DH was paid on Friday and his paystub has finally reflected all of the overtime he has been putting in.

I was able to transfer some extra to savings which was nice.

I was also paid on Friday which was unexpected as I payday wasn't suppose to be until Monday. (I am paid on the 15th and either 30th/31st). I logged onto the bank account yesterday and was surprised at all of the money in there. I quickly saw I had been paid too. My office no longer does paystubs. We are able to log on to a secure site to view our pay, taxes, and pto accural time. It is a way to save all of that paper and nobody really cared if they had the actual stub or not. Of course, if we needed it for some reason, we are always able to get a hard copy. One less piece of paper to deal with.

Property taxes are due Nov 15th so the savings account will take a hit.

Credit card is due Nov 2nd and checking will take a hit.

Water/sewer and also garbage is due in Nov (we pay these 2 bills every other month). I guess it is nice we don't have to pay in Dec!

Dh has been able to get lots of overtime so that is definately going to help.

Don't think we are going to hit our savings goal of $25k by the end of the year

I am bummed but not too much....already thinking ahead to next years goals....

To find that our property taxes went down this year.

Not by a lot...approximately $100 but hey....$100 bucks is $100 bucks right?

Also, if we pay in full, we get a small discount....approximately $100 so we will definately do that....savings account will take the hit for that.

We don't have an escrow, just pay our taxes and homeowners insurance on our own. We are pretty disciplined and save throughout the year, but just the same, it's no fun taking that money out that's for sure!

Taxes are due by Nov 1st.

DH and I finally went and got our passports done last Friday. Gosh! It was expensive. DH had to replace his since he can't find it. We have torn the house apart and also checked the safety deposit box. We have no idea where it is. In the end, he may have ended up having to replace it anyway since is was approximately 15 years old. Not sure if it was actually expired or not but they said it probably shouldn't slow it down much if at all.

I know he had it on the last cruise we went on in 2004 but now it is nowhere to be found. At that time, you weren't required to have a passport for a cruise so I just used a certified copy of my birth certificate. Of course, now, you need it for any travel outside the states.

Feels good to get it done but I had no idea it would be so much. $110 each and then $25 each to the city for handling/sending it in. Yikes!

Ugh....lots of money out the door today.

Mortgage: $961

Credit Card: $750 (pd in full)

Deposit down on dd2's club soccer $200

I also had our travel agent charge $1000 to towards our cruise in April. That won't hit the credit card until next due date though.

I got paid on Wed and dh gets paid on Friday. I hate it when we get paid the same week. DH gets paid every other Friday...never changes. I on the otherhand, get paid on the 15th and either the 30th or 31st. It is usually fine but I like it much better when we are paid on opposite weeks....kind of like getting paid every week. Makes the cash flow much better.

Our high school does registration through the mail. Sure beats having to stand in line with hundreds of other people. Anyway, fee's this year ended up being about $60.00. That is with my credit of $12.66 from my scrip account. Quick breakdown:

$3.00 mandatory student fee (whatever)
$15 ASB sticker (gets into all games)
$10 for an elective
$45 yearbook (price goes up later)

I also had to pay $175 for soccer. That price keeps going up every year. Will also pay for soccer pictures when that comes up. Shouldn't be more than $25 or so.

School pictures will be another $25 to $30 which will be taken the first or second day of school....whatever period their Language Arts class ends up being. I say either 1st or 2nd day because our school has even classes one day and odd the next.

Please don't throw rotten tomatoes at me for buying pictures....I know they don't scream frugal but I love them anyway!

Didn't have to buy too many school supplies either...just some pencils, highlighters, paper, notebooks, and 2 binders. All were purchased on sale and/or with a coupon.

Almost done school clothes shopping too....just have a few more things to get. We usually don't buy too much to start with since it is still warm around here in September and into early October. That way we can save some shopping for warm clothes a bit later in the year and the selection seems a bit better.

Unlike myself who has been extremely fortunate and blessed to receive a raise every year (even 2%), dh's company does not give raises every year. I was happy to hear it was going to be 4%....definately higher than what I thought. I figured 2 or 3%. We will take 2% and add to his 401K. I am thinking we will also add the other 2% to the automatic transfer from checking to savings.

Lots of money going out this month.

Starting out with DD'2 16th b-day. Spent about $100 on her gifts. She also had 3 friends over to celebrate. Part of the cost for the food was for myself, dh, and dd1. Got gourmet cupcakes $19.50 (coupon used), pizza $30.00 (Pizza Hut special) and a movie for 4, $32.00 (used Regal Entertainment coupons). We are also having a family potluck on Sunday so that will be low cost.

DD2 has a 4 day soccer tournament coming up the 25th. We will be heading out of town for 3 or 4 nights. We were hoping to avoid a hotel stay Friday night but it turns out their first game is at 8:00am on Saturday. Since it is a 2 1/2 hr drive we will have to drive up and stay Friday night. What really gets me is that for these out of town tournaments is that they force you to stay in hotels they have arranged.(The club that is putting on the tournament that is) The girls room together so theirs is a shared cost there, plus dh and my room, and we all have to split the cost of the coaches room. Is it bad to hope that only 1 of the coaches will come Plus it is a lot of meals out. We will have to see what is planned for that. Usually they like the team to eat together and do activities together. I am ok with eating together as long as we are not eating at spendy places every day. I know I am not the only one who feels that way. We won't have dd1 as she will be working Monday through Friday and won't be coming with us. We will have to see what kind of activities are planned as we only have 1 game a day Sat, Sun and Mon and depending on how we do, possibly Tuesday. We will be in South Seattle so a trip into town and the waterfront may be in the works.

We are ok with all of this though....playing club sports comes with a price....literally but we have made many friends over the years and lots of memories and we feel it is an investment in our kids. Well worth it (most of the time) in our opinion. It's not for everyone but it works for us

I also forgot to mention that we also booked our cruise! We are starting to pay for it now so when the time comes it will be all paid for. We have paid the $600 deposit, $80 in gratuities, and also travel insurance. After some summer expenses are over, we will have her run through more on the card so it will be fully paid for by the time we leave, including shore excursions which you can book online and pay for in advance. Just hoping we can get some good airfare!

I just realized it's been over 2 weeks since I last posted.

We have been doing really well since we implemented the "low spend". The only money spent (other than regular bills, gas, groceries) has been on a few new clothes. I bought myself 2 new shirts 2 weeks ago. Our local Fred Meyer (Kroger) had a coupon for an extra 20% off clothing, plus I had my rewards coupon for 20% off 2 items of clothing that needed to be used before 4/23. Combined with both items being on sale, I got quite the bargain! Took dd2 2 weeks ago and got 4 shirts at Pac Sun for $42. We headed out today to look for a few more Spring clothing items and ended up at Payless Shoes and Old Navy. Had a 20% off shoes purchase and $10 off if you spent $50 at Old Navy. Was able to purchase dd 2 pairs of sandals and myself 1 pair of shoes (for work) and spent $54.00. Spent $42 at Old Navy on some Spring/Summer shirts for the 2 of us and got 6 items. She needs a few pairs of shorts but after that she should be pretty well set.

Oh, I almost forgot...dh bought new tires for his car and had it aligned. I guess you could call that a necessity He got a $100 rebate which he has already filed. Also received 2 free oil changes as they told him the car would only be there for about 2 hours and it ended up being there almost all day. He wasn't happy about that. He was going to need new tires anyway....I thought he was going to wait until summer but he found a pretty good deal so what could I say....he has to get work

So all in all, I would say we are doing well.

Hopefully we can keep at it!

But definately going to try for a low spend month.

We spent alot of money last month and had a pretty big MasterCard bill. I did pay it off in full though but things are going to be tight this month since we are implementing our "new to us" way of living.

We are going to see how we can work it so we can "live" off of dh's paychecks and put mine towards savings and paying off my suv.

I am going to be more conscience when I go to the store and really think before I buy.

We will also cut out any spending for "stuff"

We will still have an "eating out" and "entertainment" allotment but once it's gone....it's gone!

Let it begin!

Yikes! That was at $3.64. I was almost on "E"....my mileage counter said I had approx 30 miles to go until empty. I usually never let it go below 50 (when the reminder comes on) but I was visting my grandmother today and hopped on the freeway home. I was sure I could make it to my area to fill up but didn't want to take the chance I would run out on the freeway so I hopped off and found a station on my way home taking surface streets........how accurate are those things anyway? $3.64 wasn't too bad considering I have seen stations at $3.79. This should last me until at least next Saturday. I have been filling up on Sunday's but dd2 has a soccer game next Saturday on the other side of town....at least 25 to 30 miles each way will probably put a dent in it and force me to fill on Saturday instead.

DH came up with the brilliant idea. Have no idea where it came from....really out of the blue....but I am on board and willing to try.

He is wondering if we can "live" off of his paychecks and put one and at least part of mine totally to savings and get my vehicle paid off soon.

I think we can do it. But I think it will be harder for him. On his 4 days off in row (every other weekend) we tend to spend money like crazy. He is always wanting to go out and look around ect and we tend to eat out more.....truthfully...I think he gets bored and wants to get out of the house.

So we are going to try it....not exactly sure how yet....still working on budgeting and allocating....like how much to spend each week for eating out/entertainment, groceries each week ect.....I mentioned envelopes....at least for a few categories and pulling out a specified amount of cash each week for groceries.

We are hoping to sit down this weekend and work it all out so we can start this in April.

I will report back with the final verdict!

Ugh....I've been draggin these past couple of weeks....been super busy at work and with the time change and all I will be glad to see this Friday.

Financially things are back and forth....last Friday dh and I hit Costco...$257 later we left......Saturday we took a short road trip to vist dd1 at college...went to an Air/Space Museum but only got to see the Air part....Space part was closed due to a food and wine festival....it was nice though that the admission was discounted since part of it wasn't open but we sprung for the IMAX movie so all in all I am not sure it really saved us any money...had breakfast (just dh and I) and lunch out but used a BOGO coupon on both...for lunch dd and I just split the sandwich and shared the drink.....we are cheap like that We also hit the college student store before we left.....dropped $85 on a couple of sweatshirts (50% off) a t-shirt for me, hat for dh and a couple of bumper stickers. Sunday dh and I went to a movie....had a free movie ticket (Regal rewards) and a coupon for $2 from the Entertainment book for the second ticket.....did spring for popcorn and a water though....absolutely cannot resist the popcorn.....I know.....bad, but oh so good All in all, a very fun weekend alebeit a spendy one.

Work has been crazy busy these past few weeks.....we have been short staffed for various reasons....staff members kids sick...vacations....someone was moving....ect....ugh! I am just exhausted.

I am looking forward to this coming weekend....dd1 will be home from college for Spring Break....I am taking Monday and Tuesday off and am spending it with my girls....we will try to find some free or cheap stuff to do but mainly just spend time together.

My last paycheck was a 9 day one...I hate those...most are 11 days with a 10 or 12 day one thrown in there here and there....I am so glad dh gets paid every other Friday no matter what....mine are the 15th and the last business day of the month...either the 30th or 31st.

I have more to write but at this point I am just ready to sit down and relax...have a nice evening!

Yahoo! The dreaded FAFSA application is finally done. I had to start a new one as I had entered some info wrong on the previous one and somehow couldn't get it to change. It really didn't take that long and I had my tax return with all of the info. I am always scared though that somehow I have entered something wrong and they are going to come take me away for falsifying something inadvertently!

Gas prices are sharply rising in our area. One station today on my way home was $3.52 for regular.

Our taxes were filed last Friday and we should have our Federal return sometime betweeen March 4th and March 11th. I can't wait to get that money and put it in a fund for the anniversary cruise! That will be a huge start towards paying for that vacation in CASH. We owe $94 to the State and they will be receiving their money on April 18th and not a day sooner

I have a check for $65 to deposit tomorrow from my sister who owed me for concert tickets (Sarah McLaughlin who we saw earlier this month) I also need to check to find out exactly how much I spent on books for dd1 so I can reimburse myself....should be a little over $400 and that will need to go to the credit card which is due soon.

That's it from around here.....have a good night!

Went and had our taxes done today.....I was a bit nervous thinking we might owe.

Well, we do owe the state about 130.00....figures, we always seem to owe the state.

The big shocker? Getting $2000 back from the feds......all due to the American Opportunity Credit.....our tax lady said to thank dd1 who is in college....without her and her college status we would have owed approx $600.

So, yay for us....this will go towards opening a new account to start funding our 25th anniversary cruise next year.

Now that the taxes are done, FAFSA must be completed....that is on my agenda for tomorrow morning.....ugh

After that, dd2 and I leave for a day of soccer....tournament on the other side of town....games at 2:30 and 8:30.....really....8:30pm? I am ticked....we probably won't even be home until 10:30 or 11pm.....then to top it off, we have to be back out there Sunday at 11:00 for another game.....if they place 1st or 2nd they will play in the final on Monday....of course, I have to work and so does dh. I am sure there will be someone that can drive her there and back.....

Have a nice weekend everyone!

It always seems that way....we were doing real well without spending anything and then BAM....this weekend....my dh was off work (he works every other weekend) and we always tend to spend more when he is home on his weekend off. Ate out too much too. Dh had his transmission fluid changed on Friday to the tune of approx $180.00. DH also bought me a new watch for my b-day...got a great deal on it though, but still...money out.

Good news.....I received a $100 check from my grandmother for my birthday which was the 7th....also received my $20 Proctor & Gamble rebate too....both went directly into the savings acct.

We hosted a birthday gathering at our house on Sunday to celebrate my b-day, sis in law, and niece....it's just too hard to try to do them seperately. I received some gift cards that will come in handy...Bath and Body Works, Barnes & Noble (great for the nook), Walmart, and a 3 mo trial to Blockbuster Online....brother in law works there and I guess the online part of Blockbuster is doing ok. We had a membership for quite a long time and ended up cancelling it when we got Comcast. So, I will use it and then cancel when it is up....already have it on the calendar.


Going to have the taxes done on Friday.....I am a little nervous....I really need to get them done so I can finish FAFSA for dd1. Our income went up due to my going back to work more hours, dh working lots of overtime....plus we don't get that child tax credit any more for dd1 and for 2011 we will lose it since dd2 is turning 16 this year. So, we shall see what happens.

Sent another $400 to the car loan today....it is good to see that balance going down.

Well that's it for now....have an enjoyable evening everyone!

Wow, it's been awhile!

Financially, things have been well. I up'd my SEP IRA at work....it makes sense seeing that with dd1 at college, some of our expenses have gone down and we have a little more money in our pockets. DH received his PPA payout....$750.00....it was suppose to be in the form of a prepaid visa but they just did a direct deposit instead....that was fine by us! It went directly into the savings account.

We have been good about not spending money on the house...the only thing we have done so far (which was one of the improvements we wanted to do this year), was get new blinds for the 4th bedroom which is a tv room and also blinds for our master bath. They are nice white wooden blinds that match the rest of the house. Other than that, no spending....I am proud of us!

Food wise, we have been eating out a bit more. Most of it is from soccer. DD2 has games every weekend and they always seem to fall around lunch time.....either right before or right after. She had an overnight soccer tournament in Seattle a few weeks ago and that meant several meals out. We have been trying to use coupons when possible to keep the costs down.

Gas for the cars has gone up slightly....dd has soccer practice 4 nights a week which means a lot of running around. I always try to do errands on my way home from work on my short days....that certainly helps.

Not much else going on....just normal day to day stuff.

On a funny closing note....I work in medical billing and collections for a 4 doctor office......I heard a new excuse on Friday as to why someone hasn't paid their bill.....the dog ate their cash....yep......at least it was original.....I give them that

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.

At our annual Christmas potluck at work on Friday, I received my bonus.....$1400! $200 above last year so I was really happy. This is from the two doctors (husband/wife) that own the clinic. I also received a $300 prepaid mastercard from one of the other doc's in the clinic also. Aside from the husband/wife team, we have two other female doc's in our office who are actually their own business but all of the staff works for them also if that makes any sense...basically they have their own bank accounts an just pay an overhead every month to the two that own the clinic so we are all one big happy family I don't expect anything from the 4th one though which is ok...she is struggling with some previous business stuff and is a bit overwhelmed. A simple thank you will be enough.

I also found out today that dh will be getting a bonus also....it will be equivalent to two weeks pay which we will receive Jan 7th. He will also receive a $750 prepaid visa some time in Jan for not using his sick time. If you go the entire year without calling in sick, you will receive this bonus. Years ago, the company used to just pay you back whatever you hadn't used out of the 80 hours you were allotted for your sick time. They tried changing it around a couple of times (like not giving you anything even if you called in one time) but quickly realized if they weren't going to offer something for not using it, they were going to have alot of people calling in sick even if they weren't!

My bonus went directly into the savings account. I am going to use part of my visa card to purchase myself a Wii Fit. I have wanted one for some time now and several co-workers have it and really enjoy it. Dh's bonus will go into the savings account also. When we receive the $750 card, that will go towards groceries and gas since we will have to actually use it instead of being able to put it into savings.

I am so grateful for all of these extra's!

Have a wonderful day fellow bloggers!

Have been super busy and crazy. 2 1/2 weeks ago, I found myself in the ER with dd2. She wasn't feeling well that day but nothing too bad. By the time she went to bed around 9:15, she was in agony....severe abdominal pain shooting up her right side, hard to breathe, couldn't walk (was doubled over). I figured if I would have called her doctor, they would have told us to go to the ER anyway so we did. After a battery of tests and a ct scan the doctor felt comfortable letting us go home as we finally had a diagnosis. I had to take her for another test and then follow up with a specialist. Luckily she is fine and will just have to be followed for this issue for a while. I am quite curious to see all of the final bills. This is the first time we have ever had a deductible on our plan. We have been so blessed to have excellent insurance (and still do) but the plan changed a bit this year where they added the deductible and co-insurance for out patient serivces. We still just have a co-pay for office visits. I am quite sure with all of the tests ect, we will meet our out of pocket. I am just so thankful for the insurance. I work in insurance billing so I have seen firsthand what medical bills can do to a family. Our older daughter needed orthotics for her shoes from an ankle injury of over a year ago that just hasn't healed. Some of that was applied to her deductible and the rest came off my FSA account which is now officially zero.

In Christmas news, doing pretty well on that....still have a few things to purchase but they should be easy......all gifts have been paid for in cash! I am not hosting this year on either side so I will just be bringing a side dish or two to both gatherings.

Work has been crazy busy and I have come home each day just mentally exhausted. Time to start working on some healthy goals for 2011.

And finally, made a payment to the suv loan....we are now at $14,000 and are going to hit it hard in 2011 to get it paid off (thanks for the motivation creditcard free)!

I am not a black Friday shopper.....I just cannot stand the crowds and the rude pushy people. I would rather just search around and find deals. I find that most stores seem to have a bunch of the same deals, sales, a coupons starting the day after Thanksgiving and they run through Christmas Eve. I am not an online shopper but I still feel I can find a good bargain. I already have a bunch of coupons saved in a pile and some shopping planned.

My DH went to Office Depot about a week ago for some ink cartridges for our printer.....a nice surprise....he came home with a free $15 I Tunes card......that will be a gift for one of the girls.

DD1 was home from college this week. We had a great time with her. Money was spent on some family activities.....we all went to see Harry Potter....tickets x 4....ugh.....but I had a $15 gift card from work so that helped. I used my Regal Rewards card and we have now earned enough points for a free movie ticket. Of course we had to have popcorn....at least we got a refill on the large

We also went downtown to see a Christmas program.....tickets were purchased a while ago but we did go out to dinner after....Red Robin and $60 later....then ice cream.....

I really need to purchase an Entertainment book. My grandmother used to give us one every year at Christmas but didn't last year. I was able to purchase one from a co-worker who's son was selling them for his school...$10.00...can't beat that! But, they are not selling them this year as apparently, many who had a book to show people didn't return them and didn't pay for them. I guess they just don't want to take that risk. I feel they are a good bargain....we definately use our money's worth. We also trade coupons with friends and family who have the book also.

I have a big to do list to write out and start working on for the coming week.

Good night all!

We had a good week last week with hardly any money out for "wants". We have been on a bit of a spending spree since redoing dd2's bathroom and our kitchen. Lucky for us, the rooms are almost done (decorating that is).

Today I headed to the dreaded mall with dd2 and friend in tow. She needed to find a dress for the semi formal winter dance. We have given her a budget for her needs and anything above that, she will have to cover out of her money. We did find her a cute dress at Macy's though I was a bit disappointed that they wouldn't take the coupon I had....dh had found one for 15% off but it was only for sale and clearance items. I suppose if we find a coupon between now and the dance, we may make a run back there to get a price adjustment. But, in the end, it was dd's decision to get the dress. She will have to budget accordingly.

I also hit Costco (another dreaded place) for a few items.

And lastly, I paid our property taxes which are due on the 15th. Yikes....I did pay in full so there was a savings of $104. Lucky (I guess) for us, they only went up about $50 this year.

Didn't accomplish alot so far this weekend so Sunday will be a day of catching up around the house. The weather is raining and icky so it will be nice to stay in and putter around.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

At the REO Speedwagon concert.....wow....what a great time.....those guys really rocked it and put on a fabulous show. Final tally for the weekend...unknown....we hit an outlet mall on our way down and purchased a few things. I have been in desperate need of some warm, long sleeved shirts. I found two and then we hit the North Face store and happened upon a great deal for a fleece for dd2. It was on clearance plus an extra 30% off. This will be one of her Christmas presents. We had lunch with a coupon and then hit a coffee place we had a gift card for and shared a drink. We headed over to the casino and we were able to check in a bit early. We checked the place out and I put $2 in the slot machine...I lost and I was done.....just didn't have the heart to keep throwing our money away. We enjoyed a nice dinner and drinks and then hit the concert. Breakfast in the morning at the buffet which was very tasty. We then headed to another outlet mall and made a few more purchases. I am not a huge fan of outlet malls but I think if things are on clearance combined with a sale a good deal can be found. We then started heading back to meet dd2 for her soccer game. DD1 was going to attend but decided not to as dd2 called us on Friday after practice to inform us she collided with another girl and heard her ankle pop.....just what we needed! Luckily she is ok but didn't play in the game. So we swung by and picked up dd1 and took her out to lunch since we were headed that way anyway....it was fun to see her and visit for a bit. We then went to the game and had to pay $12 to get in and not even watch dd play....oh well, we were there to support the whole team so that was ok. They ended up losing so we are done with the high school season. We had a cheap dinner out since money was pretty much flying out the door. Sunday was hair day and I, as always, am very happy with my hair girl....money well spent in my opinion Finished this spendy weekend with groceries and another fill up on my car.

Hoping this week will be quiet.....at least on the money front!

This weekend that is. DH and I are headed out of town for a quick overnight trip for a belated anniversary "outting". We got concert tickets to see a band from our teenage years....REO Speedwagon....ha ha. The concert is at a casino near the coast. We are going to meander our way down and just take it easy. We will head out for a coffee treat, lunch and maybe some shopping at an outlet mall. We will see about that one. We will splurge on a nice dinner and drinks tonight. The only gambling we will be doing will be pulling a few one armed bandits! We are not gamblers.....heck, I don't even know HOW to play anything which I guess is a good thing . Breakfast in the morning at the lodge and then we will head back. Only we won't be going home right away. DD has first round state soccer playoff's and their game is at 3:00 in a town on our way back. She will be getting a ride there which is so nice for us as we would have to come home and then head back the same way we were coming from. This also means most likely, lunch and dinner out tomorrow. On Sunday, I will be getting my hair cut and colored. This is a treat I allow myself when I went back to work to my "almost" full time status. For years I colored my own hair at home but decided I was going to do something nice for myself. DD also wants to head to the mall on Sunday to start shopping for her Snowball dress. This is a semi formal winter dance at our highschool held the first Sat in Dec. Tickets will be purchased and then the kids usually head out to dinner....somewhere like Olive Garden or such...nothing too terribly fancy. Gas and groceries this weekend will add to the total of this spendy weekend.

Have a good weekend fellow bloggers!

I can't believe it has been so long since my last entry. I have been lurking around a bit but don't really know why I haven't posted. I am busy up and down while posting this handing out candy to trick or treaters.

Not much financial news. Our only debt (other than our house) is the payment on my suv. We have decided to really start hammering this down. We are under $15,000.00 now as I sent a larger payment in October which brought us under 15K. This is a no interest loan but we really want to get it paid off.

We also want to start a seperate vacation savings account. We are planning a big cruise for our 25th anniversary sometime in 2012.(our anniversary is in Oct but since that is hurricane season, we will probably go in April or May) We have been on 2 other cruises and have really enjoyed them. Having a seperate account aside from our regular savings account would be great so we could really "see" that we are attaining our goal of paying for it in full at the time it is booked.

October has been a fairly busy month with our anniversary, dd1's b-day, and soccer. My parents treated us to dinner on our anniversary which was really sweet. DD1 came home from college to spend the weekend at home and also to celebrate her b-day. We had a big family party and it was so nice that everyone was able to make it and see her as some family members haven't seen her since she left at the end of Aug. DD2 has been busy with soccer and school. Without dd1 here to run her around, we find ourselves doing alot more driving this year! We have also been on a big painting kick.....redid dd's bathroom and also the kitchen. Our kitchen has been red for the past 10 years and we were ready for a change. As I mentioned before, we again used Behr paint with primer....one coat to cover a dark red.....VERY worthwhile both in price and time.

Time to sign off now. Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

At least it feels that way. I was hoping the outflow of money would slow down in September. So far it has not.

Part of it is our fault, I must admit. Too much eating out on the weekends and all those "little' things one thinks they must have but probably don't need.....sigh

Other expenses lateley have included:

$39 for school pics...yes....before you throw things at me, I ALWAYS buy school pics...I love getting them and looking at the previous years and seeing how much the kids have grown. I know they are not the best quality ect but these are memories and some day will be fun to look back on.

$30 for soccer socks....new uniforms were paid for out the school "soccer funds" but for some reason not the socks....at least we get to keep them when the season is over.

$25 for beach soccer retreat....a bargain as this is definately not something the school pays for. A mom on the team knows someone with a beach house who is letting them use it for free. The $25 will include gas down (since the coach is not coming, the parents have to drive) and food.

$5 for journalism class.....really I can't believe this...yes...I guess I can...like all the schools, everyone is broke and they have no money for anything....apparently there is hardly any money in the "school newspaper fund" and without it....well I don't know what they would do. Argghhh!

2 cases of donated gatorade for the high school soccer jamboree. We had a concession stand to raise money and since everything is donated, everything sold is profit.

$30 for a can of paint that most likely will not be used. DH bought it to paint DD1's room now that she is at college. Of course, that will always be her room and she will always have a place to stay with us, but we re-did DD2's room over Labor Day weekend (new bedspread/sheets/decorative pillow) and paint for her room. Well the paint ended up being very similar in color and dh didn't want the 2 rooms right next to each other to have the same color (go figure), so he bought some new paint and thought it looked too much like the paint in the hall....go figure....so a waste. The paint was a little on the expensive side, but I have to say, it was the same stuff we used for dd2's room which by the way had a horrible, horrible shade of green which was going to require primer. So Behr makes paint with primer in it so we got that for dd2's room and it worked fabulous! Only 1 coat. I would highly recommend it! But only if you pick the right color the first time so you don't have $30 down the drain for paint you are not going to use.... Sigh...AGAIN.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day....right?!