Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

I quote Lucky Robin.

In the year 2007 I believe, I made a pretty aggressive goal to have "$150k in retirement" by age 35. I think I was thinking more like the day I turned 35, and was definitely counting some more work retirement contributions in that calculation (another $10k-$20k that I never got). & even then, this goal felt pretty "pie in the sky."

For reference, in the year 2007 I only had $55k-ish in my retirement funds.

But, for all the setbacks, and how aggressive I felt the goal was at the time, I am getting pretty darn close!!

As of yesterday, had about $135k, including cash I already have for ROTHs but did not contribute yet. I can't physically put any more money into retirement accounts (that cash maxes me out), so it is what it is. I also don't really have any other investments (aside from things that are in the kids' name - obviously not for retirement!).

& I could set aside more money "for retirement" (in taxable accounts) to meet my goal, but it doesn't make any sense considering big picture, tax considerations, etc. So I will not do that.

But, will see how the rest of the year goes. At this rate, I suppose anything is possible. 3 more months until my 36th birthday.

& I would be willing to max out ROTHs 1/1 to meet this goal. Off by 30 days from my goal? Who gives a flip! I am at the whim of the stock market. Who cares about *perfection*? I can't beat myself up about it if the stock market takes a dive tomorrow.

I'll post again on this subject and my progress, around my birthday. Again on January 1, if need be.

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Next goal? Pay off mortgage by age 45. I have no idea how - but I think even if I fail, I will be pretty darn close. What's the worst that happens? Pay it off at 46?

{Truth is, I can imagine scenarios where we pay it off in just a few years. Other scenarios it would be put off indefinitely - like prolonged job loss - but you just have to hope for the best}.

P.S. Our retirement vehicles are maxed out, so not much else to do there. To obviously be re-evaluated as economic and job factors change. But on the retirement, I do feel the *hard* part is done. Around the $100k mark, compounding really starts to take over. We can commit to max out, but other than that, I think it's prudent start hitting other financial goals. I think I am just a "one focus at a time" person - always have been. I really enjoyed hitting the mortgage hard when younger, and hitting retirement hard for a time. IT's going to be back and forth until the mortgage is gone. But I do think the *hard* part is done with both of these monsters. Plenty of work to still do, but over the hump.

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I like aggressive goals for two reasons:

1 - If you fall short, you still did pretty darn good.

2 - I am continually amazed at what I have been able to achieve in this life. It definitely takes more than "thought." But, by the same token, "thinking it" is often 90% of the battle.

Perfect example? My spouse told me he thought we should buy a residence, in our early 20s. & I thought he was out of his flipping mind!! But, we sat down and ran the numbers, it actually made sense, and we were buying a condo just a couple of years later. I basically went from "I can never afford a home here" to "homeowner" in 2 years.

**Who, what is with all the new cars? Yeesh. New cars everywhere.

I was starting to get used to people keeping cars longer (perhaps living within their means?). What happened?

I noticed a *lot* of new cars at the kids' school - then started noticing more on the freeway too.

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**Ugh Ugh Ugh! Our promotional rate expired on our internet, and they won't give us a discount. What happened is that the super awesome little guy was bought out. We noticed this in the news, earlier in the year. The story of our lives!! This is the immediate consequence.

I am almost embarassed to even admit it, but our internet bill just went up from $40 to $70/month. !!! I think at most, we might have paid $50 for it, at some point. Yeah, it's super high speed internet (fiber optic) and it's really the only reason I think dh is okay with the "no cable" thing. Since we are able to stream such high quality to our TVs. Which is why I was willing to pay $50 for it. & he does utilize the high speed for his "work" (uploading videos, etc.). It's unpaid work at the moment, but hoping to make a profit at some point.

But anyway, the plan of action? I've only got to pay two more bills this year, so I am just going to wing it. Dh will call and complain a bit, talk to retention, yadda yadda yadda.

We are just going to have to fight it out next year. Jan. 1 I will rework the budget. Dh talks numbers, so it will be a good time to discuss. Jan. 1 I will know my 2013 salary and health insurance rates. We can evaluate the insanity at that point.

Something better will eventually come along. Dh will keep an eye and ear out for alternatives. It's just, "how long?"

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**I've been slowly piecing together vacation details. I was thinking about it today, and suppose this is part of my "simplicty" approach to life. It's easier to break down planning for a vacation into many smaller tasks, over a long period of time. The only thing left for the last minute will be the packing. I like to brainstorm lists the final days before we leave - which means we don't tend to forget things. I think about it a few days, and then check the list before we finalize the packing. As with anything, there is nothing very formal or special about my organization. I grab a scratch piece of paper and just jot a few things down.

I was just talking to my mom the other day and she said something like, "Why do people make things so complicated?" Is that where I get it from?

Meanwhile, I asked MIL if we could borrow a carry-on luggage, because she is driving up for a visit this weekend. She said she would bring 4 bags for us to choose from. I know she means well - but this is "making things way more complicated than it has to be." HA! If the roles were reversed, I'd figure beggars couldn't be choosers.

Anyway, I think I am going to work up a vacation budget and post more about this tonight. I can lay out my thought process, what's done, and what needs to be done still. I did a lot of research this week, and want to get it documented before I forget. {I honestly have a good memory and tend to keep most stuff in my head. But, I think my brain is getting to its limits on this trip - time for a spreadsheet}.

I was catching up on my e-mail the other day, and lots of interesting articles in my inbox.

Big-money funds buy foreclosures -- to rent

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/says-370027-market-homes....

"No condos wanted, and no "McMansions", either. The objective: Bank-owned "family'' homes, with, say, 1,800 square feet and 3 bedrooms, in stable neighborhoods where prices are expected to rise.

That's the sweet spot for Carrington Capital Management LLC, a private equity fund with Orange County ties in an increasingly competitive field -- big-money players going after foreclosures."

I share because I have kind of watched in awe as the flippers have moved back in (& have been surprisingly successful). Most the houses in our neighborhood have been foreclosed, bought by flippers, and then bought by investors to rent out. I have also mentioned that most buyers are not even from the area; many not from the U.S.

So, what has changed??? The market almost feels more speculative now than it did in 2005. {I know a few individuals buying homes, but no one who is buying anything within the realm of reason, or with more than a 3% down payment. ???? So, what has changed?}

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An Ethics Test Your Adviser Might Not Pass

http://www.smartmoney.com/invest/stocks/an-ethics-test-your-...

New research suggests most assets are managed by firms with regulatory violations or conflicts of interest.

Man, I see this *so much* in my line of work. So, I didn't find this surprising in the least.

& ha, my favorite investment advisor, Merrill Lynch, made the list for felony, misdemeanor, SEC violation - they got a giant red x in every single category. Surprise surprise!!

Even Vanguard had commodities trade violations (on the red list!)

Critics also say that what Diligence perceives as potential conflicts are commonly accepted practices throughout the industry -- for example, the hybrid model of firms that both sell products and provide advice

But that's the problem - it's a HUGE conflict of interest! Just because it is a commonly accepted practice doesn't negate that.

P.S. I am skeptical how squeaky clean all those green companies really are - yes. I've seen it over and over with small asset management firms. A lot of them are squeaky clean until they run off with your life savings. So, you just have to be careful. Take this list for what it's worth - a list of companies that have already been caught red handed. Others yet to be caught.

I think we all got a little bit of some bug. Though we went to emergency around 6am in the morning, I had a full 9 hours sleep before that. I came home and crashed until noon, napped in the afternoon, and slept another 9 hours last night. Yeesh! I've been feeling kind of "ugh," for weeks - attributing it to allergies. I am pretty confident that I slept off the virus that befell BM. IT just contributed to the "ugh."

BM refused to sit still so we watched a lot of movies.

He is asleep, which is very unusual for him at this hour (7am), but he is breathing well and his fever has been gone since yesterday morning (don't think anyone gave him a fever reducer). I won't wake him up for school - glad he is getting some sleep. He will probably want to go to school - but he can go late if he feels strongly about it. I am quite sure he will probably feel 100% today.

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I didn't think much about the emergency room - was $200 for the visit and meds. But I thought later that we haven't maxed our deductible yet this year. So, I have no idea how much it will cost us in the end. My guess is a few hundred dollars for doctor's time and for medications delivered in the ER. Could be thousands - you never know.

Will see!

& such is our life!

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Friday I splurged on an extraordinarily expensive hotel reservation. It was a rare splurge, but was feeling confident about the rest of the year. Thinking probably a $5k deposit to mortgage on 12/31, barring the unexpected. Of course the unexpected didn't waste any time.

This trip - to Pismo beach - is end of November. Probably won't get any medical bills by then, but we can guage how the rest of the year is going. Most anything that comes up in December can be paid in January, anyway. So it's a pretty safe point to see where we are at for the year. We can save $150 by downgrading room to a non-ocean-view. I'll wait closer to the last minute to decide. We are 100% going, but don't *need* such a nice view to enjoy the trip.

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Trying to do something productive yesterday, I priced out or Orlando tickets again. It's flipping $1,000 for 3 days (Universal cost as much as Dinseyworld - yeesh!!). & that is including the fact that we have 2 non-expiring tickets from the year 2000. !!

I already knew this, but was hoping to knock it down a little bit with discounts. I don't seem to be finding anything (every discount seems to be reserved for multi-day tickets, which we are not buying). Ugh! Buying 2 or 3-day tickets for a gajillion dollars isn't particularly enticing.

I think this is a rare trip in that we really want to go to Universal and check out the Harry Potter stuff, but doubt we will go back again? Not every time we go to Florida? Usually 2 days in Disney would be *plenty* for us. (Maybe primarily because Disneyland is in our backyard, and Universal Hollywood - so there is a lot in Florida that is not too unique or exciting to us). But, I will admit that if we are going to buy 3 days of tickets, might as well do it when we have a couple of old tickets to use up.

How well we do on our vacation budget in Florida, will also be a deciding factor for Pismo Beach hotel choice. It's hard to say. Grandparents may treat us to some meals - MIL and GMIL like to hand us cash before we vacation.

We had first game of soccer season and BM seemed pretty bored and disinterested. He told me after, "I am so tired." Then he started that barky/croupy cough thing that should be long outgrown by now.

I thought, "Only my kid develops pneumonia in the middle of a soccer game!". His MO is to absolutely never get sick. But when he does it is always extreme and out of nowhere. The plus side is he is always good as new, lightning fast.

So yeah, since he is 9, I thought he sounded more pneumonia-like. Tried to make him slow down and rest (ha!).

This morning was near-exact repeat of our 911/ambulance ride when he was 4. Except no 911. High fever, huge tonsils, wheezy breathing, croupy cough. Last time we both panicked. All I know was he couldn't hardly breathe. This time he was taking long labored wheezy breaths so I sent him outside (cool air) and found probably long-expired asthma treatment. Didn't seem to help at all so woke up the fam & jumped in the car. (forgot his shoes- ha!). The oNLY reason no 911 is because he was extraordinarily calm, which made me calm. BTDT, also helped. Him being calm saved us $1000-ish. Can't say I could do the same. I am a pretty calm person, but probably not if I could barely breathe!!

Thank goodness for our phones!! Dh just texted me is just a virus. He will probably be good as new/at school tomorrow. I appreciate I had any warning he was sick, this time. Last time paramedics and doctors asked how long he had been sick. Um, he just woke up like that?!? This was better. I literally thought yesterday, " How com every time BM is sick he ends up in the ER?". I had a feeling. Though didn't expect quite this!!

Update: He was discharged with a new nebulizer. Which will probably never be needed again. Well, I mean, before it expires.

**Well, internet/phone was restored at the office mid-morning on Friday. Yeesh!! I was going to probably just take most of Friday off otherwise, but was nice to get some stuff done. We were basically down two full days.

**Going on vacation is such a chore, if you ask me. Blah!! I suppose I much prefer mini-vacations. This weeklong thing is stressing me out.

I was pleased with myself today because I set up all my online bill payments for the first of the month. I just delayed a savings transfer for until we get back from vacation and I get my 10/1 paycheck. Bought me a little buffer. The payments due at the first of the month don't amount to much - they are all set to be paid. When we get back I can deposit my paycheck and do all my savings transfers.

Mission accomplished!

Then I got the mail today and I got a $400 life insurance bill, due 10/1. Seriously? Since when do I get bills that are due in less than a month? I am so annoyed! For whatever reason, it just wasn't on my radar. Partly because I just quadrupled the coverage. I generally have a good idea when all the *big* bills are due. This is just the first time it is *big.*

I put it in and I didn't have to juggle anything around. So, phew!! I just set it to pay next week.

Okay, what next? I think I am all ready for vacation, on the money and bill side!! That *really* should be it for the surprises.

{Yeah, I believe this is my only insurer who does not take credit card payments. Is through my professional association. Which adds to the novelty of getting a bill that I only have 3 weeks to pay}.

"So, On October 6th..."

This is what dh says to me a few minutes ago. & I laughed before he even finished the sentence.

What is on October 6th? One of the most awesome concerts of all time - and it's FREE. Of course!! {Les Claypool, a favorite local band who recently came out of retirement, and a favorite new band we have just really gotten into - plus others as it is a whole festival thing).

I mentioned that the stars were aligned to everything fun and cool in October, and that we turned down several things already, due to our Florida trip, and there is only so many things you can do in one month.

But, seriously?!? (We will be in Florida, so oh well!)

We are also waiting for the artist lineup for one of our favorite annual benefit concerts. I personally haven't been in a long time, but I am getting the feeling that it will be a pretty awesome lineup this year. I just told dh the other day, "You know we are SO going!" Don't know any details (aside from dates), but the writing is on the wall - we will want to go.

So what's next? Bring it on universe. Taunt me with all the cool things I can't possibly do within the earthly limits of space, time, and money.

I find it extra funny because it seems like we have had a whole lotta *nothing* going on this year, otherwise. Maybe one cool thing here or there, but never 5 things in one weekend.

To set the stage, lightning storms are pretty rare where we live.

So, this morning I woke up or was awaken by a large flash of light (that I could see with my eyes closed). We have a lot of windows in our house and the door was open, but our bedroom has blinds and heavy black drapes. I had a second or two to wonder if I was going crazy (what the heck was that?) when the loudest thunder I have ever heard in my life, clapped right over my house. O.M.G.!!!! Our house is so insulated that I could not even imagine what it might have been like to be standing outside. & if I hadn't of noticed the lightning, I might have thought someone dropped a bomb in our neighborhood. I don't know if I would have known what that sound was!

So, okay, I am awake!!!!

I figured we could enjoy the show, but that was it. No thunder after that. ???

WEIRD!

I am also not sure what to do with work today. Yesterday I went in and the phones and internet were down (we have fiber optic). I didn't think about it until later, but we are supposed to have a backup internet line, too.

Maybe it's because I am young, but in these instances my older co-workers are inclined to sit around and twiddle their thumbs (& be seen). & it doesn't help that when we had a weeklong power outage at some point that I went home to get lots of work done, and the boss's wife called me back to sit around in a heatless/dark office. Yeah... In the end a client had some computer problems so I had to go home to help them. I think I got my point across why I stayed home. Doh!

So, yesterday I had some urgent stuff to take care of, and came home.

I called a co-worker's cell phone at some point to get the dish. IT turns out that the electric company probably severed a bunch of lines. AT&T and the power company had like 10 trucks out there. What a mess!! AT&T told someone in my office that SMUD did something they were trying to fix. Probably explains why we also have no backup internet. IT affected *everything.* AT&T, Surewest (fiber optic), and whoever we have our backup line with (could be ATT).

So, I just called the office and the phone line is *still* down.

Ugh!!

I think I will go to the office in the a.m. and dig around for files to bring home. I don't have a ton to do because of the holiday and end of the month - hoping some clients dropped off some stuff yesterday. Maybe will drop off things today? I'd probably rather just take the day off and go work Sunday. This is so annoying!!

Smart phone saves the day. I can at least have my e-mail forwarded to my phone, so I have some form of communication with my clients, while I am in the office. It *Really* helps.

{All of our programs are in the cloud- so it's impossible to do any work without internet}.

Or maybe more to the point, "Death to the Mortgage Interest!"

I am at the point where shorter term mortgage are extremely enticing with lower rates, BUT not willing to give up the liquidity. So, I need to put away the amortization tables, at least until next year. Or until something significantly changes.

Our current mortgage goals are "to pay more principal than interest, going forward," and "To pay $10k off per year." At the least we are committed to paying more principal. In good years (gainfully employed) we can commit to the $10k annual payoff.

We've been in our house for 10 years, and have refied 3 times. We have only ever refinanced for lower mortgage rates - no cash outs.

Out of curiosity, I looked at where we are today on the principal balance, versus where we would be if we had never refinanced. Keep in mind, we have 30 years left on this loan, versus would only have 20 years left if we had never refinanced.

As of today? Our principal balance is $3k higher than it would have been if we never refinanced. Which is interesting because we were planning to pay about an extra $3k this year. I have the cash, but just making sure no one has surgery this year - probably won't commit this amount until 11:59pm on 12/31/12. But, I think that makes it pretty even steven!!

I found this really surprising (up to today, we have basically never borrowed against mortgage or prepaid anything - so this is basically just with regular payments). How is this possible? Well, our mortgage payment is about $600/month smaller than it used to be, BUT more of the payments are going to principal with the significantly lower interest rate.

Yes, I do still have 30 years left on this mortgage (versus the 20 I Would have otherwise) so it's not apples to oranges. But, obviously it's going to be pretty darn easy to knock off those last 10 years. If we commit to pay more principal than interest...

As of today, we are pretty committed to never refinancing at 30 years again. But, I may have said that before. Ask me again is I can get 2% on a 30-year. But I think the point is we would just get a 20-year mortgage in that case.

I was always amused by advice not to refinance again at 30 years because "one should have no mortgage debt in retirement." Our mortgage goal pay off is age 45-50. Who said anything about a mortgage in retirement? I think we have already knocked off a year or two off our newest mortgage (with some very small pre-payments). So, if not of concern to us. Worst case - age 63-ish payoff. By next year we may have knocked it down to age 60. Odds are we will refi to a 15-year or a 20-year at some point. Which would be age 50-55 payoff.

All this to say, be careful of overly simplistic financial advice. I am all about keeping it simple, no doubt! But, I am also about thinking about the big picture and running different scenarios.

Like the second week of school LM lost his lunch pail and it still hasn't turned up. *sigh*

On the flip side? BM has been in school for 4 years and has never lost one item. Well, I think he lost a tooth when it fell out. Ha!

So, four years and one last item. It's bound to happen, and we did better than expected. Since everything is on sale right now I picked up a couple of lunch boxes at $5/each. One as a backup. {I was thinking of doing this anyway}.

This reminds me, we use reusable tupperware in their lunches (the "disposable" kind that last years and years and years). On the first day of Kinder both kids tossed their tupperware, because they were instructed to toss everything along with everyone else. I explained to the kids that we don't throw away tupperware - that it goes back in their lunch box. & that was that. I've gotten so many comments over the years about how things must get lost and thrown away. Well, if you teach your kids to throw everything away their whole life, and that everything is disposable, that is how it goes. I honestly expected a few more lost tupperware over the years - but there just hasn't been any. Aside from the first day of school. I find it funny that they both did that!!

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I redeemed $50 in Amex credit card rewards to my ROTH. I have hit $50 every month this year - even with all the other credit card rewards. For next month I charged up some health insurance to another card, BUT we will have all our Florida expenses on the AmEx. So, definitely $50 for next month. It will be $600 for the year.

That card is just 2% back on everything - is redeemed into my ROTH. I was thinking of maxing out 2013 ROTHs in April 2013. But, I will have to remember to save some room for credit card reward contributions. Maybe I will put in $9,000 by April and just see what I have left in order to max out at end of the year. Points can accumulate, but I think it's wise to redeem ASAP because rewards and rules change over time.

It's a miracle! I think we found a vacation date that works for my work, kids school, my parents, etc. SO, we are trying again for that beach weekend.

I suppose I will use my credit card rewards for the hotel (leaves tons of rewards leftover). The gas will probably fit in our gas budget. Credit card rewards for hotel. Will have some eating out spending, but that is about it. The hotel is on the beach.

I am sure this trip will underwhelm the kids after Florida, but it is what it is. IT's taken like a year to mesh all of our schedules.

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My folks came up Saturday and we went to a BBQ at the in-laws on Sunday.

We lucked out because the kids had some insane growth spurt type eating yesterday. They ate and ate and ate at the in-laws. Plan was to come home for dinner, BUT my mom had hemmed my pants and enticed us to stop by. So, when we got there I was mortified the kids ate and ate and ate. & then we fed them a second dinner when we got home.

How is that for planning? Let them eat their grandparents out of house and home. Will see how they are today...

No plans for today, but will probably go to the pool. I think it "officially" closes as of tomorrow. But seems when it is hot sometimes they keep the pool heated a few weeks longer.

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LM is doing drama club now. HE actually volunteered to do something! (Another miracle). IT's $150, but it's the only extra-curricular he will do this year. He is EASY.

Him and BM are just such opposite personalities, but it usually works out because BM hogs up the extra-curricular budget and LM doesn't want to do anything. So BM can hog it up all he wants!

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Okay, so I am totally digging Mr. Money Mustache blog.

I have probably never even talked about early retirement, because aside from "preparing for the worst/hoping for the best," absolutely nothing about the early retirement genre appeals to me. Probably mostly so because I was raised to love my work and to follow my passions. The idea of hating my work so I can retire sooner just doesn't make *any* sense to me. I don't see "work" and "enjoying life" as mutually exclusive.

So what is amazing about this blog? It is about a guy who retired at 30. & it is more family focused than more early retirement blogs - that is probably the other disconnect for me with the most of them. IT's a family-focused guy that retired at 30. & he did so in the name of moderation. Okay, NOW we are talking. If I read this when I was 25, this might have changed my life. I would have considered it, because the whole thing doesn't strike me as insane, overly risky, or full of deprivation. Even from a biological standpoint, I don't think is is particularly risky.

I mostly enjoy this blog because I can identify with it. I understand it. To some it might sound insane, but I have seen these principles played out in real life. On a Scale of 1 - 10 Mr. Money Mustache may be a 10, and we may be a 5. We largely share the same life philosophies. We utilized this knowledge to have my spouse "retire" at age 25 while I don't care at all about early retirement. Mr. Mustache took it to the "10" level and completely retired at 30 - both him and his wife.

I am going to have to go back and read most the blog posts at some point.

Of note, here are some of the posts that sucked me in (but be warned that there is language):

First Retire…Then Get Rich

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/05/14/first-retire-then-...

**I've been watching our parents stress about early retirement and feel they were way short of their financial goals, while unable to find work in this economy. In the meantime, they are very Mustachian types and their nest egg keeps growing. So though maybe they hadn't met their goals pre-retirement, they will meet their goals in retirement. For my dad this means he was maybe only 50% to his retirement savings goal at age 57, but is 90% there at age 61. No employment necessary. & by the way, he doesn't need the nest egg anyway because it's just one more year to social security. ?!? So though he is 90% to goal, turns out goal was 500% more than he "needed." It's making me re-think retirement. My in-laws are in a very similar boat. This is no fluke - this is just what happens when you get used to living on 1/3 of your income.**

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The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-sim...

**Again, this is true and I have seen it played out many times. Living on less means not only do you save more, but that you can stretch your savings further. & yes, it's really a pretty simple concept if you think about it.**

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Oh, and how could I forget this one?

News Flash: Your Debt is an Emergency!!

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/04/18/news-flash-your-de...

**I loved this one. This pretty much sums up the way dh and I are wired when it comes to debt. Which basically sums up why I'd rather work three jobs than run up one cent of credit card debt. & of course, to be wired this way is very unusual in our culture.**

**Woohoo! I got my Chase card. Phew! Was hoping to get in time to pay some 9/1 bills (was willing to pay a couple of days late, but might have given up by Tuesday).

Also, the due date was October 20th for the first Chase bill. SO, I paid 2 months health insurance ($800 due today - paid the 10/1 bill too). Since I usually charge those around the 30th and pay off around the 20th. Doesn't mess me up *at all.* No juggling or re-arranging.

Auto insurance was due Monday - I paid it today.

This leaves me $75 to charge. I will probably use it to fill up the van next week - which will put me a few dollars short? But maybe I can give it to dh for when he gets gas.

What I don't understand is why they made me call a live person to activate the card. It's the most annoying/time consuming part of these credit card rewards. Everything else is so computerized/instantaneous. I can't get across how little time I spend to reap these rewards. BUT, today I sat on hold five minutes, and they didn't even try to sell me anything. What a waste of time! When I am done I just e-mail them to close the card. & I am putting the October 20th payment in Quicken right now so I don't have to remember anything. The hard part is done...

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**Holiday weekend is really messing me up. I have to be vigilant with the checkbook, since I don't get paid until Tuesday and probably won't get the deposit in until Wednesday. I paid the piano teacher and just hope I get MIL's check for the piano teacher. Today. Even so, I will remote deposit and will have to make sure it is there Tuesday. & if not I will have to do a transfer. I just generally don't like to cut things tight/deal with it. BUT, I also try to avoid every moving money over for this kind of stuff. I can, but just try to arrange it that I don't have to. It's just another layer of complication. Admittedly, "move the money and forget about it" is probably less complicated. But it's just a little vigilance that I usually don't have to deal with. Which is easier than moving money and back and forth, I guess.

It's probably good though, because while I Was looking at the calendar and figuring when I could pay things, I remembered that next month will be worse. We will be on vacation and so I won't get to deposit my check until closer to the 10th. !!

BUT, with this credit card, I don't have to pay our health insurance until October, so buys me an easy $800 buffer. I think that might do!! I don't have many bills due the first of the month - just a few small things. 1st of the month is generally 90% to savings; mid-month payday covers the credit cards and mortgage. Which means I usually pay the mortgage and credit cards around the 30th, and then the few small things/transfer to savings after the first. Which means a whole lot of nothing most the month.

But I will have to pay all the bills before we leave. So just another chore to remember.

Who knew this credit card reward deal would make life a little easier? It bought me a $800 buffer for vacation. Which is more than ample to cover a very late payday.

It seems the stars have aligned in October. It will be a totally insane month. We already turned down an invite to Vegas and to a couple of concerts. At this rate, 20 more enticing events will show up the first week of October. It's been bizarre.

Anyway, I was just thinking about it because we purchased concert tickets. One of our favorite artists is doing a "living room tour." We offered to host. I figured it probably wasn't the best idea (inviting 30 strangers to our house) - but what are the odds we would picked anyway? [& if we were picked, what an awesome experience!!] Not picked (city not picked), but we decided to go to the San Francisco show. We are bringing 10+ people - not sure how many people will fit. I don't know if this is literally San Francisco, or more suburb-y. This artist is popular among our family and friends. This sets the bar pretty high for the kids' "first concert."

The same weekend is also the combot robot wars - which I put on the calendar ages ago so that we would not forget.

What's neat is that these are both going to be WAY COOL experiences, but due to lack of popularity, neither event is terribly expensive.

Of course, we are going to another concert in October, AND going to Florida. Yeesh! Busy Busy Busy. Couldn't all this fun stuff be spread out a little more?

In the meantime, I think we are going for "super low-key no spend" in the month of September. Maybe a little less for financial reasons and more because October will be a bit of overload. I think we should therefore be pretty content for a very low-key September.

**Dh got offered a $85 focus group - woohoo! It's been pretty dry since we have been getting all these credit card rewards. Nice to score both types of extra income in the same month.

**I was dreading the car rental reservation for Florida (guess I HATE planning vacations) and finally did the deed yesterday. It was much better than I expected - I found a car rental for about $100 for 8 days AND this was not a "pre-paid/non-refundable" cost. So basically, I am pleased I didn't have to pay for it ahead of time.

Since it was much cheaper than I was expecting, that leaves more money to enjoy in Florida. Phew!!

**The school year has been very busy. BM was invited onto a Lego Mindstorm team - some regional competition in the fall. Lego Mindstorm is a robot building kit. BM already has a set because my dad bought him one a couple of years ago. This is right up his alley!

**This month has been REALLY low-spend (we plan the same for October). BUT, this has been offset by all the back to school sales. I stocked up a bit on summer stuff for next summer (new swim stuff for the kids - on clearance - replaced my pricier/better support flip flops on clearance, etc.). I haven't shopped Kohls all year, but they were having a pretty big sale + 20% off yesterday, so I online shopped a bit. I ordered a frame print that I think will go really nice with our new couch. I figure I might return some of it. I also bought some socks and underwear on clearance (Hanes.com and Target in-store).

Staying home with the kids has meant a lot of years of "doing without," and I am sure we still do on some level. As were college years. So, I feel delight when I Can stock up on things "before I even need them."

The socks were an interesting purchase because I gave up buying socks in the name of frugality, or maybe moreso priorities, many many years ago. (I just buy packages of plain white socks, as needed). I spotted a bunch of colorful socks on clearance and I thought I suppose I could spare $10 to replenish my sock drawer with some color. Such a small splurge, but makes me feel "rich."

**The plan is to no-spend for the next 9 days or so - credit card closes the day after Labor Day. Back to School sales aside, no-spending has been easy with our busy schedule - with school starting back up and work being such a busy time of year. {No spend means everything except for groceries - will probably be about $100}.

**Oh yes - and yesterday was a big day for soccer - BM had four games. We met up at Jack in the Box to switch off adult duties, mid day (& so LM did not have to sit in the sun all day). We had credit card reward gift cards so it was a free meal. We went for $1 ice cream afterwards, at Rite Aid, but they had raised the price. So spent about $3 for ice cream for two.

**& speaking of credit card rewards - dh also bought a baby roku. I call it a baby roku because it is SO SMALL! Our old one never worked very well (but we have two - and we knew it could work better!). So, it looks like a lot of problems we thought were Hulu problems were more roku problems. IT was nice it didn't cost any money to replace it. We obviously don't plan to sell the old one because it sucks. I suppose it is official that we are committed to "no cable" for the long run. Probably even moreso now that our primary roku is no longer a PITA.

I decided to double dip the Chase Sapphire Card. My Money Blog had a good offer today. The reward will be $400. I am sure I could wait for a $500 reward, but this should be an *easy* one!

Spend $2k in 3 months, for $400.

Will try to get this card by the first. If I can pay this month's health insurance, next month's health insurance, and the car insurance, it will be DONE! So, that is why it's an easy one. I can hit the $2k spending limit the day I get the card. This month's insurance is due the first, and it doesn't really matter when I pay next month's - I usually pay it sometime during the month so the credit card payment is due the following month. Car insurance is due around the 4th. It is cutting it tight so if I don't get the card by the 1st, will just have to wait another month to redeem or find something else to charge.

I was going to just apply for dh too. I could get my reward immediately and we could use his card for gas and groceries, etc. for a couple of months, but he literally just redeemed this one - I figured not to bother. HE just applied for and closed 3 credit cards, so probably best to let his FICO rest a bit. Double dipping might work after a year - probably not after just one month. (Fine print basically says "no double dipping," so it's a crap shoot either way. But I think if I closed the card a year ago, then I have a better chance).

We'd probably use this money for Florida - the timing is good. This would give us a *lot* more wiggle room on the eating out there, and the car rental, and probably ensures we won't have to touch savings for any of the trip.

**Interesting observation: Paid $0 for babysitting or childcare in the prior 12 months. {May have paid cash once to teenaged neighbor - but don't particularly track cash purchases, since very rare for us}.

This may be dumb and a waste but we decided to use drop-in place this month for Back to School night, though not needed. IT secures our registration for another 12 months, in case of emergency. We only need about 1/2 hour of care for BTS night, so no biggie. Maybe $20-ish when you factor time to drop off and pick up.

This reminds me, I was also going to sign up the kids for before and after school care, in case of emergency last year, but never did. This year they made us fill all the paperwork anyway, but not required to pay a registration fee unless you utilize more than twice. SCORE! So, it's available if needed, but no financial commitment if we never end up needing it. This is really nice.

On the drop-in place, if we don't utilize again in the next 12 months, we will let our registration lapse next summer. BM will be 10, and all this is getting to be pretty moot. {& if we ever actually do need it - we just sign up again, then}.

In order to cut babysitting costs, dh and I have been meeting for lunch dates (taking advantage of lower lunch costs and the kids being in school). Most the neighbors are out of work so there is always someone to pick up the kids from school or take them for a couple of hours if need be (dh has had a lot of random Doctor appointments the past couple of years - usually when this comes in handy). Kids are often away at playdates anymore. & this does not factor that my MIL begs to watch the kids here and there and sometimes sends us off on vacation just so she can get the kids for a week.

This is an expense that seems to be mostly gone from our lives. Phew!

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I mentioned the kids were into money-making schemes lately.

I have no idea how it came up, but we got on the subject of stocks yesterday. So, I ended up having the kids pick about 10 stocks and we set them all up in yahoo finance as if we had bought $100 of each stock. This way, BM can look every day when he does homework and checks his yahoo e-mail. It's easy to see if his stocks are doing well or poorly, based on if his balance is over or under $1,000.

BM is now a whiz at researching the stocks on yahoo. We looked at graphs and dividends and all that jazz. I explained the Dow Jones to him. He soaked it up pretty quickly. I figured we would have to track dividends (at least input them into yahoo as they accumulate) so will give us a project to do. This is probably a good challenge for him since he is way into math these days. Just another way to make math interesting and useful. Heck, he also got a fair lesson on public and private companies since we looked up quite a few things that were private companies that they could not invest in (Legos, Minecraft, etc.). So that means I had to explain to them the difference, and so on.

I figured we could track through the end of the year and maybe for next year we can do some actual pretend stock trading. This year is more learning about it and next year can be them actively participating a little more. Might as well learn the hard lessons while young and with nothing to lose. If they do well, I would probably pay them the profits. I'll have to think on it, because I wouldn't ding them for losing. I think they'd get the point though. When I think back to money lessons of my youth, my parents always over-rewarded me too (like 100% match for meeting a savings goal).

Mental Note: Must look into DRIPS - might make sense for some real investing for the kids.

**I haven't worked substantially this summer - many days off. I figured this week would be a big adjustment - but it feels nice to have three full weeks to get caught up.

**Our weather has been extraordinarily mild the last two years (yes - as it has been anything but, everywhere else). We've got some heat wave this past week (several days of 105+ degree temps), but frankly it hasn't been bad. I say that because I have no reason to be outside AND it has been cooling off at night. Usually it only gets so hot because it doesn't cool down at night - and that is the *worst.* 5 or so nights of this and I haven't even flipped on the fan. (I don't know if we ever particularly run the air all night, but usually during heat waves like this the fan is a must to get any sleep). Feeling grateful for cool nights in extreme heat...

**I just noticed that last credit card bill equaled my paycheck. What are the odds of that? Easy come, easy go! It is the only bill I have to pay until September, so whatever. We are having a low-spend month to make up for "too much fun" last month. {The credit card balance is not much indication of that, since it has more than just monthly spending - like medical bills, dental bills and insurance already saved up for - but reminds me we are keeping it low key this month. Maybe next month too}.

**Briefly contemplated driving 200 miles roundtrip for a Weird Al concert tomorrow night, but it was *really* expensive. I decided to add Weird Al to my FB instead so I Would see updates on future tours and doings. Seems to me he usually isn't so expensive at the Fairgrounds. We have seen him before and he does a *great* show, and we have been looking for a good first concert for the kids. Would have been perfect! But, I am sure we will find something a little more reasonable. It's not just the cost - it was a bit much with the hassle factor. & the convenience fees for this one venue were *insane* - even if it was a favorite venue of ours. Maybe we have overlooked for 2 tickets - but the fees were about $50 for 4 tickets. Ouch! All his other better-timed/kind of close shows will be while we are in Orlando. So we decided to let it go.

Our other contenders are suddenly doing a lot of 21+ shows - - but dh and I still plan to enjoy!

Actually, we were just talking about finding a concert to take the kids to because dh went to see Iron Maiden and he saw a ton of little kids there. Go figure! We were thinking something a little more mellow.

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**I had a really quiet weekend since dh took the kids to San Jose. I got many chores done. Of note, I shredded absolutely everything related to the "one-time credit card rewards bonanza of 2011 and 2012." We are in a lull and I closed all of the cards, so I figured best to get rid of the piles of paper. It was insane. There will be more, but am enjoying taking a break.

**Had a little mini vacay to end the school break for the kids.

Went to the beach, and we lucked out with a *beautiful* day.

Stayed at "hotel parents," who treated us to several meals. More than usual. But we drove back pretty late from the beach and were on our own last night. We stopped for Greek - it wasn't that good. We are still bummed favorite little Greek place closed several years ago. The search continues... Today we went to our favorite restaurant (Mexican) at around 1:30 and we were the only ones there. Holy cow! I don't know - I often meet my friends for lunch at 1 or something - I just found it to be very bizarre. I suppose we were lucky the place was even open. Their lunch crowd is very serious about sticking to the noon hour!

Oh - and we took the kids to an old favorite hangout of ours - a nickel arcade. We spent about $13 there - definitely had fun. ($8 admissions for four - plus $5 spent in nickels).

Yes, we found several nickels on the floor - inside and in the parking lot. You'd do well if you could peruse that parking lot every day.

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Today we picked up soccer gear for BM and I stocked up on some clearance items at Target. Two $2 shirts for LM (who is always swimming in hand-me-downs, so nice to buy him something else once in a blue moon - and hey it was literally a blue moon last week). I often comment I do better at Target (which is convenient) than the thrift shops anyway. About the same, anyway, for the kids. There may be cheaper thrift shops, but it always seems to be so time consuming. Though I'd shop thrift more if I couldn't just get hand-me-downs and clearance items so easily.

I couldn't resist a cute monkey shirt that was 50%-off.

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I should probably fill up the kids' school lunch accounts, but I saw that last year the 4th grade campus had a different (private) lunch service - which was $3.25/lunch versus the usual $2.50. Ouch! Thankfully I brought it up to dh (I was aggravated if I had to pay under a different service, because if I knew I would have drained BM's account to -0- as I can not imagine the red tape to get that refunded by the district). Anyway, dh tells me he heard they dropped it. Phew!! I was thinking of telling BM "no school lunch" at that price. The only reason we buy as much as we do because it's such a good deal.

But anyway, hopefully I figure out the deal with that soon. So I can fund their lunch money - I usually do a big deposit twice a year - August and January. IT would be nice to just fund the same accounts and have $2.50 lunches. The district often changes the lunch prices too, but I haven't seen any indication that they have for this school year. Need more info, I guess.

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I don't know how we got on the subject, but we started talking about how we really need to make a Hong Kong vacation plan.

IT seems we talk about a lot of things, but talk is talk. It seems so little of what we talk about actually comes to fruition. Which I think is a GOOD thing. We talk about things and we save up for things, but priorities and wants are ever changing. I think this is one reason that I don't equate "frugality" with "deprivation" - as it is so often perceived. We probably have saved a fortune over the years not just giving in to every whim on a credit card. It's not like any of those whims are missed or mourned for - they are merely forgotten as better things come along.

& I share because I am sure I have blogged out many things that eventually completely fell off my radar.

Anyway, dh's aunt is living in Hong Kong right now and so he was saying we really need to go now while she is still living there. She was living there when he was a child, and it was an awesome memory for him to make that trip. One that he can repeat with his kids, now that she is back in HK.

Anyway, this is a plan that has been brought up very loosely many times, but is maybe becoming a "more seriously talked about" plan. I need some more firm details about exactly what we are talking about here. So, onto more talking...

Right now I think I need 2-3 years to save up for this. & we are totally fine with that. Just crossing my fingers a bit that we can do it on the sooner side. I think 2 years would be aggressive but a good plan.

Supposedly the kids' school will let us make all payments through Paypal this year.

Woohoo!

My initial reaction is to avoid any and all fees when it comes to banking and payments (because the little things add up and there are always free/convenient options).

BUT, I think I might make this an exception. School activites are the primary reasons I write checks, and doing away with checks altogether would be *awesome.* Even if I have to pay a small charge to do so.

I was surprised that I pulled out my last book of checks this past week. I have like 29 checks left, and that should easily last me two years. Maybe longer. I think I am just going to wait a year or two before I re-order. I think it is possible checks will become obsolete in that time. The only hold out at this point is the county (property taxes). I also refuse to give the IRS my bank information, but this is probably just silly at this point (if I send them a check they have all the same info - must keep it stored somewhere). I am so careful that I Was pretty certain my identity theft a few years back originated from the IRS. So I have been extra cautious. {Honestly, the most likely scenario was mail fraud, which would make my checks to the IRS even more susceptible? Since I can just e-file my bank account info - so probably time for me to move on with the IRS}. I still don't think the county accepts anything beyond paper checks (without huge surcharges like on credit payments). But if that's the only real hold out that is two checks per year. They will have to come around at some point.

I needed a check for dh's cousin. Dh owed him money and told me at the last minute. More notice and I would have paid him through bill pay - how I pay *everyone.* Of course, he hasn't cashed the check yet and so I wish I had just bill-payed it. I just enter an amount online and my CU mails out a check - when it comes to individuals. Once you set someone up it takes about 5 seconds to pay them.

**Our new mortgage took several months to show up on our credit report (post refi). In the meantime, our credit scores have taken a bit of a dive. Lending heavily to my theory that our mortgage seems to be most of our credit score (having a mix of account types; maybe extra so for us since we don't have other types of loans beyond credit cards). Of course, we are still 740+ - most of that coming from 100% on-time payments. We kind of do everything else "wrong," but can usually boast 780+ regardless.

Anyway, I noticed the mortgage showing up and our scores still lower than I have ever seen them. But I figure it will work itself out quickly, so went ahead and closed 4 credit cards. I don't like the hassle of all these unused/open credit cards so don't want to wait any longer. We are holding off on any new one-time rewards until our FICO scores rebound. So that round is done and we won't be applying for more cards for another month or two.

I didn't have to ask - Citi gave us a pro-rated refund of annual fee. YAY! (This seems the industry standard to just refund it).

**My ROTH transfer is complete and so we have greatly simplified our retirement holdings.

I am not feeling the pinch losing 10% of my compensation (was full "retirement match") because I also lost all the fees and expenses that came with that. IT's been about 2 years since I have received a contribution (Final 2009 contribution was received late 2010). & no doubt we have scrambled to max out our ROTHs since then. But, I had no choice in the work retirement investments and they were invested very conservatively. I feel like I have closed most the gap contributing more, avoiding fees, and investing more appropriately for *my* age. IT kind of boggles the mind. Anyway, we are now heavy in admiral shares at Vanguard - which means the fees really can't get any lower than that. I keep reading that fees are a huge indicator of retirement saving success. I am clearly seeing why.

**On the retail front I found a nice hike with some swimming holes and thought to myself that I probably should get a 2-piece swimming suit. I checked my allowance status (though obviously I could put this as a "need" of sorts). I just wanted to see where I stood on my spending for the year. The last 3.5 months or so I have bought zero. zilch. nada. Not even any credit card rewards purchase of late.

I am not sure if I am just that *content* or if I am subconsciously hoarding up money for our Orlando trip. Probably a little of both. The credit card rewards have really allowed us to catch up with everyday purchases around the house. But I do generally allow myself a *little* retail therapy. Just haven't needed it, I guess.

I suppose I can splurge on a new suit!

**Saving for Florida (foregoing our usualy staycations) has been *no big.* We managed an amusement park trip anyway, and summer flew by for the kids (school starts in just 2 weeks). We've kept really busy with birthdays and people visiting us from out of town. I think we have room in the budget for a camping trip and a trip or two to the beach (basically just gas for expenses). Kids are also being kept occupied by playdates.

I underestimated how occupied and content we'd be with a -$0- vacation budget this summer. & I also didn't realize how much we'd be catching up with friends and family from across the globe, here at home. They did make it easier.

**On the *BIG* purchases, all I Received was a $200 bill for dh's MRI. They usually bill $1000-ish. I have no idea what this means. I was initially concerned this was only for the IV (because they insisted on using an IV, and all I could see was $$$$ when dh told me that - he said it wasn't very helpful just took more time in the end. They usually just give you a shot of contrast dye). Anyway, but when I got the final bill it looked like it was more for the MRI than anything else. SO, fingers crossed??Especially since this is an infinite annual purchase for our future?

If by some miracle we don't max our deductible this year, that money is going to the mortgage. I won't hold my breath.

**The Big Picture?

Feeling really *caught up* financially.

Savings level and savings pace is reaching our coveted pre-kid/2-income savings baseline. Basically there. It's not particularly apples to oranges as we aren't grossing near what we were last we both worked, but our take-home is probably there (we pay a LOT less in taxes). Our health insurance cost about 10 times what it did a decade ago, but we also have several sources of other income lately. (For example, credit card rewards have been fruitful and tax-free).

Success!!

I am just talking shorter-term type savings. I could keep a steady retirement savings clip and stay out of debt, but it's the middle stuff like paying extra on the mortgage and saving to replace our cars that has been difficult on one-income. I am feeling much more confident with these mid-range goals today.

Just kind of busy here, but "good busy."

I also read like 4 books in the last week - so no doubt I have been reading more than blogging.

Of note?

I read the Jaycee Dugard memoir (the woman who was kidnapped for almost 20 years?). I actually highly recommend it. It showed up on a list of "People who like this book liked these books" kind of thing. My first reactions was, "No thanks," but I looked at the reviews and it enticed me. An AMAZING PERSON. She did not dwell too long on the horror of it all, and so was actually a very inspiring book. I suppose it depends on how much of a stomach you have for the horrible parts. I thought it was good middle ground (I have no doubt she left out a lot of gory details). A lot of the reviews were "She held back too much" or the opposite opinion of, "Way too graphic." I personally felt it was good middle ground. Obviously you'd expect the book to be a little graphic.

I am right now reading:

The Floor of Heaven: A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush

REALLY Good!

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The kids were spoiled rotten for their birthdays and then they pooled their money to buy some software. Well, problem is they need a better monitor for this program. SO, we decided to spoil them some more and get a new monitor. Was about $100, and replaced some ancient montrosity left over from our own childhoods. That's two monitors down and one more to go? Dh thinks the one we have left is the oldest (20+ years - but is rarely used these days). It's nice to replace big/heavy/energy draining technology with smaller/lighter/nicer/energy efficient.

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Maybe this weekend I can get around to a financial update...

UGH! I can't believe my post just disappeared!! I had put a lot of thought into my post, so I am really annoyed. I usually save every few minutes as I type, so once I saw it totally disappeared I had to walk away for a while. (Not sure how THAT happened!)

Okay, take two!!

I also can't believe I haven't posted in like a week! It's just been busy busy here with kids' birthdays and such.

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SO, as you know by now, I attended an SA meetup on Friday.

Like Ray, I felt like I was catching up with old friends. Really dear friends. I didn't expect that at all - but I guess we have come to know each other really well over the years. & certainly no lack of things to talk about!

What is nice is that I had already met Laura and had an idea what some of the others looked like (from Facebook photos and such). I think it's probably kind of overwhelming to wrap your brain around meeting five faceless people, otherwise!!

Anyway, we had a blast!

This weekend we should really go through the kids' toys and purge. We try to do it once a year around their birthdays (out with the old and in with the new).

BM outgrew carseats entirely last year (woohoo!). BUT, for whatever reason we still have two boosters in each car. A simple one and a more fancy one with a back and a headrest, per car. I think we have kept it for friends, cousins, and just to be on the safe side. But LM has been outgrowing the more baby booster seat (though enjoys it for long rides because it has a head rest and is easy to sleep in). He needs the "big boy booster" another year, due to new laws - otherwise we would be done.

SO, with his birthday coming up we decided to pull those out of the car. We will get an easy $20 or $30 each for those carseats - a nice haul. We still have one seat in each car so gives us options if we need a second seat ever. The van also has built-in carseats (I LOVE that!!).

I really lucked out with sales this week. We decided on a wheely/outdoorsy toy for BM. Everything of that nature was on Amazon was on sale for like 30%+ off this week. We ended up getting some kind of skateboard (one of the newer types).

I stopped by the grocery store to get cupcake mix and frosting - everything was on sale. Like 60% off. EXCEPT the red velvet cake that LM asked for, but I stocked up on chocolate cake mix and frosting for the future.

Even yesterday I stopped by Walgreens to grab a 2 liter of soda. IT wasn't advertised on sale, so I was extra pleased when it only rung up for $1.25. If I knew I would have bought more, but oh well!

I've been on a good sale run lately.

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LM's party ended up being perfect! The best part was I really didn't do anything. WE randomly chose a date before school got out, so we could hand out invitations.

Then we showed up. I did slave over some box mix cupcakes.

Cost: $130

I won't get a gold star for frugality, BUT I get a gold star for the *Easiest party ever* and for it being a VERY fun party.

2 lanes/1 hour = $80
Arcade Tokens = $40
Food/Drink - About $10

We had the party in the afternoon to skip the food and drink, but LM and one of his friends both told me they were hungry right off the bat. I figured we also needed soda to wash down the cupcakes, so I got a giant plate of fries and a pitcher of soda. That appeased them for one hour - I was pleased by the size of the fries.

I didn't expect much from the arcade, BUT all of the kids ended up with HUNDREDS of tickets. So they just had a BLAST. Obviously they didn't end up with anywhere near $40 in merchandise! BUT, you know, you go to Chuck E Cheese, you can spend as much and be there all day and never amass more than 50 tickets. I liked that the kids were able to win so many tickets, even if it didn't amount to much in prizes. They just had a BLAST.

It was HOT yesterday and LM got some water guns as gifts, AND so all the neighborhood kids continued the party at our house after - water fight in the yard.

All I kept thinking was that was the easiest birthday party ever. #1 - Not at our house #2 - Not a birthday party package. #3 - Skipping the whole meal thing. I think that part was really key. That was my #1 party rule when the kids were young and we did much more budget birthdays, but had let that slide in recent years. I've done all 3 tactics before, but never all at once??

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My favorite gift was my neighbor who gave LM $7 cash for turning $7. I think he really liked it too. You know people always tend to do that for family, but I will remember that in the future for the kids' friends. She kind of got off easy, but it did the job!

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If I go with a $200 2-kid party budget, then I have $70 left for BM. I think that is more than ample. The play place he wants to go to costs $7 per kid. I think it will be a lot less kids, and then we will go out for pizza afterward. GOOD pizza, not cheap/crappy stuff. I think I can do that under $70.

Regardless, BM's party will be of the same vein. Show up, and go for pizza afterwards. Easy peasy.

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The kids are entering reality. One of LM's reactions to yesterday was, "That's IT!?!" with the gifts. Usually the party is combined, and probably way more chaotic with so many kids. Maybe it was just having a more intimate birthday party that was so nice.

Yes LM, $7 a couple of water guns, a puzzle and a board game. That is IT! When I think back to my birthdays, that is QUITE a haul if you ask me.

BM also had a hard time learning that it wasn't about him this time and that he had to watch his brother get gifts while he got none. I honestly thought someone would not read the invitation carefully and would bring him a gift anyway, since historically we have always combined their party, but that didn't happen. Since he is older and having a much more modest birthday he will have to get over it. As dh told him, "Like all his toys aren't yours to play with too." I think they will survive.

Separating the parties did significantly cut down the number of gifts as we won't invite all the same kids to both parties. Likewise, some people feel obligated to buy both kids' gifts, even if I told them they weren't or only put one child's name on the invitation.

The older and wiser I get, the more I think being "weird" plays a large part in succeeding financially. Of course, one would not have to be "weird" if the culture was all about saving for a rainy day and living below one's means. But since we live in such a consumer society, all that stuff is just "weird."

4th of July is a day for us to be extra weird. We moved from a pretty anti-firework city to kind of the polar opposite. So to watch the firework culture feels almost as if we moved from an entirely different country. This year was extra interesting because we had the super fun block party (LOVE it - so simple and yet so fun!). But all I hear is how financially screwed everyone is. So I kid you not - I have never seen so many fireworks in my life. Seemed to me there was probably a lot of "putting on an image." Instead of maybe some, "I can't afford my house payment so maybe I shouldn't be blowing hundreds of dollars on fireworks."

Needless to say, we had quite a fireworks display. Though we of course spent $0.

{In fact, all I spent money on was a whopping $3 of corn on sale - to feed about 30. The rest we gathered from out pantry - I offered to bring things we already had on hand}.

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My second thought of the day on being weird? Both my sons' birthdays are within the week and the thought did not even cross my mind to buy them a birthday present. HA!

Dh brought it up, and I was just, "Oh - I hadn't thought about it."

IT's not that we don't buy our kids gifts. Frankly, it's really the only time we buy them much of anything. BUT, they get so spoiled rotten by their friends and family and such, that whatever we buy is hardly noticed. So, it's just kind of a *shrug.* Usually dh gets free books and free video games and all that jazz, and we made out pretty well the past year with credit card rewards. This year I think we will buy them a couple of bigger gifts. Actually, one is coming from credit card rewards. Dh already picked out a $50 gift for LM (pre-rewards). Well, I am glad dh thought of it because not sure when I would have.

Today is investment clean up day. Lots of portfolio adjustments.

In addition - I am consolidating down to:

--Dh has one ROTH
--I have one Regular IRA
--I have two ROTHs - one for mutual funds and one for cash and stocks (brokerage)

{We might have had 7 accounts or something at some point - don't ask me why!}

Of course, I still want to convert the regular IRA to a ROTH, so there is more consolidating in my future.

On the investment cleanup, I really thought that I was going more away from "Target Date" type funds, now that we have passed the six figure mark and can really start to diversify.

Funny thing? I am leaning more towards "less is more/simpler is better." SO I am cleaning things up but am ending up mostly with one mutual fund per account.

I don't know why I have been so resistant to simple index investing. At the end of the day it fits my personality and life strategy better. Keep it simple; don't over-think.

I have been picking a lot of smarter brains (smarter/older/more wise than me), and this is where I have ended up.

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Not much else to report. Haven't been spending *any* money and payday comes tomorrow with most of it going into savings.

Oh, and my kids turn 7 & 9 in the next couple of the weeks. How the heck did THAT happen? I swear I will blink and they will be adults.

I maxed out dh's ROTH and am well on the way to maxing out mine this calendar year. Since we have been maxing out by 4/15 the following year, that was my goal this year to do it by 12/31.

So, what next? Pat myself on the back and call it a day?

Hardly!!

I have two similar goals to improve on that.

1 - Max out by 1/1.

Will probably max out 2013 by June 2013, and then aim for 1/1 in the year 2014.

2 - ROTH conversions

I've got more ROTH conversions to do. Feeling comfortable with the idea now due to cash flow. Just in the "thinking about it" stage, though good to keep front of mind in case of a substantial stock market dip. (low values = low taxes on conversion).

3 - I suppose a third unrelated goal is my salivating over 15-year mortgage rates. Not quite ready to make that leap, as would like to pay down enough to keep a very low/reasonable mortgage payment. But it gets more tempting by the day. {Honestly, if we refied today it would be a pretty darn reasonable payment; just been spoiled with the three-figure mortgage payments of late).

I guess these goals are all kind of pressing due to circumstances. ROTH conversions should be done to take advantage of our low tax rates at current. Another refinance would take advantage of record low interest rates. So that is why I am thinking about these goals in particular. Seems the obvious next steps.

Back from camp. Weather ended up being pretty nice, and enjoyed views like these:









Now back to reality!

We did Family Camp in the Sierras, as always. It's really only about an hour drive from our house, so not too far from reality.

I think with all the trees it is hard to appreciate a good sunset. Don't remember catching many in the mountains, so was pleased to catch a bit of color in the sky one night.

**Just redeemed the last of our current one-time credit rewards. (& received that $500 check already).

I will have to tally them all up some time. Off the to of my head, I believe we are up to $1700. & the year is young...

I also received a $0.30 statement credit on my regular American Express - some reward - I have no idea why. I must have spent $6 on some rotating category that I didn't pay attention to (because I figured I wasn't spending in that category). ??? No idea what the category was.

**We did manage to take some nice family photos yesterday. Found a Japanese garden in San Jose that we didn't even know existed. My parents live next to some beautiful gardens, but the gardens were closed (???), so forced us to find another solution.

The place was just BEAUTIFUL! I haven't seen the pictures, but my dad will bring me a CD tomorrow. I am going to re-print their anniversary photo book with a few minor changes, a few asked-for pictures I could not find, and will close with one of these "family reunion" pictures.



**We went to the amusement park where dh and I met - probably the first time I've gone since I worked there (15+ years) and first time for the kids.

I am glad we scoped it out because they added a "second water park" - but to be frank they just threw in a couple of water slides and market it as "2 parks in one." I am less enthused to get season passes just for their water park, in the future, (so we could skip water park season passes at other places), but admittedly it would work. It is a nice addition.

Six Flags last year was such an awful experience. There was just a lot that annoyed us, and I thought it was a sign of the times. In the end, this park is just infinitely more laid back. I just looked up out of curiosity and the water raft ride that the kids could ride by themselves at 46 inches or so at this park had a 56 inch minimum requirement at Six Flags.

In fact, the kids could ride ALL of the water slides unsupervised. Even the 6 year old. LOVED it. This worked out because it was a beautiful day, but a bit of a chill in the air. Was not interested in getting wet. So we sent the kids alone on all the water stuff. Of course they did not mind the cold.

Actually, we hadn't even planned to do the water park thing, but once we were inside there were several kiddie water play areas, and we realized they didn't need us for the big slides. I just happened to have swim suits, towels and flip flops in the car - mostly because we had planned to go to the beach last weekend and never made it. It really made the day - glad we had them!

**I found a coupon online that saved us $40 on admission. We somehow didn't even eat lunch in the park. ??? Don't ask me how. I still have what feels like a lifetime supply of cotton candy. The bags were just HUGE. Anyway, we really didn't spend much beyond admission - just ate dinner outside the park when we left.

**WE are home now, and I just noticed that salmon was on sale - about 30% off. Our grocery spending is so slim this month, too. So we will probably pick up some sushi and salmon fillets.

I told dh I would make meatballs today since we got home too late last night. He wanted some for leftovers the day we get back from camp. It's a simple recipe that uses frozen meatballs, so I get off pretty easy.

Dh is working Scholastic all day. Will work for books. (Gives most of them back to the school and teachers).

**Not overly looking forward to camp. We got a bit of a cold spell. It's going to be *Brrrrrrr.* I am sure regardless we will have fun. Just won't be a lot of lounging in the sun for me.

Going to hit the amusement park today.

Interestingly, at website, there is the option to buy all tickets and packages with just *three easy payments of...*

Interesting.

Needless to say, we won't be buying tix on a payment plan.