I feel like that's all I get a chance to say to my money anymore. DH's paycheck gets direct deposited on the 15th and 30th of every month so I get the notice in the mail a day or two ahead. I write out all the checks for the bills (yes, I still ENJOY doing it the old fashioned way) and note any automatic debits (for college funds, Y membership etc.). This allows me to just drop anything in the mail on the 15th or 30th and get all payments in on time. Anyway, I feel like all I do is record the deposit and then keep on subtracting. Seriously, this cycle, after taking out all bills currently due and all auto debits, we have a grand total of 50 cents left over. It is not really as bad as all this since I still have to get paid but it feels like I just wave hello and goodbye anymore. Plus, I have to remind myself that some of it is ultimately going to us: $200 is going to the kids college funds ($50 each x 4 kids) some to retirement, and $100 to our emergency fund. Still, it would be nice for a change to be able to do more than just wave to it in passing.

Wednesday evening I tried to put a new flapper on the toilet in the kids bathroom. It hasn't been seating properly for some reason and all of my children claim deafness to the sound of water running constantly in the toilet. I can be downstairs and hear the noise, track it upstairs to their bathroom and figure out what it is. The kids, meanwhile can be 4 feet away in their rooms and claim they never heard it. I bet if it was the sound of THEIR money rather than mom and dads' they would hear it. Anyway, when I went to install the new flapper, the tube that it attaches to broke off right in my hand. Not good. I got DH to shut off the water to that toilet and thus ended his contribution to the project. I figured I would try to fix it myself before calling in a plumber. The next day I went to Home Depot and before hitting the plumbing aisle, I hit their book rack and scanned the do-it-yourself books for plumbing. I found everything covered BUT how to install a new flush valve, which of course is what I needed to do. Anyway, the books did help me narrow it down to that and I headed over to the plumbing aisle where I purchased a brand new flush valve for under $6.00. I went home, installed it in under 1 hour and soon had a good as new toilet. Actually better, since it no longer ran constantly. I would have completed the job even faster but I had to hack thru the original plastic fastener on the bottom of the tank as it was so tight I could not untwist it to remove the old flush valve. That actually turned out to be the hardest part of the job. I told DH he owed me at least $100 for the job.

Friday we took the kids to Camelbeach Waterpark. It is in the Poconos, part of Camelback mountain ski area. It is a very nice water park, not too crowded, very clean. The only problem is that being in the mountains, the weather can turn from sunny to rainy in an instant. We met friends and had a great day. Last year we met the same friends and got rained out around 2:00. This year is started to rain about 1:00 but it was over by about 3 and the rides all re-opened so we were able to get the rest of the day in. Even better, the rain had chased a lot of people away so the lines were really short. All in all it was a very nice day.

Wednesday is one of my days off but more often than not I spend it doing more than I do on a work day. I went to my mom's yesterday morning to meet with her financial advisor about money she has in a trust that needs to be invested. I found him to be OK but I would not rate him higher than that. He seems honest and I was pleasantly surprised to find that he was not at all pushy or trying to talk her into any type of fancy funds that would increase his commision. She and my dad had always been stock investors (although she does have some money in mutual funds) and she wanted to put this money into more stocks. He gave her the balance sheets from about 20 top companies and we are supposed to go from there. I guess that is why I only rate his as OK. I don't want him to be pushy or do all the selecting for us, but getting an opinion on strategy and some of the companies out of him was like pulling teeth. My opinion is that he is going to be earning something for this, he should at least EARN it. Anyway, mom seems to like his approach and he came highly recommended her lawyer and a former broker she used so since it is her money, her opinion counts for more than mine.

In the afternoon, I took DD17 to have her senior portrait done. I cannot believe she will be a senior this year. The school has an arrangement with a local photographer who does beautiful work. I have seen things she has done and they are very nice. However, I cannot say that I think the prices are very nice. I have to check out her website but as with any photographer, it is definetly pricy. I was a bit disappointed and annoyed that she was not even the one doing the photos, one of her employees was. If I am going to have to pay big bucks to get her name, shouldn't she also have to EARN them. Seems to be the theme of my day, people charging $$$ but not, in my opinion, doing all they should to EARN it. I am not saying that she should not have assistants and employees, just if we are paying the truly big bucks (and yes, her prices are truly big bucks, at least to me) shouldn't she be the one taking the pictures?

Anyway, spent the rest of the day doing grocery shopping, laundry and taking the kids to the pool in the evening. Somehow my day off never seems like a day off!

I keep promising myself to stay consistent with blogging but then find playing catch up again and again.

Friday I took my oldest DD to visit York College in York PA. It is a bit smaller than some of the schools she is looking at but affordable overall and she likes it. Her concensus "keep it on the list". The list of possibilities, that is. The only problem is her list doesn't seem to really get any shorter and people keep suggesting other schools to her. We have already visited 6 schools total and only one is "off the list". We have about 4 more to go before I tell her to start narrowing down her choices. You could drive yourself crazy finding the "perfect" school but I do not really think that exists.

I am going to my mother's house tomorrow to meet with her and a financial advisor about her investments and some in a trust. It should be interesting as I am not a fan of advisors who make their money on commissions. On the one hand, it is her money, not mine so I have to be polite. On the other hand, she is my mother and the money in the trust is for my siblings and I once she passes away so obviously I do have a vested interest in both maximizing the gains and minimizing the costs. It should be interesting.

DH and I are supposed to take the kids to a waterpark with family friends on Friday. I am hoping for good weather. We went to the same water part last August with the same friends and had a great time, right up until it started pouring rain for 2+ hours. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

DH and I both got paid on Aug. 1 but the majority of the money went to exciting things like paying the bills. I have $235 to last us til the next checks on 8/15. Since that includes gas, groceries, dog food etc. it should be tight but I am sure it will work out. It always does. We have money in ING and a mutual fund account but I hate to touch those for regular household expenses. The trip to the waterpark, however, will be coming out the the ING account since we have been planning for it and I have been putting money away towards that.

My oldest has an interview today for a job at a local day care, afternoons during the school year. She works right now for a kids party place but during the school year she really only gets hours on Sunday. She wants to keep that job but also earn more so I suggested a day care. She had worked retail last year and neither she, nor I, liked the hours. At a day care, she will still have her weekends free and they close at 6 so she would be done by 6:30. As I put it "still plenty of time for homework!".

I am counting the days til the kids go back to school. August 25th around here. I have been slowly accumulating back to school supplies by taking advantage of the sales at both Target and Staples. I am just waiting for someone to run a really good sale on 3-hole paper. In the past I have been able to stock up at as little as $0.17 a pack. Best I have seen this year was Target at $0.50 a pack. Not bad but not the great stock up deal I was looking for. Anybody else started back to school shopping yet?

How did I do what? How did I manage to schedule a college visit for a totally different day than I had in mind, write down the correct time on the date I had in mind and then totally miss the appointment (cause it was not on the day I thought I was scheduling it for)? Confused yet? I certainly was yesterday. I had gone on-line a few weeks ago to schedule a college visit with my daughter. The school in question had a website to let you know when they had tours available and you could sign up on-line. I have been doing Fridays because my daughter and I both have off those days. I was trying (and thought I had) signed up for an appointment on Friday Aug. 1 at 1:00. This is what I was trying to get and what I wrote in my date book. The college did send me a confirmation but (my fault here) I did not look at it closely. I still assumed that I had signed up for the date I wanted. I realized yesterday afternoon that I had somehow clicked on the wrong date and signed up for July 23. Note, that yesterday was July 28 so no way were we making the July 23 appointment. My time machine is broken and has no hopes of being fixed any time soon. I called the college to apologize for my mistake, explain and ask if there were still any openings for Friday Aug. 1. I explained that we would be in the area (about 2 hours away from my home) visiting other schools (in the morning) and we would really like to conserve time and gas and visit them that afternoon. I am not sure who was answering the phone in admissions yesterday but if I was his boss, he would have been fired. I was very snootily told that they had no openings at all. I asked if they were even having a group tour Friday and was told "All of our information is on our website". I told him that since it was their website that confused me in the first place, I was trying to schedule something thru a person. Again "All our our information is on our website". At that point I just said "Fine, I guess I will have to try the website again" and hung up. I know the mistake was my fault but I would have hoped for a more pleasant attitude and at least something along the lines of "I am really sorry, I wish I could help you..." but nothing like that. We are still going to try to visit, even if it means we just drive thru the campus and go back for a formal tour another day but it certainly gives me a sour feeling toward the school. And it is not even like it is Harvard or something, just one of our state system schools (although one of the better ones). I think someone needs to remind them (or at least that person) that the prospective students are customers and a bit of old fashioned customer service is in order!

For better or worse, I am back. I had not realized how long it had been since I had made an entry. Wow - January. I am making a promise to myself to be more consistent since I think it really helps me keep my head on straight. Quick updates: DH is working for a national company selling exterior building products. The pay is about half of what he was making 2 years ago before getting laid off. On the plus side, it is a job and we have health insurance so I won't complain (at least for now). My oldest DD will be a senior in high school this year so we have been making some college visits this summer. Wow, does college ever cost alot (more on this another time). I am still working part time at the same job I have had for the past 4 years. I like my boss but basically I am bored and would love to make more money. I have been toying with finding another part time job, a different part time job or even a full time job. I think my comfort here (it is easy and very flexible) is getting in the way of me making a change. I need to get off my butt and motivate myself to do something different. My second DD (almost 15) has been pet sitting this summer. She has quite a nice little business going and has way more disposable income that dear old mom. What is wrong with this picture? My DS and youngest DD are still taking karate and will be joining a competitive karate team this fall. It is run by their current teacher (who I cannot say enough great things about). They will have to train for a full year and the following year they will compete in tournaments which will involve some travel and thus some $$$. My two mastiffs are still big, loving and drooly and their food just keeps getting more and more expensive. Yikes but I still feel that they are so worth it because they bring so much joy and entertainment to the whole family!
I don't know about anyone else, but I feel like every time I turn around something is costing me more. Somehow it all seems to work out (just now always the way I had predicted. I am working hard on keeping the debt down and staying positive. More later...

I went to the grocery store yesterday and while shopping, saw some deoderant on clearance for 99 cents. My DH goes thru it like crazy (I swear that he eats it - nothing else seems to explain how he uses it up so fast). Anyway, I had 2 coupons for $1.00 off that brand so I picked up 2 figuring - great, they will be free. The girl at the checkout had trouble getting the coupons to scan. I explained that it was probably cause the price was .99 but the coupon was for $1.00 off. She consulted her manager, entered the coupons manually and all was good. When I got home, I looked over my receipt and saw that not only had they take the .99 off for each one, somehow they doubled the coupon (this store normally doubles coupons up to and including .99). So, basically I got the two deoderants for free plus got paid $1.98 to buy them. I love it when stuff like that happens. It is small and won't really change anything but it just makes you smile.

Wow! It has been over a month since I made an entry. DH's company closed down as of the end of December. They always close down over the holidays anyway so that means they shut their doors just in time for Christmas. What a lovely Christmas present. Fortunately, DH was already somewhat worried about their future and was already searching for a new job. He just got the news today - offer of a position with a large company selling building supplies but siding etc. This company is one of the largest national suppliers of siding and focuses on both large accounts (builders, home improvement stores etc.) as well as small accounts like home remodelers etc. What this means is that their business is not as heavily impacted by the slow down in new construction. It will be significantly less money for the first year or so til he builds up accounts but it is a job with a good future and lots of room for career growth. All in all I am happy about it, now it will just be my job to constantly remind him about the need to be frugal for the next year or so. Wish me luck!

Lately, especially with DH's job uncertainty, I have been ruminating on the idea of what is really a happy medium (middle ground) for me financially. I think I am also more focused on it at this time of year because of all of the commercialism/consumerism that is going on with the holidays. At times I feel like I can live happily in my own little world and be frugal but then other times I want to scream and yell and just go out and buy what I want NOW, NOW, NOW! Fortunately, I do not act upon those desires and the feelings are usually only momentary, but they are frustrating. I think I find such feelings particularly frustrating because I don't see them as reflecting the real me and I see them as being brought on by too much commercial influence. For example, we have a 8 year old TV, probably about 27 inches or so, no high def, no Tivo, no frills, just basic cable to get a decent picture (really bad reception otherwise). I was in Target last week, in the electronics section, to get batteries for my camera. I could not help noticing the nice crisp, clear, sharp picture on the new TVs. Ours is fine but certain channels get a sort of line effect - not sure how to describe it but it is noticeable. Then I look at the prices - $599, $799 etc. just for the basic "smaller" (all bigger than my current" set. Forget the commercials for in home theater systems with surround sound and universal remotes (to the tune of 4K - 5k for the whole system). I don't really want or need a new TV at the moment. It is just that exposing myself to all this makes me, at least for a few hours, think that I somehow want or need a new TV. Sure, it would be nice but I would rather have the $700 sitting in an emergency fund to pay for car repairs like I needed to a few weeks ago. I see people all around buying things like this, getting their kids video systems for gifts, new cell phones (which cost all year, not just a one time purchase), new computers etc. My kids see this too and while they understand my feelings on frugality and living within your means, it is hard for them to appreciate it right now. My oldest sees her friends going on two to three trips (Cancun, Bahamas etc.) a year and wants to know why we don't go at least once. The same friends will get their license soon and their mom is giving them her old car as she recently got a new one. I know and can appreciate that they have a huge mortgage, minimal savings and no college savings but my DD just sees the "stuff" and sometimes feels that I am just being cheap. Things like this make me struggle with my mental middle ground. How much is enough, what can we really "afford" and what does that really mean anyway, etc. The more I go around and around about it mentally, the more I come to the conclusion that the happy middle ground is the one that allows me to sleep at night. For me that means working on savings goals for retirement, college, paying off mortgage etc. For others, I guess they can sleep at night with huge balloon mortgage payments hanging over their heads - I personally cannot. And to me, money/things are just not worth losing sleep over. I would rather have less but be finacially secure in what I do have, than "have it all" but owe it all to the bank.

The uncertainty part is whether or not my DH will have a job after next week. He and the other sales reps at his company had a meeting with the owner on Monday. They had not gotten their car allowances or the other reps their commission checks for November. The owner told them he had not paid because he was owed too much from customer and he was out of money! He is supposed to be meeting with his family this week (it is a family owned business) and deciding whether or not they will be closing their doors for good at the end of the year. Since they always shut down for the holidays, effectively that means closing up next week. The current word is that he wants to close down the main company and keep a smaller division open with a change of focus on their customer base. They make and supply moldings, millwork, doors windows etc. Their primary market had been builders but the business in this area of the country has all but dried up in the last year with the housing slump. Very few builders are still building new houses and those that are, are not paying their bills as they are not selling houses. If he does keep the smaller division open he would wants DH to stay on and help change the focus to sales of custom, high end, furniture quality materials to homeowners and other suppliers. It is a market that is still open and DH has a lot of contacts in this. The alternative is for DH to look for another job. He has already had an interview with another company but if he took that it would ultimately require us to more quite a distance! I refuse to make any decisions til I have all the details on either/both options. I should be going crazy about this but having been through it just last year, I know that no matter what happens, it will somehow work out and we will get through it.
The cool website I found is www.freerice.com (Sorry, I don't know how to put links in!) Anyway, the premise is they donate free rice to needy countries thru you clicking on the site. It is a vocabulary game and I love vocabulary so I have a feeling it will become addictive for me. I am also going to steer my DD16 (soon to be 17) to the site. Her vocabulary is deplorable (see, I told you I love vocabulary) and she can certainly use some practice before she takes the SATs.

Wow, I usually have trouble posting a few times a week so twice in one day is a lot for me. I just could not help myself. This morning I read an article in our small local paper that really got me thinking about people's priorities. Each year before the holidays the paper has a charity drive to collect money to help local people who cannot afford gifts for their kids for Christmas. I have no problem at all with this and actually am planning to send in a small donation. While we are certainly not rich, we are able to afford the bills and then some so I am happy to help others in need. Anyway, each day they run a short story about one of the families who is in need of help. I guess the idea is to personalize the need, put a face, names etc. to their cause. I also do not have a problem with their doing this and I am sure it is voluntary on the part of the families who are profiled. Todays story involved a young couple with three kids under the age of 9. The husband had been injured at work and his disability check barely covered their rent. The were collecting cans and turning them in for the deposits just to have some money for food, heat etc. I applaud their efforts to do extra to try to help themselves. What caught my attention was the statement that they did not know how they were going to buy food, put oil in the tank for the heater and their cable had already been shut off. This stopped me dead. Food, shelter, heat - yes, all necessities! Cable - not! Why didn't they cancel their cable when he was first injured? Have a little talk with the kids about how they needed to save since Daddy wasn't working and do without cable. I wanted to ask if they still had cell phone service! I am not trying to knock this particular family. I hope that they find a way out of this situation and that the husband fully recovers. I just don't understand the attitude of entitlement that so many seem to have. When hard times hit, they act like cable, cell phones and so many other things are necessities, rather than luxuries. If we had really tight times around here and no hope of any turn around soon, the cable would go, the cell phones would go (despite DD16 probably trying to report us for child abuse for that) etc. Since when do people feel like saving the $60 or so cable runs monthly is not worth it? It would pay for a weeks food! I just do not understand how people set their priorities these days. In the same vein I think about my friend who almost had her house sold at sherrifs sale. I am sure that they somehow found a new mortgage lender but they are still eating out often, buying tons of stuff for their kids etc. If they could not afford the old mortgage and they were in forclosure, I am sure the new one is for even higher interest etc. So, shouldn't they be scaling back and trying to save more to put towards what is probably a higher payment? Again, it seems to be a matter of priorities and feelings that what used to be considered luxuries are now necessities. Okay, enough rant for now. If I don't stop myself, I could go on for hours! I just find such attitudes very frustrating!

We took my car in on Wednesday because the gas pedal had stuck twice on me when I was coming out of a parked position. I was able to stomp on it and "unstick" it but this was definitely something that required a look by a mechanic. Turns out that there was just a lot of gunk etc. since the car is 8+ years old and has close to 150,000 miles on it. That was not so bad but we had also noticed a bit of radiator fluid on the driveway that morning so we asked him to check that out as well. Turns out we needed a new radiator, hoses etc. The total for everthing was about $720. Not a bill I really need this time of year but I have decided to be thankful. I am thankful we took it in when we did cause he said something would have blown soon and I could have been stuck somewhere. Thankful that DH is employed this year and I have managed to rebuild a bit of an emergency fund. Not that I enjoy spending it, just that I am glad that it is there when we need it and that we have enough coming in to slowly rebuild it.
As far as survey stuff, I recently have been getting a bunch (okay only a few but it feels like a bunch) of surveys from MySurvey. I went what seemed like forever without getting any and now I have two $10 checks coming my way. I am putting them towards Christmas gifts I still need to buy. I also finally was able to sign up for Pinecone. I had heard about them several years ago but I know they are hard to sign up for. Well, I was finally able and eagerly await my first survey from them.
Oh, yes, and I did decide to buy 100 of the flying slingshot monkeys. It came to about $184 including shipping. I have the money in savings to pay for them but DH should be able to sell enough at the market at $5 each that I should have plenty set aside before the bill comes in. I told him I am in charge of them since he would just go crazy and overbuy if the first ones sell. He has already told many people he knows about them and they want them for their kids. I will update once we get them and start selling them.

For anyone that has not seen this toy, simply do a search for flying slingshot monekys and you should find a multitude of sites selling them, many with videos showing how they work. They are basically small toy monkeys with stretchy hands/arms. You launch them into the air and they fly through the air like a slingshot and make a screaming sound as they do so. I have a goofy sense of humor and I am dying to get some of these as gag gifts for friends and family. I had seen these in catalogs for pricing in the range of 3 for $30.00 plus shipping. It did not occur to me to do a web search until yesterday. Imagine my delight to find them priced much more reasonably all over the web. My problem is now my DH who runs a side business/hobby selling things at flea markets. He would call it a business since he has good cash flow. I would call it a hobby since the cash goes right back out for more merchandise. He wants to order them wholesale and sell them for the holiday season. I found a decent price but am loathe to purchase without having the money already set aside. To me, it is just one more thing he will be spending money on and running up credit card bills. He has no problem with this - I have huge problems with this. However, I concede that he is right about the timing - before the holidays is the time to be selling them. They could be sold for about $5 and would make a great small gift for a child or a great gag gift for an adult (okay, one like me who has a weird sense of humor. I prefer to think of it as a playful sense of humor but then I am also known to hide rubber cockroaches in my kids rooms to "surprise" them.) Anyway, I am trying to decide to buy or not buy 100 flying slingshot monkeys. It would cost about $200 max including shipping and I could get him to sell them for $5 each. There would be no additional outlay as he is already going to the market anyway. So, to buy or not buy, that is the question.

After a nice Thanksgiving Dinner, I joined the Black Friday madness, with a twist. I was working, not shopping! My DD 16 recently started a job at a big new "Premium Outlet" center about 15 minutes from our house. The outlet center just opened the first week in November and had a slew of opening week sales. Traffic was insane that first weekend. You would think nobody had ever had a place to shop before (instead of being about 20 minutes from a huge mall - one of the largest on the east coast). Anyway, the stores were opening at 12:00 am on Thursday night/Friday morning and they needed people to help out. DD could not work since she is not allowed to work that late according to PA state child labor laws. Must be over 18. Many employees at many stores are 16 and 17 yo teenage girls so many stores were doing the same thing - recruiting friends/family to help out with the overnight shift. They were offering $10/hour, paid in cash immediately after the shift so I said, what the heck. I figured it would keep me from even being tempted to get up early to join the madness. My plan was work from 12:00 to 8:00 am, go home and sleep til 2:00, thus missing all chances to join the crazy early morning madness.
I was not sure what traffic would be like that night so I got there a bit early and just waited in my car. I got there at 11:30 pm and the stores were not opening til 12:00. I had not trouble parking and the lot was about 1/4 full when I got there. By the time I went into the store at 11:50, the lot was 3/4 full and traffic looked like it was backed up for miles. I worked til 3:30 am and was released to go home early due to the rush dying down and them having over scheduled people. No problem for me since I did not really relish the idea of staying up all night. When I left at 3:30 am there were still plenty of people milling around the mall and the lot was about 1/2 full. Every available space had been taken at one point and people were still parked all over any additional space like grass, islands etc. All I can say is people are crazy. My dd went with me to meet some friends and they left around 1:30 am. She did not even buy anything and said the deals were not really any better than they had been around opening weekend. Yet, people were lined up outside the stores before they opened. The Coach store was apparently having a 20% off sale and people were driving an hour or two just to get there. Wonder if what they spent in gas and coffee, snacks offset any savings they may have gotten? Again, people are crazy. I just found myself saying that over and over on Black Friday watching the madness. I went home at 3:30 and went to bed - I did not even want to be tempted to shop. (Although I must admit to getting up before noon and hitting two sales for holiday gifts that were already planned for.)

This weekend was thankfully way less expensive than last week. Friday I did do some holiday shopping but it was all with money I had already set aside for gifts. I am about 1/2 way done with shopping for my 4 kids but since we celebrate Hannukah at home (DH is Jewish) I have to hurry up. I have already started wrapping things. I find (with credits to Flylady) that I am much less stressed if I start wrapping things ahead of time and just wrap two or three things a night. I can fit this into a five to 10 minute block of time and by the time the holidays are here, everything is done. No last minute, late night wrapping session in a panic to get it done. Also, having things wrapped is a great way to thwart those who would like to sneak and peek to see what their gifts might be. I also go out of my way to wrap things in unusual ways, use unusual containers, boxes etc. to help prevent guessing. My two oldest DD's are teens and prefer to pick out many things themselves. I have no problem with this but I think it is less fun if you know what most things are before you even open them. So, I cleverly disguise things so that they are still surprised. For example, I might put books in some sort of round container and wrap that, put small things in larger boxes, stuff shirts etc. into small boxes - anything to disguise what things really are. My DD 16 picked out some boots she really wanted and I said I would put them away for a holiday gift. I am going to do my best to disguise them. I might even just wrap a piece of paper with the word boots on it and put it in a tiny box. She is expecting me to try to trick her so I will have to really use my imagination on this one. I love to see the look of surprise on their faces when they think they know what something is and then they unwrap it, only to find that it is something else entirely.

I realized this morning that yesterday marks one year ago that I started this blog. This time last year we were worried about DH finding a job (took til end of April to find a decent job) and living off of savings. This year DH has a decent job, health benefits again (we were paying $1000 a month COBRA last year) and we are working on building savings back up rather than spending them down. We do have some debt incurred as a result of his long unemployment but I am slowing working on paying that down. Anyway, things are definitely better this year than this time last year. With that in mind and next week being thanksgiving, here is just a short list of some of the things I have to be thankful for. I find this really helps me when I am feeling sorry for myself, discontented etc. - to focus on what I do have as opposed to what I do not.
1) DH and 4 healthy children
2) My mom
3) My mastiff babies
4) A warm, dry safe home
5) DH is employed with benefits and a regular paycheck!!!!!
6) Savings for emergencies and unexpected bills (like extra tires and a truck cap!)
7) My basic frugal nature - we would not have made it thru this last year without this.
8) This community of like minded people - it really helps to know others out there are on the same wave length and you are not fighting the fight alone.

There are many more but I'll save that for some other time.

I took my car in on Friday to get new tires. I had planned ahead, priced them out and got a deal for buy 3, get 1 free. I might have done a bit better if I really shopped around on price but I got them at our local STS tire place where I have had good service in the past, plus they come with guarantee on free rotation, free patching etc. I had gotten my last set of tires from them and found this well worth it. Plus, they are close by and will usually squeeze me in when I have any sort of emergency. So, I like to give them business when possible. Anyway, I had known I needed new tires, had gotten an estimate a few weeks ago and set aside the money. Well, DH also turned out to need two new tires. I knew he needed them but did not think they were as bad as they were. My plan was to price out the new tires and set the money aside again and get them in a few weeks. Well, turns out that his were worse than mine and so we also had two new tires put on his truck. Of course, tires for his truck are much more expensive than for my van so that was money I was not expecting to spend this week. I have plenty in savings to cover it, I am just trying to slowly rebuild savings so I hate to have to take it out if not absolutely necessary. I much prefer to preplan and save ahead. That alone would not have been so bad but DH also discovered this week that the vinyl trundle cover for his truck bed is tearing and leaking. He decided that he MUST have a cap for his truck NOW! I was not of the same opinion but he did manage to find a used fiberglass cap which fit his truck and got it installed for a little less than $600. A new cap of the same type would run over $1200 plus installation so I am glad that he was able to find a used one and was more than happy with it. It gives me hope that perhaps my money habits are rubbing off on him after all. After 21 years of marriage, one would certainly hope so! Anyway, it was not great timing with the holidays coming up and gifts still to buy but we will make it work out without taking too much out of the savings account. I already have the money set aside for my tires and when I get paid this week it will cover his tires. Now all I have to do is save the extra $600 for the cap. Easier said than done but I can always put my next cleaning check towards that and all will be covered. I just now need to buy the rest of our holiday gifts out of our regular household budget or wait til I get my check at the end of November. Either way, I am glad we are in a much better financial position than we were this time last year so I cannot complain.

I know I am not as good at this as some but there is nothing I like better than getting things I will use for free. I have greatly increased my ability to do this by doing the following:
1) Clip coupons for all groceries I would use, even if it is not something I would buy all the time. If I would use it if the price was right (ie. free) then I will clip it. I file my coupons alphabetically and this takes less than 1 hour total a week. I do it while I am watching TV.
2) Scan the grocery store sales circular weekly and see what is on sale that I would use,and that matches coupons I have. I also keep a running list of things I need to buy and try to match coupons to that also.
3) Bring my coupons with me. I have them in a little index card file box and always take the whole box to the store. This way, I can always take advantage of a surprise sale.
4) Shop stores on double or triple coupon days if available. My regular store doubles coupons up to $.99 every day - I love it.
5) Keep my eye out for unmarked sales on items I use regularly and also try to combine with a coupon.
By using these 5 steps, I usually can net a few free items each week as a part of my regular weekly shopping trip. For example, Betty Crocker Scalloped Potatoes (yes, from scratch is better but the kids love these and I have been known to make them) on sale $1.00 each. I combined this with a coupon for $.50 off which doubled to FREE. Another example, Fleischmans Yeast 3 pack strip, on sale for $1.50. I prefer to buy jar or even from the natural foods store but combined with $.45 coupon, doubled to $.90 plus register coupon for $.50 off next grocery order brought my cost down to $.10 for the strip. Not free, but not bad at all.

I have never been a believer in getting into debt for holiday gifts but with money being tight these last few years I am finding it even more important to fund my holiday shopping without resorting to credit. That is not to say that I don't use some credit cards to purchase on-line etc, just that they are paid in full so there is no lingering holiday debt come the new year. Here are just a few of the ways I accomplish a debt free holiday:
1) Commit to spending only what you can afford. If you will be tempted to overspend with credit cards, don't use them at all. If you cannot afford it, don't buy it just because someone else tells you that you should.
2) Start setting aside small bits of money each week or so during the summer or even earlier in the year if you can. If you can take 10, 15 or 20 dollars that you would otherwise spend on something else and set it aside (I transfer it to my ING account) do so - you can easily have a few hundred dollars set aside before you even need to begin shopping.
3) Take all small amounts from sources like rebates, survey sites, rolled coins and add them to your stash. This easily gives me at least another $100.
4)Plan out your gift needs. I poll my 4 kids and try to find out what they want, what they need and what I think they will really use. If it is really expensive, they know I won't be buying it so no personal computers, personal cell phones, etc. for my kids. We have bought a new family computer, PS2 and other larger gifts but they were family gifts and were bought during years when we could afford the extra expense.
5) Shop the sales, look for coupons, rebates, on-line deals etc. My youngest daughter loves crafts. Last year I got her several craft kits, all purchased at 40% to 50% off with coupons from Michaels, AC Moore or Joannes
6) Participate year round in retailers loyalty programs and use your credits/coupons to purchase gifts. I have a credit card which gives me gift certificates to Toys-R-Us. I only use it for purchases that require a credit card and it is always paid in full but I have managed to accumulate $30. I will be able to use this to buy a few gifts and hopefully combine this with store sales. Many other stores have this type of program. Even if you only net a few gifts this way, it is that many less that you need to pay for.
7) Do your research and try to make sure you are purchasing at the best price. Some things I like to see in person before I buy them. I pre-research on-line and then hit the stores. If I like it and the store price is good, I buy it while I am there. If it is significanly cheaper, I buy it on-line now that I have seen it and know that I really want it.
8) Talk tactfully to family and friends to cut back on gift giving. Last year DH was unemployed. I spoke to several family friends who we routinely has exchanged gifts with "because we had always done so". With several it had gotten to the point where we really did not know what to get their kids and they really did not know what to get ours. Both sides were more than happy to retire the gift giving tradition with no hard feelings.
9) If you are talented in a particular area, get creative and give a gift that makes use of your talent. I like to sew and do crafts so I have given my nieces presents in past years that were handmade and cost less than if I would have had to buy them.
10) Most important, remember the spirit of the season is what is important, not the size of the gift or the price tag.

Although money is tight this year, I refuse to ignore the need to save for retirement. I am using money refunded to us for healthcare expenses to fund this years IRA contribution. My DH has a flex benefits account that reimburses us for out of pocket health costs. Since we already spent the money, I take the refund checks and earmark them for our retirement savings. It is money we do not miss since is has already been spent. With 4 kids and 4 people in the family, between glasses, contacts, dentist visits, doctors office co-pays etc. we should have no problem meeting our plan max of $2500. That means I will have $2500 to add to the retirement savings without having to further stretch our budget.

I feel like I go thru weeks where nothing on great interest is going on financially so I get lazy about blogging. Actually, I should find the fact that things are chugging along much more exciting given the fact that this time last year DH was unemployed and we were living off our emergency fund. We still have debt to pay off from his unemployment period but otherwise things are back on track, bills are getting paid, small amounts are going to savings etc. I think the biggest challenge for me is to keep paying in cash for large purchases. I don't mean literally always cash, but putting the money aside before making the purchase. Right now my car needs four new tires sometime in the next few months, and DH's call will need a major tuneup and 2 tires. I have no problem remembering that these things are coming up but I keep having to remind DH and play the budget bully and it is a role that gets tiresome. My oldest DD wants to go for her drivers license soon but we want her to complete a driver's ed course - both for her safety and for the insurance discount. It runs about $400 for the on-the-road portion. His response, just call and sign her up. Mine, after I have the money set aside and by the way I am still trying to put aside money for the tires, tuneup etc. Oh yeah - and the holidays are coming up and I insist on only paying cash for gifts so I still have to deal with that. Her drivers ed might just have to wait a month or so. It is not like we have a third car for her to drive whenever she wants so I am not sure what the hurry is. That is another sore subject. He feels (and of course she adds her agreement - not that she should have a say in it) that we "need" to get a third car so that she will have something to drive. My response - she will have something to drive when she saves up the money and buys it! Argh! And on it goes. Sometimes is feels like I am the only responsible adult in my household. I don't expect it from my 16 yo DD but is it too much to expect from the 44 yo husband?

I made some really yummy and really inexpensive vegetable soup about two weeks ago. It was so good and the weather right now is perfect for soup so I am planning to make another large pot this afternoon. It is easy to make and one of those things that you can kind of throw in whatever veggies you have on hand and use up stuff that might have otherwise gone to waste. Another plus is it is low in calories but really filling and healthy - all at the same time. Who could ask for more!
The basic recipe is to take a cup each of carrots, celery and onion and saute in a bit of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add a clove or two of garlic. Simmer another few minutes but don't let the garlic burn. Then when everything begins to get a bit soft, add chicken stock (a quart or even two, depending upon how much soup you want to make). Also add a can or two of whole peeled tomatoes, but breaking them up with a spoon or your fingers before putting them in along with their liquid. Bring to a boil and add whatever other veggies you want. I used about 1-2 cups of green beans and shredded cabbage - about 3-4 cups. I let this cook a while longer til the beans and cabbage started to soften and then added a bag of baby spinach leaves. My dh and kids took one look and went - EEEW! Their loss and my gain but I will work on converting them anyway.

These days I feel like I need a time machine. Not to go back or forward in time but to somehow make more time in the day. Primarily, I would like to spend it sleeping but really I always feel like I have so much else that I could/should be doing. I feel like my weekends, which should be spent relaxing and recharging, are spent running kids around and doing things around the house. So, I never quite seem to get to the things that would relax me, the things that I really want to do like sewing, quilting or scrapbooking. And, when I ever do have the time, I don't really want to spend the money on the materials so I am basically driving myself crazy, spinning myself in circles. I feel like my dogs must feel when they try to chase their own tails. Almost got it, almost got it, then they fall over dizzy from trying. Lately I have been wanting to find an extra source of income but that gets me right back to the issue of time. If I don't have enough time as it is, how will I find the time to generate additional income. I am basically ranting to myself here so feel free to ignore. I think it comes down to me just feeling stressed out and stretched at both ends. I really need my DH and kids to kick in and help out more but getting them to do that seems like another whole project that I do not have time for. ARGH! I guess what I will have to do is attack this situation one step at a time. The first step should really be to start with myself and see what I could be doing better. I know I waste time in the evenings. I go upstairs to get the youngest two ready for bed and end up laying on my bed watching TV while waiting for them and almost falling asleep. Once I get into that zone, it is a hard place for me to get myself out of. I think my first step will be to limit the amount of TV I watch to 1 hr a day. That way, if there is something I really want to watch, I can but I will stop the mindless zoning out which puts me into a very non-productive mood. So, tonight, Grays's Anatomy and nothing else. I will see if I feel like I accomplish more and feel less stressed. This other thing I will try to do is analyze the chores I have to do on a regular basis and see which can be turned over to the kids as part of their chores/allowance. Feeling better already. Sometimes a good rant is just what the doctor ordered. But, if anyone has a spare time stretcher that they would like to donate, I'm still interested.

Last Friday seemed to be my lucky day for getting free stuff. My DS (10) won one of the new i-pod nano's with video. He dropped his name in a contest at a local community fair last weekend and was thrilled to find out that he won. I picked it up on Friday. Now if I could just find the time to call Apple Support to figure out why I cannot get it set up, we would be good to go. I also took my car in to my local tire/repair shop for a tire with a slow leak. They found a nail in the tire and patched it for free since I had bought the tire from them. Saved me about $20.00 so I was not about to complain about that.

I also finally finished painting both of my daughter's rooms. I am now being asked by me DD(8) when I will have more time to paint her room and her brother's rooms. I need to get thru Halloween (I usually sew some costumes) and then I can focus on more painting. In the meantime, I am keeping my eye out for good deals on paint. I really like MAB and they usually have a buy one/get one free sale about 2 times a year. I would love to be able to take advantage of that to get the additional paint. If I have to wait, in the meantime I have two bathrooms to paint and already have leftover paint from other projects that I will use for the bathrooms.

I also need frugal ideas for adult Halloween costumes that start with the letter "N". My neighbors host an annual Halloween party that has a different letter theme each year. Last year was "L". I went as a litterbox. I got a flat shirt box, glued kitty litter (yes - clean!) to the bottom, added "molded" tootsie rolls and pinned a stuffed cat to my shoulder. It was really funny and not hard to make. Another neighbor went as a lightening but - she made wings and attached large glow sticks - it was really cute. Others go all out and buy costumes. One year another neighbor who is male and over 6 ft. wore an inflatable "barmaid" costume and definitely deserved to win funniest costume. So, any frugal "N" costume ideas would be appreciated.

Love 'em or hate 'em, we are probably all familiar with them. Each year, within the first month or so of the new school year, the order form comes home. Complete with pictures of bright, smiling children, tugging on a parent's heartstrings and wallet to buy, buy, buy this precious rememberance of your child. I actually do like to get school photos of my kids each year becuase I think they will enjoy showing their children what they looked like at certain ages. However, I do not enjoy paying the ever increasing prices for school photos. I think this year I am even more sensitive to it because I have kids in three different schools and have seen three different order forms. All are using the same photography studio and I have ordered similar packages for all but the prices have varied widely. My two oldest DD's (one in 11th gr. and 1 in 8th) go to our local public schools and their packages varied by about $2.00 for the same thing. Not really a big deal but it still made me wonder why? Then this week my youngest two (DS10 and DD8) came home with their picture order forms. They go to a local charter school. Their price for a similar package (from the same photography studio) was $12.00 more. I called the studio to ask them to explain the price difference. The best answer I got out of the customer service girl was "Different schools are priced differently". Gee! really! I told her I doubted any of the schools really asked to have their photos cost more so I wanted to speak to someone who could offer me a better explanation. Much to my shock (sarcasm here) no one was available. I then asked her what they meant on the order form "Ask about our family plan". (Mind you this was buried in almost microscopic print). She told me that the first two kids are full price but any child after that is 1/2 price on the same or lower priced package. I was also told I could still use the discount even though all 4 were not at the same school. I just have to note on the order form the other kids names, schools etc. Put this in the category of "Boy I am glad I asked". Now I am off to e-mail my kids teachers so they can let other parents know. I am not impressed by a company that offers such a policy but does not really seem to want people to know about it. Not to worry, I will take care of that job for them! They can thank me later!

Wednesday is my usual day to hit the grocery store to stock up and take advantage of whatever is on sale that week. I am working on buying what is on sale and stocking up rather than buying as needed for most non-perisables. I do feel like this is saving me some money but it is hard to quantify. Anyway, this week my regular store had several great coupons $5.00 off $40, free 6 pack of water, and free can of coffee. A new competitor opened up down the road and they are trying to maintain customer loyalty. Works for me cause I like them better anyway, just don't tell. Let em keep guessing and giving away extra freebies. In addition to those deals they would triple up to 4 coupons (under 99cents each). I got a free Suave deoderant (1.79 less a tripled 60cent coupon) free Quaker oatmeal (on sale for $1.50 less 50 cent tripled coupon) and two more such deals that I forget right now. All in all, my total before discounts and coupons came to $111 and after, $57.00 I was very pleased. Add to this the fact that I earned a 10% discount certificate off next shopping order and another $1.00 off coupon - a great shopping/savings day. Too bad I can't seem to do that well every week but I love it when it does happen. It also reminded me why it pays me to clip all coupons for things I might use but I will blog about that later.

One of my goals this summer was to paint my oldest 2 DD's rooms (after all, I had bought the paint 2 years ago!). I can finally report that I am in the home stretch - finished the oldest's room (DD16) and just have a bit more sponging to do on DD14's. Her walls are totally painted and all the woodwork but we are sponging it about 1/3 up (like to chair rail height) and finishing with a 2" wide stripe of one of the sponged colors. I have just one part of a wall left to sponge but it is currently behind her new (from a garage sale) desk. I need to get someone to help me move the desk to its final spot (now that it has been painted) but DH is out of commission for the moment. He pulled something in his arm/shoulder last week and it is still bothering him. I really don't want him to make it worse - it is bad enough that he refuses to take the doctors advice to rest it and ice it. Anyway, the desk is solid oak and came in three pieces. None of which I am capable of moving myself. Luckily, I have great neighbors on either side. Both of them better hide today cause I will probably ask whichever one I see first to help me out with this. Actually, I am sure that they won't mind. Both were willing to tromp thru the woods in the freezing weather with me when our dog was lost back in March. What is moving a bit of furniture compared to spending hours freezing your behind off in the woods? Boy do I count myself lucky to have such great neighbors.

Anyway, once I get the furniture moved I can finish her room. I am taking the concept of summer literally - so that gives me a few more days to reach my goal of being done before summer is over (ie. by Sept. 20th) (or is that actually the first day of fall?) All this painting has got me wanting to get more done. We have bathrooms that have not been painted since we moved in 8 years ago. I am going to hit those next (cause they are relatively small and don't involve moving furniture) and then move on to the two other kids rooms. My goal is to accomplish the painting of the bathrooms without spending a lot more money on paint. I want to paint them both some shade of blue so I can do at least one with leftover paint from my son's room (a sort of soft baby blue) or my DH's office in the basement (a darker blue with a touch of grey or slate in it.) I can also combine if needed to create my own shade. I have done this before with much success. So much so that someone asked me what color I had used cause they wanted to duplicate it. I laughed first and then told them good luck with that and explained. I also saw yesterday that a local t-shirt/sweatshirt outlet has a room where they sell partially used cans of paint for around $2.50 or so a can. This could also be a great source for any other small room if they have a color I like. It seems to be stuff people have either used a bit of or did not like or was mixed wrong for what someone wanted. I will definitely have to check into this further. It could be an interesting frugal source for small projects.

Boy was last week an expensive week around our house. I took our dog to get spayed on Thursday - $609.00. It was more expensive than usual because she was over 1 yr and over 100 lbs. (We had been advised by both breeder and vet to not to get her spayed at the usual 6 months of age.) I new this would be an upcoming expense so I have the money already sitting in the savings account to pay for it. I put it on my cc (no balance carried on this) to get the reward points but it will be paid in full when the bill comes in. Then our car insurance, homeowners insurance and additional liability policy were all due to be paid this week. We do not have the bank escrow for taxes and homeowners - I prefer to pay ourselves - makes me more aware of what we are spending on it and work to keep costs down. Anyway, that added up to at least an additional $1500. Actually would be more if I paid the entire car insurance bill at one pop but I pay it quarterly right now because I do not want to totally deplete our emergency fund just for this. Again, I new these expenses were coming up so I had worked hard to set aside the money in advance. While I hate paying large bills, it feels so much better knowing that we have the money to pay them and are not depleting savings to do so. This time last year DH was still unemployed and these bills all had to be paid out of savings. This year our savings is lower (it was depleted by the unemployment period) but I am working hard to get it back up there. Progress seems slow at times but it is steadily inching up and I am working extra hard to make sure to set the money aside for all new expenses rather than having to pay out of savings. Oh, I almost forgot. We took DH's truck in for inspection last week also. That plus an oil change and a few minor things on the car cost $191.00. I put that on the credit card also but I will be getting paid before this bill is due and will also have the money set aside. Now my goal is to somehow set aside, or even better, earn extra for 4 new tires for my car and 2 new for DH. All of our tires passed inspection but we will both be needing new ones in the next 3-4 months. So, my goal will be to have the money ahead of time. I am going to try to re-energize myself to sell more of DH's car care accessories (that he sells at the flea market) on E-bay and earn enough for at least a portion of the tires. I figure if I blog about this goal, I am way more likely to seriously work to make it happen.

I took my oldest DD to the dentist today. She just got her braces off her top teeth a few weeks ago and we had some discoloration issues to deal with. These were issues she had before the braces went on - staining and white areas due to too much fluoride in the water when she was really young. We knew beforehand that we would have to deal with it when the braces came off. She went two weeks ago and the dentist tried some microabrasion to with success. At the time he was only able to do her 6 front teeth due to time constraints so this was the second appointment to finish the other top teeth. I was under the impression that I would owe another $90 for todays visit but he told me we had already paid in full for all the top teeth at the last appointment. The check I had written then was for all the top teeth, not just the 6 he did. That made me very happy - $90 in our pocket rather than back out like I was expecting. I will have to make a point to transfer it to the emergency fund, otherwise it will just vanish into regular spending. It is amazing how money seems to have a way of doing that if you are not careful.

After taking last week off to get things done around the house, I am back to work this week. I am 85% done the painting on my daughter's rooms and will make myself finish by this coming weekend. This week will be a busy week at my house - we have family coming to dinner for the Jewish New Year and lots of straightening up and cooking to do. My less than frugal DH's response is just order something but I am not going to spend $50 - $100 on ordering food when I can make it myself for way less. Sometimes I feel like his response to any difficulty is spend money, rather than being creative and finding another way. I really do think that without me he would be like his two brothers - 1 always in debt and broke with nothing to show for it, the other with a huge house and many trips, fancy clothes etc. but with huge debt to match. Their father was not this way at all but their mother sure was. Boy did she teach them well the lesson of instant gratification - too bad she didn't teach them about delayed gratification and saving. Sorry for the rant, just the thought of seeing them this week gets me started. I hate being judged (and found lacking) by people like this. Yes, my house is smaller, my clothes are plainer but my debt is also way smaller - like not even in the same zip code.
My friend whose home was up for sheriffs sale has still not mentioned it but I know (again by checking the county web sites) that they have had the proceedings stayed. I am not sure if that is a permanent fix for them of just temporary but I am happy for her that they will not be faced with eviction soon. Her DH will be starting a new job next week making at least $10,000 more a year and she just found a part time job. All this is good news in terms of paying their bills but I wonder if they have learned anything. She is already talking about being able to take a real vacation and getting a cleaning lady since she won't be home as much. What!!! How about paying all your bills and then starting an emergency fund, a college fund for your three kids, retirement accounts!!! She is truly a good friend and has been through a lot with me but her attitude toward money just makes me crazy. We are definitely not on the same wavelength when it comes to finances.