At the garage sale that hasn't even started yet. My mom was advertising some styrofoam on Craig's List that she was trying to get rid of as she really didn't want to put it in the trash. A lady and her husband answered the ad and came and got the styrofoam (she makes wedding cakes and wanted it do displays)....of course they noticed the garage full of stuff and asked if they could look around. They bought a bunch of stuff (hoover steam vac, bookcase, and bench w/a lid) from me, a couple of dd1's knick-knack's and something from my mom. They said they may come back as there were other things they were interested it. That is certainly fine by us

From vacation that is. I started this blog and then promptly left.

We had a great family vacation...probably one of the last ones of just the four of us for a while. We are moving dd1 to college on August 28th.

2,000 miles and 5 states! Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. It was alot of fun and we have some great memories. Haven't really totalled everything up just yet. I plan on working on that soon.

Really need to start watching things and getting back on track to a solid plan....the past three months have been super spendy. May brought three b-days on dh's side, mother's day, and dh's nieces college graduation. June brought dd2s b-day, a baby gift, dd1's high school graduation, and two soccer tournaments for dd2. July has brought my sister's b-day, our great nephew's b-day and vacation. It's crazy and never ending it seems. Money is just flying out the door. August is going to bring dh's b-day, my grandmother's b-day, registration for high school, fee for high school soccer and club soccer tryouts, and of course, back to school shopping. Hopefully things will start to calm down in September

Went back to work today....ugh.....wasn't really feeling like going......hard to get back in the groove.

My mom, sister, and I are having a garage sale this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.....my girls will go over and help on Thursday and part of Friday. I will help Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. Weather is looking good so far so we are keeping our fingers crossed....

I guess that's about it for now.....have a great evening!

Yep, I've been doing too much lurking and not enough posting! And too busy spending money!

This past weekend ended up on the spendy side. Some items were necessities (gas and groceries) and others, well, you know how it is.

We are getting ready to go on vacation and I was lacking in the clothing department. Why is it that mom is always the last one to spend money on herself? So, I decided I needed a few things. I ended up at Kohl's, Target, and Fred Meyer. Got some great deals though and I am set for quite a while. Alot of my clothes do double duty for work and play. We are allowed to wear capri's to work as long as they are nice. I now have a pair in black, white, tan, and brown. Also have 2 pairs of jean capri's for casual Friday's at the office (we only work 1/2 day) as long as they are not ripped, torn, frayed ect. Actually, our whole dress code is pretty casual but we can wear jeans on Friday if we like. Also bought a couple of cute "dressy" casual tops and a couple of tank tops for vacation.

Tried not to buy too many groceries as I want us to eat up everything in fridge before we leave.

Paid bills tonight to mail tomorrow. I want to have everything "cleared" before we leave so I can better track our money when we are gone.

I need to fill my gas tank as I am on 1/4 tank. That will last me the rest of the week. We will fill the tank or top it off Friday night before we leave Saturday morning.

Not eating out at all this week, meals are all planned....we will be doing enough eating out on vacation.

That's it for now.....have a great evening!

We had a nice fourth of July weekend. DS seemed interested, not frightened, in the bright fireworks going off all down our street. DD was lighting fireworks this year!(DH helping.) DH had a good friend come to town. We hadn't seen him in two and a half years. He brought his new (dating for over a year) girlfriend, so we got to meet her. She was very nice. Course with his visit we spent money that I didn't think we'd spend for the weekend. Saturday DH had drinks out with his buddy. $60. Sunday they contributed to our BBQ dinner, so no added cost there. DH and DD bought some fireworks. $48. Monday we met for breakfast out, split the check. $40. Sooo $100 over.. Still, it was good to see our friend.
Hope you all had a nice weekend also.

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DH is going to Alaska for a week the first part of September. His boss owns property in Sitka. He is an avid fly fisherman and is building four little cabins that they will rent to vacationers. They have one cabin built already. I've seen pictures and it's so cute and cozy. Anyhow, my DH's boss is taking DH and two of the other guys from work up there to go fishing The boss is providing the round trip flight, accommodations and a glacier cruise. His boss is very generous so I wouldn't be surprised if he pays for other little treats too. The four of them will split the cost of their fishing guide and food. DH has a furnace and AC install job that he will use the profits from to pay for his part. So it is "extra" money, not effecting the budgeted income. I am happy that he goes, but I'd rather save the money. %)

Hello again and thanks everyone for the very warm welcome!

This weekend is shaping up to be a bit on the spendy side. Friday I took DD2 to get some glasses. We have pretty good vision insurance but our out of pocket ended up at $117.00. That is the differnce between what the frames cost and what our insurance allows. We also got the antiglare/antiscratch coating. Insurance pays some on that so we had to pay the rest. I will be submitting this to my flexible spending account next week for reimbursement.

Today, DH spent $140 on some wheels for his car. A couple of his are scratched up and this guy was selling 4 for $150. DH went out and took a look at them and said they were in great shape so he felt he got a good deal.

I spent the morning at my mom's house pricing garage sale stuff. We had done some major purging a few months ago and then my mom decided to have a sale....well I did manage to find some stuff and had the girls go through their rooms to find stuff too. We will be having the sale with my sister also at the end of July. Felt good to get it all done. Went grocery shopping too. I usually get groceries on Sunday after the coupons come out. Since this is a holiday weekend there will probably be few. Plus we are headed out of town tomorrow for the day so we won't be around. Also picked up a prescription for DH at $10 which will also be submitted next week for reimbursement.

Tomorrow shouldn't be too terribly expensive....gas, dinner out, and a treat...probably ice cream for DH and girls and an iced coffee for me.

I hope everyone has a very wonderful and safe 4th of July!

Hi All!

Well, here I am....another long time lurker, first time poster. A bit about me: 40'ish wife and mom living and working in the Pacific NW. I am a wife to DH of 22 1/2 years and mom to to DD's 18 1/2 and 15. I have worked in the medical field my entire working life. Been at my current office 11 1/2 years doing billing and collections. I have been lucky to have worked part time for the past 11 years but recently went back to working an "almost" full time schedule...basically 8 hours M-TH and 5 hours on Friday. Getting ready to send our oldest off to college in a couple of months. Both DH and I grew up in frugal homes and we have been lucky to have made mostly smart decisions in our adult lives. Looking forward to posting and getting to know everyone a bit better!