This afternoon I got a call from T's husband inviting me to a Cookie Party at Mr. B's house. (Mr B was my teacher aide for a year, and was also T's aide for a year - amazing, giving, selfless man - such a hard worker.)

Of course I said yes!

Mr B had baked 4 or 5 dozen sugar cookies in star shapes and tree shapes. He'd also made several kinds of fudge, several types of regular cookies, and loaves of 'friendship' bread.

It was really good to sit and chat with everyone. At first the kids were decorating the sugar cookies, but then they got tired of it. So . . us adults got to get in on the fun.

Mr B sent us all home with a huge bunch of goodies.

I can't have that in my home for more than tonight, so am going to take it into work and share the bounty. (Have already eaten a few too many of the goodies.)

I've invited both T and her family, as well as Mr B and his family to my place at the end of January for a Danish Aebleskeber brunch. I had them all over to my place maybe a bit over two years ago - so it's way past time to do it again!

(Mr B has a long last name that is hard for kids to say. So everyone just called him Mr B--. It just kind of sticks.)

----
On my way to the party I stopped at Half Price Bookstore.

I dropped my bag of Spanish materials at the sales desk, then started looking around.

I found a nice calendar for my stepdad, and a book for me.

Finally, I was called to the sales desk. I was offered $6.50 for 5 Spanish learning books/dictionaries, and 3 computer programs (1 of which cost $100.) I just couldn't do it.

I think I'm going to try Craigslist again after I get back from CA. There has to be *someone* who wants to learn Spanish!

----
I earned $13 this morning working the morning shift at the gym.

I didn't get any exercise in today, other than the stairs from the garage to the office and back.

I spent $10.48 (calendar and book - but it was off of a gift card I got for my birthday.)

Let's see here . .

* Found out today that I more than likely will be keeping my Friday morning gig opening the gym. I thought it would only be through today, but apparently the person who used to do it isn't available anymore. So, that means a continued 5 hrs a week at the gym in the new year.

* Gulp. Submitted an application and resume to two places in CA today. The first one was ALL online.

It was quite aggravating because after I completed the application, pasted in my resume, pasted in a cover letter and submitted - it then had a background check form asking for drivers license, car license, places lived for last 10 years . . . You had to do it right then - no way to save it and go back later. I finally managed to finish the last bit of it at 8:29 a.m. I'm supposed to be at my Real job at 8:30. Argh!

* Updated my sidebar totals, and added an Extra Monies tracking page for Dec.

* Today was a No Spend Day
(Not for lack of thinking about things I would like to go buy - mainly food items.)

* A good friend of mine from college friended me on Facebook today! Hi DJ!

* I got paid for an unused sick day today in my paycheck. After taxes, ~$74 going to Extra Monies! Yay!

* I contacted an old friend today via email! -- I'd received an email from an address I thought I recognized saying something about "I have a prayer for you". But when I opened it, I saw it was from fanbox something or other site, and recalled getting strange emails with that website before. So, decided not to open it. SO glad I didn't open it, because about 30 minutes later I got an email from my friend telling me that it was a virus! Ack!

* The Beck Diet Solution is being held for me at the library. This is the book that has a bunch of ideas on how to fight negative thinking with positive thinking. I'd sparkmailed the person who had blogged about it to find out the name of the book, and she got back to me right away. So, I'll pick it up tomorrow and start making my keychain cards!

* A funny at work today. {Backstory} We have a 'consultant' doing some auditing for us. Yesterday he'd asked me for 5 paperclips. So, I reach into my side drawer and pull out the DW created 'paper clip pocket made out a notebook paper and staples'. He gave me a funny look, and I explained to him that I tend to give DW a lot of paperclips in the various things I do for him, so he likes to give them back to me at various times and in various modes of container.

{Today} Consultant guy comes by my desk again, and asks to use my stapler. Then he says he needs more paperclips. So, I pull out a second, more full 'notebook/staple packet' and give it to him. He then puts it down on the filing cabinet next to my desk which holds the letterhead and envelopes, and is about 6 inches or so higher than the top of my desk. He tells me he'll be back for it, but needs to go meet with head honcho.

About 30 minutes later I notice J, our CFO walking by my desk casting strange glances towards my area. Then about the same time, A, who's desk is next to mine also starts casting strange glances my way. I figured out what they were staring at.

After explaining what it was, D, our shipping manager (deal with brokers person), says "It's like you're at an airport and you see a strange package."

(After all that, I just went ahead and took it to the office the consultant was working out of!)

Maybe not so funny in the retelling - but it was pretty funny when it happened.

Absolutely incredible.

Tonight I got home from work and checked my mail. I had several birthday cards, a couple Christmas cards ... and then a letter from the Clerk of PA court.

When I saw that I was going 'What in the world??'

Finally I sit down and open it. At first I'm reading it and going 'Uh, ok.' Then I get to the last page and it hits me what it is about!

In a nutshell back in the area of 2003 or 2004 I had $139.xx removed from my checking twice. I had no idea who the money was going to, nor what it was for. I called my CU and let them know that I did not know why the money was going out ... and asked them if they could figure it out. If I remember correctly they were able to give me a phone number to the place, I called them and told them to cancel whatever it was. Then asked for a refund of my money. I was told I'd get it in 60 days. Several months later I called again, and was told it would be put on priority. This went on for at least a year, then a whole bunch of life happened and I forgot about it. Never got the money.

According to this document I received, this happened to a WHOLE bunch of other people as well. Wachovia let this company open up accounts, then they would call people with some mis-leading telemarketing call to get their bank info, which lead into Wachovia cashing unsigned checks. (I think that's the gist of it.)

So, there is now this class-action suit being brought against Wachovia. At first I thought all I would get would be the $35 refund for bank charges (I did end up bouncing a check as a result of the withdrawal at the time.)

THEN I looked at the last page. On the bottom was a check for $139.xx - a refund for the amount that was stolen from my account! I don't think I ever had any of the money returned to me - but don't have the paperwork to show it anymore - so I am EXTREmLY pleased with this amount!

Needless to say I am going to show the teller the paperwork and ask if they can verify the check as legitimate before actually depositing it. But . . I think this really is the real deal!

---
I received a $100 from my Grandma for my birthday also in the mail today.

---
It was below freezing today here. I had planned on getting to the gym 10 minutes early to get extra running time in, but it ended up I needed all that time plus a bit just to get my windows deiced.

At least I got my 2.1 mile run in this morning. Then today after work I did roughly 40 minutes strength training/stretching.

Today I enjoyed the luxury of being able to sleep in as late as I like.

When I finally deigned to get up and dressed, I headed out to get my car inspected.

I seriously thought that I was going to need to replace my windshield wipers in order to pass inspection. In fact, I was planning on buying new ones before getting inspected.

But instead I stopped at the first place I saw that had the state inspection.

I told the mechanic that I needed my oil changed, my car inspected and most likely new windshield wiper blades.

Roughly 40 minutes later, my car passed inspection and my oil was changed. But I still had the same wipers! The mechanic told me that they were still fine and didn't need to be changed.

I was very happy about that of course - but more so happy that he didn't just say that I needed new ones to make the extra sale.

--

This weekend I really need to finish up my defensive driving course. I've one hour completed and 5 more to go. I'd been planning on doing them during my lunch breaks, but then kept getting pulled up front to give the receptionist her lunch break. So . . just need to go ahead and get 'r dun this weekend.

I think when I get the 10% discount back, I'll put it in my extra monies accounting as a rebate - since I've already paid my 6 month premium without the discount.

--
I got another ING referral bonus today. Now I need to do some legwork (i.e. typing) so I can send out more referrals.

Good news and not so good news.

I found out today that a third lady from my office has signed up at our gym. This is good of course for E and for the gym.

It is however not so good for me personally. These three ladies and myself all will be in the gym at about the same time in the morning - all of us needing to be DONE at about the same time as well. Not to mention that there are two other new ladies who've been coming in the mornings.

There are two shower stalls in the ladies locker room.

Now, good news part.

One of the ladies who signed up for the gym actually also signed up for a PT course from E. She had asked me personally to introduce her to E.

So I found out today that as staff, I get a $20 referral bonus for her!! I may get another referral bonus for a second of the three ladies who joined up - I didn't directly refer her, but I've talked to her a good bit about the gym and about E - so we'll see on that one.

---
I've now used my netbook two times at the gym doing ChaCha. It really works pretty well.

I think I'm starting to get the hang of the keyboard.

I'm needing to do a bit of cleaning this evening, my kitchen especially. So I'm going to do what my coworker suggested to me today -- put my netbook on the kitchen table, turn the volume up loud as possible, then work on cleaning in between questions. That way I can get my cleaning done, but also keep making a bit of money. Ahh. . . the convenience factor.

This coming week I have two extra early morning shifts at the gym, plus my Friday morning early shift and afternoon shift. I started thinking about how much money I'd received from my last 3 gym paychecks which I hadn't allocated yet to any of my Extra Monies funds yet (due to the bounced check). Then I thought about how much I'd be getting soon from ChaCha (at least $145).

I made the leap.

I bought a netbook -- at Target -- for $300.00.

It is the ASUS Eee PC 900. It's just over 2lbs in weight and the screen is 8.9" diagonally.

I have books that weigh more than it, and that are thicker than it.

I also bought a usb mouse to use with it, and a carrying case.

Tonight I connected to my home internet network with it and downloaded the ChaCha toolbar and was able to do a couple queries. I will def. have to use the mouse for that though - at least till I get more accustomed to the touch pad.

I also called my dad and grandma on Skype - which came preloaded. I thought this had a built in webcam, but I found out that it doesn't. So, I'll have to see if I can find an inexpensive one -- but that will come later - after I pay back the loan to myself.

So, at this moment I have a loan of $350 that I owe myself. I will be keeping track of what I earn doing ChaCha at the gym, as well as how many hours of extra gym shifts I do beyond the Friday afternoon shifts (which is what I originally signed on for.) I wonder how long it will take me to pay myself back?

---

Oh yes, I must mention the bit of drama in the purchase. My card was initially declined. Imagine my surprise!

The people at the electronics counter graciously let me use their phone to call customer service. Apparentally my trying to make a $350 purchase at Target flagged my account as "unusual activity". I had to answer a bunch of questions and confirm a number of charges from the past few days - then my card was reactivated.

The man on customer service was apologetic, but I told him that I was *thankful* for the flag, even if it was a bit of a hassle and delay. I seriously LOVE how alert WAMU is about their customers credit card usuage. I would SO much rather have my card declined, than to go check my account and see thousands of dollars worth of charges on there that aren't mine - that is SO much more hassle and headache.

* I updated my Extra Monies pages, as well as my tickers.

* The gym paycheck that bounced as well as the next one I got have both been finally taken care of. I picked up my check today (which includes the $98.25 + $10 bounce fee + last two weeks work hours) and was told that I *do not need* to worry about this one bouncing. I'll be putting it in tomorrow. If it bounces, I'm going to insist on money orders from here on out.

* I bought a few groceries at Target this weekend. I wasn't paying close attention to the register, so missed my Morningstar corn dogs ringing up wrong. Luckily I checked my receipt and caught it. The lady at customer service gave me $3 in cash back. Free corndogs! Yay!

* My brother's birthday is tomorrow!! He's going to be 28 years old. He was born on the day Reagan was elected. Hopefully he'll celebrate his 28th birthday with Obama being elected.

* I've been doing quite well with not buying junkfood or eating junk at work. So well in fact, that I've lost nearly 10 pounds since my last post! (Mostly water weight I think though.)

* I'm still considering a laptop. Although a comment made by E on Thursday night when I picked up the keys to be able to open the gym on Friday's has me wondering if it is a good idea or not. He mentioned that they may have to let go of some of their employees.

* I won another weekend contest for ChaCha last week. $10 Yay!

* My mom and I did a 5k together last weekend. We both walked away with first place trophies for our age categories. ......... Of course, we were the only females competing in our respective age categories! LOL!

I was so very proud of my mom for finishing and not taking any shortcuts. We were the last two of 25 people to cross the line. My time was the same as my first 5k (43:37) and my mom finished in 50:00. (She can't run due to joint/bone problems.)

* I finally got to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. It was showing at a second run theatre near where we did our 5k. It cost $3 for my mom, me and my stepdad to see it. Cheap entertainment.

* I think my car's stereo speakers are dying. Today when driving home the sound kept coming in and out, getting louder and softer, going from one side to the other. First time I've noticed that.

How expensive are car stereo speakers to replace??

* I paid $2.11/gallon for gasoline today. I am loving the falling gas prices!

Bear with me folks, this is a bit long today.

This is pretty sad really, my post today. The scale has been going up and up in the past few months, but I kept consoling myself that I was still less than when I started Sparkpeople back in June 2006.

Then this morning I get on the scale and find out that that is no longer true.

What's really sad is that I am exercising, although not as consistently as before. I even have a 5k I'm participating in tomorrow, even though I've not been able to complete 2 miles on the treadmill in 30 minutes for several weeks.

What has happened though is that I've gone back to most of my *really* bad eating habits. This has been affecting me both financially (food costs + needing new clothes) and health wise (weight gain, not able to run as fast).

I can't even begin to explain how frustrated and discouraged I feel about this whole situation. One totally of my own making, and my own control.

So . . . I'm working a good bit of hours at the gym. Probably once a week get called to cover an extra shift after work. Then of course, this coming Friday I will start doing the Friday early morning shift for the next 8 weeks.

Usually I spend most of my time at the gym when working, reading. I have attempted to do a weight routine while on shift, but there were so many interruptions I kept losing my place in my counts.

As I've mentioned before, I also am working for ChaCha.

So, I'm thinking that maybe I can knock out three objectives with one stone.

1. Get back on track with food/exercise
2. Reign in spending on junk/extra food
3. Make more side income

The way I'm thinking of doing this is by allocating whatever money I earn from "extra" shifts, as well as the early Friday morning shifts for the next 8 weeks, to a laptop fund.

In order to actually access the money though, I have to earn it. Kind of do a matching funds type thing.

For example:
One day where I don't spend any money on any type of junkfood or unnecessary food, as well as don't consume any office supplied junkfood equals $5.

For every 5 days, I would get a Fund Match of $25.

Once I have "earned" at least $200, I will go ahead and order the laptop I'm thinking of:

Sylvania G Netbook and then make a "loan" to myself that I will be able to pay off much faster by using the laptop at the gym to do ChaCha. (Until the loan to myself is paid off, any money I earn doing ChaCha at the gym would go towards the loan.)

I am guessing, if all goes well, it will take me around four weeks to get to the initial $200 mark. Then, roughly another three weeks (when adding additional ChaCha income) to pay it off. So, that would give me 7 weeks of getting back into my good habits, which hopefully would stick even after the laptop is paid off.

---
By the by . . if anyone knows of another laptop that would work with Firefox and in the $400 or less range, I'd love to hear about it!

Also, I think I'm right that I could use the laptop purchase as a tax write off on Schedule C since it is largely being purchased to do the ChaCha job. Am I right?

First, the good stuff.

My second monthly ChaCha payment went through of $131.74. $10 of that was money from a contest I'd won. I lurve ChaCha!

I also picked up my check for the gym. It was for $65.50, but then the $20 overpayment from the previous check was subtracted, so it came to $45.50.

So, between ChaCha and the gym, in October I have added a little over $275 to my Extra Monies funds. Most of what I do for both of these require very little effort - just time and consistency.

It looks like my next paycheck for the gym will be at least in the low $100 range - due to an extra shift already worked, 3 Friday afternoons, plus starting to work the early morning shift on Friday Oct 31. Me likey.

------------

Rant.

Today I went out to eat with two of my coworkers. One of them had a buy one get one free coupon for specific items on the menu - none of which could be turned into a vegetarian friendly food. Not a problem - I'm used to it, and can deal with it.

I've eaten at this place a couple times before, and have found that the Grilled Cheese Panini w/ a side of sweet potatoes can be had for $6 +tax and is filling.

It is however on the children's menu.

So, I place my order for it. I am then told that I can't order off the children's menu. I reply back by saying that I have done it both times I've come before with no problems.

The waiter tells me that if I'd like to speak to the manager he'd be happy to get him. I very briefly considered this, but then decided that I did NOT want to make a scene. I told the waiter that I am a vegetarian and that there was NOTHING else on the menu without meat. He suggested that I get the quesedilla entree and just have the chicken left out.

The quesedilla price: $8.95
The pannini price: $5.95 (includes side dish)

I went ahead and ordered the quesedillas and asked to have spinach and mushrooms added.

Later when I saw the bill, they had charged me $9.95 for my item. I can only assume the extra dollar was for the oh so much more costly than chicken - mushrooms and spinach!

OY VEY!

Needless to say I will NOT willingly go there again - nor will I recommend it to anyone!

I would REALLY like to know just what the problem is with an adult ordering off the children's menu?? The portion size is going to be the same whether an 11 year old orders it, or an ahem.. 32 year old orders it. Is it really worth $4 to them to completely lose a customer??

So I watched CSI:Vegas online this past weekend. It was a very good episode, but I was getting annoyed by all the starts and stops.

I decided it was time to go up to the next DSL tier. It was only $5 more and I felt it would be worth it.

So a few minutes ago I called to upgrade my DSL speed.

YEOW!

There is no $25 option anymore. They don't even have my $20 option anymore. The next higher speed than what I have is now $35!!!!
I just about hung up.

The lady kept trying to tell me that AT&T had given me free installation and that they'd felt like they had lost money with the free installations which is why it had gone up so much. Then she tried to tell me you don't have a phone line charge . . . etc, etc.

Finally I told her, that may all be true, but I don't have $35/mo in my budget for internet. That finally got her to back off.

I guess I will be living with the hiccups of watching tv on the lower speed.

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In other news. E asked me today if I'd be willing to fill in on Friday mornings at one of the gym locations from the end of Oct to Dec 19. It will mean an extra $13/week! Yay! It also will mean that I'll have to get there by 6:20 a.m. which is an hour earlier than I usually get there for working out. For 8 weeks, I can deal with it.

Today I got my gym paycheck. I had worked a couple times at the other gym site where there had been no time cards. So E was going to write my times down on a timecard. He forgot of course - which I found out when I got my previous paycheck.

So today's paycheck included one Friday I hadn't gotten paid for (previous pay period) plus the normal hours in the current time period. But . . the numbers didn't add up.

11.5 hours (3 afternoons of 3.5 hours, plus one 1 hour afternoon) x 6.55 = $75.33

My paycheck today was for $98.25.

I looked at it and looked at it trying to figure out where he came up with that figure. Shoot - I *liked* that figure.

The only thing I could figure out is that he counted one of my 3.5 hour afternoons twice.

So I called him and told him. He told me to write on my current timecard a note to subtract $20 from my next paycheck. That's about $3 less than the difference, but he said he didn't really care much about $3.

We had an interesting exchange about just what $3 could get you.

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I can't say much, but I am very sad about a situation happening with a family member of mine. I hope and pray that the situation will change, but I fear that it won't.

---
I think I don't handle change well. At all. Work the past two weeks has totally and completely stressed me out.

Yesterday the furniture was finally moved back into place.

The way I have to place my computer on my desk causes me to have my back towards the kitchen/hallway 99% of the time. There are three heavy traffic patterns which run by my desk now (3 sides). At least twice now I have looked up from what I was doing to find multiple people by my desk looking at me. Also, due to the setup, I now have LESS space.

I keep getting asked how I like the new setup. They don't get what I'm really thinking -- they get - GRIN Oh, it's great!

Trying to think positively -- I will get used to this!

I updated my tickers on my sidebar for September. For details you can check out my September earnings page. There was some actual good movement - thanks to ChaCha and my gym job.

My ING interest increased this month (by $.48) but my HSBC interest went down, even though the actual amount in the account increased, the teaser interest rate dropped on the 15th.

In October there will be a good deal more movement due to a 5 paycheck month. Although, I am considering using *some* of that extra paycheck to help update/upgrade my wardrobe. I haven't fully decided on that one yet though.

---
At work the chaotic week - week two has continued. Only the fun was compounded by my main manager being back from vacation. On Monday he was understanding. Yesterday however when I told him I wasn't able to get some information he needed because that program was on my computer which of course wasn't set up - he became the opposite of understanding.

So I spoke to the president's daughter, who I guess you could call the company liasion (sp?). She told me that I could go ahead and set up my computer on the floor until the furniture got moved back in.

Um ok. Miss ingenious here really didn't want to sit on the floor in her skirt and use her computer. So I thought about this little rolling table we have back in the Engineering copy/file room. It has a double purpose - holds extra paper for the copier, and when I do my filing it holds my filing book and the files.

So I cleared the table off and set up my computer on it. For the rest of the day I had many people laughing at me and my setup - good naturedly of course.

I will admit it is a funny setup. But it is much better than trying to use my computer on the floor. Or continuing to share the computer with the receptionist when this particular manager asks me to get something for him and expects it yesterday and doesn't want to hear that I can't do it yet because receptionist is having to use the computer to do something for another person.

Fingers crossed - furniture is supposed to be moved back into office area and set up in the morning. Anxiously awaiting a return to some semblance of normalcy.

I logged in tonight to do a bit of ChaCha'ing and noticed that my earnings were a good bit higher than they had been this morning -- $10 higher!

I checked, and sure enough, I was one of the winners in the Sat. nite contest!!

So now I'm close to $70, with 17 days to go till the next monthly payout. I think I'll have a good bit more than just a $100 this time.

Just a quick note.

Last week at work was such a crazy chaotic week. The powers that be decided they needed to build two new offices within our company's area. Those two new offices of course are being built in the same area where another coworker and I had our desks.

So, other coworker and I had the pleasure of packing up our desks/computers etc and transferring them elsewhere. Coworker got put in the file room, and I got the pleasure of sharing the computer with the front desk receptionist. Fun.

If all has gone well this weekend, the furniture will be able to be moved back into the area by Tuesday morning, and we'll have our desks/computers back.

BTW - we're not getting the offices. There's enough room outside of them in that same area for our desks to fit. Less privacy than before (which wasn't much to speak of anyway.)

Such is life as a peon I guess.

---
Up to almost $56 with ChaCha. I took a couple days off from it in order to get other things done. I'll be getting my next gym paycheck on Friday - it'll be for 11 1/2 hours *$5.55 (3 Friday's + a one-hour shift I covered). It'll be a nice start to October's Extra Monies.

I just checked my bank account balance, and saw that my first ChaCha payment has been deposited!

From Aug 26 - Sept 15 I made $101.01 in my spare time. Fun!

I also received my second check from the gym for $49.13. It would've been more, but I didn't have my timecard at the location where I worked the Friday before payday. It'll be on my next check.

So, from gym job (2 paychecks)
1st one: $67.14 and 2nd one: $49.13, then the $101.01 from ChaCha, I added

$217.28 to my Extra Monies fund for Septmeber. (Granted, some of the money was earned in August - but I don't count it as earned until I have it IN the bank.)

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I am SO glad AIG got bailed out. I have my 403b (from when I was teaching) with AIG Valic. That is 5 years worth of contributions. My Roth, 401k and TRD IRA, are all at different places, but combined are maybe 20% of the value (at least what it was two weeks ago) of my AIG 403b.

It makes me sick to look at the value of the 403b though. It is down over $1k from where it was when I made my last contribution June 05. To some, a 1k drop isn't much, but percentage wise for me, it's HUGE.

---
I just realized I hadn't posted about my latest 5k!

This past Sunday I completed my 3rd 5k race. I finished with a 43:04 which didn't beat my previous time, but I was satisfied with it. I had to stop to tie my shoes once, the course was much hillier and there was a good gusty wind both ways (nearly blew my hat off a couple times!)

The really really cool thing though is that with my Dad being in CA now, my mom and stepdad have stepped up to be my cheering section at my races. Even better, my mom has said that she would like to participate!!

There is a 5k on Oct 26 which is closer for them to get to - and has a fun walk built into it. So, we're going to do that one together. Well, not totally together, since I'll be running and she'll be "speed" walking.

A friend asked me to fill out a reference for her. I wasn't able to think of a good reason to say no right then, so now am in a bit of a bind as to the best way to fill it out.

I've never said one word to her about what I think of her skills in this area, mainly because I didn't think it was my place or my business. Now I guess I'm going to have to put it out there.

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Sat night I went to the Beach Boy's concert with my mom. We had a BLAST! The crowd had an amazing amount of energy. We got them to come back out and do 3 encores! The venue for the concert was a bit strange - in the same hall where the Dallas Symphony Orchestra plays (they actually accompanied the Beach Boy's). I wasn't accustomed to seeing so many Hawaiian shirts at a DSO concert.

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I'm almost up to $70 with ChaCha. My goal is to reach $100 by the 14th, so I can get paid on the 15th. I think I'll be able to do it, even though it won't be a full month.

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I have another 5k coming up this Sunday. My mom and stepdad will be coming to cheer me on.

I've found at least one race in Oct Nov and Dec that is on a Sunday - so that works well for me.

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I've decided to drop my membership to the Outdoors club. There just wasn't enough things I was interested or able to do to make the monthly fee worthwhile.

Between my meetup groups and my races, I'm really keeping myself pretty busy anyway.

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I got an email from my dad tonight. He was saying that he is near the Texas/NM border and will be crossing into NM in the morning. Getting closer to CA!

He must be quite the sight to see. A huge Penske truck, then a car trailer w/his vehicle on it, then his little trailer. The little trailer my family purchased back in the early 1980's (around the time my brother was born!) It's gone many many miles through numerous states.

Today I got a call from E at the gym asking if I could work the 5:30 to close shift. I was only planning on watching a movie tonight, so I said sure, why not.

While I was at the gym in the afternoon, I found out that we get paid on the first business day of each month, and the 15th of each month. So that means I have a paycheck waiting for me at the other gym location. I'll pick it up on Friday, which is fine, since I won't be able to get by a bank until then anyway.

Then tonight I got another call from E asking if I'd be willing to come in *early* tomorrow and open. The person who was supposed to do it is sick. I of course said YES.

I think I'm going to REALLY like my next paycheck.

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When I checked my email tonight I saw that I'd received another ING referral bonus. YAY!

Of course, I'm still waiting for two of the last three bonuses to go to my available balance column. I think they still earn interest though, which really is all that matters.

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I'm now up to nearly $28 in ChaCha earnings. I think I've become slightly addicted to the sound of a doorbell.

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A new company has moved into our office building. They are taking up at least two complete floors.

This morning I arrived at around 7:15 a.m. and found that the ENTIRE row where I normally park was completely full!! Normally when I get there at that time, there *might* be one or two cars in that section.

So it looks like I'll be parking up on the next level from now on. That's okay though, because that is the same level that the gym is on.

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I forgot to mention yesterday . .

On Sunday my dad and I found mini-blinds at Walmart for about $8. It took us all of about 3 minutes to remove the old ones and install the new ones.

That saved me at least $27.

While we were at Walmart, we also had them fill my tires with air and move the hubcap on my one tire so we could get to the airstem. They did it for no charge.

I am now proud to say that I hold three jobs. My first job (the one that pays the bills) is of course the one at the oil and gas company.

My second job is the 3 1/2 hours on Friday afternoons at the gym.

My third job, which I just started today, is with ChaCha as an expeditor. In slightly over 90 minutes I made $3.30. I know, not a whole lot of money - but it's money I wouldn't have otherwise made in that time period.

I wish we had Firefox on our computers at work so I could do some ChaCha during lunchtime.

My goal is to make $20/week. So, that translates to roughly an hour a day. If I'm able to put in an extra two hours on the weekends, then I could make up to $100/month (give or take).


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Remember my savings goal of a Cruise in 2010? Well, I realized today that I'll turn 35 in December of 2010. So I've decided that it will be my 35th Birthday Cruise. I'm thinking that for the next couple of birthdays/Christmases I'll let everyone know that any cash gifts I receive, half of them will go towards my Cruise fund.

Car trouble:

1 - My dad's GMC Jimmy - some kind of ball bearing or some such thing in his front driver side tire broke. He was here, visiting me, we were about a mile from my apartment. Took about three hours, but a friend of his brought a big trailer up and loaded his Jimmy on it. Short term fix cost about $161, long term fix (replacing whole front axle, big and small bearings, etc) cost another $900.

My dad says that the steering is so much more sharp than it had been and is glad he went ahead and did the whole shebang. His Jimmy has close to 200k miles, was bought used, and has been paid for a bit over a year.

2 - My tires -- My tires are low. I know all I need to do to fix this is find a tire pressure gauge somewhere and fill them with air. However, one of the tires had the hubcap put on in a weird way (it must be one of the newer tires) and the stem is not in a reachable spot.

So, I need to go somewhere where they have one of those tools to take the hubcap off and put it back on with the stem reahable. My dad suggests Walmart (where I bought my tires.) However, I really really don't look forward to sitting around for an hour or two just to get air in my tires -- so have been putting it off.

That one tire (with the strangely placed hubcap) is looking really low . . .

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New job:
Today was my second shift at the gym. Like last week's, it was completely uneventful. No one came in to workout . . so I had pretty much the whole time to read, or if I'd wanted to, I could have called someone and talked on my cell. The only things I really did was to fold towels that had been in the dryer, and start a new load of towels.

Last week I made it very shortly after 3:00 p.m. Today was a different story. At 2:54 p.m. my main boss saw me walking down the hallway and called me in to ask me to do some copying for him - and he needed it right then.

What was I going to say? Um, can't do that for you because it'll make me late for my other job that pays minimum wage. Yeah, that would be a NO.

So, I ended up getting there 10 minutes late. I'd told E that this was a possibility, but that I didn't think it would really happen. Of course, it did have to happen - luckily not on my first shift!

When I'm sitting in the gym wondering how I can make time pass faster . . I remind myself that the reason I'm doing this is to help me get to my house that much faster, as well as my other savings goals. That helps the time to pass just a bit more easily.

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My carpooler started making noise a couple months ago about how she didn't like the 7a.m. leaving time and that she was going to find other rides. At the time, I told her that was fine - she needed to do what suited her needs best.

So, for the last 3 weeks or so, she's been riding with me pretty sporadically. Last week she rode with me twice - didn't give me any money. This week she rode with me twice, and gave me $5.

So, it appears that $40 of my extra income pool may dwindle to more like $10 - 15, or perhaps less a month.

The only way to change that would be for me to go in everyday at 8a.m. which would mean no time to workout at the gym in the morning. Not going to happen.

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I had to fill up today. I ended up paying an extra $.21 for it because I decided to pass up the station selling for $3.39/gallon to see if the station which had been lower in price the day before would happen to be lower again today. They weren't.

So . . . $3.41/gallon
Bought: 10.449 gallons

Odometer on 8/8/08 = 104,601
Odometer on 8/22/08 = 104,917

So, mileage would be 316/1050

Which equals ~30.09 mph

That is a bit less than last time, but almost all the driving was done in town.

I was also surprised to see a number over 10 gallons when filling up. I think thats the first time I've seen it go over 10 gallons since I can remember. I really thought I had a gas tank slightly smaller than 10 gallons. Maybe I really was smelling fumes coasting into the gas station.

Yay! I got another ING referral bonus today:

+$10 for Downpayment fund!

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I don't drink a lot of soda . . but my mom does! She's addicted to diet Coke. So I got an email from Tom Thumb and one of the deals was buy 2 12 pks of Coke, get 3 12 pks free. I stopped by after work yesterday, and for a total of $12, I bought 5 12 pks of Coke - 4 for my mom, and 1 for me.

Today was my stepdad's birthday, so I called to wish him a happy bd -- and also to tell him about the deal. He's very much like me in that he likes to find ways to save money wherever possible.

The thing I was wondering though -- have 12 packs *really* gone up to $6??? I don't remember the last time I bought a 12 pk, so maybe they've been that much for a while .. but OMW that is a LOT of money for soda.

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Today at work I was making some copies at the end of the day and just happened to glance in the trash can. There was an empty 20oz bottle of fanta -- so . . I absconded with the lid. (mycokerewards)

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I was supposed to do my training today after work for the gym. But E called me and said that he'd had a new client who wanted to train at 5:30 today - so would I be willing to train in the morning. Of course, I said yes.

So I'll do my training in the morning, and have my first shift in the afternoon! Look out - here I come - ready to make $6.55/hr! So at 3.5 hrs, plus maybe another 30 minutes training =4 hrs = $26.20. -- Almost a tank of gas! LOL

I will have to find out if they pay weekly or monthly and if they do direct deposit. I hope they do dd, but I kind of doubt it.

Cha Ching!

$10 ING referral bonus

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So . . I took a vacation day on Monday -- I was going to be Miss Busy Beaver and get my place in tip top shape and get meals planned out for the month . Ya da ya da ya da.

Er . . what did I really do? I read books #9 - 13 of the Plum series, plus a couple other books. I *did* go to church -- and then on Sunday I went to the grand opening of the upper grade campus of the school I used to teach at. (Until this year, grades PreK - 12th were on the same grounds as the church. Now, PreK-6 are on the church grounds, and 7th - 12th are at the new campus.)

I dropped all those books off at the library today on my way home from work - to help ensure I don't incur any NEW library fines! Ack!

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Today was my last personal training session with E. It was kind of weird - I've been training with him since October.
I think what I'll miss most in all honesty is having someone to talk with a couple hours a week.

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Thursday afternoon E is going to train me on how the gym policies work, and what I'll be doing. Then Friday afternoon will be my first shift. I'm looking forward to that extra money to put towards my savings goals.

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I'm thinking about stopping my membership with the outdoor club here. The Calendar for July was so full of activities, that I thought I'd have a hard time deciding which things to do. But . . the August calendar has mostly dining out events where it costs $35 min. There had been one free event, but it was canceled.

I think I'll be able to keep myself busy enough on the weekends between the two meetup groups I've joined - and those events will mostly be free.

I haven't completely decided yet though.

This morning my carpooler gave me $10 -- off it goes to my Extra Monies fund.
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After work today I stopped and got gas.

On August 1, my odomoter was: 104,333

Today, my odomoter was: 104,601

That is a difference of 268 miles

I bought 9.382 gallons on Aug. 1.
Today, I bought 8.135 gallons.

A difference of: 1.247 gallons

So . . my gas mileage is 268/8135 =~31mpg

Am I figuring this correctly?

Gas was $3.62/gallon for a total of $29.52

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I stopped by the library today - dropped off items and picked up some more. I unfortunately had forgotten to take two books which were due today with me - so I'll get them in tomorrow on the way home from church. $.70 fine.

One of the books I had to return today was my Vegetarian Slow Cooker book. I made copies of 6 of the recipes that I may want to try.

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Last night I made a start on my Shape It Up weekend by doing a trash run and a dish run.

So far tonight, all I've accomplished was actually eating one of the Veggie Bean Burgers I made a couple weeks ago (and froze!) to see if it was edible enough to include in my meal plans. It was.

I think #9 is calling my name quite loudly right now. I did make some progress in my plan . . . Hello? Stephanie? Yep I guess I'll be checking out your latest adventure here shortly.

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I got an email today from the person who bought the Brita pitcher - she'd picked it up from the PO this morning. She was so happy to have gotten it so fast. I guess I can't begrudge the extra shipping cost (and reduced profit) too much. ;D

I posted the Brita pitcher that I'd had listed on Craigslist on another site I frequent. Someone bought it - $15 + shipping and handling. Great!

So yesterday I took off from work a bit early and stopped by the PO to mail it. The postal worker was miffed at me because I hadn't taped the box. Understandable I guess, but I also remembered from when I was selling my teacher supplies that they always wanted to check what was being mailed ++ I didn't have any tape. So . . . I ended up mailing it Priority to get the "free" tape (I also misjudged the weight of it w/the box - so an extra $5.40 in shipping alone).

So, $21.10 - $.92 paypal fee - $11.60 Priority Shipping = net profit of $8.62.

I think I'm about ready to take all my Spanish materials to half-price and see what they'll give me for them. Even if it's only $10 for the lot, it'll be more than I have now, right?

Or . . if anyone is interested in various computer programs for learning Spanish + books, let me know. I also have a box of 10 Brita Pitcher filters I want to sell.

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Last night when I got home I was all settled in and reading "Hard Eight" by Janet Evanovich when I got a call from my dad. He was needing new ink for his printer, and he couldn't get his old cartridge refilled at Walgreen's because it was leaking.

So, he'd found one on ebay for $8 and wanted to know if it was a good deal. We spent the next hour talking it through over the phone, then eventually yahoo messenger when his phone died. I tried to talk him through using my paypal account to buy the item because he wanted to do "buy it now" but it wasn't letting him add his address. Finally I told him to email the seller, apologize, and say he was a newbie ebayer and would pay as soon as possible.

Tonight I went ahead and set up a paypal account for him (with his input over the phone) and paid for the item via his account.

Trying to help someone do this over the phone is NOT my idea of a nice relaxing evening. But at least it is now done - hopefully the ink cartridge will come quickly.

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I've done some spending the last few days - unnecessary spending - mostly on food.

Sunday - Tuesday: $35.96
Wed - no spending

$4.56 of that was lunch on Tuesday because I forgot to bring my lunch to work. The remainder of the money was almost completely not needed and not good for me.

I'm going to deduct it from my grocery budget and move on - but one way or another, I'm NOT going over budget this month. I've got more than enough food already in the house that needs to be eaten.

*Almost forgot -- I got out one of my last large containers of eggs on Monday morning to make my oatmeal/egg breakfast. I didn't get back into the kitchen till Tuesday night (other than to grab a banana). Guess what was still out on the counter? At least it was only 1/4 full, so not a whole container wasted.

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My gas gage has been acting funky on me, so I'm not really sure what to think. But today it was hovering between 1/2 full and a bit more than 3/4 of a 1/2 full after having driven 220 miles. Normally 1/2 tank gives me around 160 miles.

So, either my gas gage is acting *really* funky OR I'm getting darn good gas mileage!

I'll find out the real story on Friday when I fill up again.

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I think I've decided to go with the Garmin Nuvia 200. I'm going to wait until my current cc statement closes to buy it - that way I can budget money in August and September for it. That'll happen around the 15th of the month.