In my last post I commented that I had saved for a pair of binoculars but decided not to get them because of other expenses and so forth.
Well I caught myself off guard at break today and saw an ad from a different store for one of the binoculars I was interested in. Their price was originally $149 but were on sale for $79.78.
My stores price was about $106. I couldn't resist so I had them price match the binoculars for me at the other stores price. I haven't got to try them out good yet but I think i'll be happy with them.
They are Nikon Action 10x50.
Its probably something I shouldn't have bought but I could afford it and I had planned on buying them originally anyways. Plus I think the price was a great deal.

I've been spending quite a bit more money lately than usual. But I squeeze it into the budget and either pay cash or pay the credit card off every month so that I don't have any finance charges. Most of the things I've bought have been more necessary than just a want. I saved up money for Binoculars but decided not to get any for the time being. I also plan to eventually get a small camcorder but that can wait.
My big expense last week was roof repair.
I mentuoned that my roof has been giving me problems for years and no one seemed to be able to fix it. I finally just had the problem area of my roof completely re-done and as far as I can tell it has solved the problems. I can't really say for absolutely certain though but it seems to have worked and its not leaking with all this rain we've been getting. Anyway that cost a little over $1800. It could have been worse. I could have saved money I believe in the first place if only I had it originally done by a professional roofer instead of a friend of a friend. Never will do that again.
I'm just very pleased with the new roof and hoping.

Out of this new paycheck I have to take out a bit more spending money than usual but I still have all the normal expenses covered.
I also will be putting my usual extra $50 towards the Principal of my mortgage. After all that I'll have $60 from my paycheck that is kinda extra. It will pretty much go into my checking to add to the cusion thats taking big hits lately.

I did accomplish another one of my goals last Monday. I had my first ever yard sale. It was a failure but at least I did it. I really only have 2 more of my goals to do. The E-Fund and the 2010 IRA. Everthing else is either done or on autopilot. I'm working on everything but its coming along very slow.

On a more personal level I've been very sad about some relationship issues lately. I don't know whats wrong with me but dating and such things just don't work for me. I can't talk about whats wrong specifially but to make it as simple as possible to explain lets just say that a woman I care deeply about dumped me. Its a little more complicated than that. Even worse is that it was set off by comments some jerk made where we work. The comments upset her and she took it out on me. Maybe we'll make up but I don't really see it happening.
I'm getting too old to be playing dating games anymore. I never did good with it and can't see myself going through all this again. It takes too big of a toll out of me. Single, alone, and lonely is still better than dealing with relationships I suppose.
Sorry for rambling and thanks to anyone who bothered reading all this. Have a great weekend.

Today was payday and fairly uneventful. But I did order some Costa Rican money for my vacation. I like to have some on hand when I arrive instead of rushing when i get there. For about 200 US dollars I'll get roughly 90,000 in Costa Rican money. I feel kinda rich.
The bank has to order it so its supposed to arrive on monday. Plenty of time.

I also put $50 from my check towards my mortgage principal as planned.

I have way more things going on right now than I really like. But some are good things and some aren't too bad. My roof has been having numerous issues for years. I picked a roofer that seems to be good and they are supposed to repair my roof before I go on vacation. Hopefully that goes smoothly and no more roof issues. Its going to cost a little over $1800. Still expensive as far as i'm concerned but not as bad as I thought. They are basically going to install a special vent on the very top of my roof and re-shingle the front half of my house.

In july my city is supposed to completely tear apart and replace my street and including part of my driveway. The good news is that there are no charges to me. They have some kind of bond or such thats paying for it. I'm sure the street will look great when its done. But i'm sure not looking forward to the hassle of the construction. Most of my city is already tore up with things being repaired. Anyways thats another reason I want the roof finished soon so I don't have to worry about that at the same time as my street is being worked on.