Weekly Money Check-Up

1.  The most I spent this last week was on my car insurance bill $88.00, coming in a close second at $86 was groceries.

2.  Today I am thankful that Christmas is so close, and I had an amazing shift at work yesterday.

 

3.  Money can't buy happiness.  One free thing I did last week that made me happy was taking a walk with my loveyy and our puppy dog.

 

4.  I will consider this week a success if I finish making all of my Christmas gifts, and get everything wrapped and ready to go BEFORE the 23rd!

 

5.  One of my holiday traditions is making cinnamon buns for breakfast on Christmas morning. We have done this every year since I can remember!

Want to join the Weekly Money Check-Up?  Go to My Pretty Pennies and check it out!

Christmas Treat Containers.

Aren't these Amazing!?
I am so proud of myself. Now obviously, the rudolf one is not finished, unfourtunately I forgot to grab the pipecleaners at the store, I am going to use those for the antlers. None the less I decided to post them. I spent forever looking up ideas on crafty ways to create christmas treat containers, and FINALLY found this idea here. I used some of her ideas, but most of it was my own. I used fabric instead of paper, and Auston came up with the idea of making a snowman also. ( I am so proud of my crafty man!)

For the snow man I used white felt, 6 black buttons, orange contruction paper, and black construction paper. I used my handy dandy needle and thread to sew the eyes and mouth on. Then I cut out the hat and nose and glued them on with superfast dry glue. I then glued the whole thing to the top of a round tuppaware container.

The raindeer was used with a red pom-pom, 2 white buttons, and 2 small black buttons.
Once again I used my handy dandy needle and thread to sew two white buttons where the eyes are, and to sew the nose on. I then glued the black buttons on top of the white ones. For the antlers (That aren't shown yet!) I am going to use brown pipecleaners. I will attatch them to the brownfelt and probably stick them off the edge of the tuppaware container. -again, I just glued the finished project to the lid.

Santa Clause was different. For him I used Red felt, cotton balls,2 white buttons, and 2 black buttons. I cut the felt in the shape of a triangle, Then I pulled out my handy dandy needle and thread and sewed a cotton ball to the end. I glued the hat to the lid of my tuppaware container. After that I glued two white buttons as eyes, and two black buttons on top of that. Last but not least, I took 3 cotton balls, and spread them out wide, glueing them directly onto the lid.


You cant see it here, but I also lined the inside of the containers with white tissue paper. You could use red or green also, I just feel it makes them a bit more festive.


There you have it 3 very cute, easy to make, budget friendly ways to decorate your Christmas treat containers!


Santa is my favorite! But Auston likes frosty.


Feel free to share this idea, please just link it back to me : )


What kind of crafty things have you made this holiday season?

Weekly Goal&Money Check in

December 2011

- No more eating at work.        I'm sure I can find a much better way to spend my money than at my own resturaunt. Instead I will start bringing granola bars for when I get hungry.

Its not a total Fail - tonight I refrained from eating there, instead I ate dinner before hand. I have however slipped up a couple time. Lets hope I finish out strong!

-Walk atleast once a week
      This way I can start getting myself in a routine and I will be able to successfully walk 2.75 miles a week like I have planned for next year.

Two weeks in AND TWO walks taken. PASSING SO FAR!
12-10-11 : My love, the family, and I took a walk around a beautiful family farm up un GA.
12-15-11 : The dog, Love, and I went on a stroll by the river.


- Put $100 towards my move in march
      Most of that funding is coming from my Tax return, but I do need a little bit of a head start.
12-9-11 : $10.00

12-16-11: $20.00

I am less than half way there :/ I am really hoping tomorrows shift bears more results so I can tuck more away.

-Start a "Piggy Bank" that we will not open for one year.      I want to add a little to it each day, it needs to be sealed off and solid in color so we won't know how much is in there, and we wont be tempted to open it!
"the sealed pot challenge"
Boo-ya!  I started this on 12-5-11!

I have also been continuously adding to this and it is already getting heavy!!!

-Bake 112 cookies to give away to friends and family for Christmas
      We don't have much money to spare, I think this is a great way to show them that we care though.

We will probably start this monday. I really want to find some awesome way to wrap them up.

ANY IDEAS?!

 

And so there we  have it! My Weekly goal check in.

 

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Here is how my spending went for the week :

 

 

CAR SAVINGS
2011-12-14	Car Savings	$3.00
2011-12-16	Car Savings	$2.00
TOTAL FOR CAR SAVINGS		$5.00
EATING OUT
2011-12-11	Wendy's	$6.37
TOTAL FOR EATING OUT		$6.37
FIXED BILL
2011-12-14	Car Insurance	$87.00
TOTAL FOR FIXED BILL		$87.00
GAS
2011-12-12	Gas	$10.00
2011-12-14	Gas	$10.00
2011-12-16	Gas	$10.00
TOTAL FOR GAS		$30.00
GIFT
2011-12-15	Marys Gift	$15.00
TOTAL FOR GIFT		$15.00
GROCERIES
2011-12-11	Dollar General	$6.75
2011-12-11	Publix	$6.19
2011-12-12	Walmart	$40.07
2011-12-15	Walmart	$27.68
TOTAL FOR GROCERIES		$80.69
TOTAL		$224.06

 

I am really impressed with the fact that we only ate out once, and It was such a small amount. I even went back through each day thinking about what we ate and where we went, just to make sure I didn't forget to write something down. We wouldn't have even gone that one time, but I had just donated plasma, and I felt a little woozy, so I had to eat right away ( I am ashamed to admit I was on my way to a family dinner when we made this stop)

Ooh Lala...

TADAA! Welcome to my New and improved, beautiful blog!

I have been meaning to do this for weeks. The pink was really starting to drive me insane. Alas, my dislike for change just kept getting in the way! I have been back on the blog scene for almost a month now after taking a VERY LONG, VERY SHAMEFUL break. I am now trying to revamp and bring readers back in. I am hoping I am atleast somewhat entertaining sometimes? Maybe.
I also understand that good things happen to those who wait, so I believe if I keep on going, eventually I will reach out to more readers!

I really do appreciate each and everyone of you.

I feel like blue is more professional, and its not as distracting. I have been eyeing each and everyone of your blogs lately, looking for things that I do and don't like about your style, and have finally found one that works for me! For one thing I love having all of my gadgets, and extras off to one side, that way if you just want to focus on the content you can. Having two sidebars was getting to be a bit much. In my opinion atleast.

Anywhoo... What do you think??

Yay, or Nay?

12-14-11

Yesterday I worked a double. Man was it a long day! In the end though, the hours are always worth it. Auston and I also baked some Christmas cookies that turned out delicious. And then we cooked a homemade pizza that was... well, less than delicious (if you know what I mean).
Sadly all of the money I made yesterday had to go towards paying my car insurance today. I suppose it's just the sad fact of life.

I have decided that for Christmas, other than making magnets or cookies, I am going to purchase my sisters one really cool present each. They are the only ones I really care about making happy. I don't know what we wre going to do without them when we move. Part of me hopes that one day they will follow us. (A girl can only hope)

Top - the youngest and myself.
Bottom - My lovely stepmother, and the second youngest.

Tomorrow, to supplement my income I am going to sell my plasma again. It should only take about an hour, and I could really use the extra income.
Luckily I managed to pick up two weekend shifts this week. That should really help us along. I have $39.00 left on the electric before it is paid off once and for all, so after this weekend I will be sure to take care of that! Then a small amount will go into savings and the rest will be divided up between rent and gas.

On another bright note, I have successfully added a little money to my Sealed pot everyday so far since we started it. I am hoping to have a big chunk in their next year. Though I still havent a clue what we'll spend it on.

Money Recap - Sunday&Monday

Yesterday I went and Sold my plasma. Money has been tight here and I could really use a little extra. The whole process took about 4 hours, because I had to go through a screening process to make sure I was eligable. Ordinarily it would only take about an hour.
Today I bought groceries with the money I made yesterday. I have our next 4 dinners planned out. This is the second week in a row I have done a big grocery trip, and I am really proud of myself. Hopefully this will help us drastically cut down on eating out.

Menu Plan
MONDAY
      Pigs in a blanket!! - I haven't had these since I was a kid. They were delicious and super easy to make!

TUESDAY
      Homemade Pizza! - A favorite of Austons

WEDNESDAY
      Shepards Pie! - we never go wrong with this one!

THURSDAY
      Spaghetti! - we have this atleast once a month! I'm not a huge fan but Auston is.

Money Breakdown:

Saturday
NO SPEND

Sunday
Income - $50.00
Groceries - 12.94
Eating out - 6.37

Monday
Income - $20.00
Groceries - $40.07
Gas - $10.00


I have also been continually adding money to my sealed pot!

You're favorite cookie recipe?

Auston and I are making cookies for christmas. I LOVE cookies! But, I thought it would be interesting if we could mix it up a little, so Im asking you all... What is your favorite cookie recipe?

A Day Trip, and my progress.

Today Auston, his mom, his brother, and I went up to Souther GA to spend some time at a family gathering. It was a bit awkward, the family was pretty extended and no one really knew who anyone was. It was worth it just to see the land though. It was beautiful. It used to be the Myers Plantation . Its a acres upon acres, with horses, and cows, and donkeys, and ponds, and woods. We walked around the whole things just looking at the sights for about an hour. (I will constitute this as our walk for the week) Their was a slave burial ground there, with about 150 slaves, all the markers have since faded away, so there is no real way of telling who is where. It was quite a sight to see. I am really glad we went. One day, after Auston and I have saved enough, I hope to own land like this. I wish I had had a camera with me so I could show you all.

Proudly, I did not make any purchases on this trip!

Spending Log:
Electric - $70.00

I only owe them $30 now! BIG DEAL FOR ME! I have been trying to pay off this bill since July!


DECEMBER GOAL PROGRESS

- No more eating at work.       
FAIL - so far. I ate there on tuesday :(

-Walk atleast once a week
      PASS! (so far) We did that today!

- Put $100 towards my move in march
      $10.00 so far! Much more coming soon hopefully!

-Start a "Piggy Bank" that we will not open for one year.      I want to add a little to it each day, it
      PASS! Started it on the 5th!

-Bake 112 cookies to give away to friends and family for Christmas
      Havent started yet!

Day 9 of OGB.

Today for OGB I decided to give my time instead of money. Auston and I went down to our local Soup Kitchen to help them prepare food for lunch tomorrow. I was so amazed at the amount of food they get there. At this particular kitchen you get: 2 sandwiches, bread, a bag of sweets like donuts, sturdels(sp?), and cinnamon buns(donated by a local grocer bakery), and a piece of dessert, like pie or cake, or cookies. This is all given to you in a paper bag, so you can eat it then or save it for later. They also are giving coffee and water. It really is amazing. The first 50 also get a ticket which allows them a change of clothes. We were on the sweets bagging line. We helped bag sandwiches and fold socks too, but most of our time was spent with sweets. I plan on going back next week also. Auston and I struggle, and I have been homeless, so I understand the need these people have. I was talking to a couple of the volunteers, usually it is only 4 or 5 elderly women preparing all of this. Today we had us, plus a group of kids from a local high school so the work went fast. I was saddened to hear this. Volunteers are easy to come by in this holiday season, after all everyone wants to help at christmas time. I am going to make a point to go back frequently though. After all, these people need help 365 days a year, not just 31. It really is a beautiful operation.


Spending Log for the day:

Payday!: $158.49 (server checks are always depressingly small)
Savings: $20.49

Gas: $18.09
Groceries:$17.21
Eating out: $5.35
Animals: $7.76
Misc:$10.00

Total: 58.41

The Misc. $10.00 was money I borrowed from Auston's mom and needed to pay back.
I should be proud of putting $20.00 into savings, but alas its really only $10, I had to take $10 out yesterday for gas, so really half of it was just replacing money I took yesterday.
the $20.00 brings my total up to $70.49 though!
I REALLY didn't want to eat out, but after shopping my sisters were hungry and I knew we weren't going to eat dinner for hours, so I stopped in at McDonalds and got us each a cheeseburger, one small fry to share, and a small coke to share for a Mid-Day Snack.

Tonight we are all going to curl up, watch Christmas movies, drink hot cocoa and eat candy canes. What could be better?


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Technical Difficulties

Mum - That really is a great idea, I don't know why I haven't thought of it sooner. Thanky you so much for the advice!

New Methods.

I am proud to say that today I finally started a spending log. I want to be able to keep track of every penny I spend, and save. Lately it seems like a lot of money has just been slipping out of my fingers. This can be very frustrating when you are on a budget as tight as mine. So I now carry around a small book, in which I write everything down. Then when I get a chance, I sit down and document it on my computer. I hope this helps!

Another happy note, I recieved my electric bill today- $49.01!! can you believe that? I really am a stickler about the electric, I only have one light on at a time and rarely turn on the heat. I wasn't to concerned about it until last summer when I got hit with $200 bill for my two bedroom apartment! Since then I have been making small payments towards that, as well as my regular monthly payment. I am ALMOST caught up. When I moved in I paid a $300 security deposit on the electric, and since January 31st will be our last day here, I can't wait to ge that money back! I will probably have them take the last months bill out of that also.

I was also thinking about picking up a craft. Something to make a little side money. I have found a lot of neat ways to make refridgerator magnets, I was thinking about selling them online. Thoughts?