I belong to a Yahoo group where every month there is a different Home Based Business (Direct Sales) represented. We swap catalogs with one another. Each month there is a new business that we will all purchase from. I represent Mary Kay Cosmetics and my month is September 2006 (next month).

Each member is required to purchase a minimum of $25 in retail (not including shipping, handling, sales tax) a month from the Biz of that Month.

I have been able to purchase products to use as birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, baby gifts and some things for myself.

The cool thing is when it is my month and everyone in the group purchases from me, I have made back pretty much all the money I have spent with the other businesses and have a lot of great gifts on my gift shelf for future use.

My commitment ends January and then I am starting a whole new venture. I will fill you all in on my new venture in the near future.

Added $200.00 to Savings

Added $50.00 to my ING Account

Added $275.00 to my checking escrow

Paid down my debt $260.83

Paid all my regular bills (i.e., mortgage, electric, gas, etc.)

All of this will be reflected under Author Info to the right.

I had this Swiss Colony Occasions party on Sunday. The representative brought all the food and drove over an hour to come.

I had invited 8 women. Two of them showed. My SIL and a close friend. The other 6 called me at the last moment with some excuse. Either, I have a headache or my husband wants me to go to Home Depot, or I am over my budget this month (which I can understand - this is probably the most honest answer), one lady said she would be here and just didn't show and I even had a lady say "I can't attend, but I am having a purse party on August 30, put it on your calender, you can come to mine". Your darn right I will put it on my calendar so I know to call her and not show.

What is with people. I hardly ever do these kind of parties. I only did the party because the hostess gift offered would only cost me $20 instead of $50, which was something I really wanted, but I would have been better off paying the $50, just to avoid the headache.

Then, this morning, I get an e-mail from one of them, not apologizing for not showing, but stating "she will call me this week so I can come over and show her some stuff on the computer and help her out with some lesson plans for her daughter". Not.

It really puts into perspective who is using you and who are really your friends. Well, the party is over and I had a good time with just the 4 of us and I am getting the gift that I wanted, but I am just going to start saying No to people.

It seems people use me and my children all the time. Not any more.

A friend off a yahoo group close to home has an abundance of vegetables in her garden. This is what I am getting for free.

"green zucchini (lots!)
yellow summer squash (lots)
spaghetti squash ( a couple right now with more developing)
acorn squash (just a couple with more developing)
small onions (a bunch)
green bell peppers (2)
cucumber (a few)
hot banana (?) peppers (lots)
herbs available: chives, oregano, rosemary, spearmint, orange mint, chocolate mint
Tomatoes should be available soon as should some watermelon and cantelope.

You are welcome to check with me every week for availability-I would really like the produce to find good homes! ;-)
Thanks for your interest."

Can you believe it. I am so excited. Time to get my canning stuff out and purchase a small freezer (which is something I have been wanting to do for a long time for excess items, on sale meat and stocking up).

I have done quite a bit of shopping this week. Spent quite a bit, but saved even more.

Meijers has a lot of great items on sale. All there furniture is 50% to 75% off, plus an additional 20% off coupon. Got a great bench, original price $39.99, marked down to $18.00 and another 20% off of that came to $14.40. Bought a beautiful outdoor candle, original price was 29.99, on sale for $2.99. I think I will go back for more of these, they would make beautiful x-mas gifts. Also I bought groceries. Meijers totalled $230.84, but I only paid $110.27, using coupons with sales.

Having a Swiss Colony Occasions party on Sunday and a Birthday party for my husband on Wednesday. I had a coupon for $5.00 off at the Dollar Store, so I got plates, forks, cups, candles, Raspberry Ice Tea bags, a birthday card and some mints for both parties and after using the coupon only paid around $4.00, plus the Swiss Colony Lady is bringing all the food. My biggest expense will be buying my husband his ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery on Wednesday morning, but I do have a coupon for $3.00 off.

Had a coupon for a Free 5# bag of bird seed at the Feed Store. My husband has a bird sanctuary out in the yard. It started out me teaching my kids about nature and birds and before I knew it, my husband took over and now we have every bird you can think of, squirrels, chipmunks, racoons and deer roaming the yard. So, anyway, the kids are giving him the birdseed for one of his birthday gifts and I am giving him the bench to use in the foyer so he can get his boots on and off easier.

Also went yard saling. Got some jeans, shorts, a dresser, mirror and my daughter bought herself some purses. All for less than $30.00.

I love bargains.

My bookstore is back up and running and with a different, more easily to aneauver website. Please take a look and keep me in mind for your future purchases.

http://theivorytablet.spreadtheword.com/

I do have a link for it under the "Sites I Frequent" to the right.

Last night I went to a friend's party. She is my old neighbor and moved to a bigger house last summer. She had representatives from Partylite and Swiss Colony Occasions there. They both have beautiful stuff. I did purchase myself a new 3-Wick candle in another flavor.

But, what impressed most was the fact that my friend, Missy, who is the biggest procrastinator and not the most organized person, has really done a lot of work on and in their house. The house needed a lot of work and she used to keep everything. I am very proud of her for being so diligent on painting, organizing and fixing things.

We decided we would have a garage sale together, coming up in August, so that she can get rid of all the stuff she has went through and decided she doesn't need. She said she will use the money from her garage sale to buy her three small children (8, 5 and 2) some items for school.

And the best part, she thanked me for rubbing off on her to be more diligent with her money and to not be such a big procrastinator. She is an awesome friend and I miss her being my neighbor, but I can't wait to spend some time with her doing the garage sale.

Starting in September, I will have 4 hours a day to myself Monday through Friday. Wow, what will I do? Hmm.

I have a lot of painting to get done on trim - the worst job. I hate painting trim.

Christmas Shopping - Cool.

And, I am starting a Club. I am sending out invitations to select friends and acquaintances. We will meet once a week or every other week to do Frugal and Fun things. Coupon swapping, scrapbooking, book of the month discussion and anything related to being frugal, stay at home moms. It will be from 11:30 to 2:30 and every time we meet will be at a different house, where the host will supply coffee, tea, water and dessert. I thought this would be a fun way to exchange coupons, savings and spending advice and get some things organized. I need to find some really cute and fun blank invitations, figure out how to word them and a guest list of about eight to ten women. Any suggestions are welcome.

Adding $4.03 to my change jar.

Prev. Total $18.57
Add $4.03
New Total $22.60

$20 Challenge: I thought I would change around my $20 Challenge. I realize that my saving of certain money doesn't always come in the form or rebate checks or unexpected money, but also from taking control of debt (i.e., like cancelling subscriptions or saving at the grocery store by using sales and coupons). So, instead I will be adding those amounts to my $20 challenge. It will be kind of a ficticious amount because I won't always have the money in my hands, but not spending money is saving also.

Beach Money: This is money that I made working part-time up at the Beach through the summer. Some of it has went into my savings, checking, cash on hand and already spent towards specific purchases like piano tuning, clarinet, kids school clothes, etc.

So, both of these areas are money that I will keep track of to see how much I am saving or making and both of these areas are completely different from my Liquid Assets, which is actually money that I have by doing the above and more.

Cancelled three magazine subscriptions today instead of renewing them saving me a total of $60.00. I will add that to my $20 challenge.

Well, my debt is $7715.00 as of July, 2006. That is paying 4 debtors. Vacation Club, Dentist, A/C and Furnace. But, with a little finagling and transferrring two debts (a/c and furnace) to another 0% card for 15 months, all of my current debt is at a no interest payment. My goal is to have all that debt paid off in 15 months before the interest hits and that saves me a whole lot of money. How exciting, not paying anyone any interest.

After that, I am going to add that additional money to my current car payment. I don't really consider this to be bad debt, cause a vehicle for me is essential. I don't buy brand new. I do buy used, but in great shape used. I owe $12,500 on a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Payment is $305.15 for the next 48 months. Can't wait to start paying that down, but by then, I will need another newer used jeep.

Although, my past two Jeeps, a 1992 Jeep Cherokee Sport, I used for almost 10 years and put 240,000 miles on it and then resold it for $1,500. The Sport I did buy new and paid cash for it when I bought it ($20,000) and I still have my 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee that my husband now drives and it is looking and running great. Maintenance is the key to keeping great vehicles.

After all that, paying down my mortgage, which I don't owe much on, will be a priority.

Today, I deposited my check for $120.06 from the beach job, which brings my total to $707.32.

While I was at the Bank, I also added an automatic transfer of $200 to take place from my checking to my savings account every month. With that I got a bonus of $25.00 deposited into my savings account as a thank you.

Also, for the last four months, the Bank has been charging my savings account a service fee of $4.00 every month. I asked why and he said that at one time my balance fell below $300. I mentioned that I thought it couldn't go below $250. The Bank guy said that amount changed with the change-over of one bank merging with a bigger bank. Hey, not my fault the banks merged. So, he compromised with me and gave me back half of that amount to the total of $8.00. So now I know not to let my savings account fall below $300.

The mail lady has been good to me this week and has brought me a lot of coupons and free samples from Walmart.

And, today is my Anniversary. My husband has made reservations for us somewhere tonight for dinner.

I have never had a cell phone bill over $40.00 at the most. But, because my husband broke his and I purchased a new one, then got my old one back from my husband, cause my 21 y.o. borrowed my new one.

Well, I just got my cell phone bill for my old one and it is $120.00. So, I charged the battery, shut it off and put it in my purse to use only for emergencies.

No more just calling me out of the blue to talk. Ever since I got a job working at the Club/Beach, my bills have went up with the kids, husband and other family members calling me. It has cost me more money to work.

I am quitting so things will get back to normal.

Okay, not a real profitable week. Only .43 cents added to the change jar and I really can't remember anything exciting that came in the mail.

But, I did win 2 seperate auctions on e-bay with 100 coupons in each auction. 200 coupons total. I was really low on coupons and we don't buy the newspaper, so I bought some coupons totalling $4.45. I have done this before and ended up with some great coupons.

are Free, or inexpensive.

Lately, I have been dwelling on all the bad things that have been going on in my life instead of the good things. I am not usually this way. Maybe I am just frustrated with the way things are going and how long it is taking for me to get to my goals.

Well, I decided to look at the good things in life that we have received lately.

A paddle boat, given to us by one of my husband's clients, a couple weeks ago, because he just wanted it out of his way. All it needed was a new plug in the bottom, cause the old one dry rotted and fell out. Minor cost to replace the plug. But, let me tell you, we have used that paddle boat every day. My kids love it, my husband and I go out on it in the evenings and right now my husband and my 11 y.o. are out on it fishing.

Vacation Bible School for 7th - 12th graders. Yes, this is new, but awesome. Most VBS's are geared towards the elementary age children, but there is a church near us targeting the teens. They have team games, snacks and bible study geared towards their age group. So, for two hours every evening, my children are attending with their cousins. I love this idea.

My Central Air Conditioning. With it being close to 100 every day, my air is heaven. It is not actually free. I do pay for it every month, but, boy I do appreciate having it.

This blog and the people on it are fabulous. This is great support. Thanks to all my fellow bloggers.

Picked up my son's clarinet for 6th grade band in the fall. Cost $70.00. That will be added to the Education Expenses to the right.

I am sitting at my computer this morning, getting some work done, when a DTE van (electric service) pulls in the driveway a little after 8:00 a.m. I asked him what the problem was and he mentioned that my meter was a "random pull". I said "what does that mean?".

He explained that so many houses come up in the computer to go and pull their meter and replace it with a newer one, so they can test the old one. I was not happy. The meter was replaced three years ago when we added the addition to our home. I called DTE while he was here just to make sure he was on the up and up.

The DTE representative stated that it was in the computer system. My biggest beef was that I was not notified before this. She tried to tell me that they cannot notify everyone that their meter is going to be pulled, even thought they know a month or two in advance. I said "you can get my bill to me every month without a problem" and that "maybe the company should add the notification to the previous bill before something like this takes place". She didn't argue with that. I also let her know that I better be notified in the future of the company's plans if it involves my home.

So, the change of the meters took place, but it looks like he didn't set it, cause it just keeps flashing 000000's. Maybe, I will get some free electrical service out of it before they realize it. Hey, not my fault they can't do their job right.

Has anyone been watching this. I have caught a couple episodes. It is a full week of debt diet, with today being the last day. You can check it out at www.oprah.com

Until you actually see it, it is hard to believe that there are some people in some serious debt.

It has made me look at different items in my life and where I could cut back. There are a couple areas that I might be able to trim.

First of all, I spend approximately $400/mth on groceries for a family of 5 (ages 45, 43, 21, 14 and 11). I am going to try to cut this. I thought this would be a fun area to try to get creative.

A couple other areas I might consider cutting are AOL, cause we have Internet Explorer, Runescape, and the two pay as you go cell phones. These are actually minor areas of spending, but together they all add up.

Get my Debt paid off ($7715.00) in the next 15 months (the interest comes due after that) and then put the money toward paying off my Jeep note, then towards reducing my mortgage. Although, I do have 100% equity in my mortgage, which is a good thing.

I really can't cut my children's education, cause I really believe that is important, but I can look for good deals. My daughter's piano teacher only charges $10 per 1/2 hour, and my son's trumpet, clarinet and guitar lessons don't cost anything, just maintenance (i.e., trumpet oil, guitar strings, etc.) My dauther's school classes cost $105 each, but I do purchase her books for a fraction of the cost from Amazon.com instead of paying full price.

So we will see. I will post the grocery shopping experience so you all can see.

Have a great day.

I usually fill my Jeep up every 9-10 days. My Jeep has a 20 gallon tank and gets around 400 miles to a tank of gas. When it gets below 1/4 tank, that is when I fill up. It has been costing me somewhere between $47.00 and $54.00 to fill up or around $155.00/month in gas.

Our gas here in Michigan is now up to $2.99/gallon. The extra amount is really putting a crunch on my budget. It will probably cost me closer to $60.00 my next fill up.

Most of our running is around town or within 30 miles of our area, so that is helpful.

But, now for vacations, I really have to figure how much gas we are going to be using/purchasing and adding that to our vacation budget. It is probably worth it to fly these days.

It used to be owning a RV was the way to go, but now with gas prices, not anymore. We had a Class C Motorhome and a Vintage Travel Trailer that we sold because of the cost in gas, plates and insurances. It was cheaper for me to buy a vacation package and drive. We now camp in a tent, when we see fit. But, my 14 yo daughter isn't liking the camping thing as much at this time in her life. She like's luxury.

Here's keeping an eye on the gas prices. Cheers.

I don't think my daughter's piano has ever been tuned. It was pretty bad, but not as bad as I thought it would be. It sounds so beautiful now. The cost was $111.00. That will go under Education Expenses.

It has already cost me $1050 for my 11 yo's cracked tooth/root canal. Tomorrow we were supposed to go and have it completely finished. I asked what the cost would be to finish his tooth and the lady told me it would be $1163.

Needless to say, I had to cancel that appointment. I certainly don't have that kind of money right now. I did reschedule for three weeks. Hopefully I will sell either the book store, vacation package or property to help pay for Jameson to have his tooth finished.

Long story, shortened. I sold a truck a month ago, but the guy never transferred title and had a bogus plate on the truck. He got pulled over, him and his passenger fled the scene and the police department impounded my truck and gave it back to me.

Well, the impound costs, towing, state fee and re-titling the vehicle was around $365, plus taking a day off of work to get everything settle. After 4 hours of haggling and finding the guy I sold the truck to to get the keys back, the total costs wound up being $140. The owner said he would split it with me and I wound up only having to pay $70.00 and the impound yard keeping the truck. The owner said that if I changed my mind within a week, I could have the truck back for an extra $70. My brother called someone and yesterday I met this friend who paid the other $70 and reimbursed me my $70 and all is good.

The truck was pretty beat up, but had a lot of good parts on it. I am not a parts kind of gal, so it would have been a hassle for me. I am glad someone ended up with it that is actually legite.

I filed an application with Square Trade because you could try it for a month Free and then it is $7.50 per month afterwards. Well, they already charged me. What happened to "Try It for Free". I am going to have to call them.

BTW, Square Trade is a company that goes through verifying that I actually own certain items and that my items are legite. I will be listing my property, vacation club weeks and book store on e-bay. It is actually a great thing, cause there are so many scammers out there and I want people to know that I am not scamming them and to bid with confidence.

So, it is worth it. If I can sell the items within the next month, then I can cancel my membership to Square Trade.

You see, my 11 yo son has two expensive bmx bikes, a Red Line ($200) and a Specialized ($300). Last year, he bought the Red Line with his money from his birthday and Christmas and this year he bought the Specialized the same way.

Problem is all the neighborhood kids don't seem to have bikes, or their bikes are broken, so they use my son's Red Line. Okay, that is fine, except that every week, I am replacing something on it, like chains, tire tubes, etc. It is really hard to pin point exactly who broke it, so I end up taking it in to the bike shop and getting it repaired.

So Saturday, both of his bikes needed repairs which took me until 1:00 in the afternoon to get fixed (half a day on bikes). I had a talk with Jameson about his bikes and the fact that our money really needs to be going to different areas and be selective about who is riding them.

In the afternoon, a child came by (12 y.o) and seen the bike repaired, wanting to ride it. I said fine, but no jumping the bikes cause I can't afford to keep repairing them (probably with frustration in my voice, but hey, I am human). He stormed off the bike and went home and whined to his mom.

I get a call yesterday afternoon from this child's mother stating that her son thinks I hate him because I wouldn't let him ride Jamee's bike. Whhaaattt. So I explained to her that I don't hate her son, but, I spent half a day repairing both bikes and if I am the one spending money on "our" bikes, I will "decide" how they are rode, and that my money really needs to go to other areas. She did state that they finally took one of their bikes in to get fixed for her son. Perfect.

But, how dare her make me feel like such a mean mom. Now it's Monday, and I have this pit in the middle of my stomach feeling. I think I need to call her and talk to her. I mean, am I being unreasonable to not want our stuff broke all the time?

We had the same problem with my 11 yo's pay as you go cell phone, that I had to keep putting money on cause everybody wanted to use it. I got it for him just to check in with me when he is out on his bike. I had to take that away for awhile so the neighborhood kids would go have their parents buy them their own.

This one mom even used my son's phone to keep in touch with her child. I had to let her know that that was for Jamee and I to talk back and forth to each other, not for her convenience.

What is wrong with this picture. Set me straight, cause I don't think I am asking for a lot here. I own these items and I should get to decide how they are used, shouldn't I?

Thanks for listening.

Hmmm, can I remember what I got in the mail this week. Let's see.

*$20 rebate from Circuit City
*New cell phone
*Nice offer from my bank. Sign up for automatic transfers of $200 from my checking to my savings and get $25.00 free. I transfer this amount anyways, so I am going for it.
*Couple magazines. One with a couple coupons (Free Panty from Victoria's Secret and $2.00 off Feria Haircolor
*Bed, Bath and Beyond 20% off coupon.
*As always, lots of junk mail

That is all I can remember.

Well, it is Sunday. Cleaned out my purse and I am adding $4.54 to my Change Jar

Prev. Total $13.60
Add $4.54
New Total $18.14

I listed my Online Christian Book Store on e-bay today.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230005888388

We will see what happens in 7 days when the auction ends.

Update on my debts/to do list

The impounded truck that I thought was going to cost me, my brother is going to take and pay all the costs associated with it.

Selling my Online Christian Book Store. The store originally cost me $580. There are no other fees associated with it. There are no website, domain or maintenance fees to be paid. I am asking $450 and then I will transfer the information to the buyer. http://theivorytablet.spreadtheword.com/

Presque Isle, Michigan property. Beautifully treed 80'x199' lot between Grand Lake and Lake Huron. Clubhouse with indoor swimming pool, campground, ATV and snowmobile trails. Too much to list. Will sell for $4000 and $95. for recording the deed.

Ten (10) Week Vacation Package through Resort Villa Vacations. You can use this anywhere in the United States, Canada and any other Country (i.e., Paris, Italy, Ireland). Use two weeks per year over the next five (5) years. You can move the weeks up, but if you don't use two in a year, you will loose them. These places go for $150 - $2000 a night. I have seen just one of these weeks sell for $2000 on e-bay to use in Hawaii. I don't have the time to list the weeks separately. Will sell for $3,500 for all ten weeks.

I am going to be listing these items, except the truck, on e-bay early next week. If anyone is interested, let me know before I list them.

Too many issues have come up in my life and I need to let go of some items. My loss is your gain. Serious inquiries only.

I had to purchase a new phone from Cingular because my husband smashed his into 4 pieces in his car door.

I got my new cute little phone yesterday. The phone was free with a two year plan. That is fine, I have no problem with that.

Today, I get email from the Points Rewards thing. What is on the front page, get 2000 points if you get - you guessed it - a new phone from Cingular.

What the heck. Now I am out 2000 points.

I have to go to bed, I am having a bad day.