One of the families in my neighborhood is moving soon so she organized a neighborhood garage sale. Since it involved no phone calls, sign making etc. on my part (just my $4.00 contribution to the newspaper adds) I decided to have my family participate. I told the kids there were two rules 1) Anything they sold of their own stuff, they got to keep the money and 2) anything unsold got donated. Saturday was the day and the weather was beautiful. We made about $140.00 total and better yet, got rid of a lot of stuff. The kids willingly cleaned out some of their old toys and each made at least $10 - $15. Anything I sold for the family will go towards a waterpark trip we are taking next month with family friends. After the sale was over, I bagged up all the remaining stuff and took it directly over to the local Goodwill. I did not want it coming back into the house to be gotten rid of "eventually". Even though we did not make a lot of money, I was very pleased with the results. I would love it if our neighborhood made this an annual event. Having it be a neighborhood garage sale really got a lot of people to come. I also had to laugh. We had this plaster bird, I think it was an eagle or hawk of some sort. It had been part of my mother-in-laws stuff but I cannot imagine it ever being in her home. Not her taste. Anyway, I wanted to throw it away the moment DH brought it home but he would not let me. It lived on a shelf in the garage for two years and he kept threatening to bring it in the house. I told him I was going to sell it - the kids had a bet that no one would buy it. It was one of the first things that sold. I put a $2 price tag on it - I honestly thought I might have to offer someone money to take it. Not only did it sell right away, but while the buyer was shopping more, someone else wanted to buy it and offered even more money for it. Just goes to show you that there are all kinds of people out there with all kinds of taste.

My dad passed away last week after a lengthy illness. It was actually a blessing and relief for both him and my mom as well. Along with my siblings, I helped my mom plan the funeral and it was definitely eye-opening in terms of how much it costs to die. Not for the departed, obviously, but for those left behind. Fortunately, I come from frugal savers so my mom was well prepared for the funeral expenses and will be fine financially. Dad was 84, she will be 75 soon and they always put aside some of what they earned and invested over the years. My 8yo DD asked me if Grandma would have to go back to work now that Grandpa had died. I said no. She said, then how will Grandma get money for food, clothes etc. I explained to her that Grandma and Grandpa had always saved some of their money and she did not have to worry about Grandma having money for food. I was surprised to hear her voice this concern - usually her only interest in money is what she can buy with whatever is in her piggy bank. Anyway, mom was well prepared and organized and I found this such a relief after what we had gone thru a few years back with my DH's mother. She had terminal cancer and was given 6 months to live. She refused to discuss her will, documents etc, just saying, don't worry, it is all taken care off, everything is in the safe. None of her children wanted to upset her, so they avoided the subject. When she did pass away, her husband (DH and brothers step-father) suddenly could not remember the combination to the safe. Her will mysteriously disappeared, and the only papers that could be found listed him as sole beneficiary of everything. Long story short, after more than an year of legal wrangling, they settled out of court for an amount that basically covered her funeral expenses and all the court costs. Her husband got everything else. It was a nightmare for her sons and could have easily been prevented had someone been willing to "upset" her by discussing things ahead of time. In the case of my dad, my mom knew what he wanted, all paperwork was organized and she had already let me know where everything was just in case anything were to happen to her first. Definitely better to be organized and deal with the reality as opposed to hiding your head in the sand. Sure, the person who is dead does not have to worry, but is grief and strife really the legacy anyone wants to leave? In my dad's case, with everything being clear and organized, we were able to celebrate his life and will move on from there.

My kids have been dying this past week cause the computer that I share with them has caught some kid of bug and refused to boot up. I kept getting what my techie neighbor refers to as BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). Anyway, he took my tower over to his house, worked some magic on it (I guess he keeps his magic wand at his house cause he was unable to fix it at ours) and now it is back to being functional. The kids still cannot use it cause I have to reload a bunch of programs and haven't had any time to do that yet. We just got it back Sunday evening and I had to work yesterday and then go visit my parents. My dad is not doing well and I wanted to be sure to see him while I could. Anyway, it is driving the kids crazy (especially DD16) but hopefully I will have some time this week to work on it. That is, between painting two bedrooms which I am also trying to do. The good thing about all of this is that the computer could be fixed and that my techie neighbor works for very cheap. As in, for chocolate chip cookies! I bake them, he eats them. His wife is a friend and does not really like to bake so I send over enough for the whole family and it works out well for both sides.

Thursday, 6/28, I got a phone call at work from my daughter and husband -the refridgerator is hot and nothing in it is cold. Since I was at work and did not bring my magic wand that day, there was nothing I could do over the phone, much to their shock and dismay. I realized when I got home that the refridgerator (18+ years old) had finally died. They had tried turning the dial up, etc, no luck and the freezer top was working fine. So, I went shopping that night for something that could be delivered the next day (as we were having my daughter's birthday party Saturday). I immediately remembered why I do not like to shop with my DH when he walked into the store and started looking at the fancy stainless models that cost $2500 or more. I said, that was not in our budget, his response "the price is not important". Ack - way to make me have a heart attack right in the store. We finally compromised on a model that was in our budget (as in, I have the money sitting in the bank to pay for it) but was fancy enough to suit his tastes. He wanted a model with ice/water on the door. I did not since the only ones with that are side by side and I hate side by sides. But I now have a side by side sitting in my kitchen, keeping me company for the next 12 - 15 years. I did agree to this but in hindsight, I should not have agreed at all to go shopping with him. Anyway, we now have a new fridge, saved 10% off the price and free delivery - that satisfied the frugal side of me. Next time, DH does not get to go shopping with me, even if it means I have to sneak out without him!!!!!

I went to AC Moore craft store yesterday to get some beads for a craft for my daughters upcoming party. She picked out two packages of beads prices at $4.99 each. A bit more than I wanted to spend but I knew she would use any leftovers over the summer to make necklaces, bracelets etc. so they wouldn't be wasted. I went back further into the store to look for a gift for a party she has to attend this weekend and saw the same beads (down to same package and same SKU# on the package) in a different aisle, priced for $2.99. When we finally got to the register, I asked the clerk to check which price came up when the beads were scanned. It was $4.99. I told her about the same beads being priced differently in two different places and she immediately offered me the lower price. She said they had probably gone up in price, the price had been changed in the computer but they had goofed and not changed in on both shelf locations. Their goof was my good fortune as I saved myself $4.00 - Yeah! This also brings me to my birthday gift savings secret. Both local chains of craft stores in my area, Michaels and AC Moore, run weekly coupons for 40% and sometimes even 50% off the price of one item. I often like to buy presents for my kids friends that are craft type books and kits so I make sure to buy them at 40% off. I can get a nice kit priced between $15.00 to $20.00 for $9.00 to $12.00. I feel this works out well for both sides - they get a nice gift and I don't have to break the budget to get it. I would normally spend around $15.00 on a gift anyway but they do not need to know how much I actually spent. I also get lots of presents for my youngest two kids this way. My DD who just turned 8 loves crafts and had requested several for her birthday. You can bet that I purchased them with 40% off coupons over the course of a few weeks.

My youngest DD turned 8 on Father's day and we are having a birthday party for her this weekend. She loves dogs (to the point that she stalks people with dogs when we are out so she can pet the dogs) so we are having a dog themed party. I almost always have at home parties. I just don't see the point of spending hundreds of dollars on a kids party. We went to a very cool store on Sunday to get themed party favors. US Toy/ Constructive Playthings. They are an educational/teacher resource store but also have all the little prizes, favors, etc. in all sorts of different themes. They have a catalog and probably a website. For $12.30 we were able to get 2 dozen each of dog pencils, dog print erasers, mini dog notebooks and a roll of dog stickers. These along with bone shaped sugar cookies (to be baked tonight) and a bit of candy, will make the "doggy bag" favors for the guests to take home. I got a pack of 30 cellophane treat bags from the dollar store for these (also pink plates, napkins and tablecloth). We will use existing felt and materials to make dog ears for each guest to wear and probably get some beads to make "dog collar" necklaces. That will be a craft for everyone to do as they arrive. We will play games like "dog trainer says" (Simon says), Pass the Puppy (Hot Potato) etc. The highlight will be a dog food eating contest where they have to eat a bowl of dry dog food without using their hands (it will really be generic chocolate cereal which looks alot like dog kibble). The trick is, I will not tell them right away that it is cereal. I am planning to drag in my 33 lb bag of real dog food and make them think I am using it to fill the bowls. I have done this before at previous parties and it was really funny. Some thing eating dog food is a cool idea and others won't even eat it after they see the cereal bags. I am making an ice cream cake and will decorate it by sprinkling colored sugar in the shape of dog bones (using a cookie cutter to create an outline). I will also hit the local produce store for some fruit and veggies to put out, along with some pretzels and chips. If I a feeling really creative, I may even make up a batch of cupcakes and decorate them to look like dogs or footprints. We will see how pressed I am for time. Either way, I think I can pull the whole thing off for less than $50.00. I will have to keep track of my expenses and see how I do. So far I have spent 12.30 for favors, 4.24 for paper goods and 6.97 for postage for the invites.

Back from our two days at the beach. I left with $97.00 cash in pocket and returned home with $20.00 plus a boatload of change so I am generally happy with the spending. I also bought a tank of gas on my debit card on the way home but our spending included a few rides on the boardwalk, several treats and all tolls etc. Overall, not bad for the two days. Also the day before we left, I went to the bank to deposit two checks and ended up saving myself $84.00 a year. I realized recently that I had a savings account with a low balance that I was not being charged $7.00 a month maintenance fee. I could up the balance but with the interest rate so low, it was just not worth it to me. I no longer use the account much due to my ING account. So, I closed the account and transferred the balance $429.00 to my checking. $200 will go towards DH's current credit card payment do soon and the other $229 will get transferred to the ING account. There it can earn higher interest and more importantly, not cost me $7.00 per month. It really burns me up that you have to watch every account every month cause they can change the rules and the fee schdedules on a whim (or at least it feels that way).

My cousin has an beach house that he rents out most of the summer but when he is spending time there with his family, he usually invites us to visit. He had some cancellations for this week so I am taking my four kids down for an overnight stay. It is about a 2 hour drive each way, but not too bad if you are staying over. We will leave tomorrow morning after rush hour and be there in time for lunch and an afternoon at the beach. I promised the kids we will try to drive to the closest boardwalk (not one in his town) in the evening. We will head back home the next day after dinnertime so we will have another full beach day. My dh is staying home to work and take care of the dogs. He likes to act as if this is a big sacrifice but he actually enjoys the quiet. I offered to let him be the one to take the kids - he was very quick to answer no! The trick for me will be to keep it frugal at the boardwalk. It all seems to add up so quickly - a treat, a ride, some salt water taffy etc. I am going to have explain to them that they will have to make a choice rather than having everything. Of course, they can always bring their own money but this is hard for the youngest two who do not really get to earn their own money yet. I want them to have a good time, especially since we are not taking a vacation this year, but I also cannot afford to break the bank over a short trip. DH gets paid this Friday but I am still waiting to receive certain bills so I don't want to spend and then regret it when the bills come it. (Electric for example - I never know how high it will be, can only estimate). I am packing food for us to take down with us so it should still run under $100.00 for the two days since we have a free place to stay and a kitchen to cook in. Actually, that is not to bad, works out to be $10.00 per day per person or less if I can keep it frugal at the boardwalk. The most frugal choice would be to skip the boardwalk, but I enjoy it also. Oh, well, I am sure we will have fun. Here's hoping the weather is in our favor!

...bad vision that is, at least in our family. Took DS(10) to the eye doctor last Friday. He had been complaining about not being able to see the blackboard in school etc. I had the school nurse give him an eye test which he failed so off the to eye doctor we went. He does need glasses, not for everything but for distance things like watching TV, movies, reading the board in school etc. Out of 6 of us, only my DD (8) is left not wearing some type of corrective lenses (DH, I and 2 DD's all wear contacts). $418.00 for the appointment, frames and poly-carbon (?) lenses that get darker when you go outside. It was expensive but I got very good "boy proof" flexible metal frames that should hold up for several years. We have been using the same eye doctor for 8 years and I really like him and his office administrator. She is great at helping pick the right frame for your face and making recommendations. I told her I would rather pay a bit more up front for really good frames and then just get the lenses replaced if his prescription changes. She discounted the frames and the appointment for me and it still came to $418.00. Oh well, I have it set aside so it will not add to debt and hopefully I can get reimbursed from our flex plan for out-of-pocket medical. It still comes out of DH's pay but at least you save the taxes on that amount. I'll take every bit I can back in my pocket thank you very much. DD(16) needs her yearly eye appointment and she says she wants glasses to wear when she does not feel like wearing her contacts. Her glasses are 3 or 4 years old and she does need the prescription updated but I refuse to pay for really expensive frames for her. She will hardly wear them so she and I will have to do some negotiating on this. I will probably pay a set amount and if she wants anything fancier, she can make up the difference. I want her to be able to see but we pay for the contacts, the appointment etc. and she never really wore her glasses once she got contacts so I don't see the point in paying top dollar for fancy glasses. She definitely needs a pair as back-up but we don't need to break the bank getting them.

I definitely find that when I am feeling tired, down, frustrated etc., doing something for someone else is a great mood booster. I have a neighbor who is undergoing chemo for cancer. I asked recently if there was anything that I could do. She knows that I bake and enjoy baking so after first saying no, she said she would actually enjoy some cookies. She said sometimes when she is feeling really sick she craves sugar cookies - her favorite. So, today I had some time and I baked her a batch of sugar cookies. I also made some chocolate chip cookies - some for home and some for her kids. I figured this way her kids would not eat her cookies.

I went back to my January post with my 2007 goals and I am pleased to see that we are definitely making progress.
1) DH increase income to be able to cover all basic bills - accomplished with his return to former employer starting 4/30/07.
2) Add no new debt other than home equity to pay mortgage and COBRA. I personally have accomplished this but as a family we did not. I added no new debt and now that DH's salary covers the bills we are working on paying off the equity line. DH on the other hand is another story. He has a small side thing - he would call it a business, I would call it a hobby since it is costing money not bringing it in. He buys and resells car accessories and could make a profit it I could convince him to stop overbuying. So, he has created credit card debt with this and I am working on showing him the light.
3) Add miminum of 2 new sources of income myself by June. I have added one small source - started selling some things on E-bay and earned about $100 so far. I need to work on finding something else.
4) Re-assess all current fixed expenses. This is a work in progress. As each thing like insurance comes due, I am price checking and getting quotes to make sure we are getting the most for our money. This month I have to call around for quotes on trash removal cause our yearly contract is up and I know our provider is raising their rates. They already sent me a post card about their higher expenses so I know this is their way of trying to prepare me for an increased bill. I will call other providers to see if I can get a better deal.
5) Home equity line of credit paid off by December. I am not sure about this one. I have since decided that it should be a priority to make sure we fund IRA's so if that means the equity line gets paid off slower, I am okay with that.
6) Rebuild savings to a minium of $2500.00
Already well on the way to this. Actually, we are over it right now but will have to take out $4000 or so for taxes in August so I am not counting that money.

When I look at things this way and see the progress we are making I feel much better. It is just that I want it NOW and I have to remind myself to be patient.

My kids get out of school next week. Since I have off two days a week (Weds. and Fri.) and they have half days the next two Fridays, I am counting the days left when I have the house to myself. As of this morning, it was two. As of 10:30 this morning, it was down to one. There was a campus wide power failure at their school and they were sent home early. I as not happy at first - not that I don't love my kids, I just also love my time to myself. But then I decided I couldn't do anything other than go with the flow and make the best of it. I was still able to run a few errands with the 13 yo DD babysitting and then got the laundry done, a bit of the cleaning and finished getting my garden in with my 7yo DD. All in all, not everything I needed to get done today but not a bad day anyway. After dinner I went to Bath and Body to take advantage of their semi-annual sale. I was able to get shower gels as teacher gifts for $3.00 each instead of paying the full price of $9.00 or more. I also stocked up on extras to use as teen gifts when the older girls get invited to a party etc. I was also able to take advantage of an on-line coupon for a free lip gloss so I made out quite well. Also got one of my favorite scents in bubble bath at 75% off so I predict a nice bubble bath in my future this evening.

Today is only Tuesday but I already know this will be an expensive week for my family. All four kids have dental appointments today. We used to have dental insurance thru DH's previous company, then COBRA but the new company does not offer dental. I am looking into getting our own policy. I basically have to find the time to sit down, price shop on-line and figure out if it is cost effective. (If the cost of the insurance is not more than the cost of basic routine care, then it is definitely worth it - otherwise, it is a guess). Anyway, for today at least, it will be out of pocket. I will ask them to forgoe anything not critical like x-rays until I decide if I want dental coverage (by the next check-up). My dentist does provide a discount for cash payments and I do have a flex account for unreimbursed medical expenses so it should not be quite as bad. The second expense will be on Friday. My son failed his school eye test and has an eye appointment. Since DH, I and the oldest two DD's all wear glasses/contacts, I knew it was coming. I was just hoping it would be later, rather than sooner. I told the eye doctor's receptionist that by the time my last (youngest DD) needs to see him, we will want our own personalized chair in his office. Again, this will be an out of pocket expense cause the new employers benefits also don't cover eye care. The receptionist knows us well and will give us whatever discounts are available. I will also be able to submit the expense to the flex plan. But still, it will be an expensive week with medical stuff. Thnankfully, with DH's new job, we have the money in the bank to cover this and it will not have to increase our debt at all. I am working really hard to discipline myself - I want to build up our savings/emergency account and also payoff the equity line of credit. I think later this week I need to revisit my goals that I posted in January to see where I stand.

The topic of stewardship or how one makes the best use of one's money seems to be going round and round in my head these days. I feel it is for a reason, just not sure what the reason is yet. Anyway, I overheard an interesting (to me) exchange last evening while at my son's baseball game. As usual, the parents were sitting on the bleachers and siblings were playing on the nearby playground, begging for items from the snack bar, etc. Two girls (about age 8) had gone to the snack bar to get treats. They returned and each gave her mother her change. One mom saw that her daughter had two ice cream treats and asked her why she had gotten two. The little girl said that she had asked for something different but the people in the snack bar got confused. The mom then asked her if she even liked the one item, she replied I don't know. The mom's response to this was what I found interesting. She said "Oh well, you can try it and if you don't like it just throw it away." I just couldn't help wondering what she was teaching her daughter about waste with that attitude. To me, it was that it is okay to waste both money and things. Not what I want to teach my kids. Sure, it was only an ice cream treat that cost no more than 1.50 but there were so many other options. She could have gone back to the snack bar with her daughter and explained the confusion - they would have gladly taken it back or exchanged it for something else. She could have told her to just eat the one treat and offer the other to someone else. There were plenty of other childern who could have enjoyed it. The two girls went off to the picnic tables to eat so I don't know what became of the ice cream treat but I just couldn't stop thinking about the attitudes involved. Would she give her daughter money and tell her to just throw it away if they didn't have what she wanted? To me, it is not about not spending money or even how much money you do spend, it is about making the best use of your money and spending it on things that are important to you. Sometimes it will be paying bills, and sometimes it will be as simple as treating your kids at the ball game. But either way, shouldn't you still try to make the best use of it?

Yesterday was my grocery shopping day as well as miscellaneous errand day. I was very proud of myself for setting a limit at the grocery store and sticking to it. I felt like I had been overspending the last few weeks for no other reason than because I could; for me that is not a good enough reason. With that in mind, I set myself a budget of $65.00 for the weekly trip to the local grocery store. I not only came in under budget (62.38) but found an error on the receipt in the stores favor. They had double charged me for something that I had only purchased one of. I usually scan the receipt on my way out of the store so I caught the error right away. My first inclination was to just let it slide "its only $2.38" but then I thought "No, its my $2.38". I took my cart, my receipt and myself over to customer service and explained that they had accidentally double charged me. I figured they were going to go thru the bags to make sure that I did not have two of the item (I knew I didn't) but they just scanned the one and refunded my overcharge. They did make me sign the back of a refund slip so I am sure you could not use this as a scam and try it often but in my case it was totally legitimate so I got my refund and left. It seems silly in some ways, it was only $2.38 but in the larger picture I look at it in terms of stewardship. Why should I let someone else take money my DH and I work for over a simple error. I recently heard a quote I like "I like to spend but I hate to waste." This was from someone with a lot of money who could afford to spend and spend and spend. I really like the values it sums up - enjoy your money but do not waste it. Letting the mistake go unnoticed would be wasting my money. After all, I would not just take $2.38 and throw it into a trash can.
My other small victory came in finding a bargain on a dress. We were invited to a wedding in late June and I really did not have a suitable dress. I don't dress up much so my dress wardrobe is rather miminal. I did have one dress I could wear but I had worn it to another wedding given my the same family (neighbor has 3 daughters - 2nd one is getting married) so I really felt I needed something else. However, since I don't dress up much, I tend to not want to buy dresses and those I do buy I want to be classics that I can keep and wear for years. I happened to be near a local Goodwill with time to kill before picking my kids up from school. I figured I would just go in and look, not really expecting to find anything. Well, I was thrilled to find an brand new, tags still on, in my size, prefect for the wedding, classic dress for $9.00. A bit high for Goodwill but that was because it was still brand new. I snapped it up (after trying it on) and am thrilled that I now don't have to worry about what to wear. Not only do I have that problem solved, but I was able to do it for only $9.00. Shoes are still an issue but I might be able to borrow something from one of my daughters.

Does anyone else ever feel like they are alone in their quest for fiscal responsibility (aside from PFA of course). The more I look around at my neigbors (and some of them are my friends) the more I shake my head and feel like I am all alone in my quest to be financially responsible. Even my DH often makes me shake my head although in the 21 years we have been married I have been slowly and steadily converting him. Two separate incidents have been making me think this way this week. The first involves my two neighbors who live across from my house (and next door to each other). One sold a perfectly good John Deere Lawn mower and purchased a newer model for around $10,000.00 (yes - that is a 10 followed by thousand). What!!!!!!!! It's not a car, he cannot drive it to work, what is he thinking. Unless it is guaranteed to cut the grass all by itself for the rest of my life, I could never spend this much on a LAWN MOWER. (And his lawn is under 1 acre!) Not to be outdone, the next door neighbor gave his older lawn mower to his 11 year old son (who has done the lawn mowing for the last 3 years but that is a whole different story). He goes out an buys a $5000.00 lawn mower!!! What!!!! Again, his son was mowing the lawn for the last 3 years on a perfectly good mower!!! These two are just plain crazy in my book and so are their wives who take the attitude, boys and their expensive toys. The second incident was a conversation with a different neighbor and friend. She was complaining how everyone always seemed to be asking her for money this time of year and there were so many additional end of year expenses like kids field trips etc. She wanted a piece of softball equipment for her daughter but didn't want to spend any more cause her DH was not due to get paid for another week. Knowing that my oldest two girls used to play softball, she asked if we had the equipment in question and could her daughter borrow it. I said sure since we were not using it at the time (although the youngest probably will in a year or two). About a week and a half later I saw her and she asked me to admire her manicure and pedicure that she had treated herself to. She had also treated her 9 year old daughter and then gone out to dinner with the whole family that evening. Now, she has the right to spend her money any way she chooses, but it certainly irks me that she asked me for the softball equipment while complaining about money being tight. I know her DH got paid between our first and second conversations, but I cannot help thinking that it is no wonder money is tight toward the end of his pay if she spends like crazy as soon as he gets the next check. Again, all the people mentioned here have the right to do whatever they want with their money, it just makes me feel like I am very lonely in my quest to be responsible. I am very thankful for sites like this one that let me know I am not really all alone - it would just be nice to have a real flesh and blood friend or neighbor who shared these values and that seems to be very hard to find. I do have a few, they just do not live very close so I don't get to do fun/frugal things with them very often. Okay, thats my rant for today.

I am realizing that now that we have "enough" (as in enough to pay all the bills) money coming in I am starting to slip with my spending. What I mean is that I have noticed small things like my grocery store weekly totals climbing by $20.00 or so a week. The first week I chalked it up to buying some things we had not bought in a while but after a second week I realize that I am not being as diligent at questioning each purchase. On some level I do not have to be, but on another, I still do because we now have debt on our home equity line that I would like paid off ASAP. I feel like I am wavering back and forth on feeling giddy that I can spend a bit extra, worrying about paying off the debt and also torn between deciding where the extra money should go. I have so many things I want/need to fund and only so much money to do it with. Currently we have a bit over $10,000 in debt on the home equity line. I could probably pay at least $500.00 towards this a month, but I also want to put money towards retirement accounts and emergency fund. I am still waiting to hear if DH will be eligible this year for the company 401K. The normal wait is 1 year but since he was previously employed by them they are seeing if this can be waived. If yes, we will definitely contribute enough to get the full company match. Why throw away free money. If no, I will have to be more diligent at contributing to IRAs or ROTH IRAs for both of us. Not to mention that we have 4 kids, the oldest of whom has only 2 more years til college. I feel like I keep going in circles trying to figure out the best use of the extra moeny. Right now, my plan is to put a small bit aside each month for the college funds ($50.00 per child - we had been doing this all along into a prepaid state plan). I cannot afford to put more til we get the retirement funds maxed out. I will pay a bit more than the minimum on the home equity debt but will resist the temptation to put all extra money toward erasing that. When I put it into perspective, it is only $10,000. Our home is worth close to $400,000 and our mortgage balance is under $120,000. It is not like we would be upside down on the mortgage if we had to sell for any reason. It is just that I hate debt (I tell my DH that I am allergic to it) and I want it erased ASAP. So, I have to war with this side of myself to let my logical side fund retirement. I just have to keep reminding myself of the power of compound interest and that we need this working on our side in terms of the retirement accounts. I also want to put a small amount aside each month to build back up savings/emergency fund. It doesn't do us much good to pay everything off and fund retirement etc. and then get back into debt any time anything unexpected comes up. Hopefully some of this made sense to someone other than just me. Either way, I just sort of needed to get it all out there, instead of having it circle around and around in my head. Any suggestions as to setting priorities are welcome.

I am now breathing a big sigh of relief for real. I feel as if I had been holding my breath for the last 11 mos. (since DH was laid off last June). He went back to work for the former employer and received his first pay this past Friday. It was so nice to be able to pay all the bills without having to take anything out of savings/line of credit. My goals now are to sit back, re-evaluate where we are and pay off debt/build emergency fund. We also got back our tax refund this weekend. That will go right into our ING acccount to sit and earn interest til we need it to pay our school taxes in August (we pay ourselves rather than having mortgage co. escrow). I like the feeling of knowing it is sitting there collecting interest, working for me. Even better would be not having to spend it but I'll take the interest for the few months. My focus is now on getting our line of credit paid off but balancing that with refunding savings/emergency. Since the line of credit interest is tax deductible, I do not feel so bad about diverting money to savings. I would rather build a small savings/emergency fund so it is there if we need it and we don't have to add to the line of credit. I am just so excited to finally feel like we are getting back on track and heading in the right direction. When DH was unemployed or working lower paying jobs, I felt very frustrated because even though I was doing all the right things, there just was not enough money coming in to cover everthing. Thank goodness that I am frugal by nature and we started out with a decent savings account and no debt. If we had been in the same situation but with existing debt (non-mortgage I mean) and no savings, we probably would have been forced to take much more drastic measures like selling our home. I definitely believe the saying that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger so I think I have come out of this last years experience a stronger and better person for it. I have realized what is really most important in life and it is not money. It has helped me put things into perspective, but I must say again, I am still breathing that big sigh of relief.

My oldest DD is 16 and got a part time job which will also be her summer job. My husband and I will have to drive her back and forth but it is less than 5 miles from home so it is not too big of an inconvenience. I am glad because it will give her money of her own to spend, save, budget etc. I have already spoken to her about opening a retirement account and funding it with $500 to $1000 this year. Her first reaction was to roll her eyes as if I was just being crazy again. When I showed her charts demonstrating the power of compounded interest over time and how much she would have when she was my age, just by making a small sacrifice now when she does not really need the money, her tune changed. I told her she could do this for 5 years and still outperform someone who invested a lot more but didn't start til they were older. Her response was, "well then, why would I stop adding to it after 5 years. Couldn't I keep putting money in?" Words to make a frugal mother cry tears of joy! I have save the best perk for last - free water ice for immediate family members! (Okay, maybe not the most important perk but I do have my priorities). She is working for Rita's Water Ice and immediate family members get free water ice when she is working. I am already telling my 13 yo DD that she will HAVE to work there in a few years so I don't lose my water ice connection!

My DH just had a meeting today with a former employer. He worked for them for about 11 years and left over 4 years ago on less than great terms. He had signed a no-compete agreement when he was young and foolish (as opposed to now being old and foolish). He had to sue them to get out of it and left to accept a better offer. The better offer lasted 4 years before he was laid off there last June. Since then he has not had a job that was able to pay all the bills so we have been living off of what he earns, what I earn part time, savings (all but gone) and most recently our home equity line of credit. Fast forward from June 2006 to April 2007, he hears that the former employer is looking for sales people and would like to talk to him. After much back and forth between us he finally calls them and meets today. They offered him his old sales job back at a very nice salary, benefits, car allowance and cell phone allowance. Thus, the big sigh of relief at the thought of finally being in the black each month and hacking away at the debt. Yeah! The "Sort of" part comes in with his most recent history with this employer and my not totally trusting that they won't fire him anytime soon just becuase they feel like it. As long as they need him, I am sure all will be well. Once business picks up and they feel they are paying him too much, it may be a different story. He got them to commit to a one year salary with renegotiations for salary vs. commission after one year. Right now building is very slow so selling building supplies on commision would not be good. All in all, I think I am happy about this. I guess that I just have to digest the idea of him working for this company again.

Step 1: Read about the "How To" Blog contest
Step 2: Decide that it 1) sounds like fun and 2) you really want to enter cause you know how to do many things
Step 3: Open an new blog entry
Step 4: Guaranteed Case of Instant Writers Block (Well, as least for me!)

I should not really complain - I do not do taxes myself - but still, only one word for taxed - Blech! I have a small side cleaning business and DH's deductions for business expenses can be complicated so I have always used an family friend who is a CPA to do our taxes for us. I figure it is worth it in the long and short run not to have to try to figure out all the complicated schedules etc. myself. Anyway, picked up the completed tax forms from him yesterday. We will be getting a decent refund from the FED, mostly do to DH's job situation and having to pay insurance out of pocket. Since DH's current job is as an independent contractor, we are putting part of the refund toward quarterly taxes and banking the rest to pay real estate taxes when they roll around in August. Oh well, at least I can collect a few months interest on the money til the real estate taxes are due. Now I will have to remember to file quarterly and it is just one more thing to have to worry about, hence my title taxing taxes. I just feel tired of dealing with taxes and don't want to have to think about it several more times this year.
DH's current job is not meeting our expectations in terms of income and hours (income - not enough and hours - too many and too inconsistent). I feel like all I do is complain about his job situation but I would really like to see him get back into a stable position that is not 100% commision. It would be nice to be able to know at a minimum what is coming in each month. Right now, he made a few sales but has yet to be paid on any of them so no income from him since early February. This is wreaking havoc upon our finances. I am having to rely upon my part-time income and our line of credit. This time last year we had approx $15,000 in emergency savings and no debt other than mortgage and car. Right now, we have about $1000 in emergency savings and over $10,000 in debt on our line of credit. ARGH!!! I am tired of feeling like we are going backwards instead of forwards. Okay, enough with my personal pity party. I know we will figure something out and something will change soon - he has posted resumes and even has an interview next week. I am just tired of feeling tired about finances.

Back in January I changed our Netflix subscription to the 9.99 one out at a time plan. After further review, I find that is still is not really worthwhile for us. If my DH orders a movie for himself, it could sit for at least a week before he gets a chance to watch it. If my kids get a movie, they usually need to wait til the weekend and moi, I never seem to have time for a movie these days. I have also recently discovered that our local library has greatly increased their selection of DVD's available for a measley $1.00 rental fee (3 days for adults, 1 weeks for kid movies). So, last Netflix movies goes out today and I am cancelling my subscription for the time being. I still feel it is a great service, just not worth the money now when things are tight. Even if we rent 2 movies a week at the library it would only cost us 8.00 a month and I would rather the money go to the library who uses it to buy more books (for me to read!) It is not a great savings in the overall scheme of things but every little bit counts.

My last entry mentioned my non-working oven and my desire to attempt to repair it myself. Well, just call me Mrs. Fixit. I tried to bill DH but he just laughed at me. I went on-line Monday evening, figured out the part that was not working (I had a pretty good idea already cause the same thing had happened with a previous oven) and ordered the part. I was also pretty proud of myself cause I shopped a couple of appliance parts websites and found it on sale for more than $20 less than at other sites. I ordered the part standard shipping since I was unwilling to pay them the big bucks to guarantee next day or 2 day delivery. Turns out I made the right choice cause it arrived Weds. and I only ordered it Monday evening. I installed the part tonight (after hunting down my tools which DH had borrowed and not put back where they belonged) and I now have a working oven again. Yeah! I figure I saved myself at least $100.00 for something that was definitely a necessity around here.

Okay, not really, I am just feeling like that and I liked the sound of that title. My oven decided to die on me last week. I was preheating it for dinner and realized it never got off of preheat. The broiler works fine but it will not heat when I turn it on to bake. I am trying to play Mrs. Fixit so I ordered a new bake/broiler ingiter and will do my best to install it once it arrives. I love to bake so I cannot do without it for too long. Fortunately this week is Passover and my DH is Jewish so he and the kids are observing - thus I wouldn't really have been doing any baking anyway. I had the same thing happen previously and spent about $150.00 to have someone come out, look at my oven and spend about 5 minutes putting in the new part. I told him that for what they were charging, he should have at least made it LOOK difficult. The new part I was able to find on sale for just under $54.00 including shipping so cross your fingers for Mrs. Fixit. Anyone out there with any experience in this area with any good tips, feel free to pass them on.
The second evil appliance is my refrigerator. It seems to pick random times to decide to get warmer than normal. The top freezer is working fine. I am going to try to pull it out today and clean the coils really well. It has served me well for 18+ years so I can't really call it evil, it is just bad timing. I really don't want to have to spend the money right now to replace it. A month or so to save up the cost for the new one is just what I need so here's to the refrig. cooperating for another month. Oh and also to all the other appliances remaining cooperative and fully functional. Guess that means I need to add changing the furnace filter to my list of things to do tonight! I usually do that on the first of the month and haven't done it yet this month.

Just over a month ago in my last entry, I wished that I could get back to my routines and get on with life. I think I jinxed myself in a major way cause I just had the worst month of my life in terms of chaos and upheaval to my routines. Without going into too much detail, my dog got lost by my vet and we spent 16 days spending almost every spare moment searching for her. She is now safely back at home where she belongs, just in time for the kids to go on spring break so still no routines for me. I will not complain this time just be grateful that she is back with us where she belongs and the uproar is over. Next time I will really be careful what I wish for - I don't want to jinx myself like that again. On a serious note, the whole experience made me think about what is really important in my life and also made me realize that our current difficult financial situation is just that. It is just a difficult situation but it will not last forever and it will get better. The things of lasting importance like family and friends are what really matters and what I should be paying the most attention to. I don't mean that I should stop paying attention to finances, just that I should not let the current situation define me.

I have been very busy lately and have not had much time to myself. Between snow days, presidents day, and a water main break at my kids school, I have lost 3 of 4 days off. By lost, I mean, I have not had the time I need at home, by myself to get things done around the house. I love my routines, and I thrive on my routines cause they allow me to get stuff done and move on to other things. When I don't have the time to get things done, it feels like things start to fall apart and come crashing down. No, not literally, it is just that I don't feel like I am in control anymore. It is more like the house is running me than the opposite. And when I feel like that, it is that much harder to stick to my frugal ways.
For example, I like to go to the grocery store on Weds. am when it is quite and I have no children with me. I find it hard to shop for the best prices with little people asking "Are we done yet" or "Can we get this ...Please..Please" You get the picture. I also like to stop at the grocery outlet on the way home to fill in with snack items etc. that might not have been on sale. If I am pressed for time or running around with kids in tow, it is much harder to do multiple errands and to do them quickly. Here is hoping for no snow days this week and no more water main breaks at school!

DH started training for his new job yesterday. He will be in training all week and start out on Saturday with a sales appointment. Next week will be a combination of appointments and training so it will be a few weeks before we see any money (assuming he makes sales). I feel very good about this company and position even if it is 100% commission so hopefully things will start looking up on the financial front. It cannot happen too soon for me. We have been having to pay large bills (mortgage and healthcare) out of our home equity line of credit. I cringe every time I have to write a check from there. I cannot wait til he is back to making "enough" to pay all the bills and we can start repaying the line of credit. My goal is to have it done with by the end of this year but we will just have to see about that. I guess it depends on where we end up before he starts making any real money.

On another note, I also want to strangle DH. He has a side business selling car accessories. It is potentially a good business but I think he does not run it in a finacially sound way so it ends up not really making as much as it could. For example, he convinced himself he "needed" a big 14 ft. diesel box truck to store all his stuff and cart it to the markets where he sells it. He is convinced that if he has as much as possible with him, he will increase his sales. I am dubious about that and look at it as a waste of money that we don't have right now. He bought it on E-bay for $4000 and used the home equity line of credit with the understanding that he would sell his motorcycle (that he never rides) come spring. The motorcycle is worth more and would more than cover the cost of the truck. Now he is back pedalling on this and I would like to kill her. I told him, either one of the two is sold or he will be sleeping in the truck. It is not that it is a bad idea in general, just really bad timing right now for what I consider a want, not a need. Unfortunately, he was raised by a mother who did not know the difference herself between wants and needs but that is a whole other story.

My DH will be starting a new job next week. It is a bit scary since he will basically be in business for himself and pay is 100% commission. The plus side is, he has been in sales for years, they provide the qualified leads and it cannot be any worse than the car dealership where he is right now. I have to laugh at him though - cause as much as he hates the dealership, he cannot seem to quit. He had his interview Thurs. eve and was offered and accepted the job. Training starts next Mon. 2/19. His day off from the dealership was Fri. He goes in on Sat. fully intending to give notice, but they are busy and he cannot get a spare moment with the sales manager all day. So he puts in the full day. He went in again today and when I last spoke with him, he still had not been able to get a moment to speak with the manager. I told him to leave a note on the manager's desk saying "I quit. Call me if you have any questions." I am pretty much joking about that, but if things keep up, he just may end up doing it that way. I just find it very ironic considering that he has spent the last month complaining and wanting to quit and I told him he could not until he had something else lined up. Now that he does, he just can't seem to get anybodys attention to tell them that he is quitting.

I had an experience at work this morning that has left me convinced that customer service has died, and I just missed the funeral. To attempt to shorten a long story, I will summarize:
1) I place an order for a customer with a relatively new vendor ($10,000 or so) and ask when the customer can expect to receive shipment.
2)Delivery date comes and goes, no product. I call customer service who tells me I will have to track the shipment to find out.
3)Track the shipment and make sure it is delivered - two days late and forcing the postponement of a training on the product.
4) Customer notifies me on a Monday (shipment was delivered on Friday) that a very large item was missing. Call customer service, no help.
5) Get more info from the customer the next day and call back the vendor's customer service. They act surly when they realize that the error is on their part and they forgot to include the item in the shipment. I ask them if they can overnight ship - they tell me NO. I remind them that the mistake is theirs and after much excuse making, they agree curtly to ship it out that day for next day delivery.
5) Vendor's customer service calls me later that same day - tells me they do not have any of item in stock and it will go out by end of the week at the latest for delivery the following Monday (yesterday)
6) Customer notifies me this morning - still don't have the item. I call customer service who tells me that it actually did not ship out til yesterday and I again will have to track it.
7) I call shipper to track, find out it was never overnighted, is still halfway across the country and ask if there is any way, for any fee that we can get it to the customer today. They tell me no, but they will do their best to have it there tomorrow.
8) Vendor's customer service calls me and yells at me for posing as their rep (I did not) and authorizing extra fees (I did not). Makes a million excuses about why it was not shipped out last week etc. But in the end, THEY STILL DID NOTHING TO HELP CORRECT WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY THEIR ERROR. When I reminded the customer DIS-service rep of this, she just said, I am sorry you feel that way. She is lucky that she was hundreds of miles away from me at that moment cause if she was only across town, I would have had to go over there and strangle her. ARGH!!! She would not be worth going to jail for, but just the visual is making me feel better. I told her that I understood that everyone makes mistakes but people fall into two categories 1) they own up and do their best to correct the mistake and 2) they just make excuses and do not try to rememdy the situation. Unfortunately, her companies customer service staff seems to fall into the second category. Too bad, no more business with them if I have my way.