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Archive for August, 2016

August Savings

August 30th, 2016 at 04:42 pm

Received $41 bank interest for the month of August.

Snowflakes to Investments:

Redeemed $50 credit card rewards (cash back) from our gas/grocery card.

Redeemed $43 cash back on Citi card.

Redeemed $4 cash back on Visa/dining card.

Other snowflakes to investments:
--$10 Savings from Target Red Card

Savings (From my paycheck):

+$ 200 to investments
+$ 300 to cash
+$ 900 to IRAs

Short-Term Savings (for non-monthly expenses within the year):

+$1,300 to cash
-900 Auto Insurance and Maintenance
-300 Staycation Spending
-165 70th Birthday Party
-100 Kids' Birthdays

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Other Snowflakes:

--I did earn $250 in gift cards but have yet to be able to redeem them.

--Dh earned $150 cash from a focus group. We invested in a used knee scooter/walker and I am hoping we can sell it next week. When we sell it we will probably buy a used violin for Drama Llama. I don't expect that to cost an entire $150. It seems more sensible to buy used than to rent.

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Kind of a boring month financially. I have some medical bills that will charge next month. Most the expenses above were for July spending. August has been more of a "stuck on the couch" month for me, and busyness with back to school.

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July Flashback:

In August we really need to get moving on some home improvements. I know I am procrastinating because I don't wanna. *sigh*

August Update:

No movement on this. I can't imagine readying for contractors in my current state. Though we have lost MH's free summer time to deal with this, work is really slow for me this time of year and I can handle it. I need to at least start getting some quotes in September.

This week we are taking the kids to the Doctor (well visits/shots), putting new tires on the newer car (replacing low quality stock tires before rainy season) and I got a referral for tree trimming and dead shrub removal. I am pulling a list of contractors to call but I don't know if we will get to that this week. As long as we are steadily ticking things off the list, it can wait a bit longer. Physically, I might be up to dealing with readying the house this weekend.

P.S. Also labeled this post in the *one income* category since dh had no income during June/July/August. His income is more in the "snowflake" range anyway. (If he had a larger income I don't know that I'd differentiate on or off months, but I am definitely feeling the difference without the extra breathing room). I am not even entirely sure he has a job still, so I guess that is some of it.

School Supplies

August 21st, 2016 at 05:32 pm

Until now my kids have attended a K-8 charter school that provides supplies (they ask for $25 per kid, in return). I'd much rather write a $25 check than go shopping, so all sounds good to me.

Since we are getting down to the wire and given that the new school is a small charter school I thought maybe they would do the same. But I guess not. It does make sense (to bring own supplies) because it is a 6-12 school and they will be changing classrooms more often.

So here I am with a 11yo and a 13yo and I have never bought any school supplies before...

In the end I am pleased because we spent $30. & I am sure we could have gotten supplies cheaper. But as we graduate from "uniforms" and DL actually gets to pick out his clothing and his supplies, I would say at least $5 of that was splurging on some individual preferences. (Which otherwise put us in the $25 realm that we usually spend). We also just went to Target because dh had some groceries to pick up. I am sure there may be cheaper places to pick up school supplies. Or we can kind of stock up year round now that we know what is generally requested. (Dh was mentioning he sees folders for 25-cents at the electronic store).

Oh, the other nice thing about the school spending is that a lot of it was stocking up on supplies for later. With MM starting high school next year we figured we'd buy the bigger packages of school supplies.

(Oh, and I forgot the $30 included some supplies for MM's one high school class).

I've allowed MH and MM to hoard school supplies because they are useful. (& is one of those things that they like to hoard). So we did scrounge up a lot of things from supplies on hand. I found a plastic case of (working) markers that Drama Llama brought home one or two school years ago. (They don't often send home leftover supplies. I prefer that they don't, but I am glad I saved these in this case). Monkey Monkey had a stash of binders (& I have a few cast offs from work; binders are often handy). Dh had a stash of spiral notebooks. So we had a strong start. In addition to the lifetime(s) supply of pencils we seem to always have...

My Doh Moment

August 21st, 2016 at 01:40 am

I'm at 2 weeks with a broken foot. At least 2 more weeks + a holiday weekend before I can put weight on my entire foot. Mostly using a boot but I take it off every chance I can get and it takes forever to put it on.

Someone very early on mentioned a knee scooter(?) (not sure exactly what it is called). Maybe my dad?? I can't remember now.

Anyway, yesterday dh and I were talking about all the things I probably couldn't do the next couple of weeks. Nothing huge, but it was getting frustrating enough I decided we should price out some knee scooter rentals. (I'd feel foolish if it was like $10/week and I never even looked it up!).

Anyway, that was when we had our doh moment. We always bought used baby stuff on Craigslist and sold for the same price when we were done. Just those things that are in high demand and you need for a short period of time. I've never really thought about that in terms of anything else. But the difference between owning and renting a scooter seemed pretty negligible. So the line of thinking was might as well just buy and we can sell it when we are done. From there we started to see what used options there were.

Funny enough, dh had made $150 cash from a focus group the night before. So he went out and bought one for me today. The going price seemed to be $150. I am so glad at the last minute he found one with a basket and haggled it down to $150. I think maybe we can sell for more (or at least people were asking for more). Good call since it's infinitely more useful with a basket to carry things around.

(I just checked and full price is $170 on Amazon. But factor also that would take a lot more time to get).

I LOVE it. We went to the store today (because I was feeling antsy). It's surprisingly light and I was able to lift it in and out of the car. I did some light chores today. Like going through a couple of weeks of mail (which I planned to do regardless). So much easier with the scooter. I told the kid I would make a meal tomorrow since I think it will be easier now. (Nothing big but I can't imagine cooking without my boot. Now I can just zoom around the kitchen. I suppose I haven't cooked anything in two weeks).

I wasn't particularly planning to take it to work. But I also didn't expect it to be so light. I guess will see. I might try to go without Monday and see if I go stir crazy. I could imagine it being frustrating after getting used to the extra mobility. On the flip side, I am sure using the leg and walking a bit is helpful for blood flow and so on. So maybe work would be good for some exercise. I have to climb the stairs (at home) and least once or twice a day also.

Nickname Update + Misc.

August 17th, 2016 at 11:58 pm

Okay, I hadn't updated nicknames yet because I hadn't figured it out. Maybe a little sidetracked with life...

LM told me he wanted to be a drama llama and BM never really came up with anything.

So... I renamed them to Monkey Monkey and Drama Llama.

I think it was Lucky Robin who came up with "Monkey Hubby" and I love that!

Now I just have to remember the new names. I will add their age to their initials too to keep it simple for more occasional readers.

It will probably take me a while to remember and I am sure I will use old initials once in a while.

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In other news...

I got a $50 MRI bill which I know is not right. Is usually more like $1,500. Doesn't really matter because even if they billed that wrong I am sure I will max out our deductible soon enough with foot stuff.

MH got a focus group for $150. Woohoo! It's probably been around a year since the last one. Since the gymnastics place really only takes cash, I might just use that to pay for next month. (Man, what a pain!)

That reminds me... I did get MM(13) signed up with a checking account. They printed him a debit card on the spot. I wasn't expecting that! I was able to automate his allowance.

I went a little back and forth on "reconciling bank accounts" and so on but don't know how relevant that really is in this day and age. (I don't remember the last time I had an outstanding item when it comes to personal banking? Everything clears so instantly). & pen and paper seemed so archaic. It's been over a decade since I've handled my own finances that way. But I mostly use software. Which I am sure he is more than capable of using, but felt like it was like teaching math with a calculator. Wanted him to get more used to the nuts and bolts first. I finally decided to just set up a spreadsheet so he could keep an electronic register. I think that is an appropriate solution for the here and now.

First Blanket

August 17th, 2016 at 03:46 pm

Living in a warm weather climate, most the small knitting projects (scarves/gloves, that type of thing) didn't appeal to me. So I started a blanket.

I am glad I did now that I am stuck off my feet for most of this month. That said, I haven't really been in the mood to work on it. It's only in the last couple of days that I picked it up again. But I expect I will work on it more as my foot feels better.

Here is my progress so far:



I am making it for my mom or with my mom in mind (she LOVES this yarn). But if it looks too horrible I can always keep it for myself.

I actually did 2 or 3 rows before I noticed a mistake and had to start all over again. I am glad I tried again because it's gone really well since then.

If it comes out okay I will make again in a solid color. I think this blanket really shines in a solid color but it sounded kind of boring and I thought hiding the imperfections sounded like a better plan for a first blanket.

I am so relieved I have this big project. Not that I wouldn't mind being stuck on the couch reading. But it's nice to have something else to mix things up a bit.

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Today I have a seminar online, so will do that from home. I have another seminar next week. The timing is also good on those. I appreciate the days to rest my foot.

Today I am going to work through some little chores.

I am going to cancel credit card #5. I hadn't been ready to close that one but the Citi 2% card has replaced that one. I guess these cards come and go and I thought I should keep in case Citi lowers its rewards later. But... They switched my old card from an Amex to a Visa? I think. I saw on My Money Blog that they reduced the rewards on it. (I never opened up the new credit card when it came in the mail and didn't look carefully at it since am not using right now). Anyway, I have been logging in once a month to double check no charges are coming through, but this month I couldn't even log in. I guess I need to set up a new account with the new card. Said I didn't have an account. So... Yeah, I think I will just close that card and simplify. I can always re-apply later if other rewards dry up. I just hope I am not forgetting other charges. I suppose I can scan through my Quicken register. More recently I forgot that our road tolls were being charged to that card (since we don't pay tolls very often). I otherwise phased out about a year ago.

I guess we were also using this card when we buy Sketch Fest tickets. We might buy tickets to 5+ shows so we wanted to reduce the chance of our credit card being declined while vying for front row seats. (Buying several shows at once is a little suspicious, though by now we have probably established a pattern). I guess will just have to take 1% cash back on those kinds of things. (We do have 4 credit cards to charge up in those instances).

I also think that I have a one-time reward card to close.

So yeah, I guess just some minor credit card chores. Usually takes like a minute online but I expect the card I never activated and which I can't access online will take a little more time to deal with.

Edited to add: Apparently knitting is kind of the perfect activity when listening to a seminar.

Back to School

August 13th, 2016 at 04:09 pm

What a Week - Part II:

Oh yeah, last week was a banner week for everyone but me.

LM had his drama showcase. We didn't ask him much about his script because wanted to be surprised. In the end, he was the star of the show. It was just GREAT! (I was definitely surprised!)

Such a fun week to see both my kids shine and be so happy pursuing their passions. They were both on Cloud 9.

Oh, and the theater is offering year round classes (new). We left it up to LM but he wanted to take a break. I think that is probably wise since he will have many opportunities at new school but we just don't know all of the "what" and the "whens" yet. Probably best to keep his schedule open. If the 6th grade drama opportunities are slim he can always take spring drama classes outside of school.

As to my foot, it's really not been bad. Feeling a LOT better and stronger every day. Stuck with the big boot for 3 more weeks. I'll have another x-ray at that time, but I tend to be a fast healer and already feel a million times better. I haven't had much pain at all.

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BM(13) went back to school this week. He's been attending his math class at the high school and all is well.

Oh, and as far as infinite details... He just realized Friday he doesn't have the books for his math class. E-mailed his teacher about that. No idea where he is supposed to get those if they aren't passed out in class. I guess we figure these things out as we go.

The high school schedule is somewhat insane. They have four different bell schedules depending on the circumstances. Best we can tell, they don't ever use the short day schedules? (If they do, we have no idea when). & then we asked his teacher to keep him in the loop as to rally days and stuff like that. BM is very responsible and is capable of keeping track of all that on his own.

I did take some time this week to sort out schedules. Since the public high school just uses the district calendar I printed it out and added some notes for the school specific calendar. Noting all the days we know have different schedules.

I put all 3 calendars up on the fridge. Dh mentioned making a master calendar, which sounds overkill and I doubt he will bother. We are both very "one thing at a time" and "cross that bridge as we come to it" types and we both usually tend to keep track of things in our minds. But you know, for the past 6 years both our kids have attended one school. This 3-school thing is beyond my brain. So I put up the three calendars to at least start wrapping my brain around them. (If we needed more organization from there, would figure something out). In the end, I think this will work for us. Except for different school start dates, they all actually have the same holidays for August and September. So at least we get to ease into things a bit. The other thing that is the same is that they all have weird schedules on Wednesdays. We haven't figured those out yet, but dh will just handle it for now. When he goes back to work we will figure out who can do what as far as driving kids to/from school at odd hours.

October is a different story with 3 different breaks. But I figure that is something we will sort out in October. Will just have to go through the calendars once every week or month. Probably a monthly look ahead as to breaks, and then probably a weekly look ahead to plan the week. Though I now know there is nothing to look at again or to think much about until October.

It's funny because being generally "organized" (I think we are good at prioritizing more than anything) I get the sense people think that we meticulously plan things. As my blog says, we over prepare and then go with the flow. There is maybe some overall planning ahead, but I think keeping things really flexible works better with life in general. As to October, dh and I haven't decided for sure if we will do a big trip without the kids. (Probably not, but I am still open to it if things change). We haven't nailed down any plans whatsoever as to the kids' breaks. But things are flexible enough that we will figure it out when we get there.

I have no idea what the back to school fuss is about, but I guess we are boring. My kids have always been early birds, so back to school is never any big adjustment for them. They don't need anything for school. They've got clothes, backpacks, lunch bags, etc. from last year. Boring, but very zen and calm. I am hoping our zen balances out some of this extra driving and schedule tracking this year.

I did send $95 to BM's school to cover supplies and field trips for the year. My feeling on LM's new school is that they probably also just ask for reimbursement. I sure hope so because it makes life easy!

I had totally forgotten that LM's new school does the whole formal PE thing. Guess I have to buy him a PE uniform. I guess they spring these things on you the week school starts? This is one of those details I had completely forgotten about. & I am sure there are things I don't even know about yet.

What a Week!

August 7th, 2016 at 03:56 pm

Mostly a good news week, for everyone but me. HA!

BM(13) is taking gymnastics classes with the goal to learn how to do a back flip. I signed him up around June 1, and he gave himself a two week deadline because he is insane. (I insisted he learn in a safe environment). I didn't take him to his group class this week because wasn't expecting that he'd do much but work on his roundoff to a back handspring. But I guess coach said his roundoff sucked and he'd need some more private lesson time for that. So just had him do a tuck (flip). BM told me he did it on the first try and it was easy. *sigh* Can't believe I missed it! So... Factoring vacation, it took him about 6 weeks to get to that point. & I think coach really wanted him to do the roundoff back handspring first, which is some of it.

I don't know how far he will take it, but it seems to be the perfect sport for him. No idea why he's never taken a gymnastics class before. Probably a function of both time and money. This is the child who has had 3 extra-curriculars at once. I think he just had other priorities, and maybe I've never seen a gymnastics class that fit our budget.

It's the perfect sport for him because he is a monkey, he has no fear, and he pushes himself very hard. I think he's squarely in the "for fun" camp for now, but I wouldn't be surprised if he later wants to take it farther.

Oh, and in other BM news, he is officially enrolled in a high school math class. Woohoo! They pulled it out about 3 days before school started. Dh was starting to get so pissed. I am sure they hate him, but if anyone would ever just do their job or do what they would say. *sigh* The most frustrating 2 years ever.

I said I'd believe it when I see it. I guess this is pretty good. I am believing.

That said, it's very complicated, and I am sure we haven't thought through everything. School starts next week, so will see how it goes. Since both schools are slammed, neither has been big on details. (We had to ask what room his math class was in and who his teacher was. Doh). We did see the principal at a school event and she seriously said that BM had 8th grade math on his schedule since he should really take that class because he has never taken it. *Bangs head on wall* So yeah, there seems to be a million details to sort through yet.

Endless details aside, I feel great relief that they were able to work things out. & it was also a relief to get confirmation that he can attend the high school's last class of the day. Which is also clearly the least disruptive to his school. This will allow dh to work. He hasn't discussed with his employer at all but they seem pretty flexible. I suppose I am waiting to for dh to pin down his work schedule, when they call him back after summer. From there I will see where I fit into all of this. We have some short day stuff to figure out as to getting kids to/from school.

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LM has his drama camp and is the happiest I have ever seen him. I really and truly hope he gets even half the satisfaction from his new school. He doesn't start school for another 2 weeks.

His drama showcase is this weekend.

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Dh had another MRI and there is nothing to report. Which is good!

His Doctor's office is so on the ball it freaks us out. He went in last weekend for an MRI and they asked him to come in first thing Monday morning. O.M.G. Don't do that to people! In the end it was all good and his Doctor didn't want him to have another MRI for a year. Back to an annual schedule. Phew!

& so, though he should have another MRI in 6 months, The Doc said he didn't see the point. It's not that things look that great, but I think more given dh's specific situation.

I am relieved to financially and emotionally to skip this next January.

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So... With that MRI we probably maxed out or deductible for the year.

Which is fine since I knew we would. I think we ended up meeting with dh's Doctor on Wednesday.

& then Friday night I broke my foot!

*sigh*

It was just a stupid thing where I tripped down the last couple of steps on our stairs. Landed on my small left toes.

My next to last toe was completely floppy and making a crunching sound, and so I was certain that I broke my toe. I didn't feel like it was an emergency by any means but I could not walk on that foot at all. I called the advice nurse while dh ran to WalMart to pick up some crutches. I just couldn't move without some help. My mom's like, "They have wheelchairs at the ER. They will give you crutches". I'm just, "Mom, they are $35, and I doubt they would be free on our health plan anyway". Best $35 I ever spent?? Big Grin It's just funny how cheap or weird people get about money some time. While dh was gone, I tried to walk on my heel, or the other side of my foot, and my brain was telling me, "You can't put any weight on this foot you dummy. STOP IT!" So yeah, I was so happy to see those crutches!

Anyway, they had no appointments (all weekend) but there was an urgent care clinic open until midnight. We got there around 7pm and waited about 1.5 hours. My pinkie toe proceeded to turn purple and swell like crazy. I had to keep saying, "Yeah, that doesn't hurt at all - *that* is not the problem." Though it was certainly a symptom of the problem. Big Grin

In the end I guess I sprung the pinkie toe (which my body didn't seem to care at all about, in the grand scheme of things). The toe next to it was floppy because I broke the bone in my foot right below that toe. *sigh*

I do have a boot now and I admit this is allows for more mobility. Though I am definitely getting use out of the crutches too.

My plan is to move as little as possible this weekend. I have a Doctor appointment next week, so will go from there. It sounds like it will take at least 4 weeks to heal.

It was my left foot, so I can drive. Phew!! Considering we were about to start a really crazy school schedule, I am very grateful for that part.

My boys are taking good care of me.