Jodi's Blog

...I got my fourth insurance quote today from my prior insurer. It looks like my diligence is finally paying off. If I pay my insurance off all at once instead of payments (which I have done ever since I discovered that they wanted to charge me $5 a month if I didn't!), my new rate will be just under $1200/year for both cars (and set for a year instead of 6 months). That definitely beats my current rate of $1343, especially since LM already told me that the rates will be going up when I renew next month. Phew.
Thanks, Jeffrey, for the kick in the pants to get started on this Now I can move on to some other challenges!

When we returned our rental car in Las Vegas, we looked in the glove box to make sure we had not left anything behind and pulled out an envelope FULL of gift cards ($10 to McDonalds, $10 to Barnes and Noble, several restaurant cards- probably more than $50 total). We tried to turn them into the attendant, but he told to keep them because he had no way of knowing who had the car last and would throw them out. At first we thought YEAH! but then we saw that all the cards were addressed to someone. It looked as though they were birthday gifts to a little girl, by the notes that were written on them. So we were able to see that one card (Barnes and Nobles) was actually a membership card. We called B&N and explained the situation. We know they would not give out any info on the person, but we asked them if they would contact them for us. They said they would try. It's been about 3 weeks now with no word...I'm wondering if we've done enough and can go use these now with a clear conscience...
We've started the Turbo Tax...looks like we'll be getting over $3k back We made so little $$ last year that I am not surprised - we weren't counting on DH being unemployed for half the year! So we actually were eligible for some of the credits we never got before. I just have to pin down some of my business expenses, and DH has to figure out some investment income, and we can send it in. I figure we'll just throw it toward my student loans. That will cut it in half, and I might even kick in the rest from my emergency fund just to be done with them. Then we'll be saving $100+ a month in payments. And since DH's loans are in deferment...no student loan payments for another year!!!

The good: I received another real estate referral today. Someone my brother knows is selling their home and wants to list it with an agent. I called them tonight, but they weren't home. It's someone we went to high school with, but no one I really know. The house is right around the corner from me. Hopefully this will turn into something I also cleaned out a big box full of real estate papers. I was able to find some old addresses of people I want to send my "thank you for your business and please refer me to someone" letters to.

the bad: ds1 was a little miserable today. He decided to play during his naptime instead of sleep, and by 5pm, it really was showing. During one particularly bad tantrum, he flung himself on top of his little brother and knocked him over. I was quite happy to put the little darling to bed tonight.

the ugly: I finally received a response from my complaint letter to a certain cell phone company that I won't mention (but it starts with Nex- and ends with -tel). They denied my request for a credit to my account after they failed to port my number over after nearly two weeks, despite my numerous phone calls to them. They tried to make it sound like it was my fault (they claimed we never asked for both numbers to be ported, only one - why would we not ask for both when we needed both ported??? then they said it was my decision to keep my previous line open, when I was told I needed to keep it open until it was ported or else I would lose the number) Then they tried to refuse to give me a state employee discount that I had them verify for me before I bought the phones. And they never told me that call detail was $1.49 each month, each phone line (this was free with me previous provider). Then they did not give me a credit that they agreed to give me, so I had to call back again to ask for that. It seems they will tell you what you want to hear, then never follow through. They probably get away with it more often than not, too, since the cell phone bills are so confusing to read. I am so sick of it. I have written a response detailing all of this and am asking to be released from my contract without penalty. I am sending a copy to either the Better Business Bureau or the Attorney General, not sure which yet. I am just researching the other cell plans so I know I will be able to switch to a comparable one if they agree. Argh.

This morning I had some free time when ds1 was at pre-school and ds2 decided to take an unusual morning nap - so I sat down at the computer and made up a spreadsheet with all my accounts, cc, and investments. I want to be able to track where the money is going. Usually I just look at the checking and savings accounts, but then it looks as though we are losing money even though we put $2k into our retirement account. So I thought this might be a better way to look at the overall picture. I know there must be some magic computer program out there that will do this all for me, but I have tried a few and not liked them. So I just made up my own and I think it will work out fine. The only problem is that I want to track it monthly, but only a few of my accounts run from the 1st of the mnoth to the last. For example, all my BOA statements start on the 6th of the month through the 5th of the next month. I called to see if they can change my statement dates, but they cannot. So I just have to do a little figuring, that's all - I would have preferred the easy route of looking at the top and bottom of me statements to know my beginning and ending balances.
So far, it looks like net worth decreased by $1200 last month (due to a whopping $2700 tuition bill for DH - paid mostly in cash, but partially with cc). But after the fact, I realized that I did not put our student loans and car loan on the spreadsheet. That will bring us up a little more as we paid about $300 on the loans last month. I think it will be a helpful tool for me to look at the big picture.
Another day off tomorrow...I'll see what I can tackle then.

Yum... a hearty dinner. Bean soup is about the cheapest meal you can have. Although I have to admit that the biscuits were the Pillsbury kind that comes in a can - but I do not take responsibility for my mother's not-so-thrifty indulgences. I would just as soon make the bread, but if she's going to buy the biscuits, well then, I won't turn them down
Not much to report these past few days. Went to work today and yesterday, showed an amazing house yesterday that my buyers decided against due to the taxes and utility bills - a huge, gorgeous old colonial with very tall ceilings and three floors (finished attic as master bedroom). Can't say that I blame them. We'll be going to look at more houses this weekend. I am still waiting for my business cards to arrive...
Not much planned for the next two days (my days off). I will just try to tackle some more things around the house. Seems like it's always one step forward and two backward with a 1 and a 2 year old underfoot Not that I would change it for the world, of course!

Another great night at bowling - I got a 568!! Second high for the league all season (for the ladies) - right behind my mom (with well over 600). Hopefully I can hang on to this position until the end of the league to cash in a little prize money - they pay the top three. DH also bowled over 500. Not too shabby, since we both average 150 on the dot. AND...we won the pinochle tournament last night - $25! That paid for our entry fee and babysitter with a few bucks to spare. I must sound ultra-competitive, but really, I enjoy the fun of the games more than winning. But winning certainly is a bonus, especially when there is money attached
I showed a few more houses today...the family I am showing them too didn't find anything they loved yet, but we are going to look again tomorrow. The best part though...they referred a friend to me who is relocating to the area. They are going to send me his e-mail address so I can start sending him some listings. So things are starting to pick up a little, and I haven't even started my advertising blitz yet This probably would be a good idea for a $20 challenge (to see if money spent on advertising brings me any sales), but I don't think I would have time to keep up in it. Something to consider...

DH and I went to a pinochle party tonight. My uncle puts them on twice a year. $10 to play, chance to win $25, $20, $15, or $10 in prize money. I would say we have a decent shot at getting something back - I think we did okay. We'll see - final scores have not been tallied yet. We spent $12 on the babysitter tonight, and will spend another $15 to go bowling tomorrow. Oh well - a night out with my honey is worth it
DH spent some cash getting a haircut today - $14 with a $2 tip. Does that seem high for a men's haircut?? I need to find him a cheap barber to go to (he went to a Haircrafters). It's not like cutting his hair is difficult. If I wasn't such a wimp, I would buy a set of clippers and do it myself. I want to learn how to cut my boys hair, but I am so scared of screwing it up royally. I need to take a lesson from Cercis (cutting her own hair) and Princess Perky (cutting her kids' hair) and just do it. It's not like it won't grow back...I do like the sound of cercis' method of cutting hair - pulling it into a ponytail and cutting across for layers - might work up the nerve to try that one on myself.
Also spent $1.40 on library fines. The public library is the absolutely best value around. Now that I am back in a small town, it's even cheaper as the fines are smaller here. I would write checks to my old library for $20 and up sometimes (I was really bad at returning things on time), but I have never had to pay more than $1 or $2 here for fines. Of course, paying at all is REALLY stupid as I can renew online, or have DH drop off the books on his way to school. The library is only 5 minutes away anyway. So I will have to work on that...but at least I don't feel bad about giving money to the library because of the great service they provide.
No other money spent today.

Well, my business cards are ordered FINALLY. I got the proofs today and okayed them. I ended up taking the pictures at home with my dad's digital camera. Since I saved $25-50 on the pics, I didn't feel bad wasting $10 on the proofs. I wanted to make sure the picture looked okay on the card, since it was taken so "unprofessionally" (we held a blanket up for the background!). It looked fine, so I should have my cards by the end of next week. Then I can move on to the next phase of getting my car sign made up and distributing my new cards to past clients.
I also cleaned out a corner of the "junk room" today to store my kids' clothes. It is this really large room we have upstairs that accumulates all the seasonal stuff (Christmas, pool supplies), the things we don't use often (suitcases), things we will need again but not soon (baby gear), etc etc. It is PACKED. We clean it out a few times a year, but as soon as the seasons change, it is packed again as everything just gets thrown in there on top of the old stuff. The big problem is that my dad won't let us throw anything away, even if it's broken or something he will never use. I used to have the same problem, but when you move into a house that is already full, you have to store a lot of things. After about a year, I realized I did not miss any of them. So I have managed to scale my stuff down quite a bit, although DH thinks I could still stand to lose a lot more
But I digress...what a tangent I got on! Anyway, I have a wall section cleared out and have stacked my boxes of clothes there. Now I have easy access to them when I need to get out clothes of the next size or put some away (Tightwad Gazette readers may recognize a bit of Amy Dacyzyn in this!).
DId a bit of work in the kitchen today - chicken soup for the freezer out of a chicken carcass, and homemade corn bread. Never made it from scratch before, but it sure was good. I even made it with Splenda to be a little more South Beach friendly. Plus I went shopping this morning - spent $86 for $147 worth of groceries. But...$10 of that will be rebated back to me, and another $15 was for waste control (ok, diapers and kitty litter), so I should keep track of that separate than my food expenditures. Great deal on soda and chips (neither of which I really eat too much of, but the rest of my family does) - soda was 3 fridge packs for $8 and Lays chips were 3/$4.50 - total was $12.50, but Tops gave you a $2.50 coupon and Pepsi/Lay's gives a $10 rebate - so it's all FREE!
Gotta run, DH1 is at the neighbors and ready to come home.

I was asked about my monthly payments for rent, utilities, phone, etc. as I did not have them listed on my budget. We are extremely fortunate to have a very cheap, compatible living situation in staying with my parents. We like to be here, they want us to be here...and we are saving a ton of money to boot. In looking over my expenses for last month, I am wondering where I would fit in a housing payment if I needed one. On a good month, we only have several hundred left (although since we have a good emergency fund already established, we pay every bit we can toward student loan and car debt, meaning there usually is nothing left anyway after we pay loans). I guess if we had a housing payment, we would not have made nearly as much headway in other areas. It really makes we wonder how other families can do it.
Our income last year was $25k, plus some unemployment benefits after DH lost his job. Certainly on the lower end of the spectrum for a family of four, but I know there are many, many more people who make a lot less. And I don't know how we would have been able to make ends meet if we owned a home. When we owned a very modest home in a city, our mortgage was $450, utilities ranged from $100-400, phone was another $50...plus all the miscellaneous expenses associated with home ownership - would have easily totaled $1000 a month. It's hard to see where that money would have come from under our current circumstances.
However, like I said, we are so very fortunate in our circumstances. so much so that I am able to work only part-time, and DH is able to go back to school. A lot of saving brought us to this point we are now at - we have a comfortable emergency cushion to rely in if need be. We could have easily wasted away the savings we had each month on material things, but instead we cook from scratch, buy nearly everything used, and just don't accumulate a lot to begin with.
I don't know where I am going with all this...just a kudos to everyone out there who is making do with little. We are not extravagant people by any means, but I still can see the difficulty in making ends meet.

Yesterday I posted my expenses for the month...here come the goals for next month.
Groceries: 290
Household: 165
Car: 250 - usual 200 in gas plus DH needs his car inspected
Medical: 345 - DH still needs to get some contacts
Clothes: 20
Loans: 300.36 (200 car, 100.36 student loan)
Entertainment: 150
Gifts: 30 (one birthday)
Miscellaneous: 150
Real estate: 150 (50 for business cards, another 100 for advertising)
School: 50 pre-school, I don't think DH has any anticipated school expenses this month
Total expenses: $1900.36
Estimated income: $2592
If all goes well, we should be able to clear almost $600 this month. Not much, but not too bad considering our income

Other goals for February:
-Start advertising for real estate. By the end of this month, I want to have my magnet sign for my car, have advertisements posted in three local establishments, and have one ad in the Sunday paper.
-Finish tax returns early. Every year I start in February, then get sidetracked until April. I have them about half done, just need to finish collecting some info.
-Maintain weight loss. I am very happy where I am right now (142.5 lbs - and proud of it!). I am wearing a size 10. I am still following the South Beach principals, although loosely. I thought I could add back some sweets and maintain my weight, but I am actually still losing it! So my goal is to maintain the loss, but if I drop a few more pounds, that would be more than okay too!
-Get organized - one project at a time. Right now it's kids' clothes. I have them stored in cardboard boxes with lids, labeled by size and season. I have enough clothes for my boys until they are 5, even though they are only 1 and 2 now. A lot of hand-me-downs and secondhand buys. But anyway...I need to find a good out-of-the-way storage place for them, as well as get the rest of the clothes that were recently outgrown stored. I plan to conquer this in February, then hopefully move on to another project next month.

I don't have all my totals yet for the month...can't get into my credit union account, which was closed this month, to get my statement, so I will have to wait for the snail mail. But I barely touched it this month. Ditto on the HSBC account - DH must have written down the wrong password, because I can't get into this one either. But the only thing we did on this account is cash withdrawals (probably $400-500 due to vacation), so I will account for this when I get the statement.

Here are my goals for the month and how I actually did:
Groceries: 300 -> spent $234.83! However, my mom did a fair amount of shopping this month. I need to investigate to see if she is spending more to make up for what I am not spending (she's not a saver like me!). I don't want to save more at her expense.
Household: 200 -> $165 spent
Car: 200 -> 202.85
Medical: 345 -> 30 (DH never got his contacts that he needed, so this anticipated expense will carry over to next month)
Clothes: 25 -> 28.40
Loans: 300.25 -> 550.36 (this is only higher because my Dec. car payment did not get cashed until Jan.)
Entertainment: 400 -> 326.58 spent, not counting what we spent in Vegas in cash
Gifts: 0 -> 138.13 (new baby, thank you gift to my parents for watching the kids while we were on vacation)
Miscellaneous: 150 -> 331.73 (bridesmaid dress and new bowling ball for DH accounted for most of this)
Real estate: 100 -> 0 (business card order has not been processed yet)
Expenses I didn't account for: $145.74 in DH's school expenses, $50 pre-school tuition
Total expenses: planned for 2020.25 -> actually paid 2038.62...so close! However, the good news...income was $2534.69, so we had a month in the black - first one in a few months, it seems.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased this month. I was really concentrating on cutting down the grocery expenses and I have been able to do that considerably. Using a list really has helped.
TOmorrow I will try to post my goals for next month...

Well, not yet anyway...but I have set aside my coupons to start a train with. I liked the idea, but wanted to do it locally. I posted on Freecycle and got about 5 or 6 responses, so as soon as I can get it organized, I will send the first batch out. Hopefully it will earn me some savings for the cost of postage.
Nothing too exciting today - worked, came home and cooked a darn good roast chicken. My brother and his fiancee stopped by for dinner. They originally told me that they couldn't come, then e-mailed back to say they could...problem is, I wasn't on the computer anymore. So I had to think of a quick way to stretch the meal when they called to say they were on the way. Added a salad and another veggie - I don't think anyone walked away hungry, although I also don't think there's a spot of chicken left on the carcass!
No money spent today - I just double-checked one of my cc bills that is due tomorrow, and saw a big fat 0 for the balance. That's nice. I still have one cc bill to pay, but it's at 0% for a few more months. We had a few rather large expenses this past month - my real estate dues for 2006 ($850) and DH's tuition ($773), along with the usual Christmas spending. So we are not doing too badly. Course there's always room for improvement
I have an appt to show houses Thurs., and am going to set up another for Friday! Plus I should be getting a small check - maybe $230 - for a land deal. Tomorrow I will (hopefully) get around to adding up the monthly expenses.

I just spent a half hour talking with a friend who had a baby last week - we set up a lunch date at her house for Wednesday, providing she is up to it. I hate to intrude on new parents, but she is sounding like she might enjoy the company. I might go out Sunday too, as her hubby is going back to work and she is nervous about being alone for the first time. I can't wait to meet this new little girl
Ran some errands today on my lunch break - bank (dep. $317), Staples (spent $9.49 on padded enveloped for mailing books, rather than buying one each time we go to the post office), post office (mailed a $35 half.com book for $2.07), dropped off some listings to a coworker I have two clients I am working with - both with a house to sell if they find one they want. A potential 4 houses altogether. And if I were able to sell their houses myself (find them a buyer), then it would be 6 "sides" (each transaction - buying or selling- is a side), meaning big bucks. So I am going out of my way to be a super-agent for them.
Off to bed - later then I thought.

DH and I had a good night bowling - we both shot about 530ish for three games. I had a 211 game Biggest game in a while. Spent $20 on bowling and $15 on the sitter. Babysitting is going to be expensive these next two weeks - we need a sitter the next two Saturdays and Sundays. So it goes.
Today we met my brother and SIL at David's Bridal to pick out the bridesmaids dresses. She told us what colors we were wearing and we got to pick out the style. Out of about 12 or so styles, 7 girls all picked a different one. It should look nice. I had a minor heart attack at the price tag ($140), but it was nothing compared to looking at the shoes (starting at $40 and going up to $65). The dress, I expected to pay that much for. But the shoes...lets just say I plan to do some comparative shopping. My dress is celadon (lt. green) with rum (off-white) accents. I was going to have to dye shoes when I thought I was getting a green dress, but now that I have two colors, I am hoping I can get some shoes that will match without having to dye them. And this is just the start...next we have the bridal shower, tux, hairdo, and gifts of course. Not that I am complaining - I absolutely love that I have been asked to participate in the wedding. It just gets so expensive so fast.
I made a jambalaya for dinner tonight - quick, easy, and I usually have all the ingredients in the cupboard or freezer. Plus there is enough to take for my lunch tomorrow. Last Friday I was caught without anything to take and ended up stopping for Chinese. Not good for the pocketbook or the waistline. I have to get back to my South Beach principles, especially in light of the size 10 dress that I just ordered today!

My MIL and FIl decided to drive down today to visit the boys. What a nice time! I have been so lucky to get the in-laws that I did. Anyway, they arrived from Binghamton at 1 and stayed until 7pm. We had a London broil on the grill for dinner (unheard of in January in NY! it was unseasonably warm today) and played a little cards.
I took ds1 for a haircut this morning and to get groceries for dinner. This is the first time I went shopping without a list since I started to revise my food bill, but I did okay. I got the meat for tonight ($2.99/lb), a roasting chicken for a later dinner ($.98/lb), some shredded cheese (3/$5), and splurged on some yogurt for ds1 with M & M's ($.60). Plus they had a big book sale at the grocery store, for some reason, and I picked up one new book for the kids - something I never feel guilty spending money on I spent $10 for the haircut and just over $20 for the groceries. Not too bad.
Ds1 woke up at 5am this morning...then when he came into our bedroom at 6:30am (after being in and out since 5), he woke up ds2, who sleeps in the room adjoining ours. At that point, he decided to go back to his room and go to sleep. So of course I had to get up to be with ds2, meaning I have been up since 5 this morning. But tomorrow is my morning to sleep in, so I plan to take full advantage of it. The only problem is that I have become a very light sleeper since having kids, meaning that anytime the kids need something, they wake me up first. It takes DH forever for DH to wake up, so most of the time I end up going to the kids. And even when I sleep in, I hear EVERYTHING, so I wake up a hundred times. But at least I get to lounge in bed until I am good and ready to get up. Enough rambling, I guess. Ta ta.

I started to write a new post the other day, but then when I saw I had to create the blog, I gave up. Not that I felt I couldn't do it, but I was SOOO tired and did not feel like doing it. So tonight I got around to it and it took about two minutes! Easy!
I have not written in a while...don't even remember where I left off last. I guess I will just ramble about the last few days. The weekend is here again - meaning I get to sleep in on Sunday! I don't know what my problem has been lately, but getting out of bed has been such a chore. I just cannot shake off the grogginess. I keep telling myself to get to bed earlier, then find something else that needs to be done. Last night it was my business cards (for selling real estate), which finally got ordered. I ended up taking the pictures at home with my father's digital camera (8 megapixel), which the company said they would accept (I was originally told that they would only take film pictures). So I saved $25-50 there. I just hope it comes out okay on the card. Once I get those, I can get my car magnet made and put some ads in the paper. My broker has agreed to split the cost of a weekly ad in the local paper's house section. She will be running an ad with five other agents, so the cost to us will only be $10/week - very reasonable. She also suggested I put up signs at the local grocery store, library, etc. A little hokey if I were living in a big city, but it might work here in our little one-stop-light town. I am hoping that since I grew up here, plastering my face around town might catch the business of some people who do not know that I am in the business. We'll see.
Some good news - a couple we are friends with had their first baby a few days ago. Julia. How beautiful. We might go visit tomorrow or Sunday, if they are feeling up to it. I would like to take them some dinner - just one thing they won't have to think about for a night. I remember well those first few weeks with a new baby
Sunday I am going dress-shopping with my future SIL. She has picked out the colors but is letting us pick out the style. Fun!
Maybe I actually WILL get to bed early tonight...

We went to dinner at my aunt's house. My brother brought the pizza. We brought dessert. It was a nice time. My aunt is 91, so we try to stop over as much as we can, since she does not like to go out so much anymore, especially in this cold weather. She really enjoys seeing the kids, although tonight they were getting a little rambunctious so we made a hasty exit. She has a cat that's bigger than my one year old - and I am not kidding - that she keeps in a cage when we visit. The kids didn't want to leave the cat alone, and I'm sure she was getting annoyed (as cats do). Plus the more tired kids get...the louder. But I can't complain. For the amount of sleep my kids had last night, they were WONDERFUL! They both woke up with soggy diapers and sheets (I think I may need to hold a diapering tutorial for the babysitter). Ds2 went back to bed, but ds1 did not. He was up from 3am, with two short naps (20 minutes and 1 hour) yet has was wonderfully behaved all day! I told DH that if I wasn't so tired, I would consider letting him do this all the time! Actually, I have great boys, so I can't complain. But they all have their moments...
No money spent today - I was at work all day and took my lunch and snacks in. Came home, played with the boys and picked up the house, then went out for dinner...not really a chance to spend anything. Although I probably will go online to pay a cc bill after this, so I guess that will be money out of the account. DH did get a rebate check today - another $30. When it rains, it pours we have been getting a lot of checks this week. Have to hold on to them for when the windfalls ease up.

My brother and future-SIL asked me and DH tonight to be in their wedding in August I love weddings. I love trying on dresses. I just love everything about it! So I am very excited. We might go dress shopping on Thursday - if I can get a sitter.
Bowled tonight - took all seven points. DH and I are on some type of mad winning streak here. Too bad it didn't start earlier, when we were still in Vegas We had to pay the babysitter ($15), but that was our only cost as we had prepayed bowling. Oh, and I did have to stop for a slice of pizza ($2) since I didn't have time to come home from dinner after showing houses.
I talked to my broker today about getting ideas for advertising. She mentioned a few - putting up fliers in the grocery store, library, etc (I live in a very small town, so there really are not a lot of advertising opportunities). She loved my idea about getting a magnetic car sign. She is also going to put some money towards an ad in the local paper. Yeah! I guess since a good chunk of the money I make goes to her, she is willing to put up a little of the cost for me.
I think I will head up to bed...back to work tomorrow.

Ok, so I am bragging a little bit. We have had five pinochle matches this year, and won all 5. Not just won them, but won them HUGE. a 500 score is a really good score that you are lucky to get once or twice a year, but we have made 500 points in all of our matches so far this year. In fact, they are threatening to kick us out if we don't start slacking off We played last night, another night of free entertainment. It's my absolute favorite game - not one that many twenty-somethings play though.
Tonight we bowl - not free like last night, but still a good time. We are very lucky to have babysitters available - a fact I am reminded off every time I talk to other parents who have not had a night out in years. My parents always bowled at least one night a week since before we were born, so I guess it has been ingrained in me to take some time off and have fun. plus my kids have fun with the babysitter, so I don't feel bad. Before bowling tonight, I am going to show two houses to a couple that we bowl with. Plus I received a call from a coworker on Friday that she wants to start looking again. So I am getting back in the game slowly.
Had a little disagreement with Dh about money- not a fight, just him rolling his eyes at me when I asked him for some receipts. He even went as far as to suggest, although not too seriously, getting separate accounts so I can stop harassing him about every penny he spends. We came up with a compromise though - anything he puts on the debit card, credit card, or check I can look up, so he does not need to tell me. Anything he spends in cash over $20 he will tell me about or give me a receipt (this whole discussion came about because I dared to ask him how much he spent in cash for his textbooks - over $200! I only wanted to know where that cash went!). But any of his small expenditures in cash he can keep to himself. He has been extremely reformed in that money used to be spent all over without any idea of where it went - he is much better now, but I know there are still a lot of small coffee-snack-lotto tickets, etc. that I don't know about
Oh, and the icing on the cake - he threw out a toothpaste tube that was not empty and then taunted me about it! I have one of those squeeze-thingies to get all the toothpaste out which he thinks I am nuts for doing, so he likes to get my goat sometimes. Geez, I am making this sound bad, but it was really quite funny. It was kind of a little kid thing - "ha ha, I threw out the toothpaste tube and it wasn't even empty!" Maybe it was just funny to us though...I just have this thing about wasting things that still have use left in them, which he totally just does not get.
Clever idea for reusing things: My mom wanted a t.v. stand - the type that attaches to the wall - so that she could watch t.v. on her treadmill. My dad had our old Dish t.v. satellite that was outdated - they did not take it with them when they replaced our old one, and it wasn't usable anymore. He attached it to the wall and the t.v. fit perfectly on it. I just wanted to share that cute idea as a reminder that many things have uses above and beyond what was intended. You just have to think outside the lines!
A reminder for me of recent cash expenses: $2.50 for lunch (the four of us went to McDonalds yesterday to play on the playground - we had $10 in g.c.), $6 in "big boy" underwear for ds1 - but we did get a $26 credit for returning a toy that the boys would not use, so really we were ahead of the game yesterday. Plus my mom took all of our change to the bank for us (my bank does not have a machine) and we came out $86 ahead (plus the $60 I cashed in before Vegas). Not too shabby!

I love Saturday. And Sunday. I get to stay home with DH and the kids, sleep in a bit...nice. We have no plans for tomorrow other than to play pinochle at night with our league. Maybe I can get some things done around the house. I was going to get my pics done at Wal-Mart today, but then I realized that I would still be waiting for them to come in (I called to check - it takes three weeks). So I looked around for a place that could develop them instantly for me. Sears will do it - they have a "professional" picture package that gives you the copyright to use for other purposes (I never even thought about having to get permission to use this photo for my business cards), but it costs $50. My other option is to go back to the place I got them done the first time and pay $25, but that's in Syracuse (45 minute drive compared to a 10 minutes drive). Sears was supposed to try to find a better deal and call back, but I never heard from them. I guess they couldn't do any better. So now I just need to determine if the extra $25 is worth an hour of my time for the drive - yup, it is. I would work for an hour to get paid $25, so why wouldn't I take an hour's time to save it?
Busy day at work today - kept the day moving fast. I slept in again this morning (7:30) because my kids slept in - not that I'm complaining, but I am going to need to start using the alarm clock again! So by the time I got ready and ds1 got dressed and fed, I was already late - and I still needed to drop him off at preschool. Better get the alarm clock out. I stopped to get some breakfast on my way in to work today because I didn't have time to eat at home - $2.37. Oh well. No other money spent today.
DH lost his wallet...again. This is probably the fourth or fifth time. Darndest thing though...it always comes back to him and never with anything missing. He really has the luck of the Irish. This time it turned up in the parking lot of the grocery store we were at. The lady who returned it to him was apologetic because there was only $1 in it (she thought someone took the rest), but she felt a little better after he explained that he only had $1 when he lost it! The best time, though, was when he lost it in the ocean in Florida. He never even realized it was gone until someone came walking down the beach calling his name. When he answered, they handed him his wallet. Lucky guy
Last night went pretty well with getting ds to sleep in his big boy bed. But tonight...right now he's crying because I took his book away and turned off the light. Mean mommy! I already let him "read" for a half hour - he's got to go to bed sometime! better go see what he needs now...

...but the good news is that we are getting DH's car fixed for free (or possibly for the cost of paint). The local vocational school accepted his application to repair the dent that some moron left in it (I say moron not because the accident happened but because the person never stopped to tell him - he found it the next morning). I was about to get ready for my professional picture - again - when we got the phone call that they needed the car to be there this morning. So DH and I hopped in our cars to go drop it off. We took ds1 with us - ds2 had just gone down for a nap so my mom stayed with him - and ran a bunch of errands. We stopped at the bank, post office to mail the book, and grocery store. This was my second attempt at making my own "grocery game" since it is not available in my area. My groceries came to $126.16, but I saved $48.09 (38%), paying only $79.02 with tax. I am pleased with this. Plus I finished buying the rest of the items needed for the Del Monte rebate, taking another $10 off the total when I get that back. My coupon use was quite disappointing though - only $5.65. I had several coupons for $1, which the store will not double. I also had six store coupons that can be used to triple a coupon, again only if they are less than $1. It seems every coupon I had was for $1, so I hardly got to double or triple anything. Plus I just don't find a lot of coupons I can use since I buy a lot of fresh foods and meats instead of prepackaged items. But, it's a start. I need to get back to the days of "stockpiling" rather than buying what I need for a specific meal.
Back to work tomorrow...and if I have time to primp a bit in the morning, I will make another attempt at getting my picture done on my lunch break. Not that I am particularly vain or anything, but I will be using this picture for years...and hopefully it will be seen far and wide I liked my old picture, but I had waist length hair then - and it's now at my shoulders. I did have an idea as I was falling asleep last night (isn't that when all the good ideas come?). After I get my new business cards, I am going to send some out to all my past clients with a $10 super-certificate (that I can get at a discount) thanking them for their past business and to let them know I am back working at full-speed again (most know that I took time off when I had my boys). I am also going to offer an additional $25 certificate to them if they refer any new clients to me, and $100 certificate to them if they return to me to buy or sell another house (maybe more, I have to think this through). Maybe I can drum up a little new business that way...and it would still fall within my $500 budget that I have allotted myself for advertising (I wouldn't be sending to all past clients, i.e. ones that moved out of state, so I should be able to limit myself to 20-25 certificates bought at $9 each). Then I have about $50 for business cards, another $50-100 for new signs and a car magnet, and possibly use whatever is left for advertising in the local shopping guide, or I have even considered putting up a sign at the bowling alley, where I know a lot of people who might not necessarily know I am in the business. They sell advertising at the ends of the alleys. We'll see...
Enough for tonight - have to get to bed early at least one day a week. We have just moved ds1 (2.5 years) to a big boy bed tonight from his crib. We tried this about 10 months ago, and it went terribly. Then we got him a crib tent and the last 10 months have been great. But...he just figured out how to get himself out of the tent, so we decided it was time to try the bed again. He skipped his nap today, as it was MUCH more fun to play in his room. Tonight it took him about a half hour to settle down, but (fingers crossed) it has been quiet up there for about 30 minutes. Who knows if he'll be waking us in the middle of the night though...any thoughts/tricks on this would be welcome!

I did get to show a house, and I did get to my meetings, but nothing else on my list got done. My alarm clock (AKA ds1 and ds2) did not "go off" (AKA start crying) until after 7:30 this morning instead of the usual 7am, so I did not have time to style my hair. That factor, combined with a drizzling rain all morning, meant that there was no way I was having a professional picture taken today. But I did stop at Wal-Mart to check out their prices, as it was recommended to me by our office secretary for being cheap. They have a package now that it $7.88 - it includes a lot of pictures and all I really need is one, but the lady working there said it would be cheaper than paying a sitting fee just to get one picture (there's no sitting fee on this package). So I hopefully will be doing that tomorrow. And after work I just felt like coming home, so I skipped the grocery store - also on my list for tomorrow, when I don't have to work.
DH sold another book on half.com - yippee! I didn't even know he had any more listed, but since he lists them under my account, I get the e-mails first. So I will have to add a trip to the post office on the to-do list for tomorrow.
Another pleasant surprise - the refund for overpayment of property taxes over two years ago came in the mail today ($470). Plus a paycheck. So I will have a lot of moolah to deposit tomorrow at the bank - another errand. I was planning to take my older son with me, but this is getting to be a lot of stops!
I want to try to catch up on everyone else's journals...I feel so out of touch! I really enjoy reading them and gleaning ideas - thanks to everyone who shares their life experiences with us!

It's not easy to go back to work after a week off...but I can't complain, working half-time as I do. But it still stinks The good thing is that I was busy all day, so it flew by. DH started his second semester of grad classes tonight. We were getting so spoiled with me having so much time off for the holidays and DH not having school for 5 weeks. Back to reality for us now.
Tomorrow I have quite a list of things to do. I have to drop ds1 off at pre-school, show a house at 9am, then get a professional picture taken so I can order new business cards (part 1 of my attempt to drum up some local business). Then I have to go back into work for a few hours for two meetings, stop at the grocery store (my list is made already!), and get home in time for DH to go to school. But Thursday is looking pretty empty so far.
A few good things - DH sold two more textbooks on half.com. We should be getting our first check soon, I think. Yeah! Bad news is that we are out of textbooks to sell! Also, DH could not find any of this semesters books online, so we had to buy them new at the -ouch- bookstore.
Another good move we made - closed out two accounts we no longer used, so we have less to keep track of now.
No cash spent today - spent about $30 on gas, but I will total this up at the end of the month since it's on the credit card (bad move on my part, but I did not have my debit card in my wallet). It is a 0% card though.

Wow, am I rambling tonight...I find myself a little less focused when I am not accounting for the purchases of the day.

Hi to everyone! DH and I had a great trip to Vegas. We lost a little, maybe $100 or so, but it was an amount I could live with. DH started losing money right off the bat and I freaked out a little - really, it took the better part of a day for me to step back and realize it was okay to lose some cash if we were having a good time - at the same time DH was realizing he had to slow down to avoid going broke before we got home! So we reached a happy medium and had a wonderful time. We stopped playing the blackjack tables and started playing the poker tables instead (Texas Hold 'Em) - much more enjoyable, easier to win, and you can play for hours on $50 (if you play right, that is!). We met my high school best friend for a day - she drove in from Phoenix. We saw the sights, stayed up late, got up late, and didn't have to change a diaper at all for four days!
On a related note, since I do not want to tally up the Vegas expenses, I am going to wait until the end of the month to post my income/expenses for January. I find that if I try to remember them as I go, I inevitably forget some which never get accounted for. However, if I review all of my statements at the end of the month, I won't omit anything. So I will just use this as a means to post whatever is on my mind for the day rather than a way to account for money spent. Of course, I might change this again...let's just call this journal a work in progress.
That's all for tonight - just wanted to get in the habit of posting again. Later...

Priceplus - how true. Except it's mostly family in the league, not friends! My parents, husband, brother and his fiancee, and several cousins all bowl in the league. It's like a family reunion every week!
Well, since the grocery game is not available where I live, I tried to make my own. I scoured three grocery store ads this week, clipped coupons, found some good ones on the Internet (which, it turns out, I can't use becaues the grocery store I went to did not accept them). I ended up going to the store that offered 4 "double your coupns" coupons, up to $1. None of the local stores double coupons around here, so this is a pretty good deal. Everything that I bought was either on sale or I had a coupon for, and I bought nothing that I would not normally use anyway. I only bought one thing that was not on my list, only because it was a good deal (whole wheat spaghetti - 2 lbs./$2). So the grand total is...9.30 saved with coupons, an additional $4 saved with double coupons, and 15.10 saved with the membership card...total bill, 61.19 - amount paid, 32.79. A 47% savings. I know some people do a lot better, but I don't think this is too bad for not having double coupons! Plus I managed to stay away from the really cheap foods that are terrible for you (i.e. Ramen noodles). Among the best buys:
Degree deodorant $.99 cents each - coupon to save $1.50 on two, total cost = $.24 each.
Kashi cereal on clearance $1.59 - $1.00 coupon (not doubled) = $.59
Del monte tomatoes and College Inn broth (I use a ton of both to make soup, although I usually buy generic) $.89/can - $1.00/6 (doubled) = 12 cans for 6.68. But here's the good part - they have a deal where you can get $5 back on 15 cans or $10 back on twenty. So if I find a similar deal one more time before April, I will end up paying only a few dollars for twenty cans. I have already set my receipt and all UPCs aside for the rebate so I won't forget to do this when I use them. Now I just have to remember to buy a few more.
Dove soap (I use this due to my eczema) $4.99 for a 6 pack - $1 coupon (doubled) = $.50 per bar - about half what I have paid in the past, although still more than some other soaps.
Folgers coffee, small can $2 - $1 off/3 (doubled) = $1.33 per can (I used to stock up if I found this for less than $2!)
DH looked at me like I was nuts when I rattled off all of these (is there a theme in my postings about DH thinking I am nuts??), but I was excited. I used to do this all the time when we lived in the city and had better supermarkets, but I have gotten really lazy about it. It is time consuming. It probably took me at least an hour to prepare for the trip, between reading the ads, clipping coupons, deciding how to use my doubles, etc. but if I can save $30 in an hour, I am going to do it! Besides, DH doesn't seem to mind my thriftiness so much when it means we get to go on a trip to Vegas!
We have to be up at 4am to catch our flight tomorrow...and we still have to finish packing...so good night to everyone and I will touch base when we are back from Vegas - hopefully richer than when we left but most likely we will be just a little poorer.

January expenses: $445.34 + 3.24 (breakfast - I had to fast for bloodwork this morning and was starting after) + 2.89 (lunch - I forgot mine for the first time since being on South Beach) + 32.79 (groceries) = 484.26
January income: $905.41 + $60 in rolled quarters that I cashed in = 965.41

Just got back from bowling - a mediocre night. Oh well...our team took five points out of seven, so I guess we did pretty good overall. I did end up talking with some friends of my brother who are casually looking to buy a new house (and sell theirs if they find one), so that might turn into something positive. We spent $15 for the babysitter and arranged for her to come back one night next week while we are out of town to give my parents a break. No money spent for bowling because we prepaid a few weeks ago.
Not much to report tonight- I've been staying up way too late for too many nights in a row now, so I have got to get to bed early tonight.
January expenses: $421.12 + 15 + 9.22 (Wal-Mart - $5 medical and 4.22 misc.) = $445.34
January income: $905.41
I am fasting for a cholesterol check in the morning...how does your body always know to become absolutely starving when you can't eat??? Another reason to get to bed...

ok, so now I am blowing bubbles into the toilet for ds1 to hit...I plan to try the food coloring too - great idea! He does great with a little motivation, but without any prompting from us, he would stay in a wet diaper all day
Today we took the boys to return a few things at the mall, out to lunch with DH's parents, who met us in Syracuse, and then stopped at a local restaurant to pick up a g.c. for my parents for dinner and a movie. That turned out to be my biggest mistake of the day. After I got home from playing cards tonight, I logged onto my BOA account so that I could finish tallying up last year's totals. Well, the first thing I saw was a pending authorization on my debit card for $42.49 from Zebbs, a Syracuse restaurant that we have not been to in years. But, still, I thought maybe they owned the restaurant we stopped at, so I got out my receipt to check the amount. It was different. So I called BOA (had to try three different numbers to get one that was open at 10:30pm), then got transferred FOUR times to find someone to help me. They cancelled my debit card and put a fraud alert on it. Then I called the restaurant to find out what I could about the transaction. The first thing they said was, "were you at a Kirbys?", which is where I was earlier. So I told them I was, but that 42.49 was not the amount of my purchase. Turns out they automatically add 20% when they are authorizing a purchase, which is not counted when the actual transaction goes through. I felt relieved, annoyed, and stupid. I had to call BOA back to undo the fraud alert, though it was too late to un-cancel my card. DUH. I am now kicking myself for not calling the restaurant first, but I was paranoid that someone was out there making purchases with my card.
I need to go to bed...
January expenses: $328.78 + 16.21 (golf balls, t-shirt at Dicks) + 36.95 (Kirby's) + 12.18 (med.for dad) + 27 (gas) = 421.12
January income: $898.41 + $7 (credit from return) = 905.41

I had to run a few errands after work today - bank, gas ($53.02), and grocery store. I actually made out my list beforehand - about ten things - then promised myself that I could have two impulse buys, but no more. And I did it! I usually walk casually up and down the aisles looking for things I might need, but this time I went straight to where I needed to go, got my things, and left. I did add a head of lettuce, as we had just run out, and some pull-up diapers for ds1. We have tentatively started potty training, although we are not going full-speed ahead until we get back from Vegas. I did not want to saddle my mom with that while we were gone! So I got those "Feel and Learn" pull up pants from Pampers with a $2 coupon. I am hoping that if ds1 is uncomfortable in a wet diaper, he will start going on his own. He does really well on the potty when he is naked, but if he is wearing a diaper, he could care less if he is wet or messy. From what I read, this is a sign that he is not ready, but I feel we should at least start trying because he has the ability to do it. The more I read, the more confused I get! Some books say all kids can be trained by 2-2.5, others say not to push until he shows he's ready or else you will make it harder in the long run...AAAHHHH! I hope we figure it out soon. Lately we've been throwing Cheerios in the bowl and having target practice that is working for now, but I can't quite picture him doing this forever
Anyway, I spent $36.78 at the store. I am going to split this into groceries/non-groceries in order to track spending better. $19.03 was spent on two packs of diapers and a pack of dry-erase markers. So that leaves $17.75 on groceries. This was almost all for fresh fruit, veggies, and milk, so there was little room for coupon use.
I just received an e-mail from half.com. I sold my first book! I had put two books on about a month ago with no response. Last night I went back in to lower the price and add one of Dh's textbooks. It would have only gotten $6 at ebookdrop.com, but it sold for $30 in one day at half.com! It was in terrible shape (which I explained in the description), but I figured some college student who was looking to save a few books wouldn't mind. He bought it used for about $40, so paying $10 for a college text is not a bad deal at all. I won't count the money yet until we get it, but that will be another $30 in income!
January expenses: $176.73 + .25 (cup of coffee from work coffeepot - you can either pay a weekly fee or pay by the cup - since I rarely drink it, I just pay for a cup when I want one) + 53.02 (gas) + 19.03 (diapers, household) + 17.75 (groceries) + 62 (DH's bought a flash drive off E-bay, but was able to pay for most of it from his Paypal account from his last two sales - we only had to pay $12) = 328.78
January income: $551.41 + 317 + 30 (DH's E-bay sale) = 898.41

Got my paycheck today...I have five checks to run to the bank tomorrow. DH's grandmother is becoming a little forgetful. We celebrated with them in November before they left for Florida, and she gave both of our kids some money. A few weeks ago, we got a Christmas card from them. A few days later, we got another one. We told DH's mom about it, and she said Grandma had just called her for our address to send a birthday card to our youngest, even though she has been sending things to us all month. Then about a week ago, she sent us another Christmas card with three checks, for DH, ds1, and ds2. Hmmm...the boys had already gotten money, and they had decided to stop giving the grandchildren (DH) money this year. So now she sends him money anyway, but not me? I don't mind at all that she didn't - it's just out of character for her to give money to one grandchild and not the spouse. She has always been very inclusive. So DH and I were on the fence about whether to cash them or send them back (it was only $10), but we decided that sending them back would probably cause her to be embarrassed. So we are going to deposit them, whether it's right or wrong, I don't know. So to make a long story short...there's an additional $10 for the month. I will put my sons' into their accounts for when we get around to buying them bonds.
DH and I had a very productive day. I tallied up our expenses for the year, although I have not entered them into the computer yet, so I don't have a "report"!. He worked on getting our information into Microsoft Money. I really liked that program at first because you can import all your information from your cc and bank accounts directly into the program, but I have found a few glitches that make we want to stop using it, unless I can figure out how to fix them. First of all, since my cc statements are already in there, it looks like I am paying twice when the cc payment is taken out of my checking. I can't find anyway to delete this entry as it is imported directly from my statement. Second, the same thing happens with transfers from one account to another - it appears as though the money is being "spent" from the first account. Even though the numbers look the same after, it messes things up when you want to do a graph of what you are spending your money on. DH has been playing with it, so maybe he has found a way to get around this. If anyone has any input on this program, or another one that they find helpful, I would love to hear it. I may start a new post about this...
Anyway, I got a little off topic there. I also got a few loads of laundry done, arranged to have my will notarized (before our trip next week!), cleaned and organized our bedroom, set aside some donations which DH took to ds1's preschool, looked up some deals for our upcoming trip, and cancelled a membership that we no longer used. But the best part - I followed up on a tax overpayment from two years ago and they will be sending me a check. $470!!! It was an absurd amount of time to let this go uncollected, but I didn't even know there was an overpayment for a year, until the lady who bought our house called us. Then we followed up with our closing attorney, who was supposed to take care of it and never did, and our former mortgage company, who (twice) was supposed to send us the paperwork to prove the money was ours, and never did. So it has been on the back of my to-do list forever, and all it took was a ten minute phone call to the tax office. DH thinks this is going to be his gambling money for Vegas
January expenses: $126.73 + 50 (pre-school tuition) = 176.73
January income: $10 + 10 + 531.41 = 551.41

I had to stop and buy diapers after work today, but technically, I didn't spend anything. I returned a toy to Wal-Mart that my son has shown no interest in (and, I will admit, I hated the look of it - the last thing we need is a freaky doll that talks). So I was given a Wal-Mart gift card for $16. I used most of it on diapers and a few jars of baby food. I still have $2 left on the card. Normally I would have browsed Wal-Mart for a while - the grocery section - but I decided to hightail it out of there. I think I may have to start shopping from lists instead of my usual browse. I really need to tackle those grocery bills. I was so pysched about possibly getting into the grocery game, but they don't carry it in my area the closest store is 72 miles away, which I find hard to believe since we are so close to a decent sized city (Syracuse). But for whatever reason, they don't carry it there. Oh well...I guess I will have to do it on my own. I have to admit, I rarely use coupons. I buy mostly fresh fruit, veggies, and meats, as well as generic foods (I find they are usually cheaper even when taking coupons into consideration). So when I browse through the coupon inserts in our paper, I only find one or two that I *might* use. Most of the coupons are for prepared foods, which we avoid thanks to being on the South Beach diet, or for health or beauty products, which we buy very little of.
Last night I did make myself feel pretty good though - I whipped up a homemade veggie beef soup in about ten minutes using things up from the fridge and freezer. I was able to get rid of three partially used bags of veggies (the ones you don't eat plain because they've acquired that "freezer" taste, but work good in soup), part of a leftover roast beef that was thrown in the freezer, and some veggies from the fridge. In the crockpot, on all night, and I was able to grab a bowl to take to work with me for lunch today. It didn't cost a thing other than some leftovers that may not have gotten used and a few minutes of my time, and it will feed us for two lunches and then some (picture me patting myself on my back here).
DH decided to spend some cash today, but I can't fault him. A few weeks ago a chunk came loose from his bowling ball. He wanted to get a new one right away, but since we only had one more week of bowling left before Christmas, I convinced him to wait and put it on his list. My family is full of bowlers and there was a good chance he might have gotten a gift certificate toward the new ball. But he didn't, so he decided to get a new one today. $120. Ouch. But it is something he really enjoys, so I don't mind. I told him we were going to be on a stricter budget for a while, but I think it went in one ear and out the other. He thinks as long as we have money in out emergency fund, we're fine...but I hate to use it for expenses like these.
I went through all my paperwork tonight and threw out a ton of outdated stuff. I set my credit cards bills and bank statements aside so that I can tally up my expenses for the year. I think I need to get a grip on the overall picture, not just the last two months. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems...or maybe it is, and I can prove to DH why we need to buckle down.
January expenses: $6.73 + 120 = $126.73
January income: $10