So far this month I have used the credit card a total of 0 times...my goal for June was to not use the card except for the down payment for ds's braces (because I want the free groceries that come with the use of the card!), and I will pay the card off as soon as I get the bill. Dh has used it twice, both times to eat out, but then had to listen to me gripe at him for awhile, so I don't know how enjoyable the meals actually ended up being. Mad wives are not a good thing to have around!

Ds is home sick today, so I only went to work for a few hours. Unfortunately, I get paid by the hour, so that's a few less bucks on my paycheck this period. Fortunately, this is an extra paycheck month and the money was going into savings anyways, so our budget isn't actually out anything. Can't be helped when the kids aren't well and want Mom.

Dh leaves for Vegas on Sunday. He's going with his Dad and two brothers. Their dad is paying for the flights and hotel stay, so they only need their spending money...very nice. They'll have fun and my plan is to be extremely frugal here while Dh is gone. It bothers me far less than him to not spend anything!

I was at work last night and one of the customers came into my office and offered to buy me a drink for helping him out with something. Since I actually was still working, this would have been totally unacceptable, but he left the $5.00 on my desk, so I could have a drink after work...ha ha ha...that is $5.00 into my challenge money!

Yesterday was a no spend day for me. Add another $1.00 into my challenge money!

Yay! It's the May long weekend! I work tonight and tomorrow morning and then not again until Wednesday. On Tuesday, my work is having their own version of the Amazing Race. We're in teams of 4 driving all through the city...should be lots of fun!

We have my two nephews (ages 7 and 10) staying with us this weekend and some friends are coming for a visit for two nights. They live about 3 hours away, so it will be nice to see them...just crowded and loud in the house! Hoping for good, sunny weather so everyone can be outside.

I had a no spend day yesterday. It was about time for one! A regular customer at my work came in the other day and handed me an envelope. I didn't open it until later in the evening. It was a thank you card with $100 bill tucked in it! I don't take tips, although a fair amount of people do try to tip me, but I don't think this can go back to her without offending her. She's 79 years old, and has no family, but lots of friends and people who help her out if she needs it. She said it was a gift for helping her through the year...puts me in a bit of an awkward position. Opinions, anyone?

I took Ds aged 12 to the orthodontist yesterday...his braces will be going on in about 6 weeks to the tune of...are you ready for this?...six thousand, eight hundred buckaroos! OUCH!

We've signed to pay $2200.00 upfront and $200 a month for the next two years. Fortunately dd's orthodontic payments will be done in February. Yep, could be a tight summer, fall, and early winter around here!

While I'm blogging, my six year old son is doing my hair. It's been ponytailed, combed, sprayed with water, and teased with a comb. Good thing I haven't had a shower yet!

My 10 year old niece is currently staying with us as her parents have gone away on a mini holiday. She is a super picky eater, and I was expecting the worse, but she actually eats pretty much whatever I put out, or at least tastes it. My kids were astonished when her mom brought over her school lunch and it consisted of bottled water, a bun (made from white flour, we only eat whole wheat), processed ham slices, a granola bar, and cookies. The older two both said, 'No fruit or veggies!!??'. Anyways, today she packed an apple with it, ate canteloupe for breakfast, and had one of the whole wheat buns for lunch! Yay! Too bad she'll be back to her normal eating routine in a few days when she heads back home!

Ds,aged 12, desperately needed new shoes. The poor kid has orthotic inserts (he was dislocating his foot because of the way he walks), and needs really sturdy shoes. His last pair cost $150!!! I was not looking forward to this new bill. However, his feet have grown and he's into a size 7 men's...Yay! No more children's specialty shoes! The pair we bought were on sale from $80 to $44, and then when I took them up to the till, there was an additional $10 off...woohoo! I felt like I won the lottery. o.k., not quite like I won the lottery, but it was a nice surprise!

Total spent today:

$9.92 on necklace for stepmom for Mother's Day (cost to be split with my brother)

$13.38 on chocolates for stepmom for Mother's Day (cost to be split with my brother)

$5.00 on a mocha frappe for me while shopping with ds aged 12

$3.05 on a strawberry smoothie for ds aged 12 for coming shopping with me

Total Spent: $31.35

Total Cost: priceless...I got to show appreciation for a wonderful woman AND spend time with one of my all time favourite people, my 12 year old son! What a lucky day I'm having...

I haven't spent any money in the last two days. On Friday ds6 had a birthday party to go to and I was going to head over to the mall while he was there. Instead, not only did we walk to the party so I would save money on gas, I walked straight back home and had leftovers for lunch, and then walked back to pick him up.
Yesterday I worked from 8:00am-11:30pm, and so there wasn't time to spend money. I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner off the buffets at work.
We'll see what happens today...

I was just thinking of my girl (now 10), and remembering cute things she did when she was smaller. When she was about 6 she found a penny and I taught her the poem, 'Find a penny, pick it up and all day long you'll have good luck. Put it in your shoe, and luck will follow all week through'. Well, for the next two months, she would put pennies in all our shoes before she went to bed, so we'd be lucky the next day! About 2 weeks into this routine, Dh got dressed in the morning, put his shoes on, looked at me, and asked,"Why do I keep finding money in my shoe? My foot hurts!"...one of those moments you don't forget. I look forward to telling it at her wedding--perfect way to show her caring nature!

My poor dh! I had to work last night from 3:00pm to 10:30. Dh had to rush home, take ds6 to his 3:00 dentist appointment, be back at 4:00 for ds12 to go to hockey, rush back, make dinner, take ds5 to hockey...ds12 stayed home and walked dd10 to Girl Guides...and then at 8:00 dh had to pick her up!!! A year ago that would have been all the stuff I would have to do on my own because he worked so much. It's funny how little we miss the money he made, and how much we appreciate the time he now has with us! He handled yesterday like a pro...I only had to repeat the schedule about 4 times, but it all went smoothly!

This weekend is really busy at work. I will be there tonight from 3:30-11:30 and then back at 8:00am Saturday until 10:00pm! Ooooh! I'll be so looking forward to Sunday when I have the day off. The only thing we have on the schedule is hockey...each boy has a game...at the same time...different rinks, of course.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I took the kids to school, and came home to a quiet and empty house. Following Flylady's daily chore, I cleaned in our room for almost an hour (while watching an Oprah re-run), changed all the sheets on the beds, and am about to do my weekly home blessing hour. Mine includes a 5 minute wash in each of the 3 bathrooms, 10 minutes vacuuming, 10 minutes dusting, 10 minutes washing the kitchen floor, 10 minutes washing windows, and then I have 5 minutes left to put away whatever I discovered in the past 55 that is in an area that it shouldn't be in! Lots of days my kids and Dh pick a job and we just go at it, but every once in a while I just want to get it done and I don't want to wait until after school. I need to get the kids spending 10 minutes decluttering their bedrooms because we're starting to overfill again!
I'm going out for Thai food with my best friend today and am looking forward to that. I want to get her opinion on my working more hours, and she says that she has something important to talk to me about. Hmmm...very secretive. Other than lunch and going to buy ds5 some colouring paper, I shouldn't be spending anything else.

We went grocery shopping today. The kids came with me and this added a few things into the cart that I wouldn't normally buy, but they didn't go overboard. I don't know how I did this, but we're already over for the month's budget by almost $75. I did stock up at the beginning of the month on tons of stuff for the pantry. I plan dinners a month at a time, so those are all taken care of, but it was the extras...chips, fruit and I don't know what else. We are certainly going to be over in our envelopes this month! Next month will be great, because we have income tax refunds coming, it's Dh's extra cheque month, and my holiday pay for the year will be paid out with my last paycheque in March. We may put some money down on the house. The rest will go into savings. We have been so lucky with our money this past year, and have really worked hard to live below our means, and save the remainder. I will try hard to not beat myself up over spending more than I'd planned on groceries!

I've been asked by my boss to consider going full time in my position at work. This would mean 40 hours a week, as opposed to the 30-35 I work now, a better benefit package, and a 20% pay increase. Hmmm...it all sounds great, but I'm apprehensive as my first priority is my family and I wonder how this will affect them.

We haven't had anything too interesting happening around here. Everyone is happy to finally have a little bit of sunshine, even though it is freezing!

Well, it's Friday, and for most people the start of a nice weekend. Me? I start work tonight at 4:00 and will work until Monday afternoon. I hate working all weekend. AND the weather is finally sunny and beautiful..ho hum, ho hum!

I'm still waiting for dh's T-4 slip so that I can do our taxes. I have no idea how much we'll be getting back since this is the year that he left his full time job to go part time, and I started my own contributions to pension and RRSPs...always before they've been done through a spousal RRSP.

Our mortgage term is through in March. We signed a one year closed at 4.7%...next year both mortgages will be up at the same time and we'll combine them and have better leverage with bank negotiations.

It feels like a long time since I've added an entry. I worked 10 out of the past 11 days, so I know why I've had no extra time!
The budget is set for February. Envelopes are full, and bank accounts are ready! We went grocery shopping yesterday (counting it as a February amount) and really stocked up. We have a full freezer, fridge, and pantry. I spent $200.00 of the budgeted $375.00. We don't have any unexpected amounts to add in for this month, so, hopefully, everything goes according to plan! I put $500 into a one year GIC and will do the same at the end of this month if all goes well. I would love to have 12 of them, one for each month, and just be able to keep rolling them over. When I have extra money just sitting in the account, I can't seem to be able to get my head around all my choices of what to do with it. I don't want to tie it up for too long, but I also don't want it sitting there. We already have our emergency account, freedom account, and automatic withdrawal for retirement funds and pensions...
On to February!

We did okay on the budget this month, but have slightly overspent in the gift and clothing areas. We had 3 family birthdays this month, and 3 friend birthdays. I'd bought a bunch of gifts at Boxing Day sales to stock up, but went over budget by $40. Dh desperately needed new jeans and shirts, so we spent an additional $60 there, as well. I guess $100 isn't too bad. I still have some change in my purse in the grocery envelope! Thank Goodness February is almost here and those envelopes will soon be full again. I hate the penny pinching at the end of the month.
DH did not ask for any extra spending money this month. I think that may be the first time ever. You can't see me, but I'm doing a happy dance in the family room...

I've pretty much decided what to do with the extra money in the savings account. I'm going to buy $500 GICs once a month for every month that I have extra money. I'll start off with one year ones, they'll be laddered monthly, and I'll keep our emergency money and 3 months expenses separate. I do need to run this by Dh, but since he usually leaves all money matters to me, I'm sure he'll be fine with it.

Our financial advisor thinks we should put any extra money we have into RRSPs. I've been reading a lot about people needing less than what they've been told they'll need for retirement. By the time everything kicks in when we're 65, we'll be so used to spending at this level, that we'll never be able to spend it all...well, that might be pushing the envelope a bit!

Things I did to save money today:
1) Put all yesterday's cheques in the bank.
2) Brought breakfast and lunch to work.
3) Took out leftover cooked steak from the freezer and will make a beef stroganoff for dinner.
4) Today was a no spend day, so far.

It's one of those good money days...

1) I didn't spend anything myself. However, we found $5.00 in my jacket pocket and I gave it to Dh and he bought me some chips with it...I'm having a chip craving.
2) The cheque came through from Dh's old insurance money that we hadn't known about...$1200.00!
3) We received another cheque from Dh's new job for $120 for his petty cash. Dh had put the items on the credit card, and I've already paid that, so it feels like extra money, even though it isn't really!

A good day. Our savings account is now well padded. I'm still looking for where to keep it where I would have access if we needed it, but it's still earning interest.

Dh's cheque went into the bank on Friday, as it was supposed to. An additional $200 went with it for mileage expenses. That will go straight into savings account.

Ds12 had a great birthday. We'll be doing his party in February, but he got all the gifts he asked for but didn't get at Christmas (a perk to having your birthday close to Xmas!) from us, and then various relatives gave him cash, and he ended up with over $100. No small amount for a 12 year old. I told him to think about what he would really like and then buy it and he'll keep it in his account until he can decide. I would hate for him to fritter it away. Since he and dd9 have had their paper route, they're always flush with money. They do save a good chunk of it, and we enjoy watching their choices on what to spend it on...mostly junk food. They like to go for lunch at KFC and it's close enough that they can walk there together.

I worked yesterday and I will be there for the rest of the week, pretty much. My boss is on holidays, so I have all my stuff to do, as well as some of hers. It will be a very busy week, but I'll like the paycheque at the end! I did buy us breakfast yesterday, spent $8.00. I'll bring my breakfast today and have something off the buffet for lunch. I would like a no spend day. My January money envelopes are almost empty...

Yippee! We have a sunny day. It's the first one this month...maybe longer. Ds and I will definately going for a walk today, maybe to the library. We don't spend money there!

We'll be baking cupcakes for ds's 12th birthday today...don't know where those years went...and he's asked for spaghetti and meatballs. I'll make the meatballs and put them in the crockpot with the homemade sauce. It will be delicious by dinnertime and we'll have salad and homemade breadsticks with it.

I don't plan on spending any money today. My friend did call to see if I want to go out for lunch, but I might put her off until next week. I'm craving Thai food, but I have ds5 home with me today and he doesn't like Thai, so I'd rather wait until I have a day where he's not with me to go there.

I'm off to go call the bank and make sure that dh's cheque went in. Sometimes there's a mix-up. If that's the case today then I'll have to go transfer some money from another bank...fingers crossed!

I took the two older kids to a presentation on 'Study Skills--How to Study Smarter, Not Longer' by Terry Small. It was an excellent eye opener and gave us some great ideas on helping them with their homework, how to study for tests, and retain information. I wish I had known this stuff when I was in school!

Ds5 has gymnastics this morning and then we'll be picking up a few things for the big birthday tomorrow. I work at 4:00 today, but took tomorrow night off. Ds has requested spaghetti and meatballs for his birthday meal, and after dinner we're going back to the school for movie night. Families bring their pillows and blankets and hunker down with popcorn, candy bags, and juice boxes. We pay $5.00 per family, it's a fundraiser for the grade 7's graduation, and they'll be showing 'Wallace and Grommit'.

I didn't spend anything yesterday. Today we'll be picking up a game for ds's 12th birthday, breakfast cereal, and 2 bic pens. Ds5 is using his own money to buy something from the 'Littlest Pet Shop' line. It's pretty much what all his money is saved for these days!

Today is 'Reading Day' at my kids' school. Kids and parents go to school early with blankets, stuffies, and pillows, and curl up together and start the day by reading for half an hour. It is such a nice way to begin a rainy Wednesday!

We spent $80 at the grocery store on Monday. Well, I had the gift certificate that dh had partially used, but there was still $25 left on it, so I only had to take $55 out of the grocery envelope. I have $16 left in there to get us through to the end of the month, so I may be borrowing from another envelope. We have not used any extra from the bank accounts this month, and we've had extra expenses...an NHL hockey game (tickets were given, but we paid for parking and snacks), ds's 12th birthday (bought some gifts in late December at Boxing Day sales), and a higher-than-I-thought credit card bill. We'll see how we make it. Two weeks to go!

Yesterday was a no spend day. I would like to pick up one more gift for ds12 and then all his birthday gifts are done. His party will be in February--he's leaning towards laser tag.

I have today off, the kids are all in school until 2:30 and Dh is in meetings all day. Wow! A house to myself...bliss..sigh...

I'm going out for coffee with a friend tonight. My kids call it 'a date'. Cute. Dh doesn't 'do' the coffee thing. He says he doesn't understand how people can just sit around, drink coffee, and talk. Well, he's a guy who rarely just sits and does nothing...and he's not big on chit chat, either. Anyways, I'm looking forward to my mocha valencia!

We had a busy weekend at work. I didn't spend any money, but will be grocery shopping later today after I take dd to gymnastics. We're out of a lot of stuff and I hope I don't spend too much there. I do have a $50 gift certificate that Dh got from his work for Christmas, so I'll be using that up too. I haven't done a really big shop yet this month but have managed to go through my grocery envelope pretty well!

In the lower mainland, we are on our 26th straight day of rain. The record is 29 days. We are all going to be so proud to beat that record...

The battery post on the van was loose and that's why it wouldn't start. Dh did get it going yesterday so I could get to the repair shop. Sorry Mr. Tow Truck. Our mechanic is a good friend of ours. He gave me heck because my windshield wipers were so worn out. I guess these 26 days of rain used all the shield up! The total for that bill, including new wipers and an tune up was $200.

We went grocery shopping this morning and picked up a few things. All three kids have been invited to parties this weekend so we needed a couple of gifts there, and then we went to Zellers and spent $50 on a birthday gift for ds11. He'd asked for this gift for Christmas, didn't get it, and still really wanted it. Hopefully it's money well spent!

I left work at 11:00 last night, got in my car, put in the key, and...NOTHING!

One of the security guards charged it for me, I got home fine, but it died in my driveway. I don't know if it's the alternator or the battery, but I'm guessing this will be a good chunk of change for the repair shop! I'm concentrating on being thankful that
1) I was in a safe place when it happened with people who could help me.
2) The money is in the savings account to pay for it. I hate using the savings money, but I'm reminding myself that's what it's there for!

Now we just have to figure out how if it can be charged up enough to get to the repair shop. Otherwise, the towing company will be coming for a visit.

Dh got up with the kids this morning and took them to school while I lolled in bed with a coffee and the t.v. I had a very slow moving day, washed the floor, changed the sheets, did laundry and puttered around. We went to the grocery store for a few items and found ds5's birthday gift on sale. Well, it's the gift he'll be getting in March for his 6th birthday.

Things I did to save money today:
1) Washed the laundry in cold water with homemade detergent.
2) Didn't cave and buy anything off the list at the grocery store, other than ds's birthday gift, which I would have bought anyway, but paid more for.
3) I convinced Dh to go home for a cup of tea with me instead of buying it when we were out.
4) Ate leftover soup for lunch.

Not much, but better than nothing. We have some cooked steaks in the freezer. I took one out and will make a stew in the crockpot tomorrow. I work at 4:00, so it's the perfect meal to take with me, and everyone at home will like it and eat it--or else!

Today is going to be one lazy day! The only thing I am leaving the house for is to buy bread and fill the van up with gas. When I was driving home from work yesterday the empty gasoline sign came on...never a good sign when you're alone on the road at 1:00am without an open gas station around for I don't know how far!

We went to the library Thursday night so I'm all stocked up on books...we have lots of food to munch on...and it's pouring rain...the boys are off to the hockey game (tickets for Christmas)...all lead to a stellar pyjama day!

I went to Ikea with my friend yesterday. She drove and it was her turn to buy lunch. I only spent 11.00 and that was to buy four great candle sets (for gifts). They were on a huge sale. My friend was shocked that was all I bought, and kept asking what was wrong with me. I told her I'd been hit with a frugal bug...

Things I did to save money:
1) Refrained from buying at Ikea!!!
2) Had coffee and breakfast at home.
3) Brought fruit with me to work to snack on. I didn't buy anything there.
4) Kept the heat off during the day.

I am exhausted! I mostly puttered around the house today. Ds5 had a friend over after school. I went to work from 4:00-11:00 and got quite a bit done there, but am still waaaay behind! One day I might catch up, but I'm not betting on it!

It was a no spend day today. I walked the kids to school in the morning, walked back to get ds and his friend from kindergarten, and then walked back again to pick up the other two after they finished school. I'm trying to walk more, partly to save on gasoline consumption and partly for the exercise!

I hung up a load of laundry, froze some more leftover treats, and kept the heat off. Tomorrow I am going to try my first attempt at making pasta sauce from tomato paste. This is better for DH because he can't have anything with seeds in it and most sauces that I buy have chunks of tomatoes in them, seeds and all...hopefully, the sauce tastes good and everyone likes it because I bought 12 cans of tomato paste when they were on sale in December. I do have to buy some garlic tomorrow to add flavour to the sauce. I have tons of pasta from when I stocked up earlier this week. We have some cheese in the fridge that needs to be used up sooner rather than later, so that will go on top. I'm adding vegies to the pasta dish and it will be a meat free meal. I am cleaning out the freezer and the fridge before I do a major shop--should take a week or so to use up most of what's in there...our pantry seems pretty full at the moment.

Dh is getting a $50 gift card to Superstore from his work. I'm thinking about using it to stock up on canned goods etc. Dh is thinking about using it to buy the treats that I never want to pay for. I'm thinking that we've had enough junk food the last few weeks to last us until next Christmas. Hmmm, anyone want to take bets on who will win this round? My vote is for the person who does all the grocery shopping, and that would be ME!!!

Wow! I just noticed that this would be my 100th journal entry...

Today will be an at home, no spend day. I go to work at 4:00, but will take some beef barley soup with me as that's what everyone is eating at home for dinner tonight. We still have some buns leftover from last week, and salad will round up the meal.

Tomorrow our financial planner is coming over to give us some options on our mortgage renewal. I'm not happy with the bank that currently holds our mortgage. I find them to be uncaring and not really on the ball. When we moved 5 years ago, we bought a more expensive house, ported the mortgage we already had and got a second mortgage for the difference. The mortgage that we ported is now due and we owe about 30,000 on it. I don't know if we're going to switch banks or not, but at this point I'm willing to go wherever the lowest interest rate is. We are probably going to use some of the money in our savings account to pay it down as well. This is what DH would like to do with it...he's big on just paying off the house. That is his main financial goal!

Dh and I had a nice, relaxing day together. I think I'm going to like our new work schedules!

Things I did to save money today:
1) Used gift cards for my Starbucks coffee.
2) Didn't buy anything at the bookstore...just browsed.
3) Put all the leftover treats into the freezer for later consumption.
4) Went to the fruit and veggie store instead of the grocery store...spent under 20 dollars for 3 bags!
5) We are having leftover hot dogs for dinner with beans I bought on sale.
6) Dh and I are using up the leftover beef in the fridge and making a beef barley vegetable soup for tomorrow's dinner.