The mortgage posted to my account. The new mortgage balance is now at $18,544.28.

I added $6.70 to the coin jar.

We filled up the gas tank on the van for $53.84.

We paid $4.74 for a prescription.

I need to pick up psuedophederine, a NyQuil/DayQuil pack, and potassium today, so that will likely be a little pricey.

I have sent a total of $4600 to credit card debt.

DH had to pay $900 for a round trip ticket to work and back. He waited too long and the return part was twice as high as it should have been. *sighs*

I am trying to determine what to make for dinner tonight. Maybe pizza. I still have one of those Rustic Crusts, leftover spaghetti sauce, and some mozzarella cheese. There are a few meatballs left from last night's meatballs so I could crumble them on top of the pizza. I also have yellow onions so could dice some, saute them for a couple minutes, and throw them on as well. Oh, I think there's a ham end as well I could dice up. That sounds good. Not too much work and we can have a laid-back Friday night.

The new mattress is great to sleep on. I've now had two really good sleeps on it.

The PA took x-rays of my hip on Thursday. There is nothing wrong with the bones, so he thinks it is either muscular or nerves. He changed my physical therapy orders to lower stress therapy. If I am still in pain in 2 to 4 weeks he wants to send me to a neurologist, and possibly get an MRI of the area. I really don't want to pay for an MRI right now as we have started our deductible all over again. Oh, I know I have the $2500 set aside already, but I hate to blow through it this soon in the year.

We did run $2500 through the HSA though, just in case.

Happy New Year, everybody. The kiddos insisted on staying up until midnight and then of course it was well past my bedtime and I couldn't sleep until around two a.m. They, of course, passed right out at 12:05ish. I've barely got my eyes open, but I am happy it is a new year and I hope this one will be healthier and less injury prone.

I am anxious for Tuesday to come so we can do the big financial stuff that I've been anticipating for the past month or so. I wish the banks were open tomorrow.

I sent DH down to the store last night to buy bread so he spent $4.79. It took him a while to find it. We like Big Horn Valley by Franz because it's whole wheat bread made without corn syrup or raisin juice. Well, we haven't been able to find it for a week or so, and yesterday we had our last slice.

He did finally find it. They made that type organic so it was in a different section of the bread shelf. Fortunately it was the same ingredients, only organic. Same price (way too high) as before as well. I really need to start using the bread machine again. I've gotten really lazy about that.

Today should be a no spend day for us, though DD is going to buy something with her Christmas money.

When I am a little more awake I will calculate what we have spent on debt payoff in 2011 and how much we still have to go.

And I've managed to procrastinate it all the way until Tuesday, but here are the bills I paid from the most recent paycheck.

$1300.00 to BoA
__300.00 to Mom for utilities
___44.89 landline at old house
___65.56 internet
__757.82 car payment (plus extra to principal)
__243.46 Laptop Fund
__115.25 Medical
__150.00 Groceries
___12.00 DD allowance
____7.00 DS allowance
--------------------------
$2995.28
-_100.00 to the Emergency Fund
---------------------------
$3095.98

I added $4.10 to the coin jar today.

I put $5 in a Salvation Army kettle.

I spent $10.90 at the grocery store.

I got gas today. It was $3.249 per gallon and I put in 16.213 gallons @ $52.68.

I am out of cash until Friday, but I have $67 in the checking account.

The bonus check did not come today. I thought it had, but it was only DH's paystub from Friday arriving in the mail (as we have direct deposit). Way to get my hopes up and watch them fall. DH will probably be home (Wednesday) before it shows up, but I live in hope.

I am mostly over my cold, just still have the cough lingering. My knee feels better but my hip hurts like blazes. These new physical therapy exercises are hard on it, but do seem to be strengthening my knee.

I'm glad I have all day to rest because we have been running since 10 a.m. Friday when I picked up my daughter from school and the two of us went down to VM for another surgical followup appointent. I have been given a clean bill of health for that and have been told it was my final followup. He said I've healed so well he can hardly see the scar, so that was wonderful news.

Driving wasn't too bad. We arrived in Seattle close to noon. I paid for valet hospital parking $10, because it is only $2 more and it is very much worth that $2 to me to not try and park the mini-van in those narrow little slots and then have to navigate traffic on foot back to the hospital. Plus there is no elevator in the parking garage and I still have such difficulty on stairs. I didn't want to set myself up for a painful knee for the rest of the weekend.

We ate lunch in the hospital cafeteria. This weekend has been long planned for and the money set aside so even though we ate out this weekend, I don't consider it part of the no eating out thing I'm doing, even if technically it is. Anyway, we spent $23.22 on lunch. I had the pot roast special which was roast beef, baby red potatoes and my choice of broccoli or mixed vegetables. I chose mixed veg. I also got an orange and a drink. My daughter ended up with a mega slice of pizza, a bag of chips, a chinese bean thing (not sure exactly what it was) and a soda. They've raised the prices since the last time we ate there.

It was one by the time we were done eating and we decided to go up early, even though my appointment wasn't until two. Sometimes they will take you early. They did, after ten minutes and I was out of there by two. It took a little bit to get our van and then we hit the road. Traffic wasn't too bad and we were in Marysville by three thirty, where we stopped at Fashion Bug.

DD got 2 pairs of jeans, a hoody, and 4 camisoles and I got 3 sets of long sleeved pajamas with full length bottoms and one long-sleeved thermal shirt. I remembered to bring my coupon. It cost $275.83. A bit pricier than I had hoped for, but still 100 times cheapter than the same clothes if we'd got them at Lane Bryant.

After that we went to our hotel and checked in. Hotel cost $124.05 after taxes. It was a nice enough hotel, but the walls were pretty thin and you could hear everything that went on in the hallway. We won't stay there again because of that.

DD and I walked over to Arby's which was just next door for dinner and I spent $17.96 on dinner. Prices have gone up since the last time I ate at an Arby's or else it's just far more expensive there than at home.

For breakfast we ate at an IHOP around 11:30 for $26.32 and that included a 20% tip. We got the breakfast sampler and split it and added a couple more sides to round it out for the two of us.

We stopped somewhere along the way at a Haggen to buy some cold medicine. I can't find the receipt but it was under $20 for some ibuprofen, cough drops, and cold medicine.

Then we went to Burlington and went to the outlet mall and got new tennis shoes for DD, $53.54. A boy's size 12. She's going to end up with feet like her father's I'm afraid. Then we went to The Avenue and DD got three tops and a bracelet for $36.42.

Then it was time to eat so we went to The Outback. We ended up spending $62.43 with the tip. We brought back half an order of lambchops, mixed veg and a bowl of baked potato soup for DS, who stayed with grandma during this time. He was very happy to see it. He loves the food from there, but we go so rarely because of the location and the expense.

So it was a very spendy weekend, but we didn't go over the set budget. DD and I really enjoyed the time together alone and we got some much needed items. I think the long pajamas are working, too. Last night I only needed to have the heater on 70 instead of 76 in my room despite the fact that it was well below freezing.

Today I have to go to Freddy's. DS needs a new pillow and I need to pick up milk and a few other items, so this way we only need to go to one store. I plan to keep it under $60 and then a quick stop at TJ's for the lunch meat DS needs and then no more spending until Friday.

And I am most definitely back on the no eating out challenge until the end of the year.

Stopped to buy milk this morning. I had my coupon from the Organic Valley website (they let you print two a month) so didn't have to pay full price. $5.32. I put the change, $4.68 into the coin jar. I will definitely be making a deposit today. My envelope is so fat with ones I can barely get it closed. I'm starting to think my goal of $3500 in the EF by year's end is going to be too easy to hit. Well, if I do, I guess I'll rethink it.

I added $5.67 to the coin jar today. I also spent $14.33 for DH and I to have lunch at Boomers Drive-In. They claim to have the best burgers on the planet. I don't doubt them.

I'll be starting a new no eating out challenge for the next two weeks, as I've been lax on my diet for the last three. I'm still holding at 45 pounds lost but I have a bit still to go and restaurant food is not your friend on a diet.

The new smaller jeans I bought, I am thinking maybe I should have gone down one more size as I had to hitch them up today.

If anyone wants to join me on the challenge let me know and we can root each other on.

I had a medical bill come in today so I paid that, $215.00. Ugh. I sent $500 to AMEX and paid the mortgage, $375.86. The mortgage is now officially under $19K now. I won't know the actual number until the payment is reported in the next day or two, but it should be around $18,900 or so, give or take a few dollars.

Interest hit the ING account today, so I added that $3.89 to my Emergency Fund. That brings the total EF to $2809.73. After looking at how much extra I had, I decided to go ahead and put some of it into the Emergency Fund, too. It was $480.88 extra, so that brings the total EF to $3290.61.

My goal for the month of December was originally to hit $3000, so I've blown past that. So I am making a new goal of getting the EF to $3500 by the end of the year. $100 of that will be the monthly deposit so I need to scrape up $109.39 extra to hit that goal. I think I should be fine to do that.

I had originally thought I'd put the money into the January/HSA money fund, but I can hit my goal for that without it, so the EF made the most sense.

I guess the sweaters were a good investment, because I've at least not felt chilled to the bone since I started wearing them. I still don't feel completely warm and I'm keeping my bedroom heater on 72, but I did have it up to a ridiculous 76 before, so it's an improvement. We had a very hard frost last night. It looked like it had snowed, it was so thick. Guess I'm lucky not to have woken up feeling frozen over myself.

I'm sick again which may be why my internal thermostat seems so wonky right now. I think it's just a cold though and not an infection. At least I hope so. I've got too much to do this month to be sick on top of it all.

DS is going to his first dance today after school. He is "meeting a girl" by their lockers and they are going to "hang out" together at the dance. I don't even know what that means. He's only 11 so it can't mean too much, right? They seem to have become best friends this year. I don't know if it's more than that. He's excited though. And according to the girl's mother, so is she. The dance starts right after school so I packed him an extra half a sandwich in his lunch box. With his allergies he may not be able to eat the provided refreshments.

DH is on a plane to San Francisco today. He'll be back around 8:30 p.m., though. It's going to be a long day without him here.

I've got bills to pay today. So far I have dealt with deducting the autopays of life insurance, car insurance, house insurance, storage, and the security system from the checkbook. I've paid the electric and I need to do AMEX and the mortgage on the old house. I believe that is all until the 16th. I'll have to double check my spreadsheet after I pay those two things.

Oh, yesterday we wrote a $35 check for DS's next belt test at tae kwon do which is next Thursday. I also spent $65.32 at the grocery store. They had turkey thighs and necks pretty cheap so I stocked up. Beef prices are so ridiculous and nothing was marked down for quick sale. We're going to be eating a lot of chicken and turkey until the prices decide to get reasonable again. I also bought milk, oranges, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. I also picked up a copy of Clean Eating Magazine and have already found a couple of recipes I want to try this month.

I added $9.56 to the coin jar today.

I did a bit of clothing shopping. It's been a very long time since I've bought much in the way of clothing, but since losing the 45 pounds almost everything is too big. I have also been very cold lately to the point that jacking up the heat doesn't help and neither does three blankets on the bed.

So I got a couple of turtlenecks to wear under my nightgown. I also got three chenille sweaters, two zip front and one pullover, and I got two new pairs of jeans in the smaller size. That gives me four pairs of jeans (I had two in my closet from a long time ago). I think this should keep me until spring.

If the turtlenecks don't keep me warm I may end up getting an electric blanket. I don't particularly like using those because I always take water to bed with me and I have a tendency to spill and I'm always worried I am going to shock myself or something. It's getting so that the only time I feel warm is in the car with the heat jacked up or in the shower.

DH bought a new pillow and we got some medicines and a new pair of tweezers and (very bad) four bottles of soda. They were cheap, at least.

I transferred the money from ING to my checking account today for first of the month bills. Of the money I had set aside I still have $648.08 left. I will probably put $200 in the emergency fund and then if I don't need the rest between now and the 16th, I will put what is left into the January/HSA money.

We got paperwork in the mail in case we want to put DH's bonus into his 401K. We don't, it's earmarked for debt repayment, but if they sent him that, it means he is definitely getting one. And also I wouldn't think they'd send out 401K paperwork unless it was a substantial amount to put in there. Two to three more weeks to go to find out just how much it is going to be. I hate living in suspense. But it is at least good news that there will be one.

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.

I am exhausted, but I have been running all day. I had two medical appointments today, one at 11:00 and one at 2:15. And DS had early release at 12:15. DH had an appointment at 1:00 so he dropped me off at my first appointment, picked DS up after school, then we switched and I took DS and the car, ran home for a quick lunch and DS stayed with my mother while I ran to my doctor's appointment at 2:15. DD got out of school at 2:15 so DH walked from his appointment to the high school (six blocks), then he and DD walked from the high school to my second doctor's appointment (eight blocks), and then we all went home together.

Life with one car can be a little tricky sometimes. Well, technically we have two cars, but the battery is dead in the Crown Victoria and it needs new brakes, so...eh. One car. We'll charge the battery when we are ready to get the brakes fixed. But that's $700 I just don't see spending right now. We may end up trading it in at some point on a small, more gas efficient used car before getting it fixed, but not until our credit card debt is paid off and we can pay for it in cash.

Most of the time we really can get by with one, but DD will be 16 in August and it'll be a little more complicated with 3 drivers in the family. DD has more and more activities and I really am getting tired of playing chauffeur all the time and it's only going to get worse. I think we'll go as long as we can stand it though and then shell out for something in the $5000 range.

DH's family has put his grandparents' place on the market for $189,000. It's a fairly big house on a half acre with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, an old fashioned parlor, living room, decent sized kitchen with pretty modern appliances (less than five years old), a garage, and a double carport. I think it's a steal at that price, but they are pricing it to sell. Apparently the state won't get any of it, since the rental on it paid for the nursing home care. So whatever it sells for, DH will inherit 5%. If it sells for the $189,000 it'll be around $9000 after the realtor's fee is taken out. Not a bad little windfall. It's in a prime neighborhood, but the market is bad all over the county, so who knows when it'll sell?

I added $3.67 to the coin jar today. 11 cents was found money. The rest was change from buying bread and milk at the grocery store. I've really got to download the manual to my mom's bread machine so I can go back to not buying bread.

DH picked up two prescriptions today. It was supposed to be 3 but DH didn't know that and it had been called in on Friday so it was in a separate bag on the shelf and the pharmacist didn't see it. So we'll have to go back. I guess maybe we'll to WalMart tomorrow since we have to go back that way and I need to buy at least 2 pairs of smaller jeans.

Anyway, the one prescription was $10 and for some reason the other one was free when it's usually $2.99. I am wondering if we've hit some kind of cap for the year? We've certainly spent enough on medical (probably just around $10,000 for our portion) and I know there's a cap somewhere, but I was thinking it was $12,000. Although it's entirely possible we've hit that amount out of pocket, too. I did accidentally shred some statements before we set up the HSA and I know at least one of them was for around $1000 and the other close to $600. I'll have DH look it up.

I forgot to mention that I filled up the gas tank for $53.31. It was running on fumes, and I am still not used to filling it on less than $65. But it is down to $3.49 a gallon. The last time I filled up it was $3.69 and the time before that $3.89 so I am really liking this general downward trend. Let's hope it lasts through the holidays.

I made the kids do a general clean up of the back of the van. It was getting ridiculous and I told them both that no one would be sitting in the front passenger seat on cold mornings on the drive to school if the back didn't get spic and span pronto. Front seats have warmers in them so this is a major threat. Those seats can be cold in the morning. I never thought I'd love such a "useless" and "luxury" gizmo, but I really do.

I am still in love with our van and our choice to get it still feels like the right one for our family (even if we could have gotten an almost as nice one that was five years old and didn't have everything we wanted for a lesser price and the interior wood was weirdly colored and it was white on the outside). I was expecting to feel a little bit of the shiny wear off by now, but nope...still shiny! And the fact that I can stretch out the bad leg whenever I need to and the easier accessibility with getting in and out reinforces my decision every day. There's a lot I am frugal with and a lot I am willing to give up, but I am happy to have splurged on this vehicle, despite how nervous I was about it at a time.

It's getting a lot of that winter dirt on the outside, so we'll be taking it up to the $13 car wash (wash and wax) this week. Since we plan to drive this car for at least ten to fifteen years, maintenance is important to keep it looking nice. Also going to have to schedule an oil change as the little warning screen popped up saying so. I do love having more than an oil light or an engine light.

Gadgets can be useful. The other day at the courthouse when I was getting my temporary disabled parking permit renewed for another six months I somehow or another locked the steering wheel. Not on purpose, but I must not have straightened it out in the parking space. Anyway it wouldn't start (totally freaking me out), but then the screen pops up saying that I had locked my steering wheel and I needed to unlock it while starting the car, so I knew exactly what to do. Otherwise I might have sat their quietly freaking out then called AAA and looked mighty stupid.

I am happy with the choice of the vehicle, even if it was an expensive one. We pinch in enough other areas and physical comfort really is important when you are disabled.

Okay, this might be my last post for a while. I am taking my computer in to be fixed and I don't know how long it is going to take. Or how willing DH or DS will be to give up their laptop or netbook respectively to let me go online a bit. It's almost worth getting another netbook at this point, as one or the other machine is always a problem and it would be nice to have a cheap spare for backup.

Before I take it in though, I did all the payday financial stuff. I sent $2900 to ING. Of that money $1770.09 is to be set aside for first of December bills. $129.91 goes to the Emergency Fund. $1000 goes to January/HSA money fund.

January/HSA fund money is now at $4483. The goal I've set for that is $6000 so another $1517 to hit that goal. I should be able to do that by the end of the year with no problem.

I added the $129.91 to the EF and also took the coin jar money (added $3 more yesterday) which is $34 and deposited it into CU#2, the Safety Net.

$2134.31 EF at ING
$+671.53 Safety Net at CU#2
---------------
$2805.04 Total EF

I swept past my goal of hitting $2750 by the end of the month and am well on my way toward my goal of $3000 by year's end.

Next week's paycheck will be more than enough to get through the two following weeks with no pay and hopefully half of it will go into the January/HSA money, but I'm not relying on it. It is the small check so usually only between $800 and $1200 depending on if they are taking out medical that week or not. They shouldn't be, but sometimes they take out weird things.

DH said that bonuses will be mailed out after the 15 of December, so we could have it within a week of that. We still have no idea how much it will be, though. And I still kind of half believe it's a fairytale. Oh, well. If it comes it will be a nice surprise.

All right, I'm off to get the computer fixed and stop by the court house to get my temporary disabled parking pass renewed. I can't believe it has been six months already. The doctor has okayed it for another six months. Then maybe by the time it's up, my knee will have completely healed and I won't need it anymore.

...and it's not over yet. I had an appointment this morning with a deep tissue masseuse because my quad muscles are all locked up again and my hip is totally screwed up from all the limping. It helped quite a bit and I am walking a lot better. That was $90.

I also went to the doctor and had an ultrasound treatment done on my leg. Because I'm having an allergic reaction to the tape he's been using to wrap my knee, he suggested I get a regular Ace Bandage (the cloth type and not the rubbery self-adhesive type). I had to look a couple of places. Finally found it at Walgreen's. It was store brand. They didn't even have Ace brand.

And they didn't have it in the First Aid section which is where every other store in the entire universe, including the other Walgreen's in our town, puts it. They, for some unknown reason, put it in the feminine hygiene section. I told the cashier, when she asked if I found everything all right, that I did but it took some looking that it was a stupid place to have it. I can't find what I did with the receipt, but it was $6.31, I believe.

I added $3.50 to the coin jar today. One of those was a found penny. I also had enough quarters for a roll. I've hit $31 in the coin jar so I will try to deposit that in the CU tomorrow. Looks like I'm well on my way to hitting my November goal of $2750 in the EF by month's end.

I nearly wiped out an idiot on a bicycle today. When a van is slowing down to turn right onto a street and has their blinker on, you DO NOT come flying up behind them on your bicycle and try to pass them on the right. That is the height of stupidity and guess what? You will not win. You will also be at fault. More importantly, you will be squashed all across the pavement. Also, your idiocy does not give you the right to then flip off the driver who was obeying the traffic laws and call them a b*tch. You are very lucky you are not dead, Mr. Idiot, because I had no way of seeing you, so get over yourself and go get a book on bicycle safety because you are not smart enough to be operating anything with wheels without a little remedial training. /rant

I just finished doing the last of this month's bills and balancing the checkbook. Nothing else is due until the 1st of December. I have $85.29 in checking and $45 in cash. That should make it through until Friday just fine. I've already bought a gallon of milk for DH who comes home on Wednesday (he drinks 2%, everyone else drinks non-fat) and that should do him until Friday.

So bills paid today:

$300.00 to Mom for utilities
__49.65 Garbage
_757.82 Car payment (plus extra to principle)
__10.56 Medical DD
__10.56 Medical DS
_500.00 BoA CC
---------------
$1628.59

I also transferred $2800.58 to ING

$100.58 to Emergency Fund
$100.00 for Propane to Holding Tank
$100.00 for Property Tax to Holding Tank
+_17.00 for HoA dues to Holding Tank
____________
$317.58

So $2483 goes to the Holding Tank for January/possible HSA.

This brings the portion of the EF at ING to $2003.82 and the total EF to $2641.93. I need to come up with $108.07 to hit my November EF goal of $2750. I think that will be easy to accomplish.

This brings the total in the Holding Tank to $3923.70.

Items in Holding Tank:

$3483.00 Total January/HSA money
___51.00 HoA Dues
__100.00 Property Tax
__289.70 for Propane
------------
$3923.70 Total Holding Tank

Propane money is for the old house. I haven't had to fill the tank since the end of spring as the furnace has not been on and used any propane since then. We are starting to get frosty at night though, so when DH comes home I will have him go out to the old house and turn the furnace on to 55 so that the pipes don't freeze over the winter. I am hoping to get by with the full tank and possibly one more fill up around January or February.

We should be able to save a good portion of the next paycheck for January/HSA money. I think at least half, with the other one going to cover the first week of December bills. Then the next paycheck will be the little one and that one should get us through until the next paycheck in mid-December. We will go a couple weeks without a paycheck because of DH's screwy work schedule, but I don't foresee it being a problem as long as we don't go nuts over Christmas or eat out too much. And if he gets the bonus, then that'll just be gravy.

I added $7.30 to the coin jar today.

I also spent $19.20 at the grocery store.

Because I have been sort of avoiding a lot of stuff this month (not the bills, just the rest of the minutiae that goes along with recording things), I am finally getting around to listing what went out the payday before this one. I am trying to get back on the ball again.

$1180.00 to BoA CC
___14.08 Electricity Old House
___44.89 Phone Old House
___65.56 Internet
___39.37 Security System Old House
__500.00 Extra AMEX payment (to catch up)
__385.76 Mortgage Old House
__200.00 Laptop Fund
___55.00 Dance Class
__232.42 Medical Bills
__350.00 Grocery Staples Stock UP
--------------
$3067.08

We also spent about $250 on meals out that week and $61 for the stupid PTSA magazine drive for DS's middle school (I bought two kitchen gadgets and Fine Cooking magazine, which I buy anyway). The rest is still in checking.

One of my friends told me today that she is getting a divorce. It is sad and I feel really bad for her. I don't know her husband that well, I only ever see her, but they have been together for fifteen years (only married for the last few). It sounds like it's a bad situation and I just wish there was something I could do for her. They don't have kids, so at least there's that.

I went to the doctor this afternoon and he wrapped my knee and said he will write the paper excusing me from jury duty, so that's one less thing for me to stress over. He really did not like seeing how swollen it was. I go back on Friday so I can get it then.

I spent money on perscriptions today, $71.51. I also got lunch at DQ, spending $6.40. I just got a meal, though, no ice cream. My resistance was down because I was in pain. That is something I am really going to have to guard against since I will likely be in pain a lot for the next two months and I can't buy a dinner everytime I hurt or I will go broke.

I added $7.64 to the coin jar (.01 of which I found on the ground).

The chickens are going gangbusters on the egg laying front now that we've put a light in the coop overnight. They need so many hours of light a day to lay consistently and in the winter time they don't get it without assistance. We are getting 3 to 4 a day now. We have to check both morning and night though because temps are freezing and if we let them sit out all day or all night the eggs will freeze.

Mom says to go ahead and suspend payments to her for the next couple of months so we can save that money for the weirdness in DH's upcoming schedule, so yet another thing to not have to stress over. Won't have to make them again until February, though we will still be paying the gas/electric/garbage/internet bills.

I need to remember to call Virginia Mason and reschedule that surgical follow-up appointment, as that is the day I need to see the knee surgeon. I keep forgetting.

My son has his first crush and it is rather adorable. And the girl likes him, too. Aw.

I still need to do my entry on Friday's spending, but I'm definitely in the "I don't wanna," phase. I did enter it all on the spreadsheet, so I'm not slacking that much, but I do like to enter it here for accountability.

...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.

...but here I am awake anyway. Woke up at 7, just like every morning. Fortunately the kids did not and are sound asleep and I just might be able to snooze for a little while anyway. Last night I was so tired I basically just waited up for Fringe (not that much emotional satisfaction after waiting 2 weeks without it for some resolution that should have happened in this episode, but didn't) and then fell face first into the pillow and zonked out.

I only got halfway through paying the bills yesterday, just stuff that either needed to be mailed off or electronically paid to hit due dates. Today I will be doing the ones that aren't due until mid-month and hopefully squeezing out at least $1000 to send to the January/future medical fund.

Next week I hope to bank almost 2/3 of the entire paycheck. I've got to make the car payment and send an additional bit to the credit card, but that should still leave me around $2500 to $3000 to put in the bank at ING.

Mom paid me back the $2 she owed me for picking up bread and I had .57 in the bottom of my purse so I put that in the coin jar.

I also got gas yesterday and forgot to mention it. It was $57.59 to fill it. It has dropped to $3.59 a gallon, which was nice to see. Last time I filled up it was $63 something for the same amount of fuel.

Going shopping today at Costco (I wish they would open early so I could go now while the kids are asleep) to do some stocking up. I need the organic mashed potato flakes like yesterday. Been out for a month and am getting really tired of peeling potatoes almost every night. I also want to pick up some more of their black pepper chicken kits. The ingredients list is safe for my son's dietary issues, it is so fast to make (15 minutes start to finish) and is delicious and way cheaper than grabbing takeaway. I also need some fresh fruit and veg and some flour and sugar.

Mom wants help today expanding the chicken yard. They keep getting out so she wants to give them more space so maybe they won't be so tempted. I hope it doesn't take long because I have a lot of stuff on my to do list today that requires not being at home. It does need to be done though as I am getting sick of chasing down escaped chickens. All four of them are laying now. The banty started on Wednesday. Her eggs are about 2/3 the size of the regular chicken eggs and will probably take two to make up for the difference in size when eating.

I will try to be back later with an accounting of all bills paid from this paycheck.

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.

Have I really not posted since Wednesday? I guess part of that is that there just is not that much for me to do financially until this coming Friday and the other part of that is that I have been chain-reading the Vatta's War series by Elizabeth Moon (lighting one book from the previous book, sort of thing, badly mixing metaphors). I had forgotten how intriguing her writing can be and how hard and fast it sucks you in.

I did fill up the gas tank on Friday at $63.28 for 16.969 gallons.

I added $5.82 to the coin jar so will definitely hit my EF goals for the month. I have no cash left, but I have $23.96 left in checking. $15 of that will go to DS hot lunch costs this week and that leaves enough to buy a gallon of milk if I need it, but I bought two on the weekend that were marked $2 off each (which is awesome for organic milk) and they should make it until Friday.

I have plenty of fruit and veg and frozen meat, so I'm good on groceries otherwise. I am going to need to find a major sale on green beans, though. Since Costco stopped carrying the S&W brand and I hate their Kirkland brand (which surprised me, because usually Kirkland is decent on most things) I have had to be buying it when it goes on a good sale.

I am a little picky on green beans since we eat them almost every day. S&W, the generic Haggen store brand, or Trader Joe brand are my preferences. I prefer the first two since they go on sale on occasion, but TJ's at least tastes good. I can't stand other store brands or Del Monte (which again I don't get, because I like other Del Monte products, just not the green beans). I used to love Western Family, too, but I haven't seen those around in ages. They used to have great case sales, too.

I had my MRI on my knee on Friday. I will hopefully know something mid-week. I'm mixed on what I want. If they find something it means it can be fixed and maybe I'll have a chance at not being in pain, but it also means more surgery. If they don't find something it means there is nothing to fix and I get to have chronic knee pain, difficulty walking, and random swelling for no apparent reason for the rest of my life, but no surgery. *sighs* It's never an easy choice, is it?

I have physical therapy tomorrow and have the $60 set aside for that (wasn't including it in the other money I had left since it is earmarked). It's the only thing that keeps me walking these days, I honestly do believe.

The diet has gotten a little bit...squidgy the last few days. Working on getting it back in top form again. Didn't gain any weight from it, but not for lack of trying. *snorts*

Last night DD went to her first dance, which was also the homecoming dance. She went over to her best friend's house after school yesterday with a group of friends and they all got ready together. Everyone brought $10 for dinner and her best friend's mom went and got them take out, so that was $10 out. I don't remember if I said earlier in the week or not, but the dance ticket was $6.

She had a really good time with all her friends and even danced with a boy, though she mostly just danced with her friends. She's not allowed to date yet (though if there were a particular boy and I met him and liked him I might not make her wait until 16) so that works out just fine with me. My mother wouldn't even let me attend dances until I was 16. I don't see any harm in it as it is a group thing.

I am now waiting for the rest of the family to get back from DS's tae kwon do competition. DH taped it so I will at least get to see it. They took $40 with them to grab breakfast on the way down and lunch on the way back. DH texted me about buying a t-shirt for DS if they weren't too much, so there might be a little more spent than I was intending, but I thought it would be a nice souvenir from his first tournament and his sister did get a class of 2014 t-shirt last month from her school, so it would even things out a bit. I am a little nervous waiting to see how he did. His instructor told us he thought he'd at least get a bronze medal, but of course never tells the kids that and encourages them to participate simply for the experience.

After 3 weeks of fighting this thing on and off I've finally succumbed to it and so have the kids. DS was okay enough to go to school today, but wanted a doctor's appointment after school. DD was too sick for school. We are taking them both in to the doctor at 4. My doctor prescribed Biaxin for me for sinus/bronchials.

I managed to do the first round of physical therapy exercises with Mom this morning before my appointment. The chickens got out though so I had to chase them down and put them back in their pen so was a little late getting there.

The in home physical therapist is here right now, and she will do the second round of exercises with Mom so I don't have to do them. I don't have the energy so it's just as well.

DH will have to take the kids in to the doctor as Mom shouldn't be left alone just yet. He's not so good at stuff like that, but I don't think I can drive again today. Not sure I should have done it earlier. I have another appt tomorrow. This one for my knee. It's swollen and full of fluid and needs to be drained.

I haven't done the budget yet for Friday. I haven't really had time or the ability to focus that well with my head so full and achy. I did send $600 to the AMEX and I know the insurance autopays will come out today, tomorrow, and the next day. And storage. Nothing else is due until the 17th so I can take a couple more days before dealing with the budget if I need to.

I am going to put the no eating out challenge on a bit of a hiatus. I want egg flower soup from my favorite place and might as well get protein and veggies there, too since I probably shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a hot stove at this point. I also want ice cream so I can freeze my throat, but that's probably not a good idea for my diet. I can balance Chinese food. I don't think I can balance ice cream. *sighs*

I hope I get better soon. Too many people need me right now for me to be this sick.

I did clean out my purse today and had $1.81 in change to that went into the change jar. I gave my daughter a $5 this morning so she could buy lunch. She doesn't eat peanut butter and I had to throw out the lunch meat (despite ordering it by the slice, they didn't eat as much as they said they would) as it had gone off.

DH is home. Yay! It will be good to have him home for a while now.

Mom's class on what to expect when you go home from the hospital was long, almost 2 hours when it was supposed to only be 1.5 hours. Those chairs are rough to sit in for that long with a bad back and knee. I go back tomorrow at 9 for another one of her physical therapy classes and then some time in the afternoon she'll be released to come home.

My aunt and uncle who I have not seen since my daughter was 3 and I was pregnant with my son, stopped by to see my mother. They had no idea she was in the hospital. Gee, Mom, and I thought I didn't talk to my sisters much. They were on their way up to Canada to visit their daughter so they stopped here. I gave them Mom's room number and they said they'd stop by and see her, but whether they will or not is anybody's guess.

Tomorrow is payday. I'll be glad to see it.

I went to my favorite grocery store this morning because they were having a one day sale on produce, things like cucumbers 4/$1, celery for .39/lb, sweet potatoes $1/lb, lettuce .79/head, radishes .50/bunch, bananas for .59/lb, beefsteak tomoatoes that were really red for .50/lb and corn for 3/$1. The salad dressing I like was also on sale so I picked up another 1000 Island and a chunky blue cheese for $3 a piece (preservative free). I picked up a new brand of Dijon mustard that had no additives or preservatives that was on sale.

They also had some meat marked down and I know I said I wasn't going to buy any meat right now since I have so much in the freezer, but it was ribeye marked down for quick sale (use or freeze by today) and I ended up with two steaks for $4. They are big enough that each one is two portions, so I'll get four servings from it. Also Isernio's all natural mild Italian chicken sausage was marked down for quick sale. This is the kind in the chub and not the kind that comes in links, so I will form some of it into patties and some of it into crumbles for a homemade pizza topping and freeze it.

I did refrain from buying a lot of unnecessary items though and am well under the grocery budget. I spent $54.49.

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.

Today was payday so I did bills and then ran around doing errands this morning. I had an irritating time at the CU (see previous post), but otherwise everything went smoothly. I will be glad when DH gets home Wednesday so we can take care of the irritating things.

$1000.00 to savings (possible Jan. extra week off)
___17.00 HoA dues savings
__100.00 Property tax savings
__100.00 Propane tank savings
__100.00 Emergency Fund
___37.68 Garbage
__215.00 Chiropractor
__754.24 set aside for HSA
___33.00 DS's school photos
$1000.00 Loan payback to Mom
___13.56 Electricity old house
+_183.91 Master Card (paid in full and put away)
_______________
$3554.39

I have about $400 leftover. I took out $50 in cash and will pay $60 on Monday for physical therapy which leaves me about $290. $100 of that DH will get for his allowance. I am buying a new bread machine which will be less than my allowance, but not by much. That leaves $90 for food, but I think we can get by with only buying deli meat for next week's lunches and some milk, especially since we are still on the no eating out challenge. Whatever is left will go into the EF.

Speaking of the EF:

$2223.18 Starting Amount
+_100.00 Deposit
_________
$2323.18 New EF Amount

$2323.18 EF Amount
+__37.30 Coin Jar savings
__________
$2360.48 Total EF

So I've met my goal of $2250 in the EF. Next goal is $2500.

I am doing fine on day...whatever it is of the No Eating Out Challenge Starfishy and I are doing. Today was a nice use up all the leftovers day.

I spent $1.09 on a packet of highlighers for the kids for school. I gave the chiropractor a check for $215, but he's holding it until tomorrow. He'd rather I do that than pay with a CC as he has to pay a fee every time someone charges their visits. I don't want to pay with CC anyway, not even the one I pay off in full every month.

Tomorrow is payday. I have budgeted this one pretty tightly as well, but there will be a bit more breathing room. I just really want to have that money to set aside in case DH has to take an extra week off in January. It's worth it to pinch now so we don't get overwhelmed later or have to touch our meager emergency fund. So far the kids are being very good about it.

I paid $1 to rent Hanna out of the DVD Express box. it was excellent. I'm not sure what I was expecting from it, but about half of it was different from those expectations. Still, it was very interesting. I liked the alternate ending better than the original. The original one just sort of...ended without coming to a real conclusion. The alternate one seemed to go full circle.

I added .59 to the change jar. I had $1.25 more, but DS needed that to buy a graph composition book for his science class tomorrow so it never made it to the change jar. They have to purchase them in class as they are a special order thing. I think that's it for today.