is how I am feeling lately....but, it is a good boring. Meaning not alot of money spent lately. For the most part, we have really been watching the spending. We had decided not to do any eating out during the week, only once on the weekend. We have been pretty good about this, except for last weekend, we did do dinner out on Friday, and then I ended up talking dh into McD's on Sat....this weekend we have been good.....saw Black Swan on Friday and then cheapy dinner after. Ate in Saturday and tonight. I did have lunch out with my sister today though after we went and saw our 92 year old grandmother. It was cheap, under $5.00 so I am not feeling too bad about it. I consider it a good investment in quality "sister time"

DH has spent a little money on his new fish tank....trying to get the water right....we have lost several fish....well actually all of them except one....he bought two more because he thought the lone one was probably lonley...well....one died so we are down to two.....hope they survive...

Things to do next week include:

Clear dd1's college account and pay spring semester room/board, tuition, and meal plan....this money comes out of a trust for her that was set up by my grandparents when my kids were babies...

Deposit FSA check reimbursement

Cancel a hotel reservation for next Friday...we are only staying Sat night...this is for a soccer tournament in Seattle

Gather tax items

Concussion form for soccer tournament

Start FAFSA....if W2's come in next week

Pay bills and drop them off at post office

Call regarding hospital ER bill.....I received 2 bills....one for a diagnostic study (after the ER visit) which I know is correct...the 2nd one is for all of the ER stuff....no itemization....I need that before I will pay as I am not sure why the balance is what it is.

Annual physical for me tomorrow

Follow up doctor appt for dd2 Tuesday

Soccer practice for dd...M,T,W,TH

I am hoping to accomplish most of this by Tuesday.

Wish me luck!

For once As expected, I received a raise on Thursday....2%, again, about what I expected with the economy and all. I am not complaining at all! DH's bonus came through today and that was immediately transferred to savings.....currently at $19,000 now....very exciting. We also sold a few things on Craigslist....a portable dvd player we bought (off of craigslist) to use on our road trip last summer and also our old entertainment center that was in our 4th bedroom we use as a tv room...so, an extra $140 to savings also.

We were going to sell the tv that we replaced recently but decided to see if dh's mom wanted it....it was a 32 inch and she was using a 19 inch.....she was very happy to have it. She is giving dd1 her 19 inch flat screen to use at college....dd is changing roommates and the one she is changing to doesn't have a tv. She really doesn't have alot of time to watch tv and most of the time she and her friends watch tv in the lounge together but sometimes they just want to "chill out" in their own room

We have had a couple of no spend days recently....a rareity for sure and the bank account definately reflects that.

And that my friends, is a GOOD thing

The owner (Dr) of the clinic I work for came up to my office today with a $50 gift card to my favorite coffee place (no-not Starbucks)! I was so excited....it just made my day! My co-worker and I (we do billing and collections) had our best collection year ever last year and he just wanted to encourage us by starting the year off great. He also joked that he wanted to sabotage us in our office's "Bigest Loser" contest....he was just joking of course

We all did our weigh in today (with a co-worker who is not participating) and set our goals.

My Wii Fit last night told me I was down 1.8lbs...we will see what it says tonight!

Money out today: $125 on cc for dd2's club soccer....only 2 more payments and we will be done paying for Winter/Spring season. They call it Winter because they start practicing right after high school season ends, usually sometime in early Nov...season runs through about April.

Money out Monday: Zero!

Working through my to do list and getting things crossed off. I have a $20 rebate that needs to get in the mail....I have been procrastinating because I haven't felt like filling it all out. Goal tomorrow...get that done!

I am rather annoyed at our dentists office. I received a bill for $45 on Friday. I was thinking they missed a provider write off since our dental plan covers 2 cleanings per year and we shouldn't owe anything. They have "missed" write off's before. So I call today and find out they did x-ray's on my hubby twice last year because "they were watching some teeth". He had a different hygenist both times and the second time he was in, the hygenist took it upon herself (based on the last notes) to do them again. Honestly, who remembers what they had done the previous 6 months? I expressed my annoyance that he wasn't informed prior to them being done. We have been patient's there for 25 plus years and have had the same plan for years. She told me that they would write a letter to the insurance to see if they could get it paid. She also told me should would "as a courtesy" write off 50%. I again expressed my annoyance that we shouldn't have to pay anything at all for a routine exam. She also said they would flag our account so they wouldn't do x-rays more than once a year. That way, if they don't do them and something goes wrong, they are off the hook....ha ha....what a joke. Well I am informing hubby to question next time everything! Also will have to do this for the girls and warn dd1 since she takes herself in there. Anyway, if insurance doesn't pay, I will take it to work and have them pay. They don't offer dental ins to employee's but offer to cover $600 per year for any family member's dental out of pocket. Now that I work enough hours, I have this benefit. So at most it will be $22.50. They better not pull this again or they will really hear about it.

On the upside.....I accomplished almost everything off of my to do list which had about 15 things on it. This included various financial things and appt's. Only a few more to go.

Now off to work out on the Wii....biggest loser challenge starts tomorrow at work! Wish me luck

Money coming in....hopefully a raise for me on Jan 6th. I have my annual review coming up and I expect a raise....not much though...probably 2 to 3%. I have been lucky in the 12 years I have worked at this office, I have always received a raise, unlike my poor hubby who gets an annual review but never guaranteed a raise. However much it is, I will take it. I also found a few weeks ago that I had a ton of pto time. Since we can only carry over 40 hours, I have had to cash in 40 hours. That will be a nice bonus. I think what happened was, I have always worked part time up until about a year ago. When I first started this job, I did negotiate paid holidays and vacations and participation in the SEP IRA. Since I was part time, I only accured one half of what the full time employees accrrued. Now that I work 36 hrs a weeks, I am accuring pto time much faster than I ever have. Plus the fact (knock on wood)I wasn't sick at all last year. So, while the money will be nice, I think I will be a better planner this year and take some much deserved time off! Hubby's bonus should hit our account on Friday. These two "bonus checks" will be immediately transferred to the savings acct. I am getting a good start on my goal of increasing savings. Hubby's pto bonus ($750 prepaid Visa card) won't arrive until the end of Jan. That will be used in Feb for groceries and gas.

Money going out: Gas prices! Yikes, it cost me $42.00 to fill up my tank today. I have a Ford Escape and I was almost on empty. Our state just had an increase in the gas tax. So far gas prices are running about $3.05 to $3.13 in our area. Groceries, personal care items, and a few cleaning items were purchased today. Not too much out though...I did a good stock up last weekend since dd1 was home from college. Now that she has gone back, we should have a little more food in the cupboards and thus, a lower grocery bill each week. My coupon stock is running very low. The last few months I have thought the Sunday paper coupons have not been very good. There wasn't alot of great ones in this weekend's paper either. Still, I saved about $10 which is better than nothing.

So, I am off to make dinner soon, and a menu plan for the coming week.

Have a great evening!

1. Increase savings by $3000 to $5000 (currently at $17,000) Of course, more is always nice!

2. Start a vacation fund for 25th anniversary cruise in 2012.

3. Pay down SUV....current balance $14,000. (our only debt besides mortgage)

4. Menu plan (consistently)!

5. Limit spending on non necessities

6. Do at least 2 home improvement "wants" and pay cash.

7. Commit to a healthier lifestyle (exercise more, eat healthier foods ect)

8. Get back into scrapbooking.....I have tons of pictures and tons of scrapbooking stuff.

9. Become better organized thus, saving more money!

10. Cross an item off my bucket list.

There are more goals, but this represents a nice balance.