• $450 car repairs
• $22 Schoops Hamburgers

After an unexpected $450 in car repairs, I needed a coke and some cheese fries. What my husband thought was a small hole in the exhaust that was making the car smell turned out to be a gas leak and the fuel regulator needed replaced.

Between this repair and the new battery that was put in a few weeks ago, my Grand Prix better be running smooth for the next two years!

It used to be a given that you would go to your friendly local insurance agent for all your insurance needs. They would provide everything you need to be fully covered and the customer service to process any claims.

With insurance companies popping up left and right, especially those online that can pass the savings of low overhead costs on to their customers, getting several car insurance quotes before settling on an agent is now a given.

You can compare coverage, policies, services, and prices quickly and conveniently, making sure that you meet state insurance requirements while staying within budget.

If you get paid every other Friday, you just may be one of the lucky ones to have February as a 3 paycheck month. We are! Paychecks are deposited on February 1, 15, and 29th.

Since I am still looking for full-time employment, the extra paycheck buys us some more time, and we have budgeted accordingly.

I have a friend who gave birth to a baby boy a few months ago, and she decided to breast feed. She decided to breast feed not because of the health benefits to her and the baby, but because her family is on a budget and breast feeding saved them money. It might not be the most common reason people cite to breast feed, but I do think it is a legitimate reason to make the choice that she did.

There was one investment she made towards breast feeding, and that was buying a pump that was dependable, comfortable, portable, and would last until her baby was grown. She chose the Ameda Purely Yours BackPack, which has gone to work, on vacations, and is now ready for her second child, due this summer.

My husband and I spent the day out shopping with my mom and aunt. We took a ride to Orland Park, Illinois, to visit Kirklands and Cost Plus. All in all, I think it was a reasonable day put. We each got a little something and we stocked up our wine chiller.

• $8 Kirklands
• $7 Starbucks
• $10 Old Navy
• $42 Cost Plus
• $28 Red Robin
• $30 gas

I was out and about with my mom today and she was nice enough to buy me a warm drink from Starbucks and lunch and Jimmy John’s. We shopped and talked and decided that we should research discount hotels Las Vegas so that we could make another family trip to Sin City like we did in August. Once we snapped back into reality, we stopped at Costo where I bought water, juice, bread, and avocados.

• $21 Costco