All right, so I've balanced the checkbook (to the penny, I might add) and I've stuck the $3000 into the holding tank portion of my savings. $1500 will be held to go to BoA VISA, $1009.25 will be held to go to BoA Master Card, and $490.75 will be held to go to the car payment.

That leaves us with $282 until next payday. $90 of that will pay for my physical therapy on Monday, $70 for DH for work jeans, $60 for my son's birthday present and $90 for food (though I don't think we'll need it all since I have plenty of produce and protein on hand, so probably just buy milk and any extra will be saved for later groceries). Oh, and I took money out earlier before I balanced the checkbook so I also have $40 in cash for anything unexpected.

The small paycheck next Friday (with just two days worth of wages on it will cover the cell phone bill, food for two weeks, old house phone, internet, two weeks of physical therapy, and garbage. I should have just under half of it left over, and when the first paycheck of the new cycle arrives, anything I have left over will go to the Master Card.

DH and I had a finance meeting tonight so I could explain where everything stands and so we are on the same page. He finds it boring, but he agrees that he doesn't want to be one of those clueless spouses who just hands over the paycheck and doesn't know where everything goes. We've decided to do this once every six weeks.

Now, on to meal planning.

Breakfast:
Chicken sausages ($3)
Blueberry muffins (.79)
Milk ($2)

Total: $5.79

Lunch:
Leftover ribeye steaks (free, already calculated)
Salad ($1)
Bananas ($1)
Homemade garlic and cheddar biscuits (.50)

Total: $2.50

Dinner:
Homemade pizza
--dough ($.50)
--leftover spaghetti sauce (free)
--leftover meatballs, crumbled (free)
--pepperoni ($1)
--proscuttio ($2)
--mozzarella cheese ($2)
Can of green beans ($1)
Milk ($2)

Total $8.50

Total for day: $16.79