There's a little over 2 weeks left in the month and so far so good as far as spending goes. I've budgeted $800.00 per month for the few bills that I pay that are automatically billed to my Discover card every month, prescription drugs, food, fuel and any other misc. So far I've spent $481.00 of that money but that is already having paid for prescriptions and the bills for the month. It should be easy to get through the rest of the month as I will just have to buy food and fuel. Staying with my parents I don't spend much money on anything else.


I had routine lab tests done a couple of weeks ago and my physician called to tell me that I am severely anemic. I was really surprised as I'm not overweight but I'm not extremely thin either. I had been having a lot of strange things happening though like seeing large white spots, my legs feeling very weak and feeling like they may give out, so tired I could barely make myself move and a few heart palpitations. I honestly thought it was anxiety due to the situation with my parents and my doc had just prescribed meds for that and depression. I have read some on anemia now and have found that it's really not all that uncommon to be iron and b12 deficient. One thing is for sure, I've got to start taking better care of myself or I might not be able to take care of my parents!

As I mentioned in my previous post my daughter is newly married.

Her husband is a SSGT in the air force. They applied for an apartment which required a credit and back ground check. About a week later the complex called and told them they were denied because she had a conviction for a theft by check in another Texas town to which she has never been. She disputed it and a week later the credit agency which is Transunion told her...Sorry for the inconvenience that wasn't you, this person had the same name but different date of birth and social security number. In the mean time they were running out of time to find a place to live so ended up getting base housing. The house they got is really nice and now they are glad they were denied for the apartment as the house has three bedrooms and with the baby coming they need the extra room.

They both had room mates before so neither had items to start a new household. I went with her and bought things for the kitchen and bathrooms and spent 800 dollars. Holy smokes! I didn't realize the cost of things these days! We didn't buy the most expensive of anything either. She got pots and pans, silverware, bathroom rugs, shower curtains, just the basics really.

They bought their washer and dryer also and their dining room furniture, they were surprised how quickly it all adds up. The good thing is they have paid cash for everything that was purchased so they won't start their new lives in debt.

Sometimes I wonder how people who have very little money make it these days, it seems near impossible.

I made a long post a couple of days ago and didn't save it and when I hit save and publish it disappeared. How aggravating!

It has been hard to be frugal lately as I've had a lot of expenses. I still stay with my mother since she has terminal cancer so I still go back and forth from my home to her home which is about 70 miles from one another. I've started staying with her 5 or 6 days a week instead of driving back and forth. I was driving our full sized truck and the fuel costs were astronomical. My husband bought me a new Volkswagen Passat and it gets around 45 miles per gallon so that is much better and much less expensive. It's diesel so it costs more per gallon but in the long run I save much more than driving the truck. He paid cash so no payments thank goodness.

I cook what my mother asks for so I don't really watch my grocery spending like I should. I want to be able to make her everything she asks for or order out for what she wants. It's gotten to where now she really doesn't ask for much, she's losing her appetite. It's been 10 months since she found out she had terminal cancer and they gave her about three months then to live. She did really well up until last month but now seems to be going down hill fast.
I'm thankful for the time we've been able to share and that we have gotten closer over the last ten months.

My daughter got married on August 7th and I paid for her entire wedding. All in all I spent about 5 thousand dollars for 50 people to attend. That included the church and reception hall fees, gifts to the organist and pastor and my sister in law for doing all decorating, flowers including and boutonnieres, corsages, food etc. That also included jewelry for the bride, her dress, veil, shoes and bridesmaid dresses. It was a beautiful wedding in a church that's over 120 years old. There were lots of compliments from people that attended. I think it was just as beautiful as any wedding that costs 10 or 20 thousand dollars.

Three days after getting married my daughter found out she is expecting. I've already been planning baby item purchases! I can't wait, I'll be a first time grandma!

I've spent tons of money also at the dentist and dermatologist, I still have lots of expenses to go, so far I've spent around 10 thousand dollars. Dental implants aren't cheap! The price is ridiculous! Plus I travel about four hours to get there. Because of the oilfield in a lot of towns in Texas to get a hotel in the town that I go to would cost 250 dollars a night. Price gouging! The people who make very little money cannot even find housing in some of these places in West and South Texas.

I'm hoping things settle down pretty soon financially.
Thank goodness I have such a loving, understanding husband!

How has everyone here been doing?