Weekend and Football

I had this weird box saying photo not available pop up on my blog, so I got a new template and took down my header.  I think it's fixed, but we'll see.

This weekend was super busy.  I went to OKC to see a dear friend of mine.  I finally got to see Eclipse.  It was ok, I think I expect the movie to be too much like the book and it can never reach that expectation. But I got to analyze the crap out of it with a friend who enjoyed doing the same thing.

This was also a weekend for a wedding shower and my husband's 10 year high school reunion.  He keeps up  with five friends from high school.  They had a great time.  T-town is so small that I knew a lot of people he went to school with. 

Sunday I got some exercise by playing softball.  We're terrible.  It's almost comedy to watch us play.  We have 2-3 guys that are decent players and 2 girls that know how to catch the ball.  The rest of us just stand around and chase a softball when it comes our way.  We over throw, under throw, throw way off course which results in home runs for the other team.  My batting strategy is stand there and hope they walk me.  We're 12th out of 12 teams.  We're solidly holding that position.

I'm really looking forward to football.  October is going to be crazy.  We're flying to Chicago at the end of October to stay with friends and go the TU vs Notre Dame game.  We're going to Texas to watch the TU vs SMU game and then go to Houston for the Giants vs Texans game. Somewhere in the mix we're going to the TU vs OSU game.  Can't wait for football!

5 Weeks

I'm so excited!  Dave and I finally planned our vacation. We're going to Philadelphia, New York City, and Pittsburgh late August.  We have a wedding we're attending in Pittsburgh so we thought we'd just make a whole vacation of it.  I can't wait.  I really need a vacation and while I've been to the Big Apple a few times I've never been to Pennsylvania.

So we're going to fly on planes, ride some trains, and stay with family and see great friends.  So excited!

Monday = New Week

Last week was a really rough week in regards of my career.  I felt backstabbed, not supported, and a subordinate yelled at me.  I'll admit it, I cried.  Looking back, I would of course have handled things differently.  Such as politely asking my coworker to leave my office and return when she felt she could calmly discuss things with me.  Instead, I took the abuse and it took its toll on me.  I don't do well in aggressive situations.  I typically clam up and try to make myself as small as possible to disappear.  Once, someone described me as aggressive.  I don't believe this is an accurate description of me. I may be black and white, to the point and assertive. However, aggressive is forceful, hostile, and violent. I don't believe that describes me.

Anyways, it's a new week.  A new outlook.  I'm trying to remember that it's not the struggles that make us who we are, but how we handle them.  I'm trying very hard to forgive, forget and accept.

Cash only?

Dave and I set forth a challenge for ourselves at the beginning of June.  For one month we were going to use cash only.  Now I pay all of our bills online so we kept that method.  However, we did set a budget for groceries, gas, entertainment, beer, and misc.  We had separate envelopes for each item.  We were not allowed to use the credit or debit card to supplement the money.

So how did do?

We'll after analyzing our finances, I was shocked that were over spending every month by $200.00.  We didn't notice because items were put on the credit card and then paid for later.  Let me state this, we don't have a credit card balance. We pay it off every month.  We assumed we were well within our means.  We never went without and we always put money into our savings and Roth IRA accounts.

For the month of June, we ended up having a positive balance number at the end of the month.  We did end up putting some items on the credit card.  They weren't necessities or emergencies, but we did discuss the purchases prior to making them.  I, for one, quickly realized how a dollar drink here or there adds up by the end of two weeks. 

Overall, it was a challenge.  We're going to continue with the cash method and see how we do.  I don't know if we'll keep it up forever, but it was the most beneficial with the miscellaneous purchases.  Those will zap your wallet faster than you think!

Editor's Note:  Also, if you're looking for a great way to track your expenses and set budgets, I highly recommend Mint.com. It's free and very easy to setup.