On January 2 of 2007, I posted an entry called

Brutal honesty at work. That entry was about what was on one of my credit reports. Sadly, that same credit report, pulled about two weeks ago, hasn't changed except that item #2 is now slightly over $1300 and we no longer have the house payments. Unfortunately, we don't have the house payments because we lost the house in foreclosure. It is what it is, though.

Well at least there's nothing new on it but I'm shamed that a full year later I'm still trying to figure out what the hell to do with all that debt! The total on my three credit reports is close to $7000. DH has about the same amount in old debt. :::deep breath:::

I do have a tentative plan in mind. I can't deal with it all right now but I'm going to get a firm plan in place and get that stuff dealt with quickly. Some of it is due to roll off before long but I owe the debts and I'm going to pay them. It might take me awhile but I'm going to do it. I'm tired of those things hanging over my head and I want them gone!

I feel better just 'fessing up...again.

This morning I paid the electric bill of $64.19 for the little house I still rent. The bill would have and should have been much lower but the neighbor who checked on the house and Bob the Cat for me recently was worried that Bob would get too cold so she kept the heater running most of the time. Now that the cat isn't there, there's no need to run the heater so the next bill should be somewhere around $20, give or take.

Since I'm off today I plan to go the laundrymat and to the bank to open the savings account. It figures that I'd open one when the interest rates are so low but I need to get the money out of my immediate reach and that's certainly one way to do it. Opening a savings account is one of my main goals for this month and the month is almost over so I need to get on the ball and just do it.

Tonight is the first night of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class we're attending and I look forward to that. We didn't attend the orientation but since we listen to his show and have read TMMO I figure X amount of what's presented, including most of the orientation, will be review for us. I really am excited about going, though. Thanks for all the input about FPU. I believe it will be a worthy investment for us. By the way, someone asked if the cost is $100 per person or couple. The $100 is for a couple and it includes the kit and access to the paid areas of Dave's website, apparently.

I'll post updates on FPU now and then for others who might be interested in it.

I love reading blogs, even the ones with content on things I know little to nothing about. I read blogs and sites on homeschooling (though I no longer have kids at home to homeschool) cooking, gardening, personal finance, and a myriad of other topics. The PF blogs can overwhelm me at times, though.

Of all the finance blogs I read, the ones I enjoy the most are the ones that are 'for the rest of us'. You know, those of us who don't have $200,000 in savings (or debt) and who live on lower incomes, stretching every dollar to help us get by.

Those blogs are generally loaded with information that's relevant to my life. There's some real humor in a lot of them and that's a show of human spirit. If you can find something humorous to write about in regard to feeding a family of seven on one chicken while fighting off the dogs begging for tidbits and the children clamoring for cookies, you'll be okay no matter what life throws at you. Said blogs also provide me with hints and tips that are helpful and often teach me something new. While I enjoy reading about someone's 401k and it gives me something new to consider and very often inspires me, those entries don't help me a lot in my day to day meanderings and that's what I need most.

So, here are some blogs I read regularly, mainly of the 'for the rest of us' genre though there are a few that are a good mix of advice for us all and a few that are a bit lofty for my life right now. They do give me something to work for, though, and that's always a good thing.

A Frugal Living Blog by a Frugal Guy - He offers some great practical suggestions on saving and frugality

Cash Tactics

Consumerism Commentary

Free Money Finance - Make sure to check out the 10 Commandments of Personal Finance series

Frugal Homemaker Plus

Frugal Village

Ideas for Saving Money

Money Blog

Money Hacks

Neville's Blog - The entrepreneurial adventures of a young man in Austin, Texas

Simply Thrifty

The Simple Dollar

Wise Bread

So there's a small sampling of blogs that I find to be most helpful and sometimes entertaining. There are many more I read and I keep my eyes open for others. So if you know of some, please share! My pocketbook and bank account will appreciate it.

Thanks for the comments and email replies to my work woes entry. This work situation has me all messed up. I ranted to my husband about it and he listened and is happy to but there's a limit to how much he will tolerate and I don't want to push that limit. When I went to bed, I laid there for awhile stressing over all this, going over drinks in my head, thinking about how I could have handled things better.

I'm not one to handle pressure well which is one reason I work retail and not some other field. Yes, there's pressure in retail but if you're a peon (and not management), it's generally seasonal and short lived and not too intense. I won't go into management. Been there, done that, and it's not worth the stress for me.

I've decided that if I don't learn this stuff quickly and get some relief from the pressure I feel I won't continue with the java joint.

So, on to more positive things!

Today we're having chicken cooked with onions, broccoli, and little green peas and will have nice leafy salads with it. The leftover chicken will be used throughout the week. So the rest of our meals this week, in no particular order, are:

Creamed chicken over toast or whole wheat noodles with green beans and carrots

Slow cooker meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and spinach (leftover meat loaf will be frozen for later use)

Barley and vegetable soup made in the slow cooker (Yaaaay, a meatless meal)

Barbecued shredded beef on whole wheat muffins with tossed salad and green beans

Chicken noodle medley with tossed salad and spinach (Yaaaay, an almost meatless meal! lol)

Hamburger steaks with mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans

There might be a night in there where things change but that's the plan...

Pardon me while I vent!

Tonight I was so frustrated. I worked at the register for 3.5 hours then worked at the java joint for 4.5 hours. But they're only scheduling me there a few hours a week and I'm simply not 'getting it'. I dread working there and each time I have a shift there coming up I am almost in agony from it.

Tonight one of my co-workers got frustrated with me and got an attitude. I was almost in tears myself so I took a break, went outside, and walked in the cold air.

It's just not working for me and the java. I don't have enough time there to learn all I need to learn. I'm scheduled to work there about 26 hours in a couple of weeks and hopefully that will ease my pain but in the meantime I feel just stupid when I'm working there. I'm too slow, I still get confused over 'simple' things and it's just not pleasant for me and certainly not 'fun' which is what it should be.

Oh well, hopefully things will improve quickly the week I work there more. I just needed to vent a little...

I'm not an economist. Damn, I can barely balance my own checkbook and saving, well, that's something with which I struggle.

But just a few minutes ago, as I was entering some bills at

Where's George, I had a light bulb moment.



Since the point of registering bills at Where's George is to get said bills into circulation (read that as spend them rather than save them) and see where they go and a major help to the economic crisis right now is to get money circulating, ummm...why not combine the two? Heh...

Yep, that's right, folks! One way to help the economy is to register your bills at Where's George then go out and spend them rather than deposit them in the bank!

Okay, stop laughing! And don't throw rotten apples at me, either, Ima Saver! I told you I'm not an economist. But it could work. And it wouldn't cost us or the government more money. Mwaaahahahaha!

Oh yeah, you Canadian brethren can join in, too! Just go to Where's Willy.

We spent all that money for the drops for his eye and it just kept getting worse. He saw the eye Dr. again and he gave him some other drops and some salve, free. Within a few hours of stopping the expensive stuff his eye started improving and the Dr. thinks he had a bad reaction to those pricey drops! Grrrr

Oh well, at least the infection is improving..in spite of the costly drops he can't use!

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.

Okay, not really but one never knows. It could happen! In light of that, I read and collect books on alternative methods of doing things and plain and simple living. Even if the sky doesn't fall, it can't hurt to have some skills that might be handy in case errr....mmm, well, in case the sky falls! I have some of the Foxfire books but have coveted #3 for awhile.

Some months ago I added it to my wish list at Paperback Swap and recently got email saying someone had it to offer so I snagged it. Today it arrived in the mail and I've been reading it. Interesting stuff.

I mean, come on, who doesn't need to know how to tan a hide, make a banjo, churn butter, build a smokehouse, and make a broom? Those skills might come in handy should the sky ever fall. Besides, the book was free and that's a good thing and I've lately wanted to read something other than email...

DH had to see his eye doctor again today. The medication prescribed for his eye infection seems to be making the problems worse, not better. The doctor now thinks it might be a fungal infection so he wants him to see another doctor if it doesn't start improving by tomorrow night. The visit wasn't too expensive, just $15 for a follow up visit.

I spent $1.15 for toilet paper today so our total for the day is $16.15. Not too bad but not as good as $0.00, either.

I'm off for two days and since I have to send some bill payments tomorrow I'm hoping the next day will be a no spender.

Here's to hope eternal!

On January 6th I posted Part 2, then got busy doing other stuff and forgot to post Part 3! So here it is, Part 3 of my thrifty ideas!

If you have stores around you that double or triple coupons, combine the coupons with the sales for a really good bargain. I don't know how it's done everywhere else but in our area the sales on the items in this Sunday's paper won't happen for a couple of weeks. So just clip the coupons, organize them so that you can get to them easily, and watch the sale papers. Our stores double coupons occasionally and never triple them so I don't get a large savings using them like many people do. Also, most of the coupons I find aren't for things we eat. But it can't hurt to keep an eye on the coupons and sales and try to bring them together for more savings.

It doesn't matter how cheap something is;if you won't eat it, don't buy it! It isn't a bargain at any price if it sits in the cupboard or freezer and doesn't get used. So forego that on sale container of rice milk if you won't drink it. Get the regular stuff and enjoy it.

Spend an extra $5 a week (or every two weeks if that's what you can handle or $10 a week if you can handle that!) to build up your pantry with loss leaders and sale items. If you use a lot of mustard and it goes on sale for .33 a jar, wouldn't it be smart to buy 10 jars of it? Sure it would if you will go through that much before it expires! If you go through 8 a year, that's over a year's worth! Just check those expiration dates. If there aren't any good loss leaders or sales that week and you don't spend your $5 put it somewhere safe. You might find a great deal later and need it!

Pay attention to the unit price of items (the ones on shelf labels are often incorrect) and make sure you have somewhere to store a large quantity of an item if you're thinking of buying it. A 25 lb bag of flour is usually, though not always, cheaper than five 5 lbs bags. But if you have nowhere to put the flour and it sits out and goes rancid, that wasn't a deal at all. This works for sugar, oats, and other staples. Remember, though, that a lot of things can easily be stored under beds, in closets, in corners, etc. By the way, it's a good practice to put flour, sugar, corn meal, and oats in the freezer for a few days to kill any bugs or larvae that might be present.

Milk can be frozen so if it goes on sale at a good price buy all you can afford and for which you have room. Most people open the container, remove about a cup then put the lid back on and freeze the container. I've never done that and have never had a milk tragedy in the freezer but if you're concerned about expansion, try that.

Cheese can be frozen (I have about 20 bags of shredded cheese, bought at $.50 a bag in my freezer right now) but it gets somewhat crumbly so I use it for salads, casseroles, etc.

Large packages of meat are often a few pennies less per pound than their smaller counterparts and can be broken down into 1 lb packages and repackaged for your freezer.

Check your stored foods periodically and rotate the items. We rotate every 6 months, eating the oldest items and leaving the next oldest (now oldest since the real oldest got eaten) in the front with the newest in the back. All the years working in retail have taught me something.

More to come!

It's actually after midnight but I figure "Midnight musings" sounds better than "12:34 AM thoughts"...

Anyway, I'm listening to archived Dave Ramsey shows, reading news stories about the President's proposed stimulus package, and eating a bean burrito. I need to get to bed soon but can't sleep. Fortunately I don't have to be at work until 4 PM so I should be able to sneak in a nap or two.

After hearing the commercials on Dave's show, I checked out e-Mealz. It seems like a pretty good deal at $1.25 a week so I looked at some of the sample menus. I was particularly interested in the low carb menus but was disappointed that they featured quite a few items we don't eat and they don't seem to have a menu plan for kosher diets. We don't eat rabinically kosher but it's very close to our diet. Not that I am seriously considering signing up for e-Mealz but I know a few people who might really benefit from it. I already do what e-Mealz says they do but I don't spend hours on it like the commercial mentions. It takes me 10 to 20 minutes to create a frugal but healthy menu plan for two weeks and I think we do pretty well feeding two adults for $30 to $45 a week with some weeks coming in well under the $30.

Speaking of frugal food, it's the time of year when we normally begin garden planning but we haven't considered it yet because we don't know where we'll be when it's time to plant. We might be in an apartment and only have a few pots in which to plant but it's possible we'll find an affordable lot somewhere and be able to put in a full sized garden. I'm praying for the latter.

Tomorrow before I go to work I'm cooking a whole chicken. It will feed us dinner tomorrow night and several meals through the week, including my lunches at work. Yaaay for stretching chickens! We'll also eat some meatless meals which means more money will be added to the challenge!

Okay, I'm off to bed now. I'm finally tired and it's about 1 AM.

So DH & I went this morning and opened a checking account at a local bank. The other account is in another town and just isn't convenient or inexpensive with gas as high as it is. This one is kind of, sort of on my way to work...well, not really but it's just a bit out of the way from my job so I can make the deposits on the way to or from work. Rather than go with the Chase account, I'll just set the Direct Deposit up with this account. It's a free checking account and one of the few requirements is at least one DD every cycle. It also gives the highest interest of anything at the bank, 5.01% APY, if the requirements are met. So this will work out well, I think.

When I went in to the store to get my check I looked at the schedule for two weeks out. I'm on it for one day the week after next. That's it, one day, 5.5 hours. Umm, that won't work well for me. There might be a shift or two come open that I can snag but even at that, that's less than 20 hours for the week.

So, it looks as though I might need to find another part time job or perhaps a full time job elsewhere. I emailed HR to find out if this is a temporary issue or something long term. We'll see what they say.

Ugh, just when things were finally improving...

So it isn't much at all - just some flurries coming down. It won't stick but it's nice to see, even if for just a couple of hours.

And to make this finance related, I'm off to pick up my paycheck, set up my Direct Deposit and do laundry.

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!

This entry definitely has something to do with personal finance. Admittedly its a stretch but I was driven to write about it.

My other half and I read an article this evening about ordinary folks donning costumes and bettering their corner of the world by commiting 'superhuman acts'. Some refer to themselves as "Reals" and others as "Superheroes". Yes, you read that right. In the United States alone there are 150 to 200 superheroes, according to Ward Rubrecht's CityPages article, Real Life Superheroes.

These heroes don't appear to have x-ray vision or the ability to leap tall buildings with a single bound but they do appear to have a love of comic books, compassion for their fellow man (or superhero), and a desire to help others. They also seem to have a real flair for fashion as evidenced by hero-gear.net.

Michael Brinatte, who pro wrestles using the name Jack T. Ripper, owns and operates the site. He spends a good deal of his time making costumes for superheroes and has built a nice business of it. I imagine it's also helped him hone his sewing skills!

So, if you have cash burning a hole in your pocket and know of a need in your community or if you just get bored with those jeans and a tee, you might want to check out Ward's article and Michael's website.

**Disclaimer** I don't know any superheroes nor do I receive monetary compensation in any way from the entities mentioned. I do, however, receive some chuckles and a few warm fuzzies from the concept!

The guy who made the signs for the shop called this afternoon and said he had them ready. He also told DH that the cost was going to be $208, $8 over the amount we were originally told. Now $8 isn't a huge difference but DH asked him why it was more. He said it's because since we're getting signs made in two batches, it means two trips for him. Ummm no. DH never asked him to deliver the second set of signs. He'd planned to pick them up and install them himself to save us $100 on the second set. DH decided not to push it, though, so the guy said he was on his way over to install them.

The guy got here and although the art work looked nice the background of the sign wasn't yellow as DH had requested but orange! The guy took the signs and left and just called and started arguing with DH that the color is "Safety Yellow". Well, call it monkey yellow if you want but it's orange and that isn't what we want. Finally the guy told DH he isn't going to re-make the signs and that maybe they should just forget it. DH agreed.

So now he's on the phone trying to find another sign company. We need signs and soon! People have a hard time finding us!

Anyway, I'm not impressed with their customer service. Not at all.

Since my youngest son and I talked about the concept of abolishing the IRS and instituting a national sales tax last night it's been on my mind. I emailed my oldest son to get his opinion and boy, did he give it to me!

I knew what he would say because somehow his very conservative father and I managed to raise a, gulp, socialist! He isn't impressed with the thought of abolishing the IRS and having a national tax on consumption and let me know just why. Ouch, my head almost hurt by the time I finished reading his email. But I thought about this at work quite a bit and asked a few people about it.

Most of them were against it but their reasoning seemed faulty to me. They weren't upset about the thought of paying a consumption tax so much as the thought of not getting their "refund" each year. When I asked a couple of them why they loan money to Uncle Sam interest free they didn't understand the question. They don't see it that way. They see the refund as their "savings account" and most of them put it to me just that way. Ummm, okay...

So all you savvy financial sorts, what do you think of the idea of having a percentage tax on retail goods that applies to us all? Would a flat rate tax of something around 23% be fair? Unfair? Is it actually doable?

Expound if you like. Inquiring minds want to know!

It was a good day at work. It wasn't quite as busy as I like but it wasn't horribly slow, either. During my lunch break I ate my turkey pastrami sandwich and a few of my chips and drank iced water. Spending today? Nothing, zip, nada, zero!

I got home a bit ago and decided to sit for a few minutes before making dinner. It won't be anything fancy, trust me. DH is having chili dogs and I'm having chicken tamales topped with chili. Later I might have a chili dog but right now that doesn't appeal to me.

In the past, he'd suggest that we go grab something and I'd heartily agree. But tonight he didn't suggest and I didn't bring it up or even consider it. Rather, I asked him to give me a few minutes to rest before making us something to eat. He agreed and we'll soon eat our frugal but tasty dinner.

While at work I priced the store brand nicotine patches. 14 of them cost $24.99 plus tax and that box will last us one week. So, even while we're using them we'll be spending less than we spend on cigarettes. Gotta love that!

I went to bed but couldn't sleep. I have a knot on my gum that is causing me some discomfort. I got up to take some aspirin and drink something hot but that hasn't helped much yet. So here I am again, reading and thinking, thinking and reading.

Here are more of my musings on creating some kind of financial plan for this year. It's hard! But putting my thoughts in a blog entry and getting feedback seems to help the process. So does reading the blogs of others. I've gotten some excellent ideas and am very thankful for that. On the other hand, I read the blogs of some members (like Ima Saver and Lux Living) and feel like such a spendthrift at times! But that's not necessarily a bad thing. If reading their blogs inspires me to do more to cut back here and trim there and save this way or that way, this is a very good thing! Again, I'm thankful.

I've thought a lot about waste the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure why but it's been on my mind. Perhaps the recent political issues in the news got it started. Then I talked to my youngest son tonight. He's an OTR driver and called me from Indiana and we got into a discussion of government waste and the national sales tax concept. Regardless, waste of this sort and that sort has really been in my thoughts lately.

DH and I are wasteful. Compared to many we aren't but compared to many others, we are. I think we're too wasteful and want to work on reducing waste.

We throw soft drink cans in the trash. That's wasteful when we can sell them for a little bit and that could be added to the challenge money or put in savings.

We smoke still. Yes, we quit for almost a year but started again. We smoke less than half of what we used to smoke but it's still costly in many ways and wasteful. We need to quit. Period.

We try very hard not to waste food and for the most part we're good about that but we do it at times. We need to put an end to it and eat or freeze leftovers before cooking something else.

We waste time. Oh, do we! We're at the shop more than anywhere else and unless we're open we're wasting time. There's no television at the shop but we stay online when not busy. There are other things we could be doing - reading books about personal finance, discussing strategies to save and the need for a plan for 2008, continuing to work out goals for our marriage, etc. Surely there are more constructive ways to spend spare time.

Those are just four ways in which we're wasteful. The first three directly impact our finances and eliminating or greatly reducing them could save us a bundle. Quitting smoking alone would save us about $35 a week. The last one indirectly affects our finances but I'm not sure what the solution to it is or if that solution would save us money.

Okay, now I'm all verklempt. Give me a moment..feel free to discuss amongst yourselves. Opinions, suggestions, accolades and spare change welcome!

In response to an entry posted on Somer's blog at

http://somer.savingadvice.com/ I mentioned something my mother used to say to me, generally after a discussion of wants vs. needs. After she'd coached me about knowing the difference between a want and a need, complete with examples from her own life, she'd pause then say, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without!"

Oh, how I detested that momism! It was something I absolutely dreaded hearing and each time she said it, I'd roll my eyes (inwardly of course, I didn't dare roll them visibly!) and sigh a little. After all, I knew that as a single parent receiving a small amount of child support she provided most of my support. I knew that although she had a good paying job, it couldn't be easy raising a girl or two or three. She made sure we had a nice and safe place to live, electricity, water, and food, bought us good quality clothes, and gave us allowance. And she always had a good car to drive, carried nice purses, wore nice clothes, and seemed to have money for extras, too. Another momism she would pitch at us was "Quality over quantity!". But we weren't rolling in the lap of luxury, by any means. We wore our clothes until they were outgrown or not good for much but the rag bag. We ate well but we didn't eat expensive foods. Our houses were safe and in good parts of town but they weren't large or new. Most of our furniture was in great condition and was treated well so that it could be sold later at a garage sale.

It wasn't until years later that I learned that although we got brand new clothes, her own clothes often came from thrift shops. And that most of the nice purses she had were given to her by friends. And that a lot of our furniture and household goods that were sold at garage sales came from garage sales. Or that she wore her nice looking thrift store shoes until they had no support left, at which time she'd throw them out and get another pair. I suddenly understood why she used foil and plastic wrap several times if she could, why she saved the brown paper bags from the grocery store, and why she insisted that although we could have two servings of the main course at dinner, we couldn't pig out on it. She apparently took "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" seriously.

As the years passed and I married then became a stay at home mother of three kids of my own, living on the small income from my husband's job, I greatly appreciated the momism I'd detested so much in my youth. I found myself remembering it when I was tempted to buy something we didn't need. I even said it to my own children a few times, though not many. I did try to teach them that when they wanted to buy something, it was good to not buy on impulse and to just wait awhile before purchasing it. I also taught them to consider if they already had something that would do the job of the thing they wanted to buy.

Now that my kids are grown and it's just me and my husband trying to pay bills and save for the retirement we always thought we'd have time to save for later (see my previous entry entitled "The best ways to ensure you'll be and stay broke") I think of those words my mom practically drowned me with as a kid and I'm thankful. I'm very thankful.

I think of them every time I wipe clean a piece of foil, dry it, and save it to use later. And I think of them every time I buy clothes at a thrift shop. Each time I add a few more cents to my challenge money, I hear those words and appreciate them again.

So here's to moms and dads and other folks who irritated us with their sayings and adages about money and thrift. May we irritate our own kids...and theirs..and theirs....

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.

We got some very bad news today about DH's oldest son, age 22, and in an attempt to get his mind off of it for a bit we went to see National Treasure 2. It was pretty good. We spent $14 for the tickets and he bought a box of chocolate covered nuts for $2. It didn't take his mind off the trouble but it did make him laugh a few times. I can't think of a thing that will make him feel better but at least he had a couple of hours of semi-distraction.

Oh, I found a dime on the ground there so that's added to my challenge bringing the total to $32.85.

I'm off today and tomorrow and then work Sunday (and wouldn't you know, I'm scheduled to work during the Cowboys game!) and am off again Monday. In fact, this coming week I have four days off. That's too many days off. I'll enjoy them, I'm sure, but the bank account likes to eat larger checks rather than smaller ones. Ah well, it is what it is.

My challenge money is up to $32 now thanks to change I found, some change DH gave me, and a couple of meatless meals.

Sometime today I absolutely must do laundry. I've been meaning to for several days and still it sits! But now we're down to almost no clean clothes so it really must be done today. It's going to take me quite awhile to do it so I'm procrastinating but the more I procrastinate the longer it's going to take. Bite the bullet, Denise, bite the bullet!

Tonight's dinner will be creamed chicken over toasted english muffins with salad and green beans. We have some of the chicken I cooked in the slow cooker leftover and some of that great gravy DH made so I'll thin that with a little milk, add the chicken and a few vegetables, and it will be good, I'm sure.



I was just emailed the electric bill for the little house I rent. It's almost $65! Too much considering I was there maybe three nights during that period but a neighbor was watching my cat and worried he'd get cold so she kept the heat on for him. Ehhh, $65 for a non-frozen cat is reasonable.

Okay, off to separate the clothes, again....

DH wanted an Arby's sandwich for dinner so we went there. I've eaten at Arby's once before - for some reason, its just not a place I choose. Tonight I had their Reuben sandwich and it was good but the bread was weird. We spent about $12 then went to a get together of musicians and singers.

DH plays guitar and I just listen but we had a good time. This is a group of people that meet twice a month to play gospel and a little country and just talk and have a good time.

We were there about 2 hours and met some new people and DH got the chance to play with others that are pretty good.

$12 for a happy DH. Not bad!

I wrote this then added to it and am now adding to it again so I edited the name, also. I might as well post just one entry rather than three.

So far the envelope system is working! Yes, it's only been three days but there is money in each of the envelopes, including the savings envelope.

It feels great to know our bills are paid for the month and we're working for the next round of them. We have a ways to go before we have enough for the next round of bills but we'll get there, I know.

Yaaaaay for envelopes, cash, jobs, and a little discipline!

Speaking of jobs, I'm a reasonably intelligent person and am capable of doing just about anything I set my mind to. But correctly marking cups at work boggles my mind and I'm close to admitting I've been outsmarted by paper and plastic!

I did pretty well today but still messed up at least 6 cups. I either had the wrong size or marked them incorrectly or something else stupid. It doesn't help that customers often don't ask for an item by the name on the menu board. So I think they're asking for one thing and they're really asking for another. Example: "I'd like a Chi Tea." I mark the cup for what I think is Chi Tea. Then I look around and don't see Chi Tea anywhere. After doing this three times I realized they were asking for a Chi Latte!! Doh! When I ask what size, they say they want the medium and I mark it. Then they change their mind and want a large. Okay, no problem, I can handle that. I get another cup and mark it and bam, now they want the other one again!

It's fun and I love my new job.

My $20 challenge is up to $27 now thanks to a couple of meatless meals and not buying a snack or drink while out running errands. I have some change to add to it tomorrow, about $2. Yippee!

I don't have to work today but unfortunately I can't just laze around all day. I was hoping for a no spend day but it isn't to be.

I have clothes to wash and have to get some stamps to mail the bill payments DH and I wrote out a couple nights ago. I also need to do some cooking for the week since my work schedule is wacky and subject to change. I'm supposed to be off Friday and Saturday but won't be surprised if that doesn't pan out.

I also have to buy a few shirts and a pair of black shoes for work. What I have doesn't meet the dress code so yep, today will not be a no spend day for me!

So, I'm off to plan meals for this week and do some piddling things around the office.

Buy the things you and your family use the most in quantity when on sale. Here's a good example of that. In December of 2005 a local store had rump roast on sale for .99 a lb. It had been awhile since I'd seen it at that price so I went to get some. They were out but I got a rain
check. The rain checks there always have a limit of three on them. A few days later, DH and I went to the store and there in the meat case was one roast. The butcher told us that they came in very large pieces and each one was cut up to make the roasts we normally see in the case. DH asked her to bring one of those large roasts out and she did. It was well over two feet long, close to 30 inches! He asked her if we could get 3 of those with the rain check;she said we could so we did.

For those three roasts we paid about $50. BTW, that was about $200 worth of meat! We brought them home and cut them up into smaller roasts suitable for our family and cut some into stew meat sized chunks for soup, stew, casseroles, etc. Unfortunately, no one around here has sales like that lately so we aren't eating roast as much now. But the principle is still alive and well.

Another thing you can do that will save you money and improve your health is to view meat more as a condiment rather than a main dish. Using it in casseroles, soups, baked with veggies and such is much
cheaper than serving slabs of it to your family. It's also better for weight, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure. Most of us eat way too much meat and it's hard on the body and the pocketbook. Practice cutting down that meat! I'm a meat eater so I know it's hard but it really does help the health and the money situation! It doesn't hurt to institute a meatless meal or two or three a week rule, either. We have several meatless meals a week and manage just fine. I'm trying to increase the number of meatless meals but it's not so easy when the household consists of meat lovers. Progress is progress, though. We take it one step at a time.

I don't know if you eat cold cereal but it's one of the worst buys for your money. It has very little nutritional value and is outrageously expensive, even when on sale. Instead of trying to fill up on cereal, eat eggs, oatmeal, cream of wheat, french toast, waffles and pancakes, breakfast casseroles, breakfast tacos, cottage cheese, yogurt, homemade muffins and breads, even leftover fried chicken...but think of cereal as a special treat, one that's very expensive. Because of our dietary restrictions, DH and I can't fill up on oatmeal, waffles, biscuits, etc. so breakfast is one of our more expensive meals. Every one is different and you have to work with what you're given.

Set rules about food and keep them. If it's acceptable to you to only buy meat when it's on sale, then make that a rule and stick to it. You can save a fortune if you do that, especially if you buy a large amount on sale. Only buy fruits and vegetables that are in season. Not only are they cheaper, they're better for you. I prefer frozen vegetables over canned so I buy them when they're on sale and try to buy enough to last me til the next sale. But I know a deal when I see one and I buy canned veggies too, especially when they're on sale at a great price. Don't be afraid to buy and eat canned vegetables and fruits. They really can be part of a healthy diet.

Here's another rule a lot of families implement;limit kid's snacks and don't let them snack on sugary or expensive foods. Kids can eat you out of house and home, I know! I had two boys 13 months apart
and it was a nightmare to feed them at times. I encouraged them to have 2 to 3 fruits a day (a serving of grapes is 10 to 15 depending on the size of the grapes, not half the bag), celery with or without a filling like peanut butter or a bit of cream cheese, chunks of cheese in a bowl mixed with a few raisins and sunflower seeds, a container of yogurt, cheese/herb crackers, etc. Cookies and crackers were all homemade and were eaten fairly sparingly. Sugar, whether we like it or not, isn't good for us. We may love it, kids may love it, but we don't need it! We had desserts rarely on Saturday night or Sunday, not several nights a week like a lot of families. As a side note, obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure run in my family so I was trying to teach my boys good habits. I think I succeeded.

A lot of families drink water more than anything. I do that, myself, but I keep diet cola around too because I get bored with water and tea. But a lot of people find that drinking water 99% of the time saves a lot of money and yes, it would! But that rule is a bit too much for me. I like my coffee and I drink iced tea now and then, too.

More to come!

This entry serves two purposes, one to just talk about my first day and the other to let those who responded to my "Wish Me Luck" entry know how it went.

First, it's a Starbucks in a store, not a free standing Starbucks. So, we don't get tips and our benefits are basically store benefits. But those seem to be good so I'm not complaining.

And wow, I don't know that I'll make it to Barista as I still haven't figured out how to mark the cups! lol It's all just very confusing for me but I'll get it with time and experience.

It would help if I was a big coffee consumer but I'm not. Wait...I'm obsessed with coffee. I love the stuff! I drink Colombian daily and enjoy espresso now and then and even own a Moka pot (which I haven't used yet) and a French Press (which I've used many times). But I'm not big on coffee based drinks so much as I am just good, strong coffee. In fact, I just recently learned the joys of a Java Chip Frappucino, thanks to a Barista at the Starbucks where I now work. So the terminology is confusing but isn't that part of why one is trained? Yes, indeedy! I anticipate that bit of confusion clearing up pretty quickly. If it doesn't, I'm in real trouble!

I've already phoned my oldest son, the coffee shop freak and former Barista, and picked his brain. "Help! I don't know the difference between a Latte and a Cappuccino!" He was a lot of help and I'm sure I'll call him many times for information.

Fortunately, today was a slow day so I learned a lot about cleaning the store and basic sanitation and safety procedures. I also read over some training materials during quiet times.

I can see already a problem I have - engaging the customers in conversation. Starbucks wants more than "How are you today?" and "Are you enjoying this weather?" I felt really stuck a few times and it was awkward because I knew I needed to do more but wasn't sure just what to do. The customers knew it, too. The boss told many of the customers it was my first day of training and they were very nice about it which made me feel better. For those of you that frequent Starbucks, what do they say to you to get a dialogue going?

Broken Arrow, since I interviewed for the store first, the questions weren't Starbucks interview questions so that won't answer your question, huh? lol Sorry!

Paulette, I need to work on smiling more and I know it. I'll have to remember that!

Ralph, now you've gone and done it! I'd have a horrible time marking a cup for that! If such a thing even exists.

The boss said I did very well and one of the execs said to not let myself get overwhelmed, that there's a lot to learn there (he wasn't kidding!) and I won't learn it in just a few days. He stressed to just relax, learn, and have fun.

So, all in all I think it went well. I'm off tomorrow and am going to practice marking cups. I hope to go in Tuesday morning at least having that down pat!