I had an unexpected hit to the wallet today and now I’m 50 cents over budget. I must try to get through the next three days without reaching for my debt or credit cards.
Here is a breakdown of where the $100.50 has gone:
Thursday:
Groceries: $13.50
Happy Hour: $7.00
Friday:
Nothing: $0.00
Saturday:
Pizza with friends: $15.00
Sunday
Afternoon tea: $55.00
Gas: $10.00
I [...]

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This week the GLoaB staff tried two different wines under $15. We happened upon the first wine at Auntie Em’s Kitchen and the other was recommended by a reader.
This week’s pick is 2006 Italo Cescon Pinot Grigio from Friuli, Italy.
The bottle looks like this:

This Pinot Grigio is very clean. You can taste a bit of [...]

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Here is how I measured up against my goals this week:
1) Exercise 4-5 times a week for an hour including cardio and strength training
I exercised 3 times, but never made it to the gym. I walked about 3-4 miles a few times this week and did some strength training at home with weights. I [...]

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Once a month Auntie Em’s Kitchen in Eagle Rock presents a Farmers Market Dinner. Everything on the menu is made with ingredients from local Farmers Markets.
The dinner costs $32 per person. The meal includes: soup, salad, entree, cheese plate and dessert. The experience is worth the cost because the food is excellent, the staff is [...]

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In January I created my annual budget. I figured out what I could spend per month on out-of-pocket expenses. I haven’t done a very good job of tracking what I spend or sticking to my budget.
I decided to try an experiment starting on Thursday, March 13th. I call it the $100 Challenge.
The Rules:

I am only [...]

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I have been using some new websites lately that I wanted to share with everyone. They have been useful to me and I hope that you find them useful too.

Etsy -I find all kinds of unique low cost items here. You have to really shop around on this site, but you can find some great [...]

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Over the last year I have been extremely busy with work and sometimes I let things in my personal life slip. I’ve forgotten an upcoming event or celebration more than once. I’ve spent many weekend mornings frazzled, running around trying to buy a card and a gift.
I decided to keep a few gifts [...]

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Here are my goals and how I measured up against them.
1) Exercise 4-5 times a week for an hour including cardio and strength training
I exercised 3 times. I tried boxing for the first time and I loved it. I got a lot of work induced stress out of my system in about an hour.
2) [...]

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Each week I will post a wine that tastes great and won’t break the bank. All wines have been sampled by the GLOAB staff and cost less than $15 a bottle.
This week’s pick is the 2006 J.Lohr Riverstone Chardonnay.
The label looks like:

The 2006 J.Lohr Riverstone Chardonnay  is very clean. You can definitely taste the [...]

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I have sat in several meetings over the past few years where I thought “Why am I here? Was the person who called this meeting lonely and in need of attention or did they think they had a point?”As I sat in a recent meeting that was getting way off track, I began to develop [...]

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