Before the end of the year, there are just stuff that needs to be done before I loose half my income.

*My husband needs a suit because he is best man in his brother's wedding. I did find a good deal at Target, if I can find the right size jacket.
*We really need new mattresses. Ours are so worn down that we wake up feeling like we have been run over.
*I would like a new comforter. Ours got tattered and worn, so I put a duvet cover over it, but now it is very tattered and worn.
*Christmas shopping. Need I say more.
*Two of my children's birthdays are in December.
*Finish some painting on the exterior of my home - basically doors, before the snow flies.
*Of course, keep paying down my debt as much as possible. I would like to start the new year with as little debt as possible.
*My main bathroom needs to be re-done. It has some mold. Needs new drywall, a better bathroom vent for taking out the moisture, a new sink and repainted. I will probably have to work on this come the new year.

I did re-write a budget for the new year. It is going to be tight, but if I remain aware of our spending and watch for deals, I think we can manage. My new budget will be posted the end of December.

So I thought I would start keeping track of the Free stuff I receive. This will include items I receive in the mail, Gift cards and cash.

I use different sites for different things.

Mypoints.com. I use the click thrus for points and then redeem for gift cards.

Cashbaq. Used for buying items and receive cash back.

Winster.com. Game playing to receive coupon codes for different items. My latest was $8.00 off a Papa Johns Pizza

Inbox Dollars. Used for cash back.

Pincone Surveys: Cash for doing surveys.

Hot Coupon World. Used for freebies and just plain ole good advice for using coupons, rebates and sales.

So far this week, I have gotten Free:
*Gardening Bag from The Nature Conservancy
*$8.00 Papa John's Pizza coupon code (We are getting pizza tonight for dinner)
*$25.00 Gas Card from Mypoints
*$13.00 redeemed from Cashbaq.
*$6.00 from Pincone
*$5.52 sitting in my Inbox Dollars

Waiting to receive:
*Silver key chain
*DVR for switching from ATT to Comcast
*Doggie sleeping bag
*Reusable Shopping Bag
*Marlboro T-shirt with my hubby's initials
*Snugi Blanket

That is all I can think of right now.

I love to look at fashion/clothing catalogs like Newport News. You can also look at them online, but if you get the catalog, you can rip out the look you like and take it with you when shopping.

It also helps me when I go into my closet and make something out of what I have without buying. Or, I can go to a Salvation Army type store and look for fill ins. This is a great way to save money on clothes.

It helps keep me trendy. For example, I bought a really nice black sweater dress about 16/17 years ago. Well, wouldn't you know, they are back in style; and you can bet, no-one has one like mine.

Also, if you buy quality and take good care of your clothes, they will last so you can use them 100 years later.

Here is a link for the 10 items, 10 ways look. Every time a catalog comes out, there is a new 10 items, 10 ways look.

http://www.newport-news.com/shop/category_splash.aspx?gp_coll_id=9&gp_cat_id=1649&nav_cat_id=9782&category_id=10121

Love it.

Well, there will be no raise for me due to the deflation of our economy from COLA (cost of living adjustment), so the new base income I will be living off of in the year 2010 will be $18,900.

Thank goodness my husband has been working steadily and I have my summer job.

We used to just live on my income and try to use whatever my husband gave me for savings, paying down our debt and restoring our cottage.

We have made changes to our lifestyle over the past year to accommodate the loss of half my income, but I will be sitting down very soon to work on a new budget for the New Year, making goals and priorities.

I used my summer beach job to pay for my property taxes. This past year, I made enough at my beach job to pay the taxes, take two mini vacations (one to Mackinaw Island and one to Chicago) and buy all the paint and landscaping needs for my cottage. Next years beach money will be allocated for taxes and Christmas.

Just a note to fill you all in on my happenings this summer and revelations throughout the year.

I have been working on elimating my debt and now have it down to just over $9,150. My debt was around $23,596 in September 2008. I have paid off $14,446 in a year.

My summer job at beach is now over. I made enough money from running the club to pay my property taxes, buy most of what I needed for repainting my home and needed items for my gardens/landscaping, took a vacation; and still have a couple hundred dollars left to take my kids to Chicago this month. It always leaves a little sadness in my heart to close the beach.

This summer, I completely repainted my cottage to color match the new section and added cedar shake to the outside of the new foyer, along with laying the wood floor in the family room, adding a deck, worked on landscaping, added some raised gardens and grew our own food, all with cash.

This was the year to work on simplifying my life and living a sustainable and self-sufficient life. We chose to reduce our waste, reuse or recycle what we could, started a compost pile and stopped buying pop and bottled water. I set out to teach my children that our food doesn't come from the grocery store. We grew potatoes (red and white), tomatoes, corn, raspberries, grapes, apples, herbs, asparagus. We use local providers for our strawberries to make jam, went apple picking and put up apple pie filling in the freezer. We baked delicious and wholesome food from scratch and made extra for the freezer or canned for the pantry. Just yesterday, we made three large batches of stuffed cabbage using local cabbage, organic hamburger and rice and made our own stewed tomatoes to pour over the top.

We will be adding chickens for eggs and will sit down and make a plan on what else we would like to do to become more green and self-sufficient. This has been an awesome adventure for all of us.

I started a Farmgirl Chapter from Mary Janes Farm http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/ and am looking forward to learning new skills from my new found, like-minded friends.

In keeping with the Farmgirl theme, I started a new blog to document mine and my family's simple, self-sufficient and sustainable life. You can find me at http://www.urbancottagefarmgirl.blogspot.com/

I do come back to read others entries every so often here at saving advice, but realized over the summer that my heart is not into making sure I have enough money to retire on, but instead to retire living a rich and full life and teaching my children how to supply their own needs, remain debt free and be happy and healthy.

Here's to being green, self-sufficient, self-sustaining and debt free (in the very near future).