to the SUV loan! $500 to be exact. We are now sitting at $7000.00 and we have only had the vehicle for 1 1/2 years. Yahoo! I checked their automated system this morning, and found, if we had to, a payment wouldn't have to be made until 3/2013 since we are so far ahead....don't worry....we will keep sending $500 a month as long as we are able.....I want this loan gone

I didn't get a raise. I had my annual review a couple of weeks ago and was told for this year, they are putting a freeze on all salaries. Have to admit I was bummed. I have received a raise every year since I started 13 years ago. I do understand why though. Owners of the clinic are still leary about the economy (even though we are VERY busy). We are looking at getting a whole new computer system here within the next couple of months. That is going to be a huge chunk of money. Plus, we have 2 gals that are expecting (May & July) and we will need to pull some temps in which also cost money. A year and half ago, we did did an addition to our building which was also a huge chunk of money out.

At least they are happy with my work and are very appreciative of all that I do...that does make me feel good.

I love where I work so I am definately not going anywhere

Maybe next year.

Oh wow am I excited!

He sent me an email this morning regarding a bonus...at first I thought it was the PPA payout (if you have 80 hours in your bank at the end of the year, company pays it back to you...this is sick time not vacation time) Thought that wasn't coming until the end of the month.

Upon further reading, I realized there was an attachment...when I opened it, it was talking about a bonus and how hard all the employee's had worked...blah, blah, blah...I quickly realized this was NOT for PPA.

I immediately emailed DH back and asked if he was getting 2....he replied with a big YES!

I am so stoked! This will be paid out on Jan 17th and it also means we can book our excursions for our cruise in April and that the cruise will now be PAID IN FULL!

Any overage will go to the savings account.

That sure brought a smile to my face today

DD2 had a soccer tournament last weekend....such as it is....we were out on the "other side" of town last weekend. That necessitated eating lunch and dinner out on Saturday and lunch on Sunday. Lucky for me, I had some gift cards to use!

I buy gift cards through our scip program at her high school...actually it is district wide, but at the high school level, we get a percentage back that goes into an account that can be used for school fee's.

I used to buy religiously when DD1 was in school and I have kind of slacked off the past couple of years.

I am happy to report I am back on it! I want to build enough so when DD2 is a senior next year, I will have hardly have any out of pocket costs. Freshman and Senior year in our school seem to be the spendy ones. The only thing it can't be used for is driver's ed....bummer for me....I just paid $185 for DD2 to do driver's ed in April.

These gift cards are going to come in handy next weekend....DD2 has a 4 day socer tournament this coming weekend.....1 game a day on Friday, Sat, Sun, and Mon (no school Mon)

I am hoping to find some coupons also to pair with my cards...nothing like saving money when you have to spend money....ha ha....does that make any sense?

The good news....we finally allowed DD2 to get her permit.....DH didn't think she was mature enough and she probably wasn't but she has made great strides so we said yes. She is good kid though, don't get me wrong. Some kids just aren't ready when the time comes. In our house, driving is a privilege not a right! I don't think just because someone is the legal age, means they are always ready to drive. Like we all know, it is a huge responsibility to be out there on the road.....some people in my opinion still shouldn't be out there driving around! Anyway, $5 for the test and since she passed (yay the first time)! it was an additional $23.50 for the permit. I took her over to a sports park where the lot was completely deserted for a quick lesson....she was really anxious to get started! Lol

In other news....the food processor I ordered from Amazaon, which was a portion of the gift card received from one of the doc's at Christmas, arrived the other day....I had no idea it had come! Apparently it arrived Tuesday. Our office manager says to me this morning..."you know that box over there is yours"....uh...no.... nobody told me....I thought it was just supplies or something which I don't deal with. Anyway, it was a another crazy day (I had to work at someone else's desk to cover) and I had to get out of there at a certain time to take DD to the dmv....of course I ran off and forgot it! Ugh....I was hoping to play around with it this weekend

Had the first of the freezer meals I made over Christmas break for dinner tonight.

I used my Dream Dinners cookbook to make 4 meals that I froze in heavy duty gallon bags.

I've been in a rut lately making the same old meals and we are all getting rather tired of them!

I thawed in the fridge for 2 days and popped it in the casserole dish and covered it with foil. Gave DD2 instructions for heating it up. Have to say it was pretty darn good.

Tonight's entree was lemon pasta chicken...I have actually made this before and just cooked for that night rather than freezing.

I have 3 more meals in the freezer:

Kahlua Baked Beans (with ground beef)
Mustard Chicken
Black Bean and Rice salad

It was awesome to come home to a hot cooked meal since I had to work late today.

I plan to make more soon.....it's especially great on nights DD2 has early soccer practice.

Thanks to having that meal tonight....no eating out!

from Comcast. As soon as DH turns in the DVR's and cable modem, we should receive a check from Comcast for approx $44.00 in 3 to 4 weeks.

It was interesting....they didn't even try to get us to stay when I called to cancel....they did ask the reason why and I just said it's too expensive.....one rep said "oh, we are the same price as everyone else"....ha ha....I think not. You would think they would have tried to get us to stay with an excellent payment record and all. Not that I would have though

It's official! The land line is GONE! Just have to remember now to keep my cell phone on at all times and not throw it in my purse when I get home

DISH network is up and going and so is FIOS for internet....we estimate this will save $30 to $40 each month.

Next up....getting rid of AOL....still pay $11.99 for AOL....it's kind of like the losing the land line....had it for so long and hoping it will not be a PITA to switch over to something else.

Considering dropping the daily paper.....excpet for the Sunday edition...need those coupons!

Love to see money being saved

That is the one thing I hate about this time of year. Not nearly as many coupons in the inserts around the holidays. There were some in Sunday's paper, but honestly, there was hardly anything in there I needed or would use. Since I live in the land of no doubles or CVS, coupons are precious to me, they really help to keep the budget on track. I would use more internet coupons but Winco will not take them....something about too much fraud. So I use those at Fred Meyer for things I can't get at Winco.

I did manage to save $9.00 between Fred Meyer (Kroger) and Winco this weekend using my coupons.

Bought pizza this weekend with gift cards and saved $5.00 on top of that.

Took DD1 back to college today....DH, DD2, and I stopped for lunch at a favorite deli and saved $5.00 there.

Both coupons came from our Entertainment Book. That book has just about paid for itself already.

Hey there is another goal......tracking down more coupons!

Just thinking about a few things I would like to see happen in 2012!

Financial:

1) $25,000 to savings account

2) Continue to pay off SUV loan...currently at $7500....still paying $500/mo.

Personal:

1) Lose 10-12 lbs by April 20th (the big cruise)!

2) Continue to eat healthy and excercise at least 5
times a week.

3) Learn to knit

There's more on my mind but frankly I had another busy day of cleaning and organizing and I am wiped out.....going to go relax in a hot bath with a good book!

Glad to have a 3 day weekend