Ever have one of those, where you wake up wide awake and feeling good and as soon as you step out the door you know somehow that it's going to be a good, maybe even great, day? That's today!

I woke up before either of my alarms this morning. Even better: I woke up awake. Enjoyed my morning of coffee, reading, and snuggling the cats. Got ready for work, headed out the door, and stopped in my tracks on my porch. We had rain last night, and the whole street looked... good. The sky looked good. My new-to-me yellow Focus 2dr looked great, and there were even birds chirping in my yard. Low, patchy clouds were zooming across the sky like you would see in a movie or commercial, and I could just hear the voice-over guy "At that moment, she knew the world was hers." HAHA, take that, world!

I dunno, it's weird I guess, but today just feels like it'll be fantastic. I got allowance & grocery money on my way in, walked in the office and immediately fixed a problem logo left over from yesterday, and now I'm struggling to reverse-engineer 4 yr old Java code while drinking, well, java. Nothing that seems to fall under the heading of a great day, but that's alright.

THE DAY IS STILL YOUNG!

My name is Tina, and I am a member of Spouses of Spenders Anonymous. *Hi Tina!*

I have been married to a spender for 1.5 years, although we've been together 4. My spender acknowledges he's a spender and has given me control of our budget, but it feels that is where the progress stops.

My spender likes toys, and my spender says things like "We make good money, we should be able to buy what we want". Sound familiar? I agree to an extent, but as a Spouse of a Spender, I feel it's irresponsible to spend money on new toys instead of aggresively paying off debt from old toys.

My spender and I had serious relationship problems about a year ago that are still very painful for me. Also, in the last 4 months I have lost my job, we bought a house (it was a wise decision, believe me!), I got a better job, and we bought a car. Needless to say, it's been a stressful time time, full of changes, all that good stuff.

At this point, I'm feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place. I desparately want to get our finances in order, partly I suppose b/c I have recently felt the effects of a layoff. On the other hand, b/c of the issues btwn DH and me, I have a hard time telling him no when he wants something. It makes me feel like a schmuck, and I know I'm not a schmuck.

And so here I am, between a rock and a hard place, balancing my budget and Spendy Spouse.

I've been blindsided by deer!!!

There I was, happily cruising along in my budget software, enjoying the sights of all this month's bills being paid and it's not even the 20th, when I come to a screeching halt at the sight of my balance.

What? I'm $400 down? ACK!!! OMG, WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!??

I start careening about, grasping for my check book and clutching my mouse like a suicide strap, repeating the mantra "There HAS to be an explaination SOMEWHERE!!!" I pass some familiar looking debt payments, and remember I had overpaid 3 that I didn't intend to. OK, but where's the REST?

I turn the corner in my software, and there it is, standing right in the middle of my register.

Hunting Season.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!

DH's visions of deer from the very beginning of the month leapt out of nowhere and smashed a big hole in the side of my budget before I had even made a budget.

"I'll get you, Hunting Season! You just wait and SEE!!!" Trashing my budget like that...

Irony of it all is I don't particularly like venison, not to mention I could have bought 93% lean ground angus at $0.99 per pound and filled way more freezers than Hunting Season will.

Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Alright, I started stashing the change and dollar bills from my allowance a week ago. Here's my grand total


$17.00 dollar bills
$ 9.75 quarters
$ 4.70 dimes
$ 1.00 nickels
$ 0.99 pennies
------------------------
$33.44 total


Granted, I had about half the change already in a change jar (I just kept adding this money to that same stash), so the actual total is about $25. Still, not to shabby!!!

Alright, here we are on Day 2. My account was approved yesterday, and I was waiting for my $5 initial deposit from Real Life checking to GYD.

RL checking showed a $5 withdrawal this morning. Sweet! Went to GYD/Apple Bank website, and needed a telephone banking PIN to be able to access their online banking. Since I was approved for the account yesterday, I didn't have said PIN. (Please note, I didn't say PIN number *chuckle*)

Well, I called AB at 2:15 EDT, and was off the phone is under 7 minutes, off to check my email where my PIN was being sent.

I received my email at 2:26, PIN included, and everything is working just as one would expect. WooHOO!!! The deposit still hasn't shown up on their side of the house yet, but I will continue to watch with baited breath.

On 10/18/06, custline1 wrote:
Apple Bank normally mails a letter to the address provided in the Grand Yield Direct application confirming the account and providing the internet banking password. To facilitate the process please use the password provided in this email as you have not yet received this letter.

Response:
Thank you very much for your courteous and prompt service: as a new 'online only' customer, it is greatly appreciated!

tinapbeana

It was all chilly and rainy yesterday and therefore I declared it a soup day. Got home from work, put soup on, and after a few hours the verdict was in: YUM!!! Best part is I have several quarts worth of soup now that it's fall!

Only problem: today is going to be a high of 77, tomorrow will be 80.

Go figure!

You know the one, that you're being taken advantage of? Yeah, that one...

I'll just start by saying I love DH and I know he loves me. But we're all grown, and we know that loving someone doesn't mean you always treat them the way you should, and doesn't mean you don't take them for granted.

So, with that being said, I'm starting to feel like I'm getting a pretty crappy deal aroud my house, and I'm about fed up with it.

Monday I got home from work before DH. Actually,he'd been off work a few hours and was at my dad's cigar store, but whatever. I got home, built a fire in the wood stove, started dinner, put laundry on, yadda yadda. He gets home, sits down in his chair and says something to the effect of "There's a fire going and dinner's cooking, all I need are slippers and a drink and I'll be happy."

I looked at him and simply said "You know, I thought the same thing when I got home from work."

ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH!!!!

I know the example above may not seem like much, but it is as they say the straw that broke the camel's back. We both work full time, we both do our own personal laundry, but that's where the equitable split of labor ENDS, and I'm getting fed up with it.

He cooks once every other week or so, but hasn't washed a load of dishes since we bought this house in July. Washes his own clothes, but dirty towels and sheets could sit around and moulder to rags without him thinking to put them in the wash. Likes to snuggle the cats, but hasn't touched their litter box in a year and a half. It goes on and on an on...

I get home around 6p during the week and have 5 hours before it gets to be bed time. I start dinner, do dishes, put on laundry, clean the cat box, fold laundry, sweep the floor, take out the trash (!!!), put on more laundry, and DH will yell from the den "Hey, whatcha doin'?" WHAT? What the hell do you think I'm doing?

Long story short, I'm starting to feel more like a single mom than a married woman with no kids. It's been annoying for a while and it's starting to move towards creepy. I have to remind him to take medicine, I have to remind him to collect days worth of dishes from around his chair and at least bring them in the kitchen. I go to the fridge and find out he's left an empty milk & OJ container in their rather than setting it out on the counter (or heaven forbid even rinsing it out and putting in the recycle bin).

I've asked him nicely to help, that didn't work. I've broken down in tears about this, that didn't work. I made up a chore list (because he asked for one saying he didn't know what needed to be done), and that didn't work. I'm running out of options and it scares me. I found out he almost cheated on me about a year ago, and he said it was because I was tired all the time. Well what the #$*^!@ do you expect when I work 8 hours and then come home and work 4 more?!? No wonder I'm tired all the time...

At any rate, I'm getting more and more frustrated and, as you can probably tell, I'm starting to seriously resent my DH. Any practical suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It's 54 and raining here in upstate SC, which to me makes it a perfect SOUP DAY!

What do I have at home? 32 bean dried mix, dehydrated veggies, can of chicken stock, 1 onion, couple of potatoes, pre-cooked rice. Sounds like soup to me!

Oooooh, and DH won't be home until late tonight: he has a Mason's Business meeting. It'll just be me, kitties, soup and SavingAdvice all evening long...

So far so good on this one. My application was approved yesterday, and they sent 2 tiny test deposits to my checking account to make sure I gave them the right routing info. It's supposed to take up to 3 business days, but there they were this morning, ready and waiting!

Now the account is complete and they are initiating the $5 deposit I told them to make during my application process. We'll see how quickly the money goes from my account to theirs.

I'm shocked, and amazed, and pleased all at the same time. My frugalness isn't necessarily rubbing off on DH, but it appears he is noticing and listening to an extent. A spouse that notices and listens, how novel. I'm kidding, of course, but it's still nice.

I bring this whole topic up b/c DH & I have talked about money not once but TWICE over the past 3 days. And not just who's going to pay if we go out to dinner, either. Actual, serious discussion. WooHoo!!

Turns out DH wants to have a beefier EF that what I require. Hey, good to know. Granted, he said "That way, the money will be there if we find something we need, or want"... To which I replied "As long as we pay the money back to the account." Puzzled look came from this, but we'll see.

The rest of this conversation was something like this

DH "We make good money, and should be able to buy what we want."

ME "I completely agree we should be able to buy what we really want and need. But, DH, I want to eliminate our debt b/c it is (hold on a sec, math time $350 old debt $300 car $500 house): $1150 of our monthly take home, over %25!!! Imagine what we could do with that money once it's freed up!"

I saw the lights in his eyes. Pictures of sugar plums and a motorcycle dancing in his head.

Last night's conversation was about what to do w/ my old 401k: roll it or take a disbursement. See, my old 401k plan let you take out loans & pay yourself back with interest (cool!) & payments were drafted from your paycheck. Had 1 loan to buy DH's first motorcycle last year, and then when we found the house we sold the motorcycle and paid off the loan (it cost us $100 to have that bike 1 yr, not bad). Then, took a loan on the 401k balance to put the downpayment on the house. Then, got downsized and there's no paycheck for them to take payments out...

Either way, I can either take a full disbursement paying a fee & having the company take out taxes, or I can have them take the loan balance off the top leaving me w/ enough cash to roll into say a Roth IRA. In this scenario, I'm responsible for the taxes myself. DH has been rooting for a disbursement, until i started to describe what benefits a Roth would give us. No eyes rolled or glazed over, he was interested and listened intently. He even said "We could affprd to put half down and finance the rest by the end of this year, but I know you're wanting to avoid the whole debt thing."

Woohoo! Like water rolling gently over a stone, I too can slowly effect even the toughest of obstacles.

Gonna start this off in a non-frugal fashion:

By 10p next Tuesday I will...

Go through my clothes and donate at least one bag to the thrift store. I will also make sure my remaining clothes all have a home in either the closet, the dresser, or in a plastic bin waiting for next summer.

I've decided to hold myself accountable by posting my goals here, online, where no one knows who I am or where I live and no one can contact me. Perfect!

Another board I was on (which was such a let-down, BTW), had a group that focused on one goal a week. Something small, reasonable, and if possible, attainable. Giving how my weeks seem to be flying by at this point, I figured I could definitely give this a try.

That was about 2 and a half weeks ago =/

Now that I have found my blog away from home, I've decided to bring the idea here.

One Week (any 7 day time period will do)
One Goal (may or may not be of a frugal bent).

I'm so tickled I could snort!

*SNORT*

OK, got that out of my system... Just got the AOK from Grand Yield Direct/Apple Bank: they've decided that I am in fact not a terrorist and therefore am worthy enough to have a no minimum no fee savings account at 5.25% APY. YAY!!!

Now I'm just waiting for my two tiny test deposits to hit my checking account so that I can go ahead and get started on this whole savings game. Translation: I've got a grand earning only 0.5% right now, hurry up!!

Jiggity Jog
Home again home again
Hot Dog!

Needless to say, I'm back from my weekend out & about. I'm tired, I'm sore, and while I didn't strike it rich I feel the entire trip was worthwhile (and still moderately frugal).

First of all, time away w/ DH & family is (almost!) always a good thing. And, when I'm not at home, I can't be wasting electric! I found some good gems, and my aunt bought DH & I a $50 salted bucket of dirt as our housewarming present! It's exciting, b/c there were some very nice pieces in there that we could probably sell off to more than pay for the trip. The hotel was $30 less than expected, and my parents paid for an amazing breakfast this morning. Yummy and frugal over all!

Speaking of this morning: mom & I played spades w/ family until 12a Saturday night after mining all day. Needless to say, we were pooped and slept like logs. Until, that is, my eyes popped open at 7a this morning. Argh!!! Can oversleep during the week, but can't sleep in on a weekend vacation? Anyways, it was mostly dark & everyone else in the room was asleep, so I put on my gloves and sweater over my PJs to get a notebook from the van and watch the sunrise. BTW, it was 28 this morning in western NC.

Anyways, the sky was perfectly clear so the sunrise wasn't going to be anything great, so I got the notebook, slid my keycard in the room door, and got NOTHING!!! I was locked out of the room at 7a in 28 degree weather!!!

After the first second or two of panic I was fine

I had keys to the van, so I wasn't going to die of exposure. Plus, the lobby was open and serving breakfast, so I went down to get a cuppa coffee and let everyone else sleep a while. An hour later I quietly knocked on the door, and got nothing. No problem, more coffee and let them sleep. Starting to jones for a smoke at this point, but whatever...

10 minutes later DH is speedwalking to the lobby looking completely freaked like he thought I'd been kidnapped. A bit of an overreaction on one hand, but stillv ery heartwarming on the other. Plus I think it earned him brownie points w/ my folks See, he remembered me getting up, but since it was 7a and pitch darm in the room he thought it was the middle of the night and that I'd been gone for who knows how long... Ooops!

Turns out the computer had changed the code on the lock, so neither of the keys worked. Of course, DF had to check this 2x per key before he would go to the lobby, but that's neither here nor there, I suppose.

I love allowance day... I didn't get one as a kid (just got lunch money for the week on Mondays), so I think that's part of the magic for me. My own little bit of money to do as I please. Woohoo!!

Even better: I still had $30 left over from last week's allowance. It's actually probably closer to $40, but I've started stashing all my change AND my doller bills in a drawer at the end of the day. Can't wait to see how that works out...

At any rate, having $30 left over will more than cover my dirt at the gem mine tomorrow, and a fair portion of dinner. A weekend getway for the cost of 1/4th of a hotel room. How Frugal!!

Maybe it's just me, but being frugal and being green are almost hand in hand. Here's some products and websites I find particularly Green & Frugal.

Wrap-N-Mat - wraps up sandwiches instead of plastic baggies
BioFresh Resealable Zipper Produce Bags - 12 bags measuring 10" x 11"
Evert-Fresh Green Bags - 10 Pack, Large (1.5 gallon bags measuring 9" X 21" X 6")
Bag-E-Wash "One box (30) of gallon size baggies washed and dried with Bag-E-Wash™ and reused 30 times each keeps close to 1,000 bags out of the landfill. Plus it also saves you approximately $100.00."
Frugal Environmentalist: A New Take on Resolutions
SimpleLiving Chances are, you are already part of the Voluntary Simplicity movement, and don't even know it![/url]
BagelHole.org Bagelhole.org is a non-profit, non commercial site to help individuals and communities move towards self-sustainability, self-reliance, and autonomy.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The saying on my signature "Want to make God Laugh? Tell him your plans" has caused a phobia of the P word in my family for ages now. I guess it helps my vocabulary in a way. Please note the lack of the P word in this post
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I've been mulling over a debt payment 'strategy' to try and get my finances more in order and improve my floundering net worth. It's either increase assets or decrease liabilities when it comes to net worth, so I'm choosing the latter.

I've 'decided' to start hitting it heavy in January, and before everyone gets up in arms let me explain why! The money I 'intend' to put towards debt reduction is 1100 per month. For the next three months I will stash that amount in my current savings, because December will see the holidays, my car taxes, and my first property taxes on the house. ACK! By stashing 3300 over 3 months I will have more than enough to cover all three of those expenses in December, and what remains will hide in savings as a small EF. Sensible, yes? Oh, and for those who've taken a gander at the budget I posted in here, I will also be sending 300/month savings as my monthly 'payments' towards these bills for next year.

My known debts (more on this later) are as follows, highest interest rate to lowest (can't believe I'm actually posting amounts...):

Honda Card $ 2200 (came w/ the marriage)
Car $14900
House $59000 (more below)
Stud. Ln $ 8000
Hospital $ 1100 (DH back surgery last yr)
Inlaws $ 9000 (came w/ the marriage)

By April the Honda Card and hospital will be paid in full, giving me 1200/month to put towards debt. This is also tax season, and my federal income tax return (beefed up by the high interest rate I'm currently paying on the house), goes straight to student loans. Here's where I can't decide what exactly I want to do. If I put the full 1200 towards the student loans they'll be paid of in 6-7 months. If it's towards the car, it will be paid of in 11-12 months. OR, I could split the money up between the car, student loan, and money owed the inlaws.... Hmmmm...

As for the house, we are going to refinance it towards the end of next year. Sister is a loan officer at my credit union and has informed me that, for members, they refinance homes at 5% with no credit check at the appraised value as long as it's been more than 1 yr since purchase. And there's a $50 filing fee. This is good b/c the house will be worth about 20k more than what we owe on it at that point, without any improvements. Refinancing will cut my interest dramatically, and getting 10k in equity will allow us to bring the kitchen from 1969 standards to 1995 standards (plus some roof maintenance). The change in interest rate will be so dramatic that, even with owing 10k more on the note and escrowing property tax and insurance, my monthly payments will be about the same. Which means the $150 I currently set aside each month for property tax and insurance can be put to other uses.

So, there it is, out of my system, my battle 'strategy' in the ongoing Money War.

Alright, I know everyone is wondering how I can possibly have the audacity to put a weekend getaway under the Frugally Fabulous category. Well, I'm frugal and I'm having a getaway, which I think is fabulous

Actually, it could possibly pay for itself and then some, so I'll share. DH and I are going from upstate SC to western NC Saturday morning to meet my parents, aunt, and uncle at the

Mason Mountain Mine to hunt gem stones. Here's how it's frugal:

* We're taking DH's van (aka the company van) there and back, so we don't have to pay for gas
* We're sharing a hotel room with my parents rather thang etting our own (OK, yeah, this might be get a little weird)
* Instead of paying $10-$30 per person for one little pre-salted bucket of dirt that's gone in an hour, we're going for the $25 per person deal where you haul your own dirt and get to search all day long (in our experience, the most enjoyable way to go about it).

And other than the room and the gas, how is this frugal you say? Well, there will likely be a Shoney's buffet involved, but I digress.

This weekend is Frugally Fabulous because previous trips have always netted a hundred dollars worth of stones or more. My aunt & uncle go about 2x per year and have turned around and sold their stones back to the mine on several occasions. Others they've kept, had cut, and then made into jewelry (also profitable).

So, this weekend I'll be hauling backbreaking loads of 50lb buckets of dirt and sitting hunched over a sluce of cold water in 50 degree weather for anywhere from 6-9 hours. Sounds like fun, hm?

Don't worry, if I strike it rich, the proceeds will be broken into 3rds: EF, high debt, and WOOHOO!

Let me just say up front I don't want to do this. Period. It saddens and embarrasses me, which is odd considering I don't know any of you from Adam's Off Ox. Either way, I've done enough guess-timating in my life to know my Net Worth ain't what it should or could be.

I've perused the

How to know if you're wealthy thread, and it also is depressing and frustrating. The formulas are annoying at best, if nothing else because they mostly fail to consider cost of living. The net worth of someone in NY is going to look much better than the net worth of someone in upstate SC.

Let's take 2 folks and make it as simple as possible: assume they have neither debt nor savings, just a job and a house they financed completely.

FROM THE 2000 CENSUS
BROOKLYN NY
32135 MEDIAN SALARY
229200 MEDIAN HOME VALUE
188900 MEDIAN HOME ASKING PRICE
------------------------------------
SALARY + (MHV - MHAP)
72435 simple net worth

UPSTATE SC
33144 MEDIAN SALARY
112500 MEDIAN HOME VALUE
97000 MEDIAN HOME ASKING PRICE
------------------------------------
SALARY + (MHV - MHAP)
48644 simple net worth

By sheer numbers Ms. Brooklyn is doing much better than Ms. SC, even though Ms. Brooklyn can not likely meet her house payment on her salary. Frustrating.

With all that being said, all I know for sure is my net worth is currently negative (big surprise there ), a very obvious Frugal Failing. The good news (if you can call it that), is that this is using a conservative estimate on the value of my house. Going with zillow estimated value, I'm in the black by 10k.

Does that make me feel any better? ummmm, no, not really

While reading over some blogs since the forums are quiet (and I've finished my work for the week, which is weird), I noticed that lots of folks were discussing Myers Briggs a few weeks/days ago. I've also commented time or two on what kinds of personalities are most likely to be frugies. Oh, what the heck, I took the test for the who-knows-what time.

Here's me.

What's Your Personality Type?

***You Are An INTJ***

The Scientist

You have a head for ideas - and you are good at improving systems. Logical and strategic, you prefer for everything in your life to be organized. You tend to be a bit skeptical. You're both critical of yourself and of others. Independent and stubborn, you tend to only befriend those who are a lot like you.

You would make an excellent scientist, engineer, or programmer.

* * * * * * *

Great, I manage to take the one online test that was designed by someone who obviously knows exactly who I am.... =P

Earlier this year I read a book "Now Discover Your Strengths" which was really cool. In a nutshell: rather than trying to make up for one's faults, use your strengths to your advantage. What are my strengths? Here's the top 5, in order:

Ideation: People strong in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.
Strategic: People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
Maximizer: People strong in the Maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb.
Learner: People strong in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
Intellection: People strong in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

Alright, this is just getting darn right creepy....

And the debate about an EF vs paying down high interest debt rages on... For those of you sitting on the fence, or possibly looking for some fresh information and a new perspective, here is some food for thought.

Background: I was a sales and customer service Trainer up until 6/30 of this year when they closed our location and I was laid off. Ugh... For the first time in my life, I applied for unemployment. After my experience with unemployment, (which is something you as a worker NEVER pay for, it's paid for by the company that employs you), I now have a different view on the need and design of my EF, and here's why.

One needs to seriously take a look at one's expenditures and get an idea of what exactly you have to pay each month if you were to be unemployeed. Housing, utilities, minimums on debt. Keep in mind that you will likely want to keep things like internet access and phone service, b/c they make it easier to fidn a job and get interviews, and your gas budget may go up driving around looking for jobs. Other things, like cable TV and your lawn service can probably be cut. Get a number. For me, it's $2100 give or take.

Now, go to

Labor Department and rom there go to your state's Unemployment Office website. Research there, or even call them if you need to. This is important, b/c this could make or break your decision for an EF.

[*] What is the waiting time for benefits to begin?
[*] How are benefits calculated, and is there a maximum benefit amount?
[*] Are taxes taken out automatically or do you have the option to have no taxes removed?
[*] How long do you get benefits, and is there a possibility of extending them under certain circumstances?

Alright. Here in SC there is a 1 week waiting period after you lose your job, then you wait a week and file, and it takes about a week to get the check, so I estimate a 3 wk waiting period. Benefits are calulated at 50% of your earings for the past 5 quarters up to $303 per week pre-tax. Please note that if you make 100k per year, unemployment is likely NOT going to pay you half, or 50k, in benefits. SC gives you the option to have no state or federal taxes removed, and you receive benefits for 13 weeks with the option to extend another 13 weeks if approved for a total of 26 weeks (6 months).

Now, take the max you can get per wk from unemployment, multiply by 4, and that's what you'll get per month. In my case, $1212. DH gives me $1100 per month for household expenses (and keeps $500 for allowance), so his pay and unemployment will actually cover my expenses and then some for 6 months. Cool.

What if he gets laid off at the same time, you say? My 1212 plus his 1212 = $2424, more than enough to pay expenses.

So, here was my revelation: I can get up to 6 months unemployment which, at my current budget, will more than cover all necessary expenses. It takes on average 6 months to find a job, so the need to an EF in case I loose my job is actually quite low. Therefore, I feel secure in diverting most of my extra income directly to debt while stashing away a very small amount ($500-$1000) to cover medical co-pays or car repairs should they happen.

Any thoughts?

I'm such a dork b/c I love the Blog Stats provided for me here at Saving Advice!!! My whole point in a blog is to be able to vent and rant and hopefully get some support, suggestions, and the occasional critizism, and Blog Stats show me I'm not just blogging to myself.

In the past, my blogs elsewhere lingered in their own little corner, sad and lonely, wondering what all the bleeping blogging fuss was about. Communities that appeared active were in fact stagnet, spam piled in by leaps and bounds. My blogging days were soon outnumbered, and I felt the urge to go buy something to make me forget my sorrows...

Luckily, I have found a blog away from home (actually, I am at home right now) and can rant and rave to my heart's content.

Maybe I need more friends IRL...

Gotta love that word 'continuum'. Looks wrong, don't it? =)

At any rate, the more I work on my own budget and (ack!)

Frugal Failings, the more I realized that the definition of a Frugally Fabulous Frugie is neither black nor white. It is in fact, black with white spots and grey swirls (or some other combination.

What is frugal to one is abhorrently wasteful to another, and sheer miserly insanity to a third.

For instance: I do not wash zip top bags and reuse them. I have no dishwasher, and the thoughts of washing them by hand makes my head hurt. Does this make me a bad Frugie? No, just a different one. Maybe I am white with black spots and grey swirls... I do, however, use washable containers for all of my fridge and freezer needs. Sometimes I even use butcher paper and/or aluminum foil, both of which are recyclable in my area.

On the other hand: when I eat a steak and don't finish it, I cut it into strips and add it to my 'steak strip' bag in the freezer. I use these to make stirfry and occasionally chili. This weirds some people out (I guess b/c the fork that touched my mouth touched the steak which I then put in in the freezer).

Are either of these more frugal than the other? Perhaps. I like to think, though, that the great cosmic Frugal Continuum applies to all aspects of one's life, and just because you are abhorrently wasteful in one area doesn't mean you can't partake of some sheer miserly insanity in another It's all about balance, you know.

After the painful post about my frugal failing with food, I decided to sooth my ego with a fugally fabulous post. Last month I got all the shots for all three of my cats at the Mobile Pet Med for $36 total.

And 2 wks ago I had the last one spayed at the vets office that sponsors the Mobile Pet Med here. Surgery, 3 days of pain meds, and getting her claws trimmed was $67.25. FYI, just a spay here is normally $120-$150.

In my world, this is pretty frugally fabulous.

Alright, here goes, Frugal Failing #1 is....

FOOD

Several issues here so I'll just get started. BTW, I went mostly organic/non-processed earlier this year, so I am pleased for the most part with what I buy. It's once I get it in the house...

1 - I don't know how to cook for 2 people. Everything I cook could probably very easily feed a normal family of 4. Thing is, DH and I like to eat a lot. Take that both ways, as in we enjoy eating good food and we enjoy eating quantities of food. So, I cook a bunch, and if it's there we'll eat most of it (except for chili, I make enough apparently for 8). What's left goes into a container and in the fridge, or (ack!) into the trash or compost bucket.

2 - Speaking of leftovers: I'm probably earning a C- in this category. If I package it up as a meal I'm pretty likely to eat if for lunch at work or Thursday nights when DH is at pool league. If it's not packaged as a meal, it seems to get lost in the shuffle. At somepoint, it too goes in the trash or compost.

3 - DH earns an F+ for leftovers. He won't eat them unless it's chili or spaghetti sauce, or if I sneak it into something I'm actually cooking. =/

4 - I don't know if this is laziness or legitimate, but either way it bothers me. DH & I both work full time salary, but he's got one of those dream salary jobs where your lunch hour (or two) gets included in the 8 you're supposed to work for the day. *sigh* I mention this b/c it means I get home after he does and really just don't want to cook sometimes. More over, I really don't want to do the dishes when I'm done. This is hard to work around w/ little processed food in the house, so sometimes we just go out. BTW, more on DH can be found (eventually) in 'Personal Rant' in case you're curious.

5 - I can't keep up with produce to save my ever loving life, and am tired of finally going to use something just to have to (you guessed it) compost it.

I know the solutions are relatively simple: make menus, cook ahead, maybe plant a garden. It sounds so easy!!! =( Menus I can probably do. Cooking ahead would be great, but I don't currently have a standalone freezer, so all my great 'got it on sale' meat is in the regular freezer and doesn't leave room for much else.

The garden is a slightly different problem. Just bought this house in July as some know, and the yard is in absolute shambles. There are 5 yrs worth of dead limbs and leaves (compost!) back there, and everything is so over-grown it's hard to tell what is what, and where it is. We put it off until fall b/c we didn't want to get molested by mosquitoes working on it in the summer, but it's such a big project I'm starting to feel overwhelmed.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Oh dear....

I'm sure this is normal, especially when just starting to buckle down, but there are certain areas of my life where I feel like a Frugal Failure. There, I've admitted it.

So much so, I've dedicated a whole category in my blog to it, so I can get it off my chest. In all fairness, though, I did create a Frugally Fabulous category too.

I just added to the 'what percentage do you save' thread and it was really helpful and encouraging for me.

My current breakdown is at the end of this post, but the reason it was so helpful is because I can currently save/apply 25% of my net without changing anything I currently spend.

This is a huge revelation for me. I have a big pad built into mine and DH's allowance each month, our grocery bill is estimated way more than it could be, and the cable bill could be trashed altogether. Assuming we cut the allowances and grocery bill in half if necessary and got rid of the cable, that would be an extra 20% that could be applied elsewhere if we had to.

Cool... I am starting to feel much better about my 'almost budget'

* * * * * * * * * * * *
NECESSITIES, HAVE TO LIVE
SOMEWHERE, NEED CAR TO WORK
* * * * * * * * * * * *
11.90% mortgage
7.14% car
19.05%
* * * * * * * * * * * *
THERE'S A LOT OF FLEXIBILITY
HERE
* * * * * * * * * * * *
11.90% d allow
9.52% t allow
9.52% groceries
30.95%
* * * * * * * * * * * *
PAST DEBT IF ONLY PAYING
THE MINS
* * * * * * * * * * * *
1.19% student loan
1.43% honda card
2.86% inlaws
0.71% hospital
0.48% cc1
0.48% cc2
7.14%
* * * * * * * * * * * *
MONTHLY NON DEBT BILLS
* * * * * * * * * * * *
1.79% ins -c
4.17% cable
1.19% cell
3.57% elec
10.71%
* * * * * * * * * * * *
NON-MONTHLY BILLS AND
HOLIDAY SAVINGS
* * * * * * * * * * * *
0.60% water
2.38% prop tx - h
1.31% ins -h
0.48% prop tx - c
2.38% xmas
7.14%
* * * * * * * * * * * *
TOTAL NEW INCOME ALREADY
ALLOCATED
* * * * * * * * * * * *
75.00%

Boy, do I sound confused!

At any rate, I am a late-20-something-married-just-bought-my-first-house type, and as a result I suffer from the typical affliction of most everyone else my age: stagnent CC debt accrued in college, student loans, poor credit, yadda yadda. The good news is I have a budget and something close to a plan. The bad news is DH is a spender, not a saver, so the road is not going to be smooth. Hopefully, that's where everyone here will come in handy!

My general financial stats. Some are good & some are not-so-good:
- DH and I both trashed our credit when we were young and dumb and irresponsible and all that jazz.
- When I withdrew from school I never got closing paperwork/payment info for my stuent loan, which therefore went into default. GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!
+/- Payments are being made on said student loan, but they are too small for my taste.
+ DH & I both work full time and net well above the average for our area
+ Our house payment is about 11% of our monthly gross income.
- We got shafted on our interst rate for the mortgage.
+ Mortgage company doesn't require PMI nor does it escrow property taxes or insurance, so I can save that money myself and earn interest on it.
+ We paid well below market/appraised price for our home, and can refinance after 1 yr w/ my credit union at about 5% with only a $50 fee
+/- My car was about to suffer impending doom and require 2-5k worth of repairs, so I traded it in and financed a car for the first time. BTW it's a 2005, I won't buy a new car. Payments are within budget, there is factory and extended warranty coverage, gas mileage is fantastic, but the interest rate BITES.

I'm here because a) I want to save and invest b) I'm making progress in some areas but may need some encouragement in others c) DH doesn't quite 'get' what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. He thinks we make good money and should be able to buy whatever we want...

Anywho, I look forward to beinga part of such an active and informative community. I've been reading the boards for a while, so I feel like I already know some of you!