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Archive for August, 2007

Where's my motivation? - and a SECRET!

August 24th, 2007 at 02:41 am

Ack - I just realized that I am three months behind on tallying up the monthly expenses. What have I been doing all summer? And where am I going to find the time, much less the motivation, to do it? Who am I kidding about the motivation - I love this stuff. Now, where did all that time go?
Tomorrow I am meeting with a couple who flew in from England to look for houses. They are hoping to relocate here in a few months. I have committed to working with them almost everyday for the next 10 days, until we find the perfect house. I hope I can find them what they are looking for! Another note on the real estate front - I have another closing tomorrow, which means about $3k coming into my pocket. I think I will pay off the Lowe's cc (0% for a year) that we put the bathroom remodel and new grill on. The rest can go into our Roths.
DH still is jobless. The one school that kept stringing him along gave the job to someone else. He called them today to check in on other openings and they again "dangled" a possible job in front of him (either as a long-term sub again or a permanent job as a teacher's assistant). Pardon my lack of excitement, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Once bitten, twice shy.
The reason I am so anxious for him to get a job is...shhh, this is the secret...we want to have another baby soon. Like in June, when he is done with school and can stay home all summer. Meaning...we have to start soon. But ideally, I want to stay home, which we can't do without him being able to get us health insurance, which he can't get without the aforementioned JOB. Hmph. I don't like my plans to be on hold Smile But something will come along!
(Was that secret worth reading through all my other random thoughts for? Wish us luck!)

falling prey to technology envy

August 22nd, 2007 at 04:14 am

...and I don't care! HAHAHAHA I'm getting a cell phone with a 2 megapixel camera and an MP3 player! I am, for the first time in my life, not taking the phone that comes free. I am spending $175 to get a phone that I have been drooling over for a week now (retails for over $400, so I don't feel quite so bad over it).
Seriously, I have been having quite the case of technology envy after returning from vacation and seeing everyone around me with their cute little slim phones and cameras, while I have a big bulge in my back pocket from my Nextel i710 and three year old camera model. I tried to get a slim little Samsung, but I couldn't with my rate plan. The phone I'm getting is still a little clunky, but who cares if it has all that with it. As for my camera, I'm content with it. I'll get a new one when something goes wrong with this one. It's a Sony cybershot 5 megapixel and it's been very good to me. Besides, if I every REALLY need a little camera, I can just borrow my dads Smile

Am I an adult now?

August 17th, 2007 at 03:32 am

Well, I think it's happened. I'm getting older (I'll be 30 in a few months!). I took my oldest son (age 4) to his first amusement park today. I LOVE rides and roller coasters and water slides...I mean really love them. But I spent the first few hours watching him go on all his rides. Then I snuck away to go on an adult water slide and realized that it wasn't nearly as much fun without him on my lap. Is this the point at which I start to get more enjoyment from seeing my child smiling in glee than by going myself? Am I only a few years away from watching at the bottom of the water slide and not going at all? Sigh. It was a really, really great day though.
We had a wonderful time on a budget. Two of the tickets were free through our town (DH was a chaperone), and mine was only $15. Parking was free. We brought our own drinks and refilled the bottles from the water fountain. I gently steered both DH and my son away from the games, spending only $1.50 on one game and the candy crane. Our only expense was lunch and ice cream, about $20 total, and $4 for the locker. By the way, if anyone wants to know about a great little place to go, check out Sea Breeze in Rochester, NY. We never waited in line for more than 10 minutes, and very often, there were no lines at all. We decided to get a season's pass next year, as it is only an hour away.

A cute note: On the way there, ds told me that he saw a John Deere sign. When I asked him what that was, he told me it was a yellow sign with a deer on (deer xing). Everything for ds is related back to tractors!

Comparison shopping

August 16th, 2007 at 04:40 am

I've been a busy bee shopping these past few days. In addition to scoring a greal cell phone deal, I...
1. bought checks online. I was going to order through my bank, but the cost was $27 for 150 checks. Instead, I found an online company that gave me 600 checks for less than $20, with a promotional code.
2. bought a wedding gift for a friend off Target.com. A quick google for 'target coupon codes' netted me a code with 10% off any order - savings $4.
3. ordered pictures at my favorite site, Winkflash. $.99 flat shipping for 4x6 prints, no matter how many. I usually order two or three times a year, several hundred at a time. Today I logged on and they had a banner for $.06 prints (half off the regular price) with a code (JC53YR73). However, because I used the promotion, I didn't get the flat shipping rate. Still, I saved $11.22 on my pics, but only paid $3.50 more in shipping. SCORE!

Cell phone victory

August 14th, 2007 at 02:30 am

Wow, almost a month since my last post...I'm certainly slipping, and it's showing in my cc bills! But on to the point -
I called Nextel, my current cell phone provider, to find out when my billing cycle ended as I was switching to Verizon (they offer a 19% discount to government employees). When my current provider asked me why I wanted to switch, I told them. They, of course, asked me to stay, and offered me a 19% discount. I hemmed and hawed, because I really wanted to get on the Verizon network that most of my family and friends are on. Then my provider told me about a plan they had where I could pick any three numbers to make free calls to. As I was still uncertain, they made me an offer I could not refuse - 800 minutes for $32.99/mo. (I currently get 500 for $36.99) - with the additional 19% off. SOLD! (Later when I called back to accept the deal, they couldn't find a way to give me 19%, so they bumped it up to 20%).
800 minutes for $26! Plus free calls to the three numbers I call most!!!! I am loving this. The moral of the story: if you are no longer under contract and thinking of switching providers, give your old provider a call first. They may be desperate enough to keep you to make you a heck of an offer. I don't think this will work, though, if you are still on a contract - there's no incentive there for the company. The rate I received was an unadvertised rate available only through the customer service line - not to the general public.

I also inquired about a new phone. I was offered one that retailed at over $500 for $170 with no activation fee. Never hurts to ask...