First off, thanks for the info about taking food on the plane....I knew you couldn't take liquids (until passing security) so I have no idea why I thought you couldn't take food. Our last few vacations have been long flying times and I can't believe I didn't know this.....this really helps a lot and I am excited to be able to bring some healthy snacks and food!

I received an email awhile back from Barnes and Noble about a settlement and that I would be receiving a credit soon. It has something to do with the Nook (and possibly other e-readers) so I was pleasantly surprised to receive my credit this weekend of $16.00! I loaded it on my account along with a $25 gift card from my birthday so I have $41 to spend. Obviously, this comes as a great time with several long planes rides coming up. I found a couple of books I loaded last night and have a few more in mind to finish up the credit. Yipee!

We will be leaving on vacation next Saturday, so I decided to get creative in the kitchen for the coming week. I went to the store this morning and only bought a few fresh produce items (apples, banana's, strawberries, raspberries and a cucumber) I have milk, eggs, cereal, bread, cheese, lunch meat, a few frozen entree's and some canned soup)to get us through for breakfast and lunches, along with the fresh fruit. If we run out, we have canned fruit we can use. Dinners will be using odds and ends from the freezer and pantry...nothing fancy, but enough for Monday through Friday.

We plan to eat breakfast at the airport on Saturday morning and buy some snacks for the plane ride. Our first leg is almost 5 1/2 hours with no meal. We will have a little less than 1 1/2 hours before our next flight which is almost 4 1/2 hours to grab a bite to eat, and then that will be it....we do not get to our final destination until 9:40 pm, so I doubt we are going to want to eat that late. I hate the thought of buying snacks at the airport due to the cost, but I don't think we would get through security with food in our carry on's and I am sure not waiting until we land to eat. I get a little cranky when I am super hungry

We will spend the night in a hotel and part of the reason we chose it was because they offer a hot breakfast in the morning. It will be nice not to have to find a place to eat. We will board the ship in the early afternoon so our meals will be set for the duration of the trip. Our only other meal should be lunch during our layover on the way home (we will eat breakfast before disembarking), but we may have to purchase some more snacks for the flights home as it is another 10 hour travel day with no meal service once again.

Not much new on the financials....having low/no spends days....it's not hard during the week, but is harder on the weekends when we have more free time.

Paid the water/sewer bill on Wednesday and also the garbage bill. DH and I both needed gas on Thursday, other than that, no spending except my iced coffee addiction.....I am working on that!

Workouts are going well....this week I went Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday...took Tuesday off as my stomach was bothering me....been doing cardio (at least 40 min) and some form of weights (working a different body part each night).

Seems to be paying off...I have lost 2 pounds and definately feel slimmer....I think I haven't lost as much weight as it is all turning to muscle.

Happy Friday friends!

First....fitness...worked out 6 out of 7 days last week....M,T,W,TH,Sat,Sun....took Friday off! Working on the treadmill for 40 min and then doing weights of some sort. Stepping on the scale tomorrow to see if anything has happened. I don't think I lost much (if any), but I definately feel slimmer.

Finances...on autopilot....not much new to report. My mom is still gifting us the $500 per month. For now, it is going directly into the savings. I will be increasing my SEP IRA at work tomorrow.

Working on plans for the next 4 weeks. Making lists of what needs to be accomplished before we leave on vacation. Financial, household, and personal.

I am really looking forward to getting away! So glad it is coming up soon, AND that is is paid in full!

Paid the mortgage today...with an extra $82 going to principal. Just received another $25 reward from Wells Fargo that will be applied to the principal.

We have received 2 rewards so far this year as we have spent quite a bit on the card. We have charged our upcoming vacation and a new mattress which has really added up.

We get 1% back on all purchases and when we reach $25, we have it applied to the principal.

To be clear, we always pay the statement balance off each month and never pay any interest.

Work out today: 45 min treadmill (392 calories burned)
also work ab's.

Have exercised 3/5 days so far.

Hi all!

I haven't been online much and when I finally did, it appeared SA was down.

So I promised I would post my fitness goals and here they are....I am dating mine from 3/1/2014 to 4/4/2014 as we are leaving 4/5/2014 for our cruise....that gives me 5 weeks to work on the goals.

Work out: 25 days (more if possible)

This will be a combination of treadmill and weights.

So far:

3/3/2014: 45 min treadmill & worked abs and legs (calories burned 378)

3/4/2014: 45 min treadmill & worked abs and shoulders (calories burned 388)

On the treadmill my incline is between 8.5 and 9.0 with a pace of 3.1 to 3.2.

I will weigh myself once a week (on Monday's)

Rooting for all my fellow SA friends who are working on their own goals....we can do it!