Confusion...

Happy confusion none the less.

So while corporate is busy packing their bags at my husband's company, spending has also come to a complete halt. Not paying for any flights, moving expenses or extras unless absolutely needed.

So imagine our surprise when my husband went to work yesterday to find out he got a one thousand dollar bonus!

This is where the confusion comes in...they tell my husband that at some point (maybe 2 months, maybe 2 years) he quite possibly may be laid off, yet give him a bonus?

Either way, fine with us. I'm just glad his management finally recognized all of his hard work. We can only hope that this means his job is safe, for now.

We talked about it and I whole heartily think that he should take a hundred of it and buy himself something nice (he NEVER does) and save the rest. He deserves it. Ironically he has a birthday coming up :-)

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I'm ALMOST done with holiday shopping. Just a few more items. And guess what? I came in at budget!!

I'm waiting until black Friday to buy a few of the items. I'm NERVOUS lol. I've never done black friday shopping before at the mall. A friend of mine went to Sears a couple years ago, and she came back with nothing but horror stories. Haha. She said some lady tried to push her out of the way to get a small tool set...

Craziness.

If it is too crazy, I'm turning my car around and coming home. But I plan to hire a body guard (AKA my hubby) :-)

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I got registered with school on Monday. Two of my classes only had night classes open...so on Tuesday and Wed. I will be making two trips to campus. Joy. But if that's my only choice, then w/e.

Tuition without book cost came to 1,048.00, books will be about 400. Not too bad for full time. About what I expected.

Unfortunately, this means that our first anniversary (Hubby & I) will have to celebrated on the weekend...my first day for Wed. classes (a morning and evening class) lands on that day.

So many hoops :-)

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Oh! By the way, if anyone would like a nice christmas gift idea...

Snapfish.com is offering a 8x11 photobook for free.

http://www2.snapfish.com/info18?AID=10423416&PID=1225267&SID=u0t0f0fp15383c0s652&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.snapfish.com%2Ffreebook2008

It must be redeemed by 11/16, and you have to pay 7$ shipping.
If you are new to the site, and create a new account you can also get 20 free 4x6 prints.

I took advantage of this to make a wedding book, we didn't order one with the photographer (they wanted a hundred bucks....7 sounds better lol).

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It's been pretty quiet around here lately, thank goodness. Besides a few bumps in the road (like not getting my last paycheck)...everything has been pretty smooth.

I was worried about our budget on one income again, but it seems to be working out ok, so far, knock on wood.

We've even been able to keep up with hefty (as in several hundred over the minimum payment) credit card payments. We hope to have them paid off by the end of next year. We'll see how that works out. I've learned not to depend on a "plans"...something usually happens to change them.

I'll be registering for school here soon, I'm not looking forward to yet another loan. But if I don't go to school and finish my degree I'm not going to have much of a chance at a decent income. So while were baby free I think I'll take the opportunity to go.

Even the grocery budget has been going well, I've managed to spend only a hundred or so for October (2 grocery shopping days) which includes household and pet items of course. Why I never budgeted groceries before is beyond me. When hubby and I first moved in together we'd just go to the store and wing it. Sometimes we'd spend ..... are you ready .... 800 bux on groceries and going out to eat!!! Ugh, you live and learn right? :-)

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One thing I've taken notice of when we started seriously budgeting was entertainment. When "rough" budgeted (other wise paid all the bills on time, then did w/e with the rest) we'd just go see a movie whenever, go out to eat, go to the theme park, go out Saturday night with friends....While I don't regret doing those things, they cost ALOT. Of course when we first starting dating, neither of us had much financial responsibility either.

Now it seems like we get board more often, lol. Which is fine, we're becoming more productive. Getting some house work done and what not.

We'll get used to it.

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The cat is home, and my goodness she has slept for 5 days. Shouldn't she be getting back to normal here soon? She has a follow up visit Wed....ugh. I love her, but she gets sick after surgery. When we adopted her she had just gotten fixed, and she was SO sick afterwords. And here yet again, she's sick. The last time all her meds and what not cost 60+. I hope she doesn't need all of that again.

Speaking of...her vet quoted us 218 for her surgery. Ok fine, we agreed. Then I go in to pick her up... 295!!!! They charged us 41 bux because she was over 6 months, come on seriously, 41 dollars? Then the rest was medications and her collar. Thanks, I appreciate it. Grr.

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Hubby & I sat down to plan out the rest of the year over the weekend, and family finally made up there minds when they are coming to visit. They are coming for 1.5 weeks :-) Yay! I'm a little bit home sick (I miss my family) what can I say?

Anyways, I don't think Hubby and I saved enough! lol. It's ok, we'll make ends meet. We set a holiday budget(saved up the funds), that I'm sure we can stick to. I saved up money for my birthday, and Hubby wants to go stay on a beach for his (which shouldn't cost too much), and I already bought my Mom's birthday gift. That leaves New Year's (we always celebrate with something special because that's when Hubby and I met) and our wedding anniversary. Then, voila!, another holiday season will be past.

We'll see what happens.

So yesterday was my last day at work. It was sad to say bye to everyone (I never have been very good with the whole good bye thing anyways). It's not very often that most of your co workers make you laugh on a daily basis. Hopefully we'll keep in touch.

Several of them said that they knew of somewhere or another hiring, we'll wait and see how that is working out.

The job market right now...sucks. Looking for something to fit my schedule and close to home doesn't make things easier, if not darn near impossible.

Something always works out though, sooner or later.

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Last weekend was a bit of a spendy weekend. I spent 120 on groceries BUT I stocked up our kitchen to the brim! Publix had a rather large BOGO free sale, so I stocked up. I even managed to get some completely free items (not included in the BOGO sale obviously), like bread and veggies (frozen)...even managed two free bottles of shampoo. I don't mind free, that's for sure.

I'm going to go grocery shopping tomorrow (since I'm home...ugh), just to pick up a few odds and ends. I'm trying some new recipes this week :-D. Tonight I'm trying a Sara Snow recipe, home made Mac and Cheese with roasted tomatoes on top ... mmm.

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So I managed to pay off 1/2 my credit card and save almost 1K while working at my job. Not to bad for 6 months. I think I'll put my savings into the emergency fund, it will be a nice boost since were about to take 200 out for the cat.

Hubby and I also saved quite a bit in the Christmas fund (we'll be fully funded in the next two weeks) and saved 250.00 for my birthday fund.

I don't make a big deal out of my birthday, but every year since I was 12 or so I like to go shopping for clothes for the next year. It's just my thing, so I save up for it.

Hubby's and Mom's birthdays are 4 and 5 days after mine, so its nice to have some money put back for some extras.

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I don't know if this next presidency is going to make, break or maintain us but I hope we see something good come out of it.

To be honest I'm an undecided voter. There are so many issues on the table it's hard for one candidate to have all the right answers, so to speak. On that note, there are so many issues on the table I'm not confident that we're going to see any major changes for awhile. But maybe we'll be rather surprised and find that everything works out for the best in a timely fashion. :-)

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Fall is here! Living up north I LOVED summer time, but now that I live farther south...fall is gorgeous. It's not humid, around 65-75, and the ocean air smells just awesome. I'll be looking forward the next couple months are far as weather is concerned...

Slow, slow week at work. Ugh, I'm doing my best to stay awake. I hope it isn't like this the remainder of my time at this position.

Since I had time on my hands I planned out my shopping and chores for the weekend. We don't need a ton, so I'm pretty sure we'll only need 60 or so for groceries and households. It would be nice if I could stay in the 175 range for the next two weeks.

I'm fixing our grocery budget. I started tracking monthly spending in the middle of the month, so it messed up my whole spreadsheet. So I'm going to track for the remainder of Sept. by itself, then track month by month starting with October. I'm also concidering keeping track of my savings (via store sales and coupons). Why not know how much you didn't spend, as well as what you did?!

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I read something interesting on CNN today. "What have you given up?". Readers wrote in about what they are giving up with the economy downturn.

I was amazed to see so many people struggling to the extent that they are. I wasn't completely oblivious to the ordeal, just didn't sit down and actually focus on it. While I completely understand that life happens and as a result we all have hard times...we've all been there. But as I read more and more entries about giving up cable, shopping for new clothing on a regular basis, and not going out to eat 3-4 times a week...I had to wonder, are we having hard times or pissed cause we have to cut back on luxeries?! Both maybe?

My great grandma used to say "you can live with a lot less than you think you can" (spoken like a true depression survivor). She was completely right. While I understand giving up things that you enjoy are tough and not in the least bit fun, I don't think it defines "I'm not making it".

Since when does a luxery rack up in the same catigory as food and shelter?

Just, odd.

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I finally have the cat's appointment set. October 8th, 218.00. Ugh. I feel strange about the whole thing, we're spending a good portion of money and putting her through surgery for something "cosmetic" (if you can call it that). But I don't want to replace all the furniture and trim in the house either. She's made it very obvious that shes a home wrecker lol. Just the other day I decided to leave her out while I ran to the store, I came back and she pulled the table cloth off and busted my salt and pepper shakers. I'm sure that it would cost much more than 218 to replace things that she has scratched up or broken.

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Hubby got an assinment to go on a work trip Sept 29-Oct 10. Grrr. I feel like I just picked him up from the airport! At least work will pay for this trip. He is going to get some training for a large project to do here at home, so when he gets back I'm sure he will be working plenty of over time. That should be fun
:-(. He doesn't get paid OT, he is salaried...a nice cherry on top for the situation :-P! BUT at least he has a good job that pays well (knock on wood).

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I'm having a bit of a personal conflict. Back in MO I didn't finish my degree and worked full time. When we moved I got a full time job that pays well but now I'm being pushed out the door (laid off). I'm sick of this job to job crap (excuse my language), I want to go back to school and finish my degree. Hopefully that will help with some job stability. I don't feel like I'd be making a ton more with the degree, but I feel that I will def. have more oppurtunities.

My conflict is...should I work full time and put school second? Or should I go to school full time and put work second (PT)?
Hubby and I are ok on his salary alone. It is a bit tight, but nothing extreme. We still end up with some left over every month.

Decisions...Decisions...

What a crazy week. Hubby left town this week, and work was on overload. Seeing as how we are closing out, everything that needs to be done is being assigned...3 weeks before D-day. Ugh. Oh well, I have half my to-do list done :-)

Hubby is coming back today, and as far as I know, it was basically a free vacation for him. His flight was free, he stayed with family so no need for hotel or food cost. :-) Usually we spend 500-1500 per vacation so that was a huge savings.

We're going on a book store date tomorrow (dinner and the book store), but I have a coupon for dinner and don't plan to spend to much in the book store. I know people usually say "go to the library" which makes sense, I know. But I trade my books & DVDs on SwapTree.com...besides if I like a book I'll read it a good 4 or 5 times before trading it off (BTW I usually only buy clearance books, why pay 25 bucks for a book when it will be on clearance in a month).

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So I'm gearing up for my last day at work. I'm really going to miss my weekly paychecks. I'm trying to stock up a bit on non-perishables and house supplies while I'm still contributing to the grocery/household fund. I'm also trying to put as much in savings as possible, the over time this week will help. Hopefully something part time will come along not to long from now.

Speaking of stocking up, I got my order of coupons in the mail yesterday. I used to think it was so goofy to pay for coupons. But I order high value coupons with a bit of time before they expire...usually things I will use on my weekly grocery shopping trip (pasta, soup, cheese, juice, house hold supplies). I got some coupons for $5 off the Febreeze Noticables plug ins...has anyone tried these? The lavendar scent is awesome, just FYI :-)

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I still have to call and make an appointment for the cat to have her claws removed (I'm going to schedule it in October since I'll be home to take her). I'm rather aggitated because we pay 16 dollars per pet per month for a 'wellness program' to cover office expenses. This has saved us a TON...it pays for vaccines, regular check ups, etc. I THOUGHT it paid for basic anesthesia cost should one of the animals need it, well it doesn't. Ugh. Oh well...looks like were stuck paying for the bill, along with the monthly fee.

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So just out of curiosity, would anyone be willing to give up their cable or dish to save money? Or have you done this already? Hubby and I record a few shows that we like (and we do watch them together so its kind of nice) but other than that we really don't watch a ton of TV. So I'm wondering if paying for Dish every month is really worth it?