My Neice has been calling giving me an upto date account on my mother's health, not that I care to know, but wish her the best. Anyhow she says she'll keep calling until I speak to my mom, which I do not plan on doing. I advised her not to waste her time.
She says she knows my mom wants to speak to me because she'll say things like " I would ask Amber but she's not talking to me". I simply remind my Neice she is the one who said "Not to talk to her as long as I'm living" and to my knowledge I'm still living.

On a different note I gave my sister $10 last week, she has harassed me every other week for money and no matter how many times or different ways I have said I don't have it, she still calls and harasses me. Ugh!

Now onto me, my dad gave me $50 yesterday so I added this amount to my EF /Challenge. My boss has not signed off on my request for mileage, so my car isn't paid off yet

Next we went looking for beds because the one given to us has caused me some serious medical conditions. It's in pretty good shape, my bf finds its okay, I want to sell it on Craigslist and use the money towards the new mattress, but the BF wants to give it away.

At the cost of mattresses I think his idea is crazy, yes it was given to us but we really can't afford $900+ for a mattress.

I usually get a lot of mail that I think is junk and simply just trash it. But thank goodness I opened this one. It was a $25 gift certificate, apparently I earned enough points.
So I went into Macy's and bought a dress and I got $3 back which I added to my challenge.
Had i known I would get cash back I would have bought a five dollar gift, oh well, I love the dress though.

On a different note, since I have given up sodas, I'm down almost 7lbs, and that's with out any excercising. Wow

Things are going pretty good in the new place, rent was paid today. I pretty much paid it in its entirety; however, the BF had provided me money in which I paid the electric, water and cable. In addition he has given me another $200 I figured all in hall he gave me a little over half for the rent, but I used the money to pay bills (i.e. cable, water) buy groceries and miscellaneous household items. At least it wasn't wasted.

Further more if things continue I probably won't need a part-time job, as I had planned only because my car will be paid off in May and that would free up close to $400 a month. Plus if I budget, and the BF keeps doing what he does we will be fine.

On a different note, I have not any sodas all week, well the week isn't quite over yet but over 6 days no sodas I added $6 to the challenge for this reason

Not sure if I shared this, but my back has been killing me, I think the bed is too soft. I started therapy which has helped but tomorrow I will buy a firm mattress cover; hopefully this helps, verses buying a new bed. We will see.

Day two and no soda, yeah! So I'm adding $2 to the challenge
Wow April will be here soon which means two months in the new place and it feels great.

Not much to add so I'll post later

Back to normalcy. I have been in a lot of pain since the move, back problems.

I believe I have strain/sprain my lower back. The doctor advised that I use heat and I know better from working at the clinic, but I did so and I think it made things worst So I have decided to ice and am feeling much better than yesterday.

On a different note I used 2 coupon for Tide today saving me $2 so I added this amount to my $20 Challenge

My friend came into some extra money and her house warming gift to us to to take us grocery shopping tomorrow this will save $60--good friend

In the end that's it for now, I will go ice

$67.69 is what I had left in my checking account before payday today so I added this amount to my challenge/EF; I can't wait to hit the $2000 goal, only a $100 away.

In other news, I'm loving the new place and at the same time not even remotely missing my mother. I am so thankful for being out of such a toxic environment.

It's only been a few days since I receieved notice of my GC being mailed but I'm still anxious.

Today is payday and I am hoping I'll have my mileage reimbursement check as well so that I can get an oil change.

That's it so far.

Things appear to be looking up. I have moved a lot of things to the new place and will take more over tonight and this weekend.

I am still adding to my challenge and paying down CC1

I received a notice that my tax return will be deposited tomorrow so I'm paying off CC1 and will start on number 2, the remaining funds will be deposited to the EF account.

I used my ShopKick points for a $25 gift card and purchased an ironing board and shower mat. Since I saved $25, I'm adding it to the EF

Now I'm waiting on the $200 gift card from BCBS in order to pay my cell phone bill and Internet bill.

I called ING today because I have yet to receive my $114 refund for a check that was not cleared and was told it should have been deposited a few days ago. Now I'm waiting on a response.

In the end, the BF dad offered to buy a drive up store for him. Long story short, the store belongs to his uncle and is up for auction since the taxes were not paid. Also, the year before last my BF dad paid the taxes with an agreement that if he wasn't paid back the store was his. In the mean time my BF and friends cleaned the place out but the uncle never reopened it. I say go for it. It would be a great investment because the store is always busy when it was open.

That's it in a nutshell

...the Heat won so I am adding $1 to the $20 Challenge/EF

Today wasn't a bad day, I went to Target to earn my ShopKick points. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have enought points to earn a $25 gift card which I plan on buying some paper towels, soap etc. with the gift card.

My coworker gave me three brand new shaving cream because she no longer has hair since her chemo, and she also gave me a small thing of unopened butter. I figured, total this stuff would have cost me about $12 so I'm going add $6 to my challenge/EF and the other $6 to my challenge/cc account.

Currently I'm still waiting on my BCBS gift card ($200), I plan on paying my cable and cell phone with this and adding what I would have paid to my challenge/EF. But right now I'm in wait mode.

Today I packed my breakfast and lunch, and I already have dinner prepared so $6 will be added to my $20 challenge
-$3 challenge/EF
-$3 challenge/CC

I am really proud of myself, one not giving up on my saving, two- controlling my spending, even when I'm tempted and three- knocking down my CC

To move that is. My mother is an evil and spiteful woman. She walks around the table so she doesn't pass me by or she'll hold onto her dress so that the tail of it doesn't accidentally hit me. For real? She is really a sick woman

Then my sister comes by and ask me again for money, really? What has changed since Saturday to Tuesday? Nothing! I'm sorry I do not have any money that I can afford to lose at this time. I think she asked again because my BF was there and probably was hoping he would have provided it to her but we have had a discussion about him spending money foolishly.

On a different note I think my BF will have the new job, the gentle who he spoke with wife called back and asked for a written estimate. Roughly the job will be about $1775, with $700 of it being our take home pay perfect for the move. Oh BF does landscaping.

Today I added $3 to my Challenge/EF and another $3 was paid on CC1 brining that total down to $144.35. I can't wait until this is paid off.

Went to Target to pick up a few things and to earn some ShopKick points I used my Target Visa Card to save 5% which was about $.64 saved and then went straight to guest services to pay my bill which was $13

It's funny a few years ago I would have charged this amount along with others while accumulating debt not worrying about paying the bill until the bill came. Wow, it feels so good to be on a different path

I almost forgot, I added the $.64 to my challenge EF as soon as I got in the car, lol

I have been watching every dollar but not necessarily adding to my challenge. So I'm getting back on track to adding to my challenge. So the Miami Heat and the NY Giants won yesterday so $2 was added to the challenge.

Okay I made breakfast and lunch so I am adding $4 to my challenge/cc. I owe about $257 on this cc and can't wait to pay it off. It's like a little bug flying around while I'm trying to relax. Ughh I wish I had $257 I'd knock it right on out

Wow now I understand what a championship fight feels like. I am on my way to a TKO. Just paid $200 on CC1 and the balance is now about $250. I think by time I get paid again it will be paid off, or knocked out. Lol

I can't believe it's not quite a week yet, and I've knocked off about $300 plus what ever interest I would have paid on this CC. I am really feeling great.

On a different note, I've been using my crockpots and dinner has been delicious not to mention cost effective. So far I have added 12$ to my challenge/EF. Brining my total saving close to $1100

Things are looking great. Now I am just hoping I receive my GC from BCBS before my trip next week.

It was a really good day today, I added a ton of money to my challenge. A total of $99.89, whooo hoo

Here is how it breaks down:
-$2 Breakfast (Added to the challenge/EF)had breakfast at home
-$2 Lunch (Added to the challenge/EF)packed my lunch
-$2 Dinner (Added to the challenge/EF) had left overs
- $9.18 (Added to the challenge/EF) because I received my mileage check and I am going to always add 10% to my challenge/EF
-82.71 (Added to the challenge/CC) this was added because I received my mileage check and decided that I want to pay off CC1 before January 31st

I can't wait to get the money back for my for my new
glasses I will pay off CC1 because I'm paying interest and will take my time paying CC2 because its interest free for awhile and I can focus on those which I am paying interest.

Okay, I forgot to add my funds for the New Year to the challenge so here it goes:

$1 Heat win
$10 dining out (12/31) funds were added today
$2 breakfast at home
$2 dinner at home
$4 Gym ( I did not go today or yesterday)

Total added to the challenge $19.00
YTD $19.00

On a different note, for dinner I used my slow cooker to make a pot roast which was absolutely delicious. I also made the Kraft mac n cheese mix (some one here recommended), it was actually pretty good but i think I will do away with the bread crumbs.

This will also be lunch/dinner tomorrow. I think I'll try the slow cooker on Wednesday to make ribs

Now for some good news, a few weeks ago I applied for the city's senior advisory board, I received a call today from the commissioner who stated the position was not available but wanted to know if I'd like to serve on the community relations board. Heck yeah! I am ready to become more involved in my community in addition move up in my career. This will be a win win situation for everyone, because I am passionate about my community and ready to make a difference; in addition, I'll be able to network.
So in the end, the commissioner has made the recommendation and I am waiting to hear

As the new year approach us, I haven't really thought about what I'd like to accomplish for the new year, but here it goes.

-Pay off auto loan (Balance $1700)
-Pay off 3 CCs (Balance $3500)
-Move (I really want to be in my own place by the end of the year)
- Save an additional $1000 (EF)

I think if I keep my goals at a minimum, it will be less stressful and much easier for me to accomplish. Yes, I have more CC debt than listed but getting rid of the first three earlier in the year will make it much easier to pay off the others.

Moving forward, the Heat won tonight so $1 was added to my challenge/EF. In addition, I had lunch, breakfast and dinner at home so $6 was paid towards my challenge/cc debt.

Lastly, I purchased some really nice Gucci frames today. I always wanted really nice glasses. Anyway, I had about $306 in my Eflex account and my new glasses cost $305. I actually make no contributions to my Eflex, all funds were supplied by my employer so my glasses cost me zero dollars

Well I went to BestBuy with the BF last night, and he bought 2 CDs totaling almost $40. All I could say to myself is You can't be serious? Really? Just two or so days before you didn't have money to put gas in your car and you receive a few payments ( for jobs he had done) and you go and buy CDs, wow. Unbelievable! And to top it off, his family is having a get together and requested, by his aunt, that everyone gives $25, of course I was perplexed, she couldn't be serious. $25 to attend a BBQ? $10 from each person would be more than enough to buy food and drinks. Needless to say I told him I was not going. In the end, the aunt asked him to buy a case of chicken, a little more than $50, and of course he did. He has a serious problem of not wanting people to think he is "broke" per se; however, moving forward I don't have a problem with it. If people think I am "broke" which by the way I am, that's perfectly fine with me, because they won't ask me to buy any thing.

I know when Monday or Tuesday rolls around and he has no gas money or lunch for work, he better not look my way because I am BROKE!

So the good news, I deposited the $150 my dad gave me into my challenge/EF account, keeping my end of year goal--$1000 saved by December 31( I started November 14th).
Also today I will tackle CC1 making a $120 payment vs. the minimum payment, brining the total down to about $520 the goal is to have this CC payed off by January 31st.

I know I have said this before but I am glad to be back blogging about my finances. This blog keeps me accountable, I'm more embarrass to say I spent foolishly to strangers than I am friends, not to say we're not friends.
I feel as though, those of us on this blog is somewhat a sort of family without faces
Thanks to all of you who read my blogs, who are honest about things that you see that I am blind too, your thoughts and opinions mean a lot to me

Wow hope every one had a great holiday, I've been a little busy so I haven't had time to post. But here is the update:
First I gave my mom her Christmas gift which was a 8 x 10 picture of her grandkids as well as great grands and their signature. When I handed her, her gift, she responded " is that it for my Christmas?" I thought what an ungrateful so and so. I know I shouldn't have those thoughts but my mom is always looking for money. I can't tell you the last time I got a Christmas or birthday card from her let alone a gift. Even on my birthday, we go out to the buffet she likes and I pay. I think the last time I got a gift from her for Christmas I was 13

Moving on, next my BF gave me a MK watch (approximately $200) a snuggle (@ $20) and Chanel Chance (@ $140). Nice gifts right? But here is the kicker, I said to him lets set a limit on this year's gifts his response he doesn't set limits on his woman. That's fine and dandy because I did, and didn't spend more than $120 on all 4 gifts. Now comes yesterday he says to me he needs some money ( I'm thinking he is joking). So I end up first spending. $30 to put gas in his car. Next we go to his grandmothers and he ask me to take him to the liqueur store, I end up spending 30 more dollars. My thought is I'm going to pay you back for the gifts you bought? If so take them back to the store. This is crazy. Now today he comes here huffing and puffing because his kids asked for money to get their hair done. My thought, you just gave the oldest one $250 for Christmas why is she asking for money. Long story short, I'm not getting any nails done

His problem is, he wants people to believe he has all the money, well I don't and I refuse to have him nickel and dime me out of the few dollars I have saved

Lastly to end on a good note, my dad gave me $150 today so I can add this money back to the funds I transferred from my challenge

I have no idea what happened but I over extended myself and had to transfer money from my challenge I am glad that payday runs around next week so I can put the money back but it hurts.

Today I went into Micheal's to pick up some miscellaneous stuff with my BF, big mistake. He ended up picking up a book for his daughter for $13.00 causing me to spend $13 more than what I anticipated which sucks.

I hate going anywhere with him, especially if it is my shopping trip, he always picks up junk. I did tell him that moving forward I will not be shopping with him. I think he thinks I was joking but I am serious.

I said to him that I will be buying gift cards for his daughter and niece to JCPenney's and his response was kids don't like Penney's. Well I plan on using my CC and when I get my mileage check next month, pay it off. I am not spending any cash on gifts that His kids do not appreciate.

For his daughter's birthday I bought her jewelry, not a thank you. He had to tell her to say thanks like 4 hours later. For Christmas I got the youngest one, two years ago, a cupcake maker and its still in the box unopened. Last year she got an mp3 player, still in the box. One thing that I do know this will be the last gift they receive from me, if I do not get a thank you or the gift card is not used. Period.

On a different note, I received an A in my lab class and a B for my lecture. I am officially one with the prerequisites Now I will begin studying for the nursing entrance exam

I absolutely hate Christmas, I hate the fact that everyone always have their hands out for something. I hate spending money I really don't have and this year there's going to be some disappointed individuals. For one my uncles daughter, who I never see also my God daughter's sister who is always looking for something, and my nephew in Georgia. I can't afford so many gifts and I'm not going out of my way or broke to buy gifts. As far as the others I have to buy for, I will be hitting up JCPenneys in hopes of getting a really great deal otherwards there will be some very upset kids.
My bf is all set, less than a $100. I asked him to set a budget and his response was "I don't put limits on my lady" well he is in for a rude awakening because I place limits. For him I got a wet/dry vac $19.99 a car stereo $39.00 a music cd $15, and two picture collages free, total $75. My goal was to spend no more than $200 for Christmas and it looks like I am right on track.
On a different note I added $8 to the challenge/CC because we had McDonalds for breakfast

I am so excited, I officially reached my saving goal today The goal was to save $1000 by December 31st, well I have met and went beyond my goal, yay! Today I added $20 to my challenge which put my balance at $1006.77. I know it's way less than where I want to be but to start in mid November, actually November 14 and exactly one month later, to have saved over $600 in four weeks is amazing. This small little task shows me that I can do anything I put my mind to.
Now it's time to tackle CC 1, the balance on this card is a little more than $600, so I figured I should have this paid off by mid January.

On a different note, yesterday I bought one of three of my BF's Christmas gift, cost $18. This was half of what I expected to spend . This weekend I plan on using my ShopKick points to redeem a $10 gift card to purchase a car stereo he wants, cost $49 with out the $10 gift card.

Yesterday the BF went to court and one of the issues with his child support was tossed out. However, the attorney who handled this case advised him to fire the other and consider the money he spent a lost. Wow I've been telling him this for a year, I guess since I don't have a law degree what I say doesn't matter. Long story short he will fire the lazy lawyer.

In the end, I am feeling great about becoming debt free

Hmmmm I am not sure. I take my phone out everywhere and scan items for points, and right now I have enough points for $10 at Best Buy, using ShopKicks. I drove back to Sephora because my phone was acting up and I missed out on a $15 coupon yesterday. I had enough points for two $25 gift cards, one for old Navy and the other JCPenny, thanks to MyPoints. And I use my Bank of America CC to get points for cash, today I got a check for $37.50

So am I cheap? hmmm I'll take that

Oops almost forgot I added $12 to the challenge and am very close to my $1000 goal in one month

Once again my BF does not have his portion of the money to take a trip that I have been planning since January this year. On my bucket list is to visit every state, so for the upcoming year we were to start with Alabama. Well now as he puts it "He is in the hole" and I refuse to foot the bill this time for my birthday. This year I paid for everything, food, gas, the hotel, the theater, and the theme park. He was to give me some of the money back and normally he does but he did not. We have been together for 3 years and when it's his birthday I usually foot the bill but since he stood me up year, I did not pay for the hotel room.

Now here is the kicker, he wants to rent a hotel for Christmas for 4 days, I'd rather use that money for my trip.

Long story short, I am not paying $500 for us to fly to Alabama. If he wants to go dutch, that is perfectly fine with me.

On a different note, Publix had BOGO AJ frozen pancakes so I saved $2. 86

I received portion of my mileage check from my employer and was short $2. I think they do this on purpose hoping that you do not notice because it happens all the time. The person of course, who cuts the check was not in today, not surprised. So I deposited the funds and added $200 to my Challenge/EF account. Now I am just waiting on $91 hopefully I will have it by Friday. I'll add the $91 to the challenge and I would have met my goal above and beyond.

That's it in a nutshell

Just took my final and I received a 94 on my exam, yay! So I added $3 to my challenge/EF because my overall grade for the class will be a "B". Not bad being that I had a rough start.

On a different note, I usually drive to the boonies for work a few times out of the month. I packed my lunch, ate and found myself starving on my way back. So I had to buy something to eat, $8

I could not figure out why I was so hungry but then I realized that I only had a half of a bagel and water for lunch. I wasn't really hungry earlier.

Because I did pack and eat my lunch I am not adding this amount to my challenge.

I fell off the wagon, about $65 in dinging out this weekend.
$43 for dinner with cousin and BF
$12 for breakfast and dinner today
$6 for breakfast yesterday

The bad news is the $43 and $6 came out of my leisure fund so I have cleaned that out for the month but on a positive note I had the money.

$12 was not in the budget so $12 was added to my challenge for dining out.

This was the wrong month to spend my leisure fund so quickly and foolishly

Today I received my MyPoints gifts card for J.C.Penney's and Old Navy, both for $25 each. I added the $50 I would have spent to my $20 Challenge/EF. I'll be giving these away as Christmas gifts . Now I am waiting on the $37.50 check from BoA, not sure if I'll simply add this to the challenge or use it towards Christmas gifts. My goal which was set in mid-November was to save a $1000 by December 31st and at the rate I'm going it looks like I will meet my goal mid-December

Okay I am unsure, I purchased Panera yesterday for lunch today. So of course I packed my lunch but I am unsure if I should add $2 to my challenge. Normally when I pack my lunch I add $2 to the challenge, but since I purchased this yesterday I am unsure. Lol

On a different note, today I went to Wal*Mart and purchased the following:
-Old Spice Trial size body wash $.97
-Coupon, buy two get a $1.00 off
-Cost $.94
-Garnier Shampoo trial size $.97
-Coupon, buy 1 get a $1.00 off
-Cost, +$.03
Not bad

Just redeemed my cash reward from BoA for $37.50
Once received I'll add $12.50 to this amount and give the cash to my BF daughter as a Christmas gift.

I had Panera's today at a whopping $14.58, I bought dinner and lunch. After my purchase I felt really guilty. I used my BoA card to earn the points and paid the bill as soon as I got home.

I also missed the gym tonight so $2.00 was added to my challenge.

I just checked my account I have about 5 months left and I'll be car payment free.

That's my day in a nutshell