So I headed off to Staples this morning to take advantage of some deals they had. One of the items I bought was a label maker that will be free after rebate. Yes, useful.



Actually, DH really wanted a label maker to label some thing he has. Well my trip nicely took care of my spending bug. It's a good thing that I can take care of this with cheap shopping! I also got some paper that will be $1.00 after rebate.

I updated my sidebar to include a savings ticker. This reflects the savings account that holds the money we will use to (hopefully!) pay off DH's car come next spring. For now we'll pay no less than $100 per month towards the car and dump any extra into this savings account. I'll update the ticker as the account grows and the goal shrinks. Just wanted to share that we ARE putting money towards this. Just saving it for now since the "loan" is at 0%.

I'm mad at myself for throwing away a couple off brand ink cartridges this week! I didn't realize Staples had changed their ink program. They used to only accept name brand ink, but now they accept ANY brand - limit 10 per calendar month. At $3 in staples rewards each, that's not a bad deal for ink cartridges I bought for around $2. I will be taking advantage of this going forward. I actually had 11 ink cartridges for the printer that died last weekend. I have someone coming from Freecycle to pick those up later this week. A family emergency has postponed her picking them up, but I can be understanding with this one.

While we're on the subject of printers, my mom still insists she needs a new one! Well after making her put some thought into it and making it clear that SHE would have to pay for it, I ordered another refurbished Epson like the one I just bought. I like mine so far and it's quite similar to the one she currently has. So we've made progress!! I have to order it since she doesn't have a credit card, but I will have the money as soon as it transfers to her ING and she sends me an echeck. Still got a long way to go here, but this is progress. I also told her when she needs ink I can order it on ebay and she can pay me back.

I'm suffering from Friday night's Wii bowling injuries today. I felt ok Saturday morning but worse as the day progressed. A million times worse today! This rivals the pain I had when I got rearended. Right now I feel like I got rearended by a semi and then run over!! I bowled one game right handed and then one game left handed to even it out. I was only 7 frames in when I was really feeling it in my shoulders. I just need to remember I'm not REALLY throwing a bowling ball! Owie...

Huh, I don't think my ticker is good at math...

My day was fine, but apparently my silly turtle felt the need to shove his head in a kleenex box and stay there! He is one feisty troublemaker when the weather gets warm, but at least I trapped him on the third floor this time! Put a board across so he couldn't get down the stairs. Like I said - troublemaker!



Electronic bad luck struck again and took out my printer yesterday. It's now a malfunctioning Epson that wont recognize color cartridges. Figures - I bought several aftermarket cartridges for it not long ago. A neighbor gave me an old Dell printer, but I really don't like it. I will freecycle that one along with mine (if anyone wants it) and the ink. I found a refurbished all in one direct from Epson for only $29.00 shipped. I like Epson because you can get really cheap ink for it. Good enough for my printing needs. I did have a printer that came with my laptop, new in box still. It doesn't run on Windows 2000, which my desktop is still running. I might just try to sell that one - cheap since I don't like the reviews I read about it. Many of them just don't work straight out of the box? Yuck. I don't want to deal with it. Well, with my "new" AIO, I'll also be able to get rid of my scanner that works half the time. Free up some space around my desk.

I sure did enjoy the weather we had this weekend. I'm a nice shade of pink to prove it! I normally don't go in the sun since I'm so ridiculously pale it's not even funny. It does happen sometimes though. I spent a good portion of the day helping DH clean out and vacuum his old car. I gave him limited choices for the morning: CVS first or car first? He chose CVS then car. See? Worked well there with no other choices. It took us several hours to clean it out, but it looks presentable now. NOW can he list the stupid thing for sale?? My living room is now full of the crap that came out of/off the car - including 4 wheels/tires.

Well I think I will try and find at least one small productive thing to do this evening. Always baby steps around here.

I will end this with my tulips that are currently blooming!

Stopped at one grocery store (on my way home) to pick up a few groceries. I mostly stopped there because they had Arm & Hammer laundry detergent really cheap. 6.99 buy one get one free, -1.00 store coupon for buying two, -1.00 and -1.00 printable manufacturers coupons. 3.99 for two bottles of this is great - especially since they are the larger size bottles! I have two more coupons and I can print another store coupon, so I'll make another trip there tomorrow. I also splurged on some Marie Callendar frozen meals on sale for 2.50 each. Buy "25.00 worth" (based on shelf price) and get two 5.00 catalina coupons. Shelf price was 4.29 so I had to buy six. 15.00 out of pocket and I got back 10.00. Not bad and a nice change of pace for a quick meal.

Off to the other grocery store (just past my house) because that's where my bank is. I had to deposit my FSA check = 323.20 yeah!! Free to apply this to DH's car since these were medical expenses already paid for.

I don't know why, but I almost always find change at this store. I ALWAYS keep my eyes on the ground when I go in there! It's where I found a quarter a few weeks ago. Well sure enough, tonight I found a dime! I was pretty psyched about that!

A couple of weeks ago I got a "coupon mailer" from Proctor & Gamble. Too bad my coupons disappeared and all I got was the front and back cover of the book. So I sent them a quick email telling them how I enjoy their products and I was disappointed that I didn't get to see what they were sending me - tips along with coupons. Today's mail brought me a nice note from them and a replacement coupon book! Great customer service!

DH's birthday gift arrived today - and his birthday isn't for 3 more months! HA HA HA! Any idea how many gift ideas he'll toss at me between now and then? My standard reply is ready: "Sorry, I already bought your gift." It drives him nuts. I really think he'll like what I got him. Just one of those things he would like to have but wouldn't spend the money on. I found a really good deal. I think I'll wrap it and stash it in the closet. I'll probably forget what it is by then!

Ok, dinner is done, so off to do something constructive.

On Saturday I discovered that my beloved mutt has tapeworms! Don't ask, but EWW! Fairly "easy" fix, but I'm nearly $100 poorer after a trip to the vet. Three weeks from now, another $17 for her 2nd dose of pills. At least it's a free tech visit and just the cost of pills. Oh well, this is why I have almost $1000 in my mutt account, right? I usually don't touch that money if there's enough in checking to cover the charge in the first place. So soon enough this smiling face will be worm free!

Here she is helping me with laundry over the weekend.



Well after walking dogs and wrestling a cat into a cat carrier, my evening was over! Just finishing up a yummy salad and relaxing before DH gets home from work. My mutt forgave me for dragging her to the vet, so all is well.

Huh... didn't expect any perks for earth day, so I was quite happy when the Target cashier bagged my stuff in a red, reusable Target bag! I was thinking of going to the other Target nearby and the free bag sold me on it. Picked up a 2nd one at that store. I was only there to check out the 90% off easter stuff! I mostly just picked up a bunch of dog-friendly easter bunnies for 39 cents each.

I thought of everyone here a little while ago when I heard a commercial for cici's pizza. Don't know WHY I heard a commercial - there isn't one anywhere near here! Anyways, they are doing a penny promotion. From their website www.cicispizza.com:

"To reward the Penny Picker uppers of the world, CiCi's is putting a million pennies near their restaurants all over the country. And on the back of thousands of them, we're giving away a free trip to our endless buffet. Plus, every specially marked penny that is brought back to CiCi's will be donated to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America."

Very interested promotion since we know so many folks do not pick up pennies! Rewards the rest of us who do. I stopped and picked up a penny outside of Target last night.

It's a beautiful day out today. My head is still swimming with all the stuff I want to get done and don't feel I have time to do. Well I got the music project done yesterday, so now I want to redo the music on my ipod. I still need to put all my laundry away and tackle the dreaded closet. Well, off to work I go!

I love being resourceful! It's one of the qualities I like most about myself. I'm always looking for another/better way to do things. The other day when I needed an ice pack for my filing cabinet injury I had to improvise. I dumped out a bag of hershey kisses (bought for 12 cents after Christmas), put ice in the bag, used a rubber band to close it, taped a paper towel around it and I was good to go! The trash bags supplied by the cleaning crew don't fit my shredder at work. Rather than buy the special bags, I just empty the shredder bag into another bag and move along. Yes, I can do this without making a mess!

So anyways, I am trying to get the music copied from my desktop to my laptop. My desktop is a dinosaur to say the least, yet still the most used computer in this house! The laptop is shiny and new and compatible with current devices. It also has a card slot on the side. We want to be able to use my laptop to put music on our ipods and on one of the SD cards I just bought. No problem, I'll just use an SD card to transfer the music. Does DH know where he put the card reader?? *SIGH* So I am lacking a card reader for the desktop. Wait... isn't the camcorder technically a "card reader" if I hook it up to the computer? So right now I am "patiently" copying music to an SD card housed in the camcorder. As soon as these folders are done copying, I'll swap out cards and start the process again. That way I can copy to the card on this computer while I'm also copying from the card on the laptop. Yeah, it's a process but it'll be worth it when we're done. Part of this process also involved getting all the music in ONE place.

I did my weekly finance stuff this morning. This is a chore I actually like to do! I paid a lot of boring things plus the following:

$150 to student loan 1
$290.82 for my car payment
$200.00 to post next week on the Citi BT

I also found an "extra" $400 after setting up other credit card payments - ones that are paid in full. I put $100 in the account DH set up to save towards his car payoff. I transferred the other $300 to ING and will probably use it to make my monthly payment on his car. I'll update my sidebar info next week after payments actually post to accounts.

I need to get started on some decluttering around here. I WILL force myself to start today! I WILL!! It's so overwhelming that my head just spins thinking about it. Yes, even just trying to tackle one area is just too much on top of everything else that needs to be done. I've already washed 4 loads of laundry today and need to put away all the clean stuff. I WILL tackly my closet today though - I have to!!

Well I sure feel like spending this week! I'm not beating myself up over it because I do have some discretionary money. I jumped in on a good deal on three 8 gb SDHC cards. I missed the last deal I saw like this so I didn't hesitate on this one. Sold out by the end of the day. I got the cards today and I'll be sending the rebate out tomorrow. The cards will be $6 each after rebate. I'll be putting two with my camcorder and the third will be to go with the present I ordered for DH. His stereo in his old car had an SD card slot and I think he really misses that. I don't know why - it's just too "complicated" for him to use his ipod in the car. Cds don't hold enough music for him. Anyways, found a deal on fatwallet for an FM transmitter that has ipod input, usb, and an SD slot - less than $7.00 shipped. Everyone who has received theirs already doesn't see how the company can sell these so cheap. It's coming from Hong Kong, so it'll be a couple weeks. I actually debated over this for a few days and finally jumped on it. With the 8 gb card I think he'll be very happy!

I made the $336 payment for my crown yesterday. I should be done for a while with dental expenses. I'll file for FSA reimbursement as soon as I get the EOB from my dental insurance. Mostly I just want the crown!

Made a freecycle "swap" yesterday. Technically swapping is not allowed but I wanted what she was offering and I had what she wanted. I got a nice watering can that I needed and she got a little cd player boombox for her sister. Good deal all around I thought!

I updated my sidebar because the payment posted to DH's student loan. Well, one down!

Tonight I'm enjoying some "me time"! Soaking my feet and giving myself a pedicure. Had yummy fried chicken leftovers and a salad for dinner. I'm in an ok mood tonight - that's an improvement!

So I realized I could start a blog entry early in the day and add to it as the day goes along - and I think of things to add!

Started the day off with that deposit posting to my bank account. I scheduled the 952.85 payment to DH's student loan and I will update the sidebar when that posts - hopefully tomorrow. Not much euphoria with this one, but I'll get there when I feel like I'm making a lot of progress.

I had some "extra" money in this account, so I transferred 350.00 to ING. I'll dump some of it into the car payoff account and send the rest to DH for his discover card payment. 175.00 of this money is reimbursement from the car dealer for a repair to his leather seat. I scheduled the payment for Monday so I need to get the money in DH's account by then!

I got to work and about an hour later I was ready to gouge my eyes out! So itchy! Something in the air is bugging me. It's making me feel run down. So... on to the filing cabinet. You know how the top drawer of a 5 drawer cabinet has a door that swings out and up and slides into the cabinet? Well this door is VERY heavy and as I was lifting it up to slide in, I was also coming up with my left hand to pull the drawer out. The door slipped out of my hand and whacked my wrist bone right at the base of the thumb. OWIE!!!!!!!!!! It left a nice mark, but the ice has helped the swelling go down a little. It still hurts very badly and typing isn't helping. Gotta remember not to loop my dog's leash around my wrist like I usually do!!

I was really in the mood for something unhealthy and fried for dinner. I got creative and fried up some onion rings and chicken strips. It was pretty good and I have leftovers! Got that craving out of my system.

Just as I was finishing up dinner, I got a call from my student dentist. FINALLY, after three times in for impressions, the lab work looks good to send out for the crown. Yeah too bad the dental school never bothered to charge me for the crown and now I have to pay before the impression can be sent out. Just another hangup in this long process. I have to call them tomorrow to make a payment over the phone. I refuse to make payments while I'm at the dental school because of one of the cashiers. His smug "I'm better than EVERYONE" attitude has often made me want to jump over the wall and punch him. Funny thing - not that long ago they actually had to restrain a patient from doing just that. Last time I was in there I heard a lady screaming for someone to talk to about the guy at the desk with an attitude problem. This guy is a liability to the dental school!

So, $336 that I have to pay tomorrow. Then I can submit for reimbursement from my FSA. I just put in claims today for around $220. Don't know why I hadn't claimed them before. I didn't even know who the FSA administrator was - it's through DH's work.

Well, my wrist is feeling better this evening so maybe I can get caught up on some email correspondence.

Forgot to mention in my last blog entry that I'm keeping XM for at least 5 more months. I called to "cancel" because I refuse to pay the ridiculous price they charge for this service. I was coming off of 3 months free. I knew what offers were floating around and I knew which one I wanted. Wow, they gave me the offer I wanted right off the bat! The rep was a bit lacking in her job skills though. I said I wanted to cancel and she said "You don't want to take advantage of our promotion?" Uh.... ok.... WHAT PROMOTION?? Immediately offered me 5 months for $19.95 total. That's the most I was willing to pay for this service. I find it very lacking in that I only have the receiver in my car. Also, they cut off free online listening - have to pay more for that. Well anyways, about $4 a month for another 5 months and then I'll see. I really can live without it if it comes down to that. I just wanted to try it out for a while because I can.

We got the $1000 check we were expecting from DH's parents - his part of the settlement from his grandmother's estate. We originally were going to just sit on it for a while but I dunno - awfully tempting to just pay off that 4.99% student loan, isn't it? It should clear the bank tomorrow, then I'll make a decision. DH indicated he wants to just pay off that debt! He's making progress...

I thought it would be a typical NSD today, but I had to gas up my car. Oh well - tried out the new gas promo going on with my grocery store and the gas station I usually go to. It's a pain cuz you can't pay at the pump. You pump first, go in and they scan the card, then pay. Well it saved me 10 cents per gallon - a whopping $1.19 total. Not bad and better than nothing! DH seems to think he should use the discount since his car takes more expensive gas - he found out AFTER he bought it! Uh, 10 cents is 10 cents and it's a matter of who puts in more gallons. I know how many I put in usually - need to find out how many gallons he gets. His car is bigger, so most likely him. I was just trying out the promo today to see how it worked. I'll NEVER drop the $300 or more needed to get the 60 cent per gallon discount! Not even sure it will be often I spend the minimum $50 needed to get the 10 cent discount. Well, I'll use it if I get it. I just signed up online to track the usage. I do still get my 5% back on my rewards card - at the gas station AND grocery store!

So far so good with the "new" cable modem, but I'm still shopping for a backup/replacement for it. This one didn't come with a power adapter, so I'm using the one from the old modem. Yeah, not smart since it's not rated for it, I know! I have no way of getting a replacement adapter for it that I can see. I just plan on getting another modem on ebay - as soon as I find the right deal. Used is just fine and I have a price range in mind.

Oh, as far as fessing up with my spending today - I also sprung for three 8 gb SDHC cards. It's a good size rebate ($90) but the cards will be $6 each after the rebate. This is a pretty "safe" rebate and shouldn't be a problem to get processed. I plan on using these for my camcorder I bought a few months ago. I'd just like another battery for it at some point. The 8 gb card that's in it now is my micro SD card I bought for my phone, then promised to DH, then stole it back for my camcorder. He can have it after I get these. I might even try selling one or two of the cards locally when I get them. We'll see.

Well, I think I'll get offline and go do something else for a change!

Grrr... I don't ask for much and can do without a lot - but NOT my internet!! About 24 hours ago the modem started acting up. Just randomly stopped working, or would reboot itself. Either way, VERY frustrating for someone who likes the internet! I kept restarting it, but it would quit again after 10-15 minutes or so. This morning I posted a request on Freecycle looking for a cable modem. Well, I got one. It's ancient, but I'm still online now aren't I?? I did have to spend half an hour on the phone with Comcast, but it appears everything is running now. I did find out I will have to call again to register a new modem, should it come to that. For now, we'll see if this works. Really, I was only down for less than 24 hours so I shouldn't complain.

Yesterday we went to Lowes to pick up 50 lbs of play sand and 40 lbs of organic compost to build a nesting box for my gravid turtle. I was worried about the cost, but it was only $5.46 for both. Naturally, said turtle could care less and has already climbed out of the box twice. Bet you didn't know turtles were good climbers! She's scaling a 10 inch wall and her shell measures about 6 inches. Strong little animals! No progress on the egg laying front and I really have no idea if she has any more in her. She laid two in the water, but she's still acting funny. She is eating and swimming normally though. This is all new territory for me!! Again, these eggs are NOT fertile, but we have to give her an appropriate nesting area to do her business. It's up to her to determine whether or not it's appropriate!

I paid another $100 towards DH's student loan and $1.00 towards his car. The $1.00 was just to empty my checking account so I could close it. BOA redistributed my credit limits so they are more even between accounts now. This gives us more breathing room on that balance transfer so we may sit most of the money in savings until closer to the BT end. It's at 0% so we hope to have the money saved up by then. Sidebar has been updated.

We splurged for lunch at BK yesterday since we were out and about and hungry. I always use the coupons on the back of the receipt for a free whopper. A value fry and value drink costs $2.10 and gets me a free whopper. Well worth doing the survey in my mind! DH sprung for an expensive meal, so the total was $9.23. Oh well, at least he SHOULD be cutting down on fast food with the diet he's on.

For the first time, we didn't do anything for Easter. Usually we go to my mom's, but that just didn't happen this year. I hear she had a couple friends over for dinner - good!

Well, that's about it. I think I'll go browse the internet now that I'm back up and running. Happy Easter everyone!

It has been a tough day today. Battling issues in my mind and it has been eating at me all day. It didn't help that DH and I snapped at each other before work, he flew out of the parking lot, and that was the last I heard from him. He's at his part time "job" tonight and I don't expect him home til around midnight.

Just as I was griping to a coworker about my problems, my mom called to say that my grandfather's wife passed away. My grandfather will be 85 this month and this is the third wife to go in a little over 7 years! They were married two years ago and April 20th would have been their anniversary. I know she had health problems and was on oxygen. She complained of not being able to breath and he called 911, but she was gone before they got there. They lived in TN and I only met her a couple times. He seemed very happy with her though. I need to find a card around here to send.

I just wrote a check for $315.65 for the water bill. This is for six months of billing. I need to get the electric bill paid. I pay by a CC that gives me either 2 or 3% (can't remember) rewards so why not pay it that way? I pay this card in full each month and this is the only thing I charge to it.

Not sure I'll get any sleep tonight due to anxiety issues. I really could use some sleep!!!!!!

I had a dentist appointment today and that always makes for a LONG day. I get my work done at a dental school, so my appointments aren't like what most people would be used to. There are many reasons why I go there, but mostly because I do like what the school has to offer much more than a dentist out in the "real world".

To go to these appointments I have to leave work at 3 pm, drive to the T station, take the T into Boston for a 4:30 appointment, back to the T station, then a 45 minute drive home. I get home between 8:30 and 9:00 on nights I have to go. Tiring!!

Since I had to take the T, I had to spend some money today.
Parking: $5.75
T fares: $3.40 (paid for already on my Charlie Card)

So long day and pricy! I am working on crown #6 right now. It has been a long 9 years since the first tooth broke.

(Side note: Did I ever mention a former dentist of mine is in prison? Elaine Hatch Brown - tax evasion. BIG story because she and her husband were holed up in their "fortress" and the feds tricked them to get in.)

So that's the update for today. Oh, DH did tell me that the settlement money we are expecting ($1000) is supposedly in the mail. We'll see....

So... Tuesdays are my least favorite day of the week. Monday - no problem! Tuesday - bleah. I work in payroll and Tuesday is my payroll deadline. Just makes for a trying day most weeks. I'm usually brain dead by 2 pm! Well, another one is over without much trouble.

It was a no spend day today. Most days are for me. I go to work, pack my own lunch, come home.

Came home to find that the cat pooped on the rug by the front door, someone puked there (lab? beagle?), the beagle pooped on the stairs and peed in the bedroom. *SIGH* I had a massive headache too. So I got to vac, scrub, mop, wash, etc. Tossed the "cat's" dog bed in the washer with the runner and everything is now dry and clean. That's just life around here sometimes.

I wont see DH much this week at all! Last night he worked, tonight and Thursday he's at his part time volunteer "job", tomorrow I have a dentist appointment and wont get home til close to 9 pm. I think I might see him again Friday! lol... He'll probably work at the part time gig on Saturday if we don't go up to see my mom. We'll see - that's still kinda up in the air right now. I don't mind this part time thing since it's something he LOVES and it keeps him out of trouble! Yeah, unpaid, but he's learning some great skills that'll be useful in life - especially if he ever ends up doing this as a career.

I'm just trying to enjoy the rest of my evening. Caught up on a couple emails: one to my MIL to thank her for my birthday gift and the other to my brother. Less than two months before he's scheduled to leave Iraq! It doesn't count until he's back in the states though. Recently a woman was killed over there just 7 hours before she was to board a plane to come home. My brother is in Mosul and there are constant bomb attacks. Not much any of us can do but wait. He wants to go to school when he gets home!! Wow, then we would both be college educated - a rarity in my family it seems.

Well, not much else to report tonight. I usually go over the finances on the weekend and that's when I'll see any improvement to the debt progress. One day at a time.

Oh - for all you folks who watch for spare change: I found a penny and a dime at Target on Saturday, and then a quarter at the grocery store Sunday!! Great weekend!

Hope you all had a nice evening.

Ok, I updated my sidebar! As suspected, having DH's car paid off did not last long AT ALL. It's a record - he's had that car for over 5 years! It's just time for it to go. So yes, he has a "new" car. You can see - he did oh so well saving up and paying cash for it. /sarcasm
At least we did manage to put down $1400 towards the car. It's a step in the right direction and if it'll shut him up about his commute - it's worth it!! So where's the old car? Still sitting here. *sigh*

So... top priorities right now are to get DH's student loan and his car paid off! Both are on balance transfers. I actually can't believe the student loan is so close to being paid off!!! Not long ago, that was over $7000 and a 14% variable interest rate! Transferring it to a "for life" BT was a great decision at the time!! DH's car is on a balance transfer because that was the quickest, cheapest way for us to finance it. The interest rate through financing was over 10%! Huh?!?!? His credit is near perfect with a score in the high 700s!

Well, any day now we are expecting a settlement check from his grandmother's estate. It's only $1000 but will help greatly in getting this stuff paid off!

In other news: still stressing about work, my mom, my brother, etc. Just too much pressure on me at the moment.

Oh! Last year for my birthday all I wanted was a Roth IRA! I funded it through the Suze Orman "save yourself" promotion. I am happy to report that I got my bonus AND I've put $700 in there. Great present to myself! Yeah! $804.62 right now!

Ok, so I put all my debt (except mortgage) out there in the hopes this will motivate me more. DH is on board since he loves his precious car so much and really wants it paid off! We'll get there - some day. I'll try try try to blog more for my own sake. I blog in my head on my commute, but just never feel like blogging by the time I get to a computer. I'll get there....

Oh, it has been a while! I haven't checked in since before my mom's surgery. Oops! Well her surgery went well. It was a rough couple of days, but she's so independent that she got sick of waiting for me to help her get in and out of bed. She handled it just fine by day 2 at home. These days she's out and about and walking every day. She should be cleared to go back to work in a couple of weeks.

In what little "free time" I have, I've been coupon shopping the drug stores. It's fun, but so much work! I want to start tracking this on my blog - someday!

What's occupying my time - and energy - right now is our office move. The move is FINALLY scheduled for this Saturday. Since I work in Payroll/HR, you can only imagine how much STUFF I have to pack up. My filing cabinets are being taken away today and painted, so ALL employee files have to be boxed up. I must have at least 1500 files between active and terminated employees. *SIGH* The move kept getting postponed and postponed and postponed, and is now nicely timed for the week my boss is on vacation. My assistant just returned after 2 weeks out on jury duty/vacation. So I have no help packing all this stuff up. Yup, tired just does not cover it. I still have to get through two more days of packing??? *SIGH*

Yeah, and all our stuff gets hauled upstairs Saturday. We are expected to come in Monday morning and move on with life as usual? I'll have around 30 boxes stacked in my office that I fear will take weeks for me to unpack. Do they want me to unpack or pay people? I may have to go in Sunday to clean up a bit. Yeah, that's what I wanted to do on my birthday.

I need to update my sidebar! That car is long paid off and yes, DH got a "new" car. It's a 2001 with 82,000 miles. He's so in love with this car - he's giddy about it! We've been so busy with car stuff the last couple of weeks. The "new" car has been back to the dealership a couple times to take care of some issues. Almost resolved. We still need the remotes for it and need to set up an appt to get the driver's seat reupholstered. All paid by the dealership of course. So now we have a new car that needs to be paid off ASAP. He waited as long as he could, but his "need" for a new car got the better of him. He has had his other car for FIVE years. Yes, this is a lifetime for my DH!! It's almost in "sellable" condition and it will be nice to get rid of it. Still a few safety issues that need to be taken care of before we can list it for sale. It would be a good starter car for a teenager. It's in decent shape - DH just needed something more comfortable for his commute. I don't blame him.

In other news: I FINALLY got my turtle tank sealed a couple weeks ago and filled last weekend. I'm getting good at this and I'm 3 for 3 in tank re-seals! The project is on hold because a part in the filter broke. $15 for something that looks like a lollipop stick?? Thankfully I had some Amazon credits and was able to get the part shipped for only 59 cents. This is a Fluval 404 external filter and I have been very unhappy with it since day one. I wouldn't buy another one, and didn't when I got the other two filters. I went with Eheim for those and love them!

Well I still don't have teeth brushed, lunch packed or dogs walked, and I'm supposed to be out of here in five minutes? OOPS!

lol... I'm sorry she feels that way. Calls me boring then asks for some of my stash!

She said I was boring because I emailed her my shopping trip from today.



Ok, so here's my grocery haul from today! Net result: $8.93. Really $28.93 out of pocket and I have $20.00 in catalina to spend. Catalina are those coupons that print at the register, good on your next order.

Bought on trip one:
10 soups for 10.00
minus 2.25 in coupons
total = 7.75
Got back 10.00 catalina
This deal required 25.00 spent on products. Regular shelf price is 2.50 each.

4 warm delights = 6.67
2 frostings = 3.34
2 cookie mixes = 3.34
2 crescents = 4.00
minus 5.00 in coupons
total = 12.35
Got back 10.00 catalina
This deal required purchase of 10 participating items

Bought on trip two:
2 cookie mixes = 3.34
1 warm delight = 1.67
8 grands = 10.00
minus 4.55 in coupons
total = 10.46
Used 10.00 catalina from first trip
Got back 10.00 catalina
This deal required purchase of 10 participating items

4 Wesson canola oils = 10.00
Used 10.00 catalina from first trip
Got back 10.00 catalina
This deal required 25.00 spent on participating products. Regular shelf price is 7.99 EACH!!!!!

I got that steak for $1.37, those pizzas (so DH doesn't starve while I'm gone this week) were $1.00 each, and DH grabbed the pudding (on sale!) that the mutt is headed for.

So I have 20.00 in catalina left to spend next time.
I can roll these catalina into more free soup - and more free soup! I will do that while I'm at my mom's this week and give her lots of soup. She asked for a cooking oil, and that's it.

Found a small sum of "money" the other day. Not in the form of cash, but in the form of someone's lost Charlie Card - Boston subway electronic pass! I hate that the MBTA rushed these things into use with no way for anyone to register or track cards. So now I have someones card, have an idea of how much is on it, and have no way of finding the rightful owner. It's too bad. I just can't help but think this was someone else's hard earned money. I put a post on craigslist and got one response - but it wasn't a match. There's not much else I can do.

In other news, I started something viral on the internet!! Fatwallet is one of my favorite websites and they were giving away little stuffed fish that said fatwallet on them if you posted a hot deal and met the criteria. Oh I wanted one SO BAD! Well, long story short, I lucked upon an email coupon that was perfect for posting. I got my fish - and a tshirt - and the next thing I know this same coupon has come back to me three times!! I edited my name out of it, but it had a unique serial number on it so I know it's mine. When my coworker happily handed me the coupon, it launched me into such a laughing fit that I couldn't breathe! So I'm enjoying my 15 minutes of anonymous fame. If anyone ended up with a T.G.I. Friday's BOGO entree' coupon with serial # 169149242 - that was my fault! All I wanted was a stuffed piranha!

I have a lot of things to do this weekend before I head to my mom's on Monday. Surgery is scheduled for some time on Tuesday. I don't yet know if I'll be bored or if she has a long list of stuff to work me to death. I DO plan on snagging her grocery receipts to see how she spends more than twice what I do at the grocery store! Yes, she has overspent this paycheck already!! Once this medical issue is taken care of, I do plan on having a discussion with her regarding finances. I still just can't understand how she spends blindly without paying attention to her bank balance. A cash only system may be required in the future.

On the home front: DH is "car shopping". This mostly means he changes his mind every single day on what he wants. He's also just browsing cars online and has only gone to look at one as of last night. He never did tell me if he even saw the car. I'm ignoring this until it becomes a real issue. In the meantime, we're trying to get together CASH to pay for something temporary. He doesn't want his car anymore because of his back problems. Just not "cushy" enough.

Well that's about it for now. Hope everyone is having a great day!

It was a good shopping day and I'm really getting the hang of this coupon stuff! Got most everything I went out for except the little mini ladybug purse my mom wanted at RiteAid. I got her one as a joke a few years ago and it is her favorite purse to haul around! Of course she wore it out. I'll have to check a couple more RiteAids. Oh, and my mother needed something for after surgery care and I couldn't find the deal I wanted. There are other deals around though - too much snow today to go for a longer drive!

Here are the deals I got:

CVS:
Boston Globe (for the coupons) = 2.50
Two pack of deoderant = 4.99 (2.00 back in ECB)
Four 12 packs of Pepsi = 12.00 + 2.40 deposit
Three bags of Tostitos = 9.00 (10.00 ECB on 20.00 of pepsi/frito lay)
Two St. Ives facial scrubs = 5.98 - 4.00 in coupons = 1.98
Excedrin extra strength express gels 20 ct = 1.99 - 2.00 coupon = -.01
Excedrin migraine 24 ct = 1.99 - 2.00 coupon = -.01
Two CVS claritins 5 ct = 7.58 (free after ECB)

Subtotal = 40.43
Used 37.99 in ECBs

Total out of pocket = 2.44
Got back 19.58 in ECBs

Plus there is a rebate form to send in for $15 worth of Pepsi/Frito Lay coupons - I met the qualifications

Got the following Unilever products at the Grocery Store:
Two skippy roasted honey nut peanut butters = 3.34 - 1.00 coupon = 2.34
Three ragu pasta sauces = 5.00 - 1.00 coupon = 4.00
Eight lipton noodles = 8.00 - 1.00 coupon = 7.00
Two large Hellman mayos = 6.00 - 1.00 coupon = 5.00
Two Wishbone salad dressings = 3.34 - 1.00 coupon = 2.34

Total = 20.68
Plus I got back 17.00 in catalina coupons.
So the 20.68 I spent on the Unilever products will cost me 3.68 after the catalina coupons. What a help now that I know the catalina are triggered by the regular prices, not the sale prices.

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

I do want to thank everyone again for their thoughts regarding my mother's situation. I need to have a chat with her, but it will have to wait until she has recovered from her upcoming surgery. I'll just do the best I can right now. I did her taxes yesterday and she's getting back $717 !! Um, yeah I neglected to tell her this though. She'll find out when the money hits her savings account. I DID already tell her I hope she hasn't "spent" her tax retun because she needs to put it aside for property taxes and anything else that may come up. One day at a time I guess.

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

Well we bought a pork roast for dinner - marked down because it was yesterday's meat. Mmmmmmm it sounds so good! I've never cooked a pork roast but it looks really easy. Gotta go prep it now.

Wow it's been a while! Been so busy around here I don't usually know what day it is. I think today is the first day I've been able to sit down and tie up some loose ends. It's almost 1 pm and I have gotten so much done today - without injuring myself! Last Saturday I killed my back mopping the floor. Guess I don't use those muscles often enough. Had me out of commission the rest of the weekend and then some. So far so good today!

We've talked for months about "canceling" cable and the last straw was last night. DH has ADD and I just CAN'T compete with the tv anymore!! Between stresses at work and dealing with my mother, sometime's I'd like to have a conversation with my husband!! The price went up last month and is going up AGAIN next month. More and more channels are being moved to the digital lineup and is there really anything worth watching anyways? I sure don't watch it. It's on mostly for background noise and I know I'd enjoy music better. DH happily flips through channels for hours, but he finally realized it just not worth the money we pay for it. We're not getting rid of the internet though. So it would cost us $39.95 + tax to drop all cable - or $39.65 + tax to have internet plus basic cable. HUH??? Well, done deal and billing stops as of today. I do have to pay a $13.95 fee (#!@@$#) for them to send a tech out to make this change. That should be on the 26th and the tech can pick up the box then. Good, saves us a trip. Well this will cut our bill in half and seems like the best we can do with what we are willing to give up. This is being done for sanity reasons more than anything else...

As for the XM. My car I got in June came with an XM radio. I wanted to try it out, so I found a code online for free activation and three free months. It is GREAT to have when we travel to visit family! Other than that, just not thrilled with the service. It's more distracting than anything when I'm in rush hour traffic. Plus I can't believe how much the DJs talk over the music!! Why would I pay for this? Well I opted to keep the service for one paid month so we could have it while travelling for Thanksgiving. Then I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to call in to cancel! Well, since they REALLY don't want to lose me as a customer - they're giving me 3 free months to reconsider my decision. That ends April 11th so I'll have to spend another 15 minutes on the phone to cancel again. Ok, that's worth it!

In other news:

- It was great to see my brother for Christmas. Didn't get to spend much time with him, but that's ok. He got to spend time with his wife and two step-daughters. They've never really had a lot of time together since he got married while stationed in Afghanistan. He's back in Iraq now and should be home this summer.

- My mom has to have more surgery - unrelated to the breast cancer. She had just gone back to work in December (after radiation) when she found out she needs to have a hysterectomy. Surgery is scheduled for mid February and I am taking a few days off work to go up there. Neither of us has any idea what this surgery will be like for her and what sort of care she'll need afterwards. Need to see what I can learn about this before then.

Ok, enough for now! I still need to go over my finances and do more housecleaning. Snow tonight may ruin my plans for later.

Well, it has been a really spendy day, but it was a treat for us for a change! Nice and relaxing and just a fun day.

We are spending Thanksgiving with DH's family so we offered to pick up some local wine if they wanted some. They will be paying us back for this. They asked for 4 bottles from a particular winery a half hour from here. We decided to make an afternoon of it and do a tasting, buy wine, then grab lunch somewhere. We sprung for a case because the wines were so good! We got the 4 we went there for, 3 bottles for us, 2 bottles for Thanksgiving dinner, and 3 bottles for gifts for inlaws. This completes Christmas shopping for them! The two bottles for dinner were a must - holiday spiced cranberry apple wine. YUM!

Spending for the day:
Two tastings w/2 wine glasses: $8.00
Case of wine: $143.91 (eek! this is after a $2.10 discount for a "wine of the month" and the $15.99 case discount.)
Lunch: $28.00 for two HUGE burgers w/ fries, large beer for DH, and good tip.

We've been tipping extra ever since reading on here about people cutting back on tipping but still eating out. We hardly ever eat out, so we feel comfortable tipping extra.

*Mail Break*
- Just went and got the mail and got a rebate check for $2.74. This is for trying a new Arm & Hammer cleaning product.
- Uh oh. DH's idiotic doctor's office has sent him to collections over $7.43 and now he's on a tirade. He's mad enough now that he wont be going there anymore. They refuse to send us a bill and don't tell him his balance or ask for payments when he goes in for appointments. Really cute for a counselor's office that's supposedly "treating" him for ADD! Well anyways, don't appreciate this stress on what has otherwise been a nice day. Oh, if this impacts his perfect credit......

So on to my mom. Ever since she was diagnosed with breast cancer she has been unbelievably helpless wih everything. She just finished radiation last week and I'm wondering if her spirits are lifting just a little bit. Yesterday she wanted to order a book through her book club but the website was overcharging the shipping. Of course she called me - what am I supposed to do about it? So I told her she needed to call them and she did, no questions asked! Got it worked out and called me back with a cheery tone in her voice. Then today she had a neighbor come over to look at her broken dryer. It turns, but wont heat. So she called a local supply company and found out the parts would cost almost $100. Then she went online and found them for $75. Wow, my mom went online and found a better deal?? I'm impressed and quite happy about this! She can wait a few days for her dryer to get fixed and she's saving $25, nevermind the cost savings of not hiring a repair person to do it. She baked this guy some cookies and handed him the $20 she had just earned for babysitting my cousin. Now I just have to get this money from her when my credit card statement posts. I had her put it on my PENFED card to get the 1.25% cash back. Hey, every little bit helps! Almost a dollar cash back - she'll take it!

I just called to check the status of DH's car loan because the check hasn't cleared my bank yet. Apparently they got it because he now owes a whopping $561.54 on the car!! There are three payment coupons left - 2 regular payments plus the final payoff. I think we can knock the rest of this out in one shot. I'm "borrowing" from savings to get this out of the way.

I originally wanted this car paid off by the end of 2008 (scheduled for October 2009) but that didn't seem possible. Wow, looking good at the moment. DH has NO IDEA!

Said car now has the check engine light on as of this morning. Should just be a $30 sensor that DH can replace. Thank goodness he's really interested in cars and can do a lot of work himself.

I stopped by Target to get some paper towels that were on sale. Been trying to cut back on using these, but with 2 dogs and 2 cats sometimes you really NEED a paper towel!

Went to the pet store to buy crickets for my anole and some fish food. Used a $3 coupon that was expiring tomorrow.

Then I went to a discount type store to look for two picture frames for a project. Picked up a few cute little Christmas extras and found the frames I was looking for. Then I found my tea!! I know I made a comment before on here about giving up my tea due to the cost. I used to buy it at Target for around $2 a box, but it's almost $4 at the grocery store. Well this store had 10 boxes marked $1.99 each. I tossed 5 in my basket, thought about it for a minute, then tossed the other 5 in my basket. So glad I did because as the cashier was ringing up my purchases, I felt something hit my wrist. The woman behind me was handing me an extra 20% off coupon she had. I ended up saving $7.52 with the coupon. Then when I got out to the car, I noticed that tea all rang up $1.50 each. So I got 10 boxes of tea for $12.00!! I was very grateful to the person who gave me the coupon!

Happy Halloween everyone!

This is my beagle in her football jersey.



No, she's not going out tonight - but we are!! I am a scrooge when it comes to holidays and I was just going to shut all the lights off and hide. A local radio station called me a few hours ago to tell me I won tickets to see David Byrne tonight!! Go look him up if you have to, but many of you are familiar with his work. DH is so excited!! This same radio station gave me tickets to see Jakob Dylan a few months ago. (You may need to look him up too - but you are familiar with his father!)

So, must leave work early so I can get home and get to Boston in time for the show. YAY!!!

Well, the laminate is down. Just need to finalize some trim work and then we can declare the floor completely done. We have decided not to put laminate on the stairs. We will either stain or paint them, depending on what we are up against once we pull up the carpet. Much cheaper and easier than the laminate would have been. We are both happier with this option and I'm sure it will look fine. Here are the costs so far:

Previous total: $290.43
Laminate flooring: $489.51
Underlay and tape: $47.13
Stair nose and trim for the room: $42.96
Nails, more underlay, more tape: $20.92
Return extra insulation: -$26.29
Odds & ends: $2.88

Total so far: $867.54

I'm quite happy this project will stay under $1000 ! We are very pleased with the floor. Now if we could only get the room back together! Two turtles are now home and I just have to fix the third tank.

Here is my 55 gallon tank with my red eared slider:


Here is my 30 gallon tank with my painted turtle:


The tank on the right in this picture is the one I am supposed to be fixing - at this moment!

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.

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.