My English Castle's Personal Finance Blog

I dropped DD off at the local nature center for her summer class this morning and then went for an impromptu walk with a friend I met there. It was a spectacular morning, cool and breezy. Lake Michigan was at its most blue and the wildflowers were in abundance. We sampled a few raspberries on the path and wondered over the unusual flowers.

On the less attractive side of nature, I think we had a coyote incident next door last night. Around 10:30 we heard a great snarling and barking hullabaloo followed by complete silence. I'd seen a coyote trotting down the street earlier and I suspect it got a cat or a bunny. These suburban coyotes seem to be everywhere lately!

Today was the first day since DD's end of school we've had a normal week. After a bit too much spending on our Massachusetts trip, we've re-learned lessons about traveling with friends. We need to do our own thing and have our own priorities in line. I was happy we got a room with a kitchenette in Cape Cod as we ate dinner in one night and several breakfasts in. Besides the cost, it meant the Brit DH got to watch the World Cup!

After returning home, our friends stayed with us for another week, including a night away in a nearby city. They didn't blink at spending $175 for dinner for two. They're lovely generous people for us, bringing us back bottles of wine and a case of beer. But man--they're spending habits make both me and DH nervous.

I've done a textbook review for some extra cash and sold a few things on Craigslist which were cluttering the basement. It's going to be an expensive summer and I need to think of lots of ways every day to save and make some small cash. No university paycheck until October!

The basement project continues, but today the electrician's bid came in. He was (gasp) $4000, and the others who bid were a bit higher. The former homeowner wired huge swathes of the basement himself, and none of it is up to current code. Honestly, I thought the electrician would be 1-2000, so I am feeling a little sick now.

My brain is working OT trying to come up with ways to save on other things, especially until my university paycheck begins in the fall. We have the money for it, but it would hit our domestic emergency fund pretty hard. Ugh Ugh Ugh.

We're heading out later in June to Boston and Cape Cod. I haven't been to Boston since I was a teenager, and although I've scoured the guidebooks and planned a few things, I'd be thrilled to hear anyone's Boston "must-sees." We'll do the Freedom Trail for DD--although the Brit husband complains all the time about being called a British tyrant!

Ideas or recommendations, anyone?

Why is it I never know how much to spend on gifts?
Tomorrow is DD's last day of school and the parents chipped in for a teacher gift, and I had no idea how much to throw in.
Tomorrow is also DH's birthday, and I have no idea how much I "should" spend.
This is always an issue. I recently spent $100 on a wedding gift for my nephew, and some of my friends thought that was way too much. Others said they routinely spend $200 on gifts for relatives.
Kid's birthday gifts are another fraught one. For an 8-year-old? I try to keep them from $10-$15 with more for "special" friends. But I never know.


In other late-breaking news, the basement contractor forgot about the basement window when measuring for our closets. We now will have one fewer closet and a sort of bookcase-alcove spot in front of the window. I guess it saves on the door cost, but I'm already mourning the closet.

The last day of school always reminds me of how glorious that day was when I was a kid. Freedom!

The rainy cool weather today means I'll catch up with my evening class grading and have some time to get ready for our trip to Boston.

We're traveling with friends, but it always makes me laugh how differently we approach travel. They're paying full price (eek!) for a hotel room, while we used Hotwire to find a hotel a block away for $100 cheaper a night. They always take a taxi from the airport while we almost always use public transportation or a shuttle bus. I've got packaged snacks ready for DD, and I'm hoping we only have to check one bag. I'm planning a swing into restaurant.com to find some deals and have checked to see which places near the hotel offer American Airlines dining points. I always become a tad obsessive about saving money on travel, but am looking forward to it!

I've been home with the basement contractor and so haven't spent a dime--except those five dimes on coffee during my evening class last night.

After dropping off DD at her French lessons, we went to have breakfast and coffee at the local Einstein's Bagels. They delivered our bagel/egg sandwiches to the wrong table, and I saw the folks there pick up the top of the bagels, peer into both of them and then return them to the counter. I was unsure of whether we should eat them after other folks had handled them, but I didn't want to make a fuss when they arrived at our table.
Now was I being reasonable? Or is that too many hands on our bagel sandwiches? No one sneezed on them, and the other people looked, well, relatively clean. But the people next to us overheard us muttering about it and felt we should have asked for new sandwiches.

What's your verdict?

I mailed four ebay sales and returned a jacket DD didn't need. More fun, I sold more of her clothes on Craigslist. All in all, I'm adding $157 to my sales total for all the misc we've sold in the last two weeks.

I took a bunch of stuff to the charity shop yesterday, and bought a compost bin on the way home. I'm not sure whether it was the right one or not--it got mixed reviews, but this is our first foray into compost, so we'll see.

I've got four ebay auctions ending this morning, and the oddest thing is what's selling best: the white fur headband from my 40-year-old Chatty Cathy doll. And Dh wanted to throw it away....

It's cool and rainy here today, so after a trip to the grocery store, it's stay at home and clean day.
I'm still in the midst of the battle to see what the child has outgrown; the short answer is nearly everything from last summer!

We spent part of the weekend in Chicago to celebrate our anniversary, and spent a fair bit, but sometimes you need to splash out. I got a great rate at the Kimpton hotel which has a wine hour; a nice savings on pre-dinner cocktails. Plus, for being a preferred guest, we got a mini-bar credit. We didn't use the mini-bar, but ended up taking a couple bottles of microbrew home since they were free anyway.

But the lovely part was the nice meal out and the Chicago Symphony. Both were spectacular as was the walk around downtown. It was just nice to out sans child.

Last Friday I sold a pile of DD's outgrown summer clothes on Craigslist for $10 and listed a few more items on ebay.

It's great to be back on savingadvice! I need to check in to see how everyone's doing.

We've spent the last week clearing out the basement, trying to get ready for the big remodeling project.

Our contractor would like us to have an open ceiling, with the floor joists exposed--and it would be $1000 cheaper than drywall, but I'm not sure it'll give us the finished look I'd like.

So, to help get the junk out, I gave away tons of stuff on freecycle: old cassette cases, old mirrors, outgrown kid's clothes, etc, and we sold our room-sized air conditioners. Nothing like a hot spell to sell air conditioners! I've listed children's books on ebay, sold some, and listed more kid's clothes on craigslist. Stuff that wouldn't sell has headed to the Salvation Army shop, but I suspect we'll have two or three more trips there before we're done.

I've still got one evening class going, and have done some pickup work evaluating portfolios for students who want credit for their "life experiences."

Although we have so much left to do, I thought I'd restart my blog to get me mindful of money again.
I'm glad to be back.

And I can't say I've had a relaxing time--it's mostly been catching up with grading, class prep, and those mountains of laundry and paperwork.

We've had a spend-y month too--between our house guests and seemingly thousands of small expenses. I did some course evaluation work for another university and picked up a few$--but it flew out of my wallet quickly.

I have managed to polish off a couple of books including the new Nick Hornby--which I liked. I also started the taxes, but not liking how it was looking, I've saved the file and will peek back into them this weekend.

And not surprisingly--our house stays cleaner when I'm at work more!

Just in time for my spring break to begin, the 60degree temps are over and they're predicting (ugh) snow for tonight.

I've begun my spring break by cleaning, selling odds and ends on ebay, and taking 12 books to the library for their Friends booksale.

We've also started to plan some summer getaways including a trip to Boston and Cape Cod with some British friends. I got a great deal on a hotel on Hotwire which I love again. But my frugality has been stymied with my almost useless airline miles. We have way too many on both American and Delta, but find we can't use them on any of the dates we want for anywhere near a decent rate.

I think Delta has gotten much worse since the NWA merger with their miles/per seat. I'm ready to trade in the airline credit card for a cash back one.

Say goodbye to winter!

Work is very busy, and my budget has been stretched by two weeks worth of English house guests who ate and drank everything in the house while not even bringing a hostess gift. I guess they think it's THEIR English castle.

So, now my house is again a mess, I'm way behind at work, and to save some time, picked up meatloaf mixture at the local grocers last night. I baked it right away, but it was spoiled or something. Even mt DH who will eat anything won't eat it.

Bah--need to get caught up!

Sorry, this is ugly, but Sunday's food was all down the drain because of the stomach bug we all got. I'd blame my cooking, but all the kids in DD's class seem to have it too. This has made it a slow, somewhat yucky week.

I've been reading the SA experiment with Dave Ramsay and have been inspired to amass an extra $1000 just like they preach. Our emergency fund is pretty darn good, but I could use an injection of both cash and enthusiasm. I'll list some stuff on ebay and scour around for other stuff to sell and other opportunities for cash.

We've got guests coming so I've made a big pot of jambalaya for tomorrow and chicken soup and a frittata for tonight.

If I get ambitious, I may make some pumpkin bread--my hair cutter has been telling me how slow it's been, and it'd be a nice gift for her.

It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon.. oh wait, that's that other Minnesotan. But it's been a quiet week here too, even with a snow storm and plenty of school-related work.

My ebay listings have bids, our checking account is finally getting back to normal after the car purchase, and we are, as promised, eating our way through the freezer stocks.

I'm looking forward to the beginning of the Olympics, Valentine's day and a weekend at home, as well as tackling the taxes.

Well, maybe not super yet, but I've started another round of decluttering and ebay selling. I'm continually floored at how much stuff we have, and will offer up some of DD's clothes on freecycle as well.

I've also decided to devote the next six weeks to improving my overall health and keeping a health and food journal. Nothing's really wrong; I'd just like to have more energy and eat better consistently. On that happy note I've made a pot of Italian veggie soup to prepare for the onslaught of snow headed our way.

Super Bowl Sunday is usually spent on the taxes, but we were busy yesterday with playdates and Sunday school and university prep, so they'll have to wait a bit.

In honor of the "Food Out" challenge, I made coffee this morning instead of buying my cheapo cup at school. Not quite as fun, but I did save $1.42. Dinner was again from the freezer.

After a month off, my school days seem very long to me right now. Perhaps it's the slog through the snow?

I've got lots of other money things to blog about, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow.
I do a few online surveys: Pinecone, Carol Adams, Buzzback, but I'm thinking of NOT doing e-rewards any more. Their "rewards" are lousy (too many magazine subscriptions and things we don't use), and they seem to
demand an awful lot for the not-so-hot rewards. Any one else use or dump them?

Wind chills below zero and temps headed that way.

School started yesterday, and besides the usual challenge of figuring out when to eat and use the bathroom when I teach five hours in a row, everything seems fine.After last fall's harried semester, this should be easy.

I'm home three days a week now, and need to rebalance how I spend home and work time.

Off to grocery shop now which is always so much better during the week.

I'd actually ( I can't believe I'm saying this) prefer some snow to our yucky rain. But I've made a big pot of soup for tomorrow's dinner, did a little shopping, and need to spend some time on household things tonight.

January always seems endless to me.

Our financial goals for the week are simple--eat up what's in the fridge and get ready to start the semester. I'm only on campus two days a week this term which should save on gas and some other expenses. But we need to stay on top of spending to allow for my decreased work load.

I've decluttered four Gourmet magazines to my happy-to-have-them co-workers. It was fun to get rid of them, and have people happy to get them. And I checked out rates on the safe deposit box that I blogged about yesterday. $17/year sounds like a reasonable amount to me. I also mailed my book sale.

I remembered to use my Walgreen's vouchers and coupons when buying a birthday card for my father-in-law, so the pennies have been taken care of.

One more (I was going to say final, but I have to see this "salesman" Saturday, and I'm sure he'll disappoint yet again) rant about the doofus car salesman. He e-mails me asking when we're going to pick up the car with no specifications about transferring the plates, the registration, what kind of payment he'd like. He's not sure he can be there when I drop $18,000 on him on Saturday. What kind of salesman is this? I wanted the final total to get a certified check, and he doesn't know. Finally some other person at the dealership returns my call.

I should get his commission. He did nothing but stand in the way.

With all the floods, earthquakes, and general havoc about lately, I'm wondering about getting a safe deposit box.

During my first marriage I had one, but closed it when I left that town, and we haven't had one since.

I found bond Savings Bonds my mom gave to DD, and must admit, I'd forgotten completely about them. What if the house had burned down? Eeek! Maybe I'd better get one!

Does everyone else there is SA-Land have one?

I'll start with the good news. We've agreed on a deal on the used car we've been looking at. We pick it up on Thursday, and it's beautiful. Now for my rant: Why is buying a car from a dealer such a stupid, irritating farce? We offered them the same price last week, and the salesman did the huge melodrama routine with asking the manager, and we were crazy to think we could buy the car for that price. We were then about $1000 apart. Yet a week later, we're at the same price? All because we walked out? It's so inane!

On my decluttering front, there's plenty in the old car's trunk that can go. And I've sold another book and freecycled some of my mom's earrings.

Still trying to figure out what we're going to do about buying a car over the weekend. There's a well-priced model four hours away from us, but I really don't feel like 8+ hours on this endeavor. But I guess we will if we have to.

I sent four kids' books to work with DH since no one wanted them on Craig's List.
One of his co-workers wants them. I'm making another bag for the library friends' sale. I'm giving myself 6 points for the donations. I got some moisturizer free from a survey company, and just when I was almost out of my usual brand, so that's a nice bonus!

I also bought a short-term bond fund today in my IRA to get a slightly better yield on the cash in my account. I'm generally against bond funds, but don't feel like stepping back into the market just yet with this cash.

We also sent some money to Haitian relief yesterday. It doesn't seem like much, but we pray it will help.

I've lost some steam on my purging projects this week. I'm hoping plenty of sleep tonight will help me get going tomorrow. Tiredness always makes me eat more and spend more!

I sold two books today for a total of $104!
Six Points plus all that nice cash.
It pays to clean the office!

Yeah, it's still coldish today, but we have lovely blue skies. That always lifts the spirits.

My new class started last night and I have 30 students. Thirty may not sound like a lot, but that class lasts 4 1/2 hours. I came home, took two ibuprofen and went to bed. But I avoided spending anything at the vending machine there, which is a triumph of sorts.

I'm giving myself 1.5 points for throwing out more of DH's elderly spices and recycling the jars. I did throw the ancient cardamom pods on the "compost heap." And listed a bunch of things on Craigslist and Amazon, so hoping to reap some nice rewards there.

I hope to get out for a walk under these sunny skies!

After a frustrating Saturday, the weekend got a bit better. We made an offer on the used car I'd like, still crossing our fingers that my car lasts for a bit longer. But the salesman made virtually no counter offer, so I'm letting it lie for a bit. I wonder if he'll call me back? Any one have any experience with used car negotiating with a dealer?
The upside was the dealership is so posh they have a customers' lounge with a coffee bar and Haagen Dazs ice cream so DD got a nice cone and we had some coffee.
But I want a REAL counter offer on a car that's been sitting on the lot for 3 months.

DD started skating lessons which I knew would be hard for her. But she went out with us again yesterday--screaming for the first 10 minutes, then asking to go again.

In between we got to the Salvation Army to drop things off and I found my ornament storage box at Target.
I'm giving myself 12 points for the Salvation Army dropoffs and just listed some kids'videos on freecycle.

My evening class starts tonight! It's one of my favorite classes to teach, so I'm looking forward to it.

I'm still going on the between-terms organizing projects. I'm finally getting caught up on my household chores and have sold my daughter's skates and another book today.

Today's organizing errands call for a trip to the post office, to the sporting goods store to check on jacket prices, and to the home store for an ornament holder. I've stored Christmas ornaments in an old Jack Daniels box for 25 years and I'm treating myself to a new plastic bin.

Then I'm dumping stuff at the Salvation Army. What fabulous fun!

Hey! Just got the Amazon notification that another book sold! Hooray!

I had other shopping planned for today, but we're getting hit with a big blast of snow, so I've spent a chunk of the morning reorganizing the shelves in the basement, including the canned food etc shelves.

They look terrific and should help with my
"Eat our Way Through the Freezer" plan for the upcoming months.

I have a couple of books sold to deliver to the post office so may venture out into the whiteness.

I'm starting a new ebay/amazon challenge for myself--kickstarted by a recent $100 or so in sales.

Here's to the spirit of organization! Long may it last!

Oh dear. I thought I'd blogged in October or November, but now I see it was September. And I've lost my way a teeny bit--no debt or anything, just too busy to be as frugal as I'd like.

So what's new?
My scholarly work has been going a bit bit better.
My overload semester is finally over--and at least one class was outstanding.
We need to buy a new (to us) car very soon.
Tonight we finally dug through three months' receipts, and I need to get things organized before next term.

No particularly good or bad news, just the death throes of my now 10-year-old car which has been very expensive.

Eager to find out how everyone's been over in SA land!