The high today has been 44 degrees, and it is snowing in the foothills, and raining below 6000 feet elevation. We are supposed to wake to snow tomorrow morning. It will be May in one week. Enough of this winter weather!

It was a no spend day today, and tonight dinner will be "breakfast".

I spent about half an hour, this morning, making up hamburger helper beef and noodle and rice-a-roni-type mixes. They are great for busy days, when I don't feel like cooking.
The rice-a-roni-type mix makes a decent main dish when you add a can of tomato sauce and cooked hamburger. I make the assembly line style, in gallon zip lock bags. Now, I have seven mixes, and the cost is very minimal. If I cook several pounds of burger at the same time, and freeze some of it, the meals are practically made in advance.

I deposited another $155.00 in my ING account, from birthday money, and "splurged" a little of it on myself.

The recipe for the rice-a-roni and beef and noodle type mixes are on the Hillbilly Housewife website. I make a few subtle changes to accommodate our taste buds.

Today is my birthday, and I got some great gifts, but the best is the email from Discover Card, showing a zero balance!
The card has been cut up, and it is history.
Yea!

I deposited $20l.75 in my ING account today. It was a combination of change, dollars saved, two refund checks, and $100.00 transferred from checking.

I have two loads of laundry on the line, which will save on electricity.

I went to Goodwill today, and found a NEW pair of Naturalizer sandals, for four dollars! They had a small mark on the beige suede, but it came off with a little soap and water. Dried in the sun, they look great. Also bought a like-new pair of Abercrombie jeans for three dollars.

It has been a very frugal and productive day.

Starting today, I am changing the way I compute the $20.00 challenge. I am going to compute "savings" on things I purchase as a loss leader, using coupons, etc.
I will not compute actual money "in the bank". I won't include "card savings" because I really think the prices are inflated on that program. I have determined that the challenge can be whatever works for any participant. There is no right or wrong.
At any rate, I saved $18.66 by purchasing loss leaders, mark downs, and using coupons at Albertson's today. My best buy there, was two boxes of Cheerios at 50 cents a box. They were at a loss leader price, and I used coupons. No double coupons at this store.

I never thought I'd be anxious for a credit card bill to arrive, but the Discover Card bill came yesterday, and I wrote out a check for the FINAL payment! It goes in the mail tomorrow, and when it is posted, I will officially be DEPT FREE! I have been waiting for this status for a long time. Slow and steady does win the race!
Now, the money that went on that card ($650.00 a month for the past 14 months) will go into savings. Life is good!

This morning I heard that Wal-Mart's "old Roy" dog treats are on the recall list. I have been feeding them to my dogs, and they seem healthy, but I took the bones I had left to Wal-Mart for a refund. Other people at the service desk seemed very concerned with the expanding list of recalled pet food, and treats.
This is the second recalled item I've taken back in the past six weeks, and the only things I've ever taken back due to a recall.
Hope it is the last!