Monkey Mama*s Monkey Money Blog

Kind of funny, but dh's most favorite holiday is definitely Easter.

If you knew him, you would never guess.

He of course spent about $50 on Easter stuff.

Besides my initial "WHAT!?!" reaction, I don't have much more to add. He is pretty easy to please and doesn't spend much money. If that is his pleasure. I just wish I would remember - it surprises me every year. Obviously I should be used to it by now!

That's probably more than we spend for them all year, or birthday, or Christmas, so I have to let it go. Let them be spoiled.

I think he enjoys having a holiday where no one else spoils them. His mom hogs up Christmas/Birthday pretty good. Easter is mostly his turn to go all out.

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Anyway, today was long and exhausting. Track meet ALL DAY, packing kids for next week, chores, etc.

Tomorrow should be pretty nice. Look forward to seeing the family and all that. We will eat well.

In the evening, dh and I will have a date to watch Game of Thrones.

For most of the week I get the house to myself. Not sure if I will laze around and do nothing, kick start my spring workouts (get back in the swing after winter and busy season), or do some spring cleaning. I'd like to do spring cleaning, but won't be surprised if I collapse and do absolutely nothing. Just depends on my mood.

I'll have to fend for myself. Was thinking burritos (lots of leftovers) and salmon (since no one else really cares for salmon). I will probably turn fresh salmon into 2 dinners, so that will probably carry me through.

I think I am done working overtime for the year. Phew! Tones of deadline stuff, but I forgot how easy and mindless all this stuff is compared to taxes! Whipped through a pile of work this week, and that was moving at an "I am over tax season" slow/tired pace.

Which is good because really no time to work this weekend, anyway. Figured I'd come in Sat. afternoon tomorrow and a couple hours Sunday morning if need be. Glad I don't have to do that!

Anyway, re-adjusting to the change of pace at work. 40 hours a week always feels like a vacation to me after tax season.

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I found another good lunch deal. It's funny because I found a Togo's that is a little out of the way. I've worked here TEN years, but found this Togo's when I first started working here. Some of my co-workers had already been here 20+ years, and always asked, "Where did you find Togo's???"

So the other day we were driving down the main street by my work and dh points out a Togo's - "How long has that been there?" he asks. It looks OLD. Like it's been there for decades - a really old sign.

So all along I've been driving way out of the way when there is one right down the street? I told dh I felt stupid, but obviously no one in my office knew it existed!

Last time we were there I saw my favorite sandwich is on special on Mondays for $2.99. For now, anyway. I keep forgetting, but will have to remember one of these days. One small sandwich = two meals for me. I usually keep half for later.

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I am not sure how the next week or so will shake out. I think April has been low-spend, overall, but I am still flying pretty blind with not being able to download my transactions into Quicken (Fidlity credit card), and too busy to manually enter things. I added up the gas/groceries the other day just to see where we were at. Which is mostly the part I am flying blind on. We always write down the misc. stuff since our buget is so limited for anything extra.

Anyway, the gas will not be good this month.

Tomorrow - drive 120 miles rount trip for a track meet. Taking the gas sipper, of course.

Sunday - drive 250 miles RT for Easter. Have to drive van because picking up treadmill. Ugh!

Monday - Dh is driving 130 miles RT for his little retreat. He said if his friend drove he'd give him gas money. I told him if his friend drove that would be nice because he was providing free shelter. !!! They are staying at the family cabin to work on some projects (without distraction).

Dh will probably drive 120 miles, at the least, to pick up the kids later in the week. I just remembered that part. Yeah, I really hope his friend drives!

That said - since we are getting a really nice/new treadmill, for free, it's not so bad. Any gas budget overage I will probably just pull from savings and consider it the cost of the treadmill.

Also, food costs may be on the low side with the kids (bottomless pits) gone for a week!

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It's a bummer because all of the activities I had planned in May/June are pretty drive-intensive. May have to re-evaluate and find more to do closer to home. There were several hikes we wanted to do, etc. I also wanted to go to Monterey and San Francisco. Usually no big deal, but these gas prices are getting ouchy!

**Crossing my fingers for my usual overtime bonus. I don't take it for granted, and this year is not a year to take it for granted (boss decreased compensation by 10% last year).

**If I do get a bonus, I will also be able to figure my tax refund for 2011. Or if I will owe. We still have a pile of medical bills for this year, and so I expect another odd "large refund" year.

So, it will be nice to revise my mortgage pre-pay and ROTH goals having an idea of the refund amount.

I take most my withholding from my bonus - which is another thing. No bonus? - may owe a lot of taxes! I should have a better idea today, either way.

**My main goal is 10% to retirement. Secondary goal is to fund medical deductible ($3,000) for the year 2012. I don't expect to receive enough to do both 100%, so that's it! Will put away what I can for next year.

I may pull a couple of hundred dollars for some recent spending.

**Spending on the horizon???

Having replenished cash savings after a VERY spendy April (property taxes, medical bills, etc.), and having saved $300-ish on home repairs (was much cheaper than I expected), we will probably move forward on buying a nice screen door for the front door.

I am still cringing at the price, but it will serve a dual purpose. IT will add a small amount of security to our home (drives me NUTS that dh will answer the door to anyone - he thinks I am paranoid. Female versus male perspective, obviously). I would love a locked screen door between him and the outside.

I'd also love a better and more secure way to get fresh air moving downstairs. I suppose it could be an energy saving measure.

This is not technically from my bonus, at all. Would be one month's home/car savings. We've just been trying to spread out these known home improvement projects, and we have nothing else on the horizon (knock on wood) - so it's time! I suppose the point is if I don't get a bonus, we might decide not to spend the money. This is why we make these decisions in April, when the cash gets a bit of a boost.

P.S. Game of Thrones was AWESOME!

Had a really nice lunch date with dh today.

That's it for a while because kids are off school for 2 weeks!

That said, sounds like we might get some time to ourselves since kids are staying with the Grandmas a few days after Easter.

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I have another skype date with my friend tonight.

I've tried to connect with her on skype a couple of times but she hasn't responded (said she didn't get the e-mails).

She lives in San Francisco. Last we met up we marveled how she hadn't seen my youngest son since he was an infant!

So, thought crosses my mind yesterday. Gosh, I need to skype her. I know she is really busy so ask if we can do a short skype session some time.

She e-mails me back and says yes, tonight, but why not a long skpye session.

I feel like a dork. For one, I should have taken the initiative and demanded we skype sometime soon. Yeesh! It's been over a year since I saw she was on skype?

Secondly, I easily solved the problem of her not meeting my son. If we skype early enough she can see and talk to him. If not, maybe another time.

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I mention because skype can be such a frugal tool.

My dh has been skyping with his friend who lives about an hour away. They are working together on some projects, and started regular skyping to collaborate, last time gas prices spiked. The habit has just stuck.

I think that's why I Was thinking about it in terms of my friend. Distance doesn't seem to matter so much any more, does it?

Now that my sister is settled in her new house, we need to get a regular skype schedule set up, too. Since she was in limbo her webcam was packed away in boxes or something - for a LONG time. Time to bug her to get out the webcam.

It's ironic, because this week is going kind of slow for me. The franticness has gone down a notch. But none of my clients (or friends) want to bother me because they think I am so busy.

Anyway, as of yesterday, I am DONE! All the April 15th (er, 18th) stuff taken care of. I have a record low number of clients on extension. No idea why. But, it's pretty nice.

I am trying to get through the piles on my desk, then see what else has been pushed aside. It will be busy here for a while with April 30th and early May deadlines. None of which I have mad ANY progress on. So I am not exactly relaxing! Then there is all the "catching up on our regular work" which keeps us busy well into summer.

Anyway, BM has track meets the next two weekends and we are going to the Bay Area for Easter, so I don't see a "down day" in my future for a while. I will probably need to work this weekend, and won't have any time to work the following weekend. Easter will be fun, but I prefer more down/quiet time.

Next week I will choose my 3-day weekend for May. I usually take a Friday off in there, to celebrate the end of tax season. 3-day weekends feel like a full week of vacation after this craziness. & I will have two 3-day weekends in May!

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I told dh that this was officially the easiest tax season ever. With both kids in school, I hoped he'd agree. He did, but said last year was pretty easy too. I guess we didn't expect much of him after surgery. No wonder this year seems so easy.

I think my own surgery significantly shortened the usual "4 months no break" that tax season becomes. For me, it's been about 3 months no break. So I am not as exhausted as usual. Plus, I get the strong feeling my co-workers were easy on my since I had surgery.

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As such, I don't have any pent up splurges in mind. Usually we have a nice dinner out or something to celebrate the end of tax season. I told dh I would be easy this year. I want a REALLY nice bottle of champagne because I have conquered quite a few ongoing/neverending issues at work in recent weeks. I mentioned in a recent blog. Plus, hopefully we are done with all this medical stuff. I told dh I had no desire to eat out, but that I just wanted a nice glass of champagne. We can toast the hope that things will settle down a little bit.

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All that said, the family is leaving me for 4-5 days. The kids have 2 weeks off of school, and dh is doing a "retreat" to work on his scripts. I think he feels this is his last hoorah to get some projects off the ground, or give up and get a "Real job." We have long talked about him going back to school and/or work come fall.

Anyway, so I will probably put in some BIG days at work and have an inordinate amount of peace and quiet at home. Next 2 weeks may not be so hectic after all.

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Well, we got some interesting news on the medical front.

Dh is due for another MRI. So, he calls, and learns his Doctor retired LAST WEEK.

Since he should no longer need surgery, it shouldn't be too big of a deal. I am trying to be positive that it will be good to get another point of view or opinion, and switch to a local doctor to monitor things.

I also feel extremely blessed we were able to have this surgeon do dh's surgery. A year later, and maybe he couldn't have. !!! & it had taken years to diagnose him - so I do feel blessed we got the chance to have one of the best surgeons. That we didn't have to travel more than 90 miles or so to have one of the best surgeons around. Phew!!!

Anyway, I am not sure when his MRI will be (probably not scheduled yet), but crossing my fingers for NO NEWS. He's still a very valid candidate for cyber knife (a radiation procedure). We just have been dragging our feet on that. His last surgeon really recommended it, but we wanted some time and space before we went down that road again. The side effects can be really similar to surgery, and we kind of felt it was best to heal and see how things go. Rather than add more swelling/problems, etc. immediately after a seemingly succesful surgery.

So, will see what any new surgeon's opinion on the subject is. & hopefully we like the guy we are referred to. We may have to shop around a bit.

It's bad enough our *forever* dentist retired and we have to carefully find a new dentist too. What's up with that? People retiring all over the place... A dentist is just a dentist, but I have had a lot of trouble finding one that wasn't extremely scammy. Just thinking about it stresses me out. & now I have to add brain surgeon to the "awesome retired people to replace" list. Ugh!

I'd eventually like to buy a nice treadmill and elliptical machine, and drop my gym membership. That's all I really use. That said, $15/month versus two nice pieces of equipment (don't want to buy crap) + two rambuctious children means this was not anywhere in my near term time horizon. Our gym is a steal.

In addition, my parents did buy a REALLY nice treadmill. I had my eye on it but figured it would be a while before they let it go.

The time came quickly. No one uses it but BM, so they offered it to me. They've maybe had it 2-3 years. (I initially thought they would tire of it in 5+ years).

I'll take it!

Will probably pick it up Easter weekend. Trading the kids for a treadmill (they are staying with the Grandmas a few days). IT won't be 100% free since we will have to drive the gas guzzler to pick it up. But all in all, a steal!

I have no idea where to put it. We have 3 TV-less rooms where it would fit. I may even have room in my bedroom (has a TV). But, I would be most likely to use it early in the a.m. while dh is asleep - so rules out the bedroom.

I think we will just put it in the main living area and see how it goes. Kind of an ugly space taker, but it seems to be the most useful spot. Will see how it goes. Second choice is a bedroom upstairs. I can close the door and not disturb anyone. It might end up in there in the end - just not TV watching while treadmilling. Anywhere downstairs may be too loud for the people sleeping upstairs - it's all open and the sound carries up. Will see...

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I am still back on forth on the screen door for our front door. I suppose I don't have to custom order it, but the big doors run $300-$500. A regular door could be had for $100-ish. I just find that really annoying! Add $200 just because it is a foor taller???

But as I am crossing off expensive things from my "saved for the future" list, it is becoming more tempting. I think we will just shop around and see what we can find. I don't think I will feel it is worth $400 or $500. IT will have to be the *perfect* door. So yeah, will look more seriously than we have in the past, but my expectations are low.

I need to find where to get a deal on these type doors. The prices I have seen are at the big box stores.

Checked Credit Karma since I got an e-mail reminder that I hadn't looked at it in a while.

What is interesting is that absolutely nothing has ever fallen off of my credit card report. I thought that was odd, initially, but then heard that good credit stays on your report for 10 years.

Imagine my surprise to see my "number of accounts" went down. Um, that is something that has never happened before!

I believe we refinanced our first home purchase towards the beginning of 2001. Since we paid off the first loan in the refinance, it stayed on our credit report 10 years after that time. Thus, it was the first loan/credit we ever closed. It makes sense that would fall off the report at this point in time.

Several things will start to fall off in the next year's time. We refinanced our home one more time and sold it all within a year - so that is two more home loans and a line of credit that will fall off our report within a year.

I'll have to pull up my credit report and see if that first mortgage is really gone! I am just assuming that's it. Credit Karma kind of gives you a sum up of your score (estimate/FAKO score), but tells you how many accounts you have open, accounts closed, credit utilization, etc. I find it to be a nice free alternative to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

Anyway, I suppose this all means I am getting *old.* Old enough to have lines of credit/loans/credit cards closed for 10 whole years.

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Neighbors had a yard sale today. Nothing very exciting. I stopped by to see. Last time I scored some really high quality paint for LM's room - $1. Hoping I would stumble onto something like that again. Something useful or needed.

The quality of everything was pretty low - beat up and banged up. Nothing I needed or was looking for at all. So, eh.

That said, LM bought an ashtray (don't ask). BM bought a toy. They got away with 25 cents for being neighborhood kids. Then when we went back with their quarters, a skateboard was sitting out. I swear the kids were better hagglers when they were younger. I had whispered to BM to offer half price for a toy and he was shy and pretty much didn't say anything. Just smiled at the guy and paid whatever he asked. LOL. In the end after they got their money he gave them both their finds for a quarter. Anyway, so I nudged BM and told him to offer $5 for the skateboard. I didn't think he would do it, but now we were talking real money. So, he did. They asked $10, he said $5, they said okay.

Now he is in skateboard heaven. IT looked pretty nice. Clearly it needed new wheels and/or bearings (which is why I lowballed it). Or maybe just some lube. Dh looked at it and thought it was brand new and never ridden. Was a good buy! Dh also made the point that we should leave it as is until BM gets better/older/more practiced. Good point - then we can fix it up so it moves faster.

Life is crazy. Tax season isn't really the all of it. Maybe the most of it. I try to keep things simple and not so hectic, so it all does seem pretty hectic at the moment. That said, I intend to work all weekend. Not because I have that much to do, but it's my last shot for overtime. That, and too many personal appointments. So I'll need to work both days. I am exhausted just thinking about the weekend. And work my To Do List looks impossible, I guess. IRS deadlines? I think I will pretty much be done by Monday, like usual (one week ahead). But the state has a 4/15 deadline for use tax, April 30th is payroll deadlines, May 7th or something like that is property tax deadlines, and I am behind on all my regular work. It will be busy for a while. I don't have that many tax clients, so that is why I am pretty much done. I actually expect to get caught up on other things next week. Phew!!!

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I can't help but feel my horoscope would read something along the lines of "many loose ends will be tied up this week."

**April 15th deadline - pretty much conquered.

**Gutters fixed. Total damage? $30. For a thorough gutter cleaning, some patches, and some fixing. I know - we owe our neighbor a nice dinner or something. He didn't want to charge anything and dh made him take $30. That was a project LONG put off - talk about loose ends tied up.

I hope he cashes the check. This is a case where cash would have been nice. I hate it when people don't cash checks!

**IRS audit - done. Got the letter that it was final and no change. For a client - but was a big stressful ordeal. Woohoo!

**I have 2 partnerships who have been quibbling with an exiting partner. Both have brought me much stress and back and forth the past year. Those 2 issues seem to be mostly resolved, as of this week. That calls for some champagne!!!

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As far as government shutdown? Living in California, I am ashamedly used to it.

This was actually a huge reason Ms. Preschool up and left the state. She had a lot of state subsidized children in her care, so basically didn't get paid many months out of the year - many years.

I am still bitter about that, obviously. That she just up and left - we loved her to death!

Government not getting their act together and paying their bills? Yeah yeah, what else is new? It's sad that has become the norm on some level. I agree with the other comments said this week in the blogs. Imagine, spending within one's means! A very novel concept...

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I told dh that getting our gutters taken care of so well, so quickly, and so cheaply was karma.

I have to laugh when people presume I am money grubbing whatever because I am an accountant. Accountant isn't the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to making differences in people's lives. But, the truth is it is pretty rewarding. I think people just tend to really appreciate having someone to trust with that stuff, and not having to deal with it. Because though I love it all, most people can't stand numbers, finances, and taxes.

Anyway, I am told on a regular basis that I am highly appreciated. Which is where the rewarding part comes in. Probably extra so this time of the year since people hate dealing with their taxes so much.

I suppose I feel the same way about home maintenance. I know nothing about it. I don't want to know anything about it. & having someone I can trust, who isn't going to screw me over, and help me with that? I told dh I was feeling what it was like to be on the other side. *Home maintenance* is my equivalent to *evil taxes* I guess.

So yes - definitely owe neighbor a nice dinner or some other token of appreciation!

Oy vey.

Dh called me to tell me that neighbor handyman patched one leak in our gutter and may cost $20-ish. (Big whoop, huh???)

But, this made me pretty grumpy. We have multiple leaks and issues all around the house. Apparently a ton of dirt had piled up in there so he was cleaning it out and patching it up.

I said, "Well, what about leak a, b, and c? & maybe he should go around and look for other problem areas."

I know the average person is just cheap, but I'd rather clean out the gutters than have further issues. Seems to me some preventitive maintenance is in order.

I was just so annoyed when I got off the phone with him.

Guess he talked to him more about it and he looked everything over. Not sure if he would have otherwise, but after I griped at him a bit... Found pretty much three major problem areas that will be simple to fix. He didn't want to even charge us, but dh insisted (& will round up, of course). He will finish it tomorrow, so will see what the final damage is.

This leaves some minor leaks that dh hadn't noticed that I had. Kind of funny because he noticed ones that I hadn't. So, next time it rains we will just do a once over and make notes of all the patches we need. I don't know how thoroughly he checked everything in the end, but I suppose we will have all the leaky areas double checked eventually.

In the end, was really nice because to just call him over to look everything over is no biggie (he can walk). Not like calling some professional who has to drive many miles and run back and forth.

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This repair/maintenance ended up being so minor that I am thinking of buying that screen door I have been wanting forever on our front door. I know just the man to help us install it, too.

Will think about it...

The only pressing item on our home maintenance To Do List is "fix gutter." I think it's been there 2 years. Doesn't help that I asked dh to take care of it and he just hasn't.

Knowing this, I have took back ownership of the task, but haven't gotten anywhere myself. It is really hard to find a good, reliable handyman. I am also pretty skeptical about other people's recommendations, which doesn't help. I find most people to be gullible and naive when it comes to most anything that cost money. I tend to better picking people out of the air than with recommendations. Have been recommended quite the scam artists over the years.

That said, I didn't really see any other choice. Was going to ask around with neighbors and on Facebook, and go from there.

Then, hallelujah...

A neighbor had asked for a handyman recommendation. A few days later I got an e-mail from a handyman replying. I read the e-mail and he sounded good on paper, but it wasn't until I got to the end of the e-mail that I saw it was our neighbor. Doh!

He's going to come look at the gutter tomorrow, but assured me it was probably a pretty simple fix, and that we shouldn't need to wash out the gutters. (We never had because there were no big trees around, and I had started to think maybe we should have done more maintenance).

Anyway, all of it is music to my ears.

I can't believe I potentially get to cross that off my list with little impact to the budget. Will see what he says when he actually looks at them!

Our strategy has paid off very well. Buy a new home with high quality materials, and don't do any work on it. We've been here about 10 years and the strategy has worked. We painted the exterior last year (original paint job did not last well - new stucco apparently does that). Dh replaced some toilet parts for $10-ish dollars this year. That's pretty much all that comes to mind besides slowly painting the interior over the years.

But, obviously all our appliances are aging, and we are going to need to find a reliable handyman type one of these days.

All that said, I've learned the hard way and made it a rule to not hire friends for things. So, I have slightly mixed feelings about the whole thing. But, I don't feel I have much other choice at this point. He's a contractor and business is slow. Why I never thought to ask him about this stuff before. But, guess he is hungry for more work.

Crossing my fingers!

I am copying Petunia's idea.

Of course, I was rushed and it isn't so pretty, and now I realize I highlighted the wrong payment.

But, here goes:



At this rate, we continue to find an extra $100/month. & we usually get around $1500 for Christmas, so we may just use that for the last $1k.

We wanted to pay off some of the closing costs we borrowed from our last refi, and psychologically hit the $199k mark since we expected this year to be pretty good financially.

So far we have knocked off $17/year in interest. If we pay off the extra $3k we plan to, we will save about $150/year in interest.

That said, once we reach our goal, I don't foresee continuing to put so much to the mortgage. Will wait until dh finds a job, and then we will put a TON more to the mortgage. IT's just one of those things I don't want to tie a lot of resources into while we still have 300 payments left. When we can start to significantly and rapidly knock it down is another story. This is why I don't mind putting a chunk of a second income to it - because we can knock off years very quickly in that case. In the interim, we have more pressing financial goals where I don't want to tie up all that money for eternity.

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Today I redeemed $100 in credit card rewards. $100 will be deposited into my ROTH in the next few days.

I am mailing off my property taxes today and watching my cash balance dwindle down to $22k. It will hopefully be back to $25k at the end of the month.

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I was thinking about those studies that show people's pain centers (in their brains) are not activated when they use a card instead of cash.

That might be true for the average person. I am just wired differently. I think I get more pleasure from saving than spending, personally.

Anyway, with how horrific April is with the property taxes, medical bills, and all the other bills due, and even being prepared and having saved up for it all, I think I am going to cringe every time I make a purchase this month. Credit or cash doesn't matter - will be painful! (I've never carried a balance so credit is same as cash to me! I just don't treat it any differently and can attest it is just as painful).

"Today, there are three kinds of people: the have's, the have-not's, and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-have's." - Earl Wilson

That was just at the top SA - LOVE it! Haven't seen that one before...

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A new month, and money in the budget to spend... Whee!!!

**Dh saw a deal for a $50 GC to a restaurant, 1/2 off, so he bought that yesterday. Will just take the kids and have a feast some day this month. Was a Living Social deal.

**He also saw season passes at Six Flags for $50 apiece. That said, thankfully he looked up the rides, etc. Decided the kids couldn't really do much. I am surprised - I thought BM was pretty much tall enough for any ride. But I won't argue with him. The kids get free tickets through some reading program, anyway, so we will go once this year. Will save season passes for the future.

If we bought them, would just come from our vacation budget. Tends to be more of a staycation-y budget.

We may get season passes to another amusement park in the area, this year.

**LM wanted to sign up for a class and the price goes up Monday, so I signed up today. I am not thrilled because I don't think the class is worth the money (or hassle). BUT, dh made the point that he never asks to do anything, and so might as well let him.

**Bought tickets for the Holi Festival tomorrow. I had read somewhere "5 and under" free. But I happened to notice official website said "Under 5 Free."

Ugh!

So, was $48 instead of $32.

Glad I caught that. Or maybe I shouldn't be - I am sure they would let it slide if I showed up with no cash and confused by the conflicting info on the internet. But, I don't mind paying for it if that is what it is. I double checked a couple of times before I paid. He is almost 6, so whatever - will just pay.

Last time went I think I only had to pay $10-$12 for myself. So, needless to say, the cost has gone up significantly. But I know it will be well worth it!

**I was looking forward to picking up some sushi today. Our local grocery chain has fresh sushi for $5-ish. We grabbed some for dinner a couple of weeks ago and it was SO good. I was thinking that would be a nice change from my weekend fast food runs. So, I am salivating just thinking about it.

When I was checking that the location down the street from my office had sushi, I saw they have these party planners (sushi, but all other kinds too) for very reasonable prices. We always grab the take and bake pizzas from there since they are so GOOD, and cheap. Will have to remember to grab a sushi platter next time we entertain.

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Scanned my paycheck last night, but appears it won't clear until Monday. (Usually next business day - I guess Saturdays don't count. Bummer).

I also can't download my March credit card transactions until Monday (stupid new credit card - rewards are good, but this aspect is a REAL pain). I do expect another $100 deposit to my ROTH (rewards), so that is the plus side.

So, my hands are tied until then. Monday I can pay the mortgage and the property taxes. & see if I need to pull any money from savings for all the big bills due in April.

No Joke!

So, dh has absolutely no patience when it comes to his beloved TV series, etc. Anyway, so lord knows why I have encouraged him!

We were just talking yesterday about the new Game of Thrones series - Premieres in a couple of weeks on HBO.

The plan was to have his dad record it for us on DVD. So dh asked if we should get the first episode for Easter. Um, heck yeah??? Since we will see his folks that day.

I did say we could just go down and watch it there - too bad it was Sunday night. But the math is that it may be $20 gas to drive there and back. At which point I said, "Heck, HBO is probably cheaper." Not that we need to make any special trips to borrow DVDs or anything. But, still. Kind of puts it in perspective.

I guessed HBO would be $10. Dh thought it would be $15 (per month). I said, "For 3 months? Maybe we should just pay for the dang thing."

So, he called today. $5/month for ONE YEAR promotion - we can drop any time.

Never hurts to ask!

Basically, $15, and we can watch Game of Thrones on our DVR. Woohoo! We'd pay more to go see a movie, probably. But, that's 3 months of entertainment. We will probably turn it off once the series is over. We've gotten pretty used to watching HBO series on Blu Ray (blockbuster). It's kind of nice to just sit down and watch a whole series - what we have gotten used to.

I think this is a nice splurge! But I don't foresee getting hooked on HBO.

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As far as April?

Bills, bills, bills...

$1200 medical bill due
$2000 property taxes
$ 500 dental bill (kids' checkup last month)
$ 500 life insurance (annual bill due).

Lovely!!

I am well prepared and don't have to even touch my paycheck. It's just never fun to see that much cash drain out of the account at once. Blech.

Thank goodness I expect a bonus check this month. Crossing my fingers I can replenish the medical savings fund - for 2011. If I am lucky, that check and my paycheck for April will be a wash with all those bills, so that my net worth does not decrease at all. I didn't plan it that way - all the bills due when I get an extra paycheck - it is just how it works out. I was kind of relieved the medical bill was not due until the end of this month, likewise. So my medical savings shouldn't go down to $0. Phew!

That said, I don't take anything for granted in this economy. Will just cross my fingers next pay day - hoping for that overtime check!

I was going to do one post on how much 2010 sucked and what was going on in April. It felt wrong to mix the two - so you can read my last post if you like. All about everyone's medical whoas.

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

April 2011?

I can't even think about it because my head will probably spin. Will still be working weekends, for 3-5 more weeks.

**Indian Spring festival (Holi) this weekend. I am exhausted just thinking about all the packing/planning. Covering the carseats in garbage bags so they don't turn rainbow-colored. Bringing enough towels and changes of clothes, etc. But, it will be fun. I don't think I have the energy to do it every year. Every other year has been our groove.

**The school moved it's awesome International Festival to April. Oh - the food is always DIVINE.

Why April? To torture me, I suppose. (I do remember last year it was like 100+ degrees, and the year before that rained - but I don't think April will assure better weather than May!)

Plus, I remember buying like 10 waters/sodas because it was so ungodly HOT last year!!! Seems they should have made more money.

**BM has two track meets (out-of-town). Lots of driving for these... But we can kill 2 birds with one stone and visit family. I don't think it will be so bad since we have other things to do at our destinations.

Needless to say... BUSY!

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

I shared that Weekend Sherpa link, recently. Lots of great ideas of outdoorsy stuff to do in California. (Indoorsy in the winter, I guess).

I haven't really looked at it much since my friend turned me onto it last fall. Tax season, surgery, crappy weather. Maybe I should read it more often - I didn't realize it had a ton of indoor suggestions during our endless rainy March.


Anyway, this is what came to my inbox today:

Rock City - Mt. Diablo


& so I found our first hiking destination for 2011. OMG - the kids will LOVE it.

Too bad we probably can't justify the gas or the time, until May. But will have to set a date.

The cool thing is it is a good half-way point to meet my dad. So, I am thinking a picnic with Grandpa. A cool hike. Neither of us has to drive 4 hours round-trip to do so. Woohoo!

Too much to post about - not enough time.

So will be short and sweet instead.

**Got gas for first time in a month or so? Price was $3.95. Ouch! Paid $3.75 with coupon. Still $0.40 more per gallon than last time I got gas.

I've gone back to driving dh's car more regularly (the gas sipper). Yesterday I drove 50 miles (met friend for lunch and went to aerobics). Dh drove 20 miles (I noticed when I got in the van today - we both needed a fill up). Played well. Whoever drives more takes the gas sipper, as long as prices are high.

**Dh's cousin gave him $10 for gas, after he lent him money and rescued his girlfriend after her car was towed. He was out of town and girlfriend was penniless. Will see if the check clears, but was an easy $10 profit if the check is good. (He has some serious money whoas, so who knows).

Also got $16 from Amazon. Not a super profitable month, obviously.

So, I added another $26 to the mortgage. At this rate, we will make our aggressive mortgage goal this year. Was an extra $160 for March.

Any other time I might have kept the cash. Meeting a friend for lunch today, and planning an expensive weekend, though March budget is probably blown. (Weekend charges on credit card apply to March - the card closes the 3rd or something).

BUT, I should also get paid some overtime. So, I will just ignore these minor splurges and chuck every last dime to the mortgage this month. Is a unique month, anyway.

**Our nice weather has returned and my good mood has returned. Woohoo!

Next 2 nights? Walks to the park, bike rides, etc. Hallelujah, life is good! This endless rain/no sun thing was really trying. Nice to have things back to normal.

**We've all been sick and work is crazy, but I really look forward to going to Holi this weekend. Unfortunately, the gas will probably be insane. & it will be a long exhausting day. But, probably extra eager to celebrate spring this year.

Oh yes - in years past I might have got away with $10-$12 for me, but I have to pay for BM this year and it is $16 a head. Ouch!

Will be an expensive weekend, but a very worthwhile splurge.

The best financial wisdom I have picked up for over the years is that there is usually a way to have something virtually identical for much cheaper.

Just seems to be a constant recurring theme in the discourse of personal finance. A recurring theme in everyday conversation with people around me.

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

Today my theme is dining out.

Um, I just got a tip that there is a SECOND culinary institute just down the street from our home. Just down the street from the other one who put on an awesome fundraiser for the kids' school.

Though Culinary Institute #1 did an awesome fundraiser for our school, and didn't charge us a dime - the whole night was about $80 for us. $50 dinner (100% to school) and babysitting. Ouch.

That said, look forward to more. We can do better with the babysitting, and a nice exchange for a 100% donation.

That said, second culinary institute apparently serves lunch to the public, a couple of days a week for $7.

$7 for gourmet dining.

I think I know where my new favorite lunch spot will be.

At MyMoneyBlog he did a full review of that book I mentioned:

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/book-review-the-art-of-non-confor...

"One interesting idea was his preference for what he calls Income-Based Financial Independence as opposed to Wealth-Based. Basically, he dislikes the traditional goal of having a “Number” of say a million dollars as a goal. Instead, he wishes to create a certain income from work that he likes to do, while also having the freedom and time to do all the other stuff he wants."

This would sum my own lifestyle, exactly. I want to live life doing what I like to do. But, flexibility is also important to me.

That said, I really liked this comment to the post:

"I think if you’ve got a dream you should pursue it. I just believe people should really consider their risk tolerance before jumping in!"

SO well said.

I did a post recently about how we are often criticized for being too "safe" and "boring." The thing is we LIKE to be safe and boring. & so we have found a way to live our lives that gives us freedom, makes us happy, but appears to be safe and boring. I suppose the author of this book was a little more into adventure, and so though it sounds like I could relate on many levels, I don't have to do something especially risky or "different" to find that happiness, myself.

I think the irony is there is so little conformity in our own lives. We can be labeled conformists for having the white picket fence and the 2.2 children, but that is about where our conformity ends.

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

It was interesting when I read this book review, because I just had the most insightful conversation with my spouse the other day.

I've always felt his parent gave him little career guidance but "You have to work a job you hate for good money." This is the complete polar opposite of how I was raised, and I have been annoyed how little his mind shift has changed after FIFTEEN years of being with me.

So, he tells me the other day that he just has NO IDEA what he wants to do. He is good at everything, so he doesn't know where to start. On top of that, he is extremely risk adverse. So, though he knows he wants to do something artistic (orelse he will never be happy), and he does NOT want to ever wear a tie again. But he can't resolve that side of his brain with his extremely practical nature.

For the first time I realized that though his parents' influence has always been very heavy in this, that he really has an internal struggle that I didn't quite realize before.

IT was ironic that he was telling me this just after I read about this book, and was thinking about risk tolerance in my own life.

Basically, my dh needs some serious career guidance. My only suggestions were to meet with the higher ups at the TV station (his dream job at the moment - and he knows everyone since he has volunteered there for YEARS). So he isn't getting anywhere with e-mails and trying to chat during events. I'm like - invite them to lunch and ask them for some career guidance!

Likewise, I think he should probably take some community college classes (dirt cheap here) and talk to the career counselors there. I am sure there are also other state resources for unemployed, etc.

One step he is doing is trying to finish some of his creative projects so he has something to show when he can network more, etc. It's a good start. He is planning a retreat next month (a free stay in the family cabin in the woods) to get away from the TV and internet and kids and just work on his scripts.

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

In all this, I realized I was extraordinarily lucky because though dh and I both seem to have the same risk tolerance, I am perfectly happy in a well paying and steady career.

Of course, I don't think dh has to be worried so much about the "Well paying" and "steady" side of things, (being married to me!) but his practical nature will never let him move past that. It is what it is.

Believe me - our kids will get far better career guidance. I just couldn't stand to watch them struggle the same way.

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

For myself, I identify with dh in that I also tend to be good at many things, and have many interests. As such, when narrowing down a career, I decided that a steady/safe/consistent job was what was most important to me. Accounting became the obvious choice.

I had seriously considered astronomy, biology, and music for careers. I even have a degree in the humanities. I totally understand how hard it is to narrow things down.

(Humanities - history, art, english, philosophy - was completely written off by the practical side of me - I just enjoyed studying it).

Through college I ruled out science.

My parents were extremely supportive "you can do anything in this world" types. OF course they were. My dad had little ambition until a community college career counselor suggested that he get an engineering degree. Was such a perfect fit for him. This left my dad with a strong sense that you can follow your dreams and do quite well. (Turned his life around significantly since he grew up poor and is now a millionaire).

That said, when I did express interest in music, my dad was always introducing me to his musician friends. He just wanted me to know it was a hard road. Not to discourage me - but to impress that it was something maybe better as a hobby than career. & that was with what he knew about me.

When we moved here, I immediately volunteered for a local wildlife rehabilitation nonprofit. I quickly realized it was not my thing. Thank goodness I didn't go to vet school. I loved caring for all the animals, and maybe I would have been happy as a zookeeper type. But, I just could not grasp the medical side of it at all. To me it was a re-assurance that I picked the right career. Phew!

My love for music and animals fits better as hobbies, for me. I know I could make a decent living teaching piano (I taught through college and had many music teacher mentors who did quite well financially), but I don't think it is as strong a fit for me as accounting is.

I know I Was very blessed to learn all this before I turned 23 or 24. Part of it was really getting my feet wet in a lot of different endeavors. Same careers that sounded great, I Was immediately able to rule out once I stuck my toe in the water. I figure the best I can do for my kids is give them those same type experiences.

My friend, who lives in San Francisco, told me about this awesome website a while back.

Weekend Sherpa

http://www.weekendsherpa.com/

Find weekend activities from hikes, bikes, camping, water activities, and skiing for Northern California

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For reference, Sacramento is only about 90 miles from San Francisco. If that.

As she told me all about this great website, I Was like, "Send me the link!"

Her: Oh, but it's a Bay Area website.



Like I never go to the Bay Area!

Anyway, she was wrong. It is a Northern California website. Though it may be heavily focused on the Bay Area, there are plenty of other Northern California destinations highlighted in this newsletter.

(I just had to share because Sacramento has this reputation of this no-fun, "middle of nowhere" place to live. So I am perusing this website wondering what world my friend is living in - that I couldn't possibly get anything useful from this website. But, I get this all time. It's a wonder we can enjoy our sad existence in the middle of nowhere).

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

Anyway, I just got an e-mail that they are also starting a Southern California newsletter.

So, I thought it was time to share the link again.

The interesting thing is though I don't think it is a goal of this newsletter to be frugal, but since there are so many hikes, bike paths, etc., mentioned, that it does give you a lot of frugal weekend ideas.

I just got some "whale watching from land" ideas - one of our favorite beaches has prime whale watching campsites (I had no idea). I like this idea after our last whale watching sea sick diaster. We really need to do some camping this year.

In my 1-minute chat exchange the other day I asked for a "Refund or a credit."

I know - I should have asked for a refund.

She told me they issued a "credit." So, I presumed that was store credit instead of refund to my credit card.

That said, I didn't see the credit anywhere, but I hadn't returned the shoes yet. (Had asked for a bigger credit since the next size up ended up costing more - when first pair were too small - because sale ended).

Just updating my Quicken, and lo and behold, a refund to my credit card. There it is!

I didn't even put the return in the mail until today. So, they just refunded me, without waiting to see if I followed through with my return.

That's pretty sweet.

Now I just have to keep an eye out for my credit for the returned shoes - I hope it hits before the end of the month.

Well, the weather still sucks and all the rivers are being monitored.

I saw something about fresh-baked cookies in someone's blog, and I have been wanting home-baked cookies since.

I was telling the kids we could make some chocolate chip cookies this weekend (perfect weather for it) and they were whining why we couldn't do it last night or something (was probably 8pm?). I finally gave in and said why don't we make cookies tonight??? Sounds better than waiting until the weekend.

Dh picked up some chocolate chips for us - so will be cooking baking night.

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

Kids got some colds - it will be a miracle if booger boys don't give me their germs.

We've had a good year. Even with this cold, we haven't broken out the inhalers yet. I was thinking about it in February - many months since either kid needing their inhalers.

Anyway, they both made it 2/3 through the school year with perfect attendance. We just got their 2nd trimester certificates.

Now that's a miracle!

I don't think BM has ever gotten perfect attendance recognition, before. He is never generally sick. But, he will be sick for a day here and there, spread out throughout the year. I don't think he has ever missed more than a day. (His illnesses are always fast and furious, and done in a flash). But LM is the type to perpetually have a cold. So lord knows how he manages to be so healthy around all those germy kids. I've never seen him so healthy? I think pink eye and strep went around 5 times since January - always some note or other from the school.

I'll cross my fingers that he is outgrowing his asthma. Other than that, the kids have always been pretty resilient. After paying their first year of preschool "sick dues." We were all sick non-stop for about a year - but everyone told me they would be less sick once they hit public school. Seems to be true.

Maybe LM has already been exposed to all the school germs through his brother.

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I had two lunch dates (With friends) this next week but kind of wanted dh to come meet me for lunch. It finally occured to me to just aim cheaper than usual, to fit it in (financially).

Of course, when I called dh to invite him to lunch, the first thing he says is "anything but fast food." Well that made it hard!

I finally remembered a great little hole-in-the-wall mexican restauarant that had expanded back to a full restaurant and their lunch specials. (They had become a little taco bar for a time and we hadn't it made it over there much in that time). Anyway, then dh tells me he also had a "buy one get one free" coupon so we could actually eat a decent lunch for $5.99 (for the two of us).

I was skeptical of his coupon (would they honor it with their dirt cheap lunch special?), but they took it. Then, they brought it back. Wrong restaurant. We paid something like $13 with tip. They must have given dh a discount since he didn't get a drink. Doesn't quite add up if I think about it. Anyway, still, not bad for a REAL meal.

Next time he can bring the right coupon and we can do even better.

It was just my "duh" moment of the day. If I want to eat out with the hub, I can. Just had to be a little more creative than usual.

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Came across this as a reply to a very pro housing article (was something like California will go up 25% in 5 years? Really???).

I liked the long list of reasons why the economy is not poised for immediate rebound.

Why Housing is Going Through a Double Dip

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Why-Housing-Is-Going-Through-c...

"Consumer sentiment: Awful. No confidence in this market. Only the investors are out in droves, looking for and getting bargains. We need them, but we need real buyers as well."

Precisely!

There are no real buyers in my city. Just investors. Something about that just seems very "off" to me.

It's only speculation that is maintaining my home value for the moment. I'm grateful for that, but nothing about the situation makes me feel warm and fuzzy about the housing market as a whole.

Of course, I am thinking of specific markets like Sacramento and Vegas. Maybe all of California (it's just so over-priced, still).

I rarely return anything.

For one, dh usually has more time for that stuff.

Secondly, we try not to buy things we will have to return.

Anyway, I ordered some shoes from zappos that were too small, but when I ordered the next size up, the price had gone up.

I had set it aside in the interim but decided to return the "Too small" shoes yesterday. Hoping for a refund before the credit card closed at the end of the month. So, better get on it!

I had to print out the return postage, so did all that.

I didn't see anything about their exchange policy, so decided to call them today. While looking up their phone #, I saw a "live chat" option. Figured might as well give it a whirl - I was in the middle of a couple of things anyway.

Asked for a credit for the difference, and within a minute I had gotten it.

Don't get me wrong - I have to follow up on that. I printed out the online chat and will keep it as a reminder that I have a credit. IT wasn't apparently obvious in my account, and didn't get further confirmation. But, that said, that was so EASY to ask for and will be so easy to follow up on.

Live chat for customer service - it has won my heart. LOVE it!

**I suppose I didn't literally do nothing today. I actually helped BM make breakfast (though he did most of it), went to Kohls, and hit the gym. Washed some bed sheets.

Vegged out, read, and watched TV for HOURS. I needed a nothing day to just recharge. Today did the job.

My score at Kohls was 3 sweaters for $10. I "saved $125" in the process. I probably wouldn't have hit the sweaters so hard, but they had a lot of turtlenecks and my neck scar will be pretty ugly for a long while. So, I got 2 turtle necks and another sweater that was like one I have (& really like) but in another color and design.

The weather wasn't horrid when I went out, though it was most of the last couple of days, and for most the 10-day forecast. I have never seen the place so empty. I think the clearance rack had more good pickings than usual, likewise. Woohoo! I was limited by the number of arms I have since I didn't want to do the dressing room more than once.

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

The best financial wisdom I have picked up for over the years is that there is usually a way to have something virtually identical for much cheaper.

Just seems to be a constant recurring theme in the discourse of personal finance. A recurring theme in everyday conversation with people around me.

Today my theme is art and culture.

The topic (art/music) came up because my friend called me up last night and invited me to a family concert thing that we had been to before. I declined with the weather and all, and my looking forward to doing NOTHING today.

BUT, it did remind me that we had gone to some great family concerts (FREE) the past couple of years.

There were 2 local Symphonies we had seen, and so I looked up their concert series and marked them all on our calendar. The next performances were in May and October. It's not an "often" thing, but they are free. & geared towards the kids.

Less for the kids, I remember all the performances I saw in college - put on by music students and professors. Always something interesting, unique, and low cost.

So, it seems to me there are plenty of opportunities to get out there and see some art - even if you don't have much money to spend.

Don't get me wrong - if money were no object - I would love to support the arts more, etc. I just have other priorities at the moment. I don't get the feeling my lifetime will be limited to free and low cost concerts. But while a college kid and while raising small kids, that is what I am limited to.

In addition to all that, there are always free performances in the community. A local farmers market is a pretty grand affair - and we love to go picnic there and enjoy free live music in the spring and summer. We also have weekend art walks with street performances, etc. The opportunities are endless.

On top of all this, I am strongly considering a fine art museum membership. I just wanted to go test out the parking situation on their "pay what you want" days that they have once a month. As long as I don't have to pay an arm and a leg to park, the membership is pretty lucrative. (We already have a handful of memberships. Thinking of dropping the zoo one for the museum, as the kids get older).

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

Since all our family lives in the Bay Area, we have ample opportunity to explore their arts/culture too. Since I could not find more than 2 concerts per year for the local symphonies, I started expanding my dragnet. I saw the Silicon Valley symphony also has "Target family concerts," which happen to be at our alma mater in the summer. No dates announced for 2011 yet, but it looked like they had put on some GREAT concerts in past years (reading reviews and comments, etc.). So I am really excited about that. There are probably several other large cities in our immediate vicinity that I could dragnet, but I think that is enough for now. I've got 2 concerts on the calendar, and a note in summer to check out the Silicon Valley concerts.

While at it, I did my first precursory check into the local youth bands, etc. I learned to play violin in 3rd grade, and flute in 4th/5th grade in public school. Did concert band and orchestra through high school, and marching band too (high school and college). I know that the public schools are no longer supporting music like they used to. Our school has a hard enough time making ends meet without adding a music program. I just don't expect to have those same opportunities. BUT, I know there are nonprofit organizations and other avenues.

I was pleased to come across a youth band that offered beginning lessons, a beginning band experience, and had many advanced bands and a marching band. Seeing that just made my day. The cost is nothing compared to private lessons, and it is nice to know there are so many group playing opportunities. (The kids can start in 5th grade. Might consider private lessons to start learning an instrument in 4th grade - and then switch to the lower cost option. Just depends on our finances at the time. I would prefer the kids be exposed to piano, a string instrument, and a wind instrument. From there, you can do anything. But piano is a good stepping stone to everything, and where we have already started).

Even in this internet age, I am always amazed by the opportunities I become aware of just talking to neighbors, etc. I have no doubt that once we meet more people in the local music community, that we will hear about far more learning opportunities, concerts, etc.

We ate well tonight:

Bacon-Beef Barley Soup

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Bacon-Beef-Barley-Soup

This was a crockpot recipe. Though it was recommended to serve with mashed potatoes, we didn't see the point. (The soup had potatoes in it).

Perfect for a cold winter day!

We were also out of bacon (it had gone bad), and so skipped it. It probably tastes even better with bacon, I am sure.

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

I worked all day and plan to do NOTHING tomorrow.

I suppose I may run to Kohls, but the kind of weather will just stay holed up in side, for the most part. I will enjoy a lazy day.

Hard to believe, only 3 more weekends!!! Though it is pretty busy through April 30th, my boss has taken to paying us overtime checks April 16th the past few years. I find I am never as motivated to work the extra hours when I get paid early. Might have to work 40+ hours or even a couple of hours on the weekend, but no more ALL DAY weekends after the 16th. Until next January. Woohoo!

It's kind of funny how the stars all seem to align at crazy some years. I feel like, surgery aside, the stars aligned at non-crazy this year. & it's probably been a while since it has. As such, I can't believe only 3 more weeks.

IT's like literally everyone has issues and corrections and outstanding items, or no one does. I don't know if I ever remember such a calm and uneventful tax season (knock on wood).

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

Since I am not uber stressed out and the stars did not align at crazy, we will probably make it to Holi (Festival of Color) this year. It will depend on the weather. Will hope for some sunshine and some drying out before April 2nd.

http://www.ashanet.org/stanford/events/holi2011/index.html

**Ugh! The weather is terrible here. Yes, we were just in drought a little bit ago. Now we are on flood watch. Worse, I just read another big storm is coming in next week. There is nothing but rain in the 10-day forecast, and more storms to come after that!

Can't win - drought or flood. Not much in between. We live in a very low lying area and so these weather conditions make me nervous.

I think we will be holed up inside the next 2 weeks or so. Bah!

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

**The messages we receive about the fiscal health of other school parents is decidedly mixed.

I got an e-mail requesting items for a raffle basket, and rolled my eyes at all the $50-$100 items requested. Within a day, all the expensive items had been snatched up, but so far we are the ONLY ones to buy a $5 item. They asked for like five $5 items to round it out. Heck, we will probably buy one or two more, if no one else will.

What the heck does that mean????? Some people are doing very well? No one wants to buy the cheaper stuff? (But me???)

**In addition, the school district has offered us crap for a location next year. We need more space, regardless of our expansion. Though maybe they would have just crammed us in somehow (more portables). But we added several Kinder & 6th grade classes, to boot, so the best they can do is split our school into 2 locations 5 miles apart. There is talk of renting commercial space instead, since space is cheap and abundant (post-bubble). The only plus to the school district's crappy offer is that it is "free." When I hear all the complaints about the new location, I wonder if anyone has bothered to look around the current one. No one complains about the current location simply because it is "convenient" and close.

I suppose it is possible that some landlord out there would get some tax break if they gave us free rent - so I suppose there are other options available. Anyway, so we really don't have anywhere to go next year, for the most part. The state is cutting budgets, and now we may need to come up with rent for adequate facilites.

I share, because everyone in BM's class is getting iPads. Okay, there is no doubt that this will be cool, and the teacher is very excited about the use of technology. BUT, all I Can think is that $10k or so could probably be put to MUCH better use. I have no idea the details on that. A deal with Apple? A generous benefactor?

My kids' ELEMENTARY school will be split and shared with TWO high school campuses. The facilities are crap. But they get iPads!

I am also not thrilled because it is probably something they will get used to just to have it taken away. Heck if I am spending that kind of money on an iPad. Let's hope I don't eat my words at the end of the year! I know it's hard to get used to something and then have it taken away - something so technologically advanced. HEre's to hoping we hate it.

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

**I signed up for Kohls e-mails in order to get $5 off. That was just a couple of weeks ago. I just got coupons e-mailed to me for 15% off + $10 off. Woohoo. I'll probably go buy something over there.

I don't think I have bought one item of clothing for myself all year. Usually what I spend my "fun money" on. So, will probably buy something. I have been fine with walking in and buying just one item because I need so little at this point. My wardrobe is fine, but I enjoy buying new tops once in a while to change things up a bit. I'll wear the same pants every day, but a new top here and there keeps things fresh. That's what other people notice. Practically free with all these coupons. (When I pull out an old top not worn in a while, people will often comment on my new shirt. IT's my little trick. They maybe notice because I do not have a HUGE wardrobe, but I always think it is so funny when I get a "new" comment about a 10-year-old shirt. ). I am easy to amuse.

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**I have been seeing all these posts, blogs, etc., about Ally bank. Eh. I am underwhelmed. I just feel like, "My credit union has been doing all that for many years." I am continually frustrated about all the presumptions that credit unions are just small and not as competitive. I have ranted a few times about how my friends couldn't possibly use a CU because it's so "inconvenient," and yet I am stuck driving around with them looking for a specific bank ATM machine, to avoid fees. I can guarantee my CU is more convenient than most any bank.

That said, I have steered cleer of any interest-paying checking accounts over the years. Usually too many hoops to jump through. Keep a minimum balance or get slammed with a giant fee. Even the best CUs. Stuff like that. I just treat my checking account as a conduit, and keep the balance at $0. Any money gets transferred to savings/investments/bills once I have it.

So, Ally caught my attention with its "no hoops to jump through" checking with interest. I figure my balance is often $3000, since I get paid the first and don't pay many bills until the last day of the month. The interest they are paying adds up to a whopping $15 per year. & I am probably over-estimating my balance, anyway. So, needless to say, I am not switching my checking account over there. I am not hugely tied to my local CU, but I have grown accustomed to having a branch I can practically walk to. I'll take that over another $1/month interest. But, when interest rates rise, it may be something to consider. I am not tied to a local bank - this is the only one I have ever had. Was nice in the in-between years when the mail was very unreliable. Now I can just scan my deposits? I'm happy to go back to online/other city banks. If the benefits make it worthwhile. (15 of the last 20 years or so I utilized CUs in other cities and never had much reason to go into a branch).

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

**In other news, I just happened to be driving dh's car when it rolled over to 120,000 miles.

By our standards, it's just a BABY!

That said, the car is 10 years old, and we've had it for 9 years. We paid just under $8k cash for it in 2002. We've had 9 years to save up for its replacement. I have a solid $8k to replace it. We expect it will last another 5 years, at least, and that dh will probably get a Ford Fiesta next round. Used, of course. Will see though. We have looked at cars the last many years and wonder what the heck. Like homes, I guess - they had gotten so big and expensive. Ford Fiesta gives us hope that we can buy something as fuel efficient again, and small and inexpensive. It's like, "phew." We have gotten accustomed to this small/fuel efficient vehicle. Ford Fiesta is the only thing that seems to compare, but maybe there will be even more options in a few years. (I admit I am a little brand loyal. I am sure there are other cars out there, but I am not 100% sold on Huyandai, etc., yet. Will do a lot more research when it is time to buy - who knows. Ford Fiesta has got a lot of press, and seems most comparable to what we already like about this car - small, low cost, and fuel efficient. Ford had impressed us so we may lean towards some brand loyalty. I couldn't say the same about their cars in the 80s/90s, but this car has been pretty sweet. NO issues, and we didn't have to pay a huge premium for that).

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P.S. Thanks to people like Lux and ccfree for getting old bloggers to come back and update. I think about a LOT of old bloggers, often. Too many to list - I wouldn't even know where to begin. But I just kind of figure life has moved on for them, they are busy, they are no longer in a bloggy mood. I am not a very pushy person and though I may comment on their blog once in a blue moon and let them know we miss them, I usually don't say much. Now I see all these people saying they came back because "so and so asked about them."

I suppose I should be more pushy, too.

**First off, we hadn't turned on the heat in over a week, and so I decided to turn down the water heater last night. I get the feeling it is later than usual, but it has been cold. (We set it to a lower level in the spring/fall, and even lower in summer).

Woke up and it was FREEZING. Might have been 40 degrees outside - maybe colder.

Now (2pm) it feels like 70 degrees outside.

Can't win!

So, do I turn the hot water back up? Probably will. I saw some cold mornings in the forecast. Bah.

We are also due for tons more rain, so hoping we can stay dry here. The rivers/creeks are full and the ground is so saturated.

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Dh is so funny because he keeps telling me how annoying all the girls are in the kids' classes. How they are always asking him stupid questions, playing dumb, etc.

I finally said, "I bet they just all have a CRUSH on you." I was teasing him, but kind of what it sounded like.

Anyway, we just left LM's conference and all these little girls came running up to dh and hanging off of him. O.M.G.

I called it!

Poor dh. Irresistible to the 8 and under crowd.

An excellent and relevant post at MyMoneyBlog, today.

Life Planning Exercise: Creating My Perfect Day

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/life-planning-exercise-creating-m...

I have so many thoughts about this, I wouldn't know where to begin.

Of course, this exercise was an idea from Guillebeau's book, "The Art of Non-Conformity"

"The underlying message of Guillebeau's book, based on his popular blog, is that "You don't have to live your life the way other people expect you to." Those who are open-minded, ready to challenge the status-quo, hard-working, and personally responsible can lead lives of rare authenticity through radical goal-setting..."

Okay, so I have GOT to read this book. My curiosity is definitely piqued.

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Anyway, my perfect day? That is an exercise that needs some thought and care. Something I will definitely meditate on some time after tax season.

I think this is a GREAT exercise and one that should be done often. I can't help but notice that life changes rapidly and humans have a tendency to think the grass is greener. As much as I feel in touch with what is truly important to me, I have found over the years that sometimes I was wrong, or things changed very quickly. Instead of making New Years' resolutions, maybe it makes sense to reflect on what our perfect day is, and how much that ideal may have changed from the year prior. Food for thought.

I was thinking about it because what I have been wanting more than anything is just some down time at home. Interestingly, I got that opportunity after my surgery. I felt great for about 100% of my time at home, recovering. But, I did not feel like there were enough hours in the day. I just felt like I more easily wasted more hours in the day. Suddenly, instead of planning summer vacation at home, not doing anything (which I always TRY for), we now have 2 vacations planned. Time home sounds nicer than it really is, to me. In more recent years when the kids were little, it meant more and I needed the time to accomplish more. But, the kids are at school and I have plenty of leisure time. I don't really need MORE.

Likewise, I have tried to warn other women about the lure to be home with their kids. Never felt it with my eldest, but had a harder time with child #2. There was a year or two in there that I felt a strong pull to be able to work part-time and be home more.

Those times? Dead and gone. My kids get home from school about 4:00 - I get home at 5:00. I am the type person who is far more productive and happy with a schedule and a job to go to. More time at home means little to me at this point in my life.

Just, don't turn your lifetime upside down for a pull that will only be there a short time, is all.

On the flip side, dh and I are very practical hard workers. It was only once we were ready to have kids that dh could put aside a well-paying job to pursue something lower paying or less "responsible." Between this mind shift, and all we have gone through these past few years on the medical front, we have come to a much deeper understanding about what is truly important to us. By the same token, when he first stopped working, we had a very limited income. As my income has grown over the years, we have made an effort to reflect on what was truly important, and how to best allocate that money. I honestly can't tell you what has made us think more - finite resources, or more time. Both, I guess.

As such, though I haven't sat down and planned out a "perfect day, hour by hour," my spouse and I have spent a lot of time reflecting about what is important to us, and how we want to live our life, these past 10 years or so.

Things that are important to me and that I do keep top of mind:

**Sleep - I value my sleep so much. Nothing gets in the way of a good night's sleep.

**Exercise - I know regular exercise elevates my mood. Exercise in the a.m. will improve my day ten-fold.

**Weather - I prefer to live in a mild climate, with lots of sun. My work schedule kind of works around the weather nicely. (i.e. summers are by the pool after work - many perfect swimming hours. Mornings and evenings usually pleasant for exercise/walks. The days are hot and suck, but then I am happy to be inside with the A/C. Winters are not my favorite - but that's when work is busy - so just kind of works).

**Quality of life - I don't do traffic and I don't do crowds. I think I have made that abundantly clear in my blog.

**Work - I prefer NOT to work at home, but somewhere close to home. This may seem idealistic, but I have always lived a few minutes from my office, and spend many lunch hours at home. These days I get nice lunch dates with my husband - with the kids in school. LOVE it. I personally can not stand to mix home and work. Work is work. Home is home. Completely separate. I do better at my job that way. I do better with my family that way. The boundaries are clear.

I prefer little supervision, and I'd be happy to not talk to anyone all day.

That said, being self-employed does not appeal to me in the least. (I have been self-employed and I hated it!)

What I really like about my job, besides all the numbers (which I LOVE), is the feeling of appreciation and really helping people. (Even if I have to talk to people more than I would like!)

Though my current job is amazing, this would describe most any job I have worked. I have many positive work experiences, and so know clearly what I want and what I don't want.

I am fine working 8 hours a day. 4 days a week might be nicer than 5, but I think it runs a bit "the grass is greener." Not sure it would actually make me much happier. I actually find since I work extra during tax season that 9-5, 5 days a week, feels very leisurely to me the rest of the year. When it is light out until 8pm, I am happy as a clam. I wake up early, hit the gym, take the kids to school, work, and have 3 hours daylight left to enjoy at the end of the day (lounge by the pool a few hours, go for a bike ride?). That's when life is good!

**I don't want my life bogged down by chores. So I hire out chores that I absolutely can not stand (yard work) and dh and I share in the other household duties - to our strengths and preferences. Thus, neither of us spends much time doing things we don't want to do.

**Kids - spending quality time with our kids is everything. When they are grown, that time will be replaced with more time to volunteer, grandkids (I hope), etc. As much as our kids are everything, I know that there has to be something else, for the long haul. This may be one reason working less doesn't overly appeal to me.

**Pay Day Today. I actually usually forget it is pay day and am surprised to get a check. I remembered because I had some other checks to deposit. Asked dh to just run them to the bank (had some cash, too), since I can easily scan my paycheck. So, became front of mind. BEfore this scanning thing, I just held all deposits to pay day.

The credit card is due the 31st, as is the mortgage. I will probably set the credit card to pay once my paycheck is deposited. Since I am adding extra principal to the mortgage - I will just pay it last minute. See if we can drum up more principal in 2 weeks time. It has a 2-week grace period, so no biggie. With no extra principal, I always pay it the 30th. But, I will likely pay it later with the extra principal factor. I'll decide exactly what to pay around the 31st, anyway.

Anyway, with 2 weeks before any bills due, no wonder I forget it is pay day. I just figured out this month with raise, tax cut and piano lessons, that I can pay everything on the 1st, transfer everything to savings, ROTHS, etc., and then nothing else to worry about until the end of the month (mortgage & big credit card). I like the simplicity. It doesn't always work out so easily...
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I had awesome news for a tax client. Couldn't have planned it better if I tried.

$50k taxable income? How much was his tax?

Um, $350???

That is an effective tax rate of 0.8%.

Is a low income tax client that came into some money. So, all he had was investment income - taxed at 0%. Tiny bit of tax on social security and disability. A whole $350 on that.

I sent him on his way and figured it was right, but couldn't wrap my brain around it. I had forgotten (or not known?) that capital gains rates were 0% up to the 15% tax bracket. I knew for 10% tax bracket. But not 15% tax bracket (up to $68k tax-free income for married couples).

I told him to enjoy it while it lasts - maybe 2 more years. I said "Welcome to being wealthy - the wealthy get all the tax breaks."

Not very many people can manage that kind of scenario (no income but loads of investment income). BUT, some can.

**Track practice was canceled, so we might have an impromptu movie night. Had wanted to do that over the weekend (popcorn/movie at home) but ran out of time.

**I love daylight savings, but not much enjoyment here. It's just raining cats and dogs. I thought last year was bad. Good lord. Rain rain rain rain rain rain rain. That's all I see in the 10-day forecast.

**BM had such an excellent report for school, that I announced he could go wherever he wanted for dinner. Probably tomorrow night. I don't think dh was pleased with that. BUT, he chose McDonalds. I think we can swing it.

Of course, I told him we were so impressed that it would be separate from his brother's celebration (presuming he also does well). Little brother just wants to do McDonalds too. Easy to please, I guess.

Heck, I think we have $10 in Gift Certificates still, from Christmas.

Well, Saturday and Monday were pretty good.

Saturday:

**Made it to aerobics (2nd time since surgery?)

**Worked for 3 hours

**Finished parents' taxes

**GIL treated us to lunch.

**Took a nap

**Played tennis/enjoyed the nice weather

**Read some of my book

(Interesingly - now that I bought last book for nook - it is now available at the library. Probably for the best - there is no way I can finish it in 3 weeks! Way too big. Dh checked out 2 ebooks - all was fine but no renewal, which makes checking out giant books kind of useless).

PERFECT day. Put me in a very good mood.

SUNDAY:

**It rained, I worked alone all day. Not too much exciting.

**That said, MIL made us a St. Patty's day dinner - corned beef and cabbage.

MONDAY:

Monday was shaping up to be hectic.

Tried to re-arrange piano schedule around track schedule, and realized we had a parent/teacher conference.

**Crazy day so we all went to BM's track practice. Dropped him off and was running to Taco Bell. Dh suggested grocery store for sandwhiches. Ended up with sushi. YUM. Just kind of a nice spontaneous evening of sorts.

If it was crazy hectic like that all the time - wouldn't be my thing. But I suppose was a nice change of pace from our usual "plan ahead - plenty of time to cook/eat dinner" schedule. Just, a little spontaneous.

**Spent 1 HOUR chatting with BM's teacher. Telling each other how great we are. Have got to enjoy these parent-teacher conferences. IT seems to be how it goes (he is a great fit for BM and thus absolutely no issues since he is so happy). That said, went better than expected - if that is possible.

HE also has AMAZING things planned for next year. I am more excited about it than I was.

Since I know BM is a brain, I am always more impressed with behavioral praise than academic praise. We got some of that too, and an insight into how the teacher was rewarding him for that. I kind of presumed it was an "everyone gets a turn" thing, and was pleased to hear BM had been singled out for extra praise and as an example the other kids should follow.

What more could a parent ask for?

Received $850 this week.

Dh gave me $50 from his focus group. ($15 of $65 went to kids' allowances).

Got $300 from a relative for taxes.

Got $500 from MIL, for 6 months' piano lessons.

Total $850.

I am also expecting $110 from my mom (1/2 cell phone bill 2 months) + $40 from Amazon sales.

I decided to put $80 of the gift money/amazon sales to the mortgage. Will make $130 in extra payments total - just like last month.

If I transferred $680 to savings, the balance should be $9000 (mid-term savings) by end of the month, once interest hits. Sounds good to me. How I determined how much to put to the mortgage. The rest above the $9k mark.

I had expected to put the focus group money + $100 from savings, for some expenses last month.

So, paid for that out of the surprise money. All taken care of!

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Next month will be another nice month. $1150 in medial bills due, but I Expect $2k-$3k from work overtime, to replenish the medical deductible fund.

This is one way I found to fund our ROTHs, even with 10% cut in compensation. I usually save $250/month for the medical deductible. This year I am depositing that in my ROTH. It's kind of depressing to put 100% of my overtime to medical bills. But, it is what it is. In fact, there is a chance that we might not even use it all next year.

As such, it's kind of nice to get a small boost to other savings this month.

I actually don't mind putting 100% of my overtime to savings. There is nothing I rather do with it. It is 100% to "medical savings" that just isn't very exciting. But, I will get over it.

Of course, I have been motivated to work more overtime, in the offchance I can take home more than $3000 and can do something else with the rest (like put some in the ROTHs).