Trying hard not to be a slave to the lenders.

Extra income opportunity

(DEB) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:08:57 PST

I am off today and tomorrow and I just want to veg out and rest. I'd been feeling a bit run down lately (as if I was getting a cold or flu). I am now doing home instruction at $30 an hour after work. I don't know yet for how long, but I'll take whatever I can get.

It looks...

The good with the bad.

(DEB) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:38:27 PST

These are the things I think I'm doing right financially.

>Save 25% of our monthly income.
>No credit card balances
>Contribute to a 403B at work
>Save for home repairs
>Prepare most meals at home
>Shop around for staples and personal items (most times)
>Groom dog in between groomer's visits
>Help parents out a bit financially
>Pay $200 a month extra on mortgage principal
>I have a Roth IRA
>Have not used the equity on our home
>Save for trips and summer fund

Things I need to work on:

Contribute the full amount allowed on Roth IRA

Sometimes I get lazy and spend more on prepackaged food than I really should.

Contribute a little more to 403B

Save a bit more for my children's education.

I'm sure there is more, but the bell is about to ring for my next class.

How about you?

In preparation for the work week.

(DEB) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:25:22 PST

These are somethings I do in preparation to the work week:

>Prepared 7 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. They are in the freezer (just grab and bag for my son's lunch). He alternates between pb and J and half of a large bagel with cream cheese and one day of buying lunch at school.

>bagged cookies and set aside nutri-grain bars.

>prepared 4 breakfast sandwiches (egg, cheese and half a slice of ham) on Arnold's Best multi-grain sandwich thins. Heat in the microwave for 35 seconds. This has been very useful for me because it helps me avoid the temptation to stop at McDonalds for a breakfast sandwich on my way to work.

>Prepared a batch of chicken and tuna salad for lunches.

>Prepared a batch of pancake mix. Shake and pour and my son can have them for breakfast.

I also make 2 extra servings every night for dinner. We alternate between leftovers and sandwiches for lunch. I also marinate or prepare any meat I will be making for Monday's dinner since its the only day of the work week I feel more inclined to eat out.

So far I've only spent a dollar buying a snacks at work in two months. I was craving something salty and I only had 100 calorie snacks stored at work.

We eat out twice a week but it's take-out, usually Pizza or Chinese food. I treat the boys to McDonald's once a week, even though we should do Subway instead (it's healthier).

All of this takes me about 40 minutes to prepare but it saves me a lot of time and money!

Thoughts, bargains and ramblings!

(DEB) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:26:06 PST

I was recently approved for an increase in the salary guide at work which will probably net me about $125.00 a month. A colleague at work commented that I can probably put that money towards a car payment. We are not planning on a new car yet for I drive a 2001 Suzuki GV XL7 in great...

Fall is in full swing!

(DEB) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:24:09 PST

Got 3 hardy mums today at our local supermarket. They were 3 for $10 and I had a $2 coupon (courtesy of Ragu Sauce). I paid $8 for all three. Not bad!

My house decorated for Halloween and fall

Time for an update.

(DEB) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:17:28 PST

An update on what's going on in my house on the money front.

>>Summer projects are done
deck
granite countertop
range hood

Summer fund was completely wiped out but everything was paid cash.

>>I took 2 graduate courses this summer and just finished the third course today. Tuition for all 3 courses will be reimbursed by my employer. I have a total of 3 courses left to finish my MA in Education. I'm on my own with these, since I'm only allotted 9 credits per every school year. These nine credits should cost me $2,900+ cost of staying at a hotel (I have to travel to Pennsylvania to take these courses).

>>The board of Education approved my salary guide movement retroactive to September ($1750 more per year). Reason? BA + 15 credits salary scale.

We are not doing any home repairs until next summer. I'll post tentative repairs sometime after January. In-ground oil tank removal is still pending.

Once we reach $50k mark with our savings we will increase the amount of extra mortgage principal substantially.
So far we've met our goal of sending an extra $200 to the mortgage principal every month.

I've been saving for two tentative trips and doing okay with it (see side bar)We've all agreed that Christmas will be very simple.

There you have it! Have a great and frugal week!

Kitchen facelift

(DEB) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:34:34 PST

I'm so excited about the granite countertop and backsplash. We decided on full backsplash because I didn't want to deal with tiles and I'm glad we did. I'm including before and after pictures. We still need faceplates for the outlets and some plumbing supplies. What do you think?...

40th Birthday today

(DEB) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:10:24 PST

Today is my 40th b-day! I got an Ipod Touch from my hubbie and a beautiful heart locket with 5 charms from my boys. The charms were carefully selected and they are: a heart which reads "my boys", my initial, my birthstone, a dog paw (I just adore dogs) and an apple which reads "special...

Deck

(DEB) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:02:48 PST

Our deck is completely finished! We'll have to wait until next summer to stain it. It's recommended that we allow a whole year of wet and drying cycles before stain it. The cost: approximately $2000.00. We saved whatever we could from the old deck. We paid cash for everything....

Our family budget unveiled!

(DEB) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:13:29 PST

Come September we will be living on a strict budget because it will enable us to make a dent on paying off our mortgage. I read something that inspired me today from one of my favorite websites (moneysavingmom.com). She wants to purchase a home by paying for it without taking a mortgage....

Some financial news

(DEB) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:20:15 PST

I have two weeks before I begin working again. I'm hoping we can finish the summer without using the $5000 I transfered from the summer fund to the money market account. I'm crossing my fingers.

A while back I posted that my husband opted out of the health insurance at work because...

Weight loss update #2

(DEB) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:30:54 PST

I've been on Weight Watchers for almost 7 weeks now. I've lost about 15 pounds so far. I'm also trying to eliminate meat from my diet and eat more of a plant-based diet.

Calling all Vegetarians.

(DEB) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:52:36 PST

I'm taking a wellness class and I want to learn more about becoming a vegetarian. Any vegeterians out there with any helpful web links to learn more about it? Thanks!

Feeling empowered

(DEB) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:53:04 PST

I had to pay my son's fall semester tuition today. I could've paid online, but we had to submit proof of health insurance, otherwise the college would have charged an extra $93. As I stood in line to pay the bill, I could not help but to feel empowered that I could pay for this bill...

Evidence of my quest for a simple life!

(DEB) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:16:40 PST

I have small projects I tackle everyday in my quest to live a simpler life. Today I conquered my linen closet. I've attached pictures (I forgot to take a before picture).

The white bag is the stuff I'm giving to the goodwill. There was only one blanket I could not part with. ...

Simplicity quest #3 and line of credit

(DEB) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:50:55 PST

This has been a productive summer. I've read two books and watched 2 movies I'd been wanting to watch. You know, I'm on this simplicity kick and I've gotten rid of a lot of junk. Last night, I put all of our insurance policies declarations and income tax papers in the safe. They...

September bill is now due in August :(

(DEB) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:12:23 PST

I got my property tax bill for 2009-2010 and I'm officially paying over $8000 a year ($8,103 to be exact). Usually this bill comes mid-August, giving me the chance to start pay for it mid-Setpember when I'm actually working again, but no such luck this time. The bill is now due mid-August....

Goals for 2009 in the works!

(DEB) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:48:26 PST

I wanted to give you an update on our summer fund and expenses. Well, a week ago I transfered $5,000 to the money market account from our summer fund. It left us us with $9,659 and as of today $8,288 remain. We finally got the paperwork for our inground oil tank removal and we figured...

First Weight loss update

(DEB) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:12:25 PST

Tomorrow I will begin my third week on Weight Watchers. To date, I've lost 6 pounds. I've been able to resist a lot of food temptations and on that end I'm proud of myself. I've also struggle some days to continue eating the right foods. I'm now keeping a journal where I write everything...

The quest for simplicity continues!

(DEB) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:54:36 PST

My husband helped me clean the basement of our home today (a finished basement that serves as a recreation room). I managed to toss a lot of junk and organized all of the storage space. Some stuff went to the garage sale pile, including a buckets full of Leggos, GameCube console...