I had to buy a music book for DS's orchestra class, so that was $9.32. I had .68 in change from that and put it in the coin jar. That leaves me with $5 in cash for the rest of the week.

I bought my produce yesterday and the deli meat for the kids lunches. I have $10 left in checking for the week after I pay the PT today and the tournament fee tonight. That's okay. I have a full tank of gas and I don't need to buy anything else before Friday. DD will need $5 to buy a ticket to the homecoming dance and DS has pictures next week so I need to budget a bit for school fees next week.

I am happy not having the money because it will help me stay on my no eating out challenge and my eat from the pantry/freezer challenge. I know it seems tight, but it was the way I could send the most money possible to the credit card Friday.

I've been on my controlled carb diet for 13 days now and so far have lost 9 pounds. And that is 35 pounds lost since the surgery. If I stick with this, it's interesting to think that this time next year not only will my finances be in order (no CC debt), but so will my body. I do need to start swimming again, though. I've been lazy about exercising and I know my immune system could use the boost as I am still stuffy from the cold last week.

DH ran the numbers on what our tax refund will be next year. We're looking at around $3500, depending on how much we can deduct for the HSA (I think we may actually hit the full amount). We'll only be able to deduct $600 for our kids though. This is the second year he's made enough that they don't let us deduct the full amount for our kids. But the $3500 will definitely put the final nail in the coffin of the Evil Empire (BoA) so that is good.

I was surprised to find the paycheck about $300 less than it should have been. They took medical out, but it was still $300 short of what it usually is when they take medical out. I'll have to try to talk to DH about it tonight if I can get a hold of him. He's been very busy up there lately. The only thing I can think of is maybe the 401K deductions have started. They weren't supposed to start until October, but maybe they approved him short of a year on the job or something. It wouldn't be the first time. We got medical benefits after one month instead of three, so it's possible.

It's just a little frustrating because it meant I could only send $1700 to the VISA instead of the full $2000 I had intended to send. Two steps forward, one step back is what it feels like. I also sent $100 to the one MC. It's minimum payment was $31, but I couldn't do that. I know that other $69 could have gone to the VISA, but it just felt wrong to make such a tiny payment on the MC. I guess this was a kind of compromise.

I had to go to BoA in person today because I could not find my car loan statement. And they don't let you pay it online like you can the credit cards. I could set up an auto pay but I think DH has to sign the paperwork as well as me as the loan is in both our names, and he's not here. I had the number so they looked it up and applied it to the right thing, and I have a receipt to prove it if something goes awry.

I stopped at the BoA over by the gas station since I was over there, but they weren't open. At 9:30! Whatever happened to banker's hours? Maybe they are like one of my credit union branches that is open 11 to 7 instead. Anyway, I had to drive all the way down town to pay it.

I filled up the gas tank on the van. I was running on fumes (as in the display said I could drive for 12 more miles before I ran out of gas). It cost $61.82. I'd say ouch, but that's a pretty normal price for a full tank these days.

I paid for internet and the phone bill for the old house, got the amount of kids' allowances out from the CU, and sent $200 to the 18 months same as cash for the laptop (which brings the total down to $600). I've set aside $60 for physical therapy on Monday and $65 for DS's tae kwon do tornament fee. I took out $40 for me to take DD to go see a movie tomorrow and for incidentals this week.

I have $100 left in the checkbook for groceries. I decided it was okay to go close to the wire. If I hadn't I'd have only been able to send $1600 to the VISA. Since we are not eating out for the rest of the month I think we'll get by just fine with that amount. Anything left over at the end of the week will go to the coin jar and eventually the EF. This should be an easy grocery week since DD is spending the night at a friends and DS is going off with Mom to the decoy show. They tend to eat a lot more on weekends, so they will be doing that on someone else's dime which is nice.

Today after swimming we went to two grocery stores. I bought a beautiful allotment of organic produce and proteins. I spent about $100. I misplaced the receipt (it's probably out in the van) but I know it was just a couple dollars more than $100. This way of eating is a bit more expensive, but in the past it has worked well for me so I know it will again.

I got marked down Dover sole, marked down red snapper, thin cut breakfast pork chops, a marked down t-bone, a marked down rib-eye, and three whole chickens over five pounds each (they were my best deal because they were already cheap and each one was marked down $1.50 making each one less than $3 a chicken). I repackaged everything up to freeze. I think I got enough protein for myself for two weeks plus several helpings for the kids.

I also peeled and sliced up some low glycemic veggies so they would be ready to grab. In the past preparation or lack thereof has always been my bugaboo. Most of them can be eaten raw and a few will have to be cooked (can't stand raw broccoli).

I have to be more careful than most people doing a low carb diet because of past kidney damage (from the tumors). I can't do Atkin's because I can't risk ketosis. So I'm settling more on the Carbohydrate Addict's Healthy Heart Program. It's geared more toward people with high blood pressure like me or a history of heart disease in the family (also like me). And I know it works because I've done (an albeit looser version of) it before.

It's been a few years and about 3 surgeries since I've done a controlled carb diet so hopefully I can get back into the swing of things pretty easily. I'd like to lose about 30 pounds before my next surgery. I think it would make recovery just so much easier.

My planned start day is Wednesday when the kids start school. It is much easier to get started when they are not in the house and also when DH is gone. I'm not going to have a big carb fest tomorrow or anything, but I'm not trying to do it on a day I have to run all over the place either.

In the long run I think I will actually save money eating this way because of the health benefits brought by losing weight.

I'm getting my exercise into gear before starting though. Started today with the swimming. I did 15 laps. 13 is 1/4 mile. It's nowhere near the 45 I was doing before reinjuring my knee last year, but I don't want to push too hard when both my back and my knee are not doing great. I wore my knee brace in the water and I did slow, careful strokes. I spent 25 minutes doing the laps and then played with the kids for another half hour and then the hot tub for a few minutes. The swimming did help loosen up my back which was good.

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.

But the day was perfect. We ended up getting done early at the nutritionist's office so DH and I were able to drop DD off at her friend's house (DS was with grandma already) and make it to the theater for the 2:15 showing of Fright Night instead of the later 5:20 showing. So we got matinee prices, but since it was in 3-D we had to pay for the glasses rental so not much savings there. Tickets were $11.75 each so $23.50. Then DH and I ran over to the driver's licensing place for him to renew his license, which is $25 now (ouch) but is also now five years instead of four.

Then we went out to dinner at the pricey steak house. We did some things we rarely do, like ordering drinks and appetizers. We each had a non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri and I got barbecue wings and he got teriyaki wings. He got goulash and I got salad with bleu cheese dressing, which the meals came with along with Texas Toast. He had a 10 ounce medium New York steak, loaded baked potato, and green beans and I had a 6 ounce filet mignon, rare, Bavarian potatoes, and green beans. No dessert as we were full.

We brought home half each of our appetizers (so will have those for lunch tomorrow). I brought home a third of my filet, some potatoes and the Texas toast. My son ate the filet and the toast and my daughter put in a claim for the potatoes if there were any left before we even went.

Dinner came to $79.80 and we left a tip of $15.20 based on the pretax amount of $73). Our waiter was excellent and he even remembered us from when we used to go more often last year.

So all told $143.50 was spent today. It'll be a long time before we splurge like that again, but it was worth it this once as a combo celebration of DH's birthday and our 21 years being together anniversary that he'll miss next month.

I thought the movie was really good for that sort of movie. The acting was top notch, the story was intriguing enough, and we had the theater to ourselves. It was nice not to have people talking around us or have to smell the stink of movie popcorn (I find it smells sickly after all these years not eating it). We had great seats with no seats in front of us so we could stretch out our legs. My back is doing better, too, and it didn't lock up so that was nice.

Okay, now I'm off to balance the checkbook.

Oh, oops, I forgot, DD had to pick up her schedule from school this morning. We paid $35 for an ASB card and $40 for a yearbook (it is $60 if you wait until spring), so that was an additional $75 out for spending.

Yesterday was payday. This is the small check and it can vary anywhere from $1000 to $1300 give or take a couple dollars and depending on when medical gets taken out. There was no medical taken out of this one so it came in at $1322.42. I sent $586.82 off to the credit card, but $500 of that was left from last week and I just never got around to sending it because we were so busy and I'd already made one payment so it wasn't due or anything.

We still have to do some back to school clothes shopping today before I determine what happens to the rest of this check. Probably some will go to medical and some will go to credit card and I'll save out $200 for groceries. DH has to take DD out to a movie and out to dinner as part of her birthday present (since he wasn't here on her birthday and she wants father daughter alone time), so I'm not sure how much that will be. Less than $100, more than $50 probably.

And I desperately want to go on a date alone with my husband at some point before he goes back. There is a movie I want to see (and I never go to the theater) and a steakhouse I want to go to. DH and I are coming up on our 21st anniversary of being together (half our lives) next month but he won't be home for it so I want to celebrate now.

We didn't get to last year on the big 20th at all. Mainly because my mother was busy with getting my father put into the nursing home and my in-laws were meeting my SIL's boyfriend's parents for the first time (2 weeks later SIL and boyfriend broke up because he was getting too serious. Yeah, that was an important meeting, if you didn't want to get serious why'd you do the whole parents meeting parents thing?). This year instead of an overnight somewhere without the kids we're just trying for a night out, but who knows if it will happen. DD is old enough to babysit DS, but she gets tired of him a lot these days.

I overestimated on a few categories in my holding tank so had some extra money there. I swept that into the emergency fund. It was $47.09.

$2000.96 Beginning EF
+__47.09 Amount Added
--------------------
$2048.05 Ending EF

I had to loan DH $5 out of the coin jar so that will have to be paid back. We forgot to get money out on Friday for the dump runs we needed to do today (DH and Mom are out at the house working) so we scrabbled together all the cash in the house and that $5 was part of it. I'll make sure to replace it on Monday.

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.

Yesterday was a fun family day at the fair, but it was fun because we were together more than anything else. It was one of the hottest days we've had this summer so far, if not the hottest. I was glad for my hat. I was really underwhelmed by the fair itself. It has become less and less about people entering art, collections, quilts, and foods, and more about the commercial booths.

I mean, really, does there need to be 3 different satellite tv providers and a cable one at a county fair? Does there need to be four different gutter companies who are sure they can keep the gunge out of your gutter? And the junk they sell? It took a long time to find souvenirs that did not cost too much but were nice enough they wouldn't break down the minute you walked off the fair grounds.

My son got a tree frog (carved from wood) where you rub its back with a stick to make it croak and a thunder barrel for $15. My daughter got a hat that looks like a polar bear for $20. DH got these cushy orthopedic insoles for $35. I tried them but did not like them. It was a texture issue. I did not end up spending my souvenir money at the fair so I will put it with my allowance, with an eye towards investing it or something. Still working that out. I think I may open a spousal IRA if I qualify. If not, I'll just open an investment account or something.

The music was excellent. We heard 3 different groups, one Celtic, one South American panflute and guitars, and the other standard country/bluegrass. The food was great, too. We got everything on the list except the ice cream so stopped at Baskin Robbins on the way home. I am currently reading a book by John Baskin, the son and nephew of the founders of BR called The New Good Life, so found that a little funny. Anyway, I don't think we will go to the Fair again for a long while. It wasn't worth the expense, though I will be forever grateful to the Lion's club for providing power wheel chairs.

The walk back to the car afterwards, though only three blocks, just about killed me, though. The pain was pretty bad, I was almost crying and that was with my cane and holding on to Chris. It wasn't in my abdomen or my knee. It was in my lower back. I was not expecting that. It hurt so bad I wasn't sure I'd make it back to the car, but we were not in a place where DH could run and get it and be able to pull over and let me in. The town's main street is not conducive to that.

I took some ibuprofen as soon as we got there and stayed in the car while DH and the kids got the ice cream and brought it back. As soon as we got home I put ice on back. That helped a little. DH put mineral ice on it once dinner had been gotten and then I ended up taking a hydrocodone. I wanted to take one of the pills leftover from surgery last month but was afraid I'd not keep it down and I didn't want to jerk the painful area of my back if that happened.

I woke up twice to put more stuff on my back and switch ice packs. We ran out of mineral ice and switched to biofreeze. It's not as effective but it does help. By morning I no longer felt like I was going to die and was actually able to get up without whimpering. It still hurts but it's much better. I did notice that I ripped the scab from my incision open at some point because it was bleeding a little bit so put a bandage on it. I definitely overdid it. Today will be a day of rest for me for sure.

I do have stuff to do today, but it can all be done with my laptop while I am resting. I've got to finish up all the payday stuff I normally would have done yesterday.

I've received two bills from Virginia Mason now. One is for my appointment in May and those radiological tests and is $108.04 and the other covers the surgery and hospital stay which is $1296.04. I still need to be billed for the followup radiological tests and appointments.

DH and I are going to set up an HSA on Monday. We should have done it a while ago, but it's been a crazy summer and it just didn't happen yet. Hopefully it won't take too long and I can get these bills sent in right away.

I need to sit down with my budget spreadsheet and figure out exactly what I need to do with the next paycheck. I'd like to send $2000 of it to debt repayment and then make sure that I have enough money set aside to cover the bills until the start of the next paycycle. There will be one more paycheck after that, the small one with two days on it, and that one I'd like to bank in it's entirety, part to the EF and part for future medical savings, but I might only be able to do one of those. One way or another though I am getting my EF up to $2000 this month.

DH's b'day is coming up and I know what he wants and how much it will cost so that is included in there, also. And his allowance has to come out of next week's check, too. I have been debating what to do with my allowance. DH gets $100 every six weeks.

I usually don't spend that much, usually getting a season or two of some show I want on DVD or something like that and using the rest on cooking magazines, but right now I don't want anything so I am thinking about setting it aside in another savings account. I've been toying with the idea of getting an Index Fund through Vanguard to generate some side income (the one I am looking at pays dividends). It costs $3000 to buy in. So it would take a while to save that much up, but what else am I going to do with it on the months where I have no interest in spending my allowance?

Today has been a slow day. I had to use the heater again last night and this time I left it on all night. Today is cool and about 65 with a breeze. I'm convinced we're never going to see any true summer weather here this season. I had physical therapy so $60 out for that.

We picked about 3 gallons of blueberries last night and there's still just so much more to do. I can't believe how much two six foot tall bushes can produce. I'll make another batch of cornbread blueberry muffings today, but that only uses about a cup of blueberries. We'll make jelly with about half of what we picked and freeze the other half for later use.

The two new chickens are finally old enough that they should start laying eggs soon. I keep hoping to go out there and find three or four instead of the usual one or two. The fun part is that when they start laying often times they will produce double yolk eggs for the first six months. The kids love having a fried double yolker.

Someone remind me why it's not a good idea to start up any kind of dialogue with a troll, and then whack me with a copy of the Complete Tightwad Gazette if I do. I don't even know if this person really believes what they are saying or is just trying to start arguments, but this person can't respond to anything without insulting the person she is talking to/and or making inflamatory comments in general. Very wrong inflamatory comments.

Oh, well, I am done with them. I am so used to friendly disagreemets on all the boards I'm on, that this person just threw me for a loop and I totally don't need the drama. I tend to hang out at nice places online, where people discuss things respectfully, so it always surprises me when a troll shows up and doesn't abide by the unwritten rules of niceness. It shouldn't but it does. I will just ignore this person in future.

I cannot believe it got so cold here last night. The middle of August is usually quite warm at night, but this year has been anything but typical. While the Eastern and the middle states have been sweltering in heat waves, we've been lucky to have the thermometer touch on 70 and even then there's a breeze that makes it feel like 65.

Last night was just downright cold for me. I added a blanket to the bed and when I still couldn't get warm added another one. Finally about an hour later, I got up and turned on the heater. This is just a small, energy efficient ceramic heater I keep in the bedroom. I only ran it for ten minutes, but it was enough to warm up the room so I could then fall asleep. I had hoped to beat the cold without it, but it was not to be. Still, ten minutes is not that much time so I don't feel bad about it.

I sewed a button on one of my nightgowns today. The buttons on it are star-shaped but the new one is round and a little larger. It might not match in shape but it matches in color, being opalesent. It's one of my warmer nightgowns and I've had it for several years, but the top part kept popping open after I lost one of the stars. If it doesn't keep them from popping open I will replace the rest of the star buttons with more round ones. We have the big bin of buttons my grandmother collected to search through to find similar sized ones. I don't really care if they match much as it's not like I wear it out in public.

We saw some meteors from the Perseids last night and the night before. This is the first year since I've started looking that I've seen them. Usually there's a cloud cover, but the sky was empty and bright. Moon was gorgeous, too.

I spent $27.18 getting takeaway for lunch today for me and the kids. It will last us about three days worth of lunches, so a total of nine meals (3 each). Put that way it is $3.02 per meal per person. Which isn't that bad. It still puts me under budget for the day if I watch what I make for breakfast and dinner.

I paid my daughter back the $3 I borrowed from her the other day while we were out and I'd left my cash at home. That leaves me with a $10 bill for cash for the week and enough money in the checking account to pay for physical therapy this week and still have $60 left (for milk and probably bread as I am not up for making it right now and maybe some fresh Udon if they restock the flavor the kids like).

Speaking of physical therapy, I am down to one hour a week instead of an hour and a half. That reduces the amount I pay each week from $90 to $60. With not going at all for five weeks, I saved a fair bit there, but I think the muscles around my knee atrophied a little with so much time in bed. PT thinks we can get it back in about six weeks, but doesn't want to overdo it because my abs are still quite sore.

Speaking of the abs, the incision site has now closed completely and scabbed over. My bandages have had nothing on them for 12 hours so I don't have to use them anymore. Which is great because I have been having a skin reaction to the tape (doesn't matter what kind, plastic or paper, they itched like crazy and caused a rash). It's less itchy already.

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.

Our mortgage payment finally posted today and we are officially under $20K left to pay it off! Woohoo!

Also the follow up at Virginia Mason went very well, things are healing as they should be, and I need to go back in a month to make sure everything is on the right track. I also still have half a tank of gas left so no fill ups for a while.

I spent $8 on parking today and just under $17 on food. Far less than the $50 I budgeted. DS and I split an order of fish and chips at the hospital, which believe me, was more than enough food for both of us.

Somehow or other I messed up on the math on my EF. I'm not sure how, but I ended up with $54.64 more than I thought I had in my Emergency Fund. Maybe I forgot to record a transfer at some point. Still, better I have more than I thought than less than I thought, but I'll try to watch my math better in future.

Anyway, I added $56.50 to the Safety Net portion of the EF. That was the money from the coin jar, plus the money I did not spend in my wallet that I had leftover from the last pay period. That brings the amount at CU#2 to $363.53. I added $100.46 to the EF at ING, bringing the amount there to $1,495.93.

$1495.93 ING EF
+_363.53 Safety Net EF
-------------
$1,859.46 Total EF

I think I will make it my goal to squeeze out enough money somewhere to get the EF to $2000 by the end of the month. I added $2.71 to the coin jar today after grocery shopping, so I'm on my way, bit by bit, step by step.

To my holding tank I added $1000 for medical. I also added $100 there for property tax and $17 for dues.

Bills paid out of this paycheck:

$300.00 utilities to Mom
___9.00 owed son to reimburse for vacation trinket
__36.00 son's 6 week allowance
__65.00 daughter's 6 week allowance
_100.00 cash
_500.00 mortgage on old house
__39.37 security system on old house
_144.00 storage
__41.25 old house insurance
__83.98 car insurance
__37.61 life insurance DH
__32.70 life insurance me
__49.91 propane tank rental old house
_330.57 Laptop (18 months same as cash)
-------------------------
$1769.39

I've got a little over $400 left in checking. Really starting to feel like I'm pulling ahead of the whole paycheck to paycheck thing. It is a good feeling. No credit card payments this time, but almost the whole of next week's paycheck will go to that (and the car payment), so it's all good.

Oh, I paid extra on the mortgage. Like $124 extra to principle. This was because I was so close to being under $20,000 I couldn't stand to not pay the extra to make that first digit a 1.

What a day! I got two phone calls today. Well, one text and one call. The massage therapist texted me to say that her car wouldn't start so that massage I was looking forward to all week was cancelled. My body is pretty sore from all the bedrest and the massage helps with circulation and working some of the stiffness out of the muscles. The doctor's office called to see how I was doing and I asked about driving and they said I could as long as I had another adult with me in the car to take over if need be. So I drove today and I did really well. I am beat, though. Not from the driving, but from the grocery shopping.

First we went across town to The Market which is the only place that carries the additive free, preservative free, gluten free Boar's Head deli meat. It is expensive, but when you are dealing with allergies, sometimes it is worth it. I got a couple pounds of that and will freeze some of it. I want to pack sandwiches on Tuesday when we go back to Virginia Mason, but if I don't freeze some of it, it will go off by then.

I spent a total of $78.53 there and saved $10.15 with coupons and sale prices. I stocked up on Tostitos and Pirate's Booty as they had them on a good sale. I got organic milk and organic parmesan. I also got both Rainer and Bing cherries as they were on a good sale (though not as good as the cherry lady, but she wasn't there today). I also bought a book of stamps and impulse bought a bottle of Pepsi Throwback. I haven't had soda in ages, so I don't feel too bad about that (or bad at all, really).

After that we stopped by Joe's Garden since it was on the way to where we are going next and my mother got some veggie plugs. They were 25 cents each. She got lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower. They had a produce market there as well and they had some gorgeous looking food (organic). I ended up spending $12.29 on 2 of the most beautiful looking bright yellow summer squash, 6 kohlrabi (YUM), 2 fresh garlic bulbs with stalks on still, a pint of strawberry jam (a bit pricey but it was made with citrus pectin instead of apple pectin), and a gorgeous, deep burgandy romaine lettuce.

After that we drove to Trader Joe's and paid $39.99 for 2 boxes of Joe's O's cereal, a 4pk of no caffiene, no corn syrup soda (for the kids), sweet potato fries, chicken fried rice, beef and broccoli, graham crackers, 4 pounds of spaghetti, 4 pounds of hamburger and a one gallon pot of basil (that was about a foot high and smelled amazing!) to plant.

Then we went to Cost Cutter and paid $52.97, saving $10.37 between coupons and sales. I got 20 pounds of chicken at .68 a pound and 10 pounds of beef ribs at $1.78 a pound (I hope they go back to .99 a pound when summer barbecuing season is over but that was the best price I've seen since winter). I got a gallon of OJ, a bag of Maui onion chips, 4 lemons, 6 nectarines, 10 ears of corn, and a bunch of green onions.

Altogether I spent $183.78 on groceries. I still need to go to one more store, but don't think I will spend more than $40 or $50 there. I shouldn't have to shop again for two weeks after that except for milk and OJ, which put me right on track for $500 a month grocery budget (Yay!). Even when I do shop, I shouldn't have to buy meat (though I might get a pot roast). I am really glad that all of these places, except the garden market, had ride on carts. I needed them. I am exhausted but I am not hurting, which is great. We got everything divided up (except the chicken which is still partly frozen and needs to thaw some more to separate it) and put away before I lost the last of my energy.

Dinner tonight is ribs, corn on the cob, and watermelon (Mom's contribution). I am so looking forward to that.

Normally boredom leads to spending money, but since I can't drive myself anywhere yet, not so much. The kids went out for a walk and I sent them with a $5 bill so they could swing by the grocery store and get some corn on the cob for dinner tonight. I love it when it's in season like right now and relatively inexpensive. Not great, it's still 2/$1, and I know if I could drive out to the country farms I could get it at least 8/$1 or even 10/$1.

This is not strictly a necessary purchase as we do have canned corn in the cupboard, but some days you just want what you want and so you give in to that want. A few bucks for corn is better than giving in to the want for Round Table I had the other day (which I did not do) or the desire to send my mother to hit the McD's drive-thru. And the chickens will eat off the cobs when we are done with them. They love empty cobs, because to them they are not quite as empty as they appear. I'm still way under budget for groceries so I'm not really going to freak out about it.

Two more days until my follow up appointment. It cannot come soon enough.

I have a big roast in the crockpot for dinner. I didn't realize it was as large as it was. 4 pounds. I do have Yankee Noodles planned for leftovers and maybe roast beef hash, but I'm going to need a few other recipes for leftover potroast. Anyone got any ideas besides sandwiches?

I made my coin jar deposit at CU#2 into the safety net portion of the Emergency Fund. The exchange rate was excellent as between my $41 in American and $20 in Canadian, I had a deposit of $60.62. That's almost at par! Anyway that brings the safety net up to $307.03. I also transferred $100 to ING into the Emergency Fund there so my total EF between the two is now $1545.51, so I have hit my goal of $1500 in the EF by the end of August, and a whole month early. My next goal is to hit $2000.

I also paid bills today for the rest of the month. There is nothing else due between now and the 1st.

$__33.08 (4 prescriptions, medical)
$__90.00 (physical therapy, medical)
$___9.38 (walk in clinic, medical)
$_100.00 Cash Out
$__44.89 (phone, old house)
$__37.68 (garbage, new house)
$_125.00 (laptop, 18 months same as cash)
$__65.56 (internet)
$_100.00 Emergency Fund
$1000.00 Holding Tank for Medical
$_757.82 Car payment with an extra $250 to principal)
$_500.00 Holding Tank First week of August bills
------------
$2863.41

The remaining amount of this paycheck will be spent on our road trip for hotels and food and $100 to clothes and toiletries. $1000 of next week's paycheck will be set aside for medical and $200 for groceries.

I'm really starting to feel like we are getting ahead of the game, paying bills early and setting aside money for future expenses. We are still a bit paycheck to paycheck, but I think we're pulling ahead now by a couple of weeks worth of expenses.

I can't remember the last time I was this tired. At least DH is home now so I can sleep in tomorrow morning. I'm afraid I might have the warning signs of a migraine coming on. I hope it is just a simple headache, I only get migraines when I eat something with MSG or other nasties in it and I didn't do that. It has been so long since I've had one (about a year) that I've forgotten what the start of one feels like, but I full well remember what a raging one is like and I don't have the time for it right now.

I added $2.17 to the coin jar today. I bought more milk, since DH won't drink non-fat like the rest of us, he likes 2% and I also got some nectarines that were actually ripe. I can't take my vitamin supplements right now because they are blood thinners, so for two weeks before the surgery I am not supposed to have them. But there is vitamin C in nectarines and they are in season so there you go.

I am trying to get in fifteen minutes of sunshine for vitamin D. Now that summer has finally arrived and is cooperating a little too much (in the 80's) that isn't much of a problem. Not sure what to do about the loss of fish oil and vitamin E, though.

Well, today was payday and I did some major debt repayment as well as taking care of quite a few of the regular bills. The MC's are all paid off again and the VISA is firmly under $20,000. I feel completely back in control again, both with the credit cards and with the no eating out. Day 4 on that challenge is going well.

I went to the grocery store and picked up a few items. One of them was gnocchi. One of the things my son really misses about going out to eat is going to olive garden and getting chicken and gnocchi soup so I got him a package of gnocchi and a box of organic free range chicken broth. We still have a couple of leftover pieces of chicken so tomorrow I will make him some chicken and gnocchi soup. My chicken soup is almost gone so I don't mind making another soup so soon.

Okay, so bills paid are below:

$1457.40 BoA credit cards
__500.00 Amex
__300.00 Mom's utilities
__100.00 Emergency Fund at ING
___16.70 Electric Bill Old House
___37.61 DH Life Insurance
___32.20 Me Life Insurance
___41.00 Old House Insurance
___83.98 Car Insurance
___39.37 Security System Old House
__155.00 Storage
__375.86 Old House Mortgage
__200.00 Cash
__100.00 groceries
__193.20 Dentist
__106.94 Medical


Car insurance has gone down with the Sienna by $11.63 a month or $69.78 for a six month term.

Of the cash $90 is to pay for physical therapy on Tuesday and $100 is for fireworks. Not sure what that extra $10 is for but it will likely end up in the coin jar. I have $62 left in checking if I need to buy milk or anything else this week, but since I already went grocery shopping I don't think I'll need anything besides milk. Maybe some hot dog buns if we decide to have a cookout on Monday and I am too lazy to bake some myself.

Bills left this month (other than the first new car payment) are pretty minor. There is just phone for the old house, internet, and garbage for the current house. Everything else is paid. That leaves almost $3000. So the majority of the next paycheck and the one after that will go to pay first week of August bills, to savings for upcoming medical, and to pay for our little trip around the Olympic Peninsula before we go to Virginia Mason for my surgery.

I am trying to make the gas left in the Sienna last until Wednesday when DH gets home. I have about 1/8th of a tank, but only have 3 minor driving excursions between now and when DH comes home. I sort of hate pumping gas with a passion. Well, it's more waiting in the long gas lines at Costco, but close enough. There is half a tank in the Crown Victoria so if I need to use that car one day instead I will.

I can't believe I forgot to post yesterday. I am like Posty McPosterson of the Clan McPostsalot and I totally spaced. Anyway, yesterday was day eight of no eating out challenge. Unfortunately today was not day nine. I don't actually feel bad about it though. I got the manager's special from KFC, which was seven pieces of dark meat chicken, 2 large sides, 3 biscuits, and a mini chocolate chip cake for $15.85 (that's the with tax price).

That was actually enough food for two meals so we had it for lunch and for supper. I added a can of green beans to dinner for veg. The biscuits we are saving for breakfast tomorrow and half the cake for another day. I don't feel too bad about this as breakfast was free today. So $15.85 for the day plus food leftover seemed like a good choice when I woke up with a head full of congestion. I am so sick of allergies right now.

I am going to try to finish out the next week without anymore eating out though. Just because I gave in one day does not mean I need to give in every day.

Meanwhile, I balanced the checkbook on Friday and then sent out the bills.

$522.90 Anesthesiologist
$172.37 to ENT Doctor
$144.00 Water/Sewer Old House
$100.00 6 weeks allowances (plus extra jobs money)
$100.00 propane holding tank (ING)
$100.00 property tax holding tank (ING)
$_17.00 HOA dues holding tank (ING)
$100.00 Emergency Fund (ING)
$250.00 Groceries
+_90.00 Fringe
-----------------
1596.27

I have $986 left. I was planning to put $900 onto the credit card, but the stupid BoA website has not been working all day. I just keep getting Out of Memory at line 612, which is usually code for update your fricking flash player, but since I just updated my flash player I doubt very much that that is it. I will try again tomorrow and if it isn't working than I will go down to BoA in person. Nothing is due before the 4th and this was just an extra payment anyway, but I really wanted to make it and I'm bummed.

As for allowances, DD got her $60. That's $10 a week for her and she has to make it last for the next six weeks. DS got his allowance of $36 or $6 per week, plus $2 in tooth fairy money and $2 in extra jobs money. He picked up 200 pinecones and he gets a penny a pinecone, so a total of $40 for him which we promplty went and deposited into his bank account. He's now got $220 saved up for the 3DS he wants to buy.

My allowance was buying seasons one and two of Fringe (which was $90). DH will get his the payday after he comes home. He gets $100 for six weeks.

I got back four ones and 15 cents in change from KFC so that is going into the coin jar for the EF. I am hoping to go out to the house tomorrow and mow the lawn and weedeat. Hopefully DS will gather up all of the aluminum cans and bag them up. We had a bin in the shed that was full of them but something or someone got into it and now they're all over the floor. I told him if he does it he can have the money for recycling them.

And of course anymore pinecones he picks up at a penny a pinecone. He really wants to buy the 3DS before we go on vacation on the 11th but he doesn't quite have enough without doing extra jobs. And I've already told him we won't loan him money again. It's not that he doesn't pay it back, because he does. But we are trying to teach him that sometimes you just don't qualify for a loan, not even from Bank of Mom and Dad. Sometimes you just have to save up the whole amount on your own.

He seems to really get it. DD, not so much. She's already spent $15 on makeup and is planning out the rest of her purchases. I suggested, like I do every payday, that she at least put $10 into her savings account. I may have to make it more than a suggestion. She's almost 15 and resistant to saving in a big way. But she also thinks that credit card debt is stupid, so at least she's got that going for her.

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.

Before DH and I took the vehicle down to have it Scotch Guarded, we filled up the tank. It cost $56.19 for 15.358 gallons at $3.659 a gallon. I have found Scotch Guarding to be worth its weight in gold over the years. There are stains I never thought we'd get out of the couch that came out because it had been protected. We got melted wax crayon out of the back seat of the last car even. I will get it back late tomorrow afternoon. They gave us a Corolla as a loaner. Not impressed, but at least it wasn't an itty bitty little Yaris. I can feel the difference in my body after driving it.

The Sienna is definitely better for my disabilities. Apart from comfort of seating it also allows for easier entry and exiting. In the smaller car I have to use my cane to get out and it's a real struggle. They say the Corolla and Matrix are virtually the same car, but they really are not. I can really tell the difference there. There is also ten times the lumbar support in the chair (of the Sienna) and my low back does not ache while driving it which is great because once is starts to lock up and spasm, I'm pretty much no good for a week.

We took DH to the airport today. He is supposed to text when he gets up to work safety, but usually forgets.

I had my physical therapy in the middle of the day and am pretty sure the therapist was trying to cause permanent damage a few times. It was probably the most painful session I've ever had. But the walking was easier this evening so maybe it is worth it all.

Before DH left he empited out his wallet and had $3.28 for the coin jar and five dollars in ones, all to go to the EF eventually. Bit by Bit it grows.

My mother managed to fall again, tripped face first into the chicken coop. Her glasses dug into the bridge of her nose and her nose itself is an ugly shade of brown, all puffy and swollen. And she managed to sunburn herself something fierce. She's doing okay, but I really wish she'd be more careful. When we move out we will definitely not move too far away if we can help it. If she's going to keep falling (it'd been months since the last fall) than she needs people around to make sure she's safe. *sighs*

We'll get our car back tomorrow afternoon after the kids get out of school. I am glad we do not live too far from the dealership.

Payday was Friday, but what with all the new car business I didn't do anything about it until today. Well, it did it's own thing on the autopays, but I recorded it in the spreadsheet today and deducted it from the checkbook.

$37.61 DH Life Insurance
$32.50 Me Life Insurance
$41.00 Old House Insurance
$96.51 Car Insurance
141.00 Storage
--------
$348.62 Total autopays out

I was going to pay two medical bills and the mortgage today as well, but got so busy today I didn't get around to it. I'll do it tomorrow.

DD's 2nd meeting with the dietician went well. She was quite pleased with how well DD is doing. DS's filling went well, too.

I spent $89.79 at the grocery store today and added 21 cents to the coin jar.

We went to the courthouse today to get tabs for the older car (which we are in the process of getting going again). I'm not particularly fond of the way the courthouse is set up. The handicapped access is on the far end from where the most commonly done things are, licensing and tax assessor offices, as well as where you need to go through the metal dectector to get to the second floor for jury duty. So if you don't want to deal with their stairs or if you don't have a wheelchair that can attach to the chair lift, you have to walk the entire length of the courthouse and back from the handicapped parking.

I got my permit right before we went to Virginia Mason, but the more I've used it, the more I've noticed just how inconvenient it can be for people who have difficulty walking but aren't in wheel chairs. Like at rest areas. I've always had a pet peeve with rest areas anyway, because for some unknown reason the women's bathroom is always on the side where the truckers park (who are typically made up of 90% men) and the men's bathroom is on the side where the cars park. Cars that generally have women and children who go into the bathrooms with women.

I do not get the sense of this. Never have. Well, the handicapped parking spots are even further from the women's restroom than parking in a regular spot. So while you can get in and out of your car easily and up the ramp to the sidewalk, it is an even longer walk to the bathroom than it should be. And if you don't want to walk through the cloud of smokers you have to go even further out of your way.

Oh, well. End rant.

Anyway the tabs cost us $43.75. When DH gets back from picking DD up at school we are going to put the older car on the battery charger and get it charged up, then take it to the car wash if there is still time. So that will be around $13.

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.

Another day without much happening. Sometimes I get so bored between paydays. It's like I get a little lift on Friday when I can watch my debt go down, down, down, but then there's nothing intresting with money the rest of the week. And then when Friday comes again, I get excited, because that's one more nail in the coffin of the Evil Empire. If it's like this now, I wonder what it's going to be like when we pay off this last credit card? Of course there will still be the car to finish paying off, and then totally building the EF and short term savings as well.

It's hard for me to keep my enthusiasm high. It's like we created this budget and we're just sticking to it, and everything is planned and set and...I don't know. I don't like being so indifferent between paydays. I suppose it's natural as we've settled into a pattern, but I kind of miss that excitement I started this year with.

I spent $1.95 today so I have $3.05 to add to the coin jar.

Another day without much happening. Sometimes I get so bored between paydays. It's like I get a little lift on Friday when I can watch my debt go down, down, down, but then there's nothing intresting with money the rest of the week. And then when Friday comes again, I get excited, because that's one more nail in the coffin of the Evil Empire. If it's like this now, I wonder what it's going to be like when we pay off this last credit card? Of course there will still be the car to finish paying off, and then totally building the EF and short term savings as well.

It's hard for me to keep my enthusiasm high. It's like we created this budget and we're just sticking to it, and everything is planned and set and...I don't know. I don't like being so indifferent between paydays. I suppose it's natural as we've settled into a pattern, but I kind of miss that excitement I started this year with.

I spent $1.95 today so I have $3.05 to add to the coin jar.

It was a pretty boring weekend, actually as we stayed in. About the most adventurous thing I did was watch a rather mediocre new episode of Doctor Who with the kids.

This morning I picked up a gallon of milk and then had $2.06 to put into the coin jar.

I have physical therapy at noon today so that will be $90 out.

I transferred $1000 to savings for upcoming medical stuff. I have $600 or so left in checking and $55 left in cash for the week. $345 of that will go to pay the dental bill.

We made reservations for our overnight at The Inn at Virginia Mason next Thursday night and refrained from getting the room with the jetted tub that would have cost over $50 more.

I need to call the doctor's office and see if I can reschedule DD's follow up vaccine for another day this week. It was scheduled at the same time as her dentist appointment and I didn't realize it until Friday when I got reminder calls for both. It may just be easier to reschedule her dentist appointment, though.

My mother has said that we don't have to pay her the usual $1000 a month on our loan from her for this month or next because of all the medical bills. She said she's fine for money right now and that she'd much rather we not have to put anything on a credit card or wipe out our meager emergency fund. We will continue to pay the $300 a month for utilities, the $40 a month for garbage, and the $65 a month for internet. Those aren't part of the loan payment anyway.

It's a bit of a relief to know I can put away that $2000 for medical and not have to scrounge AND not have to take so much from debt repayment.

Today I paid the garbage bill for this house and the phone bill for the old house. $37.68 and $44.92.

Well, I managed to pay all but two of the medical bills I've received this month. The ones that are left are due on the 22nd. DH is supposed to susepend the Toyota payment this month (we're ahead), but he hasn't e-mailed me or texted me that he has done it yet. I asked him again last night so hopefully he did do it and just flaked on telling me. So I'm leaving enough money in the checking account in case he forgets or doesn't get it done on time. If he gets it done then I will be able to send that last bill out. Otherwise it will have to wait until the 20th. But it is a local bill so mailing it on the morning of the 20th means it will be there by the 22nd.

$159.64 my doctor
$148.00 my specialist
$137.00 GE Money Bank (3 months same as cash, glasses)
$_62.17 Imaging
$+_9.03 Strep test lab fee
----------
$515.84 Total medical out

I still owe $274 to GE Money Bank for our portion of both my daughter's and my new glasses. We have two more months to pay that without interest. The other medical bills wwill be $96.51 and $31.71, so a total of $128.22.

I did a major grocery shop yesterday. I spent $86.88 at Trader Joe's and $209.04 at Haggens. Haggens had sales on beef chuck roasts, beef ribs, and chicken legs. I also got 8 pounds of hamburger at TJ's. We should be set for protein for the rest of the month and a bit into June. Got lots of produce, too. Blueberries, blackberries, cantaloupe, cucumbers, lettuce, sweet potatoes, pineapple, and purple cabbage and orange juice. We should be good on everything but milk (after the milk I just got is finished).

I spent 2/3 of our alloted grocery budget, but I think it'll be fine because we needed the major stock up on protein. There hasn't been any really good meat sales since Easter and that was just on ham and there's only so much ham a person can eat.

DS is doing really well. He didn't take painkillers at all yesterday during the day and only took a dose at bedtime (more my idea than his, but I didn't want him waking up in pain in the middle of the night). He is eating almost normally again. He goes back to school tomorrow. It's an early release day so it couldn't work out more perfectly for him.

I think I might have to buy a new crockpot. The ham I made yesterday got a bit dried out. Low has functioned as high for some time now, but I think it's gotten even hotter now. Hopefully the roast I made tonight will be okay. I am keeping a sharper eye on it, since I am home this time.

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.