After a telephone consultation with the orhopedic surgeon, I learned that our pup probably won't be getting surgery until 6 months from now. The surgeon doesn't want to do the implants until then because he is still growing so much. So, that's good news on the financial front, and hopefully everything will work out for our little guy. I had applied for a personal loan with 2 banks when I thought we were going to have to pay the money up-front to reserve a surgery date, and I've gotten calls from both of them saying that I was approved.

Now, if we can pay the surgeon through the vet clinic, I think they accept the "FirstCare" payment plan, which is a veterinary loan with no interest. That would be preferable, but if not, at least I know that I can get approved for a personal loan through a bank.

In the meantime, I'm mailing his x-rays to the surgeon, and we're starting him on some joint supplements that were recommended by the vet. We also got him some special canned dog food today, the same brand as the dry food, and he actually ate it really well when mixed. So maybe we can finally get back on a feeding schedule with him.

While we were getting his food in the pet store (it's kind of hard to find), we were looking at the cutest little puppies. It's hard to believe our 90-pound and 30-inches (at the shoulder) tall pup was ever that small! I can already tell that when BF & I have a house (and therefore a yard)... pets are going to be a problem area for our budget!

We've decided to make a meal plan this week, and see how it works out. Not only will it hopefully save us money in the long run, but it might help us to already know what we're fixing, so it's not so much stress after work.

So here are the meals for this week, and what we had to purchase at the store today in order to make them:

-Salmon w/ Lemon & Dill
Salmon Fillets ($4.18)
Butter (Already Had)
Lemon Juice ($1.29)
Dried Dill Weed ($2.67)
Garlic Powder (Already Had)
Sea Salt ($0.98)
Black Pepper (Already Had)
Peas (Already Had)
Carrots (Already Had)

-Army SOS Creamed Ground Beef
Ground Beef (Already Had)
All Purpose Flour (Already Had)
Cube Beef Bouillon ($1.59)
Salt (Already Had)
Black Pepper (Already Had)
Milk ($3.24)
Worcestershire Sauce ($1.00)
Egg Noodles ($1.23)
Bread ($0.97)

-Gingered Pork Chops In Orange Juice
Flour (Already Had)
Ground Ginger ($2.34)
Salt (Already Had)
Black Pepper (Already Had)
Olive Oil (Already Had)
Pork Chops (Already Had)
Onion (Already Had)
Orange Juice ($3.88)
Green Beans (Already Had)
Instant Potatos (Already Had)

-Mesquite Chicken w/ Salsa
Butter (Already Had)
Hickory Barbecue Sauce ($1.00)
Chicken Breasts (Already Had)
Salsa ($2.65)
Sour Cream (Already Had)
Corn On The Cob ($1.58)

-Burgers
Ground Beef (Already Had)
Sweet BBQ Sauce (Aleady Had)
Bread (purchased for above recipe)
Fries (Already Had)

-Spaghetti
Spaghetti Noodles (Already Had)
Spaghetti Sauce (Already Had)
Ground Turkey For Sauce (Already Had)
Garlic Bread ($1.37)

GRAND TOTAL: $29.97

That's not too bad at all really. Feeding 2 people for 7 meals, $30 is pretty good. Granted, alot of the meat we already had. But on the opposite side of that, alot of the ingredients will last forever for other meals. The spices, salmon, cob corn, milk, bread, and orange juice will all be extra. Hopefully that will mean in the future, I will need to buy even fewer ingredients to fulfill a recipe.

I'll have to let you all know how it goes!

In other news - BF bought a video game today. I was really proud of him, because a month or so ago he had traded in alot of older games, so that he would have enough store credit on a gift card for when this game came out. It's nice that he was prepared for it, and now he can enjoy the game without us really paying for it.

He's putting in alot of applications, so hopefully someone will call soon. I wish he would get a small office job, that way he could have a decent schedule and we'd have some time off together. Plus, it adds a different kind of experience to his resume for when we move back to our home state. AND... if he could get an office job close to our apartment, he could run home on his lunch breaks to take the pup out. We'll see I guess!