Precious Dollars

I withdrew our grocery money for the next two weeks from our bank account today.  I am determined to stick to the grocery/household budget for this week and I think using cash will make me more mindful of my spending.  It certainly did today after I left work.  It has been 100+ degrees this week and I've made it a habit of stopping at the grocery store on the way to pick my son up from camp and grabbing a bottle of soda.  With tax, it's almost $2.  I really wanted a soda today.  But I just couldn't bring myself to stop and grab one because I didn't want to part with my precious dollars knowing how scarce they are and that we still need to do a big grocery shop.

Being Taken Advantage Of Comes To An End

WARNING NON-PF RANT AHEAD:  I am completely flabbergasted by what some people will ask of others.  This last year has been a growing year in terms of offering to do something out of kindness and just keeping my mouth shut and going on my merry way. Over the past year, I have been bamboozled over and over again by a co-worker that is just plain lazy.  Let's get things straight, this person is a co-worker, not a superior.  Unfortunately, she thinks she "rules the roost" and would ask me to do things that I now know are not my job.  All in the vein of being "too busy" to complete the task herself.  Now, I'd be more than happy to help if she really needed it.  But I don't think that checking personal e-mail, paying your household bills and surfing the internet qualifies as being "too busy" to perform your job.
When I was starting my job, I was told that we just work through lunch (which I'm fine with) but that often times one of us girls goes and get carryout for our office of 3.  It turns out that I was always the one that went to go get lunch.  I don't begrude my boss because she physically can't leave the office during office hours.  Not only would I get lunch, but she never gave me enough money to completely cover her portion.  If the meal was $7.69, she give me $8 even though with tax it was $8.35.  In the beginning I didn't quibble because it was only $.35 but after awhile when she never gave me enough to cover her meal, I started to get pissed.  I didn't want to make waves so I just stopped going to get lunch (which is better for the budget anyway).
Last but not least, the summer "carpool".  Because my son is not old enough to stay home by himself, he has to go to camp so I can continue working.  Because my schedule is flexible and part-time, I can adjust my schedule to his camp schedule in order to get him to and from camp.  Co-worker decided that she would sign her son up for a couple of weeks at same camp my son attends.  But, uh-oh, he had no way to get there and back because her work schedule wouldn't let her.  She asked if I could take her son to and from camp.  Because they only live a few minutes from camp and were signed up for the same early drop off program, I didn't mind.  The first of two weeks, I texted her and asked that he be ready and waiting for the early morning run.  She texts back that MWF his older sister would take him to camp before she had to be at work because it was too early for him and he wanted to sleep in a bit but wanted to make sure that we could still take him on T & R because his sister wanted to "sleep in".  So excuse me, you have a method to take your son to camp but you're going to ask someone else.
So, in conclusion, all of this comes to an end tomorrow afternoon when I drop off her son for the last time because it his last day of camp.  And it will really come to an end in a couple of weeks, as co-worker is moving out of state.  My parting words to co-worker is GOOD RIDDANCE and GO F**K YOURSELF! 

Decluttering

I saw on another blog (but can't remember the name) that they were doing an all house decluttering.  The idea is to pick one room a week and start there.  I've never started before because it all seemed so overwhelming and I just didn't know how to start.  Well, starting with one room seems like a good idea to me so that's where I'll start.  Now I just need to decide which room I'm starting with :)

I Think I Can, I Think I Can

Although our debt seems daunting right now, I know that it won't always be.  And that, my friends, is my positive thought for a lovely Friday.

What's Been Happening Since We Last Talked

So when we left off last year, I still had two jobs and was theoretically able to pay off big chunks of debt.  Unfortunately, shortly after my last post, I was given an ultimatum from my side job.  It was work more hours and leave the job at my son's school.  Working more hours wasn't a choice that I was ready to make at that time, so I opted to stay at my son's school.  So not only do I not have an extra paycheck to put towards debt/savings, I make about $200 per pay period less than I did when I had just one job. This meant we were running a deficit every month.  Which resulted in an increased debt load. Fortunately, we've been able to sort of slow the bleeding and refocus on debt repayment.  We were able to refinance our house earlier this year, and I've been asked to work more hours in the school office come this fall.  This is round 2 of a very long fight.

Wow, it's been over a year since I've updated this blog.  But since we find ourselves in an even bigger debt hole than we were last year, I'm hoping that re-establishing a routine of accountability will lead us to finally get out of debt for good.  A lot of things have changed since last year.  I have changed jobs moving from two jobs to one.  Even though I'm paid less at my current job, the flexibilty I have with my schedule is awesome and has added to my quality of life.  Of course there are days when I wish I made more money or consider switching jobs to make more money but in the long run it's better for me and my family to stay where I'm at.  So, here's to making an effort again to finally living a life in the green.

Week #1 Goal

I am now paid weekly (on Fridays) so I would like to budget weekly too.  Here are my budget goals for the upcoming week.  They are:

Groceries/Household: $100
Gasoline: $65
Mr. Green Lunch: $25

I haven't included any misc. items because I save a set amount per paycheck and deduct from that account as needed.  Let's see how the week goes.  I haven't been very good at accountability and that is a large part of our debt problem.  I'm hoping to stay on track this week.