Thrift-o-rama

We're only 19 days into January and it's already been complete madness! Where do I even begin?

My former full-time newspaper job, where I am now a freelancer, asked me if I'd consider going back to full-time. I considered it, but with the kids, it'd be difficult. I'd make about $45,000 a year, but full-time school for the boys would cost $26,000. And then there's spring break, holidays, etc. I asked if they'd consider a more flexible schedule (same hours every week, but just different than the 10 to 7 that is the norm). My editor wants to, but is raising the ire of management just by asking. Because "if they do it for me, they need to do it for everyone."

Of course, I say, you should do it for everyone, because it's 2012 and most parents work and there isn't a wife at home to handle every sick day, doctor visit, etc. But I digress.

I said I didn't think I could swing traditional full-time. Frankly, I don't want to. It'd be a lot of stress for not a lot of profit, once you consider daycare, taxes, commuting, etc. I'm better off freelancing, moneywise. Then, with a straight face, my editor asked if I'd consider hiring a nanny.

I was kind of horrified and exasperated all at once. I'm sorry, nannies are for high-powered executives and people who make 6 figures, not 40k a year reporters! Every dime I'd make would go to pay the nanny! After that comment, I kind of have given up negotiating. They're living in lala land.

So yeah, the plan now is nose to the grindstone until fall, when both kids will finally be old enough for preschool, then seek out more freelance work.

It just kind of irks me that the U.S. has such a jacked up work culture. Why does one partner always have to give up so much once kids arrive? Why are we forced to make these kinds of decisions? Why can't all parents have fulfilling careers, rather than one being stuck at home because the jobs are too inflexible or don't pay enough to cover childcare costs? It's times like this when I wish I was Scandinavian!

***
Just as an addendum, I want to say that all of this back and forth discussion with my former employer sparked a lot of soul searching. I just don't feel like, for the money, a full-time job there is the best use of my time. I've kind of been reminded of why I left the first time. It's not a culture of about what you produce, it's a culture of "I want to see your butt in the chair" and with a 2 year old and a 3 year old, that would be a real hardship for my family right now. Plus, I don't think the money is big enough to justify the added stress and hassle and expenses we'd have to go through to make it happen. I don't love the newspaper business enough, and I don't like the idea of having my kid in dawn to dusk daycare all year long, including school breaks and summer breaks, etc. I know parents do it all the time, but that's not how I grew up, and it really does help us that I have a flexible schedule.

I wish all of us good things for 2012! That we may find happiness, and have enough to sustain us and our loved ones. Oh, and that 2012 isn't the end of the world!

I signed up for Toluna and just did a survey worth 12,000 points. I'm always skeptical of these kinds of sites. Do any of you have any experience with them? Is it worth bothering?

For a long time I've been playing around with a money "Game" that can at the same time boost savings and significantly reduce non-essential spending.

Here it is and let me know if you think it could work. I call it "double or nothing" literally!

If you buy something non-essential-- a splurge, whether it costs a dollar or $300-- if you buy it, you have to put an equal amount immediately into a savings or investment account, or pay it toward debt. It would essentially **double** the cost of any non-essential item. So you'd really have to think about how much you could actually afford it. Or, if you valued it enough to "pay" double.

In the past, DH and I have also played a "game" where we have to donate an amount equal to the purchase to a charity we absolutely hate-- something that completely disagrees with our social and political morals. That has worked. Just thinking the above would still leave room for purchases, while spurring thought about them, and benefitting ourselves.

Any thoughts?

I have an ING saving account that I kind of ignore, but I do auto transfer $35 to $70 a month into. I just checked it and it was at $553. To get a jump on the new year car pay-off, I sent $550 to the car loan balance. I'm amped to wipe out that debt!

I also sold an extra story to a wire service this month, will get paid in early January, to the tune of $525. Yay!

I read this article and thought it kind of reminded me of what we have going on here. A special support group and community that helps us save! Gee, aren't we lucky?

http://www.smartmoney.com/spend/family-money/will-peer-press...

I cannot believe it is going to be 2012 soon. Where have this year and all the years before it gone??? I feel like it's the year 2000 and not 2012!

The New Year is sneaking up on me, but I thought I better put some thought into some goals or else I'll just be floating-- which is never good financially.

So, it's pretty much the same as last year, only maybe not as ambitious. I'm not giving up, I'm just being more realistic. Last year we had a paid off house, this year we have a mortgage of about $1700 a month (thanks public schools!), and this year's goals reflect that. Plus, I have a lot of personal goals this year, that will I think impact our financial lives, but also my mental life, which needs some tending.

I posted the financial goals in the sidebar.

On the other goals front, I REALLY REALLY need to free up time to finish my novel. It just needs a rewrite. I think this is a top priority.

I am also going to do at least one more serious Weight Loss Club at the Y (starts Jan. 7) , in an effort to lose 15 pounds this year. I may do the cheaper option, which is $35 vs $190. It doesn't include personal training, but I still have 3 unused training sessions from last time, so I may use those instead of paying for more. I did lose 14 pounds this year, one short of the goal, but I'm not crying over that last pound! I'm thrilled!

Here are some of my other goals. I hope they don't seem weird.

-Write thank you notes. Kind of gotten away from doing it consistently since the kids were born.

-Socialize more often. Hubby and I dropped off the earth when we had kids, and it's time to give all the people we never see a call. I'm thinking occasional girls' nights, poker nights in the basement, and reviving stitch n bitch craft nights. We used to do all of those, and now we don't.

-Lose 15 more pounds. This would put me in the super thin and healthy zone!

-Cook healthier and more economical meals at home, for us and the kids. And, more variety of food. I'm in a rut.

-Stop buying stupid stuff. If it isn't planned or on the list, skip it. And, don't go to the grocery store without coupons. I frequently pay too much because I lack the time to plan.

-Make fewer trips to the store. I'm putting my foot down. I end up going to the store too frequently because we forgot this or that. Better planning!

-Organize coupons better- to take advantage of unadvertised sales and so I can find what I need even if I don't plan.

- Try to buy used before automatically buying new.

When it rains, it pours.... I feel like I'm making an effort not to spend money, but life is spending it for me!

The bathroom still isn't finished. I'm out of emotional steam. The plumber had to come back twice to redo the stems for the faucet, and after visit number two, it still isn't right! Come on people!

The good news is the tile is up, grouted and caulked. Even if I had a faucet I wouldn't be able to use it, as I opted for epoxy grout which is supposed to be easier to clean. So yeah. Shared shower with the in-laws. Plumber was supposed to come back yesterday to fix stuff and install fixtures, but he was a no call no show. Argh.

So far, the shower has set me back $950. Not including the plumber. Haven't gotten a bill for that fiasco yet.

And, we are trying to get our house insulated, to the tune of another $2000. We are getting a fat rebate from the utility, so we're going to be able to do the attic and the exterior walls plus air sealing for that price. We're getting a 1500 discount up front and will qualify for another 638 dollars when it's done.

We were on the schedule for that but then I heard a scratching in the wall. MICE!! The exterminator is coming next week to set traps and seal up the area where they are getting in. Hooray. Another $250, plus two weeks at least to get the little guys out. So, I don't know when the insulation is going in.

The mice caught me off guard because I've never had anything like that in my house before.


Oh well, right? There's not much I can do except go with the flow and do my best. And hope the bills don't get to be too big.

I'm a snowball of doom rolling down the hill, picking up more craziness along the way!

Y'all know hubby broke the soap dish off the shower wall Sunday night, causing a huge chunk of the wall to collapse. Instead of going to be dearly I had to scour angie's list looking for someone to fix it. I was lucky enough to find a reputable tile company that had had a cancellation. That's about where the good luck stopped.

I spent all my babysitting hours on Monday at the tile store trying to find an in stock tile I could live with. ANd it took forever for the sales people to ring me up and get everything taken care of.

On Tuesday, they started work but discovered that my old plumbing fixtures were corroded to the pipes, and barring a plumber intervention, they'd break the pipes taking them off, and even then the new fixtures won't fit on the old stems. So, I had to scramble to find the one plumber in town who isn't booked, and beg him to squeeze me in.

Plumber shows up, takes off the old fixtures and installs the new stems. He discovers a plumbing leak in the wall, right above an ill-placed working electrical outlet. In the tub wall. Hurray.

Tile people come back Wednesday and do two of the three shower walls, then discover the fixture stems aren't long enough because the plumber did not check to see if they would actually stick out of the wall far enough to connect once the backerboard and tile was on.

Work stops, have to call the plumber again. He can't show up until this morning. He comes, fixes it right this time (presumably, at least as far as I can tell), but while he's here the tile guy calls to tell me he is passing a kidney stone and isn't coming today.

This is turning into a very expensive and drawn out nightmare. Two day job on day four, no end in site, and the in-laws are coming next week. The epoxy grout probably won't even be dry. Meaning I have to share a bathroom with the in-laws. Ugh.

My whole week has been derailed. Two weeks in a row-- first no babystitters, now this. I'm supposed to be getting ahead on all of my freelance work so I can make it through the holidays, but nothing is working out!!!!

Last night I took my mom and sister out for a holiday dinner. I toasted that this week HAD to be better than last! Then I came home to a worried looking hubby.

And he showed me this.



Apparently, he leaned on the soap holder when he was picking up toys, it broke off and a giant chasm broke out of the wall. The soap dish is still in there somewhere! Ugh. So, instead of going to bed early and getting a good night's sleep, I spent the rest of the night trying to find a tiling person who wasn't booked until February. I managed to find a good one on Angie's list who had just had a cancellation.

And today, instead of getting ahead on work, I was meeting contractors and spending an hour in the tile shop picking out new tile (from a very limited supply of in-stock things.). Ugh. It's always something!

I'll be out another $1000 because of this.

I can't believe 2012 is right around the corner. Now that it's time to think about next year's financial goals, I wonder if you guys might help me think some things through.

My old plans don't really work anymore, because now we have a car loan and a mortgage, as opposed to being debt free for the five years before 2011.

Right now, I send $500 extra each month to the mortgage, with the goal of having it paid off in about 5 years. This isn't too big of a burden, but...

--We're putting $200/ month into savings now. I was thinking of bumping that amount up. And, although I don't like to count chickens, so to speak, hubby usually gets a bonus of about $10,000 every February, which usually goes to savings or some other investment goal.

Anyway, we do have a car loan, at .9 percent interest. It's not a burden, but it's a waste. So, I was wondering what you thought about temporarily stopping paying extra on the mortgage and send that to the car loan. I pay about $40 extra a month on it now. If I used the mortgage extra, I could have it paid off in about 10 months, freeing us of both a $250 monthly payment AND the added expense of full-coverage insurance. (savings of another $200 a year?)

I'd actually save more in the long term paying down the mortgage, which ash a 4.678 interest rate than the car, but it's always nice to eliminate monthly payments.

Any thoughts?

This has been hell week. My sitter had to go out of town because her dad--who we love and the kids call grandpa-- was admitted to the hospital. THEN my mom and back-up sitter was sick this week, which never happens. She has an immune system of steel. Anyway, absolutely no sitters, scrambling to do my freelance work by deadline, and it's rainy and cold so the kids and I can't go out to play. The upside? The $120 I would have paid the sitter went right into savings! Yay!

Every little bit helps, right? I hadn't even thought of it until today, when it occurred to me to immediately move it into savings. I was going to spend it anyway, right? Might as well save it rather than let it dribble out of checking. So yeah. All of this used to be automatic, but now it takes thought. Geesh. I need to get back on track!

As y'all know I have two kids under 3.5 and I'm struggling with exhaustion, deadlines,a nd getting everything done. I've given my routine some thoughts.

Some initial thoughts
Maybe I can relieve some stress by laying the foundation to do more in less time, and get more out of the time I already so spend on everything. But how?

Some ideas:
1. Make fewer car trips, fewer trips to the store each week. This will require better planning, but can hopefully cut down on a lot of the "Oh we need this," store trips.

I have already "cut" some of the childcare trips. My sitter now lives 30 minutes each way (up from 10 since the move.) We won't give her up, but instead of driving home and back after pick ups and drop offs, I've begun working from the library by her house, and using that time to go to the gym, work, run errands, etc.

2. Check email and use the Internet fewer times each day. I'm thinking I might be able to check my mail in the morning, in the afternoon, and again before dinner and manage all of my work obligations. Except maybe the day before my story runs and my editor is blasting me with questions. But the rest of the week, yeah. And no surfing because I'm bored. If I'm on the computer, it's for work or something specific. Not just wasting time.

With that time, maybe I can redirect it into cooking, cleaning, vegging out, catching up reading while the kids are playing, etc.

3. Change the kids' TV time. We don't let the kids run rampant with the TV, but it is kind of random. I'm thinking it might be better to stop the random TV, and save it for only when I need to take a little break and get a little bit of work done. Maybe for 15 to 45 minutes?

4. Clean up my upstairs and downstairs workspaces. Upstairs is a catch all for bills and such to the point where I don't have a place for the computer sometimes.

Also, my office in the basement is still packed in boxes since the move. I need to set it up, as when my mom comes to watch the kids on Tuesdays, I'd at least have a quiet uninterrupted place to make calls and work. Right now, I'm upstairs, and they are always climbing all over me while I make calls and tugging on my arms begging me to hang out with them. It's impossible.

5.Get more out of my time with the kids. I'm often juggling so many things I'm not really there at all for the kids, even though I am there. Make sense? I'm trying to make an effort to read to them more, sit down on the floor with them more to build things and play with things, so that maybe when I do actually have to sneak off to make dinner or work, they won't be as desperate for my attention. We'll see. But it is exhausting!

6. Have designated nights for work projects, leisure, and personal projects. I have an informal system already, but it doesn't always play out in practice. Maybe I can be more motivated if I know working on X night, means I can work on my novel or watch a movie on Y night.

7. Plan meals and get a regular schedule so I have one less thing to think or worry about. I'd like to put as many of the mundane daily tasks on autopilot as possible. Not sure where to start, but I'm thinking.

I've been struggling a lot lately with my freelance work, both with the lack of free time I have because I can only work when the kids are asleep, and with the low pay.

My first thought was to give up one of my weekly gigs, but realistically I probably won't. I really like it when the check comes, and now that we have a mortgage, we kind of need it to get where I think we need to be financially.

But, I am going to try to put my head to it and instead figure out how I can be more efficient in getting things done, and maybe free up more me-time as a result.

Anyway, on top of this. One of my friends owns a small marketing/ pr company and she called yesterday wanting to know if I'd help her write press releases for $22 an hour. At first I was dead set against it, but as usual, I let her talk me into it. I have one due on Wednesday. It's probably not going to be strenuous work, but it is more work at a time when I feel like I'm already not doing what I really want to-- which is finish my novel! Plus, it will probably only take an hour to 1.5 to write, so it isn't much money.

Not sure what to do about it. Not sure if having to squeeze one more thing into my schedule is worth the $25 or $30 I'd get out of it. It won't be a steady thing, just helping out another working mom for a little bit of extra cash. But still. That novel is gathering dust, and I really would like to go to bed early SOMEDAY! But alas, I have a hard time saying no, because in the freelance world you just never know if project will come back to you if you do.

It's the freelancer's curse. Usually, it's a once-shot opportunity, and if you don't say yes, it's gone.

I don't know. What do you think? Any ideas on how I can better manage work when I have to do most of it when the kids are in bed? I'm maxed out on childcare.

I'll post more thoughts on making better use of my time later.

Kroger ran a promotion in Oct. and Nov. where you get 10 percent of your grocery spending as a credit to spend today in their marketplace stores, which are kind of like department stores. I had a $70 credit, which is great-- except it means I spent way too much on groceries the last two months!

Anyway, I debated going up there to use it. The closest one to me is at least a 30 minute drive with traffic. But, I talked myself into going. It was a madhouse. I think the toy aisle was about to get violent.

I didn't just want to get a bunch of junk we won't use just because it was free, so hubby and I talked about it last night. I hit the bakeware aisle and got two more cupcake pans (I make tons... sometimes dozens at a time for parties and such), three more cookie sheets for the holiday baking, a pizza pan so we can make homemade pizza, a small crockpot for appetizers and smaller batches, a green ball for my youngest, some watercolor paints for the kids, and a set of four stemless wine glasses. Not a bad haul, and even though I only did casual math in my head I didn't spend one single dollar over my total.

In other news, I did something totally dumb that I never have before. I forgot to make the car payment in November. I don't know how that happened. Luckily I'd made so many overpayments that I didn't technically have one due until this month. Geesh!

Well, I'm finally getting paid most of the backlogged freelance checks. I just got notice from payroll that the direct deposit is set for tomorrow. So, I'll be getting $1850, and will be owed another $400 after that.

-$937 will go back to savings, to make up for the money I had to take out to cover the mortgage because the checks were late.

-That leaves me about $900, which will likely go to help with the car payment, savings, IRA, and the January mortgage.

I also have another freelance check floating in the ether, to the tune of about $500. I have to wait for the editor to finish working on it so I have a final word count before I can invoice. I filed it about a month ago, but it isn't edited yet because it's not high priority amidst all the holiday stories. Argh!

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and out of control on the money front, which is totally out of character for me. It's probably a result of
*holiday overspending. I bought most of the kids' gifts used on Craigslist, but still have spent a tidy sum on children's and family gifts, as well as "adopting" the gift list of three foster children. Part of this is mom and I decided to pool our money to buy bigger, more useful and nicer gifts for my sister-- namely a laptop. And, an iPod that I got a super deal on thanks to sales and coupons. We're giving her the iPod for her b-day.

*I haven't gotten a freelance check since October. I have yet to be paid for October and November, I know the company is good for it, it's just that checking up on my peanuts is pretty frustrating. First, it was a snafu in the payroll department, so none of the freelancers got paid, and then my editor FORGOT to turn in the invoice-- and then finally turned it in a month late. This throws a complete wrench into my monthly financial plan, as that money goes to retirement and to the mortgage and preschool bills. Ugh. The only potential bright side is that IF I get paid in December, it will be for two months at once, so I might be able to put larger chunks where it needs to go, including replacing the $900 I took out of savings to cover the mortgage when the check didn't arrive this month! So frustrating.

I know I have totally been overspending lately, and I KNOW I should seriously clamp down and come up with a better plan for our monthly income. I just haven't because every day is so packed full between work, and shuttling two toddlers everywhere, plus the time I spend at my weight loss workouts at the gym. It's so time consuming! But, on the plus side, I've lost 13.8 pounds since mid-September. YAY!

I can't believe 2012 is just around the corner and it's already time to start thinking about next year. I don't know what my goals are, but I know I really need to figure out how to make the most of our money, especially now that we have a mortgage. Things have just been crazy since buying this place.

I just realized it's been almost two months since I've posted anything. So much has happened, I don't even know where to begin.

A few highlights and low lights.

A. our baby turned 2 last Saturday. He's turned into such a little man. Talking in full sentences, with cute baby pronunciation. We're in a good place. He and his brother play pretend together, as superheroes, building guns and castles out of blocks. They're at fun ages.

B.On the crazy side, DH's dad has medical drama again. It's a long story, but let's just say he's never taken care of himself, never exercises, and has always been a cure the symptoms, give me a pill kind of guy. It really came back to bite him. He sought out a parkinson's drug to help him with a shaking hand he has had since he had brain surgery a few years back.

Four doctors refused, saying he didn't have parkinsons. One reluctantly said he might and wrote him a prescription. Long story short, the medication caused him to lose an eye, because he took it even though he wasn't supposed to if he had glaucoma. We want to feel bad for him, but it's hard given his attitude toward health. That pretty much derailed our holiday plans and any other plans until the dust settles and we figure out if hubby needs to go up there for moral support or not. (His dad is very woe is me...)

So yeah.

C. Another up side. Thanks to the Ultimate Weight Loss challenge at the gym, I've lost nearly 12 pounds since mid-September. The baby weight is coming off! I plan to keep going until I'm down to pre-wedding weight, which would be another 15-18 pounds.

Oh, and it's bad karma fall for appliances! Hubby broke the glass top of the convection range a few months back and we had to replace that. (Same price to buy new as to repair it. I'll never understand why.)Then last week, the dryer suddenly quit working. At midnight, with two loads os wet laundry waiting in the wings. Ugh. I sold the broken one on craigslist for $40, and headed to the scratch and dent. I ended up buying a ridiculously fancy red Whirlpool Duet for about $400. Reg $899. Now that it's here, it seems too fancy to be stuck in the basement. Oh well. At least it looks good, right?

D. On the downside, I'm feeling really burned out freelance-wise. It's starting to bother me that my profession (journalism) is in such a bad spot, and that the freelance rates have tanked. I make less per story in real and actual dollars than I did 8 years ago. It seems things are just getting worse. And for the price of a couple hundred dollars a week before taxes and the sitter, they expect you to produce copy and ideas as if you were a full-timer with benefits. It's frustrating, and it's starting to feel hopeless. After the sitter and taxes, technically I actually PAY to make money, but I do it to keep my hands in my profession while I'm home with kids. But then I realized ... why? There aren't any full time jobs in journalism waiting for me when the kids go to school all day. Those jobs are gone. All the newspapers are laying people off, not hiring. I feel like my career is on life support, and maybe it's time to pull the plug. I have to fist fight to get paid every month because one of my editors never remembers to send the invoice to payroll. It's ridiculous and humiliating to fight for my peanuts.

I don't know what to do (nursing is not an option, people....). It upsets me when I think how hard I work two write two stories a week for the local paper, how little I get paid, and that there isn't anything better coming along. I feel like a hamster in a wheel-- in purgatory!

Anyway, money is just okay. I did the majority of Xmas shopping for the kids on craigslist, and I got some great stuff for way way way way less than new. A little tikes playkitchen with all new in box food and pots and pans ($50), Playmobil castle, dragons, knights and airplane ($50), and an awesome Cozy coupe that's like a blue station wagon with wood paneling ($10). They're also getting a dress-up box, and I spent a good penny filling it, but I got a lot because I loaded up on costumes and accessories at yard sales and at Halloween clearance sales.

I also told my family that I was no longer doing gifts that don't matter, as in just buying them stuff that's going to gather dust or sit on a shelf or in a cabinet and only be used a few times. I made them think about it, and then give me lists of the things (services, etc.) they thought would most improve their everyday lives, and asked them to make the list without censoring it for prices, etc. I want to make lives better and easier with gifts, not more cluttered! (I've been watching too much "clean house" late at night!)

Well, it turned out to be a useful exercise. From my sisters comments, I realized wireless internet (we'll buy her the wireless router and set it up) and a Roku box for streaming netflix on her tv are the best ways to go. She has hardwired internet that's a real pain to use when she works at home with her work laptop, and she is always jealous of all the streaming movieson netflix. She's still in the DVD plan. She tried once to set all this up on her own, but gave up. DH is a tech geek, so I know we can make it work. Stuff she'll use!

Mom has yet to give me her list, but she does love to take photos, has a crappy old digital camera, and she doesn't know how to download photos to her computer or edit them, so if I can somehow turn that into a gift, that might be something. I'm open to ideas. I'm thinking a new camera might be part of it.

As for hubby, I have no idea. Maybe beer and coffee. drink up honey!

It's a beautiful day out today. I just adore fall. So sunny, but not hot, and the leaves. Beautiful. I guess that's one reason I feel so overall positive today.

We also just made it through another rough patch -- like the broken stove. Thursday was crunch day. The appliance place delivered the stove in the a.m. and then the plumber came to run the gas line in the afternoon. The kids and I were stuck at home with people going in and out. That was rough, because we are usually on the go and they hate sitting at home, but it's done and we have a new, working stove! The plumber also fixed a small gas leak near the furnace AND fixed our leaky shower drain-- and didn't charge us any extra. Must have been my lucky day!

***

Today is the end of week 4 of the weight loss challenge at the gym. I've lost 9 pounds in those four weeks. I'm pretty happy with that. Especially since I haven't been working nearly as hard as I could be. It makes me feel optimistic that I can stay on this current course and keep losing when the program is over. (the real goal!)

**

I have also been christmas shopping for the kids on craigslist. I told you guys about the playmobil finds. Today I picked up a perfect condition little tikes play kitchen with new in box play foods and pots and pans for $75. This version, without the accessories, sells for $160 ish on Amazon. My oldest son, now 3.5, loves cooking and play cooking, and this model is big enough to accomodate him and little brother at the same time. I figure I should do the used christmas thing as long as I can. It'll be much harder when they are older. But now? Why not? There is so much kid stuff out there that they outgrow so fast, there's no sense in buying new.

***
I did spend some other money this week (Eek!)

As you know, I just moved into a new house about 6 months ago, and there is always a bit of new furnishing that comes along with that. I've had my eye on a very sleek wool rug --8 ft by 11-- for the new dining room. It was on overstock, but I still couldn't justify the $400 price tag. I wanted to spend closer to $250 to 300 , which is hard for a nice rug that size. I want it for the visual effect, and to protect the hardwood floors in that room form the kids. We haven't eaten in there yet, the kids play in there alot. anyway. I decided to go back to overstock so I could daydream about the rug, and it turned out they were having a one-day rug sale, and they had knocked about $150 off the price, bringing in--tah-dah, to about $250. I bought it. I know. Spend spend. As soon as I get a chandelier in there, it's done!

***
There will be more stuff going out this weekend, I hope. I'm charging the camera now so I can post some free and to sell items on craigslist. One advantage of moving has been finally being able to let go of just about everything that is just clutter. I don't know, something just clicked. I have a pile of things to sell and a few things to give away. I have two boxes and a bag to go to the goodwill.

At first, it seemed like all the stuff I donated and freecycled wasn't making much of a difference. There was always more. But, I think I'm finally seeing the fruits of all that decluttering. There isn't anything lingering on the floors in the closets. There are fewer stacks of things sitting around.

Slowly but surely we are organizing, and I suspect one day soon it might approach the clean, clutter-free sort of environment I've always dreamed of!

Hope y'all are having good days.

I've seen a few blog posts on the web about giving daily deals (like groupon) as gifts. Or, using them to buy gifts. What do you guys think about this? Is it perfectly great given you get more for your money? Or does it seem weird?

Also, I've been thinking a lot about how to stretch holiday gift budgets. I am not above using craigslist and such to buy things used and give those as gifts (if they are nice) but my mom looks at me like I'm crazy. What do you guys think?

That makes me uber productive? Must be something in the air. My cells just must be acclimated to it or something.

I managed to knock two freelance projects out of the park this weekend, completely redesign my professional freelancer web site (it was really sad, but now it actually looks like something.). I paid bills, read two personal finance books this weekend, I ran in the park for 45 minutes, washed dishes and folded laundry, and now the kids and I are just hanging out.

It's very weird, but it usually happens to me in fall and early winter. I just feel so energized and inspired. It's like I'm not as tired as I am in the spring and summer. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true.

I'm also thinking a lot lately about that book I wrote. I'm really really wishing I just had a big chunk of time to dedicate to rewriting and revising uninterrupted. Of course, that won't happen barring a miracle, so I'm just going to have to start chipping away at it in little bits. I'm ready to finish it and send it off to publishers.

I'm also ready, I think to write my first nonfiction personal finance book. All the crappy ones already in circulation have me thinking that I could probably do a decent to good job on one, and I might have the chance to get it published given my day job.

It's been an expensive week. I'm almost dizzy just thinking about it. It all started with the broken glass on the convection range. Instead of paying $355 to repair the stove we were planning to replace, we went to the scratch and dent appliance place and bought a really nice 5-burner gas range for $599. Plus delivery, plus tax actually equals $715. Ugh.

And, of course, because the new one is gas, we have to have the gas line run by a plumber. Who knows how much that will cost.

I had an energy audit today. Scheduled it forever ago, but still cost $50. Usually they are in the hundreds, but the utility subsidizes them. The bonus: I'll getmy $50 back, plus I'll be getting a rebate of about 40 percent off the cost of insulating the house. A project we planned to do in summer, but held off when we found out about this program. So glad we waited!

Then, like a sucker, I bought two used playmobil sets off of craigslist. For the kids for Christmas. They set me back $70 total, but new would have cost me $220. I hate spending money even if it means I'm saving it!

Then on the way home from the Craigslist pick up I noticed our favorite thrift store was having 50 percent off of everything today. I practically blacked out I stopped the car so fast. I bought two winter coats for the kids, three pairs of designer jeans for me, four kids sweaters, and some other odds and ends for about $26. Score, but still.

Then to add to my week, the keyboard on my laptop went on the fritz. Luckily, it's under warranty, but the new one doesn't arrive for another day or two, and I have work deadlines, so I had to buy a USB keyboard as a very awkward temporary fix, for $10.

Seems like everything is breaking!

DH is a little bit clumsy. Last night he knocked a bottle of vinegar off of the shelf and it hit the range. The glass completely shattered. In huge, sharp chunks. Seriously. Ironically, the $5 botte of vinegar escaped unharmed. So now we need to replace the glass top of our electric convection range. The cheapest estimate is $355. Ugh. Not how I want to be spending money right now!

I have a monthly personal finance column in one of the local papers. I need your advice. My next article is the first in a series on how to free up money in your monthly budget to save. This first one is the hard one, because it's kind of an intro of the basics. Then, I'm hoping to do more specific articles after, like on no spend months, debt snowflaking, etc.

I guess I don't know where to start. Any ideas?

And, I have a column coming up about Christmas and Holiday gifts on a budget. I really don't know where to start with that/. HELP!

You do get second chances-- at credit cards.

That Southwest CC deal worth $800 in free flights just arrived in my mailbox again. I had thrown it out and then regretted it when I found out my fav credit card reward was being cut next month.

Now I wish I would have been saving all of the offers that have been coming in. But alas,I hope I get some good repeats. I fee a little weird HOPING to get what I would otherwise consider junk mail!

I really don't think an airline miles card will be that useful for a long term card, but we are planning to go to New Orleans for a wedding in March and Las Vegas for a friend's 40th birthday party weekend next summer. Given those two upcoming events, I'm willing to open the card.

I do want another good cash-back one, though. I was earning 2 percent cash back on everything, deposited directly into a brokerage account for the kid's college from my current card, but as of Nov. 1, it's switching to a 1 percent rebate generic card attached to a card-sponsored shopping mall. I think we can do better than that. But it's been 3 or 4 years since we've opened a card and I haven't really been paying attention to what's out there.

Now I also wish I would have been paying attention to Monkey Mama's credit card money-making scheme!

***
Otherwise, our financial life is moving along smoothly. We're paying $500 extra a month on the mortgage, and if we keep that up, will have it paid off in five years.

I'm putting $100 per paycheck into savings, still putting $200 per kid into the 529s, and some of my freelance checks to the IRA. So, it feels like life and money are normalizing a little bit after the buying and selling a house debacle of spring and summer.

Hopefully some utility bill savings will be on the horizon soon. We signed up for a $50 energy audit from our utility. It's a great program. We get a thorough 4 hour energy audit, they give us a report about how we can be more efficient and what we can do, improve, etc., then they offer rebates of from 10 to 40 percent for the projects you do.

I'm excited about the audit, but amped about the rebates, because we already know our house has only 1 inch of insulation in the attic (Go 1957!). We have estimates of about 2800 to get it up snuff. We were just going to go ahead and do it, but when we heard how much the rebates might be, we decided to wait. Hey, even if it's 10 percent that's $280!

***
Our baby life has not been moving along smoothly. DS1, age 3.5, has been having serious attachment issues since he started his new school. He went from seeking adventure away from his parents to now being very clingy and screaming and crying every time we leave him anywhere-- grandma's, aunt S's , etc. Places he's been going for years with no problems. Every since school-- and he throws screaming tantrums there every time we drop him off. We try to be encouraging to him, but it makes me very sad and after I drop him off, it casts a sad or bad feeling over the rest of my day. I'm sure it's normal, but still. On the way to spend the night at grandma's last night he kept saying "Why do you always leave me?"
Heart break. : (

On the upside, we hit a turning point. The kids were in the playroom. I made myself a cup of coffee, and came back and they had gotten out a board game, set it up and were playing it together. I teared up! Finally. I felt like I reached a turning point. They're playing together, and they did it all by themselves. I've waited so long!!

***
Oh, and some of you might remember how infuriated I was last summer when hubby's best friend popped out of nowhere to borrow $5,000 to finish house repairs and pay property taxes so he could sell it. He said he'd give it back to us in 90 days. Uh huh. Well, it's been a year. And no money. He's still in the house, so he hasn't lost it, but now hubby is telling me the friend was planning to move to Peru to be with some girl. ARGH. If he sells that house, I want my money back! I didn't say that, but I'm thinking it.

We could really reallreally really sue that money now that our financial situation has changed so dramatically. It'd almost be enough to pay off my car. Still so mad. And yeah, we have barely heard anything from the guy since we gave him the check. If you put your ear to your monitor, you can probably hear my blood boiling.

I just got notice that the rewards program on my favorite credit card is being axed, and the company (BofA) is replacing it with a much crappier, stingier program. Oh well. I knew it was too good to last.

It was a Schwab card, and it put 2 percent cash back every month into a brokerage account. That was bonus money for the kid's college funds. It was the perfect reward for us.

I guess I will have to spend some time cruising the offers that are out there. The sad thing is I've been throwing away a ton of credit card offers lately because we had no plans to open any new accounts. Now I'm kicking myself for throwing them away.

Here's to hoping some good offers show up either online or by mail before October 31!

I was looking at mortgage rates today, and even though we are trying to pay off our mortgage in 5 years, I think we might be able to save a substantial amount of interest during that time if we refinance into a lower rate. Our current rate is 4.8756, and today, rates on the loans we were interested in are about 3.125- 3.5 percent. I haven't done the math yet, but if it might save us more than 10k, I might just talk hubby into going for it.

We are finally settling into our new mortgage, income, and monthly groove with the preschool bills and such. So far, everything is fine. I am socking away $100 per paycheck to savings, $10 a week to the vacation fund for me and hubby, still sending $200 per kid per month to the 529 plans, and saving at least some of my freelance money in my IRA.

I'm hoping to bump up the monthly freelance work again, but things, as always, have been crazy. I'm about to start another round of the 6-week weight loss challenge at the gym, and it is very time and energy intensive. I might wait until that's over to take on anything new.

Although, I do have an extra project worth $250 this month, and it's an offshoot of a topic I write about every week, so it shouldn't be too stressful or labor intensive. That is always very nice!

My 3 year old started his new preschool last week. (we moved, hence new school) and he absolutely hates it. Granted it's not as deluxe as his last school, but it's good, and the teachers are nice. He even has a man teacher who looks like one of those 1900s old-timey strong men-- bald with the handle-bar moustache. He has a black belt in karate and is awesome. Still, every day he screams and cries and grabs my leg when I drop him off. He did this for a few weeks at his other school last year, and eventually became such a social butterfly that they nicknamed him "the mayor". Still, it just makes me feel terrible.

I also won parent of the year today. Well, kind of. I took my youngest, just shy of two, to his first gym and swim class at the Y. Of course they start with a song, and what is it? Finger popping. Seriously. They play that stupid song at every event with two or more toddlers in it. I had a very deep, personal revelation as it played, and all the other moms joyously (and some really belted it out) sang along.

My son hated it. I hate it. I'll just never be like those other moms. I'm just not programmed that way. I love my kids, but seriously. Am I the only one who thinks toddler stuff is so mind-numbingly boring. At least my toddler agreed. The last thing he wanted to do was finger pop. There was basketball to be played. Oh well, apple fell off my tree, right?

So yeah, it occurred to me once again that I'm just not like other people. I never have been and I never ever will be. I'm just tired of trying to fake it, especially in the kinds of awkward forced social situations I find myself in due to the kids.

Am I crazy????

I start a second round of "fat club" on Saturday-- that's the intense, six week weight loss and exercise program at my gym. It isn't really called that, that is just the nickname some of us have given it.

The good news is the cost has gone down, from $190 to $35 for the six weeks. So that's nice! Last time, I lost 11 pounds. I'm hoping to meet or beat that again. (I gained it all back during the marathon house sale and buying in spring, due to being away from home and eating out...)

In other news, I also revived the vacation fund. I used to have $6,000 in it, but then I used that to pay off my student loan. Since then, it's literally had a balance of two cents.

I thought that was pretty pathetic, so I figured I could probably transfer $10 a week into that account without really noticing too much. I'm also planning to use any rebate money to fund that account. Right now, I have a Staples rebate for $14.98 to deposit, and another $30 in rebates on the way.

We were hoping to go somewhere for our 10th anniversary next year. But, we'll probably use some of the money to fly to Las Vegas next summer for my friend's 40th birthday weekend. (I am considering getting a Southwest credit card to pay for the flights, because they have a deal now that would cover two of us round trip, just for signing up and using it.)

Other than that, no big news. I spent $38.38 for lumber to supplies to build a 4 foot by 8 foot raised garden bed. I spent some money for broccoli, carrots, spinach and cauliflower seeds so the kids and I can plant something in the next week or so. It drove me crazy to not have a garden this summer, so I thought I would at least try to sneak in a cold-season crop of something before winter. I also designed the bed so it's easy to turn into a cold frame, so maybe we can even harvest into winter. We'll see.

I know I'll be spending at least $60 on good dirt and compost to get started, so it'll take a while to pay for itself-- but probably only until the end of next summer, if I can turn it into a tomato patch.

I bought a bushel of tomatoes from my CSA farmer for $10 last week and turned that into 26 pints of homemade pasta and spaghetti sauce. I only needed to make about 6 to break even for supplies.

That's about it. I guess no news is good news.

I got a freelance check for $500 today, so since the bills and mortgage are paid, I reserved $250 for Bean's first preschool bill, sent $50 extra toward the car loan, and put $100 each into the kid's 529 plans. Every little bit helps!

So, I've just heard of travel hacking. Apparently, it's a clever way of utilizing incentive programs to earn significant amounts of free travel that you then use to go round the world or wherever for free.

Has any one hear of this or know how it works? I saw one site, but it was a pay site so I was turned off. Then, another blog where a lady discusses her strategies. Sounds like a lot of opening new accounts and shuffling things around. Might be worth it for a big trip? (Like hubby and I anniversary?)

In other news, my September extra freelance assignment turns out to be for $100 more than I had expected-- $250-- so that is great!

I may also be back on track. I had some extra money this pay period, so I sent $100 extra to the savings account and $75 to the car loan. I paid the mortgage and still have another $500 freelance check coming this week. May use it to pay for preschool plus some savings or debt repayment. Not sure yet.

Also upped our biweekly debit to the emergency fund, from $50 to $100. It is a small, sad amount considering how much it was before we bought this house, but at least I feel like I'm finding my way back to on track!