Sunday I went grocery shopping and we really stocked up. DD went with me and I was glad she did because I had her get a second cart! I spent $262. Stocked up on many good deals: $1 items and BOGO free. According to the receipt I saved $110 on store savings and I had a (yes, ONE) $1 off coupon. I have a far way to go to be an Extreme Couponer.

Speaking of Extreme Couponers, I finally watched a few episodes. Interesting... And I really applaud all the time and organization it takes. I think there are some great lessons on how to make it work for you. However, I don't know about getting like 500 Tic-Tacs just because they're free.

On second thought, maybe I would and pass them out for Halloween!

In my area (Sonoma County, CA) there aren’t any stores that double and the weekly coupons aren't anything that would make buying something you don't NEED worthwhile.

I do remember when I was little and shopping with my mom that stores doubled, and on special days, even tripled coupons. I might be totally wrong, but I don't think there are any stores in California that do this anymore.

Also on Sunday the SF 49ers won their game!
I think I will add money to the EF for each win. Maybe $5 or $10..hmmm..
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Yesterday we took our boss out for lunch. It was Bosses' Day. I had a pear, caramelized onion and goat cheese pizza. Very different and very good. We shared a dessert - Mudpie - YUM!
It was fun and he was suprised. A splurge, my co-worker and I split the bill and tip. $32 each. I ate the rest of my pizza for lunch today.

DH is a volunteer firefighter and has firefighter engineer classes this weekend and next so it's just me and the kids from 6:30am to 6:00pm. Lots of put off house cleaning, regular weekend laundry and such. I have been alternating equally between working and vegetating. Like 90 minutes working, then 90 minutes on the computer, reading or watching TV.

This morning I took DS to have his second haircut. (That means we're averaging a haircut every 5 months. That's about par for me; it seems I only get around to getting my hair done twice a year.)
It's a children's salon. Super cute with a nice play area and tons of toys. It took about 10 minutes for his haircut and then he played with some of the other kids for almost 40 minutes. I also bought a hair clip for big sister. $25 total.

I received the check today to reimburse the cost for the bumper repair. Very thankful he was so fast sending it out.

I will put that check in the bank tomorrow morning when I am out grocery shopping. Lately I've been managing to only go grocery shopping every two weeks. It's been nice because of the time savings. I also think I save a bit of money too because I'm only tempted to buy extra stuff twice monthly vs. four times monthly.

Bought some strawberries from a door to door peddler this afternoon at DD's urging. Delicious, large and ripe! I'm glad she talked me into it. $10 for a lot. We might need to freeze some and I think we'll have strawberry shortcake tomorrow night after I get the pound cake and whipped cream from the store.

Just 4 Fun.
In my fridge right now....


milk, OJ, string cheese, shredded cheese, yogurt, half 'n half, pickles, jam, hummus, ham, hashbrowns, sour cream, bacon, butter, mayo, applesauce, cake, eggs, spinach, broccoli, sweet potatoes, lettuce, carrots and a bit more.

What about you?

As you might remember my car was backed into two weeks ago. Well today I had it checked out at the mechanic's shop because I've been smelling gas. The time/cost to diagnose the problem will be 2hrs/$235. To fix it? As of now, unknown. Tomorrow I am going to call the elderly lady and see how she wants to pay for all this. To top it off the car's registration is due this month and I think it's due for a smog. But, I haven't gotten a notice from DMV yet and I'm not even going to try for a smog until this gas odor is dealt with. I heard that California is not sending the renewal notices out with as much notice as in the past. 'Course I'm sure you can't pay any later than usual!
Ugh!!!
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My paycheck on July 5th didn't have my raise on it. The raise was effective starting June 1st. I had it on the last paycheck. What the heck bookkeeper?! I told the boss and he sent the bookkeeper an email, but when will I see the money?
Really thinking that I will set the raise money aside for my ROTH. That would be about $50-$60/mo.
Should I split it with DH's ROTH?
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Giants had a few wins so I added $6 to the EF.
New balance is $3795.

But in a moment I will transfer $1k to the cc to cover DH's dental bill from this afternoon.
Newest EF balance $2795.

I guess -
Easy come. Easy go.
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McDonalds has a promo going until next week for their new smoothie flavor, Pineapple and Mango, 12oz(a small) for $1. The smoothie is very tasty, I tried one Monday.

I stopped by there today to pick two up and they were out. I asked it they would sell another flavor for the same price? They said "No", so I said thanks anyway and drove off thru the drive thru. Too bad for them because I was thinking of also getting nuggets and fries. Good for me because they saved me money. I came home and made a smoothie and ate food I already had.

Our fair is in town this week. The thing I find the best about our fair is they charge one price at that gate to cover admission and unlimited carnival rides. So you’re paying $15 total instead of $7 admission and then $20 for a rides wristband or worse $0.25/ride ticket. But, even better for us, we won't have to pay at all... One of our friends has "connections" and we all get in for free. The money saved on admissions will go toward all that tasty fair food.

This year DD has a friend coming along with us and she will be staying the night. I'm trying to prepare for a day and night of giggling girls.

DH won't be coming with us to the fair because he is working. He has three 12 hour shifts with his volunteer fire department out at Infineon Raceway for the NASCAR races this weekend. The extra cool thing is he gets paid for being there. His weekend work should bring in about $700.

His side job last week added $1k to the EF and the Giants won three games this week. $6. New EF balance is $3776.

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There wasn't any spending this week, except the grocery trip I made. $180. I will need gas sometime this weekend if I end up driving DD's friend home. Usually Thursday is my fill-up day, but I didn't need to stop 'cause I still had plenty. Not doing as much driving in the summer because I'm not dropping DD at school each morning.

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I think one of my beefsteak tomato plants might die.. It was looking like it had a fungal infection and in my attempt to help I might have hurt it more...we shall see.. What doesn't kill only makes stronger.

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Got to get the house tidied up before our guest arrives and get ready to head to the fair in a few hours. Will be about 85F., beautiful summer weather to be out and about.

The laptop cord came in the mail this morning, but I don't know yet if it will work because DH has the laptop in his work truck. So I'm making a quick post from work again.

The Giants won all three of their games over the weekend and our standard savings transfer went thru yesterday. $6 + $25 makes the new balance $3962.

Our Mother's Day weekend was very nice. My inlaws visited for the weekend and stayed at a hotel Saturday night. On Saturday MIL payed for our grocery shopping trip. $176. She told me that would count as my birthday gift. I am totally fine with that. They also gave us $100 in cash as a Mother's Day gift and as baby's bday gift.

On Sunday DD and DH made a lovely breakfast spread. Lots of tasty food! Afterwards DD, MIL and I planted veggies in my raised box DH made me for Mother's Day. I have been wanting to do this since we moved into this house! DH finally made it happen for me.

We planted corn, cucumbers, zuchinni, snap peas, carrots, tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, celery and spinich. We had to buy a load of topsoil $37. And the plants and seeds added another $30. With grocery prices going up we might break even and then some. Mostly it was wonderful to be outside and I can't wait to harvest fresh goodies from the backyard.

Weather here is beautiful. Hoping you all are enjoying your spring too.

Giants won last night. $2 to the EF. Balance now $3915.

I am taking care of my kitty-sitting client this weekend. I went early this morning and was paid with a $100 bill! $25 more than expected.
I've already put it to the cc debt.

I went grocery shopping this morning afterwards and spent $135. I bought a bunch of fresh fruit and veggies. Oranges, apples, pears, bananas, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, a sweet potato, spinach, broccoli, cucumber, mushrooms. Also milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, bread, ground turkey, cereal, and on and on. Gatorade was on a good sale; $0.79/32oz bottle.

There was a photography company with a display inside the grocery store this morning. They were running a special deal on Sepia/old fashioned style photos. $5 sitting fee and one 11X13 for $10, additional prints and packages at regular prices. I signed up for DS and DD to have a photo together. Total price of $15. The hard part will be for me to ONLY buy the one specially priced photo and no others!

I just realized I hadn't posted our past two weeks of the $175/wk spending.
April 1 to April 7: We went over by $88.
April 8 to April 14: We went over by $48.

After shopping today we have $5 left for the rest of the week. Hmm..I still need to buy formula.

Paid our PG & E bill yesterday. $200. We have the new 'SmartMeters' on our electric and gas meters. They installed them a few months back. I know there have been studies to show they are accurate, but it does seem that our bill has trended up the past few months. I am trying to be fair and compare usage with last year and it is very close, but it is still slightly more. Hmmm.. Of course we could be using that extra; colder so more heat, Christmas lights, etc..
You can be sure I'll be keeping an eye on the usage in the coming months.

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Free meals this week!

Yesterday my boss treated me and my co-worker to lunch out.

Tomorrow night my co-worker and I are having dinner with a friend/client, her treat.

Thursday I'm having lunch with my laid-off co-
worker. She's going to treat because I'm doing her a big favor. :

The drawback is all this yummy food is not helping my weight loss goals.

I took the truck in for its smog test yesterday afternoon. I ended up taking it to the lesser expensive place 20 miles away. It cost $53 there vs. $70 at a place here in our town. The inspection took all of 5-8 minutes. And it is pretty much just a visual inspection. Thanks State of California!

I bought a few gallons of diesel, just a few at $4.49/gal!! Yeah that's right, no typo. Our truck won't be getting much use for awhile.

I paid $3.82/gal for gas at Costco on Thursday. $71 to fill up the Pathfinder for the week. We're now over our fuel budget for the month. Lovely.

Last night I booked our 'tent' in Yosemite for May. $120. Was looking at the website and planning a few trails we'll go hiking on. I wonder how much snow might still be there when we go.

I went to the grocery store this morning. DH made me a list. On top of that there were several items I saw that I couldn't pass up. One was 12pk Pepsi products buy 2 get 3 free, that will last us months as we rarely drink soda, also my fav rice was on sale ending today among other food stuff. Anyhow I spent $202 at the store.
Budget for this week is shot.
I am justifying this weeks' spending to myself because next week we'll need very little, maybe nothing.

I cleaned the chicken coop out when I got home. Taking advantage of a dry day. No rain (yet) today, but grey clouds and a chilly breeze.

Working on laundry and next up while I'm on the computer is April's budget.

Later DD, DH and I plan on making the little chocolate cakes with hot chocolate sauce in the middle tonight for dessert. It's a recipe DD made at school. I hope it turns out well because I love them whenever we have them at restaurants. I'll post the recipe if they turn out well.

It seems I always think of lots of blog ideas and then when I sit down in front of the computer I can barely remember one. However, I have remembered two just now...

Has anyone else tried the Little Cesar's Hot and Ready pizzas? We have gotten them a few times the past several weeks. On Monday they are $3.99 and breadsticks are $1. So a quick dinner DH picks up for under $10. DH has also picked up pizza for lunch for $5 (all other days of the week) and it's enough for two lunch meals for him. Not the very best pizza I've ever had, but the cheese and the pepperoni are good, and tastes even better when I know we've only paid $4 for it.

Back in December I got a letter from Comcast (our cable company) regarding my account and the new "bundle" I had changed to in September/October. It was just a letter reviewing the "agreement" and it also stated that if our account was in good standing for three months I would receive a $150 cash card. Well I got the card the beginning of this week, Cool! I am thinking I will use it for grocery shopping. $150 should be easy enough to spend on food.

I paid the Sears card off. Don't get too excited for me though because I tacked it on to another card.
I had to pay Sears before the 20th to avoid the intrest from the past year being applied. It was 0% for the year if paid in full by January 20th. I had fully intended to do this and was on track to until I was was out on maternity leave. Doh!

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Did major grocery and Costco shopping this past week. Used some nice coupons at Costco. $4 off boneless porkchops, $2.50 off laundry soap, $3.50 off dishwasher tabs. They have Quicken there for $65 and I have a coupon for $20 off. (I am very tempted to pick it up. Sounds like a good deal, but I haven't checked around at all.) We also buy our razors there (DH and I use the same kind) it's a 52 ct. for $23. I also bought 12 fresh, boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $20, 6lbs of hamburger, papertowels, a six-pack of Lean Cuisine $7.59 (great for lunch) and several other items. Total $210.

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I have my W-2 already, now waiting for DH's. I also need to get the year statement from DD's school's childcare and the mortgage companies. I guess there isn't any hurry with all the news I hear of the IRS delay. But I am going to start plugging in numbers today to my online tax program. I have used FreeTaxUSA the past several (5) years. $20 for state and federal. With our new tax deduction (DS ) and my decreased income I am curious to see how things will calculate.
Here's to getting some money back!

Went to Safeway at 8:45am this morning. Not many people there. Shopping with little DS and a morning coffee - paid for with a Christmas gift card - nice and relaxing. Stocked up on lots of fresh veggies and fruits for the next ten days or so. Stuff for dinners for the next week plus. The staples - milk, bread, eggs (our hens aren't laying right now )butter, yogurt etc. Baby formula, Good Start, has been on sale at Safeway plus $3 off/can coupons making them a very good deal. Some good sales like: Progresso soup $0.99/can and Yoplait $0.50/cup. Many of the veggies and fruit were $0.79/lb. I also got all my chili makings. Splurged on a box of wood for a nice fire this evening. Total: $283 (it took two carts to haul it out to my Pathfinder.)

My Chili. One of DH's favs. I wish you all could smell it right now..


Basic Recipe:
1 bay leaf
2 Tbls Chili Powder
1 lb dry beans soaked overnight or 2 lbs canned beans
1 lb ground beef browned and drained
1 lb peeled/diced tomatoes canned or fresh
1/2 onion
bell pepper
diced garlic
1 can Ortega diced chilis or other diced hot peppers
salt to taste
Cook on low all day, stir whenever

I make about 3x amounts and make it in my huge crockpot (5.5 quarts). I use canned beans because I am not prepared enough to soak dry beans. I like to use dark kidney (4-5 cans), pinto (1) and black (1) to make a pretty assortment of bean colors. I use (1) yellow bell pepper and (1) purple onion - again for color contrast. (Of course when it all cooks up the colors all turn the same ) You can't mess it up. If you like it more meaty - add more meat or use chicken or cubes of steak, or no meat and make it all veggie. Spice it up with hot peppers if that's your thing. A can of mild chilis (7oz) plus the chili powder (to taste) is enough heat for our family. I top my bowl with lots of grated Cheddar cheese. Great leftovers. In fact I think it's better after it sits in the fridge for a day or two. This chili freezes very well. So we'll get about 3-4 meals from the amount pictured, and it cost under $20.

Tonight we'll build a fire in the fireplace and make cornbread to go with this chili - yum, yum, yum!

And Happy almost New Year!

I had this post all typed up on Sunday morning (12/26) and Blam-O my computer kicked me off the internet. I haven't had any time to re-type until now.....


Belated Merry Christmas to all! I am hoping all of you had a lovely holiday. This year more than ever I felt so lucky to have what I have. We are so very lucky. May we all have good luck and success in 2011!

We hosted this year for the first time ever. Inlaws came Thursday afternoon in their motorhome and my parents and my sister came Christmas Eve morning and everyone stayed until Sunday morning. FIL and DH were in charge of the prime rib (from Costco) for Christmas dinner and it was AWESOME! I tried two new recipes - roasted carrots with ginger and brown sugar glaze and a potato gratin made with heavy cream. The carrots were fab, the potatos I'll make again with more cheese Also had ham, green beans, fruit salad, dinner rolls and a ton of desserts. I made the hashbrown quiche and lemon scones for Christmas morning. Had to laugh a bit because FIL was kinda "eh..quiche..hu?" until he tasted it and then there wasn't enough of it. It went fast! Could've made a triple batch! DH made breakfast Sunday morning for everyone. Total for the Christmas groceries about $230. Also had the housecleaners come for $90.

I feel good about our spending on gifts this year too. Less than in past years, but scored some very nice gifts too. Best find for me was a Giants jersey for DH's big/Santa present. $60 on Ebay. Very nice.

As DH pointed it out it was nice not having to travel and really nice not having to pack up all the gifts and drive them home. We just unwrapped and pretty much put them away.

Of course the kids (just DD and DS) were spoiled rotten with all the grandparent and auntie time, plus their gifts. Baby was so cute, he opened his presents pretty much by himself (a little help from big sis to get started) and he got so excited when he saw all the goodies inside the paper. Of course the wrapping paper itself was exciting also.

SO Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

My boss is out today, so I get the day off. Spending the day home with the kids. That saves money on childcare. (Yikes that's been a big bill recently) Will try to get some household chores done..I am not feeling very motivated And I am making salmon for dinner tonight. Trying Monkey Mama's crockpot recipe.

This brings me to a bit of a problem I have had for awhile and would love some help with. I keep wanting to post and then forget. Really need new ideas for dinner. What is your family's favorite? And favorites that can be made ahead or frozen. Healthy is a plus, but a distant third to tasty or quick. I bet we'll all find these recipes helpful.

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Traveling to family for the Thanksgiving holiday. We will be leaving Thursday morning and eating dinner at my mom and dad's house. My inlaws will join us there and later we will travel to their house to stay Thursday and Friday night. My DH and his dad like to shop Black Friday. I can't stand all the crowds and crazyness, so I never go out. I think I will take the kids to visit my grandparents on Friday. My grandma's back has been hurting her so she doesn't want to make the three hour drive to my mom's house. I really want to see my grandparents and give them a chance to see baby DS and DD. We will save money by not having to buy food, but spend money on extra gas. It is very important to me to see my family as often as I can and especially around the holidays.

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I will be doing some kitty care next week and will make $200. Christmas money. My most recent kitty care money has gone to pay on the CC. A little to this and a little to that. Trying to balance.

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And the computer woes continue. I realized I had
pictures of myself while I was pregnant with DS on the computer that I don't think we backed up anywhere else. AND, I don't have any programs! No Word, Works, Excel etc. And we can't find any disks for these. These programs were on the computer when we bought it, so shouldn't we have some way of getting them back without having to buy them?

The Wife will play..

Okay, not really!

But I've been very, very busy doing double duty here at the house. Plus I have started the ball rolling on our refi. Looking to reduce our rate to close to 4.5%, depending on when we lock. That should equate to approximately $170/mo savings. And with our property taxes down we are looking at saving another $100/mo in taxes!
Yip-ee!

Also had a Comcast (cable TV co.) salesman come by the house yesterday. They come by about every two months or so and want to "bundle" our phone and internet services with our cable. In the past I've never been real interested in changing anything. But yesterday I was like, "Oh what the heck..We'll try it." $120/mo for phone, internet, TV.
We will be getting a faster internet connection, more phone services like caller ID and call waiting, free install, a free HD DVR, all the HD channels and one of the premium movie channel packages (Starz). It won't be any huge savings, about $5-$10/mo, but lots more "stuff". Of course saving is saving; it's all good! We'll see..

Told DH about it on the phone. He said he is totally fine with any changes, just as long as I don't change the locks!

He has 65lbs of Halibut and 30lbs of Salmon so far. I'm thinking packages of fish as Christmas gifts - Just kidding!

I am going to try the salmon crock pot recipe that Monkey Mama posted once the fish gets here.

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I have pretty much had a NSWeek so far (Mon - Fri). Only had to buy diesel for the truck. $75. I have been too busy/too lazy to do any shopping. I will have to go grocery shopping this weekend and Costco next week. This week has been cheap!

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Baby DS has started some solid food. Baby oatmeal, of course, and he really likes sweet potatoes. That's it so far. Tonight I might try carrots.

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Sold a pair of DD's old riding boots $12. I paid $8 for them two summers ago. Made $40 this AM from my elderly cat side "job". This money will be going to the EF which is very close to the first 1k goal mark!

Having some hot days here. 100F. I noticed the pictures I posted from our camping trip didn't last very long. So I'll re-post a few for those of you who may have missed them.
Just looking at this picture cools me off.



The 129-foot high Burney Falls


Pizza delivered for dinner tonight. Worth it on a hot evening. $33 for two pizzas, two salads, sodas, delivery and tip.

Haven't had a chance to catch up here. So busy!

DD started fourth grade on Wednesday. So far she is really liking her class and teacher. Her school has an onsite childcare center for before/after school. It is VERY nice. The registration fee is $60 for the year if you want to take advantage of the lower contract price vs. the drop in rate ($0.50/hr more). $124 with registration and the August contract. Tonight the school has their ice cream social and you can buy t-shirts and pick up the LOADS of paperwork that needs to be filled out. Yay.

Not much back to school spending here. We're lucky that DD is so lucky to have family and friends buy her stuff. We bought a backpack $20 and new shoes. I wasn't going to buy shoes yet, but we found a cute pair of tennis shoes at WalMart $10. I never buy "cheap" shoes, but as hard as she is on shoes I'll be buying new ones in a few months anyway no matter the quality. From her grandmas: two pairs of jeans, really cute shirts (3), hoodie, glue, paper, pens, crayons, and more. From our friend/daycare lady (GB) a pair of Sketcher clogs, pens, pencils, crayons, sharpeners, etc.. Took her for a haircut at a local small business $21 including tip. Her last haircut was over a year ago!
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Had a nice time with the kids and inlaws at the Giants game on Sunday. Weather was gorgeous, but the Giants lost. Spent $25 which included the toll on the Golden Gate. Inlaws bought beer and hotdogs and parking. We also drove in their SUV, so gas too.
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So far this month we've spent less than $200 on food! I will be going to the store tomorrow, but it's really just for the fresh stuff. Last month we really loaded the freezer with meat (2 tri tips, hamburger, chicken breasts) and frozen dinner ideas (lasagna, enchiladas, mac'n'cheese). I expect to spend $120 tomorrow.

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DH doing well with his "allowance". This week he didn't get any cash at all and did fine.
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With the tainted egg troubles I am so glad all of our eggs come right from the back yard. Talk about eating local! Keeping hens is pretty easy too. This site is good for more info if you're interested:

http://www.ranchhaghens.com
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My last post touched on my interest in other careers. I want to be clear, the driving factor for wanting a new job is to make more money. I really enjoy the work I do now and I'm very good at it. But at my current place there isn't any opportunity to "advance"; I already boss the boss. (Which is cool.) I haven't had a raise in three years. The more I've thought about it the more I really think the problem is my boss' poor finances. He lets his family way overspend and the business suffers. Bounced checks, not being able to buy new equipment, not being able to order the supplies we need. Meanwhile, his wife and daughter are out shopping and getting massages! Arg!!! I am sure that is why I haven't had a raise. It gets so wearing on me and the other gals... I think we'd all have found new jobs if we didn't like each other so much. Our office is fun and laid back. No problem if you need to take time off for family or trips. Gotta leave early? Come in late? Take the day off? No problem. This is important to me. Can you put a price on that perk?
I would also enjoy the challenges and fun in learning new skills. Our junior college offers lots of online classes so I am thinking of signing up for some that would go toward fulfilling requirements for bookkeeping. It useful knowledge even if I never use it to make money. Last Saturday one of our clients who is a CPA came in and I was picking her brain about her job. She told me how much she enjoyed her job. Although she said the classes were soooo boring.
I have looked at job offerings for my field of work. I could make more in other hospitals, but might not get 100% medical paid. But might get 401k. Some offices I would steer clear of because they have a high turnover. Or the doctor is crappy. Etc..
I really just want my boss to get his financial "poo" in order and give me my much deserved raise!

Driving home this afternoon DD was looking at the newspaper insert ads. I think it was a JC Penney or Kohls ad when she said, "Look at these cute shoes mama." They were cute little pink plaid ballet flats. But, uh, $28!! Not for my nine year old who wears holes in her shoes before she even outgrows them! (If they were everyday shoes - okay, I'd buy them.)

I said, "Honey, wow, those shoes are kinda pricey."

"But mama, look the regular price is $39."

Ahh, a "teachable moment"...

"Well sweetie, that's how the stores get you to buy something like that. They make you think you're getting a good deal. Sometimes you are. But not on those shoes." I said.

She thought about that and was like, "Okay, maybe we can find some like these for a lot less, then we could buy them."

"Maybe." (universal parent answer. )

She does need a new backpack and lunch sack for school. I usually wait until fall, Oct/Nov, to buy clothes and new shoes. So far she has always been fine with wearing "old" clothes to the start of school. Sure hope that doesn't change anytime soon.

Gosh, she'll be back to school on August 18th! Fourth grade! *WOW*

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Today baby DS is three months old. I will have to take/post a picture soon. Such a cutie!

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Grocery shopping yesterday. $108. Dinners for the next week easy, plus milk, bread and cereal. Tonight it's Sloppy Joes, broccoli, and homemade fried french fries. Yum!

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Overspent last month *sigh* Over budget by $900. Money I would have LOVED to put toward bills or savings. My excuse - long month and we did a lot and had several one time/occasional expenses (car registration, medical/dental etc..)
This month it'll be childcare and increased fuel usage.

Crunching numbers now.

Keeping busy here. I've missed catching up on all the postings. Maybe later.

DNiece (15yo) is visiting. She is so helpful and sweet. Only get to see her about once a year now that she's moved to Maryland.

Saturday: DD's bday party was a success! The pool cost $12. Food about $35 plus the cake. We made pizza with the girls who stayed for the slumber party. Yum! It had been so long since we made pizza at home. We'll be doing it again sooner rather than later. Trouble is it's more expensive to make it that to buy take and bake, which is sooo good too.

Sunday: a clean up and relax day.

Monday: grocery shopping. $195.

Tuesday: county fair opening day. $26. DD, DN, DS and me. Lovely weather. We built a scarecrow in a contest and won! The prize was free funnel cake. ($6) DS was such a good baby. He liked the fair. We looked at the exhibits and stage entertainment (Acrobatic Cats, hehe)

Wednesday: Costco $180. Other errands.

Today: Great America. Rides and water slides! $90 for tickets. I will also be paying $15 for "preferred parking". Closer to the entrance for packing in/out all our stuff and baby DS. I am thinking of having lunch at the car too. We'll take food and see how the day goes.

Weekend plans -
Friday: Relax and chores.
Saturday: The beach ? Ice skating ?
Sunday: Giants game.
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In other news... My cell phone is dead. It was three years old. Really, they MUST make them only well enough to last for the two year contracts. lol. I have activated my old phone, which was DH's phone before that. So it's REALLY old, but still operational. Somewhat.. sometimes I can't hear the person on the other end of the line and have to use speaker..arrggg.. I won't be replacing with a fancy phone. Still looking at $80 for a phone and getting back into a contract.. *sigh* I guess it's not that bad, we hadn't been thinking of changing service anyway. This has got me looking at changing our plan. We could go for a low anytime minute (700) share plan with no frills, $79/month, and save about $30/month. I looked at our 12 month usage for "anytime" minutes. My average was about 200 and DH about 400. Totally worth trying it out.

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In-Laws coming to visit Friday PM thru Monday AM. (Please give me strength and patience ) They will be watching the kids Sunday when DH and I go to the Giants game. And they will be taking DN with them when they leave.

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Going back to work Monday afternoon... *sigh* Love my job, but LOVE being at home..

Getting a couple To Do things crossed off my list today. Ah.. it feels so good.

Grocery shopping this morning, about 8am. It was good because the crowds hadn't showed up yet to shop for the weekend. Bought a coffee and cruised the store with DS. Total $149. They had buy two 12 packs of soda get four Free! That much soda will probably last us until the end of the year.

Paid a medical bill. $130.

Mailed a box of gifts and such to BFF. $8.

Called my car insurance agent to discuss some changes to my policy. Left a message. Dropping collision, keeping comprehensive, probably. I'll put the savings into a "new car fund".

Vehicle registration on Pathfinder. Paid online. So easy! $124 for one year.

Still need to pick up chicken feed and pine shavings, deposit DH's paychecks and....Oh I forget!

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Basic look at our July (& most other months) budget.

Mortgage $2064
Savings
& ROTHs $200
CC#3 $400
Sears $275
Childcare $0 -for now
Horses/Pets $300
Auto Insur. $115
Utilities $250
Food $600
Gas $125 + reg. $124
Gym $150
misc/cash $400
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$5003
All I can think of off the top of my head. I've got a more detailed budget on a works spreadsheet.

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If I don't post again before the weekend -
Have a Wonderful 4th Everyone!
We're going to have a relaxing weekend hanging around home. No plans to go anywhere; can see our city fireworks from our house.

Having a nice summer here.

Came home from my trip Friday. Surprise! My DH had a birthday/anniversary present for me, a digital camera! It is a Lumix. Blue; my favorite color! Wish he hadn't spent the money, but money he'd been stashing away for it. I'm excited to be getting some great pics of the family.

Saturday DH, DS and I went to our county fair with friends and their 15 month old DD. Our DD was still traveling with Grandma. Our friend has family that works for the fairgrounds in the maintenance department, so we didn't have to pay! We enjoyed looking at the exhibits and spent a little money on food. I love fair food! Corn Dogs, Funnel Cakes and Giant Cinnamon Rolls. Yum. So we saved $30 on admission and spent $23 on food. The weather was beautiful, about 85F with a breeze. Glad we went on Saturday, because Sunday was 95F.

Sunday we stayed in under the AC. So NSD! We watched a movie, played with DS, took care of some chores and BBQed for dinner. My mom and DD came home that night.

Monday I treated my mom to a pedicure for her birthday. DD and I had our toes done also. $70 total. I had two doctor appointments in the afternoon. OB and derm. $0 co-pay and $30 co-pay. The dermatologist snipped off a mole and sent it in for biopsy. Just a precaution, I do have history of skin cancer in the family.
Baby DS went to daycare for two and a half hours. $10. He seemed comfortable and happy with GB, the daycare lady. Good!

Started my DH on a weekly cash "allowance". $30. Although I don't call it that with him, don't want him to feel like a child! He uses the debit card almost daily for lunch or snacks while he's out of the office working. This may be a challenge for him because I don't think he really realizes how fast his little purchases add up.

Having a real nice day here at my house. Hoping all of you are too!

DD made a mini photo book for DH with some of her favorite pics of them together. And we gave him a $15 Cold Stone ice cream gift card from DD and baby DS. Made a breakfast quiche with fresh fruit on the side for breakfast this morning. The quiche is such a tasty treat, yet I only seem to make it once a year. Not hard, but it does take a bit of time. It has hashbrowns for the "crust" and today we used ham, onion and cheddar cheese, along with the eggs and cream, for the filling. So good!!! You can make the same thing. (Because I'm too lazy to type in my exact recipe) go to: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/hash-brown-quiche-recipe/index.html
I use a whole stick of butter with the hashbrowns. I use more eggs. I also find I need to bake at 350F for more like 45 minutes to get it done. We top with sour cream.
DH is BBQing ribs right now for dinner later. Yummy...

I've managed to get stuff done today too. Some laundry, dishes, paid a few bills and gave both doggies their bath. Think I'll take the rest of the day off.

Busy past few days! My little sister (23 yo) came for a two night visit. Very nice to have the extra pair of hands to help with baby DS. It gave DH and I a welcome break from diaper changes! She took DD to the beach on Monday for some special Auntie time. The weather was so gorgeous.

Did some shopping. Monday morning I went grocery shopping. $190. We live center to every grocery store in town. Lucky, Raley's, Safeway and Whole Foods. We've found that prices are really about the same on the stuff we buy at each store. Well not Whole Foods! Ha, we like never go there. Mostly we shop Safeway. My sis works for Safeway so when I use her 'club card' number I get an additional 10% off all Safeway brands. I really like their Eating Right frozen meals for lunch. Add some fruit or a yogurt on the side to go with it and it's just right. Plus quick and healthy. Anyhow, these frozen meals are $2 each, but with the 10% only $1.80!! Wahoo! You can't beat that. I think they're a good deal at $2, much cheaper than fast food.
Yesterday my sis, I and the kids had breakfast out. $28. Then she wanted to go to the mall in the next city. I haven't been past the Sears store and into the mall in like two years, or more? Bought vacuum bags at Sears. $17. Hand soaps at Bath & Body Works. $11. Then we went to the other mall, yup there are two in town. Old Navy I bought a skirt for me, shorts and capris for DS, flip flops for sis and a tank top on clearance. The tank top was $1.38! Wahoo!! Old Navy total $56. It's hard for me to spend money on clothes (sometimes).

Baby is six weeks old today. How quickly time goes. I have six more weeks of maternity leave. We have set up daycare with an older woman who has watched DD since she was little. DS daycare cost: $4 per hour.

To all SA moms: My Avent manual breastpump I bought works very nicely. I still need more time getting used to it, but like it better than a loud electric pump. Quiet and gentle. I would recommend it.

To moms and dads: Remember to try diapers.com. Use my referral code: SWEE9706. Save $10.

It was hot here today, 94F, the AC felt so good!
A very low key day. Stayed cool inside with baby DS and DH. DD played with a friend in the AM and splashed in the pool with the neighbor kids this PM.
For dinner we had BBQ cheeseburgers with Sandwich Thins for buns. Thank You Monkey Mama! They were perfect. I am not sure I would have bought them had I just saw them in the store. Bought at Costco, so I put some away in the freezer. It was a 24 count package (3 packs of 8) for $5.69(ish).
I sat outside for about 30 minutes this evening with DS. He enjoys being outside, so much to look at. It had cooled to about 80F. Very nice.
Time to give baby his bath!

I really think if you like or use eggs regularly it is wonderful to have your own hens. We have six laying hens that live in a cute little henhouse/coop in our backyard. That means fresh eggs everyday! Yum! I look at it like growing your own veggies. I feel so good that our hens are healthy and happy. It is a fact that home raised eggs are more healthy too.
Cost wise I think it's about equal to buying them in the store. A bag of feed is about $14 and lasts about 5 weeks. A bag of 'scratch' (chicken candy) is about $12 and lasts 8 weeks. During warm weather they each lay one egg per day, so 3.5 dozen per week. Winter they lay about every other day, so 1 to 1.25 dozen per week. We give family and friends lots of eggs in the summer!
Plus, chickens do funny things. They are very entertaining!

(Not a great picture, but all I had on my computer of the girls for now.)

No baby yet. (I'm ready anytime now!) And I didn't win the big jackpot. I don't think anyone did, so now it's $266 million on Tuesday.

Had a nice relaxing Saturday. It was a NSD because we didn't go anywhere. Oh, actually DH deposited his weekly paycheck, so it was a MMD (make money day? ) I watched the Kentucky Derby. The winning horse was "Super Saver". He,He, I thought of this site when the race was over. We took a little walk because the weather is beautiful here this weekend. Came home just in time to watch Suze.

I am not going to bother with the checkbook or bills until tomorrow. Monday will be the financial start of May. I am expecting my first state check then too.

I think we'll be headed out for breakfast and a little grocery shopping now. No NSD today!