Keeping It Frugal

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

I was deliriously happy to have my car fob back.

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

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

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

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

Anyway ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nowhere to be found!

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

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

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

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

I felt really proud of myself.

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

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

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

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

I also cashed in for two $5 AGCs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I had my Ting capable phone for awhile now - been using it mainly as an extra device for PerkTv. I got my SIM card a couple weeks ago ...

Today though was the big day when I knew I'd have a good amount of time to work on making the switch from AT&T to Ting.

I ran into some issues when putting in the SIM card. The online instructions didn't say anything about needing to put the sim card in the little plastic piece that came out of the phone. So ... I got the SIM card stuck in the phone. Oops.

Thankfully there is a smartphone repair shop here - so I went over there and the guy had it fixed for me in five minutes. No charge!

I got home and started the activation process. Ran into a problem. I got a great customer service rep - named Clint. He helped me get my phone activated.

As soon as it was activated, I saw that it was going to have a much better connection in my apartment than ATT - so I decided to port my number.

Clint let me know all I needed was my ATT account number.

Another hiccup - I couldn't log in to my wireless account - it kept sending me to my defunct Internet account. So Clint told me he'd send me an email detailing what we'd done so far, and then once I had the info I needed, to email him. (He was willing to wait, but I didn't know how long it would take.)

Fifteen minutes later after a bunch of annoying stuff, I had my account info and emailed Clint.

He called me about five minutes later. He then started the porting process.

I was told it could take six - 24 hours - but during this time I could still use my number on my ATT phone.

--
About then is when NE came over and we went out to do some errands. We got back about two hours after I started the porting process.

I had an email telling me that the porting was finished!

I had a bit of trouble finishing the process - mainly because of user error (couldn't remember my Ting password and then forgot to do the final step to finish activating my phone.) Clint was so helpful the whole time.

Now I just have to wait to see what my final bill from ATT will be. I have a $50 credit on my account from the previous time I 'tested' Ting, so my first month at least will be free.

---
I would give major kudos to Ting's customer service!

----
I wasn't able to do the other thing I wanted to do today - make a doctor's appointment. The place I want to try out was closed. So I'm going to call on Monday during my lunch break.

---
Had a very different Thanksgiving. NE and I were invited over to his friend's house. I'd never met his wife and stepson before. His friend had done all the cooking (I brought my corn pudding a sparkling grape juice) His stepson barely even acknowledged our presence - he had his head in his phone 99% of the time. As did the mom ... We sat in the living room eating off tv trays while eating and watching tv .. the whole time.

So very different from what I'm used to.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What was this experience?

I got to attend my first ever press conference!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I got my sim card in the mail on Wed but haven't had a chance to mess with it yet. I need to call ATT and find out what my ETF is going to be.
---

So I'm close to the end of my 60 day eating out challenge. Other than two exceptions I did it with no trouble. I m looking forward to allowing myself the option again, but I think the challenge has successfully reset my resisting eating out muscle so I won't go crazy with it.

This week two things I never wanted to have experienced happened.

The first happened Monday night. NE and I were driving back from Kansas City where we had picked up his car. NE was driving ahead of me. It had started snowing pretty hard (at least blowing hard) and we were going too fast for road conditions.

I was just thinking of trying to get NEs attention to slow down ....

When NE spun out right in front of me.

My heart was totally in my throat. I was wondering if I was about to watch my boyfriend die in front of my eyes.

His car went into the ditch and came out on the other side facing oncoming traffic. Thank God there was no traffic.

He sat there for a few seconds and then drove back to the proper side of the road, parking on the shoulder in front of me.

He had a popped tire and had tweaked his "good" shoulder. But otherwise was okay (other than being scared out of his wits.)

---
Tuesday afternoon we went to put a new tire on his car. It was maybe 18 degrees out. Maybe.

We'd left his car on the side of the road Monday night.

His car jack turned out to not lift the car high enough to get the new tire on. (I jacked the car and removed the flat tire and attempted to put the fixed one on.)

So we had to go back to Walmart and buy a better jack. Then I got the tire put on. This whole process took the better part of four hours.

---
Then today .. I had someone come to the window to buy a pass who was talking and talking and talking. In their talk they mention that they had "found" a bag of coke under a bridge and were excited to get home to test it and see if it was real so they could sell it. :bug eyes:

I talked to K my supervisor. She thought I should call the officer who comes by every other week to pick up the lost and found wallets. He was out til Friday.

So then I called the non-emergency number. They told me to call Crime Stoppers. Which I did. I was given an id#. The lady I talked to knew exactly who I was talking about.

So ... #1 - watching someone I care about spinning out in front of my eyes, and #2 calling Crime stoppers about a possible drug thing .... so not on my bucket list EVER.

I bought an Epson all in one year old printer w/full ink cartridges (except yellow) for $35 from the local FB garage sale. There was another one for $25 that didn't have ink. I've already used it to print my Sam's Club voucher and some coupons. Works great!

The $35 comes from my spending money.

I also cashed out my Pact money - $37 - which goes into my Spending Money category (just covers the printer!)

I did get on Bubblews today - but only for 1 hour. (maybe I stretched it a few minutes past that ...) I am not going to let myself be on there for more than an hour a day - whatever I accomplish in that time is what I accomplish.

I cashed out on Bing for a 500 SB reward - got the code and redeemed it already. Also cashed out 2 more $5 AGC cards for a total of 4 so far this month.

I did buy some groceries - I had to pick up printer paper - so went ahead and did my ONE shop for the week. I've got plenty of food, so I don't think it should be an issue.

I finally took my broken bookshelf out to the dumpster and also sorted through some more boxes - made a trash box and a donate box (both full already.) Have a lot more to go, but feel like I accomplished a little something.

Today I finally broke open my POI Season 3 DVDs and watched the first episode - can't get my money back on them (by selling) until I watch them, and the longer I wait, the less others will be willing to pay!

I'm about to head out to the store again - not for myself, but for NE - he needs some groceries and a charger for his phone (forgot to get from his car before.)

I downloaded two new SBs apps for iOS - have exhausted 3 of the 4 and am working on the 4th one now. I am considering signing up for the accelerator, although I need to double check terms - if CC SBs count towards the 1500 they'll match or not. (it basically means an extra 500Sbs each month)

I also downloaded PerkTv on my new iPhone and have been running that most of the day. It's another app where you can exchange for gift cards.

What I haven't done at all this weekend ... is write anything towards the 50k words. I'm actually not sure if I want to do it now - especially after talking to my mom on Thursday (before I got the stranded in Kansas City call from NE.) She was very supportive and everything, but I'm thinking maybe it's too soon. Some of the stuff I might want/need to put in wouldn't be too flattering to her. Maybe I'll figure something else out.

I stayed up pretty late last night updating my YNAB budget.

Even though I haven't gone out to eat in 6? weeks (I think that's right?)I still have spent WAY too much money at grocery stores. That's the thing about credit card statements - it's there in your face how often you shopped at different places.

So my goal for November is to not grocery shop more than once per week - at any type of grocery store. I would really like to try out the vegan restaurant that Ceejay mentioned before the day after Thanksgiving - maybe can get NE to go with me - That'll be my reward for keeping to only once a week grocery shopping for November (and the end of my 60 day no eating out challenge)

So here is my basic budget. The phone cost will be changing soon (thankfully!) but the Internet can't be cut - believe me, I've looked for something cheaper. It boggles my mind that I paid half that in a boondock town in NM with no competition ...

Giving:
Tithe: $125
Offering/Charity: $20

Fixed:
Rent: 430
House Gas: 50
House Electric: 50
Phone: 75 (hopefully will be 30 soon)
Internet: 65 (ugh!)
Auto gas: 70 (usually more like $35, but like to have a buffer for months where I use more)

Not Fixed:
Groceries - 200 (would like to get to 150 or less)
Medical - 50 (monthly prescription, co-pays)

Spending Money - Funded only by outside sources such as Pinecone surveys, Bubblews, Swagbucks, etc.
Used for
Restaurants
Clothing
Household Goods
Entertainment
Gifts
Wants that don't fall into the other categories

Savings:
Car Fund (maintenance, repairs, replacement, etc): 200
Car Insurance: 42 (paid every six months)
Life Insurance: 16 (paid once a year)
Vacation: 25
Technology (i.e. computer - will need new one soon): 25
ROTH: 200

Slush Fund: Whatever is left after the above categories are funded. When this gets over $2500, it will go to:

60% House Fund
40% Emergency Fund (I have 4 months worth saved right now.)

I want to keep my Slush fund at $2500, so if it goes below that, then I will just go back to funding it again until it's back there. You could call it kind of my Buffer fund between my regular budget and my actual EF.

The Slush Fund would be used in case I have a larger expense in one of my budgeted categories than I have funds for. Also to be used for any cat expenses above cat litter and cat food (those are included in groceries category.)

ETA - With the exception of Spending Money, Charitable, and Savings - any leftover money on the last day of the month will be swept into the Slush Fund.

ETA 2 - I wanted to mention that my phone purchase was totally funded by the Spending Money category - earnings from surveys, Bubblews, etc. When I sell my 4S, the proceeds will go back into the Spending Money category to kind of repay myself. Also the difference between my 75 phone bill and my new bill will also go into my spending Money category until I've "repaid" myself.

My phone arrived in the mail on Friday. I got it out of the mailbox and then headed out to Sam's Club.

At Sam's I was planning on using my voucher to get my one-year membership plus freebies - but they said I had to have a printed voucher - not a mobile one! Ugh!
They did however give me a temporary one day shopping card.

So I purchased an Otterbox cover ($30) and an extra charger cord ($14) to use in my car. I also picked up toilet paper, quinoa, frozen fruit, cat litter and a few other things - to the tune of $100 total.

When I got home I opened up the box with my phone and realized it needed to be charged - it was 100% dead. So I waited while it charged ... 30 minutes later I realized it did not have a SIM card!

I called Ting's customer service and found out that iPhone 5 and up had to have a SIM card. News to me. So I tried to purchase one on the Ting site for $9 - but couldn't because my previous account had been closed.

Call Ting again - they reopen my account (send me a code to my email to tell them) and I am able to purchase a SIM card - $4 shipping. It's guaranteed to be here in ten business days, but most likely will be here much sooner (could've gone with the $14 shipping method and had it here Monday. Not that desperate.)

I have my new phone all set up and ready to go - once I have the SIM card I'll be able to activate it and make sure it works well in my apartment. Once I know that for sure, then I'll be calling ATT and letting them know it is the end for us. (and porting my number)

I ordered a couple more charging cords for the 5S so I can charge my phone at work if needed or by my bed at night. Only $4 each.

Oh, after I started playing with my phone, I realized I'd gotten a 32GB one! I thought I was getting a 16 GB! So cool!

I need to order a new charging cord to go with my 4S in order to sell it on Glyde - the one I use now is ... um... frayed to say the least.

I have a $50 credit on my Ting account from somebody using my referral link, so that will cover the SIM card and probably the first month's phone bill.

I am truly looking forward to seeing my phone bills go down to $30/month or less. (Currently pay $75/month)

It may take awhile for me to break even (not sure what my ETF is going to be) but eventually it will be a money saver.

---
I'm going to do a separate post on my budget, since this one got so long.

===
I did just want to say that I was shocked at Sam's Club gas prices - $3.35/gallon!! I hope I just misread it, because that is at least $.36/gallon more than any of the local gas stations here. Kind of defeats one of the supposed benefits of a club membership.

So Thursday night around 6:15 I get a call from NE. He had gone to Kansas City, MO to pick up some electronics for his eBay business. Before he got to where he was going, his car broke down! Not only that though - as he tried messing with it, he majorly wrenched his bad shoulder and also landed on his back very hard.

So there was no question in my mind but that I had to go get him. (He didn't ask, but I know that is what he was hoping I would do.)

I called my boss K and told her that I might be a little late to work because of a short night. After she heard why, she told me that if I needed to, I could use one of my PCH days even though I wasn't arranging it a day ahead of time. I am SO glad she was willing to let me do that.

I managed to find NE about 9:30 - about the same time the tow truck driver arrived. He was in *such* pain. He got in my car and we followed the tow truck over to the nearest Wal-mart. I was kind of baffled at why we were taking it to a Wal-mart - I was pretty sure all they did was oil changes/batteries and tires.

Turned out I was right. Just after the car was unloaded, a police officer drove by and let us know that Wal-mart wouldn't be able to do anything for his car. Thankfully the tow truck driver didn't charge to rehook the car.

I found a car garage nearby and we took the car there. (about 4 miles) In all, it cost about $120 for hooking the car up and towing. Ouch.

By the time we had dropped the key and note in the garage drop box and was ready to head out, it was nearly 11:30.

I was totally beat, but managed to drive back. NE needed some stuff from the store, so we stopped in there, and then I dropped him off at home. It was about 2:43 a.m. by the time I walked in my door.

I used up a full tank of gas plus more - need to fill up again.

NE was supposed to work tonight and tomorrow night - but with his arm the way it is, there is no way. He doesn't have health insurance which is why he's just basically lived with a bad shoulder for five+ years. He told me last night that his arm pain was worse than the pain he was in after a car accident about six years ago.

This definitely was not how I planned on using one of my two PCH days, however I am sure glad I had it available and had such an understanding boss! If I would have tried going in to work today, I would have been pretty beat.

---
I got an email that my $9 payment from Pinecone came through just fine to my PayPal account, and I also have the $90.xx echeck from Bubblews in my PayPal account.

Today I cashed out for another $55.xx from Bubblews. I'm going to take a break from Bubblews until at least December while I work on my NaNoWriMo project. Hopefully I won't lose all my connections.

So I got an email today from Pinecone telling me that my recent cashout of $9 had been denied - from PayPal. This prompted me to ask to leave work early on Wednesday - one hour early. I figured that I would have to do that in order to get ahold of a human being.

Tonight I decided to look up the number for PayPal so I'd have it ready to go tomorrow. Color me shocked when I saw their customer service hours = 4 a.m. to 10pm PT!

Of course I went ahead and called. I explained my utter frustration with my account being limited and how I hadn't been able to purchase postage for my eBay sale a few weeks ago and then now not being able to receive payment!

The CS rep was very patient with me and told me that all he needed was my birthdate to possibly verify my identity. So, I gave him it. IT still wouldn't verify me!! Ugh!

But he told me to go ahead and try to withdraw money from my account - he didn't see why I couldn't do that. So I did - and it worked!

He wasn't sure why my Pinecone payment didn't go through or why I couldn't purchase postage on eBay. So he transferred me to eBay.

The eBay rep basically told me that he couldn't really help me unless it was happening right then - he told me where/how to find the customer service number for the shipping issue if it were to happen again.

I wrote Pinecone and asked them to try resending the payment. Hopefully it goes through because I'm expecting a Bubblews payment in about ten days or so (of 90 something dollars.)

I've got $33.xx in my Pact app that I've been waiting to withdraw until I figured out the PayPal mess - so maybe I can withdraw that too now - see if it works.

----
I wrote the majority of the outline for the book I think I'm going to write. Although as I outlined it, I realized that writing it at work might not be such a good thing. It could be kind of ... emotional ... writing it out. I'm still going to try though.

50,000 words divided by 30 equals 1,666 words a day. There are five weekends in November, so let's say I do 5,000 words each weekend - that would be 25,000 words. That would give me about 1,200 words a day to write during the week. Yikes, that still seems daunting. I'm going to try though.

----
I canceled my Amazon Prime membership yesterday. So as of now the only entertainment type thing I'm paying for is Internet (and that is expensive enough!)

I get Hulu+ for "free" through Bing rewards. I do a month of Hulu reward and then a 500 SBs reward each month. The last few days they were letting me do 60 points a day, plus there were a LOT of extra points. Swoon... I'm halfway towards my next 500 SBs reward thanks to the 60+ point days.

----
I saw my paycheck for this Thursday - health insurance and dental were taken out. I liked last paycheck so much better ... But I'm not complaining about having health insurance, no sirree!

---
I took a walk around the neighborhood today - about 32 minutes of walking. It was a little bit chilly for yoga pants and sandals, but I didn't want to chance my old tennies and didn't feel like wearing long pants or a jacket - not *that* cold yet.

---
Did any of you see the article on soda aging people as badly as smoking?? Yikes! Yet reason #50003939393938271 to stop drinking soda. I needed to see that since I've been slipping ...

I have done some spending this weekend (other than groceries and gas) -

1. I bought an iPhone 5S from Glyde for $348. It is listed as in excellent condition and should be here in a week. Once it is here and I can verify that it works well, then I'll be listing my current iPhone 4S on Glyde and see what I can get for it.

Then I can also fully switch to Ting and tell ATT goodbye forever!

2. I bought a year's membership to Sam's Club via a Living Social deal. $45 - you get the membership, a $20 gift card and 4 free food items (2 of which I'll probably let NE have since it's meat items) So the membership will really cost $25 for the year.

I can get cat litter there so much more cheaply, as well as some other food staples (rice milk, quinoa, lentils, etc.)

----
I'm still going fairly strong with the no eating out challenge. Five weeks down, and on week six. Sunday I did stop at DQ with NE -- it was the last day they were open for the season and everything was half-price. So .. we splurged a bit as part of an actual outing date. (We don't have too many actual outing dates - most "dates" are stay at home.)

---
I think I'm going to slow way down on Bubblews. It was taking way too much of my time ... and with the recent changes, it really isn't worth it anymore. In a few days I'll be able to redeem for another $55 payment. So, all in all I made around $300 something since June with it. Not too shabby.

---
I'm debating if I really need a couch. I don't really spend anytime in my living room - all my time is either in my bedroom/computer area or kitchen. Even in NM when I had a couch and loveseat (the missions) I think I can count on two hands the number of times I sat on them or others sat on them - other than when I had company overnight and slept on the couch. If I need a sleeping couch, I've got something for that. (inflatable)

---
On Saturday I walked 1.1 miles to my local library branch to pick up something that was on hold. The walk was great, except ... I decided to wear a brand new pair of tennis shoes (bought for $15 on sale a few months ago.) By the time I got to the library, one of my heels had developed a large blister and had that blister pop. The other heel had a small one do the same thing.

Thank goodness the librarian had band aids!

It's nice to know that I can easily walk to the library here. In NM I could walk to the PO, but I can't here. I'd much rather be able to walk to the library.

----
I start my belly dancing class on Wednesday night!! I am a little nervous about doing it in front of other people - in front of my mirror is one thing ... but I hope I'll have fun.

--
I'm getting seriously bored at work. There is a LOT of downtime. I just have to keep reminding myself that it pays decent and has really good benefits. Especially health insurance which starts on Nov 1!!

I'm considering trying to write a book or something on my downtime (between spurts of phone calls and people buying passes.) I haven't quite figured out what it would be about yet though. Maybe a fictionalized version of some of my family's story. It would be something to keep keep my brain busy at least. (and probably look better to be typing away at something on the computer rather than reading the newspaper or a book --- reading the newspaper - or at least scanning it, is actually one of my tasks .. I just extend it to thoroughly reading it.)

---
3 months and one week til I get a pay raise and am eligible to take vacation and sick days. I can hardly wait!

So I am really ticked at PayPal right now. I made an eBay sale Saturday night and tried printing postage on Monday - no go. Kept getting an error message. Tried again on Tuesday - found out that my "limited" account now includes no money being withdrawn at all. So I have almost $200 in PayPal being held hostage. (Bubblews payments, Pinecone, etc.)

I ended up mailing the package first class postage - PO was closed by the time I got there Tuesday night and that was all the automated machine would let me do. Ugh! Hopefully this won't ruin my perfect rating!

Tomorrow is payday, and since no deductions are coming out of it (other than taxes) I guess it counts as the extra paycheck.

So ... I haven't had the energy to research it out totally yet, but I think I'm going to use it to buy the couch, the Sprint iPhone (to switch to Ting), and a simple printer (for coupons, etc) That'll use most of it - but once I have my phone set up, then I can sell my current iPhone and that will net me a little cash. That I'll put into my general savings.

I might still change my mind - especially about the phone. I know I'll save money switching to Ting, it's just the initial outlay for the phone that is making me hesitate.

In case you're interested, here are some Bubble posts I wrote recently about Paypal and life in general.

http://www.bubblews.com/news/8894602-kari039s-day A story about Kari and fleas.

http://www.bubblews.com/news/8892674-paypal-is-holding-my-mo... My PayPal frustrations.

http://www.bubblews.com/news/8876471-been-sick About being sick and NE being sweet.

I better hit the hay here. Another exciting day answering the same questions over and over ...

This past week I haven't felt the greatest. I powered through the last 3 days of work ... then got in a good nap before NE came over Friday night. But Saturday and most of today ... I vegetated. lots of sleep, lots of doing nothing.

Well, not totally nothing. I did *finally* get the cheese cleaned out from my oven so that I can use it again. That stuff was pretty hard encased on the oven bottom. I didn't get it all off, but after testing it, it was enough so I won't get to test out my smoke alarm anytime soon.

I also did a load of dishes. (Can I say how much I love having a full sized dishwasher again?)

I thought about doing laundry, but then realized that if I washed out a couple bras, I could get by another week. This would be my 4th week - all clean tops, reusing a couple skirts and jeans. Can you say - she has too many clothes?

NE will be coming by tonight and we'll be making pizza from a Chef Boyrdee kit. I need to get cheese and pineapple. He's bringing the hamburger for his half. (pineapple only goes on my half) Maybe we'll watch Edge of Tomorrow - rent it off Amazon.

With all the rest I've had this weekend, I am feeling much better than I have in awhile. Here's hoping it'll last. I need to get a flu shot soon, but don't want to get it when I'm feeling sick.

---
I am starting on my 4th week of the no eating out challenge. Overall I think it is saving me money (at least from what I'd been doing since living here.)

NE's stepsister that we went out to dinner with on Tuesday night (first time ever meeting each other - NE and stepsister) posted some photos she took of us on FB. The one with NE and I looked fine, but the one with NE, her and I ... I guess I don't see myself standing next to skinny people too often. Ugh.

So I am thinking of adding something new to this challenge. Not only no eating out, but no spending more than $5 on junk food per week. I would eliminate it completely, but I think that would backfire.

I also feel like I'm spending way too much time on the Internet (Bubblews esp.) So when I get home from work I am going to do 30 minutes of piano, 30 minutes of some form of exercise, 15 minutes of language practice and 15 minutes of cleaning/organizing.
Then I can get on the computer.

On the nights NE isn't here, I'm going to limit my computer time to 2 hours. Outside of that I'm going to read books or magazines! (Not surf Internet!)

I haven't quite figured out how to regulate the weekend days better yet ... Maybe 15 minutes of Internet time for every 30 minutes doing something else (piano, reading, cleaning, making something, exercise, etc)

Like I said, I spend WAY too much time on the Internet.

----

I have been watching this awesome new show on Hulu+ called A to Z - it's the story of a relationship. Two episodes so far and I absolutely love it. I also have been watching Selfie - not as good as A to Z, but it has plenty of LOL moments. Plus I love how it's playing on the My Fair Lady storyline.

----
I am still thinking about my goals. This month I have an extra paycheck, so if I used that money, I could wipe out several wants - couch, printer, remote start on car in one fell swoop. And have some left over to put into general savings.

I love YNAB and have used it off and on for years and years. But ... I am starting to think that a different approach might work better for me. Since I'm not attacking a debt monster, and I don't have any big huge things to save up for other than retirement ...

Maybe something like this - still live off of last month's income (per YNAB)

Put the amount needed into the Must Have categories. Then the remainder goes into a non-tracked category - kind of a whatever it's needed for without having to be tracked.

Must haves would be: tithe/offering, rent, utilities, Internet, phone, auto fuel, insurances, ROTH contributions, car savings, general savings, emergency savings,

Groceries, clothing, household goods, hair care, etc., etc., etc. would come out of whatever is left and not be tracked explicitly.

So for example, I go to Walmart and I spend $70 on grocery items, cat food, makeup, and maybe a new pair of shoes. Instead of painstakingly splitting all those items out, I'd just track it as "Walmart:Non-Tracked"

My reasoning is that I can do pretty good for a few months tracking minutia, but then it stops working for me ... I miss a receipt or two or three .. This way I will still be tracking it, but it won't have to be detailed - so if I miss entering a receipt or two or three, I can just get the info from my CC site and not worry about the details.

I would want the amount in this category to build up so I have money available for bigger things (vacations, couches, etc. ...) Maybe put a minimum amount that has to be left in there if making a bigger spend/purchase. (This is what would keep me from willy nilly spending everything just because it's there - I'd want to be careful with the spending so I have it for other bigger things.)

Whatever extra monies I get (like from Bubblews, etc.) would automatically go into the Non-Tracked category. Extra paychecks or amounts larger than say $500 would be figured out as it happens.

Anyway ... haven't figured it all out yet.

I am still chugging along with my 60 day no eating out challenge -- however Tuesday night I did make an exception and ate out.

What was that exception? NE had a relative that he'd never met come to visit him, and he asked me along. There was no way I could say no to that. (More about it on Bubblews if you're interested.)

---
I received my August 31 payment from Bubblews in PayPal yesterday. $111.xx

---
Did I get pictures hung and budget / goals sorted last weekend? Nope.

NE did help me move some heavier large things around and hang my mirror. He wasn't feeling too good, so I was doubly appreciative.

Of course ... guess who isn't feeling that great either now? And no sick days to take ....

---
I did start working on my budget and kind of updated it. I was also looking / thinking of goals ... and just really couldn't pinpoint anything really.

My computer will probably need to be replaced sooner than later (it's almost 4 years old and has started making some weird noises - doesn't help being moved 4 different times and having had stuff dropped on it...)

I think I might upgrade to the iPhone5 when I finally move to Ting, so I'm not sure how much of a price difference that'll be (after selling my current phone)

I need a new printer - my current printer stopped printing eons ago, and now I am missing all its cords (likely left in NM)I used the scanner function on it once in a while - mostly for teaching stuff. So I think I could get by with a simple b&w printer - for coupons mostly.

I would LOVE to get remote start put on my car for upcoming winter ...

I also want to get a couch ..

Mostly though I really want to up my savings - just general savings and retirement savings. I do not want to still be explaining to people that walking two blocks is better than walking five blocks and taking the bus for one block fifteen years from now.... or even ten years from now...

This weekend I will really think this through more (and maybe get some pictures up too ...) but right now I better get to bed so I have a little energy for tomorrow.

I am still going strong on my 60 day no eating out challenge.

NE came over last night and we made spaghetti - he brought the noodles and a mango for dessert. I had the rest of what we needed. (Although I had to search high and low for my strainer!)

Today I did go shopping - supposedly *just* for bananas and something to scrub my stove with and something to clean my new pan that got burned sauce ... Of course ended up with more .. but not too bad.

On Sunday I shopped at Walmart and tried the savings catcher app again - this time it worked! I got $1.02 back.

I cashed out on Bubblews on Tuesday for $91 (September earnings). I am now up to $7 for October. I won't be spending as much time on it this month, so my goal is just to get to $50 so I can cash out again on the 31st.

I also cashed out $9 in Pinecone payments.

In September I cashed out for two $25 Paypal payments from SBs, so I'm a little behind for October. I was able to cash out for 3 $5 AGCs and am working on the other two.

On the YouGov survey site I have enough points to cash out for a $25 movie certificate. I'm debating if that is what I want to do or not - not sure which one to get - Regal or AMC theaters. It would be enough for NE and I to see a movie together (he and I saw Guardians of the Galaxy on Sunday - his treat. Loved it!)

I found out how much my health insurance is going to cost me - it's taken out pretax. $33/month. Not too bad at all. Next paycheck my dental will come out, but that won't be much at all.

This weekend I have two goals - get my pictures hung and sit down and figure out my budget and new goals.
Now that I have a job and I have a place to live AND I have a good idea of my monthly income ... it is time!

In February when I can start contributing to my retirement plan, things will change again (along with a pay raise.) But will check those eggs when they hatch.

So I'm now five full days into my no eating out challenge. And the news is ... I have been successful at it so far! The really interesting thing though is that other than needing to buy bananas on Wednesday, I have managed to do it with just food I already had on hand.

On Friday I picked up a couple quick/easy/fast vegetarian cookbooks that I plan to look over and pick out a few things from for this week. Then I'll be making my meal plan and doing whatever shopping needs to be done.

I think I have saved at least $30 this week from not eating out or stopping somewhere for a soda/candy/etc. Probably more. It was getting pretty bad. (Especially since when I would stop in for a soda/candy, etc. I would get something else so it wouldn't look like I only came in there for the junk ...)

---
I had an interesting Friday night with NE - towed my first car! You can read more about it here if you want to:

http://www.bubblews.com/news/8128150-friday-night-towing-adv...

We also had an interesting situation happen here with regards to tailgating last Saturday - I've been hearing some sirens today, and am hoping it is not part of the fallout; http://www.bubblews.com/news/8078503-tailgating-woes

I have now been at my new job for 8 weeks. Most of the time I really like it. I definitely like my boss K. She is such a fun person to work with. I've had the office manager C tell me she's really glad I'm there - that I have such a good attitude. This definitely is not something I want to do for 25 years, but if it is what makes it possible to retire in 10 - 15 years, I think I can handle it.

Oh, I was wondering if anyone has tried Bing Rewards today. What do you think? {url]http://www.bubblews.com/news/8130036-what039s-happened-to-bing[/url]

My first sewing class is on Tuesday! A needle and thread will be on my shopping list tomorrow.

What is the price of gas where you guys are? I was reading about how prices are expected to fall below $3! It's around $3.20 here right now. Do you think they'll really fall that low?

So I deactivated my profile on the dating site. NE and I got together on Sunday night at IHOP and had a good long talk. Our waitress I think was getting antsy for us to go... But the end all and the be all of it is that neither one of us really want to let go so easily of our 11 years of friendship. He is willing to try counseling to see if we can figure out how to get past some of the issues that caused the break.

He came over again on Monday night and we had a very nice couple hours together. Before he left he totally shocked me by saying that if I'd like to, we could play cards on Wednesday night. He is NOT a big fan of playing games. However he knows how much I love playing games. I've tried to get him to do it before with no luck. So ... there's other things he's doing as well that are showing me he's really trying.

I think the break from each other gave us both some perspective.

I'm still going to do the plans I had been making related to my list of ten things I want to do. I'm just going to add him to my list.

----
Today was already a temptation to just stop and get something. I was SO tired and so hungry coming home from work. But I soldiered on and managed to wait til I got home to eat.

I didn't do my grocery shopping on Sunday like I'd planned, but I think I can make do without getting anything other than bananas. (will have to do that tomorrow)

--
I really need to go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow there's a health fair at the local Public Works department that I get to go to. I would like to be alert for that.

--
I completed a survey for Pinecone, so once I'm credited for that, I'll have enough to redeem $6.

I cashed in bing points yesterday for 500SBs (which will either become Paypal cash or Amazon gift cards.)

If any of you read the YNAB blog, you may have seen Jesse's latest post about obliterating debt. He'd been heavily criticized for his previous post with people saying that since he was young, college educated and white that he had no clue what he was talking about.

So among a variety of things, in his last post he said that he and his family are going to do two things - move into an apartment for 3 months and do no eating out for 60 days. Here is a link to his post:

http://www.youneedabudget.com/blog/2014/good-debt-and-bad-de...

I have been lamenting the fact that I have been eating so horribly and spending so much money on takeout and fast food. Being here so near temptation has had a very bad effect on my spending and on my waistline.

While I don't have any debt to vanquish, I do have savings goals! So I decided to take up the guantlet of the 60 day no eating out challenge. Here are two links to Bubblews posts about it if you're interested:
http://www.bubblews.com/news/7723462-60-day-no-eating-out-ch...
http://www.bubblews.com/news/7762711-planning-my-menu-for-we...

I am also planning on *really* doing the ten items only shopping list. (I'm only going to count food items on my list.)

So far on my list:
frozen veggies
bananas
Peanut Butter
Jelly
eggs
shredded cheese
whole cantaloupes

That leaves me with 3 things I could pick up if needed later during the week.

Tonight though I am doing one last meal out before starting this challenge - heading to IHOP! NE is going to meet me there ... we're testing the waters at trying for a friendship *only.* One of the things we'll probably discuss tonight is exactly what that means ...

In other news, I finally completed my profile last night by finding a full figure shot. Now it's just a waiting game I guess.

Thanks again everyone for your comments on my previous post. I'm working on rewording my responses so they fit in the 600 character limit, and then I have to find someone to take a full length photo.

---
As my title suggests, I am kind of excited because I made $50 (well, actually $49.78 at the moment) in 14 days on Bubblews! I don't know if I'll be able to keep up that pace or not because I'd really like to spend less time on it, but I am excited to know that if I really needed to, I could make an extra $100 or more a month doing that pretty easily.

One of my most recent bubbles (posts) was inspired by seeing one of the DVDs on sale on our local FB garage sale - The Invention of Lying. I've had some interesting comments - if you'd like to read it, here is the link:

http://www.bubblews.com/news/7329494-lying-good-or-bad

----
I got five hours of overtime today - which will equal roughly 8 hours of banked time. This was due to my working the streets alive program - basically a two mile stretch of downtown was closed off for people to walk, bike, skate, etc. We were there giving out loads of free stuff.

One kind of downer thing that happened ... I left my water bottle on the bus (one that I specially bought from Walmart for water) and someone decided to walk off with it.

Oh well. It happens. It was only a $3 bottle anyway.

----
One thing I haven't mentioned ... I got my haircut! 7 inches!! I hadn't quite meant for it to be *that* short, but I think I like it. Now I just have to figure out how to style it right.

I'm going to put up a picture here, but don't know how long I'll keep it up.



----
I cashed out for $50 from Swagbucks this month - $25 in PayPal and $25 in AGCs.

I have made progress in my apartment - such as getting my piano set up (and even playing it a bit) but still have not gotten the pictures or mirror put up. I was going to ask someone at church on Sabbath, but after Sabbath School I couldn't get in a word edgewise with the leader, and then I didn't make it very far during church. Kind of got one of those tearing up jags that keep hitting at weird times, but somewhat less than a week ago ...

So this week I'll be visiting the local no kill cat shelter and having my third women's bible study group. Then I think it is the next week that my sewing class will start! I'm looking forward to it.

So I was talking with my mom a little last night, and she asked me if I had thought about joining a certain singles website that caters to ONLY people of my faith. I told her I had not thought about it, and that it seemed way too soon.

After we stopped talking though, I thought about it more. I realized that both times before when I was in a serious relationship, I gave myself YEARS afterwards before looking again. I'm nearly 39. I don't really have that luxury of time anymore.

So I decided that I may as well create a profile and see what happens. I have done everything necessary except for submitting a full length photo - will have to find someone to do that.

Anyway, as people who have read a lot about my life and thinking over the years, I thought maybe some of you might be able to offer me some pointers or insights into what I put into the free writing sections.

I especially would like feedback on the "What I don't want" section. (I only have 600 characters for each of these sections, so if you can think of ways to condense some of what I'm saying so I can add more ... )

What I Want in a Partner:
I want my best friend. Someone I can laugh with, play with, be serious with, share all the good, bad and in-between events of life with, knowing that no matter what we are there for each other. I am looking for a partner - someone who understands that a relationship is a two way street, and wants to learn and grow together in studying God's word. At the same time understands nobody is perfect. Someone who can be happy staying at home, but also enjoys going out and being active together. Someone who understands the importance of family, but also prioritizes our relationship.

What I Don't Want
I do not need someone who holds on to grudges for a long time. I do not need someone who is content to be at home anytime they are not at work. I do not want someone with a nighttime work schedule. I do not need someone who thinks that making fun of others is humorous. I do not need someone who does not see how vandalizing another person's property is wrong. I do not need a food critic. I do not need someone who is ultra-conservative in their faith.

What I Offer a Partner:
I am a giving, caring, generous person who loves with her whole heart. I am a good listener and will be your biggest cheerleader. I love going walking in the woods and spotting animals, or doing bodyweight exercises. I love animals and children. I volunteer at the local no-kill cat shelter, and have taught Primary Sabbath School before in a previous church. I just recently moved to where I am, so am still looking for ways to get involved.

Intro Note: (The first thing they see - have lots of characters left on this one.)
Hi, If you are seeing this then this must mean that we share some interests. If you like to make people laugh, enjoy going for walks and talking about life, and would like a partner to enjoy life with, then give me a look.

My relationship with the church and God
My dad was an SDA minister for 34 years. When I was 9 I asked to be baptized, and he convinced me to wait til I was 11. I have always known in my heart that God is a loving Father - it is something I have never questioned. What I have struggled with is my relationship with the church. I grew up going every Sabbath. Then some events happened with my family and it caused me to stay away for several years, going sporadically. Now I go much more regularly, having recognized its importance in my life and walk with Christ.


So ... what do you think?

I decided to not go to church today. It probably isn't that good of a thing isolating myself .. but I just didn't feel like dealing with people today.

One thing that I've been thinking about now with having ended the relationship that brought me here, is ... Thanksgiving and Christmas and my birthday ... I don't have any vacation time allowed until after February 1. So it isn't like I could go anywhere for the holidays. I had thought I'd spend them with NE, but obviously that isn't going to happen.

Maybe I'll have made a friend by then here. It just feels like yet another stinky consequence of my move here. Don't get me wrong, overall I still believe the move was a good thing. I guess I just didn't really consider how holidays/birthdays would be if things didn't work between NE and I.

Just feeling really low right now.

---
I did make my list of ten things I would like to do in the near future or a bit further. The local community college has a great continuing education program, as well as online courses - which is where I'm thinking of accomplishing some of this. In fact, that idea was given to me because of a school catalog that was left on a bus on Tuesday.

Here are the links to my posts about the list:

Items 1 and 2

http://www.bubblews.com/news/6772857-ten-things-i-want-to-do...

Items 3 - 5
http://www.bubblews.com/news/6823592-ten-things-i-want-to-do...

Items 6 - 8
http://www.bubblews.com/news/6823779-ten-things-i-want-to-do...

Items 9 - 10
http://www.bubblews.com/news/6831300-ten-things-i-want-to-do...

There are other things I'm thinking about too, more financial wise, but that is for another time. The items above are more for a mental/social/emotional well being standpoint.

Thanks again everyone for your supportive comments on my last post. It's been really difficult the last few days to not call him up to share this or that. I think he's finding the same thing because he emailed me this morning a link to a story about his next door neighbor getting burgled. This is the longest we've gone without talking to each other in 16 months.

Today for some reason was almost harder than Tuesday.

It'll take time I guess.

---
In other news .. I got a package from Pinecone! This is the very first time I have ever received a product to review. I wish they'd sent me an email or something so I would've known to go to my PO box and get it.

Well, I have it now, and now need to use it.

---
I cashed out for $25 PayPal from Swagbucks today. Thanks to all the spending I did on moving expenses, new matteress, etc, I had plenty of Swagbucks for both the PayPal and the 5 $5 AGC's.

---
Thursday night I did one of the things on my list of ten things I want to do - I attended a women's Bible study group. Kind of hard to really call it a group though - only three of us were there. Bit uncomfortable. But maybe it'll grow, and maybe the small size will help me to speak out more .. although one of the ladies has a really strong personality and likes to talk ... I tend to clam up around people like that.

I started writing out my list of ten things, but then realized it was getting pretty long as I added my thoughts/reasons. So I decided to make it into several posts on Bubblews. I'll post links to them when they are all posted. (Speaking of Bubblews, I made $16 since Sept. 1.)

---
After work today I stopped at a local store called Open Harvest. It is kind of a co op store. Kind of expensive, but it did have some really good deals on some things. I'm considering paying to be a "member" because it is really close to where I live, and has lots of veggie foods I like. It would be $25/year and there are discounts at the store itself, as well as at other stores in town.

I'm thinking about it.

---
I think Kari has fleas. Probably got them at NEs because they were scratching a good bit before we moved out. What flea meds could I get without seeing a vet that aren't expensive but work well?

We had one of our silent tiffs Friday night. I was pretty much ready to call it quits then, but knew he was working Saturday and Sunday nights. I cleaned his place as kind of a goodbye gift I guess.

He didn't contact me until 6:30 Monday night - via a text. He came over at 7:30 and within the first few minutes as he was trying to put it out there - I told him that it seemed like we'd both reached the same conclusion.

Have it finished before we started hating each other.

Even though this is something I knew needed to be done, I still feel so bereft. So sad. So much like maybe I'm just meant to be alone.

We exchanged house keys. He'll be bringing over my dad's computer sometime next week - I've been letting him use it to post ebay photos.

Now I've got to figure out how I'm going to get my mirror hung and the table put together. Oh well, that's the least of it.



It's a good thing I guess that I don't have any sick days I can use right now. Need to keep busy.

This morning I bought three things I found from the online FB garage sale: a table, a camera and a paper shredder.

It was quite interesting getting the table home in my little Yaris. Bungee cords were involved.

I did a good bit of unpacking and organizing. I did manage to find places for most of my baking glassware. There are just a few pieces I have nowhere to put except the linen closet in the bathroom. I figure I can always give them a quick wipe before use.

I haven't come across my cordless drill yet - which I need for hanging pictures and for putting together my new table. So that will have to wait.

I did laundry here for the first time - there are 3 washers and 1 dryer ... Good thing I don't use a dryer very often.

I cashed out for two $5 AGC's from Swagbucks.

I have about 8 boxes of books and office related stuff I need to figure out what I'm going to do with. I only have two bookcases left that are in good shape (I broke one on last Sunday.) I am considering ... gulp ... letting go of more books. Some of the books I have kept with the intention of having them for my kid(s) later on. That dream I think is passing away quickly. Plus by the time a kid today would want to read them, paperbacks probably won't even be known anymore.

There are around 4 or 5 boxes of pictures and decorative stuff. I think I can do most of that myself, but really hope that I can get help with the mirror ..

Tomorrow I need to get my rent check over to the landlord's (and set it up to go auto-magically from Cap One so I don't have to think about it again.) I also need to call the utility companies and make sure my accounts are set up properly - haven't gotten anything in the mail, but lights and gas are both on.

I've decided I'm going to go with CB's routine of ten items per week buying at the grocery, etc. Even with all the food I ate down before coming out here, I still have PLENTY. I just need to use it!

I want to figure out how to use my rice cooker to make quinoa and steam veggies (it's supposed to do both at the same time ... never used it, owned it 3 years?) Then I'm going to try making sweet potatoes in the crockpot. YUM!

I also have a lot of sweet potato noodles that I bought that I need to use up. And the list goes on.

Today I was supposed to unpack a lot of boxes and get things more organized.

What did I actually do?

Surf the Internet (bubblews, YNAB forums, Facebook garage sale forums ...)

Watch Suits on Amazon Prime

Went over to NEs and got my frozen stuff - also washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Needed badly.

Other than that .. not much.

I found a table I'm picking up tomorrow for $20 (no chairs, but chairs I can find more easily than a nice table.)

I also found a paper shredder to replace the one I left behind on accident ($15 for about the same size one I had.)

I also talked to my brother for awhile, which was good.

Oh yeah, I also worked on my YNAB budget -figured out where my retirement accounts were at, and guestimated my monthly budget. The retirement accounts look nice, but the monthly budget looks abysmal. Adding in rent and utilities to the mix leaves almost nothing for savings.

I'm hoping that the reality will look a little rosier.

--
I've been really overconsuming on the junk food. Really a lot. I'm kind of scared to get out my scale and see what it says.

I'm hoping my food budget will help to reign me in on this. We'll see. I think I might try taking back a couple things I bought tonight.

---
I figured out as I was doing my budget that I had overpaid one of my credit cards - the one I use for gas. By $335. I set the wheels in motion to get that sent back to me so I can use it for expenses.

I also figured out that my retirement accounts had all grown nicely - mainly thanks to an electric car.

---
I saw Target had a microwave on sale for $38 today. I was going to go get that, and return the one I bought for $49 (same exact one) from Walmart. But before I drove out there I called - they didn't have any left of course.

First off, I want to say thank you to everyone who offered their thoughts and advice on my last post. He's been much better about helping me - I think he got the idea that I was pretty upset. He helped me out on Thursday getting my Internet set up - not a word of complaint (needed someone here to let the Internet guy in to get things set up.)

--

I've now been moved into my new place for a full week. Today and tomorrow I plan to do a lot of unpacking and organizing. I'm hoping to get most of it done so I don't have much to do later and can feel actually settled.

Last night I bought some needed items to replace things that I'd left behind or sold previously (when I was going to grad school.)

I bought a microwave, a toaster, a crockpot, a kitchen trash can, a couple of skillets and a cooking pot. What this means is now I can actually cook things here rather than eating PBJs or buying fast food.

I also bought a bed from Mattress Firm. It was about $376 or so after taxes and delivery charges. The mattress itself was $298. Not the best one by far .. but I'm hoping it will do the job and last a while. It is the first bed I actually bought for myself .. ever. All my previous beds were either hand me downs, or provided by the place I was renting.

I plan on going by Goodwill today to see what they have in the way of kitchen tables and love seats - also any kind of cabinets. I am in major need of storage space for pantry and cookware/dishware. Of course if I manage to find anything, I'm not sure how I'd get any of it home.

I really do NOT want to employ two men and a truck again ... I don't know anyone with a truck that could haul it for me. I really need to get most of my boxes unpacked first anyway though before adding more to the mess ...

---
I'd really like to highly recommend Bubblews . com for writing whatever you want and getting paid for it. I have made close to $170 since June. I have a link to my profile page in the links section - that is where I've spent a lot of my short Internet time lately.

---
I'll be getting my second paycheck this coming Thursday from my bus job. I'm hoping that the union mandated pay raise will take effect Once I see that, then I plan on working on a budget. I haven't been operating on a budget or any real kind of expense tracking for awhile ... and my bank account and credit cards show it. I won't be carrying a balance on any of my cards, but the bank accounts will definitely be slim after paying them ... (I do have my emergency fund still fully intact in a separate bank, but was not wanting to spend all I had in my regular bank ..)

----
I think my cat Kari is much happier being a single cat than one of many. Almost within two days of being here, her entire attitude seemed to perk up and go back to her usual self. I hadn't seen her tail straight up in happy signal for a long time.

---
I need to edit my sidebar since I accomplished my two big goals and figure out what my new goals are. Will have to wait til after my next paycheck though so I have a better idea of what I'm working with.

I haven't written much about NEs and I's relationship since I got to NE. To put it mildly, we've struggled. Today was move in day to my new apartment.

NE was talking about making a 7 hour round trip to buy speakers for his eBay business today. Fine, whatever. Turns out one of the items he wanted was gone. So no trip.

I ask him if he'd be willing to help me hang pictures. His response, why do you need help?

I ask him this morning to carry out a couple boxes to the car. Why do you need help?

He's at the apartment sleeping.

He worked last night til 4 am. So I understand him sleeping. But if he was going to make the trip, he'd have gone without sleep. Afterall, he doesn't work til Thursday again. But to help me out... Why do you need help?

Maybe I'm judging him against my dad. I wouldn't even have to ask.
Just like I offer to help carry boxes out for NE when he's shipping stuff - without having to be asked or making a big deal.

Am I wrong to feel ticked that he's expecting me to do all this by myself? If we were broken up that'd be one thing, but supposedly we are in a relationship. Isn't part of that helping each other??

I should add that I hired two men and a truck to move my stuff from storage to here. It was me and them. 2 hours charged. $287. Ugh.

Part of my upset probably has to do with my realizing just how inadequate this apt is for storage. I'm going to have to buy something for pantry space and for my baking and cookware. There simply isn't enough cupboard space.

I'm sorely missing my little house in NM right now.

All in all, I think I am going to really like my new job. The part that scared me the most about it - figuring out bus routes for people - has gotten easier and easier everyday. Other things I do, such as sell passes to people at the window, is pretty interesting. Some of the people who come there ... are quite characters.

My boss, K, is pretty funny. On Friday we moved my phone to the other part of the desk so that I would not have my back turned to the window when on the phone. We realized that the phone cord wasn't long enough. So after a bit of trial and error, we got a 25 ft cord. When it arrived, I was on the phone. K proceeded to use it as a jump rope, and then pretended it was a lasso ... all while I was somehow not bursting out laughing. (K is at least 55+)

I also got two hours of overtime in on Wednesday helping out selling passes at a school open house. Kind of cool getting paid for doing stuff after regular work hours. Not something I'm used to. In a school, you just do it - no pay expected.

I *think* my health benefits may start as soon as September 1. I need to double check this since the person talking about it went really fast. My retirement benefits won't start until February 1. I can't take a sick day or a vacation day until after February 1 (but they start accruing already.)

---

I haven't heard from my new landlords about my apartment and when I'll be able to move in. I meant to call tonight, but forgot.

I am really ready to be in my own place again. Really ready.

Other than my job, I am struggling with this move.

I have tried out most of the area churches affiliated with SDA, and thought I found one that fit. The people in the Sabbath School class I've attended 3 times now seem really friendly.

But I'm still sitting by myself during church service.

I knew going into this that NE would not attend church with me. I hoped I would meet people who'd invite me to sit with them or something, so I wouldn't feel that loss so much. But obviously it hasn't happened.

NE isn't much into doing anything other than lounging in his apt or surfing the net. I was really hoping to meet people at church who might want to do things with me. Hasn't happened yet.

I guess I'm feeling really lonely. There was a free concert tonight at the church, and I decided to not attend mainly because I just couldn't face sitting by myself yet again.

This was part of the reason why I didn't attend church very regularly in New Mexico. I had no one to really sit with the majority of the time. I so was hoping that would change with a bigger church.

NE has tried to accommodate me with doing things once in awhile ... but makes such a big deal out of it, I'd rather not do anything in the first place.

---
I've gained 8lbs since moving here. Lots of it I think is from stress eating (i.e. junkfood) and some of it also from the first month where we were eating out *a lot*. I'm really hoping that once I move into my own place and have more control over kitchen/food/ etc that I'll be able to get back on track.

I did work out 4 x this week - 2x at the gym at my office - running (ha ha) barefoot on a treadmill.

--
Almost forgot - I'd love ideas on how to make it easier to clean 5 cat litter pans? It's killing my back every time I do it ... which makes it so I'm not doing it daily like they need.