I'm taking a quick break from keeping an eye on the sky - my laundry is on the line, and it's looking like it will rain. So far it hasn't, which is why I chanced hanging it out. (Ok, no logic to my thinking, but it keeps me entertained.)

I went to Target a couple days ago to hit the first of the back-to-school sales. I only bought supplies that were on sale and priced well - not one and the same, as I found the sale bulk glue sticks were priced higher than the smaller two-stick packs. Tricky, tricky!

Funny aside - as I was checking out, the cashier asked if I was a teacher. My first thought was whether a discount or nice perk would result from my answer. Then I noticed her befuddled look at what was on the counter. So I said yes, but that this was for my family. She stated that she thought I was buying for a classroom, but I said no, just too many kids - ha! Lest you think I was buying out the store - I bought 4 each of 10-packs of spiral notebooks and pocket folders, and packages of looseleaf paper. One set for each girl, including a mid-year restock - $12 of the supply budget accounted for! For once lots of bags for little money.

Still no rain, but the clothes aren't drying too quickly either. In a bit I'll have to leave the sky watching to my daughters, as I need to go pick up my second girl. She is coming back from church camp with her friend. All my girls will be home!

Take care!

Got my oldest sent off to her mission trip yesterday morning. The whole crew looked like they will have a great time.

Didn't get a lot done yesterday, beyond the usual laundry and meals. I did clean out the computer area though. Every so often, I pause at the computer and admire how nice it all looks (mostly 'cause I know it won't last!) I have a few of the younger aged computer games and educational discs to donate.

Later we watched a couple movies from the video store - Eight Below and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. I didn't think my youngest was going to make it through the first one! Luckily we watched the second one before bed - laughing is a far better way to go off to sleep for sure.

I saw my first school supply ad this past week. As much as I don't want to acknowledge the thought of September, I'll need to start collecting those 10cent deals as they come about. I have the three youngest girls' supply lists, and the oldest needs just basic supplies to start, with her high school classes providing supply lists, if any, after school starts. Ok, enough with the school thoughts!

Redirecting thoughts to our vacation plans immediately! We have our main annual camping trip the first whole week in August. We head north toward Duluth and the North Shore, and we all can hardly wait. We have money set aside in the savings for this. We can do this trip fairly inexpensively, mostly spending for gas, camping site fees (state park, cheap) and a mid-week food restock (we tent camp and use coolers and ice for the food.) There is a bunch of free things to do in Duluth (a port city on Lake Superior,) as well as at the state parks, Gooseberry Falls and along the North Shore of Lake Superior. So we get city and nature all in one trip. Can hardly wait - I know I said this already, but it's true!

We have a second set of vacation days later in August. We may do a smaller camping trip (this is the trip each year that we explore a new-to-us state park.) Or we may enjoy a few days at home. Depends on money and energy level at that point.

Enjoy your Sunday...take care!

We had power go out one night last weekend, and the computer wouldn't come back on. My husband has been working overtime, and my computer knowledge lacks in any sort useful skills, so we had to wait until he had the time to look at it (and it took all of two minutes, wouldn't you know!)

Our family had a great little break at home over the holiday weekend (my husband and I both had Monday off.) We used our zoo membership, and went on a gorgeous day with the youngest two girls. We swam a few times at our favorite beach. On the 4th, we went to a bbq at my inlaws, and later went to a firework display at the next town over from us. In between, we had lots of time to sleep in and read and relax. It was definitely a struggle to get back into work mode on Wednesday - enjoying the relaxation way too much!!

Otherwise, we're continuing to luck out with line drying weather for the laundry, eating at home (lots of grilling) and enjoying summer (need to bank warm weather memories for the winter!)

Tomorrow morning, my oldest daughter leaves for a mission trip with the youth from our church. They are driving out to a Montana Crow reservation for service work and some sightseeing. She's looking forward to the trip, and is packed and ready for the early morning departure. She's a seasoned traveler, so I'm excited for her (this is far less embarassing for her than having anxious, worried Mom waving goodbye, as the crew sets off on their journey.)

My husband's last paycheck with a slug of overtime, as well as my better-than-nothing check, helped pay off the final amount on the mission trip, the vet bill and a too large prescription mail-order. I try so hard to stagger the med orders, especially the expensive, no generic available ones, but with some recent med changes, I got caught this time. Well, luck was with us, as there was extra on the paychecks. May we always stay this lucky - I like this lucky!

And, gosh, here we are at the start of another weekend, with no plans, which is my very favorite kind. May you all enjoy your favorite sorts of weekend...take care!

Getting settled into the new work schedule, having the girls off from school and enjoying summertime activities has left me with less time to make entries here. But everything is going great!

I'll end up receiving continuous paychecks throughout most of the summer, due to working at least some each pay period. Some checks will be tiny, but nonetheless welcome! I'm almost half way through my summer position. I'm enjoying the work with the special ed. middle and high schoolers for these few weeks, but I really, really appreciate my regular position in the preschool.

I'm continuing to grocery shop every two weeks, and have been keeping to budget. There is a difference in having the girls home, though. They are slowly figuring out that if they go crazy the first week, there isn't so much left for the second week. It isn't the food I use for meals, it's more the 'fun' stuff, like ice cream and snacks and stuff for baking. There were a couple times last week that I could have ran for things at the grocery, but I held my ground to make the point of spreading out the consumption (plus we were hardly going to starve!) I grocery shop today, so it'll be interesting to see what happens these next two weeks. (Gosh, I'm probably sounding like an evil, conniving mom, but I promise you, I won't let my girls suffer malnutrition!)

The girls had birthday money to spend, so we went to Target yesterday. They did well, spending a bit for fun. They saved some too, when they realized there wasn't anything they needed or wanted right now. As for me, I bought a box fan on sale - we had our old one fall out of the window it was in, and some of the blades broke. I didn't need or want anything else either.

Happy July! Take care!

Another day of hanging out the laundry - quite the roll! Waiting for the homemade pizza to bake up. Same old, same old...

Looking ahead to Friday's payday - we both get paid - yay! We need to get some supplies for changing the oil in both vans. I'll pay the vet for Maisy the dog's annual visit. My oldest heads out on a mission trip a week from Saturday, so we need to get a few things - disposible cameras, a couple pairs of 'decent' shorts, that may be it. I need to check, but I think I need to register my second for the middle school tennis team for the fall. Well, easy come, easy go!

We're still covering the regular expenses, the increased number of medical visits, extra gas for the smaller van (for the medical visits,) while leaving the emergency fund and savings account funds intact. May our luck continue...

Take care!

...since my last entry! And for good reason, as I started the new summer job on Monday. Challenging, but very rewarding work. I drop off my oldest to her job at the school pool, and then head over to the middle school, where the extended school year classes are (it's the only school with a/c.) The students run the gamut of abilities - autism (I think of contrary1 often!) to physical disabilities to blindness to Down's Syndrome. My second daughter takes care of my two youngest, and I'm home by noon. So far, it's working out great!

The weather has been holding out well for hanging out the laundry, and all meals continue to be at home. This is good, as I don't want to be so busy as to lose out on the savings of these activities. (Hey, I don't make that much at this summer position to slack off!)

We've also come to a less stressful level with my daughters' medical expenses, thankfully. Three visits a week are currently covered by our insurance, and we pay the $25 co-pay for each. One visit a week, we pay at an agreed-upon (with the facility) amount of $35, which we aren't putting through the insurance. They have written up an appeal to our insurance for more visits for my oldest, and then we'll get credited $10 for the $35 visits. We will run out of my oldest's visits covered by our insurance by the end of July. If the appeal doesn't go in our favor, the medical facility has agreed to charge us at $35 for all the visits once our oldest's insurance runs out. My third daughter's number of visits won't run out before the end of the year, so we'll continue paying them at the co-pay amount. I'm so thankful this is at least nearer to what we can afford, given how expensive these visits are uninsured. In addition, we have about $200 a month for all prescriptions. I would have never guessed our medical expenses would become such the beast it has! I know we're extremely lucky to be able to afford the care needed by our daughters, and to be able to keep current on those accounts. (Pooh - it's just not a very fun way to spend near a quarter of our money...enough pouting already!)

Back to the laundry, and need to pick up my oldest at the pool...Take care!

Got the two middle girls off to our church camp in Wisconsin. Second daughter was an old pro at this, and third daughter linked up with a girl from our church very readily. They went off to explore the camp so quickly, that I almost missed a goodbye hug and kiss (almost - I tracked her down!) I feel better about it all, and think they'll have a great time.

The rest of us ate out cheaply as planned on the way home. Then after dropping me off at home, my husband and the two girls headed down to help his parents drop off their van for repair work. (It must be the week for this!)

Today was for sleeping in - accomplished (not my husband - I sent him off to work.) Laundry - another nice day to hang it out on the line. Bills and checkbook - need to catch that up and look ahead at expenses.

We are reaching the limit on medical visits for my oldest, so we are taking on the cost of one visit a week at full cost, and not putting it through the insurance, to help carry her more expensive visits a few more weeks longer. We're working on an appeal, but I'm not sure if it will work.

Between my oldest's visits, and now my third daughter's starting up, plus our medicine copays, we're paying on the equivalent of two brand-new vehicle loans. My husband and I laugh, because we never thought we could afford one, let alone two, new vehicles. I guess, as it turns out, it's a good thing we didn't, as we wouldn't have the money for all the medical expenses we have at the moment. And while it hasn't been easy, I am amazed and thankful how much play our income has ended up having. It's wild how 'little' money it seemed we had before, compared to how much we've been required to accomodate lately (25% of our income for medical.) And, so far, I am proud to say, our emergency fund is still intact, with plans to keep it that way. I can hardly wait until we get through with some this medical stuff - not only for my daughters and my family, but just to see what we will do financially. Life is looking good today.

Wow, enough for now...take care!

Yesterday, my husband's work van needed some more repair work, so in the morning I followed in our van to pick him up. I then headed north to drop him off at his office, so he could work on programming a security system for the Fargo job, which he'll head to again sometime during the next week. I went home and worked in the garden and kitchen, and on the everpresent laundry. Later in the afternoon, I picked him up at the office, headed south to the repair place, and came home. Lots of gas used, but OT and a working van are good things.

Later we grilled hamburgers, and packed up my two middle girls for our church's camp in Wisconsin. We leave today after lunch. This is my third daughter's first time to camp, so we wanted to take her and settle her in, as are most of the families. The camp is a couple hours away. The families all chipped in to pay for renting a school bus from our area for pickup, however, with gas prices as they are.

I'm not sure how much I can take in a few day's time - my third daughter's 5th grade graduation and off to camp. She's my little homebody, but wants to spread her wings, hard as it is for her. I'm doing pretty good at being positive for her, while keeping my anxiety of her anxiety to myself. Growing up is hard to do - both for the kids and the moms!

Of course, having my oldest practicing her driving to and from camp may prove distracting enough, or cause a different sort of anxiety altogether!

It sounds like an exhausting sort of day - anticipating no sleep troubles tonight! Take care!

After church, we did go to drop off our donations at the thrift shop and picked up our receipt. The family proceeded to peruse the aisles of the store. The girls and I all got something (my husband held out for the nearby hobby store.) Used a 20% off coupon the store had sent to me, plus found some items in the 50% off area. So did well, for cheap.

We went to the hobby shop, and my husband bought something he's been waiting a while for (no sale or coupon, but hey, he works hard and asks for little - plus the fact that it was inexpensive helped.)

Next, we went to a chinese/thai restaurant that we had a giftcard for, and were waiting to use. We paid a little beyond the card's value, but the gift made the restaurant affordable for the six of us. We traded food all around, so we all had tastes of six different dishes. It was fabulous!

Home again, we're all hanging out. My husband is ditzing with his new puchase. The two youngest playing games - pick-up sticks at the moment. My second is taking a shower. The oldest is vying for the computer (so I'm hurrying!)

No dinner to cook - we are stuffed. I'm thinking of relaxing with my 69 cent 'new' book I picked up from the shop earlier - Tales of a Female Nomad. Utter relaxation to enjoy...take care!

Got the biggest of the hospital bills today - boy, this hospital is faster than the one we used last November. Have the money set aside for it, at least.

Was going to try to hang the laundry that I washed before leaving for work this morning on the line outside, but a bank of dark clouds is moving in quickly from the southwest.

Wednesday is a busy night with the girls all heading to church , but at different times. So crockpot spaghetti is on the menu for an early dinner at 5pm. (We still eat all together - we just move the time around as needed.)

I was catching up the checkbook yesterday, and was sort of panicking, because it seemed that I had a lot of debit card receipts and checks to log in. (Probably could tell my panic by my long, rambling entry yesterday!) So I marked them all down, and sat back feeling a little silly. I only spent as we had planned and budgeted for, except for a small amount at Target (something we needed, just vague as to when.) I shared this with my husband, and we had to laugh at being out of the practice of spending our money that it seemed we were being quite reckless. May we remain so out of practice!

(Ok, I have to share what I got...bath towels. I happened on a clearance of better quality, cheaper than what I was pricing, AND in the color I wanted! Our old ones were very well-used. This is my third set of towels since my husband and I got married in 1984 - yup, very well-used old towels, very appreciated new ones. It is quite simple to make me happy! Hey, and I got some new towels to replenish the rag bag - oh, yay!!)

Hey, and it's not so bad looking to the SW, maybe I'll try the clothesline yet! Better get to it. Take care!!

...when you're having fun!

Actually, life hasn't been too bad lately, just plain busy. The couple times I tried to make a new entry, I couldn't log in, so I'm glad it's working out for me today.

We had a fun long Easter weekend. My third daughter came home from her school trip on Thurday night, feeling very successful (no tearful calls home from a homesick girl!), tired and with lots of stories of her adventures. On Friday, everyone got up early to do yardwork in our beautiful summery Spring weather. Afterwards, we had moved into the house to clean and generally spruce up the interior. On Easter day, we had my husband's parents over for noon dinner, and later went to visit my mom at the nursing home (she's still in a wheelchair for her December hip break, and we would not have been able to get her to our door even, plus her stage of Alzheimer's makes it so hard to take her anywhere anymore - she gets so unsettled and anxious, and just wants to go back home. Can you tell I feel bad about this? This is the first Easter dinner without her. I know there is nothing to be done, but to do what's best for her. It just takes a bit of getting used to, I guess.) We took her dog along for the visit - she loves that old dog! It was a nice visit with my mom - the dog and girls always bring my mom a lot of attention, so she had fun being at the center of it all.

So it was back to work and school for us all today. I work extra this week - the last session of Kindergarten Connection. I also said yes to working a two-week session in August to get the kids ready and raring to go to Kindergarten in September. I'm off in the summer, and by August a bit of paycheck will be welcome.

We've seen online all that the insurance will pay toward my oldest's hospital stay in March, so will be prepared for the bills when they are sent out. We have the money set aside.

I'm getting a little edgy about upcoming expenses. Hospital charges - ok. Ongoing medical appointments - 25-75 per week - have been managing, but have been putting off the more non-pressing medical appts, and that can't go on too much longer. (Still saying to myself - be thankful that there is insurance!!)

My two middle girls are going to our church's camp in Wisconsin in June. My oldest is going on a mission trip to Wyoming in July. Between the girls' savings and work (at the pool and babysitting) and youth accounts at the church, I'm estimating that the amount I'll pay out to be $200-300, or so altogether.

We are camping over Memorial weekend - paid for! Just the gas (no small expense anymore!) to get there and we bring along food. We try to camp a couple other times over the summer - we'll have to see how we stabilize after paying off the hopsital and manage the ongoing medical expenses, once I'm not getting a paycheck.

Also, we got notice that my second daughter was recommended for a school trip to Wahington DC next Fall as an 8th grader. Her older sister did the trip, and we thought it was a wonderful experience. My oldest paid for over a third of the trip by working at the pool as a water safety aide in lessons. My second is applying for an aide position in our commnuity ed program over the summer - that would really be great news in making this trip a reality.

Well, enough for this entry - not the best at short and sweet! It's a beautiful day here in Minnesota, one that you dream about at Winter's darkest. I definitely need to find some puttering to do outside! Take care!

The pace of last week seems to be continuing into this weekend.

Early Saurday morning, I took my two youngest to run errands, while the rest of the house (family and guests) slept in. We went to the PO to get postage for the state taxes owed and some postcards for my third daughter while she's away next week for the 5th grade trip up north. We went to the bank to deposit a check and withdraw some cash for daughter's spending money for the trip. We headed to good old Target for a few remaining items for the trip (disposable cameras and underclothes) and some HH and health/beauty items. Then we went to our library to pick up our holds and some new books for the week. Everyone at home was at least up when we got back (won't say how energetic they were!) Then we puttered the rest of Saturday away with cleaning, washing laundry, cooking and making excuses to be outside in our gorgeous Spring weather.

Today is Palm Sunday, and our church has a Palm Procession with the younger kids which includes my youngest, and serves a youth fundraiser pancake breakfast, which involves my three oldest. I just have to get them there (we're the third house from our church, so not too hard) dressed appropriately (a little harder) and oh yeah, attend the service and breakfast!

Our fun plans for later in the day include helping my daughter get packed, get gas and groceries, and go to Petco for the seven beasties. Sunday is not my favorite day to grocery shop, but I have my list ready and will go right after the first church service, so it shouldn't be as bad as later (there seems to be a greater number of recreational shoppers on Sundays, which doesn't mesh well with my 'get in, get out' approach to shopping.)

Here's to hoping for a quieter week! Take care!!

...like I have it or something! I did work extra today. And my husband's check had OT on it today. But it still doesn't quite make up for my wayward spending.

I just got back from getting the tickets for the production my three younger daughters are in. My oldest daughter will need a change in her meds - never a cheap proposition. Still waiting for call from the dr. With the girls at play practice this week, my husband and I ate takeout a couple of times - nice, but I really do know better than that!

Alright, the plan is as follows:

Go to the play Friday and Saturday nights and enjoy the show.

Run our regular Saturday morning errands (Plan those meals, buy those groceries - with my list in hand!)

Do some Spring cleaning this weekend (cures me of wanting to spend by tiring me out too much for shopping and by highlighting previous spending that somehow becomes burdensome clutter as I'm cleaning around it.)

Sleep, sleep, sleep - I can't shop while I sleep, and everything seems so much better when I'm well-rested.

Oh,I do have some good news. I'm excited to be writing checks for the last payments to the hospital and Dr. - so that will free up some funds to funnel toward the cc amount.

Have a great Friday! Take care!!

After our incredibly busy last week, the weekend chose to continue in the same manner!

My third daughter had her 1st Commnunion yesterday. I got her a cross necklace with amethyst-like stones (her birthstone.) She's my quieter and shyer girl and was very nervous, even with the whole family up front with her for communion. She did good, though.

The reason I avoid going to Target is because money gets spent - fast. Along with the necklace, I ended up getting my third girl a swimsuit for gym class - they're having a swim unit. She grew out of everything we had (my youngest is very well set!) She's also outgrew the girls department sizing. I was quickly getting sick at the $50 price tags and the revealing looks, until I found a rack of sport suits in the yoga/sports clothing area. $20!! (after $50, the $20 didn't seem too bad, but am missing the girls dept. prices.) There was a nice variety of covers-everything tank suits - yay!!

My second daughter convinced me to stop at Plato's Closet, a resale shop geared to teens. She is my daughter who especially enjoys fashion and good bargains. I told her we'd do a little look. Glad we did, as we hit a clearance sale. For $16, we brought home 4 jeans, a hat and 5 shirts for three of my daughters. We're done for clothes shopping for a while!

Yesterday we did my husband's receipts to turn in for reimbursement for his out-of-town time, as well as his timesheet.

Today my three younger girls are trying out for a community ed theatre production after school. Then, the family heads to the cities for my middle two daughters' all-school band concert at the Orchestra Hall (our school received a grant to work with our MN Orchestra, including a collaboration in creating a special piece of music.) The schools have been working up to this for over a year, so it's exciting, though busy too. I'll pack some sandwiches and water for the car ride - no time even to stop for fast food (oh darn, I'll have to save the money- ha!) We can collapse when we get home!

Besides doing my regular work, I'll watch a training video today. Then I'll get everything together that we need for our afternoon and evening. Then, it's Ready, Set, GO!! Take care!

Today ended up being a fairly busy day. The preschool kids were wild! We took them outside for a longer playtime, then sent them home - yay! Worked a little extra after class exchanging the toys in our room. Too many fire trucks crashing around the room - though we may have replaced them with even crazier toys (other types of vehicles - we reserve the option to remove any troublesome toys - darn, not kids, though.) Next week I work extra for our upcoming Kindergarten registration and info night (our program organizes this because we're better suited for caring for all the children.)

Next week also my husband leaves for some training for work. He'll have the travel and motel paid, but will have to provide money for meals (will be reimbursed.) We knew this was coming, so are set for him, except that he would like a new swimsuit for the pool. His was so old the waistband elastic crackled, but didn't stretch back - not a good shape for a suit to be in!

Planning ahead -

Starting to make out a grocery list and plan meals (for the two weeks.)

Need to fill the van again.

The older three girls are working at a youth group fundraiser at our church on Sat.

I need to shop for that above mentioned swimsuit and a birthday gift for MIL.

Bring MIL her gift on Sun.

Go to the library.

Clean up a bit around here.

Help my husband get packed.

...well, I'm glad I enjoyed last weekend's quiet... Take care!

but eventually I catch up! I finally got around to calculating totals for what we spent money on for the month of January. I know, I know, it's practically the end of Feb...I'm not the quickest with this. Can I blame it on my family, house, pets, work, and general lack of time??

It doesn't help that I'm doing it via the very old-fashioned method of pencil, paper and calculator. I do know how to find Excel on my computer, but that is all I can do.

So in an effort to get a start on February, I've started to fill in my sheet on expenses so far this month that have been paid and are done for the month. I took a preliminary gander at the grocery amount, and I'm pretty pleased. Considering we had my daughter's birthday party with her friends, as well as a big extended family dinner, well... ta-da! We're coming in at less than we did in January. I can hardly wait to see how March goes with our new grocery shopping measures (no birthdays or large gatherings planned, so a better indicator.)

A few things were revealed in my January spreadsheet of sorts. Medical was our most expensive category - we're paying off a hospital and dr bill from November, paying for weekly medical appt for one of my girls, and mail-ordered 90-day supplies of 3 expensive prescriptions. The next expense was our grocery expenses - working hard on reducing this! Third is our mortgage. Hmm, more to think about AND act on - I like what has been written about it being nice to think and write (and read!) about money matters, but it's the action that really makes the difference. Take care,all!

It's seems forever since I last made an entry. And let me just say, making daily entries kept me on the straight and narrow!

The good - We're entering our second week of the two-week grocery shopping and we're still okfood-wise. My daughter is now really 11, and we celebrated her birthday over the weekend. On Friday, she and her friends participated in our family's standard party - the 'attend the open swim time at the school's pool, homemade pizza, and sleepover' party. Very fun, very inexpensive. We did great with the favors even, hitting the Target dollar spot with clearances after Valentine's Day (not planned, but very welcome.)

The bad - The above mentioned birthday party also had a family party on Saturday night. Gosh, it's been a while since we've had a crew over! The lasagne dinner with a bit of wine and fancy beer was fun, but hardly inexpensive.

The ugly - My daughter brought home her science class project - a goldfish. I admit to saying ok, but I should have checked out the cost of setting up a small tank before I said yes. Lesson learned in dollars. We're pet suckers here.

We also spent money on going to the MN Zoo, not the free one in our area. I did a household membership pass, because it'd cost us more just to pay admission and parking for all of us. We will make good use of this pass, though I probably should have waited until next month. And then there was the gas for the week... Next week will be better!!

Take care!

I feel like all I've been doing is working lately. But I know the extra hours won't last forever, so I'll keep doing them while they are still available. Got back a bit ago from working our preschool's Super Saturday - several hundred kids and adults came. It took a bit to get the rooms back to normal, but it was fun to see everyone having a good time.

My husband got paid yesterday, and my check will be in the account on the 15th. All our OT and extra hours have made it possible to keep up with the interest free payments to the hospital and doctor. Just one more payment to the hospital and two more to the dr - yay! I will be so glad to not have them hanging over our heads.

Our next goal is to then funnel the extra money in paying off the cc debt. We haven't used the card in a long time, and now we are serious about getting it paid off.

Need to send off two more mail-order prescriptions. Got gas for the car - $41. Need to go to the grocery store - am thinking of trying to bump it up to two weeks. I spend a bigger amount, but when averaged over two weeks, the total is quite a bit less. Need to finish the shopping list.

A trip to Target is planned this weekend. My 3rd daughter turns 11 soon, and will have a swim, pizza and sleepover party next Friday. We swim at the school's pool for very cheap. Then we head home for homemade pizza and cake. The girls watch movies (that we own) and hardly sleep. We hand out party favors, but make it cheap. Being it's so close to Valentine's Day, I saw cute little heart decorated tin pails at the $ spot at Target, and we'll add a fun trinket or two, and a little candy. At our house, it's the birthday party down to a science. We've done this one over and over through the years, and the girls don't tire of it.

It feels like I've spent a fortune lately. But when I actually did the checkbook, it wasn't too bad.. I guess it just feels that way because our spending has been only the absolutely necessary lately.

Went to the grocery store and it's back to ugh again. $145. I think I'll look over the total for the month of January. I'm sure it was less than normal, but I want to get a better idea of how much I'm saving or not. Then I'll be able to tell whether the $145 is really an ugh. Gas was $36 for the week. That is another ugh!

The three younger girls, my husband and I went to the school's fundraiser, the Funfest. Spent $22 - not too bad, but my head is pounding from the noise. Not my favorite activity, but the girls love it.

Cleaned the house yesterday. Finally got the last bit of info needed to do the taxes, so that is on the to-do list for this weekend (I have mostly completed them except for inserting this info.) Sleep!! Yes, that's on the list. Otherwise, two of the girls are going to a church youth group event tomorrow (it's free and fun!) So the weekend is shaping up to being a quiet, relaxing one again - my favorite sort!

Have a great weekend...take care!

when I find that there is a bit extra in the account, I should not say anything out loud about it! So here's today's damage...

I came home from work, and my husband was home doing some work at home on the computer. We decided to go out for lunch - it's not so very often that there are no kids around! It was a nice treat.

Next I picked up my oldest from school for her medical appt, and payed the planned co-pay. But then, since we were (too!) close to Target, we stopped by to get a couple of things we needed. Hah, when will I learn to go alone? Oh, well, the clearance rack yielded some great deals. Oh, yeah, we also got the original 'couple of things' too.

Well, compared to times in the past, this day wasn't the worst, but it's definitely back to the saving grindstone for us! Take care!!

It's Wed, and worked this morning. Worked extra hours last night. I also offered to work extra this month, and my boss is happy to let me. Every bit will help on the hospital and dr bills.

I went over the bills and checkbook yesterday, and found we are making great progress in reducing our costs. There was a surplus in the checking account. Well, not for long...transferring more to the savings for building up the emergency fund, as well as paying extra toward the cc bill. Our goal is that after we pay off the hospital and dr bills from last year, we'll increase what we pay to the cc. I give a lot of credit to everyone here for openly sharing their stories and ideas - you all are quite the inspirations!

Some upcoming expenses include a PTO fundraising 'FunFest' at the school on Sat. It's not so much fun to spend money for this. But my younger girls are excited about it - pretty sure it's the constant mention at school by staff and students. We were able to limit how much we spent last year, and will do that again this year. My oldest girl has another payment toward her mission trip this summer - she's working at the pool, but we'll help pay half. She is on her own for this Friday's dance. I bought her the dress. She bought the boutoniere, and will pay for the tickets (it's a Sadies dance - girls ask the boys.) As far as dinner, I told her she could fix something at our house (the rest of us will stay out of the way,) but we'll have to see what she'll think she can afford. (Back when we had a Sadies dance, it was a very dress-down thing - jeans, flannel shirts, overalls, cowboy hats. Ok, it was the mid-70s - but it was sure a lot cheaper back then!)

Dinner is in the crockpot again - a new recipe using some turkey I froze after the holidays.

Take care!

Today I got paid. Worked a little extra - the licensing people are coming into work tomorrow, so all the rooms need to be looking their best. Still no 1099 from the bank - they are waiting until the end!

Visited Mom today. She started getting pressure sores on her heels, so is wearing huge foam boots. She doesn't understand what they are for, and is not enjoying her new fashion at all. She is looking good otherwise.

This is our first whole week of school in a while, so I'm thinking it's feeling long already. Yeah, I know - how rough we have it! We're on our second week of all taking lunches to school - still working out well, and is going to be something we continue. I bought ground beef at a good price the last time I went to the grocery store. I'll cook it all up with some onion, and bag it into 1lb. bags and freeze. I'll keep out 1lb. for use in tonight's tacos - a big favorite at our house.

We got our electric bill and it was almost $20 higher than normal - ugh! We're doing as others have mentioned here - shutting down and unplugging things. My husband is still trying to figure out our computers. I guess they are on a battery back-up thing that needs to stay plugged in or beeps and switches to the battery if unplugged. Needs?!! Well, I'm working on this (him!) The rates went up also. Oh well, the ups and downs of keeping money in our hands...

Take care!

Fast!! Ok, that's a little dramatic, I know. We got my husband's check yesterday (mine comes on Monday)and there it starts to go...

Went to the bread outlet store. With my oldest two girls taking their lunches to school (yay, they are!), I have been letting them take bagels. Last week they were on sale at our regular grocery store, but still pretty high for using too often. The last time I went to the bread store, a 6-pk of bagels was $.65, and on Wed and Sat there is a 15% discount. So I stocked up on a month's worth of bagels - there was even whole grain wheat. They are in the freezer awaiting lunch duty.
Bread store - $7.96 (including several loaves of bread.)

Next I got gas and a wash for the Voyager. We usually wash our vehicles at home from spring into fall, but in the winter about every two to four weeks we go through the carwash (clean off all that road salt we love to use in MN.) With the 5 cents off per gallon coupon from our grocery for the gas and using the stamp card for each gas purchase towards money off for the wash, the total was $27.85. We're driving extra for my daughter's medical appts. - probably using twice as much gas as we normally do.

Did the grocery shopping today. Well, I didn't come in at those wonderful $90 of the last two weeks. Hardly...It came to $156.23! My excuse is that I had to re-stock the paper products and cleaning goods, as well as a few pantry goods. I will, however, still take it as a guarded success. It is lower than my usual weekly average of $170. And I don't buy paper and cleaning items every week. So my goal in the next week (or two or three!) is to be closer to the $90 mark. I feel like this is something I can do.

Still no 1099 from the bank. I called on Friday, and they said they have until the 31st. I said that's fine (I kept the grumbles to myself) - I just wanted to make sure I didn't not receive it or had misplaced it. Patience is a virtue!

Otherwise, just a quiet weekend for us all here. We seem to be needing a lot of rest lately - no illness, but maybe preventing it if we take it easy. We all cleaned up the house yesterday - nice! I'll do some baking either later today or tomorrow. I'm not even sure what dinner will be...maybe something very easy like scrambled eggs and toasted english muffins. Boy, am I having a lazy Saturday, or what?!

Hope others are enjoying their Saturday in the way they wish...take care!

Yesterday I was able to do a conference call with my husband to the office that manages his old job's pension. We now have the amount it's worth, if paid out lump-sum. Now the dilemma is, do we roll it over into an IRA or into his current 401K account? Or do we leave it, and hopefully it will still be available for a monthly payout (he can start receiving at age 55)? 55 is still 12 years away, and a lot of his co-workers are feeling uneasy with the old employer and have taken the lump-sum. My gut feeling is to take the lump-sum and set up an IRA account for it, then we are in control of it (well, except for what the market does to it!) He has a retirement annuity from an even more previous employer that has been not going anywhere, so I will look at rolling that over too. I think I could get a handle on our retirement accounts - his 401K, my public employee account, and a single account like an IRA for the rest - yay!

Yesterday I also did some preliminary figuring of our taxes (just need one more 1099.) We will again get a refund on our fed taxes. Every year I keep fiddling with our withholdings, and I have the state taking just the right amount. But the federal is another matter. At least compared to last year, I'm heading in the right direction. Oh well, it's back to the w-4 again. The last 1099 wasn't in today's mail, but as soon as I receive it, I'm ready to write up the forms and get them sent in.

Well, going over the budget stuff, I've concluded we're doing pretty well for our fixed expenses (including things like insurance, vehicle expenses, etc.) I guess it's more our discretionary spending is where we could use a little work (ha - a lightbulb moment or what!)

Food, including dining out - We eat most meals at home. Depending on our finances, we eat out once every two or four weeks. We all eat breakfast at home. My husband packs a lunch for work and the two younger girls take lunches and snacks to school and the older two eat lunches at their schools. I usually come home for lunch, or I bring a lunch. Dinners are at home, usually with everyone (we eat early or late depending on the activities.) Our grocery list is usually basic foods - I stock a pantry and freezer, rather than shop for meals. I shop only once a week. I used to shop every two weeks, and even for a time, monthly (we had milk home delivered then.) We're incorporating more fresh vegetables, fruits, protein and higher quality carbs into our diet, so I find weekly works better for that (though I find it is a bit more expensive the more often I shop.) I keep a running list on the frig of what we run out of. I look over the sale flyer to see what bargains and coupons are offered for the week. Then I make my list, sticking to it for the most part. With a combination of pantry and freezer items and newly bought groceries I create our meals.

Part of what I include in our 'food' budget is health, beauty and cleaning supplies, plus food and supplies for our pets (we have 6 - a dog, 3 cats, a guinea pig and a hampster.) We aren't star consumers in this area - using the store brands of cleaning items, the 99cent shampoos, generic pain relievers, etc. The pets get more than their share of the budget...but somehow we've acquired these animals and we'll see to their good care - though we have a current restriction on allowing any more of them at our house.

For a budget amount, I took an average and came up with $170 a week. And that is about what I spend most weeks between groceries, the occasional dinner out and pet store stop, though the range can be $70 - 200. Sometimes I feel that since I say it's a certain amount, I somehow make sure it is that amount. Still, I don't think there is much I can do about the pets (just no more new ones!) And the cleaning/health/beauty amounts are probably fine - though I'll keep tabs on amounts used, and use what is minimally necessary. The dining out is not an outrageous part of our budget.

So what's left is my two oldest's use of school lunches, and the food portion of the grocery bill. Hmm, I guess a talk is in order for the girls. And I'll go over the meal plans. I cook mostly from scratch, and we aren't having steak every night (actually that's only twice a year - on father's day and my husband's birthday - he loves steak!) I like what some journalists were doing with figuring out the costs of some of their meals. Maybe my meals cost more than I am realizing? I guess I'll have to think some more on this area. As a kind of initial goal, I'm trying to spend closer to an average of $130 a week. I need to come up with better figures of our absolute minimum amount to keep us and the pets going. But I'll try a $40 dollar a week reduction, and see where that gets me.

That's all for now...take care!

Today was pajama day at preschool - the kids always laugh at us teachers in our gear. I even had wild hair that looked like bedhead, though that was not intentional. Visited Mom and she is now allowed full weight on her healing hip - yay! Her physical therapist stopped by to chat, and was proud to announce that Mom walked with her walker this morning for the first time since the accident. Our goal was to get her out of the wheelchair and back to her walker, and she is getting there!

Moneywise news - trying to look over our budgeted expenses some more.

Garbage - We have a city collector, with a reduced charge negotiated with the city. Over the 16-17 years we've had this service, the cost has risen very little. The city added a recycling charge, and probably two price increases for a total of about $2-3 more monthly in all that time - not bad. One of the journalists mentioned cutting their service. We'd still have to pay the recycling charge. While we recycle everything we can (we have curbside pickup every 2 weeks) and compost, I'm not sure what we'd do with the rest of the garbage. But maybe, we can increase our effort to reduce our container size (though the savings for using the smallest one is not much of an incentive - though the environmental incentive is always a good motivator.)

Phone - We have landline and internet service from our local company. I keep talking to my husband about our 'need' for DSL service - but he's not budging. We have basic phone service (the cheapest) and haven't felt a need to have all of the extras that are offered. We have a phone with an answering machine, and it works for us. My husband has a cell from his work, and they pay all expenses (and it's used for work only, though he may carry it for emergency use occasionally - never have used it so far though.) I have a cell phone with a limited plan my husband gets through being on the voluntary police reserve in out town. I like the convenience it offers me for the school to reach me about sick kids and for the nursing home staff who care for my mom to be able to reach me, wherever I am during the day (I switch schools during the day many times for work.) I don't use it to have long conversations, but for those quick calls. My two oldest daughters have pay-as-you-go phones from their aunt (she graciously supplies the phone cards too.) I looked into that kind of service for me, but found for the usage I have each month, I'd pay double what I am now. I do use those phones to call to my brother and family in Alaska. We email each other regularly, but make an occasional call, and that's the cheapest way for us to call there.

Today's mail brought more w-2s, so on to more tax compiling...take care!

Went to work, then came home to work on my to-do list. Today I got a bit accomplished...some of those things that aren't a lot of fun to do, but are wonderful to cross off the list!

We have new medical and dental insurance as of Jan 1, so I had to have the clinic we go to write up 7 new prescriptions for mail-order (90-day supply with 3 refills.) I received those in the mail at the end of last week, only to find out that after trying to calculate the costs for the mail-order forms that one drug isn't on the formulary and one is actually cheaper filling it monthly at our local pharmacy. (I'm glad for the cheaper price, but do like the convenience of the mail-order.) We need to talk to my husband's dr about an alternative and mine for a new script for monthly. Today, I sent out 3 prescriptions for $150. The rest will go in on next pay period. (While I'm thankful for the good insurance we had/have, I dream of having the same medical insurance for more than a year at a time. I'm not sure how I would spend those first few weeks in Jan, if that were to happen!)

I also caught my bills and checkbook up for this week. (Part of my unwritten goals for this year - keep on top of that checkbook, so I know where we're at.) I also reconciled the checkbook to the latest bank statement. Over the holidays, I sort of piled my paid bills and statements, rather than file them. So I filed what needed to be, pulled out papers to be shredded from the cabinet, and gathered together the receipts to add up for tax time. Just waiting on a couple more items for tax time - oh, yeah!

I also arranged some extra hours at work over the next few weeks - I work in two preschool classes for our school district, but our early childhood program has a lot of events coming up, so I'll take as many hours as I can get. I also got a call from our intermediate school, and will work there in the special ed dept - one of my favorite places to sub. So more hours... all for a good cause - improving our financial picture bit by bit! With our hospital and dr bills from Nov, this will be welcome, that's for sure.

I started dinner this morning in the crockpot- a new recipe for minestrone. It smells wonderful! There is a little leftover lasagne from a couple days ago (not enough to freeze for another meal) and a salad and bread.

Good evening to you all...take care!

Yesterday, I went with my two oldest daughters to find a dress for an upcoming dance my oldest will attend. She had success at JCPenney, with a sale to boot. She found a pretty black, spaghetti strap dress on sale and a black, beaded shawl on clearance (70% off!) Picked up some hose not on sale and a delicate necklace and earring set on sale at Claire's (lucklily she has some strappy black heels that will complete the outfit.) I was pleased with cost, and it's a dress that can be worn in the future!

Today we had a medical co-pay to pay out for one of my daughters. One from last week and for today - so $50 total for today. The $25 co-pay will go on weekly for a while. Not a fun way to spend money, but very necessary. I'm thankful that our insurance pays what it does towards this care, and that we able to afford our part.

Otherwise, the only other spending was toward Valentine's for the kids and myself to hand out in our classes. We like to buy early and have a better selection. $7 bought 2 bags of individual candy heart treat packs and cards enough for my two younger daughters classmates and my two preschool classes at work, as well as candy enough for the older two to hand out candy to their friends, if they wish.

Dinner is a turkey we got as part of doing our normal shopping over the Fall ( it's been thawing for a few days in the frig - am glad to be cooking it up!) Typical turkey sidedishes for tonight, and then I'll have the remainder of the meat for a couple days of sandwiches and some to freeze for stirfry or other quick to put together meals.

Have a good evening, all....take care!

Yesterday, I went to the grocery store, and got gas too. Groceries came in at $90 - pretty good, since most weeks are closer to $170. I'm relying on a bit of what we have in the freezer and pantry, plus I caught a good sale on some stockup items that we'll use over the next few weeks. Tonight is lasagne, bread and salad.

I filled up our Plymouth Voyager - it was empty! That came to $35, but will keep us for two weeks at least. One of the benefits of where I grocery shop is that if you spend $50, you get a coupon for $.05 off every gallon up to 30 gallons. Well, $50 is not a reach for our family, for sure. So I only paid $2.12/gal - only, ha!

We went to early service at church, and then while the girls were at Sunday school, my husband and I tried out a new Caribou in our area. It was a nice little date (far and few of these!) But we both figured it wasn't quite worth the cost...so we'll look for another way to do this sort of thing.

That's all for now...take care!

After a very long evening of repair last night, my husband was able to fix the washer - yay! It's a very well-used appliance at our house, and would be sorely missed. Note to those looking for partners in life - it's absolutely wonderful having someone who is a jack-of-all-trades sort of person, because there is a good chance s/he can fix a great many things around the home and garage. His next project - replace the brake line in our old Ford van this weekend. Oh joy!!

We both received our checks today, and there were OT hours. So our first month of payments for November's ambulance, doctor and hospital bills were paid with a bit of breathing room. I'm putting some aside in our savings to have as backup for next month's payment, as well as, paying out the majority of our monthly bills (mortgage and utilities...) Hey, we can even get groceries (just kidding, though occasionally it does feel that short funds-wise.)

This weekend, I'll head to the discount bread store and buy a month's worth (most goes into the freezer.) I will make a trip to the grocery store, though except for some dairy and produce, we're not in too bad of shape, so it should be on the lower end of cost. I'll start to gather up everything for tax time, and can begin preliminary figuring (have to wait for the w-2s & 1099s to come before I can get too far into the forms.)

My oldest is attending her first semi-formal high school dance early in February, so we'll start looking at dresses this weekend. It should be fun, but she knows our limitations (so we're hoping for something cheap and gorgeous, while being a dress she'll wear again - is that a tall order, or what?!) I have a price in mind, and she could use some of her money for something more, but she is putting her earnings toward a mission trip with our church this summer. She's a pretty practical girl, so I think she'll find something great in my price range. (The lot of a mom - I'm very excited for her, being nostalgic from my high school days and the fun she'll have...but still, I'm in shock as to how we got here! Wasn't she just a little one in my arms in her ruffly pink dresses not all that long ago?? Hmm, pretty sure she won't go that route now!) Have a great weekend....take care!

That make you crazy!!! I did the amended property tax forms - so we owe back some funds for two past years = just under $100 (my dumb mistake - though the letter from the state did imply it was a common error.) Mailing that out tomorrow.

Our city sewer system inspection went well, and we passed and will get the reduced amount on our water and sewer bill, but when they compared the inside to the outside water usage meter, the outside one was off by 24,000 gallons. Oops, it must have broken sometime over the years - how would you like to get caught up, ma'am? Hmm, can I pick never?? To remain the law-abiding citizens we are, we'll pay the $200 charge - oh, yay!

Now, this morning seemed to be fairly normal. I started my usual load of laundry as the girls and I got ready for school and work. The machine filled up nicely, and I went about my morning business. Hmm, that machine seems a bit quiet down in the basement. I check and it's not agitating. Turn the machine off and then back on, check that it is plugged in, flip the breaker. Well, the laundry is doing a long soak, til my husband gets home. He's really looking forward to this evening activity! I'm hoping it's an easy fix.

Wow - I think I need this week to end, before anything else happens!