Since it is almost at the end of March, I thought it good to do some analysis of my progress on my goals.

2012 Goals and Plan
1. Pay Down Credit Card to $300.00 by 12/31/2012

As of 3/25/2012, this debt is $1626.00. I have not been paying this down at the speed I want. I keep needing to use it, but then I pay it back right away. Ugh. I will get there. I keep having to remind myself.

2. Bring car savings account up to $2000.00 by 12/31/2012

As of 3/4/2012, this account is $633.51. I haven't made much progress with this one, either, because of needing to get tuckpointing done on the house. I will try again this coming payday to put more aside for a replacement car.

3. Complete some minor, and major, maintenance on the house. See the Home Maintenance Challenge list for details on this.

We made significant progress on this.
- Replaced spray nozzle on kitchen faucet.
- We have replaced more than a dozen CFL and incandescent bulbs with LEDs. More to go.
- Some tuckpointing has been done. More to go.
- Non functional garbage disposal has been removed. We didn't need one anyway.
- Composting begun. Progress ongoing.

Some stuff we need to have done this year include:
- Getting gutters cleaned in spring and fall.
- Begin garden (tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, kale, onions, garlic)
- More tuckpointing
- Set aside funds for getting windows

Farther Future Projects:
- Install rain water barrels under gutters
- Need to renovate and expand the bathroom
- More insulation
- New windows throughout
- Want extra freezer to store made ahead meals and meat bought on sale
- Install renewable, sustainable power source
- install greenhouse to south of house

4. Increase house savings account to $500.00 by 12/31/2012.

As of 3/25/2012, this account is down to $367.12 due to the tuckpointing, but I will build it back up. I need to get at least another $2400 for tuckpointing on the entire north side of the house and the top part of the south side. The east and west may need to be done also, but the north and south are worse.

5. Reduce unnecessary spending.

I have been done a lot better with this one. I have been making my own iced tea at work every day for about 2 weeks now. I usually one splurge when I actually buy lunch out. I think I am down to about 1 soda every other day and drink homemade juices every day.

We have replaced more than a dozen CFLs and incandescent light bulbs in our house with LEDs. We have seen significant reduction in energy usage, but won't see the difference in our bill until July because we are on a level payment plan.

I have taken my lunch to work every day except on paydays when I splurge a little bit. My "splurge" is usually a salad from the salad bar at the pizza joint down the street from my work. ;P

Hello, everyone. I am starting to love payday. I used to hate it, because that's when I would see a mass amount of my money vanish from my bank account to debt and stuff I didn't really need. But things are looking up and that's good, very good. For example, the hubster and I have gradually migrating our entire house's light bulbs to LED. At first, they were a little expensive, so we would buy 1 bulb a month or something. But the price has come down to about $10.00 a bulb lately. And no, I do not want to discuss CFLS AT ALL. The mercury is bad for the environment, so I don't care how cheap they are. Anyway, on payday, I was paying the electric bill and wanted to see what impact this has had on the electric bill, because we had replaced 4 bulbs last month. From one month to the next, it went down 150 kilowatts! Wow. That's amazing! We just replaced 4 more on Friday, so I can't wait to see what happens next month.

My retirement account has increased quite a bit in the last few months. My house and emergency savings were somewhat depleted due to the need for tuckpointing on our house. Without it, we could have had serious structural issues down the road.

In the second week of April, I will be attending a professional conference in my state. It should only cost around $400 or so to attend, but I will only be reimbursed for $122. My professional savings account will be cleaned out for that. Ugh. Bummer. But I already have a plan for that reimbursement loot. I have agreed when I get my reimbursement that we will buy a ladder so that we can do some maintenance around our house a little easier. Changing light bulbs in some rooms and also outside is impossible without a ladder.

Well, I am still continuing my Food Challenge to be not only healthier but also financially free. Here are my meals for the week:

1) Spinach salad with cucumbers, onion, tuna, olive oil, apple cider vinegar. Side of walnuts and an orange. (3 meals)

2) Chicken salad with onion, salt, and pepper. Side of walnuts and an orange (2 meals)

3) Eggs with ham. Either omelets, scrambled, or fried over hard. Add seasonings and veggies. Smoothie with almond milk, flaxseed, oranage juice, and banana for a side. (3 meals)

4) Oatmeal with honey, raisins, almond milk, and cinnamon. (4 meals)

5) Stew made with ground bison meat, carrots, onions, black beans, and brown rice. (3 meals)

6) Spaghetti made with ground chicken, tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, mushrooms, and seasonings. (2 meals)

7) Chicken breasts and side of vegetables and rice. (2 meals)

Hello, everyone. I have been away for awhile, so that is why I have not been posting. Life has been so hectic here with my job and stuff, it has been tough to keep up.

Anyway, I am still hard at work on eliminating debt, including the credit card and mortgage. I had to basically empty the house savings and also take some out of regular savings in order to get some tuckpointing done on our house. I would have liked to have waited awhile on it, but it was very bad, and unfortunately, only a fraction of what is needed to be done. We waited until our tax return arrived ($1048) and also some survey money (can't remember the amount), then I transferred money from regular savings and house savings to checking to total $1800. That was the amount of the first price quote from a masonry contractor we got. After putting together all the money, somehow we could not get in touch with the contractor. Bad news, but we did find someone different that was highly recommended.

The quote from the second contractor was $600 LOWER than the first. Wow! We were a little cautious, though, as we wondered about the quality of his work. He finished the job and it is superior to say the least - well worth $1200, so we are very pleased and told him we would contact him again in about 6 months or so to begin work on another section of the house.

With some of that "excess" $600, I paid off 3 small bills which will help to free up some cash on a monthly basis to pay off other things. The rest I put back into the house account. I will update the balance in a day or two.

Well, in order to keep pounding away at paying off debt and getting home maintenance done, I have to lower expenses, especially for food. I have been growing some herbs for cooking in a small terrarium. I am working on creating compost in the backyard and will be planting some organic tomatoes, carrots, kale, squash, and cucumber in the spring. I would eventually like to not have to go to the grocery store for produce. This will save serious money, not to mention make sure that I get healthy produce.

I am also giving up drinking soda for the sake of my health, but also money. I will be drinking more green tea, water, and homemade juice instead.

I am also continuing my food challenge. Here are my meals for the week. There is enough here that I will likely have leftovers for next week.

1) Chicken salad - 17 ounces canned chicken (1 can of 12 ounces and 1 can of 5 ounces), 3 tbsp of generic Miracle Whip, 1 bunch of chopped up green onion, and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. I had actually planned on making chicken soup, but decided I wanted something different. I had bought too much green onion and this turned out to be just the ticket to use it up. (3 meals)

2) Black Bean Soup - 1 pound dried black beans, 1 large onion, 1 bunch chopped green onion, 1 can drained diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup of parsley, 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp cayenne pepper, sea salt, black pepper, and 1 can refried beans. (8 meals) I base this soup on this recipe, but I use chicken broth and also add 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 can of refried beans to thicken the soup:

http://www.dadamo.com/typebase4/recipedepictor7x.cgi?840

3)Eggs and Sausage - (3 meals)

4)Whole grain oatmeal with flaxseeds, almond milk, raisins, and honey (4 meals)

5) Hamburger patty with ketchup and a side of veggies (1 meal)

6) Meatloaf (1 meal)

7) Spaghetti with meat sauce (2 meals) - I eat mine with brown rice.

8) Tuna salad with carrot sticks and gluten free crackers. Side of apple or orange. (2 meals)

Oh, we also won $4.00 on Powerball. I cashed that in for cash. I also took a bunch of spare change to the Coinstar and cashed it in. It totals up to $8.00, which I will deposit to regular savings. I am also depositing $100 to the professional account for a conference I will attend in April and $40 to the car account.

Hey, everyone. I was just doing a little surfing and decided to look up a debt payoff calculator. This one is for credit cards. Would the same principal apply to mortgages? I plugged in my mortgage numbers and it said I would be paid off in 15 years, which would definitely be a blessing. This is the url for the debt calculator.

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/debtplanner/debtplanner.jsp

Well, our bank account is getting a little skinny, so I am doing a Pantry Challenge, trying to make do as much as I can with what we already have. Fortunately, my husband is on a juice fast diet for the next week or so, and the only things I have to get for him are produce items. Here are the meals I have planned for me.

1) green salad with chicken, nuts, oranges, olive oil, and sea salt - 3 meals (using chicken and sea salt I already have)

2) chicken cacciatore and a side salad with sea salt and olive oil - 4 meals (using chicken, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, sea salt, and olive oil I already have)

3) potato salad with eggs, side of cucumbers and tomatoes salad - 4 meals (using mayonnaise, onion, and bacon I already have)

4) chicken curry salad with sides of apples and carrots - 6 servings (using carrots and curry powder I already have)

5) oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, almond milk, and honey and a smoothie with flaxseeds, almond milk, peanut butter, and banana - 3 meals (using flaxseeds, cinnamon, honey, and peanut butter I already have)

6) eggs and ham - 2 meals (using ham I already have)

7) leftover soup - 1 meal

8) lunch out on payday!

My meals for the coming week include:

1) Chicken Waldorf Salad (the recipe in the source below is for turkey waldorf salad, but I used chicken) - 3 meals

2) Chicken/Turkey Soup with rice, carrots, ginger, garlic, sea salt, pepper, and turmeric (yummy!) - I modified the soup recipe a friend gave to include ginger, garlic, and turmeric for an Indian flavor. - 5 meals - 1 Done at lunch!

3) Curry Spiced Noodles with chicken, carrots, curry, turmeric, and peppers. Since I gluten intolerant, I am going to make noodles using squash that you cut up really skinny like noodles and then boil for a few minutes. - 4 meals

4) Oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, flaxseeds, almond milk, and honey. Smoothy with almond milk, carrot, banana, stevia, and cocoa on the side. - 3 meals

5) Eggs and ham or pork cutlet. Smoothy with almond milk, carrot, banana, stevia, and cocoa on the side. - 3 meals

6) Green salad with chicken and olive oil and apple cider vinegar for dressing. - 2 meals

7) Leftover Barbecue Chicken, side of veggies and rice - 1 meal

8) Chicken, rice, and tomatoes with chili seasoning. - 1 meal

Recipe for Chicken Soup is here:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/greek-lemon-chicken-soup/detail.aspx

Recipes for Waldorf Salad and Curry Spiced Noodles are here: http://www.boarshead.com/pdf/DeliciousDishes.pdf

Hi, everyone. I suppose I have turned into an ultra-planner, but for some reason, I feel the need to take stock of my progress on my 2011 Goals.

Here are my 2011 Goals.

2011 Financial Goals
1. Pay off Hospital Debt #2 PAID OFF!
2. Pay off Hospital Debt #1 PAID OFF!!
3. CAR REPAIR DONE 3-21-11!
4. Pay off lawn mower PAID OFF
5. Accumulate $2000 in regular savings by Dec. 2011 - Currently at $1038.62
6. Accumulate $1000 in house savings account by Dec. 2011 - Currently at $253.59
7. Pay off $500 in credit card debt by Dec. 2011
8. Complete some minor maintenance on house

Here is my progress as of today.
1. Hospital Debt #2 was paid off 3/19/2011! Woo-Hoo!
2. Hospital Debt #1 was paid off 6/6/2011! Woo-Hoo! So far, 2 for 2!
3. Car repairs, which included an engine replacement, were complete on my car 3/21/2011. I would have liked to have replaced the car, but I did not want to subject our budget to a monthly outlay of a car payment if I could avoid it.
4. The loan on the lawn mower was paid off 6/25/2011.
5. I modified goal #5. After the savings broke $1000.00, I decided my goal to pay off the credit card was going nowhere without paying twice as much as I was paying. See #7 for what I did.
6. I have made miserable progress on accumulating the house savings to $1000.00. No excuses, though.
7. I have not made altogether great progress on credit card payoff, either. The balance is currently $1694.00. I modified Goal #5 to make it possible to pay it off next October. In addition to paying the normal payment I was doing of $40.00 per paycheck, I am also sending all future savings deposits to the credit card until paid off to $300.00. I am estimating the payoff date will be next October.
8. We have completed some maintenance on the house.
- replaced flapper on the toilet - helped some, but need to replace the toilet eventually
- gutters cleaned and sealed
- yard mowed regularly through season
- trees trimmed, unsightly, annoying bushes removed
- electric spider repellent installed
- mailbox properly installed

That being said, I still have a long way to go. Here are my 2012 Goals.

2012 Goals
1. Pay Down Credit Card to $300.00 by 10/31/2012

As of 11-26-2011, this debt is $1694.00. I am paying normal payments of $40.00 out of each paycheck, plus an additional $40.00 per paycheck that I used to send to savings. I get paid every 2 weeks, which is usually twice a month. Two times a year, I get 3 paychecks in a month. For those paychecks, I will allocate $100.00 to debt payoff.

2. Bring car savings account up to $2000.00 by 12/31/2012

This account is currently $601.31. I deposit all extra money, such as survey checks, rebates, money from cash4books.net, and spare change from my wallet monthly into this account. My goal is to have enough to buy a car with cash when I need to replace the current car.

3. Complete some minor, and major, maintenance on the house. See the Home Maintenance Challenge list for details on this.

4. Increase house savings account to $500.00 by 12/31/2012.

5. Reduce unnecessary spending.
- Think about purchases carefully. Do I need this? How will I use it? What will I wear it with? Do I really need to go out to eat? Can I get it free or borrow it?
- Think twice before buying sodas/iced tea, because I take my own tea bags and stevia with me to work and have free access to hot water.
- Take lunch to work almost every day, but splurge on payday.

Well, I got paid again. The gas, electric, credit card, and car insurance have all been paid for. I have also allocated for 1/2 of the mortgage. Those are all the bills I have due until next payday. Because of the upcoming holiday, my next payday will be 11/23 instead of 11/25. I have also bought groceries, health supplements, put money aside for replacing my car, and got the gutters cleaned out. You might also notice that my regular savings balance is not going up. That is because after my balance broke $1000, I started sending that money to the credit card instead of keeping it in savings. I am planning on allocating a total of $160.00 per month between my normal payment out of checking and the reallocated savings deposit towards paying off the credit card then starting putting money into savings again. My tentative schedule shows the target payoff date as next October. While I would like to allocate all extra money to the credit card, I also absolutely have to set aside money to replace the card in the next couple of years, as it has several things wrong with it. Most are some minor and just annoying, but the big one is that the heating/ac switch does not work right. Our mechanic said he could replace the switch, but Pontiac does not make them anymore and he was not able to find one from a salvage yard. He manually switched us over from cooling to heat, so we will be good until it gets warm next summer when we could try again to replace the switch. We would like to get a new car or certified preowned car and have the money set aside be equal to at least 1/2 the cost of the car. I don't want us to be locked into huge car payments, so I am doing my best to come up with as much as possible.

I did pretty well with my paleo challenge last week. I ate oatmeal one time when I sort of woke up late and didn't have time to make any eggs. Oh, well, I will do better this next week. I feel really amazing and have a lot more energy. Since I have been eating gluten free for over a year, it was not that big of a challenge. I just eliminated oatmeal, bread, and crackers. Apparently, brown, wild rice is okay in small amounts, though.

Here are my meals for next week:

1) Meatloaf - 2 meals

2) Top Round Roast - 3 meals

3) Eggs and Ham, Smoothie with almond milk, cocoa, stevia, flaxseeds, banana - 3 meals

4) Almond Butter on an Apple, Carrots, Trail Mix - 1 meal

5) Beef Stew w/ onions, carrots, mushrooms - 3 meals

6) Chicken Soup w/ brown rice, Rice, Onions - 3 meals

7) Green Salad w/ chicken, Avocado, Tomato - 3 meals 1 Done Tonight

8) Chicken Leg Quarter, Steamed Veggies - 3 meals

Due to a minor miscalculation, I had to move a little bit of money from a savings account to checking. It is not any of the savings accounts on my sidebar, but one where the dh hoards $ for video games and other stuff he wants to buy. I hated to do it, but we might be overdrawn by Friday if I didn't. I have already set up an automatic transfer from checking to savings for the same amount to make sure the money gets back there.

Oh, well. On to other news. Here are my meals for the coming weak. You might notice I am not planning to eat oatmeal this week. I think grains are becoming a little problematic for me, so I am going to cease eating them for at least a week to see what happens. It's going to be a little weird, but I will probably be eating stuff like pot roast, beef stew, and stir fry for breakfast in order to go grain free. I will also eat eggs, but can't eat them every day.

1) Pot Roast - will make at least 2 meals

2) Beef Stew - will probably make 3 meals - 1 Done Tonight!

3) Eggs and ham - 2 meals

4) Spaghetti Sauce - 1 meal - I may subsitute some broccoli or something for the noodles.

5) Chili - 3 meals

6) Chicken salad and carrot sticks - 1 meal

7) Green salad with chicken, onions, and tomato - 3 meals

8) Chicken stir fry - 2 meals

9) Almond butter on carrot sticks and apples - 1 meal

10) Leftover 13 bean soup w/ ham - 2 meals - 1 Done!

When I did this recently, it was so successful I decided to do it again. If you would like an easy way to make a little extra money for savings, paying off debt, buying Christmas presents, or whatever, just click here. It's easy and there is absolutely no cost.

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/u8a5m6

Full disclosure: I will get a 25 points bonus for recruiting someone.

I have been using my "spare" money from rebates and surveys to save for a new car.

Well, I made it to payday. My challenge was to make it without using the debit card or credit card. The credit card stayed safe and snug, but my husband was sick and I had to take him to the doctor, so I did use the debit card. I think I did use it for a couple of other small things, too, but I used cash for everything else. Woo-Hoo!

I am going to take my pocket change to Coinstar tomorrow. It should be around $3.00 or so. I will add it to my car account. I will also add another $20 to the same account and $20 to the house account.

Now that my regular savings is up over $1000, I decided to divert the normal $40 I have been putting in there every payday to paying down the credit card. I fought very hard to get it up over $1000 and plan on maintaining that.

My retirement is also up. Woo-hoo!
My husband will go to make our mortgage payment on Tuesday. Yea!

Here is what I would like my retirement to be like.

Thanks to saving4rainyday, I found this new mantra about money. It's funny that I have thought this all my life, but Will Smith put it so succinctly that I can't help but to quote it here.

"Many people spend money they don't own, to buy things they don't need, to ask acceptance from people they don't know." Will Smith

If you are interested in making a little extra money doing surveys, etc., click on this link. There is absolutely no cost to join and earning points is fast and easy.

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/a5dbcf

Full disclosure: I will get 25 points for a friend signing up, but mostly I just wanted to pass along a good opportunity to earn a little extra money.

I have been putting my extra dollars towards paying off the credit card and beefing up my car account. My car account will enable us to replace our car in 1-2 years with a used or new car.

By the way, if they link above does not work for you, post a comment and I will get another token. The tokens can only be used once.

Well, we are a little low on cash. Counting the $273.31 allocation for 1/2 of the mortgage and Netflix, we have $.08 left in checking. Neither have been actually debited from our account, just allocated for. Making the house payment is easier for me if I allocate 1/2 in the first paycheck and 1/2 in the second. If I have a third paycheck, then I pay a little extra. My challenge this week is to get through the week without using my debit or credit card once.

Here are my meals planned out for the week:

1) meatloaf - 2 meals, one meal with baked potatoes made only 1 meal!

2) Omelets or scrambled eggs, side of chicken or ham - 3 meals 1 Down, 2 to go

3) 13 bean soup with ham, onion, tomatoes, and spices - 4 meals 1 Down, 3 to go

4) oatmeal - 3 meals 1 Down, 2 to go

5) leftover chili spaghetti casserole - 3 meals 1 Down, 2 to go

6) spaghetti over rice - 1 meal

7) salad with a side of leftover chili - 1 meal

8) chicken salad w/ side of crackers and carrots - 1 meal Done

9) gluten free lunchmeat sandwiches

10) lunch out on 10-28-2011!

Hi, everyone.

I have heard over and over again that one of the keys to financial success is spending less than what you earn. My logical mind knows this fact inside and out. Recently, I met with the retirement planning counselor for my plan. He asked a lot of questions about my finances in general (amount in savings, insurance, budget, etc.). When I told him that for my regular savings account, I had only around $750 in it, he gently said that I need at least 6 months of expenses in savings. I actually had a copy of my budget in my hand and know that it takes approximately $2000 to meet all normal bills. He said, "Well then you need $12,000 minimum in savings." Like I said, my logical brain knows this, but it really helped to get my butt in gear by hearing it from a financial planning counselor. Since then, I have been really watching my spending by taking out $20.00 cash for snacks and stuff. I pretty well stick to my guns and don't really spend outside that, allowing me to set aside a little extra for savings. I have also been putting my "found money" from surveys and rebates into the car account. $12,000. Wow. Well, I will get there somehow. I will break $1000 in my main savings account on Friday. I have also been adding to the house account, which we are planning to use for buying new windows for the house. Woo-Hoo!

I don't especially seek out no spend days, but when they happen, I do celebrate. I am trying to trim our expenses where it is possible in order to save more to buy a replacement car. I don't want to go into debt to buy a car, unless necessary. I am also trying to get the credit card paid down. I would not mind using it for every day expenses and paying it off immediately, but I am not that disciplined yet.

Yesterday, I was at the grocery store wondering what to buy to eat. My hubby is a little picky and whiny. He grumbles about "how I never fix anything different" but is not specific about what he wants. So, it's like finding a needle in a haystack. Anyway, I saw this top round roast (2.09 pounds) for $2.99 a pound on sale. What a bargain! I thought I could cook it in the oven first and eat probably about 1/3 of it with some cooked cabbage and green beans. Then, we could eat some on sandwiches. Any small amounts left over we could toss into omelets or stir fry. Yum. I can't wait until the roast is done. I can already smell garlic all over the house.

This coming Thursday I am supposed to show up for jury duty, but I hope I don't have to go. I won't know until the night before on that, though. It is a big inconvenience for me to POSSIBLY be gone from work for a day but not to know whether I really will be or not. I know it is my duty to serve, but I think they ought to be able to organize it better than this. Arrgh!

I get paid every two weeks. Two months out of every year, I have 3 paychecks in a month. With September, I have 3 paychecks. I am planning now what I plan to do with it.

$1228.12 (total amount of paycheck)
-20 mortgage extra payment
-60 emergency savings deposit I am changing this one to 100
-50 car account I am changing this one to 100
-50 house account
-20 towards chest freezer
-50 water bill
-200 groceries
-40 stock up on staple grocery items
-100 credit card pmt
-50 towards eyeglasses I am changing this to 75
628.12

I am not sure what to do with the rest, but I think this is a good start. Per the ads on Home Depot, I will need around $700 for a chest freezer, so this is just a mere start. I will likely need around $150-$175 for new eyeglasses.

Update on 9-5-2011: I have updated a few numbers above and added one. I changed the eyeglasses one, because I really need new eyeglasses. Mine are falling apart. I already have $63.00 set aside for this and will set aside $50.00 more on September 16th. After that, I only need probably $25.00 more than originally allocated to get a new pair. I also decided to stock up on some staple grocery items, such as canned tomatoes, dried beans, bread, toilet paper, spices, and paper towels. I may also add another category to stock up on some health supplements, but will need to check my supply first. But before doing any of this, I will make sure ALL bills get paid first.

Well, I finally got my salary letter with what my salary will be for this fiscal year. After doing the math, I realized I have about a 6.59% raise, way better than I was expecting!

Also, because the raise was supposed to begin with the first July paycheck, I got a catchup paycheck that included my extra pay for July and August. I made a list of what I wanted to do with it. It included:

1) Buying a copy of the book Traditional Thai Yoga. $4.98 with shipping -

http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qwork=10475825&matches=13&.... DONE

2) depositing $50 into the car savings account - DONE

3) making an extra $20 payment to the credit card - DONE

4) making an extra $20 payment to the mortgage - WILL BE DONE SEPT 1

5) buying chair cushions at Home Depot for the chair my husband sits in - ~ $30 - DONE

6) replacing our defunct wireless router at Best Buy - ~$59 - DONE

7) buying a few replacement clothing items for the hubby and I - ~ $20 DONE - I found a great thrift store over the weekend, so I will be doing more of this on Saturday.

8) $40 out of any paycheck gets automatically deposited to my regular savings, so that account increased also - DONE

9) my retirement account went up a little too, but I don't know how much - DONE

10) buy some needed health supplements - ~$40.00 - DONE

Unfortunately, the rest got absorbed into the grocery budget and other stuff, but I got some great stuff accomplished.

Also, I have made my lunches to take to work and suppers for the week. Here they are:

1) Stir Fry with chicken, green peppers, canned tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, leftover frozen veggies, Chinese hot chili sauce, and rice. 4 meals

2) Tuna Salad sandwich on gluten free bread, cucumbers, carrots, apples, and filtered water from home. 3 meals

3) Almond butter sandwich on gluten free bread, cucumbers, sliced tomato, apples, and filtered water from home 2 meals

4) Gluten free lunchmeat on gluten free bread, cucumbers, carrots, peaches, and filtered water from water. 4 meals

Well, howdy everyone. I got paid again today. Still no raise, but I am still plugging right along with my goals. I increased my regular savings (emergency, although I don't really like to say that) to $708.02. I am increasing my car savings by $20.00. I wish I could do more, but we had to have work done on our car's air conditioner that cost $150 and I did not want to go into debt over that. I got a $5.00 survey check. As soon as I got it, I deposited it and paid the cc by the same amount. No survey money does not waste time lingering in my checking account or it would get spent on something when I want to spend it gaining financial freedom. I also paid extra to the cc today, bringing the balance to probably about $1797.06. I will pay more later when I scrounge up some other funds.

I am going to Coinstar tomorrow and will deposit the funds into my car account. It will probably be around $2 to $3. Update: I had $3.00 in change, bringing my car account to $296.49.

We got our latest mortgage statement. It is no surprise to us that it is going down, because we pay every time on time. It feels great to know we are building equity.

I am going thrift store shopping tomorrow for 2 pairs of slacks (1 preferably black and then other khaki). I also need some new socks. I will check Big Lots for those.

Just saw this link referenced on a listserv. I thought you all might like to see it, too.

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/financialhealth/index.html

I only got a C+, so it's looks like I have a lot of work to do!

Well, I got paid again today, so there's more money in savings and retirement. I have already set aside car insurance and 1/2 of the mortgage payment for August.

I work at a university and have a contract. The union has ratified the contract for this year, but it has to go to the Board of Regents in the state for approval. In the meantime, the salary increase I was supposed to get beginning today, I will not get til the Board of Regents approves it. When will that be? It's anyone's guess.

I really wanted to go to HR today and increase my amount going to retirement and savings, but don't want to until the raise comes through.

Don't get me wrong. I count myself lucky I have a job and a salaried job at that. Some people in my field are unemployed and have been for a couple of years. Others are underpayed. I am doing alright salary wise, but I have been promoted and want to be recognized for that in my salary. I worked hard for it for the last 6 years at my current job and 15 years overall in my field.

Here is the dispersal of my reimbursement as it stands now:

$1241.38 (total of reimbursement)
-$200.00 (payment to credit card)
- $90.00 (balance payment on lawn mower)
-$200.00 (deposit to car savings account for eventual replacement of car)
- $33.93 (ordering health supplements)
- $56.25 (ordering new water filter cartridge 7/4/2011)
- $50.00 (second payment to credit card 7/4/2011)
-$325.64 (replacing dying PS3)
-------------------
$285.29 balance as of 7/4/2011

I would have sent a larger portion to the credit card, but the bank balance is a little wonky right now and I need to clear that up before sending more. Our PS3 is our primary source of entertainment, as we do not have cable tv or satellite. My husband plays some of the PS3 games and we both watch tv episodes and movies on Netflix instant viewing. So, that's why we wanted to replace our dying PS3. After I get the bank balance straightened out, I will likely make another payment to the credit card and put more in regular and car savings.

Oh, and if you need to order any health supplements and certain health food stuff, try

http://www.vitacost.com. They are having a 4th of July sale today with a lot of things heavily discounted and no shipping charge on any order over $49.00.

Here is my progress so far with the reimbursement.

$1241.38 (total reimbursement)
-$200.00 (payment to credit card)
-$200.00 (deposit to car savings to eventually replace the car)
-$90.00 (pay off the balance on the lawn mower)
-$325.64 (bought a new PS3 because our old one is about to die)
__________
Balance $425.74

I will make at least one more deposit to the savings and payment on the credit card next week.

The other thing we need to get is a new filter for the water filter connected to our kitchen faucet. That will probably be around $75-$80.

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=231719&catid=...

A computer geek we know has basically offered to buy our old PS3 because he fixes old ones and sells them. We don't know how much yet, but it should help some.

The note about my credit card balance at the left is correct for the first time in a long time. I had not put the actual number up there because it was so embarassing. Now, I will be putting the correct, and declining, number there. I am getting a pretty good raise in July and that should help a lot in enabling me to: 1) increasing regular savings, 2) increase retirement, 3) pay down the credit card, and 4) put away more for house upkeep and eventual car replacement. Woo-hoo!

Well, I leave by Greyhound bus on a trip to St. Louis for a conference. So that I don't sidetracked into eating lots of junk food and spending lots of money, I am taking all my own snacks. It's a 6 hour bus ride and it leaves at 5:00am, so food is essential. Because of my food allergies, I can't depend on finding food I can eat at the places a bus is likely to stop. So, I have packed Larabars, single serving raisin packets, and single serving nuts. I am also taking a bottle of water and 2 sandwiches.

My bus ticket and conference registration are already paid for. I already have money allocated for the hotel bill and any other food I will buy. I'm so excited!

I don't leave for the trip until Thursday, so I still have to make some food to eat from now until then.

1) Salmon and gluten free pasta salad with salt, pepper, and garlic (3 meals)

2) Spaghetti sauce with rice (1 meal)

3) Stir fry with chicken, peppers, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and hot chili sauce (3 meals)

4) Oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, almond milk, and honey (4 meals)

5) Beans and rice - I am not sure how many meals I will get out of this. I have never made it before and have to look up a recipe.

6) Breakfast at the hotel during my conference - The hotel serves free breakfast, but some of it I won't be able to eat. I will probably be able to eat some fruit and hot tea, but I will have to buy my own cereal and almond milk at the store. (3 meals)

7) Dinners at the hotel during my conference - The hotel also serves free dinners, out of which I will probably be able to eat a salad, baked potato, and some kind of drink. I will probably have to buy some gluten free lunchmeat at the nearby grocery store. (3 meals)

The fact that the hotel serves both breakfast and lunch is an extremely major deal, because my college gives us a per diem (a meal allowance) for attending conferences. Since I don't have to pay for many of my meals, they will reimburse more of my other costs, like conference registration and bus ticket. I am keeping track of all costs on a printed spreadsheet and, of course, keeping all receipts.

7) I will be eating out for any meals not accounted for above. This will probably include my lunches while at the conference. I don't know what they are serving, or even if anything will be available. I have money for that, though, so it's not a problem.

Well, I am doing really well with my Food Challenge. Except for an occasional iced tea or soda purchase, I have not really bought a meal out except sometimes on the Fridays when I get paid, I will buy lunch and later dinner with my husband. Because I had to attend graduation at my university on Friday, I did not have dinner with my husband, but ate dinner in my office and then went to graduation. Hubby ate a pizza. Arrgh! But he wanted something, and bless his heart, he his been eating oatmeal and boiled eggs for breakfast every day and "rabbit food" with chicken or tuna for lunch and dinner. Have I mentioned he hates rabbit food?

So, my meals for the coming week will be the following:

7 servings of ham and bean soup (homemade) - see link to recipe below

6 servings of oatmeal with raisins, honey, almond milk, and cinnamon

2 servings of chicken and pasta salad

3 sandwiches with Hormel Naturals Ham on gluten free bread with mustard

1 sandwich with almond butter on gluten free bread

1 serving of spaghetti made with rice instead of wheat pasta

Oh, and on the ham and bean soup, I have been dying to have some for ages. I have never made it on my own and while my mother makes it frequently, I have no idea what her recipe is. Recipe? She hardly ever uses recipes or measures anything. Anyway, I wanted to make some and found a recipe online for a basic ham and bean soup. I have to say that for my first try, it is a really excellent soup and way better than the lentil soup I tried around a month or so ago. Oh, and for my fellow frugal eaters, it is a very cheap soup to make, because most of the ingredients are things you might already have at home. I made a big 6 quart pot and that came out to 7 servings. Here is the link to recipe. I did change it up a bit. I did not use a ham bone, but just bought 1 pound of Boar's Head ham from the deli because I need to use meat that is free of gluten and msg. I also did not use a bay leaf, as I don't have any and didn't want to buy it just for this.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/basic-ham-and-bean-soup/Detail....

Well, up to now, we really had not done much of anything with our house maintenance to-do list. When we moved into our new-old house last July, we bought a riding lawn mower from a friend to mow our lawn with. It has turned out to be a bit of a pill because the battery keeps dying and it stalls while my husband is mowing, so we sold it to my brother in law. Also, my husband has been having some physical problems lately, and we decided it would be better to have someone else mow it every 2 weeks for only $40.00 each time. The influx of cash from selling the mower gave us the opportunity to accomplish getting a new ceiling fan to replace our living room ceiling fan/light which is wobbly and old. There are 5 globes on it and the wires on the neck of two of the globes is covered with tape and has been since we moved in. So, for $69.97 plus tax plus eco-friendly LED lightbulbs, we replaced our old ceiling fan/light with a new one.

I am going to convince my husband to use the rest of the cash left from selling the mower to pay off the rest of the lawn mower. Then, we will be one step closer to freedom!

Hello, everyone. I have been noticing that even though I am contributing faithfully to my 401K every month through my job, that I would like to increase my retirement income possibilities.

First, though, I need to get the regular emergency savings up to at least $1000 and get rid of some liabilities, including getting the lawn mower and my medical bill paid off. I will also make a significant payment to the credit card. The lawn mower, medical bill, and credit card are slated to happen in June. The emergency fund is already in progress.

Later this year, after all this is accomplished, I want to open a Roth IRA and contribute about $500 a year to start. I would like to invest it in ETFs. When I went to my retirement company website, it looks like I can basically mail in contributions whenever I want, like monthly, quarterly, or right before tax time. For those who actually do have one, is it easier to contribute say monthly so that $50 or $100 is not as painful as $2000. What do you think?

Well, I get paid again tomorrow. Hubby is going to the bank to make the mortgage payment which has already been allocated from my two previous paychecks, so no problem there.

I am also making another payment on Hospital Debt #1, bringing the balance to $177.58. Woo-Hoo!

Because I am already done paying on Hospital Debt #2 (!!!!) and I have 3 paydays in April, I am allocating a little extra money towards debt payment on the credit card, the Conference Challenge, and home maintenance.

I plan on spending around $50 to $60 on a new ceiling fan Saturday.

I am also allocating $150 to the Conference Challenge, bring my balance to $1056.44! Woo-Hoo! I will add more to that after going grocery shopping and paying the credit card bill, etc.

I am not sure how much I will pay on the credit card. Hmm...

For the Lunch Challenge, I am thinking of making lentil soup. I hear it's yummy and nutritious, so here goes!

Well, I just got an email telling me that survey money will be arriving soon, about a week or so. That will be $25.00

Also, I cashed in my beezag points for $8.00. Thanks to beezag doing some kind of special this month where a lot of their videos were 250 points instead of the usually 20 or something.

So, when those go through, I will have another $33.00 in the Conference Challenge. woo-hoo

Unfortunately, part of the money that went to pay for the car repair came out of my emergency savings. I am bummed, because it took about 6 months to get it to almost $600 and I had to take some out. I am bummed, but happy I did not have to resort to a credit card. I also have to remind myself that that is what emergency savings is for -- unplanned expenses like car engines. My savings balance is now $305.72. :|

On a happy note, I got a $20.00 survey check in the mail which went straight to my Conference Challenge.

I also got a paypal deposit of $25.40 from another survey company.

That brings my conference challenge balance to $898.44.

All I can say is Woo-Hoo!