After such a great no-spend week, I can't say I'm too proud of the weekend.

Our dinner with friends on Friday was probably one of the most expensive nights out I've had. SO has this thing for insisting on paying for other people when we go out...admirable, but not when the bill is astronomical. Sushi plates galore, not cheap. It ended up being double what I'd budgeted for the month...all blown on one meal. Sigh. SO probably would have paid for it fully himself, but he forgot his wallet, so it went on our joint credit card.

Then I went clothes shopping and found a beautiful blue-gray suit, originally $200, on sale for $80. I bought it, a pair of pants, and a few shirts. I have an interview this week, so it will be nice to wear something other than black from head to toe. I hope the interview goes well - the job is at an actual publishing company, and it would be a pay increase.

I saved $20 at Target with my fat stack of coupons. The cashier was impressed, and a bit envious!

Our electric bill this month is astronomical. I should have expected it, given the 100 degree temps and our use of the air conditioner, but it is still a bummer.

My plump black cat is going to the vet this week. We were quoted $75 for shots and his checkup. Uh...I don't think so. He had all of his shots last year, and I don't think they all need to be administered yearly. If it truly is $75 for one cat, we'll be switching vets pronto.

I picked up two newspapers yesterday for the coupons. It's interesting to see which coupons are in our two major papers. They weren't the same. There's also this ridiculous city rivalry between Minneapolis and St. Paul, which makes me laugh a little when I can't find the Minneapolis paper in a St. Paul gas station for the life of me. There were huge displays all over the front of the store for the St. Paul paper, but the tiny Minneapolis stand was tucked away in the middle of the store, at knee level. Bizarre.

I can't afford to eat out for the rest of the month, so we'll be cooking! We'll have onion roasted potatoes and perhaps a lentil loaf for dinner tonight. I made up another loaf of cinnamon bread yesterday, which reminds me - Ima Saver, my bread maker is a Regal Kitchen Pro model K6725. I don't usually bake bread in it because I don't like the shape, but it makes fabulous dough for buns, breadsticks, pizza, cinnamon bread, etc. I bought my mother the same model on eBay a couple of years ago, and she loves it too!