This morning none of our e-files would go through. Luckily the traffic jam cleared long enough for me to sneak 2 tax returns in. I was nominated for the task, lord knows why. But when I tried to call customer support they said all the myriads of weird error messages were all due to the traffic jam. Figured.

Anyway, so just 2 tax returns our office filed today. Hopefully not more!

Was just thinking that the mad rush for last-minute e-file could be just as bad as the post office rush in a sense. Especially as more and more people turn to e-file. Will the government give you leeway if your dial-up doesn't stand a chance? LOL.

Well hopefuly you all did your tax retuens already. I think I Am the opposite of a procrastinator. Whatever that makes me. So I would NEVER understand waiting until today to get your taxes done. Granted, there is only so much some people can do. I know we were sending out partnership K-1s up to last week - those people will no doubt have to file pretty last minute. Which reminds me, I Would never invest in a partnership for that reason - hehe. Would drive me batty to have to wait.

Oh yes, and the other thing is I got a couple of e-mails from friends who no doubt just steer clear of me this time of year - hehe. E-mails with talks of relaxing and celebrating. I wish! The next couple of weeks here are going to be BRUTAL. Payroll tax deadline April 30th, also personal propery taxe returns which we do for many clients. Plus a pile of tax returns on extension that people still want.

No relaxing yet. But soon enough...

*Forgot to mention work has been so crazy we skipped Toddler class this month - runs $32/month. I didn't really have the time to meet the fam and keep an eye on the big Monkey. So we skipped it. Save $32.
Will probably resume May - December. I think we will keep it on top of preschool until then. Who knows when he will start preschool anyway - said they might have an opening around his birthday which would work, but no hurry either. Will keep his little fun time in the meantime. IT's been good for him.

*Just paid the life insurance. Cash was in the bank. woohoo. The property taxes and IRS payment and all that stuff just cleared the bank as well - what a chunk of change.

*We are finally making it to the dentist today. BM has his first dental appointment. I have the money in the bank for this too. I think. I hope. No cavities please. Hope he takes it well, he is really scared but we keep trying to tell him how cool and fun he is. I don't think it will be so bad, said he might just be able to look in his mouth. But he has a cool camera that he puts in your mouth and you can see your teeth on this screen - magnified, I know BM will love that part. Well I hope. I realized we have not been to the dentist in AGES. HAve been trying to set up this appointment for months. My teeth really need a cleaning. So we'll see. My friend also gave me a glowing review for a local dentist. I've had one before that turned out to be a scammy dentist so I am very wary, but we'll see. We need a local dentist. But for today I am taking the day off work. It is so crazy we are just pretty much going to the dentist (quite a drive) and back today. I will work tomorrow. No time to really stay and enjoy the fam. It is raining today too - ick. Driving in the rain...

*Reminds me, at work I got my last extension out yesterday, so hopefully Monday and Tuesday won't be very rushed. I did wait for the very last minute to see if I could make it to this dentist appointment - wasn't sure I could. I noticed everyone at work was kind of treating Friday as the big deadline (as I had) so it was really winding down. But no rest for now, lots and lots of other work to catch up on and the impending 4/30 payroll tax deadline. Hence me going in Sunday for sure. & I still have people who want their taxes. Just nice to remove the 4/17 deadline and breathe a little - on all the extended returns. Even if I get them all out next week.

*Just paid all the bills. I don't even know how much money wormed its way in and out of my checkbook this month. A LOT. Was a little behind and just not sure where I stood. So I paid everything (I think) for the month, paid dh's PS3 bill which was $700 - or $30 less than expected. When all is said and done I have $200 or so sitting in my checking. I usually run it to 0 and I Wanted a small cushion with this extra money. So better than I expected when dh told me he spent $700 instead of $500. Still left a little. Oh yes, other reason is my mom sent me $100 for doing her taxes though I told her not to. I think I will just leave it in checking in case I missed something - not saving it therefore not adding it to the challenge. Some bill or other will come up I am sure. Oh yeah - I forgot I wanted to use that to fix my car. Indeed. IT will be spent and back to square one. But with a lot more in savings at least. I actually don't mind dh's allowance is way negative because I rarely have the ability to fund it anyway - it has been so tight. It is more a running balance in theory than actuality. So he has a negative $400 balance today that will be 8 months reprieve from funding. I have $25 or something that I might run through once things slow down = I have a few things to pick up at the store - just been too busy. So it is actually good - with negative balances, paid and gone, no need to replenish our funds for a while - hehe. I use it more of a guideline of play money we have than anything - since we tend to use it I don't do much with it. But in recent months dh was building it up for his PS3 and I had it all in one account to itself. That creates a conundrum since the minimum is $100. So in the meantime I have to do some fancy bookkeeping as I spread out our short-term savings to that account to cover minimums and I usually keep a little with my checking to have immediately accessible cash, and when the balance gets large (as it will the next couple of months with no big bills due) I keep a chunk with the emergency fund for the higher interest rate. It is usually much simpler than this, but oh well. Just more tracking.

*Since I paid all the bills for the month, got all the deposits (I think) I was plugging our numbers in my net worth spreadsheet. Oh yes, and because our investments had such a good week. Doesn't exactly mean a ton at one space in time, but suddenly our net worth is up about $10k for the year. Woohoo. First 1/2 of year should be quite grand is I expect another $2500 increase to the net worth next month with my bonus check - whether I pay the car or save it, will bump up the good old net worth.

*Oh yeah, I dug out dh's credit card info so I could pay off the PS3. SIgned up online to access the account, then linked it to my checking and paid it electronically. So in the future any bills will be delivered to my checking account. Though there shouldn't be any more. Anyway, when I signed up a 2nd mystery credit card account appeared. Dh thinks it is his very first card (with Chase too) that is in his dad's name too or something. I guess he thought his dad closed it. I guess not. I think since it is in his name he can close, but will have to check with his dad. I just closed my old ancient card and not a blip to the all but perfect credit score so I say close it. His score is the same as mine. At this stage in the game all I Can figure is our mortgage is 99% of our score - nothing else we do seems to matter. Either that or the years of paying on time speaks for itself. But well, that was an interesting find. I thought we scoured our credit reports but maybe not his as much as mine. The other interesting thing is the last time I saw these bills none of the were Chase. BAnk One & something else, but apparently Chase is taking over. So today we have 3 cards with Chase - who knew. Well, hopefully only 2 soon enough. I just have a thing about old opened cards that sit unused - don't like it. We both keep one for backup. But beyond that don't see the need to carry unused cards. Leaves 3 cards between us (2 joint), and that has been just fine.

Anyway, I am really happy to pay off all 3 cards this month. I like simplicity and why we use only the one card. Kind of a weird month for the credit cards, that I accidentally charged one thing to my backup card and dh had to resort to his backup card. So I just paid them off and that is good - was about $80 in gas and groceries I would have paid off next month otherwise, so that might help the cushion in the checkbook too. I just don't like it when my system gets all messed up. Glad to get those cards paid and out of my mind. Until something else comes up - another denied card or another tired reach for the wrong card - hehe. I have never done that before - so weird.

I don't know if I am taxed out or what but I have such a mental block this week when it comes to writing. I have a million ideas, just not a lot of time to flesh them out. So I think I should do a tax quickie, but I am so overwhelmed with tax issues I wouldn't even know where to begin. Roths, IRAs, clients who can't pay, estate planning gymnastics, etc. Everything I come across at works seems fodder for an article, but then I keep second guessing wonder what average people are really worried about days before April 15th.

So what are your burning last minute tax questions? Need some ideas. & you know even if I don't write about it or whatever if you have a burning last minute tax question I can try to pull together a post to address some of your questions. As long as they aren't too many and complex.

Of course frankly I do hope you all got your taxes done long ago and you have no burning questions. (But I know better).

No I don't really have much time but I am taking a lunch break.

The good is that most of my stuff is done or extended. I don't feel very behind. The bad is everyone is so busy at the top that my boss gave me something I don't understand in the least. Hope I don't screw it up too much - LOL. Might take all week to mull through as for now it is I come up with something, someone corrects it, I fix, it might take all week. Of course, I Won't feel too bad, the reason he gave it to me is it is so complex he doesn't have time to figure it out. He just has faith in me figuring out or something, I don't know. Whenever I get through this ugly thing I will be feeling a lot better. Of course I have the annoying last-minute clients, one of whome doesn't have the money to pay the IRS and 2 that dropped off the face of the earth. They are annoying me but not very time consuming, their problems I guess. The ones that don't care bug me because I got everyone else on extension. I don't do things last minute. But I hold on hope that they will have some say to their situation before the last minute extension out of desparation. One of them had a spouse with a brain tumor going in for brain surgery so I have been worried and hope all is okay for them. IT is not like her to just disappear and not care that April 15th is around the corner. I know, it's been one of those years, everyone seemed to have bad news this year, going through tough times.

Well, other items to note:

*Finally upgraded our Verizon plan. We have some old ancient plan they haven't even offered in ages, but I asked dh to call and ask if we couild upgrade BUT keep our peak minutes ending at 8pm as it stands now. We decide we would give it a whirl and maybe upgrade ages ago because the new plan is twice as many peak minutes, plus free to any verizon cell, and will only cost $5/month more with my Cookie Lee discount. So he FINALLY called yesterday. They wouldn't budge on 8:00, but whatever. We generally don't call anyone between 8 & 9 anyway because it is kid bedtime. Now I just have to get my paperwork in for it is only $5/per month more instead of $15 more (full price). Anyway, the 8:00 and the cheapness have held us in for years, but they had been getting obnoxious, maybe we were the only ones left on the old plan - LOL. They were so obnoxious they called dh asking him to switch 15 minutes after he did - because they kept calling us and asking us to upgrade. So he is like, "well, I already did!" It makes you want to not upgrade to spite them - hehe. but having 700 peak minutes between us instead of 300 is pretty sweet, I must admit.

*kids clothes - BM is growing like a weed and I had been meaning to run and get him some summer clothes. Well, procrastination pays. MIL and GIL usually get him some clothes (more him, less for baby since they bought so much that never even fit BM - they never listen to me when it comes to size - but with the second one on the way, a boy at that, we just kept all the clothes for him). Anyway, piles of new clothes have been deposited here and there and I hadn't really noticed until I cleaned up for Easter and found about an entire wardrobe for BM. Okay, to me 4 or 5 outfits is a wardrobe, we do laundry every other day for the diapers anyway. BUT then dh's aunt came by with 2 outfits for each kid. So um, yeah, I don't think I have to buy any clothes! BM needs underwear and socks though, more money for that. I am actually thinking of splurging on the insanely expensive wide size shoes now since I don't have to really buy him anything else for summer. Hopefully there will be more wide-feet options when he grows a little bigger. My baby is in a 5T wardrobe - gah. Everyone keeps asking me what grade he is in. HE is only 3! But this latest growth spurt was intense. I guess I figured he would slow down a bit by now. Um, no.

*Toys - MIL delivered our pile of free Scholastic books and video games sunday as well. But I was proud because they did not bring candy. I was shocked because they did not bring cash for the kids (figures since I just started saving all their money for them - now it's not there?). But they did bring lots of toys. & dh bought a couple of games - Cooties and Connect 4. I have to update my 2007 purchase list. But 1/2 way between Birthday and Christmas and not much in the way of purchases for the kids this year. In fact the toys they have been getting have been a bit much, seems to me, maybe with me being in purge mode. To date I have kind of made every other birthday a no gift affair and I am feeling like 2007 will eb a no-gift year. But we'll see. They certainly do not need gifts from everyone and their brother, that is for sure. Not after the insanity of Christmas. There are probably still toys in the closet untouched from Christmas. But I haven't been spnding money on toys - that is the good. Not that I usually do anyway...

*I was kind of suprised our auto gas bill was so low last month, with prices and all, but whatever. Just thought we had been extra good, when I got a 3rd credit card statement for the month. I guess on 3/15 I pulled out the wrong card - didn't even notice. Bah. So I checked and I indeed had not bought gas on my regular card between 3/7 & 3/25. So this 3/15 charge lookes pretty dang reaosnable - yup - it was me. LOL. I wasn't so sure at first. & that must have been the worst gas day too because it was $51 - yikes. Why I thought it was an error at first. I will have to go back to Quicken and see if I am still under budget with that. Bummer, was too good to be true. So I have 3 cc bills to pay this month. That sucks too - LOL. This card had rewards but I am not sure if I can redeem 5 cents.

As tax season draws to a close I am dreaming about vacation and feeling pretty good. IT has been a crazy few months but the rest of the year looks good. I have 2 holidays in May. One is a floating holiday from february that I can take anytime but tax season. HAven't decided when but will take a Friday off for a trip to monterey and to see family. Plus there is a regular holiday.

June I have a week off, as well as taking 3 days off the week of thanksgiving, it's always my de-stresser before craziness begins - plus it's a neat trick to take off 3 days for vacation and get the whole week off with the holidays. My old job I always took a week or 2 at Christmas but here I am lucky to get a day off, and with less vacation time, I compromise with Thanksgiving.

But I have a whole extra week this year. So with all that leaves me about 50 hours vacation time. I know dh wants me to hold on and see if he needs me watching the kids so he can work on a movie shoot or what. But I am pulling for leaving early every friday june through september. I don't think my boss will mind. Will beat taking a whole week off, I think. We'll see. I just want to wait and see how May is. If it settles down a bit. Summers are usually slower, but we are really short-staffed.

But all in all I plan to work a hell of a lot less these next few months. The difference is night and day. woohoo. With this kind of schedule I think I can deal. I want to shift to part-time eventually but working 37-hour weeks in the summer and all the vacation and holidays and whatever just feels a breeze compared to this crazy tax season. Plus I have been taking time during the week to see the family here and there. I told dh if I could drive his gas saver I would come home again for lunch more often. I used to every day and I did a couple of times this last week and it was so nice to see the fam early in the day and fresh as opposed to all grumpy at night - LOL. Decided I really missed it, such a quick drive. I will do more of that in the summer, even if the gas sucks. Can't put a price on more time for family I guess. I worked so little these last few years that this tax season has been tough for me. But the big light is at the end of the tunnel - phew. Nice to get back to that taking some time off. Oh well, just a few more weeks before I get there.

I guess when I am stressed I am wordy. I don't expect anyone to read these monster posts - hehe. But you know I know I always say I haven't had to work too much and put a huge value on time. But I say this as we have been scrimping and saving and probably working harder than we ever had since the kids. So I am just brimming with excitement to slow things down and get some time off. For a while I thought working harder to ctach back up was worthwhile. But for the long term, eh, my goal is still to work as little as possible. Maybe I am just lazy. More to the point I just wish I had more time with my kids. & I will, soon enough.

P.S. I forgot to mention we had a lovely easter at dh's cousins' home. He is local. & with all his pets and big yard and toys the kids always have a BLAST - wish we did more holidays there since it cuts out the long drive for us! He is the poster child for frugality as he owns his home about outright (bought at the right time - when you could still buy a decent house for $100k - he has like 1/3 acre+ for that price too). Anyway, no college degree but does just fine and drives a Corvette. Or drove I should say. Traded it in for a Prius. Could knock me over with a feather. LOL. That is the shocking news for the day. Actually his entire family had hybrids so don't know what took him so long - probably the Corvette drove him to it. But yeah his parents had the Honda Insight & his sister bought a Prius - absolutely ages ago - like the first years they came out. I am not sure why no one else in our family has yet to get a hybrid. I just know we feel too broke for now and the Escort at 40mpg isn't 1/2 bad. But they got him - hehe. Anyway, he is no longer such an impressive example of frugality without the fancy car, but the Prius isn't exactly cheap either. Or maybe he truly couldn't afford it so he is a better example now - who knows. But I know I mentioned a few times he doesn't make a huge wage and has done quite well even in such a pricey area.

I did my parent's tax return on tax cut online. & e-filed them. They are wary of online stuff but I didn't even ask them - LOL. I figure they will have no choice in a few years, but they didn't seem to mind. Like most of our older clients at work they were sold when they saw just how easy it was. We have only done e-file at work the last 2-3 years (mostly because California forced us to) and so I Was wary of trying it on my own, but knowing the process a little better I gave it a try.

The things I did not like about Tax Cut though was that it would not show me the tax forms until the very very end. You have to start the filing process first and I Was wary filing forms I hadn't even seen. Yikes!!!! I finally got to see and print the forms and double check everything. But I did not see any way to override amounts directly from the form, as you can on the downloadable version.

On the plus side, I did not need to override anything, it was a little easier to input. Usually those tax softwares drive me nuts because they are written for people who don't know anything about taxes, and make it very hard when you know things to jump around, skip the crap you don't want, override things, etc. Oh yeah, more of the same, but it was a little easier. I didn't have problems making adjustments on the state forms like I usually do. So the whole process was a lot quicker and easier than usual. Prepared and filed in just a couple of hours. Saved me a lot of time not having to print out filing copies and such. Hey, saved paper too!!!

Oh - but I am not sure I would recommend it to joe blow average. IT asked me a couple of things I knew but I didn't think most people would. SDI was impossible to input. I figured it out because I knew. I think anyone in CA might have lost up to a $635 deduction because they either put it in wrong or gave up and didn't realize it is a state tax deduction. That was a huge flaw. For me I put in the number but it made me put in the wages subject to the tax (not on the form and not on most W-2s) so knowing the tax rate I divided the tax by the rate to figure out the taxable wage. I knew it was some weird number I Would have to look otherwise because only the first $89k or so is taxable. Very bizarre and clunky. I tried to breeze past because who freaking cares, but it would not let me move on without entering a number. Plus the software should be able to know based on the other W-2 inputs what it was. But I guess this is where our professional software beats it by a mile - it has all the state stuff in there and linked to the federal return. HEre it didn't know the state's rules and info and this is the result.

My mom insisted she is going to send me a $50 check for the filing, I insisted no. She insisted yes. Gives me $50 for my savings since I definitely have the money for it.

My MIL want on our cruise last month and dh talked to her about it - I guess absolutely everything on the boat is free except for soda. & alcohol. LOL. Dh was telling me yesterday because I am the soda fiend. Maybe $500 for the trip is a bit much. Will give us some wiggle room if my bonus isn't what I thought it was, to pay off the car. We weren't really going to do any big excursions or anything and all the food on the boat will be free for us. Woohoo. I am relieved, even with the money, hopefully it won't cost too much. Though I am sure we will find many expenses.

The one thing is dh has suddenly turned into souvenir man. We never waste our money on souvenirs on vacations and such. & now he keeps saying, well we have to get the kids souvenirs. They are 1 & 3. I think they could care less!!! LOL. But that's me. He wouldn't spend more than a few bucks anyway but I just don't know where this mind shift came in. He would be the one telling me in years past that buying any kind of trinket or souvenir is such a waste. Now suddenly they are a necessity because we have kids. When they are a little older, sure, I see getting them a little treat after leaving them for a whole week. But at this age they will just be glad for mommy and daddy to be home, no treats expected.

Was just reading an article how CPAs can be a lot like social workers. I heavily disagreed when this topic came up before. At least most of the year I can lock myself up in my office and hardly talk to a soul - LOL. I would not have what it takes emotionally to deal as a nurse or a social worker or some of these professions. But this year was very interesting. I did meet with about 30 clients and I do really see where this comes into play. I had the sweetest clients come in last week, but the wife did cry the entire hour and tell me her life story of whoas. In past years I would have found it extremely ackward, but I guess with time I adjust. When I look back at it this year, yes, there was so much more discussed than money and finances, I Was a bit of a therapist. Lord help my clients. LOL. They seemed please, probably because I am a good listener. That kind of stuff bugs me because I don't have the answers. I can give them tax answers. But I can't tell them why it is so hard and why they deserve to deal with sick and dying parents, etc. But maybe it's good to not have the answers, clients seem to just want to talk, just someone to listen to. I also had an elderly client come in and we wrapped up his taxes pretty fast. I Was eyeing his tax return wondering why in the heck my boss charged him so much in years past. & then he sat and talked another hour. & then talked to the receptionists another hour before leaving. Just a lonely guy. & after spending hours with him to do a simple tax return you see why he is charged so much - for taking so much of our time. So it was interesting. I have a very elderly co-worker who pays all of the bills and helps look out for another very elderly lady. Her kids are like vultures waiting for they money (the not much that she has anyway). & she is always protecting her but the drama that whole thing produces, I hear her getting into many heated discussions with her family all the time. Now she is a social worker for that family in a HUGE sense. That's not really the stuff I intended to sign up for with this job. But it is there.

Oh yeah - on the cc - that is a Chase thing. The funniest thing. Dh's old credit card, that we never use because they were always freezing it for stupid reasons (I think it was Bank One before but obviously carried it's overzealous ways to Chase). They froze a $500 purchase on a card we use every day - for gas and groceries and EVERYTHING. So dh pulled out an old chase card he had not used in YEARS and ran through a $500 purchase.

Not a blink.

What the foo????? Gah! I was just telling dh that is why come hell or high water I close all my old cards. I have too much fear in cc theft and that is the kind of thing that could easily be overlooked. Frankly if I got a statement in the mail I would have figured it was junk with the piles of credit card offers. It just really bugs me. I pulled out an ancient statement from 2002 and I will see if I can pay it now while I am thinking about it. But yeah, I heard dh wrong the first time. The reason they froze the card was because we usually mostly have little purchases so a bigger purchase was a red flag. & so it goes why we hated this card before. BEcause every time you want to spend more than a couple of hundred dollars you have to call the credit company and beg for mercy. As you are trying to get out of the door - it is that much more annoying now that we have kids to juggle in the process.

& hell they didn't freeze the card the 2 times we purchased cars with them. Are they crazy? They didn't want to check on an $8k charge? Maybe they figure that the auto dealer is looking you over left and right and up and down and harder to fool them, I don't know. But what the foo is all I can say. Can you tell I am aggravated? LOL.

Well I gave it a whirl. Like the red, not so much the pink, but seems to be the best color match. I don't know what I am doing.

Anyway, other good links today.

#1:

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2006/08/the_10_best_mon.html

Is it the same old, same old, I don't know, but a good list to live by.

Of course instead of get out of debt I find it much easier to not get into debt in the first place. But I know for many it is too late so reads good advice.

& again with the giving. But I found a better article on the subject - more in line with my feelings. 3% I can swing, would consider a worthy goal.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney...

Which reminds me, in my family the women are the givers and the men never give money to charity - think it is a waste. So I was thinking about Suze and women and money - and well - she has a point. Then again I don't advocate not giving anything to charity. I guess I am middle of the road on the subject. & through time my dh has encouraged me not to give money we really didn't have to give (in our opinions) and I have got him to be a little more giving to the community in non-financial ways. Because there is still no way in hell he would give up a dime. I think today he would for a cause he really felt behind. Maybe. But nowhere near 3%.

ETA: Oh yeah I bought an egg coloring packet for 50 cents or something the other day because I was at the drug store anyway - was a while back. Anyway, opened it last night and it had 2 shrinkwrapped packages inside. Thought it was a little odd and looked at the box. Opened one and starting counting. dippers and colors and stickers and such. Yup I got 2 for the price of one - a mistake - LOL. Nifty that it was all shrinkwrapped. I threw it in the cupboard for next year. Now the trick is not to forget about it. BM had a blast coloring eggs last night. Plus he dropped the darkest egg on the floor and when I looked at it this morning it looked so cool - the crack looked like a spider web - geometric and all that - we all thought it was pretty cool. Will probably attempt deviled eggs tomorrow, you know with all my spare time and all. Anyway, I spent a few bucks on candy and treats. Last year was like the first big easter and I got baskets and plastic eggs and all that. Initial investment, I am pleased this year is so cheap. We are providing chips and salsa for easter dinner tomorrow. Dh gets the chips on sale and will make his homemade salsa. Last time he made it with leftovers and said he spent less than a buck on peppers or something. So we have been eating a lot of salsa - very frugal. We eat so much peppers, garlic, onions, cilantro, mexicany stuff - we always have the leftovers. Add the canned tomatoes - we're not tomato fans. But for whatever reason I could live off them in salsa form - hehe.

Oh yeah it is crazy here, but I need my SA fix - hehe. This week is just extra crazy - big Easter weekend, family visiting, have to finish parent's tax returns, egg decorating tonight, etc., etc. I still have to find time to write another article this week. The family will just have to deal - the house is a disaster. Dh just told me his parents and aunt were spending thenight SUnday night. I had no idea. Well okay then. They can take the filth or leave it I guess - hehe. Dh doesn't help as much as I would like and I have no hours in the day. So I will try not to fret about it.

ETA: Oh yeah - before the links. HAd to say an interesting week. I got the gas bill and it was negative $10. Lol. Around $27 for the month (cool - mild weather - not much heat on) but a $37 adjustment - I have no idea why. But I'll take it. Then yesterday a $20 rebate arrived in the mail. I thought I had been waiting on one, but I guess not, turned out it was my parents'. But just funny money seems to be dribbling in my mailbox. Knowing my parents they will probably let me keep it anyway since I am doing their taxes. So woohoo. Here's to more negative bills - hehe. They just fixed our electric meter too so I would not be surprised if I had a negative electric bill - LOL.

Today Free Money Finance had some interesting links. I am enjoying the blog.

freemoneyfinance.com

http://plonkee.blogspot.com/2007/04/atheists-should-tithe.ht...

#1 - Atheists should tithe. Sure that is great and all. But why again with 10%? Is it just me or does 10% seem like a ridiculous amount of money to tithe? I keep seeing this figure come up. I mentioned it about Automatic Millionaire. & like I probably said then. On these tight budgets we have found far more value in giving of time than money. On the other hand I do hope to be in a place to tithe more down the road. But I guess I am more of the Suze variety, I want to take care of myself first. IF we do well, we will have plenty of money down the road to tithe more. I am just such a big believer in giving to the community in general the 10% thing just irks me - encouraging people who don't have money to give 10%. Whatever happened to giving more of yourself than just your money, is what I wonder. & finally, if my dh got a job and we made six figures I could see us tithing much more. But $10k/year? No way in hell. Ask me again when my kids are through college, mortgage paid, and I know I Can afford my retirement and healthcare. Then I will be glad to give my excess. But I do have to say you know I just gave $100 this month that I didn't really have. If I did that every month would be less than 2%, and quite a stretch. I wouldn't think it is great to give much more. Tithing is not worth going into debt over or neglecting your retirement. But my husband spent hours volunteering at the public television station and on this movie, and I did a lot of free tax returns and tax advice this past month or 2. There is so much more to giving than giving cash, or even than giving to charity. I am all for giving, but I am more for giving what you truly have to give. I guess my experience with my giving nature is I tend to too often give more than I have, and it doesn't do much for me. But since we had to really take step back in recent years I have found more rewarding ways to give, I guess. My experience.

http://allfinancialmatters.com/2007/04/03/how-much-is-your-4...

#2 - How much is your 401k costing you?

I just had to say I found this to be more true than most of you will ever know. I was doing profit sharing accounting for a bunch of different plans (some with 401ks) and the rates of return in these managed pland were not that great, and the broker fees completely wiped them out. That was before accounting fees and administration fees. Do you know how much work it takes to do the accounting and administration on a small plan with just a few employees? This is mostly the type of plans we work on. I was working on a number of these when I joined SA (here) and decided to drop my broker. IT just re-iterated the fact to me that brokers are useless. My PSP money made 1% last year all the fees. Lucky thing for me is my boss will retire in a few years and I will get to roll in an IRA and invest it with a hell of a lot less fees. Woohoo. As far as my old 401k, it did much better. But I was only there a couple of years. It was a huge international corporation, maybe with so many people there are more to spread the fees around, is all I could figure. Not a great deal for small companies overall. But the boss would keep it regardless - he can shelter almost $50k/year of his income from taxes. This is why they are done, fees and all, at the smaller level.

http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/saving-beyond-401k-and...

#3 - picking on a guy who saves his full ROTH and 401k contribution. Yeah, I do see the people who save too much and don't have any fun. But this one really rubbed me the wrong way. You bet if I made $95k in the most expensive region in the country I could save all that and have fun too. I did just that in my 20s. Anyways, a lot of assuming going on. I just think it is sad people think it is impossible to live on that salary, save that much, and have any fun. Single!!!! Whatever. You all know I have plenty of fun on much less today and supporting a family of 4. Not only do I have fun but I don't fret that much about how I earn my living. IT is quite freeing not to depend on your entire salary to survive!!! CHalk that one up to the "is it bad to over-save?" pile. I picture this guy on a beach sipping margaritas in his 40s saying "suckas" to the rest of us. LOL. Plus the point is ENTIRELY missed that in general if you can swing a full 401k contribution, you will have the tax savings equivalent to a full ROTH contribution. So I guess I am not sure why they are bashing this guy's awesome tax planning. If he is really making $95k it means he is effectively only saving 15% of his money and putting the tax savings in his ROTH. Not exactly a crazy overly-aggressive retirement savings strategy. & to me sounds like awesome tax planning.

Today is one of those days that I just want to go crawl under a rock and hide. Yeesh.

On the plus side, my boss told me today that the tax code is more complex today than it ever was his entire career. That makes me feel a little better. Though sometimes I wonder why I even bother. I am about to give up on the tax code - hehe.

I had the sweetest new clients come in today and about wraps up my tax appointments. I keep thinking back to them and thinking at least I had a really pleasant start to my day. I needed that.

I also left my cell phone at home and feel naked without it (fear of being stranded on the side of the road or soemthing) but had to go to the bank by my house. So I stopped home to get my cell and surprised my fam. IT was nice. I used to go home for lunch every day. Told them I would consider it once a week in the summer - it isn't very far.
Wasted gas, but the fam is so worth it!

Just a weird, chaotic day. *sigh* Saw the family, super nice clients, and yet I feel like all the rest of my good intentions today have gone to hell. Yikes. Curse of April 3rd. Hopefuly april 4th will be better!

This week at work kind of sucks. I feel somewhat of a load off because most of my deadline stuff is done. By some strange miracle. Even though it seems to be one of the most hectic seasons here due to lack of staff. But I am stressed with the weird/foreign projects I am left with.

But I am getting more experienced and working faster all the same. I Don't think this is the most hours I ever worked a tax season, but definitely the most work I ever did. A good 25 individual tax returns signed with my name, a good 10-20 I helped with (mostly prepared) on top of that. Plus last week I got out 4 partnership returns (made about 10 partners happy). & this week I have 2 ugly partnerships to plow through (might take all week) and various other things.

Ah, might not sound like much but this is on top all of our regular/usual work which I still trying to mill through. I've got a pile a mile high of partnership/coporate financial statements where the work was done enough to prepare the taxes, but the final financial statements are not printed and completed - all that timely administrative work and making the financials pretty. Just no time. It just means May will be tedious getting all that junk out. Probably issuing 12/31 with 3/31. Never this behind before overall.

Some things that are going really good though is a big manager left last year and I was kind of thrown to the wolves on big financial planning in December. I was really nervous about it, but the thing is the old guys are so anti-computer and I found a way to automate most everything and get it done pretty fast. So the usual 12/31 crunch just wasn't as bad as I imagined. & to top it off as I go through these tax returns everything is panning out as I had predicted. Right on. Score 2 for automation. Accuracy and speed. Plus I made a hell of a lot of mistakes 12/31/05 which were fresh in my mind and I Was determined not to do again - LOL. The combo worked out well.

Anwyay, you all might assume I am going on vacation April 18th. But no, we have 3/31 financials to work on and payroll tax deadline of 4/30. All it means is we have 2 weeks to cram in 4 weeks of payroll work. I could be terribly sneaky and get to it since I am feeling caught up, but I have the feeling some of my co-workers may need a little more help with 4/15 stuff - that I should make myself available to help. Then we will have 2 weeks to cram. It is just one never-ending treadmill here from about December 20th through April 30th. May will be a catch-up month, but at least time to breathe. But what I really look forward to is summer. Maybe cutting below 40 hour weeks for june, july, august. Taking 1/2 day fridays or something, haven't decided. Waiting to see how the workload ends up I guess.

I think I will take a Friday off in May though and we will go to Monterey Bay Aquarium. The Aquarium is not cheap, nor probably the drive, but we can go for the day and stay with family a couple of nights so will be fun. Kids will love it. Probably just earmark my writing money for that. Hopefully the kids will be free - will have to check.

http://www.mbayaq.org/vi/

Dh and I usually sneak off for a weekend in May, but I miss the kids so much from working so much and our cruise is 1st of June. I think we can wait for that - 4 heavenly days away from everything - just can hardly wait.

Anyway, there is great excitement here because BM's preschool is raising baby chicks and they were scheduled to hatch today. Anyway when I dropped him off this morning one was trying to hatch out. BM is SO excited. I was telling dh that about the only thing I remember from my preschool was we did have those little chick eggs in an incubator. So it will probably be a pretty memorable experience. Anyway, he could hardly contain himself he was so excited to see the baby chicks. We'll see how it pans out. He was telling me how he wanted to play with them today. I said, um, maybe Wednesday. Like his brother they will be very little and delicate to start but maybe in a few days they will be running arounf with the kids. He might have to wait to next week - I am not sure how long they keep them before they give them back - 4H or something.

*Played as joke on my parents. We actually love April Fools but I get lazy with age. Brings out the kids in us I guess though. In reality I felt too sick today to work on their taxes as promised. But they did not know that so I called and told them they owed $15k. I was trying to pick a number high enough to shock them, but since they expected to owe I Wasn't sure how much. I did good - my mom said she was freaking out. My dad was confused, but I got them good. I didn't prolong the torture too long. They probably think it is worse that I haven't looked at it yet though. I am trying to talk them into extension. But they aren't going for it. But they might have to at this rate.

*Just updated my net worth. Short on time so did a quick excel sheet for 3/31. Did a column with house and one without because it skews everything so much. But without house it landed at a few dollars short of my current salary. Too funny. 30 with 1 years salary. But it will be even more by the end of the year - still have 9 more months of being 30. Not bad, not bad. I didn't even include the cash equity we paid into our house like I usually do. Just thought of that. With that we are well over 2 years salary in net worth. Over time will mean more. For now I am making a good $25k less than when we both worked (which was only 1 year or so at that level) but a good $25k more than the last few years so it is really hard to pinpoint where we should be, how much we really need to live on and so on. But I am pinpointing our expenses at around $50k/year which makes me want to grow our net worth about $25k/year - seems reasonable and yet a little aggressive at this point. Reasonably aggressive.

*Tonight we will splurge on dinner out. I wish I Was feeling better and my taste buds would enjoy more, but I don't remember the last time we all went out to eat on our dime. Maybe in December for birthdays - I don't know. So it should be fun. Then again the little one is really grumpy this weekend. So we'll see. We had a good month overall so figured what the heck. I think we are breakeven on the budget...

This morning my dh asked if I knew a rucicks cube is only $1. Huh? I didn't really care, wasn't interested. He was reading the paper, figured he saw an ad and wanted to spend money as usual - LOL. Just $1 but whatever. So I was kind of annoyed - I don't know, while I am thinking "do we need a rubicks cube???"

Then he told me why he had asked. He was reading an ad for a house. It said for $1 you can buy a rubicks cube, OR get a no money down deal to purchase a house! & of course the house is WAY better than an old rubicks cube.

Wow. Well if they put it that way, maybe I should go buy some more houses!!!!



How obnoxious!

We were joking the rubicks cube was a much better deal - hehe. Well, it is!

Interestingly, the same paper had a big article yesterday about how high foreclsures are getting in certain areas of California. Go Figure.

Of course now think dh is going to go out and buy a rubicks cube anyway because he is all excited how cheap they are. Whatever, if he can really find one for $1.

http://www.taxfoundation.org/press/show/22300.html


Just an article summarizing it takes the average american 4 months (of pay) to pay their federal income tax obligation.

But I don't buy it for a second. The article is assuming your entire income is taxed at your top taxable rate, assuming the average american is in a higer bracket, and doesn't look like it is allowing ANY deductions. I am not sure where they got these figures. I got enough six-figured clients who don't pay in nearly that much.

Just wanted to say it takes me a week to pay my income taxes, and I make a really good wage.

I am a little jealous reading the article though because the reason is COL is so dang high (but lots of deductions). It's going to take me 6 months to cover mortgage, property taxes, and our health insurance. God forbid someone got sick or hurt and we had to start shelling our more money to healthcare.

I just don't really buy the hoo-ha that income taxes are so expensive. They are at historic lows. I just keep wondering what people will do when taxes get raised to cover these huge deficits. I am saving my pennies because I know I will not pay such low taxes forever. Trying not to get to used to it. I paid in a whopping 3% of my entire wage last year and got $200 back. (I had other taxable events as well to boost my income so maybe it was more like 2.5% effectove tax rate). The year before I took time off work and the government gave me $1500 or so - $1500 of the government's money (child tax credit) because I didn't make enough to owe any taxes. Sure I would gladly give it back - I will be paying that back tenfold down the road.

I think a lot of us who have hung around here are probably smart with 401ks and such and minimize taxes as well.

I am not sure if they counted social security and other payroll taxes. If so it would take me a month of gross wages to cover all of my federal and state income tax and payroll tax liabilities.

A 2nd wage is another story. A full 35% would go to taxes. & then there is the cost of working and daycare. If you did not believe me it was cheaper for my dh not to work, maybe the fact that it takes a week to pay my income taxes, maybe that will convince you. As is I get to keep 90% of my check and we don't have all the expenses and headache of a second job.

Of course if he could get a job with a 401k, that is another story. OR some good benefits so I could save this $10k+ a year we are shelling out in insurance.

I know many people assume I have a lot of tax tricks up my sleeve. But I don't. I got a big mortgage, insane health insurance (high enough to deduct much of it) and all the deductions and credits that come with kids. Sometimes I wonder if we are really that bad off living in a high COL area. All that money would go to taxes instead if we paid the mortgage and didn't have such expensive healthcare. There may be something to that...

ETA: I am at a loss how they calculate this. Total federal government revenues divided by total american income or something. Revenues from what? All revenues? a big chunk that corporations paid? I don't know. Does this include social security then? I don't know. Kind of a shock factor thing that doesn't make much sense for the average american. The average american does not fork over 1/3 of their income to the federal government. I just am not really sure how they calculates this thing is all. Was digging further trying to figure it out. But you can do your own experiment, look at how much you owed the government for the year (not how much you paid in, not how much you owed April 15th, but your total tax for the year on your tax return...) and divide it by your salary, you can get an idea how big or little it is.

http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/dont-budget-to-the-pen...

Just came across this article and I found interesting.

Since I am an accountant, people often assume that I am a stickler for pennies, accounting to the dollar. When we go to lunch people expect me to break out the calculator, and I laugh. I rather just split the tab evenly, because saves time and all works out. Since my frineds don't try to screw me over by ordering lobster while I order a salad. But even if they did I would round my portion in my head and be okay with that. No calculator here.

You may have noticed I usually talk in term of round dollars, heck, I round to the nearest $5, $10, $50 often.

If you kept your checkbook in round dollars it would all pretty much even out over time. I am probably a little too anal for this - I do enter everything to the penny in my checkbook and in Quicken. But for the most part if all my investments started rounding up to the dollar or $5 I really wouldn't care. Over time it wouldn't really skew the end result.

I think I gained this attitute from my job, interestingly. My first job out of school was auditing and the first thing you figure out when you are auditing is what is a material amount for the financials you are auditing. If the materiality threshhold is $50,000, well you don't really give a damn if the bank statement is off $5 from what the client has. IT is not worth the effort to adjust it to make it perfect. Who cares. & so it goes.

Since I came to work for a smaller firm it actually drives me batty because one guy continually will ask me to make changes int he realm of pennies to account balances. It drives me so insane. It is so not worth $125/hour or so charged to the client to waste 5 minutes fixing an account for anything less than $1. Even $5 is pretty questionable. I find most people agree but I do have to work under some sticklers occasionally.

& this is probably why I don't save my change. I just find it an absolute ridiculous waste of time. I actually just spend my change as I go. My change is my fast food/eating out luxury money. I think Suze had some thing if you saved all your change you would save x dollars a year. Great I think, but then I Would have to take that much out of my ATM since most of my fun money comes from my change. So though I agree you can squeeze your change for all its worth and get something out of it... Putting it in a bucket and then driving to the bank to count it seems like an awful big waste of time to me. But that is me, if you want to do it great. Just sharing why you won't see me doing so.

Another thing I round on is a lot of my bills. I round up my mortgage (which has its benefits) and the credit card I just round to the nearest $20 or so when I pay. I just don't like accounting for pennies. Unfortunately, for utilties, I don't want to confuse them so I pay to the penny. I don't know if it is necessary though. ??? & the big one-time bills I will pay to the penny. So my pennies can earn interest in the bank for the next few months. I guess those I hold on to. It doesn't really matter so much I guess with online bill pay and my automatic downloads to Quicken. Less effort on my part I guess.

But yes, for the most part, my conclusion is that pennies are not worth the time and effort on many levels.

I think this kind of goes with frugal philosophy. I rather chase the big savings than the little savings. Not that I wouldn't save 30 cents where I can (because believe me I do), but only if the savings is worth the time. I better either enjoy what I do to save that 30 cents or it better take no effort. OTherwise I probably just won't bother.

When I made minimum wage I probably felt differently. As you move up the wealth ladder though your attitude does change. Or it may not. But I know too many extremely wealthy individuals who are so penny-wise and pound-foolish. It drives me batty. I just don't want to end up like that. It doesn't serve one well. Probably another big part of my frugal philosophy.

Oh gosh, this is another reason I can not imagine moving out of this area. I could never describe what it is like to live in such a melting pot and so close to so many big cities full of so much culture.

But one of my best friends is Indian and invited me to the Holi (festival of colors) at Stanford last year.

It was a Saturday and I had to work. & well I had just gotten my new van. The idea of getting covered in paint and getting my brand new pristine van covered in color did not sound fun either.

So this year she invited me again and I considered it, and I Went back and forth, and finally at the last minute another friend who said she couldn't go with me, decided she could. IT was on a Sunday this year, so finally just bit the bullet and went for it.

So we drove 2 hours to Stanford yesterday with our kids and just had an absolute BLAST.

We decided this will indeed be an annual tradition.

As for me, a big reason I did not want to go this year was that I am so stressed and busy. The idea of driving 4 hours on my day off wasn't the most appealing. & I am quite exhuasted.

But rejuvenated as well - hopefully gets me through the next few weeks of tax craziness. Was nice just to do something purely fun.

http://www.ashanet.org/stanford/

Oh yeah - and these people are not even 1/2 as colored as we all were yesterday. There was a hardly a person not covered heat to foot in mostly pink - LOL. I think we had more fun than the kids.

http://www.ashanet.org/stanford/events/holi2007/holi_pics/ho...

I even got scolded because my son seemed to have trouble telling who he should and should not throw water on (for one aiming a squirt gun at a baby's face). So on the way out he was squiritng dry people who I figured wouldn't appreciate it and when I scolded him, someone said, "hey, it's Holi!!!" LOL. I guess they had a point, if you didn't want to be covered in a mess, what are you doing there. Hehe.

The whole day I think cost me about $40. $15 for the festival (worthy cause), $10 food, and then lots of gass and bridge tolls, but luckily shared so not so bad. Was worth it indeed - used my writing money. Plus my parents treated us to a divine dinner at my favorite mexican restaurant. Not bad... & as usual kids were spoiled bu my MIL - toys, balloons, new clothes, etc.

Also, I found one more reason (to add to the list of many) that not having a working driver side window brings - makes going through a toll bridge a PITA. LOL.

I will probably go get it fixed like April 18th - I just do not have any time to spare with dragging the car to get fixed. So anyway, just one more reason April 18th can't come fast enough.

I added some pages on the side - really like the feature. Particularly nice for the $20 challenge and my list of items bought new/used/free. Easier to find and update than going through old entries - woohoho.

So I did update the new/used/free list. Dh keeps buying these cheap beard trimmers that don't last long and just bought another one. I wish he would just buy something nice! & we mutilated the house phone. Kids are so rough with it we figured it had a premature death - seems like we just replaced the old one a couple of years ago. So we discussed it and decided to get something cheap until the kids are a little older. Was the answering machine/phone combo. So dh picked one up and it was pure crap. We are really limited to the type of phone with all the interference from other electronics. So dh found a nice phone with 3 handsets (so we can replace if 1 gets broke) for around $99 and another one for $109 at a completely new phone frequency. We figured we'd try the $99 one first and if didn't work, maybe try out this new frequency. Anyway, the phones are really nice. We have a 2-handset one for upstairs and I have an alarm clock/phone on the bed so we added one handset upstairs and kept 2 downstairs. Basically added one to my office and one to the theatre room. MEans we have like an actual phone for every dang room in our house - LOL. Way overkill, but will be nice when the kids break another handset that we have a couple of extras.

Well dh's mom is a teacher and we were ordering scholastic books through catalogs and warehouse sales (great deals) when his mom found out and gave us her online password to scholastic - said she has a zillion points for free books - we couldn't possibly use them all this life. So dh ordered a few books last night. & 3 video games he tells me (2 leapster games and a Game Cube game for the kids). All FREE though, just can't beat that. Added it to me free list on the side.

In other news, I had an "aha" moment. I saw the discussion of adding some emergency funds (over the minimum) to mutual funds. I had never thought of that before. I would really like to have $30k-$50k in an emergency fund, which I know to many is overkill. But I feel good having some decent cash. Though for job loss and such we need little - my industry is just insane right now - the odds I'd be out of a job for more than one day are slim to none and weathered the last recession easily, even before all this craziness. So I have been considering once we get our 3 months expenses (around $12k) in cash that we will invest a little in a balanced mutual fund. Something like Vanguard Wellesely which historically has never gone down much but has some decent returns. Odds are we won't need the money, and yet I will sleep better knowing we have liquid assets if I indeed lost a job or our house flooded away. But I won't be wasting away too much money in cash. Anyway, it's an idea. If so I would probably move over the $3k minimum (keeping 3 months in cash) and from there contribute 1/2 our savings to cash e-fund and 1/2 to mutual fund e-fund. We also need to save up money for a car but prospect is that it will be a good 10 years. So all the more reason - make it the car fund or something. Since we are in such a low tax bracket I may consider moving the mutual fund back over to cash before our income got too high with a 2nd job all the same. Oh depends on capital gain rates and all that at the time I guess. Does not have to stay there forever, but in the meantime seems like an idea.

Well it's an idea for now. Won't have the minimum in cash plus the $3k Vanguard minimum for another year at least. We'll re-evaluate then. Just pleased to think of something new I hadn't thought of before. It doesn't have to be so all or nothing. If I Want $100k liquid funds, doesn't have to all be cash. Hmmmm...

P.S. I decided to take Sunday off and we are going to the Bay after all. I must be crazy - but I look forward to a fun day. I am taking the kids alone so dh can get a break - hence the extra craziness. Work is really crazy until the 30th but I think the worst will be over April 15th - well I REALLY hope so. So a weekend day off just to enjoy and have fun sounds nice - will hopefully get me through the next 3 weeks.

http://sacrealstats.blogspot.com/2006/11/how-can-they-afford...

I was looking up something on impound accounts and came across this blog. Caught my interest because was about my city. I read it and was not surprised by the least.

But I think this is the perfect example. Is it the lender's fault or the buyers? I don't have much sympathy for a buyer who did not read the paperwork and who bought a home for 8 times their income. Duh. But the lender is most definitely a shady bastard. & of course will likely get away with this scot free. That is just not right. The bank and the lender will get their money most likely. The buyer will be left holding the bag. Even if the bank/lender loses this one, oh well, they made enough off of all these insane loans. Not too worried about them.

Mortgage brokers work for a commission. I have a friend who is a broker but and overall is a standup guy. But he is big on undocumented loans. He has pushed the boundaries a bit since a lot of his business is small business owners, new, with no income. But he still gets the loans. HE has asked me to fudge letters saying these people have been in business 2 full tax years (Which is the rule). No way in hell I want a prt of that.

I don't think he would do anything near this shady. But all the same I would never trust a mortgage broker in the least, not even a friend. You have to protect yourself, because no one else will. When it comes down to it their livelihood depends on how many (& how big) the mortgages they sell.

Of course most of the people I know are looking at houses in the $400k range with a $60-$70k income and I think they are absolutely insane. This blog takes it to a whole new level. Then again I have an acquaintance who thinks she is rich and has arrived because they bought a McMAnsion in a gated community. She got a 2nd full-time job and still can't pay the bills. Now you have to wonder if they even went fixed or not - maybe they are paying interest only - who knows. Never even thought about that. I just find it how ironic she brags about arriving - when clear to everyone else all she has arrived into is something way over her head.

Anyway, my head is still reeling at the thought of a $4700 monthly payment. Yikes!!!!!

Doesn't look like a sub-prime loan but I have had friends who make $60k/year that were eligible for a $400k sub-prime loan (the interest rates on those are insane). It's all in the same realm - the sub-prime factor just makes it that much worse. But the undocumented loans will have similar failings for many who suffer hardship or easily got in over their head. Or more like this case even, simply major fudging of numbers to qualify for twice as much as you probably should.

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

Oh yeah - as much as I am for home ownership, I also wouldn't have considered buying a home for less than 20% down. If people had to put money down, even just 5% or something, a lot of these current problems would not be surfacing so heavily and so fast. Just saw another wise article on the subject of not getting in over your head. As much as I Am pro-home-ownership. The flip side holds just as true - don't do it until youa re ready!

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/p...

My dh tells me oh by the way, the electric company came by and replaced the electric meter. LOL.

The bill seemed to be getting lower and lower. & then no bill for 3 months. But then I got the bill and it had exact meter readings for the last month and the first month - they estimated the middle month.

I have NO IDEA what happened. But the bill had been considerably lower for the last year since we got our new washer and dryer and so we figured that was why. But it kept getting lower. But then again we have less kids in diapers and all that - we do far less laundry, and more energy efficiently to boot.

So anyway, dh didn't ask why. They just traded it out for a new one it seems. IT will be interesting to see how it pans out. Maybe we were so good they just couldn't believe their eyes. LOL. I wish.

Our bills haven't been *that* much lower so I am sure all is fine. THough it sounds like there is a chance they have been under-billing us for a while. I just don't know! I guess we'll see.

Weather here today was crazy. It had been getting considerably warm. Then cooled off suddenly (no air or heat in a couple of weeks at least - that is good). Then today we had a huge, random thunder storm. Actually, it was creepy because I had a tax client come in and they were talking about how we needed rain. I know rain had been about nil this year, same with snow in the mountains. But all the same last year was like noah's ark so I hadn't though much of it - was rather relieved. So I was thinking, hmmmm, you can't win, too much, not enough, geez. & then it just started pouring, some crazy storm for a while too. I Was annoyed too because BM and I went for a drive in the evening, sun was out big black clouds all around, NO rainbow. What is up with that? we were gyped - no rainbow - was just perfect rainbow weather.

In other news, I think I have one of my last official tax appointments Friday. Phew. I have one like on April 15th (Some guy on military duty who insists on coming in last minute the day he arrives. I told his his wife could send his info but has to make it difficult - hehe). I also have 2 clients who need to reschedule, but eh.

The even better news is that I was looking at my pile of untouched tax returns today as I gathered up some work to take home and well, there was only 1. I was shocked. Most of them I hadn't looked at yet, but we have a temp helping us, she seems good, she prepared quite a few for me. So we'll see.

I still have 9 months of work to complete in about 6 weeks. But all the same it feels good to move past that hurdle. Maybe I will have some time for my other work? Eh, won't count on it. I am hoping this means the tax returns pouring in will slow a bit and I Can stop neglecting my corporate clients so dreadfully.

All I know is I have no tax appointments for 2 days. Oh my, I might get some uninterrupted work done!!!!! Mine are mostly done, but there are still quite a few clients pouring through the office and I will still get asked to help on many of theirs. so not out of the woods yet. I hope by 4/1 to not have any open tax returns. Actually this year has been a nightmare because all my "simple" clients have come in with super complex things. IT has been driving me batty, why I am miles behind. BUT on the plus side usually I have tons of tons of tax returns with outstanding items or questions. Knock on wood but there is absolutely none of that. Everything that is done is done or out. That feels good. I hate having a bunch of stuff in limbo. I think I have 1 new client in limbo and they will be easy to extend if they don't get me their stuff soon. IT could just be that I am getting more experienced - that I don't let them walk out with unfinished business. Could just be luck - I don't know.

I am officially overwhelmed - Yeesh.

This week hasn't started off so hot. YEsterday was just BRUTAL at work. Today is noon and I haven't gotten much done. I am spent. It's only Tuesday.

I really wanted to go to a festival thing this weekend in the Bay but just too exhausted and feel too broke. I am perpetually short $200 and will shore it up with my May overtime bonus, but in the meantime all the gas, lunch out, plus $15 just seems like a bad idea.

Then again I Am wondering if a drive and an adventure will life my spirits. Get the hell out of here for a day - LOL. My friend said she couldn't go and just changed her mind, so I am thinking about it. Will be fun if I don't have ro drag the kids alone. I wanted to take the kids and give dh a break, but where does that leave me, just more stressed... But if she goes she can share gas. It is just $15. IT ain't gonna make or break me. Our gas bill is nil this month because we have been too busy to leave the house except for work.

Anyway, going ona cruise in June (can not get here fast enough!!!) and I like to do things way early. So I printed out my passport renewal thing like in December - it is sitting under a stack in my office at work. For whatever reason I had this urge out of nowhere to dig it out and get it taken care of. We leave in like 12 weeks. I plan way too much for everything, so just probably the fear of cutting it close at 12 weeks. I know the passport office - slow as molasses. So this weekend my mom calls me and asks if I sent it in yet - tells me all over the news the passport offices are all backed up - takes 10 weeks to renew instead of the usual 4. OMG! Ironic it was nagging at me and I had grabbed it so I told dh that was it - would get it out in the mail Monday.

Only 1 thing lies between me and my completed passport application - photos. I had considered just doing it myself but reading all the fine print I Was a little wary. Which is smart because my dad just told me yesterday his friend is a professional photographer of sorts and had his passport photos rejected twice. Yikes! I was reading fine print about it being able to withstand 200+ degrees and I just had no clue what kind of photo papaer we had - if it was resilient enough. But dh, trying to be helpful, gives me an add for free passport photos at Rite Aid. Sounds dandy except the ad comes to our house but is not valid anywhere in the city as far as I Can tell. Whatever. $7.99 then - sounds good to me. I remember paying much more last time.

So yesterday during my BUSY crazy day I run out at lunch to Rite Aid - nearest one like 20 minutes away. & they don't have the right equipment. Bah. I was an idiot - should have had them call - but they sent me to another one close by. Go in and they didn't have the right paper. I Was just so pissed.

So I planned to leave work super early to get to the one by our house before it closed. Didn't make it. Wasted enough time yesterday as is. Work got in the way.

So today I will try Walgreens. Wish me luck. I did call and the photo department said call in an hour - they were busy. LOL. Oy vey. Why do I get the feeling Walgreens ain't any better. I think last time I went to a 1-hour photo place and spent $15-$20. Like 12 years ago. Um yeah, money WELL spent. I just don't have TIME for this crap. Trying Walgreens, if it fails will hit Rite Aid by my house. If that fails, I don't know. I will go pay more to get this taken care of - for sure.

Well wish me luck I can get it out in the mail today.

I got my passport in 1995 it looks like when I went to Europe. I was 18! Funny, I thought I remembered going in 1997 or so. But not sure why I got my passport any sooner. Hmmmm. Actually reminds me I was to go with a friend before who flaked on me and I was pissed because I was young and free - she wanted to postpone - I couldn't take 2 months off work the following year - I had an apartment. I wonder if I had gotten it then in hopes of the trip that never materialized. But another opportunity had arisen and I did get to go to Spain, France & Italy a year or 2 later.

This time we're just going to So Cal with a brieft stint in MExico, but the thought of being in another country without a passport doesn't appeal to me even if it is only MExico and a passport is not rquired for a cruise. Figured I'd just renew it while it is easy.

Well, easier. LOL. Not so easy all the same. Bah.

I am glad I still have 12 weeks or so - for sure.

Actually I think the 10-week thing is for new passports. Hopefully renewals go a little bit faster. I don't want it to arrive a few days before my trip - I will be freakig out...

But yeah - if you need a passport - get it NOW.

ETA: Walgreens was awesome - Got it. Phew. I couldn't make it to the post office though - LOL - that is another issue. Hopefully tonight...

The City- A Funny Short Story
A businessman walks into a bank in San Francisco and asks for the loan officer. He says he is going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000. The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for such a loan.
So the businessman hands over the keys to a Rolls Royce parked on the street in front of the bank. Everything checks out, and the bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan. An employee drives the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parks it there.

Two weeks later, the businessman returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41.

The loan officer says, "We are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled.

While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is why would you bother to borrow $5,000?"

The businessman replied, "Where else in San Francisco can I park my car for two weeks for 15 bucks?"

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1581036,00.html

Interesting read - anyone with kids, particularly in California I am sure, has seen this.

I was just pondering this because I guess a big giant bouncy house is the norm for the 1-4 year old set. I do not get it in the LEAST!!! Sure the boys love going to all these fancy parties with bouncy houses and food galore. But it is just insanity. & the gifts too.

I simply do not play along. In fact, most of the time I specifically ask for no gifts. It has just gotten so out of control. I remember one of my first posts here I Was asking for frugal birthday gift ideas and a few people said I should be more worried about saving up money for my kids' birthdays. Look, the are 1 & 3 - why should I Save up a lot of money to throw a party???? Some favors form ebay and some snacks and pizza just about cover it. Betty Crocker cake or cupcakes make them pleased as punch. & the kids have had some really nice parties. Simple, but nice. The worst is feeding the crowd, and often we just serve appetizers to avoid that.

It's sad that so many people feel so strapped and yet do play along. I guess personally I just don't get it. Was thinking about it because kids just went to yet another super fancy party, and was just invited to one with a bouncy house for a 1 year old. ????? OF course the 1-year-old parties are ALWAYS the fanciest. I am not even sure if we even had one for 1 - LOL.

Often the thought crosses my mind, if this is for 1, um, how do you top this when they are 4, 5, 6... I guess the article alludes to what happens...

Hey my niece got a pony for her birthday - pony rides. YEesh. Just remembered that one - she turned 2.

An Interesting Read...

I went to the library to pick up an investment book and saw this one as well. IT sounded familiar (from discussions here probably) and so I picked it up. I am really not a big fan of PF advice books, frankly I find them a little boring. I Was raised with these principles, they are drilled into my head, so I have really balked at reading them. Even though I love the subject, just too boring, and a little too much, "yeah? & this isn't obvious to everyone???" LOL.

But this book was a little different because it was really short and sweet! I started skimming it last night, to see if I should even bother, and ended up reading most of it in an hour. I skimmed a lot that did not apply to me in the least (paying off debt). & stuff like that - skimmed through the super obvious stuff, but read a good chunk of the book word for word in an hour. I was pretty surprised. So I think I will put this on one of my top recommendation book for friends. IT is easy to read and I think that is important when trying to spread this knowledge to other people.

But I had quite a few thoughts on it - had to share.

The Automatic Millionaire is not about budgets, making more money, anything like that. IT is a simple, "get rich quick fix" I guess. The principles I can agree with but for me it is just 1 piece of the puzzle. But looking at most of the people I know deep in debt, not doing well financially, I think this book could change their life dramatically. So for that I could give it 5 stars.

It pretty much describes dh and I's philosophy when we made a lot of money. Pay yourself first. Or taking it another step - save your raises. I have said quite a few times here we both made about $10k in school and both made $30k right out. & we saved the difference. Sure we had more options, a hell of a lot more money in the bank, but 1 year out of school I did not see the need to triple our lifestyle. HEck maybe we both spent an extra $1k/year - that's a 10% raise - good as gold. & so we saved over 1/2 our paychecks until we got into a house and got married, then we saved closer to 1/2. As long as we saved dh's income, and we both got raises every year - our revenue and savings increased every year. I think this is on a big level what the Automatic millionaire is about. Don't spend all your money. Bank your raises. Sure we could have easily started living up to a six figure lifestyle, sure wouldn't get us far though!!!

Start early, pay yourself first, bank your raises, wala.

On a practical side. I don't know. I always found cutting the big expenses far more useful to our budget. Today it's like we have been saving our raises, we have lived so lean. My medical expenses are going up 40% per year. I am not sure how this helps me TODAY. I don't waste $5 here and there to save. BUT I have plenty of bigger expenses I can cut. Before we went down to 1 income the best way we saved money was not buying newer cars. But then we had tons more money for other fun things. So this book may be about small, little things, but it leaves out the point that cutting out bigger things can be a bigger impact.

The book also bugged me because there was not much talk of a rainy day. Save $3k/year for life and you'll be rich. Well, yeah great, but what if you get laid off for a couple of years???? On the flip side, I really feel more comfortable financially with a lot of cash - even "for when the aliens invade" or something - he says. HE said - if 5 years of cash in the bank makes you comfortable - so be it. The whole point of the book is that you are comfortable financially. Something to think about. I think there was not much talk of a rainy day because many people with no savings reading this book will be far more prepared following the advice. HE did talk of emergency funds too.

Debt-free home ownership. I have been defending my decision not to pay it down too fast or make that a priority - but his method of making 1 extra payment a year I can jive with. I don't see the point right now when we are in a worse financial situation and our retirement and cash needs care. But you bet the second dh gets a job and our retirement is fully funded, that I will be back to the extra payments a year. It's small beans. It just a matter of priority. IF he said make an extra payment every month I'd be more wary. But I totally jive with his philosophy.

Oh i so totally disagree you should buy a house on 100% financing. I think you need the discipline to save a down payment before you are ready for homeownership, personally. Maybe that advice flies when the market is good, but no so wise today...

Automatic Millionaires don't do consumer debt - for sure - check that one off.

I think the book drew me in because it was our financial philosophy overall. But all the same a little overly simplified. If you save 20-25% of your money you will be rich or super rich. I don't know, that's my goal, but I don't expect to be super rich. I just want money for a rainy day and to retire in my 60s is all. There are so many what-if factors in between. Frankly I Feel this is the minimum we should do to get there - to best prepared for all the un-knowns. But all the same anyone who knows me knows I am usually pretty over-prepared for anything. My motto is shoot high and hope for the best I guess.

I get surprised the more we go through life and people who appear to have much less make twice as much, I so totally agree with the philosophy that you don't have to deprive yourself of good and fun things in life to make these goals. We have a little bit more wealth to flash around perhaps, but that is where I find budgeting and buying used comes in, and trying to make more money, so we can have it all I guess. But by following the principles in this book we keep twice as much as so many people who make a lot more- that is the fascinating thing I realize more and more with age. & this book makes clear - I have seen the truth in it over and over. It's not what you make, but what you keep!!!

I am looking at our 20%-25% rate thinking, does this make us super rich??? I don't know, depends if it can be sustained I guess.

It impresses on me the fact to drop $2-$3k in the retirement fund - how beneficial it is - it doesn't have to be so all or nothing - still drilling that in my head. I want to make the full IRA contribution and feel like a failure if I Can't or something - I have to get over that - for sure.

The end of the book really annoyed me though - recommending 10% tithing to charity???? Seems a bit much. I agree with the underlying principle, the more you give, the happier you probably are and the more you receive in life (more important, non-material things, sure). But all the same, I am not sure you should commit to 10% of your income unless you have a lot to give. I have been watching too much Suze lately (take care of yourself before you give) and know too many people who give more than they have way to their own detriment. For us, we made a personal vow to give less money and give more of our time to charity when we went down to 1-income and had a lot less to give. I am a giving person and I know the importance, but giving 10% my cash to charity i don't really think is going to do me any good at this point. Plus frankly, I Think giving cash is the easy way out - I have always found it far more rewarding to give of my time, and maybe a little cash to boot. So yeah I kind of see what he is getting at, but overall not the best advice I feel. I am perfectly happy to give my time and maybe 1% of my income if I am feeling extra generous. Plus giving of my material goods cleanses us and helps others as well - but doesn't cost a dime all the same.

Anyway, overall I Think it is a great book. If you look at it as a "get rich quick" promise I think you may be disappointed in 30 years when you are not as rich as the book makes it out you will be. Especially if life happens along the way. But certainly some very good, simple, easy points to a strong financial foundation.

Oh yeah - and of course he is really into automatic transfers, savings, deposits. So you don't have to think about it!!!! Sure, it's good, but I think I like finances too much and am a little bit of a control freak. I worry what if my deposit didn't clear in time and I can't cancel an automatic transfer in time. But that's just me. I prefer to do it all myself. But I have the discipline - it isn't a biggie for me. IT's probably one of the biggest points of the book, but one that I just don't rally care to do I guess. But I can see how it can help others, indeed. When we have a little more cushion in the bank I think I Will set up some automatic stuff. I just don't want an overdraft if something is automatic and goes wrong!!!! But something I have been thinking of anyway. It would be nice to have direct deposit - would help - but I don't... I think I need an automatic retirement fund savings. Regular savings, not a prob, I diligently transfer the money every month no matter WHAT! But retirement - it is harder to let go - LOL. So I see the benefit. I need to set it up automatically just to do it... The best/easiest money ever saved was my 401k contributions - for sure!!!!

Got the bill for Feb. & it was about $60. Woohoo.

The weather looks like it will settle at 70-80 degrees the next week or 2. Beautiful!!!! The weather is just awesome and it means no heat or air for a while. The house will just hold steady - it doesn't really warm up until it starts getting into the high 90s or 100s. & the weather here is always nice because it cools down overnight. The house will settle right at 70 for a while - no gas here- woohoo.

Still no electric bill. ??? I have to call - just hasn't been a priority. Going on 3 months, no bill... It's pennies this time of year, but the air might come on soon, who knows with the weather these days - it could be 100 next week for all I know. I know I owe about $40-$60 on 3 months, but once a/c season kicks in I want my bill every month please... Dh is all worried they may turn off the electricity but I haven't seen HIM volunteer to call. Gah, sometimes I feel like I do everything. I don't, but getting him to help with stuff like this is pretty darn impossible. I have an online account and they simply have not billed me. But probably best to call just in case - guess you never know.

Okay, there is no one who loves daylight savings more than me and I have to say I Am thrilled it is prolonged this year. For me it means I can work a long day, come home, and still have a nice walk to the park with the kids. Before the weather is not hotter than hades - LOL. & even in the summer means after work I have time to change and get everyone ready and we spend the evening at the pool. So I likey.

But this whole time change thing - what a MESS!!!! Our work computers are all screwed up - our appointments are all showing up an hour off. Talk about confusing. Oh it has been fixed with some software patch. But this morning I came down and the VCR time hadn't changed like it usually does. I looked at it and thought, well the thing is about 15 years old. It certainly doesn't know daylight savings time has shifted - LOL. We couldn't even find the remote control to change the time. I guess time is the only purpose of this VCR. But it is driving me batty. Told dh just to unplug the dang thing for a few weeks.

& then the worst is TIVO. What are they smoking over there? Dh said they usually change the time, but decided to instead change the schedule (just like our calendar at work). So now everything that was set up as a manual recording based on time and day is all off 1 hour. Which is a lot. Um, so why are all these companies screwing with everything, why don't they just change the TIME? I am sure there is some reason, but gosh it is really aggravating. Dh said he will call and complain. Not sure if it will matter. So we have to rest everything now and reset it again in a few weeks? & then do this exercise in the fall again??????? YIKES! & I am still not really sure on the logic behind this all.

Plus, can we really afford to lose 1 hour during tax season??? LOL. Not really!!! It is just pure craziness over here. I am working 7-day-weeks, just unheard of. & now we lose an hour. Yikes!

Anyway, yesterday was interesting. My parents came to visit. I worked until about 3:00 & then met the fam over at my dad's cousin's house. He has a bunch of family over here that I don't know - they are so tight-knit and we are so busy we just never get together with them otherwise - unless the parents initiate it. But very very nice family. So we went to show off the kids and hang. But dh was quite smart. I hadn't really thought far ahead and he had a grand plan to save gas. We were going to take 3 cars over there which would have been ridiculous. So dh tells me to take his car to work, and he can drive them in the van. Then he can come by my work and switch cars so I can go pick them up afterwards - they had a birthday party to go to. It worked out rather well, I was just smack dab in the middle at work and we cut it down to 1.5-2 cars from 3 I guess. LOL.

So dh and BM went to this birthday party at our neighbors' and afterwards he calls me to say that he got some pizza. I Am thinking it can't be near enough - we were going to order some - I am sure my parents would treat. & I keep asking if it is enough and he is very vague, oh I think it will be. He is aggravating me, but whatever, we can order more. So when we finally get home he has like a lifetime supply of pizza or something - OMG! LOL. He said it was only about 1/4 of what had remained and the pizza box did not even fit through the door - LOL. Had to turn it on its side to fit or something. Too funny!

We had plenty of pizza - I guess he was teasing me. We have TOO MUCH pizza. I guess they tried "Rico's" or something like that and they did not believe when they said a pizza feeds 12. So that is my advice to you - when Ricos says 1 pizza = 12 people - take their word for it. LOL. For us it worked out cool because we got free pizza and plenty of leftovers.

Dh was also driving me nuts because he tells me today oh yeah some lady was asking all bout me and the kids and knew all our names but he has no idea who. She's mexican BTW. Huh? LOL. I met this one woman by the pool who had the cutest little girl and there was a little love thing between her and BM - 2 summers ago. So I assume it is her but dh dos not even remember if she has a girl or a boy. I am not sure she ever met LM or knew his name though - I Was very pregnant when we met. Then dh says no, there were only 3 girls and he knew their moms. & this lady had been to our house. I am so confused at this point. Whatever, he is such a dork. Some phantom mystery woman who knows me. LOL. I think I know who now but still not too sure. I am just more annoyed because the person I think it is is one he runs into all the time, and she usually notices he hasn't a clue and tells him her name. LOL. So I a m more annoyed it has to be here and he can't remember in the least. she's tan sure, mexican, not in the least. LOL. The funny thing was he told me he ran into someone in the store the other day who was just talking and talking to him and asking about the kids and he had no clue either. Poor guy - hehe.

THe only other stupid thing over here is I slept about 9:30-2:00am and was just WIDE AWAKE. So I got up and just blogged and surfed the web and wasted time. It felt really nice to get a chunk of time. I Went back to bed around 5am as my eyes got heavy. I am an idiot - LOL. Figures the 1 night the kids sleep well I can't sleep. I think my body was so pleased to sleep so well those few hours it just wanted up,. but then it started remembering all the hours I have to make up for - hehe. Well I slept an hour after that and now I have a ton of work to do...

It is s'posed to be in the 80s today and the kids usually sleep until 5:00 (nap) so I am excited that we will have some daylight tonight to enjoy - will help me get through these last few weeks of craziness - to get out and see some sun...

Not much exciting otherwise. Had to run to the store yesterday (a rare occasion) and had to get peanut butter eggs when I Saw them. Candy galore!!

& I just paid $77 to the DMV for dh's car registration. Oh plus $30 or so he paid for smog check. Exciting stuff...

I've been meaning to dig out my water bill for a while and finally did. I know someone asked way back something about a piece of the bill - I don't remember.

All I know is when we moved from the Bay Area to Sacramento the bill was just insane. & it annoys me it is not metered (though maybe that would be worse).

So here goes - we pay monthly:

Water - flat fee - $28
Storm Drainage - flat fee - $15
Garbage (smallest can) - $10
Recycle (largest can) - $3
Lawn/Garden (one-size can) - $7
Street Sweeping - $1
Sewer - $30

Grand total - $94/month

I used to rent a similar size house in San Jose with roommates and our water and garbage bill was just pennies. Well it was in the mid-1990s. I guess things change too... SO moving here was a bit of a shock.

We have the biggest freaking recycle bin and they only pick it up every other week - we just fill it to the brim. The nice thing is we never fill our trash. If I hear one more person tell me they HAVE to have a huge garbage can because they have kids. Whatever, they don't HAVE to do anything. We even throw some diapers in there since LM insists on disposables for sleeping - but the can is never anywhere near full. I Will be happy when the city takes recycling even more seriously though. They really need to come by every week. Though I guess with the kids drinking milk like fiends - it's gallons of milk and all that that fills the recycle bin. Maybe that will settle down as they get older. We were just talking about starting to recycle cans and stuff - go get paid for them I mean. We just don't drink that much soda or anything, but might free a little space in the recycle bin.

Oh I know what fills it up - newspapers. It is my pet peeve dh will not cancel the newspaper. What a waste of paper. HE is attached to his coupons, which is fine, but now they insist on delivering it 5 days a week and NO LESS. IT just aggravates me since most of it goes straight to the recycle bin - not even looked at... I told him I would go out and buy it on the weekends but it does cost about the same in the end. But I would feel better about not killing all the trees...

Anyway, sewer, garbage, storm drainage, street sweeping, oh my. LOL. The city is moving to metered water so we'll see if that helps at all. IF nothing else we will have more control over our costs. THough I know we were paying well more than we ever used in years past. Figures now we have a yard to water and 4 people in the house, now they want to meter it. Bah. LOL. But I think it is good all the same. Good for water conservation. I Still haven't got used to the difference from where we moved from. The signs on the restaurants - "we will not serve water unless you ask" to here where there is no metering and no one really cares. BAck home had a lot of drought issues, I guess there is just more water up here so no one is worried about conserving - I don't know... Who knew 2 hours could make such a huge difference. IF we knew sacramento had more water than they knew what to do with we would have asked them to send some our way.

Well I posted this in the forums and no bites.

This is the message I got, from the finance writer at momseasychair.com:

"My next article is entitled “Finance at Your Fingertips.” We will be pointing readers to online resources that help them manage their accounts, investments etc. (I’m thinking online banking, bill pay, paying taxes online, taking out loans online, getting advice and tips via blogs etc) I would like to include a real-world example of a woman and mom who is making the most of online resources like this (or is headed in that direction). Do you know anyone who would be interested in doing an interview with me?"

Anyone interested, PM me, respond here, let me know somehow!

But go see my last post first.

My hubby is a big videophile/movie hog. LOL. In college he got a minor in tv/radio. Wanted to major in it but his parents are not into "like what you do, be good at what you do" philosophy I was raised with. So pushed him hard to get a business degree - went with marketing - which in the end could be good for his career actually. Not the worst, but I Think he'd be happier too if he just went for what he knew he wanted to do. He is very creative. We don't live in LA but SF is close enough and has plenty of job opportunities. We could always move - I would move there for his career...

He also really wanted to be a teacher - maybe teach the stuff - he has been eyeing our new high school which has a huge video department - I am sure his dream job would be teaching in that department. I really encouraged him first out of school to quit his miserable job (customer service/marketing) and get an emergency teaching credential (at the least) and give it a try - they were handing them out to anyone out of desparation. But he just never had the guts.

I can't remember how he got into videos but he really wanted a fancy video camera after he lost his job and I was pregnant so he started doing wedding videos to pay for it. He did an excellent job, multi-camera shoots, etc., really fancy - $2k valued videos he charged a few hundred for, then $1k as he got more experience. It just never went far and I think once he earned the camera and equipment he wasn't as interested. Bridezillas and all that - too stressful - didn't want the stress of messing up the Big Day. Loved the work, just not an area he was particularly interested in. The idea of films and the ability to reshoot sounded much more appealing and less stressful.

So for whatever reason he noticed there were a lot of small time films being shot in the area. He volunteered through Craigslist to be a cameraman on a shoot. Oh yeah, he also has been volunteering at the public tv station and has met a few people in the industry too. HE did the one job and met another guy he helped him with his movie. Then through him met the director/screenwriter of this film. He absolutely LOVED editing videos and I think is his forte, but in the meantime he has noticed a niche for marketing videos, so the direction he has headed. Plenty of film makers and films, but no one has any marketing skills or time - amazed how many movies just sit on shelves in people's basements - can't imagine going to the effort and not following through. He found this really up his alley and the kind of thing he could charge a decent commission if he actually sold a movie.

So anyway, since he did not have necessarily the time he volunteered on this last movie to help market it. Over time by just being responsible and motivated and being there they have relied on him for much more. They let go of their paid editor and he took over. So if nothing else this is an awesome notch on his resume.

Frankly if he could make even a few thousand a year making movies I think I would be happy. This last outfit he is with has been pretty promising, they have some real talent and some motivation and some contacts, etc. If they can sell one movie I think it is only up from there.

When he can go back to work full-time I am not surprised if he will find some kind of job in tv or radio, maybe to pay the bills, movies on the side. Depends how successful he is. They are right now forming a production company to do films, wedding videos, music videos and such. Music videos was another angle he was trying to break into. He now has the tools and support, and the group did do 1 music video actually, but he didn't get to work on that because he was busy editing the movie! The timing I think is perfect though because he has a little more time, kids can go to preschool, but we are not at the point yet where we NEED more income. He has some time to test the waters for a bit... Editing and post-production has been a lot more easy to fit in his schedule too - watch the kids during the day - edits nights and weekends. IT could turn into a viable/flexible career for when the kids are in school.

In short, I don't think if he wasn't a SAHD he would have ever pursued this career, though it is truly what he wanted. I am excited as the kids get older and he has more opportunities to do more work - he is so happy - in his element! He is that much closer to putting together his own movie. We got to get working on a script though. But he has the crew and the contacts so we'll see. He has tons and tons of movie ideas floating in his head. I am trying to help him take it to the next level - he just needs a script to get started!

Not much financial, but I am absolutely giddy and there are only so many people I can call at 11pm to share my joy - teehee.

Today started absolutely awful. Trying to work out the logistics of babysitting and all that. Kind of dreading work. It has just been too much lately. I know the big picture it is just another couple of months and it will slow down. But this is the first time in a long time I have just not wanted to go to work - dreading it in a way.

I was on my way home and called my mom, who was at my house to watch the kids. But while we were talking someone called and started to leave a message on the answering machine. I Was talking to my mom on a cell phone and she could not pick up the house phone in time. All of a sudden I hear a little girl saying something about a baby and a sister. So I absolutely started screaming - OMG - my SIL is pregnant. I just told dh like 3 days ago I Expected news any day now. Just CREEPY. Okay so we have been wishing for a while, but seriously, I was like, come on, it is tIME. LOL. I am so so so so excited. We couldn't eally make heads or tales of the message, but it was very obvious to me. Dh called his sister to confirm - October baby!!!

If the day could not get any better, the reason my mom was babysitting was because dh's big movie premiere was tonight. So we escaped and got to mingle with friends. The 1000-seat theatre was, astonishingly, practically filled. The movie was good. Not good, excellent. I was really really really pleasantly surprised. It is one of the best movies I have seen in a long while. I really think this darn thing will sell. I have dollar signs in my eyes tonight. Regardless, who care, it is friggin good. There is a lot more where that came from. The audience really liked it. The guy dh has been trying to sell himself to as an editor was there to see his finished project - can only be good for him. IT was about 100 times better than I ever expected.

Then I Came home and hugged my kids extra super tight.

What a day!

I don't think tomorrow can top this. Got to ride this high for a while... & I want dh to get to work on selling this movie - now there is something financial... He gets a decent cut, so come on, let's make some money!! IF this is the first try, they have some promise for the future, for sure...

I know last year we filed around the same time and it arrived in a week. Well this year I filed Feb.11 and the refund (state) was approved the 14th. & so it arrives yesterday - gah!

The mail has been so BAD around here, I wanted to look at the postmark but there was none - electronic I guess. Who knows where it has been. IT was mailed from this city so no need to take so long - came well after the state said it would arrive.

This mail thing all started with my work mail years ago. I never send anything from work unless I don't mind it getting lost for a month or 2. Like a magazine subscription renewal or a survey or something I'll toss it in - hehe. BUT in the end it did turn up there was a mail theft ring going through our post office, and I wonder if that was tied to slower mail. In the end they took some of our clients checks (clients paying my boss) and erased them and re-filled them in. So a few of our clients had check fraud, eventually traced it to our post office. I haven't tried the mail since all that - just don't trust it. But maybe it is better without the whole theft ring thing.

So I we have lived here years and for the first 4 years I kept my old bank back home. I had never stepped foot in it and no point - I mail my deposits (I don't know - just don't like ATM machines - creature of habit I guess). People usually look at me like I am quite weird if I mention this but in 15 years or so of mailing checks (sometimes weekly when I Was self-employed) no I never had a problem - they always arrived the next day - maybe 2 days once in a blue moon. But last year about things started taking 3-4 days. I finally got fed up and took the long awaited step of switching banks.

In the meantime, mail in the city has been very grand but anything sent outside of the city seems to take a good 10 days minimum. Not everything, but certainly enough to notice. You don't know how many angry ebay buyers I have had, I just beg them to check the postmark and it is always when I say. Plus some things I had bought took AGES. Other checks and bills, more rare, but often enough, disappear for 30 days.

So yes I have been complaining much about the mail lately, and this is why.

My last deposit did not arrive at my bank saturday - 2 days from mailing. Ack! So I guess the slowness has hit the city. The good thing is I was sick a couple of weeks back and we have a new chain of our bank down the street, so I had dh deliver my deposit for me that day - I had needed the money right away or something. I just can not get to the bank, I hate the ATM, I think I am just going to have dh start making deposits for me. At least while it is so busy.

Luckily with online bill pay I have little need to mail much these days. I just don't know what is going on with the mail. IF less people are using it, income is down, if that is it. Or has mail theft hit our local post office too? Gosh, you have to wonder - who knows.

That's my mail rant for the day - grrrrrr.

P.S. My whopping $200 is going to pay medical bills this month. It was like $900 but I owe the IRS $700 - so net $200. Just paying the IRS this week.

I have found all this writing has really kept me from my blog, but that is okay. Feels good to be productive. I really thrive on variety in my life so crazy as things are right now I have a variety of everything. It has also amazed me how fine-tuning my knowledge of personal finance and thinking more in-depth about tax issues helps my career as well - pretty win-win.

We actually ate out yesterday because was just so overwhelmed with stress and work and everything. I just wanted to eat out - told dh I didn't care how much it was out of our budget. Tax season is crazy and I will be paid accordingly, eventually. Convenience and my eating to calm my nerves prevails. (eating still equals comfort to me - it always will...) I told dh I hope April is a little better - it might be.... March is the worst month yet.

I also slept on the floor for 3 hours last night, as did dh. Ugh. I Was so miffed when dh came to bed at 2am, but turns out he fell asleep on the floor of baby's room - LOL. So I let him sleep in longer than I should have. I had to go in there at 3am - I just conked out and woke up at 6am with some pains. Getting too old for this. As awful as it is, it has been MUCH worse so we will survive. At least all we have to do is go in there and lay on the floor and baby will conk right out. Then you just debate in your head if you rather sleep on the floor or risk being awaken again an hour later. It's a tossup... Last night the floor sounded appealing until I woke up...

In other news, saw on t.v. a really interesting special on lottery winners and the bad luck that follows them. Oh yeah, chalk this one up to making your own luck - indeed. Just profiling lottery winners who squandered their money - a lot ending up in jail - a lot of money spent on drugs. They also profiled some people who won the lottery and did quite well with their life - was nice to see it isn't all doom and gloom. The point of the special = money won't buy you happiness. For sure. I was never really that excited about the lottery. I guess I am just too grounded. I know the odds are slim to none. & if I won $1 million, give the government 1/2, leaves me a decent addition to my retirement. Oh sure I would enjoy some but I don't think it would solve all of my whoas either. Winning millions, I always figured it would create more problems than anything. A lot of lottery winners in the special had problems with friends and family who wanted a piece of the money. Or were just crushed with requests for help from the average population. I imagine all that would be tough to handle. Seems a lot easier to invest your way to millions and just keep quiet about it - shhhhhh... But it was an interesting special. There was a t.v. show on briefly last year called Windfall which tackled the topic - a drama about a bunch of friends who won the lottery. IT could have been done much better I guess but the topic I thought was fascinating. I guess no one wants to see how winning the lottery doesn't solve all your whoas - hehe.

Hey well I am glad today I have a conservative portfolio - hehe.

I have been trying not to work in the evenings, but the busy-ness demands it I guess. Well it wouldn't be a huge deal but the odds are if I stay up past 8 I get 4 hours of sleep if I am lucky. LM is screaming his head off as I type - he is on major sleep strike. It is a tossup if it is teething or growthspurt, or all of the above I guess. It's fine when all falls in place and I go to bed early, and we split the shift. But I brought some work home and needed to get to some writing. & I wanted to spend a little time with the kids first! I just pray for some sleep too. I figured since it is a short work day tomorrow (with having to take him and pick up BM from preschool at 5) I don't have to be so awake as the days I try to work 7-6. It's more a 9-5 day instead. Who needs sleep...

Anyway, I had concluded that picking an overall portfolio mix and sticking with it for the longer haul is good. Anyway, I think I have been going conservative as I wait for the big crash of 2007. It just seems like the market was really heading for a peak. I thought this last year. & I invested quite conservatively. & then I kind of wake up looking at the gains we have made this last year and thinking this is silly - time to get more aggressive. I find it ironic I decide this on/before such a bad stock day. & yet it makes it even more apparent that if I had just had an 85/15 mix all along I'd probably be miles ahead. So be it. Today was ugly, but I still have a gain for the year. I haven't even been too eager to put money in the stock market as is. Now I am more willing. Funny how that goes. My timing is pretty bad perhaps but looking at the big picture I will probably move to some money out of bonds to stocks. It doesn't matter because I hope to soon be putting a small amount into the market every month. Until we get to that point it is just a lot uglier. When we are continually investing, the lows (and highs) won't be so dramatic.

Well here's to better stock market days, though I Can't say I Was terribly surprised today.

Anyway, today was super crazy busy and I know I haven't updated much on my finances. There isn't much to tell. I work like crazy, dh takes care of the groceries, everyone is happy. LOL. I do know dh has 3 (THREE!!) doctor appointments next week - yikes! $150. March maybe not so hot. Blech. & it's the end of the month - should have some interest to post to my challenge money. It's funny because overall I think we will be way under budget on most things for February, but medical and such will blow it all out of the water. I am looking forward to a calm month - maybe April? I hesitate to think it though because I know it could be much worse. It hasn't been so bad...

I think it has just been compounded by the fact with busy season and craziness I have had little time to make side money and same for dh. I am frustrated I haven't saved above and beyond my raise the last few weeks. I know I have the full year ahead though and many opportunities to make more money once april is over and done...