I finished my first baby blanket. I think it's great, and I posted it on Etsy and Craigslist earlier today, but I haven't gotten any hits on it. Anyways, thought I'd post it on here. Hopefully it'll sell and I can get some extra income.



If you or someone you know is interested, you can buy it at my etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/hospitablegirl?ref=top_trail for $30.

Got gas. Added the amount per gallon to my savings account.

436.51
+ 3.73
-------
440.24

I was just looking at my Mint account and loving our comparison between last month and this month on spending on food & dining. And then I decided to look at a comparison of overall spending. This month, we did so much better on controlling our spending than last month. And our savings is the proof. But there's also charts.

We were able to pay all bills from left-over money from this week. Which means all of Hubby's paycheck (most anyways) was put into savings. This is my dream come true!

$231.79
+204.72
--------
$436.51


I love that number!

We're having a no spend day today. So we added $1 to our savings account. We also had an automatic transfer yesterday of $25.

$200.79
+ 25.00
+ 1.00
-------
$231.79

In one of my last entries, I wrote that I'd be thinking of ways to make money. Well, I figured that on my spare time I can crochet and make baby blankets and sell them. I'm thinking between e-bay and craigslist. E-bay is good because it's beyond local but you have to pay fees. Craigslist is good because there's no fees but it's only local. Ideas? Suggestions?

Got some gas yesterday at the tune of $3.77. Had a gift card too! So I didn't even pay for it! Added $3.77 to my savings.

$202.02
+ 3.77
--------
$205.79

I had to buy bird food, but I had a coupon for $2 off. So, I'll add it to my savings.

$200.02
+ 2.00
--------
$202.02

My savings account is still sad. We did get Xbox live accounts now, so hopefully that'll help control the bored spending. Our savings account only has $200. I was hoping to have it at $600 by the end of the month, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. And our credit card debts haven't faltered that much either. I wonder why. I'm not making as many hours at work. It's the slow season. Maybe I should think about getting a second job. I make enough, I'd still like to save more and I have my budget at bare minimum already.

Hm...I wonder what we'll do next.

I've seen so many of you using the $20 challenge and it seems to really work for you, so I did one of my own today! Adding it to my current savings.

Current Balance: $96.75
Addition: + 3.79
New Balance $100.54

I got gas and added how much it was per gallon. Woot woot.

I feel like every week I look at the budget and think, "this is definitely doable". And every week I fail miserably on staying on budget. We just can't seem to contain ourselves.

We had some of my tip money lying around so we used that to buy some cheap lunch. Then, before dinner time is rolling around, I'm dying to go out and spend money. I think I'm a bored spender.

When I work, I feel no need to spend money because I'm at work. I'm doing something. On my days off, if they're like today, where I'm at home all day, I feel the need to go out and buy something. Food, games, books, anything.

Hubby and I took a drive over to GameStop. We didn't buy anything, but we left feeling very unsatisfied. Instead of buying anything, we came home and decided to cook dinner and watch a movie at home. It's hard for me to not go out. Most of my friends aren't in debt though. And so they can afford to be less frugal than us.

And now we have a car loan to pay off. I can't wait to get rid of that. Still working on that debt payoff, but we're making good strides every month.

We should payoff the car sooner than expected as long as we stay on our budget.

I just wish it was easier. Some days are harder than others. But tomorrow my weekly budget resets. I can hold out until tomorrow... Staying strong.

So, we finally bought hubby a new-to-him car! He's been driving a '96 Honda Accord with 175k miles on it. And it was finally time. It depleted our savings and now we have a car loan to pay off, but we'll pay more than the minimum on it.

We put $4500 down, traded in Hubby's car for $500, and ended up with a loan for $11,811.29. It sucks. But the car is a 2010 Chevy Cobalt with 40k miles in dark blue. It doesn't have any options (it's all push and pull), but it's exactly what we needed and it'll improve his credit score. Since his credit score is low and he's considered high risk, we have higher payments, but I didn't want my credit involved in any way. It's all him.

Anyways, we're very excited and hope to have it paid off before 72 months.