Since I moved into my new house last May (my first time as a homeowner), I've been torn between wanting to save money and wanting to upgrade my house. I have been postponing the little upgrades that are purely cosmetic and unnecessary, like new bathroom fixtures and a new kitchen faucet. I just can't justify taking money from savings for things that aren't an emergency and don't NEED to be fixed.

I decided earlier this month to set up a new ING subaccount for home improvements. I also set up a bi-weekly $20 auto deposit. This seemed like painless way to save for those improvements. Once I have a decent balance built up, I can have more freedom to pull money from this account, and not feel like I am raiding my regular savings account.

I can't believe my last entry was Sept 30th. This month has gotten away from me. I find it rather ironic that almost a month has passed, and I am still trying to replace my back door. I was going to get Lowes to install it, but their service has been slow and frankly, it has been a long time since I have been treated so rudely by a company. As a result, they won't be getting my money. I had a handyman come by last night, and I am awaiting his estimate. I also asked him to estimate the cost of repairing some of my vinyl siding. This house was a rental before I bought it, and the renter's obviously weren't very careful with a string trimmer. I guess when it is not your place, you really don't give a hoot what kind of damage you do.

October has been expensive for me. My first two week budget was over on a few categories. But I knew this month would be tough. I traveled to KC, so my fuel costs were doubled. Plus, I had to buy birthday gifts. I did make some good decisions on the gifts-instead of getting gift cards, I bought some smaller items that really were quite nice and $10 cheaper than a gift card.

Even with these expenses, I have been able to put some extra money in savings. And, I'm trying to pay $100 more on my car payment this month. It really is sickening to get those statements each month and see how much you pay in interest.

I have also made a change in my work schedule. I got the chance to work on Saturday mornings at my part-time job. This is only until the end of the year, but it is a good opportunity to get a little more money each week without a significant time investment. Since I'm doing Saturdays, that means I can give up my Thursday evening shift, which was getting a bit stressful for me anyway. I will miss having Saturday completely free, but it is only temporary.