Last day of my favourite month. Okay, I do really like October because of Thanksgiving and Hallowe'en.

I'm excited about starting our envelope system tomorrow. I took DH's spending money out of the bank today so he's set for the month. His paycheque was slightly more than we had thought, so I think any extra money that comes our way will all go into our emergency account because I've planned for everything that I can think of. I am very curious to see how it all turns out.

I only spent $2.28 today. Dd needed a new flashlight and rain poncho for camping this weekend. Luckily, the dollar store had both.

Spent the bulk of the day at the school helping with hot lunch. I will be working from 5:00-midnight tonight and I have a meeting at 9:00am tomorrow (I was really hoping to sleep in!), but it shouldn't go past 11:00. I've been looking on the web for suggestions on the best way to ask for a raise. My job changed about a year ago and I did get a pay raise, but last month I was given more responsibilities and expectations are higher and I want my pay to reflect that. The problem is, if I ask for it and am told no, then I don't think I really want to stay there. That's all fine but I feel caught between loving my job and being taken advantage of. I guess I'll put my request in writing and see where it goes from there.

Beat my goal by 2 days...yay, yay, yay! I was going to have October have 12 no spend days, but I'm now rethinking I should push myself to do 15. Oh, well, I have a day to decide!

Work was slow last night. Made it to 3:15 and dashed out. Got up this morning, took ds5 to gymnastics, brought him home, picked up dd9 at school, brought her home for lunch, made myself lunch, took ds and dd to dd's ortho appt., dropped her back at school, brought ds home and fed him lunch and made pizza dough for homemade pizza tonight. At 2:30 I'm going to pick up the kids from school because it is pouring rain today! Dd is going camping with her Girl Guide Group for the weekend and it's supposed to rain all weekend. I hate camping in the rain...glad I'm not going. Dd is looking forward to it. She doesn't care if it rains or not.

I'm working 4:00-12:00 tonight but I'll leave early if I get all my work done.

Things I did today to save money:
1) Vetoed dh's suggestion to go out for breakfast. (yes, again!)
2) Am making homemade pizza for dinner, will have enough for lunches for tomorrow.
3) Will take last night's leftovers for me for tonight...ooh, clearing out the fridge AND saving money!
4) Brought coffee from home to have during gymnastics, although I was thinking about Starbucks.
I think that was it for today...

I decided on a few more envelopes for October, so now I have:
Groceries 375.00
Clothes 60.00
Entertainment 90.00
Gifts (not Xmas) 35.00
School Misc. 20.00
Hair/Make up 15.00
Miscellaneous 20.00
Dh is on his own with 200.00 for the month, so this is for me and 3 kids. For anyone who already uses the envelope system, any advice? Do these amounts sound practical? I guess I'm about to find out...

Got a good deal on two gifts for the younger two kids for Christmas--shopping is coming along.

Spent 25 dollars at Superstore buying essentials and items to update the kids' earthquake kits for school.
We are under our month's grocery budget by 18.00...I am very pleased! Next month I'll be starting the envelope system for spending money and groceries. I think that I'll split the spending money into clothes, meals out, and miscellaneous. Since it's the first month, I know things will change as I go along, but if anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them!

Took the kids to school, did some work for fundraising, tied roller blades for kindergartens, went to Costco, picked up ds5 at 11:10 from kindergarten, went out for Thai food with a friend and ds5, came home, made a grocery list, went shopping with ds5 and dh, came home and prepared earthquake kits, stuffed flyers into newspapers for dd9 and ds11's route...sat down with a cup of tea and at 3:30 went out to help dd and her friend finish the paper route. I have to work 6:30-3:15 tonight--UGH!

I don't think that I did anything to save money today. I did get a coupon for Lysol toilet cleaner that I had sent away for a few weeks ago...maybe that counts. No, it doesn't because I wouldn't have bought the product anyway. I use bleach in the toilets. I will take ds's leftover lunch to work for dinner so I won't spend any money there.

I think that tomorrow will be another no spend day and that will make 12 for September. Friday is hot lunch at the school and I will go help with that. I organized it for 3 years, and stopped this year, but I should go and be there for moral support just in case. Ds5 will have lunch there so I will pay for that, so Friday will not be a no spend day.

I was supposed to go to work today but ds11 is home sick. I don't feel good about him being home alone for 6 hours, so I stayed home with him. When I phoned my boss to offer to come in and get work to take home, she told me not to worry about it, apparently I'm not missing too much!
DH went to work at the warehouse position for the day because he has meetings for his other job off and on through the rest of the week. I think that he's starting to enjoy it more...still not a lot of direction and he's confused by it but muddling through. The warehouse job is 6:00-2:30 so he'll be home nice and early. I'm so used to him being gone 10 -12 hours a day with his old job that I am loving this new routine. I feel like we're on vacation!

Took ds5 and dd9 to school this morning and did some fundraising stuff until 9:30. Came home, made tea for the sick boy, got him settled on the couch, and went back to the school to help tie rollerblades for gym class for ds5. They are so cute learning to skate!

Things I did to save money today:
1) Made up the rice for homemade sushi for tonight's dinner...did up extra for lunches for tomorrow.
2) Hung a load of laundry.
So far that's it, but there's still time in the day if I can think of something else to do.

Three Cheers! I met my no spend goal!
It was iffy there for a while, and certainly harder than I thought that it would be, but I did it...today is day number 10 this month of not spending any money! October is right around the corner, and I think I'll up it to 12 no spend days. I'd like to do 14, but Christmas is coming and shopping will be at a prime for me!

Things I did to save money today:
1) Hung up a load of laundry.
2) Went for a walk with dh this morning and when he suggested going to IHOP for breakfast, I suggested going home and making our own...
3) Baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and doubled the recipe, froze half in pucks for next time we are out of cookies.
4) Am in the process of dough rising for cinnamon buns, which ds11 pointed out on Saturday I have not made in some time.

I think that's it...I have a busy afternoon and work tomorrow until 2:30. Then I don't work again until Thursday night--Yay!

Very long day at work...stuff that should have been sent to me by 3:30, arrived at 8:00...yikes!

Had a no spend day, which was good, because I was really tempted to buy fries and gravy at work to snack on around 4:00. Instead I ate the apple that I had brought from home. I think that's 8 no spend days out of the ten I wanted to have in September, but I'll have to go back through my journal to check.

Came home, warmed up the plate of dinner that dh left in the fridge for me and watched the season premiere of 'Desperate Housewives'. I think that show is so funny!

Things I did to save money today:
1) Took tortillas and grated cheese out of the freezer for dh and kids to have for lunch...otherwise they go buy frozen pizzas at the store. This way they have enough for lunches for tomorrow.
2) Didn't shower this morning...had one late yesterday, so I just washed up and straightened my hair. I have really curly, long hair, so I either have to wash it and let it dry naturally, or straighten it with the hair straightener, otherwise it's a big fuzzball mess.
3) Brought leftovers from last night's dinner to work for lunch.

Tomorrow all three kids have school 8:30-2:30. Dd has an ortho appt at 2:40, and gymnastics at 3:30-5:00. I have a kindergarten parent meeting at 7:00. It's my nephew's birthday. Ds5 has rollerblading so I will help out with that at the school in the morning, after I do some work for the fundraising committee. I should have some time to myself...don't know what I'll do with it, though.

...just checked...and that makes 9 no spend days this month...one more this week and I met my goal. I am proud! And we still have 30.00 left in the grocery envelope, too. Next month I will increase my no spend days, and decrease my grocery money.
We can do this successfully!

Took ds11 we me to fill up the van with gasoling--67 buckeroos--ouch!

We went and bought lunch from the hot dog vendor. Two huge polish dogs, two pops and tip for $7.00. We sat in the sun and ate and chatted. It was nice. When we got home we walked ds5 down to his cousin's to play and ds11 and dd9 and I went to get Slurpees, which they paid for out of their own money. Tonight dh and I are going with sil and bil to a fancy buffet dinner that I got free from work, but we will have to pay for drinks and a sitter, and it's in a casino so if dh wants to gamble a bit that also comes out of pocket. I wish free meant free.

Dh has agreed to go on an envelope system for groceries and spending money. He's going to get $200 every month to do with as he wants. This will include beer and lottery tickets--the two things that I think are a total waste of money. We rarely fight, but I admit that I will battle on this when I'm frustrated. His point is that he hardly spends any money and this is what he wants to spend it on. I hope that with this new system since I already have budgeted his spending money I won't care or want to micromanage it. I did point out this morning that I'm not his parent and don't want to have to feel like I am. We'll see how this goes!

We are going to be so busy at work tonight with a fundraiser...that part is fine. Unfortunately, when I got to work yesterday I found out that in the morning one cook and two managers had been let go. The chaos from this is going to be huge--we've had so many changes in the last year with the company being bought by a large corporation, and this just adds fuel to the fire. I think that my job is pretty secure...that sort of lower middle management position where I do some of everything...I'm trying to lay low and avoid the confusion as much as possible.

Dh brought home a beautiful birthday cake for me yesterday. It had a marzipan and raspberry layer and was iced with real whipped cream-it was so good. (probably about 3 million trillion zillion calories per piece, too, but once a year! I better get those walking shoes moving.)

Dd is still sick. She's a kid who is never ill and can't stand missing a day of school. Well, she's in grade four, so this will probably change with time! I saw her teacher today and brought home some homework for her for the weekend. Unfortunately, with her being sick she can't do her paper route today and so ds11 will be doing it by himself. This generally leads to whining and complaining on his part, but not always, as he'll get more money on payday than she does. Those two get along so well it's unbelievable. They have always been close and rarely fight or argue. It's ds11 and ds5 who fight--not physically, but they yell and argue. Ds11 eggs on his younger brother who then loses his temper. It's great fun in the morning when we're running behind schedule!

Yesterday was a no spend day--I think that makes 7 this month. I don't know if I'll make my 10. I have to buy some stuff for work today, but I'm not counting that because I'll get paid back tonight when I hand in my receipt, and the purchases are not for me.

I'm going to go get what we need, and come home and hopefully have a quick nap before I leave for work.

Yes, it is my birthday...the big 39! We sort of celebrated last night by going out for dinner after Meet the Teacher night. We had Chinese food, one of my favourites! When I was shopping with my friend on Monday, I found the perfume that I love for $85.00 a bottle. Starting on Saturday it comes with some promotional make up and a purse that's really cute. The cashier gave me her card and wrote all the information down for me to give to dh. He called her, and paid over the phone, but he can't get it until Saturday. This doesn't bother me in the least because I know he spent money on something that I really want and didn't wander around the mall for 2 hours and then buy a present just because he feels that he has to. Everyone had cards for me this morning and I was given a dozen red roses..very nice!

My friend was taking me for lunch today but dd9 is sick with the flu that I had last week, so I'll see if we can go tomorrow instead. I work at 4:00pm today and tomorrow.

Yesterday I took back the skirt and exchanged a shirt for the proper size, bought some nylons and a Christmas present, so it was not a no spend day. Hopefully today will be one. I have leftover Chinese food to take for dinner.

Dh started his new job and is unsure whether he likes it. He had been at his previous job 15 years, started at the bottom and worked his way up. Leaving there was a huge decision for him but the 2.5 hour commute each day was becoming ridiculous. The job he has now is from home for the time being and he will be moving into an office 5 minutes from home in the next few months. I think that I've convinced him to stick it out until at least Christmas and by then he'll have a better idea of what's going on. He may just be overwhelmed with all that he has to learn. I hope so.

Well, ds5 has gymnastics this morning and then we'll be coming home to do some cleaning. I'm a big fan of Flylady and haven't been following for a few weeks. I really need to get back in my routine. I think with working so much and the kids back in school, I got distracted with other things that needed to be done. My mom always says, " A clean house is a sign of having nothing better to do." You can imagine what my house looked like growing up and I really like a tidy home!

My friend and I dropped off our kids at school, went out for breakfast (we shared an order of eggs benedict!) and clothes shopped for 4 hours. I did not find anything that I wanted to buy but I did decide to return one of the skirts that I bought last week. It's a suede, dark chocolate brown. I can't find shoes that would match it and don't wear a lot of brown or beige, but it looked great on and my Mom persuaded me to get it...it's better in the store than my closet, so Wednesday I will go and return it--good shopping on my part.

I will be picking the kids up from school soon. Laundry's going, brownies and breadsticks are in the oven, roast beef is in the crockpot. Dd has gymnastics after school, and I have a PAC meeting at 7:00. Hopefully, it will be a short one and I can be home by 8:00, and off to bed. I'm feeling much better, but not 100% and I work tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday...ooooh!

Still got the flu--now it's in my chest and my voice is going. My kids are loving it, the theory being that if they can't hear me, I must not be talking to them! Luckily, everyone else feels better.

Had a no spend day Friday and today. Friday was super busy at work. One of my managers treated me to dinner. He's a nice guy and the other two people that we work with were away at another function, so he and I were left behind and sooo smoking busy. I love nights like that!

Yesterday dh and I took the kids to a car rally. The cars were all from the 50's and earlier. They all loved it and had hot dogs and cotton candy. In the evening dh and I went to our friends' 25th wedding anniversary. They are a great couple with two wonderful children (we named our dd after their daughter). We had a delicious meal and danced and chatted with people we haven't seen for awhile...had a good time.

This morning I did go into work for about 6 hours. I had some programming to do that had to be done and the other two people who know how to do it had the day off. I didn't want to call them in for me. I actually felt okay until after about the 4th hour and since I was there I finished up. I just got home. There's some leftover wonton soup in the fridge that I'm going to eat and then I'm going to bed. Dh and the kids have gone to McDonald's and sil's. I get quiet time--how nice!

Yep--the whole house is sick with the flu...except for ds5 who has loads of energy. I'm tired just watching him run around.

Got sent home from work yesterday. I think they were all tired of my croaky voice and coughing...very attractive, I'm sure.

Yesterday was a no spend day. I think that today will be another one. I may reach my goal yet. We have $100.00 left in our grocery budget for the month, but we have a full freezer and pretty full pantry, and should be fine. I will need to get fresh fruit, vegies, milk, bread, and butter, but other than that I can't think of anything that will need to be replenished.

Our investment counsellor is coming over later with some papers for dh to sign. We will now have his pension and all our rrsps switched over to one company. This should be easier for us to keep track. I hated having little bits at different locations.

So, although not a no spend day, I did well.

My Mom took me for breakfast and bought me two shirts and 3 pairs of earrings for my birthday next week. I bought 2 skirts and a pair of shoes with the money from my Dad. My work clothes have to be quite dressy, so my wardrobe is building up nicely. I hate wearing the same few things over and over... We had a really nice time together.

Went grocery shopping with ds5 and spent $72.00. I think I'll make the monthly grocery budget but it will be tight. Dh wanted to buy chocolate syrup the other day for chocolate milk but I vetoed it and then found a recipe on the net and made it as a surprise for him today. It was delicious-Hershey's better watch out!

Things I did today to save money:
1) Made homemade sushi for dinner instead of ordering it. Turned out great, we all pigged out, including dd9's best friend.
2) Made chocolate syrup from scratch instead of buying it.
3) Ate leftovers for lunch instead of starting a new meal from the pantry.
4) Bought huge quantities of flour and sugar because they were on major sale (even though I'm not out, now I should have enough to get me close to Christmas, when I'll have to restock for Christmas baking). I can now start my mixes.

Yay for me--no spend day number 4. Only 6 to go and I will be happy, happy, happy...

Dropped my youngest ds off at school. He was excited and happily went in his class. I cried all the way to work--one of my co-workers wiped the mascara smears off my face! Left work at 2:00 to go pick up kids. The kindergarten teacher told me he did great!

My Mom and I are going for breakfast tomorrow and then we'll do a little clothes shopping before I pick ds5 up from kindergarten at 11:10. Mom is buying me my choice of a birthday gift. I'm looking forward to spending some
quiet time with her.

I will have to pick up some groceries tomorrow after lunch. All 3 kids would like sushi for dinner, so we're going to try making some vegetable sushi for dinner... we sometimes pick up pre-made, but this will be fun to make with the kids and waaay cheaper!

Things I did today to save money:
1) Brought breakfast and lunch to work instead of buying it there.
2) Had tea and homemade brownies at home with ds11 instead of going to Starbucks with friend.
3) Will use books ordered from kids' school as Christmas gifts, instead of just letting them have them now.

I'm going to set a goal for myself to make one pre-made mix weekly. I'll hopefully have a cupboard full of mixes by November when I start working 3 nights a week. That will really help with quickie dinners, and dh will be less apt to go for convenience food if I've started the convenience part...

Yay! Another no spend day--that makes 3 out of 10 for the month. Tomorrow will hopefully be another one.

Ways I saved money today:
1) Hung up a load of laundry.
2) Baked zucchini muffins, and brownies. Froze half the muffins for school lunches.
3) Made homemade pretzel buns. When we were out on Saturday ds11 had a soft pretzel bun from the bakery and the kids all loved it. I went on the internet, found a recipe for soft pretzels, and made the buns. I had to sprinkle regular salt on the top because I didn't have any coarse salt, but they turned out yummy! Everyone has one packed in their lunch for tomorrow.
4) Threw the shower curtain and liner in the washing machine with towels. Usually I throw out the liner and buy a new one but I thought I would try this first and it cleaned really well. Hung them back up straight out of the washing machine. I don't think the liner can go in the dryer anyways, and really, does it make sense to dry it?

The kids are in bed, lunches are packed (with the exception of the pasta that will go into their thermoses in the morning), backpacks are by the door, and clothes are laid out. Tomorrow is ds5's first day of kindergarten and he is so excited! I will be dropping the kids off at school, working from 9-2 and picking them up on my way home. I'm glad to be going to work--don't want to think too much about my last baby going to school. I bawled with my first, cried with my second, and think if I drip a few tears tomorrow, oh well! As long as he doesn't know, I don't care! I'm sure I'll get used to the freedom fairly quickly.

We decided to take the kids to a fall fair yesterday. We got there and it was 12 bucks to get in and then all the activities inside cost money. We decided to forgo the fair and we went for a little hike in a park nearby instead. We stopped at a warehouse store on the way home and spent $25.00 there and then went to Red Robin's for lunch/dinner and spent 45 dollars. I was okay with that...we could have come home and made something but dh had already told the kids we were going out to eat. My kids love to eat out!

I won a $100.00 gift certificate to Future Shop through my work. Last winter we bought a dvd player that didn't work. I had taken it back and got the money back but never bought another one, so we used the gift certificate plus $120.00 of our money to buy a dvd/vcr/mp3 combo. We certainly didn't need anything quite this fancy, but dh really wanted it. I would have bought the cheaper model if it had been up to just me, but he usually doesn't give an opinion on major purchases, so I didn't argue with him. Well, I did give my opinion, but he chose to not take my advice, and I didn't care enough to push the point.

Today at work I bought breakfast. With my meal and tip I only spent $4.00. Shoot! I could have brought something from home and had a no spend day--just realized that!

Finishing yesterday's entry, now...
After the periodontist appointment, I took ds11 to school and then went to sign up ds5 and dd9 for their gymnastics. There was a $25.00 gym membership for each of them for the year and then it's 60 per month for dd and 45 per month for ds. Ouch! Then we went to register dd for Girl Guides and spent 70 dollars there.
I don't even want to think of the grand total...

Friday for work I attended a fundraiser ball. It was beautiful and the food was delicious. I did buy a gorgeous top to wear, but stayed with a skirt and shoes from my closet. The blouse cost me 50 bucks (including a necklace to go with it!), but my birthday is coming up and my Dad always sends a generous cheque. So this year I'm going to buy clothes...Happy Birthday to me!

Ds11 is sick, just a stomach flu. It's my day off today so I think we're just going to hang out and relax--maybe go for a walk later if ds feels better.

Ds11 does not have to have gum surgery at this point. We will check back in a year to see how things look, but it's a no go at this point. We spent 10 minutes with the periodontist to the tune of $100.00! Ds looked at me after I paid and said "He gets paid like 10 bucks a minute. If it costs that much just for what he did, how much will my braces cost? Are we going to have to live on the street because we can't afford our house anymore?".
Dh told him that's why he had to get a paper route. LOL! We'll get $65.00 back from my dental plan at work.

My brother and I run the fundraising committee at the kids' school...well, we are the only two people on it, so I guess we run eachother. First full day of school yesterday and we were right back at it. We've decided to only do 3 fundraisers this year so it should be pretty easy...they all sell well and we've done them before and, although time consuming, they're not difficult. I'm looking forward to working with my brother, too. We have always been close and he lived 3000 miles away for about 10 years and I really missed him. So glad to have him live so close to me now.

Yesterday was not a no spend day as I had hoped. I spent $8.00 on groceries-big bag of rice, macaroni and cheese, and shake and bake (not a necessity, but soooo good). I also had to hand in $35.00 for kindergarten supplies for the year. Today I'm going to sign the kids up for their fall activities so that will cost about $500.00, but will be spread out over the next few months. They each must pick one activity to be involved in, and are allowed to do two.

Ds11 has a periodontist appointment today. Apparently he has thin gums and needs some minor surgery to repair this. This will be very interesting, as a simple filling is enough to revert him back to the tantruming stages of a terrible two year old. He simply cannot stand having his mouth worked on, which will be great because he gets braces in the new year! Poor guy!

I'll plan for a no spend day tomorrow.

First day of school went well. The older kids are in temporary classrooms this week until the school figures out how many kids are in each grade, whether there needs to be split classes etc. I really hope that the kids stay in the classes that they're in now because I really like their teachers. Ds5 has a meeting with his kindergarten teacher tomorrow and then my friend is taking him out to breakfast to celebrate his first day of school...she doesn't have kids and she spoils him rotten. The love is returned in multitudes and ds5 calls her his girlfriend and says when he grows up he's buying her a truck, a car, a bus, and a boat!

Tomorrow I have the kindergarten meeting, some fundraising organizing to do for the school and a funeral to go to for my friend's little boy--he was only 10 years old and had been sick for a long time. It's very sad and unfair to have to watch this and I hurt so much for his parents. Not much to say on this subject right now...

Luckily, I don't work tomorrow. I work Thursday and Friday from 4:00-whenever I want and have Saturday off.

Today I spent $4.00 on groceries, $8.00 on chocolates for a co-worker who has helped me out tremendously the past week getting my work done, and $11.00 on dinner for myself and my boss who often treats me to lunch or dinner and never lets me pay for her!

I'm hoping tomorrow will be a no-spend day--that would be 3 out of 10 for September!

This is my second no spend day of September--I'm trying for 10 and I think that I should be able to do it easily!

Back to school for the kids tomorrow which means back to a routine for me. I washed, dried, and folded 4 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, took ds5 and nephew to the park, got dinner started, and made new lists for each of the kids showing before bed routines and morning routines. I always start off the school year with them making their own lunches and putting their clothes out for the next day and usually by October the whole plan is blown out of the water and I do it all. I'm trying to hold out this year, be the mean mommy that I know I can be, and make life easy for any future dils I may have...it's my own fault for spoiling my own kids. When I was growing up, we had tons of responsibilities (comes with the territory of a single working mom) and I want my kids to be kids and not deal with what we went through. However, that does not mean that I should still be packing lunches and backpacks for them!

I'm off to iron my clothes for work. I'm doing the 4:00-11:00pm shift as a favour for a friend. Last time!

Yay! I'm home alone! Dh took the kids to his brother's house for dinner and I just got off work and have about 3 hours ALL TO MYSELF! I love being home alone...it is so rare. Just the cat and I in a quiet, silent, peaceful house...blissful!

Worked from 8:00am-6:00pm today. On Tuesday I start my new position so if I don't want to work such a long Sunday I don't have to...I get to pretty much choose my own hours and I can't wait!

Didn't spend anything today. I brought breakfast (banana, cereal bar, and yogurt) and lunch (baked potato and leftover pork roast from Friday). I was going to stop and get dinner (either sushi or Chinese food) and treat myself but when I thought over how much I spent last week on school clothes, groceries, and the movie day, I changed my mind and will eat something later if I get hungry. We have leftover roast from last night so that's what I'll eat if I'm going to have something.

Dd9's first major ortho payment is due this month to the tune of $1000.00--after this it's $150.00 every month for the next 17 months...oh, wait! it gets better...ds11 gets his braces on in January and that will be one payment of $1500.00 and $200.00 per month for I don't know how long. Oh well, my parents paid for my teeth and both of them have actually offered to make payments if we need them to. It won't come to that, but it sure was nice of them to offer. We have the money for both major payments, so it's not too big a deal. I just hate emptying out the account when we try so hard to save!

I'm off now to enjoy my quiet time!

Slept in until 11:15 am! I could hear the kids every so often but not enough to really wake up...besides dh was home and lying in bed watching t.v. If anything major crashed he would have gotten up!

Spent 40 bucks at the movies yesterday...that's admission for 5 and popcorn and drinks, too. We don't go often, now I know why. The new theatre near us charges 12.50 for adult admission, so dh and I have only gone there once and we used a 2 for 1 coupon. My nephew's bday party was there a few weeks ago and I shudder to think what the cost for that was.

Today I spent 45 dollars on gas for the van and 25.00 on groceries and hygiene items, which puts our grocery amount at 210.00 for September...only 27 days left and 240.00 dollars...I think I can...I think I can...

The kids start school on Tuesday and my ds5 starts kindergarten the week after. I love having them home (I really enjoy my kids--they are very entertaining!), but I'm ready to get back into our routine and I'm excited about starting my new position at work. I'm hoping a nice raise comes with it! Dh accepted a new job really close to home, only 23 hours a week but great pay, so we will manage nicely. The great part is that the job he's been working at temporarily for the last month told him that if he wants to work one or two days a week with them then that's fine. Work will be available for him there until at least the new year...extra money that we don't really need. I love it! I think we might start saving for another trip to Disneyland. I turn 40 next year and I would love to be in Disneyland for my 40th birthday. That would be so cool.

I'm going to put in a roast for dinner tonight with some carrots and potatoes and corn from the garden. I meant to put it in the crockpot this morning, but blew the day with my sleep in!

We went to the mall and bought my son's friend (used to be close, now my son informs me he doesn't really like him anymore) a birthday gift...our family is quite close to theirs and his mom and I help eachother out with childcare every so often. We spent 22.00--I usually try to stick to under 15.00, but made an exception here.

I'm taking my 3 kids and my niece to Madagascar this afternoon. End of the summer treat for them and it 's a matinee but will still cost 5 bucks each plus snacks. I don't bring our own snacks into the theatre because, as tempting as it is, there are signs all over saying it's not allowed and I'm very picky about stuff like that, especially when I have my kids with me. I don't believe in breaking rules just to save money. I think it teaches kids to cheat, but I do know lots of people who do stuff like lying about their kids ages to get them in cheaper etc. To each their own, I guess!

I work my last late night shift tonight...from now on I will be sleeping at 3:00am just like all other normal people!

We set our September grocery budget at $450.00. Today I went to Costco and spent 185.00. We were pretty scarce on the food front at home and we got enough for 22 dinners, so I'm happy because that will almost take us through September...add in a couple of leftover nights, pots of soup, take out a couple of times, and I think we might make it. Each week I'll have to get fruit and vegies, milk, bread and lunch meat, so we have a good chance of making our goal.

August's goal was 350.00 and we were over by 3.56. VERY HAPPY!

So my little 4 hour shift today turned into a 6.5 hour nightmare! The person who was supposed to send me the information I needed didn't send it until way after the time that it should have been there. By the time I had downloaded it and printed it I was really late for picking up my kids and for my dad's birthday dinner. According to my sil, my kids and her kids did not behave their best today, either. I feel bad because she offered to take them for me and have my dad's dinner at her house, so she was really helping me out and then she supremely got the short end of the stick with poorly behaved kids, me working way later than I thought and my dh having to put in 2 hours of overtime to get his job done on time. Oh! What a day! That's the thing about family, I guess. Next time it will be my turn to cover for her. She was very good about it, though. We get along very well, although I wouldn't say we were great friends. I'm very close to my brother, but sil and I are just very different personality-wise.

I'm so glad that tomorrow is September! My favourite month...I love fall and back to school and my birthday is in September, too. We're going to do a big grocery shop tomorrow.

The extra 20 dollars that my work owed me ended up being 65.00 because I received money from something else that I had done that I didn't know I'd be getting extra for...so I actually ended a month with spending money in my wallet--what a concept! This is the last week where I'll be covering two positions. Next week I start full time doing the job that I love with my favourite manager of all time! I'll be working in her office with her some days and then evenings on my own. I got a new desk, a phone, and a laptop...I am very excited!