Going for Not Broke

I enjoy watching basketball, but I LOVE watching my nephews play. I try to go to every game I can. Over the past couple of weeks, though, the schedule has gotten crazy. Some weeks, there has been a game every night. That can be tough on the pocketbook, both for the gas used to get there and for the admission fees. So, I've skipped a few games, just getting an update via text message at the end of each quarter. Not fun, but it's the grownup thing to do.

See that wonky-looking stuff on the right of the screen? That's what my iMac is doing these days. All in all, I can't complain. I bought it in 2006, so I got seven good years out of it. I was in the middle of my twice-yearly freelance project when it started this, and at first, rebooting would get rid of it for a little bit. Not so much now. I want to buy a new computer, but I won't. I have a laptop that works fine but runs much, much slower. I'm in the process of transferring all of my necessary files to flash drives. Scribus Update I had mentioned in a previous post that I was going to use Scribus as I worked on my freelance project this time to see how well it worked. I knew my computer's days were numbered, and rather than buy Adobe InDesign again (which I'd have to do because CS2, the Creative Suite version I have, will not work on a new operating system) I thought I'd see what my other options were. Well, it was slow going key command...

On Monday morning, I awoke to find my iPhone  partially submerged in water in the Eskimo Joe 's cup I keep on my nightstand. I remember vaguely waking up in the middle of the night and checking the time on it. My guess? Afterward, I tossed it into the cup. I've been kicking myself a lot since then. First, for buying the phone in the first place. It was pricey, but I had gift cards that I was able to apply toward it, plus I told myself it would come in handy as I try to grow my home business (in short, I justified the heck out of buying it). Secondly, as I was purchasing it, I thought, "Hey, I'll save money by NOT buying the insurance." Thirdly, I've really grown to love it, which makes me really, really, really want to run out and replace it right now. According to online sources that I came across thanks to the Twitter hashtag #iPhoneInWater (and my husband's friend who works on gadgets for a living), sealing the phone up in a bag of dry rice for thr...

Birthday Surprise I got a coupon via email for a $5 discount on my next order from ArtBeads.com . I recommend anyone who enjoys beading to sign up to receive offers in your email inbox, too, so that you don't miss discounts such as this. Five dollars will buy a lot of beads! (Well, seed beads ... ) Cat Food I came across this offer for a free sample of Sheba cat food at Walmart.com. I have no cat, but if I did, I'd be signing up. Dieting Atkins offers a free starter pack that includes three bars (yum), a quick start guide and calorie counter. I got mine more than a year ago and was pleasantly surprised recently to see that it still offers the deal. It's limited to one per household per year while supplies last, so I just requested a second pack.

This has been a challenging year for my family. My dad had a precancerous tumor on his pancreas and is recovering slowly from the surgery to remove it. He's had a couple of setbacks, one that lasted three weeks, but we're all hopeful he'll be back on track soon. Partly because of that, I want to host a family get-together. Mom and Dad will have their 45th anniversary this October so that seems like a perfect time to hold it. I think I have a lead on a FREE place big enough to accommodate my siblings, their kids and my parents. As for the rest -- the food, decorations and activities -- I'll have to plan according to what's on sale and when. Immediately after that, I'll be planning a baby shower for my kid sis. I hope to get the same venue for both parties. Again, though, I want to keep an eye out for deals for decorations. There is only so much I can do about the food in advance, but I figured I'd start setting aside money for both feasts now.

Homemade Frozen Dinners I go through spells when I look for new recipes to try, but for now, I'm out of new ones. I've decided to just do regular posts on Friday. I'll do homemade frozen dinner topics whenever I try another recipe or find one I'm interested in trying, or when I have another homemade frozen-dinner related topic. I still welcome recipes from readers who also make their own frozen dinners. Feel free to email the recipe here . Black Friday Sales I've never, never, never thought I'd get out of the house for a Black Friday sale. It's far too much crazy for me. This year, though, I have a couple of gift ideas that are out of reach unless I can get a darn good deal on them. (I can't say what they are because they're for my husband, and he reads this blog.) So, for the first time, this year, I'm going to scour websites and fliers to see if maybe one of them might be on sale this year. Extra Income Next month, I will attend a craft...

Today is a grocery shopping day, and as I looked through the refrigerator to see what we have and what we don't, I noticed that the veggies I bought on my last shopping trip still sit on the shelves. My plan was to cut them up, cook them and freeze them for use later, but two weeks later, I've yet to make the time. Based on past experience, I think the carrots are probably still OK, but not the green beans or the yellow squash. They're both on my grocery list again; hopefully, this time I get them cut up and stored early. Otherwise, it's all just money down the drain.

Being parents now, my husband and I have given some consideration to creating a college fund for our daughter. The numbers a friend of ours came up with stopped us in our tracks because it required making a $200 monthly payment into an account for our daughter. While we'd love to be able to do that for her, it's just not feasible, especially as we try to pay off our debt. What we had in mind was something we can contribute to on an irregular basis as we get extra money, such as if/when we get a tax refund or get some overtime. We've been hanging on to our initial investment for her college account for getting close to a year now. It's time to move on to something else, because the 0.1 percent annual rate it's earning in our regular savings account isn't going to help. All of the options out there are just so overwhelming.

Yesterday, my husband and I stopped by Target to pick up a few needed items ahead of our bi-weekly grocery shopping trip. Every time I shop at Target, I get the same offer from the cashier: “Would you like to save an extra 5 percent and apply for a Target REDcard?” Just in case he/she forgets to ask, each check-out line sports an advertisement for the card. Because I don’t want to accrue any more debt, in the past, I’ve given neither the signs nor the cashier’s question much thought. But yesterday, I noticed something on the sign I hadn’t before: REDcards can be credit cards or debit cards. I have no interest in a credit card, but depending on the terms, a debit card that gives me a 5 percent discount on all purchases at Target might come in handy. I didn’t want to hold up the line asking the cashier questions, so when she asked whether I wanted a REDcard, I said no. When I had a chance later, I went to the company website to see if the card’s for me. My answer: Probably no...

As I mentioned in last Friday's post , our electric bill has been less than it was a year ago since February.  After reading about it, my husband asked if the difference each month was about the same, so I got curious about the same thing and what the overall total difference is: February 2011: $167.67 February 2012: $154.66 Difference: $13.01 March 2011: $110.34 March 2012: $105.50 Difference: $4.84 April 2011: $99.56 April 2012: $65.46 Difference: $34.10 May 2011: $125.07 May 2012: $71.08 Difference: $53.99 June 2011: $128.07 June 2012: $113.97 Difference: $14.10 July 2011: $144.71 July 2012: $129.16 Difference: $15.58 Year-over-year difference so far: $135.62. I realize that the bulk of the difference could be attributed to a number of variable -- the weather this year compared to last, the rate the electric company is charging us, etc. But, because it is consistently lower, I think the changes we've made do factor in some. I feel good!

A few notes on what's worked and what hasn't. Groceries . Aldi has its drawbacks. I can't get everything I need there, it can be really crowded at times, and a few of its foods (eg., canned ravioli) just aren't as tasty as other brands, but without fail, I spend less when I shop there. For someone like me who has trouble mastering the art of extreme couponing, Aldi does a good job of trimming the grocery expenses. I'd still like to trim it more, but I think that will require some more creative meal planning.  Status: Some Money Saved. Meal Planning . I began establishing a menu and then shopping to the menu a few years before my daughter was born, so this is nothing new. However, lately I've been trying to change up what I fix so that I make more foods that can be done in bulk. This way, I'll have leftovers for another day and leftovers for frozen dinners for when my husband and I are at work. I'm still experimenting with this, but so far, I think it...

I made it through yesterday without spending anything, which, of course, I should be able to do for just one day. The real test will be when I get through an entire week without shelling out any dough. I think all of the incidental spending I do contributes the most to us not being able to make any more progress than we do, and if I don't cut it out, there's no way I can make my goal of being debt free by the time my daughter starts school. Odds are, she'll start school in fall 2016. That's just four years and two months away. I've got a lot of debt to whittle away between now and then.

Yesterday's post about taking a spending break weighed on my mind for the rest of the day. I kept thinking, "Why wait? Why put off taking a break from spending?" So, I've decided to make today a dry run. I will make a conscious effort not to spend anything at all, not even pocket change to buy a Diet Coke out of the breakroom at work. Tomorrow, I'll need to put gas in my car, and my iDisk, which I use for freelance work will cease to exist on the 30th, so I plan to go ahead and try out the GoDaddy replacement, but I can consciously do this for just one day. I say I'm making a "conscious" effort not to spend because, while I know I've had days when I spend nothing, I can't say when they were. If I've got change on me, I don't stop myself from taking a walk down to the breakroom when I get bored at work or when my eyes start to get a little tired. Making not spending anything my goal for the day, hopefully, will help me to think twi...