stealth raises...

so our boss never reminds us when we are getting a raise. i have to be reminded by those people who check their pay stubs every payday! {i should definitely pay more attention there...} today after hearing the rumblings, i came home and checked the stub and sure enough, there it was...my raise! gotta love that. i was shocked by the amount, since we have had some rough times with the new medicare laws. ugh, i won't even start... and totally thought last year's amount would have been a benchmark or something. but it wasn't. :)
i am so very lucky to have a job i love, coworkers i can tolerate {most i love!}, normal human being hours, and a totally respectable salary. awesome.
this paycheck also starts the new rule of shan depositing every other check into the savings. now that i have most of our debt paid off, i want to start saving. then turn to investing. last year, i stayed completely focused and tackled the debt that i had on my list. this year, i have a few random bills {can you say mandatory shopping spree in the cayman islands...} on the list but it is no where near last year's amounts.
i've also dropped my only monthly scrapbooking kit. scrapmuse. i just didn't like them making their own papers... trying to save money where i can and i wasn't using those kits.
so the person who doesn't like the word budget...is trying to be way more conscious about her spendings...

oh and for the gym. the main guy finally called nick. so i caved and trained on tuesday. i plan on missing next tuesday for a free dinner at a fondue place {gotta love drug reps!} and then there are only 4 more sessions left. so i just may stick it out.