Hard to believe when I looked at my paycheck today (I get paid twice monthly - the 15th and the last day of the month). It was $600 over what I usually get, and it looks like I got bonus and retro pay. I thought I got all my bonus and retro pay already. Normally I don't look a gift horse in the mouth, but I have a very weird feeling about this - the payroll coordinator's last day is on Friday. A little bit of fun and games as she leaves? No reason that I can see to be singled out; I'm not a friend nor an enemy. Wonder if someone else got "treated" in this way?

I'd better figure it out and offer to give it back if its a mistake... before it gets comfy in my checking account.

Ever since I got the large checks I haven't done a darn thing with the tip box. I think I might take a break from putting something in this month. Still have to find a Christmas gift for sister. Wonder what to give someone who seems to have everything and no space to put it?

Right now I'm concentrating on diet and am in the middle of my second week of workouts. I did a lot better this week than last. My muscles feel thick and I feel tired. The diet part is starting to impinge on the frugality part - a breakfast which I'm not used to eating, two smaller mini-meals which hikes my lunch budget by several bucks. Oh well, with good health - like a lot of other commodities - the cheapest man pays the most.

I had another good workout so I made a fateful, not very frugal step. I signed up for four months for the use of a personal trainer at the gym. It will be $1941. Ulp!

It was with decided nervousness that I brought it up with DH. (Our finances are separate, but this is big.) Au contraire, DH told me, this is one of the most frugal things you can do. You want to get more active and slim down, you figure that a gym is the next step (I don't have a car, so I walk everywhere or I catch a bus. That takes care of endurance, but my weight is still high), but you don't have any experience with workout machines. Paying somebody to spot you, point out your mistakes, encourage you and keep you from cheating is da** frugal because you'll get it done with no fuss. The frugal part means that since you've put money on it you won't blow off workouts. And what good is inheriting money but not being healthy enough to enjoy it?

Funny how I'm starting this during the holiday season. I figured as long as its not January, I've got a jump on temptation.

Got back to work yesterday. Felt like I got hammered with requests (grrr), but I managed to get a fair amount done. I just have to take it slow, mix it up (easy project, hard project), and remember my predecessors magic words, "no one dies if it doesn't get done today."

Today was a lot better after about 9 hours of sleep. I went to the gym for the first time ever. The trainer was very nice - we did mostly the weigh-in, the measurements, the setting of goals. A revelation to learn what an ab crunch actually is. It'll be quite the little project to get my weight down.

On the other hand, three years ago it was quite the little project to get my finances in line. I never balanced my checkbook; I had two little 403Bs, 1 little, 1 medium, 1 large credit card balance, and about $1500 in student loans. It was a turning point for me when DH gave me my PDA for Christmas. Three weeks later I found a free, really good checkbook program

http://www.freewarepalm.com/financial/mycheckbook.shtml and put my info in with a quavering hand. I had a positive net worth, at least, but barely. This, at 40.

I started with the basics. With the PDA, it became important for me to reconcile my checkbook and to put what I spent in. I learned how I spent my money. It became very important that my credit card balances and student loan balances went down and my 403B contributions went up. When my student loan finally got paid off, that letter stating so was almost as valuable to me as the degree that I got with it. I made small investments, put little amounts and whatever bonus I got into a savings account which grew a little.

I wanted to cultivate some savings and a little investment so I knew what to throw extra money into after my debts were paid.

I learned about the debt snowball, and hit my accounts one at a time (although I did manage to put more than the minimum in each of the others). My worst one with the worst interest, which the cc company refused to lower, I transferred to a $0 balance offer. The debt didn't quite fit--so I made payments on the leftover debt that had to stay on the icky card, while paying low amounts on the balance offer. It was a bit dangerous, the 0$ interest after six month was okay compared to the icky card, but I was lucky. I had a couple of 500$ emergencies, not several $1000 ones.

I paid off my debts and now I'm manipulating my savings, tinkering around the edges.

It leads me into gramma's gift. I feel somehow that this is a dress rehearsal for the inheritance to come. Do I shore up my savings vehicles or go in a new direction? Do I throw it all in at once, or do I dollar cost average and spread out my payments into things?

Got the shoes at G.I.Joes today for 40$ and a sports bra for 30$. All I have to do is find flipflops for the shower and I'm set.

The farm auction was this afternoon. I wonder how sister and the executor got along? Haven't seen any Breaking News on the Milwaukee Journal site. Fingers crossed.

Feel like I'm coming down with something. Figures, its three days after my flu shot.

Not much happened today. I took the plunge and bought a gym membership to the gym next door at work. Gotta pick up some decent gym shoes. The ones I have are beaten, have holes, and have no ankle support. I have about $263 left of my paycheck, but I'm waiting for my sewer/water/gas bill, which should grab about $120 of it, so I really have about $140 left for gym shoes.

I was staring at the starlings in the trees across the street from my bus stop, but didn't take into account the birds in the trees I was under, waiting. My jacket got spluched. Yuck. Stupid bird with good aim.

Spending log - 1.65 coffee + 5.00 lunch (wonton soup)
Saving log - 4.00 tip box + 40.00 3M DRP

Today was a faux-no spend day. I spent, but I used a gift card that someone else loaded up for me, and I saved half a large sandwich yesterday for lunch today.

Went to a health fair put on at work. Except for the fact that I need to lose weight (and who doesn't?) and my blood pressure is on the high normal side, things look good. Fasting blood sugar at 96 and total cholesterol at 175. YAY. I signed up for a gym membership at work. We'll see how that goes. I normally walk 10 blocks of downtown Seattle to get to my bus, and while it's keeping me from getting fatter, I need to think about improving that bit of my life.

Yesterday afternoon the executors called at work to update me; then sister called me later that night. The executors told her that I had agreed to X, and she was wondering whether that was the case. I honestly don't remember agreeing to anything, just that I understood what the situation was, so I told her that. I suspect that the executors are using divide and conquer, a useful tool when you trying to get scattered heirs to agree to anything. I'll have to keep my comments to myself - the non-committal uh-huh - and ask the executors point blank at the end of calls if I've agreed to anything.

My lawyer friend hadn't called her yet. He told me he would do it tonight.

I'll reach a milestone two days after payday, when I finish my sticking bits of my paycheck into various accounts. I will have saved 12 months worth of living expenses!