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Archive for January, 2008

Blog Disturbance

February 1st, 2008 at 05:46 am

I went to enter in a photo for my profile yesterday and it knocked out all my blog preferences!! The colors, the favorites, everything. Very odd, and the picture never did show up. Any thoughts??

Turbotax very difficult to use this year!!

January 31st, 2008 at 04:05 am

BTW, to add to my last entry, I used Turbotax again this year. I think I have been using it about 7 or 8 years. This year it was extremely difficult to log on, I had to download Firefox and use it to make it work. I had to call customer service to figure this out, every time I would go to log on, the screen would just turn blue. You could not move easily from place to place and when I went to print, the screen would pop up blank. Over and over. Finally hunted around and found out I had to download the latest version of Javascript. Then it turned out I had to amend the return, and oh my, another complete nightmare. Two thumbs down for this years version!!

Finished the taxes

January 31st, 2008 at 03:47 am

Well, no wonder it was so hard to pay bills last year, we were grossly over paying our Federal Taxes!! So we will get an obscene amount back and change our withholdings for sure!! Ugh!

Well, SOME good news!

January 30th, 2008 at 04:14 am

My van passed its emissions inspection! Yeah! Just in time for the end of the month deadline. Instead of having them "tear into it", DH went to Walmart and put in a new battery. No problem!

I am getting ready to ship out sales of $144 from ebay! Had some problems with paypals shipping, but they were resolved and all is good.

Funny, the hi temp today was 73, the low is now 14!!! Yikes!

Sooo, I did'nt get "The Job"

January 29th, 2008 at 02:25 am

After I scrape my ego off the concrete, I will keep looking. After 4 months of seriously looking, I am very discouraged. Multiple resumes sent, three interviews, three rejections. Face it guys, its not like I am interviewing for a high tech job or bank presdient, I'm interviewing for receptionist/secretarial work. I have been doing this for five years, with previous experience and I am damn good at my job (check my references!!) I take a shower and dress decently and make articulate conversations with people. Sooooo, anyway..............

No, you can not buy a boat!

January 28th, 2008 at 04:30 am

I have to snicker a little bit here. I am the girl guilty of spoiling my family till we are deep in debt. Of course, that has changed and I have tried to be very proactive in our debt pay off, at least in baby steps. First is no new debt. That is going okay. So I am learning to say NO! I guess even to the point of being a little mean. DH was extolling the virtues of a great boat, better than the last one he was looking at. I calmly said, "There is not a chance you will be buying a boat!" I hated to squash his dreams (for now!), but then again it felt pretty good! I never told him he couldn't stop dreaming or shopping for one, I just draw the line at BUYING.

Too good to be true??

January 26th, 2008 at 05:15 am

I went on my job interview today. I met with the "recruiter" and the "supervisor". They are interviewing another person on Monday and said they would review all the candidates and pull a couple back in to meet with the "head" people. Patience, patience!

The too good to be true part:

1) great salary!
2) health insurance 3x's less than what we are paying from my husbands company.
3) big huge plasma tvs everywhere!
4) flavored "coffee bars" everywhere!
5) Casual fridays - EVERYDAY! Jeans!
6) 15 Vacation days from the start! 5 can roll over to the next year and you can accrue a bunch!
7) Food Fridays - breakfast is served, huge tables full of food, bagels, croissants, fresh fruits, tons!
8) They believe in "happy, healthy employees"
9) full gym with a personal trainer!!!!!!
10) My best friend works there.

The only negatives are the hours: 1 hour travel to and from, 8 hours of work, you have to take an hour lunch, so 10 hours away from home a day. For a recent SAHM that is a lot!!!

Now, most of you know I'm a prayin' kind of girl. I asked the big guy to show me to a full time job, or show me I'm supposed to stay at home. I have had NO calls on ANY of my resumes I sent out, except for 1, and I got the letter today saying they "did'nt have a place in their company for me at this time". If I don't get this one, I would have to say He is saying "stay home and be poor"! My best friend has worked for this company for 16 years, so we will see what kind of "pull" she has! Smile

Another interview

January 25th, 2008 at 05:14 am

I did a phone interview today and the lady wants me to come in tomorrow for a face to face. We'll see how it goes!

I did spend today. Our local store had a 10 for $10 sale, so I looked through my coupons and went and spent a little bit. Used a competitive grocer coupon for $10 off my total order too! Smile

Lots of STUFF......

January 24th, 2008 at 05:17 am

Lets see... sent out three more resumes. I got an interview at my best friends work, but the lady said it would be a phone interview. Guess I don't have to get out of my pjs tomorrow after all!!

I am still interested in doing the refi on the house. Just have to have DH agree.

The van did not pass its stupid emissions test. Not sure what to do. Paid $24 for it. Must chew on this. It is a computerized test that said some of the sensors are not working or something. Can't imagine having it fixed, can't imagine not having a car! Frown

Splurged at the knitting store to get a few quick lessons. Bought yarn and new needles and had a hour long class, all for $11.00!! That lady was toooo nice!

DH and I had our date night. $20 at IHop. At least we got to catch up on some things.

Going to list more on ebay tomorrow. Gotta keep the money coming in somehow!

I did get offered a job from a friend at my Bible Study class. She asked if I would come over and help her get organized and do paperwork. This is already what I have done for the guy I work for that sells durable medical equipment. She said she would pay me in gift cards for wherever I want! I think I will definately help her out until I get a full time job!

Yep, a no spend - I actually got money back

January 21st, 2008 at 10:24 pm

Picked up breakfast on the way to work with my Starbucks GC. Yum!

Went to work. This situation is getting WAY to uncomfortable!! Yikes! I'm sorry, but there is a woman who is running the business that is running it LIKE a man would say a woman would!! Secrets, back stabbing, running amuck!! AHHHH! I may have to quit before I find something else, as it is almost a moral dilemma for me!

DD3 wanted a new game for her Nintendo DS, so we gathered all her unplayed games and an old Gameboy her sister unearthed and traded it in. Not only did we get the new game for FREE, but we also got 8.15 in store credit for next time!! Woo hoo! They gave us money to take things from their store! Smile

Free room makeover!

January 20th, 2008 at 07:11 am

No, trading spaces did not come knocking at my door. My DD2 has been wanting to redo her room and finally decided on penguins. I sold a gift card for some things DD2 returned from Christmas and bought a bed in a bag set for her. Then we used the Home Depot gift cards I got for Christmas, for the painting supplies. Viola! A new room! I will try to post some pictures once we get everything back into place!

Opinions please!!

January 19th, 2008 at 01:07 am

First off I have to say NO SPEND DAY!! Smile

Okay, with that said, I need some opinions. I know what I think, but have to convince DH, so let me know if I am seeing this wrong. My mortgage broker called today. This is a person I have known for years and trust not to screw me over. He said we can refinance for no cost and that it would save us $50-$70 dollars a month. Now with the job search not going great, this would be welcome money. There is a new bank in town (that have favorable reviews) that is looking for new loans. He said we would have to pay 4 months escrow up front, but our old loan would refund us the escrow money we have in there,and we could then send that money to put toward the new loan. Our interest rate would drop about .25 of a percent. Certainly not earth shattering. We pay no fees or closing costs, just basically sign the papers and make new payments to the new bank. I guess they are giving some sort of bonus to him for new loans, cause I flat out asked him, if it is free for me, whats in it for him?? He just said "oh we still make money". So... thoughts, opinions?

The job interview and the credit card comes out of hiding

January 18th, 2008 at 06:43 am

Went on the job interview at the CPA firm today. I was unsettled to see that she checked my name off a list when I came in, and the list had about 15 names on it!! It was a prelim interview by some of the office staff, so they had no idea of what the salary might be. They also told me I may have to work as late as 9:00 at night during tax season. (About 2 months) I am thinking this may not be the job for me.

My best friend emailed me that there is an opening at her office. It is much farther away than I would like to travel, but it is a good company. I sent her a copy of my resume and told her to scope out the hours/salary. Stay tuned.

I did pull the CC out of hiding, but to SAVE money instead of spend. The camera we bought DD1 for Christmas was'nt working right, so we went in to even exchange it, but the lady accidently returned it instead and had to re ring it and it was cheaper now, so saved $21! Yeah!

So I guess I don't smell???

January 16th, 2008 at 05:38 am

Got a call today from the CPA firm that I sent my resume to. They want me to come in for an interview on Thursday. For a while I thought it might have said I looked like a dragon and had monkey breath. Woo hoo! We'll see how it goes. I also sent out another resume today to a real estate agent looking for an assistant. More up my alley, but whoever pays more....

They cut more hours at work.....

January 15th, 2008 at 02:59 am

Things get curiouser and curiouser... they cut the weekend hours from 9-4 to 10-2. Glad I worked this past weekend and got my 7 hours in!

DH and I were bad and went out for date night tonight instead of waiting till Wednesday. Nobody could face the spaghetti and meatballs that were on the menu!! Ugh! We put it on the AmEx that we pay off monthly, so I have to budget that into the beginning of next month. I also have to figure out something to have for dinner on Wednesday.

DH and I have been listing a lot on ebay. We have sold some stuff, but lord, sometimes those fees just bug me!

Applied for another job!

January 14th, 2008 at 03:31 am

Well, I worked today and I did use my Starbucks GC for breakfast. Brought a sandwich and nachos for lunch.

DD3 had her first cheer leading practice. We had an extra hour to wait, so I went to the grocery store. I used my emergency $50 to grocery shop. I spent $36.85 to get us ready for lunches from home for the week and some more South Beach stuff to support DH's diet. Saved $5.60 in coupons.

Applied for another job. A full time one. It is amazing the slim pickins in the job market these days! This is a receptionist for a CPA firm. Sounds a little dry, will see if they call me and what the salary is.

A gift card kind of day...oh, and I got cat litter!! :< )

January 12th, 2008 at 09:02 pm

I let DD1 drive to the mall.....ahhhh....she was doing so well, then decided maybe she did'nt have to slow down for curves or turns?? Wondering if she is just doing it to po me??

Any hoo, DD2 has had a lot of school costs, $32 for shop, $2 for an agenda, and now $6 for PE for skating. I paid the $32 with the babysitting money, she paid the $2 and I am going to have her pay the $6, plus she lent her sister $2 which I wanted to cover. So I used a GC at Barnes and Noble to buy the Wicked CD that I will give to her which will cover what she is paying for - plus!

I played Bunko last night and mom generously donated the $5 for me to play. I won $20!! So I went to Aldi and bought some cat litter. Only $3.29 there for the scoopable kind. There was only one left, must have been waiting for me! So kitty is set!

Then I will use some of the money to give at church today.

I also used a GC at Starbucks. I am not much for the fancy stuff, but I have 2 GC for there and I like a decaf when I am going to work. I got some foofy thing I won't get again. I will stop on the way to work tomorrow and get a decaf skinny vanilla latte. I think that will be pretty normal and I will get a low fat blueberry muffin. Breakfast will be served! I will pack some leftover or a can of soup for lunch. Will be looking in the paper for a new job and printing out my resumes on the good printer at work.

I also cashed in my Mypoints for a $10 Red Lobster GC. I have a $10 one from Christmas too and will have enough within the next couple of days to cash in for another $10. Using these for our annivesary dinner coming up in a couple of weeks. Plus we have a $25 movie GC. Woo hoo!

Ut oh, 89.90 for milk!

January 11th, 2008 at 05:43 pm

Yep, I sort of fell off the wagon. I went to Target for milk and birthday gifts for parties the DD1 is invited to. I will pay $15 per child party. This is up from $10, which I should'nt do, but do for the older kids. (15), so approx. $35 was gifts and milk. Wow! $50 in crap?? Cat food, soda, ice cream, bottled water, napkins.... Ugh! I put this on our AM Ex that we pay monthly, so not on a revolving card as a would have in the past, but none the less a CC. I also put in $25 in gas with the same card. So DEBT of $114.90 today.

Still not spending out of our checking account, no money in it, need cat litter, not sure what I will do about that.

The menu plan is going AWESOME!! Have'nt eaten out at all, cook every night and have leftovers for lunch!

Have made a tiny amount from ebay. Will list some more things. Even my mom contributed some things that I am going to put on a 3 day sale today. Maybe that will help me buy the cat food.

Mom also paid for DD3's piano lessons for the month, so nice of her! A late Christmas gift! THEN, when the piano teacher came, she gave me a thank you note for the referrals I have sent her way and a note for 2 free lessons for next month!! Smile So next month we will only need $30 instead of $60. Woo hoo!

Another no spender

January 10th, 2008 at 12:26 pm

Wednesday was another no spender. We are out of milk, so I assume I will have to spend at some point. Maybe get gas too, getting to fumes.
So...no new debt.
Got asked to babysit today. This is a blessing of $35 which I needed to cover DD2's shop fee for school. Was running to cover it, so will take it and put it in the bank as soon as I get it. Hooray!

Yesssss,,, a no spender!! And a job update!

January 9th, 2008 at 04:13 am

Amazing what having no money and no access to money can do! I did'nt spend a thing today!

I called the high school and they told me they already hired someone for the secretarial position. Bummer, it would have been a good fit. I don't think they were very professional about it either. Most of the time they send you a letter saying "thanks for the resume or interest" or whatever, nothing. I asked her if they keep the resume on file. She said no, I could send one to the main school district office. So I guess my time and effort went into the trash - ugh!

Have listed a couple of things on ebay hoping to make some money.

On a really happy note - NO NEW DEBT!
Woo hoo!

Oops, I did it again

January 8th, 2008 at 04:25 am

Ok, I'm not Britanny. But I did spend even though it is one of my goals to start a no spend day streak.
$1 Coffee at work
$9.75 groceries
Holy cow, I could'nt believe the groceries. It was for 4 apples, 3 bananas and one bag of chicken fries. I can't believe apples are almost $1 apiece! Will have to check out bags of apples for the savings amount, but the last few times I bought in the bags, I got rotten ones.
Anyway....tomorrow is another day!

I feel so naked!!!!

January 7th, 2008 at 04:19 am

Well, here is what has been happening in Boo land! I am running about a week behind because of the flu. I finally have the Christmas beast tamed back into the basement and everything cleaned up.

Our debt stands at about $45,000. Yes, this is the amount the DH would have been bringing home had he still been getting the consulting money. Instead, I (we) kept spending, so now it is in credit card debt. Yes, NAKED. There it is.

I took all the credit cards and even my debit card out of my purse. I now only have the checkbook, no cash, a check I have to cash and $50 I have stashed for emergencies. Yes, NAKED!!!

For goals I have decided to keep it simple stupid (as the saying goes). The big goal is to incur no new debt. Period. Hahaha. The action goal is to put $1000 in an EF before we even start hammering away at the debt.
The other action goal is to get a new job with more hours than I am getting now.
The short term goal is to have as many no spend days in a row as I can. Also, to eat at home.
I have made a menu plan for the rest of the month. If the family does not like it, they can starve. I do still have planned 2 date nights for myself and DH. I told him we have to look for coupons and gift cards so we can do this for cheap or even free. Even a small expenditure in this will hopefully be well spent by avoiding divorce!

Thank you to everyone for the well wishes of getting better. Between DD2's pneumonia, my FLU, and DD3's strep, we are a typhoid family. (Ugh more bills!) I am at about 95%, I just need to get rid of this cough!

Happy New Year everyone!!

I feel so naked!!

January 7th, 2008 at 04:04 am

Well, here is what has been happening in Boo land! I am running about a week behind because of the flu. I finally have the Christmas beast tamed back into the basement and everything cleaned up.

Our debt stands at about $45,000. Yes, this is the amount the DH would have been bringing home had he still been getting the consulting money. Instead, I (we) kept spending, so now it is in credit card debt. Yes, NAKED. There it is.

I took all the credit cards and even my debit card out of my purse. I now only have the checkbook, no cash, a check I have to cash and an emergency $50 I have stashed for emergencys. Yes, NAKED!!!

For goals I have decided to keep it simple stupid (as the saying goes). The big goal is to incur no new debt. Period. Hahaha. The action goal is to put $1000 in an EF before we even start hammering away at the debt.
The other action goal is to get a new job with more hours than I am getting now.
The short term goal is to have as many no spend days in a row as I can. Also, to eat at home.
I have made a menu plan for the rest of the month. If the family does not like it, they can starve. I do still have planned 2 date nights for myself and DH. I told him we have to look for coupons and gift cards so we can do this for cheap or even free. Even a small expenditure in this will hopefully be well spent by avoiding divorce!

Thank you to everyone for the well wishes of getting better. Between DD2's pneumonia, my FLU, and DD3's strep, we are a typhoid family. (Ugh more bills!) I am at about 95%, I just need to get rid of this cough!

Happy New Year everyone!!

I feel so naked!!

January 7th, 2008 at 04:04 am