I'm snowed and iced in today, so I'm getting a jump on all of my new year's financial housekeeping.

** Hubby called the cable company to see how much they'd charge us to either downgrade or cancel the cable tv. It would be a $75 fee, but would cut our monthly bill from $160 (with fees) to about 90. We didn't want to pay the fee, so hubby had them switch us to the month-to-month plan, which is $20 cheaper (that makes me mad, as a long-time customer, but that is another story), then we could cancel at the end of next month and pay no fee. So, that will be revisited at the end of next month. Hubby is on the fence about ditching cable, because he watches a lot of soccer games on it, and we are stuck at home a lot due to kids.

** I called the car insurance company. We paid off the car and no longer needed full coverage, so I called to downgrade to collision, plus uninsured drivers. It all seems to be fine, although they freaked out and called me back twice saying Honda never sent them the title saying we paid off the car, so I needed to send that. Until they get it, no changes can be made. I had a copy, so I sent them a pdf. Hopefully that will be the end of it. Our bill will go from $760.70/year to $597.46/year for both cars.

** I also called and cancelled one of the credit cards we opened last year for the rewards. I'm trying to slim down the number of credit cards. It was surprisingly fast and easy, maybe because we have another card with that company, and they seemed satisfied that they weren't losing us, we were just slimming down.

** I also emailed our mortgage guy at our bank about options for refinancing or lowering our interest rate. I'm determined, now that I realized our rate is higher than I thought, at 4.875 percent, and 30 year loans are now at 3.25 around here. I'm feeling ripped off.

**On the higher interest online savings account front. I have online savings at two banks, one is earning .50 percent, the other .70. Ally is paying .90 I think. I have been trying to read up on Ally. I like to use subaccounts to save for specific goals, and I know my two current banks allow you to do that. Not sure about ALLY. Does anyone have any experience with them on that front? Anyway, most of your money is in the .50 bank, so I will be transferring it to a bank with a higher rate, the question is what bank?

** I adjusted the amount we send immediately to savings every paycheck, so we could 'automatically' meet our savings account goal. It was a question of saving about $10 more per pay period, if we don't miss any. So, that will hopefully be on track.

** also, on a weird note, I thought I still needed to about about 1700 to my IRA for 2012 to max it out. I tried to deposit $300 today, and my account wouldn't let me because it said I was over the limit. I went back and added up the contributions and it turns out I did max it out at $5000 this year and didn't realize it. Go me!

Hope you guys are all safe, snug, and sound!

**UPDATE**
I applied for the new higher-interest account. I'm considering shutting the other two down and consolidating. We'll see how the subaccounts go!

Merry Christmas, Y'all. Ours was very long and action packed but it overall went well. I hope yours was equally jolly.

Right now, we're hunkering down waiting for a giant snowstorm to blow in tonight. It's calm now, but they're calling for up to 10 inches overnight. I'm praying the electricity stays on. If it does, everything will work out okay.

The in-laws are still in town. (Ugh), but I'm trying to grit my teeth and make the best of it.

Anyway, I thought tonight was a good a night as any to do a year end review.

My goals mostly went well. We started last year with a car loan at $7,510.48, and we paid that off this year. That feels great. We also knocked $13,411.62 off the mortgage balance.

So far, I've only paid $3130 into my ira, but I will max that out before tax time. We also fell short of our goal to put $4000 for each kid into college savings, but we did save $2400/ kid. It's just hard with the preschool bills.

Overall, not too shabby on the goals, but not 100 percent achievement either. I guess I have to accept that our situation financially as changed so much that it's not going to be guaranteed success every year. (Kids and preschool are expensive)!

My goals for my freelance work were all met. I branched out to new markets and new publications, and that went well. I'm thinking I may have overdone it, because I was sooooo busy. This year, maybe the goal should be to work smarter not harder?? I also accidentally picked up another regular gig to the tune of $150 a month/ for 1 article from the newspaper. It's not too onerous, and that's another $1800 a year with relatively little hassle on my part. That's one step closer to the goal!

I'm also thinking for this year, I'm going to take Monkey Mama's advice and just stash a bunch of cash away in a dedicated account, then use it to pay larger chunks to each goal all at once, instead of the slow, steady slog of putting tiny bits to lots of goals and not knocking them off the list until the end of the year.

***
Our financial lives will go through yet another change in fall, as our oldest is going off to kindergarten (!!!!) which is only 3 hours a day, but is free (!!!!!!!!!!!). So, we'll only have one preschool bill at that point. Maybe more can go to other goals after that.

****
In the next two weeks, I'm also going to do a check-up on bills. I have a credit card to cancel, and I need to alter my cable plan and my car insurance for the now-paid off car. Hopefully that might save us some money. And, I need to search for a new high-interest online savings account. Mine is only paying .60 percent interest, and I noticed Ally bank was higher than that. I plan to investigate.

***
Hubby got me a dough hook and a bread cookbook for Christmas, so I'm excited to try baking our own bread. And, I've been doing a better job of sticking to a tight weekly budget for food and whatnot. Things should be looking up in 2013!

I just wanted to let you guys know how awesome you all are and how much I value being part of this site.

After a while you can get into a lull thinking you're doing everything you can, then people here give advice that opens your eyes.

Thanks to all of you! I hope we all have lovely, and prosperous holidays and new years!

I accidentally made the best soup ever last night when I was 'cleaning out' the fridge.

I used one head of broccoli, four potatoes, one onion, four pieces of bacon, chopped, four carrots, a bag of frozen corn, a 16 ounce tub of sour cream, a cup of milk, two chickn bouillion cubes, and about eight cups of water. I boiled it all until it was nice and creamy. Then topped it with cheddar cheese before serving. It was sooooo good. I couldn't believe it.

I made banana bread to serve with it. What a meal, and to think that was from the cast offs. Two cheers for cooking at home.

***
Thanks to all of you for the advice on my last post, about the best way to approach financial goals. It's given me a lot to think about.

***
Tonight should be fun. I'm taking my mom on her annual holiday out. Tonight it's dinner with all of the family, then me and the kids are taking her to a drive-thru christmas light display at the state park. She loves that kind of thing. Hopefully she will have fun!

I stayed up a little late last night to work on a 'solid' plan for 2013.

I posted my goals on the sidebar. I hate to say I've scaled back some goals, like the kids college fund annual goal and hubby's roth goal. In reality, we just don't bring in enough money to do EVERYTHING right now. Sigh. It's sad to admit it.

Our old life of no mortgage and no preschool bills was smooth sailing, but now with those two items eating up a good part of one check every month, something has to give!!

Hubby and I talked about it and agreed paying off the mortgage is still a huge priority, so be it. We need to make an additional $5200 in extra principal payments this year to reach our goal of paying down $15,325 next year.

I'm debating how to approach each goal. I usually plunk away slowly at all of them all year long and then at the end it's 'hey, we made it!'

For some reason, I'm not finding that as satisfying as going all-in on one goal, achieving it, then moving on to the next. Maybe I'm not as good of a multi-tasker as I used to be.

So... with that in mind, I'm thinking of going down the list, concentrating on one goal at a time, as far as snowflakes, applying (little) windfalls, extra income, etc. Then moving on to the next.

The exceptions are our savings account and the 529s.

The 529s: we auto-deduct $200/month per kid, for a total of $2400 each per year.

Savings: We automatically have some transferred to savings every check. If I up that amount by $30/ check, we'll reach our goal for the year. Which now has me wondering if that is a good plan. We have a decent sized savings account , but it earns sad interest rates, and technically that money would be better spent killing the mortgage at 4.6 percent(as far as return on money).

So, what do I do? Stick with the savings plan or divert some of that money to the mortgage payoff? What to do....

**************
We also have some bigger planned expenses this year.
1. bunk beds, new mattresses, and dressers for the kids. Our old stuff is falling apart, and the youngest is way too big for his toddler bed.
2. a trip to Phoenix for the family reunion. Of course hub's family chose to do this during spring training, when it's most expensive to fly and stay there. I'm trying to bite my tongue. It makes me mad.
3. a new backyard patio. I really want this, but we'll see how it goes.
4. A winter weekend at an indoor water park resort for me, grandma, and the boys. They would love this, and it would give hub a weekend alone.

Ideally, I'd like to pay for as much of each of these things out of regular cash flow instead of dipping in to savings.

*****************

I've crunched and crunched the numbers and I think the only way to be ambitious and meet the goals is to keep closer tabs on the everyday money that just kind of dribbles away, like too much spent on groceries, meals out, buying clothes, toys, housewares, or whatever else.

That will require better time management on my part, as I often spend too much because I'm busy and in a hurry. Ugh.

I'm still tinkering with the plan, but any input would be greatly appreciated!

Oh boy. Time is flying by! I can't believe it's Dec. 8 already!

We're going to have to kick it into high gear this week, as far as Christmas crafts with the kids (and gifts), and getting started on the cookies and goodies for the gift baskets we give to our friends. It's going to be a busy week. Then, on Thursday we'll have to hit the mall to go see Santa.

It's also time to start thinking about 2013. I fell short on a lot of my goals this year. Many others went very well. (like having a paid off car. Woot!)

I just think that now that we have a mortgage and giant preschool bills, we can't be as ambitious as we once were about all of our many goals.

So, as I consider next year's plan and goals, I think I am going to be ambitious, but more focused on fewer areas, where I think I can make the biggest positive impact in our lives long and short term.

I'm also going to have to revisit my professional goals. for the last few years, I have been focused on making more as a freelancer. I'm blessed that my regular income has steadily increased for the past three years. (So blessed), but I think I finally have reached the point where I can't really take on much more because I only have 12 hours a week to make calls and work, because that is when the kids are in school, and I also have to squeeze in groceries and errands, drs appointments, and the mundane business of every day life during that time. It's getting to be too hectic. I'm going to contemplate some ways that I could possibly work smarter, rather than harder. I spend more money because I am stressed out and thin on time, especially for dinners out.

Maybe I can tweak my time management or schedule, or let loose some more cumbersome projects, etc. I don't know yet. The long-term plan has been to build up my freelance business so that whent he kids are in school full-time I'm earning close to a full-time income while working at home. Maybe my plan is working too soon, I still have two years til the oldest and two more after that before the the youngest are in (free!) school for full days.

I pull my hair out thinking of my crazy schedule lasting for that much longer. So yeah, I have to replan. We can't really afford any more preschool, so yeah.

But, I also have to factor in, as far as finance and career, that things are always changing. Meaning, my oldest goes to (free!) kindergarten five days a week starting in September, and that will change a lot of dynamics as far as schedule and the preschool bills, and schedule issues such as swim lessons and enrichment activities for the two of them.

That is the thing with kids. Jut when you get everything figured out, it suddenly changes again!

I'm inspired by everyone else posting their menus. I'm trying really hard to plan meals using sales and whatever is on hand, so here goes.

Mon: turkey stew with dumplings
Tues: baked ham, broccoli, apple crisp,
Wed. spaghetti w homemade sauce, yogurt with berries for kids
thurs leftovers
fri: red beans and rice (w leftover ham)

Also, I made an easy $30 this week, selling six awesome "ninja" gingerbread kits at a mark up on Amazon. Yay!

Phew. I'm finally sitting still for five minutes.
We're still stuck in the vortex of nonstop activities that magically starts every year on Oct 1. and doesn't let up until January.

This weekend, was money out. We had a 100 percent dead crabapple taken down and chopped into firewood. A friend did it, for $250 (it was a giant tree. oldest crabapple I've ever seen, at least 60 years old).

We also put the $43 junkyard bumper on the car, and it looks great! installation was free. I bribed a friend of mine with a 1/2 a trunkload of firewood to help me with it, and he did it all. Work saved! And no me standing around scratching my head.

Tomorrow, we're having the very cracked windshield on that same car replaced. It pays to call around. The first place was going to charge about $340 with everything, and the second-- a locally-owned one-- is going to charge us $175. Geesh. Glad I called.

So yeah, money out. Normally, I would have paid the mortgage last week on payday, but because of all of these expenses, I'm short and didn't want the checking to run dry. Murphy's law, of course, dictates that my two freelance checks that were supposed to arrive yesterday, didn't, and I Was going to combine those so I could pay the mortgage and add extra. I have until Dec. 1, but I would rather have it done and out of the way! So, now just tapping my fingers waiting for the checks!

***
Most of the holiday shopping for the kids is finished. I just need to figure out what to get the in-laws and my mom, and most important, want to make and bake for the friends' gift bags. We have too many friends to buy for, so we do a gift basket for each family every year, with a small gift for each of the kids, ad a family gift of wine (Charles Shaw aka two buck chuck, which is actually really good!), and homemade candies, cookies,and goodies.

I'm debating what to make this year for the gift bags. We usually do a few handmade chocolates, but I was thinking instead of cookies or cupcakes, that we should do some sort of delicious coffee cakes. Our neighbor at the last house did that and it was always delicious. Any ideas of where I can find a good recipe? I've scanned online but you never know what is really good. And, I haven't seen anything in the cookbooks at the library that made me jump up and down.

Or, maybe some sort of savory bread. Holidays often equal sweets, and I don't want people to feel overloaded. Any ideas? I'm stumped!

I'm also thinking of making some homemade chocolate raspberry ice cream topping to can, as a gift, as well. Any other good ideas for homemade treats to pop into the bag? I'm desperate! My creativity is kaput this year.

***
Thanksgiving time also means I'm stocking up on turkeys. Looks like the days of 19 cent/lbs turkeys are gone forever. The cheapest here is 78 cents, and limit one with a $10 purchase. I've been breaking my grocery trips into multiple stores/small purchases to stock up. We love baked turkeys, and I hate to pay full price the rest of the year. I have four in the deep freeze and was hoping to pick up two more before Thursday. (Did I mention we love turkey? )

I also saw a delicious turkey and wild rice soup recipe in Taste of Home this month, and we will definitely be trying that.

I stocked up on fresh cranberries at Aldi as well. They were 99 cents a bag, compared to 1.58 at other stores. Around here, you can't really buy them except at Thanksgiving, so I bought and froze seven bags of them. I have some bread recipes that call for them, plus I live to eat them with said above turkeys. Christmas dinner in July anyone??

I forgot how much I love shopping at Aldi, and was kicking myself for paying more than 1.99 /lb for butter after the last trip. I guess I will have to remember to make it a regular stop!

**
I'm also kicking myself for not every using ebates before last week. I figured I'd give it a shot because I shop online a lot and knew I had to order some gifts, and now I'm bummed that I haven't been getting the rebate before now. Oh well....

My youngest turned 3 today. The days are long, but the years fly by. He's asleep on the bench in the kitchen now. Apparently, a day filled with cupcakes at preschool, legos, transformers, and building a fire with dad are enough to wear anyone out.

As per the birthday pick below, he seemed to have had a good time. And, his teachers put his hair in a ponytail. He saw the girls doing it and he wanted one too!

When he was born, I remember being surprised that two kids wasn't double the work. Now I'll say two kids is triple the work, and boy do those preschool bills hurt!

I'm a bit disappointed when I look at my progress for 2012, but I also think I seriously was way too optimistic. With a mortgage and giant preschool bills at least until next fall, I really don't think I can be as ambitious. I'm not giving up, but I have to be more realistic as we head into 2013.

Then again, who knows. We did miraculously manage to pay off the car this year ($7500), and without that bill to focus on, maybe we can do more somewhere else. We also knocked about $11,000 off the mortgage balance this year, which isn't too shabby.

On the upside, I got paid for one of the extra gigs I took on last month, so all $425 went right into my IRA. That felt nice to give that a boost. I am expecting another $600 or so in extras from this company, and hope all of that can go to my IRA as well.

I have kind of accepted we won't meet the kids college savings goals this year, and probably won't be able to get to $4000 a year until they're in kindergarten and we don't pay for preschool (785/month).

***

Christmas and Thanksgiving are right around the corner. I kind of hate that the Xmas decorations are everywhere and there are o decorations for Thanksgiving. Complain complain, I know. Then I look at the calendar and realize I have fewer weeks than I'd like to get all the Christmas tasks completed and start to get worried. I'm going to try to make it more modest this year. Most of the kids' toys have been bought, all summer at yard sales and on craigslist (sounds cheap, but we get nice stuff around here: a superman mini-pinball machine (it's awesome), hot wheels wall tracks NIB; a giant box of 200 action figures we got for $15.

I also bought them two new costumes for their dress up box --Thor and Wolverine-- on Halloween clearance. They've been asking for them, so tah dah!

I have to inventory what I have for the kids, then add in the two toys they said specifically they want: a box of army guys and tanks and a blue garbage truck they saw at the toy store. Then, I just need to do DH, my mom and sister, and my MIL and FIL. Oh, and decide what goes into the friend gift bags.

We do 10 or 15 standard gift bags for our friends every year with a bottle of two buck chuck (it's good wine actually), homemade goodies (this year I canned raspberry chocolate ice cream topping) , and a few small gifts tucked in for the kids, then we have a day where we drop all of them off. It's fun and affordable.

**
So yeah, before I can even think about Thanksgiving and Christmas my littlest monster is turning 3 on Monday! And we are having friends in town this weekend and his birthday party on Sunday. It's chaos. Every year from October to New Years is packed like this... nonstop activity. It's exhausting!

It's been a while since I've "done the deals" couponing, but my stash of shampoo etc was getting low and I noticed a bunch of BOGO coupons about to expire for brands I stock up on.

So off the CVS today.

I bought
8 herbal Essence shamp/cond. @ $2.99/ea
Used 4 BOGO free coupons that expired today =
2 Aussie shampoo @2.99/each
Used $1/on 2 coupon = 2.49 each
2 Dawn dish detergents @99 cents
used 2 50c off = 50 cent each
2 suave lotions @ 2.50/each
used 2 2.00 off coupons = 50 cent each

Not bad, but then I got into the car and looked at the receipt. I paid about $1.92 out of pocket and another $2.50 or so in sales tax?????? They didn't charge me enough! They deducted $6.99 4 times from my total for the BOGO shampoo, when I was expecting $2.99 4 times.

Plus, I got a $10 ecb after all was done.
So now, I'm confused! Computer error? Do I go back to the store and pay what I owe??

We just had the best week. Awesome and fun. But expensive! Our best friends from New Orleans drove up to visit us, and brought their DS, who is the same as my DS1. The kids had a blast together. They got along great, which was a relief!

We had a great visit too. We took the kids to the zoo, to a Lego exhibit at the science museum, the Lego store, trick or treating, and to a pumpkin patch. Then, at night, we'd put them to bed and retreat to the basement bar and lounge area I've been working so hard on lately for drinks and conversations. It was great!

unfortunately, we spent a lot on groceries and gas, but well worth the money.

****

Today has been the day of back to reality. The FIL managed somehow to crack the base of our main bath toilet while he was here, so we had that replaced today. ( I don't want to know.) Normally, I replace toilets myself, but with two little kids it'd be weeks before I'd get to it, so we decided to pay the plumber to come. Labor cost about $200, plus the $200 for the new toilet (we supplied that).

We needed a new flange, which I never would have known, and if it weren't replaced we could have gotten a leak which would have cost us much more, so it seems like saving money preventing water damage is worth it.

Oh well. we're in home improvement mode still, and are planning to head to Menard's later today. They have the fireplace doors we need for the basement, and are offering the 11 percent back. They are the same model sold at lowe's, for $68 less, in stock vs special order and I'll get about $20 back in rebates, so it seems like now is the time! Then, we can have them installed and have a fire for our once every four years presidential election party. That will be nice!

*** Things have been a whirlwind. Once Oct. 1 hits, it's non-stop action and activity until New Years. it never fails, Every year. Trick or treat and a big Halloween party at our friends' house is Wednesday, then it's nothing but parties. I'm almost getting party fatigue!

*** Oh, and add in that hurricane thing. I'm in Ohio and we're supposed to get 50 to 60 mph winds starting now. I'm prepped for a power outage. We've lost power at the house twice this summer, once after a 50 mph storm blew through and once on a normal sunny day. We live in a 1950s subdivision with outdated infrastructure, so I'm not optimistic.

We lost a lot of food those last two times, so I have a food plan to minimize losses. I already tossed a few bags of ice into the chest freezer downstairs, and planned meals based on clearing out the freezer and fridge. We have peanut butter, bread, crackers, and other shelf stable items as well. I held off on stocking up on milk today.

All the batteries and laptops/phones are charged, so now it's just waiting. We'll see how it goes.

***
In other news, I normally don't think about Christmas this early (apart from casual second hand and estate sale shopping all summer) but I bought three Christmas gifts on amazon using amazon card points yesterday. Three nice gifts for essentially free! Gotta love points.

This is a funny one. My hubby sometimes turns notoriously cheap, hence I had to make up a new word for him as in, he's giving me a "cheapache."

Usually he only gives me one when we're spending on something unfun or for the house.

Yesterday, a friend called from the junkyard asking if we wanted the bumper off of a Honda there. Our Honda is a 1997 hatchback. We were rear-ended by an uninsured driver after a ski trip maybe 6 years ago, and hubby didn't want to pay to repair the damage to the rear bumper. It looks like a shark took the bite out of one side. I agreed, because I just found out I was pregnant AND with 200k miles on it, I thought the car would die any second.

So yeah... I said yes on the new (used) bumper, at $43. My hubby protested, saying "can't we get one cheaper? We should skip it and just save the money."

Um yeah, a cheaper bumper than $43?? I'll let you guys chuckle quietly at that one. The car, still alive and well, now has 225k miles on it and clearly is not dying any time soon.

I said yes to the bumper, rolling my eyes. Later, Hubby said he refused to *pay* to put it on, so with the help of the Haynes repair manual from the library, I SHOULD DO IT. Like how he decides to be cheap and that means I have to figure out how to replace a car bumper while he stands over me scratching his head!?!?! I thought that was funny.

(as a sidenote, Hubby is not handy. I have fixed every house issue and hung every shelf in our 11 years together. the irony? He says we live in a specialist economy, and he is a specialist, so he is supposed to earn enough to 'pay' another specialist to take care of everything else. Um yeah. No one is paying me to be the handywife!! Funny, I know).

Anyway, I said sure, I'll try. I got an auto repair manual out of the library. It looks easy, which means it won't be, but it should be an adventure. Wish me luck!!

***
In other news,
I also saw this article and thought it was insightful:

I'm starting to get inspired. Hubby and I took a walk last week where we talked about our vision for our family and what we hoped our life with children and for our children would be like. (A big change. Since we've had them, we've only fantasized about them moving out for college. lol!)

A big part of it for me was our kitchen garden out back, family vacations, and cooking super healthy meals at home. We have been stuck in a rut of eating out and eating not super great foods lately. I've been busier with work, and I do all the cooking (unfortunately). Anyway, part of my vision for home-cooked meals is switching more to fresh in-season produce and homemade or locally made whole grain breads. I've been reading the 100 Days of Real Food blog and that pretty much sums up my long term goal.

I got a bunch of awesome cookbooks, urban farming (I do this anyway, on a smaller scale), and bread baking books from the library today and am anxious to dive in.

I've been writing down some long and short-term goals as well, inspired by my most recent reading of Scott and Helen Nearing's The Good Life. I've broken them down into groups, and noticed there are a few things I can start to do now, changing habits and adding and subtracting things one at a time, working my way up to the big goals.

For instance, now I can start cooking at home more, begin substituting healthier (100 days style) products and foods for what we eat now; do a once a week menu plan, be more vigilant about coupons, and cancel the cable TV. Oh, and go to bed at least 30 minutes earlier.

I've also renewed my efforts to buy all of our meats from the local, free range, organic farm. I used to hesitate because it seemed expensive, but after a trip to the store, I realized the meats are so much nicer than grocery store meats, taste better, and in some cases cost the same per pound!! That was enough to motivate me.

Since it's fall, I'm also creating new garden beds for fruit and vegetables. Normally, I'd wait until spring, but then I lose an entire growing season as my compost and such decomposes and releases nutrients. Doing the work in fall means the beds will be ready to plant in spring-- no time wasted! DS1 who is 4 and enthusiastic, helped me create some new beds and pour all of our compost on them. He was very excited. He said he likes being a farmer.

Once we/I get into the groove of the above, my next round of goals is to try to make my own laundry detergent, try baking my own bread (if I fail, I'll find a good baker). I'd also like to get us all on a more regular schedule for preschool worksheets and cleaning up the house.

Longer term goals (and my really big goal) are to produce many of the things we would normally buy. Laundry detergent and food mostly. I love growing fruits and vegetables, and my hope is to eventually make my own pasta, can my own fruit juices (I'm taking a class on this), and make my own ice cream. It sounds silly, but producing gives me a deep satisfaction, unlike anything else. And in this scary world of machine farming, it seems more pressing now that I have two tiny kids with growing bodies and brains.

I'd also like to convince hubby to spring for the wood stove insert, so we can use that to partially heat the house and as back-up heat in our inevitable power outages. I've marked a section of "The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy" for him to read. It's all about wood stoves and inserts, their efficiency, etc. There's plenty of free wood around, so this could save us money!!

In financial news, we added another $200 to DS2s college fund, and that's about it!

We had an unfortunate outbreak of pantry moths. So frustrating. They hitch-hiked in in a box of high-fiber cereal (I'm looking at you, General Mills), and have been a nightmare ever since, despite the SaferT traps, which have caught many but not all. So, in a final bid to thwart them (without spraying the kids and house with toxic chemicals) I reorganized the pantry. Everything possible is now in glass mason jars or plastic air-tight tubs. I like it a lot! Tah-dah!




In other news, the mortgage payment hit today, and it knocked $1231 off the balance! That feels really good. Now if I can just keep it up!

We tried cable tv for the first time when we had our second son (turning 3). We thought we'd be home more. We are, but it still isn't worth the money. Even though we still are in the same 'deal' the cable company manages to charge us closer to $60 a month for cable tv, rather than the 35 it was supposed to cost us. Most of that is in an ever-changing array of fees and charging for services that used to be free, such as the cable box, dvr and a separate charge for HD dvr. I'm over it. So is DH. I tried to call yesterday to cancel it, but they had an outage somewhere and were overwhelmed with calls. So, Monday it is!

I sure love payday!

DH was paid today. He also got a surprise check for $55 for 20 minutes of IT work he did for a company last month. That is being snowflaked for the mortgage. Our mortgage payment is $1670. I usually pay $2000, but today we paid $2100. (I rounded up the $55 snowflake. I think we can spare the $45). I want it gone. Wish I had more to send to it. Oh well.

The bills are paid and I still have a little cushion in the checking account. That hasn't been the case lately, so it feels good.

I will be getting extra money to the tune of about $900 soon, for unexpected freelance assignments this month. That will probably all go to my IRA, which has been woefully underfunded so far this year.

*****
In other news, my basement office is finally finished! We started in May, and I just finished the baseboards and put in the furniture last week. Finally done. We added insulation, drywall, framed out a very large wall of storage plus a storage area that can one day be converted to a half bath should we decide we need it. The total cost, most of it going to pay someone to do the framing and drywall, plus materials (drywall & doors add up!), was $3455. It looks great. It is such a dramatic change.

I'm reading "The Good Life" by Helen and Scott Nearing, a couple who were completely self-sufficient homesteaders in New England for most of the 20th century.

Love the book, but now it has me thinking. When they plan work on the house, in their lives, and 'investments' to improve their lives, they make a 10 year plan, so as to make the most of all their efforts, and not do anything redundant. It's got my wheels turning the Dh and I should maybe put some thought into longer term plans.

Sure, we do long term planning as far as college and retirement planning, and more immediate things such as house projects, etc. but we have given little thought to what we want our family life to be, and what we want to accomplish or do between now and when the kids grow up and move out *they're 2 and 4*.

I'm thinking we need to at least have a vision and a plan for the near to intermediate term, or else we'll be so stuck in the muckety-muck of every day life that we only get through the day each day and never do anything spectacular.

My wheels are turning, so to speak. I am generating a list- a vision- of what I'd like our family life to be, and maybe seeing what we can start on now, or put in place, to make that happen, and to make everything fall into place.

Right now, with two careers and two little incredibly active kids, we really are just getting through the day each day, praying for bed time and then falling exhausted into bed every night. It needs to be done now, but I don't want to get stuck in any bad habits that become impossible to break when the kids are both finally in (free) elementary school all day.

So far, I'm thinking I'd like us to cook and eat at home the vast vast majority of the time. Right now, we do more drive thrus and meals out than I'd like, just because I'm too tired to plan or cook. I'd also like to make more from scratch, like pasta, bread, juice and ice cream.

And, of course, I love to grow food. I'd like to maximize production and preserving on the one small patch of our half-acre lot where DH lets me garden. I'm planning to start some new garden beds this month, so the compost and newspaper have time to decompose and be ready in spring for planting. Speeding up my plan, so as not to waste another season.

As for the house, our big plans are installing a wood stove insert (to burn all the free wood we've picked up, and to act as back up heat in our inevitable yearly power outages). and installing a new patio (hopefully made from reclaimed or recycled materials, in part) as well as installing a pergola, where we can also grow concord grapes for use in juice and jam.

Oh, this is getting dangerous!

I just realized I haven't posted much lately. Things have been crazy.

We have the two boys settled into their MWF preschool routine. They love school, which really helps. I did however *think* having them both in preschool close to home, compared to driving 60 miles RT to the old sitter who is also my best friend, would really revolutionize my life. In certain ways it has. I used to have to work, at night, after the kids went to bed to make my deadlines. Let me tell you I did not feel like writing articles for newspapers and magazines after all day chasing a 2 and 4 year old. Now, I can write while they are in school, and I sometimes have a couple hours to go to yard sales ALONE. Yeah!

The bad thing is they are done by 1, and I still have to fill a very long 6 hours before hubby gets home,w e eat dinner, and start bedtime. They're active kids, so it's been rough. We got into a fall routine of going to the park with school friends after school (love their moms. They're desperate to fill the days too!), but now it's getting cold so we'll need a new strategy!

In other news, part of the reason I've been so busy is I've been doing a lot of work for a newswire service. I live in Ohio (election swing state) and there have been a lot of election-related voting rules lawsuits that national news people are suddenly interested in, so I've been covering those hearings. I think I've made about $900 I hadn't planned on for that work, and we still have a few more weeks before the election. That is nice.

I have turned down some other projects, just because of burn out or because the kids hadn't started school yet and the kids were out of town. I feel bad, because I love it when the check comes, but sometimes, it's just too much!

Financially, things have been a little strained. Pre-school comes with a big $783 monthly bill. It's a little more than what we were paying for school/sitter, but I paid the sitter weekly so it was easier to budget. I've had to dip into savings to cover bills this month, something I try to avoid. We did buy the sofa bed for the in-laws (long story), and a lounge chair for hubby when he works at home, so that was part of it.

Hopefully I can get us back on track. I'm not worried much about Christmas. I have most of the kids' gifts from craigslist and yard sales, and we make food gifts for our friends. I just have to finish up hubby, mom, and the in-laws, plus teachers, etc. geesh. Now that I say that, it sounds like a lot!

Still, it feels nice to have a paid off car, and we are chipping away at the mortgage balance ($10,000 of principal so far this year!) . I'm thinking the $900 extra freelance will go to my IRA and more to the mortgage.

Oh, and speaking of, I bought some paint at Home Depot. it had a rebate. They sent me a stupid prepaid credit card as the rebate. This is the second time this has happened. I prefer the check, because then I can snowflake it to the mortgage. I'm really hating the debit card rebate!!!! Hubby did also get a freelance check for $55 that I plan to put toward the mortgage as well, so you know, little joys in life!!

Hi Guys!

I've been thinking a lot about the holidays, and I was wondering how you guys budget for gifts and holiday outings, how you handle gifts for your kids and for extended family and friends without going broke. This is a hot topic in our house this year as we try to tone down the holidays without going totally scrooge. Please share your strategies!!

Nothing much to report, financially at least. The kids are both now in preschool, and while the four hours 3x a week they are in school is great, it still leaves me to fill many many hours between then and the time daddy gets home. Ugh! Why are little kids so energetic??? (and they fight a lot, over everything.)

Anyway, I made a big payment to the mortgage thanks to the freelance check that came, and knocked a little more than $2,000 off the balance. I think if we are diligent, we will make our timeline of having it paid off in 5 years or less. That feels nice.

I also put the primer coat on the basement office, and I have been cleaning and scrubbing down there in hopes of finishing my office, and clearing space for a future game room with a ping pong table. I'm hoping to put the first coat of paint on tonight. it will be nice to have my own office again, which I haven't had since we moved last year.

A while back I got wild and crazy and signed up for a Kroger credit card. The gas discount was too good to pass up, and they offered me $70 in free groceries. They "reward" you with certificates for free groceries quarterly, with extra points earned when you buy "house" brands, which we of course always do. My first bunch came today-- $85! in free groceries!

Not too shabby. That will cover most of my bill next week. I'm trying to shop once a week on Mondays and do all my meal planning on Sunday nights.

This sudden streak of organization began last night, as today is the first day both of my kids are in school, in the same school, on the same schedule. Only 3 days a week, but still. It's amazing how much you can get done without one or two little ones going in and out of carseats and slow-poking around.

Today, I made two loaves of zucchini bread, went to the bank, thrift store drop off, got groceries, mowed the lawn, dropped off forms at the doctor's office, and still had time to work and eat lunch. Amazing!

Part of our new routine involves healthier snacks, even more reading, preschool worksheets, and less TV time with the kids, and so far, it's working out. Of course it's only day one!

They sent me some referral codes for the credit card, wherein me and my person would both get an extra $25 in free groceries, but I'm not sure I know anyone who needs another card! Oh well...

This must be a charmed month. I actually got paid already for my $2,000 big freelance project from last month. That was amazingly fast. I had expected it to be more of a hassle and a long wait, from what I'd heard about the organization. So yeah, that with the $5,000 coming back from Dh's friend and that a whole bunch of money we hadn't planned on!

We paid off the car, and the rest is going to mortgage payday.

Thanks to DH's pal finally paying his tab, we were able to pay off the car today. The payment just cleared and the account is officially closed. That will be one less bill ($219/ month), although it will save us more as we were filtering a lot of extra money to extra payments. Guess that money can now be snowballed toward savings, IRA, and the mortgage. Hazzah!!It feels really good to be car loan free!

That lump sum definitely helped, but I'm also proud of home much we managed to just pay off by adding extra every time we had some extra money come in. We managed to cut the loan by about $4,000 just through that in the first 8 months of the year.

Yes, I actually used OMG in a sentence because I'm that shocked. DH's best friend actually paid back the $5,000 he has owed us for the last two years. he wire transfer landed in my bank account today.

I can't believe it. Even my hubby was shocked. He said he never thought he would see it again. Guess that's what I get for being a naysayer. Now I have to put that foot in my mouth!

So, for some reason my blog has completely disappeared, apart from the sidebar. It says there is a fatal error. Nothing on the homepage and I can't view anything in my create/edit pages tab!!!

Despite the drought, the tomatoes seem to be fruiting just fine. Tonight was the first night of making and canning sauce. I just wish all the tomatoes turned red all at once, so I could just do the canning in one day!

I feel a giant burden has been lifted off of me. My giant horrible freelance project is finished. I'll submit the invoice for $2,000 tomorrow. (and when the check comes, it'll cut the car loan in half!)

The weekend consisted of a date night rock show, sleeping in, time to putter around the house, go to a birthday party and a festival, and to start cleaning and organizing the basement (in prep for my office actually being finished).

I sold the extra unused drywall from my basement office project on craigslist for $60, and the guy just picked up. Also gave him the stack of odd-sized peices, half bucket of drywall mud and extra corner seams. I'm happy to be rid of it! I made a little money and saved a lot of hassle. (no truck to take it back to the store for a whole refund). There's a lot more room in the office/basement now that that stuff is gone.

of course, no wire transfer from the deadbeat friend who owes us 5k, but fingers crossed, right?

My geeky gym trainer (former, but still a friend) was musing about how the short 6-week programs don't do enough to change people's lifestyles and help them make and keep long-term fitness goals.

I came up with my own fitness goal. I'm going to walk/ run (mostly run) 365 miles in the next 365 days. That's a year-long average of 7 miles a week, which is about 2 to 3 days of walking or running. (for me at least).

My official start date was July 20, which is the 4 year anniversary of my dad's death and the 6 year of my grandmother's death. It's a date that reminds me that I must care for myself not just for me, but for my children and grandchildren.

So
Goal: 365 miles
To date: 7.4 miles
Jul 23: 1.3 mi
Jul 24: 3.1 mi
July 27: 3.0 mi

Dh and I finally have come to an agreement about the neighbor situation. (See my last post about the trampoline-- last straw!). Hubby is opposed to building a fence. I don't fully understand, but he seems to really be hurt and upset by the idea.

So....

Their children are no longer allowed in our yard.
We have also decided to plant trees for privacy in the open space between the yards. In the back corner of our yard (a wooded area) where those children sometimes sneak onto our property and destroy things, we will be making a fake fence. We'll be clearing out some of the brush and stacking all of our firewood racks along the property line to make a clear, unpassable barrier. tIs less permanent, so DH seems not happy but less upset about it. And, it's be a handy place to keep our wood, which with the hopeful purchase of a wood stove, I anticipate we will have much more of.

On other news.... remember DH's best friend who borrowed the $5,000 2 years ago and swore to pay it back in a month? Well, he has since travelled the world and moved to Chile with a girlfriend (sending us pics of all his adventures, as we sit here scrimping and saving. Um yeah). Anyway, he called last night asking for the info so he could wire the money. We'll see. he has done this before and nothing has appeared, so I'm reluctant to get excited and make plans for what to do with the cash.