I will admit, I joined Facebook and am really enjoying it! Initially it was to hook up with people from high school before our reunion last year, but it is so much more! I have reconnected with "far away" family, some wonderful old friends and some super SA friends!

The best part, besides the updates and pictures, is the FREE games you can play. Not just the time consuming ones (I try to stay away from most of those! I don't need a Farm or a Fish tank! )But fun ones like Family Feud, Scrabble and even Uno! And it is all free and I can play them with my kids online at the same time with some of them! Nice for connecting with them when I have downtime at work! They have lots of fun word puzzle game too.

Going to talk to DH about him getting a second job. (AGAIN!) Wish me luck!

Wow, I rarely have these! I hope I can have many more. A new goal for me!
Tomorrow I my goal is to clean out the fridge and the pantry so I have a good idea of our inventory.
Having another NSD would be great too, but I never know until day is done!

September and the beginning of October are a landmine of birthdays here!
Managed to get away pretty easy. Bought DD3 a $15 phone card and a Reeses. She was thrilled. DD1 will be getting her own printer/scanner/copier I got on sale at Target for 28.88. Bought and stashed. DD2 wants Phantom tickets. This will be trickier. Expensive. Ugh. For Mom's bday, I bought 2 GC's for the price of one ($25) for a bbq place and took her to dinner. Ahhh, done for another year!

So, have been being pretty disciplined with my little babysitting charges. Their momma was not giving me money to take them out anywhere, so I stopped spending my own money. It takes a lot of discipline on my part, because mom is VERY strict and she has been working from home. Pretty hard to maintain your sanity when you are only allowed to play dollies or make art. These sweet little ones have mastered the art of WHINE and sometimes you just need a break! So I like to get them out and away from the house, but the parks have been off limits since the little one broke her leg. We have been doing the free movies a lot and I stock up on snacks from home before we leave. I fill up a backpack full and off we go! I took my kids and the baby sitting kids to the zoo last week. Our zoo is free and I packed a lunch from the babysitting house, so no cost to me. It was hard not to just run out and buy them all Lunchables or something, but I resisted! You have no idea how big that is for me.

That is it really. I had a NSD yesterday. Today I am going to take the little ones swimming. Dinner is planned, so another NSD looks to be in the works!

Yeah! We have had temps in the high 70's! I love that we are saving money on gas.

Tomorrow will be an over 12 hour day. Kind of dreading it. Been working with my 11 year old to make sure she is able to act more independently, as DD1 has a job at Steak n Shake now and can't be here to hold down the fort. Unfortunately, DD2 and DD3 (the 11 year old), don't exactly get along. Will see how it goes.

I have stopped the bleeding!! Okay, call me crazy, but I am so excited that our debt WENT DOWN FINALLY!! Even with adding the van repair (which DH will need to cover if we do'nt get it paid off by the beginning of November or we will be charged interest) our total debt number went DOWN!! This is the first time in longer than I can remember that we have not incurred any new debt! This month we have 3 birthdays to contend with, but I am determined to keep the number going backward!!

Spent today going through my coupons, purging, adding new ones. I saved over $10 at the store today! Whenever we have eaten out lately we have used coupons and gift cards. It pays to try to be a little organized.

DH and DD2 got 2008 Six Flags season passes for $10 each last year for going on the last day.
So I bought the "family pack" for myself and DD1 and DD3, with the parking pass. Today, it paid for itself and it is only June! I love that they have free coupons to bring friends and with your pass, you get a discount at every shop for drinks, etc. They have an awesome water park at our Six Flags too. So it was waterpark, out to the parking lot for our lunch from the cooler, under the trees, then back in for rides. The day was hot, but there was a breeze and the lines were SHORT!
Good time for all girls and friends, and everything from here on out is GRAVY!

I guess I'll say it is REWARDING the kids for saving money! At Easter time my kids have gotten too old for stuffed bunnys and crayons, so they have VERY generous family who give them lovely cards with money in them. (Not me! I still give them just candy and a special treat). Each child made off with $50 total. I told them if they put $20 of that in their savings account, I would add $5 to their account too. Bingo! All three stashed the cash! I'm so proud!

Help! We've been trapped inside with no school, no spend and cases of Girl Scout cookies. Ummmm..... life is good??!!

It was easy to have no spenders, but Saturday we got OUT and had SPECIAL OCCASIONS and Sunday we were BUSY and had to go SHOPPING. Well, you get the picture. We did spend, but not too much.

Wow the ice storms were nuts! And now more snow is supposed to come tonight. Please, please, please, make the kids go to school.....please!!!

Babysitting tomorrow. Good for the pocketbook, but not so good for the fybromyalgia. Ugh, the pain and all the other fun symptoms have been really flaring up this month. We did eat out too much, shot one of my goals down. At this point it is called survival.

Hoping to fix the wreck of Sat/Sun and make another snowflake payment to the Amex!!

Well, in reviewing the "ugly debt", I decided to move a hunk of the Amex to a 6.9% Chase interest rate good till the debt is paid. So I will throw $11,000 on there and make the left over amount the object of my snowflake, as it is the highest interest rate. So, housecleaning already!!

My DH and I have been planning for our anniversary dinner for a couple of months! We ended up with 4 $10 gift cards to Red Lobster and $5 from a survey I cashed in, plus a $4 off coupon! So with an extra $20 we had in cash (in-laws gave us some anniversary money), dinner was paid for! YUM! IN CASH, felt sooo good!!!

We picked Ground Hogs day for our anniversary date, so that my husband could remember it, but it was'nt as mushy as Valentines Day! Oh, eighteen long wonderful years!

I have to snicker a little bit here. I am the girl guilty of spoiling my family till we are deep in debt. Of course, that has changed and I have tried to be very proactive in our debt pay off, at least in baby steps. First is no new debt. That is going okay. So I am learning to say NO! I guess even to the point of being a little mean. DH was extolling the virtues of a great boat, better than the last one he was looking at. I calmly said, "There is not a chance you will be buying a boat!" I hated to squash his dreams (for now!), but then again it felt pretty good! I never told him he couldn't stop dreaming or shopping for one, I just draw the line at BUYING.

I did a phone interview today and the lady wants me to come in tomorrow for a face to face. We'll see how it goes!

I did spend today. Our local store had a 10 for $10 sale, so I looked through my coupons and went and spent a little bit. Used a competitive grocer coupon for $10 off my total order too!

Picked up breakfast on the way to work with my Starbucks GC. Yum!

Went to work. This situation is getting WAY to uncomfortable!! Yikes! I'm sorry, but there is a woman who is running the business that is running it LIKE a man would say a woman would!! Secrets, back stabbing, running amuck!! AHHHH! I may have to quit before I find something else, as it is almost a moral dilemma for me!

DD3 wanted a new game for her Nintendo DS, so we gathered all her unplayed games and an old Gameboy her sister unearthed and traded it in. Not only did we get the new game for FREE, but we also got 8.15 in store credit for next time!! Woo hoo! They gave us money to take things from their store!

No, trading spaces did not come knocking at my door. My DD2 has been wanting to redo her room and finally decided on penguins. I sold a gift card for some things DD2 returned from Christmas and bought a bed in a bag set for her. Then we used the Home Depot gift cards I got for Christmas, for the painting supplies. Viola! A new room! I will try to post some pictures once we get everything back into place!

First off I have to say NO SPEND DAY!!

Okay, with that said, I need some opinions. I know what I think, but have to convince DH, so let me know if I am seeing this wrong. My mortgage broker called today. This is a person I have known for years and trust not to screw me over. He said we can refinance for no cost and that it would save us $50-$70 dollars a month. Now with the job search not going great, this would be welcome money. There is a new bank in town (that have favorable reviews) that is looking for new loans. He said we would have to pay 4 months escrow up front, but our old loan would refund us the escrow money we have in there,and we could then send that money to put toward the new loan. Our interest rate would drop about .25 of a percent. Certainly not earth shattering. We pay no fees or closing costs, just basically sign the papers and make new payments to the new bank. I guess they are giving some sort of bonus to him for new loans, cause I flat out asked him, if it is free for me, whats in it for him?? He just said "oh we still make money". So... thoughts, opinions?

Amazing what having no money and no access to money can do! I did'nt spend a thing today!

I called the high school and they told me they already hired someone for the secretarial position. Bummer, it would have been a good fit. I don't think they were very professional about it either. Most of the time they send you a letter saying "thanks for the resume or interest" or whatever, nothing. I asked her if they keep the resume on file. She said no, I could send one to the main school district office. So I guess my time and effort went into the trash - ugh!

Have listed a couple of things on ebay hoping to make some money.

On a really happy note - NO NEW DEBT!
Woo hoo!

Yes, its the incredibly shrinking or should I say disappearing paycheck! Viola'!!! Its gone! I even borrowed a bit from the savings account to stock up on the meat sale!
I got:
5 london broils
5 4pks of beef patties
5 packs of ground round
5 packs of stew meat
5 frozen shrimp rings
1 bag of chicken breast
2 bags of meatballs
2 packs of slice in bake cookies
2 16 oz packs of bologna (for DD3)
for $125!! I can stretch this meat out for a couple of months!

I really almost did it!! I almost used one of those checks from my CC to put money into my checking account to pay for some things. Yikes! I'm glad I was able to resist. For the most part, I am concerned about the 0% change I made back to my Citibank card. My minimum first payment was a huge $500!! What the heck??? Scary is what that is. It makes me mad!! But then I figure if I can suck it up and choke it out, I will pay the *&%$#@'s off faster! Ahem! Amazing how they can trap you. Be very careful!

Cue the choirs of angels singing! Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus! Our local grocery store is bestowing upon us another meat sale!! As you know from my past blogs, these have been lifesavers in this current economy! 5 packages for 19.99. I usually spend $100 and get 25 packages. Good stuff too! Shrimp, London Broil, ground CHUCK! Of course I have been trying more meatless meals too, so hopefully I can stretch this even furthur! Now to try to carve $100 into the budget for the meat sale in this holiday season. Will let you know at the end of the week what I end up with!

I was buried in bread!! Each Sunday I make up the kids lunches for the week and store them in the fridge. Apple slices, chips (individually divided into zippered snack bags), a sweet treat (yep, store bought this week - oops)and a drink. Oh, and the sandwiches, 15 of them suckers. DD3 prefers the bologna (cut into a cute christmas tree shape), DD1 peanut butter straight up and DD2 the old PBJ! All set for another week. I can't tell you how happy those sacks lined up in the fridge make me at 6 in the morning!!

Go to this link to download a $5.00 off Tylenol coupon!! Just scroll down to the red Download button at the bottom (you may have to install the coupon loader, easy and quick) and then hit download and print coupon! Many Tylenol items you can find for under $5.00, so its FREE!

http://www.tylenol.com/page.jhtml?id=tylenol/news/subpcccold...

As discussed before, my main money leak is the kids. I spoil them terribly. So I picked the main culprit, DD2 and told DH he is now in charge of her money needs. If she asks me to buy something, I will tell her she has to ask her dad. It is amazing that she will buy no clothes or anything, but loves to blow money on junk! Hopefully this will plug one of the money holes on our sinking ship!

DH was getting a bonus on this check. We were using it to pay for the taxes on his new car. With some of it, I stocked up at the meat sale at my favorite local grocery store. They also had good sales I combined with good coupons, plus a coupon for 5 dollars off meat as a competitive coupon savings. I spent about $300 (unheard of for me!!!), but "saved" about $75 to $77 and loaded up on meat and school lunch stuff that will last a month in a half to two months if I stretch it out. Woo hoo.

Still have heard nothing about the library job.

Cashed in $20 from the NFO surveys.

Trying to make it through our birthday "month" (all the kids have birthdays at the same time!!) without breaking the bank. Had DD3's party at the mall today. We did a little scavenger hunt. Loved it cause I did'nt have to clean my house! Good time had by all! Tomorrow we will got to church and take her to her favorite resturant for lunch.

I STILL have'nt heard yet if I got the library job. I called her and asked if they had made up their minds, she said the bosses had been in meetings and she has'nt been able to talk to them yet. Hmmm..... Makes you wonder about the place! Did'nt see anything good in the paper to send in a resume for, but I will check the Sunday paper!

Been looking at other ways to save money. One is making a detailed list of meals. They have another meat sale at my favorite grocery store again!! Want to stock up!

The other is to pull the kids in on the goal. My husband pointed out that they are my worst money drain and that if I plugged it, maybe I would'nt have to go get another job. Still thinking on how to make this one work.

Just got an email from ebay and it has NO LISTING FEES FROM AUG. 29 TO SEPT. 30!! Sell everything and save up for the Christmas rush!! Just use a gallery picture and keep your listing at 9.99 or less and the insertion fee is on them!! I have been waiting for this! I am going to hunt for tons of stuff!

So, I did a little shopping today. I went to Walmart because DD2 needs a new ceiling fan in her room and they have them cheap! Got one for 18.88. Saw all the wonderful school supplies on sale and picked up some notebooks, paper and so on.

Then I went to our local grocery store and stocked up on meat. I chose to purchase ground chuck, shrimp, london broil, sirloin, stew meat and chicken breast. It was 5 for 19.99 so I bought 100.00 worth. I looked for the largest packages of meat I could get! The receipt says I saved 57.60! Not bad. In regular coupons I only had 2.55! A 60.00 savings in total was not bad. I was aggrevated because our other local store was have a $5 off meat purchase over 19.99 that I could have used at this store. Darn! Never good enough - right!

This is birthday party weekend. Hopefully will get through it without spending any more money!