Monkey Mama's Monkey Money Blog

**Dh went shopping for T-day today. My mom slipped me $40, and he spent about $40. It's potluck-y, so not like we needed to spend much. We may feed 25 people. We will have more food than we could ever eat. Dh's family does the holidays BIG! (Since we moved to cheaper lands, we are the only ones with a big enough home to host everyone. But we also like not having to travel for the Holiday - so we always host. We travel for the rest of the holidays/year, plenty).

Our contribution was $10 for a bit of gourmet cheese. Dh has this rasberry/brie thing he likes to do, but never enough people to really make it for. Of course, he didn't remember paying $10 for it before, but it was some top of the line sort of cheese. I told him if that is all we are providing financially, fancy cheese it is! (So he spent $50, total, but I had to point out the cheese - holy cow).

I am sure I will pick up bread at the bread outlet and dh said he still had to get sodas. There may be more - but the bulk is ready. I am actually due free bread, which may be enough.

I'll be making deviled eggs and cake. That's all I remember, for now. Dh does more of the cooking since it is his thing - though the grandmas do the turkey and all the classic T-day fare.

At this stage in the game, this time of year, I am always most grateful we have another year to all be together. This year will be meaningful since my dad has gone through so much medically this year. The kids are lucky to have so many loving, healthy, alive, grandparents and great-grandparents. We are lucky too!

Anyway, my job is to pretty the house, but it's mostly been done. So I think this year will be easy. I think it will be more work to clean up after. I have a few days off for that.

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**Christmas is throwing me for a loop. It's been a spendy year and Christmas has become quite low-key for us. So I figure I really don't have anything to buy so why even sweat it?

I was reading blogs about donations, and remembering, "Oh yeah!" I usually do a few donations. I forgot I had replaced donations for gifts, for a few people.

Today at work we did a drawing for the Christmas exchange, and then for the new person, discussed all the gifting we do, etc. We usually pitch in for something nice for the boss. & I am usually pretty generous - since I feel well paid - I don't mind getting the boss something NICE.

Then there are teachers and stuff.

I think it's time to break out the old "Christmas budget" and remind myself how expensive Christmas really is. Silly me, I thought I wouldn't spend anything?

The biggest piece of the "budget" is that we usually give my Christmas bonus to charity. We already advanced that to BM's school this year. They really could use it, and they don't make it easy to contribute. With the last fundraiser I just wrote a check. It's not much to speak of, overall, so can foot the bill even if the bonus doesn't materialize. BUT, it is usually 50%+ of our Christmas spending. With that out of the way I just didn't think there would be much else. Another reason I had written it off as "done."

I'll break out the old Christmas budget and see how much we will be hurting after all... My guess is about $250. Mostly donations and gift cards. I really don't have anything physical to buy.

Will see!

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Not great pics (I was going to get closer but another co-worker came by and scared the turkeys off when she rounded the corner!). But, the turkeys...





One of these days I will get a close-up of the Turkeys! They like to hang around the office in spring and fall. They can be quite loud too (more loud in the spring - mating season and all). Just across the road is the creek where they live. Otherwise it's just very "city," so kind of odd.

& a beautiful picture from a bike ride with my dad, while the fam was in Florida:

I'm officially out of the heat challenge - a week earlier than last year.

I am not dissapointed at all - it's all the weather's fault.

In fact, I was starting to wonder if I was getting hormonal, because the cold hasn't particularly bothered me. This morning it was 61 inside, and I didn't even flip it on.

BUT, dh whimped out a few days ago. I didn't even know until I came home to the heat on, and asked why he had turned it on (usually I cave first - even if he is home all day!). Anyway, said he had turned it on a couple of times, because he was COLD. I hadn't even known - doh! So I am out as of the 15th. (We are not in the "run the heat all day" stage - that will be winter. HE had only flipped it on for a bit, so I didn't know).

Anyway, along those lines, it was flipping cold today!!!! Down to almost 30 (farenheit) overnight - which is as cold as it gets, here. Brrrr. The only difference between now and winter is we still have gorgeous sunny days. So I am proud of myself, that I didn't even turn on the heat this morning.

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I saw a pile of turkeys this morning and tried to snap some pics. Will share later. (Don't they know they should be hiding this time of year???)

They emerge in large groups, in the spring and fall. No doubt they came out to soak up some sun? After such a chilly night?

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There was an interesting question a while back - if switching banks for every promotion was worthwhile. Balance that against a post about changing a bank for the first time in one's life.

To all that - it depends. Depends on how desparate you are and your preference. I would say switching banks every 90 days for free money is well worth it if you are pretty broke.

I've personally found that I am changing banks every year or 2, on average (online savings types). I've only switched my checking once in my life, and don't plan to move that around unless I have to. Finally sucked it up and got a more local bank once the mail got slow. (I had ALWAYS mailed my deposits prior - and was never an issue until 2006-ish). But, the local CU we ended up is larger, more local, and has proven to be a good change. I am very pleased. I had never lived so close to my CU before... Never in the same city even - now I could walk if I Wanted to. But really the best perk is a better infrastructure since they are a little larger. The online bill pay at my old CU sucked, for one. The proximity doesn't really matter to me so much. Though it's nice as long as the mail sucks and I don't have direct deposit.

That pretty much sums it up for me.

I wouldn't blame anyone for jumping from promotion to promotion, though. I just don't feel it's personally worth the effort, today. But I Wouldn't leave my money in a low-interest account for a long time either. Always keeping an eye out for something better... & I try to pick places that have historically high rates, because I really don't want to jump every 5 minutes.

My time has been filled up and busy, but a break from real life leaves me feeling pretty refreshed.

My folks visited Sunday and stayed quite late actually. I went to bed quite a few hours later than usual!

Monday night I drove to visit them and stayed up too late again!

Woke up at dawn to get to South San Francisco by 8. Tried to stay awake for a so-so seminar. I went to an excellent one last week, so my expectations were probably too high. What a snore!

Drove into the city and glad I Was prepared for rain. IT didn't rain much at all (phew) but rained a good bit while I had an hour to wait for my friend.

I plopped my GPS in my pocket and set it to "pedestrian mode" so I wouldn't get horribly lost. Though I felt uncomfortable looking lost and touristy, so didn't touch it. (My friend later commented it would be mistaken for an iPhone - quite normal - but I didn't want to get mugged either). LEst you think I am paranoid in the city - no. I don't make it a habit to walk alone at night, and not with expensive gadgets - I live in a fairly large city myself!

Was in Union Square, and so headed to Macy's/Cheesecake Factory for some dryness and a restroom. I was sure Macy's would have one, but the Cheesecake Factory is on the top level - gorgeous view. & I was kind of curious to see how crowded it was. I've never been there with less than a 2-3 hour wait - and I knew no one would notice if I popped in the bathroom.

It was hopping and had quite a few people waiting, but didn't look like the 2-3 hours wait of years past.

I walked around the immense building for a while and browsed insanely expensive clothing.

That was it for the rain - and I was prepared in a rain jacket. Phew.

With the weather and ambiance, the area struck me very much like NYC. I've never really equated the two cities. Was in a very NYC-like section of town.

My friend escaped from work and we ate appetizers at a little Indonesian restaurant - Yum! & talked for hours. I left the city feeling rather refreshed!

Wasn't too expensive.

Gas - $20? (Took the gas sipper - good for city parking too).
$ 6 Lunch
$16 Dinner
$ 9 PArking (a Steal!)
$ 4 Bridge Toll
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$55

In the end - really only $29 to visit my friend - gas would have paid otherwise, with the seminar and all. I could have just had dinner with my folks and gone home a different route with no bridges, and no parking expenses, otherwise.

Was well worth it!

& I have tentative plans to visit her again in a couple of weeks. LM and I are going into the city, regardless. I promised him an adventure. (& a train ride - am taking him down to the Bay Area during my next Friday seminar).

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Tales of the GPS...

It got interesting when I left. The GPS wanted me to turn on a billion streets to get to the freeway (I assumed), which struck me as odd. I gave up and stayed on the major street I Was on. I *knew* there was a freeway connection there, and in fact saw it as I passed it. I thought it was odd the GPS ignored it, but I think I was a bit turned around, and so kept going. GPS said "Go 1 mile" or something, so I figured I could catch the freeway up ahead.

After driving a while I ended up on some dark, deserted streets and realized I wasn't quite sure where I Was. I wasn't thrilled with this, but knew the freeway couldn't be too far. I started listening to the GPS and making all these turns.

As I drove through some unsavory neighborhoods I started to get more frustrated. What the heck is going on? Where am I???

I realized as I entered some sort of "expressway" with no place to stop, what the problem was. It dawned on me the GPS was in "pedestrian mode" and was avoiding the freeway! I guess it thought I wanted to WALK the 90 miles home?

I pulled over the first place I could - which was a dark neighborhood. Of course I couldn't figure out how to change it back, and was worried about getting mugged.

I finally figured it out, and went on my merry way. Except I was in a very confusing area and drove through the same intersection 2-3 more times before I finally found the freeway. Like I came to a fork in the road and ended up going the wrong way (I decided to go right when I should have gone left). The GPS was no help in that area - the intersection was confusing when I approached it from a different street - so round and round I went.

I can laugh about it now because I eventually got home safe! Took me 2 hours to drive home - ugh!

Next time I think I will remember to switch the mode!

All in all, it was my frist time using the GPS alone (on such a large drive anyway) and I was pleased with it. I just had the luck to have the mode issues and to figure it out in a very confusing area. Usually dh and I read the directions to each other. So, overall, problems aside, I Was quite pleased with it, and I Think it opens up a bit of a new world for me. I am VERY directionally challenged. & the GPS makes me open to trying new things. I probably learned not to overly rely on it and check my brain out when using it though.

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I am only in the office a couple of days this week, and then to Tahoe for the weekend. What an exhausting week this is turning out to be! But, I am enjoying it.

Dh has his MRI Friday. I think the distractions are helpful. The weekend should help get our mind off of it as we await results.

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In other interesting news, an "America's Most Wanted" fugitive was found in the area I live.

That's just the sort of the media attention we need! (NOT!) We had a murder a few weeks ago - and all sorts of exaggerated reports about crime and gangs in the area, has been spread by the media. I find it very frustrating. (Was first murder of the year - it's freaking November - the population is large - murders are expected, and are usually domestic anyway - someone you know). Most my friends think I am a poor sap who lives in denial in "the ghetto." Which is completely absurd.

Now our neighborhood harbors fugitives! I can hear it now...

Anyway, I actually do enjoy watching AMW and always think to myself that I would never run across anyone featured on that show. I know the point of the show is that we all do run across these people. BUT, it's hard to stomach that you could be working or living next to an insane psycopath!

Um, maybe I will pay closer attention? Yikes!

**Made progress on the grocery bill mystery. (Bill was quite large last 2 months).

Um, dh went to Safeway because he had a coupon/promotion to spend $50 and get $10 off Kohls. I told him, "No Thanks" since I can't walk into Kohls and just spend $10. It's the "no spend month!" But he said he needed some pants. Well, okay then. Glad he could use it. (Ended up paying $7 for new jeans - which wasn't bad!).

He did go to Safeway and griped about it well afterwards - how expensive it has gotten. He still felt it was worth the coupon - but was reminded why we rarely shop there any more.

Anyway, that was just last weekend, so I was surprised to see another Safeway "grocery" purchase when I downloaded our credit cards into Quicken today. After all that griping? Why would he go back??? I looked closer and thought it could be a gas purchase. So I pulled up last month, and by some miracle, dh never got gas. Well - that solves that! Safeway fuel used to be labeled, "Safeway Fuel" and would go to "auto expense." I guess they are no longer differentiating Safeway gas and grocery. Lord knows how long this has been going on and how screwed up my Quicken is. Interestingly, as long as my gas and groceries don't top $800/month, I don't really care. So if any 2 categories have to be comingled - those will do.

All I can do is ask dh to keep me updated on his gas purchases, or make assumptions going forward. Will be easier to catch those now that I know...

Solves a bit of a mystery?

Though the one Safeway purchase last month hardly made a dent - groceries were still large! But it may explain the month prior to that.

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I got an e-mail that my new CU account is set up.

I noticed my online bank raised rates the last couple of days. Still, not enough.

Not too thrilled with the CU not calling me. It's the first institution that I have banked with that has not followed up on the fraud alert on my credit bureau accounts. Though I did mention that they asked for a lot of private info. I guess they assume if I have my drivers license and social security card, that I am me? Doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy.

I'll get money transferred around by December, probably.

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I've got some super-mini-vacations coming up. Will barely be in the office the next few weeks.

Work is slow and it's like "summer break" for me. December begins the insanity!

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I made progress on the baths, etc., at home. One sink repaired, and our shower is almost in full working order. Will probably err with caution and let the new caulk dry all week.

As of next weekend, we can resume using that shower, and I can work on the repairs on the kids' bath. I don't think it will take as long. I have one more sink to recaulk, as well as the large kitchen sink. I am dreading that one. It's easier to remove grout than caulk, that is my conclusion!

In fact, in less used areas I am skipping old caulk removal. I give up!

Ideally I did an awesome job that will last forever. Realistically, I put off hiring someone for a couple of years.

**Today I had a seminar but it turned out to be right down the street from my office. So I dropped off my lunch in the fridge and drove over for lunch. Answered some calls and e-mails, and time to spare. Will probably stop by on my way home to grab my leftovers - but that's about it. Seminar days I get out early. I can wave neener neener to my co-workers.

**I am not quite crazy enough to go to a seminar in San Francisco (though maybe I should ask if I could crash with a friend some time). South SF is a doable commute from my folks house so I signed up for a seminar there. IT was the only place I could take a specific class. PArking may possible be free?

It just occured to me with my GPS I should suck it up and go see my "best friend" who I never see. To be fair, I don't know if she has EVER visited me in Sacramento. BUT, in theory we should meet up in the Bay Area whenever we should - the public transport between cities sucks and we both visit our parents often enough.

We saw her in January and had a GREAT time. I e-mailed her on a whim and she is open to meeting in the evening. With the GPS, I will brave the city driving. I've done it before while young and stupid. The GPS gives me the guts to try again. {Really, I've driven there a billion times. It's just been a long while since I have ventured there alone}.

So today's seminar was extraordinarily cheap. Next week will be pricey with lunch, dinner, parking, Bridge tolls, etc. But well worth it to reconnect with an old friend. The 2 should even out?

**We have a weekend arranged at the cabin with a friend. Probably won't be the cheapest weekend ever (spendy friend, for one). But, I think it will be quite fun!

**Dh may take the kids out of town this weekend - his parents need help with some stuff. In theory, I should be able to make good progress on house projects. So it may work out. (Noting our auto gas bill will be large this month!!! SF, San Jose (x2), Tahoe, oh my!)

**Dh got a follow up appointment for his MRI. We will know the results the day before Thanksgiving. We were worried we might not find out until after the holidays. Phew! Turns out a friend knew someone who went through something similar - was just a "polyp" in his sinus - very easy to remove. I guess the possibilities are multiplying. Nice to know what else it could be.

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I guess November is shaping up to be a little exciting!

& thing is, really, no time or money to do any of this stuff with wee little ones, the last few years. Like, next week I am just ditching the fam for a couple of days. & I have money to splurge on a couple of meals out! Who cares about the parking - I haven't seen my friend since January! It all feels rather luxurious to me...

I guess I will always find it ironic that nonsense spreads through the forums like wildfire (i.e. The Dems want to take away your 401ks!). & yet a lot of real and true tax law passes rather quietly. Maybe it's ingenious on the part of politicians - "Look over there!" so you don't see what they are really doing?

I am just surprised I have seen no mention of this, anywhere online where I frequent financial conversations.

Home Buyer Credit Extension
http://www.fox4kc.com/business/wdaf-finance-extensions-11090...

Could be interesting to those thinking of down-sizing? The credit is now available to those who already own homes. Though I haven't read all the details, I didn't see anything about requiring a bigger home for the credit, though apparently the thinking is to spur move-up buyers. Wonder if it will spur move-down buyers even more.

I was just looking up details at a client's request, though I heard this passed on Monday?

There you have it. With so much downsizing talk, I thought many would find this interesting.

As for me? I ain't moving anywhere. A $6500 credit hardly accounts for the cost of selling or moving in our real estate market. Our downsize timeline is for when the kids are grown, anyway. We "upsized" as much as we ever plan to, in our 20s.

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Dh asked Amazon for a $10 price match on a recent purchase. No biggie, right?

BUT, he called them (usually an e-mail will suffice - their customer service is really good) to ask for $5 off on a new purchase. Though the deal was going around, most retailers charge more for the item.

Amazon said sure, and gave him a flat $16 credit instead of $10. He even said, "Well, $15 would be fine!" They said, "I'll give you $16."

Um, how awesome is that? $16 was enough to cover the item, and then some. In this case, no purchase was necessary though.

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Reminds me, I am pretty sure we met our Ebay challenge for the year. I wanted to net $100/month in Ebay/Craigslist sales.

Dh tracks all that and I don't know the details, but he has been giving me approximately $75/month.

This does not account for things he has bought with his sales income (like game systems and games galore - even gave one to a friend recently). HE also sells a pile of stuff for credit at a Used Music/Game store.

As our finances improve, I will consider earmarking those deposits for college or retirement savings. HEck, once kids are in school, there is much more profit potential, with more time to chase deals.

It's hit and miss. Some months there were no sales to be made. Other months brought in hundreds of dollars. It hasn't been a steady monthly income. Obviously, December is usually our best month. Still time to make $1200 cold hard cash for 2009.

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Saw another interesting article on 529s:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870440240457452...

I haven't particularly seen the benefits of a 529 in our low tax bracket. But it's rare that I ever seen a negative thought about a 529 plan! (I still think they are probably the best bet for anyone saving a LOT for college or anyone more upper-middle to wealthy. That's just not our demographic at the moment). The article does point out the inflexibility and issues of 529 plans.

**Well, dh is set up for a MRI after all. We have been told that his symptoms are not in line with a stroke or a brain tumor, but they want to dot their i's and cross their t's. Basically, his other doctor does not agree with not doing further testing.

Which is fine. Financially, we won't get the bill for months or years anyway. (Is there a statute on medical bills? Drives me a little mad how slow they can be to bill...)

Though makes 2009 extraordinarily ugly as far as Murphy goes. But HDHP is far more affordable than old plan, and this isn't anything I am going to sweat. Medical emergencies are no time to sweat - plenty of cash in the bank.

Unfortunately, have to wait 2 weeks, and who knows when we will get any results, with the holidays. I think we both feel a bit anxious in the interim.

So, yes, something is going on, but that's about it!

**Otherwise, it's rather quiet.

November is filled with slow days at work, and days off for continuing education seminars.

Dh's folks visited last weekend; mine this weekend. Trying to work a weekend in the Sierras (at the family cabin), perhaps the following weekend. Then we host Thanksgiving, as usual.

The seminars could be spendy with parking and meals out. But most of the rest is going to be pretty darn cheap. Thanksgiving is a potluck of sorts, and we always have more free turkeys than we know what to do with.

**I set out quite a few bags for charity I while back, and later I found I forgot 2 of them. I also have some more fragile items to pack up.

I forgot one charity pickup in between, but just got notice of another one in the next week. Will feel good to clear out the rest of that clutter.

**I earned 2 free items at the Oroweat store, with my punch card. Will try to pick up 2 free loaves of bread this week. That may be it for this week's bread purchase.

**Still working on getting an account set up at Alliant CU. Their interest rate is still 2%. Ally's has dropped to 1.55% in the interim. Good time to move - I can see the writing on the wall that GMAC/Ally will most likely drop their old MM accounts with checking option. I'll keep a token amount in there since their rates have been historically higher, but looks like Alliant will be a better place for most of our cash, for now. Application is processing.

Ironically, I had to send all sorts of personal info to them because of my ID theft. I told dh that I have to reveal more personal info than usual because of the ID theft. IT just feels so wrong. I had to mail off a copy of my SS card, for one. Ugh! It's just the way it is...

**I get the sense that people (like the Dave Ramsey and extreme anti-debt crowd) mistake my nonchalance about credit cards as cockiness. As I am told over and over that using credit cards will end up biting me in the ass.

Hmmmm, thing is I use credit cards on my terms. & if I had to drop them all tomorrow, not sure I'd particularly care. It's not that I don't think my rewards will dry up or that I will get charged annual fees. It's that I don't care and have no problem dropping them like hot potatoes if that is the better choice. Anyone else frustrated by this distinction?

Stupid me for arbitraging 0% loans into 6% FDIC-insured cash returns, averaging $750/year in cash rewards, and for using my excellent FICO score for rock bottom mortgage rates and favorable insurance rates. How could I be so stupid???

Since I've played this game for about 14 years, I Am not terribly worried about it. & I am certainly not opposed to paying everything with cash if it is the better option. It just isn't, yet...

The consequence of possibly getting our cash in order within a year, is that when you have cash it is easier to spend it.

In theory anyway. Dh and I are not the greatest examples as we can be a bit of cash hoarders. But by the same token, I do feel like we are about to explode with purchases we haven't been able to justify since having kids.

I am not sure how the 2 sides will balance out, so better safe than sorry.

It is also always good to sit down and talk about this stuff with a spouse. Sometimes you have no idea they were thinking it was a good idea to make a huge purchase in a year or 2.

So, what does this say about us? The only *new* purchases we have on the horizon (things we don't already own):

Bed/Mattress for LM (NEED)
Security/Screen Door
Trip to Hawaii
Play Structure (for kids)
Ping Pong Table
Pool Table

The trip to Hawaii materialized this year as a potential reward for making it this long without dh working, as our finances improve. Also goes will with the whole 10-year-wedding-anniversary thing. Though we are starting to think we should make it an 11-year trip. I feel no pressing need to have to go ASAP.

That is a rather new thing, and the rest centers around our home. Because, well, we are home bodies!

Here's most of the rest of the list. ** Denotes replacing things we already own. Some need to be replaced; others we want to replace with newer and/or better:

**HDTV
**New Computer Monitors (20-ish years old - the both of them).
**Digital Camera (6 years old - pennies to replace with something 4 times better)
**Replace Fence
**Outdoor Furniture
**Replace Sectional Couch (I just hate it)
**Adobe Suite (Software)
**HD Camcorder
**Redo Bathroom Tiles
**Replace Garage Door Opener (Quieter)

Though I am often impressed how little our material wish list is (new items we don't already own), other times I see how overwhelming it can be to maintain a fair amount of material items. IT probably doesn't help that so much that we own was hand-me-down or free. OF course, the irony, if I think about it, is that most of the stuff we want to replace, WE BOUGHT NEW in the first place. Oy vey. No explanation for that!

I keep thinking of more things for the list. I will have to update this post eventually. I'm probably forgetting quite a lot.

There will always be a list. I am quite sure some of these purchases will never be made. Not all of them are financially justifiable - & some are more necessary than others.

I am hoping that having a real, solid, written down list (that isn't merely in our heads) will help us to better manage them financially. This is definitely a new thing!

**Financial Update: Dh was surprisingly on board with hoarding cash for 2010. We both know if the market dips that we will be snatching up cheap stock though. I guess in the end it's rather win-win. Either we get in a strong cash position, or we buy more cheap stocks, in 2010.

**Another amazing TV purchase deal has been spotted by my dh. He didn't bring it up as though he wanted to buy it - more just at amazement at lower and lower HD prices.

Dh could have maybe talked me into it before our cash account started to reverse directions. Instead, I told him that these deals were starting to become rather common and I was pretty sure he would find an amazing TV deal between now and January. We discussed our cash position and decided to wait another year, as originally planned, no matter what. Will see if dh can stick to his guns. I can't say how it will pan out. I won't sweat getting a steal on a planned purchase, by jumping a bit early. Cash allows that luxury. BUT, I am getting the feeling the same deals will be had next year too. & I rather wait.

**I finished demolition in the bathroom and believe that next weekend I will be able to get our bathroom in full working order.

Will see!

I have second guessed myself much, like if I have ruined the bath and if we will need a professional after all. If I felt I had the means, I would hire someone to completely redo our baths. This is just a bandaid for now. No complaints about our home builder at all, but for the standard baths. We upgraded just about everything else. If I had known the crappy job they'd do on the standard baths, we would have upgraded those too and saved some money and headaches. The upgrades were mere pennies compared to ripping out and starting over.

Anyway, I am hoping my hard work will delay impending repairs for a few more years.

Once the bath is working I can do the much more minor repairs in the kids' bath. I know that one is an easier, longer lasting bandaid at least. But the use of our private shower would be nice too!

**In other news, my dad has been officially laid off from his job, post-stroke. He tried to return to work many months ago, and his employer clearly was trying to get him to quit in the meantime. Very frustrating, but paperwork has been signed as of last week. Officially laid off. His stroke was in May, and I believe he tried to return to work in September. Maybe they have only been dancing around it for 2 months, but it feels like it has been forever!!!!

With employers like these, who needs enemies? They treated him terribly. The worst was they fought him every step of the way - messing with stock options, COBRA, and everything in the process. Changing the rules as they went along. FINALLY, they hired a lawyer. The stress was the last thing he needed, but hell if he would quit and let them win, either. He wanted his job back!!!! Now he is eligible for unemployment, when his disability payments expire.

He's been job hunting best one can while still employed. Self survival - he would have quit if he found a job.

We are wary. His brain function is not quite 100%. Returning to his old job would have been far easier to test the extent of his disability. Now he will have to test his performance at a new job - which is rather scary.

Of course, the flip side is that he may never find another job.

My extremely financially prepared parents have been extremely zen of late. Initially they were hit with panic as my dad's employment evaporated before them. Not sure if he will ever work again - how scary! As prepared as they were, this wasn't exactly in the plans.

I think time and even moreso, facing their mortality, has changed their tune a bit. I really can't explain it. I am glad they aren't stressing though - I don't think they need to. Social security is only 40% or so of their income - and would pay all their bills at their prior lifestyle level, which was plenty nice. The reward for living well below one's means. Not to mention being amply insured, and having hit the poverbial lottery with their personal residence. That's a heck of a lot of insurance in itself. I am glad they have relaxed - I am sure they will be fine.

My dad is a workaholic. Lord willing, he will work many more years - he doesn't want to retire. But I think he is also accepting the possibility of retirement a little better now.

**In terms of our own health, dh and I have been noticing a lot more patterns in LM and are starting to feel that the asthma diagnosis is probably more than just a passing guess. We have suddenly noticed how exercise and allergens send off his coughing fits. I am sure we will have more doctor appointments as we explore exactly what all this means.

**Dh's general doctor called him after talking to the neurologist. I figured that was kind of done, but she sent dh for a hearing test. He one done as recently as last year, as they followed up from his last spell of hearing loss. The hearing tech (for lack of a better word) was very informative. Mentioned brain tumor actually. Said, the hearing loss was not characteristic with a tumor (it had returned to his "normal" of a year ago - but still had some strange characteristics noted a year ago). The tech or whoever he met with said they would refer him back to his ear/nose/throat doctor and would not be surprised if that doctor recommended a MRI to be on the safe side.

I could flip a coin. We have the cash and I certainly don't mind being on the safe side. So we will see if we hear any more on that. If not, I am confident that it is not warranted.

Dh seems to be fine, so phew.

His first doctor appointment didn't go so well. Doctor mentioned the word, "Stroke," though she really didn't have a clue. At that point it flipped me out a bit, considering my dad had a stroke this year, etc. I thought maybe I had been in complete denial. (Looking back, I think it just didn't seem to be that at all, so I logically ruled it out). But at the point I did think maybe I was in denial. She was stumped and actually called a neurologist at the hospital. He just said, "I'd need to see him." Since they weren't really sure if it was something serious at that point, they got him an appointment right away.

We went over to the big hospital, and I told dh I knew for a fact he was getting into a neurologist faster than my dad did, who had a much more major stroke. Didn't know if this was good or bad. But good to get answers.

In the end, no answers, but I did like the neurologist. He said his brain looked completely healthy, from initial examination, and he thinks it is just an inner ear thing, set off by a virus. Dh tends to get vertigo and hearing loss with colds, etc.

My pet peeve, you know, is making important decisions based on finances. Too often a doctor or nurse has muttered, "I would do this, but it's expensive, and I assume you can't afford it." Not said in those exact words, but pretty much. One nurse said, "Oh I see you have this plan and can't afford it." HUH???? I will afford anything for my health. It's just a bit of my pet peeve when it comes to car repairs and health visits.

ANYWAY, I didn't like the way this was going. Doctor said he could do further testing, "but it's expensive." This guy really wanted to piss me off, didn't he? We are talking about a loved one's brain! Who cares how much it cost for a flipping test?

But he did redeem himself. He made clear that he was confident that dh's brain was fine, and that he didn't want to put him through that at this point - not enough symptoms to justify it all. At least this is logical. (Next steps would be blood testing and MRI).

If dh does have further episodes, etc., then it is possible he will get an MRI. For now, everything seems fine, and the virus thing seems logical.

The neurologist was very "it's up to you," as was everyone else we talked to. They seemed a little sympathetic that his symptoms were a little freaky. I think it was like, "If you want a MRI.." "If you want drugs, if you want another appointment, whatever you need."

In the end he is better and we decided to drop it.

So I am relieved to say he seems fine. If his ear bothers him again we may pursue more of an ear specialist, but it's hard to do much at this point, now that he is 100% again.

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I've not felt very well - but could just be stress. A billion germs seem to be flying round. We all seem to have a *touch of* everything, if that makes sense. Work is terribly slow, and by some miracle I barely used any sick days this year. So I am glad I can stay home and rest. (With the kids in preschool dh and I were constantly sick, but that seems to have passed. Phew!!! Last year wasn't so bad, but I had a nasty flu that knock me out almost 2 weeks. I will be proud to end this year with only a handful of sick days - assuming that is possible. Shouldn't get ahead of myself I guess, but we usually all get hit harder in the spring - more stress I guess with tax season and everything. Right now everything seems to be mild as we have low stress otherwise).

What is one secret to squeezing out more savings? Pay your bills "late!"

Actually, the deal is, someone in the forums was asking about a budget problem and not getting paid for 30 days or something. They were concerned about their mortgage payment. If they were that tight for money, I figured they probably already knew their mortgage had a grace period. I didn't want to state the obvious, but brought it up.

The reply was something like, "I could never pay the mortgage late!" Like I suggested something pretty terrible.

Oy vey!

Anyway, I think it's a good tip and it got me thinking, so I had to share.

(I mean, come one MM blog followers - do I delight in paying my bills late? LOL).

Most mortgages (check with yours) allow a 15-day grace period. Meaning, you can pay your mortgage 15 days "late" with no negative consequences. I have always kept this in the back of my mind - it would be the first action in case of emergency - I would pay the mortgage ve after the 1st instead of before the 1st.

& yes, I have paid my mortgage "late" MANY times. I know for a fact that there is no negative consequences.

After that discussion I was thinking about it. Well, my $2150 property tax bill was due Sunday. But no penalty is assessed until December 10th. I mean come on, the REAL due date is December 10. I don't know anyone financially savvy who pays their tax bill in November, unless they just like to pay their bills super early. By waiting for December 1, I will earn $4 in interest. $4!!!!! If you collect pennies, why wouldn't you pay your bills on their real due dates???

So, anyway. I don't know if there are any other bills I habitually pay "late." Probably not. Everything else should really probably be paid on time, to avoid penalties and issues. & credit cards? The earlier the better.

Thing is, most people don't realize their mortgage company can be rather lenient compared to other types of companies.

I googled a bit to see how standard a 15-day mortgage grace period is, and it looks pretty standard. Late payment is not reported until 30 days.

If it were me, and I had no income for a month, and no savings, I would just pay the mortgage late. Even if over 15 days - take the penalty, and call it a day. Beats racking up credit card debt or a loan. If it doesn't affect your credit score, since you paid in 30 days, why not? I still think it seems like the easiest solution, given the scenario. But hey, what do I know???

Anyway, why have I often paid my mortgage "late?" To avoid touching my savings (generally in times of higher interest) for a simple, temporary cash flow issue. I find it easier than juggling all my savings around. I've had a years worth of savings in the bank, and paid the mortgage "late" so I wouldn't have to jiggle money around.

Obviously I take my mortgage very seriously. I wouldn't recommend paying it late, habitually, beyond using it as a money management tool.

I guess the other thing is being an accountant, I view the "due date" as merely a suggestion. I get the feeling that some people view it as a moral obligation. Believe me, as long as said company gets paid and doesn't have to send you a late notice, it's all good!

LM was unofficially diagnosed with asthma today.

I am $150 poorer, but glad that the nebulizer is quite affordable! Phew! (We didn't have prescription coverage for a time, and I think that now we do?)

Um, doc says he does not have swine flu, and probably did not have it in the first place.

Though he has always been a little wheezy when sick (& believe me we have asked the doc about it) and prone to what we thought was allergies, the asthma showed itself in coughing fits. They have been coming on and off quite suddenly, but last night was pretty terrible. So we sent him off to the doc today.

Our city has extremely high rates of asthma and allergies, so not surprising in the least.

I am even starting to think back on some of BM's "croup" episodes and wonder if he could have asthma as well. There was a time for about a year that he would get that awful croup cough out of nowhere, be terribly ill, and it would just go away. The doc kept saying he would outgrow that horrible cough any day. (I think he has, but knock on wood). Something to consider if it does come on again. It is just occurring to me that BM is also known for sudden crazy coughing.

For now, it's just a guess and doctor wants us to let her know if the nebulizer helps, and if we find we are using it often, etc. Then we can go from there.

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Poor LM though. He had such a rough night last night and nothing would help his cough. At least we have another tool for the next coughing fit.

& of course, by the time we got in to the docs' today, he was good as new. Thankfully she heard a wheeze. Otherwise not sure the doctor visit would have been as productive.

"Productivity" must be in the air. It is definitely a fall thing.

**Counted kids' money today, and BM has a $50 deposit. It is so funny how crammed full his piggy bank was with $1 bills. Mental note: check his piggy bank more often.

For now, BM is the saver (he is like dh: likes his electronics, but hell if he would spend a dime on anything else. Seems totally disinterested in fads. Though, since dh gets so many games and books for free, he is content).

LM is more imaginative and could play with lint all day, but he also likes collecting little characters. He has been the spendy one. That being said, Grandma spoils him a bit, and as spendy as he is, he still had about $40 in his piggy bank. Go figure. (He doesn't get an allowance yet, so BM has much more dough).

**Dh and I discussed no-spend November. Well, I think it will be "low-spend November." We've spent our money for the year, pretty much. (Keep in mind - all our November bills are already paid, etc. Anything in December will mostly be charged, and paid in January).

Today I reconciled all our "savings buckets" accounts - spreadsheets - through the end of the year. In the end, I don't think we will have to touch any other savings (barring Murphy or unforeseen), but on the flip side I am upset that I have no money to add to the efund. Maybe next year!

We will end rather breakeven in short-term savings, and with $0 in the medical savings. $20k-ish in more long-term savings/efund.

I think short term savings needs a $150/month boost. That is where preschool money will divert to, mid-2010.

(Drats - and I forgot to account for possible $1k car repair. Might have to touch savings, after all. Won't beat myself up over it since short-term savings covered $2k body work on the van this year. I'll be lucky to have barely touched our "true savings," otherwise.).

**I've finished most of my goals for the year, but have completely ignored all my "house goals."

Until the month of October anyway.

This weekend I:

*Touched Up Paint
*Trimmed Trees (never done before)
*starting demolition on bathroom repairs.

Last one sounds fancy, but I am mostly just removing grout, old caulk, and cleaning for re-caulking.

The nice thing is I have all the time in the world for bath projects. I have quite a few areas to work on. Our bathroom has not been used for years, and so I will take my time on it. Once it is in working order, we can start work on the other bath. The perk to having 2 full baths. (My bath will be the most tedious - the only one with grout to remove. The reason being that it was falling out all over the place. I got all the easy stuff on Friday, and the rest will be a chore. Just where the tile meets the bottom of the shower. I have read that it should be caulked - where different materials meet - so that is what I will do. I read builders are bad about this detail, but it hasn't affected our other 2 tubs. I am just going to caulk over the other 2 tubs since the grout has held up. Phew!).

The only other frustration this weekend is that the door paint, which we had never opened or used, was all "curdled." We went by the paint store today, but it was closed. Doh! Builder gave us small 1/2 gallons of touch up paint, and wrote down the paint #s. Hopefully it will be easy to replace (though I am not terribly sure that it's the right paint to begin with?).

So all I was able to touch up was the walls, but they do look like a million bucks.

In the end, might have to pick a new color for 2 doors, and completely repaint them. Worst case, anyway.

Anyway, I was starting to think I might not hit any house goals this year. No idea where this motivation has come from, but I will take it!

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Enjoy it while you can. I don't plan to make "house repair" a hobby. I have actually been a pretty terrible procrastinator on this. Like, I rather not use the shower, than fix it!

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Dh earned his keep. He did minor garage door repair, changed air filters, and promised to repair a hole in the wall (from doorknob - pesky kids loosened the door stopper). Him and the kids helped me with the trees, too. Dh did the grunt work.

Oh yeah - I figured I'd attempt to remove our small, dead tree. It seemed wobbly, so I gave it a good kick. Well, that was all it needed! Dh ended up having to saw it up into smaller pieces. It was just too dry/brittle. But I was able to get all the live tree branches trimmed. Borrowed saw came in handy!

I also drug dh along on a home repair shopping trip. Though I ended up buying most of it online (cheaper).

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One thing to add: I puzzled over our grocery bill this month, since it was quite high, for 2 months in a row. & um, family was gone for ONE WEEK? I thought this month would even out since dh had stocked up on so much before their trip in October. (To be fair - I gave a fair amount of food away because dh cooked more like for 2-3, than for one).

Anyway, I swear the kids have asked for a snack about 100 times today!!!!! I think I can see the culprits! They usually do not eat light in the least, but I think keeping them well fed will be challenging for a while. They get this way with growth spurts. I can not imagine what it will be like to have 2 teenaged boys!!! With their metabolisms? Oy vey!! Glad I have time to save up for that - may need a second income. Or a Costco membership.

We bought a small bowl of candy, and expected to have tons leftover. Our neighborhood can be hit and miss, but usually no one Trick or Treats much. Sometimes we are lucky to get 5 people, though we have had maybe one year (in 8?) that was crowded. Since we border a gated community, we figure, most people hit the "rich people in the gates" rather than bother with us.

Anyway, so we took the kids out with their neighbor friends, and holy cow, TONS of people out. The weather was divine! It was maybe 60-65 degrees. We were sweating in our jackets.

Funny enough, since hardly anyone seemed to be home in our neighborhood, at some point my neighbor asked if anyone remembered the gate code. I drew a blank though we need it to use the pool, and we had been there a billion times this summer. A guy handing out candy yelled out, "It ain't all that. I was just there - those houses are so spread out you have to walk farther. The pickings are better here." We've never sampled the bounty because, well, the kids don't need MORE CANDY. Was happy to stick to our slightly more modest neighborhood.

My one pet peeve of the evening was the number of people who left their outside lights on, but didn't answer the door. You know, usually there are one or 2, so whatever. But this year? It seems like half the houses. Which was frustrating since so few people were home to begin with.

We got home, and the kids skyped their grandparents and great-grandparents. I figured as things were winding down and we got our first Trick or Treaters, I was handing out handfuls. Then, about 20 kids came to the door - and well, I had about 20 pieces of candy left. Dh and the kids finished their skype and were like, "What the heck happened to the candy?????" LOL.

I turned off the light while we inspected the kids' candy. We always pick out all the crappy stuff and hand it back out.

We went through it, and we were shocked by the bounty. Quite a few large candy bars, and for a new record, there was not even one item we wanted to throw back. I personally like chocolate, and that is mostly what they had. But seriously? Nothing weird and/or cheap in the bunch? ??

I thought the whole thing was rather insane. The economy has hit our city VERY hard. I told dh, "Remember when we used to be happy with a small piece of candy?" At some point someone only handed the kids one piece of candy, and they exclaimed, "They only gave us one!" & we are like, "yeah? Be grateful?"

This halloween just left me scratching my head. A lot less people seemed to participate this year, in handing out candy. But the few that participated, went BIG. & all I saw was new, store bought costumes on the streets. Makes you think, "what economy whoas?" By the same token, it just shocks me at what HAlloween has become. The more/bigger, the better?

In the end - I think we ended up with 3 times the candy we started with, and we only went to a handful of houses, really. Holy cow!

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For us? Spent a few bucks on candy. LM wore a costume from 2007, and BM's dracula costume was all of $10.

But yeah, just had to share because, well, the end result was completely unexpected. I do thing the bigger turnout can be attributed to the nice weather. But, who knows. No logic for the biggest halloween bounty of all time.

**Feeling rather caught up at work. November will be slow, but I will barely be in the office anyway. I have a lot of 3-day weeks ahead. Vacation days, holidays, continuing education, etc. I will enjoy it because end of December will get kind of crazy, and it's all downhill from there!

**I have been super duper productive, even since the family has returned home.

*Opened new CU savings account
*Baked cupcakes for school
*Donated money to school
*House is still looking pretty clean
*Mailed in a pile of rebates

Etc., etc.

**I went by the bread store again. Dh wanted rolls for a recipe, LM wanted more boring bread, and I stocked up on the good wheat bread and the SandwhichThins. We figured everything was about 50% of what we pay for at the store - plus it's MUCH better quality, to boot.

Oh, and I earned 2 free items. Will probably just get more bread, next weekend, when we start to run out. FREE!

**My netbook has gone through a bit of a metamorphasis. I exchanged it for a black one with a larger hard drive. Dh then found a deal on more memory. Since we were able to price match it, ended up costing the same as originally, just about. Maybe $10 more. But, it is now considerably more powerful than my old laptop. Though literally, just about half the size. I think that is so awesome. (Exchange was with relative - we liked each other's color better).

**Fall has definitely arrived! You'd be happy to know my house was 65 degrees this morning, and there was definitely a chill in the air. My heat challenge has begun...

**I would like to do some tree trimming and touch up painting around the house this weekend. Will see what we accomplish. It does look like the weather may co-operate.

**Financially, probably feeling a little stressed. I am nervous about what our health insurance premiums will come out to, as I read about record high increases. Ugh! We've had some pretty nasty years (40% increase was the worst). Considering we pay about $10k per year, can't say I could shoulder another 40% increase.

So, I always stress this time of year.

The last 2 years were bearable, so I feel like we have had it too good and that this year will likely be horrible. On the flip side, preschool is only about 6-7 more months, so I could shoulder a $150/month increase, easily, if I had to. Will see! (Future years, dh would have to return to work, if we had more increases like the past).

I am also not thrilled with where we will end up for the year. Don't get me wrong, we had an awesome year. But as the year progressed, I had higher and higher expectations.

I now feel like we will be lucky to end the year with $20k in the bank. (I've got a LOT of bills come due the next couple of months. Mostly prepared for - but some surprises).

*Will be $12k in the Efund (Was hoping to get to $15k. Mostly ruined by hitting a pole with my vehicle).

*I estimate we will get $8k in mid-term savings. Which isn't half bad - was like $0 at 1/1; no complaints here.

*I feel pretty happy with our current savings levels. $5k per year to mid-term savings. $5k per year to ROTHs. Probably $8 this year to my work retirement.

I am happy with retirement, and feel that it is on track.

I still feel like we have a fair amount of catching up to do on our savings. $8k is great, but I see it disappearing in a flash with work that needs to be done around the house. Not to mention that we always seemed to get creamed with a $2k-$3k emergency (last 2 years anyway. I know I should just feel lucky we had nothing like that the few years prior).

All in all, it was a pretty good year, and I can only hope that we make the same progress next year. $30k cash in the bank is still that magic number that will help me sleep better at night. & looks quite possible, for 2010.

**We are aiming for a no-spend November. Don't expect it to help the budget much, because um, we don't have much spending in our budget. But that's probably why I feel we have been spending too much. We also discussed as my laptop has been replaced, and other things taken care of around the house (and we had quite a few purchases this year) that next year should be rather low key. Dh and I had discussed buying a TV, when LM was done with school. Or at least starting to keep an eye out (could take him years to pick one out). But besides that, dh confirmed that he had nothing on his purchase horizon - he had gotten a lot of purchasing done this year. We have been thinking about a new camera for a while, but it's hardly worth a mention - we can replace our 4 megapixel with a 12 megapixel for $100-ish. & by some miracle, my spouse doens't have an electronic purchase wish list a mile long? (Don't get me wrong, if we came into money his list would be long - but for now, he is content).

So, we are going to try to pull way back Nov/Dec. We never spend any money in January - April. Too busy! That will reverse my savings angst, I am sure, given a few months.

**In other news, how about those Housewives?

Some of you know my vice is addiction to reality TV. I remember when the first "Real Housewives" aired - OC? - that they showed some statistic about the average income in the gated community they focused on. It was something like, say $300k. $500k? I don't remember. But, being in my line of work, I have exposure to much more higher-income people than the average person probably does.

So anyway, I know the average person thinks, "$500k? PRetty sweet!" Meanwhile, they portray these multi-million dollar lifestyles. I can tell you, no one in this state is going to live a lifestyle like THAT on $500k per year. Not validly anyway.

I just found that whole thing really annoying. I mean, it's the perfect Joneses scenario. TV shows always portray completely unattainable lifestyles. I guess that is nothing new. But I felt the income figure was very misleading.

So, anyway, fast forward a few years, and more and more reports come out about these people foreclosing on their homes.

Uh, yeah? Is this a surprise??? You can't afford such an extravagant lifestyle unless you have a LOT of money coming in, for eternity. The second the income stops, the whole bottom falls out. & I am sure a lot of that is happening with the economy.

I was telling my spouse about the foreclosures, and he asked me if they would portray their financial whoas in upcoming seasons. I about choked on my food, when he asked. Of course not! The whole thing is so fake. The failed ones will disappear and new/"richer" housewives will come in.

Will see!!!

A trip to Denver ($100+taxes - for roundtrip) looks pretty tempting about now:

http://luv.southwest.com/servlet/cc6?kOHpjQSRCBQTVlgLOlhgxPh...

Would be an opportunity for LM to meet Great-Grandma.

We had such a lovely trip last time - just BM and I.

Just concerned about visiting in the weather. I only go up to the snow on sunny/clear days. Wouldn't have a clue how to drive on ice/snow. & I can't predict the weather!

Though I could finagle a day off work, I can't afford to get snowed in, either... (Has happened before - buried under a few feet of snow).

But, I thought I'd share the deals.

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ETA: We briefly considered it, but decided we have no snow clothing/winter clothing to speak of. & we are cold whimps, and it just doesn't make much sense. Thinking we may road trip to visit Grandma next summer though. Or maybe another deal like this will materialize next summer. Will see!

Weekend was productive.

Cleaning progress was made, and the dryer vents were cleaned.

Though I could probably do a once over in every room - to get them all sparkling top to bottom, they probably look better than they have in years. (TIME is key here. Time is not something I've had much luxury of since having babies!). Time and motivation - not sure where the motivation materialized from. But for a quiet week to myself - it really kickstarted me. Maybe I should kick the family out of the house for a week, every year!

Anyway, besides time, it helps to have more helping hands around (the kids). With little time and more money, I have rebeled against much "DIY" in recent years. But, I do realize my willingness to get my hands dirty has more to do with time than anything. That's my conclusion as I take on more projects I had intended to hire out. (I still rather get things done *right,* and not do things I hate with a passion - like yardwork. But I find myself taking on more, all the same, with more time).

November projects include touch up painting, and bathroom repairs (resealing tubs & sinks). Maybe some tree pruning and removal. Dh has a wall to repair. I am feeling motivated on long put off projects. But if these are done, the house will be rather beautified for it's 8th birtday.

Next year, we may make progress on the outside (fresh paint and a new fence - on our To-Do list. Though I would label us as the types to put this stuff off, in the end, what do I know? Will likely be the first in the neighborhood. A major reason we have delayed is hoping to get painter recommendations from neighbors. But everyone is too broke to maintain their house, it seems. We were also the first to put in our yard, so I guess I under-estimate ourselves in some regard. Though literally, I can't believe it if we are the first to paint our house. Just sad, since some homes are looking so shabby. Our light colored paint has held up better than a lot of the others).

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Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch. We had Southern weather. Everyone was in their tank tops - it was WARM! It was rather surreal.

Still crazy warm weather here. Usually around now I struggle to keep the heat off. Instead, we have struggled to keep the AC off. Literally.

& yes, I Was buying fleece just a couple of weeks ago because we had a chilly night or two. Hasn't gotten much use!

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That's the long and the short of it, from my corner of the world.

I think November will be about projects around the house!

I am also considering trying to get dh on board with a no-spend November. We've just been spending too much, lately. Staying home and working on the house, may be productive. But if I could talk him into not purchasing anything for a month (besides groceries/fuel), well, I think that would be helpful. Though, certainly a challenge. I think November is a good month because we bought a lot of toys the last few months. We should be able to do it. Heck - I'd like to start this no-spend thing, tomorrow! (Speaking of time - I had too much time to shop while the family was gone. That was the downside. The busier I am, the less money I spend).

Crisis Averted!

No - it wasn't a crisis. We have already decided, for various reasons, to keep our current HDTV up in our bedroom. & to replace our main TV with a HD Plasma, next year. Prices have come down so much, if nothing else.

Dh has wanted our main TV to be a HDTV for over a decade, for sure. There is certainly nothing rash about a Plasma purchase. I'd say he has been pretty patient. Just that we didn't trust the one we bought in 2007 around the kids. So we put it in our bedroom "temporarily." Dh has since become aware of its "flaws." & at the same time, it won't cost much more to replace our main TV, then it would to buy a smaller HDTV for upstairs, which he had also intended. I prefer it upstairs because I am "blind" and like to watch TV before bed. I don't watch as much TV in the main room and usually have my glasses on otherwise. I see no flaws on the HDTV. Dh is pretty particular.

So, anyway. We ended up buying that TV though simply because it came on sale at about 75% off. Dh actually thought it was a misprint, and went to check it out. Came home with a giant TV!! That one is not a plasma.

I admit it looks very silly in our bedroom (all 50 inches or so), but keeps us happy. & like I said, keeps it safe from the kids!!!

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So, today started out the same. Some insane/impossible deal in a 50-inch Plasma. ($849?).

I figured it was 50/50 dh would come home with it.

In the end it was last year's model (not surprising) and didn't have some of the internet features touted with the new one. Dh decided to pass since he couldn't really find any reviews on it. (He saw a few good ones, and no bad ones, but wasn't 100% convinced, but for the savings. Losing some of the features touted, unsweetened the deal).

So, no TV today.

The only reason I share is because our non-frugal friends will never understand us. For one, they imagine we pay full price for everything, and then assume that since dh is patiently waiting for a DECADE for a deal too good to pass up, that appearance-wise, our friends tend to think we wake up and randomly decide to buy electronics. !!

I mean, last time, our friends thought we just woke up and decided to buy a $3k TV. (Well, we paid $1k, and only bought it because we had wanted on for many years and never seen such a good sale).

This purchase would have been the same. Like we just woke up and decided to spend $2k on a TV. ??? I don't think so!!

So for now, we avoid dropped jaws and whisperings behind our back. Not that we care, but just a common reaction we get to our purchases.

I didn't think much of it to point out that the vehicle we bought in 2006 was paid for in cash. (Only brought up because someone at work asked about the financing or something - the dropped jaws threw me off). Of course, with time I realized everyone thought I went out and brought a brand new vehicle. Whereas the one I bought was one-year-old and 50% of the cost of new. & everyone kept asking me if it had leather and automatic doors. Oh yes - and Stow & Go. Huh? Well, no, I couldn't have paid cash for all that!!!

Not to mention that I bought a real beater to drive while we saved up the cash for a minivan. Was a purchase 3 years in the making.

It's all kind of the same, and I know you cash-paying-frugies can relate!

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Today's shopping doings:

1 - Dh is going to try to get a price match on our netbook. Another store offered a lower price today. We won't return it though due to restocking fee - would cancel out deal. Too bad - other computer is a little better (more power) and my favorite color. But we spent so much time setting this one up already. Not sure if price match will be honored, but never hurts to ask. (Not sure since it is a slightly different model, etc.).

ETA: Price Match - scored!!!

2 - Target has board games on sale for $9. Will stock up on a few for Christmas. (Battleship, Twister, etc.)

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Frugal Backfire of the day.

To be fair, BM has been reading for many years. BUT, we bought a Jenga game for pennies at a garage sale. It was "adult jenga" but the kids couldn't particularly read, so who cares, right? (Oh - I think it was Truth or Dare Jenga!). BM has only been really reading sentences or phrases for a year - we bought this before then.

Anyway, today the kids got it out and BM started to take an interest in reading them. LOL.

I told dh to see if there was a Jenga at Target too. I think the old one will disappear now. It's completely over the kids' heads, so the whole thing was pretty funny. But yeah, time to replace it with a more kid appropriate version - like plain old Jenga!

**Friday night we dropped off BM at school for a "Parent's Night Out." Was a fundraiser for the 5th graders specifically, but I was impressed at the idea (seemed like an easier way to make money than last years' fundraisers). Anyway, BM REALLY wanted to go, so we said, whatever. $20 for 3 hours.

We ended up eating at home, ourselves, and taking LM to Chuck E Cheese. It was crowded as expected, but *too* bad. LM had some fun. We have tokens leftover from birthdays AND MIL brought us coupons for 40 free tokens. In the end, not too pricey of a night.

**We saw a Colombo bakery outlet on our way home Friday night. Chalk that one up to FOUR outlets in our city. (I peeked online but looks like it possibly closed quite a few years ago. I wouldn't check it out anyway because I am bakery'd out!)

**Yesterday I went to aerobics in the a.m. and got to the Entemann's Outlet when they opened. That is a good in strategy! The place was well stocked. I checked out the "free" bin and it had plain wheat bread.

There were piles of empty shelves when we went last Sunday. Yesterday they were FILLED with SanwichThins - costco sized ones at that. Wow - those things must be popular! (Those shelves cleared out quickly last weekend).

I picked up a large bag of SanwichThins, some of the donuts for the kids,& pita bread for dh. I grabbed some crackers since I knew the regular bread would be free then (Or I'd pay for the bread and then get free, something I would never use). The crackers were rather expensive, but divine.

I almost fell over when I looked at the ingredients on the bread. Wheat and flour? I mean, literally like less than 10 ingredients.

I told dh that I hope the store stays open - we are getting spoiled by the high quality food.

I slit the big bag of SanwichThins and gave them to our parents. They hadn't heard of them. Was my plan - but not sure if they would like them. Well, they did!

**I baked the rest of the cookie dough yesterday, and saladed the rest of the eggs. I ended up taking out the bacon and adding vinegar. I liked it better.

**Yesterday we had our Windows 7 party. We did the party to get a free copy of Windows 7.

We had some crazy Round Table coupons (like $5 off one pizza - we have been getting tons of those) so got some pizza. My mom slipped me some cash for the pizza anyway, so we were spoilt.

We showed off Windows 7, and my new Netbook, to the techies at the party. Spent the rest of the day chatting and playing cards.

Our parents came, so doubled as a nice day with them.

With all the bodies, my mom who is sensitive to heat, asked us to turn on the air. Not sure I would count it except that it was getting pretty darn warm (78). So we ended up turning on the air for a couple hours.

I think I can confidently say that is a record - running the AC on Oct. 24? Yeesh! Not normal!

**I asked my folks if they had a lint brush I could borrow. They said no, but I asked my dad for a lesson on cleaning the dryer vents (something I had been meaning to do). Will be my chore for today. Pretty self explanatory, but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. They improvise with the vacuum cleaner, which is a good idea (long attachments). Not surprised at all that they would improvise rather than have a lint brush! But talking to them saved me some money in that area.

It's a good reminder to clean all your appliances. When our fridge gave us issue last year, turns out we just needed to clean the coils or something like that..

I may bug dh about that - that it's time to clean the fridge.

**Since we picked up a bit for the party - I'd say the whole house is clean, but for the kids' rooms and bathroom. Today we will hit those rooms. I don't have much to do but to scrub their countertops in the bath, and to scrub their teeny-tiny floor around the toilet. (The rest of the bath is carpeted - don't ask me why. We had to ask not to have carpet by the tubs. Seemed like a bad idea!) But does mean I have little to scrub. Just the little square around the toilet/tub. Dh has shower duty since I cleaned the WHOLE HOUSE while they were gone. I often ask him to clean the shower - it's just the thing I hate the most. I don't mind any other chores, so work for us...

If we accomplish that today, I could say the whole house is clean!!! Only accomplished because the fam was gone a week. & well, it will last all of 5 minutes, of course. Why I rarely make that a goal!

I even cleaned out dh's car the other day, so we are on a clean record. It needed some major vacuuming. My vehicle was detailed recently, when it was repaired, so I got off easy.

House and cars, clean!!??!!

As usual, just trying to keep up with it, going forward. Will probably fail, but will at least try. I did enjoy having little to do to get ready for this party.

& in November I would like to take some time to detail each room (clean window sills and baseboards. Touch up paint, etc. All NEEDED!). Yeah - that's my November goal.

So yes, a few chores for today, but will take it easy otherwise.

**Work is slowing down quite a bit. In November/December I have quite a lot of holidays, vacation days, and days off for education/seminars, etc. It's always a tough adjustment to go from the slow end of year to the crazy tax season. Crazy begins in late December, so I always enjoy the calm before the storm. I'll only be in the office 3-4 days a week for most of November/December. Which is fine because there isn't a lot to do!

Fiber optic internet has been useful. I downloaded Quicken to my new Netbook today. It turns out I needed to remember my Quicken login, and it took a while to track it down. But, phew, I did.

Anyway, I asked dh how long it would take to download (quoted something like 20 minutes DSL/10 minutes cable). Before dh could answer it was done. Um, ONE SECOND? Sweet!

Um, so it is like 1000 times faster than DSL??? (I've downloaded some small things since the switch, but nothing like this).

I spent the evening setting up my skype account and testing it out. Quicken was a breeze to set up. Phew!!!

I never felt comfortable keeping all my financial data on my laptop so I have the data stored elsewhere. Perfect in this case, since the Netbook is so small and portable. Don't worry - I won't cart around all my financial data with it!

ETA: Dh checked the specs on my laptop, and this machine is slightly better. Hard to imagine something so small can be more powerful.

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In other news, I couldn't tell you how much these cost in the stores because mine were free.

But, oh my, did I mention how yummy the Oroweat Sandwichthins are? & no I am not a health nut, so the health nuts can pick it apart. I grabbed them because I thought they almost looked like panini. I didn't expect them to be so good!

http://www.sandwichthins.com/

We got the multi-grain one.

I did eat one with my egg salad recipe. I think I have been eating them completely plain otherwise. Haven't even tried toasting it yet. Because they taste so good! I am sure they would be great with many food stuffs. Dh was going to whip up some hummus for the weekend - these will be perfect with it.

If we had seen this first though...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp;jsessionid=895D870B0...

Just a PC, monitor, laptop, netbook, & wireless router, for $1199!

(We have monitors from the 80s/90s, and a PC - from the 90s as well - that's on its last legs. Talk about tempting!)

We did discuss the deal for quite a while today. Dh sent me the link, kind of as a joke. But he hadn't noticed the monitor was included too. He could have talked me into it. We would have returned the netbook I bought today - which would have made it a $800 deal for the rest.

BUT, not really necessary.

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Anyway, ended up with a Toshiba Netbook. ALMOST went with Asus. If the Asus was in stock, would have gone with it because it was cheaper (& prettier). BUT heard REALLY bad things about the power supply, so decided to go with the in-stock Toshiba. We went test driving them last night, and we both really liked the Toshiba in the end. Good reviews backed it up. Dh bought it today since Windows 7 rolled out today.

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I tested it out at lunch today, briefly. So far I REALLY like it.

To be honest, my laptop needs replacing. I am a laptop girl - love having the portability around the house, etc. BUT, the idea of buying another laptop has been hard to swallow.

We bought a pretty nice laptop in 2005 because dh envisioned using it more. So I am not thrilled with buying another one, just 4 years later. But it is on its last legs. Though we agreed to get a more low level laptop next round.

Anyway, I like the lower cost of the netbook. & it is fitting considering I do little more than internet on it. & the lighweight and size is pretty cool.

Talk about a bit of an impulse purchase though. VERY unlike us. All I can say is happy birthday to me.

Truth is, I just didn't feel we had the money to spend on it right now (though laptop has been pretty bad for quite a few months). So when the money arrived, I was a little impatient.

Dh is also always hogging up the big purchases. Glad I got a turn!

Definitely more good than bad!!!!

I read a report about local property tax assessments today. I can never remember all the dates, so saved me some homework. Was a reminder that assessment date was Jan. 1. Since we had a $325k appraisal at the time, other homes sold in that price range and that is exactly what our house assessment was, well, I didn't expect anything (assessment decrease) this year.

I was preparing to research home values on Jan. 1, 2010 and have my evidence in case the county didn't agree, next year. Hard to tell since nothing has sold less than $300k yet. BUT, some lower priced stuff sitting, etc. Who knows - was going to do my homework on Jan. 1, in case we could lower our taxes for NEXT year.

Anyway, property taxes in California - they can't go up more than 2% per year (or else no one could afford the taxes). Anyway, but they will go down to real value in a decline. Though in an uptick, they jump back to old levels. Homes are re-assessed upon sale.

Um, not sure state has ever had to reassess so many home (in decline). Definitely new territory - have read a lot of articles how this is a first. Current property tax laws not THAT old. From the 80s?

Anyway....

This is where it pays to live in a fancy neighborhood!

I almost fell over when I opened the bill (which did arrive today) and saw a $40k decrease in assessed value. Wahoo!!!!!

Makes sense when you consider the zip code as a whole. Our neighborhood can usually fetch much higher prices though.

So anyway, no complaints here!!!!!!

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What's the bad news? I use assessed value (home) to measure house value for net worth. Ugh. My net worth is going to take a large slide backward this year.

I am fine with that because I will just adjust it 12/31. & well, I think the assessed value is in line of what our house value is probably worth at this point. So I will go with it.

I know there is lots of debate if homes/cars should be valued for net worth. For me, I can't imagine not doing it. We have put almost $100k into our house, almost HALF our net worth. Of course I count that as an asset. For most of the time we have been homeowners, homes were more liquid than cars. Sell a property in a day with 100 offers? Easy. Obviously not the last few years. But it is the same with cars. Since we pay cash for them, it's not like our cash goes in a black hole. If I spent $15k on a car, it's a $15k asset, that does depreciate rapidly. But I do include these things to get a realistic net worth picture. (I do depreciate cars very rapidly, and I like the assessed value method for home, since the price does not rise rapidly that way).

This year will be a good year since we did good on net worth. I expect to break even with the backward house value slide. I can live with that.

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Anyway, $40k lower house value translates into a $400 tax break that I did not expect.

At the same time, my 4-year-old Dell laptop has been giving me a lot of grief. I have been too cheap to replace it, but it's been terribly slow this year, and the battery has been useless for about a year. (Our understanding all along was that it had a 3-year-life. Yup, that would sum it up).

I just happened to be having a gripe fest since my laptop would not do what I wanted it to do. I joked to dh we should get a new one with our tax savings.

Well, we are thinking of replacing it with a Netbook. There's some pretty decent ones in the $400 range. So we may go out and buy one this month.

I'll take a Netbook over a bigger property tax bill, any day.

Yup, jumping on the netbook bandwagon. I just need something for internet and Quicken. Minor photo editing. Dh thinks I can do it all on a cute little Netbook. Woohoo!

Props to Intuit. I only needed to remember my credit card #, name and phone # to access my Quicken download. Phew - I of course forgot my login! So that obstacle is cleared.

Leaning towards a HP Netbook. Dh has some homework ahead of him.

I don't think I mentioned - my parents took me to lunch last weekend, and the place was by my dad's workplace, and apparently by their "Day Old Bread Store."

So we stopped by the bread store, while in the area, and with his job in limbo they mourned the loss of the place. It is a good 20-30 minutes drive, not necessarily worth the cost savings, going forward.

It's actually an Entemanns'-Oroweat Outlet, but as we piled the donuts and bread high, for pennies, I decided to check and see what is available in our area. I mean, I have seen my dad bring home bags and bread, and I have been amazed by the low cost. But actually being there, spurred me to action. (Plus, I also realize they won't give me tons of free bread, like they have been, with his job situation. Seems like every time I am there they hand me a bag of dinner rolls, etc.).

I looked, and we also have an Entemann's-Oroweat outlet. In fact, it is right on the way to my aerobics class (though otherwise out of the way). AND it has decent hours, that would work around my aerobics class. !!

I hadn't checked it out yet, and wasn't sure of the hours, but today I took the kids out to the south side of town. I remembered the outlet had been over there, so I called dh to ask for the address. I knew it was on a major road and could find it (otherwise, wasn't prepared at all - didn't have the GPS, etc.). He told me there was none in Sacramento and we got rather frustrated with each other. (I had recalled the wrong street - it ended up being on a more convenient street).

I ended up calling my dad and having him look it up. He gave me the phone # and address. So I made sure it was open, and we drove by after our morning at the park.

It was REALLY tiny from the outside, but then I walked inside... Oh my! It was tiny, but they had so many different groceries in there. I was totally amazed. They even had my Good Earth tea that I am now addicted to.

So, I scored:

*2 boxes of tea - $5.98

*1.5 pounds sliced sourdough - $1.49

*1 bag of multi-grain/fancy wheat bread - $1.49.

*1 Box of mini-donuts (popettes) - $1.99

*2 Bags of Oroweat SandwichThins, multi-grain - FREE (& oh my gosh, these tasted far better than I expected. Yum! They won't last long - the family likes them too).

These were free because I spent $10. Easy to do with the Tea purchase.

Plus, they have a punch card system where you earn free items.

Other things available were various spices, honey, jam, tortillas, premade soups, premade mixes, etc., etc. + all the bread and donuts. Lots of junk though, which I tried not to look at.

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Anyway, if you look them up, their "store locator" isn't working. I'd just google "Entenmann's outlet," and your city or state. Or google bread outlets, etc. I couldn't find any others in our area.

For us, I wasn't so sure on all the prices of everything, what we usually pay, so I intend to take dh there sometime, and/or start stopping by there every week for bread, and whatever else we need. If we need anything, I could always call him to verify it's a good price.

It will be interesting to see how the cost savings adds up. Though it will be a fine line of not over-eating bread because it's cheap. Or stocking up on cheap donuts, etc. We will have to see.

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As an aside, I was looking for an egg salad with capers. I found this and think it might be good with all the bread I just bought:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Bacon--n--Egg-Salad-Sandw...

Capers and bacon? Hard to go wrong? Looks delish.

ETA: Turned out good. Too much mayo/mustard (hard to imagine - I usually like a lot) so I will scale it down on the next batch.

(I've got all these eggs because I picked up 18 on sale for $1.99. Thing is dh had also picked up 18 for sale, and I didn't realize. I will get through them all with the cookies and egg salad, this weekend. I shared a dozen eggs with my parents, last couple of weeks when I was alone).

Dh tried a couple of recipes with capers, at my request, that were divine. But he hasn't really made any since. I am glad to see the capers last "forever." Not sure why I hadn't thought to add them to eggs before - sounds like a good combo.

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Cookies I am making:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Impossible-Peanut-Butter-Cookies-1...

We add mini-chocolate chips. So easy and good - the kids make these a lot. Just realized it had been a while.

& these chocolate chip cookies - love the cinnamon and oats - smells divine:

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf26349473.tip.html

For the record, I am often lazy, I don't sift the flour, and I rarely dirty my mixer. Still tastes pretty darn good...

Ended up turning on the AC yesterday. The humidity is just killer - today it's 90% more humidity than usual. (Assuming normal is 0%). One word - Ugh!

It's not particularly warmer than usual here (but for the humidity). But our nights have been REALLY warm. It usually drops down 30 degrees overnight, which keeps the house temp rather steady in the 70s. Just as the house starts to cool off, the sun will come up, and it all kind of equalizes.

Instead, it didn't cool off outside, house just kept getting hotter, and I had to turn on the air!!

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Dh's car ended up needing $250 in brake work. No complaints here. First brake job - 105k miles. I expected it would cost more, but just replaced the front brake pads, for the most part. Dh's car continues to be the no/low repair winner. (knock on wood). I mean, that's the most work it has ever had.

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Yesterday, I cleaned house all day, which was much more frustrating with the family around. You see why I was so motivated while they were gone.

Dh was finagling with the computer, so I did more than I planned, plus did the dishes and a fair amount of cooking. I made a lot of backwards progress during the day.

For our Free copy of Windows, dh was never to get it up and running yesterday. He needs a new graphics card. Will probably spend $30. Not bad, but so much for free.

I made much more progress on the house, once I decided to send the kids outside to play. Phew.

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So yeah, I cleaned the kitchen. The kids picked up their toys, and I vacuumed the floor. They were REALLY slow and unmotivated, and out of frustration I finally remembered the whole "whatever is left on the floor goes in the trash" thing. The kids knew I meant it, and I should have told them that a while ago. Not sure why I hadn't thought of it. They finally finished picking up, and I sent them outside. I got much more done then.

I will save the rest of the upstairs for next weekend. Just too exhausted after yesterday.

I also left dh with a list of chores. It hadn't been my intention to do most of the cleaning myself, at all.

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I boiled some eggs yesterday, and am thinking of making an egg salad. I really don't have an egg salad recipe. But I will find one.

I made the kids squirmy wormies for lunch. It's just franks & beans, but we slice up the hot dogs in thin sliced and sautee them in oil first. They curl up and look very wormy that way. But it tastes divine (was a Taste of Home recipe).

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Squirmy-Wormy-Sandwiches

I actually double the sauce and added beans instead of doing sandwiches. BUT, served with toast and the kids ended up making sandwiches out of it. Funny, I forgot it was originally a sandwich recipe. The kids thought it was better on the toast.

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Even with the heat, it feels very fall-y here. Probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but I want to bake some cookies today. (I know, it will heat up the house).

I told the kids I would take them to the park.

Going for very frugal this weekend, that is for sure.

Since I don't have too much planned today, I hope to make progress on reading my book.

I haven't read a page since the fam returned.

The weather here is, ugh...

Big storm Tuesday.

Since then, it warmed up, but there is so much humidity in the air!!! (Our humidity is usually 0).

Skipping showers and wearing the same clothes multiple days, does not fly in this humidity. Times like this I am reminded why it's easier to conserve water when the humidity is 0. OF course, it's also more necessary.

I told dh all week they brought the Florida weather with them. So today I read that our storm was California's equivalent to a hurricane. (A small hurricane, but a hurricane all the same). Also, a lot of talk about how later in the season, a storm like this could easily cause devastating flooding. So, phew...

In the end, I am worried if I will flip on the AC in the middle of OCtober. !! House is about 76 right now, but with the humidity it just feels, blech. We usually set the house to 80 in the summer. But it's the sticky heat that we aren't accustomed to.

Will see how the day goes. Hot and 76 degrees at 7am, is not good. It's not particularly warm otherwise, just humid. The days have only been in the 60s/70s.

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In my last post I mentioned the demise of the freedom card.

So, how will I survive with $500 or so less in credit cards rewards, next year?

Very well, phew.

I have spent the last few years scrounging spare dimes, to build up my emergency fund. Through credit card rewards and 0% credit card arbitrage. As higher interest rates and credit card rewards dry up, there goes a fair amount of extra income.

The good thing is we are prepared. It was really helpful to build up our emergency fund, rather quickly. But for now, we can live without.

Dh is also making at least $1200/year through his ebay buying and selling, etc. So he is kind of picking up the slack, there.

It feels good to be prepared.

With all this mess, and recent credit card whoas, I have anticipated reduced rewards and replaced my credit card already.

Anyway, so yes, I have a replacement card. Plus my tried and true State Farm card. 1% rewards, no fees. As is my CU card, now. I assumed perhaps better customer service at CU. Will see. I like to always have 2 cards. It is not always that we have had cash rewards. I still feel lucky to have 1% back/no fees. Wasn't always a given.

This was all in preparation, of talks of annual fees and evaporating rewards. Though what pushed me to the edge was when my State Farm card really pissed me off when it took forever to remove a fraudulent charge. Chase did the same, but the $1 charge wasn't worth losing $750 in annual rewards. But the writing has been on the wall as far as rewards.

Anyway, this is why I stay tuned in to the financial community. Heads up like this (read comments):

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/archives/2009/10/chase-freedom-cr...

Talk that Chase no longer offers $250 redemptions for $200 in points. (Phew, I JUST redeemed my $250 last month. I was nervous I might not be able to).

Someone mentioned they now charge an annual fee, but that you can call a number to decline this "upgrade." (ETA: Oh yeah, to decline any credit card changes usually means you agree to cancel the card. Be careful with this option if you need the credit line!!!)

Interestingly, I never got any such notice. I wondered if I missed an e-mail or online notice, so I perused my online account. No notices. Nothing. I can still redeem $250. I read all my online disclosures and they were unchanged.

I will keep an eye on it. But either they let me retain my original benefits, or I am closing the account.

Part of me wonders if they profile their customers a bit and realize this, and that is why they let me be. My gut says I will be getting a notice in the mail any day though. They have a lot of customers.

Glad I am prepared.

My effective interest rate on purchases has been about 3%. It will settle to 1.5%-ish if I can no longer wait to $200 to redeem $250. I guess it depends on the annual fee and how it compared to the rewards we claim above 1%. If we still come out ahead, it will be worth keeping.

I've never had a problem closing cards and retaining a high credit score. But I usually keep my cards for a long time. These days, I have only had the Chase card like 3 years? If that? I do worry a bit about short term credit hit. Not that much, but a little. (Compounded by my credit card arbitrage last year - I had opened and closed 2 cards). This is another reason why I am glad to switch to a CU card. I assume I will have it for a long while! I believe my State Farm card is 6 years, and I may revert to using that one more too. I was thinking of canceling it just last year. When they pissed me off. Maybe it will be good to hold on. Maybe using it more will be a good thing to - so they don't just cancel it. (For now it's a "backup card" that I never use).

In the past I always hated closing cards I Was intent on closing, because they would BEG you to stay. Funny enough, no begging in the year 2008! OR 2009! I closed quite a few cards. I am kind of curious if they will have any interest in keeping me as a customer. If I can haggle at all, for better rewards. (Pre-2008, I certainly could). But, I can't say I won't delight in no longer giving Chase my business, either. It's been kind of "too good to pass up." Making 3% on all my purchases??? Better than my savings accounts. But as that era passes, I am happy to drop them like a hot potato. & I will take delight in it.

ETA: They are converting to plan vanilla 1% cash back. I just read the clarification. Not worth any fees, when I already get that everywhere else.

Charity pickup tomorrow. Yippee!

I am setting out 7 bags in the a.m.

That was easy!

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Today, dh rescued a kitten. When talking to him, I of course said, "Awwwwww, I want to keep it!!!" Funny thing is he didn't resist too much. So I said, "Why do I get the feeling you are somehow open to the idea?" My cat-hating dh!?! Anyway, he said that he knew if he didn't get it out of the house by 5pm, that it would never leave. (If I saw it when I got home). LOL. So, I guess he is just open to reality.

I guess he REALLY loves me.

He did let me have a cat in the first place. We rescued an older declawed cat, which has REALLY spoiled him. She is really extremely well behaved, etc. He doesn't know how good we have it. But anyway, I have been a little spoiled to. The thought of a crazed kitten running around, I know is not my thing. But what sealed the deal was when I started thinking about costs of taking on a kitten. Phew. I don't remember the last time I took my cat to the vet, etc. & along the same lines, I didn't need to expose my cat to anything. She is a sheltered indoor cat and doesn't need much. BUT, bringing in another cat is another story. We have adopted kittens with deadly diseases, etc., when I Was a kid. So thinking about the best interests of my current cat, etc.

All this and I didn't even see it though! & all this ran through my head.

Anyway, dh lucked out. When he called, the first thing I did say was to give it a warm towel and take it to the shelter. Realistically I didn't really want a kitten. BUT, on the way home he passed a neighbor who fosters baby kittens. He stopped to chat with her hoping she may offer to take it. Of course she did. Phew! Though I don't think a baby kitten would take long to adopt out at a shelter. But she said it was only about 6 weeks, if that. Poor baby kitty!

I am proud of my dh for saving that kitty. If not for me, doubt he would have. He hates cats, what can I say? Easy enough to think someone else will take care of it...

On a side note, our cat always sleeps between us, and I would assume she just loves us both and likes the body heat. Wouldn't you know, the whole time dh was gone, she didn't sleep with me? She slept at the end of the bed, on dh's side, like she was waiting for him to come to return. I think she just gets a lot more attention from him any more. I, on the other hand, am insulted!

Yes, I do think the storm is over. Phew. Was pretty nasty.

Still warm. House is at 71. No heat needed. No sun, but it also didn't get any colder over night. So house temp has stayed rather steady. Usually it warms up a bit during the day and drops back to 70 in the colder nights. Major reason why is extreme energy efficiency in the house. Our parents & friends have been running their heat for weeks, in their older homes.

Yesterday I turned up the hot water heater a bit. I put a black mark where we had it set for summer. We average 6 Therms a month in the summer. I can't remember where I set it for winter, or fall, so I think I will mark the winter level once we find it again. Summer is marked. We go in between for spring and fall.

Chalk that one up to energy efficiency too. Funny thing is we LOVE our HOT showers. I think between the insulation and the hot garage, it just doesn't have to work very hard in summer. Plus, in summer we are probably happy with "lukewarm."

I also turned off the outside irrigation ahead of the storm. Seemed a good time to reset everything for our more wet fall/winter. In summer we were told to conserve water for drought, but both the HOA and the city were clear that unnatural emerald green lawns were still expected. But that we could only water every other day.

Talk about conflicting messages!

I decided to stick to my watering 2 times a day schedule, and stick to the days the city allowed. If they wanted to bother us we would ask them how to make our lawn look nicer not being able to water every day in 100+ temps.

(Our city is known for being huge water wasters. Our long term goal is to do desert landscaping in the backyard. Not allowed in the front yard, of course).

Anyway, the summer was a tad mild, which maybe helped. But the watering schedule really did well. The lawn stayed pretty green, and we used a lot less water than usual. Phew. We've only been watering 2 times a day for a couple of years. IT seems like a good strategy - and is allowed. WE are limited to 20 minutes a day or something.

Last fall I wrote down our fall/winter watering schedule, which was a huge help. I lowered the watering times and switched everything to water only one time a day. Kept it at 3 days a week or whatever it was for summer. I made sure to write down where everything was at for summer. I should have done all this sooner. I can never remember how we watered last year or where the hot water was set, etc. Hopefully this makes life easier.

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I ran by the store this morning and stocked up on tea. Good Earth Original - sweet and spicy. The one I mentioned yesterday.

Thankfully my friend told me to look in the Health Food aisle. Wasn't sure what that meant, but I found it easily enough.

I actually got the last 2 boxes - is a popular one.

Amazon cost 60 cents more per box, to buy in bulk. I may shop around a bit if I don't get sick of it. But looks like grocery store wins - will ask dh to keep an eye out for it on sale.

For soda - I had settled back onto the small cans (12 ounces?). More expensive, but I drink so much less that way. I've come full circle. Dh had talked me out of them because they were more expensive! I picked up some six-packs at Target for about $2.50 or so. "Ugh," I thought. So while at the store I checked just in case they were on sale. Full price there was more like $3.50. Suddenly $2.50 didn't seem so bad. I will keep an eye out. Though I do hope to wean off a bit with the tea as a replacement. A much cheaper habit, that is for sure.

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We will probably get dh's brakes checked this week. Not sure what to expect since at 100k+ miles they have never had any brake work done. BUT, we have had them checked many times. Always fine and dandy. (FORD, by the way. You don't have to spend a fortune to get a decent car. My pet peeve of late).

They felt *off* to me last week and so I talked dh into it, though he thinks I am crazy. Better safe than sorry. (I've lost my brakes before - he hasn't).

Interestingly, my brakes were grinding this morning. I think it is just from the rain/storm. They were fine once I got on my way. BUT, I was thinking it just figures. Our cars have settled on the same repair schedule. Though mine (DODGE) is at 70k miles. But obviously 70k miles isn't bad either, for no brake work. I can't complain if they both need brake work. Or new brakes altogether.

I think our driving habits are very different up here. Neither of us particularly drives in stop and go. No brake work since moving up here, though I always had brake work done in the Bay Area. Much more often!

I was going through our auto records a while back. As much as my car has pissed me off with it's issues, I realized my vehicle has had no mechanical issues (knock on wood). What it has had is a lot of electrical/computer issues. It makes me realize our tendency to buy stripped down/less featured models in our younger more broke years really paid off. When I smashed my van door the first thing I thought was, "Thank goodness that is not an electric door." Because of course everyone else I know has an electric door. My annoyance at the very idea ended up being more logical than I realized. All those fancy features just add up to one more thing that can break. I knew that, but as I now own a nicer vehicle with more features, I really feel the pain in the pocketbook.

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In financial news, Fidelity sent me a notice that they will start to charge low balance fees for funds under $2k.

I have a few funds I wanted to add a little to while the stock market it low. But it would really throw off my stock market allocation! So I haven't.

Anyway, if I contribute my November ROTH contribution to Fidelity, I will save $12. I guess that is good motivation to top that one off.

I rather the market go lower before I feel enticed to add to the others. Like other bloggers have mentioned, I expect the market to dip again too. Either that or I at least wanted to evaluate my cash position in December. Will see.

The house has warmed up because the storm has brought warmer nights. BUT, it was crazy outside today. IT seemed windier by our house, where there are many downed trees. I stopped by the store on the way home and could barely open the car door it was so windy. Yeesh! Just didn't seem quite so bad by my work, though the parking lot was littered with branches and there was standing water all along the roads.
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Looks like the fam spent a whopping $150 in Florida. I think I can jive with that. Not bad for a week at Disney. On the other side of the country. The $150 is pretty much just food. I should look up how much they spent last time. Probably about the same.

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I had some idea to replace my Pepsi habit with other habits. Like smoothies in summer and tea in winter.

Hasn't panned out so well. I fell off the wagon when my mom gave me a case of Dr. Pepper. My sister had left it when she visited. Dh told her no and I took it. Dh was wise!!!

Literally, that is when I fell off the soda wagon. I am back to a small amount every day, but I had quit rather cold turkey. *sigh* At least it's at a manageable level now.

Anyway, a friend gave me some of the most awesome tea. Some sort of sweet & spicy. Was naturally very sweet. I remember my idea to replace my soda habit. So, I will probably stock up on this tea. Much more healthy, anyway. This is the perfect thing to do it with.

I forget the brand, but will share later.

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With the weather turning colder, and the family returning, I went through all the kids' clothes. I didn't spend a lot of time on it. I think LM still fits most his clothes from last year. If not, I Can pull out larger sizes from the closet.

School starting SO EARLY was interesting. I know dh bought the kids shoes. Might have stocked up on socks and such. But too warm to think about fall clothing.

Anyway, so going through BM's closet, he had outgrown most his pants, yes. But MIL had bought him 3 pairs that fit (for school). Were way too big before, but now was glad to have them. He also had plenty of jeans that fit.

So, I ended up spending $25 for 2 pairs of pants at Kohls. Not the best deal ever, but I had a $10 off coupon. Dh mentioned that we look there. I started to say no, but remembered I had a return. So we found these pants on sale, and ran with it. We also stopped by Target where I grabbed a couple of things off the $4 rack for LM. Like to buy him something new once in a blue moon. Was remembering why I stopped shopping thrift - because I could get those and get use through 2 kids. But BM has outgrown those. Not I just buy those so LM has something new and cute, that I picked out. I got the kids some warm winter hats and mittens. AND, we perused the pants and found nothing on sale. Nothing really he could wear to school. Good call dh, good call. Kohls was the way to go. (& can you believe it? - all I bought was those pants!)

I stocked up on $4 sweatshirts at Hanes, last month, which he can wear to school, so he is totally set. HAsn't outgrown his jacket, or anything like that. Was an easy year!

If nothing else, I find with school starting extra early, Back to School shopping was WAY spread out. It was too hot to shop for fall clothing just a couple of weeks ago, even. Wasn't in the mood anyway.

As an aside, my boys do not fear cold. So when we went shopping I was bundled up in closed-toed shoes and a sweater. BM was wearing flip flops and shorts. LOL. I am sure we got some looks. But we were both comfortable. I was probably a little over dressed, and he a little under dressed. Ah, my crazy boys.

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I am completely exhausted since the fam has returned. Not near as productive! They exhaust me.

But they have been nice and have kept the house clean. My dining room still looks sparkling - they all unpacked the day they got home, etc. I wish I could say I have been so good.

Have any of you geeks out there heard about the Windows 7 launch party? Host your own Windows 7 party, and get a free copy of Windows 7?

Of course, my dh signed up. I keep forgetting to mention, but doesn't look too late.

http://houseparty.com/windows7

You know, all those annoying MLM sales parties you are invited to? Here's a way to get them back. Muahahaha.

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I don't expect to be very bloggy the next few days.

Tonight I am cleaning carpets and that's about all on my list.

Tomorrow, my family returns.

& well, work is a little crazed. Not normally a really busy time of year, but procrastination syndrome is rampant this year. I've got clients who won't return my calls - their taxes are due Thursday - Hello!!!!

Anyway, tomorrow my family returns REALLY late. Sunday will be back to my usual chaos.

Not sure if I am ready. But I know I will be happy to see them, all the same! Back to chaos! Good chaos, at least.