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Home > Archive: March, 2007

Archive for March, 2007

A Week in Review

March 30th, 2007 at 06:39 pm

I haven't posted in a while b/c nothing new has really been happening around here. The weather is great so I am getting out more. Started my yard work the other day. I got a few people coming for the roof estimate. I had a major break down with my car and it cost a bundle to fix. It was at the service station all week. I just got it back today. They tell me my car should last me a life time now. I hope! I filed my taxes last Friday. I don't know yet if I will have to pay or not. Again, I am keeping my fingers crossed. If I do get something back, it will be placed in savings for my 2007 IRA contribution.

My 20.00 savings for this month is as follows:
Half.com 3.25
Ebay 41.73
Rolled coin 26.50
Interest on savings 41.73
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Total=116.44

My daughter's birthday was yesterday and hubby and I went overboard as usual. Her birthday is always a major expense. She is a good kid. Never has given us any trouble. So rather than bailing her out of jail and paying for rehabs. like other people we know, I feel greatful to be using that money on really nice birthday gifts. Which are really appreciated.
This weekend she will be leaving for Mexico and will be getting certified as a SCUBA diver. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed on that one.

Saving

March 22nd, 2007 at 11:55 pm

This week I allocated the 15,000.00 in the following way.
$4,000.00 went into my IRA for my 2006 contribution,$4,000.00 went into two seperate energy fund stocks. Now hopefully the stock market will behave itself.

I will add the amount for this month's 20.00 challenge at the end of the month once I talley up the loose ends.

Saving and Upcoming Expenses

March 17th, 2007 at 01:39 pm

Yesterday was a no spend day. This week was actually a good week with regards to not spending. All meals were prepared at home and they were very good. Many of the meals were chicken or fish dishes and for lunch it was either left overs or sandwiches. Breakfast is usually the same Cheerios, oatmeal or PBJ's. Many of the dinner recipes, I have been getting off of recipezaar. I really enjoy that site. It has been saving me big bucks by offering delicious recipes and me not going out to eat.

It has also been a good savings week. I find that using my banks bill pay has been so easy and helpful. I wish I thought of using it sooner.

There will be some major expenses coming up. I need a new roof and gutters. The carpet in the family room has to be replaced. I would like to replace that carpet with hardwood floors. I can not replace with carpet b/c the dogs like to tear up carpet and make big holes in it. And when they come in with their wet furr the carpet holds the odor. The living room and dinning room floors also need to be sanded and stained. I can't afford to get the deck replaced this year b/c of the roof, so I will have to replace some of the boards, sand it, stain it and hope that it will last a few more years b/f needing replacement. I would like to be able to get the estimates for these jobs b/f the end of this month so that work can begin asap.

Saving and Recycling Ramblings

March 15th, 2007 at 06:22 pm

Yesterday was a great super market savings day for me. I was able to save over 34.00 with my coupons,the stores 10.00 off if you spend 50.00 coupon and shopping the stores loss leaders that are advertised on the front of the circular. Corn beef was on sale for St. Patty's Day, so I stocked up. I'll use one on Sat. and then I will freeze one for later use. Cabbage was sooo cheap so I bought some of that too. I didn't want to buy too much of that b/c it gets very stinky if it isn't used righ away.

I made a small sale at Half.com today.

I am getting better at conservation and recycling. Our bulk garage amount has gone down substantially. Hubby is the one that takes the garbage to the curb and he can't get over the reduction. This makes me extremely happy but hubby thinks that I go too far at times. The other thing that I was able to do was not fill up the car for 2 weeks. I don't think that it will happen again for quite awhile. I know that it was b/c of the weather that I was able to conserve the gas.

I am still deciding on how I will allocate the 15,000.00. I'm pretty sure that I will contribute 4,000.00 to my IRA for 2006. Possibly another 4,000.00 will go into the DRIP Fund. The 4,000.00 will be divided between two energy stocks. I think with the remaining balance I will write a check once a month to the DRIPS until the end of the year. Anyway I think that is the plan for now, unless something unexpected happens.

AlwaysCheck Your Receipts

March 10th, 2007 at 02:41 pm

I went food shopping on Wed. and purchased a good amount of food. I had quite a few coupons with me and had to make sure that the cashier took them off. I did this while I was bagging the groceries. I thought that I had done pretty well for myself with the coupon savings of 10.00 and change. That was until I got home and realized that I was charged twice for the same item that was priced at 7.59. I was really annoyed at this b/c I should have reviewed my receipt while I was in the store, instead of at home. It's just that the store was so crowded and people just want to get out of the store after their purchase (you can't really just hold up traffic to review the receipt in the store). I didn't think that the store would return my money once I had left the premises. I figured that I would call the store's customer service dept. anyway to see if they could shed some light on the situation. I was glad that I did. The person told me that she would write down that I had called and what the problem was and to bring my receipt back the following day and they would refund the money. Sure enough, the store did refund the 7.59. It really pays to review your receipts!

Yesterday, I had to cancel my AT&T service to the phone line in my vacation condo. It was getting expensive to have the service and there wasn't a point to keeping it b/c my cellphone can make the long distance calls. Well, let me tell you the customer service rep. tried to sell me everything but the Brookly Bridge during the phone conversation. She also told me something of interest which I did not know. She said that after I discontinued the long distance service that I would then have to call my regular phone carrier that maintains the line and tell them that the AT&T service was disconnected and that the phone service would have to send AT&T a letter letting them know that I actually did call them and made the request b/c w/o it they wouldn't disconnect service. I thought wow that is pretty nervy, why can't they do what I ask? The answer is...If anyone goes to use the phone to make a long distance phone call unknowingly and AT&T doesn't receive the letter they can actually stay attached to the phone line and charge really hefty fees for any calls made. This I didn't know. I hope this helps anyone that is disconnecting from a service.

Today, I have to sit down with hubby and allocate my 2006 contribution to my IRA. I wish I knew when I purchased my IRA that I was getting into an annuity instead of a straight forth IRA. I have to say, I have learned so much over the last four years. "I wish I knew then what I know now." I guess I shouldn't really think that way...I should be grateful that I have a savings at all. I just wished that I had been smarter. My parents were not savers and not good with money. I never had a solid foundation from them. This is why I so believe in teaching children from a young age about money. I think it should be one of the building blocks of eduation such as reading, writing, math and science.

My Week In A Nutshell

March 9th, 2007 at 10:59 pm

Saved all of my pay this week and tagged it as my cash account. It has been a pretty frugal week for me. Cooked dinner every night using the menu's from the mega menu mailer. The dinners were okay, nothing was outstanding.

Work was a little bit busier this week so that was a good sign. I like when it is busy, not just monetarily but it makes the time go by so much faster.

Nothing much going on in the Ebay or Half.com category.

Can't wait for the cold weather to be gone. I hate the cold and I hate being in the house.

I hope all of you have a great weekend!

It's Always Something

March 2nd, 2007 at 12:53 pm

Today will be a full day at work, so essentially it will be a no spend day.

It is raining so hard here the streets are flooded and I definitely need a new roof. I have a huge puddle in my hallway right now. I will have to get some estimates this month and have it repaired in the spring or summer. It's always something!!!

On another topic, since this post is anonymous and I know people blog here from all over, I just want to extend my sorrow and well wishes to anyone that was involved with yesterdays devastation in Alabama and Missouri. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your families.

IRA Took A Hit

March 1st, 2007 at 08:17 pm

My IRA took a slight hit yesterday and is still down today. I'm not worried b/c I have had this account for quite a while and every now and then it gets hiccups like this and then recovers nicely. In fact I think if the market stays down I think I will be asking hubby if we could invest more(in our DRIP account) than what we are now.

Pay check went entirely to bills this week with nothing left over.

Tonight, Salmon with Cilantro and Lime sauce for dinner.

Seeing Green :)

March 1st, 2007 at 01:03 pm

Money that I have waited over two years for, was paid off in full to me yesterday. I honestly can say that I thought that I would never see that money again. So, right now I am being very thankful for it. I put it into my WAMU savings account earning 5% until I decide which accounts it will be disbursed to.

Yesterday bought 5 lbs of chop meat and divided it up into a meatloaf, spanish rice, meatballs and taco mix. I also bought a piece of salmon (2 lbs). That I will cut up and share with my mom and freeze my share until I'm ready to use it.

Not much else going on right now...just working and trying to keep up the house. Keeping up the house is kind of hard right now with the two dogs and the wet muddy ground. The floors constanly look like they need to be washed.