We tried someplace new for dinner last night. We got put out on the porch, with a party of about 20, half were kids. The noise was deafing plus they made a mess! Why don't people control their children.
The entire group left a tip of $3 which really upsets me because I use to be a waitress.
The entire place was understaffed. I had talked to a waitress from there a few months earlier and she had to quit because she was only making $130 a week in tips.
Waitresses only make $2.13 an hour and really count on their tips to live. They have to pay their tax and s.s. out of that $2.13.
After they left, another couple came in with a 3 year old that whined and cried the whole time.
By the time we left, we both had headaches, plus they forgot part of my dinner (baked potato) Oh well, we won't go back!

Happy 60th birthday today to President Bush!!

I have been looking for Halloween costumes today. I know I am a bit early, but I wanted to get one before they sell out. So far, every costume I have liked is sold out.
All of the women, but me, at these parties, like to dress cute and sexy. I like to look funny!! I like to make people laugh! And, so far, I have!!

I can't get over how many people I saw buying water today. Now, I love water, but paying for it. they were buying cases of water at $5 a case. What a waste of money.
Since water is my main drink, I have a water distiller. I paid about $100 for it 10 years ago, and I make my own good tasting water. I use it about every other day and it has paid for itself!! Ilove well water, I wish my next house would have that.
I had it at my last house. The only bad thing was, when the power went off for 7 days, we had no water. You can get by without a lot of things, but not water!! I keep about 12 full gallon jugs filled all the time.

That is the name of my husband's car. It is a 1933 ford victoria, hence the name Miss Vicky. We took it out to eat last night. It was almost out of gas, and my husband was out of allowance, so I sprang for $20 for gas for the car. Hey, it is the least I can do for a man that works 7 days a week!!

Wow, half of the year is gone already. I remember when i was a kid, it use to take forever for christmas to come. Now it seems like it comes in two months. Oh well, they say time goes fast when you are having fun, so I must be having fun!! We took the hot rod last night. I had to loan my husband $20 to put $3 a gallon gas in it. It is only the 2nd time we put gas in it all year. Of course it had to rain coming home. (we have no windshield wipers on the car, that is not cool looking)

I receive "computer" calls all day long. Yesterday, they seem to come about every 20 minutes. I know I had 25 of them. I have already received 4 this past hour. I always go downstairs, cause it may be my husband (no one else calls me)It dawned on me that if I put $1 in my challenge money each time I got one of those calls, I would be rich!!

No, I really can't afford that on my allowance! Guess I will just have to enjoy the benefits I get from climbing that same flight of stairs over and over!!

These cool rainy days are certainly good for the power bill. I only used 21 and 25 kwh's the past two days, compared with almost 50kph's the previous days!! too bad the rain has ended, but it is still not quite as hot as it was.

Lots of you talk about Tightwad Gazette but no one ever mentions Cheapskate monthly. I have been getting the 12 page newsletter for about 10 years and really enjoy it. Mary Hunt is the author and she has written several books and does speaking tours.
By the way, the name has been changed to Debt proof living and it is an inspiring newsletter. You can get it online too.

I have had no power all afternoon. I guess I can't complain about my electric bill meter reading today. It just came back on, but still no tv. That is ok, I don't miss tv. I got a lot of book work done this afternoon. Thanks goodness for solar powered calculators.!

My credit card came and had a balance of $525 on it. I had put the cost of half my procedure from the hospital on it. But I have been saving $100 a week in my medical envelope, so I was able to pay it right off.

I have been reading the meter everyday and making notes. I have turned the air conditioning up to 76, but my husband complains at night that it is too hot to sleep. I turn the air upstairs off until it gets unbearable in the afternoon. I have really tryed this week, but I keep using about 47 kwh per day. The weather has been in the high 90's, so i guess that is why my usage is so big. As long as I have enough budgeted in my envelopes, I guess i should not complain, but it has been nice having that extra money from the electric bill to put into my challenge money.!!

I have been reading the meter everyday around noon. We did not do too well yesterday. We used 47 kwh for one day, for a cost of about $4.28.
I did keep the a/c off up stairs almost the whole day and it got to over 80 degrees upstairs. I kept the downstairs air set at 76, but my husband complained it was too hot, so I turned it down to 74 last night.
I ran the dishwasher, one load of clothes and one load in the dryer. I ran the dryer at night, so i don't know how many kwh's it used, but, I think quite a few. Now I know why so many of you line dry your clothes!

I made another land payment yesterday. So far, I have been able to come up with an extra $1000 a month to pay on the principal. It is nice to see that interest amount drop.
When i started the payments, i was paying about $400 a month in interest. Yesterday the interest was $165.
The amount I owe is dropping rapidly. I started out owing $64,000 and my balance is now below $29,000.

I am trying to track my electric use by reading my meter everyday. So today, I paid attention when I started the hot water heater and the dishwasher. During the time the dishwasher and hot water ran, it used 6 kwh's for a cost of 54 cents. Of course that does not count anything else that was pulling electricity like the refrigerator, so the cost is actually less. Not bad!

I love Mondays!! That is my payday!! I love bringing home all that cash, getting out all my little envelopes and putting it all away. Especially, when there is enough money for ALL the envelopes. I list my envelopes in the order of importance, the bills that must get paid come first.
There are a few envelopes that I can miss if I am running short of money. For example, christmas fund, van fund (van is already paid for, so I add this to my fund to pay off car)medical fund (maybe we won't get sick) etc. Of course,I can always cut down on the groceries or going out to eat.

I wish I could be like frugal chick, open the windows and turn on the fans, but I cannot stand hot weather. It is hot today and the meter is spinning cause both of the airconditioners are running!!

Happy Father's Day to all you guys, whether you are a father or not.
We don't spend much on gifts anymore, but my little Holly puppy did get her daddy some candy he really likes!!

Let's all have a real great weekend!!

My dh called and asked me to come to his job. He is doing the electrical work and needs advice on where to put light fixtures, plugs, extra.
I always enjoy going over to the spec house cause it has a beautiful mountain view.
However that means I did not get much exercise in today, so no challenge money to add. This has been a slow week, savings wise.

I am so happy! I got to eat and sleep again!! Why are all commercials about food, when you are on a medical fast?? 35 hours and only 3 popcicles!! Hey, I did lose 2 pounds!

My two day ordeal is over and I feel good. They found and removed 2 polyps and found I had diverticulosis. I wasn't given anything for it, so I assume it was not serious.
I have a no spend day except for the bill I occured and have slept most of the afternoon.

I am having a terrible day. I have to drink a gallon of stuff and I have been trying for over 4 hours and only have half down.
The main problem was the first glass was not cold enough and it made me sick. That made every other glass make me sick.
If you ever have to do this, chill the gallon container in the freezer to get it really cold. Also put 2 glasses in the freezer to make it even colder.

I am preparing myself for a bad day today. First of all,nothing to eat but popcicles today and then a gallon of that awful liquid to drink.
The last time I was told to drink it all in 2 hours, but I couldn't do it.
Today, I am going to start at noon (instead of 2) and drink it for 5 hours. There is no need to make myself sick and throw it up!
I will be glad when it is lunchtime tomorrow, I know I won't sleep at all tonight!

Since i can't eat tomorrow all day, I am planning on splurging tonight at dinner. I also allowed myself some cookies with icing on them today. I bought myself a treat. I love anything with icing, cause I love icing! Whatever I gain today, I will lose tomorrow.

I just got back from the hospital. I am going in for a colonoscopy on Thurs. morning so I had to go and pick up the prep kit for it. Do you guys know how much i am going to have to drink tomorrow?
I know it is a smart thing to do, but it is expensive and I have no insurance. I had it done 2 years ago and it was $400 for the hospital. Today it is $900 and that does not count the doctor fee.
I put $500 on my credit card, but I used the wrong card. I am so mad at myself. I just got a new card with 0 interest and 1% cash back, but I pulled out my old card by mistake. Darn!!

We went to our usual place to eat last night. i almost always order the same thing every night.
The restaurant just switched to a computer system where each waitress punches in the order they just took.
To my surprise, they had put me on the computer.
My ticket last night read "Julie's usual" Pretty neat, huh??

Ray does a lot better with her mail than i do. All I got was junk and a check for 29 cents. I don't know why I get these tiny checks once in a while. It is from a company I once owned some stock in, but I sold it all. It is Food Lion!!

My little poodle, Holly, needed to go out to potty. I usually just open the door and let her go!!
Today, I did not notice there was a ground hog out by the porch, feeding on the corn I put on the ground.
Holly chased the groundhog and I chased Holly. I am so glad she did not catch the ground hog cause it was much bigger than her.
I got my dh paycheck and cashed it, then did the envelope method. I am so happy when there is enough money for ALL the envelopes.

Today is payday, so that is always a day to look forward to. I make out my husband's check based on the number of hours he has put in during the week. I need to make a trip to North Carolina today to the liquor store too. I have not been for a while! So, it looks like a busy day.