DH and I sat down last night and went over our budget to figure out how much to set aside in the medical reimbursement plan next year, and how much to put away in the 401k once he can (have to be an employee for a certain amount of time before one is eligible). We now have copies of the budget we think is fair for the upcoming year. I may put Quicken on my computer to track expenses next year. We'll see. The medical reimbursement will be nice, and neither of us has actively saved in a retirement account since we left teaching 5-6 years ago.

Took DD to the doctor today and she has an eye appointment this Thursday to follow up on the rudimentary eye exam given at the ped's office. Heopfully all will be fine with her eyes.

December = property taxes here. Ouch. Dh has been saving for them all year, so we're ready to pay them, but I still hate writing those big checks, kwim?

Picked up a few candles to give to a folks like DD's dance teacher, and after a few gifts for DD that I can only buy when she's not with me, plus something else for DH, I ought to be about done. We have one birthday in November and three in December, on top of Christmas. Busy time of year around here when it comes to gift giving.

Thanksgiving was nice - went to my mom and dad's for the long weekend. It was nice to see family, and not think about what to cook each day, too.

Today's Daily Saving Challenge talked about *not* shopping the day after Thanksgiving. However, my mom and I will be heading to the fabric store where flannel always goes on sale for 99 cents a yard. Can't beat that price for making the annual Christmas gift jammies.

Aside from that, I hate shopping the day after Thanksgiving. It is a zoo and stresses me out. I think one year we went out the day after Christmas - what a nightmare!

Car's at the shop right now - brakes need to be done front and back. I knew it, and am glad to be getting it done before we drive to tomorrow.

Not much to report right now. I'm pleased with how Google's adsense program is working out with regards to my web site. That has been a good addition.

We are just about done with all the Christmas shopping. I've been compiling a list of gifts that will be from Santa, including little things for DD's stocking. After Thanksgiving I'll sit down with her so that she can write her letter to Santa. I still need to get gifts figured out for her friends.

Saw Polar Express yesterday and loved it. We went to the 99 cent store first to get our candy/munchies. Much cheaper way to go.

Had some work done on the car not too long ago and was told if we bring it in between 500-1000 miles they'd check it for free, but that if we bring it in after that and something needs to be tweaked it'd cost us. I made the appt to take it in this week, before we head out of town (and before we go over 1000 miles since the last service).

I got my sewing machine back today, and it was covered by the warranty. Yea! Now I can make my daughter's Thanksgiving dress ths weekend.

I've had to rescue wood from going into the shredder. I thought my husband told the tree guys to save the wood, but I came home to see it going into the shredder. Ack! In my rusty Spanish I let them know that my friend wants all of it.

We are having three trees cut down today. We got three bids and feel like the one we accepted is the best deal for the money. In about 3 hours they've gotten most of the first tree down - and we're talking 120-130 feet trees. They ought to be done by the end of tomorrow, and this includes hauling away everything. They're leaving one cord for a friend of mine who has access to a splitter and wanted some of the wood if they'd leave some.

Side note - I've got a 10% off coupon code running in my store through the end of November. The code is NOV10, and the url is www.divatribe.com/catalog/index.php.

I believe many stores have policies that they don't necessarily broadcast far and wide about refunding money for sale items. More to the point, if you buy something on day X and that iutem goes on sale within a certain number of days, you might be able to get refunded the difference in price. I think Joann's does this, and possibly The Gap. Does anyone know anymore about this?

Now, I don't tend to pay full price for much of anything these days anyways, but it's good information to have. ;-)

I was assertive yesterday and got a store to honor a coupon for a prior purchase, even though the coupon said it wasn't good for prior purchases. The thing is, the coupon was good beginning 11/7, but I didn't receive it until 11/12 and made a puchase in between those dates. So I argued - politely - my case, and they gave me the $5 credit. :-)

I'm going to email the company and let them know that they need to get their mailers out before the coupons are effective.

I'm making DD a dress for Thanksgiving. The fabric was 50% off - woo hoo! I cut it out today and will get working on it during the next week and a half. My sewing machine needs to go to the shop, however. I opened it up to see if it's something that I can fix, but I do't think it is. I'll take it back to the place that sold it to me, which is in town. I've had it less than two years but haven't checked to see if it is still under warranty or not.

DH is helping his parents upgrade their computer and in return they treated us to dinner last night at a Greek place we all ike. Yummy!

Trying to keep the credit card bill low as possible this month, after last month's total. So far so good. This cycle closes in 9 days.

Went to Lakeshore Learning today with DD, to choose a birthday present for one of her friends. Boy oh boy is that another store that tests my ability to resist impulse buys. We managed to find a good gift, plus some art tissue and 6 small wooden gingerbread boy figures. There is a lot of neat art stuff there, but there are also aisles upon aisles of things we just don't need or could easily recreate at home with things we already have, or with the help of the Internet.

Back from grocery shopping. I spent less than $60, and that ought to get us through the week. I'm happy about that. I didn't have to buy any pantry items - spices, oil, flour, etc - nor did I need any cleaning products. We still eat out fairly often, but it's nice to see the grocery bills starting to creep down.

I finished a skirt this morning, but it's too big for Barbie. (Does fit the muslin doll I made for DD though, so it's a keeper.) I need to use smaller knitting needles next time around and/or a finer yarn. I used size 4 needles - smallest I have - but I think size three would have been just right.

Am off to Trader Joe's this morning, with meals for the week planned. Still subscribing to SavingDinner's menu mailer, and it has been very helpful for me.

I am going to try my hand at knitting for Barbie. If it works out, I can make up a little something or two for DD's friends here and out of state that like Barbie. I found some free patterns online via about.com, so I'm going to practice with yarn I already have. I finished an afghan this afternoon that I had started way back around Easter. It only took me this long to finish it because it got a bit monotonous - the pattern repeated every row, so there wasn't much thinking involved after a while. Still I'm glad it's done and it's nice to have a new afghan in the living room in time for chilly evenings.

Dh is making pancakes for us this morning, so while we all enjoy going out to breakfast on the weekends, this is nice too, and much cheaper.

I need to do some menu/grocery plannign this weekend if we're going to be back on track this week.

What a week. Between the elections, migraines and DH being sick, our routines have flown right out the window. But we'll get back on track.

Paying some bills today, oh joy. Took the dog in for a check up yesterday, two weeks post surgery, and that didn't cost anything. That's good.

We have the bulk of our gift giving taken care of thus far, except for DD. We're not done with everyone, but we have quite a lot already bought, and it's a relief knowing that so much has already been purchased. Frees me up for details, handmade gifts, etc.

One year, DH and I did all of our holiday shopping during Labor Day weekend. It was an awesome feeling, being done in September.

I have yoga tonight, while DH and DD are going to DH's parents' house for dinner, so no cooking for me tonight.

I get another tutoring check Wednesday from one of my students, and another one is due next week. All of my clients pay me for anywhere from 2-10 sessions at a time. Every little bit helps. Two years ago I was tutoring anywhere from 10-12 students a week for a while, but that was way too much, with DD here as well. This year I have just four students.