Monkey Mama's Monkey Money Blog

1999 vs. 2009 (Budget)

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:35:27 PST

Really funny, but I ran into some old files on my computer.

I have said many times I am not much of a "budgeter." Not a strict one anyway. But, whenever life changes I tend to run up a budget to see where we are at and what our course of action should be. Thus, I am not terribly...

Paid a Late Fee

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:39:37 PST

Not much to report. Getting back into the swing of things - enjoying the extreme slowness at work before 7/31 deadline work rolls in.

Over the weekend we got an automated phone call from Dish asking us to pay our bill.

Interesting. I had gotten an e-mail notice a couple of...

Questions Answered

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:39:01 PST

I had a few questions on my last few posts. So here are some answers:

#1 - The bike I got at Wal Mart was a Schwinn Aluminum Comp

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/allReviews.do?product_id=1066...

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#2 - More questions on family camp.

Both of the family camps we tried were owned by cities we have lived in.

You do NOT have to live in that city to attend camp. You just pay a premium if you are not a resident. (Sacramento camp was a tad more expensive, so San Jose cost us about the same as non-residents. MEaning, non-resident fees can be pretty reasonable).

So, I would look and see what your city offers (google the name of your city + "family camp" or "camp."

We are from San Jose and they happen to own land right by Yosemite. Even though the facilities weren't as nice as Sacramento's, they were nice enough, and you just can't beat the location. I highly recommend it if you live in or near California.

http://www.sanjoseca.gov/prns/familycamp.asp

Camp Sacramento is the one we went to this year. Their camp is near South Lake Tahoe.

http://www.cityofsacramento.org/parksandrecreation/campsac/

I am sure there are also private "family camps" - I would assume the city ones are more affordable.

I searched a few other cities and found San Francisco also has a campground near Yosemite. Maybe it's more of a NOrthern California thing - I typed in a few So Cal cities and couldn't find anything...

Back From Tahoe

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:16:58 PST

& we had a blast!

This was our cabin (there were 3 rooms and we had 2 of them - with our parents)

This was really the only river access at camp, which was a bummer (San Jose camp had river running right through camp and way more swimming holes, etc.) This turned out to...

I am good!

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:38:41 PST

I've apparently worked my budget down to an "exact science."

I hesitate to use the word "budget" because I am not really into the whole tradiitonal budget thing. I would drive myself nuts accounting for all those overages/underages every month. & you might be surprised, but I...

Net Worth

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:11:35 PST

Net Worth is up $17k for the year, give or take maybe $1k, depending on stock performance today.

Cash is up about $7k. & is my main concern right now!

Retirement is up $8k (about $6k contributions and $2k gains).

Paid almost $2k off mortgage, this year.

That about sums...

Life is Good!

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:15:55 PST

I had the BEST weekend. Just one of those weekends where I am so happy where my life has landed.

I also posted the other day about our relative who paid $600k+ for their home. I have mentioned before, but we know so many people who truly believe it is worth having a $500k+ mortgage...

Finally Bought a Bike!

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 08:03:32 PST

With the hot summer days, I hadn't been so motivated on the bike front.

BUT we actually had a little extra money this month. Certainly could have used it for other things (massive car repair, donate, save, etc.). BUT I decided to think about buying a bike again.

I had settled...

Peach Mango Smoothie & Simple Pleasures

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:16:37 PST

I have mostly been sticking to my usual strawberry smoothies - some variation of yogurt, OJ, and frozen strawberries. The thicker the better!

Today I finally decided to try something new, since dh had stocked up on yogurt. We had picked up frozen mangos and some orange-mango juice...

Little Updates

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:24:44 PST

Kids made a little puppet show. PAinted a box green to test out the paint color. Came out pretty good - much better than the old "green sheet" trick. Not sure when they will get to painting the wall.

I was wondering if the HOA would complain if we had a green wall in our garage....

Updated Totals

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:11:31 PST

Not much to report, but I paid all the July bills (er, set them to pay on due dates) and updated my savings totals, to the left.

This year we have saved just about $7950. So, only $50 shy of my original $8k savings goal. Woohoo!

My goal has since been revised to $10k, but saving...

Annual Renewals & Other Tidbits

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:27:05 PST

I had an interesting surprise today. I had put off paying the newspaper subscription, hoping I could talk dh out of it. (No such luck!)

It is due in a couple of days so I figured I might as well pay it. I just pay annually since it is the cheapest option (as with everything,...

Manic Monday

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:46:10 PST

Actually, it's not so manic.

BM is done with school, so no manic there.

When I left for vacation I Felt "caught up" at work. For the first time all year - phew.

I daresay I expected a huge pileup on my return, but apparently last week was pretty slow. Yay!

We are camping...

Recovering...

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:56:01 PST

I am so... exhausted...

So much for a relaxing staycation. LOL.

It turned out to be 96 degrees the day we went to the water park.

We had drama because, lord knows why, I took my favorite bag there. I actually left it sitting out in the open on a chair by a walking path -...

It Pays to be Multi Regional...

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:19:03 PST

I was just ordering our season passes, online, for the water park, when I decided to check the San Jose location to see if their season passes were priced differently. On a whim.

Wouldn't you know - they were far more expensive.

It will pay to buy them in Sacramento, though...

Got Ladybugs?

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:11:29 PST

My dad took this picture in the Bay Area somewhere, BUT it looks like our neighborhood 1 month ago or thereabouts:

There seemed to be ladybugs everywhere, and we saw them congregating in a few areas like this. Not sure what it was about this year - or if we were just outside...

Stopping to smell the roses

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:02:23 PST

I didn't forget to stop and smell the roses...

Picture, courtesy of my new camera phone. (This is like 1/5 of the rose garden - at a local park).

OF course, you didn't have to stop to smell these roses - there were SO MANY!

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Tomorrow...

Free Summer Activities

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:01:11 PST

I just marked up my calendar with free summer activities.

Unfortunately, most the library activities coincide with swim lessons and vacation, etc. We might make ONE event. But the kids will get free tickets to a pro basketball game - so that will be fun. (Though it will cost...

Manic Monday

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:07:00 PST

The funny thing yesterday is I petered out pretty quickly and was feeling un-accomplished. But if I add it all up, I guess it adds up to a busy/accomplished day.

**I cleaned the fridge. The only thing I really threw out was soda. AND I was impressed how un-dirty it really was...

Still on Staycation

monkey0mama@gmail.com (Monkey Mama) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:13:56 PST

I am exhausted from the weekend. It was fun, but exhausting!!! Campout, BBQ, swimming all weekend, etc. Lots of fresh air though.

Dh is working for free books at Scholastic. We dropped the car off at the shop. I let him have the other car since all I need is a trip to the drugstore...