Yesterday was spent with the little darlings (grandsons). So DH did not play any golf and it was such a lovely day. He planned on playing today but guess what - it's has been raining all day. Our friend invited us to him home this afternoon so the ladies could visit and the guys could all play pool upstairs. We went to the grocery store and of course DH wanted to get a little somthing to take to the neighbor's home to snack on. He was going to buy two bags of chips (2 for $5.00) but when I pointed out that everyone would be bringing something to share and we did not need an extra bag of chips at home he agreed and got only the one bag. I am so proud of him that he is trying. H

I had a less than par meal at a fast food restaurant a few weeks ago and so I e-mailed the corporate office. I then heard back from the local restaurant manager who said he was going to mail me a $10.00 certificate for a free meal. He sounded so sincere that when I did not get it in the mail, I worked up the courage to stop by the restaurant and asked to speak with him. I get upset when anyone makes a promise and does not keep it. He was very nice and told it has been mailed out the same day that we spoke on the phone. When I told him that I had not gotten it, he actually right then and there gave me a gift card for the meal. Lesson learned: you never know until you ask.

I am loving this system. I was spending so much money on going out to eat and snacking. We were trying to save but could have done better. I set up the envelope saving system on excel and have been tracking everything and also set up out budget on it. Husband has gotton on board by staying within the spending limit. Instead of gassing up our vehicles to full we are both only spending $30.00 each time we are on empty. Better way o keep expenses in line. We have also alloted money for each catagory which I had tried to do before but had really not kept track. My DH just goes along with whatever I want to do so that is great help. I started eating breakfast at holme a homemade muffin and glass of milk instead of buying my usual breakfast at Hardee's and a large coke. It feels good to know I am no longer wasting money. We also have a category for for gifts and entertainment, liquor, you name it, any money that we are spending now goes in a category. Now I can really track our non-food items which were a killer. Wish us luck.

Ok, I know we need to be saving money but I bought this product for my grandson who just had his 4th birthday. I got it at Target on sale for $59.00 and it is the best gift ever. It is very sturdy, easy for him to use and he has been taking pictures of everything. I have never seen a child so excited. It is a digital camera that will hold 60+ photos and they can be uploaded to your computer also. If this is the only gift you can afford to give your child or grandchild for birthdays or Christmas it is well worth it. All my coworkers and friends who have seen this camera are in the process of buying it. Guaranteed to be one of the "hot" gift items.

I am actually excited to be working on budget this month. My son and daughter-in-law have been working on their debt by using the envelope system. While I have a lot of automatic payments I am using a envelope based system with my Excel program. I did not fill up the car with gas but only put in $30.00 which is what I had alloted for gas using this system. Normally, I would just fill the tank and not even think about the cost. It nice to see where our paychecks will be going instead of the ramdom spending we normally do.