Finally, a break in the cold. DH and I spent some time outside with the boys today - took them to a local playground. My older son had a ball, but the younger one didn't really know what to do. He just wandered around, but still had a good time. Best free entertainment around.
We stopped at Lowe's first. Finally bought the chalkboard paint for ds1's room (but who knows when we'll get around to painting it!). We are going to do one half of one wall. DH and I were awfully tempted by the magnetic primer, but decided the $20 price tag was a little much. We also look at moulding for his room - right now there is some really cheap, ugly plastic moulding - but were a little sticker shocked at the prices. Nearly $1 a foot. Doesn't sound so bad, but if we are to do the ceiling, corners, and around the windows, we will need 175 feet. Ouch. So we are going to see if we can do without the moulding on the windows - we have to take down the old stuff to see what it looks like.
I also ran into Big Lots quick to grab ds1's current obsession - Sesame Street fruit snacks (or Elmo snacks, if you ask him). $1.69/pack. Not the most frugal, but they are more expensive at the grocery store. While I was there I snagged three boxes of Kashi cereal for $1.99. Lovin' the Big Lots tonight.
I have to get my insurance resolved here soon - renewal is due 3/20. Hopefully I will have it figured out by Monday. I'm pretty sure I will stay with Liberty Mutual at this point - just a matter of figuring out my exact coverage. The good news would be that I wouldn't need to pay the entire balance at once. Liberty Mutual won't charge installment fees if I have it direct debited from my paycheck, so I won't pay any more whether I pay it up front or in installments.
I have about $500 extra in my checking account - plus another check to deposit for $300. Hmmm...what to do with it. Emergency fund is full, all cc's are paid off except my 0% interest (which I just paid another $200 on today)...but maybe I will add it to the cc just the same. It feels like I have been scrambling the past three months between Christmas, annual fees (real estate associaton, MLS), and DH's tuition ($2700). Now that most of that is paid off, I have some wiggle room again!