As per my last post about how much money I'm actually making for my freelance work (once the tax bite is calculated...) I still haven't made any decisions about what I should do as far as dumping a regular, but low-paying gig that has become more work than it might be worth hassle and money wise. AS soon as the taxes are finished and I know exactly how much I profited, if any, I'll post here for your final advice before deciding to ditch it or keep it.

In other news, Friday was actually a NO SPEND DAY!! Unfortunately, those are really rare, so it deserves celebration.

Today, however, was pretty spendy. It was all inevitable stuff.

Today I spent about $90 on groceries at Aldi. I stocked up on some wasabi peas and other special order asian frozen foods because they're having Chinese New Year themed specials this week.

I also went to Menard's and bought all of my seed starting trays and see mats. I'm glad I went there. They were literally half the price of the same or similar items at Lowe's. Spent about $50 on seed-starting trays with dome lids, biodegradable pots, and two heating mats. I'll be able to reuse all of it every year, so it's a mostly one-time capital expense. We're installing a massive garden this spring, so the seed starting will go a long way to filling it every year.

Then, I had to spend $89 for the next six weeks of swim lessons and pee wee basketball for the kids. Money well spent. The Y is such a great resource, and so much cheaper than our local private clubs or parks and rec programs.

Ouch. Hopefully this week won't be too spendy. I have some meals planned. We're not going out for valentine's day. We're staying home with the kids and making homemade heart-shaped sugar cookies and ordering heart-shaped pizza from a local place. (fun dinner!). Friday, I'm taking my sister to a movie as part of her birthday present, but I paid for that with a groupon ages ago. So, it looks like the popcorn and Goobers are on me!