Wonderful!!! Just Wonderful!!

Either my computer monitor is going or there is something wrong with my computer. So I am taking it into Best Buy tomorrow for them to look at it. I will have to come to the library to keep you updated unless I can get it to work at home for a moment. Wonderful!!!

Play the new Dove Game

http://content.dove.us/dimensions/default.aspx

Play the Dove game for a chance to win a free beauty product. You get 3 spins a day. I did not win today but will be trying again tomorrow.

Think this is on the menu for this week.

PIZZA-FLAVORED CASSEROLE




8 oz. extra wide noodles

1 lb. ground beef

2 T. olive oil 1/2 c. chopped onion

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 (10 1/2 oz.) can tomato soup or sauce

1/2 c. water

1-2 oz. can mushrooms

3/4 c. sharp cheddar or mozzarella cheese



Butter a casserole. Boil noodles according to package directions, cutting boiling time in half. Place noodles in casserole and cover with soup, water, and mushrooms. Brown ground beef, onion and garlic in olive oil adding herbs at last minute. Add to tomato and noodle mixture and mix in lightly. Cover all with cheese, topping off with a few spoons of tomato soup. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and dots of butter if desired. Bake in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned on top. Serves 1-2.

Money Saving Monday

Monday has arrived again! So today I started out by cashing in my change. $3.07 in my wallet. Returned some pens. $7.88 in my wallet. I should NEVER go to OFFICE MAX. I love pens and they have the best pens. So my purchase on Friday was returned. I don't need pens. I have TONS of pens. I did keep the pencil case (on clearance) and a journal book for my bills.

Meals today will be:
Cereal for breakfast
TV dinners for Dinner
Sandwiches for lunch

I have my chicken and ham slices thawing out. I will be making split pea soup with the ham slices. I only have to pick up some chicken broth (on sale at WAG) and I have a $2.00 register rewards. So will be free.

I will be purchasing a bottle of water at work. On sale for 79 cents. I can then reuse the bottle. It is cheaper than buying a bottle to reuse over an over...as my kid seems to take and lose every frickin one I buy.

If you are looking for a stuffer for something. WAG  has their waterbottles on clearance for 49 cents. Most have lotion, tissue, pill holder and crayons in there.

Wrote another article last night. Some how I lost the whole thing. So I will be rewriting that one. Good thing it was an easy one and flowed out of my brain pretty quick.

Working Mon-Wed so will be bringing my food and water to work.

Articles written

Two have been submitted and one is in progress. I will finish that one for sure and keep going. These are for Associated Content since I can make money there faster. I am still going to write for ehow but I needed to have some submitted for quick cash. I hope to have at least 10 done by Wednesday this week.

With fall here I can think of a lot more topics. There is a lot to write about with the coming holidays. So I am off to bed and hope that I have not thrown off my sleep pattern to much.

Thanks for supporting me!

Sunday Meals

Here is what I know was eaten. Remember I have an 18 year old. Who eats day and night.

Cereal - him breakfast - me lunch
Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes - him
Sandwich and tater tots - me
Pizza rolls - him

That is all I know of since I was working and came home and fell asleep from 5 till about 10 PM. Hence why I am up at 1 AM

Took out chicken legs and ham slices for Monday and Tuesday.

$68 Dollars to last till October 7

That is all the money I have until payday. I guess it is better than having $0. If I work on writing I can bring in some extra cash. I have a few things I can sell.

We should be okay on food. I have some things here to make. I am keeping a list of cheap meals. That is so I see what we are eating and also so I can write an article on cheap meals to use in a crunch.

I already put aside money for my bus pass. I have one for this week and the $16.50 put aside is for the following week. It is important that we can get where we need to be. I can also walk to work if need be. Usually someone at work will give me ride home at night.

Paid on Medical Bills

I paid $20 on the one Medical Bills. I need to pay more but had to borrow money to a relative till next week. I know I should not be borrowing money to them, but I do not have it in my heart to let them go hungry. I do always get my money back. So I will take that money and pay on medical bills more next week.

I HAVE no choice but to start writing more. I really have to set aside a time even if just 1 hour every day to work on writing. It helps bring in extra money. So it is a MUST do.

Not sure if I can figure out how to update my side bar so I may just keep a running total and get rid of it. It does not configure right.

I have the Kid Trained

Kid: Can you buy a big box of Fruity Pebbles?
Me: How long is it going to last?
Kid: When are you going big shopping again?
Me: I don't go big shopping anymore.
Kid: When are you going to buy more cereal?
Me: When I find a sale.
Kid: Guess I am not getting my Fruity Pebbles.
Me: (Smiles)
Kid: See if you can find a coupon

ME: (HUGE SMILES)

A little Splurge

Okay I am working on the budget as I type. I did do a little shopping today. I really needed some pants for work. Since one of my pairs can no longer be sewed and worn in public. I will still sew them up and use them around the house. I went over to TJ Maxx. found exactly what I was looking for. I wanted 2 pairs but of course only one in my size. I paid 16.99 for them. Ran next door to Marshall - they are owned by the same people as TJ. Found the same pants...in my size. Same price. So I bought them.

I did buy the kiddo and I lunch at Subway. We eat out maybe once a month. I did not spend any of the $498 budget money. Just a bit of the extra. I still have some extra left over. Which I am going to put 1/2 in my savings - towards my eye exam (nope have not done that yet) and the other half will go to the medical bills.

Now back to budgeting with reports coming later in the morning. After all it is 2 AM and I should think about sleeping sometime soon.

Payday!

Today is payday and I don't wanna pay bills. I don't want to take a dime out of my paycheck. I just want to let it sit there and have a nice balance in my checking account. To dream......LOL

I figured that I would bring home at the least every two week $498.00. That is with me working a min. of 30 hours every week. That is the least I can work and keep my insurance. However I usually work more. But I am using the $498 as the bare min. number to budget off of.

Everytime you go into Walgreens and they ask if you would like to try the product of the month. I know it drives everyone crazy. I hear it every time I work. If we don't do it and have to give the product away for free then we get written up. If we sell the product we get 5 cents in free money. So even though sometimes other cashiers take down the sign so they do not have to ask. I ask even if the sign is there or not. Sorry if I am driving the customer nuts. It adds money to my check. This past check it added $4.00 to my check. This 80 brownies that I sold. Works for me. So don't hate the cashier..they are 1. doing their job and 2. adding a bit of cash to an already small paycheck.

So now that I have left my dream world of not paying any bills with my paycheck. Time to get down to business and get the budget in motion.

Bills:
1. Dentist - 50.00
2. Med. bill 1 - 20.00
3 Med. bill 2 - 10.00
4. Mom - 100.00

180.00 will be spent.

That is the bare payments I can make on the medical bills. Once I have sat down and figured out the budget. More will be added. In fact the only thing I am going to take money out of the bank for today is for payment to Mom. Tomorrow I will sit and figure out the bill and then pay everything else.

Working Extra

Tomorrow I am working 4 hours extra. It was my off day and also the day of the memorial service of my co-worker who passed. I offered to work part of my friend's shift so she can attend. She knew him much longer than I did. Honestly I would rather say my good bye in a nice quiet way. After my Dad passed 3 years ago, I don't do well going to a funeral. I have major meltdowns and flashbacks from his funeral. So I would rather allow someone else to go.

So yes I will be making extra money but I would rather not have to take these hours and have Joel back.

Thank Goodness for Pay Day

It will not come soon enough. Wed is only 2 days away but yet if feels like months away. I did not budget well these last 2 weeks. Not overdrawn but short on cash. In fact I was lucky enough to find enough change around the house to get busfare to work today. My son hates change so you never know where you find it. I also found 75 cents in a coat I had not worn since March 2008. Only because there was an old receipt in there too.

Have not had a chance to write more articles. I am suppose to be off tomorrow so if I am then I will be writing and job hunting. I must do that for at least 2 or more hours when I work and most of the day when I am off. Tomorrow will be quiet here as the kiddo will be gone all day long.

Made chicken on the grill for the kiddo. He can make the potatoes. Which I am sure he will not. So I should just do it before work today. On my break planning on working on a working budget. I have not done that since I checked out Paycheck City. I also need to get my to do list worked on. I have a few things that need to get done and I keep forgetting to get them done.

Sad day at work

I had to work today 1 - 9:30 PM. When I got to work one of the managers was outside. She told me that one of our pharmist passed away this morning.

Rest in Peace Joel. You will be missed. He was such a nice caring man. In fact just last week he was helping me decide where to put my profit sharing money.

Such a sad day in my world today.

Sweet!! SOLD

Sold another item on Ebay. Although I don't like to use Ebay because of shipping and fees. I am so glad that I sold another item. 25.00 right to Mr. Medical Bills. The auction ends in an hour or so. I should have the money by the end of the day or at least in a few days. I will be turning that over ASAP to Mr. Medical Bills.

Now to list another one that I have on Ebay and then I will be done selling for a bit. Or at least on Ebay. I only had 2 Coach items left. So if I can get the other one sold then I am in business or should I say out of business. No more purchases unless I am 100% sure I will use them.

Chicken!!!

Call me a big dork but double coupon day is so exciting. Well at least when I can hook up a good deal with coupons. This week Sentry had 3.5 pounds of chicken legs (roughly 14 legs per pack) for $3.99. I happen to have a coupon for $1.00 off (which doubled) So I got 14 chicken legs for $1.99!!! So I bought 2 packs since I had 2 coupons.

Then I found lint roller tape (also known as cat tape in this house) on clearance for $3.14. Yep I had another coupon for $1.00 off. So I ended up getting that for $1.14. Normally these run about 4.99 and up.

Just love double coupon day. Next week it will be pepsi 2 liters for 49 cents after double coupon day. WOO HOO!!

PayCheck City

Paycheck City is a website I have used over the years. I learned one year that instead of letting Uncle Sam hold on to my EIC payment till tax time. I could have it put on my paychecks. It was paycheck city that helped me figure out how much I should claim on my W-4 when I begin a new job.

One year I used it so I did not owe or get back a huge payment at tax time. Paycheck City was so awesome with their calculation that I ended up owing the Federal Government $10 which who can complain about that. I did still get a small refund from the state. But the numbers were RIGHT ON!  Of course I waited till April 15 to mail in my $10.

Today I went there and put in my raise along with the minimum hours I will work ever 2 weeks. Including my insurance, what I claim for Federal and State exemption. It gives me an idea of what my take home pay should be. I want to make a zero - based budget off of this number.

Single Mom Money posted on her blog about this today. The idea makes sense to me. Since my checks can be more or less each payperiod. I needed a number I could work off of. So I used 64 hours of pay as my base. Since I have to work 32 hours a pay week in order to keep my insurance.

Now that I know what the least I have coming in every 2 weeks I can budget off of that. So if you have not checked out Paycheck City give it a try.

Upromise Money is on it's way

I received this email today:

Thank you for being a member of Upromise. We have received your request to withdrawal $22.75 from your Upromise account. As per your instructions, we have processed your request and you will be receiving a check for the above amount in 8-10 weeks. Upromise sends checks for all withdrawal requests at the end of each calendar quarter. Your check will be mailed to the address registered in your Upromise account profile. We appreciate your patience while we process your request. For more information about our service, please visit us at http://www.upromise.com/

This is great news. I can add $22.75 to a medical bill. So I am hoping sooner than 8 weeks. But hey it is on its way.

Cell Phone for the kiddo

Okay the kiddo needs a phone. He does not have a job but he does go and donate plasma two time a week for $70. So here is what I am thinking.....

1. I don't want to add him to my plan - To worried about running up the bill and locking me into another 2 years. I will be contract free come July.

2. Looking at a prepaid for him  300 min. for $45.00 a month. I would pay for half until he finds a job. He would have to pay the other half. So anytime he does not have his half then the phone would get shut off. This would teach him that he has to be responsible for his bill. Because if he is on my plan and does not have the money then I still have to pay the bill. This way I do not have to pay.

3. 300 min is not alot but all incoming are free. Or there is an unlimited plan with text for $65.00 a month. (which I may go to once my contract is up)

I let my son know what I was willing to do. I also let him know that I am not adding him to my plan. 1. I don't have the trust that I will not get some ungodly bill. 2. I don't want another 2 year contract. 3. If he does not have his money for his bill then it gets turned off till he can pay it. 4. Once he finds a job I am not paying it anymore. I think this is fair. He also has to come up with his 1/2 of the bill, activation costs of $30. They have a phone available for $10. I said I would pay the phone. I think him having the phone may push him to find a job faster. As he knows he has to pay for half. I am also going write up us a contract so we are on the same page.

Still looking for your thoughts.
So now to think about it. Any thoughts from you are appreciated

There it is!! The newest article is published.

I did it. Wrote my first article for ehow. There is a new box in the sidebar if you would like to read them. The are going to be quick how to articles. I figured I would give it a shot. I don't have much to lose.

Just wanted to share that it is started.

Frugal Tuesday Morning

Since my son woke me up early. He could not find his ID. Hello put it in your wallet, and put it on your dresser and it will be there every time you need it. Okay so he has not figured that out yet.

Ran down to the laundry mat and got two loads done. Did use the dryer since I was not in the mood to drag home wet clothes.

Came home and put the laundry away, made burgers for him later (oh and how are we out of bread and no one bother to tell me), have a crock pot of potatoes and ham going. Did the dishes.

Now to get 2 articles for the new site done and posted. Shower and off to work.

Spending is going be low today. As I don't have much cash and do not want to swipe my debit card. I am holding off on that as long as possible. I will have to get bread but that is about it. I need to update my grocery totals -- have them written down. Still doing well there.

Tomorrow is double coupons and I can get chicken legs for 1.99 a pack with my coupons. So I am going to get 6 pounds of chicken legs for $3.98.

Today's Money Maker in Progress

I managed to get 2 articles written and submitted. Both are on single parenthood. I am hoping to get a decent offer for them.

Listed 2 items on Craigslist -If they both sell that is $55 towards those bills. You know which ones, so why mention them again.

Have my list of other articles to continue writing. I will have at least 6 done by Wed. I have a 4 hour shift today at work that is all extra. I will have a 40.5 work week this week. Also did I mention I got a raise of 27 cents. Which should bring in about $25.00 extra a month?

Writer's Block is Gone

I am waiting to sign up with another writing company. For some reason I signed up last night and can't get in this morning. This company does not pay me outright but when someone reads an article I earn money from it.

While I am waiting...I started to write again for Associated Content. Suddenly I have a ton of topics jumping into my head. So I am jotting them all down so this week I can start cranking out the articles. I have not written in over a week since nothing was coming to me.

All the money I can make from these two companies is going to go right on the medical bills. I am hoping to make at least an extra $30 a month between the two. That is an extra payment from what I had already planned on.

All my articles show up in the box on my sidebar. I will be adding a new box once I get some published from the other company.

Feel good to see another way to make some money and get these bills gone.

Making Money On the Web

Years ago there were a lot of GREAT programs to make money on the web. You could do survey's, click on links and make some money quick. There are still programs out there but it takes a little more time to earn the money. Not time as in how much time you spend on the website but more of time as in how long to earn before you can cash out. I still do these programs because they may take up 15 min. of my day and it is still free money.

Here are a few that I do:




MyPoints
Get points through emails, surveys, and online shopping. I have cashed out for Target giftcards.
Also for printing coupons I use at the grocery store from their site.


Every little bit adds up.

Weekend update

This weekend I really had the urge to spend money. A friend wanted to go to the Coach outlet which is so dangerous for me. So I passed. Really the money I have does not need to be spent on anything but Medical Bills.

I did treat myself to Tyler Perry's new movie. "I Can Do Bad All By Myself" Really liked it and loved the music in it. $5.00 for the movie and $1.85 for the soda. After the movie I did some window shopping. I went to Barnes and Noble and read a few magazines. Did purchase a new wireless headset from Best Buy which I returned today. I wanted to use it to listen to my MP3 Player on my phone. Well did not work out (very static) so it was returned. Instead I bought new headphones for my MP3 Player.

Worked today and got 1/2 hour of OT. Yeah ME! Tomorrow I have a 4 hour shift that is extra money. Also going to work on writing more tonight and tomorrow. I had sort of stopped. Writer's block, but now I am ready to get back into it and make some money.

Grocery Shopping

Today was the day I could finally go shopping. So I hit the big grocery store with coupons in hand. I got lucky it was also double coupon day! I saved $29.96 with my coupons and store card.

Then at work I hit the cereal sale. 1.99 and I had 1.00 off two boxes. So I got 4 boxes of cereal. Which 3 are hidden away.

Still need to get the meat deal. I have updated the sidebar with my total for the month. There are still 20 days to go but I bet I will be under $200 for the month.

FREE REDBOX MOVIE

Today is the first Monday of the month and a free code is available.

Must be used by Midnight!

T46T3Q7

Do you Upromise?

UPROMISE is a program where you can link your debit, credit and grocery cards to earn money for your kids to go to college.

This money can be used for your college, your kids, grandkids or anyone else. But it can also be used to PAY off LOANS!! That is awesome.

I did this back in 2003 but honestly never got it linked to a 529 plan. I never had the money to do it. So for giggles I went and looked at my account. I have $22.75 in there just from shopping and dining out. Not anything that would pay for college. Well a few notebooks and pens and maybe 1 meal for the kiddo.

Since mine is not linked I have the option of requesting a check. So I did just that, requested a check for the $22.75. It gets paid once every quarter. So I might just make the Sept. 15 deadline, if not then in Dec. I should get the check.

Once I am in a place (meaning all Medical Bills are GONE) I am going to link up my Student Loan to it.

If you have not UPROMISED check it out. I don't get credit for you using the link I provided. I did it so you can get there FAST!

I won $10 and you can TOO!!!!

Go and Play Huggies Game!

Here's a new 5-point code which you can use to play the game twice:
BCRLQ TQFXS KCPGB

You can find more codes Here

GOOD LUCK!!!

A few Grocery Deals I got

Bought the pantiliners on sale at WAG - 1.99 (get back a $2.00 register rewards). I had coupons for 1.00 off so I got 2 of these. I paid 78 cents each. I got a total of $4.00 in Register Rewards:

With one I got:
Milk 1.89 a gallon
1/2 gallon of OJ
Box of candy for the kid

Paid 2.25 out of pocket (used 2.00 register rewards)

The other I got:
Bread
eggs
pack of gum

Paid 36 cents out of pocket (used 2.00 register rewards)

4 cans of Tomato Soup Paid 36 cents

1 package of Brown and Serve Sausage - Paid 49 cents

So to update my total out of pocket for everything: $3.28

Then I went over to Pick N Save:

I got:
Dip for the chips
Box of cereal (had a coupon for a free box - Honey Bunches of Oats
Bag of Peanuts - for kid to take to baseball game

I have added everything to my sidebar
$3.04

Meal Planning

Just took a look at the butcher to see what the Sept. meat deal is.

2 pcs Boneless Stuffed Pork Chops
1 lb Hickory Smoked Bacon
3 Homemade Polish Sausage Links
1 Whole or Cut-up Chicken
1 lb Ground Chuck
2 Chicken Patties (pre-cooked)

$20.09

I think I liked last month's better. But I am going to pick it up next week. I also add a few things to the deal. I love the Mock Chicken Legs and some Chicken wings. So I get 2 of those for us. I still have meat left from last month too.

I plan to really watch my spending and to update it in the sidebar every time I buy anything grocery related. Today I will be picking up a loaf of Wonder bread at work for 55 cents. We don't normally eat white bread but for 55 cents we can do it. I will make french toast for dinner one night with it.

Really check out coupons.com and redplum.com. This is where I find a lot of my coupons.

I have my dinner made - salad and frozen dinner (got on sale for $1.00) the kid is having the same. Since I have to work tonight. Not sure if I am doing the day or night shift tomorrow. But I have some meat in the fridge thawing out.

Won't be doing any major grocery shopping till the 9th. So we are using up mainly what we have or if I buy items it is because they are to good to pass up (wonder bread).

Labor Day is grilling out day. Which I have all the stuff for. I have Italians, brats, hotdogs, chicken and hamburger all in the freezer. A bag of potaotes in the hall and lots of canned veggies in the cupboard. So no need to buy anything there. I won't be grilling all that meat but we have choices.

Off to clean up and find a few coupons I need for work. Wonder bread and the carefree that are free after rebate plus I have 1.00 off coupons.

I spent most of the day sleeping. I slept till noon. I kept waking up wanting to smoke so I made myself go back to sleep. One way to fight it off. All in all so far I feel fine.

I AM DONE SMOKING

AS OF SEPT. 1 CIGARETTES HAVE GONE UP 75 CENTS A PACK IN THE STATE OF WISCONSIN!

FOR THE BRAND I SMOKE IT WOULD COST ME AT LEAST:
$5.77 A PACK
$40.39 A WEEK
$161.56 A MONTH

OR.............$1938.72 A YEAR

I have no more cigarettes. I will not buy any more. Enough is enough. Just by not smoking for 1 year I could have all my medical bills paid in full. I am putting it here to remind myself that I can do this and why I need to do this. Not only for the money but also for my health.

So wish me luck, pray for me and I will let you all know how I am doing. If I am gone for a few days know that it is because I am going through the withdrawl and need time alone.