I was able to cash out another survey site for $13 tonight. I will put that toward the credit card when it shows up in my checking account.

The $10 from the other day showed up today. I went ahead and scheduled a payment to the credit card for tomorrow.

I got the new bill for our internet/phone/dish. It was $18. That is not what it will be but because of loyalty credits that were applied retroactively, the balance is real low. I will take it!

I also called PNC to see if there were any fees for using checks with the account I opened up there. THere is not. I asked for the routing number and account number so I could order checks. I always go through a third party because they are cheaper. However when I mentioned that to the representative, she said that my checks were actually free through them! So glad I said that or I would have never known. She wouldn't have known that was the reason and never would have told me! I love saving money!

We went to the grocery store today to purchase our 15 items. I think we went 1 item over, not including the 3 household items we had to purchase. But we still managed to spend $92. But as we were checking out a lady handed the cashier a store coupon for $4.75 off. So saved even more money there! Thank you stranger!

We need to fill up both vehicles and DD needs to get an oil change but then we will be done spending money for the week.

Today was payday. I moved $5 into my short term saving account and $20 into my long term saving account. The balances on each aren't very high but I just started too. They will get there. I paid my Bff's dd $50 to mow my yard. The grass was really tall. She earned every bit of it and then some. I will have to give her another $50 next payday. She totally weeded the flower bed by hand. Pulled out some huge weeds that were more like trees. The only thing left is the holly bush. And she said she isn't done yet. She has really earned that money!

Everything else is on auto pilot. DD had physical therapy today since she got her cast off on Tuesday. I wasn't sure how that was going to be billed through insurance. But when I called them today they said that it would all be covered with a 25 co payment. That is a relief. Now if it actually turns out that way! She has to go back next week. I hope she doesn't have to go for long. This could get expensive.

Guess what I came home to last night!!!







That is right. Wild turkeys. But they aren't really wild because they aren't scared of people. They don't run from us. In fact, they almost wouldn't let us in the house last night. I live in downtown Blue Ridge...what are turkeys doing roaming here? When I lived outside of town I never saw a turkey. WTH?

My mom thinks someone is dropping animals off at my house. Makes sense since these turkeys are obviously tame. But why my house? And what is next??? I have made a few calls and one lady said I could release them on her property but I would have to catch them. And I really have no way to transport them. We called DNR and they gave us some other numbers to call which is how I found the other lady.

OH and did I mention that one of them has a broken leg? Yep...it is turned completely around backwards. Kind of gross to watch it walk.

My budget is doing well...fortunately turkeys don't tug at my heartstrings like kittens do so there won't be any trips to the vet. Tomorrow is payday. Everything is already set up so there is nothing to take care of. I can't wait for paydays to officially see the progress I made. Then I can't wait for the next one. And so on. It is a vicious cycle.

Oh well...that is about all for now. Bob Hannah's wild kingdom signing off...

My day was spent waiting for word from my BIL who works in the building where the shooting was at the Navy Shipyard was today. We heard early that he was locked in his office and was safe but didn't hear anything else from him. My sister picked him up around 4:30 and he is back home safe. I haven't gotten a chance to speak to him yet. Please keep the victims in your thoughts and prayers.

Today was a NSD and a no gas use day. I didn't even leave the house! I love days like this. I was semi productive this weekend so I feel good about the time spent this weekend.

My work took the ladies to a fancy day spa Friday afternoon for a pedicure. It was heavenly! It was 85 minutes of pure bliss! I have never had a pedicure like that before. It was much appreciated.

I got my credit reports from annualcreditreport.com today. Nothing surprising. It looks like my mortgage has been written off for a lesser amount. I wonder if they managed to sell my old house. I think my score is so low because of the debt to income ratio. That will improve as I pay off debt.

I redid my budget in quicken yesterday. I spent the day doing financial housekeeping. I guess I am just a nerd because I just enjoy doing these things.

Forgot to mention that I went to a new OB/GYN and he said there is no reason for me not to have a hysterectomy. With the endometriosis back and the heavy periods he feels that there is no reason to wait. He can't do it laproscopically because of the number of scars on my belly so I will have a longer recovery time. But we are looking at doing it in late October but more likely in November.

I got the idea from another poster yesterday to check out Amazon for our everyday uses. I found some really good deals and some not so special deals. I ordered a 4 pack of charmin 9 super rolls for $20. I also ordered a 4 pack of dove body wash for sensitive skin for $20. I saved about $4 on each package of toilet paper and $3.85 on each bottle of soap. And since it was more than $25 the shipping was free. I will have to remember to check there for our household items more often.

So I have been playing around in my quicken this morning(yes I should be working but I am pretty well caught up!). Anyway...I got it all set up to accurately figure my net worth. It is pretty depressing.



"Checking-8619" is an account I keep open so my sister and I can swap money back and forth. There is no service charge for this account

PNC BANK I just opened it to get the $200 reward after 60 days. I am using that account for my day to day expenses, except gas.

New Suntrust is my main account. It is the one that I pay all of my bills out of and use for my gasoline expenses during the week.

The student loans are the main thing that bothers me. When Ex-DH and I were young and just married we took out student loans for me to go to school. And then we took out supplemental loans to live on. Then we got divorced and I am stuck with all of these loans. They have more than doubled since we took out the loans because I can't afford to pay them. These mistakes(not the divorce) have come back to haunt me. I would be in pretty good shape if not for them. I feel like it is a an insurmountable problem that never seems like it will go away.

When my mom passes, the house I am living in will be deeded over to me. That will help with the net worth, but I will still owe these dang student loans.

Yep...one animal gone. Now I just have 4 more to get rid of(the 3 kittens and DD's dog). I have sent an email to humane society about the dog. They won't take her but will help find her a home.

We sold DS's ferret for $50 today. The young girl that came to get her came from Warner Robbins, which is about 3 hours away! But it was what she wanted for her birthday do her dad drove her up here. I know that the ferret is going to a good home. She couldn't wait to hold the ferret and planned on holding it the whole way home. That makes me feel better.

Today is a NSD. I didn't even leave the house. We made egg salad sandwiches for dinner and I had left over pizza for dinner.

Just got back from the grocery store. Our system of only buying 15 items really seems to be saving us some money. Today was $53. We are going every week and spending about $50 instead of every two weeks and spending anywhere between $150-$200. We used to just put things in the cart and we ended up with so much food that we haven't eaten. So now we are eating that food. I hope that as we get further into the 15 item thing that we learn to make our choices go farther.

Yesterday was payday. Since I set everything up in my online bill pay there is nothing for me to do. Just waiting for everything to clear my account.

I forgot that I have a dr appointment this week...well didn't forget about the appointment but forgot to budget for the copay. Fortunately I have enough left in my account to cover it. I am hoping that he will recommend a hysterectomy. I have really been having alot of trouble lately.

Since I downgraded my cable I don't get ESPN, which is where the Georgia game is today. So I am going to my friend's house to watch it. Fortunately they don't mind but I wish I didn't have to leave my house! I am such a homebody!

I have a debit card from paypal that is linked to my checking account. I can use it just like a normal debit card. I got my daughter one so that she has access to money if she needs gas. Anyway...paypal just started offering cash back rewards for using the debit card. I ended up using it alot last month because I left my regular debit card at home by accident on the day I had to get my monthly prescriptions. So apparently I spent $447 on the card. I earned a reward of $4.48 that showed up in my paypal account. I like getting free money!

The money from the clarinet sale is in my account this morning. Now I can breathe a little easier.

DD was at cheerleading on Tuesday and didn't feel right about doing a tuck(tumbling move) but did it anyway. Well, she took off funny and ended up with a hair line fracture on her ankle. Yesterday was spent getting xrays and casts. Fortunately we had crutches at home and we even knew where they were! I am sure that the x-rays will go against the deductible.

It was further complicated because ex-DH hasn't sent me an insurance card for DD. So I had to call and get the group number, policy number, etc and hope that the doctors would just take that. I was lucky that everyone took that information yesterday. Since the policy isn't in my name I can't request a card and ex-DH is proving to be pretty useless in this matter.

Today has been a NSD. I almost screwed that up by ordering pizza for dinner. But my laziness won out. I am too lazy to go pick it up and I refuse to pay for delivery.

I almost screwed up my savings of downgrading my satellite package by ordering ppv. I got to the very last screen and then it hit me...what is the point of downgrading to save money if I am just going to order ppv? So I canceled it.

Emailed the org in Ellijay about the Kittens. She said that she hasn't forgotten me and she would have to see how many cats were adopted this weekend. So at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel...just don't know how long that tunnel is.

Apparently the universe is happy with what I have been doing for these kittens...

I listed a clarinet on Amazon about 2 years ago...so long ago that I had forgotten I listed it. I listed it for $800. I have since listed it on craigs list and other outlets for far less and it never sold. I got a notice yesterday that it sold on the Amazon listing. So after Amazon Fees I will net $685. I can't believe it. The only bad thing is that I had given it to my BF for her DD to use this year. I am thankful that she understood how desperately I need this money and wasn't upset.

My son convinced me that I watch way too much tv so I called today to cancel my satellite package. But they said they had a package that was nothing but local channels so I would still get some of the shows I like to watch. It will save me $50 a month on the bill.

I started back on my diet today. So far it is going okay. I left my drops at home but that is okay. I will make them up this evening.

we went to the grocery store and got our 15 items. one of them was a large bag of cat food. spent $69. more than I wanted to spend. next week will be better. no large purchases necssary.

Then I came home and changed litter boxes and set up the girl kitty in the basement. hopefully none of the other cats have caught it.

Now I am angry about the cat situation. ds came home to visit and might not be able to stay here tonight because of all the cat dander...which he is allergic to. so some thoughtless person has cost me time with ds. and no one seems to want to help me. I am at my wits end. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. something has got to give.

Typed on my phone so excuse typos.

So I got the new water bill yesterday. I am expecting it to go down since DS moved out. But it hasn't so far. Then I really looked at it. Last year this month we used 2200 gallons of water. This year we used 8800 gallons of water. Wonder where all that water went! They say we are using 296 gallons of water a day. That is just crazy! I am going to test the meter tonight by turning off all the water in the house and see if it is still running. My mom thinks it is because of the leak under the downstairs bathroom sink that I had to have fixed last month. I am not so sure. The lady at the water department said that it was most likely a toilet. Although I am having trouble with my toilet, it is that the water ISN'T running..not that it won't stop running. So I don't think that could be it. There are no signs of leak in the yard. I am hoping that the meter isn't turning when I check it tonight meaning that whatever it was has been fixed.

We are going to the grocery store tonight and I think I am going to steal an idea from CB in the City...she only gets 10 items everytime she goes to the store. I am going to modify it a bit and get 15 items. I think that should do it. If we go once a week we should be in good shape. I will let you know.

KITTEN UPDATE: I just got a call from the place in Ellijay who said that until they actually take the kittens they can't provide medical care for them. She said that since she is sneezing and coughing it sounded like an upper respitory infection which is extremely contagious. So I will isolate that kitty when I get home. I am still waiting to hear back from the Humane Society.

When I got home tonight the little girls eyes are almost swollen completely shut. I really don't have the money to take her to the vet. I really hate that someone was irresponsible and left the kittens on our doorstep and I hate that there is absolutely no help for people it happens to.

There has been a position open up at my work. It is a part time position, 10-30 hours per week. It pays $8 per hour. Only catch is it is a 1099. I am hesitant for this reason. But I figure if I put 15% of each check away, that should cover what I owe at the end of the year, right?

I haven't heard from any of the applications I put in and I am pretty desperate for money.

Just want some opinions on this.

Thanks!

There is not too much going on with my finances. They are pretty much on autopilot. I have my budget done through September. I am $159 short. Not sure where that will come from. I have pretty much juggled everything I can juggle. I am sure something will turn up.

About 4 weeks ago someone left 3 kittens on our doorstep. Ever since I have been actively trying to find them a home with no luck. The humane society is full and will not take them. Homeward Bound at least put us on the waiting list. They should be able to take them either this week or the next. I am very frustrated. There is very little help for people like me, that through no fault of their own end up with animals they can't take care of. Now one of them needs to go to the vet because there is something wrong with one of it's eyes. I can't afford it. It will have to wait until HOmeward Bound or someplace takes them.

I haven't heard anything from any of the applications that I put in last week. CVS said that might be hiring but it takes 3 weeks for the applications to download to them. By then I am sure they will have already hired people. I am just keeping my fingers crossed. Something has got to give. I am at my wits end and don't know what else I can do.

If any of you do alot of online shopping, you should go through ebates.com. You earn cash back from tons of different stores.

Also, check retailmenot.com for coupon codes. You can really save alot of money.

If you decide to join ebates, let me know so I can refer you and earn some cash!

Right now Regions Bank and PNC bank are both offering bonuses for opening up checking accounts with direct deposit. This is doable for me and I have figured out how I could do both. My question is does this affect anything? Not that my credit is great, but does it affect my ability to open checking accounts if I open multiple ones at a time? Or will it put my name on some sort of a watch list?

Those interested...PNC is $200 and Regions is $125.

I spent the afternoon on the phone with Dish Network and my telephone provider, tds. My phone, internet and dish network is all billed through tds. So I told them I was thinking of switching to direct tv because they have a better rate. TDS offered me $20 a month off my bill! Then they called Dish Network on my behalf and got me an additional $10 off of my bill. So each month I will be saving $30. All because I asked for it!

Still no word on the job yet. Just holding my breath waiting to hear something.

When I went to the Gas Station just a few minutes ago they had a sign up that they were hiring. I promptly came back and applied online. I called to let them know that I had applied and the manager was out. But I am hoping to hear from them.

Hi Friends! Sorry I haven't been around lately. I have been sliding down hill depression wise and just barely to keep my head above water going to work each day.

Today I wrote out an entire month's worth of expenses and compared it to what I bring in. Turns out I am about $500 short each month. That explains alot. I spent the afternoon filling out applications for CVS, Walmart, and Food Lion. Hopefully one of them will call me back. I applied at two different Walmarts and 2 different CVS's.

When I was telling me mom about filling out the applications she said that she doesn't want me to get a second job. And to stop paying her the power bill...she can cover it for a while. This made me feel like crap. Hello depression.

I still am going to take a job if anyone calls me. Because not paying the power bill still makes me $300 short each month. And I would like to get a little ahead. Plus with DD working and DS moved to Kennesaw(about an hour away), I am just sitting here doing nothing in the evenings and weekends.

DD turned 16 and got her drivers license. She had some money that my mom had been saving for her for a car. We found one and were going to finance the difference, about $3000. My mom wasn't happy with DD having a car payment so she paid off her car. The only thing she has to pay each month is her gas and her insurance. Car insurance is ridiculous. It went up $200 when I added her and the car. DD pays a portion of that.

I got a raise at work recently. I went from $16/hour to $36000/ year. It worked out to about a $2/hour raise. But I lost all of my OT. So really it is about $1000 more per year than I was making. I also got a bonus of $1700. It went toward DD's car since I had borrowed some of what my mom had saved. My boss is awesome!

As I mentioned...DS moved to Kennesaw. He is renting an apartment with a friend. Everything they put in the apartment fit in the back of a pick up truck. I had to laugh. I remember my first apartment. There was no furniture other than a bed. I sent him a care package of toilet paper, soap, and shampoo. All of the things he wouldn't think to buy for himself. I am having a real hard time though with his moving out. I have had to increase my visits to the therapist to help me deal with it. I don't think I will survive when DD decides to move out.

Well...that about sums it up for a while. I will try to post more often. I have missed you guys and your support.

Please no negative comments...I can't deal with them right now.

I have heard from several of you lately making sure I am okay. Thanks for caring! I am doing fine. I have missed you all.

My finances are on autopilot with little wiggle room but I make it work. My son has moved back home until August. Hoping he decides to go to school where he is moving to.

DD is officially a junior now. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. She really wants to do competition cheer again but we can't find a place that isn't insanely expensive. I just don't have that kind of money.

I will try to stay in touch more often.

My son did the grocery shopping this week and he did pretty good. He spent $180. My budget was $125 but I don't think that is realistic anymore to feed a family of 3 for two weeks. He didn't do any of the impulse buying that I usually do and stuck to the list. So I need to up my budgeted amount to $175.

I am coming out of my depression and it feels pretty good. I am making dinner at night and cleaning the kitchen. These are things that weren't happening for a while. Went to the dr yesterday and they are going to change some of my meds. That should help even more. I don't know if I mentioned it but my boss called me on the carpet about things not getting done. It was basically "things need to change or your job is on the line". So things have changed.

Financially I am looking pretty good for the rest of the month. Everything is just on auto pilot. Got a nice surprise today. DD had a follow up appointment at the foot doctor to look at her toe. I was expecting to pay the $90 office visit. But turns out it is included in the original bill as a post op visit. SWEET!

That is about all for now. Have to run to UPS.

I applied for an income based repayment plan and was approved. My payment for the next year is 0! That really helps. I didn't know where I was going to come up with the payment. I will have to renew it next year.

DS quit his job this week. I don't know how I raised someone who would quit a job without having another one to go to. He is working part time as a waiter but will not make near the money he was making. So the money he was giving me will likely be cut. It really put a crimp in my budget. He said that he just got fed up that someone that started after him was making more money than he was. In my opinion he should have gotten over it or found another job before quitting. I am very disappointed in him right now.

I had to take DD to the podiatrist yesterday to have an ingrown toenail dug out. It was $315 since she doesn't have insurance. It is still cheaper than the $535 the insurance was going up to. And I set aside $300 a month for her medical expenses. So I am good.

My mom accidentally opened a piece of my mail that comes to her house. It looked like junk mail and we think that we have just been throwing it away up until she opened it a couple of weeks ago. Turns out that my parents(who don't remember) purchased a $1000 life insurance policy for me right after I was born from National Society of Catholic Foresters. They were big in the catholic church when I was born. But the policy has a cash value of $433. I submitted all the paperwork and the check arrived this week. Good thing since I had to have work done on my car that I hadn't planned on. It puts me in a pretty good position financially.

Since I handle the payroll at my company I am able to see my check stub before Friday. When I looked this week there was a small surprise. Apparently it is the third pay cycle for the month(they do it based on when the hours are worked, not paid) so the insurance payments weren't taken out. It is about $100 extra in my paycheck. YEA! I have had several small expenses come up lately so this is perfect timing.

I have to start going back to my therapist tomorrow. That is $40 a pop. I had stopped going thinking that I didn't need to but last week my boss called me aside and said that I just wasn't acting like myself. Things have been slipping at work and I just am not on top of them. I know that I have been in a depressed cycle of my bi-polar so I knew I needed to take action. My job is on the line. It was made very clear that if I didn't straighten up my job would be in jeopardy. Hoping that they can adjust my meds to help me get out of this cycle.