I finally got around to switching my home and car insurance to another company (from State Farm, who had almost doubled my rates the last couple of years, to Allstate.). I spent about 30 minutes on the phone and it cut my annual bill for two cars and one house by $398.60 a year. That feels good. I'm also paying less, but getting more auto coverage.

I'm not a big insurance company hopper, but clearly it does pay to reevaluate every couple of years.

I also cancelled my homeowners insurance with State Farm (on the house I just sold), and will be receiving a refund. I will also be cancelling the car insurance, and will be getting another refund for that. I suppose that money will go either to the kids' 529s or to pay down the car loan.

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We're in the middle of getting estimates for gutters and insulation for the new house. So far, they have come in a bit above what I expected to pay. I budgeted a max of $2000 for each of the three projects we need to have done here.

--Tree removal of a dying and deadly tree is $1900. It involves a crane. Of course.

--First insulation quote came in at $2800. We have R5, and want to add another R38 to meet the Dept of Energy recommendations for our area.

Here's the rub. If we have an energy audit from our local gas company, we will get a rebate for putting in the insulation. it can be significant-- from 20 to 70 percent. That's great. But I just called and they are all booked up for this year and won't be able to get to us until some time in 2012. Is it worth waiting up to another year to get the discount? I'm not sure.

-- the first gutter estimate came back at $1900. But for another $1200 with a leaf guard system. After some research, I'm skeptical of the leaf system, as it can potentially cause problems in winter with ice dams and snow. Looks like we will have to just clean the leaves out.

Still, I am waiting for more estimates. So hopefully we can get a good deal.