Got the manufacturer's rebate on the A/c today, finished up my online class, and read a bunch of freelance projects.
These checks should results in a nice deposit, and it's great to have money coming in September, when the university usually doesn't pay me until October.

But I haven't blogged for a week because we've been busy with the new doggie. She's a rescue dog, and is very very sweet. We're trying to cure her of eating DD's crayons, but other than demanding to be petted an awful lot, she hasn't revealed many bad habits yet.

I'll post pix soon.

Everyone in Wisconsin can thank me for the cool summer guaranteed by my purchase of Central Air earlier in the summer. I just found the rebate form sent by the installer and got that completed on line.

Today's mission will be to try to figure out the federal Energy Star rebate on that A/C. And list some ebay or textbook items. And transfer some money to DD's college fund. And mail my latest sales.

I'm ready to get our basement remodeling project rolling and have begun to find the motivation to pay for it!

I received yet another new credit card from Citibank because the account may be in danger of fraud from someone someplace who's managed to get access to someone's stuff. While I'm glad they're proactive, its the third new one this year--which means an hour switching over all the automatic payments and inevitably forgetting one.

Speaking of credit cards, when I was entering the mall today, there was a lost debit card laying right on the ground in front of me. Several people passed it by without even picking it up. I grabbed it and took it to customer service, but wondered later if I should've tried to contact the person myself. Not sure which was wiser.

No other financial news except that I returned three earlier summer purchases today and hope they all hit the credit card before I have to pay for them.
It's not a big deal, but I'd rather have the $200 for a month than Citibank having it.

School starts a month from tomorrow, and I'm determined to pack more fun in. Tonight we're having a picnic followed by a free planetarium show at the university.

I'm trying to find loads of fun free things and end the summer with great memories and enough cash left over for our basement remodeling.

I sold a book today so am adding $3.99 to my ebay challenge total. Will I ever get caught up again?

Maybe it's that lazy summer feeling, but I feel tremendously unmotivated about saving money lately. It's not that we've been spending wildly, I just don't feel like paying much attention to the things I'm normally so vigilant about--a couple bucks at the grocers, Walgreen's rebates, best deals on school supplies.

I don't know if I should try to motivate myself with some sort of goal, or just laze around with another library book until September...

Well, I think I've got everything uploaded and ready to roll for Week 1 of my online class which starts officially in 15 minutes.


And I made a nice little chunk of change from leading the couples' book club which will go right into my Italy Fund.

Lots to do this week including finding a hotel for the upcoming wedding trip and scouting out a couple more basement contractors.

I've been working hard setting up my online class that starts Monday. It'll be an interesting experiment, and I signed the contract today. The university is paying me exactly what they'd pay me for a regular class during the normal term, but it'll be condensed into four weeks.

I deposited $300 for a textbook review and some rebate checks today. We're getting basement remodeling bids now.

Only really frugal thing I've done lately is carefully slowly shopping for school supplies for DD. My goal is to complete her list for 25% of what the "fast packs" at school charge.

As some of you know, I teach an evening class in addition to my regular schedule at the university. I've always just thrown this money into the general fund, but I've been feeling like it just gets lost in the mix.

So here's my latest allocation strategy. It'll be divided into thirds with 1/3 going to mortgage principal paydown, 1/3 to retirement/college fund for DD, and a full 1/3 to just pure fun.

Our EF is fully funded, and we're doing some home improvements which qualifies as fun under my plan. I'm hoping the visible signs of progress with the mortgage, retirement, and college funds will keep me inspired when sometimes I'm not enthusiastic about the additional work.

This love affair, a longer-lasting affair than either of my marriages, began when I was just a kid. My mom had her hair done in a "beauty salon" right next to the library and while she got shampooed and set, I wallowed in the books.

I spent much of my tween and teen years on a bike, headed to the library. We walked there when the snow hit, but spent blissful summer days in the air conditioned library.

My college years meant the university library soon became one of my favorites.
I fondly remember one final exam study day spent with an open text, watching the snowflakes fall between the library and the student union.

During my commuting years I spent off hours there, and when my daughter was born, the story times were a much-needed and appreciated break. Now we check out DVDs, books, books for my classes, and our at-least-weekly trip is always a treasure hunt.

When I think about why I like our community, the library is one of the major reasons. It's not beautiful, like some of the nearby ones, but it's home.

It's bountiful, it's free (mostly), and it's fabulous.

Blame it on the last week of the semester, but last week's ebay sales went to the wrong people. I sold two dresses, and you guessed it, sent each to the other buyer. They've been pleasant about it, and I'm refunding them the postage and throwing in some extras.

Now for the triumphs: I sold a textbook on Amazon and made some survey money. And current ebay listings have some bids.

Add $51.71 to my totals.

I'm formulating summer plans, both for DD and for us. We're putting a garden in, and right now (oh the joys of school over), I've got laundry on the line. I just got a rhubarb plant from a friend so that's going in my garden.

I want to make a list of summer goals and summer dreams. I wonder what they'll be?


On the more mundane side, I'm just back from an estate sale at a lovely home. I got a great deal on ordinary things like packages of unopened birthday candles for 10cents and some cute homemade draft blockers for next winter. Indeed one of my summer goals is to find a couple pretty but cheap wool blankets at an estate sale to replace the ugly thermal ones in our guest room.

No other news except looking for gifts for the round of graduations and wedding showers that is just beginning.

I'm back to listing on ebay after taking a week or so off. I list a lot of DD's outgrown clothes and shop a couple of times a year at the Hanna Andersson outlet store near my mom's. I also love a good rummage/garage/estate/tag sale.
Because I often find Hanna and Gymboree clothes for my daughter, I almost always end up reselling them.

Gymboree seems to have an almost-cult-like following, and I've found a site that identifies what "line" the Gymboree outfits come from. This does help ebay sales, but it's pretty amazing to me that someone actually took the time to do that.

So, with that site's help, I've listed a couple more things that I picked up at sales.

Not much else new financially. DH's job is still intact and I have about three weeks before the university winds up.

I'm making yet another pot of soup since it's so cold and wet here.

It's been an expensive week. We're having a busy social weekend with a birthday party for my Mom, Easter travel, new clothes needed for DH and DD (and uhm, a new dress for me).

A dear friend lost her mom this week, and other friends are in the hospital. We've spent big chunks on flowers, memorials, cards, and everything else.

The crunch time of the semester is also here, so I'm very busy at work. Thankfully we've been eating from the freezer, but there's little time for bargain shopping or price comparisons.

I've decided this is "don't sweat the small stuff" week, and will get back on the frugality wagon next week.

Most of what we bought was necessary. DD outgrew her shoes, DH put his knee through a pair of work pants...it's just like that. So no sweat, and a better week for us next week.

Happy Easter, Passover and Spring to you all.

(and I did manage to list a few things on ebay!)

First--I want to salute all of you going through tough times, in ND, those of you without jobs, and other worries. I'm impressed with everyone's mental strength.

I find myself worrying about all sorts of things lately--one of my husband's colleagues has been asked to take a 40% pay cut, and others have been asked to take a 30% pay cut. He hasn't found out his numbers yet, but the whole thing makes me anxious. My usual anxiety monitor is a sour stomach, which seems omnipresent lately.

We have an good emergency fund, and we've created a back-up budget, but still my stomach gurgles.

I'm trying to think of ways to distract myself--getting library DVDs to watch over lunch, garden planning etc. I need to build more joy into my life and not focus on all the bad news.

Our roadside mailbox has been wobbling and threatening to fall off for about 6 months. We really needed a new post and a better fastening system to make it sit up nice and straight. We've been talking about doing it for weeks, but just haven't got to it.

This morning our municipal garbageman hit it with his truck and by late afternoon, a city crew of three came out, set and installed a new post and reattached the mailbox much nicer than we would ever do.

Pennies from heaven? Or at least from the village....

or the bubonic plague, I'm not sure which it is. Last week my students coughed all the way through their midterms, and true to form, I ended up with their flu on my break week.

I'm not sure which is worse--to be sick when I should be off enjoying myself, or to be sick wyhile I should be working.

I tried to teach my evening class last night, but had to let them go after 2 1/2 hours. I could hardly talk and today my voice is completely gone. I ventured out for an hour today to buy groceries and go to Walgreens for some meds, but other than that, I've been home since Sunday night. If any of you want to know how inane daytime TV is, let me know.

hack, cough wheeze......

For months it had seemed as if my transmission in my 111K miles car was about to go. It chugged, it lurched, it was obstinate.
While I was in NYC last weekend, we took it to the transmission specialists recommended by our usual mechanic. He cleaned it, flushed the fluid,and refilled it. He said we didn't need to replace and found nothing wrong.
Since then (knock on head) it's run like a charm--no problems, no chugging, no lurching.

My DH is a software developer and every day, it seems, people at his company are being laid off. We've developed an emergency plan to live on my (lousy) salary if we must, reduced many of our expenses, and we have a nice size EF.

Yet there are things we've planned: our summer trip to the UK, a new dresser, a basement remodeling, etc.

All of these things are sort of on hold, but I'm not sure what we should spend on, and what we shouldn't spend on.
I suspect lots of us are in the same place right now. Should we hoard completely or should we spend little bits?

I wish I had an answer--it's just one of the things that lodges in my head for days at a time.

And man, did I have fun!
We went to the opera, a play, a jazz club, shopping, the Circle Line boat tour, a couple museums, and walked, and walked, and walked.

I think I did OK budgetarily. I bought a City pass and a transport card for the subway and the bus and used it almost all the time. Breakfast (and cappuccino!)
was free at the hotel, and I always took a coffee to go with me.
I bought a few things but was mostly restrained. And I made the hotel clerk VERY happy with the leftover days on the transport card.

I'm not sure I would've made any monetary decisions differently. But I would've brought an extra pair of feet to replace the ones I wore out. Ouchouchouch

Our blast of false spring last week cheered me up, but again it's snowy, cold, and awful here.

My major money woe is the impending demise of my car's transmission. People are telling me a rebuilt can cost up to 2K, but I just put my hands over my ears and sing loudly to ignore them. Full report pending from the transmission guy next week. We've got 111,000 miles on that trans, so I guess I can't complain.


Not a lot of other money news to report. I'm adding $1.99 to my ebay challenge for the software I sold. Since I now start teaching later, I'm taking DD to school, and drinking my coffee at home. It saves a big $3/week, but it all helps.

A textbook publisher that I do some reviews for asked me to be a part of their panel for a possible new book. It sounds fun and easy and pays $750! I'm thrilled.

And on a much lesser note, my current ebay auction has a bid on it.

My money anxiety (for no real reason except my usual freefloating anxiety) has increased lately, but it seems lately like
I'm generating cash from unexpected sources. I need to learn to relax and rely on good things happening. We're healthy and happy and generally very well blessed.

Our federal tax refund hit our account today! It's exciting news, though I'm not sure what we'll do with it yet other than stash it in the emergency fund.

Not that I don't have a long list of wants:
a new dresser
basement refinishing
car fund
fund roths completely
Central A/c
etc

But we'll sit on it a bit, and hope to figure out what's most important.

I feel mean, and I'm hoping you all can make me feel better. One of DH's co-workers, a great guy who we've known for years, is in continuing financial trouble. It's not him, it's his wife who hops from job to job and continually spends WAY too much on their children--we're talking $500 on a first birthday party.

You know where this is going--they're losing their house, and have 16K on credit cards. DH wants to pay their credit cards with OUR emergency fund and have co-worker pay them back so they won't lose the house.

I have had bad experiences lending to friends, and am not convinced that Co-worker's wife has changed her ways. I am pretty darn adamant against it, but DH is giving me a big speech about helping people etc and my religious and moral values being misplaced. So I feel mean.

I have done pretty well at the grocery shopping of late, and am pleased with my stinginess. This week's total was under $60, rather than our usual $100 or so.

Step two of reducing expenses was cutting back on parking and coffee expenses which are both right on track.

And my third goal is to have a great time in NYC without spending a fortune. I found a better, cheaper hotel on Quikbook.com (my new favorite site) that saves me $16/night and comes with breakfast. All in all in four nights that should save me well over $100. And they have a cappucino/espresso
area that's free!

The bad news today is the still horribly expensive energy bill.

I just finished the taxes, and despite all odds, we're still getting a refund.
I've e-filed and am happy to wash my hands of the whole deal. I hope the nasty Wall Street rip-off artists enjoy my money.
Am I the only one who would like to throw rotten eggs at them?
And believe me, after a decade in the brokerage business, I understand the bonus system. But I never expected the ordinary taxpayer to pay MY bonus.

My ebay auctions closed the other day, and wonder of wonders, the toddler socks sold for (gasp) $8.49. I almost fainted when I saw that. So I'm adding the $8.49 and the the other $1.99 to my challenge totals.

I'd like to finish the taxes this weekend. I started yesterday and am just waiting for totals on some charitable deductions.

Both of my ebay auctions have bids, although small ones. But I guess every little bit helps. I'll be off to the Post office tomorrow to mail those items.

It was a balmy zero here again this morning, but the impending demise of January will be good news indeed!

I've got a textbook review due that I'm hoping to finish over the weekend too. That cash may go to my NYC spending fund.
I'm off to the big city at the end of the month, and if any of you have Manhattan budget ideas, let me know! We're staying in a hotel with a kitchen, so that'll help keep breakfast costs down.

Inspired by a bunch of you, I deposited some money in my Roth IRA today. Only another $250 and I'm still catching up with 2008, but I feel like I need more than 25K in the emergency fund. That gets me about halfway to my 2008 goal.

No new news--spent a bit on groceries and mailed by textbook sale. One ebay auction expired without a sale, but the other already has bids.


I'm thinking about doing the taxes this weekend. Anyone else?

No, not the mortgage, but the news on my class. Last night it looked like a sure thing, and I spent hours planning it and readying a new syllabus. Today, thanks
to overall shrinking enrollments, it's vaporized.

I am disappointed and out 5K.
And it's still subzero January.
Bleeccch.

First, to fully appreciate how thrilled I was by this, you need to know the Brit husband is an oatmeal junkie. Or a porridge junkie, as he'd say.

Now on to the wonder of it all. At an unusual daytime grocery shopping expedition,our local grocer had huge boxes of Quaker oats for $2 each. So I bought 5 and other cheap-o Quaker products. Of course I had coupons, and today was double-coupon day. And an lovely lady, laughing at all the oatmeal in my cart gave me her additional $1 off coupons (doubled!) and the store flyer featured another $3 off coupon.

I used to dream of beautiful mornings overlooking the Aegean (well, I still do), but today's dream come true was all that lovely oatmeal for free. And tonight's menu features comfort-food meatloaf made with oatmeal.

With the coupon and store card, everything I bought was half off.

Life is good.

I always wonder if museum memberships are good bargains, but we went to a local science museum today and enjoyed it so much we bought a membership. The total for the three of us w/o membership was $47, and the membership was another $28 on top of that. They discount the parking and give you the usual 10% off in the gift and snack shops. I figure if we go one more time, we're ahead. And we probably will--it's only about 20 minutes away, close to my husband's office, and DD loved it.

It's right on Lake Michigan and has great summer options as well.

No other news to report except the whopping $1.87 I made toward my ebay challenge at half.com.