Settling in to my new work schedules

  I have finally gotten a handle on the new almost continual work hours. I am back at school M-F from 9-2. The hospital schedule is a bit more complicated. The work week begins on Sundays. I work at the hospital every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Beginning today I work every other weekend and when you work on Saturday (last day of the week) you also work on Sunday (first day of the week). On the week I work on Saturday I have Thursdays off (so I was off this last Thursday) and on the week I work on Sunday I have Tuesday off (so I will be off this coming Tuesday). Wash, Rinse, Repeat. Confused? You aren't alone. I actually had to put it  into my calendar to understand it. Labor Day is also my first holiday to work. You get every other holiday off, so I will be off Thanksgiving and work Christmas Day. I believe the new holiday calendar year starts on New Year's Day so I probably will work that as well. This way no one works every Christmas Day for example every year. And Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are not holidays (neither is Easter).
So on Thursday it will be 30 days under my belt. How do I like it? Well it is taking some getting used to.  I've been assigned to the Pediatric ER and the work is not demanding. Actually I would prefer to be a bit busier because the night sometimes drags but on the upside with working two jobs not demanding is a good thing.
And I have to say that first paycheck really made my bank account smile! Speaking of financial matters the issue with overtime pay at the school for the last two years has finally been settled. A deposit will be made in my checking account this coming Friday. I will pay off half the remaining balance on my car loan, pay back GF for the brake work he did on my car last month, and pay back two small loans from a couple of my kids that got us through August. The remainder will be in the savings account.
We are also saving money like mad on food. With school starting I've just been taking lunch leftovers to work at the hospital  for dinner . Adult son, college age son, and college age daughter have been fending for themselves. Now that I have a regular hospital schedule I will be able to sit down and make a modified dinner schedule for night's off and weekends. And next weekend I will do a little food shopping. We still have a ton of stuff in the freezer but do need fresh produce, dairy, and some odds and ends in the pantry.

Finally......

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/4/5/8/4/1402853364844279301nineteen-fifties%20people%20looking%20up%20and%20pointing.jpg After what has been a tremendously long wait it appears that things on the financial front are finally looking up! Last week I went for my job physical and strength test. I have to admit I was not optimistic about passing that test but I got the phone call yesterday that I am cleared to start my new position!! I will be working at a local hospital cleaning patient rooms after they are discharged, waiting areas, restrooms, break rooms if any on whatever area I get assigned to. It is a full time, 40 hours per week position from 3-11:30. It does mean working every other weekend and every other holiday (Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Years Day, Memorial Day). The money AND the awesome hospital system health benefits, life insurance, and retirement benefits make this a winning situation for me. I will continue to work (at least this school year) at my part time day cafeteria position (9-2 M-F). It will be a lot of work but since I get one weekday off from the hospital each week I will only work both jobs 4 days a week. And there are several no-work days as well as holiday weeks off from the school. AND as icing on the cake I was notified by the powers that be that I am owed back overtime pay from the school for all the hours I worked over 8 in any given day for the last two years!! Of course those responsible for cutting this check are taking as much time as they can before doing so. Eventually though they will have to send this to me. My goal for the future is simple, I will pay off my SUV as soon as possible, making double payments. I have 13 more payments to go so I hope to have this done in 6 or less (most of the overtime check will go towards eliminating this debt). I cannot describe the relief I feel knowing that I won't have to worry constantly about where the money will come from for groceries, for gas, or for anything repairs that may need to be done around here. I feel as if I've been hauling around a huge chunk of cement behind me that I am at last getting relief from.

Remembering to count....

my blessings today. Yes I currently have $2 in my savings and $67 in my checking account but I have this twice a month cleaning gig and will be paid today meaning I can put $25 of gas in the car (which will fill it up) and get milk and still put $100 in my checking account to give it a cushion for utility bills until the next paycheck is deposited (another blessing is having my check divided into 52 weeks). I also unexpectedly found a brand new large box of dishwasher detergent in the basement, stuck in a box I looked into hunting for something else, so I don't need to buy more.  I also noticed a bottle of dish soap stuck up on top of the stand up deep freezer, another item I was low on and will not have to purchase! Financial blessings for sure.


And then there are the blessings no amount of money can buy me, good health, a loving family, the GF,  and good friends.


God is good.


All the time.

Odds and Ends

  Besides enjoying myself at the matinee the last two days (odd thing happened yesterday, I got charged sales tax for my movie ticket..according to the woman running the ticket window this is a new state tax and by new it must mean NEW TODAY since on Monday I was NOT charged tax. And it was 8% holy cow...and speaking of taxes Amazon decided to build a warehouse in my state so now I get to pay sales tax to them too..yippee..but I digress) I also ran a few small errands to pick up some odds and ends of food items.

On Monday I stopped into a local small Italian grocery/deli where I spent $21. I brought home a delicious loaf of sesame seeded Italian bread, a ball of pizza dough, a small jar of their pizza sauce, a box of choo-choo wheel shaped pasta and a box of some pasta that was totally new to me, it was called Mother-in-law's tongue and was wide strips of multi colored pasta, red, white & green all on the same strip of pasta. I changed up dinner plans and made this pasta with a garlic butter sauce for dinner. It was visually interesting but as for flavor, not much different than plain pasta.

I then dropped into the regular grocery store. They had boxes of Keurig coffee on sale for $8 so I picked up two boxes (hazelnut and cinnamon) as well as a jar of peach-mango preserves. I am on the hunt for pineapple preserves but it would appear that no one is making this anymore. I love to mix these into cottage cheese and am hoping the peach-mango will be a good substitute. Total cost as the regular grocery store of $20.

Yesterday after the movie I stopped at a local farmer's market/tiny grocery store where college age son's girlfriend works. I spent $14.51 and came home with 8 large nectarines, a bag of green grapes (on sale $1.49 per pound), a bag of fresh spinach, and a small container of organic spring greens for salad.

And then last night adult son talked me into splurging on a pizza from the local pizza place where college age son was formerly employed. Another $11 spent.

Living Well

 I was browsing along through my Facebook page last night and stopped to read an article that was linked on the news feed that looked interesting. I took quite a bit of heart in my own situation from this article and found it to be an inspiration.
Here's the link for anyone interested in reading it themselves:

http://www.wisebread.com/how-one-family-lives-well-and-even-owns-a-home-on-just-11-an-hour

Free and not so free to me

At the close of the school year I was the recipient of two very nice gift cards to Target, one for $50 and a second one for $30. On Saturday I made my way to the store to use these cards for some items I'd been wanting. Not things we necessarily needed but things I'd had on my list of items for the house. I picked up a new broom and dustpan (our old one while still serviceable just wasn't doing the job I'd like it to do, it will become the cellar/driveway broom), a container of carpet deodorizer (ok at least one item was something we needed), a set of taper candles in cream as well as a ball shaped candle in cream to replace one that had gotten broken on the iron candle holder in the living room.

The new candle is the slightly larger one in the center. The empty space has been driving me nuts for quite some time. I also used the gift cards to "purchase" two new summer weight (not fleece) throw blankets for the two leather couches. To keep the room looking not quite so masculine and to soften it up a bit I have accessorized with throw pillows and blankets on the couch, love seat, recliner. All throw pillows have been either gifts or purchased at Big Lots (I love their home décor section and the prices)

I also purchased a new white tablecloth for the next FREE item I received this week. My married daughter K was the recipient of a beautiful pottery barn farm table and spindle back chairs in a cherry wood finish that will seat 8 people. She had a smaller farmtable with black legs and a maple finish top with 6 spindle back chairs that she asked if I would like to have. I snapped it up since the oval dining room table I inherited from my mom was very wobbly and two of the nuts that held the legs on were stripped and would not tighten any longer. Adult son J and I took apart this table and hauled it to the tree lawn for trash day. He then used his pickup to get the new set. I  had purchased four nice faux leather dining chairs with maple legs a couple of years ago. We decided to use one of these at the computer desk, a second one at the roll top desk in our living room, and the other two for the head and foot of the new table. Four of the spindle back chairs that came with this set went on the sides of the table and the other two replaced the worn oak ones we had in our kitchen. The two oak chairs went on our large front porch around the drop leaf table that is out there for a small outdoor 'eating' section. 

 

The tapers and tablecloth are new from Target:

 

GF and I dropped into an estate sale also over the weekend. I spotted a waffle weave cotton throw in a red and white for $2 and snatched that up for the leather recliner.

 

I also picked up a nice framed country setting picture for $10

 

and a set of four Currier and Ives decorative small plates that match the prints I have in the living room for $3 for the whole set. Unfortunately I forgot to grab the plates out of GF's car so I have no picture of those. I will use a plate hanger that I already have to display these in our dining room.

It makes me feel good to tweak our décor at home and gives the rooms a fresh look. It will also be great to eat at a table that doesn't move around on you. At a total cost of $18 out of my pocket for the estate sale items I think I did mighty good.

 

Change Ahead part three

Well I finally had my contract signing meeting .  Yes they offered me a contract while at the same time trimming an additional 90 minutes off my workday each day. This is just unacceptable. My budget cannot withstand another hit. After prayer and reflection I decided to decline to work the aftercare job next year. I sent an email to that effect to the business manager and the principal. I met with the Pastor and we signed my altered contract in which I agreed to work just the five hour per day cafeteria manager position. I figured this was the end of this and got on with job hunting. A lucky phone call with adult daughter K led me to an application and a phone interview. Networking on her part has been happening and I am cautiously optimistic that this will lead to something for me. Prayers that this opportunity pans out are appreciated.
In the meantime I will be receiving my current paycheck through the summer. And will continue job hunting. The drama at school though just seems never ending. The business manager felt she needed to approach me about "keeping the conversation open" in regards to working the shorter aftercare hours. Not quite grasping the whole connection between paycheck and financial responsibilities. Then the principal jumped in with what she thought was a great idea offering me a total of 30 hours a week (10 less than the altered contract had). She appeared to be surprised to learn that I already work 25 hours a week in the cafeteria . She has no clue what I do here. Which made her review of my job performance interesting. Amazing how she can write one without ever setting foot in the cafeteria. Or knowing how much time I spend there.  I am working hard at remaining positive.

Utility Costs

 A pleasant surprise in the morning email. My gas and electric bills showed up and both of them have dropped. ::happy dance:: My electric bill is down $10 (due I am sure to daylight savings time and no need for the furnace blower to be running) and my gas bill is down $80!! The gas bill reflects several days at the end of April when the furnace was still running so I look forward to even more savings come the June statement.
When we cut down the trees in our backyard last fall the clothesline got taken down and lost. I will be taking some of the cleaning money I earned on Saturday and purchasing a new clothesline as well as additional clothespins. The old iron poles I use to hold the lines up need a bit of work on the top, some of the clips have broken or fallen out. I'm thinking of trying large paper clips slid into the ends of the pole . Once I have this all set up we will be using the outdoors to dry everything except towels and undies.
A little something in the midst of all the stress to make me smile.

February Financials

  I am looking forward to a good month as far as the budget is concerned. I do not anticipate any additional grocery shopping needs outside of fresh produce/milk that may need to be bought at the end of the month. Planning ahead last month I already chipped in for a group gift for the baby shower I am attending at the end of the month. GF has paid for the  tickets for the fundraiser  we will be attending and will pick up the cost of the dinners we've agreed to go to as well. Today's birthday party gift was purchased yesterday as well as the ingredients for the salad I agreed to bring.
My federal return rolled in on Friday and I immediately paid an entire year of property taxes on my home, transferred money to the savings, and wrote a check to GF for the remainder of my half of the Christmas expenses. It was payday as well so the mortgage, direct TV, and homeowner's insurance for February have been paid as well. State return will be rolling in soon and this will be transferred to the savings. Next paycheck will cover the car payment and the auto insurance. Gas, electric, and internet will be paid when adult son makes his deposit into my checking for the month. Money earned from cleaning will be held onto and used for renewal of my license plates and my driver's license all due this month and the remainder saved for gas or just saved up. I should also be getting two small checks for the Make & Take I did last month as well as the one I am doing this month. Fish fry starts on the 20th for which I will be getting paid. No details as to how they will handle this have been forthcoming from the business office. An email will be sent tomorrow morning inquiring on how this is going to happen. So income is very healthy indeed.
Looking at the long term I need to be very stingy with my savings. It was down to nothing after last summer and I haven't had any opportunity to build it up at all until now. I will be needing tires within the next year again and there are expenses connected with the home repairs in the kitchen I will have to have money for. And there is always the unexpected.
In the meantime we inch along.

Scoring a victory at the pump

  Gas prices have been falling steadily here the last month. Good news for those of us on strict budgets. I am hoping this will have a cascading effect and we will shortly see some reductions in the grocery stores as well.
In the meantime the SUV needed to be fed so that I can get back and forth to work this week. While out running errands GF and I were actually on our way to another gas station where we'd seen the advertised price as $1.87 a gallon when what to our wondering eyes should appear but this:

No need to drive any further. $25 later and I was all gassed up and ready to go. SUV is tucked up inside GF's garage and we will be taking his car to pick up college age son later on. Son is still on vacation from school this week so he will be residing with GF and going to work each day with him as he has done over break. He has already banked enough to cover his books and any other sundry expenses as well as some fun money. This means a savings for me as well as I will be able to take a shorter route home after work and anticipate making dinner for just myself or myself and adult son this week.

First Meal of 2015

 2015 has gotten off to a great start on the cooking front. After peering into GF's refrigerator I came up with a terrific brunch that was based on what was on hand. It even included some of the planned over ham from "That Ham". Inside of the refrigerator was 2 dozen eggs (awesome), a baggie of ham slices (awesome), a block of cheddar cheese (terrific), milk and smart butter. On the counter were two lonely Idaho potatoes (great), and a loaf of rye bread (yippee). In the cupboard I found dried chopped onion, an item I keep on hand here because GF is not a big fan of onion and the fresh ones tend to go bad before I can use them all here. I also knew we were going to be going to BJ's in the late afternoon where we were picking up more potatoes so using up what was on hand was not a problem.
I quickly prepped the potatoes by dicing them small, the cheese by grating it, and the ham by cutting it up into smaller pieces:

I heated up a skillet on the stove with some oil in it, added the potatoes and the dried onion along with a sprinkle of parsley,  a pinch of salt and some black pepper and set that to cooking:

Once the potatoes were golden on all sides I added a tablespoon of water and covered the pan to finish cooking. I took six eggs and some milk and beat them in a bowl:

I tossed in the cheese and the ham. In my larger electric skillet I melted some smart butter then added the egg mixture to make a scramble.

I popped the rye bread into the toaster:

 and within minutes the first meal of 2015 was plated and ready to go:

 

One of my goals for this year is to eat out less and use up smaller amounts of food or planned overs before they go bad on me. Especially at GF's house where I will leave him things and they will just molder in his refrigerator because he can't be bothered to heat them up and eat them.

Our New Year's Day dinner was a smallish pork roast that I browned and put into the crockpot along with sauerkraut, a bit of apple cider, and some brown sugar. It cooked while GF and I ran errands (picked up college age son from his girlfriend's house, shopped at BJ's). Once back at his place I made mashed potatoes, heated up some corn, and made a small batch of homemade applesauce to serve with the pork roast. We enjoyed the dinner so much I totally forgot to take pictures.

It felt good to know that all our meals yesterday were made at home. I also had a zero dollar day since the BJ's trip was one that GF needed to take. I'd say 2015 is off to a good start.

 

 

 

 

A look ahead and a look behind

Before plunging into what is going to be a busy day I thought I would take a look at finances; both those of the last year and what is ahead. I am pleased at how last year turned out overall. I managed not only to take care of the day to day obligations of living but also to celebrate a new birth and a high school graduation. We made it through the summer months on savings and after my meeting with the business office we are finally set on a steady income for the entire year. I trimmed some fat from the budget by renegotiating my internet costs, not renewing the XM radio, and making some changes to reduce utility and grocery expenditures. 

I have a couple of goals for 2015. I need to rebuild my savings so this is priority number one. I am not sure how much of a tax return I will receive this year. With youngest turning 18 we are no longer eligible for some tax credits we have used in the past. Any return will go towards property taxes. If there is not enough to pay the full year I will be getting 3 paychecks in January and one of these will help out with that bill. I will be earning some extra pay for running the parish fish fries. I am earmarking this for savings but if I need to use this for those taxes then that needs to be done. I will continue doing the baking classes once a month and that money will go in savings. I feel as if I am still grappling with the new income amounts and often feel as if I am standing on the edge of a cliff and disaster is only inches away. Hopefully with sensible money management this feeling will fade away. 

I have set myself a challenge as well. Beginning today I am going to go an entire year without purchasing any clothing for myself. The only exception is for socks and undies if needed. I love new clothes so this is going to be quite a battle for me.  I am also determined to have more free ( no money spent) days than days where money goes out this year. 

Wish me luck. 

Merry Christmas to all....

After a busy couple of weeks at work that included not only my two regular jobs but also a special make and take session with some aftercare friends AND beginning planning for the Lenten fish fry I am finally on my holiday break.
Of course that doesn't mean that I have slowed down at all. There were still gifts to bought, packages to be wrapped and all kinds of goodies to be baked. I am happy to say that the budget is healthy though. GF and I stayed within the budget we set ourselves and my half is easily paid back within the next two months. I have also trimmed some un-necessary fat from the budget by dropping the satellite radio, talking TW into lowering my internet bill and sticking with the utility measures we put in place. Two salaried paychecks have now given me a really good idea of how to manage payments. All these things help me sleep better at night. Adult son and I talked about our individual Amazon Prime memberships which are going up significantly in price next month. We've agreed to cancel his membership and go halves on mine. Adult son recently gifted himself with a 55 " flat screen smart TV that he'd been saving for all year long and which he has chosen to put into our living room. My Christmas gift from him was a new tv stand that was much needed. Our old one had been used at one time by one of the dogs as a chew toy and it was in sorry shape. The tv that was in the living room has gone into college age daughter's room replacing an old box style tv that will be stored in the attic 'just in case'. I have no desire for a tv in my bedroom, not to mention the cost an additional satellite box would be to my budget. I do have to say that the giant tv is a fun thing. And we can get all the free programs Prime gives us as part of our membership right on the tv without hooking up a gaming system. Very nice.
While enjoying some recorded Hallmark Christmas movies on Tuesday I spent a marathon day in the kitchen baking for the holiday. I pared my list down to the 'classics' and baked:
My Mom's birdnest cookies:

My GF's Mom's Italian Anise Cookies:

 

Christmas cutouts:

 

"snowballs" aka Mexican Wedding cakes:

And gingerbread men:

 

Christmas Eve we were off to GF's house where I baked my mom's Kolachky:

 

And her pizzelles:

 

As is our tradition some of the kids came over for Christmas Eve dinner after Mass and we had our usual meal of salad, pork tenderloin balsamico, white and wild rice, candied carrots, crescent rolls and ice cream for dessert.

Here is our holiday table complete with our traditional Christmas crackers:

 

Today we will be going to oldest son's home and joining our family with my DIL (and GF who is her uncle)'s family. We are bringing the roast 'beast', shown here ready for the oven:

 

a cherry pie:

 

green bean casserole:

 

and a cookie tray of all the goodies I baked:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving Forward: Now I know what I have to work with

I finally received my first "salaried" paycheck on Friday and I can now put my plans in place as to how to divvy up the money. The first pay of the month will go towards mortgage, homeowner's insurance and car insurance. The second check will go towards car payment and satellite tv. Adult son's monthly contribution will go towards gas, electric, internet and part of the quarterly water/sewer bill. Cleaning pay will go towards groceries. Gas money will come out of both paychecks and the balance left over will go into the bank.
I recently read a blog about a woman who is a compulsive clothes shopper and who chose to go an entire year without buying any new clothing. I am inspired to try this myself. I love clothes and I love getting new things but I am going to challenge myself to go an entire year without buying myself anything new. I have plenty of clothing for both seasons and I look forward to getting creative with how I pair things up and use accessories (speaking of which my college daughter has a large array of scarves which I intend to dip into).
Speaking of finances. I was shocked to see when I checked my bank balance that I was $247 short because XM radio had made an unauthorized with drawl for an automatic renewal of my service. When this happened last year I called and after speaking to several customer service reps finally had it put on my account that they were NOT to do an automatic renewal this year. So much for 'putting it on my account'. They honestly have the worst customer service ever. Last year GF gave me a year of radio as part of my Christmas present. This year after college son showed me how to stream I Heart Radio through my Bluetooth in the car I realized that I can listen to almost exactly what I was listening to with XM for FREE. I called and after speaking with two customer services reps finally got a confirmation number for CANCELLING my service and reimbursing my money. Of course it will take them 3-5 days to do so. <sigh> believe me I will be calling if those funds are not returned by Thursday. The satellite radio and my Amazon Prime membership are two annual costs that I have decided are not really necessary. I have already set up Prime not to renew in January. A simple process done on the website. XM could learn something from them.

Black Friday shopping

After spending a wonderful day with family on Thursday and then battling our way through some very dicey snow conditions to GF's house we determined that depending on the morning's weather conditions we would continue on with our annual Black Friday shopping plan.  As we have for the last seven years, GF and I are going halves on gift buying for family. We have set a budget for both this and for each other. We checked sale ads and made our plan. We have an awesome outlet mall not far from GF's house and past experience told us there would be deep discounts to be had there.  The weather was sunny in the morning so College age daughter and her GF joined us. As I anticipated I purchased GF two nice shirts, New khakis, and a sweater from the Haggar outlet at 70% off. He saw nothing. Lol. We also managed to buy several gifts for family members all at awesome sale prices. Our second stop was Kohl's where we used a 15% off coupon and sale prices to get a couple more items. I also used this price saving combo to pick up two long sleeved t-shirts for work for under $20.
A nice amount of gifts bought and all well within our budget.

The good news and the bad news

  Looking ahead at finances I became a bit alarmed when I realized that although we had three paychecks in January one of them would be for ZERO dollars. Ugh. My job has been hourly, only paying me for the hours I worked, for the 36 weeks of the school year only. Having been receiving social security death benefits until my youngest graduated this had not been a problem before. Knowing last year these would end we've been making adjustments to the budget and last year I picked up additional hours at school by working as one of the aftercare assistants. It makes for a long 11 hour workday but it also made me eligible for health insurance and gave us the much needed addition to the finances. And since I was already on location it didn't mean additional driving or gas useage to get to a second job. Which are very good things.
On the downside I still have a ridiculous car payment. A decision totally on me I understand but now one I regret. After much discussion with the GF who is something of a 'car guy' I agreed that the smartest move is to tighten the belt for the remaining 18 payments and hang on to this vehicle. It has been reliable, not bad on gasoline, and roomy enough to take additional family members when needed. Once paid for I can conceivably drive this for a few more years without payments, then switch to a small sedan.
A chance conversation with my aftercare director led me to a meeting with the parish business manager. I requested and was delighted to receive a change to my pay. From here on out I will be on salary for both my cafeteria job and my aftercare job!! This is the good news since it means a steady paycheck through the summer and those months when we have breaks. It also means I will continue to get paid on snow days, something that really hit us hard last winter.
The bad news: it means a smaller amount in each paycheck since instead of being spread out over 36 weeks it is spread out over 52. After crunching the numbers at home (estimating the tax taken out ) and discussing a small increase in the amount middle son contributes to the household budget I decided that we can do this. The relief at knowing that in January the pay will be steady and bills will be met is too big a plus not to take this offer.
It will mean strict spending limits since the 'disposable' part of what is coming in is very tiny but it should still allow me to put a small amount of money in savings. I will have to adjust my food budget downwards as well. Since college age daughter rarely eats at home these days and adult son eats at home even less than she does I am going to start out with a budget of $300. $250 of this will come out of my cleaning earnings (job number 3) and the remaining $50 out of the 'disposable' part of the work pay. I made a few calls yesterday and got my internet bill lowered by $13. Not a lot but every bit helps. I will be negotiating with our satellite tv provider this week to do the same thing (however since I took the 'free' upgrade on the dvr we are locked into this company for 2 years so that limits my  options when speaking with them). I am also going to be cancelling (must be done in person of course) my gym membership since I haven't used it in forever due to work hours (instead I 've been going to work 30 minutes earlier and power walking in the gym with two other staff members). When Amazon Prime becomes due I will not renew. I am also considering dropping a few magazine subscriptions as well. And I am getting stricter on utility bills . After temps dropped to the teens the last two weeks we discovered that 60 degrees is too cold for the house during the day when we are all gone and when we sleep at night because it takes the furnace a very long time (2 hours) to reach back up to 68 degrees on the main floor. Instead we tweaked the settings, going down to 63 degrees for away/sleep time and then up to only 66 degrees for when we are home. Our furnace seems grateful not to have to work as hard. Window coverings, draft dodgers, and using our fireplace to heat the living room plus lots of throw blankets and sweaters to help keep warm are in play as well (  I even hung up a polar fleece blanket over the French doors in the dining room to minimize drafts towards the thermostat). Nagging about turning off lights when leaving rooms, putting a living room light on a timer so college son and I don't come home to darkness each night (and doggies and the cat have some light), and unplugging unused appliances and chargers is being done. Short, five minute or less showers, turning off the water when brushing teeth, once a day or less running the dishwasher, and limiting use of the washer to one or two large loads is on the schedule for reducing the water bill.
But there was more good news to follow during this meeting. I was approached a few weeks ago by a parish staff member about the possibility of them hiring me to run the parish Fish Fries. These have been the bane of my job existence since it meant a lot of concessions on my part as to space, time, and also generosity in not complaining when items purchased by my cafeteria budget got used and not replaced by the FF staff. This means I can control and limit these types of irritations. And I will be receiving a generous salary for running the 6 fish fry dinners. Lots of volunteer staff is staying on so I will have help in the areas I am not familiar with and all the cooking will be done by volunteers. I will be there to manage only. It did mean missing my aftercare job on those 6 Fridays but now being salaried for that job means I won't miss out on that pay either. A win-win for me.
And money in the savings!

Wrestling with Utilies and an expensive lesson learned

  Still trying to get a handle on the  new pay week schedule and when my bills are getting paid. Adult son who lives at home pays me a minimal amount for his car insurance and some extra as 'rent'. Since he is such a tremendous help around the house I keep this rent amount very small for him. He recently got his first new truck with the monthly payments that means. His job hours vary greatly depending on what jobs are scheduled by the boss (he lays flooring for a small 3 man company) so he doesn't have a set pay he can count on. So I am flexible about when he pays me. In general I use the money he deposits for utility payments since auto insurance is directly debited and I need to count on my own pay for this item. Friday he made a deposit into my account and this morning I made our natural gas, electric, and internet payment. TV comes out automatically and will hit my account on Monday. Homeowners will be withdrawn on Friday which is my payday. Mortgage and car payments will be made then. The cash I have on hand will have to be used for gasoline for the next two weeks.
My natural gas bill remains low because we have barely ran the furnace. This last bill only covered about one day when we ran the heat for two hours. As in the summer this bill reflects stove/oven usage and the hot water tank.  I anticipate that the bill will however run about $50-60 until it becomes necessary to have the furnace on fulltime since we have been running the furnace in the early mornings. With that in mind I have set our adjustable thermostat. From 5:30 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. it is set at 67°. All of us will have showered, gotten dressed and out the door by that time. From 8:30 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. it will be set at 63°. Warm enough for the dogs and the cat. From 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. it goes back up to 67°. And at 10:00 p.m. it goes down to 60° for when we are sleeping. I left room for adjustments if the bill comes in too high at these temperature settings. I figure we can go as low as 65° for when we are home and 60° for the pets for when we are not.
Our electric bill should also reflect the long hours we are not at home. This month is was around $83 which includes running the dryer. Dryer usage is going to go down as I institute a new drying rack, hanging clothing in the basement policy.
The one utility I am frustrated by is our internet bill. TV is through a satellite company that does not have internet so I am forced to use the local cable company for this service. College age kids depend on internet on home to get a lot of their work done and stay in touch with professors so it is a necessary evil. We have chosen the bottom of the line service and yet our bill just went up another $10. I will be researching other options.
And finally I learned an expensive lesson last week. While driving home with college son I failed to pay attention and ran a red light. In front of city hall. Needless to say my 39 year clean driving record is down the tubes. To the tune of $160. Ouch. I won't be making that mistake again.

I'm back!!!

I cannot believe it has been two months since my last blog post. Going back to work and getting back into the routine has been a real struggle this school year.  On top of the usual rearrangement of schedules with two kids now commuting to a local college and my work day being 11 hours five days a week I have faced a few minor health issues.
Thankfully I have health insurance these days due to those extra long work hours though. A check up plus some blood work revealed that my BP is a bit high although not high enough to need meds. A simple change in diet to eliminate foods high in sodium is helping. Blood work revealed my total cholesterol is not good and my triglycerides are also high. After doing some research on Lipitor I declined the prescription in favor of more dietary tweaking, limiting red meat to once a week, eating more salmon and tuna, choosing Egg Beaters over whole eggs, and adding a daily Niacin supplement to the MegaRed fish oil I already take. More blood work in three months should tell if these changes are making a difference. Following doctor's advice I am also making myself get at least 7 hours of sleep each night and eating regularly. A scare during the weekday where I got dizzy and started seeing double was a big reminder that it isn't safe to fool around with my blood sugar levels.
I have also added a five day a week 30 minute 2 mile power walk to my mornings. Two of my fellow staff members and I meet early in the gym to do this together. I am feeling pretty good now and my energy levels are rising. And I'm already noticing a difference in how the waistband of my jeans fits. All good news.
On the home front we are in full winter preparedness mode. With the Farmer's Almanac and the weathermen predicting a winter similar in temperature to last year I am being especially vigilant. Next Saturday my GF is coming to give the furnace a cleaning and maintenance check. It is 30 years old and there is no room in the budget for replacement so keeping this healthy is a must.  A new furnace filter has already been installed since I was forced to turn on the heat three times this week for short periods of time to take the chill out of the house. I have programmed the thermostat to reflect the fact that the house is empty of people for longer hours during the day now that youngest son is in college. Window film has already been purchased as has a case of fireplace logs. More logs will be bought as well as a couple more draft dodgers in the coming weeks. I am also considering hanging an old flannel sheet or even a thermal blanket we no longer use over the French doors in the dining room. This is how we let the dogs in and out of the yard but these doors are old and very drafty. Last year we hung up a cotton sheet and it helped but I think something heavier would be  even more effective. Our main floor was the area hardest to heat and keep warm last winter so my focus is on improving our winterization methods there.
Some much needed yard maintenance has also gone on. Last year we had the top part of a dead poplar tree come down on the power lines during a storm and this summer yet another one came down on the fence this time luckily missing those power lines. The GF and my adult son J who lives at home spent a Saturday removing 5 more dead poplars that were do-able with ropes and chain saws. We still had two very tall (one 12 foot, one 10 foot) dead poplars remaining. Yesterday we rented a bucket man lift ($168 for 5  hours) and J and a friend of his took down those last remaining trees as well as the 10 foot black walnut tree that was in a bad spot. The yard looks a cyclone hit it. J will spend time cutting those trees down into moveable pieces and another friend of his is going to take all of the wood to burn in his wood stove this winter. We considered keeping some for our fireplace but I don't like the creosote buildup  you get and decided to stick with the processed logs we buy.
I finally did a real grocery shopping trip two weeks ago. The first full sized trip I've taken since stocking up last June. Surprisingly we still have quite a bit of stuff in the pantry and the freezer as well. I did have to restock a few pantry essentials (juice, snacks, coffee creamer, steak sauce, mustard), get in some meat ( a whole pork loin, some ground beef, ground bison, corned beef, chicken, an eye of round, bacon, and chicken sausage and cheddar brats) and fish (a large package of salmon fillets and several cans of tuna), some dairy (milk, cheese), and fresh produce (loaded up on the seasonal items of squash and apples as well as salad produce). I also bought cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and some toiletry items. Next week I plan on restocking pastas, smart balance, and things like detergent, fabric softener, cat litter, cat food, and more fresh produce.
I've missed sharing here and hopefully now that I feel I have more of a grip on my free time I will back on a regular basis.

Inching towards the finish line....

 This week starts my last full week of summer vacation. Although I did spend three hours at work one day last week getting September lunch packets ready for mailing and I will be going in to work this Wednesday to make sure my milk delivery arrives.
I am looking forward to getting back into the work routine and seeing some money coming back into the household coffers. Although September is still going to be a tight month.
This last week was yet another one where I was extremely satisfied with the number of $0 days. I babysat along with youngest daughter for newest grandbaby on both Monday and Tuesday. Oldest son insisted on paying us for that. I also cleaned GF's house on Saturday and got a full tank of gas for the SUV in exchange. So a little bit in and a little bit out.

Sunday 8/10: $0
Monday 8/11: $11 on lunch for youngest daughter and myself.  

Tuesday 8/11: $12 on lunch for yougnest daughter and myself.

Wednesday 8/12: $0

Thursday 8/13 $ 6 on lunch for myself at the zoo. Went to the zoo with middle daughter and grandsons. She drove to and from so my only expense was for lunch.

Friday 8/14: $0. Went to a local church festival but GF paid for that.

Saturday 8/15: $0. GF and I went to our final festival of the summer and he picked up the tab.

Finances and Life in General

 Summer vacation is starting to wind down with just under two weeks left before it is back to work. I actually did some work from home today getting prepared for the beginning of the school year.  I'm pretty pleased so far with the finances over the summer break. Even with very little money flowing in (middle son's rent/insurance and money earned from cleaning job) we still have money in the checking to cover upcoming bills this month as well as a small amount in the savings. September is going to continue to be a tight month for us though since my first paycheck will not roll in until the 12th and that one will have to be used for mortgage, car payment and car insurance. My health insurance benefits will also be taken out of this check to catch me up. Fortunately we continue to have plenty of food in the house and as I have done all summer the money earned from cleaning will cover those expenses for the first month I am back to work.
As far as last week's finances are concerned I have a very good week with very little money going out and some money coming in from cleaning on Saturday. Here is the breakdown:

Sunday 8/3: $50 (newest granddaughter E was baptized and we had a wonderful time at oldest son's home with family and friends, this was my half of the gift GF (her great uncle) and I gave her)

Monday 8/4: $0 day spent at home reading and doing minor housework, dinner was off the menu making 'slub glub/aka johnny marzetti for dinner with items in the house,  evening spent 'porch sitting' with friend/neighbor as we have been doing all summer

Tuesday 8/5: $0 day spent doing laundry and reading! Dinner was roast beef (my serving topped with some homemade chili sauce), evening spent watching tv

Wednesday 8/6: $0 yet another day at home with a good book! Not only am I not out spending money I am saving gas as well. GF filled up the tank over the weekend and barely any fuel has been used, evening spent at friend/neighbor's house divvying up the PC items from the catalog show we co-hosted

Thursday 8/7: $42 at the eye doctor on a 6 month supply of right eye contacts (these are for astigmatism so more expensive than the left eye lenses I had to buy last month). A stop at the library for books, dinner was  grilled applewood rubbed pork chops, evening spent with new book from library.

Friday 8/8: $0 went to GF's place, dinner was herb crusted pork roast, evening watching tv together

Saturday 8/9:$0 worked cleaning in the morning , afternoon running errands with GF then we had dinner out at a local favorite pizza spot!