I was doing some math and last year I believe I spent close to $300 each on both my Husband and Son. I also spent close to $200 each on my Step-daughters. I realize I totally go over board; it is not that we cant afford it because we can I just need to learn I dont have to buy every single thing the kids ask for.

This year; my spending goal is $110-$150 total.

When DH gets home he will get the smoker I purchased for him this fall, so I am not including that in my numbers. I need to buy something for my grandmother, and my cousin and her family and of course my son.

Since I sent items close to $250 in value to StepDaughter 2 for her birthday this year and did not get a note, text, email, or call; I have desided the girls will wait until DH gets home and he can deside what to do about a holiday present. At Christmas she said she wanted a IPOD for her Birthday (June) and since I happen to have one- my anniversery gift which I never got around to loading/using I sent her that and some other items.

I have desided that DH needs to handle the gifts for the girls because prior to this I sent gifts to the other daughter and one of her sisters was just plain rude to DH about them being the wrong size.

I purchased her some very nice Cute clothes; I was told she had no/very little clothes as their house was burnt down (arson possibly) which was not covered by insurance as they suspected a family member. When I went to buy her a holiday gift all I was told was that she was a big girl; since she was 12 years old I figured clothes my Size would fit or be a bit big that she could grow into. Of course DH felt bad that I was upset about the gift flop; exspecially since I had asked him to get her exact size and he had told me to just go a little bigger than a 12 year old girl would wear.

Her half sister throw the clothes in DHs face and said these would never fit her. I dont know what they ended up doing with the clothes; I think the snotty half sister and her twin ended up getting them; DH ended up taking his daughter shopping before he came home.

Back to his Summer and Gift giving in general; Am I wrong because I think that if the person buying you the gift is not there to see you open it, you need to atleast acknownledge you recieved it.

Am I bad person for wanting to skip the girls all together or send them a small check in the mail; because they dont apprieciate what they get?

On Friday I went to the store and purchased a coat it was on sale for $49.99 down from regular price of $180.00. I also had a coupon spend $50 get $10 off, so spend one more cent and save $9.99 or buy anything $10.01 or less and get it free and the difference off the coat.

I was trying to find a single pair of socks or something on clearance for $1 to make this a super deal but the clearance racks were all gone. They must have had sidewalk sales last week or something. Anyway DS needed underwear so I bought a 7 pack of hanes for $8.99. That means they were free with the coat purchase and I saved an additional $1.01 off the coat. All the underwear was the same price the only difference was the white pairs where larger packs than the colored.

Today I am thinking I have yet to take the stuff out of the bag; yesterday I was thinking that for the same price I could find a nice 4 in 1 which is what this is at Wal-Mart for the same price. Should I just find a heavy one piece coat (cheaper)? Maybe I should wait until Christmas and use the Gift Card that I think I will get from my dad to buy a coat. Or maybe I should just keep wearing the liner from my work coat like I have been.

The total after tax is $51.92 and I keep thinking if I return it before the 15th I can remove it from my spending tracker. I am tracking my spending every penny, breaking it into pay periods on the top is the income and than I track my spending with a total at the bottom. I am interested in my food costs; I have been doing a lot of subway lately; but how do you beat a foot long for $4.28 after tax when you don’t feel like cooking. Yeah the $5 foot longs are now $4 for a limited time at at-least two of my local subways. For two of us that ends up being $2.14 a person

Well Santa will be bring me "The Proposal" DVD. I realized two years ago that DS is a very smart cookie. So I need to stuff my own stocking also.

He asked "Why did Santa not get you much Mommy?" Well in my head I was thinking this is what happens when I leave it up to DH to buy me one or two $5 surprizes to stick in it. At the last minute I ended up taking the books I had on my dresser in my room and sticking them in the stocking so mine would not be bear while the stocking for DS & DH were overflowing with thoughtfull gifts. And yes I told DH often I expected him to complete this small task.

I went online to see if I could get a deal off of EBAY or Amazon and ended up buying it off Wal-Mart dot com. They had free shipping and so after tax and all I ended up saving a little over $5 from buying it instore.

I usually never buy DVDs for myself; I have about 7 DVDs they are my favorites and that is all I keep. First I dont like clutter and secondly I hate the thought of the expense when people have like thousands of DVD at $16 - $20 a piece. I normally rent DVDs as most movies I watch once and then have no desire to watch them again. Renting a movie cost between $1 and $3.50 depending on how new it is, so renting is a savings of $15 to $19.

Well I rented that movie on Friday and watched twice in a row Friday night, last night I watched it right before bed. I like the movie enough to buy it for my collection. I wish life was as simple as the movie protrays, hard working female finds hard working male with great family and they fall in love. Of course the movie ends there and you will never know or are even lead to wonder if they are a true love fit. (PS can you tell I have been reading "Five Love Languauges")? Truthfully all me favorites fall along this lines. My Collection is Never Been Kissed; Ever After; Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; Maid in Manhatten; Sweet Home Alabama; & Two Week Notice. Now at one time I had While you were sleeping and it falls along the same lines, I cant find that movie so I may have to look and see if it ends up as one of those $5 christmas DVD deals and restock my collection.

What does my collection truly say about me? Is that what I hope for? Do I want a hard working guy and want to fall in love with someone who meets my needs (acts of service-love language) who I can return love to?

Surprizing though was the conversation that came out of watching that movie; my son asked who asked who to marry who. I said I asked his daddy. His answer was why did you do that; you can only pick once you got to pick right. WTH??? Now that I think back DH did ask me, I guess I momentarlly blocked out the proposal; but I was the one who finally said enough was enough lets elope and we sealed the deal within 3 days of deciding to elope.

Lately I have been having alot of dreams at night. I never remember my dreams or even remember dreaming but lately not only to remember them they all are falling into the lines of Me finding someone who understands me and a give and take relationship not the me giving and giving and giving that I am in now.

I guess my mind is telling me if I dont get out off my Toxic relationship I cant do better.

Well talked to DH today. Sadly he told me his plan for his computer building business.

Now maybe I am being too negative but do you think this is a good idea?

My Dh is planning to build Very basic non-name brand computers and sell them on Ebay. He wants to build a $150 computer (charging the parts on the credit card), sell it as a buy now or a bidding option with a reserve for $250 then use the profit to pay off the Credit Card and roll the profit to the expense of building the next computer and on and on.

He plans to include all paperwork that comes with the parts, but dont you think if someone was buying a basic computer (with no software); then they could build there own. I know I would not want to buy a computer without at least a opperating system. He plans to install the software to make sure it works than uninstall it right before shipping.

Note he has never sold ANYTHING on Ebay let alone a computer that need to work after shipping across the country.

His disclaimer is if it does not SELL than that is a computer for DS. The thing is we probubly have all the parts needed to build a computer for DS already around the house; but they are not new so the parts are not something to stake a new ebay identy on.

The other thing that gets me is Walmart sell computers for like $388 including WARRENTY and software loaded, why buy a no software computer off of ebay for $250 than pay for all the software when you can buy it with Software and all from Wal-Mart for $138 more.
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On a side note, not sure how it came up but DH was asking about a Flat Screen Tv to watch movies on and I Said to him. " Well is that a Short term or a Mid term Goal?" He did not really like that answer.

Truthfully I am not sure what to do, part of me KNOWS he is not going to get a job so goals are pointless and that I am going to end up talking to a divorce lawyer; But the other part of me feels guilty for not giving him that 250th chance to do the right thing and prove me wrong for the first time in our 7 year marraige.

I have a large rock I would call a boulder in my yard, and three large rocks. The three rocks could be moved with a bobcat, not so sure on the boulder one.

We wanted to make a pretty landscape with the rocks, but now I just want them gone. I plan to put an ad online to offer them to someone doing landscaping.

I am wondering if I would get a larger call volume if I offered them for FREE or if I listed them Cheap (like $5). I need to get rid of them before it snows or it will have to wait until summer when the ground is hard again. I have a silly fear that if I wait too long they will build behind my house and then the person removing the rock is going to have to drive the equiptment on my grass instead of the empty lot.

The reason I say it is a silly fear, is the empty lot is very long and narrow. The back end has a wierd easement to it because the last 1/3 is like a water catch incase the water tower floods. Anyway the lot is priced by overall size and not by usable space and I am not sure how you would put a house on the lot and still meet city border rules.

Every year my work throws a halloween party for the children of the employees. At one of the office building locations the staff dresses up and the offices and hallways are done up.

I received this years photo, one of the things they do is set up a professional photographer and they take pictures of the children (and families if you want). It is free, everything is free.

Every year more and more children come; this year they believe 200 children went through.

I have all five years of photos on my computer at work. It is amazing how much my little guy has changed. Year one he was two years old and his costume was a 101 dalmations sweatsuit with cute ears on the hood. Can you say cute and frugle? The next year he was three and man he looked so much older, last year looking at his face he really looked like me.

This year he looks like his daddy. He sure has grown up. Truthfully this is my favorite event we do for halloween, hopefully I can get him to go next year. This year it was much more dark than it has been in the past, but I wonder if that had to do with the children getting older. Oh well I noticed alot more scared children this year than last year so maybe next year they will ton it down. The offices get to pick the theme and they have a contest for the best theme.

Oh well maybe next year I will have to take him just for the picture and he can decide if he wants to just have the yummy popcorn and drink they offer and than leave.

Okay maybe it has nothing to do with that, but this morning DS was hungry and I gave him lunch options. The clock said 10:13 but it was really only 9:13am.

DS has sadly been really chowing down on candy. He got a bunch of stuff again this year. He got four packs of fruit snack which will be repurposed as filler for his cold lunches. He also got three juice drinks (Which is his favorite thing to get).

I need to fix his costume, as we were stepping off the curb at my aunts to get in the car to go home, DS tripped and he came down on one knee and his hand. So there is a tiny hole in the knee. He was talking of wearing it again next year. I got it last year after Halloween for 50% off. It was still $12.50 but it is a cool nascar driver costume.

One thing I like about getting the costume the year before is some of the costumes are only available that year and so next year you are one of a kind instead of one of twelve of the same.

I know growing up I used to love playing dress up, with girls they sell play clothes in the toy depatment yearly; but for boys the best time to get them is holloween. The weeks after halloween to be exact. Two years ago I got like 6 costumes for $1 each. and four costumes for $3 each. I had purchased two of the $3 ones to give as gifts for my cousins son who loves to dress up but he had already got them; I sold one of the $3 ones last year before halloween for $5; and the other one when to the play clothes box when the duplicate because to dirty to be worn. Man that fabric doesnt clean well.

Today the 5 things I want to knock out are:

1. CVS shopping; DH called and he needs gas-x, we also need 9 voit batteries to replace in the fire alarms, and finally they have the razor DH uses FREE after ECB and manufacter coupon that I have.

2. Clean DS bedroom

3. Clean Master bathroom

4. Clean Kitchen: Load dishwasher, wipe counters and sink, and take out garbage

5. Get Cash to pay DS his allowance.

I got my computer back from the company. They replaced the hard drive. Now I am resetting all my favorites after loading my printer and internet.

I went into one of my personal email accounts and low and behold I found the email to myslef from my work email reminding me to order Microsoft Office Standard 2007. I want it and it does not come on my new laptop.

I can get 1 copy for $49.99 (per account) until the 31st of Dec. One copy can be loaded on two computers. I have a desktop computer and a laptop and my husband has a desktop and laptop so technically we have a need for atleast two copies. DH is not totally crazy about having to have Office on his computers so I am pretty sure I will save a usage for the computer DH will be building DS once he gets home. Since DS is in school I think it will be a good thing for him.

I went and ordered a copy under my account and a few work uniform items then logged into DH's account and ordered a copy under that account. There was not a limit when this deal was first sent out but I guess copies have been showing up on ebay and it is against the policy to buy from this site for purpose of resale. I wish I would have acted sooner since we are a BIG computer family and would have liked to be able to put it on all the computers.

$49.99 for two application is 24.99 for each computer which is totally awesome. Of course that is $100 spent.

+++++
On a side note I have been thinking of Christmas.
I want:
A small handvac (dyson)
2 Wii Games (biggest loser & Jillian 2010)
Laptop case
Small printer

I also want to find:
Digital Camera for DS (Kodak under $50)
Leapter2 Game for DS

The handvac would be nice for my stairs, I have a canister vac and since the only carpet in my house is on the stairs something smaller would be great. The small printer I think I will be buying with the assistance of Staples ink rewards.

Today is a work holiday for me, not DS so I dropped DS off at School and while driving there I realized much to my dismay that it is VERY icy under the light snow.

I hate slipping and sliding. Anyway saw way to many near miss accidents and a few nonmisses that I am not going to be doing the errands I was planning to do today.

If the weather warms up and the roads melt off, I will do them this afternoon. No point in messing with Murphy when I already have a washer needing fixing.

I came home and shoveled snow, I will finish folding and putting away laundry and adding a few more things to my car trunk to drop off at the thrift store for donation (hopefully this afternoon).

This morning while sitting with DS while he was drinking his medicine and eatting breakfast I openned some mail on my table. What was it a note from the CC that expired on the 30th of September that I never recieved. They plan on adding a $29 per year annual fee. Well I guess it is time for me to pay off that card and cancel. I have until December so I will pay it in full here either the 15th or the 1st and then call and cancel.

The last time I called to cancel a credit card with an annual fee they told me they also offered one without an annual fee, I wonder if that is going to happen this time. If so I will keep the card as I like having two cards plus my debit card. But if not oh well bye bye Bank of America.

My Washer that I bought in April of 2007 (Out of warranty), will not drain.

Silly me (okay I am using another s word at the thought of a repair man). I opened it mid cycle (was going to add am item). And I guess that comfused it so now it is giving me a F01 Error code, and according to the wonderfully internet I am reading that means my CCU is fried. Hope replacing the CCU is not expensive. Not sure what a CCU is but I think it is like the motherboard in a computer except in a washer.

I priced a new washer so I know when a repair is no longer worth it, $1000 and sadly I paid $1400 for BOTH my washer and drier in 2007. What is up with that I thought the economy was supposedly bringing costs down. Will call tomorrow and hopefully get something scheduled for Monday.

I am really sad about having to pay for a washer repair while trying to pay off my special assessments before the 28th of the month.

S word here, I was going to say I hope they take credit cards so I could hold off paying until the 1st but off course I dont have a cc at this time because CC1 did not send me my new card, and I could not find CC2 when I went looking for it when I was trying to fix my laptop.

F F F (ARRRRRRGGG)

Sorry for the foul language but I am really upset.

Yesterday I got a NEW pair of work boots. Yes they are brand new!! We have about six members of the full time crew relocating for a year. The two that have offices across the main hall from mine were cleaning out their offices and tossing stuff in a big waste can. Today the offices even got more cleared out as the furniture was removed from the rooms so that the carpets could be shampooed before the furniture got put back in.

Anyway yesterday I am walking down the main hall and what is on top of the big garbage can, a NEW pair of work boots. I took them, no point in a NEW $50 pair of boots going to the dump. They are half a size bigger than I wear, so I will be replacing the insole with a thicker insole and that should make them fit. If after replacing the insoles they still feel to big, I will be taking them to my favorite resale shop for $$$$$. I will be lucky if I get $5 or $7 for the boots but hay they were FREE and I kept them out of the landfill.

After reading another bloggers post on the issues she is having due to her husband having ADHD. I am wondering...

Is DHs problem his ADHD, or is it his PTSD or is it both? DH always had a problem with White Lies, promising he would do stuff then never doing it, and needing to spend money. But since he was dignosed with PTSD the inability to see the results of his actions has been a major issue with me.

Do you think it is the PTSD or is it the combination of the two that is making it so bad. I just am so at the end of my rope and this is just another light bulb moment that might explain alot.

I have been thinking lately of talking with a counseler because every day I am noticing I am less and less able to cope with the stressers in my life.

Prior to DH leaving for out of state work, I would ask him to do things around the house since he was home and I was working full time. He could never get to it because he was too busy making time to play xbox 360 and on the computer. My husband wanted me to send him something as he burned through the $1200 blow money that I gave him to last the year in 32 days. I have finally gotten around to doing it because I have been busy taking care of our home and the housework, working full time and being a full time care giver to our son who is extremely needy lately. I think he asked like weekly for a month; I so wanted to tell him "Hay hows it feel to ask and ask for someone to do something and they dont do it because they are BUSY!" Of course my busy and his busy are also two major different things.

Of course I have not said it, but I am wondering if it would be healthier to just come out and say it so that he knows I am not going to tolerate that when he comes home from work.

Went to the library, got Spin Doctor By Leslie Carrol, THE TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER By Dave Ramsey, Kids & Money By Jayne A. Pearl, And Reader's Digest Penny Pinchers Almanac.

I also went to Kohl's today to spend my kohls cash that I received the last time I went shopping. I had $20 that I had to use before the 7th or it was useless. I was hopeing to go in and buy Shoes for me but after looking they did not have what I wanted in my size. So I ended up buying a WII game for my son and a birthday card. I spent $6, which for a birthday card and a WII game is awesome. I am sure there would have been some clothing I could have gotten and put away in the closet for DS to grow into but really could not find anything.

What is the deal with skulls on all the kids clothes this year? I will not allow my kid to wear skulls he has enough death messages with the line of work his parents are in he does not need to be wearing skulls. Sorry off topic.

I also bought a birthday card for a party on Monday this saved me a trip to Wal-Mart and a $50 trip, I spend $50 whenever I go to Wal-Mart these days it seems. I have desided to cut down on the PEZ collection of DH. Yep he is getting to keep the star wars ones but the rest of them are going as gift tags or gift fillers for the kids at Christmas. The Birthday Man on Monday likes Pez so he will be getting a four piece collection. His Family is four members so I figured one for each and I reduced clutter and got something he would enjoy.

Here is my 1K list of things I have purchased that have cost more than 1K. I will add more as I think of them.

If you notice a trend it is the cars which are all pretty spendy but the last two which we are both driving still are from 1999, so not so bad.

Another trend is 1200, why is my magic number 1200???

1,200 2009 Car Body Repair (Crushed Front Hood)
1,200 2009 DH Laptop
______ 2008 Sheetrock Basement/Garage
3,780 2008 Electrical finish Basement/ garage heaters
_____ 2008 Framing Basement
3,500 2008 Bedroom Set-King Bed Frame, three Dressers
2,000 2008 Sprinkler System
1,500 2008 (1988 Chevy Truck)
1,200 2008 Whirlpool Duet Sport Front load Washer and Dryer
38,898 2007 downpayment/closing on house
1,200 2006 DH Laptop
3,000 2003 Pregnancy and Delivery
8,000 2003 (1999 Honda Accord-Used DH)
2,000 2002 Honeymoon vacation and shopping
1,200 2001 Mattress and Boxspring
2,000 2000 School Loans (was more but gott paid partially by employer)
13,000 1999 Chevy Lumina (My Third Car-NEW)
1,200 1997 California Vacation
7,000 1996 P-brand (not Dodge) Neon (My Second Car-New)
3,000 1995 Surgery
1,200 1994 Ford Tempo (My first Car-Used)

** I will need to fill in the basement totals later but I know they were more than 1K.

137,000 Mortgage

Well the good news is, after taking all last week off to put down the topsoil and grass seed the day after I posted the pictures the grass sprouted.

How is it that it goes from zero to one inch tall in the time it take to water? What I mean is I checked it before watering and no growth checked it after watering to make sure I got water on all the areas and there was new grass an inch tall in areas.

Two and a half days until school starts. On the 26th at lunch we head to the school to meet the teacher and see the classroom and then add money to the lunch account (school) and the snack account (teacher).

Last year once every 20 days of class we would provide the snack, now there were peanut allergy kids in the class last year but this year DS teacher is asking we pay $15 every nine weeks to a snack fund. I was coming out way cheaper last year but oh well.

The other thing is last year after the nutrionist came to class DS started drinking milk again because they told him it was healthy this was after we had stopped using dairy and making some headway on his medical condition. BAD idea, that was a major nightmere. All I can say is if I am paying $15 every nine weeks for snacks then they better take his dairy allergies into account also.

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Different topic
Today I finally got the shelf that fell partially from the wall while DH was home all the way down. Basically the screws at the top of the brackets ripped out of the sheetrock. We need to use much longer screws but like I said it is a two person job. I was able to get the bottom bracket screws out by myself, so now I am able to restock the shelf that was under it that that shelf was leaning on after it ripped out of the wall.

I also got the brackets up to hang the ladder. Slowly the garage is getting cleanned up. I wish I could reinstall the shelf but because of the weight of the shelf it is a two person job.

Tomorrow I hope to pick up the limit of Carefree pantyliner which are free after ECBs. I have two computers so I was able to print enough coupons to make this a $1.00 Moneymaker per pack (limit of 4).

I plan on dropping these off at the local homeless shelter along with a bunch of other items I have been collecting from their need list they posted recently in the newspaper.

I also want the Composition notebooks that are free after ECBs. DS does not need composition notebooks so I am planning on donating these to the local back to school supply donation round up.

I have been waiting for a good deal on rechargable batteries. Energizer ones; I was able to print two coupons off the energizer website so after ECBs these will be $4.50 a pack. What a deal and frugle since they are not use and toss batteries.

Not bad, I will pick up three different items, two for donation to improve my community and one for me.

Three weeks, That is all I lasted. The first week was good, the second was okay, the first day of week three I desided to increase my food amounts retroactive to the first week.

I wanted to stockpile some back to school lunch items and have a little quick and easy items on hand for when I am just to tired to cook. Well after doing to All-You grocery challange My freezer and pantry were picked clean.

With all I was doing with the yard, I would pick up take out (Pizza $6.09, Subway $7.80, McDonalds $8.46) for a meal atleast twice a week.

I went to the grocery store and spent $100. Saved $30 with coupons. My freezer is now full my pantry has stuff for school lunches for DS, but I still want to pick up a few easy items for the pantry.

I could now make it on the $50 a week grocery budget but then what, will two or three weeks from now I need to stockpile and I spend an extra $50. I wonder if I failed because I started so low. Maybe I need to start higher and as weeks go by and I dont spend it all the amount can be reduced.

I totally discarded the clothing for me envie because I can go months without buying anything and then I will hit the thrift store or kohls and get what I NEED. I tend to shop for clothing once every six months so a monthly envie I carry around does not really work.

How do you do it, I really want to get on a budget instead of just spending. Truthfully though I need some savings goals.

I am so happy I could dance. This is our third summer in our new home (it was built), so landscaping was not done.

I took this week off from work so that I could get the landscaping done. I wanted to give the grass seed time to sprout and grow before winter. I would like to put winter weed and feed on it so it needs time to grow and be able to be mowed atleast three times before winter.

This last week was on the cool side so that made for ideal outside working conditions. I put down dirt, put down grass seed, and even put down edging all around the house. I put down the landscape fabric and am currently hold it down with some rocks and bricks that I had originally purchased to build a flower garden.

I did not like how hard it was to mow next to the brick so I took it out. They are serving a purpose now and I will probubly list them or donate them next year.

I hope it warms up a bit now that the grass seed is down to help it grow a bit faster.

I will add up the cost so far, (I may end up buying rock for the border). I know I did not come anywhere near the $5,000+ estimate that I got. I got an estimate for the work to be done because I was tired of it not being done. It also helped so I could see what we were saving by me doing it. Our neighbor had sod put down and grass seed sprayed in the backyard the first summer and he spent $15,000+. His yard is nice but I sure like the look of ours for so much less.

Well this is the final day of the third week of using envlopes.

I was budgeting 25 per person per week, but have desided to allow 30 per person per week. I tend to do major projects on the house/yard on the weekends and I put my all into it. Which means I want to increase the food budget so that I can plan for take out/fast food/delivery etc once per weekend.

I stopped at the grocery store today, they had pizza rolls on sale for $.88 I had four internet coupon to save $.55 off two so I got 8 boxes for $.61. I also got four 8 ounce cheese block for $.99 each.

____________________________

A while ago I got a landscaping estimate. I was told $3500 for what it would take to put down dirt, level it etc and spray grass seed. Well I have been doing it myself. I have not spent nearly the $1600 which they alloted for dirt. I think I am at $200 or so, anyway I need to buy more dirt for the next section I am going to work on. A while back I bought atleast 110 bags of scotts premium topsoil with peat in it. The store had them on clearance for $.50 a bag. I finally got those put down this morning.

It took four hours and it covered a 32 by 25 foot area. I need to do another two section about that size each. Sadly though I finally got the truck unloaded and the store is out of that soil. Anyway I have a few options the store brand 40 pound bags of potting soil for $1.97 which goes a little farther than the scotts did or a big bag of scotts grass soil on clearance for $3.00. I am not sure which way I am going to go, but I need to make up my mind soon as I took this week off work to finish this up and I dont want to have to run all over town to buy dirt.

Yes I have had dirt delivered by a dump truck and also have hauled FREE dirt using my pickup but when all is said and done doing the bag this comes out cheaper and easier.

We will see how it works out. I also have been putting down a mowing border around the house, it has turned out very nice and much cheaper that what it would have cost me to hire someone to do it.

__________________________________

Since I planted seed a few weeks ago I upped the watering of the yard to help the seed germanate better, I have turned off the system on days where rain was forcasted, but I must admit I over did it a bit, the new grass is awesome and I want it thick so next year so we can set the sprinkler and mow the grass and that be it, no projects trying to get the grass to grow.

While trying to clean the table off I opened the water bill, I spent $86.52 this month between watering the grass, the ballon fight at the BBQ and filling up the pool. Basically my water bill was $76.52 above my normal bill. Oh well I adjusted the sprinkler so only the new dirt/seed I put down yesterday is getting extra and the rest is getting normal. Even with the extra water cost which we would have had even if we would have hired someone to do the landscaping I am coming in under the cost of hiring for the job.

I got an Kohl's coupon in the mail yesterday. It was a spend $10 save $10. So I was able to pickup a jean deal.

Two pair jeans for $25.00, subtract the coupon that comes to $7.50 plus tax each.

I need one more pair for him. So far I have gotten:
1 pair clearance Kmart (a while back) $1.80
2 pair Wal-Mart $7.50 each
1 pair Wal-Mart $10.88
2 pair Kohls $7.50 each

I need one more pair since I need 7 pairs to start him for school. I do laundry once a week on the weekend, usually Saturday. I plan to have him wear his patched/holey pairs on the weekend. On the weeks that I have to work on the weekend It usually takes me until Tuesday to get to the laundry so that is my I need 7 pair.

I have checked everywhere including thrift stores and consignment shops but because DS is slim and MUST have adjustable waist since he cant wear a belt due to his medical condition it is very difficult. Funny how I feel the need to defend spending $10.88 or $7.50 on a pair of jeans and most people drop $25-$30 on a pair of jeans without thinking twice.

I know when we buy for DH tall and skinny we spend whatever it cost to get his size. Luckily he has put on some weight in the last year so we have been able to find his size at Wal-Mart; the only down size is we some times have to check back daily for a couple weeks until we can buy them since he is a uncommon size they get in less of his size. They are $25.98 a pair and with shopping experiences we just pay the price and dont even think twice.

On the 29th of July I tried to take a few things into a store to sell but they were closed. I called to find out their hours. They are a small store and they do not have their hours posted outside so it is hit and miss but I had four large bags of things to take in to them.

Today I went and they were closed??? They had told me they were open until 5pm on Saturday; so we went out for lunch and when we were done I called and they said were open.

It was so worth driving there three times to get this done because when it was all said and done; there are four less kitchen garbage bag sized bags of stuff filling my storage room and I am (Drum Roll) $90.00; Yes I said 90 dollars richer.

Add that to my prior $20.15; and now I have a total of $110.15 Emergency Fund found in my Storage closet!

I need to go through my closet because I have a third selling option to try out; this will be platos closet for a few of my never worn dress shoes and smaller jeans, and a few of DH's size medium sweaters they are trendy, new with tags.

Yes it did, yesterday I tried to take a few things in but the store I was going to was closed. I will have to call and find out their hours. They are a small store and they do not have their hours posted outside so it is hit and miss but I have four large bags of things to take in to them.

Today I went to place #2, this got me $20.15. Of course like always once I got home from that store I found another item I wished I would have taken in. Oh well I just put the item in a tote box and it will wait until I get a chance to go through more of the items in my storage closet.

So far I am happy because I got ride of one tote box full of items. Hopefully I get a chance to get to that first store first because I believe that will net me some nice $. Whatever I do not sell I would like to place on the free listing site we have in town. I hope I dont talk myself out of it and just pack them away. I think next month would be a good month to list since they are items for hunting/paintballing. Hopefully I will get to take it in to the store and not have to deal with the listing.

So far $20.15 Emergency Fund found in my Storage Closet!

This is my first Back to School season since becoming a CVSer. On Sunday there are a TON of Back to school freebies. I already have a four transactions planned out to make the most of my Extra Care Buck and keep low Out Of Pocket Expenses!

I used to think getting notebooks at Wal-mart for seven cents a piece was a deal; CVS last week gave me free tape (for wraping gifts) and pencils. This coming week I will be getting free scissors, pens, glue, notebooks, rulers, and tylenol. Of course these deals are the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday three day sales so I am going to have to hit the store right away Sunday at Noon when they open.

It pays to know the CVS store layout on days like this. This three day sale kind of reminds me of The Black Friday deals but with Back to school supplies.

What did I do before CVS?

I plan on doing the AllYou grocery challange starting on the 13th. I was told they would send me an email I have not gotten it yet. Oh well I just have to remember!!

Got to love EBAY, well for the deals not for the amount that is now being charged to my CC.

I got two great deals on legos (which once they get here will be put away for my sons birthday). He knows they are coming but I think he will forget about them until his birthday if he does not see them when they get shipped.

On the two that I bid on I asked if he would like them, yeah kinda dumb as he is into ALL lego sets. OH well since it was just a picture and not a very good one on a computer moniter I am sure he has not idea of the fact I actually bought them since shopping online is not like shopping in a store.

Oh I got my jeans that I won for DS (they are AWESOME - look brand NEW). The seller spent more in shipping than I paid total. I feel kinda bad; but if she would have contacted me I would have been more than willing to wait for longer mailing time so she could have saved some money at the post office.

I am SO forget full lately. I was digging through my email and what do I see my Car insurance renewal!!!

Paid it today with 7 days to spare!

Went to Kmart, they have clearance items on sale for an additional 40% off. I got two toys for DS for his Birthday. I also go a pair of size 8 jeans for his stockpile. They were clearance $3 so after 40% off it was $1.80 how awesome!!

I then went to Kohl's I got anther pair of size 8 jeans they were clearance and I used my additional 15% off card in conjuction with my Kohl's card to get them for $2.65!

Two more pair of jeans for the stockpile and two presents taken care off.

Too bad I am in a crabby mood.

My Sons birthday is coming up in a little over a month.

I wonder if I should have his first not just family/family friends birthday at a resturant or at the house.

First the choices are limited in our town, the bowling alley is off the list because we had a huge storm recently and they had MILLIONs of dollars worth of damage to their roof. Maybe by the time of the party they would be fixed. So maybe that is not totally ruled out. There is a pizza place with some childrens climbing things (like McDonalds but you have to pay to get in). It is NOT Chucky Cheese (sadly not even close). There is also a theme resturant in town with a token room (but I think that is more a family idea because I am not sure I would want to just have parents drop off their kids). Then finally McDonalds. McDonalds has a play area but it is open to the public and the store that had a separate party area remodeled with no more playarea, the party would be either Friday night or Saturday afternoon both times the play area would be extremely busy with kids.

My son is wanting the not chucky cheese pizza place. Last year when he was invited to a party there I called to get prices since I feel that the gift for the child should atleast be the cost of the meal (I do this with Weddings also). If I remember correctly it ended up being between $5-$8 a head depending on if they ate hotdogs or pizza. I think you also supply the cake.

Now why do I NOT want to have it at our home.
#1 My house is a MESS!!! I am talking call social Services! Just Joking!! There is not decaying food, and we do not have pets. But we have been in a state of major construction for about two years now. So I dont want to have to use my personal injury protection insurance followinf a childs birthday party if you know what I mean.

#2 My furnature is trash!! Also there is a major lack of furnature. Since we were remodeling we have old hand me down furnature, it is covered in spills and every so often I vaccum the sheetrock or wood shavings off and wash the sheet I have covering it. We figured no point in buying new furnature until the construction is done. The down side is they are hand me downs and are structurally falling apart since we were not planning on keeping them this long. I dont want to buy new stuff until the construction is done, and technically we need the furnature money right now to finish the construction.

#3. Post party cleanup...Need I say more.

#4. Lingering guests, when my son was four his sister was up to visit her family for the summer; she wanted to be at his party so we planned an early one so she could be here. Two days before the party she desides she wants to have her grandmother drive her home early and leaves, we still have the party since it is too late to cancel and it is just my husbands friends children. Well one of the friends wife and 5 children including infant stayed 4 and a half hours after everyone else left. I finally had enough and told my husband to entertain her & watch her children while I took a nap at 7 pm since I had been up super early getting everything ready for the 1pm party.

I know it seems crazy to pay $8+ a person for a birthday party but it is way cheaper than hiring a cleaning crew, storage unit, and new furnature.

What would you do?? My Son wants to invite atleast three boys from his class and I want his two cousins.

I signed up today for the all you grocery challenge. The $25 per person per week is not going to be a problem at all!

What I am looking forward to is the fact that they aalso judge healthy choices. I sometimes feel that my meals lack that, I will post my daily meal spending once I start the challenge on July 13.

If you want to join me check out allyou.com/grocerychallenge PS you have to register by July 12th.

I doubt I will win the $1000 prize but it will help me focus on what we are eatting and what we are spending. I plan to spend like normal and see where it takes me!

I won my bid, and saved $13.00.

Sadly Mypoints was doing an offer that if you linked through there site to ebay to bid they would also award you mypoints points....But of course I forgot untill it was too late.

Oh well!!

$13.00 saved makes me happy, even IF I have to us the CC to buy it. I will pay it off as soon as the item gets to my home.