Seems with the economy I could barely keep up around here. This week on the other hand seems strangely quiet. Wonder where everyone is?

**In true Monkey Mama fashion, I have obliterated my financial chores on the left, woohoo. Honestly, it was all stuff I Was putting off way too long!! & I needed dh's help with some of the things (some were his accounts he had to close). Which made it an extra hard thing to get done. But, I guess of all the put off chores, the financial ones would be my first to attempt.

I did close my WAMU card and they told me I would lose out on great benefits like free FICO scores. Doh! Time to update those scripts. But, yeah, it took a minute and they didn't beg me to stay. There was a time where a call like that would have been like 5 minutes of begging me to stay. Where you want to hang up on them but you want to make sure it is taken care of. It took me 2 minutes because their system disconnected me the first time.

Times have improved! LOL. (Though I am still jealous they begged dh to stay and not me - some other card company).

Anyway - personal goals - making headway though most are on hold for more time and better weather.

Around the house stuff? Blech. LOL. We'll get to it.

**Reminds me, Dh had to call the credit card company a million times to remove those $1 & $20 fraud charges, respectively. I mentioned in the forums how that was not worth my time and it got all crazy. I didn't say it is not worth my time to correct a mistake. But to call TEN times is not worth my time. Obviously we are taking our business elsewhere.

Though it's not worth my time, dh doesn't mind.

Anyway, my point is that whole experience (the $20 one actually) led me in search of a new credit card company. I settled on our CU as a place with better customer service.

You would think, but I am not very impressed. I detailed my annoying phone conversation over the weekend, on Saturday probably, where I learned I was approved but no one bothered to tell me I had to go into a branch to sign paperwork. (Seriously? Is it the dark ages?) Anyway, I often make deposits on my lunch break and usually there are no customers. So we go in around lunch yesterday and I tell dh to meet me to sign the paperwork. There's like 10 people in line, 2 tellers, and though we were only second in line to talk to a bank rep about the credit card, we waited for 30 minutes before giving up. I actually waited 20 minutes to make a deposit (crazy!) and then waited another 10 minutes before we decided it would take all day.

Anyway, I still have hope for a CU credit card and a more pleasant experience. Since I am working Saturdays we have to go on a lunch break another day. We thought we'd try 11:00 though.

I have NO IDEA why so many people in the bank? It was a little busy when I deposited my last paycheck. What gives??? I have never seen people in there for the most part, otherwise, before. Yesterday was particularly bad due to major lack of staff. I only saw 3 people vs. 5 the last deposit I made. I couldn't help but wonder if there were lay offs or something there.

So what do I miss about a good economy? Empty credit unions! With lots of employees!

My mom told me that ATMs were for deposits. I told her, fair enough, but since there is usually no line I prefer to run in and make sure it gets in there accurately and immediately. But for the long run, the ATM may just become my friend.

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**With this whole preschool thing I do admit I have enjoyed the financial break. At the rate we have gone we will probably save an unexpected $300 this month. $200 at least.

So I do admit finding a new preschool is not on the top of my list. But LM is getting a little moody, and starting to admit he misses it. Dh is the same. LOL. He was rather grumpy today, so I sent him my list of preschools and told him he could follow up on them then. It's stuff like this, why doesn't he just take charge?

Well it kicked his butt, but he didn't like my list because 2 of them were based on the school calendar and out for summer. The other place seemed nice enough but she had NO KIDS currently. We don't need daycare; we need a place for him to socialize. So yeah, for now that wouldn't cut it. But seems to be another problem in this economy! Finding anywhere with other kids to play with? This is the second one we looked at that didn't really have much going on.

Anyway, so I could be insulted dh took none of my choices, but he looked through his old e-mails and saw raving recommendations about 2 years ago, from the neighborhood e-mail group, for a preschool right by our gym. Better yet, he called and they had an opening for 2 afternoons a week for $36/week. Right now we pay $70/week, for 2 full days admittedly. But basically, this was cheaper than the city program. & it came with high recommendations from a number of neighbors.

So we'll check it out tomorrow but it sounds WAY promising. If we like it we'll take what we can get. For the long run I would like to ease him into M/W/F mornings - which sounds like it may be about $70/week. In the short run we will save $160/week. In the long run we'll still save a few dollars, and a LOT of gas.

We will save an unexpected $300 this month, and I can *up* our more long-term cash savings from $250/month to $400/month immediately. In fact, I may consider maxing out my ROTH instead with this new plan. Financially, it may be best to stick with 2 days a week, at least through this year. We could always increase his preschool time as kindergarten approaches, to ease him in a bit.

I just always figured we'd be paying $300/month for the next 18 months. SO worth it for his situation. But now that is no longer a choice, so our priorities our changing a bit.

I expect to make more headway at work since I don't have to spend so much time dropping/picking up kids. I think this is a good thing financially, any way you slice it.

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**Because of all this, I don't have much to say lately. Financially, life is good. But I know that for sure, no one else wants to hear about it.

I was feeling spectacularly well with the financial universe the other day, and I Almost posted all about it, and then I decided against it.

That being said, a forum like this is nice. None of my real life friends want to hear about it, for sure. So many are struggling right now. At least I know there are some kindred souls around here.

For us, with the refi of our home a few weeks back, and with the decrease in preschool expenditures, we are able to save about another 5% of our income, all told, this year.

We've certainy turned a corner. Moving ahead rapidly on long-term goals.