I was going to log on tonight and report that we did not spend anything Saturday and Sunday. We didn't leave the house actually. We had food, entertainment and things that needed to be done here. And it was so windy and cold it wasn't appealing to go out!

However, I did make an Amazon.com purchase. My youngest cat has that herpes virus that can't be cured once they have it. She was under some stress last weekend when my sister's dog visited our house. As a result, her eye is watering constantly and she has been having sneezing fits. It generally calms down on its own, but the sneezing she's doing seems worse than in the past. I ordered L-Lysine chews for $7.26.

$266.69 Previous Balance
__$7.26 Purchase
$273.95 Total Spent

It was nice that I didn't need to buy anything to get my youngest daughter ready for camp. I do think she would like shorts, but she said no, so I need to respect that. She is the child that needs to try and learn rather than be told.

Right now, I only expect to spend $20 tomorrow for my oldest daughter's flute lesson. I have that money in my wallet ready to go. It is possible I will need a little fuel to get through Wednesday, just not sure yet when I will make that fuel stop.

Did you spend any money this weekend? I actually expect you all to say yes, because I think weekends are prime spending time for most of us!

Friday was a spending day. Groceries, haircut and mother's day. Total Spent: $88.34.

My sister picked up potted flowers for my mom and was delivering them last night. My share was $18. This works well for my mom because they are getting ready to put the house on the market, and some nice flowers near the front door or back porch will be welcome. My budget was $20, so I came in under that. Yippee!!

I spent $60.93 at Target for groceries to last through Friday. I did have a small list and admit that I did add things to it, but I thought through all the purchases and have no regrets. I did buy toilet paper, so we are good there.

Great Clips was on their final sale day of $5.99 haircuts. It was busy, busy, busy! I only waited 15 minutes since there were 8 stylists working. The woman who cut my hair said they normally work 30 hours a week, but as of Thursday night she was at 60 hours!! The gals were kind and friendly, but you could tell they were tired. I tipped $3 and still saved money. I will never go to one of those sales again, as I know that I can afford to go other times and I don't need to add to the madness. I did receive a great haircut though!! Total spent $9.41.

The total for my low spend experiment is now at $266.69. My goal is to be under $450. So far so good!

_178.35 Old Balance
_$88.34 New Purchases
$266.69 Total Spent

Happy Mother's Day to all women who care for children in any way...especially you teachers and day care providers!

No spending today!

The food is definitely dwindling and my kids are searching high and low for snacks. They did dip into that bag of chips I bought at Menard's yesterday.

Today, I cooked up chicken and rice and will stir fry it with the seasoning packet later for dinner. This dish will help use up some green onions. I will steam the final bits of broccoli and carrots in the fridge too. I just realized I should try to regrow the onion roots in water and see how well and fast that works. More experimenting!!

I don't think this is related to the experiment, but my daughter asked for yellow and white tissue paper for to take to school for a project. Fine, except we don't have yellow. She said she would just color on the white to make it yellow and it would be no problem. I did offer to buy some before she said that. I don't want the experiment to impact their needs for school. I guess it was more of a want anyway.

I think the lack of snacks has helped me stay on track with my diet this week, too. I don't want to overeat and use up what could be eaten the next day. Clever diet trick if you want to try it.

Tomorrow I expect to go to the store. I will try to make this the final run before May 15th when the experiment ends. I also will get my haircut because I'm way overdue, and Great Clips is having a $5.99 sale right now. I think I can swing that this week. We are running low on toilet paper, but I don't think I'll experiment with stretching that out!!

Did you have a no spend day today? What about in the last week? If not, do you think you could try it for one day?

I'm really trying with this low spend experiment, and part of that means I have to do things a little differently. I went to make pancakes last night and realized I didn't have enough baking powder. Thanks to the internet, I found out that I could replace 1 tsp of baking powder with 1/4 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp of cream of tarter. The pancakes turned out great!

I'm also running low on fabric softener sheets for the dryer. For now, I'm just tearing them in half, or even thirds if I have a small load. This will stretch my stash. I may even run out of laundry detergent before this experiment ends next week. I may make my own, which I have done in the past. I'll decide when I get to that point.

Today I bought gas for my van ($56.94), postage for my mother in law's package ($3.26), and ($0.69) for a seasoning packet that I needed for dinner this week. I forgot to pick it up when I was at the store earlier this week. I also used a credit at Menard's to purchase paint for my front door, loose leaf paper, and a bag of chips! I am not including the Menard's spending, since it is not out of current cash. Luckily, all of these errands were one trip.

I also wrote a check for my youngest daughter's yearbook, which was $20. It is due Friday, otherwise, I would delay that payment.

_$97.46 Old Balance
_$80.89 New Purchases
$178.35 Total Spent

Considering my spending limit until May 15th is $450, I feel we are doing pretty well. Not even half way through the half the cash, but there will be more spending. I'm guessing we will spend at least $400 by the end of next week.

I had to make another trip to the grocery store to pick up a few fill in items. A few things the girls needed for lunch primarily. I hope to make it a few more days before I need to go back. I plan to make that the final trip before this little spending experiment is over.

I spent another $21.74. Not bad for what I bought. Things add up fast though. Oh, and I did spend $20 for my daughter's flute lesson yesterday

$55.72 Previous Balance
$41.74 Grocery Store
$97.46 New Balance

My sister and I are getting my mom flowers for mother's day. I decided to put in up to $20. My sister will buy and deliver the flowers herself since she lives much, much closer than I do.

I bought some note cards and a small bar of soap to send to my mother in law. I used a gift card to buy these, at a cost of $12.73. I am not counting this cost towards my spending. I will count the cost to mail the package though.

I expect that tomorrow I will need to spend money on fuel for the van. I'm guessing this will be around $50.

I have noticed that I do make different decisions when I'm trying not to spend. My daughter had some ear buds break this weekend. It was an accident involving the cat. Instead of running out to buy a pair for $10, I lent my ear buds to her. We don't generally listen to music at the same time, so it works out. I will buy her a new pair after the spending freeze.

Have you ever done a spending freeze? How did it work out for you? When do you think is the best time to do one?

Our homeowner's insurance is increasing for the next year by $87.61. That works out to be $7.30 a month. Can't complain. It just seems these types of bills go up every year!

We have at least $85 in credit rewards that I may redeem soon to add to the snowflake fund. I likely will wait another 10 days for the current billing cycle to close, so that I can redeem any new rewards. I figure I might as well add this to my $750 sooner than later. Once I meet that goal all other snowflakes will be saved for the next mortgage down payment. Just ready to get to the next goal!!

I also redeemed more Swagbucks for $25 in PayPal cash. Meeting goal everyday helps build those Swagbucks up fast. I think I'm averaging about $50 per month.

It is beautiful weather here in the Midwest. I will be getting my exercise in the yard today mowing the grass. I also need to decide where to put some garden beds, too. I will take the girls with me to Menard's this weekend to pick out flowers to plant for Mother's Day. This is a bit of a tradition, as my husband is often away on that day. It just times out right that it is time to buy the annuals at the same time Mother's Day rolls around. I will use Menard's credit to pay for the flowers and potting soil.

I can't forget to make a grocery run. We may be able to wait until tomorrow. Right now I think we have enough food to sustain ourselves. In fact, we may be able to go farther than we think!

Oh, and I still have not decided on Mother's Day gifts for my mother or mother in law, but I'm leaning on sewing something for each of them. I think they will appreciate them. As long as I have everything I need on hand, my only cost will be postage which will be minimal for mailing something made of fabric.

Looks like I will be busy today. I better get moving!!

My Saturday spending consisted of $1 spent on a rice krispie bar from a vending machine for my youngest daughter. I expected to pay $6 for admission to a band concert, but my dad picked up the tab. I offered to pay him back, and later I offered to pay admission for the a teacher we knew that didn't think she had money. She did refuse and then later did find some money.

I have not spent any money today, but did travel quite a bit to get to and around for my sisters half marathon. So the fuel tank is probably getting low! She ran her race in 2 hours 19 minutes. Not her fastest or her slowest, but the hilliest. She felt like only mile 1 and 13 were down hill.

It is inspiring to see those runners. Maybe I should make a goal to run a 5K. Maybe.

$54.72 Previous Balance
_$1.00 Spent
$55.72 Total Spent

I did make my run to Super Target, my closest grocery store. I spent $54.72, which I am pleased with.

This is the meal plan for the guests:

Breakfast will be steel cut oats with apples and cinnamon made in the crock pot overnight. Bought two apples for $0.99.

Lunch, turkey sandwiches with carrots and apple slices. I purchased an oatmeal bread, turkey, mustard, cheese, and a tomato. I have mayo, onion, and lettuce. Leftovers can be used in the following days. My purchase here was $11.49.

Dinner, pasta and marinara sauce, roasted brussel sprouts and red potatoes. My mother is bringing pesto sauce, and I have one box and part of a used jar of sauce. I bought a box of pasta, ground beef, one jar of sauce, parmesan cheese, brussel sprouts and 3 lbs of red potatoes for this meal. These cost me $13.52. I expect there will be left over meat, pasta, cheese, and potatoes for future use.

Breakfast on Sunday, will be bagels purchased by my parents. I will donate peanut butter and butter as needed, as well as coffee. I have those on hand.

Lunch on Sunday I am making a Greek Quinoa salad. I have the quinoa, dressing items, and onions. My mom is bringing the olives. I picked up feta cheese, and grape tomatoes. These two items alone cost $6.98. This salad is very tasty and filling. I will put out leftover sandwich fixings as well.

I went to the store with a list. I purchased 4 things that were not on the list. One of them was a bag of almonds that will be a good snack to set out for our guests. I picked up our preferred spreadable butter on clearance. I know I will need this before the two weeks are up. I also picked up to large containers of yogurt. These are normally $3.29, marked down to $2.23 each and I had two $1 coupons, bringing them each to $1.23. The yogurt was reaching its expiration, but we will have it eaten in plenty of time.

I also picked up other things not listed here that will be part of our dinner tonight, and a meal or two through Monday or even Tuesday. I hope to only need to go to the store one more time before the two week low spend is over.

I almost always go with a list, it is sticking to it that I need to work on. Do you shop with a list? Do you shop your cupboards before you go shopping?

I think today is going to be the hardest spending day over the next two weeks. I need to go to the store in preparation for company. I want to make wise choices without going over board. It's my sister, brother in law and my parents. If we need something, or decide we want something I don't have, we'll just swing by the store. I tend to buy extra snacks, just in case, someone is hungry. I'm going to try not to do that.

My sister is coming primarily to run a 1/2 marathon. Her tradition is pasta the evening before, so that's cheap. A jar sauce and pasta. I may add ground beef to my list for my brother in law, my parents are vegan so they won't eat it. I should look at the grocery ads to see if anyone has a deal on that. I need a vegetable, too. Roasted asparagus sounds really good, but it is a bit expensive.

Sandwiches for lunch. So a loaf of bread, and one kind of lunch meat. I may pick up cheese as well. My daughter will eat the leftovers for her lunch next week. I will put out some carrots, and apple slices, too.

Clearly I'm back wards planning here, because breakfast is actually the first thing I will feed them. They arrive late this evening. The easiest thing to make is an egg casserole, but I usually add sausage, which increases the price. I could just do scrambled eggs, or steel cut oatmeal in the crockpot. I'm starting to lean towards the latter option since I have the ingredients.

I'll let you know the results of my grocery shopping and meal plan once it is complete. Before I even get to that I've got some bathrooms to clean and laundry to start.

I'm still open to inexpensive ideas for Mother's Day. What are you getting your Mom? Or do you get to skip giving a gift? I'm sure I could if needed.

Something has definitely gotten out of hand around here. I think we are doing some spontaneous spending that is adding up faster than we realize. Since my husband is going to be gone for over two weeks, I'm going to take the time to not spend...as much as possible.

Last pay period we were over budget by $477. Yikes. I did have to call for furnace repair which was $117. We signed our daughter up for some summer classes for $155. We bought some clothes, which was at least $65. The rest? Not so sure.

My goal is to spend less than $450 through May 15. I'm pretty sure I can do this, but I do see a few events that could make this difficult.

First, I have guests this weekend. However, they often bring some food with them, so it is not all on me. We will go to a band concert which will cost me $6 to get in. I expect they will pay their own way. I will have additional gas to get to a race my sister is running in a town south of us. The biggest expense is food, but I think I can do simple eggs in the morning, sandwiches at lunch, pasta for dinner, and have someone buy bagels for Sunday morning.

The following weekend is Mother's Day. I have the cards, but now need to think of inexpensive, yet thoughtful gifts. I thought of sewing something, but I would still have to mail the items to both my mom and my husband's mother. We have done gift cards for my mother in law so that is a possibility. I'd appreciate any ideas!

I returned some batteries to the store today. My husband purchased them for $19.99. Later I realized I could probably get them cheaper with my Amazon Prime membership. I was right. Amazon offered them for $12.71 shipped to our house. Love that!

We earned $24.73 in interest on our money market account for the month of April. I just save this money...adds to increasing the down payment money even if just a very little bit.

My eBay buyer's eCheck cleared today. I will net $8.99 on the sale. It will be added in as a snowflake, of course!

Anyone else on any kind of spending freeze, or is it just that time of year where the money flows out quickly?

I ran across

this article on Yahoo today, where the couple paid off $50,000 of debt in one year by living on less than half their income, living with their parents, and having a grocery list of ten items.

The grocery list of ten items was: eggs, milk, bread, chicken, salmon, broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, berries and oatmeal.

Could you live on just these ten food items for one year? I actually think I could. Just not sure about the rest of the family!

Home repairs that you don't plan are never fun. Turns out our furnace wasn't turning on this morning. It was just 2 degrees lower than where it normally is set. My husband noticed first since he is ultra sensitive to cold...it would have taken me hours to notice it wasn't coming on.

We did try to figure out the problem on our own before calling someone. This furnace is very new since we are the first owners of the home. Our first thought was the breaker because we had so much lightening yesterday. But no go there.

In the end we decided to call someone out. Luckily this is a slow time of year for the repair people. He arrived within 30 minutes of my call. We needed a new pressure switch. The switch wasn't allowing the furnace to come on fully for safety reasons. We did get the warranty rate on the part, but with the service call and labor our total cost to have heat running again was $117.

Not terrible, but not where I would prefer to spend $117. I put it on a credit card for the rewards and will pay it off on May 1.

I'm really looking forward to have the heat turned off completely. I think we usually have ours off by mid May at the latest. The way this spring is going with the colder weather, I don't know if that will happen. When do you typically turn your heat off for the season? Is this year typical for you?

Thinking about our cash needs lately, I realized that some of the cash needs arise from attending school events. Schools don't take checks or debit cards for admission to athletic events, or at their concession stands.

Today we are taking our daughter to her state music contest, where she will perform her flute solo first, then in a flute sextet about two hours later. We will be there about four hours over the noon hour. We could pack a lunch, but I haven't been to the store. So we will be getting some cash so we can get a little something to eat there.

I will make sure to not just grab $20, but more like $100 since we are now into a new pay period and I know my husband will want some cash. I don't plan to pay the flute teacher in cash the rest of this month. I will pay her by check and see how it goes.

Today, we will tip her accompanist $10 in cash, which is what I had in my wallet. Here is a case where we probably could have written a check, but if I have cash I'd rather not wait for someone to deposit a check.

I could go months without getting cash out in the past, but now it seems I have more reasons to use cash with one of them being high school events.

If you use cash with some frequency, what do you spend your cash on?

My husband and I are celebrating seventeen years of marriage today. We were married on a Friday and it did mist and rain, just like it is today.

We have had many anniversaries where we could not be together, so we are taking advantage of this Friday evening to celebrate.

We bought each other a card, and exchanged them this morning. We both wrote that we consider each other a best friend.

We have purchased tickets to see a play, total cost $55. We will go out to eat wherever we want and enjoy the time together. I'm sure many people have more frugal anniversaries and others much more extravagant.

How do you celebrate your anniversary?

I've noticed the utility bills going down as the temperatures are warming up. That reminded me that I usually turn off the pilot light to our gas fireplace in April. I went to the basement and flipped the switch to off until late October or November.

I also turned off one of our cable boxes we have in the basement that seems to have the fan running nearly all the time. I'm keeping it off to see if I notice any big change in the electric bill. We rarely use it...so it may need to go OR at least be exchanged for one that isn't constantly running!

I think our water bill may go up though. We have sod that may need to be watered a little extra this summer, with potential new trees and plants. I also am letting my 16 year old do her own laundry, which means smaller loads, but more of them. Not the most frugal, but a good lesson.

What are do you do to keep your utilities low?

In the last 30 days we have withdrawn cash 8 times. Considering we did 15 withdrawals last month, this is an improvement. I can tell that we have done better this last paycheck with only one withdrawal!!

The one withdrawal of $140 was $40 for the flute teacher, $50 for my husband, $22 for me, and $28 for the girls allowance. I still have most of my cash, since I don't spend cash very often.

I think I will start paying the flute lesson teacher by check for the remainder of the month. I don't know how quickly she deposits the checks, so I just want to experiment for the next few weeks.

I will have to check with my husband to see how much cash he has left. He may want to withdraw more this week. I think he is likely spending less because we bought a new coffee maker for our house, and he took the old one to work. Now he has plenty of caffeine without running over to the convenience store! This makes me happy.

The only downside of taking $140 out from this particular ATM is that it gave me two $50 bills! Fine for my husband, but I really wanted smaller bills to give to my girls. I felt forced to buy something to break the bills down. It actually worked out okay because my youngest daughter bought a video game with some of her money. I paid cash with the $50, since part was her allowance anyway, and she gave me a $20 bill for her portion of the purchase. I was able to use the change to give my oldest her allowance.

I suppose someone reading might suggest going in to the bank to get cash in the correct denominations. Good idea. However, we bank online with USAA. They do not have any bank branches here in our state. We have used them for at least 6 years and are generally very pleased with our service. This cash situation is just a minor inconvenience really.

How much cash do you withdraw in a months time? What do you use your cash for?

The capri pants I purchased for my daughter yesterday at Old Navy were free!! Based on their website, I expected them to be about $20. At the store they were marked at $15. I redeemed my $15 rewards to make them absolutely free. No sales tax was charged. I simply exchange my paper rewards coupon for a piece of clothing!!

I've had an Old Navy Visa card for years. We primarily bought the girls clothes there. Occasionally, I would make purchases outside of the brand during special reward promotions. However, my oldest daughter finds their clothes don't fit her body. The youngest is on the final girls size for pants and no longer likes the shirt offerings in her size. I would say our Old Navy shopping days are over, therefore, I expect to cancel this card by the end of the year. I'd rather use a regular card at this point to get cash rewards I can use anywhere.

Do you have any store cards you keep for the rewards or special offers?

Today, I'm going to run some errands since they are all on one side of town. I will return two items to Kohl's that we don't need. I will used a $2 off three cards at Hallmark...I hope to buy the $0.99 cards to make my out of pocket expense around a $1. I will pick up a pair of capri pants for youngest daughter at Old Navy. I seemed to have received another $15 reward from them. They just keep sending them to me...and I only buy stuff when I use their coupon! They should cost me just over $5. I may stop at Barnes & Noble to pick up an item or two. I have gift cards we were given for Christmas that we still have not spent, and I think my July birthday daughter has a few things on her list I could get with those. I also plan to drop books off at the library...it seems I'm always there either getting books or dropping them off. Libraries rock.

We are going to a Show Choir event at school tonight. Tickets were $10 a piece, which all goes back into the music program. It should be entertaining! We want to get good seats, so I plan to prep taco fixings for dinner so we can get out the door fast. The meat was seasoned and cooked yesterday and just needs to be reheated.

This whole week has been pretty frugal. No trips to the ATM. No last minute trips to the store. I have spent much of my downtime cleaning floors, dusting blinds, doing laundry and cleaning bathrooms. I have a big list and I just keep finding something on it I can get done! It feels pretty good.

Next Friday is payday. It seems early, but I think I'll be ready for it anyway. I know there will be some money to save from it and that is always nice.

Did you have a frugal week? Do you see some debt payoff or savings in your future?

I balanced our checkbook today and realized we have spent all the money we set aside each pay period for groceries, gas and miscellaneous spending. Payday isn't until next week. Oops!

The last ten days have been spring break for my girls. One daughter had a birthday and we did make two out of town day trips. As you can imagine those things cost some money. And it is all good.

I did go grocery shopping on Saturday and spent $170 that will last through Sunday. That is good. We will need gas. That is bad.

Now we do have money...it's just that we are technically over budget. So my plan is to spend nothing in the next 6 days...unless I need gas, but I don't think I will. I think my husband will.

This is where it gets fun, weird and crazy.

I wrote my husband an email. Yes, I emailed him to tell him we were already over budget and not to buy anything. I said gas was okay. I also told him I had four dollars in cash he could have if needed.

He gets home from work and indicates he got the email and seems fine with it. He gets ready to go to the gym and we are discussing how his knee has been bothering him when he runs. We are talking about his newer running shoes compared to the last pair. As he leaves, I said 'If your knee hurts when you leave the gym, pick up Tiger Balm at Walgreen's.'

He arrives back from the gym with Tiger Balm and a receipt from Walgreen's. I ask about his knee and his run. His knee didn't hurt when he ran tonight!? What? Of course, this is good, but why did he buy the Tiger Balm? I said IF!!

Turns out he thought I said to buy it. Our discussion continues and he tells me he put it on a credit card since we only have $4 in the bank! What? I said I have four dollars cash in my purse.

I'm actually laughing about all this because this is how things seem to go with him and I when we communicate about money. I think we are both at fault. I'm either telling him too much, or not enough and he's not taking in what I'm saying either way. Agh! It's amazing we are in a good place financially or I'd be tearing my hair out.

Again we have the money. I'm just trying to keep us from going way over budget by not be conscious of our spending. The way I do that is to not spend money.

He's going to use the Tiger Balm anyway, which is probably a good idea as a preventative from future pain and inflammation. It's all good!

Did you find that story funny like I did? Do you have these types of miscommunication with your spouse? Any advice or tips to share?

We are spending this week. And spending big. We are having routine maintenance done on our Honda vehicles. The van went in today for alignment, oil change, tire rotations, a couple of fluid changes, including the transmission fluid. The charge today was about $389.

It was suggested we do the timing belt for $775 since the vehicle is six years old. However, it is also recommended at 90,000 miles and the van only has 61K. I think we can wait a bit longer to hit that one. Maybe next year or late this year.

The truck goes in tomorrow. The charge is expected to be about $300. Seems like a lot of money, but we never have any problems with our vehicles...just the routine stuff that has to be done on any car.

Our new and current dealership seems to be really clear on what needs to be done when, and doesn't ask us to do extras. Love that!!

We don't specifically save for maintenance, but in recent years seem to have the money in our slush fund. If you don't spend it, it is easy to save it! This time we will put the charges on our Chase Freedom card, earn the rewards and then pay it off right away.

Do you keep up with your vehicle maintenance? What kind of plan do you have to save for these types of expenses?

We have a new Kohl's store that opened about 7 minutes from our home. The closest one before was at least 20 minutes away. I received two $10 off any $10 purchase coupons in the last week or so. One by mail, the other by email.

As one was expiring last night, I took my husband with me to complete two transactions. We purchased two six packs of socks which were marked at $8.99 each. We also grabbed two packages of tissue paper for 1.99 each. We walked out of the store paying $2.10!!

The socks are bright fun, no show socks for our daughters. They will received them in their Easter baskets. They actually NEED these socks, so even better. The tissue paper will get used eventually.

I love to score those kinds of deals! Have you found any great deals recently? Please share.

Wow! We had a financial oops this week. One I would not have expected. Ever.

I looked at our checking account on Tuesday morning only to notice a $10 ATM Service Fee. This was listed between the ATM rebates of $15 and an interest deposit of $0.03. I knew what those two were about, as our bank, USAA, refunds ATM fees we incur each month up to $15. This month we maxed out. I checked with my husband. He didn't know anything about a $10 charge. So, I quickly wrote an email to the bank.

Eventually, I realized by looking around on the bank's website, that we only get 10 free ATM withdrawals per month. We had 15 last month! The bank charges $2 for each withdrawal over 10, thus we were charged $2 for five of those.

My husband and I are both to blame. I blame him because he feels the need to spend money at the convenience store every day. He chooses cash so I don't have to record a debit card transaction everyday. For that part, I'm thankful. He also took cash out of our bank account twice for his spending money while on a work trip. This will be reimbursed. I blame myself because I've begun taking out cash for my daughter's flute lessons twice a month, and made two separate withdrawals in order to get the correct cash needed to pay my girls allowance. Yes, I found an ATM that dispenses $5 bills! It is just crazy to think we made 15 withdrawals in one month! That is technically a withdrawal every other day.

Guess how many withdrawals we have made since we found this out on Tuesday morning. Two! One each. I took out $60 for my lunch date and two flute lessons. He took out $20. For spending. I'm not sure why not $40 considering we just had a conversation about the ATM service fee we incurred. I sure hope we can do better with our cash withdrawals this next month.

Do you pay ATM fees? How much per month? How do you avoid them?

Over at

Our Money Blog, I'm explaining three options for starting your retirement savings.

The title for the truck arrive in the mail today. We officially own our truck free and clear!! I asked my husband this weekend if he was excited that we had paid it off. He really wasn't. He thought it was likely because I'm the one who make the payments and keeps track of it. Yeah, probably so. It's all good either way!

My Ebay buyer did pay this afternoon. I will print the postage and get it to the post office tomorrow. I did a return of the Old Navy jeans to get the better online price and use my reward money. Now instead of $32.10 for two pairs of jeans, I actually paid $13.18 for two pairs. Pretty good deal!!

Here's a free Flavor Code off the A&W root beer bottle I bought last night for a pick me up: 6SFZ ZDA7 SFPQ. If it doesn't work, it probably has been used by someone else. Act fast! Now if I could just get a survey to credit on Swagbucks so I can meet today's high goal!

When we moved in July, I signed up for internet, a land line and the minimum basic television service. Our internet service is fast (fiber optic I think) and could probably be downgraded. However, I'm thinking I will probably drop the land line instead. We get more calls from telemarketers on that phone than anything.

We use the internet all the time. We have three laptops, two Nooks, a Wii and a Blue Ray player that can all access the internet. It is nice that we don't have to lose connectivity to one device when someone is streaming a video or movie.

We currently pay $29.74 for our land line. This includes all the taxes. I'm thinking I will invest in a VoIP phone/router as a land line alternative. There will likely be an upfront cost of $50-$150 depending on the set up we go with. We will still owe taxes just under $4 a month. We would break even in 6 month or less.

My husband uses VoIP at work and never has any issues. When he calls me the connection is completely clear. I can't tell any difference.

I suppose I should cancel it and try to go without a land line while I'm investigating the switch. That would save the most money!

I don't have a huge need to keep the same phone number. It is so new, not too many people have the number. Most friends and relatives have our cell phone numbers which we did not change. If I desired to switch the number it would likely cost about $40.

So tell me do you still have a land line? If not, how does it work for you? Does anyone have the VoIP and how is that going?

When we moved in July, I signed up for internet, a land line and the minimum basic television service. Our internet service is fast (fiber optic I think) and could probably be downgraded. However, I'm thinking I will probably drop the land line instead. We get more calls from telemarketers on that phone than anything.

We use the internet all the time. We have three laptops, two Nooks, a Wii and a Blue Ray player that can all access the internet. It is nice that we don't have to lose connectivity to one device when someone is streaming a video or movie.

We currently pay $29.74 for our land line. This includes all the taxes. I'm thinking I will invest in a VoIP phone/router as a land line alternative. There will likely be an upfront cost of $50-$150 depending on the set up we go with. We will still owe taxes just under $4 a month. We would break even in 6 month or less.

My husband uses VoIP at work and never has any issues. When he calls me the connection is completely clear. I can't tell any difference.

I suppose I should cancel it and try to go without a land line while I'm investigating the switch. That would save the most money!

I don't have a huge need to keep the same phone number. It is so new, not too many people have the number. Most friends and relatives have our cell phone numbers which we did not change. If I desired to switch the number it would likely cost about $40.

So tell me do you still have a land line? If not, how does it work for you? Does anyone have the VoIP and how is that going?

I didn't end up getting my ebates payout on February 15, because I didn't meet the minimum redemption of $5.01. I'm at $3.28. My next opportunity to receive this money is May 15. I just need to remember to use the site for any online purchases.

I did a survey Friday for Pinecone. I expect to receive my $3 Paypal deposit today. I try to hold the money in my Paypal account until the end of the month, when I redeem all deposits in there and move them to our checking account in a lump sum.

I have over 600

Swagbucks in my account. I'm going to try to get to 2500 by months end. I might not make it, but it is a goal. That will equal $25 in Paypal cash. If I don't I will have Swagbucks ready for the beginning of the month to redeem for the $5 Amazon gift cards, which are 450 Swagbucks each.

I'm taking a road trip today back to our old town. My daughter has an orthodontist appointment. For now it is worth it to go back once a year to have her retainers checked. I've already paid the orthodontist for the visits, so might as well. It will cost some gas though.

It was a bit of a spendy weekend. I bought a large bag of cat food, flute music, groceries, and a new rechargeable toothbrush for my husband (it was on clearance). All of that was around $200. It seems sometimes money flows out rather quickly, luckily not all of the time.

Have a super Monday!

We use McAfee internet protection software on our computer. We have been notified a few times recently that it is about to expire. Two years ago, I received a free one year subscription from our mortgage company, a large bank. Last year I renewed it...for probably around $35. This year the renewal rate is the same.

I could have just paid it the rate and moved on. Today, I took the time search for a better deal. I went to our main bank USAA and noticed that I could get upgraded protection for $40.50. For two years! Sign me up. I used that credit card that should now have a $5+ credit on it from yesterday Kohl's return, to bring my out of pocket expense down even further.

I think there are free resources out there as well, but I have found McAfee to be very, very reliable. Do you pay for internet protection?

I ran errands this morning in the very cold wind! Eek. I returned a shirt I bought my husband for Christmas. I noticed he wasn't wearing it and he confirmed he didn't really like it. I got a good deal when I bought it, so I received $5.56 back to the Chase card I bought it with. Now I have a credit on that card...and I was getting close to closing that one!

I also returned some buttons for $1.96 cash back. I bought Velcro at Walmart instead for $0.84. The difference will likely go to the Christmas fund. I picked up packets of vitamin C at Walmart. I usually buy these at Target. Turns out Target charges $1 more! Annoying since I really prefer to shop Target. Thankful for the savings today.

I bought hair product for my daughter. Hair products that keep our frizzy, curly hair intact are a big priority. The product retails for $16. It was on sale for Buy 2, get 1 free and I have a $3.50 coupon. My total was $30.49. Each tube cost us just over $10 and lasts about 1 month. We are stocked up again.

At my daughter's flute lesson today, I am going to cancel next weeks lesson. We are going to be out of town for an appointment earlier in the day. It will be too rushed to make it back on time. I'm sure the teacher would like to reschedule, but I'm going to pass and apply the $20 lesson fee to some music that we have on order.

That the money tidbits for today!

I have already earned my five $5 Amazon gift cards on Swagbucks this month. I am now accumulating points towards a $25 Paypal deposit by the end of the month. I need to average about 110 Swagbucks per day to meet the goal.

I am adding $6.03 to the Christmas fund. This is the ATM rebate money and interest from our bank for the current month.

I will make a small grocery run today. I know we have enough things on hand for two evening meals. I just need to get some lunch items for the girls and my husband. I will make a bigger store run later in the week. I will pick up the Valentine's candy then. I also plan to make my cards for the girls and my husband. Unfortunately, I know he already bought me a card that cost $5. Ugh!

My sister gave me four, or maybe six, curtain panels that are a bright cheery stripe pattern. I will make one into a cover for her dog's bed. I will make button holes on the six tab tops, add the buttons I bought for less than $2, and it will actually close! It is a lot of fabric but would work well for napkins, or fabric bins. I will probably be sick of the pattern by the time I'm done using it! But she gave it to me for free so I hope to make the best of it.

I'm enjoying the free sample of cat litter, but I know that I wouldn't buy it if it came out on the market. Odor good, but messy. The sample means I haven't had to dig into the new bag I bought 10 days ago.

I finally used up a lotion, one conditioner, and two shampoo bottles. I'm working on another shampoo and a small body wash sample.

I spent $30 on jeans for my youngest daughter at Old Navy yesterday. We all get by on two pairs at a time. She has grown since the last pairs were purchased and one was about to get a hole in the knee. I would have liked to have waited until the end of the month because I think I may be earning a $20 reward! The only thing we buy there is her jeans at this point. And this may actually be the last set, since she is about ready for junior sizes and we have found their women's jeans aren't that great for my older daughter. If I get that reward, I may have to purchase another set, and then return them with my first receipt. Do you think that is acceptable?

Today we are making heart shaped sugar cookies. I splurged and bought the Wilton frosting that comes out like liquid by firms up soon after decorating. It was about $4. Maybe I could make that at home...I'm not a frosting expert. It will make for some fun on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

We did redeem our free Papa Murphy's pizza last night. Yummy!

Are you doing anything frugal today?

Oh boy! The electric bill arrived in my inbox this morning. It is nearly $50 higher than last month. Yikes! The full bill amount is $179. Last month it was $131. There are some factors at play. Very cold month, with many days in single digits. I also know my husband has been increasing the temperature quite often when he is around. We also have space heaters that we have used in our bathroom and in our basement. I'm guessing those are not as efficient as the furnace.

The gas bill was up by about $35 as well. Luckily, we have the cash to pay our bills. We will attempt to adjust accordingly. I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable in our home.

I look forward to July, when I hope the utility companies can put us on a budget billing cycle. We will have been in this home for one year. I much prefer that method financially.

I will be grateful for all the warmer days to come. Is your weather warming or cooling this week?