Chocolate, ebay and Christmas

The truth is chocolate is my cryptonite. Put it in front of me and I cave. I'll hand over hard earned money that I was determined would not be spent with just a whiff of german milk chocolate. So $18. . .*gasp* !$18! dollars later I have a bag, not a huge bag even, but the "large" bag of german chocolate poured thick over toffee then covered in cashews and almonds. YUM. . .but *groan* How could I? It was the heat of the moment, the desire to share and still have lots for me. That means it was greed, pure greed with a dab of buying fever on top. I would not in any other normal circumstances spent $18 on any container of chocolate. Chalk that up for another lesson down TMM Road. (Total Money Makeover)

Then there's today. I thought I'd get a head start on Christmas gifts and found a deal on e-bay. I bid up to $20 for a 5mp HP camera. The bid is at .99 shipping is $12 (Canada post sucks), I'm winning. I leave for a couple of hours, come back and re-read the description since I haven't been out bid and there's 6 hours left. Odd.

Yeah, there's a reason. The camera doesn't work!!! It doesn't turn on. That is not in the headline, it's in the product description at the bottom. *sigh* So it looks like I may be spending $13 on a camera that doesn't work. Peachy. It can sit right next to my other HP camera that doesn't work. Yet another lesson. PAY ATTENTION!!! If it smells like too sweet, it probably is.

And that ties in my Christmas dilemma's. I want to get the girls digital camera's. I still think e-bay is a good way to go. Oh, and Becca wants a telescope. We can do that. Gabi, she'd be happy with markers and paper and something Diego.

I'm frustrated at the moment because we're already into overdraft and Tim got paid officially yesterday. I HATE that. There's more money coming in at the end of the week, but I hate it in the red. Hating it is good from what I read. But how do I do this, is my big question.

Okay, we need to live within our means. That's great. Okay, gonna work on it. . . but working on it isn't working!!! Three weeks in and we still need more money. Just to keep up. FYI I have cut all the frills. We don't have extra phone services, our cell phone is pay as you go, we don't pay for satellite or cable, there's just not a lot there.

It's looking more and more like I'm going to need to get a part time job. I so don't want to do that. I am not good at working and taking care of our home and family. I cherish our family weekends. But it wouldn't be forever, it would just feel like it. I like the short term jobs I've had so far. I wish I could find those once a month! I guess I have so far. But still it's bringing in a little when we kind of need a lot. Especially this month and next leading into Christmas.

Why did I quit Pampered Chef? ?? Oh yeah, because I was tired of doing it. And truly, I'm not sorry I'm done with that, exactly. Just that it would be a more pleasant way to make money than what I'm looking at. "Two double doubles and a cafe mocha coming up." :(

Sara