Well I don't have much bad to say about the MLM I belong to, as far as my approach to it anyway. It is a very simple side income stream.

BUT I had a friend who wanted to sign up and was gathering orders in an attempt. She changed her mind (which is very fine with me - my recruit number to date is 0 and I have little desire for one. Though I would get some sort of commission. I also have no interest at "working" at this. I am merely signed up for the discount. I stay on for the easy money).

Anyway, she sent me her orders yesterday. I popped online to see if stuff was still available.

& I got the lovely message that my account had been DEACTIVATED.

What the heck?

I called my person and she hadn't a clue. I told her if they had sent me any e-mail warning or anything like that, it was probably lost in my sea of junk mail. I did peak through my deleted e-mails for the week (I was just on there last week) and didn't see anything, though a few missed personal e-mails. Makes me wonder how much I miss!)

Anyway, we chatted and she told me there was no reason she knew of why I would be deactivated.

She told me to call the corporate office.

I don't even know what my ID# is - I have it stored online.

I am just SO peeved.

So, let's put it this way, my days of MLM may be over. I am not really sure it is worth to effort to figure this out. Honestly. But what a way to leave a bad taste in my mouth.

I'll call, but if they give me any hassle, I am out. Fine, you don't want my business? Whatevah!

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

I am extra bummed because that was an easy $100 profit that just fell into my lap. *sigh* I may be able to have my person buy the stuff for me, as a last hoorah, and I may be able to pocket the profit. But then I guess my days may be over.

Honestly I spend way too much on jewelry anyway. I was going to quit in 2005 but I kept making my quotas even once I stopped trying, so it's been like, whatever, I'll stay. I hoarde way too much jewelry though. If I am cut out I have a pile of wares to sell on ebay. That's the plus! (Of course, not allowed to sell my wares on ebay while a consultant. But this changes things).

Along the same lines, dh is going crazy over buying used games. He said he found a pile of 12 games on sale for $40. He jumped on it - he said he could sell them on ebay for hundreds.

I am actually pleased. I have been waiting for dh to pick up a side income stream for a LONG time. I get tired of being the one working full-time and making all the side income too.

Anyway, he has MUCH more time now (with the kids in school a solid 2 days a week). So I will give him that. I am glad he is making himself useful. It looks like there could be a decent income stream in this direction.

Of course, on the flip side, this also has a lot of tax ramifications. So it's not pure profit. & this would take significant more work to track than other income sources. But it's still worthwhile.

With the free time he is also putting feelers out for film projects. They are largely unpaid, but the networking/contacts are invaluable.

I admit he is really busy on family projects - weddings and reunions to edit.

& don't even ask the status of our own home videos. It's like the shoemaker's son who has no shoes.

Does anyone have a deep fryer?

Not very bloggy today, but remembered I saw a cute little countertop deep fryer in the $50 range.

Was curious if anyone had one and what they thought.

I think this will be PERFECT for my Christmas wish list.

My MIL goes crazy over Christmas and it usually turns into big drama (God forbid I don't want anything for Christmas, but then when I Come up with something it's too expensive - though what they usually spend - or it's not practical - and on and on and on and on).

Kitchen things are usually safe.

Though then again it is MIL. She is OBSESSED with weight. She will probably HATE this idea.

Well, I'll try.

So yeah, now that I think about it, I already know the answer to a deep fryer. Maybe I should ask for a similarly priced kitchen item and trade it in for the fryer.

I was thinking for frying french fries and gyozas. I am sure I could find much to fry.

I will be saving $315/month come August, with BM out of preschool.

I have been at a loss what to do with the $15.

I decided today I would put that $15 to the mortgage.

My mind changes often in this regard. I think I was putting an extra $30 there for a while, and then stopped.

But I feel obligated to save that $15 and don't really have anywhere else to put it.

So I'll go with that for now.

Actually, I put about $11 to the mortgage to make it an even $1330.

I've said many times I don't see the point in paying down the mortgage any faster without the ROTHs maxed out. (Likewise, I see little point in putting more money to the mortgage just so I can borrow more later for home improvement projects. ?? So I have a tendency to prefer to save up cash for that stuff).

BUT I also don't mind diverting a small amount I wouldn't save otherwise. I like saving big round numbers to cash and retirement, and so upping the mortgage payment a bit, with this small amount, seems rather reasonable. Maybe I will "up" it to $1350 when LM is out of school.

Otherwise, this money would just go to more stuff or food or something.

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

I feel now that I have more time, there is not enough hours in the day for all I want to do.

I have decided to rethink things in terms of where I am at my best for certain activities.

Reading in the evenings before bed is NOT working. I am lucky if I can read 2 pages.

So I am thinking:

Mornings - reading/going to work early
(Going to work early means quiet uninterrupted reading time at work also. Tempting! Like at lunch. Or if I stick around after shift is over for quiet time).

Evenings - crafts (kids LOVE to watch and help).

Exercise - walks with the kids. Gym/aerobics. I do well with these in the evening, though the latter does take time from the kids. But worth it in the long run.

Household Chores - Mornings. I am thinking of taking one weekend morning a week to catch up a bit on stuff around the house. I find on the weekends by 2pm I am spent. I generally nap and am useless after I wake up.

I could work some of these in on the weekdays.

TV - I found recently I am watching WAY too much TV. They are fine for evenings, when I am completely useless anyway. BUT I have been staying up late way too much to get in all my shows. So I think I will cut a few out.

So I am working on a plan.

I have also struggled in teaching piano to BM. It is something I Want to do, but am unsure how far I can take it (it is a big "no no" to teach your own kids - for various reasons).

Though I am sure it is fine for an intro and the basics.

Dh has started to show him guitar though, so this motivated me.

He is also excited about piano so for now I said remind me every evening and we can have a short lesson. I figure a five-minute lesson almost every day is pretty equivalent to the 30-minute classes I used to do for his age group (no one ever practices at home anyway).

So far it is going well. I tried a bit when he was 3 but just couldn't commit. It is always 10 times easier to teach a 5-year-old than a child any younger. Though he was very bright at 3, I see the ease now that he is so close to 5. Plus I couldn't teach him on the piano before - keys were too heavy. He is ready now for the big piano - yay!

I personally took piano lessons from very young, and learned violin and flute in public school. It is saddening the kids probably won't get the same opportunities at school, but there are a lot of affordable programs all the same.

I always figured I could play any instrument after covering the 3 corners of instruments. Piano is much like percussion and a string instrument. I translated that easily into guitar (with my violin experience as well) and drums. With the flute experience I can pretty much pick up any wind instrument.

So I would like to do the same with my kids. Probably will be piano from me, guitar from dh, and the wind instrument of their choice when they are older.

I think we will wait a while and see where their true interests lie before we start shelling out money for private lessons. Oh boy, the thought makes me cringe. Expensive... But I hope to hold off for a while and teach what we can ourselves.

Likewise, I have kept it up little since I had stopped teaching in 1999. With teaching them it gets me to practice a bit more.

I am relieved it is like riding a bicycle and I haven't forgotten how to play. Though I do sound extremely unpracticed.

I have to admit I am tempted to take on some students to get me practicing again. Maybe when the kids are older. If nothing else I can earn enough money to pay for their lessons. Seriously!

Well, May was an insane spendy month and june should be rather calm (knock on wood).

Credit card closes Tuesday and I count all the purchases until then to May. All the purchases will have to be squeezed into my June paychecks. Not much more room...

So we are fine with the 2 more no-spend days ahead.

BUT our camping trip is fast approaching and we need to purchase some supplies.

WE tend to approach things slowly. Whereas some people might buy an aresenal of camping equipment on a charge card (newbie camper) we figured we would start with a cabin and prepared meals. Our cabin has electricity too.

So it means all we really need is sleeping bags. Even that is questionable as it won't be very cold. Some warm clothes and blankets will probably do.

I was thinking of bringing my yoga/exercise mats for the kids to sleep on, on the floor. Cots provided, but it will be tight and the kids still roll out of bed too much. I am thinking with a little cushion they will be fine on the ground.

I found some decent sleeping bag deals on amazon today, with free shipping. I am very pleased.

Dh has some old sleeping bag I am wary of. I would prefer to buy a new one myself. For him he has a very nice cold weather one.

I still haven't found one - but I'll keep my eye out.

I just saved a bunch of stuff to my shopping cart. Will buy Wednesday...

I found a nice folding chair at a decent price but will shop around a bit.

I found some decent/cheap lamps, though we may have enough flashlights around, for this trip. No lamps needed with the electricity, though would be a good purchase for the long run.

I think if the trip goes well we will buy a tent next year. we may stock up on more cookware and that kind of stuff in the future. As we slowly build a camping arsenal.

The best is today grandma slipped us $60 for gas. Completely unexpected. That will pay for the kids' sleeping bags and a couple of lamps, if we go with that.

I have been wanting a travel chair for a while, so may fund it from my allowance. Not sure if dh wants one too. I should probably shop around a bit more as well.

We have been trying out the cheapies but they are REALLY uncomfortable. So not worth it. The one I found was $40 but had nothing but good reviews.

Thinking on it.

I will peruse Craigslist for all this stuff before I make any final purchases.

I also need new workout shoes (put it off to purchase after Disneyland. Boy my shoes are trashed after that). I think I found some at zappos.com. I LOVE the site with the detailed reviews and abundance of wide shoes. I have been shopping around the local stores and GIVE UP. Will probably spend $50 on a nice pair of shoes. Haven't replaced them in a couple of years, so it is time.

Finally, California has a new law in one month - no more cell phone use in the car without headsets.

Dh bought me one for my birthday but it sucks.

So I was perusing a bit. I think I will ask dh to do some research there. I want something a little more comfortable, and that I can hear.

June may be a little spendy but the $60 from nowhere helps immensely.

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

Which reminds me, I was cleaning up a bit and found a note that our estate lawyer (or family friend, I should say) had moved.

I was going to be nosy and zillow it but had never gotten around to it.

Until today!

Oh my!!!

From being nosy I gathered that they sold their 1500-square-foot home on 1/10 acre for $600k (little more than they paid in 2004).

& they purchased a 2000sf home a good ways out, for $800k. Lot size is twice as big, which is actually a good size for the region.

WOW!

Did I mention how old they are? Like 28?

As usual this stuff just leaves me dumbstruck.

Obviously I wouldn't have a clue how they can afford a home like this. Though I give them points for moving further out and scoring both land and square footage.

Dh's sister paid about that much for a 1200-square-foot, OLD house.

This is our experience with our friends back home. We just scratch our heads. Color us LOST.

On the flip side, I ran to an old college friend at a seminar quite a few months back. She kept asking when/if I may move back to the Bay. (As did dh's friend who lived in like a million-dollar house. You are like - "Hello!!??!!").

Anyway, I have mentioned the extreme shortage of qualified staff in CPA firms, and therefore the huge incentive to bring in qualified people. My last firm offered a $10k bonus if you recruited someone, and that was before it got really bad. (Probably a better chance of winning the lottery then finding someone qualified who would want to work at that job).

But anyway, she started courting me for her firm and seemed very confused when I made it clear we weren't moving back anytime soon. "Why wouldn't we move back?" she asks. I say, "Um, because we can not afford to live here."

She then tells me (she has to be at least 30), oh, well she was still living at home with her parents.

She was apparently clueless how maybe it was a bit too expensive for a young family to stay in the area. Though obviously she was choosing to live with her parents for some reason.

That is pretty much the gist of my experience. Either own a home for $700k+ or live with the 'rents.

& then look at us all weird like why would we ever move????????

Is it just me, or is this some major, insane bizarro world?

I know, I know, it's just the usual. My jaw STILL to this day hits the floor every time I found out a relative or friend paid $500k+ for a HOUSE. You think the shock would wear off at some point.

I have a childhood friend who rents in San Francisco and makes about what I do. She is the only one I understand on some financial level. Her rent is probably bigger than my mortgage. But she doesn't have a family to support either. We do sit around and wonder how the hell our friends are affording these real estate monstrosities, in their 20s. We assume they are in WAY over their heads while we HOPE they have come into some money from family or something. I really haven't a clue...

This weekend has felt largely strange.

BM is off with grandma for a few days.

If I could describe the change, of only caring for one child, in one word, it would be: QUIET

LOL. My wild extrovert is off doing fun things with Grandma and extended family (Completely in his element).

While we have Mr. Introvert. He mimics his brother so much he can be on the loud side at times. But mostly it is blissfully quiet.

But it also just feels very odd to me.

Gas has jumped about a 35 cents in price since we returned from Disneyland. I think even though we didn't have a crystal ball, we planned that trip rather well. I just mention that though because we have been driving, driving, driving. I don't expect to fill up again until after the credit card closes Tuesday. So our gas expenditure was not awful for the month of May. But I had to drive 30 miles to a class Friday. (30 miles each way). I passed the Folsom zoo (sanctuary) on the way and thought we have NEVER taken the kids there and might be a nice treat for LM.

Anyway, dh also drove BM all the way to San Jose. & we will pick him up half way at dinner time today. So, much driving driving driving.

I had wanted to swing LM by Fairytale Town today - enjoy it without his brother. But I realized it is quite on the way to pick up his brother, so we decided to be frugal and drag dh along, and go from there to get BM. MIL will probably treat us to dinner though, so color us spoiled.

Anyway, so yes, LM had QUITE a day yesterday. We did decide to drive him all the way out to Folsom to the little zoo sanctuary. & lo and behold, there was a steam train engine there too. (LM LOVES trains).

So we took a train ride and bought some ice cream.

I actually worried since it was such an expensive month that all this would be way too much. But we spent $8 to get into the zoo, $6 on the train, and maybe $6 on treats. Also about $6 on gas, but it wouldn't mean another fillup this month, so we went for it. It was a nice small splurge. I couldn't help but think while we were there that little kids like LM need this more than things like Disneyland. May be hypocritical coming from me (just coming back from Disney) but I generally never understood why my peers were always taking their 1,2,3-year-olds on all of this kind of expensive activities like concerts and amusement parks. But for the drive we really enjoyed the simplicity of this little zoo. Very much LM's speed, and very much the speed of our budget.

To be clear - Disney was more for us than the kids. I'll admit that any day. LOL. It's the one exception where we go a little crazy.

Oh anyway, in the afternoon yesterday LM got to take a long bath by himself. He was in heaven. Not having to share his bath, etc. Plus I admit I tend to rush baths so I just let him relax and enjoy for a long while. He still threw a little tantrum when it was time to get out.

Of course, I think he was incredibly moody. He was terrible with teething, for many long years (I swear he teethed like a year straight - I didn't get any sleep that year). Anyway, so my mom called and he was obviously really moody at a point. My mom asked if he was getting teeth. I panicked for a second, and thought, wait a minute, he has all his teeth! LOL. She panicked me for a bit there.

No, I think he just misses his brother. Though he will have to get used to it. We have discussed much how little one-on-on LM tends to get, but also realize his older brother is an amazing addition that BM never had. But now that BM is going off to school I know it will be hard on him, but he will get much of that one-on-one at this point.

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

Well, the bargaining is not going so well for dh this week.

He noticed there was a garage sale that was selling games for his newest game system. Said the garage sale started 8am Friday. It was a good 20 miles away. So he drives all the way out there around 10am and there is no garage sale. They guy is all shocked and said, well, he didn't expect anyone to show up so early (though he advertised 8am). Anyway, dh says well, he is just interested in the games anyway. So he's got a willing buyer on his doorstep, and the guy says, "Oh I am not ready to sell them. I haven't researched prices yet."

I would have just left at that point myself, thinking some pretty nasty expletives in my head. But dh leaves him # and tells him to call if they don't sell. (He imagines odds are slim they would sell - who knows). When he tells me the story I am just thinking, come on, is it that hard to find games? Forget this idiot!

Anyway, dh researched and saw some of the games were going for $30 on ebay. So he is bummed he didn't push it more - and offered something. He will not pay that much for a used game that is like a decade old.

Oh yeah and he said he think he could have talked the guy into a deal but his wife was their giving him the stink eye. LOL.

But if I have advice for anyone - it is don't advertise a garage sale and specific items, if you are not ready. DOH! Call that the obnoxious experience of the week...

Likewise, dh went into his favorite used CD/game store and saw 10 copies of a game that he has a demo of (BM loves playing the demo) for $20/each. Plus, the second generation of the game is coming out soon. So dh talked to the manager and offered $15. He felt rather confident the guy would be hard pressed to sell all 10 copies at the $20 price.

They guy just said, no negotiations.

Bummer on that.

So dh had a bit of a strikeout this week when it came to deals on games. He's been on a role in other areas lately.

As far as these games, he said he'll go back in a month and try again. He says if he still sees a bunch of copies, and the same price, he will ask again.

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

Well, yesterday was very relaxing. Today I should clean house or something productive.

I actually got a book on "math illiteracy" which so far has started out quite interesting.

June... Today is June.

I am thinking I need to work on my diet. I gained weight in Disneyland (admittedly, probably muscle since my clothes seem to still fit fine). But I need to get back to it.

Oh yes, and the city is closing a large stretch of freeway for a good 6 weeks.

I am lucky it does not affect my commute. We have little need to traverse that section of the freeway. But the alternate routes could possibly clog my commute. It will be interesting to see on Monday. I will take a slightly different route to avoid problems (hopefully).

Mostly I am optimistic.

BUT we also have little need to travel too far south. This could affect my aerobic class though. The traffic is usually bad enough during the week, as is. This could help my commute, or make it impossible. I guess we'll see. If it's unbearable I'll just have to hit the gym more instead. I haven't really been great with either...

I did it!

I paid the last monster preschool bill. Woohoo.

& that temporary expense is long gone. Phew.

Anyway, it worked out rather well. Ms. Preschool called me yesterday and asked if I could bring the kids T/Th in June.

I looked at the calendar and that would be one less day to pay than M/W.

Woohoo.

So I wrote a check for $560 this month. Not so bad.

I peeked what this meant for July. With the switch back to M/W there will be an extra day to pay for July. & it is a long month. BUT one week is free (owners on vacation) and BM is only attending for half the month.

So July will be $420.

Average month is $600.

I upped my short-term savings to $1k in July, and going forward (diverted $100 of the savings).

I also considered adding $100 to our IRAs in July. I was just setting up everything in Quicken.

I decided to hold off. June is going to be another expensive month with our camping trip, Father's Day, our big date night, etc. July will be a little pricey with Birthdays (maybe). I figure I would earmark the $100-$200 saved for birthdays and camping. Seemed fair.

But August is it. I still haven't decided if I will fund IRAs or bulk up mid-term savings a bit. Or both.

Decisions, Decisions.

I am inclined to bulk up the savings instead. We've got about 12% going to retirement and majorly lack in the "big purchase" savings department. We have for years, but not sure how much longer our luck will hold out.

Then again I had been toying with the idea of doubling our IRA contributions now and doubling them in January (if possible).

We could also commit the entire $200 monthly to cash savings and then know we will have $300/month for IRAs, come 2010 when LM graduates preschool.

I think that is probably our best best since our retirement seems well enough on track. I just have a large urge to save more aggressively for retirement. But I don't want to do that at the cost of our shorter-term financial health.

It's probably the one area we have floundered with, since living on one-income. We haven't saved much cash. Last year I was able to build a decent emergency fund, but things have slowed. We don't have near enough cash outside that when you consider our appliances are aging, our cars aren't getting any younger, our house will need painting soon, the fence needs to be replaced (builders put in crap), etc., etc., etc.

Of course the major reason things have slowed is because we have had 2 in preschool, for a good 9 months or so. So I am optimistic to get back to a much faster savings clip.

July it will be nice to have a little more cash, but August will just be divine with that extra $300. Woohoo!

Yikes. Guess I am in a bloggy mood today...



I whipped up some muffins at some point over the weekend, and had forgotten the leftovers. So grabbed them for breakfast this morning.

I probably already blogged this in the past, but I just LOVE that jiffy hasn't change the look of its packaging, like ever. For it's blueberry muffin mix.

Love the quick/simple treat. But have blogged often how I am sick of going to the store and trying to find plain pepsi in a sea of 50 different kinds of pepsi, and same for the toothpaste, etc. I go mad.

So kudos to Jiffy for keeping it simple. Some of us like it like that.

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

I also had another topic to write on.

Being in California has been interesting since we were in the thick of the tech bubble, when we lived in San Jose, and now we live in the thick of the housing bubble, in Sacramento.

But interestingly, I had some thoughts that I don't see mentioned much in the media.

The tech bubble probably would have ended much worse, but people started dipping into their homes, much to survive. Sure, I have seen more than my fair share of excess when it comes to home equity. But the reason a lot of people started borrowing way over their head was because of the tech bubble burst. I can hardly think of a family I know that didn't face lay offs in 2002-2004. Significant, long layoffs. Even up here in Sacramento. My dad has never been laid off more than like a month in his life and he was out of work well over a year. We figured much of that had to do with age, but employment opportunities have been booming for him the last year or 2. So it seems it was more economy than anything.

So to be fair, a lot of people around here started digging into their homes, merely to stay afloat.

I was thinking about this since quite a few friends are starting to face layoffs, and lament they have barely recovered from the last round.

& so I do have to sympathize.

I was googling the subject a bit and didn't see much. California stastics showed 7% unemployment level at the peak. Today we are already wooshing past 6%.

IT's all a little deja vu.

I think this makes this forecasted recession much scarier. I am not sure how people will get through this round. The debt solution is pretty much gone.

I don't know.

I am surprised there is not a lot more observation about this though, in the media and in other blogs, etc.

OF course, "significant" and "long" are relative terms when it comes to layoffs. I Was perusing California unemployment data and it hit 10% for much of the 70s and 80s.

Ouch.

So anyway, I am back to, "Who couldn't see this coming?" Who could live in this area and not see this mess unfolding?

I guess a lot of people!

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

That kind of reminds me I haven't seen gas up past $3.99, like gas stations were hesitant to raise above $4. Well today as I drove to preschool I noted $4.10 gas and $4.15 gas at the cheapie gas stations.

WOW!

I can only imagine what the Chevron on the corner here has gone up to. I'll have to look when I leave work tonight. IT had been holding steady at $3.99, prior.

& this reminds me, when all the gas hype started, I think where I Was with the housing bubble. "Who couldn't see this coming?"

Or maybe I just feel behind the times. Gas has taken quite a chunk out of our budget in recent years. I think we felt the pinch much stronger earlier in our one-income years (it had risen more percentage-wise in the years I had my children). So I found this all rather predictable, felt we were nowhere near the worst, and was unsure why the sudden panic. Though obviously we have reached a tipping point for the masses; I reached my personal tipping point LONG ago. PRobably what it mostly comes down to.

But I do admit that today my jaw dropped when I saw Arco for $4.10. Knew it was coming, but egads.

Likewise, I feel much the same about healthcare. Everyone is freaking out, and I wonder where the hell they have been. Where was the panic when rates increased 300% in a few short years? Not that they have for everyone. But in 2003 it was in the ballpark of $200/month to have full insurance coverage and small co-pays, for us. Now we pay $800/month for the privelege of giant copays and less coverage.

I feel like I should have invested in healthcare stock the last decade, and not be so proud of our efforts to keep housing costs down. For the short term, housing is decreasing greatly, and I am not sure how long until our healthcare costs more than our mortgage. Ouch! The interest on our mortgage is $1k monthly, so it's getting pretty close. At least the principal on our mortgage is a return on capital. But it makes our healthcare look that much more astronomical to look at it that way.

Anyway, with all this running in my head I am not sure what it is. I think just being a major planner and forward thinker means I panicked long ago about all of this stuff and have had time to adjust. It's all I can figure...

Every time I pick up the paper, all I Can think is, "Old News..."

Gas prices are insane and the healthcare system is bankrupting families. Well, where have you all been? I've been here for a while.

Maybe I should start making predictions of the economy. Hmmm... Though I have nothing to predict for now. Healthcare is the thorn in my side, for now. But I'll give you a heads up if I find a new thorn.

Actually, I just thought of it. Income taxes on the elderly. You'll be hearing a LOT more about that in 5 years. I'll be yawning at the headlines, as usual.

(I do need to do a post on that - I really do. I guess I have a fair amount of insider info - preparing taxes and all).

Oh I can assure you the next thorn in all of our sides will be taxes, taxes, taxes. Maybe I should start blogging about that. Seriously.

But back to gas, yeah. I used to drive home every day for lunch. Every single day. I stopped in 2006 because gas prices had just gotten so out of control. So 2006 was a bad gas year for our family (well years like 2002-2006 slowly creeped up to that point). It's just something I Could probably never justify again. I miss that luxury. I just held out until my youngest weaned from breastfeeding. Probably would have cut back on the gas sooner, otherwise.

For now we budget $300/month for gas which gives us quite a bit of wiggle room. We can stretch it farther by driving the van less and the compact more. So that gives us lots of wiggle room. When our gas bills regularly exceeds $300/month is probably our next tipping point. At this rate it is not terribly far away, but I have already made the major sacrifices for gas prices, a couple of years ago... SO for that, it is old news to me. Our next step would maybe be selling the van (far more gas guzzler than I ever imagined) and/or carpooling more. Driving to see family less, etc. Just not there yet. Phew. Though I find those all to be rather small sacrifices except for the big one - less affordable to see our family. That is what I dread, and is already affecting our driving decisions...

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

Well, in other news, dh and I are planning an elaborate date. Oooohh la la.

I got an e-mail about a comedy show coming to a small theater in the city. I have a friend who was in some productions, but haven't talked to her in a while, so wondered if she was involved. Anyway, I mentioned to dh that it looked interesting, and he said he had wanted to go see it - his friend was the Director.

Well, lah de dah.

The tickets will be $25 for the 2 of us, so really quite a splurge for us.

Plus the daycare.

I am a little uneasy since it is only on Fri/Sat night, on the later side. Kids stay up late, so no biggie, but we have been taking advantage of the drop-in care at slow times. So it will be a test to drop them off on a busy night. BM is fine, but LM much more timid. He needs more one-on-one care. But he does good with his brother. We'll see. Not sure it's any preferable to see out a babysitter we don't really know. They love the place at least.

I guess this will turn into a true test of our "freedom." The ability to drop the kids off and go out on a Fri/Sat night sounds absolutely divine. A luxury long ago forgotten...

I think with BM we have reached "freedom." I still worry about LM a bit too much...

Of course, I thought while we were downtown, what we really needed to do was to dine at our favorite upscale Indian restuarant. We rarely go because of the prices, but the food can not be beat.

The night will easily be $100, probably more. With show, daycare and food. But I think it will be a nice splurge.

Well we haven't picked a date for our date yet. Sometime in June. I do look foreard to that.

My dh is going to buy some kind of Nintendo(?) game system for $40 today. Used, with a pile of games.

He told me last night and I think I was only half listening. Then I said, "Huh?????" That woke me up.

I said, "Dude. How many game systems do you have? Seriously."

So he starts listing them all off and we counted 10. & today we will be proud owners of 11.

But I am okay with this. In the grand scheme of things it is a cheap hobby. I just hadn't really realized what a collector he had become.

He also wants to buy a Wii, when they come down in price, of course. He'll probably get one for Christmas in a year or 2.

So yes, my spouse, the game system collector.

The funny thing was he tried to tell me he really only used 2-3 regularly. He just doesn't want to sell the old ones. Perhaps trying to defend himself. I said, "That is not true." Which I actually prefer if he has all this "junk," that he uses it. Except for 2 extremely old game systems he keeps for sentimental reasons, I think all of them get pretty good use. I will give him that.

Likewise, he doesn't buy new games, which is the expensive part of gaming.

So at face value I know many people would think, "OMG - 10 game systems???" and think $$$$$$. But really, it's kind of the opposite. I am amazed at how well some of these were made. Dh bought a great number used, but some of these systems were made in the 1980s. So it is a slow accumulation over time.

As far as the games, for the longest time he subscribed to game rentals similar to netflix. Which is perfect for most games, that are his style anyway. In the last year or 2 he has been selling his old ones for credit at the used store and buying newer games on credit. So the cash flow has been about 0 on the game front. We also get free game rental coupons with our blockbuster online movie rental subscription. He is generally content with one game at a time, and has quite the collection from when we were young and had more cash flow. So it is not an expensive hobby in that regard.

Likewise, our PS2 has always functioned as our CD player and he primarily bought the PS3 for the Blu-Ray player. So they double in function in that regard.

But what do we have?

*Gameboy & Gameboy Advance - I am not sure he uses the old Gameboy at all. The Advance has largely been replaced by the DS2, but I know dh and BM play some games on here occasionally.

*DS2 - This is a FUN toy. We ALL play with it. Maybe LM not so much. (It's a portable system like the Gameboy). Doubled as a TV on our road trip (some kid shows downloaded onto it).

*PS2 - We have a lot of games on this that the kids love - from our childless/bigger cash flow days. We have the snow boarding games which I LOVE, and BM has taken to. We have a really cute muppet game. Dh plays all his big games on this.

*GameCube - There was some reason for this purchase that I don't remember... It gets used for certain games.

*PS3 - used as a movie player more than anything. But dh and BM play games on here.

*PSP - dh got this used rather recently (in trade) and it has all sorts of fancy uses beyond gaming. Don't even ask me what they are. I don't remember but I think dh watched TV wireless - could be HDTV quality. Not sure. He had it modified for some wireless capabilities. He gets all excited about that stuff, I don't even remember what it does. LOL.

*Nintendo - he already has 2 systems. One that is I believe defunct, and one that he has set up upstairs on some old TV. He has a few kids games that they love, up there.

*Atari - defunct. Though I think he would love to set it up. It's just sitting in a pile for now. Not sure how usable it is.

& that's 10...

But yeah, I can say most of this stuff gets regular use. So I will give him that.

Hard to believe, but we don't play video games every day. We REALLY limit with the kids (like 20 minutes at a time - they are so young). Dh used to spend days playing video games, so he has REALLY cut back. He may play a lot while I am at work, but it's not anything I notice him spending an inordinate amount of time on.

I know, hard to imagine with all those games...

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

However, thinking about it, it reminded me of our computer situation.

I probably am rather biased since I am from Silicon Valley and our dads collect computers and computer parts.

But I remember being on an online community like a decade ago and I remember when anyone talked about money problems people would come back and say, "well if you are so poor - how do you have a COMPUTER." I remember always laughing at that. Were they serious? I could find a computer pretty quick for free if I Was willing to go used or hand-me-down.

I always thought maybe the internet subscription was more worrisome, to someone who was really broke. Anyway the idea that only rich people had computers, was foreign to me. Though I am no spring chicken I have always had a computer. I got my first one when I was 3 or 4 (a hand-me-down, of course).

But anyway. Likewise, I have heard the topic come up often how horrible and excessive and expensive it is for kids to have computers.

I sheepishly think, both my kids have computers. LOL.

But we just buy quality and keep everything forever. We have 5 computers, 4 in use. I don't even remember the last time we bought a computer, except for the laptop we bought much more for luxury, in 2005. It's not a very big part of our budget. Every 5 years or so we upgrade one computer and the rest get shifted down. The top dog is dh's editing computer which he uses to do his work. He needs a lot of power for that thing and he has been talking about an upgrade, which won't exactly be cheap. But it's been a good 5 years.

But when he upgrades, everyone in the house will get a new computer. I'll get his. BM will get mine. LM will get BM's, etc.

I couldn't tell you how old our monitors and printers and peripherals were because we have pretty much never replaced them. Not in adulthood anyway.

So yeah, when you buy quality and do the hand-it-down method, we all can have a computer at very little cost.

We probably have a significant advantage in that our dads are computer junkies. PArticularly dh's dad who likes to collect stuff and has just about anything you need sitting in his garage. Dh's monitor did go kaput a while back (it had been on its last leg for YEARS but we finally gave in) and I am pretty sure he got one free from his dad - he just had it sitting in his garage. We have learned to always ask before buy. Which means I don't think we have bought anything computer, outside free store of father-in-law, in a long while.

We haven't upgraded at all to the fancy monitors or anything. But a working monitor, if you don't mind clunky, is easy enough to find for free. Particularly in a computer heavy area like this.

I think when BM starts school we will consider moving one of our older computers into his room and buying him a mouse and keyboard more his size. Give him my old monitor and maybe I can get a new one. A more modern monitor is certainly on my wish list. Just completely unjustifiable for now. & I guess the other plus is we have held out so long they are probably cheaper than I even imagine at this point. Though we will go for long lasting quality over "cheap." You see why...

But with both game systems and computers, we generally let everyone buy the premium, going new. We wait for prices to come down, ourselves. Even if it takes many years. Patience pays.

The kids have computers earmarked for them, but not really in use, for now.

So anyway, I just had to share because I would find it ironic that people would look at our computers or game systems and assume we were broke. In the end we will probably spend $100 this year on game systems (& games). I would be surprised if dh's top of the line computer cost more than $100/year. If he spends more than $500 every 5 years for a faster computer. He builds his own and reuses the parts he can. Though I think he has his eye on something more in the $1k range. We'll see. Technically, he uses his computer to make money, so would probably pay for itself quickly, if he committed to some paid projects to pay for it.

Of course I can't tell you how much stuff we have in our house that we have had since we were kids. The stereo system in our family room is the one I bought as a teen.

When you buy things to keep for decades, it doesn't mean a large annual expense for electronic pleasures. Quite the contrary.

Now, if we had to have the latest and greatest of everything? Well, yeah, I have no idea how people afford all that! That is certainly not our style. We may buy more of that if we resume back to a 2-income lifestyle. But if not, "old and trustworthy" is fine with us. Sometimes it's the only way to have your cake and eat it too.

Of course, thinking back to the games... We're only 30 and dh has quite a collection. I will probably have to work on him in the future in maybe getting rid of some of the old stuff. Maybe for each new system an old one goes. I just don't want to be 50 and have 100 game systems.

Likewise, one of these days we may have to dispose of a computer. Imagine that!

http://www.hurstbeans.com/products.asp

Dh allows the kids to buy treats at the grocery store, sometimes, IF the item is on sale. (Yes, their financial education has already started as they are very involved in the grocery shopping).

Anyway, one day they spotted a package of 15-bean soup (dried product) and thought it looked really good. Dh decided it didn't look like a bad idea.

So we had the Cajun 15 Bean Soup for dinner a while back. We decided it was delish, cheap and healthy. All that for the pretty packaging and varied beans that caught the kids' eye.

So we had it again last night. I think it turned out even better this time. VERY spicy, but we like that. We cooked with sausage.

This is definitely a family fave.

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

As far as grocery shopping we primarily shop at Safeway and Bel Air. I think Bel Air shopping confuses much of the frugal crowd, but they switched to more of a "low-price leader" a few years back and we find the prices on most of what we buy to be very similar, though the store is VERY nice and the customer service can not be beat. I think most people assume we pay a premium for all the perks, but we really don't. We certainly could buy many overpriced items in that store, but as far as the basics we find them to be the best prices.

For the rest, there is safeway.

Plus Bel Air gives us 25 cents of per gallon gas, which is a hard perk to beat (Safeway gives us 3 cents to 10 cents).

Anyway, some of the items we buy in bulk at Safeway are cat food and organic apple juice (we're not strict on organic but it's a great deal - this particular juice).

In the last month or so they discontinued both in the larger (discounted) sizes.

Bummer.

My mom offered to take us over to Costco to stock up on this kind of stuff. We don't buy enough in bulk to justify any warehouse membership for now, but we may have to take her up on it in the interim (use her membership).

I will probably look around online and see if I can find the cat food in bulk; maybe shop some of the pet stores.

I have blogged much that we haven't really noticed grocery prices in our particular budget. Not to say it isn't happening, but just to say it hasn't affected us. But these will be two significant increases in price for us - so we will research our bulk options a little more.

(ETA: A quick online search shows these size changes are at the manufacturing level. So we may have little choice. What a way to sneak in SIGNIFICANT price increases... I've seen many of you blog about this - but WOW).

This month will be impossible to get a grip on our grocery budget (or I should say, a feeling about it) because we were gone a week and have had, what seems like, infinite amount of free meals. Next month will be normal and we'll have to see where we are at.

We did splurge on some ice cream yesterday (drumsticks - yummy).

& as a perfect example, dh found a 3.5 pound bag of gyozas at Bel Air, for $10. The full price at Safeway, for 1.5 pounds, was $6. He had bought the Safeway ones because they were on sale, and I found them to be rather good (as good as Trader Joe's, which is way out of the way for us). So if Bel Air's are any good, I think I am sold.

I can't believe we never thought to buy frozen gyozas before. !! Yum yum yum. Much cheaper than eating out, to find them. Though of course not as good as fresh ones, but they really aren't bad at all.

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

Yesterday was a pretty simple day. My mom came for a visit and we played cards most of the day. ("Spite & Malice" & "Oh Hell" are our favorites - any other players out there?)

I made sloppy joes for lunch and dh did the soup for dinner. We usually get our parents to treat us out but we were in a simpler mood (tired of eating out this month, for sure).

I think we were all on the same page, so worked out.

In the morning, the kids and I went to Fairytale Town (a little park that is more than a park, here). The place opened at 9 and we got there closer to 9:30. We had been planning a hike in Old Town, but there is a huge jazz festival this weekend - all weekend - and we figured we would probably be lucky to find parking. So we were going to settle on something else when my mom decided to come over. So I had promised the kids a trip to Fairytale Town (we have membership, so the trip is "free" and we haven't been getting our money's worth in the winter months). So we headed over there about 1/2 hour after they opened and I swear for about a 1/2 hour we were the ONLY people there. We hung around a couple of hours until grandma got here.

It was COOL having the place to ourselves!

I did have to buy some nachos - what can I say. They are YUMMY. & hey, it's for a good cause...

That was my splurge for the day I guess.

Eventually some other kids came in (not many) and BM made fast friends with a 6-year-old.

He had actually befriended a 7-year-old at LEgoLand and had spent much the day with this kid, so it was much the same.

I think he is officially "graduated" and ready for Kindergarten. I know most people don't understand why we put our kids in preschool. We are fiercely vocal that the kids don't need a fancy preschool to learn academics (they learn them fine at home) and we also tend to be rather frugal. BUT socially/emotionally we really struggled with developing our child. It was probably extra hard with the man staying home, and not being so invited into the primarily female playgroups. But it's more than that. I have friends who don't let their kids out of their sight but expect them to thrive in Kindergarten in the fall. I think they are insane. No offense, but they are insane. I at least appreciate/understand the thinking when it comes to home schoolers. But I am at a complete loss to the emerging trend to shelter your kids 24/7 for 5 years and not let the kid out of your sight, but when they turn 5 they can magically go fend for themselves at school 6 hours a day.

Huh?

Thankfully that is not the "norm," but I see it a little too often.

Color me confused.

For me personally, we knew we always intended to send BM off to public school in the fall, and didn't feel we were properly preparing him socially and emotionally. So that is where preschool came in for us. We felt we needed help in that area, and searched it out. I see nothing wrong in that. To admit we needed help. I know we could have found more frugal help, but we found this route to be the best/easiest, and certainly no regrets there. Some areas we are frugal so we can splurge in other areas.

Anyway, to see him suddenly have the ability to make fast friends with just about anyone he meets, is quite an accomplishment. He has only one more month of preschool, and I think it has done its job.

I also like how he has a lot of "unsupervised time" to interact with other children. I know the 4:1 ratio he enjoys at preschool is nothing near the 20:1 ratio he will encounter in kindergarten. But at least he has spent much time with other kids without momma breathing down his neck and monitoring his every move. I think he will at least be much more prepared than those kids. He's learned, with much practice, how to solve conflict and get along with other kids, on his own, without adult intervention every second of the day.

We'll see how he does in Kindergarten. I notice he does gravitate to older kids. He may have less patience for the kids in his grade. But hopefully a few of them have gotten the emotional/social education he has. & if not, I guess the other kids will learn fast in that environment.

I guess the true test will be he how he does at school in the fall.

Rain??????????

Last night I was talking to my mom and she said tornadoes has obliterated a little town near Denver (my grandma lives in Denver). I guess they were peeved it got little media mention. So I popped in "tornado" in google and saw quite a few stories online BUT then I saw there was rain, snow, AND tornadoes in Southern California. Holy Cow! Glad we came back last week. But yeah, look at that crazy weather.

Fire season has also started (quite a few months early). On our drive to LA, looking at all the dry landscape, we thought to ourselves, "this is not good." Likewise, a number of fires broke out with the hot weather and such. Will be a long summer... Usually the hills dry out in the summer and the fire season starts in the late summer and fall, before the rains come. So May is a tad early - but the vegetation is just so dry this year. & the weather has already been so hot.

Of course, on the plus side, it is raining...

I was quite bummed to hear the rain when I woke up this morning though. We had all sorts of outdoor plans, all weekend. The weather forecast I see is rain rain rain. I was looking forward to more pleasant weather (under 100 degrees) but the rain was a bit of a surprise. Don't expect it to be much to curb the fire danger though.
The 70-degree weather sounds divine though, if it does not rain too much.

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Last night we had artichokes for dinner. I guess Cali is the only state where artichokes are grown commercially (for the most part) so we are lucky to get fresh artichokes. This is another reason it is worth it to live here - all the fresh, local produce.

We have been enjoying a TV show called "Good Eats." They had a special on artichokes (usually focuses on one food every episode - and VERY interesting). So we watched that and the kids were excited when they saw artichokes in the store. They were on sale so dh picked them up, though he had never braved cooking them before.

So we steamed them for dinner and they came out pretty darn yummy!

I am not much of a veggie person, so we need to work more treats like that into our diet.

I have no idea how much they cost in general but they were on sale for $2.50 each (jumbo size). So yes, definitely a bit of a splurge, but we enjoyed.

They were REALLY jumbo. Almost a full meal for me (didn't expect that).

I asked dh to keep an eye out for strawberries on sale. I love fruit smoothies in the summer but seem to remember finding strawberries expensive in the hottest months. There were many on sale on the side of the road last month. I wasn't thinking. I should have stocked up and frozen them...

But yes, not much of a fruit or veggie person so have no grasp on seasons and such. So I thought to have dh keep a look out for strawberries on sale...

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

I reviewed our investments yesterday (kind of on automatic pilot of late) and it looks like the asset allocation has changed little in the last 8 months or so. For a while I had to keep selling international because it was so on fire, to keep our asset allocations. We are still heavy on cash and int'l funds. We are just adding to domestic stocks until our allocations even out.

So I peeked at them yesterday as I haven't really set any sort of schedule yet on that. I should. But I was surprised little had changed in many months, as far as asset classes and the percentages I hold in each class.

As of yesterday, we also appear to be down 1% for the year.

Not bad...

Dh's Vanguard account is down by 2.6%. My cash is up 2.6%. (CD). & the rest of our investments (primarily managed funds) are up 0.25%. Average it all together and we are down almost 1%, for the year. The Vanguard account is by far the biggest piece, so explains that.

I am pleased my managed funds are doing their job though. I expect them to perform a little better than the indexes, in the downturn. That is the hope anyway.

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

Ugh, I was not prepared for a rainy day... Bummer.

ID-protection firm's clients sue founder
Even He Fell Prey to Data Thieves, Customers Say

http://www.mercurynews.com/businessheadlines/ci_9356426

Um, have you seen this guy's commercial? I just saw it the other day.

He advertises his own SS# in his commercials.

I watch that and think either the guy is an IDIOT or that is not his real SS#.

Well. Jury's out - he's an IDIOT. LOL.

OF course, to be fair, I knew this story:

http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html

So when I Saw this guy, I thought, "Oh boy. What BS - like that is his real number."

Apparently he was a little naive... Though still quite cocky. Ugh.

Anyway, that was an interesting read.

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

Today is SLOW.

I had fun playing "receptionist" today.

IT was fun because:

* No one came by
* No one called
* A client called with a tedious request immediately before my front desk shift. (Good tedious/brainless work for the fromt desk).

So basically, it was fun to sit somewhere else for a while. LOL. OTherwise it's not exactly my cup of tea. I much prefer to sit in my office uninterrupted, where I don't have to be "on" all the time.

There is no one here and I am not terribly motivated. Finishing the tedious stuff and then running for it.

Have a good weekend!

Dh saw Indiana Jones movie yesterday.

Surprised?

He's the biggest movie buff, so I am not surprised.

I can tell he is getting old/tired though because he did not go to the midnight showing the night before. He took the opportunity while the kids were in school to see the matinee.

Anyway, he was telling me the sound was really bad and kept cutting out.

So he went to complain to an employee. More to say, "um, you might want to fix it", then anything.

He said she could care less (looked annoyed) by his complaints, and just handed him a free movie voucher.

So he got a free movie, but I think he was astounded by the response.

Well that and she was very defensive.

(I can't remember um, ever seeing a movie before with sounds problems. Something people expect - sound and picture - too much to ask?)

But I guess our next date out will be a movie...

Getting spoiled over here. Movies out have just been too luxury for us, for a very long time...

With more reasonable drop-in childcare AND matinees before 6pm weekdays and 2pm weekends - it is VERY in the cards lately. We'll probably do a weeknight date in June.

We are trying to do one date a month and 2 date lunches a month as well. All very new to our budget (with our eldest turning 5). Though we are very open to dates at home or "Free" dates, so far we have been enjoying splurging a little more.

Of course, with me foregoing cash for lunch I Was worried I would be tempted to charge too much. I was WAY wrong. I have not gone out for lunch this month but for dates and meeting friends. I have been funneling my "last minute runs for fast food" budget to date lunches with dh with good coupons. IT wasn't a big budget ($20/month??), but the date lunches have been very satisfying.

Well, as we move past the expensive months of April & May, summer should be pretty good to us. (I hope!)

June is our last payment to our mortgage where interest exceeds $1,000. Woohoo! Our July interest payment is $999.99 (something like that - hehe).

Psychological, yes, and little more. But it is still nice.

Dh told me he is waiting for our principle payments to exceed the interest portion. Agreed, but so that is so long in the future I have to find something sooner to get excited about. We also drop below the $200k balance in 2010. So that will be cool too. Another psychological advance...

Of course, as usual, looking at it - I am tempted to throw $50/month to the mortgage, extra, next year.

I talked myself out of it for now.

Another $150/month would really put us at our goal to pay off in our 40s. Quite simple really. BUT doesn't make much sense for now.

The other thing about this summer is the stimulus check (which will help greatly) and the removal of one child from the ever expensive preschool.

So summer seems like a turning point of sorts, for us financially.

As of summer I hope to have:

*Replenished the $1k I unexpectedly owe the IRS and sucked out of the emergency fund for now.

*$3k balance in our mid-term savings (which has been 0 for a while).

*Contributing $315/month to our ROTHs. (bumps our retirement savings to 15% from 12%. Phew).

I really hope to have another $100/month raise come next year to allocate to the ROTHs and get to the max for one roth and about 17% income to retirement. From there I think it is a good spot and we will just try to increase it 1% a year. (Minimum anyway. Certainly more if we have bigger raises or windfalls).

*Up our short-term savings from $900 monthly to $1k monthly, which really should suffice to cover more of the unexpected things (like a similar IRS bill).

So I would say our retirement and short-term savings should be in pretty good shape come summer.

As tempting as it is to earmark a token $50 to the mortgage, I know we really need to focus on getting our mid-term savings up to snuff. My goal is to save $5k this year, but we have some catching up to do AND I will barely squeak by this but for the help of a large stimulus check.

Of course, I also just remembered the other competing want is college money for the kids. With BM our of expensive preschool I had considered saving $50/month for that.

There's only so many directions it will go. But I admit that is probably where the money is best spent, for now.

Short-Term Savings up to snuff
Retirement up to snuff
Work on BM's college money

I guess all I can hope for is a really decent raise next year so I can put some more to mid-term savings as well. We have cars to save up to buy and home maintenance to save up for.

Dh may consider some temp work with the kids in school. I am not sure we are hot on the idea right now, but the option is certainly nice. It could significantly help the cash savings. (For now is working on a movie script and a movie which I rather him do now while he has some significant child rearing to do. BEcause lord knows I will be pushing for more income if we are not doing better when LM starts public school. Just giving him the space to do his thing for now).

Getting there, but still a ways to go...

Getting so close to where we were before we dropped to one income... That part is nice. I don't think we expected to get back to this point, so soon, on my income alone. & I am excited as we near this sort of crossover point where we are so close to getting back to a larger measure of financial security.

We've done without a lot of savings and retirement contributions and a lot of things as we slowed down to raise kids. I didn't exactly imagine with time we would find a way to have our cake and eat it too (so soon anyway). Our lifestyle for now is far cushier than I imagined it would be when we made sacrifices for our kids. For that I am extremely grateful.

& I am certainly enjoying!

The idea of putting $5k in a ROTH next year is DIVINE. To me, that is luxury.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_id_extreme_makeov...

"Extreme Makeover" recipient in Idaho selling home

The article goes on how the 3600 square feet is too expensive to maintain.

I have to say I have caught the end of this show a few times and wondered the same thing. How in the hell can these people afford to maintain these homes?

I guess I am too realistic.

Though the gift is nice, I think often it is way misguided.

Of course, I also find it a shame to read that this guy's bills have tripled since the change. I know that with some care and planning it doesn't have to be that way.

We had the fortune to move from 1300 square feet to 2600 square feet, for about the same price, moving somewhere cheaper. The thing is for us that none of our bills went up. The house is new so needs little maintenance, as of yet. Our utilities are the same. Our property taxes are the same. All same same same. I doubt few people can say the same. BUT it does irk me when people go on and and on and on about big houses being energy hogs. Says who? We have twice as many people now and are home 3 times as much (home all day/every day instead of just evenings and weekends), but we pay less for our utilities, due to the energy efficiency.

So I think, for one, for these makeovers, you think they would really consider this in the makeover - making these homes super energy efficient so the recipient's bills don't triple. Really. Realistically, the bills could be lowered.

But even so, watching that show, I always figured for the long run there was a lot to maintain. & of course just because things are "new" doesn't make them foolproof.

I've always been far too practical to enjoy that show. LOL. I keep thinking, "how will they afford to maintain that mansion?" Egads.

I can't imagine he is the only one who feels that way. Too bad he feels some measure of guilt selling his home.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Spinach-Manicotti

Dinner last night!

Yes, I did have a meatless day. Actually had cheese enchilada at lunch so, yes, meatless. We don't eat meat every day. (Just seems like we have been lately).

Anyway, this recipe is DIVINE. Love it.

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

Dh and I are spoiled this week. We had date lunch yesterday, so he could run an errand for me.

Tonight he has a volunteer appreciation dinner. So we will drop off the kids for 2 hours and get a "free" dinner. Daycare will be around $25, but will be worth it. We may even win some prize? Kids will be in daycare about 10am - 8pm. They couldn't be happier. (Weird kids. Grass is always greener... They wish they could go more - and this week they get their wish).

The local public TV station does a great job on their appreciation dinners - we always enjoy. For the longest time it was our only standing date night. One night a year out?

Not much else up this week.

Today BM had an evaluation at the school - for Kindergarten. Dh told me while they were waiting he read a sign about how they had won $10k (a teacher had won some award). NEither of us knew he could read "$10,000." Don't ask me - nothing I showed him. LOL. (Dh figured I had been showing him bank accounts or something).

We imagine he did well enough in the evaluation... He knows things we didn't even know he did. Kids are scary sometimes...

I don't think we have much planned for the weekend, though I may pull for a local hike if the weather is nice. Dh wants to drive to San Jose next weekend, so no driving for us. The car needs a break and so will the gas budget. After all the driving this month... 2 trips to SJ & a trip to LA. Yeesh.

The pool opens Monday and we will enjoy. But mostly low-key, and low-spend, in the plans. We will eat in, watch some TV, run around in the background, go for walks, and go swimming. All free free free. If the weather is awful we will hole up indoors and increase the TV watching I guess. But if not so bad we may go for a drive I guess. Just not too far... OF course if it is bad we will go to the gym. We'll still get our workout but harder for the kids to run off their steam. But these are all very low cost activities.

The calm of it all sounds rather attractive after our big vacation... The low cost sounds even better!

Oh yeah - and free lunch tomorrow - from a vendor. I honestly usually don't get this much free food.

Preschool had spots so the kids are going 4 days this week. Woohoo. I hadn't even thought of it but dh has a lot of video work to do too - so this should help.

Monday is a holiday so they are going T/W next week. At least I feel we are getting our money's worth. They were under no obligation to make up for holidays or vacations.

I signed up BM for swim classes in July - with the city - very reasonable. About $12/hour.

OF course we just got an e-mail regarding lessons at our community pool. It's within walking distance and private lessons are merely $30/hour. Really, not horrid. 2 weeks of classes. VERY convenient.

So I am signing up for those as well. I don't care if he has to take 10 sessions through the city. I want BM to be swimming by end of this summer. He's ready. I think ideally he will have the private lessons first, and dh will practice with him a lot.

Grandma is finally getting a fence around her pool too - that is where her stimulus check went. You don't know how relieved I am.

I guess pool/swimming is on our minds here with this horrid hot weather. Our pool does not open until Memorial Day. That annoys me every year. (though think - just one week!). We have a birthday party to go to at the pool Monday, so we will enjoy the day it opens...

Today dh met me for lunch since I had wanted/needed to deposit my paycheck today. He met me, picked up my check, and went to the bank for me. That's my guy! I had considered driving by yesterday but wasn't exactly in the mood. This was way better.

We ate at a Taqueria around the corner - lunch for 2 - $8. Was a lot of food. & yummy yummy yummy.

I was kind of dreading work today, but it wasn't so bad. The kids were thrilled to go back to preschool today so dropping them off left me on a happy note (we just love the place). & work was not so bad - not a lot of calls or e-mails during my absence. The place did not fall apart either. Phew!

Heck, just a couple of hours before I pick up the kids. The whole kid drop-off/pick-up thing will not leave me very productive this week, so oh well. I had considered working a bit Saturday, to catch up a bit. But I hadn't realized Memorial Day was so soon. Wow. I think I will enjoy a 3-day weekend. Forget working extra...

Just a little more catching up to do, though once I hit June I expect the pace to slow considerably. HEck, it already has... But work has slowed to a more bearable pace. Summer will be slow. I will probably be bored. Figures!

Well, I will try not to make a post 10-miles long.

We just got back from our week-long vacation to Disney, last night. & I am rather pleased with how it went. We had a really great time, and it didn't break the bank at all. Woohoo. Total cost $1111. The in-laws gave me $150 before we left and we are expecting $250 cash back from our credit card in a couple of weeks, so this will lower our out-of-pocket to about $700. Not half bad?

Particularly since we generally do Disney as a weekend thing (we live close enough). It's usually not a big expensive week-long thing for us. So this was a very unique trip for us. I wanted to really take our time driving and spend more than one day at Disney, etc. I don't think we'll go to Disneyland for a week again, for a VERY long time, if ever. So, it was just different.



*Other - this category was for souvenirs and unforeseen things. $40 was for valet parking at our hotel (blech - totally unexpected, and annoying). $27 was for stroller rentals - 3 days(rather expected). $20 on souvenirs and $20 for Lego Sets from Lego Land (cheaper than we had seen retail so picked some up).

*Gas - Gas wasn't bad. Prices here have been $3.65 - $3.99 (depending on coupons and brand). We only got stuck paying more ($4.08) on the last leg of our trip. So we only filled up half tank, which we estimated, and was, exactly enough to get home. We filled up for $3.77 when we got home (Safeway, with discount). We paid $3.99 somewhere on the way down (prices seemed cheaper last Monday on the way down). We found $3.83 near our hotel, though we actually found some $3.75 gas after we had filled up twice. Right in front of Disney where we thought it would have been more expensive. But that is where we saw $3.75 gas when we drove past on our last day. Figured. We had already filled up for the drive home, when we saw it.

So we drive about 1200 miles total for $106. Not bad (sure beat flying) and dh's car did get awfully close to 40mpg most of the trip. Freeway. We didn't see much traffic all week, except it was horrid on our way out Saturday morning (no idea why). So we got some pretty decent gas mileage most of the trip.

I know many acquaintances thought it was horrible not only we drove, but we took the subcompact. But man, the 6 hour drive was really nothing. I have driven to Kansas too many times (family there) to sweat a 6-hour drive. Dh fashioned a makeshift TV with his DS2 so the kids did watch some shows on the way (maybe an hour each way). The thing that shocked us was they did not sleep either way, at all. Figures. They were okay considering the close quarters and everything though. Though LM did have the great meltdown of 2008 shortly after we got out of LA yesterday. Egads. He seemed to be a little under the weather all week, so poor guy. But after that he was pretty pleasant the rest of the 6 hours. Phew.

Disneyland - I was going to buy tickets online for a $6 discount, but the $3 service fee and the whole "will call" thing (couldn't print them out) annoyed me. We figured we'd just buy tickets there. Which did work our since the first day there was no line for tickets.

Legoland, I was going to buy online as well, but saw we would get a $10 pr ticket discount with AAA if we bought in person there. So we just bought there as well.

LM was free everywhere, since he is not quite 3 yet.

Our hotel was 1 mile from the park so we decided to walk it the first day (it seemed closer once we got there. though we noted the hotel was next to Motel 6 - will consider Motel 6 next time - great location - probably an expensive Motel 6). Our hotel was completely free (relative's timeshare) except for the mandatory valet parking. We didn't have full kitchen, but was 2 rooms, microwave, fridge, etc.

We were nervous when we got there but put the kids together on the pull-out couch bed, and they did great. (I think they were too exhausted every night to do little more than sleep. We were worried they'd play too much, or disturb each other).

We also brought lots of food and stocked up on juice and milk once we got there. The breakfast was right across from our room and had long hours, so probably would have sufficed. We ate much more breakfast there than we had planned/expected.

Anyway, day 1 we walked to D-Land and we probably could have gone all day without a stroller, but LM really needed a nap and so we got one for him to nap in, late in the afternoon. I think dh carried him back to the hotel most of the way that night. The second day we went as long as we could without stroller (just a PITA) but we got one much earlier day 2. Friday we went to Legoland and picked one up when we got there. He was just fed up with walking by then. BM on the other hand, outgrew strollers long ago. I figured we would probably rent strollers all 3 days, and was pleased the rest of us could do just fine without the shuttle. The walk was not a big deal at all.

On our beach day we did not have to pay to park, so we didn't spend any money that day outside food and gas. LM walked that day since we didn't do so much walking.

Which leaves food! I just budgeted $100/day or so because food is always so insane. I know we could have easily spent less, but with some advanced planning we had saved a lot, and the second half of the week we ate rather well. So, really, no complaints.

We ate lunch in the parks 3 days and dinner out of the parks every night. Wasn't so sure we would swing the late dinners, but in the end it worked out well to walk over to the IHOP/Denny's outside the park and rest before our walk back to the hotel.

So, $367 was to feed us all for 6 full days. IT also included treating 2 friends to dinner one night. So, not bad.

Day 1 we packed a picnic lunch and ate at a rest stop. We stopped to visit dh's aunt for dinner, which worked out really well. They say it never rains in So Cal, but last time we drove down (September 2006?) it poured and it kicked up so much oil and grime from the road our car was just black. It was very memorable. So Monday we are driving into LA and it is sprinkling. We are just confused. What is up with the rain???? We stopped at the convent and had dinner with the nuns there - beautiful real estate - as I expected - nestled in the hills. Their dinner spread wasn't very big (I've had many lunches when I audited other religious organizations) and they did say lunch was generally bigger. So we had a light dinner and enjoyed walking around the grounds (though admittedly it was wet and cold). Lots of pretty flowers. We saw lots of poppies driving in and lots of trees with purple blooms. I have no idea what those are. I tried to remember if I had ever been to LA in the spring before. Probably not in many years - was just gorgeous.

So, anyway, this made day 1 a cheap eating day.

Days 2 & 3 we ate expensive lunches in the park and dinner right outside the park at IHOP/Denny's. Kids were free at IHOP I believe, though of course prices were inflated due to location.

We snuck in some trail mix and brought bottled water (from home - refilled with tap water) but it was so hot I bought a few cold waters and sodas. Particularly Friday. IT seems like the hotter it was the hungrier we were too. So bought more snacks on those days. That is where they REALLY gouge you though and we tried to keep it to a minimum. I kept cold sodas as the hotel too and we did not order any soda while out at. Though in the parks the water was so expensive I would just get soda because it cost the same anyway.

I think we got really sick of burgers and greasy food the first couple of days. Thursday we went to San Diego to the beach and we went to a placed called Panini's. I had looked up places ahead of time and was more upscale than I expected but the food was DIVINE.

For dinner that night we tried out a Thai place near our hotel and it was excellent. So we ate VERY well that day. We spent $95 on those 2 meals, but we met some friends for dinner and treated them, so it was more than just us.

Friday at Legoland we stumbled upon a wonderful restaurant. Lunch was $45, but was worth getting more than grease. Dh had stir fry and I stocked up at the salad bar (with potato salad and pasta, rolls, etc.). We also got a cake for dessert. Splurged a little. Was another great meal though.

For dinner that night we had Taco Bell and Dairy Queen for dessert ($12). Which really we could have done that every night and saved a lot. Was just nice to eat more than fast food. Though really IHOP and Denny's kind of fell short when we looked forward to some more homemade-like food. Just so greasy.

On the drive home we mostly went fast food.

& that sums up the nitty gritty of our trip.

I was really pleased how it panned out because Thursday we really needed a day of rest. Besides the drive to the beach, and dinner with friends, we did little that day. Had a chance to rest our feet.

Friday was the hottest day of the week (in the 90s in LA?) so was a great day to spend in LegoLand - much closer to the cooler shore. They also had a lot of great water rides. So was easy to keep cool.

So I don't think we could have planned it any better. D-Land closed at 8:00 the days we were there, but it was empty enough, we got a lot done. Though, last time I believe we went on a Saturday, and with the whole Fast Pass thing we found little advantage during the week. Most of the Fast Passes were closed which meant we waited in lines longer than we were accustomed to. Fast Pass wait is usually like 0 if you come back in an hour, and we waited in a lot of 15-minute to 1/2-hour lines. Though certainly no longer lines - I'll give you that. But we were a little disappointed at the amount of 1/2 hour lines we had to wait in. However, it was significantly less crowded than the last Friday we were there (particularly in the afternoon/evening) which was probably preferable with the kids. The BIG crowds would have been a lot harder to navigate. But my feelings were kind of mixed about the mid-week advantage. We have just gotten so accustomed to the Fast Pass thing - felt lost without it. I don't think we were able to use Fast Pass once. As a result, lines were longer than we have grown accustomed to. I guess the good thing is a weekend trip in the future doesn't sound so bad.

Oh yeah, in D-Land I thought I read that some restaurants had 10% AAA discount. But it was rather hit and miss. At one restaurant dh got food for him and the kids and when I went to get my food they wouldn't give me AAA discount. They had just given it to dh, but insisted it had been a mistake and they don't have AAA discounts. Of course, dh showed me his receipt and it said "-10% AAA." So we were rather frustrated. I still have no idea what the deal with that is. Do they take AAA or do they not? Maybe haven't updated the registers?

We also went to California Adventure for a few hours while at Disney, and we really liked the park. It was really great for the kids and we really enjoyed it (had heard mixed reviews before).

Legoland was perfect for the kids' age range. I don't know if we will ever get back there (if they will be too old for it next time) but we just had a blast there. It was a great little park. The water area was just perfect on such a hot day, and probably where we had the most fun.

One reason why we went was because unexpectedly, LM LOVED Disney World in the fall. He was feeling a little under the weather all week and I don't think he particularly enjoyed Disney this round. Which was a little disappointing. BUT CA Adventure had some great kiddie areas, and LegoLand was very much his speed. BM actually went on all the big rides at Disney. He has no fear, and LM was terrified of just about everything. I don't think they could have been more opposite, so we split up a lot. But dh and I took turns with the kids and got to go on most of the big rides, etc.

LM absolutely LOVED seeing all the characters in the park though. & there was certainly much he enjoyed.

We also happened to catch the Disney fireworks show on our drive home Friday night from dinner, so it worked out pretty good. LM would have been terrified if we were any closer, but we watched from the car and our hotel, and the kids loved it. Seemed a fitting finale for our trip.

& it certainly feels good to be home.

Today we are unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping.

Oh yes, we left the A/C on 86 for the cat (we just left it on downstairs). So when we got home last night it was 91 degrees upstairs, and took quite a while to cool down to 80. I can't imagine how hot it would have been without the A/C on down here. I am glad I thought ahead. Not sure I exactly expected this weather in May, but heard a heat wave was coming so thought ahead to leave the air on for the cat.

We have a cat, but we just left her plenty of food and water. Sometimes we talk about getting a dog, but eh. Cats are such low maintenance... Makes it easy to vacation. Though if we were gone any longer we'd have someone check in on her at least once.

Well, I guess I have to adjust back to reality now. Bummer!

I found another electricity drain today.

Since we moved here in 2001 our electric bills have been insanely low. So have our gas bills, as this is an energy star home.

Anyway, well, this is what we thought. Until last spring when they came out and worked on our meter and our bills about doubled. I guess we were undercharged all these years? Said our mete was broken. (Don't ask me how they knew). Bummer. They are still quite low for the size of our house. But we certainly weren't doing as good as we thought we were!

So I have gone from kind of eh, how could we save more energy (we don't need to), to, well, let's try to save more energy.

I noticed a new one I hadn't today. The baby monitors!

We will keep using them for a while. But I think LM is getting to an age where we can try to remember to turn it off when he is not sleeping in his room. we have just been lazy and have been leaving it on 24/7.

He turns 3 in July and we will probably remove the gate from his room and give him free roam. Particularly as we expect he will be moving to going diaper-less by then. If he is free to get up and roam, I don't think we need the monitors. We have never used them at night. We just use them for when we our downstairs and they are sleeping upstairs. Though sometimes it is nice as they get older and play upstairs on their own now, to hear what is going on. Though when the screaming ensues, you can probably hear it anyway.

Dh might use them once in a while after that - he often watches movies while they nap - in his theater room. so he still uses the monitors a lot so he can watch a loud movie in here, but know if anything is going on in the rest of the house.

For now we will be nice and use them so we can hear when LM wants out of his room in the morning. He isn't particularly loud and sometimes you can't hear them calling for us from the upstairs, without the monitor.

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On the flip side, we are barely into May and they are calling for some 100-degree+ weather this week. The ironic thing is today is WINDY. A little stormy. But Thursday will be 103? Ugh.

I think our A/C will get a workout this week.

Reminds me, we were visiting the fam this week, in San JOSE. My FIL told me that that their house used to get into the 90s about 4 days a year, but these days it is more like 20 days a year. I don't know if it is global warming or what. But people out of the region are always shocked we don't have A/C. I always think, "we don't need a/c." Think mostly 60-80 degree weather year round. Throw in the very occasional cooler or hotter day.

BUT my parents broke down and got A/C a couple of years ago. Their electric bills are insane (probably because A/C is rare and they charge like crazy for that excess electricity usage). But my mom doesn't do well in the heat.

We actually had A/C in or condo, but it sucked. Though it was nice on the really hot days since we were stuck in an upper unit. IT certainly wouldn't have cut it in Sacramento weather.

Anyway, though the weather is so much more brutal up here, I generally find it more pleasant, if I stay inside, since every home has A/C. I mean here, every home has to. So now when we catch a hot day in San Jose - it is brutal. I don't remember the last day I had to suffer inside a house over 80 degrees. Up here anyway. Reminds me, if we go to SJ for any weekends in the summer we'll have to stay with my parents in their chilled oasis.

Well, I am glad I mentioned to my boss Friday that I didn't think the A/C in my office was working. I would have mentioned it sooner if I knew it was going to be a 100-degree week. Yikes!

I started a long entry and it didn't stick - I think yesterday. Bummer, was too tired to try again.

In the meantime I probably forgot half of it. But some of it is coming back to me...

I think on our trip we will be gone 4 full days. 2 days spent driving, which will be expensive on the eating out as well.

Anyway, on the way out we were going to stop for a picnic. Today we were told by the fam that we are expected to stop and visit Auntie Nun (the family nun) a good hour north of Disneyland.

At first I Was annoyed. We see her all the time and dh is planning to visit a friend too, which has been a gigantic PITA. So much for the relaxing vacation! As it keeps getting bogged down with "appointments."

Well, today I woke up in a better mood about it and asked dh how far out of the way it was. He feels the same way but thought I might be happy we would get a free meal out of it. The place I worked last actually audited a lot of religious organizations and I have to say I remember they always had good spreads for their priests and nuns. So anyway, today I asked him how far out of the way it was. Since we were considering taking a long cut to avoid some of the traffic (if need be) this was actually more on the way than not. Not far off our long cut. We figured regardless it only added about 40 minutes to our drive. Not so bad. So we decided on our way down we will stop for a picnic lunch and for dinner we will stop for free dinner service with the nuns. She said we could also pick some fresh fruit from the grounds. & don't get me wrong, it will certainly be nice to see where she lives. The kids LOVE her, so all will be well there.

Beyond all that, dh has started loading up on snacks on sale at the store, and got me some bottled water, for the trip.

He also wants to go to the grocery store the night we get there to get some milk for the fridge. Maybe some other perishables.

& sounds like we will have fresh fruit (free) too. We don't plan to eat many meals in the hotel. Since we'll be out so much. But breakfast, certainly. & the snacks are covered.

We also picked up his parent's GPS this weekend, to borrow, since we saw them. Dh went to Florida with them last fall and is now GPS crazy. Every time we go anywhere now and are not 1000% where we are I always say, come on, it's an adventure. He always gripes we need GPS. He got so spoiled on that one short trip. We have talked of getting one around Christmas. What we are planning - one for driving and hiking. But this will be my first time test driving one. I did wonder if it would be fair to get one and how we would fight over it. But he made the point that I probably wouldn't need it for my commute to work every day. Either of us can use it whenever we need it. So yeah - that will be our Christmas gift to each other. Though we may buy sooner if we see a good sale.

Yesterday I took the kids to an art & wine festival and spent way too much money. But we did have fun! I'll have to take a picture of the solar powered art we bought - because there is no describing it.

While walking into the festival a woman walked passed me in the other direction and dropped a wad of cash. IT took me a few seconds to react (both kids in tow) but dh came up from behind, spotted it (of course - he would never miss cash on the ground) and stopped to pick him up. I pointed to the woman just as another lady started to say - "that cash is hers." He handed it back to her. I joked if we were a little slower maybe we would have found $20+. (Not sure how much was in the wad, but was a $20 on the outside). Then again I have the feeling that wouldn't have gone long at all, unnoticed. Particularly since so many people saw her drop it - lucky for her!!

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In other news, I had an overdraft!!!!!!! Ugh!

In the end it wasn't so bad.

My system is to run checking to $0 and to keep around $1k in my linked savings account (overdraft protection).

This system has always been fine, and even better since using Quicken. This way I don't worry about math errors.

Anyway, for years dh had much of our money in another credit union, and though we had tens of thousands in his linked checking, and he had some sort of "overdraft protection" he couldn't keep track that his checking account had a large minimum. So every time he went under the minimum they charged him $50 overdraft. No kidding. After 2 or 3 of those I had had enough. !!

Which incidentally is one of our biggest fights to this day. HE does not understand in the least why our checking account has no interest. Every time he brings it up I have to roll my eyes. I say, "yeah, that really worked out well for you in the past." LOL. We seem to have this conversation over and over and it drives me nuts. I just don't want to worry about minimums to earn 1%. I like that my checking account minimum is $0. & likewise, any money that is not immediately spent goes into our high yield savings accounts. Considering that this system is simple, and yields no fees, I am much happier with this.

So anyway. I logged onto Quicken and downloaded my data yesterday and was shocked to see the word "overdraft" pop up. Wha?????????

I was relieved to see that my CU charged a mere $3. A small price to pay for my stupidity.

I actually hadn't slept well at all Friday night and was absolutely exhausted. Therefore, it took a long while for my very tired brain to figure it out. I finally realized I had dated a transfer into checking, about a week too early in Quicken. Ugh.

So I made a stupid mistake, but the price was small. Thank goodness for that. They pulled $200 over to cover the overdraft. Since that was going to be my transfer anyway, then it's all even steven.

Well, except down $3. Bummer.

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Besides all that, today was Mother's Day, of course!

We went to a nice luncheon at dh's grandmother's retirement village.

Oh yes, and last night my parents treated us to dinner at one of my favorite mexican restaurants in the Bay.

Oh yes, I think Friday night I asked BM what his favorite thing of the whole week was. He told me it was "making my Mother's Day present." That was the highlight of my week. How sweet is that?

I also saw something else in Quicken that peeved me Saturday morning. I saw a $3 charge to Trader Joe's. My first thought, was, since when did dh go there???? I made a mental note to ask him about it. But I soon remembered I had heard great things a while back about their frozen gyozas. I had been wanting to try them, but now we got this all-you-can eat Japanese buffet we have been frequenting more. So I have been getting plenty of my share of gyoza!

Anyway, I realized then that was my Mother's Day gift. I often feel bad that dh can sneak little past me since I control all thing finances (just our choice, though this is the one downside). But then I thought about it. $3? Like dh couldn't scrounge $3. Hell, he could have borrowed $3 from the kids' piggy banks and put it back after Mother's Day. But since I had just gone to the ATM for him last week, I knew he had $3.

So, bah!

So we got home around dinner time and I had my gyoza appetizers. & yes, they were actually pretty good. He tried a new dipping sauce, which was okay. I think we will try again though.

I thought this was a GREAT gift. Though I told him this would lead to a bad habit. Though at least not a terribly expensive one. It's just one of those things where you can't eat just one, though.

The kids also wrote me a story. LM's story was about the day I got to meet his friend "Wormy." From my last narrative on wormy, you know how cool this is. That was very sweet. I got to meet him on a flying card ride and sleep in his bed.

BM's story, well not sure what his story was. A lot of nonsense, but about a Crazy Boy and some things he did with his mother. But, he drew a lovely picture of me standing on my head. Now that is priceless!

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My mom also sent dh $100 for the work he is doing on a relative's wedding (since it is my family and he is doing it as favor to my parents and them, more than anything). More than just a favor now. BEst part was he had discussed it with my mom but didn't bother to tell me. Figured I'd see the check in the mail when it arrived. (I say that sarcastically. Sometimes I stress so much about the budget, I can't believe he didn't tell me about this windfall before it arrived).

Of course, today his mother gave me $100 & his grandma gave me $50. For Mother's Day, though clear it was for our upcoming Disney trip as well. His fam is always way too generous. I am thinking of applying it all to vacation. We'll just see where all this windfall lands. Will save us a trip to the ATM, but we'll deposit the rest into the bank when we get back, and I will probably apply to vacation. Heck this could go a long way to our Yosemite trip.

I know, I keep thinking one of these days that every windfall will just go to retirement. Or more long-term savings. Just, not there yet. Getting there. But not quite yet...

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/archives/2008/05/frugal-brown-bag...

I actually really enjoy this blog, and found this to be a decent post. Though personally I prefer to eat even cheaper lunches. But hey, sure beats eating out every day. (Well, depends. I can get a decent meal at Taco Bell or BK for $2).

Which I guess is my own lunch plan. Leftovers, mixed up with sandwiches (bologna, slami, tuna, whatever), mixed in with runs for $1 fast food meals and buy-one-get-one-free lunch buffet dates with dh.

I guess between all that I get plenty of variety. Though I am quite happy on a lazy day, when we are out of lunch meat, to just slap together a PBJ sandwich.

Anyway, the disturbing thing to me was reading all the replies on the above blog post. I have to admit I have some food issues of my own. Growing up my parents didn't cook much and never made me ate what they cooked. If I didn't like it I was free to fend for myself. I notice as I try to set an example for my kids that it is really hard for me to sit down and eat what is prepared for dinner. It is really hard for me to plan a week of meals in advance because I rather eat what strikes my fancy that very night. It's just how I was raised. But I also realize this is a terribly nasty habit, and a terrible example for the kids. I still work on it, much.

For lunch however. I don't know. It's so busy at work I rarely put much thought to lunch. I don't make a big production of it and often I just eat while I work or surf the net. I don't really care what I eat. I learned long ago if I behaved the same way at work, as at home, that I would be broke and extremely overweight. So I make it a rule to take food to work and that is all I can eat. No runs to the convenient store for what I really want, etc., etc., etc.

I have settled in this routine quite easily. It's not a big deal. I never feel deprived. Dinner is for the good stuff.

So it was kind of funny to me reading all these replies. That everyone is too good for wonder bread sandwiches (I'd eat them every day) and can't brown bag lunch because it is too boring.

It just struck me funny. & like they are all a bunch of spoiled brats or something. Seriously. Wah wah, we have to have a gourmet meal for every lunch?

Of course, I admit as much as I only eat what will tickle my fancy for dinner, the other issue my family had was we pretty much ate the same things over and over and over. So I admit I have a pretty high tolerance for monotony. I guess that could be part of it. But still. It seems to me that people are a little too attached to exciting lunches. Man, I love my food, but I don't exactly *get* it. I guess maybe this is much that is wrong with our society now. Food is s'posed to be EXCITING. People forget that it really is just s'posed to sustain us.

As long as I am not hungry (after eating) and it tastes okay, then I am good.

I of course work on my own issues on some level whereas I look at food as comfort. But it is funny how I don't really deal with that in the confines of work. & if I want to get the hell out of the office at lunch time (which I usually don't really care) then I go to the mall and go for a walk. Sure beats going out and eating a large calorie meal. I never understood why you had to eat to escape the office. If I worked in a safer area I'd just go for a walk, right outside, instead. There are plenty of alternatives to eating. I didn't know there was a rule you could only leave the premises at lunch if you were to EAT. I don't think there usually is.

Um, okay. Did I ever mention my kids are weird? LOL. On Friday I was in the mood for a walk, and was also feeling ambitious. Thankfully, dh was up for it as well. I wanted to attempt a long walk to a new park, but dinner was running a little late and we got a late start. We realized we'd never make it. Probably a 30-45-minute walk one way. I was just happy to walk.

So on the way we were trying to cut through the school and I pointed out the track to the kids. The kids LOVE to run around in circles, so the sight of the track was like heaven on earth. At home they run round and round endlessly around the kitchen island. There are many bumped heads and encouragement to slow down, but running around in circles is like heaven on earth for them - we just let them do it. I am sure we are terrible parents, but I don't know - it's really hard to get them not to run around.

Anyway, so this whole giant loop was quite amazing to them. BM ran one lap in just under 3 minutes and was off on another one. LM has do to everything BM does so he also ran 2 laps.

BM couldn't be any happier and LM was yelling "This is awesome!!" the whole time. If only I had thought of it, should have brought them to the track ages ago. I told dh - well when they refuse to nap - I think you have a new "weapon." LOL. Run them ragged at the track.

I couldn't help but wonder if any casual observer would think we were insane. As BM insisted that we time his laps. I imagine the whole thing could look pretty bad - making our toddler run laps - LOL.

Anyway, BM insisted he wanted to run a mile last night. We went to the track (they mostly ran the entire way there and back as well) and they ended up doing 3 laps. I think they both did. BM's time had slowed a bit, and he really wanted to run a full mile. We told him he should probably work up to it a bit more. Mostly I was worried about LM trying to keep up with him. He was running 4.5 minute laps.

But I have the feeling we will make it back to the track tonight and let him run a mile.

Well, that is certainly cheap entertainment.

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

Dh and I were going to go to the movies last weekend but we never made it for various reasons.

We went yesterday and dropped off the kids at the drop-in care place. They told us rates go up tomorrow. They suck you in and then raise the rates. !! Up $1/hour.

We have been trying to swing 1 date a month, and they also have sent us a ton of coupons, so I think we'll survive.

Of course, if I think about it, it makes me cringe. 'Twas $40 for 2 hours without the kids. Yikes! They childcare was about $25, and we paid $15 at the movies. (Matinee).

On the flip side, it was absolutely amazing to drop off the kids and do something. Our parents are GREAT about giving us time alone, and their daycare will take them on occassion at night. But all of this takes great care and planning. & with our parents, a 2-hour drive. IT was so weird just to say, "let's go out" and drop off the kids.

I think we likey.

& the kids LOVE this place so they had a blast.

At that cost though it is a luxury we can afford no more than once a month. It was actually our April date which we hadn't gotten to with tax deadlines and all.

In May we have a date - a volunteer appreciation dinner - which is always fun.

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

I assumed gas would be more pricey in LA but in the paper there was a story on gas prices and gas is on average 2 cents a gallon cheaper there, than here. I think our best bet is not to fill up the tank in the middle of nowhere. Where the high prices will be. But that is good to know. That maybe gas won't be any worse there. Woohoo.

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

I am fed up to here with my health insurer. We have always paid the higher price for co-pay insurance with our HMO. Which means sure we had a $50 co-pay last year (no small beans) and insane insurance premiums, but we have never had any hassle and everything is pretty much covered. I've never received a bill more than $50 or anything like that. We never receive statements or bills - we just had the comfort knowing most anything we would need was fully covered.

Of course, ideally, this is the insurance I would love to keep, but it went from insanely expensive to completely unaffordable, as they push their subscribers more to HDHPs.

So we signed up for the HDHP and I Was thinking it wasn't so bad. Our total out-of-pocket and premiums are lower than they were last year. (I think our out-of-pocket was honestly a good $3k higher last year though it was all stuff we generally never would have used).

So I was starting out looking at this quite favorably. We had a lot of doctors visits early in the year and they charged very little up front. They also sent me the average charge for various services, and it didn't look so bad.

Then I realized this was a false sense of hope.

They bill slower than molasses so the bills are starting to roll in. We eventually got a $400 bill for dh's hearing check. Which we thought had only been $75.

I am not sure how much they will bill for the ambulance for BM, but they recently sent us a notice for $1500. I admit the drive is a bit far (not like the hospital is down the street) but when I had googled ambulance costs the most I saw was $500. ??????? What in the hell would cost $1500 for someone who was borderline if they even really needed it. Not like they hooked him up to machines or anything costly.

So I try not to get too upset about it as it was not the bill. For all I know the bill will be $500. I just don't know.
But the "cost" is apparently $1500.

I have never seen bills and non-bills like this before. I liked when it was all behind the scened.

Anyway, this is the kicker though. The kicker! I got a bill friday for $100 for lab work in 2007. I was livid. It was for dh and he likes to deal with this stuff. So I handed it to him to take care of. I said, when you call, tell them in the last 30 years I have NEVER received a bill. Likewise, I don't understand why it takes ONE YEAR to bill for simple lab work. I think it is an error since we were under the copay plan last year and the copay was $10.

So I know the bill is wrong. But I am just livid that they seem to be going back through old charges and treating them like we were in the HDHP. I didn't pay an extra $300/month insurance last year for crap like this.

Anyway, I had a terrible thought that dh had been told originally he prepaid these lab tests and he made a big STINK about it when they tried to charge him. In the end, after they removed the $10 charge we found out that we had been misinformed in the first place and the prepayment was not for the lab - was for something else. I don't remember the exact sequence of events, but I remember learning after the fact that the $10 was a valid charge - after they removed it.

So I have a fear it has something to do with that. Like they are going through old records.

I am sure dh will work it out and just pay the stinking $10. But if I had any idea I would have gotten a $100 bill? Would have paid $10 then.

I almost hope this is it because I would hope this means no more surprise bills for 2007. Ridiculous. At least this would be a logical reason they would go through and see we never paid for it. But it just makes me nervous. What next? This certainly doesn't apply to our 2008 deductible.

Likewise, I have a fear we will get bills for 2008, well into 2009. No sigh of relief here if/when we get through the year under our deductible. IT would be like, let's wait a year and see. I think this whole 12 months to bill thing is completely ridiculous. It is 3-months and going as far as these emergency room charges - the first bills started to roll in last week.

Anyway, so it takes 1 year to bill for certain things, and I keep getting notices and statements and random bills all over the place. The bills are really hard to keep on top of. One itemized all our visits for the last 3 years (thought it didn't charge anything pre-2008). Of course I had to pull that one out and check this lab test was not on there. IT wasn't.

I "only" have 4 bills to compare any future charges to, for now, but I imagine in the long run this will turn into a nightmare. Since I am getting on average one bill every few days.

I imagine by the end of the year I will have 50 random bills that I will have to scour through as 2008 charges roll in well into next year and I am checking to make sure we are not double charged for anything.

So this is how the other half lives?

All I can think is thank goodness we had the premium insurance through my pregnancies. No paperworks; no bills. The thought just gives me a headache. Where we would be if I was pregnant with this freaking HDHP.

Yes, this is the first year that I feel our health plan is not bankrupting us. Yes. There is a plus there. But the hassle factor is like 1000-fold. I am not enjoying this at all. Is this the trade off?

I keep wondering how they keep costs down with this insanely inefficient billing. I imagine all this stuff generally goes on behind the scenes anyway. Only difference is that us and our pocketbooks are now in the loop. It's so convoluted though. Egads!

You know, for the long term I had considered getting into medical billing. (If you can't beat them; join them) or getting in at the accounting department of our HMO. For the benefits.

I have always said I could/would never work for the IRS. I would go insane. I can't tell if this is better or worse. IT's about the same caliber. I don't think I could do it. Just big, inefficient bureaucracy. I better start working on another pan...

BEfore I forget - here is a simple recipe:

Cheeseburger Pasta

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bacon-cheeseburger-pasta/detail...

This is my lunch - leftovers. & I look forward to it.

I had burrito leftovers last night (another thing that lasta forever).

I Watched Top Chef last night and they had a challenge to create dinner for four with $10. They were absolutely freaking out. I was imagning a million things I could cook for $10 to feed my family. Burritos would come to mind as awfully close - meat, beans, tomato sauce, spices, tortillas, cheese. Leftovers for days...

OF course, admittedly, we don't eat a lot of gourmet.

Though I was craving salsa on my way home from the gym last night and I wondered if we had salsa since Easter. Probably not with our rounds of illness. Dh said he would maybe make some this weekend. Woohoo. we have some chips - but no salsa. Kind of sad...

The salsa recipe is quite cheap as is usually made primarily with leftover veggies. The chips we bulk up on, when on sale.

No doubt kids are having PBJ for lunch, with grapes, and dh is having some sort of leftovers. We had some spinach lasagna and soup leftover as well.

I was surprised when dh told me he is making another pasta/beef dish tonight. Sausage penne pasta, with cheese and sour cream, etc. Certainly not a light meal, but we eat smaller portions and will have lots of leftovers for next week.

Oh I found this one too - we get most of these subscribing to Taste of Home Cooking mags - LOVE THEM. We have the "Light & Tasty" & the "Quick Cooking" - though they keep changing the names - I couldn't tell you what they are called now.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Cheesy-Sausage-Penne

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

Dh told me today that Raley's (our primariy grocery store) is offering 10% return on stimulus rebates.

I have mixed feelings about it.

It is certainly an easy $180 - will about turn our stimulus into $2k. $2k in free groceries. Wow!

I had earmarked the money for other savings, which we could still do. IT would just be delayed, but I think it would be a record keeping nightmare.

I told dh we could get 3% in the bank and so the true savings will be 7% for us. BUT we would have to be committed to replenish our savings with the grocery savings (easier said than done) and it will be a record keeping nightmare for me. We figure we average $250/month at Bel Air and may take almost a year to recoupe.

Likewise, who wants to carry around a $2k gift card in their wallet for a year? Oy vey. What if it is lost???????

I did look it up to see what other grocery stores are offering and saw since our stimulus is $1800 that they would issue us 2 gift cards for $990. At least that is more reasonable, we can keep the second one under lock and key until we use up the first.

Well, overall I think it is worth it. But I don't think it is as clear cut that we save 10%. WE save 7%. & lord hope that $990 gift card is not lost or stolen. !!!

There is something (a lot actually) to be said for cash in the bank.

I do like the choice to get 10% extra for groceries (as opposed to consumer goods, as many retailers are offering). I am just not sure I am convinced.

We have 2 months to decide, and see how our cash flow is when we get our stimulus in late June.

If we do it this way we will have to keep meticulous track of our grocery receipts and add them up monthly, and transfer that amount of cash to our savings every month.

It might take us 4 months just to replenish our short-term savings. Which is fine, since that is mostly for December bills.

But the more I think about it, the more it gives me a headache. Though I know in the end we'll be ahead $180.

I really think the whole risk factor thing has to be considered though. Since we are pretty disciplined with our savings, I find the odds slim that the cash would be used elsewhere, with all that grocery savings monthly. BUT I am less convinced I like the risk of carrying around almost $1k in my wallet. I usually carry $20 cash most.

Dh is good with his wallet and good at keeping on top of that stuff, but it still makes me a wee bit nervous. I guess we can talk about locking the card up at home and only getting it out for grocery store trips. HE is good at remembering things and I think is probably the best plan. cuts down the risk a bit...

Likewise, I would probably want to save every grocery receipt until the gift card is used. Computers are not foolproof. Last thing I need is a bad card or computer reading issues.

All that in place? We'll probably spend our stimulus in this manner. (Was to go to savings, we'll just trickle it into savings over the next year, with our grocery savings).

I don't think either way this is what the government had in mind.

Anyway, what people probably just jump into, I probably tend to over analyze. Slow and cautious says I.

Not a lot of time online this week. !! I guess since less time working and less time online? OF course, beyond that, just in spring cleaning mode.

I cleaned up my office today and I feel SO relaxed.

OF coursed, having the time to take a breath probably has more to do with it than anything. Though cleaning up a little does calm me.

Oh yes, and my last client came in with her e-file signature today. I think this is a stellar new record - I have no clients on extensions - none that I sign for anyway. !! Woohoo!!!! Tax season is officially over for me. Though I have one for my boss that is about done, and one that I am waiting for info on. But still, no more for me to sign. & having 2 in limbo in April 30th certainly is not bad (I am sure I had way more last year, at this time).

I also got all my April 30th deadlines out, but now I have a slew of 3/31 financial statements to work through (behind with all the deadlines) as well as a couple of 12/31 and business tax returns that have not been completed. I think I will be pretty busy before my vacation.

In other news I keep reading about food and gas. To be fair, I *get* how this affects the lower class. But am I The only one sick of the middle class going on and on and on and on? Though I notice a slight increase in our food bill, it is not much at all. As far as gas, it has been inching up. It affects how often we drive to San Jose to see our family and stuff like that. But if we were going broke over a $300 monthly line item in our budget, that would be kind of sad. I probably under-estimate the benefit of us only having one commute, and a short one at that. & I admit gas prices have affected our habits. Likewise, I am trying to brace myself for the worse case scenario. (Which is probably much farther down the road).

But I keep reading about people who have doubled their food budgets. I haven't a clue what you all are doing. Ours has gone up 10% tops, to date. We just don't spend that much on food to begin with. I expect it will get worse, yes. That is why it's kind of scary when people are freaking out so much, so early.

Is it just me?

I also have to admit that part of the reason our food costs have been down is we have been shifting to more eating out. The amount in our budget has not gone up - for dining out - but with these coupons (& desparate restaurants) we have been eating out twice as much on the same budget. We are certainly taking advantage where we can.

In other news, we did run the A/C 2 days this week, already. Today was considerably cooler, so we'll see. But, ugh - the heat!! IT got to about 83 upstairs so we flipped on the air for a while before bed - to make it comfortable - the last 2 nights.

We haven't turned on the heat in well over a month. But A/C season usually does not hit until late May. Though certainly it is a fluke - today was much cooler.

Finally, the medical bills are starting to roll in from BM's ambulance ride in early February. I Received a $200 emergency room bill (mentioned before) which was nothing, but yesterday the ambulance notice arrived. $1500. !!!!!! His deductible is $1500 and we already paid around $500 in doctor visits, lab tests and with the emergency bill we already received. So... IT wasn't the bill and I expect the bill will be $1k.

I was talking to my mom when I opened the bill and she offered to pay the $1500. It REALLY stressed me out though it really shouldn't have. I was clear that our premiums were $3k lower this year and in the grand scheme of things it wasn't a biggie. I am used to paying out the nose for medical insurance/expenses.

But my mom was quite insistent and I Was in little mood to argue.

I know you will probably never believe me but these are NOT the parents who raised me. My parents don't go handing me money for no reason. This would be the second biggest windfall I have ever received from them. (Largest windfall being a cash gift they gave me last year).

On the flip side, I have said it before, and I will say it again. This is the way parents should do things. Don't give you a dime and teach you to take care of yourself. LEarn to expect nothing from others. Then when you are old, wise and figure it out, share the wealth a little. Sounds good to me. IT has much to do with their unexpected windfalls in recent years as their elderly relatives pass on. VEry unexpected they would get anything from my father's poor family. Instead they have received well over six figures. IT just happens to coincide with me getting my financial affairs extremely in order. I think I appreciate it more than I even would have 5 years ago.

On the flip side, it makes me feel bad to an extent because if my parents decide to give me $1500 and I get $1800 from the IRS, well geez. It's easy to make progress with these sorts of windfalls. Chalk this one up to another easy year.

I'd bulk up my mid-term savings with both. I want to get it to $5k before I consider using some of that money for stuff around the house. This would get me to $4k by summer. (& since the medical bills are well covered).

We'll see. I am not going to ask or anything, but if I get a check in the mail, I won't have any qualms about cashing it.

I will admit we are spoiled by our parents.

I am proud we are where we are mostly of our own sweat. But I admit that this kind of cash infusion makes the upward climb 1000 times easier. IT also makes me think often how different our kids have it from us. Whereas our parents were intent on us learning to take care of ourselves, they seemed to have lost their minds and want to spoil us and the kids, now that we have kids. IT's kind of strange. HAlf the time I think, "who are these people?" Then I go into my own worries if our kids will be too spoiled and really get things on a level dh and I do. OTher days I think they will have ALL the opportunities in the world. If they have 2 generations ahead of them who do things right and have some money to spare. LUCKY kids - for sure. I'll try my best to make them understand how lucky they are. That's all I Can do. Our family tree was changed by our parents. No one before them had any wealth. IT's amazing to see what a difference it makes as it starts to trickle down.

Though I know anything can happen. Our parents can use all their cash up in nursing homes - who knows. But for now they seem to have some abundance and they want to share. For that we are VERY blessed.

Ugh.

April & December are our spendy months. April was insane. Life insurance, property taxes, $1k to IRS, on and on and on and on. Mostly prepared for most of it, though the IRS got me. Still sucks no matter how prepared.

Anyway, May and June tend to be our calm months. No bills are due.

So what do I have in store for May:

Vacation - $1500 range

Yosemite - $400 - Apparently due May (I had wanted to charge it in June for extra rewards - Bah).

Medical - $600 - I just got BM's emergency room bill. Well, part of it anyway. Due May. It's trickling in. I figure at this rate we may be getting bills for it in a year, still. I have never received a medical bill in my life, before this. Just the way my HMO is - they take care of it. We pay big premiums, we pay little out of pocket (besides co-pays anyway). Anyway, now that we switched to HDHP, they decide to send us little bills every few days. They are driving me mad. I had to sit down and stare at the thing for a good long time yesterday to make any sense of it. I finally realized it was a "physician bill" which was completely different from our almost identical looking "hospital bill." I figure one of these days we'll get the "ambulatory services" bill.

Plus they keep sending me all these statements that don't include half of what we have been in for. The paperwork is maddening. & yeah, hard to make sense of.

Good news is that BM's emergency room physician only charged $220. Though like I said, I assume more bills to come there. Maybe a hospital bill to go with that?

Dh was charge $400 for a hearing test. Egads. & I was worried about the emergency room visit?

I was rather taken aback, but dh reminded me it had been like an hour long ordeal. I then start to see - 5 minute visit with doctor isn't so bad (little $50 charges here and there for our numerous visits this year) but that yeah, a more intensive screening costs a wee bit more. At least that makes sense.

So - $600 there.

All that is suddenly $2500 in extra bills for May. Eeks.

I told dh that as I tend to be more "big picture" that I haven't been doing so well with managing cash flow. It all fits in the budget, but our cash reserves are rather on the low side until our stimulus check arrives. I think we're okay, but it really couldn't come too soon... If you look to the left, and consider my $600 medical bill (haven't adjusted yet), you see our cash reserves are pretty shot. I haven't even subtracted out vacation yet - egads. Though I have to remember all of these are charged and the cash won't be due until June. Phew. We'll probably save up $2k in the next 2 months for this kind of stuff, likewise.

But today, not a lot of room for more bills...

Yeah, we have our lovely efund, but a chunk of it is sitting in my ROTH. So doesn't help me feel great. I don't want to touch that thing for nothing.

Mostly we just have to get through June without Murphy knocking on our door. I am sure we will be fine, but I am wondering what happened to my fine planning skills.

Of course, we now have a good $2k in our mid-term savings fund, which was $0 for the last 2 years or so. So that's something. We have a lot of catching up to do though.

The stimulus check will pretty much wash out our IRS bill and add a good $1k to our mid-term fund. We're making decent progress.

Just feel a little cash tight in the interim. Hopefully to feel quite cash flush come June. Which also coincides with freedom from daycare costs for BM. Woohoo. Yeah, end of June I should be feeling pretty darn good. (That is when our stimulus is due to arrive, as well as last month of paying for 2 in preschool - will be good times).

Anyway, I hadn't updated my Quicken all week (I guess since work was so busy, I don't even know why). I just did, and was actually pleasantly surprised with our $200 Yosemite deposit and a some $500 in professional dues (most to be reimbursed) that our credit card bill looked quite reasonable. How on earth? I finally pulled up a monthly report and realized we didn't really spend much on groceries this month (maybe $250 to date?) and our gas was pretty reasonable ($200 of $300 budget to date). So left us a lot of wiggle room elsewhere. Phew...

Today I worked quite late and got way more work done than I imagined I would. I decided to take tomorrow off as a reward. I am so stoked. Tomorrow was to be my last Saturday, for the rest of the year hopefully.

I even thought I wouldn't mind going in for a couple of hours and cleaning up my office a bit. I left work at 6pm and got the last deadline (April 30th) off my desk. I was absolutely thrilled.

I am sure I could have justified working (still lots of catching up to do) and we had even talked about me working one day and taking Friday off.

BUT I felt accomplished and decided it would be quite a treat to take the weekend off. Say la vive weekend work.

I love this time of year as well because working 40 hours a week suddenly feels so simple. 5-day work weeks are suddenly quite divine in comparison to 6-days. So life is good. I intend to enjoy this weekend.

I do have MUCH to catch up on around the house.

BUT dh wants to go to the Scottish Festival and I admit it sounds quite fun.

Of course, I saw 90 degrees for tomorrow.

90 degrees??!!??

I also read in the paper that last weekend there was a freeze. I think why I have been so sick this week. We went out Saturday and Sunday and I Was freezing my buns off. I thought maybe I had been jumping into spring a little too heartily.

No, it was so cold that there was a freeze and a lot of crops ruined around here. Craziness. I remember being out, being surprised it was so chilly, and then just being sick all week. I can't help but wonder if it was the cold and the wild weather fluctuations. Certainly didn't help. I didn't quite have a grasp how insanely cold it had been. Our house has stayed rather moderate in all this.

On the flip side, I think I would usually need a little more warming up to 90 degree weather. One extreme to the other. I'll probably be miserable.

But I think the Festival will be fun.

Dh had also been planning a date this weekend. Matinee movie.

So I was pleased to see room in the budget for all this, with dh's wonderful grocery shopping this month.

Oh, and I did find a hike that I wanted to go on this weekend, but not sure we'll have time. Dh rarely wants to go out, so since he wanted to go to this Scottish Festival, I figured it was fair. Maybe we can hike next weekend. Though it was short and close so hope to squeeze it in.

I was so miserable all week I completely gave up on the gym. My aerobics instructor is in Yosemite anyway. I will try again next week. I would love to work out this year without coughing up a lung. This seems an impossible feat this year. Sick sick sick, and more sick.

I am losing weight anyway. I have pinned it on 2 things. I moved offices late last year and I walk MUCH more now. I am on the complete opposite end from the kitchen and the bathroom now. & the copier and everything really. Lots of walking. I am thinking this makes a difference.

I also primarily eat home-cooked meals and eat lunch in. BUT I have been skipping my little $1 junk meals more to save up more cash for more date nights with dh. I really usually don't order much or eat that much grease, BUT I am noticing a difference. I think it is more to it than that. But when I eat less junk I seem to crave it less at home too. I just overall seem to be eating less. It could be much of just being so busy too - too busy to eat/snack/munch. Somehow I am losing weight with no effort. Go figure.

Reminds me, I have been noticing my new office is quite warm. I have one wardrobe for work - my old end of the office is FREEZING. I have been quite warm this week and I start to remember part of the reason we were always so frozen out is the other end of the office gets so hot. I just hadn't thought about it. First summer in my new office. I think I may actually need to buy somewhat of a summer work wardrobe. Imagine that. I just wear my winter clothes all summer, seriously. It is just that COLD usually, inside. Well, it's more like a fall wardrobe - as it doesn't get that cold. But summer is anything but moderate.

I am thinking this will actually be nice/preferable. Though I may invest in a nice fan to help. I don't enjoy the heat, BUT walking outside into the 100 degree heat may be preferable in more summery clothes. I wouldn't know. LOL.

In other news, BM's preschool teacher had a malaria scare. She got the flu in February with us, but has never really recovered. (Though I can't say we have either).

She had been in South America awhile back so they thought maybe she had picked up something. For a while they thought maybe mono. Latest was malaria.

Anyway, she just found out it was actually "just" the flu. The nasty nasty flu.

I am so relieved that she doesn't have malaria, though I really don't know what that it entails or what the ramifications are. Just sounds nasty.

Second incomes: twice the work, half the return:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CollegeandFamily/Loveand...

I actually came across this article yesterday and thought it was quite EXCELLENT.

Probably all of my thoughts/experiences in a well written article. I mean seriously, I could have written it. Though maybe not so well.

It was just on theme with my post yesterday so had to share.

Of course this article was in terms of families with one high wage and a low wage. BUT we found much to be true with 2 mediocre wages. Dh and I made equal wages when he decided to stay home.

So though the logistics were a little different for us, we came to much the same conclusion.

I particularly like th last paragraph:

"Also on the bright side, discovering that a second income really doesn't contribute much financially can free a spouse to learn new skills, go back to school, pursue an unprofitable dream career or launch a home-based business that may pay little during the first few years. If you're going to work for free, after all, you might as well enjoy it."

Which sums up our thinking beautifully. Dh hated his job, and he wasn't going to stay. I think financially this was much preferable to getting used to a second income that could not be sustained indefinitely.

I realize with time that I don't think we could have timed having kids any better, or that we would have ever been in a better spot to have one of us stay home with the kids.

We graduated college at age 22/23 and worked a few years, saving considerable dollars. Never lived up to the second income, as we didn't expect to have one forever.

We had our first child at 25/26. Dh just turned 32, and he has been home almost 6 years. He will probably return to the workforce, maybe go to college first to update his degree, in his 30s. Plus he already has a degree and a decent amount of experience, which is worth something. & yeah - so he returns to work at 35 or 40 - still has a good 20-30 working years left. (He actually worked 12 years before kids and is eligible for social security benefits as well - so kind of sweet timing there).

I can't imagine establishing myself in a career and working hard many years, and then trying to have kids. I think that way is a hard road, though it is now the norm. I also can not imagine having a kid much younger or before having a degree or some savings. So I think somehow we hit some sweet spot, in he middle. Took some planning, but also quite by luck.

So anyway, I don't think dh would have had the guts to really examine his career otherwise. I remember before we had kids he talked much of going back to school to get an emergency teaching credential (the state of education at the time meant desperation for teachers). I encouraged him many times to QUIT his job and pursue teaching. I told him if he was going to make a move like that, then was the time. When we were young. He just never could do it, no matter how supportive I was.

I remember he was concerned about teaching wages too and I asked him if he was out of his mind. I said, so we'll save $30k/year instead of $40k. YEah, I am really worried about it. (Not).

Anyway, so old habits die hard. Dh said something the other day about pursuing some high wage job. If he wants to because it is something he loves, then sure, I am all for it. More money is good. But his parents have it pounded into his head that you hate your job and make more money. (I find this ironic since my dad loves his job and makes more than the 2 of them combined. Obviously I prefer my parent's philosophy - do what you love). There is a lot to be said for not being miserable AND having money too.

So anyway, he said something just the other day along those lines. I said, huh? Honestly, I prefer he make less so it doesn't all go to the IRS anyway. I think ideally he would make a smaller wage. & that fits in great because he wants to be an artist. So go for it. I wonder how many struggling artists out there wish they had a sugar momma like me. & instead dh struggles and struggles with what to do.

Plus, if he is going to work full-time and make a comparable wage, hell if I'll see the point to work full-time. But when I say this out loud, we fight. He has it somewhere in his head that we need to make a ton of money, though mostly he knows better.

Well, we'll work it out. I was actually surprised the other day when he said he wanted to pursue a $70k-$80k job. I said, great, I can cut back my hours then. & I was surprised when he didn't like this. I did point out that would put us at an insane tax bracket. IF he was happy and wanted to make money, great. But that then I didn't feel as much need to myself. But I know when the time comes if we have this debate we can run the numbers.

I have no desire to live in a 2-full-time-working-parent household. BLECH. Talk about stress.

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

Of course, on the flip side, we are entering a time of great transition. Of course we have agreed it makes no sense to work with small kids and with insane daycare expenses, etc.

But the playing field is completely changing for us this year. Big Monkey starts public school in the fall. I am already paying full-time daycare in total dollars for the two to attend part-time preschool. So in theory, dh could get a full-time job and we could save his entire take-home pay, with no changes to our budget.

I have to say it is incredibly freeing.

Of course, we have no desire to put our child in full-time daycare. But I have brought up the subject, that we could put him in M/W/F and dh will be incredibly freed up all of a sudden. From having had 0 free time a year ago (well beyond nights and weekends, which are always very exhausting to both of us), suddenly dh can easily have the potential to have 3 free days a week.

Of course, on the flip side, we received BM's school calendar and there are a million days off. On one hand, I have a flexible schedule and I was prepared for some of it. But they decided this year to shorten summer by a month and take like every Friday off for the year. I looked at this calendar thinking, you have got to be flipping kidding me.

& as usual, though most of the year I could share much more in the care of kids, I have greatly reduced time and flexibility during tax season. Which is the bane of our existence for now (will be incredibly freeing in the long run as I could feasibly only work part-year, etc. But with kids it complicates things GREATLY).

So, we decided to kind of just bide our time and wait and see how things go.

I say this will be transition time for the next 5 years. Where care of the kids is still of great concern, but at least we can move pass this 24/7 care thing.

& in 5 years at least the kids won't need a babysitter every second of every day. When I think much of this becomes moot.

Dh's worked on a very promising movie project and made some great contacts, but has kind of hit a wall when it comes to selling the movie. He is quite confident he could sell it and recover the costs, but the screen writer/brainchild has already turned down a good offer, which would have recouped the costs (doh) and doesn't seem to have any true desire to sell it. Plus he moved out of the area. So dh is very frustrated. The other promising contacts he made are dropping like flies.

Anyway, don't ask me how he made these contacts. I think he did a lot of this when I was on maternity leave with LM. So I told dh the other day. I said, you know, you have 2 free days a week now. Get out and meet some new people, work on some NEW projects.

He just seems to need that push sometimes.

So he is. He really wants to work on writing his own screenplay so he can do his own movie and then have control over it. But he's kind of stuck on that. Anyway, he is considering taking screenwriting classes at the community college. He is also looking into a group that meets weekly on screenplays, though he is finding they focus much more on plays than movie scripts. However, he thinks he will give it a whirl and practice on a play.

The other funny thing is he is getting some attention for his writing abilities. He writes a lot of skits and some professional group just performed one of his skits - he won some contest. So I have been encouraging him to go that angle.

I think dh's biggest problem is he likes to live in a bubble and he doesn't want to leave that bubble. I have told him many times that I would be willing to move closer to LA so he could more seriously pursue his dreams. I brought it up again because with house prices on the slide, it may actually be doable. I have always wanted to live in San Diego, and look at those home prices slide. !!!!!

BUT he is just dead set against it. I remember back to how it is amazing I got him to move to Sacramento. He is extremely adverse to change.

So, that's his thing. He has to figure out how to make it work then. I guess there is a fair amount of work in San Francisco, and a budding local film maker scene. So it's not a lost cause. At least we don't live in the middle of nowhere.

But yeah, we will enter a time of transition. I think he will take a year or 2 to pursue his hobbies more vigilantly, now that he will have considerably more time.

I think from there he will seriously pursue going back to college, if not much comes of it. Get a major in film (update his minor) or maybe even pursue teaching. For now he doesn't seem to have much more direction than he did 6 years ago. Which worries me a bit. BUT I understand he hasn't been able to make a lot of progress with full-time charge of the kids. That I *get*

So I am hoping this is the catalyst for change...

I just want him to be happy. Which seems a very impossible goal at times. *sigh*

I am not sure what more I can do though. IT's in his hands at this point.

I am also optimistic that my income will be pretty sustaining in 3-4 years time and that I could really care less what he does at that point. Ideally. I expect to be maxing out our ROTHs and have all of our bases covered, really in about 3 years. LEss depending on more income, more thinking that I will pay for less childcare. If I paid $0 for childcare we could max out today. So I really expect overall to be in a good spot in a couple of years.

For now, life is still a little stressful on one income. But we are definitely moving into a whole new realm. & that is rather refreshing. Phew.

http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2008/04/10/advice-from-the-top...

I came across this post and found it very relevant to my experience. I left a comment - for now the last one on the page.

I wonder how much more money I make in my career because I have a house hubby and don't have to worry about a lot of the household crap. Probably a lot.

I think I get the best of both worlds in a sense. Because I am a woman, no one blinks when I demand more flex time to spend with my kids. When my kids were younger I would often take time off during the day to do activities with them. No one blinks at that. I think a man would, in most cases, be harder pressed to enjoy that same freedom.

Of course with promotion and responsibility I find it harder to take advantage. I find I prefer to work hard 9-5 with the least interruptions so I can enjoy my nights and weekends. So I don't necessarily take as much flex time as I did when the kids were newborn and when they were small toddlers.

On the flip side I have a tremendous advantage that FEW working moms do. I stay-at-home spouse. The benefits there are both financial and non-financial. You can't put a price tag on it. But my life is tremendously easier. I know on these boards and in real life I leave an impression of "doing way too much." The thing is I don't have a lot of responsibilities at home. & I find few people really understand how freeing that is to me.

Like yesterday I Was changing the cat litter when I realized we were completely out. It was actually around 9pm and I had just enough to cover the bottom of the box. I asked dh to run to the store in the morning and get some littler. In any other scenario I would have had to wake up a 1/2 hour earlier and run to the store and fill the cat box before work. Little stuff like that just adds up big time. There is always someone home to take care of household stuff and the mundane. Which gives me a LOT more time to focus on my career.

& yeah, people say FUNNY things to me as well. I remember I met a lady when LM was newborn and I mentioned I was returning to work in a few months. She told me I would never make it - that working would be miserable. I was like, "Excuse me? I have been a working mom for 2 years - I am sure I will be fine." She didn't know I had an older son (because incidentally he was home with hubby at the time). Anyway, I told her working really wasn't a big deal because my spouse stayed home with the kids and they were very well cared for. She looked at me appalled and then told me how her husband was not fit to watch any kids and I pretty much must be insane to think my hubby could take care of this little infant. I told her again, I Wasn't worried about it, he took care of our 2-year-old quite well. But I have these conversation all the time with people. I have no idea why women delight in telling me that their husbands are helpless morons who would never lift a finger in child rearing. Gee, great for you. Sounds delightful! (Not!) LOL.

Likewise, I have to hear a lot how horrible it is that women work and can't figure out how to stay home. LOL. But yeah, the best was when LM was newborn and I would take him out to the playgroups and such. Dh and I would split up the kids so I could focus on LM's needs, and the women would just say the stupidest things not knowing I Was an experienced mom. I would think, did people say this stuff before and I just didn't know any better? I had many a women tell me they would never leave their kids with their husband. I just think that's sad... & yeah, that I would fail as a working mom. I am thinking, well someone has to pay the bills. They want me to stay home with my husband?

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I was revisiting our Disney budget and whittling it down...



Prices have come down at the amusement parks, a good $30 total since when I last looked. WOW! I will probably buy tickets online soon at these prices.

I also noted that a lot of the food places in Disney have AAA discounts. Will have to remember. I noted on my spreadsheet as a reminder.

In the past BM was so young that we avoided the characters and a lot of the hype of paying extra for character meals or waiting in line for pictures with them, etc. BUT LM is Disney crazy. So I Was looking at the character meal buffet - for dinner. Looks a tad pricey (Maybe $60 for the 4 of us - buffet dinner) but so is all the food there. We'll get 10% off and I think the kids will LOVE it. So something I think we map splurge on.

I also looked at my gas budget. I had already read about $4/gallon gas prices this summer when I cooked this up a few months ago, and my gas budget looked pretty reasonable. We will do a little research for where the cheaper places to buy gas are. Will make a HUGE dent in the budget. When I told dh he said something like, "yeah, but how will we know when we will need to fill up." LOL. Dh is such a dork. I was like, I don't think it is that difficult to plan fill ups. ??????? I think we can figure it out.

Anyway, the trip is 400 miles, straight shot down the interstate. I think we will be best to fill up early in our drive so we can make the last 4-5 hours without a fill up. Gas will be way more expensive in the middle of nowhere and in LA proper. We may look for a Safeway a couple of hours south to fill up at.

Unfortunately, we'll probably have to gas up in LA once or twice. I am not going to waste a lot of time down there searching out cheap gas.

Anyway, I asked dh when he thought we should leave - early or late - to avoid traffic hell. HE said early. I thought leaving after lunch might be nice since it is nap time anyway and the kids could sleep a bulk of the trip. We can get in after night rush hour (6 hour drive, maybe 7-8 hours with stops). Could roll in around 8pm.

But dh says he wants to leave early; at 10 :00. LOL. I laugh because he missed the point. I don't want to roll into LA at 5pm. Is he crazy?

Anyway, but this is where dh had a good idea. I worry that food is the most expensive part of the trip. Food prices always SHOCK me when we travel since we usually feed our entire family on $400/month wit careful grocery shopping and planning. So I just assumed $100/day at worst. I am sure we will spend less some days. But they days we are in Disneyland park? Easily $100/day.

So dh said we should pack a picnic lunch and stop and have a picninc mid way and let the kids run off some steam.

Excellent idea!

I think with this we will keep food costs down considerably on day 1.

Then we can stop for a leisurely dinner somewhere and wait out the traffic, if we hit it bad.

I also like the idea of not having to wake up at dawn and rush rush rush. 10am sounds like a much better vacation-y time to leave.

So yeah, we are saving around $100/month for vacation AND I will get $250 cash rewards in May to pay for our vacation. So overall we have a budget around $1500.

OF course, this does not consider that we will not buy groceries, commute to work, or use much home electricity for a good week. Which kind of offsets the costs. The $1500 must stretch for our camping trip too.

I completely forgot in July I am paying pretty much nil for childcare, so that childcare savings will fund the rest of our camping trip.

Dh and I could always swing a trip to Disney on a few hundred dollars. IT is amazing how much the cost explodes when you consider adding kids (& taking more time; feeding more mouths, paying for more admissions, etc., etc.). We are extremely lucky we have a free room though.

Gas prices don't help either, BUT the transportation will be the cheapest part of our trip. I can't really complain. We're taking the car that gets close to 40mpg.

Anyway, we are going on a weekday because I HATE lines. I worked at an amusement park many years and only went on off hours (perk with the job I guess). & so I have little patience for lines. They are probably good for the kids' character, but mommy is way too impatient. Thank goodness for the invention of fast trak and such.

Anyway, so I told dh I wanted to go for 2 days (have never been to Disney more than one day - always rushed trips). My dream is to take our time and spend 2 full days - Tuesday & Wednesday in May - days I know will not be so crowded. Last time I believe we went in a Saturday in September, and it really wasn't that bad until after dinner. IT was bizarre. But we had left for dinner and we came back the place was a complete mad house. I mean I never expected a Saturday day to be so pleasant.

So I expect a VERY good experience. Don't expect too much in the way of crowds...

My experience when I worked at Six Flags was middle of the week was always dead. Middle of the week when school is in session? Even better. Which is also why we are going. Last year before school schedules dictate our vacation. Blech.

------------------------------------
Beyond all that, kids' birthday is coming up in July.

I don't know, I am kind of birthday partied out. I am thinking of just making it a family affair. We usually don't do much for their birthdays, but this year I feel like doing less than much.

They are turning 3 & 5.

I wonder if just having a small family affair is preferable because BM starts public school in the fall and then that probably takes birthday parties to a whole new level.

Then again, since they have summer birthdays, I wonder how the whole birthday party thing will work. We'll never feel obligated to invite the whole class! Maybe they will always feel gyped in that regard.

His birthday also coincides with his last week at preschool. It may be nice to have a big party and invite all the preschool kids. Kind of a last hoorah.

So yeah, it will be one or the other. There is a bounce house place that I took him to a few years ago - and they opened up one by our home. I know he would LOVE a birthday party there and this is the first year I would consider something of that nature. That he can actually enjoy and may even remember.

Either that or we'll just have a small family party. He has 2 new cousins so it could be pretty fun if all the cousins came. I guess I have to keep in mind the baby cousins would not enjoy the bounce place either. Ugh. Maybe we'll have 2 parties in that case. The more I think about it the more complicated it gets.

Well, staying home and eating pizza sounds pretty good with all the babies. More of what we usually do...

The other problem with their birthday is it is hotter than hades, so no outdoor activities. No matter what day the party falls on it will be guaranteed to be 110 degrees. I have that knack of picking the hottest day of the year, but hard to avoid mid-July. I remember giving birth on the hottest days of the year too. Which makes the whole birthday thing kind of a bummer. I would LOVE to just set up kiddie pools and let the kids splash int he backyard, but yeah, we'd all DIE probably. LOL. So limits birthday party options...

I guess I probably won't give it much more though until after our Disney trip though. One thing at a time. I just saw the thread in the forums and started thinking about it.

I chalk this a benefit of big house. We always just have the parties here, and plenty of room. But the kids are getting older and getting to the age where they probably could use something a little more exciting, once in a while.

They are still at the age where they will share their formal party.

BM will probably get his own party next year. As he'll probably have more school friends that aren't shared with LM. For now they have all the same friends, and not even family would drive up here twice - so shared it is. Logistically that is the only way it works. Until they have their own friends... But for now, makes it easy on me. One party every year.

Their birthdays are like 5 days apart...

I posted just a couple of weeks ago that my FICO had dropped to 701 in late March (though I did not see until mid April). I was really concerned shome shady activity was going on though my credit monitoring says no. Still waiting for my credit report in the mail since I can't access it online after the ID theft. Well great, this is NOT helping me.

So on a whim I remembered my score usually posting around the 20th, (I get it free from WAMU) and so I peeked earlier this week.

Wouldn't you know, my score was 750. ???

HUH?

You know, when they say FICO is a mystery, well, they mean it.

Likewise, I am pleased that all my balance transfers are not completely sabtoging my score after all.

I pay one back in about 6 weeks. After that I don't expect much in FICO problems. Phew.

My score had pretty much hovered in the 750 range since I signed up for my WAMU card, except it dropped down to 685 one month with the whole ID theft mess.

Likewise, my bad credit to limit ratio has really done little to my score. My score is actually steadily rising (quite slowly). Though the whole 701 thing is weird. Which made it that much more of an anomally. IT has been pretty steady for the last 9 months with the exception of the ID theft. So the whole thing is just weird.

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

In related news, mortgage rates hovered around 5.5% (I was waiting for 5.25%) much of last week, and then shot up.

At this point I don't really expect we will refi. Though I still am all pre-approved with 2 companies, so we'll see. They'll call me if it gets to 5%-5.25% for a rate lock. I don't know how long this pre-approval will last. So far, apparently, indefinitely. I know they are happy to have people apply for a refi, that actually have any equity. They WANT our business. They will just be hard pressed to beat our current situation - which is GOOD.

I think odds are looking pretty slim on the refi front. Our broker last projected it may be a good time around April 15th. Which was when it was low, yes. Just not enough.

I guess I am stuck with 5.75%.

(Yeah, not THAT sad about it).

I honestly have no desire to go through the refi process again, so am rather relieved. We have refied about 4 times already in our young lives, seriously. Don't ask, it's a long story. A lot had to do with owning 2 homes for a time, etc. But our first loan was over 8%, we refied to a 15-year for a time. We could not ignore it when rates dropped another full percentage when I was on maternity leave with my first.

So it was kind of nice to dream of knocking another chunk off of our mortgage payment, but we'll survive. Our payment is a good $200/month cheaper than our first mortgage on our little condo. Slightly bigger loan; MUCH lower interest rate. Little to complain about...

We still would consider refi-ing down to a 15-year loan in a couple of years, when the kids are out of preschool. If rates are good. Though our 30-year rate may be preferable in 2-3 years time. Who knows???????

Well, it was fun to dream about, but likewise, no big loss here.

A BIGGER HOUSE.

LOL.

Keep in mind we are in the middle of forclosure central and I don't think very many people around here really used their brains when purchasing the houses they are in.

Anyway, I have a mortgage broker friend who sends cute little blurbs in the mail at least once a month; maybe moe often. Usually cute little stories and moral tales and such. Just to keep in him top of mind, and somehow links them into saving money or buying a home, etc.

Anyway, I Was quite surprised when I picked up my mail today at work and started reading his latest postcard. I thought it was a joke at first. (I find myself thinking this often when I listen to commercials - yeesh. I think it's a paradoy or a joke and then I realize it is a REAL commercial. Who takes this stuff seriously? Apparently many).

Anyway, so yeah.

"Dissapointed by your Tax Return? A Bigger House could save you More!"

"...Not only do you get a nicer house, but you also get a bigger tax write-off..."

"More expensive Houses appreciate faster..."

Um, okay. Well, for one, I am not opposed to the bigger house thing. We actually bought a bigger home because we thought it was a better investment. & it has been a much better investment than we had imagined (for various reasons). So I can't see the logic as 1000% flawed.

BUT...

Buying a bigger house for a bigger tax write-off is the most insane thing I have ever heard. Spend $12000 to save $3k. THat's what it probably amounts to. (HEck, at our tax rate we would spend $12k and only save $2k).

OF course, "if you buy a $300k house instead of a $200k house, it will appreciate $500/month faster."

So in the end you'll be breakeven cash flow wise.

That's the logic.

Ugh.

I don't think taking stock of the market right now and considering a "move up" is the worst idea. But the logic in this advertisement is deeply flawed.

Likewise, I know few who aren't already in WAY over their heads, so I know few who are really in any decent financial shape to move up to a bigger house. I guess makes the whole thing more crazy. "Can't afford the house you're in? Buy a bigger one!!!" Might as well be the point of this advertisement, when you consider the audience.

well, didn't spend so much money today after all.

The Big 5 was a bust and I think we'll keep an eye out (the sleeping bags on sale were of very cheap quality - I just didn't like them. Also, no shoes in my size).

Oh but I did buy a pair of sports sandals, since I don't find I can walk very far with a pair of flip flops. I have an old leg injury and if I don't have proper foot support, I pay for it. I am skeptical but the shoes were only $16 on sale. I probably spend a good $10 on cheap flip flops anyway. So we'll see. Love the shoes.

Since I have a difficult shoe size I may just pay a premium and order the same walking/workout shoes again - -online. They have been perfect. (I bought from zappos.com I believe which have pretty good reviews about how shoes tend to run - wide or narrow and stuff - and found it a great way to buy online. First time was the charm). I have no patience to run to 100 stores with the luck a shoe is on sale in my size. No way.

Oh yeah, we didn't get to lunch until almost 2 and the place was jam packed. This is one reason we had stopped eating out in this neighborhood. Many of the restaurants have really died down with the economy, but we walked into the new Japanese buffet today and it was a COMPLETE madhouse. We stuck it out but the prices were a little more expensive on the weekend and the food wasn't so good. Hell, I was impressed they had as much food as they did. Complete mad house. We probably ate around 2:30 and it was starting to clear out. At least we had decent service at that point.

I'd say the place was a hit. Everyone kept pulling up to the restaurant and looking at the crowds and saying, "But it's so good. I think we should wait."

Never again, on a weekend. !!

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Anyway, in real estate news I have no qualms about the long term. The short term I am not so sure about.

I have read a couple of articles that said prices in Sac had dropped to $100k. HUH? So I perused the MLS the other day.

Most of the people who live out here live in the surrounding suburbs. There is not a lot of good property in the city itself. But since we do actually live in Sacramento I was looking at the MLS there, probably where the cheapest houses would be. I didn't see anything in the $100k range except for condos and townhouses. Sure, they are homes, but in this area they are highly undesirable. We started in a condo back home and they appreciated faster than homes for a time, since houses were so unaffordable. Out here whenever I mention starting small in a condo, people look at me like I have a third eye. I know few who would consider it. Likewise, there were plenty of homes with 0.01 acres available for $200k. But that is about in the realm of townhouse anyway. I didn't see much below $200k but manufactured homes and attached homes.

Nothing I would invest in, personally.

So I take the national publications with a grain of salt. Yes, house prices have dropped 25% - 40%. YES! But affordable housing? Not so much. IT had been insanely unaffordable before the drop. Now just slightly unaffordable. I can't tell you where it will be tomorrow. I don't expect any decent homes in the $100k range. But I guess we'll see!

Anyway, when perusing I actually saw our neighborhood had the least amount of homes for sale and the highest prices. Go us. I have always said that my home was not looked at as an investment per se. But if I am going to shell out $200k-$300k on something, well um, it better be something that holds its value. So I certainly look at it as an investment in that sense. I don't think we thought how our house would fare in the short term in this kind of economy. But I am pleased overall with our neighborhood.

There are areas of Sac with hundreds of homes for sale priced under $200k. So yeah, there are some pretty hurting areas. I am pleased not to live in one of those areas right now. I can't say we'll sit so pretty through this whole mess though. who knows.

Likewise, I didn't think any of the comparable homes in our neighborhood were sitting on the market at all (snatched up fast after bank owned). BUT I noticed one for sale the other day. I just looked it up and it is still sitting for sale. Then again the bank is on crack - they are asking $450k after it has sit for 130 days? ???? They've been selling in minutes if priced $350k-$400k.

So I Was surprised to see one sitting. I just hadn't noticed - I think it had been pending sale because I wrote it off as sold way back. & I just noticed the sign again recently.

Likewise, we have an AWESOME neighbor who has apparently moved. We noticed he moved out and I looked up the house out of curiosity to see what he was asking for it; if it were for sale. I didn't see it listed anywhere. I looked a couple of weeks ago when he packed up and left.

I just typed in his address and nothing popped up BUT when I type in our street and "for sale" into google a house on our street, same size, pops up as foreclosed/bank owned. 7 days ago.

The satellite picture of his house (no address). I was just FLOORED.

Asking price $321k - it's the smallest model. These smaller houses have not been selling at all in recent years. Could sit on the market for years, like some of the others. I guess we'll see... I think banks have a pretty short time limit they can own real estate though.

He was the nicest guy you ever met and one of the originals who got in at the ground level.

He paid $245k for the house in 2001. Lord knows where he went wrong from there. I found that to be very sad news. A good guy, but something apparently went very wrong for him.

well, we will really miss having him as a neighbor. He used to be a football player and was just a big teddy bear. I appreciated having almost a personal body guard in the neighborhood. He looked out for us unlike any neighbor we have ever had. & the kind of dude no one would want to mess with. So I always felt very safe knowing he had our back. He was the one who organized the neighborhood watch and instead of calling the police when he saw suspicous people would just go outside and stare them down. Worked pretty well...

He also kept meticulous care of his yard. now it is covered in long grass and weeds. MAkes me sad every time I go outside.

Considering he didn't try to list the house and they are asking $321k, I have to say at face value it looks like another house=ATM story. Yikes!

Likewise, if more of our neighbors face this kind of hot water, it won't bode well for us. So far only the people who bought at the peak (very few) were foreclosed. So it's trickling down. IT will be very apparent who has been living beyond their means, with time. IT could get real ugly from here...

I guess this makes it interesting because it is the first neighbor (in our section of the neighborhood - 1000 homes - maybe 7 sections) - this is the first one to foreclose who bought before the last couple of years. But this will probably be the next wave. People who had affordable houses but borrowed against them a bit too much. !!!! This is just #1 for us...

No, not really. But feels like it.

I noticed yesterday my deoderant was empty. Dh usually stocks up on sale (as with everything) but they stopped making my particular type and he kept buying the wrong stuff. Which is annoying as all get out for 2 reasons. Firstly because I was happy with it but now it's gone. Secondly, because the things I have dh get now I have to go to the store and get. Gah!

Same with my razors and toothpaste. Which is most of my personal regime. Why does everything have to change? Why do I have to choose from 200 types of Crest Toothpaste, but the kind I have loyally bought for the last 3 decades they suddenly don't make.

So I am VERY frustrated with all the manufacturers.

Anyway, I found a coupon for my preferred brand of deoderant and popped over to Walgreens just a couple of months ago, and all they had of my brand and type was a small container. I contemplated because I had bought another brand for sale, and it costs almost the same for a bigger size. Well as I tried to do the math in my head anyway it seemed like both were the same per ounce. I just used the coupon and took the small - looked like a slightly better deal.

So Wednesday or Thursday I ran out. I have a backup of crappy deoderant (one that dh bought) and I keep one at work. So I figured I would freshen up at work and check out the coupons this weekend.

All that and there are no deoderant coupons in the paper. Figures. LOL.

But I have also been putting off razor shopping. I have been also using the same brand forever and they stopped manufacturing my exact type. Now they have all these fancier more expensive razors that I frankly don't think work a s well. So I will go do some careful razor shopping today. I am peeved. I have coupons for a bunch of fancy varieties, but I don't even care - I am going to look for simple looking razors. That actually work. !!

My toothpaste, we figured they changed the name and kind of figured it out, BUT dh got some the other day and tasted weird. I swore he had gotten the wrong thing, and then I realized it was the usual. They had changed something. Blech. I think he got fresh mint gel and I usually get cool mint, but who can keep it all straight. I can't imagine there would be a difference, but yeah, I noticed it. It tastes really off to me.

& yes, I am a very particular person. So dh is sick of my bitchin' and I have to go do my own shopping now.

Life used to be much simpler. Why has it gotten so complicated?

Anyway, I have been thinking I need to replace my tennis shoes. They seem to be holding up okay, but they are getting tired, and I need really good foot support. The shoes are quite old, and wear my feet a bit on the treadmill. So I think it's time for an upgrade.

So a tennis shoe ad caught my eye. I am quite happy to spend the money on a good pair or work out/walking shoes that I can wear for a few years. BUT I saw some of the nicer shoes on Sale for $20 at Big 5 Sporting Goods. It didn't even occur to me at first that I should peruse the rest of the adds. All the camping gear was 50% - 75% off today, so we may go check it out. I had been dreading that we need sleeping bags and flashlights and stuff, but looks like they had some pretty nice sleepingbags in the $10-$15 range, on sale. Yeah, I am sold. Dh said he had 2 sleeping bags but I just thinking ick and disgusting (he doesn't necessarily take great care of his stuff). So I saw a cute black sleeping bag and I think that is what I will get. Out of my allowance. The kids need some as well. They don't need anything fancy as we aren't doing winter camping or anything.

Of course I also came across some sports sandals which I had never really thought of. I suffer greatly with bad shoes and would never consider walking anywhere without my tennies. But I saw some sports sandals on sale and I may try them out.

Reminds me, last night we went for a long walk in the evening. We actually had a really nice night as my life has revolved around work so much lately, and was nice to just have an afternoon and evening with the kids. We all had a blast. We drug dh on a walk, but it was good for him. At one time I knew how long that walk was but I really haven't a clue. Maybe a mile? Walked half way around the lake to another playground. Kids delight in seeing people walking their dogs, and having a change in pace since we go to the other park almost every day.

I am quite behind on housework. I had considered going to the gym today, but I think I will focus on housework instead. I have no idea how far I'll get. But should be a good workout as well.

Last night I Was craving Japanese buffet (knew that place was BAD) and I told dh and then told him to talk me out of it. I said we had kind of a spendy month and may be a bit irresponsible. Especially since we were also making our date plans for next weekend. (We decided on the movies, and daycare).

Anyway, to talk me out of it I guess he told me dinner was expensive. Good point. We have a 10% off coupon and he actually liked the idea of going for lunch because BM has been eating us out of house and home - clearly a big growth spurt. He said BM would be around $2.50 and he could probably eat 3 adult-sized meals. We decided this is probably a good plan. He has devoured all of the snacks in our house. So it will be an expensive grocery month. LOL. We did the math and decided if we didn't order any drinks that it would only be $20 with coupon, so we decided it wasn't so bad. If BM could fill his bottomless stomach, could be good too.

I feel like in years past we sacrificed much like movies out and eating out. I guess now we are figuring out how to work them back to the budget. I never would have suggested movies for a date night. All I think is $$$$$$$$$$. But dh took the kids to a matinee a few weeks back and it was only like $14 for the 3 of them. I was kind of surprised. So I decided I really would enjoy a movie for date night. Except date night will be date day. But it works.

I guess it helps to make a little more money too, but yeah, it's nice to fit some of this stuff back into the budget. This was all the stuff we dropped when we had kids. With time we have slowly been adding some of it back in. & it's nice to have some of those luxuries back.

Of course our life has totally changed finding this drop-in daycare place. We now experience some measure of freedom we haven't had in a good 5 years. We can now actually go to the movies on a whim and stuff like that. Very nice! & having both the kids in preschool allows us some measure of freedom during the week to enjoy.

I realize the expensive part of kids I never *got* before was everything we do do when we go out is now multiplied by 2 (the cost. As we pay for 4 instead of 2). So having the freedom to do things without the kids, like when they are in school anyway, is quite nice.

But yeah, it's frustrating that all the fun things I did as a single gal now cost 4 times as much. I can't afford the simple thing I enjoyed as a totally broke college student. It's kind of ironic. But I mostly feel like a ditz for not thinking about this before I had kids. You don't realize in the early years because they get to tag along everywhere free. Well, we are taking advantage this year. LM will get into Disneyland free and his entire camping trip (& 4 days of meals) are free. So we are taking advantage. Last hoorah of FREE. Then he turns 3 and free is over. But he is actually old enough to enjoy at this point, so we figured we'd go "free crazy" right before he turns 3.

& taking a bottomless pit to a $2.50 buffet? I guess it works out in some regards.