Hi all- in my profile I mentioned that I am a Korean Adoptee. Well, I found out recently that I've been chosen for an all expense paid trip to Korea among 29 other adoptees.

The kicker: I'm going to meet my birth mother! It's been over 22 yrs since I last saw her. And now, she's also a grandmother!

I'm soooooooo excited. =)

I am going to shamelessly plug my Avon business. I live in Colorado Springs- so, if you want anything for yourself or to buy for a gift- visit my store.

www.youravon.com/meredithhale



BTW: Avon is going very well for me so far. Patience and motivation are key!

I'm now selling AVON....

I hope Avon will give me the other part of a full-time income I want to bring to the table. I would rather not have a fulltime job that requires childcare if i can work a parttime job and make up for the difference.

Wish me Luck!

I paid off our Sears Card! May it burn in... well, you get the picture.

I bought this and next year's costumes on sale. I have to give myself props for my choice for her first ever Halloween.

Purrfect!

We took a chance and tried growing mini-watermelons this year. Well- to our surprise, we were successful!

This watermelon is about 6" and 2 pounds.

9.5 mos. old



I took the chance that she'd stay "standing" so that I could get a few photos. Last time I did this, she fell off her chair- no big booboos though, thank God.

With the extra check ($1700)I:

Paid the cellphone overage on Amex: $144

Repayed BIL for loan: $200

Accelerated my debt payments by: $624

Donated: $30

Gifts for twins: $50

Babysitting for job training: $70

License renewal & emissions test: $114

Savings (multi goals): $600

Saved for October: $134

Restaurant food always tastes better when it's discounted or free. We shared an appetizer and dinner duo with iced tea. We had a $10 off coupon and paid under $17 including the tip. Score!

I lub steak!

I intended on doing my local walk with my mom's group but since I will be working I can't. I've already donated $15 and gave another $10 today since I can't do it. It's a great cause and I cross my fingers that I don't have to deal with critical medical matters such as diabetes within my family.

I got a job! All we have to do is set my schedule and pay in stone. It feels good to hear good promising things about me again. LOL

Anyways, I feel great, excited, relieved, optimistic...yada yada...

I'll be able to stay home during the day while dh teaches, then work evenings as a receptionist at this well established taekwondo company.

WAHOOOO!

$1737! I felt giddy. We put it into our savings and will pay off TargetCard.

YAY!

Okay- I'm not sure how many of you out there realize that ground turkey is usually only 99cents, compared to ground beef which is nromally over $2 a pound. That's why I usually only buy the ground *beef* when it's on sale for the same price as the turkey.

In my tightwad zeal, I realize that there is a big difference in taste between the meats. We enjoy the "real thing" more. So- the last time I browned meat for tacos, I combined both of them and cooked 2 pounds of meat.

Taste test proved: the combination of both 99cent ground meat was much tastier than eating only ground turkey and was almost as good as our preference of ground beef.

Try it! =)

Last night I went to the local King Soopers to pick up a few things for dinner after my interview.

I was very good. I stuck to what I needed and whatever I "had" to pick up (because of sale prices). I bought bologna (99cents) and wheat bread (89cents) for dh's lunches. (Why do people prefer junky bologna over honey ham?) LOL

I noticed that the 73/27 ground meat was on sale for 99cents a pound- I bought three. Each time I see this sale, I buy three because the regular price is about $2.25 for one, and I figure if I "spend" as much as I would have w/o the sale, I'll go longer on sale priced meat w/o going over my normal budget. Plus, I've been cutting down our red meat consumption. ($2.97)

I also found some cut beef for half off way off in a different area than the "non-sale" meat. I spent $1.57 for meat I used to make Korean beef & lettuce "presents" for dinner.

(Marinate the beef & cut in bite size pieces. Serve wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves with scrambled egg slivers, asian hotsauce, "sushi" style rice and cucumber slices. It's a hit every time! Last night I made my cucumber salad w/melon- it was sweet and tangy and crunchy. Yum!)

I bought a pound of sourcream (by hubby request as homemade yogurt is a suffice substitute) for 99cents and 33% off.

Here's the revelation: as with ground beef sales, the fat content does not constitute a better buy. It turns out that you spend nearly twice as much for two ounces more meat. WELL- same with the eggs! It was the first time that I realized the price discrepancy. Choose between a dozen medium eggs (22oz @ 66cents) vs. a dozen large eggs (24oz @ $1.21). Again, you would be paying double for only 2 more ounces! So I did what any frugal/tightwad/cheapskate would do- I bought the mediums! (66cents!)

All together I spent under $8 including sale ground meat that I had not "planned" on buying.

Next time, try the medium eggs, alright? (wink)

Now spending.... yeah, that's a team effort! Wahoo!!

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I'm not saying that it's only the wives/women that head the debt busting crusade, or that it's just the men/husbands either. What's most common is that either or tend to be gung-ho and with varying success, get their mates to join the fight...even if just in theory.

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Now fess up, how do you get your other half to pitch in? Do you have any tricks up your sleeves?

I'll go first...
* I doing my brand name to generic switches on the down low... mix the dry milk or water down the whole milk while he's not looking

* I hide money

* I hide the cell phone (since we downsized to one cell due to our uneven usage) so that we don't go over minutes

* I try to go grocery shopping w/o dh as he makes it more difficult to stay on "track".

* If he balks at not buying something or makes fun of me for doing something frugally gunghoe: I tell him how much I'm saving him in terms of cigarette packs...etc. whatever he desires most frequently


Now your turn to comment... what are you're tricks?

Our phone bill has offically been downsized! We were paying for 2 $40 cell phone plans; mine had rollover minutes which didn't make sense. So now we have Skype for whoever is home (free calling out to N. America & purchased a phone number for $12 for 3 months or $38 for a year). And we got rid of DH's phone and downsized my phone to a $30 plus tax monthly plan.

Projected savings : DH's plan ($48) + My New Plan's discount ($10) - ($38/12= $3.17) for Skype = $55 per month!

$660 saved on our phones for a year!

*Plus* The virtually free Skype defrays a lot of the exorbitant cable internet charge of $30 a month. Or, you could say that the savings covers the $55 we pay for cable TV a month.

The alternative would be having a land line ($30 a month rather than the Skype which is $3 and change) and snail internet service.