Nothing much to report today. Went to work, came home, made dinner, put the kids to bed. I guess I will make this a short entry.
No money spent today. I do plan to spend some tonight as I finally make a big, big payment on one of my loans (probably student loan), but I haven't done it yet. I don't think I have an online acct. set up for my loans, so I will need to go through all that before I can make a payment. Or I could just send it in, but I don't want to waste a stamp
DH spent $7 at the store today for milk, bread, lunch items.
November expenses: $1332.79
November income: $5259.71
Saved money today by: Taking snacks and lunch to work, drinking water at work, cooking dinner from scratch (chicken cacciatore...yum).
I am seeing the benefits of this South Beach diet - lost another pound from last week (about 8 total so far) and I have gotten several compliments over the past few days. People are starting to notice That's really nice! So I guess all this expensive food is at least getting me somewhere!

Busy day! Sundays are my day to sleep in (DH gets Saturdays), so I rolled out of bed around 8:30. I used to think 8:30 was early before kids, but now it's a luxury I headed into the city (Syracuse, not a huge city, but it is to country folk like me) to do a little shopping before meeting my client to show houses. I stumbled upon a huge sale at Old Navy. All of their clearance was an additional 50% off. I wish I had more time to stay and look around, but my client called and said she was ready to meet me. As it was, I got four pieces of adult clothing and four pieces of children's clothing for about $28. I usually only buy clothes secondhand, but a deal like this makes new clothes cheaper than used! I stopped at Marshalls later and got a bunch of books for the boys for Christmas - ds1 loves to "read" and I hope ds2 will also. And I found this toy plane that comes with it's own tools for taking it apart and putting it back together - a screwdriver, wrench, etc. I think ds1 will really enjoy this. He loves to help his Papa fix things with his little tools, and he loves planes too. For some reason I am really looking forward to Christmas shopping this year. I usually make it a rule to not even think about it until after Thanksgiving, but I am really into it already. Maybe because I don't have to worry about how much it is going to cost!
I would like to pay for all the gifts in cash this year and keep a running tab. I was thinking about putting $100 or so into an envelope at a time and taking cash from there for gifts. Then I can keep a running tab on the outside of the envelope and throw all the receipts in there as well. Now I just have to convince DH to go along with it. He thinks I am a little (ok, a lot) too anal about money, but I really enjoy doing all this. I tell him it's like a game, and that there are far worse habits to have!
Bowling night - so we spent another $15 for the babysitter and $10 to bowl, although we paid in advance last week so it was no cash out of pocket tonight. I also had to eat out tonight as I was gone from 11:30am-9pm! My buyer did not find any houses tonight, but we are going to look again on Tuesday. We looked at 10 houses today, which makes for a really, really long day. It does not sound like a lot, but I usually only show 3 or 4 at a time.
Expenses today: $28 Old Navy on Christmas gifts and one shirt for myself, $49 at Marshalls, $1.62 for dinner, $15 babysitter, $1.25 for soda at bowling (DH), $4.00 for a book off E-bay (Christmas gift)
No income today, although I finally did deposit all those checks, so I can pay down some loans tomorrow.
I'll add this all up later - time for bed now.
(DH just read this and said "fat chance" at going along with my Christmas tracking system. Grrr.....I told him all he had to do was give me his receipts and I would take care of the rest. He's so stubborn.)

Saved money today by: finding clothes at a huge discount (cheaper than used), buying a slice of pizza for dinner instead of a meal, drinking free water at the bowling alley instead of buying a drink, showed a lot of houses at one time instead of making multiple trips to the city (60 miles round trip).

DS2 woke up happy this morning - he spent the day running around again Either he was already on the tail end of this virus, or the antibiotics kicked in really quickly for the ear infection. Either way, it's just good to see him smiling again
DH and I took the boys out tonight for dinner and a little Christmas shopping. Before we went, I got on Restaurant.com and printed up a $10 certificate (cost: $3 with 60% off coupon = $1.20). So we saved $8.80! I was a bit disappointed in the dinner though...just wasn't very good. Then we went to the mall, which apparently just got a Nextel booth. I had planned to switch to Nextel through my job rep, who offers a 5% discount. However, when he faxed me the papers, he was going to charge me $60 for delivery and $70 for activiation fees (2 lines). So I told him to forget it. Tonight I got them at the booth for no delivery charge, since they were in stock, free phones, and only $21 in activation each. Plus I found out that Nextel gives a 10% discount to NY state employees!!! So I have to call in the morning to have my current cell number ported over, since I use it for work. The only bad side is that I think my current provider might charge me for the remainder of the billing cycle, which just started (I found out tonight when I got home and found my bill on e-mail). If that's the case, I am really going to kick myself for not planning this better.
I'll be going to show some houses tomorrow in the $80-100k range, so that would mean a decent commission if I sell one I'll keep my fingers crossed. Those commission checks are always a nice bonus.
Expenses today: $15.27 dinner plus $4 tip, $2.16 for phones, $6.47 for a book (Christmas gift)

November expenses: $1216.92
November income: $5259.71
Saved today by: visiting Restaurant.com, researching cell phone deals before purchasing one (I visited the booth of the other provider we were considering - same monthly rates, but their phones cost $100!)

Today we decided to take ds2 back to the doctors. He was so sad looking this morning, just laying on us like a limp rag. This is not like him at all - since he learned to walk at 9 months, he has not sat still for a moment. Plus he now has a rash all over. The good news is that his fever is down - but it looks like he has a virus (roseola?) and definitely has an ear infection, so it's back on the antibiotics. Thank God I have a good insurance plan - it only cost $5. It would have cost a lot more when we were on DH's plan. We are very, very lucky in this sense. My job may not pay the best, but I do get good benefits (like a long weekend for Veteran's Day!)
I spent most of my day off home hanging out with DH and the boys. I did have to go grocery shopping, to the doctor, and to fill the script. Then DH and I went out to play a pinochle match tonight. We kicked butt, and endured a good amount of ribbing about it. But we had a good time and did not spend any money to do it.
Expenses today: $15 doctor's visit co-pay, $5 script, $48 groceries, gas for DH $30, misc. expenses from DH estimated at $100 (grocery run, night out, stuff needed for school)
Income today: $317 misc.

November expenses: $1189.02
November income: $5259.71

Saved money today by: Eating all meals in and from scratch, eating leftovers for lunch, free entertainment, comparing prices carefully at the store (had to buy medicine for ds2 - two were the same price for the same amount, but a dose of one lasted 4 hours, but the other 8, so it was a better value)

Not the best day today...had to attend a funeral for my great uncle. Ds2 is still sick - now he has a rash over most of his body. My mom saw it and said it's roseola, which we all had as babies. But he is acting like he's feeling better still today. You would never know he was sick if it weren't for the rash and runny nose.
I had to get gas for the minivan today - $56. That's the least I have spent in a long time. Gas here is about $2.60 a gallon. I had a choice today between a full-serve station at $2.59 or a self-serve one at $2.62. Hmmm...it's cold and snowing a little, full serve is cheaper...tough choice. DH went out after school tonight with a friend from his old job, so he'll probably be spending $10-15. No other money spent today.
November expenses: $991.02 + DH's misc. expenses
November income: $4942.72 (still haven't paid down my loans yet as DH never made it to the bank, so the checks still aren't deposited)
Saved money today by: comparing gas prices, taking a snack to work, having cereal for dinner (funeral luncheon was at 3, so none us us were very hungry tonight)

It's really nice to look at my income column this month, but this is NOT a typical month. This amount represents a very large commission from a $200k+ house I sold. I wish they were all like this, but I typically only earn about $8k a year from my real estate (this commission is nearly half that!). I treat all income I receive from real estate as a bonus. It's not counted towards expenses, so if I don't have it, we don't miss it. I usually use it to pay down loans.

Had to spend some money today groceries, again. DH went to Wegman's this morning after his orthodontist appt. for coffee, juice, peanut butter, some other things. He didn't tell me what he spent - he doesn't think it's necessary to track EVERY purchase, but I do, so sometimes I have to hunt down the totals. Then I had to run to the local mom and pop store again today to get two ingredients for dinner (eggplant lasagna again - soooo good).
Not the best day...I was off from work, but had to go to calling hours for my great uncle and ds2 is still sick. not so feverish, but now he's coughing and has diarrhea. If he is not showing improvement by tomorrow, then it's back to the doctors to make sure there is no ear infection.
Money spent today: ??? at Wegmans, $6.25 at local store
Income today: $542.72 paycheck

November expenses: $935.02
November income: $4942.72

Ways I saved money today: I'm a little hard-pressed to find something today...well, when I was shopping for sausage for my lasagna today, I picked out the smallest (cheapest) package. I find you don't need a lot of meat when you are making a casserole type dish. I guess I can also list that I ate all meals at home without processed food.

Yeah! No money spent today. Ds2 is feeling a little better - not quite so feverish - bit still not acting like himself. This cold has been through my mom and dad, niece, both sons, SIL..it's a miracle that I have not gotten it yet as I am usually the first. Maybe it's because I am eating a lot better than I used to, or that I have been washing my hands like crazy. Probably both...
Not much to report today. DH took all our checks to the bank today finally, so I can start writing checks and spending them! We are still going back and forth on whether to pay down his car or my student loans. The car loan rate is slightly lower (3.75%, I think) than my loans, which are about 4.5%, so I guess we really should pay the loan down first. But we owe several thousand less on his car, and it would really be nice to be done with it. We'll see...
A few nice things today...I went to Bank of America right next to where I work and got some information on their accounts. I will probably close our HSBC account as they are closing the HSBC bank in our village (so we will have no bank in our little town of 2000 people). Since I will have to go to the bigger town where I work to bank, I might as well go to a branch that is close to my job. So I think I will sign up for an account at BOA, especially now that they have the "Keep the Change" promotion. I got the application in the mail today for the vocational kids to fix our car (if we get chosen). I'll cross my fingers on that one. And DH found the piece of paper that I had written all the information about the massage on and thought it was a birthday list, so maybe he'll "surprise" me with that for my birthday later this month (mjrube, thanks for the tip...I like to peruse the g.c. section on E-bay every so often, but was always a little wary of the spa deals...it's good to know that you have had a nice experience). Lastly, I gave away a car seat that had been taking up room on Freecycle, so that made me feel good to get it to someone who could use it.
No changes in expenses/income, so I'm not even going to post that here.
Ways I saved money today: Brought my lunch to work, drank water at work, ate leftovers for dinner instead of letting them go to waste in the back of the fridge (a common occurence here - I don't have anything against leftovers, but I just never seem to remember them), took DH's more fuel-efficient car to work today since he didn't need it.

What a day. Ds2 was up several times last night sick. I took him to the doctor today because I thought he had an ear infection (that's the only time he ever wakes up in the night), but he just has a sore throat and a 103 temperature! if he's not sleeping better tomorrow, we may have to take him back because he could still develop an ear infection. Poor little guy. You wouldn't know it by looking at him, though - he's still happy as ever. I have never seen a happier baby So my only expense today was the co-pay, although I was able to pay that out of a balance that I had at the office due to an overpayment, so it wasn't really money out of my pocket today. I had to add in a few more expenses below that I forgot.
My babysitter (girl next door) brought over a friend last night to get to know the kids in case she ever can't babysit for them - she wants me to have a back-up. I still paid her the regular amount ($15 for 3 hours) b/c I didn't ask her to bring this girl. Now I am wondering if I should have paid them more? I just paid my sitter and figured she might give some to her friend for helping. Hmmm...I hope I didn't short them, but I am still only getting three hours of babysitting, so I didn't really feel justified in giving more.

New expenses: $6.72 from lunch on Friday - I went out with a client. I forgot to add this in earlier.
$3.72 buying fish last night for dinner tonight - I had to break a twenty for the babysitter, so I figured I might as well get dinner.
$15.00 co-pay for doctor's visit
November expenses: $928.77
November income: $4400.00 (I thought I was going to be able to add in a sizeable rebate from DH's laptop, but when I opened the letter today from Best Buy it said they needed more information to process the rebate...grrr)

Stupidest way I saved money today: Trying to squeeze in a doctor's visit with the time that was already on the meter where I parked (31 minutes) instead of dropping in another quarter. I would have made it to, if I didn't have to stop at my doctor's office in the same building. What should have been a two minute visit turned into nearly 15 as I had to wait for the nurse to get off the phone. I was about 10 minutes late getting back to the meter, but luckily did not get caught by the meter reader.
Other ways I saved money today: Brought my lunch to work, drank water at work.
Potential money saver: I called to find out if the local BOCES (vocational school) can fix the dent on DH's car. They are sending me an application - I would needs to pay for parts only, but if they can bang the dent out, they should not need to replace anything. I am not getting my hopes up though, because there is a really long waiting list and the repair needs to fit into their class needs. But it would be nice...I also looked around on the internet for a local massage school. I found one about 40 minutes away that does 50 minutes massages for $30. I may just have to treat myself! The last one I got (nearly 2 years ago, only the second one in my life) costs $25 for 30 minutes, and that is relatively cheap around here. When I lived in the city, I used to get my hair cut at the hairstyling school for $4. I always got a decent cut (but my hairstyle is not hard). They have great services like cuts, colors, manicures and pedicures, etc. for at least half the price. So the schools are definitely worth checking out if you want to save some bucks. Just passing that along...

I'm ahead of myself here since the day is not over yet, but I don't think I'll get back on the computer again today. Bowling night, so we have some expenses there. We also took the boys out to Wal-Mart today b/c ds1 needed a haircut, and not many other places around here are open on Sunday. If I had any talent at all, I would be buying clippers and doing his hair from now on. $11 ($8.95 plus tip) for a haircut that I really did not even like! I am so paranoid that I would screw up majorly if I tried to do it myself though. We'll see...maybe I'll screw up the courage for the next cut. I guess at this age you can always just shave it off and thye really don't care

Expenses today: $11 haircut, $65 groceries (including $16 for Star Wars Episode III that DH had to have now instead of waiting for Christmas) - we had to stock up on some essentials for the South Beach diet that we are almost out of, like a big container of olive oil, balsalmic vinegar, cereal - hopefully things that will last us a while. I also got online to pay off a few credit cards. I use them a lot, but pay them off every month. Technically, I guess I shouldn't count them as expenses, since I document the amount I spent on the day I spent it. But, for the record, I spent a total of $273.93 paying off two cards this month.
$30.75 to Gevalia coffee - DH's luxury. He loves the coffee, but only gets it delivered every 12 weeks because it is SO expensive. He uses Folgers the rest of the time. I had to write Gevalia a nasty little note a few weeks ago. They sent us a postcard saying we will be sending you two boxes of some specialty coffee (and billing you for it) UNLESS you write us back and tell us not to. I sent my note back asking them not to and telling them that I thought that was a terrible way to do business. I should not have to go out of my way to tell them I don't want something - they should send me only what I order. I was hoping for some type of response, but nothing. If DH didn't like their coffee so much, I would drop them in an instant.

Expenses tonight: $20 bowling (I may write a check and prepay several weeks - I hate having to run around for cash every Sunday night), $15 babysitter

November expenses: $903.33
November income: $4400.00

Some ways I saved money today: We are eating in instead of getting pizza out tonight, like we sometimes do on Sundays before bowling. No snacks tonight at bowling either. We took drinks in the car and snacks for the store trip today so the kids did not start asking for things. I washed a load of laundry in cold water.

No money spent at all today Stayed home with DH and the kids all day, then played cards with my brother tonight. I spent some time finishing up the garden - got a handful of carrots and some hot peppers, and I was able to pull up most of the old plants. The weather here was unseasonably warm, so the boys enjoyed playing outside for quite a while. It will probably be one of the last times we do that for a while.
I forgot to add this expense in from yesterday: $29.82 at Wal-Mart for a prescription, diaper pail refills, and cheese sticks (got to have our snacks!)
November expenses: $761.58
Today I received a mileage reimbursement check from work for $95.06 and another $317 in misc. income.
November income: $4400.00
Some ways I saved money today: Salvaging a few more veggies from the garden, free entertainment tonight (cards), ate my leftover dinner from last night for lunch.

I need to play catch-up with our expenses today. Quite a few to add in. DH and I went on a "date" last night - first time in a while. He was given a gift certificate for dinner and a movie for his birthday, so it barely cost us a thing too
New expenses: DH's haircut $15
DH's oil change $15
gas for DH's car $31
dinner $6.16 (what the g.c. did not cover) plus $5 tip
two kites for Christmas presents for ds1 and my niece $10.98
check to my parents for utilities,dish tv, other expenses (few months worth) $570
check to ds1's pre-school $50 for the month of November

New income: $317 miscellaneous income
$3.78 credit from some clothes I returned (we bought some new clothes with the rest of the credit - caught a good sale at J.C.Penney's with an additional 10% off). DH and I both are losing weight on the South Beach diet, so I had to return some pants I bought a few weeks back. He had to buy a few new pairs in a smaller size
$6.00 secret shopper check

Total expenses: $731.76
Total income: $3987.94
I'll have to finish this later - ds1 just woke up from his nap.

Not a bad day today. My back seems to have straightened itself out, so I can walk again without looking funny I did have to spend some money today, at the grocery store AGAIN. DH called me at work to ask me to stop for kitty litter and olives (ds1 is an olive addict - we indulge him b/c olives are actually good for you, as opposed to most addictions). So between one jar of green olives and two cans of black olives, kitty litter, chicken for tonight and beef for tomorrow, and a package of strawberries (ds2's current addiction - he just had his first one a few days ago and can't get enough), I ended up $20 poorer. Oh well.
I did shop around on-line last night for car insurance. Progressive quoted me $568 for 6 months based on the information I gave them, which from my memory, may not be the most accurate. I looked up what I am paying now, and that is about $1330 per year, so it won't be a huge savings, but it is substantial enough to make me think twice if it's worth the hassle. Gotta talk it over with the hubby.
November expenses: $28.62 (DH got an oil change, a haircut, and gas - I have to find out the cost so I can add it in)
November income: $3661.16
Things I did to save money today: Brought my lunch to work, researched how to dry out my gladiola bulbs for replanting next year so that I don't have to buy more, made a pot of soup for lunch tomorrow, in the process of soaking my old showerhead to see if the gunk can be cleaned out and we can use it again in place of the cheap one we have now (a new one this nice would be $30-40).

My husband picked up my commission check from the office today - it was my largest ever, by quite a bit. We are now debating whether to put it toward his car loan or my student loans. The interest is higher on my student loans, but so is the balance. I like the idea of paying off his car, which we could probably do with my next commission check (due the end of this month). We'll see...my most recent real estate deal just fell through over the weekend due to a lousy home inspection, so I've only got one more deal in the works right now. But hopefully more will come my way soon.
A no spend day for me - I spent most of the day hunkering down at home trying not to move, as I pulled something in my back. I did have to go to work for a few hours though. Tonight I made eggplant lasagna - it was absolutely wonderful. I didn't even miss the noodles. Both the kids are in bed now so I can just relax for the rest of the night. Ds1 has the sniffles, so I know I'll be sick to in a day or two. I have been washing my hands like a lunatic, but it never seems to matter. it's not like I can turn down a kiss when he offers so I better get my rest now while I can.
November expenses: $8.62
November income: $3661.16
Goal for this week:
1. Get an estimate on repairs for DH's car. Some moron hit it during the night while he was visiting friends (he was parked on the road by his friend's house). So now we either get to pay for it out of pocket or possibly take a hit on our insurance. It really, really infuriates me that people can be so inconsiderate. It's not only the car they hit, it's money out of our pocket and future black marks on our insurance. Speaking of this, it also infuriates me that any claim can potentially count against you for insurance, whether it's your fault or not. Grrr.
2. So I am also going to shop around for car insurance this week, if I can get to it. I went with the insurance offered through my union because I got a good discount, but now I wonder if I can find it cheaper elsewhere even without the discount. I think we are paying about $1500 a year for two cars (a 2000 minivan and 2005 car), which isn't bad compared to a lot of areas, but I think we should be able to do better with our good driving records.
3. Speaking of driving, my last goal for the week is to sign up for the driver's safety course offered through my union. It's only $18 and I will get a 10% reduction on insurance for three years. Sure, it's a waste of a perfectly good Saturday (6 hours - ugh), but it's worth it.

I like the idea of writing down the ways I saved money today - I have seen it in some other journals. It serves as a good reminder of the proactive things I AM doing, and I like reading about what other people are doing. Today I brought my lunch to work and had a cup of coffee at home, instead of getting one while out. I forgot to stop at the store to buy meat for the lasagna, so I found some in the freezer to use (bonus: cleaning out the glut of food in the freezer).

What a beautiful day for central NY this time of year. We took a picnic today over to one of my father's fields where he was working (we live on a farm). Some fruit, sandwiches, and three kids who got to run around an empty field (we had my niece with us) - what a nice way to spend an afternoon. Then I finally got out to the garden today while the kids were napping to pull up all the old plants and my gladiola bulbs (by the way, if anyone wants to share with me what I am supposed to do with them now, I would be grateful. I have never planted gladiola's before so I am not sure how to preserve the bulbs for next year - just dry them out and store them?). Plus there are a few things still out there. I have some carrots, greens (spinach and swiss chard), and a few peppers left. We ate out of the garden everyday from late June until the end of September - talk about a money saver. I really need to learn to can so I can preserve some of this bounty. Right now I freeze a lot, but that takes up so much space. My mom was supposed to teach me how to can this year, but we never seemed to get around to it. Next year I will make it a priority.
Had to make an emergency run to the store today for a necessity that I forgot yesterday. Plus I picked up an eggplant while I was there as it was a lot cheaper than the ones I looked at yesterday, and I want to try a recipe for eggplant lasagna (you use eggplant slices instead of noodles). That's on the menu for tomorrow. Otherwise, it was a no-spend day.
November expenses: $8.62 at the grocery store
November income: $0

I cannot believe that the end of October is already here! Where did the time go? Had to go back to work today, and then grocery shopping for my incredibly expensive healthy food. Whole wheat anything costs at least twice as much as regular food. I got some whole grain dinner rolls, whole wheat pasta, steel cut oats...I hope this pays off. We stayed in tonight since the kids are too young to really understand Halloween and don't need the candy anyway (nor do we!). We carved pumpkins and opened the door for our two trick-or-treaters. At least we don't have to spend a fortune in candy to give away!
Total spent so far: $1514.52
Oct. 31: $76 at the grocery store
Total: $1590.52
Thank goodness this month is over and I won't have any big payments next month!
Just a few musings...it is amazing how much a change of attitude can change your spending habits. A few years ago, I was one of those see it, want it types of people. But something just clicked one day where all of a sudden, the difference between "wants" and "needs" became so clear. I need a shirt, I don't have to have a $40 shirt. A $5 shirt from the Salvation Army is just fine. I don't needs cd's, the radio keeps me entertained (I just "discovered" National Public Radio about 3 months ago - I am hooked!). I don't need to go out to bars every night - in fact, I preferred staying in and playing a game or watching a television show. When I do go out, I don't need to have a fancy drink - in fact, now I prefer water with my meals. When it really came down to it, I had everything I needed already. Sure, I still splurge on some things that I want - a fancy meal out, a weekend away, even a massage once in a blue moon - but I am not going to worry about not having enough money to pay the phone bill if I do. It's all a matter of prioritizing. To me, frugality is not about doing without things - it's about allocating your money to what is important to you. For me, taking care of my family's needs (food, clothes, education, healthcare, and occasional entertainment) comes first. Second is taking care of debt in order to get my family on the securest ground, and saving for future needs. A far distant third priority would be material things. I just don't have the need (or the space!) for them.
The really amazing part is that I do not for a second feel deprived. I have changed my views so much on what i need and want that I find there is little I really want to possess. When people ask me what I want for my birthday, I am hard-pressed to think if things. I tell me husband a lot, "how lucky I am to not want for anything." It's all a state of mind.

On another note - we decided with DH's family yesterday to downsize Christmas. I am SO glad. We have upwards of 25 people to buy for and it was just getting to be too much - too much money, time, and hassle. So for his family we have set a $10 "fun gift" limit. He is looking on E-bay right now for a fun find. I think for my family we are going to draw names. It was to the point where it took us hours to open gifts, and when we were all done, I had 30 things I did not need and would not use. So I am really looknig forward to enjoying Christmas shopping again this year

Busy weekend. We spent yesterday going to two parties and then playing cards (found a babysitter after all - and since my SIL owed us, it didn't even cost us!). Today we went to Binghamton for my husband's sister's birthday. A nice day, but a lot of time in the car. I'm too tired to write much tonight, but I will put down my expenses.
Expenses thus far: $1395.13
Oct. 29: $2 ($1 each for the kids to get into a Halloween party sponsored by my son's pre-school - what a waste of money. We left after ten minutes).
$20 on gifts - $10 each to my cousin's kids who had a joint birthday party last night.
Oct. 30: $56.30 on gas (my minivan)
$1.09 on milk at a convenience store for ds2 in the car
$20 for bowling (Sunday night league - $10 each)
$15 for the babysitter ($5 X 3 hours)
$5 gift to someone in the bowling league who is having brain surgery
Total: $1514.52
It's amazing how fast this adds up...I think for November I will track all of our income and expenses, so it will be easier to see if we are gaining any ground.

A good day yesterday money-wise...no money spent. I guess it doesn't hurt when I work from 8:30am until 6:30pm! That does not leave me a lot of time to spend any money. After work, we went to my aunt's house to play pitch. We belong to two pitch leagues and one pinochle club. In my opinion, that is some of the best free entertainment around (actually, the pinochle club costs $18 per year, but that's a small price to pay for one evening out a month). We have a pinochle match tonight, but since our babysitter (my mom) cancelled and we can't find another, we'll have to find a sub. I could play cards or board games every night of the week and never get tired of them. It's amazing just how long a deck of cards can entertain you. For anyone who is looking for cheap entertainment, go to the library and check out a book on card games.
I have to add $5 to my total as my dear husband had to eat out at class the other night. So my total money spend since I started keeping track: $90.13 + $5 = $95.13. I guess if I really want to keep an accurate count, I should add in the money I spent in paying off the credit cards. Without getting all the papers out again, I am going to estimate that I spent $1300 on paying off my balances this month. So I guess I am up to $1395.13.

Yeah! Realizing that I had to account to my journal tonight, I finally sat down and made that credit card payment. It hurt a little (just over $1000), but I have no one to blame but myself (and DH, I guess). I misplaced my debit card which I use for everything (I know it's around here somewhere...), which has led me to use my credit cards more often since I hate writing checks. And since it was 0% interest, it was so easy to justify it. I don't think I spent any more than I would have otherwise since most of my purchases were gas and groceries, but it would have been nice to be paying it as I went instead of one big lump sum. At least I wrapped it up before they started to charge any interest. For good measure, I paid up my other two credit cards too. I am going to cancel one so that I only have two credit cards left, but I am going to wait a few weeks since I just canceled a different one. I just read last night that it is not a good idea to cancel two cards in one month because it looks like you are having money trouble.

Goal #1: Accomplished. Now on to the car payment...have to wait for my next commission check to come in before I tackle that one.

Expenditures today:
Gas $33.83 - I'm glad it was DH's car that needed gas because my minivan takes over $60 to fill
Groceries $56.30 - Sounds to be a lot since I went twice last week already, but I found a bunch of cans of my son's formula, which is hard to find now. I bought enough to last until he turns a year old and can switch to milk.
I did buy some whole wheat pasta for the Phase 2 of the diet, when I can reintroduce carbs. It was $1.50 for a box that I can normally find 2/$1! And I paid over $3 for a box of whole grain cereal, which I rarely do. But I am seeing the benefits. I wore a pair of pants to work today that I have not worn since before becoming pregnant with my second son. Yeah! I have lost about 3.5 pounds since I started weighing myself last week.

Total: $90.13

My first "real" entry:
Expenditures today: none
I spent the day at work and brought my lunch. I started the South Beach diet a week and a half ago. I have found it to both save and cost money to be on this diet. It saves me money as I have to plan my menu out carefully and can no longer run to the fast-food restaurants if I did not have time to make lunch. I have been making my lunches at night to avoid running out of time in the am. So I have cut out app. $3-4 that I would usually spend out at lunch once a week. However, a lot of the foods on the diet are expensive. Nuts, olive oil, fresh veggies... this stuff is a lot more expensive than the junk I was eating! But the results are already showing and I feel a lot better about my eating habits. However, once I start eating the whole grains again next week, I know I will feel it in my pocketbook again - whole wheat breads are SO much more expensive.
I meant to go shopping after work, but I was stuck at work too long and had to get home so DH could get to class. Tomorrow I will need to pick up some lettuce (again, the healthier stuff is more expensive than the iceberg) and some type of meat for dinner. I ended up making vegetarian chili for dinner tonight with stuff from the freezer and cupboard. It came out pretty well though. So I guess I escaped today without having to spend any money, but I already now I will have to spend some tomorrow.
I guess I can console myself by knowing that this better eating will pay off in the long run with less medical bills. My goal is to get DH off of his cholesterol meds ($15 month copay) - not just for the cost, but I worry about him being on it for a long time since it is a relatively new drug and not tested long-term yet. He's only 28! I'll check back in a day or two with a log of my expenses...

I don't know how often I will be able to do this, but I know being forced to account for the money we spend will be helpful. Right now I am in a very fortunate position of sharing my parents' home with my DH and kids (ds1, age 2, and ds2, age 10 months). We moved here about two years ago after we sold our home, but had not yet found a new one. It was supposed to be temporary...but we liked it here and my parents loved having us around. It was nice to share the household tasks, the expenses, and the fun. DH and I have a great relationship with my parents and made them promise to tell us when it was time for us to move on. So far, in every conversation, we are welcome to stay. So for us, housing and utility costs are minimal. We pay a portion of the phone, electric, dish tv, groceries, and Netflix every month. Since my parents own the house, there is no mortgage. This is what enables to raise two kids on the income we have, which is not much right now.
DH lost his job in July very unexpectedly and decided to go back to school for his teacher certification. Luckily, he was accepted into a program that will continue to pay unemployment benefits for part of the time he is going to school. So we have about $300 coming in weekly for at least a few more months. I work a half-time job, which gives us our health benefits, plus I have been able to pick up some extra time over the past few months. So that brings in another $550 - 800(net) every two weeks, depending on how much I work. I also sell real estate, mostly part-time to friends, relatives, and referrals. It's a nice source of extra income (app. $5-10k per year).
We are doing okay now, although we do have some goals we would like to meet. We have a 0% interest credit card that we used for everything over the last few months. However, the 0% rate ends in November, so our first order of business is to pay that off. I think we owe about $1200 on that. We can pay that out of savings, but then we'll have to work to replenish our savings.
Next, DH has a $8000 car loan from a new car he bought last January. Our next goal is to pay that off. I will have two substantial real estate commission checks coming in over the next month that we will use to cut that in half. Then we'll work at chipping away the rest.
Lastly, we have student loans. And more student loans. We had our original $35000 ($17,500 each) cut down to about $18000 ($11000 on mine and $7000 on DHs), but we had to take out new loans for DH - about $4000 a semester times 4 semesters...oh boy. So we are going to chip away at mine after the car is paid off since his are in deferment.
We do have about 6 months of expenses in a savings account, but I am fanatical about not touching that. I know to some degree it does not make a lot of sense, since we are earning so little on it (making less interest than we are paying on our loans), but I feel I need to keep my security blanket. I do not plan to save for my kids' college, since DH and I had no help from our parents and did quite well with financial aid (we will never be big earners), but we do set aside some money for the kids every Christmas and birthday. Maybe we should rethink how we save for them.
Anyway, that's my introduction. I hope to use this as a venue for personal accountability, although DH at times does not like to account to me his expenditures We'll see how it goes. I have read others journals with great interest and hope to continue to glean many good ideas. Maybe I can help others as well.