Well, I am saving the long weekend, next weekend, for financial chores and such. I will probably even do my taxes for the most part (will have most the info by then). I always file by Jan. 31 for refund; April 15 for taxes due. Of course, our tax situation is extremely simplistic. All of our investments are tax-deferred, so nothing to wait on there. I have no tax-deferred deductions from my paycheck, though if I did, I would still be able to figure out what my W-2 would say, I suppose. So, I usually start on the 1st, and go from there.

Anyway, out of curiosity, I plugged in my #s today. I knew how my W-2 would read - with only one more salary check to wait for this year. Interest income, mortgage, property taxes, medical expenses - easy peasy to estimate.

I came up with a rough estimate of owing $200. Will see! (That is $700 back from Feds and $900 due to state). So will probably file Federal in January and the state return in April. (Or to make it simple - may file when I get the Federal refund).

I usually go for pretty breakeven. The Fed refund is due to the "Making Work Pay" credit. My employer never adjusted my paycheck. Which reminds me, it will probably be adjusted in January.

The state taxes owed are due to the fact that our state taxes went up so much this year. Our total tax was almost DOUBLE last year. Of course, double of "not much" isn't so bad.

In the end, I will double my state withholding in 2010 (from $60 to $120 per month). My Fed withholding should go down just as much, for the new credit. So I Can breathe a sigh of relief that my taxes will not go up next year. It's all breakeven in the end. (Barring future tax law changes). Yes, I ignored 2009 California tax law changes - I just paid 100% last year's taxes to avoid penalty. I figured with the state issuing IOUs and such, why risk paying more than I have to? I didn't feel real motivated to pay in more.

The nitty gritty:

Compensation was about $90k (was a darn good year!)

Federal Taxable income about $45k.

Tax would be about $7k, but after child tax credits and the new working credit, total taxes were about $4k. Still, far more than we have paid most of this decade.

California taxable income was about $65k. Tax was about $1700.

How the heck do I manage so many tax breaks?

10% of my income is paid in the form of profit sharing. Basically, 10% goes into tax-deferred retirement funds. The reason my employer structures it this way is more tax breaks for him - more tax breaks for us. It's kind of like him paying me 10% more, and me deciding to put 10% into a 401k. Except I don't get to control it. He decides how much, and how to invest it. Otherwise, it is pretty similar to a 401k. Will roll it into an IRA eventually, when my employment ends.

We actually whittled down our mortgage interest by about $2k this year, with our refi. But still $14k easy in property taxes and mortgage interest. On top of that, the other biggie is our medical expenses - well over 7.5% of income - the portion over 7.5% is fully deductible. (Insurance premiums, medical bills, dental bills). About $4k deductible there. Plus state taxes and our minor charitable giving puts us to about $20k itemized.

Then, we get about $14k exemptions, for there being 4 of us.

& that is how I get my taxable income so low. It's not exactly planned. One-income with kids, is good for the taxes. I actually avoid things like HSAs and deductible IRAs, because our tax bracket is so low (no real benefit). We fund ROTHs instead.

Anyway, I was a little worried. Our mortgage interest went down, my income was up a few thousand over last year, and I knew our state tax breaks were disappearing. I am relieved that it looks like we made it rather break-even. $200 owing - I Can handle that! I think the new working credit saved our bacon this year.

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Next year we will actually have a LOT of medical bills. (Easily $6k more in deductions). I will probably just go with the year-end refund though. IT's just a one year thing - I don't need to get used to a "bigger paycheck." For such a one off thing, I think we will just go with the status quo.

Ugh. Sick sick sick over here. Just me, though. I was quite convinced I had strep - but got the negative results Christmas morning. The throat swelling/fever has gone down considerably today, but I seem to be entering stage 2. Into runny nose/congestion mode. I will throw away my toothbrush when all is said and done. A coworker has been sick for AGES. I asked her if it was strep perchance, Thursday. She said no, but her daughter had gotten it twice. Ugh. I actually threw out my toothbrush last night since the fever seemed to be gone and I was feeling a bit better. I had an extra kid toothbrush laying around. Now I think I will just buy a new one when I am 100%. Just to be safe! Last night I put on a fresh pillowcase and clean clothes, etc. Just trying to disinfect as I feel better.

Downside - feel like hell at night (fever) - my throat was swollen like crazy. BUT mostly feel okay during the day - my appetite is okay. I probably pushed it too much the first day - work was so crazy. Christmas Eve I really only worked 2 hours because I slept in, decided I had strep (after googling it at work - I had the white patches and all the same symptoms) and then went to the doctor and when home to rest.

Next week at work will be CRAZY though - that is for sure. But the weekend is long enough it hasn't stressed me out too much. I Can probably work a bit tomorrow to lessen the load. & still sleep most the day?

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I have just been living eating breathing sick all week. Not much else to talk about!

We stayed in yesterday and disinvited our parents. Probably for the best. MIL had stressed me out SO MUCH this week - I do really blame her. & know I just need to keep my distance. Um, I don't even know if dh told her he called the doc or what. I don't really care. (He will likely get a February surgery date - to be confirmed next week).

Dh took the kids to visit both our folks today. I think it's for the best. I know my folks don't need my germs (my mom is uber sensitive to any germs) and I just can't deal with MIL. I am just avoiding her like the plague. Today I get peace and quiet. I already took quite a nap.

Um, dh and BM are indoor rock climbing today. The experience is free since his friend works there. It was his one pre-op wish! Though post-op he wants to do something special too. We are thinking maybe a road trip this summer - none of us here except dh has seen the Grand Canyon. Just, something like that. We are easy to please.

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The kids got quite a few toys yesterday. Dh had a lot of books and video games - mostly from Scholastic.

Twister ended up being a HUGE hit at our house. (For BM anyway - LM wouldn't even try). Dh had picked that one up on a whim a while ago.

Anyway, but the big hit was the Hex Bug. Dh saw it on one of his tech shows, and thought the kids would love them. He got 2 for $7, at Toys R Us. Hands down, the biggest hit of Christmas. Figured I'd share, because they are so cool. I had told him maybe we should get more - I didn't realize the full price was closer to $10. We should have stocked up when they were cheap!

http://www.hexbug.com/nano

& yes - they do creep me out a bit. But the kids really enjoy them!

As for me, the kids got me a teapot. The surprise was ruined because I was planning to go get one at Kohls - I had a 50% off coupon, pretty much. The one I have is just, sad, and I have been meaning to replace. So, I voiced this idea outload to dh at some point, lord knows why, and he made clear I shouldn't buy one. The funny thing is I tend to be a little stubborn and "slow" sometimes when it comes to these things. But the second he kind of freaked out about it - I realized. He actually got me a nice Kitchen Aid one. I hope it holds up a little better! It was funny - the kids got us both kitchen gadgets.

& yeah - we all got a bajillion gifts from the in-laws last weekend.

(While I was sick I did run to Kohls and pick up a sweater and some earrings, with my coupon!) You don't know how many times I drove by and the line was out the door. I was about to give up, but about 4pm Wednesday was the charm. (Though I probably should have been in bed - and I was kind of surprised how much they still had in stock - thought they'd be cleaned out - maybe they will have quite the sale after Christmas).

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Dang, it's COLD here!!! I felt like the heat has been running non-stop today (kind of odd) but figured I am not used to so much quiet. Anyway, I can see my sidebar says 48 degrees. Holy cow! We had some frigid nights this week as well. I am so over winter already. It hasn't even arrived yet I suppose. But it's been uber cold. Obviously, from the weather reports, not just more cold than usual, here. Everywhere, eh?

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We have tons of food here - intended for Christmas. We figure we will try a redo next weekend. At least invite my folks up (not sure if we will invite anyone else!)

I have no idea what I have missed around here. I hope everyone has been having a nice Holiday!

**I looked in Quicken today, and it looks like the Christmas damage is $500-ish.

It's hard to say since December is the month of birthday, and I just lump all that in too. Though I haven't bought a food processor for dh yet - his birthday is towards the end of January - and probably won't be lumped with "Christmas."

Another thing on the "maybe list" is a new digital camera. The price and quality is amazing these days, but we did spend a lot for our camera in 2002 (when I first became pregnant with child). As long as it still works, I suppose we have been sluggish to pull the trigger. But the $100 price point does it for me. Something we will have to discuss. (We've been discussing it forever, but I suppose I should have dh scour the ads carefully the next few weeks - see what we can score. Tell him that I think it's time...).

Anyway, as to Christmas spending, items of note:

**$130 on the in-laws. They always give us cash, and they are WAY into materialistic Christmas, so they are really the only ones we splurge on. We actually went halves with SIL for a Blu Ray player and various gift certificates. We do a calendar with pics of the grandkids every year, too. Which I do have to hand it to them - that is always the hit of Christmas. Not that it is ALL marterialistic...

*$50 gift cards to teachers. For them, I figured they are always buying things for the classroom, and I know a lot of teachers who get so much crap, they really appreciate something useful like that. I figure it's up to them if they use it for the classroom or to buy themselves a treat. I know they will appreciate it either way.

Hmmmm, what the heck did we spend another $300 on? I'll have to look in Quicken later - drawing a blank. I suppose $50 for my boss's gift, as well as $20-ish for the gift exchange. That adds up fast. I suppose we spent $200 on ourselves, kids, my parents, plus my birthday and my folks' birthdays.

Dh bought some video game for the kids and has a pile of free Scholastic stuff (books mostly, but also video games and toys, etc., etc). We bought a Twister game as well. More last minute, LM bought BM a Bop It, and we bought LM an Etch a Sketch because he absolutely fell in love with one at the museum. While shopping I spotted a generic "Jenga" game for $5-ish. I have to remember to pick that up. We still have to replace the inappropriate "Truth & Dare" one. Though that will be discreetly replaced - no fanfare there.

We kind of entered December thinking the Scholastic bounty would be enough. Probably, but the kids wanted to buy each other gifts, and on and on. Since MIL is such a gift hog (as mentioned before) we feel it is all probably way too much. Since they will get a zillion gifts from Grandma. Oh well!

Dh and I Also divvy up my modest bonus every Christmas, to contribute to our favorite charities. (Usually we both pick very different ones). This year, we both agreed that our charity of choice for 2009 was BM's public charter school. We have already advanced the funds. (Of course, schools can always use financial help, but as a Charter they are the only ones in the school district retaining small class sizes and extra-curricular activities, for this school year and probably many more to come. To be able to do this requires extra financial support though. Moreso this year than ever, with so many parents out of work, etc.).

We usually donate FAR more time than cash to charity. So, that about does it for the year. Though, with BM's first year in school, I feel like I will have a larger charitable tax deduction than usual (lots of little outflows to the school, throughout the year).

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**This Sunday we will have our materialistic in-law Christmas celebration. At SIL's home. So yeah - tomorrow the kids will be spoiled rotten!

On Christmas Day we will have our low-key "At home" celebration.

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**I suppose not much more to report.

Work will be crazy busy the next 2 weeks. I will be able to collapse on New YEars Eve (late in the day anyway). I will also be able to enjoy Christmas Day, but that's about it.

Today dh took my vehicle in for an oil change, and ran some errands for me, since I had to work. Typical dh, but I very much appreciate it! There are many intangible benefits to having a non-working spouse.

Dh has his big appointment on Monday with a specialist in the Bay Area. I am so crossing my fingers that we all like him, since he is covered by our insurer. & I hope this means we can get a surgery date and start making plans. (Though MIL doesn't matter so much, things will be a million times easier if she supports our decision!!!!!! So yes - hope she likes him too). I think dh and I are pretty set, unless we get a bad gut feeling about the guy, or something along those lines. He's the best we can afford! Well, the best and CLOSEST to home - which is also important if at all feasible.

Some days I just have no idea how I am going to do everything I do + everything dh does, while he is recovering. But I suppose, one thing at a time!

I suppose I haven't been very posty. While everyone is winding down for the Holidays (granted, I do understand most people are more wound up and crazy busy). But work-wise, seems everyone is winding down. Whereas, for me, everything is winding up. Not that the week of December 15th usually amounts to much, but it's been so CRAZY this week, and after about 6 weeks of "vacation" (it's been so slow and I've barely been in the office) it's been a little overwhelming.

I am also not thrilled about all the weekend plans that dh has made for us. Exhausted just thinking about it. Though I may also have a chance to catch up with an old friend.

I will probably work a bit the next 2 weekends. Tomorrow is completely by choice, so I can take Monday off for dh's appointment in San Francisco. BUT, the week has been so hectic I suppose I would be working anyway. (As of Monday I wondered if I would have enough to do. Seems laughable now - basically, have got NOTHING done all week since my phone has been ringing off the hook. Tomorrow sounds refreshingly quiet and productive, in comparison).

I have some pretty exciting plans next Saturday, but may have to work a few hours Sunday or something. (What exciting plans? I am meeting a fellow SA-er in person!)

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Anyway, I didn't have a ton to share today - not a lot of time to spare. BUT, had some interesting articles come through my e-mail today:

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_14019608
Foreclosure backlog estimated at 1.7 million homes

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_14018917
A credit card with a 79.9% rate? It's for real

The second article is kind of crazy. But hey, why would 79.9% interest rates be illegal? Right??? Good thing we have so much credit reform (insert eye roll).

I find the first article uber interesting. I am kind of amazed that our home value has remained as high as it has. However, I have also read a little bit about the large extent of "phantom inventory." Particularly in the area I live - but all across the US of course. Banks are just holding onto foreclosures to reduce supply and hold prices higher. It's obviously going on in my city - it's been named a top forelcosure city - and yet there is a frenzy of bidding for prices higher than we paid in 2001 even. It doesn't make a ton of sense. On some level, I expected the frenzy to happen on the lower end, since SO MANY people were priced out of the market for such an extended period. But on the flip side, the frenzy doesn't make a ton of sense. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me they were so smart to wait - and bought for a premium over what we paid. (Plus they were stuck with absurd rents in the interim). Yes - you are so smart.... Nah - the smart ones will wait for the foreclosure tsunami and will be buying houses for less than this. (I suppose what it comes down to me is that prices don't strike me as particularly rock bottom. & this is probably precisely why they are not rock bottom. The banks control the supply...)

Anyway, my friends who have foreclosed - it has taken the banks over a year to even list their houses for sale. Whereas early on, some of our neighbors moved out, and their houses were sold within the month. Purposely or not, their is some huge backlog going on there. (In comparison, not much has sold in our neighborhood this year. Not anything for sale! Lord knows how many people have walked away from their homes - sitting empty in our neighborhood. Nothing obvious - but they have got to be there).

Ugh, yesterday was extremely painful. But, for the best I suppose.

Took my vehicle into the dealership for a LONG put off repair. Very unlike us. But the same engine error code has kept coming on for a while (2.5 years?) on and off. When it got stuck on, our beloved/trusted mechanic could not figure it out - so sent us to the dealership.

Ugh!

The dealership we bought the car from is semi-decent, and dh did call them at some point, and they said it would be 2 months to order a new computer if we needed one. (It's the only thing our mechanic could figure).

Then my dad had a heart attack and we put it on hold. Then I smashed the door and spent $2k repairing it. We decided to wait a bit - if it was just the computer. Whatever. MEchanic said the engine was totally fine. We were starting to think about getting this thing taken care of (certainly by 12/31) and then we got sidetracked with this whole brain tumor thing.

SO, we took it in yesterday, and it is all fixed. Hooray!

The painful part is the owner of the dealership committed suicide, and the place is shutting down. (Tragic, huh? You could suppose it has something to do with the economy). I hate dealershiups, but that one was probably one of the only ones we can stomach. Why we bought a vehicle from them! So we trudged to the big dealership at the big auto mall 25 miles away. Their customer service was absolutely terrible. *sigh*

Dh did not tell them that it was about 6 months ago that our mechanic looked at it. I hope that is all it is, but they just replaced the part the computer said needed replacing, and seemed very confused. They said they didn't think our mechanic had tried to fix it. The part was clearly not working, etc.

Insert eye roll here. Like I believe a flipping word they say.

I was not pleased with this fact, BUT the engine light has stayed off for about 35 miles (a new record) and I am hoping that just enough time passed that it all worked itself out. Like, maybe there was nothing obviously wrong before, but now there is.

My window has stopped working again, so dh inquired, and they offered to replace the motor for $500. Never mind. (The other dealership "fixed" it for $100, our mechanic lubed it up for free a couple of times, and even the body repair shop fixed it without us mentioning it). Though it may be true that this would be a permanent fix, I don't particularly want to spend $500 to find out. I found a free fix on the internet that I keep forgetting to try (just reset the fuse. Which I think is what the body shop did, maybe not even knowingly).

I am $500 poorer, but the original quote was 4 figures, and I've never really had a car payment. No complaints here - turned out better than expected!

Since the part was not working, I hope we didn't do further damage to the vehicle. We usually take our cars in immediately for any repair - just feel so jinxed with this year.

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The most awesome thing is that I don't have to reduce my net worth for this expense. My mom gave me $1100 for the MRI (which may never be billed at the rate our HMO bills) and I have about $700 set aside for it already. SO, her check will probably pay for the MRI and rest of medical bills for year (one more doctor visit at least) AND the car. What a load off that it wasn't a more expensive fix).

I am pleased as punch about that!

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In other news, a pile of credit card amendments arrived in our mail this week.

Nothing to note - mostly removing fees as per new legislation.

I didn't pay attention to the interest rates since hell would freeze over before I would pay those interest rates.

I did have to share though because the topic of conversation came up with friends, and they were kind of annoyed by my attitude about it. I suppose they thought I was poking a jab at them. Hey, they can do what they want. What do I Care? You want to pay 30%+ interest? BE my guest.

It's just funny how people who don't question absurd debt, react to people like me. They think I am just cocky and have never suffered a hardship. I Couldn't possibly understand.

Um, no. Let me put it this way. If I was hard up for money. (Say - if I lost my job. Which is not a terribly far fetched sceanrio). Say I lost my job and ran through our cash. Would I be charging things on my credit cards? Um, no. What these people don't understand is that I Would sell my cars, house, and kidney, before I would start paying 15%+ interest rates on borrowed money.

So yeah - I stand by what I Say. I didn't look at the interest rates because I don't care.

A few things bouncing around my mind - I suppose a lot in to reaction of forums posts of late, etc.

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Out of curiosity, I checked the name brand of our mattress. IT is "Origins." If you look it up, it looks like a pretty mid-range price brand, but my mattress is heavenly.

I was curious because there was talk in another blog about mattresses lasting 10 years. Interestingly, mine is 10 years old, and comfortable as ever. It hardly seems near the end of its life. Then again, our rule of thumb is generally to keep things twice as long as they should be (or to use 1/2 the recommended amount, etc., etc.). Not that the "twice" rule would work on a mattress, but I wasn't going to throw out my most treasures possession because it was 10 years old.

Anyway, it looks like most/all the "Origins" mattresses, today, are warranted for 20 years. I am not surprised! (& am somewhat relieved to expect another 10 years from our mattress).

In my search for the tag - I told dh we should probably give it a flip. I am quite sure we haven't rotated it since we last moved 8 years ago. The mattress did feel a little more firm last night (less cushy and comfortable) but I slept well and had no aches and pains, so I presume I should just grin and bear it. (Usually I just melt into it, and sleep like a baby). Dh said he thought the bed looked higher, after the flip. No doubt it has less sag on the other side!

I don't know how we ended up with this mattress. We were kind of going cheap, BUT anything under $1k-ish was a little too crappy for our taste (it is a Cali King), so we just went with one in the $1k-ish range - a mattress that was on deep discount. I am glad to see it should last 20 years, because I don't think I could sleep without it. I would buy the same brand again - for next time.

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Cars...

I think my car strategy has taken a bit of a detour. Our strategy is to always pay cash for our cars. We both paid $10k-ish for our last cars, so we figured we could afford $20k-ish for the next round. (Our first cars were in the $1k range, etc.)

I am not sure this plan will come to fruition.

One problem is we have greatly reduced our income, and taken a big financial detour, since having kids. I am trying to build up some savings for things like our next car purchases, but I seen to end every year somewhere around $0.

Part of the problem is we assumed buying more expensive cars would mean less repairs, and that they would last longer. The interesting thing is that dh's car was actually more in the $8k range, but it was pretty new. The car is by far the best car we have ever bought - lowest maintenance, etc. So, we should be well on our way, right??? Thing is, my vehicle sucks. I have meditated on it, since we have talked much about chucking it and making an even trade for something else. The thing is that there really isn't anything mechanically wrong with the car, and it's not horrible. I am just not used to really having much in repairs, and since it is so "modern" it has a lot more stuff in it that can go wrong. Whereas, our old clunkers of yore were just very basic and never had much to them. (The computer is what regularly has problems, in the van).

Anyway, the van has cost us a lot of money we should be saving for our next car. But, more to the point, saving $20k per car one income isn't exactly cutting it, while saving $10k per car on two incomes was easy peasy. I suppose if we could put off our next car purchases until dh is working again, then it's all kind of moot. But I have the feeling we will be going for one more round of modest cars, when all is said and done. We no doubt chose more time with our kids, and slower lifestyles, over more expensive cars. Nothing I will complain about.

Dh's vehicle is a 2001 Ford with about 110k miles. My biggest fear right now is if it is totaled. It is not insured for replacement value, because it is "worthless" (worth less than the deductible, in the end). I suppose the premature demise of the car would be an "emergency" and we could buy something similar to replace it (similar as when we bought it in 2002 - a $10k-ish vehicle). Though if it lasts a few more years (which I have no doubt it will, otherwise) replacing it with a newer/more upscale vehicle may be possible. Dh really wants a Prius. I don't care, if we have the cash. I just refuse to finance a car when there are perfectly good alternatives we could pay cash for. (I know he would be happy with a $10k-ish car if something happened to the car, say tomorrow. We both agree that we have to be doing pretty darn well to sink money into a Prius. Though my first car was a Toyota, and I sing it's highest praises for lasting so long, the truth is dh's car will easily last as long though it only cost a fraction, new. With time I am less impressed with "brand name").

I also thought it was likely that dh would end up with a Yaris as a compromise (he likes small cars) BUT I have seen a few in our neighborhood lately - and they are smaller than I care for. Dh's current vehicle may be "small," but it has a lot more buffer on the front, and back (where the kids sit). It actually has a fairly decent trunk, and we don't mind it for long drives. I don't think Yaris can boast the same - it's uber tiny! But I suppose there are plenty of more roomy subcompacts to be had in the $10k range.

Kind of where we are on the car thing. I wouldn't be surprised if we trade the van in (even trade) for something else older and more reliable, in the end. For now, it is behaving itself. It's actually been pretty good this year - but for me smashing it into a pole!

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Texting!

I suppose it is time I get into the 21st century.

It started with dh getting a few texts here and there, with craigslist sales and such. We figured, a cost of doing business... (Verizon charges 20 cents a text). Then some of my friends would text me once in a blue moon...

But, it's escalating. I now have 3 friends who regularly text me. I decided that I should see what our options were. BEcause, though I haven't seen the point before, it's not necessarily worth alienating my few treasured friends, in the name of not paying for texting.

I am pleased with the answer. If we all wanted to text on our family plan, it could get pricey. But if it's really just me, I can get 250 texts per month, for $5/month. I think I can handle that.

For now, if I stay under 25 texts per month, I stay under the $5. That 20 cents per text is steep, but a small price to pay, I suppose.

I sent 2 texts in the last month - my first 2. I guess I am getting with the times!

To tell the truth, the texts have all come in handy. I Was trying to meet a friend and my voice mail was full, so she texted me to tell me so. I have texted her on other occasions where calling wasn't as useful. Today I Was meeting a friend for lunch, chatting on the phone with someone else, and she texted me to tell me she was running a bit late. It was nice that I didn't have to hang up my phone call and check my voice mail, etc. I can see the usefulness in it.

Though until I get a keyboard on my phone, I don't see a LOT of texting in my future.

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I talked to my mom today and she is sending me the check. Though I still won't get too excited until I receive it?

We also received $110 in the mail today, from a grand relative. I had forgotten they usually send us money - color us spoiled.

I feel like a weight has been lifted from over-spending this weekend. I got a "get out of jail free" card. Which means - I will learn nothing? Hehe.

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In other news, dh has arranged a rock climbing date with BM (his one pre-op wish). His friend works at one of those places - so it is free. No complaints here. The funny thing is BM thinks he is a monkey, so he will probably LOVE it. Literally, he has to TOUCH and CLIMB everything he sees. Luckily, with age, he shows a little more caution and fear. He used to scare the hell out of me when he was little.. I think indoor rock climbing will be an excellent outlet for him.

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I almost forgot that I have awesome news!!! MIL talked with a couple of people who have used our referred surgeon, and guess what, they had good things to say! (Doh!) So she is getting more optimistic.

Won't it be ironic if she likes the surgeon, and we don't? Stranger things have happened.

But seriously? What are we? Chopped liver? Are we idiots? I've told her the same - in one ear and out the other. I had the feeling she just didn't care - not like it's rocket science to track down this doc's reviews and patients, etc. So I am relieved she is considering some vein of logic in all this.

I just caught on to this, per Coupon Addict:

http://couponaddict.savingadvice.com/2009/12/11/my-100-thing...

Very interesting - to narrow one's belongings down to 100 things.

I am not particularly interested in narrowing down my belongings (I have been going through stuff for at least 5 years, and have given away a lot of stuff. Though I still have some things I need to get to...). BUT, I am just kind of curious how many things I do have. So, I will probably work on a list, out of curiosity. To see what I have and if there are things I will reconsider parting with. I think from there, I will come up with a figure - though I think it will end up more than 100!

I think this challenge is tough as a married person. There is a lot of stuff I own that is shared. Should I consider that stuff as "half?" Does furniture not count? Things to ponder...

I think this could be an interesting project for 2010.

Well, it's been spendy, but the cosmic powers that be have allowed it I suppose.

Last night we had an impromptu $150 night out. Don't ask me why - very unlike us. The babysitting fundraiser was $40 for the kids. I Wasn't feeling 100% and was ready to just stay in when dh was going on about what he wanted to do. I suggested we do something different - like go out for fondue or something. I actually had a coupon in my coupon book, so we decided to give it a whirl. I figured it was uber expensive but maybe we could keep the costs down. In the end, we spent $100, coupon and all. Plus $10 to park downtown. IT was pouring rain and freezing - who knew so many people would be out - yeesh. (Actually, we were lucky to get a table with no reservations - the place was rather small).

Anyway, I felt terrible about this since we have seemed to hemhorrage money the last couple of months, with this and that. On the other hand, sometimes it is nice just to say "Screw it," and do something we would never do otherwise.

Now we can say we have been there, done that. Worth $100 to ever do again? Nah. Part of the reason we tried it is my dad took me out to a wonderful fondue lunch - I think it was when the fam was in Florida. That place was about as expensive - but was better. (Though my mom and I both felt the cost was insane and doubted we would ever go back). The place last night had more variety and we certainly had a feast though. We also had our chocolate flambeed, last night. (Fancy!)

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So yeah, that's that.

Today was a little better. I Ran to Kohls in the a.m., with the kids, because I really just wanted a nice sweater for my wardrobe. I try to buy like one sweater and one dress every year. (I buy more than that - but those are like the basics). Nothing really fit and I didn't do so good (which was annoying - they are flipping sweaters - but they all just fit so odd. I usually don't even try on tops really). The kids were being obnoxious so I could have probably left spending $0, but I saw the most beautiful jacket I had ever seen, and it was on sale for $30 (something like 80% off - it was an expensive coat). All they had was Large, so I Almost passed it up, but tried that one on in the end and it fit perfect.

I suppose I will consider donating another coat, since that one wasn't really needed. But I will feel like a million bucks in such a fancy jacket (hope it washes well).

BM fell victim to the size trolls today too. My kids grow tall and lean. I am always grateful that even the cheapest of pants these days tend to have elastic bands on the inside. I always make those as tight as I can, and the kids generally wear belts too.

SO, since he had some freak growth spurt, and mostly skipped size 6, I went to grab some size 7s today. Not sure I'd have him try them on, but just that I Can't believe he skipped a size. (His 6s looked like flood pants!) So he did, and he couldn't button the slim pants. What the heck??? It's like bizarro world in the size department - not just me!

I can't believe I bought my boy regular pants! 'Tis nice, since I am not sure the larger sizes have all that elastic (I just don't know).

They only had one pair in his size though (un-slim - Was on sale, phew) so we may run to target this weekend too - to get a few more pants.

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We ran by Walgreens to get some umbrellas. We don't generally need or use them, but I told the kids we could go for a walk in the rain today. I think the umbrella I had broke. I suppose I will have to go on an umbrella hunt.

We stopped by Walgreens to get some Umbrellas and some junk food. We asked and couldn't find them umbrellas, so figured they were out. I checked out all the junk, and on the way out we spotted the umbrellas, of course. 2 for $10, so we grabbed 2 and went back to pay for those. The cashier told me to use the $5 I had just earned, and didn't know I had. So in the end, 2 umbrellas for $5, wasn't half bad. Talk about customer service. My mom is always telling me how much trouble CVS gives her about those. WE go to walgreens all the time (the only store we can walk to), and not sure I ever got a $5 coupon.

Anyway, the kids excitedly claimed their umbrellas. Maybe I should go buy one more, for myself. (BM does walk to/fro school to, so will probably be handy for him. It just really never rains enough to warrant an umbrella from the car to the door, etc.).

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I slept in and missed aerobics this morning - gah! So unlike me! I decided to go to they gym, and took the kids. We paid for lifetime childcare though, so was nice to get some use out of it. The kids had whined and complained about it for a while, and they were always watching TV, etc. They can do that at home with daddy! But today, they had fun and didn't watch TV anyway. Worked out.

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Oh yes, so today my mom calls me and tells me she is sending me a $1000 check for dh's MRI. This is extremely unusual (my parents are tightwads!) and a very nice and unexpected treat.

Any worries I had in the back of my mind about being a little too spendy last night, immediately went away. Sometimes these things just work out!

Of course, my mom called me later and sounded like she was changing her mind. She called to ask me about details on our health plan. I have told her a million times we have a higher deductible because we save about as much on premiums going that route. Sensing her mind change I threw in that our deductible was doubling next year. (It's not like it matters that much this year - but next year will be ugly!).

Anyway, regardless of if I end up with this check or not, I suppose I should have a talk with my parents about this. It's not polite to tell someone you are going to give them $1k, and then change your mind. It's downright annoying!!!! She was going to send me $1k for the ambulance bill (the one I never got) and then changed her mind. I suppose I didn't fret too much about it since I never got the bill. But that was long forgotten, until I could sense she was going to change her mind a lot faster this time. (Last time she changed her mind after weeks or days. This time it was an hour I guess).

It's just how my parents are. THey want to help out if we *need* help. *Need* is relative. If they don't want to help us that is fine. I will have to remember this next time - no excitement until the check is in my hand. My bubble was filled and deflated rather quickly! I suppose if she asked me if I Really needed it, I Would say, no, not for 2009, but it could be really useful for 2010. Which is kind of how our conversation went. & even then, I don't know. My parents don't generally hand me cash, and if they are going to start to, it's something they need to work on. Like, be sure before they open their mouths! Because, though I am fine with no handouts, I don't like getting excited about a gift that gets taken away! (If I had to guess what happened - my mom blurted it out, and my dad did not agree. My dad is the tightwad, I should say. )

So, will see...

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Anyway, I have a walk in the rain to prepare for. Brrrrr. I must be crazy, but the kids need to go run outside. (I don't mind rain - just not a fan of cold! Though our extreme cold weather has left. Phew!).

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I really don't have any spending on my horizon, but all mys pending yesterday and today was so impromptu. So I don't know. But overall - not much planned here the next few weeks. Think we will hole up inside and try to stay warm, the rest of the weekend.

We've mostly been busy volunteering - I think we will log 9 hours for Scholastic/school activities this weekend. Dh already worked at least 7 hours at the TV station this week. I suppose we should do what we can while able bodied. Just, when it rains, it pours. Our schedule has been a bit hectic.

I am with the others in the West. Brrrrrrr. We've got snow, and a freeze warning. Both which happen, never? Living in the valley, I don't think we got snow (certainly nothing that stuck). But a lot of my co-workers live at slightly higher elevations (500-1000 feet?), and all woke up to snow today. Color me jealous! Nothing more than a light dusting, of course.

I don't see any more snow in the forecast - just freezing temps. Like anyone here knows what to do with that.

It's a bummer that it will probably be too stormy this weekend to drive up to the cabin and see all the snow up there. BUT, will keep an eye on the weather, just in case. If the weather clears, we will have an impromptu snow weekend.

My basil plant may be a casualty, from last night. Will bring it inside tonight, just in case it is still alive.

The heat will work extra hard the next couple of days!

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My brain is in 2010. Since any bill I get going forward can be pushed to 2010 (put on credit and paid in 2010), 2009 is mostly over for me. Though I will wait for 12/31 for investment values and such, to determine my 12/31 net worth.

So I still have a little financial housekeeping to do, for 2009. But for the most part, I am thinking to 2010.

I updated my sidebar, in light of this.

Last year I thought long and hard about my goals. It was a good year, I am happy, and so I don't have much to add this year. On the flip side, I think with all that is going on, simplicity is best. We won't have a lot of money to spare. & we will probably focus a lot of energy on dh's health rather than other things.

Thus, my financial goal is rather simplstic:

Save $15k.

$0 to ROTH.

Re-evaluate once we pay all the medical bills.

Instead of saving in various buckets, my only real bucket this year, is "cash." Though I would be happy to divert some of that to retirement, if the year goes better than expected. (Efund and medical fund are fully funded, as of 1/1. So other cash is really my only other savings goal. Cash for car replacements, orthodontia, house repairs and the like. I can't seem to make any progress there since I seem to get a pile of unexpected expenses every year. $2k here, $2k there. Medical, dental, smashed cars, etc. Feels like I Am spinning my wheels a bit, and why I am happy to hit cash hard this year).

I also had a long-term goal to put 15% into retirement. I am putting that on hold, for 2010. Until all this mess clears. 10%. Of course, I still don't know what my compensation is. By some miracle, I could get a raise and keep 15% to retirement. Just not exactly counting on that one. I am assuming no raise, or something very minimal, considering the economy and everything. I also don't expect I will be able to do big on overtime this year - though some overtime is calculated into my $15k savings goal. I can probably only save $12k, otherwise.

My HOUSE goals mostly remain the same. I thought I would have enough cash this year to implement a lot of put-off purchases. Probably not, in the end, so may push them off. But we did make some progress on some inexpensive repairs, and have more to do in 2010.

My PERSONAL goals mostly remain the same:

**Personal**
[ ] Read a book a month
[ ]2 weekends away, with just dh
[ ]1 camping trip
[ ]1 trip to the snow
[ ]More trips to the cabin
[ ]More biking & hiking
[ ]Season passes to Raging Waters

I feel like I should add "survive" to the top of my list, and I would be happy with that.

BUT, 2009 was very fulfilling as we focused on things that were important to us. We want to make sure we make fun things a priority for our family. Most the things on the list were very frugal too, but fulfilling. IF we do all that, I don't think anyone in my house cares if we can't afford a bigger vacation this year. (We've really only had room for more "vacation" the last couple of years, and as such, are used to extremely frugal weekend getaways and such. Of course the whole thing point is that long/far vacations are not our priority. We like making use of what we have here - and did excellent with that in 2009. I suppose we didn't particularly "vacation" in 2009 if I think about it. Though we did pay for a few more hotel stays than we usually would. Coud live without...).

I did add a new item to the list: To read at least one book a month. I have been staying with that pace, since about October. Before then, "what's a book?" But putting it in writing, as a goal, really makes it more of a priority.

I suppose I don't care if a lot of this part of the list gets put to the side, with dh's health issues. I just don't want to forget these things, for when he is better.

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The theme for Christmas this year, is decidedly "kitchen."

I was just telling dh that I was probably going to get my dad a smoothie blender, and didn't have much else to buy. I also had confirmed that the spoiled cousins (our children and their cousins - with the Grandma gift hog) were not exchanging gifts.

Dh and I never exchange gifts, so I clarified that. I guess the rule is since BM has an allowance, that he has to buy gifts for us. Dh told me they had bought me a $25 gift. Ugh. (BM contributed like 1/3 of it).

I was wondering when I would have time to shop, and annoyed at wasting money on useless items, when I remembered dh wanted a larger food processor (we have a mini one). Not what he had in mind I am sure, but heck if I am going to waste $20 on something he will never use.

In the end, I perused amazon a bit and it worked out. I found a mandolin slicer with rave reviews, for about $20. We had been talking about that. Bonus was it came with a knife sharpener, for about $5, which would make it eligible for free shipping (amazon). Might as well take the sharpener.

So basically, I spent 5 minutes shopping for dh - and am done! (Will consider the food processor for his birthday. Better yet - will suggest that one to his mom).

I suppose I should have included BM in the process, but I know he will really like the idea. We will have to talk about it later. I'll ask him what he thinks and steer him in that direction. & if he HATES the idea, I suppose he can buy some stupid trinket for dh. I suppose it is the thought that counts!

I was going to take LM to San Francisco today, on the train, but the weather is COLD and my friend is out of town, in the end.

Wasn't sure what we were going to do, but decided to go to a museum today, instead, at the last minute. (Before that grand idea, was just going to go home!)

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Reminds me, MIL gave me a coupon book for my birthday. The thought is definitely nice, but she handed it to me with the comment we would need it with upcoming medical bills and such. I suppose, but we generally don't have money for most of the stuff in the book, in the first place. Which means, with medical bills and a coupon, doubt we will use it that much. Though I did find a few interesting/useful coupons. Will squeeze it for all its worth, all the same. I just doubt we are going to start eating out and frequenting expensive entertainment places.

I'm in a different city today, so the coupon isn't helpful for the museum. Which is our other problem - we tend to do "fun" things in other cities.

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I didn't get a dime for my birthday. Not a CENT! It was just kind of odd. Dh's family is convinced they will spend a hefty sum to save dh's brain, so I assume that mostly explains why. Thing is my mom had been giving me some money the last few years. So I was kind of surprised. I suppose this year it doesn't matter much. It works out. It just sucks to get used to getting a couple of hundred bucks, and then getting nothing.

I suppose that is the theme of the upcoming year. Not counting on anything, in this economy. Less so than before, not that I ever "count on bonuses" and such.

I was spoiled rotten with material things, food and love, so I am not exactly complaining, either.

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I've been too busy to worry about dh this week.

He JUST got an appointment with the best neurosurgeon our HMO can offer. We both lean towards him, so I REALLY hope we do like him. Will be the cheapest route, anyway.

I am beside myself because the appointment is in TWO weeks! BUT, in the end, the day was perfect. I assumed dh pushed it off because it was such a good day, but he said that was the first time they offered. We will be in San Jose for Christmas on Sunday, and his appointment is near there on Monday. I will probably just work Saturday so I can take Monday off. It's hard to know if that will work - this time of year gets kind of crazy at work and it is a short week with the Holidays. I suppose it will have to work, orelse there will be a lot of unecessary driving. (I could drive home and work half a day, if I need to, and then meet him for the appointment).

Anyway, we would be there anyway, BM is out of school for the Holidays, and it is a day I can probably take off. Phew.

I feel like everything will be so much easier once we can put our faith in a surgeon. Until then, just in major limbo.

I suppose tomorrow I will do some financial housekeeping, once I make it home. I came to San Jose for a seminar, yesterday. I am so seminared out (20 hours this week?). One more to go - next week!

I only have one word for this week - CRAZY!

I am actually at work 3 days, but it is filled with meetings and such. I am starting to feel "behind." Ugh. Maybe next week will be normal, though I may take a day off to meet with the Bay Area surgeon, with dh.

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My mom's health has been going downhill a bit.

I am not sure how much of this I can take. Both my folks, and dh.

My mom called me yesterday, sounding somber. I asked, "Who is it now?" I figure someone was in the hospital or something. Why not? Why not make it one more person to worry about?

In the end, she had her own rough week, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was holding back since she knows what I time I am having.

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I mentioned earlier, this whole trial has been life-affirming on some level.

For all the negative, I am just glad dh can look back so positively on his life. & like I said, he is expected to live, but still, it gets you thinking. Many deep discussions around here of late.

I feel moreso than ever, that we made the best financial choices we could, to move here. I have considered opening a HELOC, if it comes to borrowing money for surgery outside of our insured options. The thing is, we have that option. Back home, we would both be working, and could perhaps have over double the mortgage. (Or just be paying 2-3 times as much to rent). We likely would have much younger children, if any. Putting more important things on hold, for insane cost of living. Are we more glad than ever, that we thought outside the box in that regard.

On the flip side, it has been important to be close to family. We have needed each other a LOT this year. Since we had talked so much about moving out of state, I am glad in the end, we stayed. & yet, moving to our low-cost haven gives us so much more flexibility and financial options, as we face crisis.

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My birthday came and went, and I was spoiled rotten.

I also got to see dh's MRI - and it was hard to see. Just, wow! His tumor is quite large.

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I have greatly welcomed the chance to return to work and to have other distractions. Phew!!!!! Maybe the timing of all this is a blessing in some regard. Work will keep me busy!

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**In financial news, I got our new bank account, in Trust, all set up and funded. Getting 2% on our cash, now.

**I am not sure what our HELOC options are, if so needed. Thing is, it goes against every fiber of our being. But I suppose I could consider up to $250k in loans against our home, to save dh's brain. (Thing is, we never take ANY debt lightly). Leaves us about $40k to borrow ($250 was just the max we said we would ever borrow for a home - we ended up closer to $230k when we bought this house). I am not sure we have the equity to borrow that much though. Lord knows - the market is so wacky here. The thing about this year is just nothing has sold. Nothing has particularly sold less than $300k. But, who knows.

**Last I looked, my perspective was that the school daycare was EXPENSIVE.

I guess perspective changes? It is $6/hour, $24 max a day (holidays and such), AND full-time is about $330 per month. I won't stress about it - easy/convenient/affordable/good option.

These are the kinds of things I am looking at. I guess, trying to prepare for the worst. I hope none of this stuff is really needed, of course.

We've been told that dh could "recover" in 2 weeks. Or he may have balance issues and be unable to drive, for many months. So many unknowns at this point. I am just trying to think ahead and be prepared as possible.

I haven't read the comments on my last blog yet - it's going to be a crazy week.

YEsterday we actually had a pleasant time with MIL. So goes the rollercoaster. I know better than to hand her over our medical record #s, but she may be helpful in the end.

So is today - will see about tomorrow.

I am highly skeptical of the surgeon she wants to do the job. I know he is highly regarded, and was trained by the BEST, etc., etc., etc.

What's the catch? HE seems very EAGER! She has made a billion calls and said he could get in to surgery at our HMO for $10k.

Huh? That's it? I actually had an outside surgeon do a procedure at the same HMO when I was 17. I said, that sounds awfully cheap (for a brain surgeon) as mine cost $10k about 15 years ago, for a jaw surgeon.

She says - oh no - it's a nonprofit organization and blahdeblahdeblah.

I told her that we were not sure our surgeon would do much but supervise. For $10k, is he really going to do anything but watch. Our his stats as good in an unfamiliar environment?

As I tried to ponder why the "best" would be so "affordable" in the end, it all comes back to the economy. Everyone I have seen who openly discussed their experiences online, paid $100k-ish for the shole shebang at THEIR Office. Hospitalization, staff, and everything. Obviously, in the boom, people afforded this with home equity and such.

I can't help but wonder if in this economy, they are a little more desparate for patients with that kind of cash - searching out reasonable options.

So, I couldn't help but feel that now is a good time for brain surgery, in that regard. To us, $10k is nothing. For dh's brain? We've got the cash.

I just found the whole thing interesting.

Anyway, as we are talking in the realm of reasonability, and I can tell MIL about my own experience, we found some middle ground.

Dh is leaning in another direction than we prefer (more risky surgery at small chance of hearing preservation). BUT, it's up to him, I ain't going to push him either way. I suppose I will support him and help keep his mom off his back.

It's ironic, that in all this mess, we are the ones that are being logical and making MIL think through some of her bizarre assertions. But then again, as a mom, I'd probably be overly emotional too.

Which reminds me, a co-worker praised me as being tough and getting through this. She said, "You're not like those other girls we have who cry all the time." LOL. Not sure I agree, but I suppose I can be tough when I need to. IT just struck me as funny. Other people's perceptions can always be interesting.

I have found myself worrying about something like a mile down the road, and keep telling myself to stop it. One day at a time really. IT's the only way to go. That is such a dh thing - he worries about stupid stuff way in the future that will never come to be - constantly. I am glad that in times of crisis, he seems to have put that aside.

I think his personal opinions on treatment will lead him to our covered surgeon anyway. Will see! If so, he can fight it out with his mom.

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BTW, by some miracle, when I had surgery, the surgeon ended up doing the entire surgery AND our HMO paid his bill. I don't think we even asked - I think his office asked for reimbursement and got it, by some fluke.

I always figured if I got stuck with some $10k medical bill, I Wouldn't sweat it. Or what are the odds I could be so lucky again? Though I am still a little skeptical about this doc's eagerness, the $10k figure is almost like a "sign" in some regards.

Dh woke up with hearing loss, again, this morning. Ugh!

His appointment was Monday, but I could not make it. We postponed until Tuesday. Regretting that a bit - did not expect he would have issues since it had been 3 years in between his first and last episode. (He lost and regained most hearing, twice). We are starting to wonder if surgery will be rushed to try to preserve hearing. I am not sure how early they could possibly do the surgery. Tuesday seems a million years away.

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His family is intent on cashing out retirement to send him to the world-renowned place I mentioned. Ugh, on that.

We did discuss it and I said I could see borrowing the money, because he could return to work and pay it off in a few years' time. Could be worth it. Though, we both are leaning towards sticking close to home and sticking with what is covered. Just thinking to if we are not impressed with our covered options. Of course, the risk is that dh could become disabled, and could not ever work again. Then we are just stuck with a six figure medical bill. I just gotta hope our HMO has good options. I don't really see why they wouldn't...

Of course, MIL said she already talked with this surgeon and he would come up here. This is not anything I have read, and sounded odd to me. I had to wonder if the economy had less people cashing out their savings and left with less equity to borrow with, for this type surgery. (Everything I read was that everyone who could, went for this surgery there. Seems there would be a waiting list of sorts?). If we lived down south it is reasonable we could be referred there. But since we live up North, if we are referred "outside" our HMO, I am sure it would be somewhere up here. Which I think we would prefer anyway.

Just to say, we have gone down the "six figure medical bill" road a bit. Obviously I hope we feel extremely warm and fuzzy about our covered options. Would be a lot easier.

On the flip side, it may be more important to save money to save hearing after surgery. Though it's apparently far more cheaper to gain hearing back than to remove a tumor. More amazing technology. Who knew, that regaining lost hearing was "affordable?" In our world, much more affordable.

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2009 is not quite over yet, but my brain is in 2010. Financially.

All of our December bills will be carded and paid in January, so I guess in some regard, 2009 is about over for us, financially.

I sat down to see where we were at. Before all this mess, I wanted to stop ROTH contributions while the market was high, and tackle our cash savings goal. I also figured I would just put aside our $3k deductible at Jan. 1, and only contribute to "mid-term savings" for 2010. I have been contributing to mid-term, medical, and retirement. I just wanted to make 2010 simpler, and achieve my goal.

Of course, obviously if the market fell, ROTHs would become more of a priority.

I guess it works out to be already in this mind-set.

In the end, our medical deductible remains $3k, but our out-of-pocket was doubled to $6k. I suppose after the deductible, we are relegated to smaller co-pays. But if there is a year we will manage to get $3k in co-pays (in addition to exhausting our deductible), 2010 would be it!

Of course, I am starting to worry that dh will have surgery end of December and we will max out 2009 and 2010. I suppose we have $1500 deductible remaining for 2009, which isn't huge. But would save $1500 if we could just do it all next year.

So, anyway, I just threw $6k into the "medical fund," (on paper - I don't have separate savings accounts). I already had $1k in there, which hasn't been billed yet - but will cover most the MRI. So really, $7k in the medical fund, should cover 2010, for now.

We still have $12k emergency fund. Obviously, all this stuff falls under the realm of emergency.

The sad thing, is I only have about $1k left in mid-term savings. I built it up from $0 to $10k, in 2009. Guess I will just have to try and do the same, again for 2010.

Of course, this year, the ROTH will probably be sacrificed. We were on track to put $5k away, and even as I built up cash, I was sure I would transfer some to the ROTH at year's end. Or if the market dropped substantially, etc.

It looks more likely we will just ignore the ROTH this year. We still put 10% away to retirement, and that has ALWAYS been our "bare minimum." To face all this and still be able to put away 10% is a blessing, in my opinion.

If all goes well, I should be able to save $15k-ish this year, cash. Who knows, we may make our cash savings goal and/or put some money to the ROTH anyway. I know it is likely some of this will be diverted to daycare and more eating out/convenience.

The only other large expense on the horizon is we need a few thousand to paint our house exterior. I worry how much it will cost. & why I am not happy to see me mid-term savings dwindle to $1k for a time. (DIY is not an option - house is too large. I don't do heights!!! Would need some super-sized ladders and some bravery to boot. Plus the time to tackle the whole thing). Willing to pay more for a good job that would last a while though. Original paint job sucked.

Of course, I have always said I wouldn't touch my efund with a 10-foot pole. But this is precisely the kind of exception an efund warrants. & you know what? It feels awesome to have that $12k sitting there. The kind of emergencies I always envisioned were job loss or major house destruction (flood, etc.). I suppose its hard to foresee every possible emergency.

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That's the long and the short of it.

Thanksgiving went amazingly well and we had a great time.

Not sure what we will do this weekend. Not much planned. Will enjoy any "peace" we can before the storm. Though it kind of sucks we pretty much have 3 days with "nothing to do" as we eagerly await dh's big doctor appointment next week.

I saw the SA blog and it showed what we have learned this week. I did comment on it.

http://www.savingadvice.com/blog/2009/11/26/105446_at-the-en...

Dh and I had a long talk about all this the other night. & he said all he wanted to do was take BM rock climbing. Because he had been meaning to and hadn't got around to it (indoor rock climbing, that is).

It is possible he would maybe want to travel a bit, but we feel his last flight set all this off. (Flying put some pressure on his ear). So basically, he doesn't want to fly anywhere. & I think on some level he rather just be home.

The interesting this is we concluded our lives were fulfilled and there wasn't much to do. If the important things are family, that is what we have focused on all along. We have always prioritized heavily in our life - meaning we don't tend to put off important things. Which is an awesome feeling. He actually told me his only regret would be missing seeing the kids grow up, etc. What more could you ask for, as you face mortality at such a young age? No other regrets?

There is not a high chance of death in his scenario, but it gets you thinking very seriously about your life, and death, regardless.

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I laid off the computer yesterday. Which was a good thing. Can be information overload.

Today I did some research on the hearing side of things.

Looks like hearing prognosis is good. I even found that as of the last year or 2, our HMO covers "bone attached hearing aids," which they refer to as BAHA. I am not 100% sure they would cover it if he only loses hearing in one ear, but I guess there have been a lot of advocacy groups fighting for the "right to hear." & they said his specific tumor led to more acceptance of full coverage of implanted hearing aids. It looks promising, and looks like it could be a hell of a lot more expensive and not covered, if this was just a few years ago.

Just, interesting. Glad to know there are options. Of course the hearing device is $5k-ish and we could swing it. Seems surgery is usually approved - the truly expensive part. Though I am not sure why an insurer would pay for surgery but deny the device. But, whatever...

Hopefully dh will *not* lose his hearing, and will all be moot. But it is good to know he will have options to hear again, if it comes to that.

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Our final headcount is about 21 for today. We lost 2 people but then gained 4.

I made fudge and eggs in the end. (The fudge took seconds to make, it seems).

Dh did some cooking, but most of it is more of a potluck. So not a huge amount of T-Day stress here. Never is. We try to make it easy on everyone.

It's kind of cool how we all work together. Great-Grandma is the stuffing master, and Grandpa does the gravy. Grammy picks the turkey apart afterwards. Grandma makes the pies, and on and on. IT's like a well-oiled machine. Somehow I am the egg and fudge master. It's nice just to be responsible for what I am good at.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I suppose my blog will veer off into "life with brain tumor" for a while. Particularly since we haven't told many people yet. Not until we *know* more. I've got to brain dump here!

Oh yes, and thank you so very much for your kid words and thoughts. It all does mean a lot.

Per further research, it's pretty clear that dh will have surgery within 2 months' time. Highly likely. Faces large chance of permanent hearing loss and facial paralysis (on one side).

Yesterday was hard to keep upbeat. Though I did dream it turned out to be cancer. I guess it could be HUGELY worse. At least it's not spreading and cancerous! This is what I have to think of to remain upbeat, I suppose.

Mortality rate for surgery is less than 1%. The fear comes from the permanent damage, and the intensity of it all. Brain surgery recovery will be long and difficult.

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Dh is the one you want around when someone is sick or in the hospital. He just knows what to do and say. I wish I could say the same for the rest of us. He deserves the same in return. The rest of us are not so good with the whole thing. He's already frustrated with me and his family. Boy, it's going to be a LONG few months.

Though I personally dread the hub bub of Thanksgiving, with all this going on, he looks forward to it. Hopefully his family will be comforting.

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I haven't thought too much of the logistics if he does have surgery. One thing at a time, I guess. I can't let that crash around me yet. BM would be thrilled to go to before and after school care (he is always begging to stay) and LM could live with relatives, at face value. Has its pros and cons, but probably beats thrusting him into daycare. He is not nearly as social as BM and not so into the whole daycare thing. (BM thrived with it, which is why he so wants to be in daycare even still).

The practical side of me thinks I should sign up BM for the school care, ASAP. They have drop-in care, which is expensive considering LM can't go. (Then they both cost $10/hour, as opposed to $12 for the two of them, other places). BUT, with all these doctor appointments and such, would be useful and needed. My mom mentioned neighbors for help. Neighbors are no help. All of our close friends and neighbors work full-time! Makes them rather useless in times like these. (You could argue they have evenings and weekends - but the people we know can barely function in their own lives, much less help other people out). We will have to rely on family 2 hours away, and paid care. I *so* wish Ms. Preschool was still here. I need her back!!!! I just can't fret about all this at this point - I know it will work out.

The thoughts did start to creep in my mind that it will be quite expensive with daycare considerations, and someone like me having to take care of careful meal planning and shopping. I haven't perfected that art, like dh. Though I suppose it is nice that he does not have a job to worry about, the fact is he saves us a lot of money being home, and him being out of commission will display just how expensive it will be to not have him performing his duties.

These thoughts are on the peripheral of my mind, but it's all too much to worry about at this point.

Of course, if dh had the decency to be diagnosed in the spring, I could have taken a couple of months off with state "paid family leave." As is, we can time the surgery so that I can take a few days off, but that's all I can really spare. My employer is very flexible and will work with me. BUT, we simply don't have enough staff to get the work done. BUSY season begins in just a couple of weeks. That stress is a bit much. I'd probably lose my mind thinking about it, and stressing about the whole thing, but I know our family can step in and take care of dh and the kids. Thank goodness!!!!!!!!!! I can't imagine where we would be without their support. If my boss gave me his blessing, I would be home worried about work, or just slammed beyond oblivion upon my return. Between now and May, I just can't do it all. & I need my job to pay these bills!

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Today I have to set it all aside.

I haven't done a thing to get ready for T-Day!!!!!! Thankfully, dh is taking care of most of the food. Today will have to clean house. We will probably feel less obligated to get the house sparkling. People will understand.

We have been eating out a lot this week. Dh had the meals planned, but no one felt like cooking the other night. Which threw everything off. I just noticed no one put the food away last night. Usually dh is - wasted food sitting out. Ugh. (I hope dh pulls himself together a bit!) Today we figured we'd eat out. Something cheap like Taco Bell. No room for leftovers in the fridge - it's jam packed with turkey and such.

I think today and tomorrow will be filled with distractions. I've got to think about other things. Nothing else I can really do at this point.

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I do hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

For us, we still have tons to be thankful for. Food, shelter, health, family, etc., etc.

**Dh went shopping for T-day today. My mom slipped me $40, and he spent about $40. It's potluck-y, so not like we needed to spend much. We may feed 25 people. We will have more food than we could ever eat. Dh's family does the holidays BIG! (Since we moved to cheaper lands, we are the only ones with a big enough home to host everyone. But we also like not having to travel for the Holiday - so we always host. We travel for the rest of the holidays/year, plenty).

Our contribution was $10 for a bit of gourmet cheese. Dh has this rasberry/brie thing he likes to do, but never enough people to really make it for. Of course, he didn't remember paying $10 for it before, but it was some top of the line sort of cheese. I told him if that is all we are providing financially, fancy cheese it is! (So he spent $50, total, but I had to point out the cheese - holy cow).

I am sure I will pick up bread at the bread outlet and dh said he still had to get sodas. There may be more - but the bulk is ready. I am actually due free bread, which may be enough.

I'll be making deviled eggs and cake. That's all I remember, for now. Dh does more of the cooking since it is his thing - though the grandmas do the turkey and all the classic T-day fare.

At this stage in the game, this time of year, I am always most grateful we have another year to all be together. This year will be meaningful since my dad has gone through so much medically this year. The kids are lucky to have so many loving, healthy, alive, grandparents and great-grandparents. We are lucky too!

Anyway, my job is to pretty the house, but it's mostly been done. So I think this year will be easy. I think it will be more work to clean up after. I have a few days off for that.

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**Christmas is throwing me for a loop. It's been a spendy year and Christmas has become quite low-key for us. So I figure I really don't have anything to buy so why even sweat it?

I was reading blogs about donations, and remembering, "Oh yeah!" I usually do a few donations. I forgot I had replaced donations for gifts, for a few people.

Today at work we did a drawing for the Christmas exchange, and then for the new person, discussed all the gifting we do, etc. We usually pitch in for something nice for the boss. & I am usually pretty generous - since I feel well paid - I don't mind getting the boss something NICE.

Then there are teachers and stuff.

I think it's time to break out the old "Christmas budget" and remind myself how expensive Christmas really is. Silly me, I thought I wouldn't spend anything?

The biggest piece of the "budget" is that we usually give my Christmas bonus to charity. We already advanced that to BM's school this year. They really could use it, and they don't make it easy to contribute. With the last fundraiser I just wrote a check. It's not much to speak of, overall, so can foot the bill even if the bonus doesn't materialize. BUT, it is usually 50%+ of our Christmas spending. With that out of the way I just didn't think there would be much else. Another reason I had written it off as "done."

I'll break out the old Christmas budget and see how much we will be hurting after all... My guess is about $250. Mostly donations and gift cards. I really don't have anything physical to buy.

Will see!

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Not great pics (I was going to get closer but another co-worker came by and scared the turkeys off when she rounded the corner!). But, the turkeys...





One of these days I will get a close-up of the Turkeys! They like to hang around the office in spring and fall. They can be quite loud too (more loud in the spring - mating season and all). Just across the road is the creek where they live. Otherwise it's just very "city," so kind of odd.

& a beautiful picture from a bike ride with my dad, while the fam was in Florida:

I'm officially out of the heat challenge - a week earlier than last year.

I am not dissapointed at all - it's all the weather's fault.

In fact, I was starting to wonder if I was getting hormonal, because the cold hasn't particularly bothered me. This morning it was 61 inside, and I didn't even flip it on.

BUT, dh whimped out a few days ago. I didn't even know until I came home to the heat on, and asked why he had turned it on (usually I cave first - even if he is home all day!). Anyway, said he had turned it on a couple of times, because he was COLD. I hadn't even known - doh! So I am out as of the 15th. (We are not in the "run the heat all day" stage - that will be winter. HE had only flipped it on for a bit, so I didn't know).

Anyway, along those lines, it was flipping cold today!!!! Down to almost 30 (farenheit) overnight - which is as cold as it gets, here. Brrrr. The only difference between now and winter is we still have gorgeous sunny days. So I am proud of myself, that I didn't even turn on the heat this morning.

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I saw a pile of turkeys this morning and tried to snap some pics. Will share later. (Don't they know they should be hiding this time of year???)

They emerge in large groups, in the spring and fall. No doubt they came out to soak up some sun? After such a chilly night?

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There was an interesting question a while back - if switching banks for every promotion was worthwhile. Balance that against a post about changing a bank for the first time in one's life.

To all that - it depends. Depends on how desparate you are and your preference. I would say switching banks every 90 days for free money is well worth it if you are pretty broke.

I've personally found that I am changing banks every year or 2, on average (online savings types). I've only switched my checking once in my life, and don't plan to move that around unless I have to. Finally sucked it up and got a more local bank once the mail got slow. (I had ALWAYS mailed my deposits prior - and was never an issue until 2006-ish). But, the local CU we ended up is larger, more local, and has proven to be a good change. I am very pleased. I had never lived so close to my CU before... Never in the same city even - now I could walk if I Wanted to. But really the best perk is a better infrastructure since they are a little larger. The online bill pay at my old CU sucked, for one. The proximity doesn't really matter to me so much. Though it's nice as long as the mail sucks and I don't have direct deposit.

That pretty much sums it up for me.

I wouldn't blame anyone for jumping from promotion to promotion, though. I just don't feel it's personally worth the effort, today. But I Wouldn't leave my money in a low-interest account for a long time either. Always keeping an eye out for something better... & I try to pick places that have historically high rates, because I really don't want to jump every 5 minutes.

My time has been filled up and busy, but a break from real life leaves me feeling pretty refreshed.

My folks visited Sunday and stayed quite late actually. I went to bed quite a few hours later than usual!

Monday night I drove to visit them and stayed up too late again!

Woke up at dawn to get to South San Francisco by 8. Tried to stay awake for a so-so seminar. I went to an excellent one last week, so my expectations were probably too high. What a snore!

Drove into the city and glad I Was prepared for rain. IT didn't rain much at all (phew) but rained a good bit while I had an hour to wait for my friend.

I plopped my GPS in my pocket and set it to "pedestrian mode" so I wouldn't get horribly lost. Though I felt uncomfortable looking lost and touristy, so didn't touch it. (My friend later commented it would be mistaken for an iPhone - quite normal - but I didn't want to get mugged either). LEst you think I am paranoid in the city - no. I don't make it a habit to walk alone at night, and not with expensive gadgets - I live in a fairly large city myself!

Was in Union Square, and so headed to Macy's/Cheesecake Factory for some dryness and a restroom. I was sure Macy's would have one, but the Cheesecake Factory is on the top level - gorgeous view. & I was kind of curious to see how crowded it was. I've never been there with less than a 2-3 hour wait - and I knew no one would notice if I popped in the bathroom.

It was hopping and had quite a few people waiting, but didn't look like the 2-3 hours wait of years past.

I walked around the immense building for a while and browsed insanely expensive clothing.

That was it for the rain - and I was prepared in a rain jacket. Phew.

With the weather and ambiance, the area struck me very much like NYC. I've never really equated the two cities. Was in a very NYC-like section of town.

My friend escaped from work and we ate appetizers at a little Indonesian restaurant - Yum! & talked for hours. I left the city feeling rather refreshed!

Wasn't too expensive.

Gas - $20? (Took the gas sipper - good for city parking too).
$ 6 Lunch
$16 Dinner
$ 9 PArking (a Steal!)
$ 4 Bridge Toll
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$55

In the end - really only $29 to visit my friend - gas would have paid otherwise, with the seminar and all. I could have just had dinner with my folks and gone home a different route with no bridges, and no parking expenses, otherwise.

Was well worth it!

& I have tentative plans to visit her again in a couple of weeks. LM and I are going into the city, regardless. I promised him an adventure. (& a train ride - am taking him down to the Bay Area during my next Friday seminar).

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Tales of the GPS...

It got interesting when I left. The GPS wanted me to turn on a billion streets to get to the freeway (I assumed), which struck me as odd. I gave up and stayed on the major street I Was on. I *knew* there was a freeway connection there, and in fact saw it as I passed it. I thought it was odd the GPS ignored it, but I think I was a bit turned around, and so kept going. GPS said "Go 1 mile" or something, so I figured I could catch the freeway up ahead.

After driving a while I ended up on some dark, deserted streets and realized I wasn't quite sure where I Was. I wasn't thrilled with this, but knew the freeway couldn't be too far. I started listening to the GPS and making all these turns.

As I drove through some unsavory neighborhoods I started to get more frustrated. What the heck is going on? Where am I???

I realized as I entered some sort of "expressway" with no place to stop, what the problem was. It dawned on me the GPS was in "pedestrian mode" and was avoiding the freeway! I guess it thought I wanted to WALK the 90 miles home?

I pulled over the first place I could - which was a dark neighborhood. Of course I couldn't figure out how to change it back, and was worried about getting mugged.

I finally figured it out, and went on my merry way. Except I was in a very confusing area and drove through the same intersection 2-3 more times before I finally found the freeway. Like I came to a fork in the road and ended up going the wrong way (I decided to go right when I should have gone left). The GPS was no help in that area - the intersection was confusing when I approached it from a different street - so round and round I went.

I can laugh about it now because I eventually got home safe! Took me 2 hours to drive home - ugh!

Next time I think I will remember to switch the mode!

All in all, it was my frist time using the GPS alone (on such a large drive anyway) and I was pleased with it. I just had the luck to have the mode issues and to figure it out in a very confusing area. Usually dh and I read the directions to each other. So, overall, problems aside, I Was quite pleased with it, and I Think it opens up a bit of a new world for me. I am VERY directionally challenged. & the GPS makes me open to trying new things. I probably learned not to overly rely on it and check my brain out when using it though.

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I am only in the office a couple of days this week, and then to Tahoe for the weekend. What an exhausting week this is turning out to be! But, I am enjoying it.

Dh has his MRI Friday. I think the distractions are helpful. The weekend should help get our mind off of it as we await results.

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In other interesting news, an "America's Most Wanted" fugitive was found in the area I live.

That's just the sort of the media attention we need! (NOT!) We had a murder a few weeks ago - and all sorts of exaggerated reports about crime and gangs in the area, has been spread by the media. I find it very frustrating. (Was first murder of the year - it's freaking November - the population is large - murders are expected, and are usually domestic anyway - someone you know). Most my friends think I am a poor sap who lives in denial in "the ghetto." Which is completely absurd.

Now our neighborhood harbors fugitives! I can hear it now...

Anyway, I actually do enjoy watching AMW and always think to myself that I would never run across anyone featured on that show. I know the point of the show is that we all do run across these people. BUT, it's hard to stomach that you could be working or living next to an insane psycopath!

Um, maybe I will pay closer attention? Yikes!

**Made progress on the grocery bill mystery. (Bill was quite large last 2 months).

Um, dh went to Safeway because he had a coupon/promotion to spend $50 and get $10 off Kohls. I told him, "No Thanks" since I can't walk into Kohls and just spend $10. It's the "no spend month!" But he said he needed some pants. Well, okay then. Glad he could use it. (Ended up paying $7 for new jeans - which wasn't bad!).

He did go to Safeway and griped about it well afterwards - how expensive it has gotten. He still felt it was worth the coupon - but was reminded why we rarely shop there any more.

Anyway, that was just last weekend, so I was surprised to see another Safeway "grocery" purchase when I downloaded our credit cards into Quicken today. After all that griping? Why would he go back??? I looked closer and thought it could be a gas purchase. So I pulled up last month, and by some miracle, dh never got gas. Well - that solves that! Safeway fuel used to be labeled, "Safeway Fuel" and would go to "auto expense." I guess they are no longer differentiating Safeway gas and grocery. Lord knows how long this has been going on and how screwed up my Quicken is. Interestingly, as long as my gas and groceries don't top $800/month, I don't really care. So if any 2 categories have to be comingled - those will do.

All I can do is ask dh to keep me updated on his gas purchases, or make assumptions going forward. Will be easier to catch those now that I know...

Solves a bit of a mystery?

Though the one Safeway purchase last month hardly made a dent - groceries were still large! But it may explain the month prior to that.

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I got an e-mail that my new CU account is set up.

I noticed my online bank raised rates the last couple of days. Still, not enough.

Not too thrilled with the CU not calling me. It's the first institution that I have banked with that has not followed up on the fraud alert on my credit bureau accounts. Though I did mention that they asked for a lot of private info. I guess they assume if I have my drivers license and social security card, that I am me? Doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy.

I'll get money transferred around by December, probably.

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I've got some super-mini-vacations coming up. Will barely be in the office the next few weeks.

Work is slow and it's like "summer break" for me. December begins the insanity!

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I made progress on the baths, etc., at home. One sink repaired, and our shower is almost in full working order. Will probably err with caution and let the new caulk dry all week.

As of next weekend, we can resume using that shower, and I can work on the repairs on the kids' bath. I don't think it will take as long. I have one more sink to recaulk, as well as the large kitchen sink. I am dreading that one. It's easier to remove grout than caulk, that is my conclusion!

In fact, in less used areas I am skipping old caulk removal. I give up!

Ideally I did an awesome job that will last forever. Realistically, I put off hiring someone for a couple of years.

**Today I had a seminar but it turned out to be right down the street from my office. So I dropped off my lunch in the fridge and drove over for lunch. Answered some calls and e-mails, and time to spare. Will probably stop by on my way home to grab my leftovers - but that's about it. Seminar days I get out early. I can wave neener neener to my co-workers.

**I am not quite crazy enough to go to a seminar in San Francisco (though maybe I should ask if I could crash with a friend some time). South SF is a doable commute from my folks house so I signed up for a seminar there. IT was the only place I could take a specific class. PArking may possible be free?

It just occured to me with my GPS I should suck it up and go see my "best friend" who I never see. To be fair, I don't know if she has EVER visited me in Sacramento. BUT, in theory we should meet up in the Bay Area whenever we should - the public transport between cities sucks and we both visit our parents often enough.

We saw her in January and had a GREAT time. I e-mailed her on a whim and she is open to meeting in the evening. With the GPS, I will brave the city driving. I've done it before while young and stupid. The GPS gives me the guts to try again. {Really, I've driven there a billion times. It's just been a long while since I have ventured there alone}.

So today's seminar was extraordinarily cheap. Next week will be pricey with lunch, dinner, parking, Bridge tolls, etc. But well worth it to reconnect with an old friend. The 2 should even out?

**We have a weekend arranged at the cabin with a friend. Probably won't be the cheapest weekend ever (spendy friend, for one). But, I think it will be quite fun!

**Dh may take the kids out of town this weekend - his parents need help with some stuff. In theory, I should be able to make good progress on house projects. So it may work out. (Noting our auto gas bill will be large this month!!! SF, San Jose (x2), Tahoe, oh my!)

**Dh got a follow up appointment for his MRI. We will know the results the day before Thanksgiving. We were worried we might not find out until after the holidays. Phew! Turns out a friend knew someone who went through something similar - was just a "polyp" in his sinus - very easy to remove. I guess the possibilities are multiplying. Nice to know what else it could be.

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I guess November is shaping up to be a little exciting!

& thing is, really, no time or money to do any of this stuff with wee little ones, the last few years. Like, next week I am just ditching the fam for a couple of days. & I have money to splurge on a couple of meals out! Who cares about the parking - I haven't seen my friend since January! It all feels rather luxurious to me...

I guess I will always find it ironic that nonsense spreads through the forums like wildfire (i.e. The Dems want to take away your 401ks!). & yet a lot of real and true tax law passes rather quietly. Maybe it's ingenious on the part of politicians - "Look over there!" so you don't see what they are really doing?

I am just surprised I have seen no mention of this, anywhere online where I frequent financial conversations.

Home Buyer Credit Extension

http://www.fox4kc.com/business/wdaf-finance-extensions-11090...

Could be interesting to those thinking of down-sizing? The credit is now available to those who already own homes. Though I haven't read all the details, I didn't see anything about requiring a bigger home for the credit, though apparently the thinking is to spur move-up buyers. Wonder if it will spur move-down buyers even more.

I was just looking up details at a client's request, though I heard this passed on Monday?

There you have it. With so much downsizing talk, I thought many would find this interesting.

As for me? I ain't moving anywhere. A $6500 credit hardly accounts for the cost of selling or moving in our real estate market. Our downsize timeline is for when the kids are grown, anyway. We "upsized" as much as we ever plan to, in our 20s.

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Dh asked Amazon for a $10 price match on a recent purchase. No biggie, right?

BUT, he called them (usually an e-mail will suffice - their customer service is really good) to ask for $5 off on a new purchase. Though the deal was going around, most retailers charge more for the item.

Amazon said sure, and gave him a flat $16 credit instead of $10. He even said, "Well, $15 would be fine!" They said, "I'll give you $16."

Um, how awesome is that? $16 was enough to cover the item, and then some. In this case, no purchase was necessary though.

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Reminds me, I am pretty sure we met our Ebay challenge for the year. I wanted to net $100/month in Ebay/Craigslist sales.

Dh tracks all that and I don't know the details, but he has been giving me approximately $75/month.

This does not account for things he has bought with his sales income (like game systems and games galore - even gave one to a friend recently). HE also sells a pile of stuff for credit at a Used Music/Game store.

As our finances improve, I will consider earmarking those deposits for college or retirement savings. HEck, once kids are in school, there is much more profit potential, with more time to chase deals.

It's hit and miss. Some months there were no sales to be made. Other months brought in hundreds of dollars. It hasn't been a steady monthly income. Obviously, December is usually our best month. Still time to make $1200 cold hard cash for 2009.

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Saw another interesting article on 529s:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870440240457452...

I haven't particularly seen the benefits of a 529 in our low tax bracket. But it's rare that I ever seen a negative thought about a 529 plan! (I still think they are probably the best bet for anyone saving a LOT for college or anyone more upper-middle to wealthy. That's just not our demographic at the moment). The article does point out the inflexibility and issues of 529 plans.

**Well, dh is set up for a MRI after all. We have been told that his symptoms are not in line with a stroke or a brain tumor, but they want to dot their i's and cross their t's. Basically, his other doctor does not agree with not doing further testing.

Which is fine. Financially, we won't get the bill for months or years anyway. (Is there a statute on medical bills? Drives me a little mad how slow they can be to bill...)

Though makes 2009 extraordinarily ugly as far as Murphy goes. But HDHP is far more affordable than old plan, and this isn't anything I am going to sweat. Medical emergencies are no time to sweat - plenty of cash in the bank.

Unfortunately, have to wait 2 weeks, and who knows when we will get any results, with the holidays. I think we both feel a bit anxious in the interim.

So, yes, something is going on, but that's about it!

**Otherwise, it's rather quiet.

November is filled with slow days at work, and days off for continuing education seminars.

Dh's folks visited last weekend; mine this weekend. Trying to work a weekend in the Sierras (at the family cabin), perhaps the following weekend. Then we host Thanksgiving, as usual.

The seminars could be spendy with parking and meals out. But most of the rest is going to be pretty darn cheap. Thanksgiving is a potluck of sorts, and we always have more free turkeys than we know what to do with.

**I set out quite a few bags for charity I while back, and later I found I forgot 2 of them. I also have some more fragile items to pack up.

I forgot one charity pickup in between, but just got notice of another one in the next week. Will feel good to clear out the rest of that clutter.

**I earned 2 free items at the Oroweat store, with my punch card. Will try to pick up 2 free loaves of bread this week. That may be it for this week's bread purchase.

**Still working on getting an account set up at Alliant CU. Their interest rate is still 2%. Ally's has dropped to 1.55% in the interim. Good time to move - I can see the writing on the wall that GMAC/Ally will most likely drop their old MM accounts with checking option. I'll keep a token amount in there since their rates have been historically higher, but looks like Alliant will be a better place for most of our cash, for now. Application is processing.

Ironically, I had to send all sorts of personal info to them because of my ID theft. I told dh that I have to reveal more personal info than usual because of the ID theft. IT just feels so wrong. I had to mail off a copy of my SS card, for one. Ugh! It's just the way it is...

**I get the sense that people (like the Dave Ramsey and extreme anti-debt crowd) mistake my nonchalance about credit cards as cockiness. As I am told over and over that using credit cards will end up biting me in the ass.

Hmmmm, thing is I use credit cards on my terms. & if I had to drop them all tomorrow, not sure I'd particularly care. It's not that I don't think my rewards will dry up or that I will get charged annual fees. It's that I don't care and have no problem dropping them like hot potatoes if that is the better choice. Anyone else frustrated by this distinction?

Stupid me for arbitraging 0% loans into 6% FDIC-insured cash returns, averaging $750/year in cash rewards, and for using my excellent FICO score for rock bottom mortgage rates and favorable insurance rates. How could I be so stupid???

Since I've played this game for about 14 years, I Am not terribly worried about it. & I am certainly not opposed to paying everything with cash if it is the better option. It just isn't, yet...

The consequence of possibly getting our cash in order within a year, is that when you have cash it is easier to spend it.

In theory anyway. Dh and I are not the greatest examples as we can be a bit of cash hoarders. But by the same token, I do feel like we are about to explode with purchases we haven't been able to justify since having kids.

I am not sure how the 2 sides will balance out, so better safe than sorry.

It is also always good to sit down and talk about this stuff with a spouse. Sometimes you have no idea they were thinking it was a good idea to make a huge purchase in a year or 2.

So, what does this say about us? The only *new* purchases we have on the horizon (things we don't already own):

Bed/Mattress for LM (NEED)
Security/Screen Door
Trip to Hawaii
Play Structure (for kids)
Ping Pong Table
Pool Table

The trip to Hawaii materialized this year as a potential reward for making it this long without dh working, as our finances improve. Also goes will with the whole 10-year-wedding-anniversary thing. Though we are starting to think we should make it an 11-year trip. I feel no pressing need to have to go ASAP.

That is a rather new thing, and the rest centers around our home. Because, well, we are home bodies!

Here's most of the rest of the list. ** Denotes replacing things we already own. Some need to be replaced; others we want to replace with newer and/or better:

**HDTV
**New Computer Monitors (20-ish years old - the both of them).
**Digital Camera (6 years old - pennies to replace with something 4 times better)
**Replace Fence
**Outdoor Furniture
**Replace Sectional Couch (I just hate it)
**Adobe Suite (Software)
**HD Camcorder
**Redo Bathroom Tiles
**Replace Garage Door Opener (Quieter)

Though I am often impressed how little our material wish list is (new items we don't already own), other times I see how overwhelming it can be to maintain a fair amount of material items. IT probably doesn't help that so much that we own was hand-me-down or free. OF course, the irony, if I think about it, is that most of the stuff we want to replace, WE BOUGHT NEW in the first place. Oy vey. No explanation for that!

I keep thinking of more things for the list. I will have to update this post eventually. I'm probably forgetting quite a lot.

There will always be a list. I am quite sure some of these purchases will never be made. Not all of them are financially justifiable - & some are more necessary than others.

I am hoping that having a real, solid, written down list (that isn't merely in our heads) will help us to better manage them financially. This is definitely a new thing!

**Financial Update: Dh was surprisingly on board with hoarding cash for 2010. We both know if the market dips that we will be snatching up cheap stock though. I guess in the end it's rather win-win. Either we get in a strong cash position, or we buy more cheap stocks, in 2010.

**Another amazing TV purchase deal has been spotted by my dh. He didn't bring it up as though he wanted to buy it - more just at amazement at lower and lower HD prices.

Dh could have maybe talked me into it before our cash account started to reverse directions. Instead, I told him that these deals were starting to become rather common and I was pretty sure he would find an amazing TV deal between now and January. We discussed our cash position and decided to wait another year, as originally planned, no matter what. Will see if dh can stick to his guns. I can't say how it will pan out. I won't sweat getting a steal on a planned purchase, by jumping a bit early. Cash allows that luxury. BUT, I am getting the feeling the same deals will be had next year too. & I rather wait.

**I finished demolition in the bathroom and believe that next weekend I will be able to get our bathroom in full working order.

Will see!

I have second guessed myself much, like if I have ruined the bath and if we will need a professional after all. If I felt I had the means, I would hire someone to completely redo our baths. This is just a bandaid for now. No complaints about our home builder at all, but for the standard baths. We upgraded just about everything else. If I had known the crappy job they'd do on the standard baths, we would have upgraded those too and saved some money and headaches. The upgrades were mere pennies compared to ripping out and starting over.

Anyway, I am hoping my hard work will delay impending repairs for a few more years.

Once the bath is working I can do the much more minor repairs in the kids' bath. I know that one is an easier, longer lasting bandaid at least. But the use of our private shower would be nice too!

**In other news, my dad has been officially laid off from his job, post-stroke. He tried to return to work many months ago, and his employer clearly was trying to get him to quit in the meantime. Very frustrating, but paperwork has been signed as of last week. Officially laid off. His stroke was in May, and I believe he tried to return to work in September. Maybe they have only been dancing around it for 2 months, but it feels like it has been forever!!!!

With employers like these, who needs enemies? They treated him terribly. The worst was they fought him every step of the way - messing with stock options, COBRA, and everything in the process. Changing the rules as they went along. FINALLY, they hired a lawyer. The stress was the last thing he needed, but hell if he would quit and let them win, either. He wanted his job back!!!! Now he is eligible for unemployment, when his disability payments expire.

He's been job hunting best one can while still employed. Self survival - he would have quit if he found a job.

We are wary. His brain function is not quite 100%. Returning to his old job would have been far easier to test the extent of his disability. Now he will have to test his performance at a new job - which is rather scary.

Of course, the flip side is that he may never find another job.

My extremely financially prepared parents have been extremely zen of late. Initially they were hit with panic as my dad's employment evaporated before them. Not sure if he will ever work again - how scary! As prepared as they were, this wasn't exactly in the plans.

I think time and even moreso, facing their mortality, has changed their tune a bit. I really can't explain it. I am glad they aren't stressing though - I don't think they need to. Social security is only 40% or so of their income - and would pay all their bills at their prior lifestyle level, which was plenty nice. The reward for living well below one's means. Not to mention being amply insured, and having hit the poverbial lottery with their personal residence. That's a heck of a lot of insurance in itself. I am glad they have relaxed - I am sure they will be fine.

My dad is a workaholic. Lord willing, he will work many more years - he doesn't want to retire. But I think he is also accepting the possibility of retirement a little better now.

**In terms of our own health, dh and I have been noticing a lot more patterns in LM and are starting to feel that the asthma diagnosis is probably more than just a passing guess. We have suddenly noticed how exercise and allergens send off his coughing fits. I am sure we will have more doctor appointments as we explore exactly what all this means.

**Dh's general doctor called him after talking to the neurologist. I figured that was kind of done, but she sent dh for a hearing test. He one done as recently as last year, as they followed up from his last spell of hearing loss. The hearing tech (for lack of a better word) was very informative. Mentioned brain tumor actually. Said, the hearing loss was not characteristic with a tumor (it had returned to his "normal" of a year ago - but still had some strange characteristics noted a year ago). The tech or whoever he met with said they would refer him back to his ear/nose/throat doctor and would not be surprised if that doctor recommended a MRI to be on the safe side.

I could flip a coin. We have the cash and I certainly don't mind being on the safe side. So we will see if we hear any more on that. If not, I am confident that it is not warranted.

Dh seems to be fine, so phew.

His first doctor appointment didn't go so well. Doctor mentioned the word, "Stroke," though she really didn't have a clue. At that point it flipped me out a bit, considering my dad had a stroke this year, etc. I thought maybe I had been in complete denial. (Looking back, I think it just didn't seem to be that at all, so I logically ruled it out). But at the point I did think maybe I was in denial. She was stumped and actually called a neurologist at the hospital. He just said, "I'd need to see him." Since they weren't really sure if it was something serious at that point, they got him an appointment right away.

We went over to the big hospital, and I told dh I knew for a fact he was getting into a neurologist faster than my dad did, who had a much more major stroke. Didn't know if this was good or bad. But good to get answers.

In the end, no answers, but I did like the neurologist. He said his brain looked completely healthy, from initial examination, and he thinks it is just an inner ear thing, set off by a virus. Dh tends to get vertigo and hearing loss with colds, etc.

My pet peeve, you know, is making important decisions based on finances. Too often a doctor or nurse has muttered, "I would do this, but it's expensive, and I assume you can't afford it." Not said in those exact words, but pretty much. One nurse said, "Oh I see you have this plan and can't afford it." HUH???? I will afford anything for my health. It's just a bit of my pet peeve when it comes to car repairs and health visits.

ANYWAY, I didn't like the way this was going. Doctor said he could do further testing, "but it's expensive." This guy really wanted to piss me off, didn't he? We are talking about a loved one's brain! Who cares how much it cost for a flipping test?

But he did redeem himself. He made clear that he was confident that dh's brain was fine, and that he didn't want to put him through that at this point - not enough symptoms to justify it all. At least this is logical. (Next steps would be blood testing and MRI).

If dh does have further episodes, etc., then it is possible he will get an MRI. For now, everything seems fine, and the virus thing seems logical.

The neurologist was very "it's up to you," as was everyone else we talked to. They seemed a little sympathetic that his symptoms were a little freaky. I think it was like, "If you want a MRI.." "If you want drugs, if you want another appointment, whatever you need."

In the end he is better and we decided to drop it.

So I am relieved to say he seems fine. If his ear bothers him again we may pursue more of an ear specialist, but it's hard to do much at this point, now that he is 100% again.

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I've not felt very well - but could just be stress. A billion germs seem to be flying round. We all seem to have a *touch of* everything, if that makes sense. Work is terribly slow, and by some miracle I barely used any sick days this year. So I am glad I can stay home and rest. (With the kids in preschool dh and I were constantly sick, but that seems to have passed. Phew!!! Last year wasn't so bad, but I had a nasty flu that knock me out almost 2 weeks. I will be proud to end this year with only a handful of sick days - assuming that is possible. Shouldn't get ahead of myself I guess, but we usually all get hit harder in the spring - more stress I guess with tax season and everything. Right now everything seems to be mild as we have low stress otherwise).

What is one secret to squeezing out more savings? Pay your bills "late!"

Actually, the deal is, someone in the forums was asking about a budget problem and not getting paid for 30 days or something. They were concerned about their mortgage payment. If they were that tight for money, I figured they probably already knew their mortgage had a grace period. I didn't want to state the obvious, but brought it up.

The reply was something like, "I could never pay the mortgage late!" Like I suggested something pretty terrible.

Oy vey!

Anyway, I think it's a good tip and it got me thinking, so I had to share.

(I mean, come one MM blog followers - do I delight in paying my bills late? LOL).

Most mortgages (check with yours) allow a 15-day grace period. Meaning, you can pay your mortgage 15 days "late" with no negative consequences. I have always kept this in the back of my mind - it would be the first action in case of emergency - I would pay the mortgage ve after the 1st instead of before the 1st.

& yes, I have paid my mortgage "late" MANY times. I know for a fact that there is no negative consequences.

After that discussion I was thinking about it. Well, my $2150 property tax bill was due Sunday. But no penalty is assessed until December 10th. I mean come on, the REAL due date is December 10. I don't know anyone financially savvy who pays their tax bill in November, unless they just like to pay their bills super early. By waiting for December 1, I will earn $4 in interest. $4!!!!! If you collect pennies, why wouldn't you pay your bills on their real due dates???

So, anyway. I don't know if there are any other bills I habitually pay "late." Probably not. Everything else should really probably be paid on time, to avoid penalties and issues. & credit cards? The earlier the better.

Thing is, most people don't realize their mortgage company can be rather lenient compared to other types of companies.

I googled a bit to see how standard a 15-day mortgage grace period is, and it looks pretty standard. Late payment is not reported until 30 days.

If it were me, and I had no income for a month, and no savings, I would just pay the mortgage late. Even if over 15 days - take the penalty, and call it a day. Beats racking up credit card debt or a loan. If it doesn't affect your credit score, since you paid in 30 days, why not? I still think it seems like the easiest solution, given the scenario. But hey, what do I know???

Anyway, why have I often paid my mortgage "late?" To avoid touching my savings (generally in times of higher interest) for a simple, temporary cash flow issue. I find it easier than juggling all my savings around. I've had a years worth of savings in the bank, and paid the mortgage "late" so I wouldn't have to jiggle money around.

Obviously I take my mortgage very seriously. I wouldn't recommend paying it late, habitually, beyond using it as a money management tool.

I guess the other thing is being an accountant, I view the "due date" as merely a suggestion. I get the feeling that some people view it as a moral obligation. Believe me, as long as said company gets paid and doesn't have to send you a late notice, it's all good!

LM was unofficially diagnosed with asthma today.

I am $150 poorer, but glad that the nebulizer is quite affordable! Phew! (We didn't have prescription coverage for a time, and I think that now we do?)

Um, doc says he does not have swine flu, and probably did not have it in the first place.

Though he has always been a little wheezy when sick (& believe me we have asked the doc about it) and prone to what we thought was allergies, the asthma showed itself in coughing fits. They have been coming on and off quite suddenly, but last night was pretty terrible. So we sent him off to the doc today.

Our city has extremely high rates of asthma and allergies, so not surprising in the least.

I am even starting to think back on some of BM's "croup" episodes and wonder if he could have asthma as well. There was a time for about a year that he would get that awful croup cough out of nowhere, be terribly ill, and it would just go away. The doc kept saying he would outgrow that horrible cough any day. (I think he has, but knock on wood). Something to consider if it does come on again. It is just occurring to me that BM is also known for sudden crazy coughing.

For now, it's just a guess and doctor wants us to let her know if the nebulizer helps, and if we find we are using it often, etc. Then we can go from there.

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Poor LM though. He had such a rough night last night and nothing would help his cough. At least we have another tool for the next coughing fit.

& of course, by the time we got in to the docs' today, he was good as new. Thankfully she heard a wheeze. Otherwise not sure the doctor visit would have been as productive.

"Productivity" must be in the air. It is definitely a fall thing.

**Counted kids' money today, and BM has a $50 deposit. It is so funny how crammed full his piggy bank was with $1 bills. Mental note: check his piggy bank more often.

For now, BM is the saver (he is like dh: likes his electronics, but hell if he would spend a dime on anything else. Seems totally disinterested in fads. Though, since dh gets so many games and books for free, he is content).

LM is more imaginative and could play with lint all day, but he also likes collecting little characters. He has been the spendy one. That being said, Grandma spoils him a bit, and as spendy as he is, he still had about $40 in his piggy bank. Go figure. (He doesn't get an allowance yet, so BM has much more dough).

**Dh and I discussed no-spend November. Well, I think it will be "low-spend November." We've spent our money for the year, pretty much. (Keep in mind - all our November bills are already paid, etc. Anything in December will mostly be charged, and paid in January).

Today I reconciled all our "savings buckets" accounts - spreadsheets - through the end of the year. In the end, I don't think we will have to touch any other savings (barring Murphy or unforeseen), but on the flip side I am upset that I have no money to add to the efund. Maybe next year!

We will end rather breakeven in short-term savings, and with $0 in the medical savings. $20k-ish in more long-term savings/efund.

I think short term savings needs a $150/month boost. That is where preschool money will divert to, mid-2010.

(Drats - and I forgot to account for possible $1k car repair. Might have to touch savings, after all. Won't beat myself up over it since short-term savings covered $2k body work on the van this year. I'll be lucky to have barely touched our "true savings," otherwise.).

**I've finished most of my goals for the year, but have completely ignored all my "house goals."

Until the month of October anyway.

This weekend I:

*Touched Up Paint
*Trimmed Trees (never done before)
*starting demolition on bathroom repairs.

Last one sounds fancy, but I am mostly just removing grout, old caulk, and cleaning for re-caulking.

The nice thing is I have all the time in the world for bath projects. I have quite a few areas to work on. Our bathroom has not been used for years, and so I will take my time on it. Once it is in working order, we can start work on the other bath. The perk to having 2 full baths. (My bath will be the most tedious - the only one with grout to remove. The reason being that it was falling out all over the place. I got all the easy stuff on Friday, and the rest will be a chore. Just where the tile meets the bottom of the shower. I have read that it should be caulked - where different materials meet - so that is what I will do. I read builders are bad about this detail, but it hasn't affected our other 2 tubs. I am just going to caulk over the other 2 tubs since the grout has held up. Phew!).

The only other frustration this weekend is that the door paint, which we had never opened or used, was all "curdled." We went by the paint store today, but it was closed. Doh! Builder gave us small 1/2 gallons of touch up paint, and wrote down the paint #s. Hopefully it will be easy to replace (though I am not terribly sure that it's the right paint to begin with?).

So all I was able to touch up was the walls, but they do look like a million bucks.

In the end, might have to pick a new color for 2 doors, and completely repaint them. Worst case, anyway.

Anyway, I was starting to think I might not hit any house goals this year. No idea where this motivation has come from, but I will take it!

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Enjoy it while you can. I don't plan to make "house repair" a hobby. I have actually been a pretty terrible procrastinator on this. Like, I rather not use the shower, than fix it!

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Dh earned his keep. He did minor garage door repair, changed air filters, and promised to repair a hole in the wall (from doorknob - pesky kids loosened the door stopper). Him and the kids helped me with the trees, too. Dh did the grunt work.

Oh yeah - I figured I'd attempt to remove our small, dead tree. It seemed wobbly, so I gave it a good kick. Well, that was all it needed! Dh ended up having to saw it up into smaller pieces. It was just too dry/brittle. But I was able to get all the live tree branches trimmed. Borrowed saw came in handy!

I also drug dh along on a home repair shopping trip. Though I ended up buying most of it online (cheaper).

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One thing to add: I puzzled over our grocery bill this month, since it was quite high, for 2 months in a row. & um, family was gone for ONE WEEK? I thought this month would even out since dh had stocked up on so much before their trip in October. (To be fair - I gave a fair amount of food away because dh cooked more like for 2-3, than for one).

Anyway, I swear the kids have asked for a snack about 100 times today!!!!! I think I can see the culprits! They usually do not eat light in the least, but I think keeping them well fed will be challenging for a while. They get this way with growth spurts. I can not imagine what it will be like to have 2 teenaged boys!!! With their metabolisms? Oy vey!! Glad I have time to save up for that - may need a second income. Or a Costco membership.

We bought a small bowl of candy, and expected to have tons leftover. Our neighborhood can be hit and miss, but usually no one Trick or Treats much. Sometimes we are lucky to get 5 people, though we have had maybe one year (in 8?) that was crowded. Since we border a gated community, we figure, most people hit the "rich people in the gates" rather than bother with us.

Anyway, so we took the kids out with their neighbor friends, and holy cow, TONS of people out. The weather was divine! It was maybe 60-65 degrees. We were sweating in our jackets.

Funny enough, since hardly anyone seemed to be home in our neighborhood, at some point my neighbor asked if anyone remembered the gate code. I drew a blank though we need it to use the pool, and we had been there a billion times this summer. A guy handing out candy yelled out, "It ain't all that. I was just there - those houses are so spread out you have to walk farther. The pickings are better here." We've never sampled the bounty because, well, the kids don't need MORE CANDY. Was happy to stick to our slightly more modest neighborhood.

My one pet peeve of the evening was the number of people who left their outside lights on, but didn't answer the door. You know, usually there are one or 2, so whatever. But this year? It seems like half the houses. Which was frustrating since so few people were home to begin with.

We got home, and the kids skyped their grandparents and great-grandparents. I figured as things were winding down and we got our first Trick or Treaters, I was handing out handfuls. Then, about 20 kids came to the door - and well, I had about 20 pieces of candy left. Dh and the kids finished their skype and were like, "What the heck happened to the candy?????" LOL.

I turned off the light while we inspected the kids' candy. We always pick out all the crappy stuff and hand it back out.

We went through it, and we were shocked by the bounty. Quite a few large candy bars, and for a new record, there was not even one item we wanted to throw back. I personally like chocolate, and that is mostly what they had. But seriously? Nothing weird and/or cheap in the bunch? ??

I thought the whole thing was rather insane. The economy has hit our city VERY hard. I told dh, "Remember when we used to be happy with a small piece of candy?" At some point someone only handed the kids one piece of candy, and they exclaimed, "They only gave us one!" & we are like, "yeah? Be grateful?"

This halloween just left me scratching my head. A lot less people seemed to participate this year, in handing out candy. But the few that participated, went BIG. & all I saw was new, store bought costumes on the streets. Makes you think, "what economy whoas?" By the same token, it just shocks me at what HAlloween has become. The more/bigger, the better?

In the end - I think we ended up with 3 times the candy we started with, and we only went to a handful of houses, really. Holy cow!

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For us? Spent a few bucks on candy. LM wore a costume from 2007, and BM's dracula costume was all of $10.

But yeah, just had to share because, well, the end result was completely unexpected. I do thing the bigger turnout can be attributed to the nice weather. But, who knows. No logic for the biggest halloween bounty of all time.

**Feeling rather caught up at work. November will be slow, but I will barely be in the office anyway. I have a lot of 3-day weeks ahead. Vacation days, holidays, continuing education, etc. I will enjoy it because end of December will get kind of crazy, and it's all downhill from there!

**I have been super duper productive, even since the family has returned home.

*Opened new CU savings account
*Baked cupcakes for school
*Donated money to school
*House is still looking pretty clean
*Mailed in a pile of rebates

Etc., etc.

**I went by the bread store again. Dh wanted rolls for a recipe, LM wanted more boring bread, and I stocked up on the good wheat bread and the SandwhichThins. We figured everything was about 50% of what we pay for at the store - plus it's MUCH better quality, to boot.

Oh, and I earned 2 free items. Will probably just get more bread, next weekend, when we start to run out. FREE!

**My netbook has gone through a bit of a metamorphasis. I exchanged it for a black one with a larger hard drive. Dh then found a deal on more memory. Since we were able to price match it, ended up costing the same as originally, just about. Maybe $10 more. But, it is now considerably more powerful than my old laptop. Though literally, just about half the size. I think that is so awesome. (Exchange was with relative - we liked each other's color better).

**Fall has definitely arrived! You'd be happy to know my house was 65 degrees this morning, and there was definitely a chill in the air. My heat challenge has begun...

**I would like to do some tree trimming and touch up painting around the house this weekend. Will see what we accomplish. It does look like the weather may co-operate.

**Financially, probably feeling a little stressed. I am nervous about what our health insurance premiums will come out to, as I read about record high increases. Ugh! We've had some pretty nasty years (40% increase was the worst). Considering we pay about $10k per year, can't say I could shoulder another 40% increase.

So, I always stress this time of year.

The last 2 years were bearable, so I feel like we have had it too good and that this year will likely be horrible. On the flip side, preschool is only about 6-7 more months, so I could shoulder a $150/month increase, easily, if I had to. Will see! (Future years, dh would have to return to work, if we had more increases like the past).

I am also not thrilled with where we will end up for the year. Don't get me wrong, we had an awesome year. But as the year progressed, I had higher and higher expectations.

I now feel like we will be lucky to end the year with $20k in the bank. (I've got a LOT of bills come due the next couple of months. Mostly prepared for - but some surprises).

*Will be $12k in the Efund (Was hoping to get to $15k. Mostly ruined by hitting a pole with my vehicle).

*I estimate we will get $8k in mid-term savings. Which isn't half bad - was like $0 at 1/1; no complaints here.

*I feel pretty happy with our current savings levels. $5k per year to mid-term savings. $5k per year to ROTHs. Probably $8 this year to my work retirement.

I am happy with retirement, and feel that it is on track.

I still feel like we have a fair amount of catching up to do on our savings. $8k is great, but I see it disappearing in a flash with work that needs to be done around the house. Not to mention that we always seemed to get creamed with a $2k-$3k emergency (last 2 years anyway. I know I should just feel lucky we had nothing like that the few years prior).

All in all, it was a pretty good year, and I can only hope that we make the same progress next year. $30k cash in the bank is still that magic number that will help me sleep better at night. & looks quite possible, for 2010.

**We are aiming for a no-spend November. Don't expect it to help the budget much, because um, we don't have much spending in our budget. But that's probably why I feel we have been spending too much. We also discussed as my laptop has been replaced, and other things taken care of around the house (and we had quite a few purchases this year) that next year should be rather low key. Dh and I had discussed buying a TV, when LM was done with school. Or at least starting to keep an eye out (could take him years to pick one out). But besides that, dh confirmed that he had nothing on his purchase horizon - he had gotten a lot of purchasing done this year. We have been thinking about a new camera for a while, but it's hardly worth a mention - we can replace our 4 megapixel with a 12 megapixel for $100-ish. & by some miracle, my spouse doens't have an electronic purchase wish list a mile long? (Don't get me wrong, if we came into money his list would be long - but for now, he is content).

So, we are going to try to pull way back Nov/Dec. We never spend any money in January - April. Too busy! That will reverse my savings angst, I am sure, given a few months.

**In other news, how about those Housewives?

Some of you know my vice is addiction to reality TV. I remember when the first "Real Housewives" aired - OC? - that they showed some statistic about the average income in the gated community they focused on. It was something like, say $300k. $500k? I don't remember. But, being in my line of work, I have exposure to much more higher-income people than the average person probably does.

So anyway, I know the average person thinks, "$500k? PRetty sweet!" Meanwhile, they portray these multi-million dollar lifestyles. I can tell you, no one in this state is going to live a lifestyle like THAT on $500k per year. Not validly anyway.

I just found that whole thing really annoying. I mean, it's the perfect Joneses scenario. TV shows always portray completely unattainable lifestyles. I guess that is nothing new. But I felt the income figure was very misleading.

So, anyway, fast forward a few years, and more and more reports come out about these people foreclosing on their homes.

Uh, yeah? Is this a surprise??? You can't afford such an extravagant lifestyle unless you have a LOT of money coming in, for eternity. The second the income stops, the whole bottom falls out. & I am sure a lot of that is happening with the economy.

I was telling my spouse about the foreclosures, and he asked me if they would portray their financial whoas in upcoming seasons. I about choked on my food, when he asked. Of course not! The whole thing is so fake. The failed ones will disappear and new/"richer" housewives will come in.

Will see!!!