A couple of times a year I feel compelled to check my horiscope in the daily paper. Most of the it is just some generic comment (read: crap) about financial windfalls, relationships, etc.

I thought today was different, and since it coincides with the subtitle of my blog, I decided to post it here.

"Each task your perform, regardless of how small it may seem, is a step toward or away from your goal(s)."

DH's grandmother entered our DS in a 30 week lottery, and it turns out he won $200!

She took out the $30 for what she paid into it, and gave the rest to DS! As soon as she gives us the winnings I will put it in his Emigrant account.

I am going to add the $170 to my $20 Challenge.

Old total = $487
New total = $657

DH sold a dirtbike this weekend and 'gave me' $400 to put toward bills. I also have $11 in survey checks to add to the challenge.

Old total = $76
New Total = $487

Whenever I get my small savings/slush account up to a few hundred dollars, I transfer $50 here and there to my home equity loan.

When I looked up my loan status the other day, it said that I didn't owe a payment until April.... GRRRRRR..... that means that I am prepaying the loan instead of applying the extra payments to the principle. I haven't been able to get to the bank to ask about it.

The normal payment date was approaching, so set up a transfer for regular payment amount from my checking account.

Guess what happened...the payment was automaticlly withdrawn from my checking account, so I ended up paying double. Since I have a budget worked out this month, I know how much I need to keep in my checking account at all times. Anything extra gets deposited in my ING account.

So I decreased the amount that I have scheduled to be paid on my 0% Discover card, and everything worked out fine. And my Home Equity Balance is that much lower too!

I had $7 deposited into my Paypal account from MyView, so as LuxLiving says, "I'm taking it to the Challenge!"

Old Total = $69
New Total = $76

About a month ago, DH emailed his resume to a company that was looking for help. Today he got a call and set up an interview for Friday.

I know he really 'dislikes' his current job. I guess it has stopped being challenging for him, and he is bored most of the time. The job he is interviewing for is what he went to school for, and something he really enjoys doing so he is pretty excited. The pay is comparable (maybe a couple dollars more an hour) to what he is making now...not sure about benefits yet.

I know I should be happy for him.......The problem is, we work for the same company on opposite shifts. The flexibilty is great. They allow him (an hourly employee) to work a straight 8 hours, with a 15 minute paid lunch, so that he can leave when I start work. I bring DS to work with me, and DH takes him home.

If he takes this job we will have to find a part time daycare for DS. And if we have another baby this year, that will be 2 kids in daycare part time. The reason I started working 2nd shift is because I didn't want to use daycare. I could change my hours to go in a 2 hours later, but still don't know if he could get home that early...plus I don't want to get home at 1:00 a.m.!!!

Maybe I am getting ahead of myself a little bit...I know its only an interview. I feel terrible about hoping that he doesn't get the job when I know that it is something that he wants. Plus, I don't want him to walk away from what could be a great career move.

After the interview on Friday, I will see what he has to say. I will wait until then to discuss all of my concerns with him. Whatever happens, we will work it out.

I got a $32 check from Survey Spot yesterday.

Old total = $37
New Total = $69

I got a $10 survey check from Mindfield today so I will add that to my $20 challenge.

Old total = $27
New total = $37

It is soooo cold here in SE Mass today. In the single digits with the wind chill. BRRRRRRR. Those new windows we put in over the summer are definately helping out...the pellet stove is set on 3 (of 5) and the house is warm and toasty.

I had another no spend day today, which is good because it looks like the weekend is going to be expensive.
DH needs a haircut, the truck needs an inspection sticker, and Wicked is Saturday afternoon. I am so excited..I have wanted to see it since last year!! After the show we are going to a new Brazillian Restaurant which is $27/person, plus drinks, tip, etc. Fortunately MIL watches DS, so we don't have to pay for a babysitter.

DH and I got our first paychecks with 6% (up from 5%) going to the 401k. The good thing is that we won't even notice it is missing.

I finally had some time yesterday to go to the out of the way Credit Union we used to open a savings account for DS. I honestly don't know what we were thinking by using that CU...it is soooo inconvenient and only pays 0.5% interest. I had some cash from his birthday (in October) sitting in my safe until 2 weeks ago when I decided to open an account with Emigrant. So yesterday I closed the account and added it to the Emigrant account. Check that one off my 'to-do' list.

I am on day 3 without chocolate. The first day was pretty rough, but I am doing ok now.

Ever since Thanksgiving I have been surrounded by chocolate...at home, at work...pretty much everywhere I go. I can't remember a day in recent history where I have not had a piece (or 5) of chocolate.
After reading my free Weight Watchers newsletter this morning, which suggested setting small weekly goals each week to achieve weight loss, I decided the chocolate habit has to go.
So, here I am...at work...sitting next to a candy dish full of dark chocolate that was thoughtfully provided by a favorite vendor as a Christmas gift to my boss and I. It has been quietly calling my name for a couple of hours now, and it is taking all of my willpower to ignore it. Sigh.
I tried to squash the craving by having a spoonful of peanut butter, but all I could think of was how good it would taste with a piece of that chocolate......

I got a $7 rebate from Scott's in the mail yesterday so that will go into my challenge.
New total = $27.00

Went grocery shopping last night, and walked away with a little over $10 worth of free items. Two cartons of Egg Creations (bzzagent coupons worth $2.99/each) and a Nestle Choclatier Baking Chocolate bar from a coupon I requested online (worth $4.29). All my groceries were paid for from a GC that my employer gave out as a Christmas bonus. YAY!

Friday morning DH called me from work to tell me that a coworker's brother is selling a 52" TV and stand for $1000. He is moving to South Carolina because he can no longer to afford to live in this area. We have wanted a big screen TV for a looong time so we came very close to buying it. Being the mature adults that we are, hehe, we decided we NEED a new refrigerator and we don't NEED a big screen TV. Hoping we don't regret it later.

Last night we went to look for a 'big boy' bed for DS. We found a really awesome bunk bed with a desk on one end, a bookshelf on the other and a cabinet in the front. AND it matches the rest of the furniture in his bedroom too. We took measurements in his room this morning, and there isn't anywhere in his room to put it and have access to both ends. His room is HUGE but with 3 closets, 3 windows and built in drawers there just isn't enough wall space for a bed like that. So we 'saved' another $1000 on the bed and a mattress.

While we were there, I decided to try out a Serta Perfect Day mattress...It was heaven. Sigh. Truly the most comfortable mattress I have ever laid on. Cost = $3100!!!! DH really wants it though, so I think we will probably buy it when the store offers 5 years with no intrest..they do that a few times a year. It will cost about $50/month that way. Our old mattress is only about 7 years old, but we both toss and turn all night on it.

Taking BA up on his suggestion to discuss asparagus.

I just found out from HR that I cannot increase my 401k contribution to 6% because I am at the max of 5% (?!?!?!?!).

I thought that the IRS allowed around $15k. Even with the employer match I am not even close to that amount.

Can employers set limits on contributions?

I will start off the challenge with $20 that I received for Christmas.

While looking through my DVD collection this weekend for a movie to watch, I realized I have waaaay to many DVD's...most of which I will probably never watch again. I will use the $20 to pay for listing fees for eBay.

I also plan on adding any money that I receive for taking online surveys to the challenge, because that is above and beyond the income that I earn at my full time job.

I will not count any coupons that I use, because I already use them whenever I can. I will, however, count any mail in rebates, because I don't usually use those.

I will keep thinking of other ways to add money to the challenge.

Good luck to everyone participating in the 2007 $20 Challenge!
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Challenge total - $20