Usually I'm either swamped at work or swamped at home, but not both at the same time. And usually I'm swamped or hubby's swamped, but not both at the same time. Since the beginning of November, when I took on a new job at work, and hubby prepared to leave his job and kick off his own company, we both have been swamped at work and at home. Not a great thing.

Thankfully, it's all good and challenging and relaxing, but it's tough keeping it all together. We've gotten a little lax about the spending over the past month (buying food at work, eating out more, buying things not necessarily on impulse but also without shopping around). I need to buckle down, but also need some time to do it.

Anyhow, I know there are about half a dozen rebates that I've saved receipts for. I need to print out and mail in the forms. I also have to get to the post office to mail another book from Paperback Swap. com. Hubby's travelling for work this week, and I have a few work at home days, so I'm hoping I'll be able to make a significant dent into the to-do list.

Other than that, nothing much going on with the financial front. Haven't heard back from the Accountant yet, hopefully later this week.

I've been posting here for years. And usually, around Feb 10th, I post about how I'm collecting all of my tax stuff and getting ready to do them then...nothing. Then I'll post again around April 10th absolutely flipping out because my taxes aren't done and it's so close to the deadline. (I usually owe a ton of money, too, so that never helps)!

Well not this year. One of the benefits of DH starting his own company is that we now have an accountant do our taxes. Yes, I know this is costing us money, but the peace of mind is priceless. Especially with me so swamped at work.

No doubt, we'll still owe, because he worked through the end of the year, as did I. But if I have to owe anyway, I may as well not have the stress.

So I'll report back about how we made out. In the meantime, what to do with all the time I'm NOT spending on taxes? Hmmm....

Keeping It Frugal in Texas is keeping me honest! Yes, things are going pretty well so far, but I would definitely be better off if I posted more regularly, so here I am, second night in a row!

My thought for the day: I rented (for free) 2 dvds from my local library, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Dark Knight. Now Roger Rabbit's been around since I was a kid, but Dark Knight is a really recent release - it'd be $5 at Blockbuster! I'm going to have to take advantage of this some more. We had friends over Saturday night (super cheap - baked ziti and home made bread, thank you very much), and we started talking about all of the classic movies I've never seen (Godfather, Stripes, Close Encounters). We must have come up with 100 movies. So my goal is to watch one a week until I get caught up.

Speaking of getting caught up, I need to check my rebate sites - a bunch of new ones are out there that I'd like to take advantage of, but it requires some planning. That'll be my goal for the next day or two.

Yes I've been a big slacker about posting. Ends up Facebook hasn't been taking up so much time, I've just been absolutely swamped at work!

I did manage to tally up my February spending. The good news: I'm meeting my goals for the "every month spending". Most of my utility bills are fixed (I pay the same each month). My grocery bill was $510.59 (budget $500), Eating out was a mere $12.58, and gas for the car was $160.14 (budget $200).

Two areas where I got hit hard: hubby's life insurance. During the transition from his old job to an individual policy, we ended up having to pay a few months at once (plus a rate hike). Also, we bought DD a cell phone for Christmas, so the cost of the phone and extra line hit on the credit card this month. Finally, we had a pretty big "entertainment" bill - DD's birthday party (~$250), company for dinner, and a dinner out in support of our PTO.

So overall, we spent a bit more than last month, but are still doing fine.

Other miscellaneous financial stuff: I sold 2 books on half.com, got a few rebates back, still staying on top of those types of things.