I am going to jump in and start December already ... my budget starts over on the weekends, so "technically" I am in December now. Good news, I get three paychecks in December ... bad news ... they are already spoken for as Chrismas/birthday gifts for the little one.

My challenges for the month:

[ ] Have 15 no spend days
[ ] Keep misc. spending under $300
[ ] Cook at home, every day.

I don't know if these are possible, but I am all about pushing my limits. The $300 spending limit does not include regular household bills, gas or Christmas money. It does include buying a magazine or a book to read while waiting in my sisters car pool line, or going to see New Moon ... again.

The cooking at home thing has been a challenge ... mainly during the day when I don't feel like cooking just for myself while my daughter is in school ... but this is something I am going to curb ...

So ... I don't really know if I can say a lot has changed during the past 8 months. I have been trying to be "better" with my spending, but I have learned this is always going to be a problem of mine. I am was born a spender, and finding a way to curb it is harder than I could have ever known.

I have been working at my "new" job for 8 months now .. and can I say I hate it? I feel bad for feeling this way, I know I am thankful to have a job ..I was out of work for four months, and it was the longest four months of my life ... but I really dislike my job. I have been actively searching for a new job for the past couple of weeks and had a "pre-employment screening" last week ... and I have another one this week. I am happy for this .... but trying not to get my hopes up. I think I would like my serving job more if I was, I don't know, making enough money .. but with the way the economy is ... well, ha. I know I am completely stressed out because of the money thing, so it's something I am trying to work on. Other than putting myself out there, and picking up as many shifts as possible ... there isn't anything I can do about this income issue. Stressing myself out over this is just going to get me an ulcer ...

I guess one of the best things to come out of the past year was cancelling our cable account. This wasn't something I would have done on my own ... it was a crutch. However, we've been without it for a year, and I don't miss it. LIE ... I miss my DVR like crazy ... lol ... but it's not something to pay $100+ a month for. I think I am going to "give in" and get the internet when I get a new job ... if it's in the budget. Using the computer only while at my mom and dad's is starting to be a PITA.

I have felt lost since April when my computer stopped letting me log in ... but now it's working again ... hmm.

I have so much to update .. and so little time. I'm just happy to have a place to get it all out there again.

Hope all our doing well!