...I can do it!!

I spent $22 for gas today and $6 on snacks at the convenience store before cheerleading. Need to plan that better, but not sure what to do there. Any ideas??

I have several items on ebay ending tomorrow and don't even have any bids on them! Starting to get frustated! Do I just keep listing items over and over again? Or do I let them sit for a while and list them again later?

My mom tried to force to take a cedar chest today. I don't want it. i am trying to get rid of things. i told her that I didn't think I could use it. She sent back what it was used for and where I could put it!!! I politely told her that I didn't want it but that I would be glad to put it on craigs list if she wanted! I don't know if I offended her since it was my grandmas chest, but I don't want it! So go me for sticking to my guns and not taking the chest!

We picked up the new TV and fridge from my ex-FIL yesterday. The tv is MASSIVE!! have dish network coming tomorrow to hook up the HD. Can't wait!! the Fridge is also huge. I don't know if it will fit in the spot for it, but I haven't mentioned that to DH because all that it took to get it in the house!

I "kidnapped" 3 of my sons friends for the day to help us move the stuff. I had to feed them Ryan's so for $80 bucks, I got everything moved in. Well worth it, especially considering the fridge weighs a ton!! It wouldn't fit through the door. Had to take the fridge doors off and still wouldn't fit! Had to take the front door off the hinges! It scraped the hell out of the floor right inside the door, but I want new flooring eventually any way! And a rug would look fine there.

I have a dilemma though. I was going to sell the old refrigerator. But then I started thinking about keeping it and putting in my huge walk in closet for drinks and stuff. But I don't really think we need to do this. If we had a carport or garage, than ok. But I can't think of a reason when we had overflow fridge goods that woud call for the additional fridge. But I like the IDEA of having a second fridge.(here we go again...the reason why I am broke!) I need to be talked out of it. I could sell the fridge for a little bit at least(since it leaks) and still be totally okay.

I received the $403 refund from the state today. I hadn't accounted for it at all. So this is what I did with it:

I transferred:

$50 in EF
$20 in vacation fund
$20 in Household main
$10 in christmas fund

We went out to breakfast fo Valentines day, $26, spent $24 at home depot and $40 for pet supplies.

I left the rest in my checking account as a sort of buffer.

Looking at my accounts, I have a total of $340 in various savings accounts. I think that is the most that I have ever had! I am so proud of that. It feels really good to be able to pay my bills and take over some of the responsibilites of my children. I guess I am finally growing up.

Third post today! I know I am just full of information today!

I make my last gym membership payment on Monday. YEAH!! That is an additional $39 a month. I also make my last payment on a medical bill on Monday. That is an additional $30 a month. Double YEAH!!

My ex-FIL called the other day because my daughter had been "butt dialing" him. I haven't spoken to him in over a year.(little history, when I divorced, he stuck by me and hasn't spoken to his son since. But he fell off the face of the earth for about a year). Anyway...it came up in the conversation somehow that he is moving and has an extra fridge that he is trying to sell. Long story short, he cut his price for me and told me that I could pay him what I can when I can! this is great since my current fridge has a leaking problem that we can't find! I can finally pick the towel up from in front of it!

He is also selling a 52 inch tv. I had casually asked about it. he hasn't had any hits on it. So he is selling it to me for $300. Same arrangement. So this weekend, I am getting new fridge and new HUGE tv.(it isn't HDTV, but who cares! my tv now is about 15 years old and could crap out at any minute!) I Can't Wait!

Since I don't want him to ever decide to hound me for the money, I have set up an automatic payment of $30 a month to go to him. If I have more, I will send it...but at least this is a regular payment.

Well, after an hour on the phone with Tech support, my computer is back! YEAH! I was able to check on my checking accounts...all looks well.(told you several posts ago that I think I am addicted!)

Anyway...today is pay day. Paying a bunch of utilities. I also transfered $59.50 into my savings account, which I will divide between home maint and vacation fund. This was the amount left over in my gas allowance for the two weeks. This is the second time I have been able to transfer more...i could adjust the amount I allot,, but would rather have it left over than scramble to find extra!!

Soccer game tonight. Can't wait! KID 2 says his team sucks this year...but I love to watch them play!

Not cough cough hack hack ill...but I want to beat the crap out of someone ill. My computer starting acting up last night...it is stuck in a reboot loop. Just keeps restarting. Can't get to my checking information or anything! That might be why I am ill. I usually check that several times a day!

I had it out with Sallie Mae this morning. They have called me every day for the last three days. The last one was last night at about 6:00. I told themI would get the forms back to them. They called again at 8:30 this morning. I had to call them back and go through the push 1 for...push 2 for...practically yelled at the guy to quit calling me and that I verified my address yesterday and I wasn't doing it again today.

I also had it out with the vice principal at my daughters school. She had her cell phone taken up earlier this week. I had been telling her to make sure it was off, but what does mom know. I don't disagree with the school taking it up. The reason I had it out with him was because they won't allow a grandparent to pick the phone up...has to be a parent. So I said what would happen if I couldn't get here to pick the phone up...he said that they would keep it as long as I needed them to until I could get there. WRONG ANSWER!! I proceeded to tell him that that is holding something that I pay for each month hostage. And that I understand the discipline behind taking the cell phone up...had no problems with that what so ever...but they are threatening to hold my daughters cell phone, which I pay for hostage until I can take time off work to come get it when my parents are right down the street! Not that she won't be punished if it happens again, but the idea of the school holding something hostage just really ticks me off. Oh and I recieved the nice little "your daughter had missed 5 days of school" note yesterday in the mail. That is another sore subject and if they had mentioned that I would have gone off even further!!

Anyway...thanks for listening to me rant and pray for my family today!

My mom has paid for my daughter to do cheerleading for almost 2 years now. She also pays for the violin lessons. Each of these is $95/month. I told my mom this morning that I will start paying for the cheerleading each month. I have worked it into my budget and I assured her that if I couldn't do it one month, I would let her know. She seemed a little relieved, but also disappointed. My parents are retired and their income has reduced due to the stock market. So they are stressed each month. However, I think my mom ENJOYS paying for things because she thinks it keeps her involved. Eventually I would like to pay for the violin lessons as well...but baby steps.

I ate out again today. I had a dr appt in Atlanta so I grabbed Chik-Fil-A on the way home. We dont have one of those here. Lately my willpower for eating out has been non-existent. I need to get back on that band wagon!

My appointment went well. I am going to have surgery to remove the endometriosis in April.

I have increased the amount of the automatic deposit into the kids savings accounts to $20 per pay period. Hopefully I wont miss it.

Finally got some items listed on ebay. I really need to spend more time on them, but end up hastily posting them. Maybe I can take a Saturday and get everyting posted. I don't think we have anything going on this weekend.

Today is my son's 16th birthday. I let him sleep late this morning. Ran several errands on the way to dropping him off at school. He told me last night that he has a soccer game tonight...and he needed new shin guards for it! Got the shin guards this morning. But since I go to all the games, I now have to drive to an away game this evening. I thought I was going to have extra money in my gas budget...but probably not now. will have to allot more now that the soccer games have started.

I was 2 hours late for work...not that that is a big deal. I have a flexible schedule so it is not a big deal. But we have a project kicking off next week so we are going crazy getting ready for it. I like it when we are this busy though...I work better under pressure!

Yesterday I spent $7 for lunch. My willpower is just not very strong right now. I made a catergory in my quicken for cash though so that i can keep up with where I spend cash, when I have it. I rarely keep cash on hand.

Here are my plans for my tax refund. I am getting back $4800 from federal.

Pay January Mortgage $575

Pay February Mortgage $575

To DH for his back taxes $2500

To DS for his car $500

Rest into EF

This will get my mortgage completely caught up! YEA!! With that stress gone, I can start working more on the credit cards.

I was going over my Quicken today. This is a really neat program. I have never used it to it's full ability before...but I am now.

Anyway..I was comparing my expenses last month to this month. I have already spent $54 eating out this month!! that is crazy! I had spent $28 by this time last month. It is the little amounts that add up. I had no idea I had spent so much already! Reality time! No more eating out!! Back on track!

Well, I got two 1/2 out of the five goals accomplished. I planned the birthday party which happened today. It was a success. I did my taxes with turbo tax and e-filed them. And my husband did his laundry(that is the 1/2). Techincally, I didn't get but 2 done, but since I am willing to take credit for what my husband did too!

The cheer competition yesterday was good, but took longer than expected. My husband was up all night Friday night, really bad sick. He isn't sick much so I knew when he didnt get up he was truly sick. I had to drive the 2 hours there and back, which I am not used to. There was a co-ed Level 6 team(highest I have ever seen) that was totally awesome. But one of the men was doing their tumbling and hit a girl in the back of the head. She instantly went down and they ended up calling an ambulance. It was pretty scary for me as a spectator...I can only imagine what her parents felt. But that delayed the already running behind competition by almost an hour. So we didn't get home until about 6:00.

I had estimated $125 for the competition and going out to eat afterward. Last year we bought my daughter something at each competition, which was promptly discarded in the depths of her room. I told her this year we would not be purchasing anything at the competitions(maybe the last one or something). So instead we are going out to eat after each competition, since we live in the country, we don't always get good restaurant food. She doesn't remember that we ate out last year too and bought her things(no wonder I was broke!) so we are really saving money. Anyway...of the $125 estimated, we only spent $65!! Gas was $22, $10 to get in, and $13 for Chik-fil-A. We also stopped at the Dunkin Donuts(my family has a thing for donuts) and got a some donuts to bring home. I attributed them to the cheer budget since we wouldn't have stopped if we hadn't been at the competition.

I fell sleep on the couch when we got home. I think the competition did me in yesterday. We had to walk a good distance from where we parked and just being gone all day was a bummer. We had the birthday party today. I am really hurting tonight thanks to the newly diagnosed endometriosis. Really should be in bed by now. Going soon.

I figured my taxes tonight. If I file like I want, I will get a refund of almost $5000 federal and $400 state. WOW!! I knew it would be a good refund year, but WOW!

I found a great deal online for Circus tickets this month. We have not been in a long time. My sister used to buy us tickets all the time when my son was younger...good tickets(front row tickets). But since her situation has changed, she has not been as generous now, when my daughter is the same age as my son was then(make sense?). So anyway, I found tickets online for $12.50 each!! they are decent tickets that are normally $35 each!! So I bought 4 tickets and we are going to the circus!

I must say that I don't know if I would have been able to even consider purchasing tickets if I hadn't learned to budget. I have the money in my account to cover the tickets so I could purchase them today. Before I would have to wait until Payday to purchase things like this and the tickets would have been gone.

I am excited and can't wait!

1) Get items listed on ebay

2) Plan family party for son's birthday(no pressure just have to arrange what food)

3) Print invitations for SIL wedding

4) do my taxes(think I will be getting large refund)

5) LAUNDRY!!!!

This is of course after the cheer competition which will take most of the day on Saturday. I can do some of(plan the party) on the way to/from. Can put husband in charge of printing invitations(he actually did ours pretty good).

Wish me luck!

I had to get paper towels and toilet paper yesterday so I ventured to Dollar General. I know...I should use handtowels instead of paper towels. I purchased a large 30 pack of towels and have no idea where any of them are! Maybe if I got my laundry caught up I would find them! LOL.

I did real good though, as I only purchased what I needed. DG is usually a spend-a-rama for me. So I was proud of myself.

Checked my accounts online today. Sister 1 hasn't taken her $200 out of our joint account($50/payday). It has been sitting there. Sister 2 hasn't deposited her checks for $300. So as far as the bank is concerned, I have had over $500 sitting in my accounts for over a month now! WOW!! If only it were true!

Have a cheer competition tomorrow. Have to be outside of Atlanta at 8:30. We have been to Atlanta entirely too much lately! This will make 5 trips within 4 weeks!! UGH! And I have to go back next Thursday for a doctors appointment. I guess that is part of living as far in the country as we do...have to travel a good distance to have good doctors and entertainment!

The doctor called with the results of my second biopsy. I have endometriosis. I have heard of this, but do not know exactly what it is(other than what the doctor told me). I am going to the "woman's doctor" next week to discuss treatment.

Nothing malignant, no tumor that needs to come out. This is excellent news. But more doctors appointments in Atlanta! YUCK!

Okay, if you read my blogs you know that I was freaking out about not having enough life insurance. In order to up it at my work, I was going to have to go through a physical and jump through hoops. I was waiting until I had an answer about the biopsy before I iniated this. One thing at a time!

And then, in my email inbox, was a gift from my "employer". See, we are leased employees, which means that although I work for one company, we contract through a larger company to handle payroll and benefits. Anyway, this email said that they have decided to allow open enrollment again for people that missed it during their eligibilty period! That means that I can now increase my life insurance and not have to go through the hoops! YEAH!! YEAH!!!

I made the final payment to one of my medical bills. And another one will be paid off on the 15th. YEAH!

Unfortunately, I think that I will start receiving bills for the CT's I have had done lately. The previous payments will be replaced with new ones! YUCK!

I transferred $40 into my savings account this morning. That is the amount of gas left over from last week's budget. I still think I will be able to two Mortgage payments in february, but not as early as I would have liked.

I made payments on all of my credit cards this month. Still need to get a couple down under the limit, but at least I made payments!

My brakes were more than I estimated. I had guessed $125 and they were $160! YIKES!

I went to the grocery store yesterday. Instead of going to Ingles, I went to the smaller IGA. My reasoning was that although IGA had slightly higher prices, their selection is no where near as great as Ingles.(and I wasn't feeling particularly frugal yesterday)! So I figured I wouldn't be tempted to purchase what we didn't need. I made it through every aisle in 20 minutes and only purchased what we needed. Spent $75. I feel sure that I would have spent at least double that at Ingles.

I didn't get anything posted on ebay yesterday. I am still really sore from the biopsy. Didn't do much of anything. Finally had to tell DH that i was in pain and I couldn't do like I usually do. No clean towels? Wash some! No tea made? Make some! He finally got the hint.

All in all, I think I am looking pretty good for february...as long as those unplanned things don't pop up too often!

Well, I got paid Friday. I made payments on my credit cards...all of them. So I met one of my goals for the month. I also have fully funded my contacts. My appointment is Monday. I can't wait.

Yesterday was a nsd...today won't fare as well. I have to get new rotors for my car for my dh to put on. He has gone to get them now.

Bad news though...there is no way that I will be able to pay he mortgage this week. I will have to make two payments in February in order to get it caught up. i haven't planned competely through Feb yet, so I am not sure that this is possible. Will try to figure it out later today.

I have lots of items top put on ebay today. Need to get pictures of them and get them posted.

Yesterday I got gas for $20 and dinner for my daughter and myself. It was a total of $26 spent for the day.

Today I spend $7 for a dozen donuts on the way back from the biopsy. That is all I spent. The hospital validated parking and my DH bought me dinner since I hadn't eaten since last night.

Got paid today, but am too tired to work out all the details right now. Had the 2nd biopsy today.(went much better than the one last week) Left home at 7:00 this morning and got home at 8;30 tonight. Everything that needed to be paid was set up with an automatic payment, so I am not concerned that something didn't get paid. Just too tired to work out the details right now.

DH left as soon as we got home to drive his brother and SIL to Savannah to pick up 2 cars that they bought. They will drive down tonight, get a hotel room and drive back tomorrow. I suggested waiting until tomorrow to leave, but they wanted to be able to drive during the day tomorrow in case there are any problems. Kids are at the Dad's so I am home alone until sometime tomorrow. Peace and quiet! Now if i could just find someone to take the dogs!

I had a dr appointment to find out about the dizzy spells.(Fluid on my ears). Copay $20 Prescriptions $39

Son had chiropractor appointment(not covered by insurance) $35

Total spent $94. YIKES!!! The Chiro was already in my budget, but the other two items weren't! Have to make more adjustments.

Discussed with DH the need to get some of the logs in the woods above our house cut up for firewood. I found some firewood in the paper for a pretty good price, but he is adament that he will get the logs down and cut up. We also decided that he would take his truck and load it with gravel then spread it himself. We can get a load of gravel cheap...we usually pay for the delivery. We are in desperate need as our driveway is a big mud pit due to recent rains! Working on more money saving ideas.

I have my 2nd biopsy tomorrow. It is at a different hospital. No eating after midnight and we have to be there earlier...so we have to leave the house at 6:00 AM!!! UGGGGG. I am so not a morning person!