I apologize for not posting for 2 weeks. Things have been crazy in my house. Some personal things have come up. Not the type of things that would keep me from the computer. But, the kind of things that have my mind else where. To be honest, I have completely forgotten about my blog for the last couple of weeks. But, as of this week, things seem to be better, I am more optimistic, ready to get back to blogging.

This weekend I need to fly to Atlanta for the weekend. An unexpected death in the family finds me taking an unexpected trip out of town. For this trip, I got back to my frugal roots. I found the cheapest flight I could, grand total with insurance is $175 for a round trip ticket. I will be sharing a hotel room with family and renting a car with the same family members when we get there. I have decided to dig out an old outfit from the depths of my closet to wear to the funeral. It is times like these that I hate being frugal. But, this weekend we have to have a tree removed from our yard. To remove the 100 year old tree from our yard, we have to pay $2200. That's right over $2000!!!! Not frugal is it?

Because of these unexpected expenses, I am clipping more coupons, staying in more, driving less and buying gifts for the upcoming holiday season on sale. I feel like we can't seem to get totally ahead, no matter how much we save. So, I will write the check out for the tree removal and focus my attention on replenishing our savings as fast as possible, knowing that in all likelihood we will have another emergency come up that requires us to dip into our emergency fund.

Tomorrow I have to go to the grocery store. I am going to walk into the store with a $100 budget, I will stick with that budget no matter what!

I need ideas from people. How do I get back on track? I need ideas, tips and motivation. Help this Frugal Midwest Mom get back to normal.