Thrift-o-rama

Hubby and I just signed up for the Warrior Dash. We're out $86.

It's heading our way next spring. It's a fun, but intense obstacle course and three mile race. Everyone gets a viking helmet when they cross the finish line. We are doing it with a large group of friends, so it should be great.

http://www.warriordash.com

I just got paid for two months freelance work, and after paying my city and federal self employment taxes, I have $1,000 left. What to do...

After a day full of thoughts, I decided to:
$700- to IRA
$100 to each of the kids' 529 plans
$100 extra payment on the car

I think this allocation is in line with our bigger goals, so I'm satisfied. I just set up all the transfers.

I've got three more checks coming in 2010, totalling about $1800. Thus far, the plan is to put $1300 of that into the IRA to meet my $4000 goal for the year. I will add $400 total to both kids' college accounts ($200 to each), and use the final $100 as an added car payment again.

In the mean time, I will try to drum up at least one or two more projects by the end of the year, so I can have more money to play around with.

Well, I finished my first week of fat club. it was grueling. Lost of hard work-outs. Sadly, I only lost 1.4 pounds. I was aiming for 2.

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to have lost anything. Turns out this whole diet and exercise thing is harder than I thought. My trainer said I didn't lose more because I wasn't eating enough. A couple of days, I was below 1000 calories and didn't realize it, which basically sends your body into starvation mode and keeps the weight on.


Here's hoping week two is more successful.

This is my little ray of sunshine at his first Halloween party....



In other news, our biweekly credit card spending cap is working very well. We came in $4 under the first two weeks, and $250 under for the most recent two weeks. YAY!

We did manage to spend too much though, as we had some big expenses, but otherwise I think we are on track.

I've been making it a habit to buy as many of our groceries as possible at Aldi, I'm using coupons again (mostly store coupons from Target and the grocery), and seriously cut down on eating out.

I also sold some baby items to the second hand store for $23, and while there, picked up a Christmas present for the boy for $5. It was on my list of things to buy them new, but alas, there it was in mint condition for a fraction of the price!

Hubby was skeptical, and I felt guilty spending the money, but it turns out the booth was a good purchase. It's really comfortable, looks great, is fun, and even hubby likes it. Fits perfectly.

Well, fat club started today. Six more weeks of strict diet and rigorous exercise and I will hopefully regain a fraction of my former health and figure.

As part of our fitness assessment this morning, we had to run a mile. I was pretty nervous and it seemed like a really long run, but I managed to finish at a respectable 10 minutes flat, despite walking part of the last lap. I also now have a baseline for my weight and measurements, so I will know how well I've done.

On the money front, nothing is new. I spent about $70 at aldi on groceries-- many for fat club-- and we've spent way way way way way too much this week, due to fat club, the diner booth we bought on craigslist, and renewing our shares in the farm co-op. All of these have a long-term pay off, but geesh. It sure hurts right now!

I officially signed up for Fat Club, the intense 6-week weight loss and exercise program at the Y. It starts Saturday morning.

In 6 weeks, here is the minimum we have to do:
Attend 13 1-hour group work outs
Attend 3 1-hour educational workshops
Attend 5 1-hour workout classes specified by the program (1 yoga, 1 pilates, 1 water aerobics, etc.)
Attend 5 1-hour classes of our choice
Have 6 personal training sessions ( 1 per week)
Meet with the dietician

Keep a daily food diary.

Sounds like I am going to be super busy, but I'm hoping to drop at least 10 pounds. Whoever drops the highest percentage of body weight wins $200. Another incentive: making my money back!

So, hubby and I began pricing new ( to us) dining room furniture, in anticipation of replacing the $35 vintage chrome table and chairs I bought at a thrift store almost 20 years ago. Our chairs have dry rot, and the table is fine, just a little wobbly. We wanted something that would stand up to our kids, be easy to clean, and kind of fun.

I've always had my heart set on a booth. So , I priced one from dinerbooths.com, a company in WV that has made them since the 1950s. A table with two 44 inch booths started at about $800, what we wanted was closer to $1200. And, I thought it might be a little too 1950s for my taste.

Anyway, last night, I was looking at craigslist, and I happened to run across the exact same booth I just priced out, used, at a moving sale for $250. For all of it. $250. I sent my mom down to look at it (It was very near her house) and she called to say it looked brand new and was in mint condition, and I would totally love it.

So, I did something bad. I busted the budget again. I took $250 cash out of the bank and I bought it. We pick it up this weekend. Hubby is fine with it. But it is another wrench in my budget plan. $330 for the farm share, $190 for fat club plus $110 for the gym membership to do fat club. It's been a budge-busting week.

I think the booth was definitely a great deal. But, I guess I'm nervous because I hadn't planned to spend anything on the dining room until next year. Am I being foolish? I mean, most of the tables I had looked at cost $200 or more-- just for the table.

I was also thinking that if the booth feels too 1950s, I can always make slipcovers for them to mix up the look.

I ran across this.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870329850457553...

It was interesting, until I saw these numbers:

the middle fifth of the population sliced their average annual spending to $41,150 in 2009... The drop came even as those households' after-tax income remained relatively stable over the two years, at an average $45,199.

So, people make $45k a year and spend $41k? No wonder we are in trouble.

We've entered a new era of parenting now that Bean is in preschool. We just got our first school fundraiser form AND our first invitation to a birthday party for one of the other kids in his class. Yep. Parenting is about to get more expensive.

The fundraiser is for gourmet popcorn, at 6 bucks for an 8 ounce bag. It's made by a locally-owned business, so I like that part. But do I really have to ask my friends to buy this stuff? Or, can I just put in a small token order for us and have it be enough? What is the etiquette?

Also, Bean has 7 kids in his preschool class. He has a lot of fun there. We are just starting to get to know the parents. We got a birthday party invite from one family. I think I have only smiled and waved politely. Not sure if I've ever actually talked to them. Do we go? If we do, what is the etiquette? (gift, etc.?) and, when it's time for Bean's b-day, do we invite all the kids too? (There will be more in the class by then, as more join in January.)

HELP!!!

I've been keeping trakc of all my spending in a notebook recently. Somehow, I don't think it's giving me the complete picture of my financial life that I am looking for.

As of today, I'm using a bigger notebook. I'll be writing down what I spend each day, what activities me and the hubby and kids had, if and what I cooked for dinner, and any other notes on what we did or what we were spending on.

I'm sure some of you have tried this, and I'd like to hear if it helped you.

I just think that with more data, I'll be able to look back over everything and see what our spending triggers are. It might also motivate me to cook at home more to cut out the take-out!@

This was an expensive weekend! And, it's going to be a spendy week.

We renewed our farm co-op share for next year, to the tune of $330. The farm had the fall open house Saturday, which is when you sign up for your shares for next season. We paid by check. We hadn't planned to spend that much, but opted to do the expensive veggie shares again, because they dropped the option for only fruit and eggs.

We really like the co-op, but it isn't cheap! Oh well. We love the farmers, and this is our fifth season, so I guess we'll keep doing it until we can't afford it anymore.

I have another big expense tomorrow: Fat Club. It costs $190 plus $90 for a two-month Y membership for a 6-week program of intense exercise, personal training, and dietician meetings. My friend has done this and loses about 12 pounds each time. It is spendy, but I talked to my doctor, and she agrees that it will help jump start my metabolism and set the stage for more weight loss even after it is over. And, it will significantly reduce my risk for Type 2 diabetes. If I can avoid diabetes, it will be money well spent.

Hubby and I also went on a cheap camping trip Saturday night. Grandma took the babies, so it only cost us about $20 for the camping plus about $12 for breakfast this morning. It was great. A bunch of our friends camped with us, so it was really nice.

The best part, though, was that hubby and I talked about some of our big issues over breakfast. The big surprise: He also wants to cut spending and save more money. I filled him in on our new austerity budget and how it has worked out for the first couple of weeks. He seemed happy, and willing to cut more.

Although, with the budget, I am not sure how to account for big, occasional expenses like the farm co-op. I'm going to try to just include it in the bi-weekly spending cap, even if it will be particularly difficult. And if that doesn't really work, try to come up with plan B.

I did feel confident enough to up the biweekly contribution to the savings account by $25, and to add $10 more to the extra car payment for the month.

Got the call from the doctor today. My numbers are great. I DO NOT have diabetes or pre-diabetes.

I recently had gestational diabetes, and this is my first annual test for diabetes. (50-50 chance of Type 2 within 5 years after GD) I was very scared. I am so thrilled. It's a good start.

The new budget is also still working out, even with pricier needs coming up.

For instance, I bought Kid #2 his next car seat today. I found a highly-rated model 50 percent off. They were discontinuing that color. (Do people really pay double just to get certain colors? Not me!) Still have plenty left in the budget for the week for groceries, etc.

A friend I haven't seen since Christmas is also coming over this week, to have drinks and dinner after the kids go to bed. Frugal fun at home. No babysitter, cheaper food. Love it.

And, hubby and I are taking our first overnight camping trip with friends this weekend. Cost: $20. Free babysitter. It should be a good time.

I had posted earlier that I have been pretty depressed about the economy, and some of you talked about your personal economy. You inspired me. You are right. I can't control what's going on out there, but that doesn't mean I am powerless.

So, I am attempting to reclaim some power in our personal household economy.

-I have capped the amount of money we are allowed to spend each week on everything: groceries, gas, formula, incidentals. If we stay at or under the target, we will have more to put in savings every pay check.

We hit the target on week one, and it looks as though we will hit it again. We have had some incidentals, so it looks as though this budget will work.

-I reordered the bill due dates so that similar dollar amounts of bills are due during each pay period. This is only for budgeting. all of our monthly obligations used to come out of one check. This simple move showed me how much we really have left over each week.

-I am trying harder to save money and track spending. The coupon folder is back in my purse.
I am once again looking at grocery sale fliers.
I'm buying as many groceries as possible at Aldi again.
I'm only buying what's absolutely necessary on every trip.
I'm trying to combine trips to save gas.
I'm trying to cook as much as possible at home to save on take-out.
And, I'm trying to do house projects I already have the supplies for, rather than start anything new.

This hopefully will have a positive impact on our finances. Regardless, I feel more in control, which makes me happier.

I ran across this great little free guide to making and canning salsa. The recipes were too good not to share. I am going to try out the green salsa recipe tomorrow.

http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/PNW0395/PNW0395.pdf

Just dropped off a box of food goodies for our unemployed neighbor only to find out our other neighbor and friend just got laid off.

I read business and financial news every day, and it sounds as though things are pretty grim economically. Now, I've got at least 4 out of work friends struggling. My own income has taken a hot (down to 1/3 what it was in 2008) and I'm just praying hubby doesn't get laid off.

It's hard to remain upbeat.

Anyway, on the goals front: I had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year. It was ridiculous. My goal was to can 24 quarts of pasta sauce. It has been surpassed. I have 31 quarts of pasta sauce and tomatoes. Today, I canned another 24 pints of red salsa and 9 pints of dices tomatoes for cooking. I still have to make green tomato salsa and can the stragglers in the next two weeks. I actually have to buy more jars. I never thought this would be possible!

I thought this was particularly poignent:

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/09/20/watching-walmart-a...

I have been thinking about the economy a lot lately. My spirits are sinking, thinking the U.S. has reached its peak and is now on a precipitous decline from its status as a world leader and rich nation.

I don't want to argue politics here. I will just say other countries seem to be moving ahead and we are pedaling backwards. China just launched the most high-tech submersible so they can claim minerals from the sea floor, while we are here arguing over who deserves health insurance. Really?

I wonder what kind of future my children are going to have. We aren't rich, but I fear they will be worse off and have fewer opportunities than we have had. I hate feeling like this.

This is in part exacerbated by the fact that many of our friends have been ;aid off recently, and most have been looking for months for jobs an have nothing.

I am heading to Aldi today to pick up a few things, and while I am there, I am putting together a food box for an unemployed neighbor. This is the second friend we have done this for in the past month. A sad economic indicator, if you ask me. But on the bright side, I think America needs more neighborliness. We need to bring back the idea that we should take care of each other. I don't know how we lost that.

I hit the thrift store today looking for winter clothes for my 2.5 year old. I didn't expect to find anything, but came home with a giant bag of stuff.

Last year, I got him 7 pairs of pants and three sweaters for $18.

I scored, but didn't get by as cheap this year.

This year, I got him 5 pairs of pants, 5 sweaters, and a new winter coat for $39. Not too shabby, for what is essentially an entire winter wardrobe. Most of the brands were Old Navy or Nike, so no one will have to know how cheap they were! I noticed they charge more for the 4 and 5T than for the 24 month sizes, so I won't complain. It was still half of what I would have spent new, not including the coat, which is very nice and was only $4.

The little one will then be getting the big one's sweaters and pants from last year.

I'm doing some tinkering with our monthly budget/auto payments. I hope this will help us better manage our cash flow. Before this, we had all of our monthly large debits coming out of one paycheck, which brought my checking balance uncomfortably low. With a few changes, I have managed to make our committed expenses from each check the same.

First, I broke the kids' monthly 529 payment into two debits, one on the 1st and one on the 15th. Before, I had one giant debit coming out on the 15th. I also upped the amount for each child by $25. We'll see if we miss it.

Second, I arranged for our preschool tuition to come out in the first check, and our car loan to come from the second check.

These two changes mean I can budget for the same amount-- $440 to come out of each check. (I rounded the car payment up to $240, from $217. We'll see if we miss that extra).

I have a firmer plan for my freelance income as well. I make a steady $600-$750 a month. After my IRA is maxed, I will use whatever is left to make sure we have met our college savings goals for the kids. Whatever is left after that will be used as a lump sum payment to the auto loan. I just hate having debt, so it's got to go!

Now that I have a secured plan for the freelance money, maybe I will be motivated to take on more work.

It isn't much, but I hope this will help us plan. I was so on top of our finances two years ago, but this year I have basically failed at my family fiduciary duties! I'm trying to turn it around, though.

I guess with everything that has happened around here, I should be happy anything gets done.

As some of you already know, hubby and I constantly joke about the butter consumption around here when his parents visit. We have no idea how they eat so much, and yet another visit has passed and we have no idea where it went. The tally was 2 pounds plus one stick of butter for a 5 day visit.

It's madness.

In other news, We were finally able to put some money into savings this pay period. We'd been treading water for a couple of months now, due to unforseen expenses, nothing major, just a lot of $200-$300 things here and there that really ate up every extra penny.

Hopefully, we can keep that momentum going until the end of the year, minus the new windshield for our Honda (with 200k miles on it.), a new car seat for the youngest, and our last house project for the year-- adding insulation to the attic. I may hire this out, as we can't realistically do it with two kids 2 and under.

Finally Success! Or so I thought.

First, the good stuff:
-I finished my first draft of my first novel. Feels great. Now the work of revision can begin.
-I bought Squid's b-day present on ebay, a $60 discovery channel exclusive toy that I think he will enjoy for a long time. I paid $19, including shipping.
-got groceries at Aldi for $62 and made dinner with what was in the freezer today.
-I picked another 10 pounds or so of tomatoes from the garden, which will be diced and canned later this week.

Now the OK and the bad:

-Just found out the in-laws are coming tomorrow for a week, so I have to head back to the store and buy things they need to have on hand. (They mysteriously eat about 2 pounds of butter every visit. Hubby and I can't figure out where it goes. Maybe they just eat the sticks while the rest of us are sleeping!)

-I have managed to keep our spending on the credit card (we put all of our day to day expenses on there) to a reasonable amount this pay period. Hopefully we can keep it up until Friday and put an extra amount of our paycheck into savings, to make up for last week.

-the checking account balance is okay, but lower than I like, due to preschool, first car payment, and the 529 debit this week. But, I think we will be okay until payday, so I am not going to pad it with a withdrawal from the savings account.

The non-money goals are coming along. I canned 11 quarts of pasta sauce today, and 8 last weekend, so I am at 19 quarts. Five more and I've met my goal for the year. I have a bumper crop of Romas, so I'm pretty sure I'll make it.

Although, I slaved over the stove for 6 hours today making sauce when I could just go to the store and buy some for cheap. Moneywise, it probably isn't worth it. But, at least I know the ingredients are organic and homegrown. And I get a kick out of the self-sufficiency part of it.

Also, I MAY -- just a maybe_- be finished with my first draft of my first novel by the end of this week. I was typing along on it today and realized I was almost there. Crazy!

As for my weight loss goal, I am joining a program at the YWCA called Fat Club. it's a six week weight loss exercise program. My friend has done it three times and has lost 30 pounds. She says it's hard, but a lot of fun. It starts Oct. 9 and will cost about $190. I'm amped. I want to be pre-baby skinny again!

Apparently $75,000 a year is the key to happiness.

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2010/09/07/the-perfect-salary-fo...

I am unhappy to report another payday has passed without any money going into savings. Ugh. We just spent too much on the credit card (we pay every two weeks), and we had too many other bills to pay this time. We had my first car payment, our first preschool bill, and the deduction for the kids' 529 plans.

We didn't take a step back, but we didn't go forward either.

On that note, I'm trying really hard to only spend what is absolutely necessary for the next two weeks, so I can make up for the recent lack of savings.

I have also decided on a Christmas budget for the kids of $100 each, using second-hand items to stretch that where it makes sense. An example. My youngest likes Bob the Builder. I bought him a giant red Muck dump truck for $6.00 second hand, versus about $50 for a new one.

I also wrote my financial mantra on the fridge:
Spend as little as possible on the boring things you use every day, so you have more for the things you value.

So far, this is the plan. We'll see if it works out.

Well, our bed broke a few months back and we have just been living with it. The support beams are shot. We built new ones, but it didn't seem to do much good. One night at about 2 a.m., I rolled over and the frame collapsed. I was so mad, I decided right then that I was buying us a new frame.

I told hubby and he agreed. Until today. He's convinced me that we can fix it, and upon further reflection, I think we can.

I was planning to buy a new frame at IKEA for about $200. But, I found out they also sell the support beams and slats seperately, for about $30. That's really what we need.

I like the way the new one looks a lot more. It would fit better in our house. But I thought about it, and if I just remove the legs, paint it, and add a new headboard (really just cut 3.4 birch plywood that's been painting), I should have the equivalent of a brand new bed, that looks similar to the $200 bed, for about $50.

So yeah. Hubby's cheapache is going to save me about $150. Go hubby.

It's a non-money goal, I know, but a life goal nonetheless. Today I hit 75,000 words and officially 75 percent finished with my first novel!

All in all, it's been a decent week.
I got paid for a freelance gig I did in February, and I put all of it-- $387-- to my IRA.

I also got a check for June freelance to the tune of $750. I have to pay my self-employment taxes, but will be making a transfer to the IRA later this week, after that chore is done. It feels nice to make some progress.

Also, made $5 on my online garage sale, and if the guy who is supposed to buy our old futon shows up tomorrow, we can add another $75 to that. So, $80 to the online yard sale, for a total of about $160. Not too shabby. The money will either go in the tiki fund or to the kids' extra college fund.

I dropped off three more boxes to the Goodwill. I'm thrilled to be clearing the house of more things we can easily do without. I do wonder if it will ever end, if we will ever live something remotely close to the clean, uncluttered life of my fantasy...

I have a confession: I am not good at family life. I don't enjoy it at all.

Let me preface that by saying I L-O-V-E love my children. I would die if anything happened to them.
But there is a big BUT

I don't like being a parent. Frankly, I think it sucks. I take care of two boys under two from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., from 9 p.m. to midnight every night I clean the house, do the dishes and laundry, take a shower, and then I have to WORK. Yes, I am blessed that I can work from home, but while hubby is downstairs playing video games or reading, I basically have to "go into the office." (and much of this time, I have to listen to our youngest yell and scream from his crib or the older one keeps getting out of bed and trying to walk around the house. It never ends. )

There is no downtime. Usually, I can manage this. It's like my daily marathon. But, when something is thrown into the mix, it's very stressful.

The stress really starts when we try to take the kids somewhere. Every time I leave the house with both kids, my stress level hits the roof, and it stays there, no matter what is happening. It just stays at a sustained high level until we get home.

Tonight, we went bowling. Bean was all over the place, jumping into other peoples' lanes, running all around. He runs off. It scares me to death, because it takes him 10 seconds to make it 30 yards, and he is wily and quick. Once, he managed to get away from me at a community barbecue, and I couldn't find him for 10 minutes, and I literally thought I was going to die.

This would be hard enough, but throw in the 9 month old, who is crawling and cruising, and it's almost unbearable for me. Hubby doesn't understand why I just "can't relax."

I want to, I just can't. He somehow magically thinks everything will be okay, while I feel like things are only okay if someone makes sure it is okay, which unfortunately is always me.

I feel stuck at home a lot. Bean gets to go places and do activities with an "aunt" (really one of my friends) and grandma. But hubby always complains I don't take the two of them out more to do more things just the three of us.

I feel like I can't handle the two of them alone.

I did try to take them to a play place at the mall. I thought it would be perfect. But bean kept running out, because he saw a gumball machine. So there I was, hauling 50 pounds of backpacks, car seat and little brother jut trying to keep him in eyes view while he ran all over. It was a nightmare.

Bean needs a dedicated adult, just to keep him from running away or into traffic.

I feel like a bad parent, always being stressed out when we leave the house, alone or as a family, but I don't know if there is a solution. I am hoping this feeling will go away as they get older and more capable, rather than being a toddler and a baby, but I don't know. I see my friends with older kids and in some ways, it looks like it just gets worse.

How do all of you deal with this (or in the past, dealt with it?) Am I losing my mind? I sure feel like it. And will I ever get a good night;s sleep ever again?

Today, we managed to put $750 from the paycheck, some freelance work, and ironically the check the junkyard gave me for my dead car, into savings. So yay! It's a step in the right direction.

I cut my savings goal in half for the year, to $6,000, to reflect recent events, namely hubby giving the $5,000 we had already saved to a friend in a fix. I'm trying to just forget all about that. Otherwise, we would have been on track to save $12,000 this year. But now, there's no way I can save that much by the end of the year.

We bought my first new car ever last night-- Honda Fit. It's my first new car and my first car note. Of course, we used the super cheap 0.9 percent dealer financing, for 60 months, but will certainly be paying it off early. The goal is to have it paid off in 24-36 months.

Some have wondered why we didn't buy used. Normally, I would. But, we drive cars until they die and we needed to have at least one sure bet, perfect safe vehicle to get the kids around town. Plus, the used Fits cost about what we paid new. With no other debt-- including mortgage, we thought it was safe to take on a car note. It will be about $200 a month.

Since I confessed my financial transgressions and overall sloppiness a few weeks ago, things have started to get a little better.

Money is finally going into the savings account every paycheck, and the credit card bill has been a bit lower.

My savings goals have still taken a giant hit thanks to the $5,000 hubby gave his friend. We are buying our planned for new car (a $14,821 Honda Fit. The payment will be $175/month for 3 years, although I have no intention of having the loan that long.) tonight, and since hubby gave away the down payment, I had to pull an extra $3,000 out of savings.

Thanks to this, I'm pretty sure I have no chance of making my $12,000 savings goal this year. We're pretty much treading water at this point. It's frustrating, because my plan has been to stockpile as much as we can while hubby is working, because in this economy, he could be laid off at any moment.

Feast or famine, you know? But, it isn't happening. Our college savings and our retirement savings are on track, but our liquid cash account is not.

I guess now I need to regroup and figure out what a realistic savings goal is for the rest of the year.