I have

negotiated a $50 discount on my Time Warner Cable bill. Tomorrow I'm going to stop by the YMCA and cancel my membership, saving $46 a month. I am also going to stop by T-Mobile and see if I can cancel my broadband for my tablet, which I used regularly when I was on the bus but now I could just use it on wi-fi, and save maybe $30 a month. The tablet itself is paid off, so I don't think there will be a problem. I have an unlimited data plan on my phone and so use it more for looking up things. I mostly use the data on my tablet for updates, which I can do through wi-fi instead. Also my phone plan comes with a 2.5 GB hotspot that I can use if I'm in a non-wi-fi area with the tablet.

So that could save $176 a month right there. My plan is to take my tax refund and pay off two low-balance credit cards so I don't have a monthly or at least have a minimal monthly payment. And Lane Bryant is definitely one of them. I got behind and owed a minimum balance of $39 after months of paying higher than the minimum. Comenity Bank was calling me maniacally on my cell phone today, at 8:30 am, 10:00 am, and 10:35 am. The last time was five minutes after I'd paid them $50, and I'd had to talk to a representative to get my web payment to go through correctly, so I'd already talked to someone, paid it, and not 5 minutes later, got another call. I politely told the man that 1) I'd just paid, 2) I would appreciate if he took my mobile phone number out of their system, as I was being bothered at work, and 3) no, I wasn't going to give him my work phone to be hounded with either. They could call my home phone--that's what it's there for, to catch things like confirming doctor's appointments or other business stuff in such a way that I am notified (I receive e-mails on my phone of the transcribed message immediately), yet without annoying me while I'm busy doing things like working. I won't say I'm going to cancel the card just yet, but I am going to pay the $250 I owe as quickly as I can so I don't have to deal with these people. Gee.

So if I pay off those cards, that would save an additional $150 or so a month, and that would give me a small net gain rather than the loss I've been operating at for months now. I should be able to pay my bills and have maybe a small amount to go into savings for things like car repairs and other emergencies. That's the plan, anyway, if I can stick to the budget I've drawn up. My expenses have gone up this past year. I went from spending $30 for transportation by bus each month to about $240 for gas and car insurance monthly. That's a big difference. And I will have to pay on the dental work, too, so I needed to make some adjustments, cause all these little bills do add up.

Okay, having worked out those sorts of things, it's time for bed. Tomorrow I have completely free to myself. My plans:

1. Give blood.
2. Watch Catching Fire in the theatre with my free ticket from work.
3. Cancel my YMCA membership (I have to go in person).
4. Try to see about eliminating the broadband fee for my tablet.
5. Work on the book reviews.
6. Clean house, including trash and laundry sorting.
7. Talk with the leasing agent at my complex about the rent situation. I should have the money soon, but not necessarily in time before she files for eviction.
8. Work on game notes, although we're not playing Sunday.
9. Read.
10. Make arrangements for a ride for my oral surgery.
11. Get an overdue oil change.

Okay, good night!