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Archive for June, 2007

Frustration

June 24th, 2007 at 03:42 am

Well, the job DH was supposed to be getting an answer about by Friday was never answered. They told him to keep waiting, that the principal of the school was waiting to talk to someone (so what does that mean? Is that good or bad?). Meanwhile, they hired someone for the other open position. He was *told* that he would be getting one position or the other, but I just don't know what to think. I LOATHE waiting. Ugh.
DH and I shopped an entire outlet mall today. We bought a few things for Ds1's b-day next month (less than $10), some clothes for my niece's bday party tomorrow ($20), a gift for my brother's bday next week ($9), and some clothes for ourselves ($30). We walked the entire length of the place - at least 100 stores - and that was all we could find to buy. I love not "wanting" for anything! Once you begin to weigh your purchases so carefully, you realize just how much stuff you don't need. Liberating.

Garden lows and garden highs

June 21st, 2007 at 03:52 am

I have been so utterly depressed over the state of my garden this year. A while back, I mentioned that the dirt that was dug out for my brother's new house was thrown on top of my garden, and then in an effort to smooth it with the tractor bucket, it was subsequently compacted by the weight of the tractor, so I didn't have a great start. Then I spent (er, wasted) way too much time laying the newspapers down and putting maybe an inch of dirt on top (as everything I read told me to do) to combat the weeds. As of yesterday, I had teeny little plants which were wilting and lots of grass growing on top of my freaking newspaper. I really was so depressed, until...
a GLORIOUS thunderstorm yesterday. It was wonderful. And then today, it seemed as though my tomatoes were straighter, my peppers were taller, and lo and behold, when I weeded the garden, there were a lot more beets and chard than I had thought under all those weeds. I'm feeling a lot better about the state of my garden today. We'll see what tomorrow brings...

On the real estate front, we have gotten by the home inspection for the house I sold last week - only one problem noted by the buyers and my seller has already taken care of it. I LOVE having a good seller to work with, one who works with the buyers instead of against them. My other deal has progressed so smoothly that the bank is actually ready to close - although we have to get all the legal work done still. We're not scheduled to close for another month. My third deal should be scheduled to close with a week Smile Smile

DH gets paid Friday and with that check, we are either going to pay off that darn lingering Am Ex ($1k left at 0% for another month or so) or the newly charged up Discover ($1500 - DH's summer class tuition). That should put us in really good shape for the summer, where we'll be back to one income. DH has been *told* that he has a job for next year at the school where he is subbing, but until we get the actual *offer*...we're not counting on anything. We'll know Friday!!

Catching up

June 18th, 2007 at 04:05 am

A bit to talk about on the money front...my seller signed an offer on the house I have had listed for 6 months - home inspection tomorrow. I hope it goes well. I think it's a solid house, so I am hoping for the best. It would put about $3k in my pocket in two months if everything works out. I have two other deals in the works now - one should close in about two weeks, and the other at the end of July. When all is said and done, the three deals will net me about $5k, enough to fund one of our Roths for the year plus a little to pay off Dh's tuition.
DH has had three teaching interviews so far. Two were for our school district, which he didn't get. We're a little disappointed, but okay with it because he really wants to teach at the school he is subbing at now. He has had one interview at that school and has another tomorrow. He was *told* that they will have a position for him there, but until we get the actual offer...we're not getting too excited. We should know tomorrow for sure. We have a lot to hope for over the next few days.
I went to a new credit union that opened up down the street from my job. I haven't had any problems with BOA, but I am going to switch back to a credit union anyway. I don't like having to watch my accounts to make sure I don't get charged, or pay $4+ when I have to use another bank's ATM. I miss my credit union. I'm going back. The only downside is that I have all my accounts set up on my BOA page (through Yodlee or something similar). My new credit union doesn't offer this. I'm sure I can find the service elsewhere, but I like the fact that BOA has my history for the last year. Plus, I don't think I can link my new account to it. I'll have to check into it more.
Paid off $1300 in cc's over the weekend. We had to put another $1500 on the Discover for DH's summer class (hopefully his last one - he'll have his Masters after this one). We have the old tuition bill (on the 0% card) down to $1000 from over $5k. I've got until the end of July to pay the new bill off though, so I know we can do it before any interest kicks in.

DEBT

June 12th, 2007 at 02:39 pm

Don’t Ever Buy Trinkets
Don’t Expand Belongings Too much
Discover Every Benefit To simplicity
Divide Envelopes for Budgeting Things
Don’t Exhaust Borrowing Terms
Develop Emergency fund for Bad Times


(This took way more time than I am willing to admit to!)

House stuff

June 4th, 2007 at 03:14 am

It's been a busy weekend - I can't remember the last time I wrote two offers in one weekend (if ever!). Yesterday I showed a house for a colleague who was out of town. The buyers seemed to really love it - so much that we went back 3 hours later to see it again and write the offer. They had been looking on and off for 4 years and they said this was the first one they really considered. It was a cream puff offer - cash, no contingencies, only a few thousand below the asking price. However, the sellers counteroffered, and the buyers refused as they CHANGED THEIR MIND in three hours time. What's worse is that they decided to stay in their current home and not look anymore. As bad as it was for me wasting an entire day, I feel even worse for my colleague who has spent several years showing houses to these folks. It's a tough business when you can work your behind off and never see a dime from it. So it goes.
I showed another house this afternoon to a couple in our bowling league. They had been looking for a few months but not found anything. They liked this one and we wrote up the offer tonight. Again, it's a decent offer, if not a touch low. We'll see how it goes. We should know by tomorrow afternoon.
Even if it doesn't go through, it's encouraging to be so busy lately.
Today we went to a fundraiser for the daughter of a friend of my SIL, someone we had met a few times. The daughter is about 4 and is battling cancer for the second time. Heartbreaking. As a parent, I cannot even allow my thoughts to imagine what that must be like. Anyway, we met my MIL and SILs there today. It was at an Irish bar and had some really wonderful Irish bands playing (my DH's family is VERY Irish! I'm a Mc- by marriage). We dropped about $50 for admission (donation), hot dogs, and drinks - an amount which normally would make me shudder, but thinking what that family must be going through, I consider it money well spent. The little girl's name is Fiona - keep her in your prayers.
I mentioned a while back that I had asked for bathroom fixtures on Freecycle and received an offer of a sink and shower in great shape. I've tried to contact the offerer three times since mid-May to make arrangements with no response. Methinks I'm getting the blow-off. Guess it's time to hit the stores again to get some prices.
Back to work tomorrow - where did the weekend go???