Sigh. I don't know what is going on with me, but I keep falling off the wagon. AND, I am really getting tired of it. I'm also exhausted from working so much, and don't know when I would be able to get a second job, but it would be great to have the extra income in my hands.

So, for the next two months, I am going to tighten my belt, BIG TIME! If I am still struggling, I am going to start looking for a second job.

I really plan on writing down all I spend. Really. I need to see the big picture.

Yesterday I made $82, but after going out for a going away party after work and splurging for doughnuts this morning, I only have $55 left. UGH! Then tonight, I made $97. So, I am going to deposit that into the bank account. It is hard, b/c so much of my money goes towards daycare, but her daycare is so amazing, I feel like it is worth it.

I also have a $67 portion of my electric bill to pay this week, ugh. I can't believe how expensive our electric bill is. We do everything to keep it low, including having the therm set at 78 degrees most of the time ... but it was still $200 this month. $200!!!! UGH!

I need to pay $150 to my friend for her furniture I am buying from her, I need to pay my storage shed, car payment and rent. AAAHHH!!!

I am giving myself a $25 allowance for the week, for things like fastfood when I am being lazy *which I shouldn't get anywyas* or when I forget to pick something up at the grocery store that I need. Anything left over is going to go into my savings account.

Also, right now, anything and everything I make is going to go into my checking account. Having all this cash is KILLING me! I spend and spend, b/c I have the cash there to do it. Not good! Hence the allowance. Since the atm is on my way to Julie's school, each day after work, depositing the money won't be a hard thing for me to do.

After this month, or should I say when October starts, I am going to deposit $50 a day into the account. Usually I make a lot more than that, but $50 is the number I have worked my budget out to. After that $50, I have an envelope system set up for everything "extra". If I make $80 one day, $30 will go into the envelope. I have all of my bills divded by week, and in order of "importance". When the money is in there, and the envelope is full, it will be sealed and marked off the list. Yes, I made a list of EVERYTHING! I also really inflated most of my bills, like saying $100 for electric. If our electric bill is every $300, I'll have a heart attack. However, I know next year I'll be on my own, so I might as well start budgeting now for a bigger electric bill.

Also, something that I have done is gradually increased my rent over the next couple of months. That way, by the time I am ready to move into my own apartment, I will be paying the rent already. Rent for the townhouse is $365, and rent for the apartment will be $690 ... For October, I have my rent as $400, the "extra" money is going to be put into my internet savings account, so it can grow.

I feel like I am trying to trick myself into saving, and maybe I am. But, maybe this is how I have to do it.

I'm exhausted and have to be at work really early tomorrow ... so I don't even know if this makes sense.

First, let me start off by saying, I love Florida.

Seriously.

So, today was my day off from work this week. I had Monday off as well, but I've had a bit of a cold, so I didn't get as much done as I wanted. Today, I had a plan.

I cooked, I cleaned, I vacuumed. I decided to wait until tonight to do my laundry. We keep our air at around 77 degrees, and our bill is still outrageous, so I figure if I have to run the dryer, might as well do it tonight.

Then, the reason I love Florida happens. A thunderstorm straight from Hades. Oi! Luckily, I had made a very delicious dinner earlier in the evening, b/c I hate cooking wondering if I am going to loose power. We eat, we get ready for bed, and we watch a bit of tv ... hoping it doesn't get struck by lighting ... and my daughter starts begging for her bath. A schedule is great for a two year old, until you have to break her routine. She didn't understand she couldn't have a bath during a thunderstorm.

Sometime between 8 and 9, we loose power. I woke up at 10pm in complete and utter pitch black creepy darkness. Creepy darkness. My roommates walk in ... they had been stuck at the gate with about five other cars and the guys had to get out of the cars in the pouring rain and break the gate to get in. Reason to not live in a gated community, yes. The house in HOT, I'm all sweaty, Julie's all sweaty ... so I light a candle in the dark and gather clothes and head to my mom's.

Luckily I don't give her a heart attack when I show up on her doorstep at 10:30 without a phone call. Reason number 65 as to why I need a cellphone ... cordless phones don't work w/o power. My clothes are in her washer ... and she keeps her thermostat at like 74 degrees, so I'm freezing instead of frying at my house.

Of course, my plan for tonight was to prep dinner for tomorrow and Friday ...... which obviously didn't happen. I also didn't pack my leftovers for lunch like I had planned, and my dinner was DELICIOUS! I went all crazy and followed a recipe I didn't know if we'd like. My parents always order take out or pick up fast food, and I am trying to be better about cooking at home, but I don't know how to make a lot of things. I can make some pretty basic things, but I seriously am trying to learn some new things. Anyways, the recipe was for a whole chicken, which is pretty cheap. I got it out of kraftfoods magazine actually, this month's addition. Anyways, you take cream cheese, rosemary and pepper and mix it all together and put it under the skin of the chicken. Then you put italian dressing on top. It baked while I went and picked Julie up from school ... and OMG, it was amazing. I am weird about food, so the idea of cream cheese and chicken seemed weird, but it was awesome. I am taking the chicken leftover and making chicken noodle soup tomorrow, since Julie and I have been a little under the weather. I was really proud of my dinner, and laughed at myself b/c I wanted to take a picture to proove I had made something like that. It looked AMAZING.

I'm hoping we've gotten power back, but when we called the power company, they told us they had no idea how long it would be out ... they were thinking closer to a day. Who knows ... I'll find out tomorrow when I go home.

However, I think it's time to buy our hurricane supplies. We don't have a flashlight or candles, or a weather radio. I think I should hit up Goodwill and see if they have a corded phone, or even walmart and have it plugged in the garage at least. We've never had a real hurricane pack, with blankets and food and such ... and I don't know if I need it now. It was just scary to be in the dark and not have a light anywhere.

I was trying to go the whole week without spending money on anything other than gas and bills. However, I needed pullups ... and I had two coupons that expired today. Somehow, I managed to spend $90 at walmart. OUCH! $33 of it was in pullups, which will last us ... around two months, I think. I know Julie still has some at school, she has about a month supply at my mom's ... so now she's got some here plus a ton for the next month or so. Here's to hoping that she get potty trained soon!

The only "grocery" thing we bought was skittles ... and that's for potty training. She gets one skittle when she pees in the potty and two when she does number 2. Number two is something we're really working on in the potty ... she doesn't like to go, which I'm hoping we can change.

The rest was all pretty much $2 and $3 things. And that my friend is where walmart gets you. You think "Oh, since I'm here, I might as well get ..." I bought wipes, toothpaste for Julie, a new toothbrush for both of us *well, two for me*, hairties for both of us, more soap and detangler for Julie ... see, I bought into the walmart curse. I also had to buy coolant for my car b/c it's been leaning towards the "hot" part of the temp guage, so I am thinking it might be getting low on coolant. I need "Cars for dummies".

I honestly don't know how I spent so much money. I hate that!

So ... and I'm putting it here to keep myself in line ... no more trips to the store. We are STOCKED! On the upside, I bought paper towels, garbage bags and laundry detergent last, and my roomies and I rotate on that. So, even if we do run out ... it's there turn.