Dinner was wonderful tonight.
My mom asked if I wanted her to take me and the two boys out to dinner.
Tonight is not Sunday. I didn't want to spend my gas for her to spend $ on the dinner.
She said that she will treat me to lunch some day this week.
I may let her.
Yesterday, we only got one meal that wasn't at home.
I took the youngest out to breakfast, where he ate a whole waffle.
I spent $14 total with tip.
I also will be giving to others without spending any money.
My cousin is low on funds, has a daughter of her own, and her husband works full time for the whole household. She will be coming over tomorrow to use my washer and dryer. I will only be supplying the hot water and electricity. How cool is that?
I am helping her, saving her quarters, and spending time with her.
She will come here while I am at school, and then when I get home, help her, then go to the grocery store with her.
I am helping her help herself.
I am not giving her money to do her laundry, but giving her a chance to save money she doesn't have.
Makes me feel good!!!

Between my management and business math classes, I have an hour break. I am thankful, as during finals, I can study for the hardest subject.
I, for now, have no problem getting my homework done at night, or the day it is assigned in class. I spent my hour today at the park, with a packed lunch of a lunchable, crackers and cheese, and Mt. Dew with water.
I listened to my Harry Potter Book by CD from my car. I placed a blanket on the grass, opened my lunch, and enjoyed my time greatly.

I look forward to doing this again, at least once more by Thursday. As I still have house work that I need to finish when I get out of school, I have been letting work slide more than I should.

My last check was for four hours. I get paid every two weeks. You figure it out.

I am anticipating a problem with my work/school schedules this summer. I work a lot at night durring the summer. I don't get home till 3 am sometimes.
What makes me think that after going to bed early, still having to get up early for my children, will I want to go to school after a late night.
I also cannot take a break in classes this summer as I had hoped.
My children will begin their school a month after I do, and I was wanting to be home with them.

I will speak with my advisor, or a new one, since I never talk to my own, and figure up a plan that works out.

$30 saved for my chest freezer and $30 saved for the family Wii.
By Christmas, I will own one of these two things.
I also will have to start my emergancy fund back up. My CD was doing that, but I cashed it in to get out of a hole I was in.

Going over bank recocillation in business math is teaching me to check my work twice when working with my money.
I think it is helping!

My rent is paid in full, four days early.
My cable bill, mag. subscription, and library fines are up to date.
I need to pay the gas, phone, and daycare as well. No extra money out of the CD, but it does feel good to have a little extra room to breathe.
I also paid a large sum on a store credit card. I admit that I only put money on to purchase more items from them, but hesitated and have a low ballance to say the least.

My schooling is going great, although I am not working as much as I could be due to school. I am not wanting to change though.

Parts were purchased for fixing my vehicle, but apparently the labor of putting it right will be long and hard. How many days can I go without my car. It must be done this weekend, as I cannot wait any longer, and I already spent the money on the part.

If DH has the time or patience to complete the task is another thing. He knows that I need my car on Monday morning, for us to go to school, while he takes the only other running vehicle to work. Cross your fingers for me.

Yesterday I went straight to my bank's website and deposited $3 into my savings account. Today I put in my weekly $10 into two savings accounts earning intrest for my children.

We have a freezer fund and Wii fund set up. The freezer is considerably cheaper than the Game System, but we can dream can't we?

I went to the drugstore to pick up my son's meds. While there, I paroused the other items for sale. I found a really nice dry erase board for $7. I need to get one to have a central area for everyone's plans for the day. I also want to put my chores for the day on there to erase after they are done.
When I found out that another drugstore had my son's meds, I put the board down. Where did I put it? Right next to the $1 area. What did I find there? DRY ERASE BOARDS!!! I bought four, one for each of us, and saved $3.
That will go into my $20 challenge money.

I was trying to wait until August to get my $1000. I really was.
I can't wait anymore. I thought the penalty was going to be a lot more also. They stated that one month of intrest is all they took off. Really? With rates this low, I only stood to gain $32 for the six months anyway. I ended up making $2.03 off it, and I can pay the bills that are behind. I was trying to be a responsible parent and save money from our tax return. And I succeeded for two months.
I need car repairs, they are turning my cable off every two weeks, and the water bill is OUTRAGEOUS! With the money, I can get back to paid in full and go on with our lives.
I will continue to save money for our goals, such as a chest freezer, Wii, and new clothes for next fall.
I don't think that me taking the money out of the bank for needs was a bad choice. Should I have gone into debt or collections when I have the money there? NO. I also won't blow the money on dining out, new clothes now, or the awe inspiring Wii that we don't NEED.
I am also taking a business math class this quarter, so that will help me to keep up with my recording of all my spending. I have all these receipts and no were to put them. I will be entering them into an excel program, as well as PearBudget.com.
Thanks for your support in my decision, that I made on a whim yesterday, but it paid off in the end. At least I hope it does.

I don't want to get gas. It's crazy how high it is and I don't want to pay that price. I buy premium so the burden is even higher. At least I don't use disel.

Baseball practice was great yesterday. We get our uniforms Thursday or Saturday. I can't wait. Both of my DS were giving it their all. They are improving on their catching and hitting skills.

I must work tonight. I don't think that it will be that bad. Six hours isn't that long anyway. I will be eating before I go and taking a snack with me. There will be no reason to buy out of a vending machine or McD's on the way home.
I have been implimenting the no dining out unless it is Sunday, with no complaints (so far).

Posting again makes me feel good too!

Yesterday was a good first day of school. I already have homework in my math class, and I am ready to get into it. I have been wanting to spill my beans about the dining out situation. We will only be eating outside of home on Sundays. I think it will be Family Sunday. Breakfast and dinner should be enough.
Baseball practice is tonight, as well as Thursday. It will be hard to not grab a bite to or from there, but we can do it. I will pack snacks for the trips. It is about one mile from home, so that should not pose a problem.
I also have been awaiting August for my CD to mature, as I need the money now. I think that my savings plan needed some tweeking before I just put all I had into the bank that I cannot touch.
For my savings goals, I already have $35 saved up. $5 per check per savings account (2). I will be updating my balance sheet when I get the chance. I do not currently have internet at home, but will after rent is paid.

I have been keeping track of my spending and where it is going on PearBudget.com. It was cheap and easy to do. I can now see where all my money goes. I purchased Quicken, and even with their pie graphs it didn't spell it out for me.
I think that this will be great and that I can incorporate it into my everyday life.