Tuesday is a special day where I get to spend money.
I will go to the store and buy groceries, buy some more gas for my car, get plenty of paper products that we are out of, and much more.
If I play my cards right, I should spend about $100 and have enough food for the rest of the month.
I have hamburger, porkchops, and steak in the freezer. I only need side items and staples.
Sugar
Milk
Mt. Dew
Paper plates
Fruit
Veggies
and the like.

I will use as many coupons as I can, buy sale items only if I need them, not only because they're on sale.
I also have to buy some extra party supplies as we are planning a suprise birthday party for my best friend's little bro. He will be 21.
Guess what I'm buying?

I have counted change and added up what I spent this week and weekend, going over it with S2BH.
Let's go with what is fresh in my mind and go back from there.
Yesterday, since we worked all day long, we got to eat for free and our boss paid for the food. Save $5.00
I did buy a Mt. Dew for $1.00
After work I used a B1G1 cap and got two more Mt. Dews for $1.48
Saturday I did buy my dinner at Kid Rock/Lynard Skynard and spent $5.00
Friday night, on my way to work, there was an accident on the interstate and the police made us turn around. I got gas at the next exit spending $25.54
Thursday, I didn't spend much money on anything, but I did buy a pop at school out of the machine for $1.25
Also, to save a thousand dollars or so, I spent $30.00 to test out of a class so I won't take it next quarter.
I hope I did alright.
Finding money on the ground is helping me fund my children's piggy banks. I am also about to spend money on fundraiser items from their school. I hope I can find two cheap things that we can use and I am not just throwing my money away for the school.
I will prepare for tomorrow by preparing today!

Too Much Debt Thursday has come. I have faced up to the fact that I made some stupid purchases on my credit cards and was dumb to max them out so soon.
I have learned from my mistake and am now crawling out of the hole that I dug myself.
I no longer go to the salon and get my nails done.
I haven't dyed my hair in a few months, so that saved me $10.
I don't buy junk at the store, but real food that has to be cooked.
I don't go to the dollar store and browse.
I have tried real hard to control my spending habits and listen to advice given to me.
Dave Ramsey said it best when he said:You can read all the books and learn all about how to do it, but until you do, you're gonna get no where.
That isn't an exact quote but you get the jist of it.
I was reading every book the library had on credit repair, debt management, and how to save money when you have none, but nothing was happening. I was learning how but not following through.
Saving with Smarty Pig has made me feel that I can do it. I have gotten 55% of my goal on there now and it feels great. Watching my interest go up and up is a good feeling instead of focusing on bad interest that I wasn't paying back.
People say, it costs you more to save and not pay on your credit cards, but it makes me feel good to have something to fall back on, even if it is $250.
I will focus on paying $5 to every credit card I have today. Seven total bills of $5 is only $35 total. I can handle that. I will also pay off my water bill that is OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!
Majorly overdue is taking back the equipment that the cable company wants back. I need to take it to the other side of town.
We are thinking about having just regular cable coming out of the wall.
Right now, we don't need anything, but come February, we will need digital.
Off to make my payments!
P.S. Add three cents to my $20 challenge for money found on the ground. One at work, one outside my Mom's house, and one at the gas station as I was walking in to pay. Woo Hoo!

Today is Thrifty Tuesday. It rhymes better with Thursday, but that is debt snowball day where I focus on getting debt down and record and update all of my payments and extra payments.
I will grocery shop at a store with great deals. I will buy bread and snacks at the local bread store. Wonderbread is a wonderful place. They have Twinkies!
I have few coupons but have the ads with me and will compare before I buy. Drinks are expensive and that is my main reason to go this store. A gallon of milk is expensive too. They are almost one buck cheaper than the local grocery.
I must get to that. Happy Tuesday.

TODAY IS MONEY MONDAY!
I have already paid $15 to one credit card, $30 to another card, and tried to set up paying off my cable bill, but the lady was uncoopertive so I will call back later today and see who I get on the other line.
Also, I will be focusing on my budget on Mondays. I have called the bank and checked out what checks have cleared and what has not.
I wrote a check for my son's tuition that is due every week. Lunch $ has been sent in. Drinks have been bought for the week.
I hadn't planned for a lot of money this month, so when I get my check in three or four weeks that has all these hours on it, I will be really happy.
I am working 7 days this week, going to school for four of those and getting the little ones off to school and being there for them when they get home for five. I guess money is needed and I can survive.
If I don't post for more than two weeks, then it did kill me.

Monday I will pay all bills due that week.
Tuesday I will do the grocery shopping with coupons.
Wednesday I will get together with DH and compare our spending for the last week and where we can slow down or stop.
Thursday will be Debt Snowball day where I pay an extra $5.00 on all my credit card bills. That extra $5 will get me out faster than I think!
Friday will be a free day to either cook the next week's dinner meals or clean freak the house. I'm guessing the food will overcome.
Saturday I will scope out sales at the stores for items I actually need and will buy them on Tuesday on shopping day.
Sunday will be smooth sailing as all I have to do is go through coupons for the next week's shopping trip.

Listing all items needed from each store before the actual shopping day will help me to add things that I may forget.
I will look at the list that morning that I wrote two days before and add or subtract what we REALLY need. That will be the trickiest part. What do we REALLY need?

I love saving money!

I have recently earned .65 cents in interest from my two accounts and have earned another .65 cents that is to be paid at the end of the quarter.
Since I am working more, I am saving more.
I didn't have the money in the last six months, so why should I get used to having it now?
I will keep pretending that I am so broke and I will trick myself into thinking I have no money.
I can't spend what I don't have!

Start filling up a little piggy yourself.

I have found an awesome website that can help you budget and get your credit card payments, car payments, morgage payments, and the like laid out in front of you.
You have to find all the paperwork first, but only once.
After you have the information entered, it tells you everything you want to know except where to get the money from.

POWERPAY.ORG

It's free and ran by a school, Utah State I think.

I am currently using it and it has taken place of the pearbudget that I was thinking about paying $3.00 a month for.
Unnecessary!

I have received mail from several credit card companies saying that I am about to go under.
I have set up payment plans for them, with one, I can even get my card active again once paying down my balance.
One plan is $30 a month for 6 months.
The other plan is pay $20 now so that they don't charge the account off and when I get my money from selling my land, pay off a settlement of $450.
That works for me. Why would the credit card company tell me that if I pay $20 every three months that they could never do anything against me.
What about all that interest and late fees that you tack on??!!
Also, I would like to add $.92 to my challenge money before the month is up. I found more change on the ground at work.

I found at least $5.00 worth of change at work this weekend. Thursday was Rush, Friday and Saturday was Dave Matthews, and they were droping money left and right.
My supervisor stayed overnight and combed the lawn where people sit. In one night, or just an hour or two really, she found $8.00 in change and two one dollar bills.
I am envy her. But, I didn't have to stay up all night and she did it so she wouldn't fall asleep.
High five for working three days in a row! I haven't worked more than one day a week in quite a while.
This week is looking good too. Jimmy Buffett is tomorrow and I should be busy all weekend too!
I added the $5.00 to my balance page and will be adding the money to my savings account today.

I can't rave about my interest I am earning in my little piggy!
I will earn 35 cents for this month and by the end of September, they will post over 90 cents into my account.
My piggy at home is getting fat too!
I have put all the change I find at work in there, along with the washer findings and sweeping the floor came up with some things.

Thanks for the support, with over 25,000 people checking out this page, I feel that someone can learn from my mistakes and some can offer great advice on how to get unstuck!

These were the words that my mom said to me last night when I said that we were going to the fair.
I have let some of my bills go that I shouldn't have. Number one being my cell phone and credit cards. Number two being that we can survive without cable, but not without rent and the extra $55.00 that the elementary school charges for full day kindergarden.
I would like to tell all of those frugal-er than I that, NO, I did not go to the fair. The only money spent yesterday was $12.00 for a birthday present for my DH's little brother. He loved it and spending time with him was good enough for us.
I also never mentioned the fair to my two young boys, knowing that they would cry when told that we wern't going, so they don't even know what they missed.
I do.
I won't cry. I've been plenty of times. You can tell that I am a grown up now. I only wanted to go for the food!!!!

After three months of slow work, things are finally starting to pick up. I will be working Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Last week I was to work Friday and Sunday, but after half an hour on Sunday, they asked me if I wanted to go home. I said no, then they told me to clock out and go see the show.
I understand that they were trying to be nice, knowing I wanted to see the show, but I would have rather been paid to see it, than to sit down and see it. I got bored and left early, but only after I stayed for an extra two hours off the clock. I should have watched Brooks and Dunn for free, but I figured that my children need me more and I am not making anything sitting in the grass.

The county fair is going on and tonight is the only night I can go. Should I?
The food is the real reason I want to go, but I am willing to buy tickets for the boys to enjoy some rides. I just have to keep DH away from the carny games that are rip offs. The food will be super expensive too. But, since we will not be going to the State fair, unless my Mom takes them, this will be their only chance this year.

I hope DH is in a good mood when he gets home. I have to get a couch out of the living room for my Momma's yard sale this weekend. I can't forget that on Friday she wants me to stop by in case she has to use the bathroom. I hope she doesn't drink a lot of water.

As you can see, there is a little pig on the side of my blog's page.
This pig is a lot fuller than my little pig at home.
I broke down yesterday and took $2.50 out of him so that I could get more than $10.00 worth of gas.
I thought I got good gas mileage since I drive a stick shift. I was wrong. Maybe it's because everytime I get $15.00 worth, I only get 3.34 gallons. Add it up, that's $4.499 a gallon!
At least the pig on here is getting fat, and I do plan to eat him later, for those of you that thought I was getting Thanksgiving dinner early and fattening it up. I will eat this one at a store where they sell chest freezers for a good price. I was pricing them, and all of the sudden, as soon as the summer heat hit, the prices went through the roof.

Hey, there are over 24,000 hits to my site! Thanks for the support!

I bought a pig.
It looks so cute.
I tell myself that he needs to be fed everyday or he will die.
I put all the change I can find in him, and he still smiles at me.
I was feeding him some green stuff, but that got expensive.
I am also trying to quit smoking, and by putting the money I would have used to buy cigarettes into my pig, I have saved a little dough.
I still smoke, and don't get to feed the pig a lot everyday. I still feed him and try to smoke less and less.
Every little bit helps.
My smarty pig account is helping too.
You can check it out on the side bar.
Start your own, ITS FREE!!!!!

For the last two weeks I have done nothing but school. Today, Friday the 13th, I get to work tonight. And it is an early call so I should get an extra hour or so. This starts a few weeks of working that I have not had for a while. You don't know how depressing it is to pick up your bi-weekly check and see five hours on it. Last Monday's check was okay, for 28 hours, but that is for two weeks. This is my lucky day and many more work hours are to come. After finals, I can work all day, except for the weekends, where my children have little league baseball. That still leaves my Saturday nights open to work, and that is when most events are anyway.
DH has been asked to start working overtime soon, and I will be pushing towards it. Now, I know that I will be doing extra around the house to make him happy when he gets home, when I am tired from working, but he makes twice what I do and works twice as hard. I can make that sacrifice.

I have saved and scrimped for rent this month. I only bought gas, paid for daycare for the week, and only bought lunch one time, spending $6.52 total.
I think that we can make it. As long as my DH check is as large as it should be, we will be okay.
My Grandma told me to come and get her credit card to buy my Grandpa his Father's Day gift. I would be happy to go and get him something that he wants.
He never asks for anything anyway.
He deserves it!
He asked for a weed eater, gas powered with a metal blade and a strap to keep some of the weight off his arms.
That will be nice.
She will be happy that I won't ask her for help with rent, even though I will ask her to write the check.
Thanks to that woman, and my Mother a time or two, I have never been late with my rent in over 4 years.
Thanks!

When the money is taken right out of your account every month, you really can save. I am earning interest on the cash that was in my checking account earning nothing. I am truly working hard on spending only on needed things.
A rebutal to a previous comment on a post of mine: We needed a new bed! The Wii is just another piece of plastic from China but a bed was an absolute necessity due to back problems of my DH who works hard as a construction worker. If he hurts when he works, that hurts us. We can't afford to have him off work either.
The Wii was also a birthday present for me from my dear Momma, so there will be no extra controlers, games that are $50 a pop, or any other extravagance coming from me into this house.
The water bill is bad, my phone is shut off, and Rent is due in 10 days. I have no plans to even rent a game in the next 6 months.

My mom went and got my Wii. I am so happy. The hardest thing is to do the dishes and laundry and not play all day.
My children have to have their chores done, homework done, and have been good at school all day before they can play. I love it.

I went to work last night at the Tim McGraw concert. I enjoyed finally getting a full nights work in. Today is another full days work also. May Day is always crazy and they need plenty of help!
I am going to the Indy 500 tomorrow! It will be the first time going inside on race day. I have been to the night before several times, hanging out outside and eating the wonderful food. I can remember so well when my dad went to the race and telling me that it was no place for a little girl. I am no longer little and think that I can handle it. The heat is the worst thing I can think that would make tomorrow hard.
I plan on spending no more than $30 total. That will include food, drinks, and anything that I deem is a useful memoribilia item for me to remember that wonderful day. I will try to post more often. My school is taking a lot out of me, studying and such.

I spent $617 for a new bed. Thank you Stimilus Package!
I also have purchased $300 worth of car parts for my vehicle.

Right now, I am trying to save money for three different reasons.
I continue to save for my Wii, and should have enough for lots of accessories by Christmas.
I want to visit my cousin in Flordia this summer; she aggreed to help me pay for my round-trip flight.
I have also started a Smarty Pig Account for a great party in November of 2011. I have put a date on having a wedding, if there is to be one. This savings will go to having a great time for whatever happens at that time.

School is going great. The boys are doing good in school, and will be starting a new school in July. All and all, with some money put away, Mommy isn't as stressed. That is good.
I think that I am changing my ways for the better, although not all of my bills are up to date. I am making some progress anyway.

I looked up prices in a city guide for the race tickets.
For the cheap seats, it's $70-$95 per ticket.
I received two.
For parking, it is anywhere from $5-$25, so that is awesome too. Since I pick up my tickets at the parking lot, it works out. I am sure they planned it that way.

I haven't bought my freezer, but I am buying a bed with my rebate check. I can't see buying a freezer if we will just keep junk in it. Of course, I will stock up on some meat, but I am not a bake a months worth of food in one night.
I have two cassaroles in the freezer now, but they didn't want to eat the first one, so I am saving it for Dad when I am working at night and he wants to have food in a hurry.

Next Thursday is my birthday. Yeah. My mom is planning something awesome for me and my best friend and I are going out for lunch and then to mani-pedis. She knows how much I love them, but that I am saving money and not pampering myself in ways that cost. I do things at home, for less, and she is treating me for my b-day.
I also know my mom is going to blow me away with her gift.
She told me she wanted to take me to the gambling boat, but said that I would rather have the money than blow it. I said that was true.
Then she said that she was going to lay down about $1000 for a bed for me. WOW!!!

But, since I said that I was buying one with my rebate check, she said there went that.
Ouch!
So my gift is going to blow my socks off, I am sure.

I have put my $20 challenge money into my account. I have $15 saved now. If this keeps up, I will have so much money this summer. I can't even begin to think about how much debt I can delete with the cash gained.
I also want to call and see what the penalty will be for withdrawing money early out of my CD. I sort of can't wait till August.

I spent the day with my family on a road trip yesterday. We went to southern Indiana to visit our grandparents and my father at the cemetary. We bought some cheap flowers and built arrangements for everyone. We also visited the last family members who still live down south, and we talked for about four hours about how much we miss our dearly departed. They took me and my two cousins out to dinner and it was a great time. I will make an effort to go down there more often. This was only the second time in ten years that I have been there. This summer, we will have a family reunion of sorts and have even more fun. It will be great, and I will take my two children and BF and show them a piece of my history along with family.
We did buy some snacks to eat on the way there, and only spent about $10 total. I feel like we can take the trip for less than $50 everytime we go. Gas is the only big purchase needed for the two hour trip down there. I can't wait to go back.
I will also make it a point to post more often than I have in the last week.

I never went to a store, but I did pay my rent today. I also bought $15 worth of gas and got 4.20 gallons. It was aprox. $3.69 a gallon.
I am taking my no spend day today. We didn't go to a store, I didn't buy Sunday liquor, since we can't buy any here on Sunday. We never went to a store so I didn't spend any unnessassary money.
So, can I count my two dollars for myself?
I will anyway. I also saved money by going to my neighbors today for some fun. We didn't need to go out and spend money to have fun. I want to have a campfire tonight. I hope I can find some wood.

For the next five months I will be saving my income for the $20 challenge. I have not been working since August, and I consider all that I earn to be "extra".
I think that toning down my cable and phone bill, I can come up with some spare change.
I also don't think that we will be eating out but three times a month. That is way better than three times a week.
I also am not going to buy any liquor or anything of the like. I will see how much better I feel with a month without the devil's water. If it is worth the sacrifice, I will continue and probably not even miss it. Since I haven't been going out with friends to drink, it will be super easy to give up for a while.
I spent $9.75 on $3.00 worth of gas this morning. I also couldn't bring myself to pay $3.69 for premium. I got regular for $3.45.
I have been taking the stairs at school for three days now. I want to count those steps and challenge myself to take five more steps daily. I don't know how well I will remember these numbers, but I will figure something out.

I made dinner tonight, including dessert.
It only took about twenty minutes, start to finish, and it smelled wonderful. That is worth it to me to continue to cook at home. I do have to work Friday and Sunday night, but I can cook at lunch time.
Save $30.00 on Chinese food that DH wanted for dinner towards the challenge and off I go to a high balance. I will deposit the money tomorrow.
Off to a great start.

I am loving life today! I gave a great speech in class a little bit ago. I called and am working a whole four days this week. Yahoo. Also, I am anticipating that my check that was due one week ago today may have a bonus for the payroll person screwing up so badly.
My boss really likes me and doesn't want anything to make me mad so that I quit.
I was unemployeed from August to January. The person that was responsible for my termination never consulted with his boss, the owner of the company, and fired me. When I came in to get my last check, I was on my way to an interview. Obviously I didn't get a job, but W-2's were due and I went to pick mine up. I asked the boss if I could work this summer at a major venue they cover, and he wanted me to begin right away.
When the owner saw me again, he questioned me about why I quit.
I didn't quit, T*** fired me.
WHAT?!
He was unaware of my being let go and was very angry. If I would have complained in August, I would have had a job the whole time. I did enjoy the time off, even if we were broke, and I started college in January.
It was good for me to have a break, but I am ready for the busy season to come back to get more hours. Four days this week is good for me. I think that things are picking up and hopfully will continue to go smoothly.

I received a negative comment that I deleted from my post that I wrote while drinking. I want to let everyone know that I was not blind-stinking drunk while posting. My children were well taken care of, and no one was hurt.
I don't think that one should not drink because of the fears of what people think. Alcoholism does not run in my family, even though my mom likes her Cosmos every once and a while (she is a bartender and loves to serve others). But I don't think that I should be viewed as a drunk. I save my drinking for the weekends that I don't work. I spend all of my working days watching drunk people enjoying their day. Sometimes I want to be only half as drunk as them. But, I feel that drinking is a right of passage for those 21 and older. I am of age, drank in my own home, going no where afterwards. If you have a problem with liquor, or are a recovering alcoholic, please, don't drink. But don't criticize me for doing it. I was within my right, hurt no one but myself, and had a great night.
What does this have to do with finances? SIMPLE! The liquor cost me money. I made sure that I got my $19 out of the bottle I bought. I believe that if you drink responsibly, you can do so. If you can't control yourself when you do, then don't.
But I like it and will continue to. I look at it this way: I didn't buy cocaine from someone and drive into someones mother killing them. I had a drink at home, while with my children, and everyone was safe.
I do understand that drinking hurts your body, you can not reverse the effects of drinking, and I am not an addict. I like to let loose once in a while, like every other weekend.
I have been drinking today, pretty much finishing up the bottle I had, but in no way am I drunk. I just like to vent here, and this is one of the best places I can do it. I just want to ask forgivness from those that I offended.
I leave you with a picture that only a drunk person would appreciate. ME in the shower.

I have concluded that $5 will be sufficent for counting towards my total for the challenge for having a NO SPEND DAY!!! I like being at home with family, and it is getting easier to have more of these.
Library books are keeping me company, as well as the children cleaning their room, laundry going in that room, and the living room being clutter free for weeks now.
I am happy to be here, and that helps. I would have the boys go to the store with me to just get out of this house, full of clutter, stinking from dishes, and dirty clothes everywhere.
I have learned how to fight this urge, by cleaning my home. I no longer go ANYWHERE but here, just to escape. I still had to come home. I usually had two or three bags full of new crap. That wasn't helping.
I will count this towards my challenge, and every purchase that I pass up as well. If I were in my previous state of mind, it would have made me feel better to buy, buy, buy. I am better now, and working hard to teach my children the correct ways.

August 14th can't come soon enough. I am waiting on my $1000.00 to come back to me. I was dumb and didn't pay off debt with my tax refund. I should have done this, now I know. But, I was scared to waste my money, spending it as soon as I received it. That is what happened the last two years. I didn't want that to happen this year. So, I saved it, am gaining about $32 for the agonizing 6 months I must wait, and will have money this summer, just in time for school to start. My oldest will be in 1st grade, and my youngest will be starting Kindergarden. They will have awesome backbacks, clothes, shoes, and supplies.
I will buy cheap school supplies for myself, and will not waste the money when I can use it.
I hope that I will have my Credit Card Debt paid down so low that I don't need to use my CD money for it.
I also must have some restraint in the spending department before I get the money out.
If I save like I should, I may not be so anxious about getting it.
With DH working now, but who knows how much longer, I want to save while he wants to spend. I understand that he sees it as his money, but he has to pay bills first. I just want him to see this as a priority, not just what I do for fun.
I will win him over yet.

That is a great country song about everything he doesn't want to talk about. As I sit here drunk, thinking about what to say, I can't think of anything good to write about. My children are being very good and quiet, not fighting or crying, and my DH is out helping his sister with her DH. If I could say anything about right this minute, I would say that money isn't everything, you can live without it, and happiness is blessing you always.
Do you need to alter reality to see the good in life? I think that when I wake up in the morning, I will remember the stress of paying the rent after DH spent $162 on brake parts for his car. I don't want to think about it right now.
I will also remember that I shouldn't have bought such a big bottle of liquor today at the grocery. But, that is neither here nor there.
Also, thanks to all those who support me in my ways, good or bad, and are there for me through thick and thin. I am getting to the thin part. HA.
Good night to you all, and a happy no stress day tomorrow. I am feeling no pain right now, so all is good.