Went to get my eyes checked this morning. "Strongly suspect" glaucoma. I haven't even hit 50 yet! Seems unfair. Waiting to be told when my appointment is with a specialist. Spent $232.14 for glasses with magnetic clip on shades. Employer portion of today's visit $214. So grateful to have insurance! Had expected to have eyes dilated, so picked a time/store that I could leave and go to lunch in easy walking distance. They didn't dilate my eyes, so I came straight home. I was wrong on my gas night... add another $3.34, and I also spent $1 on a fundraiser at work. Holly still peeing on everything in sight... Noted that the McDs charge from yesterday wasn't mentioned, $5.34. Still trying hard to keep honest with myself!

Spent $68.05 for Holly at vet's. Looks like 1 of 3 possibilities: 1) cystitus 2)kidney/bladder stones 3)unfelt tumor
For now she's getting antibiotics, and will return in 10 days. That visit will either mean more tests, or making sure she has whatever shots/vaccines, etc. she might need. I have an estimate of around $200 if she's healthy. Expected the bill to be higher, so I'm pretty pleased. She had a McMuffin on the way to the vet, and a good park run after, so I hope all in all she had a good day. I spent ~$9 on gas, and $25.10 on food last night. Quite different from the past with all the kids and grandkid at home When I arrived at work Holly's "pa" was waiting at my usual parking space. I appreciated that the first thing he wanted to know was how his "girl" was doing. I'm not sure if he meant me or Holly, but I talked about her visit to the vet He apologized for not having the $$ to give me for her care, and asked if he could take her this weekend. I'm a bit on the fence. He hasn't seemed to be very responsible to himself, but I know he and Holly love each other. Is he up to making she gets her meds twice a day, and always at the same time?

I think I finally have the charity crochet person/group squared away with who gets what ,where and under what name. Took no small amount of time, so I hope she follows through. When to the Town Clerk's office and got Holly licensed for another 2 years. $6 for license, another $2 to replace lost tags. Also spent $4.25 on 2 slices of pizza and a soda. Worth $.50. Tomorrow will be a challenging day. Must be up earlier than usual to get Holly walked, bathed before her 8:20 appointment 45 minutes away. Boss says I can leave work before midnight tonight, so that will help. This vet is supposed to reasonable; hope that's correct!

Got an email last night from someone in one of my crochet-for-charity groups asking about local donations and contacts. Called at 6am to leave a message for the child life specialist so she'd know the cavalry was coming. I've been donating hats and booties and small blankets to the local PICU which does heart surgery on full term-sized infants. The last time I had another 30 items ready I was asked to hold off for a little while as they had a good supply. I said great, if no calls in the next few weeks I'll donate them elsewhere. Two months pass, I donate them to the Lullabye League through Catholic Charities. They were thrilled! Another week passes, I get the "more items, please" call. I've been producing as quickly as I can, but have many pressures on my time now. Getting a person from another charity involved should ease the stress for everyone. Needed to spend several hours getting everyone's okay to share information, addys, etc. Next project was calling the vet over Holly. Not only will they not see her without ex's past bill paid, I can't get her records either. Not a happy camper, but have made an appointment with another vet for her for Thursday. Since
I have no record of her shots, I'm imagining a rather large bill...
Took myself out for lunch today. I've been doing much better in keeping track of funds, and was starting to feel deprived. It was record-breaking hot and quite humid, and I really didn't want to cook anything. Spend ~$17. No other $$ spent so far today. Made a call on behalf of a coworker last night to the local Hilton. He's taken his girlfriend for a special "romantic" evening for her birthday and spent about $200 for a romance package. Around here you can get a room for ~$50-$60 a night, but this was to include jacuzzi, bubble bath, massage oils, wine on ice, breakfast, snacks of your choosing from their selection. He notified the hotel ahead of time so they'd know exactly what time they were arriving (10pm). Water in the ice bucket, no way to open the wine bottle, no snacks, no bubblebath, no massage oil. The hotel is supposed to try to make it up to him... He wouldn't complain for himself in front of the girl (easily embarrassed), and the next day was saying it was a done deal. Sure, you can't recreate the night, but the hotel has an obligation in my mind to attempt some type of compensation.
Called my ex's gf and asked her if she wanted to hold a tag sale for me, reaping 30% of the profits. She said only if she got no $$. I refused. She's only working part time at a poorly paying job at the moment, and I'm trying to see that she can make some cash. I suspect we'll chat about this again. If it works out, more cash for the $5k challenge!

My son moved out on Saturday. I knew it was in the cards sometime, but not telling me 45 minutes before the truck came! Really, we've been on different schedules for a long time and I literally didn't have more than 1/2 hour with him this week spread out over days. I've never lived alone before. Not ever! It's going to take a bit of getting used to. Also I decided to have a yard sale yesterday. No signs, no ads, 95+ heat, high humidity and I sold a whopping $13. Thinking of asking my ex's GF if she wants to have a yard sale for me. I talked to her today and she has only part-time income coming in now, and it's VERY tight, from what she said. I've only seen her once in my life, but I've spoken with her a few times. Maybe a 70/30 (me/her) cut? Even if she made off with everything it's all stuff I need to get rid of sometime soon. My cousin and her friend will be coming to help me get ready for a realtor to look at the house. I need to know if I should spend the last $$ on it, or sell as is and move into an apartment or condo. The maintenance is killing me, and it just isn't getting done. Lots needed for the ole gal, and she needs TLC I can't give her now... I doesn't make sense to have so much space for one person. I wouldn't kick the kids out, but now they've both left, so... Spent ~$15 on groceries, ~$10 on gas, and ~$8.25 on junk food this weekend... and that's it. Yea me! Also brought my beloved Vermont Teddy Bear Mystique the Mystery Shopper Bear to Mr. Lister, an Ebay consignment store. Hated parting with it, but if I'm going from a 3 floor house to a 1-2 bedroom place Teddies should not be high on my list, I guess.

So I get a rousing nearly 4 hours of sleep and off I go to get my car repair done. I remember crocheting... and when I woke up on the floor of the car repair place, another woman was studying my face! An usual way to wake up, to be sure, and I still don't remember laying down... After I woke I went to the nearby gas station for coffee, snacks, etc. and spent ~$5.50. Soon my car was done, far ahead of schedule! Yipee! Since it took so much less time than they had estimated, they cut the difference between what was expected and what was actually used in half, so I got out early and less painfully. Love those guys! It turns out they caught my nap and I'm not sure if that had anything to do with cutting me a break or not. Went home for more naptime, started a crockpot of chili (tried to remember recipe, I'm sure I forgot something!), and headed to work. Slept too long to cook a lucn/dinner/meal, so I brought break planning on pbjs. Instead the ladies I work with made a food run at it cost me $10. unplanned, these food runs happen 3-4 times a year. Paid utilities and phone for a grand total of $350. Painful, but needed. Saved on parking by arriving when I did so I could have a good chance at a parking space. No other $$ news today...

Got home from work to discover dog peed in the house. And not a little... hope she's getting over something and doesn't need to go to the vet. She (Holly the dalmation) seemed better last night, and we had a nice walk, and she was pretty frisky. Holly is about 12, and her "dad" owes the vet money, and I'm not sure if they'll see her before it's paid. It isn't my responsibility though, and I'm hoping if I walk in with $$ they wouldn't refuse her. May need to call even if she doesn't need to go soon just to verify that she will be seen. Trying to plan some low cost time off travel around Labor Day. I expect to go to Chicago to see a friend of many years, and she and I will prolly split the cost of airfare. She and her husband bought a house they didn't expect after she offered to fly me out. I think splitting the cost is sensible... I've paid myself the past few times, but she hasn't come to my neck of the woods for many years. I very much enjoy her company, but it's hard to spent $300-450 for a visit that normally only lasts 1-2 days. I'm thinking of Massachusetts the following weekend as it's only 5-6 hours of driving. Don't want to put myself in the position of driving alone too tired or road weary... might be too much excitement! Certainly open to suggestions. Looking at hotels with fridge/micro for the most part, but cost will be a big factor. I don't want to stay home all summer and resent everyone who gets to explore new and different things, meet new people. I just need to find ways to make it as frugal as possible. Missed the payment date for car by a day from remembering the date incorrectly. Once again, procrastination... So lucky me! I got to make 2 payments at once. Still have a $300 utility bill to pay, and the mortage is due next pay period. Haven't yet been able to make the needed repairs on house, which will prolly run $8000 or so. Still trying to figure it all out. Plan the work, work the plan. Plan the work, work the plan...

Food in the crockpot was quite edible! Thanks, it made it much easier to get through hours of work knowing something was ready for me at home. Think i'll probably try chili next. Even if I only do this 2-3 times a week, it'll help a lot. Once again today I got to drive people (ok, daughter and grandson) around due to cars not working. Lucky me, now my car also needs service. Planned for Friday, not planned for $300-400... Will have to punt! Happy news, mystery shop that incurred a charge of $150+ now has had the charge reversed. Mama can sleep again Also was paid for the shop, another $25 to the good. Made deposits of small checks at the bank today, for a grand total of $138.23. Not alot, but better than a poke in the eye with a stick, or whatever that cliche is. Also had a letter notorized at the bank. DD threw out a letter from the IRS asking me to sign a form because a tax return wasn't signed. I was highly exasperated! The IRS is suggesting a write a letter talking about what happened, have it notorized and send it to the IRS adjustments section, who is holding my refund check. So that was what I had notorized. Once again my procrastinating is costing me money. In other personal finance news I had lunch out today since I had less than 4 hours sleep and my darling grandson and his mom were driving me nuts. I needed to be out of their company for awhile. Cheaper than a shrink, and I had a very healthy salad. $12.05. Having a rough time finding time to crochet in anticipation of craft fairs as I keep spending my time running everyone all over creation. Honestly I think I put more miles on my car in 2 days than I normally do in a week... and none of it was tax-deductible. Still trying to come up with more ideas for Jeffrey's Challenge, but nothing has panned out yet. Reasonably busy at work, should be a good night for sleeping. I can't wait for the next day I can sleep more than 4 consecutive hours!Editted to add $11.36 in gas, $5.05 in eyeglass cleaning stuff. Trying to take better care of what I already own

Thanks for all the thoughtful feedback. I'm typing away at work, while at home my crockpot is getting a workout... Found thinly sliced round steak on sale, so I threw that in the crock after browning , added an onion and some stewed tomatoes. Hopefully it'll taste alright. No major spending sprees here. Son and daughter have both had car/truck issues recently, so i feel as though I'm spending all my time driving people around. As a result of driving the world around and the amount of time it's taken I've had to eat on the run far more than I would have liked. My weight is getting higher all the time, and I feel unhealthy. I find myself giving into temptation too much food-wise, but I've been doing much better in other areas of spending. I did take advantage of the Target clearance sale over the weekend to hit their one spot clearance. I found tons of car related items, so i think someone in my life will end up getting a car care kit. I ended up with tire cleaner, car wash stuff, car wash mitt thingies, wipe down the dashboard wipes, maybe a window cleaner wipe?.. stuff like that. I ended up spending ~$11.50 altogether there, and also picked up a personal care item, and some household stuff. I did buy a Sunday paper and buy groceries $45.87 but nothing I can count on getting a rebate for. I've been spending lots on gas due to driving everyone everywhere... over 100 miles a day. I spent $33.21 on a prescription, but called my doctor's office and he will be writing for 3 months at a time for that always-have-to-take-it med so I can pay a 1 month copay and use the mail away service. I spent $10.97 today mostly frivolously, and $8 last Friday at an arts and crafts fair, but on food. Another drive everyone day, so I had to left off at work an hour early, thus no time to make lunch... Also ~$4.50 at a Dollar Tree. Still trying to keep honest with myself, and enjoying more spend free days than I've had for a long time...

Anyone have some thoughts on how to make meals that won't heat the house, take much prep time and will be good reheated or not? Seems like my biggest stumbling blocks for the moment are food related. I need to eat out less and enjoy what I do make more. I also seem to be feeding kids-out-of-the-house and their friends more often. Still not much, but I'd like to have some reasonable choices prepared that would only need a quick heating.

Thanks for the responses. I'm happy to share, but don't want to bore anyone to tears... Do that well enough with my kids
Monday I took a day off and went with some coworkers to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY. Pretty good time. we treated one another back and forth, and I ultimately spent $60 for the entire day/night. Not great, but it included gas, 2 big meals, presents for adorababy, state park admission and hall of fame admission. Very relaxing to have someone else drive and only ask your opinions about what you would most like! Been a long time since I've had that sort of day. Over the next 2 days brought in my lunch (actually dinner because I work 4-midnight), and only spent on gas. Today more gas and $5.39 in food, $3.28 in household supplies from a dollar store. Went into a craft store (usually a trigger to spend), during a clearance sale, with a coupon and still didn't spend anything. Unfortunately I rewarded myself with a $.50 treat when I got to work. Also had to spent $1.50 on parking today. Very often I will park free, but needed to be in early today and don't like walking any distance alone at midnight in a bad neighborhood... For a Monday-Thursday total of $81.67. Amazing that I managed 2 no spend days this week. No flashes of brilliance illuminating my next move for the $5000 challenge. Doesn't anyone else want to join in? We need more brainstorming! LOL

Could someone let me know if they are finding the deals I'm posting useful? I don't want to bore anyone, but hope to be helpful. If I don't hear from anyone I'll assume I can turn this into a private journal...

Not a terrific weekend, but a reasonably good one. Spent ~$5.25 on gas Friday, $14.30 for food out because the mystery shop ran longer than expected and then I had company when I got home, totally unexpected. Also my exbf has been having a really tough time lately, mostly emotional issues and his girlfriend has been on the phone with me often. We're both worried, and neither of us have heard form him for sometime. She did something bad, he left and took the dog. The lady is trying not to change my life despite our different schedules, so she's calling when I get out of work around 12:45-1am. Saturday morning I didn't get to sleep until about daybreak, and my daughter and her son came over at like 10 for awhile, then I went out to do some shopping.
Hit Target's 75% off summer sale, and picked up 8 packages of the small bag of Goldfish crackers, 18 count for $.87 each. Last year they had a big sale on the beach pails filled with Goldfish, and we're just now running out. They seem to stay fresh unopened for a VERY long time. Target also had red/white/blue packages of mini Reese cups for $.57 Bought adorababy a pair of shorts ($1.24 ) and a tee shirt ($1.24) at the same sale. Only thing I bought not on sale were 100 calorie pack cookies which my daughter likes for $2.29-$1 coupon. Total $15.06.
My next stop was TGIFriday's. I had a survey the last time I was there, so I got a free appetizer. Spent about $12 with a generous tip. On to Walmart, not my favorite store due to their policies, but I did some cherrypicking.
Bought 2 twin packs of glue sticks with a trial sized brush-on glue on each package for $.20 each, bonus size construction paper for $1.44, a 12 pack of colored pencils (Roseart) for $.50. A $.15 Roseart school glue followed, and 3 16 count packs of Roseart crayons at $.10 each. Total $3.72. Next stop grocery store. Spent ~$55, but will get a $10 rebate on Diet Pepsi, making it $.80 for 12 2 liter bottles. When I got home my daughter called looking for childcare. I was exhausted and told her so, but ended up sitting anyway. My VCR is broken, and she had a power surge that blew out her Tv, so her vcr/dvd combo is on loan to me for the moment. Joshua was here from early afternoon until 1pm today. I woke my daughter, told her I wasn't planning on sitting tonight and that I was leaving the house. I feel a little guilty, but I've worked or babysat every night for weeks. I want a break! My youngest is 22 and I'm out of the habit... When I left I went to a nearby town. I purchased $1.54 of lace to sew onto baby bodysuits, hoping to sell tee shirts at a craft sale and make a profit. Also went to Hallmark, buying $7.46 in cards (2) to thank by sister for paying for a hotel room for me, and one for my kids in order to see my nephew's graduation. I wanted to pay my ds and dbil back, but I don't have $600 to spare now. The good news about the purchase is that I had a $5 Hallmark coupon from their Gold Crown Card. Next onto Rite-Aid to buy gum. Gum, you say? Yes indeed. I joined "GlamCamp" (www.glamcamp.com) yesterday, then today bought 9 packs of 15 count packages of Ice Breakers Gum. It's onsale for $.50 a pack this week. I came home and entered my receipt info on GLAMCAP.com and should receive 4 movie tickets and a bag in return. Works for me! Spent $5.14 including tax. Finally home for the night, and my daughter cleaned my kitchen and fridge while I was gone. Love that girl!

picked up a few things at Walmart today - double packs of Elmer's glue sticks for .20, 70pg notebooks for .10, and 24packs of Crayola crayons for .25

Those are about the cheapest prices I can usually find for these things, maybe a couple cents more or less per item, but good enough prices for me to stock up

They also had Crayola markers for $1 a pack - I seem to remember them going on sale a bit cheaper at Target last year before school, but a buck isn't a back price either

This was posted by someone else elsewhere, but I thought it might be helpful...

I spent $15 eating out today, the only day so far this week, I think! A huge deal for me

Doing the $20-$5000 challenge, but I'm shooting for $1000 at the end of 6 months. In reality, I'll be happy with mych less. I'm hoping no one will mind if I use this journal to help motivate me, and help me keep track.

7/6 Day 1 $20-$5 (ING deposit) +$50 (ING bonus) + $32.87 (amount I would have spent for tomorrow's oil change if I weren't getting it done via mystery shop= $97.87

Now the hard part starts! LOL

Fairly uneventful day. Anniversary of my sister's death, so I planned to take it easy on myself as much as possible. Did need to fedex some stuff out for mystery shopping, but didn't have the package I wanted to send personally appropriately wrapped... Spend $5.13 Jrecks, $.50 in chips. Following the good example of at least one other member also signed on with ING. Since I bought the tax software that will be a $50 return. Still have to work like the devil to figure a way to turn $20 into $1000, but at least it's a start. My total expense for that project is $5 so far. Unreasonably exhausted, figure it must be grief. Better than shopping, or wayyyy overeating. Forgot to post yesterday's gas $5.19.

Let's see. The movie was a big expense, but no library rentals would do since no player worked. Cheap theater would have messed up his schedule, which I've been trying to normalize. Big difference in behavior when he has an idea of what to expect, even if it's because we talk about the possiblities for the day the night before. Clothes... could have, for myself would have gone to a thrift store but his mom would throw the clothes out. Not much savings if he's not allowed to wear them. Didn't buy junk food this trip at the grocery store, and hadn't shopped much recently. Sunday paper is the only newspaper I usually buy, and often save $$ due to ads; 3 grocery stores nearby, shop for deals aka cherrypick. First weekend I can remember when I didn't take him out to eat at all, or me either as far as that goes. Any critique? I need to do better!

Ended up with my grandson this weekend more than usual. He was dropped off Friday, and we watched the same videos he loves over and over. Great until the VCR stopped working. It was given to us used, and we did use it for months problem-free, when the original owners couldn't do anything with it. Saturday we had breakfast at home, then off to run errands. We also picked up a Elmo shirt/underwear set for $5.50, then went to a movie ($13 admission, $4.75 kids reel deal, free popcorn from reward program for Nana). Made dinner, and hearty lunch snacks of fresh fruit, entertained by reading books and playing blocks until the little darling fell asleep. When his mom picked him up I went to church ($5 donation this week), and bought the newspaper $1.75. Also bought a printer ($50 after rebate, biz model, $20 after rebate for a dvd player that shouldn't whistle while I watch. VCR broken... Looked online, think I may have found a pattern to turn fabric into superhero cape that I, a non-sewer, can handle. Grocery shopping ~$48, gas ~$10, and back home to roughhouse for a while. Dropped off late night... Monday morning Mom came to get him, then I made some dinner for work and off I went. $5.19 gas today, but otherwise a no spend day. Forgot: shopping on Saturday found a great sale that meant I could buy shirt (1/2 dressy), shorts (khaki) and jeans for little buddy, all for ~$18.50. For a long holiday weekend a very cheap one...