My two loving children are out of school for three weeks.
They go to a year-round school. Nine weeks on, three weeks off. Summer is only a month and a half.

99 days until my blogoversary.
I don't know where the time has gone. I believe that the posting here is helping me to think before I act. That is a plus. And, I hope to pass this info on to those who need the help.
Thanks to all 40,000 of you who have looked and commented.

I bought a washer and dryer set.
I went to a scratch and dent store, which was cool, and found a set for $325. Since I paid cash and was delivering it myself, I saved 10%. That took the bill down.

Overall, I am happy about my purchase. I did trash the old set, which made DS2BH mad a little. He wanted to fix them. I didn't want them sitting in my yard for months, covered in snow, wasting my space and making it look even more hillbilly than it does already.

I will be saving money on my water bill. I will definitely save on my electric bill, since the old dryer took a minimum of three runs through and this dryer only takes one turn. Sorta like it's supposed to.
They are energy savers, money savers, and my time savers.
I won out, even though I have to buy a work truck for my DS2BH. He really needs one too.
So, count $313 paid for my sanity and pleasure. Whatever pleasure I get from doing laundry is my own, and you can't take it from me now.

I went next door to my cousins last night. We had popcorn from my popcorn machine. We drank soda pop out of real glasses. That saved how much money?

At least $10 per person.
No one had to bring their own drink.
No one had to pitch in for paper cups.
No one had to buy a snack, since I had those things at home already.
Everyone had a great time, enjoying every loving cheap ass minute of it.

We went with the old standby game, Charades. It was my first time go round, but it was fun.
I also brought the paper strips for that game too, and the hat.

Good thing I showed up, huh?

I love my new Girl's Night that is so cheap and easy to enjoy.
Plus, when it is next door, it takes no gas at all.

I have figured my savings on SmartyPig.com. It is pretty sweet.
I have, as of today, $4520.7554 saved. That is adding the interest that has not posted, and all three goals together. There is more interest to be earned, and I will find it.
I still think that saving my money is a better idea than paying off my debts completely.
I did pay them down. I just didn't pay them completely off.
Way To Save, Me!

I hate the fact that I only weigh myself every three months now. I used to love it, not knowing. But now, my BMI indicator on my side bar is not moving. I know that I am at least losing fat, if not weight. I do have a ton of muscle, which weighs more. But there is more than that there.
I don't weigh in until December 4th. So, if you think I am making no progress, it just isn't showing on here yet. I am pulling my pants up all the time, even when wearing a belt. I am also noticing that my bra isn't working as hard as it is used to.
In case you didn't know, your breasts are the first thing to lose mass. Way before the thighs or butt goes, the goods go. I have also noticed that my face is looking less fat. There is no nicer way to say it. I am not ashamed to say that my face is less fat than before.

I have been taking the stairs at school everyday, including the days that I wore heels too. I will start paying myself for that. It is at least worth a dollar a day to me to do it. I have been doing it for free.
Let's hope for at least 5 lbs. loss in December from what it is now.
Wish me luck!

I never figured that I would have to figure what I was worth. I was always in the red, so what I was worth was nada.
I have been looking at my interest earned on Smarty Pig, and loving the results.
(for details, see my balance page)
I am trying to figure out how much money I will have at the end of this month.
I am figuring that I will have saved $4,530.79, including interest.
I will not get the interest posted to my account for another three months, but that will be two months at the end of October.
I have been a little lax on my spending curb I set for myself.
I did freeze any unnecessary spending, buying only what we need to survive.
I believe that with every cent I save, that is one more that I will have when an emergancy comes our way. That is a when, not an if.

I still feel broke. I don't think this bail out is going to bail me out at all. What do you think, George?

I spent $20 on help for cleaning my house. That is sad. I can't believe that I am so lazy that I needed help. My two young un's are trying to help, but that doesn't mean that they are not leaving clutter about too.

I think that I will bust butt tomorrow when I am by myself, but I have to do laundry and I can't since my washer is broken. I used my cousin's today, but that was only two loads. That's hardly any clothes or lessening my piles.

I have to get a washer and dryer. My dryer takes a minimum of three times to dry one load. That is even with an extra spin on them.

I will take S2BH to Lowe's for his work and check the scratch and dent section while we are there.

My washer broke again. DS2BH wants to weld something on to it so that it won't come apart again.
Why can't I buy a sensibly priced economic and enviromently friendly product and use it.
I believe that my washer is not saving as much water as it could.

I should buy a set and just suprise him when he gets home.

Don't you think he would be mad?
Technically it's not his money I would be spending, but I would be asking for money for the bills soon enough.

Why should I have to suffer with 10-year-old hand-me-down set of appliances from his mom?

I want new ones!
I need new ones!
The money that it will save us on our utility bills alone is the reason I want to buy them. I still think that we should consider a new one.

I did find some money in the last load that broke the washer's back. It was a dime.
That's the only reason I do laundry anymore.
Add that to the Challenge!

Do you know what you have to do to get allowance? You have to do chores.
OKAY, CAN I CLEAN THE BATHROOM FOR $10?
Sure, but you have to clean the whole bathroom.

I delayed the cleaning as long as I could. I was fearing the mess I would have to clean up after my six-year-old cleaned the bathroom.
What was I thinking?
I let him start with the floor. First, pick up everything off of the floor. Take the trash out of the cans, clean the cans, and let them dry. Sweep and hand mop the floor.
Sounds good, right?
He did pick up everything, carrying the rugs outside to hang on the porch. I washed them and hung them out to dry so that he thought he carried them out himself and had to get them and put them back.
I didn't let him clean the trash can. That would be mean.
I made sure that the floor was dry, even if it does need mopped again. He then put the rugs back and wanted to move straight into the toilet.
I told him another day. Here is two bucks for the floor. If you earn $2 for every job in the bathroom:sink, floor, toilet, tub, and closet, you will get your $10 total.
He wants to do the inside of the toilet now, since it has been a couple of days.
I told him that the sink is next. I have let him clean the tub before. No shoes and very little spray, since that is the fun thing. I am glad that Clorox came out with green sprays. I still don't want him to spray his eyes, but he is bigger than that.
I told him that he could earn a quarter for every load of clothes he folds, and puts away. I only let him put his and his brothers clothes away.
I hang most of my things and he doesn't like hangers.
He wants a dollar. He is too old for coins now. I told him he has three more loads to fold. I may use this to my advantage. He is definately old enough to vacuum, and I have little bro dusting the living room, pretty much daily.
How old do they have to be to mow the lawn?
If I didn't care about the condition of my clean dishes, I would let them wash those. They do splash a lot though.

Now you see my problem with him cleaning the inside of the toilet.

Add $.01 to my son's $20 challenge. He was doing laundry and found a penny lying on the floor next to the dryer. I only find money in the machines.

I was dreading the thought of my bill, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I turned the heat on this morning.
I am wearing some fleece pants and two shirts with a sweatshirt. I was cold still.
I turned it up to 72* and quickly turned it down to 68*. I will leave it there until tonight. It will get colder.

I had fun last night, but am paying for it now. I feel a lot less fun when my belly is turning.

111 days until my blogoversary. This is amazing that I have had the focus and determination to keep spilling my money guts all over.
I am sure that posting my doings here has help me to control excess spending, and ask questions to people like me before making a big decission about money.
I do appreciate the help I get from you, checking out all of your pages too.
When January rolls around, I should be more financially fit by one year of posting that 25 years of life didn't teach me.

I just got off of the phone with my baby sitter. We were talking about how nice it is that she is watching the boys so that we could go out tonight.
She started talking about her daughter's husband, her sons, and the other grown children she knows and how they are all nice guys. I said that her husband is nice too, since he puts up with her and all of us. She said that she couldn't ask for a nicer or better husband.

That got me thinking. She is happy, and I know they don't have a ton of money. They are scraping by just like we are. They also have a one and a half-year-old granddaughter. They do treat my children like her own, just like they did before their granddaughter was born.
It makes you see that you don't need to have money to have love. Sometimes we forget that. I have tried really hard this year to see that things don't buy happiness. Strange, it sort of started around January, when I started posting here.

What a great decision I made.

Wish me luck on my very first mystery shop. I hope it goes well and that I make $15.00.
I still have to fork over $10.50 and wait for my money and reimbursment.
I am a little nervous and worried that someone will think I am being stupid when I ask the questions I am supposed to ask.
I will try my best to act normal.
They said that they want to know what I look like and what kind of clothes I am wearing during the shop.
Is that a little weird?
Here's to money earned. I do believe I will add that money to my challenge total when I receive it.

I called and cancelled my fitness thing in time and they said they could give me a full refund.
Whew!!!
I also have been doing my extra payments on two credit cards.
Today I called and asked for some help on one, she gave me a deal.
"If you pay $29.00 today, I can put a credit for an over-the-limit-fee of $29.00."
"So it would count as a $58.00 payment?"
"Yes, but I have to add the $7.95 pay-over-the-phone fee."

Well, some help is better than none I guess.

I also mailed off an extra $10 to my other credit card.
By January, I should be all caught up.
I need to pay off:$312.49 on one and $502.83 on another by January 09.
I am also saving up for rent, school fees, and the like. I hope I can do it. If I would quit spending like a fool, I probably could.
I believe I will count that $29.00 she credited me to my $20 Challenge balance. That will raise it up a bit.

$83.15 Previous Challenge total
+$29.00 Add this money I "found"
-------
$112.15 New total for Challenge since June 08

My first day of school was awesome.
I did hurt myself though. I was trying to get into my car in a parking lot where spots are small and cars are big. I ripped my earring out of my ear and lost it.
It was actually quite painful.
But besides that, I have two classes on campus and one online. My professors are both fun and talkative, which I am too.
I feel that I will have a ton of fun this quarter.
I have been stupid with my money.
I spent $158 to a stupid fitness thing online. I didn't have to spend that much to get the info that I could have gotten for free. Hell, that could have paid for a year at a gym.
Boy I feel dumb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ten things that helped me to...

Rack up Credit Card Debt.

10. I spent way too much money on clothing on my children when they were small. I should have been doing what I do now. Buying second hand and perusing clearance isles.

9. I cared about what other people thought about me. I spent money on things I didn't need. I didn't try to impress, but I didn't want people looking down on me.

8. I had a love affair with the dollar store. I went when I was upset, sad, bored, or didn't want to go home because it was nasty and full of clutter. Why was it full of clutter and hard to clean with two toddlers there? Due to my love affair with the dollar store.

7. I lost my job. That means that gas, groceries, cigarettes, and everything else that wasn't a bill went on my card. I opened up card after card, knowing that I didn't have the money to pay it back.

6. My live in partner and baby daddy didn't have a job either. There's more gas and expenses that I couldn't keep up with.

5. The ease of ordering things online. I could click and get. That is very tempting to do when you are sad about your situation.

4. Therapy shopping. That is the base of 4 or 5 of these. When I couldn't afford it anymore, what did I do? I spent time with my kids. They made me more happy then for some reason. Not that they didn't make me happy before, but they would upset me more often in the past. I think we were all going through some stress, with bills, clutter, and school issues to deal with, it's surprising they didn't take up smoking.

3. I thought if we had it all, we would be happy. How wrong I was!

2. Interest rates on maxed out cards are outrageous. I was buying $300 worth of stuff and paying $500 for it. DUH

1. I blame myself, but also the way I was raised, people I hung around, and way I looked at myself. I had to take a class in college that told us that our self esteem has a lot more to do with our lives than just your teen years. If you constantly tell yourself that you will not be able to do something, guess what, you can't do it. I told myself that things would make me happy. I told myself that people liked me because of what I had or how much money I had. I didn't want to instill that into my children, so I changed.

Today is the day! Me and my neighbor started our walk. It took us exactly 30 minutes to walk 3.2 miles, taking 3376 steps and burning 188 calories. I am looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully we can add to the calorie side and the step side. I am glad that it only took 30 minutes too, since I am starting my fall quarter at school next week. That will give me just enough time to get the kids off to school, walk with her, come home, take a shower, and get dressed for the day. So far so good!

My neighbor was on the ball too. She found a penny and a nickel while we were walking. She kept her money, and I found a good CD someone lost out of their car. She said something that made me laugh so hard.
She said she was going to tell her husband that she made money being a street walker with me. 6 cents isn't a lot, but is more than I found.

I added some financial goals to my pages and weight goals to my weight page.
I found out some cool stuff on a web site and wanted to share. When I can do these things, I can see myself as financialy fit.

* As you take your next vacation, you know that it is completely paid for before you
leave.
* The next time a major appliance needs to be replaced, you have the money already
set aside.
* You never need to worry about checking the account balance at the bank before
you pay a bill.
* You look forward to making decisions regarding the education of your children,
because you are actively saving money for this purpose.
* You spend time planning and anticipating retirement, because you are debt free and prudently investing money to fund the lifestyle you want to have.

Okay, now when my younger cousin came over today to get out of her house, I expected her to keep me company while I did my house chores. I certainly did not expect her to do my dishes for me. I used that time to do laundry and picking up my living room. I told her that I would give her some gas money, as she did not have any gas. I also told her that I would buy her daughter's soccer team some Capri Sun drinks for their game this weekend.
When I tried to give her $10, she refused it. I did end up giving her two bucks and she was happy. She said that if I was going to pay her for doing my dishes, she would come over every week. I asked her if she vacuumed too. She said yes.
Would it be so bad if she made some much needed income? She doesn't have a job.
I need my house clean and I go to school full time and have a part time job.
I don't see who gets hurt here. I may get the house clean and not need to pay her anymore, and she will have to find money elsewhere, but for the time being, this is a win-win for everyone involved.
Right?

I don't want to take any online classes and they are making me. I figure that I am paying the school to teach me, not for me to teach me. I also have to pay an extra $90 for my online class, which means I am losing twice. I am trying to keep an open mind, but as my meeting with financial aid didn't go as well as I had planned, and that is where I found out about the online class, it is getting harder and harder to do.

Does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with college personnel in getting what you want out of them?

Money Saving Tip


Don't purchase gasohol if possible. Some areas require gasohol (a mixture of gas and ethanol for your car. Ethanol is alcohol made from grain) because using it for fuel is considered a way to help farmers as well as help cut pollution. The problem is that ethanol contains only about two-thirds the energy of gasoline which means gasohol forces you to use more to go the same distance.


I did not know that, but it is a good thing I don't use it, huh.
I figured that the alcohol would burn faster anyway.

On my thrifty Tuesday, I have gone over my financial aid with school, checked on sale prices at the grocery store, and I plan on clipping coupons later tonight. Woo Hoo. This thing is really coming together for us. It's a good thing too, since I am back to having enough for the bills and that is it. I will have to break the news to the boys that there is no more out to eat or what are you buying us to eat. Casseroles all around!!!!!

I have spent and/or saved all of my money that I got from selling my land. I didn't expect it to last long anyway. I am glad that I managed to pay off some bills and that I can worry a little less, but this really didn't help me with my money management skills any.
I did save half of the money. Maybe it was a little less than half, but it was a size-able chunk anyway.

I can't wait until I can post all of my interest from Smarty Pig. I have gotten over $2 on one account already. That is amazing. My mom told me to be careful though. All of these big name banks are going belly up and I need to watch it and get my money out in time.
She was telling me that Wachovia and Merrill Lynch is where her 401(k) is and that I will need this info when she dies so I know where to get it. I told her to have that stuff ready to go before she dies.
I am sorry to talk about that so lightly, but eventually, you, me, and everyone we know will die. I think that it doesn't affect me as much since I have dealt with death at a young age. I was 16 when my dad passed away and that really hurt, but I was never one to let my emotions get the best of me and I always try to joke my way around tough things. That is what helps me get around those feelings, just joking about it. Taking death lightly is what gets me through it. I don't mean to be rude about it, but I am sure that if someone over heard me, they may be offended. I would never say anything to purposely to offend, but like I said, that is just me.
You're welcome for the bring down, about death and me spending all of my money.

My computer has a virus. I bought a new one. It was $399 but total for all I walked out of the store with was $569+$69.
He forgot to add my service plan on there so I had to pay again.
I paid off my son's tuition so me and the secretary who writes the receipts is happy.
I also will have to get gas in my vehicle, so that will be a major purchase too.
I have paid enough on my credit card and I am happy to have gotten extra money on there. I am also looking forward to my credit clearing up in 10 years. THANKS FIRST PREMIER BANK! [sarcasm intended] I was yelling it.
Check out the amount of interest on my monies at smarty pig.com. I am very happy!

I previously posted about my weight loss and how reporting to you, the public, I could get better results. My money issues have since cleared up and I have focused on fixing my credit and saving money for my family's future.
My neighbor, not my cousin, came to me today and offered to walk the road with me every morning when our kids get on the bus. She is very skinny and is trying to build muscle. I am trying to quit smoking and lose weight.
Her idea of doing it everyday, at least every weekday, and recording the info: how long we walked, what our pedometers say, time and date, was a great idea. The fact that she asked me to do it with her makes me feel good too. She cares about my health and I do hers too.

We are very good friends, have been living next to each other for over four years, and have made a connection between our families.
We will now step into another demention together: Health.

I believe I will start a new page on the side bar to track our progress too.
Thanks for all your support!

My cousin did use my shower 3 or 4 times, but I don't think that I will ask her for any money. She is the type that would always make things even. She did use my dryer this morning, but we talked about that a week ago; How she would give me money on my light bill, since my dryer is electric.
I don't mind either since she is family. If I had a new neighbor move in and asked for these things, FORGET IT. But, I love her and would do anything for her. I offered her to sleep on my couch when her sister told me she was tired of her.
Thank goodness she didn't stay with me for three weeks, only one night.
I would have asked her for money then. Things like food, water, and lights are expensive, but how do you ask someone for money for these things if they obviously have nothing. She was squatting for a reason. She doesn't have a job since she is going to school full time. She still has to pay her other major bills, like car payment, insurance, cell phone, and the like. She also had to shell out a lot of money to move in next door and get the utilities up to date at her old place to change them over to here.

I am still happy she is there!

Today, I had cable hook up internet and I am at my home computer!YES!
As soon as the guy left, I helped my cousin pay her gas bill online.
She said she tried to do it at home, since she had cable 3 days before me, and didn't know her account number.

"Do you have any old checks with the account number on it?"

"Yes."

"Go get them and we will try it out."

"Ok."

She then left to go get it and get this, it was from 2004. Whatever, it worked.
She then went downtown to have them turn it on. She will be showering in her own house by tomorrow(hopefully).

Tuesday, I forgot to leave my door unlocked for her to shower. She said that she couldn't go anywhere since she didn't shower. I laughed at her and said, I saw that when I pulled up and your trash can was still sitting there. Couldn't even get the trash can without showering.
LOL
(I have never ever used that before. I thought is was kinda stupid, but it makes for shorter typing.)

I just paid another $130.00 on a credit card. Woo Hoo!
With this extra money that I was needing for so long, my life is easier.
I just don't want to depend on it too much, as it won't last too much longer.
I am glad I saved some of it, but I am spending a little less discretionarily.
I do hope that with my cards and utilities paid up in full, I can breath a little easier at night, even if my balance in my account is low like before.
The interest that I earn on my savings will be worth it!