So after my high from yearly budgeting, I have hit a low from finding out my car is leaking oil. Can I drive a car that is leaking oil for another year? Maybe it won't be too horrible of a repair? My husband is going to look at it and see. Then I am overwhelmed by celebrating Thanksgiving without my brother here. With it only being 3 months since his death I don't know how to feel. Grateful for the time I had with him? Sad he isn't here? Angry that he was taken from us? Thankful for the great things we do have? It is just a lot of mixed emotions.


And more of the money front, I am picking up our turkey in a few hours. (With money that has been set aside for a month) Everything else I need has been purchased. I do plan on hitting up some sales, with Christmas budget money that I have set aside. And I hope to spend nothing else!


Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I am very thankful for SA and my SA friends.

I just finished my budget for the year. I feel so inspired. Is that corny? By doing the whole year, I was able to factor in every birthday, celebration, and expense that I could think of. I was able to actually see that I am just months away from 2 of my credit cards being paid off and the last one is right behind. My loan will be paid off this year. My student loan will be closer. I was able to see how much I could put in savings. Its really exciting. I know things come up and change. But I am really working hard to stop being a "money shifter." And I think this will help.


Side note...I had 2 no spend days. Today will be 3. (Ok...so I did purchase something for Christmas online with a gift card....but I didn't spend any of my MONEY. Still counts right?)

I usually do my budget 3-4 months at a time. I am thinking about doing the whole year. So I can see what's coming up and not forget anything. Anyone plan the whole year? Is it better to keep it 3-4 months a time?

I just haven't had a lot of time to post. Work has been busy. Life has been busy. And I haven't had a lot to post, I guess.


We are about to get some cold weather.... low 30s with rain, so I am going to the grocery store tonight. I don't get paid until Friday, so I am just borrowing the money from our household bill account until I get paid. I just don't want to go in the cold and rain. But hopefully with the cold, I can stay inside and get a lot done this weekend.


I did sign up for the Target Red Card (Debit). I saved $3.00 when I got it, but I think I can do some good savings during Christmas. I do a lot of shopping there. It did take a while for the transaction to post. I'm still a little nervous about it. So we will see how it goes.


I accidently used a credit card the other day. So my balance went up $30.47. So I will need to send that money off to the credit card so I make up for it. Just a stupid mistake while in a hurry.


And I have all my ingredients bought for Thanksgiving. And money set aside for the meat. So I'm pretty excited about that.


Ok....so lots of random info in here. I felt very weird not to be on SA this last week.

We have not had the heater on yet. In Texas we have still been in the 60s and 70s. It has gotten to 66 in the house, but we have been able to handle it. Well, tonight it is supposed to drop to 26 degrees and the wind is crazy. I think we will just have to turn it on. I'm hoping since we haven't been using the heater or the A/C that our electric bill will have a decent drop. (Although...I have been leaving the light on more for our puppy.) But I think its time we turn it on. At least for the next couple of days. I think we will be back at upper 60s by this weekend.

Anyone using the Target Red Debit Card? I'm tempted because of free shipping and 5% discount. But am a little leary of linking my checking account to it. Anyone have good or bad experiences?

I survived the first week. I am still feeling very aware. Caught myself wanting to eat out a lot...but didn't do it. I did have an unplanned breakfast, but 1 is better than 4. So I need to continue to work on it. I need to buy 2 tablecloths for Thanksgiving. I am considering counting some change to see if I can come up with the money. That way I don't use my debit card and I don't take money from my jars. I included some Thanksgiving groceries on my list this week. Thought it would be good to go ahead and get some of my items so I have them and it wouldn't be such a hit if I spread it out. I have already budgeted money for the meat!


I got our insurance renewal yesterday on our home insurance. It is going up almost $600 a year. I called them to see if there was something we could do and they were able to give us a different policy with better coverage for about $300 more. We could get it to only $10 more a year if we switch over our car insurance, but we really don't want our car insurance with them. So, I think I am going to get some more quotes and see what I can find. I wish we could just get home insurance with Progressive too and have all our policies in one place. (But they don't offer it in our area)

November 1st - my tracking starts today. Tracking is going to make everything very real. I am already thinking about my purchases because I don't want to look at the log and see a whole bunch of entries! There isn't much to spend this week. But the trick will be realizing this and not spending it. I really hope this helps me. I don't want to be a money mover. I want the money to built up and not shifted around because I overspent.


I have to admit, I had to make an unexpected purchase today. We are having a flea problem and I have to put something in our backyard to help. So I spent $16 on that. But I didn't see a way around it.