Long Week

This has not been my week to please people. I would seriously like to have a do-over on this past week, but with the knowledge of who I should avoid and why. It would definitely save me some mental anguish when someone gets bitchy for no good reason.

On the money front, I did spring for some yarn this weekend in preparation for a mittens class that I am taking at Twist in July. I am really excited about learning mittens so I can make a whole bunch between now and Christmas. I am hoping to start a couple gifts this week so I can get done by the time Christmas rolls around.

Tomorrow I am going to utilize one of the recipes I learned in the cooking class I took in Kansas City and teach the boys to make paella. Since one of the boys really dislikes shrimp, we will have to put some extra chicken in it. I had not bought olive oil in a while and found out it is considerably more expensive than I had anticipated. The cheapest bottle I could find was $7. But I guess a little goes a long way, so that is good.

I am going to sleep in tomorrow since I have had to be at the yarn shop more than normal and have missed out on a lot of sleep due to storms. I am exhausted and it didn't help that there were some things that happened that made a ripe situation for miscommunication. I am really hoping next week is better.

Money spent this week:

Yarn and needles: $36 (there will be enough for at least three pairs of mittens, so not a big expense-I just need to be careful not to do this again this month).

4 Books from book club: $40 (this probably could have been avoided, but they are books I have been wanting to read and $10 a book is a real bargain)

Magazine: $6

Groceries: $102 so far (I still have a little more to get tomorrow)

Gas for car: $30

Eating out $45

Total: $249 so far. I will need to really watch it for the rest of the week if I am going to hit my goal and save even more than last pay period. The rest of the week I am going to make every effort to stay off Amazon.com. It is toooooooo easy to hit the BUY button. Especially when I've had a completely crappy week like I have had this week. I tend to stress eat and stress spend--and this has been a really stressful week.

I have decided that I am going to spend more of my free time at home getting it in order and actually making a home that is comfortable and inviting. I am going to be shampooing the heck out of the carpets this week, starting tomorrow.

I will also be painting some art for the walls and actually hanging the stuff we do have. I have decided will spring for an oil painting class in August--I have always wanted to know how to oil paint. I use watercolors and acrylics, but oils are something I have wanted to do for quite some time. I have no problem using $ to pay for classes to learn something--I am going to focus on not spending on THINGS. The starting date of my "Mamas on the Compact" compact is July 1. It will be very interesting to see how well I do. I have been trying to be pretty careful lately and to make myself ask hard questions about whether a purchase is a want or a need. I have discovered that it is hard to make that distinction sometimes--especially when it is REALLY a want and I am trying to find creative ways to make it a need.