Well, after hubby picked up the car from the mechanic on Monday, he went by Home Depot and bought a new flapper to replace the old flapper in our toilet. It was only $3.14!! Wow. I expected it to be $20.00 or something. He said the flapper is the one part that is the most frequent to fall apart and cause the toilet to run. He put it in the toilet and for the first couple of hours, it was completely silent. Then, we started hearing it run a little bit. Well, we may have to replace something else in the toilet, but at least it has stopped the almost non-stop running. Looking forward to lower water bills!!

Woo-Hoo! I am doing a happy dance now! My car is fixed, so I don't have to take the bus or walk anymore. We can now go to the store any day of the week and not have to worry about taking the bus or a cab home! No joke, we have been doing that since the beginning of October. Our car's engine died because of a busted camshaft. Apparently, Pontiac Prixs have a problem that way at least for the 1995 model. Knowing that, we are going to start saving up right away to buy an entirely different car in 2 years or less. We will look for something 5 years old or less with less than 100,000 miles on it, and also something where we can either buy it outright or make a down payment of at least 30% so that the payments are not so bad.

Hello, everyone. I got paid again on Friday. More money went to savings and retirement. Speaking of which, I need to update those numbers. Done as of 5:11pm on 3-19-2011.

The repairs to the car should be complete on Wednesday and we can go pick it up. That will be a relief. Hubby and I agree we should immediately start saving for a replacement car. We thought seriously about getting a different car now, but everything we looked at was out of our price range and we did not want to go into debt for a car so shortly after buying a house. I also added more money to the Conference Challenge. I cashed in some survey points, which will get added to the Conference Challenge.

I also hit another major milestone. I PAID OFF HOSPITAL DEBT #2!! Woo-hoo!

This debt was close to $10,000 in 2006. My husband had no insurance and I had to take him to the ER. He has insurance now thanks to my pointing out it might have cost less than 1/2 that if he had had insurance.

In other news, the Lunch Challenge continues. Next week, it is Spring Break at the college I work at. I will be working Monday and Tuesday, but Wednesday through Friday I will be on vacation. My progress so far this much is that I have eaten lunch out once on last Friday. I spent about $10.00. I also bought ice tea or soda several times, but I bring my own cup which makes it cheaper because they give a discount for that. Here are my lunches for next week:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - leaf lettuce salad, carrots, cucumbers, tuna in foil packet, oil and vinegar for dressing, orange or apple, water

Wednesday - Wednesday is the day we expect to pick up our car, so I think we may go out to lunch to celebrate

Friday - maybe an almond butter sandwich on gluten free bread, orange, apple, carrots, water

Another thing I have planned to do on Wednesday is to go to Home Depot and buy stuff to fix our toilet that runs frequently. Our last water bill is $60 and we only have 2 people living in our house. I think the water bill should be about 1/2 that much. Have any of you ever fixed a running toilet? Is it difficult?

Howdy, financial friends and neighbors. I am plugging right along with getting my goals accomplished.

I am right on track to pay off Hospital Debt #2 in March. Because the last payment will only be $52.00, I will have $25.00 to spare. I think I will put this towards my car repair fund. After March, I will put the whole $75.00 to my Conference Challenge until June, then start whacking away at the credit card debt.

I am going to a conference in June with funds I already have put aside. With my reimbursement from work, I will pay off hospital debt #1 and the lawn mower debt. I will have some leftover, which I will probably slap on the credit card.

This coming Friday, I am planning on taking the afternoon off and going to the hardware store for parts to repair our toilet. It runs frequently, and as evidenced by our recent $55.00 water bill, it is costing us money. I also plan on buying some expanding foam to fill in some holes in our walls that are probably making our gas bill higher.

My lunches for the coming week are gluten free pasta salad with tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, carrots, black olives, and salmon with olive oil and cider vinegar for dressing. I have apples, cashew nuts, and water also.

I have a $20.00 survey check coming in about 5 weeks that I will put towards the Conference Challenge.

When the hubster and I moved into our new-to-us house, there was only a bathtub in the bathroom. The bathroom is designed such that short of major redesign and renovation, putting in a shower is impossible. There is a wooden storage cabinet right above the bathtub faucet.

However, there was also a shower in the basement. It had no shower enclosure and only an extremely moldy shower curtain. The cement flower is sloped so that the water drains into a pipe that goes outside. It is the same pipe that is used by the sump pump. First, we got rid of the moldy shower curtain. Then, we had to buy a new curtain. There were already rings. Well, when we finally got it all put together, it was not how I would usually take a shower, but it does work. I feel pretty confident that because I take pretty short showers (about 7 minutes or so), that we will use substantially less water and gas that we were with taking tub baths.

I feel great about this. Any "extras" that I see we would have normally paid towards our water bill I will put towards our challenge.

Click here to see some pics of a vacation home. Of course, they are not pictures of our house, but the one of the shower looks very similar to ours. Ours is in the basement and the frame the curtain hangs on is made of pvc pipe.

http://www.keylife.com/vacation/homes/275/

Just to be clear, we don't plan on keeping it this way forever, but we need to pay off some other debts first and fix some other things on the house before we begin to remodel the bathroom. After we replace the ceiling fan/light, we will start saving up to replace the four windows on the back side of the house.

So far, it has been a no-spend day for me. Hooray.

I have, however, been working on cooking all day. I made breakfast for the hubby and I. Yesterday, I bought 2 3-lb packages of ground beef and divided it up into patties and put them in the freezer. It takes a lot of work, but it is worth it since the large packages cost less per pound. Then, I got right to work on making my lunches. I made the following gluten free recipe for Chicken Cacciatore.

http://www.fitnessandfreebies.com/celiac/cc.html

Don't worry. If you want to make it, it's delicious. I spiced it up a bit by adding cumin, red pepper flakes, substituting roasted canned tomatoes for the can of tomatoes, and adding about 4 ounces of canned corn. Yummy. I made rice to go with it. I only needed enough for 5 lunches, but I got 5 lunches, plus a little extra. Yea for me!

If I had a digital camera, I would take a picture, but I don't.

I just found out a survey check is on the way. I should get it tomorrow or the next day.

If any of you would like to earn a little extra money by watching videos and answering surveys, click here to sign up with Beezag.

http://www.beezag.com/index.html?utm_source=beezag&utm_mediu...

I get paid today, so I have pre-allocated money to make payments on Hospital Debts #1 and #2, as well as the mortgage. I have also paid the internet bill and one other bill that I cannot remember. There is more money going to savings and retirement. More money is going to the conference challenge. This is great.

I already have my lunch and dinner menus planned out for the next two weeks and am going shopping today to do that.

My lunches for the next two weeks will be:

1) Chicken salad sandwich on gluten free bread, fresh fruit, handful of nuts, filtered water
2) Chicken cacciatore with rice, green peppers, and spices, handful of nuts, filtered water, fresh fruit

Hospital Bill #1 is $237.58

Hospital Bill #2 is $202.60

The lawnmower loan is $370.00

The mortgage is $73139.98.

The savings account is $391.23.

The car account is $544.34.

The house account is $88.15.

The professional/memberships account is $598.48.

My retirement account is $29607.54.

Woo-hoo!

1. Pay off Hospital Debt #2 (March 2011)
2. Pay off Hospital Debt #1 (June 2011)
3. Get car repaired (money already allocated and will happen probably Feb. 2011)
4. Pay off lawn mower loan (June 2011)
5. Accumulate $2000 in regular savings by Dec. 2011
6. Accumulate $1000 in house savings account by Dec. 2011
7. Pay off $500 in credit card debt by Dec. 2011
8. Complete some minor maintenance on house (replace ceiling fan, replace smoke alarm, replace furnace/a-c filters frequently)

You remember me talking about my car problems in my last blog? The latest update is that not only do the coil and timing belt need to be replaced, but we also have a busted camshaft. I have no idea what these things are or what they do. The mechanic has told us that we really need a new or rebuilt engine. A rebuilt engine would cost approximately $1200 without labor. A completely new engine is about $2000 without labor. We have opted for option C, which is to replace the car altogether because we have put a lot of money into this car in the last couple of years, but the engine is where I draw the line. I did buy a rebuilt engine for another car once and it was a big mistake. What we are planning on doing is to sell the car to a friend of ours if he is interested. He is a mechanic and well aware of the issues, so we are not deceiving him. If he is not interested, we will probably take it to a salvage yard. Either way, whatever money we get out of it will go into buying another car. After we do our tax return next year, we will take whatever we get from that and buy another car. In the meantime, we will be taking the bus, riding our bike, and walking wherever we need to go. The money we save on gas will go into our car account. I originally labeled this entry "Murphy Report," but changed it to "An Opportunity . . ." because we have been blessed with an opportunity to upgrade to a better car.

Well, I did finally get a paypal payment from cash4books.net for a book I sold them. I put it into the Spare Change/Conference Challenge. I am seeking other sources of possible books. It's kind of hard right now, though, to do anything with this. Last week, my hubby went to a nearby town to take our car tax and registration payment to be applied. Normally, I mail it, because we never normally go there and it would have been late if we had not have taken it there. Anyway, on the way back, the car died on the highgway, but he was able to get it off the road and call AAA for a tow. Anyway, I took off work a little early on Friday anyway. Because of having no car, I knew I would need to get groceries on Friday, because the city bus does not run on weekends. I live in a small town and it is a miracle we even have a bus. So, because of my car dying and needing an $800 repair, my hopes of shopping yard sales for books to sell are shot out of the water. Apparently, I am not the only one with car and other mechanical problems, though. I was talking with a couple of friends today who were telling me of similar problems. Must be something in the air. Anyway, I told the hubby that until we get hospital bills #1 and #2 paid off, we are going to occasionally have little problems like this because we don't have a lot of wiggle room. He said that it sounds like we need to pay them off with the tax return, but I told him by the time the tax return gets here, #2 will probably be paid off. #1 will have a couple of hundred left on it. I think with whatever is left, we should put 1/2 into the regular savings and 1/2 into the house savings. After living in our house for a year, we can also get level payment plan on the gas and electric, so then gas and electric won't be such a problem.

Well, the Lunch Challenge continues for me. I took my lunch to work every day last week. I ran out of salad mid week and took peanut butter sandwiches on gluten free rice bread the last two days.

This coming week, I have planned lunches with salmon or tuna in foil packets, as well as zucchini squash chopped up, canned tomatoes, and seasoning. I also have Minute Rice microwaveable packets. It will make a sort of stir fry type meal and be quite yummy.

Hi, everyone. Cash4books.net is my effort to boost the household income by selling books that we no longer need. I am going to the put the proceeds in my Professional memberships/conferences account. In some ways, it is better than ebay, because you don't have to wait for the bidding war. You know immediately if they will buy the book and they pay for the shipping of the books to them. I have already sold one book and will put it in the mail tomorrow.

I need to raise about $1300 by next spring to attend a conference in June.

I don't really want to, but I am changing the direction of the Spare Change Challenge funds to my conference. To try to do both the debt payoff and the conference account makes it very difficult to accomplish anything.

Well, I got paid on Friday and already most of my paycheck has already been gobbled up. You see, when we were getting ready to close on our house (July 15th!), my hubby went to or called the utility companies about switching over service. We knew there would be some overlap, as we needed time to clean the old house before we could turn in the keys. Apparently, he only told the gas and electric companies that we would be moving out on X date and would need a few days past that to get the house closed up. Apparently, that was not specific enough information and so they charged us for our level payment for August, but also made it our final bill. So, between one electric bill at the old house for $271 and one at the new house for $264, I spent over $500 this month on electric alone. The gas bills were pretty minor in comparison, but still annoying. It's a good thing I got a survey check and also a housewarming gift check from my aunt in the mail. They helped to pay for the excess on the utilities. We will survive. I know that because I have survived worse.

One of the items I paid with my paycheck was $75.00 on hospital debt #2, bringing the balance to $427.60! Yahoo! (not an endorsement of Yahoo!, just my expression of excitement)

Also, my automatic deposit went into savings. It is my goal that when hospital debt #2 is paid off (probably February), that I will be taking that money and putting it into savings. I don't like these issues coming up that leaving me without anything. I will beef it up until $1000 and then pay off some other stuff like hospital debt #2.

The Lunch Challenge continues in my house. I am making salads with romaine lettuce, random fresh vegetables including cauliflower, carrots, and broccoli, olive oil, chopped up boiled eggs, tuna from a foil pouch, tea bags, and filtered water from home.

Well, another week of the Lunch Challenge has finished. I actually took my lunch every single day. I think I bought a bottle of unsweetened iced tea 3 or 4 times, though. Hey, I am doing a lot better. I was buying sweet tea or Coke, so it's an improvement!

Well, for the coming week, I have planned more lunches for the Lunch Challenge:

Monday - lettuce and spinach, cherry tomatoes, chopped up green onion, sunflower seeds, tuna in a foil pouch, banana, bag of peanuts for a snack, bottle of filtered water

Tuesday - lettuce and spinach, cherry tomatoes, chopped up green onion, sunflower seeds, tuna in a toil pouch, apple, raisins for a snack, bottle of filtered water

Wednesday - lettuce and spinach, cherry tomatoes, chopped up green onion, sunflower seeds, tuna in a foil pouch, apple, bag of peanuts for a snack, bottle of filtered water

Thursday - lettuce and spinach, cherry tomatoes, chopped up green onion, sunflower seeds, tuna in a foil pouch, apple, raisins for a snack, bottle of filtered water

Friday - Friday is payday and I plan on going out to a local place for a tasty, gluten free lunch.

It's only been a couple of weeks on the gluten free diet, but I can already feel a substantial rise in my energy levels and also a drastic decrease in allergy and other symptoms.

Well, I went on my first gluten free shopping trip and I have to say that I am impressed. I was not sure that I would find much that I could eat outside of fruits, vegetables, and meat. But I mentioned to the produce manager my problem and he showed me the gluten free products, including Bob's Red Mill baking and cereal products, some brands of pastas, almond milk, and rice milk. I already knew about the almond milk and rice milk and have been using them for about 9 years now. I actually did very well and bought all my shopping with cash today and for less than what I have been spending. I have been eating gluten free since before 12:00 noon on Friday and I can already tell a huge difference in how I feel. And except for wanting to eat cupcakes and drink Coca Cola on a frequent basis, I feel excellent. I can also continue to maintain the Lunch Challenge. I think I am going to a lot of lettuce and spinach salads with chicken or tuna alternated with something like peanut butter on carrot or celery sticks. Woo-hoo! Here are my lunches for next week:

Monday - Spinach/Lettuce, diced canned tomatoes (1/2 cup), black beans (1/2 cup), chopped fresh zucchini, tuna in foil packet, apple, filtered bottle of water

Tuesday - Spinach/Lettuce, diced canned tomatoes (1/2 cup), black beans (1/2 cup), chopped fresh zucchini, tuna in foil packet, apple, filtered bottle of water

Wednesday - Spinach/Lettuce, diced canned tomatoes (1/2 cup), black beans (1/2 cup), chopped fresh zucchini, tuna in foil packet, apple, filtered bottle of water

Thursday - Tuna in foil packet, Minute rice serving with diced canned tomatoes and fresh zucchini, pear, filtered bottle of water

Friday - I have the day off and will be spending it with my husband. We will be in a nearby town and have lunch there. I am scared to death to eat lunch out with this new diet.

I think I am gluten intolerant and probably have been for years. However, recently I have begun to feel worse than normal. A friend happened to mention "gluten intolerance" to me and wondered if I have it. Well, this morning while I had a few minutes, I did some searching for a list of symptoms and a symptom quiz. Well, I am pretty sure I have it. I am going to my doctor next week to discuss it, but I am already on a dairy free diet and have been since 2001. That has been very difficult to maintain, but it has been SO worth it. I was wondering if any of you have this problem and how do you cope with it in the way of buying different food while not going broke? So far, all the foods I have come up with to buy (outside of normal fruits and vegetables that I would buy anyway) are probably going to be more expensive. Anyone have any dairy free and gluten free recipes? This would likely be something for me only, as my hubby hates fruits and vegetables and definitely loves bread.

This Lunch Challenge is really helping me to think logically about what to make for my lunches rather than just to wing it. I haven't exactly quantified what I have saved, but I haven't gone out for lunch in probably 3 weeks. I do sometimes go somewhere and get some iced tea, etc., but that's about it. I feel really good about my progress.

Here is what I am planning for the coming week.

Monday - Canned chicken, fresh tomatoes and onion chopped, mayo mixed with chili seasoning, wrap, salt, pepper, banana, pork and beans, bottle of filtered water

Tuesday - Canned chicken, fresh tomatoes and onion chopped, mayo mixed with chili seasoning, wrap, salt, pepper, banana, pork and beans, bottle of filtered water

Wednesday - Canned chicken, 1/3 can of tomatoes, diced, fresh onion, chopped, mayo mixed with seasoning, wrap, salt, pepper, apple, pork and beans, bottle of filtered water

Thursday - Lunchmeat, mayo, wrap, apple, pork and beans, bottle of filtered water

Friday is my payday and I have the day off. I plan to eat lunch out with my husband after running a few errands.

I was going to buy some bacon for my wraps at the store and then I saw the extremely inflated price, hassle of cooking, and so I declined. Later, I thought about bacon bits. I think I will get some next week. I know they are not nutritious, but they sound good.

I will be going to the credit union to put more money in savings and the post office to mail bills, including my first mortgage payment. I know it probably sounds ridiculous to be excited about that, but the hubby and I have wanted and been trying to get our own home since 1999! Various things, including moving several times, a failed home-based business, medical debt, and bankruptcy, got in our way. I'm so proud that we finally did it! We also will go to a nearby town to return a wall mount bracket we bought for our new home. We will in turn use some of the money from returning the bracket to buy a digital scale.

These are my stated goals for the years 2010 and 2011. Given that I am now a home owner, I feel the need to revise them for current circumstances. I have marked in red what I changed the goal to.

2010 Financial Goals
1. Pay Hospital Debt #1 off in full by May 2011.
2. Pay Hospital Debt #2 off in full by May 2011

Note: If these first two debts are not paid off by the time the tax return arrives, I will pay them off with it. I will put the rest aside for increasing the insulation in the attic.

3. Establish $1000 Emergency Savings Balance by June and Maintain it
4. Beef up House Savings

2011 Financial Goals
1. Eliminated Goal #1 of paying off hospital debts
2. Pay off Credit Card
3. Accumulate $3000 in Emergency Savings
4. Accumulate $2000 in House Account
5. Accumulate $3000 in Car Account

Well, the Lunch Challenge is going to become even more important now that I am a home owner.

By the way, the way hubby and I chose to resolve our issue with house payments is to actually pay one time per month, but every two weeks when I get paid, basically pre-allocate that money by writing it into the check register as if I were writing a check. Then, when it is time to send the payment, send the payment as normal. Assuming this goes well, I will continue to do it this way. If it does not, I was thinking of opening a separate savings account and temporarily putting mortgage money there until ready to make the payment.

Well, I had some Tyson beef strips, raw carrots, and 1 can of canned chicken left over from last week. Don't worry. Nothing will go to waste in this house. Whatever does not get eaten in my lunch will be eaten for dinner. Here are my lunches for this coming week.

Monday - Tyson beef strips, Mission flour tortilla, burrito size, mayonnaise, banana, snack size bag of carrots, 2 packages of peanut butter crackers, bottle of filtered water

Tuesday - Butterball turkey lunch meat, Mission flour tortilla, burrito size, Thousand Island dressing, banana, serving of brown rice, 2 packages of peanut butter crackers, bottle of filtered water

Wednesday - Butterball turkey lunch meat, Mission flour tortilla, burrito size, Thousand Island dressing, banana, serving of brown rice, 2 packages of peanut butter crackers

Thursday - Store brand lunch meat, Mission flour tortilla, burrito size, Thousand Island dressing, banana, apple, 2 packages of peanut butter crackers

Friday - Store brand lunch meat, bread, Thousand Island dressing, apple, 2 packages of peanut butter crackers, pork and beans

I know I could put a lot more exotic things in my wraps, but I am trying to use up the stuff I already have at home.

Speaking of homes, when we moved into our house, we found that the previous owner left behind 2 boxes of dishwasher detergent, 2 bottles of dishwashing liquid, a wooden cart that we can store stuff on in the basement, several pieces of furniture, one of those things that you can roll a garden hose onto for storage, and other stuff I can't remember right now. It's actually pretty cool. We probably won't need to buy dishwashing liquid or dishwasher detergent for at least a month.

I also discovered when packing to move, that I had about 5 cans of oven cleaner and about 4 cans of furniture polish. Where we had stuff like that stored in a cabinet that was kind of hard to look through because it was dark, so it was like opening a present when we discovered it.

Well, last week I ate lunch out two days. One day was when a person came to interview for a job at my work. We always go out to lunch with them. It was fairly inexpensive, only $9.53 for my portion. The other day I went out to lunch was free for me, because it was a vendor we deal with who took me to lunch and paid. So, good for me.

Anyway, because of that I had 2 tuna pouches and 1/2 a bag of carrots left over that I need to use.

Monday - we are closing on our house tomorrow, so I have no idea what lunch will be. I am taking the day off from work. If I am back at home by lunch, I will eat lunch in, probably a peanut butter sandwich. If not, who knows?

Tuesday - Starkist tuna pouch, mayo, seasonings, saltines, bag of peanuts, apple, filtered water

Wednesday - Starkist tuna pouch, mayo, seasonings, saltines, bag of peanuts, apple, filtered water

Thursday - 1/2 bag of Tyson refrigerated chicken strips, mayo, bread, handful of almonds, apple, filtered water

Friday - 1/2 bag of Tyson refrigerated chicken strips, mayo, bread, handful of almonds, apple, filtered water

I got an excellent deal on the Tyson refrigerated chicken strips. Sometimes the store puts meat like this on markdown because it will expire soon. I always check the date to make sure I am not getting old meat. It was marked down to $1.99. I had a $0.55 coupon which doubled to $1.00.

Well, Friday I was not feeling well and so did not go to work. I did have to go to the grocery store and get a couple of cans of soup, crackers, and juice, though. So, I guess I did spend money to buy that lunch.

So, I am still doing the Lunch Challenge. Here are my lunches for the next week.

1) Romaine lettuce salad with Starkist tuna, carrots, olive oil for dressing, and a little salt; apple; handful of almonds; 2 tea bags; bottle of filtered water from home

2) Romaine lettuce salad with Starkist tuna, carrots, olive oil for dressing, and a little salt; apple; handful of almonds; 2 tea bags; bottle of filtered water from home

3) Romaine lettuce salad with Starkist tuna, carrots, olive oil for dressing, and a little salt; apple; handful of almonds; 2 tea bags; bottle of filtered water from home

4) Starkist tuna, mayo, saltine crackers, and lemon pepper seasoning; apple; carrots; handful of almonds; 2 tea bags; bottle of filtered water from home

5) Starkist tuna, mayo, saltine crackers, and lemon pepper seasoning; apple; carrots; handful of almonds; 2 tea bags; bottle of filtered water from home

I am so proud of my grocery shopping savings today. Hellman's mayo was on sale for $2.99 at Walgreens today. I also had a couple for $0.75, bringing the total way down. Hellman's mayo is usually over $5.00 at the grocery store, so I was thrilled. I also needed Q-tips, which I had a $0.30 coupon for. At my grocery store, I took my fabric shopping bags with me and got a $0.05 per bag discount. I had a store coupon for $1.50 off if I bought 4 bags of frozen veggies, which were on sale for 10 for $10.00. So, I bought four! I also needed to buy about 10 to 12 oz of canned chicken to make chicken sandwiches later in the week. I was going to buy the Swanson's canned chicken, which was on sale for $1.99 for a 5 oz can. Then, I noticed the Hormel brand was on sale for the same price and I had a $1.00 coupon if I bought 2. Knudsen's juice was on sale BOGOF. I needed to get Friskie's cat treats for my furbabies. The treats are always $1.69 unless on sale. I had a $1.00 coupon. The biggest surprise was that I needed to get some Scotch Brite sponges which were on sale 10 for $10.00. I had a coupon for $1.00 off if I buy 2, so I got 2. I saved $16.54 just at the grocery store and $3.05 at Walgreens.

Oh, I also added $20.00 each to my car savings and professional memberships/conferences accounts.

Well, I got paid again today. I set aside $150 for moving costs, as we are moving out by the end of the month. We will be closing on our house by the end of next week. I am excited and scared to death at the same time. Today, we had to go out and buy some paint to do some little touch ups to the outside of the house to satisfy the appraiser. I also made another payment on Hospital Debt #2, bringing the balance to $577.60. My husband was both surprised and pleased when he realized the hospital bills would be entirely paid off early next year. He didn't really acknowledge it other than that, but he did seem pretty surprised. I don't usually tell him anything about that, because he seems to get upset when I tell him how much debt we have left to pay. Oh well.

Well, I only had lunch out 1 day last week. I probably shouldn't have even done that, but I was having a bad day at work and needed to get out of there for awhile. As most everyone else, Monday is a holiday for me, so I won't be going to work, or probably anywhere else for that matter. So, no worries about having lunch out that day. Here are my lunches planned out. In my effort to drink less soda, I have packed twice as many tea bags as usual.

Monday - peanut butter and honey sandwich; slices of cucumber with salt; glass of filtered water or organic vegetable juice

Tuesday - sliced turkey sandwich with mayo and slice of onion; apple; boiled egg with salt; bottle of filtered water from home; four tea bags

Wednesday - sliced turkey sandwich with mayo and slice of onion; apple; cucumber slices with salt; bottle of filtered water from home; four tea bags

Thursday - sliced turkey sandwich with mayo and sliced onion; apple; boiled egg with salt; bottle of filtered water from home; four tea bags

Friday - sliced turkey sandwich with mayo and sliced onion; apple; cucumber slices with salt; bottle of filtered water from home; four tea bags

I already had peanut butter and honey on hand at home, so the cost is minimal there. I got the package of sliced turkey at the grocery store. It was on sale 2 for $7.00. I bought one package and had a $1.00 off coupon and it has 4 servings of turkey in it, bring the cost per serving out to about $0.62. Cucumbers were on sale for $0.75 each. I got two. Eggs were on sale for $1.00 per package. I got two because dh likes to eat a lot of eggs. I can't remember the cost for the eggs. The apples were on sale for $1.49 per pound and I got six.

Well, the numbers are in.

I had lunch out twice in the month of June. That's excellent for me, as I have been known to do it at least 3 times a week. I did spend an average of $2.50 per day on iced tea, soda, snacks, etc. I don't always remember to bring my own tea bags, so then I can't make my own tea. And don't even get me started on Pepsi. I know it's bad for me. It's probably not really good for anyone, but I do occasionally drink it. I think my challenge for next month will be to see how many days I can take my lunch to work AND also not drink any soda. Iced tea, hot tea, water, or anything else, is okay, but not Pepsi.

I am following in creditcardfree's footsteps here. These are the Financial Goals I established and are posted in the left margin of my blog.

2010 Financial Goals
1. Pay Hospital Debt #1 Down to Under $400
2. Pay Hospital Debt #2 Down to $400
3. Establish $1000 Emergency Savings Balance by June and Maintain it

Goal #1 is well under control. I made some huge progress earlier in the year with our tax return and some survey payments that let me make higher than normal payments. The balance on Hospital Debt #1 is $357.58! Yeah!

Goal #2 is also under control. The balance is currently $652.60. If I continue to pay as normal, the balance will be $202.60 after the December payment. [Insert a big Dukes of Hazzard Yee-hah here!]

Goal #3 is not under control at all. I don't even really want to talk about and I am ashamed, but that's how it is. You win some and you lose some.

Overall, I am pretty pleased with my progress.

Well, I got paid again yesterday. I made another payment on Hospital Debt #1, bringing the balance to $357.58. I also put more in savings and retirement. I am only going to check my retirement balance quarterly from now on, though.

Hubby and I are still in negotiations to buy a house. It is getting down to the wire and I am excited and scared to death at the same time.

I have been trying to think of another way to make some extra money for paying off debt. My mind keeps coming back to selling my old Lenox and Belleek china. Although I like it, I have had it stuffed away in boxes for over 10 years and have never even displayed it. I talked to someone who is an ebay trading assistant about it. She couldn't stop talking about this fee and that fee, and reminding me that she can't guarantee whatever price it will sell for, etc. It made me think she wasn't interested. I also looked into selling it to one of those companies that buys and sells replacement china pieces, but they wanted me to ship it them at my expense without any guarantee of whether they will buy or the price. However, there is a local flea market type place where I could rent a shelf in a glass locked shelf for $7.50 per month and sell my stuff. The store gets a small amount, 10% I think, from each sale. Have any of you every done anything like that before? Are people buying stuff like antique china during this bad economy?

Well, here are my lunches for the next week:

Oscar Mayer turkey breast slices with bread for sandwiches, slices of tomato, slices of onion, mayo, apple, handful of nuts, 2 tea bags, bottle of filtered water from home

Well, I did pretty good this week. I only spent around $2.00 each day on snacks and such and brought my lunch 3 days this week. I went out to lunch two days this week, but those are the only two days I have gone out to lunch so far this month.

On a more personal note, I am having some family issues. Some of you may remember that I had a major blowout with my mother about September 2007, I think. I have really spoken to her much since, and haven't spoken to her at all in almost a year. Because of not wanting to cause further trouble in the family, I had basically not spoken to most other family members. I did not want to get them in the middle of the dispute and make them feel like they were being pulled in both directions. My uncle found out how to get in touch with me and urged me to come visit. We originally had plans to visit on July 4th weekend. I just got an email from him saying mom told him and my aunt that if they remained in contact with me, she would refuse to speak to them. So, now she's not just messing with and trying to control me, but other people, too.

Monday - canned chicken salad sandwich with mayo, lemon pepper seasoning, tomato, and onion, packet of celery, apple, water, handful of nuts, and 2 tea bags

Tuesday - canned chicken salad sandwich with mayo, lemon pepper seasoning, tomato, and onion, packet of celery, water, handful of nuts, and 2 tea bags

Wednesday - canned chicken salad sandwich with mayo, lemon pepper seasoning, tomato, and onion, packet of celery, water, handful of nuts, and 2 tea bags

Thursday - peanut butter and honey sandwich, tomato, apple, water, handful of nuts, and 2 tea bags

Friday - lunch out somewhere on my payday

Another thing I recently came up with to save money was in making iced tea. When it is cooler, I usually have a cup of hot tea in the morning when I begin my day. Lately, it has been so hot that the thought of drinking hot tea just doesn't sound good. So, I make a cup of hot tea very strong, stir in stevia, and pour it into another cup with ice in it. Today, I am going to make some sun tea right on my back porch. This saves me money and insures I don't have to leave air conditioning to get my caffeine.

Well, in addition to the little tantrum that my hubby was throwing about the situation I described earlier, I also got paid today. I made another payment on Hospital Debt #2. I believe I have estimated that if I continue to pay it off at this rate, it will be paid off next spring. More money is in savings and retirement also. More money has been paid to the credit card. On Monday, we have to pay $175 to a house inspector and $50 to a termite inspector.