dmc_2008:

suellen, what is your secret, do you have a single double or quadruple income?  ;-)

I have a double income less than $80,000.

1.) Baby Step #1: Emergency Fund $1,000 (fully funded 01/25/08)

2.) Baby Step #2: Beginnning Balance 01/01/08 $78,492/Current Balance $23,915

Paid Off $54,577 in debt since January 2008!!! GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

Well, Monday and Tuesday I did great..did not spend a dime...stayed home. 

But today...I got gas which was $27 and that was just for a little more than half a tank.  What in the world is going on with gas prices?  Then I got groceries ($41.00) I felt so proud of myself because I stuck to my list.  But I have to tell you those cookies (which were not on the list) looked really, really good but I left them on the shelf where they belonged. AUGH!!!  I should not need any groceries for a couple of weeks as my freezer is full.   

1.) Baby Step #1: Emergency Fund $1,000 (fully funded 01/25/08)

2.) Baby Step #2: Beginnning Balance 01/01/08 $78,492/Current Balance $23,915

Paid Off $54,577 in debt since January 2008!!! GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

Monday I spent a bit on prescriptions.  Tuesday and Wednesday were no money out!!  Today I spent $84 buying stuff that I've been really waiting for.

• Needed a king size comforter for DD's bed and had a $50 budget; been looking for 3 months now and finally got one for $30.  Our $50 budget was tight, too, b/c everything that looked nice and would match her room was much more than that, but I put my foot down on going over $50.  Patience paid off!
• A warming blanket for $30, the smallest one I could get that would still work for us -- just going to use it to heat up the sheets before we climb in.  It won't be used as an all-nighter thing.  Priced elsewhere for $70 or more.
  
• A pair of thermals for DD to wear as PJs -- $7; saved about $8 over getting them from a chain store.
  
• Snowpants for DD for $11; next lowest price I had seen was $15 at Walmart.  These are a size bigger than she needs, so actually I saved more by not having to buy them next year.

Will spend money on dinner out for my b-day.  Probably only about $25 though since it's a pizza place.

Tomorrow will hopefully be no spend.  DD is going to be home on Fall Break and I'm hoping to spend the day baking cookies and such with her.

It has been a semi no spend day here.  Early this morning DS#2 asked me where his gatorade and water was at for his scout trip this weekend.  HUUUMMMM - still at the store because mama forgot to get them! So stopped at wally world this morning to get those for him and they had some violas that I've been looking everywhere for.  So I bought a dozen of those for the pots on my deck and front porch.  Pansies & Violas are my favorite flowers so they weren't a planned purchase but they are beautiful and I will enjoy them all winter. Our winters are usually mild enough that they bloom all winter and into late spring before it gets too hot for them. 

DH also had to put gas in his truck this morning.  Has anyone else noticed that the price of gas has started to go back up again?  He paid $2.55 a gallon for regular. 

All food will be from home today.  So, not a no spend day but not too bad either.

Shellia

Jennylyn, thank you for your candid answers.

Currently we have a biological DS, age 10.  I know his friends and their interests and of course, DS's interests too.  We have our adopted DD, age 2. She was our foster daughter, and we had her from age 3 months.  We'll be celebrating her first year of being adopted in November.  Then we have our foster daughter.  She's been with us for 16 months, and is now 5 in Kindergarten.

Now, I have another question for you, if you don't mind.  Do you celebrate your child's anniversary of adoption?  I'm kind of in a toss up about this because I want her to know how much we love her.  Yet you do this on a daily basis.  I don't want to have to "keep up with the Jones's" because they had a party and now we need/want to have one as well.  Even within the family this could be very painful for our current DFD.  We've talked with our DS and he said let's try it this year and then reevaluate our priorities next year.  She'll be raised knowing that her Mom loved her so much that she allowed us to adopt her.  Plus she'll be raised knowing how much of a blessing she is in our lives.  I just don't want to start something that started in fun and later becomes an obligation.  I'm looking for any advice solutions on how to handle this.

Yesterday I put in gas in the car.  Today DH put in gas in the van.  There hasn't been any other spending for either day, however.

a spendy day ugh!    aircare for van $23,  $65 at liquidation world, got juice, soup,  few other things, kids socks, a sweater cape for me and a sweatsuit set for ds for soccer because of the cold.

then iga for 1.99 lb bacon sale got 2, bogo rosemay/garlic stuffed pork loin, half price lemon pie (gave half to fil) raspberry almond crostata, bunch of discounted dairy, and danone sale yogurt 12 for 4.99.  then safeway for more sale coffee plus carrots, romaine,bread and frozen pizzas on sale.

think I have spent $100 on groceries in the last two days between 2 trips to iga and one trip to safeway. 

its frozen pizza tonight for dinner since I am not feeling good.

hopefully no spending tomorrow!

And an adopted DD too!  Striving, we have a lot in common (more than just debt and spending challenges!)

For DS, we do acknowledge the anniversary of his adoption, he was 2 at adoption and we have had 3 "Gotcha Days".  I can see the challenge when you have a foster child in that though . . . don't want to emphasize the lack of adoption for the one still waiting but want to honor the one you have.  We don't do much for our "Gotcha Day".  I make his favorite dinner (has always been mac & cheese) and make a special dessert like cupcakes or something and we all blow the candles out together to mark another year that we have been a family.  We also talk about what a special day it was for his dad and me, how long we waited for a little boy or girl to love and how happy we were to finally have him and be a family.  That's pretty much it, no gifts or anything, we keep it pretty simple (I know a few people who do parties for it but we keep the parties to the birthday, his is 3 weeks prior to his adoption anniversary).  Oh, I do take a picture of him that day so I can keep a record-he was an international adoption, very malnourished, underdeveloped, etc and I love being able to compare how far he has come from the day we adopted him.

Congrats on the upcoming adoption anniversary!  Exciting!  I would love to hear more about your foster experiences as it is something we are strongly considering . . . mind if I contact you outside the forum??

OK, to the topic at hand . . . does it count if I spent Paypal money??  LOL.

I didn't spend anything today from my account but I did buy a couple things on ebay.  Hmmm.  Bought DH's birthday gift plus some clothes for DD. 

Ebay is addictive.  Should be selling not buying!!

I didn't spend yesterday, but today might be a different story.  It depends on if I go to the market or not.

P.S.  I would love to adopt a little boy!  ;-)  But I guess I have my hands full and it wouldn't be fair to everybody!

Jennylyn: Please feel free to contact me at your convenience. 

I think it's ingenious to be able to use your paypal account to buy needs and gifts.  It's helping you meet your goal of not spending any money.  Just my two cents.

DH is leaving tonight for the weekend for his part time coaching job.  He's taking six kids to a hands on clinic.  I hate it when he travels, but this isn't costing us anything and he should be making some money from it.  So I need to be a big girl and accept it for what it is.

Before he leaves tonight, we're hoping to go to a pumpkin patch and pick out our pumpkins, as a special treat to the kids.  They have a couple of mazes, hayrides, purchase our pumpkins, and then go home.

Other than a couple of pumpkins, there shouldn't be any money out today.