Today I received the codes for $20 of Amazon.com gift cards from Swagbucks. The 5th one should be coming very soon. (If it happens like last month, it'll probably be there by morning.) So right now I have $70 in my Amazon account.

I am 7 points away from being able to redeem for my first Amazon card with irazoo - thanks to a 33 point search win this evening.

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Today I took another practice test - the last one I can take before the real thing on the 29th. The legalese said to expect it to take 5 to 7 business days to find out how I did -- the score came back in less than two hours. I did *exactly* what I did on my last practice test. An 81%. Ugh! It's passing yes, but by a very slim margin. I really need to hit the flashcards hard the next two weeks.

Only one week till classes officially start for me. (Should I say ... class.)

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I got a letter from my local bank today. Essentially it said that starting in February, I will be charged $8.95 a month for my checking account with them. Unless: 1) Direct Deposit of $300+; 2) Maintain a balance of $1500+, or 3) Student under 25 years old.

I'm going to have to do some checking around to see if I can find anything less. Or, I may just put my scholarship money in that account - that would hold off the charges for 3 or 4 months maybe ... If it wasn't for the fact that I need a local bank to make cash deposits at, I'd go totally online. But I get paid mostly in cash ...

Chase at one time only charged $6.95/month. Before I look into changing banks though, I'm going to talk to the ladies at my branch and see if there are any other options there.

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I filled up today for $2.829/gallon at Walmart using the shopping card for the 3cent discount. $29.29

On Saturday I had to get gas at this little expensive station on my way home from church - was running on fumes. $2.99/gallon gulp! (3 gallons)

If I would have filled up on Friday at Walmart, it would have been $2.78/gallon. I thought I could hold out til Monday, and the price might be better ... oh well.

Tonight I went out to dinner with five other ladies from my church. 5 of us had birthdays in December, the sixth one was the daughter of one of the ladies. 4 of the ladies with birthdays brought gifts for everyone else. Guess who didn't bring anything? Guess who didn't *know* that was part of it?

If I would have known we were supposed to bring gifts, I would have said I was not able to come. This was arranged for late Sunday afternoon. Why did they feel like gifts had to be involved? Isn't just getting together for a meal enough?

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I played a bit more on one of the websites I mentioned yesterday. So far my verdict is that it is one to skip. I won't be wasting anymore time on it. (The one where you supposedly can earn $15/mo easily.)

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Last night I was up pretty late, and decided to get on Swagbucks at midnight when the clock changed over. I actually qualified and completed a 30 minute survey. Oy vey! My eyes were rolling out of their sockets. I hope my answers were halfway intelligible. Anyway, I finished it and got credited. Really paid for it though when Buddy started begging to go out at 7:30 this morning.

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On my way to the birthday dinner, I stopped as Walmart to get gas. (It was the cheapest I'd seen it, and I was getting low.) I went in to reload my card. When I swiped it at the gas pump, it said I had a $24.57 balance. That made me do a double take, since I'd only put $20 on it. Then I looked at the card. It was my $50 walmart card from Mypoints I'd gotten in 2009, but had never used up the remaining balance. I'd tried to use it up in the store, but it wouldn't take. I must have accidentally loaded that card! Good thing too, cuz my car took all of it! LOL!

We had a pretty small group for Sabbath School this weekend, just six kids. Of course, church itself was pretty empty. I guess a lot of people out traveling.

Yesterday I got an email from Amazon telling me that they had money for me, but didn't know how to get it to me. (I'm an Amazon Associate on both of my blogs.) So I went to the site to find out what they were talking about. I had to search all the way back to August to find ... one person had bought two items (quinoa and something else)through one of my links! My advertising profit? $2.87. Of course, the minimum payout is $10, so I'm not sure why they were stressing about me setting up a payment method. I think its so funny that I made my first "sale" through my frugal blog on which I have *very* few Amazon links, rather than on my book blog in which I have links everywhere!

This weekend has been incredible with the wins on Swagbucks TV. From Thursday through today, I have had an average of ten wins per day. That's nearly half of a $5 Amazon gift card! (The normal average is two-three a day.)

Today my stepdad and I went over to my moms new apartment and helped her get more settled in. We brought Buddy with us - he was so happy to see mom. He followed her everywhere she went. On the way back home I asked SD to stop at a gas station because I wanted a Cherry Coke (challenge is over! thank you very much) Buddy went nutso in the car with SD while I was in the store. I think the little guy is getting a really bad complex.

Friday I went out grocery shopping pretty late. If I hadn't needed to fill up with gas for the weekend, I would have just skipped it.

I had about 15 items in my cart - all the lanes were packed (that were open.) So I chose the one with only one person who had two FULL carts. I figured that the one person had a better chance of getting through quickly than a line of 5 people with 15 - 20+ items (more chance of um... problem customers.) So anyway, while I was waiting, a cashier opened up the register just behind me. When I noticed it, she was about to start ringing a guy up behind me. He saw me notice it, then looked at my cart, and told me to go ahead. Really cute guy too. (Probably early to mid-twenties though. Too bad.)

I forgot to make an actual list, so didn't pick up spinach. SD picked that up today for me though.

So groceries -- $27.40 (fruit, cheese, Rice Dream, Orange Juice, hot chocolate, marshmallows, etc.)

Gas - $2.49/gallon $22.86

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November Spending:

Gas -- $74.78
Groceries -- $77.99
Auto Insurance -- 206.62
Subscriptions & Dues - $60 (
Prescriptions, etc. - $45.30
Gifts - $57.04
iTunes - $11.xx
Auto Repairs/Maintain - $127.65
Phone - $80.62

I did really well with my grocery spending this month. I think doing the challenge with my mom had a large part in it. Also, making crockpot beans and freezing them, as well as lentil soup, and eating lots of homemade burritos, cut down expenses.

Gas was okay. It would have been less if I hadn't gone down and volunteered at the local church school (I could have waited till December to fill up.) But .. I did get $20 in gas money from the principal/teacher (which I did try to refuse, but she insisted.) That isn't figured into the gas amount.

Auto Insurance - I chose to stay with Geico. The amount reflects the Defensive Driver's Discount, and adding back Roadside Assistance. I called AT&T on Friday and dropped their RA, which cost $3/month versus $1.xx/mo for Geico.

Subscriptions/Dues - After much thought I decided to renew my membership in the two professional organizations. Hopefully next year I'll be working in a library that will provide those dues for me, but for now, it will be good to have on my resume.

Prescriptions, etc. - My monthly scrip, plus a renewal of Walgreen's Prescription Club Discount card.

Gifts - Most come from an order with Lakeside Collection. VERY slow shipping. The order also earned some points through Mypoints. A few of the others are from two different photo deals I did through Swagbucks. My Christmas shopping is done. Oh yes, almost forgot - one gift was for Mother's Day (also a Swagbucks deal.)

iTunes - Got a bit carried away finding apps for my new tutoring student (pre-schooler)

Auto Repairs - Replaced three outside belts when the squealing got really bad in my car.

Phone - This should go down a little bit next month, now that I've canceled Roadside Assistance

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I did have some unexpected new sources of income this month, such as the two new tutoring students, and the reimbursed gas money. I also redeemed $25 worth of Amazon gift cards (through Swagbucks) which are currently sitting in my Amazon account. Not to mention the scholarship I found out about!

So, I definitely could do better next month. After the 21st, I doubt I'll be spending much of my own money (being out in CA.) I will offer - but will more than likely be turned down. (I am hoping one of those $3 Restaurant.com codes come out so I can get a gift certificate for this one restaurant out there and "treat" for at least one meal!)

I just checked my email and found out that I was awarded a scholarship for the Spring semester! Yahoo! It didn't say how much it will be for, but I'm hoping it'll be at least $400 like for this semester. That'll definitely help put a little extra breathing room in my budget.

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Last night I was really, really bored and not feeling like doing school work. So I made the first video for my Living Frugal blog, and then I also made a second video for my Children's Books blog. It's a book review in an interview format.

Book Talk with Dan and Laura.

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Spending Report:

Filled up with gas: $23.57

Bought bananas: $1.43

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I'm about 70 Swagbucks away from redeeming my 3rd Amazon gift card -- and I haven't even been doing it for two full weeks yet! Of course, the proof will be when I am able to actually redeem the gift cards.

I did some Mypoints emails today, and looked at the rewards page. Recently, it had looked like 60% of their gift cards were gone. But it must have just been a glitch, or maybe they restocked. I have about 5600 points right now, so I could get a $25 gift card, or wait a few months more and get a $50. I'm debating on getting a Walmart card and use it for new clothes, or get an Amazon card to add to my SB winnings for something larger. I'll probably end up waiting to have enough for a $50 card.

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I feel really badly for my sixth grade tutoring student. Last week he had his finger slammed between 50lbs of weights when he was in weightlifting class. He actually broke the tip of it! So today I had him do his vocab quiz orally, and then I was his scribe for our essay writing work. (It was his writing hand.)

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My mom may have found the house she's going to move into. She's going to leave Buddy here for the most part so that he's not alone for 8 or 9 hours a day. He's going to be one confused little puppy.

Happy November everyone! Today sure didn't feel like it was winter around here. I don't know what the temperature was, but I was sure quite warm.

I just finished my first draft of the second big paper for one of my classes. We had to assign peer review partners within our groups. That was some interesting drama. One person proposed that we partner up by last name. Normally I would have no problem with that, however, in our group we have at least two people who consistently turn in assignments late. Luck would have it that she'd be my partner.

So, I proposed the option of pairing people up with the person who posted the previous assignment before or after them. A few others already had an idea of who they'd like as a partner. We ended up doing a combination of my idea, and choosing your own partner. 4 people chose their own, and 9 were paired up via posting time. Whooh!

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Spending Report:

$1.50 - Stamps for my brother's birthday cards. He's turning 30 on November 4! Yikes!

$24.26 - Filled up the gas tank.

Income:

Korean Girl paid me $75.

Korean Boy did not pay me today - says he'll have it tomorrow. This is a regular occurrence with him, but he does eventually pay. I didn't work with College Korean Boy today, but probably will tomorrow.

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Buddy's leg seems to be doing better today. But then he started having multiple sneezing fits. Hopefully he's just allergic to something, and it isn't anything else.

I am tired!

This morning I told B that tomorrow would be my last day doing the Craigslist postings. What I told him was that with school starting up next week (for the high-school boy I tutor) I wanted to be sure to NOT be tired when working with him. (he's the one with narcolepsy - if he's falling asleep, and I'm nodding off ... not good!) But the really truly reason is that I just am not at all comfortable with what he was asking me to do. It wasn't anything illegal, just not very ethical. He really is a nice person, and I know that what he was having me do was just a way of trying to drum up business ... but money or no money, I couldn't keep doing it and feel right.

This afternoon I had my first appointment with a tutoring student who came about because of the flier's I left at the high-school last May. Really sweet kid. I'll be working with him mostly on writing process and some on grammar. Getting him better at doing timed essay writing's is really the main thing his mom wants me to focus on.

On arriving home, I checked my email and found out that I had made another sale at half.com. The last of the six textbooks I had posted on there in April. I was really somewhat surprised that it sold, because it was an older edition than the required textbook for the course. Nonetheless, I am quite pleased. Now the only textbooks I have are for my summer class and Fall classes. Which reminds me, I should list my summer class text.

I decided to bump up my Netflix subscription to the current basic plan. Previously, I had still been grandfathered in to the $4.99/mo plan 1 disc 2x month. What finally convinced me to go the few dollars extra a month, was the Starz Channel. Besides the normal streaming videos/tv programs, the Starz Channel has a number of fairly recent movies. Including "Letters to God" which I was number 89 on the wait list at the library for, and was not available as a DVD on Netflix itself. I could have purchased it for $15 at Mardel's ...

So, like I said, I upgraded to the very basic unlimited 1 at a time plan. That also meant I could get the Wii Disc to stream the movies onto the TV where the Wii is hooked up. I received that disc today (free) and have it set up. Very cool.

Last night I ate at Ci Ci's Pizza with my sign language class. Our instructor had invited two of the Deaf members. Wow! Was I ever rusty??!! I was trying to sign "My brother went skydiving this morning" and I couldn't remember the sign for brother! (And yes, my ever loving brother DID go skydiving on Tuesday ... in Las Vegas. He and a friend flew to Vegas Tuesday morning, skydived, then flew back to CA Wed. morning.)

Our instructor is having knee surgery on Monday, but is planning on starting an intermediate sign language class in late October or early November. That means I need to refresh my sign language knowledge quite a bit. I hope I'll have time to go by then ... will just have to make sure I do!

Buddy had his fourth set of shots on Tuesday. At first (before I left to go to the SL mtg) it wasn't affecting him too much. But then by the time I got home, he was a zombie. My mom had come by to sit with him while stepdad went to a meeting. She, and my stepdad, both tried to take him outside to do his business and he just sat there. Then he yipped when they tried to pick him up. When I got home I was able to pick him up (without yipping) and got him to do his business outside. Lovely little command word "Hurry Hurry!" He was pretty much zonked though till about 6 a.m. this morning. But when he woke up, he had all his usual vim and vigor back, plus a bit extra.

I ran through a full tank of gas in less than a week. The two extra trips to L**********e probably didn't help any. (One was helping the school's principal/teacher get ready for school, and the other was the sign language meeting.) I have another trip to L planned tomorrow to help the principal/teacher, and then hopefully my gas usage will go down to a more normal amount.

Today after my morning tutoring student, I stopped at Walmart and picked up enough groceries to hopefully last two weeks (other than bananas). I would have waited until tomorrow, but I won't be working with my student tomorrow, so figured I should do the groceries today.

I spent a total of $34.75. That is nearly half of my reduced food budget. I used one coupon for Totino's pizza, but hadn't found a coupon for mouthwash.

On Monday I want to see if I can get some Easter candy for reduced price - won't spend more than $5. Will have to see if it's at 75% or more yet then.

I also filled up with gas: $22.00. I still had some in the tank, but decided to go ahead and fill up before the weekend.
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I got a postcard in the mail a few days ago telling me that I was eligible to make a claim in a class action lawsuit against AT&T in regards to their DSL service not being as fast as they advertised. I will get up to $2.90 for every month I had service with them where the speed was off. I had DSL with AT&T for around 5 years, 6 if you count the landline less version. So ... that could net me around $100 or so.

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I read two more books for my children's lit class.

Flight by Sherman Alexie:
It's about a 15 year old kid who is part Native American and part Irish and has had a really rough time of it. Just as he's about to make a really, really terrible decision, he starts time traveling. He goes to 1975 Red River, Nevada as an FBI agent, 1876 at Custer's Last Stand, and a few other places. Finally, he ends up back where he'd started, and has to decide if he's going to follow through with his previous plan. Awesome book.

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean:
I could NOT put this book down. I stayed up till 1 a.m. last night to finish it.

It's about a 14 year-old girl (Sym) who's "uncle" has taught her from the time she was very small all about the Antarctica, and about Captain Oates from Scott's second failed expedition to reach the pole. She has created a companion out of Captain Oates "Titus" as kind of a sounding board and comforter. After her father dies, the "uncle" moves in with her and her mother (who finds out that they are completely broke after her husband dies). Then one day he tells them that they're going to take a trip to Paris. Only, not all of them make it to Paris. And that just not might be the true final destination. Sym will end up calling on everything she's learned and finding courage and strength she never knew she had.

Simply a fantastic book. (An award winner!)

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Today I got a call from one of the ladies at church who is on the nominating committee. Apparently my name ended up on a short list of people they wanted to ask to lead the Primary class.

I've been asked before at other churches, and have always turned it down. I prefer doing things like greeting at the door, or collecting the Sabbath School offering envelopes. Things that don't tie you down every week.

I tried to get out of it by saying that there was no way I could get there to do decorating, etc. She told me that we meet in one of the school classrooms, so I wouldn't be able to decorate anyway.

So I asked about if there was a budget for crafts/activities. She said there was.

Then she told me it was from July to June. So I told her I will hopefully have a job my May, so I wouldn't be able to fulfill the whole year. She told me that I would just work that out with the coordinator.

Oy vey! I accepted the position. :bug eyes:

I will have an assistant, so if I need a break from teaching once in a while I can get it. I'm planning on a mini-trip to Houston in August to visit a good friend of mine - so will need to get that weekend covered. And then of course Christmas if I go to CA again.

I really, really don't want to do this. But I guess I'm of the age where if I'm a member I really should contribute. And I'll probably end up enjoying it, for the most part. I just hate being tied down. Maybe I'll have my assistant do one week a month ... It'll probably be good for me to flex my working with little ones muscles again too, after being out of the classroom for so long.

This morning I woke up to an inch of snow on the ground. Other areas south of us got several inches. School wasn't canceled, so I worked with my tutoring student.

When I got home I was tired due to not sleeping well (thanks to my tailbone) and was also feeling frustrated at how the tutoring student seems to be trying to sabotage himself. He got a passing grade on his last two quizzes and test - so now he wants to cut our biology study time in half (other half on English). Everyone here who works with him thinks it's a bad idea. But his parents in Korea have agreed to it. So unless he starts understanding it lots better on his own, this last test where he made a 79, may be his highest grade. Ugh.

Anyway. I decided to take a nap. Of course I'd barely laid down when my dad called me to rub in that he was out in barefeet picking oranges. Then I got a call from my ASL teacher telling me class was canceled tonight due to possible ice on the road.

So finally I took my nap. When I got up I talked to my stepdad. Apparantally my mom thinks I've been leaving my dishes in the sink and oatmeal on the counter. Well, the dish in question is actually a pot. I don't use a pot to make my oatmeal. The oatmeal on the counter is a namebrand. My oatmeal is not - plus I keep my scoop in it. I told him no big deal, that I'd put her stuff away if I see it left out. He said he'll talk to her about it.

Seriously, I could care less. It's just slightly annoying to have it assumed that the stuff is mine when I've tried to be ultra concious about putting things away after myself.

In other news (actual financial) I haven't eaten out since Thursday! I'm starting to earn points for the challenge a bit late, but better late than never, right?

Oh, class being canceled tonight means that I'll probably only have one more tank of gas for Feb. That'll mean I'll come in under gas budget this month! Which is good, because last month I went over.

I hadn't checked my 401k from my former company for a couple months. Today, I logged in just to see how it was doing.

There was NO money in the account!

The last time I'd looked, I had over $4,000.00!!!

It was after business hours, so I sent an email asking what had happened to my money!! A small portion of it was employer matched money (maybe $400 or so) but the rest of it was money I'd put in - either through a rollover, or from my salary.

I've had a 401k from when I was teaching continue to be held for me, now for nearly 5 years. This makes me more than slightly perturbed.

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This has been one spendy month. Nearly $200 spent on gas (when a normal month *might* be $90). Then of course renting a truck to move, and paying rent (for Feb.) to two places (guess that actually would count towards Feb and not Jan.)

Next month will hopefully be better. I'll be making another tuition payment (I took the three payment plan - just to spread out the pain a little bit).

On Wednesday I left my tutoring bag at the school - in it was my iPhone charger along with a marker board and other supplies. So, I had to go to Walmart and get another phone charger - because I was going to be at the gym all day Thursday, and had to have my phone working.

Yesterday as I was leaving the gym to go to my Thursday tutoring session, I got a call from the headmaster of the school I'd interviewed at on Wednesday. After I'd interviewed, apparently someone else with more experience working with 8th graders and who could do Reading Recovery applied - and they went with her.

Of course I thought I'd be starting Monday, so had already told E he needed to find someone else. I'd also told a couple gym regulars ... So, had to call E and grovel. He gave me hours - but less, and instead of Tuesdays, Mondays.

So I did my tutoring session (without the markerboard) and headed home. And got royally lost - even with the gps on my phone. It was raining cats and dogs and super dark. I was nearly out of gas when I finally found a gas station.

I pulled off the freeway and filled up. Across the street was an AT&T store. My phone has been coming close to dying on me 3 or 4 times in the last week when I've been far away from any place to recharge it. So ... I went in and I bought one of those portable battery chargers ... $50. I also had the guy change my texting plan to the $15/1500 text plan (this last bill I had 400 texts over my plan limit of 200). Then ... I somewhat impetuously decided to sign up for the talking gps function. I figured I could try it out for a month and see if it was better than the free gps (no talking/no auto rerouting) option. $10/mo extra.

I tried out the new gps function today. I really really like it. Sometimes its a little slow on telling you turns, but if you miss a turn, it automatically reroutes. SO nice not having to mess with touching the screen to see the next turn. You also can be choosy about how you want them to make your route. SO nice.

I guess you could say I did a little bit of retail therapy. At least I don't do it very often, right? And these were all things I'd been thinking about and debating about pretty much since I first got my phone in September (I think)?

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After a nice week weather wise, it was really strange to go outside today and be freezing my tail end off again. I hope it goes away soon and we get back our low 50's!

Today my 5 male helpers and I got all my things completely moved out of my former landlady's house. They are now all either in storage, or at my new home.

Yahoo!

Former Landlady (FL) did a number of things that messed with my mind. First, on Friday when I went over to pack everything, I got another note.

"Laura, the kids have been having trouble remembering what food is ours and what is yours. So, I packed up all your food into bags and boxes." FL

And ... she had! Even the food in the freezer - which was really strange, since she didn't even have any food in there.

Before I left, I had a chance encounter with her. I spoke up, and told her thank you for bagging/boxing up my food. She completely ignored me.

Um.. okay.

Then... today. When I got there, I had yet another note. "Laura, I wish you all the best. You are a great person. Leave the key under the mat, and make sure you have your mail forwarded." FL

She had moved all my pantry boxes, etc. into one huge pile next to my room. The whole time we were there, she stayed shut up in her room with the animals. I was glad I'd had a chance to say goodbye to them (the animals) on Friday.

My dad offered me a good suggestion I think. I'm going to write her a note and ask her if she'd tell me what had happened. That I don't understand why her attitude towards me changed so drastically. Then, if she wants to tell me, she can, in writing. Which, seems to be her favorite way of communicating.

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Tomorrow I start my first day of tutoring with my new student. There is a slim possibility of a 5-hour a week position teaching keyboarding to 8th grade students at a local Christian school. If I get that ... then I *will* be quitting the gym!!!!

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On February 3, I'll be starting to take a class at my church on American Sign Language. I was talking to the instructor at church this weekend, and she told me that if I really enjoyed it, and did well with it, that I could take the next level with her. That would enable me to know enough to interpret sermons. (like she does)

That *really* intrigues me. Not only would it be an awesome skill to have as a librarian, but it would also be an awesome way to give back a little at church.

She was giving some stats during the announcements. Out of 10+ million baptized Seventh-day Adventists worldwide, there are less than 100 baptized deaf members. Our little church of less than 200 members has 10 of them.

So, if I can become good enough, someday when I move to wherever my librarian job will be, I may be able to help bring in new deaf members.I just think that would be SO cool.

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I spent several hours tonight sketching out my assignments for the coming semester. There are some weeks which look like real hair pullers. But, if I can keep pretty much on schedule, I should be able to do just fine.

They also put out the summer schedule. So today I put in my advising form for the last of the three Master's classes where you have to be on campus. I'm hoping that my form gets put through early enough that I get into the particular section. It's the only one that doesn't meet on Saturday.

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Spending ... ugh...let's see, what do I remember?

Truck rental: $18x.xx (added insurance)

won't get reimbursed for cost because the storage place I used was not the one with the reimbursement coupon

Gas: my car $23.xx
rental truck: $27.xx

Offering: 1.xx

books for ASL class: $23.xx
(used on Amazon)

Change of address form: $1

Driver's License change: $11

Hmm.. I'm sure I'm forgetting something... oh well.

*My mom paid for the pizza today, which was very nice of her. The guys ate almost every slice of the 3 large pizzas and most of the salad my mom added on the side.

Classes started on Tuesday. Two of my classes were up and running with no problem, but the third one was having some technical difficulties. It finally was up and running today.

I knew I was in a different section for my Children's Lit class, but hadn't realized that the required reading list would be different. As far as I can tell, the books I read over vacation are NOT on the new list. Ugh! Even better, with the other list, I didn't have to read Goosebumps - there were several other series I could choose from. Now, I have no choice. Double ugh! Also, the other section had you write book reviews as blog entries - this one only has you write the book reviews. I'll probably still put them up on my blog - if I'm going to take the time to write reviews, may as well put them on my blog!!

Anyway, only one of my classes looks like it will be a lot of work - the cataloging class. I have to do a research paper/project for it. I already chose to do it on graphic novels and comics, since I have somewhat of a knowledge base from the class I took this past summer.

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I will be starting to tutor a 6th grade boy next Monday in ... Math. Don't laugh too hard, I'm trying not to. As long as it keeps to stuff like adding fractions with unlike denominators, and very basic algebra, I should be okay. I hope.

3 1/2 hours a week for $100. It will definitely help the budget, since I'm spending more on gas, and had to cut my hours at the gym (both due to longer commute).

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The last couple days I've been feeling really yucky. Don't know if it is allergies, my body releasing stress, or what. All I know is that all I want to do is sleep, when I need to be doing schoolwork, and Friday will be packing and of course Sunday moving all the big stuff!

Ugh!

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Almost totally forgot! My 5 year blogaversery was on Tuesday! Hard to believe that I've been nattering on about my thoughts on money and life here for 5 years. Like I've said before though, I'm so glad to have found this community here.

SA'ers are the best!

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Spending:

Gas: lots of fillups 3 x in the last 9 days!!! ugh!!! roughly $87 total

Groceries: $12 - Costco veggie patties
$1.23 - frozen veggies
$29.32 - misc. groceries

Storage Unit: $35 (Jan rent + admin. fee)

For the most part things are going well in my new place. This morning I was slightly annoyed when I went to eat breakfast and there were no bananas left. Which is why I made a grocery store trip today .. bananas for the counter, and bananas for the fridge (plus other stuff).

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Oh yeah, I figured out a way to get to the gym without paying so much in tolls. It only adds about 5 minutes or so to my driving time (as long as there's not much traffic). So, I'm hoping that'll work out long term. Or ... I'll get another tutoring student or two and be able to quit the gym completely!

You know how when you see drivers do idiotic moves in front of you, or near you, it seems as though there never are any cops around to see it?

Well, today as I was driving home (oh glorious word - home, as in the place where I can use the kitchen in a relaxed manner, have a bathroom right off my room ...) a red pickup truck was in the center turning lane next to me. The driver of the pickup truck cut in front of me to get into my lane, causing me to have to brake hard in order to avoid him. Then, a few moments later, the same truck pulled back into the center turning lane, again, causing me to brake hard.

Unluckily for this truck driver, directly behind me was a cop. The cop smoothly pulled into the center turn lane, and followed the pickup truck into the parking lot with lights on.

---
As I mentioned above, the word "home" has a much better meaning for me now. As of Thursday night, I essentially moved in to my mom and stepdad's home. Sweet bliss.

I had wanted to avoid my landlady seeing me haul off my computer and also get my frozen foods on Thursday. However, I'd forgotten she doesn't have her kids on Thursdays, so I couldn't do it without her seeing/hearing. I ended up getting my computer, some clothes, etc. All 4 animals greeted me, and the black cat Sierra, nearly escaped out the front door during my last trip to the car.

I decided to try again today to pick up food from the pantry, as well as fridge food and freezer food, and of course my computer keyboard I'd left behind. Unfortunately, I guess the kids got out of school early today for whatever reason.

So, again I got everything I wanted to get, except for the fridge and freezer food - landlady was in living room/kitchen with a friend talking the entire time. All 4 animals greeted me, and hung around me most of the time I was there.

On my way to the house, I stopped at the bank and got a cashier's check for Feb. rent and wrote a note to my landlady giving 30-day notice. I was worried that she might try to say I had abandoned my stuff or something (since she could NOT have not noticed all my activity on Thursday.)

I left the note, and the check, taped to her bedroom door just before leaving. I had hoped to not go back until Friday to pack the remainder of my things, but I realized tonight that I'll have to go back once again tomorrow - I left my textbooks there. Ugh. I just hope she's not home.

The hardest part of all this is seeing the confused looks on the dogs faces - especially Nikki's. Today when I walked in the door, Kayla, the dog who slept in my room, *ran* full flight to me with her butt wiggling vigorously. It just about broke my heart.

Ugh. It wouldn't have been any easier in May to leave the animals ... but it still isn't easy. I would've liked the opportunity to at least have taken the dogs on one last walk ... oh well. In a few years I'll have a place of my own again, and hopefully be making enough money where I can afford a dog and a cat - animals that I can train and spoil and love however much I want to!

--
Spending today:

Deli - $4.68 (breakfast and lunch)
Gas - $25.46
Feb rent - old place: $290

I didn't get any groceries today. I'd been planning on getting some more bananas, but just ran out of time before sunset.

---
This morning was my first run from my new home to the gym. It took about 45 minutes, which wasn't too bad. What wasn't so great were all the tolls. I'm going to have to experiment to find a way with less tolls, and not too much added time.

---
Today was payday. Even with the extra shift I worked on Wednesday, it was a paltry amount.

$317.68

So ... $31.77 - Giving; Savings; Tax Savings

Overall, my California trip went really well. My very favorite part of the trip was the day my dad, grandma and I spent with my brother in San Francisco and finally at his home in Napa. We stopped at Ghiradelli's and had hot chocolate, then somehow wound up under the Golden Gate bridge where we discovered a part of San Francisco none of us had been to before - Fort Point. Later, we played three games of Rook, and finally played Wii bowling.

We were planning on visiting Hearst Castle on our way from San Jose to Loma Linda, but we got started at nearly 1 p.m., and by the time we were within 30 minutes of Hearst, it was past time for the last tour of the day. So, we all agreed to continue on to Solvang.

A *lot* of eating out was done on this trip. So much so, that if I don't eat out again until this summer, it'd be just fine with me! On New Year's Eve we ate out at the Cheesecake Factory in Beverly Hills (by the Farmer's Market/Grove). The tip for that meal, and the hot chocolate at Ghiradelli's, were the only things I paid for the entire trip.

My grandma wasn't quite sure what her Wii was all about. She kept calling it "wi fi". Once we got to her place, and I set it up so we could bowl, she got the hang of it.

In Denver, (layover) I experienced my first deicing while on a plane. I was quite happy that my return trip was non-stop.

I got quite a few new clothes. We went shopping at an outlet place - Coldwater Creek, Liz Claiborne, and Izod's sister store, all contributed to my wardrobe. Then we also hit up JC Penny's for one more item we couldn't find at the outlet place. All in all, for just a bit over $100 I got - two dressy tank tops; a new purse; a short sleeved sweater top; two other tops, and a dress.

---
One downer of my trip, which really had nothing to do with the trip at all. I got a call from E telling me my hours had been cut to 27. When I asked him where those hours had been cut (thinking only 4 had been cut) he told me Thursday. I used to work from 8 to close - he was putting me as noon to close.

I asked him if I could have 8 to 3 instead, to keep my schedule basically the same. He told me that K was the one wanting the morning hours. So then I told him to cut a few hours on T and F to equal out the 4 instead. He then tells me that those hours had already been cut!!

So then I asked him how he was figuring 27 hours, because it sounded like 8 hours were gone from my schedule. In the end, he made it so I have 29.5 hours.

I was expecting a cut in hours, but it still hurts (financially).

---
I had an interesting homecoming (to where I live). I was greeted at the door by all 4 animals. The two dogs raring to go for a walk.

However, the first acknowledgment/greeting I received from any of the humans was 6 hours later when I went out to the living room and told the daughter that Kayla was outside whining. She snottily informed me that Kayla was not whining. Umm ... ok. I just walked out to the living room for no reason, and happened to see Kayla at the door.

My next acknowledgment was from my landlady this afternoon after I had placed the doggy bag in the trashcan. A short curt "Be sure to lock the door!"

Nice. Adding to that the lovely argument I got to overhear last night between the mom and the kids ... is it May yet???

At least the animals are friendly to me.

---
The dishes situation is completely ridiculous. I had a mug of hot chocolate last night. I rinsed out the mug and the spoon, and placed them in the (empty) dishwasher.

Tonight, I went out to the kitchen to put groceries away, and found this note taped to the mug cabinet "Wash your own dishes!!"

I am seriously contemplating buying paper plates, cups, and plastic ware. I hate the waste and the expense, but it might just be worth it for the peace of mind.

I am also contemplating about whether it would be all that horrible to move during the semester if I found the right situation ...

---
Something which may help me be a bit more flexible in how much I can budget for housing ... my mom is letting me "have" one of her students for the $25/hr rate. She's been tutoring him at the $50/hr rate, but the mom just isn't able to keep going at that rate.

It would be 4 hours a week, so $100/wk. But it would be about an hour's drive one-way (assuming no major traffic snafus.)

If I do well with this kid, then it might lead to more people willing for me to tutor their child. So, this could be a good thing - especially with my hours being cut.

I'll be meeting the mom/child on Thursday to try it out.

My two biggest concerns are: 1)My mom is going to somehow hold this over me - that there is going to be some kind of extra expectation of me which hasn't been stated yet (like "I'd be glad to help you with getting a different car, but you have to promise me that you'll keep it clean and neat."), and 2) That for one reason or another the child and I won't gel, or I'll have no idea what I'm doing, and completely mess it up, and that somehow that will end up messing up my mom's tutoring business ...

I guess I shouldn't worry over milk that hasn't spilled yet ...

-----
While I was in San Jose, I ended up telling my Uncle about all my car troubles this year. He basically offered to either co-sign on a loan for a new car, or pay for it up front, and have me pay him back when I can.

The offer does appeal to me very much. Every time I get in my car I wonder if something is going to go wrong.

My dad recently replaced his car. He looked for months for a used car, or even for a few years old car (like an 09 leftover on the lot). He found that the used vehicles were going for as much, or more, as the new vehicles.

My uncle is big on Subaru's. They're good cars .. if I could find one that was similar in size and gas mileage to my Honda, I might go for it.

I just am not sure how I feel about going into such large debt to a relative. Paying it back in good time would depend so much on my finding a *real* job (i.e. not minimum wage!) once I graduate. But if my car dies on me, or gives me more mechanical headaches ... I'll end up having to do it anyway, plus have used up more savings to try to fix it.

Ugh! I've got such a headache thinking about all this!!

---
Spending:

Gas: $22.41 (Sunday)

Deli: $4

Groceries: $22.78 (replenishing things I ate up before the trip, etc.)

Almost forgot -- extra monies:
Brother - $40 (birthday money)
Grandma - $50
Dad - $200 (cell phone, space heater, baggage fees, + extra just because)

I'm thinking about getting a portable DVD player - something I can take to the gym to watch movies on, or use at home (since my computer's dvd program still isn't working!).

$10 of my brother's gift goes to saving/giving, but I could put the other $30 towards a portable DVD. Then if I used $30 of the money grandma gave me -- I'd have $60. If I used $25 of the extra my dad gave me, that would give me $85 to buy one.

I've seen them for right around $80, but need to do some research to see if I can find one for less. (I was told by all three that they *did not* want me to put all the money into savings or just bills - they want me to use it for something frivolous.)

I also kind of really need a new printer. It needs to have the scanning capability. Two or three rounds of printing out journal articles for research papers at the library would probably equal out to the cost of one. (my mid-term paper research cost about $18 in printing costs at the library)

---
Sorry if this is all over the place. I think jet lag + plane leaving 6:20 a.m. CA time on Sunday, and then getting up at 5:30 this morning for work all are coming together to make me very tired and out of sorts.

This morning I made my Oatmeal/Quiona/Chocolate pancakes. I hadn't made them in awhile, and since I'd made the recipe up myself in the first place ... I wasn't thinking too clearly. I put *all* the dry ingredients in the blender, and then added the rice milk and water. Ooops. Let's just say that it was pretty thick. I ended up pouring half of it out into a measuring cup, and then adding more liquid to the other part.

In the end, I didn't put a banana in - it still turned out pretty tasty, and I made enough for probably 4 more breakfasts in the future.

---
As I was making the pancakes this morning, I was wondering if they make pancake molds. Something you can put down on the pan/griddle and pour the batter into so that it holds a certain shape - make a uniform size. Mine turn out to be many shapes and sizes - especially after trying to flip them.

---
As the title states, the third time happened to be the charm today. I found the dollar theater! (with a little extra help from my step dad)

I saw "Invention of Lying". It was *SO* good! Seriously, I loved this movie. I walked out of it just feeling happy. I probably wouldn't recommend it for kids under 15 because there are some scenes with pretty frank sexual talk (not explicit - just frank). This is one I might look into obtaining a copy for my limited collection.

---

When I got home I found out that Jesse (he used to be very active on the SA forums - jrmsg (something like that) ) has started releasing the beta version of YNAB 3. I might just get it for my birthday.

For those of you with iPhones or iTouch's ... he also is going to be releasing an app based on the YNAB principles soon.
I am very much looking forward to that!!

---
Spending:

Movies: $1
Walgreen's: $6.42
Gas: $19.01 (saw $2.29/gallon and grabbed it!)

For one of my classes I was supposed to register with the American Library Association and Texas Library Association as part of a "leadership project". Then I'm supposed to explore the sites and write a report on it.

Great, not hard at all right? Except ... when you wait until 8 days before the assignment is due and find out that you can't register online nor over the telephone. You can however register over fax. Then you find out that it takes up to 4 weeks!!! for your registration to process.

Oh, oh!

I emailed my professor and asked him what my best course of action would be. I'm not sure he understood what I was asking, because he emailed me back and told me I had to register with the associations! (after explaining that I *had* registered that morning, but it wouldn't be complete for up to 4 weeks.)

This seriously was not smart on my part. I should have registered way back in August. I just didn't want to pay the $35 fee... so I drug my feet.

This could very well cause me to have to retake the class because leadership points are 25% of our grade. (It does include a few other assignments, but as far as I can figure, this counts for half.) You have to retake any class you get less than a B in.

What a waste of money and time on my part if I have to retake it! It's totally my fault. I'm usually much more proactive on this kind of stuff - especially when it comes to grades!! ARghh!!

At least it's only a one-credit course.

----
I thought I was working at the gym today from 6:30 to 6:30. When I asked E about my schedule last week, he said this week was normal, except for opening on T and Th.

So when he gave me the actual December schedule, I glanced at it briefly and didn't see anything pop out at me.

Then today a bit after 3:00 A walked into the gym. He said he was there to relieve me. I'm like, "what?!" Then I took a closer look at the schedule, and saw that he was scheduled.

When I got in my car I called E and as calmly as possible asked what his reasoning was. He told me that he didn't want any of us working 12 hour days, and since I was opening, he put A in to close.

If he would've asked me, I would have told him I had NO problem working a 12 hour day - especially considering the fact that my Jan. 1 paycheck is going to be paltry due to my California trip. Extra hours right now are a *good* thing!

Seriously, it's things like this that really, really make me *strongly dislike* working at an hourly job. The flexibility is great for some things, but it can be a two-edged sword.

-----
Spending:

Not actually spent yet, but put into motion: $35 on Credit Card for ALA/TLA membership.

Gas: $21.33 --- Could have waited until tomorrow, but I saw a station with $2.19/gallon gas (at least $.20 less than anywhere else) and decided to jump on it in the likelihood of it being a one-day sale.

Dollar General: (cash) $3.31

two pairs of gloves (only sold in sets of two) and a knit pull-over hat (says "one-size" but doesn't cover my ears at all!)

Landlady: $1 -- two AAA batteries so that my keyboard would start working right again (I offered the money - didn't want her to feel like I was taking advantage.)

This morning I woke up in major pain. I'm not sure exactly what I did, but the right side of my neck, down a bit onto my shoulder was in torturous pain this morning. It hurt to lay on my side, and it hurt to lay on my back. I was seriously wondering if I'd be able to get out of bed or not!

I made it out of bed, and once I was up the pain was 1/20th of what it had been - so I managed to go to work, etc. today.

I'm hoping when I lay down for bed tonight that it won't hurt like that again. Ugh!

---
After work today I stopped at the library and picked up some books (on how to study the Bible, etc.) And I printed out the application to join American Library Association and Texas Library Association. (Joining them is part of fulfilling a leadership requirement in one of my classes.)

So, two printed pages: $.30

I also stopped and got gas. My tank wasn't quite empty, but I decided to fill it up today in case prices go up tomorrow or Wednesday. $23.47

----

I needed to refill my prescription. The last time I'd refilled it, it had cost me over $40 at Kroger. I hadn't even asked how much it would be, just wanted to get my gift card.

This time I called around to find the best price.

Walmart had the lowest price without any gimmicks at $27.39

Walgreens had it at $24.95 IF you buy a $20 Prescription Club. So, with buying the Club plan, it comes out to about $26.62 which beats Walmart.

So, I dropped it off at Walgreen's and will pick it up tomorrow.

---
I stopped at Chase Bank to deposit my paycheck (yes, the one from the 15th!) and to get my $40 spending cash.

I asked about changing my account into a student account, but the age cutoff was 24. So, about 10 years too old for that one.

Tomorrow I'm going to check and see what I need to do to get online access to Compass, and start switching out to it.
I'm also going to check into what credit unions are in the immediate area and their qualifications.

I think my university probably has one for it's students - but that is a 20 minute + one way drive in the opposite direction I usually go. It *could* work, but with getting two - three checks a month which have to be deposited ... it would be a pain.

---
Tomorrow I need to get my car inspected, and I need to pick up my prescription. Those two together will be roughly $90 (adding the Club plan to it).

This morning I made it to the Work Force Center about 8:20. The seminar I was going there for started at 9, but I thought I'd get there early in case there was a typing test or something else I could do.

At first when I asked one of the ladies at the front desk about the seminar, she looked like she didn't know what I was talking about. Then when I told her the name of it, she was like, "Oh! WIA. Are you in the WIA?"

Trying not to sound stupid, I told her I didn't know what the WIA was. (I'm still not sure what the letters stand for!)

She told me that it was a program for people who had been laid off and want/need training in job skills in order to get a better job. Also, she told me that the seminar I came to attend was one of the requirements for the program - that most people didn't choose to attend it. Luckily I'm not most people, right?

Another lady who was nearby spoke up and told me that WIA was a great program. That it was paying for her to go through training to be a medical secretary. Not only are they paying her tuition, but they also are giving her gas cards for getting to school (and presumably a part-time job.)

Hmmm.... this sounded interesting.

I am going to attend the next orientation session on Tuesday to see if I qualify, and what all it entails. (There is a session on Monday afternoon, but I'm working at the gym then.)

I'm just thinking that going the route of being a medical secretary wouldn't be a bad idea - or at least the training for it. Will have to check into pay scales on it though.

Another possible route is to take computer training on Quickbooks or other accounting software - both of which seem to be asked for quite often in the admin asst ads I'm looking at.

****Would it be bad of me to take advantage of this program if I qualify, considering I do have financial resources available to me, while others may not??***

The second thing I learned today was at the seminar. It actually became a one-to-one session because the room it was to be held in was occupied, and the presenter only had space for one person in his cubicle. The other two rescheduled for tomorrow.

The seminar was going through the functionality of the work in Texas website. I'd already signed up on it, as well as done a good bit of exploring, but he was able to show me a lot of things I had not figured out yet. He also gave me a lot of great hints and tips.

So, my visit this morning to the Work Force Center was well worth my time - even though they don't have an official typing test.

---
Accomplished today:

1. Seminar at workforce center
2. Checked Craigslist
3. trash run, dish run
4. updated blog
5. Filled gas tank - $18

*Did not exercise, nor update applications, nor cash gym check.

Thursdays goals:

1. Work at gym from 8 -3
2. Give former OM severance paperwork
3. exercise
4. update blog
5. work on resume/application info
6. Check Craigslist
7. Clean counters (kitchen and bathroom)

----
This afternoon my mom treated me to seeing "Confessions of a Shopaholic." I absolutely LOVE the book series, and the movie was really pretty good too.

Afterwards we ate at TB ($3.01 for both of us!) Then went off on a wild goose chase looking for a book she needs to read before her interview on Tuesday.

My lateness getting home is partially why I did not accomplish some things I wanted to.

---

I have two questions about the Stimulus bill which recently passed, and am hoping someone may know the answer(s).

1. Is Cobra being subsidized at all?
2. Is there a certain amount of UI you can make without Federal Taxes being owed?

The reason I ask, is because both items were brought to my attention as things that were being proposed as part of it, but were not confirmed as to whether they were passed.

Thanks for any info!

* 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!

What is this it, you may be wondering?

Well this it is gasoline! With all the extra driving I did the past two weekends, my tank of gas just wasn't going to make thru to my usual Friday fill up.

I was starting to get a bit worried because prices were going up and up.

My gas light was on most of the way to work this morning, and then all the way home till I got to the gas station with the $3.39/gallon gas.

I bought 9.117 gallons of gas, and my Odometer was at 105,505, or 319 miles since my last fill up.

So . . my mpg was approximately 34. Not bad at all, especially considering I had my AC on some of that time.

Oh, just for comparisons sake. Another gas station near my apartment had gas for $3.59/gallon.

I noticed yesterday that some of the gas stations had gone up by 5 - 10 cents except for one. So today I decided to fill up even though I still had a good amount to get me through the weekend. I didn't want to take the chance of the $3.34 price becoming the $3.45 price of another station (or worse!)

8/22/08 Odometer: 104,917
8/29/08 Odometer: 105,185

=268 miles (trip to mom and stepdads, trip to Mckinney (Museum), regular driving)

Purchased 7.764 gallons@ $3.34 =$26.00

Mileage = 268/7764 ~29 mpg

Hmm . . that number seems off somehow. It's strange how each time I fill up, my mileage seems to be going down by one mile.
----
Today was kind of frustrating at work. I was *very* busy. That is a good thing. But one of the frustrating things that happened was that I worked through my normal lunch hour to finish getting some documents certifed mailed. Then, when I took my lunch time, I had only finished eating a few minutes, when my OM saw me savoring the last few minutes of break time and was like - L, do you know DW has stuff he needs you to do? And that he said you'll have to stay here till it's done?

Arghh! Yes, I knew he had stuff he wanted me to do. I knew that it wouldn't be something that could be done quickly, and that he wanted it done before leaving for the weekend. I know she wasn't saying it to be mean or malicious or whatever, but at that point it just sat so totally wrong with me!

Then later on I was attempting to make copies of these HUGE documents. He wanted them in color. There is only the one color copier. I had managed to make one good copy, and had a second one set when the copier started whirring with a big print job. Usually I can handle that without outwardly showing any frustration. Today my frustration showed and was noticed by the person who'd sent the print job.

I know it can't be helped when there are a dozen people hooked up to the same copier/printer. Even so, it can be SO annoying when you're in the middle of a copy job to all of a sudden have a print job start up. It's nobody's fault, and can't really be helped. All the same, it still can be quite annoying.

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 . . .

-----
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.

---
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.

-----
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.

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.

Today's spending:

Gas: $3.73/gallon - 9.382 gallons bought
...........=$35.08 Odomoter: 104,433

Groceries: $30.59

Bought: red/green grapes, 3 bananas, 4 red del apples, 1 can mandarin oranges, lg cannister old-fashioned oatmeal, 5 16oz containers of egg whites, 1 32oz mixed frozen veggies, 1 box Morningstar veggie links, lg container Rice Dream milk, 1 sm box Junior Mints

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Woo Hoo! Remember how in my last couple posts I mentioned about how I was trying to figure out whether I should go with the quarterly membership plan at the gym, or cough up the money for a full year?

Well, today near the end of my workout session with E, he confirmed with me that I do have the job (after work on Fridays 3 1/2 hrs) starting a week from this coming Friday. He also mentioned that since I'd be working at the gym, my membership would be FREE!

So, not only does that mean I don't need to pay for the quarterly fee (roughly $64), it also means that I don't have to put it in my budget to save up for the next quarterly due!

Yay!!!

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When I was doing my grocery shopping today, I noticed something that slightly annoyed me. First of all, Wal-mart has stopped carrying the large container of generic egg substitute. Wah! Secondly, the next least expensive brand that is in a large container cost $4.89 for 32 oz, while the 16oz containers cost $2.44/each. So, you would at first assume it would be cheaper to buy the 32oz version + greener (due to less trash) - but obviously you would be wrong!

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?'s

I'm going to a Vegan/Vegetarian meetup brunch tomorrow. I'm planning on bringing a fruit salad, but I'm not sure if the mixture I'm thinking of will work right or not.

Here's the fruit I was thinking of: red/green grapes, sliced bananas, chopped apples, mandarin oranges, maybe some canned pineapple chunks?

Is there anything that I should take out? Or do you think all those tastes/textures would work ok?

Next ?

At the gym, I will be an independent contractor. This year I will make less than $600. Do I have to do a Schedule C for it? Or can it be listed under "other income" for tax purposes?

Next year, I would make a bit less than $1200. Would that be enough to make me have to pay self-employment taxes?

One more ?

Anyone have any idea why my Cruise 2010 ticker is so long? It's cutting part of my sidebar off! I checked the code and it looks the same as the other tickers. Weird.