So, I made up a tentative menu for the month, subject to be switched around, but this pretty well looks good to me.
11/6/07 - Spaghetti, French Bread, Salad
11/7/07 - Cheesy Enchiladas
11/8/07 - Broccoli pasta with Garlic and Pine Nuts
11/9/07 - Baked chicken in cream of mushroom soup and rice
11/10/07 - Having dinner out at my mom's, no cooking
11/11/07 - Beef Stew
11/12/07 - Tortellini Alfredo
11/13/07 - Cheeseburger brownies (basically cheeseburger pie, but have to make double)
11/14/07 - Breakfast for dinner
11/15/07 - Chicken with Shelby's Asian sauce and rice/veggies
11/16/07 - Burgers
11/17/07 - Potato soup
11/18/07 - Grilled cheese sandwiches and leftover potato soup
11/19/07 - Chicken Sandwiches
11/20/07 - Microwave ravioli casserole
11/21/07 - Pork chops and homemade Mac & Cheese
11/22/07 - Thanksgiving, going out to my mom's, but I need to make my Baked Potato supreme casserole
11/23/07 - FFY (Fend For Yourself)
11/24/07 - Chicken and Dumplings
11/25/07 - Pot Roast
11/26/07 - Burritos
11/27/07 - Tuna Noodle Casserole
11/28/07 - Hot dogs, fries
11/29/07 - Homemade chili, with venison burger
11/30/07 - FFY
12/1/07 - Chicken with Shelby's Asian sauce, rice/veggies
12/2/07 - Beef Stew
12/3/07 - Steak, baked potatoes, salad
12/4/07 - Baked chicken with cream of mushroom soup and rice
So, there's my menu until R's next GI Bill check comes in. We'll see how well we stick to it.
Edit to add: Went grocery shopping for part of the menu, only bought what was on sale. Spent $96.00 on about $150 worth of groceries, left me with 26 items to buy except for milk and soda for the month. I waited until the ads for Albertson's and Safeway changed over, and 18 of the items I need for the rest of the menu is on sale, mostly for 1-2 dollars per unit. Finishing off the grocery shopping tomorrow night, will post the final tally for the month when I get home. That figure above doesn't include roomie's portion of the bill, if he helps with groceries this month.
Also, got the prescription for Chantix, and a "quit kit" from the doctor. I now have neon orange Playdoh. I miss how this stuff smells. 4 weeks until I start the Chantix, 5 weeks until my quit date.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Break Stuff
If you're familiar with the song "Break Stuff" by Limp Bizkit, you'll understand how my day has gone, so this entry will be fairly short and simple.
Have Dr's appointment tomorrow to get prescription for Chantix. I will be starting it 12/5/07 (one month from today), for a quit date of 12/12/07. Why am I waiting? Quite frankly, it's because I'm scared of the side effects and how they will affect my school, not to mention the withdrawals from the nicotine itself. At this point, being SO close to graduation, I can't afford to screw it up, so I'm not risking anything at this point. I figure if I quit on 12/12, it gives me 2 weeks essentially to get over the withdrawals, because I start Wintersession classes on 1/2/08. Been smoking for going on 12 years, will be weird to be a "non-smoker".
Roommate still considering moving, but he paid his rent for the month, so that's a good thing.
Picked up the yarn for Dad's girlfriend's Christmas present (afghan). They didn't have enough of the one color I needed, so doing a dual color one, one yarn is a really pretty true red, the other is a variegated black, gray, and white. Should be pretty. Still finishing Mom's afghan, it's a little under halfway finished. Really need to finish my scarf, been neglecting it. Worked on it a bit yesterday, but didn't make much progress, because I was watching a movie at my mom's (The Illusionist) and it was really good, spent more time watching the movie than my needles.
Monday's almost over, thank goodness. Tomorrow's gotta be a better day, it just has to be.
Have Dr's appointment tomorrow to get prescription for Chantix. I will be starting it 12/5/07 (one month from today), for a quit date of 12/12/07. Why am I waiting? Quite frankly, it's because I'm scared of the side effects and how they will affect my school, not to mention the withdrawals from the nicotine itself. At this point, being SO close to graduation, I can't afford to screw it up, so I'm not risking anything at this point. I figure if I quit on 12/12, it gives me 2 weeks essentially to get over the withdrawals, because I start Wintersession classes on 1/2/08. Been smoking for going on 12 years, will be weird to be a "non-smoker".
Roommate still considering moving, but he paid his rent for the month, so that's a good thing.
Picked up the yarn for Dad's girlfriend's Christmas present (afghan). They didn't have enough of the one color I needed, so doing a dual color one, one yarn is a really pretty true red, the other is a variegated black, gray, and white. Should be pretty. Still finishing Mom's afghan, it's a little under halfway finished. Really need to finish my scarf, been neglecting it. Worked on it a bit yesterday, but didn't make much progress, because I was watching a movie at my mom's (The Illusionist) and it was really good, spent more time watching the movie than my needles.
Monday's almost over, thank goodness. Tomorrow's gotta be a better day, it just has to be.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
November's budget
Well, here it is, my first post, baring my budget to the world:
Income: $1326.00
Rent: - $550.00
Bresnan (this is Cable/Internet/Phone package) - $120.00
Groceries - $200.00
Gas - $50.00
Shelby's Cigs (please read below) - $90.00
Entertainment (read below) - $60.00
Date nights/dinners out - $30.00
Pets - $10.00
Car registration (R was just given a 93 Geo Metro from his brother, gotta get it titled and tagged for this state) - $100.00
Christmas (in case of yarn shortage) - $50.00
Shelby's Visa - $66.00
Ok, I know the first thing that will be under attack is the cigarettes. Yes, I know I need to quit. Yes, I know I'd be out of debt faster if I did. I am currently checking to find out if the pharmacy I use is carrying Chantix. If they are, my quit date will be 12/15/07. If they aren't, R and I are going to have to discuss how the prescription will be paid for. We do not have prescription coverage, and because of my tribal affiliation, I don't pay for medication, provided I'm willing to drive 45 miles to the pharmacy. Spending ten dollars in gas is way cheaper than paying full price for the medications I take.
Gaming - Both R and I play online role playing games (MMORPG's). He has 2 accounts for World of Warcraft, I have one account for World of Warcraft, and one account for Lord of the Rings Online. This is the entirety of our entertainment budget. We each spend essentially a dollar a day to get hours upon hours of enjoyment out of a game. Cheaper than going to the bar once a month, or going to a movie, plus, it's an activity we do together.
However, we've had a bit of a monkey wrench tossed at us. R's brother, whom lives with us, may be moving. There was a bit of a household blowout a few days ago, and he claims he's thinking about moving out. We'll see how much truth there is to that, as he's mentioned before that he wants to move out but hasn't yet. Extremely long story that I don't want to get into here, but that's where it is.
We'll see what happens, but I am already thinking of ways we can trim the budget back by $225.00, and quitting smoking is one of them. Also, we've discussed cutting the cable TV out of our package with Bresnan. Just having the cable internet and the phone will be approximately $85.00 a month. R's brother is the only one that truly watches the TV, so if he leaves, it will be gone as well, as it is truly a waste of money for R and I. Also, as funny as this sounds, the grocery budget will get cut back if he leaves. Before R's brother moved in, I was able to count on having leftovers after meals. Apparently the way his brother sees things, if the food is there, it must be eaten. I haven't had leftovers in this house since June of 06, at all. I can make a 13x9 pan of lasagna, and I might eat 1, 2 pieces tops. R eats 2. Now when I cut up this lasagna, there's about 12 decently sized pieces, and I have ZERO leftovers. Oink? If I can start having leftovers to work with, things will get easier in that department.
Oh, and there's no blow money in the budget, because R and I both have "jobs" and the money garnered from those "jobs" (he's a TA for a class, and I clean a house once a week) is our personal "blow" money. If R's brother leaves, that money will be budgeted as well, rather than just free floating.
So, we'll see what happens.
Income: $1326.00
Rent: - $550.00
Bresnan (this is Cable/Internet/Phone package) - $120.00
Groceries - $200.00
Gas - $50.00
Shelby's Cigs (please read below) - $90.00
Entertainment (read below) - $60.00
Date nights/dinners out - $30.00
Pets - $10.00
Car registration (R was just given a 93 Geo Metro from his brother, gotta get it titled and tagged for this state) - $100.00
Christmas (in case of yarn shortage) - $50.00
Shelby's Visa - $66.00
Ok, I know the first thing that will be under attack is the cigarettes. Yes, I know I need to quit. Yes, I know I'd be out of debt faster if I did. I am currently checking to find out if the pharmacy I use is carrying Chantix. If they are, my quit date will be 12/15/07. If they aren't, R and I are going to have to discuss how the prescription will be paid for. We do not have prescription coverage, and because of my tribal affiliation, I don't pay for medication, provided I'm willing to drive 45 miles to the pharmacy. Spending ten dollars in gas is way cheaper than paying full price for the medications I take.
Gaming - Both R and I play online role playing games (MMORPG's). He has 2 accounts for World of Warcraft, I have one account for World of Warcraft, and one account for Lord of the Rings Online. This is the entirety of our entertainment budget. We each spend essentially a dollar a day to get hours upon hours of enjoyment out of a game. Cheaper than going to the bar once a month, or going to a movie, plus, it's an activity we do together.
However, we've had a bit of a monkey wrench tossed at us. R's brother, whom lives with us, may be moving. There was a bit of a household blowout a few days ago, and he claims he's thinking about moving out. We'll see how much truth there is to that, as he's mentioned before that he wants to move out but hasn't yet. Extremely long story that I don't want to get into here, but that's where it is.
We'll see what happens, but I am already thinking of ways we can trim the budget back by $225.00, and quitting smoking is one of them. Also, we've discussed cutting the cable TV out of our package with Bresnan. Just having the cable internet and the phone will be approximately $85.00 a month. R's brother is the only one that truly watches the TV, so if he leaves, it will be gone as well, as it is truly a waste of money for R and I. Also, as funny as this sounds, the grocery budget will get cut back if he leaves. Before R's brother moved in, I was able to count on having leftovers after meals. Apparently the way his brother sees things, if the food is there, it must be eaten. I haven't had leftovers in this house since June of 06, at all. I can make a 13x9 pan of lasagna, and I might eat 1, 2 pieces tops. R eats 2. Now when I cut up this lasagna, there's about 12 decently sized pieces, and I have ZERO leftovers. Oink? If I can start having leftovers to work with, things will get easier in that department.
Oh, and there's no blow money in the budget, because R and I both have "jobs" and the money garnered from those "jobs" (he's a TA for a class, and I clean a house once a week) is our personal "blow" money. If R's brother leaves, that money will be budgeted as well, rather than just free floating.
So, we'll see what happens.
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