Looking Forward's Personal Finance Blog

I paid the Sears card off. Don't get too excited for me though because I tacked it on to another card.
I had to pay Sears before the 20th to avoid the intrest from the past year being applied. It was 0% for the year if paid in full by January 20th. I had fully intended to do this and was on track to until I was was out on maternity leave. Doh!

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Did major grocery and Costco shopping this past week. Used some nice coupons at Costco. $4 off boneless porkchops, $2.50 off laundry soap, $3.50 off dishwasher tabs. They have Quicken there for $65 and I have a coupon for $20 off. (I am very tempted to pick it up. Sounds like a good deal, but I haven't checked around at all.) We also buy our razors there (DH and I use the same kind) it's a 52 ct. for $23. I also bought 12 fresh, boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $20, 6lbs of hamburger, papertowels, a six-pack of Lean Cuisine $7.59 (great for lunch) and several other items. Total $210.

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I have my W-2 already, now waiting for DH's. I also need to get the year statement from DD's school's childcare and the mortgage companies. I guess there isn't any hurry with all the news I hear of the IRS delay. But I am going to start plugging in numbers today to my online tax program. I have used FreeTaxUSA the past several (5) years. $20 for state and federal. With our new tax deduction (DS ) and my decreased income I am curious to see how things will calculate.
Here's to getting some money back!

I had posted about getting a $1/hr raise with another promised this spring. Well on my last two paychecks I had the full $2/hr increase. ?? Not sure if the boss gave the okay or if the bookkeeper just tacked it on, but hey I'm not saying anything! Happy to have it and certainly well overdue in my opinion.

So my crazy dream last night was about that raise. My payday in on the 5th (this Wednesday) and in my dream I opened my pay envelope and my raise was removed! All over the check and the pay stub it was stamped "RAISE REVOKED due to RECESSION". Yikes! I'll be holding my breath until Wednesday. LOL!

But seriously, my boss is in pretty bad shape. He has started the bankruptcy process. He told me in confidence because he doesn't want people to know. I don't think blogging to my SA friends counts as "telling", do you? I think it's going to be a rough start to the new year for him and I hope it helps in the end to get the business back on track.

Went to Safeway at 8:45am this morning. Not many people there. Shopping with little DS and a morning coffee - paid for with a Christmas gift card - nice and relaxing. Stocked up on lots of fresh veggies and fruits for the next ten days or so. Stuff for dinners for the next week plus. The staples - milk, bread, eggs (our hens aren't laying right now )butter, yogurt etc. Baby formula, Good Start, has been on sale at Safeway plus $3 off/can coupons making them a very good deal. Some good sales like: Progresso soup $0.99/can and Yoplait $0.50/cup. Many of the veggies and fruit were $0.79/lb. I also got all my chili makings. Splurged on a box of wood for a nice fire this evening. Total: $283 (it took two carts to haul it out to my Pathfinder.)

My Chili. One of DH's favs. I wish you all could smell it right now..


Basic Recipe:
1 bay leaf
2 Tbls Chili Powder
1 lb dry beans soaked overnight or 2 lbs canned beans
1 lb ground beef browned and drained
1 lb peeled/diced tomatoes canned or fresh
1/2 onion
bell pepper
diced garlic
1 can Ortega diced chilis or other diced hot peppers
salt to taste
Cook on low all day, stir whenever

I make about 3x amounts and make it in my huge crockpot (5.5 quarts). I use canned beans because I am not prepared enough to soak dry beans. I like to use dark kidney (4-5 cans), pinto (1) and black (1) to make a pretty assortment of bean colors. I use (1) yellow bell pepper and (1) purple onion - again for color contrast. (Of course when it all cooks up the colors all turn the same ) You can't mess it up. If you like it more meaty - add more meat or use chicken or cubes of steak, or no meat and make it all veggie. Spice it up with hot peppers if that's your thing. A can of mild chilis (7oz) plus the chili powder (to taste) is enough heat for our family. I top my bowl with lots of grated Cheddar cheese. Great leftovers. In fact I think it's better after it sits in the fridge for a day or two. This chili freezes very well. So we'll get about 3-4 meals from the amount pictured, and it cost under $20.

Tonight we'll build a fire in the fireplace and make cornbread to go with this chili - yum, yum, yum!

We stayed in last night, had a nice dinner, watched a movie, I had a few glasses of bubbly and set off a few firecrakers at midnight. 2010 was a good year here.

Right now I am having a cup of coffee and watching the Rose Bowl Parade. Those floats are always so amazing! Beautiful! Planning to have a quiet weekend at home. Play with the baby, clean up Christmas decor, watch football, make chili and ???

Have a few 2011 goals rolling around in my head, but nothing specific yet. Losing baby weight, saving more, paying off more debt. That's about it so far.

Happy 2011 to everyone!
May each of you reach your goals this year.

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. 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!

And Happy almost New Year!

I had this post all typed up on Sunday morning (12/26) and Blam-O my computer kicked me off the internet. I haven't had any time to re-type until now.....


Belated Merry Christmas to all! I am hoping all of you had a lovely holiday. This year more than ever I felt so lucky to have what I have. We are so very lucky. May we all have good luck and success in 2011!

We hosted this year for the first time ever. Inlaws came Thursday afternoon in their motorhome and my parents and my sister came Christmas Eve morning and everyone stayed until Sunday morning. FIL and DH were in charge of the prime rib (from Costco) for Christmas dinner and it was AWESOME! I tried two new recipes - roasted carrots with ginger and brown sugar glaze and a potato gratin made with heavy cream. The carrots were fab, the potatos I'll make again with more cheese Also had ham, green beans, fruit salad, dinner rolls and a ton of desserts. I made the hashbrown quiche and lemon scones for Christmas morning. Had to laugh a bit because FIL was kinda "eh..quiche..hu?" until he tasted it and then there wasn't enough of it. It went fast! Could've made a triple batch! DH made breakfast Sunday morning for everyone. Total for the Christmas groceries about $230. Also had the housecleaners come for $90.

I feel good about our spending on gifts this year too. Less than in past years, but scored some very nice gifts too. Best find for me was a Giants jersey for DH's big/Santa present. $60 on Ebay. Very nice.

As DH pointed it out it was nice not having to travel and really nice not having to pack up all the gifts and drive them home. We just unwrapped and pretty much put them away.

Of course the kids (just DD and DS) were spoiled rotten with all the grandparent and auntie time, plus their gifts. Baby was so cute, he opened his presents pretty much by himself (a little help from big sis to get started) and he got so excited when he saw all the goodies inside the paper. Of course the wrapping paper itself was exciting also.

SO Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Did a bit of shopping this morning with little DS. Mostly Santa related. Stocking stuffers (shampoo, deodorant and mouth wash) and odds and ends to compete the gift list. Bought some frames for family pictures for gifts at WalMart $3 (5X7) and $5 (8X10)!
I had ordered a Santa gift from Ebay for DH and when I was done there was a link to Vistaprint for buiness cards 250ct for $4. DH needed some new cards for his side work stuff. I had them shipped at the slowest/cheapest rate and was pleasently suprised when they arrived two weeks ahead of time. Santa will put them in his stocking.

Still need to buy something for the boss - $20 Starbucks card I think. Sister - small cookie sheet pan to go with cookbook I bought already. Looking for a DVD for co worker. A few more stocking stuffers for baby. Santa gift for the cats (dogs and chickens already done ) Some sweets for my Grandpa. DH and DD will go shopping tomorrow for gifts to donate for a child off a "Giving Tree".

AND next week all the food...((Gulp!))

DH had $470 extra in his paycheck this week from sales commissions. Yay! That helps offset some Christmas spending.

Gotta get some gifts wrapped!!

I have been so busy working and running around trying to get Christmas things done. Tree, outdoor lights, Christmas cards, shopping, wrapping, etc.. I had been meaning to make a posting titled "Runaway $$ Train" because of all the cash that's flying out the station here. But I couldn't get enough time on the computer until today. I wasn't feeling very well - sore throat, headache and DS has a runny nose and cough. So he and I have been snuggled up most of the day just resting.

I never had a chance to put a December budget together and am reduced to marking off which bills have been paid on a "To Do" list. Part of the problem is I haven't gotten any document or spreadsheet software for the laptop yet. My FIL has the Microsoft disks and we meant to bring them home after Thanksgiving and totally forgot them. He is going to bring them to our house for Christmas. If that doesn't work out I am going to try Open Office suggested to me by Monkey Mama. I'll just muddle thru the rest of the year, all two weeks of it , and start fresh January.

That's the other thing: We're hosting Christmas at our house this year. DH's idea. Hey, I would rather go to our parent's houses where they get to take on the cooking and cleaning!

My BFF came for a visit this past weekend. It was so great! She hadn't seen our house yet. It had been so long since her last visit (maybe three years?) She and I went to San Francisco Saturday evening for a show. We stopped for a nightcap and once we got back home we stayed up until 3am talking. The tickets to the show were a Christmas present to me from DH.

Baby is up, gotta go..
I'll leave you with a picture of him and Santa.

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! 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.

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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.

My boss is out today, so I get the day off. Spending the day home with the kids. That saves money on childcare. (Yikes that's been a big bill recently) Will try to get some household chores done..I am not feeling very motivated And I am making salmon for dinner tonight. Trying Monkey Mama's crockpot recipe.

This brings me to a bit of a problem I have had for awhile and would love some help with. I keep wanting to post and then forget. Really need new ideas for dinner. What is your family's favorite? And favorites that can be made ahead or frozen. Healthy is a plus, but a distant third to tasty or quick. I bet we'll all find these recipes helpful.

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Traveling to family for the Thanksgiving holiday. We will be leaving Thursday morning and eating dinner at my mom and dad's house. My inlaws will join us there and later we will travel to their house to stay Thursday and Friday night. My DH and his dad like to shop Black Friday. I can't stand all the crowds and crazyness, so I never go out. I think I will take the kids to visit my grandparents on Friday. My grandma's back has been hurting her so she doesn't want to make the three hour drive to my mom's house. I really want to see my grandparents and give them a chance to see baby DS and DD. We will save money by not having to buy food, but spend money on extra gas. It is very important to me to see my family as often as I can and especially around the holidays.

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I will be doing some kitty care next week and will make $200. Christmas money. My most recent kitty care money has gone to pay on the CC. A little to this and a little to that. Trying to balance.

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And the computer woes continue. I realized I had
pictures of myself while I was pregnant with DS on the computer that I don't think we backed up anywhere else. AND, I don't have any programs! No Word, Works, Excel etc. And we can't find any disks for these. These programs were on the computer when we bought it, so shouldn't we have some way of getting them back without having to buy them?

Did you all miss me? I've missed you.

Two weeks ago DD had a report due at school and she was using the laptop to type it out. Well, she dropped it on the floor and it died. Long story short I took it in to Staples and had it repaired for $263. It needed a new hard drive and a new disk reader. Luck for us all the tech services are 1/2 off this month. I just picked the computer up last night and it works as good as new!

DD had almost finished typing her report out. We are talking like two more sentences left to go. So it was a quick rush to set up the desktop and get the report re-typed. Then our printer wouldn't print. It was the "Report from He77". Nah..I was able to load it on a flash drive and have it printed at Kinko's near our house.

Nothing could be recovered from the hard drive, so I lost budgets and financial goals, a few games, but really nothing else. Trying to get some bills payed online now and catch up on the checking account. We have the Internet at work, but I am not in front of the computer long enough to do much of anything. I was able to check my mail about every other day and look up a few web sites, otherwise no time to do anything else.

Speaking of work, my boss laid off one of the other gals because we're heading into the slower period of the year. Of course, it was only slow for about two days!! I miss her, she was really my assistant. The other news is the boss' wife has stepped in to do the business financials and get the bills caught up. AND I got a $1/hour raise with another planned in the spring!! Well overdue for that, so I am happy.

What else???

Oh yeah.. got rid of all the lice! Yay!
Only to have DD get them back again. Boo!
But, I am thinking we've got them beat again. Five days now with no sign of the buggers.

Trying to gear up for the holidays. It is so hard because the weather has been unnaturally warm. Like 70F+ most days. And Christmas is when?!?

Happy Halloween everyone!

May you all have more Treats than Tricks!




And..of course.. GO GIANTS!!!

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.

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!

Not trying to gross you all out....
Bad News - DD found a lice in her hair last week. **CRAP** You SA parents know what I mean. Just a wonderful part of childhood and parenting, Right?
So it has been a flurry of washing and vacuuming and spraying and combing..Arg. Luckily I haven't found any on me or DH or DS. And DD only had a few. Good thing it seems we caught on to the little buggers early. Everyone I know has gone thru this in their life at least once. I remember having them when I was about 10. Horrible because I've had long hair my whole life. Past my waist when I was that age. She's never had them before; we've been able to dodge the bullet all the other times it made the rounds at school.
The thing is it is expensive to treat. I was unpleasantly surprised when I spent $57 at CVS on shampoo, creme rinse and a metal toothed comb. Then there is all the time and water/energy to wash and dry everything. I was saying to my mom,
"How could low income families afford to do this?" My mom countered with,
"Think how hard/more expensive it would be if you didn't own a nice washer and dryer and you'd have to take everything to the Laundromat?"
WOW, I hadn't even thought about that. I realized I totally take my situation for granted. We are very lucky. Even though we're not "rolling in dough" all of our needs are more then met.
So after a short battle this weekend so far DD's head is all clear.

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Good News - (Actually VERY good )
Received a check from our previous mortgage holder for $2475! It seems our mortgage broker got the payoff amount just before our October payment posted. So the money is our refunded October payment and the balance from our escrow account.
I am not sure where all this unexpected money will be going. I will put it all in the EF for now. I will absolutely be keeping at least 1k there for the EF goal. I will now check that off in the sidebar.

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Little DS is now five and a half months. Here is a recent picture.


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And ... GO GIANTS!!!

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. '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. ) 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!

A few pictures from my recent trip.

These are the glass earrings I bought as my souvenir.


This is the gold medal winning dressage horse Moorlands Totilas.


This is Buffalo Trace, one of two of the bourbon distilleries we visited. Notice all the barrels of bourbon in the windows.


The horse farm we visited. This is the farm's "pond" and one of the barns.



Now I'm off to help at DD's school and then off to work.

It seems that I keep starting all my posts with.."I'm so busy..." But I have no other excuse. I am busy.

My trip to Kentucky was awesome! The countryside was beautiful and the company was super. I had not spent that much time with my aunt in years. It was also fun to share a room with my sister again. Girl talk and all that. Our flights to and from were uneventful. We attended a few of the events at the World Equestrian Games (WEG), stopped to look at some stallions at a horse farm and toured two bourbon distilleries. I will post some pictures when I've got my camera handy.

I did pretty well spending wise. $45 spent in cash and about $220 on the credit card to be paid next week. The $220 included treating for dinner for the four of us twice and gift/souvenir items. I bought myself a pair of blown glass earrings in the shape of a horse head. (I'll take a pic of them too for you all to see)

Everyone did well at home without me. My MIL came to stay and help DH. She bought food and some home improvement stuff for us. My DH surprised me by completing a few of his TO DO projects around the house. Cleaned the garage and finished some crown molding and baseboards, and tore into a wall in our bathroom!! He did pretty well not spending much money. About $32 while I was gone.

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Refi is all done. 4.75% 30 year fixed.
The only hitch was I had to come up with the mortgage payment about two weeks earlier than I would have normally. Made for a tight squeeze right before I left and until the first. Did move money over from the EF. Darn, 'cause I was almost to the 1k mark! The good news is that now I'm back ahead of the game and that means having the money to pay bills earlier. Makes it all run more smoothly.

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Back to work full time now. Keeping very busy there.

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Baby DS is great. Five months now. Wow!
DD is also doing great. Although she chipped a front tooth a few days back. Not very bad at all, but still.....

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Time to start dinner. Thursdays are about the only weekday I have time to make a nice dinner because I get off work early.

And I've got to cheer on the Giants. Playoff game tonight vs. the Braves.

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
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.

My goodness it's already been 10 days since my last post?!? I've been busy and having some issues with the laptop computer.. Arg. So many of your blog entries I've missed out on. Trying to catch up on reading them as I can.

DH had a fabulous time in Alaska. His fish "cost" us about $270 to process, package and ship home. He also had 10lbs of the salmon smoked. It is on it's way to us..I love smoked salmon

I am going to Kentucky for a few days next week. My mom, sister, aunt and I are traveling there for the World Equestrian Games. I wouldn't be going except my mom and aunt are treating - airfare, bed and breakfast, food, car rental. They wouldn't let me say "No".

DS is still dabbling in baby cereals and a few of the yellow veggies. He had his doctors appointment just over a week ago. Growing well, he is now 14lbs 7oz. Such a sweetie!

DD is doing great in fourth grade. I really like her teacher this year. But so far I've liked all her teachers. Lucky us.

We lost one of our hens this past weekend. She was sick and I couldn't help her get better no matter how much I tried. We buried her under our peach tree.

Last Thursday we switched to our bundled phone/internet/tv service. So far it's been good. We've never had a DVR before, or HD channels, so that's cool. And it has been years since we've had call waiting or caller id on the phone. Never saw the point in paying extra for those services. I am not a fan of call waiting so I kinda wish I could turn that feature off anyway.

Made $50 this weekend checking on a kitty. I will be seeing my old cat client on Tuesday for $40. That $90 is going to the EF! Yay!

Refi is chugging along. We haven't locked yet, but all the paperwork thus far is in order.

Only 10 more days in September! My DD is already planning Halloween decor and her costume. I don't feel like I've gained much ground this month. Next month I start back to work full time. Not really excited about that, but the additional income after all these months will be sooo nice.

The Wife will play..

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!

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!

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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!

DH flew out for Alaska Saturday AM. He has already caught plenty of fish for our family. (He doesn't eat fish at all!) He will be shipping his halibut catch from yesterday home today. One of his halibut weighed 120 lbs!
Right now he is out fishing for trout and salmon.

Visited my sister in Eureka Saturday-Sunday. My mom and dad met us there. DSister cooked dinner both nights and dad treated to breakfast Sunday AM. Very nice to visit with the family. And DD and I had several free meals and no clean up! We drove home late last night - nice because DD, baby and the dogs just slept and there was no traffic to deal with. Also gives me today to putt around the house and do various household chores. (Laundry!)

Battling an ant invasion. They made their move while we were gone. It seems they were drawn to a empty soda can and some french fries. First time we've ever had any problem in this house.

Is it really September 6th? I am still touching up this months' budget. No big changes to the money situation here.

Having some hot days here. 100F. I noticed the pictures I posted from our camping trip didn't last very long. So I'll re-post a few for those of you who may have missed them.
Just looking at this picture cools me off.



The 129-foot high Burney Falls


Pizza delivered for dinner tonight. Worth it on a hot evening. $33 for two pizzas, two salads, sodas, delivery and tip.

I must be a good girl..the money is flowing my way..

A very generous client gave us a gift at work. $200 for me!

My coworker paid me back $50.

I made $40 by making a housecall to my friend's neighbor. I've been helping them with their elderly cat who needs regular blood draws, but HATES the vet. (I've been there a few times now so actually I've made $200 so far.)

And DH gave me the $6 he had in his pocket.

WaHoo!
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Other Updates:

Looking into a refi for the house...
DS going to try out his new highchair tonight..
DH headed to Alaska on Saturday... A whole week of having the bed to myself!!

Last weekend we went for a quick camp trip. It was our only one for the summer and we wanted to squeeze one in this year. We went to one of our favorite areas, McArthur-Burney Falls State Park. It is becoming a yearly family tradition to visit. My mom and dad met us again this year. The inlaws have gone with us too in the past.

Last year we stayed in one of their little cabins. (Which I didn't take a pic of, but here is one from the website)


We stayed in one this year too because it was so comfortable and with baby DS it made things much easier.


DS soaking up the morning sun with our dogs on the cabin porch.

Beautiful weather. Very mild, maybe 68F. The night wasn't cold either. The cabin had a little heater, but we didn't need it. Now I think I'm too spoiled to tent camp next year




DD and our Labrador swimming in the lake.
She also picked tons of blackberries there on the lakeshore. We had them in our pancakes on Sunday morning.




The 129-foot high falls. (I love California!)





Food/Gas/Cabin $270.
Experience/Relaxation $"Priceless"

Just bought a highchair. DS will be ready to try "real" food very soon. He has been watching us eat with great interest the past few weeks. I have been buying baby foods anytime they've been on sale plus using coupons. I've been getting good deals and will be using them soon enough.

I DID NOT buy the $200+ highchair. I bought a $55 chair. Very cute and functional. And it converts to a booster as he gets older. Excellent reviews also.

I just ordered thru Diapers.com and will get it and more diapers on my doorstep tomorrow! (I love getting packages ) Had a $10 referral credit and a promo code for the chair saved an additional $5.40. No tax and no shipping. So I spent $76 total.

I think I did pretty well.

A few entries back I wrote about how we were needing to pay more into our escrow account for our property tax. Well yesterday we received a letter from the county assessors' office that our home's assessed value has decreased. It's down by almost 100k! Interestingly the selling/asking prices have been going up in our neighborhood. I'm thinking the county is running a year or more behind in adjusting the values. Sooo I think we will be getting back all the extra money we're putting into escrow. Probably at some point after October. *Arg*
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Recent expenses:
Childcare: $600
Grocery: $140, $31, $43
Target & KMart: $70
Debt Payments: $480

I can't wait for August to be over. And on the other hand I need more money before September starts. Know what I mean? lol!

Haven't had a chance to catch up here. So busy!

DD started fourth grade on Wednesday. So far she is really liking her class and teacher. Her school has an onsite childcare center for before/after school. It is VERY nice. The registration fee is $60 for the year if you want to take advantage of the lower contract price vs. the drop in rate ($0.50/hr more). $124 with registration and the August contract. Tonight the school has their ice cream social and you can buy t-shirts and pick up the LOADS of paperwork that needs to be filled out. Yay.

Not much back to school spending here. We're lucky that DD is so lucky to have family and friends buy her stuff. We bought a backpack $20 and new shoes. I wasn't going to buy shoes yet, but we found a cute pair of tennis shoes at WalMart $10. I never buy "cheap" shoes, but as hard as she is on shoes I'll be buying new ones in a few months anyway no matter the quality. From her grandmas: two pairs of jeans, really cute shirts (3), hoodie, glue, paper, pens, crayons, and more. From our friend/daycare lady (GB) a pair of Sketcher clogs, pens, pencils, crayons, sharpeners, etc.. Took her for a haircut at a local small business $21 including tip. Her last haircut was over a year ago!
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Had a nice time with the kids and inlaws at the Giants game on Sunday. Weather was gorgeous, but the Giants lost. Spent $25 which included the toll on the Golden Gate. Inlaws bought beer and hotdogs and parking. We also drove in their SUV, so gas too.
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So far this month we've spent less than $200 on food! I will be going to the store tomorrow, but it's really just for the fresh stuff. Last month we really loaded the freezer with meat (2 tri tips, hamburger, chicken breasts) and frozen dinner ideas (lasagna, enchiladas, mac'n'cheese). I expect to spend $120 tomorrow.

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DH doing well with his "allowance". This week he didn't get any cash at all and did fine.
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With the tainted egg troubles I am so glad all of our eggs come right from the back yard. Talk about eating local! Keeping hens is pretty easy too. This site is good for more info if you're interested:

http://www.ranchhaghens.com
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My last post touched on my interest in other careers. I want to be clear, the driving factor for wanting a new job is to make more money. I really enjoy the work I do now and I'm very good at it. But at my current place there isn't any opportunity to "advance"; I already boss the boss. (Which is cool.) I haven't had a raise in three years. The more I've thought about it the more I really think the problem is my boss' poor finances. He lets his family way overspend and the business suffers. Bounced checks, not being able to buy new equipment, not being able to order the supplies we need. Meanwhile, his wife and daughter are out shopping and getting massages! Arg!!! I am sure that is why I haven't had a raise. It gets so wearing on me and the other gals... I think we'd all have found new jobs if we didn't like each other so much. Our office is fun and laid back. No problem if you need to take time off for family or trips. Gotta leave early? Come in late? Take the day off? No problem. This is important to me. Can you put a price on that perk?
I would also enjoy the challenges and fun in learning new skills. Our junior college offers lots of online classes so I am thinking of signing up for some that would go toward fulfilling requirements for bookkeeping. It useful knowledge even if I never use it to make money. Last Saturday one of our clients who is a CPA came in and I was picking her brain about her job. She told me how much she enjoyed her job. Although she said the classes were soooo boring.
I have looked at job offerings for my field of work. I could make more in other hospitals, but might not get 100% medical paid. But might get 401k. Some offices I would steer clear of because they have a high turnover. Or the doctor is crappy. Etc..
I really just want my boss to get his financial "poo" in order and give me my much deserved raise!

I am pondering a new career path. It comes down to money: I want to make more of it. I also enjoy challenging myself by learning new things. I have an earlier post where I wrote about this a bit ("Missing My Job"/April 30). I feel like I could do most jobs. I learn quickly, can self task no problem and many other skills. I really love my job and co-workers, but...I think I need more.
Monkey Mama - CPA sounds intriguing, especially with the demand, and the salary would be considerably more than what I make now. What's your take on the CPA life? (If you don't mind.)

What sorts of careers do you all find interesting? Or rewarding? Do you have a job you love? What would you rather do?

We have friends, a couple close to our age, who bought a timeshare. It is the kind where you own a piece of it, not the points type.

Anyhow, I was just talking to my friend (wife) and she was telling me how they didn't know what to do with it. I didn't quite know what advice to offer her. I thought about posting in the forum here, but I've never "been" there.

Here's the situation, as she told me:
They bought into this timeshare property, very nice, thought they'd use it a lot/often. Bought in May 08, have not used it once! $200/mo payments. Owe about $10,000. Having a harder time paying for it now given less work/less money. Would like to be out from under it, but how? She said they can't sell it unless it's paid off (??) Unable to pay it off. If they stop paying: down goes their credit scores.

Is there foreclosure on a timeshare? Short sale? Tax repercussions? What would you do?

Any advice I could pass on?

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.