My English Castle's Personal Finance Blog

I haven't blogged in a long time, but am desperately trying to keep up with the impending onset of the semester's end.

But today, except for (ugh) gas, was a NS day. And I'm making a nice cheapo broccoli quiche tonight.

Soon they'll be more time to blog and more time to find ways to save and make some more cash!

I think I'm pretty good about watching what I spend, and trying to increase what I earn. But I'd like to try some new ideas.
I'm setting aside an hour tomorrow morning to brainstorm and think of things I need to do, including saving and spending ideas, before the summer break hits and I just feel like flopping on the couch and reading all day.

If anybody has great ideas, I'd love to hear them.

I think I'll start today's blog with something to be grateful for: A working sump pump. The neighbor's sump pump pipe broke the other day, and what a mess they have.
It's been raining for days here and besides pricing arks, I'm taking a stab at the towering piles of grading, heading to an estate sale, then [W] Al Green's for their $5 off special.

With both of our cars nearing the 100K mile mark, we've been talking about what we need to save to replace them.

Man alive, our first quarter IRA statements arrived yesterday, and while I knew it would be bad, it was ugly. I have to give myself my usual pep talk about long-term investing to stay upbeat about things.

On the savings front, I've been most diligent about walking the six blocks to save the parking money. And another big pot of soup was created today, which should be a nice antidote to all our rain.

My very delightful husband fixed my windshield wiper last night, saving us about $30. I thought the motor had gone from pushing all sorts of snow and sleet this winter, but the arm was just loose from the spindle or something, and in 10 minutes, he had it working. I'm delighted.

Another inexpensive day, and somehow, I resisted the "Carnival of Cakes" special at the local grocery.

My ebay auctions went very well, and with the 1cent listing fee, it was worth it. Sometimes ebay is such a slog, I also freecycled some old kids' videos, so I feel decluttered (about 1%!) and richer.

It remains sunny but cold here. I've been grumpy about my job, but talking about it with my old mentor today made me realize how much I like it, although it doesn't pay very well. Or maybe it's that there's only 5-6 weeks left in my school year!

I again walked my blocks today and avoided paying for parking, and my buddy paid for lunch! Total expenses were $1.43 for the mandatory morning brew.

My ebay auctions are coming along as is tonight's bean soup. A sunny day indeed!

I was mean and sneaky today and gave my classes a fake quiz for April Fool's Day.
I enjoyed the joke more than they did.

I've been good about not paying for parking and walking the 6 blocks.
And tonight is one of those nights where I'm happy for convenience food. I just plain don't feel like cooking, so it's Trader Joe's orange chicken.
I sold a book and returned some stuff to Kohl's so it's been a cheap day.

Remember the old joke?
Define Eternity: two people and a ham. That's how I feel right now. We've been eating ham non-stop since Sunday. I've made lunches, dinners, breakfasts, and we've still got more of that pig than I thought possible. I see bean soup in my future. That's a scary thing when you look in your crystal ball and see bean soup!

Besides my ebay listings for today, I discovered that good ole Walgreen's (aka Al green's) now offers their Easysaver rebates on line! I'm stupidly excited about saving the postage and having their site remember to "send" it for me.

Maybe that's the effect of 5 days of eating ham!

With the super-cheap ebay listings right now, I've decided to list everything I've been considering before it expires on the 31st.

We had such a good time in Florida, I'd like to start funding that for next year with my ebay earnings. I'll bet I can at least get the hotel or condo funded...

My local grocery is pretty mundane; it has a decent enough produce sections, ok meat, and floral, and bakery. The prices are ok, and the specials good. I stay within budget frequently when I'm there.
But put me in the "upscale" grocery store, and my self-control seems to slip away. The bakery is oooh so tempting, the ready-to eat foods look so appealing, the plants, the wine, the beautiful expensive out-of season produce--I become transported to another lifestyle and spend too much.

Am I alone in this horrible temptation? I've got to stay away from there--even their specials!

Our daughter has spring break this week, which unfortunately never coincides with mine. All this means is that she is with me at the university and that all adds up to additional expenses including parking, lunches out (a treat!), and ibuprofen for me.

I'm hoping for a calmer week next week!

I haven't blogged in a long time, so time to get that and my finances back together.

We're back from a too short trip to Florida and enmeshed in another snowstorm!

I cannot believe this winter.
We had another 11" of snow so far today, and more is on the way.
I guess we're saving gas by not going out of town for Easter, so I'd better venture out for Easter groceries tomorrow.

We did pretty well not spending too much in Florida, especially considering Orlando seems to be a big spendfest--especially at Disney and downtown Disney. At no other place in the world would I even consider spending $4 on a ballpoint pen! But our condo was great and having the kitchen and pool made meals easy and relaxing. We loved every minute of it.

No, not the Revd. Al Green, though I do dig him too, but Walgreen's. Years ago, a friend spotted a Walgreen's sign with the W burned out, and we've taken to calling it Al Green's which somehow makes it more fun.

I had a happy shopping trip at Al Green's today, remembering to use my $6 Register Reward before it expired. I got the Garnier skin care and Colgate toothpaste for less than free after rebate since I had coupons (so exciting!) too and will get the 10% bonus for taking the rebate on a Walgreen's gift card.

Love and Happiness, as the real Revd Al would say!

Hey! I just realized I was at meetings all day and didn't spend a dime!
And they were actually fun meetings!
With food!

I'm about 75 percent into my 25K emergency fund, and am hoping to get there in the next couple months (barring emergencies!

Hello March! Let's hope spring is on the way!

My beautiful treasured cup of coffee bit the dust this morning while I was teaching my 8am class. I should know better than to gesture and clutch caffeine at the same time! $1.43 all over the classroom floor!

But my class enjoyed it!

The Eternal February!
At least that's what it feels like around here.
No big financial news to report except we have a snowblower belt to return, and the lovely customer service folks at Thrift books refunded me in total for a book that arrived with a broken binding.

Off to a party tonight, and as much as I'd like to buy an appetizer, I'm hoping I can think of a cheap yet cheerful one.

I sold a book on Amazon, so I'd like to add that to our castle fund, along with a few survey nickels.

if you and your family are struggling with colds and flu right now.

It seems every blog I read we're all saying the same thing, so let's take a tally.

We're at the tail (I hope) end of it, but I'll count us as #1.

Next?

It's been a rough week and a half since I blogged. DD and I have both had the mis-aligned with the flu vaccine flu. And now DH is getting it too. So though we haven't spent much, we haven't done much to actively manage things either. Food has gone bad, rebates gone unsent, returns not made. But there's no point in beating yourself up when you're sick, so we'll aim for better days soon.

I spent some cash on an easy-to-read clock that has time, day, and date for my absent-minded mom. And I finally dealt with an Amazon seller order that arrived in poor condition. It was cheap, but the binding was broken, and it'll be hard to use the book to teach from in that kind of shape.

And it's sub-zero cold again here.
February stinks, me thinks

Ok, I'm unreasonably happy about this, but since retirement savings is one of my anxiety issues, I'm pleased to announce that I've fully funded (finally!) my 2007 Roth.

I invest plenty in my 403b, but my Roth has never gotten the attention it deserves, poor little thing!

I'm thinking of it as a valentine's gift to myself, and probably better for me and a lot more long lasting than chocolates or flowers. Too bad the mutual fund folks won't throw in a card or some chocolate-covered strawberries.

I thought I'd leave it up to all of you to determine a decent metaphor for this winter.

I have the February grumpies again. The Child is ill, so DH and I have been tag-teaming her care. I had to go teach this morning, but came home early, so he could head off to work. Half my students have this same kind of bronchial crud that the Child has.

But the only thing I spend money on lately is parking. It's too cold to walk 6 blocks and then have to pay for frostbite treatment!

I spent the weekend visiting my mom and brought her lots of treats and supplies.
I flew for free with my NWA airmiles, and abstained from the airport food. The plastic-wrapped sandwiches were nearly $7!
Yikes! Someone should do an article on airport food prices. The captive audience thing has gone too far, especially with the no-liquid rule. I usually bring an empty water bottle with me to refill, and boy was I glad. Bottled water was $2.50.
That delicious combo of water and a day-old sandwich would've set me back $10 with the sales tax, Outrageous!

It may be lovely and all that, but another 13" of snow has made me feel less like a princess and a whole lot more like Grumpy.

Child and I shared a snow day off from school, and I got a few things done.
Plus--nothing was open so it was a NS day.

DH got stuck in the driveway, or rather off the driveway tonight, and even the village snow plow ended up in the ditch. It took two front-end loaders to haul it out.

But the mailman got through: apparently neither snow nor sleet not dark of night could keep him from delivering two lovely survey checks totaling an awesome $15.

But where is spring???

Man, we've had a bad ole winter here in the Midwest. And today was supposed to be the start (make that restart) of my walking to and from the free parking.

I rather diligently parked in the free spot, only to leave in a massive downpour. Luckily I'd stashed an extra umbrella in the office, but I was none too happy to walk 6 blocks in a February rain.

Three weeks left of my double dose of teaching evening classes, and except for the hallowed cup of coffee, it was a NS day.

After a brief foray out into the world yesterday for groceries (it always costs double when I bring DD and DH along), gas, and Office Depot, I came home ready to tackle the taxes.

And done they are--with a nice refund to boot! I know it's more sensible to monkey with our withholding, but that nice check is so lovely. I'm eager to get them mailed off. I have to say, Turbotax is a dream for me to use. It truly is tax software for dummies.


My goals for the week are to get the taxes mailed, the returns done, and walk from the free parking to add to both the calorie expenditure and the parking fund.

It continues hectic as heck-tick here, but spring can't be THAT far away, can it?

I'm still busy rooting around on the shelves and in the freezer for dinners. Except for perishables and a few treats, I'm sure I can make it through another few weeks without buying much.

It was indeed a NS day, although I had to order books for next term's classes. Although the university is SUPPOSED to get me desk copies, they never get around to it until it's too late to use them for class planning, so I got them used on Amazon. I had Christmas credit left over, so didn't spend anything there.

I also spent some time moving funds around, and plopping more into my Roth for 2007. But man, it's ugly when I compare my year-end totals to those a mere month later. I keep telling myself it's the share totals in the mutual funds that count, and that I can buy more shares not that they're cheaper, but ouch. I avert my eyes.

That seems to be my story this month. I've taken on the extra classes hoping to fund our Roths, but the tiredness takes its toll.

Plus, it was so darn cold this past week with windchills -30 that I've parked in the ramp at the university, too lazy and cold to walk my usual 5 blocks from the free parking.

But it's payday and tomorrow I'll sit down and start allocating some of my hard-won buckaroos.

I made a quick $3 on a Pinecone survey, so that kind of money is always happy news.

I took my evening class to the movies last night to see a film version of a book they'd been reading. They cracked me up because they all smuggled in soda and snacks.
Not surprisingly, they're all working adults attending college in the evenings.

I've taken "traditional" college students to the movies before, and have never seen a single one smuggle food in.

Coincidence? Or are my adult students already "smarter?"

After spending too much of the weekend doing some freelance editing, we went out to eat without a coupon Saturday night (shocking!).
But it was good to get out before cabin fever makes us crazed.

That editing income will help pay for the spring break trip we're planning. But man--rental cars in Florida are almost as expensive as hotel rooms over spring break.


Hotwire advertised Orlando and Tampa car rentals as low as $14, but in mid-March, they were over $60.

My only spending yesterday was on coffee. Not fancy lattes--although I really wanted one--but just coffee at the university spot to get me through the morning classes, and coffee --ugh-- from the machine to get me through the 4+ hour evening class.

Perhaps I should volunteer to make coffee for students? I had one fall asleep the FIRST day of class.

Today's devoted to some freelance editing work and might just turn out to be a NS day.

I'm as happy as can be today because of my cereal bargains. The grocers had a deal on General Mills cereal: buy 6 and get $10 off. I had coupons on all of them, and if you bought all 6, you got milk vouchers worth over $7.
Total spending on 6 boxes? $1.50.

Now why this makes me so pleased is work for a psychologist, but it does. That and the 27 cents found on the ground today. It's very funny, but it feels like some kind of triumph when all you hear is economic horror stories on the news.

Now if Ben Bernanke could perform this sort of feat at the Fed, just think where we'd be....

And now more subzero cold to drive that heating bill up! Sometimes January goes on forever.

But I've sold an old textbook on Amazon and moved my craigslist listings to ebay. Sometimes Craigslist just doesn't generate the traffic, I think.

Expenses today included a 99cent thermal mug at Goodwill, saivng me 15cents a cup on my necessary caffeine infusion at school.

But dinners from the freezer continue!