My friend's baby is getting dedicated in October. I have not been down to visit since they moved over a year ago. They live in the Bay Area. I looked up flights to see what the damage would be and I'm looking at about $166 just for flight. Not sure if I'd need to rent a car, or go in on a rental with other people that might be flying down, etc. Haven't gotten that far in thinking yet.

Then I remembered that for my trip to Croatia I signed up with United's Mileage Plus program because every leg of the flight, except between Vienna and Split, would earn air miles. Just for kicks I logged into their site to see how much a flight would cost via air miles to the Bay area. 15,000 miles. How many miles do I have? 15,168. Hmm. That definately makes a difference as to whether or not I could make this trip. I guess the question now is to find out who else is going and if they'd be interested in sharing a rental.

But it also means I probably won't be going to my dad's for Christmas. But I wouldn't have enough air miles for a free trip anyway (costs 25,000 miles).

Something more to think about.

Wow it's amazing how fast money can go once it gets into your hands. Or at least my hands.

I found out on Monday that the gal I rent a garage from was having a garage sale on Saturday. I asked if she minded if I join in and try unloading a few things. She said no problem so Saturday morning I headed out there (it's about 45 minutes away) armed with stuff from my apartment that I already knew I wanted to sell and an idea of stuff from my garage that I wanted to attempt unloading.

In the end I wound up selling $153 worth of stuff. The $100 was to a friend of my friend's mom for this set of collectable wolf plates/music boxes that I've been trying to get rid of for a while now. But she's going to be making payments so I only have $35 so far. I spent $5 on a funky keyboard for my computer from the other person selling stuff because she was trying to raise money for her dog's surgery and I wanted the keyboard so I felt it was the best of both worlds.

We skipped past lunch somehow while packing up and by the time all was said and done it was just about 3pm. From 3 to 6 is Happy Hour at a restaurant we used to go to often so we headed over there for food.

I ate way too much. Cheeseburger ($2.95), Spinach Dip ($1.95) and a smoothie ($3.75). Add in tip and I spent $10 total. But that counted as lunch and dinner. Of course I spent cash so that brought my total down to $38 cash and $35 check.

When I got home, all the chance went into my coin bank so that leaves me with $36 cash $35 check.

I already know what I'm doing with the check, it's going into savings. But, I got invited to go to the state fair today. It was a last minute deal (email that got sent out last night). I've not been to the state fair here, the friends I'm going with have won ribbons so I'm curious to see what they won. Admission is $9. I'll be carpooling with them so I'll probably give them a couple dollars for gas. I can't really go on any rides (nothing adrenaline inducing anyway and what's the point if it's not?). I am downsizing my crap so I won't be buying anything from the vendors. Except possibly a deep friend snickers bar or twinkie. I've always wanted to try one of those. And there's a good chance we'll stop for food before we go to the fair because it'll be cheaper than fair fare.

At any rate, I totally see my $36 cash being reduced to well, nothing by the end of the day. I wouldn't have gone to the fair if I didn't have money from the garage sale. I don't get paid technically til Tuesday, though the bank shows my pending deposit so I have an idea of what it will be.

At least the $35 check will be safe in my savings. I think.

I had a feeling it would come up again this month. Simply because my brother's job started almost two weeks after he got informed that he was to be hired. Rent is due on Friday. He got money from doing some presentations at Costco a few weeks ago and got caught up on his phone and electric bill. That leaves him with some money but not enough for rent and definately not enough for rent and food for the three weeks or so between now and payday.

I know I can loan him $200. He needs $275. Once he starts getting paid regularly I know he'll start paying me back. He's pretty annoyed with his own situation (other brother taking his time paying him back for something) and I know how much he hates/dreads having to ask for help. I'm going to check and see if I have enough to give him when I get home. Actually, I know I do. I can pull from my regular savings account any difference. *sigh* I just didn't want to touch that if at all possible.

Everyone counsels me against helping him out. If I didn't have the money, I wouldn't. I do have it, it just means I don't have extra to throw at debt right away.

Ohhh! I finally thought of a good use for Google Spreadsheet! I just created a small spreadsheet of what he owes me so far and emailed him a link so he can view it. That way he doesn't have to ask me how much he owes me or when the last time he gave me money was.

I love a particular band. I have gone to 24 shows (roughly) since the first time I saw them September '03. Usually I go to more than one at a time, making a roadtrip out of it. I've even traveled to the east coast for three shows, and flown down to San Diego to follow them back up to Portland. I finally toned things down. Decided that even though I split some costs with my uncle (who turned me onto the band) it was a little too much to be spending that sort of money on. So I stuck mainly to in the area shows (Oregon and Washington) and then dropped it to only Portland shows where I could work merch and get in for free plus get a free tshirt.

This weekend will be the first time since November I've seen them. They're playing a music festival in Seattle today with Shawn Mullins and the BoDeans. Tickets for reserved seats are $60. I didn't know what the cost was going to be when I originally said I wanted to go, just knew my uncle would pick up the tab and I could pay him back later. Tomorrow they're in Bend, tickets are a bit better there, only $17.50.

I'm renting a car (my uncle is paying me back for it) that'll cost $60 for two days including taxes but not gas. Since I haven't paid him back yet for my Seattle ticket I figure that will probably just balance out. I will be driving up to Seattle, picking up a friend there, driving back to Portland, then onto Bend with my uncle and friend and back to Portland. During various times there will be multiple people in the car. I'm expecting that they'll pick up some of the tab for gas.

I bought three tickets to the Bend show, one for me, one for my aunt, and one for my uncle. Now I'm working the merch table, so I don't need my ticket. My aunt's not coming after all so we don't need her ticket. Though my uncle did say he'd pay me back for both his and his wife's ticket even if she didn't go. The show in Bend is not sold out so the chances of our being able to sell the tickets we don't need are slim. Although, they are front row. We'll try but who knows. I didn't originally sign up to work merch because it's not a show in my immediate area. I try to not be totally gung ho about working merch in other cities because I want to let the local fans have the opportunity. But it got down to the wire and no one had volunteered so I picked it up.

The hope is that we can find a place to camp for the night. Bend is very limited in it's options for hotels so they aren't cheap. Worst case I think we might have to pay $80 for the night. Which my friend and I would split but my uncle would get his own room.

I pulled out $40 cash to have on hand as just in case money. I didn't spend all of my 'personal' money last payperiod so I'm taking from that and from some of my 'personal' money from this payperiod. Everything else will go on a card for now, to be paid back pretty much right away, at least from what my fellow roadtrippers donate.

We are driving back to Portland after the show tonight, my friend and I will crash at my place. So there's no potential hotel charge tonight. I don't really have food on hand for breakfast, at least not that anyone else would want. Plus I was expecting to be staying at my Uncle's tonight so hadn't planned on a guest. We'll probably hit McD's on the way out.

We're heading out early so we can go explore a volcano natural park before the show. I know it'll cost $5 for parking, but past that shouldn't be too bad.

I'm planning on eating out for at least one meal tonight (dinner, probably at the festival unless I stop at Subway or something and bring in my own food which is still eating out technically but it would be cheaper). Tomorrow I plan on eating out all three meals, but everyone's watching their pennies so it should be cheap.

I'm really excited about going. There's something about a road trip that makes me smile and think of all the fond memories of the past three years. The band members and crew recognize me now. They even expect me to 'follow' them when they get in this area and act sad when I tell them I can't (which has happened a couple of times).

They have a new cd coming out September 12th and I haven't even pre-ordered it yet. With this trip and all I just can't justify one more expense. If I come home with enough cash to pick it up then I'll order it. Otherwise, it will just have to wait til my next payday. There's an indie radio station (online) that has 7 songs off the new album though so it's not like I haven't heard any of them yet.

And now I'm rambling. So I'll leave it at that.

Oh and if you're curious...the name of the band is Carbon Leaf and they can be found at http://www.carbonleaf.com

Well they didn't let me pull my little stunt of basically using the $50 rebate for the phone to pay for the accessories. That's ok, I do still need the accessories (I don't have a handsfree, I always loose them after about a year but they're handy when I have them, and I do get use out of the car charger because I like to let my phone completely die before recharging) but not so much the leather case. I'm going to try reselling that, we'll see how that goes. The nice thing about getting this stuff from the store is it comes in the individual packages so I can resell it easily.

Ok so here's what I got. Motorola v325, Free with my New Every Two deal (well they charged me $50 for it because I'll be sending in the rebate so that's encouragement to send in the rebate). Accessory pack (handsfree, car charger, leather case) for $35 [it was $50 in store but I mentioned that it was $35 online and she said they'd honor the online price], Car mount $15 (was $20 but I got a 25% discount on it). I need the car mount because I plan on making use of the VZ Navigator option on the phone and having it be mounted somewhere in the car will be handy for that. Plus it'd be nice to have a place to just put my cell phone and not wonder where in the car it fell.

All told, $99.96 will go on my next statement. I'll send in the $50 rebate after I'm past the 15 day trial period to make sure I like the phone. Which makes my total $49.96. More than I was hoping for but all things considered not a bad deal. I'm going to hold off on buying/downloading any new ringers for my phone til I'm sure I like it and it's paid off.

My phone is definately on its last legs. Today is the day I can upgrade under Verizon's 'New Every 2' program which gives me $100 towards a new phone. The plan, at present, is to get a Motorola v325 $119.99, an accessory pack $35, and a car holder $19.99. All told that's $174.98. Minus the $100 for the phone that's $74.98. Will request that it go on my account, so the bill won't actually be due until 9/20. And there's a $50 rebate on the phone, if I mail it off right away I should have it before the bill is due. Making my total purchase price $24.98. Now I'm assuming that the accessory pack is the same price in the store as it is online. The only reason I'd get it is because I need a car charger and a handsfree, and seperately that's like $45. Plus the accessory pack comes with a leather case. If the store doesn't have it at that price, then I'll just wait til I get back to work to order it online.

I'm so excited about it that I'm going into work an hour early just so I have time to go to the Verizon store and get everything during a lunch break (we are at work for 8 hours, just eat at our desk so don't really have a scheduled lunch break which I really like especially since if we want a break we can come in early or stay late to make up the time).

Today at church some friends of mine and I were talking. A mentioned that the reason she didn't pack a lunch yesterday (we did work projects all over the city, 400 volunteers and about 40 projects total) was she didn't have any food to pack. She just started a new job after her internship had been over for two weeks, plus she had to move because her lease was up, and the money was tagged for other bills that she couldn't let go any further. I said 'let me take you out shopping to just get essentials for the week'. At first she thought I was joking, then she realized I wasn't and said she was really tempted. In the end, she let me take her shopping. She just got the basics, plus a couple other things that I encouraged her to buy. Grand total, $25. Total I had left in my grocery budget before today, $37. So I didn't spend any more than I had available, and I'm pretty well stocked for this week. Plus I get paid on Friday. So shouldn't be a problem to keep any spending to $12. As we were leaving the store she commented that when she's able perhaps she can return the favor. I didn't want her to feel beholden to me, this was my gift to her not something she asked for, so I told her instead to perhaps return the favor to someone else if ever she was able and the need arose. She said 'oh like pay it forward?' and I said 'exactly!' I knew the concept just forgot the exact title.

I broke down and put gas in my car today, the second $20 that I usually end up not having to spend. But with going out to my brother's house last weekend I knew it would happen. Plus today I decided to make a couple trips to my storage until to attempt to clear it out. 86 miles later... Ugh. That's another reason to get it cleared out, then it won't be so far away! I was looking in the clear plastic bins as I was putting them in my car and thought 'why am I keeping this?' about some of them. When we first bought the bins years ago, we only put stuff in it we really wanted to keep and gave away or tossed a bunch of stuff in the process. I think it's time to do that again. However I have sooo much stuff to go through that the thought of going through the plastic bins just doesn't sit well with me. So I will wait until I've gone through all the papers I've pulled out of storage. This project is taking a lot longer than I anticipated. I look at whats left and really don't see how I'm going to find room for all that stuff. Even with selling some of it and recycling/shredding a good chunk of it. But it will get done.

I really don't mind the storage project taking longer so long as my timeshare transfer goes through! I heard back from my buyer. I had told her that they listed the dues as being due 9/1 instead of 12/1 like I'd originally mentioned, however my check to them for the dues cleared my bank two days prior to the transfer contract being drawn up. She would prefer (and I don't blame her) to have it in writing that the dues are not due until 12/1. So I'll be calling them on Monday and hopefully they can fax something to me instead of having to wait another week for paperwork. Ok I just checked the postmark, it actually only took two days to get through the mail the rest of the time was probably spent waiting for the contract to be drawn up. Anyway. If they can fax it that would be wonderful. And then I can get this party started!

Ok I think this entry has gotten too long. I could break it up but I'm lazy.

However I also wound up spending all of my grocery budget. I passed by the meat section of Safeway and noticed BOGO on ground turkey and $1.00 off some small steaks on top of the $4.00 savings already tacked on because I have a club card. There's still a few BYOB BBQs coming up so these will come in handy. I hate rushing out and buying something that day since I buy too much, it sits out too long and I can't reuse it. This way I can individually package the meat and freeze it. Pulling it out only one at a time when I need it. I also got a small roast, I'm going to see if I can come up with a crockpot recipe for it. Normaly I don't buy meat unless I have specific plans for it. But it was a good price and I can get it frozen or cooked before it expires.

I also splurged on a deli sandwich for lunch. I didn't feel like eating what I had at home. Which was silly because I have plenty of food at home.

The only thing I didn't buy was salad mix because I just didn't like their prices. I may stop by Fred Meyer's to see if they have it on sale.

All told I spent $25.82 and saved $13.93 The other stuff that added to my list was I realized I needed to bring a side to the BBQ on Tuesday and decided to make my carmel apple salad again. I have enough apples at home for a second, just didn't have the rest of the ingredients (whipped topping, crushed pineapple, butterscotch pudding mix).

We went to the brewfest. It was way too crowded for my tastes. I'm not much of a beer drinker, not to mention I'm supposed to 'avoid' it per my doctors orders. But I had sips of my friends' tastes. (You buy tokens for beer, $1 per token. 1 token gets you a taste (1/3 of the mug) and 4 tokens gets you a full mug.) The best I thought was the Ned Flanders something or other. A close second was the Watermelon Wheat. The rest, too icky for me. I did cave in and buy an Elephant Ear though, $4.

Went for pizza afterwards and my friend paid but didn't say whether or not I should pay her back. It was just a slice anyway. Since I see her often I'll just treat her next time.

Today is the big church BBQ & Baptism out at a local park along the river. It's supposed to rain though so I'm going to call my friend that's in charge of a bunch of stuff and make sure it's still on. It costs $3 to park per car so I'll definately be spending that today if I do go.

What's leftover in the grocery budget is roughly $2. But gas budget still has $20 so I may borrow from that, or borrow from the dollar jar, to get salad mix to get me through the week.

As planned I only spent the $3 for the movie last night. Though by the end of the movie I was wishing I'd opted for pizza as well since I was HUNGRY. But it was midnight at that point and just went home.

I pulled the cash out of my dollar jar, easier to pay with cash instead of debit, and I just marked the set aside amount in my Quicken register as being less by $3. (Instead of the Envelope system I enter things I set money aside for in Quicken with a date set just far enough ahead to when I expect to pay it, keeps things seperate and gives me a total of what's left over).

The item I put in a make offer on eBay expired before they replied to my offer. I suppose that's as good as denial. Problem is the total cost of the item is almost as much as my entire 'personal' budget from a paycheck. I get paid twice a month so that's a little over two weeks. I really don't think I want it that badly. Though I may see if there's enough cash left over next time around, and if it's still available for sale. But I'm not making it a priority.

I'm annoyed because I thought I had butterscotch pudding at home so I didn't buy it when I picked up the rest of the ingredients for the salad I'm making tomorrow. And all I have is vanilla. So that means a trip to the store just for that. Fortunately, I can walk to the store. I'm trying to figure out anything else that I might possibly need while I'm out, and I'm coming up empty. So I'll probably take a couple of dollars from my dollar jar so I don't have to use debit for such a small purchase.

I finally gave in and sent my friend $60 for the storage unit. It just wasn't going to happen this month that I could clear it out. Next month, I'm shooting for next month.

I have too many clothes! Seriously. I have two bags in my trunk for goodwill. My closet is full. My dresser is full. And I have piles on my floor. This stuff needs to go! Hopefully I can make some progress on it. I'd like to sell it but I just don't have the time or energy. I am making a box of other crap to sell so I will hopefully make some money off what I'm downsizing.

I wasn't sure what I was doing after work and if I needed to get someplace right away as opposed to having time to walk home I wanted that flexibility. Plus I'd called a friend about a computer part he was looking for that I had extra and if nothing else, the car would be useful for dropping it off at his place since I don't know when I'll be driving again. Well ok, I know I'll be going out Thursday but I don't know if I'd have time then.

Anyway. Home community decided to go to the movies tonight to see An Inconvenient Truth. You can get free passes via http://www.inconvenientchristian.org so long as you go back and tell them what you thought of the movie. Actually the pass is good for two people. I'd been meaning to see it and just hadn't gotten around to it. So this fills all sorts of voids, it provides something for the group to do, that's free, and air conditioned. Although fortunately it's only 80 today so AC isn't a necessity just a nice perk.

My friend that I'm taking German with is going to be my second ticket and she's already going to be at the mall where the movie is playing. So I'm going to meet her there after work and we'll study and perhaps eat something while waiting for everyone else. Which may entail spending some money since I wasn't planning on eating out.

Then my friend that I was going to drop the part off with calls and says he's going to be coming to the movie tonight. Sweet! That means I don't have to drive all the way over to his house. Not that far but not that close either.

I need to get some gas at some point. I'm getting dangerously close to that E. Perhaps I'll do it after the movie on my way home.

I really was not thinking when I made my list. If I had been thinking, I would have made sure that only the necessities to get me through til payday (tomorrow) were on it. Argh! About half of the stuff I bought, well maybe not that much but a good chunk of it, could have waited. In the end, I spent $24.82. I had $20 in my wallet since I had a change of plans last night and spent $5 on pizza for dinner (that'll last two nights and fed two of us). Instead of being smart about it and giving the cashier my $20 and then putting the balance on my debit card, I put it all on my debit card. Which means I need to stop by an atm on my way into work and deposit the $20 in my wallet otherwise there's potential for overdraft. Ugh. Or I could just hope that it doesn't actually process til tomorrow when I get paid. Don't want to take that chance.

Hopefully next pay period will be better.

They didn't charge me anything for looking at it. They also couldn't find anything wrong with it, other than needing an oil change. Which I had them do since I bought a punch card a while ago ($49.95 for 6 oil changes) and still had a couple of punches left.

There's still something wrong with my car. Now it's just a matter of catching it at the right time so the mechanic can figure out what's going on. *sigh*

Plans for tonight include going over to a friends place for dinner (free), going to another friends place to watch a movie (free from the library), putting gas in my car (using the $10 gas card I got from MyPoints), and doing a little bit of grocery shopping (hopefully spending less than $25).

Also since I didn't have to charge anything for my car, my dollar jar is safe from needing to be used imediately. That makes me happy.

One of the reasons I knew I needed to get my emergency fund built up is I've had intermittent problems with my car and knew that one day it would just quit working. Well that day has come. And of course, by the time I thought to call the only mechanic open on Saturdays, it was 30 minutes after they closed.

Granted I've been walking a lot more lately so haven't needed it as much. Matter of fact, I haven't driven it since Wednesday. My roomate's car is here, but she isn't and she has her keys with her. So I can't borrow her car. The only thing I had to go to tonight was my cousin's graduation party. I called already and told them I was having car problems and they said if I ever got it working, they'd be going til the wee hours of the night so to come out whenever I can, if I can.

My friend and I decided not to do the concert, which is good means I'll have extra money to put towards my car. Grr. Part of me hopes that it's something that was recently replaced, ie I wouldn't have to pay for it since it shouldn't have gone bad already.

Anyway. Grrrr.

Hmm apparently I didn't hit post last night. Oops. So I borrowed my roomates car to get to my cousin's graduation party but then I put $5 in gas in it. I did get my MyPoints gas card but I won't be spending it til my car gets back from the shop. Part of me doesn't want to take it in just yet but I think I should, just get it over and done with.

Went grocery shopping today for just fresh fruit and some lunch meat. Came to $7.85 or so, saved $2.67 by having a club card. $2 goes into dollar jar.

This is all I have left:
Gas: $15 (in wallet)
Gift: $20 (in wallet)
Concert: $20 (in wallet)
Bank account: $5.42

I am still hoping for the MyPoints gas card to show up. Friend offered to pick me up for a couple things we have going on in the morning, that'll help too. Right now it looks like I only have to drive out to my cousin's graduation.

I'm making slow but steady progress on de-cluttering my room. Need to find a better place to start putting the items to sell. I cleared off my bookcase and have three paper bags full of books that I'm going to take to Powell's to see if they'll buy them from me. Whatever they don't take I'll try to sell later. If Powell's gives me cash, it'll go in the dollar jar. If they give me a check, it'll go straight into savings. The books aren't in stupendous shape though so I'm not expecting a whole lot if anything. I think I'll take them by on Sunday, I have more time that day. And I'll hit up the one closest to me first before trudging into downtown.

I walked 5 miles (to church and back) so that was cool.

Donated $5 to a gas card fund for a friend who's moving to Boston for graduate school.

Spent $6 at the movies.

Spent $4 on dinner.

And the best news in the world.... I happened to log into my online banking and noticed my student loan balance looked odd. I thought at first that it had increased, that the interest from this month that I didn't have to pay got added back in. Nope that wasn't it. They'd accidentally overpaid my Sallie Mae loan by $515 and so Sallie Mae sent it back to Wells Fargo who then took it off my balance. Sweet!

So the remaining balances on stuff I spent:

$9.01 personal
$31.00 grocery (because I used cash that was grocery money for personal stuff I now have some grocery money in the bank so nothing goes to the dollar jar)

I'm going to a pampered chef party on Tuesday, I was planning on buying something small anyway. And I already planned on spending some of the extra in my checking account on some personal products from a friend of mine. Plus I have a graduation gift to buy. But I'm going to see if the gal I'm planning on buying the gift from will take payment out of my next check. I see her a lot so I don't think that'll be a problem.

I wish I could go to bed already, but I didn't have time to start laundry til now so I have to wait for that to finish. Well, only if I want dry workout clothes for morning. At least it's only 35c to wash and 25c to dry (normal size washer and dryer).

Trader Joe's: $45.90 A tad higher than I had expected. However that did include vitamens ($11.99), shampoo ($1.99), and conditioner ($1.99). I still took it out of my grocery budget though.

Fred Meyer's: $20.66 (plus $10 for Rx but that's already accounted for elsewhere). Granted I did also buy three quarts of oil for the car ($5.07) and snack bags ($3.79)

That means I have $23 left over for groceries til the 20th. With $3 going into the dollar jar that makes $20. I might just hang onto the babysitting money I earn tomorrow night and use that for groceries if need be since I'll be picking up more fresh produce at least once, possibly twice before the 20th. And after all, I did spend $24.83 on non food items.

$0.46 going into the change bank.

I still have a $20 in my wallet for gas. I've been driving a lot more this week than I did last week. And with the current plan being to go out to my brother's on the 15th, I'm fairly certain I'm going to spend it. Ah well, perhaps next pay period will be the one I only spend part of my gas budget.

I went ahead and pulled food/gas cash today since my roomate's check cleared at the bank already. Figured it'd be handy since the area I was driving out to for the BBQ usually has cheaper gas. Not cheap enough to warrent the drive but since I was already out there...

I realized too that I probably won't be able to save any gas money this pay period, even if I walk to work every day. I'm supposed to finally go out to my brother's house on the 15th and that's 100 miles round trip. We'll see though. It might still work out.

I treated myself to lunch out, $3.99 at BK. Not the healthiest lunch but *shrug*. Then stopped at the store and spent $8.96 on stuff for the BBQ, some produce, and some index cards for class. That left me with $85 for groceries, $2 to go into my dollar jar (ok so it's an old checks box not really a jar but it seems cooler to call it a jar) and 5 pennies to put in my sunny day coin bank. (In Oregon we get so few sunny days that we save for that instead of a rainy day). I also put in $20 in gas, at $2.799 gal.

I'm walking to work tomorrow, but I'll probably be driving to class. And the gym as well, unless I actually wake up when my first alarm goes off which would give me enough time to walk to the gym. I know I'll be driving on Thursday, too many errands to run after work including some grocery shopping. We'll just see how it goes. Chances are I'll end up putting in my second $20 just before my next payday which will make the next check's gas budget stretch more than this one's. Ah well.

Finally got around to closing my other store card account. When I was looking at buying a house a couple years ago, my friend (who is a mortgage broker) looked at my credit report and told me I'd be safe to close the store accounts. Since I paid them off, and they definately have a $0 balance, I went ahead and closed them. Makes me feel a little better knowing they can't be charged against.

I wasn't going to spend any money today but a friend, whom I used to meet every week for dinner but don't anymore since she changed jobs, is off today and wants to meet for dinner. We're going to a yummy pizza by the slice place, that has great salads too. Don't anticipate spending much more than $6. Plus it will give me a chance to ask about fundraising opportunities at the restaurant. (I just got back from a mission trip that we weren't able to completely pay for before we left and the balance got put on someone else's credit card so now that we're back we're still trying to raise money. Only about $5k more to go, better than the $8k that was originally there.)

Roomate paid me rent and bills last night. I'll be depositing the check today which means that technically I'll have money in the bank again. But technically I have $200 in the bank that's being held onto for bills to be paid out of this check. So still trying to pretend that I don't have money til Wednesday. We'll see how that goes.

Actually, I will have to spend some of it, I'm supposed to bring 'something to share' for the bbq on the 4th so I will spend a little of it. Just not sure on what yet. The people's house I'm going to, they always have tons of pop around, not just when they throw bbq's. So I'm guessing it's pointless to bring 2 litres but I will email and ask.

I can't wait for Wednesday!

I really hope that I don't have to bring much to the bbq on the 4th. I can provide soda, I still have three coupons for 5 free 2 litres of Coke and I do have a quarter I could spend on it. I think the gas situation is also ok, I'll have just enough to get there and back, providing I continue to walk everywhere I can.

Yesterday I figured up all the walking I did last week. 15.2 miles! Wow. Didn't realize it would be that much. I plan on attempting to walk to church tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

Between stocking up on fresh food and picking up a couple of things for dinner, I spent the last of the money in my wallet (most of that was from turning my coins in). Tonight I'm going to see a Shakespeare in the Park play (free), will walk to the MAX station (no gas used), and ride MAX to the nearest stop in fareless square (also free). I'm not hungry right now, the play doesn't start til 8, and we're meeting at MAX at 7 so I'm going to attempt to pack a dinner to eat while we're there. I hate eating in front of people but I imagine they'll pick up something while we're out since we'll be there so early.

I'm pretty happy about things right now. I can't wait to see what the next paycheck holds since I've re-adjusted my budget to allow for different payment on my newly consolidated student loans.

The guys at work have a poker night every once in a while. Usually it's at T's house which is about 6 miles away. But he can't host it right now so it'll be at C's which is more like 16.5 miles away. I have walked to work every day this week so I can try stretching the gas left in my car until Wednesday. Add to that I have no money and that makes me MIA for the poker night. A couple of the guys are bummed, I think just because it's nicer to play with four people. Oh well. There's no reason for me to spend money that's allocated for other things on this. It's kinda nice, I actually have no plans tonight. Although I just checked the cheap ($3) movie times and they have MI:3 playing. But I don't need to go to the movies, there's plenty of things I need to do besides spend money.

Anyway. I cashed in my coin jar, expecting $15 from what I counted of the quarters and dimes, wound up with $26. Sweet! I kept the cash instead of depositing it because I know I'll need it again. As I was making lunch this morning I realized how little food I have for next week. Not to mention, I don't know about the 4th yet, what I'm supposed to bring or if I'll have to put any gas in by the time it comes around.

That gives me a grand total of $28 in pocket. I'm thinking about walking home via a fresh produce place that I always forget about and getting some fruits/veggies for next few days. I'm finding it really hard to eat healthy for cheap but I'm doing the best I can.

My mouth isn't as sore today. That's nice but I don't want to try eating on my right side just yet.

I'm worried about my youngest brother. He quit his job (his own fault and he's regretting it now) and rent is due tomorrow. Part of me wants to offer to pay his rent, the other part of me knows I can't afford it even though I could make it work. I'm just waiting to see if he asks me for help or not. Really, my other brother should be 'bailing him out' since he still owes the youngest for paying for his wedding. But that's a touchy subject and I'm trying really hard to not be involved since it doesn't have anything to do directly with me.

Alright so breakfast actually wasn't bad. For $4.95 I got toast, home fries, and three eggs. Water to drink and a dollar for tip and that leaves me with $2.

After work I'm walking home and a friend is coming over so we can practice German and possibly watch Harry Potter. I'm excited about that. I called my roomate to let her know, and found out she's actually hanging out with a friend all evening so we have the place to ourselves. That's cool because I hate feeling like I'm intruding in my own house.

No more spending for the day. My friend invited me to go out for a cocktail but by the time I get home, they'll be done. They are meeting near my place which makes her coming over all to practice German that easier for her fuel wise.

I'm thinking about starting a dollar jar next month. We'll see. I know the new month is only two days away. Since I do carry more cash these days (my gas/grocery/eating out budget) then there is the possibility of having ones left over.

I think tomorrow I will cash in my coins and just deposit the balance in my account. It won't make my register positive, I don't think. But it'll give me a little piece of mind.

The 5th (payday) cannot come fast enough!

Had my first German class tonight. Realized that I am totally unprepared for it. I have paper and pens but not note cards. So I stopped and bought a pack of 300 3x5 and have spent a good chunk of the evening writing words and phrases on them to practice. All told I spent $8.08 at the store, which brings my register to a -$22.05. Granted I could justify everything I bought. Notecards and folders to hold class handouts, and snack food for lunches since I didn't have as much on hand as I thought I did when I went shopping this weekend.

I'm debating about turning in my change on Friday. I have $8 cash in my wallet for breakfast tomorrow. I don't think I'll spend it all, I still need to focus on soft foods and I always drink water so between meal and tip I should be set. I counted my quarters and dimes tonight and I have $13 at least. Not counting nickels, pennies, and the contents of my little coin bank. On the one hand it doesn't seem worth it to bother, on the other I might still have to put gas in this weekend to get me through til Wednesday so it'd be nice to have cash on hand instead of using my debit card. We'll see how I feel Friday morning since I'd have to leave even earlier for work and the bank is in the opposite direction of work so I'd have to budget enough time to walk it all.

I'm still in pain from the root canal, that won't be going away any time soon either. At least I can eat so long as I don't chew on my right side. What's annoying is that sneezing hurts the worst because I bite down when I sneeze.

Root canal cost less than planned, $200 instead of $260. Afterwards I picked up a milkshake ($2.29) because I was hungry but couldn't really eat anything.

I wound up picking up ice cream tonight for root beer floats. It was bogo on Dryer's, which made it the same price as the cheaper store brand. And then I remembered that I needed cash for breakfast out with a friend on Thursday so I wound up spending $10.99 at the store.

After my meeting tonight (where we had the root beer floats) I was feeling very hungry and while I could have, and probably should have, just gone home I decided to go out with some friends and get a bite to eat. There wasn't much on the menu that I could eat, so stuck with something soft and wound up spending $10 when all was said and done.

The root canal was the only thing I charged. Everything else was paid for by cash or debit card. I have two things I hold out money for from my last check so my checking account balance is ok but my Quicken balance shows -$13.98

I might need to get gas on Saturday. I'm hoping not. As it stands right now, I should be able to walk to work the rest of the week. I have class Wednesday night that I might have a ride for, otherwise I'll need to drive. The intention is that what's in the tank will last til the 5th. We'll see.

I'm exhausted and decided to sleep in tomorrow too, no gym but if I walk to work every day that'll make up for skipping one gym day.