This morning I went through the bank drive thru since the lobby isn't open on Saturday. Since I've gotten into the habit of going in to the bank for all transactions I really missed it this morning! But I managed. I gave the teller the list of cash amounts and asked him to put each amount in a separate envelope. He gave me an odd look but did it.

After finishing at the bank, I went to Wal-Mart to do a little grocery shopping. I spent $35, leaving $95 for food.

Someone emailed me asking what payments are 'enveloped' and exactly how we handle our envelope system. The business and larger expenses are funded daily by money that comes into DH's business and things like food, gas, and clothing are funded by my pay.

Here's the breakdown of the envelopes funded by money from DH's business:

The business envelopes are funded six days a week because the business is open six days a week and is mostly a cash one. Each night we sit down together and record what's come in for the day. Some cash and all checks are deposited into the bank. Varying amounts of the remaining cash are put into each of the business envelopes and because we add money almost every day we know where we are with each envelope at any given time. When it's time to pay a bill the money is removed from the envelope and if we have enough in the checking account to pay that bill we pay it and put the cash in other envelopes that need more money. If we don't have enough in the checking account to pay that bill the cash is deposited into the checking account and we write and send the check for that bill and start filling that envelope for the next month. Using this system we're able to know exactly where we stand with bills, pay them on time and not worry about spending food money on advertising or some other need.

The expenses covered by my pay every two weeks are set ones and here's a breakdown of them:

Food - $130 Covers food for two people.

Gas for truck - $130 My pay for this period was less than usual so I only put $75 in it. DH will fund the remainder.

Entertainment - $25 Yes, we do budget a little for entertainment. If we didn't, we might go nuts! We didn't spend the last pay period's entertainment money until last night and it was nice to go out to eat and know it was budgeted for. No pain, no stress, no guilt!

Laundry & Clothing - $20 We don't have a washer or dryer so I go to the least expensive washateria to wash and dry clothes. I don't spend $20 in two weeks and the remainder is kept in the envelope to help with clothing expenses. We rarely buy new clothes and even if we do they aren't at all expensive. We generally spend less than $200 a year on clothes.

Whatever is left of my pay, whether it's $10 or $100, goes into savings.

So there you have it - the envelope system that works for our business and personal expenses both. Is it any wonder I have a mean crush on Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University?

DH and I both felt this class was more of a review than anything but we certainly enjoyed it. In general, it was about how couples can work together to manage their finances and teach their children to be responsible with money.

For me, one of the best parts was when one of Dave's daughters got on stage and talked about what it's like to be Dave Ramsey's kid. That she had saved $8,000 by the time she was 16 and her dad matched that to help her get a $16,000 car, paid for in cash, was pretty impressive.

Unfortunately, my kids are past that age and I missed those early years to teach them about money. I didn't know so I couldn't teach them. But I'm learning now and want them to have a better start in their marriage/relationship/adult life than I did so I plan to send both sons and their significant others to FPU. I think that's the least I can do to attempt to make up for being a bad example of financial responsibility. If only I'd known then what I know now...

And in other news, today's spending is $128. We spent $100 for our FPU course, $9 for laundry, and $19 for dinner out. We'd planned and budgeted for this dinner so there's no guilt here! And it was so nice to just take the money from the 'clothing and laundry' envelope this morning before I headed to work, knowing that it was there just for that and using it wasn't going to cause any kind of crisis...

That's our spending for yesterday and today. That includes $10.59 for food at Wal-Mart, $2.24 for a hot dog and drink for me at work, $1 for coffee for me at work, gas in our truck, and $35 for my oldest stepson. The hot dog and drinks for me at work should come out of the food money since that $87 is for groceries and eating out so I removed $3.25 from the food envelope and slipped it into the savings envelope. I'm not sure if I should have just kept it for myself since I used my money to buy the things at work but I decided to just put that money in savings. That seemed fair to me.

$66.07 seems like a lot of spending for two days but we didn't spend $28.71 on cigarettes in the last two days and that's a very good thing.

DH confessed that he found a couple of butts and has smoked them but he's an adult and I can't prevent that. As for me, I haven't had a smoke or even touched a cigarette since we quit the morning of January 31. I know myself. I can't smoke one, not even one little drag, or I'll be off and running again.

My patch came off at work last night and I haven't replaced it. I'm fine without it. Oh yeah, now and then I think about smoking but it's when I have nothing to do, which isn't often. And even when I think about it it's a fleeting thought. For some reason I don't experience the physical agony and such that so many people do. But that doesn't change the fact that I love to smoke and am addicted. Or that I have to avoid only one cigarette...the next one.

I so very much wanted to go out to eat tonight. Instead, I grabbed a container of store bought barbecued shredded beef from the freezer and nuked it and we had bbq sandwiches. I'd also put some wings in the slow cooker this morning and DH had drained them a few times for me. When I got home from work I drained them again and covered them with Country Bob's Sauce, let them cook about an hour more and we had those with the sandwiches. Not as tasty as mexican food would have been but certainly much cheaper!

And now I want a cigarette. Oh yes, I do want one. I won't have one but I want one!

It's hard to describe what the last three days have been like for me. I've been in the depths of despair and have been almost elated, also. Why? Well, let me tell you!(Glad you asked!) And no, we didn't win the lottery!

About three weeks ago or so (after we last paid bills) we set aside envelopes to put cash from the business in to pay expenses. We realized that if the money is in our pockets it gets spent. So we wrote things like Rent, Electric, Advertising, and Materials and Supplies on regular envelopes and every night, after the shop closes, we sit down together and go through the sales for the day and put it in the envelopes. Business is slow (apparently in this field it drops off somewhere around Christmas and stays slow until early to mid February) so there have been days when we only had $25 to put in envelopes but we'd put $5 in this one, $10 in that one, etc and keep just a little for ourselves. We do this every day we're open, 6 days a week. Keep in mind this is our first time of doing this and we had no idea if it would work.

Then recently we opened a checking account at a bank closer to the shop. My checks go into that account as have some cash and all checks written at the shop. I've managed to be very careful with that checking account and rarely write checks from it. DH has a debit card for it but I don't because I KNOW from experience that it's just too easy for me to spend money with a debit card. Long story there but for me plastic just isn't money. It's.. plastic! Instead I get a little cash from when I need it. When it's gone, it's gone.

We just started Financial Peace University (FPU) last week and got Dave's envelope system. Since we already have one going for the office expenses so we decided to use the FPU system for things like food,
clothing, laundry, gas for the truck, etc. After looking at that cash flow plan a couple of days ago I didn't see how we could possibly do this and was so upset! And I'm still not sure how we're going to do it. But yesterday I realized that all this is just part of getting control of the finances and rather than panic and worry I need to stay calm, learn from this, and USE it to help us.

So last night I realized we needed to get the phone bill paid immediately or we'd incur a late charge. Now mind you, in the past even if I had the money to pay on time, I rarely did. I just didn't think about it and we constantly were late on bill payments and paid those late fees.
But last night I did think about it so I called the phone company and paid the bill over the phone with an e check, making sure I noted that in the checkbook. We had the money in the checking account so there
was no danger in me doing that. Plus we had the money for that bill in the Phone envelope set up recently.

So, this morning I picked up my paycheck and went to the bank. I took the FPU envelope system with me. It's very small, looks much like a wallet and fits in a purse easily. I knew the amount of cash I needed to get for the next two weeks and knew how much for two of the four categories I needed. I couldn't remember the other two amounts but knew the total amount to get. So I get to the bank and rather than go through the drive through I walked in. Why? Well, there were a couple of reasons but one was something that just dawned on me this morning. When I use an ATM or drive through it's just too easy. It's too easy to get cash from the ATM or a drive through teller without THINKING about it. For me, it's similar to using plastic. So I decided to go in to the lobby because that makes me THINK about money. Ehh, it's hard not to think about it with all the money related stuff staring at me. Also, I needed the cash broken down into certain bills and it was going to take a little while and it's cold outside and there's no need to hold up other customers while I piddle with money. So I went to the teller, gave her the deposit slip and check with the 'less cash received' part filled out and said, "I need this cash in a certain way." No problem.

I got $87 for food for two weeks, $87 for gas for the truck for two weeks, $25 for entertainment for two weeks (not that we will use it but we figured that amount in on the CFP sheet so I did it) and the remainder was $51. I walked to a side counter and put $87 in the food envelope, $87 in the gas envelope, $25 in the entertainment envelope, and left the $51 remainder in the bank envelope. Then I headed to Wal-Mart because we needed bread, lunch meat, and a little fruit.

Okay yall, this is where it gets good! Why? You'll see change of thinking popping up a lot though you may see some of that already. I got to Wal-Mart and walked in with my little envelope system and my keys and my cell phone and nothing else. No checkbook, no cards, not even my purse. I walked by the deli and saw they had my favorite egg rolls at 2 packages for $5. I bought a package of orange chicken a few days ago for dinner one night this week and figured egg rolls would be great with that so I got one package. Not two, not three, just one. Then I picked up bread, lunch meat, 3 bananas and 2 apples. That's it. I didn't wander around the store, I didn't look at every thing there. Oh, I thought about it but I had $87 in that envelope to last two weeks so I knew I couldn't fritter it away. I got what we needed and went to the self check out stand where I rang it all up and paid cash - $10.59. I paid for it, put the bills and change I got back back into the food envelope, wrote on the envelope what I'd paid and the new balance, and got out of there.

I got back to the office and told DH how much my check was and such. I balanced the checkbook, told him what's in it (a little more than we usually have, even on my payday!) and started showing him the envelopes with the money. He had the office envelopes in his hand and we started going through those while we talked. He said something about being a little short on the rent money which is due today then commented that we had enough in the bank to cover it. At about that time he handed me the phone bill envelope and told me to go ahead and deposit that and send the payment. I said okay then it hit me. I paid that last night out of the checking account! I told him and he told me to just deposit it then. But he'd just said the rent money was short so I asked what he needed for that. He counted and told me. I opened the phone envelope and handed him the money and said "There, done."

I know, this is simple stuff to some of you but this is a light bulb moment for me! He took the money, grinning, added it up, saw that it was enough and called the landlord and told him to come get his money when he was ready. After giving him that money I had $25 left of the phone money. We slipped that into the electric bill envelope which is still short but we have until the 12th to pay it.

Okay, so the phone was paid last night, the rent was paid today, the electric bill envelope has about 1/4 of what it needs with about 11 days to go, and we have plenty of food because we believe in stocking up when prices are really good.

Realizing the bank account was in the positive(not a lot of money there but a little), he went ahead and ordered something he needs for advertising purposes. The cost was only about $38 or so but he did it over the phone. Afterwards, he realized that he had $30 of that $38 in the advertising envelope so he got that out and moved it to the savings envelope. Yeehaw, another $30 in there!

At this point, yall are probably thinking "Big deal, they're just shuffling money around!" and that's true, we are. But this is our first time doing this and it takes awhile to tweak it so that its just right. For awhile, it will go on like this and that's okay. The point of all this, though, is that we're beginning to see the light about how we spend and we're beginning to be able to pay things when they need to be paid, and still have a little left. And more than that, we actually have money to shuffle!! I can't tell yall what this feels like to me!

The main reason we can do this is the Cash Flow Plan and the Allocated Spending Sheet. They're helping us prioritize what needs to be paid. A lot of people can do this without help but we need help and FPU is giving it to us.

No, it won't be easy and it's going to be very rough at times. We have a lot of old debt to deal with and at some point we will. But we have to take care of the four walls and the business and that's happening, slowly but surely. And my next check will be very small since I am only working a few hours this week. But most of the bills will be paid and we'll have food. And life will rock on, even if it rocks a little slowly.

I hope all this makes sense to yall. I'm just so excited I had to tell somebody! I think I see light at the end of the tunnel.

Since posting the entry earlier today about our Cash Flow Plan shock, DH and I have done a lot of talking. Blessedly, we're on the same page in all this. And even more wonderfully, he's a rock right now. He's concerned but is staying calm and keeping me from freaking out. He'll freak out later when I'm calm. That's how we do things around here;only one person freaking at a time. Otherwise it's pure chaos.

Together, we decided to have dinner out tonight (our last hurrah for quite awhile!) and enjoy it. So we went to a place that serves great hamburgers. He had a hamburger and I had a steak sandwich and we split an order of incredibly fantastic onion rings. The cost was $16.72. And since we'd already decided that we must quit smoking NOW we went to Target and got a week's worth of nicotine patches. We know the patches help since we used them during our quit in 2004. While at Target we got milk and a couple other things we needed and I used my 10% discount and a coupon for $5 off any purchase of $25 or more so we spent $37.96.

The patches cost $24.34 with the tax and discount figured in and although I'd guessed we spend about $45 a week on cigarettes he told me today we spend closer to $70. So, since we won't smoke while using the patch that's an immediate savings each week of $46 and some change. Back in 2004 I used the patches for just a few days and he used them for a couple of weeks. I don't think we'll need them for more than 3 weeks so we will see the $70 a week savings very soon if it goes as it has before.

We talked about me finding a different job and the issue with my medical expenses. He made me see some positives in all this mess like the fact that his business has very low expenses and is growing and we both know how to live on almost nothing and creditors aren't hounding us right now.

I get paid Friday and will use $87 of whatever I get to put in the food envelope. This is a three pay period month so I figure it's okay to divide the monthly food budget amount by three rather than two. It makes me feel a little better, anyway.

I remind myself to take deep breaths and I tell myself, "Four walls first, we'll be fine.." It helps.

I found two more pair of those clearanced knickers! Someone had returned them, I suppose, so I bought those suckers for $3.74 each. I also bought a dark milky way bar. My spending today came to $8 and some change. Not too bad for two pairs of sleep pants that my DH *really* likes on me and a quickie snack during my break. And I never even thought of looking at the other clearance items. I was just thrilled to find the knickers!

I took my lunch to work - homemade beef tips and rice with gravy and green beans. I ate it hastily but it sure hit the spot.

Tomorrow I work most of the day so I'll take a sandwich and a tin of kippers and an apple. That should keep me going until I can get home and eat dinner with DH. Dinner is going to be barbecued shredded beef sandwiches and chips. Light and easy since I have a full schedule.

That's a quote from the lusty and busty Mae West, who was known to overindulge in many areas of her life. I have to admit I can relate to her in some ways. I've overindulged in many things, too. And it becomes habit if we let it. Breaking the habit of overindulgence, regardless of the 'drug' of choice, isn't easy. But I think that with work and dedication, progress comes. Baby steps are a start if they're in the right direction...

I went to the store today to talk to my boss about something. DH had commented last night about how he likes the cheap Mossimo knickers I got there and how they make my rear look 'very nice' and I should get more of them. So when I went to the store I intended to get more of those knickers if they were still at the nice clearance price. I figured I might treat myself to a Java Chip Frappuccino while I was out, too. I had $24 in cash in my coin purse and a check "just in case".

I got to the store and my boss wasn't there so I left her a note then headed to the clearance racks only to find there were no more knickers. There were very similar ones on other racks but they were full price between $14 and $17 and I didn't want to pay that.

I wandered over to the accessories and looked at the purses that were clearanced. There were some great ones for $4 but none of them appealed to me enough to choose one so I mosied over to the stationery.

I'm in the market for some kind of purse sized notepad or journal but they were all priced between $7 and $20. I found one I really liked but the thought of paying $20 for something in which to record expenses just struck me as incredibly stupid. I didn't want or need one that badly.

I headed back to the java joint to see if my boss was there yet. She wasn't but I talked to one of my co-workers for a few minutes. Soon the fragrance of coffee met my nostrils and the sound of the blender whirring assaulted my ears and I was tempted to order my favorite drink. I won't deny it;I was sorely tempted! But even with the discount, it costs over $3 so I left empty handed, consoling myself with the thought that I could make a cup of joe at home.

So yes, I left that store without buying anything at all. Nothing! No $4.84 knickers, no $4 purse, no $20 journal, not even an overpriced Java Chip Frappuccino!

Oh my, what's happening to me?

One of the cashiers at work called me today and asked if I can take her shift tomorrow. I'm scheduled to be off tomorrow but I told her I would. I need the money and it's a way to help her out. But then I called her later to let her know that if she wanted to work, I'd take her and she said she might be able to work tomorrow after all and she'll call me in the morning to let me know. Either way is fine with me. I'd like to have the day off but I'd also like to earn money!

We just got back from Dollar General where we spent $23.63 on trash bags, bleach, bread, salad dressing, and a few other food items. We stopped on the way back and put $20 in gas in the truck.

So, the total spending for today is $174.73. Yuck! I still prefer $0.00 but am grateful we had it to spend.

Yuck, today has already been 'spendy'! So far, I've spent:

$75.10 at the post office and $56 for my car insurance. There will be more spent later in the day. I knew it wasn't going to be a no spend day today but it still hurts!

DH has an eye infection and the drops the eye doctor gave him didn't clear it up so I just went and got the prescription drops. After my discount, they cost $68! We didn't have that in the budget for this month but oh well, infections happen! At least I got the discounted price.

While there, I picked up a bag of frozen Orange Chicken. Since the Cashew Chicken was so good I wanted to try this one. I also got a dozen eggs. Again, I used my discount but it still cost me a little over $6.

The total discount I got was $8.27 and I'm adding that to my challenge money giving me a new total of $69.10. Go me!

So, today's spending is about $75. I hope there's no more spending today...

In my last entry I mentioned that today had been a low spend day. I spoke too soon! DH wanted to go out to eat tonight so we went out for Chinese food and spent $20 there. Then we went to Target and spent $23.24. Not too bad considering we got a jacket for him (50% off), a pair of Mossimo knickers I'll use for sleep pants (75% off), some cat food, half and half, a loaf of bread, and 1/2 a gallon of milk.

I had to run to the bathroom, though, and gave the cashier my discount card. When I came out of the bathroom DH was standing by the front door waiting for me so we left. I just now looked at the receipt and noticed the cashier didn't take off the 10% discount! I'll take the receipt with me tomorrow and see if I can get my $2.32 back! If not, well...I'll know not to go to the bathroom next time!

So today's spending comes to $45.19. I liked $1.95 better.

I just got home a bit ago. It was a very odd day at work. Customers talked about "the recession that's coming" (those are the words most of them used) and although there were still a lot of debit and credit transactions more than usual used cash. There were still a lot of large transactions, too, so not everyone is worried about it but it seems that quite a few are.

And I missed out on a great deal! Yogurt that will expire in a week or so was clearanced for .06 each! Yes, six cents! By the time I got back there, there was none left, of course. I hate when that happens!

I bought an Americano during one of my breaks. That cost $1.95.

And I forgot my lunch but did have a can of vegetable soup in my locker so I ate that during my meal break and drank free iced water.

So my spending today was $1.95. Not too bad but not as good as a no spend day!

I spent $6 on a dozen homemade chicken tamales this morning. The maker of the tamales does a very good job and delivers them hot and fresh. I don't get them weekly but talked to her about giving me a discounted price if I buy 6 dozen or more. She agreed so I might do that soon. It's nice to have them in the freezer for nights when I work late or we're simply in the mood for them. They're great with a little chili on top, reheated for lunch at work. Yum!

Later we went to Wal-mart for a few groceries and spent $34.75. We used $8.80 in coupons for free stuff so that was a nice savings and that $8.80 goes in to my challenge money. The new total for the challenge is $42.83.

I have my lunch and snacks packed for work tomorrow;a turkey pastrami on whole wheat sandwich, a few potato chips, a tin of kippers (I run everyone from the break room with those!) and an apple. I have no drinks to take but I can get free ice water from the grill so I'll do that.

This week we'll have two of the four needed signs installed for the shop. It will cost $200 for the two big ones to go by the road. Next week we'll have the two smaller ones brought in and install them ourselves. Those signs will cost about $100 but we'll save $100 by installing them ourselves rather than have the sign company do it. The signs are vital, though. We're on the major drag in this town but the little office complex we're in is easy to miss. Signs will help increase the business and make us easier to find for the ones sent here by the local optical shops. A well written map doesn't seem to do the trick!

I also need to get my car registered so I can drive it instead of the truck. That will cost about $60 plus gas for the 50 mile trip to get it registered. And I need to pay my car insurance, about $55.

Wow, this is going to be an expensive week so I really need to make sure to take my lunches and snacks to work and not buy a thing that isn't necessary. Fortunately, the shop gives us some daily cash flow but today was slow as was the last part of last week. I get paid Friday, though. Half of that goes to savings and the other half to bills if we need it. If not, it will sit in savings. Hopefully the rest of this week will be good for the shop and we can save more than half of my pay.

Hey, a girl can dream!

Well, I ran off to work without my lunch bag so when my lunch period arrived I spent $2.75 for a Margerita Pizza from our grill at work. It was pretty good and meatless so there's another dollar to add to the challenge money. My new total is $34.03.

I'm off tomorrow and don't need to do laundry but I do need to get cat food and a few other things so tomorrow won't be a no spend day, either.

Tonight's dinner was Contessa Cashew Chicken that I picked up at work recently on sale. For less than $3 we got three servings of pretty good Cashew Chicken over rice.

Tomorrow I'll put a beef roast in the slow cooker and we'll have that with vegetables and maybe a salad. Yum!

I have to admit I'm somewhat discumbobulated over the Cowboys losing tonight. Grrrrr!

I finally got to the laundrymat! Six wash loads and $12 later, the clothes are washed, dried, and put away. I have to come up with a wash schedule I can live with so I don't fall behind and get overwhelmed like I did this week. I think if I wash clothes twice a week that will be sufficient.

It's just the two of us and I generally wear my work pants at least twice before washing them. So, maybe washing clothes on Monday and Thursday will work. It should, anyway, as long as I keep to the schedule.

I work tomorrow from 10 AM to 5 PM. I'll take something to snack on during my 15 minute break, a couple of drinks, and a lunch. Hopefully it will be a no spend day for me.

And I found 18 cents in the truck while I was looking for the ignition key I dropped. That 18 cents goes toward the challenge so now my challenge money is $33.03.

My challenge money is up to $30 now. I found some change in the truck and ate two meatless meals today so $30 it is.

I bought my $20 Target GC today and spent almost all of it! I forgot I had pictures being developed there that I needed to pick up. That was almost $8. And I bought three food items before heading home so that was another $8 spent. So now I have about $4 left on it. I didn't think $20 would be enough but I have to try it and see how it works. Of course, the food items and film could have been purchased with cash but I didn't have any on me. I might take what I spent from other areas and put it back on the card since that's supposed to be personal and not household money.

Anyway, I got paid today and it was a pretty decent check. Well, for retail in this area it was. Then DH and I went to Wal-Mart and spent about $75. Between putting gas in the truck and buying groceries, it seems like holding on to money is getting harder and harder!

Oh well, at least his business seems to be slowly growing and I have a job. We're making it!

I started my challenge with $20 and yesterday added $4 to it. We both had meatless breakfasts so that was $2, then I didn't get a soft drink or snack while we were out and about so that added $1 and last night at work I did eat something from the grill but it was a meatless pizza so that's another $1. By the way, the pizza was purchased with a gift card I had $3 and some change on so I didn't spend money out of my pocket for that.

So yesterday I added $4 to my $20! Go Denise, go Denise, go go!

Unfortunately, this morning I spilled coffee all over my white work shoes. They're not good for anything but gardening now so I'll have to spend money today or tomorrow for work shoes.

One step forward and two steps back!

Yippeee! Not bad at all!

My mother and I went grocery shopping today and I made up for it. I spent about $130 on groceries today but I'm okay with that and here's why.

I bought a lot of meat on sale, enough to last at least a month, two if I'm very careful. Almost every item I bought was on sale for a very good price and none of it was unhealthy or something I won't use.

Tomorrow I'll repackage the meat in servings for one or two, label the packets, and pop them in the freezer. Over the next two to four weeks I'll need to buy milk, bread and fresh produce but that should be it.

Since I shouldn't have to spend much more on groceries for the next six weeks or so, all in all I think I did well. Now I just have to come up with menus for the next couple of weeks to make the most of the food I have.

A friend of mine wanted to go out for dinner so we went out and had Tex Mex and she paid. I left the tip but that was only $4 and that's all I spent today so it was a frugal day.

I couldn't pay the electric bill because I hadn't received the paper bill yet and that's required to pay it at one of the local stores. But I got the bill in the mail today so I'll go tend to that tomorrow.

I did some more online work today and made another $20 or so. Not big money but it all helps so I won't say no to it. It goes into the regular checking account to help with the bills in November.

I've been managing to save about 10% of everything that comes in and while it isn't anything to brag about I do have a little cash saved. It's nice to know I have that. Apparently I'm a slow learner but I am learning.

I had to spend money today, money I hadn't planned on. I have a Mac Mini and a beautiful ultrathin keyboard shown here:

http://www.apple.com/keyboard/

I cleaned the keyboard this morning and couldn't get all the keys to work afterwards, although I didn't douse it with anything. I tried letting it dry in front of a fan but that didn't help so I went to a local place to get a new keyboard. None of them had USB ports and since I thought the cord on my Mighty Mouse was too short to reach the back of the Mini, I got a new mouse, too.

When I got home I found out the keyboard works fine with my system but the mouse doesn't. Fortunately, the Mighty Mouse cord is long enough so I'll return the other mouse next week. I'm also going to ship my Apple keyboard to my son in Austin and he'll take it to the Apple Store for repair or replacement and ship it back to me.

The total for the new keyboard and mouse is $37.64 but when I return the mouse I'll get about $16 of that back. I'll keep the keyboard - it's nice to have a back up, just in case!

But I sure miss that sexy Apple keyboard..and my $37.64!

On my way home from the store I stopped at BK and spent about $3 on a double cheeseburger and fries. I don't eat that way often but I was very hungry and it was very good!

So, I spent a little over $40 today. Ugh...

I cleaned my mother's house today and she insisted on giving me money. I tell her taking money from the woman who cleaned me and my room and raised me and fed me and clothed me just seems wrong on so many levels but she insisted and wouldn't take no for an answer. So, I finally talked her down to $25. I had a minor errand to run when I was finished cleaning her house and spent $10 of what she gave me so I still have $15.

$5 goes to savings and $10 goes into the 'bill envelope'.

Tomorrow I have another house to clean, but not for family. I should make about $60 and it all goes towards bills.

Here's my spending for October so far. I included what was spent on September 30 since most of it was for things to be consumed in October.

9/30

Valero - $13.00 (gasoline)
Albertson's - $43.56 (food for at least two weeks)
Wal-Mart $ - 16.37 (clothes line, clothes pins, cat food, light bulbs, instant coffee)

10/1

Food Fast - $3.00 (snacks while out with Mom)

10/2

$0 Yipeeee, a no spend day for me.

I want to see more of those $0 days!

Today was planned to be a no spend day for me. I wasn't going to leave the house and that means I don't spend money. But my mother had a 'quick' errand to run and wanted me to go along so I did. It just so happens that the place she had to go was very, very near the new Kohl's that just opened. Since neither of us had been in a Kohl's, we had to check it out. We found things we both wanted but I'm happy to say I didn't buy anything at Kohl's. Oh happy day!

However, Mom remembered another errand she needed to run and since it was going to take awhile and we were both famished we stopped at a convenience store for a snack. I spent about $3 but that's it.

We ran the other errand and went home and I will not go out again tonight. Period!

So it was almost a no spend day for me, close anyway.

Dinner tonight is Poor Man's Steak, brussels sprouts and a slice of pumpernickel with butter. I decided to try a different recipe than I usually use for Poor Man's Steak. I used this one today but cut all ingredients by half:

1 pound ground beef
1 cup milk
1 cup cracker crumbs
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 small onion, chopped
1 can mushroom soup
1 cup water or milk

Mix all together, except soup and water/milk and shape into a narrow loaf. (I flattened it on a cookie sheet instead) Let sit in refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Cut loaf into slices and fry in a skillet on both sides until brown. (I skipped the frying) Put slices in baking dish. Mix 1 can mushroom soup with 1 cup of water or milk and pour over each piece. Bake at 325° 1 hour.

Of paying bills, that is. Yes, today was bill paying day.

For most of the last 25 years of my life, bills were rarely paid on time. Yes, there were months when I was flush and they got paid on time or even a tad early but for the most part, it's been a major source of stress for me.

However, I have a new system that involves my mother helping me pay bills. At 45 I really shouldn't need her help but honestly, I have serious math problems and stress-over-money issues and this works for us. We sit together with a cup of coffee or a soft drink and go over the bills then write out the checks, drop them in the mail and go for lunch and just a little bit of shopping. There's a lot of giggling in there, too!

The total for rent, cell phone, and everything but the electric bill since I haven't gotten it yet and the storage unit since I want to move to a smaller one pronto, was $835.95. Ouch! But that includes $150 for spending money for me for two weeks. No, that really isn't all fun money since $50 of it is for groceries and $50 of it is for gas. I don't use $50 worth of gas every two weeks but since I'm looking for a job I might need that much. What I don't use will be put back in the account.

After we got checks made out and mailed we went to a local place for lunch then went to Wal-Mart and Target. I got a few little things I need and spent $19.88 and that included the cost of curtains for the living room. Then I got a couple of things at CVS and spent $8 and some change. I'll wait til Monday or Tuesday to do the grocery shopping since I'm okay on food right now.

Anyway, my bills other than those two are paid, I have money to go grocery shopping and put gas in the car and I feel fairly good about my financial situation. No, it isn't easy and I need to find at least a part time job but wow, it feels absolutely great to have paid the bills before their due dates and to know I only have two more to pay over the next month!

The last couple of months have been hellish but my mom has really been here for me. I'm blessed to have a mother who loves me as she does and tries to help me keep the stress under control. At some point, she'll turn the reins back over to me but not until I tell her I'm ready.

So that's my financial day in a nutshell.

I took these pictures just a few days ago. Wow, everything is growing so well! We only lost 5 plants, all cucumbers, in the recent late frosts. Other than those, everything is doing just beautifully.



All four planting beds/tables



Tiny Sweet 100 tomatoes, just forming on the vine



Beets, beets, and more beets! I love 'em



Broccoli and beets



Bob helping with the potatoes planted in tires



More tomatoes



Squash plants which now have huge blossoms and squash just starting to turn yellow



And more tomatoes! After all, isn't the growing of tomatoes what a garden is really all about?

Oh yeah, to keep this sort of on a money track, I went to Ace Hardware today and bought a few couplings for an install DH and DSS are doing today. I spent $5.30.

So it wasn't a no-spend day for us but it was a little-spend day!

DH deposited his check and got $20 cash. I stayed home all day but donated $5 to my favorite online forum. I'd like to give them more but that's all I can afford right now. Maybe I can give a little here and a little there. I know it all adds up.

It's 77 degrees and the AC is on again. I turned it on when it was over 80 but will turn it off right before I go to bed. That seems to help quite a bit.

The spreadsheet DH helped me make for keeping track of expenditures is working like a charm. Daily, I go through receipts and enter the expense in it, place, purpose, amount, date, method of payment, and it gives me a nice running total for the month. It's very helpful so far, so helpful that I created another one for income! Not that there's much of that right now but hey, there will be and I want to be able to efficiently keep tabs on it.

Well, we ended up having a very boring but very cheap dinner. When we got home from running errands DH had two pieces of bread with two turkey franks and some dill pickle relish. I had the last of the taco soup from last night and it was very good with a few fritos in it.

DH then left to go pick guitar with some people and I've been lying around doing nothing but watching movies and being a bum.

Oh yes, I did record today's spending in my log and updated the January records. Hey, I might be getting the hang of this!

We had to run to a nearby town to pick up some checks and cash them - another $150 toward the money we have to give the bank tomorrow.

We had to put gas in the car so we spent $17 for that. But even though we were both very hungry and wanted Chinese food at our favorite place, we passed and waited until we got home to eat. That was $13 we didn't spend eating out!

While there I called my Dr's office and found out my Novolog insulin was in so I went to get it. The pharmaceutical company sent me 4 boxes of Novolog Flexpens. That's about $720 worth of insulin at no charge! That's good news, indeed! Thank God for Patient Assistance Programs! And if that's not good enough, the needles I use on my Byetta pens fit on these, too, so I didn't need to buy needles!

I also heard from the bank and they don't need $1200 from us tomorrow, they need $1033 so that's a little less we have to pay them. That's good news, too.

Now I'm tired and about to go watch a DVD and probably fall asleep on the couch.

Umm, let's see. I spent $1 drying two loads of towels at the washateria. I also spent 75 cents on a soft drink. Not too bad.

Oh, I also got 3 coupons for $.55 off any Blue Bunny Good for You product! We love their Carb Freedom ice cream so next time it goes on sale, I'll use one of the coupons. Nice treat!