Some spending:

My DH signed up for the Biggest Loser program/competition at the gym. He and his boss are a team and if they win (largest percent of weight loss) the prize is $500 for first (I think?). Cost to join was $50. Really I just want him to be successful at his weight loss. The money would be an awesome bonus.
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DS and I walked home after dropping off the car this morning and when it was ready this afternoon we walked back to pick it up. A 30 minute walk each way. It was a beautiful day today, 65F in the morning and 76F with a soft breeze this afternoon. It's clear tonight with a big moon, and so mild. (Geesh two days ago it was pouring and five days ago it was like 40F and we had the heat on.)
Stopped at the grocery store after getting the car for a few "fill in" items. $14.
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DD's school's fall fundraiser order is due tomorrow. I ordered a roll of cute wrapping paper with cartoon dogs and cats on it and a package of fancy tulip bulbs. $22.
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I placed a Diapers.com order and my favorite "squeezy pouch" food for baby DS went up in price. I will have to check the grocery store and see if their price is lower now. I also bought DD some shampoo. $41.

Thank you everyone for the kind comments on my last post.
Very appreciated.

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I don't have to go into work today because this afternoon's schedule is empty. I don't want my work to be slow thus leading to lower income, but I sure like having the day off.
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My Pathfinder is in the body shop today to get the bumper replaced. I am putting it on my cc for the points and getting a reimbursement check from the driver who hit it. $820. Which I think is so crazy because it's such an older car and there wasn't that much damage, nothing needed painting etc.
Anyhow, I am glad this will be done and I can take it off my "To Do List".
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I took advantage of an offer at the grocery store last week and earned a $5 Starbucks card. I had to buy two Starbucks products at the same time. It worked out great because the coffee was on sale so I would have bought one package anyway just to keep in the pantry.
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DH took our old HP laptop that Staples couldn't fix to the local repairman that our friends told us about. And guess what? He fixed it! It had been hijacked, whatever that really means, and a virus. He had it for two days and totally fixed it! $100. Now the bad news, somehow the screen got a crack in it. I think while it was in DH's work truck, but who knows. We have been letting DD use it by hooking it up to a monitor we had for the desktop that never gets used anymore. We could buy a new screen and have this guy put it in for a total of $180. But, we don't have any inclination to spend anymore on this computer. It is nice to have a second computer that connects wirelessly to the net and it works out just fine for DD the way it is now.
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DH had a side job Sunday. He kept some of the profit for his own spending and gave $200 toward whatever I wanted to do with it. I applied it to credit card debt.
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DD started her after school enrichment classes last week. She is doing Fused Glass (which I am so curious to see what she creates there) and Healthy Cooking (she loves cooking and baking). $85 total.

I few weeks back I posted about this old trailer we had that I placed on Craig's List for FREE. Well DH had three or more phone calls about it in the first 15 minutes it was posted. In the end the guy who was most promising never showed up to get it.

I figured with that much interest I should probably ask for money for it. We bought it years ago as a horse trailer for $400. Then DH cut it all down and was converting it to a utility trailer (another eye-roll here). Thursday afternoon I reposted it on C.L. FOR SALE and asked $100. DH calls me about 40 minutes later and asks if I posted on C.L. because he just got two calls! HaHa, poor DH! I told him I was sorry I had meant to let him know about it I just didn't think there would be so much interest so quickly.

In the end four men called about it. Last night an older man dove over a hour one way to pick it up. Now it's gone and we've got $100. I'm really thinking I should've asked more for it! Darn!

And I find it so funny that nobody came to get it when it was free, but it was picked up right on time when it had "value".

Here is a little something someone sent me that is indisputable mathematical logic.

It also made me laugh.

This is a strictly mathematical viewpoint....it goes like this:

What makes 100%?
What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%?
What makes up 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

And
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But,
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

And,
B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T
2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%

AND, look how far ass kissing will take you.
A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G
1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty, that while Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it's the Bullshit and Ass Kissing that will put you over the top.

September is another wonderful month with five Fridays. That makes five paydays for DH!

This fifth paycheck will cover the cost of tile for the bathroom with some to spare.

I think November has a fifth Friday too. Just in time for holiday expenses.

Ended up buying DD a trumpet.
We have a young man working with us two half days at work and I asked him last week if he or his siblings ever played any instruments. He said he had played trumpet and he still had two at home.
He brought them to my work on Monday to look at. I bought the nicer one for $120. Our local music store rental was $30/month, so in four months I'll be money ahead. Plus, the least expensive trumpet I saw on Craigslist was $150.
I spent an additional $36 at the music store for her music book, metal stand and valve oil.
DD is very excited to play her new horn.

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Twice yearly (Fall & Spring) DD's school has after-school enrichment classes. They do have a fee and run once weekly for four to six weeks. She is interested in the Fused Glass ($50), Cooking ($35), Golf ($60), Lego Robots ($35) and Pottery ($45) classes this session. We will choose one or two and have an alternate in case her first choice is taken. It used to be that all the classes had the same cost. Now you write a separate check for each choice in case you don't get in the class the PTA doesn't have to issue a bunch of refund checks. It is inconvenient, but I can understand how it makes their bookkeeping easier.

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Used the last of my 30% cash-back-credit at Diapers.com last week. I bought a ton of "squeezy pouch" food and meals (Happy Tot)- $54 worth of food for $17.70! What a thrill, hehe. And we are well stocked on diapers. I bought so much while on the cash-back program because I wanted to "max out" on the credit.

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Our water bill was emailed to me this morning. Highest it's ever been. $102. Blah! DH will need to cut back on his lawn watering. He re-seeded a few spots and has really been babying the lawns. It also seems like we've been doing nonstop laundry. That doesn't help either.

What will help is when we replace the toilets. I want to go with a dual flush. It's a toilet that has one lower water flush for urine and a regular water flush for #2. I think they may be eligible for a rebate thru our city. Water saving incentive thing.

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I have pretty much nailed down the tile I want for our master bath. Just deciding on the shade of the accent tile. Darker? or Lighter? Hmmm.

I got an estimate of $675 to install the tile. Great guy. Excellent work. But, we can't afford that and the cost of tile.

I took a Home Depot tile workshop Saturday and I really think I can do it. Especially with a little help from DH who has done floor tile before. Plus it was fun.

'Course I used to think painting was fun until I painted the interior of our house. :P

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My mom came for a visit this past weekend. We bought Chinese food for Saturday night dinner. It's a place we hadn't ordered from before and they had left their menu and COUPONS on our doorstep last week. They totally hooked me with their coupons and their menu prices are on the lower side. We ordered crab & cream cheese wantons, pork pot stickers, fried rice, veggie chow main, sweet/sour prawns, orange chicken and broccoli beef. $48.

Now I'm hungry and it's bedtime...

DH has been so motivated this weekend to get things done. Yay him!
He cleared out and organized the pantry and Lazy Susan.
Yard work in the front and backyard.
Folded a ton of laundry.
Loading the dishwasher.
Cooking all the meals so far.
And a few other things.

I'm a lucky girl.

Me? I've been watching the baby, watching TV, surfing the web for tile ideas (more about that later), sorting laundry and I bagged up a bunch of too small baby clothes.

About 30 minutes ago DH decided he finally wanted to get rid of his "project". An old horse trailer he wanted to convert to a heavy-duty utility trailer. He decided we should just get rid of it ASAP. I snapped a few pics and posted it for free on Craigslist. It's gone! (Well will be soon as it's picked up.) I think it's funny it took me twice as long to post it as to get rid of it.

Lovely Sunday. Lots of stuff got done (Thank You DH) and dinner is almost ready - BBQ babyback ribs, corn and rolls.

Oh yeah, tile.. Going to finally tile our bathroom soon. It's only been 11 months since DH tore the wall down to start the remodel process.

I was rear ended this morning on my way to work. We (DS & I) were in very heavy stop-and-go traffic and a younger woman bumped into my car. Thankfully we were going very slowly so it wasn't a big impact. Nobody was hurt. Her car's hood was slightly dented and the paint was rubbed. My bumper is "bumped" in a bit more than it was from the last time it was hit. Oy! (What is it with my car's rearend?!?)

The girl is insured thru her parents and she was a bit shaken up and kept apologizing. I told her accidents happen. Thankfully we were all fine and our cars were still drivable so we could get on with our day.

As a real reminder of that - there was a four car accident about two miles up the highway. Serious. Like fully smashed cars.

I am thankful.

And it looks like I'll be getting a new bumper.

Only after DH made a trip into Staples and had a long discussion with the Asst. Manager and Manager did they get moving on providing us with a solution to our laptop issues. It took until last week, but they gave us $300 worth of store credit. Basically what we've paid the past 10 months in repairs plus a little more. Our new laptop is a Toshiba and was on sale; we paid $140 total. I was pretty pleased with that. DH did remind me that we had really paid full price, we just did it over time.


I am feeling stressed about money, bills, wants, needs. *sigh* Hoping that now that DD is back in school and summer is "over" we can fall back into a more normal routine. Plus, having a computer again will help with my budgeting. Still, just feeling like so much is out of reach...

On a positive note:
I did read all the Song of Ice and Fire(Game of Thrones) books while we didn't have internet in the house.
Such a good read! I'm looking so forward to the new season on HBO and the next two books.

Hoping everyone here is well. I will try to do some catching up tonight.

Making a quick post here at work because our laptop is still at Staples while they try to see if they can get it fixed for free. I'm not holding my breath, but if they can get their third party repair center to cover the cost I'm all for that.

On my walk this morning I was telling my friend all about the problems we'd been having with the computer. She told me that they know a great computer tech/repairman.. Gee, would've liked to have known that six months ago! If Staples can't get the darn screen to work then I very well might try this repair guy. I can't say I'm not looking at buying a new laptop either. I've been looking thru ads and checking them out whenever I've been shopping in stores. I might start looking online if I get time here at work. I don't want to spend the money, but you get so used to the convenience of internet at home... Still it's a WANT not a NEED..

I think one of the main reasons I haven't missed the laptop too much is because I'm doing so much reading. Any free time and my nose is in the Game of Thrones books. Currently I'm a quarter way into the fourth book. Awesome reading, I'm really enjoying them. However, my family is complaining that I'm not spending time with them because I'm always reading!

I've been told unfortunate things happen in threes. Well I guess Murphy (as many of you call it) has come to visit; and now that the damage is done he can GO..

1) DH's dentist bill. $1065
We knew we were going to have to do this, but it didn't make it any better.

2) Car repairs. $1600 (est)
More work needed to be done than just what was damaged in the fender-bender. This cost will be off-set by the $760 from the woman who backed into the Pathfinder.

3) Laptop not working. $70 (so far)
The screen like goes to sleep when you open it regularly. It flashes the desktop and then the screen goes blank. If you open it in Safe Mode it works fine. The computer is currently at Staples. The $70 was for diagnostic tests, which it passed, and they called to tell me it must be a short to the screen.. However, that doesn't explain how the screen works fine in Safe Mode. Yeah they couldn't answer that. So I think we're looking at taking it to somebody else who hopefully knows what they're doing or buying a new laptop.

Ugh!

'Course in the grand scheme of life this is nothing, but indulge me in a small complaint

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.

1. Get to the gym three times weekly?
Currently 1x/weekly.
Summertime weather makes it hard to go into the gym. My exercise: walking Tuesday mornings and going to Zumba at the gym on Wednesday nights. Our gym has a nice pool, we need to try to use it.

2. Apply any "extra" money from regular paychecks to debt.
Unfortunately, No.
I'm thinking about applying my recent raise income to my ROTH. Hmmm...

3. Weekly budget amount for food and household and etc. spending cut to $175/week.
Honestly haven't kept track lately.

4. Add $2 to savings for each SF Giants win.
This has been great. Very easy to do.

On July 1st our state sales tax decreased by 1%. Our state is in a financial crunch and they lower the sales tax? I told DH I would rather keep paying the same if it meant they wouldn't have to deeply cut teachers, firefighters, elder care, state parks, etc.. Of course we're not planning any large purchases where we would be saving a bunch with the lower tax rate. I am assuming by this time next year the sales tax will be back up?

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Gas prices have been going down in our area. It was $3.65/gal at Costco on Thursday. Maybe even lower now. How about in your area?

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Another thing I've meant to post - My Pathfinder was backed into last week at work. One of our elderly clients. Not really much damage to my car, bumper mostly. Her car had a big crunch in it. She told me she, or insurance, would pay for any repairs. On Thursday I took my car in for it's first estimate, it is $515. I am wondering if I should have her pay or just let it go. I am also thinking she could pay me and I could add the money to the EF or toward the cc. Would that be very wrong?

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Next week DH has a big dentist appointment. Fillings and a 3/4 crown. Looking like our portion will be $1k. Ouch! I can split up payments if I want, but that's not really an issue, as most all of the cost will come from the EF.

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The Giants won last night. EF balance now $3789.


Okay, back to reading and playing with baby DS (who is walking pretty well now, by the way) DD is at a birthday pool party, DH is catching up on some office work. It's 90F so far today. I've got the AC on.

On July 1st our state sales tax decreased by 1%. Our state is in a financial crunch and they lower the sales tax? I told DH I would rather keep paying the same if it meant they wouldn't have to deeply cut teachers, firefighters, elder care, state parks, etc.. I am assuming by this time next year the sales tax will be back up?

Gas prices have been going down in our area. It was $3.65/gal at Costco on Thursday. Maybe even lower now. How about in your area?

Another thing I've meant to post - My Pathfinder was backed into last week at work. One of our elderly clients. Not really much damage to my car, bumper mostly. Her car had a big crunch in it. She told me she, or insurance, would pay for any repairs. On Thursday I took my car in for it's first estimate, it is $515. I am wondering if I should have her pay or just let it go. I am also thinking she could pay me and I could add the money to the EF or toward the cc. Would that be very wrong?

Next week DH has a big dentist appointment. Fillings and a 3/4 crown. Looking like our portion will be $1k. Ouch! I can split up payments if I want, but that's not really an issue, as most all of the cost will come from the EF.

The Giants won last night. EF balance now $3789.

Okay, back to reading and playing with baby DS (who is walking pretty well, now by the way) DD is at a birthday party, DH is catching up on some office work. It's 90F so far today. I've got the AC on.

The fair was lovely yesterday. I think the day topped out at 82F with a very slight breeze. Beautiful! DD and her friend had a great time. I can remember how much fun I used to have with my friends at fair time. This is the first time she's been able to cruise the fair unaccompanied. I had them meet me at a set meeting place every 60-90 minutes. My (first) baby is growing up!

Both girls had $20 to spend. They ended up pooling their money and bought food, a few carnival games and one fuzzy hat shaped like a dog, with long ears that have hand pockets. I guess their plan is to "share custody" of this hat. Switching off every time they see each other. We'll see how that goes..

I spent $4 on a huge corndog and $5 on a basket of sweet potato fries that I shared with baby DS. We left about 8:30pm and I took myself and the girls to McDonalds for $12.

I continued spending on myself last night at Amazon when I bought the four book set of Game of Thrones. I so enjoyed the first season on HBO I feel like I can't wait a year for the next episode. Plus the books will have a whole lot more going on. I also bought a board book for DS so I could get the free shipping. Total was $26.

Meanwhile, I am reading Suze's new book, The Money Class. I had been on the waiting list at the library and my turn finally came up. It took a bit over two months and truthfully I had forgotten until I got the phone message that it was on hold for me. So it looks like in the coming week I'll be going from reality to fantasy, literally!

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The Giants won yesterday. Plus $2 to the EF. Balance now $3778.

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Now I'm going to do some reading, while the girls are selling lemonade out front and the baby takes his nap. Looks like a NSD today.

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.

Wow has time been flying by! Haven't found much time to get on the computer. Busy at work and at home. I've been wanting to share some photos and update on the past few weeks...so TaDa!



My Mother's Day garden.

]
Yosemite. Merced River and Yosemite Falls.


Yosemite Falls. 2425 feet tall! Fifth tallest in the world.


Half Dome.

[
Lots of water from spring snow melt and rain.


Flowering Dogwood all over Yosemite.


Settling down for the night inside the tent cabin.

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Last weekend DH and I went to a Giants game, had a fabulous dinner out at The Melting Pot and saw a movie. All to celebrate our anniversary, which was yesterday. My parents stayed for the weekend so we had free babysitting. I had paid for the game tickets two months ago. We spent $30 at the game for parking, $12 for hot coco and garlic fries, $100 for dinner, $18 for movie tickets. Yes a splurge, but the rest of this month we have zero plans for the weekends. Totally the opposite of May. Every weekend was busy in May, and lots of money going out.

This weekend DH is doing some side work (yay! Money!) and my only plan is to do a little grocery shopping and hang around the house. Cheap weekend.
Next weekend? More of the same, DH has more work and I'll be sticking close to home.

In other news, effective June 1st I'm making a $1/hour more! WhooHoo! My job satisfaction has certainly increased with getting some overdue pay raises.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

A very special THANK YOU to all our service men and women, past and present, who keep our country safe and free.

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May has been such a busy month! I cannot believe tomorrow is the last day. Haven't been on the computer much. Whenever I've had any down time I've been playing with the baby or doing little chores around the house.

DD's last day of school was Friday. Now she's spending a week visiting at my mom and dad's house.

Our trip to Yosemite last weekend was lovely. The weather was great.

The new tires were a good idea. Glad we had them done. As a plus there was a $50 rebate on the tire brand we bought.

The Giants haven't won much in the past 10 days. Added just $4 to the EF. Balance now $2352.

No plans for today, just R & R at home.

Have a great holiday everyone.

I feel like I'm so far behind with posting and tracking the finances. I cannot believe we're halfway thru May!

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We are still working at our weekly spending cap of $175. Here are the totals over the last weeks:
April 15 - 21: Over by $19
April 22 - 28: Over by $53 (Easter splurge)
April 29 - May 5: Over by $29
May 6 - 12: Under by $11 (yay!)

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This past weekend we drove to a family gathering for DH's family. He had the chance to see family he hasn't seen in a long time and DD, DS and I had a chance to meet family we had never met before. A funny thing: He had two cousins who said they remembered meeting me at our wedding. DH and I eloped. They were thinking I was DH's first wife..oops! They felt embarrassed, but it didn't bother me at all. (DH married his high school sweetheart pretty much out of high school and the divorced on their two year anniversary.)

We went out to breakfast on Saturday morning before heading out. One of my DH's favorite hole-in-the-wall breakfast stops - he used to go there about once a week when he was working close. Now it's a special treat to go there. I had their Eggs Benedict, one of my usuals, it's the best..yum, yum! $40.

We had to fill up. $3.99/gal. $66 total.
We stopped at the Jelly Belly factory for gifts. $25.
Then about 40 minutes from the party we had a flat tire. DH changed it without trouble, but with all the stops Saturday morning we kept joking it would take us forever to get to the party.
We drove home Saturday night too; it was a long day.

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The Giants won Saturday and last night. +$4 to the EF.

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After discussing with DH I decided we should get all new tires on the Pathfinder. We had been talking about a month before how it had been three years since we had bought the set that's on it now. Our plan was to wait thru the summer and buy a new set in Sept/Oct. The tires still were safe tread wise and in good shape, no weather wear, so waiting thru the summer would have been fine. But, with the sudden flat on Saturday and the upcoming trip to Yosemite this weekend we'll all feel safer with new tires now.

Monday I spent a good deal of time calling for prices and reading online tire reviews. The end result? New tires this afternoon. The brand/style I chose is highest rated for my model car, reviewers even had improvement in their MPG (crossing my fingers 'cause that would be great!) $791 total. Sadly, the money will come from the dwindling EF. But first I'll use the CC to get the rewards.

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.

Just a quick check-in 'cause I'm at work. No internet at home again for a few days because the charger cord broke. Going to try a cheap replacement. It's on order from Amazon. $8. The "real" HP cord is $71 so I would LOVE for the cheapie to work out.

Will be update on April spending and all that as soon as I have more time.

Inlaws visiting this weekend. A bit of spending for that and Mother's Day.

Baby's first birthday was yesterday!

The Giants have won a few of their games since my last post so I've added $6 to the EF. Balance now at $3931.

Have a great weekend!

How fast a year goes!
Yesterday was the one year anniversary for my blog!

In the past year:

- Added baby DS to the family!
- Paid down a small amount of debt, about $1900. (This year I'd like that to be a whole lot more!)
- Established an EF, $3925 balance to date.
- Refi'd the house to 4.75% 30 year fixed
- Got a $2/hr raise!
- Paid my auto insurance for the whole year in one payment. (cool!)
- Visited Kentucky. Great time with my mom, sis and aunt.
- Lots of enjoyment blogging with you all.


In the coming year?

- More to savings.
- More debt payoff.
- Home improvement projects.
- More fun!
- More babies.
**lol**
***Just kidding about the baby!***

Thanks everyone for the great comments you've left me. And for all the interesting posts you all create that I enjoy reading.

Let me start by saying I had a weak moment Friday evening at Costco.

I saw they had prime rib in for Easter and one jumped in my basket! Okay, it had a little help from me. We had one for Christmas and it was so delicious I couldn't pass it up for our Easter dinner.

My parents and sister came Saturday. So we had our big dinner Saturday and then a tasty breakfast Sunday. Total spent on food and Easter "things" was about $118.

Time with my family and not traveling was wonderful.

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It's looking like all of our weekends in May are going to be full of activity. And money spending! Yipes!

This coming weekend will be a trip to my parents. Then my mom will drive all of us in her van to see my grandparents. We'll celebrate a late Easter (with a ham dinner this time!), early Mother's Day and an early birthday for baby. Hoping my cousin and her family will be able to join us as well as my BFF. It will be wonderful family time, but lots of car travel over a weekend. In fact I think I'll drive home from my parent's house early Monday morning. Too much car time Sunday coming home from the grandfolks to add on the two hours home. Cost? About $70. Gas only, but that is bad enough right?

Mother's Day weekend we'll host my FIL and MIL for a late Easter, birthday party for baby and Mother's day. Not sure what other activities for that weekend, but a car show is in town on Saturday and I heard DH say something about golfing with FIL. Cost? $20 to $100, depending on what my MIL pays for!

Weekend after is DH and DD's trip, with me and baby brother meeting up with them in Yosemite Sunday-Monday. Cost? $80ish. DH and DD have been saving $40/week for the trip, so I'm looking at my gas and the entry fee to the park.

Then Memorial weekend. DD is going to stay with my folks for a week. Cost? $30ish for gas to meet parents half way.

Weekend after that, Giants game for DH and me to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Cost? $60ish for ferry tickets and dinner afterwards. Tickets for the game are already bought and paid for.

It's all going to be fun. But...Whew! I feel broke already! lol!

I've had so many thoughts I have wanted to post, but no time for any of it! This afternoon is quiet here at work so I'll make the most of a few moments.

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Giants won their game on Tuesday; lost on Wednesday; didn't play yesterday. Added $2 to the EF. Balance now at $3919.

They play the Braves tonight..

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I've been doing well with my working out and despite all the sweets here at the office (we're talking POUNDS of candy and sweet treats) I've lost a total of 7lbs in the past 6'ish weeks. Would've loved more, but very happy to see progress! Yay!

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We are staying home for the Easter weekend and having the family drive to us.
Although, I'm not sure we'll save much in the end since now we'll be doing the meal.
My mom and dad will be coming Saturday and my sister on Saturday night. The plan is a nice ham dinner Saturday and then using the leftover ham I'll make the breakfast quiche for Sunday. Tonight on the way home from work I'll stop at Costco for a few items. Then tomorrow morning early I'll make a run to Safeway and DH can spend a little time cleaning house and mowing the lawn. DD is at a sleepover tonight so we'll dye eggs tomorrow evening too.

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I've also been shopping for new shoes and a new carseat, but that's another post.

If I'm not back by Monday....
Happy Easter weekend everyone.

In my earlier post I had mentioned we met with the inlaws on Saturday. Well two comments were made about my vehicle that kinda tickled my funny bone.

First, my FIL commented to DH about how nice the car looked. "How much had we spent to have it detailed?" DH said it was a free wash with the oil & transmission fluid change. FIL told DH he didn't think there was anyway that I didn't pay for the wash because it looked so good. I had the receipt to prove it was a free wash. hehehe.

Second, one of FIL's friends we had met during dinner walked over to our car as we were loading up for home. He asked me what make/model it was and that he thought it was a very nice looking SUV. I told him it's a 1999 Nissan Pathfinder and we've been more than happy with it. Even better, I told him, we own it outright and the insurance for the year is paid in full. I was sitting in the driver seat so I showed him that it has close to a 178,000 miles on it. He couldn't believe it was that "old" and had "so many" miles.

I luv u car!

Good News:
The Giants won their last two games. Yay!
+$4 to the EF. Total now $3913.

Bad News:
I bought gas at Costco this afternoon on my way home. It's now $4.12/gal. YUCK!!
It has increased by $0.10 per week for the past four or more weeks!

Where will it end????

Our auto transfer to the EF posted yesterday and the Giants won Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately not on Sunday or Monday.

+ $25 Savings Transfer
+ $4 Two Giants Wins
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$3909 EF balance

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Our weekend at the inlaws was very low key. DH cut down these two tree/bush Junipers they had in the front yard and was paid $150 - his motorcycle payment for next month.

We spent $80 in gas..**choke**

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Went for a lovely walk this morning with a girl friend, her baby, daughter and my DS. The weather is sunny and about 58F. Very nice for walking. I picked up a Starbucks for free using a Free Drink coupon given to me by a client.

It's super nice having clients who appreciate us!

However it's a double edge sword. Yesterday we were given about 6lbs of See's Candy from two separate clients.

Ugh..How can I lose weight around all that?!

Friday one of our other clients will be bringing us creampuffs. She owns a restaurant and bakery and we're always getting pies, cookies and now creampuffs from her.

What a problem to have, hu?

I have a quiet minute here at work. We'll be busy again in about 20 minutes.

I just dropped my Pathfinder off for an oil change, transmission fluid change and a FREE carwash. I'll pick it back up when I get off work tonight. It's going to cost about $90.

Bought gas this morning at Costco. It's now $4.02/gal here.

To top it all off we're heading to my inlaws tonight fo a weekend visit. Blah..I'd much rather stay home. Save the gas money and get some laundry washed!

The Giants won their last game, so I added $2 to the EF. It's now at $3,880.

All the beautiful weather has me thinking about being outside with the wind in my hair.

J4F Question:
Would you rather be a racecar driver OR racehorse rider?
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CeeJay asked about best gifts awhile back. (Sorry CeeJay I'm soo slow!)
I've been thinking about this and I have had a lot of wonderful gifts. Last year my DD gave me a set of notecards with matching envelopes that she had decorated with paints. They are beautiful and I haven't been able to bring myself to use them. My DH has surprised me with special dinners out and even an overnight getaway that I had no clue about. My mom gave me an antique cameo pin on my 30th bday that she was given from her dad on her 30th bday.

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J4F.
I do like speed, but I love riding horses, so I'll say racehorse jockey. Of course cars are going to be super fast, but the races are much, much longer and it gets hot in those cars. If any of you have ever full out galloped on a horse you know what a flying type feeling that is. It's Awesome.