I dont think so cell phone company!

My husband's rugged (HAHAHAHAH) phone is dying. Did i mention its the second model of this phone he's had? And he babies it? Never drops it. My rumor phone hits the floor every day and its fine. Scratched up but works great. So far his phones have run is $130, my phone $50. Hubby called our cell company to see about a credit for a new one. They have him a $150 credit. Sweet! He found a new phone that will be $20 after the credit. The associate starts ringing us up and casually mentions 'You know this will extend your contract for 2 years, right?' Hold up, what? Nobody said anything about that. We walked out. We're fine with our cell carrier (best one we've had so far) and have no desire to switch. Why would we walk out?

Our plan costs us $100 a month. 24 months x $100 = $2,400
The new cell phone without discount runs us $170.

If I am going to renew my contract for 2 years, I am negotiating a better rate! Otherwise I am not locking us into a contract. Lets so we only get $10 off a month.

24 months x $90 = $2,160

That means we save $240 over 2 years. The phone was $170. We just saved $70 buy not falling into their 'cheap' phone trap.

Say we negotiate down to $80 a month for the same exact service.

24 months x $80 = $1920

That would be a savings (off the original contract) of $480. Phone was $170, we would save $310.

Now say we did something even more radical and find a used phone from our carrier. Wow, we could really save! We didn't sign onto their plan blindly excited to 'save' the $150 off a new cell phone. Now we have the opportunity to look for a used phone, and negotiate a better rate if we want to extend our contract. And currently, we don't!

Gosh isn't it nice of the cell company to give you $150 phone credit while you give THEM $2,400? lol

Life has its own plans.

Its been a long time! Some very unexpected expenses have drained our savings account and left us in debt. Once again. Plus our paid for car was crashed into new years eve. It looks like the insurance company might total it for an amount that would be hard to find a comparable car for. Needless to say this is very frustrating for us! 2009 will be a year to buckle down and spend as little as possible to resolve both the car and savings issues.

still no babies!

I love military insurance.

Disclaimer: My husband sacrifices a LOT for this benefit.

Last night I had an emergency ER visit due to complications from my surgery 2 weeks ago. It was scary! This morning I had an urgent appointment to follow up. I am horribly afraid of invasive procedures, hospitals, needles, IVs, etc. Hysterical afraid. In the past two weeks I've been subjected to a lot. And its very very hard on me to go through everything I've had to do. Its Very hard on Dh to watch me go through it as well. But the good thing is the surgery was free. Medication free. Er visit free. Urgent visit free. And hopefully we've prevented cancer. I need a nap!

Wow. Economic scare anyone?

The latest bank closure has hit too close to home. We have a Washington Mutual account. I opened my first checking account there when I was 16. Until dh and I combined finances that was my only bank. It has not been our main bank since then, but it shocked me to my core when it went down. I'm not a doomsday sort of a woman, I tend to ignore dire predictions. But 3 major banks in one week?? HELLO! Whats the point of recording history if we dont learn from it?? Until the latest bank failing I've been pretty calm but watchful. Now I'm scared. We wont pull our money out of banks, that WOULD make more fail. But I intend to invest in some items, and keep a good stash of cash at home. If the banks fail we wont have access to dh's paycheck, the military makes you use direct deposit. There is no other option. We talked about what were going to do to prepare last night.

Build the Pantry back up.

Buy a flashlight/solar charger we saw for $25

Buy more solar lamps.

Get a filled propane tank for the bbq

Store some gas in the shed.

Buy a small child wagon

Store some water.

Get rid of clutter

Sell the good extra car, donate the van

Being afraid wont help anything, the economy is going to do what its going to do. I can't keep it from failing by being afraid. But I can prepare, calmly. If i have a plan I feel better.I am very thankful for our house. We live close enough to walk to base. Where dh works. Where there is a grocery store, and a store with general merchandise. Little bit of everything. If gas becomes scarce we can manage without driving. It would be tough but doable. The wagon would be for groceries, and dh can grab small items on his way home from work. We live up the street from a hardware store, and a Rite aid. They would be a pretty good walk but we can do it. I wish we had a wood stove or a place to put one! But we have fur heat. All our animals and us and one room would heat it up quickly! We can cook on the bbq if necessary. Solar lamps do not produce enough light to compete with an electric light but they help. I put one in the bathroom (when I remember I have to charge it in the living room) and its enough light to see when the house is dark, close to a night light. A cleared out drivieway would allow us to park an rv there if my parents need to live with us.

I'm thankful my dh will not lose his job. His pay will not go down. It may not go up but it will not go down. I'm thankful we own our cars. I'm thankful we have savings. I'm thankful I know how to bake bread, bagels, muffins etc. I'm thankful we know how to be very very frugal if needed. I'm thankful we will still have store access if we cant drive, in some of our old homes that would not be true. I'm thankful the base store sells animal food. I'm thankful we already live a wonderful life on less, taking it down a notch would be fine for us. Kitty litter might be a problem! Newspaper anyone? Oh wait i've been wanting to train them to use the toliet, looks like now is a good time.

Laundry cheat sheet

My simple laundry project.


I clipped the wheel and chart from the April 2008 issue of Real Simple magazine. I don't usually buy this one its expensive $4. I splurged for our plane ride back in April. I kept it to cut out the laundry charts.

Close up of wheel.


I stuck a brad in the center of the wheel to allow it to turn for easy reading. The scrapbook paper came from my stash. The 'this is the life' sticker also come from my stash. The 'dream' sticker was part of a pack from the dollar store. I used a puff pen on the flower, also from my stash. You can see the mark my coffee cup made when set on it. Twice! lol. I think its a cute little project that looks nice in our little laundry room. Maybe now my husband will stop shrinking my clothes!


Close up of chart.

To sit? Or not to sit?

I had a baby sitting interview today. It would be nice to have extra cash for house projects. I want to baby sit for only one family, 2 kids max. Would prefer 1 child. My main goal is to have something to focus on besides the foster wait! But this one is up in the air because the baby is not used to animals. We have a few. . She liked them but was unsure. I wouldnt be terribly heart broken because the mom pays by day and not hourly, and not as much as i would like. But if they choose me, i'll do it.

If i manage to keep dh home tonight that will be 2 no spending days in a row. I would really love to go an entire week without spending money but it never seems to work for us. Especially when were up in our ears in home projects! I had leftovers for lunch. Leftover fondue. lol but it still qualifies right?

Easy Peasy menu plan :)

I cant stand for long periods of time, in fact i shouldn't be using my knee at all. This makes cooking rather difficulty. Especially because my beloved husband is not a cook. He is on his way to becoming a barbecue master, but thats about it. Not to mention he's exhausted after a very very long day of work. We both agreed we don't want to eat fast food for the foreseeable future. My answer is simple meals, with liberal use of the crock pot.

Saturday evening after we go to the grocery store i want to put this breakfast casserole in the crock pot. We can eat it for breakfast Sunday morning. I plan to put the leftovers in tortillas, freeze the tortillas and reheat all week long. Yum!

Saturday I would like to eat fish for dinner. Perhaps with a pasta and pea side dish.

Sunday- Depends on what Dh wants.

Monday- leftovers, dh works

Tuesday- Chicken Bean Tortilla Soup yum

Wednesday- Roast with vegetables

Thursday- Italian Tortellini maybe with spinach salad

Friday-Leftovers

Saturday- We'll see!

Bum knee

Our in home interview went wonderfully, thank goodness the agency sent us an animal person! We were pressed to accept a sibling group again but she did accept our refusal. I have nothing but respect for parents who can do so, but thats not me. We *should* be licensed foster parents right now but Dh's boat refused to honor his signed day off, and as such we have to wait to take the class again (and drive very far to do it sooner) till July 12th. This could pose a problem as i have injured my knee badly enough to require a full leg immobilization cast. And the military doctors are dragging their feet, i hurt my leg a week and a half ago (had to go to the emergency room because I couldn't get a doctor appointment till the 24th) and Monday a full two weeks after i was hurt i can SCHEDULE the MRI to see whats up with my knee. Yeah. And i need another minor surgery that is waiting to see whats going on with my knee. I'll tell you what, I will book EVERYTHING around this class. Its more important to me then getting my knee fixed.

i'm struggling right now with being laid up on the couch. I had plans to pain my bathroom, finish the nursery trim, attack the yard, make concrete stepping stones,finish painting the outside of the house, make a rock back patio, and plant flower beds in front of the house. not to mention enjoying summer. Dh and i were thinking about taking a cruise! (through the military) We were going to stay in the caboose we stayed in our first night as a married couple for our 3rd anniversary. Instead my poor over worked husband is having to do the best he can around the house, while i do what I can without injuring myself.

There is a positive to all this.
I get time to read.
I found Dave Ramsey, and he is getting me fired up to do better financially.
I have time to scrap book, i love to do it but am usually to busy.
Plenty of time for animal pets.
Lots of time to coupon, and really search for good deals.
More mind full of trips in the car, since riding hurts and I cant drive.
We have cable TV, when i was sick from my ulcer we did not.
I don't make any income so we're fine financially
Navy medical, all the things I've been through would cost a fortune otherwise!

I'm trying to learn to be content with the way life HAS to be and not beat myself up over letting things go. I AM going to vacuum while sitting on the couch, lol. If only we had a wheelie chair down here i could vacuum a lot more but it would probably hurt the floor.

I do need to call our agency and advise them of the injury, which i hope does not cause any problems. I'm SO worried about that!

mmm spring

Instead of keeping my home tightly sealed, fighting every draft to the best of my ability I threw open the windows and welcomed the fresh air. Finally a day where its too warm with the windows closed. A day when I get too hot playing to wear my fleece outside. Where I can frolic with my puppies in a T-shirt! Oh yes! Soon I will plan bulbs, sow seeds, and await the arrival of blooms.

Free pancake tuesday

Today is Ihop's pancake day. Dh and I went. They weren't free. We bought a coffee, and split an omelet for $12. Tip was $3, donation to the childrens hospital was $5. I'm all for donating, but it seems kind of misleading to call it 'free pancake day' when you are heavily encouraged to donate money for the 'free' pancakes. In fact they said you should keep in mind the price of pancakes when donating, basicly please donate the amount you would have spent on pancakes. I hope ihop is matching the donation, because i'm not very pleased with their marketing. Effective yes, but misleading.

Mmm nothing interesting here.

Not much going on around here lately, and I must say thats a good thing. I've been non-stop for the past two months and some down time is much needed. I only wish my exausted husband could get some as well! I've been staying out of the stores, but will be heading off to do my drugstore shopping tomorrow. We did switch our cell phone plan to another carrier saving us $80 a month. We would have saved another $20 a month if we hadn't added 1000 text messages per line. But dh and I text all day long, and its well worth it to us. He works such long hours (occasionally from 5am till 8pm) that we need it to keep in touch. And its fun! My phone will be $50 after rebate, his will be $100. He has a $20 phone right now but we will switch it for a tough phone with better service. Staying home is wonderful.

Tax rebate

Hubby and I can expect to get about $1,200 from the rebate check. What to do with it? Normally I would pay off a debt or save it. But my husband will be re-enlisting in a few months and at that time we will pay off all our debt except the house. Since we have very little non-mortgage debt there will be plenty of money left over for a motorcycle (for DH) and money to save for an adoption. Not to mention we will get our tax rebate back around then too. We need some work done on the house, but nothing extensive.

So, what to do with that chunk of cash? A vacation would be really lovely, we haven't been on a long vacation for a year and a half. We're going to a family reunion in April, but we wont be paying for a lot of that and its not very relaxing. Besides a vacation I would truly *love* to go on a thousand dollar shopping spree. I know its not frugal, or wise. I know that it would be smart to save the money. I do love saving. But. . . Being frugal sometimes means denying yourself the things you want. Being an adult means choosing whats best over whats fun. I do it all the time. Wouldn't it be fun to pick the irresponsible option? The do what you want instead of what you should do option? To buy every little item that catches your eye no matter what the price tag?

A girl can dream. However if you'll excuse me I have a room to clean out and a house to spruce up. That romance novel and warm blanket will have to wait.

Cheap? Frugal? Crazy?

Frugal is: Using less laundry detergent then the makers suggest.

Cheap is: Cleaning up the spilled laundry detergent with a wet already dirty rag that you promptly throw into the washer to use as detergent for the washer load.

No personal experience with this what so ever! Noooo not me!

Cake decorating class

It seems my $10 student kick was far too low cost to be my only supplies. I had a feeling I would need a few more items but in actuality I need quite a bit more! I spent another $18.18 and I estimate I only have half the things I need.

I bought
piping gel $3.49
Cake Leveler $2.99
4pc coupler set $1.99
2 packs clearance holiday baking cups $1.58

Total $10.05
- 10% student discount
+ tax
Final $9.72

My expensive purchase was my turn table. They had a plain model for $8.99, or a non-slip footed model for $12.99. I had a 40% off coupon to use. The basic model would be $5.39 after coupon my instructor says she puts a wet towel under hers to keep it from slipping. The footed model was $7.79 after coupon no towel needed. That's a difference of $2.40 for a model I like much better. I'm just fine with that. Total after tax $8.46.

I need meringue powder, cardboard cake serving boards, flavorings, disposable bags, pointed scissors, tooth pick holder, a ton of shortening, powdered sugar, and 3 small lidded bowls. I'll going back to the craft store a few times to buy things with coupons. I'm thinking Costco for the shortening and powdered sugar. I already have some Wilton coloring, those colors will do just fine for the next week at least. My husband offered me a plastic tool box to carry everything in, and since this is a week when every penny matters I'm going to accept. I'm hoping that the next class wont be as costly supply wise because I'll have the main stuff. In the mean time this one looks like a lot of fun!

New years

Happy New Year! We celebrated this year by making a special dinner and relaxing on the couch. Truthfully I would have preferred a different celebration, but with Christmas just behind us and the mass of needed repairs it was not in the budget. How did we celebrate? I made fondue, we drank wine, watched a movie, watched fireworks and kissed at midnight. Cost:

Fondue:
8oz provolone- $2
6 oz smoked Gouda $4
8 oz leftover Swiss free
6 tbs brandy free
loaf of crusty bread $2
Total $8

Wine:
Riesling $8 used for fondue and drinking
Champagne $5 (never opened lol)
Total $13


Movie:
Pirates of the Caribbean 3-free (we use blockbuster online)
Hairspray-free
Total $0

Fireworks: free. We have a great view of the city across from us.

Kisses:Priceless! Hubby is frequently gone for holidays.

Total was a simple, calm holiday with a special meal: $21

ugh

Have you ever had one of those days when you know you shouldn't get out of bed? But you have to because if you stay in bed nothing will get done all day. The house will literally come apart at the seams. So you get up. Later in the day you end up stripping off every article of clothing in front of your washer the very second you walk into the door. Because it was just that kind of day.

Btw if your not sure your gas stopped pumping when you clicked the nozzle. Click it again. Trust me, you will not regret it.

Merry Christmas

How is everyone doing on projects and presents? I don't think we're doing too badly I at least have an idea for everyone if not the gift. I am however far beyond the projects! I hate stressing out at Christmas but its beyond our control this year. My husband's command decided this was a great time to make the guys work 92 hour weeks. That's 6am-8pm every day for three weeks. And by everyday i mean weekends too my husband has had just 1 day off in three weeks. So on top of my usually responsibilities I have all of his. See? Stress! Then add Christmas activities (decorating, shopping, cooking, wrapping) and we have a ripe case of stress!

What can I change?

Next year set up an automatic Christmas savings account.
$25 every check will be deposited. That's not much at the time but by Christmas it will be close to $600.

Continue to by Christmas presents year round as I find them.
I did shop year round this year and it helped but I want to do so more aggressively.

Start projects earlier!
I would really love to bake some cookies in summer to freeze for Christmas time.

What can I fix right now?

Take things one step at a time.
A counter of dishes tends to over whelm me. But If i squeeze in a sink full here and there it doesn't seem like such a huge problem. The dishes get done and my stress stays down. Wrapping a present here and there is not as mentally draining as wrapping a spare room loaded with presents.

Play with the dogs frequently.
That seems counter productive doesn't it? But my puppies need exercise. If they get one big playing session they don't work as much, they play far harder when they get to rest between play sessions. Which means they are more tired, less likely to get into trouble, and less likely to be in my face all day. Besides I've found that playing with them is good for me too. I relax and the fresh air tends to erase headaches.

Realize that I am not super woman.
If I push myself till I am stressed, exhausted, and cranky what good am I to anyone? I'm human just like everyone else and some times I have to let things slide. I could spend all evening cleaning, or I could sit and spend time with the husband I haven't seen all day.

Make time for things that are important.
Wednesday instead of whipping through things that need to be done I'm taking the day off to go decorate the Christmas tree with my mom. We do it together every year and the thought of doing it without me made both of us cry. This year we did not manage our annual Christmas craft fair but that did not break our hearts. Decorating the tree apart does, so it is a priority. To me Christmas is about memories, traditions and family. It is not about how clean my floors are. Every year my husband and I drive to a U-Cut Christmas tree farm. We hike all over the huge fields looking for the perfect tree, freezing our bums off the whole time. Last year the patch was far away from the office, my husband hauled the tree over his shoulder. We LOVE it. As soon as he gets some time off during the day you can bet we will be strapping a Christmas tree to the roof of our 4 door car! Incidentally its much cheaper then 'fresh' tree lots and you can see the whole tree you don't find a big bald spot when you unwrap it.

One of the things I love about frugality is it encourages you to let go of everyone else's expectations for your life and focus on things that are important to you. Why shouldn't I use that focus in my life as well as my finances?

Shopping and money challenge

Money challenge is completely out the window! But I found great buys on fabric storage boxes clearanced at lowes. At Home Depot i bought a clearance tissue cover (ceramic with pretty trim) for .01 cent. That's right folks! Very cool. My salaried dh told me he's making more then .01 cent while talking to me lol. He bought some new things, a palm sander at the pawn shop for $10. Maybe he can finish my $1 coffee table now! He also bought a drain snake, and is hopefully fixing the washer as we speak. Our brand new set is too powerful for the drain and has leaked water everywhere since we bought it. We've been draining the washer into the sink with a hose and that's no fun. It can be a huge mess as well!

I this post at thrifty fun, and it intrigued me. I love the idea of solar power. We bought a set of solar lights for outside, and they are nice but do not produce enough light to be used inside. We looked at bigger lamps at Lowes but they were pretty expensive $44 for two. They have a solar panel that powers regular appliances for $24 but they were out. We're going to look online. He likes the big power cell better because he thinks it will generate more power then the small cells that are on top of the lamps i liked. The lamps with a separate solar cell looked way too outdoorsy to go inside! Were going to look around more, and maybe wait for a sale before we purchase anything.

Envy

Yesterday dh and I drove to a small semi rural area about 20 minutes from us to pick up freecycle stuff. That area is pretty much our dream area, close enough to stores to be convenient, about 30 minutes from the area's major shopping center, and probably 20 minutes to base. Its a quite area with pretty homes, old trees and plenty of land. Exactly what we want. Well i think dh would really like to be on a lake as well, but the area is very close. The whole way to the freecycle house we were quiet or occasionally sighing over a big beautiful house with tons of old growth land. It made me start to compare my little inlet house to those big beautiful houses. And my little house was coming up short. In till I remembered one simple, solid fact. I truly love my little house.

Sure it doesn't have several acres of land, or a massive house with 5 huge bedrooms, and 3 grand bathrooms. Yes we do live in the city, behind an auto parts store with not a not so nice neighborhood behind us. And yes the city has been annoying the snot out of me for the past few months, beeping and tearing things down. But i LOVE this house.

So what if our yard is not huge? I've spent the past 5 years without a yard. Theres plenty of room for a rousing game of puppy football, room for flowers to grow, and possibly a small garden. Right now its overrun with growth but that's one of the reasons we bought this house for a good price. And I really enjoy chopping away at blackberry bushes, and annoying branches. I spent 4 months taking big dog outside while he was a little puppy in a second floor apartment. I am very grateful for my fence and yard!

Yes 2 of our 3 bedrooms are small. But ours is huge! :) To me anyway. The downstairs bedroom will make a perfect nursery and fits a twin bed with room for a dresser and desk. The upstairs bedrooms is a bit smaller but it still fits a huge rabbit cage, daybed, small entertainment center and a cabinet. All 3 of our bedrooms have a view of Puget Sound.

The upstairs bathroom is tiny but that's ok all we needed was two sinks and two toilets. I've seen shows with people that have 12 kids and one toilet. No thank you! The downstairs bathroom is roomy, but the tub is small. That is just fine. I have remodel plans thought out! :)

I really, really love my kitchen. I plan to replace the linoleum at some point, get a better fridge, maybe remodel the counters but all that is stuff that can wait. I love it just the way it is.

Our living room is wonderful, i wish the table did not have to go into it but it doesn't cause a problem. Its off to one side, the living and dining areas are clearly separated. The living room has some of our best water views, and plenty of space.

In addition to that we have a small laundry/mud room with a stacked washer dryer combo, with room leftover to fit the dog's crates. Big dog's crate is so large he can curl into the back and have room leftover for another 65 pound dog. Upstairs we have a computer nook with a pretty wide hallway we're currently storing things in.

Our street is great, its quiet and currently mainly unoccipied. We have two sweet old ladies for neighbors, and occasionally our next door neighboor comes home. Our street was made into a cul-du-sac and all the power and phone lines are going under ground. The city is improving lots next to us. And the not so nice neighboor hood is behind us they dont bug us down here.

I have so much to be thankful for, and that's just my house! It doesn't include my husband, family, friends, and animals. Next time I drive past those big houses with lots of land I'll think about my 'little' house and smile. Because I love it here.

Way, way WAY over budget

We are so far over budget we can't see the budget anymore. Most of our purchases were good needed items, good deals on Christmas presents, big dog's surgery. However its time to buckle down! My goal is to get to the first spending only cash. We have $130 in our cash bucket. I have a $30 check in my wallet. Dh has some cash but I don't know how much. We plan to sell some of the dvds and books we no longer watch or read. I would really like to not spend $100 from the cash bucket. That leaves $60. Which should be possible if we dont need gas ($50 last fill up) right now we have a half a tank. I need a little big of veggies, but no meat. We probably have 10 pounds of turkey. The animals have plenty of dry food they only need wet food.

What will we be doing? Projects of course! Earlier I mentioned a few things I would like to get done. On top of that there is a $1 coffee table we're refurnishing, a garbage disposal to install, washer maintenance, weather stripping, cleaning, sewing, patching, and baking. Not to mention taking dogs for walks and to the park. We can also frisbee golf, and geocache. Oh and the cat stand we started but have not worked on. Sheesh we have so much to do maybe we should very a strict budget more often!