I’m so thankful for this blog, you all often provide great advice.

I’ve been saving as much as I can. Outside of my grocery and electric bill, my expenses have been extremely low. I’m hoping my manager will continue with the work from home option. So far I’ve saved about $150 in gas alone.

I notice that there has been a spike in the cost of food, an 18 count of eggs 🥚 were just over a dollar now it’s $2+. I understand the supply and demand has impacted these increases, but I can’t help but think yikes!

As you all know, I’m in Florida and people are hitting the beaches in droves. I’ve decided to continue with social distancing, only heading to the store when I need items. No pool or beach for me.

I’ve also been keeping myself busy, attending virtual movie night, virtual BINGO, virtual happy hour and painting a wine glass, all have been fun. I’ll admit I’m a little antsy but safety first.

I’ve also been walking more, I’m down about four pounds, I’m hoping to hit my goal of 10lbs over the next 30 days.

Well that’s it for me

Thank you all for the birthday wishes, I greatly appreciate it.

Yesterday was a very low key birthday celebration. I took $50 out of my slush account and bought two pairs of earrings, my last pair broke.

Then the SO insisted on taking me out for breakfast 🥞 so we did that. Next after breakfast I headed over to the used appliance store, in search of a dryer. Well I found one for $180. I was a little nervous but decided to purchase. As I was heading to over to pay, the SO decided to purchase as a birthday gift. No complaint from me. Saved me $180. I have an account for home repairs and was thinking I should take the$180 and add to CC but it’s best to just leave it.

I pretty much stayed home yesterday, that was my birthday celebration. SO gave me $20 for dinner, I put the money in my cash envelope and ate what I had.

I got a quote on the hurricane shutters yesterday, $3,000. I was actually expecting less. This is the guy who did a friend’s home, at half the price. I’ll call around and get at least three more quotes, and set up a sinking fund for this as well.

Lastly in financial news, the CC was knocked down to $5,500, I’m hoping to have this card paid off by April/May.

My electric bill decreased by about $20 but the water went up $10 🙄🤦🏽‍♀️. I had a running toilet 🚽 that I believe caused the bill to increase; however, I finally got it fixed.

Great day today.

I had the boys and they were pretty good. We made homemade pizza 🍕, and completed a few home work assignments. They opted to watching a cartoon/movie on Netflix. So that was our day.

I ended up not having a spend day. After the boys left, I finished up putting away a few of the Christmas items, straighten up the closet in the spare room, and moved the elliptical in my bedroom. I figured having the elliptical in my bedroom I’d be more likely to use it while watching tv 📺. I cleaned my bathroom, totally forgot to take care of the guest bathroom 🚽, so that’s on my to list this weekend.

I transferred $1 to my cash envelopes ✉️, for not spending any money 💰 today.

Tomorrow it’s back to work. I can say this week that I’ve been off has been AMAZING. I’m fully rested and ready to make 2020 one of the best years ever.

January 1st and it was a no spend day for me.

I also marked some things off my list, like weighing in, journaling, walking, drinking more water, reading a little, and dumping four chairs, decluttering.

Because it was a no spend day, I added $1 to my January challenge of no dining out. I also added $1 for this week’s 52 week challenge. All the money saved this month will be added to the snowball.

I had a scratch off and won $2, this will be added for next week’s 52 week challenge.

Tomorrow I have my great nephews, I have a few board games that we can play, we will make pizza at home for lunch. I refuse to spend any money. I did get them zoo passes for Christmas, that might be something we can do, we will see. However; I wish it was a little warmer, I’d take them to the pool.

I’m in south Florida and we don’t have much of a winter, but I can feel the temperature dropping a little. I decided that I will not turn the heat on, unless it drops below 60. I can’t stand the cold. The blankets that I have and PJs should keep me warm. My electric bill is slated to be less than $60 this month, and I’d like to keep it like that.

That’s it for now, hope everyone enjoyed their holiday.

Patience and hard work really pays off. I have been wanting an Apple Watch for quite some time, however not willing to pay the $400+ for one. Plus I wasn’t willing to finance One through my cell phone carrier, or put on a credit card.

My employer has a wellness program, in that I can participate in wellness activities, earning points that equate to dollars that then turns into gift cards. I earned enough points to purchase a brand new Apple Watch. Target now has the series 3 on sale for $169.99, I was able to get my watch, that I’ve been wanting for quite some time, using gift cards while staying healthy.

Next I’ll be cashing out my points for an Apple ear pods.

Merry Christmas 🎄 to myself and I didn’t spend a dime, only needed to love a healthier lifestyle.

My Friday night’s ritual, usually consists of a shower, review my cash envelopes and balance them, then get excited when I come in under budget, lol. I do this every Friday. I love tracking my spending. Even though I’m still trending to come in under budget by next pay date, Friday, I get a big kick out of where I am with my spending each week.

This week wasn’t too bad, when it came to spending. I did cave in and buy a soda and dined our yesterday.

Yesterday’s spending
$31.98 oil change
$17 dining out (lunch and dinner)
$6.66 personal care
$4.24 cleaning supplies
$65 Gift ( fruit basket for someone who is wrapping up chemotherapy)

So far this month, I’ve had 18 no spend days and managed to drink much more water this week.

Using my planner 📒 have been very helpful, with tracking habits.

Today I lounged around, didn’t leave for a thing. Watched a little news, finished reading “Debt Free Forever” and started “The Uncommon Millionaire.” What I’ve found is that the financial books I am reading are the same for the most part; however, I always learn something.

Checked my savings tracker and I’m...
* at 67% of my 6 months emergency fund savings goals
* 11% of my home repairs savings goal
* 11% of my new car/car repair savings
* 67% of my Christmas savings goal
* 75% of my professional development

This week I had five no spend days, and I only ate out once. I also had one item to sell on Poshmark, and cashed out $16 of rewards from BoA. I took my car to be repaired, nail in tire and the shop didn’t charge me. Winning 😉

I also updated my cash envelopes and I still have $293 left, awesome.

Lastly I called the bank regarding the escrow account and I was correct. The analysis will take place in December, a check will be issued, about $2,200.

Yesterday was my first no spend day in a while and the first for the month of November.

Today, I have a few errands, groceries to pick up, gas and return $20 to my checking out. I’d over budgeted cash for my personal care envelope.

After that it’s just rest mode. I have things to do but just don’t feel like it, but I’ll tackle this evening.

The parity I went to last night was nice, I was over dressed but hey at least I didn’t buy anything to wear.

As we move into the holidays, I’m hoping this does not become a spendy kind of a year. I’ve been saving but I just got invited to a good family friends daughter’s baby shower. I knew she was pregnant but for some reason a shower didn’t cross my mind lol

Then there is work

I like reviewing my budget before the month ends to see where I am and so far so good. Areas in that I’m over, I actually no why 🙄🤦🏽‍♀️

Categories in that I’m over are as follows
* Charitable donations - didn’t plan for the Boy Scout Fundraiser
* Gifts - only planned for my nephew and direct report’s birthday, totally forgot I buy the kids Halloween 🎃 costumes every year.
* Personal hair care - forgot to include my once a month haircut and color. I’ll adjust this.

Good news is that there were only three categories, I paid cash, and all other categories I either broke even or came well under 😀

Next month is a three paycheck month for me. The goal is to budget in such a way that I do not use any of the funds for the last pay check. If I do this, then I’ll meet my goal of three months of expenses saved (EF).

I’ll take this weekend to plan things out.

Other news, I finally scheduled my mammogram, I kept forgetting about this. I’ll get 200 points, with my insurance company that translates into money/gift cards 💰 💳.

Lastly, not money related but I’ve been binge watching Game of Thrones, pretty good

I’m excited about earning the points because I want an Apple Watch and will be able to use those points to get one 😀

Aldo's run today wasn't so bad.
I picked up paper towels for about $1.20 less than Wal*Mart, a bottle of salsa for dip, about a dollar less and cream cheese about $2 less. Saving about $4. Not bad

There was a time that buying generic was a big no no for me, not anymore. It makes no sense to pay for a brand items that are just as food as off brands. I forgot to buy Lysol wipes for the counters, I'll just improvise.

For my birthday my coworkers got me a birthday cake and then the SO bought me one, so I'm stuck with two cakes 🎂. I decided to have friends over tonight for cake. Normally I'd go all out get some appetizers but not tonight, it's just cake and wine with a little dip and chips. I made sure I told everyone we are just having cake.

Other news, I've been using my planner a lot lately, and it's been helping with getting things done. Cleaned, shopped and read all before noon today.

Now it's time to relax before tonight's get together

Proud of myself, the office was having their Secret Santa 🎅🏾 drawing today and I told the committee that I was not participating. They continued to try and get me to sign up but I held my guns and said no.

The boss came in with her 2% raise, I felt like crying but I remembered before your blessing you'll go through something. I said a quick prayer, and felt at peace. This manager is the worst, she had another employee in tears and going to therapy but the company continue to allow her bully others. I'll take my 2% with my head up and continue to look for something else.

Today was not a NSD, headed over to Walmart for a few items. I found these neat little gadgets for $10 for my nephews, for Christmas, but was on the fence. Long story short I had the money for it, already budgeted but purchasing would have left me with nothing left over in the gift envelope. I was telling my sister what I bought, she mentioned she bought them one last year so I can take the ones I bought back. Feeling better. So long as I come under, I can throw the amount that's left at CC3. The goal is to never spend every single dollar in my envelopes.

Oops I failed to mention that the linen napkins have been working fabulously. Not saying that I didn't use a few napkins but far less than my normal consumption. I notice the SO took out a roll, I'm waiting to see what he does when we're out and I haven't bought any. Usually I'm the purchasing, he buys the soap, but those $5 can be thrown on my debt.

Pay day today, had lunch with a colleague. Our manager has written her up. The woman is crazy and I'm not sure why her retaliatory behavior has yet to be address. Four people has quit because she's just outright nasty, and four have filed grievances. I really didn't want to go but I know she needed it.

Today's spending
$5.65 to CC3 new balance $1019.26. I use a zero base balance budget and had $3.65 to play with so I added it to the CC, plus I had two no spend days, so I added $2

Next lunch was $12.43 this included lunch, I have to remember to order water to keep cost down.

Next I ordered my nephews magazines for Christmas. I was going to go through Ebates for the cash back but found it's more expensive to do that. So $15 for Kids National Geographic, $33.90 for two one year subscription of Boys Life. The Boys Life was reduced by $7 each, I am so glad I waited on purchasing vs using a CC. Next I'll send my other nephew his $25 in a card on Friday. He's 13 so I'm sure he'll want the cash to do what he wants.

Minimum was paid on JCP $117 , and BoA $67.05 CCs

Car insurance was $166.64, I can just kick myself, I forgot to print and sign the change in coverage, I'll be doing this tomorrow.

Of course tithes was paid $160.73 now it's just rent, water, and electric. I'll be taking care of tomorrow.

Oops almost forgot, I got the second interview 😀

Cleaned out the refrigerator and had to throw out a half a chicken, five pork chops, rice and left over Chinese chicken. I thought, how shameful. There's someone out there who could have used this food.

I told the fiancé that I will no longer buy and cook these meals. I generally buy the bulk of the groceries and cook, so that he has something but so much of it goes to waste.

My nephew's girlfriend works for a meal prep company and any left over she shares, at least twice a week. I often get these meals and this too goes to waste, because I've cooked and will pack what I cooked for lunch but no more. I'll be eating my free meals, and if the fiancé refuses, that's his choice. He can spend his money buying groceries.

Last budget period I think I spent only $4 on groceries because I stuck with buy, only what you need, and now I'm sticking with buy nothing since you're getting free meals.

Long story short, Dave Ramsey says while going through this process it's rice and beans, I get free meals that are delicious so it makes no sense to spend the money. Here are a few of the meals.






In financial news here's the first half of the month spending. Not so bad this pay past period.



Oops before I forget, I took the $35 budgeted for my contacts and paid on CC2, new balance $488.04. I'd budgeted $45 this week for my hair for the holiday, I don't think I'm going so I'll be throwing this amount at the CC2 as well. Can't wait for this card to be gone.

Well looks like the computer crashed. When we turn it on the screen remains black. I've unplugged, restarted etc and nothing.

It's not in my budget and I'm not considering it an emergency so I won't be replacing it. I may just wait until Black Friday and search for a laptop, unless I start saving for one. Wal*Mart has laptops for less than $200. The good thing is, the job provides us a laptop that I can bring home, sign in and use a Google spread sheet to track my expenses. I'm going to miss the MS Money software I use for tracking spending, but the spread sheet will do until I get my own.

Normally I'd use the credit card and buy one but I refuse to go into debt when there is an alternative. Not sure what the fiancé is going to do because he uses the computer to print his bills for clients. I'm sick of making a way, while going into debt. He needs to step up to the plate. I've told him I am not marrying him if he can't step up.

Different note, mom paid me back the money she owed me. She likes the idea of paying her bills online but doesn't know how to do so. Lol. So she tells me to pay the bill and gives me the money. No worries about her paying me back, she's great with money. So I added this $80 back to my checking account.

I purchased the last item through the checking account today, contacts. I'd budgeted $30 for contacts but it turns out they were $39. After I crunch the numbers, I'll have $57.98 cents left in my checking account. Not sure what I did because I created a zero balance budget and their shouldn't be anything left. Strange. Either way I'm transferring this to the EF, baby step 1.

Lastly, I got home really late. We have a wedding to attend so I'll be going to the salon tomorrow. I did budget this cost in. I'm in need of a hair cut and color, but there is no way am I going to spend almost $100 tomorrow. So I permed/relaxed my hair, and colored it. That's saving me about $35-$45. Tomorrow I'm estimating $60 for services, that will include the cut.

The wedding, I budgeted $50 as a cash gift but I'm going to check out their registry tonight to see if I can find items for about $25 total.

That's it for me right now.

Today was a pretty decent day. The A/C was out at the office, they kept us there. Good thing no one died from heat exhaustion 🙄🤦🏾‍♀️
I hate being in a position where I feel like my job is more important than my health. But I'm still looking.

On a different note, no dining out so $6 saved. I washed my own hair today and that was another $45 saved. All in all I saved $51 today. Since I saved $51 today, I'll split the money saved and add $25.50 on CC3 and $25.50 to my savings.

Tomorrow I have my little mentee so I'll be looking for a nice restaurant with coupons; hopefully we can get a BOGO. I was thinking about pedicures but I need to find something else and less expensive to do.

That's it for now, have a great weekend.

Trying to balance my checkbook and I'm off by $12.61. This is driving me crazy. I've checked and double checked, and still can't find the error. I also reviewed the beginning balance and I can't seem to find the error. I took a break, but really wanted to get into reviewing my transactions for the week every Friday.

For two days I have not dined out, I'm so happy. So I'll be adding $6 to the miscellaneous account ($2 for breakfast; $2 for lunch and $2 for dinner) for day one. I'll do the same on CC number 3 for day 2.

We had bought season tickets for college football game last year, with the tickets you get free wings, so Monday I'll dine in, order a Coke and go home. 😀

Looks like today will be my first no spend day in months. I'm here with dad and will be heading home shortly, when I realized I haven't spent a dime. So I'll be adding $2 on the BoA CC.

In healthy living news, today is day 2 and I have not had a soda, adding $1 to the BoA CC. I also walked a little over a mile today so another buck added to the CC. In all today, I'll be adding $4 payment to the BoA CC.

I know when I blog I stay on track, I hate when things throw me off, when that happens I stop blogging and start spending. Have to stay focus.

With that said, I'm trucking right along. The BF took care of my car's oil change and filled me up. I didn't ask how much he paid, but I estimated about $60 for everything. So I added the $60 to my $20/52 Week challenge. New total $2,082.26. I'm so happy.

Dad and I will be running errands and he usually give me a $100 on the days we do this. Even though I tell him he don't have to he always do. He says he'll rather give it to his kids than other people who will sure enough take it.

I splurged and had McDonalds for breakfast $3.60 so I paid $3.60 on the BoA credit card, I figured if I have extra to eat out then I have money to pay down debt.

Lastly, we are getting our security cameras installed. It saddens me that we are in an age where Big Brother always have to be watching. Awful

Received my final check from Target and made the following contributions, every little bit counts:
• 10% to EF = $30.68
• 5% to IRA = $16.50
• 3% to CC3= $9.40

I wanted to add the 3% off CC payment to my Target card but Target only allows you to make two payments within 7 days, so I applied the amount to my Bank of America account. I thought this was ridiculous, talk about keeping you in debt.

I also ended up eating lunch with my boss and colleagues. I wasn't too happy about spending the money since I had packed my lunch. One of the girls was fired today, so the HR director decided to take us out to try and smooth things over but I ended up spending $12 for lunch and $5 for a tip so I transferred $17 to my $20 Challenge. Ugh.

In the end that was it for the day as far as spending goes, I hope.

Now for my three things that I'm thankful for:
• A running/paid for vehicle
• Seeing another day
• Not being homeless

Okay I am jotting this here so that I don't forget.
I purchased one of my books for school, $65.67. This amount was charged on the BoA CC, so that I earn the point. I have since paid the bill, $70 so $4.33 extra was applied to my $20 Challenge debt