IT MAKES "CENTS" TO ME FRIDAY FOR OCTOBER 25th

Hi everone,

How has your week been?  Mine has been full of all sorts of things...BUT I've been really knocking it out of the ballpark on sales at work this week.  My main goal is to really develop personal relationships with all of my customers, because I want them to feel like welcome guests when they walk into the store.  I also strive to have them leave happier then when they walked in. In any case, I've been really thankful that for the most part I am totally exceeding my sales goals every day I'm scheduled to work and that is a praise :) :) :)

My VitaCost order arrived really fast.  I ordered it last Friday morning and it arrived by the following Monday afternoon (October 21st).  Here is a look at what I ordered:

Click here to read my post from last week. I detailed exactly what I purchased and what it cost from the VitaCost.com website versus buying it at my local grocery store.

I was really surprised to see that they sold the Eez-Gum threaders.  Those are like giant flexible plastic "needles" that help you to thread the dental floss underneath the metal wires of braces.  So I'm going to keep a detailed diary of when I use each product and when it runs out. It'll give me an idea of how fast I go through a product.  That in turn will give me a better idea of how much to order next time.

I don't really "need" to buy a natural soap, except I do believe that what you put on your skin gets partially absorbed into the skin.  It's true. The skin is the largest organ of your body, so treat it right.  I can only speak for myself, but I notice that when I use gluten free or natural products on my skin, I don't have a skin reaction like I do with regular "soaps" etc. 

Oh, and I'm still trying to figure out how to budget on a variable income.  So I'll fill you in on that some more later this afternoon. 

I get paid on a weekly basis, but my hours can vary quite a bit. If you have ever worked retail, you know exactly what this is like. Add to that, that my job is only part-time, but I have the opportuntiy for full-time hours, when there are available shifts to pick up. Case in point, this week, I only have 17.75 hours, but NEXT week, I'll have 30 hours. 

I found this really simple, but very good article on the Dave Ramsey website. It's about how to make a zero-based budget.  Dave Ramsey has been a huge inspiration for me in wanting to be comletely out of debt in the first place.

I also found this article to be really helpful. It's really simple and straight-forward and it's great if you need an idea for how to budget when your income and your hours vary quite a bit from week to week. Dave Ramsey's daughter, Rachel Cruze, also has a really neat nifty website.  She wrote a really easy to understand blog post about budgeting with a variable income. Click here to read that article.


Now my budgeting got a serious monkey wrench thrown into it, because I had to make an appointment to get my teeth cleaned at the dentist in between visits with the orthodontist (when I get new wires put on my braces). That's going to cost a little bit, so the solution to that is pick up extra hours at work.

So next week, I'll try and fill you in a little bit more on how I do a zero-based budget from week to week...and how I still manage to live and have some sort of fun on my very tiny income.

I have to say that VitaCost really does a good job, even with their cardboard boxes. They use some space on the boxes to provide good, healthy recipes for sweet treats :) :) As if it couldn't get any cooler or more practical, I also saw this on the inside flap of the box:

There are even some frugal ways to repurpose this box. It is quite the sturdy box, too. 

That's the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs to you all, Heather :) :) :)