So, I got the HOA financials and everything, and an apologetic letter about how they had to increase our HOA dues during these trying times.

My spouse, who HATES the HOA with a passion starts griping while I flip through the paperwork trying to find actual dollar figures. I tell him, "Oh chill out - our HOA dues have only gone down over the years - which is crazy unheard of in any economy - much less THIS ONE." I mean, the majority of the homes around here are in default - no one's paying their dues. I hate the HOA too, but they have their financial crap together. I have no idea how we got so lucky. I'd like to say I poured over financial statements and did my research, but we were an early buyer in a completely new neighborhood. There was nothing to research about the HOA at that time. We just got lucky.

Anyway, I finally found the dollar figure. We have to pay an extra quarter per month.

Who wrote that letter?!? If it was me, it would be, "In spite these hard economic times and the over-bearing amount of non-paying homeowners, the dues will only need to increase 25 cents per month to balance our budget". I mean, seriously. Write a sad apologetic letter over a quarter?

It is the first time in many years they raised the fee at all. Somehow we survive.

{To be fair, we live in the cheapest neighborhood. Some of the others, especially the gated parts, have extra services included. Theirs went up $1.25 - $2.25 per month. & theirs always goes up, so the apologetic letter was probably for them}.

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I am pleased with how 2014 is shaping up. I think I have got all the budget numbers I need except for any potential raise. I think odds are I won't get a raise and so will just plan on that for now. (I will find out for sure in January).

I'll have to post numbers later. I am pleased I have managed to offset all cost increases with other cost decreases.

This is my past week or so:

**Mom was in a car accident. She is okay; it was minor.

**Mom's cat passed on. This was the cat we were really worried would pass within weeks of my mom's mom passing. SO, we are relieved (and very surprised) that she held on as long as she did. She did go fast and sudden though, so was kind of shocking in that regard. But I still can't believe that cat outlived mine by a solid 8 months. !! (That cat was very sick for many years; ours was only diagnosed with cancer a few weeks before she passed).

It's been a rough year for pets in our family.

**I had a scary medical thing on Monday. It turned out to be "nothing", but you know, you don't know that at the time. More on that later. It's really nothing that exciting, but was just scary when I had no idea what it was.

**I suppose the crappy luck is in my parents' court for now. I am fine and I Was able to be evaluated at a routine medical appointment. I just sped up the appointment to yesterday and so am not out any extra money for the evaluation. (I was worried I'd be sent for an MRI, so glad it worked out the way it did).

I don't like to be cheap with medical stuff, but it has been one heck of a year!!

Oh, anyway, so today was at least a little good news:

Today was the big dental appointment that I was thinking we should see out before booking winter vacation. BUT, it went about as well as it could have. BM had 2 teeth pulled (Expected).

LM may cost a small fortune next year but is currently in "wait and see" mode. I am so relieved to have a 6 month financial reprieve on that. (They did not even pull his baby tooth, which was expected today).

Yes, *only* spending $100 for a routine doctor appointment and $400 at the dentist is GOOD NEWS around here. Lately.

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So that my post is not just whiny and "woe is me" and accidents and death and doctor bills...

**I got called for jury duty and already got excused (As sole breadwinner/non-paid for jury duty). Oh - they called me in for the worst possible week of the entire year as far as work. That was stress I did not need. (I started to worry maybe my excuse was not automatic and I had used it too many times). Let's just say... "Phew!"

**Last year at this time I got some school shorts on clearance for $3.88 per pair. I hit a couple of Targets last night but no such luck. I think I just got lucky last year.

While out, we got a sympathy card for my mom. I bought the kids a couple of shirts on clearance.

**Dh made 21-ingredient-chili, which was raved about on the crockpot365 website. It was interesting... & I mean that in a good way. IT was tasty and different and good. But, I think we will toss that recipe aside as it doesn't fit our preference for "less complicated".

In case you are intrigued:

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2011/12/21-ingredient-chili-...

It just couldn't hold a candle to our very simple/tasty recipe. Much preferred by ALL of us:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/corny-chili

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**Last, but not least: Have you heard anything about 3D printers? Dh and my dad are engineer types and so there had been talk about this technology. I saw probably towards the beginning of the year that our library had a 3D printer. O.M.G. I think it took them a while to get staff and support for it though.

So anyway, dh finally went over there to check it out. Now that they have regular hours and information and so on.

HE found a site with designs you can take over to the printer:

http://www.thingiverse.com/

HE found a cup holder kind of design for his new phone (a phone stand to keep in the car cup holder). & so he decided to experiment with that.

Well, it ended up taking about 3.5 hours to print. On a day where the printer was only available for 4 hours. That said, while I was in there, a guy walked in and said, "I promise it won't take 6 hours this time!" So, I guess it happens...

There are several things of similar size that only take 15 minutes or 1/2 hour to print. It seems like it is maybe a little hit and miss.

All of the above said, no one knows about it (the library printer) and it appears to be generally under-utilized.

This thing is a frugie's dream!

Practical applications:

--To make replacement parts to fix items

--To make gifts or toys (or jewelry)

--To make small practical items like key chains. Or cell phone cases.

--Useful for school projects?

The possibilities are probably endless...

Actually, there was a local news story about some young entrepreneurs prototyping their invention at the library.

Here is the 3D printer in action:

**Dh and I had a nice lunch date last week. It had been a while, for whatever reason. Maybe just busy busy busy dealing with life.

We had a coupon so spent a whopping $11. I had leftovers for dinner the same night.

We had gotten the coupon at the last school fundraiser. We also scored an hour of free bowling and $20 in arcade credits (at bowling alley). That will be something we should go do Thanksgiving week.

**That reminds me, I did get our post Thanksgiving vacation booked.



After one heck of a year and more than one ruined vacation, I am a little wary. BUT, since my birthday fell on that weekend it sealed the deal for just going. We went last year and had the entire hotel mostly to ourselves. IT was DIVINE. I figure this year we will get rained out or a flat tire or something. But, will try!! Trying to be positive.

**So, how about that Nexus 5?

It's a $400-ish non-contract phone that works with most cell carriers.

I don't know if dh would care so much, but his phone broke and he really HATES the one that he is making do with.

So yeah, he is all over it!! Which is making me think this broken phone thing was a blessing in disguise.

Because... He is ready to switch to Ting!

Last we ran the numbers it just wasn't working, but I think it was mostly because he didn't want to. We were probably assuming all new phones, and higher prices of phones. So, this Nexus 5 changes things dramatically. In addition, if we switch now, the rest of us can just keep our current phones (barely 18 months old, so no need or wish to upgrade).

One final point - we weren't quite sure on data usage before we tried out our latest cell phone plan. BUT, since the sprint network sucks so much our data usage has been pretty small. Our current actual usage puts us around $30/month for two phones. (Before taxes and fees). I would expect we will use more data with time, and so did not factor this low usage in our past calculations. (Which is fine - even if we quadruple our data we will still be saving a ton on the monthly bill).

We are on a family plan with my folks and are all on the same page. If we stick with Sprint at all, might as well just go to Ting and pay half as much for the same crappy coverage. Either that, or let's just splurge on Verizon and actually get decent cell service.

But the Nexus 5 does not carry to Verizon. So, that seals the deal. Dh's love for the phone and kicking the big guys (and contract BS) to the curb is trumping all else. Plus, maybe he is a sucker. We are supposed to get 4G any day now. (So they have said for the entire past 18 months). I am just relieved he is willing to wait it out.

I would not be surprised if we eventually end up with Verizon, but am happy to save money in the interim. Environmentally, we are really opposed to upgrading all our phones just to switch carriers again.

Anyway THANK YOU to the SA Ting guniea pigs. I really appreciate it. It's an easier choice having heard so much good things about it.

I will have to do a numbers post later. We are terminating our contract 5 months early, so somewhere around December 1, or maybe a little later - depends when we get dh's new phone. Though since there are no activation fees, I am pushing to just switch December 1. He can sort out the new phone later. Anyway, Ting will pay 25% of our termination fees, so that is cool. We will still come out ahead regardless, terminating early and cutting our monthly bill for those 5 months.

**One final thing. That new phone is not going to cost me a penny. I was waiting for the Chase Sapphire card to bump back up to a $500 reward again (I think it was $500 earlier this year??). But, I give up. The $400 reward came to mind as a great way to pay for this phone. So I already applied, and I have enough insurance bills due to hit the $3,000 spending requirement by 12/31. I hope to get that $430-ish reward check by the end of the year.

I am not sure if this is really a Murphy thing:

Our car broke down...

...in the garage!

So, was mostly a non-event. (We also noticed during the weekend when we weren't in a hurry and had the second car at our disposal - the carpool situation eliminated any weekday stress while we got the car fixed. Phew)!

I looked over the tires before we got it to the shop and they look fine. So, financially is kind of a wash (was expecting to replace two tires). I will check our maintenance records, but I think they probably only have 40k miles and are fine. Which would explain why the tires looked perfectly fine though we had been on a somewhat "every 2 year replace 2 tires" schedule. Was a good year to take a break since we just replaced van's 4 tires.

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I was SHOCKED to see home insurance bill - just got an e-mail copy today.

Down from $900 to $600. Woohoo!!

I googled a bit and saw State Farm reduced rates this year in California. When I get the full paper mail bill I will look over it more carefully.

I don't think we have ever paid that little to insure our home. In 14 years. Not even our condo (since it was in crazy expensive land).

My life insurance also decreased by about 30% this year. I had noticed it seemed lower but didn't look too much into it. Just got a note from my professional association recently that they had way decreased their rates, so I guess that explains that.

Flood insurance went up 20%, which is 100% political. I did not know since can't keep track of all the minutiae, but I googled a bit and saw it should go up 20% per year for five more years, and that the amount this year was correct. (It was supposed to go up 400% a couple of years back, but then I learned we were exempt because we had flood insurance going way back. So, it's just like that. FEMA bills us directly, but the last few years I had to sort out with my insurance agent. It probably wouldn't hurt to check with him this year, though bill actually matched what was reported in news and by Congresswoman. Last two years was all a mess).

I also got property tax bill. Expected decrease due to some bond refinancing. Decrease was about $125. Supposedly more local bonds will follow suit - so that will be awesome. (Total bill increased a bit because home value went up - but county assessed way conservatively like they have been - they can't keep up and I think are just avoiding the time and cost of appeals).

What will I do with large home insurance windfall? Put it to property taxes. Is actually perfect because I wanted to prepay this year. Saved $1500 on vacation and $300 on homeowners insurance, so that mostly covers the extra property tax payment.

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Other fiscal successes:

Dh actually succeeded in getting out internet bill down by $15 per month. For a year. PHEW!!! I think I will just throw that to the mortgage as a holding place - it will probably eventually fund a cell phone plan switch.

I also received $250 Citi reward. $250 "check to mortgage" - I just deposited to our bank account.

I am holding my breath and waiting another week to make sure they really and truly accepted the third party check. & that dh's tooth removal goes well. & then I guess I must be crazy because will put the money towards our beach weekend. Third time is the charm? Hopefully this vacation is not ruined.

I do feel more financially relaxed about giving that a go, with the home insurance savings. The $250 citi check will pay for the bulk of our weekend away. IT covers the hotel, and we can work the food and gas into our regular budget.

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Other than that, I am just EXHAUSTED! A big deadline kind of week at work. Dh is no longer volunteering in the classroom (which was like a billion hours) and so I volunteered at Fall Festival last weekend. (Exhausting start to week!!). We had an impromptu get together with friends after (at our house). Cleaned house Sunday because the in-laws stopped by. Last night the school had a chili cook off (which was totally awesome by the way) AND we attended a concert. Concert was beyond awesome. & my folks came up for that, so that was fun.

Oh, and a CRAZY busy week at work. I am probably staying home today - I need nothing more than a nice nap!

**Dh has a crazy wisdom teeth that has come up the past couple of years since we switched dentists. (It's black and dentist thinks it is way cool - I didn't even know about it).

So, I was envisioning "wisdom tooth" surgery and as dh has mentioned more and more he will eventually want to pull it, I was hoping a few more years in the future.

Well, dentist today recommended pulling. For $150. Can you say, "PHEW!"?

I have a bad habit of assuming things our way worse than they are. Don't I feel stupid now?


**BM and LM both are slated for some teeth pulling - we have a meeting around November 10th for that. The word "surgery" was thrown out towards one of the kids. So, I am not out of the woods yet! Crossing my fingers.

Will I be the only one to not suffer a pulled tooth in the month of November?

I actually have horrible horrible jaw and crowded/crooked teeth and orthodontia forever in the $$$$$$$ range, and so on. BUT, I didn't get any wisdom teeth? Does that even things out? Probably not.

I like to say I am just more evolved.


**I was going to post this with my last post but forgot. I noticed stocks did well yesterday, probably due to Government news. So I updated our net worth and so on. I did not realize things had soared higher for us than they did all year so far, until I updated, so that was a nice surprise.

We surpassed a major milestone earlier this year. More financial assets than debt (mortgage). It was an exciting milestone, but now I am eager to get well on the other side of that milestone. In the interim, a volatile stock market can push us backwards on that goal.

As of today we were up about $20,000. !! I am very pleased with that. So, as of today we could pay off our mortgage and still have $20k! It would be higher, but we've had one heck of a year. I think we'd have crossed the $30k mark if not for everything breaking and going wrong. On the flip side, I am very "big picture" focused and the big picture is certainly going well. Of all years for things to be expensive, this might be the one that bothers me the least, on some level. At least our investments are doing well.

I've truly felt that this year is the year our assets are starting to really work for us. & that is aside from the stock market being totally on fire. They'd be working well for us regardless.

P.S. Our ROTHs are also nearing the $100k mark. If I had funded them at all this year, they'd be there. But I think it's too soon to call, though if I add the cash earmarked for that we would be there. Just waiting for some more cash infusions to make those contributions and to make it official. Maybe 12/31? Completely random but dh and I would both have about $50k each. WE have both invested differently and different amounts over the years. I converted my old 401k into a ROTH IRA at some point, too. Which maybe makes up that since most years I funded his ROTH more than my own since I had work retirement plans for several years; he never had a work retirement plan. The last 2 or 3 years we have both maxed out our ROTHs since have been our only retirement contributions that we can contribute to. I have more money in a IRA (rolled over from employer plan). Total retirement is fast approaching the $200k mark. The first $100k was really and truly the hardest. IT goes so fast after that point - especially in a market like this.

**Got a $20 sprint credit - will add to 11/30 mortgage payment. That's $40 mortgage snowflakes next month with the $20 I have been adding for carpool savings.

Sprint was giving us $40 per month, but dh is fine with $20. Basically, him and I are not paying our "data charges" as long as we can't get much data. The $40 seemed flukey and generous, BUT, it also paid for his phone replacement when it broke, so I guess it works out.

**Dh is going to try to call and haggle down our internet bill. The bill is absurd, but we aren't seriously going to leave and the service is A+. It is cheaper than our cell plan, and it actually works as advertised. (He is probably motivated knowing I will be more open to going back to Verizon if we tame that beast - they refused to give us any more discounts once our last promo ended). We don't have cable with them, but was our last cable company. we negotiate everything no problem, but seem to ever have any luck with the cable companies - we walked away from several who were unwilling to give us extended promotions. Even when we legitimately said "we are leaving" and we left. Don't ask me! All this to say, not expecting much on this front.

**I got a $60 prepaid visa rebate for our recent tire purchase. I had the bright idea to pay it to our health insurance (since it was a larger sum than the usual $15 or $20 rebates). Worked like a charm! Will have to remember that for the future.

**We redeemed our Citi "triple dip" reward. $250 check to our mortgage (which I read most people just deposited to their bank - will try that first - our checking account is with mortgage holder so we still have Plan B if the deposit does not work).

We had 1200 points left and one of the first rewards that popped up was a 8G Flash Drive. Sold!

Once my paycheck hits today, I will pay off that card. When we receive rewards in hand I will cancel that card.

The mortgage payment was an annoying reward to redeem because you have to call in to request it.

**My younger child who was fond of big words is regularly calling me "economic". I will take that as a compliment. He means it in a more "frugal" or "money conscious" context. It's cute.

**IT's been crazy and busy and I can't believe Halloween is only a couple of weeks away! It completely slipped my radar. I have not bought the kids costumes in several years. I am a little more open to it this year, especially since getting so last minute, and also because it has been a while. I found angry birds costumes 80% - 90% off. I guess not so popular any more??? You got me! So I am trying to sell them on that. Will see...

**I got an e-mail about the 5th graders $200 field trip deposit due. I had completely forgotten. But was waiting for more info. I suppose I will give up on more info and just put it down. (I don't see any reason why he would not participate, and we had many years to prepare).

That said, kind of bad planning on their part as they added that big 4th grade Sailboat field trip. That means 4 years in a row of big bucks on my part 4th, 5th, 4th, 5th. I noticed the middle schoolers had -0- field trip money requested. But, let's wait until this 5th grade gets up there. Some of the more well-off bigger spenders are in my older child's grade.

Well, that's a buzzkill since I had totally forgotten about it. !!

It's likely we just won't give any money to the school when we have 5th graders. We tend to donate a fair amount (because the school is AWESOME). But lord knows this year I have nothing to give. Next year it will probably be a chunk of change to field trips, instead. I forgot the full price, but it was a lot more than $200 - some "several nights away" thing.

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The other e-mail I got should probably go into the buzzkill pile. Endless requests for last minute money and so on drives me batty. So, I mostly stopped participating.

But I got an e-mail about a bunch of things needed in two days (shoot me now!) and for whatever reason I perused the list on the offchance anything was easy. I spotted "fall decor" for a raffle basket. I'll hit the Target dollar bins and Michaels with coupons, on the way home tonight.

Aren't I feeling in a NICE mood? (99% of the time I'd just grumble about the last minute requests and would say, "As if!!")

Part of the nice mood if I don't think anyone has asked me for anything this year. So, that helps. (Either that, or I ignored all the rest and forgot because they were too last-minute).

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Made some de-clutter progress this weekend but had a serious DOH moment. !!

Dh was ready to donate an old first-generation-ish DVD player. I found the manual for it plus a manual for an old CD player dh was supposed to sell many moons ago.

So, what did I do? I switched the manuals! Sent the CD one off with the DVD player. Oh well!

We already had that to purge, some clothes, and some more frgaile goods I Couldn't fit into the last pile. IT was a fairly small purge, but I was able to get it all out. My table begins anew and fresh.

That said, the "stuff we can sell for money" pile is growing, so may be our focus in the coming weeks.

Still got the carsetas (ahem, dh! - to be fair it has been crazy busy).

I got out the old cat carrier since we have no need for it.

I've got some wall hangings to sell.

I've got a mop/vaccum thing and dh did at least get that monstrous CD player out from our closet (so old and big that we will probably just freecycle at this point).

In addition, we did finally get through the downstairs closet. Lots and lots of boxes and gift bags (though we rarely give gifts. Might start a one-in/one-out rule on thise. We retained a "lifestime supply" and recycled anything that wasn't absolutely pristine.

I found some odd things as I believe I used the closet to stuff things in when I had smaller kids and less time. But cleared that stuff out and am mostly left with extra granite, tile, carpet, and all our gift wrapping needs (to last a lifetime).

I also went through manuals I had in two spaces in the house. Found some really old stuff and purged a lot. Others I was able to put with their sales/donation items. I could probably organize a bit more, but was a start.

Both those were fairly short and easy projects that I wanted to just get done to feel like I made some forward progress (on my otherwise super lazy vacation week - I honestly did little else).

November might be a good time to focus on craigslisting and purging paint and hazardous waste (which I mostly have in a pile ready to go).

We could probably also go through the garage now that it has cooled off a bit. (Should be an easy project - not a lot to it - we keep the garage pretty clear for cars. But there may be some weird forgotten things in there).

Phew! The universe seems to be cutting us some slack this week.

**Got back from our "Plan B" vacation. We cut it short by about 5 days - so not much else planned the rest of the week. Might go see a couple of movies.

I will say I haven't had a nicer drive in "forever". No traffic whatseoever - didn't particularly see any crazy drivers. How is that for a miracle? With the year we have had I was also crazy afraid of some bad luck like a breakdown. So I am relieved to say it went very well. (I've probably never done a road trip of any length in such a new vehicle and had no logical reason to be worried - it's just been that kind of a year).

So, we do feel relieved to be home in one piece.

**WE spent about $1,000 for the trip. I will break it down when I get a breather. I think we honestly easily could have made it a $500-ish trip. I told dh to keep that one in our back pocket if we were ever particularly broke and wanted a getaway. We splurged on show tickets and a kitty hotel, which was about $400 of our costs. So, $600 for gas, hotel, food, transportation and so on.

The State Park we went to was AMAZING and probably made up a bit for skipping Death Valley. I think we saw some similar landscapes. The kids seemed to warm up to Vegas by last day and seemed to really enjoy the last night. Days 1 and 2 I wasn't so sure. Vegas was certainly PACKED. I think a lot of travelers were diverted there.

**Sprint coverage sucked eggs most the trip and so dh told me he was done with them. I think he had been holding out hope for 4G, but this trip just sealed the deal. He has to call and complain and get our credits back for the rest of our contract. We will start running numbers. We will probably go back to Verizon. At least we have a feel now of what kind of data usage we use, and so on. Before, was just boycotting anyone who didn't offer unlimited, but he is just not happy with other options. We've never been happy with any phone carrier but Verizon. They may be pricey but they offer exceptional coverage and service.

**We came home to our 2014 health insurance premiums. Gah! They usually e-mail it and certainly wasn't expecting that. In fact, we had been discussing that on the way home. In the end, we dodged a bullet. Only went up 5%. (I know - ONLY!! But we have had too many years of 10% - 20% increases). Which means we have one more solid year of insurance cheaper than our mortgage. Next year looks to be the year, where our insurance costs more, for sure. For reference, this is in CALIFORNIA. It's not like housing is exactly cheap.

I haven't looked up the exchange yet but never expected much from it (while gainfully employed). I appreciate the options for the unknown future though. But anyway, we have "young and healthy" insurance and so did not expect much. For reference, the Platinum plan was being quoted as $1500 per month, while we pay $900/month for a lower deductible and far better coverage. They released the rates around September 1.

In addition, I do have health insurance through employer, so that is another wrench. IT's just really crappy insurance and expensive. It's like I'd pay $1,000 per month to add the family, and nothing we needed would be covered. That kind of thing. But, since *I* have insurance offered to me, I do not believe *I* can buy insurance on the exchange. Even if it is crappy by my own measure - it meets the minimum requirements.

Our income is near the cutoff for income tax credits, so I doubt I will find the worse plan that costs more any more enticing. If I were unemployed, it would be fully subsidized, and that would be a whole other story. But seriously, how does that even work? I have to cough up $1500 per month now and wait for a $18,000-ish tax refund after the end of the year? Holy cow!! I guess it's better than no subsidy.

So, anyway, the long and the short of it was I did not expect to use the exchange. But, I will look up actual rates now that it is all set up and check our tax credit and so on. I haven't done that yet.

My dad told me his insurance was going from $2,000 per month to $300 per month on the exchange. They have no income, so that is not surprising. I have to re-strategize for them since we were converting all their IRAs to ROTHs, ideally before they turn 70. But, it might be better to leave their income very low and get these healthcare subsidies until they turn 65. I expected the exchange to help them more with all their pre-existings.

{Their insurance is still $2,000 per month, but they will be getting HUGE tax refunds as most of the savings will be tax credits}.

**I talked to my dad last night and he no longer wants to take BM to Japan. I am a little disappointed because him and his Japan friend aren't getting any younger and healthier. BUT, he said he wanted to take BM in 2015 instead. I think I can live with that. He even said he wanted to pay for him if they went in 2015. I felt like it would be dumb to pass up the opportunity, BUT, it does put a lot of financial pressure off of me. So, phew! {Next year my dad wants to do a solo trip and wants the flexibility to go any time of the year}.

**We have $1500 left over from our planned vacation budget, for this week. I'd probably realistically expect to spend $2500 on our 10-day National Park vacation. We save $1500 every year for vacations. MIL gave us a check for $1,000 right before we left (totally unexpected - for anniversary and trip). I don't know if she would have given us the check if she knew we could not go to the National Parks. But, whatever. I already sent it to the credit card so it's all paid for. We spent just about that much. I wouldn't say that we planned it overly much or limited it to only $1,000, but maybe we did subconsciously. We certainly splurged more than we would have been able to given our very expensive year. So, that was certainly nice.

So I have this $1,500 that I Was thinking for Japan.

Since Japan is cancelled, then we could really use a $3,000 vacation budget next year ($1500 x 2 years). We have a wedding to go to near Yellowstone. But, without the Japan trip, we can also re-try our 10-day trip next October. It's an election year and so we discussed that the odds were Congress wouldn't be so stupid next October 1. Though, who knows. We hadn't really considered it otherwise because we had like 3 other opportunities next year otherwise. We felt we would probably stay home next October, though the kids get an ideal vacation week (& only THREE more!!!). But, going on 4 vacations next year just wasn't going to happen. 3rd trip was visiting my sister.

Before I talked to my dad about Japan, dh and I had discussed driving up to Montana for the wedding and hitting at least Bryce and Zion. I haven't really looked at a map and don't know how feasible it was. BUT, I told him the kids had seen more than I ever saw before like my 21st birthday (I mentioned we absolutely never vacationed anywhere when I Was a child). & so I was fine with ditching them since the wedding is while they are in school. I am not getting younger and I wanted to see some National parks. So, we had talked about doing a big road trip just the two of us. But, I did not know the wedding was literally near Yellowstone (Montana is a big state). Dh just told me that was the case. So, maybe we will just fly and do Yellowstone for a week or something. & we will try again in October for the rest.

In the meantime, I wanted to prepay our property taxes. Which, only ties up the money for about 4 months. I decided that was the best bang for my buck since would get me an income tax deduction. But, that was while the market was flying high. I will have to ponder that - have until about December 10th to decide. This extra $1500 vacation money would be perfect for that. It's tied up, but then I won't have to cough up $2000 next April. I think that is mostly the plan, but I may fund our IRAs if the stock market takes a dive in the coming weeks. I hadn't wanted to drop our cash down and was thinking of funding in April. I expect some cash infusions in December (gift) and April (overtime). BUT, I will put in the full $9500-ish I still need to max our ROTHS if the market takes a significant dip. & I may forget about the property taxes in that case. It can wait another year.

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Edited to Add: I forgot one thing. We also expected to save $150-ish this week not being home (regular gas and groceries spending). & I needed $165? to get our mortgage below $190,000. SO, I will add that extra amount to the next mortgage payment - whatever the exact dollar is will come from this savings. I know we will be home 4 days this week, but the gas savings is pretty solid since no school or work commute this week. We will have to eat very cheaply. Which is fine - ready for some good home cooking. I can't stand all the eating out when we vacation, we are so spoiled by the good home cooking.

National Park closure means our vacation is canceled.

Of course our vacation was ruined this year! - because this is how the entire year has been!!

I've been getting lots of well-meaning advice to do this or that instead. (Skip the national parks and do private tours and excursions instead). I roll my eyes because a week in the National Parks was to cost a $25 entrance fee. Everything I have been suggested literally costs 100 times as much.

I am extra bummed because it is just so rare that we do a big vacation like this. A vacation just for the sake of vacation - for more than just 3 days. All 4 of us. Have we *ever* done anything like this? Will we ever make it work? I am REALLY bummed...

We are not out one single penny. I guess that is the silver lining. I am peeved for everyone who flew halfway across the world or spent a lot more time and energy and money. I saw people on the news who had to book their hotels last October, for this October. Thankfully, we planned a more "winging it" kind of a road trip. We'd in general avoid the "mile long wait hotels" anyway. So, we hadn't committed to one single thing. Dh cancelled all of our hotel reservations today (we had booked all but our last night) and he said he got quite an earful. Not just about how all the hotels were now empty, but how all the customer service reps had so many friends and family affected by furlough, and so on. I dealt with the kitty hotel. Apparently they have a generous cancellation policy (which was not in anything I had read or signed before), so glad I asked. I thought that was the only thing we might be on the hook for, but wasn't too worried because it was not a peak travel time. So after talking to them, it was official that we have not lost a cent on our cancelled trip. Phew!

Plan B:

Plan B is not going overly well. But, well, nothing is... We were thinking of going to LA and Vegas, but the LA part seems dead (one show sold out, in the interim, and it was hard to find a decent and reasonable room so last minute).

Right now our Plan B is to just go to Vegas. 3 Nights.

What can I say - we do mini-vacations well?

Even if we throw in a big fancy show, we will probably save $1,500-ish (60%) with the trimmed down trip. Which might be useful next year (Talking about Japan, we have a wedding to go to which happens to be near Yellowstone, and I might visit my sister). That said, all of next year's trips were going to have to be 1 or 2 of us at a time, financially, so I doubt we will actually be able to make up for anything we were planning to do this year. Except be glad if we can make it to Yellowstone. All the other closer parks will have to wait for another time - lord knows when. (& the kids will miss out on Yellowstone because they will have school).

I've been stressed and bummed all week, but feeling much better as we have "given up" and switched gears. It's the sitting and waiting that was driving me the most batty. I am not much of a "looking back" type and with the new room reservation I find myself thinking less about our screwed over trip and more about how we will have fun regardless. I also feel better that we are going on some sort of road trip and can use some of our preparations. Vegas isn't terribly exciting as we've "Been There/Done That" a few too many times, but it will be an experience for the kids. It's probably not something we would have ever planned with them, but it's the only place in our itinerary that we can enjoy. So, it is what it is. I do know there is a lot of cool stuff that they can enjoy.

We had a kind of mild August, but September has been *hot*. We ran the AC most of the month. UGH!

That said the weather has made a sudden turn. So, I turned up the hot water heater to our fall/spring levels. We need to get blankets on the beds this weekend.

Money Mustache had a spectacular guest post late last winter (or early spring) about ideas to deal with the cold. So, I am expecting to use that knowledge to improve on our energy costs this winter. I've gotten some comment how these ideas seem very "deprived", but to me is the polar opposite. There are some simple things you can do to keep more comfortable and warmer, without wasting energy and heating the air in the *entire house.* I am mostly expecting these heating methods to be MORE effective, so I expect to be more comfortable while using less energy.

I'll link the article at the end of this post. What I liked most is that this article finally put into words why I experience cold so much differently than everyone else in my family. The boys have more lean muscles mass and are natural furnaces. I'm always bundled up in several more layers than dh and the kids. Now I know that is mostly because I am female.

In addition, women lose more heat through their extremities. I had never heard this before, but was a huge lightbulb moment for me. When I get cold I really feel it in my hands. (Because of course I know to keep my feet warm!) When this happens, I often crank up the heat far higher than we usually have it set, and it never really seems to help. It feels kind of "duh" now. But I never realized I was feeling it in my hands so much because that is where I was losing all my heat. Of course in those moments I have tried to bundle up my hands, but it's kind of already at the point of no return when my hands turn into little ice cubes. The light bulb moment was this was probably our biggest energy waste - the fact that I had no idea I was losing all my heat through my hands - and no one else in my house was experience this (all males).

I've tried a few different glove options to keep warm and settled on a Target purchase last night. Lightweight fingerless gloves. They are really cute and fashionable. Unlike the other ones I bought last year, these are very lightweight, with a light fleece lining. These will be good for laying around the house (reading/watching TV/computer) kind of activities. If I am up and about I don't tend to get as cold. I obviously will not wear them while cooking and eating and so on, but I expect that to be fine. Trying for a more "keep them warm before they can get cold" strategy. I think I will be more comfortable at much lower temps in the house - temps the boys prefer. I am crossing my fingers that these gloves are warm enough.

Another tip was to wear a hat inside, as to not lose heat through head.

I also read elsewhere about the magic of hot water bottles. I put one on my wish list for Christmas. I think that will be most useful for warming up my side of the bed, before bedtime. I am mostly in the same league as the boys at night, and even prefer to sleep in the cold. Maybe I get the benefit of dh's body heat and so on (though I often go to bed several hours before he does). I have always just stuck out the cold when I went to bed, as I could warm up given some time. BUT, last year I took to flipping on the heat more to warm up the bedroom before bed. I don't know if it was because I am getting older or what - or if I just tried it once and I got spoiled. BUT, I think a targeted warm up of my side of the bed (with a little hot water) would be better and more efficient. (No one else in the house wants a warmer bed).

If the hot water bottle works well, I may take to keeping it with me when I am just sitting around, too.

I am curious to see how much we can improve on our energy usage this year, with these ideas.

Here is the article:

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/01/the-oil-well-you-c...

Just Busy over here. I have a (very rare) big project at work, which means lots of work and overtime. So, is all good - my month has been extraordinarily low spend on the discretionary stuff (gas, food, retail). Like, I am not sure if I have spent one penny this month. Dh filled up a vehicle for me. It's like tax season, except I have a vacation to look forward to!! {& maybe not quite the pressure. Phew!}

Lord knows of all years that we can use some extra overtime.

**We are still having plumbing issues. So, lord knows. IT could be a "This caused our leak in the first place" thing. IT could be a "They messed something up" thing. All I know is, "No one knows what the hell it is" thing - which is frustrating.

**I wish I cataloged all of the Citi offers dh got in the last month or so... Talk about random. If they just send us 100 different offers, all with varying terms, maybe we will just pick something??? The *best* deal, that we had received early on, expired yesterday. So, I redeemed it. I would generally hold out for better rewards, but this is one he has already done twice. IT's a triple dip! Basically, it had a low spending minimum, so maybe seemed more worth the effort. Especially if there is a chance we won't get the reward. It is spend $1,000 for a $250 reward. I can redeem it for cash, and I am expecting it to go towards vacation costs.

**Vacation. Now, I am really excited about vacation! Is a trip I have been wanting to do for a very long time.

It's a "Grand Canyon" trip, and I have never seen the GC before. BUT... That seems like the least exciting part of the trip, at this point.

Other views I am looking forward to seeing:











I am kind of in "wing it" mode, but this was making dh nervous. I told him I thought a plan sounded grand, but he has actually been on a southwest road trip, and has the time - so he should maybe do some planning. We sat down this weekend and shaved several destinations off of our list. There are just not enough hours!! But, if it goes really well, we can at least get a taste of *what* we want to see more, or if we should just take two weeks next time. I think we will see a ton.

We more carefully planned out the first couple of nights and booked rooms. Not thrilled that both required deposits for 100% of the cost. Just not helping with the money outflow. We may end up booking most the hotel rooms this month and paying ahead. Oh well...

Vacation Discussions:

Dh asked if we should consider skipping this trip, at some point. Given our year. Heck no! I feel like if we don't go now, who knows when we will have another opportunity. We have been waiting years to be able to do something like this. We did talk about just cutting it short if it was getting to be too expensive. I feel like probably I am under-estimating costs. While on the road there, I feel like we will probably just say, "Whatever." I suppose the compromise is that if it costs twice as much as expected, we may have to give up one year in the future and stay home. So, this is one reason I appreciate the Citi reward that I just applied for. If I can add $250 to my vacation budget, that means a lot.

Basically, what I am thinking is "dirt cheap road trip" but having trouble wrapping my brain around what it means to have three other people with me, and to pay for gas on the minivan. I haven't road tripped since I Was single. !! I think most our trip will be national parks, PB sandwiches, and $50 motels. BUT, we splurged on a hotel in Death Valley for the first night, and dh and I Are coveting our favorite Vegas buffet. Which may have always been a reasonable splurge for the two of us, but quickly adds up to $100 for one meal for four. No matter - we will eat well because we won't be eating anything but PBJ the rest of the week.

If the trip comes under budget, the Citi $250 can pay for the bulk of our November beach trip. I think most likely we will have to cancel this trip this year. But, will see... The good thing is I don't have to decide until November. Gives us time to see how our road trip and this plumbing stuff shakes out.

I remembered to take out 6 bags for charity pickup today. Now just crossing my fingers that they show up (though they always do...).

I've also shredded about 2 plastic grocery bags full of financial papers.

Feeling much lighter!

The sale pile:

--2 booster seats to sell

(Life has been completely CRAZY but I guess I should nag dh about getting those sold now).

--A Bissell wet vac that I got at recommendation of friends at some point and which I find useless. I've switched over to a reusable/washable cloth mop, which is a dream! I wanted to gather all the parts and instructions on the Bissell first though - might be able to get a few bucks for it.

At this point, any cash we make we'd probably hold onto for our road trip. $25 cash entrance fee for the Grand Canyon - stuff like that. It's just in a few more weeks!

I've got a large pile of old bank statements that I can purge. I decided to enter a lot of the data into Quicken. I went back and forth a bit, but if I get it entered electronically I could keep the data without taking up so much space. I'd probably be pretty cool with just shredding it, but thought my future self might appreciate preserving some of this information. But then again, it seems like kind of a waste of time to re-create old data. I am not much of a "looking back" type person to begin with.

I have been using Quicken since 1/1/06 (at least, that is how much data I entered when I started), and I married in 2000, so it's the 2000-2005 time period I am going through. (Before that, the "broke college years" are probably pretty boring - not much there). I am sure it would have made a lot more sense to enter more of this in 2006, but I had no idea how useful I would find Quicken. & I admit I can probably go through it much faster right now with the ease I feel with the program, after using it for several years.

There are a lot of holes so these will be pretty incomplete financial records, but at least I can keep what I can. I might find other pieces eventually.

In the end, I am so glad I decided to do this. I have had a delightful trip down memory lane...

Some of the delightful memories:

I did a fair amount of traveling in college (driving) and post-college (by air). So, I Was seeing all those travel expenses and reliving those memories. I then noticed a lot of flower purchases. I was remembering how on more than one occasion some friend (or a friend of a friend) would have well-off parents who would open their home to a pile of young people for a small vacation. At least we were polite and always thanked them by sending them flowers afterwards. Was just something I hadn't thought about in a long time. (In fact, took me a while to remember why I seemed to be always buying flowers).

{I didn't particularly spend any real money on any of these trips. For example, my friend and I went to NY and Boston simply because we found $150 Roundtrip airfare - we stayed with friends when we got there. Just a lot of stuff like that. When we went to Utah I apparently spent like $30 to go skiing, and that was about it. We had been invited by some friend's parents}.

Another pleasant memory: My car broke down in the middle of nowhere when we were driving between homes (our newer home was being built, we had gone up to check its progress and/or sign some paperwork).

Doesn't sound so pleasant? AAA towed us to some awful shop that wanted to charge us a fortune and keep the car for an entire week. ??? It was just the alternator. The tow truck driver said "Psssst" and offered to fix it for free. We didn't have much to lose at that point. So, I saw the charge for Kragen, for the new alternator, and immediately knew what that was. I remember he had a family and we gave him whatever cash we had (which probably was not a lot OR didn't feel like enough given the hassle he saved us). But when I thought back on the experience I had an entirely different perspective. He was probably happy to just make a few extra bucks. Whether we gave him $20 or $60, I am sure it was appreciated. Oh, and it took HIM about 10 minutes to fix it and he did a good job - never had another alternator problem since.

As I went down memory lane during the times we were "deprived" and saving most our income (literally 50% - 80% of it saved) all I had was happy memories. & I realized what made the memories special was all the people. I have had amazing friends, we have amazing families, and I have had the luck to come across these kind of good samaritans at times...

Beyond that, I got a sense of my very simple budget system and I did not remember anything with rose colored glasses. If anything, we did better than I remembered. So that I don't write a huge novel I will do a separate post on "simple" budgeting.

**I got new tires - what a difference! Absolutely nothing else needed, so all ready for our road trip. (That was a nice surprise - that the van needed absolutely no other work - woohoo!).

**I had another surprise as I was able to redeem $50 credit card rewards to my ROTH. For whatever reason I miscalculated and thought I'd have -0-. Can only redeem in $50 increments.

Yay!

**The money I transferred to my checking account showed up in less than 24 hours. It was a very large sum. Holy Cow!

Makes me rethink if I should keep that account for emergency money. Hmmmm... The reality is that in 20 years I have never been in need of a large some of emergency cash. Not even this year with everything breaking like crazy. I think I will continue with my plan to close the account. Savings transfers already made to other accounts.

**How random is this???

Musical artist who we saw on "living room" tour last year is doing *one* similar type show - in our city - when we will actually be in town. OMG. He's not from around here, or this half of the country. You got me! We bought up our tickets the second we saw that. There may only be 10-30 guests. Our family and friends have already bought up 10 tickets. How FUN!! I am so excited!

He wouldn't even come to our city last time! We had offered our home as a venue.

**My Dad and I are starting to discuss an April Japan trip. Obviously I am not going (no time off in April for me!). Just BM? Maybe dh and BM. They may go backpacking too, so may stay a couple of weeks. We will pay 0% - 100% of our share. We are just pinning down dates for now. My Dad and I both agreed to figure out the finances later - see how the year shakes out. Arrangements will be made next year. I told him dh and BM were probably game, but only if my house and everything stops breaking, so I appreciate the time to see where our finances land. I don't think there is any way in heck my Dad would pay one cent towards this trip, for my family's travels, except he is wrestling if he should invite my sister (who could not afford it) and keeping it fair.

I suppose that is another post for another day.

For reference, as a child we could never afford to vacation *anywhere* (my parents never took advantage of all the frugal options in our "backyard") and so I have no frame of reference regarding all this. Yes, my kids are spoiled rotten! Honestly? My Grandparents hardly cared I even existed, and I am far more jealous of and pleased with this special time BM is getting with his Grandparents. The destinations don't mean that much to me - the time they are getting together is priceless. IF they spent $50 on a camping trip, I think it would mean about as much. But my dad wants to go to Japan and would love to take a Grandchild along for the company and to share the experience.

**Feeling lighter:

--Shredded a huge pile of financial documents. Most of which are moot any more, in the electronic age. Phew!

--Gave away my wedding dress! It was a huge space hog that I have been wanting to get rid of for a long time. I tried to sell it but wasn't sure of size and really didn't want to open the box and deal with it. I was only getting flaky no-shows. So, dh asked me if he could list it for free over the weekend - he was sick of it taking up space in the living room - it was gone basically in minutes. It seems we couldn't give it away last we tried. It sat in my closet for 13 years - I am so relieved it is gone!

I could let it sit in my closet another decade, but it had to go before we downsized. The people who took it were extremely grateful, so dh felt happy about it. BUT, they hadn't even taken it out of the box yet. !! Will see... I hope they like it and that I was in the ballpark with the size.

**Since it is the most expensive year ever, the big expense this month is new van tires. I thought I was keeping more on top of things, but we had some rain and I glanced at the tires as I left Tuesday, out of habit when the weather turns. I was horrified when I looked closely at the tires - getting kind of bald. So, the van has been grounded - will get the new tires today. Turns out we got good tires - they have about 60k miles on them. I was shocked we had bought them all 4 at once and they all still seem to be the original. In the past I have had horrible tire luck. Dh's car is on a "replace 2 at a time" schedule, so is usually more of a non-event. I think two of his tires are on schedule to be changed, but they look pretty darn good - like they actually have some tread. I'll look more closely once we get the van in tip top shape. His two tires will still be mostly a non-event - smaller and cheaper.

We have a big road trip in a few weeks, so it will be nice to have new tires. We were going to take the car in for a check closer to our trip. We decided to get a "safety check" with the new tires and will do an oil change the week before, just to have a double check of fluid levels and such.

I also won't be surprised if it needs some brake work or if it's time to change some belt. Will see... I've crossed 100k miles since last I took the van in to our mechanic, so he might recommend some preventative work. Might not, since they only recommend work that is truly necessary. I am sure they aren't cheapest for the tires, but the peace of mind is priceless.

**I am shuffling bank accounts around. I am going to close a CU account I have that has dropped interest rates over the years. I have about $24,000 over there and transferred the bulk of the money over last night. Honestly, we have saved up much more money several times over. We put a $50,000+ down payment on our first condo. & so on... So, on some mental level, it's nothing *that* exciting. BUT, when I transferred all that money to my checking account, my heart skipped a beat. Holy cow!! What a lot of money to move around at once. Just some thoughts like, "Man, I hope I didn't screw this up and send this to someone else's account." Which is a ridiculous worry.

For reference, $23,000 is more than we paid for both our current cars, combined. It is a huge chunk of change! It's just funny how one small difference in looking at it can make it feel so different.

I also wanted to share because it was a savings effort over time.

I opened this account in 2009 with $5. I transferred over $7,000 from another savings account. The rest was saved over time. I added around $7000 over the course of 4 years. (An average of $145 per month). I earned about $500 of interest on this account. I deposited $9,000 of overtime money into this account and $5,000 in gifts. I pulled $3,000 out at some point to put down on the mortgage.

That said, most of that build-up was only in the last couple of years. We had gotten to a place where we could just save 100% of our windfalls, to cash.^^ Because our IRAs were maxed out and we were contributing a fair amount of extra to mortgage, and so on.

I actually pulled out the home repair monies, this past month or so, from another account.

^^This just means that we have no other needs or obvious goals. Cash is holding tank for mortgage paydown or other investments. Or in this case, we could really use some cash.

**This reminds me:

Mortgage progress!

Got my paycheck and paid the mortgage. Added $25 for credit card rewards. & added $10 carpool money. I calculated $1 per day, and rounded up a bit for the very short school month. Our next payment will put us in the $190,500 realm. If we hadn't had such a year, I'd just throw an extra $501 to it and be done. Down to the $189,999. That 8 looks so nice! Another $10k milestone.

The reality is it is going to have to wait a couple of more months. I doubt I will put anything more than snowflakes to the mortgage for the rest of the year. The year has been too brutal. I will have paid $6,000-ish in home repairs and would still like to pre-pay $2,000 to the property taxes. I think it's fair to give up in a year like this, but doesn't mean I give up for the long run. Next year will be a new year. I won't beat myself up that I had $8,000 cash to direct to other home stuff. Maybe next year I will have $8,000 extra for the mortgage. I can hope!

**I earned $45 this month on our Gas/Groceries card. Higher than usual because we charged about $250 in Amazon cards, at the grocery store (for 6% cash back). I can only redeem in $25 increments, but had $11 already, so can redeem $50 cash to mortgage this month.

I can't say if I have been double checking my rewards calculations every single month. It's kind of complicated because there are three reward tiers. But, I checked the first few months I had the card and I know what the ballpark should generally be.

This month, with the Amazon gift cards, I just wanted to double check that the strategy worked. It did work! But I noticed two errors: They knocked off 11-cents on my grocery rewards - ??? Rounding down 11-cents. Interesting? BUT, what is worse, is they had left off a $20 fuel charge for the 3% reward. I figured maybe dh had filled up at some non-obvious gas station name or something (out of town). But, it was Safeway fuel. Which is clearly either grocery store or fuel. We had last filled up at Safeway in June, and lo and behold, they put it to the right category in June. But left it out for July. I am out 50-cents with both errors. This whole thing is annoying. I have absolutely never had a cash reward calculated incorrectly. Like seriously, this should be computerized.

**In other credit card news, we have opened and closed so many credit cards the past couple of years, I am not going to be double dipping on any more until we get the *best* rewards. If this is my last chance with these cards, or my only chance for another 12 months or so (before I can try a triple dip). So many of these cards had $500 rewards earlier in the year, so I am holding out for those.

Dh did get a $250 reward (spend $1,000 from Citi). I had set it aside in case something better came along before the expiration of the offer. It would be a triple dip on that one. The low spending requirement is the enticing part on that one.

What's interesting is he has gotten several more similar offers in the weeks that followed, but they are all worse. "Spend $2,000 and get $150." "Spend $1,000 and get $100." What on earth are they doing over there??? It's just so random. "Gee, he didn't sign up for that one, so let's see if he will take a worse offer?"

Monday was such a *Monday*. I am not used to having *Mondays*. !! Maybe something in the air, dh had a similar day. (He had to go to the store twice, and then realized he had forgotten something, but that could wait versus trip #3). We are all adjusting to new schedules. I am still very discombobulated.

One thing I forgot Monday was to set out some Goodwill bags for pickup. Just my luck, because another charity came by Wednesday. I somehow remembered. Put out 2.5 bags (some baby stuff, some clothing purge - kids and adults). & this plastic organizer/shelf thing that I was going to sell. They took "furniture" so I just left it out and crossed my fingers. Phew.

We've actually been pretty on top of all things kid and baby (sell to replace - some just out of no other option to afford thing). BUT, what I purged was a giant pile of baby blankets. I honestly don't remember who any of them were made by. (I kept our parents' knitted baby blankets). Had some olde sleeping bags and stuff (on the older kid side of things). I thought the organizer/shelf thing may be useful at some point, but decided it was too small. I have a couple of pictures/wall hangings I can sell on Craigslist.

Onto a new purge - time to fill up some bags. I told my mom last night that I swear we didn't even buy anything any more and I have no idea what it comes from. She did say, "Have you met your mother in law?" Touche. But, it's more than that. I'd just like to know the point where I feel on top of the *stuff.* There has got to be a tipping point. For me it started when I was in that pregnant "nesting" stage and clearing out a bedroom for the younger child. I don't remember what I was doing for older child, but I remember the purging/nesting thing (we had a totally empty room for him). It's been 10 years - we shouldn't own anything any more that we don't use a lot.

{Lord knows we return and re-gift and sell tons of stuff that MIL brings into our house - we don't keep it all. I just sent back a pile of school uniforms because she did not give me a receipt or ask what sizes we needed. Oh, and the shirts were all for girls. LOL. I don't think it was her mistake, but the sizing was all off and I said, "Is it just me but do those sleeves look kind of girly?" The inside had polka dots and their usual size was way too small in the girly/polka dot variety. Since my nieces have no school uniforms, I think Wal Mart or whoever mis-stocked them. Thankfully they did not fit, or else I am not sure we would have noticed. I am sure others would have noticed. Maybe not many, but someone would have!}.

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

Oh, dh scored a $30 focus group. IS about the cheapest one he's had, but will take it!

Life has been busy with last-minute unexpected guests, and a babysitting request (that I got stuck doing) from carpooler. IT's all fine, but just bad timing. Our driving saving has been substantial this week - so that is the plus.

Our cat has *way* mellowed out. Last night the 6-year-old carpool buddy played rough with him and carried him all around the house. His favorite thing to do was to trap him (in a room or in a box). I was waiting for the cat to scratch his eyes out or run away and hide, but the cat just followed him around everywhere. ?? I mostly kept a close eye on things, but watched with amazement. I've always had such fraidy cats. His wild and fun and curious streaks has no doubt masked his patient streak.

The cat also seems to understand there will always be ample food, so is not being such a pig. I think that is some of his mellowness - that he is more comfortable and less on edge.

**Dh killed two birds with one stone this weekend. He helped a friend move, and also got some family video interview footage (out of town). Phew!! He has put so much time and effort to my own family's videos, post-dad-heart-attack, that I am relieved he has finally gotten around to footage of those closer and more local. (He has been collecting film out of town and when out-of-towners visit, for several years, and had put his 90-year-old Grandma high on the list - has already done a couple of interviews with here in less recent past). But, we all know the youngest of us can drop dead tomorrow... So, I feel great relief, and am sure he does to.

The kids and I read, lounged by the pool, and spent about $20 on pizza and ice cream.

Dh was paid in pizza and beer. So, aside from gas, he didn't spend anything.

**I don't think dh is feeling very gung ho on his video project. His feedback pre-interview was that my family is 100 times more interesting than his.

His feedback post-interview, is that we are also way more interesting to interview (maybe because we have more interesting stories?). Actually, his family has great stories, so I think he is just finding it hard to pull it out of them.

So, will see what he will come up with. I am sure he will work his magic.

**It's been on and off *smokey* here, due to all the wildfires. One day last week was particularly miserable (it had gotten really hot and the car AC did not seem to work with the smoke. I was worried the car was having problems, but it seems to work fine without layers of smoke in the air mixed with crazy hot temps).

I just saw that Berkely family camp (near Yosemite) was completely destroyed. I looked up San Jose's camp because it seemed it was probably in same area (was on the same river). Well, it's just a few miles away, and some of it has been destroyed. Sounds like it might be a miracle if it isn't completely destroyed when all is said and done? I couldn't find the dates on some of the news articles that said it was still in the midst of the fire.

We've been going to Sacramento camp, closer to Tahoe, for the past several years. But, it's up in the forest close to where our family cabin is. All of which are very open to the same fate. Dh's Grandma has had a heck of a time getting fire insurance in recent years (she owns the cabin).

Actually, there was a peanut allergy death this year, at Camp Sacramento. Not a good year for the city Camps! We've actually had a heck of a time with the snow in maybe 2 of the last 3 or 4 years. (Camp being buried under 8 feet of snow in June, stuff like that). The snow sounds mighty fine about now.

Had some time today to see where things are with the checkbook and such.

**We are getting 2% back on our Visa this month, due to a temporary promotion. In fact, the 2% promo kicked in the day we bought our new garage door (& they did not accept our 2%-back AmEx). So, phew!!

**Sent $5,000 off to the AmEx, earlier this week, for plumbing bills.

Kind of a non-event, because I had already transferred $5,000 from savings when we got the first quote. I thought it was possible we'd need a lot of money *fast*. But, we were able to charge it in the end, so I got to hang onto it for a month. {We keep checking balance around -0- and so I don't bother to include it in my net worth. It has felt like the money was *gone* since the minute I put it in my checking account}.

**I was $10 in the negative, as of 8/31, so I decided to fix that before I forgot or got distracted. I didn't think much about it because it's been *crazy*. But I realized since we could not charge the garage door repair that I had paid cash for that from checkbook, without pulling the funds from savings. (Which makes me not in the negative at all).

I usually do one net transfer a month, but had not done the August transfer yet. Once I added that garage door money from savings to checking, I was back in the green. This was much easier than moving $100 over now and moving it back after payday, which was my initial plan. Phew!

This is one of the biggest reasons I really like using Quicken (or any electronic system). It's easy to move things around and just keep things simple. I threw in all the September deposits and bills, and it seemed to $0 out (income = outflow). So, phew.

**Total cash still seems to be hovering around "6 months of expenses." I stopped funding ROTHs, due to all this hoo-ha, so that explains the most of the why. If things settle down, we should be able to fund one entire ROTH by 12/31. I always send 20% of every month's pay, to savings. So, that is why we are treading water. I also receive January 1 paycheck on December 31, which is why it should be enough to fund an entire IRA, through the rest of the year. The worst case plan is to fund the rest of second IRA in Feb, March, April. I have already put $1,000 into one IRA (plus $500 credit card rewards). We should also have some Christmas gift money to help fund the IRAs.

**We did an unofficial inventory and this sums up my year, financially:

--Two Dead TVs (the only two we had/both fairly new)
--One major car repair
--One MRI
--Vet bills/lost pet
--Replaced computer (was crazy old)
--4 Plumbing Repairs in one month
--Clothes Washer broke
--A/C broke
--Garage Door broke
--Cell phone Broke (it was rather new)
--Major carpet cleaning (more ailing pet stuff)

& it's only August??? OMG - I am exhausted. (& I am sure I am forgetting something...).

Many thoughts and comments on this (wanted to put this all in one place).

I've seen the comment to save 1% - 3% of home purchase price, for home maintenance. Given the overall low maintenance of our home (we aren't maintaining acres, and many other low-maintenance factors) and due the general higher cost of housing here, I find that 1% is more than ample. In the grand scheme of things, if we had done this from Day 1, we'd have about $30,000 saved today for home maintenance. (& I am not aware of any large repairs on the immediate horizon). The reality is we got about $-0- saved up specifically for home maintenance, because we had some really low income years and weren't particularly saving. Which is fine - our house was bought new and has been VERY low maintenance. Which was our plan, and has worked out fine. We can save more now to make up for lost time. If we save 2% of home purchase price, every year for next 10 years, is about what we are doing anyway. In the meantime, we have fully funded our car replacement funds (with no plans to replace anytime soon) so can borrow from that. Just to say, planning ahead is a VERY good thing, and is most of our ease with this crazy financial outflow.

When we started the year, we were thinking along these lines for things we might do this year: Replace carpet and reface kitchen cabinets. (The kitchen cabinets aren't the best quality and are really messed up).

In the end, we got a GREAT carpet cleaner who has our pet stained carpets looking like new again (we still have to bring them back to do the upstairs. I was giving it time to see if it was true - but yes, the stains are totally gone). SO, we completely crossed "carpet replacement" off of our list (might never do so as long as we can hire these people) and started thinking about the cabinet refacing. We like to do one big project a year, and just spread it out a bit. I suppose cabinets came next into our line of sight once we wrote off the carpet replacement.

But, this year has been crazy, so I think we will put that off to next year. I share because keeping on top of things and being able to be flexible, I think this is also all key to not panicking in times like this. Anything that has to be done, is done, but things that don't *have to* be done, we try to space out as much as possible. I can survive with fading cabinets a little while longer.

Notes on each of the above:

--It's unfortunate that dh's newer TV died, but the older one we were able to fix very inexpensively, all on our own.

Even if we aren't the most handy people, being willing and able to fix things or hire people to fix things, is a HUGE financial savings. (Versus tossing everything that breaks, which many people seem to do).

--Car repair and MRI - these are kind of usual and predictable, but just add to the insanity of this year, I guess. Seems like I have had a $1,000+ bill every single month. Gah. We do have a great very trustworthy independent mechanic to keep our costs way down.

--Vet bills... I think we got off easy with this. Could have been a *lot* worse. This just added to the overall crappiness of the kind of year it has been.

--Computer replacement was more than expected - dh called it the old Frankenstein computer. Which bought us a lot of time. Why did it have to die *now* though? Gah! Dh built his own computer and got something way better for the money.

--Broken stuff:

We have reasonable low-cost contractors we can call for basic repairs. So, did this with the AC, the washer, and our new faucet.

We installed our own garbage disposal. That was a long time in the making, and we had already bought a new one, but it did literally die the end of June, before we had replaced it. It is one of those years!

We had a freezer water leak and fixed it ourselves before calling out any help. (That one was at least easy).

Major plumbing repair was a freak thing, but it happens. That's what "$30,000 saved" should have been for - something like this. We were lucky we had some time to do some research and to gather various quotes and opinions. A truer emergency would have not given us that time.

{This is actually the first time in 12 years of home ownership that I actually felt at a disadvantage for being less handy. It's possible we could have fixed this ourselves, for about 1/10 the cost, but the odds did not seem good. With the way things panned out, I think we made the right choice. I've mostly felt that our other strengths - computer and tax and financial skills - make up for hiring someone for $100 labor here and there}.

--Garage door - it's unfortunate we spent a fair amount of money last year trying to just fix the stupid thing. When it broke this year, even after we had just spent a large sum on plumbing work, we just wanted to replace it and move on. I could not stomach spending one more dollar to just put another bandaid on it. Our only complaint before was that it was loud, and just really cheap quality. It wasn't giving us any issues. But, it just wasn't worth saving, once it broke. I am so happy we ended up replacing it - it cost far less than we were expecting. & Was able to cross that off our more near-term repair list.

--Cell phone - not much to say to that - a freak thing but nothing substantial in the end.

The next question is: Are we done yet??? Because if this is it, I can deal. But, I don't know what else the year has in store.

Aw man, I hate it when I don't get to blogging and there are like 100 things in my head to write about. Then it's overwhelming and I don't blog anything.

**BM's schedule is totally different this year. Which is mostly going well, but lost an hour of lazy morning time. (We are both bummed about that, because are both in the habit of waking up crazy early and enjoying our mornings). But, we will adjust. I will have to ponder what to do for blogging/journal time. Evenings might be okay - it might not be the worst thing to do more productive things in the a.m. (my peak time) and I am kind of useless in the evenings anyway. But if my blogging quality decreases, then I guess that will be why. Won't be very sharp in the evenings. Will just have to play with things and see how it works out. Make new habits and figure something out. In the meantime, I feel out of sorts because my schedule is so thrown off.

**The big financial win? I saved about $25 per month on gas, and 1800 annual miles of the car(s), with a carpool situation. Woohoo!

This was my *bad* thinking: My perfect carpool would just be if someone picked up the kid every afternoon. Since it's just on the way to work, I could do mornings. But no one is going to be able to do afternoons and it's not really the most fair arrangement, so of course this is pure fantasy.

The reality: I should have at least asked around. You never know until you ask!

Anyway, what happened is literally on one of the first days of school, BM's best friend's dad said something like, "This is silly - I have room in my car and am just going over to the other campus" why we were all standing around waiting for the kids to come out. The older kids are at a new location 5 miles way (their school is "musical chairs" until we get a permanent location).

I actually didn't quite jump on that for a few reasons. The topic actually moved on to middle schools and stuff, and I got distracted. I honestly think it totally went over dh's head. Heck, it mostly went over mine.

So I wake up like Tuesday and it pops into my head. Like 5 days after the fact. & I just get it in my craw that we need to work something out. We hadn't considered them at all, because they live kind of out of the way from our own home. But if he could drop the older kid off at the younger kid's school - that is perfect. Then, no gas necessary for us (we walk to that school).

That said, he's Mister Go-Getter and I figured he's arranged some elaborate carpool at this point. The reality? Absolutely no one will carpool with him. Oh, how we love our cars. (Seriously though, don't ask me what everyone is thinking. This like bankruptcy/foreclosure central. People here are broke. & yet we all drive to pick up one kid - it's totally ridiculous).

This is not the end of the story. BM's bestie's family is all way into the carpool thing because dh has generated some very good karma with the "always available for last minute babysitting" thing. So, what they basically tell me is they would prefer to just pick up BM *every single day* if we just can return the favor with some babysitting. Sounds like a match made in heaven. (They really don't ask for much babysitting, and ends up being more play time for the kids than anything else).

So, there you go. Somehow I swung the *perfect carpool* without even trying. Phew!

To adjust to the potential cost and the fleetingness of carpool arrangements, I will probably just put $1 to the mortgage, for every day we don't have to drive BM home, in the interim. Something like that - I will ponder.

**I am tired and it's late, but holy cow the foreclosures are fast and furious these days. More falling dominoes. It really never seems to end around here... I guess more on all that later.

**I don't know if this is a sign that my luck is turning. But, my Zappos credit has still never materialized. I decided to get a few things done today and did an online chat to resolve. I just want my refund, but they were very apologetic and sent me a $35-off coupon. Woohoo! Now I am GLAD it got lost. Heck, I hope they lose my credit again.

I had been waiting for a credit card reward to buy some replacement tennis shoes. Not in sore need for them, but just thinking ahead. My shoes are 3 years old and starting to fall apart a bit. Showing signs of wear, anyway, though I think they have some life left. So, I just bought a replacement pair. $15 out of pocket. I am thrilled with that purchase.

**I got a free offer for a canvas print - Walgreens. I had a few gifts in mind, though I'd have to pay for shipping. Decided to do a print for Grandma - some pictures my dad took of the family a couple of months ago. Was intended to be a gift for her, but not sure if anyone made prints for her. If I ever get another similar offer (who knows) then I have an idea for my Dad. I'd have done an England trip picture, but they didn't really have a good photograph for that. It would have been a nice keepsake if that had a great picture. So yes, I had a LOT of ideas...

**We finally did a belated last minute birthday thing for BM. Spent about $50 for his favorite play place and tried a new Mongolian BBQ place - both about 25 miles away. Dinner was only $5 for the kids - always a steal for us at "All You can Eat" - with the way our kids eat.

So, I can cross that off the list.

**I did not really do a lot this week, but with all the errands and birthday stuff and yadda yadda, it was kind of exhausting. I find work to be way less exhausting, I guess. I thrive on a schedule, so always seem to flounder when I don't have a set schedule.

Today I am trying to be productive. Cleaned up a bit, am making dinner, stuff like that.

**I actually had $130 in returns this week, so might have spent less than I returned. Phew! We spent about $15 on cat stuff, $30 on lunch out (just dh and I), $50 on birthday stuff. $8 (with tip) on haircut for older child. This basically means that I paid for all this stuff last month. The returns will offset the costs this month. I had returned another pair of shoes at Payless, and a garden hose at Home Depot (dh had bought a shorter hose when we had no water, but decided against using it for whatever reason).

I think we are going for a pretty low spend month the rest of the month. Splurged a wee bit on our Staycation. We are actually eating a lot of rice and lentils, for sure.

Oh - and I had one more cost to offset the returns - to make it even steven. Our water bill was +$25. We lost 20,000 gallons with our water leak - is that right? Glad to close that chapter. & relieved it wasn't like $200 or something. !! You hear of that happening with less obvious leaks. It helps to live in a water wasting city - they don't really reward you for conserving or penalize you for tons of waste. So, "phew" for this month?

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I am feeling very relaxed and blase about money stuff these days.

I think two reasons:

1 - We did a "save for one thing at a time" approach, which is helpful when you have $6,000 in entirely unexpected home repairs in the course of a couple of weeks. WE may delay funding ROTHs until April, so we don't have to dip into our cash. (I have until August 31st to pay off the plumbing bill - charged on credit - and will get two more paychecks before then).

Anyway, in this situation, just glad to be saving everything to cash right now. This does not mean our ROTH is a secondary goal by *any* means. Is definitely the primary goal. It's just, if we can wait until April without slowing down any other goals, then that makes us happy. Win-win.

2 - With the markets doing so well these days, and considering the big picture, it's hard to sweat the small stuff. Net worth is up six figures, year-to-date. All in all, not much to complain about.

**Kids went back to school. Our return rate on lost items is officially 100%. A lunch box that disappeared last year (a long time ago?) showed up over the summer. So it got returned to us yesterday (because had our name in it!). Woohoo. OF course, when kids first started school we were way more broke and always made me nervous if they would lose things or whatever. They've both been pretty responsible, but LM does like to misplace his lunchbox. IT's just they always usually turn up much faster. This one had been bought on clearance for Christmas so I wasn't sweating it. In fact, BM had been the one to buy it for him. But, is nice to have it back, for sure! (I had already stocked up on some extras on clearance, so are well stocked for a while).

**Got to check out the new campus situation for older kids, and it is GREAT. It is about 5 miles away, so that part is not so great. Kind of on the way to work, so it's the afternoon pickup that is really a pain. Still plan to work out some carpooling. But anyway, the "parking and walk in" situation is GREAT over there. The last location I basically refused to go over there ever to pick up child. There was ample space to park and walk in, but was just a very dangerous kind of situation. If I had to drive there every day, probably would have been in an accident (or two or three). Having so much room was a bit of a problem because the cars were just pure chaos.

Oh, and in addition, we actually have time to pick up other child. (Allowing more time due to the distance). So, PHEW!! This year should be *much* better. Since it's a normal school on a normal street with normal traffic rules, the chaos factor was significantly reduced. Not that I don't still feel my odds of accident are 100 times higher by any of the schools - those parents are totally insane. !!

With these school situations, it becomes crystal clear that the most basic of thought and planning can improve quality of life very significantly. We arrived a little early and strategized a bit on best place to park. It seems that literally 99% of parents chose to partake in traffic hell. We turned around and parked on the exit side of things. (Everyone parking on the other side of the street got trapped by the massive traffic jam). I only saw two other cars park where we did, which was about 5 feet from the school. If history repeats itself, no one else will *ever* figure it out. (Because getting in and out very quickly, using your own two feet, seems to be too much hassle for the vast majority). I don't understand people.

Oh, and then there was endless ranting online about how horrific the situation was. I thought it was quite pleasant. But, I don't think you could pay me to ever go through a school pickup in a car. I'd go postal.

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**We redeemed a free AC tune-up with our service contract (bought to reduce plumbing costs). They recommended $1200 of work discounted to $1100, on our heating and air systems. $800 AC and $300 Heater.

So, we called out our HVAC guy. He agreed with the AC assessment, but was able to fix it for $600. Phew! In fact, he initially said $450 (same as quoted over phone) but he had not realized we needed some extra parts for this repair. He was able to just fix it while he was here though, so back to 100% function on the AC.

Not surprisingly, he told us the heater repair was completely unnecessary. Heck, he didn't even look at it. So, that was $600 saved with one phone call. I don't even know if it was worth calling out the other guy.

**Taking a Staycation this week. Kids start school, so it's a good week to get a little extra time with them, partake in school activities, and then have some quiet and peace for half the week.

**We did a nice hike on Sunday, as an "end of summer" hoorah. Had a no-spend weekend as our only expense was gas (filled up the empty tank on Monday). My parents felt extra sorry for me and so bought us two meals while we stayed with them.

The hike we did was not far from where I lived through college - had never heard of the place. Figures... Went up in the mountains and there were some pretty crazy rocks for the kids to climb. Probably a dumb time to do something like that, but we all got out in once piece. Phew!!

**Yesterday I took the kids to get their 7%-interest accounts open.

It is all said and done, but because they are "kid accounts" I have to go in person to set up an external transfer account. ??? VERY annoying. & more annoyed that they had not told me this when I was there (I mentioned we had money to transfer over. & since it is the year 2013, I did mean electronically). That said, it appears that the kids can do mobile deposits. Go figure. It's still a pain, because I am trying to write zero checks, and had to write checks for them to deposit. But, I suppose could save us some gas for the long haul. I decided on principal that I did not want to go get my external transfer account set up. At least it's a very local branch.

We are going back today because BM has some coins to deposit. They told me change counting and depositing was free, under $250. Since we don't particularly use cash, we don't have change of that magnitude. Is fine for our needs. (I'd be surprised if each kid had $20 in change). I will have to talk LM into depositing his too.

The 7% is on first $500. BM is already up to $400, and is extremely motivated to get to $500. I don't think it's a 100% bad thing that they literally have to go to the branch to pull money out. Probably a good lesson for them. Though for the long run, they will both have $500 there and will probably save spending money in their other low-interest savings account. (Which I pull money from electronically, when they need it).

Today is quite the errand day, because I have a couple of returns, and am taking BM for his $5.99 hair trim. Meet the teachers, post office, and stuff like that. (Dh sold a game and the kids finished their Birthday Thank Yous. So we figured we'd drop by the post office while we are out).

We'd probably skip today since we know the teachers (one is our immediate neighbor!). BUT, BM is at a new campus and we want to go check that out. They can see where they are sitting and such and where their classrooms are. (The other is walking distance so we will just walk over. Can't say we'd go, otherwise).

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**I mentioned our AC was acting up, and we had bought a service plan to save a significant sum on our plumbing repair. SO, we called them out to tune up the AC yesterday.

I Was a little wary because our strategy (which I got from my dad) is to never tune up anything. Our stuff seems to last longer than average. Though, I admit there can be many reasons for this (one being that we don't throw away broken things; we just fix them). So my dad and I have had discussions about that - how the more you have people knocking around and messing with your stuff, the more seems to go wrong over time. Mainly thinking to appliances and cars.

SO... I wasn't overly thrilled about the whole thing. But, on the flip side, no one has looked at our AC in 12 years (since it was installed). & this was free...

So they came out yesterday and spent a heck of a lot of time fiddling with our AC. Hopefully it was useful at all. They did a thorough testing of everything and generally found nothing wrong (no surprises there since is very efficient and everything; not surprised to hear we have no leaks or so on). But recommended $800 in repairs - I believe it was replacing a couple of parts in the attic (The blower/not the actual AC unit). Overall, said it was a great unit and that they tend to last 20 years. So, phew!! I think it went about as well as it could have, considering we have had problems. We figured something could need repairing, but didn't expect more than a repair.

Oh, they also recommended that we replace a part on our heater.

Since it is mild this week, we went back and forth a bit on it, as this could maybe wait until Fall and lower prices, but decided to call out our AC/Heater guy. It's slow enough that he could come out today. Over the phone he quoted $450 for the same repair. To be fair, he did not look up the specific model, so not holding my breath too much. But would like his opinion, and expect him to be cheaper if the diagnosis is the same.

It's hard to believe that it is that time of year!! This summer definitely flew by for us (BM kept a wee bit busy, so we didn't relax much).

We will plan a staycation of sorts to end the summer. Haven't decided if we will go to the beach or on a different kind of hike. We will definitely enjoy some free nature.

Class rosters were released.

So... This teacher and this principal we know got married and rented a house behind us. When they first moved in we really teased the kids about it. "Your future teacher and/or principal live right behind us!!" When they moved in, the teacher had a new baby and quit working, so I kind of forgot about it over the past year or two.

Had totally forgotten about that, or assume she was retired for a while, or whatever. Well, guess who LM's teacher is next year?? HA! I think that will be a little interesting.

I have no BTS shopping to do. School's only been out a couple of months, so not much has changed (kids are same size; weather is same; backpacks are fine).

I did pay $130 to the school for field trips and supplies. I skipped the older child's field trip fee because it was $200. They are doing some camp thing at the end of the year, so I figured that could wait. Overall, I was pleased because I thought it was more expensive? Will find out more - I know they try to fundraise for a lot of it. I somehow doubt that is all we will have to come up with, for this field trip.

I am not sure if lunch prices are still the same (looks like they are though). The kids have a few dollars in their accounts, so will wait and see what the actual charges are. I generally deposit $100 in August to cover the first half of the school year.

All of the above we save all year for, so not having to come up with the money. I could pay for the field trip(s) today, but rather wait and learn more first.

BM is getting shipped off to a new location a few miles away. It's good in many senses, because they were given an actual *school* location. Last year worked out better than imagined, so trying to be optimistic. (But the building they were in last year really sucked, so glad to be done with that place). I think we are going to have to cave and do the carpool thing. The gas and wear and tear is going to be ridiculous otherwise. We've really resisted having to conform to a schedule and giving up that flexibility. But, it's probably time. On the plus side, though I am not sure how long they will fit at this location (I hope it's more long-term), when the kids are older they may be able to ride home the city bus or just hang out at the library after school or something. IT has some good long-term potential, since the kids might be there until 8th grade.

Well, it is *never* boring here. !!!

I am not sure we had a day of peace since July 23. Yesterday I made it through the day and to the land of zzzzzs without much event. But when the kids went to bed it woke me up, and it was kind of warm. & so I flipped on the A/C (also thinking to cool down the kids' rooms). Dh came up a minute later. I figured he just heard me awake and wanted to say good night or something. Nope. He asked if I turned on the A/C because...

It sounds BROKEN.

Seriously...

Couldn't make it *one* day without finding something broken, calling contractors, researching contractors, or dealing with contractors. At least dh had a bit of a breather - he must be going *insane*. I mostly get to go to work and let him deal with all this. HE at least had a quiet day!

Ironically, we bought some service plan from the plumber, so we figure we will call them out first. It gave us a substantial discount on the plumbing repair, and they would do tune up on all of our major appliances (A/C and heater and I forget what else). I figured we'd just start there because it's free.

I am not utterly and entirely jinxed because tomorrow is supposed to be like 20 degrees below average. PHEW!

Financially, the jinx is annoying me. I had a credit card payment and a mortgage payment lost in space. ??? Could have been the credit union. BUT, then the mortgage payment hit after a week, but they left the extra principal unapplied. ??? I also had two returns to a retailer, shipped. One made it back and was credited about a week ago. The other one is shown as received by tracking, but not on their website, and no credit. *Bangs head on wall* I don't have to pay any bills for about 3 weeks, and I don't intend to. Everything I touch seems to be messed up! The credit card payment did eventually show up, but it seems no avoiding follow up on the other two. [I can't recall *ever* have any problems with any of the above - so this is just crazy}.

Emotionally, I think I checked out quite a while ago. Obviously I have no say in any of this. For anyone who has never particularly read my blog, we tend to keep up on things around the house. IT's not like we keep everything in disrepair. I am not sure if it is just so beyond our control that we don't even *care* any more. OR, there is also that we have dealt with so many health problems (us and loved ones) in recent years, that we just can't muster a lot of emotional energy for this stuff. I don't know. Maybe a little of both. It could be we are just both spent on the emotional front. We lost our pet earlier in the year, we both had loved ones in the hospital, yadda yadda. But I think we both have a renewed perspective that "stuff is stuff" and I can't say we care that much. We have plenty of savings to weather the storm, so no point stressing over it.

We did replace our garage door and that is *divine*. I am not upset about that at all. Forced to do it at a bad time, BUT, it's really nice, and we can cross that off the to-do list.

To be continued...

Murphy is getting on my last nerve. !!!

That is all...

I woke up, and our brand new computer does not seem to be working.

I am hoping the cat just walked behind it and pulled a cable. (Though dh may want to murder the cat if that is the case - he is not appreciating the wild little bugger).

But, anyway, I am not freaking out yet... But the kids suggested we should move. LOL.
!
I hadn't thought about it too much because I am not much of a "past dweller" and tend to take things just one thing at a time. (& I can at least appreciate it is always one thing at a time). BUT, I thought back on the past year, and it has basically been pretty terrible. I think I am *over* 2013!!! I suppose I am reaching the end of my patience with everything.

To be continued...

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Okay, dh woke up and fixed it. Phew!!!! He had plugged something into the computer in regards to his cell phone woes, and that was causing the computer not to boot properly. (Though it did take him a while to figure out and he was freaking out a bit too).

So relieved...

**Well, after about 8 or 9 days, we finally got all our water fixed. Phew!!

We've actually had our water back for a few days, but everything else was endless problem and delays. Having never had a big job like this before, I would say it went about as good as it could have. Especially without having a lot of time to make a big decision! I actually expected much worse (just, you know, talking to anyone who has ever done a big project in their home). The delays were minor annoyances. I am just glad it is 100% over.

I suppose it's only 99% over because we have to get our lawn fixed now. The damage was very minimal, so I am not expecting it will be much money time or effort to get the lawn back to 100%. It's just one more minor annoyance.

**I decided to cash out my Capital One account. I earned $152 for depositing $500 in there (& for getting two referrals). I had to wait 30 days to withdraw the bonus. I was initially planning to close the account. But the interest was not half bad. But then again, I only put it in my name because I planned to close the account. I can probably do better shopping around.

Anyway, with having to pull out so much from savings anyway, decided to just close the account and do some higher interest research. Would like to keep an eye on rates for a while before I jump - I don't want to be stuck with some temporary promotional rate. I don't know if I can improve upon what I already have.

Oh, and I have closed enough bank accounts recently to not expect it to be a big deal. Usually all it takes is an e-mail. BUT, how awesome is this? I transferred all my money out of the account while I was thinking about it, and was thinking of just e-mailing them later to officially close the account. When I did the transfer it automatically closed the account. The End.

I don't do many (any?) bank bonuses because usually there are too many hoops to jump through (particularly since we don't have any direct deposits). But, um, I will take more of these type deals.

**So, Jeffrey posted something interesting in the forums, about a 10% interest rate he found for a child's account.

I wasn't particularly moved because the requirement for 10% was that the parents had to bank at the institution.

But I did peruse this list a little bit out of curiosity:

http://www.depositaccounts.com/savings/childrens-savings-acc...

A local credit union topped the list, but I Wasn't overly sold because it was a CU we ruled out several years ago for being pretty terrible (lots of fees, and very low interest rates).

I didn't see anything on this CU's website about us parents having to have accounts there, so I called today out of curiosity. I figured that had to be the catch, and was pretty sure I did not want to open an account there (if fees outweighed benefits). In the end, they told me the kids could open the accounts without us. Woohoo!! I am so excited about this!

Not only that, but I looked up how long the offer had been on the table, because I didn't want to go through all this hassle for some temporary promotion. Well, I saw 7% going back to 2007 or 2008, so I think it will be worth it...

No fees until the kids are 18. Only the first $500 receives the 7% interest rate. Both my kids have around $250 in their savings accounts. & their accounts will be growing a LOT faster now. We only opened their current accounts to deposit gifts made out to them (at some point our CU stopped letting us cash them or put them in our account). The 1 or 2 or 3 cents of monthly interest was fine for very little kids. But, I think the 7% will be more interesting and motivating for them. & a good lesson for them to shop around. I mean, don't I feel infinitely stupid for not getting them 7% for all these years. Duh!!

Well, I have had some interesting things to share, but am kind of drowning in fiscal bull crap at the moment. Gah! Murphy can move on to the next house now, thanks!

So, yeah, the whining and complaining can wait, and probably a lot of the interesting things I could have blogged about will be forgotten. Oh well!

Anyway, if you have not caught TED Talks on Netflix (or Youtube?) definitely check them out. "Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world." I guess there is also Ted.com (where I saw this quote).

We were watching one last night and it was just HILARIOUS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ds7WzVeew

My particularly favorite moment was at 2:42

I think this is extremely relative for personal finance, so had to share.

Gah, What a Week!!!

Dh's cell phone just DIED. We actually tend to keep our phones for 4+ years, and anyway, have aboslutely *never* had a phone die in contract. The phone is 14 months old; warranty is 12 months.

Dh went over to the Sprint store and they are totally insane over there. They think we want to pay $800 up front to keep our cell phone service. The workaround they offered was we could buy a tablet for $450, and pay an additional $5/month for it. But you know, that is what you get when you talk to sales people.

{Maybe the timing isn't half bad with our huge home repair bill. I think dh was in an extra "Are you Insane?!?" kind of mood. Though I think he is peeved enough anyway, regardless of other factors}.

Plan B is to call the retention department. If they rather us walk away and cancel our contract, then whatever. We were quoted $200-ish for that, which is so far by a mile the best option they offered. I find it hard to believe they rather us walk away than find a more sane solution. BUT... I have been surprised before.

Anyway, so I throw this out just to see if anyone has been in this situation and what they did. ?????????? Or any ideas to just get cheaper service??

I am sending him all sorts of Ting links and yadda yadda, but this is still a tough sell for him. He did tell me a new phone was $600 from Ting. I sent him the link for their used phones and told him the rest of us could switch over without buying any phones. I am still not convinced he is being 100% logical. But this is maybe the best bet I have since he is really backed into a corner.

He is so PEEVED that he is seriously talking about going phoneless. This is probably the cheapest option, but not the most helpful from a *boycott* standpoint since we'd have to keep paying his line.