Lucky Robin's Personal Finance Blog

So, it's been a little over two months since I last posted an entry. Things have really changed so much for us in that time period. DH was given yet another raise of $50 per day with the new contract. This puts our income at a level I never thought I'd see while we were still in our 30's.

The raise did not go into effect until this month, so we won't hit $117,000 for a yearly income this year, but that's what it'll be next year. I cannot even fathom this amount of money. I know there is a huge chunk of that going for taxes, but our liveable income has gone up so far in the last 8 months it's almost ridiculous.

The first thing we did was raise our 401K by 1%. I'd like to do more but we have to buy a new car and until I know what the payments will be I don't want to do anything more.

If all goes well, by the end of the week we will be the proud new owners of a fully loaded 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid with 21,000 miles on it. We have $2000 for a down payment and will be financing the rest.

I'm currently using my mother's car because I'm afraid to drive mine. Especially after an $805 car repair to my '92 Crown Vic that still didn't fix it all the way, I'm not putting anymore money into that car. And Blazer needs the transmission fixed and I just don't want to spend that kind of money on a '96.

We've made some large purchases so far this year. The first was a new couch that seats six and came with an ottoman for $1387.94 which included delivery. The old one has been moved into the playroom which never had one before and is horribly broken down and offers no support at all. It took us several months to save up for that.

Then last month we bought a new TV with my husband's yearly safety bonus. We spent a lot of money on that, but I figure it's a long-term investment for us since we don't go to movies or out to do anything much (besides eat) entertainmentwise. We just watch movies from Netflix. So we got a big screen HD plasma from Costco and it's fabulous. 50 inches. $1300.07.

Our entire tax return of just over $3600 went to pay down debt, which we still have far too much of. I'm currently working on making up a new budget to reflect the new income.

We will qualify for the entire tax refund coming out in May for two adults filing jointly with two children and when that check comes it's going straight into the emergency fund.

I really wish we had not gotten so far into debt in the past. I know that it was mostly medical debt but when I think that we'd have over $2000 a month from this point on now that wasn't allocated to something if we didn't have debt, it would be amazing. That's $24,000 of net income that could be going into retirement and stocks and vacation planning. Oh, how I wish.

I'm going to try to keep this blog going better now. I need to stay on top of the budget now with the new numbers and a new payment that will be coming into the mix. Other things, our 401K is still above $50,000 and our mortgage is almost down to $30,000, so progress is being made. Always a good thing.

Added the auto deposit of $10 to the EF today.

$2593.67 Old balance
+ 10.00 auto deposit
---------
$2603.67 New balance

Just a brief update on Rose, she is doing much better. Thank you to everyone who sent good wishes our way.

Rose went into the hospital last night with a fever of 104.1 and they couldn't get it to go down. Her pulse was really fast and her blood pressure was too low. Scared the living daylights out of us. They gave her a narcotic, Ibuprofen AND Tylenol, and an antibiotic for a severe bacterial infection. Not pneumonia and not strep, but they couldn't give us a name for it. Finally, after a couple of hours it started going down but it was scary while it lasted.

She's home now and safely asleep in bed and I'm wired on too much caffeine to sleep. And now that the danger has passed my mind automatically ticks over to thinking about the insurance deductible, the hospital and doctor's fees and the cost of a chest x-ray. Well, that's what my safety net is for. The small touchable part of my EF that is used for small emergencies. If I can't scrape enough out of the regular medical portion of the budget I'll have it covered with the safety net.

I am grateful we have the money there if we need it. That I didn't have to be one of those people debating whether or not to take my kid to the ER because we couldn't afford it. That we do have insuarnce that will cover part of this. But mostly that my daughter is going to be okay after some further treatment with medication.

I made several deposits to the EF last week. I took interest money made on my safety net and temporary savings accounts and transferred it to ING along with the regular weekly $10, and a refund check from the orthodontist, for a total of $302.57.

$2291.10 Old Total EF Balance
5.77 Interest
286.80 Refund Check
10.00 Auto Deposit
----------
$2593.67 New Total EF Balance

The last payment on my mortgage posted finally bringing the total left on my house to $32,014.98. Slowly but surely we're getting there.

I finally got around to adding the CU money to ING, plus needed to add in the amount of interest from the last two months to arrive at my new total in the emregency fund.

$2198.58 Old Balance
80.00 auto deposits
6.10 November interest
+ 6.42 December interest
---------
$2291.10 New Balance

So I have about $500 to save to finally have a half a month's pay in the bank. Then onward to the next goal of one month's pay.

Expenses for today were $20 to the school for my son's hot lunch account. Otherwise, nothing.

First I had to find the swing before I could make the attempt to get back into the swing of things. I pulled my CU statement off the internet today and balanced my checkbook for the month of December, so that's a positive step in the pay attention to my finances category!

Tomorrow's big step will be sitting down with the bill box and paying bills. Okay, more than that because I've been paying bills all along, but getting that aspect of my life organized. I'm going to be getting this nifty organizer thing from Lillian Vernon for my birthday in February. It's a box that has slots for every day of the month that you organize your bills into and then a couple little drawers for miscellaneous bill paying items like envelopes or stamps or whatnot. Always have a hard time keeping track of my whatnots, after all! But it should come in quite handy.

I'm working on my 2008 Budget Spreadsheet, too. Now I know that medical has not gone up for the first year in forever and that car insurance has actually gone down ('bout time, DH hasn't had an accident since '94 and I've not had one since '88 when I was 18 and that was only a parallel parking mishap!), and they've finally gotten the clue we're safe drivers! Security system monitoring has gone up by a buck a month.

Lots of little things. Property taxes should go down a bit this year as a levy came off.

Tomorrow I'll be making a trip to Costco and getting gas. Don't think I'll buy anything else there, except produce if it looks good. I've got plenty of canned goods and meat in the freezer. Well, maybe eggs, milk, and cheese. And dishwasher tablets. I think I'll make a list before I go. Since things seem to be magically popping into my head at the moment.

Just wanted to say thanks again for the warm welcome back. It was lovely.

I've been letting things slide for a bit too long. I'd say almost two months now, but particularly the month of December. I've just been ignoring things, and that's the kind of thing that got me into trouble in the first place.

What is it about finances that makes you turn your eyes away or put your head in the sand anyway? I haven't been completley hopeless. I mean the bills are getting paid. On time, too. But I can't remember the last time I transferred money from my CU to my ING account and I'm pretty sure there's at least six weeks of auto-deposits sitting there ready to go.

Haven't kept my running account of savings or the coin jar or updated my 401K either. Well, new year and maybe I'll get myself back to this. I need to. I'd rather know what I'm doing than not know what I'm doing.

I've rolled up a bunch of coins tonight, $36.50 ready to go to the CU for deposit. I've stopped saving $1 bills, a habit I'd like to get back into. I have managed to make at least one of the monthly $100 transfers to ING from the past two months. I think I did both, but I'll have to pull my statements and check to be sure.

I just feel so scattered. Or at least, scatter-brained. My house on the other hand has never been this organized before, so really no excuse for this lazy financial head in the sandiness.

This isn't a New Year's Resolution or anything because I don't make them, but I'm really encouaging myself strongly to stay on top of this in the coming months. It's too important to just not keep track, and if I don't I know we will just blow the extra on eating out and frippery. I'd rather be using that money to save up for my DH's next set of course work and a family vacation then what we've been using it on, anyway.

Well, here's hoping I won't be such a stranger to my own blog in this new year.

Today was the day of the auto deposit of $10 to savings. I transferred it to ING.

$2188.58 Old EF Balance
+ 10.00 Deposit
---------
$2198.58 New EF Balance

I also spent $74 on the 3rd Series DVD set of Doctor Who which came out this week and arrived in my mailbox today. It is nice living so near to an Amazon shipping warehouse. 2 day shipping for the price of 3 to 5 business days. I won't be making my usual monthly music CD purchase. Not that they are comparable in price but my deal is one purchase like this a month whether it be a movie, a DVD set, or a music CD.

Not too much going on. We've got a long weekend here. Today was early release at school and then the kids don't go back until Tuesday.

I will be taking Rose shopping for basketball shoes later this week, which will cost, and a couple pairs of winter pants. She really only has two pair now that the weather has turned and the cold season has started. Since there was snow in the rain today I need to rectify that pretty quickly. She's grown 4 inches since the start of the last cold season so not much fits. I think we can get by with only buying her two more pairs unless there is a really good sale.

Getting back into the habit of blogging daily is harder than it seems. I may just have to content myself with three or four entries a week.

My kid's school has initiated a new food program and is giving free breakfasts for the next four years to all children now, not just the one's who qualify for the reduced or free lunch program. And they made it retroactive to the beginning of the school year.

Which means my son's account just had $56 dumped back into it. That's nearly a month and half's worth of hot lunches. He'll eat breakfast at school quite often just because he has to get up so early with the newer start to the school day that he often isn't hungry yet, but by the time he's at school he's ravenous.

So it was a nice surprise to get the money back and I think we're going to take more advantage of the new breakfast program since it is available to all children. It'll save us a little on our grocery budget anyway.

I sent the monthly $100 deposit to ING today.

$2088.58 Old EF Amount
+ 100.00 Deposit
---------
$2188.58 New EF Amount

I also did some organizing in the pantry and in one of the freezers. Still have a bit more to do until I can inventory what I have, though. I should get through that tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will be making a pot roast in the crockpot and a chicken on the rotisserie and we will use that meat for dinners this week. I'll have to freeze some of it so it won't go off before we can use it all.

I'll also be cutting up veggies ahead of time. I've done onions and a red bell pepper and I tomorrow I will do broccoli, cauliflower, celery, and tear up a head of lettuce to store in my salad spinner.

I also diced up a bunch of ham and shredded up some cheese for making omelettes in the mornings. I'd started buying those premade omelettes from the grocery store and they are a sorry tasting, preservative filled concoction that in no way tastes anything like my own. It only takes five minutes to make an omelette in my large fry pan and then I can split it between me and the kids.

I think I may make up little omlette making kits and toss them in the freezer, just a little container that has the diced ham, diced onions, and diced red bell peppers in them in pre-measured portions. Then take one out the night before to thaw in the fridge.

I can't believe I was letting myself by those omlettes. It cost $5 for a package of two. I can make ten omlettes that would feed the three of us for ten days for that same amount. That's how far I had fallen.

I suppose I ought to do up menues for the week as well, though that may not get done until Sunday. We'll see. Don't want to overtax myself.

So, how to get my head back into the game of finances? It was easy enough when money was tight and we had to stretch everything just to meet our bills. Now, with things being so very much easier, and a second raise following the one of three months ago for DH, I find it is becoming easier to not pay attention and to let some of the new money fritter away.

I really don't think that is at all a productive thing for me to do. Yet, the desire to ease up has been so overwhelming and the idea that if I don't look at what I'm doing, then I'm not really doing it, is kind of looming large. I don't want to be an ostrich with my head in the sand and yet at the same time I don't want to think, either.

Dangerous, that. Not thinking. Gets you into all sorts of trouble. And out of trouble has been the goal for years now, and it really does need to continue being the goal. Just because we have breathing room does not mean that we don't still have massive debt hanging over our heads. That medical debt is not going to go away of its own accord.

So, what to do? Well, first of all I need to stay out of restaurants and start cooking again. There are a lot of reasons for this, but first and foremost it's because my food is healthier as I know where it comes from. It's either organic, or at the very least, free range, hormone free, and steroid free. Second, it tastes better than any restaurant food. One of the benefits of being a fine cook, if I may be allowed to toot my own horn.

And third, it's also much more frugal to buy my own food and cook it. Even with organic food it is still cheaper to make a meal than it is to do a drive thru run, even off the dollar menu. I know this, I've done the math before. You know this really shouldn't be reason number three. It should be reason number one. This just goes to show how very far my mind is away from where it needs to be, doesn't it?

So all of that requires planning because we are going to be busy. Two days a week at tae kwon do, two days a week at basketball practice and Saturdays are game days. That means menu planning and crockpotting and making lists of the pantry and freezer again. And not wasting food by letting it rot in the veggie bins because I was too lazy to prep and cook when it's so much easier to eat out. Such a vicious circle, that, isn't it?

So obviously step one here is organization. That's not the only thing that could use some organization. I want to get a real bill box. One of those letter box things like Lillian Vernon sells that has a slot for each day of the month, plus big slots for miscellaneous bills.

My method of two little cardboard boxes is not cutting it and every so often a corner tears out. The wooden box would go a long way to curb the frustration, plus I would be able to tell at a glance what bills need to be paid when because they'd be in their corresponding cubby. And stuff would go in there promptly upon opening it. No more little piles and oops the power bill slid under the bed and suddenly you realize oops, I forgot to pay it last month. How lame is that? At least I stay on top of the interest bearing debt. But I need to stay on top of everything, so bill box gets to join spreadsheet in my list of tools to get my head back in the finance game.

We've been careless with gas, too. More than one trip to town in a day, not grouping errands into a single trip, not making sure everything is in the car that needs to be before we leave so that we don't have to go back home after five miles to retrieve something we need. Like say the tae kwon do uniforms. So, I need to concentrate on that, too.

One other thing is that I've let the surveys slide. It's been weeks since I've been serious about them, so I need to get on the ball, go clean out my survey email account and start doing them again. I know it wasn't much but it did help to build up my EF account and that is still one of my top goals here. Get it fully funded. Though just one month's worth would be nice, and I would feel so much more secure.

Daily blogging always helped tremendously in the past, so I should really wrap my head around that. Keeps me accountable, keeps me from hiding and gives me a place to vent if I do something stupid with money or celebrate if I do something brilliant with it. And reading the blogs again, at least some of them, on a daily basis too, because they inspire, instruct and make me realize that I am not alone in this.

So it really comes down to three things in the end, doesn't it? Planning, organization, and follow through. And I think if I follow those three steps I really and truly can get my head back in the financial game.

Today was the day of the auto deposit of $10 to savings. I didn't do anything with the one last week either, which meant I had $20 to move to ING today. Interest was also posted to my ING account today.

$2062.87 Old EF Balance
20.00 Deposit
+ 5.71 Interest
---------
$2088.58 New EF Balance

It's coming along nicely. I'm almost up to half a month's expenses now.

And this is just how badly I'm not thinking. I paid my property taxes today, well, techinically yesterday since it's after midnight. Pretty big thing to forget about, isn't it? Well, at least I didn't forget to pay it. Now that really would have been bad.

So $335.88 out the door for half year taxes. Yes, those are low. We're not a city out here. More like a blink and you missed it, with the accompanying services (few, mostly volunteer), and most of it goes to the schools anyway, which are good.

I also added 2 handfuls of change and $7 in ones to the coin jar. Didn't count the change. Still too apathetic at the moment, but I'm trying, anyway.

I have seriously been so out of it lately, my head is in the clouds. My focus just is not on financial things at the moment. But I got a good deal today so I thought I should trot my sorry self over here and blog about it.

There's a new place that just opened up in my county (Whatcom) and they deliver. It's free range, steroid free, and hormone free protein, frozen and vacuum sealed. It's not organic but it is as close as you can get to it without being it and with delivery I don't have to worry about it sitting in the trunk for the long drive from town. It should last quite awhile when interspersed with the chicken and fish in the freezer already.

Other than eggs and cheese, I shouldn't have to purchase protein again for a couple of months. So even though it was more than half my monthly food budget in one go, I think it was well worth the expense.

They sell it by the case and I ended up with 55 beef steaks for $150. Very good portion sizes, too, no skimping. That works out to $2.72 per steak. It was T-bone and rib-eye, New York strip, and filet mignon as well as two other cuts I can't remember and I'm too lazy to go and get the brochure. Pretty good when the recent sale price on a plain old chuck roast was $2.99 this week.

Whenever I need more I just call them, order, and they put me on their delivery route for that week. The $150 a case is an introductory price for a year. Not sure what I'll do if it isn't a renewable special offer, because I don't want to go up to the $300 it is supposed to be after that.

Anyway, it's nice to find a good source of beef without having to buy a side of beef and find room for it in the freezers.

I won't use them for chicken since it's all white meat and we all prefer dark or seafood because we don't eat most of what is offered and we don't eat enough pork to even think about that. But for beef, definitely.

I'm trying to get back into the habit of daily blogging again but when you stay home all day and spend nothing, there's not much to talk about, now is there?

DH wants to save part of the raise towards vacations instead of all of it towards that credit card. My view is that we are saving $100 a month right now for vacations. I think I'll give in a bit on this one, though and start saving $150 a month for vacations and then the rest of it can go to the card.

I know its not the practical or logical thing to do financially, but I also know it promotes marital harmony which actually is the practical and logical thing to do there. So I suppose it all evens out in having a smoother running life.

I find it to be a bit weird not having to have the belt so tight these days. I got rather used to it and I really have to fight hard about letting my guard down completely. Because I want to, but I know that's no way to get out of debt. So I guess this daily blogging thing needs to remain in the forefront of my brain, lest I forget that rather important fact, hmm?

Some of the folks in the engineering department where DH works have jumped ship and his bosses decided to give him a pre-emptive raise in the hopes that he won't do the same thing.

Since he's got no intention of leaving anyway, it was a nice surprise. Especially since it's only been a couple months. It works out to $500 gross every 4 weeks. He hasn't run the numbers yet to see what it'll be after taxes, but I'm assuming it will add an additional $300 every 4 weeks into our budget.

That means we should be able to pay that remaining credit card down even faster, so I'm quite happy with that. DH still wants to go to Disneyland next year, but I'm holding out for 2009. Though I'd much rather go to London. Not with the kids though. Anyway, that's a pipe dream right now. I have a feeling London will be closer to 2019. But that's fine at this point in time.

Not really much going on. We're all sick still but DH and not spending much money.

I deposited the rolled coin into the safety net today, bringing the total in the safety net to just over $500.

So new EF amount is:

$2039.87 Old EF amount
23.00 Deposit to safety net
--------
$2062.87 New EF Amount

For those who don't know, my safety net is money I keep in a local account for quick access in case of an emergency. The rest of it is in ING. I figure $500 will do me fine until I can get more from ING if necessary. So getting the safety net up to $500 was my goal for it, which I hit today. Happy on that score.

I transferred $20 (two weekly auto deposits) to ING this morning and an additional $15 in ones I had in the coin jar from earlier in the week.

$2004.87 Old Balance in EF
+ 35.00 Deposit
---------
$2039.87 New Balance in EF

I'll be depositing $23 in rolled coin into the safety net, hopefully today, as well, but I'll add that in after I do it.

I also got the 401K statement yesterday and since July 17 it has increased by $2455.58, bringing it to $50,250.89. I am quite happy that we have finally hit and gone over the $50K mark. That feels good. Obviously we still have a long way to go until retirement but this is a major milestone for us.

Well, really I still am sick. Really sick. Just this side of pneumonia sick. One big plus of this is that I have not been spending much in the way of money, because I haven't gone out any more than I've had to.

For some reason life just seems to carry right on whether I feel like getting out of bed or not. I'll have to spend tomorrow because I'll be out of cold medicine and needing a refill on my prescription by the afternoon. And well, DH comes home so I'll have to drive in to town to pick him up, too. Then he can drive for the rest of my life as far as I'm concerned. Or at least until it doesn't feel as if my entire head is made up of gunk.

I didn't even bother to do any surveys for like two weeks now, I didn't transfer money to ING last week so I'll wait until tomorrow and do both Thursday deposits then.

Basketball sign up happened yesterday so I did write a $25 check for that. One of the cheapest sports available, soccer is like $70 now but they aren't playing that anymore apparently.

I feel like I've been living on caffeine and cold pills, not a very good combination at all, but what else can you do? Moms don't really get to be sick, we just blunder on.

Anyway, I really need to do better on keeping up with my blog. My focus is way off on financial stuff lately and I'm pretty sure that's from not writing on here. Let's hope I can get my act together again, 'cause I sorely need to.

I made it to the new Trader Joe's yesterday. It was nice to have so many choices in healthier foods, though I was kind of surprised how much they had in the way of junk food. So many cookies and candies and chocolate covered nuts, and candied dried fruit dipped in sugar. Organic junk food is still junk food and at least it wasn't made with corn syrup.

Still I managed to find $55.61 worth of stuff that we could eat. I tried their store brand milk and it's decent tasting, though I will probably stick with Organic Valley and buying it from Fred Meyer since its a dollar cheaper there.

Never made it to Costco, just didn't feel good enough. Mom took the kids for the weekend, I get them back Sunday noontime. I am spending a lot of time sleeping and a lot of time reading over at Teaspoon and writing some. I've told myself that if I write a chapter on something over there, I've got to come and write at least one blog entry on that same day.

Yesterday was payday so I sent $100 to ING. That brings my EF to $2004.87 and my goal of $2000 is now achieved. I need $600 more to meet my goal of 2 weeks wages. That will take a couple of months.

I've been ignoring my surveys lately, just haven't felt in the mood to answer a bunch of repetive questions. I suppose I should get back to it, as it does help the EF to grow bit by bit. Just kind of apathetic about it.

Part of the apathy has been being sick and part of it has been the onset of SADS with the fall overcast. Time to dig out my light box and start light therapy again. It always hits me very hard in the fall, but it seems like it always a couple weeks in before the light bulb clicks on and I realize what it is I need. I think there was a bad pun in there somewhere.

I need to sit down and do bills still today. I am just in a lazy lay around do absolutely nothing physical mood today. Other than emptying the dishwasher and doing a load of towels, that is. I suppose I ought to do more. The laundry won't take care of itself no matter how hard I wish for it.

I have a really bad chest cold, so my idea of getting my act together and blogging as usual have just really not been top of the priority list.

But today was the auto deposit of $10 into savings, which I then took and transferred to ING. I also remembered to check last month's interest while I was there. It was $3.54.

$1891.33 Old EF Balance
10.00 Weekly Deposit
+ 3.54 September Interest
---------
$1904.87 New EF Balance

Yesterday DH and I dropped the kids off with MIL and then went to Costco to buy the kids their new mattresses. That came to $303.50. I had budgeted $302 for it, but I think I must have added up the tax wrong or its gone up another .01 percent. Still, it was a good price for two twin mattresses and the kids are very happy with them. They slept very well last night.

Since we had FIL's truck we took a big load of stuff to our storage unit, which is starting to get quite full. Next time DH comes home we'll do some sorting and rearranging in there, but since he's only home for a few days this hitch we're not going to do it now.

Afterwards we went back to MIL's house and our neices were there playing with our kids. We hung out for quite a while so DH had a chance to visit with his mom. His dad was at work.

My SIL showed up with her new boyfriend a few hours later to pick up her girls. I haven't met him before, even though its been a couple months now. He seems like a very good person, he's kind and respectful to her and her daughters and my first intinct was to trust him. He's head over heels for SIL.

Now with her almost ex-H my first instinct was to run as far and as fast away from him as I could get and never ever leave my kids alone with him. I was proved right there. So I am very happy for her. She deserves this second chance after shaking off that abusive, child molesting felon.

I see a huge difference in her daughters as well. They are blossoming into two very different children. And its a very nice thing to see.

Finally got a new car stereo installed today, that comes with CD player, MP3 player adapter and a place where you can plug in a flash drive and bought a S-cable to hook the computer up to the TV so we can watch streaming video on TV. Cost just under $250.

We went out to breakfast at Shari's, which was $27.30 and left a $6 tip (she did a really good job).

Also bought a gallon of milk and two bottles of nasal spray. Nasal spray is getting ridiculously expensive, it was almost $8 per bottle. And the milk was $3.59. Could be worse and often is.

While we were waiting for the car we walked over to the mall and looked around FYE and Walden Books. Didn't buy anything though I would have if they had the CD I wanted. I haven't bought my September CD yet and I'll have to order it online. I think its an important, so this may count as both my September and my Ocotober music purchase if its too pricey.

Today was also the day of the auto deposit to savings of $10, so I sent that off to ING.

$1891.33 Old EF Total
+ 10.00 Deposit
---------
$1901.33 New EF Total

Just $98.77 to go to hit $2000. Slow and steady wins the race. And I want to win.

I got shanghied by another website

www.whofic.com called A Teaspoon and an Open Mind and have been off playing with them all week, since I had a cold and didn't want to think about reality. But reality is back and 20,263 words of fanfic later, and an empty spot in my head where a story used to be, I'm back to reality and blogging again.

Oh, I'll still play over there, but it won't be as time consuming. Anyone into Doctor Who and Firefly there is an amazing crossover story called Out of Joint. I usually don't like fanfic crossovers but this one is just done so amazingly well. Especially River and the Doctor, though there was a good bit between mechanic Kaylee and the Doctor's TARDIS. But I digress.

So, bills so far this week:

$1000.00 to medical debt
$1000.00 to Chase (last card)
$ 129.50 to BoA (leftover interest, but now its clear)
$ 9.58 to Citi (leftover interest, now clear)
$ 100.00 to the gas card
$ 200.00 to groceries and toiletries
--------
$2439.08

Otherwise its been a pretty low spend, low key week. We haven't done much since I was getting over the cold.

DH comes home tomorrow, finally. I haven't seen him in a month. There will be some spending as we are going out to eat at a nearby restaurant while we get a new car stereo installed.

I am starting to settle in to this new payraise DH has and I feel so much better about everything. Life has gotten a whole lot easier in the financial ring, but I really want to make sure we maintain our focus on getting out of debt and building up the EF. I am so close to $2000 and then after that I want to build it up to $2600 and that will be half a month's wages saved.

I haven't done much in the survey area this week. Too much time spent writing and reading instead. But I'm pretty close to cashing out again with Global Test Market for a $50 check. I think I need just 50 points to do so. So time to refocus and get on with it.

I've missed being around here and now I need to go and get caught up with you folks!

I haven't spent money in awhile. I never went in and got the new car stereo, I was so tired from fighting of my kids' colds. Sometimes I hate the germ factory (school) and dream of homeschooling again, but I don't have the patience with the younger one and the older one doesn't want to.

Yesterday was payday and $1000 of this check goes to the remaining credit card and $1000 goes to the medical debt. Next week's check will mostly go the remaining credit card.

In today's mail I got a refund from the orthodontist, so I took that to the bank along with DH's boot reimbursement check from work.

$1444.53 Starting Balance
286.80 Orthodontist refund
+ 160.00 Boot reimbursement
---------
$1891.33 Ending Balance

So I've blown right past my goal of $1500 in the EF and am well on my way to the next goal of having $2000 in the EF.

I didn't realize I hadn't posted since the 16th. The kids have been sick and whiney, I haven't been feeling great either, I haven't spent money because we haven't gone anywhere and I've been playing in the Whoniverse. Found a fan fiction website for Doctor Who (see sites I frequent for more info on what that is) and have been having a grand old time reading and writing. And it's free entertainment, my favorite kind!

But its time for the real world to impinge once again. So, today is the day of the automatic deposit of $10 to savings. I transferred that to ING, bringing the amount in the EF to $1444.53.

DH sent me a reimbursement check for his work boots that arrived in the mail yesterday. I will try to get it in the bank today. That will be an additional $160 to the EF. But I won't add it in until I do it.

I'm having one of those days where its hard really to know what to post. I suppose I should get around to posting what I did with Friday's paycheck, but I'm not really in the mood and I'm not quite done paying all the bills anyway. I'm doing one tomorrow in person than I'll be done.

I'm going to go in tomorrow and see about getting the car stereo replaced also. I have the money for it and for the sake of family harmony it really needs to be done. I figure I can get it installed well before school is out. And since it is in a shopping district I can wander around a bit.

Macy's home store is right next door to the place I'm going so I can go and try out furniture. I'm not ready to buy anything but we are looking at getting a recliner soon and the couch is on its last legs so maybe in a year or so for it. I would never buy anything at Macy's anyway as it is even more overpriced now than it was when it was the Bon Marche home store before the buy out. But I can see what is out there and look for similar styles later at more affordable furniture stores.

Bed, Bath and Beyond is right there as well and I want to see if they have couch covers, I forget what they call them, but its a fabric sort of blanket that is fitted and gives the couch a new look. Ours is so faded and stained and it would be nice to spruce it up a bit.

I can also wander around Office Depot, Costco or head down to Michael's craft store. Not to buy, just to waste time. Hopefully it won't take a lot of time. I'm not much of a shopper generally, I like to go in, get what I need and get out ASAP. But if I'm actually looking for something its not too bad.

I do want to check out the schedule of classes at the craft store, though. I'm thinking of taking some acryllic painting classes again. It's been years but I have all the supplies and I'd love to get back into it. Landscapes were always my favorite.

Or take an intermediate knitting class. Or maybe learn how to make beaded jewelry. I have had an interest in making jewelry for awhile now, I have a good eye for color and design, and I might even be able to generate a little side business. I'm particularly interested in necklaces and bracelets. I suppose it could become a pricey hobby, though.

Oh, I'll have to think on it once I see the class schedule and fees.

Today was a long day. I dropped the kids off at school a bit early today so I could take the car in to the dealership on time. They had estimated that the work would cost $679 but it cost $559, so I added that extra $120 to the EF, along with the GTM check and $2 I had in my purse. I'm coming up pretty fast on my goal of $1500 for the EF.

$1262.53 Old Balance
50.00 Survey Check
2.00 in ones
+ 120.00 car less than estimated
--------
$1434.53 New Balance

I can feel a real difference in how the car is driving now. It accelerates better and doesn't buck when it goes through the automatic gear changes. It makes it feel much smoother, like it used to be when we first got it. Definitely money well spent if we can keep it going for another year or two while we save up for a hybrid.

I'm glad to have this taken care of before winter hits. I really should have the other vehilce repaired before winter, too, but I'm not sure if we can swing that. I suppose I can take money from the EF if I have to, but I'm not sure I should for this. We just don't drive it that much with gas prices so high. And with Humberto and the Mexican gas explosions, it's only going to go up again.

Today was the automatic deposit of $10.00 to savings. I sent that, plus an additional $12.50 off to ING today.

$1240.03 Old Balance
+ 22.50 Deposit
---------
$1262.53 New Balance

I haven't deposited the $50 check from Global Test Market yet. I will do that tomorrow when I do my banking and send it off to ING.