Alright guys, I'm gonna be brutally honest here. For the past two months I have not been keeping to any kind of a budget or even really tracking how much I've been spending. I could give a million reasons ...er.. excuses, but the plain ol' fact is that I've fallen down on the budgeting job.

So now I think I have paid any and all lingering expenses related to moving (ya know, all those "final" bills - ugh!) so I *think* April will be a more normalized month.

So tonight I spent several hours going to all the various financial websites with my money info, a trusty calculator, a piece of paper, and my copy of You Need A Budget. Over the past few months I have made various attempts at setting my budget straight, but it just wasn't happening. So, tonight I started with a completely blank budget, and started it from March 31.

I decided that I was going to leave $1k in the Emergency fund, pay off my CC (~$800), and put the balance (minus March's pay) in my Freedom Account. From my Freedom Account I'm going to pay my 6-month's car insurance, the balance of my renter's insurance, and have money designated for car repair, clothing, entertainment, etc.

Well, I was feeling pretty good about how I had all the numbers working out for me .... then I realized something. In all of my categories there was one VERY important thing I had not set aside ANY money for --- My brother's wedding!! Well, he hasn't quite asked her yet - will be on Sunday or Monday - but it's a pretty foregone conclusion that she's going to say yes. So, that means that probably in August or September I'll be making a trip to Flordia to see my little Buster Brown get married and finally have a sister! This of course is going to cost money - whether I drive down there or fly. So, I went back to my budget and added a Wedding category, and cut money from one of the other categories to start funding for it.

So hopefully this month I will actually keep myself on my budget and keep track of my money.

KIF,

Laura

Way back in 92 the guy I was dating at the time and I really wanted to go see Phantom of the Opera. At the time my family was living in New Jersey about 30 minutes away from New York City. He came to visit me over Valentine's weekend -- unfortunately the tickets were already sold out - had been for months. We ended up seeing Wrongturn at Lungfish instead (an off-Broadway play which had Tony Danza in it - very good!)

A few months later Phantom was on TV and we watched it "together" (he was in PA, I was in NJ) and called each other during the commerical breaks. If it was nowadays, we would've IM'd each other! LOL!

So, anyway, what's my point you may be asking?? Well, a theatre in Dallas is performing Phantom of the Opera thru April 16 -- and I bought myself two tickets (the cheap balcony ones of course.) I asked my best friend Tammy to go with me (she went with me to Jim Brickman a couple years ago) but she's not sure if her family is going away for Easter weekend or not. If she can't, then I'll probably ask my mom, then my dad.

I am so excited about finally getting to see this performed live!! One of my favorite songs from it is "Music of the Night."

Being able to do these kinds of things is what makes it worth it to me to sacrifice in other areas of my life.

In other news - work is going much much better. Today I sat in on a meeting where they were demonstrating how to use some new software. I had very little clue as to most of the terminology, but I think if I was given the info to plug in, I'd be able to do it easily. I also was given a new project to do which will keep me pretty busy tomorrow. I love being kept busy.

Ok, I better get going! Time to go home!

Laura

P.S. My DSL at home is now working wonderfully! Yahoo!

Well, I still don't have internet access at home. I have my DSL modem all connected to the phone line (the working one in the kitchen) but now the problem is my ethernet card. Somehow between it working just fine for cable internet in my last place, and moving here, it decided to stop working. The technical speak is that it isn't "bound" to the TCP/IP.

So, this weekend I'm going to find myself a new ethernet card and figure out how to install it in my computer -- and hopefully have internet access!!

My dad stopped by yesterday. He brought me a house-warming gift from my Aunt. It's one of those bed pillows with a built-in massager, a drink holder, and side pockets for reading materials/remotes etc. It's something we saw in Brookstone a few years ago for $150 that I really liked (but NOT for that price!) then this past Christmas we saw it again in Foley's for $29.95. It still isn't something I would have spent my money on, even though I really like the idea of it. I need to get some D batteries to make the massage function work. She's getting me something else too that she ordered from the internet, it might be here by Friday, whatever it is.

I really do appreciate her thoughtfulness and generosity. Sometimes though I get so frustrated because I am trying to simplify my life - have less "stuff" to figure out where to store. It's just crazy to me how much "stuff" I have, even though every time I move I purge a ton of things. Most of the "stuff" that accumulates between moves are things that are given to me - either as gifts, or as pass-on's (like from my parents, since they divorced I have "inherited" a king-size bed, a computer desk, dishes, etc. etc.) Again, I appreciate everything - but ... I was perfectly happy with my twin bed, my computer desk, the amount of dishes I already had, etc.

I hope I don't sound like an ingrate. It's just that the amount of stuff I have has a direct relation to my cost of living. What do I mean by that? Well for one thing, if I had to pay for my electricity, then every new electric appliance acquired would add to my bill. Another thing (far larger than the electricity) is the square footage required to adequetely arrange/store all the "stuff". Then of course all the "stuff" which requires maintenance, or requires me to purchase more items to make it work (case in point - my Tivo!).

If I were to start over completely from scratch, I think I would be in a studio apartment furnished with a daybed (both a couch and a bed), a computer desk, a tv, a dresser, one set of bookshelves, enough dishes for one week for one person, and one set of pots and pans, one set of silverware. Or .... I could just live in one of those fully furnished extended stay places and whenever I needed to move, I'd be able to fit everything into my car! (Of course I wouldn't be able to have my cat then, so that wouldn't be quite so perfect.)

Okay, enough rambling for today.

KIF,
Laura

Hi all,
It's been a little while since my last update. Today now marks one full month that I have been at my new job, and I am loving it more and more. Everyday I am given more responsibilities and tasks as they realize what I am capable of.

I moved into my new apartment on Sunday, March 5. It went pretty well, although it took longer than I had anticipated. All in all, the move cost me less than $200 - including the cost of the UHAUL truck, gas, some boxes I ended up having to buy (ran out of the free boxes, and couldn't wait to get more-time crunch), food food for the moving crew, and a few other miscleaneous things.

I absolutely love my new place! My things fit into it much better than I had thought they would - they're just arranged differently. But what I LOVE the most is the fact that I am able to walk to work in about 3 minutes time! I walk home for lunch as well (even though I only have a 30 minute lunch!)

I did have some problems though - my phone line wasn't working - no dial tone. I called SBC (local telephone co.) and they said my line was turned on and according to them working fine. Since I had elected not to pay the $5 month extortion.. er, I mean inside line insurance, if they sent someone out it would cost me a service call. I called my apartment management, and they told me they were responsible for one working phone jack.

Yesterday (yes, I was without a dial tone since I moved in - of course I have my cell, so not really that big of a deal) they finally sent a maintenance guy over and he managed to get two of my phone jacks working (the one for TIVO and the one in the kitchen, but not the one in the bedroom for DSL.) I'm thinking I'll just run a long phone cord from the kitchen to my computer for the DSL.

On Sunday when I went grocery shopping I bought something which triggered me getting TWO FREE movie tickets good for ANY theatre/ANY movie up to $12!! I wish I knew what it was that triggered it.

I'm going into withdrawls not being able to check my email everyday (can't check email at work due to virus fears) and not being able to check my bank accounts daily. Hopefully I'll have my DSL up and running again this weekend so I won't have to rely on the library or my mom's computer to access email/bank accounts.

KIF,
Laura

This past weekend I spent a good number of hours packing my place. I think I made pretty good progress. Dad is responsible for packing the kitchen/pantry by this weekend, then I'll be finishing up the rest. Sunday is the big move day. I can hardly wait! I'm a little bit worried about the amount of helpers I'm going to have - it may just be my dad, me, and the friend who recc'd me for this job. Oh well, it will at least get done.

Saturday night dad and I went out to eat at Denny's - we had a Boca Burger and an order of pancakes - which we split in half cuz' we both were in the mood for "breakfast" but also for the BB. Then we saw "Date Movie." That was a very corny, gross in some parts, yet very funny movie.

Sunday night I got to my mom's place and had it to myself for a little while. Once mom got there I asked her if she'd like for me to help her on her budget. She agreed. When I put the acutal numbers on the spreadsheet, she was a little depressed (I would be too if my rent and car payment equalled nearly 65%!!! of my take home pay!!) When I found out how much she was paying for her phone services, I asked her if she'd be willing to cut back any. She was more than willing. So I told her exactly what she needed to say to the phone company to get what she wanted - she called the phone company on Monday and cut over $100/mo from her bill! She also had a checking account she was paying fees for - I suggested (strongly) that she think about getting rid of that account -- which she also did! I also suggested that she put a certain amount every month in a "No Touch Fund" -- she set that up to be automatically done!! For her, the more simple the plan the better - so I divided the money left after the non-negotiable bills between groceries, giving, Blow (hair, clothes, nails, extra coke, etc), and the No Touch Fund. She wasn't too excited about the amount of "blow" money, but I pointed out to her that there wasn't really too much left after bills TO divide between the other categories. She seemed to accept that. Only time will tell how much this will help her. --- Oh, another thing. She's going on a cruise next week that a friend of her's paid for and is taking along a certian amount of money for spending. I suggested to her that she make a game out of seeing how little of that money she spends. Then when she gets back, put half of what's left in her blow fund, and the other half in her "one month ahead" fund. She was getting pretty sleepy by then, but I think she was ammenable to the idea.

I am just so proud of her for taking care of the phone and the bank! That right there will help her tremendously! Today she's supposed to call a couple places to give her new address and get W-2's from, as well as health-savings account claim forms. She told me that if I'll file her taxes, she'll come to my new place and help get things organized (we'd both do it for each other anyway - but, oh well.)

My new job is going well. I've been on my own now for two days. Get to have a LOT of time for surfing on the net - not an entirely bad thing, but I do hope I get some other things to do so I feel more useful.

KIF,
Laura

Tonight I had to go to the going away party for the person I am replacing. I really didn't mind, because I have really started to like her. It was at a bar, which is a place I don't frequent very often. Going in I was surprised to be asked for my i.d. - just not something I think about needing to have out when going into a place where there is a party. I had a Coke. When I was ready to go (after about an hour) I got the waitress's attention and asked her for my bill - she told me that soda is free! I only had $1 in my purse, so I left her it for a tip - she'd really kept my glass full.

When I got to my mom's place, mom was like "Let's go to Dillard's! They're having a 40% off of reduced price sale!" So, off we went to Dillard's. By the time I found enough clothes that I could try on that were close to my size, it was 20 minutes to closing. I was frantically trying things on, and didn't get to everything. I ended up buying 3 items - a black top, a beautiful white blouse, and a cute brown jacket. There was one pair of pants that might have fit me, but I was running out of time. The lady at the cash register very kindly stayed open to take our purchases.

After we had purchased our stuff, we went to the door we had gone in. The doors were shut down tight. There formed a group of about 20 people - all of them just standing there waiting for ??? I noticed a Dillard's employee closing his cash register nearby, so I went over and told him that there was a group of people needing to get out, what could he do? He made a phone call to let someone know, and about 5 minutes later a very grumpy lady came down and opened the door for us. I wonder how long everyone would have stood there if I hadn't gone over and asked for help??

Tomorrow I get my first paycheck from my new job. I can hardly wait to see if it is for 3 days or for 8 days!

Money spent since Wednesday:
Quizno's (supper) $7.98
Snack at work: $2.77
Tip at party: $1
Dillard's: $37.89

KIF,
Laura

Got a call during my lunch break today - I was approved for my apartment! Yahoo! One of the ladies who works here also lives in that same complex and says it is really nice - she's lived there for 12 years and hasn't had any problems.

So, March 3 I'll sign the lease and pay the balance of the $199, then actually move in on March 5.

I can hardly wait!!

Tonight I'm going to my coupon club meeting. I haven't been to one since May and have really missed the ladies, not to mention the free coupons!

Well, better go - got work that needs doing.

KIF,
Laura

We had quite the wintery weekend here in the DFW area. Thankfully today is a little bit warmer than it was yesterday.

I went to my apartment this weekend to pack up more clothes for work, etc., and to start packing other stuff. Dad hadn't gotten any boxes, so Saturday night we spent a couple hours scrounging up boxes from various grocery stores.

This afternoon I looked at my first apartment complex on my list - and decided to go ahead and fill out an application. I explained to the person my situation re:rental history/dad and she told me that she thinks the manager would be willing to work with me on it.

The apartment is 1 BR, 770 sq ft, has a small kitchen pantry, a dining area with hardwood floors, the bedroom has a wall closet AND a walk-in closet, it's on the second floor (ugh!) but has an enclosed patio (for my cat to get his "outside" time). I will have to go back to doing laundry once a week at either a laundrymat or at the apartments facility. For an extra $35/month electricity, water, trash is included!
It is less than two blocks from where I'm working - a sidewalk goes along the whole two block area -- so, I could walk to work if I wanted to. I think I'll be able to fit everything in there - if not, I'll figure out what I can get rid of!!

So, I should know by Wednesday whether or not I am approved or not. My move out date from my current place is March 5 - my move in date would be March 3. First months rent + deposit is $199!!

I can see this place saving me alot of money - gas, wear and tear on my car, (car insurance is going to go up alot though - though pretty much anywhere in this area it would), electricity, water bill, etc.

I just can't tell you how anxious I am about getting into a place that is completely my OWN again!!!

Money spent this weekend:
Movie tickets (2) (Walk the Line) 13.55
Gas: (2.02/gallon) 12.20 (half tank)
Clothing: (skirt/sweater Old Navy sale) 23.80

KIF,
Laura

Yesterday I spent a couple hours on Career Builder going through a ton of job advertisements. I sent my resume and a cover letter to about 5 places which looked like possibilities.

I actually got a response from one of them! I will have an interview with them on Wednesday morning at 10. So, so far that is 3 interviews lined up for this week. Not to mention all the other resumes I have out there that could possibly turn into an interview.

I'm feeling much more optimistic.

I did something yesterday evening that was probably pretty foolish - probably a waste of money. But, I did it, and I guess all I can do is see if it actually pans out or not. Basically one of the advertisements on CareerBuilder was for this site that gives you a website advertising the free install of a product, and then you submit your website once a week to over 100 search engines. If anyone signs up for the free install of the product, you get $50. It cost $29, and there is supposedly a 60-day moneyback guarantee. Only time will tell I guess.

Spending Sunday:
$29 - website/search engine submission

Spending Monday:
$10 - maybe ... chip in for flowers for a Pathways classmate who's relationship ended recently

KIF,
Laura

Well today I ended up getting a free lunch! My friend Tammy's family, my mom, two Pathway friends, and me all ate at a Thai restraunt. It was getting towards the end of the meal and I saw the waiter heading towards us with the bill. I tried to get his attention, but he ignored me and gave it to Nick (Tammy's husband)y paid the entire bill! What a sneaky little turkey!! I really was dissapointed because I had wanted to treat them for once - they'd treated me so many times before.

I guess I could use the money I set aside for the meal for a low-end mp3 player.

It was so great to spend time with Tammy's family - the kids were a little shy at first, but then they remembered how much fun "Lorla" can be.

Mom and I got a bit annoyed w/each other today. Def. don"t think she/I would get along very well long term in the same living space.

The concert last night was AWESOME!! I;m thinking of downloading 4 or 5 songs from Casting Crowns I heard last night. Of course, downloaded songs don't do me very much good w/a dead mp3 player.

Spending:
Saturday:
Supper - $8.00
Groceries - $7.49 (Newspaper, bread, junk)
Gas - $17.40 (2.06/ga - not an empty tank)

I got up to my mom's yesterday afternoon. Not too long after I arrived, I got a call from my friend Tammy's husband. He told me that a receptionist position had JUST opened up at his company and he had reccomended me for it! He told me to get my resume in as fast as possible.

I had it faxed over to the company w/a cover letter by the next hour!

This morning I was about to get in the shower (after sleeping in) when I got a phone call. It was from the VP of the company - the person I had faxed my resume to. We set an interview up for Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.!!!! Yahoo!!

This afternoon I am going over to my mom's office building to pass my resume around to a few contacts that she has made over there. Maybe something will come from one of them too.

In other news - I checked my bank account a little bit ago, and my tax refund has come in!! Yahoo! I'm going to put most of it away for possible moving expenses or just plain ol' living expenses. But .. I plan on using ~$50 - 60 tomorrow taking out my mom, a Pathway's friend, and Tammy's family to lunch. I feel that that will be a good use for the money.

Spending Log:
Thursday - 2/9
Walgreen's - $20.29 - Hair stuff (one item I'll get a rebate on, making it free.)
$25 - paid for a prescription for mom

Friday - no spending planned
Planned spending:
Saturday - ~$50 - 60 - lunch
~$10 -- Supper

Got another call today, half past 8 asking if I'd fill in for a receptionist at a Printing company. I quickly agreed to do it. Between yesterday and today, I now have my gas paid for in March. So, I have rent and gas covered - just that much less to have to take out of savings.

Called my mom to let her know that I won't be coming until tomorrow. She's anxiously waiting to see my new do, but she understood why.

Dad took some pics of my new do with his camera. I tried emailing them to a number of people, but the files wouldn't atatch, so I made a new page on my website, and uploaded them.

I got a phone call just shortly after 8 this morning from Jan asking if I could do a temp assignment in the same bank I had been at two other days. I of course jumped at the opportunity. I managed to arrive there by 9:35 a.m., which I thought was pretty darn good since I managed to eat some breakfast, dress professionally (although I could not find any hose!) and drive 40 miles!

Since I was not expecting to work today, I didn't have anything ready for lunch, so I did end up eating at Schlotsky's. Not exactly a hardship for me.

After work of course was my hair appointment. I arrived with enough time to fill up on gas, and stop by Taco Bell for supper.

Amazingly when I went in the hair salon lobby, there on a chair was a magazine with a picture of Jennifer Anniston's exact hairstyle I was wanting! When I got in the chair and took out my hair clip, I had a number of people ask me if I was *really* sure about cutting it off.

Amanda (the hairsytlist) put my hair in a ponytail (a requirement for Locks of Love) and cut it off. That was the *weirdest* feeling. What was even weirder though was to have my ponytail in my hand!!

All in all I am happy with my new do, though I think it's going to take a while for me to get used to it. It turned out a bit shorter than I was expecting, but still goes slightly below my shoulders. It also doesn't quite look exactly like JAs style, but I think I do like it.

Now I have to find out where to send my ponytail to. I thought Amanda already had that info, but she told me I would have to send it to them myself. Hope they'll take it!

Spending Log:
Lunch: $4.75
Supper: $1.83
Gas: $20.22 (2.08/gallon)
Haircut (cut, style, highlights, tip) $100 (paid for by my grandma and my dad)

Keeping It Frugal,
Laura

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 started my morning at work with doing the same task I had spent the previous 18 hours doing - taking apart PODS, filling out expense reports for each POD and bubbling in the little ovals. A little before lunch my supervisor *finally* came to me with the extremely welcome news that after lunch I was to go back into the payroll office and do stuff in there! So after 22 hours of PODS, I got to go back into payroll!

While I was doing my thing in payroll, I got several calls relating to the Bus Survey job. The surveyor who had done the assignments this past week/weekend called to let me know she had done all of them and that her Palms were in the office charging. Yay! Then I got a call from Marcelo (the guy from the survey company) and he told me that they had found another assignment that had some trips missing! So I called the employment agency and told them what Marcelo had told me, and that I was going to ask C to do the assignment. I also found out that R's bag still had not been returned!

While I was making and recieving these phone calls, I was getting a lot of ribbing from my supervisor and office mates. I spoke to my supervisor before leaving and let her know, all joking aside, that I would not normally be taking phone calls during work hours, but this was a bit of a special situation. She told me she really didn't mind as long as it wasn't taking up too much of my working time.

After I got off at the trucking company, I headed over to the bus station. It took me about an hour and a half to do everything I needed to do. I'll be going back again on Thursday evening to download the *LAST* assignment (please, please, please - let it be the LAST one!) so that will probably be another hour or so.

The library is open late on Mondays and Thursdays. I needed to renew two books (way overdue) plus I wanted to get some more books. So, I stopped by the library. I found a James Patterson book I hadn't read before "Beachhouse" and I also found the new Jan Karon book (can't remember the name right now.)

Oh, I wore my hair down today (something I don't do very often because my hair doesn't hold a style very well, and it tangles WAY too easily.) I had so many comments - it was so funny! One lady told me that she only dreams of having her hair that long (about two inches above my tailbone.) She sounded dissapointed when I told her I was planning on cutting it to shoulder length. Anyway, I thought it was kind of funny how many people noticed my hair today - especially since I made the decision to cut it!

Okay. I want to go watch Crossing Jordan before going to bed tonight, so I probably ought to get going. Tomorrow night I will probably watch 7th Heaven and Flight 93 which I Tivo'd tonight. I love my Tivo.

Spending Log:
Bus Station - $.60 - candy bar
Library- $3.60 -- Fines
Taco Bell - $1.97 -- supper (and lunch tomorrow)

Keeping It Frugal,

Laura

Woo Hoo! I received my W-2 from the employment agency on Wednesday, and today I received my W-2 from my teaching job. I went through irs.gov , then "free file" then through "Turbo Tax."

I'm not getting back quite as much as I had thought I would, but it still will be a nice shot in the arm.

I found a website where you can enter in your payrate and find out how much in taxes will be taken out depending on how many exemptions you use, etc. I did a lot of calculating, and I think I could take up to 3 exemptions (based on what it looks like I'll be earning for the next five months) and still have some money coming back to me.

I'm going to have to see about changing my W-4 soon so I can have more money in my weekly paychecks.

I talked to my supervisor at the trucking company on Friday afternoon about what I could expect as far as work hours in the coming weeks. She told me that I could count on at least 30 hrs a week, but more than likely closer to 40 hours a week due to a project the billing department is doing. That was very good news to me!

I also asked her if I could take off an afternoon next week to go apartment hunting, and she said "no problem!" I'm going to be taking off Wednesday afternoon.

A few weeks ago I mentioned to my dad that I was wanting to do something to my hair, maybe get a new cut/style. Well, he mentioned it to my grandma and to my mom, and between the three of them, I have enough money to get it cut/styled and highlighted, plus a nice little tip!! I made an appointment today for Feb 7 after work. The lady told me that my hair would be a good canidate for "Locks of Love" if I am willing to cut off 10 inches. I'm thinking about it - I still would have nearly shoulder blade length hair even with cutting off 10 inches.

Spending Log:

Walmart - $14.79 -- $2.13/gallon
Walgreens - groceries $1.39

Spent today relaxing and rejuvinting from the last three days. Also caught up on a bunch of shows I had recorded on my Tivo.

Dad and I worked together preparing some things for me to say in my interview tomorrow. Then I looked the company up on the internet to see if I could find anything to mention. Two things stood out for me. One was that it is a relatively young company, founded in 1999. Two is that one of it's products is allergy medicine. Maybe I'll be able to get a company discount on their allergy medicine.

I need to give myself a manicure tonight before I go to bed. My fingernails wouldn't make a very good first impression right now! Oh my word! I just thought about something - I'm not sure if I have any pantyhose without runners! Ahh!!! Will have to check on that one!

Spending Log: None

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Well today I wasted ~$5 worth of gas for one hours pay. I got to the bus station and was waiting for the person I was supposed to train, then found out that they hadn't been able to reach him to confirm the time, so they'd try to get him the next day. Ugh! 45 minute drive there, approximately one hour at the bus station, then a 45 minute drive back. Not exactly my idea of fun.

Got my bloodwork results back today. As I expected, my TSH levels were high - indicating hypothyroidism. However, I wasn't expecting how high my bad cholesterol would be, or a couple other things. So, my initial plan of having my doctor uncle write me a script for synthroid is out the door. I'm going to have to do a face to face with a doctor to try to figure out what is going on. Ugh!

At least the somewhat good news is that I'm getting more hours than I had planned on this week, which is good.

Dad was in one of his moods tonight. I wonder if he thinks that all of his negativity towards other people is helping him or hurting him?

About 10 months ago I signed up for an extended warranty plan. I paid a downpayment, and then agreed to 12 payments. The payments have been going out like clockwork since then - always on the 3rd or the 5th. Until this month. I called them on Monday to find out if maybe I had misunderstood how many payments - maybe I was finished?? They told me no, that I still have two payments left (until March.) It still hasn't gone out. I have it in a seperate checking account. I guess I'll just leave that money in there, and if it's still there at the end of the month, I'll add another payments worth in case they all of a sudden do a double debit.

Spending Log:
None

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

This morning I went to a lab and had blood drawn. On the net, it said the price was $105. The lab technician/receptionist showed me on the paperwork it was $115. But then she directed me to a coupon which made it $95. I'd brought along a book prepared for a lot of waiting time, but I was in and out within 15 minutes!

Dad and I went to Kroger's. We bought shelf price $108.xx worth of groceries, but only paid $68.xx after store coupons an manufacturer coupons.

After Kroger's I went to Walmart and filled up my car. Gas was $2.21/gallon, but with my card it was only $2.18. Ugh -- "Only".

I got an email from a Pathways classmate confirming that he and anotehr classmate will be coming for the Lifesong concert (Casting Crowns and Nichole Nordemon.) So, I went ahead and purchased 3 tickets. $15 per ticket, plus a %6.75 convenience fee, plus about $6 in taxes and other fees!! Yikes!

I talked to Jan at the Employment agency this afternoon. She told me that there is a possibility of a temporary job which could become a permenant job. It is as an HR assistant with a Pharmacutical company. The person who does it now is going on maternity leave. She is going to set up an interview for me with them. Whether or not I am made a long term employee, it will at least give me antother 6 -8 weeks of pay. Jan also told me that when it comes time to renew my lease, or get a new one, that all I need to do is to put them down as my employer and they will verify that I have been employed by them since September. That was a bit of a relief.

Spending Log:
$95 -- Labwork
~$78.xx 3 tickets + fees
$20.52 -- Gas

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Not much to say today really. I talked to Jan again today about job prospects. She said that they'd been looking for something for me, but keep running into roadblocks. I wonder what they are.

Didnt' spend any money today. Just went to work and came back home.

Got my water bill. $52.37 - that's down a $1. So .... my water bill keeps going down, but my electric bill jumped almost $15. How does that make sense?

Oy Vey! Very tired. Am going to head off to bed.

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Today was day one of five days to finish out the Survey project. My main goal today was to make sure we would be able to have all of the 11 assignments that were left, completed between this weekend and next weekend. I was starting to get worried, but about 3 pm I got a call telling me that the last person we'd been waiting to hear from had called, and would be able to do both weekends! Woo Hoo!! I believe that the people we have doing the assignments ARE reliable and have good work ethics, so I have faith that we will actually get this finished! FINALLY!!

I think I mentioned before that I'd started back with Weight Watchers. Well, today was the weekly breakfast out with my dad and his good friend. I normally get a 3-egg omlette w/mushrooms and cheese, two pieces of wheat toast, and grilled potatoes. And, I normally eat it all, which fills me up most of the day. Well, that meal comes out to about 24 pts, and I only have 30 points for the entire day. So I decided to cut the cheese and only get one piece of toast (dry). Then I asked for a to go box, and proceded to halve all my food. I ate my to go food for lunch. So, in that way, I cut out something like 9 points, and I had a ready made lunch for free.

We had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for supper tonight. I felt slightly silly having such a hot type meal when it was in the low 80's today. But if we want to eat wintertime foods, we're just going to have to plain eat them, cause if we wait for it to get cold - who knows the next time we'd get a chance to eat them!!

I finally finished reading Scott Turrow's "Ordinary Hero's." At first I thought I wasn't going to like it. But I didn't have anything else to do, so I kept plodding away at it. By the last 3/4 of the book, I wasn't able to put it down. It definitely is very different from his usual books, but in the end, it was very worthwhile reading.

Spending Log:
Library Fines: $1.50

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

I guess it's really a good thing I haven't had any work the last week and so far this week since I haven't been feeling great. If I have to be sick/not feeling great, may as well be during time when I'm not having any assignments.

I washed my car this afternoon. It needed it badly. Dad and I shopped at Kroger's and got a few good deals.

Did 20 minutes on my gazzelle and 20 minutes Pilates. I was actually pretty surprised at how well I was able to do the various Pilates exercises. I guess I am really getting stronger in my core muscles.

I haven't eaten all my WW points for today yet. I still have 4 Target points, plus the 4 AP points, so I could have quite the midnight snack if I wanted to. Probably will just have a Sunburst Granola bar (4 pts) and a cup of grapes (1 pt) MMM MMM!

Tonight I called Tivo for the 3rd or 4th time about getting my service activated. It *finally* worked!!! I'm downloading Tivo Desktop right now.

Spending Log:
Car Wash: $1.75

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

When I went out tonight there was a lot of haze in the air. I guess it's from all the wildfire's in the area.

Didn't really do much today except play on the computer, and watched some tv.

I did go to Walmart and picked up a double newspaper for the coupons and the job listings. There is one coupon for deoderent I'll be using tomorrow, and there were a few other good ones that I'll use later. There were one or two possibilities in the job listings which I'll call about tomorrow.

I also stopped at Walgreens and picked up some Walatrin - sinus and allergy tablets, and a bottle of Rest Easy Nighttime cough and congestion cold medicine. When I was getting teh Walatrin, I noticed that of the four boxes, three of them had one end opened. I bought the one that wasn't opened, but took the other three to the cashier in pharmacy. Would hate to think that someone tampered with any of them.

Spending Log:
Walmart: $1.50
Walgreens: $7.48

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Dad and I dropped off my Aunt Ni and Grandma at their hotel by the airport on Thursday night, so they could catch their plane back to CA on Friday morning (via shuttle.) Before leaving, my Aunt Ni gave me two $10 Foley Gift cards. There isn't a Foley's in CA, so she wouldn't have been able to use them. Both cards expired on January 1, so they had to be used quickly, or the value lost. She was very excited to hear what kind of deals I got with them, leaving me little choice but to actually use them.

So, yesterday (Friday) Dad and I carpooled to Fort Worth (the closest Foley's.) We stopped first at a place to get his electric shaver fixed. Then at a place to replace his shaver's battery. Then we went to Sam's club - presumably *just* for water - of course ended up with a bunch more things, but still got out of there for under $50. Finally, we made it to Foley's. First, I thought I would see if I could get a replacement chain for a necklace (the chain had broken three times and been repaired twice) but there was only one sales lady presiding over three counter sections, so after waiting 10 minutes, we moved on. I thought I might get 3 or 4 pairs of new undies, so we started looking for the lingere section. My dad, gotta love him, notices this lady pulling some kind of low level cart and walks up to her and booms "Say! Do you work here?!!" She looks slightly frightened, but doesn't run away. Then he booms again, "We're looking for the ladies lingere department!" She tells us it's upstairs. NOW, you'll need to picture this - in close proximity to where all this is taking place, are two *very* cute guys, along with a handful of other ladies. I had to just keep reminding myself that there was very little chance of my ever seeing any of those people again. Sometimes I really wish he didn't have to make a production everywhere he goes.
Anyway, back to my story. We head on up stairs. I get distracted by the pots and pans section. He decides to go use the restroom. While he's gone I ask a cashier if the two cards can be used towards one purchase - she thankfully says that they can! (You see, I was having visions in my head of dad making yet another scene complaining about how unhelpful it was to have to make two separate purchases -- or actually going through with his idea of making said two separate purchases, returning them for store credit, then buying something else!!) I found a number of items which I was interested in, but nothing that really grabbed me. So, when he came back from the restroom, I decided to go ahead and head towards the ladies undies section.
On the way there, we happened to be near the bath section. It dawned on me that just the other day, I had been thinking about how nice it would be to have a towel that completely, and totally surrounded my whole large body. So, we started looking at the towels. The largest ones I could find were the 32 by 50 ones, which weren't quite long enough. So, I asked one of the cashiers. She pointed us to some towels we hadn't seen yet - which fit the bill just perfectly. One towel was $16 -- the other towel was $39.95. I was going to go for the first towel, but dad had come up the cash register just as the lady told me the price (because of course the price weren't easily visible) and tells me to go ahead and take the $40 towel, that he'll make up the difference. I hadn't even had a chance to test out the $16 towel, so I didn't know how much difference there really was between them. But, I knew he was getting hungry (read: tired of shopping and crabby) and if he was willing to pay the extra $20, then I guess I'd just let him! So, I now have a $40 Lennox brand towel - it's HUGE , it's SOOO soft. It also gave me a good story to tell my Aunt Ni. I would have never even considered a towel that expensive if it hadn't been for the $20 in gift cards I had -- shoot, I wouldn't even have been out shopping AGAIN if my Aunt hadn't given me those cards.

I am SO tired of shopping after this past week! It felt like that was all we did the whole entire week! My brand of shopping is normally Walmart, Goodwill, and maybe JC Penny's. My Aunt's brand of shopping is Dillards, Nordtstorm's and Foley's. I might go shopping (for clothes) once or twice every couple of months, sometimes longer. She was extremely happy to shop for 4 - 6 hours four days in a row! I will say though, that I made out like a bandit this week. Between her and my grandma, they bought me One Professional quality suit, one pair dress pants, two Professional quality tops, a sleeveless vest (professional quality), a professional style jacket, a pair of sweatpants and a matching top, plus an artificial plant arrangement (that my cat can't chew up.). All in all, they probably spent close to $350 on me. I desperately needed some professional level clothing that fit, and wasn't sure how I was going to come up with any. So I very much appreciate all that they did. It just felt really funny having them buy all those clothes for me - a 30 year old adult - especially when I didn't get them anything (because I couldn't afford anything that they would actually like - Ni didn't even flinch at clothing with $60 price tags - even bought a sweater set for over $200 without breaking a sweat!)

Anyway, even though I didn't exactly spend this past week the way *I* would have enjoyed spending it, I am in the end glad that they came - and that they are now gone.

Job offers - I called the employment agency to check and see if anything had come up. There were two possibilities, both of them with banks. One was a 40 hr/$9/hr job requiring nearly perfect credit (not for me unfortunately) -- the second one was a 30 hr/$10/hr job with no credit requirement - unfortunately though, it would have required me to work past sunset on Fridays, so I couldn't take that either.

In case you're wondering. I am a Seventh-day Adventist - one of our core beliefs is the Sabbath - starting Friday sunset and ending Saturday sunset. Although I have not gone to church more than 10 times in the past year, and haven't really kept the Sabbath in that same time period, my last hold out I guess you could say, is not working during Sabbath hours. I feel a lot of bitterness towards the leadership in my church - mainly for how they have treated my parents - both long time church workers (former workers actually). I also feel very disillusioned by how so many people have abandoned my dad, even though what he did was very very stupid. Church is supposed to be a place for sinners. God doesn't rank sins from least to greatest - sin is sin is sin(except of course for the unpardonable sin -but that's not really a visible/public sin!!) !! Also by all these people abandoning my dad, they have in essence also abandoned my whole family.

This whole thing with the church is one of the things that makes my looking for someone to share my life with that much harder. I need to figure out if I'm going to stay a Seventh-day Adventist or not. If I am, then I need to look for a fellow SDA man. Of course, my bitterness and disillusionment and lack of church attendance in the past year, will probably make it difficult to say the least. My other option would be to find someone from another faith. But the problem with that is that I have looked at other churches/faiths and I just haven't found any that I feel I could embrace as my own. I've really tried looking at the Sabbath/Sunday issue and just haven't found any arguments for Sunday that are convincing enough for me to change - and believe me, I tried!

Sorry guys for this long winded diatribe. Everything that's happened the past couple years just seems to reach out and kick me once in awhile.

I was supposed to be going to a New Year's Eve party tonight. But the person who invited me (who is the sister of my exbf Todd's exwife) sent an evite. As of yesterday, only 5 people had said they were coming (besides her own family). One of them was Todd's exwife (and their two girls). If I had met his exwife before, I might feel differently. If there was going to be a crowd of 20 or more people to blend in with, I might feel differently. But, with the party mainly consisting of her family members - I do not feel comfortable at all going. So, tonight I'm going to watch movies, and when the ball drops at midnight I'm going to open my bottle of Sparkling Cider that I picked up at Walmart yesterday, and toast the New Year. Just me and my cat.

Spending Log this whole past week:
Walmart: $12 - junkfood, sparkling cider, etc
Gas: $9 ($2.06/ga -- filled up just before it went up in price)
Weight Watchers online: $65 (3 month subscription - wanted to put it on this years budget, otherwise would have waited till Sunday.) I've lost weight on the points plan before, so am going to get back on plan with my exercise and start on my eating habits as well.

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Ok, maybe I'm being judmental, maybe I just don't know the why's or therefore's of it, but I do know that I just don't understand! What do I not understand? I don't understand how people can get a cute as can be new puppy or kitten for Christmas, and then LEAVE IT OUTSIDE!!!

When I got home tonight from another day of shopping with Grandma and Aunt Ni, I found the cutest little kitten and puppy (maybe a schnauser?) out on the grass in front of the parking lot for the duplexes. As I was walking to my car, the puppy ran up to me and started sniffing at my feet and jumping up at me, just begging for attention. I of course bent down and gave him some attention, then headed to my duplex. The puppy followed me and almost went inside! It just about broke my heart to have to push him outside.

Then about an hour later while I was in my living room watching TV, I hear this awful whining. I open the door, and see the little puppy sitting outside the backdoor of a neighbor's duplex (with a light in the window) whining his little heart out. It took everything in me to not go over there and pick the poor little guy up.

Why oh why would a family get a little puppy - which I *think* is a two or three month old minature schnauser! - just to leave it outside???? Mini dogs are NOT made to be OUTSIDE dogs!!!! Of course, in my thinking, very few dogs (if ANY) are made to be left outside 100% of the time.

How is the family going to bond with the puppy if it's left outside alot, or even most of the time? A guy I dated had a dog given to him by his ex-MIL (before she was his ex-MIL) and he kept her outside ALL the time. He told me that she was pretty much uncontrollable and didn't have much of a relationship with him or his girls - that they would a lot of times forget that she was outside, other than to feed and water her!!! What kind of an existance is that for a dog???

Someday when I own a home of my own, I am going to have a dog, maybe two. It or they will be inside dogs!! I strongly feel that an animal that you purchase or adopt or however it comes into your life, is a part of your family. Would you leave a family member outside for LONG periods of time without paying attention to them other than food and water? I hardly think so!!

Now, I'm sure there are people who love and take care of their pets extremely well, even though they may keep them as outside animals. They make a point of playing with and spending time with their animals. I also realize that there is a big difference between inside/outside animals in the city/subburbs and country/barn cats - though I STILL would have a hard time letting my cat be an outside cat in the country - I feel there's as many dangers in the country as in the city - but that's just me.

I hope I haven't offended anyone, but this is just my personal opinon, and I felt compelled to share it tonight because of the horrible, heart breaking whining (that I'm STILL) hearing of the lonely little puppy.

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Oh yeah - this is my 200th post.

I spent Christmas Eve/Day with my mom. It was very nice and relaxing. We had our Christmas dinner (cottage cheese roast, baked potatoes, stuffing, green cabbage) then exchanged gifts. It was kind of strange only having one gift for each other - WAY different from previous Christmas's, but it was good. We watched "Hitch" and "The Locket." Both very feel good, weepy movies.

Sunday night I picked up my Grandma and Aunt from the airport, then took them to their hotel. Then Monday dad, me, grandma and aunt ni all went shopping. It was a long day. Shopping with two people who have money to actually buy things they want isn't all that much fun - especially when they can go for hours and hours. I really can't complain too much though, becuase they ended up buying me a couple of really nice professional pieces (which I sorely needed.) I could never have afforded 4 pieces of clothing for ~$200, but those 4 items will definitely be helpful once I find a full-time job where I need to dress up more.

My wireless adapter finally arrived! I picked it up this morning from the Post Office (it came Saturday, but I guess I didn't hear them knock - no doorbell.) So, I've now got my Tivo all set up!!! Unfortunately my gift subscription code is STILL not valid, so I can't use the online functions yet. After about an hour of being on hold and talking to two different customer service reps, I was told that they extended my temporary service till Jan 2 while they research what the problem is with my gift code. I hope they get it figured out quickly, becuase I would much more prefer to schedule my recordings from my computer than to have to do all that scrolling! But still, I'm just SO happy to finally have gotten through the Guided Setup!!!
I've already set up a couple Season Passes (Grace Under Fire, Sex and the City) but have to wait for more info to be downloaded to set up more of them (only have till the 29th so far.)

We're going to go into Dallas today and do more shopping. Probably hit the Dillard's outlets, and then maybe eat at the Rainforest Cafe - an awesome place - if you're ever in Grapevine, TX you can't miss it!

Oh! I got my Aunt all set up on mypoints.com last night. She buys alot of stuff from overstock.com and a couple other places you can earn points from with mypoints.com. Who knows if she'll actually remember to go through them when shopping, but if she does, she'll have no trouble earning lots of points for rewards. She likes to shop.

Well, I better get going. Almost time for us to leave for another day of shopping. Boy oh boy do I ever hope I get called for a temp job tomorrow! Not that I don't enjoy being with my grandma and aunt, just that there's only so much shopping that I can stand!

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Didn't really do much at all today at work, other than surf the internet and email the time report. The surveyor who was going to do the last weekday assignment yesterday hadn't left his stuff in the office. After a few phone calls found out he hadn't done it. Arranged for him to pick up a Palm and a battery and get it done TODAY, since doing it tomorrow would not have worked. Tomorrow I'm going to get the office space all cleaned up and store all the batteries and the Palms, clear the temp folders and caches on the computer , and generally batten down the hatches until whomever finishes the project in January comes to take over.

When I stopped at the library today to pick up my "Mary Mary" book (quite good so far) I stopped at the first place I always go in the library - the new release shelf. Guess what I found??? A new Scott Turio book!!!!! Woo Hoo!!! Two legal thrillers in one night - unfortunately both of them are 7-day checkouts, so I have to have them turned back in by next Tuesday - which really shouldn't be a problem.

I checked my checking account today and found out that all the transfers, etc resulting from the TIVO escapades on Saturday have evened out. Now all I have to wait for is my package from the Ebay seller.

Dad was very tired and cold tonight. He and Charles had been working outside in the rain all afternoon cutting up tree stumps and hauling them somewhere. We had broccoli soup and leftover biscuits (from supper last night) for supper.

Oh, almost forgot. Dad was complaining this morning about how cold I'm keeping the house. I'm sitting at the breakfast table in shorts and bare feet and am perfectly comfortable. I like to keep the thermostat at 60 - but even when it's 35 or 40 outside, inside it still reads right around 64 - 67. He'd like it more like at 68 - 70. As we were discussing it, he made the comment "When you have kids I'm going to insist on you keeping them warm." Um, hello! Would that be your business??? NO!! Someday if I ever have the good fortune of having some little ones of my own, I'm going to make sure they are comfortable and safe. Does that neccessarily mean that I'm going to have the thermostat at 70 in the winter? Nope, not neccessarialy - unless I have a well to do husband! He just doesn't like to wear layers inside. How hard is it to wear a sweatshirt with a shirt under it? To put on two pairs of socks? To put a blanket over your legs when your'e sitting still?

I made a decision tonight. Come February, when this lease is up, no matter what the situation is with my dad, I'm going to move to a place that is most convenient for ME without taking him into consideration. He'll still be welcome to eat his meals here, etc, but it just might mean a little extra driving time for him. If I'm truly going to get my life back on track, it's going to mean me making some selfish choices - choices that are in the best interest for me.

I talked to my mom tonight. She visited one of her internet people this past weekend. What a jerk!!! About 8 years ago my mom had her stomach stapled and lost over 100 lbs - which left a lot of saggy skin. Well, this guy apparantally did a peeking Tom type thing and observed her changing for a party they were going to. He then had the gall to tell her that her baggy skin disgusted him - and the fact that she had at one time weighed alot disgusted him!!!!!!!! I'll say it again - WHAT A JERK!!

No spending today.

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

Day starts off with a surveyor calling me at 6:40 a.m.!!!! and telling me that her car had stalled out on her and she had missed her bus. THEN I just get back into bed and I get a call from another surveyor telling me that the RC program on her Palm was gone. (This was the surveyor who let her Palm die last week, losing all her info!) I had distinctly told her to get her Palm on a charger ASAP *AND* to check it Wednesday morning to make sure the RC program was still on it, so I could do somthing about it easily. Of course, she doesn't check it till this morning I guess. So I walk her through all the numerous things to do over the phone - with a clause that she forgets everything I just told her! Arghh!!

The majority of my day was spent working on Tivo. Either trying one of the FOUR different wireless adapters I purchased and returned today, or researching for other adapters that might work, or researching where I could buy one of the blasted adapters that actually work! Also spent about four hours total on hold with TIVO sales and TIVO customer service regarding my Gift Subscription. Turns out that they have sent so many of those out recently (with Christmas) that they have gotten behind on validating codes. HUH???

I ended up buying a Netgear WG111 adapter from Ebay for $34.95 (including shipping). Then I found a paypal code on fatwallet.com which took off $2.50 (10%). Hopefully it will be here by Thursday at the latest, AND hopefully it will work!!!

I hate to say it, but so far I have NOT been too impressed with TIVO. The machine itself will be awesome, but all this hassle to get it working in the first place (not to mention the extra $100 + to get it set up!) almost makes me wish I had never expressed a desire for one. Almost.

I have a 7 am bus ride in the morning that I have to leave by no later than 6am for, so I probably ought to head off and try to get some sleep.

Spending Log:
Staples: 4 different adapters varying from $45 - $69 -- all returned and refunded
Ebay: $34.95 -- Wirelss adapter that SHOULD work - includes shipping
Taco Bell: $2.91 -- they got my order right this time!!! (of course I double and triple checked like a maniac)

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura

I had a very relaxing morning - sleeping in, reading, computer time.

I decided not to do a movie because there wasn't anything I wanted to see badly enough to spend the $5 on. I had decided to head on up towards Fort Worth around 3:30, but stop in Burleson and do some browsing in the stores. But then my mom called me and asked me if I would stop by her friends office (wife of a dentist) to pick up something for her at 5pm. I told her I had been planning on leaving much earlier than that - finally, 4 pm was agreed to. On the way up there I missed the Burleson exit, so just went ahead to the restruant, and arrived about 40 minutes early.

While I was waiting, I got a call from my grandma. I thanked her for the birthday card and the gift inside then she proceded to slip up and tell me what was inside the box the UPS delivered the other day. When my dad arrived we both went inside and got a table. It was getting close to the time mom was supposed to be there so we called her. She had gotten lost, and then stuck in traffic. We went ahead and ordered our food (and her food). She arrived as I was taking my last bite of my entree (stuffed mushrooms - listed as an appetizer - mmmmm mmmm!) Shortly after, came the humoungus piece of chocolate cake with a birthday candle, and of course the happy birthday operatic singing waiter.

THEN I got to open the box!! It is a TIVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only a TIVO - but also a ONE-YEAR gift subscription for the monthly service!!!!! It wasn't just from my brother - my grandma, my dads sister and brother, Ryan, mom and dad all went in together for it -- it also is a combo Birthday/Christmas gift. The coolest, most awesomest thing about it though was the fact that it was my brother who came up with the idea, and then presented it to all the other people and got them excited about it. I've said it before, but I'll say it again - I've got the BEST brother!!! (I got to talk to Ryan for about 20 minutes tonight. )

My parents also got me 10lb and 15lb dumbbells. And my mom gave me a Dr Phill book about Love and Relationships (can't remember its title right now.)

Dad had to leave for a committment, but mom and I stayed and talked for another hour and a half or more. Big surprise (NOT ) she's got a guy in Oklahoma offering to get her a job and a place to live. I really don't know how she does it.

Oh, I did do some work related things today. Wesley, the guy from the survey company who came to help out last weekend, is coming again this weekend with a couple friends. So we shot a few emails back and forth to set the details in place. I also had to call Linda at the Bus Garage to get day passes for the friends - I hadn't even thought about them needing that yesterday when I was there. I also got a call from the employment agency asking if I'd be available next Friday to work -- of course, I said YES!!! So that will help my January budget out a bit.

Spending Log:
Gas station: $2.38 (2 sodas)
Walmart Gas: $19.68 ($2.04/ga) UGH!! 10 cents more than what I paid two fill ups ago!
Walmart: Chocolate $4.93

In the morning I'm going to work on setting up my Tivo!!! Wahoo!!!

Keeping It Frugal in Texas, (the 30 year old)

Laura

What I did today:
1. Read the book "Forgiven" - second book in the Firstborn series by Karen Kingsbury. Am anticpating seriousl withdrawals -- the third book doesn't come out till Summer 2006!!!

2. Did laundry (just the colors.)

3. Bought a double newspaper and cut out the necessary coupons.

4. Stopped at Taco Bell. UGHH!! How hard is it to understand when someone orders a 7 - layer burrito with NO guacomole and NO tomatoes????? Unfortunately, I didn't realize this till I got home and sat down to eat nearly 30 minutes later. It's not like this is the first time I've ever ordered that SAME exact thing from that EXACT Taco Bell!!! UGHH!!

5. Watched Survivor - the whole three hours of it (finale shows + reunion.) Yay!!! Danni!!!!!!

6. Paid for my coupons that I had ordered.

7. Loafed on the computer.

That about sums it up.

Spending Log:
Coupons: $2.87 -- taylortowncoupons.com
Dbl Newspaper: $1.99 -- walmart
Lupper - Taco Bell - $3.79

One thing I didn't do today was exercise. I was going to do it during Survivor, but then I had to end up fixing something to replace the 7-layer burrito, and it just got to close to bedtime to get my heartrate up. I know, I know - excuses.

Hopefully the fact that no one called me this weekend (other than the one person just double checking what to do) is a good sign. I hope with all my heart that tomorrow that ALL 13 surveyors who had assignments completed their assignments with NO problems! THAT would make me SO happy!!!

Okay, signing off.

Keeping It Frugal in Texas,
Laura