I got my replacement DC in the mail today. I'd misplaced my old one (think I may have shredded it since I never used it ...)

I signed up for the offer - spend $1k by March 31st and get $75. Normally I wouldn't go for something like this, because spending that much on my CC isn't likely to happen.

However, this just so happens to be the quarter where my car insurance renews.

So here is my plan for the 1k spend:
$215 - Car Insurance
$375 - 3 months tithe (can pay via CC online!!)
$130 - 2 months Internet (too late for January)
$225 - 2.25 months groceries
$100 - 2 months utilities (can put electric on card

I'll also put gas on it since they're offering 5% CB on that to give me a little extra buffer for the 1k spending (not that an extra $35 or so is going to be that much ... 2 months gas ... if prices hold)

And ... that does it.

---
I *finally* got confirmation that my Discover checking account is open. I'm glad I didn't wait til February to start the process!

The deal is open an account with $500 by 2/28. Have a balance of $5000 by 3/15 - get paid $50 if you still have a $5000 balance.

So I'll have the 500 opening balance in there, and add the rest in March - probably the first week in case it takes it awhile to transfer over.

The bonus money will of course go to my Windfall category.

As soon as the $50 is paid, I'll close out the checking though. DC pays .9%, which is ok, but not as much as Barclay's. $50 beats out one month of interest at Barclay's though by a long shot.

A few months ago when my Prime account was up for renewal at $99 for the year, I decided it was not worth it. I wasn't buying much from them with not working in the library anymore, and the few things I did buy were mostly subscribe and save items anyway. The couple shows that I'd want to watch, I could purchase full streaming seasons for less than the $99.

But today they have it for $72. Hmm... I just looked at Downton Abbey and Suits ... purchasing season passes for those two shows would be less than $40. So that means I'd have to find $32 worth of other shows I really want to see to break even ..

I think I just talked myself out of this temptation.

(BTW - I have more than enough AGC credit to pay for this without cutting into my regular budget. The only reason it is a temptation for me.)

I decided to stop by the post office today to check my mail there - still have my box from when I first moved here. (need to get it canceled, just keep forgetting)

Part of the reason was it had been a few weeks since I'd been there, and part of it was I hadn't had a good day and wanted chocolate. Which I got .. before the mail.

So anyway ... I got my mail. Saw two envelopes from a place I didn't recognize and an envelope from my former 2005 employer's retirement company. Opened that up in my car ... Balance $0!!

Ensue panic attack!

Ensue rushing home.

Try to calm myself and call retirement company. Find out that my 2005 employer changed companies as of January.

They don't have the number for the new company, but they did know the name.

Google name of new company. Call customer service number. Find out my money is there.

Get very aggravated registering for an online account so I can SEE my money. Finally manage to get in and see it is still there.

I received absolutely NO communication about this impending move. My money will be moving again soon - to Vanguard, but now I just have to figure out how to move it from this new company.

I DID not like finding out about this like that. At all.

---
I got in touch with someone who should know about talking with the pastor / not being a member. Haven't heard back one way or the other yet, but I'll see her on Saturday. Am feeling really frustrated with life right now.

NE surprised me twice on Friday - He showed up at my door at 7:30 just to say hi before I left for work (he was heading to SM - the store closing down.) Then he showed up at my door again at 4:50, just a few minutes after I got home. He had his eye on a speaker in O and thought I might want to go with him.

We did end up taking a road trip to O. I like going there because they have a Hardee's - Their mushroom and swiss sandwich (burger on the side for NE) and onion rings are SO GOOD.

NE did buy the speakers, and is planning on getting them up on eBay this weekend probably.

--
I found out from my boss on Friday that starting on February 9, I will be getting a 15 minute break in the afternoon. I could have asked for one in the morning too, but there's only 3 hours before my lunch break, so I thought that was kind of pointless. She was relieved that I didn't ask for the morning break.

My plan for the afternoon break is to walk on the treadmill while reading a book. Get more steps in daily and be away from the phone!

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I finished up all my retirement benefit/life insurance paperwork. It won't get delivered til Tuesday though.

I ended up going with a supplemental 10k Life Insurance because if I decide I need it later for a larger amount, I'd have to be medically approved. So for about $1.80/month I'll have 81k of life insurance. If I leave, I can take it with me, the amount I pay would just go up.

---
I received $25 PayPal from Mypoints yesterday. I also got my $25 AGC from PerkTV. I now have about $100 in Amazon credit.

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My goals for this weekend - Today is just about relaxation and rejuvenation - probably a trip to the library.

Sunday - Get the living room cleared of boxes and all pictures put up.

Monday - Make veggie patties, cc loaf, etc. to freeze for future lunches. Do some cleaning.

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Weigh In News: Even with my chocolate indulgences and Hardee's last night, I am down almost 2 lbs since my last official weigh in.

Last night Ne told me that a local small grocery store was officially going out of business. It's one that is only two and a half blocks away from me.

I stopped there after work today ... which probably wasn't a good idea because 1) I was hungry; and 2) I was feeling very stressed out about work.

The end result was I spent $25 or so on mostly junk food. Everything was 15% off, and I think they actually lowered their prices on some things. I did get a few non-junk food items like the egg salad, prunes, and Bush's vege baked beans ... but the rest was plain and simple junk food. Chocolate.

I ate one bag of chocolate tonight for supper. Real healthy, right? ugh

(NE likes to tease me about being so frugal but not making my own egg salad ... I'd have to buy mayo to make my own egg salad ... I don't use mayo for anything else, so it'd probably go bad or something before I used it to make egg salad....)

I'm tempted to go back to the store tomorrow to get more Nutella. It was $3.24 with the discount. Cheap. But I know how I am with Nutella. Maybe if I have NE keep the all but one jar at his place - he doesn't have the same problem with it.

---
I redeemed a $25 AGC from PerkPoints tonight. I should have it by Friday.

---
In my mail I received two offers from Discover.

The first offer was $50 for putting $5000 in a new checking account for about two or three weeks. I'm thinking of doing that. I just have to make sure I can do it without touching the money in the dream account - withdrawing money from that would make me lose the bonus APR at 6 months for no withdrawals.

The second offer was to get $75 if I spend $1000 in 3 months.

I'm thinking I *might* be able to do that. It would mean putting my SBs card away and maybe switching some bills over for a few months. It might be worth it. I think Sam's Club takes Discover, so then I wouldn't have to use my Debit card which I don't like doing since it doesn't earn me any points.

---
One bit of good news at work today. I got my retirement benefits information!

The account is with Ameritas and has quite a few Vanguard funds to choose from, along with Fidelity and Morningstar, etc. I already figured out my allocations. Now I just have to get two people to witness my signing the beneficiary information page. (Harder than it sounds. My boss would do it I bet, and NE would do it ... but they'll not likely be in the same place at the same time anytime soon. So .. I've got to figure out a second person.)

I also found out that I get 71,000 of life insurance for $.42/month. The city pays the rest. I will be cancelling my current term insurance. That will save me 15.68/month.

There is also something for post employment health benefits where the city contributes so much a month. I get to elect how I want that money invested. That was fun playing around with percentages.

I also found out that the whole Early Retirement / Regular Retirement stuff was just terminology. No real meaning behind it. So if I'm ready to retire at 55 there'd be no additional benefit to working nine more years to make the 63/25 years of service level. I'd be 100% vested and that's all that really matters.

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Cripes! It's 12:20 a.m. I must get to bed if I'm going to be at all coherrent today.

Yesterday I went with NE to his follow up MRI appointment. He should have the results in time for his appointment with the ortohpaedist on Tuesday.

Afterwards we stopped at Arby's and he treated me to a chocolate turnover. Yum! (This doesn't count for my one time a month chocolate expenditure since he treated. ) I think I know what I want to be my expenditure though ... the Mint Chocolate shake at Arby's. Looks so yummy! (But is 720 calories, so definitely not something to do on a day I'm not getting a lot of exercise.)

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This morning I did my laundry. The first washer I put my stuff in wouldn't work in the cold/cold mode (which is what I always use since I mix colors.) My landlord came over and gave me a dollar (I didn't know that it was just that mode not working - he figured that out.)

Spent $2.


I also got a load of dishes done.

-
I spent $25 at Groupon from my spending money to purchase a partial highlights deal. I bought it through Swagbucks (8 SBx per dollar) with my SB credit card.

That is one of the things I asked for for Christmas/birthday and my mom just sent me the cash to do it myself. So not only am I getting what I want, but I'm getting some extra Swagbucks for it.

I don't know when exactly I'll use it - it's good for 150 days. Maybe in March if NE is done with his shoulder stuff.

---
I stopped at Russ's to do some grocery shopping.

My list had 7 items on it, but I only got 6 because they didn't have Fage yogurt. I may still get that later.

3 grocery items - $7.21
3 Kari items - $3.61
1 treat/spending money item: $3.65
1 Toiletries - $2.77 (with coupon)

I had a $.75 coupon for two packages of Oreo's that I almost used, but they had the Oreo's for 2.69 each and I know I've seen them for $.1.99 each before. So .. avoided temptation.

Here is my updated grocery spreadsheet for details:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11GJKzDizNZEKsSYZIS4C...

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I finished a book on Friday called "Penny Pinchers Club" by Sarah Straohmeyer. It was pretty funny and sad, and had some good lessons about jumping to conclusions. I think it would be something many of you might enjoy. I am planning on getting more of her books in the future. (Right now I have 4 of the Evanovich books I need to read and return ... so first things first. )

I've updated my book list in the sidebar with read and current reads.

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I came across an interesting link today in the MMM forums about planning and organizing. This is a pdf book about 52 pages long with spaces for you to list everything you can think of about yourself - finances, email accounts, location of documents, etc. The purpose being of course that if you are somehow incapacitated or die then your caretakers/survivors would have an easier time of it.

Here is the link: http://www.erikdewey.com/bigbook.htm

Ok, now I'm off to catch up on the blogs.

In the YNAB forums someone mentioned that if you get paid bi-weekly on a thursday or Friday that there are THREE months this year with 3 paychecks.

How awesome is that???

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I got my $25 PayPal from Swagbucks today.

I also sold an item on eBay for $16 during the night - printed out the shipping label before going to work and mailed it off.

---
I got my gas bill for December - 36.97. That is down from 42.83 for November. So ... turning down the thermostat from 67 to 64 saved me ... ~$6?

Although my electric bill went up nearly $8 .. mostly I think due to the electric heater.

So ... I'm kind of wondering if using the space heater is all that more efficient than using my gas furnace at 67. Kari loves the space heater, but overall I'm not sure how much it really helps to heat the room.

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I got the bill for my doctor's appointment on Dec 15. ALL I'm being charged is the $25 copay. I'm not having to pay anything for the bloodwork!

Ummm... I think I'm going to like this insurance plan.

So NE signed up for health insurance through the Nebraska state site in December. He went with the plan that had the best numbers - low deductible, low out of pocket and low premiums.

He went to the doctor today and found out that his right shoulder is dislocated, and then went for an MRI to see about his rotator cuff, etc. (He didn't finish the MRI, but will be going back to finish it in a different open machine.)

While he was at the doctor's he found out that his particular plan is going belly up as of Feb 15. So ... he's going to have to find a new plan.

I wonder if that would count as a life event where you would be able to get insurance past the open enrollment period?

So very frustrating.

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I talked to my boss today about the retirement stuff. I found out that I'll be vested 100% in 7 years. Also that there is something called early retirement and regular retirement - early means 25 years of service and at least 50 years old; regular is 25 years and 63 years old. She didn't know what exactly that meant though (and she was dismayed to find out it was 25 and not 20 years ... she's close to the 20 year mark.)

I wonder what the difference is between when you're vested and the early/regular retirement designations are? If I am ready to retire at 55, I'd be vested, but wouldn't qualify for early or regular retirement. If I work there 25 years, that would put me at 63 and regular retirement. (UGH! Cannot imagine doing this job for 25 years. DOUBLE UGH!)

I also found out that the retirement contributions used to be even sweeter - as in for every $1 the employee put in, the city put in $2 (up to a limit.) Some group got upset about it and so they changed the plan to what it is now. Can you imagine? Contribute $50 and the city matches $100?

---

For the first week of January I am down ... 5 lbs! I think a good bit of it is water weight, but I'm just glad to be heading the right direction again.

Although I have been tempted a time or two or three ... I have not stopped at a fast food place or at any other type of convenience store in January.

Tonight I watched episode 5 of POI while stepping for most of it (about 35 minutes, sat and rested for the rest of it.)

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I am thinking more and more about investing in dividend stocks. My discretionary funds are already stretched pretty thin with my various goals, but I'm just really itching to do something like that.

I do have a goodly sum in an old 403(b) plan that I want to move over to Vanguard. Maybe I could put it in a brokerage account and use that to buy dividend type stocks?

If anyone could point me to some good resources (i.e. simple language) to help me figure out what to do, I'd appreciate it. I know quite a few of you invest in DRIPS, which I *think* are dividend stocks, right?

Email notifications of post replies seemed to work for a short while ... however they aren't working again.
(to clarify - I am talking about notifications of responses to other people's posts - not my posts.)

---

So I tried baking a potato in the oven sans foil twice now. Ehh... it works, but I really don't like how dry the skin gets. Almost too tough to eat. It was saved by the juice from my baked beans I topped it with, but often I like to eat my sweet potato plain. I did top them both times with olive oil and cut slits in them.

---
Five no spend days in January so far! Yesterday I squeaked by temptation just barely ...

Work had some stressful (majorly) elements to it and I WANTED chocolate. I resisted though.

---
I got a package from my brother today that UPS "attempted to deliver" during the workday of course. :roll eyes: So I had to drive over there to get it this afternoon -- it was a framed photo of my brother and I the last summer I was out in CA with him. How sweet

---
I did two really dumb things yesterday - thankfully no consequences from either one. First, I left my purse in my car when I went in to work. I only realized this at lunch time ... I had to sit on my phone for 20 minutes before it would turn on.

Then when I got home I left my keys in the door AGAIN! The only way I found out about this is when NE came over and found them in the door. UGH!

---
I watched episode 4 of POI season 3 tonight .. while stepping of course.

I also redeemed 2500 SBs for a $25 PayPal cash, and have received all $20 in AGC from SBs.

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At work today I hauled a huge load of boxes up from the schedule room on a cart. I think I may have overdone it a bit ... my back is really protesting tonight. Ouch.

---
Ok, off to catch up on blogs!

We got a good bit of snow last night (Saturday) so I wasn't really sure I wanted to go out shopping today or not. However, once I got out on the roads around 4pm they were all fairly clear.

If you would like to see a more detailed breakdown of my grocery trip, go to this link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11GJKzDizNZEKsSYZIS4CgdhNBmVXf2dqXIMyU19VHfE/edit#gid=0

I set out with the goal of not purchasing more than ten items. And I did it! (with one caveat - I made one purchase for NE which he'll reimburse me for later - he ended up not coming with me.)

The total of the ten items I purchased for myself is roughly $56.46. Of that, two items were not grocery category items.

So grocery spending today: ~$51.20
Spending Money - ~$1.28
Toiletries - ~$3.43

I also filled up with gas at Sam's for $1.93!!!
Total - $15.58 for 8.037 gallons.

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I did laundry, dishes, cleaned the kitchen, did a trash run, and got my lunch ready for tomorrow.

I've also watched the first part of Labor Day ... wow, so not what I was expecting. I'm anxious to finish it.

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I also posted a couple new items on eBay as well as relisting some.

When I got home from shopping though I had an awesome email from eBay -- I sold a DVD for the BIN price! $6.99. I've already got it packaged up ready to go tomorrow.

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NE will be coming over in a bit, so I'm going to enter my receipts into YNAB and then maybe read a bit on the forums - hopefully not getting lost in a rabbit hole like I did last night ...

OH! I forgot. I also did 30 minutes of stepping while watching Labor Day today. (I have a step I got from freecycle years ago.)

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Next time I go shopping I'm going to make sure I eat something before I go, even if I'm not really hungry. I got so hungry while shopping that I got a Payday bar - technically not chocolate. But still kind of stretching it a bit.

Today makes 3 days of January with no spending (other than bills.) Tomorrow will not be a no spending day. NE and I will be doing a Sam's and Walmart run.

Between the two stores I am going to try to keep my list to ten items (or perhaps less.)

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I decided to stop at my landlord's after church today to drop off my rent check rather than try to include it on my library walk. It would have been on the way - but the library is on one side of a busy road and their house is on the other side. It would have been a hassle.

It was funny because when I got there someone else had just come from their porch dropping off their rent check - must be from a different property though because I didn't recognize her.

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When I got home I had a nice warm meal of toaster grilled cheese, tomato soup and a small piece of banana bread (bought a few weeks ago on sale - two loaves - put one in the freezer which is the one I'm eating now.)

Finally about 2 p.m. I worked my courage up to get bundled up and walk to the library. Last week I finally managed to remember to sync my iTunes music library onto my new phone - so I had music to listen to!

The walk was pretty chilly - at 5:30 it's 23 degrees, so I guess it was around 20 or so when I went out. We're supposed to get more snow tonight. (Low of 0degrees)

On my way back home I had a lady ask me about the bus schedule. LOL Even away from work I can't get away from work. I gave her an estimate of when the bus should be coming by (the outbound one had passed me ten minutes earlier, otherwise I'd have no idea other than the bus come once an hour on Saturday.)

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I've got a sweet potato in the oven right now while sipping on some hot chocolate ... yummy

I'm probably going to watch a couple episodes of POI tonight - one of the things I got from the library is Season 3 of POI - that way I can post my copy on eBay and if it sells then at least I can finish watching it! I want to get it on there (eBay) before everyone who's interested has already seen it.

I also do want to watch Labor Day - NE actually watched it on his own last week! Now he's anxious for me to see it so we can discuss it.

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The scale seems to be going down right now. Who knows if it will continue or not. Hope springs eternal and all that ... I'll do an "official" weight loss post on Thursdays - since I made my first weigh in on a Thursday. However I do weigh myself just about every day and record it on an app - mainly for the ten points it gets me on Achivemint (which I'm less than 900 points away from a $100 Visa card!!)

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I'm so glad to be getting notifications of responses to other posts now! I was able to find a few people responses to comments I'd made, but couldn't remember which post it was on.

Now if the photo issue could be fixed ...

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OH I almost forgot a question I was going to ask.

Are there alternative methods to wrapping a potato in aluminum foil for baking in the oven? I'm going through a lot of foil, even when I manage to reuse a piece.

On my way home from work today I saw gas for $1.99 at a local station! Sweet!

I plan on going to Walmart on Sunday and possibly Sam's for a largish shopping trip, and also to satisfy my curiosity about Sam's gas price.

So far no spending in 2015 (outside of bills)

I am having to pay a $.97 late fee on my last electric bill - I saw it and then totally forgot about it. Ooops! Now I have it set up on automatic payment to my credit card so I don't have to worry about it. My most recent bill was up about $10 from last month - still within my budgeted amount, but I'm going to be even more careful about keeping lights turned off.

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I redeemed for $20 worth of AGC yesterday and today from Swagbucks. Although I think I won't redeem for the 5th one tomorrow - I'll keep that for a $25 PayPal instead.

I'm mainly using my AGC credit for buying my pea protein powder for my breakfast smoothies, and I only need to get that ever other month. Plus I am earning AGCs from PerkPoints ... so I think I'd rather get cash when I can.

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On Thursday I did 40 minutes of stepping while watching an episode of POI. I found out that I can still play Ptv while using the Pact app to track movement. Sweet. 3 things at once.

Today at lunch I was able to walk around the conference room for 15 minutes.

I weighed in this morning with a .1 lb loss.

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Work was crazy busy today, but I did manage to finish my Shopaholic to the Stars book by Sophie Kinsella. I LOVE that series. So funny!

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I was looking at the union contract today, and saw that once I hit the 6 month mark, I'll have a required 7% retirement contribution with a 9% match from the city! Wow! I couldn't find anything that says what happens if you contribute more than 7% (i.e. will they match more? or is 9% the max match?)

I'm thinking that next week when our Payroll person is back I'm going to ask her about that.

So one area I would like to improve upon is my grocery spending AND on the quality of what I'm purchasing.

This will help me financially and health wise too.

In light of knowing I need to improve in this area, I have decided to create a Google spreadsheet where I am going to enter all my food purchases this year.

Here is the link to it:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11GJKzDizNZEKsSYZIS4CgdhNBmVXf2dqXIMyU19VHfE/edit?usp=sharing

I am hoping it'll help me in two ways - 1. By making my groceries public, I will be less likely to buy a lot of junkfood; and 2. Because I won't want to have to enter all the information in very often, I will be more likely to limit my grocery shopping trips!

I'm also going to track which items I use coupons for and where the coupons come from (SB = Swagbucks; P=paper)

It can also function as a pricebook so I can see when prices are at stock up level.

Happy New Year everyone!

NE and I had a relaxing evening at my place. He picked up a pizza for us, and we had the final two slices of Rum cake. We also watched part of Armageddon - we didn't finish it because after stopping it to ring in midnight, we both realized we were ready to call it a night.

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So ... December spending.

I'll just highlight the non-fixed categories -

Spending:

Phone: 202.76 (Pro-rated December bill from ATT and final ETF bill)

Groceries - $148 out of $150

Auto Fuel: $23.51 (budgeted $30)

Spending Money: 90.80 (lots of room for improvement here - this is money spent on unnecessary food mainly and replacing a PO box key)

Restaurants - $15.81 (fast food - came from budgeted spending money)

Clothing - $3.20

Household goods: $21.17 (two chairs from goodwill, bundt cake pan, etc)

Kari - 22.70 - cat food, litter (bought several bags on sale with coupon)

Savings

Snowflakes and Windfalls! $279.35 (Swagbucks, Pinecone, GymPact, Class Action suit, Christmas money, etc.) This money was distributed to my other savings goals in my January budget.

EF: 200
Car Replacement/Repair: 200
Vacation: 150
ROTH: 200
Electronics: 79.77 (spent 5.30 on a new charging cable)


----
Other:
Received $50 in AGC from Swagbucks and PerkTv (not included in Windfalls amount)

Had a previous balance of $27

Spent: $26.37 on pea protein powder for morning smoothies and $1.99 on an ebook.
--------
January Budget
Tithe: 125
Giving: 25
Rent: 430
Phone: 0 (covered by Ting credit)
Internet: 65.60
Electricity: 40
Natural Gas: 45
Groceries: 150
Auto Fuel: 30
Spending Money: 95.80 (20 budgeted plus 20% December Windfall money)
Medical: 25
Kari: 30
Car Insurance: 45 (I think my 6 month premium is due in January)
Life Insurance: 16
EF: 150
Car Replace/Repair: 75
Vacation: 151.60 (budgeted plus windfall)
ROTH: 200
Electronics: 40
House: 163.67 (budgeted plus windfall)

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Per Patient Saver's Weight Loss Challenge ...

I plan to lose 15lbs by March 31. That averages out to about 1lb per week.

My plan is: Reducing my junkfood intake by only purchasing it one time per month.

Getting at least ten minutes of movement everyday outside of any other normal exercise.

Joining the weekly exercise class at my church starting on Jan 11 ($20 for 10 weeks)

Being more careful about logging what I *really* am eating on MFP.

Checking in here at SA once a week with my progress report.

I emailed Ting with my final ETF bill from ATT on Monday. Today I received the 50% credit - The ETF was $155 +$30 in taxes and fees!! So I got a $77 credit.

I also on Monday saw my first bill from Ting. Right away I realized something was off - they charged me for two activated phones! (Over a year ago I had tried them out with an Android phone, and that didn't last long. Not because of Ting, but because of the phone.)
I received a $6 credit for that today.

So right now I have a $99 credit which will get me 3 months of free phone service, with a little left over (if my usage remains steady.)

I used to pay about $77/month to ATT. So I'm saving around $47/month. Between the new phone and the ETF (unrefunded part) I spent about $450 to switch.

In the first three months I'll save $77 x 3 (231), then in the next 5 months I'll save $47 x 6 (235). So ... it'll take about 8 months to break even from switching. Possibly less if I can find people to refer and switch. The savings will be going to my electronics fund - I need roughly $400 for a new computer, and roughly $350 for the next phone. Once those are funded, the savings would go to other saving goals (i.e. EF/House)

I looked out my window at 7 and it was nice and clear - thought to myself - good! won't have to scrape my windows. Then at 7:40 I headed outside to find my car covered in snow!

It snowed pretty much all day today. The temp is supposed to go in the negative tonight/today. Brrr!!

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Last night NE and I went to Walmart and did some shopping for the week. I spent $14 on two bags of cat food for Kari (using 2 coupons) and $7 on groceries.

After that we happened across another area of town that was beautifully decorated, so of course we meandered around there for a bit.

---
I totally spaced on getting my eBay item out today. Will definitely have to do it tomorrow to keep within my two day turn around time. Oops.

I plan on taking workout clothes with me to work tomorrow and using the bus gym after work. I haven't been *quite* as exhausted lately, so maybe I'll actually be able to make myself do it.

---
I stopped at the library today - had a book to return and a book to pick up.

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On FB today I saw someone in a YNAB group post say they managed to feed a family of 5 on $25/week!!! Um.... I can't even imagine. That's not even $1/day per person. I was feeling kind of good that I got my grocery spending (minus junk food) down to less than $150 for the month...

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I'm thinking of letting go of my crockpot and rice cooker/steamer. I bought them two? years ago and they both are still in their boxes.. I keep meaning to USE them but it just doesn't happen.

Can you cook sweet potatoes in a toaster oven? If so, then I could let go of my toaster too and get a toaster oven. It seems really silly to get my oven going for just one potato - but I just don't feel comfortable cooking more than one at a time (botulisim or whatever it's called that can happen in baked potatoes in the fridge ...)

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I'm wondering ... I'm getting emails about replies to my posts, but I'm not getting notices about responses to other people's posts. I've noticed a few posts with new responses by pure chance ...

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My hands and feet are SOOO cold!!

My first monthly bill with Ting ended yesterday - $21.00 +taxes. So that will be covered by my $50 credit. I don't forsee my January bill being any larger, so that will also be covered. Nice.

I need to log in to my ATT account to see if they've posted my final bill yet so I can get that sent off to Ting for the ETF fees reimbursement.

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I talked to my brother yesterday for a bit. He told me that he is preparing for a 40 mile race for the diabetes cure (bicycle) and has decided to stop drinking for at least four months starting Jan 1. Possibly for the entire year!! He wants to really focus in on getting as in shape as possible for the race.

I know how difficult this will be for him, so told him that I would do something equally difficult for me -- only purchase chocolate ONE time per month in 2015.

My diet is fairly healthy otherwise if you take away the chocolate ... so by doing this, I'll hopefully be able to lose some weight. Especially considering that as of this morning I'm now back to my highest weight ever.

We also talked about tentative plans for him and our mom to come out here in May as kind of a Mother's Day thing - the last time the three of us were together was nearly 4 years ago when I graduated with my Masters.

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I finally made a sale on eBay again! It's been at least two months since my last sale. Only $4.99 (roughly $2 profit after shipping and fees) but still, a sale! Just got the payment, so I can get it out in the mail tomorrow.

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I have $22 left in my grocery category for December. That is even with spending a good bit on Christmas dinner food (leftovers for two meals worth after ..) There are a few things I need for this week, and possibly doing a Chef Boyardee pizza for New Years. Otherwise, I think it's safe to say, I'll actually have underspent my grocery category for the first time in forever! (Of course, it has helped to take out the junk food spending and put it in my spending category ... hopefully that category will go down significantly in January.)

I'm going to wait til New Year's Day to do a definitive post on my December budget, but let's just say that I'm very happy with how much came in for my windfall category this month. I don't see the same for January, unless I can make some eBay sales (need to post some more items to help that along!)

I hope everyone has a very good Christmas (or whichever holiday you celebrate.)

We had a pancake and egg breakfast at work today - they have a rotating grill that a couple of bus drivers were making made to order pancakes and eggs. I was so full that I didn't eat my lunch til 3 p.m.!

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Redeemed $9 from Pinecone and $17 from GymPact today. Will go into my Snowflakes fund.

Also got a Christmas card from my mom with $50! I'll put half of that into my spending money (for a treat) and the other half to my savings goals.

This afternoon I stopped by the Goodwill store that is almost directly across the street from me ... I was looking for a bundt cake pan to make the Rum cake in for Christmas dinner.

They had one for $2! It was the kind without a removable bottom - which a lady there told me was better than one with a removable bottom.

When I got home, NE was waiting for me. We headed out to another Goodwill - a larger one with furniture and more household goods. While there I saw a couch that I really liked for $40 - but it would need a lot of cleaning (I didn't buy it. I'm not sure what material it was made of, nor how difficult it would be to clean it.) I also found two chairs for my dining room table - $6 each. I'll take pictures of them later.

NE bought a bundt cake pan with a removable bottom and a can opener. (Hee decided we'll make two cakes ... and see which one turns out better. One with rum in the cake mix and one with it only in the frosting/sauce.)

Then we headed over to SuperSaver. The rum cost $15!!!!! It was the smallest bottle they had, but will be enough for four rum cakes ... Our total came out to $41.80 (we both got some other stuff too besides stuff for the dinner.) He gave me $20 cash (I paid with my card.)

I stopped at Russ's and picked up a bottle of soda for NE that was on sale so that I could get quarters for laundry. The lady could only give me three quarters though because they had forgotten to buy change?? Luckily with the two I had, and the 4 NE had, we had enough to wash and dry a load.

It sounds like NE might have made another Craigslist sale! He's happy because eBay has kind of been dead for a few weeks on sales.

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The last two days I've made a lot of SBs from the videos on the website alone. Somewhere close to 450!! I'm not complaining I just need 300 more for my 5 $5 AGCs in January.

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I saw this neat video on FB showing all the different things you can do with a waffle maker besides just waffles. The two that caught my interest the most was making a brownie waffle (using brownie batter) and making an omelet. Kind of tempts me to get a waffle maker ... though I kind of doubt I'd really use it. Although maybe I would ... esp for making omelets ... probably taste a whole lot better than my usual microwave "omelet" concoction.

Today I actually managed to go through 3 boxes AND then took 3 boxes of stuff plus a trash bag of other stuff to Goodwill!

The stuff included a number of dolls/stuffed animals that I've been hauling around with me ever since I moved out on my own. Hanging on to it for future kids ... I kept one doll, my favorite, but the rest ... no point in holding on to them. I also let go of a bunch of books, a steamer thing I used once in six years, and quite a few odds and ends.

There's more I could and probably will let go of, although some things I think I may try listing on eBay. I did also relist some items on eBay.

---

I also stopped at the grocery store for bananas .. got a few more things than just bananas, but after putting a few things back, got out of there for only $13.

On the way back home I checked my mail. I got my gas bill - $42.83. That is almost twice what last month's bill was - I need to turn my heat down I think.

I also got a birthday package from my mom. First of all let me say how much I appreciate her thinking of me and remembering me. However ... this gift demonstrates how over the top she can be.

In my wish list I'd put snow shoes/boots (not meaning both .. just kind of describing what I was thinking of), warm socks, iTunes gift cards, mani/pedi gift cards or a groupon haircut/highlights deal type thing.

She sent me a pair of snow shoes and a pair of snow boots. Both look really nice. PLUS she sent me three books. I hate to think how much she spent on all this (plus the postage) - she's not in the position to spend much! Now I feel kind of bad for what I got her (a groupon deal.) I would have been more than happy with JUST socks, but she asked for five items ...

When she calls me tomorrow I'll be sure to be appreciative of course ... just feels frustrating. I think maybe she's trying to match what I gave her for her birthday - a $50 gift certificate for one of her favorite high end stores -- I told her I didn't pay $50 for it! (groupon deal!)

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Tomorrow I have my doctor's appointment (finally!) in the morning. In the afternoon I am thinking about going to a movie - one that NE probably wouldn't enjoy, but I want to take advantage of matinee pricing. (I took the day off work.)

Then NE is making his spaghetti dinner for me and we'll watch a movie or play games. I might try to get through a few more boxes too.

I have been doing a lot more thinking the past two weeks about my Year 39 goals. As much as I'd like to save up for a house downpayment, I think it would be smarter to get a larger EF in place. I currently have roughly $5100, which I could stretch out for 4 or 5 months. I have decided to make my goal to be a 1 year EF - or $12,000. So that means trying to save around $7900 this year.

Partly how I'll do this is reduce the amount I put toward my car repair/replace fund. Instead of $150/month, I'm going to put $75/month. My car is a 2010 model, so I don't expect any big expenses beyond oil changes and tires, etc. for awhile. If something bigger comes up, then I'll use EF funds.

It is looking more and more likely that there is going to be a high school reunion. The place I graduated from in 1993! shut it's doors in 2006? I went to my ten year reunion, but that was the last one we had. Members of classes from 1992 - 2006 have been talking and organizing on FB about getting together. This is something I think I would really like to do.

Of course I also have my mom (TX) and my CA family clamoring for me to come visit them as soon as I have vacation days available (Feb 1!)It's highly likely that my CA family would probably pay for my ticket ... but I don't want to assume that. (Nor am I sure I really want to accept that ...)

So I'll have around 12 vacation days accumulated by next December. (I have 3 right now I think.

I really would like to go to CA - mainly because my grandma is getting on in years and I just hate to not see her as much as I can while she's still alive and lucid. But ... I haven't been back to TX since my mom got married Dec 2012, and I know she's feeling like I've kind of abandoned her.

May and July are probably the best months for me to go anywhere since I could tack my vacation days to paid holidays, thus helping to stretch them a bit.

I think I'll wait to make any final plans until I see how the plans for the reunion flesh out. In the meantime though, I need to put aside money for trip expenses.

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The third goal is kind of related to the reunion I'd like to lose at least 30 lbs. By June would be nice.

Right now my weight fluctuates up and down two or three pounds for seemingly no reason at all ... So hopefully once I get my thyroid back under control, I can make progress again.

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So for my two financial goals .... Windfalls/Snowflakes will be allocated like this:
60% to EF
20% to Spending Money
20% to HS Reunion/trips



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My boss K lent me this fantastic book - Unbroken - it is a movie that is either coming out soon or has already come out. I finished it today. It's about Louie Lamperini(sp?) who was a 1936 Olympian, and then during WW2 was shot down, survived 40+days adrift on the ocean, and then was captured by the Japanese and terribly tortured. Amazing story!

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I have spent some of my spending money this week ... gave in to temptations. Chocolate ... BK ... banana bread. But not *too* bad.

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I received my last Bubblews payment (from October earnings) $55.xx - that will be going into my Snowflake category

I also cashed out for another $25 PP payment from Swagbucks. When that comes, it'll also to to my Snowflake category.

By Tuesday I think I'll have enough Bing points again for a 500 SB reward (thanks to the double points weekend!) Might be able to do a second one this month too - especially if they have another double points weekend this month.

I'm at about 20k PerkPoints - need another 4500 to get a $25 AGC or iTunes card. Hoping I'll be there by Thursday.

I entered a 12 days of Wellness contest at work. Basically it's self reported - do one different activity from one of four categories daily. It ends on Dec 23rd. One of the items was "take the stairs twice." I laughed loudly at that one ... the first day of the contest I went up and down the stairs at least 7 times ...

I have started walking in circles for the last 10-15 minutes of my lunch each day. Once I finish the main portion of my lunch and just have my treat left (usually a granola bar) I can walk and read. It's adding around 2k steps to my day so far.

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Tomorrow I need to go to the library to pick up a hold (and return Switch.) That'll be a good 2.5 miles round trip.

NE and I *might* be making a trip to Independence, MO tomorrow if the speaker he's evening isn't sold by then. Since I'm taking Monday off, I can go with him on the road trip without worrying about being overtired for work. (His car is in good working order now, so I'm not worried about a breakdown. Also, no snow in the forecast!)

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I am thinking about couch/chairs again. NE would like to invite his friend and family to dinner. His place (NEs) isn't an option ... would take a LOT of work to get it company ready (a LOT LOT LOT.) My place ... need to finish unpacking/decluttering - but main issue is seating. I have my office chair, my bed and two decrepit wood chairs (one of which has a broken seat - can sit on it with a pillow on top of the seat.)

Last weekend I finished up my bathroom. Tommorrow/Monday I'd like to get at least three boxes unpacked / settled. Then have a goal of three boxes per week. Once that's done, then I'm going to look seriously again at Craigslist, etc for couches/chairs.

It isn't just for this one time dinner I'm thinking of ... it would be nice to just have my place in a state where I *could* invite people over if I wanted to. Right now I would not want to invite anyone over because there'd be nowhere for them to sit.

If you were not wanting to switch to Ting because you have a GSM phone ... great news! Early 2015 Ting will be adding a GSM network to their plan! (If I would've known this, I could have waited a few more months and kept my ATT phone. Oh well.)

If you are on the fence about switching - here's a sweet deal for this month (good til Jan 5.) Instead of just 25% of your ETF (up to $75) now Ting is paying 50% of your ETF up to $100!

Today I found out that my 6 month ETF with ATT is 181.81. So Ting will pay $90.91 (in Ting credit) of my ETF. My final bill for ATT is 21.24, and I have a $50 Ting credit so won't have any charges.

I budgeted $200 for phone charges this month so will need to add a little bit to it, but then the next 5 or 6 months at least I will have no phone bill due to the Ting credits on my account! That's money that can go to my savings goals!!

Sweet!

I got back a bit ago from my shopping excursion.

On the way to Walmart I stopped at Family Dollar and picked up:
phone charging cord ($5) and a bottle of flavored water ($.85)

Electronics: $5
Spending Money: $.85

Then I stopped by the PO. It looks like my mailbox keys for the PO came off my key chain while they were missing. I'll have to see if I can make it over there tomorrow before 5 to see about getting replacements. Ugh.

Next I got to Walmart.

I got everything on my list, plus a few other things (of course)

Sweet potatoes - 2.3lbs for $1.50
Carrots - $1.98 (16oz)
Pumpkin Puree - 1.43
eggs (1 doz) - 1.98
PB2 Powder (pb aisle) 4.68
Welches Strawberry Jelly (no HFCS) 2.98
2 Rice Dream milks 2.24 each (-$2 cpns)
small bag kitkats - 1.28 (spending money)
Smart Balance butter w/flaxseed - 2.98
Wild Roots Flaxseed (2lb bag) - 3.50
Snappeas Ceasar (2) 1.50 (-$1 coupons) (spending money)
Fage Greek Yogurt large cont. - $3.47
3lb frozen fruit - 9.28
Frozen Mixed veggies 5lb - 5.98
frozen papaya 2lb - 5.98
1.69 lb bananas - $.61
Purina Beyond Grain Free 3lb -9.67 ($3 cpn)
Tyd Bowl cleaner - .97
Clorox Bowl fresh - 1.97
2 items I'm not sure what they are - 7.38

Total - 74.79 before coupons
After coupons and tax - $68.16

Kari - 9.97 - 3 = 6.67
Spending Money - 4.28 - 1 cpn = 3.28
Groceries - 58.21

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Then I went over to Sam's Club and got gas

2.61/gallon - spent $23.41 to fill up

Auto fuel - $23.41

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finally I hit up the local health food store for pumpkin seeds. They have a $5 min for credit cards ...

So, 1 lb pumpkin seeds - $6.31 (will last a LONG time)

Groceries: 6.31 + 58.21 = 64.52

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And that should conclude my spending for this week.

I didn't go into this week with the goal of not buying any chocolate, although I did really want to limit my sugar intake. Oddly enough, both times I went to a store this week, I totally and completely passed up on all the junkfood. My normal SOP is if I'm at a place that sells chocolate ... I'm getting some.

Maybe it is because if I buy it I'll have to take it out of my spending money category? Because that money is so finite and encompasses so many different categories, maybe that is what is stopping me from stopping for a coke and a bar or two. Whatever it is, I am liking it!

I'd been thinking of getting a candy bar today for a treat, but then Friday night when NE came over, he brought me a brownie. Nice surprise (better than flowers!)

So far in December I have spent less than $10 total (outside of regular bills) Tomorrow I do plan to go to Walmart and possibly Sams, so will have grocery and gas expenses.

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Friday night I was feeling really stuffed up, so took two night time allergy relief pills. I went to bed shortly before 11 and woke up about 9a.m.!! Whoah Nelly! Kind of made up for waking up at 4 a.m. on Friday ....

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My main goals for tomorrow are:

1. Completely finish the bathroom - that means all boxes/bags unpacked and organized. Floor swept, tub/sink cleaned. Pictures hung.

2. Make something for work lunches - cottage cheese roast or quinoa vegge patties or bean/quinoa tortillas

3. Grocery shop - Fage (greek yogurt), bananas, carrots, frozen fruit, jelly, chocolate chips (for lunchbox treats - protein cookies), frozen veggies, sweet potatoes, allumn. foil, ground flaxseed, PB2 powder, pumpkin seeds, phone charger (from Family Dollar)

4. Take out trash

5. Scrub counters/sink in kitchen

6. Laundry (when NE gets here, I'll do both of ours. He pays for it and really only adds a few pieces - so it's mostly my laundry.)

7. Walk to the library (must start no later than 3:45 or else will be in the dark!)

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Saturday I rested and relaxed - did a lot of reading (mostly MMM forums and soon may read a book on my Kindle app). Tomorrow I need to actually DO stuff.

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NE made an interesting observation on Friday. He wondered why I was baking my sweet potatoes one at a time (one a day.) I know it would be much more energy (and time) efficient to bake 5 of them at one time, I just worry about properly keeping them until I'm ready to eat them. (food safety)

I *think* if I mashed it up and put it in a container (not in its foil wrapping from the oven) that it should be okay? Not grow any bacteria, etc.?

So I've been using my Ting phone as an actual phone now for about a week. One thing I did in the settings was to turn off the celluar data. This way I only use data when I *REALLY* want to.

I find it funny how often I have automatically reached for my phone and clicked on email or FB, etc only to get the message 'Data is turned off' I am glad I have that option turned off, or it might not even hit me that I was using data!!

I'm going to have to figure out how to get NE to realize that we can't have 30 minute conversations *before* he comes over to my place on the phone. Monday night he didn't come over, and we talked for over an hour. When you know you're paying in buckets, you're much more aware of how many minutes you're going through. (he has a dumbphone, so other than skype, I'm not sure what the best solution is)

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Almost forgot! If you are on the fence about switching to Ting right now due to paying ETF fees ... they are paying 50% of your ETF fees in December! I hope I get my bill from ATT soon!

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My landlord changed the locks on my doors today. NE and my boss K are happy about that. He did it at no charge to me, which makes me happy.

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I talked to my boss K today about whether there is any gift exchange, etc. at the office. I loudly proclaimed (in my head) "Yahoo!!!" when she told me there wasn't.

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I have made a new rule for myself. If I want to watch an episode of Person of Interest (on DVD) I have to exercise during it. So ... I watched episode two tonight.

I also have decided that if I want to buy the $70 year subscription to the Piano Maestro app, that I will have to "earn" the money. I'll earn $1 every time I play at least 15 minutes, with a $5 bonus after 10 15 minute sessions. This way I'll hopefully build up the habit so that by the time I have "earned" the money for the subscription, I'll actually be able to put it to good use.

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I heard about this great book on the YNAB forums called Switch - it's about how making changes in our life (or in companies) is hard.

I am about halfway through it. I absolutely love it! I would highly recommend it to anyone here looking for a book to help you make changes in your habits - of any kind.

I would love it so much if a good number of us read it at the same time so we could discuss it, and maybe help each figure out "switches" for personal scenarios.

Here's the title: Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by the Heath brothers

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Is anyone else not getting notices of replies to their blogs? I didn't get emails for any of the replies to my last post. I only saw them because of visiting here.

This morning as I opened my door to head to work, I heard a jangle. When I looked down on the ground .. there were my keys!!

I was deliriously happy to have my car fob back.

My boss wanted me to call my landlord right away and have him change my locks. I didn't have his number in my new phone ... and couldn't remember his last name. (I've been having a good bit of brain fog lately .. the key incident is just one of many ... NEED to get my thyroid medicine going again. Badly.)

I did call him when I got home from work. He had no problem with rekeying the doors at no charge to me. He's going to do it in the morning.

Last night a bit after 9 I heard someone messing with my door lock. It got both Kari's and I's attention, but both of us were way too comfy to get up. Now if the door had opened ... it would have been a different story.

NE tonight was really getting on my nerves telling me all about what he would have done if he'd heard someone turning a key in the lock... He couldn't understand why I didn't get up to look out the window or open the door .. Um yeah, that wasn't the thought running through my head at the time, thanks.

Anyway ...

I talked to my boss K about the 15 minute break thing. Apparently it is a hornet's nest and part of the drama drama drama ... I told her I would be fine either way - with or without. Oy vey.

I also had a day off approved .. the 15th. Make for a long birthday weekend.

Of course, it won't be all fun and games ... I finally called the doctor today. (forgot my phone yesterday at home .. yet another brain fogggggg) The first time they could get me in was --- the 15th!

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I stopped at a local health food store today to see if they had anything papaya. No luck. I'm considering ordering seeds online - add them to my morning smoothies. I'd rather find a local source though.

While there I did pick up a container of Kale for $1.40. I've thought of trying Kale before, but it sounded like so much work. Will try it in my smoothie tomorrow.

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I got my gas bill for November - $30.41. I have $40 budgeted, so that means $8.59 goes into the savings categories.

So I ended November quite well ... by losing my keys! On the key ring is my car key fob, apartment key, mailbox key (x2 also for PO box), and laundry room key.
UGH!

They have to be in here somewhere. I had to have them to get into my apartment on Saturday afternoon when I came back from walking to the library. I didn't realize they were missing until Sunday afternoon when I was about to leave to go walk to my landlord's house and drop off my rent check. I looked everywhere! When NE came later, he helped me look again.

Nowhere to be found!

Thankfully I somehow found my spare car key - so I was able to drive to work this morning. However, I had to leave my apartment unlocked!

Tonight I called my landlord and explained what happened, and he had an extra key for my apartment - as well as ONE laundry room key (which he'll get tomorrow from me.)

I can't check my mail until I get the keys back - normally I wouldn't care too much .. but in a couple weeks I may have some cards and such coming ...

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I went to Russ's (grocery store) tonight. I spent $8.57 and NONE of it was junkfood. You have no idea how RARE it is for me to stop in a food store of any kind and NOT leave with some form of chocolate.

I felt really proud of myself.

However, while I was checking out, I had my arm resting on the top of my cart while I waited for my card to go through. All of a sudden the ?manager? jerked the cart away from me and left with it!! I only had two bags and I hadn't put them in the cart yet, but still!! It made it pretty difficult for me to get my gloves and hoodie back on for my walk home.

I thought about saying something to him after my startle was over, but decided to let it go.

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Today at work I found out that I should be able to take two fifteen minute breaks on top of my lunch break. I know it worked that way when I was at the oil and gas company in TX, but since my boss didn't mention anything about it ... I just kind of figured that the 30 minute lunch was it and then just use the bathroom when I needed to quickly. My boss will be back tomorrow, so I'll have to talk to her about it. I'd love to be able to go into the fitness room and walk on the treadmill or something twice a day! Great way to increase my steps.

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I got a $25 windfall in my PayPal account today from Swagbucks. (Which I'll be adding to my tally page on my sidebar.)

I also cashed in for two $5 AGCs.

I cashed out for a 500 SB code on Bing on Saturday, and should have enough for another one by Thursday thanks to the double points weekend.

On PerkTV I have nearly 12,000 points and have made tons of entries for giftcard sweeps with my tokens.

I have 43,000 points on Yougov - a survey site. It's enough for a variety of $25 giftcards, but the best value I think is waiting til I have 100,000 points for a $100 AGC. That's the only one that is point per dollar value. (I have referral links to YouGov, Bing, Ting, Swagbucks all in my sidebar if you're interested. )

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I was going to call to set up a doctor's appointment today, but I forgot I had the number on my old phone. I'd only brought my new one with me to work today.

I'm a burping garlic and pumpkin seeds gal at the moment ...

So in about two weeks here I will be 39. That means that in 1 year and 2 weeks I'll be 40. It's really, really hard for me to see myself as a 40 year old ...

I've been thinking a lot about what I can do to get myself better set for life in ten - fifteen years - the time I'd really like to be at least Financially Independent if not able to kiss the 40 hour work week goodbye.

One thing I'm realizing will play heavily into my financial well being in the future is my health. If I continue the way I am now, my medical bills will more than likely prohibit my FI or early retirement. Plus it would more than likely make life not all that enjoyable.

Financial health and body health I think go hand in hand in the long run.

So thinking long and hard, I've come up with some long term savings goals. These are things that I hope will help me along the road to eventual Financial Independence.

I currently have a networth of approximately $200k. About 35% of that is in two taxable accounts, and the remainder is in ROTH, 403(b), IRA, etc. Included in that is also about $5100 in an EF that is pretty hard to access (earning .90% APR) I have no debt.

Starting in February I'll be able to contribute to my workplace retirement account. Once I see those numbers I'll have to figure out how much I'll continue sending to my ROTH, and how much I'll contribute to the 401k above the required amount.

So I'm going to borrow a term from CyNewbie of YNAB - Big Bodacious Goals for my 39th year of life:

1. Save $2,500 in Car Replacement/Repairs category
2. Save $3,000 in Taxable Account category
3. Save $3,000 in House Downpayment category
4. Save $500 to replace computer

I'll be adding the above goals to my sidebar soon.

Any Windfalls or Snowflakes will be handled like this:
1. Amazon gift cards - pays for protein powder for smoothies, or any ebooks I want, etc.

2. Non-gift cards: (i.e. cash, PayPal funds, tax refunds, 3rd paychecks, overtime)Leftover money from Utilities(gas, electric, phone), Fuel, Grocery categories. *Birthday/Christmas cash I might treat a little differently - maybe a 50/25/25 split.

***20% to Spending Money
***40% to Taxable Account
***40% to House Downpayment

Below is my budget. Pre-tax I have health insurance, health account (Fafa??) and dental insurance taken out right now.

So .. after those deductions, my net income is about $1647/month (until January 30, then I'll be getting a raise of 4-5%)

Tithe: 145
Giving: 25
Rent: 430
Internet: 66 (ugh!! wish I could get this lower)
Phone: 40
Electric: 50
Apt Gas: 40
Groceries: 150
Spending Money: 20
Medical: 25 (have 50/mo deducted pre-tax)
Kari (Cat): 40 (food, litter, vet)
Car Gas: 50

Savings/Rainy Day:
EF: 25
Car Ins: 45 (pay 2x a year)
Life Ins: 16 (pay 1x a year)
Car Replace/Repair/etc: 150
Vacation: 50
ROTH: 200
Computer/Electronics: 40
Taxable Investments: 25
House Downpayment: 25

Clothing, Restaurants/eating out, Household stuff, Entertainment, misc. all come from the Spending Money category.

I don't have cable, and I am not currently paying for any subscription services. I have been using Bing to get free Hulu+, but am seriously considering stopping that. I just don't use it that much.

As part of my effort to improve both my physical health and my financial health, I am going to start doing this --- Any food "treats" (i.e junkfood) won't come out of the grocery category, but will come out of the spending money category. Since I would like to be able to use this for other things than food, I'm hoping it will help me to curb my impulse to purchase (and consume) this stuff.

Today marked the end of the 60 day no eating out challenge. I celebrated by getting a vegge burger from BK. Yum!!

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A couple weeks ago when I was in KC getting NE after his car troubles, my check engine light came on. I figured it was the oxygen sensor or something minor like that. That's what it always was with my Honda. Today I finally got by an Advanced Auto Parts store and had them do a reading to make sure.

Ugh. It doesn't sound as though it is a minor thing at all - something about a malfunction in the computer/engine connection. The guy told me I should get to a dealer pretty soon to get it figured out.

I have a 2010 Yaris that I bought used two years ago (hard to believe it's been that long!)

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Work has been ... stressful ... boring ... hair pulling outing ... Without wanting to, I seem to have been placed in square in the middle of a political (office politics) nightmare. The long and short of it is that some of the people in the office had someone else in mind for my job, who obviously didn't get it. They now gleefully point out every single mistake I make to my boss K. I'd love to say I don't make mistakes, but I can't. Thankfully K is an uber awesome boss and has told me not to worry - that she isn't worried.

I just keep repeating to myself that I have health benefits and in a bit over two months will have retirement benefits too and a raise ...

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For Thanksgiving NE and I have been invited over to a long time friend of his house. He and his wife and stepson will all be there - I've never met the wife or stepson so that will be interesting. I'll be making corn pudding so I can be sure to have something I can eat besides sweet potatoes and bread.

NE is back to working 20 hours a week at his job - although *both* of his shoulders are in terrible condition. His ribs at least seem to be healing. He is really looking forward to January when the Obamacare plan he is working on enrolling in will go into effect.. At least one of his shoulders will more than likely require surgery. (He had a bad shoulder already, but the car incident a few weeks ago made it ten times worse. Then the spinout last week tweaked the good shoulder.)

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I am SO looking forward to a short work week next week. 4 days off in a row will be heaven.

So on Thursday my already interesting week got even more interesting. This time thankfully it wasn't a scary experience. It was something I would never have thought to have put on a bucket list, but am glad to have experienced it.

What was this experience?

I got to attend my first ever press conference!

The bus company I work at was awarded a sizable money grant that they are going to use to buy 3 new buses and a driving simulator. The mayor, and some other major dignitaries were all there.

It was way cool. There were 4 tv stations covering it, and at least one newspaper reporter (who asked some questions at the end.)

My boss K told me I'll have the chance to attend many more. Whatever gets me away from the phones ...

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Today was very stressful at work. I think I'm just way overtired. I made a mistake this afternoon - a stupid one - that I'm sure to hear about on Monday. I've really been trying to be *uber* careful, and yet still did it (gave the wrong pass to someone basically.)

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We're supposed to get more snow tomorrow. It sure is cold enough for it!

Wednesday the heat wasn't working on my side of the office and I was *freezing* - Thursday it was working - today it was sort of working.

I brought my space heater to the office on Thursday, but haven't used it yet.

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If you haven't heard of PerksTV it is an iPhone (and Android too I think) app. you earn points by watching videos. I finally earned enough to cash out for a $5 AGC today. I wonder how long it will take to arrive?

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I think it is a good thing I got a new phone. My 4S has been having some weird battery issues this week.

I got my sim card in the mail on Wed but haven't had a chance to mess with it yet. I need to call ATT and find out what my ETF is going to be.
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So I'm close to the end of my 60 day eating out challenge. Other than two exceptions I did it with no trouble. I m looking forward to allowing myself the option again, but I think the challenge has successfully reset my resisting eating out muscle so I won't go crazy with it.