I bought Quicken Deluxe in 2012 at Costco for $20.
I had never used Quicken before and quickly fell in love with using it. Honestly, I open and update our accounts in Quicken probably three to four times each week. I love the colored charts and how easy it is to track every penny. I also use it to plan my bill paying a month ahead of time.
It's like a game for me when I'm on Quicken.
(My DH has even referred to me paying bills/accounting as "playing on the computer"!)

About two months ago I started getting messages about how if I didn't update to the latest edition I would lose the ability to download transactions directly into the program. This is a big deal for me. It saves mucho time to just click a button and have all my financial accounts updated. Oh sure the program would still work after May 1st; I'd just be manually entering all transactions.

Had I known at the beginning of the year they would shut off the auto downloading I might have bought it at Costco again. They have Quicken on special every January. I checked the price now - $49.99.

The biggest rip-off is the maker of Quicken - Intuit - says "upgrade now and we will give you $10 off". The cost on their website is $74.99, so $64.99 for all the loyal current customers. The highest price out of anywhere I checked.

Last night I broke down and purchased the 2015 version through Amazon - downloaded and installed it with about three clicks. That process was very easy and smooth.

So far the new version works the same as the old one that I was quite happy with, plus these "improvements".
* The chart and graph colors are in a new color scheme - whatever.
* Some things have been moved from one side of the screen to the other - I find that annoying.
* I get my credit score listed in the side bar - wow (not).
* You can access your account from your phone - I opted out of that for now as I want to try to limit exposure to sensitive account info.

It cost $39.99 on Amazon. BUT, I still had gift card money from the CC rewards so it cost $0!
*Silver Lining*

And honestly, $40 every three years for something I use so often is a good deal. I just hate being pushed into it.

I bought Quicken Deluxe in 2012 at Costco for $20.
I had never used Quicken before and quickly fell in love with using it. Honestly, I open and update our accounts in Quicken probably three to four times each week. I love the colored charts and how easy it is to track every penny. I also use it to plan my bill paying a month ahead of time.
It's like a game for me when I'm on Quicken.
(My DH has even referred to me paying bills/accounting as "playing on the computer"!)

About two months ago I started getting messages about how if I didn't update to the current edition I would lose the ability to download transactions directly into the program. This is a big deal for me. It saves mucho time to just click a button and have all my financial accounts updated. Oh sure the program would still work after May 1st; I'd just be manually entering all transactions.

Had I known at the beginning of the year they would shut off the auto downloading I might have bought it at Costco again. They have Quicken on special every January. I checked the price now - $49.99.

The biggest rip-off is the maker of Quicken - Intuit - says "upgrade now and we will give you $10 off". The cost on their website is $74.99, so $64.99 for all the loyal current customers.
The highest price out of anywhere I checked. :annoyed:

Last night I broke down and purchased the 2015 version through Amazon - downloaded and installed it with about three clicks. It was very easy and smooth.
It cost $39.99. BUT, I still had gift card money from the CC reward so it cost $0!
*Silver Lining*

And honestly, $40 every three years for something I use so often is a good deal. I just hate being forced into it.

I can't believe we are a week into April already! What?!

Catching up here..

In the last half of March we took a four-day family getaway with another family to Lake Tahoe. We rented a house. Which sounds so fancy, but in reality is a reasonably frugal way to vacation. This was the first time we have ever stayed in a vacation rental, but I will definitely do it again.

We split the rental 50/50 with our friends. They have three young kids. We invited a friend for DD to hang out with. That made 10 people total. We paid $100/night ($200/night total) and $75 cleaning fee. The house was plenty spacious for everyone to spread out (four bedrooms & three full baths). The pool table kept the teen girls entertained and actually off their cell phones for a little bit!

We ate in the whole time and cooked in the large kitchen; which was nicer than mine at home.
That kept our food spending equal to staying home.

We visited the Discovery museum in Reno at $8/per person. Such a fun place!

The other mom and I had a champagne and goat cheese binge one night in front of the gas fireplace. Glorious.

We picnicked at one of the Lake's beaches. No park fees because it was "off-season".




Took the all the kids tubing on the last patch of snow we could find nearby. Splurged $30 for tube rental.

Woke up to a dusting of snow one morning to everyone's delight - especially the four youngsters.




Then when we got home DH started saying how much his chest was hurting. We thought that his asthma was flaring up. But, by the next day he was really hurting. A trip to the ER confirmed pneumonia.
(Is this year going to be the year of medical expenses?? I sure hope not!)

He was pretty sick for about a week. Breathless and tired. And coughing of course.

Doing much better now, but not 100% yet. Did go back to work last Thursday on limited duties.
No sick leave pay for the days he was out.

One good thing is that he is getting a sleep test for his sleep apnea. Something I've been saying for several years he should do...

WOW!

If you are thinking about signing up for Ting cell phone service NOW is the time!

DH and I carved our pumpkins with stencils. DD free-handed her *LOVE* carving.

Spending for Halloween was low this year.

DS was a pirate. We bought a foam hat at a craft store that my sister's hubby glued into a classic three pointed hat. Then I cut the bottoms of an old pair of his sweat pants and he wore a striped shirt of mine. Total costume cost under $4!

DD dressed as a band member of Five Seconds of Summer (new teen boy band). We bought a tshirt from Amazon that she can wear anytime. Total costume cost under $20.


$23 - Costumes
$12 - Pumpkins
$ 8 - Candy
$ 8 - Decor Items
$ 2 - 24ct Glow Bracelets

We had a little rain early Thursday morning and again this evening. The weather has been very mild for weeks and the rain didn't change that - still mild. Plus the rain makes everything smell so nice and fresh and we can certainly use the moisture.


Our loan officer from the CU left me a voicemail that she was completing the documents today. DH and I will sign early next week and the money will be available by next Friday.
DH has contacted several roofing contractors. Some have come to the house already, but we don't have any written estmates yet. We want to get moving on the roof ASAP.


Re: Spending.

DH's side work profits were used to get the truck's water pump replaced (finally), two new tires and a few other odds & ends replaced (wipers, filters, etc.)
$1451 in auto parts and repair

It is the start of a new 4H year.
Yearly membership dues and two pre-purchase tickets for the large fundraising dinner came to $71.

DD is in the Honor band at school this year. Band camp weekend for $135.

I bought a Groupon for the Pilates studio I used last year for $89/eight classes.

I went kayaking last weekend with a girlfriend. $55 for the all day, 11 mile trip down the river. It was beautiful and relaxing, but....

My back was so tight after kayaking that the following day I had a spasm and threw my lower back "out". Had to see a chiropractor yesterday to pop everything back in place. (Primarily the left side of my pelvis.) I haven't used a chiropractor in over 13 years, but I really needed help.
$45 and worth every penny!

Everything (including $900 to debt payoff!) was paid using side money. WooHoo! Keep it coming!

Our lawnmower wouldn't stay running. DH had to take it the repair shop. He picked it up this last week. $146 for a new carburetor. Ouch!
We were told that to prevent this from being a problem in the future we cannot use "cheap gas". (Who knew?)
It was recommended that we only use Chevron Supreme in the mower.
(I hope that helps any other mower owners out there.)

------
A new health club is being built in our city. They are running a pre-sale special that has the rates about 50% less than regular.

DH really wants to get back into the gym again. Unfortunately this club doesn't offer racquetball (for the sake of his knees maybe that's not such a bad thing).

The cost for our entire family with the special rate is less than the single member rate at the club we had used previously. And the special rate is locked for the length of the membership. If me or the kids end up not using the club we can suspend the additional memberships (me, DD, DS) and reactivate later still keeping the promo rate. At the minimum we can get DH in there working out a few times per week and squeeze $35/month into the budget. We can cancel anytime without fees, so we felt like there wasn't any risk to giving it a try.

My car was repaired last Sunday.. sort of..

I took it for a little test drive just to be sure it didn't give me any trouble before my commute Monday morning. It was a beautiful late Sunday afternoon. I cruised just out of town and through rolling green hills with houses, gardens and animals. I was really enjoying my drive and then the car started running badly again..

Even worse, actually, because it had no power whatsoever. I was glad I was on a quiet country road with nobody behind me. I puttered for a few miles, pulled into a school parking lot and had to call for a tow home.

I was glad it was only me stranded and that I was in a safe place and not on the side of the highway.
I passed the time by watching baby goats playing in the field next to the parking lot and catching up with games on my phone.

Unfortunately, I was 9 miles from home and we just have basic roadside service that covers up to 5 miles of towing (or to closest repair garage), so we had to pay the 4 mile overage.

Turns out there was a second sensor that needed replacement. The car would run fine until it got hot then it would crap out. Our mechanic neighbor finished that replacement early Tuesday afternoon (and the car has been running great since *KNOCK on WOOD*). We returned the rental car that night - we had it for five days.

$542 - repair
$ 82 - car rental
$ 40 - tow


AND as if that isn't financial headache enough, we had two more paydays short of the weekly income I budget for.

On 4/4 we came up short by $240.
On 4/11 short by $318.

The costs for the repairs and the funds to balance the budget have come out of the now pitifully depleted EF.

As most of you know we use Ting here and LOVE it.

Recently we were able to switch DH and his beloved iPhone over to Ting. That simple change has saved us $60/month. Which came at just the right time because we ended up needing $60 more per month to cover the new health plan for the children.

As stated in the title Ting service actually saves us more than $60 each month.
Here is how I am basing that statement:

Sprint (network Ting uses) is now offering it's "Framily" plan. So assuming all three of us phone users in our family used that plan it would be $45/pp/mo. That is $135 per month. And say another $6 for taxes and fees, so $141 total per month.

Here is our Ting bill from February 18 to March 18.
(so you all don't think I made up numbers!)



(Our texting is high due to DD. She pays difference between the $5 Medium level and whatever level her texting lands us.)

Yes, that total is $61.97 for three smart phones. Really it could be much lower if we tried harder to limit some of the usage.

AND the amount I actually *paid* last month was $36.97 because I had a $25 referral credit (THANK YOU dear person!).

I think the savings are even greater if you compare plans from AT&T or Verizon. One of them is offering a "special deal" - a four line plan for $180/mo.

SO, if changing your cell service to Ting sounds like something you'd like to do you can save $25 right away by using my referral code:

Last night I transferred DH's cell phone over to Ting. I am so excited about this mostly because of the big monthly savings. Secondly, because it's one less bill/company I have to deal with monthly.
I had offered many times to buy him a new phone just to get him to move to Ting, but he is very attached to his current phone.

Just a note: Ting is not fully supporting iPhones.. yet.. *Fingers crossed* for other Apple users. They are activating iPhone4 and 4s that are Sprint "branded" which basically narrows it to two phone models being eligible. This was where we got lucky because DH's phone is a 4 and he bought it through Sprint on Black Friday 2011.

I did have to maneuver a bit to make it happen.

First, I had to swap his Sprint service to an old cell phone so we didn't lose his current number. That meant digging around to pull out all our old phones. Then I was almost ready to give up because the first *four* I tried were not supported by the Sprint network anymore so they couldn't be activated. I almost didn't try the last one - glad I did 'cause the *fifth* old phone worked like a charm!
That made the iPhone inactive with Sprint (the phone must be inactive in order to re-activate with Ting).

Next, I logged into Ting a requested the number be "ported" and to activate the iPhone.

Two hours later I received the email that stated the number has been ported and to finish the activation steps.

My DH was happy because I told him he might be without his phone for 24 hours because I didn't know how long it would take to get his phone number switched.

I was/am so happy because the savings each month!!


**Previous monthly cell charges:

DH's Sprint = $86/mo (average)
Me & DD's Ting = $33/mo (average)

Total = $119/month

**New, anticipated, monthly charges:

Medium Minutes = $9
Large Texts = $8
Medium Data = $12
Device charge = $6 (x3)
Taxes = pocket change

Total = $49/month

$70/month SAVINGS!

**Happy Dancing**

This is great news, especially for higher usage customers!

Even though I use as little data as possible by connecting to Wi-Fi most of the time, my DD typically bumps us to the next level of usage with her YouTube surfing and music listening while not on Wi-Fi. Not that it is a *big* deal - about $10 additional per month that she pays for.

Here is the email I received this morning:




Then this evening I was able to read the blog post and saw their new rate table.



**Remember my referral code is on my sidebar and it will save you $25 when you decide to switch.

Called our cable provider for a lower rate. We have TV, internet and home phone bundled with Comcast.
I was all set for a tough negotiation and threats of leaving. Didn't need that at all! The CSR was super nice and I was all set less than 15 minutes later.
Kept our same package and services for $120/month for two years.
A savings of $55/month compared to their *regular* rate! ($16/month less than the *low* rate we had been paying.)

DD lost/forgot her debit card. (While walking home with a friend she stopped for a fast food snack.)
An hour later our bank called - her card had been brought in by a good citizen.
A good lesson learned.

Our gas and electric bill last month was the lowest it has been all year (I think?) $80. Such mild days and nights in September/October we didn't need the heat or the AC.

Had to reorder checks. Totally ran out right before the first of the month.
Last time I bought them was March 2012.

It has been slow at work, so this past Tuesday my boss reduced my schedule back to a half day on Tuesdays again. (He is a total dork, but that's a different post.)
Darn it - I was liking that bit of extra income.
The silver lining is that I work in the morning, pick up DS from preschool in the afternoon and get home well before dark.
My work schd is pretty sweet: full day, half day, full day, half day, full day, weekend.

Might be able to switch DH's iPhone to Ting at the end of this month.
(Shhh..I got an email about beta testing..)
That could save us an easy $40 to $60 each month! Very excited!

Had a 0% balance transfer offer come up. A bit of quick math and I figured the upfront transfer fee would "pay for itself" after 3.5 months. We would not have the balance paid off by then. Prepaying a bit of interest now to reap long term 0% benefit will pay off in the long run.

I am continuing to earn $80/week with my quick, 30 minute, twice weekly trip to give an old cat fluids.
I also earned $140 by pet sitting some other cats five days last week.
This extra cash has been so awesome!

Friday evening when I picked up DS our daycare lady told me she is thinking/needing to raise our rate to $4.50/hour. I was totally unprepared when she said it and at first I was thinking that was a big increase (it is *just* $0.50/hour more). I reacted with a bit of shock and resistance. I told her I needed to make some calculations because I can pay a flat rate per month for aftercare at his preschool and that may end up costing less than using her all week.

At that point I'm sure I hurt her feelings a little. She got a little defensive in her body posture and said "do what you need to". *sigh*

Now, of course our son and his safety, comfort and care is a top priority. 50-cents more per hour doesn't seem like a lot. I don't want to be "so cheap" (you all know what I mean by that).

This rate increase would mean us paying on average $40/month more while DS is in preschool. $100/month more in the summer. That is significant.. Right?

I am having a hard time with her reason for increasing her rate which is - She is losing money because DS is in preschool now.
The increased cost would be tough enough to swallow, but I would be more agreeable if her reason was operating costs, or cost of living adjustment, or something along those lines. I mean, come on, when I work less I don't ask for a raise in my hourly pay to try to make up the difference. I feel like that is what she is saying. If she doesn't like losing income then she should take in another child. She only cares for one other little girl four days a week. And it's not as if she didn't know our DS would be coming less. I told her about preschool when he was two and a more serious discussion when all the paperwork was filled out six months ago.

Running the numbers last night it is an even cost if we pay her to watch DS two full days and three after-school days per week or if she watches him two full days per week and he stays at preschool the other three days.

On one hand I want to make a point and if she is going to charge more then I am going to use her less. On the other I don't want to hurt her feelings. She is sensitive and I don't want her to feel as though we don't value her care of our baby boy.

On Monday we will have to have a more thorough discussion since this topic was left hanging right before the weekend. Maybe she might re-think the increase given what I said about having him stay at preschool.

I have been thinking of offering to pay $40/month more while he is in school, but only if she agrees to keep the rate the same. That way in summer I'll be saving us the increase.

Any thoughts?

The last two weeks we've spent a chunk on my vehicle. This is our 1999 Nissan Pathfinder that currently has just under 220k miles. It's yearly registration was due and it needed to pass the bi-annual smog (emissions) test. The "check engine" light has been on and it was well overdue for a tune-up.

We had our neighbor, a mechanic, do the work for us. Which was super convenient because I didn't have to drop the car off anywhere. He just walked over and picked it up when he had time to work on it. Plus, he charges $30 - $45 less per hour than a usual shop.

The money spent:
$763 - complete tune-up (plugs, wires, filters etc..), replaced a fuel injector, O2 sensor, a couple fuses, new brakes..
$ 95 - yearly registration
$ 53 - Smog test & DMV certificate

It runs so great now and passed it's Smog test easily. Should've had the work done sooner, oh well, I am very happy with the results now.

Uncharacteristically hot weather here this past weekend and more to come this week.
(The whole west coast is in a heat wave.)

It registered 101F on our gauge Saturday. The hottest it's ever been since we moved into this house. Sunday and today were 93F. The weather forecast says it's going to be near 100F tomorrow.
All this heat means we are using our AC much more than regular.

My treat to beat the heat has been a few stops at BK for their $0.50 cones. I treated DD and DS on Sunday morning while running errands.
The cones were huge - great value.

Thankfully by this coming weekend it's supposed to be back to the usual 80F - 85F summer weather. Then we won't need to run the AC, but I think we'll keep getting the cones.

I called AmEx to cancel the card and the CSR told me if I'd like to keep the card he was happy to waive (refund) the yearly membership fee.

I figured what the heck I'd go ahead and keep it. It is the only cc that we can use at Costco - where I fill up at the gas station at least weekly and shop in the warehouse about every six weeks. If I didn't use this card I would have to use our debit card and I wouldn't "earn" any reward points. We always pay this card in full every month so it is not costing us anything to keep it. Quite the opposite when I can redeem points for free dinner or clothes.

Speaking of gas prices, they've been steadily climbing here. My last visit to the pump it was $3.82/gal. Many of the big name stations I pass each day are pushing $4/gal.
Diesel is well over $4/gal - $4.25/gal the last I looked?

Not liking this steady increase especially when we are still months away from the usual summer increase.

We did pretty well in October spending money on *needs* only.

The *wants* that we did spend money on were Halloween, breakfast out for DH's birthday, two lunches out, clothes for DS and a few miscellaneous grocery items. There were several times I wanted something (little things: cupcake, coffee, etc..) but walked away.

Going to continue to stay very strict November and December as every little thing adds up.

First, I bought gas last night. It was $70 to fill up. I was pleasantly surprised to see the price had dropped to $3.89/gal. That is down $0.60/gal from a few weeks ago! That is a serious difference.

Secondly, I stopped into a local auto parts store for some odds/ends my Pathfinder has been needing. I bought two wiper blades, a package of headlight bulbs, a brake light bulb and a second small bulb for the brake light "strip" in the rear window. The total was $96. Just these little items can add up fast. DH changed out all of the above for me.

I really appreciated the new wipers and headlights with the recent rain I've been driving in.

Tuesday night DD had her first 4H beekeeping project meeting. Before the meeting she was telling me that she wasn't sure she was interested. I had originally urged her to check it out because I would like to have bees in the backyard someday. She agreed that she would see how she liked it after going to the meeting.

Well she must have really liked what was presented because when I picked her up she was waiting in front of the barn with a complete bee box (hive) setup. Luckily, the club had a bunch of used equipment donated for the kids. The project leader is the nicest older lady and she said come early spring the club will collect unwanted swarms so no one should have to buy any bees.

------
This afternoon DH and I had lunch together at a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich place we had wanted to try. I was able to print an online coupon for a free soda - we shared. Total spent $12.

It had been a really long time since we had gotten to have lunch together. We both decided it's something we need to do more often.

I told DH that next month I'd like to go see the new 007 movie with him and maybe do dinner or dessert. I still have free movie passes from my girlfriend to use.

-----
Filled up this afternoon and the price had dropped a bit to $4.32/gal. Even still it cost $84 to fill up.

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Tonight is a big sports night for me. I have to flip channels back and forth from the SF Giants playoff game to the SF 49er/Seattle game.

Come on guys!!!

No heat yet, but it's been really, really close. Last night I baked turnovers so I could warm things up a bit without turning the heater on.

This morning it was 63F in the house. And if DH had been home I'm pretty sure we would've turned the furnace on. He was gone to an all day hazardous materials training class for the fire department and his EMT class. The other reason I held out on turning the heat on was because the weather is going to be warming back up again here. Today it was 74F and so lovely out.

Late this afternoon I started a big pot of soup. Beef, veggie and barley. It's the third meal the pot roast has provided. I also cleared out some hodgepodge veggies that needed using up.

That's the thing about when I make soup, I keep adding stuff until I end up having a full pot. (Like I might be eating soup all week.)

This batch has beef, barley, carrots, baby potatoes, celery, onion, garlic and a mashed squash (no one will even know it's there! HeHe!) I had some frozen corn and zucchini, but I didn't think I needed to add anymore stuff.

Toasting some buttered sourdough bread under the broiler right now and then it's time to eat.

DD had her monthly 4H meeting last night. Before we went we (DD, DS and I) stopped for frozen yogurt. It's a place where you serve yourself and they charge by weight. This was a *want*. DD was frugal and just made small portions for each of us. $5.

I filled up with gas at the Costco gas station. I wasn't empty, but the 4H building is really close to Costco so I figured I'd save myself a stop later. It was $4.49/gal. That is 10 cents more per gallon than I paid on Sunday! I sure hope this price starts heading down soon.

The statement period on my cc that I use for auto paying bills closed yesterday. But, darn it, the cable bill just squeaked in yesterday too. Of course it's going to be paid, but I would have preferred it going to the next statement period and 'buying' me another month before I had to pay it.

Lastly, a big THANK YOU to FrugalTexan for using my Ting referral code. She earned me a $25 account credit. That is enough for a month and a half of cell service for me (my bill is $16/mo).

My challenge for October is to make it a *Needs Only* month.
I am aiming for 100% needs only spending.

Anyone else have a challenge planned for themselves this month?

My MIL is visiting until tomorrow. So far the visit has been very pleasant and low-key.

This morning we went to a neighboring town and walked through the main street shops. I bought a birthday gift and card for our neighbor's son for $7. DD and DS are in the bouncy house at his party right now.
I bought two board books on sale for DS for $8.
I bought a pair of handmade copper hoop earrings for myself for $27. Which I thought was a very good price when compared to similar pieces in the same store, made by other artists/jewelers, were priced at $48 and $56.
And, I treated all of us to ice cream (the place that makes all it's own flavors) for $13.

Looking back in Quicken at August we spent $830 in groceries. My goal for September is to be as low-spend as possible in every category, but especially to work on the food spending. Our pantry and fridge are very full, so I do have something to show for that spending at least. September, October and November are usually pretty good as we settle into the school routine and just stick close to home.

Speaking of sticking close to home; how's the gas prices in your area? Ours have shot up. Like $.50/gal in the past three weeks. When I fueled up a few days ago it was $4.09/gal. Blah!!!

I filled up this morning and was shocked (in a good way) to see $3.69/gal. About three weeks ago it was $4.15/gal. I heard on the news the 'experts' are predicting gas prices at or slightly under $3/gallon by the end of the year. **fingers crossed**

$61 to fill up.

What is the gas going for in your area?

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It seems that our Labrador "Maxx" has some neck pain. Hopefully a simple pinched nerve and not a ruptured vertebral disk or worse...

It's just been one health problem after another with our furry family in the last 10 months. I really can't take much more.

Monday, April 30
$180 Childcare for DD. Contract hours for May, plus extra hours from April.
$300 Horse board.
$ 3 McDonalds. Lunch for me.
Dinner: BBQ hamburgers, potato salad, artichokes, strawberry shortcake.

Sunday, April 29
$104 Safeway. Groceries.
Dinner: Pizza, strawberry shortcake.

Saturday, April 28
$15 DH lunch out.
Dinner: soup, sandwiches, steamed veggies, frozen yogurt.

Friday, April 27
$ 9 In 'n Out Burger. Dinner for me and DS.
$30 Parking in SF.
$19 Dinner for DD and DH at the ballgame.
DD played her trumpet with the Junior Philharmonic at the SF Giants game. She and DH stayed for the game.
Dinner: out.

Thursday, April 26
$ 0
Dinner: leftover lasagna, ice cream.

Saturday, April 28
$15 DH lunch out. He is working at one of the city fire stations.

Friday, April 27
$ 9 In 'n Out Burger. Dinner for me and DS.
$30 Parking in SF.
$19 Dinner for DD and DH at the ballgame.
DD played her trumpet with the Junior Philharmonic at the SF Giants game. She and DH stayed for the game.

Thursday, April 26
$ 0

Tuesday, 4/17
$ 0
Dinner: lentil soup, kiwis, pears, ice cream.

Monday, 4/16
$110 Haircut and color for me. I go about every six months.
$ 20 Tip.
Dinner: leftover BBQ chicken breasts, baked sweet potatoes, steamed spinach, avocado, chocolate ice cream and mini creampuffs.

Sunday, 4/15
$25 Pedicure.
$ 3 Tip.
$26 Kohl's.
Dinner: BBQ chicken breasts, brown rice, steamed broccoli, avocados, kiwi, frozen yogurt and mini creampuffs.


The Giants won last night, so I will add $2 to the EF later today.
New balance $3,038.

Sunday, 4/15
$25 Pedicure. Went with a girlfriend.
$ 3 Tip.
$26 Kohl's. $16 shirt for me. $8 clearance sundress for DD. (I think I'll save it for a bday gift)
Dinner: BBQ chicken breasts, brown rice, steamed broccoli, avocados, kiwi, frozen yogurt and mini creampuffs.
I was laughing because we were eating a bunch of green colored food - broccoli, kiwi, and avocado.

Monday, 4/16
$110 Haircut and color for me. I go about every six months.
$ 20 Tip.
Dinner: leftover BBQ chicken breasts, baked sweet potatoes, steamed spinach, avocado, chocolate ice cream and mini creampuffs.

*groan*
Yesterday's spending.

I knew there would be a bunch. Then to top it off DH wanted to have french bread with dinner. He is on a diet and he gets to splurge/cheat one day per week now. Anyhow, he headed off to the grocery store for french bread and he took both kids with him. When he came home he had spent $60 and had changed the dinner plan to homemade pizza. HeHe! He's as dangerous in the grocery store as I am!

Okay Honey, it's YOUR splurge day, but it would've been much cheaper to buy take'n bake pizza.

It wasn't just pizza making stuff. He also bought stuff to make sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast this morning. And DD talked him into a box of cream puffs.

Trying to remind him that we'll be spending money in Hawaii in a few days...

Saturday, 4/14
$ 60 Safeway.
$150 Cell phone bill.
$196 PG and E. Gas and electric.
$325 CC payment.
$ 43 Garbage service. Auto-pay every 3 months.
$149 Comcast. Cable TV, Internet, Home phone.
Dinner: homemade pizza, frozen yogurt, cream puffs.


Friday, 4/13
$78 Safeway
Dinner: Loaded Baked Potatoes (baked potatos with bacon, sour cream, cheddar cheese, green onion), green beans, fruit, frozen yogurt.

Thursday, 4/12
$0
Dinner: green salad & homemade cheesy potato soup (frozen from a batch I made about 3 wks ago), fruit, chocolate/peanut butter ice cream.

Wednesday, 4/11
$11 Lunch & tip.
$74 Gas. Fill-up at $4.13/gal.
Dinner: pasta w/homemade tomato sauce, fruit from the new box.

Tuesday, 4/10
$0 Starbucks. Free drink coupon.
$86 City water/sewer.
$92 Diapers.com.
Dinner: more Easter leftovers and pizza leftovers.

Monday, 4/9
$0
Dinner: Easter leftovers.

------
Additions to the EF yesterday

+$ 6 Three SF Giant's Win 4/12, 4/13, 4/14
+$ 3.25 Coupon savings

New balance: $3036

Quick catch up on the daily spending.

On Thursday I was going to pay some bills and knew there would be some auto pay stuff posting, but I didn't set up any payments just so it would be a NSD. HeHe!

Friday was all set up to be another NSD until DH asked me to pick up some sour cream to go with dinner. I figured I'd pick up a few other items at the store. Then once in the store I saw some really good deals I didn't want to pass up. I love food, so grocery shopping can be ... well.. dangerous.
(I am planning on posting about my grocery shopping a little later.)

On to the tracking...

Friday, 4/13
$78 Safeway
Dinner: Loaded Baked Potatoes (baked potatos with bacon, sour cream, cheddar cheese, green onion), green beans, fruit, frozen yogurt.

Thursday, 4/12
$0
Dinner: green salad & homemade cheesy potato soup (frozen from a batch I made about 3 wks ago), fruit, chocolate/peanut butter ice cream.

Wednesday, 4/11
$11 Lunch & tip.
$74 Gas. Fill-up at $4.13/gal.
Dinner: pasta w/homemade tomato sauce, fruit from the new box.

Tuesday, 4/10
$0 Starbucks. Free drink coupon.
$86 City water/sewer.
$92 Diapers.com.
Dinner: more Easter leftovers and pizza leftovers.

Monday, 4/9
$0
Dinner: Easter leftovers.