Weekly Wrap & Other Crap (How to get Great Stuff for FREE!!)

Only one week left of October - that's CRAZY!! Where did the month go?? Well, I slept the last week away in a kind of daze, that's why I've been MIA for the last few days. (daze - days - I'm a poet!!) I have been feeling VERY TIRED, can't get rid of my cold, and work has been crazy-busy what with progress reports, IEPs, parent/teacher interviews, meetings......so for a few nights I was going to bed at 8 or 9pm.


"Ok - Exhibit A" (maybe I missed a career as a rapper!)
The Good News: I did NOT go food shopping yesterday! And yes, it wasn't easy to stifle that habit but I did it! Even so I'm still very close to my $400 total monthly food budget due to overspending on Thanksgiving. Our fridge/freezer is definitely less packed but there is more than ample food to get us through to the end of the month. Sharon and Laura - how are you doing on this??


Other good news - DEBT and SAVINGS columns dominate my Spending Diary graph. Sometimes (ALWAYS) I feel guilty about my MISC purchases (read unnecessary purchases) but when I see the height of the MISC column compared to the DEBT and SAVINGS columns I can actually smile, laugh at my silly self (ha ha ha ha) and cast off those dang guilty feelings:)


The Bad News: I wish I could say there wasn't any bad news but there is a wee bit. I won't be able to make that extra deposit into my EF this month as planned because I had a few other expenses to cover and used that money up. You could say that's also Good News since I didn't have to take money out of savings to cover them. I had to buy a bulb for one of my headlights this week (well the car's headlights not MY headlight AND that's a whole other story!!) and I also took the car in for an oil change which always ends up costing way more than just the cost of the oil change - a brake light was not working, a filter needed changing etc. So the extra EF money was spent on the car instead and I am OK with that.


The extra expenses this month were more than balanced out by TWO GIFTS I received this week; one from Michael and one from Kazi. 

This gorgeous leather jacket is a gift from Kazi.  She works as a bartender for a popular club in London. Every couple of weeks unclaimed coats left in the coat check are given away to the Goodwill.  This one she nabbed and brought home for me - it fits perfectly and goes really well with Michael's gift:

Michael gave me an early Christmas gift this week - my first pair of Blundstone boots! Now that he's working at Fodemisi's he gets a great discount making these unaffordable boots affordable!! They are the most comfortable boots I've ever worn and I never want to take them off - EVER!!


Aren't I lucky?? All I need now is a Harley!


Other Crap:

• Sarah - I've fallen off the Scissors wagon but I do plan to get back on. It's just been one of THOSE weeks.
• KAZI PASSED HER DRIVING TEST!! SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO TAKE ANOTHER DRIVING TEST TIL SHE'S 80 YEARS OLD!! WOOT WOOT!
• After much taste testing Michael and I agree that the best chicken wings in London can be found HERE!  However, just to be sure we'll need to try them again....and again....
• the SMARTBOARD that I received for my classroom in September has finally been hooked up!! It's so much FUN!! My students will be using it for the first time tomorrow - I can hardly wait!! More about this in a future post!

I think that's a WRAP!