All big expenses aside, I feel well with the financial universe lately.

It could be the feeling that life is short (more obvious lately as my dad faces his health problems), or it could be that we just spent a pile of money on the unexpected, and are still a mile ahead of last year. It could be that our life is kind of settling into everything we have been working for the last 15 years. I kept thinking all weekend, "This is precisely where I want to be." Mostly as I found time for things I haven't had time for in many years.

For whatever reason, I felt rather zen the last couple of days.

We already spent our vacation budget for 2009, and last night dh brought up our anniversary. We discussed much about the many getaways and weekends alone we could conjure with little money spent. Use free timeshare points for a weekend anywhere? Stay home and day trip to Tahoe or San Fancisco? Spend a weekend in Reno (usually cheap hotels can be found, maybe more than usual in this economy. One night would do it). Spend a weekend at the family cabin for free? Go camping? Possibilities endless, really. & the only way we have mostly vacationed in our life. Most our years together being broke college students or sacrificing additional income to be home with our kids.

What I told dh was that I really just wanted to go to Pismo Beach. IT is something we had both been looking forward to, and even tried to plan a couple of times, but it always falls through the cracks. It's my favorite area of the state, and yet I don't think we had ever been, since we moved up north. It's been 8 years at the least.

We have a favorite hotel there, and the timeshare points won't do. We figured it would probably be a $500 weekend between the hotel, gas, and food. The hotel is beachfront and an absolute STEAL (it's apparently been remodeled but still only $100/night. Phew! We will splurge $150/night for the ocean view). We discussed how a couple of dinners out and fast food stops on the drive would be preferred, but that we would be happy to pack some PBJ sanwhiches for lunch. Not like we have to spend a pile on eating out. The gas will be the cheapest part of the trip.

We still have to arrange babysitting, but since our annniversary is less than a month away, I am excited at this rather "spontaneous" vacation. IF we can't make it until October it will be okay, but September is an ideal month to visit the beach.

I am just so excited to finally make this a priority!







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As an aside, I checked the hotel's website last night as we discussed the feasibility of this last-minute splurge. Today, I decided to check a few of the travel websites to make sure there were no better deals.

I almost fell over, and had to check a few sites to make sure I could believe my eyes. If we went through any other travel website, about, the room costs $350/per night, as opposed to the $150/night we found at the hotel wesbite. WOW!

A decade ago, these travel websites were little known, and you would not believe some of the steals we found on travel over the years. But these days, more and more, I find booking flights and hotels directly is the cheapest way to go. Any more, you just pay a premium for "travel sites". Funny thing is the hotel price is more what I remembered it being. Of course all the travel websites boast "low price guaranteed" with their premium quotes.

I double checked and triple checked to make sure it was the same hotel and same type room. It was!!

IT pays to do your due diligence, that is for sure.

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We also talked about our wish to go to Hawaii next year. I think that will be delayed because we have other financial goals to meet first, and all these car repairs are delaying things.

Dh and I discussed how waiting one additional year to go to Hawaii is not a big deal. I don't want to delay it for 10 years. But one more year? I can certainly wait!

We will probably be able to go on a free Alaskan cruise next year anyway. So, what the heck. The "free" part is looking rather appealing.

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In other news, I have been pondering my workout clothes.

I don't mind spending a litte bit of money on work clothes. I don't spend a ton, but clothes shopping is frustrating enough I prefer to just shop new. I consider a "nice wardrobe" as part of my job description, and something reasonable to spend my income on. Since I have settled on the same size for about 5 years, and have been buying higher quality clothing the last few years, it's something I find I spend less and less on, anyway.

"Workout clothing" is a different animal. I have some really old t-shirts and a couple of workout pants I got at Marshalls for like $10 each, ages ago.

I keep thinking one of these days I need to update my workout wardrobe a bit. But it certainly hasn't been a priority.

It has become a priority as I bike ride more. I usually try to avoid the outside as MUCH as possible in the summer. OR the winter really. My wardrobe is extremely mild and full of dark colors. I can't help but feel I need some brighter colors for safer bike rides, and will definitely need more warm and cool clothes for the seasons.

As I type this I realize I should probably just make a trip to Marshalls and/or Ross, and stock up. They tend to have pretty good deals, and plenty to choose from.

The kids' school also made it amazingly hard to buy school logo clothing in the past, but just opened an online store. I was thinking buying a couple of t-shirts and sweatshirts might be a good way to update the wotkout wardrobe a bit. The money mostly goes to a good cause. The t-shirts are rather affordable.

Speaking of all that, I am going to buy a bike helmet in September. I keep putting it off due to other purchases. Heck, I think it's time for a new seat too (I logged about 5 hours over the last 2 weekends - and a more comfortable seat is certainly high on my mind).

I guess September will be rather spendy!

Most people (more in real life) would assume I obsess about money too much and I never have any fun. (How can you have fun if you don't spend money??? OF course WE know there are other ways to have fun...)

So this post proves the contrary.

It is probably true that it is easier to spend money with a credit card. I may even be guilty. BUT my issue with cash is I just have no idea where it goes. I don't have the patience to write down every purchase. As such, by putting everything on the credit card, all I have to do is push a couple of buttons on my computer to see how much we spend this weekend. I think most people think I spend hours on this stuff when I only spend minutes. I really don't spend a lot of TIME on it. I did go back into Quicken and try to categorize the cash I did remember spending over the weekend

Anyway, our spending for the weekend:



The only other money spent was about $20 on gas for a tank to get there and back. (Took the gas sipper, of course).

Not bad, for quite a nice mini-vacation, in my opinion.

The kids ate free at Denny's, we had a $8 coupon for the Aquarium, and we had a couple of free dinners. Not sure how that would make us deprived though, pinching just a few pennies (er, dollars)...

& here are pictures from Point Lobos. The Aquarium was pretty fun, but we took more pictures at the beach.

Views and wildlife:











That last one was a seal.

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& basically it will cost us $20 gas and $10 parking (which we could skip if willing to walk more) if we ever want to go to Point Lobos again. It's an affordable luxury.

Reminds me, our plans to go to Kaui next year are starting to take shape. Dh asked his mom if we could use the timeshare next year and she got SO excited when she realized it was our 10-year anniversary. When he mentioned it, at first she was kind of like, "What are you talking about? Married 10 years?" I guess time flies! She got so excited I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up covering our airfare or something. Not planning on it, just wouldn't be surprised. We are definitely going. She will see to it. LOL. I was literally like, "It doesn't have to be 2010." & she was like, "OMG, it has to be 2010!" I think she felt bad she didn't realize we were nearing this milestone.

Now I just have to stay married another year. I think we are up to it.

My plan for now is just to keep an eye on airfare. Will jump if we see a screaming deal. We have a good year+ to look! & we have to narrow down a date...

I am super excited about this trip! It will basically be the first big trip we can really afford (mostly on our own - we've always had the free timeshare usage) since having kids. That is something to be excited about!

We want to go to Pismo Beach without the kids this year, as well. We will probably trim that trip down a bit to save some $$ for Hawaii. I think we will still go though. Probably less days and cheaper hotels. Nothing set in stone yet.

DINK, meaning dual-income, no kids

The underlying theme of my entire blog is how well we did before kids and how our life goal is to get back to that savings level. Days like this I am glad we had kids rather young. It's not like we have a large income to live up to since dh quit working so early on in his career (merely 3 years in?). If we had waited a few years we may have a smaller mortgage and bigger savings, but more income lost in the interim, etc. I think going young was the way to go.

We allowed enough time to save up that I stress when my efund is lower than 3 months' expenses and when I don't have enough cash to replace our cars, etc. IT's all relative. But once you have decent financial security, it is difficult to move backwards. I think also my biggest fear is we have been so lucky in our youth that I fear once we reach some DINK level we may just be kicked off by some outside forces; not by choice. (Job loss, natural disaster, anything).

I am reflecting on it much as we just reduced our expenses by almost $400/month by simply refinancing the house and switching preschools. Meaning, no change to our lifestyles, but wala, just about enough to fund an entire Roth!!

Anyway, the most dh ever brought home was $2500/month, so at our peak that was what we saved, in addition to 10% of my income to my 401k (about $5k). The $2500/month went to cash, where it eventually went to down payment on home, massive cash savings, cash for moderate car purchases, and a few thousand here and there into our IRAs over the years. Short-term savings (property taxes and the like), mid-term, long-term, all funded by dh's income.

So I am super excited as we near that savings level again. Though I have mentioned before, it is certainly not an apples to apples comparison.

For now we are at:

$1000/month short-term savings
$ 650/month cash savings
$ 350/month ROTHs
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$2000/month savings

Getting awfully close.

My increased retirement contributions, through my employer, and overtime, bring our savings level up by about another $500/month.

For a grand total of the magic number, $2500/month!

Of course, we have more expenses, and $2500 doesn't stretch as far as it used to. At least $3k/month is what we should aim for, to factor inflation. I guess that's the point where I don't care particularly if we have a second income while the kids are younger than teens. $3k/month to savings? - we're probably good.

We'll probably hit $2700/month once LM is done with preschool next summer.

Means merely another few thousand dollars a year in income will make a BIG difference.

WE actually just crossed over to the point where I feel like we are saving more than we "need" to in the long run. That certainly feels NICE. But we have things to catch up for. Building back up our cash savings, starting to think about college more, we will have a couple of cars to replace within the decade, AND we haven't put any money to speak of into our house since we purchased it 7 years ago - we have some work to do, etc. Beyond all that, we will err on the side of saving a bit too much cash in the interim because dh would like to go back to school to get a teaching credential or possibly upgrade his film/TV minor to a major. Whatever he does, he will probably go to school a bit to make himself more marketable. Of course we would like to pay cash (community college/state college is our aim - which is still quite affordable around here).

If the year is good we may be able to put $10k into cash this year - but you see we have a lot of competing goals. I wouldn't mind increasing the efund either.

Maybe it's eye opening to have so many of my clients coming in this year and "struggling" on one income in the $120k range. Sometimes I think we will always worry about money. We didn't so much when we were younger but I think it was due to being naive more than anything else. Ignorance can certainly be bliss.

But I do admit, aside from this whole catching up thing and trying to set aside $10k cash this year, I do feel significantly more relaxed with our current situation. No ill will towards those wil mortgage bail outs. They certainly can't feel my peace of mind and my freedom today.

It's funny though. The reason we decided we were ready for kids was when we bought our dream home in our low cost of living haven and we no longer thought we had to save $100k down for a starter home. That was precisely why we were saving so rapidly. We figured, "What do we need all this savings for anyway? Let's have kids."

Our expenses have stayed rather stagnate and my income has grown considerably over the years, which is why we are where we are at. But we do still have kids to support (orthodontics, piano lessons, college and the like) and I didn't know our medical insurance premiums pre-kids would grow by 8000% in just 3 or 4 years. I never expected we would last this long on one income and that dh would probably have to return to college to get a job.

Of course, if we expected all this, well, it wouldn't be life. Life isn't s'posed to be so easy, right?

But yeah, as we square away this whole preschool thing, it just hit me. Wait a minute, we didn't do anything but we are saving almost $400/month this year? Huh?

& I tell you, the extra overtime I can work with LM going to school by our house, instead of by my work when I used to drive him? I think preschool will just about pay for itself this year. Woohoo. Though I did play hooky yesterday to pick him up on his first day and figure since he will either arrive or leave in the noon hour (depending if he can get an a.m. class) I will have plenty of opportunity to go home at lunch (as I often do) and pick him up or drop him off once in a while. Arriving at work at 9 & having to leave at 4:45 always was such a time suck. Adding 15-minutes to a lunch once a week isn't as near of a big deal.

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.

I noticed when I went to aerobics this morning that there were 2 garage sales within a block. I wondered if it was the "annual community garage sale" though I hadn't seen any signs.

Looked it up when I got home. Looked like just a coincidence. No other garage sales around...

Anyway, walked across the street and took LM. Didn't expect toys (no kids) but took him anyway. You never know. He scored a beanie baby for 50 cents.

I struck gold! There were 2 gallons of blue/green paint sitting there. LM likes green and I was leaning towards blue for his room. (We are painting next weekend!) When I saw the color it was PERFECT.

I asked how old it was and how much for it. She said $1/gallon. Not even a year old. I went home to chat with dh. He said he didn't like the idea, and I decided to buy it anyway. LOL. Well, I convinced him.

Anyway, I went back to pay for it. She told me it cost $30/gallon (it was Ralph Lauren paint). Yeesh.

I am hoping it is just dark enough to cover the brown that covers half of the room. I am going to do a test spot to see what I think. If nothing else we have leftover white, to go over the brown, and then the blue should cover that up well enough.

Anyway, dh said the WORST thing about painting is picking the color. All I have to say is, "Problem Solved."

I am not quite sure how it will look. But you can't beat $2. I am confident 2 gallons is enough for the room.

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Anyway, we went to the other garage sale and they gave LM a little toy he picked out. I would have given them some change if I had any. But they were pretty much giving away all the toys. How nice!

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My little secret is out. I drive about 10 miles - YES 10 miles - to my aerobics class.

(I don't *get* people who never venture out their neighborhood for anything. All the time people ask me why I drive so far. Because it's the best? As most things I drive outside my neighborhood for are?)

Anyway, $2.50 per hour class. Offered 3 days a week (I am lucky to make 2 days - I hit the gym on days when I have less time, and when the weather is nice there is walking and bike riding, so not my only exercise).

The aerobics class is through the community center. (The one in my neighborhood offers a $7.50 class, I have never been. $2.50 is too good a price I guess).

1/2 hour aerobics, then 1/2 hour arms, legs, tummies, stretching, yoga. I LOVE it because we spend so long on the stretching/yoga and I am REALLY inflexible. I also have a leg injury which needs lots of stretching not to cause me pain. So yeah, couldn't ask for anything better or cheaper.

& the class is largely empty. Sometimes 4-5 people. I guess maybe that is average.

But I have noticing it getting a little more crowded.

& usually no one much shows up Saturday. But today we had like TEN people.

I couldn't help but wonder if it was the economy or what - people looking for cheaper alternatives. I don't know.

Happy for the teacher (she really should charge more) BUT it's getting a little crowded for our tiny room!

Old projector - SOLD!

Old receiver - SOLD!

Dh had the gall to ask me if I could apply the receiver sales to his allowance. I had subtracted $200 for the new receiver - he wanted to add $40 for the sale of the old receiver.

I don't think so!

I said, "Dude, you took THREE years to sell your projector and you got half as much as you told me you would."

(Though I am frankly impressed he got that much, with the 3 years delay).

HE says, "I am talking about the receiver."

I said, "I know. & I am talking about how you owe me $500 from 2005. The year I let you spend $1500 on a NEW projector because you swore you could get $500 from the old one."

LOL.

Anyway, he didn't argue after that.

But hallelujah I have waited a long time for this day.

Sold the projector for $250, they picked it up today.

HE was about to head to the bank, to deposit it, lest I get more agitated about it. BUT he had an e-mail re: the receiver. He had posted it high not expecting much.

But he got an offer for $40. He called and they wanted to meet at a public place - which was where he was heading to.

So he deposited the $250 in the bank to replenish the chunk of change he had taken for Wii purchases.

HE now has $40 to replenish our wallets.

& our house is a little less cluttered.

Woohoo!

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Anyway, since I have a few smaller ebay items to post tomorrow, this does well to replenish the $400 or so he took for "seed money."

So we called it even.

I clarified he has 2 Wiis and that is his seed money now.

I am so excited I didn't have to touch savings for "seed money."

I think he is going to focus more on smaller purchases like games. HE made out so well on ebay.

IT's a catch-22. The Wiis are far more profitable, but harder to sell on ebay (shipping, etc.). & a much larger investment is needed for each one.

So I think his good ebay game experience means he will be perusing garage sales more and picking up games. I think it is a lot more work for little dollars.

But every little bit helps at this point. & it is less risky than sinking bigger cash amounts into these Wiis.

I still think it's a balance where he tends to hoarde his profits and buy his crap, and he keeps giving lip service to our ROTHs, but so far our ROTHs have not seen a dime.

Something to keep an eye on I guess. I'm watching him. LOL.

I also have a couple of strollers up on Craigslist that I just can not believe have not sold! There's some IRA money right there. I Feel jinxed. LOL. (I did not even list them high at all - they usually seem to sell rather easily. so just not what I expected).

I am happy to always seem to have enough money rolling in when I need a little extra. To cover bills and such. But I feel like I never have "extra for the ROTHs." So that is the jinxed part. I got like $200 of stuff on Craigslist, and with today's sales, this would all be gravy. Come on, sell for the ROTHS!

ETA: Dh got 3 offers on one Wii (he is listing them one at a time to avoid confusion). IT was certainly his day. Which is good since he has all the high dollar items to sell. Phew.

It's not gone yet, but after a week of no bites, this is much more promising. I think he lowered the price $20. What a difference $20 can make sometimes.

Just got back and had a few pics to share, below.

We went to San Jose Family Camp, which is owned and run by the city of San Jose. We don't live there, but are from there and I guess if you are willing to pay a premium you can generally go to any family camp. I HIGHLY recommend if you have kids, and a local family camp. We just had a blast!!!!

We went with my dh's parents and my dad (my mom is just not a travel or camping type).

We had 2 tent cabins right next to each other.

What PRIME real estate!! We were a 20 mile drive from the west entrance into Yosemite. I don't think we could have stayed anywhere else so close for half the cost, so we were very pleased in that regard as well.

So MANY activities for the kids (moreso BM than LM unfortunately, but will be right up his alley next year).

The food was hit and miss, but there was PLENTY.

We paid around $600 for the 5 of us (paid for my dad) and that was about it. We needed about one tank of gas and we treated everyone to ice cream in Yosemite. Otherwise all the meals were provided. I think I spent $2 on sodas. It was a very "frugal" vacation in that regards. We were penalized because we were non-residents, so did pay more. But without my dad we would have paid less than $500, for the 3 nights. So not bad. Included, food, tent, activities, everything.

Oh yes, entrance fee to Yosemite was $20, but someone else paid. We all took one vehicle. & the shuttle there was awesome (free). So $20 to get in 7 people was NOT bad. The ice cream was very reasonable - came to $12 or something for the 7 of us as well.

Anyway, for now, I leave you with pictures... I have about 10 loads of laundry to do (dirt dirt dirt) and I return to work tomorrow.

P.S. We did get our stimulus and do I added $1800 to my savings on the left columns. $1k of it washed out the taxes I owed 4/15 and $800 went directly to our mid-term savings. May pull some out for car repairs.

Taking dh's car to the shop Friday - we could not fix ourselves since the battery (& connecting wires, etc.) were so corroded - will get some help.

Wouldn't you know, just as we packed up and started driving out to Yosemite, my car had a "check engine" light pop up. It was some other light we looked up and it said in the handbook "probably does not need towing - is a simple thing that needs fixing. Service soon." (in so many words, anyway). When we got to camp (made it - phew!) the electronic door locks stopped working AGAIN so that was all we could figure. So we have car issues to straighten out this week and next... Should have the van checked as well to make sure it is nothing more than the locks. Just glad we made it back without a tow. Both our vehicles are in limbo for today...

Anyway, the pics as promised...

Here was most of the view from our camp. Just in love with the place...



Looking down on swimming hole with water fall. This was a 20-minute trek from camp (complete with rattle snakes!!). But might as well have been Hawaii - was gorgeous.



BTW - I was the only adult to brave the cold water. Yes, it is melted snow. No, it really isn't any colder than the Pacific Ocean (more north by us anyway). So I didn't find it to be so bad. IT was hot so the water was refreshing. The rest of my group were wusses.

& Yosemite. There are no words...

I had gone once as a teen (maybe 15 years ago?)

Just WOW!

I had LM duty, and wasn't exactly feeling up to a big hike, so we took an easy "hike" to the lower falls. Was gorgeous, regardless.



& Half Dome:



All this, 4 hours from our driveway...

BM and grandpa, and dh did the Vernal Falls hike, which is the lower part of the Half Dome trek. (3 hours but BM is a major hiker - he tired out about the last 15 minutes so that one was exactly his speed).

I didn't get any pictures of the Vernal Falls (they hiked to the top of the waterfall) since I had LM and the camera. But having grandpa is like having a professional photographer wherever you go. I will no doubt have some breathtaking shots to share once I get copies of his pictures. As such, I Really didn't take many pictures this trip.

We figure we will make this an annual tradition for our family. In fact, I have said many times we aren't big vacation people. Though these last few years have been rather odd in that regard for us (vacation vacation vacation - with retiring parents who like to travel). But for now we have no plans for next year and I would just love to do a half week there again. (I don't think I am tough enough to camp much longer than 3 or 4 nights - hehe. Glad to be home and have a real shower...) But we should sign up for next year as early as possible, and hit early June when the waterfalls are still strong and the weather isn't so hot.

I think if we never vacationed anywhere else, I would be content.

But, for now it's back to reality...

I was having a discussion with my spouse the other day, about why debit cards are so inferior. We don't use them, and apparently he didn't know why not.

So I Was telling him some of the horror stories I had heard about drained bank accounts and little protection from the banks.

(Oh yes, I think the convo came up when I mentioned the foreign arm of a bank that was dropping "deadbeat" credit card users who paid in full every month. Dh said, "who cares, we can switch to debit if they start doing that in the U.S." Which put us off on a debit card tangent).

But of course then dh looked at me and said, "well if you hate debit cards so much, why do you have one?"

We have one for the ATM.

Now ask me how often we go to the ATM. We've always had it "just in case." How often do we ever use it? Since we don't really deal in cash? NEVER!

So, I had never really thought much about it. But he had a point. I did use it much when our bank was far away. But for the last year or 2 we have been banking at a branch down the street. Since I don't have direct deposit, I have found it convenient to just ask for cash when I make deposits. & even then is rare!

So yeah, I think we can live without our debit card. I think I am going to cut them up. Not sure why I didn't think about it sooner. If I have one ripe in my wallet for stealing, well, I am not exactly protected, am I?

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In other news, LM went to the doc today. He has just been REALLY out of sorts though he seems fine overall. Anyway, they said it was just the flu. Yikes! That is one GRUMPY little boy. HE hasn't had a fever in a while either. But guess he still isn't feeling well. I understand. I am back at work and my symptoms are mostly gone. But I certainly do not feel 100%. I feel like I could go home and nap the day away. Tired. Icky... I guess LM is much the same.

Anyway, the visit was only $75. Not bad, not bad. Our copay before was $50.

We insure pretty much for catastrophe. & we pay a pretty penny for that. But I always assumed that these services would cost way more. For example, our emergency co-pay was $500 last year. I found a list of procedures and costs (under the deductible plan) and it says emergency physician is only $100. So our emergency bill may only be $100? Holy cow! & I was so resistant to switch to the HDHP for so long. (The reason we switched for '08 is it lowered our out-of-pocket by a good solid $5k. I Worried it was a little too good to be true, but instead I am really pleased now. I Can handle $75 doctor visits and $100 emergency room visits).

I don't see anything about ambulances. So we'll see when we get that big bad bill. But I am starting to not really sweat our medical bills. Hmmm, you mean we might get to keep a chunk of our deductible after all? Maybe!!!! Any given year we pay for doctor visits and minor surgeries. Our bill for BM will hinge on the ambulance, but I am starting to think it might only cost a few hundred dollars, instead of an arm and a leg. ??? We'll see... We were paying pretty large copays for all these things anyway, before. I am liking the HDHP!

Anyway, the only thing I don't like is not knowing what my bill will be. We have only ever paid insurance premiums and co-pays. Never surprises like now. But if this is cheaper in the end; guess I can get used to the it. We'll see.

I thought I remembered this 8-month CD being renewable at 5.7% (if that rate would be preferable in 8 months).

Anyway, then they sent me paperwork and didn't mention this option to renew at 5.7%. This was really key to making my balance transfers REALLY worthwhile. My hedge if rates went down.

Anyway, I pulled out the original paperwork and didn't see anything. I could not beleieve I did not get that in WRITING!!! I started to wonder if I Was crazy.

Anyway, so I just realized my CD matures Monday and I better call. The option now is 3.2 or something for CDs. (non-promotional anyway).

So I Called and inquired and they said yes, I Was right. In fact, I didn't even have to call, it was set to renew at that rate Monday. Woohoo!

I am quite happy with this. I am not crazy after all. & yes next time I Will get it in writing, just in case.

Everything financially seems to be going my way this week. I am enjoying!

(I guess this could be a bit of a neener neener neener post too. LOL. Earning 5.7% for another 8 months on money that is not even mine!).

Well, um, we tried a new dentist, which I dread dread dread. But it went REALLY well.

Took LM in (he is 2.5) for his sharky mouth. He had a blast. Which for one, says much for their setup. BM has always loved the dentist but he is weird. LOL.

Anyway, LM was much more wary but he immediately fell in love with the plastic dolphin up front. (& fish).

Of course, dh went back with him and they were gone 1.5 hours. I Was trying not to fall asleep. Likewise, BM Was hungry but I Was there to watch him. Figured, we could have gone out to eat like he had asked. Then I worried worried worried what the hell was going on. (Apparently, a lot of paperwork. Whcih is another reason it is so tedious to try new dentists, but I have had horrid experiences since we moved here, myself).

Anyway, we lucked out. I think this place is a winner. I actually walked in expecting he would need work, and heard a "everything is fine, he doesn't need anything." What music to my ears!!!!

The x-rays showed no extra permanent teeth. YAy!!!!!!!!! They were concerned about crowding (oh sounds familiar, I couldn't even tell you all the work I had done from age 5 - 18, but I thought I had a few more years to save up for all the work I envision my kids will need).

But anyway, as far as extra tooth, it's just a baby and they don't want to do anything with it. "It will work itself out." More music to my ears. I am sure we could have found a more aggressive dentist, but I think this works for us. Phew!

OF course our dentist, who I know we have it good with (the longtime forever patient discount). We paid $125/each, dh and I for our last visit. BM a little more since he had flouride.

Anyway, they did charge $250 here but it was for consultation and full x-rays, as well as flouride and cleaning. Well worth it for all the fanciness; it was a great first experience for LM. I did not ask dh what they recommended, but dh said he did not book the next appointment. They only reason we made one was for his tooth. & well, I figure he will go back there in a year. Then maybe every 6 months until he hits 5 or 6. Then he can join us at the big dentist.

Oh yes, and dh sort of asked for a discount. Not really, but he did not know I Wanted to put it on the card for rewards. He asked if they could just send a bill. (BEcause he though that I Wanted to pay later for some reason). They said no, but that they would give him a 10% discount. He seemed to think he wouldn't have gotten it otherwise. IT was the cash discount but he did use the card. Score! So in the end we paid $225. We'll earn 1.25% rewards on that too. So we'll have to remember to ask for the cash discount next time. Or make sure we have the checkbook in case they aren't so nice next time. I think it helps the girls were taking payments and they always go gah gah over a guy with a small kid. LOL. The women just eat it up.

I am just so happy today that that is his only prognosis for now. Phew!!!! HE will get plenty of work on his mouth down the raod, I am sure. I know so many people getting so much preventitive work done on baby teeth and such. I always wondered if it was really worth it. Maybe it really is? But I am glad for now it is not something for us to worry about.

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Anyway, I don't think the kids have ever seriously asked for much, but today BM Asked for a trampoline, and whined when I said no. I told him he already had a mound of toys for Christmas. The FUNNY thing though was my first response was, "No, those cost a lot of money." So he immediately said, "Then why does Miss L have one???" LOL. At his preschool. The interesting thing is I knew Miss L was carless but apparently she is now homeless too. & BM seemed to grasp that meant she had no money. Wow. Anyway, I was asking what he meant it was hers, and he said she had moved in and it was her trampoline. "She doesn't have a house any more. She used to but now she doesn't." Well isn't that a lot of insight from a 4yo? I will have to ask my friend about that one. (HEr kid goes to the same school but since he is full-time she seems to know much more of the scoop).

All that from a kid asking for a trampoline.

Anyway, we were going to start the allowance/chore thing when he turns 5. So I talked a little about that and said that is the kind of thing he can save up for when he starts earning money.

& so it starts - the learning about money. My parents started really young with me and so we just will do the same. It worked well for us. I couldn't tell you when I started getting an allowance, but it wasn't the traditional allowance thing, so I don't want to hear how bad allowances are. It really worked for me. IT's not like we are going to hand him money for breathing. But for helping out around the house he will also get a chance to learn about how to handle money. That was always the point of allowance in our house, and I learned all about how money worked quite young. We just figured at 5 he would start Kindergarten which will be his "job" and likewise he will start helping more around the house too.

Which reminds me, Little LEague is starting up soon and they take 4yos. I think we may sign him up. IT's pretty inexpensive and he has been asking to do soccer. IT seems soccer is a fall sport and may fit our schedule better as a whole. BAseball is spring (tax season). But might as well let him try both, and go from there. We'll see. We didn't sign up yet or anything. Dh and I so do not do sports, but it has always been important to us to let our kids be who they are. I have the feeling BM will be a sports type. Too bad he got stuck with us for parents. We wouldn't have a clue. LOL. But he is SO excited about the idea -would be T-Ball for him.

& so it begins!

Kncok on wood, but LM has been sleeping so well lately (For months. Oh my, it feels so good and strange to get a full nights' sleep every night. It has been YEARS!!!). As a whole the kids are actually pretty good sleepers. I mean BM has not been a problem since he was 2. A friend was just complaining about her 5yo waking her up and I thought, "oh my!" IT's been years since sleep has been an issue with him. LM did not handle teething well at all but he seems to be done. !!!!! So I no longer identify with the idea of toddlers who don't sleep. My kids SLEEP. & it is heavenly.

Anyway, and with him going to preschool 2 days a week dh has been in such a better mood. This tax season is flying by and I think that might be part of the reason why. With a happy dh and a good night sleep it just seems to be skipping along quite well.

So we all breathed our collective sigh of relief and began to really enjoy. & now all I See is sports practice and homework in my future. Well we are trying to enjoy the peace and calm. I see a very busy future. Just seems like there is always something with kids. OF course I Am just excited to show them everything the world has to offer. I want them to emjoy being kids like I always did, but I want to expose them to the world too. I guess it is a fine line.

The other thing I would like to do about now is start teaching piano to BM. I am sure we will sign him up for lessons eventually. (The unwritten rule is never teach your own kids. & for the long term there is a reason. For the short term I am too broke to do otherwise). But I think I can get going on getting him interested and teaching basics. I taught piano for many years. Time to brush off the cowbebs and rememebr what I used to do for a living. LOL. I Always thought it was nice to have another skill to fall back on, but now trying to remember exactly how and what pace the program went, funny I Don't remember! I am sure it will come back to me...

Reminds me we need a piano tuning too. $$$

Yeah, that about sums it up.

Ah yes, another year-end post.

Was just thinking, because dh and I were talking about what a crazy year it has been.

The funny thing is that last Jan. 1 I told dh that we could not buy ANYTHING. We would not buy or do anything. This year would be low key.

Then we started getting extra money and decided to do a few things. & the our parents lavished us with all these last minute vacations. It was just WEIRD. But then we were lavished with cash and we actually enjoyed much more than imagined. But all in all was a strange year. I find it even funnier because I came here saying how work is not that important to me, and we are real low key. & then work was crazy and we had a jet set lifestyle.

Which honestly made it hard for me to enjoy this year. Work was really stressful. Not my thing. It hasn't been like this for years. But re-examining our financial situation, I think I finally decided to embrace it. We could use the money. I've pretty much been on vacation the last 5 years. & so it doesn't hurt to work hard once in a while, to show my commitment. It's just the curse/bane of the industry though. Not enough people to fill the jobs. I feel I have been very unique keeping the life balance that I have been able to full-time the past 6 years. (I can think my boss too). But we just lost one too many employees this last year and I really had to step it up.

So this year was really weird. Worked a lot harder but ended up playing harder too. Well, for the long run I look to de-stress and step it down a bit. For now, what can I do. I embrace it.

But here is the craziness of 2007:

1. Dh had his movie premiere (the first "big" movie he worked on). That was pretty sweet. They had a decent offer on the movie but turned it down. Holding out for more I guess. Who knows if it will ever get anywhere now. But it was exciting. He is working on some projects starting in '08 again. Just been so busy with the kids, but now that they are in preschool, he has more time.

2. I tried to make some money off writing. I know I have been down on it in my blog, but really comes down to, I always envisioned writing a book when I was much older. I have the money-making career now, and this should allow me to pursue more hobbies when I am older. & I just couldn't make the time. I neglected my family too much. Really what it comes down to. & work got more stressful. So it's on the back burner but something I will certainly do again once work is lighter or kids are older. Which is fine. I don't find this compromising at all. I love my job. I always figured writing would be better with more age and wisdom. I actually want to go back to get a writing degree some day. I would want to practice the art more too. Take classes. Certainly not a priority today. The kids are. But this year was an adventure! That someone would pay me to write. Strengthens my resolve to write more in the future. Now is just not the time for me. Though I also keep my eyes open for writing opportunities in my field, which probably makes more sense now, for my resume and such.

3. We welcomed a new niece to the world this year.

4. Traveled to Mexico, Japan, Florida (Disney) and Vegas.

5. Took the kids to many zoos and museums and the like.

6. Bought a BIG HDTV & PS3

7. Still managed to build up our e-fund and up our net worth a good $30k (& meet all our other goals).

Yup, that was our low-key, do nothing, buy nothing year.

What the heck??? LOL. But it just turned into that kind of year.

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2008

We're starting over. Low-key. Buy nothing. Do nothing. Let's try this again. Big Grin

Well dh's mom, well she wants to retire this year so I think she is facing reality. She said she wanted to go on a family camping trip this year. Which is ironic since we were thinking of going on the same camping trip (ourselves) but it would be kind of fun with the grandparents. Sure, why not. Then again all of our trips this last year were rather last-minute. So we'll see. I won't be surprised if I get invited to China tomorrow. But it is hard to say no to trips to mexico and Japan and such. But we have discussed saying no to anything and everything. We want to keep it low key. Camping was more our speed.

We have been planning a trip to Disneyland though. In the spring. & then camping in the summer. Only low key things for summer. & a low key fall (at home). LOL.

Anyway, dh went to the dinosaur thing with my dad and I don't know. We took him to 2 museums with us last month and he did this with BM yesterday. I guess he is getting hooked. Maybe he really enjoyed Japan. He is turning into my MIL. He told dh that he wanted to do all these trips with us in the coming years. He mentioned Grand Canyon and Yosemite and the like. The funny thing is we have talked much of the same (maybe later than he is talking) so I wonder if he comes along if we might get a bit of a free ride. Hmmmmmmmm.

But I told dh we really needed to crack down (a week or 2 ago, before this) and that if Disneyland was our priority I just didn't know if we could justify the camping trip. Not that it was terribly expensive. But it was a good $500+. We don't even have sleeping bags... So I told him maybe we should save up for supplies this year and stuff, and go next year. Or likely his parents will pay anyway. But I didn't want to over commit. Even if it seemed simple, it would cost money.

& then he comes back telling me my dad wants to take us on all these trips. It's starting to come from both sides. When did this happen?

I told dh our kids are SO lucky. So so so lucky and spoiled rotten. I think with my parents, they just want to treat us to all the things they couldn't afford when we were young. Dh's family has been the same way for a LONG while. But my parent's are totally jumping on the bandwagon. Which is just a shock to me. I guess it is a grandparent thing. These are so not the parents who raised me! LOL.

Sometimes I give up on trying to shelter the kids from being too spoiled. I really want them to appreciate what they have and I make it a point to tell them that we didn't have these things when we were kids. Over and over and over. So they get it.

But my grandpa passed on this year and left $0.5 mil to his heirs. $0.5 mil. We were all TERRIBLY shocked. They never made more than minimum wage. They didn't even have a middle school education, much less high school. It was so mind boggling. & as my parents inherited 1/4 of this, they once again resolve to enjoy their money more than hoarde it (as they do every time a relative dies, stronger each time). I keep reminding them that grandpa was only 80 and longevity runs in the family. He wanted to be able to take care of himself, nursing home or not. By dad having grown up with him thought is was just terribly sad they never enjoyed any of that money. They lived a lifestyle deep in poverty. Their entire 80 years. So my parents have more resolve to enjoy and spoil us it seems. They insist he hoarded too much. Probably. But I am just in awe he would have been able to take care of himself well into 100 if need be (was likely. They died terribly young compared to siblings and such).

I keep wondering at this rate if the kids will have to work. I think of course I want them to be hard workers and learn to take care of themselves. I don't want them to be spoiled. But if grandpa can pass on $1/2 mil, what will our more well-off grandparents pass on? What will our parents with significant real estate pass on? What will we pass on? Will our kids ever worry about money in the ways we did? I know we don't worry about money in any sense our parents did at our age. just as they never worried about money as much as their parents did? (not with the freedom to get high school diplomas and college educations). & so it snowballs.

Ever since we had kids I have fought the tide of spoiling from the grandparents. But it just keeps getting bigger. Honestly, there is no fighting it. I am starting to realize. Is it so bad grandma took them to DisneyWorld when they were 2/4 & Hawaii when they were 0/2? That grandpa will take them to Japan before they hit 8/10? All I Can do is make sure they appreciate everything they have. It's a shame that we can never go back and see where my dad grew up and where my grandparents lived in a shack for most of their days. I think it's important for them to know where they came from. Those are our roots. Money just doesn't grow on trees and it took generations to come where we are. I think that's all I can do, is tell them that continuously. Just as my parents did when I was a child.

As such, 2008 will probably be crazy or crazier yet. Our parents will have many wild plans to give us what more of what they never could before.

But I feel very blessed in a big sense. Here is to the health and freedom to enjoy the craziness. Might as well embrace it.

& if it's a really slow, low-key year, I can't say I would mind a bit. I just hope someday my kids can say the same.

Maybe there is something to just enjoying the money while it is there. I guess you never know if you will be around to enjoy it tomorrow. Which is exactly what our parents are thinking. So might as well enjoy I guess.

Then again, I didn't exactly feel deprived before. I think we have always made it a point to live somewhat in the now. Just not so extravagantly. So it is just weird for me. Being a long range planner, just nothing I want to get used to either. I know our parents mean well. But I find it funny they found it so important for us to be independent and capable and NOT spoiled. But with the grandkids, eh. Seems to have gone out the window. Then they will blame us when they turn to spoiled brats. LOL. Would figure. Isn't that the way?

Or maybe I just overthink it all.

Most of my friends think I am crazy, but I a have a lot of friends back home who immigrated here from other countries. who came from true poverty and such. We all worry about our kids getting so far from their roots and not really understanding how GOOD they have it. That even their primary education is an incredible blessing.

Maybe once you've seen it you always have a fear you can end up back there some day. So I guess I am lucky in that regard I have other friends with the same worries.

Around here, if I wonder aloud if my kids have too much, people look at me like I have a 3rd eye. I figure a place like this forum, it is more understood, at least.

Anyway, here's to 2008. Whatever it brings!

Well, cool. I just realized I have been blogging here one entire year.

Before joining this site I thought because we had money we had done very well. But we weren't really looking at the big picture. & frankly we had little money left.

My husband lost his job and I became pregnant in October 2002. We had $30k in the bank (cash) and had always lived on my income alone. Nothing much changed. We decided he would stay home for a few years with the kids. As long as we could swing it. We had plenty of money to hold us over. We just didn't really have much plans to save, but at 25 we were WELL ahead of the pack and knew we would have plenty of time to catch up.

We really had a lot of luck. Though I work for a small employer he kept my job open for me during 2 maternity leaves (no obligation under the law, beyond the initial 6 weeks disability - I took much more time). I can't say we never saved. We saved big for my maternity leaves. & with disability I don't remember touching much of our other savings during those times. So we didn't do all bad.

But I was lucky both kids came rather close together (we had hoped, but didn't exactly count on it). So dh's time home would not have to be prolonged as it would have if there was more space between them.

In the meantime my job went through some insane times. My pay went up 10% every year because there became such a shortage of CPAs. A lifestyle we planned hard to live on $40k suddenly didn't matter any more. My pay almost doubled in a few short years. So we started to enjoy more. We looked at bigger houses (never bought). We hired a gardener and put our son in preschool. Dh upgraded some video equipment. Our health insurance went from $100/month to $800/month in the course of 2 kids and 3 years. We didn't really think about savings because "dh would save his paycheck when he returned to work." If he did we would be no further behind in the long run. IT really wasn't the worst plan.

I freaked out though when we took our last $15k in the bank and bought a car. We financed $5k so we could keep $5k in the bank. It was a scary place to be. I knew we had not wasted all our cash (much had gone to retirement and good stuff. The car wasn't a horrid purchase), but with a newborn, we had a ways before dh was to return to work. Started worrying about saving again.

So I found this site and in the last year I have learned so much and changed our thinking so much about how we save our money.

This year I have came up with/saved $8500 I wouldn't have otherwise by managing our money better and looking for more opportunities to make money. (Focus groups, rewards, higher interest rates, freelance work; a lot of stuff that was little effort). [see my challenge posts].

I completely revamped my investments and am paying less fees and getting better returns.

I think the other thing that woke me up is when we mostly drained our cash we decided that dh needed to get some part-time work. But it was very hard in coming. For whatever reason. Discrimination at his stay-at-home status (very apparent) versus being over-qualified for kind of min. wages that would have fit his schedule, we kind of realizes we may be in this for the long haul. We never really wanted him to go back to work full-time in the near future. But part-time work was really hard to come by when we needed it. So we kind of realized maybe we need to rethink things. This is where I am most happy with my time here. We have restructured our budget and everything and are on track to not only pay all the bills on my check but save $5k/year for household/next car purchases as well as 15% of my pay (on top of my boss's 10% match).

If you told me one year ago that we would have decided dh would probably stay home forever and I could pull all this off on one check, gardener, preschool and all, I would not have believed it.

So basically I have loved my time here. I have learned a lot. I think we were on a decent path already, but we had lots of pitfalls to work around. Now we are on a MUCH smoother path.

I think the biggest things I have learned are to maximize my assets (make them work for me) and also to find extra money where we can. That extra $8500 this year has gone a long way to make thing possible. It's not "all" my wage. But finding a little extra to prevent the need of a second W-2 job is pretty sweet. We had never seen the point of working 2 full-time jobs, but we also weren't really utilizing the fact that we could come up with another few hundred dollars a month without working 40-hour weeks.

I know almost 1/2 my challenge is a big check my parents gave us. But last year I would have used it to pay the bills. The property taxes, the insurance. Maybe the daycare. This year it is all sitting in an untouchable efund. & that is huge. Just a huge example of how far we have come along. I am hoping to put all that extra in my retirement going froward and when dh does bring a wage, extras like that will go to investments and/or mortgage.

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Along the same lines I was just looking in Quicken (some nice comparison reports I never really looked at) and our grocery expenses are down 20% this year. I can't say we have really done much but eat smarter. The foods we buy haven't changed; our diet hasn't changed. We do eat very well. We have spent $3900 to-date this year and last year we were at $4900. WOW! Dh has been working hard to get the costs down. Just trying to think in terms of what we already have on hand, and clipping more coupons. Stocking up on things on sale. The difference is amazing. We have always pre-planned menus and shopped with a list. (Note: our "grocery" category includes all household goods/tioletries. I just lump it all in because we don't buy much in the way of non-food items). I am sure we could spend much less if we did the beans and rice thing, but no need for that!

Dining out is $500 to-date vs. $1k last year. Not the kind of thing we spent a ton on, but has gone down with our groceries too.

We've also been doing well with our gas expenditures. Our gas is about the same as last year but we have been driving a lot more (but a lot smarter. Driving the compact car more and consolidating trips). This stuff has made a huge difference too. More left over for other stuff.

*Got signed up for balanced billing - both electric and gas. Gas told me they were going to bill me $30/month. I think our electric average is around $40/month. They didn't tell me the amount up front. But we'll see. I'll miss the $10 bills, but oh well, makes budgeting easier. (& I guess that I won't miss the $100 bills!!!!!!)

*Still hadn't gotten the paperwork to switch to metered water, but I guess they called dh today to say it is still in the works. August is a bad month, but metered water in September would be nice (will save $10-$15). Maybe October - as long as we get it by the really cheap winter months.

*Experian sent me a note that they deleted a bunch of crap from my credit report and will permanently block all of it. Woohoo. We'll see what Equifax says. Transunion was called by Citi (with me on the line) but they were the ones that had that horrid FICO score. If it doesn't bounce back up by next month I will write in for the "permanent block." Maybe should do regardless, since I swear they said they "removed stuff" (got that in writing) but nothing about a "permanent block." Maybe that has to be requested (certain states like California allows fraudulent stuff to just be permanently blocked from your report if you ask). I am also terribly confused by what the credit Bureaus do and do not share. They seem to share all the info with each other, but then others say they don't. From my experience they seem to be sharing all the info - if anything reports on one it reports on the others. I think I even read if you requested a block with one it will send on the info to the others to block as well. Well, we'll see. see if I get more confirmations or if I will have to pull more reports and send off for more block requests.

All the instructions and forms said you can only block what is showing, but I sent along the police report and they blocked everything that has shown up since I pulled the report - as much keeps trickling onto the report - so woohoo. Score one anyway for a tedious process. For one, Lowes has taken the balance off my report from day 1 but it still shows on my report (with a $0 balance). I assume this means it won't show up at all. Other places are still showing on my credit report with balances while they resolve things though I think most said they wouldn't. (Whatever...). IT should be a good month before I get anywhere near resolving all of this. Waiting for them all to officially "clear me" and take everything off my credit report. I think most quoted it as a 30-day process from when I sent in the affidavits (all signed/notarized/sent/received, so just a waiting game here on out.

*We weren't home all weekend, and yesterday was a LONG day (Marine World - went well - kids loved it). Tomorrow I am hosting a playgroup with like 10 moms and 15 kids I don't know. Oy Vey! Don't ask - long story... (Of course funny enough dh asks me what we are doing for dinner - LOL. I said - do you think we can afford to feed all these people? Play date is AFTER dinner of course. He was asking if he should pick up some pizzas...)

*Which reminds me I am SICK of pizza. We did the take/bake cheap yummy pizza thing last Monday for guests, had lots of leftovers (since dh bought 2 - told him we only needed one! ). Pizza Saturday for birthday party and then we went to visit dh's friends Sunday and they pulled out the pizza menu. We just looked at each other. "Sure, sounds great." (If I never see another pizza again). Well, we did get a lot of free pizza - so hey...

*Made a big deposit at the bank. My mom reimbursed me for all the airline tickets (like $3k) and I had kids' birthday money (transferring to Vanguard in the next month). I had been waiting until I needed it and was ready to transfer so it didn't just get spent... I mean I was going to transfer it regardless, but now I can just transfer the actual checks once they deposit. I was starting Automatic Imvestments for the kids in September. & then I had dh's focus group money - deposited the cash like a good girl.

*Dh was inspired by my dad to attempt pest control on his own. Woohoo. We tried in the past and he just wasn't helping me, lord knows I don't have the time. We found a cheap service for a while (who would only come when we needed it - thank you) but they gave up on wasps (too many injured employees and that is our only real problem, though I have seen more spiders than I have cared to this last year inside the house. We are lucky the house is air tight enough few get in though). I haven't balanced my disgust for chemical pest control with my disdain for spiders. It's irrational I know, but I just can't stand the things. Anyway, some guy came around with some insane quotes last week and dh wanted to sign up. I asked him to call around. We need someone to come once or twice at the beginnign of wasp season and that is about it. We don't need to pay $60 each and every month (nor do I want to spray that much as we try to be somewhat environmentally conscious). But after a year if no spraying something needs to give - indeed. So when we were talking to my dad over the weekend about frugalness or something dh got inspired to give it a whirl himself. We'll see. I just don't want him to get stung. But yeah my dad has always done the pest spraying for our home growing up. So he had some tips.

Which reminds me our guests from Canada came to the door and said, "You get tarantulas here???" Yeah, just want the arachnophobe wants to hear. They were going on and on about our BUGS which I found rather ironic. I know I wouldn't last a minute in the south myself. Maybe we should move north! IT wasn't a tarantula - just a really big spider. The thought will give me nightmares though. But yeah told them they hasn't seen nothing until they go spend a summer day in North Carloina - hehe.

*We decided my van needs new tires. Still 2 originals (2 blew but ran over bolts both times - not much you can do). I told dh I thought the used ones looked worn but he convinced me they weren't. We're pulling out the penny and I think he was guaging the wrong areas of the tire. So over the weekend his dad mentioned my tires looked pretty worn. (Van has about 45k miles on it and I am sure the 2 are original tires - probably crappy factory ones at that). So I asked my dad to check since he is the car expert. In true frugal fashion he tells me front tires are pretty iffy (should replace) but the back ones have 6 months. If he were me he'd wait 6 months on the back ones. But get the tires that last 60k miles. I am thinking if I am taking my car in and getting tires, and they are going to last 60k miles, might as well get 'er done. But that's my dad. We usually just have our mechanic guy do it (he advises us but we haven't taken the cars in much since we have 2 newer cars). So I asked my dad where he recommended and he recommended someone down the street from them in San Jose. He said he would call and get me a quote. Sounds good - next time we drive down - my dad will help me get a deal.

That being said I don't think our mechanic charged particularly much for the 2 or 3 times he replaced all my tires (I have gone through a lot of cars lately) so I will probably call him for a quote too. If they are that "iffy" on the front rather just get them done - can take them in tomorrow if I wanted.

Not a biggie, but then dh tells me he doesn't think his tires have ever been changed. I vaguely remember they have been but I couldn't remember when. The car has well over 70k miles. I figure he is insane. I haven't pulled out the paperwork yet (hardly been home) but at lunch I remembered to look at his tires. Clearly new. Probably replaced in the last year or 2, but the car is never driven. I was pleased to glance at his tired and see they obviously don't need replaced too - phew. I mean if they did - what are you going to do - we'll replace them - we have the cash. Safety first. But he was freaking me out. I'll pull out the paperwork and see when we got those tires...

Always something...

*Yesterday we spent $110 at Marine World (Discovery Kingdom or whatever - just changed the name). I was wrong. Our tickets were $30/each. & parking was $15. (Are they serious?) Of course if you looked at the prices the day without discount would have cost us something like $200 (tickets only - not even parking). Who pays that????????? Everyone we saw had a coupon of course. But they day was PERFECT - just dead as could be - not a lot of people. We did good! Kids had a blast. Spent $35 on food for the grand total of $110. Of course we were lazy and tired and had a $5 Taco Bell meal on the way home and stopped by Rite Aid for some 99-cent ice cream so made it a $118 day I guess.

I also made the observation that the more fit people had the fancier strollers yesterday - for the toddlers and preschoolers. IT strikes me as odd. I guess BM has never been a stroller fan (too much energy) and in the last few months LM has pretty much been done with his (pretty much after he had been walking just a few months). When we took them to SF zoo a few months back I was amazed how well LM but at the end of the night we had to carry him out and about killed us (he is a good 30 pounds). But yesterday we brought the stroller "in case" but left it in the car. Didn't need it in the least. Since we are more in shape carrying him at the end of the day exhaustion point was just a piece of cake. & I am just happy one less thing we have to pack next time. I have read that people are keeping their kids in strollers way too long (part of the whole obesity thing) and yesterday I really noticed it. I just think it was extremely ironic that the most fit people had the biggest strollers - LOL. Dh said it was a status symbol thing. I don't know - maybe. As for us, every time we have to pack (or more importantly, every time I have to REMEMBER ) one less thing, we do the happy dance of joy. I think we are about done with strollers... I say woohoo!

*THough I have been a little stressed lately about money (when am I not?) I am feeling rather at one with the financial universe all the same. Life is good. I left work early last week to hang out with BM at preschool "because he wanted me to." Sure, what the heck. Took yesterday off. Going to Japan in a few weeks. Dh and the kids are going to Florida as well in OCtober. Our savings is going in a positive direction for the first time since kids and one-income and all that. Life is good. What is there really to complain about. I already blogged that while everyone is "Going Back to School" we are enjoying the kids. Maybe it is because the kids are at a good age too. Moving past diapers and bottles (& strollers) and sleepless nights, it's kind of an enjoyable time. Easier to slow down and enjoy their innocence a little bit more without the complete exhaustion that comes with babies and newborns.

I've even been feeling less like working part-time is really going to be my goal. I want more time with the kids now - like it matters when they are in school all day anyway. Which means I might make an effort to work less the next year or 2 and then ramp it up when the kids are in school and give up on the whole part-time thing. Maybe... I mean if dh returns to work it will be an entirely different beast. But if he is not working, kids in school, my work schedule isn't so bad. I can compile my vacation and take a month off every summer and be home with the kids then if I like. I could come home every afternoon and work while they do homework. At least we can all be home together though - though we will all have our own work to do. It's an idea. I think I would probably be better off doing that and going for more unpaid time than the goal of part-time. I would just lose way too much. If I can vie for more unpaid time insetad, I wouldn't lose all my benefits and perks. Frankly, I don't really mind working full-time. I have had a time of it since LM was born. I think I have felt like I have been missing a lot more with the kids. But with LM sleeping better and getting to the gym and all that I have just been feeling so much better. Work has been going so much better. A good night sleep does make all the difference - it really does. I think with sleep and getting more fit and a clearer brain I am focusing more on how good we have it lately and so feel little need to complain and am rather happy where things are. I have just been on a bitch fest when it has come to work these last few months and I think just the stress and exhaustion. But things are going a lot better. Work is still crazy, but handling it better.

After being unable to do much today I finally told dh what I would really like to do is just clean up a little. I have been pretty overwhelmed lately and everything around the house seems to be suffering. Anyway, came upstairs to file bills & papers, opened that new GMAC MMA I intended to (oh yeah, I think they lowered their rate too - figures - but still felt it was worth it). Dh decided to vacuum the downstairs and I am so grateful. When I ask to help he does. But usually all the housework falls on me. I don't really mind for the most part - I don't do a ton, but I think I go through this every busy season - it just sldies by the wayside and becomes so overwhelming I can't even think about it. Anyway, just simply vacuuming the family room and kitchen/dining area just feels like a weight off - just less overwhleming. THank you dh - & it is extra nice when I don't have to ask!!!!!!

I picked up the kids room sand laundry last weekend and now the office area is a little more tidy, everything filed. I would love to scrub the kids' bath (filthy) and should probably get a new shower curtain - it's just disgusting. & the table clothe downstairs is trashed - ripped and stain - time to replace - may do a little shopping tomorrow. Unfortunately we have extra big shower, hard to find a shower liner so will just go over to Bed, Bath Beyond - I know I bought the last one there a while back - see if I can find one.

Maybe tomorrow I will hit the kitchen and the rest of the downstairs needs a good vacuum.

HAving a bigger house, overall I don't spend a lot of time dusting and scrubbbing overall, so it is really not that much, but the downside is the master bath pretty much never gets cleaned. IT is always filthy - just the one thing I never have time for. & then when I get to it, it takes so long to scrub, I just never want to do it again. LOL. SO as usual the rest of the house will probably be "clean as it needs to be" as I always say, and the bathroom - eh - it will wait as usual But at least once I get back on track it won't be so hard to keep up. I hope. I really prefer to do my own housework for many reasons - I doubt I will ever hire a maid. For now, in the winter, it is the only exercise I get. Seriously. So I like to do it myself.

Anyway, the good financial news is I totally forgot when I lessened BM's preschool days that most months would be $280. $280 or $315 depending if it is 8 or 9 days that fall in that month. I totally forgot because no sooner than we switched than they shut down 2 months. Anyway, just paying the bill and thinking it shouldn't be MORE than 9 days so I better check. I saw it was a short february and 8 days. I Was really pleased. & THEN I noticed march was the same. $70 I did not expect to save in january & february - woohoo!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I am super stoked because we are short about $200 this month based on income anyway mostly because of all the car repairs (was looking pretty good even with all the emnergencies this month until the last couple of days of course). BUT I made almost $100 in Cookie Lee sales this month - woohoo - and just found another $70 - WOW!!!!! To bridge the end of the gap I have had my eye on selling an old Milli Vanilli C.d. I have. They are selling upwards of $20. I also have a couple of baby items to that I need to clean and put up for sale. So overall I am super pleased.

I am also extra pleased with my decision to round up the mortgage payment by $32. A day at preschool is $35 and since about 1/2 the months we pay $35 less than I budgeted, is easy to apply that to the mortgage. Just something I totally hadn't realized and I Am super pleased! All works out...

Well I am glad I significantly racheted down my state withholding, asked my boss.

Just finished up my taxes overall and getting $200 net back - woohoo. Originally estimated $200 due so I am happy as a clam.

I had a $20k ROTH conversion that I paid nothing in for, for state, and I still am getting $875 back. (overwithheld MUCH???) I owe about $675 for Federal - I paid Fed for the conversion, but the conversion pushed my income too high and I missed a lot of my medical deductions. So it brought my taxes up even more, etc. I don't mind owing a little so I didn't care. But $200 back, net, is sweet. Will probably file in the next couple of weeks, get my state refunds, and then when I get it, just pay the fed. In the bank it would earn me $4/month. Eh, rather get that tax bill out of my hair!!

Last year my taxable income was around $50k with my maternity leave. Some untaxed disability, some taxed, lots of unpaid time from work, etc.

This year was about 90k with the ROTH conversion and my first full year since my fat raise in 2005. That is pretty sweet.

Either way still well in the 15% tax bracket thinks to the insane cost of housing and health insurance over here, makes a nice tax break at least. Kids help too (though can I reiterate they cost 10 times as much as the tax break? LOL. Still don't get that logic - more kids for more tax breaks - blech - gotta be crazy. )

This year I expect to pull in $80k with all of our various efforts to make money. The last few years have been in the $40k-$50k range for the most part so it should be pretty sweet. All the same, there is no way in heck I want to get used to that kind of money - I think that is dangerous. I am trying hard to save save save.

I reconsidered how much our net worth should increase this year, considering payment of car and payments on the mortgage. With that and our investments performing average, I expect around $30k increase. $10k savings, $5k investment returns, $8k profit sharing, $3k car paid off, $5k mortgage principal. I had missed that $8k before (car and mortgage principle), but you can't discount that - woohoo.

Jan. 15 - $30.00 Replace Tire
Week 2 total: $278.05
Week 1 total: $374.24

**2 no spend days**

Items bought new in 2007:
Nintendo DS accessories (2) (dh)
Underwear(dh)
Packing Tape
Bubble envelope
Shipping Labels

Items bought used in 2007:
Tire for Car

-------------------------------------

Well, I almost fainted at the sight but dh changed the tire. Okay, it turned out to be so easy too - LOL. I laugh that he talked me out of it (complicated) but then he decided to do it. IT was easy. & Big Monkey had SO MUCH fun helping him.

HE took it in today and the thing was shot - a big gash. I have NO IDEA when and where it happened - weird. I was feeling bad it just sat for days and figured that would ruin the tire. Guess it was already ruined so no matter. So dh picked up a used tire to replace it. $30 for a tire, they replaced it, and put the spare back, etc. Not bad!

I know I had a warning not to buy used tires but we always do (like I said my last car attracted flat tires like no problems - lots of nails for whatever reason). I hesitate at saying we never had a problem because I don't want to jinx myself at all - the last thing I need is that - but from what I understood these are not retread tires or messed with, they are simply used from the junkyard. & I have bought a lot of nice car stuff from the junkyard believe me. As usual - used has a negative conotation, but if you shop right it doesn't have to be really used. I like to aim for barely used, if used at all. Just titled "Used." & serves us just fine. We have a trusted mechanic who watches out for us and gives us the seal of approval for the cheapo place, so be it. I throw that out though so if people get the idea from me, to buy used tires, to be careful out there. If you end up with a bad tire it is extremely dangerous. But that is why a trusted mechanic is so beneficial to keeping car costs down - I've said it once and I'll say it 1000 times. I know people who won't buy a used car that is 2 years old because of "oh the repairs." but we have driven plenty of $1k cars that were great and needed little in repairs. Just have to know what you are doing - or know and trust someone who knows cars...

So anyway - I had my first item to add to my used category - trying to track what we buy used vs. new.

In other news I saw the reference to paycheckcity.com and I use it for work a lot. I did not remember, or know even, you could put in your exmptions and calculate your check. So I did. I almost fell over because my check showed a $450/month increase (for my $300/month raise). After playing with it I realized my paycheck was calculating my state withholding at 0 exemptions. 0!!!!!! When I take 16 for Fed. Anyway, I knew it was way over-withholding, but with tax rates so LOW I figure I Would leave it another year. Just a hedge against getting to used to lower taxes. BUT it is ridiculous. I Am losing $150/month with my new raise. So I finally decided I Want the money now. Shot a quick e-mail to my boss since we get paid tomorrow - see how much he can fix it.

I just found me $150/month. OR at least $100. I told him just to make sure it wasn't withholding more than Federal. I am not sure if he will get it perfect - obviously the software is not right on (though it was for fed - weird). So I Am just jumping with joy. Was trying to save $350 month going forward ($315 raise plus $35 I had been trying before raise) and when the car is paid off will be $550. & if I Can squeeze out another $100-$150/month on my state withholding I feel so FREE. I told dh I would just leave it for now as a "cushion." I was not even sure I Could really commit to the $300/month - seems there is always something. But I was going to try darn hard. But the added cushion just makes this next year look so EASY. I am so stoked.

So it is official, last year I was putting away little - maybe $300/month on a good month for the big bills. Today I am putting away $1350 every month for long-term (e-fund) and short-term savings (the 1-time big bills) and so that is 25% of my check I am no longer touching for day-today expenses.

That is insane.

What have we given up? Some eating out? Some toys? Not much! (& the raise helps too...)

I feel very well with the financial universe today!

PS - my boss said he will withhold whatever I want to I am taking the extra $100/month out - woohoo. I got a nice big fat cushion - I am so happy today.

I got my raise!!!!!! $4k!!!!

(Can you believe this is one of my smallest raises ever? The industry is crazy...).

Anyway, yeah a measly $4k raise and a promotion to more management. I have gotten $6k raises without promotion, but whatever. I was VERY pleased and doing a dance of joy until I sat down to really think about this.

That is the good for sure.

The bad, if I had not lowered my health insurance plan, my raise would have been completely eaten up by health insurance. For now we pay less monthly but are open to more out-of-pocket costs. We'll see how it pans out.

As I started to realize this and think ahead my next year's raise will probably be eaten up by increases in premiuns (& maybe this year's eaten up by out-of-pocket expenses) then I Wasn't to thrilled.

though the bright side is definitely that I have enough raises to cover these - geez louise.

Anyway, planning ahead I decided to get my boss's insurance rates. I am looking at them right now, $730/month for a family of 4, boss would pay $250, $480 out of my pocket, for a plan with a high deductible, but not high enough to be a eligible for a HSA. I think my current insurance is around that for a HSA-qualified plan. *sigh* Just the writing on the wall that we will likely switch to high-deductible next year, or soon, and so I am feeling down about it. I can not believe still my boss's plan does not offer much benefit - I guess his rates have raised accordingly over the last years.

So anyway, I am super stoked that I am looking to set aside $300/month EASY and $500/month when the car is paid off (soon) and that is super duper awesome, brings me to about 10% savings rate. & I told dh I would not be bugging him to get a paying job this year - 1 more year to work on his movie ventures and strike it big (with no pay). This is all very well and good, and great and awesome, but the whole health insurance thing still stresses me out. *sigh* All this cash will be needed perhaps if we switch to high-deductible plan later. Well, at least we'll have it. I did not feel comfrotable switching with so little cash right now. So overall is a step up. & dh is pleased!

Anyway, if I ever come across bitter, just had to say I am not. LOL. I am not bitter at all. It is so funny how we come across over the computer sometimes. When I am PMSy yes I can be a pain, but most of the time I Am pretty happy, if you didn't notice. Just a side note. I Cirnge that I would come across bitter I guess because I am no NOT a bitter person.

Oh yeah - so though I am going to save my entire raise going forward and pretend like it is not there (too bad no direct deposit - would make it so much easier but I Am discilplined enough - it's okay). But we decided to eat out tonight to celebrate. Nice to splurge once in a while. The funny thing it has been SO LONG since we ate out really we weren't really sure what to do. Decided to order in greek.

The other thing today is that I changed my investment portfolio. I am feeling very bearish on the market and moved more over to bonds. BEfore I had cash and stocks and I Was fine, but I noticed recently that my portfolio did semi-decent in the 2000-2003 years because my bond fund was making some really big returns. I Decided I made some nice stock gains these last few months, but with this bearish feeling it was good to move some back over to bonds. My old 401k had a new PIMCO bond fund that was actually pretty decent, easiest way to move to bonds and avoid fees (401k has no fees no matter how little I put in each fund). So I exchanged my stock market index, which is the worst performing, but cheapest (13% of funds in my control) over to the bond. Dh has about 35% of our money in a total stock market index now, so was a good move, and the rest in other stock mutual funds, so it works out well I think. IT was hard to see how bonds were helping us in the short-term but I See the bigger picture now... So we're at 15% cash, Around 15% bonds overall (in all mutual funds) and 70% stock. Good enough for me. I am a safe person, but I See the value in the stock for the long-term, I have already ridden 1 bad wave and came out ahead. But at the same time I like to have a little cash just in case - at least it is not under my mattress.

I really still have no idea how bonds work and probably why I shy away. But my conclusion is they do good when the market is otherwise bad. This may be a bad assumption, but cash rates were low and market was way down, and bonds were pulling 10% in the early 2000s. For now I put some in, and a loger-term goal for me is to really understand the bond market better. One of these days. I should look for a "bond market for dummies" book...

Anyway, I have to rework my budget now!!!! WIll get cracking tonight... See where this puts us. In the green at least for this year - phew!

Just made $20 selling my Cookie Lee Jewelry. I didn't have to do anything, just had a co-worker ask to look at the catalog and took an order. She said she may order more.

Just got a check for $120 ($60 profit) from another co-worker, but already counted that money in a blog last week - went to gymboree.

Anyway, my problem is I sell the CL just to get the discount and buy my own. I was thinking of quitting this year. I have to spend $300 (or sell $600 - I only pay 50% - annually). I just couldn't see forking the money this year. I think I only sold 1/2 what I need to. With holidays coming up I was invited to a group show so I think I will sell there - I can make $300/show. IT really isn't bad, just after working FT I feel time with my family is more important, so I generally don't do the show thing, though the money is pretty good. I also just don't have the personality for it. I can hand out a catalog and take orders but that's about it. & I think it's important to like your job. I don't like shows so I Won't suffer. I rather live on a shoestring. 1 show a year is fine. But try doing 1 show and not getting 100 referrals. Truth is it is a great way to make money. It just snowballed too much for me so I had to quit.

Anyway, if I do this particular show or push my wares a bit I may be able to get my minumum and sell another year. I do not think I have spent a dime this year on the jewlery. Yay me!!

Anyway this week: + $5 costume, +$20 jewelry + $90 anniversary gift = $115 this week thus far. The week isn't even over. If every week was like this hubby would not need a job in the least. ; )

Oh yeah - I forgot to mention at seminar yesterday was so funny. I totally wasted $4 on that puzzle book because I forgot I signed up for seminar with the comedian instructor. Funny funny class. But it was so ironic because he had a huge section on BUDGETING and personal finance. The class was "Tax Planning for Families." Did I learn much? Not really because guy jokes more than he teaches - LOL. But he does compile a huge list of useful websites. If savingadvice.com is not in the list I will e-mail him and have him add it. I have the feeling it is. He is sending us his updated sites in a month or so. We'll see.

I have been SO addicted to this site I was looking for a breath of fresh air and getting budgeting off my mind for a day - stuck in class. No such luck - LOL. Was just too funny...

Okay, so I Was just reading another friend's blog on another site and she is extremely religious. Her ends were not meeting, and she prayed, and the lord provided with extra money here and there.

Well, I am not religious in the least, but I have a similar post - LOL. I guess personally I Always find that things just tend to work out. IS there some higher power that arranges this? I am not so sure, but haven't ruled it out. But anyway, when things don't work out, I know I try my best to make them work. & I know in my friend's case she did not sit and wait for the lord to rain money on her, she did have quite a hand in it herself.

Anyway, so in this case I have a little bit of *luck* and a little bit of *action* on my part to thank.

I wanted to sign my baby up for Gymboree because I wanted to do something special 1-on-1, and my work schedule has just sucked at me being able to keep up with friends and plan playdates. With my odler son we did the weekly park playdate, but those friends have moved on and did not have further babies, etc. I frankly don't have the energy or the will. If I pay for a class, it is not very frugal, but I know I will be motivated to show up every week, and I do not need to keep the energy to maintain friendships. At the same time, I feel bad for the interaction my younger son is missing out on. HE is home with homebody daddy during the day and sees lots of older kids with me (brother and his friends) but not much of kids his own age.

So I signed him up. It was about $180 for the rest of the year, and like his older brother's preschool I figured I Would make it work because I think it is important.

I did have friends pushing me to sign him up for Baby Signs and Kindermusik which came out to $20/week - just INSANE. Gymboree I could swallow at closer to $11/week. + you can take him to free plays up to 2 times a week for merely another $20 over 16 weeks. I am sold!

I played Bunco this month and won $75!!!!! I paid $11 & won $75 for a net of $64. I just started the month before and won that month as well, so this was pure profit. That is the luck part.

I have been chasing a $65 refund from a music studio for my older son since may. I just got a tip from a friend who to talk to and when she is there to get the refund. Sent dh yesterday and he came back empty handed but woman is looking into it (we were told 3 times check is in the mail by owner already). He swears he will not leave without the check if he has to go back next Wednesday. I believe him - surprised he was so soft on her yesterday.

Finally, I made $60 this month selling my Cookie Lee jewelry.

Add it all together and I have my $180 for Gymboree - woot. I am a happy girl.

I was also going to make around $200 helping a neighbor/client set up Quickbooks (on the side). I was going to use it for Gymboree, but now I think I will put it in savings. This month has proved well so far!

I have been reading about Pinecone (survery) and am considering giving it a whirl to come up with the $20 for the Gymboree free play days. We'll see!!

Anyway, Gymboree through December is taken care of and come January he will be old enough for the Community Center classes whch range from $5-$7/week. Phew.