North Georgia Gal's Financial Awakening

Today is day one of no eating out. I temporarily fell off the wagon but am back sitting pretty today.

I have looked at my budget for the next month and made necessary adjustments. As long as the renters give me what they should, I am looking pretty good. I am sure I will have to make some subtle changes, but everythiing should work out.

DS decided she wanted to play soccer this year. I am scared to death because she hasn't played in years and the age that she plays is when the pushing and almost violent playing starts. She just isn't used to that. Hopefully she will figure it out. Sent the check for her to register today. Boy it has gone up since she first played. $45. Wasn't expecting that. And we will have cleats and shin guards to buy. Need to adjust the budget again.

Today was a blow it day. I stopped for a croissant for breakfast and I just ran out and got Arby's for lunch. But come tomorrow I will be back on my no eating out challenge. Of course the other down side is that I won't be hungry for dinner tonight.

Today has been a stressful day at work, which is probably why I felt the need to get something to eat. Booking last minute airfare is never simple, but with my boss it is even worse! He wants you to check this out and what if we did this and how about that? It drives me crazy! In the end we end up booking the first tickets we looked at anyway! UGGGHHHHH!!!

Talked to the renter yesterday. She apparently took her husband back. She said that they would have August rent on time. that will be a big relief. I wasn't sure what I was going to do come Aug 1. If they start paying again like they are supposed to I should be on easy street. but we shall see.

It always tastes better when you plan for it! It was $15 more than I thought, but it was worth it! We then went to exchange some shorts and for DD to spend her birthday money. I didn't spend any money there. Quite an accomplishment for me. I am a sucker to buy my kids clothes when we go shopping...to go overboard. Budget is still in tact and looking good.

Really don't want to go to work tomorrow. Feel like I need another day to relax.

Today has been a lazy day. I slept late and then took my daughter to my parents house to cut the grass. I swear she does it in record time. It took my son hours to cut the grass. She also does things around the house to help them out. She is such a good kid. She doesn't mind doing stuff for people.

We made sweet and sour chicken for dinner. It was actually pretty good. And very simple. Hardest part was cutting the chicken. It is definately something that we will make again. Thanks CeeJay!! Got the idea from the website you sent me. I honestly had never thought about making chinese food at home before.

Today was almost a NSD. I got my daughter an icee to reward her for doing stuff at grandma's house so nicely. Tomorrow we are going to Canton so My DD can spend her birthday money on some clothes. We are going to eat at Olive Garden as a treat for not eating out for 19 days...almost 3 weeks. Plus we hardly ever go to canton so it is kind of a treat.

Made arrangements for DS's girlfriend to take DD shopping for school clothes. I hate taking DD. She is very picky and it could take hours to find even one thing she likes. So I am very relieved that someone else is taking her! Speaking of DS, he called the investigator who left a message on our door and hasn't been able to find her in the office. He has called twice and had to leave messages. She hasn't called him back yet. Hopefully they will call him back so we will know what is going on.

I went to the grocery store last night and was looking for a pork loin to try to make sweet and sour pork. There was quite a selection of pre marinated loins, but I didn't want one of them. The only other loin was well over $20!! Granted I could have gotten 2 or maybe even 3 meals out of it, I wasn't going to pay that much for a pork loin. Am I missing something? Are pork loins just that expensive? I got some chicken tenders instead and will try to make sweet and sour chicken.

I went $30 over my budget for the grocery shopping this pay period, but I got alot of food. I restocked our meat selection in the freezer so we will be good to go. I mistakenly thought that we didn't have any hamburger meat in the freezer only to find 3 pounds when I was putting the 4 pounds I bought in the freezer. So I guess we will be eating alot of hamburger meat in the next few weeks!

Woke up this morning to a random boy sleeping on my sofa. I am sure that it is one of my son's friends. Speaking of my son, there was a note left on our door yesterday by the sheriff's office looking for him. He swears that he hasn't done anything. But I guess we will find out today when he calls them. The suspense is killing me.

Tomorrow is payday and I have $12 left in my checking account. I also have $31 left in my fuel allowance. I have 3/4 tank of gas so I won't need that $31...straight into the Car Maintenance fund it goes.

Today is day 17 of no eating out. I am feeling more and more motivated. We are going to eat at Olive Garden on Sunday as a treat. We have to go to Canton anyway so it kind of makes the trip worth it.

I also made it not going to the grocery store. I was trying real hard to just eat what we had and not make a trip to the store. We will have spaghetti tonight which we have everything for and I can go to the store tomorrow. It is not going to be cheap because I have to buy meat. All we have in the freezer are roasts. But I hope to stay in my budget. Thanks to CeeJay for the recipe website. I am going to try the sweet and sour pork this weekend!

Captains Log Day 16: I have forgone fast food for 15 days now. Today is the 16th day. I am really craving biscuit and gravy from Chick Fil A. I must resist for 30 more minutes, then they won't be selling them anymore as they get ready for the lunch crowd.

I almost forgot to stop and get my dr pepper this morning. Perhaps that is a sign that I am ready to work on getting rid of that as well. I could purchase a 12 pack to have here at work and just drink that instead of stopping to get one. I think I will start with once a day getting a $1 drink and drinking a canned soda with lunch. Think I might try diet dr pepper and see if I can drink it. That would be a huge reduction in the amount of calories I eat in a day.

The renter is getting help from a local agency with July's rent. I should receive it in about a week. That will still leave $305 for June rent and then August is approaching pretty quickly. I think she might have taken her husband back again. Just a gut feeling. Hopefully she has and then the rent will be paid. I mean I hate for anyone to be in a emotionally abusive relationship, but she picked him and I need my rent money.

I can't believe I have gone 15 days without spending money on fast food. Next up is to work on the soda habit. Baby Steps.

Filled up my car yesterday for $49. I still have $30 left in my fuel budget to last until Friday. I should make it no problem.

DD was going to take some Hamburger out of the freezer to make hamburgers tonight but she forgot. To tell the truth, I don't even know if we have any hamburger meat in the freezer. I would be surprised if we don't since I tend to by alot of that and we hardly ever use it. I guess we could have spaghetti for dinner tonight. We have all the ingredients for it. We will figure something out. All this talk about dinner and I am getting hungry! Looks like it will be an early lunch day today.

I got my dr pepper from Burger King at lunch. I know it is a dollar more. But it is so much better than the dr pepper from McDonalds. It was so worth it. Now back to the dollar drinks from McDonalds.

I am not sure what we are going to do for dinner but I don't have any money to eat out. I only have about $40 in my checking account until Friday and about $17 cash in my wallet. I know we need milk. We have really gone through the milk this week. PANCAKES!! That is what we will have for dinner. It just came to me. Isn't that funny how you can be thinking about one thing and something else completely random comes to mind?

Anyway...I am fixing to leave work and head home. I have to go pick up DD since my mom isn't feeling too well from her radiation treatments. She is just about done with them so that is good.

Not intentionally. I mentioned in my last blog that I wasn't going anywhere and wasn't going to spend anything. I forgot that DS needed a new shower curtain for his bathroom. Desperately needed. So I went to Dollar General and spent 4.18 on a shower curtain. DD wanted McDonalds so I drove her there where she spent her own money on a meal. She didn't want the fries so I got them. Best kind of food...free food!!

I put $40 of the money left from the birthday activities into my checking account for a little cushion and kept the rest in cash. I should coast into payday on Friday.

I don't have any plans of going anywhere today so I will be a No Eating out day as well as a nsd. I am not counting the papa's pizza yesterday since that was a planned outing paid for with budgeted funds for the birthday party.

I fell yesterday climbing up the rocks to see my DD go by on the boat. I have a nasty bruise on my knee and a rip in my pants. Just reminds me how old and out of shape I am.

I think that my bank has stopped their points program. I have had 804 points for a long time now and I have not seen any increase although I am using my card. I knew it was probably coming as banks are all eliminating the points for debit cards. Bummer.

I budgeted $200 for the rafting and dinner at papa's pizza(kind of like a ci ci's pizza). It was $92 at the rafting place, which is quite cheap. My BF husband is a river guide and he didn't charge us for taking the kind down the river. We just had to pay for the insurance and use of the raft. So we saved there plus only four kids showed up. Then we went to Papa's pizza and it was $50.89. So all told, I came in $50 under budget for the birthday party. That is awesome! My DD had an awesome time on the rapids and swears she is doing the harder rapids next year. I am quite proud of the fact that I was able to pay cash for her birthday celebration and I have so much left to give me a little bit of a cushion until I get paid next Friday.

I was so tempted last night to get Arby's for dinner in spite of the fact that I had the roast ready to eat. I had to make two trips out last night that took me directly by Arby's. But I didn't do it. I came home and heated up the roast and added some green beans.

today is the rafting trip for my daughter. We have to leave here in about 45 minutes. She is very excited about it. Afterward I am taking them to Papa's Pizza. I have enough saved up for all of this so it isn't coming out of my budget money.

Yep that is right. Today is day 11 since I have had any fast food that I paid for. I have had two free meals in that time period. We went out to dinner last night for DD's birthday but my son paid. I paid for desserts since he was already looking at a $60 bill. I don't consider that breaking my challenge as it isn't fast food and it wasn't for a meal. It was for a treat.

Dinner for tonight is already cooked as I put a roast in the crock pot yesterday forgetting that we were going out for dinner. Just need to add some vegetables and some rolls and it is done.

The weekend is always the hardest for me to resist eating out. We should have plenty of food to prevent it, just takes time to cook.

DD is going rafting tomorrow for her birthday. So far she has 4 people going. She should have fun. I hope that the 4 people show up. She has a problem with people cancelling at the last minute. I feel so bad for her sometimes. She hasn't found that one true friend that she can always count on yet. I didn't find that friend until I was in my thirties. I hope it doesn't take her that long. Anyway, I already have the money saved for the trip and I should actually have some extra.

Today is day 10 of not eating out. I am so proud of myself! Of course I have actually eaten out, but I didn't pay for it. That is the best kind. DS is taking us out to dinner tonight for DD's birthday. So another free meal. I mean hey, if they want to spend their money I am more than happy to oblige!

We decided to do a vegetable type meal for dinner last night. We had Broccolli and cheese, stuffing, and green bean casserole. I heated up a chicken breast for my son and put some rolls in the oven. All in all a pretty decent meal. I remember to take a roast out of the freezer last night and I put it in the crock pot this morning. It will be good for dinner. If I have any cornbread mix I will make some cornbread to go with it.

My child support payment hits today so I will make my mortgage payment this afternoon. Running low on funds in the checking account but I have about $35 cash that will need to last until the next pay day. I think I will make it fine.

I can't believe how long I have gone without eating out. It is really quite impressive for me. We did go to Mexican last night but my DD paid. She was craving it and I told her she had to pay if we went. The money was burning a hole in her pocket. Maybe now she is done for a while.

I forgot to take anything out for dinner so we will probably have a meal in a box...you know the complete meals they sell. All you have to do is mix all the ingredients together. I should get in the habit of taking something out for dinner the night before. Definately something to work on.

I sent a text message to the cell phone number I had and she called me back. Apparently she got the phone in the seperation. Anyway she is talking with this committee that helps people with their past due rent. She said all I needed to do was fill out some paperwork confirming that she is behind on her rent and they would send me a check. I doubt it is that simple, but we shall see. The form is supposed to be faxed to me shortly. Keep your fingers crossed.

The air conditioning in my car has decided to quit working. It is brutally hot and I have no air conditioning. that is just perfect. I am hoping that it just needs to be charged. That is less than $100, although I am not sure when I will have $100 to get it fixed.

Today is day 8 of not eating out. I stopped for my dr pepper at McDonalds but then came straight to work. Planning on going to the grocery store at lunch to get stouffers pizzas for the week. Already have bagels here so that will give me some variety.

I have been going over my budget and I have a sick feeling in my stomach. I am not sure how I am going to make it through the next 2 months. I left a message on what I think is the renter's home phone number. I don't know if I should call/text the phone that I know is in the husband's possession since according to her he isn't living there...or at least wasn't living there. I hate being a bill collector. It is the worst part of my job and to have to do it in my personal life really sucks. I know she is going through a rough time, but so am I. Granted not as rough, but I have worked hard to get to the point where I don't have it so rough. Now that is in jeopardy. What do you think...call/text the husband? They both signed the lease. Plus she told me that the dishwasher and air has quit working. I had enough money out of their deposit to replace the dishwasher but I had to use it to survive this week. So now I don't know how I will get either one of them fixed.


My daughter's birthday is Thursday and the only thing she wants is a rafting trip. Fortuntely I know a river guide who can get us cheap tickets for her and her friends. I already have the money for that saved so it should be no problem. I probably even have some extra but until I know how much I don't want to touch it. I know given the circumstances, I shouldn't be spending the money, but I don't want the renters bad situation to affect my dd's birthday. She asked for this last year and she wasn't big enough to go. I have been saving the money ever since she asked for it so I would be ready this year.

So that is the update that is my life. I just wish I could get rid of this sick feeling in my stomach.

Today has been been day 7 of not eating out. I went to my parents house for lunch so there was no temptation there. I told my son to take the car to work so I have no ability to go get something. If I get hungry I will have to do something here.

My DD cleaned the entire kitchen last night, including the microwave. It was bad. She has been really good lately...not that she is ever real bad. Just normal teenage stuff.

I hate to go back to work tomorrow. I really need a vacation I think.

I even resisted temptation to order a pizza for dinner. Instead I finally made the Grilled Cheese I had been threatening for the last week. Put some tater tots on and made some tomato soup for DS and dinner was done. Nice and easy. I finally got most of the dishes done. We were 2 loads behind with the disposer not working. Could have done them by hand but we only had one side of the sink working and it just seemed to much work for me. But they are all getting done now. Just dinner plates are in the sink for the next load.

Going to my parents house for a lunch tomorrow. I have to bring baked beans. I think I got enough...it will just have to do. The 4th of July is my dad's birthday. We always celebrate his birthday and my DD's birthday on the same day, since hers is on the 7th of July. it will be a good time.

Today has been a very lazy day...that is once we got back from picking up my DD's turtle. She has paid for every bit of it herself. Probably about $100. I give it about a month before she is tired of it. Then I am not sure what we will do with the turtle.

My son came in this morning carrying a box. I heard something clawing in it. He apparently adopted a ferret earlier in the week and has been taking care of it. He took it to get it's shots this morning. I told him it was fine. It wasn't anything that I would end up taking care of and it is downstairs so if it stinks, it is his problem. At least it isn't a puppy like he has been wanting.

The guy came and removed the garbage disposal. It didn't take him too long to get it removed. But the smell from the food that had been trapped in it was horrible!! Stunk most of the day. Thank goodness it is gone now. I even ran the dishwasher and it didn't back up into the sink. It will seem wierd to have use of both sides of the sink again. I will run the dishwasher again tomorrow to get the dishes all caught up.

Today was almost a NSD. The only money I spent was $1.07 for a dr pepper at McDonalds. Guess lazy day means no spending. Still have two more weekend days to get through. Hope my will power can survive.

I left work early today. I was the only one there and it was quite boring so I took the afternoon off thinking I would come home and take a nap. Ya right. I went to my parents house to pick up DD. Went to the pet store to see if she needed anything else for the fish she bought today. From there we went to the bank where I made a deposit into my mom's account and made copies of items in the safe deposit box. Then we went to the high school to drop of DD enrollment packet. Then we went to a different bank to get direct deposit information for DS and took it to him at work. Just when I thought I get to relax I remembered that I needed an oil change. Went from there to check the po box and then back to the bank to cash a check DD got for her birthday. From there back to the pet store for a 20 gallon aquarium(told her she could get a turtle but it has to stay outside). Came home for a few minutes then had to take DD to my parents to finish cutting the grass. I had a nice visit with my parents while she cut the grass. Finally got home after 7. But DD made dinner because of all the running around I did today, most of it for her. She is such a good daughter! Oh and at some point I filled up the gas tank. Whew...I am tired just writing all that I accomplished today. That just means that I will have less to do tomorrow.

I finally had to call a handy man about my disposal situation. The disposal has quit working and that side of the sink had been draining very slowly and the dishwasher has been backing up into the sink. Well I noticed this morning that there was still water in the sink, not much, but enough to be a problem. That means I can't run the dishwasher because when it backs up into the sink it won't drain. And it is starting to smell. So I got the name of a handy man from the local Ace hardware and he is supposed to come tomorrow some time. I can't wait since the dishwasher is full of dirty dishes and the sink is starting to overflow with dishes that won't fit in the dishwasher. I hate that I have to spend the money but at least I have some money in the savings account to pay for it. I was tempted to put the oil change on the credit card but in the end I decided that I would just pay for it and take money from savings for the disposal repair.

Today is Day 4. I was tempted this morning since I got paid this morning. I tried to justify it but in the end I didn't do it. I got my usual dr pepper at McDonalds and came on to work. Heading into the weekend though...that is my most dangerous time. At least my daughter will be home. It is easier to say no when she asks me to eat out. As long as it isn't my idea. That is the danger zone.

Did our Bi-weekly grocery shopping last night. Spent $125. I budgeted $150. So the rest will sit in my account and cover what things might come up in the next two weeks, milk and other stuff. I feel like we got a lot of groceries for the money. I bought two big bags of cat food since it was on sale. So I won't have to buy that next time I go to the store in two weeks. I also got 3 cases of water on sale for $2.99 each. Our family goes through the bottled water. I try to keep at least a few on hand.

Oh...almost forgot today is pay day. Everything is all set up so the only thing I have to do is put money into my mom's account. I picked up my prescriptions last night...$122.50. Ouch. That is only for a one month supply. Wish my drugs were available in the generic form. I have listed my pay and expenses below. I hope to make up the shortage by having EX Dh give me the money he owes me.

Income: 980
Child Support 339
Total Income 1319

Gas for two week 250
Groceries 150
kids health ins 56
auto insurance 147
homeowners ins 66
curve 44
tumbling 55
chirporactor 35
oil change 50
loan from MIL 100
mortgage 348
sears 30
checks 22
loan from mom 69
total expenses 1422.

total short 103

I hope you have a great holiday weekend!

I had to pick up more bagels to keep here at work. I was completely of them. I also got a box of Stouffers french bread pizzas. I just love them. Is it considered eating out even though I got it at the grocery store?

I then broke down and got a dr pepper from Burger King. it is a dollar more than at Mcdonald's but it is so much better than McDonalds Dr Pepper is. Funny how you can tell the difference in different peoples fountain drinks. I am sure it has to do with the amount of carbonation vs syrup. Whatever...burger king wins hands down. Tomorrow I will be back on the McDonald's sodas.

Thinking about dinner tonight...since I failed to take something out of the freezer. A co-worker had tomato soup for lunch and now I am kind of craving it. So I think we will have grilled cheese and tomato soup. Problem solved.

Today is day three of my not eating out challenge. I am out of bagels at work so I will have to go to the grocery store to replenish my supply. I still have some frozen lunches in the freezer so I am good until payday tomorrow. Went to Burger King last night to get my daughter a $1 slushie. She enjoys them and they are the same as a soda from McDonalds. We then went home and made pancakes for dinner. I was craving them so it worked out well. I forgot again to take anything out for dinner so I am not sure what we will do. But there is plenty of stuff there to eat so we should be fine.

I applied for a part time position last night. Unfortunately it probably is a day time position and I can't take it. That is the problem with most part time jobs for my qualifications. Most are day jobs. I already have a day job...I need a night job. But hopefully they will be able to be flexible.

Tomorrow is pay day. I have already gotten everything set up already. It is bummer that I won't be able to pay anything extra on the mortgage. Hopefully the renter will get her stuff together and will be able to pay me something in the next week or so. But I am not holding my breath.

Today is the second day of not eating out. We did eat Taco Bell last night but my daughter paid for it. I told her I didn't have the money but she was craving it. I would have been happy with the grilled cheese.

We will have to go to the grocery store tonight to get eggs so I can make pancakes for dinner. I am kind of craving them. DD has tumble tonight but not until 7:30. That should give me plenty of time to get some pancakes cooked up.

It feels like deja vu. I seems I posted something like this last week on Tuesday. Huh...must just be my imagination. Today is the first day of my challenge again. I have had two $1 cokes from McDonalds, but I came back and heated up one of my frozen meals for lunch. Now if I can just make it through dinner. I forgot to take anything out so I guess it will be grilled cheese. I have been planning on making them for the last few nights but I have found something else to cook(with the exception of the last two nights when I have strayed).

This afternoon is going so slowly. I can't wait for this week to be over. I have a 3 day weekend! Can't wait!

Since I can't depend on the renter to come up with rent I have reworked my entire budget. Nothing to detrimental, I just have to take some things that I usually make extra payments on and just take them down to the minimum. That sucks. So instead of having my credit cards paid off in six months it will be longer. I really hope she works something out. I hate having to be mean but I am not going to be able to support someone else either.

Relax...I am not buying a new computer. That would be really stupid right now. Rather my boss bought me a new laptop. I love getting a new computer but I hate getting it all set up!

My renter called and asked if she could meet with me at her mom's house, which is right down the street from my house. I went and she told me that her husband left her. She said that she doesn't know what she is going to do. She doesn't want to move but she isn't sure she how she is going to do it on her own. They only had one car and he took it. She has got two little girls. She is already behind $305 for June rent and I have very little faith that July will be paid on time. I will give her a month to see if she can get it straightened out but I can't continue to not receive any rent. I looked over my budget and was able to make adjustments to make sure everything got paid.(read put off some payments). I am lucky that I have been paying ahead on the mortgage so only a portion of it is due. I just hate that I can't pay the amount I have been paying.