When I got up, things were fine. I was on the way out the door to work when I looked at Shadow, our Dachshund. She was looking up at me with pitiful brown eyes and whimpering. Her back is bad again. When Pretzel (her sister) died, I assumed that she would be OK and went on to work; I had a meeting that day. By the time I got home that night she was too far gone and we had her put to sleep the next day. I cried for two weeks over Pretzel - she was my precious.

Anyhow, all of this is going through my mind when the phone rings. It's DD - I forgot to give her money for the pizza party at school. Crap.

I called work and told them I was going to be late. Loaded Shadow into the car and went to the high school. I let DD play hooky and she drove us to the vet. DD is 17. I'm glad we took Shadow in. She was in a lot of pain by then and her back had gone into spasm. She was hunched up like a ferret, and crooked, like a boomerang. It was bad. I got her meds, dropped DD and Shadow home, ate a quick lunch and raced to work.

One the way I felt crampy. By the time I got there my trousers were spotted. You girls know what I mean.

It was a long day.

Shadow slept with us last night. She is up to 16 pounds because of the steroids. How can a 16 lb. dog hog the covers like that?

She's in the kennel now. Keep your fingers crossed. Right now it looks bad, but I'm hoping she recovers from this and can still have a good quality of life.

I just love it when I find items at a really great clearance price. Right now Easter items are on sale and I am finding some deals on candy. I bought M&M's and Reese's Pieces very inexpensively and will use these for trail mix for the kids. I toss in pretzels, cereal, nuts, etc. and they have a great snack.

It will still be several months before I'm eligible for the company's 401K plan. My next day off is Tuesday and I'll be able to add money to my savings account then. I've sold a few more books and need to update my $20 challenge total.

Yard sales are back! I love this time of year.

Last night I went out with people from work. I spent money that I usually don't. A friend from work has put in her notice and our group wanted to wish her well. I got her flowers and a bottle of wine. She's a nice lady and is moving to Florida.

Another co-worker was there and she is the one that got fired. The law is that you need to work a certain number of days to qualify for unemployment. She was let go one day before she would be eligible for benefits. That is just low. She talked and talked and I stayed after everyone else had left, just listening. Sometimes that's the best thing to do for someone. Sheesh - a rotton deal. I don't work in the same area and can't really form an opinion on her job performance.

I need to watch money carefully now. I think I'll get ready to have a yard sale sometime soon. We sure do have a lot to sell.

DD has had friends over every day and the girls spend the night. When I was a teen I never could have people spend the night much. Now I let anyone over that wants to stay - except for the boys. Yes, they do ask! LOL. DD is 17 and that's too old for boy/girl slumber parties! You would be surprised at some of the other parents. The parents of the boys don't seem to mind letting them sleep over here. I'm an attentive parent, but sheesh! They do hang out all day and I make them cookies. DH feeds everyone. He is the chicken king and they love coming here.

Nice weather is here to stay. I'm happy to not have to heat the house anymore. It saves a lot of money.

DH's aunt has been ill the past few months. She is quite overweight and is diabetic. Her kidneys started to fail a few weeks ago and she was hospitalized. Bedridden, her bed sores were bad. Anyhow this morning her body just shut down and they had to let her go. I know her pain was assisted by morphine. We pray for her and her children. They live about 45 minutes away. I had to call in to work. I hate to leave them in the lurch, but family is important. DH is working in the front yard but later we will go and visit.

Our dachshund dog has gone down twice within the last 8 months with back problems. Both times she has been paralyzed. We gave her steriods, muscle relaxers, and vitamin C in mega doses. We put her on complete bed rest (our bed LOL), massaged her, put her in the warm bathwater; everything. We love her.

Her sister died a year ago from the same thing. That dog was my precious one and I still grieve for her. Anyhow, Shadow has been in pain since last Sunday off and on. Last night it got really bad and I took her to the vet. It cost $168 dollars. Ouch! She has two prescriptions and they gave her a shot and a morphine patch. Last night she slept with us, something that is unusual. The girls have their own beds down here! We wanted to watch her and fuss over her. She was positively daffy from the drugs. At least this time she isn't paralyzed.

Today I will straighten up a little bit and then we will go and visit family. The vet was expensive and now I'll miss a day's pay, but family is more important.

I work with a woman that I like a lot - she is in her mid 50's from what I can tell. I know she has a very tough time financially. Today we were talking and she said she has $3.53 in her checking account. Luckily we get paid tomorrow. She makes maybe $150-$200 a week because she's part time and doesn't make much. Her car payment is $260 or so per month and it's impossible for her to pay the bills.

I was thinking to myself that I would get rid of the car, but I think differently than most people. I bought my car for $750 from my mom about a year ago. It's less than 10 miles each way to work and I run errands in town a couple times a week (library, consignment shops, etc.) My car is 16 years old but it runs. I haven't had a car payment in about 8 years, and neither has DH. That is a major way that we save money. We decided long ago to put money into a new house. I have no regrets about that decision - the house increased in value before we even moved in.

I've decided a couple of things this week. I'm going to take a percentage of my pay and add it to my savings account. It will mean less money to have right now for bills, but if we need money for something that comes up, hopefully I'll have enough of a cushion built up to just withdraw it instead of using credit cards. I'm going to take $50 from tomorrow's check and add it to my fund. I can't tell you the last time I put money aside for an emergency. Sad but true. This seems like a big step in the right direction.

DH has a debit card for my checking account, but I told him to quit using it for the book store, Taco Bell, etc. He agreed, so that's good. I get impulsive sometimes too but hopefully we can keep each other on the right track.

Today I resisted buying lunch at work. The cafeteria is nice, and there are kitchen-like cabinets that we can use. I have a loaf of bread, some p.b., some crackers, etc. in there. I can leave juice in the fridge for 3-4 days at a stretch in a regular carton as long as my name's on it. I'm glad we can do this - it helps a lot of people financially. I was tempted to order out but luckily someone offered me some pizza and breadsticks. Wasn't that nice? He had extra. He left another slice out for anyone that was hungry and a young guy gratefully ate it soon after. I work with good people.

I've heard of places where someone steals lunches or supplies, but that doesn't happen there. Have you ever had a problem with that? I hope not.

Bee Season - $2.13
The Heart Revolution - $2.20
The Passion - $4.35
The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club - $2.09
The Dante Club - $2.02
Grand Central Winter - $2.40
Little Green Men - $1.45
Wait Till Next Year - $1.45

Total for these books is $18.09, and I made an additional $35 on E-Bay. Added to the previous $327.31, my new total is $380.40 so far. Now that yard sale season is almost here, hopefully I can invest some of this money in more things to re-sell at the local consignment shops.

Today is one of those days that I've been waiting for a long time. Warm sun, fresh breeze, trees finally leafing out. Our backyard is filled with trees, and when the spring comes I look forward to the privacy from our neighbors in the back. We each have 1/2 acre lots, and there is a trail through our back yard made of cypress mulch. In the summer we go out and pick the raspberries, trying to beat the birds to the fruit. The spring peepers are one of my favorite sounds in the evening. Geese fly overhead, honking busily. The birds sing good morning. I've even missed listening to the raccoons argue at night.

I've been working in the downstairs bathroom again. I painted the trim, touched up the ceiling paint, deep cleaned, and half of the border is up. I hung a new t.p. holder and still need to hang the towel bar. I painted the door the same white semi-gloss as the trim. What an improvement! We built in 2000, and the white paint on the doors and trim is already dingy looking. I hung the wreath I found at the Salvation Army for $2.99 - it matches perfectly.

Right now I'm packaging and printing labels to ship out the book orders. I sold quite a few so far, and am going to hit the library again next time I'm in the area.

I hope you are all having a good day so far.

Well, I sold one book - Bee Season. Hopefully there will be more soon. After I print the postage I can figure out the profit. It won't be much; maybe a dollar or two.

Happy Easter everyone! We're on our way to the in-laws.

Well, I was able to take care of all of my errands. First stop, Salvation Army. I spent about $4.50 on books and also got some other items. A soap dispenser for the bathroom I'm remodeling. It's of Pooh bear in the 100 acre woods. I know, I'm weird. A new computer keyboard for $5.99 - it's a nice one. The space key on this one sticks and drives me crazy. A very pretty new wreath for the front door. I've had my eye on one at Target for a while, but it's $30. This one was $2.99 and is still new. It's not the same one but is just as nice. A Pfaltzgraff item to sell on E-Bay. Pretty good haul today.

I went to a consignment shop I frequent and they had a couple of checks for me. They came to about $27; I really need to bring more items there. Last summer I bought things at yard sales and consigned them, and this year I'll add the costs and profits into the $20 challenge amount. I just love yard sales.

Next the bank, I transferred the money into my savings account for the $20 challenge and deposited my checks. Emergengy fund established!

Another consignment shop, this one a children's one. I got $8.00 there, and resisted buying a shirt for DS.

The paint store. I got a small can of ceiling paint and a small roller to touch up said ceiling and paint the trim and door. I'll probably have time to do that next Tuesday.

Next, Target. I returned a towel bar that was too short (duh) and found some hand towels on clearance. Very pretty.

Finally, the library. I did that last because it's the most time-consuming. I spent $20 and got lots of good ones.

I came home, made cookies, listed the books, and here I am!

Whew.

If my math is correct, I can add $10.50 to the $20 challenge fund. I made $35, spent $24.50 on books to sell- so the new total is $327.31

Finally! Nice weather has come to this area - it's a great morning to take the dogs to the lake. I put on my Nikes, grab a bag and the dogs, and we're off...

[Shadow and Honey] Oh boy oh boy oh boy! So many things to sniff! Where do I go first?!

[Me] Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Cans and bottles! Where do I go first?!

Every year when it's nice out, from spring through the fall, I take them to the park across the street - there's a lake there. People toss their empties around. This year I'll add the total refunded to the $20 challenge amount. I have no shame. I do look through the trash bins. The sunshine on the water and the morning air are wonderful.

Now we're back. Honey is excited and revved up (puppy-teenager) and Shadow is snoring (6 years old). I'm revved up and ready to go.

Things to do today;

Library for books to sell

Salvation Army, ditto

Bank - transfer funds into savings. After thinking about it, for now I've decided to put the $20 challenge money into a savings account. It will be our emergency fund. I'm not telling anyone, except for you. You won't tell, will you?

Paint store - I need some paint to touch up the ceiling in the bathroom.

I'll update later. Hopefully I'll have lots of good books to sell. I've been working, and have not replenished the bookcase in weeks.

At work I've met all sorts of people, of all ages. It's mostly women, and their financial situations vary greatly. Some are the main breadwinners. Some just supplement their husbands' incomes. It can be very sobering to see what some of the 50-something women are up against.

One person I like a lot is in her 50's, with no health insurance. Low income, not married. What will happen to her?

My husband lost his job a couple of years ago and the one he found to replace it doesn't pay nearly as well. We still do ok, but it's definitely more challenging now. We do have health insurance and are both able to work.

Another woman I know is raising four kids on her own - her husband died last year. She is moving south soon to try & make a fresh start. I admire her courage.

I'm looking forward to warmer weather. The gas bill is already going down quite a bit, thank goodness. The kids are older now. It's hard to believe that in 7 years they will both be adults. Time sure does fly.

I need to save for the future now. It's no joke, or too far away to think about. {Shudder}

I haven't made an update on the $20 challenge lately. I've been selling things, just haven't taken the time to add it up. I'll do books this time and E-Bay next time.

The Truth About Beauty - $7.55 profit

Cloud Nine - $1.64 profit

Angels In America - $7.97 profit

Bubbles A Broad - $3.10 profit

The Seventh Moon - $3.22 profit

E - $2.93 profit

Harvard Yard - $3.31 profit

The Trial Begins - $12.34 profit

In The Face of Death - $7.75 profit

So the new total is $267 + $49.81 = $316.81. I think with the E-Bay sales it should be close to $375 by now.

I still haven't done anything with this money. For now I'm putting it all into a savings account - at least it will be in one place.

Yesterday I had no motivation at all - I just wanted to watch TV after work. That should have tipped me off, because I'm usually not one to sit in front of the TV all night.

This morning I woke up, and it felt like someone had beat me up! Everything hurts and I'm so tired. I called in to work for today and also for tomorrow. Ugh!

DH went out and bought Arby's for dinner, but I just left mine in the fridge. I'm not hungry.

I did sell some items on E-Bay and also some books but will do an update on the $20 challenge another time. I took some Nyquil and am feeling "funky'.

I hope you all have a good evening.

When I'm in the mood to add to this blog, I just keep rambling! I was thinking about a poem by Robert Burns that I enjoy. Here it is;

Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie,
O, what panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!
I'm truly sorry Man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen-icker in a thrave 'S a sma' request:
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,
An' never miss't!

Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin,
Baith snell an' keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' wast,
An' weary Winter comin fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell.

That wee-bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,
Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald.
To thole the Winter's sleety dribble,
An' cranreuch cauld!

But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

Still, thou art blest, compar'd wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e'e,
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!

How often do you take the time to think about the things that are important to you? When we make decisions about how to spend our money, it reflects our wants, needs, and values. Do you spend in a way that does that? Or are you impulsive?

I try to think about this often. It's easy to decide how I want to spend my money, but sometimes I'm impulsive. I make decisions based on how I feel at the time instead of keeping to a carefully laid out plan. For example;

"I'm hungry, and didn't take the time to pack a lunch"

"I deserve this item - I work hard"

"My child/spouse/pet/ would really enjoy this - what the heck"

This past week I was shopping for DD's birthday. I had some things in my cart, and browsed the books. I added a couple for the kids' Easter baskets onto my slowly growing pile, and then noticed a book about saving money. It provided a pretty good reminder to me about what my priorities are, and spending a ton on Easter basket stuff isn't one of them. Back went the books, and a lot of candy too. They will receive a nice amount, not an over the top amount. It's very tempting to do that, but what does it matter a month from now? Will they even remember, or care? Nope.

Pete & Repeat were walking on a log. Pete fell off. Who was left?

Pete & Repeat were walking on a log. Pete fell off. Who was left?

Bwahaha...

DD turned 17 recently and her best friend got her a turtle - she named him/her/it Pete. Pete lasted less than a day before going off to turtle heaven, where there are plenty of logs and rocks for lounging on in the warm sunshine and lots of lettuce to munch on.

Pete somehow escaped from his container and the dogs... well you know.

DH went out the next morning and bought Repeat. We didn't tell DD. We just pretended to find Pete under the sofa. We'll tell her eventually. She is 17, after all.

Dad offered to loan us some money, and did so. Now we have to pay him back, instead of the credit card companies. I won't tell you how much. Maybe one day, but not right now.

Work is going pretty well. As you can see, I haven't posted in a while - I've been working...

I guess that's enough random thoughts for now. Have a good evening.

Well, it's 12:30 a.m. and I'm pooped, but the bathroom is finally painted. Everything always looks so clean and fresh after it's been newly painted. I like the color a lot and am looking forward to the day it's all put back together.

Today I've been painting the bathroom. The ceiling is done, the caulking is done, and I'm working on the walls right now. I still need to put up the border, hang the towel rack, buy a rug, paint the door... Ugh! My goal is to be done by next weekend. DD's birthday is Friday and we're having family come over Sunday for dinner.

My SIL used to sell Longaberger, and I bought quite a bit from her over the years. This bathroom used to have curtains that were from Longaberger, but have since retired. I sold them on E-Bay and they went for almost $50. This money went for all of the new paint, caulk, supplies, and a new border. Pretty good trade in the end, and I get a new look. If I can figure out how to link to pictures, I'll post them.

I'm sure you will all be THRILLED to look at my bathroom LOL.

Sometimes I hesitate to blog because it doesn't seem like there's anything interesting enough to comment about. I thought about it and decided to go ahead. If I keep in the habit of visiting often, hopefully the habit of saving money will become a way of life again - the way it used to be.

I listed a few more things on E-Bay today, and will do the same tomorrow.

Before we built this house, I was a tightwad in a big way. I had a clear goal in mind and went after it with singleminded determination. We moved in 2000 and everything is great. Nice neighborhood, nice new home, etc. After that things changed. I stopped being so vigilant about where the money went. What was the point? We had a new house, appliances, furniture, landscaping - the works. We had arrived.

I opened my own business in 2002 and enjoyed it very much. I received an offer from a buyer last June, and subsequently sold everything. I took almost 8 months off to spend time with the kids and kick back. My husband suggested I look for a job, because I was going stir-crazy at home. I started this past January and like what I do.

Well, here it is six years since we have moved, and this website has helped me to re-think my decision of dropping my frugal ways. My husband and I both work and it makes little sense to fritter our money away on things that aren't consistent with our values.

Thank you, Jeffrey and Nate.