We have a credit card that my husband uses for work expenses. He had charged about $25, and the other day I noticed the balance was under $10 on that card. I looked it up and found a credit of $15.56. I inquired and this goes all the way back to July when we noticed some odd charges on the card that were not ours. They switched card numbers for us, and moved the balance over, but did not get to the credit for one of the charges until this week! This was shortly after our move, so I was not keeping track that closely. Nice surprise!

Payday is tomorrow. We were left with just over $12 from our regular budget money. I will make sure to put that money where it counts!

I had an offer from Sharebuilder to deposit at least $10K and get $75. Deposit $25K and get $150. Tempting, but I could not tell how much interest their accounts pay in addition to the bonus. I have some cash I could put in the account but I would like to know the interest rate. I did some searching, but was only coming up with margin interest rates. I know I will not pay those fees. I do not expect to be using the money to buy any investments, so the money would just be sitting in cash. I did put the promotion code in my account, since it expired today. I have until late March to put the money in. In the meantime, I think I will skip it, since I cannot find the interest rate.

I renewed our newspaper subscription. I purchased our first three months with airline miles. Unfortunately, it seems to be a one time offer. I paid nearly $65 for 13 weeks of the daily newspaper. The girls love to read the comics. My older daughter watches for local high school news and pictures. I glance at it everyday. I think it is helpful to have the local paper when you first move to a new town. It helps you understand the issues in the community, as well as, local events. It was hard to make that payment though. I will revist the need for the paper when it comes up for renewal in May.

We are having an artic blast here. The roads are very icy, the wind is blowing and drifting the snow from Wednesday. It was negative 17 degrees with the windchill earlier today. It will get even colder tonight. As you can guess our furnace is running quite a bit!!

And that my friends are my financial musings for the day. You all come back again!

My husband, daughter and I went flute shopping yesterday. We have upgraded her from her first flute to an intermediate flute, which has the silver head joint and open holed keys. She was very excited.

The flute is a brand new Yamaha. We paid $1,478 plus tax. We asked our daughter to pay 10% (before tax) of her own money, just so she would have a little skin in the game. Her portion was $148. Our portion ends up being $1433.46.

We did put the purchase on our Chase Freedom card. We will earn 1% on the purchase in rewards. We will pay the balance from our savings account. My plan is to pay ourselves back over the course of the year. I thought of opening a card with 0% interest, since I have seen a few offers for 18 months financing. However, I didn't want another card, or the hassle of making the payment on their terms. We have the cash and are not earning much of anything on it, so might as well just pay ourselves back as the year progresses.

We did not trade in her original flute because she will have two more years of marching band. Marching band is hard on instruments, since they are out there sweating while they play them, laying them on the turf, the sidewalk, and so forth. The new flute will be her concert flute. The sound is so pretty and will be awesome to hear her play her solo piece in the acoustic friendly concert hall our district has.

Did you play an instrument in high school? Do you still own it? If not, what did you do with your instrument after you stopped playing?

We were scheduled to drive out of town today, but have now rescheduled it because of fog. It's a two hour trip and the fog will not have lifted in time to make the trip and arrive on time for the appointment. No need to spend extra money on gas makes me happy!

The girls are home from school, so I think it will be a no spend day. Although, I will likely give my oldest daughter a little cash for the concession stand at tonight's basketball game.

I know I said I was trying not to spend to much money, but there were some deals at Target that I thought would be good to take advantage of. Things we use anyway that were on sale and some I had coupons for. Although...I forgot to used two coupons...worth $3.50! Ugh.

I bought 12 Lean Cuisine meals, for about $2 each. I think one was $1.89. Bought 10 and received the $5 Target gift card. I should have used the $3 off coupon on this deal, but it got left in my purse. Still a good deal and we do eat these.

I bought ALL laundry detergent. Paid $11.99 for 110 loads. Had a $1 coupon. I generally buy the smaller containers for $4.49. I get more than three times the amount for only slight more than half the cost. And I purchased toilet paper with it to earn another $5 Target gift card.

The other 'deal' was Always pads. Three packages $5.49 each. Had one $0.50 off coupon, and three packages purchased earned a $5 gift card.

I'm saving all the Target gift cards for Christmas, of course. All things we buy normally, just in slightly larger quantity and for a little less out of pocket. I'm happy I don't need to buy some of these things for awhile.

Oh, the other coupon I forgot to use was for a pack of gum. We can use it another time, right? Target happens to be my preferred discount store. What is yours?

I think I did pretty good this weekend with the spending. I went out of town, driving 2.5 hours each way and drove around in town.

I paid $66 for the Courtyard Marriott that my sister and I spent the night at. She covered coffee, lunch, dinner, wine, snacks and breakfast.

I bought fabric to make her a lap quilt for her late January birthday while we were together and spent about $22 on supplies. I did use a coupon and caught an error with the sale items!

I purchased gas for my travels, which was about $50 round trip. It would have been less if we divided the driving, but I knew where we were going, so better for me to be in the driver's seat.

We had a VERY good time. We thought we should do it two to four times per year. I think I might need to bring the kids to at least one of those. They seemed disappointed not getting to go, especially younger daughter who would have loved to spent time with friends.

I did purchase black ink pens for my artist daughter, using up some gift cards that all had less than $1 on one, and less than $0.50 on the other two. Out of pocket cost was $4.51. Not really trip related, but easy to get while my sister and I were shopping.

My husband was in charge of the girls and he did buy them snacks, a car wash for his truck, and supplies for oldest daughter's biology project. I guess he was somewhat frugal, too!

Today, I'm going grocery shopping to cover meals for the next week. I don't want to shop for food again until payday on the 15th. Target seems to have some possible good deals, like those free gift card deals. I will hold off on those until later in the week, so I have time to think about it and see if it is a good financial move.

Here's to a low spend week...well until Friday when I drive back to our old town again and need to purchase gas and lunch!

I'm traveling to my old town tomorrow to meet up with my sister. She lives five hours from me and we will meet in the middle. Three hour drive for her and two hour drive for me. I expect I will do the driving in town since I know my way around!

We are staying at a Courtyard Marriott for $59 for one night, which we will split, or I will pay and she will comp me $30 in food while we are together!

We will probably do some shopping. I don't need anything so I don't expect to be buying much. We will be at the fabric store, where I may purchase fabric to make her a throw sized quilt as a birthday gift. I'm taking my coupons!

We did see each other at Christmas, but we never get together just the two of us, so it will be fun to just be sisters, rather than aunt/mom when my kids are with us.

Happy Weekend! Keep your spending down if you can and I will do the same.

I did the same thing last year. I procrastinated on making our yearly goals. So, right now this is what I'll say our goals are:

1) Save 15% to retirement, which will max out our Roth IRA's and put the remainder in my husband's TSP.

2) Pay off truck loan...only $4500 to go!

3) Snowflake a Free Christmas, goal again is $750.

4) Save for college, minimum $500 for each daughter. However, I'd prefer $1500 each. Still working on the math for that.

5) Pay for new intermediate flute with cash, about $1500.

6) Save $2K for vacation. Not sure where we might go, so that is a pretty vague goal at this point!

7) Landscaping and furniture purchases. Pay with cash and decide on a limit!

I guess it isn't really the goals that I'm stuck on as how to approach the goals. One at a time? Get the flute, pay off the truck then attack the savings goals. Or do it all along the way? I'm so focused on that truck payoff that it is hard to not make it a priority. I'll get it figured out by the next payday and generally these are all flexible, so I can change things up if I need to.

We had a terrific three day vacation out of town with relatives. We were blessed with useful gifts. I notice as I get older the gifts aren't really that important. It is the time with family that is the best part.

I checked online this morning and found out the BAS rates have been established for 2013. My husband is an officer. That rate will be $242.60, which is up $2.64 per month. The enlisted member rate is $352.27. Also only up a couple dollars from last year.

We have met our $3000 spending requirement on our most recent Chase credit card. The statement doesn't close until January 14, so we will have to wait until then to get our $400 bonus. Now back to cash/debit card spending!!

I will be doing financial planning for 2013 in the next week. I expect to do some posts along the way about our plan to pay off the truck, and other savings goals. I will also be estimating our taxes again.

In January, if not before, I am going to see how much money I can make selling things on Ebay and Craigslist. There are several of us on the blogs here that are going to be participating. As I start rounding those items up, I will be setting items aside to take to Goodwill just before year end. It doesn't hurt to have that extra tax deduction.

As a few others have stated, I love this time of year for goal setting and decluttering. Are you with us? Are you going to be looking into your financial plan for the the next year? Any tips you want to share about how you approach your goals?

I've figured out that I have $473.44 left in my Christmas Snowflake fund that will not be needed for Christmas shopping. I know this because I'm done shopping!!

My 2012 Christmas Fund total was $1,429.21, thus I must have spent $955.77 on Christmas gifts. That seems to be more than last year, based only on memory. However, it was all FREE money. Very little came from my husband's salary. I also know that I have been a little more generous with the gifts. The nieces and nephews are getting an additional $5 each. A good friend and her family are receiving $55 in gift cards, but last year I found great deals for them and only spent $10 out of pocket.

I had quite a few Amazon.com gift cards, so much of my shopping was done there, with free shipping with our Prime membership. I think some of the prices are a bit inflated compared to sales I might have been able to find in stores. I would have spent much more time in stores this season and I've enjoy not having to go out quite as often.

The really good news other than free Christmas gifts is that I'm sending the excess funds, $473.44 to the truck loan today!! I actually rounded the number up by $0.23 to make the principal balance an even dollar amount.

Old Balance $5,266.67
Excess Funds $473.67
New Balance $$4,793.00

We are under $5k!! I am so amazed at how fast this loan is going down. Makes me happy. I really don't want to make these payments anymore!! This loan will definitely be gone in 2013.

I find myself wanting to do more for others...or should I say buy more gifts. I must resist! I have purchased great gifts. More isn't better in this case. I will only save money if I can be satisfied with what I have purchased. That is a good thing!

I'm going to package up the two gifts I'm mailing. Once I get them in the mail, I can't change my mind on those. And again, they are very nice gifts!

All the other gifts are wrapped with the exception of the stocking stuffers. I'm a sucker for stocking stuffers!! But boy those things do add up fast. I can never actually stuff their stockings...since they are pretty large to begin with. I need to know they will be satisfied with anything they pull out on Christmas morning, especially, if they get chocolate.

Thanks for letting me discuss my consumer impulses...I know I can resist. I know I can. Now to enjoy the lights and music of the season. And think peaceful thoughts. How are you enjoying this season?

Today is the last day this week you can spend $50 at Target and receive a $10 Target gift card. You can get your coupons

here.

I spent $50 yesterday buying toiletries, candy and alcohol. The candy and alcohol are Christmas gifts. I used $40 in previously obtained gift cards to help cover the gift portions!

Today we bought a Wii game, a furnace filter, and more groceries. We spent $55 and received another $10 gift card when I gave them the coupon. I used $20 in Target gift cards to cover the game we purchased since it is a gift.

At this point I still have about $30 in Target gift cards in my wallet. We may swing back up to Target tonight to get more of our groceries, since I would need to get there by tomorrow for the week anyway! Might as well take advantage of the gift card deal while we can.

Have fun shopping at Target and don't forget to check the clearance aisles for great deals on gifts!

Today I was out shopping for my 17 year old niece who we usually give money to, but was put into the adult drawing this year. So I decided to skip the cash and find some things to wrap up!!

Her mom said she could use jeans, so I looked at Old Navy, and Kohl's. I finally scored a pair of jeans off the clearance rack in her size for $9.90. After tax $10.60!

I went back to Old Navy to find shirts which her mother mentioned she needed as well. I found two shirts marked at $2.47 each, and a third shirt marked at $1.97. I threw in two pairs of gloves (one without finger tips), and a scarf for another $5. My total with tax was $12.74. However, I had a $10 gift card scored from Swagbucks earlier this year, thus only $2.74 out of my Christmas cash!

My niece asked for an iTunes gift card. Luckily, I had scored one of these earlier in the year from Swagbucks as well. She will get $25 to spend on her favorites songs!!

It's been fun to find deals with the cash and gift cards I've earned this year. I'm pretty sure I am way under in the Christmas spending, although I have not added it up yet. I will soon, so I know how much extra cash I have stashed away to send to the truck loan!

I think I'm 90% done shopping. How far along are you?

The $25 PayPal cash arrived in my account two days ago. That was the last redemption of 2012 for me with Swagbucks, since I'm taking a break for the Christmas holiday. I have yet to move it to our bank account. I think I will leave it there for now.

I have been participating in the Smoothie Challenge. My goal is 15 smoothies this month. So far, I've had three. I need to stock up on more greens today so I can make more!

I have spent all of my Amazon.com gift cards earned from Swagbucks. I actually had to pay for something out of pocket yesterday! That hasn't happened for months. I'm definitely grateful for those earnings.

I received a $10 Target gift card yesterday when I spent over $50 at Target. The offer expires today and you can print a coupon

here. I'm going to be using another coupon today to get another one. I might just use these gift cards rather than saving them for next year. We shop Target for groceries, so I expect that we will have extra holiday food expenses and that the gift cards will be helpful in that regard. Or maybe a couple extra stocking stuffers. Either way we will use them. Keep your eyes open for other offers from Target. They did several of these type of deals last year.

Today I will print out the gift cards I earned on Swagbucks that I will be giving as gifts. I will put them in an envelope and have my artistic daughter put a little festive something on the envelope. My nieces and nephews always appreciate cash or gift cards.

I could just about start wrapping, but I will wait until more of my Amazon.com packages arrive. I will use wrapping paper and gift bags I have on hand. We have plenty. The only thing I may need to buy is tape.

I hope to end our evening today with all the lights out except the tree, listen to our favorite Christmas music and drink some hot chocolate by our fireplace. Are you doing anything festive to enjoy the season?

I was out shopping in the stores today. I went to Old Navy and found fleece pullovers for my husband in the clearance section for $4.99 each!! I picked out three in different colors.

It gets better. I had a $10 Rewards certificate, so with tax my total was $5.23! I couldn't sew them for less than that!

I love finding good deals! The discount doesn't diminish what I will purchase for gifts, only what I end up paying out of pocket. Otherwise, we might end up with too many things with deals like those!

Oh did you hear about the $10 gift card offer for spending $50 at Target? It is a coupon that expires Saturday. You can read about it

here. What is the best deal you have found recently?

It takes quite a bit of time to accumulate those snowflakes, but in the last two days, I have spent quite a bit of it!

I spent/used $35 in gift cards at Target last night. Today, I used a $10 earned JCPenney gift card to purchase a wallet and paid just over $2 in accumulated cash on it as well. I also made an Amazon.com purchase for $62.71...using all the Amazon gift cards earned on Swagbucks.

There are still plenty of snowflakes available in the form of cash, Target and Amazon.com gift cards. It just seems strange to spend it now instead of accumulate it!!

I took a Pinecone survey today. I expect payment tomorrow in my PayPal account. I guess that will count as the first snowflake of 2013!

Our oldest daughter started private flute lessons tonight. She has been playing in school since fifth grade and is now a sophomore. She recently was placed into the school's advanced level concert band as third chair flute. The band director was very impressed with her skills having not had private lessons.

We want her to advance and enjoy playing her flute even more, so we are paying $20 per half hour lesson. I think we are all excited about her potential to improve and progress further in the next few years.

We are also going to be looking into getting a new flute that is better set up for her advanced skills. The flute should have a silver head joint. Yes, that precious metal that is increasing in value. We will be shopping a few music stores in the area to see what our options are.

We will hold on to her current flute, since it is better for marching band, when one is out in the rain and putting the instrument on the field during practices.

For now the outflow of money just increased by $80 a month. I think we will see quite a bit of progress for that money!

Do you pay for music lessons for a child or grandchild? Did you play an instrument as a child?

It's been five months since I worked out in a gym and it shows on my hips and thighs! I did some walking this summer, and last week I did some mini workouts with the Wii, a YouTube video, and the one workout DVD I own.

Today, we joined a gym. We paid for a year in full and received 6 months free. For 18 months, for two people, including a processing fee and tax, we paid $745. That works out to $41.39 per month.

It was the best deal we could find for our area. We checked out three different gyms. We also waited a bit to join and it seemed the offers got better the longer we waited!

I used our current Chase Sapphire card to pay for the membership. That will help us get to our $3000 spending goal we need to meet to get the next $400 bonus offer.

Are you a member of gym? How much do you pay? Or are you super motivated with free exercise options? If so, what kind of exercise do you do?

My husband came home from his Army job last night, walked in the door, and said "I don't know if you had plans, but we can't spend any money."

What?

He was talking to others at work about the governments sequestration plans that take place at the end of the year. They are worried about their pay being affected since the Department of Defense has to make some serious cuts over the next several years. I don't know all the facts, but I did find online that military pay (basic, housing and subsistence)are exempt from cuts.

So since he suddenly wasn't worried about his pay, we went out to lunch today. We did use a coupon for one free meal. We spent about $11.

I thought his reaction was a bit funny coming from him, but even though he does have a pretty steady government job it is important to realize his pay and his job can be effected, just like any other.

Do you think your job would ever be downsized or effected by the economy? If not, why?

We don't always send out Christmas cards. It just depends on how I'm feeling about it, or if it gets done. This year seems important since we have a new address and some on our list may not know we moved.

I bought two boxes of 16 cards each, in the dollar section of Target last night. They are a bit generic, but will accomplish what my goal is...to make contact!

I originally thought about making postcards to save on postage. My grand plan was to buy several sheets of cards stock to cut down and print a design using the computer.

I realized standing in the dollar section of Target that it would take time to trim down card stock, that my printer probably would need more ink, and it would take more time and energy than I was interested in.

So except for purchasing the postage and $2 worth of cards...I think I'm set for doing a Christmas mailing this year. Do you send Christmas cards? Do you find a frugal way to do so? Or do you skip the card altogether? I'd love to hear!

We are nearing our $3000 spending on the Chase Sapphire card we opened in my name, thanks to putting several of our utility bills on the card this month. I think we have another $130 left.

Yesterday, we applied for another Chase Sapphire card in my husbands name. We will have 3 months to spend $3000 on this card and earn another $400.

The rewards we earn from opening and spending on these cards is going to pay down the truck loan. We are only spending on things we would normally be buying with cash we have on hand...nothing extravagant or out of the ordinary.

Don't forget to vote! It's your privilege and right as an American citizen.

Our insurance covers the eye exams with no out of pocket copay. The glasses are not covered and we pay out of pocket. In the past I have gotten good deals on eye glasses for my girls. This year, not so much. And I admit, I didn't look for a good deal.

The girls are older and much more picky about their frames. Once they find one it is a relief to be honest. They both ended up at Target Optical and found frames they were happy with. They charge for frames and lenses. There is an extra charge for thin lenses as well.

So what did I pay for two pairs of glasses? A whopping $429! We have the cash to pay for these. If we were really struggling, I would have had to make a different decision and find glasses online or another optical center with better deals.

Where do you purchase your glasses and how much do you generally pay? I know I've paid as low as $49 in the past. I believe at JC Penney.

I bought my first gift for Christmas yesterday. Socks! For my neice. Crazy socks were specifically requested, so the two pairs are bright purple and pink with stripes.

I went to Kmart, since I had a merchandise credit for an unwanted gift we returned last year. A pair of slipper socks my husband didn't want. No receipt, but we got a credit of $4.23, which I saved.

This set of two knee socks was priced at $4.99, with tax $5.34. After the credit, I paid $1.11 out of pocket. Of course, both will be deducted from my Christmas Funds!

By the way, are you familiar with Socks for Christmas by Andy Andrews? It's a great story about the meaning of Christmas. We received a CD of the story years ago from a friend along with socks for each of us. It does make one thankful for a nice pair of socks. My girls actually find it to be a tradition to receive socks for Christmas. I think my neice would love the book with her socks!

Anyone else start Christmas shopping this week?

I added up the purchases we have made on our Chase Sapphire card. We have spent $1,591.85, which puts us more than halfway to our goal of spending $3000.

Chase Sapphire will give us $400 in rewards for reaching that amount. We will definitely be putting that $400 bonus towards our truck loan payoff!

It looks like I just activated this account at the beginning of October! Geez...that is a lot of spending, but we are putting EVERYTHING on the card, including utilities, hair cuts, auto registrations, gas, and food. I will actually be running a couple errands today and putting more money on the card!

It feels odd to be promoting spending, but we do spend anyway, so the cash bonus at the end is a great incentive to get our loan paid off. I have a feeling I will have my husband apply for this card after we reach this first goal.

And by the way, for those of you who also have the Chase Sapphire card, what do you think that card is made of? It seems heavy and a bit like metal! It feels different than any card I've ever had.

The good news is that I have two items on ebay with bids and one with 16 people watching it. There is another one listed, but may not pan out to anything. Those auctions end Sunday. I will likely have a couple more things to add at that time.

The rest is money out of our pocket, but a result of some great sales. I browsed Eddie Bauer yesterday and found XL Tall polo shirts that my Dad loves for $9.09 each! These retail for $32.95. I will give to him for Christmas or more likely his birthday in May. He usually wants some of them by then.

We found weed killer in the brand and form my husband prefers marked 50% off at Target. We snagged five for the next weed season. It should last longer since we don't usually put down that much in one season. It never goes on sale that cheap.

I pointed out a candle in a scent I LOVE at Target to my husband. I also pointed out that it was on clearance and that he should buy it. Of course, he didn't want to buy in front of me! I hope he snags it. I may swing by and get one for my mom and sister for their birthdays, but I'm going to think on that one. I don't want to buy just because it is on sale. I want the gift to be something they would really want.

Have you snagged any great deals lately? Are you holiday shopping yet? Have you sold anything?

Roth IRA Contributions: We didn't contribute in the first half of the year, so I'm now playing catchup. I started the regular contributions of $416.66 each in July. Those automatic payments will add up to $2499.96 by the end of the year. This leaves us short of maxing out our Roth IRA's for 2012. Today, I authorized a purchase for each of us in the amount of $850. I will make more lump sum purchases in November and December to get us up to the $5000 maximum contribution limit for the year.

Snowflakes: Surprise! I have accumulated more snowflakes for the Christmas fund. So far this month, I have earned $48 in gift cards and cash. I really need to get some craiglist items up!!

Chase Sapphire: We have started using our Chase Sapphire Card. Already we have charged $1,018.27 towards the $3,000 spending limit. Auto registrations and utilities have been the bulk of the spending so far. All just regular stuff! I can't wait for that $400 bonus.

Truck Loan: Payday is Monday, so watch for our regular payment to post soon after and see the balance go down for the second time this month!

Groceries and Meals: We had company at our house for four nights over the weekend. I think we spent over $200 stocking up for guests! Turns out we over bought. And my husband did say, "Don't you think this is too much food?". Not that it is an excuse, but I think my desire for fall comfort foods kicked in and I bought them all! It seems like we have a nice variety and plenty of things to eat. I just look in the pantry, fridge and freezer to determine what should be made. I think there is enough on hand to last through Monday!

Charity Contributions: I wrote a check to charity today. We are actually participating in a Walk N Roll for Spina Bifida later this month. A good friend's daughter (and our former neighbor) has this disability and we are walking to raise awareness.

Very thankful for all that we have including our health. What are you thankful for today?

On Tuesday, we had a whole house humidifier installed on our furnace. We went without one for many year early in our marriage and for one year at our last house. Not fun! Dry air is awful.

This humidifier will put out 12 gallons of warm moist air each and every day this winter. It should make the house feel even warmer, too.

The cost was $350. I only wish my Chase Sapphire card had arrived by that time, but it was two days late! We have the money set aside...so not a big deal.

Do you use a humidifier in the winter on your furnace? Does the air get as dry in warmer winter areas as it does here in the midwest?

In light of the

Slate card mishap, I decided to go a different route. Make money from spending, rather than save money from paying down debt. Odd I know!

I applied for the Chase Sapphire card and was approved. I haven't received the card, but I can see the account online. Odd also.

We will need to spend $3,000 in the next three months to earn $400 worth of rewards that can be redeemed for cold hard cash. Guess where this cash will go? Yep, a nice drop in the bucket on the truck loan when it is all said and done.

We need to pay our auto insurance premium ($420), vehicle registrations ($480) this month. We will also put our regular bills on the card amounting to about $400 per month. I expect we will also use it for everyday spending...so that we aren't tempted to buy something just to meet the $3000 minimum. It should go just fine.

After the rewards? Closing the account ASAP! It has a $95 annual fee after the first year. I may have my husband open one early in the next year, but it will depend on the offer at the time, how this dip works out, and if we think we can meet the minimum again at that time.

I don't really like messing with credit cards, but when you pay them off and earn some snazzy rewards at the same time...it's hard not to! Bring on the $400!!

ETA: It came in the mail today. I activated it. I have changed all the auto bills to be paid with it and charged the electric bill already! I told my husband to use it for everything he normally would use it for until I tell him not to.

We have a slush fund. Not sure where I got that term. Maybe Dave Ramsey.

For us a slush fund is stash of cash in our second account that is a bit seperate from our emergency fund. We don't touch the emergency fund, unless it is an emergency (or we can pay ourselves back in like 12 seconds)!

My husband is paid twice per month. Each paycheck is allocated to bills, investments, $900 cash for groceries, gas and miscellaneous. Left over cash gets put towards our goal...which is the truck now! It basically comes down to a zero based budget...every dollar goes somewhere.

However, I don't track every budget category known to man. It's too much work! So sometimes we do spend more than our paycheck, or more than that $900 that I allocate to variable expenses for the pay period.

Where does that extra money come from? The slush fund. I just transfer what money I need from there from time to time. Sometimes it's less than $20, sometimes it is more. The slush fund only have a few hundred dollars in it. If it gets down to zero or close to it, then I add some funds from a paycheck. Right now that would mean a little less to send into the truck loan.

We do pretty well keeping our spending within the limit we have given ourselves, but is nice to have a slush fund to dip into for those expenses that one doesn't always forsee.

Do you have a slush fund? Do you keep it in cash, another account, or right with your other funds?

My youngest (age 5) kitty is going to the vet this afternoon. That is her in the sidebar picture. She's not using the litter box, but my dirty laundry to pee in! Ugh. I cleaned out the litter box, and removed the top, she's now going in there every few minutes, but I'm not seeing much of anything there.

I'm guessing a UTI. She has a 2pm appointment with her new vet...who works just three doors down from our house. I'm thinking of walking her there on the leash, but probably won't since she isn't used to long leash walks...just a lap or two around in the yard really. Instead she will need to get in her kennel. Not that she will like that.

Fingers crossed she heals well and that the fee is inexpensive.

The army has finally paid the last of our moving entitlements. This one was for 10 days of hotel expenses, just over $1200. Yippee!!

I get frustrated at how slow and inefficient the system for these travel payments are. It doesn't help that my DH doesn't always fill the travel vouchers out correctly either. You would think he could get it right after 20+ years! I do give him a break on the moving ones, since we have only done that twice now.

We were busy here last week getting the girls ready for school. We only bought 'needs' for school clothes. Bought the supplies on the list. Now for school pictures! I always buy them, because the grandparents really seem to appreciate. I always think I will hang the pictures up, but I never do! I hope this year I will.

Do you buy the school pictures? Do you give the pictures away or just buy for yourself? If you don't buy them, do you do something else?