I have changed my way of keeping track of money. I track it daily on 2 different spreadsheets. One is for the month,and one is for credit card purchases because I always pay off credit cards.

Doing this, I can see I didn't budget enough for Christmas but I now make notes for the next year's budget.

This Christmas my boss got me an adorable black woven poncho and matching gloves. Just right for early desert cold mornings, and a friend got me two nice tops that can be worn as a layered look. Work gave me a $35 Walmart card, my next-door neighbor and dearest friend got me a Barnes & Noble $25 card and my sister got me a $100 Amazon card.

I got myself an I-pod touch 4th gen. I went way over budget for it, but did enough overtime to pay for it. I get to work tomorrow at double time for two days and I am hoping that will pay for vet fees for Bella who had some fatty tumors to be checked and was due for shots. Since she had just eaten my library card, she was really scared going to the vets - must have figured she was going to be gotten rid of - all my dogs have fears of being abandoned. Poor little darling. Doctor called just before Christmas to tell me the tests came out good - no cancer for my baby dog.

The I pod works on my WiFi at home and means i can call my sister and talk to her for free and see her on WiFi. Its like the coolest thing in the world. I spent hours talking to my nephews and nieces and sister and it rocked big time. Also has free applications that can do all sorts of great things.