WE GOT IT!!!!!!! We get the keys on friday and will be moved in next weekend! I'm so so happy! We're finally going to be a family living away from my parents for the first time!!!

I'm also over the moon because I got to see Mr 11 months walk for the first time today!!! He took three steps. He has walked twice before this but both times I was at work.

More good news...my sister is lending us a fridge until our new one is delivered in december. So now we don't have to pay to rent one!!!

Now all we need is for hubby to pass his driving test on Tuesday and everything will have fallen into place!!!

It's times like these you've got to LOVE life!!! (and exclamation marks!!!)

Well, I looked at the other two-bedroom townhouse yesterday and discovered the reason for it being so cheap. The outside of the building looked really good but you get inside and OMG! THe floor of the WHOLE house was mis-matched tiles, the walls were just house bricks, the bathroom was in the laundry which had a back door (so you'd be sitting on the dunny and someone would walk in from the backyard), the stairs were BARE CONCRETE like porch stairs only REALLY STEEP, you get to the top of the stairs and it's just one big room with a couple of benches thrown in for a kitchen and a wire sticking out of the wall for tv connection. The really weird thing was the bedrooms being downstairs and the living room upstairs, it's usually the other way around, Mum and I were peeing ourselves laughing all the way home!

I looked at a two-bedroon apartment yesterday afternoon and it is PERFECT! The rent is at the top of what we had budgeted for but it will be worth it if we get it. It's nice and big with a new kitchen, bathroom and laundry, it's open plan and has a verandah coming off the living room with big double glass doors so there is plenty of light. As soon as I walked into this place it just felt like home, I can see us living there quite comfortably. I lodged my application with the real estate this morning so now we just have to wait. They will contact us within the next 48 hours to let us know the results. I'm a little bit nervous about it, the application form asked for rental receipts and a reference from the last real estate we went through, both of which the last real estate was too lousy to supply us with so I explained it to the receptionist and I just hope she passes the message on to the property manager for us. Fingers Crossed!!!

I still haven't been able to look at that townhouse, the people living in it are refusing to answer the real estates messages, obviously they don't want people looking at the place until they've moved out. The real estate was really rude when I went in to see them so i've started looking elsewhere. There is only one other place that sounds suitable and i'm going to arrange to look at it today. I'm a bit dissapointed though because it's only two bedrooms and there are no lock-up garages but the rent is $35 a week cheaper so it can't hurt to look right?

I've been going through my copy of the Complete Tightwad Gazzette and writing down all the ideas that i can use to save money. The plan is to tick off each idea as it becomes a habit and work my way down the list. Here's what i've got to start with:

1) Record all spending habits. Write down everything we spend money on.
2) After three months, divide the list into essentials and non - essentials, cut down on the non-essentials
3) Start a price book
4) Shop regularly at second hand stores and garage sales for everything from clothes to furniture that we need.
5) Hang washing on the clothesline, avoid the dryer.
6) Make pizza from scratch insead of getting home deliveries.
7) Cut right back on soda consumption.
8) Pack all work lunches.
9) Start eating for good health, avoid junk food, watch portion sizes.
10) Switch to cloth nappies and home made wipes.
11) Squash toilet paper rolls so they don't unroll as easily so we will use less.
12) Start bulk buying things on special that we will use before they expire.
13) Exercise and get healthy to reduce medical costs.
14) Wash any zip lock bags that haven't stored meat or poultry.
15) Work out what the cost of each meal you cook is and regularly use your cheapest meals.
16) Re use bread bags as short term freezer bags for meat.
17) Make crumbs out of stale bread and store in the freezer.
18) Make washers or baby wipes out of worn out old towels.
19) Use old cloth nappies as cleaning rags.
20) Make popcorn for snacks (not the microwave kind)
21) Invest in an aloe vera plant to treat wounds and burns. Offspring can be given as presents.
22) Re use wrapping paper
23) Eliminate conenience foods from your shopping. Divide things into portion sizes yourself.
24) Buy store/generic products unless there is a good deal on name brand which brings the cost below generic.
25) Do the shopping at a time when the fresh foods departments have done their mark downs.
26) Never waste food. Always find a way to use leftovers.
27) Find the minimum effective amount of everything. (shampoo, washing powder, dishwashing liquid, etc.)

That's all i've got so far and i'm only a third of the way through the book.

Still haven't heard from the Real Estate about looking at that townhouse. It's school holidays here so maybe the tenants have gone away and the real estate can't get in contact with them. If the real estate hasn't called me by 4pm i'll call them to find out what's going on.

Hubby and I both worked some overtime last week so I was able to pay all the bills, put $200 away for his driving test and save $250 for our move. It helps that we did a big grocery shop last week and didn't need to get much yesterday. We now have all the money we need for our deposit on the townhouse. Next week we'll put aside some money to hire a ute to help us move and the week after that we'll put aside money for our first grocery shop. Everything's falling into place, just as long as we can get this townhouse.

It's tax time for us and I can't wait to get our group certificates so we can do our taxes. We've got a couple of thousand dollars heading our way which will more than pay off that credit card and leave us 100% debt free.

..to report today. I spent $8.80 on morning tea and lunch at work which isn't too bad. Of course it would be better if i actually packed my lunches. I found out that hubby applied for the wrong driving test so it's now been pushed back a couple of weeks so i'm not too happy about that. He applied on line and i offered to do it for him because he wasn't too sure what he was doing but he insisted he could handle it...i can't get mad though because i'm stubborn like that too. He's a bull (taurus) and i'm a ram (aries) so we are both as stubborn as each other and are constantly clashing horns and neither of us likes to admit it when we are wrong. But it's usually him that's wrong i swear!

My partner and I decided we will start trying for another baby in about 2 years so we can get some money behind us and enjoy Zac before the next baby comes along. I was really happy with this decision and it is what I wanted...so why am i so upset that the pregnancy test i did today was negative? I should be happy and I know we will have another one in a few years but right now, because I thought I might have been pregnant, I feel really sad that i'm not. I guess i've learned the hard way not to forget to get my pill prescription filled.

On a brighter note, I have found the perfect place for us to live. It's a 3 bedroom townhouse with a double lock-up garage and storage space. It has a verandah which overlooks the lowlands (farmers paddocks) and the blue mountains, it's right next door to a park with playing equipment (it's not in the centre of town so it never gets busy or noisy) Zac's preschool is just around the corner and it will only take me 10 minutes to walk to work. I'm trying to arrange an inspection but it is still occupied so i have to wait for the real estate to organise it with the tenants. They are ringing me on Monday to let me know when i can see it. I've really got my fingers crossed that we get this one, I hope there's not too much competition for it.

More good news, my partner was told at his driving lesson yesterday that he's ready and doesn't need to take two lessons next week so that's going to save us $50. He'll just have the one lesson immediately before his test. I REALLY hope he passes first time.