Today at work I was talking with the Office Manager about yet another frustration which occurred due to my not knowing about a detour. She suggested I talk to the transit manager about it, but should have an idea in mind to solve the issue. We talked a bit more, and then came up with the idea of using a Google spreadsheet like what we do for the Lost and Found items. That way detours, accidents, delays, etc., can be updated quickly by whoever hears it on the radio .. and I can then see them without my first knowledge being a phone call from a bus rider wondering where the bus is at!

So .. I did talk to the transit manager. He told me he had had a similar idea, and that he would be working on getting something put together. I really hope this does truly happen, because it would mean a lot less having to deal with one particular dispatcher ... I also pointed out to him that my being able to know this stuff would help to make our bus company look better.

---
I already have two entries for the Summer Adult Reading Program. The Life List - Lori Spielman and Two Testaments - Elizabeth Musser. Both very good books.

I was asked what some of the prizes were:
Weekly branch drawings - giftcards to various places
Booklover's Gift Bag - filled with goodies and a bookstore giftcard
Grand Prize - Booklover's Gift Bag and a Paperwhite Kindle

Ooo la la!

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Thursday spending: Nada

Friday spending:
Gas - $25.xx
Groceries - Apples, cat food, cat litter, bread, Morningstar Corndogs, frozen veggies, frozen fruit, Apples, Bananas, treat -- $31.19 -- My ten things.

---
I had someone ask me something strange on Thursday. An older man came to purchase a bus pass. As I was helping me he asked me what church I went to. I told him which church. He then told me that he'd thought I was a Pentecostal because I seem to like to wear long dresses/skirts and have long hair. Ha!

I told him that I just like to wear those kinds of things sometimes, and that I like long hair. (Although my hair is hardly what I consider "long" right now! He should've seen it before I cut it in September!!)

I just thought that was so funny. Most of the time I wear dress pants or on Friday's jeans, but once in awhile I'll wear a dress or a skirt. And yep, the ones I wear at work anyway are fairly long (my skirt was barely mid-shin on Thursday) - but there is a good reason for that! I never know what kind of bending, stretching, etc. I might have to do ... hence a skirt that only reaches my knees would just not do unless I want to put on a show for other people ..

Say what you want about the actual Bing search engine, but their Customer Service rocks! I replied to the email from the CS person yesterday letting them know my issue was fixed, and thanks! This morning I got a reply back from a different agent thanking me for letting them know AND giving me ten bonus points as a thank you! Sweet!

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At work today I got a replacement headset for the one that quit working on Friday. What a welcome relief it was to get it! The phones were nuts at times today and I felt like I was going to get a permanent crick in my neck from holding it in place with my shoulder while looking for info.

---
Went to the library to pick up some books on hold. While there I found out about an Adult Summer reading program! Prizes for reading books! For adults! Wheeeeeeeeee!!!

---
I may have my first shift at the parking garage this Sunday. It's from 10 - 6:30 for some Soccer Bash thing. Before taxes, that'll be about an extra $100. Sweet! I'll have to do my grocery shopping on Friday after work or Saturday night though, because NE will be here as soon as I get home on Sunday.

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I am going to be making brownies for the Treat day tonight. My turn. As soon as I finish this post. (From a mix I bought on sale a few weeks ago.)

---
Spending Today:

Walgreen's - (medical) $19 (Ten day Allegra D)
Library - $2.60 (late fines, hold not picked up fine - finally had cash with me to pay this.)
Dropped off rent check

I got an email from Bing CS asking me to send a screenshot. When I got home and went to the page to get a screenshot, it was already fixed. 525 credits, which is quite doable.

--

I relisted four items on the FB garage sale - two of them have had multiple people express interest and even say they'd come by and buy it ... No shows. I'm not gonna give up though, because I'd rather have a little cash for these things than just give them to Goodwill.

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Day 2 no spending (outside of normal bills.)

---
I bought Kari a cool toy from Amazon a few months ago, and I KNOW I took a video of her playing with it the first time - about three minutes! It was super adorable. But I've looked on both of my phones and on my computer ... and it is nowhere. I'm afraid my delete happy self may have accidentally deleted it, as well as the hundreds of food photos for Pact.

She still plays with it every once in awhile, just too unpredictable to take another video.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LWRFW2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

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We're interviewing for new bus drivers right now. They're looking to hire 8! The interviews started on Friday. Today this one guy came in who had driven all the way from Minneapolis! Not only that, but I knew I recognized his name = he'd called me in April? and asked me to send him a copy of all the maps and schedules. Guess what he did with the All Route maps? He had them majorly enlarged and laminated - $200+ He's pretty much memorized all the routes/schedules and could probably find his way around here from any point A to B.

Boy, I hope he gets the job after putting that kind of time and money into it.

---
I'm thinking of watching another movie tonight. I guess I'm in the movie watching mode lately .. haven't really watched much of anything since maybe January?? I should check to see if there's new episodes of OUAT on free Hulu. Hmm...

Those that do Bing, have you ever had a monthly bonus? I was just working on Bing and saw a June bonus if I do 625 searches.

So ... I did all the searches - mobile and desktop and got 20 credits. Hmm .. 31 x 20 = 620 not 625?? Anyone know where those 5 extra credits are supposed to come from?

I tried contacting support, but got an error message.

---
I got credit for another Pinecone survey, and so was able to redeem for $15.

---
My coughing is WAY better .. not gone, but better. Although I still feel uber tired. Didn't help that Kari thought the sun coming up at 6 this morning meant I should be awake and feeding her either ...

--
Looks like NE has strep - we went to the local urgent care place last night. I better not get it! (I get strep so easily ...)

---
Spending outside of regular bills today: $0

---
Saturday night I watched "Disaster Wars" on Hoopla. It was so badly written and badly acted! I loved it.

Tonight I might watch Thelma & Louise A recent Mental Floss article made me think about watching it again, and of course the library had a copy.

---
I saw on FB yesterday that Bette Midler is going to be in Omaha this coming Friday. All the tickets I found were on resale sites and only being sold in pairs ... so $88 minimum. I have no one to go with me, and .. it's a Friday night. (I am an SDA, so my Sabbath starts on Friday at sunset.) Bullet dodged there, otherwise I might have been able to talk myself into doing it - even though I have no idea who I would get to come with me.

Now if Kenny G or Jim Brickman come into anywhere within an hour and a half radius ... (on a non Friday night or Saturday afternoon) all bets are off! I haven't been to a real paid concert since 2008 shortly before I was laid off from the oil and gas job.

I love going to concerts. Maybe I could find a concert happening in a 3 - 5 hour radius in August and make that my travel bug/savings goal ... hmm... Two birds, one stone.

So ... I spent about an hour entering all the transactions for May into YNAB. I hadn't entered anything since the 12th ... Let's just say it wasn't pretty at all.

The good: $207 in extra income (FB sales, SBs, Pact, Perk, etc.)
Sent 10% of net to EF + $37 ...

The bad: Only had $37 left after an extra $207 in income. Which means I came dangerously close to having to dip into my 10% deposit ... for no real reason.

The ugly: Spent roughly $360 on food/fast food/treats
The most I think I can ever remember spending in one month in those categories ...

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So ... June goals.

The past few months I have been doing an experiment where I did not set out any particular amounts in my flexible spending categories for my budget. For a few months this seemed to work okay ... May though has totally busted this idea. So for June I have decided to modify this approach - I have given myself budgeted amounts in certain categories (Groceries, Treats, Restaurants) and then left the rest unbudgeted (since it isn't the other categories tripping me up.)

My plan/goal for June and perhaps July is thus: 50% of the unbudgeted money will go towards my normal goal of the EF extra deposit (above the 10%.) The other 50% will be used in July (maybe August) to go somewhere for a few days - i.e. get out of town.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been feeling the travel bug. Feeling kind of restless, listless ... bored in a way. So my idea is that the less money I spend in June (and possibly July), the nicer my little out of town excursion will be.

I could say NO FAST FOOD in June - but I'm hoping that knowing that every time I get Fast Food or get some junky item that it is reducing the quality/length of my getaway, will work better for motivation.

We'll see. (Snafu - the cash thing might work, except I have a bunch of cash on hand right now thanks to the FB sales this month. Getting to the bank to deposit it is a major hassle. So if I did cash only for fast food, etc., I'd have a lot of leeway for it.)

--
I'm hoping to get a training shift for my part time job this coming week, so that money could definitely help the "extra" category - and help me also maybe to not be quite so bored ...restless.. listless. Hopefully.

This is just the cough that won't go away.

The doctor said my lungs were clear, but sometimes it feels like something is pressing down on my chest or something.

The cough *may* be getting better ... not sure if it is wishful thinking or truth. Although now the cough medicine that was helping me sleep is not being effective, so 3 out of the last 4 nights have had very little/bad sleep.

My mom suggested coconut oil to kill off viruses/bacteria. Not sure if I believe it would help, but maybe if I can find a small amount for not too much ... worth a try I guess.

--
My little earphone/headset at work seems to be dying. I came back from my afternoon break and had ten dropped calls in 15 minutes. (New battery - put in a month ago.) So had to use the handset for the remainder. It's kind of funny because at first I really didn't like the headset, but now I am so used to it that the handset just feels SO awkward.

On Monday we're going to figure out where to order a new one (and I'm going to ask if we can get two - one for a backup - apparently these only last about a year or so ...)

---
I have been super frustrated with the Swagbuck video apps lately. Either they're having those stupid ads you have to interact with in order to move on, or they're crashing every time you blink. If this keeps up I may focus my video earnings on just Perk. Which stinks because Perk takes F O R E V E R to get to the $25 level.

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My mom was telling me tonight how flooded it is in her area (she lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area) That the swimming pool/rec center in her complex is locked up because of it being flooded.

She said she was kind of feeling aimless after breaking up with latest guy ... so I gave her an assignment. She has to find her local library, GO to the local library, talk with a librarian to find out any volunteer opps, and check out any activities the library may offer -- by Tuesday. She liked my idea/assignment.

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Finances .... I haven't done any looking at my credit card balances in a couple weeks ... or updating in YNAB. I know it isn't going to be pretty. At all. I haven't been saying No to myself a lot .. more like a whole lot of , why not? and go ahead.

Tomorrow I will be working on getting this all updated so I can see how bad it is. My groceries and restaurant (face it, Fast Food) categories are going to ginormous. Since mom and brother aren't coming to visit in June, maybe I might make June a limited spending month. Will think about that more tomorrow and what it might mean.

I do kind of feel the travel bug though. I haven't really gone anywhere further than Kansas City (and that wasn't a "fun" trip) since moving out here a year ago. I'm used to at least one or two out of state flying trips each year.

So maybe I need to think about some kind of short trip I can take - maybe use one or two vacation days. Would have to go alone since NE couldn't take off that much time. This of course will have to wait until I'm feeling much, much better.

I withdrew $15 from Pact yesterday. Payouts this month were pretty low. I *might* be able to cashout $15 from Pinecone this month depending on how quickly todays survey credits. With the $97 I got from FB sales this month and $50 Swagbucks PayPal, I'd be close to $200 in extra money.

Seems like my headache has finally gone away ... so maybe I can sleep some.

Off to the haystacks! (hitting the hay ... catching some zzzz's ... sawing logs, etc., etc.)

Riddles is still in the land of the living. The past few weeks or so NE has been taking him to the Vet to have fluids and Vitamin B? injections. The first week it was nearly daily, the last two weeks was two or three times each. Each visit costs $50

The fluids definitely seem to be helping. Riddles is eating some again, and hasn't had another seizure since about two weeks ago. NE is very happy about that, although not so happy about how much this has cost. I suggested he ask about whether he could do the fluid injections himself at home (and that I'd be willing to assist) but he hasn't asked. Oh well ... it's his money. (I had a neighbor once who had to give her cat daily or weekly fluid injections, so I know it can be done at home.)

---
We had some major flooding here Wednesday/Thursday. Some have called it a 50 year flood. Thursday was incredibly crazy at work - so many bus routes had to have detours because of the flooding. Most people were understanding, but some were outright jerks. One person got mad when I told him that he'd have to walk eight blocks to catch the bus - "YOU are making me late for work!" Uh, yeah sure mister. We made the roads on the route get flooded and be closed, just so you could be late for work. Yepppers. A few others asked me to get out my crystal ball and predict whether or not the bus was going to be on time two hours from then or the next morning ... I'll get right on it buddy!

Thankfully by Friday morning the waters had gone down all over for the most part, and by noon all the flood related detours were done. Of course I had one caller complain about a bus that didn't arrive at the scheduled time after our office was closed and wanted to know why. I explained that since I wasn't there at the time I didn't know exactly why, but the best I could guess is that it was related to the voluntary evacuation of the area that bus route goes through!

Wednesday night I was walking through my hallway in my bare feet and stepped on a wet spot. At first I was worried that maybe Kari was having bathroom issues (never has before) but after smelling it, I knew that wasn't the issue. I found quite a few more areas of carpet that were quite wet.

As I was trying to figure out how this happened, I realized that the dripping sound I'd been hearing off and on the past few days might have had something to do with it. So I called my landlord. He said he'd send somebody by the next day.

Of course with all the rain/flooding issues on Wednesday/Thursday it wasn't til nearly 6 p.m. that somebody came by (I shut Kari in the bathroom in case they came by while I was out) The problem was the condensation pipe? for the a/c units in the apartments above me being blocked. (I haven't turned my a/c on yet, but apparently my upstairs neighbors have.) The guy that came by couldn't get it unblocked.

So I had to shut Kari in the bathroom again on Friday. The A/C guy came again and the carpet cleaners came while I was gone at work - so Kari didn't have to be shut in the bathroom the whole day. I think she actually didn't mind it too much because I gave her canned food both days ...

The carpet is pretty much all dry now - although now I need to figure out how I'm going to move my dresser back - don't know if NE will be able to help me with his shoulder issues.

We're supposed to have another major storm come through tonight. Our creeks and lakes can't take too much ...

---
Tomorrow NE and I are doing a little roadtrip to Greenwood Iowa for our anniversary. We'll probably go out to eat somewhere around there. He was in that area a couple years ago for some speakers and thought it was really beautiful. It will be nice to get out of the apartment and do something together (doesn't happen often ...)

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Texting with my mom last night I found out she'd been in a fairly major car wreck three weeks! ago. It was her fault -- she and a friend were traveling to San Antonio and had gotten off the highway for gas or something. As they went along the frontage road there was some construction and hard to figure out how to get back on the highway. Her friend spotted a way and told her to go ... there was another road that criscrossed the pathway and a car coming - which my mom did not see. The car clipped the front passenger side of my mom's car.

Nobody was seriously hurt - banged up knees, elbows and wrists. But my mom found out she only has liability insurance - apparently someone talked her into changing her insurance plan a few months ago to save a bunch of money and didn't explain HOW she was saving that money. (As she's telling me this, I'm wondering HOW IN THE WORLD did she not know this???)

So ... her insurance company told her that her 6 month premium was going up to $5k! She's had a number of not-fault and at-fault accidents in the last six years or so, and is now considered high-risk. She kept looking and now has insurance through USAA for $165/MONTH!!!! She also has been without her car for the last 3 weeks.

It sounds like it's going to be around $2500 to fix it (and that is a long time family friend who has fixed our cars many multiple times over the years - the shop her car was towed to estimated $5k+ to fix.)

She just last night got a letter from an attorney for the person who hit her suing her for damages.

She's in a mess.

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I finally got my $25 AGC from PerkTV.

I was really craving delivery pizza last night ... and gave in to it. $17 for the pizza, $5 for my "Zone", plus delivery charge and tip ... $28 .... Ouch! The pizza was good at least.

I spent a lot of money in April. Mostly medical, some overspending in groceries and treats. Bought a couch.

Thank goodness for a 3 paycheck month! I barely squeaked by with putting my 10% of net (of 3 paychecks) into my EF this month. But it got there!

--
Must Spends:
Giving: 10% + 30.00
Rent: 430
Gym: 41.73

Flexible:
Groceries - 160.66
Internet - 65.75
Natural Gas - 23.57
Electricity - 26.93
Auto fuel - 24.26
Restaurants - 14.47
Medical - 877.59
Clothing - 13.48
Household Goods - 113.56
Treats - 52.40
Entertainment - 15.00
Misc. - 26.00

Savings:
EF - 10%
ROTH - $200.00

Extra Monies:
$25 - Swagbucks
3rd Paycheck
$17 Pact
$5 AGC from Bing

Savings Percentage - 17% Gross to Employer Pension, 10% to EF (3 paycheck Net), $200 to ROTH
Roughly 40%

Total EF - 7,992.77

-- $4,007.23 to go to make goal!

Let me start off with the good stuff ..

I've mentioned that I had lost the large non-keytag grocery store rewards card and had spoken with the people in the customer service area about getting it replaced. The first time I talked to them was a good while ago. Since then I went back a number of times and each time got told that "they were really behind on the cards"

So Sunday I went again. This time though I think I must have gotten a manager back there. She checked for my card replacement, and then checked for my order. NOTHING! They had lost my order form - never even sent it out!

So she confirmed my contact details and then told me that she personally would take care of it.

I got a phone call on Monday letting me know that she'd be at the store on Wednesday after 2:30 with my card.

So after work today I stopped by. Not only did she have my card, but she had had the person who made it (coded it?) add 41 cents worth of gas savings. That is .. 41 cents PER GaLLON.

I'm going to wait til Thursday to use it - but boy howdy, is that ever going to be some cheap gas!

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The bad.

I had finally made enough PerkPoints to redeem for a $25 AGC. I got an email this morning telling me my reward was on its way.

Then this afternoon I got an email telling me my reward had been canceled. That there cheating detector or whatever had detected I was doing something violating TOS!!!!

I sent an email to them stating I HAD NOT done anything to violate TOS!

Kind of doubtful they'll backtrack, because there is no way to prove a negative (that I didn't do something against TOS.)

So very frustrating. I guess my devices won't be getting quite such a workout anymore.

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No news from NE about Riddles. He was taking him to the vet again today at 5.

Tomorrow is payday - so that will mean May is totally funded. (My 3rd paycheck or really the second one for April funded my medical expenses category plus some ...)

Today I was voted in officially as a member of the local church I've been attending. I had my membership transferred from the church in Texas (never transferred it to NM.)I had to stand up front with a few other people and receive my membership "packet" (a membership certificate and a packet of info on spiritual gifts.)

---

I talked to my grandma this afternoon. She was busy packing and getting ready for a flight tomorrow - flying to Florida where she's meeting my aunt and uncle and then getting on a cruise ship! She'll be gone for two weeks. (She turns 94 in September - but still cruising along. Heh heh.)

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Guess who FINALLY called tonight?! Yep, that stinkaroo of a brother, that's who. We managed to connect with our mom, and it looks like the third weekend of June will be our rendezvous time - they'll both be coming here.

Mom was wanting to do a dude ranch or a 4 day cruise ... I'd love to do a dude ranch if they offered a vegetarian menu, but somehow I don't think that is a possibility ... a 4 day cruise would be fun, but I doubt my brother could take that much time off (and I really don't want to spend that much.) So, they'll be coming here - I'll show them where I work, take them to my church, maybe go to the vegan restaurant in O (they're both meaties, but are used to vegetarian fare.) Maybe take in the zoo, etc. Should be fun. (My mom is into pickleball - I checked and found a place here that has pickleball!)

We decided that they'd each take care of their own plane tickets and then we'd split 3 ways any of the costs here. Mom is going to see if she can amass enough hotel points for a hotel here.

Now it'll be interesting to see if bro actually purchases a plane ticket before June ...

My brother is participating in a 100 mile bike race next Sunday (May 3) supporting Diabetes research. He estimates it'll take him about 6 hours and burn around 15,000 calories. He's going on a 75 mile ride tomorrow ... More power to you bro. More power.

He's pretty stoked about some major companies that have been seeking him out to do their social media advertising.

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I stopped at Walgreen's tonight and picked up some Allegra D. My cough which had almost gone away seems to be coming back. In talking with the pharmacist it sounds like I should be able to get a 30 day supply of Allegra D OTC with a prescription so that I wouldn't have to come back every ten days AND I can use my FSA money. Next time I see my doctor I'm going to ask for a prescription and try it again! (tried it years ago and was told I couldn't do it)

$18 for a ten day supply ... Will have to look for coupons, etc, but it's better to spend the money on it than get bronchitis or worse ... (Checked the price for the generic version ... was actually more expensive! and not available in the 24 hour version.)

As I look back at the 40 days I challenged myself to not buy any junkfood, and then the 18 or so days since the challenge ended, I have come to a realization.

For me, there is no middle ground. It has been utterly ridiculous the last 18 days.

The 40 days of the challenge I was able to complete it with very little problems. In fact, I got to the point where I didn't really miss the junkfood. I wasn't exactly any healthier during that time (ER visit and bronchitis anyone??) but that probably would've happened one way or the other.

So I have decided that from this point forward I am not going to purchase any junkfood. I am also not going to participate anymore in the office Treat day (this is partly where I think I got myself in trouble ... all that leftover Easter candy people brought to share ... made me want more, more, more!)

I am going to allow myself three exceptions: 1) If someone offers me something/offers to treat me; 2) If I'm out at a restaurant and I *really* want something (such as the vegan place in O - they have some delectable looking deserts) and 3) If it is my birthday, or some other *very* special occasion

None of these exceptions happen very often.

I also cannot go into Family Dollar or Walgreen's or CVS for anything food related. Period.

I have some pretty big financial goals I'm trying to achieve, and spending $50+ a month on junkfood is not going to help me achieve them.

Junkfood = soda, chocolate, ice cream, pastries, candybars, cookies (sugary kind), pies, cakes, etc.

Whenever I start thinking about buying chocolate, etc., I need to think ... is this worth an extra hour answering the phone? Is it worth putting off the house a little bit longer?

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I updated my net worth in YNAB today. My one stock has been quite volatile the past few months and I haven't wanted to see just how bad it was ... but today I decided to bite the bullet. When including the stock, my networth decreased $15k from January. Not including the stock, my networth increased about $2500 since January. (I'm not going to sell the stock. Even with the volatility, it still is worth WAY more than the original purchase price of around $22 - 28.)

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I went to a free concert Saturday night at my church. It was pretty enjoyable. I even bought a $15 CD from the artist - he is just starting out. (is a member of our church) I was needing a good CD to listen to in the car while the local radio station is doing its pledge drive (didn't they just do that at Christmas? Yikes!)

I think this is the first CD I've bought in at least 4 or 5 years.

I got an offer in the mail today for Blue Cash - spend $1k in 3 months get $250 back. I think that's the one I'm going to go with for my medical bills. That way I don't have to fiddle with trying to make sure I get to $3k in spending, even though it probably *could* happen. $250 is enough reward to not bother with the hassle.

Anyone know if they count Walmart in the grocery category?

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So shockers ... my brother never did call this week.

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I've not been doing well with the whole thing of staying away from buying junkfood this week ... My treats category is through the roof, and it's only the 17th. Ugh.

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I got a notice of a package from UPS sent from Best Buy. I didn't order anything from Best Buy, so have no idea what it is or who sent it. I tried making it where they hold it at the office, but they were wanting to charge me $5.00 to change shipping locations!!! Uh, yeah, no. Whatever it is, it can get sent back (because you know the likelihood of them actually dropping a package off at a time people are *actually* home is, right?)

In reality I'll probably try calling again on Monday and speak to a real person to 1. make sure it is actually for me and not for someone else in the apartments, and 2. make sure there isn't a way to have it held there (I'm sure I've done it before!)

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I'm so glad the work week is over. So very tiring. (read .. boring ..)

In other news ... I read a book this week - Zoo - by James Patterson. Very interesting and page turning. A little bit gory. Something's going on with the animals of the world ... and noone's listening to the main character. This is bad news.

I love James Patterson, and this is one of his stand-a-lone books. (He wrote Alex Cross series and Women's Murder Mystery Club series and and and and and ...)

Next week on Earth Day my boss and I will be doing TWO bus station tours for homeschool groups. They'll be my very first tours. I'll probably have to do them by myself after these two groups. Gulp.

On Wednesday I had a trio of skater kids (long hair, pierced lips ... etc) come in and ask about their "wheelies" they'd left on the bus ... Two MONTHS ago... I told the main one that I remembered them (because I was so flabbergasted when they came in) but that we only keep things for two weeks. So they were long gone. The kid looked so dissapointed.

I like it so much better when I can tell someone - Yep! I've got it right here for you!

---
NE hadn't done his taxes. He asked me to print off the forms for him - but my printer was out of ink and the cartridge I'd bought wasn't being recognized. So he was going to print the papers off at the library on Tuesday. Didn't go.

Wednesday he decides he'll just file for an extension. We go to the library and he signs up for a computer. As we're walking around waiting we see a display of papers. One of them is an extension form!

Unfortunately it wasn't until we got to my place and I was filling it out for him (his patience level wasn't very high right then and his eyesight isn't good in dim light) that I realized he'd gotten a state extension form instead of a federal.

Instead of rushing back to the library before it closed, he decided to file the extension online. He thought it would be free. It wasn't - it cost 19.95!! Towards the middle of filling the extension out, he had to run home to get his W-2 form (didn't help his mood at all.) But .. got the extension filed.

This is definitely one area he and I are SOOOOOOO different on. Even if I knew I owed taxes, there's no way I could wait so long to file. I also would not want to do them on paper - I SO love TaxAct, etc. for ease of filing. It would stress me out way too much to wait til April 15!!

I tried to casually suggest setting aside 30% of the money he makes from his eBay sales to cover taxes so he wouldn't have to stress out ... yeah, didn't go over too well. If we ever get to the point of seriously talking marriage .. that is something I'm going to insist on. No way am I going to let something so stupid as taxes get me uber stressed out.

(He might have had the money to pay his taxes this year if it weren't for the shoulder surgery and all the costs from that.)

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Redeemed Bing points for a $5 AGC (just couldn't justify the IHOP card for more points.)

So I've been stalking the FB garage sale page for months and months. One time I came really close to getting a futon/couch for $25, but NE couldn't come help me that night, so I lost it.

Sunday night though I saw a post from someone selling multiple things - no prices listed and no location. One of the items was a loveseat. The post was three days old with a "bump" comment saying everything was still available.

I PMd the person and found out she lived fairly close to me and wanted $90 for the loveseat. That was a little more than I was really wanting to spend, but I LOVED the look of it and it looked small enough to fit into my space well.

So I asked her if it would be okay to come over after 7 Monday night. She was okay with it.

--
NE calls me Monday about 6:48 to let me know he'd be there in ten minutes. I let him know about the loveseat. He wasn't exactly thrilled to have it sprung on him like that ... (oops - I really meant to email him that morning, but forgot ...)

I didn't have any rope (to tie it to his roof) so we stopped at Walgreen's and then Family Dollar to get rope.

He needed gas ... I texted the person to let her know that we really were coming. (It was nearly 7:30)

Finally we get to her apartment building and I give her a call .. she comes down the stairs. Thankfully she was only on the second floor.

After we got to her apartment and I saw it in person, I knew I'd made a good decision.

NE and I wrestled it out to his car, and managed to get it up on the roof. Then we tied it on and drove the few miles to my place with me holding on to one end of the rope (in the car.)

We wrestled it into my place, and I got it to where I wanted it while NE parked.

Kari right away was super interested in this new thing. She actually slept part of the night on it last night.

So anyway ... here is a picture of it:

It's super comfy, well worn, but otherwise in good shape. I'm glad I stayed patient and didn't breakdown and order a futon from Walmart or something ...

I've been way too loose with the pocketbook so far this month, especially considering I have some large bills coming up (medical expenses.) Fast food, junkfood, Trader Joe's, Goodwill, WalMart, Family Dollar .... Over the course of the past few days I've spent at least $150. Ugh.

Trader Joe's, GoodWill and Walmart are at least shopping trips which were mostly necessary. I think part of what spurred the fast food visits was being really tired of what I had in my house (and my pantry was starting to get pretty empty ..) So I bought some ready made dishes at Trader Joe's, and a few at Walmart. Hopefully that'll curb my inclination to get something out instead of from home.

At Walmart they were having a big clearance sale on all sorts of stuff - an asst manager was there and if there was something you wanted, you made an offer and if he ok'd it, you got it. I bought an ice scraper (more heavy duty than my other one) for .50, a long handled snow brush for $1 (something I'd really wished I had this winter a number of times), and a mandolin for $13 (had a $50 one on my Amazon wishlist for at least 6 months ...) They didn't have a potato masher (something I've been looking for, but not wanting to pay $8 for!)

I also bought a few things for something that the bus company I work for does in partnership with the local women's shelter - called "Stuff the Bus" - about $8 worth of items (paper towels, hairbrushes, etc)

----
Wonder of wonders, my brother actually called me today! (We'd set up a time for him to call Saturday night ... which of course didn't happen.) He's talked to mom and told her about our plans, and also told her that he'd try to get the 3 of us on the phone either Monday or Wednesday night. He's also said he has another weekend free - one in June - so I told him I'd really prefer the June weekend over the May one.

So ... we'll see ... Is this really going to happen? At least there's some movement forward - and now mom knows ... (Of course she called me after talking to him and never let on that he'd told her - she was going on and on about wanting the 3 of us to get together sometime, and I was being all non-committal. The turkette!)

---
So much for my weight loss ... along with the spendiness the last week or so, there's also been a lot of junkfood consumption. 3 lbs found their way back. Sigh.

So my goal is for the remainder of April - no more fast food purchases and only 1 serving size worth of candy/junk on a regularly scheduled grocery trip.

---
I did get in 3 exercise sessions this week. 2 x walking on the track at the gym (today I actually did a bit of walk/jogging) and a 4 mile walk with some ladies from church yesterday.

The indoor lap app I'd found was worthless. (tried it today) So hopefully I can find another app I used to use on my other phone - it won't count laps, but it does the timing thing (run 30 seconds, walk 90 seconds, etc.) and estimates distance. (I think it was called iTreadmill)

On that walk one of the ladies who runs Women's Ministries and knows I've been a librarian, asked me if I'd be interested in being the Women's Ministries librarian. I told her that sounded like something I'd be interested in doing.

---
Oh, at Goodwill I bought 4 t-shirts. With exercising at the gym, I realized I needed some oversized short-sleeved t-shirts to work out in. Spent $7.47 on the 4 shirts ($3.99 for one, then $1 each for the others.)

--
Got $25 PP from Swagbucks today.

So ... I got a wild hair and decided to see if my EOB's were online yet for my ER visit.

Yep, they were. At least some of them.

So far my part is at least $840. There's a few other EOB's pending.

So, I'm thinking this might be a good time to go for one of those cards I usually could never do with my normal spending .. i.e. $3k in three months.

I'm thinking maybe one of those travel rewards cards - something I could fund my next flight to CA with.

Any ideas? I usually ignore posts about these kinds of cards since I usually would never come anywhere near it.

Thankful for my 3 paycheck month ... my ER visit will take pretty much that whole 3rd paycheck, and maybe more. Sigh...

I really thought that I had spent a lot more than February in March, but it really wasn't that much more. I only spent about $30 more! There was a whole lot less extra income at the same time though, so the extra to send to savings of course wasn't as nice of a big number as last month.

Overall,I think I did okay. I'll definitely be glad to not have the round trips to the hospital to deal with in April (gas, time, exhaustion ...)

----
Must Haves:
Tithing - 10%
Giving - 60
Rent - 430
Car Insurance - 36 (sinking fund)
Gym - 20.21 (prorated first month - new category)

Everyday Expenses (Variable)
Groceries - 129.18
Internet - 64.90
Natural Gas - 51.55
Electricity - 26.43
Auto Fuel - 60.31
Restaurants - 31.00
Medical (non-FSA)- 38.02
Clothing - 33.16 (shoes I wish I hadn't bought ...)
Household Goods - 4.92
Kari - 62.39 (food, litter - doesn't include AGC $ I spent on her)
Toiletries - 5
Treats - 19.68 (mostly from the hospital, and one other slip up)
Electronics - 70 (my Fitbit One)
Beauty - 3.27

---
Savings
EF - 430.79 (10% + leftover budget money)
ROTH - 200
403a - 9% of gross

Savings of 630.79 +9%

---
Extras
$25 SBs PP
$14 Pact
$15 Pinecone
$100 Achievemint
$50 Disc. Chking bonus
$80 Disc. CC bonus + Cash back
-- $284 in Extra Income

So, a savings rate of only about 40% this month. Yikes. Hopefully the ER bills won't be the big bite I'm expecting, and I'll be able to have a much better savings rate next month.

April will be a 3 paycheck month. I had planned on putting it straight to EF, but will probably put it in the slush fund until I know what bills the ER visit is going to create.

So Friday night when NE came over we went out to pick up his prescriptions and also got Chinese food. (I'd eaten earlier, but he was hungry ... I went ahead and got veggie fried rice - which I ate on all weekend.)



---
Anyway ... I went to church Saturday (had missed the last two weeks due to sick and overtiredness.) Saturday afternoon I joined a church group doing a bike ride in a local park. I went there to walk ... one of the ladies walked with me instead of riding. We had a nice time talking and walking for 4.4 miles!

--
Saturday night I spent some time updating YNAB. Ugh. I will not be making my $300 goal this month. If it weren't for some of the extras coming in, I probably wouldn't even have $100 to put in extra to the EF. Gas is one of the major budget busters this month - 4 roundtrips to O does not make for a happy gas tank.

--
I got my $75 Discover CC bonus on Friday - have already requested a check (total of $80.xx)

I also cashed out for a $25 PP from SBS today.

---
This morning I went to the church exercise class - cardio/pilates combo. It was a tough workout! I think it will be good for me though - both the exercise and possibly making some connections.

---
Went grocery shopping this afternoon (walked to the store) - bananas, apple (free w/coupon from health fair), broccoli salad, cat food, 3 cartons of Rice Dream on clearance, etc. $30.29 (after coupons)

--
Brother called this weekend - supposedly mom has big bad news that she has to tell us in person. I called her yesterday (not letting on that I'd talked to brother) and she didn't mention anything about BBN. So .... manipulation anyone?? Ugh. If so, she's shooting herself in the foot because he and I were already in the process of planning a weekend here for her and him and I. This whole thing kind of puts a sour taste on it (esp. for brother - who only started talking to her again maybe 18 months ago or so.)

--

I'm going to be making the oatmeal cookies again fairly soon. I think I'll add applesauce to the batter though. I have two fairly ripe bananas, so will be making more. They'll make great after work / before workout snacks I think.

Today was my second day going to the gym. I used the stationary bike on Wednesday, and today I used the rowing machine. I'd never used a rowing machine before and didn't do my due diligence to find out anything about it ... just sat and started rowing. For 30 minutes.

Apparently I should have adjusted the damper (flywheel) thingy from ten to 3 or 4 ... also there WAS a way to adjust the foot straps. Oh well, I now know what to do better next time. And there will be a next time - I really liked it. Just have to figure out what to do with my phone - it was really awkward holding it AND the pull bar thingy. I don't want to use one of those armband holders, but I also don't want to use my .. er... assets holder ... either.

Tomorrow I plan on using the walking track.

---
Today I took a couple hours off from work to take NE to a follow up appointment. It went pretty well.

Work also has been much better yesterday and today. I really think I was just overtired. I slept the best I have in a long time last night. Hoping tonight will be a really good sleep too (definitely tired from the rowing!)

--
I'm thinking of joining in the church exercise group on Sunday mornings. It's $2/week. It would fulfill an exercise day (6 days a week of exercise) and it would also possibly help with the "connections" aspect.

I don't know how much longer they're going to be running the group though .. if it's not going to be much longer, I might not do it. Not worth getting started.

----
Just ten more days of my 40 day challenge! It's hard for me to believe but it really hasn't been all that difficult for me. I think once it is over I will truly be broken of the habit of buying junk food all the time. Especially if I really get myself to continue on the exercise - just last night my SO offered me a bite of his cake and I was not tempted at all - wasn't worth the calories!

Although I did have a donut at work today ... That was worth it. (treats day)

This weekend I plan on measuring myself so I have a good baseline (even though I've already lost 6 lbs or so since starting the 40 day challenge and will have had 3 good workouts in) I'm not going to use weight as a huge measure though because it is the most frustrating one.

---
We stopped at Hardee's on the way back to L today. The sandwich I had definitely wasn't worth the calories. Especially after I saw a posting on FB tonight by the restaurant Ceejay mentioned in O ... oh my word! Their sandwich looked SO good.

I really hope CCF, Ceejay and I can get together there to check it out before CCF moves too far away. I don't really want to go there with NE because I'm afraid that he will be all food critic on the place .. and that can ruin a place I like otherwise. (It's also why I don't like to make food for him too much ...) I'd much rather go there with people who will enjoy the food and the experience without needing to analyze and dissect every aspect ....

Anyway .. if I'm going to catch up with everyone else, I better get going.

The last few days I have been reading the book "Younger Next Year for Women" which I found recommended in the YNAB forums a month or so ago.

It is written for somewhat older women, but even so, I think it is a good read for younger women too.

It is written by two men - one is a practicing renowned in his field doctor, and the other (at the time) was a retired 69 year old lawyer.

The essence of the book was saying that our bodies were not created for the modern world of sedentarinism (made up word ) and overabundance of food. That when most of our life is spent not doing anything much more strenuous than pushing the chair away from our desk, that it sends the message to our bodies that we are in "conserve" mode. This is especially compounded when we eat large amounts of food.

The "conserve" mode actually starts breaking down our body ... or aging us.

How do we fix this? By exercising HARD for 45 minutes 6 days a week, at least 2x heavy weights. What this does is send our body the signals it needs to send out the stuff that repairs our body ... or reverses the aging process.

He also talks about stopping eating crap (processed foods, saturated fats, etc); being careful with money, and ..

The importance of human connections. "social connections are a more powerful factor in health and mortality than smoking, alcohol, exercise, nutrition or age." (pg 313)

And the importance of giving back/being part of a community.

All in all a compelling and fascinating book. Which caused me to make the final leap to ....

----
I joined the $39/month gym!

I went and took a tour of it this afternoon, and already signed the contract.

It has WiFi, up to date cardio equipment, sweet up to date weight machines, two pools, three exercise class studios, tennis courts, basketball courts, racquetball courts, saunas, hot tub, walking track, etc.

My goal is to go there at least 3x a week to feel like I am getting my money's worth. It is about a 20 minute drive from work - so I'll just have to make sure to have my gym bag ready to go. (and have an after work snack ready too so I have some fuel for the workout)

All this working out is going to mean less time on the computer (especially while NE is still in recovery mode and coming over here most nights ...) which all in all is probably not a bad thing.

---
I've been having a really hard time at work this last week or so. I don't know if my boss is annoyed with me for taking so much time off (even though she KNOWS why I've been taking the time off.)

I've not been getting the sleep I need - I go to bed at ten and wake up at 4 a.m. NOT ENOUGH SLEEP

So ... I've made some mistakes at work. I hadn't made any mistakes for weeks. Then Friday I made one. KE (my boss) came down hard on me about it. Then yesterday I made another mistake. KE was pretty snippy about it. Today she came out and looked through the receipt book a couple times without saying anything .. I asked her if she was looking for anything. She said she wasn't.

I know I'm probably just feeling overtired which is making me blow things out of proportion, but still ... the last few days have made so badly want to say I QUIT! I'm done dealing with people cursing on the phone, yelling at me because buses are late, telling me I don't know what I'm talking about (when I do know what I'm talking about, they just don't like what I'm saying), etc.

Just so blasted tired and tired of work.

I think the above is partly why I joined the gym too ... hopefully if I can get some more consistent/good exercise, I'll sleep better and feel better about work.

We'll see ...

On Monday we were told that NE had to be at the hospital to check in at 9 a.m. On Tuesday afternoon we were told that the 7 a.m. patient "probably won't make it because they are sick" so to come by 7 a.m.

So ... on Wednesday I picked NE up at 5:30 a.m. and we made it to the hospital about 6:40. Guess what? The 7 a.m. patient previously scheduled HAD come.

So we waited in the intake lobby for about 40 minutes. NE hadn't slept in 24 hours (too anxious.) I went to the lady at the desk and asked if there was anyway he could go into his room early while we waited. Nope. However she did tell me about a lobby with some comfy chairs (and couches!) We sat on a couple of chairs for about 20 minutes before I could convince NE that nobody would care if he laid down on one of the couches. (the lobby was pretty empty)

A bit after 9 the guy in charge of taking NE to the preop area found us and took us there. We were there for over two hours.

About 11:20 NE was taken to the operating area and I was told how to find the surgery waiting area.

About 12:15 I was told by the volunteer that the surgery had started.

About 2:30 they were closing up and going to recovery.
The doctor came in and talked to me then - let me know everything went well.

About 4:15 I got a call telling me his room number and that he'd be up "soon."

At 6:30, nearly 12 hours after arriving, he was FINALLY brought up to his room.

The head nurse mentioned that if I wanted to spend the night, they could get me an extra pillow. Neither of us had known that was a possibility. I had thought I'd be heading home by 7 at the latest ...

I stayed the night. And I'm so glad I did! They were short staffed - let's just say that.

About midnight they took the blood pressure cuff off of him (which inflated every 30 minutes ...) and said they'd leave him be til 4am. During that 4 hour period I managed to get maybe two hours uninterrupted sleep, plus a few snoozes.

I got up and got ready to go home at 5 a.m. Drove by his place to check on the cats quickly, then got home. Pulled into my spot around 6:50. Ate breakfast and went to work.

I was SO out of it... my boss asked me why didn't I call in (after I told her about spending the night at the hospital) I told her I didn't because I knew it was staff meeting ... which of course was canceled.

Instead I went home at noon and managed to sleep about 30 minutes before my phone rang. Sort of dozed off and on for another hour.

About 3 I headed back to the hospital. Ended up being there til about 8. NE had his first meal, which I helped him with (which is why I didn't leave earlier.)

I had a few brief moments of ultimate panic that my car had been stolen. Thankfully decided to look down one more level before calling the police ...

Thursday night managed to sleep about five hours. Went to work in a slightly grumpy mood which was not helped by an emailed question from my boss (a misunderstanding, but just rubbed me the wrong way.)

Left work at 3:30, arrived at the hospital at 4:45. NE had ordered me a piece of cheesecake from the room service menu.

Waited and waited for the charge nurse to do the needed paperwork for discharge. Picked NE up in front of the hospital shortly before 7:00.

Got to HyVee to pick up meds shortly after 8.

Dropped him off at his place a bit after 9 - of course could not find his keys which he'd put in my purse on Wednesday. Luckily I had a spare key in my change compartment so he could get in.

I stopped at Burger King on the way home (hadn't eaten anything other than the cheesecake since 3 pm.)

Compounding all this is that my allergies / sinuses were beating me up badly. Especially yesterday afternoon.

Slept about six hours Friday night and decided that I would stay home from church - just too exhausted.

This morning I cleaned out my car (something I've needed to do for a long time) in an effort to find the keys. I had cleaned out almost the entire car when the thought hit me - we'd put something in the center console. There they were. Whew!

I had two slip ups this week on my no buying junkfood for 40 days quest. Thursday and Friday. I'm not going to beat myself up about it, but just continue on back on track.

---
Now I'm going to try to catch up with everyone!

I'm not totally sure what got into me today. I still wasn't feeling very good, but I also wasn't feeling like sitting around being lazy.

I contemplated walking to the library - especially with the beautiful weather we're having, but ended up not doing it. Why? Because I spent most of the day cooking!

The first two things I made today were black bean/oatmeal burgers and quinoa/spinach/mushroom burgers.

The black bean burgers recipe I doubled (1 recipe made 4 burgers.) They could be baked in the oven. So while those were baking, I fried up the quinoa burgers. The recipe supposedly makes 14 patties, but even with adding a can of mushrooms, I was only able to make 10.

While I was frying them up I had to keep contending with my smoke alarm. Thankfully it is a beautiful day, so I opened my windows.

I forgot to take pictures of them before I put them in the freezer - they don't look all that pretty, but they are good.

---
Now I was off to the grocery store within walking distance of home.

I picked up eggs, a bag of broccoli slaw, a bag of frozen diced onions/g & r peppers, zucchini, cornbread mix, swiss cheese slices, shredded cheese and cat food. Total of $23.xx after a $2 cat food coupon.

---
When I got home I put 8 eggs, a bag of shredded cheese, 1/2 a bag of the frozen onion mix, and after shredding the slaw in my handy dandy food processor (Ninja blender sidekick) put that in too. I call it my Veggie Galore Egg Bake. Here's a picture of it (hopefully)


Then I put together my cornbread casserole (cream corn, regular corn, green onions, shredded cheese, 2 eggs, cornbread mix) Here it is:


----
Finally I decided to make the zucchini recipe I found on FB yesterday. It's directions were to cut up a zucchini into thin slices, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle paprika. Bake for 25 minutes at 450.

So ... I thinly sliced my zucchini. I attempted to drizzle the olive oil (ha!) and miraculously found out that I actually have paprika!

Into the oven for 25 minutes at 450.

I go to my computer to rest my aching feet. 25 minutes later I head out to the oven to check on my creation .... This is what I found:


S'pose I should have checked on it a time or two ....

All this food is going to provide lunches for me for the remainder of March, and some might be dinners too.

I'm thinking that the black bean burger will be a staple product for me though - so very easy.

Here's the link for it: http://happyherbivore.com/2011/08/easy-black-bean-burger/ Although I did add diced mushrooms to it. I love mushrooms.

Friday when I got home from work I had a text from NE saying "I'm making dinner tonight!" It was a good thing he told me early on, because I usually put a sweet potato in the oven almost as soon as I get home from work.

After his text I went ahead and ate a piece of PBH toast because I was HUNGRY and knew it would be pretty late before we'd actually eat.

Then I was so invigorated by how beautiful the weather was outside, that I went for a quick paced 20 minute walk outside in just my short sleeve shirt! First time I've been able to do that in MONTHS. How sweet it was!

NE got here a little after 6 and we went shopping together for the ingredients. He made hamburger helper potato stroganoff? with Worthington Vegge Crumbles. I added some frozen veggies for myself. (he's not much into veggies)

He told me that he wanted to treat me to dinner to show me how much he appreciated me and all I do for him. (and will be doing for him for the next few months ...) I thought that was pretty darn sweet.

---
That walk yesterday though, as glorious as it may have been, may not have been such a good idea. I've been coughing pretty deeply since last night. Even stayed home from church today because of it (plus didn't get much sleep again.) I'm really hoping this isn't going to turn into bronchitis. It was about three years ago that I was down and out for 4 days completely with bronchitis. It took me over a year to even come close to really recovering from it. (probably triggered a relapse of mono according to my doctor in NM) Hopefully the local honey and oregano oil will help nip it in the bud.

---
NEs shoulder surgery is on Wednesday. His recovery time will be anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months - mostly depending on which type of surgery actually happens. That is still up in the air a bit - it will either be a reverse shoulder replacement or a shoulder reconstruction.

I got my Fitbit One in the mail on Thursday (I didn't realize it until I logged into Paypal to do something and looked at the tracking ...) So I'll be able to track my steps and such at the hospital while waiting for his surgery to be over.

I'm going to bring a couple PBJ sandwiches for myself, but might buy veggies/sides from the cafeteria. (doubtful they'll have much vegetarian options) Waiting for 4 hours or so in the hospital I think is going to REALLY test my resolve to not buy junkfood.

It was funny while NE and I were walking around SuperSaver last night looking for the Hamburger Helper (my first time ever in my life having it) and the Vegge Burger we kept walking by these huge displays of junkfood. The mint oreoes display ... the other Easter chocolate ... etc., etc., etc. I was really glad that I had my challenge going, plus I was glad to be there with NE - both circumstances to cause me to NOT buy the junkfood.

Oh part of treating me to dinner last night was buying me a chocolate turnover from Arby's. I think it was even better since I haven't had much in the way of sweets for the last 16/17 days. (Of course while we were in the drive through I got to stare at the picture of the Andes Chocolate Mint Shake ...)

===
I've been using Google Hangouts to make calls this month, and so far I'm really liking it. I don't know if I'll be able to keep the minutes under a 100 or not because I had a 32 minute call with my grandma before I installed it, and then a few calls with NE where it went longer than I thought it was going to (otherwise I would've called him back.)

NE might be switching to Ting! He already has a Sprint phone/plan. It would just be a matter of porting his number. He'll probably end up paying less than I am because he has a flip phone (no data.) He's going to use my referral link (actually, it's probably going to end up that I'll be calling Ting and getting everything set up while he's here one night. He HATES that kind of thing, while it doesn't bother me.)

Today I was absolutely miserable at work - sneezing, coughing, blowing my nose. At least I got more sleep last night than I did on Tuesday night - mostly thanks to taking some Dayquil (the Nyquil works, but I don't like taking it on work nights - too groggy.)

I ordered a bottle of oregano oil capsules - something I've used before which seemed to really help. Then after work today I stopped by OH, a local whole foods/trader Joe's type place and bought 8oz of local honey. I already had a piece of PBH toast. Yum. (I'm not counting the honey as a junkfood purchase - I'm counting it as a medicinal purchase. Believe me I was tempted by some yummy looking fudge ... but I persisted and resisted!)

--
I got my first paycheck with my raise / retirement deduction / new w-4 deduction. It was about $7 less than normal. So it seems that changing from 2 to 3 on the W-4 was the right thing to do.

I'm curious ... I know that you can start withdrawing from a 401k when you turn 55 penalty free - but what I have at the bus company is a 401b. On my paystub it lists the deduction as "pension." I know I have 15 1/2 years before really needing to worry too much about this .. but it's something I haven't been able to find too much about online.

Also I'm wondering if I'll still be able to claim the tax savers credit since I now have a workplace retirement plan?

15 days down of 40! Surprisingly it really hasn't been all that hard. Really the better word would be MIND BLOWINGLY.

I was waiting to make this post until I could know for sure whether my third $25 PP would deposit before March or not ... it didn't, so it'll go for March.

Extras:
NM tax refund - $87
NE tax refund - $142
Fed tax refund - $540
Swagbucks PP - $50
FB sale - $30
PerkPoints - $25 AGC
Pact - $16
Pinecone - $10

Total: $900

Expenses:
Tithe: 10%
Giving: $30
Rent: 430
Car Insurance: Pd 215 6 mo. premium, added 36
Groceries: 69.30
Internet: 64.96
House Gas: 39.36
Electricity: 44.53
Auto Fuel: 14.53
Restaurants: 39.24 (2 ff and Chinese buffet for two)
Kari - 22.66 (stocking up on food w/coupons)
Treats - 23.21 (before starting 40 day challenge)
Gifts - $12.13 (NEs Valentine's)
Tax Prep - $34.98
ROTH - $200
EF - 10% + $1,068

-------
So ... for this month it gives me an approximate 70% savings rate (I'm not including the car insurance payment in this calculation because it was previously accounted for in expenses only in monthly "installments")

My groceries category is way low this month mainly because I was eating the food I purchased in January from the store that went out of business, plus the frozen fruit I bought from Sam's in December managed to last til Friday (supplemented by two bags of ff I'd bought from closed store.)

I expect my grocery bill to be much higher for March, but that will be countered by no money spent on treats (until March 31 ...)


--
March is going to be interesting. I'll not only have my 2.5% raise going into effect, but I'll also have the 7% retirement contribution be taken out AND I changed my deductions from 2 to 3. Of course that income won't factor in til April, but I'll at least get to see what it's gonna look like.

--
After factoring in what I know I'm going to spend in March and estimiating some other expenses, my goal is to put $300 extra into my Efund in March. (above the 10% minimum)

However, there are some items I'm contemplating ...
Shoes - $20 x 2 (my work shoes are pretty much shot - I am planning on ordering two pairs so I have an extra pair on hand in case this style goes away before I need it again - good, comfortable dressy shoes .. worth their weight in gold.)

Kari supplies - ala Cat Whisperer - second litterbox with high sides ($12), one or two mechanical toys to help with boredom while I'm at work ($30-40), food puzzle ($10) automatic food dispenser ($50)

The litterbox and food puzzle are the only two items I'm sure I'm going to get, the others I'm still contemplating. I have roughly $90 in AGC, which would easily cover what I want, plus some. I'm also hoping my reward from Achievemint will arrive soon ($100 visa gift card)

Gym - $39/month ... I won't have a chance to check it out this weekend, but I plan to next Sunday. I also want to see how my paycheck pans out for March to see if I'll feel comfortable deducting $39 from it ...

Fitbit upgrade ... I love my Zip, but the cheap batteries I got from eBay don't last more than a month or two. They were 5 for $2. To get a battery that lasts 4-6 months, it'd be $10+. So ... I'm thinking about upgrading to the next level where you don't have to have a battery - you charge it via usb cord. This would be approximately $100, although I saw a mention on YNAB forums today of someone seeing it at Walmart for $29!! If I see it for that, I'm grabbing it, no question!

Sunday night NE and I went out to a Chinese buffet with his friend/wife. It was nice to spend some time with them, and NE was able to have his will witnessed.

I ended up only getting one semi-sweet food - mainly because I was stuffed! (I ate way too many corn nuggets - yummy!)

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6 days out of 40 are down now in my 40 day challenge! So far I'm not finding it too difficult to stay away from the temptation of buying junkfood ... of course I also haven't had any majorly stressful days this past 6 days. That's when the real test will come.

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I read "The Mockingbird Next Door" this past week at work. It's about Nelle Harper Lee - the author of To Kill a Mockingbird. It was REALLY good. Towards the end of the book it mentioned the movie Infamous with Sandra Bullock (based on the Clutter family murder in the early 60s in Kansas - which Truman Capote wrote the book In Cold Blood about.)

NE and I watched it on Amazon IV last night (only $2 to rent! paid out of my Amazon credits). I liked it, although I think NE was slightly bored because it was mostly talking/interacting and not too much action.

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Today I started reading "The Cat Whisperer." I am *really* liking it so far. Ceejay, you might want to check it out if your cats are still having issues.

No spending since Sunday - groceries and dinner - roughly $48 total. With 4 days to do, I think I'll be putting over $1000k to my EF! Wish every month could be like that. (I'd have to earn a whole lot more!)

I don't celebrate Lent in my faith, but after having spent three years working in a Catholic school and seeing how much it meant to the people there, I have thought about making my own Lenten type commitment.

When I was having issues with eating out too much and made the goal of no eating out for 60 days - I succeeded and in the end pretty much completely got rid of the bad habits that had been forming. Not that I don't stop for fast food once in a while, or eat out, but it isn't the norm.

So ... with my recent blood test results (lipids) I realized that there are two things that could help reverse those results. Eating less junkfood and being more consistent in my exercise.

So ... for 40 days (starting Wednesday, the 18th) my commitment is to not buy junkfood (may eat it, but cannot purchase it)and to get a minimum of 20 minutes of activity EVERY day.

My hope is that by the end of 40 days I will have broken through the bad habits I'd fallen back into the past 4 or 5 months with junkfood, as well as regaining good habits of exercise which kind of went by the wayside both with the weather and it getting dark early plus not feeling well often.

This of course will also save me money.

So far so good.

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I got the new label maker yesterday just before heading home for the day. Today I got to play with it. Our new computer system doesn't allow us to install programs on the computer, so I can't access all of the neat features - at least not until GK installs the program for me.

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I cashed out Pinecone points for $10 tonight.

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NE wants to take a friend of his to dinner this weekend (either Sunday or Monday) to tell him about his upcoming surgery, etc. Since he paid for Valentine's, it's my turn to pay. (this will be a cheaper meal - Chinese buffet vs. the V pizza buffet.) I've been in the mood for Chinese for awhile, so it'll be nice.

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I'm on track to put $1000 in my EF this month - as long as I'm really careful with my grocery spending for the coming week. There isn't too much I can think of that I'll need to get other than bananas and sweet potatoes .. oh, mouthwash too.

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I saw a recipe on MyFitnessPal for black bean oatmeal burgers. It's a fairly simple recipe, and I'm pretty sure I have everything needed. So I might make those this weekend - would be great for lunches next week, and maybe freeze some too if I have enough black beans to make extras.

http://happyherbivore.com/2011/08/easy-black-bean-burger/

Oatmeal is supposed to be really good for lowering cholesterol. I used to eat it a lot for breakfast, but really prefer the fruit smoothies (frozen fruit, banana, flaxseed, chia seeds, PB2 powder, water, sometimes carrots if I remember to get some ...)

So maybe I can get the oatmeal in at lunch in these burgers.

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I really need to get to the bank and figure out if I want to try for the $150 bonus. Every time I think about doing it I end up having one of my major sinus? headaches and am not at all productive after work.

I'd think about taking an afternoon off to do that and get my hair cut/highlighted and a few other odds and ends that aren't easy to do after work ... but with NEs surgery coming up in a few weeks I'm not sure how much time I'll need to take off for that.
At least one day for the surgery, and then he'll need me to take him home the next day - might have to take off the third day, or at least part of it. So ... will be using some of my vacation time.

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I'm thinking that I'm going to CA in September. It'll be my grandma's 93rd birthday. If I can schedule it around Labor Day, then I won't have to use too many vacation days.

My brother and I are working together to have him and mom come here (NE) in May - probably Mother's Day weekend. I'll use a few vacation days for that too.

I haven't heard anything more about my high-school reunion ... am kind of questioning whether I really want to do it anyway. NJ isn't exactly my first choice of vacation destination ...

Friday night NE and I ended up going out to eat at a local pizza restaurant buffet that starts with V. When we first dated back in 2004 I had a surprise birthday party for him there. That was the last time either of us had been there - he was saying that now that we've been back together for almost two years (1 yr 9 mos) that maybe it was time to try it out again.

It was good food, but as is the problem with buffets, it is hard to eat reasonably - and I definitely overdid it. Good thing we don't do that very often!

I gave him the maple syrup (and a card.) He seemed to really appreciate it.

He's really nervous about his upcoming shoulder surgery (March 11) - so much so that he bought a packet of last will/testament +POA from eBay and plans to have his apartment cleaned up by that date.

He'll be in the hospital for at least two days after surgery, and then have at least a 4 week recovery time, two of which he isn't supposed to drive.

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I got a message from my doctor's office - twice on voicemail on Friday. One of the things I had tested last week was my Vitamin D levels - it must have been pretty low because they called in a prescription for Vitamin D supplements to my pharmacy - take one per week for 8 weeks and then redo bloodwork. Nothing was said about my TSH level, which was the main reason for the bloodwork! If they're open on Monday hopefully I won't have to play voicemail tag with them (they close at 4:30, which is when I get off work.)

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I have an appointment to talk with my pastor on Monday.

I'm thinking about going to see a movie - Old Fashioned - afterwards. I mentioned it to NE and he had no response .. which usually means no interest. Oh well, I can go see it by myself.

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I read an interesting article today which was linked to in a journal on the YNAB forums - one of the ideas in it was that what trips most people up when making goals or plans is that they get overwhelmed by everything they'll have to do to reach the goal/finish the plan. The better thing to do is to think about the goal/plan on what you need to do to reach it *that day*.

An example given is "I want to play lead guitar in a rock band." Instead of thinking about how many hours of practice that would take and getting overwhelmed and most likely not doing anything towards that goal, think about what you can do *today*. I will practice the guitar today.

In finances I could see an example being "I want to retire at 55." That could be overwhelming in the big picture. What is a small step? What can be done *today?* I will call my car insurance to see if I can get a better price. (reduce expenses) or I will work on learning *skill* which I can eventually use to earn side income. etc. etc.

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I cashed out for $25 PP a couple days ago and already received it. Then today I cashed out again (after cashing out my Bing points) so should have that by Wednesday or so I'd guess.

I'm getting close to my next $25 AGC with PerkTV - this one's gone much slower because they reduce the point values on some videos.

Today was a very hectic and chaotic day at work.

One thing I do is mail passes out to people who send in order forms/money. TWO different people I mailed passes out to last Wednesday/Friday have not gotten them yet. One of them is a mentally challenged person who can be quite abrasive. The other one is an older gentleman who is frustrated, but polite.

I feel very frustrated because I did my part - got the passes out in the outbox as soon as they came in ... now it's the post office's part. But I'm having to deal with the mail not getting there on time. Ugh.

I also found out I made some really stupid mistakes on Friday - totally forgot to make a receipt for one of the mailed out passes (thankfully had a record of it in the mop book!) plus a couple other things ... my boss jokingly? asked me if it was because I was off probation now ...

It sure didn't help things that by about 1 pm I had a horrible headache - most likely sinus.

By the time I got off work my head hurt so badly that I felt nauseous. I thought maybe food would help ... so I stopped at BK and at Family Dollar ... $13 later ... the food didn't really help, nor did the soda. What did help was a Dayquil and taking a 90 minute nap.

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Tomorrow I have a doctor's appt for bloodwork at 8:30 - TSH and cholesterol, etc - so no breakfast before going.

I had planned on getting a breakfast crosanwich from BK on my way to work after the appointment as a treat (LOVE them, but very rarely get them) but now I don't know if I should since I spent so much tonight. Sigh. Plus I'm not sure how NE and I are splitting our early Valentine's meal (Friday night) - we've talked about getting a heart shaped pizza from a local pizza place and maybe cheesecake from a local place .. we'll see what actually happens.

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I'd planned on checking out the US Bank offer this afternoon, but because of the headache/nausea didn't do it. There is a branch right near NEs place, which is also near the PO I have a box at (which I need to cancel soon before it renews again!)

I found out at work today that my raise doesn't actually go into effect until my March 5 paycheck. Boo! I understood why, just was hoping to get it sooner.

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I really hate my allergies. You'd think in winter they'd be non-existent ... They affect my sleep (as in lack of sleep) .. they affect my day at work (as in huge headache can't concentrate) .. they affect my time with NE because if the headache is bad enough that I take some non-daytime medicine, then I get so sleepy / out of it while he's here - but if I *don't* take it, then I can barely stand to hear him talk ..

Ugh!

It used to be I took Allegra D when it was a prescription - reasonable price for a 30 day supply. As an OTC, NOT reasonable price and NOT able to get a 30 day supply (get ten at a time and only once every two weeks ...) Allegra D was what seemed to work best for me without making me so darn sleepy.

Now I have found other stuff that works, is somewhat reasonable, but most of it makes me really drowsy. So .. can't take it during the day.

My apartment building has three parking lots surrounding it. One parking lot is for my building, one is for an apartment building nearby, and the other one is the parking lot for a medical building.

Guess which parking lot is located directly by my bedroom? Yep, the medical building parking lot.

So .. this past week we had a total of nearly 15 inches of snow. This morning the owners of the medical building hired someone to scrape their parking lot. Starting around 3:30 (maybe earlier, but this is when I first looked at my phone) and continued to around 5:00 AM!

I get that they have to do it while there aren't cars in the lot ... but still!

It was kind of funny though watching Kari's reaction - she was standing on my dresser (which is located next to the bedroom window.) If you've seen those cat videos of cats standing on their back legs with nothing to support them ... that's what she was doing. Staring intently at the curtain. I was really surprised she didn't stick her head out the curtain - maybe she was intrigued, but also scared?

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With all the snow this week, I was really glad for the snow boots my mom gave me for my birthday. They don't fit very well (too tight) but they still served their purpose!

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I got my NM tax refund yesterday. It was less than I remembered .. not sure what happened there. I probably need to log on to the Tax site and see if I'm just remembering the wrong amount.

I should have my federal refund tomorrow (according to the IRS site.) No clue on the NE state refund.

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This week at work has been fairly good. Mostly because I have been legitimately busy! Tons of phone calls on Monday and Wednesday asking one question ... Are the buses running today? Then Mon-Thurs fielding lots of calls asking how far behind schedule the buses were ... Lots of buses getting stuck on ice or in snow drifts or in small accidents (somebody backed into a bus!!)

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I almost have all the funds in my Discover bank account to make the $50. I have to have the $5k balance by March 15 - I'll probably go ahead and get the funds in there sooner so they're not sitting at ING (I know, I know) at .75%, and then pull all of them out except $500 until September - just in case there is some problem with closing the account before six months.

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I got an offer for a local bank here - open up an account with a minimum deposit of $25 AND have a direct deposit of at least $500/month for three months - get $150.

There are local branches around here - one not far at all from me. I still need to check into fees and such, plus find out if I can have one paycheck DD to one bank, and the other to another one. If not, I could have them both DD to the one bank, and then just transfer the money.

That would be a pretty sweet kick to the EF!

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I am now officially in my 7th month at my job and am no longer on probation!! I am using my first two hours of sick leave next week for a doctor's appointment. (TSH bloodwork, etc)

I asked my boss about my 6 month evaluation, and she told me she still hasn't heard anything. Booooo! I want to know if I'm going to get a raise! (Possible 2.25%)

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Other than Sunday when I went to Walmart and Sam's, I haven't spent any money this week. I was tempted, but I knew I had so much food here (especially from all the shopping I did at the now closed local grocery store) that I really shouldn't do it!

However ... my dress heels for work are starting to come apart. Walking through slush apparently isn't very good for them to hold together ...These were a $30 pair I got from Sears in July I think .. not sure if it's worth it trying to find someone to resole them? Or better to just get a new pair? I *really* like these shoes. It's hard for me to find good shoes ...

January up til the last week or so looked like it was going to be under control ... sigh. I will do better this month.

Tithe: 130
Giving (other) 70 (hadn't put it towards anything for a few months)

Rent: 430
Natural Gas: 36.97
Electric: 37.97
Auto Fuel: 15.48
Internet: 65.60 Sigh...
Groceries: 256.xx Huge sigh (a lot of this was from a local store closing ... at least $120 worth)
Restaurants: $16.64 *hardee's twice*
clothing: $4 (washing clothes/ drying)
Kari - $3.61 (canned food)
Toiletries: $6.49 (hairspray and deodorant)
Treats: 36.13 (I think the number is higher than this .. I just didn't track as carefully out from groceries the whole month.)
Beauty - $25 groupon for highlights/cut for future
Tax Prep: 34.98 (federal + two state efiled)

Savings:
EF: 471.91
ROTH: 200

Extra Income:
Swagbucks: $50 PayPal
PerkTV: $25 AGC
Pact: $17
Pinecone: $5
eBay: roughly $16 after fees/shipping

Will be coming -- $100 Visa ecard from Achievemint (cashed in about two or three weeks ago.)