BEing Lianne's Personal Finance Blog

Yup, someone I know is getting bailed out! These people spend and spend and spend.... Forgive me if I'm not really clear on the details. I get this information third-hand. They are the stereotypical spenders - just have to buy everything! They almost lost a house a few years ago, but instead they ended up in a much larger and newer house. Of course they are in danger of losing this house as well. I was just told that this house is in an elderly relative's name. The relative just got a letter from the bank stating that the late payments will be rolled over into the loan. The bank is also refinancing the loan 1% lower which will save them $200 per month.

Wait. I work hard, pay all my bills, and don't have extravagances in my life. Where's MY bailout?

Well, today was the day we rented the uhaul and bought the plywood. This was the 2nd biggest expense for this project. Most expensive part will be the laminate flooring. I want to track this project, so here is what we've spent so far:

Prior to today:
Various tools & Accessories: 71.23

Uhaul rental: 33.01
This includes 19.95 rental, 1.00 environmental fee, 1.27 tax, 4.31 mileage charge, 6.48 gas. They tried to give us trouble with the gas "usage"! DH saw that the needle was just touching F, so he thought that's what they considered full. After the trip, he went and put TWO gallons in the van. We only went 7.3 miles, so there's no way we even used two gallons of fuel. The lady tried to charge him extra because the tank wasn't completely full. Well, long story short - it's a FORD and we've never seen a Ford fuel gauge that wasn't tempermental. No extra charges for us. I would have disputed with my credit card if Uhaul had tried to pull anything funny. I have never had a good experience renting from them, but this was the cheapest option for us.

Insulation: 58.00
Joint compound: 3.48
Random metal things: 2.00 DH is reinforcing part of the floor with these
Screws: 7.68
Project Starter coupon: -10.00 YAY!
Tax: 3.16
Total: 66.40

5 Sheets Plywood: 122.20
2x4x96 board: 1.89
Project Starter coupon: -10.00 YAY again!
Tax: 5.70
Total: 119.79

These were 10.00 off 50.00 coupons, so we each bought some of the items.

Running total spent so far: 290.43 Yuck!

This is going to be more expensive than I thought. We priced laminate and the prices have gone up a bit over the last couple of years. Plus we have to do the stairs as well. It will look nice, but really drive the cost up. Laminate stair nosings cost around 20.00 EACH!! We have no choice on the stairs. We can't leave the ratty non-matching carpet there. It matches what's currently upstairs, but that's leaving soon.

I stopped to get milk on the way home and saw an interesting thing at the convenience store. I heard the kid explain that he lost his debit card and had been waiting a couple of weeks for the new one in the mail. His friend working the counter was letting him pay for cash-paying customers gas with his credit card. The friend would then hand him the cash. While I'm quite sure the store owner would not be happy with this arrangement, I thought it was a really clever way to pull cash from your credit card!

We certainly live in a world where we rely on electronic payment forms, but at the same time that leaves me with hardly ever needing cash! I can't imagine a time I'd be in his shoes and that hard up on CASH. DH has lost his debit card way too many times lately. We just shrugged it off and waited for the new one to arrive. Well, I guess it did help that *I* had mine if we really needed it. Cash can't be tracked in this household - DH doesn't know what he spends it on!

I updated DH's car payoff plan in my sidebar. As of right now, it looks like we can get this car paid off three months earlier than originally planned. TEN months earlier than the loan is due in full! I feel great about this!! Still subject to change at any point and I can only hope it would change for the better.

Not much progress is being made on the floor today. DH just ran out to find a tool to make some of the cutting easier for him. There is just so much DUST and animal fur up there and it's making him so sick from allergies. He'll be buying a dust mask while out as well!! We're both so tired and run down that this project is going MUCH slower than we had hoped. I was really hoping we could lay down the subfloor this weekend, but it's looking more like next weekend. Well, we really can't afford to kill ourselves over this. It's just making life slightly inconvenient for us to be shut off from the third floor - more so for the turtles!

Nothing else new to report, so I think I will go browse the sale flyers and hit the grocery stores.

Weather is BEAUTIFUL here today! Will try to get in some outdoor time with the dogs.

Warning: Rant.

So I'm back to being frustrated with my mother again. I just don't get what it is that SHE doesn't get!! I feel like if I don't give very clear directives on her money, then she just goes and spends spends spends on who knows what.

Yes I KNOW that's she's bored, depressed, upset, etc etc etc. She's been home since the end of May, just waiting to find out what's next with treatment. She finally found out she doesn't need chemo and she starts radiation on Monday. But HELLO?? Now more than ever she needs to pay attention to the things around her. It seems to me she's refusing.

I'm also picking up an odd sense of entitlement from her. I can't figure this one out! All I hear from her is that she doesn't make enough money. I disagree! She makes plenty to pay her bills. I just can't figure out where she's blowing it all away. She spends more than I do at the grocery store and there are two of us and just one of her.

So she seems to think she's entitled to financial aid for this and that. Thank GOODNESS she was approved for financial aid at the hospital because that really would have been the end of her finances forever. That was a huge approval. Now she's upset because fuel assistance says she makes too much money to qualify. Their income requirements must be ridiculously low to deny her application. Ok, so PLAN to pay for fuel. I've been trying to convince her of this for MONTHS. Nope, she actually wanted to call and appeal the fuel decision and let them know she was worried about medical bills. WHAT medical bills????? Well when she applied, she WAS still worried about medical bills. She hadn't been approved for the medical financial aid yet, and fuel assistance still denied her.

So I don't know what else to do but to take more control over things. She refuses to but someone HAS to. She didn't get paid two weeks ago because of a clerical error. Instead of being proactive and calling to make sure her sick pay is all set, she just sits around and waits to see if a direct deposit goes through. When it doesn't, she sits and waits to see if a check will arrive. HUH? I work in payroll and trust me, if you don't get paid and you don't notify me of the problem - you're not getting paid!! So today is pay day and on Wednesday I sent my mom an email asking her if maybe she could log in to find out if she was getting paid today. Thankfully, she was!! Four weeks worth of pay! I don't think she understands how LUCKY she is that she gets this sick pay.

So I'm trying something different this time. I gave her an allowance of $160 for gas/groceries, $50 fun money (this is a FIRST), plus money for the rent. The rest went into savings for fuel this winter. I thought this fun money would be good for her to blow on whatever she wanted. She actually got defensive with me when I suggested this concept along with examples of WANTS vs. NEEDS. This is the point where I start banging my head against the wall. Yup, again I don't think she knows how FORTUNATE she is that she has that gas/grocery and fun money allowance over the next two weeks.

Yes I know she's supposed to be an adult, but she sure doesn't act like it or take responsibility for anything! Her view on money is having the ability to see what is currently in her checking account - that's IT. No concept of money management whatsoever.

I really just needed to vent. This is taking such a toll on me lately.

I took this picture this morning to mark the progress that has been made on the floor. I am happy to report that ALL offending soaked insulation has been removed and now we have to clean up and renovate. Still so much work to be done, but the immediate problem is done. I bet we can really get a lot done this weekend. I'd like to keep track of this project in my blog so that I can see how well we did. I think so far DH has spent $7 for a crowbar to help pry up boards. I'll get the exact number later. Not much work will be done tonight as DH is at his "side job" and gone all day. So the weekend it is! I think tonight I will just get my turtle set up in his more "permanent" temporary home. I might displace another turtle as well since we need to move his tank.

Just to recap since Fern asked: the turtles are FINE! Just a mess and disarray, but no harm to turtles at all.

That's just kitty litter we threw down to soak up moisture.

First of all, I'd like to mention I do not live in an area affected by recent storms. I also do not live in a flood zone. My thoughts certainly are with those who have been devastated by such acts recently.

I rather "caused" this one myself!!

Monday morning I went up to the third floor (we live in a 3 floor condo) to feed my turtles. My largest tank - 75 gallons - only had a few inches of water in it, even though I had just topped it off on Saturday. The floor was absolutely flooded with 30-40 gallons of water! We were gone all day Sunday and I asked DH to go shut off the turtle lights when we got home. Of course he heard the sound of water from the filter because the level was so low. He's just not wired right to realize that was a PROBLEM. So this tank let go sometime on Sunday and water quickly leaked out of it until found on Monday morning.

Well, that much water over that time period sure does a number on things! The carpet, floor, and insulation are ruined and it soaked right through to our bedroom ceiling. We've managed to get a lot of it dry, but we still need to rip up more floor sections and pull out more soaked insulation. Yes, we are aware of mold concerns and are working as quickly as we can.

Here's the problem: we have too much STUFF!!! We know this and I've been asking DH for months now to weed out some of his STUFF up there - mostly his. Our plan this fall was to rip up this carpet and replace some of the floor boards (due to pet accidents), then put down laminate. We did this on the first floor and it was quite easy to do and relatively affordable. With everything that's been going on with my mom and work and such, I just wasn't ready to tackle this project. Now we HAVE to, on a much larger scale, and that's not going over well with me.

This is what the damage looked like before DH ripped up parts of the floor. Right now that tank is moved and most of those floor boards are gone. There are just support beams and then the sheet rock for the ceiling below that. We still need to work our way to the left and also into that crawl space to get more wet insulation. That means everything in the crawl space needs to come out and go somewhere. Bleah.



Once we get the immediate problem addressed - replace floor boards - then we can work on prepping the rest of the room for the laminate. Guess it's now or never, now that we've been forced into it.
I also need to fix the tank - yes, I know how to reseal a tank. Just did two a couple months ago. Then eventually we'll need to paint our bedroom ceiling, but that will be last as it's just cosmetic at this point.

So many people have said we need to file an insurance claim, but I have five reasons why I say NO to this!! 29, 35, and 52 gallon fish tanks on the first floor, and 30 and 55 gallon turtle tanks left on the third floor. An adjuster would take one look at that and we can kiss our insurance goodbye.

So, not having a lot of fun here at the moment, but we'll figure it out somehow. I think the financial hit is lessened by the fact that we were redoing this room anyways, including some of the floor boards. We just need slightly more wood and then of course the insulation. Might need a new can of paint as well.

Huh, and people laughed at my shop vac when I bought it two months ago! It has been a lifesaver...

Well we went out on a search today for a product that we never did find. How hard IS it to find a flat plain black license plate frame for a reasonable price?? I want to make my own custom frame to match some things in my car, but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for a piece of plastic. Anyways, did not yet find what I'm looking for.

Did buy a few things though. Got two pairs of shorts at Walmart for $7 each. Great since I only had one pair of shorts that fit me!!

Also found a cookware set on clearance at Kmart for $36 (regular $69). I was really happy about this find until I unpacked it and found it doesn't really solve my problem. Our current set is over 10 years old and has seen a LOT of abuse. My roommate in college burned it when it was brand new, and of course we have gotten a lot of use out of it over the years. It would be great to have a new set of pans. The large lid fits the large pot and the large skillet in our current set. In the new set, the large lid doesn't fit the skillet. Odd. This was the whole reason we wanted a new set since everything is now sticking to our old skillet. This is by far the most used piece of cookware! Well, I put everything back in the box so we could think about it a little more. It IS a good deal and maybe we could find a separate lidded skillet that suits our needs. I don't know. Need to think about it. I really have a problem spending money even on things I might need!!

Odd. Why doesn't my blog entry from yesterday show up in the list? It was there at first since BA commented on it. Then I edited something and it never showed up on this list again. I've seen this happen to other blogs before, but never to mine.

First of all, how in the world does everyone else call their cable/internet provider and get them to match a lower rate from a competitor? I am currently paying $42.95 just for the internet portion of my cable bill. This is just ridiculous! I read everywhere how "easy" it is to just call Comcast and get them to the lower rate. Nope, didn't even want to budge on that one for me even when I hinted I would have to look into this competitor offer. The only thing they were willing to do was drop me to the lower tier of service for $23.95 per month. Well, what choice did I have? I really don't think I will notice a change in my service. The only thing I am slightly worried about is my VOIP phone service. We really don't use the home phone for the most part anyways. *edited to add* I just checked my VOIP providers website and they have found "A 256Kbps connection (inbound and outbound) has shown to be the minimal connection needed for a quality call." No problems there.

The reason I say they are not the brightest at Comcast is because the rep was being so quick to push the change through, that she didn't even let me finish asking if this would interupt my service at all. Well, guess it does since the call dropped!!! Ha ha ha... that's how VOIP works! Had to get a chuckle out of their stupidity there. Well, they'll hit me with a $1.99 fee to make this change, but if I don't like the change they wont charge me to switch back. It's an improvement, but not quite what I wanted. Well it took me WEEKS to get up the nerve to make this call, so I'll take my limited success. Don't plan on mentioning this to DH - see if he notices!

In other news:

- Updated my sidebar to reflect the first two car payment goals DONE! This has DH's car paid off through December. (Not quick enough since we want this piece of junk GONE. Has a flat tire as of this morning.)

- My car was hit last week and the insurance adjuster thinks it will cost $325 to fix! HA! I want to pocket that money. The dent is about an inch across and we'll either leave it or try to pop it out ourselves. Bad luck with this car so far - I was stopped at a light when the car behind me waved a kid on a bike on through. Car coming up on my right pops the kid right into the side of my car. Sorry, I don't know how badly the kid was hurt. Worse case maybe a broken arm - if even that.

- Just went over my projected tax return for next year and it looks like we'll owe the feds at least $550. Bleah. Tried projecting an increase in my 401k contributions and we'd owe more??? Just not sure what to do here. A decrease in S125 health premium costs plus an increase in pay are hurting us tax wise. Yes, I know things could be worse!

DH suggests declaring taxes unconstitutional and turning our condo into a fortress. No thanks, don't want to be anywhere near the Browns. (Elaine Hatch Brown was my dentist years ago!! Is that why I need so much dental work?)

- Last but not least - my mom's financial aid at the hospital was APPROVED!! They have determined it would be a financial hardship for her to pay for services. Her account will be zeroed out after insurance payments for anything medically necessary between now and the end of February.

I just had to share a story my coworker just told me!

About a month ago, my coworker's 2 year old car was severely damaged in a freak accident. Around 4 in the morning, an unlicensed driver, who had borrowed a friend's car, lost control and plowed into 4 vehicles parked on the street. My coworker has been driving a rental for the past 30 days and her time is maxed out through her insurance. She spent the morning arguing with the other party's insurance to try and get the rental extended. They reluctantly extended it 4 more days and she asked what would happen after that. They told her it would have to be considered reimbursement. She told them she would NOT be paying out of pocket for a rental car for this. The lady actually told my coworker it wouldn't be out of her pocket since she'd have to put it on a credit card!!

I bet this lady has a nice pile of debt built up if she has that mentality.

Yeah, well I had to get my rings inspected! I DESPISE the mall!!!! Figured I would treat DH to a pretzel since I had a BOGO coupon. Sheesh, can't believe those things cost $2.49 plus tax. YIKES!
Well, my diamond was loose so they have to send it out for repair. I'm just wearing my mom's gold band (that is part of my "set") and it feels strange. The repair will cost $0 as we bought the service plan many years ago. Not the first time I've had to use it either.

Found a dime and a nickel on our way in - a good find!

Got home to find an envelope stating "We thank you for your time and effort in participating in this important research." There was a check for $25 ! I have NO clue what this was for!

Also got a $20 rebate for DH's contact lenses and $17.52 refunded for overpayment on my car loan I just refinanced. Nice haul today!

I see that I have two pinecone surveys in my inbox - one is a product eval follow up. Gotta go make that easy money now.

Have a great evening everyone!

So, a goal has been in the works for me for a while now and I finally just sat down and worked out the details. Far from finalized, but I have a basic plan - subject to change of course.

A few weeks ago, I took some money from savings and paid off my 401k loan. This gave me an $18.31 per week "raise". Next up: DH's car!! Payoff as of 07/13/08 is $3905.37 YUCK! Payments are $283.56 per month with an expected payoff date of 10/30/2009. I plan on moving payments up when I have the money to pay them, rather than when they are due. As of right now, I think I can get the car paid off mid-April 2009 - 6 months early! If DH works some overtime between now and then (quite likely), I could knock another month or two off my estimate. I would like it paid off sooner than later, but I think I can live with this plan and it feels good to have a plan!

I have the plan details in my sidebar.

SHHHH!!! Don't tell DH!!!! The less he knows of my plan, the better.

Well, I'm sick of how a lot of things in my life are, so I'm looking to make some small changes - and save money! I'm trying really hard to break my habit of using paper plates. Tough to do as I've been using them my whole life! I am making some progress though and eating some chips off a real plate right now. My decision mostly stems from not wanting to spend money on things these days. Yes, I've gotten to the point I am too cheap to buy paper plates!! They don't seem necessary anymore. Besides, I have some CUTE vintage tupperware plates that I just LOVE - and never use. So I'm trying to use these to eat from when I normally would have used a paper plate. The fact that I love the plates is kind of an incentive to use them. I really need to hide the paper plates though!!

It's a small change, but I feel good about it.

Ok, so technically I don't have it yet, but it should arrive in 2-3 weeks. Got something in the mail today to call and get my free, no strings attached, no catch $10 JC Penney gift card. Figured what the heck - how bad could the sales pitch be? Not bad at all and I only had to decline two products. I figure I'll give it to my mom since she shops there and I don't. She said that was the best news she had all day.

She's feeling really down lately. She keeps calling me crying and I just DON'T know what to do! She was looking forward to going away for Laity weekend, but found out today that it was cancelled. She cried all afternoon! I know she's going through a rough time, but I just CAN'T do anything about it!!

Well, she at least seemed slightly upbeat about getting a free $10 to combine with her $5 coupon. *SIGH*

Well my mom called me late morning and her surgery went "well" this morning. As well as it could I suppose. Now we just wait for the lab results. Not sure what will be next, although she meets with the drs. tomorrow who will be doing the radiation. This part is scary - I know NOTHING about it!

I am excited as it appears one item I listed on craigs list will be sold tomorrow evening. The guy is meeting my husband after work since they both drive through the same area around the same time of day. This is the Bentley manual for my car I just got rid of. It's in perfect condition and you can't find one for less than $65 + $3.99 shipping on Amazon. I was only asking $40 and that's a steal! I'll be glad to get it out of here and get some money in return.

Hope everyone has a good evening!

Well all I could stomach this weekend was some very minor decluttering. This place needs a LOT of decluttering, but it just nauseates me.

Today I filled a kitchen trash bag full of clothes I'll never wear again. This came from my dresser. I still need to attack the closet but that is just too intimidating.

Yesterday I tackled the pile of paperwork that hasn't been filed in over a year. Yes, over a YEAR!! It's a wonder I could ever find anything with it all in one big pile. Being so disorganized almost cost me and I couldn't have picked a better day to clean this up!! I found paperwork welcoming me to Citi credit protector for just 89c per $100 balance. I signed up for this to get a free digital picture frame. Never bothered to cancel it because I had a zero balance and no plans to use this card. Well just yesterday I was checking out my balance transfer options and this card had 3.99% for life of the transfer, no transfer fee. I had just requested the balance transfer before I started on the paperwork project. SO GLAD I found that paperwork and called to cancel!!

I did find some interesting loan paperwork that put things in perspective - even for DH! He had taken out a loan to take some classes back in 2001. The loan was for just over $5000, but I didn't realize until now it had a 20% variable interest rate! The loan paperwork said total paid would be almost $20000. HUH???
Well in July 2005 the rate was jumping from 14% to 16% and I had enough. I transferred $6812.35 with a $65.00 fee to a 4.99% for life card. It is now three years later and the balance is $2159.61 with less than $9 per month interest accruing. According to the original loan paperwork, we were set to pay $104 per month until June 2017. That would be over $11000 left to pay as of right now!! Nauseating... That same payment now gets this paid off in less than 2 years. I plan to pay it off sooner though.

I have a couple of items listed for sale on craigslist with no bites so far. Very frustrating as I don't have them overpriced at all. People just aren't spending money on ANYTHING right now - us included, so I understand. Just would like some stuff OUT and $$ IN.

I had started a blog entry listing all my monthly bills and amounts owed on debts, but that became too much for me. Maybe I will start a new one with my current goals. Baby steps, right?

Focusing on the finances so much is keeping my mind off the fact that my mom has to have surgery again tomorrow. I guess they didn't get enough tissue out last time to say she's in the clear. Just what she doesn't need right now - another surgery. At least we got the financial assistance paperwork filled out. On paper it looks like she's in the hole $80 per month!! They just HAVE to give her some assistance.

Well, the vellux blanket didn't survive the wash today. We picked up this blanket at a yardsale for $2 a couple years ago. It was on the guest bed, not our bed.



I can't stand seeing anything go to waste, even if half of it is destroyed! So out comes my new sewing machine - yeah, had it for 6 months and haven't used it. I'm a little rusty and the stitches aren't great, but they didn't have to be for this project. A little time, the destroyed blanket, and 3/4 of a bag of polyfill I got for 25c... voila! A new snuggly pet bed! Now who wouldn't want to curl up in this? Well, maybe not today - it's 90 degrees! I used a third of the blanket that wasn't destroyed and cut up the rest of it to use as stuffing. No waste!

I just had a request for an update on the dealership overcharge, so here it is:

I called them last monday morning and left a message basically stating that the loan paperwork didn't match the purchase agreement. I asked them to please pull the paperwork and call me back immediately to resolve the problem. I didn't give them any more details than that. Within an hour the finance guy called me back, apologizing profusely! He said I was absolutely right and that they didn't update the "board" so he didn't know the price had changed. He said they would send me a check for $495 to which I replied "What about the sales tax you overcharged me?" His response was "Oh." He said I should expect the check by the end of the week. Sure enough, a check for $519.75 arrived on friday. I consider this a done deal and I am happy with the way they handled it. It was entirely their fault, a simple administrative error, and they apologetically cleared it up. No hard feelings. As far as the dates on the paperwork: not sure why they're that way, but they don't appear to be an issue.

As for my mom - her surgery was friday and it went well. She called me a little after 2 pm and that was a surprise! I didn't think she'd feel up to calling me. So she's home resting and I'm not sure how long she'll be out of work. She'll be out with full salary, so that's a GREAT thing! She still has to fill out the paperwork at the hospital to see if she can get any financial assistance. She's already on the hook for $1500 and that only brings her through the surgery, no extras and we haven't even gotten to radiation yet. ANY aid she can get approved for would be greatly appreciated. She can't even get caught up on what she still owes for heat for last winter, and next winter will be here before we know it - and worse! She's still in the hole $350 and can't seem to get any savings built up for next winter. Medical bills are an impossibility right now!!

Grrrr.....
The stupid dealership overcharged me on my car! Unfortunately, today was the first chance I've had to go over the paperwork they gave me. The original purchase agreement I signed had the agreed upon price, where the loan paperwork and everything else I signed the next day had a price that was $495 HIGHER than I agreed. I just went over this paperwork with a fine tooth comb and I am certain they made a mistake here. I was overcharged $495 on the price of the car, $24.75 in sales tax, and ??? on interest until this matter is cleared up.

I'm sure this was just an oversight and I have no choice but to give them the benefit of the doubt. With everything else that's going on right now, I really just didn't need this. Yes, I know it's my fault for not scrutinizing the paperwork on the spot, but I was not in the right frame of mind since the whole car buying experience was so stressful for me. To make matters "worse", I see that the paperwork I signed on the 15th is all dated the 12th and the P&S agreement that I claim is correct is dated the 14th. Obviously the paperwork dated the 12th is incorrect as I never even saw this car until the 14th. DH saw it the 12th though. His name isn't anywhere on the official paperwork though, as the car was being purchased in my name only.

Glad I'm still sitting on the customer satisfaction survey they gave me. This could get interesting.

Went to the dealership today to get my paperwork, get the car inspected, and get it vac'd & shampooed - no one there to do it on the weekend. It was free, why not? Also needed a second key and remote - we can't share! They told me the other day it would be $10 for the key and they had a remote for me that just needed to be programmed. Of course they conveniently "forgot" to tell me it would cost $46.50 to program it to my car. No choice, needed a second one. It's still not the worst I've heard those things costing. I did make sure the sales guy knew I was not happy that he didn't disclose this to me the other day when I asked.

Thank you to everyone who shared similar feelings about giving up their old car and getting a new one. I'm glad to know it's not just me. Koppur - I found it really funny that you also owned 2 Jettas! It's my 2nd day driving the new car and I'm getting used to it. Fun, peppy little thing! Just now waiting for my payment info to arrive. I know how much, I'd just like to know "when".

As for my mom... well, I guess I'll just throw it out here cuz I'm having trouble telling most people. We found out a couple weeks ago that she has breast cancer. She goes for surgery on the 27th to remove the lump. I really don't know much else right now. She's scared to death and an emotional rollercoaster. I don't know if it hasn't sunk in with me or what, but I'm not having much emotion about this. Maybe it's because SOMEONE has to stay sane and for some reason it always has to be me? One of these days I'm going to just snap because of this. I'm under so much pressure at home running everything (DH has ADD *SIGH*)and under pressure at work(Could boss have ADD too? *SIGH*). Now I have to be the one who has to think a few weeks into the future and make sure my mom's bills get paid. It's a good thing I took control of things several months ago and I know how things stand. I can at least make sure the basics are covered. Don't think I can get any money to the fuel company as there isn't any money to send them. Then I'm going to have to worry about getting the medical bills paid. She has insurance, but it doesn't cover everything. I don't even know what sort of impact this will have. She just doesn't have any extra money!! Well, all this doesn't really give me a chance to get upset about what's going on. Not yet at least. It's all just a lot of stress right now.

Well, I threw a bunch of stuff in a baking dish and I'm hoping it comes out resembling chicken pot pie. Also hope it's edible... lol... Gotta run and check on it.

Well, I sadly said goodbye to the Jetta today. It was a tough decision but I've spent a lot of money on it lately and it only needed more and more work. After a bit of research, we decided that the Hyundai Elantra would be a good little car for me. So we brought home a "new" (17000 miles) 2007 regatta blue (metallic navy blue) Elantra today. Still need to take care of some paperwork and the inspection, but that should be all set by the end of the week. It's a fun little car and loaded with options - well, many more options than I had before!! Tons of air bags, power windows, roomier, more powerful engine, better sound system! It has an auxillary input for my ipod as well as an in-dash mp3 cd player. Sure is gonna take some getting used to because it's not a VW!! I didn't really have to adjust my driving style much on the test drive though. It's geared more like the Jetta than DH's car is, and the shifting configuration has reverse in the same place as a VW. I think I'll grow to like it once I get over mourning the Jetta. It will be nice driving a car that doesn't break down once a month, but the gas tank is on the wrong side!!!



I'm still struggling with this decision even though I know, in the long run, it was the right decision. I just wasn't ready to give up the jetta yet, not for a couple more months. BUT, I'm not sure I could have gotten through a couple more months. I really loved that little jetta, but I didn't feel safe driving it anymore. That's not good since I have a 60 mile round trip commute each day.

I did NOT enjoy the car buying process. Oh NO NO NO! Sales guy was great, finance guy was great, sales manager was a complete jerk and I made sure the sales guy knew that immediately. I wanted to walk out of there just because I didn't like how I was treated, but this car was a steal. Comparable cars at other dealerships had more miles and less options for the same price - or more! Too good of a deal to pass up.

Well, I'm hoping after this week I'll be feeling better about this decision. I'll have driven the car for a few days and all the insurance/inspection paperwork will be complete. It's just a huge financial decision to make - not an easy one for me right now.

Today is the annual Stamp out Hunger drive put on by the post office. You are supposed to put non-perishable food out by your mailbox and your letter carrier will pick it up for donation to a local food pantry.

I live in a condo with around 40 condos (it was built in two phases and I'm not sure how many are in the 2nd phase). For the second year in row, we're the only condo to put food out by the mailboxes!! This really bothers me. I know the economy is tough right now and affecting a lot of people, but isn't that enough to drive you to dig through your cupboards and find a can of soup or veggies that you could donate to someone more needy?

I never feel I do enough to help hungry people and that bothers me. I think this would be a charity I would most like to donate to and I should make a bigger effort to do so on a regular basis. I'm a frugal shopper and LOVE the challenge of finding a good deal. It's such a thrill for me. Maybe I should turn this thrill into something really beneficial. I need to find out where my local food bank is though!!

I think I'm fortunate. I have a roof over my head and I can pay my bills and buy food. Yeah, I have credit card debt that I'm slowly plugging away at and savings I'm slowly trying to build. It just kills me to know there are people nearby that really honestly can't even afford food.

Well, my mom hit a milestone today and the bank took the final $22.00 payment on her overdraft balance. When I took over her finances in November, it didn't seem like this would EVER get paid off. YAY!

We had a little chat yesterday about where her money is going and how she doesn't check in with me anymore after meeting her gentleman friend! I am happy for her about this change in her life as it has been around 20 years since my parents split up. My mom never dated at all! But... now I feel like I have an irresponsible teenager that I'm in charge of! I think I'm realizing that the direct approach is working better with her. Now instead of asking her opinion of things, I tell her how things will be done. I really wanted her to have more control over her money than this, but that just does NOT work.

She got her $600 stimulus payment on April 28th - one of the first to go out! I had her pay the $339.00 she owed to the fuel company and I "took" $200.00 and put it in savings. She still owes me $350.00 and if she can keep her spending down, I can get this paid back to me by the middle of June. I lent it to her the end of February. I'm now sending $100 every two weeks to her savings acct (starting 05/16) and I don't want to touch that. She will need to pay her property taxes soon plus save for heat next year. She NEEDS to learn I am not bailing her out next year!!! It was really tough taking over in the middle of winter heating season. She HAS to plan now. I just don't want her gentleman friend to bail her out ever....

Got a letter in the mail with a $15 GC to Circuit City that I could have activated if I signed up for Chase Fraud Detector. Just called to activate that and I'll call again in a few weeks to cancel. Nothing but a little time spent on my part. Just sent DH out the door to Circuit City to FINALLY pick up the 2nd nunchuk we need for the Wii. I've been a bit disappointed at how expensive this thing has been just to make it 2 player friendly! We got a good deal on the 2nd Wiimote and we've just been waiting for a good deal for the nunchuk. $15 free to use towards it is perfect! I'll pick up the balance out of my allowance.

We went to Shaws this morning to take advantage of the great deal they have on General Mills products this week. 10 items for $20 minus $10 coupon on $20 worth of products. Got 8 boxes of cereal and 2 boxes of granola bars. Stacked this deal with 5 $1 off 2 coupons and got these items all for a total of $5. Hmmm... I just realized the $1 off coupons might have only been meant for the cereal, but the machine accepted it anyways. We originally were going to buy 10 boxes of cereal, but changed our mind last minute for the granola bars. Absolutely everything on our list was on sale! We're not having a problem at all with rising food prices. Just being a bit more creative!

Got $15 this week cashing in points from one survey site. Also got a $5 pinecone check. I was going to use this towards the nunchuk until we got the Circuit City GC.

It's been a miserable dreary weather weekend, but we still managed to hit some indoor charity yard sales yesterday. DH bought a "new" office chair for $5. It's leather (pleather?) and actually adjusts up and down. His old one didn't. I was excited to find two Wilton candy molds in the shape of little bugs! I get excited over silly stuff like this even though I have no use for chocolate bugs. Might be fun to leave in the kitchen at work!! Well, a coworker and I will have a good laugh over chocolate bugs at the very least. Not sure what I paid for these as we bought a box full of stuff for $8. Included a Philips Senseo coffee maker for my MIL, 2 porcelain angels for my MIL, a cute planter for me and a cute planter for my mom. We felt we got great deals and it all benefited the boy scouts.

Went to a church yard sale a little later and bought a vintage tupperware storage container - I love these! Spent 50 cents but we came out ahead as they handed us religious literature on the way in that had $1 in it. Also had a 1 million dollar bill that will be a fun gift to give someone. Might also be fun to frame our "first million"!

Unfortunately money goes out as easily as it comes in. My next task is to pay a parking ticket DH got in Boston when he went out last friday. Sure hope he enjoyed the evening!! He was hiding it from me but I found it in his car when I was looking for something. I just shrugged my shoulders cuz it's not my problem anymore. $40 gone so fast from his allowance! This is great - I'm not angry at all!

Got my car back yesterday - it runs and the A/C works! They said $850 and $850 it was. Actually, I got the work order back with a note and cash clipped to it. The note said: "sorry, I slipped a finger and charged you $852. here is the $2" Couldn't help but laugh over that! I really like this shop.

It was good to drive my car this morning! Curiously, my check engine light is gone. Not sure what that had to do with my A/C as it's throwing a fuel emissions code. I fully expect it to be back on by Sunday. There's nothing wrong with my car in this respect. The computer is just slightly confused.
Oh, my floor mat was also upside down - spiky side up. Can't figure out how you screw that up!

Glad not to have to carpool anymore. It wasn't so bad overall, but there are some "issues" at home and we both need some space. Four days of carpooling don't help that. It also doesn't help to feel trapped at home with no car. Although my only option if I want to get out of the house is to go shopping! That wont help either!

I requested some info to be mailed to me regarding a local support group that I feel might help me right now. I'm really nervous about that (not so great socially, though I'm not shy) but took the first step. Guess I wont think about it til the info arrives.
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In other news, my mother got paid today and now I have to convince her to hold back on spending for the next 2 weeks. She's still not seeing the whole picture and doesn't understand how spending now impacts things months from now. She still owes the fuel company $339 for her last fill up and owes me $350 for the one before that! Last time I asked her when she was going to pay me back she told me to stop crying about it. I think she was joking, but I couldn't really tell. Right now it's looking like she can pay me back in AUGUST if she cuts back her spending. Maybe sooner with her stimulus payment, but I fully expect whining about it. She only got $600 and that doesn't even cover these two debts. At the moment, it's sitting in her old checking account that isn't as easily accessible.

Well, I think I should go enjoy the rest of my lunch break!

When I get car problems, I get them good! I get so many of them that I send my car into the shop having already diagnosed the problem myself... lol... I play dumb when I send it there, but they always come back with the expected response.

This time it's my AC. Turned it on last week and it wasn't cold. That can't be good! I drive a 1998 VW Jetta and VWs shouldn't have AC problems. They are designed so the AC kicks in when you turn on the defrost - all year long. You never have an issue with it blowing warm air, but sure enough it was. This brought me back to the question whether to fix something so "trivial" or get a new car. I'm just not ready to get a new car though!

Well flash foward to Saturday and out running errands. We get in the car and it makes a horrible WHOOSH!! noise. Lasts for a few seconds and stops. Uh oh. Did it again on the next couple of start ups and a couple more times randomly. Ok, though, the car runs ok besides that occasional noise. It was determined I could take it to work today and we'd try to get it in the shop this week. Nope. Got almost to the interstate and the car started running rough, idling around 300. Back home and off to the shop it went.

Would you believe something is shorting out in my AC compressor and dragging the whole car down? $850 and I'll get the car back Weds or Thurs. Have no choice but to fix the AC - or the whole car wont run! What a fluke! The shop was able to duplicate the problem if they turned on the AC or the defrost. It was happening for me with no air running though. No work-around here, even temporarily.

Time to start putting some thought into my next vehicle I guess. Not going to rush this. Just needs to be a smaller, 4 door, 5 speed car. My VW is still getting 32 mpg!!

So, I know I've been horrible at this blogging thing. I have so much to say, but I don't know how to get it OUT of my head. I read the blogs daily and every day I tell myself "I'll just jump right in and do it!" But I don't. I don't have any frugal minded people in my life (hubby is learning!!!) so no one understands me. So today I really am going to just "jump right in" and type up a blog almost as if I had never stopped.

I'm very much involved in my mother's finances now and have her on a budget. We're not quite to the point where she always listens to me though. This is very much a work in progress and things are much improved over what they used to be!

I checked my email earlier only to find an email from my aunt sent from my mom's email. My aunt moved away recently and is home visiting relatives for a week. My mom is at work so my aunt is helping her finish some sewing projects she does for extra $$. I guess my mom had left notes explaining all the things that don't work on her 30+ year old sewing machine. HUH? She's never mentioned to me that her sewing machine isn't working right! My mother is trying so hard to take in these jobs for the extra money she could really use. Plus she loves to sew! How is she supposed to do this if her sewing machine isn't function properly?

What kills me is that she bought me a brand new sewing machine for Christmas. She was so proud of buying this for me! I already had an older sewing machine that works fine. I don't even sew!

So I have two choices here: 1) Try to give my mom back the one she just gave me or 2) Chip in with my aunt to buy her a new sewing machine. I don't even know anything about sewing machines. What brands are good? What features do you look for? I wouldn't even know where to begin.
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We are going out with my husband's coworkers after work tonight. I don't plan on spending much. We might actually run to BK for a cheap meal and just have a couple drinks with the coworkers. I just don't like spending money on things like this!!

In response to

DebtKid's dumbest purchase, I really had to think about this one since I generally am happy with my purchases.

My dumbest purchase would have to be the 72 gallon pond kit I purchased at an insane price a little over a year ago. This pond kit looks so cute and was only less than $40 SHIPPED! WOW!! These things normally retail for closer to $150.00!!! What a STEAL!! I wanted a pond more than anything - I just love aquariums inside and little ponds outside. How great!

BUT... I live in a condo... I don't have a place to put this thing, so it just sits in the box collecting dust.

I wanted it so badly, can't use it, and could have used that money for something else.

Can anyone here advise me on a furnace maintenance plan for my mother's furnace? She has a gas furnace that was just installed in the last year or two. Her fuel company added the charge for the plan on her bill (she's mad about that) and I'm not sure if this is something we should get for her. I know nothing about this stuff and I'm hoping someone here might!! Is this a good deal and is it recommended to have something like this in place? Any insight welcome!

It includes:
- periodic burner tuneup, system inspection, and cleaning of the heating system as needed.
- adjustments are made as needed, to ensure your maxium econonomy and environmental protection.
- tuneups are performed during normal business hrs M - F.
- all parts will be replaced as necessary at the previling rates.
- 24 hr emergency burner service is provided at no labor charge.
- $18 monthly $180 yrly

I just sent her $150 to help towards the property taxes and this is very much an unexpected expense. At least going forward I should have a better understanding of what's going on at her house.

Thank you!

Went over my mom's budget again since she got paid friday. She's in "OK" shape I would say. I did have to send her $150.00 towards the $325.00 property taxes. No choice here as there was a $40 late fee plus high interest rate if it was late. She would like to start putting money into a separate account for the property taxes, but she's just not at that point yet. She doesn't know that I already started an account and there is 50.09 (yay interest!) accumlated so far. No harm done for me at this point since I can always dump that money back into my main account if she manages to find the money before the next payment is due this summer. Well, after all is said and done, she has just over 20.00 to get by until 12/14. Gonna be tough with Christmas coming and her known spending habits. She did buy some groceries and gas up her car. She was conscious of staying below the $80.00 I had budgeted between the two expenses. Keeping my fingers crossed here! If she can make it, and also not run out of fuel to heat the house, then she can make a payment to the heating company for another delivery next check. We're just not sure when she will run out.

We went to Mystic Aquarium yesterday using some free passes I received this summer. I don't think I would pay full price to get in there, but well worth it for free! It just cost us the gas to get there plus $4.12 we spent at BK for lunch. My husband was like a little kid around the penguins!! I could have stared at the fish, especially the cichlid display, for hours. I'm a cichlid junkie and he has quite the soft spot for penguins. They are quite cute!



The aquarium gave me a good chance to try out my new camera. It takes GREAT videos! Pics are ok, but it's really tough to take pictures of fish in tanks. I've mastered it at home, but I think people would have looked at me funny if I had been laying on the floor to take pics. That's really the only way I've found it to work.

In other finacial news, we're really looking forward to the new year so we can "renegotiate" our allowances. Neither of us feels it's enough to do what we want to do. There will be more wiggle room next year since we'll be saving so much on our health insurance premiums.

Hmmmm.... I also got my boss to agree to pay me for my days I was unable to use this year! I also have to work on Dec. 22 and 29 (office closed the 24th and 31st) since I can't afford to lose Monday and Tuesday of my weeks. To make up for this, boss will pay me for hours worked (I'm salaried so this is extra) plus one day pay plus one extra day off next year. Not a bad deal since I'll only have to work maybe half a day. Sure beats coming in those Mondays. Too bad DH has to work on the 24th - until 6 pm.
And we have a party to be at 2 hours away! He'll never make it. I'll already be up in NH and he'll be commuting from there.

Enough from me for now!!