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EF Update

May 13th, 2011 at 12:51 am

The Giants won three more games.
+ $6

I ordered the rest of the interior doors for our house. DH will be painting and changing them all (7) out this summer.
- $326

Transferred a cushion to the checking account to cover all the beginning of the month checks.
- $400

New balance. $3238.

Added to the EF & Last Weekend

May 10th, 2011 at 10:34 pm

The laptop cord came in the mail this morning, but I don't know yet if it will work because DH has the laptop in his work truck. So I'm making a quick post from work again.

The Giants won all three of their games over the weekend and our standard savings transfer went thru yesterday. $6 + $25 makes the new balance $3962.

Our Mother's Day weekend was very nice. My inlaws visited for the weekend and stayed at a hotel Saturday night. On Saturday MIL payed for our grocery shopping trip. $176. She told me that would count as my birthday gift. I am totally fine with that. Big Grin They also gave us $100 in cash as a Mother's Day gift and as baby's bday gift.

On Sunday DD and DH made a lovely breakfast spread. Lots of tasty food! Afterwards DD, MIL and I planted veggies in my raised box DH made me for Mother's Day. I have been wanting to do this since we moved into this house! DH finally made it happen for me. Smile

We planted corn, cucumbers, zuchinni, snap peas, carrots, tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, celery and spinich. We had to buy a load of topsoil $37. And the plants and seeds added another $30. With grocery prices going up we might break even and then some. Mostly it was wonderful to be outside and I can't wait to harvest fresh goodies from the backyard.

Weather here is beautiful. Hoping you all are enjoying your spring too.

Dead Laptop Charger

May 7th, 2011 at 12:13 am

Just a quick check-in 'cause I'm at work. No internet at home again for a few days because the charger cord broke. Frown Going to try a cheap replacement. It's on order from Amazon. $8. The "real" HP cord is $71 so I would LOVE for the cheapie to work out.

Will be update on April spending and all that as soon as I have more time.

Inlaws visiting this weekend. A bit of spending for that and Mother's Day.

Baby's first birthday was yesterday! Big Grin

The Giants have won a few of their games since my last post so I've added $6 to the EF. Balance now at $3931.

Have a great weekend!

Donation. Dinner with the Inlaws.

April 18th, 2011 at 09:55 pm

Quiet morning here at work so I've a moment to post, and catch up on reading other's posts. Smile

Last week we had the truck that picks up charitable donations come around our neighborhood. DD purged a large, black trash bag worth of clothes that didn't fit anymore and set them out on the sidewalk. Such an easy way to donate stuff; the convienince of living in town. Smile
Does anyone use this type of donation as a tax write-off? How do you figure a value?

And we are slowly gathering things together for a yardsale come summertime. I also need to get back to posting a few nice items to Craigslist.

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Saturday my inlaws were in the area for a spring motorcycle ride with a group they belong to. After the ride there was a large group dinner at the Hilton. $40 per plate! I had told DH we wouldn't eat with them for that price. We'd visit with them, maybe do breakfast the next day, but no way do $40/person. Not when that would get us a gourmet meal and not just cookie-cutter banquet food. Anyhow, the inlaws wanted us to have dinner, so they bought. Which was fine I guess. The food was better than average fare for that sort of thing, but we all could have eaten much, much better for the price. Oh well.. Rolleyes

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The Giants won on Saturday night. $2 to the EF. Total is $3917.

Money In. Then Out.

April 16th, 2011 at 09:33 pm

Giants won last night. $2 to the EF. Balance now $3915.

I am taking care of my kitty-sitting client this weekend. I went early this morning and was paid with a $100 bill! $25 more than expected. Smile
I've already put it to the cc debt.

I went grocery shopping this morning afterwards and spent $135. I bought a bunch of fresh fruit and veggies. Oranges, apples, pears, bananas, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, a sweet potato, spinach, broccoli, cucumber, mushrooms. Also milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, bread, ground turkey, cereal, and on and on. Gatorade was on a good sale; $0.79/32oz bottle.

There was a photography company with a display inside the grocery store this morning. They were running a special deal on Sepia/old fashioned style photos. $5 sitting fee and one 11X13 for $10, additional prints and packages at regular prices. I signed up for DS and DD to have a photo together. Total price of $15. The hard part will be for me to ONLY buy the one specially priced photo and no others!

I just realized I hadn't posted our past two weeks of the $175/wk spending.
April 1 to April 7: We went over by $88.
April 8 to April 14: We went over by $48.

After shopping today we have $5 left for the rest of the week. Hmm..I still need to buy formula.

Good News/Bad News

April 15th, 2011 at 12:03 am

Good News:
The Giants won their last two games. Yay!
+$4 to the EF. Total now $3913.

Bad News:
I bought gas at Costco this afternoon on my way home. It's now $4.12/gal. YUCK!!
It has increased by $0.10 per week for the past four or more weeks!

Where will it end????

Adding to the EF. Tempting Sweets.

April 12th, 2011 at 07:28 pm

Our auto transfer to the EF posted yesterday and the Giants won Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately not on Sunday or Monday. Frown

+ $25 Savings Transfer
+ $4 Two Giants Wins
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$3909 EF balance

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Our weekend at the inlaws was very low key. DH cut down these two tree/bush Junipers they had in the front yard and was paid $150 - his motorcycle payment for next month. Rolleyes

We spent $80 in gas..**choke**

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Went for a lovely walk this morning with a girl friend, her baby, daughter and my DS. The weather is sunny and about 58F. Very nice for walking. I picked up a Starbucks for free using a Free Drink coupon given to me by a client.

It's super nice having clients who appreciate us!

However it's a double edge sword. Yesterday we were given about 6lbs of See's Candy from two separate clients.

Ugh..How can I lose weight around all that?!

Friday one of our other clients will be bringing us creampuffs. She owns a restaurant and bakery and we're always getting pies, cookies and now creampuffs from her.

What a problem to have, hu? Wink

March Wrap-Up. April Goals.

April 1st, 2011 at 07:52 pm

How'd I do in March?

1. Get to the gym three times weekly?
Yes! Big Grin
There were three days out of the month I didn't go to the gym when I was planning to, but I did get exercise in other ways. And I tried out a once weekly Zumba class (free w/my gym membership) this past month and I like it.

2. Apply any "extra" money from regular paychecks to debt.
Unfortunately, No. Frown
This month we didn't bring in much extra. And any extra income covered extra expenses like the truck smog, dentist, etc..

3. Weekly budget amount for food and household and etc. spending cut to $175/week.
This was sort of a success. Wink
We never kept spending under this number, but we were very close one week! All of our spending was on the necessities. Food, baby care, household items like laundry soap and kitty litter, etc. etc. This is pretty much my version of the "No Spend Month", which I think is more like a "Low Spend Month" or maybe call it a "More Save Month"?

For April? All of the above.
And now that MLB season has just started (last night) I think I'll borrow from Ima her idea of adding to savings when her baseball team wins. I think that is a fun idea.
so..

4. Add $2 to savings for each SF Giants win.
If they only win half their games that would be $162.

Where's my money?

March 11th, 2011 at 12:51 am

I've been waiting for our federal refund. We already received our California refund, so I didn't think the federal would be taking so long. I just logged onto the IRS website and it said my check would be mailed tomorrow. Okay, not much more time to wait. Smile

Today is the last day of week #2 of the new, tight, weekly budget. I had to pick up two items at Costco, which turned into three items Wink. They had a two pound pack of chicken breast lunch meat for $5.89 that I couldn't pass up. I spent $42 total. As long as we don't spend anymore today, we will finish the week only $22 over budget. I am very pleased with that. Big Grin

Bought gas at Costco today too. $3.81/gal. Total to fill up - $67. Ugh...

Girlfriend Time

March 8th, 2011 at 07:53 pm

Last night I met one of my girlfriends for dinner and a beer at a local brewery. It was fun and the food and beer were very tasty. And my friend treated! I thought that was so nice and told her how much I appreciated that. Yay, no money spent there.

I didn't make it to the gym this morning. But, I did get exercise in; I went for a two mile walk with another friend. She just had her second baby, a boy, a month ago. This is the first time I've seen her since December, so it was very good to visit and reconnect. We walked with the strollers to Starbucks and got coffee. I had a free coffee coupon, so no money spent there either. Yay again!

So far we're under budget for the week. Big Grin
Two and a half more days to go....

Doctor Visit & Soap.com

March 2nd, 2011 at 02:52 am

I ended up having the day off from work because it was so slow - no appointments this afternoon. It worked out fine because DH ended up going to the doctor. Had a pain in his leg last night. By this morning he had a hot, red, painful lump on his inside thigh about two inches by two inches. Doc said it the start of an infection and started him on antibiotics. He has catastrophe medical coverage, so visits like this are out of pocket. The office visit was $96 (discounted for self pay at time of visit) and the meds he bought at Costco for $6.70. I'm glad he went today and didn’t wait until it got worse!

Needed some shampoo for me and lotion for baby DS. Well Diapers.com has a "sister" site called Soap.com and they've been sending me offers like, "Try us and get $10 off your first order". I figured today would be a good day to use this offer.

I ended up with $26.19 worth of product for $5.19!!!

How'd that happen? Well I bought Aveno Oatmeal Bath packets for $6.65, Aveno Eczema Cream for $11.95 and Head and Shoulders Extra Strength for $7.59. They had an e-coupon for $1 off one of those items, I forget which, then I had my $10 off code. $15.19 would've been great. But when I tried to checkout I kept getting an error message. I called customer service and he fixed it right away and gave me another $10 credit to the order! I was totally jazzed! DH said I should call every time with a problem. Wink

Dinner time - Meatloaf and mashed spuds tonight.

Goals for March..and Beyond

February 27th, 2011 at 01:03 am

I have a few goals I have started working on this past month and am starting to think about March now.

1. Get to the gym three times weekly.
I started doing this and so far I'm on track. Yay! Big Grin I go by myself Tuesday morning and with the family on Thursday evening and Sunday mornings. DH and I discussed trying this for a month or two and if I didn't use the gym enough to make it worth while we would cancel the family membership and downgrade to just an individual membership for DH. He plays racquetball two to three times per week. We've cut back to the individual membership before when I knew I wouldn't be using it or we really need to cut back. My DH needs to workout for his mental health even more so than physical health...that said our gym membership costs less than visiting the marriage counselor. hehe Big Grin I will always make his membership more of a need. Mine is more a nice perk. I like being able to work out at the gym, although I know I could still get exercise other ways. The gym makes me more "accountable" I guess and I get nice results when I go regularly. Wink

2. Apply any "extra" money from regular paychecks to debt. (Then it'll be savings - Can't wait!)
This is when the paycheck is more than the amount I've budgeted for. Example: DH's budgeted paycheck is $800/wk. When his paycheck is more, say $870, I used to just put that in the checking account for more spending. Now I will apply the $70 to the debt. This is DH's idea. He has wanted me to do this for awhile, but I was reluctant to "cut ourselves too short." Now I see I was only enabling our spending by looking at that as EXTRA $ and thus spending it like EXTRA $. Embarrassment

3. Weekly budget amount for food and household and etc. spending cut to $175/week.
I am thinking it will be easier for us to monitor our spending if we break it down weekly vs. monthly. And inspired by ThriftORama, I just lumped all of that together, instead of trying to track grocery, dining out, household, gifts, etc in different categories. So I've combined and then cut back. Yesterday was the first day of the first week of this new approach. Wish us luck!



Taxes Done. Cost $10.

February 19th, 2011 at 10:44 pm

On Tuesday, we received DH's 1099 (from his side work/business) we had been waiting for. I had everything entered by Wednesday night, but waited until this morning to review all my entries before pressing the SEND button. Double checking that I typed the correct amounts and didn't screw up on something silly like a SS#. I have used freetaxusa.com for several years now. (This is the sixth year??) It is user friendly, IRS approved, e-files, free to file federal and costs me $9.95 to file our California return. My FIL has used TurboTax the past few years. He thinks it's great and saves him so much money. DH and I have told him about this site each year. I'm sure in some way he feels like we don't know what we're talking about. Even though I believe our taxes are a bit more complicated than theirs. I, at least, have childcare and a schedule C to file that they don't have. In our situation TurboTax would cost me $75 for federal and an "additional fee" for state. Umm, I'll stick with $10, thank you. Smile

I e-file, but have the checks mailed to me. I guess I am paranoid because I don't want to give the government our bank information. Although I am sure they could get it if they wanted.

This year we are getting back more than from past years. I'm thinking our newest tax deduction/credit (DS) plays a part of that. Big Grin
Getting back $3724/federal and $2470/state.
Our gross income was down only slightly. $3273 less than 2009. DH made more, but because I was on maternity leave I made much less, so it pretty much evened out.

Plans for our refund?

**Both our moms have given us cash in the years we've been married. We try to give a little back each year. Looking at $2k to my mom and $500 to MIL.
**EF. $1k ish.
**cc debt. Remaining $$.

Laptop Out Again

January 19th, 2011 at 10:26 pm

Our laptop is back out for repair to the disk drive again. Thankfully we noticed the problem, a likely short, before the 90 day period was up. DH took it in to Staples and they have "sent it out". No charges to us, but no laptop at home. Frown
Trying to catch up on my emails, bills, checking accounts and your posts all while I am at work. Whew!! Not much time here to do that except for lunch time really.

Been meaning to post about my diaper buying/saving.
The past few months I was getting 30% back on my diaper purchases online and I ended up with $58 worth of credit! Enough for a huge box of diapers, actually almost two, and wipes and a toy. Smile And I used a 15% off code for the toy. So I still have a bit of credit left over for next time. Big Grin

Back to work!

Car Insurance - PAID

December 30th, 2010 at 11:26 pm

I did something last week I never thought I'd do, or rather what I wished I could do, but was never able.. I paid for my whole year of auto insurance! $660. Big Grin I used money from the EF. I will still keep $120/mo. in my budget for the insurance and pay back the EF and then put the rest to the New Car Account. By paying all at once I am saving the $7/mo installment/billing fee or their $3/mo auto bank transfer fee (which I never used, maybe once?). An additional $36-$84/year savings. Yay!

I want to say thanks to all of you for your great ideas and inspirations. It has helped me look at my money (income and debt) differently. Last year I would have probably spent the money I used to fund my EF. Not on crap, but food or bills or a trip. Now I was able to pay my insurance bill and save the costs from the billing fees. Then to top it off I get to blog to you all about it because I know you'll be excited like I am. Thanks!
Big Grin

Sunday = Updates, Football and Crockpot Dinner

November 28th, 2010 at 09:49 pm

Thanks for all the great dinner ideas on my last post everyone! I will be trying the ones we don't make already. I will also post any good ones I find.

The salmon was very easy and tasty and I will make it again. I did overcook it a bit, but the flavor was excellent. Thanks Monkey Mama!

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We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am echoing the rest of you in saying how thankful I am to have family and a home and work and health. Very thankful indeed. Saw my mom, dad, MIL, FIL, Grandma and Grandpa and our horses. Would have loved a chance to see some cousins and my BFF, but conflicting schedules this visit.

Friday DD was able to play in the snow at my grandparent's house.


Our horses.
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My DH is driving me nuts! He wants a new (used) motorcycle. His dad is selling the one my DH really likes for $5k. This is the only thing he has on his Christmas list and tells everyone about how this is the only thing he wants this year. Ugh! A few years back he wanted an off-road ATV (four-wheeler) for Christmas. So I bought him one - A toy one! Big Grin It even had a little rider figure with it and I covered the name on the package with DH's name. So it said "B...., The ATV Champion" I hope I can do the same for the motorcycle this year.

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Watching football and relaxing today before the week starts up again. Ran to the grocery store for a few things this morning. Great deal on baby formula. Reduced price and $3 off coupons. Yay! I will have to venture out again to take care of a kitty. But right now DH is working a short side job, DS is napping and DD is outside playing. A few minutes of Me Time. Smile

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Crockpot dinner tonight is BBQ Beef Sandwiches. It smells SO GOOD in my house right now! You could use chicken or pork with this. And it is good in summer or winter.
2-3lb Chuck Roast
1cup BBQ Sauce
1/2cup Apricot jam
1/2 Bell Pepper chopped
1/2-1 med. onion thinly sliced
3/4cup salsa
2tsp. Brown Sugar
1Tblsp. Dijon mustard
I like to put the roast in the crockpot and "stab" it with a fork a little and season with a little salt and pepper. Then I put all the sauce fixings in a small sauce pot on the stove. Heat and mix for about 2 minutes and pour over roast. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8-9 hours. I like to serve on sourdough sandwich rolls with cheddar cheese. In summer I pair with potato salad and tonight it will be baked potatoes or fresh, hot fries.

Saving on Diapers and other Baby Stuff

October 28th, 2010 at 10:33 pm

I know I've plugged for diapers.com before, but I love 'em!
Last time I ordered diapers I enrolled in their program were I get 30% of the price of the diapers back as a credit on my account with them. Yesterday when I checked my email I had two coupon codes from them. One was for 25% off Halloween costumes (code: Halloween25) and the other was 15% off any one item (code: Treat15). I browsed thru their costumes and found a little fireman bunting. Too cute and discounted. DS needed some more cool weather clothes so I found a four piece everyday set with a hat, a long sleeve onesie, footed pants and a sleeper suit to use the 15% off code. Free shipping, no tax, -$6.50/coupons, -$11.10/account credit made the cost $14. Big Grin

Now I can't wait to order more diapers to get more credit. lol!

The other cool thing I just recieved the package about 20 minutes ago. The stuff is CUTE!

New Mortgage Payment

October 19th, 2010 at 06:21 pm

Our new mortgage is $289.13/mo less now with the refi(saving $126/mo on P/I) and the lower property taxes. WhooHoo!

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This past weekend my family (DD and DH) decided we needed some new Halloween decor for the yard. They picked out three foam tombstones, a strobe light and I picked out a string of purple lights. We also bought some cool window clings that look like bloody hand prints and splotches.

And we bought a costume for DD. Spent $70 on everything. DD bought a wig for her costume with her own money for $9. I tried to talk her out of it, but it's hard when it is HER money she has the choice. I told her we won't be carrying it around on Halloween night if she gets too hot wearing it. She still bought it. Oh well..

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Crazy fall weather here. Last week we were using our AC and Sunday we had the heat on. I am kind of feeling ready for the cooler fall weather. Snuggling inside on the weekends with coffee and football. Smile 'Course right now I'm watching a lot of baseball - GO GIANTS! I told DH this morning that I might need to call off work today and just stay home to watch game 3 playoffs. And do laundry!! (Always have laundry to do. Wink ) I'll be going to work soon. My boss will have the game on the radio in his office so I'm sure I'll catch the important parts.

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Would love to catch up on all your blogs now, but I have got to get caught up on the checkbook register. My budget is current, but the checkbook is behind!! I can't remember the last time I was so lax. Will take care of that right now while little DS is taking his little AM nap. Such a good baby!

Good News & Ranking Debt

September 22nd, 2010 at 06:30 pm

The company in Alaska who processed and shipped DH's fish charged us for his AND his boss' fish. The good news is we are getting $125 back. Yay!

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I was thinking yesterday about debt. I think we can all agree that there is bad debt and worse debt, but how would you "rank" it?

Here is what I came up with in order from not-so-bad to worst.

Mortgage Debt
Student Loan (IF you're using what you learned to make money)
Auto Loan
HELOCs
Medical
Student Loans (when you're NOT using what you learned)
Personal Loans from family/friends
Credit Cards
RV/Boat/Recreational Loans
"Rent to Own" places for furniture/appliances
Personal Loans/Check Cashing places

So what do you think? How would you rank these?

***Edit: Disclaimer Wink
This list is just for fun. My musings about debt. I'm assuming these debts under "normal" conditions. Of course there is exceptions to every debt. Underwater mortgages, using HELOC as an ATM, "buying" a new car every three years, a personal loan that destroys a friendship or a medical loan for butt cheek implants vs. heart surgery. Big Grin

While Hubby's Away...

September 10th, 2010 at 06:41 pm

The Wife will play..Big Grin

Okay, not really!

But I've been very, very busy doing double duty here at the house. Plus I have started the ball rolling on our refi. Looking to reduce our rate to close to 4.5%, depending on when we lock. That should equate to approximately $170/mo savings. And with our property taxes down we are looking at saving another $100/mo in taxes!
Yip-ee!

Also had a Comcast (cable TV co.) salesman come by the house yesterday. They come by about every two months or so and want to "bundle" our phone and internet services with our cable. In the past I've never been real interested in changing anything. But yesterday I was like, "Oh what the heck..We'll try it." $120/mo for phone, internet, TV.
We will be getting a faster internet connection, more phone services like caller ID and call waiting, free install, a free HD DVR, all the HD channels and one of the premium movie channel packages (Starz). It won't be any huge savings, about $5-$10/mo, but lots more "stuff". Of course saving is saving; it's all good! We'll see..

Told DH about it on the phone. He said he is totally fine with any changes, just as long as I don't change the locks! Big Grin

He has 65lbs of Halibut and 30lbs of Salmon so far. I'm thinking packages of fish as Christmas gifts - Just kidding!

I am going to try the salmon crock pot recipe that Monkey Mama posted once the fish gets here.

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I have pretty much had a NSWeek so far (Mon - Fri). Only had to buy diesel for the truck. $75. I have been too busy/too lazy to do any shopping. I will have to go grocery shopping this weekend and Costco next week. This week has been cheap! Smile

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Baby DS has started some solid food. Baby oatmeal, of course, and he really likes sweet potatoes. That's it so far. Tonight I might try carrots.

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Sold a pair of DD's old riding boots $12. I paid $8 for them two summers ago. Made $40 this AM from my elderly cat side "job". This money will be going to the EF which is very close to the first 1k goal mark! Smile

Forgot

August 9th, 2010 at 06:26 pm

Ugh..I forgot to pay Capital One last month.. I thought about it, but I didn't think a payment was due. And in all the busyness at the end of the month I never logged on to check. We don't carry a balance on the card; we have ONE automatic bill payed by the card. $25 per month. The charge is usually made about the 22nd or so each month and almost every month I pay it on/about the 25th. So it's not even on the card for more than a week. I guess in June I missed it so July it was due and I thought "no big deal I've got 30 days." Wrong. Now I'll have to call and ask if they will please remove the $15 late fee. Yesh, it's a whole eight days late on $25!
Really need to change the billing to another card. I would right now, but DH will need to do it; account is in his name only.
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In other news, my DH met with an independent cell phone dealer last week. He found her through a local business group that his work is a member of. She works with all the carriers and has discounts on the phones. So the phone that I wanted that was $80 online thru our carrier was $50 with her. The $29 car charger was $10 thru her. He also changed our plan to the lower shared minutes plan for $70 per month, plus the taxes etc. so I'm thinking it'll be like $76/mo. Yay! Saving money feels so good!
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A note about my last post where I wrote about going over budget. My DH had an "extra" paycheck last month (with the five Fridays)that's what covered the overage. I was really trying to forget about that "extra" check, but in the end I kept thinking I can pay this/that with the "extra" check. Boy do I WISH I had an "extra" check this month too! Big time childcare costs with both DD and DS going for the first two weeks this month. It won't be as bad once DD is back in school. She will have just a few hours each afternoon once school starts.

Updates. Hi all!

July 29th, 2010 at 02:55 pm

Keeping busy here. Smile I've missed catching up on all the postings. Maybe later.

DNiece (15yo) is visiting. She is so helpful and sweet. Only get to see her about once a year now that she's moved to Maryland. Frown

Saturday: DD's bday party was a success! The pool cost $12. Food about $35 plus the cake. We made pizza with the girls who stayed for the slumber party. Yum! It had been so long since we made pizza at home. We'll be doing it again sooner rather than later. Trouble is it's more expensive to make it that to buy take and bake, which is sooo good too.

Sunday: a clean up and relax day.

Monday: grocery shopping. $195.

Tuesday: county fair opening day. $26. DD, DN, DS and me. Lovely weather. We built a scarecrow in a contest and won! The prize was free funnel cake. ($6) DS was such a good baby. He liked the fair. We looked at the exhibits and stage entertainment (Acrobatic Cats, hehe)

Wednesday: Costco $180. Other errands.

Today: Great America. Rides and water slides! $90 for tickets. I will also be paying $15 for "preferred parking". Closer to the entrance for packing in/out all our stuff and baby DS. I am thinking of having lunch at the car too. We'll take food and see how the day goes.

Weekend plans -
Friday: Relax and chores.
Saturday: The beach ? Ice skating ?
Sunday: Giants game.
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In other news... My cell phone is dead. Frown It was three years old. Really, they MUST make them only well enough to last for the two year contracts. lol. I have activated my old phone, which was DH's phone before that. So it's REALLY old, but still operational. Somewhat.. sometimes I can't hear the person on the other end of the line and have to use speaker..arrggg.. I won't be replacing with a fancy phone. Still looking at $80 for a phone and getting back into a contract.. *sigh* I guess it's not that bad, we hadn't been thinking of changing service anyway. This has got me looking at changing our plan. We could go for a low anytime minute (700) share plan with no frills, $79/month, and save about $30/month. I looked at our 12 month usage for "anytime" minutes. My average was about 200 and DH about 400. Totally worth trying it out.

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In-Laws coming to visit Friday PM thru Monday AM. (Please give me strength and patience Wink ) They will be watching the kids Sunday when DH and I go to the Giants game. And they will be taking DN with them when they leave.

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Going back to work Monday afternoon... *sigh* Love my job, but LOVE being at home..

EF Deposit

July 14th, 2010 at 05:40 pm

Added $120 to the EF yesterday! Smile

Budgeted savings amount plus money I made taking care of a kitty.

I have posted three items on CraigsList so hopefully they'll sell and I can add that to the EF too!

Shopping Success

July 10th, 2010 at 04:53 am

I am patting myself on the back.

I bought a very cute pair of chocolate brown capris at Kohl's. Suggested retail $40. I paid $3.45!
I returned a gift item for credit, shopped during their "Power Hours" (such a ploy, whatever!) and used a 15% off coupon.

Next, I had a gift certificate for Partylight candles. I have a friend who sells them. I do think they are the best candles, but are a bit spendy. I ordered online thru my friend's website and spent $0.35. 'Grapefruit Fresh' jar candle and votives shipped to my door; a special gift for me!!Smile

DD needed a gift for a friend's birthday. WalMart! Returned some unused Newborn outfits from DS. $26 in store credit. That bought the gift, a card, laundry soap, coffee and Gatorade. So $0.10 spent there!

Ordered again from Diapers.com. Had a $10 referral credit and used a coupon code they had posted. Plus no sales tax and free shipping. I can also mail in manufacturer coupons to be credited to my account. Spent $24. Would have cost almost twice that if I had purchased in a store!

Insurance Savings

July 8th, 2010 at 11:17 pm

Changed the coverage on our two vehicles. F-250 diesel truck and Pathfinder. Will be saving about $55 per month. Might be a little more, I'll know when I get my declaration page and billing statement.

Balance Transfers

June 11th, 2010 at 07:27 pm

Yesterday I went to our credit union and applied for their Visa card to take advantage of the lower interest rate. I couldn't open the card only in my name because I don't make enough money on my own..*Ggrr* So I had DH meet me there (aka The Money Man. lol.) I told him I figured it'd be about 20 minutes, so he just took a break from the office. Well guess what - I was wrong. It took a hour. When did it take so long just to get a credit card? Didn't they USE TO pass them out like candy?

I asked the loan officer about that. Told him I figured that things had tightened up for unsecured loans. He said that was exactly what's been going on. And the high credit limit we were requesting. Is $15,000 really that high??

He said that we might have to close the cards we paid off. I told him I wasn't willing to close cc#2 because it is linked to our checking for overdraft and it is one of my longest history credit lines. I would be fine with lowering the limit in order to get the new loan. In the end it all turned out fine. We will be closing cc#1, but no changes to cc#2. Our new APR is 9.4%, with no fees.

After I feed baby lunch I have to take some paperwork over to the c.u. so they can transfer the balances. Can't wait to see the balance shrink!

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We went to Olive Garden last night for our anniversary dinner. It was an enjoyable meal. Baby DS slept all through and DD was sweet and polite (as usual! Smile ) I had a drink, boy did it make me relaxed! Haven't had but a sip of champagne in almost a year. Total spent $65. My DH gave me a $100 bill "to spend on myself and buy something nice". I want to use it for bills, hehe. Maybe I'll see if I can find a nice summer outfit for cheap and put the rest to the cc or ef.

You save $ and help me make $

June 10th, 2010 at 01:51 am

On a friend's recommendation I used Diapers.com to order my breastpump and some other baby supplies. So cool, you can get free shipping and it gets to your door next day! (mine did!) Very handy when you don't feel like running errands with baby.
I got free shipping, no sales tax and saved $19 using promotions and coupon code. Plus no driving, so I feel like I saved more like $25.

Okay, now why I'm plugging this...
If you are a new customer and enter my referal code you can save $10 on your first order and $5 on the second. Plus I get a $10 credit for the referal!!!

Referal code is: SWEE9706

Thanks! Smile

Breaking Even & Living Comfortably

May 21st, 2010 at 08:41 pm

Redeemed my credit card 'points' for a $200 payment. Received a $200 check as reimbursement for a work expense so that goes to the card also. This covers the $400 copay to the hospital when I delivered DS. So...two steps forward and two steps back... Wink

It seems like this is a regular pattern with us. I'll have a few months where we just "break even", maybe even lose a little bit of ground. Then a few months where we gain ground, pay something off completely or make a big purchase in cash, add to savings, etc. I LOVE those months!!!

This will be a "break even" month, except for a small bump in the savings account. We are talking like $25-$40. But I feel like every little bit gets us to the goal..eventualy.

I want to go FASTER!!!

We could meet our saving/payoff goals faster if we were willing to really cut back. I'm not saying we spend a lot on a lot. Honestly, we could LIVE without the cell phones, DSL, cable, horses, breakfast out...you get the idea. But, I feel life should be comfortable. As comfortable as you can comfortably afford. And if our income suddenly dropped off/dried up we would make these cuts. I think there is a certain number of people out there that just couldn't give anything up. We could do it; we have lived without these before.

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Baby DS had his two week check up. He is now 8lbs. 8oz. and 1/2 inch longer. He's great at nursing so I knew he was growing well. Smile

Goal Met! $224 million

April 30th, 2010 at 05:25 pm

Looking at my goals I put in the sidebar made me realize that I already have a $1000 EF - so goal met, right? Wink
Ha, not quite. I've built a $1000+ buffer in our checking account, but I don't look at that as my emergency money. I look at it more like revolving credit I give myself. It helps me not have to stress about not having "enough" to cover a check or DH used the debit card 3 times today situations. The downside is that I do look at it as "extra" so sometimes, like now, I owe myself $700.

Now, about that $224 million dollars. That is today's Mega Millions jackpot. I am not in the habit of buying lottery tickets, but for that amount I may go ahead and lose the $10 in cash I've got in my wallet. Wish me luck!
If I suddenly stop blogging you will all know what happened to me! Wink


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