I don't know if my body realized "Hey girl, you don't have to go into work in the am, so you can be sick now" or what, but I've been feeling progressively worse the past three days. Just pure exhaustion, stuffed up, nauseua, congestion, coughing, etc. Ugh!

Saturday afternoon I called my former co-worker to let her know I would be in her area next week. I ended up actually talking to her husband for a good hour. He told me that he had at least two job possibilities that he would check into for me. I would dearly love to up in that area again - be near Tammy, my coupon club, and a church where I feel welcomed.

Later that afternoon I drove up to Fort Worth to see a few of my Pathway friends. One of our classmates from CA had flown in for the weekend. It was really good getting together with them - we had six of our class members alltogether + families. We spent a couple hours talking, then went out to eat at a Mexican resturant.

One result that came from our chatting was that the lady who lived in the house we met at told me that there was someone she knows personally who has a garage apartment for an extremely reasonable amount - and that he would probably rent it to me on her word alone. She also gave me the name of a friend of hers who does resume work/career coaching as a ministry.

So, I'm going to be checking into those things today. Then tomorrow I get my haircut, and on Wednesday I'm going to go to Dallas and spend a few days with my mom - as well as put my resume out there. Then of course Friday night I go to the Casting Crowns/Nichole Nordemon concert, and the next day will see Tammy and family, then have another Pathwayian get together.

I got my water bill on Saturday. It was down another couple dollars. I *really* wish I knew how it keeps going down while the electric keeps going up. I haven't noticed us using any less water, and sure haven't been using more electricity!

Spending Log: (Feb 2 - 6)
Cabo's (Mexican): $7.28
Groceries: $4.36

Keeping It Frugal,
Laura

I took off work this afternoon for the express purpose of looking for a new apartment. I stayed up past my bedtime last night narrowing down the places I was going to visit to 4. I found my two latest paystubs, and found my lease. I was all ready to go.

Then today at work I got a phone call from an employment agency I had applied to last JULY in Dallas. They had a job possibility for me they wanted me to interview for. When I first spoke to the lady I told her that I had a job until May. She asked me to give her a call a few weeks before this job ended.

Well, I met with my dad after getting off work for lunch. He was talking to my mom on the phone when I got there. I talked to her and ended up telling her about the phone call. She convinced me that I should call them back and at least find out what the job was all about, and that it wouldn't hurt to just put my name in the pot.

Dad and I talked about the job opportunity too. My main qualm was that I feel like I have given my word to the place I am working at right now that I'll be there till May, and also I feel like I would be letting Jan down if I didn't finish this assignment.

Dad made some very good arguments, including the fact that if it was the company losing money, they wouldn't have any qualms about letting me go. That it's the way of business, etc. He also asked me just what I was going to do when it gets to be May and the assignment is over, and there I am in my apartment with a lease that wouldn't be up till August at the earliest.

I finally decided to go ahead and call the place back to find out about the job. It was a temp job - so not anything to get excited about. But what it did do is make me reconsider getting an apartment/signing a new lease before having a permenant job nailed down.

What I have decided to do is to give it another go of putting my resume out there in Dallas and waiting at least another month before looking for an apartment in Fort Worth.

The commute may kill me before my time is up here, but it probably is better than finding an apartment, leasing it, then before the lease is half over finding a perm job in Dallas starting immediately - thereby creating a much longer commute.

I hope I am doing the right thing, because I was SO looking forward to the idea of not having this commute anymore and having a place with a dishwasher!!

Well, I'm off to Walmart for an oil change and some tire rotation/balancing. Hopefully it won't take too long.

Overall a pretty laid back day today. Spent way too much time on the computer (again!!) Did finally manage to break away to go get the paper + a few groceries.

I bought a box of No Pudge Fudge bars - 60 cal, 0 fat, 0 fiber. Pretty good if I do say so myself, and they are incrediably, 0 points!

I looked at my electric bill from the new company. I was going to call them to find out why the bill was so much higher than I was expecting. Unfortunately I kept putting it off, and putting it off. I realized today when I looked at it, that the payment was due on Friday. Major oops! That'll be my first late bill in over four years. Ugh!

Spending Log:
Walmart: Newspaper + groceries -- $6.05

$.95 to my change jar.

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Well, the first thing that was good about today is that I had my second weigh-in since starting weight watchers, and I lost 2 lbs!!

The second good thing that happened today is that I got a call from my brother. He was talking seriously like he was thinking of getting married to his long time girlfriend. She is such a great person, and doesn't let him get away with anything. I hope he truly does move forward in that direction. Even if it would be kind of weird to have my brother married before me. Oh well.

The third good thing (or perhaps not such a good thing!) was that I watched "Injustice". I had Tivo'd it last night to see if it was any good. It is. I added a Season Pass for it.

I also did not spend any money today. I was very tempted by an e-book, but talked myself out of spending the $30.xx for it. It think it's pretty crazy that someone thinks they actually could get $30 for an e-book - especially on that particular topic. But, more than likely he'll have a few takers. I might have gone for it if it was more like $20, though. Oh well.

I was reading the Change Jar thread. I'm going to have to count how much change I have. I have my quarters seperated from the rest of the change. The last time I counted my quarters I had ~$24. I'm estimating that I have around $30 in my Apple Bank (teacher gift.)

I'm still debating on when I should join the challenge for this year. I still have my challenge money from last year sitting in paypal earning interest. I'm not quite sure if I want to do the same thing as last year - Ebay and coupon savings. I really don't have much left that I can Ebay, and since I'm not the one actually paying for groceries (yet) the coupon savings really aren't mine (although they wouldn't be there if I didn't find them.) Will ponder it some more.

On one of my other boards today I read about an interesting work at home job. I pm'd the person for more information. I haven't heard back from her yet, but she may be away from the computer.

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Today while I was at work I got several phone calls from my dad. He was at Best Buy working with one of the salesmen in the computer area trying to figure out what was needed to get my Tivo functioning in a way that I wouldn't have to constantly be moving it back and forth. I spoke with Jack, the salesperson several times. The last time I spoke with him he quoted $80 for either installing a wireless card in my PC, or something else (which I can't remember) which would have also cost $80, along with a couple other items, totalling over $100. When I heard those figures I told him that I needed to speak to my dad. I told dad that I'd like to see the stuff in person to make sure we were really getting what we needed. He agreed.

After work I met him at a different Best Buy (more on our way home.) I explained to a saleslady what the problem was and what solutions we'd thought of. She quickly told us a different (and much easier/less $$) solution -- Extended antenna's!!!
So for ~$70 (instead of over $100) I got my Tivo functioning properly!! Now the really nice thing about all this, is that dad bought it. He told me that I had already put out a lot of money for the router and the adapter (no kidding!) I think he may have been surprised by my lack of protest at his offer. So all told, my birthday present cost over $210 + the cost of the machine/gift subscription. Yikes! I'm glad that I REALLY like the money eater!!!

I did a new strength training routine this morning. Wow! Did it ever kick my rear! I barely managed to finish the last set.
Tonight there was a new CSI and a new ER. Yay Abby!!! Kovach just looked stunned (happily) at her decision.

Ok, better sign off now because I have work to go to tomorrow.

Spending Log:
None -- Was really hungry after lunch, and was SO tempted to get something from the vending, but somehow held out.

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Ugh! For the last week or so I've been fighting what I thought was a miserable cold. But the last couple days I've been taking an over the coutner decongestant, and have realized that my cold is mainly made up of my allergies!! When I had insurance, I took Clarinex, but now the only over the counter stuff is Claritin, and that doesn't work as well, and it is EXPENSIVE.

I also really need to go to the doctor to get my TSH level checked (thyroid) because I think mine has really gotten out of whack since the last time it was checked. Unfortunately, my prescription for synthroid ran out in June (same month as my health insurance). Synthroid itself isn't terribly expensive through drugstore.com, but the doctor visit + the necessary bloodwork could run close to 3 or 400 dollars quite easily.

Where do people go to get bloodwork done that don't have health insurance? I keep telling myself to wait till I get a job, then hopefully I'll have insurance of some type again, but who knows how long that will be. I sure can't afford health insurance on my own - the last few months I've made just enough to cover the monthly bills minus the rent. Come March when I have to pay rent again, I really hope I have a full-time job paying at least $600 more than what I've been able to find so far - even then, that wouldn't even begin to cover health insurance.

My only real regret about leaving teaching is letting go of the health insurance. I had such an awesome, awesome plan.

Keeping It Frugal in Texas, .... A aaaa ChOO!

Laura

Today I didn't go into work since I'll be training the 3 new surveyors tomorrow - have to keep my hours to about 20 hours. I didn't mind really, because it was really rainy and icy and cold out.

Last night I knew it was supposed to go below freezing, so I decided that I would turn my heat on so none of my pipes would burst. I put it on 50 degrees and then put it on auto -- nothing happened. So, I put it into the "On" position. Still, nothing. I switched it over to the a/c, and the machines roared into action, though no air. Finally I just decided to have all my faucets drip all night - not sure which is more money - dripping faucets, or using the heat.

So this morning after dad and I had eaten breakfast with Charles (a family friend) my dad took a look at the furnace. It's electrical, so he didn't have any idea what to do. So I called my apartment manager and told him that my heat was not working. He told me he'd send someone over to check it out. An hour later noone had come, so I called again to find out when the person would be coming and was told they were on their way. About twenty minutes later the guy came. He checked things out and then said that he thought it might just need a new thermostat. Dad also told him about my back door needing weatherstripping (something I'd called the office about at least 5 times!) By the time he left he had relplaced my old thermostat (with the unreadable Heat/Cool functions) with a digital thermostat, had the heat working, and had weather stripped my back door. I thought that was pretty good for about an hour's work.

I stopped by the library this afternoon and picked up two more Dan Brown books, plus a couple of other ones. I also put my name on a waiting list for James Patterson's "Mary, Mary" as well as the last book in the Karen Kingsbury series "Redemtpion."

I had a bit of fun today getting out my ol' ice scraper again. The ice this morning wasn't too bad, but this afternoon it sure took a bit of time and arm power to get it off. I'd love some suggestions from folks out there who deal with iced over windsheilds on a normal basis - also, what to do if your door lock is iced over. We're supposed to still have freezing temps in the morning.

My brother called my dad tonight. Dad took the phone into the office and shut the door trying to be all private. But the thing is, I think he's getting hard of hearing or something, because when he talks on the phone, he always talks so LOUD - I could hear him pretty easily through the wall even with the tv on. I really tried to not listen, especially once I figured out that they were making some plans involving me and my birthday. *I hope that maybe this means that Ryan will be coming here to visit for a few days!** THAT would be an AWESOME birthday present.

Growing up, he and I had a lot of sibling rivalry. But when I went away to college and he started high-school, our relationship changed for the better, and since then we've become very close friends. There's nothing that can make my day more complete and happy than getting a phone call from my brother. I do call him, but he's *very* hard to reach.

Well, no spending today. I'm now going to go back to my book by Gilbert Morris, "The Charade" about a man who was extremely obese and how he felt about himself, then made a computer program, got rich, got kicked in the gut by two people he trusted -- and now is on a revenge path - but will somehow be put off it before the end of the book by God. The first part of the book really got to me because I was relating so much to so much of what he was saying/feeling about his weight/how people looked at him/how he hated miorrs, etc.

Didn't exercise today - overslept, then my dad was around the place ALL DAY - so didn't even get much internet time - but I did finish Angels and Demons (SO GOOD!)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Today was yet another nice relaxing day.

Early this afternoon I went to Walmart to pick up a double newspaper and fill up with gas. Then I stopped by Big Lots to see if I could find what I needed for a couple Jar Gifts. I didn't find anything for the Jar Gifts, but I did pick up two more things for my Manicure/Pedicure Home Spa kit.

I was very hungry and really craving Taco Bell. So I stopped by TB and went through the drive through. As the lady was handing me my change, some of it dropped on the ground. It was "only" two pennies - most people would've just drove on and not worried about it. But nope, not me. I unbuckled my seat belt, unlocked my door, and opened my door. Luckily they both were within easy reaching distance. I got a bit of a strange look from the lady, but I didn't mind - I wasn't about to lose one penny of my money - especially when spendng it on fast food!

This evening while watching tv I did my manicure and pedicure. It was a fairly relaxing thing to do while watching shows that you didn't have to pay much attention to in order to follow. Although I was really wishing for a second person to do my right hand and foot - I'm right handed, so doing cuticles/cutting the nails, is somewhat difficult with my left hand. I think I now have just about everything I can think of that comes in handy for a Home Spa kit. Those foot massagers/circulating water things - I've had two of them before, and neither one of them worked very well. Just a plain old dishpan filled with warm soapy water works just as well.

Ok. Spending Log today.
Walmart: $4.31 - newspaper + junkfood
$19.25 -- gas - $1.94/gallon
Big Lots: $3.37 -- manicure stuff + coke
Taco Bell $2.67 -- lupper (lunch/supper)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Today I slept in very late - well, didn't really sleep, just lounged in bed. My kitty was so sweet and funny. After I got up to feed him and he ate, he jumped back up on the bed and meowed at me. So, I lifted up my arm (which was under the covers) and he went under it, underneath the covers. Then he popped his head out on top of my arm, and had a good little nap under the covers.

Dad and I went to Albertson's to pick up a couple good deals I'd seen from their advertisements. We were getting ready to checkout when he asked me if I'd ever been in their 80% discount store area. I hadn't. So we both went over there to have a look. There was a lot of things in there that were understandably hard to sell, but some of the things were quite surprising. We picked up some shoelaces (to make a cat toy), a bag of sour gummy bears, a nail buffer, a tube of chapstick, sugar-free syrup (for mom), several boxes of jello pudding (chocolate mint), a box of beligian waffle mix, a couple of hair clips, a bottle of spice (don't remember what kind right now), plus other stuff -- all for $7.32!!! We were about to leave when I noticed that they had the kitty litter trap - I'd seen it advertised online for ~$30 and thought it looked neat, but wasn't about to spend $30+shipping. I took it up to the counter for a price check - it was $39.95+tax -- but after the 80%, it was only $8.62!! I decided to go ahead and get it. Hopefully this will help stop the complaints from my dad about the bathroom stinking because of Monkey's litterbox.

I got my latest copy of TV Guide. I think it was here last May that I signed up for the offer of a free one-year subscription. It sure isn't a magazine I'd pay for, but I do really enjoy getting it. A week from Sunday looks like it will be a night meant for multiple VCR's - Survivor Season Finale + reunion show 7 - 10 p.m. -- Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 7 - 9 p.m. -- and Crossing Jordan 9 - 10 p.m. I've never understood why they put Survivor's (and Big Brother's) finales on a different night than the normal show - though if they kept it on Thurday, then that would mess with CSI, Everwood and ER, so that wouldn't really be much better. Ok /tvaholic.

Spending:
Albertsons: $8.62 -- Kitty Litter Trap
Post Office: $2.39 -- shipping an Ebay item LONG overdue

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura