Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

I went to fill up my gas tank and was met with this reply from the little credit card screen: DENIED

Of course, my may concern was that I could still use my coupon. I hurriedly dug out my "backup" credit card and tried again. Coupon still took, so, phew! (The procedure at this gas station is to scan the coupon, and then to choose payment method. I wasn't sure if I could use it a second time, easily).

While I pumped gas I remembered that dh's gas tank was empty, we had lots of gas coupons, and he had gotten groceries this morning. He usually gets gas at Safeway and it's rare we both get gas on the same day anyway. But we get groceries and van gas at Bel Air. So obviously he had used a gas coupon while getting groceries, today.

We did the exact thing about a month ago. They lock the card because they assume you dropped it and someone else tried to use it. IT's annoying to me in this day and age that they can't seperate that we are DIFFERENT users. That our cards are different, even if the account # is the same.

I thought it was funny that their system was so blunt. DENIED. Usually they tend to word these things a little nicer, like, "CALL YOUR CREDIT CARD COMPANY."

I lost $0.56 in rewards due to bad planning (earned 1% instead of 2%). Worse, I have to go call the credit card company. Bah!

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WE always get gas coupons for spending $50 or $100 at this grocery store.

TODAY they had a promo - spend $75, get a $10 gift card. Dh saw the advertisement and planned his week around this promo. You may recall that a month or so ago he went to the store, he spent $100 like always (for best gas coupon) and their coupon printer wasn't working, so they handed him a $20 bill. He had NO IDEA WHY. IT was a similar promo. They just did cash since the "free $20" was not printing correctly. We were both stunned that we seemed to have no idea about said promo. I googled it and figured it out pretty quickly, that time. So, I am glad dh caught this one. We wondered if we missed it without the newspaper. Could be. But, this time it was advertised in the mail.

My mom also sent me a $10 "off everything at Kohls" coupon. I haven't gotten one of those in ages! She told me she got it from the Kohls ad in the paper. I told her to tell me next time so I can go buy the paper!

I am officially approved for another $250 reward card.

Plan of action is to charge home insurance when I receive the card. Pay off card December 1. Redeem rewards. Close card.

I believe the reward was CASH!

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This may be the 6th credit card I have applied for this year. (Though, to be fair, I closed 3 credit cards, too. So my number of open accounts is not overly high).

I have never been denied for any loan or credit I have ever applied for. Of course, being rather anti-debt, I don't apply/use much credit in the grand scheme of things.

But, 6th card in one year? I wasn't feeling overly confident about approval. Though I have said my credit card reward activity seems pretty small beans compared to some others. I am sure it is possible that nothing about my credit report would make any credit card company blink - even if I opened 10 cards or more... But it's just getting to the point for me where it sounds kind of ridiculous. & so I will keep opening these credit cards, until I get denied.

Interestingly, they have been so *one at a time* in recent months that I haven't done much to keep track of all these cards. Open, charge, payoff, reward, close. Repeat. I have been managing this all in my head. I stopped putting the cards in Quicken. It was really mucking it up. Especially when it comes to these "one charge for reward" cards. (Of course, I have all the deals in writing, etc., to dispute any problems. & Quicken and online bill pay at my CU has helped me manage. Instead of setting up every credit card entirely in Quicken, I just put the payments when I want to pay them, in my Quicken checkbook. Between that and oreceiving online bills - from both cc companies and my CU - would be impossible to forget).

$4,000, here I come!!

I am updating for redeemed SW rewards. Was about $375 more than expected. Firstly, rewards were on sale. Secondly, dh was able to get a newer/better reward honored. So, he went from $250 in rewards to $500. The sale turned $500 into $625. I still can't believe the rewards were on sale all month - I didn't really think by the time the second half came through that they would still be on sale! We officially redeemed those, yesterday.

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UPDATED TALLY:

$1230 cash (Chase Sapphire $1030 + Chase Frdm $200)
$1640 gift cards (Citi $500 + SW $515 + SW $625)
$100 gift cards - Citi for trying to close card
$310 gift cards - Citi
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
*Will they refund this one too?*
-$41 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
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$3170 TOTAL *ONE-TIME REWARDS*

+$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex - 2% cash back)
+$ 80 Target rewards (5% discount Target purchases; mostly groceries)
+$ 35 Visa Rewards (1% cash back - for places that don't take AmEx)
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=$3785 TOTAL REWARDS 2011
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In addition, I expect a $69 refund from SW card and just applied for another $250 cash reward. So, $4000 Total is looking very doable. (& if you told me this in June, I wouldn't have believed you!!)

At a later date I will breakdown exactly what I received (break down all the gift cards - what they were - and how much were sold for cash, etc.).

It's that time of year when everyone gets crazed!!

& I sit back and don't partake in the crazy. Phew!

Sure, we do Christmas, but just not in the manner that our culture prescribes.

I think my attitude about Christmas has largely evolved from working at the office I do now, and have worked for the last 10 years. The last 2 weeks of December symbolize the beginning of tax season, for us. We are lucky we get Christmas Day and New Years Day off. I am always amazed how we make it work those two 4-day weeks with the insane workload.

Thus, I have no interest in running myself ragged for Christmas. In the past I generally would have all my shopping done well before Thanksgiving. But these days I don't even bother to shop.

While I have been too busy to care that much, most our family and friends have done pretty well and decided they are tired of all the stuff that Christmas symbolizes. So, no one really wants to trade gifts any more. Makes it easy on me!

Dh will do the Sholastic volunteering at the big pre-Christmas sales and will earn enough credit to give the teachers and the schools nice gifts (Scholastic gift cards, basically) and we will have piles of books for our kids and nieces for Christmas.

I've got so many Amazon gift cards, that I am thinking we will give $25/each to the two primary school teachers of our children, and maybe keep one for the work gift exchange. This keeps with our Scholastic theme of being generous but not spending money.

I spotted calendars at Michael's for $2. Sometimes we wait until after New Years, but sometime the pickings are slim. At $2 I didn't mind taking first choice. Stocking stuffers for the kids (silly calendars for them).

Our moms are both getting free kindles from us (Amazon gift cards). Is definitely a SPECIAL treat.

Dh got the kids some new DS system. Free through amazon.

& dh has bought up a few (small) things throughout the year.

I saw something cute at Walgreens yesterday - for more stocking stuffers. Most years I also hit the Dollar Store (at lunch break - it's right by my work) for some stocking stuffers. I don't think I need to bother this year.

SIL makes photo calendars every year of the kids. I sent her a bunch of photos. For Grandma and Great-Grandma. They get some gift cards for Grandma. Since we are going in on the kindle, I don't think I will owe her anything for the stuff - dh and her usually go in on all the gifts. SIL aside, dh's parents and Grandma are WAY into the material Christmas thing. But, they don't expect much from us, all the same. So they are the only ones we really buy gifts for, specifically. With our own kids, we tend to go small, because in-laws tend to go insane and give them each tens of gifts.

Dh will put up the (fake) tree after Thanksgiving. We will all decorate it. There isn't a lot of other decorating we do. (Keep it simple)!

On Christmas Day our folks come over. Dh and I agreed our primary rule for Christmas is that we do not go anywhere. Dh really wants to let the kid enjoy Christmas at home. I just don't want to commit to anything during my hell weeks at work. Visiting family takes hours of driving. Let the retired ones come to us. I won't clean the house and we usually order pizza. Whoever doesn't like a relaxed Christmas doesn't have to come.

Sometimes dh will throw something in the crockpot for Christmas Day. I do always make my "easiest ever" fudge - it takes about 5 minutes to make - and is DIVINE!

I suppose it is tradition to buy my dad some almond roca, and write checks for big work gift to boss (we all go in on something nice, and boss gives us nice gifts in return). & I give a little extra to the gardener. These are all in the vein of simple. & for this year this may be our only real spending...

Is my Christmas shopping done? I suppose so. There just wasn't much to it!

Dh made butternut squash soup for dinner, Sunday? YUM! We had some at a restaurant last weekend, and it was DIVINE. A recipe came in our cooking magazine this week. The quality was about the same. Perfect for a cold weekend.

That also reminds me that dh got these awesome frozen pizzas this week, at the grocery store. YUM! When searching for the online, just to link, I saw the tip that this company makes other entrees and that they are cheap to buy at Indian grocers. Dh told me there was an Indian grocer by the gym - I might just have to check it out.

Tandoor Pizza

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The heat challenge is on. Made it through the weekend. Saturday was hard with drastic temperature drop. Nothing much hard since then. Work week is easy for me (free heat at work). Men and boys at my house don't seem to mind cold. Cooking warms up kitchen/living area by the time I get home from work. As much as I am a wimp in the cold, it doesn't bother me at all at night (fleece clothing, blankets, and hubby body heat are all just fine - a prior house I lived in was regularly 50 degrees at night. I might have had an electric blanket, but now I have a husband to keep me warm at night. I don't think our current house has ever dropped below 60F degrees - good insulation).

Anyway, considering we are only paying $240 per year for gas (hot water, central heating, gas stove, etc.), or merely $20/month on budget billing, why don't I just flip on the dang heat? The point is not to be uncomfortable. It's just realizing that we are extremely adaptable. The biggest shift I have made in the past couple of years is not relying on the thermostat. It's easy to think, "By God, it is 65 degrees in here - it's COLD!" and to just flip on the heat without thinking. I ideally prefer it to be about 70-72. Probably why I am not much into the programmable thermostat thing. The last couple of years I have been more mindful that in fall the thermostat may fall, but the air isn't always quite that cold. (Whereas in winter the air will feel FAR colder at the same thermostat temperature. Maybe because our two thermostats are kind of central in the home, though we may spend a lot of time closer to walls and windows - where it gets chillier as it gets colder outside. The evidence is I can be fine at 60 degrees in fall while freezing my butt off at 70 degrees in the winter. IT's just, different!).

Because of this, I find that the cold is not bothering me at all this year, beyond initial shock factor. Showering while 60 degrees is not the most fun, but truth is water is nice and hot and I can throw on a warm robe the second I step out of the shower. A minute or so of discomfort not necessarily worth running the heat - using resources, etc.

Since we jumped from summer to winter, pretty much overnight, temperature-wise, I will probably turn on the heat if it drops below 60F. I don't know how long that will take. It was 60F when I showered this morning but maybe 66 or 67 when I went to bed last night (by kitchen, anyway). It's been near freezing at night, but sunny during the day, so maybe this pattern will hold for a bit. It is usually not quite so cold this time of year and this is probably the coldest I have been comfortable - so leaves me wondering if the house will get below 60 degrees. I think that will be my breaking point - will see. I might break before it gets to that point...

We can generally make it to Thanksgiving. We usually turn on the heat for guests on Turkey Day.

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I ran by Michael's and lucked into a great frame sale. Holy cow! I went a little crazy, and also hoped that MIL would just accept them as my birthday gifts, from her to me. (She can wrap them and reimburse dh the cost, whatever).

BUT, I decided to go back for some more frames for my dad's prints. The ones I got were GREAT. They looked of very high quality, for odd-shaped 11 x 14 frames (selection for which was huge), but were on sale for about $18/each. That said, I then found a 25% off coupon. Online.

Made me feel like an idiot, since I had spent $100 the night before. Or $25 more than I needed to spend!!

So I got 2 more frames at about $13.50/each. (Thinking maybe for gifts - framed prints? The prints cost me all of $2/each - my dad's photos).

I toyed with the idea of returning some frames and re-buying with coupon (could use once per day, per household). Problem is I already used frames, and mostly cleared the store out of these particular frames. There were a lot of them and I didn't really want to haul any of them back. Considered it for smaller $20 purchase, but seemed like a lot of work to save $5.

I suppose no matter - MIL said she will make them my birthday gifts.

In the meantime, my house looks like an art gallery for my dad's photos. & I have no idea what to do with all these frames, but even if I ended up paying for them, was a nice investment. Was nice to invest in higher quality frames, and regardless I am very happy with the price I paid. Everything was already 40% off for the holidays. I got a REALLY nice collage frame that was 65% off. I also got a monkey frame! House art will need some serious re-arranging. I expect to get most the prints for free, or VERY cheap. In the grand scheme of things, was a very low investment for some semi-serious home improvement. It's been so long that I shopped at Michael's, or for frames, I just didn't expect to find such great deals!!

Mental note: Never go to Michael's without checking website. There's a lot of coupons there!

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Dh finished that creative video with lots of special effects for LM's class.

It makes me a wee bit sad because clearly he has SO MUCH TALENT in that area. But I just don't think he has the personality to make it work. (Feels too practical to pursue creative endeavors, plus doesn't have the pushiness to really sell himself. Kind of two strikes against him).

I told him that people would eat that up and he could make it a business. His reply? "Anyone can do that!" Anyone can do that? Oy vey. & anyone can do their own photography in this day and age (really, cheap cheap technology), and yet people still pay tons for professionals! Meanshile, I'd argue this was 10 times more creative and specialized.

Anyway, his sister now wants a personalized video. This is my "I told you so," moment. People will talk - people want videos. I see business opportunity. OF course, same for weddings, but dh was really bored with subject and bridezillas. But this has got to be a little more fun?? Totally could sell the personalized kid video thing - as some kind of childhood memento.

In this case LM is VERY creative and kind of lives in a dream world. So dh made this whole video how he lives with clones of himself, and has to spend every day taking care of all this craziness. He had to save his brother from two of his clones, help daddy find his body when he lost it, and he had to save me from a giant robot. Just a typical day in the life. I was unsure how his class would react to it (& had dh tone down some stuff that I felt was a bit too violent). BUT, the kids LOVED it. Some asked if it was real. HA! The headless (and, er, bodyless) scene was absolute genius & came out very well.

Anyway, I'd also say that LM wouldn't make a bad actor. BM and I were both pretty terrible, at acting. Maybe that boy needs acting classes - he's got some natural talent.

I am still awaiting some gift cards in the mail.

No word on last offer I applied for, but it usually takes a week for them to verify my identity. I expect a call this weekend.

Chase transferred dh's extra points over extraordinarily quickly this time AND Southwest is still having a sale on rewards!!!!!! BUT, the online redemption is STILL not working. He will have to call when he wakes up.

That said, should be able to get $125 in Amazon gift cards (to keep, and for gifts). & $200 Wal-Mart gift cards that I can sell for about $180.

That said, plasticjungle.com no longer tells you how much they will give you ahead of time. I went to double check that Wal Mart was still the most valuable of the bunch. Will see...

$180 cash will pay for our Napa trip.

(Okay, so I did a little research and looks like several companies pay 90% on the dollar for WalMart gift cards - much more than average, so still looks like the best choice!).

I made an extremely modest start to our Fall Cleaning last night. I am a fall cleaner. Cold weather keeps me inside, and November is slowest time of year at work. The cold weather gets me in clean mode, for whatever reason besides the others.

It's the only time I generally do big deep cleaning projects. We've decluttered pretty well over the years, so it's also that time to just to make sure things are in check. I find every year we have less and less to de-clutter. (Don't get me wrong - there is always SOMETHING).

So though my start was small and wimpy, I hit an area of the kitchen I probably haven't gone through thoroughly in years.

Besides some glasses I have to figure out how I can recycle (my first pair of glasses ever? Almost 20 years old?), and some old cell phone accessories (will e-waste recycle) there wasn't much I couldn't finish last night with my efforts. I have a very teeny offering for the charities - mostly restaurant crayons. Pushing it - but I don't like throwing things away.

That said - I found a project. The kids' baby books.

Oh, BM's book looks pretty thorough.

& LM's book? I think he's lucky I put anything in there. I wrote that his "first vacation" was to Hawaii. Like we would forget that??? I managed to write down the time he was born and the name of his Doctor. Interestingly, I also found a 2006 calendar (kept because it was a photo calendar of the cousins). I had jotted several milestones in the calendar. Which is fine and all - but maybe I should have put the calendar with the baby book. On the plus side, I did throw in all the Doctor appointment info (growth charts) and other useful momentos in with the baby book. There is hope. (& luck in that I found the calendar and bothered to skim through it to see the treasure trove of baby book information).

Plan of action? Finish baby book this week. Best I can.

Pictures? This baby book has an awful lot of spots for pictures. What I will do is pick out the pictures and make notes of which ones I need, but I will wait for another photo deal to actually print them out. I just got over 50 free prints the last couple of months - a couple of different deals. As long as the heavy lifting is done, the final touches can wait for a good sale.

I tend to keep on top of things, am organized, and I don't procrastinate. So this is a little embarassing. (He is about 6.5 years of age). But, what's the best way to solve the problem? Get 'er done! So that is what I will do.

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I also bought a photo album while I was picking up my free prints at Walgreens, over the weekend. I put all the free prints I have amassed, into the photo album, in chronological order.

We have been so stuck in the digital age (& have all of our pictures well organized on the computer). But, I've never really bothered to print many out. We've got the color printer, and my dad gives me ton of photo paper (of the variety he no longer wants/needs). BUT, it's always such a pain. & the ink is always so expensive. My new startegy is just to wait for the very best photo deals. Though this may just seem cheap, the strategy is twofold. I don't want to clutter up my house with endless prints of great pictures. I have TONS of great pictures. Sticking with the great deals forces you to narrow it down. So it is almost even more of a low-clutter strategy than anything, for me.

Did you hear?

Target is now offering free shipping (no minimum purchase) to RedCard holders.

I heard about 3 ads on the radio about it on my 10 minute commute. I was like, "Since when???" I looked up when I got to work - it was just announced today. Phew. I thought I was slacking on knowing all my credit card rewards and benefits.

Interestingly, the RedCard has worked out really well for us. Target is probably one of my favorite stores for retail therapy. BUT, we have had the RedCard for one year and I have barely been in the store. We do spend about $100/month, on average, on groceries there. & cat litter, laundry detergent - that kind of stuff that they seem to have in bulk and on sale often. Groceries - we generally stock up on nuts, granola bars, generic cereals, and stuff like that.

Free online shipping??? Boy, that's trouble! I will have to resist! I do most my shopping online - free shipping is a bit of a weakness. I think shipping charges is generally what reins me in pretty well.

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Does any techie know why *everyone* is revamping their websites in the next 1-2 weeks???? I've got notices from several credit card companies, mortgage company, etc. that site will be down for a couple of days over the weekend. (Last weekend, next weekend, some in October. MOST will be down this upcoming weekend).

THEN, PG&E sent me a similar notice, but they will have lots of new features. I am wondering if this means I can finally pay this bill by credit card! That will be the first thing I check when it comes back online.

My CU will also be doing a revamp of some sort. We have had online scanning of deposits for a while, but they just got a smart phone app worked out. That will be SWEET if we ever get smart phones. (We both want them and know we will eventually, but the cost is just ridiculous at the moment - waiting it out for more reasonable costs - as we tend to do with these things). So yeah, CU website will be down too, this weekend.

I am kind of freezing my but off today. We jumped straight from *mild summer* to *the thick of winter.* I think it is mostly the shock of it - I am fighting the urge to turn on the heat. I usually wouldn't cave so early, nor at these temps inside the house. But, brrrrr... I had the sense to turn up the hot water heater to winter levels, earlier in the week. We hadn't even put any blankets on our bed - will need to for tonight.

Dh has got some Indian spiced lentils in the crockpot. Sounds DIVINE... Perfect day for something hot and soupy.

I just ordered 25 free prints from Walgreens. I was bummed to learn that I could not pick up the pictures at our corner Walgreens? What is up with that? I had the same thing happen a couple of weeks ago, but I thought it was just because they were larger posters. This time just said the location was "temporarily unavailable." Bah - I hope they figure that out. I needed some of the pictures for Monday. School project. So will have to take a drive. Otherwise is semi-convenient on the way home from work. Oh well - besides the gas - will be 100% FREE. Got some prints for vacation, and some for school project, as mentioned.

ETA: Remember 1-hour photo? My free photos were processed in 20 minutes flat. Awesome!

In other news, dh is making a video with the kids - putting all sorts of crazy effects, etc. IS for school, and is of course going way overboard. But, it's been a fun project.

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To add to the "spendy" posts, I did buy soccer pictures this week (they turned out GREAT) and made some random purchases at Hanes. An ANCIENT nightgown broke and I tossed it a few weeks ago. I saw a really cute new one on the Hanes site a while back and wrote it off at $20. A couple of days ago I decided to treat myself. It was on sale, plus I found a 20% off coupon. Final cost was $11. Woohoo! That said, couldn't work out free or "reasonable" shipping. (I forgot about Veterans Day - maybe should have waited - they always have more coupons and deals for Holiday sales). I suppose I am used to paying in the range of $1-$2 for shipping, and often use free in-store pickup, instead. But, in this case, I think I paid $6 shipping. I got a couple of tanks for $3. (I got one earlier in order to get free shipping, and it was a nice tank top for so cheap).

SO, I spent about $25 at Hanes and about $35 on pictures. I know, ouch on the pictures. I couldn't find any reasonable option for a team picture - was like $15??? I gave in, mostly because they gave us free pictures last year. (Free for apparently a $25-ish value - I had no idea a team + individual picture was so pricey). This team is awesome and we really wanted a nice group picture. For the individual picture I bought postcards - that was far more reasonable.

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We've had a *way too close to home* incident here, ourselves. A teenager (almost adult) has gone missing from the school that is right by our home. It is the same campus our kid attend school. There are 2 charter schools crammed onto the same campus, basically. I saw the news earlier in the week and it creeped me out a bit. BUT, considering the age of the kid I kind of brushed it off that he would probably be found any minute. (Runaway, perhaps?)

Today they did a big search and had the dogs out trying to follow his scent. It was hard to watch. No matter what the age, no family should have to go through that. He simply never returned home from school. Hopefully this all turns out okay.

It never ends!

I figured we'd be putting all these cards to bed and closing the *crazy rewards of 2011* chapter.

I am really bad at checking mail offers because I am just in the habit of shredding them. I have tried to be more mindful, but doesn't seem like we have gotten many lately.

Until today! I got some Gold AmEx offer - spend $1000 - get $250 in rewards. No fee.

*sigh*

I have to - I can't pass it up!

This will push our year-to-date rewards over $4,000.

WOW!!!

I will apply ASAP - hope to get those rewards this before the year is up.

(Interestingly, I saw several people were offered this card in May - per MyMoneyBlog - and when they ignored all the offers they were eventually offered $750 in gift cards for charging $500. Double wow! I could try that game, but I think I rather just take the $250 and run. I have no reason to be greedy. What's one more card?).

I hope I can just charge home insurance - total bill is about $1200 for home and flood insurance. This makes it easy - if insurer takes AmEx - that is the only question.

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Oh, and my regular AmEx card offered me $25 cash today, if I spend $500 on groceries through the end of the year. Easy Peasy! (It was basically a 5% on groceries offer, through 12/31, capped at $25 reward).

I redeemed $310 in free gift cards today. I used some other gift cards to buy a kindle cover for my mom, and a new lunch bag for BM (Amazon).

I have updated rewards tally to reflect that I was able to squeeze $310 from Citi. ($10 was unexpected!). I also added smaller rewards - Target and visa.

The only thing I have yet to redeem is some SW gift cards - should be available in about a week. Then we can resuming closing cards again. Dh has 3 cards to close - I have just one. They have all been paid off, so not much to keep track of at this point.

UPDATED TALLY:

$1230 cash (Chase Sapphire $1030 + Chase Frdm $200)
$1580 gift cards (Citi $500 + SW $515 + SW $565)
$100 gift cards-Amazon- Citi for trying to close card
$310 gift cards Citi
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
*Will they refund this one too?*
-$23 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
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$3128 TOTAL *ONE-TIME REWARDS*

+$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex - 2% cash back)
+$ 80 Target rewards (5% discount Target purchases; mostly groceries)
+$ 35 Visa Rewards (1% cash back - for places that don't take AmEx)
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=$3743 TOTAL REWARDS 2011
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I generally only use one primary rewards card, but since the AmEx is not taken everywhere, really have to rely on 2 cards. Target card adds another inconvenience factor, but the rewards sure add up!! (In addition, earned $16 for the kids' school, with Target card - 1%). So, it is working out well. What I have bee doing is paying off the smaller cards the first of every month (the second the cards close for the month). This really lessens the hassle factor. Not much to think about or remember. The negative red balances (Credit card balances) in Quicken is all I really need as a visual reminder that I now regularly pay off 3 credit cards instead of just one. Of course, I just pay online through my credit union, with the rest of the bills - VERY EASY.

I personally haven't done anything special with credit card rewards this year. I just followed my usual rules of "charge anything and everything" in hopes of rewards, and jump on deals that pay off nicely for doing so. This year is unique in that there are just TONS of easy deals out there. We have never opened near this many credit cards for rewards. Maybe 7-8 in the last year. Our prior record was 3 or 4 in one year.

Anyway, there are numerous reasons I prefer to deal in credit versus cash. For reference, I have paid off the balance every month since aged 16, so I don't find anything scary about the process of utilizing a credit card. I have always managed my finances electronically, and am well aware how to avoid fees (pay off balance every month, well withing grace period). IT's from this electronic mindset that I look at cash with caution. Cash is very easily lost or stolen (& when it's gone, it is gone!). & having to track cash expenditures involves a lot of writing down. I don't have to bother with all that writing down. I can just look on the computer, download to Quicken, etc. Just to share that I have spent almost 20 years paying many bills with credit cards.

I suppose there is one other unique thing about the credit card reward bounty this year. I was able to charge an extra $11,000 or so that I usually don't. Basically, all of our insurance companies suddenly allowed us to charge everything with no fees to do so. That's like a quarter of our annual spending. So, I admit this made it MUCH easier to rack up rewards this year!

I've seen a lot of comments of surprise about the kinds of things we charge, so I wanted to mention things you can probably charge on credit, in the vein of earning rewards. (& as always, I only recommend if you are disciplined to pay off!!!). We generally earn our rewards with regular bills like insurance, gas, groceries, utilities. That is the bulk of it. There is not a lot of discretionary spending beyond that being racked up just to earn credit card rewards. THAT would defeat the purpose!

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As of today, we are able to charge the following:

*Medical insurance and all medical/dental bills
*DMV Fees (California)
*Any city utilities (water, electric - Sacramento)
*cell phone bill
*internet/landline/cable provider
*home/auto insurance
*gym membership
*charity (generally through paypal)
*groceries
*auto fuel
*retail
*restaurants - these days even most fast food
*most services (auto mechanic, etc.)
*netflix, hulu, blockbuster, etc.

Expenses I can not charge:

*Mortgage
*Most individuals (gardener, piano teacher)
*HOA Dues
*county utilities (sewer - our particular county)
*PG&E (gas bill)
*credit card payments (other debt payments)
*payments to public school (requests for money, etc.)

These are the very few items that I write checks for (or pay online, for the most part - online bill pay).

**It is possible that PG&E takes automatic payments by credit card. I personally avoid automatic payments - I like to authorize every charge before it is made - just a personal preference. So is one reason I know I have ruled out not paying by credit in the past.**

Expenses I choose not to charge, because fees are involved:

*Property Taxes (maybe just my county)
*Income Taxes (Fed/state)
*payments to charity, when I want to skip paypal fee (the paypal fee will generally ding the charity - I usually skip charging charitable donations, on principle)

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

Of course, in addition to all this, I have ample savings so I can prepay items to build up credit card rewards. This month I prepaid health insurance to reach goal faster. One could buy gift certificates for groceries, etc., to try to advance purchases. Pre-pay utilities? I think that is an idea I have seen mentioned.

Beyond these ideas, check back often. For many years the DMV charged a fee for the privelege to pay by credit, but I just check every year and one year the fee was gone. All of our insurers really made the shift to accepting credit cards this year. I still have to check with our life insurer in the spring (we pay annually on that).

In the last year or two I have been able to stop using cash entirely. Most small places that did not accept credit cards before, will now accept cash. I carry a small amount of cash for "emergency" but besides the ocassional bridge toll, I don't seem to ever need it. Heck, when we were in L.A., the parking meters took credit cards. I thought that was genius! How many times have I been stuck digging around for change for a meter? Change I never have, since I never spend cash.

Is there anything else that you can charge? That you don't see mentioned?

Financial Doings:

Dh ran my paycheck to the bank today. Mil did slip us $100 for the weekend - so he deposited that as well. (Retirement makes in-laws want to give us lots of money - I won't complain, but I still find it odd!) The total is about $400, for this month alone. $100 for piano lessons, $200 for Disney, $100 for Napa. Plus, free babysitting to boot. Next year I will probably put ALL that cash to the mortgage. This year was all unexpected and so we thought, "Might as well splurge." Which is her wish. But I think we splurge plenty and those will be nice mortgage chips, if they continue. At the time I was so surprised that I couldn't quite thank that clearly. But going forward, it's good to have a plan.

So, anyway, with money in the bank, I paid the mortgage and the CU visa...

Waiting for Citi credit card to close so I can redeem points. I suppose I could have paid that one off to, but I wanted to check in Quicken and make sure my cash flow was okay.

I turned off medical insurance payments for the rest of the year. I pre-paid this month. I will have to go in around 12/31 and set it up again with increased 2012 premium. I figured I better just turn it off before I forget and pre-pay another month by accident.

I checked credit karma and my score went up 10 points - only change was another closed credit card showing up. This is the second or third time I noticed an immediate score boost for closing a credit card. I am not concerned about score in the least - it is in the top tier no matter what I do. I share for the "Fear of FICO" crowd - more evidence of hype. I think the credit card companies profit from the fear of closing cards, but not sure who else does.

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

Thankfully, I dropped 2 pounds as of this morning. I didn't expect all that "restaurant weight" to stick.

Funny enough? We went to Sizzler for dinner on Monday. Kids ate FREE. I don't think they advertised heavily since I saw a lot of seniors and not really many other kids. OF course, kids got endless salad bar, so was a great value for my high metabolismed bottomless pits. We had kind of planned ahead for that, and had no food at home anyway, after vacationing. So though I was reluctant to follow through (see last blog post), I decided a nice salad couldn't hurt.

So, restaurant food Monday night means no weight dropped off until I stayed out of a restuarant for 24 hours. Funny. The scale was not nice to me until this morning.

The secret to losing weight?

Eat at home. Cook your own food. Don't order food To go and don't eat at restaurants.

I think that is as simple as it gets when it comes to a weight loss plan. The irony is that we don't really follow any diet guidelines (er, fads). There is nothing uber healthy about our food choices. We don't cook everything from scratch - we make a lot of food we can throw together quickly. I do admit that we don't drink a lot of calories. (Mostly drink water - ocassional soda and juice, beer, wine, hot tea). I am not scared of white bread, white rice, carbs, red meat, or butter.

Anyway, I was astounded when I became pregnant with BM, dh got laid off, and he took it upon himself to whittle our food bill down and home cook all our meals. He lost 10 pounds in just a few months. For reference, he was underweight to begin with. He might have easily lost 8% of his body weight. (I didn't lose weight, overall, because I was pregnant. & I have horrible horrible eating habits, to boot). But yeah, that was VERY eye opening.

I've since noticed that every time I eat out a lot, I tend to notice it on the scale before I notice it in the checkbook. But there is a very specific correlation there. Every time we spend too much eating out, the scale is not very nice to me!

Anyway, October hasn't been pretty. I have been at a very nice/low weight since about the time we went to Hawaii last year. I think #1 - I was in great shape back then. & #2 - my metabolism returned somewhat back to normal post surgery in January. ("Normal" for me is a pretty high metabolism - much like dh). But this month I gained an easy 6 pounds or so. I was horrified by the scale this morning, after returning from Napa.

Gee, what have I done but eat out this month? On vacation for a week - no access to home cooking. Then, eating and drinking wine all weekend? Ugh.

The irony is that I am not exactly sure what it is. I mostly ordered tap water while eating out (just as I would drink at home). I had THREE meals this past week that were obviously big portions and so I took the leftovers to eat later. I don't feel like I was eating big portions. I had a salami sandwich for lunch and dinner last night (half sandwich for each meal). I had a wrap at Mimi's last week that I ate in two sittings - was filled with veggies, etc. I mentioned the burrito I turned into 3 meals because it was so HUGE. I only drank the equivalent of 2-3 glasses of wine, all weekend. There is no real apparent difference between the kinds of food I eat at home and in a restaurant, but geez louise my body sure can tell the difference.

For November? I am just going to eat at home, thanks. It makes ALL the difference.

I probably should have called this, "The Secret to Losing Weight AND Saving Money!"

**Heard in my house recently: "If you can't behave/listen, no more online math for the rest of the week!" Yes, I had to giggle when I heard dh say that to BM. No extra-curricular school work if you can't behave! Well, the threat worked...

On top of that, he has been going to math club 2 afternoons a week - also threatened. The math/accounting genes apparently run DEEP in our family. (Dh's family has a number of mathemeticians, and my family has a lot of CPAs. I've never thought of BM as a CPA type, yet, but this ordeal made me wonder).

**Interesting updates on my car. It was making a burning smell, with no other problems. The transmission fluid wasn't *low* but was close to low. So I put about a half quart in yesterday. It didn't do the burning smell thing on the drive home, like usual, BUT it had really cooled off yesterday. It has only been doing the "burning smell" when I drive home after the car sits in the sun/heat all day at work. (I have been trying not to drive it too much otherwise). So, I think it is likely the car didn't even get very hot on the drive home yesterday. Will keep an eye on it.

I also noticed, to my relief, that a little plastic piece had broken off some part of the engine. It didn't really do anything useful, and the assumption would be that it just fell out onto the ground. BUT, it would sure explain the weird burning smell every time the car heats up to a certain point. I looked around the engine for a long time and couldn't find it. But, I am thinking it is very likely that is the issue. Will see...

**Tons tons tons of road work being done in California. We have taken note not to drive between here and family at night - unless we want to sit in road construction traffic for 50 miles or so. So, anyway, I just read they are re-paving the stretch of freeway that I commute every day (about a 10-mile stretch). Long overdue. I saw specifically in the accouncement that all this was part of an effort to give more work to construction workers out of work, etc. I have mixed feelings about it. Sounds great, but where is the money for all this coming from???

**I bought some stock. Hell froze over and I bought stock!!! Actually, dh wanted to buy some netflix. It was a little deja vu from when we lost thousands in tech stocks. He seemed awfully bullish, and I was skeptical. BUT, I told him I didn't mind the opportunity to invest in stock without an official broker broker. (We never have - I would be prepared for some last minute stock buy if I ever get the itch - if I went through the process now). I also read equal parts "netflix is the worst investment every" to "buy buy buy" so I figure that's probably about as good as it gets. (If everyone things you should buy, it's probably overvalued, and it the majority thinks it sucks, it's probably a bigger gamble than I'd take).

I think this was a good reminder to invest in what you know. Like we couldn't have made a killing off of apple or amazon the last decade - you know? I am telling myself to pay attention on Facebook to what EVERYONE is talking about. Obviously hindsight 20/20 makes it appear easier than it is, though.

The agreement was we could put 1% of our portfolio in netflix, if dh agreed to keep his ears open - he pays far more attention to the news than I do.

& if it goes terrible, I know it will be 10 years + before dh asks me again. He was admittedly far more humble this time around.

My generally feeling is that I am pretty burned on individual stocks. (I am always reading in the newspaper how the dart board picks always win the carefully picked stocks, for one). BUT, my grandfather and father have made a good haul with some pretty good stock buys over the years. Since we will likely inherit some of their good fortune at some point, I mostly feel like, "Let's quit while we are ahead." Kind of the same way I feel about California real estate. If we mostly stand to inherit California real estate, and put most of our money into a house here already, why would I put MORE money in that basket?

I bought NFLX through Fidelity. My first choice would have been Vanguard, but I had to open a seperate brokerage account to do so. Bah! T Rowe was the same way. Fidelity let me buy stock the moment the fancy hit me. Their cost was the same anyway. We need to buy more stock to make a seperate account worthwhile. Maybe, eventually.

ETA: I also bought some Amazon. Mixed the mark a bit because I don't know what I Was looking at but didn't see the below-200 price when I checked it earlier this week. My dad mentioned it as a good buying opportunity and I agreed with the small price dip that still remained. I think the kindle fire will be hot, and Amazon is a GREAT company anyway.

I was pleasantly surprised to see dh's 10,000 points from Citi. (He called to cancel card last week or so and they said they would give him 10,000 points if he stayed 1-2 months longer. I guess technically he only had to stay 1 week? I checked because the credit card month closed yesterday)

I also caught on "my moneyblog.com" that Citi card has amazon gift cards. I didn't see them before. So I had my "doh" moment since I bought some other card and sold it for Amazon at 95 cents on the dollar. Last time...

I found it. It wasn't under "retail" so I didn't see it last time. There really is an Amazon reward! So I decided just to redeem $100 Amazon for myself. If dh got the e-mail code, we can put Citi back on the *kill* list.

2 other credit cards close next week. Should get:

$250 amazon gift cards from Chase
$300 gift cards from Citi

From Citi? Maybe zappos, kohls, and some cards I can trade in for cash. I can top off my mortgage goal with nearly $200 in cash. I buy new tennis shoes every couple of years on zappos - so next ones will be FREE. & I just love shopping at Kohls!

I'll pay off the $1500 Citi balance next week, too, and then ALL Of the cards can go back to the *kill* pile. (All the rest are done with - paid and done - waiting for rewards).

I see the end! Unless Citi/Chase offers dh more rewards. I don't expect Citi to offer squat to me.

UPDATED TALLY:

$1230 cash (Chase Sapphire $1030 + Chase Frdm $200)
$1580 gift cards (Citi $500 + SW $515 + SW $565)
$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex)
$100 gift cards-Amazon- Citi for trying to close card
$300 gift cards Citi (may change some for cash)
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
*Will they refund this one too?*
-$23 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
-----------
$3618 TOTAL
-----------

I expect to hit $3700 because we get 1% cash back on our CU visa, at the end of every year, & I expect we will get an annual fee refund from Southwest. I read somewhere those are usually pro-rated. (I've mentioned I've never paid annual fees before so have no experience in that category. I didn't mind paying those fees for these kind of rewards. Getting them refunded is just an unexpected bonus).

We always take advantage of credit card rewards/offers, but this is some huge annual record for us. The credit card companies were very generous this year!

ETA: Received Amazon gift cards today - $300 from Southwest. So, was a very fruitful rewards day!

Citi's secure messaging system is really wonky. I remember having issues before. I replied to say, "Hello???" from my Friday request and it disappared into thin air.

SO, I e-mailed them again - copy and pasted - said no one answered me before. Eventually both those messages showed up as "Sent." Though they didn't show up for a while - they were in la la land somewhere.

So then I get a reply that they will get back to me in 2 days. BUT, if you scroll down I See a reply dated 10/21 that I SWEAR was not there this morning. Reply = DENIED.

I tell you, Citi does not like me! Whatevah.

It kind of simplifies things. I have to spend $16 by the end of the month. I've got 2 months of health insurance on there, and lunch today. I wasn't sure if van gas would be enough. Will fill up the tank this week, and hopefully get my $300 reward next week. No extra $200. Somehow I will survive.

Kind of relieved I don't have to pre-pay another month of health insurance to get the extra reward...

Once I get my reward I will QUICKLY shut down this card. They don't want my business? What does it matter - you know I wasn't going to keep it anyway. It's just been kind of funny how they practically kiss dh's feet, while being pretty "meh" as far as me.

P.S. It is kind of mind boggling because I offered to spend $1000 more to get the rewards. So, basically, THEIR loss. "No, we won't give you any incentive to keep your card longer and to spend more money."

*Yawn*

Mostly in limbo while I wait for a response from Citi. They really don't seem to care much for me. Like, they seem to bend over backwards for dh. But when it's me, they can't even get back to me. I gave them the benefit of the doubt with the weekend, but this is getting ridiculous. They told me on Friday they'd get back to me in 24 hours. Will e-mail them again tomorrow (asking for more rewards).

Waiting for other cards to close for the month, to see if rewards points posted, etc.

When I was in Quicken I decided I should pay the online bills from checking - since November is coming up very darn quick.

I paid $340 to piano teacher, gardener, PG&E, County sewer bill and HOA. County is every other month. Some real exciting stuff there. Other than that, just the mortgage (next week when I get my paycheck) and pay off all the credit card bills at the end of next month - can't pay those until I know the final amounts for October. I should say that I *set everything to pay,* for next week. Automatic payments drive me batty. I like to leave the process somewhat non-automated.

I looked at everything closely yesterday and told dh I didn't think we had any money to spend in Napa this weekend. Not that we probably won't do one semi-nice dinner (funded by another account). BUT, when I paid the sewer bill I remembered my mom is sending me a check for her half the cell phone bill. She just sends it every other month - no particular reason - but works out perfectly with the one odd *every other month* county sewer bill. Then I remembered MIL was sending me a check for piano lessons and I had put that $100 to the mortgage. Doh. I just found $200 for the weekend. Woohoo! Well, will see what else comes up. Will maybe consider a $100 Napa budget, and at this rate MIL will probably slip us some cash, too (& we might just use that so we don't have to spend any of our money). We are mostly looking forward to the vegging out in our nice free hotel/hiking and beautiful landscape angle. But $100 can buy us some very decent meals.

Extra $200? Probably from reduced grocery bill since we were gone one whole week. Auto gas was nothing this month, post trip. Figured we'd give the cars a break after all that driving? Should probably put the $200 back into savings to cover vacation expense overages, rather than spend it on more vacation. I was just excited to find money I had forgotten about. But reality is the credit cards close next Thursday (versus Monday the 31st - my month is a little long) and something will probably come up.

All this money reimbursing back and forth does make things more complicated. Oh well! I will adjust.

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

Tomorrow I am meeting my friend and the culinary institute for lunch. $10 for 3-course meal and soda or ice tea. I will probably treat since she took care of my cat while we were gone. I don't think I told my dh yet - he will be jealous!! We will have to have a lunch date there also, some time in November.

First, with all the gimmes that piled up at the end of last school year, I mentioned I should just say no to everything (this year) and put it to my mortgage. Irony? No one has asked for money, really. Maybe the economy is catching up with everyone. Phew!

No one has asked for a penny for soccer this year. Last year it was money for banners, coach gifts, on and on and on. (Er, they did ask for spare change - I don't carry cash or have change, so oh well!)

& then BM's 3rd grade class asked for $3 for Halloween. I think this is a new record low for money requests. I figured I'd send in $5 because someone probably won't send in anything. But, I won't gripe over $3.

Did the first grade really ask for NOTHING this year? They have asked for stuff, but none of this, "I bought a $200 gift for the teacher and you owe me $10" crap. I really don't recall any cash asking.

It's nice to see everyone dialing it down.

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

Walgreens has some nice photo offers that expire today.

11 x 14 posters are $1.99. Limit 5 coupons per account - something like that. My dad just went on this photo shoot field trip (was for fall foliage - but ended up more winter landscape). Anyway, I just asked my dad to send me full resolution on a handful of pictures, and to pick one more of his own choosing. I only had one full res picture here that I really wanted - from camping trip in July. This gorgeous picture I was thinking of getting a poster of at some point. So I ordered that one. They unfortunately don't print posters at the Walgreens I can WALK to. But, oh well. One minor drive and $2.15 with tax. Full price is close to $10, so not bad. I may end up buying some frames, but the pictures are GORGEOUS and practically free.

Also, free 8 x 10 photo collage, as usual. The DSi that dh bought and I mentioned has a camera and all sorts of photo effects. I will make a very silly collage for the kids. I am going through their pictures and some are just hilarious - others are really pretty with kaleidoscope effects - I should post one of them so you get the idea. Only down side is resolution is not that great - so no posters of any crazy kid pictures. But the collage will be perfect!

Here is some DSi art work:



I have no idea what this is - but it is pretty:

The rewards Gods LOVE me this week. (Yes, I am sick of the subject too, but holy crap!)

My reward card just bumped up bonus by about $200 for new applications. I will e-mail Citi this weekend and ask if they will give me the new reward, since I have only had the card a couple of weeks before this shinier new offer came along.



If they approve, we will be getting to the point of about $3700 in rewards for 2011. I'd probably chuck the extra $200 to the mortgage and be done with that goal. Mortgage goal 2011 largely funded by rewards - no need to touch savings. Woohoo. This I did not foresee!

It will be tricky to reach points since I might have to spend $1000 more to get said points. Card is in my name only. The only thing I really pay for is health insurance. (Dh charges up 99% of our variable expenses - and the utilities are not big enough to make much difference). But, I can probably figure out something. A bunch of insurance is coming due, for one. I'd probably rather charge a couple of big things rather than take the hassle to move little things around. Regardless, I will be pre-paying some expenses in the next 2 months. I will be jumping through some extra hoops to get my points ASAP, but I suppose I Feel it is worth it because I expect this to be our last rewards frenzy for 2011. (But, who knows).

For reference, minimum wage is on the high side here. I'd have to work about 10 hours a week all year round to make that much money, minimum wage. Like a second job or whatever. Holy Cow.

This is the perfect example of MY kind of frugal. Other people see it as deprivation (frugality in general). I just see extra money practically falling from the sky.

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

Dh wanted to buy his parents a kindle, and we decided to buy my mom one too. We also will get the Kindle Fire for ourselves, and dh got some new DS for the kids - DS3?. We bought a few other things, and still have enough amazon gift cards left over to easily fund Christmas and then some. Not that we buy much for Christmas - I think all these kindles will be the bulk of it. I've got amazon gift cards coming out of my ears, basically. All things Kindle and amazon will be free, with all these rewards.

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

P.S. Here is the link for the card. Annual fee is waived for Year 1. Spend $2500 in 3 months for $500 in gift cards. They don't have Amazon gift cards, but you can sell Wal Mart for Amazon gift cards at about $95 on the dollar, or for cash at about $90 on the dollar (Plastic Jungle). They have other retailers, too. I'll personally be stocking up on Kohls gift cards, and selling other gift cards for cash.

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/citi-thankyou-premier-card-50000-...

ETA: My info may be bad because I think Mr. mymoneyblog said he was able to redeem points directly for amazon cards recently. Interesting!

Knock on wood, but the goals seem to be going good.

ROTH IRAs - I just checked where we were, and I only seem to be $300 short on maxing out. (I had estimated $1500 at some point, and already made a $500 deposit to lessen that shortfall). It seems likely I forgot to count AmEx deposits to our ROTH? Woohoo!

$300 from savings - will try to do before the end of the year. THAT is easy peasy. Though we won't max out until April.

Goal for 2012 is to contribute $9,000 from income ($750 x 12), earn $500 in credit card rewards, and pay 10% of overtime to get up to $10,000. Meaning, as long as I have a paycheck, it should basically be auotomatic from pay and rewards. It depends on our health insurance - I am assuming I get just enough raise to cover the usual crazy insane annual increase, and that I can stick with $750/month to ROTH. Will see...

Mortgage Goal - Goal is to hit $199,999 by 12/31.

We've gotten so many credit card rewards this year that I haven't touched savings for this at all. Since MIL just took over paying for piano lessons, I am adding $150 to the mortgage every month. This will leave me with a shortfall of about $412 to reach my goal. I expect $250 for Christmas work bonus and will apply it to mortgage. This leaves me $162 short. I doubt I will get this much birthday money, but might get $100. Birthday present to me? Extra to the mortgage! I expect I might need to transfer the last $62 or so from savings. Will see... I'd generally say that dh could make that money EASY PEASY on Amazon during Holiday season, but I mentioned before they banned all non-high-volume-sellers for the Christmas season. I could also convert upcomoing credit card rewards into cash, but I think I will leave as is since I have so little to come up with.

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

Cash Savings Goal

I was optimistic earlier in the year that we would FINALLY hit $30,000. I suppose it is a double whammy in that $30k is a pretty solid 6-month *emergency fund* while also being a level of cash we can't seem to achieve on one income, with kids. IT's a very meaningful goal to me - one that has been very elusive - so close but so far!

Anyway, I did transfer $500 to the ROTH and had almost $1000 in medical/dental bills, so I pretty much give up this year. (& I just said I had plans to transfer another $300-$400 out to reach other goals).

But, I won't give up. I think next April will be it! Overtime bonus in April. How many times have I said that before, huh? Well, no one in my household having major surgery would be extremely helpful... So I am hoping for that. I've got about $28k in the bank, today.

I am glad I already very easily redeemed my $500 Amazon gift cards from Southwest, because dh's experience has been a real pain. For one, I know that is not always the case. & two, I know something is wrong there!

His points finally showed up yesterday (after a more thorough response from Chase e-mail - that also said he needed a new credit card to replace the old one, to straighten it out. ??? Whatever - he will cut it up and toss it!)

BUT, we couldn't redeem them. To make matters more frustrating, all their rewards were on sale yesterday!!!

The rewards are still on sale today, still unredeemable. He will call once he is up to try to order through the phone. We may be able to get $300 gift cards and have 1500 points left over. !!!

Today I e-mailed Chase and asked for those extra 25,000 points, since their phone customer service was so vague and not helpful.

I doubt we will get those points in time for this sale, but maybe I should hold off redeeming those for the next sale. I know they go on sale from time to time.

& so it goes on and on and on as more opportunities to earn more arise! If we can ever get these redeemed, we may be up $50 (for sale). Maybe I don't mind that it has taken so long to redeem - if we could have only gotten $250 before today.

ETA: $300 amazon gift cards, shipped and on their way! What luck!

UPDATED TALLY:


$1230 cash (Chase Sapphire $1030 + Chase Frdm $200)
$1315 gift cards (Citi $500 + SW $515 + SW $300)
$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex)
$100 gift cards Citi for trying to close card
$300 gift cards Citi (may change some for cash)
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
*Will they refund this one too?*
-$23 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
-----------
$3353 TOTAL
-----------

Southwest chase card - upped their bonus back to 50,000 points (or $500 Amazon gift cards - that is what I would redeem with those points!)

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/southwest-airlines-rapid-rewards-...

CAVEAT: You only have to make one purchase, but there is a $69 annual fee.

This is the card dh signed up for less than a month ago? & also, the points he earned have not transferred to Southwest after 2 weeks. SO, he called them yesterday. They were having problems with the point transfer to Southwest, so might take another week. They told dh he could probably get the extra 25,000 bonus, but had to check with the marketing department or something? I think I just send over an e-mail. Dh has been a Chase customer for like 20 years or so, so I will play that card.

This might add $250 to the grand total, but I won't lose sleep over it if they deny me. Crossing my fingers for a nice person on the other end of my e-mail. It seems to be who you get. (& maybe I will just try again if it doesn't work the first time?)

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

Nothing much else to report. Work is a wee bit crazy because someone quit last month. BUT, it isn't too bad. I think it's probably been on the slow side (slow as it has been for years - it ebbs and flows) and so I suppose I will just be more busy.

I have a great employer and am often reminded. On Facebook most of my friends who work in the same capacity have been working 14-hour days with the tax deadline that just passed. I cringe when I read that, thinking to future job prospects. I told dh I was counting on him to find steady employment because I might just have to go part-time for my sanity. He completely agreed. (Kind of like, "Like hell you are working those kind of hours!"). Last I worked at a place like that, most of the "part timers" essentially worked full-time. For the long run, that is the route I foresee for myself. I just refuse to work those kind of hours - I value my health and my family too much. If I had to do that for a year or two, whatever - I certainly have in the past to get to where I am today - but not anything long-term unless I want an early grave or no joy in my life. I do like my job, but I also like other things too! {For reference, I worked 40 hours last week}.

Yesterday I went to the bread store to redeem 2 free items. I could have left it at that, but picked up some donuts for the office, too. For free, I loaded up on those sandwich thins. I hadn't been by much lately because I hadn't made it to aerobic much lately. Maybe it's for the best that it's only convenient to load up on cheap carbs on my way to/from aerobics class - the store is way too out of the way otherwise.

I don't remember the last time I went to the gym. The gym is necessary when the temps regularly hit 100F+, but it just never got particularly hot this year. But, I still enjoy the gym in the winter, in the dark, and for the safety/security (versus walking alone outside). So I am sure I will get plenty of use this year. Just not as much summer use as usual. I am sure I will be a regular again once daylight savings is over. I am only paying $15/month, which is fine for not going all summer. Having a safe, climate-controlled place to work out is priceless to me.

I just e-mailed Chase about dh's Southwest card because though his statement shows he earned 20,000 points, 2 weeks ago, they have yet to transfer them over to Southwest so we can redeem them. We need those Amazon gift cards for our kindle fire purchase!

Kind of annoying because it took them a few days to transfer mine, but certainly didn't take THIS long. So I know from experience it shouldn't be this long.

In other news, Chase has cut me a $99 check, and it should be here any day.

Adding the unexpected $200 for closing cards, we are at:

$1230 cash (Chase Sapphire $1030 + Chase Frdm $200)
$1265 gift cards (Citi $500 + SW $515 + SW $250)
$ 500 deposit to ROTH (Fidelity Am Ex)
$100 gift cards Citi for trying to close card
$300 gift cards Citi (may change some for cash)
-$99 annual fee (SW card)
+$99 annual fee refunded when closed card
-$69 Fee (SW card)
*Will they refund this one too?*
-$23 lost value for exchanging some Citi gift cards for cash and amazon gift cards
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$3303 TOTAL
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STUNNING!!!

Status:

Waiting to redeem $250 Amazon gift cards from Southwest. Should be any day.

Will need to wait 1-2 months for Citi $100 bonus for not closing card just yet.

I should be able to redeem $300 Citi reward in about 2 weeks. I will pay it this off next month - I am charging $1500 this month - only made 3 charges to get there - all the rest of the cards are paid off.

I also earned $100 cash back on Fidelity AmEx since I last updated.

Clearly, most the hard work is done.

I was thrown off when I realized that Monday is payday. I just got paid Monday. Vacation sped up the financial month I guess (after slowing it down initially).

I've been too lazy to pay the other credit cards and do my savings transfer. Better do it now! Paycheck will pay mortgage and regular credit card.

Chase did indeed credit me $99, but I have no idea how to get it, so I wrote them back and asked how - suggesting a mailed check would be just dandy.

Dh sold an old DS today for $40, and already sold several of the games. So, he is on track to profit $20 on the deal. (Meaning the DSi cost -$20?) That's how we do things here.

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When we went to McDs on the way home from LA, I got a free medium dries game piece. I redeemed it for lunch yesterday with a $1 Burger King burger. I was unprepared and planned to go home for lunch, but fact is $1 was considerably cheaper than gas. (I can't stand any food at McDs, but fries , and I don't care for the BK fries. So, sometime I just go to both places).

I think the fridge was much more bare than usual - no easy leftovers to grab. Next week I will need to plan better - probably no eating out and no going home for lunch. I need to pinch some pennies after vacation (& to prepare for our weekend away!) I usually try to do a lunch date with dh or friends once a week, but work will be a little hectic and so I will just work work work the next 2 weeks. Socializing and lunch dates can resume next month. The $20 or so I will save will go really far, right? Maybe we can afford Taco Bell on our anniversary trip. At this point, I feel pretty confident that MIL will slip use some cash for our trip - she has been in an extra generous mood lately. It's either that or we just enjoy the ambience and eat Taco Bell. Either way is fine with us. Though I think we are partial to being EXTRA lazy and ordering room service. Assuming there even is room service - I should look that up.

I was 1 - 3 last night with closing credit card rewards.

I e-mailed Chase re: 2 cards to close. I did one message per card (seems they want to communicate per card - though I suppose I could have asked to just close them all in one e-mail).

Chase Sapphire was closed within minutes. Easy peasy! I loved not having to call!

I regretted giving my reasons for leaving Chase on my other e-mail. They forwarded that one to an "appropriate department." Me and my big mouth - I just wanted it CLOSED. Thought I would have to call today so I could put it all to bed.

But, they JUST e-mailed me, about 24 hours later. The Southwest Chase is closed and they are crediting me the $99 annual fee. What is that about? Is that standard when you close a card so quickly? They didn't say any reason for that. & if I can't use the card any more, how the heck do I redeem the $99? Oh well, I need a few more days to follow up on this, but the main point is this card is closed too. Phew. (I've never paid an annual fee for a credit card, so this is totally new territory for me).

Of course, I already reported that dh received $100 to stay with Citi another 2 months.

SO, between that and annual fee credit, I made $200 while closing three cards. That part I was NOT expecting.

I called Citi to activate my $300 rewards card today.

I set the health insurance to pay today and next week. Other than that, I just have to spend $58 to get this reward. (One tank of gas should do it).

I'll skip $750 ROTH contribution next month, and just contribute twice in December, to even it all out. I prepaid one month health insurance so I can KILL this card at month-end.

I then e-mailed Chase to close my two open cards (Sapphire and Southwest). On the phone I'd just want to get it over and done, but in writing I told them how I was happy with their Chase Freedom for years, but how they tried to charge me a fee (I declined) and how their new rewards suck. Once these cards close, I will no longer be a Chase customer. Too much better stuff out there. IT was nice while it lasted!

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I haven't been able to redeem dh's $250 Chase bonus yet, so his 2 Chase accounts will be open for a bit more. If this e-mail closing works well, will just do the closing for his 2 cards, too. He will still be a Chase customer, because he has some ancient Chase card that hasn't tried to charge him a fee. (For reference, his credit score is identical to mine, though he has had said card almost 20 years and my oldest credit line is only 2 years. I don't know why he is so attached to that thing).

In the interim, I will have him close his Citi card ASAP.

So, yeah, I closed Chase and am waiting to finish with Citi. Dh will close Citi and will wait for Chase.

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Citi sent me my FICO score with my new card. If they did so for dh, I didn't notice!

Official FICO - 785. Not bad considering I just opened like 5 credit cards, and that it's not the first time I have done so. Ever since having a mortgage, paying bills on-time seems to account for 99% of FICO. I do just about everything else *wrong.* I can't say I'd have the patience for FICO if I Really had to jump through a ton of hoops to keep a nice high FICO.

I look forward to getting rid of these infinite credit card accounts, for one.

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ETA: FOR WHATEVER REASON, CITI *REALLY* LIKES MY DH. THEY GAVE HIM 10,000 POINTS TO STAY 1-2 MONTHS. THAT'S GOOD FOR ABOUT $95 AMAZON GIFT CARDS. HE COULDN'T SAY NO - NEITHER WOULD I.

THE REWARDS KEEP ADDING UP.

I came home today and dh felt so bad about BM's day at the dentist, that he bought him a DSi.

I said, "What?"

HE said, "Oh yeah, I took $80 from the ATM for it."

"Double what???"

Actually, it turns out the DSi is ultra cool. They were all excited to show it to me, and I Was less than interested. But it has a camera and a microphone, and the game they were playing was beyond hilarious. Okay, so they hooked me fast.

In the end, not so bad. Dh paid $180 for the DSi and a pile of games. HE intends to sell all the games for $160 (still has some time before Amazon disallows non-major sellers for the holidays). Plus, he will sell one of the old DS's that we have laying around. In the end, that makes it FREE!

Free DSi - what the hell.

I share because this is the perfect example of getting something for nothing, or the beauty of buying slightly used things. In the end, dh just got a lucky game deal today. It's been a pretty SLOW year, so good timing!

Oh, and the Nintendo DSi retails new for $150.

**I did finish my book. Got absolutely no reading done on vacation, for the most part. Maybe first night? So, finally finished it last weekend. I need to re-evaluate my reserved books and go from there. Sookie Stackhouse series is kind of boring because so far is pretty loyal to the HBO series Tru Blood. So, I already know everything. My friend told me it is very different, but not sure it is really going to be my thing anyway. All my books came due at once, but probably nothing else in the queue. November is a really slow month here and good for reading, so I need to get on some library waiting lists.

**N0-Cable Update? Nothing to report - we still watch most all the same shows - just watch them differently. There is nothing life changing about this except for savings TONS of money.

**Monday I ran to the CU after work to drop off my paycheck. I was all annoyed it looked totally closed up though the hours clearly said 5:30. Doh - stupid holiday! Holiday for who? Just the post office and the CU I guess? I guess the kids took their day off Friday instead. No one else seemed to be on holiday, in my own circles.

**Tuesday: dh ran to the CU for me, so I Was able to make a big mortgage payment. Vacation delayed my paycheck by one week. The holiday delayed its use for an 8th day. But, this is why I never cut things close. (I've technically still got 5 days or so to pay the mortgage - holiday schmoliday).

Made a killing at the bread store. Hadn't been there in a long time. Got 12 hoagie buns for $1. Will add meatball sandwiches, roast beef sandwiches, and/or sausage sandwiches to the menu, perhaps? Lots of options. Also good to make garlic bread. Donuts were free. I had just stopped by for sandwich bread and a "soft treat" for BM. Got some donut holes for him, fig newtons, and sandwhich thins for myself. Did not forget the plain old bread. $8 spent.

**BM has a big dentist appointment today for a tooth pulling and some retainer/appliance thing (mostly already paid for). They are doing more preventitive work than I had, but I welcome the technology and hope he doesn't have braces for like a decade, like I did. (I did have a ton of teeth puled, so that is same old, same old).

IT's not all bad - the dentist commented that *LM* had very straight teeth. He must get that from dh. He does have one extra tooth, but they aren't concerned about it. No extra permanent teeth. That said, he has yet to lose a tooth, which is kind of weird. BM got teeth late and lost teeth late, but LM Was kind of normal and has been even longer to lose them. Guess everyone is different! He also has my jaw, which probably means surgery, eventually. So, he's got his fair share of issues.

All four of us are extremely stoic anyway, so it's not like any of this would phase BM in the least. BUT, I have no idea how we ended up with this dental place. I like them and they haven't been scammy, but they have video games and all sorts of fun stuff there for the kids, so the kids LOVE going there. I'd generally rule this type place out, off the bat, for being fancy and expensive, but I have NO complaints! Who knew?

Dh and I still need to replace our retired dentist. I don't even want to go there - have been trying not to think about that. But will need to figure out something soon.

**We had a *winter storm* last week while we were on vacation. My dad went to a "fall foliage" photo shoot with some photography group. I was skeptical if he'd see any fall foliage. (It was hot summer weather right up to September 30th). He came back with some interesting photos - there was a lot of fall foliage up in the colder mountains, but also a lot of SNOW.

**Family friend was laid off a few weeks back. I mentioned briefly - he is 60. My mom was telling me something like she thought he had really grown up and was not so susceptible to all the scams he used to be. I think this was just a by product of working in one stable place with a great group of people, unfortunately. He was laid off but a week or two when he panicked and sent some work at home scam place 3 credit cards + about $20,000 cash. !!!!!! O.M.G.

It also looks like he will have to choose between the 30 year mortgage he just took on, and his health insurance. OF course he will choose the mortgage. I just don't *get* it. I obviously haven't been there and been in those shoes, but I value my financial security way too much to put a HOUSE ahead of that. I just don't get it at all. HE's going to lose his house, probably, but will hang on until the bitter end and be worse off for it. I see it every day with everyone around me, just about. For all those scamming the system and walking away for no reason, I see 10 times as many people who should have walked away and are inifinitely worse off for it.

Anyway, it is very sad. I don't think many of you need a reminder not to give away your life savings for a job opportunity, but I guess some people do. *sigh*

We did it - Disney under $1,000. Woot!

Disneyland $236 (special night event)
Legoland $162 (kids were free)
Museums $84 (3 museums; one was free the day we went)
Parking $18 (Legoland + Hollywood street parking)
Souvenirs $80
Food $250
Gas $140
Sunblock $4
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TOTAL $974
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Some thoughts and commentary:

**Hotel was 100% free. Though we are used to free hotel stays with MIL's timeshare, it was because of her new *elite* status that we were not charged fees for taxes or parking. Yay! So literally paying -ZERO- was a nice surprise.

**We took the gas sipper and 4 tanks of gas got us there and back. We had good luck finding cheap gas. Phew!

**We'd generally spend $0 on souvenirs, but I let the kids go a little hog wild on the day we got rained out of Disney. I also really wanted to get them swords/shields at Legoland (their friends had gotten them a while back), BUT it does add up fast! (I am not sure I Would have gotten them either, but dh and I had miscommunication on the price). I hope they enjoyed because next time is probably going to be $0 budget for souvenirs!

**Food is always the biggest part of our budget when we vacation. I think this illustrates why. It's the biggest number of the bunch! & of course, it hurts to spend like 50% of our monthly food budget, in just 5 days. Ouch!

**Interestingly, we spent absolutely $0 on snacks. Last time we went to Disney it was a HOT week and I remember we were just always hungry, and buying up snacks, which did not help the food budget at all. I think you have the tendency to feel hungry when thirsty and also need that extra jolt of energy. This time we brought TONS of snacks from home (I was more aggressive in sneaking them into the parks) and barely touched them. Figured! In fact, all we bought while we were there was some sunblock (Was forgotten at home and only needed it one day). Food was strictly bought for lunch and dinner. Hotel had continental breakfast. We only went through our piles of snacks in the car. I couldn't tell you why - we all have huge metabolisms and usually have to eat more often. I am surprised what a difference the cool weather made. We were probably not used to eating such hearty lunches.

**I am personally not opposed to TV watching in the car. If it keeps the kids happy on a long drive, whatever. I certainly remember my parents torturing me on long drives through half the united states when I Was kid. I would have loved a TV to help pass the time!! But, the kids are pretty good at traveling (used to many 4-hour roundtrip drives to see family). & though a TV in the back would be nice for them, it doesn't do much for those of us in the front seat or specifically for the driver. SO, our main entertainment was audio books borrowed from the library. Between that, sleeping and video games, I didn't hear one, "Are we there yet???" Phew! & the trip went pretty fast for us adults, too. Dh and I always do audio books (library) on long road trips. I just think it was the first time we could all agree on something - kids were too young to appreciate last big road trip.

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The vacation budget is definitely blown for the year, but I think we did very well!

So Cal Week $974
San Francisco $100
San Francisco/Staycation $200
Camp Sacramento - 3 nights $100
Six Flags Staycation $200
Camping Trip $140
Water Park/Monterey $145
Water Park with friends $40

TOTAL - $1,899

Vacation budget is $1500. MIL gave us $200 for Disney, bringing total to $1700. At face value we are over budget by $200 for the year, but some of the gas and food can come from our gas and food budget. SO, I think we just squeezed in with our budget.

That said, we still have weekend Napa trip for our anniversary. Point is to get away and enjoy the scenery. I doubt we will spend much of any money on the trip. I don't think we care at all - the hotel is supposed to top notch and we will enjoy that.

I am expecting a $300 credit card reward in November, so may consider that to pay vacation expenses and/or to allow one nice dinner in Napa. I haven't really decided what to do with it yet, but considering I put most the rest of our substantial rewards this year to the mortgage, I can live with splurging this last $300. It is one reason we decided to go to Disney Monday night (we had also planned to go another full day if not rained out - $300).