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Archive for January, 2009

A Good Sick Day

January 26th, 2009 at 05:16 pm

Today I called off sick at work. I will get paid so I decided to call off sick. I never ever goof off. I was so behind in house work it would of been impossible to catch up....so I am off today.

Today my goals are as follows
1. hang up shower organizer
2. wash as many loads as possible by 2:30
3. bake some brownies
4. empty dishwasher
5. clean kitchen
6. organize dance stuff
7. put away un-needed school uniform items
8. tidy bedrooms
so far I have done---1,6,7 and 8

I am doing laundry as I type and work

I do not feel guilty at all for calling off either.
Oh I watched five mins of the VIEW today and saw the Gov. from IL. OK is that guy pyscho or what???? OH my goodness!!! He is really into himself!!!! He can self talk himself into any lie! WOW WE!

I hope to stay on task.....be sure you write things down this week and plan out your menu! Mine is on the white board in the kitchen. It is so helpful to display your dinners! Keep current on your calendar....I write alot of silly notes down but it helps me focus even on small tasks that can be accomplished. Say frugal everyone!

Whata weekend

January 25th, 2009 at 08:48 pm

Hey everyone....I did survive my dance competition on Saturday. We did prettty well as far as placing. My daughter who does not dance got sick so I had to leave to come home and take care of her....loads of complications all day long...but I kept telling myself Saturday will soon be Sunday and I will have survivied! I did! YAHOO

We did not spend alot at the dance competition. $15 at Wendys....$8 at Starbucks and $25 for my daughter to eat dinner out with the team. In all I got out of it CHEAP! I brought along snacks from home that helped as well. YAHOO

Today I hit walmart to grocery shop and now I am catching up on things. Impossible to do!!! I am trying.

All in all a pretty decent weekend.

Dance Fun

January 23rd, 2009 at 03:29 am

This weekend is our first dance competition of the season. It is always a huge struggle to stay frugal. At least it is very local and no hotel is needed. I am praying to not spend hardly a thing. We will see.

Have had to get alot of odds and ends for this dance thing and also art supplies for my HS daughter. That was $100 I had to purchase for a drawing class. I was pretty bummed. They cover practically nothing. Oh well...a girl has to draw right?

The temps were up today....I spent most of my day off shovelling the driveway.
Alot of snow was melting. I tapped the rain gutters to get the ice moving and melting. I will do it again on Friday. Alot of the homeowners have roof damage from the water. I have zero icicles. I guess my ex has alot and now he has a leak in the ceiling from the water dams.
He has nice house but it always seems to have water problems. I never seem to...knock on wood! So good to keep the snow that is melting moving. I even shoveled the street drain to keep the water moving down the street. The car washes were mobbed today. I will keep my car dirty for a bit longer, then wash.

Nothing too new to report. I am just one tired mom. I had to sew alot as well today to fix and alter costumes....what a pain for me! As that always hurts my back. I feel old. Bummer.

We have eaten all our meals at home this week. I felt prepared and organized. I did buy a frozen type dinner for Friday along with rolls that you pop in the oven ---since we will be rushed with rehersals. It is far cheaper than eating out. We will probably have to grab a snack out on the road on Saturday. I feel OK doing that. Sunday I will grocery shop which I hate doing on SUNDAY! Oh well.
I will be dog tired on Sunday I know it!

Stay frugal!

What a week so far!

January 21st, 2009 at 11:56 pm

I ended up having to work on Saturday as my work buddy could not due to a faulty working truck. So I worked it much to my chagrin. I worked knowing full well I only stay till 12noon! I was glad. I spent the entire weekend huddled in my house except for one trip to grocery shop.
It was a nice relaxing weekend alone for me. I needed it! Yesterday at work we had a meeting about the theft in the kitchen.
I went home and stewed about it....I felt discouraged and partly mad. I felt very victimized as an employee. All the girls felt the same way.....we were mad. Everyone thinks we are scum at work and I am sick of it!!! I am sorry but they are truly accusing US as low lifes and robbers. Not one gal is happy right now. We now feel like we can not be friends with any other staff as they seem to enjoy getting us in trouble. So work sorta sucks right now. I like to be pals with everyone and be helpful....now I feel I have to mind my own business totally!

My teenager daughter is driving me nuts. we keep getting her phone replaced! Today she dropped it in her soup at lunch. When she told me I got so mad I told her not to talk to me. I am now talking to her but I am very mad at her. She also was not being respectful to me at all yesterday. It is very frustrating to me right now this whole parenting thing.

Thanks for letting me vent.

I found $5 in my purse today....one small happy moment.

I am off on Thursday---YAHOO!
Stay frugal!

Kitchen No No's!

January 16th, 2009 at 10:52 pm

Wow more WORK PLACE DRAMA! Ok someone is stealing LARGE amounts of food from our kitchen! Weird! Yes that is right. Someone is so darn desperate...hates to grocery shop or who runs a black market on groceries! So NOW we are not allowed to get coffee or to bum a spoon or eat any of the soup they are going to throw away. We are not even allowed to set foot in the kitchen. One of the housekeepers asks for free food all the time....so I think she may to blame. She is bold and a loud mouth--she demands food for free. It is certainly odd and weird.

Side note.....break room at work has no heater and it is freezing....so I ate my lunch in another place in the building and the manager kicked me out. When I asked her nicely and point blankly but with some clarity---- "where CAN I take my break and eat my lunch???" She said...gee I don't know and walked away....so I ate my lunch standing up in the laundry center. Now---is that weird??? I have a pretty good feeling that my workplace is really getting strange. Odd times make for odd working situations. Oh by the way my manager told me she had been yelled at all week and was sick of it....so what does that have to do with me wanting to eat my lunch?? Gosh I wish I was the boss....I would love to run the place with an eye on people and making things run more smoothly.

Co-worker needed some hours her little one has been sick and she missed a ton of work this week. I offered her my Saturday to work. I gave up 5 hours for her to earn some money. I decided it was worth it. I can relax and recharge and stay home! I will sacrifice in other areas to make up the loss of money.

We had no school on Thursday and Friday due to sub zero freezing weather. We are off on Monday as well. YAHOO!

Weekend to do's

January 15th, 2009 at 06:49 pm

1. Shovel bottom of the driveway out
2. balance checkbook
3. Gather up not needed clothes for charity pickup on Monday
4. My personal laundry
5. Journal writing
6. Relaxing
7. Stop by the thrift store after work on Saturday ...50% off sale going on

January Goal Accomplished Already

January 15th, 2009 at 01:14 pm

One of my goals was to open up a plain old savings account. I decided to go to the local credit union. It is simple and not a "bank"....and again it is locally managed. I have a checking account at another bank. I wanted to have things not connected....in case of bank failure. I also liked that it is on the other side of town. I have to make a trip to sorta get there. I decided it would be a pain to stop over and get money out! They also have limited hours.....so I can not just stop there or hit the ATM. SO far I have placed around $200 in the account. I feel so much better building up an account for an emergency or for what ever I may need.

I have not deposited my spousal money yet for Jan. I am trying to really hold off and not do much with it.....
I now am getting it paid in three month installments. I dislike that but I can work with whatever.

It is very cold here and today my two little ones do not have school. Because we are inside and home so much more....we tend to eat more and be at home cooking.
I have been shopping when I can and when I can keep everyone at home.....so it has been good to be out of the stores. I did have to buy a toaster oven last night at TARGET as mine got ruined and it was a fire hazard. I did buy one for $30 and it is very nice.

Work is going pretty well. I got a few free things here and there. A snowman candle a lady hated so I got it and some Christmas wrapping things. Also free coupons galore and newspapers to read. I work on Saturday and it starts my new limited hours.....only 5 hours...from 7am till noon. Hopefully I can cram everything I need to do into those five hours. If not...well....too bad.
My kids are at dad's this weekend. I wish I could meet a friend for dinner or lunch but I am not going to. I think next weekend I will be eating out because we have a dance competition. We almost always eat out with the team to celebrate....so I will save my money for that event. Yes dance season starts up again. I am looking forward to it but dreading it as well. It takes up alot of my time.

Stay warm and frugal everyone.

I Love Workplace Drama!

January 8th, 2009 at 01:02 am

Work has been so fun! I mean really really fun! Tons of gossip and rumors floating all over the place. It is amazing. Just announce job cuts and boy do folks get off their rears and get to work! AMAZING! One worker who does the same job I do on Saturdays but she does it on Sundays was questioned. I mean I am done in 6 hours....yet somehow she needs 8 plus overtime??? When asked I was the role model she was compared to....gee did I feel good. They asked for her notes on what she does...jobs completed...she said she had no record. I keep very good records of exactly what I do at my job each day. It sure pays off. Write it down! Works for me! I just love to see folks squirm. I mean if you are lazy you will be caught. KARMA plain and simple. Yes I have had fun watching everyone go nuts---interesting people watching thats for sure.

Not much else new to report. Just trying to not spend if I can help it. WALGREENS has their TP on sale. I have been going in all week with a coupon and purchasing for my stockpile. 4 large---I mean HUGE rolls cost $2.13 with tax. I have been using change to purchase it. It is on my way to school too which makes it nice that way. I have been staying out of the grocery stores too...I am proud of myself.

Stay frugal everyone.

Another BIG Department Meeting

January 5th, 2009 at 11:53 pm

Yes another meeting! YIKES I was nervous.
Well instead of letting two housekeepers go....we all got our hours cut. I will work the same during the week and lose 3 hours on Saturday. I only work 5 hours...no more no less. I think I did OK since I have no benefits and I am not full time. I think everyone was glad to still be working but everyone seemed a bit shocked. Frankly I am shocked this happened so late in the game! One housekeeper was clearly upset...she wanted to voice her feelings but quit midstream....we encouraged her to get it out in the open---but she decided to keep her mouth closed. I walked away feeling strained. I guess the big boss is getting mad about stupid things like not shutting the door near the trash and toilet paper. So as you can sense---the place where I work seems tense to the tenth degree!
Again glad to still be working.

We were also told we will not get tips next year as some stupid co-worker was asking the residents when they were going to give us our Christmas tips! SO now we look badly and so they will not be tipping us anymore. We also will not be getting a bonus I guess from the company next year since they are all mad at us.
I wish we could get rid of all stupid co-workers. STUPID PEOPLE! Some of these co-workers have zero manners or tact.

Goal for Jan is to open a savings account at another local bank. My ex is giving me all my spousal support...not monthly but quarterly. So I have be more savy in squirelling it away and staying on track....same with child support. I am thinking his money is not so good so he wants to stay on top of things ...money wise. Not a bad idea.....I do apprectiate him staying faithful on making all payments. It sounds like his cash flow is more un-preditble or maybe he is strapped a bit. He sounds strapped...yet he mamages to eat out, go on trips, go to pro basketball games and sit in the front row, see shows....so I think he is doing OK.

All in all life is good right now. So glad to be done with Christmas and back to the routine of life. My tree and all the decorations are down and things are neat and tidy again. My son goes back to college on Tuesday. I think he is glad to get back as well....too much sister action.

Have a nice evening everyone.