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Archive for November, 2006

Where'd It Go?

November 30th, 2006 at 10:27 pm

No savings for me this week. Today was payday and it is all gone.
Checking Account #1:
My CC # 1 $330.00 PIF
My CC #2 65.00 PIF
DD's CC#1 115.79 PIF
DD's CC # 2 113.70PIF
Condo Maint. 247.00
__________________________________________
Total $871.89

Checking Account #2:
DD's Roth Ira $150.00
DD's Emigrant Savings $ 50.00
__________________________________________
Total $200.00

I still have not received the bill for my car repair yet. I know it will be a doozy.
I have been increasingly making more meals at home.
Other than paying the bills, today has been a no spend day.

A Big Spending Day

November 28th, 2006 at 09:56 pm

Today was a big spend day. It started off with a not so simple car inspection. The mechanic called a little before lunch informing me that I would be needing 2 new tires, brakes and rotors and something that my car's computer was saying that I needed a couple of sensors replaced. I hate that darn check engine light!!! I seriously asked them if they could just disconnect the darn thing and they laughed and said no...that my car would certainly not pass inspection if they did that. As I write I still don't have an idea of how much all this will cost. I just know that it won't be cheap. Oh well I guess it is still better than a car payment every month.

After work DH and I went to lunch and had Thai. 20.00$ Then on to buy our dogfood 90.00$ The dog food is pretty expensive but it is certainly worth it. After, we went on to Costco we had to buy food stuff and items for the office 283.96$. Still no sitings of the Ninendo Wii.

Low Spend Day

November 26th, 2006 at 01:25 am

Today spent $3.00 at Wendy's,1 burger,1 fries and a small chili. Lunch for me and DD. Spent another $3.00 at the food store. I had to buy some celery for the soup and penne for the scampi. All and all a very low spend day.

Since the weather was beautiful today I did alot of yard work. My husband told me that I have been doing such a beautiful job in the yard even better than when we had the landscapers do it. I have noticed that more people in the neighborhood have started to take care of their own yards, I guess it is catching on.

Since my dog has finished his PT I have been taking him on progressively longer walks and his gait is getting much better. There is still a bit of a limp but at least he can go on walks. Unlike last year at this time...he couldn't go up the block and back.

I guess I will get ready to watch the Suze Orman show. Goodnight!

Thanksgiving

November 24th, 2006 at 10:21 pm

For Thanksgiving I made my free turkey from Shoprite and brought it to my Mom's. I also brought 2lbs. of shrimp and two large trays of mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat and covered in mozzarella cheese. I came home with everything except the mushrooms. My mother had outdone herself again...she had enough food to feed an army never mind us. So, today for lunch I used 1/2 of the shrimp to make shrimp salad and tonight for dinner we will have turkey again. Tomorrow night I will use the remainder of the shrimp for Shrimp Scampi. The rest of the turkey leftovers will be used for turkey salad and turkey noodle soup.

I have to say Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays maybe even the favorite. I love getting together with my family and breaking bread with them and I also love the feeling of "feeling thankful" for what I already have. The feeling is much better than at Christmas, especially when you don't meet expectations.

I was able to save most of my pay this week,which is excellent. I rented the movie You, Me and Dupre from Red Box...it was cute and very funny at times. I read The Aristocrat, a romance novel by Ann Coulter it was just okay. Looking forward to the weekend.

Black Friday

November 24th, 2006 at 06:22 pm

I have never done a Black Friday sale. I mean never. I just hate crowds, pushing shoving and bad attitudes. I don't care how good the deals are. To me it is just not worth it. My daughter went to stand on line at 4:30 this morning looking to get the Nintendo Wii for her boyfriend. She got back home at about 7:30 with absolutley no success. This was her first Black Friday and she couldn't believe the lines. I don't think she will be doing that again. Not a good experience.

Wednesday I went to the local Salvation Army. On Wednesdays they have 50% off their already low prices on most tickets except for the color of the day. Which is great b/c that means that about 80% of the items are half off. I usually do pretty well when I go. This Wednesday was no exception. I was able to get beautiful Hickey Freeman dress shirts for my brothers. I could swear they were brand new. For my DH I got a really nice LL Bean shirt A hardly worn LL bean winter coat and an LL Bean rain jacket. For my 7 year old nephew I was able to find a London Fog wind breaker with hood with tags still on. I also purchased a few thick hooded sweatshirts and a few zippered fleece jackets to keep him warm. All the items looked in perfection condition, no noticeable wear or tear. While I was on line at the check out I met a woman and we got to talking and she told me she freqents this thrift store once a month to find wool sweaters. She has a horse farm upstate and she likes to buy her kids the wool sweaters to keep them warm. She has also purchased Coach handbags and waterford cystal. We ended our conversation hoping to bump into each other again. My best deal was when I got an Ellen Tracey sweater with tags still on stating the original cost was 800.00 for 5.00.

Oops! My blog was a little longer than I inteded and I have to get back to work.

Finally had my test!

November 20th, 2006 at 06:17 pm

Finally had my ultrasound done after waiting two months. Everything is fine. It really is a quick and easy test. I don't know why there is such a hassle with getting an appointment. Anyway, I am thrilled with the results and can now enjoy the holidays. I didn't have to lay out any money for this, my insurance will cover the cost. I wish I could encourage more people to go for mammographies and ultra sounds. These tests save many lives. They are non invasive and realitively painless.


Payment for my daughters next semester at the University is quickly coming upon us. We will be ready. It is not such a huge payment now that she goes to a state school.
For Christmas she wants the Nintendo Wii. I have been trying to get a hold of one and every place seems to be sold out. They aren't cheap either $249.00 for the base unit. I wonder where all these people are coming up with this kind of cash?

It got kind of cold here over the weekend and I had to turn on the heat. I think that the cold is here to stay for the next several months. Yuck!

I just wanted to add that I thought that the lists were great! It is so nice getting to know you.

Mantra "Save More, Spend Less"

November 18th, 2006 at 10:44 pm

I don't have much planned for this month financially speaking. I'm just trying to save more and spend less.
I'm doing okay with the credit card...I guess. I do have a small balance on one of the cards and that is because I have been doing some Christmas shopping I'm sure that the balance will go a lot higher by the end of December. Having a zero balance while it lasted made me feel good. Now I kind of feel blah. Oh well! I like using the old CC because of the ease of use and the buyer's protection that it offers.

I did come into some money over the past two weeks. I received my state and federal return money( I filed late). I had forgotten about it...so it was a nice suprise. It all went into savings. I am going to go over the finances and come up with a new strategy for the coming year. We were very good this year so I think next year will be very hard to top. WE didn't take any time off work or go on a family vacation this year. First time this has happened since we have been married. Next year I would like to go on a couple of vacations to make up for this past year. We will see.

Shopping Today

November 14th, 2006 at 12:50 am

Did a lot of shopping today. Went to Walmart. Spent 73.00 used 20.00 in coupons. Went to the Hallmark store and bought DD a Vera Bradley bag for Christmas and received a free gift with purchase 54.00.

Next it was on to do the food shopping. Spent 98.00 at Shop Rite. That total is with 28.00 worth of coupons.

Made meatballs and pasta for dinner. Ice cream for dessert.

A Rainy Day

November 13th, 2006 at 12:22 am

A very rainy day today, here in NY. I'm glad I got to mow and rake yesterday. I was able to put down my winterizer fertilizer too. Now, I hope with all this effort I have a beautiful lawn come next spring. Today was mostly spent doing things inside the house. I helped hubby clean out his closet. We have a lot to donate to the thrift store. We also have a pretty big trash pile too. Now hubby can see the floor to his closet. He aslo didn't realize all the nice stuff he had hiding in there. Next I was on to the regular house cleaning. When that was finished hubby took us out to dinner for sushi, yummy.

TGIF

November 10th, 2006 at 11:37 pm

TGIF! Today was extremely busy at work. We had a lot of odd people to deal with. Above and beyond the normal garden variety. They sap so much of my energy.
I got home and really didn't feel like thinking about dinner...hubby was his usual kind and generous self and asked if I would prefer to go out. I told him no thanks, that I was too tired to go out. So, I put up a chicken to roast. I guess I will make a little stove top stuffing and a veggie and call it a day.

The good new is...today was a no spend day.

November 9th 2006

November 10th, 2006 at 01:17 am

It hasn't been a very exciting week. Kind of on the dull side. Haven't spent much money either,except on food shopping. Used a lot of coupons and was able to save a fair amount. Gotta love the coupons!

Today was payday and after bills I was able to save about 25%. Not too bad. Hubby is jumping on board and he is joining me in the savings department.

Today we cashed in some bottles and received a dollar in change. That will go into hubby's coin savings.

I have been doing quite a bit more cooking as of late. I really like using my new crock pot. Tonight I made a nice pot roast with potaotes and carrots. Yummy!

Today was my dog Teddy's last day of physical therapy. I have to say he is so much improved from the beginning. Thank goodness!

MY $10.99 Dinner

November 7th, 2006 at 01:00 am

Had a pretty quiet weekend. Spent very little money( a little on food).

Today worked until 6pm. Didn't feel like going food shopping or cooking. Used my Chinese food coupon. For 10.99 I get a quart of Wonton soup, 2 egg rolls, a quart of chicken and broccoli and a container of brown rice. This place makes the best chicken and broccolli. Didn't spend anything other than the 10.99.

Moolah In

November 4th, 2006 at 10:51 pm

Yipee! Another no spend day. I received a coupon from Victoria's Secret for a free pair of underwear, value $7.50. Took the coupon to the store and got the underwear. Thats it nothing else.

I then went to my parents house and was treated to lunch. While I was there my brothers paid me the money they owed me(all of it).
When I got home I had some yard work to do.

I finally turned on the heat last night. It got really cold,in the 30's. I guess going for 2 months with out the use of heat or A/C is pretty good.

Tonight for dinner I am going to make Salmon with Cilantro and Lime and some veggies on the side. This is a new recipe I am trying. I will let you know how it turns out.

I think for entertainment I am going to check and see if the Red Box has any new releases. I'll see if hubby or DD will volunteer to pay.

Zero Out

November 3rd, 2006 at 06:20 pm

Yes, finally a no spend day! I have been waiting for one of these days to come around again. I had to work all day so no time to spend.
I made tinapbeana's dirty rice recipe. I had that for lunch today and it was very good. My husband enjoyed it as well. I think I went a little to far with the spices. Tonight, I will grill an Asian marinaded London broil for dinner, already have that on hand. Well, back to work I go.

Zero Out

November 3rd, 2006 at 06:20 pm

Yes, finally a no spend day! I have been waiting for one of these days to come around again. I had to work all day so no time to spend.
I made tinapbeana's dirty rice recipe. I had that for lunch today and it was very good. My husband enjoyed it as well. I think I went a little to far with the spices. Tonight, I will grill an Asian marinaded London broil for dinner, already have that on hand. Well, back to work I go.

Today's Savings

November 3rd, 2006 at 12:33 am

Today was payday and I am happy to say that I was able to save 100%. I was able to save so much because I don't have any credit card debt. Sent in my last payment last month.

I was busy running a lot of errands. Combined them all so that I only had to take the car out once.

Used the slow cooker again. I made creamy chicken and egg noodles. Delicious. I foud the recipe on recipezaar.com

Busy, Busy

November 2nd, 2006 at 12:16 am

Today started off with the ususal...making hubby's sandwich to take to work,laundry,dishwasher and taking care of the doggies. I then sat down and began to write one of the three letters of complaint. I decided to write to my doctor first and describe in detail what happened to me the other day with regards to being turned away from having my procedure. The next letter will be to the vice president of the hospital and the third letter will be to my insurance company vice president. I made a new appointment today and the earliest they could give me was November 20, 2006. That will be a two month delay in treatment. I think that this is totally unacceptable but at this point I have exhausted all other means. I'm just hoping that the next patient that comes along will not have to go through this same scenario.

I then tried out my new crock pot. $19.00 brand new after rebate and it came with the little dipper. I made thai chicken in peanut sauce with jasmine rice. It tasted pretty good. Hubby liked it and so did DD. While that was ccoking I went out to do the yard work. Mowed the lawn. This will probably be the last cutting until the spring. Then I got up all the leaves and boy there sure were a lot of them. Next, I cleaned the walk to the front door. It took me about three hours to do but I didn't mind, the weather here was so beautiful today. It was sunny and about 70. When my hubby got home from work he complimented me on how beautiful the yard looked. He thought that I had someone come and do it for me. Saved a bundle doing it myself. When I got back in the house there was a lot of dog hair hanging around so I got out the vacuum and cleaned up a bit inside.
So, I have just finished cleaning up after dinner and I am relaxing making an entry to my blog.

Tomorrow is payday and I hope to be able to save a large chunk. We will see. I am a little tired now so I will say goodnight!