Keeping It Frugal in Texas

Some of you who have followed this blog for a long time may recall that I was a teacher. In fact, when I started this blog, I had just started the last semester of my 8th year.

Well, this morning after my running in the 5k race, I went home and got ready for church. I managed to actually arrive about 10 minutes before the second service was to start.

In the lobby was the person who accounts for 70% of the reason I left teaching. I had taught both of his children, in two successive years. His oldest, I had tutored after school 3x a week for free. His youngest - well, I had NO energy left after dealing with her all day.

My third year at this school (8th year teaching) I had the privilege of having his youngest daughter in my classroom for a second year, thanks to the school combining grades. The first day of school did not go well. I had a little boy "M" in first grade and then his daughter who were like two peas in a pod - feeding off of each other.

Long story short, the second day of school the father came into my classroom before school started and told me he was taking his daughter out of school. That she'd told him I'd left her in the hallway by herself crying. He would not listen to me when I tried to explain to him what had actually happened.

Later, he went to the school board and told them I was a horrible teacher, and didn't have any classroom management skills.

After being told about this, I ended up going before the board and giving my side of the story. (I didn't want to do it. I hate public speaking - especially when I know I'm going to get emotional. But I realized that I had to do if for myself. )But my decision had already been made - that would be my last year.

I spent a lot of time that year trying to come to a place where I could forgive him. I even remember near the end of the year at a school concert, him passing by me in the gymnasium, and my stomach just twisting up in knots. Then, I attended Pathways, and amongst a lot of other things, I was finally able to let go my hurt and anger towards him. I realized that my feelings towards him were only hurting me, and having no affect on him.

So, that brings us to today.

He approached me and told me that he would like to apologize for what happened so long ago. That he'd been wrong.

After pulling his daughter out and putting her in another school, she had just as many problems with her new teachers, if not more. He'd realized that the common denominator was his daughter.

I told him that I accepted his apology, and that he would have no idea how much it meant to me. That 4 years ago I would not have been able to accept it. He seemed to get that.

We then kept on talking and he told me of the struggles he and his wife had had with their daughter. (Adopted from Russia, as was their son.) In a way, I felt vindicated that he admitted that it hadn't been me that caused the problems, but mostly I felt sad that his daughter still was having those same difficulties.

I had given her my all the year I had her, and felt like we'd made a lot of progress. She had a good heart and was so intelligent, but just could not manage her behavior. Whenever she sees me at church she comes up and gives me a hug. So I always knew that she at least knew that I had truly cared about her and tried to help her. To know that her dad has also realized this ... I can't even begin to express how happy this makes me.

Enough to go back in the classroom? Nope. I may have been able to let go of this, but I don't see myself ever being able to take the chance of putting that much time and effort into a child/ren to have the "perfect child" syndrome strike again.

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In other news .. I ran a 5k race this morning. There were over 820 racers, and I ended up being about 2/3rds of the way back from the starting line.

At race time, the temp was already over 80 degrees. I was sweating and hadn't even walked.

In the end, I finished with a time of just over 47 minutes, but I think my actual time was closer to 44. The first two miles went well, but the third one I was really having to push myself to keep going.

I'll be writing up a more detailed race report for my blog (Run Laura Run) soon - but maybe not today. I need a nap, and I'm going over to my mom's soon for fireworks.

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Happy 4th everyone!

Well folks, I do believe I have seen the Writing On the Wall.

This morning when I got to work, E was there. We were chit chatting about this and that, when he mentioned that paychecks would be available tomorrow. *Then* he mentioned that they had opened a new check writing account at a different bank which only has branches in a town about 20 miles North.

So, what this means is that there will not be the opportunity to take the paycheck directly to their bank and cash it. (Unless I want to drive 20+ miles on my day off hoping that the money will be there.) So, the only way to get the money is to deposit the check.

We know how well that goes. Not.

E assured me there'd be enough money for all our checks. I just kind of gave him a look, and told him that I certainly hoped so, because I did NOT want to have to deal with NSF or Returned Check fees.

So, feeling really upset about this all day. I came to the decision that the first time a check bounces, I will be putting in my notice.

I simply refuse to deal with this anymore. It was annoying enough to have to go back to their bank multiple times to be able to cash my checks, but at least the embarrassment factor was solely in their court. Bouncing checks that I deposit in MY checking account puts the embarrassment factor on me as well.

Next question is how am I going to pay for school and living expenses without this job?

Well... I think I'll probably have to take my grandma up on her offer of financial help. I'm thinking of asking her to pay my tuition as I go, and then while I'm still in school, I'll pay 5% interest on whatever the total amount is each month. Then, once I'm out of school and have a librarian job, we can work out the repayment terms.

I also am working on applying for a number of scholarships I've found - but none of them would work until 2010.

With tuition covered, then all I would need to worry about is living expenses.

If I didn't make another dime, I could live on my savings for 13 months - supposing no emergencies or car repairs.

So, obviously I'll need to reduce my expenses + find odd jobs or maybe a part-time job.

To meet my goal of finishing within 18 months, I need at least 30 - 40 hours a week of study/homework time. The gym job is so perfect for that. Ugh.

I haven't heard from my brother yet about him moving here, so that *might* be a possibility. But I kind of doubt it.

I think it may be getting close enough to September for me to talk to my Pastor about any families he knows of that may be willing to exchange childcare/tutoring for partial rent.

I will know probably by a week from tomorrow whether or not this check has cleared. I really hope it does, so it'll give me another two weeks before saying sayonara. But, I think the smart thing to do is to start planning as though it WILL bounce.

I sure will miss working out with the lady who works out in the mornings -- and easy access to treadmills.

Le Sigh.

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Well, when my prescription is ready to be refilled, I have a coupon for CVS to get a $25 gift card. I need to see if I can find my Walgreen's one and check its expiration date. If it's in August, then I'll have my next two refills basically paid for.

Yesterday when I got home, my apartment was hotter and more humid than I think it ever has been. I'd left the a/c on in the morning - it's on constantly actually, thanks to our constant 100 degree weather we've been having.

I called the apartment management office, but it was after hours. So I called the emergency line to report it. Apparently I wasn't the first to call about it - they had a message saying that if you were calling about the A/C being out to not leave a message because they were aware of it and working on it.

At that point I did what I could to get myself and my apartment as cool as possible. Turned my ceiling fan on high, brought my floor fan into my bedroom, opened up a window and put a wet towel over it, got down to minimal beach ware.

All that made it just bearable - but I was already sleepy. So I ended up zonking out on bed for a couple hours, then got a call from my mom at 10:30.

By that time either the A/C was working again, the night had cooled down enough, or my cooling measures had worked -- maybe a combination of all of them. Then I preceded to stay up till 2 a.m. Heh.

Here's really hoping the A/C doesn't go out again. The temps do NOT look like they're going to get any better any time soon.

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I don't remember exactly where I found this link, but it was pointing actually towards the bottom of the Wikipedia page talking about how CNN has pre-formatted obits on famous people and how some years ago somebody found them.

So, anywho. I looked at that and thought it was kind of interesting, but then kept on reading (going up).

Boy howdy, there were a bunch of interesting stories. A few of the more famous ones involving Bob Hope and Mark Twain. Ernest Hemingway's story is a sad one. Then a couple stories of Japanese soldiers who didn't believe the war was over until 1974.

Then I read this one, and thought that it could be turned into an amazing book under the right talent:

"Ann Green (or Anne Greene), a servant in Oxfordshire, was hanged for allegedly murdering her newborn child in 1650. Having presumably been declared dead, her corpse was taken away for dissection, but she revived. She was ultimately pardoned, and became something of a celebrity."

I mean, can you just imagine what kind of backstory there was to the whole thing? And I'd be really curious as to how she didn't get accused of being a witch (Salem witch trials was around that same time, right?) And then how she was pardoned, why? What did she do with her life after that? How did it change her?

I don't know why that one just popped out at me. I wonder if a writer has already taken that story and used it as a book?

Here's the link if you want to look at some of the other peoples stories: Pre-mature Obits.

I think the link was posted because someone was wondering how in the world they (CNN, etc.) were able to get the memory clips up so quickly after MJ's, etc. deaths.

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Well! Upon googling a bit, I have found that someone *has* written a book based on Anne Greene's story -- Newes From the Dead by Mary Hooper. As morbid a story as it seems, I am going to have to see if my library has it. Wow!

Eta more: And, my library has it! 3 copies! It's billed as Juvenile Lit. Interesting. Now I just have to wait for it to come in and get it.

I don't really have too much financial to impart.

I just wanted to let you all know, in the interest of not over running this blog with talking about running, I have started another blog. (Don't laugh too loud please.)

It is called Run! Laura! Run!

And in case you're wondering, yes, it is a bit of a take on Forest Gump.

So, anyway, I just have one post up so far, and it doesn't look very pretty yet. But I wanted to share it with ya'll.

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In other news - this week sure has been one where we lost a lot of icons.

Ed McMahon's death has kind of been lost in all the MJ adoration ... which I think is truly sad. I grew up hearing him say "Here's Johnny!" The last few years of his life were a financial mess, but he still left behind a legacy of a life lived to its fullest.

Then of course Farrah losing her battle with cancer. What a beautiful, strong and courageous woman. I hope to never have to battle anything like cancer, but if I do, I hope to be just half as strong as her.

And last of course, Michael Jackson. I really surprised myself by how emotional I got upon hearing that he was dead. I've enjoyed his music through the years, and found some of his songs to be particularly meaningful to me at times - but he also led a life which was quite strange. I guess I prefer to focus on the legacy of the music he left behind, rather than what he may or may not have done in his personal life.

Unfortunately, like when Princess Di and Mother Teresa died, one person's death seems to be overshadowing the others.

RIP Ed, Michael and Farrah ... along with all the non-famous people who also went took their last breath this past week.

I got my membership package from the running club yesterday. So today (my day off)I did a number of errands.

First, I stopped at the library and picked up a bunch of books (most of them for my grad class, plus a couple on running.)

Then,I headed to the dollar theater and saw "17 Again.' Cute movie.

Finally, I managed to find the running store. I had my feet refitted/analysised and ended up switching from Ascicss (which is what I had) and getting a pair of New Balance. Since I had a 15% coupon, I decided to get a pair of moisture wicking socks and a pair of winter running pants - both of which were also on sale.

Right now when it still is in the 90's at 7 pm, it is hard to think about wearing anything close fitting that goes to the ankle - but come late October/early November, I think I will be very happy to have them.

I didn't track mileage on my Asics very carefully, so basically went with when my calf muscles and feet were telling me I needed new shoes. So, with my new pair, I am going to really try to keep up with mileage better.

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I ate supper at McDonald's with my friend T and her two children. (She treated me actually - got a fruit and walnut salad which is about all I can eat at McD's.) In the course of our conversation, she mentioned some friends of theirs that her husband was going to go see "Transformers" with tonight. These friends had BOTH of their cars repossessed two days ago.

My mouth hung open for a bit before I could control myself.

The husband of this couple actually stayed with my friend T and her family for over 10-months rent free while getting established in the oil and gas business. While he was staying there - rent free, not helping at all with anything in the house (in fact not just not helping out around the house at all, but being a significant contributor to making the house a mess), nor contribuiting towards groceries - he often would go out to eat or go to first-run movies -- letting T's husband pay. Adding salt to the situation though -- several times his wife and kids came to visit for a weekend or vacation -- they'd go out to eat or to first-run movies -- and not invite T or her family.

At one point T finally had had enough (he was only supposed to be there for 5 months tops) and told her hubby it was either his friend out the door, or it was her out the door. The friend was gone two weeks later.

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Ok, it's now time for me to get back to reading one of my acquisition's from the library today -- "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" by Janet Evanovich.

Today I spent about 90 minutes or so searching the internet for the various required books for my upcoming courses.

The first course, coming up here in just a few weeks, requires a great number of books. Most of them are novels, but two of them are actual textbooks. Guess what? I found ALL of them at my library!! Yes!!!

Of the three classes I'll start in August, one of them has no required texts (Yay!), one of them I have not found any info on yet (will be calling Monday!), and the third requires two texts. I found one of them at my library, and the other one I found a very used copy of at AbeBooks.

Hopefully, I will have as much luck in finding the required text(s) for the one remaining class.

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I made a suggestion to my brother today. I suggested that maybe we could convert my livingroom into a bedroom for him, and clear out closet space for his stuff, and we could split my apartment.

Long story - he and sil are getting divorced - have already short saled their house. He's decided to go back to school and become a nurse.

If he can find a nursing program he can get into here in Dallas, he said he'd be willing to talk further about the idea.

With me working 4 days a week at the gym and going to school full time and him going to school full time and working, we probably wouldn't see each other much at all. I very very rarely use my living room for anything, so it wouldn't be much of a sacrifice.

This would cut 3 -4 hundred dollars a month off my expenses - and I would know I'd have someone I get along with pretty well.

Some of you may remember me talking about joining a local running club, oh 6 - 8 months ago or so. I got out of running regularly in November, and didn't really get back into it until about 6 or 7 weeks ago.

Well, for some reason today, I decided that it was time for me to do something where I'd get some social interaction as well as exercise. So... I joined the Dallas Running Club!

It costs $25 for a one-year membership. The membership includes 8 free races a year plus discounts on a bunch of other races, a free runners magazine, and discounts to athletic stores.

After signing up, I noticed that they have a 23 week training program called "Couch to Half-Marathon." Hmmm... interesting. The basic requirement is that you can run/walk 3 miles. Well, I can do that, if you give me 45 minutes or so ...

So .... for $30 ... I signed up!!!! The program is to get you ready for a half-marathon in November.

They even had a pace group for the 14 - 16 minute milers! (Which is where I signed up.)

Once I get my membership packet, I'm going to go get new running shoes. (15% discount.) Mine are getting to the point of needing replacement soon.

So, July 8 I will be registering for my first grad school class in the morning, and attending the first meeting of the Couch to Half program in the evening. Then, on July 13 I will have my first training run in the early morning, and start my first grad class (officially).

I'm hoping that this will give me some kind of a social outlet, as well as help me to stick to an exercise program.

Oh yeah, the first free race coming up is a 5k on July 4 - which I have signed up for. My first race since October 2008!

Woo Hoo! My first class starts in less than 4 weeks!

It's a class about youth graphic novels and comics. It looks like it is going to be quite a doozy - one assignment is to read a graphic novel such as Spiderman 3 and then watch the movie.

But really, it does look like a lot of reading. The graphic novels won't be a problem for me, but the comic books will sure be a different form of reading than I'm used to!

I'm going to have to buy MS Office. To get the discount, I'll have to go on campus and get a student id made. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to do that.

My Fall semester classes will start Aug 22. Two of them are what they call Web Institutes where you go on campus for a few days and attend class from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. then have some social events. Then for the remainder of the semester, you do your coursework online.

I'll also be taking a 3rd class, which is the first one in the School Librarian certification lineup.

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I am going to need to come up with a way to access the internet at the gym, sooner rather than later.

I checked the cost of the At&T usb plan, and it costs $60/month for 5 gb. (It works wherever there is cell phone service.)

I'm not sure if 5gb would be enough for a month, especially if I eliminate my home internet (to save $20/mo.)

I'm hoping to be able to find a less expensive alternative.

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Today my mom and I did some major spring cleaning. She left with more than she came with. I gave her the Macy's gift card to thank her for her help, along with a couple other things. We only managed to finish the kitchen and the bathroom. (Of course, we took a few "breaks".)

She's going to come again next week to help me with my bedroom (i.e. clothes!! and boxes of stuff she unloaded on me when she married stepdad that I still haven't unpacked.)

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I played around with TurboTax last night attempting to figure out what 2009 taxes are going to be like. Umm... I think I might have to figure out how to do estimated taxes/quarterly payments.

My tax bill - even with Lifetime Learning Credit and making about $900/mo from April - Dec, is going to be close to $900!!!! 2010 will be even worse, and that will be with making less than $12k the whole year + the LLCredit - that tax bill will be closer to $1600!!

I guess EIC doesn't work for self-employed/independent contractor income.

The sooner I can cut my housing costs the better!

This Wednesday my mom is going to be coming over and help me do a major decluttering/disposal/cleaning of my place. Since in about 5-6 weeks time, I'm going to have very little free time anymore (yay!) I figured I need to start getting prepped for moving out earlier than later.

So, anyway. I decided to get a bit of a head start on it today, and took everything out of one of my dresser drawers. Only maybe two of my dresser drawers has actual clothing items in them, the other 4 are either empty or just have "stuff" in them.

Well, as I was cleaning it out, there were a bunch of envelopes. One of them was a mypoints envelope, and I felt something hard in it. So I looked in it, and lo and behold - there was a Walmart gift card!!!! Who knows how long it has been in there - but I checked the balance, and it is worth $25!! I can get a lot of food at Walmart for that!

I wonder what else we might unearth on Wednesday.

Woo Hoo!!

I checked my email this afternoon, and what did I find at the top??

"Welcome to the Graduate Program for Library Sciences"

I'm gonna be a librarian, I'm gonna be a librarian!!!!

Yahoo!

So this morning around 4 am, after an already fitful night of little sleep, I was thoroughly and soundly woken by the start of a wicked lightning show. I laid in bed listening to it cracking away, and wondering just how long it would last. It just seemed to keep going and going.

I really don't recall ever experiencing quite a lightning show like this one. It *finally* started to calm down a little after 7, although it still was pouring down rain.

Oh, and the best part? Yesterday I had slightly cracked my car windows while at the dollar theater. A fact I totally forgot about -- until this morning when I got out to my car. Talk about WET! Even better, I had a bunch of library books on the front seat that were ready to be returned. Luckily they seemed to dry out fairly well today, but the car sure is one Musty ol' car.

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Now, why did I have such a fitful sleep before the storm hit last night?

I was reading some different threads on sparkpeople, and saw someone mention a cool youtube exercise video. So, I checked the video out. While there, I saw another video in the related section - demonstrating a move with resistance bands.

Eventually that led me to visiting the Bodyelastics.com website. Even though I kept telling myself to go to bed, I was just so interested I kept on going.

Bodyelastics are resistance bands. But they're not you're normal run of the mill bands. Two of the really neat features (that I was impressed with at least) was how you add the weighted bands to the handles - you just clip them on! I also like how they have each band clearly labeled for how many pounds.

A set runs $45+. Yes, I know I probably could get an adequate set for $20 or so. These just captured my imagination.

What if I could get E to purchase 5 sets of them? Then, what if I could get people to sign up to use them in classes? Maybe do 3 classes a day 4 times a week? I could go over to G3 location where we have the mirrored cardio room. Maybe charge a $25 equipment fee and then $3/class. do a 50/50 split with the gym on class fees.

Eh.. I doubt it would work. Liability issues with my not being a certified trainer probably would prohibit it in the first place. But it was kind of fun to dream and scheme - although it wasn't so fun to not get much if any shut-eye.

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Ooohh! I just got a call from a job posting I responded to on Sitter City. It's two days a week for a total of about 16 hours taking care of a 1 and 3 year old - $11 - 13/hr! If I got this, then I'd reduce my gym time to 20 - 25 hours a week, and still end up making more than I'm making now - plus have fun with kidlets!

Unfortunately I think I sounded kind of like an idiot on the phone. I've always babysat for people who already knew me. I had to admit that I thought I could do pretty well keeping the 3 year old busy, but would probably need to do some research to figure out how to keep the 1 year old busy.

Then she asked me what I was looking for in a family. Ack! I started rambling about how I was looking for something that would last through next August or so because I'm going to be getting my Masters in Library Science.

Ugh! I don't do well with unexpected phone interviews.

But, she did set up a time to meet me -- next Friday afternoon. Hopefully I can make a better impression in person.

Any ideas on how to keep both a 1 yr old and 3 yr old busy at the same time?????

Okay, first off, I have to share this video. Hey Kashi, if you're reading you might just recognize this.

Mall of America "You Make My Dreams Come True"

For those who don't know, Mall of America is in Minnesota. It's one of the largest malls (at one time I think it was the 3rd largest anywhere, but I don't know if that is true anymore.) I remember a number of times my family eating in one of the restaurants lining the ice skating rink and people watching. It's a really neat mall, as malls go.

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Ugh! So I finally *finally* got the final materials mailed out today for grad school. What a fiasco trying to find stamps.

First I had a doctor's appointment this morning (paid cash, got 20% discount.) Then I went to the dollar theater which was on my way home, and saw "Knowing." Ok movie, not great. Next I stopped at Kinko's and printed out the documents I needed to mail. Kinko's didn't have stamps!

So, I went next door to Tom Thumb. They only sold stamps in books. I only wanted two. A book would take me at least 5 years to use up.

Next, I stopped at the Post Office which still was on my way home. Got my envelope stamped (went to counter.)

Then I realized I needed to get a card for Father's Day. Stopped at Walgreens and found a card. Asked about a stamp - again, only sold in books!

Finally, I stopped at another post office which was on my way home. I thought I would get a stamp from the machine in the lobby. I only had cash/change on me because I didn't want to spend more than I had budgeted for the day.

The machine only would take credit or debit cards!!!!! I got in line to go up to the counter. Then I saw a note saying they also only sold stamps in books - plus the line was at least 20 people deep.

Arghh!!!

So, I think I might look into buying a set of forever stamps. That way, it won't matter how long it takes me to use them because they'll still be good. I just will have to be very careful to keep track of them!!

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Update on my gift card on Ebay - it's now up over $21!!! Woo Hoo! I hope my other two do as well.

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Weird, I think the tornado sirens are going off. The weather doesn't seem like tornado weather - it was really hot and humid today.

Speaking of weird. I was looking on msn.com at the local news, and saw that Cleburne (a town about 45 miles South of Dallas or so, and where I lived for a few years) has had three mini earthquakes in the past 7 days. They've never had an earthquake before this past week.

Eta: A few minutes after I posted, it started raining. It now is raining and I think they're may be some small hail thrown into the mix. Rain wasn't even in the forecast earlier today!!

Well, I bit the bullet. After not having sold anything on Ebay since December of 07, I listed a gift card.

I actually was going to list 3 gift cards, but apparently you can only have one listed at a time. They are all $25 gift cards (thanks Mypoints!) for Gap, Macy's and Magazines.com. I originally redeemed the points for them to use as gifts ... but various circumstances happened, and they were never sent.

So, since I am looking for extra money whereever I can find it, I thought I'd see if I would have any luck.

The Gap card already is at $9.99 with one bidder. I really hope it gets bid up to near full value like most of the other cards have,(listed on Ebay for Gap) but I can live with $10.

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Tonight I went with my friend T to see "Angels and Demons." (Thanks to a really sweet gift my dad gave me a few weeks ago - with specific instructions to spend it on fun stuff!) I had really liked "Davinci Code," but even though "Angels and Demons" was kind of predictable in places, I think I liked it better. The ending just had a a whole better feel to it.

When I first decided to go ahead and go full time working at the gym, I *thought* I had it figured out that I would be able to make enough on 36 hours of min wage per week to cover expenses, with the exception of Cobra. However, I must have miscalculated something somewhere, because even without Cobra, I am still coming out at least $80 behind.

I chose to not pay for Cobra, because in September the discounted rate would end, and I'd be out $1500 and still be without insurance (when it went to the 100% rate of $425/month.) So, really, what would be the point?

So I have been watching the gym losing more members than they are gaining. I've seen the last two income reports. It doesn't look good. I'm seriously wondering how much longer E's mom will be willing to throw away $2-3K+/month on gym payroll when it's mostly coming from her inheritance - even if they do consider the gyms to be a "mission."

Yesterday when I got to the gym, E was interviewing a new person. He's also hired on someone just for the summer. Personally, if I was E, I'd be scared to death to hire anyone new. How does he know that these new people would be willing to put up with bouncing paychecks, or having to hold on to a check for two - four weeks before it finally cashes? Stuff like that is liable to tick someone off in a not good way.

So, even before going to the bank three times this week, after being assured the money was there to cash my check, and still coming out with no money, I started to seriously consider what other options may be available.

The pros of this job: Lots of free time for studying once I start classes, one weekday off each week - so only work 4 days a week, ability to exercise a lot.

The cons of this job - overwhelming stifling boredom, minimum wage, never knowing if check is going to cash or not, inability to just deposit check due to knowing it may bounce, Boredom, gym closes for any and every holiday which equals loss of any pay for those days

Like I've said before, I like E. He is a good person, and he really tries to make everybody happy. This fact has made it somewhat easier to deal with the paycheck problem. Today though, after stopping by the bank once again, hoping to come out with money in my hands, only to come out empty handed, I was very very aggravated.

So, I'm really not sure what to do. Should I just stay until my lease is up on my apartment and hope the business is still around until then? That way very little will be going out of savings each month. Then I can quit there, and move into a room wherever I find the least expensive option and live off of savings + whatever odd jobs/temp jobs I can come up with?

Or should I try to find something else entirely?But if I somehow manage to find something else, then what would happen with school????

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. This job is just such a perfect thing for when I start school - it would allow me to go full-steam ahead because I could fill my working hours with studying. But is the aggravation over the money worth it?

I wonder if I switched my day off from Wednesday to Friday, and then signed up with temp agencies. Mondays and Friday's seemed to be the two most assigned days. That way I'd at least have one check I could count on, and could have it direct deposited. Of course,that's assuming that there are any temp day jobs even available right now - unemployment hitting 9.4% I heard today.

Before today, I had been trying to think of what I could do to just bring in an extra $100/month - to fill the gap between the gym income and my outgo. I have some things I could sell via Ebay or Craigslist, but not more than maybe a few hundred dollars worth (if that.)

This is my budget for June:

Rent: 665 (lease ends in Sept.)
Cell: 48
Internet: 20
Gas: 40+
Tolls: 25
Food: 60
Roth: 50 (Can't stop because its under 3k)
Meds: 25

Total: 933
Income: 854

I can't cancel my cell phone because its under contract and its my only phone.

I do manage to make *some* money via the internet (blogs, youdata, surveys, etc) plus its my main means of communication with other people.

Gas and Food ... I'm trying to keep them in those ranges, but with the way gas is going up, I don't know if it is a reasonable amount. Food .. as long as I leave my cards at home except for planned grocery days, I can do that amount.

My July budget looks even grimmer. My first paycheck (once cashed) is minus a normal 12 hours pay due to Memorial Day. Then I have to get my registration renewed for my car. Oh yeah, starting this coming Monday, I will have one hour less a week due to ending my Mondays at the South gym which closes earlier than the #2 gym.

My mom asked me if I was having money troubles. Technically, the answer is no, because I have plenty of savings to fall back on. But realistically, I am living way above my means - with really nowhere to cut.

Yesterday E, the gym manager, asked me if I would open the #2 location, and then go over to the South location until closing. I agreed to do that (usually I stay at #2 until closing.)

My lunch was a couple of frozen items and I was going to be at #2 for a couple hours, so I brought them in and put them in the fridge. When my replacement got there we started talking and I got distracted.

20 minutes down the road I remembered that I had left my lunch at #2.

Normally I could just stop at Taco Bell or something like that and pick something else up. But in order to help myself fight the temptation to buy food I don't need when overtired, I have been leaving all money at home, except for days I know I'll need to get gas or will be going grocery shopping.

I had $1.60 in change which I was planning on using to pay to print some things out at the library. The library that is on my way home from the #2 location, but out of the way for the South location.

So, I decided that I could probably get two things from the vending machine. Not a great meal, nor very healthy, but better than nothing. I bought the first item (pop tarts) and then put the money in for the second item - it stuck!

So, all I had was the first item and no more money.

I called E to ask him if he knew who I should call to get my money back. It went to voicemail. A couple hours later he called me back. When I told him what had happened, he insisted on buying me lunch. At first I resisted, but finally I accepted - cuz, well, I was *hungry*. So he gave me his credit card number.

The pizza was SO good.

It's stuff like this that makes me not get too upset about paychecks taking forever to cash.

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Now I have a question. I feel like I should pay him back. Should I? Or should I just accept it as a nice thing he did for me and move on?

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I had such a fun afternoon today. I spent it at my best friend T's house with her and the kids. We made waffles and had a picnic lunch in their living room while watching "Beverly Hills Chihuahua."

Then the kids were sent outside to play, and T and I watched "Maid of Honor." What was so funny was the kids kept coming in and out, so we had to keep pausing the movie. It ended up taking almost twice as long to watch it.

I have a pair of black knit jersey pants. They were given to be by a co-worker amongst a bunch of other items she was parting with as she lost weight. Of all the items she gave me, these pants have proven to be the most useful.

Unfortunately, there was a small hole in the pants. Fortunately, the hole was in an area where no one was likely to see it unless I sat cross legged, or in other unladylike positions.

I wore them a lot. The hole grew and grew. Finally a couple months ago it was getting big enough to where I wondered if it might be noticeable soon. So, I bought a small sewing kit for $1.

I mentioned it to my mom, and she told me to just throw them out.

I don't think she realized how difficult it is for me to find pants that *work* for me - plus, I really just like these pants.

So, like I mentioned yesterday, I can sometimes, err..., procrastinate. Remember the sewing kit I bought two MONTHS ago?

I opened it today - this morning. I sewed up the hole - which luckily was along the seam line. I turned the pants inside out first -- and it turned out beautifully.

So now I can sit in unladylike positions with these pants on and not worry about giving views of things that are not fit for public viewing.

I was pretty proud of myself - I hadn't ever mended something before, and the last sewing class I had was in 1990.

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Hey, if you ever need a little motivation to do your workout, check out this video: Dog Doing Squats . (Yes, it is again from one of my favorite blogs to get a laugh.)

Wednesday was my day off from the gym. I had lots of ideas of things I'd get done ... but then I opened up my freezer and realized that it really had gotten bad.

My freezer is a hand me down from my parents. It is well over 20 years old and is HUGE. It also has a bum leg which has to be propped up in order to keep the freezer stable and the door sealed tightly.

Last week apartment management came by and did their "inspect electrical plugs" tour. I had unplugged everything I reasonably could - with the exception of the freezer. There was no way I was going to try to move that behemoth and unplug it - especially with not knowing when ..or if .. they'd actually come.

I arrived home one day last week to find a note letting me know they'd been through. They had obviously unplugged both my fridge and my freezer, because both were noticeably out of place.

I noticed that the freezer wasn't totally frozen, but just checked the door. After a few days I realized that when they pulled it out to unplug it, they had pulled the unstable leg off the deck of notecards used to stabilize it.

I procrastinated about doing anything about it.

Then yesterday morning I opened it up and saw that nearly the entire first shelf was full of ice. Ooops.

So I spent the next 7 hours defrosting the monster. It never did get totally defrosted - the roof and first shelf still had bits of ice on it - and that was after taking cups of hot water and a blowdryer to it. But it was close to my bedtime, and I decided it was good enough.

Unfortunately, I did end up having to throw out a good bit of food. Some of it was food in packages that tore while I force freed them from their icy tombs, and other packages were frozen fruit which had um... melted and refroze and melted again.

Somehow everything that was left just barely fit into my upper freezer on my fridge.

It's a good thing I don't have to pay for electricity, because I'd really hate to find out how much kilowatts the freezer is using.

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I *finally* submitted my application for grad school last week and got busy with having all my transcripts sent. Today I received an email telling me that the first glance through my application was complete, and that I met the basic requirements for the main grad school. It now is being sent on to the Library Sciences department.

Now I just have to print out my essay and mail it in along with my Library Sciences application. Then wait and see.

Last month when I transferred my prescription to Tom Thumb to get the $30 gift card, I received a $25 check from Walgreens which would be good if I transferred a prescription to them. So this past weekend I transferred the same prescription back to them and had the check validated.

I debated about using it today or tomorrow, and came **very close to waiting. But, I didn't.

What did I find in my email box when I got home? An email from Walgreen's saying that on Wednesday or Thursday if you spend $25, you get $5 off (using the coupon included in the email.) Argh!!!

I couldn't have used it anyway, since my printer still isn't working. It's just the thought though - if I'd waited one more day and my printer was working, I could have saved another $5, so I'd have gotten $30 worth of merchandise for free.

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Ok, another video from one of my favorite pick me up blogs. And funnily enough, it relates to one of my favorite children's stories, Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McClouskey.

Enjoy!

The Banker and the Ducklings

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Thanks to my book blog, I have received a free children's book! It arrived in my mailbox this weekend, and I read it while I was waiting to go in to my friend's daughters ballet recital. Adorable!

(My friend's daughter is graduating from Kindergarten on Wednesday night. I remember feeding her with a bottle when she was just a few days old! Time flies!)

I'll be reviewing it on my Children's book blog - it should be posted in the next hour or so.

Yay me! Uh... maybe not. So my computer's been giving me problems. Been running slower and slower, and freezing up for no apparent reason. Last night it froze up on me once again. So, I turned it off (the hard turn off - couldn't get the soft turn off to work) and turned it back on. Got the blue screen.

Great.

So, I turned it off again, and then tried to turn it back on into the safe mode. Unfortunately, instead of entering safe mode, I must have hit the key to enter into recovery.

Once in that mode, there was no way to get out of it. I had two choices, a complete reformatting where I'd lose everything, or just a recovery of messed up files.

I chose the second option. Three hours later I found out that it hadn't mattered that I chose the second option -- everything was wiped out anyway.

In a way, this could have been a good thing -- if I had done it by choice. There were a number of text documents I would have liked to have not lost - could have emailed them to myself. Then there were also a bunch of photos I hadn't uploaded to Snapfish yet, which I could have uploaded.

All gone now.

But, the good thing is that my computer seems to be running quite fast again. I just now have to try to find all the links I'd had in my favorites again.

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I got my final payout from today . com this past Tuesday. And then spent it. I used it to hire someone named LadyJava to make my two blogs look more professional/spiffy. She did a fantastic job, and I felt it was worth every penny to not have to spend more hours trying to figure out how to make them look better on my own.

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I found a neat way to make a few extra dollars which doesn't take much time at all. You Data is a website that pays you to look at advertisements. So far I have received two payments via PayPal - the first one for $2.51, and the second one for $.97. They pay every Friday.

To get the most amount of paid ads, enter the least personal info possible. They do have a referral program. If you sign up for the service using my link (above) then I will get up to $1 ($.01 per ad click through the first 100 ads.)

In the past two and half weeks since I signed up with YouData, I have maybe spent 15 minutes on their website (including signing up) and earned $3.62.
No, not a lot of money, but the little bits add up.

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Okay, here is yet another link to one of my favorite pick me up blogs -- This one will appeal to cat lovers and do it yourself'ers alike.

Kitty Whack A Mole

To all the mother's on Saving Advice ..
Happy Mother's Day!

Here is a cute video dedicated to Mom:

To Mom

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I just got back from spending time with my mom. Got my laundry done there too.

We played Monopoly on my stepdad's PS3 -- he won! (By a landslide.)

Today I helped my mom set up her own blog on blogger. Last time I was at her house, I set her up on Facebook.

I think Dave (my stepdad) probably wishes I wasn't introducing her to all these computer places (timewasters ....)

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I got transcript request forms printed out for all the colleges I attended, and will be faxing them tomorrow.

I have definitely passed the deadline for the Spring semester, but have until July 15 for the Fall semester. So, I will (if accepted) be able to start my Masters in January.

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Yesterday I posted about some of my beloved pets on the Living Frugal and Simple blog. Some of you may remember me talking about them from time to time.

If you recall, when I came back from my California trip in January, my Toll Tag was missing. I'd looked and looked for it, but it was nowhere to be found. So, finally I gave up and got another Toll Tag, which I had to pay a $25 replacement fee for.

So on Monday I was to open up at the gym. The gym key wasn't in my purse where I normally put it. A search of my apartment and subsequently my car did not turn it up. In the end, I had to call security to let me in. (Subsequently, I found it in my makeup bag!)

While searching for the gym key, lo and behold I found the Toll Tag! It was in an area of my car that I was *sure* I'd checked carefully before.

So, today on my one weekday away from the gym, I trouped over to the Toll Tag place and turned it in. They in turn gave me a $25 credit on my account, which is roughly 4 weeks of tolls.

Yay!

----- *Warning - The following is a bit of a ramble, bit of whiny, bit of long.

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I think I mentioned a few weeks ago how one of the gym regulars gave me a job posting for an admin asst who also needed to be able to translate Spanish/English. I let him know of course, that that wasn't in my skill zone.

Well, yesterday he came by at least 4 times, as well as calling me a couple times -- with two new job postings. One was in the insurance part of his company (needing someone with math and analytical skills... cough...cough...) and the other was in the engineer part.

I'm torn. Should I attempt to go for either of these positons or not? The money, no question about it, would be significantly better - and I can only guess about the benefits. But.. both of these are full-time/permanent positions.

If, on the off chance I was offered either one, then I would have to do school one-class at a time. Which means it would take two or more years to complete my degree. And, at some point I would have to quit the job in order to do my practicum.

On the other hand, my job at the gym offers the sole benefit of plenty of time for studying, and if needed, I could just cut back on my hours a little, or rearrange my schedule when it's time for the practicum.

The other thing is, that it may be that I won't be able to start school until January. I *may* have missed the deadline for applying for the Fall semester, let alone the summer sessions. (The deadline, as far as I can tell, was March 1.)

So, what I'm trying to figure out is, should I tell him thanks for looking out for me on these job opps, but I'm ok with where I'm at for now. Or, should I go ahead and see what happens ... then if I get the job, it'd take me that much longer to finish school, or maybe I'd just not go back to school at all....

I think the main reason I'm having a conundrum about this is the fact that this person is personally recommending me.

As far at the gym job and payment issues .. E told me that as a result of his mom's inheritance (parents dying recently) his parents are infusing the business with enough to ensure payroll for a long, long time.

It probably is a moot issue anyway. The one position wants someone with math skills, and the other wants someone with *advanced* powerpoint skills. I don't fit well into either needed skill set. Yes, I could learn powerpoint, but with the economy and how many are out there looking, they probably will have 100 people who already have everything they're looking for already - no learning curve needed.

But then my next thought is, what if I do all the schooling to be a librarian, and can't get a job as one? ARggh!

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Like BA posted the other day, about feeling blah. I think that's kind of what I'm feeling too. It's so hard to get myself motivated to do anything. And the few things I manage to make myself do, seem pretty futile.

Prime example -- The last three weeks I've ran on the treadmill 2 x a week. But, I have also now gone slightly past my highest weight ever.

It's really, really hard for me to find enough motivation to post to my new blogs. I was in the middle of a series on my frugalton blog when the whole she-bang with today .. com went down which caused me to essentially stop posting on the today blogs. But now on my new ones, I'm finding it really hard to pick up the rhythm again - especially on the frugal blog. I'd like to pick back up on my series, but feel like I need to backtrack a bit. But most of the people who'd follow me there will have already read what I said previously, so even with a good bit of rewriting, it'll be a rehash.

Part of me just wants to quit on both of those blogs. Maybe if I had a good internet connection at the gym, so had more internet connected time to work on them... because the past few weeks, the only time I have to work on them is Wednesdays, the evenings, and the weekends - and its taking a lot of that time.


I think part of it may be that I'm feeling really, really alone. And I'm really, really missing an ex. Have even thought about emailing him just to say hi.

Recently a different ex contacted me and made me an offer ("friends") - which I refused at the time -- but I sometimes sort of wonder if it wouldn't be such a horrible thing after all.

The one really good thing about maybe getting an office job would be being around people most of the day again. But, then again, it isn't necessarily a good thing.
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Anyway, if you've managed to sludge through the above ... I interviewed the author of Sate of Wilderness and State of Quarries (two books I reviewed recently) and that interview is up on Children's books for storytime.

On the frugal blog I posted on some ideas for mother's day.

Last night I talked to my dad for awhile. He told me I really should check my mail. Unfortunately, it was raining cats and dogs with a good bit of lightning thrown in for good measure. So, I didn't get to the mailbox till this morning.

In the mail was a letter from my dad, and an envelope from my grandma. In the letter from my dad was a check for $100 -- for FUN not Savings -- was clearly specified on it. Heh, he knows me so well. It was totally unexpected and so sweet of him.

In the envelope from my grandma was a dvd of Les Meserables (the one with Liam Neeson.) Nice! She and I saw the traveling broadway production of it in San Antonio in 1996??

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I spent a good portion of my evening yesterday trying to figure out how to get comment luv off my other blog. Comment luv is this add on that is supposed to make it so that when a person leaves a comment along with the url to their own blog, then a link to their latest post shows up. Well, not only have I not been able to get it to function like that, I also can't figure out what feed the comments are on --- this is a problem because my recent comments widget and my top posts/most popular posts widget can't work either!

Never did figure out how to get it off, but did end up switching to a totally new template/design. I also made my own header for it. Not completely sure I like it just yet. I may need to do a bit more tweaking of the header.

I posted about my Tom Thumb shopping trip on Living Frugal and Simple.

And on Children's Books for Storytime I posted a review of Mandie and the Secret Tunnel. A great children's mystery book (Christian fiction.)

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I feel bad for E, the gym manager. Three weeks ago his grandfather died. Then on Friday his grandmother died. He asked me to call all the gym workers and let them know that the paychecks wouldn't be ready until Wednesday. One person I called and told this to was so callous - saying 'it's always something.'

While that may be true, the poor guy has lost both of his grandparents in less than a months time!

This same person told me that he refuses to do anything other than sit and watch the gym, do towels, etc. If E wanted him to make phone calls to people regarding invoices due, or call other gym workers on various issues, or update the waiver file, he'd have to pay him extra.

Me on the other hand, sees how much E has to do and how overloaded he is. I see how much free time I have while at the gym, and for two reasons: 1. To help E out; and 2. Hope to help E be more ...errr.. organized -- have volunteered to do anything I can to help lighten his load. (which he has taken me up on -- and I still have plenty of time on my hands!)

I hope you all don't get tired of me posting links to animal videos. Just some of the ones on this particular blog are SO good.
And I'd like to think that this video in particular has applications to our financial life - especially those of you who are still struggling to pay off your debts.

Just like the baby squirrel in this video, we all have obstacles to achieving our financial goals. We may have people in our lives that we look up to and attempt to copy what they do to succeed. But even doing that isn't always enough. Sometimes, we may need even more help than just that one person we look up to. Maybe the obstacle is just too big for the financial place we are in right now, and our legs just aren't strong enough to get over it.

Don't give up. Any obstacle can be overcome eventually with persistance and maybe a little help from a friend.

*warning - may want a tissue handy

Baby Squirrel and Wall

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I had a lovely lunch at IHOP today.

They were pretty slow. I felt kind of bad for my waitress because her manager was standing/sitting in my area the whole time. It did kind of work out for me though, because there was no problem getting exactly what I wanted: one garden stuffed crepe and one nutella crepe.

Some places refuse to do partial orders like that, and others do it with no problem. I'm glad today's place gave me no problem with it.

So yesterday afternoon I checked my mail. And guess what was in it??? I bet you'll never guess. Oh, ok. Maybe you did.

My debit card for unemployment!

Now all I have to do is go to the bank tomorrow and get that money safely into my checking account. Woo Hoo!

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Something else in the mail which made me laugh, although it also was kind of a reminder of what the economy is like right now.

Walgreen's sent me a check for $25 for a transferred prescription. What prompted this? My transferring a prescription to Tom Thumb to get their gift card. LOL!

So, once I'm ready to refill the prescription again, I guess I'll just have to find $25 worth of Walgreens stuff to buy. (You have to use the whole $25 at one time, no cash back.)

Thanks Tom Thumb and Walgreen's!
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I was contacted a few weeks ago by someone asking if I'd review a couple of books for their publishing company on my book blog. I let the person know that I wouldlove to, but that I would be moving soon to a new blog.

Long story short, the person who contacted me is an artist/illustrator. She offered to create a header for my new blog.

I managed (after nearly 3 hours of messing with it) to get it added last night.

I really hope you check it out - she did a beautiful job and I just love it!

Childrens Books For Storytime

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I've subscribed to the Holy Cuteness blog, and tonight when I opened up my email I found a link to the latest post, and thought I just HAD to share it with you.

Especially for cat lovers:

Cat Needs Boxhab

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Tomorrow is my one weekday off, so I will be catching up on my internet time, and also probably go and do my celebratory IHOP meal.

Hope all is well with ya'll!

Well this may or may not surprise you, but I still haven't received my Chase debit card yet. So much for it arriving by the 23rd. Ugh.

Maybe it'll be in tomorrows mail. I wouldn't be able to get to the bank until Wednesday anyway.

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I've added my two new blogs to my sidebar. They're still not quite the way I want them, but they're close enough to where I'm ready to share and seek any suggestions.

Living Frugal and Simple


Children's Books for Storytime and Beyond

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Yesterday after church I had lunch with some friends and then spent the afternoon with them chatting. One of the other guests is a financial planner. He was saying that he advises all his clients to be debt free, have two months expenses in cash, and 10 months expenses in silver coins. He also believes that the dollar is going to completely tank by the beginning of next year, and that the US is not going to remain divided by states, but be divided into ten districts.

I thought he was a bit off (more than a bit really) with all that he was saying, but then later I was talking to my dad and he said that he'd heard some similar notions.

This guy also was saying that he and his family have a one-year supply of food on hand, and he really urges everyone to start their own garden.

I'm not really sure what to think about all that. I don't believe that our media presents us with all the facts, and the ones they do give us are usually slanted to one end or another. So just because this info isn't in the mainstream media, I don't think that means much.

As far as if it'll really happen or not? Who knows. I don't see that there really is much we can really do about it, other than get out of debt as quickly as possible and maybe have backup plans.

I'm out of debt, but as far as a backup plan .. if the dollar fails ... then I have no clue, because what good will all my savings be then?

Oh yeah, and then of course there is the swine flu which has already killed people in Mexico - people my age - and has already reached the US, including Texas.

Oohh! I just noticed the search button added to the sidebar. I wonder how long thats been there?

Anywho... I posted an update on my frugalton blog about unemployment update and earth day.

I have two new blogs set up on blogger and am working on making them pretty and getting some content up, then I'll start promoting them.

E (gym manager) is trying to work out a deal with a company in the office building the gym is in to let us (namely me) be able to use their internet signal. I *really* hope this works out, cuz 40 hours a week with little human interaction and a tv set to Fox news AND no internet? Yech! and double Yech!

So, today is my day off from the gym, which is why I actually am having time to get anything done (catching up on blogs, etc.)

I checked my mail tonight and no debit card. So I guess they have till tomorrow (the 23rd) before I have room to start complaining. ;D I do hope it comes tomorrow so after work on Friday I can transfer it.

My mom is heading off tomorrow for her 40th High School reunion. Class of 69. She is really nervous, but is also excited because her sister lives near the high school, and she hasn't seen her sister in probably 9 years or more.

I checked my unemployment account last night, and was VERY happy. It shows that I've been sent a payment for each of the weeks that I made a claim, and that I should receive my debit card by April 23.

Woo Hoo!

I'll be even happier once I have the debit card and transfer the funds to my checking account - because then NO MoRE dealings with UI!
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I'm torn. The company where I have my two blogs at has demoted a majority of the bloggers from pay per post to just pay per unique visit (me included.) A lot of people posted on the forum expressing their disappointment. A good number expressed that they may not post as often on their blog. From what I have gathered so far, everyone who expressed even a hint of taking a bit of a break from posting, or cutting back on how often they'll post, has been locked out from their accounts.

This means that they no longer are able to use their blogs nor earn money from visitors.

I feel strongly that this was very very very wrong, and don't know that I wish to continue with my blogs there. But ... I've put a lot of time and energy into both the frugal and storytime blogs and really don't relish the idea of starting over somewhere else.

The other thing is, is that I have two referrals - people who clicked on a 'paid to blog' ad from my site. If I leave before they become qualified referrals (30 posts) then I lose the one-time referral fees.

I'm just not sure what to do.

Leave and start over somewhere else - which means losing at least $10 plus having to figure out a new system.

or

Stay and keep my mouth shut about what I think about how they treated their loyal bloggers, and maybe get the $5-10 eventually, and not have to learn a new system.

Well, it seems as though the lady I spoke with on Friday actually did send an expedite email. Today I got a call from a different lady, who I assume is an investigator, and she asked me some questions to verify information. From what she said, it sounds as though she's going to be approving my claim. Now I just have to wait 7 - 10 business days to get my debit card, and I'll finally have my money!!

Just in time for me to stop making any claims. (Technically, as long as I'm working less than 40 hours at min wage, I can still make claims - but it really isn't worth the hassle IMO.)

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I think one of the perks of working at the gym may have gone away -- having internet available. On Monday when I got back from my interview, I couldn't log on, then again yesterday, and yet again today. There are a good number of the locked networks, but the unlocked ones are having a really small signal strength or none at all.

E mentioned that there is some kind of singal booster thing I can buy for around $30. If this keeps up, I may have to look into that, because as much as I love to read, I do like to keep informed of what's going on in the world during the day. (i.e. check email and surf net.)

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Had a real funny today when I was driving home from the gym. I passed through two different "tea party" groups. As I was passing through the first one, I had to do a double take --- one of the participants was my old manager! (He is pretty um... distinctive/hard to miss even in a crowd.) I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, because his income is well above the level where the taxes are supposed to increase.

It was just really weird to actually recognize someone in a protest. I wonder if he participated in the protest marches of the 60's too? Too bad I can't ask him, that could've been a fun conversation.

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I cut out a few coupons that are useful - mostly for convenience items, but with the coupons they should be cheap enough to get. I was planning on planning out my Tom Thumb shopping trip today ($30 gift card; $5/$50 coupon) but didn't have the updated sales flier, and of course didn't have access to the internet.

I did get a flier today though -- it said "get a $10 coupon off your next order for every $30 you spend on participating products." Hmm.... So, if I finagle it right, I'll be able to pay $15 for $50+ of groceries, plus get a $10 coupon for my next visit. Now I just need to get a list of the participating products to see if it is worthwhile for me to try.

Yep. I had an interview yesterday afternoon. All I had was an address for the company - no phone number. I looked it up on mapquest and it looked fairly simple to get to ... What mapquest didn't tell me, was that the road this place was located on was one of those business park roads -- the kind with very little signage if you're coming from the opposite direction.

So .. I finally found it, 30 minutes late. I figured since I'd found it, may as well see what happens. I had to wait another 30 minutes because the interviewer(s) were with someone else. The ladies (3) were all very nice and understanding -- but it was pretty obvious they were just talking to me as a courtesy.

Oh well. I'm not sure I would've liked that job anyway.

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Still waiting to hear if there's been any movement on the unemployment since I finally heard from someone there on Friday. Supposedly the lady was going to mark an "urgent" email to whomever was in charge. We'll see.

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Go me! I actually ran a mile on the treadmill yesterday! The first real exercise I've done since .... er... February?

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I posted a recipe on the frugal blog about Danish Aebleskiver's If you're looking for a fun family treat, you might want to check it out.

(Sunday's post was on Aebleskiver's, but there's been more posts since then.)

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Not much else to report really.

Well, the third time must have been the charm, because I got a phone call today from the UI people!! The lady I spoke with said it was *still* stuck in the investigation mode, and she wasn't sure why. She told me she'd put a bee in their bonnet to get it taken care of ASAP. So . . we'll see where it goes from here.

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I got another phone call today! From a Craigslist job posting I responded to several weeks ago for a data entry job. It'd be full-time w/benefits and about $2.50/hr less than my former job. But . . it is closer driving distance -- and, well, it's a job! with medical paid! I just might be able to put a little in savings again!

So, I have an interview with them on Monday - it's a group interview. Not sure if that means they'll be interviewing several people at once, or if there'll be more than one interviewer in the room.

I wish I still had the job posting description for it.

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Today I wrote a post about More Ways To Reduce Your Debt

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Yesterday the lady who is leaving the gym asked me if I'd come in a couple hours earlier than I was supposed to, so she could take off early on her last day. I told her no problem. So, I showed up a bit before 1p.m. and found the gym locked up and dark. What?! I opened it up and went inside, and found everything like I'd left it last night.

So, I called E and asked him if we were closed for Good Friday - the only thing I could think of. He said that we were, and he was sorry he hadn't let me know. To make up for my time and gas, he told me to put $25 on my time card. Pretty fair I thought.

I also asked him if there was anything I could do to help ease his hectic schedule (which is part of the reason he's so confounded forgetful about so many things!) He told me that he has a binder of over 600 waivers that need to be gone through and checked - to see if any of those people are still around and if there's anyway to talk them in to coming back for a membership. If the job on Monday doesn't work out, then I'll start calling those people from the waivers - if any of them join back up, then I'll get a referral fee from them.

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I bought some groceries at Walmart today -- I didn't go to Tom Thumb yet because I want to plan that trip out carefully. While at Walmart I picked up last Sunday's paper with the bunches of coupon inserts. I'm hoping there'll be a few that'll be useful.

The Sunday paper is now up to $3!!! I was quite taken aback - it used to be you could get a double edition (early edition + normal edition) for $2. I really hope there's at least $3 worth of coupons I can use in the paper.