My job has been on unlimited OT for the last 2-3 years. Then 2 days ago, at our busiest time of year, and with no warning we were told there is no more OT. NONE! I'm totally bummed out! I have always worked at least some OT every week, usually about 5-6 hrs a week but anywhere from 2-15 hrs. This is going to be a hard hit to my paycheck for sure. I am hoping this won't be permanent and OT will come back soon, but I have no idea. So until then we will need to be even more diligent with spending (bad timing since we already have a min vaca planned this weekend).

My parents have several rentals and one of them is located in the town next to mine. They are having a lot of issues with their renters (specifically two that are now in jail!) so they will need to get that apartment ready for renting and that will be a way for me to get some extra money helping with cleaning and fixing up the apartment.

My joint savings with BF has reached $1000! It is really amazing how fast you can save with 2 people adding to the pot!

I helped do inventory at BF's grocery store, and they paid me $80 for my assistance. BF matched my deposit.

Current Balance $26,150.00
+$80.00 Working inventory at store
+$80.00 BF Matched my deposit
Balance $26,310.00

Local Savings $1615.00
Capitol 360 Savings $23,675.00
Joint Capitol 360 Savings $1020.00
Total Savings = $26,310.00

I have been getting through my mail from when I was out of town and I received a letter from my local bank requesting I participate in an hr long focus group regarding their products and services and for my time I will get a $100 MasterCard Gift Card! Sweet!!

The focus group is in 3 weeks, so I called and signed up today. Love it!

I did awesome with my OT this week. Ended up at 11.75 hrs! Love that extra padding on my paycheck!

I checked my OT hours for the year and I am already at 146 hrs! My total OT hours for the whole year last year was 136...wow! So I am on pace to put in about 350-360 hours! I like my job and I LOVE time and a half $$$, so is nice that so much OT is needed. I will take it as long as they offer it!

This weekend I worked at an arm-wrestling tournament doing the weigh-ins and bracketing. I was doing this as a favor to my Dad, but I ended up making $50! So I put that into the mortgage checking for March's Principle Payment.

$45.00 Balance
+$50.00 Casino Win
=$95.00 New Balance

I made up sheets to track our spending on eating out and gambling to help us get a handle on those problem spending areas. We have been doing very well at making sure we get all of our amounts written down. Eye opening to see something written down almost everyday. Well now that we can see how extremely bad we are at eating out we can stop that!! Gambling only has one entry, and DH has been very good at being in charge of that. He also wants us to track grocery spending so we can see that against the eating out spending, so we are doing that as well. And I am trying again to make spending sheets for groceries to get the best price points for the items we buy the most. I have tried to do this before and lost interest, so hoping to stick with it this time.

Work has asked that we "do as much overtime as we can for January". So I am going to do what I can. Life has been hard lately, so it's hard to stay at work when I just want to be at home with DH, but work can also take your mind off of things, so I will try to do some serious OT. Due to the hours we are open, the very most I could do a week would be 12.5 hours. Which would be AWESOME for my paycheck.

Weightloss so far for 2014 has been going great! Have not been doing well with working out cause so busy and the above mentioned OT (did 5 hrs this week), but have been doing good on eating. Down 11 lbs since 1/1/14 as of this morning!

DH and I both got a lot of cleaning done today which was nice so now we can just relax on Sunday. I cleaned off the landing and swept and vacuumed it, cleaned the shower, put away all of my laundry, cleaned up my closet, picked up the bedroom, folded towels and vacuumed the bedroom. DH did all the dishes, washed 4 loads of laundry, put away his laundry, bought a few groceries, went to the gym, cleaned off and scrubbed all the kitchen counters and made dinner! PRODUCTIVE DAY!

Normally the only time I move my inventory is with the rummage sales, but today I made a sale to a co-worker and made $8.00!

They asked if I had any coupons for Renu Contact Solution, which I did and I gave to them, but then I let them know I had some for sale as well for $4.00 per bottle and they asked for 2!

These sell for $6.99 each at Target, so a good deal for both of us!

I will add the $8.00 to the Mortgage Checking Account.

I have been working voluntary OT since Octoberish. I try to put in about 5-10hrs a week and have been doing very good at making myself get in those extra hrs. This really helps my paycheck, it has been $200-$300 more then usual each payday. Well finally got the email Friday that they are no longer offering OT. I know it will be back again as special projects always come up or other depts need help, but for now no more OT for me. Just another reason to reign in spending! Now I will be getting off of work everyday at 3:25, so plan to hit the gym everyday since I will have plenty of time for that without the OT hours.

11/25/12 2hrs 10 min Mudding Basement
11/29/12 2hrs Mudding Basement
12/02/12 2hrs 30 min Sanding and Caulking Basement
12/09/12 3hrs 50 min Primering Basement
Total 10hrs 30 min

The texture guy came Saturday, so we were able to start primering (sp) yesterday. Made it to 10 hrs now. I really wish I could help my parents more, but with the amount of OT I am putting in at work, I really don't want to push it as I am already pretty worn out. I am at least trying to go there every Sunday and get a few hrs in.

Tried to get DH to come with to help today but he didn't want to.....but when I came home the kitchen was cleaned up and the landing.


11/25/12 2hrs 10 min Mudding Basement
11/29/12 2hrs Mudding Basement
12/02/12 2hrs 30 min Sanding and Caulking Basement
Total 6hrs 40 min

Been a money making machine this week. Got in a little over 8 hours of OT (time and a half $$$$) plus worked 2 hrs at the rents rental. Just a little bit (I think) of mudding left then will move on to the next thing. I think my Dad wants me to start on the extensive cleaning that will need to be done. Once the mudding is done then they can bring in the texture guy to texture the whole place, then we will have to primer and paint every room. UGH. I believe the texture guy is the only person my Dad is hiring. The rest of the work is all being done by my family (Dad, Mom, myself and older bro, little bro lives a few hrs away). So far my Dad and bro have built a deck on the front, ripped out a closet, built a new closet, put in some new windows, and sheetrocked another closet (it was under the stairs and the stairs had never been closed off, so looked terrible in the closet). They are obviously very handy guys....me and Mom pretty much just do what we can to help out with things like cleaning, painting, going to buy supplies etc.

I finally got some time to go help at my parent's rental. I need to keep track of my hours and they will pay me at the end, so I figured I would track on my blog so I can see where I am at.

11/25/12 2hrs 10 min Mudding Basement

It is really depressing walking into the rental cause every single floor covering needs to be replaced and every single wall needs to be painted. Hopefully we will see progress soon so we fell like we are getting somewhere. Once all the mudding is done then we can texture, primer and paint.

I won the Biggest Loser today! YEAH! I won $40. Normally I would post how I was doing on here, but I didn't do good at all....and neither did anyone else that was doing it. We all had a rough time...I think it is that transition from warm weather time to indoor cuddling time and no one had any ambition. I know I sure didn't! But I did end up winning, so that was awesome. I am going to add the $40 to the mortgage payment for December 2012. I also have a ton of change I need to get cashed in to add to the mortgage payment.
Today is the day I get to see my paystub, but I don't get my paycheck till Friday. I have been working my booty off with OT and my paycheck was $360.00 more then usual! WHOOHOO! I already have 5 hrs of OT in this week too. It can be exausting, but really trying to keep it up as that can help make huge dents in the mortgage and help me from having to take out of savings for the holidays.

On a seperate note from the trailer fire, my parents also have a tenant of 13 years moving out from a different rental.

This is from one of their duplexes. It is actually the other half of my Dad's house, but both sides have 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, driveway and garage, so they are more like 2 houses right next to each other then a standard duplex.
Since it is a large rental we have always had families with children living there and they normally stay for many years. My Dad had not been inside this rental in about 10 years since the renters always paid on time and never had any problems with them. Well now that he was able to go in and see what needed to be done to get ready for new renters it is going to be A LOT of work. Just imagine if you didn't do anything in your home for 13 years....it is very,very dirty (They are still living there until 11/1/12 so nothing has been cleaned out yet) and pretty much everything cosmetic needs to be replaced.
Many of the rooms have wallpaper so we need to take that down.
Paint in every room.
New flooring in every room.
New sink and shower in the main bath.
Several of the doors need to be replaced.
Lots of minor things like lightswitches, trim boards, window and door screens.
New ceiling fans in a few rooms.
A few holes in the walls that need to be patched before we paint.
My Dad and Bro are also building a small deck onto the front of the house and building a new closet into one of the bedrooms.
So I will have lots of extra work to keep me busy! Will be nice to make a little extra money.

Got my last Bingo paycheck....made $5623.93 working there for about 7 months. Never spent a penny of it! All in savings for whatever we may need it for. I'm proud that I was able to do what I said I was gonna do with that money and not let that extra work go to waste. Sometime this week I will try to get the last $1620.00 ready to take to the bank and will transfer it to ING.
Also transferred enough extra to the New Car Account to get it to $5K! Yeah another goal met! New goal is the EF!

Current Balance $22,020.00
+$265.00 Bingo Wages (last paycheck)
+$85.00 to Retirement Hold Account
+$30.00 School Reimbursement to New Car Account
+$135.00 to get New Car Account to $5K
New Balance $22,535.00

Bingo Money (cash) $1620.00
ING $18,015.00 ($4000.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $130.00
Home Improvements(cash)$845.00
HSBC $1,925.00
Total = $22,535.00

Added $265.35 to Bingo Wages
Tips total - $2006.61
Wage total - $3617.32
Total Bingo Money - $5623.93

Got a surprise refund from our previous mortgage carrier of $990! YEAH! So I rounded it up to $1000 and tossed it into the New Car fund...almost got that puppy up to $5K! Also got the Bingo money over $5K...I will get my last paycheck from Bingo on Friday and then I will transfer it all into ING.

Current Balance $20,305.00
+$155.00 Bingo Tips
+$255.00 Bingo Wages
+$35.00 Overtime pay to EF
+$30.00 Chase CC Rewards Check
+$1000.00 Mortgage Refund
+$100.00 ING Sept 2012
+$250.00 Home Maintenance
-$140.00 to ROTH IRA
+$9.39 ING Interest
+$22.61 Even Out Amount
New Balance $22,020.00

Bingo Money (cash) $1355.00
ING $17,765.00 ($4000.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $130.00
Home Improvements(cash)$845.00
HSBC $1,925.00
Total = $22,020.00

Added $252.42 to Bingo Wages, $69.50 and $87.25 to Bingo Tips
Tips total - $2006.61
Wage total - $3351.97
Total Bingo Money - $5358.58

Well I have been at bingo for about 7 months now and I put in my 2 weeks yesterday. I don't really want to get into too many details but basically I need to quit due to too much drama. You wouldn't think bingo halls would be drama full....but oh man they are! I said when I started the job if I didn't like it or it wasn't fun anymore then I would quit, cause we don't need the money. I do still like working there, but I'm feeling stressed at home because of things that are going on there so I needed to quit even though I didn't really want to....it will be for the best.

On the plus side, after these last 2 weeks I will have made over $5K extra money for me and my family and I never did spend a single dime of it! ALL still sitting in savings.

So now that I will have about 15-20 extra hours a week, I plan on making a fabulous garden this summer! I also am going to take advantage of the overtime offered at my full time job. Obviously I make way more on my OT then at bingo, so if I did about 8hrs a week of OT that would make up for about 18 hrs a week at Bingo...

Got Bingo tips and threw an extra $20 in the EF just because. So now that we had met the $20K challenge we were going to throw our extra money (recycling, rummage sale, gifts ect) at the mortgage. But after talking it over with DH he would prefer to keep putting money in the New Car Fund for awhile. Both of our cars have over 100K miles on them, so that is probably the best plan. We have over $3K marked for a new car, plus the Bingo Money is almost to $5K and has no set purpose yet. HAPPY SAVINGS!

Current Balance $23,145.00
+$20.00 ING EF
+$65.00 Bingo Tips
+/-$1000.00 from Bingo Money (cash) to ING Bingo
New Balance $23,230.00

Bingo Money (cash) $885.00
ING $16,710.00 ($4000.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $130.00
Home Improvements(cash)$595.00
HSBC $4,910.00
Total = $23,230.00

Added $61.55 Bingo Tips
Tips total - $1786.21
Wage total - $3099.55
Total Bingo Money - $4885.76

Today was payday for my full time job, DH's full time job, Bingo, track and cross country! DH gets to do what he wants with his track and CC money so should have some more to add once he lets me know how much I can use from his money for savings.


Current Balance $21,940.00
+$50.00 Bingo Tips
+$85.00 Retirement Hold Account
+$195.00 Bingo Wages
+$100.00 September 2012 Savings
+$100.00 Anniversary Cruise
+$275.00 Home Improvements
+$200.00 Casino Win to Vegas Fund
+$200.00 Casino Win to New Car Fund
New Balance $23,145.00

Bingo Money (cash) $1,820.00
ING $15,690.00 ($3000.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $130.00
Home Improvements(cash)$595.00
HSBC $4,910.00
Total = $23,145.00

Added $195.90 to Bingo Wages and $48.75 to Bingo Tips
Tips total - $1724.66
Wage total - $3099.55
Total Bingo Money - $4824.21

Whoo hoo, lot of deposits! Our refinance is finally done, and we don't have to pay the mortgage for April or May. So we put Aprils mortgage payment into our car savings. We also went out of town for Easter and stopped at a casino for a few hrs. Came home $300 ahead, so I stuck $200 in the Vegas fund for next time we go.

Current Balance $20,000.00
-$111.00 to Roth IRA
+$125.00 to Patio Door Savings (cash)
+$125.00 Bingo Payday
+$70.00 Bingo Tips
+$5.48 ING Interest
+$25.52 Even Out Deposit
+1500.00 April Mortgage Payment - to New Car Account
+$200.00 Casino win - to Vegas Fund
+/-$1000.00 Moved Bingo cash to ING
+/-$1000.00 Moved Patio Door cash to ING
New Balance $21,940.00

Bingo Money (cash) $1,575.00
ING $15,105.00 ($3000.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $130.00
Home Improvements(cash)$320.00
HSBC $4,810.00
Total = $21,940.00

Added $126.66 to Bingo Wages and $70.75 to Bingo Tips
Tips total - $1675.91
Wage total - $2903.65
Total Bingo Money - $4579.56

Once all of my deposits clear I will have to go back and make sure all the numbers match up. It is so hard to keep straight when I don't update it on a regular basis. The $20K goal is soooo close! We don't have to pay the mortgage for April, so I'm hoping we will get over the goal....until we have to pay for our cruise.

Also I did get that check from the Chase Freedom Credit Card for $300.00, all I had to do was use the credit card once and they sent me a check for $300.00. No fees, no annual charge, no strings!

Current Balance $19,235.00
+$6.18 March ING Interest
+$30.82 March Even Out Amount
+$420.00 Bingo Payday (3/2/12 and 3/16/12)
+$30.00 Bingo Tips (3/19/12)
-$112.00 to Roth IRA
+$85.00 to retirement hold account (3/6/12)
+$85.00 to retirement hold account (3/20/12)
-$2600.00 Vegas
+$2000.00 Brought back from Vegas
+$300.00 Free check from Chase credit card
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise
+$100.00 to Sept 2012
New Balance $19,680.00

Bingo Money $2,340.00
ING $11,205.00 ($2000.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $130.00
Home Improvements(cash) $1,195.00
HSBC $4,810.00
Total = $19,680.00

Added $244.53 and $167.81 to Bingo Wages and $38.00 to Bingo Tips
Tips total - $1567.86
Wage total - $2776.99
Total Bingo Money - $4344.85

I am super far behind on my blog! Been so busy and we leave for Vegas on Saturday, so no entires next week either. If I have time Saturday before we leave I will try to get some more entires up.

Current Balance $19,140.00
+$45.00 Last weeks Bingo Tips
+$50.00 This weeks Bingo Tips
New Balance $19,235.00

Bingo Money $1,890.00
ING $11,310.00 ($2000.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $130.00
Home Improvements(cash) $1,195.00
HSBC $4,710.00
Total = $19,235.00

Added $97.75 to Bingo Tips
Tips total - $1529.86
Wage total - $2364.65
Total Bingo Money - $3894.51

Looks like we are going to be right up close to our goal when we go to Vegas in March.....and then we will be taking about $2K out of savings for the trip.....shoot! Oh well, either way we will be there soon. Then I need to sit down with DH and decide exactly what we are going to do with savings vs the mortgage.

Current Balance $18,485.00
+$195.00 Bingo Payday
+$85.00 to retirement hold account
New Balance $18,765.00

Bingo Money $1,645.00
ING $11,210.00 ($2000.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $130.00
Home Improvements(cash) $1,070.00
HSBC $4,710.00
Total = $18,765.00

Added $197.36 to Bingo Payday
Tips total - $1282.71
Wage total - $2364.65
Total Bingo Money - $3647.36

Got our federal tax return yesterday!! Our return was $1476.00, so I transferred $1500.00 to savings. I paid back the last $450.00 back to my retirement hold account, so glad to have that paid back! Then I stuck the other $1050.00 to the EF. We are cruising to our goal right now!!

Current Balance $16,585.00
+$75.00 Bingo Tips
+$1500.00 Federal Tax Return
($450.00 to payback retirement hold account in full and $1050.00 to EF)
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise
+$100.00 to Sept 2012
+$125.00 to Home Improvements
New Balance $18,485.00

Bingo Money $1,450.00
ING $11,125.00 ($2000.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $130.00
Home Improvements(cash) $1,070.00
HSBC $4,710.00
Total = $18,485.00

Added $71.35 to Bingo Tips
Tips total - $1282.71
Wage total - $2167.29
Total Bingo Money - $3450.00

Had a really nice Bingo paycheck cause I picked up about 10 extra hours at Bingo this week.
ETA - Went back and adjusted the numbers cause I needed to move another $500 from Bingo money to ING.

Current Balance $16,000.00
+$310.00 Bingo Wages
+$5.44 ING Interest
+$24.56 Even Out Amount
+$5.00 to Mortgage Payoff Account
-$112.00 to 401K
-$3.00 Never got transferred to ING from last post
-$500.00 from Bingo Money
+$500.00 to ING
New Balance $16,230.00

Bingo Money $1320.00
ING $8725.00 ($2000.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $130.00
Home Improvements(cash) $945.00
HSBC $4610.00
Total = $16,230.00

Added $311.83 to Bingo Tips
Tips total - $1157.36
Wage total - $2167.29
Total Bingo Money - $3324.65

Finally got my $25 reimbursement for paying for my gaming fee for Bingo back in September so stuck that in the EF. Lots of misc little deposits since we get paid from all of our jobs this week....and we hit $16K!!!
I am pumped, I can see the end of the $20K Challenge! Between our taxes and not having to pay the mortgage for 2 months (seperate refi post to come soon) we should hit $20K in March or April!! YEAH! Then we can throw all of our extra money including the bingo money to the mortgage......say bye bye mortgage, your days (ok years) are numbered!!

Current Balance $15,670.00
+$90.00 Bingo Tips
+$25.00 Gaming License Reimbursement to EF
-$28.00 To ROTH IRA
+$3.00 Even Out Amount
+$100.00 To September 2012
+$125.00 To Home Improvements
+$15.00 To EF to get to $16K!!!!
New Balance $16,000.00

Bingo Money $1510.00
ING $8810.00 ($1500.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $125.00
Home Improvements(cash) $945.00
HSBC $4610.00
Total = $16,000.00

Added $91.15 to Bingo Tips
Tips total - $1157.36
Wage total - $1855.46
Total Bingo Money - $3012.82

Current Balance $15,585.00
+$85.00 Bingo Tips
New Balance $15,670.00

Bingo Money $1420.00
ING $8695.00 ($1500.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $125.00
Home Improvements(cash) $820.00
HSBC $4610.00
Total = $15,670.00

Added $86.60 to Bingo Wages
Tips total - $1066.21
Wage total - $1855.46
Total Bingo Money - $2921.67

Moved another $500 from my at home Bingo money to ING Bingo money. Trying to get as far away from $14K as we can before we go to Vegas in March.

Current Balance $15,185.00
+$215.00 Bingo Wages
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise
+$85.00 to Retirement Hold Account
-$500.00 Bingo Money from home
+$500.00 Bingo Money to ING
New Balance $15,585.00

Bingo Money $1335.00
ING $8695.00 ($1500.00 Bingo Money)
Mortgage Payoff $125.00
Home Improvements(cash) $820.00
HSBC $4610.00
Total = $15,585.00

Added $213.82 to Bingo Wages
Tips total - $979.61
Wage total - $1855.46
Total Bingo Money - $2835.07

Current Balance $14,550.00
+$90.00 to Bingo Tips
New Balance $14,640.00

Bingo Money $1845.00
ING $7870.00
Home Improvements(cash) $515.00
HSBC $4410.00
Total = $14,640.00

Added $90.78 to Bingo Tips
Tips total - $691.76
Wage total - $1157.15
Total Bingo Money - $1848.91

Current Balance $14,285.00
+$250.00 Bingo Payday
New Balance $14,535.00

Bingo Money $1755.00
ING $7855.00
Home Improvements(cash) $515.00
HSBC $4410.00
Total = $14,535.00

Added $250.76 to Bingo Tips
Tips total - $600.98
Wage total - $1157.15
Total Bingo Money - $1758.13