So yesterday, I didn't spend anything at the Dentist. My tooth is infected, so he didn't charge me, but wrote me a RX.

So, after writing out my bills for February, my debt is under $10,000; and this is what else I found out, after keeping track for the month.

My ING and Savings accounts are going up.

Spent $135.25 on gas, but $20.00 was in gas cards from mypoints.com; and

I opened a Sharebuilder account which I am investing in some stock on Friday.

I spent
$328.66 on Groceries
$110.05 on Fast Food/Eating Out

Extras:
Gym Pants for my daughter $33.92
Prescription for my tooth $26.09
Combination Lock for locker $4.02
Winter Gloves and Shirt $16.50
Boys Snow Pants $8.45
Bubble Mailer $1.05
For a total of $90.06 on Extras

I got everything accomplished for January, like paying my Jeep and Homeowner's Insurances, my Up North Property listed with a Realtor, drywall for my livingroom and cleaned two china cabinets.

My debt owed is below $10,000. But, I have another dentist appointment today that will go on my no-interest credit card.

But, hey, I am getting closer to being done on my teeth, so that debt will stop accumulating eventually and then I can get it all paid off. I mean, afterall, how many teeth can one person have.

I am also still plugging away at paying off my credit card debt. Two of them should be paid off fairly soon and then I can snowball that amount on to another debt.

My house on the Island is For Sale. I am stunned. I sold it 12 years ago with great regret, now it is For Sale. I just went out and drove by it. I am torn. I had a lot of great memories in that house. That was the first house I bought on my own when my oldest child was three years old. Kind of a new life for me and my little boy.

I will never forget the day I moved in, June 28th. I heard my little boy outside talking to someone I didn't know. I asked him who he was talking to (it was some older gentlemen) and he told me "This is my friend. His name is Grandpa". My daughter was born in that house and I got pregnant with my youngest in that house. Lots of great 4th of July's there. The Village shoots the fireworks off over the Lake and most all of my close friends still live on the Island. "What happens on the Island, stays on the Island". That's our saying.

We have had great fun at the Boat Club, poker runs on the Lake and a lot of late evenings on the boat at the sand bar in the middle of the Lake.

Oh, it served me well.

The guy who bought it from me is the one selling it; and, I might add, for a very reasonable price. I could actually afford to buy it back. Just one problem, it is 500 square feet smaller than the house I live in now. And, I am quite attached to my Cottage and where I live now.

We moved into the house we are in almost 8 years ago; again starting a new life, on my own with my three children, then 4, 7 and 14. They have grown up here where we are now and love it here.

But, why did they have to make my old house so affordable.

I used some of my points at mypoints.com for two $10.00 gas cards. I just put this request in on Friday, and they were in the mail today. The my points thing really works. Sweet.

I have a lot of different types of paper and coin money that came from different countries when my father was in WWII.

I am not really sure how to go about finding the worth or where one would take the money to, in order to get some knowledge.

Any suggestions.

I do contemplate my retirement every now and then, but it just does not seem as important to me as living my life now. I mean, do we really know how long we will be here on Earth. We may never get to retirement, if retirement means age 65 or older.

So, as I do not have a hard time saving money for a retirement, I do have a hard time at when I might retire and how much cash I may need when that day comes.

Every time I look at a "retirement calculator", it suggest putting in how old I will be when I retire. Umm, well, I don't know when that will be. I like to work and make money, why do I have to figure out an age when I should retire.

I mean, afterall, I feel like I am living my retirement now. I also think that my retirement will come when I can actually no longer work.

I know, you all think that when you retire, you are supposed to be taking great vacations with your significant other and visiting your grandchildren, but I already do that (well, except for the grandchildren part - I don't have any yet and that is just fine).

But really, shouldn't we all just be enjoying our time here now while we can with the people we love, treading lightly on the Earth, setting aside some money for when "retirement" does come.

So, my question is, how much to save and when do I retire. Crazy.

A while back I wrote about having to find a way to make some income. I will loose half my income in three years and then all of my income in 6 years due to my children turning 18.

I went into working with helping the elderly. The pay is not good (not that that is the big problem), it is just so depressing, that I am finding myself in a depressed state. Plus, it is really taking away from my family, which is not good. I just don't think it is for me, at this time in my life.

I gave it a try, but I need to do something that is more suitable for me. I am going to keep thinking on a dream job for me and try to come up with something in the near future.

http://sfcompact.blogspot.com/

This is a blog about not buying anything new for a year, using what you have, recycling, etc. I think it is quite interesting, even though I haven't made it through all the reading. I did see there is a Yahoo group for "The Compact". Hmmm. Gets you thinking.

I changed our Blockbuster plan from a total of $19.07 per month to $10.59 per month, saving me another 101.76/year, putting my projected saved total (extra money in my pocket) for the New Year at $1,589.23.

I am still plugging away. I am going to have to re-write my whole budget page after I have changed or inquired about all my spending categories.

Oh, this is becoming quite fun.

I have spent $5,617.31 on groceries last year for an average of $468.10/monthly.

I am going to try to bring that down to $400/monthly, saving me $817.31.

Savings on AOL, now cancelled $179.40

Savings on changing cell phone from a plan to a pay-as-you-go. My cell phone cost me $575.56 last year. A pay as you go will only cost me 84.80, a savings of $490.76.

These three items alone could save me $1,487.47. That's helpful.

Now, I am going to look into lowering our entertainment costs, cable, other cell phones, blockbuster online, garbage pickup and insurances.