OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD 2012

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It's Monday..............

I was driving into work today thinking how I could find "hidden" money to fund my emergency savings. So, I decided to NOT take the toll road in this morning and that is a savings of 75 cents. Not a lot initially, but it will add up. I WILL be taking the toll road home, the 75 cents is well worth the quick trip home.

Also, since I am no longer visiting the 7-11 daily and spending at least $5.00, I will add that to my account as well. Oh, and another plus today, My wonderful dad filled my gas tank up, ( yes, I am spoiled) so that is an additional $33.50. The grand total is $39.25. Yoo Hoo!! I will be making the transfer tonight. Where else can I find "hidden" money? I will be on the lookout and I will let you know!

Well, as I stated in a previous post I have a clothesline up and ready to go. What is the forcast for the next 2 days? yep, you guessed it. RAIN. So I will wait until Thursday to try it out. We are able to keep the windows open and not run the AC, so that is a plus.

Yes, the update on the Christmas shopping I did this weekend. For 5 Grandchildren, I spent a total of 180.00. Not too bad, definitely room for improvement. And I did charge it. But I have money coming in from PayPal ( I sold a bunch of kitchenware on Ebay), so that will cover it.

And I have to budget for my classes next sememter. I am taking 4 online classes at the university so that should run around $1100.00 to $1200.00. I need to register to get a total. Where is that money coming from? Well, If you remember I have 2 adult children back home, and the rent that they pay is paying my tuition. Don't tell the Kids!!!

One adult child is very good about paying, but the other is struggling with personal problems and well ..... I don't know. Anyway, I will have enough by the time is it due.

So there you go, my Monday. Have a good night.

10 comments:

Nichole Ellis said...

Lisa, what a great blog! I have been reading through your posts and saw the one about your electric bill. We are home every day of the week and so we have items running constantly. Worry over our electric bill was one concern. But there are a few that have helped contribute to lowering the bill each month. Our home is all electric and last month our bill was only $70 (it was normally $175-$200 per month). Granted, we didn't run the air or the heat, but for everything else, that's not bad. I'd like to share with you to see if it would help.

First off, we switched all the bulbs (possible) in our home to compact fluorescents. They do cost more up front, but we haven't changed one since we put them in a year ago and they do not require as much electricity to burn. Now, we still have regular incandescent bulbs in the basement, but for the rest of the house (the kids' rooms, lol) these are perfect. Since they do cost more up front, we just bought one package each month until the entire house was finished.

Next, unplug everything you do not need. Even though items are off, currents are still going through the items. Obviously you want to leave your computers, alarm clocks, etc. But I'm talking about hair dryers, curling irons, irons, can openers, toasters. Anything you might use only once a day or something. A few dollars worth, but as you said, over 12 months those few dollars add up. You might not be able to control the stuff in your childrens' areas, but they should respect your decision to do so in the main areas of the house. :)

I try to use my crock pot as much as possible. It costs less to run that all day versus the oven. We have also started the habits of making sure areas beneath/around/inside the electrical appliances (fridge, microwave, washer, tv, etc) are clean and dust-free (instead of every three-to-six months). This helps them run better, again, less energy required. Another tip I heard, not sure if it's true but it makes sense, is that if you do use your dryer to try and do most of your laundry at once so your dryer doesn't have to continuously heat up, it's already hot, so drying time is a bit less.

GREAT idea about the clothesline. I wish it were warm enough here year-round to do that.

Sorry, didn't mean to ramble, I just wanted to help out a fellow frugal. Best of luck. I'll keep an eye on your posts to see how you're doing.

Lisa said...

Hi Nichole,

Thanks for all the good advice! I am envious of your electrical bill! I will be converting to the compact florescents starting this weekend. (Payday, don't you know) and I do unplug anything that is not being used regularly. Drive the others members of the house crazy, but they will be okay.

Oh yes, I do use the crock pot but we are big time grillers, so that helps as well.

And we put our water heater on a timer. It turns on for 3 hours in the am, and then 3 hours in the pm. We can adjust it as needed.

The dusting around and under the appliances, I am not really that good at keeping up with that. Will have to change my ways and start chasing the dust bunnies!

Feel free to comment anytime, I really appreciate your advice! Frugal is fun!! You get to meet some great people!

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