I was all excited to come home and work on my budget and tell all my $$$ where it was going to go... you know, new year, new outlook, new organized budgeting me.

Imagine how quickly my excitement over my newfound budget obsession deflated when I realized...... there's a chance I *may* be short on the bills this month. I hope my math was wrong. I'm going to have to look at it again in the morning when I have a clear head.

So up until today, I hadn't spent ANY money this year. That was 3.6 no spend days. Woo! But that did come to an end. I needed gas (hopefully I can get by on $20 this week) and we needed a Liquid Plumber-type stuff for the bathtub being that there was some sort of clog. Also we needed a new toilet brush due to the foster dog galloping around the house as if it was a toy and breaking the handle. So yeah, I needed two measly things. Where to get them? There's a Big Lots right across the street. I really never had been there. So I figured I would check it out.

Wow!!!! wow! I cannot believe ALL THIS TIME I never went there. It's walking distance! I am ashamed of myself. So I found a toilet brush ($1.99) and some cheap unclogging stuff (80 cents) I wandered around for a bit marveling at all the cheap stuff they had, and I must admit, it was very, very hard to not get the it's-so-cheapitis. Really, there was some great cheap stuff. I also noticed in the food section that they had tons of cereal and other food that was lots cheaper than most store's generic food, so I'll be stopping there IF I happen to scrape enough money together to go food shopping. There was so much good stuff, as far as laundry detergent, shampoo, cleaning supplies, etc. Awesome. I'm also SO proud of myself I only got what I went in for, but whether that was due to me knowing it's going to be a rough month or my fabulous self-control, we'll never know ; )

My husband might be getting a small part-time job, which would be soooooo great. As mentioned in other posts, he has health problems and he's been completely out of work since October. *sigh* with the price of his health insurance (approx. $450 a month) and all our nasty debt and him not working, it's just a big 'ole stressful mess. Blah. But even if he's making a few extra bucks, it will help.

Also, I found four giant trash bags while poking around in the garage and they were busting at the seams with bottles and pop cans. I asked our tenant if they were his and he said no, they must be the guy's we bought the house from. Dibs!! They're old, like the old style Pepsi cans and stuff. I'll be taking them back this weekend. Good thing they look like they were all cleaned out and rinsed. I don't know how much they're worth, being that we never buy pop, but at five cents a can, I'll take it!

Also, I've been looking for stuff to sell around the house. (This is turning out to be a long rambling post. Oh well!) My friend wants to buy our desktop iMac (which admittedly isn't that old...) and I told her for $850 it's hers. They our EF will be back up to the much-coveted $1000. Yay! She said it will take her a little bit to save the $, but she's really good about it so I don't think it will be too long. Now what else to sell... we have so much CRAP! I don't know if eBay is the best way, but with some of the more collectible stuff we have (I'm married to Mr. Don't-Take-It-Out-Of-The-Original-Package) it probably is. Must do research. I shudder to part with it, by my Nightmare Before Christmas collection alone might be worth some $$$...... must go look up stuff on eBay. I know it's for the best. I'm happy I'm not sad about parting with my stuff, means I must be on the right track.