I don't normally go out and about on Black Friday. I'm more of a curl up in bed with a book all day sort of person after Thanksgiving, but we had an appointment for an oil change and the stuff they do at the first 5000 miles, so rotated tires, checked fluid levels, etc. One of the things that we got for buying the car in this model year was free maintenance for the first two years. This is not a maintenance package that we paid for in advance, it was simply one of the perks Toyota was offering this year. But I had totally forgotten about it, so I assumed I would be spending $60 or so today on that. It was nice to be reminded I wouldn't need it.

We haven't actually hit 5000 miles yet, but I figured I would soon (it was 4,640, so close enough) and I didn't want to bother with it myself while DH was gone so best to do it a little early while hes home and be done with it, especially before I have to drive down to Seattle on the 9th.

After the van was done we filled up at Costco at $3.47 a gallon. We paid $45.35. I about fell over. We haven't filled a tank for less than $50 in forever. And then of course when we got back home we saw a station at $3.39. Oh, well. Anywho, after Costco we headed up to Fashion Bug in Marysville. We figured it was enough off the beaten path that it wouldn't be swamped with shoppers, and it was around 3:15 when we got there so it wasn't bad at all and plenty of parking right in front.

I found a parka for the winter like I've been wanting. There were two I liked, identical but for color. One was purple and one was a jewel tone blue. The purple one clashed with my gorgeous blue purse so I went for the blue, which I liked better with my skin tone anyway. It was $99.99, but marked down 40%, so we paid $59.99. It's really warm and should be much more useful in warding off the cold winter mornings than my ski jacket has been. That's all we bought there.

On the way back we stopped at the Outback in Burlington and had dinner. I had an appetizer plus a baked potato for my dinner and DH had a burger and baked potato, plus baked potato soup. There was also the rye bread and we each got a strawberry lemonade. It came to $31.88 and we left $40. The server did a really good job so we tipped a little bit extra. It was nice to have a little date with DH without the kids along.

When we got back home my nephew (who was born when I was 9), his wife, and my great nephew were here visiting my mom. My eldest sister was also here. We all visited for a while. My great nephew is just 18 months old and he is such an adorable baby. He's very verbal and you can understand quite a bit of it, too, and also very active. This is the first time they've been up here since he was born that I've not been too ill (bronchitis, stomach flu, and recovering from surgery the three previous visits) to be around him. Usually I have to stand in the doorway for a minute and that's about it, but this time I actually got to interact with him and talk to everyone else. And my nephew's wife announced that she's pregnant again and the baby will be here in June.

Today was also payday and DH's reimbursement check for changing his flight so he could work those extra weeks came in the mail today as well. That is $145. Which is perfect, since we've already absorbed that cost. It should about cover what we need to give his sister between cash and gas to help her out right now.

They said it could take up to 8 weeks to fix my computer as there are three things wrong with it (and it might require the screen being replaced and parts being ordered from Japan, yikes). I'm not going to go that long without a computer or the internet. So, I've been putting money aside again in a laptop fund and we used it to buy a cheapie. It's a bit more than a Netbook, but it's an off brand so it was quite inexpensive. It has a great keyboard though, so I can keep up with my book writing and short stories, as well as this blog, my diet support group and online tracking software, and all the financial spreadsheets.

I downloaded Open Office. I'm not going to buy another MS Office program and the one I had can only be installed on one computer, and hopefully can actually be reinstalled on that one. But at least Open Office works for my writing and my financial spreadsheets, so yay.

The laptop cost $379 plus $33.35 in tax. It wiped out my laptop fund again, but I will start adding to it again next month. It came with a six month free trial run of Kaspersky anti-virus and I installed my free malware program as well.

DH and I are considering dropping the gym membership. With my knee the way it is, I have a hard time even swimming right now and he's in an off exercise phase. Maybe we can pick it up again after my knee heals from the next surgery, but for now it seems like a waste of money. We aren't on a contract anymore so no cancelling fee. Our other option is to opt out for three months. We'll figure it out.

...but I'm done now, at least for the kids. DD and I went over to Target after school today and we picked up 2 heavy, lined sweatshirts, 3 long-sleeved flannel or thermal shirts, and 1 similar lined sweatshirt for DS. This should get them through the cold season.

The problem for my daughter is that her high school does not have lockers. So if they wear the big bulky coats that are appropriate for the winter here, they have to lug them around all day long, which is hard to do when you have twenty pound backpacks full of school books because, again, you have no locker. Stupidest thing I ever heard of for a school to not put lockers in. They should at least have a coat and boot room.

Anyway, the heavy sweatshirts should get her through most of the non-snowy days anyway. She has a very compact umbrella for rain.

I'm going to the doctor tomorrow afternoon and having him wrap my knee. It's been buckling badly all weekend and I need the extra support. Today I was almost in tears the pain was so bad, but I had to drive so I couldn't take anything stronger than Ibuprofen and can't until after DS's tae kwon do class, so I have to stick it out a couple more hours.

...but sometimes it really is necessary. We were finally able to find DS a new coat. He's in that horrible place between young boy and teenage boy that they just appear to think kids that age should go naked because they don't make clothes in their sizes! So aggravating. But we finally, looking in the men's section found a jacket that was just a little too big, where the wrist cuffs weren't too tight, that had a solid zipper. We got a medium. The small would have fit him but the wrist cuffs were too tight. Oh, well, he should be able to wear this coat for a couple of years even if he grows several inches taller.

The original price on the coat was $120, but it was marked down to $70 and then when we got to the cash register it was $54.34. Not bad. It also printed out about a tree's worth of coupons. Of course for stuff I would never buy, particularly at Sears.

I also finally found a pair of shoes at Fred Meyer. Boy was I happy as I have been looking to replace my shoes for a couple of years now. They were marked at $44.99 but were 15% off, so $38.24 (plus tax). I also got a new deep skillet with lid. It's only 12 inch but is should hold as much as my old 14 inch because of the high sides. I've been looking for a while and I just don't think they make them bigger than 12 inch anymore unless you go to the specialty stores. It's not lined with ceramic, but I couldn't find any of those. It was 10% off so $21.49 (plus tax). Not too bad.

DD still needs a couple of warm sweaters but we are having a hard time finding anything she likes. She really doesn't like the winter colors in the stores. We will probably take a trip down to Fashion Bug when her father gets home. Meanwhile I am loaning her some of my stuff that is warmer.

First off I paid the property tax today of $518.07 for the half year. That's not part of the payday spending, but I don't need to make 3 posts today, just to say that.

Now for the regular payments:

$1000.00 to Mom (loan payback)
___37.61 DH Life Insurance
___32.70 Me Life Insurance
___86.30 Car Insurance
___41.25 Old House Insurance
__142.00 Storage
__180.00 Tae kwon do (2 months)
___65.21 Virginia Mason
__144.00 Water/Sewer Old House (2 months)
__261.60 Dental
___82.57 Clothes Shopping
__106.00 Kids' Allowances (6 weeks)
__217.62 Grocery

I will also be paying the AMEX and the Mortgage on the 1st, but will post that when I do it. I will also pay for physical therapy and dance class for DD next week.

We went to Kmart today and I got each kid a fleece-lined sweatshirt for the colder weather. I also got them each an umbrella. I got myself 4 pairs of the super fuzzy warm slipper socks. I looked for pants but didn't see anything I liked. I've lost so much weight I am constantly tugging my jeans up and it is annoying.

DS needs a winter jacket, but I couldn't find any boys' coats, just women's and grown men's. I may have to order him something from Land's End, but we will check Penney's first. I was hoping he could wear his sister's old coat (it was a boy's coat from Land's End because she had such a long torso she couldn't wear girl's coats then) but his shoulders are too broad. Otherwise it would fit him perfectly, but he finds it really uncomfortable. He was bummed because he always liked the coat. DD wore it for three years though, so I guess that's okay.

I really need a new parka but I am hoping to limp along with my ski jacket because by winter of 2012/2013 I hope to be down to the weight I will stay at and don't want to buy an expensive coat I will only be able to wear for one year. I will probably keep a lap blanket in the car though. At least our fancy shmancy Sienna has seat warmers (which seem like such a luxury, but I love them) and that makes a big difference because they warm up before the heater does.

The ridiculous heat we had yesterday (86 degrees) is gone. It's resting at 73 with a nice breeze today. The sky is overcast, but not the type that makes you think it's going to rain, just the type that makes it be not quite so bright outside.

The kids went for a walk to return the two DVD's we rented from the DVD Express box and some library books. Our local grocery store has a public library turn in box in it. It's kind of wonderful. They pick up on Wednesdays and Saturdays and backdate anything to the time of their last pickup, so it's not overdue just because you turned it in elsewhere.

DS's alarm clock is malfunctioning so we went to get him a new one and it doesn't work. Or it doesn't fully work. It doesn't light up one of the digits. So say it is 12:35, the three is missing. It's just not there. Weird. So I will be taking it back, but not today. Maybe tomorrow.

I also bought a small salad spinner. I was being lazy about eating the veggies I need to eat, because if I didn't prepare it ahead of time I wouldn't eat them. But if I did prepare it ahead of time they would get soggy in the Ziploc baggy (paper towel included) and start to go off. With the spinner I can keep it nice and crisp and have it prepared ahead of time.

I have hit the 11 pounds lost mark since starting this diet and 37 pounds since my surgery. I am going to swim laps today in a little while.

Oh, yeah, I also bought a garlic press. I am tired of peeling it and mincing it and this just makes it so much easier. Both of these gadgets will make meal planning so much easier because I will stick more closely to what I plan to make, and that makes a lot of difference.

Didn't get a chance to post yesterday as we got so busy, so this is technically yesterday's post. We finally found sweat pants for DS that fit. We had to go to an athletic store to get them. They are long, but they have elastic ankles so they stay up above his shoes. He has room to grow three to four inches without these being too small, so I am hopeful they will make it through the whole school year.

We bought him six pairs of sweatpants. Nothing from last year fits without showing several inches of ankle. We bought him dark green gym shorts and a dark green gym shirt and had his last name put on the back in white letters. We got him dark green gym socks and a dark green sweatshirt with his name on the back in white letters so he is all set for PE and school spirit (school colors are dark green and white). We also got DD a bright blue sweatshirt with her last name on the back in white. We spent a total of $209.54. He needs a couple more t-shirts and he is set for school clothes. DD is set now completely. Well, actually they both need socks. But other than that we are good to go.

DS has to grow seven inches before he will be back into a size that actually exists in the stores. Then maybe we can get back to less expensive clothing. OH, well, this stuff is warmer and sturdier than any Kmart special, that's for sure.

We looked at some very nice houses today, some near the lake (one to two blocks away) that were surprisingly within our price range, some quite near the middle of it, when I expected them to be at the higher end. We had planned to look at six houses today and we did, but only four of them were houses we had planned on looking at and two we went to just because we saw the open house signs. They were all in the same middle school district but some were in the wrong high school district or right on the borderline where the houses across the street were one school and the ones on the other side were another. Most of them were really close to where one of DD's friends lives.

Two of the ones we had planned to go to were locked up tight with no sign of a realtor. We double checked the website when we got back to make sure we didn't get the dates or times wrong, but we didn't. Guess the realtors just flaked. We are definitely getting good ideas of what we want and what we don't want in a home.

We went to JC Penney to try to find trousers for DS and a sweatshirt for DD. I was shocked at how awful the clothes were. A lot of really ugly colors and roughly sewn stitching and one of the saleswomen was really rude to me. I was standing next to a display, with my cane, while my daughter was trying on a sweatshirt and she comes up to me and goes, "Can you move?" in this really snotty voice. No please. No nice tone. So I hobbled out of the way and then she put one shirt on the shelf. It wasn't even the part of the display I was standing in front of. Then she huffed at me and walked off. This woman was in her 60's and should have been far more polite.

Now I'm back home thawing out chicken to make a birthday dinner for my mother. She is 72 today. I have an icepack on my back and it's feeling better already. I am definitely dreading anymore back to school shopping. I think we may have to try Kmart, but at least it has a ride on cart there. I think Target does, too, but their parking lot was so jammed when we drove by today I'm not sure I want to go there. There's Kohls, too, but I've never taken my son shopping there. Macy's might be an option, too, but I'll go with the less expensive Kmart first.

We also need to go the sports store and get specific school colored gym clothes for DS. That annoys me greatly. The high school doesn't make your gym clothes be school colors (though it is far easier to find red and white than it is to find the middle school's dark green. At least he can also do white shirts and gray or black shorts). He has plenty of red or blue shorts that would do without having to buy new.

I think I need a new category for House hunting.

We drove down to Marysville today so we could go to Fashion Bug. It's the closest one to where we live. My daughter was in heaven. She hasn't been in a Fashion Bug since she was little (the one we had went out of business years ago. Anyway they were having a 40% off sale and if you applied for their card you could get an additional 15% off. I usually don't open a card just for the discount, but because the nearest store is an hour away I decided this once I would do it and then just throw the card in the dresser when it comes.

My daughter ended up with three really nice blouses (she had plenty of t-shirts and long-sleeved shirts and jeans, but nothing at all that was dressy) and a leopard print skirt. One of the blouses can be worn in 3 different ways and has a detachable camisole. She also got a black and silver necklace that had four chains and a cross, a silver chain link belt with large round decorations and two bracelets (one black, and one black and silver and she is paying me back for one of the bracelets). We ended up getting $92.36 off and so paid $104.36. Sales tax is why the total is a little skewed even though it was 65% off.

Then we went to Payless Shoe Source and got DS two pairs of tennis shoes, one for gym class that will stay in his locker at school and has non-marking soles and the other for every day use. They had buy one get one for half off and so it cost a total of $43.42. DD got a pair of silver flats and a pair of high top tennis shoes (no PE this hear for her). Hers came to $52.65.

We filled up the gas tank at the Burlington Costco because it is cheaper than the one in town. We spent $53.80 on that at $3.599 per gallon and getting 14.948 gallons. It was at a quarter tank when we got there.

We bought McDonalds on the way out of town so spent $16.25 there. We stopped at the Haggen in Burlington to use the bathroom and I noticed they had Pepsi Throwback there (the store here is out) so bought two half cases for $12.96 (really need to try to wean myself off it again).

So quite a spendy day. Tomorrow we will go to WalMart. I need new shoes and haven't found anything I like yet. They carry Dr. Scholl's which are comfortable. I still need to take DS clothes shopping. He's outgrown all of his pants and most of his shirts. We may head to Sears or Penney's for him. WalMart is usually too picked over at this time of year and his size is always the one they are out of. DD needs a couple undergarments, too. I also told her we'd get hair bleach because she is tired of the green and wants to go back to being a blonde.

After clothes are taken care of then I need to go through the lists of back to school supplies they need, check what is already on the school shelf here and decide what else they need, then will go buy it.

Oh, one of the blouses we got for DD is coppery orange and has a cowl neck. She is one of the few people blessed with the skin tone to wear orange. Anyway, I had the perfect necklace for her to wear with it from my college days, with copper and silver beads. It's not a choker but it's a short one and it works perfectly together with the blouse's neckline. She was jumping up and down. She loves accessories but usually buys ones she can wear with a lot of stuff. This is pretty specific to one outfit so she wouldn't have gotten it herself, but since I had it she's happy to wear it. Recycling, it's not just for soda cans anymore. *laughs*

It was a good day all and all, but I was happy to get home to my ice pack.

So I sat down and ran the numbers. Out of the next paycheck I will need to set aside $1574.77 for September 1 through September 15th's bills (those are the two weeks of the cycle when no paycheck comes in). I will need $722 to cover water/sewer, groceries, a family trip to the local fair, DH's allowance, DH's birthday presents, and my allowance. That is $2296.77 altogether.

Depending on whether or not they take medical out of this week's paycheck or not that will leave between $1300 and $1700 to send to credit card debt. It might be higher because of the raise, but I'm not sure how much. We will also have the two day paycheck on the 26th. I will set aside $200 of it for groceries and some will go for school clothes and school supplies. $120 will go to the Emergency Fund so I will hit my goal. If there is anything left I will put it into temporary savings and then when we get paid on 9/16 I will then use that amount to send to debt repayment. I will need $35 for DD ASB card and $40 for yearbook ($60 if you wait until June). DS might have an ASB card this year as well since he starts middle school.

I am not sure how much we will spend on school clothes. My son needs all new pants as he has grown so much since we bought pants in September that there is about four inches of ankle showing. So he needs at least three pairs of pants and maybe 2 pairs of sweats. He needs two new sweatshirts. He needs at least two short sleeved shirts and 3 long sleeved ones. He has a few good tops that he has not outgrown because we got some extra long. He is set on underwear and socks, but he needs tennis shoes. Possibly two pairs if they have to have separate ones for PE. His boots still fit but may not by winter. His jacket still fits.

DD needs two pairs of jeans, three shirts, and a couple of sweatshirts. Her boots still fit, but she needs a new pair of tennis shoes and a pair of dress shoes. She would like a skirt, but her taste doesn't run to the little bitty skirts they have in the stores, so we may or may not find one. Her coat still fits fine. She is set for undergarments and socks.

I still need a new pair of casual/dress shoes, but I don't think that will cost more than $20 to $30. I am going to need a new winter coat, preferrably one that goes past my hips, but that can wait until closer to winter and won't come out of this month's pay.

I did the major Costco run and now my pantry and toiletries are fully stocked again. I should be able to go a month without going there again, and then only for toilet paper and lemons (we go through a lot of these to make DS's lemonade). It is nice to see the shelves full. The only thing I did not get was potatoes because they only had the 20 pound bags and they looked like they were starting to sprout. We might be at the point where we can start digging up potatoes, but I still have 1/3 of a 5 pound bag left and several packets of organic potato flakes so it's not the end of the world and I can pick some up (hopefully on sale) at one of the grocery stores soon. I did impulse buy a package of English cucumbers ($3.39), but everything else I bought was on my list.

I also paid bills today. The majority went to BoA. We used our MC on vacation and to pay for the Inn at Virginia Mason which is why I'm listing it again when it was paid off before. This doesn't pay it off, but I will be putting more on it next Friday with that as my intention. I will also be putting more on the VISA.

$1862.10 BoA VISA
$_500.00 BoA MC
$_757.82 BoA car payment ($250 extra to principal)
$__10.56 Medical
$__43.70 Garbage (old house)
$__65.56 Internet
$__44.89 Phone (old house)
---------------
$3284.33

I spent the rest of the grocery budget and close to $100 for toiletries and the megapack of paper towels (18 rolls, I think).

I decided to keep the $40 I still had in my wallet from last pay period and not get anymore cash out for this week and see if I can get by on it.

I did roll a thing of pennies and I had $25 in ones and two fives that I'd squirreled away in the coin jar so I went to CU#2 and added $25.50 to the safety net portion of the EF. That brings the safety net to $389.03 and the total EF to $1884.96. That leaves me $115.04 to scrounge up by month's end to hit my goal of $2000 in the EF.

My first goal for the safety net (which is my easily accessible portion of the EF) is to hit $500 and my second goal is to hit $1000. I figure I probably would not have an emergency bigger than that, and if I did that would give me the time for the transfer from ING back to a local account. I don't have four wheel drive anymore so if I blow a tire I'd only have to replace one, not all four. That was my biggest foreseeable expense before we got this vehicle.

Oh, I bought a Christmas present for DS while I was at Costco today. It seems too early to be buying presents, I usually don't start until October, but this was a good price and something he has wanted for months so I was happy to see it and it can sit in my closet for the next four months. I really should finish knitting his scarf as well.

I did the major Costco run and now my pantry and toiletries are fully stocked again. I should be able to go a month without going there again, and then only for toilet paper and lemons (we go through a lot of these to make DS's lemonade). It is nice to see the shelves full. The only thing I did not get was potatoes because they only had the 20 pound bags and they looked like they were starting to sprout. We might be at the point where we can start digging up potatoes, but I still have 1/3 of a 5 pound bag left and several packets of organic potato flakes so it's not the end of the world and I can pick some up (hopefully on sale) at one of the grocery stores soon. I did impulse buy a package of English cucumbers ($3.39), but everything else I bought was on my list.

I also paid bills today. The majority went to BoA. We used our MC on vacation and to pay for the Inn at Virginia Mason which is why I'm listing it again when it was paid off before. This doesn't pay it off, but I will be putting more on it next Friday with that as my intention. I will also be putting more on the VISA.

$1862.10 BoA VISA
$_500.00 BoA MC
$_757.82 BoA car payment ($250 extra to principal)
$__10.56 Medical
$__43.70 Garbage (old house)
$__65.56 Internet
$__44.89 Phone (old house)
---------------
$3284.33

I spent the rest of the grocery budget and close to $100 for toiletries and the megapack of paper towels (18 rolls, I think).

I decided to keep the $40 I still had in my wallet from last pay period and not get anymore cash out for this week and see if I can get by on it.

I did roll a thing of pennies and I had $25 in ones and two fives that I'd squirreled away in the coin jar so I went to CU#2 and added $25.50 to the safety net portion of the EF. That brings the safety net to $389.03 and the total EF to $1884.96. That leaves me $115.04 to scrounge up by month's end to hit my goal of $2000 in the EF.

My first goal for the safety net (which is my easily accessible portion of the EF) is to hit $500 and my second goal is to hit $1000. I figure I probably would not have an emergency bigger than that, and if I did that would give me the time for the transfer from ING back to a local account. I don't have four wheel drive anymore so if I blow a tire I'd only have to replace one, not all four. That was my biggest foreseeable expense before we got this vehicle.

Oh, I bought a Christmas present for DS while I was at Costco today. It seems too early to be buying presents, I usually don't start until October, but this was a good price and something he has wanted for months so I was happy to see it and it can sit in my closet for the next four months. I really should finish knitting his scarf as well.

I have good workout shoes, and good flip flops, but my halfway dressy/halfway casual shoes that I wear all the time have about had it. I have a wide foot and I usually end up with something by Dr. Scholl's. This particular pair I've had about eight years. I just kept replacing the insoles, but now the outer soles are breaking down and the rubber is starting to get gouges in it.

I am really resistant to getting a new pair, because I love these ones and am not sure I would be able to find something similar. They also look fine cosmetically, which is part of why I've kept them so long, that and comfort, but I've rolled my ankles a couple times because of the bad outer soles, so I know I need to do something.

I don't like buying shoes in summer, because it's harder to find black shoes and I really don't want white shoes or colored shoes. I like black because it goes with everything I own. I also don't like going to WalMart which is the only place that carries the Dr. Scholl's shoe around here. I won't buy shoes online. I have to try them on and make sure they fit and I don't want the hassle of mailing something back if it doesn't fit. In person you can tell they fit right away.

I'm not up for a WalMart trip just yet. The shoe department is all the way at the back of the store and it is a long walk and all the ride on carts are usually taken. Maybe in a couple of weeks when DH is home again. I'll set some money aside for them and go when I am stronger.

I went to the final grocery store today and got the few processed food items that I buy that are additive and preservative free, two pot roasts and a pack of chuck steak for making beef with broccoli. I spent a little over $40. I left the receipt in the van so I don't remember the exact amount. I was able to walk it today, but when I came home I had to lie down for an hour.

I also bought two bottles of nasal spray as my allergies are bad right now and a container of Tums. Some of the medication I am on (the antibiotic) gives me stomach trouble, hence the Tums. That was around $27 with tax. I had them ring the meds up separately from the groceries because they come from a separate budget. I am definitely seeing a price increase in OTC meds.

The store was out of Motrin. I have about 20 pills left. That will hopefully last another week and then maybe I will have the strength to go to Costco and get the mega bottle.

We ordered a pizza today. I could have cooked (and actually will for dinner) but I do like to get a Round Table Pizza once a month so that was $27.18.

Oh, I sent some money with my daughter to the mall. Mom is taking her birthday shopping and I wanted her to pick up some Paul Mitchell Special Tea Tree shampoo. I sent her with $40. It's usually around $32 for the 32 ounce bottle.

I know it's pricey but it is the only thing I have found that can control the oil slick that is my hair. And it lasts about 3 months. I have tried virtually every shampoo on the market. Most of them are volumizing and moisturizing, two things that I definitely do not need. My hair is thick enough it could have it's own zip code.

Drove by a house today that I viewed a virtual tour of online. It is behind the grocery store we went to. It's really gorgeous on the outside, too. And it is a second house that would really fit all our needs. Enough bedrooms, enough bathrooms, in the right school district, close to my favorite grocery store and within walking distance of two of our favorite restaurants and the library.

It showed me that I didn't have to fall in love with the first house just because it was perfect. That there are other houses and will be other houses when we are ready that will fit our needs. I really am leaning towards the Craftsman style if we get a two story. I'd prefer a one story just because stairs are not my friend, but if there is a master bedroom on the ground level I am fine with that.

Of course I also, and this is more critical than most things, want whatever house we end up with to have an easily adaptable bathroom so we can make it handicapped accessible. Oh, and a big, pretty, bright kitchen. Okay, I guess that is enough rambling from me today.

OH, yeah, and I added $7.07 to the coin jar today.

Today was a good day. Although I feel like I had to run a lot, it wasn't so bad. I started off at physical therapy and so that was $90 out. Had a visit to the chiropractor but the month is already prepaid so no money out there. Went to Trader Joe's to get the cheaper Clam Chowder to have on hand for after DD's wisdom teeth get removed so she'll have an easy choice that has plenty of protein in it. I also picked up peanut butter and two packages of nitrate/nitrite free all beef hotdogs. I spent $32.47 there.

I stopped at Link's Optical (because it was across from TJ's) to pick up a couple packages of the glasses cleaning wipes, so that was $11.50, but we'll be stocked for a good while. Or a while anyway. When you have four people in one household wearing glasses they don't last as long as when there was just two.

After that I went to Bank of America to pay on the credit card. I only paid $500 today, but I will pay another $500 on Friday which is payday. Normally I pay $1000 in one go, but with the medical bills everything is off kilter a bit and I have to pay up front for DD's oral surgery Wednesday and that will be $400 so I just did half for now.

Then I went to the store and got some Icy Hot Naturals to put on my back. It's not as good as Mineral Ice, but I wasn't going to drive around looking for it when my back was starting to lock up. It cost $7.99 for a big tube (8 ounce, I think).

Okay, so still no temptation to eat out which is nice. I thought this was going to be tougher because I am so tired, but we are all into the planning and the making of meals so it's working very well.

Breakfast:
Homemade biscuits with strawberry jelly (.50)
Bananas (.80)
Homemade Lamb sausage ($3)
Milk ($1.50)

Total: $5.80

Lunch:
Beef Quesadillas made with--
--leftover beef potroast (free)
--spelt tortillas ($1)
--shredded cheese blend ($1)
Cucumber slices (.79)
Water

Total: $2.79

Dinner:
Cornish Game Hens ($8)
Leftover potatoes (free)
Leftover gravy (free)
Can of green beans ($1)
Milk ($1.50)

Total: $10.50

Grand Total for day: $19.09

So under my daily goal of $20, not too bad. I was guessing on the cornish game hens on what they cost, based on what they are selling for now, which is $4 a hen. They've been in the freezer for a while and probably cost less than that at the time. I can't imagine I'd have bought them at full price. But it's close enough.

Tomorrow will be at least partially a seafood day. I've got some Langastino that needs to be eaten and while I was rooting around in the freezer I also noticed there was a two pound bag of prawns so those will go into a meal later in this week. There was lots of frozen salmon as well so I think we will have salmon for dinner tomorrow. I should take some out to thaw now. Or maybe I should save the salmon for when DD can barely chew. Hmm...well, I'll figure it out this evening.

I need to balance the checkbook. I skipped doing it this weekend so really need to get to it.

I can't tell you guys what a good experience this was for me, despite the excrucitaing amount of pain the tests caused. I have never had such good doctors, nurses, and technicians before in my life, and I've seen a lot of medical people. The two doctors, nurse, medical assistant, and x-ray tech that were on my team were all so awesome. The one nurse kept me as distracted as she possibly could (she was so funny) and the one doctor held my hand through the worst of the pain, though I thought it might have been better if it wasn't the surgeon's hand that I was squishing the heck out of.

They definitely found the problem, but NO TUMORS! Still, this whole thing is going to be complicated. It will require 2 surgeries, several weeks apart, since I will have to be totally healed from the first one. And the doctor said the first surgery may or may not improve symptoms. It might even make things worse until they can do the second surgery which will make things better. While I didn't like hearing that, I appreciated his honesty.

Funny thing, I saw this specialist because it would have been September before I could even get into the female doctor (his partner) that the specialist here in town recommended. Well, this doctor will be having her assist on the surgeries, which means I'll be getting the doctor that was originally recommended without having to wait to have seen her. Interesting how life works out sometimes. Plus, did I mention how awesome the male doctor is?

I really liked the hotel we stayed at, The Inn at Virginia Mason. You never even have to go outside to get to the hospital. They are built on this massive hill and there's an elevator that goes from the first floor of the hotel down into the hospital and then you walk a long corridor to get to another elevator that takes you to whatever floor of the hospital you need to be. Which was great, because I never woud have been able to walk up and down that steep hill with my knee.

The hotel was very nice. It was old-fashioned, the closet doors had glass ball door knobs! It was very clean, and our room was a bit minimalist decor wise and amenities wise(had no hair dryer or iron/ironing board), though it had a tv with over 20 channels (we never turned it on) and free WiFi. The beds were comfortable and the bathroom was so big you could have fit another bed in there and still had room to move around. If there's one thing I hate at a hotel, it's a postage stamp sized bathroom. The room itself was quite spacious, too. Couch was kind of hard.

They had a fabulous and reasonably priced restuarant that had the best French Dip sandwich made from sliced prime rib. DH and I split one and it's accompanying stuff. It was quite filling. We had brought our own gallon of milk in a cooler with us from home so we saved a lot on drinks while there. Also instead of getting room service, DH just called it in and then went down to pick it up, saving the surcharge.

On our way down there we stopped at the Alderwood Mall for an hour to avoid the worst of Seattle area rush hour and I found a purse with a long shoulder strap that allows it to go across the body and rest comfortably at the hip. We found it at Macy's. I was so thrilled. It was a little pricy, $78 marked down to $58, but after looking through Nordstrom's ($398 for the only purse I liked there and it was only made from vinyl!), I was happy to find one I liked. The strap is fastened on securely through buckles, it's roomy enough for a paper back, it has all the compartments I like, and it is the most gorgeous shade of blue ever. Plus it's leather. And it was $11 cheaper than the one I found online (not including shipping). The purse department at this Macy's, I swear, was as big as the entire Macy's store in my town.

We spent $350 of our medical travel budget on the hotel, food, and gas. The purse money came out of my clothing replacement fund. I have $50 left so that is going into the EF on Tuesday.

So I'm looking for a new purse. The shoulder strap on my current one is about to give and it's not one of those ones with the fasteners on the end, so you could substitute a strap off an old one, it's the sort with the strap sown straight into the bag. Which I really hate, but at the time it was the only long strapped purse I could find locally.

Today I've been perusing the web looking for a properly strapped bag, one that has a shoulder strap and attaches with buckles or fasteners instead of being sewn directly into the leather, and is big enough for all my stuff without being so big it looks like a diaper bag or something. I will never give my business to those two purse companies that keep spamming here, but I did find two other brands, one I'd heard of before and one I hadn't. Fossil I'd heard of but the only bags I like of theirs tend to be around $128. The other bag I like is from a company called Tyler Rodan and it's $69.

I don't mind spending the money if it's going to last. At my current rate I am going through a ten dollar purse every 3 months or so. If it's a good company that makes solid purses then it's worth it. I used to have one brand that was a little pricey but would last five years but then it stopped making bags with shoulder straps.

I guess what I am wondering is whether or not anyone has used either of these brands of purses and if they have had a good experience with it or a negative one?

SA ate my last entry. It's been a while since it's done that so I got lulled into complacency and didn't control C before trying to post it.

So far today I have repaid off the BoA Master Card. That's the one I paid off last month but then DH accidentally put his airplane ticket on. It's also the one that the health club fee is on, so the two together were $722.95. I will change the card for the health club before the next one is charged.

So that leaves us with 2 cards paid off, one big loan paid off and only the one VISA with a hefty balance on it. I also have my AMEX but that gets paid off monthly.

I went ahead and had DH suspend the car payment again this month as we are still several months ahead, because of all the medical bills. If after I pay all the medical I have enough leftover for the car I'll mail in a payment. Even though we autopay online, they still send me a bill each month.

I had two more medical bills come in today's mail so we've hit the $1000 mark. But we've also hit our deductible. I found that out when I went to pick up three prescriptions at the pharmacy yesterday and only had to pay the reduced amounts and not the full ones. I'm sure DS's surgery put us over. Now we just have to pay our portion.

I've got sinusitis/bronchitis again. Went to the doctor yesterday and he put me on generic Biaxin. He also gave me 7 free Ambien pills because I haven't been sleeping with the persistant cough. The other two prescriptions were for other health conditions. I also picked up some over the counter Robitussin DM cough syrup. Altogether I paid $67.72.

I paid $215 to the chiropractor and I also paid the mortgage on the old house of $375.86. I went to Kmart to buy a bunch of toiletries, a bottle of pink nail polish (99 cent splurge), a bottle of Vitamin D, and I also got two shirts for myself that were 25% off, total of $77.55.

I finally got to CU #2 and deposited my coin jar money. It was a deposit $39.50, which brought the total in that account to $219.41. This is part of my EF. The rest is kept in ING and is $627.36. Altogether it is $846.36. I am hoping to squeeze out enough this month to hit $1000. I put three ones and $1.30 in coins in the coin jar tonight.

Tomorrow I will sit down and with the checkbook, balance it, and then figure out which medical bills I pay this week, along with anything else that is due before next payday. I think the bulk of the bills will all be due out of the next payday, so I can make some progress on the medical this week. Maybe even all of it that I have so far. Here's hoping.

I went to Walgreen's today to pick up medication, vitamins, and toiletries. I spent $62.10 there. Then I went to the grocery store and spent $23.15 there. Hopefully I won't have to go out at all next week for shopping.

After that, I went to the library and paid 25 cents for parking. DS is all loaded up with books for the next week. I'm not really sure he will feel like reading but he wanted to have them just in case.

I am starting to feel nervous about his surgery tomorrow. I've been through this once with his sister and it's sort of a helpless feeling. It's in God's hands, I know, but that's my baby in there.

Very little going on today. Car insurance of $95.61 and house insurance of $41.00 came out on autopay today. Tomorrow or the next day life insurance will come out for both DH and myself. On the 5th storage autopay will come out, and then nothing until the 12th.

I will mail off the electric bill tomorrow and pay the AMEX online.

I paid out $90 for physical therapy today. DH gassed up the car before I took him to the airport. It was $3.99 per gallon at Costco and he got 8 gallons for $31.92. We also put a smidgeon over 4 gallons in his dad's truck last night, but that was at $4.03 a gallon and was $16.20.

I went to the grocery store and got milk, strawberries, and medication from the pharmacy. Altogether it was $71.17.

We are making up strawberry/banana/orange/pineapple smoothies and freezing them in rocket shaped Popsicle™ molds so that DS will have some dye free, artificial ingredient free, homemade Popsicles™ after his tonsilectomy. Mom is also going to make some homemade ice cream for him to have.

The new chicks are growing so fast. They already have distinct personalities. The cuteness factor is off the charts.

I cannot believe it, but I guess all that white stuff on the ground is proof. It snowed overnight last night. It was 60 degrees and gorgeous yesterday. What happened to spring? Ah, well, maybe it'll kill off some of these buds that are spreading their pollen around and causing my allergies to act up. I don't think we've ever had snow in April here before in my lifetime. Usually the middle of March is the absolute latest.

The money for taxes that I transferred from ING showed up in my CU account so I'll fill out the check and we will mail that off tonight.

Tomorrow is payday and we will be able to pay off another credit card. I am excited about that.

Not really a lot going on otherwise. I'll have to buy some medicine tonight. $3.13 for one prescription and $10 for an over the counter decongestant.

DH is home. So far no spending frenzy temptations. He did spend $17 at the airport to get a neck pillow for the airplane. His old one started losing all it's polystyrene beads so he tossed it. And he rented a digi player on the plane (which I told him he could do if he wanted to) for $6.

It feels really strange to have DS gone on his class trip. The house is so quiet. It's kind of nice to have the break, to be honest, even though I miss him. He's a high energy child and I am a low energy parent. He'll be back Friday afternoon.

I think that about covers everything.

Today is payday and I made a payment of $2500 to the BoA Master Card. That leaves me with $887.89 to pay off next week and then that puppy is done. (Well, there will probably be an interest fee that comes in as soon as it is paid off but I'll pay that right away, too). I need to move the two autopays off that card and on to another one so there is absolutely nothing left on it. It comes to $133.43 each month (so that is why the numbers are a bit off down below).

I am so excited because that will leave us with only one credit card left with a balance on it. Evil Empire, your hold on me and mine is getting looser and looser!

So anyway, money out today:

$2500.00 BoA MC
--300.00 to Mom for utilities
---39.37 for security system at old house
--100.00 to the Emergency Fund
--141.96 to Verizon
---84.62 major toiletries stock up
--100.00 Cash
---55.00 Entertainment
------------
$3320.95

I have $286 left in the checkbook and will probably spend about $50 of that on food this week, but the rest will go into next week's bills.

I had $40 leftover from last week's cash so I put that in the laptop fund. I had $1.17 in coins that I put into the coin jar.

I added $100 to the emergency fund. Taxes have been removed from my calculations now so that brings the new EF total to $377.36. It feels weird to be starting almost all the way over again with the EF. In May I'll be able to make a much larger contribution.

New credit card debt totals:

$20,157.03 BoA VISA
+---887.89 BoA MC
-----------
$21,044.92 Total owed to the Evil Empire

$22.947.81 Previous credit card balance owed
-21,044.93 Amount Left on credit cards
------------
$--1903.01 Amount of change on balance

Not much to report today. I spent $2 to rent two movies out of one of those vending machine boxes in the grocery store that rent movies. Tron Legacy and Skyline. Watched the first one with the kids and will watch the second one on my own (not sure that it won't have too much violence or swearing for them to see it).

We went to the health club and swam today. The pool was very crowded, surprisingly. A lot of really little kids, but it did thin out enough by 4:30 for me to get fifteen laps in. DS swam alongside me and managed to do thirteen laps. He's a good little swimmer.

I also spent $15 on paper plates, bowls, plasticware and plastic cups. The basement flooded and the hot water tank for the end of the house with the dishwasher in it had the pilot light put out by the water. Until it goes down it can't be relit. It'll probably take a couple days to pump it all out, and since I am not wanting to wash dishes by hand in my end of the house I decided to waste the $15.

So all in all, $17 spent today, none of it what I would call necessary spending, but it will make my life easier.

I did a major shopping run today. I was going to go to Costco, too, but after waiting in the gas line for eight songs and seeing how crazy the parking lot was, I skipped it. Maybe I'll go on Monday. I don't think shopping there the first weekend after the first is a good idea. I don't need much from there anyway, just four items, so I can hold off for a few days. Gas was $3.67 a gallon. I ended up spending $41.05 for 11.159 gallons of gas.

We went to WalMart, too, as DS had outgrown his bathing suit. He wore regular shorts yesterday when we went swimming. So he got two swimtrunks and my daughter got a pair of swimshorts (so she now has two full swim outfits). We also got him a pair of waterproof shoes that are a kind of combination hiking boot/tennis shoe. So I spent $78.68 there. Everything I bought there was half price, so that was nice. DD spent $40 of her allowance there to get five shirts.

We went to two different Haggens and I did some mega stocking up. I spent $101.84 at the one and $70.93 at the other. That is $172.77, leaving $327.23 in the grocery budget for the month. I'l probably spend about $60 when I do go to Costco (excluding the amount for toilet paper, since that comes out of a different part of the budget and is not groceries). But after that we should be pretty good with just needing to buy milk for the next two weeks. That should keep us pretty much on track for the month.

Eleven years ago today I gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. Today he's still bouncing, though it tends to be off the walls, off the ceiling, off the bed. My husband managed to lose one of his presents last night. He only bought it on Friday, it shouldn't be that hard to remember what he did with it. Wouldn't have been that big of a deal if we had gotten more than two things. It was a used video game that DS wanted desperately, so it was one of those tiny ones for the Nintendo DSI.

So DH made an unexpected trip down to Burlington to a Game Stop there and picked up another one. The first one cost $22. The second one cost $43. Both were used. Needless to say I am slightly annoyed with DH. I took the money out of my laptop fund, because we'd already used up all the birthday money I'd budgeted. Then DH decided it was okay to use the leftover money from the $50 I gave him to buy modeling glue! So I didn't end up with any of the money back.

DS and my mother made cupcakes tonight to take to class tomorrow. A lovely homemade chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting made from cocoa. I was jealous, but we'd already had homemade yellow cake with homemade white frosting for his birthday. Anyway the ingredients for the cupcakes were $2.

Tomorrow is going to be a difficult day to get things down to the school. 28 cupcakes and a science fair project. Oh, well, we'll manage.

At least I'm pretty sure it was Saving Advice that ate it and not the internets in general. It was a long and detailed post, too, and I do not have the energy to redo it. So, the highlights:

1. Got a ten dollar rebate on some Brita stuff I'll be sending in.

2. Can get a $2 off coupon if I sign up at Brita for filter refills.

3. Got a $3 catalina coupon for health and beauty products at Kmart today when I bought a swimsuit ($20 cheaper than the one I was going to order online).

4. Found a $2 coupon for Afrin nasal spray in a box when I was doing the recycling.

5. Dinner was delicious, but there were no leftover meatballs to make meatball sandwiches tomorrow.

6. I did my meal planning for tomorrow but do not want to retype it right now. It came to $14.65 for the day. I know because I didn't close the computer's calculator yet. I will enter it tomorrow.

7. I made more dough for making bread tomorrow. DH has been snacking on it and the peanut butter without telling me so I can adjust the food calculations. *sigh*

8. Got a gallon of milk for 99 cents today because it had a sell by date of tomorrow. Got my son's special milk for $5.29 a gallon (2 of them) which is usually $5.99. Has a sell by date of 3/23 so it will be good for a while.

9. Spent $14.92 for two prescriptions.

Today was a really long day, but I feel like I got a lot accomplished. And dinner was fantastic. It has been an age since I've made my garlic cheese meatballs. Usually when I make the fancy sauce from scratch I just don't bother with adding protein to the meal because it is a pretty hearty sauce, but we had a pound of hamburger thawed out leftover from making cheeseburgers last night and the kids had been asking for these so I did, with the idea that there would be leftovers for tomorrow night to make meatball sandwiches with. Umm...I'd forgoten how good they are. Suffice it to say there was exactly two meatballs leftover which is not going to make anyone a sandwich, but at least can be crumbled up and thrown on pizza when I make it this week.

DH and I went jeans shopping for him. Unfortunately we only found one pair that fit him right. There were four pairs in his size, but only one brand fit him right. I kind of wish clothing manufacturers woiuld be more standard. So we might have to wait until next month to buy him the other two pairs, but we will check back next week in case new stock came in.

While we were there, totally unexpectedly, I found the perfect swimsuit for me. I was going to order one off a website, but was hesitating because of the price. The suit I found at the store was $20 less. It was just what I wanted, in that it had thick shoulder straps instead of tying behind the neck, a good built-in bra that doesn't show off more than I'm comfortable having the world see, and a skirt that wasn't so long it gets in my way when I do the crawl stroke, but was long enough to cover what I wanted covered. We got a $3 catalina coupon for health and beauty that is good until mid-April at the check-out.

The suit is a little...loud, but not garishly so and most swimsuits are these days. Just more than I would normally wear. Looks like confetti all over a black background. I will have to cut these goofy bows off that serve no purpose and then I will be completely happy. I've been making do with a suit that's too big for a while now, (wore it when pregnant with my almost eleven year old) so I'm glad I'll have something that fits better now that I swim so much more than I used to. I'm going to start swimming again tomorrow. I hate to see what kind of shape I'm in. I was doing 40 laps when I got sick and quit. I think I'll be lucky if I can do 10.

We went to Lowe's and bought replacement filters for our Brita faucet filter and my mom had us pick up a filter for her, too. They had a $10 rebate for if you bought a replacement 2 pack and a filter. Mom doesn't rebate so I got it and I will send it off tomorrow. It also came with a thing that if you sign up at Brita for reminder emails for replacement filters they will send you a $2 coupon.

We got a gallon of Darigold milk today that was marked down to 99 cents because it's sell by date was tomorrow. My son's special milk was on special for $5.29 a gallon (usually $5.99) with a sell by date of March 23 so we got two of those. I also got some bananas that were 48 cents a pound. Normally the best I can get them for is 59 cents a pound, so yay.

We went to the pharmacy and got 2 prescriptions for $14.92. I was afraid that the drug part of our medical plan had changed, but it hasn't. Very happy about that. I am still waiting on the one doctor to call in another RX. I will have to call tomorrow. I called on Monday and they said they'd call it in but haven't. I only have 2 samples left so they better get a move on.

I'm going to have to make more bread tomorrow. I usually only do it twice a week, but we seem to be eating more than previously. Or maybe my mother is filching more than she used to. She does like fresh bread. DH is probably snacking on it without telling me. I've noticed a big dip in the peanut butter jar, too. I'll have to ask him as I'll want to account for it in my meal planning if he is.

Meal Planning for tomorrow:

Breakfast:
French toast with powdered sugar ($1)
Milk ($1.50)

Total $2.50

Lunch:
2 kids--
PB and Honey sandwich (.50)
Turkey ham and roast beef sandwich ($1)
banana (.20)
apple (.50)
hard pretzels (.25)

2 adults--
All meat chili ($3)
Cornbread (.30)
bananas (.40)

Total: $6.15

Dinner:
Chicken legs ($3)
Mashed potatoes and gravy (.50)
Broccoli ($1)
Cauliflower ($1)
Milk ($1.50)

Total $7

Total for day: $15.65

Today is payday. I'm still figuring stuff out as far as the bills go. We went to Costco and bought $45.14 worth of food and a case of toilet paper. We don't need to do any major shopping this week at all. We will have to pick up milk, de-icer spray for the car windows, and jeans for DH, but that should be it.

I have to set money aside for the cell phone due on the 12th, the VISA due on the 21st, the MC due on the 17nth, and the car payment due on the 19th. Ticket prices have gone up on airfare and DH had to buy one this time around for a total of $950. Ouch. That's about $250 higher than usual. I'm sure that's due to gas and oil prices going up so high right now. Add that to the $70 for the hotel and the $40 for travel food, plus the interest for the month and that VISA is basically going to just be standing still this month. I am glad I already made an extra $1000 payment to it last week.

I was going to make an extra payment to the AMEX but I think I will hold off on that until the 1st and just make an extra large payment then instead. It's not due until April 3 anyway. The extra will go to the Master Card instead. For now I will transfer $3000 to the holding tank and then pay those bills closer to when they are due. Two weeks of interest isn't much, but it's something.

I added 34 cents to the change jar and $85 to the laptop fund.

$475.44 beginning laptop fund balance
$+85.00 amount added
-----------
$560.44 ending laptop fund balance

I got the statement from Best Buy for the laptop in the mail today. They only require a $25 payment. Sheesh. I'll be sending them $100 a month. Even though I have 18 months to pay it off without interest, I am not even going to come close to not paying it off in time. It's due on the 22nd, so I'll take $100 out of the laptop fund to pay it, and continue adding what I can to the fund as I go.

Thanks to Laura I learned about a food program that amazon.com has for shipping you food and if you take out a subscription for it, you get 15% off the purchase price. And if you buy more than $25 worth you can get the free shipping. Of course they then wanted me to apply for their credit card and get $30 off as well, but I'm not at the point in my life where I have any intention of adding another credit card into the mix.

Anyway the choices of subscribing had a six month option and could be cancelled at any time so I went ahead and clicked the six month option. I will be getting 12 boxes of a gluten-free, organic, hamburger helper type (but healthier) lasanga dinner. They stopped carrying this particular brand around here. I figure if we go through it faster than six months we can switch to three months and if we don't go through it as fast as I think we will, I can just drop the subscription.

Anyway, I paid $34 for it, which is $2.83 a box. This stuff cost $4 a box when the stores around here still carried it. So, add in the cost of a pound of hamburger (2.29 usually here on sale) and I've got a filling dinner for 4 for $5.12. Add a veg and it goes up a buck. Not bad for something super fast and easy to make. It's good to have back up items like this when I don't feel like making a real effort to cook.

I also ordered a cookbook as a birthday present for me. B&N didn't have it when I went in there before my birthday. Just as well. The price from amazon was $18.79. When I bought it at Christmas as a gift for my neice it was $30. It would have been worth paying that, though. It's a really excellent book that tells all about the ingredients and covers dozens of proteins and hundreds of fruits and veg, as well as having recipes for the items. It's a real learning tool for a cook and the pictures are amazing. I got free shipping on that as well.

Then I ordered a replacement copy of a novel of mine that DH took on an airplane two years ago and left behind. It's out of print now, but I was able to find it new on half.com for $9 plus $3.99 shipping from someone with 100% positive feedback. I'm considering that my b'day present, too, even though it's technically not.

I'll need to set aside the extra money for the AMEX when it comes due. I put a notation in the budget. I've been working slowly to get the budget set up so that it covers extras like this, and put on two columns as holding tank in and holding tank out, to keep track of any extra money in each category and when it's paid out. The holding tank will be saved in the same savings account as the safety net. For now, anyway. I may switch it over to the laptop fund account once I reach my goal there, just to keep it away from the easily accessible portion of our EF money.

I was running numbers last night and once the credit card debt is gone, we will have $4000 a month just to put to saving up for a downpayment on a house. That's $96,000 after two years, assuming all goes well. Add that to whatever we sell the house for and we'll have a pretty substantial downpayment. As much as I'm going to want to rush to get out of here once the debt is gone, after running the numbers it makes so much more finanacial sense to wait two more years. We're probably looking in a price range of $350,000 max and I'd like to not carry more than a $150,000 mortgage. I know it might be closer to $200,000, but hopefully we'll find something closer to the lower end of our price range and not the higher one.

We also want to buy a mini-van in 2013. Hopefully a 2011 Toyota Sienna because they meet all of our needs and are so nice. They are too expensive brand new, but the price drops substantially on two year old vehicles. We definitely want the new redesign though, so a 2011 car in 2013 will be just right. We'll have $10,000 saved by then for a downpayment and we'll have a decent trade in and we're used to paying almost $500 a month on the car anyway, so if we can get around that on financing the rest (probably 15 to 20,000 depending on mileage), we'll be in a good place for it. By then our FICO should be back over 800, which makes low interest rates our friend.

After that there will be at least $2000 a month going into a college fund. Her school of choice is the local U and it, at the moment, costs about $7000 a year (including books and fees) for a local student living at home. After a year of saving we'll have $24,000 set aside right as our daughter is starting college. I'll keep adding to it. Fortunately our children are four grades apart so she will graduate college in the summer that my son will start in the fall. Hopefully they can both get scholarships, too. DD is on honor role as a freshman and DS is testing well above fifth grade level despite his behavioral issues. So it's a possibility. I want nothing to do with student loans or having my kids start out their lives with the debt they cause.

I am seriously debating spending $63 on a gallon of shampoo. Shipping would be free. I have seriously oily hair. Seriously. It only turned that way about a year ago. It used to be frizzy and dry. Hormones are weird. Anyway, I finally found this incredibly awesome stuff, that is pretty expensive in the small bottle form, $13.99 plus tax for 10.14 fluid ounces. This is $63 for 128 fluid ounces.

This is such good shampoo that I use about 1/4 of an ounce per shampoo even though my hair is well past my shoulders, and I only need to shampoo once. It lathers like crazy, you just have to work it a little longer than normal to get it to that point. Anyway, my usage works out to about 12 cents per use if I get the gallon. The smaller bottle works out to about .75 an ounce, or 18 cents a use.

It's only a savings of 6 cents a use, but I'd not have to buy it for a long, long, long time. I've never seen a coupon for this brand so I doubt I could lower the cost that way. The only place that sells it is a twenty minute drive away, so I'd use at least a gallon of gas round trip, and it is not a store I frequent at all. In fact I've gone there once (just a couple weeks ago) in the five years it has been open in our area and that was because I had a free $40 gift card. It is an overpriced store so I was really not liking the idea of having to make a special trip there just for the shampoo, even if I think the shampoo is worth it. If I had known it would be so good I'd have bought several bottles at the time.

I think I'm just balking at the idea of paying $63 for shampoo, even though it works out to over a year's supply. I'm the sort of person who gets professional haircuts twice a year and cuts my own bangs the rest of the time. I got by for years on shampoo that was usually 99 cents a bottle after coupons or on sale. It really works. It is the only stuff that does now. It shouldn't be this hard to part with my money!