So yesterday my friend called ... and called .. and called. I was busy at work so I didn't have a chance to return her call until almost 6 when I was done picking up Julie.

She had an extra ticket for Guns n Roses!!!!

OMG ... are you kidding me.

So, it kinda threw a teeny wrench in my budget. I didn't have to pay the $93 for the tickey *yes, $93 ... how sad is that*, but I did have to pay $10 to park $2.50 to drive on the expressway, I gave her $3 for fries while there, and $5 for dinner on the way over. Totally worth it. I had to buy lunch and breakfast today, so there goes another $8. The rest is going to go into my gas tank.

The show lasted till nearly 2:30 in the morning. Then I had to drive my friend home, by the time I got into bed it was 3am ... UGH. Waking up this morning was really really unbearable.

I haven't gone out in MONTHS. Seriously it's close to two years or more. I always feel guilty leaving Julie. But last night I went and had a BLAST. I met these two hillarious guys so we spent most of the night telling eachother jokes ... then I met this nice guy and he asked for my number.

My friend laughed when I proclaimed that I hadn't been picked up in a really long time.

So all in all ... the best night I have had in ages ... one of the best shows I have been to ever. I won't say the best, that would be the free ticket I got to Incubus.

And you know, it got me thinking ... I have been questioning karma a lot lately. It happens when I think about Julie's father and this situation. Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter, but I can't get over how "unfair" it is to all of us that he left. And I couldn't figure out how come my life was harder. It's not. Sure, James is a lot of horrid words, but I have a wonderful daughter ... and wonderful friends. I didn't like who I was before my daughter, and I honestly think she was brought here to give me life. So, the next time I want to kill her father .. I'll remember last night ... a free ticket to a great show, where I met great new friends *and possibly a potential boyfriend* ... and be content. That's all you can be in life, content.

Thank you folks and good night!

I cashed in $38.41 in change today. Handed over $5 to my friend for buying a sub for me ... mmmm Publix subs.

$25 is going towards filing for child support. I am filing today, as soon as I find Julie's SSN#. I'm actually going to do this.

The rest, I'm either going to buy her another outfit, or throw into my savings account. Both are important ... I won't decide until I get home today.

A good day, I think.

So 50 degrees might not sound cold to most of you ... but whew! Was that hard to wake up to this morning! This weekend was in the high 80's and then wham ... it's chilly. I had to bust out Julie's coat ... and I noticed I don't have one. Great. I don't know when I'm going to be able to afford that.

I'm heading over to kmart b/c they have their pants on sale. 2 for $7 for Julie. I'll get her two full outfits for a little less than I'd pay for second hand clothes at the consignment shop. The clothes there are great, Children's Place, GAP ... but I'm more worried about quantity at this point over quality. I have to make it to Christmas when her great grandmother will load her up with clothes. LOL. She might not speak to me, but she loves the kid. Whatever, I'm just happy for the clothes.

My daughter went peepee twice in the past two days ... on the floor. She runs to me to tell me she needs to go ... starts tugging at her diaper ... I take it off, put her on the potty ... and she promptly stands back up and pees on the floor. I don't know what to do about that! LOL. She likes to carry her potty around behind her bumm around the house. It's pretty hillarious. In two months, a week and two days, she'll be two. I'm not ready for this!!!

A preliminary Christmas for Julie:
1. Trunk for dress up clothes.
2. Dress up boas, sunglasses and shoes. I think I'm going to hold off on actual clothes until she's older. More beaded necklaces!
3. A good doll, there's a particular one I have in mind that I wanted to get her last year but waited too long ... I think it will be perfect this year as well.
4. A couple of puzzles.
5. A couple of books.

I think for her birthday I am going to get her a trike. I am not to sure b/c my mom wants to get her a ride on car that I don't think Julie is old enough for yet ... but my mother won't listen to reason on this one. I'm also considering a good wooden cradle for her doll.

I honestly can't think of anything else she needs ... I am going to get her sippy cups for her stocking ... and who knows, we might be ready for big girl panties at Christmas as well. I'm going to talk to the teacher tonight about the need for pullups ... Julie's all about taking off her diaper and throwing it in the trash if she has a chance.

This weekend flew by. I love it when that happens.

It was a good money making weekend. I brought home around $115 on both Saturday and Sunday. SWEET. It means that we're getting back into season "Come on down snowbirds!" I complain like most Floridians the amount of snowbirds that do infact come down ... but it's amazing how much our income depends on it.

$130 - day care
$15 - gas
$5 - McDonald's for dinner Saturday
$25 - Dad
$10 - phone bill
$27 - groceries at walmart

I have a couple of bucks left over, and I had to buy lunch at CB on Sunday. I don't count that as a spending day though ... since I HAVE to eat at work or risk not making it home without hitting up McDonald's or something.

This afternoon, I was going to put my check into savings, but I think I am going to cash it and head over to the consingment shop to pick up one or two pairs of pants for Julie ... possibly more. Tomorrow it will be in the 50's when we wake up in the morning ... the high will barely reach the 70's! Yeah fall is here!! This weekend it was digustingly hot ... I hate trying to plan for "winters" down here.

Goals for this week:
1. Plan Julie's outfits for the week .. including socks. No more hunting in the morning.
2. Box up some of her toys and take to the storage shed.
3. Make some more lunches for work ... the mac n cheese I had today ROCKED.
4. Make breakfast at home.
5. Keep track of money spent better.

That's enough for now ...

Yesterday I had to stop at the gas station, I was on fumes ... I only put $10 in the tank to hold me over until this weekend, when I can put money on my walmart gas card.

After work, I went to Publix. I spent $32.34, but that also included a $15 pack of diapers. Not to shabby.

The only thing else I need for the rest of the week are egg whites and soda. What an interesting combination. I'll probably pick up a pack of sunflower seeds from walmart, they are the only store around here that sells honey roasted sunflower seeds. We used the rest of the milk this morning ...

Last night, I came home and made dinner for Julie and I. I ended up having enough left over that I froze two meals for the following week.

I also need to buy some more gladware to freeze things in for work.

All in all, including the $15 for gas, I shouldn't spend more than $30 at walmart tonight. This week's daycare is back to being $130, plus I'd like to pay my dad $40-50 that I owe him. So, the goal for serving this weekend is $210. I don't know if that's possible ... since usually it's been everyother week that's busy lately.

We're about to go and pay the car payment. It's scary to know that after I make this payment ... I will have nothing left from payday. ACK. Oh well, I put $330 on the prepaid debit card, $305 for insurance and $15 for Julie's premium. It's not like I'm completely broke ...

right?!?!

Thursday are my least favorite day ... ugh .. just stressing and thinking about money. Wondering where it's going to go, how I am going to get it .. all that fun stuff.

But, today's not too bad. $692 ... It would be $130 more if I didn't have to pay for Julie's flippin insurance!

I put aside $325 to go onto the prepaid debit card ... $305 to my car insurance, and $15 to Julie's Florida KidCare premium, that way her health insurance can stop being almost $300 a month. I can handle $15 a month ... $300 hurts.

I put $300 aside to go tomorrow and pay my car payment.

I went out and got lunch today, so I have $60 left. I put some money into my change jar ... With the $60, and I am hoping to buy my groceries for the week, diapers and my gas for the week. The good news in that is that I usually have to wait for the weekend to be able to do this ... after working my second job.

My goal is to stop worrying over payday ... to just have the money there .. when I need it.

I acutally used the a/c in the car for about 20 minutes both yesterday and today ... I needed to use the phone and couldn't hear over the wind.

My lunch by the way ROCKED! I spent $10 ... I got shrimp, fries and chocolate cake. Another girl at work wanted to have some shrimp so she got a chicken philly cheesesteak. So ... I split that with her. I still have a few shrimp, a ton of fries, half the cheesesteak and half a piece of chocolate cake for tomorrow. I'm still STUFFED!

So I went to the library last night to hopefully find The Tightwad Gazette. I haven't had a card to the public library since I was in highschool so I applied for a new card first ...

Turns out sometime in 2005 someone checked out and lost a number of books in my name. This can't possibly be me since I was living in a different city and honestly wouldn't have checked out the books to begin with. They were on things like sewing and baking ... but I was living on my friend's couch at the time ... so it's not something that would have peeked my interest.

Anyways .. I have to pay it off ... since I can't proove that it wasn't me ... AARRGGGHHH!!!

It's $168 ... total ... isn't that insane!! Until I pay it off ... I can only check out three books at a time ... not to bad I guess. I put $21 to it ... all the cash I had. It's just upsetting ... but whatever ... money's just money at this point.

I went to get my bank account at my credit union opened up ... I have a savings account there. Since my credit score is pretty awful, I have to take a class to be able to get it open?! I have never heard of this ... but whatever, it won't hurt to do this. It's $30, and I'm going to have to change my schedule around and have my mom pick up my daughter ... but just knowing that things will get done eases my fear a bit.

Just a bit though.

Still waiting to hear from Direct to see if my loans were able to be consolidated. Then I will know for sure my total budget.

I've been paying extra on my car to try to get it lower so that when I go to trade it in in a few months I won't owe so much ... still trying to save money, plus by my daughter winter clothes. It's like a never ending way to spend money.

Tonight I am going to cash my check at the credit union ... pay my mom the $10 I owe her for the rest of Julie's costume *she's going to be a kitty* and head to the grocery store.

Another no a/c in the car day ... today is WONDERFUL here in Florida, very windy and not sunny at all. I think I live in the wrong state ... I could get used to living in this kind of weather!

I've noticed that I've been stressing a lot lately about money. It's not a good thing.

My goal this week:
Do not stress about money! There is nothing else I can do about the current state I am in, but work to get out of it. Fretting and pndering are NOT going to help.

Let's see if I can keep to that.

I've gone three days without a/c .. and guess what ... my car hasn't leaked. HMMM .... I think I might have solved the problem. Now if I could get the car to not SMELL. That would be wonderful.

This weekend I made a good deal of money. I bought Julie some new clothes, and I will be heading to the grocery store tonight. Going to pick up some turkey sausage, egg whites, brown rice and veggies. MMMmmm ... how healthy. Thank goodness my daughter eats pretty much anything i give her.

10.18 .. that's how much I added to the change jar today.

It came from a few random places, a couple of pants pockets, I cleaned out my wallet ... I also brought home $6 in change from work tonight. Not too shabby.

16.00 - original
+10.18 - today's total
--------
26.18 - two days worth of saving. Not to shabby at all.

Tonight wasn't a great night at work, but it wasn't to bad either. I brought home $103, which is $12 less than average.

I ran to Walmart afterwards. I needed a few things ... and only bought what I went in there for. WOW ... it CAN happen!

I needed deodorant, a small pack of wipes for Julie, gum, milk, cheese, turkey, envelopes, pens and I did fight the decision to buy Julie a new pair of shoes ... but she really needed them, so I picked up a pair. I ended up spending $28.88 ... and I have to run by the grocery store tomorrow to pick up some veggies, eggs and turkey sausage for work this week. I shouldn't spend much at all.

I also got a $20 gas card ... I usually get $40 every week ... even though $20 will fill my tank for the week *usually* ... I like to have the extra, just in case. I get paid Thursday though ... so I only got the $20 since I really really have to get my oil changed this weekend.

I spent $5 at McDonald's ... after serving food all day .. the last thing I want to do is come home and cook ... plus everyone is asleep. I need to be asleep too ... its after midnight and I have to be at work at 8am.

I put $45 away for daycare, I only need $20 more. Plus, I have a few bucks left over tonight, after tomorrow I'll know how to spend those.

All in all ... a good day. I just wish there were more hours in it.

I'm loving chasing down change. It adds up so quickly ... it's everywhere ... for some reason people think it's acceptable to leave it as a tip ... but you know what ... I don't mind ... it all goes into a jar on my dresser.

I like to save it up to about $80, then turn it in. My plan is to put half into my "emergency fund" and then the other half into a special savings account I am going to open for myself. To buy myself things like the ipod I've been eyeing ... or saving up for the laptop I really really want.

I'm starting to think that feeling guilty about buying things for myself is a normal mother thing ... hence the reason I'm saving up change for things I want. It's almost hillarious to me ... to feel guilty when I'm the one who works two jobs ... lol.

I love my mischevious elf so much.

The break down of the change jar ... keep in mind that I've lived off quarters off this jar for the past three weeks or so ... seriously.

Dollars: $3 - found in the laundry.
Quarters: $5
Dimes: $6
Nickels: .80
Pennies: 1.20

I have a whole bumm load of pennies at work that I need to bring home. One of my coworkers was giving them away b/c she "doesn't like pennies". When my dear co worker moved to Atlanta she left me a whole cup full of pennies that she litterally had been keeping since she started working at the company. At Cracker Barrel, another server leaves me her change when people leave it on the table. She "doesn't like change". When I was working full time serving, I could easily cash in $80 a month in change ... I wasn't complaining.

A quick budget for the following week ... this will of course depend on how much money I make at work this weekend ... I'm hoping for a busy weekend ...

$65 for daycare, it's half off your fourth week there ... SWEET!
$40 for gas
$30 for groceries
$50 to open my savings account
$20 for a new purse

Plus, I have to buy Julie some clothes this weekend. I might wait and use part of the $50 from opening the account ... I can withdraw it literally as soon as I put it in the account if I want to. I'd like to pay $50-75 extra on my car this weekend ... and possibly pay my dad some more money back.

This is my third post for the day ... lol ... I think that's more than enough.

I made a new category ... "no air condition in the car"

See .. my car is a piece of crap. That's the nice way to put it. It GUSHES water a couple of times a day. My car smells like mold ... it's really really disgusting.

So, I did a little bit of research online ... and found out that the car is gushing water b/c of something with the air condition ... I'm no mechanic ... but supposedly I have to put a piece of rubber tubing and it will drain on the OUTSIDE of the car (what a freakin concept!)

Well, since I'm not a mechanic ... and I don't really have any idea as to WHAT is the air condition under the hood ... my idea is to stop using the air conditioner in the car.

That might not seem like a big deal to anyone ... but I live in Florida. It's still 90 degrees plus humidity down here. It will save me on gas to turn off the a/c and HOPEFULLY will stop the leak.

I'm going to give it a try ... at least until the end of the month. By then, if the leak hasn't stopped ... I know it's something else. If it has ... well then I have to think of something else ... don't I.

Hopefully we'll get the $1000 bonus we're working towards this month. If we get the bonus (I don't think we're going to get it right now ...) I am going to trade in my car. Still waiting to hear if that guy at work actually wants to buy the car ... this is all my plan if he doesn't want to buy it.

My daughter is ready for bed .. she's sitting in my lap actually cuddling ... something is wrong with this picture.

So, I ended up spending a $1 on breakfast and $3 on lunch today. I just didn't want to wake up this morning. I don't know what's wrong with me .. I go to bed at a decent time, but I still don't want to wake up in the morning. My goal for this week is to be able to actually MAKE breakfast and lunch to bring to work.

My goals for this weekend:
1. Make breakfast and lunch for work for the following week.
2. Get oil changed in car.
3. Vacuum out car, figure out how to clean the leaking mess from the air conditioner.
4. Take two boxes of Julie's clothes to storage shed.
5. Keep track of change.

On Monday, my goal is to get to work early so I can take a long lunch and go to the credit union and open my checking account.

I'd like to make an estimated budget on what to spend on clothes for the next year. It's going to be "higher" than the norm I think ... I need a lot of new clothes since I barely have any ... and with Julie in her odd growth patterns.

Here's to a happy weekend. Monday I get to go to the consignment shop and pick up some more clothes for Juliette.

Another day of slight progress.

Sometimes I wonder how I am going to be able to do this ... but I guess every little bit counts.

I had a no spend day yesterday, it was either the second or the third this month ... I can't remember. Today I spent $3 on lunch. I didn't want to wake up this morning ... so I didn't get up to make lunch.

I need a haircut ... I guess I should have a haircut before the wedding ... I'll have to add that to the list.

This guy here at work wants to buy my car. I don't even know if that's a possiblity, since I owe so much on it. If he bought it for what I owed ... it'd be around $7,000. He'd be stupid to buy it for that ... do I tell him it'd be stupid? I even told him about the air conditioner leaking and all the problems I have with it ... and he's still interested.

I can't help but think it might actually work, but I don't want to get my hopes up. I HATE my car ....

Apprently when you have a child, you have to be prepared for them to drop like flies. I picked her up from school Monday, with a note that she'd been coughing and had a runny nose ... nothing much I think ... so I go out and get some Dimetapp. Get home, give her a dose, feed her dinner, we played some games, cleaned up a bit, my mom came home and she ate some more. 7:30 she crawled into my lap and whined "Momma" and went to sleep.

That is NOT normal for my child.

By 9:30, she was BURNING up. I took her temp, it was 102.3. I had to wait until 10:30 to give her a dose of tyelnol cough and cold ... she slept pretty well on and off through the night.

We woke up the next morning, I made my lunch and breakfast for work, got dressed and grabbed some clothes for Julie ... woke her up. She was sick. You could see it in her eyes ... a couple of weeks ago we were having fevers all night, but she was fine ... I guess I was hoping this was just a viral thing. It wasn't.

I had to call in at work, and then try to get an appointment at her peds. They're a very busy office, and her doctor is the most sought after ... but luckily we got an appointment right away. He checked her out ... she was acting great in his office. Her cough is just drainage, and she has an ear infection.

She's on antibiotics, and at daycare. The fever didn't come back, so she was cleared to go to school today.

I milked what little I had in savings. I had to get gas, a card for my dad's birthday, plus the copay for the doctor's and the prescription. I ended up with a bit left over, so we got McDonald's for lunch. I also bought her an outfit since all of her clothes are getting to be to small and part of her Halloween costume.

I spent just under $50 all day, which isn't bad since $30 went straight to the doctor's and $10 went to gas. $12 was a new outfit she REALLY needed, and I spent $2.50 on her cat ears and tail.

Today is looking to be a no spend day, woot, since I don't have any money to spend. LOL. My brother is going back to Cali this afternoon. I'm a little sad to see him go ... especially since he and Julie ended up getting along so well last night .. she was finally comfortable with him. There was one point in the night that she and Will were reading a book, and she got up and walked around to everyone in the family and pointed to who they were and said their name ... just showing him the ropes I guess. Last night she didn't want to go to bed, she wanted to cuddle with Uncle Will. Too cute.

I just can't wait for him to come back home again ... we won't see him until around my birthday it looks ... though he's not sure with the current state with Korea, if they are going to send him over there or to Iraq. I guess we'll just wait and see.

So, dinner out with my brother and family got canceled, which is probably for the better. Just money saved on my end, and missing out since they went to breakfast and I was working.

Saturday, I took a box of clothes to the consignment shop ... they only bought 8 items ... so I made $15. Not the best, but most of the stuff we have for her is spring anyways. I think I am going to wait until Feb and EBAY it. I might not make a ton of money off of it, but it will get the clothes out of my hair.

This weekend was slow at work. I only brought home $140 plus my check. Not the greatest weeeked ever. I also ate out twice this weekend, put gas in the car, bought groceries. I also overslept and didn't make my food for work today, so i spent $11 on breakfast and lunch. Though I have enough lunch leftovers that I will eat tomorrow.

Next weekend should be busier at work as well. It seems we're in a pattern, one slow week and one busy week. The busy season should be starting back up soon, just waiting for the snow birds to come back to their Florida homes.

I really need to get an oil change ... I haven't figured out if I can afford it this week ... I think I can. Next week I only have to pay half for Julie's daycare ... which is sweet. With half of the money, I am going back the consignment shop to pick up some pants for Julie. I'm think 18 months should get her through at least half of the winter. Hopefully through Christmas ... we're telling my grandma to buy her 24 months. Hopefully they won't be too big.

I just HATE the weather here! It's too hot during the day (over 100 degrees with humidty) but we start the day with a chill in the air. I don't know if it's too hot for pants yet ... but she needs a sweater.

Tomorrow my parents are both taking off of work to take my brother to Disney. I want to call in ... but I will spend $100 that I don't have ... so it's not worth it. Plus, I'm really hoping to go closer to Christmas ... I LOVE the Candlelight Processional, nothing puts me in the moode for Christmas more.

My brother is coming in from Cali today for five days. He was supposed to leave for Iraq on Monday, then they moved it to Friday (today), now it's moved back to Oct 16th. But, before going to Iraq, they've granted him a short leave with family. We haven't seen him since December, so I'm pretty exicited to see him. He's 20, my "baby" brother ... and I can't believe he's going to be in Iraq for the next 6 month. He's a corpsman, so he's going to be stationed inside a compound .. this is his first tour. Of course, the family is a nervous wreck with him going over there. My parents haven't told the extended family that he's going to be in town, we just found out for sure ourselves last night. Here's to hoping for good weather and a happy flight for my brother.

We're going out to dinner on Sunday, which will, thankfully, kill my budget. LOL. Oh well, it's for my brother. I'm supposed to be driving him and my sister out to her soccer game. His old soccer coach is coaching his daughter's team, and they're going to be playing against my sister's team. Will supposedly bought my sister a pink soccer ball (and something for the baby as well).

It will be very good to see him. It's going to be hard to put him on a plane knowing we might not see him again ... but I'm confident he'll do well in Iraq. This is what he signed up to do, and I'm thankful his last request to go with the MP's was turned down.

On a budget note ... I went ahead a got a prepaid debit card and paid my car insurance and car payment. It might not have been the "wisest" decision ... but it was the only one I had at the time. If you're thinking about getting a prepaid debit, look into it ... they have an amazing number of fees involved. The good thing, I'm going to be able to cancel it as soon as I open the account at the credit union.

I was going to go today to open it, but I slept in ... and got to work on time. My goal is to wake up early Tuesday to be able to go over there ... I almost forgot that Monday is Columbus Day ... and they're closed.

Goals for this weekend:
1. Take a box of clothes to consignment, depending on Jordyn's game time.
2. Vacuum and clean out car totally.
3. Clean Julie's carseat.
4. Make lunch and breakfast for work next week.
5. Pay storage shed on Saturday.
6. Take two boxes down to storage shed.
7. Complete clothing budget.
8. Get with Will and think of things to send him. Up the money in my gift budget for little bro.

Happy Friday everyone!

I checked my bank account ... to see if I could pin point the exact problem in it.

Turns out, I deposited $690 in CASH and they put it in as a check deposit. They hold check deposits for THREE days. During that time ... a bunch of little purchases went through, but also my car insurance. The car insurance overdrew the account, causing about 10 checks to overdraw. AARRGGHH!!

Not only did my car insurance not get paid, but I literally just got screwed. They charge a $5 a business day fee ... and they won't close the account or fix their mistake. Nothing will happen for the next 27 days, when they will charge off the account .... 21 of those days they will charge me $5 overdraft fees.

I'm so aggitated. Mostly at them ... b/c if the rep had just deposited the money in cash and not check ... none of this would have happened ... at the woman who told me "Just depoist the money" ... and at myself for banking with such a crappy bank (and for overdrafting the account to begin with).

On a good note ... I had a no spend day yesterday! WOOT! Today I have to buy gas, I'm almost out of gas, and I'm trying to decide if getting a Western Union or a prepaid debit card would be the best decision.

Have a good day, it's payday!

I'm grubbing on veggie pizza right now b/c I was too lazy to cook my lunch this morning. But, for $2.67, it's so worth it. I spent $3.06 on breakfast, and had a major need for caffeine, so two sodas at .60 each. Other than paying for Julie's daycare today, that's my spending for the day.

I only put $10 in my tank this weekend, and I'm right under half. I don't know if I should go to walmart tonight and buy a giftcard for $20 or $10. The good news, with the new drive I'm actually using less gas to and from work ... I don't know how much less, but I'm going to be happy with the fact that it's less.

This weekend, I HAVE to get an oil change. I get paid Thursday, so I'll probably go Friday night afterwork or on Sat.

My goals for Oct.

Get my bank account out of the red. I haven't mentioned this, but there was a slight problem on my banks end where they overdrafted my account and made quite a number of things go thru b/c of their mistake. They claim they didn't make a mistake ... so I'm way negative in the account right now. It irrates me, but as soon as I get it out of the red, I'm closing this account.

10 no spend days. This will be easy if I start making my lunch and breakfast. Especially since I don't have any money to spend.

Make breakfast and lunch at least 4 times a week during the workweek. I was going to make breakfast and lunch for this week, but last night the kitchen sink broke. Luckily, it's not my problem.

Stick to my budget. I'm going to post it sometime this week, with a few adjustments for this month. This weekend, I stuck to my grocery budget, so I'm happy about that.

I think that's all right now.