This morning I made Cottage Cheese Oatmeal Banana Pancakes. Besides the obvious ingredients, I added flaxseed, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and chocolate flavored protein powder. My batter made 16 1/4 cup pancakes and were high in protein, but low in fat.

Best of all, I was able to freeze 12 of them for 3 more Sunday morning breakfasts (nice and easy ones!) *If you're interested in actual measurements, let me know.

--

At the end of May I had disconnected my land line and then gotten dry loop DSL. This apparentally caused my previously combined bill to be uncombined.

Last week I got a "Final Bill" from AT&T that was due upon receipt. So I went ahead and paid it, thinking I was done for July.

Nope. Today I got a bill from AT&T wireless due July 11. I called to find out what was going on. The wireless part of At&T charges a month in advance. When my bill was combined, I guess the parent AT&T company paid the Wireless part, then billed me.

The end game is that instead of having lower phone expenditures this month, I'm having an extra months cell phone bill + activation fee!

Now I'm just waiting to see how I'll get billed for my dry loop - and if I'll have to pay in "advance" for them too. Ugh!

--

I was comparing my credit card statement (online) and my Ing account today.

I have three accounts other than a couple sinking funds - which I use each month. One is my Orange Checking which I have direct deposit each month. Then I have my "Coming Month" account which is where I transfer my paycheck to each Friday from Orange. Then I have my Credit Card Payment account which is where I transfer whatever the balance is at the end of my last statement, then transfer it to Orange to pay the card off in full by the due date. (The idea is to get as much interest as possible before departing the money. The interest from all my ING accounts gets transfered to my ING Downpayment account.)

Well, this past month I had a number of expenses that just kind of kept on coming. This was of course after my trip to CA, where I spent more than I really should've.

I had to replace my cell phone, then I bought a new DSL router, then I bought two tickets for the Beach Boys concert in September (mom's birthday), then I signed up at this website I'd been thinking about for over a year, then I bought a Brita filter + filter replacements from drugstore.com, then I mail-ordered a 3-month supply of one of my meds (saved $20). . . . etc. etc. etc.

Some of the things on that list are things that were unavoidable. Some, I should have just waited on or thought about a little longer, some are things that will save me money in the long run.

Long story short, this month, after subtracting the total amount of what is on my credit card from what I have in ING, I officially no longer have a One-month buffer. (I could transfer it from savings (EF/Car Fund), but I DON"T want to touch it!)

This means that for July and August, I am going to really have to watch my spending very carefully so that I can get my buffer back ASAP! I might be getting a second job in August, so that will help a bit - but I also plan to see if I have anything I can sell.

(P.S. The credit card will be paid in full both this month, as well as the coming month. I'm just going to have to use some of my July income to pay it instead of using June's income.)

---Anyone know Sam's club policy on how long they'll take an unopened item back w/receipt??

I made it into DFW Saturday night right abou t 10 p.m.

I had a really great time in CA. There really wasn't any downsides, but I would say my two biggest highlights was getting to ride a couple of carnival rides with my brother, and having the chance to get to really know my sister in law.

I've spent the better part of three hours today updating YNAB. I really was in denial this month of my spending - I hadn't entered ANYTHING since May 6. Ooops!

My grandma and aunt each gave me enough money that completely covered my airfare and shuttle trips for the trip to my grandma's house, then back to my brother's house. That helped out a great deal.

One really big thing that came out of my trip --- the CA family is *really* wanting me to move out there -- specifically to Loma Linda. I'm considering it.

There's a number of things that would have to happen for me to go. The first has to do with a particular situation with a family member here. The second would be that I would have a job with much better pay and comparable benefits lined up *before* going.

I'd possibly be sharing a house with my grandma and dad -- with the intention to save most of my income for two years and purchase a home of my own.

I'm working on a pro and con list for this idea. In another post I may share some of my list and see what ya'll think.

--
My computer is driving me nuts. Whenever I click on one of those click boxes I have to double check that it actually got checked. Also, I can't sign in to HSBC because when I try to do the security key my mouse keeps double clicking the letters! I've ran a spyware and a virus scan, and am not sure what else to do!

Phone Musings:
I checked my latest phone bill yesterday. I saw that I had again been charged the $25 price for my DSL.

Last month I had called to find out why it had gone up ($5). They'd told me a notice had gone out that all the levels would be going up. So I had asked what I could do to bring the price down - was there any kind of contract, etc? Nope. So then they let me know that I *could* go down one level to the very basic DSL and save $5. Told them to go ahead and do that!

So yesterday I called them again to find out why I was still being charged the higher price. I was told that I had made the change two days after the end of the previous billing cycle, but I'd get a credit in my next cycle. I again asked if there was anyway for me to get a better deal - and was again told no.

So, I asked how much would it be to go to dry loop DSL (no landline). I was told it would be the same price - $20/mo -- but that I would lose my $5/mo discount for having the landline bundled with DSL.

I decided to go ahead with the dry loop DSL. With landline DSL I pay $20/mo + $6/mo measured landline + ~$15/mo taxes and fees for landline service. So, I figure that I'll save ~$21 - $5 discount = $16/mo by going to dry loop.

I am going to have to either get my Linkysys wireless router working again, or buy a new router/modem combo so I can continue to get updates for my Tivo. All I need for my Linkysys I think is the installation CD (don't know where it is) and to make sure I have all the necessary cables to connect to my modem.

I think I'll ask my stepdad if he knows how to set up the wireless router and encrypt it so all my neighbors can't use it. Also, need to make sure I can let my Tivo connect to it.

The dryloop won't start till the 26th, so if it takes a few weeks for me to get it figured out, it won't kill me - since there aren't any must see shows to record in June.

Food Musings:
I think I am going to have to go to a cash basis only for food. I continually am spending way too much money on food/groceries - buying things I really shouldn't be buying in the first place.

I'm not going to start this this month, due to my upcoming trip. But for June I believe what I'm going to start doing is do my beginning of the month shopping stock up (generally $40 - 50) trip via credit card. Then I'll take out $60 cash for the remainder of the month. My credit card will be left at home, along with my debit cards - unless I know I'll be needing it to fill up with gas or some other planned expenditure.

I will lose out on the points I could earn on my credit card for those purchases - but it would only be 60 points per month lost. Much better to lose those 60 points per month, and then have the possibility of having the unwisely spent grocery money to be sent to savings and not the hips!

Reading musing:
I've always enjoyed James Patterson's books. Until recently though, I hadn't realized just how many books he had written - and how many of them I haven't read. I am planning on rectifying that glaring mistake as quickly as my library card allows me to.

Two books of his I read recently - which I couldn't put down - "Seventh Heaven" and "Beach Road."

I also have found that the books that have the "Red Dress" emblem on them are quite enjoyable, light, fluffy reading. But I'd found them more by trial and error at the library. This weekend however I googled that term, and found a website listing all the authors of those types of books. Again, my library card is getting a workout.

Vacation/Work musings:
Only 4 1/2 workdays till I get on the plane and head off to sunny San Francisco. I really hope I have more energy by then than I do right now.

There has been quite a lull as far as things for me to do at work this past week. Which has been good in a way, seeing as though I'm still not feeling great. But I do hope things pick up a bit this coming week. I hate feeling like there really isn't much reason for me to be there - doesn't make for a very good feeling of job security.

I was quite annoyed to find out that the hotel I'll be staying at *charges* $15/day for the use of their fitness facilities. It didn't say whether the pool was included in that or not. They also charge $15 to have a small fridge in the room. Ugh! Guess I'll be sticking with lots of walking for my exercise while in SF.

Other musings:
I really need to do a trash run, and run the dishwasher. It is so easy to let some things just kind of slide when its just you.

I was talking with a friend of mine who is going through a divorce. She and her soon to be ex-husband have the arrangement of having their two boys (5 and 11) one week on, one week off. The dad mainly is able to do his work out of his house. The mom works away 8-5 plus an hour commute each way. The boys are both going to be in some kind of summer camp for 5 different weeks. This leaves her with 4 weeks to find care for them.

She has three options: 1) An activity loaded daycare type place $190x2 per week; 2) A run of the mill day care place $110x2 per week; or 3) Her soon to be ex has offered to watch them during the day.

When *I* look at the options, I personally would go for #3! But she doesn't want to go for option #3 because ... "It's not fair! It's my week to have the boys and he'll get to see them all day! I'll only get to see them for a few hours between getting off work and putting them to bed."

I SO badly wanted to point out that no matter which option she went with, she STILL would only be seeing them for a few hours a day! But, I think she already realized the fallacy of her complaint - but isn't willing to give in. So, she's talking about putting the 5 yo in the day camp, and letting the 11 yo be home alone.

Not having kids of my own, I am keeping my mouth clamped shut.

All I can say is UGH! I HAVE to reign in my grocery spending!



Rent: Self Exp.

Renter's Insurance: Sinking Account

Charity: Pledged amount

Groceries: I have done extremely poorly this month with not giving into cravings, etc. Giving into my cravings + not exercising due to having an upper respriatory infection most of this month equaled 5 lbs weight gain. NOT GOOD!

Eating Out: This includes a trip I took with my best friend and her daughter - she paid for the entrance fees, so I treated us to drinks. Also included is a meal I took my dad out for to thank him for his time and effort on getting my car fixed (from when I backed into a pipe sticking out the front of a truck.) Also, I went out to IHOP on my own just for a treat.

Doctor: This is two copays -- first one was diagnoised with an ear infection and sinus infection - second one was dxd with upper resp. infection. Fun.

Prescriptions/OTC: Reg meds + antibiotics/antihistimines etc.

Misc: IRS, Library Fines, and printer ink.

Toiletries: I may end up taking back two of the items in this category because the third item is something that can replace them permenantly. If you know what a keeper is, then you'll figure out what I'm talking about.

Fitness: Remainder of Personal Training fee, registration fees for two 5k races (one of which was supposed to be today, but due to sickness, am not doing).

Entertainment: Treated my dad to a $1 movie (Fool's Gold - good movie). Bought a book.

Car Insurance: Six-month premium

Gas: This was a lot more than usual - due to my dad and I trading vehicles while he took my car to Wayne's to get the rear bumper part fixed - he filled up my car once (I'd given him my credit card) and then I filled up his vehicle. Plus I'd already had to fill my car a 3rd time this month BEFORE we'd traded vehicles. UGH!

Car Repairs/etc: While dad had my car, he took it in for an oil change.

Tolls: Ugh.

Cable: Would really like to get rid of this - just have to decide if I'm willing to let go of my Tivo as well.

Phone/Internet: After a bunch of deductions due to spam text messages plus the phone ordeal with my ds neighbors.

Extra Income:

Carpool: Even though most of one week she didn't ride with me - due to both of us being sick, she still paid me like normal.

Giftcards: I cashed in some of my mypoints for a $50 CVS giftcard (it was cheaper than a Walgreens giftcard) so will be able to get 3 months worth of my meds for FREE (still have the $30 gift card from transferring prescriptions).

Other Income: I did a babysitting job, plus I got a $5 bill in the mail as an incentive to complete an extra survey.

Interest Income: My HSBC interest was down this month - due to the reduced rate and the daily balance being lower. But I moved most of my funds in ING to a savings account, then just transfered it as needed to checking. So, I earned a good bit more interest there.

MAY:

This coming month I had to adjust my budget alot due to overspending in a lot of categories in April. However, I'm still sending a good amount to long term savings, and have a good amount to spend on my vacation.

My vacation is starting to look like it is going to cost me a pretty penny - even though the airfare is free and I have 3 nights in a hotel free + probably free accomondations the remainder of the time. I have the possibility of using my grandma's extra car to get around - but that means a lot of gas money. I also am having to figure out how I'm going to get to the airport, and then back -- both here at home and when I'm out in CA.

I guess this is why I only do this once in a great while!

Yesterday marked the end of the 20 week fitness challenge I was participating in at my church. I succeeded in losing 10% of my starting weight. I won't know where this puts me in terms of prize money ($200) until this coming Saturday. Whether I win or not though, I am still quite happy about the 10%.

I also got my haircut yesterday afternoon. I was going to go for 10 inches to be able to make another donation to Locks of Love, but in the end only did 6 inches. Another 4 inches would've just been too short for me.

A coworker of mine also got her hair cut this weekend. She came out much better than I did financially -- she had a coupon that made her cut only cost $5! I guess she really has listened to me ramble on and on about saving money.

This afternoon I had my Personal Fitness Assessment Reevaluation. I started training with Eric in the middle of October, 2007. The two big numbers that changed are my RHR (resting heart rate) and the 3 minute step test.

In October, my RHR was 72. Today, my RHR was 53. According to Eric, Lance Armstrong's RHR is 48.

In October, after completing the 3-minute step test, my HR was 131. Today, my HR was 117.

I also did a 12 minute run today - which I had not done in October. I completed 1 mile in 12 minutes.

Compare that to January 07 when I did a 12 minute walk/run fitness test and had to walk at least half of it.

Now, the strength numbers did not increase much to speak of (leg press went from 315 to 330, but otherwise no changes.)

So, overall I think that the time and money I have spent on hiring Eric as my PT, as well as using the gym has been more than worthwhile.

I definitely want to spend some extra focus on the strength training though. I really should have improved more in strength . . . and my body fat % only went down 3% from October.

I found this nifty print screen device, and am about to test it out here.



Yay! It worked.

Ok, lets take a look at this month.

Rent: Last month at this rate.

Renter's Insurance: This is going into a sinking fund - so not really spent.

Charity: I only did my pledge this month. Next month I am probably going to start sponsoring a child through Children's International - maybe two.

Groceries: I totally and completely blew my grocery budget this month. But thanks to the nifty YNAB tool where you can see all your spending transactions for a category, I can see that approximately $90 of this spending are for things that will last me through the end of May, and one item which will probably last me through July.

Laundry: Went to a different laundromat. Their dryers were a minimum of $1.25. So 3 loads wash, and then put them all in one dryer load (added a quarter.)

Clothing: Bought a new pair of pants, a couple tops, along with some needed necessaries from Ebay.

Meds: The actual spent is less due to the $25 gift card. Just my allergy med and other normal med.

Haircare: I had six-inches cut at Fanatastic Sam's today. It was 25 for the cut, plus an extra $5 for the length. Then I gave the stylist a $6 tip. Before my CA trip I want to get highlights. Now that my hair is a bit shorter, hopefully the highlights will cost less.

Misc: I am grandfathered in the Delphi Advanced member plan. It is another forum I frequent often. This is the yearly subscription fee. If I let it expire on me, my cheapest option would be $39.95 a year for a lot of stuff I wouldn't even use.

Fitness: $250 is part of the Personal Training session; $18 is for the Sportbrain pedometer.

Car Insurance: This wasn't really spent this month - it's more just an accounting thing for me.

Gas: Only 2 fill ups this month! Yay!

Tolls: Ugh

Cable: Back to normal.

Netflix: I did go ahead and put this on hold. I may end up just canceling it altogether, time will tell.

Phone/Int: This bill was before all the phone tapping mess.

Earnings:

Carpool: My rider was out sick one week.

Giftcards: My CVS giftcard - used to pay for prescription.

Reimbursements: $298 from Root Canal; $68 from Geico.

Interest Income: $100 - Chase Account Bonus; $26.54 from ING, HSBC and TDAmeritrade.

About a month ago or so I got on the ball and got my defensive driving certificate number from the place I took it at and called it into Geico for the 10% discount.

I'd already paid the 6-month premium upfront, so on my account it showed as a credit. I figured that they would just take it off my next six-month premium. Nope.

Last night I got in the mail SEVEN of those fold and tear envelopes from Geico.
All of them contained a check.

Each envelope cost them $3.12 to mail - or a total of $21.84.

5 of the checks were for $3.17, 1 check for $3.15, and one for $49.00 (a total of $68.)

I really wish I knew what their reasoning was for doing it this way!

-----

I made a mistake this week that cost me $3.00. A few weeks ago I opened up a Chase checking account (mainly for the opening bonus.) I had deposited a number of checks into it, as well as taking out enough cash to pay the remainder of my PT session.

Somehow though, I ended up making TWO transfer requests via ING from this checking account. I made one I think on Friday, and the second on Sunday. My big mistake was not writing down the one I did on Friday.

Both transfers went through on Tuesday and overdrew my account. I saw what had happened Monday night and had written an email to Chase about it. But when I saw it had gone through on Tuesday, I spent a frustrating 25 minutes going through voicemail hockey sticks before getting through to a live person.

I was told that if I could deposit enough cash into my account to cover the overage, that there would be no fees. So I went to the nearest ATM and drew out enough to cover the fees, and deposited it.

The ATM fee was $3.00. If I wouldn't have gotten the overage taken care of that day, it would have been at least a $35 fee.

*Mantra* MUST WRITE DOWN ALL TRANSFERS!

Although my grocery budget has already imploded for the month of March, Thursday night I was really really wanting some Peeps. So I decided to go to Walgreens and get a small package.

While I was there, I decided that I may as well get my boxed raisin supply for April (cheapest way to get boxed raisins is Walgreens). While getting the raisins, I noticed that the Blue Diamond almonds were on sale!

Normally, they are $7.99 - which is pretty comparable to the same size bag at Walmart. But these are on sale for $5.99!!! I ended up buying 6 bags of them - which will probably last me the next 5 or 6 months. (I eat raisins and almonds every work day for mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks.)

The sale ends tomorrow (the 22nd). If you don't see the sale price marked, be sure to have them scan it at the register to see if your Walgreen's has it on sale.

-----
I deposited my refund check (from root canal) into my new checking account today. I went ahead and took out $200 cash to finish paying for my current personal training session. (Mainly because I didn't want to wait till the check cleared the bank, then transfered to ING, then became available . . . before sending my PT his money.) I'm not sure how well I like this bank - when I made my first deposit a few weeks ago, they held it from Friday until Wednesday as "pending".

However, I did see that I already received my $100 account opening bonus! Yay! That will be heading towards my EF as soon as it transfers to ING.

---
My Quinoa that I ordered from amazon.com arrived, as well as the powdered peanut butter -- both packages are sitting in my apartment managements office right now because they closed for Good Friday. I'll have to wait for the office to open tomorrow to get them. Both items arrived very quickly - free shipping even!

I'm still waiting for my SportBrain (pedomoter) to arrive. The tracking says it's here somewhere -- maybe its in the office as well.

----
Tomorrow after church I think I may go to our local community college's campus and use their running trail. My personal trainer thinks that their trail is probably the best in the area for running - and on a Saturday afternoon should be pretty safe (lots of people around). It also shouldn't be too hot - high of 70 tomorrow. Kind of looking forward to my first "real" trail run.

Finally! I'm not sure if it arrived yesterday or today - but my refund from my root canal finally arrived!

I'm breathing a sigh of relief, because I really wasn't looking forward to going and sitting in their office waiting til I had the check in hand (my plan if I still hadn't received it by today.)

---
This morning I broke my "dark" necklace that was given to me by the bus station supervisor and one of her coworkers (from when I was doing the temp job at the bus company in 2005.)

It's made with brown and black beads - maybe 1/4" round or so. I like to wear it with red tops. I didn't lose any of the beads - so hopefully I can get it fixed fairly easily.

-----
My grocery budget is WAY out of whack this month. WAY out. There's still 11 days to go.

----
Speaking of grocery budget --

I was at Target tonight buying a couple items. One item was marked on the shelf as a "price cut!" Stating that it had gone from $2.19 to $2.04. Um . . I bought that same item many times in the past few months for . . . . (drum roll) $1.99!!!

I got my new phone bill for March -- well, at least I got the bill amount, not the actual bill yet. It was about $4 more than my previous bill, so I decided to take a closer look - considering the problems with my landline recently.

Well, one thing I noticed right away was that I had 15 extra calls. *I have the measured rate which gives you 25 outbound calls a month, then charges $.08 per extra call.

So I called the phone company. I asked to have those charges refunded, plus I asked about how many extra calls there were for the March bill. 59! So, I got those charges refunded as well.

That was a total of $5.93.

Then I called my cell phone company to see what I could do about the spam text messages I'd been getting. I found out that those numbers couldn't be blocked because they weren't real numbers. My only options were to block text messages for a period of time, or change my number.

I opted to block text messages for 3 months. Hopefully by that time my number will go out of the spammers systems. I also got those charges refunded.

That was a total of $1.80

Savings: $7.73

Spent some:

I bought a Sportbrain Personal Assistant (pedometer) off of Ebay for a total of $18.

I went to Walmart and got 3 gallons water (refill); two tops and a pair of Khaki pants (on clearance) for $29.86.

* Have to give myself a shout out here -- the pants? They were a FULL SIZE smaller than the last pair of pants I bought -- and they FIT! Woo Hoo!

Next I stopped at CVS. I had dropped my prescription off there on Friday - but of course they were busy and it would've taken forever for them to get to me.

So, when I got there I picked up my prescription and handed the pharmacist my 2nd coupon. Then I paid for my prescription with the gift card I'd received previously.

So - the prescription was $26.99. Subtract the $25 gift card = $1.99 spent. Plus I have another $25 gift card for the next prescription. (Oh, not to mention I earned $1 CVS extra care buck, so my next prescription should only cost me $.99!)

Last, I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some more quinoa. I had a choice of getting a 1 lb bag that wasn't sorted or washed for $1.69 or getting a 14 oz box that was pre-washed and sorted for $2.79. I decided to take the route of convenience and bought the box. But, because I had brought a reusable bag (purchased at Walgreens a few weeks ago for $.99) I got a $.05 bag discount. So, I spent $2.74.

Walmart = 29.86
CVS = 1.99
WholeF = 2.74

Total Spent = 34.59
Saved = 7.73

Difference = $26.86

ETA:

My Tivo was getting close to running out of programing since its not been connected to the phone line since last Saturday. So, thanks to my dad making me keep all those odds and ends of phone cords, I was able to stretch the phone cord which usually connects to my actual phone in my bedroom, all the way out to the living room! At first I was thinking I was going to have to go buy another phone cord, because the one I had wasn't long enough. But then I kept digging around - and found ONE short phone cord from when I got my current computer - and that made it just *barely* reach. My Tivo is now happily updating - so no worries about missing a new episode of Lost or Survivor on Thursday.

I've been feeling it coming on for a while now. Been reasoning with myself, telling myself that I can handle it. Reminding myself of all my long term goals and how letting it take me over will cause them to take even longer to achieve.

I have a case of Wantitus.

As the weather is getting nicer, and darkness falls later, one particular area is really strong.

I've been running on a treadmill 3x a week for the past few months doing the Couch to 5k program. I'm starting to make some real progress - actually able to run for 5 minutes at a time before taking a walking break.

But . . . I'm hankering to get outside and whet my feet on the turf. See if I can make it out in the fresh air.

While I've been thinking about going outside, I've also been reading about things you "need" to run outside.

A GPS device that also can track your run/walk intervals, pace, distance, etc.

Garmin

A way to keep yourself hydrated hands-free:



A way to help roll
out the aches and pains after running:


You Tube - How To Use Foam Rollers

Then of course there's the clothing - wicking shirts, wicking shorts, wicking bras, wicking socks . . . Oy Vey!

Of course if I really get into all this there's going to be new running shoes and if I *really* get into it . . there'll be race entrance fees . . fuel gels . . . energy bars . . etc., etc., etc!

Save me from myself! Ahhhh!!!

Ok, ok. The two things I really am interested in right now are the foam rollers and the garmin.

I think I would really use the rollers, and they aren't that terribly expensive.

The garmin . . . I already have a wireless heart rate monitor/watch with a stopwatch function/calorie counter - which I haven't used in nearly a year because the chest strap kept unhooking while I exercised. What I'm really wanting the garmin for is the ability to have it track my pace and distance outside, and to be able to set little alarms to tell me when its time to increase or decrease my pace. The geeky part of me also really likes the idea of being able to upload all my data into a website and manipulate away.

Help me out please! Anyone have ideas on how to alleviate this horrible disease? Or maybe ideas on how to get what I'm wanting for less??

I still haven't figured out how to do a screenprint of my excel sheet . . so this may be a bit messy.


Year To Date....Category ....... February
$1,300.00 ......Rent ............$650
$221.00 ........Renter's Ins. ...$198
$250.00 ........Giving ..........$100
$290.65 ........Groceries .......$152.15
$27.38 .........Eating Out ......$15.69
$1,612.12 ......Medentist .....$1586
$40.00 .........Medoctor ......$20
$128.35 ........Med:Scrips ......$70.38
$15.50 .........Gifts ...........$10.50
$145.59 ........Fitness .........$8.73
$74.80 .........Auto:Ins ........$37
$176.01 ........Auto:Gas. .......$67.31
$175.48 ........Auto:Repair .....$0
$80.00 .........Auto:Tolls ......$40
$58.41 .........Cable ...........$23.27
$10.80 .........Netflix .........$5.40
$168.62 ........Cell/Int. .......$84.02
$150.00 ........ROTH ............$75
$50.00 .........TAMERIA .........$50

$4,974.59 .....Total Exp. .......3193.48

SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME

$90.00 .......Other .............$50
$65.02 .......Interest ..........$30.77

Withdrawals from Savings:
$650 ..........Emerg. Fund ......$650

Rent: Self Explanatory

Renter's Insurance: I switched to Geico and paid the 1-year premium up front. I will be setting aside $16.50 a month to pay the premium again.

Giving: Part went to a pledge I made, part went to support a friend doing an Epilepsy walk.

Groceries: UGH! I started out good, but towards the middle of the month I just kept finding myself heading to the grocery store. Unfortunately most of the extra trips weren't for things that were nutritionally valuable or needed.

Eating Out: This is one meal out with a good friend of mine before watching her son's basketball game. Also, it includes one half-price Virgin Strawberry Margarita at a coworker's get together.

Medentist: This includes 50% of the root canal ($650), most of the crown ($832) plus a few other charges. UGH and double UGH!

Medoctor: My copay when I visited my doctor about my heartburn symptoms.

Med:Scrips: Normal scrips, plus the antibiotic that gave me heartburn and the meds prescribed to try to fix that!

Gifts: I found two items for birthday gifts at Walmart on clearance - one's in June and the others in October.

Fitness: Bought a new pair of headphones for my MP3 player - I listen to it almost exclusively while working out.

Auto Ins: I actually paid off the premium in full, and will now just be putting money aside to pay in full each time. They now take any credit card - so that means more points for me! Yay!

Auto:Gas: I managed to get by with only filling up two times this month. Yahoo!

Auto:Repairs: Thankfully, an uneventful month.

Auto:Tolls: Self Explan.

Cable: The normal monthly charge, plus the $5 late fee. The late fee stems from having to get a new credit card number and the ensuing chaos of autopay.

Netflix: The very cheapest plan.

Cell/Int: I am very tempted to block all text messages to my phone. I'm starting to get a number of spam texts. Although they only add up to a few extra dollars at the most. There really is only one friend who actually texts me, and that is maybe two times a month. If the spams keep coming, I do think I will block texting.

ROTH: Self Explan. It just sickens me though to know how much I've contributed to it, and see how much money I've lost of actual contributions. I have to just keep reminding myself of the dollar cost averaging principle, and hope that when the stocks do finally go up again, that I'll have a really nice upswing in value.

TAMERIA: I started an account with T Ameritrade using the Suse Orman "Save Yourself" code. So, a year from now this should net $100 bonus + plus whatever measly interest.


Supplemental:

Other: Carpool money and survey money.
Interest Income: HSBC and ING

Withdrawals:
Emerg Fund: Had to take money out to pay for Dental work. I actually had a 5 paycheck month, so the 5th paycheck + the money from the EF + what I normally send to the EF each month all went to Dental. UGH UGH UGH!

Overall this was a HUGE spending month, with nearly half of it Medical related. However, the one other area I did way overspend in was groceries. Part of the reason had to do with the dental work - I had to get some easier to eat foods for awhile. But part of it also was not justifiable at all.

I am hoping that this next month will be financially uneventful. I am also hoping to find a couple babysitting jobs or something else to bring in a little extra cash.

This afternoon I had the tooth which was root canaled a couple weeks ago get built up and have a temporary crown put on.

Since all but about $300 of my yearly dental insurance cap has already been used, I had the wonderful priveledge of dropping $832 in payment.

In two weeks I go back to get my permenant crown.

I like my dentist, but I kind of wish she'd get a clue.

Each time I've had an appointment with her she's mentioned to me that she'd love to do a tooth whitening treatment on me and that she'd love to close up a gap between two of my teeth. Each time I've told her I'm not interested.

AGAIN today AFTER discussing how much the root canal cost me ($650) and discussing how much I'll have to pay for the crown ($832) and seeing me cringe at parting with that much money - she again mentions about the teeth whitening, etc.

So I tell her that right now I am trying to spend money on only ESSENTIAL and necessary items - and that neither of those things fall in that category. I also told her that I'm saving up for a house downpayment. She misunderstood and thought I was looking at buying a house *right now*. I explained to her that no, I'm looking at more like 3 or more years down the road.

She told me I sure do long term planning.
Yes, I am trying to. I didn't say this to her - but I also probably would never spend the money on either of those things even if I had MORE than enough for everything I want.

I really hope she doesn't bring it up again on my next visit. I really like her and the office, not to mention the fact it's in the same office building as my company. So I'd really hate to have to find a new dentist.

I got started playing around with the numbers tonight in YNAB. I was kind of bored and decided I wanted to figure out approximately when I'd actually be able to reach some of my financial goals.

Making some assumptions:

1. That my pay will stay the same through the end of 2009 (most likely scenario)

2. That I'll still be working at the same place through the end of 2009

3. That I won't have any big major unexpected expenses through the end of 2009

4. That my rent in 2009 will only go up by $10 (like it is this year.)

5. Also assuming that there will be no change in marital status for me.

Keeping those assumptions in mind:

1. My 6 month Emergency Fund (take home pay - savings amounts *6) will be fully funded by March 08.

2. My Car Replacement Fund of $4,000.00 will be fully funded by Nov 08.

3. By Dec 09, I should have close to $6,000.00 in my House Downpayment fund.

-- So, that means that by Dec 2011 and my 35th birthday, I might just have my $18k for a downpayment. LOL! Of course, the big question then will be if I can even find a house in the 80 - 90k range by then!


This will be accomplished by putting 100% of all 7 "extra" paychecks into savings, as well as the $600.00 "rebate", as well as both Christmas bonuses, along with my normal monthly savings amount.

#2 *could* be accomplished a little bit earlier depending on how much money I am able to shave off from other areas in my budget.

This month, there will be no extra whatsoever thanks to my tooth woes. However, that hopefully will not be true of every month.

Wow. You know how I had a root canal on Tuesday and had to start taking a more powerful antibiotic to get rid of the remaining infection?

Well, starting Wednesday night, I began having terrible heartburn. It let up after a few hours, and I was able to go to sleep. The next day I again experienced it a few times, then it would go away after an hour or so.

Today it wasn't too bad at first, but then this afternoon it became more constant.

I finally decided to call my endodontist and see what was going on - if this had anything to do with the medicine I was taking. She told me (through her receptionist) to stop taking the antibiotic and that she'd call me later to figure something else out. Still waiting for that call.

But tonight I posted on another forum I visit about my wonderful week *dripping sarcasm* and someone posted a link to a thread about the antibiotic I was taking -- Clindamycin. OMW! The people on that thread were experiencing the same symptoms as me, and some even worse - being hospitalized, etc!

Needless to say, I will NOT be taking this medication anymore. But I will be calling my endodontist again in the morning because I still need to take *something* to get rid of this infection!

I did also have one person give me a lot of hope that it IS possible to have an infected cyst go away on its own. He'd had a similar situation, and the cyst went away after antibiotics.

I am feeling so out of control financially right now. I don't know where all this is going to end up $ wise or health wise, and I already feel as though I've spent WAY too much money - even though it is for stuff that was absolute needs.

It also is worrying me a lot that I'm now going to have to include in my budget all my copays for prescriptions and office visits for the rest of the year - not to mention however much the crown is going to cost me. I just got way too used to using my Flexible Spending Account money, and not really thinking about how much it was.

At this rate I don't think I'm going to even be able to find the money for my Vacation fund, let alone get my EF fund full enough to even think about starting my downpayment fund. It feels kind of like as soon as I put my mind to really buckling down and watching my pennies and making them work hard, oodles of situations came out of the woodwork requiring the use of not only current money, but also set aside monies.

I'm moving backwards right now - not forwards. And I HATE that feeling!

----

On another note --- My car passed the 100k mark Thursday night! Only took me 10 1/2 years to do it, but I did it.

This morning I had my first root canal of my life. Ugh!

It took forever for the endodontist to get the area numb. The infection hadn't gone down enough with the antibiotics, so the area was still pretty tender.

Then when she (endodontist) had cleaned out all three root canals, she was only able to plug two of them. The third one would not go "dry". She told me that I have a cyst in my bone? which was infected, and the infection was running through that third canal.

So she prescribed new antibiotics for me, a round of steroids, and pain meds. I'm going to have to go back a week from tomorrow to see if the antibiotics and steroids worked. If they didn't, then I more than likely will have to have an oral surgeon remove the cyst!!

The root canal (including my next visit) was $1300.00. I had to pay half today. So that completely emptied my FSA which had $392.xx left, then I had to put another ~250 on my credit card. I also had to put the copays of all my meds on my credit card.

No more pre-tax money paying my medical expenses this year.

I am waiting with great anticipation to see how much the crown is going to cost me out of pocket. NOT!

The one good thing today is that I had less than a 10 minute wait at Walgreen's to get my prescriptions filled! Practically a miracle!

I'm not sure exactly how long ago it was that I first borrowed the CD set of Learn in Your Car Spanish from the library, but I do know it was at least 8 or 9 months ago.

I played the first CD of it, and realized that it wasn't what I wanted. So, I put the CD back in the case. About a month later I took it back to the library.

The next time I went to the library, the librarian told me that there was a CD missing from the case. I was sure I had put the one CD I'd used, back in the case, but went ahead and took it back home. I looked high and low - even did some "spring cleaning". No CD to be found.

So, I took it back to the library. The librarian renewed it for me. Repeat ad nauseum of the librarian renewing it for me.

Finally, about two months ago she gave it back to me and suggested that I take it directly to the library it actually came from and see what they'd say. So, I took it. For various reasons I wasn't able to attempt to find this particular library branch until last week, after the renewal had already run out.

My attempt to find this library branch did not go well. I got royally lost in downtown Dallas. At night. I never managed to find that branch.

So, today after church I stopped by my regular branch to turn the CD case in once again - to at least stop the late charges. I again asked them what I should do, since this seemed to be a never ending cycle. The librarian told me I should talk to this other librarian for better directions to the downtown branch.

So I did. I explained to her what the situation was, and expressed some of my frustration. Unexpectedly, she told me that the situation was over, and not to worry about it anymore! She said the other librarians didn't have the authority to do this, but she did.

I thanked her profusely.

I had $11.25 cash on me, so I paid all but $1.25 of my late fines. So now at least I'll be able to renew my other books.

I am just so thankful that I was finally pointed in a direction that led to the end of this situation!

Ok .... I'm trying to figure out how to post a copy of my spreadsheet showing my expenses for January. I tried copying and pasting, and that didn't work too well. (Read - jumbled up mess.) Arghh - didn't work!

Pointer's anyone? I'm going to try it on one of the pages, because I think you can use html on those.

YTD:.....Expenses.................January
$650.00..Rent:....................$650.00
$23.00...Renters Ins:.............$23.00
$150.00..Charity:.................$150.00
$138.50..Groceries:...............$138.50
$11.69...Eating Out:..............$11.69
$26.00...Dentist:.................$26.00
$20.00...Doctor:..................$20.00
$57.97...Medicine (OTC/Scrip).....$57.97
$5.00....Gifts:...................$5.00
$136.83..Fitness:.................$136.83
$37.80...Car Insurance:...........$37.80
$108.70..Gas:.....................$108.70
$175.48..Repairs & Tires:.........$175.48
$40.00...Tolls:...................$40.00
$35.14...Cable:...................$35.14
$5.40....Netflix:.................$5.40
$84.60...Phone & Internet:........$84.60
.................Total:...........$1,706.11

$40.00...Extra Income:............$40.00
$270.00..Savings:.................$270.00
$75.00...Roth IRA:................$75.00

Rent: I found out today that my rent will be going up $10/month in April.

Renter's Insurance:
This amount will be going down next month. -- Well, actually it won't - because I paid for the whole year in one shot, but am counting it in February's expenses. The actual monthly cost will go down though.

Charity: I pledged a certain amount to something at church, and then gave some that was left from last month, plus this month to the mission trip fund.

Groceries: I spent WAY more than I should have on groceries this month. I think one of my biggest problems was going more than once a week.

Eating Out: This was when I went out with my friend N and her family.

Dentist: Got a cleaning, then had a fluoride treatment.

Doctor: Copay for a visit.

Meds: 2 tubes of orajel for my toothache (lost the first one ). Various prescriptions.

Gifts: Paid for part of Grandma's new divided skillet.

Fitness: This total includes paying for two Callanetic's classes, and my new running shoes.

Car Insurance: Self-explanatory.

Gas: This was a good bit higher than I think it would normally be, due to a couple extra fill ups - thanks to the drama of my car window being smashed.

Repairs: Two new tires (paid for warranty only); Used driver side window from junkyard; Oil change; replaced burnt out taillight; etc.

Tolls: Ugh.

Cable: This is actually two months of charges. When my old credit card number was cancelled due to fraudulent use, I changed my payment info as soon as I had the new number - several weeks before payment was due. Unfortunately, they charged the old card.

Netflix: I decided to keep this - on the lowest plan of two movies a month.

Phone/Internet: This is for my landline, DSL, and cell phone. It's a fairly typical amount for me. -- My landline is the MOST basic, but has ~$17 in fees and taxes!

So, that's my January in a nutshell.

When I first lived in the DFW area I had both my auto and renter's policies with Geico. Then in 2005, Traveler's (which was affiliated with Geico) pulled out of Texas.

I ended up having to get a renter's policy with a company a friend of mine worked for (always with the understanding that I go for whatever is least expensive.)

Well, the other day I heard a commercial on the radio saying that Geico was offering homeowner's policies again in TX for as little as $13/mo! Woo Hoo!

Tonight I decided to give them a call and find out if that was true. It was! Unfortunately I also found out that it wasn't back in 2002 that my car was broken into on Valentine's Day - it was in 2004. So, I wasn't able to get the $13 rate.

However, I was able to get a $16.50 rate, which is $6.50/mo less than what I was paying.

Guess where that extra $6.50/mo will be going? To my financial goals of course!

Also, while taking a look at Geico's site tonight, I realized that they are finally accepting other credit cards than their own for payment! So, that will be something else to add to my Mypoints card and another 38 or 39 points a month for something I have to pay anyway. Yahoo!

I made a decision this weekend. I'm not going to take the SAT tutoring job. The training session I went to Wednesday night felt very rushed. I left there feeling like I hadn't really had a chance to retain much of anything. Also, the pay is a lot less than what I had thought it was going to be - especially if I don't manage to make the 700 mark before starting.

So, I've written the person who was working with me and let her know this.

I am going to look into other ways of making an extra couple hundered dollars a month. My mom suggested another tutoring type place that I could check out.

In other news . . I have decided to add a bit of running to my workout schedule - on a treadmill for now. I am going to be using a program called "Couch to 5k" which can be found on the coolrunning.com website. Before really getting into it though, I needed to get some real running shoes.

So, I did that this afternoon. $100. Ouch! But my back and knees will thank me for it later.

I haven't really decided if I'm going to go for doing a 5k or not. If I do, it wouldn't be until the fall when it's not too hot or too cold.

I got a call from A around 7 p.m. tonight telling me that they would like to have me join their team! Since I didn't quite make the 700 mark on the SAT tests, I will start training, then half-way through take another diagnostic test. Then at the end of training will take another one. If I make the 700 mark, then I'm good to go. If not, then I'll be on a probationary status, but still able to start tutoring.

Wednesday night after my regular job I'll have my first training session. I'm not too excited about the late night that promises to be, but I AM excited to get started!

The two areas I really need to work on are recognizing the grammar errors (and being able to see the most correct fix) and making a list of easy to remember studies which can support the various possible essay topics. My essay was not given full points because I hadn't used any "studies" to support my answer.

---------------
After the scare I had on Wednesday regarding maybe losing my home due to developers buying the land, I've been giving some serious thought to what I'd need to do in order to be able to purchase a home in the next two - three years.

Right now I have about 5 months salary saved in my EF/Car fund. I have no money earmarked towards a down payment. Before being comfortable starting a downpayment fund, I feel I need at least 6 months income + $4,000 Car repair/replacement in place.

I think I *might* be able to find an older home in the 85K to 90k range. So, 20% downpayment would be $17 - 18K.

Let me put it this way. There is NO way I can save that much money in 3 years - not on what I make now.

So, in a more optimistic view, I have two choices available to me. One, cut down on optional expenses to increase savings. Or two, find ways to increase income.

I am going to do both.

Money Cuts:
First, I have decided to stop taking my Callanetic's class. I love it. It's very relaxing and rejuvenating, but really, it is something that I could do just as well at home for a WHOLE lot less money.

Second, I am going to renew my personal training ONE time. That will put me through May with about 6 extra sessions. I spoke to my trainer today, and he said I could space those last six sessions at one a month - as kind of a check in session. However I would have to pay the gym fee of $20/month. He also is going to help me figure out a good routine rotation which I'll start practicing on Wednesday mornings.

Third, I am going to drop Netflix (not a lot of money saving here - but really, I CAN get movies from the library, and just HOW long have I had this last movie out??)

Fourth, I am going to look into whether or not I can sell my Tivo w/the remainder of my prepaid service contract. If I'm able to do that, then I'm going to drop Cable. (If my Tivo worked without Cable, I'd keep Tivo in a heartbeat and just drop Cable.)

Fifth, I am finished with fast food, soda and frozen dinners. If I go out to eat somewhere, it will b only because I'm going with someone else (i.e. part of a group) and will order as cheaply as possible. i.e. At a Mexican resturaunt only order one single enchilada, no sides. I also am going to continue to try and cut my food budget as much as possible, however, I will be keeping good nutrition in mind.

Increasing Income:

First, I am going to go through my apartment and find everything I can find that may have any cash value (that is not necessary) and try to sell it. (Books, extra t.v. ??)

Second, I am going to redouble my efforts to lose as much weight as possible by March 20 to increase my odds of winning the cash prize.

Third, I will be starting the tutoring job. Training is paid. I will do everything in my power to increase my scores in order to make and surpass the 700 mark.

Fourth, I will seek out other opportunities to earn extra income. I need to see if maybe there's people who need a babysitter, etc.

-----
So ... My top four financial goals --

All money left in grocery, other, gas and phone at the end of each month, as well as any other money earned by any other means will be sent to --

1. Vacation Fund - $500 (Will be essentially a free vacation, but I want to be sure to have money available to pay my own way for anything I do while in CA. After the vacation, any leftover money will be sent to #2.)

Then to:
2. Emergency Fund - 6 months income

Then to:
3. Car Repair/Replacement Fund - $4,000

Then to:
4. Downpayment - $18,000.00 -- GULP

This afternoon I went to one of the Health Seminars that I get 50 pts for - a part of the 20 week fitness challenge. (Ends March 20). I hadn't realized that they were going to have the scales there so that you could weigh in today, rather than coming back tomorrow - otherwise I would've waited to eat my late lunch. Oh well - I still showed a 4lb loss on their scale. 10 weeks to go!

I'm trying to elliminate soy from my diet. This is somewhat difficult for me, because I am a vegetarian and while I do get protein from veggies and beans, I get a whole lot more from soy protein sources. I drink a fruit smoothie each morning which uses soy milk, soy protein, banana, various frozen fruit, and spinach.

I've been doing some research, and found that Hemp protein is about as close as I can get to the soy protein. So, tonight after the seminar I found the Whole Foods store which was listed as having Hemp products. I found the Hemp Protein powder, but did not find the Hemp milk. For right now, I still have two containers of soy milk I need to use up, so that'll wait. Little steps.

While I was there I realized that I was out of spinach. So I went to WF's HUGE veggie section and looked for bagged baby spinach (the easy way, I know, not the cheapest.) There was none to be found!

So after I was done at WF's, I headed home, stopping at Tom Thumb. I went to the bagged salad section where there usually is a ton of bagged spinach. Again, there was none! I found the produce worker and asked where the Spinach was. He told me something about it being a "hot seller" and that all the bags were off the shelf. Huh??

He led me to where the unbagged spinach was and I picked up a bunch. Not my favorite way to do spinach, but I guess it will work.

I've got to say, it was really strange to look at two different stores bagged salad areas and see no spinach. The last time I saw that was when there was a recall.

So ... Whole Foods - 1 16oz cannister of Hemp Protein Powder - $14.99

Tom Thumb -- 1 bunch of Spinach, 1 candy -- $2.77

Brings my grocery spending so far to $90.33 and leaves me with $17.91 left for the month. Hmmm . . . somehow I think I'm going to have to use some of my "other" money for groceries. There are two "grocery days" left in January - maybe I can stretch it.

Ok, not really.

This morning I was getting ready to go to church when I got a phone call from a friend of mine. She asked me if I had any plans for dinner, and I told her that I didn't. So she then tells me that her youngest son (5 y.o.) had informed her that she needed to invite me for dinner! So Cute!

So tonight, my friend, her oldest son, her youngest son, another friend of hers named Nora (who youngest son had also told his mom needed to be invited) and I all ate at the Blue Mesa. I hadn't met Nora before, so it was nice to meet one of my friend's coworkers.

Do you get why youngest son was so adamant about the two of us coming to dinner? Laura ... Nora He thinks it's so funny that his mom has two friends whose names sound so alike.

I really was NOT planning on doing any eating out this month - but how can a person resist a request from a 5 year old cutie patootie?

So, anyway, the kid made my day.

I got a spinach and cheese enchilada plate - was $9.69, plus $2 tip = $11.69

I only ate half of it, then took the rest home in to go box -- so lunch tomorrow!

When I got home I put my lb of pinto beans in my new crockpot to soak overnight.

Why am I up so late tonight? I've been working on updating my resume. Tomorrow afternoon I have my interview for the part time tutoring job. A little nervous - but it really wouldn't be a big deal if I didn't get the job. It would just be so nice to have a couple extra hundred each month - give me some breathing room.

Today I made two grocery stops - one at Walmart, and one at Walgreen's.

At Walmart I bought enough frozen fruit to use in my breakfast smoothies for the remainder of January. I also bought a 24 pk of string cheese which is my afternoon office snack - so, again, a month's supply. I bought a bag of split green peas -- my dad loves split green pea soup, and I want to see if I can find a recipe and make him some. I bought a bag of black beans - which I'll probably mix with my pinto beans to make soup or burritos or maybe patties -- again, for my lunches. I also bought a 4pk of toilet paper - more than a month's supply.

I bought four items which will be for this week only - a container of 8th Continent Chocolate Soymilk, a bag of green onions, a bag of Veggie Lover salad, and a butternut squash. I am going to have to google to find out how to cook the squash - I really want to learn how to use more veggies in my diet.

At Walgreens I bought 4 6pks of raisins and a small bag of unsalted almonds - both intended for morning work snacks.

At Walmart, my total came to $27.62, and at Walgreen's my total came to $5.74.

Next week I should only have to purchase soymilk, bananas, salad, and various veggies. Hopefully, my bill will be $10 or less.

This weekend I will be making my work lunches for the month. In December I had burritos (have 3 left actually) but haven't decided for sure what I'm going to do for the remainder of January.

#1 - Keep track of my money on a daily basis
using You Need a Budget.

#2 - Save an additional $4500 in Emergency Fund/Car Fund

#3 - Fully Fund Exercise Fund $1700 (Callanetic's and Personal Training expenses)

#4 - Fund Vacation/Fun Money $500
--- California Memorial Wknd trip, etc.

#5 - Find second source of additional income

---After #5 is accomplished ...
#6 - Increase Roth Contributions by $50/month.

#7 - Increase 401K Contributions by 1%.

-------
I have a possibility of a Sunday tutoring job - 6hrs/wk possible pay of $14+/hr (more than my regular job!). I have an interview this Sunday afternoon.

If this doesn't work out, I'm going to keep trying to find something else.

-----
One other thing I'm going to do this year (ok, going to attempt again) is to totally cut out soda and fast food consumption. That will save tons of money and be helpful in my health goals. I've really been sabotaging my health and financial goals by my soda and fast food/junk food habits.

My goal is to keep food spending to $20 - 25 per week -- with a total monthly budget of $115 - 130. That'll give me room to stock up if I find a good deal, but also money to put towards my other goals when I make my goal amounts.

My Christmas Eve Day was spent in two very different worlds.

Christmas Eve morning I woke up in time to eat a bite of food and get dressed. I had spent the night at a hotel with my dad and Grandma. I was over warm in the night - and had thrown most of the covers off. I had clean water to shower with, brush my teeth with, clean clothes to put on.

I headed to the below lobby level of the hotel to check in with the Soup Mobile organization. There were at least 150 or more people milling around in the lounge area, either waiting to check in, or reading through their instructions.

I got up to the table and found out that I was supposed to have a partner - since I didn't, I got sent to the 'corner' till someone came along without a partner. About 5 minutes later this nice lady named Veronica came over, and we partnered up. We were given a clipboard with a baggie. The baggie contained 6 slips of paper, a few sheets of post it's, a tape measure, two pens, safety pins, and two instruction sheets.

We sat with the others and read through our instruction sheet. It was the first time for both of us to volunteer for this duty, and I think we both were apprehensive about what was about to happen. At first, the instructions looked quite daunting, and I wondered how we were going to actually get through all of them -- especially since one of the pieces of info needed for each person was their inseam.

Essentially Veronica and I's job was to get in line with the other 50 pairs of volunteers, greet the two homeless people who were assigned to us, get their names, waist size, inseam size and shirt size. Then take them to the lounge and give them one of the sack lunches. While they ate, we dropped off their information forms, then got their room number, and then went back to pick up their clothing bags. Once we had their bags, we went back to pick up our pair of homeless people and take them to their rooms. In each of the hallways there was a pair of hall monitors (keeper of the keys) who would let us and the homeless people in their rooms. Then, after dropping them off, we would go back downstairs for our next pair.

A total of 300 homeless people were fed and housed at a *very* nice hotel for Christmas Eve.

The first two pairs we were assigned were men. Two of the four men were either on crutches, or used a cane heavily. I talked sports with one of them - he loves his Cowboys! These first four were all relatively clean and able to carry a conversation well.

The first two times we took our pair to their rooms, the path was lined by other volunteers helping to lead the way. All of them were saying "Merry Christmas" etc to our group as we passed. Just before getting on the escalator to go upstairs, each homeless person received a backpack with toiletries, etc.

Veronica and I were talking later, and both of us agreed that it felt a little weird walking all that way with them and having so many people saying greetings. We both wondered if the homeless people, while appreciative of what was being done for them, weren't also somewhat humiliated by the overabundance of greetings.

The last set of people we were assigned were two women. One was very quiet, and the other was *very* talkative! She was just completely overjoyed and overwhelmed at being in the hotel - getting new clothes -- and the backpack! She just about fell over in excitement about getting a backpack. As we dropped the ladies off in their room, she kept repeating over and over "This is just Heaven!"

So, for about 4 hours of my Christmas Eve, I had the chance to find out just how lucky and blessed I am. I felt sad that the idea of getting a brand new backpack doesn't excite me at all - in fact, my first thought if I was given a new backpack probably would be "What am I going to do with this? Ack - clutter!"

Here I am with my cellphone, a good apartment (even with the neighbors who don't understand what an appropriate volume level is for a complex, or the neighbors who think that just because they have an enclosed back porch - its a great place to leave their dog for umpteen hours) -- I have food galore -- not only that, but I have the CHOICE of eating the good for me stuff or the not so good for me stuff. I have plenty of clothes - and as much as I loathe the laundromat, I have enough clothes to last me three weeks between laundry runs - without running out of clean things!

Okay, so now it's Christmas Eve afternoon. I'm back with my Dad and Grandma. We decide to go out to eat at IHOP and end up eating way too much. Then we go over to Walmart where we spend a lot of time picking out Christmas cards to send to different family members, then continue on to the men's clothing area to pick out a new shirt for my dad (from Grandma). After we finish, we head over to the theater to watch "National Treasure 2". Then we head back to the hotel where we exchange gifts. I gave my grandma a shawl, and I gave my dad Season 2 of Home Improvement. I got cash from both of them (what I asked for.) Then we watched a National Geographic documentary on Killer Whales and the summer of 2004 where they were attacking the California Gray Whales.

My morning showed me just how little some people have, and how such little things, that many of us may take for granted, are greatly appreciated by them.

My afternoon/evening showed me how easy it is to take the ability to choose where you want to eat and what you want to eat, the ability to see a first run movie, the ability to be able to exchange gifts with your loved ones, etc., for granted.

From now on, whenever I get the case of "I wish I could afford that' or "My life stinks" I'm going to think back to Christmas Eve morning and remember that no matter how bad it may get, I still have it really good.

Well I went to the endontologist (sp?) on Tuesday for my root canal. It ended up though that she didn't think I actually needed one! She did say that my tooth has a crack in it and so it will need a crown. If it is still causing me pain after getting a crown, then we'll look into getting the root canal.

So, I'll be getting the temporary crown put on this coming Thursday (December 6.)

Our company's receptionist had her last day with us on Friday. If you may recall back in August how I was taken off the phones completely by our head honcho -- well she was experiencing the same treatment from our head honcho and got totally fed up with it. Can't say that I blame her at all, but I will really miss her. I put together a good-bye lunch for her because supposedly she hadn't worked here "long enough" to get a company sponsored farewell party (she'd been here since August 06). Someone else in our company took up a money collection for her - I'd thought about doing that, but wasn't sure how far to push the envelope with having put together the farewell lunch. So she left knowing that she was loved and cared for and would be missed greatly - even if the head honcho was still a pitb to her on her last day!

Our Christmas party is going to be this coming Saturday night. My bf will be going with me - it will be his first time meeting many of my co-workers. He'll know some of the brokers (other side of our company) from the old office building.

I stopped at Ross last night on the whim of maybe finding something appropriate for the semi-formal dress code in my size -- Wow! I found seven different dresses that actually fit me! The one I liked the most was purple, but I didn't get that one since it probably wouldn't have been the most appropriate for a Christmas party.

I also decided I wanted to get some clip on earrings and a necklace to go with my dress. I've never been one to really buy jewelery, nor really wear it much -- but I didn't think it would be so difficult to find a non-ugly pair of clip ons! I did actually find one pair that were nice - but they were nearly $30, which is more than I paid for my dress! So, that was a no go.

I'm going to go to Sam Moon's after work on Tuesday, and maybe Claire's as well to see if I can find something.

My mom is leaving today to go to NJ for two weeks for a training class for her new job. She won't be getting back until Dec 16, the day after my birthday. She's going to get to go see the Rockette's though - when we lived in NJ, we got to see them at the Radio City Music Hall a couple times, so it will bring back good memories.

Her new job is being the Director of one of those tutoring learning centers. She's told me that the lady in charge of working with SAT prep tutors needs people to tutor the Reading/Writing portion very badly - especially on Sundays. Hmmm . . . All you have to have is a teacher's certificate (check) and to have scored at least a 700 on the Reading portion of the SAT's. I took the SAT back in 92 I think, and do not remember what my reading score was - except I know it was a LOT higher than my math score (snicker.) The place I graduated from has closed its doors (two years ago) so I am working on figuring out how to get a copy of my score. I'm really hoping I don't have to take it again, because well, it's been at least 12 years since I've been in any kind of an English/writing class. I love writing, but mostly its for my own pleasure, so I don't worry too much about "correctness" or being too polished. I'm afraid I may have lost much of my "refined" writing skills from way back when. But maybe my score was high enough so I needn't worry.

It sure would help me out a lot to have a second job like that -- one which I could possibly turn into a full time job later on once I have my "Goodbye Head Honcho" Fund fully funded.

--
Oh - the 20 week fitness challenge -- We are now three weeks in, and I have lost 4.5 lbs! Which translates into 1.85% loss. Next Sunday they are having the first seminar - a Holiday Cooking class. I'm going to see if my bf would like to go to it with me. Might be kind of fun to do together.

----
I have my Christmas shopping all finished. Most of it was accomplished using my Mypoints credits for various gift cards. Other than gift cards, I bought my dad S2 of Home Improvement from Overstock, I bought my mom a handheld football game from Walgreen's (yes, this was something she said she actually wanted) and I'm getting my bf a gift cert for a massage. So, all in all Christmas is going to come in well under $100.

Some of you may recall near the beginning of this year my bout with some terrible jaw pain, which was diagnosed finally as nueraliga. I was told that I may only have the one episode, and never have one again. But if it did come back, then I'd probably have problems with it the rest of my life.

Well, the last few weeks I've been getting pain in my upper left jaw/teeth area which I've summarily written off and ignored. Till this past weekend - it let me know that there was something wrong and it wasn't going to let me sleep till I got it figured out.

So when I got to work today I called and made an appt with a new dentist who was able to get me in on my lunch break. Long story short - she took an xray of my teeth , then did what she called a "cold test" on one of my teeth, and determined that it was dead (due to no reaction.)

So ... Root Canal $$$$$$$ here I come. It may sound crazy, but I was actually relieved that there was an actual reason for the pain - no worries of the nueralgia coming back.

---
My church has kicked off a 20 week Fitness Challenge. It started on Sunday with an Initial Weigh In and will end in March. The participants are divided into teams of 5.

The team at the end of the 20 weeks with the most points gets $250, and the individual with the most points gets $200.

You earn points by:
Eating 5 servings of fruits/veggies per day.
Drinking 6 glasses of plain water per day.
Exercising 30 minutes per day (or more).
Attending the free seminars.
Bonus points for attending all 5 seminars.
3x your percentage of weight loss up to 20%.

Let's put it this way - I'll have no problem earning max points in all but the last area. I want that $200 so I'm going to work extra hard to lose weight in the next 20 weeks. If I actually lost 20% of my body weight, I'd be within 10 pounds of my ultimate goal.

My bf is being very supportive of me. We played basketball at his gym on Friday for 90 minutes. Later I told him how many calories that had burned. He told me we should play again this coming Thursday night so I could lose more calories for the challenge. (At first I thought he was going to say - so you can lose to me again - oops!)

I haven't been doing too well in the spending arena. Some of it has been going to the grocery store way too often to pick up "just one thing" and ending up spending upwards of $15+. Some of it has been bigger ticket items - like I guess what you could call a mini-vacation, next weekend I'm going on a Women's Ministry Retreat with one of my best friends and her mom - cost $190 (room, board, activities). I also bit the bullet and took $450 out of short term savings and paid for 4 months of 2x a week personal training sessions. I had my third session today.

The big ticket items I honestly feel are worthwhile items. I had been looking into personal training as an option since late last year, but never could find any inexpensive options until I checked into the gym at my new office building. Still . . . that is a lot of money out all at once (It was actually $600 for 3 months of training 3x a week - But I only wanted 2x a week - so he extended it a month -- then he gave me $150 discount for paying upfront in cash.)

The Retreat - Well if not anything else, it will be good to have a whole weekend to spend with my friend sans kids and hubby. It may have some spiritual benefit for me as well, which would be appreciated, and I may reconnect with some people I haven't seen in a long time.

In a short while I will be spending $160 on 10 weeks of 1x a week Calentic's classes. This coming week will be my 10th class and I have found it very helpful - although I haven't lost any weight nor inches. But I don't fault the class for that -- I fault all my ahem . . "extra" purchases at the grocery store.

One thing I've been realizing the past few months is that I've been getting a LOT more slack on my credit card spending. Don't get me wrong - the balance is still being paid off in full each month -- I'm just having to dip into next month's "salary" to do so. So, technically I'm NOT living one month ahead anymore.

I'm really not liking where I see myself headed.

So, here's my plan.

1. I'm going to go ahead and take the $160 out of short term savings -- but at the same time, I am going to start putting $64/mo into a sinking fund slated for that particular class. That way when the next renewal time comes up, I will not have to take money from anywhere except the account specific to it.

2. My credit card , starting Nov 1. will be used ONLY to pay rent, gas, toll tag, and car repair - or for the occasional reimbursable work expense. (It is a points credit card - my rent is an easy way of earning a lot of points each month.)

3. I am going to pay off all charges on my credit card as of Oct. 31 - so that it'll start with a fresh slate on Nov. 1. (I think I'll try and see if they'll change my end of billing cycle to the 30th of each month - it would make for a much cleaner budget.)

4. Groceries, entertainment, clothing, etc., will be paid for via cash or debit card. My budgeted amount for gro