My reimbursement for my travel expenses has arrived. Normally, I only get $500 per year, but if there is any travel money left at the end of the year in my organization because someone didn't use their travel money, someone gets the benefit of that. So, it is being deposited and once it clears, I will begin the process of dolling it out. The first amounts to go out will be: 1) $90.00 for the lawn mower, 2) $250.00 to the credit card, and 3) $250.00 to savings. That is just the beginning of my plan, but it gets better than that. This is gonna be FUN to pay off debts and bring up savings balances!

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.

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

I was curious how much my net worth had changed in 2009, so I looked it up on networthiq.com. I was very surprised to find my networth has changed to the tune of a positive $10,227!!! Wow. I knew it was better, but that is amazing.

net worth in Dec 2008 - $9,335
total hospital debt $2,900
credit card debt $1,882
no savings account
retirement account $13,054

net worth in Dec 2009 - $19,562
total hospital debt $1,772
credit card debt $1,682
emergency savings account $462
house downpayment account $135
car replacement account $150
retirement account $20,759


I updated this on 12/27/2009 because I did some calculations based on my payment schedule and discovered that my payoff dates for these debts are different than I thought.

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

In February, I plan to start paying another $20 per month more on hospital debt #1. This will accelerate the debt payoff.

Well, I got paid again. Savings is up. Retirement is up. Debt is down. The scales are starting to tip in my favor. I bought groceries today and spent more than I had planned, but I was out of practically everything. I also increased the amount automatically deposited to my savings, which is my EF. Anyway, just checking in with you guys. I'm doing good now and better than yesterday! Well, I decided to try something new. As far as the household expenses, like utilities, rent, etc., it seemed like the were out of balance. I did a little figuring and found that yes they were out of balance. The beginning of the month's paycheck seemed to go farther because I had less fewer dollars going for household expenses. So, this time, I evened it out a little by transferring $100 to savings for the purpose of going towards rent later in the month. This should help a lot. Let's see how it goes. By the way, the "Other Real Estate" Category on my networth iq profile is not really real estate. It is a separate savings account I have at another credit union. It is a join account with my husband.

Well, I have changed the account that my paypal deposits go to. They will now go directly to my savings, which is my EF. This will help me to get it built up and ward off Murphy at all costs. I just recently got a survey payment delivered to me by paypal. I had it deposited to the savings and it felt so good knowing exactly where it was going.

Do any of you use the envelope system advocated by Dave Ramsey? Well, I do, but only for my regular grocery shopping and mad money. For more than a month now, I have been going to the bank and getting out a certain amount of cash to spend on groceries. For the first payday of the month, I always allocate more. That's when I stock up on stuff and when I also am usually out of a lot of stuff. At first, I was only doing this because my debit card number had been stolen and so I was without a card for about 10 days. Now, I see that this system actually works to keep me on track with my spending. Sometimes, things happen for a reason. I can actually predict within $5.00 or $10.00 what I will spend and not feel deprived at all. Before this, I think I probably spent a lot more because the money was "invisible." By the way, my mad money is money I can spend for snacks, lunches, etc. without having to worry about it.

Debt is Down. Savings is Up. Retirement is up, so networth is up. Yahoo! Well, I got paid again on Friday. I paid the gas bill, electric bill, cell phone bill, hospital debt #2, credit card bill, and bought gas and groceries. I averted a minor financial disaster last week when someone stole my debit card number and made a large charge to my account, resulting in me being overdrawn. As a result, my card was cancelled. Don't worry. After about 5 phone calls, I think everything has been taken care of and when I do get a new card, I will be using it much more selectively. When I went out to do shopping last Saturday and today, I cashed a check for my budgeted amount. Last Saturday when all shopping was done, I still had 1/3 of my cash left. Yahoo! This Saturday, after finishing, I had only about $3.00 left because I was out of a lot of stuff, but that's still in the black. I did have to write a check at Walgreens, though. Heads up, if you are coupon shopper and get Dollar General's emails, watch for a special coupon to use. It gives you 20% extra off some things and 10% off of others. I combined that with some other coupons and saved over $5.00 just at that store. Cool.

And today, I decided to give back to our men and women serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. A group at my work is collecting stuff to send there and so I bought a few things to send. They only wanted baby wipes, granola bars, razors, toilet paper, and socks. I really wanted to send toothpaste, shampoo, soap, and toothbrushes, but they told me they only wanted certain things. What gives? I don't know, but that sounded kind of weird, like who would refuse a donation like that?

Last minute update: I just opened the mail and received a reimbursement check from work for $5.40. This goes right to savings. I also received a statement for hospital bill #1, so a check for it is off in the mail now.

Well, I got paid again Friday. I decided to start building up my emergency fund to $1000 again and then start hitting the debt really hard. So, my savings is up to $838.43. Yippee. My cc is down about $20.00. I also saved an astounding $22.42 doing my shopping this weekend. I am planning on directing it to the cc. I think that may be a record for me. I have already paid the rent, internet bill, bought groceries and household stuff, put more money in savings, and set aside $165.00 for dh to take a CPR trainor course. My husband says he is supportive of getting out of debt, but does not seem to want to do the work and always wants to buy what I like to call "shinies." In other words, he would rather buy some useless crap we don't need rather than buy financial security. Hmm... I haven't really decided how to feel about that, but I have figured out a way to circumvent the buying of the shinies. Instead of waiting until payday arrives to write checks for bills, I write them on Wednesday, two days before. That makes sure that household bills and debts get paid. If I don't have any money left after that, I just don't have it. I have decided that that's exactly what I will tell him if it happens.

I had a couple of things going on last week that necessitated eating out two days, so I have leftover frugal lunches for this week.

I have:
2 bowls chicken/vegetable soup with rice
1 chicken salad with crackers packet
2 refrigerated chicken strips packages
2 bowls chinese noodles
frozen vegetables
2 applies
5 banannas
pretzels
trail mix
6 bottles water

Lunch 1:
1 bowl chinese noodles
1/2 cup frozen vegetables
1/2 pkg refrigerated chicken strips
1 apple
handful of pretzels and trail mix
bottled water

Lunch 2:
1 chicken salad with crackers packet
1 apple
1 bananna (more fruit here because chicken salad packet kind of skimpy)
handful of pretzels and trail mix
bottled water

Lunch 3:
1 bowl chicken and veg soup with rice
1 bananna
handful of pretzels and trail mix
bottled water

Lunch 4:
1 bowl chinese noodles
1/2 cup frozen vegetables
1/2 pkg refrigerated chicken strips
1 bananna
handful of pretzels and trail mix
bottled water

Lunch 5:
1 bowl chicken and veg soup with rice
1 bananna
handful of pretzels and trail mix
bottled water

Well, I got paid again Friday. I have already paid the bills for gas, electric, cell phone, trash, water/sewer, and hospital bills #1 and #2. I have bought groceries, some of which was on sale. The meat and frozen veggies I bought should last well into next week. My retirement account is way up and my debts are down. I am pleased about that.

My finances have yo-yoed a little bit lately. I feel like I made significant progress and then something happens that makes me feel like I am back at step one again. I had $1000 in my savings and then I had to take out $140 to get the starter on my car replaced. Something else happened, too, but I can't remember what. Anyway, I am getting savings slowly built back up and debt paid down. I am also slowly getting my car replacement account and house account built up. Hospital Bills #1 and #2 are also down some. I will be paying more on #2 on Friday. Also, I will be leaving on Thursday for a conference and will be back on Friday. About 10-15 days later, I will get a reimbursement of about $120, which will immediately be directed to the credit card. It will not be spent on shinies, dinner out, etc., as those things don't contribute to my financial freedom. I got a copy of Dave Ramsey's book at the library and copied the budget forms from the back. I adapted them for my situation and made a spreadsheet based on them. I am not sure if they envelope thing will work for me, as predicting how much groceries will cost is impossible. I am going to try it for awhile without envelopes.

Well, I feel much more relaxed and at ease with my financial situation. I don't know why, but it seems like things have eased up a little bit lately. I did not get the amount of reimbursement for my work trip that I was hoping for, but I did not let that stop me from making huge progress. I had to replace my portable dishwasher (we have to have a portable because we don't own our house), which took $461.38. I took $400.00 and put it into savings, bringing my balance to $975.89. Almost $1000. Wow. I am using the rest to get some work done on my car. With all the "extra" money I had been pumping into the Conference Challenge, I am going to use to pay off the credit card and medical debt. I don't know exactly how long it will take me, but if apply the same intensity I did with the Conference Challenge, I would say 1.5 years.

Well, the topic for this article I found on this article on msn is certainly applicable in the current economy. I do some of this myself, playing money games, find money on the street, depositing what's in my pockets into my challenge, etc. I thought you all might want to know about it.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney...

Well, I got paid again yesterday. Here's the good news:

1) Hospital Debt #1 is down to $838.58.

2) Savings is up to $697.35.

3) Retirement is up to $13,816.57.

4) The conference challenge is up to $1699.49.

5) The doctor has encouraged hubby and I to eat less red meat and eat tuna and turkey instead. The good news is that turkey is a little cheaper than ground beef and we should not notice any difference in taste.

The bad news is that I had to go to the chiropractor yesterday (scheduled visit) in a nearby town. I was out of several of my health supplements that I take and had replenish. I had only anticipated spending $50-$60, but it was $113.08. Anyway, I have to pay my rent at the end of the month. Other than that, I have $104.38 to get me through until April 3rd, my next payday. I don't do a lot of driving and don't drive to work, so gas for the next 2 weeks is not a problem. I have already bought groceries next week. My only expenses are rent ($465) and food (~$70.00). I am determined to remain within this budget and not use the credit card.



Hubby was doing the laundry and found $0.65 in the pocket of my pants. I have added it to the Conference Challenge and broken the $1700 mark, bringing my balance to $1700.14.

Well, as of late, I feel kind of like a chicken missing its own head. At my work, carpet is being laid in my area beginning March 13th. It will take about 1 week to do the entire floor. I have to finish up some projects I am working on and also take everything off the tops of my file cabinets, my desk, and my credenza. Oh well, that's almost done, but the nasty part where they stir up a lot of dust has yet to begin.

I also have some presentations to put together for conferences I am going to. I am going to one conference in April in a nearby town and big one in June. I have to put together presentations for both of them. I have registered for the first conference, but still have to do hotel reservations. I have arranged to share a hotel room for that conference, cutting my hotel costs in half. For the second conference, I have not made any travel arrangements yet, but I will have 2 roommates for that one. My boss is happy about that one, as my hotel costs will be cut from about $1200 to around $400. My pocketbook is happy too and the pressure to get together $2000 is not so heavy, but I am still scrambling to round up spare change, survey money, and rebate money. I am not desperate, but I don't want to be without, either. I do not want to use the credit card. My head is spinning.

Well, the early Christmas present I blogged about recently was a mistake, apparently the result of an absent minded data entry. The bill we received that indicated the bill was $150.00 lower than we thought it should was incorrect. Oh well, we will live and we will pay off the rest of the debt. I haven't written the check for this month's payment, but I will later.

I have added more money to the Conference Challenge recently, bringing the balance to $1581.94.

I also got paid yesterday. More money went to my savings. We also received our federal tax refund recently. We bought a PS3 with part of it (not my idea - it was dh) and also got some work done on the cart with part of it. At this point, I took control and insisted that we put the rest into savings, bringing the balance to $597.35. Today, we got our state tax refund and I took charge. I put it in my checking. As soon as I can make it so, it will be making its way to the credit card company. Apparently, I need to take charge once in awhile to make serious headway with finances.

More money was also added to my retirement, bringing the balance to $13,301.98.

I also went grocery shopping today. I used coupons, my own bags, and bought sale items at the grocery store which gave me $3.84 off my bill. I also went to Walgreens and bought Nature Made vitamins for buy one get one free. I had a $1.00 off coupon for each bottle. I also bought a small plastic bottle to use for cleanser on my trip in June (my skin is sensitive, so I can't use hotel soap) and had a coupon for 99 cents to buy the bottle. I also bought a package of quart size zip top bags for 99 cents with a Walgreens coupon. As I was checking out, I noticed I saved $11.79 and spent $9.23. Woo-hoo!

At Dollar General, I bought a few things. I bought two CFL bulbs. They had tear off rebate forms for GE lightbulbs. After rebate, you basically get one lightbulb free. So, if you are in the need for CFL bulbs, check out Dollar General. I bought two 60 watt CFL bulbs for $8.00, but I will get $4.00 back.

Today there was a big sale at the Big Lots, but you had to take a special 20% off coupon.

I took the opportunity to stock up. I bought dishwasher powder, 14 cans of cat food, a box of tea, dishwashing liquid, 2 foil pouches of tuna, travel size toiletry bottles, and packages of chicken and tuna salad with crackers. I wish I had know about it before I did my regular shopping there on Saturday. I could have delayed that for one day. Oh well. I will watch my email ads closer next time.

Well, I got paid yesterday. $20.00 went directly into my savings without me ever seeing it. Yeah! This brings my balance to $80.00. My employer sent more money to my retirement, bring my balance to $13,695.70.

Today, I went grocery shopping. At Dollar General, I bought crackers, peanut butter, mayo, and tuna fish in foil pouches. I used $0.85 in coupons and spent $11.70.

At Big Lots, I bought cat food, tea bags, and a loaf of bread. I spent $7.19.

At Dillons, I bought numerous things, but the most remarkable was the 18 oz container of Quaker Oatmeal that was on sale 2 for $4.00. I had a coupon for $0.60, which was doubled to $1.00, so I got my oatmeal for $1.00. At that price, I could have bought two, but I also have some other upcoming expenses that I need to budget for. I also bought two Scotch Bright scouring sponges for $1.00 each. I had a $0.75 coupon which was doubled to $1.00, giving me a free sponge. My total savings with coupons, sales, and bringing my own bags at this store came to $8.97.

I also set aside $80.00 for the Conference Challenge, bringing my balance to $1469.76. Oops. I found some change that I added to my Conference Challenge, bringing my balance to $1473.62.

I really love this game. This is fun and it gives me stuff that I need.

Well, today was a spending and saving day. I have my checking and savings accounts at different places (for good reason), so I went to an atm and got $80 out ($20 for my mad money, $40 for set aside for my conference in June, and $20 for savings). I went to the credit union and deposited the $20 to my savings, bringing the balance to $60. Yes, I have $60 in my savings!

At Dollar Tree, I bought 3 quarts of broth and 1 package of bubble mailers for $4.29. This is a really good deal on this stuff, as broth at my grocery store is about $3.00 for just 1 quart. This is the cheapest for buying bubble mailers also.

At Dollar General, I bought Electrasol, mayonaisse, crackers, tuna fish in foil packets, and an LED nightlight for $14.22. I used $0.75 in coupons here.

At Big Lots, I bought cat food, a canister of raisins, and an 8 oz measuring cup for $8.05. The only thing I don't like about this store is that you can't use coupons, but they have very good deals on stuff.

At my regular grocery store, I used 4 coupons which were all doubled, used my own bags, and bought as much as I could on sale. My savings was $12.40 and I spent $46.67.

For the most part, the coupons are courtesy of some very nice coupon trading partners at Thriftyfun.com. I have not drastically reduced my spending as a result, but I have reduced it and it has allowed me to weather the budget storms a little more easily.

At Walgreens, I bought some Duracell batteries which were on sale $2.00 off. I also had a $0.75 coupon and the capability of sending in a $3.00 rebate, bringing the cost of the batteries from $11.99 down to about $6.24. Woo-hoo!

Wow. This is weird. This has not happened to me in a long time. It is now Friday and next Friday is my next payday. I just paid the rent for February and made a credit card payment. I still have $334 in my checking account. The only thing I have to do in the next seven days is set aside money for my conference trip ($40) and buy groceries (~$80). Because we haven't been driving much, our gas tanks are nearly full. I think I will put $20 into my savings "just because." This is nice.

Well, I got paid again yesterday and went shopping today. My savings deposits automatically come out of my pay and into the savings account at a credit union. My savings balance is now $40.00. That doesn't sound like much, but I haven't had that much in savings in months. (Yeah!)

I went to Walgreens and bought Qtips, Bic shavors, Band-aids, Blue Diamond Almonds, Walgreens brand liquid hand soap, Crest Glide Floss, a birthday card, and Oil of Olay fash wash. Three of the items were on sale and everything except the birthday card I had a manufacturer coupon for. For the almonds, I also had a Walgreens coupon for Buy one get one free. I saved over $10.65. Woo-hoo!

At Dillons, I bought quite a few things, too numerous to mention here, and had several coupons amounting to $3.45. Two of them were doubled, several things were on sale, and I took my own bags. Total savings amounted to $8.53.

At Dollar Tree, I only bought puffy shipping envelopes. It's silly, I know, but it is the best place in town to buy them. The post office charges highway robbery rates for them.

At Big Lots, I paid $15.02 for several things I needed.

Recently, I discovered it is possible to use coupons at Dollar General, my favorite place to buy peanut butter, Hellman's mayonnaise, and cat food. I used $2.00 in coupons here.

Some of the items I bought today were stock up items using coupons that would expire soon. But I feel really good about it.

I also put some money into the Conference Challenge, bring my total to $1343.76.

_______________________________

Oh, as an update, I will add that I made another payment on Hospital Debt #1, bringing the balance to $878.58.

I also filled a customer satisfaction survey for Walgreens. I know that some people say those things are nonsense, but one time I did actually win a $5.00 gift card. This month, the prize is $1,000. I could definitely have that.

Today, I went grocery shopping. My money for shopping was limited due to an out of town trip I had to make for work yesterday. I will be reimbursed for the mileage on that trip, but I won't get it until the end of the month. The bad thing is that I would have like to have done some stock-up shopping like I did last weekend, because there were some things which were on sale that I also had coupons for.

At Dollar General, I bought trash bags, mayonaisse, and tuna fish in foil packs for $11.64. I figure I saved at least $5.00 here, because all of this stuff is a lot higher at my regular grocery store.

At Walgreens, I had a raincheck from last week for Hunt's Tomato Sauce at 3 for $1.00 with a store coupon. The store is completely out last week, so I got a rain check. Total cost $2.12 and saving 66%.

At Dillons, ground chuck was on sale for 30% off, which amounted to $2.44 a pound. That's cheaper than regular ground beef at Aldi's. I also bought some Chicken of the Sea tuna salad in little cups that I think will make awesome lunch when combined with some bread, an apple, and some trail mix. Apples in the produce aisle were 10 pounds for $10.00. Wow. I also used my own bags. All this amount to $5.96 off.

The total amount I budgeted for groceries was $60.00 and total spent was $55.25. I didn't use any coupons, but didn't have any that were for what I needed to buy, but I will need to buy a lot of other things next week for which I do have coupons. I am so happy that I'm almost dancing.

-----------------------------------------

As an update, I am happy to report my Conference Challenge amount is up to $1256.90. I am aiming for $2000 to insure that I don't have to use the credit card. In addition, I posted a message on a discussion board for the conference requesting a roommate. Another person in Illinois has responded and we are getting to details worked out. We need to make hotel reservations at the conference hotel or another nearby hotel.

Well, I went for a visit to my chiropractor who does acupuncture and other alternative medicine. She said I am pretty ship shape for a change. When I first started going to her about 1 year ago, I had eczema on my back so bad that it was making me scratch all the time. My asthma was majorly bad, too. I have tried all the standard treatments of inhalers, pills, and allergy shots and nothing worked until I started getting acupuncture and taking vitamins and minerals. So hoo-ray there!

I am also a member at Thrifty Fun (

http://www.thriftyfun.com). There is a lot of information there like recipes, tips to save money, and a forum for swapping coupons. If any of you would like to swap coupons and save more money, go to the website. No, I am not being paid for this. I am just a satisfied user of this free website and want to spread the word. I have lots of coupons for stuff I don't use right now and would love to trade them for something I do use.

Hello, everyone. Well, today was a no spend day for me. I know I have had some in the past, but I just realized that I should try to keep track.

Well, today was payday, so I have updated my totals at the right.

1) Hospital Debt #2 paid $75.00 on it, bringing it down to $1927.60

2) Paid $66.00 to cc - must get total and update it later

3) deposited $20.00 to savings, bringing my total to $20.00. I had to deposit $5.00 just to open the account and that was all I had at the time.

4) was supposed to set aside $80.00 for the conference challenge, but something went kafluey with my order at Sonic today and it wound up being only $68.00. I will get more money tomorrow to bring the total to $1264.46.

My net worth is going up a little. Cool. I plan to shop at Walgreens and other stores tomorrow and use the coupons I cut from the walgreens circular, the Sunday paper, and ones that other people sent to me. I must go now and make my shopping list.

I just found a new way to save money. I use Nature Made vitamins a lot and noticed on their website at

http://www.naturemade.com that you can earn points towards the purchase of more vitamins. You just create a free user account. When you buy Nature Made vitamins, just log in and tell them what you bought. I got coupons just for creating an account. I think I should start keeping track of how much I save with coupons and sales and put some of it into my Challenge. Yippee!

Maybe you all have already seen this, but while eating lunch today, I perused the Walgreens ad and coupons. They had 3 coupons I clipped for using on Saturday when I will do my shopping:

- 3 for $1.00 on hydrogen peroxide
- 3 for $1.00 on Hunt's Tomatoes Sauce
- Save up to $10.00 on several items, including Soft Soap, Tom's of Maine, Colgate, Palmolive, Irish Spring, etc.

I am not sure how much peroxide I will buy, but at any rate, I do need it and it will only cost me $0.33 a bottle. There is a limit of 6 on the Hunt's Tomatoes Sauce and I use it a lot, so I will probably buy the limit. I can't get that brand anywhere cheaper than that. I use Tom's of Maine toothpaste a lot and wish I could buy more than 2, but there is a limit. I don't usually use Palmolive, but unless I can get Dawn at Big Lots at $1.60 (which does happen sometimes), this looks like a good deal. I also need Nature Made vitamins which are on sale Buy One Get One Free. I watch for that sale, as it happens once about every couple of months.

I totalled up what I think all of what I want to buy would normally cost and what it will cost with the coupons and sale and there is almost a 50% savings. Wa-hoo!

Well, I have a little bit about failure today and little bit about success.

I got a survey check in the mail from Opinion Outpost, which was designated for the Conference Challenge. However, my checking account only had about $8.00 left in it after doing the grocery shopping, so I deposited it to checking for regular spending.

My success has to do with decreasing the amount spent on groceries. I have in the past usually spent around $80-90 per week on groceries for two adults and two cats. This week I got it down to $52.94. Woo-hoo! It does seem to go up and down depending on whether I need to buy toilet paper, detergent, cat litter, etc. I look for coupons, but I never seem to find any for Arm and Hammer Cat Litter and a box is around $8.00. I think that's a lot, but we have tried cheaper brands, but they don't seem to work as well. I know I don't really need to buy certain brands, like Hellman's mayo or Starkist tuna, for example, but my husband doesn't like other kinds.

Aldi $7.84
Dollar General
Dollar Tree $2.15
Big Lots $6.65
Dillons $27.39

Hellman's Mayo $4.00
Tuna Fish in Foil Pouch $1.10 (2)
Filtered water $0.45 (3 of these)
Tomato sauce $0.75 (4 of these)
Starkist Tuna $0.82 (2 of these)
Ground beef $2.49/lb (6 pounds)
Beef jerky $3.69
Chicken broth $1.00 (to make soup - already have chicken)
Pencil holder $1.00
Whole wheat bread $1.79 (2 of these)
Egg noodles $0.99
Canned beans for chili $0.55 (3 of these)
Eggs $1.29
Diced canned tomatoes $0.90 (3 of these)
Trail mix $1.00
Macaroni $1.33
Spaghetti noodles $0.70
Quart freezer bags $1.00
Snack zip bags $1.00
Tomato puree $0.60

Total $52.94

----------------------------

Oh, I just located a place to get Arm and Hammer cat litter coupons.

http://www.armandhammer.com/

Yes, I have a savings account! The balance over on the left side says $0.00 because the $5.00 has to stay in the account.

Last Friday while on vacation, I had to transfer $50.00 out of savings in order to pay for gas to take my dh to the vet hospital 3 hours away. Well, at least I had the $50.00. :|

Well, I got paid again on Friday. I also received a $20.00 survey check in the mail. The survey check and an extra $40.00 from my paycheck have been set aside for the Conference Challenge, bringing the total to $63.00. I set aside $30.00 into my savings.

My retirement account is bigger and is currently at $12,682.81. Wow.

My hospital bill is down to $978.58. I just keep chopping away at it and pretty soon it will disappear.

Also, I went to the grocery store today. The store was having massive sales on everything, including Butterball turkey strips. There is approximately 2 servings in a box. I usually buy two boxes and it is enough for me to make something like chicken soup. Yum. Well, today turkey strips were on sale for 5 for $10.00. Yes, I know this does not sound very frugal and that if I just buy fresh chicken or turkey, I could make my soup even more cheaply, but I absolutely hate pulling meat off the bone, so this is worth it to me. This price is very cheap considering the boxes are usually $3.99, I think, and I only buy them on sale and with a coupon. I had a coupon for $1.00 off of 2 boxes, so I bought 4 boxes, bringing the per box total to $1.50 and total amount to $6.00. With that I have enough chicken to make 2 weeks worth of lunches. Cool beans. I also realized when making my shopping list that I have turkey sausage links in my freezer that I need to eat. I set out to find something to pair them with. I love sauerkraut and almost bought some, but I settled on a cheaper and healthier alternative. Red beans and rice. That should make about 2-3 more lunches for me.

This morning I went to a co-worker's house in a nearby town. She has been doing a lot of work on renovating her house and getting rid of old stuff she no longer needs or wants. Good for me. She was getting rid of one of those particle board type cabinets with the doors on the front. She also wanted to get rid of a small bookcase. I was willing to pay $40.00 for both together, but she would not accept more than $20.00.

I work at a university and received an email yesterday that a church was doing a "giveaway sale" of all kinds of things like clothing, household items, etc. You can bet I was there almost when the doors opened. I took away a small cardboard box full of clothing. I seem to have an eternal need for those Dockers type pants, as mine seem to quickly fade from black to gray and I look unprofessional. I gave the church a little bit of money which they were confused about, but I told them I can afford to pay and did not feel right walking away with so much stuff. They were all smiles and gratitude.

Wow. I feel so lucky. I have some stuff that I need and other people are is rid of stuff they do not need. The universe works in mysterious ways.

I went to Dollar General yesterday to buy some stuff, including CFL lightbulbs. Their CFLs are way cheaper than anywhere else in town and they are the same brand! Anyway, the price of the bulbs at my store is $4.00, but you can pick up a form to get $3.00 back for each bulb you buy. There is a maximum rebate of $6.00. Cool. I get to get CFLs which generate less heat and use less electricity. Very important these days. When I get my rebate, I will put it into the Conference Challenge!