The kids are in private school (the only way to get full day kindy) so I don't have to supply school supplies. They have plenty of clothes and each got a new outfit this summer. So they're good for that. I thought, "why not get them a lunch box? That way they can carry their lunch to school easily." (The school doesn't really do hot lunches). OUCH! Lunch boxes are not cheap. We went to Target, got the lunch boxes, a cup for snacks, dental floss and laundry detergent and it was $28.96. But now we're good for laundry detergent for the next year.

Then, because I haven't eaten out in a week and we were right there, we decided to go get pizza. That was $19.88 for the buffet. The kids each played one game in the game room (we had game play cards, so that was fine).

Now they're in bed, the lunches are mostly made and we're ready to start school tomorrow. I should probably go ahead and take the snacks out to the car so I won't have to try to remember.

I'm so excited, my family will all be home in about 20 minutes or so. The boys have been visiting grandparents and the DH has been on a business trip. I'm so happy they're coming home!

DH tells me they spent about $35 bucks camping and eating. Then there will be the gas prices from driving from the OK/TX state line down here to darn near mexico.

I haven't spent any money today. I just went out and pulled weeds, and used the manual weed whacker to knock down the darn johnsongrass. I swear that stuff springs up overnight and before you know it it's 4 feet tall. But, I'm committed to no energy usage for my weed whacker activities, so ... I now have 2 nice little blisters. I weed whacked last night at 2:00am, figuring that was the coolest part of the day and that no one would try to attack a woman swinging a sharp piece of metal around. And if someone did come into my backyard and attack me, I could take care of them pretty easily.

Went to the parent orientation at school last night. Found out I need to buy my 5yo a cup for snack time. A specific type of cup which of course I don't have. They also can't carry backpacks (which he has used to carry his lunch) so he'll definitely need a lunchbox now.

But, I also found out that the school had extended the classroom time from last year. He will now be picked up at 2:45 rather than 2:15. That's an extra half hour. I get off work at 2:00 and it's a 10 minute drive, at most. My office also runs "fast" so 2:00 is more like 1:55. That means I will have 40 minutes to waste day-in, day-out. Now I'm trying to decide if I want to talk to my boss about extending my hours by 30 mins/day. That will put me working 6hrs/day. I have the work for it. I mentioned it today but said I needed to think about it and drive the roads to the school. I ended up working late and left at 2:30 (2:25) and was at their school by 2:35. So, I can do it and have a little bit of time to spare.

It wouldn't increase my take-home pay by that much, but it would be enough to put them in kung-fu classes. So, it's something to think about and talk to dh about.

I haven't spent any money today. DH has reported yet, but I'm sure he's spent about $15, not to mention the gas I know he was planning to buy today.

I did my monthly fill up on my car and OUCH. Almost $20. I used to be less than $10. I'm glad I don't drive much (when we lived in OKC, I had to fill up about once/week).

And then, since Circle K is having a special on their sodas, I had to go buy one. It was 96 cents, then I poured some off into a water bottle so I have soda for tomorrow. I wasn't prepared or I would have had 2 water bottles (which is what I did last time).

I've been messing with the budget some. I felt so bad about our spending in July because it was sooo much more than we made. Then I looked it over and realized that the reason it was so high was because we had dipped into savings to pay off a credit card. Once I took out the credit card payment that was over the minimum required, the budget came waaay down. Then it was just over because of a planned expense we had saved for (and that wouldn't have been so bad except DH had to register his truck and car in TX and that was a lot more than I had expected).

So, now my spending/budget reconciliation doesn't include cc payments over the minimum (we have a balance on one card because we just transferred a high interest debt to a zero interest card). I will show that when I do my monthly networth statement (debt going down and savings going up or staying the same).

Thanks to health insurance it was "only" $25. My least favorite appt of all, the dreaded "well-woman visit".

The good news, everything looks okay, my blood pressure is still good, my pulse rate is the lowest it's ever been and my weight isn't as bad as I thought it would be (I'm still about 10lbs heavier than I want to be, but well within the healthy weight).

That's the only money I've spent today. I'm home for the day. I've got henna in my hair to cover the gray and condition it. I've eaten my supper of leftovers (one more thing finished before it went bad, yay me!). Now I just need to motivate to clean, clean, clean. Maybe I'll just do the minimum and clean tomorrow. Yeah, that sounds good.

So, I had to go to the dentist. In order to use my dental insurance I had to drive to San Antonio (4 hours). We decided that since the kids were gone we'd make it a getaway weekend. It was a nice time, we walked and walked and walked along the riverwalk. Spent $5 or so at Ben & Jerry's then had a meal at a Mexican restaurant and walked back to our hotel.

I was told the filling for my tooth would probably be $75 after insurance payment, but they said there wasn't a charge. I hope they were right. It was pretty quick and mostly painless. The tooth hadn't started to decay, so they just put a new filling on it. I didn't get a full cleaning and checkup, but he didn't say anything about the condition of my teeth or gums, so I'm thinking they must at least look okay.

We used the trip to go to Costco and stock up on some things. We got some organic milk to freeze (milk freezes well, just pour off some to allow for expansion and be prepared to shake it after it thaws) and then we got the VCR/DVDR we were looking at (it was on sale this week). Our bedroom TV went out, but DH had a projector that he could hook to a VCR, so that's what he's been doing. He projects it onto the bedroom wall and has a big screen tv. It works really well for him. So we spent $189 for the VCR/DVDR and saved the money we would have spent on a new TV (about $250). This is our bday present to ourselves (we both have bdays this month).

For bdays, we get money from our moms. I've decided to average those out for our eating out budget. We love to eat out and it's the best treat for us. So I'll just divide the total by 12 and make it our new monthly budget. Also, DH travels occasionally for work and gets a nice amount for perdiem ($30/day) and he never spends that much (I tell him to treat himself some), so I'm going to average that out also. This month will be a busy month. He's already been gone 4.5 days and will be gone at least 5 more (2 more trips). He probably will spend $50 each trip, so we'll come out ahead.

My kids come home this weekend. I'm so excited. They've been gone too long. They start school Monday and I'll take them to the store to pick up a lunch box. Last year they made it by with bags and what not, but I think they would have fun with a lunchbox. Yes, it's money I don't have to spend, but it's something they will enjoy. I always wanted a lunchbox and to take my lunch to school, but my mom wouldnt' go for it. I don't have a choice but to send their lunch, their school doesn't have a hot lunch program.

We're on track to be in budget for groceries and eating-out. It's hard to say about gas. Too many long trips and gas is so high right now. I may have to reevaluate that budget category.

DH opened our pantry doors and couldn't believe the amount of food we have. We have a deep freeze full of meat and a pantry full of food. I have the kids' lunches taken care for at least the next 8 weeks (their school does not do hot lunches). I have cereal for my breakfast for a while. We have granola bars for snacks. We are food rich. It's a great feeling. Especially since we spent sooo much on groceries last month (that's when we stocked up on the meat).

Supper tonight was chicken bratwurst and sauerkraut. So good. DH grills them all at once and then we freeze them until it's time to eat them. Quick meal. Nutritious meal.

I have my mom bring me Cain's tea when we meet. You can't buy it in TX, only OK and KS, they don't even have a website. But it's so good, it never gets bitter, even when you boil it for a long time (I steep a quart size tea bag for a while and then get it strong enough for a half-gallon pitcher). I have enough until about October. Then I don't know what I'll do. I guess when I see her over labor day I'll ask her to bring more.

Tomorrow won't be quite so cheap and Monday won't be any better. But then next week should be okay. Next weekend the kids come home (YAY!!!) and then school will start the 22nd. This is probably their last year in private school (it's the only way I can work, there is no all day kindy here and afterschool care costs more than the montessori school and I'd have to worry about someone else transporting my kids). The one thing about this school is that I don't have to provide school supplies (well, I do because I pay a supplies fee, but I don't have to go buy a bunch).

At work I managed to complete 2 huge projects that have been hanging over my head. I have 3 more and then those are done and it's back to normal work duties. I ended up working late today to finish those things, but it was so worth it.

DH and I went out to eat last night, so I ended up spending $10.36 yesterday. The kids are visiting grandparents so we had a nice time out. I made him drive down the road I work on and look at the funky neighborhood leading up to my office. Then I pointed out the office (I've been there 4 months and he still had no idea where I worked). Then we were downtown and saw the hamburger joint was still open. It's a cool place, they have these display cases full of fun items - radios from like the 20s through the 60s and some novelty ones. Phones from old crank phones to a 1980s cell phone.

I like looking at displays like those. It reminds me of why I don't have collections of my own. My mom and dad have these extensive collections that take up their whole house. They even built a huge 25x25 room to hold more collections. They probably have $15k invested in their collections (if not more). They get things as a "good deal" and can't pass it up. I told them to make my brother executor of their estates because I'm not going to want to deal with their collections. I'll call an auction house and tell them to have fun.

I realize how much money I save by not having collections. Also, all the time I save not having to dust and care for collections, shop for collections, etc. I don't know which came first, the frugalness or the no collections rule, but I know they work hand in hand.

C