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Archive for February, 2008

Small Side Job

February 29th, 2008 at 12:57 am

Today I worked my small side job business. I worked for the same lady I did last time. She lost her favorite necklace in her apartment (she thinks) and asked me to help tear apart her apartment to find it. We did not find it but managed to clean out two drawers of clothes and her HUGE stash of jewlery. One drawer alone must of had 35 pairs of winter gloves! She could not bear to part with any of them! some were for shovleling snow. Something she will never ever do again. I decided to not push it....but it was so silly to see allthose nice....nice gloves. I also threw away some old orthpedic items, old newspapers and an old box or two. I also spent about 40 mins just talking to her. I worked for 2 hours. So $15 x 2 hrs. She is going to pay me on Friday since her son has all her money and pays all her bills. He is a nice guy and will pay me promptly.

I managed to get a free pair of new slippers, a cosmetic bag, and a scarf. Everything she offered me was really yucky. So I felt good working for part of my day off. I also did my once a week newspaper route---it was so cold!!! I did get it done fast since I did not want to freeze off my poor arm.

House cleaned today and am cathing up on laundry. Things for NOW are pretty neat around here.

We are eating out Friday as a treat since my son is home from college on Spring Break on starting on Friday afternoon. The kids want to go to Fridays'.
We will see. Luckily I get paid on Friday. I also will hit the outlet store on Friday to see if I can snag a kitchen clock....mine is dead. It is not the battery. So I need a clock.

Some things I do need to buy for a LONG TIME.......notepads, giftwrap supplies, cosmetics, shampoo, soaps, cookbooks, puzzles, hand creams, DVD's, books......I hve so many things. I do need a clock. It is driving me crazy not knowing the time in the kitchen.

Have a good evening everyone.

Another Dance Competition

February 27th, 2008 at 02:07 am

I have another dance competition in two weeks to attend in another near by state. It will involve staying at a hotel in a downtown city local for two nights. I am going to begin a small cash stash this week. To pay for small out of pocket expenses. I do have to pay $195.00 in fees for both daughters by March 1st. I have that in my checking account.

Last competition was close to home. We decided as dance moms to pack lunches and snacks. All the moms then decided it was not "worth it" and to buy at the food court. I decided to not go with my gut and we did buy food at the food court--you know go with the group idea as to not look too cheap! HUGE MISTAKE. Crowded and expensive was the food court we went to and I felt like the places were dirty. I have got to listen to my inner dance mom spirit. I have been involved with travel dance for over 5 years....I think I DO have some wisdom.
I have never regreted packing lunches and snacks....ever!!!!!!!! I must listen to my inner frugality! I will def. be packing snacks and drinks and whatever else we might want since I know we have a mini fridge.

We are stocked up on all dance supplies so I do not have to make any purchases before hand. I will have to buy some panty hose as I ran my last pair and some jeans.....
Yes I still have not bought jeans. I wore my black pants twice at the last competition. I never feel very fashionable, I have zero style. I am way too boring and simple. I am not chic at all. Oh well. I also need to find a better purse to travel with. With luggage and dance bags and huge make up bags I need a purse to go over my shoulder and to have room! So I am going to check out WalMart.

It really is fun and I love going to new places. I just need to be very organized.

Hello Again!

February 26th, 2008 at 09:08 pm

Hello friends. I have been gone it seems so long! Just so busy with life in general. I had a terrible week last week. I had some real problems with my oldest daughter and it literally drained the life out of me. I am sorta back on track now. I worked 6 days straight last week. Was off on Sunday and only working three days this week. I had to cover for someone and this week she is covering for me. We had a ton of snow today so my girls were off and I was off. We did nothing. I did shovel....but the snow continues to fall.

I have not been spending too much money. I hope to put most of my next month's spousal support in the savings account. I am trying to build that back up after purchasing my SUV. I have been making due with things around here and eating at home alot. I have managed to save enough cash to purchase all the dance recital costumes. So that is safely tucked away for the end of March when the balance is due. I have found a few free things at work. I nice white terry bath mat, fresh flowers, ribbons for gift wrap, lots of toilet paper, five magazines, and of course lots of coupons and newspapers. Silly little things but they are free.

Things will get more expensive since my son is coming home for spring break from college. He is working for his grandmother so he will be busy and earning money. I will have to really up the food budget. He likes to eat and snack alot. Can't really blame him can I?

Gas is so expensive. It costs me less to fill up now with the new to me SUV--but it sure adds up. I am very careful about mindless driving. I try to combine and make do as much as possible. Again---I am very blessed to work ONE MILE away from home. It really helps!


I hope to get more on track now that alot of my chaos with children is hopefully behind me. It's been rough. Hope you are all well. I enjoy reading all your blogs for encouragement! I can't imagine living my life any other way than frugally and with financial purpose always on my mind.

Denying myself

February 15th, 2008 at 09:57 pm

I have found recently that here and there I have purchased things be it for my kids or myself or whomever.....when I should not of purchased them. It does not happen all the time but I find my myself at times being numbed at buying things mindlessly. Yesterday I bought two small coolers at WAL MART. I decided since we are packing food for the weekend to take with us to our dance competition I wanted something small and compact for us to take. I felt they were justifed. I probably could of made due. I thought maybe it would be better to have these coolers. I have to get much better at really denying myself and really thinking twice about purchases. It is a bad habit to make purchases so mindlessly. A little bit here and then a little bit there.

I want to work on denying myself because 9 times out of 10 I don't really need the item. I hope to really think about purchses I make the rest of the month.

I bought a vehicle

February 15th, 2008 at 03:46 pm

I finally bought a vehicle last Saturday.
I am pretty happy about it. My girls dance teachers' family owns a dealership so that is where I went and found what I was looking for. I had a very good experience and was very pleased with how it all went down. I took my son with me since he was home from college. He was pretty handy to have along as he knows so much about prices and technology. I saw it Saturday and drove it home on Monday.
I bought a used 2005 Chevy Trail Blazer. I traded in my E150 van and got a pretty good trade in for it. The whole process went really smoothly. This was the first time in my entire life I bought a vehicle all on my own. It felt pretty empowering. I also paid cash for it. That felt really good. SO far so good. I am enjoying it.
Cheaper than the van to fill with gas too.

Everyone has been sick except me. Thank goodness!!! My middle daughter has been out of sick this entire week. Sinus infections and the flu bug. Today I called in sick to work. I have not missed any work since April 2007. So I felt OK calling off today. My boss was fine and understood. I hate calling off, but I felt more needed at home of course.

We have a dance competition this weekend in town. The pressure is on to feel better!! I will have to go to work and pick up my check and cash it. I will be spending some money on parking and food items. We are packing some small coolers to take with us so that will help save some money.

I spent some money last weekend of course on the SUV but I had to buy shoes for my son and also groceries. He did work at his dad's and was able to pay half of what he owes me. Money is tight for him.
He told me he plans on working all summer at two jobs and saving as much as he possibly can. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders now concerning money. I did some Valentine gifts (small) for my girls as well. ...so that was money spent.

I got a rather serious letter from my investment guy explaining how the market is of course sour and terrible right now.
I am not sure the purpose of the letter.....yes I know things stink right now but I have to keep the money invested and not worry about it. Most of it I am trying not to touch till I am retired any way. I guess it was nice to get a letter explaining why things are terrible right now. Maybe they are worried about th eir own rear ends. Part of me questioned buying a "new" vehicle....but I figured I had the money saved, I paid cash, I will save on gas and it was needed for our household. I just have to save as much as possible like I have been doing.

Be lazy! No one seems to care!

February 6th, 2008 at 02:15 am

Well I win the bet! The gal at work who called off "sick" or what ever the heck she was doing----happily arrived at work today and said Hello to me. The she proceeded to tell me how tired she was while leaning on her cart. Then she asked who took care of her jobs she did not get too. I don't know but I decided she is kinda not worth my time encouraging her to have better work habits. She also needed to hand out clean towels on Monday. Well the towel cart sat there all loaded with clean towels today and she did not seem to mind that she was not doing it. And what was really weird was my boss did not seem to care either. Just plain old weird. I think she spent alot of the day playing around in her office
and planning her lunch. Odd.

Oh well be lazy is the message I feel the boss is sending to everyone in the department. It was kind of discouraging.
ON A BRIGHT SIDE!!!!! I helped a dear old lady today who is very new to our place. Well she got sick and wet the bed. She was so worried and super stressed she was very nervous to ask me for help. When I saw her sorry state....I sprang into actin and got things clean and got her clean. I had to help her to get dressed and that can be very humbling to have someone see you well....naked. I got her back in a fresh bed along with the tv remote and then saw her daughter. She thanked me profusely for helping her mother. It felt so good to know I was really making a difference.
I do not say that with pride...it just feels good to help.... to basically HELP someone in need. To truly make a small deposit in a life. I think at times people where I work forget that is why we are where we are working. Sad but true.
My co-worker must just suck the life out of me.....I can not imagine being so lazy and indifferent about your work. Maybe I am the odd ball.

Red Box Coupons

February 5th, 2008 at 02:17 am

If you go to their web site Redbox you can get free rentals and free rentals every Monday in Feb. via your cell phone.
I HIGHLY recommend Redbox for renting DVD's. Check it out. I have been very pleased with the whole system they have set up. They seem generous with coupons as well.

Monday Doings

February 5th, 2008 at 02:06 am

Got the cell bill for me and my dd. It was very bad. Guess which one of us made the phone bill "bad"?? I decided to make my daughter pay for half of it. She lost all her cash and now will have to take money out of her savings account. I decided I HAD TO MAKE IT HURT!!!!!!! Oh well.....a lesson hopefully she is learning the hard way. She talks too much plain and simple.

Loads of people at work sick with the flu...so far I am well. I just have a small slight cold with a small slightly annoying runny nose. My counter part who also cleans with me called in sick again!!! I am pretty sure they HAVE to fire her now. She is very lazy and unreliable. Do you want to bet about $100 she will still have a job when she wanders back in?? Ok the bet is on! I am not sure what YOU HAVE to do to GET FIRED! Work places sure seem ultra easy going and lax.

Free things at work. Coupons which I wanted since they have some soup ones I NEED for my son. Loads of coupons. I got a nice wired wide ribbon in gold off a dead plant. About 7 feet long. Part of a lunch...which was a dill pickle that tasted so good for some strange reason and some chips. It was nice snack for my break time. Four new white envelopes and a notecard with horses on it. Nothing else free today.

We ate dinner at home. My dd who I thought was eating out with her basketball team did not eat out as the game finished up earlier than expected. I only made enough chicken for three people--so we stretched it and made due. I have been making BBQ chix and adding very shredded carrots into the sauce, along with a tiny bit of butter and onion. I LOVE IT!!! It tastes so good and I like the chucky texture. Try it. It is a great way to use up carrots or include some vegies in your meal. I use my Black and Decker chopper to chop them up finely.

I also brought my lunch to work. Good thing. AS the vending machine broke. It is sad that so many depend on the vending machine near the dumpster for nourishment on their work shift. I really encourage you working folks to bring your own lunch and snacks....even cans of pop or water. It is so sensible! I often find many hungry eyes staring at my lunch! Hmmm....maybe I could start another small business!

Have a good evening everyone!

Saturday Doings

February 3rd, 2008 at 03:20 am

Had a pretty good day today. Took my middle daughter out for lunch for our little "date". It was very nice and pleasant. I made some returns as well. I was getting close to the 30 day return window.....so I really had to get those returned! Later for dinner we did Taco Bell. I had planned it in my mind to do TB all week. So we spent $13 and got a ton of food for four people. IN fact my dinner cost $1.19 and I only ate half! Talk about cheap eats! WOW

Tonight I grocery shopped with my two youngest. It was really hard to take them. They are too busy asking to buy things. I ran into a ton of people I know so I did spend time chatting a bit here and there. The store seemed empty. I thought it would be much more crowded due to the Super Bowl. We rented a RED BOX DVD and popped some micro popcorn. Nice and cheap. Do you have a RED BOX?? You just can't beat it! Sadly that is why the MOVIE GALLERY near me might of closed.
RED BOX does not need employees......MOVIE GALLERY did.

I got the bill for the next dance competition. It is so much money! I almost wanted to cry. This one is in town--there is no hotel even in the cards.....it just adds up I guess with all the fees and having both girls in it...it is double the price for everything. I did not estimate the high cost of two girls on dance team when I got divorced...I should of asked for more support. Oh well.....I thank the Lord that I have some income from my part time job. It helps so very much! It seems outragous. I try to not complain but at times it just seems like so much. I am glad my girls love to dance and it sure beats them doing things that are wrong or unhealthy!

All in all a good Saturday.

Sunday is church and homework and working around the house. So glad I did my grocery shopping!!! That feels good to have my menu planned and have it all shopped for and put away!

I will probably not even watch the Super Bowl. I am just not into sports.

Nothing Free at Work

February 1st, 2008 at 11:21 pm

I did not find any good freebies today at work. I was too busy helping the nurse assistants with residents who had the flu!
I was amazed that I did not get grossed out AT ALL!!!! Not one time! I guess I felt sorry for them and acted more like a mom....you know what I mean...you just get the job done. Many of the residents are very sick and it seems to be spreading! I was glad to be out of there today! I washed my scrubs.....and my sheets today. I did all the towels as well. I hope to keep the germs at bay!

I did cash my paycheck and headed to Dollar Tree. I decided I had better get my little one's valentine candy and treat supplies for her school valentine party and cards for my daughters while they had them available. I did come across bottled water there....6 bottles that were decent size for a buck! We use them for dance classes.....so I got 6 botttles.

I have my girls this weekend and all week as their dad is in Orlando till next week on business. My son is coming home next weekend as my girls will leave to go to dad's house. I have to pick him up and his dad is taking him back. That sure helps. Saves on gas if we share the drives. It is kinda sad.....he never really likes to be with his dad anymore. I think the new wife and baby really upset my son and he basically can't stand to be around them. I may use next weekend to look at used cars. We'll see. I thought my son might enjoy that challenge with me. I need to save some money for when he comes home, as I would like to treat him to dinner out one night.

We ate dinner in tonight. Trying to save "some" money. I hope this weekend is peaceful and restful for all of us. I have no plans to speak of. My house is pretty neat and clean---so hopefully we can just enjoy it all.