I have never been great about saving ahead for Christmas. Surprising. It comes at the same time every year. I save for other yearly expenses on a monthly basis, but not Christmas or Birthdays.

I might change. I might not. I usually just spend what I have on hand. Can't go wrong there. I also start shopping for some things early.

Right now I actually have a little stash that I have accumulated for Christmas:

Target Gift Cards $80
Cash $160
Paypal $19.61
Cash Rewards $75
Amazon Gift Card $5

Total = $339.61

I'm guessing I need another $400, which can easily come out of cash on hand as I buy. I plan to keep earning rewards and holding on to the paypal balance. It will all help take the sting out of the Christmas spending. Oh and I do intend to scale back a bit on gifts. I'm thinking some homemade items are in order!

for the car sale. No. I'm not cheating on my husband! I expect my neice and her parents to come to get the car October 16th. That is only three weeks away. I'm excited. She's excited. I'm going to make her a key chain for her new key and give her a gift card for gas. That part is her birthday present.

The car proceeds of $2500 will go to the emergency fund. I also realized that I can cancel the auto insurance on it also. I will have just paid the premium on it 12 days prior, so I will get most of that money, around $200, back.

Our car registrations are due in October also. I will only renew the van and save the money for the car registration, which is about $117. Actually, I'm allocating this money to the increase in home owner's insurance this year. Joy.

I thought this weekend would be full of spending. The girls do need several different types of clothes now that the weather is cooling a bit. However, we haven't had much luck finding what we need and some of it can wait. Whew! For now.

I did buy a new pair of fall pajamas for my oldest daughter. Spent less than $15. I also bought her a pair of Converse shoes. These were about $20 after I used a rain check for a half off pair!

Today we really need to find one decent top my youngest daughter is willing to wear for picture day. We are going to head to Old Navy where I have a $10 coupon to use. Fingers crossed!!

The groceries are bought. I have enough gas until payday and it looks like I might end up with around $50 left! Nice. Payday means more saving and debt payoff. I'll update you on those soon.

Yes! It was a very light spending weekend. Ran to the grocery store for a couple of things on Saturday and spent $7.48. On Sunday, I paid for some french fries to eat while we were treated to two games of bowling with my parents and spent about $4.50 with a tip. Today, I filled up my gas tank with about $28 in fuel for our return trip home. Not bad for a three day weekend with an overnight trip.

I do have a list of regular purchases to pick up this week to include cat food, kitty litter, fertilizer for the lawn and a furnace filter. I will try to hold out a couple of more days before I go to the grocery store.

I plan to do yard work outside this week and expect on spending my own energy on that! I will also work on cleaning out the garage in preparation for the garage sale sometime (still waiting on a date) in the next month.

NJDebbie asked in the comments yesterday about our plans after we have paid off the van loan. I bet a few more of you want to know too.

My husband has been very patient in waiting to get a new (or newer) vehicle. He has driven our beater cars (okay they aren't quite beaters) for years. He works very hard to provide for our family, while allowing me to stay home. We will be then saving for a large downpayment on his next vehicle. There may be some financing, but we will get it paid off quickly, too. Our current van and the future vehicle will be in our lives for quite some time as we hope to cashflow a majority of college for our girls.

I just now have to convince hubby not to go overboard with his purchase of a new vehicle. He sure would love all the bells and whistles.

Interesting day today:

Slipped into a convenience store between the girls meet the teacher events to use the restroom. Bought $6 worth of junk on the way out.

Volunteered to buy clorox wipes for the elementary teacher, as well as snacks for the class in September. Cost yet unknown.

Invited to the neighbors for leftover birthday cake. Gave their daughter a fabric pouch I made out of fabric I already had and the zipper I purchased yesterday. Borrowed a music stand from them, saving myself nearly $20. They gave me two ears of sweet corn and confirmation of garage sale participation this fall.

Spent so much time at the neighbors, I felt the need to run for fast food for dinner and spent about $16. Regret it. I had other things to eat, even if it was not the dinner I had originally planned (baked chicken).

Earlier in the day, I had my daughter try on shoes that were delivered in the mail (because the store didn't have her size). Turns out they did fit, but didn't 'feel right' to her. So they need to be returned to our local store and we need to be on the lookout for another pair. Oh, and the jazz shoes from last year are too small, too. Another purchase to pursue.

As I said, an interesting day as it relates to money. A little spending. A little saving.

It's our final week of summer. It's time to double check the shoes and clothes and fit in a good time here and there.

This week the girls have eye appointments. Read that as: new glasses and a pair of contacts for one. We are in the market for new sneakers and a couple of shirts. It's still summer, so no long sleeves or jeans needed yet. Those few things will add up, but I have cash to spend.

The last few outings aren't yet planned, but they need to be close to free. I have spent a fair amount this summer keeping us entertained. Again with cash!

What do your school preparations look like?

My parents are coming to town. We are visiting a pool with water slides and a lazy river as well as attending the state fair. Yep...some spending is involved. I already prepaid for the fair tickets, minus parking. I will need to put out about $18 for the pool admission.

It's our last big fling before school starts. It is nice that we can pay in cash...otherwise these would not be on my plan.

Yesterday, I did find a free activity. I did spend $0.75 for parking. We visited a local test garden for a major magazine company. Boy, was it beautiful. It rained while we were there, which actually made for some gorgeous pictures. My daughter couldn't stop snapping photos. I think I may have some new art for my kitchen!!

I'm going to tell a story about my sister in law. I don't know all their details, but some of this information may help someone else.

My sister in law and her husband filed bankruptcy on their business about four years ago. They did keep their house and cars. In the last year, Citimortgage would not accept payments from my SIL and returned the money. She has spent hours trying to figure out the problem and getting them to take her money. Obviously, if they don't take your payments you start to become delinquent according to the mortgage company.

Again, I don't have all the details. Apparently, they have a mortgage with a balloon payment. It seems this may have come due and been part of the problem. However, it was never communicated to SIL that the balloon was due. Even in her phone calls it wasn't communicated.

At some point, Citimortgage does apologize and admits they did not send notification the balloon payment. They now have until late September to pay the balloon. For SIL this will require refinancing their mortgage. Of course, it is hard to refinance when the current mortgage company shows your account as delinquent by months!!

Again more phone calls to Citimortgage to determine how she can get current if they won't accept payments. She speaks to a lawyer. She threatens to get her lawyer involved because she feels that if Citimortgage forecloses, they lose their equity of $50K and that technically Citimortgage is stealing from her.

She has the money to pay the mortgage and has all along. They just wouldn't accept payment. Finally, a customer service rep says she can wire the full amount and bring the account current. Of course, only after my SIL threatens to sue!!

My sister in law does wire the money. Citimortgage accpets and puts the account current. They now have until late September to make the balloon payment by refinancing, which SIL says is in the works.

Umm...why did it take so many hours of phone calls to get out of Citimortgage that a simple wire transfer of money would solve the problem? I hope this information might help someone in a similar situation.

This is what we spent yesterday at the theme park.

Admission: $78
Food/Drink: $10.50
Tube Rental:$6
Parking: $5
Total : $99.50

Just under $100.

We were able to get into the theme park with a military discount, saving me $22 off the regular admission price. Fortunately, that is about all I spent on other items!

I haven't entirely decided if it was worth it. We only rode one ride which we waited 30 minutes for. The rest of the time was spent in the water park section, where we primarily used the pool and lazy river. The girls did go down a few of the smaller water slides.

It was so busy. It took about two hours to hook up with my in laws. We were in contact by phone, but it took a little while to get all in the same place. This type of thing frustrates me. I think we had the most fun in the lazy river when we went as a large group. Or most of us anyway!

My family only spent about 5 hours in the park total. We left early to pick up pizzas to eat at our house. I bought 5 large pizzas for $42.50. In laws gave me $40, so very inexpensive on my end. I did provide watermelon, carrots, lemonade, tea, brownies and lemon bars. Those items likely only cost me about $15. And I have lots of leftovers!!

I think we all would have had more fun, if they had just come to our house rather than the theme park because we did have a great time together here at our house. Such is life, right?

Several of my in laws are coming to town to visit the local theme park. About 12 in all. The girls and I are going to go with them to the theme park and then have them to our house for dinner.

The theme park admission will cost me about $78. I'm sure there will be a drink or a snack purchased. Oh, I think I have to pay for parking, too. Ugh. It should be great weather though.

When they come for dinner, I think we will all pitch in for pizza. I'll make a salad and have fruit on the side. I'll likely just buy drinks I would normally buy.

This wasn't exactly in my budget for this time of year, but I can make it work. Besides it is family. And they hardly ever visit! It will be worth it to spend time with them.

I rented my youngest daughter's flute today. For the next 32 months (yikes!) I will pay $36.80 towards the flute. At that point it will be ours!! Yep. Rent to own. I'm not a big fan, at all, but it seems to work well for kids in band.

If she quits early, I can return the flute and owe no more money. If she plays, for a year and I want to purchase the flute I can get a 20% discount on the remaining balance by paying in full. I hope it works out for her and I can take advantage of paying off early.

Five dollars of the fee is a repair and maintenence plan. You can take it any number of times for any issue and not pay anything out of pocket. With out the plan one would pay nearly $75 each time it is repaired or maintenenced. It seems like a good deal when you consider how hard young kids can be on instruments.

We went to visit my parents for two nights while my cousin and her daughter were visiting from California.


Not too expensive. I took fruit and breads as requested by my mom. I bought gas prior to the trip. I bought a museum membership that will last a year for $30 that allowed 5 out of 7 of us into the museum and saved us one dollar compared to purchasing individual admissions. I'm sure we will go back since my kids like this museum. My mom bought my return tank of gas since we had used our van to drive around while we were there. I also bought snacks on the way home. I personally needed a little caffeine!!

I was only away a couple days, but I feel I missed out on your news. I will catch up soon!

It looks like we will have $27 extra in the budget each month for awhile. DH's life insurance premium is refunded while he's in the combat zone. I'm thinking I will put this towards my youngest's flute rental payment that will start soon.

I returned an item to Target today that equaled $27.55. It's nice to have that money back! I do think the next week could be spendy. I have to buy food for a family gathering, start some school supply shopping as I see good deals, as well as get hair cuts for all of us.

It is good to remember there is a time for saving and a time for spending!

I know, we are weird...we are having a birthday party on a Monday! My youngest turned 10 recently. We are taking three of her friends to an arcade pizza place this afternoon for lunch and fun.

We did the same type of party for my older daughter. The pizza chain had much better coupons then. Today I think I will spend nearly $90. This includes lunch and dessert for seven of us and game cards for 5.

I did home parties when the girls were younger...they were quite a bit of work, but a little less expensive. This year, to eliminate stress on my part, but have a nice party we choose the arcade for the parties. It is well worth the money to me and I have the money to do this. If it was any burden at all, I would skip a party all together or keep it very simple at home.

What are your favorite at home child's party themes and activities? I will need ideas for next year!

We stayed home yesterday and didn't spend a penny! There was plenty to do around here without spending.

We are still working on the dollhouse and found several more pieces to glue on. My daughter was adding flowers to the window flower boxes. We are working on this in our basement, so it is nice and cool down there on these very warm days. The cats even join us and find a place to nap.

Last week we painted my younger daughter's bedroom orange, so this week we gave my older daughter a room makeover. The makeover was free by simply rearranging the furniture. She was thrilled because we found a way to include a space for her moon chair to be up all the time.

We swam in the neighbors backyard pool.Those blue ones everyone seems to have these days. Free entertainment. Unfortunately, with the warm weather the water is also very, very warm.

There was also playing on the wii and watching a movie later in the evening. I also managed to squeeze in some cleaning.

It was good fun filled no spend day. How spendy or thrifty was your Saturday?

I requested a grant from Our Military Kids to cover six month of tuition for my children to attend dance and tumbling. We received it!!

The check was sent to the organization and I actually had prepaid the tuition for the upcoming year. The dance studio is sending me a check for what is now an overpayment in the amount of $697. Yipee!

The real question though is what to do with this money. I could put it on the van loan. Or I could save it for things like school clothes and Christmas gifts. If I put the money on the van loan, as these expenses come up, I will need to reduce the amount I put on the van loan.

Any opinions?

Geez! What a day. After rescuing a bunny and a toad, I proceeded to prime and paint a bedroom! Yep. A bedroom. Orange paint, no less. I had to prime since purple was already on the wall. I actually still need to paint the last coat tomorrow. I hope, hope, hope that one more coat will cover that purple!!

I'd like to say all the painting made it a no spend day for us. Unfortunately, I needed to run to Super Target for a few things. Milk, bread, hair products. Cookies, too. Those were a want. Sixteen dollars spent.

I'll just add one more thing. I came up with a free kitchen table center piece this month. Three clear glass jars of different sizes. Filled with sand about 1/3 full. Added seashells courtesy of my daughter's collection. I just grouped them in the middle of the table. Makes me think of the beach! I also wrote "Relax" in blue on my kitchen chalk board.

My husband and I are relying on Skype and email to communicate. So far it is mostly email. Skype was working great in the states and at his first stop in the desert. However, this final location is giving us problems with dropped calls using a broadband connection. It is hard to communicate in 15 seconds!!

He is working on getting a satellite connection which should improve our ability to use Skype. The cost to us $85 per month. It seems a bit steep, but it will be worth it to us. He will also be able to get on the internet in his free time.

The broadband connection is $60 per month and since it is not working he should be able to get that refunded. In the meantime, the man needs more money. I sure hope the spending slows down soon. It is hard to make progress when we keep dipping in to the extra funds.

If you or someone you know is a deployed service member with children and in the reserves or national guard of any branch, please check out this

Below are two pictures of the dollhouse we are constructing. This is just the walls and floors. We have much more to do. Tonight we went to Lowe's and spent about $17, for paint and liquid nails. The paint is for the trim that won't be very easy to spray paint. The liquid nails is to adhere the nearly 1000 shingles to the roof!! I still have yet to dye them, and I just might attempt that tonight.





Oh yes, we do have some doll furniture that seems to work very nicely. It's pretty old handed down to my girls from a friend of their grandma. Perfect since it is free!!

I took the girls to see Toy Story 3 today. We all really enjoyed the movie. There were a couple of parts with Mr. Potato Head that just cracked me up!

It was pricey. We probably could have skipped the popcorn and pop that we shared since we had just eaten lunch. I will remember that for next time. I spent $19.50 just for matinee admission and another $12.75 for the snacks. Luckily, I have the money for this outing.

I used to work in a movie theater as a teen. In fact my husband worked in one as a manager and eventually ran projectors as a part time job. Up until three years ago when we moved here, we were able to see free movies for the entire time we have been together!
We love to watch movies, but I just cringe when I pay those prices!!

I've definitely done my share of sneaking in water and a snack in recent years. I'm not sure why I didn't do that today. Oh well...just a reminder to do that in the future.

How many of you regularly see first run movies in the theater?

Our van loan balanced dropped below $17,000 today when I made our regular payment of $496. With $438.82 going to principal our new balance is: $16,823.47.

Yipee!!

In other news: my mother purchased a doll house for my daughters that has to be painted and put together with glue. It's like a construction project!! It is a bit overwhelming especially when they would like it done NOW. We now have zero excuses for being bored this summer.

We're going swimming today!! It's going to be near 90 degrees and crazy humid. I'm even getting in half price with a coupon from our Entertainment book. The total admission for the three of us will be $6!! I will probably splurge a bit and get a snack while we are there.

After it cools down a bit later, I HAVE to get out and mow. It's a jungle out there and we are getting rain nearly every day. And thanks to the fertilizer DH put on a couple weeks ago, it is growing crazy fast!!

I've been able to have two video phone calls with my husband via Skype. He was calling from Starbucks after having purchased himself a cold Frappuccino! Weird war.

It appears the extra pays are about to start kicking in next week when he gets paid. That's probably the only thing I really like about this deployment. Those extra funds will help us to meet some of the big goals we want to accomplish this year. I will hash out the particulars on payday and see if there really any extra to put towards those goals. It has still be a very expensive month.

How is your June working out so far?

My 13 year old daughter has her dad's cell phone for the next year while he is away. In the last two days, over 100 texts have either been sent or received now that school is out for the summer.

Late yesterday, I added an unlimited text to her phone for $10 per month. Unlimited to Verizon customers, plus 500 to others. So far the friends she is texting with are with Verizon. I was hoping to go with the $5 plan, but that was only for 250 texts, which didn't seem like enough.

Joys of a teenager with a phone!

I finally got word that my husband is in the desert where it is 120 degrees. I received an email from him letting me know he arrived safely. Thank goodness for technology!

I've been doing pretty good after having quite a few rough days before he arrived home on a pass and then a terrible time saying goodbye. Who wouldn't? I think once we get into a communication schedule, hopefully by phone or skype, I'll be much better.

One day at a time. Hmm...just like finances! Oh, and he seems to be on some sort of crazy spending spree this month having already spent $260. I hope that is it until next week, I'm having a hard time keeping up.

The girls and I planted our garden today. It is a little later than I would like to have started it, but it is in.

We planted tomatoes, bush beans, sugar snap peas, onions, a strawberry plant. The tomatoe plants seem to have come from last years tomatoes that I composted. The beans and peas were started from seeds that I actually had leftover from last year. Do you think they will grow? When I was at Home Depot yesterday they didn't have the seeds I wanted, so I decided to try the leftovers. The onions are also from leftover seeds from the year before.

The only thing I have bought new was the strawberry plant. We had one last year that spread quite a bit, but it is struggling to come back. I bought the new one to please my older daughter who loves strawberries. We'll see how many we get?!

We also have a little bit of a mystery plant. A pumpkin, squash or goard also started itself from the seeds of one we composted in the garden last year. It will be fun to see what it turns out to be! We kept two of those that sprouted. We didn't want those to take over our small 8 foot by 8 foot garden.

We are schedule to get quite a bit of rain over the next week or so. This should give our garden a good start. How many of you plant fruits or vegetables?

Two vehicles. And now only one driver for awhile. It's really hard to drive two cars, when you don't really like the other one! It is the one we are selling to my neice later this summer. She's working hard to save her money for the car.

In the meantime, I notified our insurance company that only one of us needs to be insured for now. I received a $22 credit. Obviously, an extra driver doesn't add too much to the premium! I just paid for six months in April. Once we sell the car the premium will drop much more, at least until we replace it.

I'm not focused on finances right now. Yes, the bills are getting paid. I'm just not spending much time calculating all the inflows and outflows. Or whatever.

I have said my final 'see you later' to DH yesterday. Within the next 10 days he should be in another country working. Many tears had been shed. Even the girls.

Now we wait for communication from him. This is likely to be one of the hardest parts. The not knowing where he is or when we will hear from him.

I will try to keep myself busy, but it may not be with finances. I have plenty of cleaning that could be done. A lawn to mow. A garden and flowers to plant. Things to sew. Or I may just sit and relax with a good book.