Jodi's Blog

Wow, now that I can check my net worth on Yodlee every day, I am not so anxious to get my monthly totals done. I just got to today - 10 days late - and realized I never did it for June. Here are my projected expenditures compared to actual.

Groceries: 275 -> 293.31
Household/Cell: 240 -> 89.76 (I still owe my mom about $160)
Car: 275 -> 292.20 (that's the closest I have been in a while!)
Medical: 40 -> 30
Clothes: 20 -> 7.79
Loans: 300.36 -> 350.36
Entertainment: 100 -> 66.69
Gifts: 160 -> 123.45 (due to some creative regifting)
Miscellaneous: 100 -> 187.36
Real estate: 50 -> 0
School: 1493 -> 1537.40
Investment: 100 -> 100
New category: Cash withdrawals -> 286.50 ($6.50 being fees)
Total expenses: 3078.32
Estimated take-home income: 1768.54
I ended the month with $650 in credit card debt, $400 of which I have already paid off. The remaining $250 will be paid off before the due date of 8/1. That means I still took a few hundred out of savings, something I might just have to get used to until DH is out of school (5 more months!). Overall, I am pleased that most categories came in under budget, and that my two big budget breakers (gas and groceries) were very close. I keep toying with the idea of going to the envelopes system for groceries, miscellaneous expenses, entertainment, etc. (I wouldn't do it for gas because I use my reward card) - but I don't think I am ready to take the plunge just yet.

A few goals for next month:
1. I made four grocery runs for $15 and under (in other words, quick trips to the store for only a few things). This is a waste of gas, time, and money. I want to cut out these small runs between the big shopping trips.
2. I need to cut back on gas consumption too. I have not even made an effort in this area, but $300 on gas every month is ridiculous. It will be hard for me to do this, since we live in a rural area close to nothing. If I can cut out one or two unnecessary trips per week, it might make the tiniest of dents
3. No more ATM fees! (although I can blame Dh entirely for this one, since our bank is across from my work). Dh and I recently came into some cash as a result of our garage sale and going to the farmer's market to sell blackberries. We are going to see how long we can live off of this. And when we do need to go to the bank, we need to go to OUR bank and plan ahead. Sure, it's only $6.50, but it was MY $6.50 that the banks now have.

Goals for next month:
Groceries: 275
Household/Cell: 409 (two months of household expenses to my mom plus one month of cell phone)
Car: 300 (I have to up this because DH is back at school four days per week this semester - a 45 minute drive)
Medical: 15
Clothes: 20
Loans: 300.36
Entertainment: 75
Gifts: 200 (four graduations, one wedding shower, and ds1's third birthday!)
Miscellaneous: 150 (our puppy is going to the vet)
Real estate: 0
School: 2886 (summer tuition due, um, today!)
Investment: 0 (I have asked DH to postpone this for a few months as we could better use the money now!)
Cash withdrawals -> 160, no fees!
Total expenses: 1904.36 without tuition, 4790.36 with! I am not counting tuition in this months expenses because I plan to pay it with next month's commission checks (or, worst case scenario, emergency fund). It will go on the credit card for this month.
Estimated take-home income: 1893 (counting garage sale and farmer's market income)
Well, it will be tight...that's for sure

Another $67 to add to my checking account. It was from the stuff we took to my brother's garage sale. Yeah! Every bit helps. We sold my son's sandbox for $25 (bought for more than $100 last year - ouch), some records, etc. It was nice to get the house cleaned out a bit too.
I have made three blackberry pies over the weekend (two to eat, one to freeze) and decided it is not worth my time to make them to sell. I could only get $8, maybe $10, but I could sell the same amount of blackberries for $7.50. I'll stick to the cookies and sell the berries separately. I was thinking about taking some berries into work to sell too. Every once in a while stuff shows up in the kitchen for sale, so it's allowed. I won't have time to go picking again for a few days, though. DH starts classes again tomorrow.
We held the shower for my SIL-to-be yesterday - very nice. And the price came in about $25 less than I had planned, so that was a nice surprise. The guest of honor had a great time and was really touched by all the work we did A very nice weekend!

Okay, this farmers market thing has gotten pretty consuming. I keep thinking about what I can do next week! it's fun. I think I am going to try my hand at blackberry pies. Pies are not hard to make - it just seems like they are. Every time I make one I surprise myself with how easy it was, as I always seem to remember it taking longer. I'll have to find out how many blackberries it takes, though. If I sell a pie for $8, but it takes $5 worth of blackberries to make it, then $3 is not worth my time. But if it only takes $2 worth, then I can make a tidy profit. Anyone know how to make blackberry pie??
Today I paid $400 of the $653 cc bill, so we don't have a lot left. However...I did decide to charge next semester's tuition, since I will have to commission checks by the time the payment is due. Even if I don't I can pay it from the emergency fund rather than take out more student loans at the higher rate. We will definitely have to take out loans for the last semester (Sept-Dec), but then DH will be DONE (with $20k in loans...).
Went out to lunch with a friend today - nice visit. I had to charge lunch ($5.12) as I forgot both my cash and my ATM card. Duh.

I think the most empowering thing is not the $60 in my pocket, but the feeling that I CAN DO IT. I AM in control of my money. I came up with a plan last night and made it work for me today. If you want to get out of debt, come up with a plan and make it work. And if it doesn't, then try another plan. Don't be passive!
Just a thought to think on tonight...

It was a good, good day. Moneywise and otherwise. Today I:
1. Received the final sign-off for the contingencies on the home I am selling, meaning all the major obstacles are out of the way.
2. Got a paycheck with almost $500 extra in it (extra time worked last month - I wasn't keeping track of when I was getting it, so it was a nice surprise)
3. Made $60 at the farmer's market.
Yeah!!!
Ok, maybe I have held on to the God of Wealth coin too long...I'll send it on tomorrow (so sorry, Stressless - look for it soon!). Then again, maybe I can pat myself on the back and attribute some of the cash to my hard work - and I did work hard today. At 7:30am, I left the house to pick blackberries until 9:00. As soon as I got home, I started baking: cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, and lemon blackberry muffins. Whew. I made up my signs and trotted off to market, where I sold nearly EVERYTHING, save 8 cookies (out of about 9 or 10 dozen) and a few cinnamon rolls. That is including the 7 quarts of blackberries I took, which sold for $4-$5 each (okay, I let myself get talked down on a few, but I won't next week - promise!). I spent $5 for groceries this morning (butter - my biggest expense. I need some recipes that use Crisco instead) and paid $5 in order to have a stand, so I netted $50. I probably had another $5 or so in ingredients already at the house. Aside from butter and chocolate chips, the rest of the baking supplies are relatively cheap. Anyway, I was very pleased with the outcome and plan to go back next week. I have even toyed with the idea of approaching our local mom-and-pop market to see if they want to buy some blackberries from me. I know they have bought strawberries from my neighbor in the past.
I'm not sure when I will have the time to pick a lot more, though. This weekend is my future SIL's bridal shower. We have out-of-town relatives coming in on Friday, so I'll be spending a lot of time at home and getting ready for the shower. But a lot of the blackberries are still red, so I should have at least another week or two to pick - maybe more.
DH scolded me for worrying too much (not in a negative way - he is the laid back one and I am the worrier). He believes everything will work out just fine. Well, I know it will work out too - I just want to help everything along so that it all works out faster!

1. In shorts
2. Without bug spray
3. With two children who eat faster than you can pick

Owwwww....
For all my hard labor today, I have three and half quarts of blackberries to share and/or sell. I probably would have a quart more had the kids not been with me, but what a learning experience for them. They were a lot of fun to show which berries to pick, to help me find more bushes, and to wipe the purple off their faces when we got home. Tomorrow, I hit the bushes again...and again in a few more days, and again, until the blackberries are all gone.
There is something in blackberry picking that appeals to me in suc a frugal way. I mean, free food, no strings attached, completely mine for the taking. I can take as much as I want, and nature will make more. I get started and I cannot stop until my buckets are overflowing and I have no more room for more. Maybe it's the solitude of being in the woods, maybe it's the thoughts of blackberries on my cereal in the morning, or the lure of trying to make a profit selling them at the farmer's market - but tomorrow, I'll be back out there again...in pants, though.

I think I may try something new tomorrow. I might set up a table at the farmer's market. It is a very small deal, only two or three vendors every week (usually one or two for produce, sometimes one for baked goods, and sometimes another miscellaneous table - last week it was a guy selling dog treats). It will cost $5. I have three quarts of blackberries now to sell, and I can probably pick another 3-4 tomorrow. If I can sell these for $5 each or $2.50/pint (is that too high? I see them for about $3 a pint in the store), then I would only need to sell a few to come out ahead. I can also make a few batches of cookies or cake tomorrow to take. Hmmm...this might actually work. It would put some spending money in my pocket and let me feel like I am in control of the money situation again. I would need to figure out, though, how much baking supplies would cost to see if I am really making any headway here. We have to bake many dozens of cookies for my brothers rehearsal dinner in August, so I can freeze whatever is leftover for then - I don't need to worry about wasting whatever is leftover.
I asked Dh if he minded, since I would probably be busy most of tomorrow getting ready. He said no, as long as I put up a sign advertising my real estate there too. At first I thought that sounded ridiculous, but then the more I thought about it, the better it sounded. I could offer business cards or magnets, along with free market appraisal coupons. I could put up a sign to the effect of "Not only do I bake, but I can sell your house too!". We'll see. I might say the heck with it and not do any of this at all! But it is nice to be coming up with ideas.

Ok, recovered a little from my last post - paid my mom for part of the living expenses, minus a few things she owed me for - I still owe her about $160, but she told me she does not need the money and not to worry about it for now. That took me down to $14 in the checking account, but frees up a lot more cash to pay down the credit card (I get paid on Wed). Now to get DH to agree to a belt-tightening for the next few months until he gets out of school...
Forgot to mention a few other upcoming expenses - future SIL's shower ($125) and gift ($40). Luckily I have my part of the bachelorette party already paid off, plus I will be getting $30 or so from the girls who haven't paid me for their share yet. But I also have two more graduates to give gifts to, plus two more birthdays this month (one being my son!).
on the plus side, I did get a $90 mileage check. I also got a $380 check from my health insurance company, but I am 99% sure it is an error. I will call them on Wednesday to see. Boy, that would make my week if somehow I had that to cash

I have been totally stressing over the budget situation lately and today only made it worse. I got word of a snag in the real estate deals I have been working on. If this one deal falls through, then the other one will fall through as well, as my sellers need to close this deal in order to have the money to buy their new home. I am so bummed. I know I should not be counting this money before it gets to me, but we could really, really use it. I had plans to pay DH's tuition with the commission checks, and have enough left over to nearly pay of DH's car. If it doesn't work out, I will be saddled with this debt even longer.
And then there's the whole issue of paying off $900 in bills with only a $526 paycheck. Anyone know how I can do that?? I have to pay a credit card bill of $653 (remainder of DH's $1443 tuition) and pay my mom living expenses for the past two months. I know she will wait for this, but I hate to ask. They have done so much for us, that I really want to get them the cash, even though I know they don't need it. I was planning to charge DH's tuition this semester too, since we would have the commission checks to cover it, but now I don't dare. That means he will have to scramble to get a new loan for it. I guess if the commission checks come through, we can put them toward the loan (which will be at 6 or 7% interest now that they have raised the student loan rates).
Of course, this is on top of all my other expenses (monthly: $184 car, $100 sutdent loan, $90 cell - needed for business, $300 groceries, etc).
Here's the plan: I get paid $526 on Wednesday. This has to last two weeks. We can cut way back on the grocery budget and use our stockpile. The car payment has already been made, and the student loan is paid out of savings. So, I can give my mom $240 and that will catch her up. Then I can throw $100 at the cc and wait until my next paycheck to do more. I haven't even gotten the statement yet, so I have at least a few weeks before interest kicks in. And if it gets to that point, I'll pay if out of the emergency fund before I'll pay interest.
Which brings up another point - the emergency fund. We have been slowly chipping away at it. It was $10k when DH lost his job last year and went back to school. Now it is $8700. But it's there for emergencies, right? So why do I feel so incredibly guilty about touching it?? And how low can I take it before I really start to feel uncomfortable? Ugh. I need to get my head on straight and figure this out.
My brother is having a garage sale this weekend - we have taken over some stuff to sell. We really don't have much, though, having jumped on the frugal bandwagon some years ago. But DH has some duplicate records that usually sell well, and I am going to try to sell my Readers' Digest collection (some date back to 1917) which really has brought me little pleasure and takes up space. So maybe we'll get a little extra from that.
Ok, just rambling now...had to vent. I appreciate anyone who took the time to read this and any feedback they might have. I'm just so stressed over this, but I know that I shouldn't be. We have plenty to eat, a place to live, healthcare, and clothes on our back. What else do we need, right?

This is the second time today I have refreshed my Yodlee account to see my net worth. The first it went down $20, but now it is up by $50. Not bad earnings for sitting on my butt all day Of course, with the stock market the way it has been, it could be all gone (and more) soon. Wow, this is really addicting to watch! It was such a pain to keep track of before that I only did it once a month.
We had a nice evening here. My MIL and nephew came out tonight to celebrate DH's birthday. A nice cookout, cake and ice cream, a day by the pool...and we are all wiped out! TOmorrow and Sunday we have grad parties, next weekend is my future SIL's bridal shower, the weekend after is her bachelorette party - then two weeks until the big wedding. Busy time of year for us.
I don't even want to add up the costs for this wedding. It's not that I mind - I was totally thrilled to be asked to be in it. But it does get pricy. Dress ($150), shoes ($7.50), shower costs ($125), bachelorette party ($70), plus all the other costs like getting my hair done, gifts for the wedding and shower, etc. A funny story about the shoes - when we bought our dresses, nearly every other bridesmaid bought the dyed-to-match shoes. I just stood there looking at the $40 cheapest pair of shoes thinking that I could NOT justify the costs. Since it was still 6 months till the wedding, I decided to shop around to see if I could find a pair to match (the dress was celadon, a light green). I figured it was a long shot, but I could order dyeable shoes within two weeks, so I figured I had plenty of time. Last week, my diligence paid off. I found a beautiful (although uncomfortable, but they will come off after pictures) pair in the exact color I needed. $40 - discounted half price, with another final clearance discount of 50%, for a total of $7.50. HA! It pays to wait and shop around.
I might hit the garage sales tomorrow morning - missed them last week and am feeling the urge to get out there. I have less money in my account now than I have had in probably several years, but I still feel the need to do this. maybe the few dollars I spend without too much thought is what keeps me from ever feeling deprived, so I am willing to loosen the belt a bit for my garage sales

I finally sent out some letters to past clients...four of them. I had already sent out letters and thank you gifts to people who have bought or sold a house with me - this time, I wanted to send out letters to those people I had worked closely with, but never completed a sale. I only came up with four people! Maybe that says something good about me - I almost always complete my sales! Anyway, I am sending a short note to those people to let them know my new contact information and that they can call me if they have any real estate needs. hey, it was next to no work, and two of the people might actually be in the market again for a house. If it turns into a sale, it will be well worth the time.
Let's see...not sure what else I can do to find some new clients. I just don't have the cash for advertising. I have a friend who spent $15k in one month alone on advertising (in a very competitive, high-priced market). I'll have to think some more on this one. Maybe an ad in the paper or shopping guide???
I have been watching my net worth daily now that I have signed up for Yodlee. It was rather depressing at first...but today things were much, much better. Up about $700 due to stock increases alone. Now, if only it would stay there...

DH remembered to call and consolidate his student loans today - all by himself! So that's one thing checked off the list. Tomorrow I have to take care of some medical bills and send the lucky coin to someone else - I keep forgetting.
I'm starting to panic now that I realize just how little money is coming in every month - it's just my part-time income ($562 every two weeks, after insurance and taxes) for a family of four. It's enough to make ends meet, since we don't have a housing payment - but these is not much leftover at all to pay down debt. Sigh. I guess it will just take us a little longer than planned. I cannot wait for DH to finish school and start looking for a job.
I showed two more houses today - no go. Sometimes this is a very frustrating line of work - many hours spent with no return at all (or even a promise of future returns). But then again, sometimes the commission checks make it all worthwhile. I have done nothing recently to promote my business and try to get new clients - and now would be a good time to work on that to increase our income in the next few months. I need to get rolling with that again.
Tomorrow - off from work. Things need to get done around the house. Tomorrow is also Dh's birthday - 29!

Lovin' this Yodlee so far. I have set up an acocunt through BOA. I just got everything registered and haven't even started to play around yet, though. I'm sure I will love it even more when I see what it can do!
I was only slightly depressed by the net worth - about $9k, thanks to $22k in student loans (and rising). I also do not have the car loan figured in there, since they do not have online accounts - so subtract about $1500 from that. But if you add in the value of our cars, net worth will rise by about $15k, which does make me feel a little bit better
Dh still has not called Sallie Mae to consolidate his loans...grrr. I keep reminding him - maybe on Wednesday when I am not working I can dial the phone and put it to his ear for him I don't want to wait until the 30th as I dont know how long it takes to process.
Spent $4.08 today on postage for the coupon train caboose - on it's way to flash. Also spent $.50 on a soda as we were having a movie training with popcorn - and who can eat popcorn without soda? No other money spent.

I continued my cooking streak today with a batch of guacamole - my first try. I tried guacamole on a high school trip to Mexico in 10th grade and thought it was awful. For years I had myself convinced that I hated the stuff - until my brother made some for us last year. It was GREAT. So I got his recipe and tried it out - yummy. The directions were a little complex - first coat the avocado and lime juice, pour the lime juice off and reserve, mash the avocado by hand, add this and then that. The heck with all that, I thought, and dumped the whole mess into the food processor. I don't have time for steps! Anyway, turned out great. I told my brother, who is the most anal cook in the entire world (he measures out the water to boil noodles in for mac and cheese because it says 6 cups on the box), and he gasped a little but didn't faint. But now...we are out of the good wheat tortilla chips - so what else do you use guacamole for??? (until I get more chips, anyway!)
I finally met a client today that I have been corresponding with for a few months via e-mail. He and his family just moved to NY from FL and need to find a house. I showed them one house today, but they didn't care for it. Hopefully I will be able to locate something for them and make another sale. I can't wait to get my hands on the commissions from the two deals I have going on now. We are living right now on my part-time income only, so anything extra will be great to go toward debt reduction. Otherwise, we won't be making any progress at all until DH gets a job (at least January). Which reminds me...
I have been hounding DH to get moving on his student loan consolidation - but he keeps forgetting. I will have to call home from work tomorrow to remind him. The bad part is that we will need to take out loans for the next two semesters (maybe only one if my commissions come thorough), which we will not be able to consolidate at the lower rates. Darn.

I am on a wild baking spree. Yesterday it was cookies, banana bread and muffins, today it was rhubarb cake and sausage bread (stromboli type bread filled with sausage, peppers, onions, and cheese - got rave reviews!). Of course, I have to pick the most inconvenient time to run the over - it's 90 degrees here. But at least we have the AC installed now
This morning ds1 and I ran all over the place getting presents for DH's birthday and Father's Day (yeah, I know, I'm really late). We were able to get him a lot of nice things - total spent was about $66, plus $20 on a g.c. But some of the gifts were for my mom to give him (I usually do her shopping for him), so I will get $37 back. I didn't spend too much and I think he will be pleased.
I did splurge on lunch today at the mall - Chinese. Ds loved it. In fact, he ate most of it, so I had to get a snack when we got home. $4 spent. We drank water, both to save $ and because all they had was soda, which I don't give ds.
I also went grocery shopping today and spent $51 ($14 saved with coupons, Shopper's Club - I was disappointed that it was not more). I did have a few impulse buys though. That's $80 spent in the last two days alone. Time to stay out of the stores for a while.
Now that I have the time, I have to figure this out. I was going to purchase a value pack of hamburger for $1.99/lb ($16 total), so that was about 8 lbs. Instead, I purchased two smaller packs at $2.29/lb for about $9 (4 lbs. total). I did this because the packs each had $1 coupon if you bought a pack of taco shells. I also had a coupon for $1 off/2 packs, so I figured I would get $3 off and get the taco shells for close to free. So, 4 lbs of meat at the cheaper price would have been app. $8, plus the taco shells would have been $3.86 ($4.86-$1 coupon) = 11.86.
By buying the two packs, I spent $7.16 on meat ($9.16-$2 coupons), and still spent $3.86 on the tacos, for a total of $11.02. Huh. So I guess I did alright. I could not concentrate on this in the store as I had a very cranky toddler. The big question, though, should be whether I would have bought the tacos at all had I not seen the coupon on the beef? The taco shells will definitely be used, but it was an impulse buy. It is so hard to figure out these things when you are standing the aisle contemplating a purchase!
So anyway, ds and I came home and I cooked like a wildwoman all day. My father and DH are rerunning the plumbing pipes, so after I got all done, I had no water to wash the dishes - what a mess. We had company over tonight for a card match (luckily just my siblings and uncle as the house is a disaster) - and another free night of entertainment. Time for bed now - we might head off to a local pancake breakfast in the morning.

Why is it so hard to just let some things go?? I am writing in reference to all the PAPER around my house. I have puzzle magazines dating back to 1997 that I cannot get rid of the because there are still puzzles left undone. I have spent hours going through these books (I probably have 20 of them around) trying to finish the puzzles so I can throw them away. How STUPID is that? I am doing puzzles that I don't even enjoy! And then there are the magazines that I don't even subscribe to, but that my SIL gives me when she is done. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy them - they are parenting magazines that I do occasionally get some good info out of. But I feel like I need to read every article in them, even the ones on older kids and teenagers - like I am going to remember that in 14 years when my kids are learning to drive? C'mon, someone tell me how ridiculous I am being so I can stop. Please.
Does anyone else have this problem? It's like I am afraid of what I am going to miss. Luckily I don't have this problem with the newspapers (we get two daily) or else I would never get anything done. Come to think of it...my mom has this problem too. We can't throw away any newspaper until she has read it cover to cover (we have piles all over the house). Darn, it's genetic. Maybe there's no hope after all.

it's been a busy day! I switched my work day from Friday to Thursday, so now I have a three day weekend. It seems like I was able to get a lot accomplished - and I still have two more days before going back to work!
-finished weeding the garden
-took care of a two separate piles of paperwork that needed to be filed, thrown out, etc.
-handled half a dozen work related calls
-made two batches of cookies (with my mom - she's making all the cookies for my brother's rehearsal dinner) and banana bread & muffins
-did the dishes
-made dinner
-went grocery shopping ($31.37)
-went through the coupon train, added my coupons (this seemed to take forever, there were so many!)
Whew! Why am I not more tired??? And between this all, I played with the kids outside for a good chunk of the day. This is making me look forward to the future when we plan for me to stay home after DH gets a teaching job!

Guess who finally refunded my $25 incorrect charge? Yahooooooo! I'm doing the happy dance here. I'll have to contact the BBB tomorrow to withdraw my complaint. I love how quickly things get done when they are involved

I missed the local farmers market in town today...but happened to drive by a little mom and pop farm stand on my way to an appointment today. I got a huge bunch of rhubarb for $1.50 (I've seen it upwards of $5/lb in the grocery store), some cukes, zucchini, tomatoes, bananas, and sweet peas for $10. Yum. I can't wait though until the garden is ready to produce all this good stuff for us. This year we planted: yellow squash and zucchini, yellow and green beans, beets, spinach, mesclun mix lettuce, swiss chard, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes (cherry, grape, and regular), cucumbers, peppers (green, banana, and jalepeno) and herbs. I can't wait, I can't wait! We spent about an hour weeding it out tonight - what a mess. But it will pay for itself many times over.
No other money spent today. Thought I would have to pay to park when I went to an appointment downtown today, but I happened to pull into a spot that had nearly an hour left on the meter. Things like that make my day

Quick entry - I'm tired. I now have to go to work at 7 am tomorrow for a visit. Luckily it's only 5 minutes from my house, and I get to come back home afterward since it's not my typical work day, but still. Who wants to work at all on their day off?
We got all the inspection sign-offs for the houses I am selling - yeah! Now just to get through the appraisals and get all the closing details worked out. Things are going almost too smoothly.
My parents took us all out for ice cream tonight. We stopped at the playground with the kids first. They had a ball, we had a ball, and it tired them out My dad decided to give my ds and my niece an "ice cream cone" per week for the rest of the summer for their birthdays. A very sweet gesture - but then the won't let us pay either when we go too! They are very stubborn people, my parents. But very generous.
I finally finished the task of transferring all of my paperwork over into the file cabinet from my two overexpanded file folders. This will really help me to keep the bedroom clean as now the papers are where they should be - in the office.
Goals for tomorrow: Set up card match and mail out the scores from out last match. Finish sorting and filing all the miscellaneous paperwork I found while cleaning out our bedroom. Weed the garden.
(wow, not one mention of money in this entry...guess I need to stay on task a little more!)

After chasing Yahoo for over a month to get a refund on a charge that I did not make, I gave up on them and e-mailed the Better Business Bureau. A week later and I had not heard anything from Yahoo or BBB...but then, in my e-mail tonight, a letter from Yahoo apologizing not only for the charge, but also for the time I had to spend rectifying it. And a promise, in writing, to have the refund back within 7-10 days.
I LOVE the BBB! This is two for two that they have come to the rescue. Hip hip hooray!
Oh, another good thing that I forgot to put in my original post - I have gotten through BOTH home inspections with no major problems. We have signed off an all contingencies and are moving full speed ahead with both transactions - even hoping to close by the end of next month. And I have three more houses to show tomorrow afternoon too, so maybe more sales will be coming my way.

...in my entries. Has it really been that long since I posted?? We had a busy, but very nice, weekend. Friday night we played pinochle (free entertainment!). Saturday we went to my niece's birthday party next door - it was SO hot that day. Everyone came over after presents to swim in our pool, a very refreshing 75 degrees. Watching a four year old open a mound of presents and pass over each one quickly to open the rest, without taking a pause to thank the giver, only strengthened my resolve to keep my son's birthday gift free (except for immediate family). In previous birthdays and holidays, ds1 has been so enamored with each gift, saying "Oohhhh", stopping to look at it and wanting to play with it immediately - that we have a hard time getting him to move on and open the rest of his presents. We finally gave up at Christmas and opened them for him, as he would be off in the next room playing. That is the appreciation that I want my children to show for the gifts that were picked out carefully by those who love them. Maybe this year will be different - maybe the wonder will wear off in the face of a pile of presents - but I hope not
Sidetracked again...we got my niece a $50 savings bond, an outfit, and a book. She actually paused to look over the book, which made me very happy. She is a delightful little girl and I absolutely love her to pieces.
Saturday night my aunt came over and we played poker - I ended up winning almost $10 (not chump change when we all started with only $3). It was very fun.
Yesterday we traveled to my SIL's house in Owego, nearly two hours away. It's a very long trip with a 1 and a 2 year old - they only slept about a half hour on the way there and 45 minutes on the way back. But we had a wonderful time there and visited with all of DH's family. I wish they lived closer. We spent about $22 on gifts for Father's Day and food (ok, actually beer). We bought a pack of Guinness for DH's grandfather, gave a g.c. to Barnes and Nobles to his father, and I am going to give my dad a chocolate cake each week for the rest of the summer. A few years ago I gave him a "Dessert of the Month", but by the sixth or so month, I started to forget...I figure I can keep this up for two more months! Chocolate cake is his absolute favorite, so I know it will be appreciated.
I fell way behind on my 5-minute cleanings this weekend. I think I own 25 minutes now, counting tonight. I already did about 15 minutes today, so another 10 will catch me up. It's amazing how bad our room got in only four days - this will keep me motivated to not let it happen again.

I had such a headache when I got home from work today I ditched the kids on my wonderful DH, who had already had them all day, and went to bed. I tried to get up after an hour, but ended up back in bed (with trips to the bathroom...ick) for several more hours. Headache, nausea, etc. Happens quite a bit - I guess you might call them migraines. Starts with a headache and if I don't get Tylenol and sleep, they morph into a full-body dysfunction. So anyway, at about 9 pm tonight, I started to feel better. I supposed I ought to get these headaches checked out at some point.
So consequently, I got absolutely nothing accomplished today. I did watch a lot of t.v. though. I rarely do that anymore. The worst part is that DH ordered dinner out tonight and I didn't even get to enjoy it because the smell of food was making me ill. I will get steak for lunch tomorrow now though
Tomorrows goals: Deposit two checks in bank, take out some cash (not much, but I haven't had any in my wallet for over a week now). Finish transferring my paperwork over to the file cabinet.
Here's hoping tomorrow is healthy and happy for everyone!

How the heck did I just erase my entire post????? Life is frustrating.

I guess I will try again. I was posting about a bunch of random things that happened today.
-Home inspection #1 done. I don't have the final results yet, but I do have word from the buyer's agent that there are no "major" issues - only a few small ones that I am sure we can work out. Plus the buyers are being very flexible on the closing date, even allowing my sellers to close on the house yet retain possession for a few weeks. Yeah for small victories
-Busy day at home - got a lot done off my list, including weeding the garden, cleaning the litter box, emptying the garbages, and organizing all my paperwork from those expandable file folders (which are expanded to the max)into a file cabinet. I have had a free file cabinet from an old job for years, but I finally got an insert that will allow me to hang folders. Now all my paperwork is going in there. I can make each folder specific to the contents, have as many as I want, and put more in them than I could with the other system. I would have all my car, life, and health insurance crammed into one section before, or all the credit cards from different companies mixed together, so finding things was a nightmare. Now I have distinct folders for each separate car, credit card, insurance policy, student loan, etc. Things are getting more organized around here.
-I patted myself on the back tonight for making a quick, easy dinner. Cajun pork chops (rubbed with a mix of spices - found the recipe at recipezaar.com) - under 10 minutes to make and cook (they were very thin). Then I threw some leftover asparagus in with cooked elbow macaroni and Parmesan cheese for an easy side dish that I knew the kids would like (and they did), plus some leftover corn from the fridge. I have to be more conscious of using up fresh veggies and leftovers in the fridge. I just had to throw away three avocados that my aunt brought us from her farm in California - I had big plans for those avocados too (a delicious guacamole recipe from my brother). Who knew they got moldy so fast? i've never bought an avocado in my life! But I digress...oh, and dessert tonight. my SIL had leftover cake pieces from a shaped cake she made, so I threw those in with instant French vanilla pudding and fresh berries (free from a neighbor - we give her sweet corn later in the summer) for a parfait/trifle/call it what you will. Mmmmmm...the kids gobbled that one up too. Life is berrylicious tonight

A rambling inspired by lrjohnson's popsicle post ("Life is very good")...it's the little things that make life good.

A fruit smoothie
A puppy napping at my feet
My two boys snuggled in bed after a long day playing outside
Making something out of nothing
A kiss from DH before he leaves for school
Playgrounds
The way ds1 signs "I Love you" to me as I leave for work in the morning, and the way ds2 bounces with joy when I return.

Notice there is no big screen t.v., mansion, luxury SUV, desginer labels, etc. on my list. It's is so important to realize your priorities. Then what you thought was a big thing becomes nothing. And some of those little things, like enjoying a homemade popsicle, become everything

A challenge - what makes life good for you? Feel free to share - I'd love to hear! -or make a private list - just know your priorities

(lrjohnson, I hope you don't mind!)

All right, I have read enough about the joys of blenderhood to want to jump right in. I have forgotten how nice a smoothie can be, not to mention convenient for getting all my daily servings of fruit in one sitting.
Hungry tonight, I stumbled across Thrifty Rays and lrjohnson's discourse on the benefits of the mighty blender. Inspired, I did a quick overhaul of the fridge to reveal two half-eaten cartons of yogurt (strawberry and peach - courtesy of ds2 who never finishes anything), a half pint of blueberries, some half-rotten bananas stuck in the fridge to slow the browning enough to buy time for baking, some strawberries, and a cantaloupe. Then I fished out the blender, blew off the dust, and started throwing things in. Oops - no top. Hold a plate over it and hope for the best. WHIR. Good - the plate worked. No blender mess on the ceiling. Cleaned out the blender with a little dish soap - WHIR - and clean up is over! YUM.
Inspired - and wanting a little more of a treat - I combed over the rest of the kitchen and came up with half a blueberry muffin (again, courtesy of ds2) and a touch of guacamole and chips. A bit ecletic, but the combination was enough to satisfy my sweet tooth (fruit) and salty side (chips) without any effort at all and it used up several leftovers that would have been thrown out. Three cheers for leftovers! Now I just have to remember to look for them before they turn on me...

We got not one, but two offers on the house I have for sale today - meaning the sellers can move forward with the purchase of their new home, which we have had a contingency offer on. Meaning...I will have two commissions coming, IF all goes well. We still have two home inspections to get through...but it has been a very exciting day.
Last night we had a lovely dinner with my in-laws and nephew to celebrate our anniversaries. We were treated by them - they would not even allow us to leave the tip! I was not surprised. Both his parents and mine hardly ever let us treat them. When we really insist, we have to catch the waitress and have her bring the bill directly to us, or else we haven't got a chance Anyway, we stopped at a few stores after dinner. I had a $5 g.c. to Petco that I won in an instant win game several months ago. The nearest one is in Syracuse, which is where we were last night. We went in, looked around for about 15 minutes, and found a few little things for the puppy. However...we went to check out and - no card. DH was supposed to have it in his wallet, but left it at home. What a waste. But now he knows what to get and can run in there some day and be out in two minutes. Can't give up $5 in free doggie treats! We stopped at Barnes and Nobles after and purchased a book for my SIL's b-day. We paid $5 out of pocket after a g.c. wiht $11 remaining (side story here: we found an envelope full of gift cards in our rental car on our last vacation and tried to turn them in to the rental company - they wouldn't take them and said they had no way to contact the owner. When we got home, we tried to get in touch with the owner ourselves through the Barnes and Noble membership card that was in there - no response. So we ended up with about $50 in g.c. to McDonalds, Old Navy, Barnes and Noble, Moes, Panera Bread - what a find!). After that we spend $20 at Sears (paid for by a g.c.) for three girls' outfits, gifts for a niece, cousin, and co-workers new baby. All in all, $5 spent for a great night, a little time with family and time to ourselves, and four gifts to boot. Plus we found out that we still have $30 left on the Sears card, which I thought only had $5 on it!
I think I need to head to bed...back to the real world tomorrow

I was just thinking about this today as DH and I were trying to find dinner - we have one benefit working for us in the fight against spending money. We live in the middle of freakin' nowhere. By choice, mind you. I would not trade it for anything. But really, we have a mom and pop store 5 minutes away, but it's 15 minutes to the nearest chain restaurant, fast food, grocery store, movie theater. Granted, that's not very far, but it is enough to stop us from jumping in the car and going, which we did a lot more when we lived in the city. Don't feel like cooking? Run to McD's on the corner (it literally was on our corner!). Bored? Run to the mall five minutes away.
Now if we are hungry we have to find something to make. We only have one place that will even deliver food to us out here (not that we ever even utilize it). If we are bored, I take the kids for a walk down our quiet road, go out to tend my garden, read a book, etc. I do not shop now without a purpose, even though I still do enjoy an occasional pleasure shop - it's not something I jump in the car to do to fill my time.
So how does this apply to anyone else? Well...is there any way to make it harder to get out? Make it less convenient. Freeze your cc. Don't shower (tee hee). Hide your car keys. Find an alternative. You might just surprise yourself with what you can come up with

There, I've done it again. I decided not to waste my time contacting Yahoo a third time and instead submitted a complaint to the BBB. I hope that gets a response. Hmph.
Busy day - out of the house at 8 and back at 6. DH and I were wandering around the kitchen trying to locate something for dinner and ended up with four plates of various leftovers - not too shabby, and now there will be less wasted food. Total prep time: 5 minutes. Pots dirtied: 0. And leftovers for dessert too - chocolate cake with rasberry jam between the layers. A favorite of mine
Tomorrow we are meeting Dh's parents out for dinner, minus the kids. We both have anniversaries in June (ours is tomorrow- 6 years already?) so we celebrate together. Should be a good time!
Money spent: $4.08 on two gallons of milk (we drink about a gallon per day with four adults and two kids). $21.38 on two g.c. from Dunkin Donuts for ds1's preschool teachers, plus a little extra for Dh to get something while he was there! $2 on coffee this morning with my client.
I got half of my goals for today accomplished - the $9.88 refund from the grocery store. I ran out of the house this morning without the checks I was supposed to deposit, so that will have to wait until Monday (I won't be near an ATM until then). Rats.
Goal for tomorrow: Sell a house! Just kidding - although it would be nice. I do have one showing. But realistically - ah, the heck with it. My goal for tomorrow is to enjoy my anniversary, even though DH will be gone all day taking tests to get his teacher certification!

for an ingredient for dinner - a total of $7.50 spent, about $2.50 saved with the shopper's club and a coupon. I tried to get DH's money back from when he forgot to use the shoppers club card, but I didn't have his cc with me, so I have to go back. No other money spent today. And DH never left the house, so I am fairly sure he didn't spend any either
Still no charge reversal from Yahoo - they charged my bank account $25 about a month ago. Two phone calls and two promises later, I am still waiting for the refund that was supposed to take "4 days". I think it's time to bring in the BBB...worked for me last time!
Busy day tomorrow - some money to spend, though, as I am taking a client out for coffee again. This time she said she wanted to treat, but I really do not feel right about it. We'll see.
Got a lead on selling a $200k house - I have to do a market analysis. Tough situation though -a very nasty divorce. The wife says she wants me to sell the place, but I don't know what the husband wants. Wish me luck Meanwhile, we have a bite on the house I currently have listed - an interested couple coming back for a second look. Please please please sell!
Goal for tomorrow: deposit checks in the bank. Stop at Wegman's to get shoppers club refund.
Side note: I'm keeping up my five minute per night rule - started on another room now as our bedroom is in order. It's working out very well.