Budgets Rock!

We Got the Keys!

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:35:00 +0000

Well I should be a bit more excited, but the whole thing was pretty anti-climatic. This happened after Independence Day weekend. Even at the last minute when signing papers with the notary, there were screw ups on the paperwork as far as the amount being borrowed, mortgage payment, and such. These same questions were still confusing us all while the papers were at the title company. This completely boggles my mind. And then the next thing you know, we get a refund check of about SEVEN THOUSAND from the title compnay due to over paying for closing costs. Yeah, that rubbed me the wrong way because that's $7,000 that we DID NOT have to borrow, but are now paying interest on.

Ugh. Why couldn't they have figured that our before? This whole home purchase has been such a nightmare. I've spent many nights praying about it in order to find some peace. But one thing is for sure, I will NEVER work with, or refer anyone to, Prospect Mortgage again.

So we get the keys but can't move in yet. We had to wait for our general contractor to begin work. The contract says that he has 30 days from close of escrow to begin work, and of course he took his sweet time. Within that time we did what we could do. Within the last 7 weeks, we have done quite a bit.

Yardwork
We raked up 1/3 of the yard and attempted to grow grass. We failed. Plan B is to till it up and start all over. Hubby pruned the trees and it looks great. There is still much to do.

Just a portion of the yard where I started raking.

Home Exterior
I pressure washed the outside of the house. There were years of dirt, dust, spiders, webs, and bugs stuck to the house. I think it needs another go round since some of that stuff wouldn't come off.

Exterminate Spiders
Since the house has been abandoned for a few years, spiders decided to move in. I called Clark to come out and spray, which set us back $175! Ouch! Little did I know that it would take several applications. Hubby bought 6 foggers and bombed the house one day. Those darn pesky daddy long legs are hard to kill. But thank goodness I have not seen another black widow. I want to fog the house a couple more times before we move in. The plan is to get rid of them and then perform a more eco-friendly and cheaper maintenance after.

One of two black widows at the house. Ick!

Water Anyone?
We also purchased and installed a water filtration system due to having private water. Stephanie from Kinetico came to test our water and provided suggestions on which items we would benefit from. I liked the fact that she was very informative, performed the water tests with us present and explained what she was doing. Hubby did his research and tried to look for cheaper alternatives. But in the end, I felt more at ease going with a system that is well known in our area, especially rural areas. It was a pretty penny, but I didn't want to skimp out on the water we'll be using for drinking, cooking and bathing. The only thing we didn't purchase from Kinetico was the reverse osmosis system. We just went to our local Home Depot and purchased one that fits under your kitchen sink.

Our Kinectico water system.

Home Interior

And of course we cleaned the inside of the house. A few weeks ago we ended up having an impromptu cleaning party. Initially it was just the hubs and his coworker. I wasn't feeling too well at the time, but figured I could do something not as strenuous. Then my mom and her hubby finally came out to check out the place. They ended up coming back the following day to do more cleaning. We spent so much time cleaning the walls, molding on the walls, baseboards, ceiling, floors, windows, window screens, the toilets have been cleaned several times, we cleaned.....EVERYTHING. And boy did it make a difference.

Once again, we're still waiting for the few items to be finished by the contractors.

Time's a wasty.....as my son says.

Align Yourself with Those Who Give

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:41:00 +0000

In today's society, many of us bust our butts to bring home that dollar. That dollar provides us with shelter and food in our tummies. But unfortunately, that dollar can also make us greedy and selfish. I feel that it is important to make sure that we have positive influences in our lives. Not only do they help you stay focused in the right direction, but aid in connecting with others that share your heart's desire.

I have a good friend...
...who constantly amazes me. She doesn't try to be someone she isn't. She is just a very good hearted person. She lives her life so aligned with the Bible, it's almost spooky. I read 'Our Daily Bread' each day. Sometimes when I read the day's topic, it reminds me of her. I mean, how awesome is it to just naturally live your life the way God intended? How awesome is it to be that obedient?

I write about her because she has an awesome giving heart. Like me, she was not taught about personal finance.

- We watched our mothers' frugal ways, but they never sat down to teach us about it.
- We both learned the hard way, but we also both knew that we needed to use money wisely.
- We both worked really hard for what we have in life.
- And we both believe in saving for things we want or need, instead of getting into debt.

I guess, according to Dave Ramsey, we're both just plan WEIRD. But she takes it to another level.

She is a giver.

The Lord truly speaks to her, and in turn she provides to those who need it. Many times we don't give to others because we feel that they don't deserve it, or because they may not appreciate it. I know that I am guilty of these very things. But if He tells us to give, then we should obey. She even gives to those who have even cause her heartache, and she doesn't regret doing so one bit. Her unselfishness is indescribable.

Even having been in a terrible car accident recently, which resulted in 2 broken ribs, she aches inside because she is not able to physically help those around her. Being strong and independent, it is difficult for her to ask for help since many have failed her in the past. But this does not stop her.

She continues to give in other ways:

   - buying groceries for others
   - purchasing carpet for a friend's home
   - is often overly generous to those that assist her

Hubby installed a couple of ceiling fans and canned lighting in her house one day. She was overly generous with her gift to him. I told her that she need not be. But she said that he must accept it since she may not be able to be as generous in the future to due to her job contract ending soon.

Yes, she carpeted her friend's home. A single mother who was only able to afford a trashed foreclosure, she bought carpet for her friend. Not once in her mind was she expecting anything in return but a thank you. We need more people like her in this world.

Now she is not rich by any means, but giving makes her feel good. It builds true character which many lack. It makes me sad that there is so much greed in this world. But if we buddy up with someone who lives a righteous life, we can mimmick it and spead what we have learned. By living life on this path, I truly believe that it will eventually bring us more riches than we can ever imagine.

I feel blessed...
...to have someone like this in my life. Not only does she provide me with the spiritual essence my life sometimes lacks, but teaches that there are other positive uses for money. I hope to one day experience how she feels when she gives.

Do you have someone in your life with these characteristics?

Do you find that you excel in your personal finance goals due to this?

Are you a giver?

Budget In Some "Me" Time

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:17:00 +0000

The same old song.
My life is pretty hectic. I do the same routine day in and day out, and it's getting a little old. I guess up at 5:15am on days I exercise, which is most days. Then I do my morning chores; fix bed, tend to the cat litter, shower and get ready for work. During my routine, I am also checking in on my son to make sure that he's doing his morning routine. For a preschooler, he does pretty darn well. I kinda feel spoiled since he does so much on his own.

- Showers
- Gets dressed
- Brushes his teeth
- Fixes his bed
- Puts on his shoes
- Gathers his lunch
...and sometimes feeds the cats

Then it's time for breakfast, which usually consists of eggs. I LOVE my eggs in the morning.

Hubby leaves for work super early so it's just me and the boy. Son gets dropped off at school around 7am, and then I head out on my hour long commute to work. For me, work starts at 8:15am and I'm there for the typical 9 hours, with a 1 hour lunch break. Then I head back home on my hour long commute again. Good thing the commute is nice and scenic. Well, on a clear day.

The day doesn't end yet.

By the time I get home, I cook dinner and we eat. Dinner is around 6:50pm, and yes I try to cook fast and easy meals which are healthy. While eating at the dinner table, we discuss how everyone's day went. This may last for about 20 minutes, then it's time to clean up dinner and prepare everyone's lunches for the next day.

I clean up the mess, and finally sit in front of the tube for about 30 minutes, if I'm lucky. Yes, I am one of those who sits in front of the tube to numb the brain for a bit. By 8am it's time to get ready for bed.

I do my normal nightly routine, with the hubby and I taking turns reading a story to our son. I lay in bed for about 30 minutes or so watching the news or playing on my iPhone.

(Words With Friends username is melygreen if you're interested in playing sometime.)

By 10:30pm it's time for some well needed sut-eye. Sometimes I'll stay up late to balance the checkbook. If I don't do it several times a week, it ends up being quite a chore by the weekend.

And then I do it all over again. As you can tell, I don't really have any "me" time in this equation. If I didn't make the effort to wake up early and exercise, there would be absolutely no "me" time. And I'd probably be much larger than I am now since I enjoy food. Exercising keeps my weight steady and my body healthy.

The weekend is just as busy.

I literally work for the weekend, as the band Loverboy sings. But the weekends are busy as well. I can easily spend a whole day doing the grocery shopping, laundry, dusting and the budget. Not to mention any other type of shopping for items that we need. But to avoid fatigue, I space all of this throughout the 2 days. We also have to squeeze in some family time in there as well. And then the weekend quickly comes to an end.

My routine probably sounds really familiar. You're probably thinking that I'm writing about you. But many households are dealing with the same issue - lack of time. And in my case, I only have one child and he doesn't have any extra curricular activities yet.

What is missing...
....is some "me" time. Sure I have my hour long lunch at work, but that is spent on reading blogs, writing a blog post, running a quick errand, or reading my Bible......which I have yet to get very far in due to constantly starting over and over again. How many times have you started to finally read it in its entirety?

Don't get me wrong.

I LOVE my family.

I LOVE being a mom.

I LOVE being a wife.

But I can get darn overwhelmed with it all. I just had a birthday recently, and I got to thinking that I really need to do something for myself. I don't have a hobby. I mean, I exercise, but isn't that something we all should be doing anyway?

I went for a run that Saturday and started thinking about this. I mean, I was getting frustrated and was searching for some answers. I asked myself:

What is it that brings a smile to my face?
What is it that makes me relax and forget about the daily grind?

And then it came to me.
I need to set aside time to visit my friends and family.
As Tim McGraw sings in his song "My Next Thirty Years"......

"Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear...."

That's what I really want to do, and darn it, it's going to happen.

I hung out with a girlfriend the night prior to my run. She was sweet enough to take me out for a birthday dinner. It was just me and her, and it was nice. We have awesome conversations and I really enjoyed that. It was something different from my normal routine. I wasn't worried about cooking dinner, or getting lunches ready, or feeding the cats, or doing the laundry, or worrying about the budget. I was just living in the moment and it sure as heck felt GREAT for a change.

And with this past Saturday, I went out with that same good friend again, and had a blast. I took her to see The Wayans Brothers at Tommy T's for an early birthday present. I haven't been to a comedy club in about a decade, and I laughed my fanny off. Gosh I could really get used to this.

So yeah, I think we all need that break from our daily lives from time to time. But how do you make it happen? Right now, I am still thinking of how to execute this plan.

Some ideas I am toying around with:
One weekend day a month --> visit a loved one.
One weekday night a month --> hang out with a loved one that lives relatively close to my work.

So far that's as far as I've gotten.
Any suggestions???

Why just once a month?
Well I do't want to break the bank. I'll have to use good old fashioned trial and error to perfect this plan. If it's just dinner and a movie at a loved one's home, then more than once a month is very doable. So maybe I should rephrase it to at least once a month.

I don't know. This is something I have play around with. I mean, I have the blessing of my husband. He is constantly telling me to go out with my friends. But what prevents me is guilt. I feel guilty if I don't take care of the house, or am not home when they are. Is this normal? But then again, I do get a bit resentful when hubby has the luxury to take a day trip with the guys. So this will help me find some balance so I can take care of me for once.

How do you make time for yourself?

How do you combat your mundane daily routine?

How do you get over the guilt of not wearing the mommy or wifey hat?

Scored on Appliances for Both Homes

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:52:00 +0000

Update on retirement home:
The appraisal was done last week. We are still waiting to get a new GFE from our lender.

Our retirement home does not have any appliances. We plan to take both stainless steel appliances from our current home with us; the dishwasher and the fridge. We are also taking the washer and dryer, since both are quite new.

We will get a replacement dishwasher for the rental. The overhead microwave and stove are staying. But the renters will need to bring their own fridge. We haven't decided whether or not to replace the washer and dryer yet.

Hubby heard on the radio that our favorite appliance store, Airport Appliance, was having a HUGE sale this weekend. Even their warehouse showroom was having the sale, so we hopped in the truck and went for a ride. Stainless steel is the color choice of the appliances in our retirement home. We were in search of a stove and overhead microwave. And a white dishwasher for the rental.

We browsed through their selection, and compared prices and blemishes. A salesperson approached us, and I like the fact that they point us in the right direction, provide us with info and let us shop. She told us that if we buy a range, then the microwave is half off. Say what?!

Us: "Half off the already sale price?"
Salesperson: "Yes."

Oh yeah, that caught our attention, so we started to shop.

Microwave
As mentioned, we were looking for an overhead microwave. The fewer items on the counter, the less clutter I see, and the cleaner it looks to me. We found this nice one. It had a convection function as well. It was on sale for $588, but half off would make it much more affordable. Due to the functions and the price, we settled on the GE brand.

Stove
Hubby really likes the look of the smooth top stoves. We found several, but decided to get the GE brand to match the overhead microwave. Sweet! That kitchen is slowly coming together in my mind. It won't cost $45,000 that the previous owners spent on the kitchen that was there, but it will still look pretty darn nice and function just as well.

Since we were there, we decided to browse through their dishwashers since we needed one for the rental. We found a brand new one for $199. It was nice, the price was right, so we added it to our list.

It was now time to check out. The total for all 3 appliances was $1149.96. Which isn't really that bad if you think about it. If we had gone to Home Depot or Lowe's like we had originally planned, it would have cost much much more. And yes, we paid CASH for all 3 items.

The appliances were loaded onto the truck and we headed home. The next day, hubby tested the stove and microwave since they are open box items. They worked just fine. He didn't test the dishwasher since it was new in the box. He just left that one up to faith.

That's a few more items we can mark off of our to-do list. June 27th is our COE (close of escrow), and it's coming in exactly 2 weeks. There's still a lot to do. Each weekend until we move in will be quite busy. Not only will we need to stay in budget with cleaning and fixing up the rental, but with our sanity as well. A break here and there will definitely be required.

We're moving right along.....

Don't Forget the Closing Costs

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 21:06:00 +0000

This post is focused on first time home buyers, or as a reminder to the rest of us.

So you found a house that you really like. It meets most, if not all, of the requirements you were looking for. And now you're ready to submit an offer. But....

WAIT!!!

STOP!!!

Do you know that it's going to cost an ARM and a LEG to close on this deal?

When people go house hunting, they have a price range in mind. It's like car shopping. Our number one question is:

"How much will our monthly payments be?"

But in order to get to that point, there are certain things that need to be done prior to getting the keys to that house.

At this point, I am assuming that both seller and buyer are in contract.

All the inspections and such need to be done. During this time your lender will provide you with a GFE, a good faith estimate, to let you know how much it's going to cost to close on this deal. These intial costs can be quite a surprise for buyers. It's money that they may not have.

A Quick Breakdown of Costs

You already have to put the minimum 3.5% down for an FHA loan.

If you don't have the 20% to put down:

-> You have to pay for PMI (private mortgage insurance) on TOP of your mortgage payments. And this just went up earlier this year, by quite a bit.

-> In addition, you will have to pay several months of up-front costs for home insurance, property tax and any other possible costs.

And don't forget about the closing costs which include inspections, possible points, certain taxes, appraisal, documentation and processing fees, and others.

This current deal that we're in has an email fee of $75 !!! Are you kidding me? I just can't imagine that she used up that much bandwidth just on her end.

Add all of this up, and depending on the purchase price of the home, you could be paying anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 or more, out of pocket in order to close this deal. That's a TON of money that most people don't have laying around.

Several years ago, you were able to finance that back into your loan. You would finance 110% of the loan. But times are tough now and so are the rules. Also, in this day and age it is quite common to ask the seller to pay for all, if not most, of the closing costs.

So yes, be sure to factor all of this in prior to submitting an offer on a house. This will help avoid unnecessary financial worries during a time where stress is easy to come by. When you get your pre-approval letter, your lender won't inform you of these costs. It is up to YOU to do your homework, and be prepared for them.

My #1 tip: Save as much as you can, for as long as you can.

Did you run into this when you bought your first home?

Reimbursement Check in Hand

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:24:00 +0000

Woo hoo!

It really shouldn't be this hard. But persistence definitely paid off.

I signed up for the FSA program at work. This is the third year I have done so. I really this it is a good program to help reduce your taxable income. It's quite beneficial for us since we are paying for preschool tuition along with doctor visits.

At the end of 2009, I signed up and selected my contribution amounts for 2010. For preschool, I selected the maximum of $5,000. When you divide that by 12 months, it comes out to right about $416 per month. For health, I just selected $200 since we don't use it a lot. Mainly just for wellness visits and any prescriptions the doctor may prescribe.

Dependent Care: $5,000

Health: $200

On the form, there is a choice on how you would like to fund the account. Yes, the norm is to spread it out throughout the year. But it DOES ask how much you want to have withdrawn from your paycheck, and from how many paychecks. Since only $200 was going into the health account, I felt it was silly to spread that throughout the year. I opted to have $50 taken out of my first 4 paychecks in 2010.

Sounds simple right?

1st paycheck in January 2010 - $50 towards the health account

2nd paycheck in January 2010 - $50 towards the health account

1st paycheck in February 2010 - $50 towards the health account

2nd paycheck in February 2010 - $50 towards the health account

But towards the end of 2010 when I tried to get my health reimbursement, and yes we did use all $200 of it, there was an issue. A BIG issue if you ask me. I called the company who manages the accounts and they told me that the do not have a health account set up for me. Which means that the $50 that came out of my first 4 paychecks just disappeared. Well, I'm not going down without a fight. I was told to contact my payroll department and I got on the phone to them right away.

Apparently because I went against the norm and funded the health account with only 4 deposits, it somehow screwed up the system. (Coming from a QA background, I don't think any testing was done for this scenario.) Then WHY have that option on the form in the first place if the system or department cannot handle it? I can't imagine that I'm the only person that has ever went against the norm. I just can't.

After many calls and emails to the payroll rep, in a span of several months, I FINALLY got a check in the mail this weekend. What month are we in now? Oh yeah, June of 2011. WOW! Finally! Good grief. What a pain to go through. Now to avoid this, I fund the accounts throughout the year. Yes, I conformed. I don't want to go through this ordeal again.

Have you had a reimbursement nightmare?

Don't Pay Off Your Mortgage - Say What?

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:41:00 +0000

Yeah, I've heard it time and time again. A few days ago I was walking to Safeway to grab some dinner. The meat that I had planned for dinner had spoiled. We waited a day or so too late to cook it, so off to the trash it went. I hate wasting food. (Man, I need to start composting once we move.)

Well, I ran into a neighbor who was outside. He and his girlfriend were heading to his parents' cabin up north. He was telling me how nice and peaceful it was there. I commented on how awesome it was that his family has a place like that for some down time. He proceeded to tell me that his parents' home was paid off, so they took the equity out of it to pay cash for this cabin. Then he said something along the lines of, "Why get rid of a mortgage? If you do, you won't get the tax benefits."

He had a smile on his face, so I just nodded and let him continue on with the story. His girlfriend came out and they headed off, while I continued on my walk to the store. But as I was walking, I couldn't stop thinking about what he had said. And how millions of people feel the same way.

Don't get rid of your mortgage or else you won't be able to claim the tax benefits.

Now I'm not a financial advisor, or an accountant, but in my mind, Dave Ramsey's teachings about living debt free is key in my future plan. It makes sense to me. Keeping a mortgage to right off the interest, doesn't.

It's like paying a dollar to get 33 cents back. It's just not worth it.

Most people don't know that after paying every single payment, you actually paid TWICE as much for your house, if not more. It's just not worth it.

But don't take my word for it. Go to bankrate.com, or any other site with an amortization calculator, and play with your numbers. Do your own research and come to your own conclusion. Heck, it's your money.

I would love to be mortgage free, but I haven't found the time to do it yet. In my eyes, getting another job to pay down the principle each month is the only way I can see to make this happen. But my son is starting kindergarten and that means, he'll start bringing home homework. Right now, I can't see risking his education, or me risking being a mother who isn't around. I've found lots of second jobs, but having them be full-time, would not leave me with any time to sleep. And yes, I have tried several MLMs and that didn't work out for me either. Aside from winning the lottery, a second job is the only answer.

So are you going to delay paying off your mortgage?

If not, how are you increasing your household income to pay it off faster?

One Step Closer to the Move

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:31:00 +0000

Last week, I took a half day off to bring my son to his assessment exam at his new school. They know nothing about him and wanted to evaluate him. His current teacher states that he's more than ready for Kindergarten. She even suggests that I get a teacher that will challenge him so he won't be bored. I'm not quite sure that is an option, especially without knowing the teachers at this new school. But he understands that he will be attending a different school, and I think he'll fit in just fine.
Registered son at new school: CHECK!

The place we are moving to does not have mail delivery service, so everyone has a post office box. Our mailing address and our residential address will differ. That will take some getting used to. As we stood in line at the post office, I heard several people greet each other. I felt like I was in an episode of Cheer's, but in a post office instead of a bar. I felt a sense of community and it was nice. We showed the clerk a copy of our purchase contract which displays the residential address. He gave us our post office box keys and welcomed us to town.
Got the new mailing address: CHECK!

I attacked 2 tall cabinets which held our towels and bedding items. WOW! We had SO much stuff that was just hidden. Our retirement home doesn't have a lot of storage, and after sifting through only 2 cabinets, I'm glad it doesn't. With our little family of 3, I saved:
- 4 sets of bath towels
- 2 sets of sheets for each bed
- 4 beach towels since we enjoy the water
- and quite a few hand towels since I am trying to use fewer paper towels.

I used to save every towel, but now I kept only the good ones. Looking at the piles, I've only kept about a third of it. My donation pile is growing rapidly.
Slimmed down on towels and sheets: CHECK!

I moved onto the built-in that hubby and a friend built. It turned out really nice with 4 large cabinets and 2 small narrow ones. I started with the first cabinet and haven't made it to the other ones yet. There was SO much stashed in there. This one was full of cassette tapes (yes, I still have them), some DVDs and a bunch of VHS tapes (yes, I still have some). I have a few collections which I kept. Hey, I'm human! They are rare items which I have searched high and low for. If I ever decide to part with them, eBay will be the place. Plus, these things only took up 2 small boxes.

My sister laughted when she learned I still had VHS tapes. Goes to show you that I didn't get into buying a bunch of DVDs thanks to Netflix. Netflix is the reason why I am getting rid of them. If I ever want to watch them again, I'll just add them to my queue. I plan to donate these VHS tapes to a public library. They are in very good shape, covers and all.

My sister also laughed as she learned that I still had 2 VCRs at home. One is about 10 years old and I do use it from time to time to watch some of my collectible VHS tapes. We will be keeping one. But hubby has one from his parents and it's HUGE. It actually ruined a couple of my VHS tapes, so that's gonna go. We don't need 2 anyway. From that one cabinet I am keeping about a third of those items.
Buh-bye VHS tapes: CHECK!

But I am not sure what to do about my cassette tapes. I do not want to spend the money and time to search for their mp3 versions. and I don't want to buy them again in CD format. I do have a cassette player at home and in my car. I'll have to give this one a think for a bit.
Any ideas???

I have quite a bit more storage areas to go through, and I can't wait to clean all of them out. I am probably keeping more than I should, but hey, I'm new to this. And I have already cleaned out a bunch of stuff for our garage sale. This is Round 2.

So yes, we're definitely moving right along with prepping for our move. Each time we do something, it makes the move more real and exciting for us. Our retirement home is a clean slate and represents a new start for us.

So what should I do with my cassette tapes?

How Much is a Human Life Worth?

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:44:00 +0000

I really gave this some thought after the unfortunate incident in Alameda, CA earlier this week. Here is a depressed and suicidal man walking into the bay.
With tens of on-lookers, as well as police personnel, the man eventually drowned.
(I find it laughable that they still need to find the cause of death.)

Why did this happen?
It is because of budget cuts. That particular police department did not have the funds to have officers certified/re-certified in land-water rescues for the past couple of years. Therefore they could not go in and save this man's life. How could you live with yourself?

Yes, I completely understand, especially in this economy, that you are thankful to have any kind of job and you don't want to risk losing it. But....

...how do you sleep at night knowing that you did absolutely nothing?

Do we not have a moral obligation to help mankind?

Isn't the sworn duty of the officer to serve and protect ?

I was watching the news the night this happened. A news reporter asked one of the cops what he would do if a child was drowning. His answer sounded so rehearsed, as if he was reading it off some legal papers. And he stated that no, he would not assist.

An Hour!
My human instinct would tell me to go in there and save this man's life. But I wasn't there. And no, NO ONE DID. The very few that tried, got there too late. They all had a 1-hour window to go into the water and save him. And there's no way that I would believe that no one on that beach that knew how to swim. AN HOUR!

Ok, so the cops have some sort of legal issue that prevents them from being human (which is still no excuse in my book), but what about all those other people????

I just don't understand. This is very disturbing to me. For me, at that moment in time, I would risk my job to save a life. My job wouldn't even be a factor. I wouldn't be able to face anyone if I didn't do so, and I know that I will have the support of my friends and family for doing so. And if I didn't, oh well. I would risk my life to save a life. It is very unfortunate that money has become such a HUGE factor, that the value of human life is now worthless to many.

Money is a tool folks, but human life is worth more than that.
Human life SHOULD be worth more.
I pray that we can breed this back into future generations.

Am I crazy for thinking this way?

What would you do?

Someone Broke Into Our Home

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Tue, 31 May 2011 19:53:00 +0000

An update regarding our retirement home.

Last week we sent our lender the docs to proceed with ordering the appraisal. As mentioned in a previous update, the grass ranged from to almost 6 feet in height, and should be cut prior to the appraiser's visit to the property.

Yesterday the hubby decided to check out the place to see if they grass was cut. Nope, it hasn't. Now that we're actually going through the purchase, we want to keep an eye on the plafce. I mean, someone had already left the sliding door unlocked after a previous visit. So now we ALWAYS check to make sure that the windows and doors are secured.

So what did the hubby find this time?

A BUSTED DOOR!

Yup. Someone kciked in the back door and left it wide open. The doorknob is damaged from its impact against the counter as it was kicked in. One piece of molding was on the floor, and some of the surrounding molding was damaged. not to mention, the damage to the door itself. Hubby saw several beer cans by the door as well.

Sheesh! Really?! It's one drama after another with this property. I fault the selling agent, or the bank, for not keeping the grass trimmed. With the grass overgrown, it's obvious that this house is empty. Luckily, there is nothing to steal. I mean, the kitchen it gutted. The bathroom vanities are missing. The toilet in the mud room is completely disgusting. And I am SO grateful that they did not spray graffiti all over the house.

Hubby tried to secure the door shut, but couldn't. He immediately took pictures and contacted our realtor. She then contacted the selling agent, and I just recived email this morning stating that a a contractor will secure the door asap.

One thing our realtor mentioned was that the house needs to be look just as it did when we submitted an offer. This is all in the contract. So the grass WILL be cut. And the door, along with the knob and surrounding molding WILL be replaced. Good ting, because I was not planning on paying for any of that. Yes, it could have been worse but it shouldn't have happened at all.

A minor set back, but the blame and repair does not belong to us.

Retirement Home Update - I Can't Believe It

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Fri, 27 May 2011 00:16:00 +0000

So we actually received some good news last night. A phone calls from our realtor stating that the bank will lower the asking price. And to confirm, emails between our realtor and lender regarding required documentation were exchanged. Oh My Gosh! I can't believe it. I honestly didn't think the bank would do that since it took so long due to communication barriers. I can't believe we're really going to move by summer's end.

For the last month or so we have withdrawn ourselves from the property since we didn't think it was going to be a reality. We also began searching for other properties. Our realtor never gave up and stayed persistent in trying to get answers and keep things moving. She rocks! I also prayed about whether we were meant to purchase this property. I really didn't care which answer I received, but I just needed an answer. And well, I finally got it.

Now we're back to work again. Time to order the appraisal. It's also been so long that we'll have to provide the lender with updated pay stubs and bank statements. And well, that should be it until we close towards the end of June. Then work can begin on it. You know, adding that missing kitchen which is why we had to go through the rehab loan. So I'd estimate that we won't be moving in until August.

It's been less than 24 hours since we received this news and I still can't believe it. Regarding our current home, it's really time to go through our stuff again and get rid of more items. Our retirement home will be a new start, and I don't need to clutter it with crap. time to wipe the dust off those checklists.

I am STILL in shock!

Update on Our Retirement Home

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Thu, 26 May 2011 03:06:00 +0000

To backtrack a little bit....
We finally found a general contractor that was qualified, and actually wanted to work on this house. Yeah, he calls back and answers emails. It's pretty sad when you get excited about things that shouldn't even be an issue. But we still be over budget due to our lender providing us with false information. In order for this to work, the asking price needs to be lowered by $10,000. If not, then we would like to cancel the contract since we wouldn't be able to afford it anyway.

The TWO options on the table for the bank are:

Lower the asking price by $10,000

Cancel the contract

I guess you can call it progress.
So after almost 2 months of sending the Asset Manager (at the bank) a cancellation form AND a price reduction request, she FINALLY sent an email stating that our price reduction request has been submitted for review. WOW! What the heck took so long??? The forms we sent were already signed by the hubby, and all we need was for them to SELECT ONE and SIGN so we could all move on. The bank either lets us go and puts the house back up on the market again, or they can reduce the price and be rid of the house once and for all. I don't know any other way to word it.

So, you're tellin' me there's a chance.
In the email where she announced that the price reduction request has been submitted, she asked our lender how soon we could close. Well that tells me that they are considering reducing the price on the house. It then took another day and a half for our lender to answer the question. 30 days it would take to close, and now we're waiting....again.

photo from verydemotivational.com

The waiting game is the most annoying part. But on the bright side, the longer we wait, the more money we get to sock away. So far we've been able to add another $2,000 to our savings. But then again, the longer we wait, more potential properties are being bought.

It's been almost 2 months since hubby last went to the house. He was meeting with a general contractor at the time. After having dinner we decided to check on the house. I had imagined that the bank was no longer taking care of the property, and that the house was being engulfed by weeds and grass. When we pulled up, it was no longer just my imagination. It was REAL! Some of the tallest weeds were taller than me. WOW! It was insane. Hubs checkd the doors to make sure they were locked. The door to the garage was unlocked, but there is nothing to steal from there anyway.

It's amazing how the exterior can drastically change the way a home is presented. But we still see a lot of potential in the property, and we are still hoping to acquire it. The sooner the better, but once again we are left waiting....again.

What is the longest amount of time you had to wait to acquire a home?

How long did you have to wait to get out of contract?

Another Step Towards Minimalism

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Mon, 23 May 2011 21:15:00 +0000

We've had boxes sitting on the pool table and on a set of couches for well over a month now. These were items we no longer needed or wnated. Stuff we could do without. The plan was to have a garage sale and get rid of it all. The weather has not been cooperating. This year's weather has been super weird for California. But then again, the weather seems to be quite weird in other parts of the nation as well. Prayers go out to those who are victims of the tornados and floods.

As we continued to wait for the weather to improve, I began to get lazy about holding a garage sale. Part of me even suggested that we just drop everything off at Goodwill. Hubby was fine with that idea too. But then I figured that I had some decent stuff. I had some new items that would probably bring in a few bucks. So with less than 2 days to prepare, I decided that I'd price everything REALLY cheap. Most of the items were a dollar. I had to forget about how much I paid for the items and focus on getting rid of the stuff. Easier said than done. This was hard to do and I'm sure many struggle with this as well.

Open for business.
Saturday morning came and we were open for business. I am acutally surprised at the number of people that showed up. I had put my signs in the areas where I thought people may see them. One guy said that my signs were too small. It was windy and I all I had to work with was construction paper. I posted an ad on Craigslist too.
Some people were amazed at how cheap we were selling this stuff.

Sets of wine glasses, a dollar
Sets of drinking glasses, a dollar
5 books on web design and programming, a dollar

Start giving stuff away for FREE!
And while the moms looked around, the kids played with the toys in the toy bin. Many times if the kids were holding onto a toy, we just told the parents that they can have the toy. In many cases, after someone had paid for their items and they saw something else they wanted, I just let them have it. This definitely helped in eliminating more items. It is interesting to see what sells and what doesn't.

We even got to meet a few neighbors. My hubby, who is normally shy, was quite the talker. I'd say he was more into hosting the event than I was. Come lunchtime the traffic died down pretty bad. We were planning on closing up shop early, but I said it was until 2pm. during the last hour a handful of people came and we told them that everything was F-R-E-E. A couple of young gals came by and I think they lived down the street. It was funny because they just kinda hung out on our driveway, looking through stuff, and playing with the toys.

What to do with the rest of the stuff?
Come 2pm, we were done. We consolidated the items in boxes and shoved them into the garage. I was so surprised that we didn't get rid of many of my son's clothes. I saved 2 boxes of those clothes for a friend since her son will be fitting into them in no time. This way I'm helping a friend and getting rid of stuff at the same time.

We considered holding the garage sale again the next day, but I wasn't feeling it. Although we made a tiny bit over $200.00, I didn't think the rest of the stuff would sell. I called Goodwill to get their donation times. We packed up my ride and were off to get rid of what was left. When we drove up, 2 employees rolled out 2 big tubs and we dumped all that stuff in there. I felt SO free when we drove off. We were finally rid of all that junk. What an awesome feeling that was. We took some of our profits and had a nice dinner.

What else can we get rid of?
Now I'm thinking of other items we can get rid of. I mentioned to the hubby that we had quite a few comforters, and we really only use 2 of them. He agreed that the rest can go. So once again it's time to go around and look at what else we can donate. The house now has a few open spots, but that doesn't matter to me all. The more open space, the better.

Was it hard for you to get rid of stuff?

Did you find it difficult to price items for sale?

How did you feel after your garage sale?

50% off Mother's Day Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Mon, 09 May 2011 21:08:00 +0000

Ya gotta thank Hallmark for their holidays. The actual history of Mother's Day is quite interesting. Read about it here.

In a previous post I wrote about my family's weekend of fun. Well apparently we did it again this weekend. Ouch! It wasn't really planned since we just went out the weekend before. I actually didn't know what I wanted to do for Mother's Day, but I guess you can say we're pretty good at figuring it out when push comes to shove. I'm the kind of gal that enjoys practical gifts. I don't need stuff while I'm currently trying to get rid of stuff. So for me, food is the most practical choice. I really enjoy eating out and we don't get to do it often. So yes, we spent money on food.

50% off a case
On Saturday we went around town doing chores. We went to the AT&T store and I finally got a case that fit my phone. I was using a silicon case which fits the iPhone 3G, but not my phone. It was somewhat of a pain to take pictures with since I had to remove the case each time I wanted to use the camera. Luckily the case I liked was 50% off. I would never pay $30 for it. And paying $15 was somewhat of a splurge, but I felt comfortable with the decision. I'm actually pretty stoked about having a case that fits my iPhone 4. I went SO long without one since I am often too cheap. And yes, I could have found one cheaper on eBay or amazon, but I didn't even look in fear that I would find more items I'd like to purchase.

50% of Lumpy's
After running a few other chores it was soon lunchtime. We headed over to Lumpy's Diner to use the 50% coupon we received during our visit on Easter Sunday. Hubby and I ordered burgers, while our son got a kids meal. We also ordered a side of fries. As the waitress handed us our bill, she mentioned that we scored on a cheap meal. Our bill came out to $10 and some change. We owe it to that 50% off coupon. Yes!

FREE Wings!
That night I saw a TV commercial for Mother's Day. Mom's get 10 FREE buffalo wings at Hooters. (No, I'm also not your typical gal either.) Oh yum! After sleeping in and doing some chores we headed to Hooters. Surprisingly it wasn't busy yet, so that was good. But soon after, more and more moms were walking in to claim their FREE wings. Oh yum! It sure was tasty. My 10 wings would have cost us $10. But since it was FREE, our bill was almost 50% off. Not too shabby.

Cheaper Cheesecake
Since we were in town we splurged on some yummie cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory. The food there is alright, but since I never have enough room, or money, for cheesecake, I stopped ordering meals there. And since the delicious cheesecake is quite pricy, I try to avoid having to pay more than I need to for them. So we just go to the counter, order our cheesecake to-go, and find a spot in the mall to eat them.
This way we don't have to:

wait a long time to be seated
wait to order
wait again to be served
tip

And when you sit in the mall you get to people watch. It has been years since I last ate inside the restaurant.

50% off Fraps
Later, it was happy hour! No, I don't drink alcoholic beverages. But Safeway is celebrating Mother's Day with happy hour from 3pm-5pm through May 6-15. This only works at participating Safeway stores which also have a Starbucks inside. During happy hour you can order any type and any size, frappuccino for 50% off. Just flash them your Safeway Club card, or enter your phone number associated with your card, and you'll get it for half off. I tried the new mocha coconut frap. Yum!

For our last and final meal of the weekend, we ended it with wings once again at Wing Stop. What can I say? I really like wings. The 50% off them throughout the weekend was pretty nice. It made it much more affordable to enjoy another weekend of fun. Although our Cheesecake Factory and Wing Stop visits weren't aligned with the 50% off theme, I didn't feel so guilty spending the money due to the other discounts we received this weekend. But it's definitely time to trim the spending and get back into physical shape. Gosh, all that food was yummie!

What Mother's Day freebies or discounts did you get this weekend?

A $250 Fun-Filled Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Fri, 06 May 2011 16:19:00 +0000

Yes, folks, it can be done. It has been a long time since my family has done something together, let alone something F-U-N. The daily routine of work, school, chores and the hubby's projects just consumes any ounce of free time we have. Otherwise we are too tired to do anything else. Normally we would veg in front of the tube watching shows from the small set of basic channels. But hey, our cable bill is only $19/month. I can't complain, nor do I want to waste away in front of the tube.

It was Friday and I asked hubby to think of something fun we could do as a family that weekend. Interestingly enough, we found it quite difficult to think of things to do that didn't cost an arm and a leg. Amusement parks were just out of the question. That's something we have to plan ahead and save up for on a monthly basis. I stayed up late that night doing the budget and figured that we were in a good enough position to allocate $250 for our weekend of fun.

I searched online for places to eat and historical sites to visit. The next morning, hubby mentioned the USS Hornet since he's been wanting to go there for quite some time. Alright! Now we have a location to start our day. Since we were going to be in that area, there was a restaurant which I wanted to try. The plan was finally starting to come together, and this is how it went.

Saturday
Are breakfast at home - FREE
Toured the USS Hornet - $30, son was FREE
Ate at Home of Chicken and Waffles for a late lunch - $33
Had John's Ice Cream for some dollar scoops - $4
Bought a wifi printer at Best Buy - $75
Ate fruit at home for a light dinner - FREE
Total spent on Saturday: $142

Sunday
Breakfast at the Brentwood Cafe - $25
Ice cream and treats at the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory - $22
Purchased kayak paddles with giftcards and paid the difference - $31
Munched on shaved ice at a Cinco de Mayo fair - $5
Mongolian BBQ for dinner - $24
Total spent on Sunday: $107

Grand total spent on fun that weekend: $249

(image from ghirardelli.com)

The printer buying part wasn't really for fun, but since were in the area we figured we'd purchase some ink. Well it was $24 JUST for the black ink, and much more for the colored ink. We decided to spend the extra $10 and just get a new wifi printer that would work with our iPhones.

We stopped at a few other places to just look around and window shop, but didn't spent a dime. And as for gas, we didn't need to purchase any since the tanks were fairly full.

To some, $250 is too tight of a budget for a weekend outting. Heck, some families spend that on a week of groceries. But since we're used to living frugal, it was definitely a treat for us. We ate our quite a bit and visited several different places. And most of all, we had F-U-N. There's no way we could do this very often. $250 from our monthly budget is HUGE, but it's nice to splurge every now and then.

How often do you and your family splurge?

What activities do you do during your weekend of fun?

Tax Refund - Good or Bad?

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Thu, 05 May 2011 06:06:00 +0000

Prior to having our son, we learned that receiving a tax refund was not a good idea. (For us at least.) Especially if you typically receive thousands of dollars. But after having our son we just kept owing thousands of dollars. I couldn't understand what we were doing wrong. I donate clothes and household items often, as well as donate to worthy causes. I even contribute to my 401k (up to my company match) while hubby invested in his traditional IRA, and I took advantage of the FSA offered through my company; all to reduce our taxable income. I claimed 0 as always so they can take out all needed taxes from my paychecks......so I thought.

None of this was working. Grrrr!

Prior to our son, we've always done our own taxes through Turbo Tax since our taxes are quite simple. But after several years of having to pay taxes (after having our son) I decided to fork over the money and seek the help of a professional. I found a $100 off coupon in our local paper and made an appointment. (I couldn't believe what they now charge for tax preparation. But then again, it is a well needed service. Heck, I eventually required their service.)

I FINALLY learned WHY we were having to pay taxes.

There were not enough taxes taken out of our paychecks!

But how could this be?

As a married couple, claiming 0 and checking the 'Married' checkbox does not behave the same way it does for a person with a 'Single' status. It does not take out enough taxes. The taxes taken out are at a smaller rate when you select the 'Married' checkbox. Although I was finally relieved to learn the reason behind this, I was sad to realize that my take home pay will decrease. sniff-sniff

We were advised that as a married couple we should check the checkbox that says 'Married but taxed at a Single rate', or something of that nature. We did that for 2010, and when we did our taxes this time around we actually received a refund from Federal, but owed state. WOW! I sure hated bringing home smaller paychecks, but am quite happy about NOT having to pay thousands of dollars this year.

We owed California $230, but received $3200 from Federal.
Sure, I'll take that.

Now, the amount we received from Federal is quite a bit, so I'm thinking for 2011, we need to find out how we can keep about $260 a month in our pockets, as opposed to having the government store it until next April. Hmmm, any ideas???

So is a tax refund good or bad?
The up side of getting a tax refund:

You are getting money that you didn't realize you were getting.
You have a secret savings account.

The downside of getting a tax refund:

That's your money that the government is just holding for you.
You might get an IOU.
You could have used that money to invest, save, or pay down debt.

So it really depends where you are on your personal finance path. Some people like getting the refund because they would otherwise spend the money if they had it. While others, such as myself, would rather break even by either receiving or owing close to nothing since I want to pay down my home and invest in my family's future. I'm not a tax advisor so please consult a professional. All I know is that I'd rather have my money in my hands working for me.

How did you fair this past tax season?

Are you making any adjustments to your withholding?

What are you doing to lower your taxable income?

I'm Going to See Dave Ramsey!

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:18:00 +0000

I have been a Dave Ramsey fan for about 6 years now. I use the cash envelope system, am more in control of my spending, and do not have any credit cards due to him. I used to listen to his radio show on Sirius. It got to the point where I was answering the caller's questions before Dave announced his. At that point, I knew I was a Dave fan. I really enjoy his teachings. They derive from lessons your grandmother learned and lived. If I had to describe it in one sentence, it's.....

Live on LESS than you make.

We bought The Total Money Makeover and Financial Peace University books. While pregnant, hubby and I would sit on the couch after dinner and take turns reading the books to each other. No, it's not romantic, but I felt it brought us closer together mentally and financially. We were spending TRUE quality time with each other and learning each other's financial views. (I should have turned off the cable back then lol)

I use his books as reference guides. But his website is full of awesome information. If I have a question about a financial topic, his website is my first stop. When I feel down on my luck all I have to do is search "We Did It!" on his website and read about those who got gazelle intense and kicked debt out. Some are even mortgage free. It is possible.

Well Dave is finally making it to the golden state later this year. He was close one time when he had an event in Oregon. We thought about going to that one then, but didn't. I'm SO glad he's coming here because from the calls, they make it sound like California doesn't need financial help. But people in Calforina do. Sure the cost of living out here is more, and maybe the pay is too, but people have the same problems as those in other states. Whether you make $20,000 a year, or $100,000 a year, you can still experience the financial issues, just at a different scale.

The proof is in the numbers. His radio show is finally on mainstream radio here in California and it is reaching a whole lot of people. Enough that he's finally bringing his live event here. Californians could really use his guidance. Especially those in charge of our state's budget. (Don't get me started.)

This September hubby and I will celebrate 8 years of marriage. (Wow, where did the time go?) How will we celebrate?
By attending a Dave Ramsey Live Event!

WOO HOO!

Oh yeah!

I can't wait!

I'm SO excited to be with others who are passionate about bettering their financial situation.
I can't wait to feel the energy that will fill the venue.

Who else is going?

Are there any other Dave fans out there?

Cheap Food Doesn't Always Taste Good

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:15:00 +0000

You know when you get food for free or at a huge discount, you say it tastes even better?
Well that's not always the case.

For the past few years now, I've been on a mission to eat as clean as possible.
That means...

removing unnecessary foods with added sugar
reduce consumption of high fructose corn syrup
eliminating soda
reduce consumption of foods with no, or very little nutritional value

... basically eating a well balanced diet full of fruits, veggies, fish, chicken and lean meats.

Sometimes I just can't resist a sale. I went to Safeway one weekend and saw that these Gorton's breaded fish filets were on sale. I stocked up on some. I was sure they were good, since I used to eat them. But when I baked them for dinner one night, I noticed they were SO small, a lot of oil was left on the baking sheet, and it tasted horrible. Ewww! I decided not to feed the rest to my family.

I hate throwing food away, so I cooked some up for my lunch today. I had it with some rice. OMG, it was horrible. I had forgotten how bad it tasted. I can't believe I used to eat this stuff. Apparently all my clean eating has changed my palette. I can no longer eat stuff like this anymore. Thank goodness.

So yes, even on a tight budget I will no longer skimp on quality food. I'm paying the price now with a tummy ache.

What do you skimp on?

Bartering is Not Always Free

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:12:00 +0000

Barter - to trade goods or services without the exchange of money.

I see this time and time again. My dear hubby is one of the nicest and most generous guys I know. He's a good ole boy, never meanin no harm. (ok, are you humming the tune to the Dukes of Hazzard yet?) If someone he knows needs assistance with something he can work on, then he'll give it a shot.

(photo from tvacres.com)

He's too handy for his own good.
Hubby is VERY handy. He has extensive knowledge about many things and it always amazes me. He's got one of those tinkering mechanical brains. If it's got a motor, he can most likely work on it. He typically doesn't shy away from attacking a motor from a:

boat
motorcycle
lawn mower
truck
car
model airplans

His knowledge of metal and tools is expansive. And he is an all around handy guy when it comes to maintaining the house. I guess he got this from his father who still tinkers around with stuff. (I guess sometimes kids do learn stuff from their parents.) he also hates paying someone for work he can do himself, or at least figure out himself. Yay for us and our frugal life.

He barters a lot with neighbors and such. So much that he's sometimes stuck in the garage during the weekends engufed in a project or two. One day I came home and he was working on TWO vehicles simultaneously. Quite a sight as you pull up to your house and all you see are open hoods. I personally don't like it when it happens too often because the weekends are the only time we really get to spend any quality family time together. During the week we are busy with our long commutes, jobs, and daily chores. But I also respect the fact that he does enjoy working with his hands and helping others.

The balance is usually skewed.
For every 3 or 5 favors he does for someone, he gets 1 in return. Now you don't have to be a scientist to figure that the numbers don't add up. When he does a favor for someone, he's very prompt with it. He tends to the task with urgency. But when my dear hubby requires a favor in return, he sometimes has to almost beg for it. Anything he needs or requires as a favor is not given much priority.

For instance, one neighbor has asked hubby for mechanical work on several vehicles. Seeing that this guy was in the construction business, he'd be great for finishing up the baseboards that hubby was frustrated with. So hubby agreed. Months go by and our baseboards are still sitting on the floor. The neighbor's wife told her husband that since my hubby is always there when he needs something, he needed to go over to our house and help out. Go girl! I thought that was awesome because I feel that many people take my hubby for granted seeing that he always lives up to his promises.

Maybe nice guys do finish last.
Because my hubby is such a nice and helpful guy, many seem to forget (or not care) that he has projects of his own he'd like to do. (btw, I still have that clunking noise on my car.) One day hubby was finally able to work on his truck. He was out in the hot sun and deep into the engine. A neighbor comes by and says that he needs something done. Um, can't he tell that hubby is busy doing something???

When it comes to my hubby and bartering, it's definitley not always fair, nor is it free. These favors come at an expense. It's frustrating for me because people demand so much from him. Like they forget that he has his own vehicles to work on, or that he actually has a family that he needs to tend to, or that he has a life aside from their projects. Sometimes I feel like they just don't care. In this society, people want instant gratification and they seem to expect that from my hubby. They forget that what he provides them with is a favor, a nice gesture.

This issue has been a battle for us for some time. I can't place the blame soley on others (well, maybe most of it), but since the hubby hates to disappoint people, I have to blame his lack of time management skills. On one hand, I know he gets restless if he's not working on something. But on the other hand, his own list of projects remain untouched due to the fact he always has the projects of others to do. And yes, he usually does end up helping people out. He does enough bartering for the two of us that I end up spending any free time NOT doing favors for others. I just have to be thankful for those that really do appreciate his help and are there to reciprocate.

Do you barter? How is that going for you?

Do you find yourself constantly putting your projects on hold due to bartering?

$6 Jeans Due to a Broken Dryer

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:30:00 +0000

I do the laundry on the weekends. It's the only time I have. Plus, it's nice to start the following week with clean clothes and towels. I spent a whole day doing laundry. Both the washer and dryer are running pretty much non-stop for a good portion of the day.

I guess there were signs that the dryer was on its last limb. It was starting to take twice as long to dry some of the bigger loads. And last weekend during my last 2 loads, it would only run for 10 minutes at a time. I would turn the knob and push the button to start and sometimes it wouldn't start. I'd play with the knob and it would somehow start up again. The issue was intermittent at first, but became more and more reproducible by the next day.

Cleaning it didn't help.
Hubby took it out and opened up some of the panels. he sucked out some lint, as well as cleaned 8 feet up the dryer vent. That's as far as he could go with the tool he had. He put it back together and ran the dryer again with a few towels. The issue still occurred. After looking online, there was one thing he could've tried, but had no real way of testing the part that might be an issue.

Calling a technician is pricy.
We thought about caling someone, but by the time you pay for someone to check on it, you're already out at least a hundred bucks. No thank you. At this point, the problem still wouldn't be fixed. As with our washer, which we had to replace last year, the warranty expired the year before. We got 7 and a 1/2 years out of it and now opted to just replace it, just as we did the dryer.

Time to go SHOPPING!!!

I checked craigslist, but didn't really find any good deals. I was told about the Sears Outlet and added that to my list. We already planned on going to Airport Appliance because we have had good service there and had bough several appliances there in the past. We just learned of their outlet center, so we definitely wanted to check that out too.

We started at the Sears Outlet. We didn't care about geting matching colors or models. We just wated something that would work. They were pretty much marked down because of blemishes, which we didn't care about. I have no problem paying hundreds of dollars less for scratches. Many were on the side which would be against the wall anyway. We found a couple that would work, but wanted to do some comparison shopping, so we headed to the Airport Appliance Outlet Center.

Score #1
Before we headed out, we went upstairs. My son noticed some stairs and he wanted to climb them. I agreed and they had racks of clothes of up there. I was amazed at the prices; $6.00, $8.00, and so on. It was kind of set up like Ross or Marshall's. I saw a rack labeled $6.00 for jeans, and I needed some pants. My face lit up. I got 2 pairs for jeans for $12.00 and tax. SCORE!

Score #2
Then we headed to the other outlet center. Within a minute, a salesman came and asked us what we were looking for. Per the prices at the Sears Outlet, my hubby decided to first start with a BOSCH dryer to match our washer. At this point, what the heck? Apparently we're slowly replacing all the broken appliances with BOSCH. It first started with our dishwasher, then the washer, and now the dryer. He found one right away, and it was marked down several hundred dolloars. It had a little blemish, but was in our price range, so we took it. SCORE!

The deal was SUPER FAST. We paid for it (thanks to our emergency fund), and backed the truck into the loading docks. We were literally in and out of the warehouse in 10 minutes. It was AWESOME, and I would totally recommend anyone to that location. From now on, we'll start there for appliances. But I'll be starting at the Sears Outlet the next time I need some clothes.

Do you have any luck with outlet centers?

Which one is your favorite?

I Saved $10 at Safeway

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:51:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I learned from Julia at The Frugal Find, that is you spent $75 at Safeway then you would receive a $10 coupon for use on your next shopping trip. I went to Safeway last weekend and received a coupon. And I did end up going to Safeway this weekend to buy a few items.

As I saw my final total, it was a bit high. Darn it! I forgot to push the <ENTER> button on the screen after entering my phone number. The total went down dramatically. (Sign up for them club cards!) As I reached into my wallet where I stash the grocery money, I found the $10 coupon I received the weekend before. I handed it to the cashier with the quicknes. Phew! Now that made a difference in my total.

I believe there's an expiration date, so it's always wise to look over any coupons you find or receive.

$5. 00 or $10.00 - every little bit makes a difference in your wallet.
Oh, and if you don't use these coupons, I'll be more than happy to take them off your hands.

We Have Our 3 Month Emergency Fund!

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:43:00 +0000

Life always got in the way when it came to building our emergency fund. This broke down, and that broke down, or we owed taxes again. Yes, life does happen, but many of these are excuses. Sure, I've been wanting to build our emergency fund for the longest time, but always failed somehow.

Let's get real here.
The truth of the matter is, is that deep down, I didn't want to disrupt my cushy lifestyle. Mind you, we live quite frugal and I didn't think we could spare anything else towards the fund. Living expenses were all paid for, we don't have car payments, and we enjoyed eating out on occassion. Our cushy lifestyle left us with some extra 'miscellaneous' money if we needed, or wanted it. I guess we weren't really that motivated.

We found motivation!
It changed when we started really looking into properties. We were doing all we could to sock away some cash. We even sold our truck. We were obsessed with thinking of ways to bring in more money. And by golly, we were able to come up with $20,000 in just 3 months.

No, we don't make a jagillion dollars. This is why I said 'we came up' with this amount of money. It was by selling things, cutting down on luxury items, and such.
- We already had about $1,800 in savings.
- $8,600 came from the sale of our truck.
- $3,000 came from our Federal Tax Return.
- $3,000 came from a bonus from work.

For the past 3 years we have had to pay taxes to both Federal and State. But this year, we actually got a Federal refund. I took the tax refund and the bonus as a sign that we were meant to buy the house. But we are currently waiting to hear from the bank, which could take quite a bit of time. In the meantime, we continue on the saving path.

Due to cutting items like my sirius subscription, cable and Internet, we were able to sock away $1,200 a month! We are living pretty tight now. Just last week our dinners consisted of enchiladas during the first half of the week, and then chicken and rice during the second half. And no, I don't plan to live like this forever, but I really think these small sacrifices are all worth it.

Not getting the the house may be a blessing in disguise.
Sure, this money is inteded for a down payment and closing costs for a house, but we haven't signed papers to own it yet. So if we needed it, it is now our emergency fund. If we don't get the house, we still plan to continue to save and search for another place. But the more we save, then the more we will have for an emergency fund AND a home purchase.

3 months of am emergency fund is quite a bit of money if you don't have it, but in the scheme of things it's not a whole lot. But I actually do feel more secure now that I did 3 months ago when we didn't have the money. Just having this money is giving me motivation to continue saving. I want to see that number constantly on the rise.

Do you have an emergency fund?

If so, what motivated you?

If not, what do you need to motivate you?

Leftovers, That's What's for Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 20:51:00 +0000

Sometimes we have leftovers for lunch. Sometimes the food is better the next day when the flavors really get soaked into the meat, poultry and vegetables. Sometimes I can't wait to have dinner because I know what's waiting for me in the fridge, LEFTOVERS!

Not only are leftovers yummie, they are cheap and easy. Oh yeah! No extra ingredients to buy. No more cooking involved. No extra time required to prepare. Just warm and serve. And for my hungry troops, that's definitely a plus.

I look forward to leftovers because I know I won't spend my whole night in the kitchen after a long day at work. (along with a 1 hour commute each way) After I get home for the day, I start on dinner. While dinner is cooking I am making lunches. Add going through the mail and any notices my son brings home from school, to the mix. And sometimes the clean dishes in the dishwasher get put away. Sometimes. Then after dinner there's the dinner clean up, and maybe some dessert. Soon it's time to put the boy to bed, and shortly after, I put myself to bed. PHEW!So you can see why I try to have leftovers at least once a week.

This week, we practically had a week full of leftovers. We had enchiladas for 3 nights. (I also had them for lunch as well.) And we had chicken and rice for 2 nights. That's 3 nights of leftovers. That's 3 nights I'm NOT spending hours in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong, I wish I could spend more time in the kitchen cooking up yummie food. But after a super long day at work and commuting, I am ready to hit the hay when I get home.

I grew up eating leftovers. But I have crossed paths with some people that refuse to. That is so foreign to me. I don't understand the reason behind it. When I used to eat out, I looked forward to saving some of my meal for leftovers. I'd take everything I can; those last 2 pieces of bread, the scoop of mash potatoes or corn, sauce, or whatever is left. That would be lunch the next day at work.

But some will eat half their meal and have the waiter take it away. My eyes bug out when I see someone doing this. If I won't eat the rest of my meal, (which is unheard of lol), I'll definitely take it and give it to a homeless person. (Unfortunately they are too common in this area.)

I did that once while in Santa Monica. I had lunch near The Promenade, but was not able to finish the whole thing. After carrying my to-go box out of the restaurant, I realized that I didn't want to carry it while sight seeing. Plus, it would probably spoil by the time it made it to a fridge or microwave. So I just handed it to a homeless person. I'd rather feed someone instead of throwing food away.

I HATE throwing food away. I feel that throwing food away is throwing money away. Like my grandma, I'll piece a meal together from several other meals to avoid throwing food away. Sure mini tacos don't really go wtih sloppy joe's, nor does mac n cheese go with naan, but I don't mind.

How often do you eat leftovers?

Do you know someone who refuses to eat leftovers?

Meal Planning is Not Glamorous

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 20:20:00 +0000

Well at least not for me. I'm in front of the computer all day and sometimes I just don't want to look at a monitor. I find that as I get older, the less I prefer being on the computer. Could it be old age? This is the reason why I like writing my grocery list on paper. I know, it's archaic!

Yes, I have my iPhone and it can keep notes, but typing up my grocery list on it is not so easy. And sure, I could email myself my grocery list, but how do I cross off the items once I add them to my cart?

My Solution
I like using a piece of scratch paper. This template works really well for me. Then I can mark things off the list as I add them to my cart.

My Process
I list the items I plan to buy at each store. Sometimes I even put the prices next to the items so I can calculate how much I'll be spending at each store. This way I don't go over budget.

Next, I put the meals of the week on the bottom. (This way I know what ingredients I need to buy.)

Then I go to the store's web site to check out their sale items.

After viewing the deals, I adjust my grocery list. Maybe substitute brocolli with cauliflour because it's on sale. Or replace ground beef with ground turkey. You get the idea.

You see, my grocery list starts off as a worksheet and this is the result.

I understand all my chicken scratch, can you? LOL! This process keeps me in check. I know if I deviate from this list, I WILL definitely go over budget.

So no, meal planning is not a glamorous task. It may not even be a fun task. But I do it because it works.

I'd love to see your grocery list and how it benefits you.

Please share.

One Last General Contractor

noreply@blogger.com (Melyssa) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:33:00 +0000

So the saga continues. As mentioned in my previous house buying update, I've already let go of this house. The frustration with our lender misinforming us of what type of contractor we could use, to contractors who waste your time and don't call back, the strict fha guidelines on how much insurance contractors must have, and qualified contractors just NOT wanting to work this easy job, just all got to me.

Why contractors DON'T want to make a quick buck doing this EASY JOB baffles me. Especially during these down economic times when any job is better than none.

While I have let go, the hubby hasn't. So I spent some time crunching numbers once again. But our budget hasn't changed. There is no extra money coming in. There is no time to even get a part time gig to bring in some extra money. It is, what it is.

This weekend hubby thought about paying Adam the flake's insurance so he could do the job for us.

WHAT?!

Has my hubby gone MAD?!

I could not believe what I was hearing. Sure, he totally met our budget which was awesome. WAS is the key word here. But that was until he burned bridges with me due to NOT coming clean about his insurance lapsing and NOT wanting to pay for it. So I guess he just made himself umemployed. Well if his target customers are those who require an insured/bonded professional.

Nooooo!

Yup, that's what I told the hubby. Sure, we REALLY want this house. But I do not feel comfortable working with Adam the flake. He screwed us over and we lost over a week due to him, and now the hubby wants to beg him to work for us? Screw that! Call it what you want; pride or what have you, but I can't bring myself to do that.

What? Is he gonna give us a cut on so many future jobs now he has insurance so he can work again? I highly doubt it.

And if he works for us, I can just see it now....

- he strays from his original quote and jacks it up

- he goes over budget

- he takes his time on the work

- he does a crappy job

....ahhhhhh!!!

I just can't bring myself to trust him. He may as well be a nice guy who does really good work, but his first impression didn't cut it for me. If only he had manned up and been up front.

Our agent contacted the selling agent and told her our situation. The selling agent gave us a number of someone she has worked with and who is familiar with the house and the area. Hubby is going to meet this one last general contractor. If his quote is WAY over budget, then we just have to throw up our hands and walk away from this house. If his quote is over budget but by only a few thousand, then hopefully the bank will lower the price on the home seeing that we've already gone so far into the process.

The bank has already approved our initial offer.
The lender has already approved our loan.

But we just don't have a contractor to do the job (within our budget of course). So like I said, the saga continues.

When do you throw in the towel?

Would you pay for this guy's insurance?

Have you had to deal with your own Adam the flake?