I'm here.

Life has been crazy busy so I haven't had a chance to write on any of my blogs. I can't believe the week is almost over now - yay!

Not much to report really, just paying bills & chipping away at the debt. I really was trying to get back on track with checking in here, but work is busy & I'm trying to do things other than waste time on the internet when I'm home, so it isn't working out for me.

We have pics this weekend for Kasen's 2nd birthday. A wonderful friend is letting me trade cake balls for the session. She's awesome! I can't wait to see what great shots she gets! We also have a bbq at my parents' for Father's Day.

...and that's all I have to say about that. ;)

TGIF!

So, yesterday I went & bought Kasen new shoes. He was down to just 1 pair that were the right size. I hit Target & got 2 pairs of "Crocs" - an ugly camo pair that HE picked out & a blue pair that I picked out. The camo isn't that bad I guess, but it's not that great either. While we were there, I got him 2 shirts. Oh no, they were new... One was $2.80 on clearance & the other was $3 on sale. About what I'd pay at the thrift store for used, so it's all good in my world. I do need to go buy him a few more probably, some button down shirts or polos, but all things in time...

I love my OB. Why would I randomly say that? 'Cause once again money has magically appeared from him. Woohoo! Another over-payment. Sweet. (Well, not that we over-paid to begin with, but that it appeared in our hands again!)

That's about it for now.

Hanging in there.

I ate my lunch out today. A whopping $2 I believe. Maybe $3.

That's about it so far this week. Which is good.

Where'd I go?

Man, I feel off the blogging wagon hard! I'm just much busier at work lately & once I get home the night just slips right by. So, this week... I ate my one meal out on Monday 'cause I was running late & didn't have time to make my lunch. Oops. Luke had his one meal out on Friday. Friday night we had "date night", and we ate at Chan's. I've decided "date night" won't count against the other things 'cause it's something we need to make time & do for us. So, I guess I added another exception to our rules.

Saturday we had dinner at Whataburger - I had a gift card. Sunday we had lunch at Chili's w/a friend. That's family meal #1 for the month.

We did go a little crazy (well, not by typical standards, but by our Year Without standards) buying some stuff for Kasen's birthday party today. I started to buy a pinata. It looked cute up on the shelf. It was Diego (he's having a Dora party w/a little Diego thrown in to make it more masculine ;)) & I think it was $19.99. We asked them to get it down 'cause we wanted it. Then I saw it - it was tiny & stupid. I was in shock - $20 for that?! I told the guy no thanks & I could tell by his reaction that I wasn't the first to deny the stupid thing. So, I'm still on the look-out for a pinata - a *cheap* one.

That about sums up the week. :)

Why not... May in review.

Almost seems pointless since we sorta blew it the last 2 weeks. Here we go anyway...

Rule #1 - nothing new - totally broken. Had to buy some work clothes. Bought Kasen a pool. Bought some new pillows. There were a few other things in there too, we went crazy.
Rule #2 - no frivolous spending - broken. See above. Plus Luke sent me flowers for our anniversary. Really sweet, but totally frivolous.
Rule #4 - 1 family outing. Not broken. Sheesh already - we're half way through the year & we haven't gone anywhere that cost. I think it'd be okay if we did splurge... ;)
I'm so glad I only share transtaction numbers & not amounts...
7 grocery store trips (includes drug store), total bill was just over $300 - which is a huge improvement for us. Let's see if I can keep that up. (Doubtful since I've already blown $200 in June. *sigh*), 15 gas station fill-ups, 8 restaurant/fast food outings (we went a bit crazy, I told you!), 8 others (Sams x2, Baylor for my CT scan, flowers, Petsmart, Goodwill (clothes for Kasen), diapers, Kohls (for previously mentioned clothes), & Autozone).

We fell off the track a bit this month. I'm not sure how far back on we'll get. We'll have to see. We've totally changed our lifestyle & our mindset & that's the big thing. I've decided to spend a little on Kasen's birthday/party, which I hadn't planned on doing. The only thing I'll have to pay for for his party is a few decorations, the food, ingredients for the cake, and a pinata. Luke's wonderful parents are getting the bounce house (yay!), so we're covered on entertainment. We'll buy him something cool as his gift. It may or may not be new, depending on what we decide to get him. I'm okay with it though. He's a kid, he deserves to have a fun birthday. :) Other than that, we really do need to get back on track. We're doing pretty good with the eating out & we really aren't going crazy buying things we want (trust me, there's a list!), so I can't say we're failing... we just got side tracked a bit.
7 months to go, let's see how we can do!

An excused week off?

First, to catch up, we hit Sam's this weekend. We were good, other than a fan someone bought for the garage... ;) But it's still hard to swallow that big of a chunk of money. We stocked up on oil (Luke does our oil changes), dishwasher detergent, PullUps (yes, Kasen is now out of cloth. 1-because I'm getting lazy (or just tired) & 2- he can still wear his 18 mth shorts from last summer if he's in a PullUp, rather than me having to go buy new shorts for him this summer, although I don't know that we're saving money by doing that...), and I think there was something else, but I can't recall right now... Oh, yes, laundry detergent. All items that add up, but if we're saving by buying in bulk, it's all good!
Now.
I might just say screw it for the next week. I'm alright with it too.
I was gonna be good & celebrate my birthday with a whimper. BUT, I have decided, by golly, that I only get to turn 30 once, so I'm gonna make it special! So, I am here-by christening this week my birthday week. (Plus, our anniversary is on Monday.) I had Taco Bueno for lunch today 'cause I sorta forgot to wake up this morning, which means I didn't have time to hassle with lunch. Tomorrow I'll be good, it is a half day at work after all, so I don't have a choice. lol Wednesday I'm off work 'cause I have to go get a CT/angiogram done. I'll try to be good & take food with me for afterwards 'cause I'll be starving by then (why must we fast for medical procedures? Doesn't that just create a room full of grumpy folks?). Thursday I'll be good 'cause it's a half day again. Friday is debatable. I'll probably be good. Friday night I'm going to dinner & out to play, so I know money will be spent (again, I'm okay with that!). Saturday we'll probably be good, but Sunday (my bday) & Monday (our anniversary), all bets are off. Again, I'm okay with that. :)
To kick things off, I'm going for a haircut tonight. Something new, funky, and cool to ring in a new decade of life. ...and I'm okay with spending money on it, 'cause it's my birthday. I told you, all bets are off this week. I think I'm just gonna call this month a give-me month. We've done a lot of rule blowing-off. We're still doing a bit better than "typical" spending, so at least there's that, right?

Hanging in there.

It's Wednesday. I haven't spent any money. Luke had lunch out yesterday though, and he ordered a new something-or-other for his computer. That computer is a money pit! I swear since it broke he has had to buy new EVERYTHING for it. *sigh* Oh well.

That's all I know for now.