Well, I am going to Tokyo but don't ask me where yet!

My dad put me in charge of airfare - lord knows why - I'll see what I can scrounge up this weekend.

& to the comments on my blog - it's good to hear the weather will be nice. My dad was scaring me how beautiful it was in the spring and how he didn't know about October. Early enough in October too, so not that far from summer I guess...

Just had an interesting story to share.

When the debate comes up if you are wealthier when you "give" I think most of the logic is a load of crap. I guess I know too many people who give what they really don't have to give, but are stuck in poverty with that belief. & too many people who do quite well but don't give a dime. I think those who give of themselves are probably happier as a whole. But for one, in my immediate family there is not a lot of cash giving going on. But everyone is pretty happy and well off. I think they are giving people in general though & probably why I find myself justifying that I just bend over backwards to help my friends and family and we have always been very big on volunteering, etc. Which to me is more important/rewarding than giving a ton of cash.

Which reminds me the amazing has happened. When dh lost his job I tried to get him to do some volunteer work to keep occupied, as waited for our first child to be born. Volunteering is not something his family ever had him do and he had no experience in, at all. I am not sure he was very game, but he was going a little stir crazy. Finally he found a gig at the public TV station. Originally he ran the cameras and stuff, and with time they let him do less (bummer) - just the way it is - volunteers can only do more menial things I guess - ??? But he told me the other day he was thinking he wanted to give $1k to the TV station. I almost fell over. Who is this guy? LOL. He has also been devoting TONS of time to the station as back to my last post it seems they have been having a lot of flakes, and dh seems to be the first they call when there is a no-show volunteer (since he lives close and will actually show up). So he has been logging in the hours. Oh well, when you feel passionate about something... We aren't going to, but he said he had thought about it next time we get a windfall or something. I am not even sure if I am so keen, but I am touched by his generosity. (Well either that or he has been working WAY too many pledge breaks - they are getting to him).

But anyway, I got off track a bit.

My mom however has taken to paying the bridge toll for those behind her when she drives up to visit us. She does this on occassion, and I liked the idea so much I have thought about it on a couple of occasions. Every time (rare) I come over the same bridge there is no one behind me. LOL. Figures. It kind of loses its meaning when you can't get a "thank you" wave.

But the last 2 time my mom came to visit she said each time her toll was paid for her by the car ahead of her. Isn't that sweet? Funny how sometimes what goes around will literally come around. She said no one had EVER paid her toll before.

I guess there could be something to it.

Well, if you want to make someone's day - pay their toll for them.

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In other news, um, I think I am going to Japan in a couple of months! Well, apparently my dad and sister are going in October, no one told me, and well I do have my passport from the cruise (that I never got to use since it arrived after the cruise). My mom just mentioned today and I said "HUH?" She said I could go (expenses paid) but I have to talk to my dad first. He went there when LM was quite little (a few months old) and I am sure he invited me and he had such a wonderful trip I hoped I would be able to go along some time. I wasn't going to travel with an infant OR leave him either at the time, so I declined. I figured there would be ample opportunity in the future (figured I'd be invited). I should be peeved I wasn't invited, but I think he got sick of asking me with babies because I kept saying no. He could have realized I may be a little more free now though...

IT works out perfect because dh's family is taking him and the kids to Florida in October and I could not (& didn't want to) go. So we both get our own family trips. Japan sounds far more exciting. Never been to Asia. I can't believe I might be going in just 2 months.

My dad has been to Asia many times for business and has a friend out there. I am not even sure where in Japan (how pathetic). But he was just out here for a week and so I was extra shocked, I had no idea they were going back there this year as well.

I don't think dh is too jealous either because he has been to Asia many times. Last was to MAlaysia for a month for work (he worked for a Malaysian company). I don't think he had a good time. He also had an aunt who lived in China many years (nun/missionary). It's always a really fun game to take the white lady out and have her start talking Cantonese in the Chinese restaurants and such. Always gets quite a response - LOL. Well, dh says knock myself out. He is not much of a traveler. I am not sure I am, but I have much more sense of adventure.

Though I do have to rethink this a bit. Rooming with my sister a week. Oh we might just KILL each other. Small price to pay I guess. (We're okay as long as we don't have to be in the same room or city or town - she is just one of those people it is IMPOSSIBLE to get along with).

We'll see...

I give up.

I am tired of trying to plan things with friends and groups and being stood up. Every playdate and night out I have planned in the last 2 months has been canceled with less than 24 hours notice (more like 1 hour if I was lucky - for most of them).

I am just FED UP with the human race.

Whatever.

The mommy politics don't help. With friends like these who needs enemies.

I am extra frustrated today because a good friend I have seen little of since she moved across town, well this is the second weekend in a row I got stood up. She asked if I wanted to try next weekend? You mean rearrange my whole schedule a 3rd weekend in a row to be stood up again? Blech.

I think the kicker is I just joined a new Moms' group through meetup because I was just beyond peeved with my old group with things recently, and I just popped in today to see they had planned a BBQ for 20 people or so and only one family showed up. ???? I now realize a new group won't really solve the problem. People are just idiots. No consideration in the least. I think they said something like 10 no-shows. Bloody hell.

It doesn't seem like it that would be that hard to get along with the human race, but for me it really is. Good thing I have a swell family I guess.

So is this a common thing or just a rude California-er thing. ?????

Oh yeah I am saving tons of money because I never get out any more...

I was going to take BM to a play too but he decided not to nap 3 days in a row. I decided going to a play at 7pm with no nap was NOT a good idea. LOL. I try to plan anything fun lately and that is about how it goes...

I think a lot of it can boil down to everyone over-extending themselves. I am sick of cracking out the calendar and planning things months in advance. As un-spontaneous I am I just like more laidback friendships. Pop by for a bit one night or whatever. A spontaneous night out... This planning months in advance and getting stood up anyway just gets really old.

Call me a dork.

I have reading all about this balanced billing for utilities and thinking, eh, what's the point?

But anyway, I guess maybe my bias was that I like getting the $10/$20 bills here and there. The higher end bills I expect and anticipate, but I think I enjoy those little bills too much. Our gas bill is often $10 in the summer and our electric bill is often $20 in the winter.

But we got the big July electric bill and with the a/c it wasn't pretty. Since I am budgeting my paycheck down to the penny it seems, I think it probably would help with the budget. If I think about it, all of our bills are pretty fixed except for the gas/electric. Gas varies, but it kind of sucks as a triple whammy when you get the auto gas, electric, and water bills in August - just nasty all around - gas prices is high, water usage is up so the lawn doesn't fry, and the A/C works hard to protect us from the 100 degree heat.

So it is one thing to do to lessen the load in August. The water we are just in the process of switching to metered, but it only varies at most $20 here and there. Our electric and gas bill can vary by $130 from month to month.

It's funny to me how the better we are with our money the more those little fluctuations seem to matter. Bizarre... I guess since we weren't investing our money as efficiently as before. & it is far easier to budget with set amounts...

So I guess I am converted.

I checked and it looks like both our electric and gas company offer programs. I looked in Quicken and our average gas bill over the last year was $35 and our average electric bill was $45. I think we can swing $80/month... (I think in the lowest months we tend to pay $50 combined so it doesn't sound bad at all).

I looked at our budget for the month and if I just pay our minimums for the rest of the year (balance transfers) and transfer nothing over to savings, we will meet our efund goal. So I am going with that. It's around $300/month to efund (by paying balance transfers out of checking and letting the savings grow since we'll owe less back in the end). & around $100/month in interest. (Plus I got $100/month going to investments). I expect enough christmas and OT money to cover my next IRS installment. We'll see. But if we're only at $11k on 12/31, the world won't end either. I think being above the $10k mark just feels darn good. We had dropped to $5k for a few months and I just did not like it.

I still need to sell some things around the house. As well as freecycle really. Could use a little cash. I think all the bills are covered but I feel like I have no money to go to the ATM. It's not the worst... The less cash I have the less I spend it.

I was talking to my mom and her electric bill was about $400. They just got a/c in the last couple of years. I say buy a new house. She said with the house paid off she'll take the utility bill. It really sucks though, but having an older house can REALLY be a financial drain if you ask me. That's my bias I guess. They are obviously better off staying put with the house paid and all... (The property taxes would slay them if they made a lateral move - would be more than my mortgage). But I mean it is smaller than our house and they just get GOUGED. I know it is amazing how running a 4-person household with more space can be so much cheaper when it comes to utilities. Technology has come a long way. Maybe there is some hope for the environment. We have been here 5 years. Sometimes I wonder how long before all the stuff we have here becomes obsolete and we have to upgrade. But it was really part of our plan that we didn't want to spend a lot on repairs and upgrades early in our home-owning lives. & the electric bill is one of the perks of going new!

Oh I just wanted to say first that Amazon credited us the $4 or so for shipping on the Potter book - dh had already called to complain and they didn't do much but credit for the book and resend it. But then when they got the first book back - sent back for no reason - they credited us for shipping - so book was FREE.

I am still confused by dh's parents - even moreso - but I guess I understand a little better in the name of parental fairness.

Dh talked to his mom yesterday and I don't think she is so keen on the LM going to preschool thing - she really wants to send BM more. Which is fine - her perogative - but I am starting to rethink the whole thing. It is just 4 months or $400. A little less actually since vacation is in there and such. The only way I would regret this is if I didn't get any overtime or a decent raise January. I already have earned enough OT to pay this though, and well if I don't get a raise my boss is insane. It's just pretty much expected. So maybe we'll swing it anyway. I don't know. Like I have said before it is at most only one year the 2 kids would both be in preschool. If this was it, it would be a no-brainer. But I notice as we are catching up financially suddenly we are getting a little too lax. The $400 here and there is starting to add up. So have to think on it more... I could also put off adding to the kids' college money to 2008. That one I struggle with too. I finally gave in and admitted that power of compounding is worth throwing in a token. But the $50/month would go a long way towards this instead. Does it really matter of I start in 2008 (or will I find more excuses). Part of me just wants to stick with it and move on - I set up automatic transfers to start in September.

But dh was talking to his mom about it and for one she really thinks BM should got to school more to prepare for Kinder. I admit I am a little concerned that Kinder is all day (what are people thinking around here? I am sure working parents are in charge of this *great* idea). We have kind of gone round and round on it ourselves. But for the most part the preschool he goes to is more to play. We chose it wasn't very "schooly" which is more what our brainy kids need. I like they get really messy and play with other kids because dh isn't great about being social OR worse, letting the kids get messy. They need that. So dh and I are kind of like, eh, is a 3rd day of "play" really going to prepare him better? Lord knows we don't want to drive all the way over there 3 days a week. & Friday nonetheless (oh traffic is so horrid Friday). We have been feeling opposite. We have been saying lately how this is the last "lazy" year for us before the kids have to go to school and all that. As much as we have looked forward to the kids going to school and working not being so cost prohibitive for dh - we have SO looked forward to this. But even so, as the time it approaches it is a little saddening. Once the kids start school, these most carefree years of theirs will be over. We have been talking about how much we should do and enjoy with their 100% flexible schedules. That certainly won't last forever!!!!

We have also looked at the community center preschool. The only reason we did not go that route before was that the ages were a lot higher (like 4?). & we wanted to start him much sooner. We have talked about taking him to get him used to going to school every day. He could go T/Th for 2-3 hours and it is more structured. But more importantly he will meet more local kids who will go to his school probably. It's an idea, but then you go back to: why push it? It's bad enough Kinder is all day, do we really need to take him to preschool every day of the week? I think it is something we will consider the last few months before school starts, just to gear him up for it. But starting now just doesn't make sense. We certainly want to enjoy not having to shuttle him around and make him sit at a desk a good part of the day. He is only 4.

Anyway, MIL did shed some light on stuff though. My SIL works and dh's family baby sits for her for free. HEr 80-year-old grandma was babysitting "for 1 year" when their first was born. Dh and I thought it was a little tacky but whatever. 1 year has turned into 3 years - even tackier. But though we looked on in annoyance, believe me we were NEVER jealous of this scenario. Oh yeah jealous they can't even figure out how to take care of their own kids without relying heavily on poor Grandma...

Anyway, in their defense they bought a very small modest fixxer-upper that was $700k. There is only so much they can do - not like they are just lazy mooches. But I still can't believe with a baby due any day now that grandma is still it. I am amazed how well she keeps up - for sure. But I guess MIL has decided she and her mom have done so much babysitting for them that it is not fair to us. So she wanted to give us a large sum of money to make it up (like all the preschool daycare we ever paid - or maybe all we never paid). Pffffft. It's bad enough to look on and cringe and what they are doing, but to have them feel like they owe us something because of it? Are they crazy?

I go through the same thing with my parents. My mom will send my sister money and every once in a while she'll send me some and say "it's only fair. I gave money to your sister and I have to give some to you." It just annoys me. YEah my sister is a dolt who can not take care of herself. I Was just telling dh yesterday - I said we have built a life 10 times more luxurious than when my parents were my age. Why in the hell do they feel the need to give me money? Are they crazy? It's bad enough my sister is a leech- I just don't want to be one either. I guess they expect us to be jealous that our sisters need so much help. But the truth is we really aren't at all - LOL. They have probably sensed our annoyances with them, but jealousy is not the word.

But I guess that's how it goes with parents - when they are intent on being "fair."

So, I don't know, who knows where this will lead...

Am I really going to do the same thing to my kids? Probably I guess. I guess we just have to embrace it. Save all that money for when one of our kids turn into a dolt? LOL.

The worst is that MIL has been babysitting our kids like crazy this last year. I am sure we have gotten more than our fair share. Hell, for us they have to drive so far, I am pretty sure it evens out. I think they are just feeling more burned out on the constant obligation on that end.

Got the balance transfer statement for dh. They are only asking 2% so woohoo. when does this 4% thing go into effect (minimum balance?)? Plus I assume since it is based on averages that must be why they only asked for about 1% of the balance for this month. Making more money.

As far as subprime loans and all that menutia, I am at a loss to where the surprised was in all this. I though I learned a lesson in market timing as I locked in some CDs last fall, but these days not feeling so bad about that either. Rates are falling and I got about $20k locked in 5.5-5.7%. Some for a long while. I guess it can pan out bad, but latest I heard was October was a big rate adjustment month for ARMs. If people think the worst is over, ugh. IT seems to me it is just beginning. I keep reading articles that "only" 1 million people will lose their homes. "Only" 7 million... Since when do we live in a vacuum? I don't know, for a while I thought I moved too soon, I believed too much the sky was falling... These days I realize I have to give myself some credit. I guess dh said the Mad Money guy was freaking out on TV today. Where is the big surprise??? People getting too caught up in the ride up? I don't know... Dh and I have been sitting around talking about how all these credit and ARMs were going to mean a bad fall for the economy one of these days - talking about this for years. I think it was 2 years ago my broke friends started getting approved for these crazy subprime mortgages and you are like - what in the heck????? At least the ARM people stand a chance compared to them. Oh yeah - they are all going to be rich next year so it won't matter... *roll eyes*

I have $50 going to my new ROTH account tomorrow I believe. I just checked to see if it got purchased today - that would have been too perfect - to buy at a low. We'll see how the market hangs tomorrow. got money in stocks, but feel confident it is well diversified - all long-term retirement stuff. We were really going to jump in heavily come January. The timing might be good. Going back to income averaging too - it helps. Makes it all less volatile as a help. We'll see...

Oh I got our electric bill. I got an e-mail but I didn't look at it - it was $130. I think that is pretty nasty for us. Dh and I have been having a debate as I swear we always leave the air on 80 and he insists 78. (78????). Since he usually insists on 68 in the winter and I insist on 70, I didn't argue too much. We are obviously 2 degrees off - LOL. I have been switching it to 79 when I come home myself. If he doesn't notice he can't complain. & well - it is a compromise. But I think he forgot how we used to set it honestly - I don't remember keeping the house 78 at all. & the bill shows it - yeesh. august is usually our worst month so it isn't looking good, but when I told dh he got scared off and the house was 84 when I got home. That seems a bit extreme. Oh well. Well, good thing my minimum payment is only 1% this month. It helps. My efund sits at a square $12k with that payment (just transferred $150 from the BT column to the efund column - paid it out of checking). So essentially that money moves from the BT category (to be repaid) to the E-fund category. Woot.

I am about $100 under on my savings this month, but screw it. I need to sell some stuff or write or something this month. I need to save $1k more to keep my efund at $12k for the year. (Just $300/month and I have been aiming for $450?). HEck, with all the interest I only need to save 1/2, if that. So I am not going to sweat it. Some days I wonder how well I will do on this automatic saving thing. I just never really had to do it like this before... We'll see. For now I fail miserably it seems. But I have had enough windfalls to get by. I am expecting another $1k check to cover the rest of my IRS bill and also some overtime (maybe in the range of $1k - to retirement). So eh. I am bracing myself next year because when I set up automatic payments of $400/month to our IRAs there is not much I can do when one month is short. Well there is, cut back on other stuff. For now I am too used to too much savings to fall back on. Good or bad but we haven't been doing as well on retirement as we should.

On the other hand I started putting $800/month away this year for more short-term things and that has been easy peasy. I know a couple of more raises and I won't even notice. A few more thousand in cash to fall back on and it won't matter. But it will be a bit of an adjustment for a while. I am used to having more cash I guess so it is an adjustment to sock it all away in retirement (though smarter - investment returns and all). I am considering setting my goals a bit lower next year. Then again I think that is my problem. I set REALLY high goals this year, all is well, and I lose motivation. I have been REALLY relaxed all of a sudden. I guess that's good. But then again I don't want to relax the rest of the year and make it harder to get back into the swing come January. Maybe my goals just weren't aggressive enough? Or should I relax just because I Received a windfall? I don't know...

I guess it doesn't matter going forward. The balance transfers will be a good $350/month going forward and the kids will be $50 and my retirement is now set to $50 so it is all automatic. Not much I can do. The budget will have to fit all that - my entire $450 earmark for savings - every month for the rest of the year. Better slow down and breathe this month in preparation I guess. I may be bad at the automatic saving thing right now but one thing I sure as hell won't do is take money out of savings to pay my bills. So maybe there is hope for me the rest of the year.

I just started calling on the 2 newest cards and for whatever reason they transferred me over to Citi ID Fraud Dept. (some investigative arm of Citi) and most of the Fraud happened on cards they issue I guess. One other place asked if I would be willing to talk to them (might have been on the weekend) but otherwise no word from them though I rpeorted 4 fradulent accounts like 7 days ago.

I was a little annoyed because they wanted to take 1/2 hour of time to look at my credit reports and issued fraud alerts. Um, done done done. However, she sweet talked me into it - TransUnion was the report they would check - the one I have been unable to access and am waiting for it to come in 7-10 days by mail (ridiculous).

So she pulls it up and thank goodness NOTHING new on there. Anything else issued was issued without a credit check. Hopefully nothing else.

She then called TrnasUnion and they placed the 7-year fraud alert on my account. Issued me a pin #, blahblahblah. Saves me time and ceritified letters. While on the phone TransUnion removed the false inquiries (sweet!). They will forward data for the other 2 bureaus to do the same. Nothing else is showing up on my report anyway but not the credit bureaus are notified what all the fraud was and to keep it off my report (saving me more time and postage, etc.).

Then she said she would gather all the data from all the theft related to Citi (most of it) and FedEx me the one form to notarize. (Just making it easier on me). They even took care of 1 card that I hadn't called yet (since it was under Citi). I was going to call them next.

I am annoyed because if I talked to them 1st it would have saved me SO MUCH time and effort. But glad they are simplifying things. Sounds like way less forms to fill out. & this whole FedEx thing is nice. I thought waiting 7-10 days was just ridiculous really. No sense of urgency.

I really don't have a sense of what else they will be doing, but I am pleased with them today.

I have decided maybe I will forego the credit freeze and just see how things go. If anything slips through I will do the freeze. But a lot of effort and expense, so hopefully the fraud alert will take care of it. Time will tell. *sigh*

I guess if nothing else I feel better today because I think most of it is taken care of. It still scares the crap out of me though that people can be applying for cell phones, utiltiies, and jobs in my name and my never know... Until the collection agencies start to call. But we're getting somewhere I guess. I don't think any of this will affect my credit score - phew.

ETA: With 7 cards now - to keep everything straight is insane. I just had a pile of papers. Today I started a 3-ring binder with labels for local police, FTC, each of the 3 credit Bureaus, and each fraudulent account. I think this will go a long ways to keeping everything organized and straight. Then it will be easy to pull any copies I need of anything... Sometimes being organized just takes a simple solution.

Well, just got the gas bill - it was just under $12.

I checked when I turned down the water heater - it was exactly mid-cycle. & our gas was down over $5. That was a 30% decrease in our bill just turning the water heater down mid-month.

WOW!

What is it going to be next month? $5?

Little things do pay off apparently. Lord knows why I didn't think of this one sooner. The water can still get pretty hot too - it's just no longer scalding. I turned it way down to "warm" on this particular water heater, but it is still plenty HOT. We will turn it up in the winter, but what a way to save money in the summer. I might save like $10/month...

The interesting thing is we cook almost every day (gas stove) and we do do laundry almost every day (hot water). I could have sworn our dryer was gas too. But all of these energy efficient appliances REALLY pay off.

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I mentioned in another blog about how some people have made it in high COL areas buying homes. I mentioned how combined dh and I made $60k out of school and saved like 70% of it. I got reamed over there for being like a rich princess or something. LOL. I actually mentioned how timing was everything and I did not envy people today (a bow to how we lucked out getting in when we did. Luck certainly plays a HUGE part in our current financial situation). Someone got on a high horse and set timing had nothing to do with it - I picked a very high paying job and a spouse too - like we are going to ride off in the sunset on $200k/year or something. Then on and on how we made more than the average homewoner, etc. Totally blowing by the point how expensive homes are in the Bay Area. So yes I have to beat the dead horse again. Some other guy popped on about how he doesn't buy new cars or carry debt, blahblah blah and that's how he saved. I am like, well, I thought that was pretty self-explanatory when I Said we saved 70% of our income. You don't do that without cutting some corners. Yeesh!

Anyway, I was just peeved and rather than ruin that guy's blog with a debate that will probably fall on dead ears, let's do a math lesson.

#1 - When dh and I both made $30k/year out of school these were NOT big wages. If you want to say we were lucky to have 2 incomes - sure - I have always said it made saving VERY easy to have 2 incomes. IT certainly doesn't cost twice as much for 2 of us to live. There is tremendous benefit. However, I probably could have walked into Wal-Mart and got paid more back then. The point is the area is insanely expensive but I took a low-paying job as it was a stepping stone for my career. Honestly I think I was paid $32k and dh was $28k. I absolutely laugh at the idea of $28k as a high paying job. Teehee. We don't live in KAnsas anyway!!! Plenty of relatives who do live in Kansas, NC, etc., and I know they haven't got a clue what it is like out here - they get mesmerized by the "high wages" as well.

Secondly, let's do the math. Dh and I made $99k combined one year before we moved out of the Bay. Again, not high paying jobs. I could have made more as an administrative assistant myself, at the time.

But you say that and people assume you are filthy rich and homeownership is easy as pie.

Well, if we wanted to buy a $600k (2-bedroom major fixxer upper) say we scrounged the 20% down (what is that like $120k?).

Say, sure we waited a few more years and maneged.

$100k income - $30k taxes leaves $70k to play with (but people don't realize bigger wages mean BIGGER taxes!!!).

Minus $40k for mortgage interest (who knows what the principal would be), property taxes, and insurance. This would not even include earthquake insurance.

Leaves $30k to live on. Might sound nice, but you have a major fixxer upper to fix up in this case. Plus this is a house you probably don't want to live in the rest of your life - you will want to strive to move up to say a 3-bedroom if you have kids. (YEah I know too many people cramming 6-person families in these houses with little choice though). & also since the city is expensive and WalMart pays $30k/year to its employees, then you know EVERYTHING is expensive.

Then there is savings and retirement too.

So no, making $60k/year is not filthy rich, nor is $100k. Quite the opposite.

Rents were even worse. You couldn't live without at least $12k annual rent (& that would be a pretty crap studio apartment). But I guess that brings the point that I lived with roommates in a nice house and only paid $400/month rent through college and such, and did a lot of house sitting (free rent!). Only way I could survive on so little as we saved for a down payment. You just have to think outside the box in these situations.

Timing is everything to us. It means we could live on like 1/2 as much money, we can stay close to our family, we don't have to work so hard the rest of our life. We were able to start our family younger, etc. We couldn't have done any of this without our luck and timing. Our wage has nothing to do with it. But anyway, I guess I Was annoyed to be painted as a 2-yuppy household because that is SO not us. I admit I am going for that high-wage job but the whole point is I like it and it means I can work part-time and have most of the benefits of most full-time jobs. The point isn't because I want to hoarde a ton of money - work/life balance is very important to me. As far as my spouse, the idea of him being some upper class yuppie makes me laugh - hehe. I did not marry someone who was going to take care of me, for sure. He hasn't worked in years...

Oh well, just had to vent, and do some math. I guess it annoys me too to post how you did the impossible and just get shot down. For every argument they had against me I know someone who did it their way, but if they didn't want to hear the solution, why do they ask??? Dh has 2 cousin singles who bought homes in the Bay Area, one was a school teacher and one doesn't even have a college degree. If you put your heart and soul to it it CAN be done. It didn't require 2 wages and a fancy job, I would have bought a home in the land of expensive regardless of my situation. But why are all of us (related) buying homes when none of our peers can figure it out? Because we were raised with financial sense. IT makes all the difference...

Well, I already said the other day that with like $400k equity and six figure job I still have no idea how we could even afford a house 1/2 the size back there. The income taxes and the property taxes will eat you alive! I guess what more do I need to say - that speaks volumes!

Flat Tire #4 for the year.

I am beginning to rue the van.

My last car was a "nail in the tire" magnet and the van too. How did I get 2 in a row????

The Saturn - last car - well - it had a flat every darn week it seemed. NAils, nails and more nails. I have no idea where they come from.

The van on the other hand has picked up 2 bolts which led to some new tires and a multitude of nails. I had noticed one tire had a nail but seems okay. Had been keeping an eye on it. It was diverting my attention from the flattening tire with 2 nails in it. Ugh! at least this time we have been completely surrounded by construction and makes a little more sense. Caught it before it was a total flat at least.

In other news I drive dh's car almost every day lately (saving gas) and I am not sure if that thing has ever had a flat. How do cars do that? Evil!

I would probably come to the conclusion that the van's tires (perhaps original?) were pure crap. I even looked up reviews wondering after so many flats so early in the year. Then again, you figure would any tire really withstand all this abuse? I think I am just unlucky when it comes to tires for whatever reason. No flats in 2006 either - so weird.

Dh took care of it for me - that is the swell part.

Here's to no more flat tires in 2007. 4 is plenty.

Now that I think about it I think dh did have a flat this year too. They will be doing construction by our home for a while so maybe we should just get used to it. Makes it 5 already then, combined. The nails aren't nearly so bad and costly as those nasty bolts.

Seriously, who has this many flat tires though? When we moved here our entire street was under construction and the entire neighborhood for years but we didn't get flats like this. Bah.

http://www.thestreet.com/s/save-now-and-your-life-may-be-non...

Maybe you have all seen this.

It has probably been reamed all over the internet 10 times over already. But I just have to chime in.

Huh????

IS it really that impossible to save $4k of a $40k paycheck?

Um, would you rather live with roommates in your 20s or for the rest of your life, because I didn't really mind it when I was first out of college. I was used to it, I Was young, and yeah I had to suffer the discomfort another year or so before we could buy a home. But it was so WELL worth it. It is like a little sacrifice for more later. If i had to do it for a few years, so be it.

I just roll my eyes that single unattached 20s can't possibly save 10% of their income.

I do have to admit that I did not put a huge priority on saving for my retirement in my 20s. Sometimes I regret it a bit, sometimes not. But I guess we lucked out saving all of our money to a house which was our best investment like ever. Just has bought us tremendous financial freedom. But yeah, driving the old clunkers, living with roommates, eating ramen noddles, etc. is far more suited to a single unattached 20-year-old than a family of 4 or someone of middle-age. I mean come on.

I guess I just don't get the whole instant gratification thing as I find not falling it for it has been far more rewarding in my own life. IT means you don't live up to your income, you have more time for your money to compound, you pay less to debts, etc. These are all of the benefits of saving young.

Maybe I could agree with this guy a bit. I really never saw the point of saving money while I was in college and I don't regret it a bit. But this is more of an anti-debt thing. I felt my energies were far more productive to getting good grades in school and avoiding debt than to building up cash that I didn't have. The whole point was to take a risk and lay the foundation for the rest of my life.

So anyway, maybe I could agree to some point where I can say I was successful not saving money from really early on. As long as I hit it gangbusters right out of college it really made no difference in the end. So maybe I could kind of sort of see his point. But I am still at a loss why $40k is such an impossible wage to save money on. I know plenty people living in San francisco making less and saving more. It's one thing to make an excuse not to save when you are trying to pay for college (for the whole point of a bigger wage) and pay for rent in an insanely expensive area. It's quite another to make excuses when you are out in the real world, because then really when are the excuses going to end? IF you're not worried about paying for college and having enough time and energy to keep up your grades, what the hell are you doing. I guess I am also a big believer in saving as much as I can while I am young and healthy in case something happens to me and I can no longer work. I don't exactly take it as given that I will be able to work in this capacity forever. You just can't.

OF course someone who doesn't believe in saving in their 20s and doesn't see how they can live a comfortable lifestyle on $40k/year (yes I realize it is NY but my hood is actually more expensive) well, they will have problems. If I could find some decent benefits for healthcare (like one of the abundant government jobs around here) I could support my family of 4 on $40k easy peasy. We could live QUITE well actually. I mean, is this guy for real? Um, the reason is because I Saved so much in my 20s - even more ironic. It means I didn't buy a ton of crap I didn't need, live up to a lifestyle I couldn't afford, or rack up any consumer debt. I am not sure driving older cars and living with hand-me-downs will ruin my life in comparison to the tremendous financial freedom we share compared to most of our peers. But you know putting up with less in our 20s means we no longer have to. Plus, gosh, the most ironic part is I agree with his philosophy. You do need balance in your life. sometimes it is good to enjoy now while you are young and healthy. I guess that is the whole point for my financial goals right now - I want to work less while I am young. That sounds far more pleasing than retiring fully at 65. So far we were significantly able to pull that off at 25 because we did some crazy saving in our young 20s. I mean neither of us has really worked very much the last 5 years since we decided to have kids. I am just ramping up again, focusing on retirement and such.

I guess the big thing where I have to draw the line or disagree is that money will buy you happiness. Like my kids care if we walk down to the park and go down to the public pool every day or if we spend our days at Chuck E Cheese. Does it matter if I drive a $20k car or a $1k car? Does it matter if I have all new items in my house or mostly used? Does it matter that we eat home cooked meals every day instead of eating out? Does any of this have an impact of the quality of my life? Not at all... Once you realize that savings in your 20s is not a big deal at all, and you will find your 20s FAR more pleasant. Then it should just get easier from there.

But hey, what do I know?

He says, "If you really believe you can get through your 20s like that and not be absolutely miserable later in life, be my guest."

Um yeah, I think for MANY of us here saving while we were young (going that extra mile when we were young) really made life easier later in life. I guess it is frustrating to see how he has it all backwards. It is easiest to clamp down on your finances when you are single, in your 20s and completely unencumbered. You should have more youth on your side to work more and live in more difficult situations. Plus you won't be letting your debt compound for years AND your savings will also be compounding for YEARS. win-win-win.

Gosh, sometimes you just have to rant.

$21,000... 7 cards...

New running balance. Got 2 more cards in the mail today (plus some I was expecting). One was a jewelry store. Surprise surprise.

Fraud departments closed AND no live people to speak to either card. So at least it was fast and easy to close the cards (automated). But I will have to call back Monday to get this taken care of.

I think this is going to be way more massive than I first suspected.

On the bright side, all this places are on EST time and I usually awaken from 5-6. At least I don't have to spend my days at work straightening this crap out. A plus to being on the west coast. However, significantly cuts into some of my only free time and writing time.

I am just scared to know what else is out there. I got something in the mail from a bank and was like, oh lord! But it was the bank who issues Lowes cards - a form about the fraud investigation - phew...

All I can say is thank goodness this did not happen during tax season. I would probably just flip out from the stress.

It's almost a bane and a curse that they are using my address, since all of this is caught before it hits my credit it isn't a bump on my credit BUT it makes it that much more easy for them to get credit. I REALLY hope the fraud alert and/or credit freeze helps... I have to assume these were open before I found out about this whole mess...

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On the plus side I have more energy today than I have had for MONTHS!!!!! I am REALLY feeling good about this whole gym thing. It is helping my mood and stress tremendously. I am just surprised how fast, but I have been going to aerobics for a while though, so I guess I just had to kick it up a notch.

Um okay. I feel like a dolt for being so cheap when it comes to the gym. On top of the foundation I have been laying with aerobics I have been shaping up fast. I feel like my waistline is already improving.

Thursday night dh and I had a little date at the gym.

He got a break from the kids during the week at the gym.

We both really needed some alone time and "alone" together time so just so awesome.

But last night was the kicker. You know I am obviously terribly busy and when the kids wake up all hours of the night and we are both just exhausted there is not much time for romance. But yesterday dh just smelled DIVINE. I finally asked him - are you wearing some new deoderant or something? He has not smelled so good since the day we met - LOL. I was feeling some extra chemistry there. Even funnier he said no but he was about to ask me the same thing. I'll have to do a web search. But we both concluded maybe our phermones were being upped by all the exercise. I mean sure we have both been sweating more, but it is not a smell good sweat in general - LOL. So I don't know. I also fine I have more energy, etc. I think I could go on all day about the benefits of exercise, but beyond the benefits I already knew I think this could be good for our marriage - hehe.

Anyway, today I am ambitious. Aerobics in the a.m. but we are going to proceed with our morning date at the gym. Don't worry I will take it easy. I was actually not sore yesterday and kind of in the mood to hit the gym last night. But no time. But I'll probably hit it tomorrow too - just no daycare tomorrow so we if we want a little date we have to go today - in the morning.

Oh I also tried the elliptical for the first time. Those are GREAT. I love running but have an old leg injury and am pretty cautious about only walking. We'll see if I can get by with this and not aggravate my leg. I am not sure if it is the motion or the impact - probably a little of both as too much walking really aggravates it. We spend a good amount of time stretching in aerobics which helps. So one reason I want to stick with it. Second my leg starts bothering me I am screwed. I have to spend so much time stretching there is just not enough hours in the day. Hoping I can work past it. Probably one reason I dropped the gym so long ago. So we'll see.

Dh bought some software (kid computer games) at the store - free after rebate. Woohoo. ($10 in the meantime).

Work is crazy. But I got an article out, had some quality time with dh, hit the gym. It is all helping my stress level a bit. I even arranged a play date with the kids this weekend. I have been so bad about that. I had a friend who moved though way across the county so it has been forever. BM doesn't even remember them - we'll see how it goes. I need to be better about being social. Sometimes I feel all I have time for is my family, which is mostly fine. I think too lately I figure kids start school soon and will be meeting more local people. But this is my favorite person I met in Sacramento. You know when everyone I knew was whining they couldn't take maternity leave because they employer didn't pay them (as if mine did? Save up some money - duh!!!). Anyway, one day we were sitting and chatting about my impending maternity leave with LM and she said in Texas there was no state disability and so she saved up x% from her check every week so she could stay home a few months. I almost fell over. Her and her husband neither have college degrees and they had their first child very young (16?) but they bend over backwards to raise their 3 kids and be there for them, etc. They whine less about their finances than most people making 6 figures. They do a lot of bartering and take on a lot of odd jobs. Really an inspiration. I think she makes a decent wage in graphic design and they are both very talented in different things so I hope one day they finish their degrees and can make some money. Just a breath of fresh air after hanging around a bunch of moms talking about their McMansions, six figures, new cars, $3k vacations and how jealous they are that I could stay home. Whatever!!!! Anyway, I have been on a lot of online communities and met a lot of moms around here. All of them were always insanely jealous when I took my maternity leaves. I mean yeah, I had it easy, we got disability which was almost $3k a month. Frankly it paid all of our bills. & even then I took some unpaid time off but I had saved up a load of cash for the event. I mean I'd be an idiot not to. What if I had been put on bed rest at week 12? That is what I was terrified of more than anything. But yeah the general concensus was if someone else didn't pay for it, they weren't going to bother (entitlement). For the people online they all assumed the state of CA was the only reason I could swing it. (IT certainly helped but I would have swung it regardless). For people here, the story is the same. The best yet was some teacher whining she didn't have state disability. Well she's an idiot then. She chose not to have it. IT's a CHOICE! When you choose not to take it you also don't have a few hundred withheld from your check every year so you can go buy private insurance if you think you are going to have kids. Or you can save some money. I mean the scary thing is these are 2nd wages!!! Can't live without a second wage for a month? Scary!

So yeah, breath of fresh air...

Another card just popped up today - $7500.

I guess if you have good credit you can walk into a store, open a credit card, and walk off with $7500 of merchandise.

This one was opened last Monday it looks like.

Lord knows what else is out there.

But they were kind enough to use my address AND to enroll me in "Balance Protector" Program. So they sent me some literature about it today - and of course I knew.

TransUnion still won't tell me anything about my credit report. I'll get it in a week or something. WHat in holy hell? Hopefully by the time I will get it, no surprises.

If you EVER get your credit stolen make sure to get your credit report from Transunion FIRST, even if you have to pay for it, before you put a fraud alert. It is frustrating how each report had different inquiries and maybe I could have caught this one Saturday. (An even worse thought is maybe they made no credit inquiry - but obviously they did for $7500... Right?)

Good thing I like filling out forms. Brings my list to 5. 5 cards. 5 affidavits. I can't even imagine how much credit they could have gotten if I hadn't caught so soon. So far is around $15k in the course of 5 days and my credit score still reads "Excellent." Of course I know there is no guarantee that they won't be able to open more with the fraud alerts. That is the worst part...

Kind of the bane and curse of good credit. The million inquiries and even some hefty balances is affecting it little, but lord if I had a lower score maybe they wouldn't get so much credit so easy? who knows...

Oh - I almost forgot!!!

We're going to Vegas.

Vegas is the epitome of cheap vacation for us. Hardly paid more than $50 to fly or more than $30/night. Just the land of cheap vacation, and helps to live close enough to drive too. Though I am not sure I have ever had to myself with airfare deals.

Anyway, we went to one of those timeshare presentations one time in Vegas and it was just like, whatever. We were staying at the Hilton for $30/night (no real special promo - just the rate for that time) and we are just like WHY would we pay $15k for a timeshare when the Hilton is $30/night. ????? Timeshare in Vegas? Ha! Whose bright idea was that? Oh I guess they sucker people in anywhere, but obviously the whole thing was ENTIRELY lost on us. They begged us to take the thing for like $5k but in the end we walked away with $50 in poker chips. I remember we both walked off thinking who would buy a timeshare in Vegas? Just doesn't make sense. You go for the casinos (or at least somewhere on the strip!) and you can get pretty cheap/nice accomodations pretty easily.

Anyway, yesterday I was listening to the radio and was just half-listening but was getting all sucked in by the anemities at this fancy resort in Vegas. They said first few callers would get 3 free nights. I figure odds were slim OR there'd be a huge catch, but what the hell. I have to say very weird and out of character for me.

So I called and immediately found out the catch - the place is a timeshare. LOL. But I listened to the spiel and for a $100 deposit we can go any time in the next few months.

I honestly thought though we would get to stay at this resort and this is where I was fooled. IT was "a major hotel/casino on the strip" as the e-mail states. Well darn. I did get a little fooled.

But when they said it was a timeshare I was relieved - well I KNOW what the catch is!!!!!

The deposit is refundable once we sit through their stupid presentation. I will be interested to report how low they beg us to take this one for. It's Vegas, they can't be getting many bites...

Plus our schedule is pretty flexible so since we can go any time pretty much I figured what the hell. If this was mid-tax-season I'd feel different. I guess we'll see how easy it is to get a weekend date, but we'll roll with it.

Anyway, I probably would have not done it, but it was Vegas and I figured ifnothing else we could drive. Not like it has to be expensive. What's wrong with 3 free nights??? They help pay for travel too... I have quite a few months to find an airfare deal too - which I just might! I think we'll aim for December...

I am excited!

I told dh I bet a million bucks were staying at the Saraha. We usually stay there because it is CHEAP!!!! (Sometimes even Motel 6). So anyway, if we stay anywhere else it will probably be a step up. Low expectations and these things are a steal - hehe!!!!

Well, my net worth is up $2600 for the month, or a little over $18k for the whole year. It was hitting $20k a few weeks back. So the overall downslide is from the market. However, I guess I am in a lucky spot as hardly any of our assets are in stocks, as I mentioned before. Planning to change that soon, but the more we can buy at a bargain, the better...

Of course losing a couple of thousand of dollars in a couple of weeks isn't fun either.

The interesting thing is I lucked into a couple of awesome CDs (that much more impressive now that the market is in a spin). My 5.7% CD expires in 6 months but I can renew it for another 8 months at that time at 5.7%. Sounding like a more awesome deal by the day. I also decided to keep my cash IRA in a CD (locked in 5.5% for 3 years actually) last fall because I just knew the market was heading for a tumble. I have learned my lesson since about market timing and all that - the second I invested it the market has been HOT!. However, this move may pay off. We'll see. I figure by the time it renews we will have so much in investments that I might keep a bit in cash. It depends. If all we're saving is 25% of our income for retirement, we really should go all stocks. & I figured in 3 years time I may be willing to move it into the market (hopefully in a lull). But if dh is working and we are saving more than 25% I don't mind playing it a little safe with good interest rates. We'll see...

Our retirement overall is up 5% for the year with market appreciation, so still not bad. Not that I expect it to end up for the year, but who knows. Still way ahead from where we were last september (up 15% or so?).

My "efund" is only $160 away from my goal, as of my paycheck today. I am going to drain $1k in September for taxes though. $1k in January. My overall goal is to get it there by 12/31. I may move any excess to retirement. Or just keep it as a cushion. We'll see. I am confident I can save another $1k by December and that I will get $1k for Christmas to cover the rest. I decided to do that rather than move backwards on cash again - by $2k at once. Kind of depressing. I keep feeling once I take care of this, this should be it! But there always seems to be something...

ETA: I Was incorrect. Efund sits at $12k today - OMG! I miscalculated my July contribution. Wow. I may only have to drain it to $11.5k for the IRS and can get it back to $12k by October then, probably. Sweet...

However, I didn't expect to be this far along so early in the year either. So it is cool. I am assuming by 12/31 I will have $12k to lock up in an efund untouched. From there we will add $5k/year for car/house stuff so we can always fall back on that if smaller stuff comes up. Once that starts to build, I mostly see the efund as untouchable except for large emergency (natural disaster or lost job pretty much). I think for now we have vowed not to drop it below $10k. But we got to get these ROTHs taken care of so can't commit the $12k just yet to efund...

& expenses for the month:



Allowance is negative because I returned some clothes.

Auto fuel was only $240, or $60 under budget (drove to san jose once too. & met grandma 1/2 way like 3 times? Awesome possum). The auto expenses are up because paid $250 net for dh's auto insurance (net of dividend check).

Dining we budget around $40 so were $13 over. But not bad considering we took BM to McDs twice for his birthday, ordered 1 Round Table Pizza & also went out for Mongolian BBQ. We took BM the other day and felt a little conflicted but just got him his own bowl. He generally orders kids meals these days but there they don't really have the option. But he seems way beyond sharing our plate these days. So we got him a bowl and they did not charge us. Sweet! I guess smaller kids are just free - so worked out.

Plus the funny thing is dh and I have met his mom 3-4 times this month to switch kids and she always pays for lunch so we hardly feel deprived this month with all the eating out. The kids always notice Grandma likes to go out to eat A LOT - quite a treat. As they have spend most of the month with her...

Groceries $521 were $21 over budget at face value. But the amazing thing about this month is it was the kids' birthday. We didn't spend a ton on gifts and we didn't spend a ton on the party. I think dh might have spent $100 at the grocery store for primarily party stuff (food) which was PLENTY. But we had a party for like 20 people and that was about ALL we spent. Usually July seems to be an expensive month for the birthdays so it is interesting to look at the budget and thing maybe only $21 over with the groceries and $13 over with the trips to McDs.

IT also means I think we are moving towards a $400 grocery budget. Which is just awesome. We have shaved almost 20% off the budget since I joined SA. That's all dh. Plus he has mastered the art of $50 groceries so every time he goes we get a 10 cent off per gallon gas coupon. ($50 minimum purchase required). I swear every time it hits the card it is $51 at the grocery store. I have no idea how he does that! Every time we fill the van I have a coupon - so it's sweet. Helping to minimize our gas costs too. Lately we have had enough coupons for both cars most of the time. Which also reminds me a shopping corner is opening on the corner so means less driving and more walking - woohoo.

Household is gardener

Interest - interest on the balance transfer fee ($75). Not a biggie. paid 63 cents, earned $20 or so on that particular BT. More my experiemntal BT - dh's had no fees and was twice as much so is going much better (though for a much shorter time).

Education was my aerobics class. Every thing I sign up for through the city I just put to education. I tried to pay for karate class online but it was giving me difficulties so can pay that in cash next week. (I will have to add a gym/physical fitness category though - makes more since. Maybe kids extracirricular class too - makes more sense than "education").

The weird thing about this month was that we had no "other income." How weird. Will have to make up for it this month. We have been doing pretty well on bringing in side income - at least $200/month. But this month was rather dry. Oh well. Budget was so good we didn't need it?

Medical included a $50 copay which I budget for.

Misc. - generally budget $150 (sometimes add in writing money as I consider it misc. spending but had $0 this month). Anyway, the gym sign up was around $200 so we kind of made an exception for that. That means we spent $100 on misc. otherwise. Included our expenses to go to the Redwood Forest, one trip to the movies (Ratatouille), Birthday party balloons and supplies, and various household items at Dollar Tree (mostly plastic plates for LM who isn't as good with adult dishes as BM is. Just weird because we never found the need before, but LM needs plastic!).

$150 over on misc. because of the gym which we intend to make up with some ebay selling this month.

Utilities - cable, internet, land lines, cell phones, sewer and water (which run $90/month for a flat rate here - insanity) means only about $80 was electric/gas. Not bad for the a/c being on pretty much 24/7.

July was another awesome month overall...

I think mostly it didn't happen overnight, but we are still whittling things down little by little. Like when I set our grocery and gas budget I just set what we were spdending on average. I might have even been a little aggressive. I think I will leave gas the same to allow a cushion for rising gas prices. But will move groceries down to $450 maybe next year. Maybe sooner. We'll see. In the meantime a good month means more to savings or more to enjoy, but then future increases won't be a shock to the system either. Plus since I usually do little more than keep the budget in my head and eyeball it (as anal as I am about money I do not enjoy strict budgets) I generally like to just use round #s. IT would be in my best interest to set a $200 gas budget and a $400 grocery budget, but I think that is a bit too aggressive. It is very psychological. I rather budget $800 for the 2 and cheer myself on every month that I am under! (BEcause overall it is an improvement from where we were...) Going for $600 between the 2 to keep round #s would just suck because we would always be a few dollars over, even if we got close. Yeah, budgets are psychological. For now I just don't want to mess with it. We are affording everything we wanted and then some, so I am happy for this year. We will revise the budget in 2008 though, regardless. I might consider setting a budget of $450 & $250 for them, accordingly. We'll see how it pans out.

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P.S. If you were practically living in poverty, why on EARTH would you rent a bouncy house for your 1-year-old's birthday? What is WRONG with people? Hell will freeze over when I rent one of those contraptions - LOL. Ugh. I generally get annoyed when people say "I would never buy "x" or "y". We all have our priorities. But yeesh... The middle class has been annoyiong me with their extravagant birthday festivities for wee little ones as is, without people who are a paycheck away from homelessness deciding that this is a good idea. ?????