This week I'm working on our landscaping. The primary motivation was to get three rose bushes that I bought for $5 each planted. I only bought them in June!! Time to get on it.

We also have five very large hostas in our front landscaping that were taking up way too much space. The previous owner planted them and they were much to large for the space. I dug them all out. They weigh at least 20 pounds each!! Right now they are waiting in my back yard to be split and replanted. I have to wait to dig back there. It is possible there are power lines of some sort. I want to make sure before I start digging. Smart of me, right?

Turns out my neighbor has some much smaller hostas she offered me for free!! These have now been planted in my front landscaping bed where I took out the large hostas. These look much much better. I now need to buy mulch for this bed. Darn, spending is involved. However, I'm not in a rush.

I did buy fertilizer today. I will put it down tomorrow. Can you believe I haven't put any fertilizer down all season? We had so much rain and the lawn stayed green all summer and had no trouble growing.

It's almost time to take down the garden fence and stakes. There are a couple of small pumpkins that need a little more time. Otherwise it's all done for the season. It wasn't the best season for our garden, but we enjoyed what we did get.

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.

Today is going to be a desk decluttering day. I have to stay home this morning while I wait for someone to come by and repair my gas stove. It is definitely not heating right. While I wait, I will go through the desk and clean it up. Once I'm done with the desk, I only have the garage and the basement to do! Only. Ha.

I also have to make a run to the grocery store, the food offerings at the house are getting pretty sparse, especially when the oven doesn't heat properly.

As a result of the above, I can officially say today is a spending day. Joy.

until payday! I did make yesterday a no spend day. Yipee!! I have about $60 left to make it through these next six days. I have enough food from what I can tell. I might need to fill in with a few things.

The air conditioning is staying off again today. It is so nice to have nearly zero humidity. I can stand heat, but not humidity.

I'm going to add a disclosure when I write these type of emails, because it never fails that when I say I only have $X left, someone says I need to plan better. Maybe I do. However, what isn't said is that we have zero credit card debt, all bills are current, we only owe money on our van loan and mortgage. We have saved 15% of our gross income for retirement, made college contributions and paid additional principal on our van loan. We have even set money aside for short term needs, such as the next auto insurance premium. When I say I only have $X left before a pay day it refers to our budgeted spending money. If I need something that exceeds that I do have cash available, I am not on my last dime!! To say otherwise is insulting.

I was able to turn off the air conditioning last night and open the windows. Very refreshing. I think I will be able to leave it off at least through tomorrow. I like knowing I'm saving a little on my electric bill.

I'm expecting a no spend day, too!

Lovely. Our homeowner's insurance premium is increasing again. Ugh!

Last Year: $658.47
This Year: $823.09
Increase: $164.62

This means I need to increase my escrow savings by at least $14 per month. The year previous to the last our homowners insurance was around $500. It is increasing at a faster rate.

It would have been even higher last year, but I increased our deductible to $1000. It will remain there. I'm not willing to go to a higher deductible.

It is what it is, right?

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.

Well, I got back on the swagbucks bandwagon. I earned another $5 Amazon gift card. I will try to accumulate as many as I can before the Christmas shopping season begins. It does take me awhile because I don't sign up for too many offers where I have to give out my personal information.

If you want to explore swagbucks and earn gift certificates and prizes, click on my sidebar for more information.

Oh...and I spent more money today.

Zipper and a candy bar for DD: $2.53
Gym shorts: $8.47

Just realized those purchases were an even $11!!

Here's what I have bought in the last few days. I do not recommend following these 'deals'.

Eye Doctor: $63
Glasses DD #2: $89
Glasses DD #1: $226
2 Pairs of Sneakers: $88
Uniform Shirt: $5
Pizza for sleepover: $17
Donuts for sleepover: $8
Redbox movie rental: $1

It'a big total. Feel free to add it up it you want.

Can I just say that teenagers get pretty picky about the glasses they wear, thus I was stuck with the pricier glasses. I do have the cash, otherwise, there would have been a different outcome. And I know...I didn't need to buy takeout for a sleepover, but it sure is easier! Next sleepover will be tacos or pasta at home and cereal for breakfast.

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 need to spend very little this week. I want to stay within my allowance limit. At this point, I only have $9 left! I did buy groceries today for about $31. My tank of gas is full. We don't have plans where we need to go anywhere or have to spend money.

I might take us swimming one day this week, since it will be so very hot. Luckily, we can get in for $8.
Or if necessary, hit the free art museum.

I'll let you know how it works out at the end of the week.

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?

It is just that time of year. Last minute summer vacation activities. Visitors. School Shopping. It all leads to spending. I'm just going to go with it. Let it happen. Enjoy the fun. No worries.

There is a time for spending and a time for savings. Right now. A time for spending. Cash spending!

I took my two daughters and two neighbor girls swimming today for a total of $19.50. That included snacks. They pitched in $5, so only $14.50 out of my pocket.

The girls had a great time and it was a help to their mom who just had her gall bladder removed. I also baked banana bread for something to eat in the morning.

It is tempting to spend tomorrow as our state is having a tax free holiday on clothing. If I get the cleaning done for Saturday's visitors then we might venture out and get the few items we need for back to school. Otherwise, it is sometimes just easier to skip it since so many people will be out shopping!!

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.

Okay. Not really. However, this past pay period, I did spend more than the $500 that I set aside for spending by about $75. There was a birthday party and a mini vacation that dipped into the spending money.

Luckily, I have some slush money set aside for just this type of thing. I just dip into it when needed. And these last two weeks, it was needed. It had been several months since I have had to do that. Now to see what August brings!

I expect August to be a little spendy. We need to buy a few more school supplies, new shoes for the girls, and likely glasses for both girls and contacts for my oldest (her first pair!). There are school pictures that will come early in the year also. I do need to make a list along with estimates for all of the things coming up. It can be a little overwhelming to see all that money flowing out.

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!

Last night, I planned to send $700 to our van loan. Today, I've changed my mind in light of new information.

My husband took an extra $100 for spending money, simply because he thought that is what we agreed on and he didn't want to mess up my bookkeeping! But guess what? That isn't what we agreed on...and he did mess up my bookkeeping!

It seems my gas oven is not heating correctly. First dozen cookies came out great. The next two took nearly twice as long to cook! I'm attempting to cook chicken now to see if the cookies were a fluke. In the end, I may need to have my oven repaired.

I expect I should be able to send some money to the loan, but I'm going to wait until I know more about the oven repair first. Another lesson in patience while paying off debt.

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!

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?

What can I say? We like our grass green. The lawn has begun to take a beating from the heat. Up until recently, we were getting rain regularly and lots of it. In fact it was difficult to keep up with the lawn mowing because of the rain.

Today, I broke out the lawn tractor and gave the front lawn its first faucet watering of the season. I actually enjoyed getting outside in the cooler air and walking around the yard in my bare feet.

Of course, this will come at a price. A higher water bill at some point. Right now, I'm going to water as sparingly as possible...thus only the front lawn for now!

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.

It's the beginning of the month and I've already spent $200 of my allotted $500 that I have until the 15th. Here's where the money went:

Groceries: $88
Litter and Cat Food: $37
Fuel: $37
Clothing (daughter): $10
Online purchase: $5
Allowances: $23

The money goes fast sometimes! I plan not to spend too much over the next several days.

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.

I only have $90 left of my allowance. DH already spent $400, which is double his allowance. He did buy some used furniture over there, so that is a one time investment. Still his spending seems a bit out of control. I haven't said anything to him yet.

Furniture is desk, chair, fridge, several power strips, iron, ironing board, and a scale. There might have been a few other things in that list for about $100. Not bad.

I think I can make it through Wednesday with my funds. I only really need gas. Maybe some different sun screen since I burned a bit today with the stuff I was using. I do need to buy a birthday item for my youngest, but that could wait until payday. Groceries are set.

How is your month going?

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!!