After work today I stopped by the apartment office and paid my rent for May, then picked up my mail and headed over to the library. I had about 12 books on hold that needed to be picked up.

The library isn't that far from Kroger's, so I decided to go ahead and do my shopping today since the milk I had was sour. I knew I had $15 left in my grocery budget, so I used my handy dandy calculator to keep track of my spending.

I bought peanut butter, a bag of broccoli and carrot shreds (to add to my spinach I bought last week for a "salad" I'll actually eat), 3 Totiono's frozen pizzas, milk, 2 cans of veggie baked beans, a box of lasagna (sp?), Morningstar Stripples and 2 treats. I didn't have coupons for any of the items unfortunately, and my total was $15.48.

Now I have finished off my grocery budget for April. When I got home, I took a look at my mail and saw the circular for Albertson's. To my dismay I saw that they have Green Giant boxed frozen veggies 10 for $10, and they have all of the Kellog's Cereals on a 10 for $15 sale. I love the GG veggies because they are so easy, and $1/box is about as good as it gets (unless I had a coupon - which there is one available, but no way I could get it before the end of the sale!) and one of my all-time favorite cereals is Kellog's Frosted Mini-Wheats.

So, I'm torn. Do I go to Albertson's on Sunday and spend $20 - 25 on cereal and GG vegies ...... or do I strictly tell myself that Sunday is still April, and my grocery budget is finished for April?? Or .... do I say that I'll just take the money from my May grocery budget, since the food wouldn't be eaten til at least May 1 anyway??

In the mail I also got my HSBC ATM card. The first one they sent me never arrived, so I called to make sure that this one was a valid card. I found out that it was. Before the person let me go, he asked if I would be interested in opening up a free checking account which could be linked to my savings account. I asked him a number of questions, such as was it really free - what the min. balance was, etc. He satisfied me that there was no catch. So, I decided to go ahead and open a checking account with them. This will give me a couple advantadges. 1: Instead of an ATM card, I will have a Mastercard Debit card. 2: Since I will have a checking account with them, I can sign up for Bill Pay, which then qualifies me for "Easy View". Easy View is a service where you are able to have a one page accounting of all your financial accounts, plus a whole lot more.

My plan is to keep my money in the Savings until I need it. Then, when I need it, all I have to do is call them, and they will transfer my money in *real time* to my checking account. This way the money can grow until the last possible moment I need to use it. (This money is my Car Repair money, etc., so doesn't need to be accessed very often.)

I would like to really commend HSBC on their wonderful Customer Service. Yes, the process of opening an account is very long-winded, but in the end, I think it is all worthwhile.

Keeping It Frugal,
Laura