I made $65 today leading a book club discussion for a group of women. I usually moderate their couples' book club, but their book this time was in my scholarly area, so they asked me to lead their women's only session. I have mixed reactions about this (yet another) sideline job. I really like all of them, and they're such terrific readers that they're fun to be with. But it's a lot of work for not much money.

However, the gas station across from their country club (this is so not my usual life) is among the cheapest in town, so I filled up there as well.

The book club funds are all allocated to my someday trip to Rome with a friend. It occurs to me now that I should start a sidebar showing those funds. Maybe that will help keep me motivated.

Academic life is no treasure chest for the budget, I tell you.

Freecycle happily rid us of our 50-year-old basement fridge last night. It's odd to have appliances older than you, isn't it?

But I've decided to spend the day dejunking and getting stuff ready for our basement remodeling. Maybe I'll find more stuff to list on ebay since that basement has its fair share of buried junk and perhaps some treasure!

and hoping they'll show up.
It seems to be the summer doldrums here.
My ebay stuff isn't selling, the hotel I want to book for a late August getaway is only posting specials for early August thus far. I've done some successful back-to-school shopping for DD, but it seems like ages since I've been paid, and my regular university income doesn't start until October. Good thing the free lance teaching will cover me starting August 1.

I think I need to declutter or do something non financial to take my mind off money for a bit.

That title sounds way more exciting than it is. Didn't somebody on this site discuss phantom electricity usage lately--telling us that the clock on the microwave probably uses more energy than all your microwave usage all year?

We have three clocks in the kitchen (yet I'm never on time!): The microwave, the range, and one on the wall. Last night, after telling DH about phantom electric use, we stared at the microwave for a few minutes and figured out how to turn off the clock.

I think that'll save about 12cents, but still I'm happy!

Trying (and mostly succeeding) to live on one income while you're earning two is one of the smartest money decisions I've made .
DH all upset about something that happened at work and asked me tonight if we could live on what I make. Yeah, we could.
It wouldn't be pretty, and I'd be more maniacal than I am now about discounts and coupons and lights switched off, but I could hear him breathe a big sigh of relief.

Now if I could figure out how to pay for my mom's assisted living expenses.

Lovely double coupons today too along with free dishwasher additive at the local grocers, so I'm feeling pretty good.

So, I'm back from a week and half vacation and start teaching a new class tonight.

Some of my whiny I-wants have been satisfied by buying a new bed. There was a great article on slate.com about mattresses. I wondered why I was so confused buying a mattress. Apparently all the big manufacturers just relabel them with different names to confound comparison shopping. So I bought one and got a great deal. The bed frame came from overstock.com complete with mypoints bonus money.
And I actually admitted by age (gasp!) to get a discount at the Eddie Bauer Outlet on vacation.

I'm so sorry to report that that retail therapy did indeed make me feel better.

But then this morning's paper had a scary article on natural gas prices for this winter. I probably should've saved the old mattresses as insulation!

I'm trying to get a mental handle on how much various budgetary items cost.

Any one know the answers to these?

1. How much does an average electric dryer cost to operate for 1 hour?

2. What's the average food budget for a family of three?

3. Do those new tankless hot water heaters pay off?

4. How long does the average GM car last?

5. What's the best place to buy cheap laser printer paper?


I could probably sit down and figure these all out, but it's a quick inventory of what's spinning in my brain. Anyone know the answers to these?

On Sunday I made a quick jaunt to an estate sale, but went back Monday to buy some things when they went half price. My daughter was thrilled with the 50cent Disney videos, and I bought virtually untouched Penguin classic books--stuff from Aristotle to George Eliot, all for 25 cents each.

Since I already owned most of these, I listed them on Amazon, and three have already sold. So inspired by that little success, I'm doing more ebay listings today.

We'd like to take a little trip to the Pacific NW this summer, and I'd be thrilled to fund a night or two of it with these small sales.


If only I could sell the rainwater that's been pouring down her all morning!

Since school let out, I've been admittedly lazy and spending too much. We had British guests for 10 days who were here as the British economic stimulus package for the US.
Just as we were complaining about $4 gas, they reminded us petrol is about $10 a gallon in the UK. We had lots of fun though, and spent more than we had for months--mostly on eating out and traveling.

So, it's back to reality time.
I've moved all the gift cards to the front of my wallet, hoping to use them instead of cash for a while.
And our local grocery had a great 10% bonus if you bought a gift card with your stimulus check or direct deposit. Plus they topped it off with a reusable bag, eggs, milk, and bread.

Summer resolutions about to be enacted.
Wish me luck!

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.

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!

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!

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

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.

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.

That's what we did today--gobble turkey.
We're all getting colds so stayed home from church, roasted a big turkey and were couch potatoes with gravy.

I scanned the Sunday coupons, but haven't gotten to the serious parts of the paper yet. The child has the day off from school tomorrow, and the university doesn't start till Tuesday, so we'll have another lazy day tomorrow.

I'm hoping the big ole gobbler will make 4 or more meals, especially with another cold cold week ahead.

But they do add up. I'd planned on spending about $50, but walked out with double that.

There were plenty of BOGO items including oatmeal and tinned tomatoes, and I saved quite a bit with the coupons and specials, but still....

No bites of my Craigslist's sales. If they don't go by the end of the week, ebay may get them after all.


I'm gearing up for the start of the next teaching term and already teaching evening classes.

I'd like to plan a cheap Florida trip over spring break because it always seems just wrong that my students can afford spring break trips if I can't. I'm going to try to use the travel vouchers we earned after being bumped on the way home from London.

January and February are eternal in the Midwest!

I've been on this forum a long time and have enjoyed everyone else's blog, so I figured it's about time I start mine.


As always for us, January is cut-back time.
We're eating stuff out of the freezer, scavenging for surplus and unwanted Christmas gifts to return, and working on ways to decrease expenditures while maximizing income.

I've been thinking about our financial goals for the year, and here they are:

1. Make a will

2. Save for a new (used) car

3. Keep my retirement planning on track while building up the DH's.

4. Travel more and maybe move.

I did one of those financial calculators at Fidelity for the DH's retirement, and we'd better get him on track quickly, especially if the dollar remains as awful as it's been.

Do I have any good financial news? Well, I took a couple of surveys today, managed another dinner from the freezer, and plan on listing a few things on Craigslist tonight.

I'm happy to join this blogging community!