Single Mom Extraordinaire's Finance Blog

Cha-Ching! Tax Refund!

(Jenny and Ty's Mom) — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 06:39:57 PST

Woohoo! $1,622!

I put $622 into my "fun money" account, and divided the rest as follows:

Household Maintenance Account: $100
Emergency Fund: $450
Mortgage Prepayment Fund: $450

Of course, my ex has not yet given me the child support cheque yet, but that should be coming...

Living Well on Less

(Jenny and Ty's Mom) — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 11:57:42 PST

Have you seen this before? It may be old hat, but I thought I'd share it just in case you hadn't seen it.

Someone posted this at the weight loss site I post to. I had expressed how much happier I'd felt since I'd abandoned such a fast-paced, rat-raced lifestyle, and one of the...

How I Will Save This Week and How it Will Impact Me Little Now and a Lot Later O

(Jenny and Ty's Mom) — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 11:37:51 PST

1. Milk will be my only grocery purchase.
2. I will not eat out this week.
3. I will "smuggle" some money from my chequing account into my Mortgage Prepayment Account. I will try for at least $50.

I've decided that I can pay my mortgage off in ten years even though I'm working...

Weekly Financial Goals

(Jenny and Ty's Mom) — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 17:14:31 PST

I'm just a tad late with this but am assuming the site was down for a while on the weekend. So glad that it's back!

Okay. Last week I submitted my income tax return and I'm getting $1600 back! Hooray. I will divide it between my emergency fund and my mortgage prepayment fund.

I...

Financial Goals for the Coming Week

(Jenny and Ty's Mom) — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 09:22:50 PST

1. Other than milk and bread, I will not spend any money on groceries or eating out. Oh and I have to pick up a strudel for my son's social studies project. (He needs to bring in some food that represents his cultural background. The fact that my German grandfather spoke worse...

Biting the Library Bullet

(Jenny and Ty's Mom) — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 08:50:26 PST

This weekend I need to drop off way, way, way overdue (like at least a year) library books and clear up the fees, so that the kids and I will have a cheaper alternative to buying books (it was getting out of control and I'm running out of room).

I have no idea how much we will owe....

Washer and Dryer Blues

(Jenny and Ty's Mom) — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 18:48:51 PST

My washer and dryer are probably as old as my house (29 years), and are on the way out. Only one cycle works on the washer and the dryer is a bit of a clunker and is likely near death too.

I'm wondering what others' ideas about buying a new machine should be. Here's what I'm trying...

Daily Spending: Build A Bear Breeds Greed

(Jenny and Ty's Mom) — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 05:48:09 PST

I haven't spent any money in four days, but today will be a biggy.

So, here is my budget for today:

1. Grocery order will be delivered: $92 + $4 tip. I used to cringe at the thought of using an online grocery store, but since I don't have a car and there isn't a discount grocery...

Healthy and Frugal Living

(Jenny and Ty's Mom) — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 12:32:34 PST

I thought I'd share some of my current strategies for exercising and maintaining a healthy weight.

My personal health goal this year is to lose 25 pounds, so that I will be at a weight I feel comfortable with. Because I have children to take care of, I find that not only are gym...

Excited About Blogging and Saving

(Jenny and Ty's Mom) — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 10:32:47 PST

After a few months of lurking, I've decided to leap in.

I am a part time teacher and mother to two awesome kids.

Originally my plan was to work full time, pay off my mortgage in 10 years, and then pay for my children's college education without a mortgage to worry about. However,...