Starfishy's Money Blog

I looked through a few piles and boxes of desk junk last night and located the 2012 medical expenses receipts and paperwork that I had compiled last summer. It looks like I have $1218 in expenses to submit against my $1300 medical reimbursement account which means I will lose $82.00. That totally stinks! Ugh. At a December dentist appointment, I found out that I need two fillings and I should have done that before January 1. I am so annoyed. Ok, nothing I can do to change the situation, so moving on.

Guitar check – FOUND. Yay! It’s a refund for $160 worth of unused lessons, so I will deposit that tomorrow.

I have been sorting, recycling, shredding and organizing mounds of old paperwork today and have come up with additional financial items I need to take care of:

*Call Discover to find out when my 0% rate deal is finished on my c.c. that has a current balance of $4750. DONE – offer ends in September 2013, so I have 7 payments left at 0%. That’s $679/month for 7 months and it will be paid off. Next payment is due March 8, so I submitted $690 electronically today.

*Car loan – oops, for some reason I have not paid my car loan in a few months and while sorting through mail discovered two late payment notices for it. So, I paid $462 electronically toward the loan today. That was the max I could submit, or I would have sent in $500.

*I just found a few outstanding medical bills for 2013, so will pay those this week.

*My Visa payment was due 2/27, so I paid that electronically today. Unfortunately, I will most likely incur a finance charge since the payment was late. It should only be a few dollars, but still. Hmm, I might also get a late charge, which would be more than a few dollars. Crap.

O.k., so that’s some progress. I feel annoyed that I’ve lost touch with my finances and that I’ve wasted a lot of money recently. It’s time for me to get back on track.

My office area is now a DISASTER AREA with paperwork everywhere. Whenever I decide to sort and organize old stacks and boxes of papers that have accumulated, I make a colossal mess. I so wish I was naturally anal – I envy people who are!

Ugh – I’m so out of touch with my finances. I need to get a grip! I’ll start with making a financial to-do list. Maybe that will provide inspiration. If only I could channel ceejay or lucky robin or one of the other super focused SA bloggers, I’d be all set!

*figure out and submit receipts for my 2012 medical reimbursement account. I have $1300 in the account and the deadline for submission is March 15. After that, I lose the money. I started this project long ago and now I can’t even find the receipts/statements that I gathered.

*do my taxes! Haven’t even started. Shouldn’t be too difficult, but I’m just not getting around to it.

*update financial standing – what I have, what I owe, etc. I’m in o.k. shape, I’m just tending my money well and, therefore, not allocating well.

*figure out if I will put any money in my IRA for 2012. I struggle with this every year. I funnel the yearly max in my retirement account through work (I think it was $16K this year?) and my company puts in 15% of my salary in the account on top of that (quite generous!), so about $25K has already been added for 2012. Do I set aside another $5K in my IRA (traditional)? Or, do I use the money for house repairs or something that I really need now. I think last year I comprised and put in $2 or 3K.

*find and deposit refund check for some unused guitar lessons that I paid for in advance last year. So psyched that the teacher sent me a check in December, but now I don’t know where it is!

*figure out if I can return about $300 worth of clothes that I bought in December to a Ralph Lauren outlet. Would be awesome since I’ve never worn them and probably won’t. Can you say impulse purchase?

*return unworn running shoes to Zappos. DONE. Thankfully I just remembered these the other day. Zappos has a 365-day return policy and I forgot that I had purchased these shoes a year ago – on March 1. I shipped them back on Feb 28, so I’m not sure yet whether I will get a refund or site credit. I really hope I get the refund of $80. I’ll never spend the credit!

Ok, that’s a good start. I’ll stop here. Hope everyone is having a good evening!

Goodness, the last four months have flown by with nary a post from me. It’s a good thing I don’t make a living as a blogger!

Let’s see, I ended up taking the beginner French class I mentioned way back when and that coupled with a full load at work led to a very busy fall pour moi. The class met five days a week (I didn’t realize that until it started!) and was immersion, so the teacher spoke only French. I learned a lot and LOVED it, but was very relieved when it was finished in early December. I started the next level class today, which is one month long and will again be five days a week, but this time for 2.5 hours a day! I hope I can manage it. I’m auditing, so it doesn’t matter how I actually “do” in the class. My goal is to learn as much French as I can while I have the opportunity (and it’s free).

My biggest news is that after roughly 20 years of thinking about adopting a pet, I finally did it! I brought home the sweet baby cat below on the Saturday before Christmas, named her Jubilee, and we spent the next 1.5 weeks cuddling and getting to know each other. She’s about seven months old and is a total lovey snuggle bunny. She likes to curl up on my chest or in my lap and take lengthy snoozes. She’s kind of like a dog – follows me around, comes running when I call her, likes to be in the same room with me (and on top of me, if possible, but that’s starting to change as she gets used to my house (our home!) and matures). I need to get her some better cat food. Does anyone have recommendations for some good natural brands? Also, I’m using a very basic litter box at the moment and wondering if I should invest in one of the newfangled kinds that turn and sift out the waste for easy removal. Any thoughts or are most people still old-school scoopers?

At the risk of sounding like the world’s cheapest person, I’ve always been a bit worried about the expense of owning a pet, but now that sweet Juby has settled into my life with her companionship and serious cuteness, I can see that any money spent on her will be a worthwhile investment! I know there are many people on this site who love their fur babies, so that was part of the inspiration of my choice. Thanks!

Yay, so glad it’s the weekend! I was pretty successful with my September goals this week. I arrived at work at 9:15a on Wed and Thursday and at 9:01a on Friday! Woo-hoo – I’ll take that as success. I’m going to reword this goal for next week – leave for work at 8:30a. I think setting a specific leave time will help me to get out of the house – I tend to lollygag in the morning!

I packed a healthy lunch each day, so didn’t spend any money or extra calories on eating out, except on Thursday. I apparently didn’t bring enough food and was very hungry in the afternoon. I had a massage scheduled for 6p and was going to the laundromat after that, so I went downtown and bought a half-price Evol egg and sausage burrito for $1.80 (needed to be sold that day). I heated it up in the micro at work and it was delicious – definitely worth the expenditure and was less calories than the $2 bag of olive oil and sea salt potato chips I was also considering.

I exercised every day, except Thursday, which was a planned rest day with massage (yay). Yesterday I walked for one hour after work including 15 minutes of running and did 30 minutes of yoga when I got home. Today I drove to a friend’s house to get some garden goodies (red kale, collards, a few leeks and carrots, parsley, sage, basil). She wasn’t going to be there to visit, so to make it worth the drive/gas usage, I wore my exercise clothes and walked a 70-minute loop including 20 minutes of running. It was great to have a change of scenery and this particular walk starts with a very long and challenging uphill, so I feel like I got a good workout. I did 30 minutes of yoga when I got home. I’m planning on doing a short workout Sunday and Monday, and having Tuesday be a rest day with a massage after work. This could all come to a screeching halt when work kicks back in on Monday – September to November is one of my busiest times – but, I will do my best to continue doing some form of exercise a few days a week.

I’ve played the piano and flossed every day, but not at the same time.

It looks like there will be room for me in the beginning French class I want to take, so I’ll be signing up for that on Tuesday. It will be free!

Tracking my spending is going well – I want to start determining my monthly average spending and seeing where I can cut expenses. My next step is to start doing something with the savings I already have. I’m great at saving money, but I’m procrastinating about investing it and I’ve lost precious years of potential growth. My 403B is invested fairly well, I think, but everything else (including my traditional IRA) is kinda sitting in cash, which is difficult to admit. Procrastination (due to fear and poor decision-making skills) is my absolute worst habit and I’ve missed a lot of opportunities in many areas of life.

My only spending today was $3.52 for five local, free-range drumsticks. I’ll cook three tomorrow to use for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday dinner and freeze two for later. I was supposed to spend $2.50 for garbage, but the friendly guy at my town’s weekly makeshift recycling/trash site didn’t charge me because my bag was so small.

this was the sky at my house this evening after a big storm passed through...

I was able to stick to most of my goals today – always easy on the first day! My only epic fail was that I did not get to work by 9a (I arrive after 10a – gulp). I went to bed late, woke up late and didn’t have a lunch made. I almost gave up on my “pack a healthy lunch” goal, but decided to throw together a salad from the fridge even though it would make me even later. I figured I could survive the late arrival (I can check email from home to make sure there are no emergencies) and I didn’t want to already give up the two parts of my lunch goal – saving money and eating well – two things that are important to me. My busy season at work kicks in next Monday, so arrival time this week is not as important as it will be.

The “on time” goal is going to take some effort and planning – packing lunch the night before, going to bed much earlier than I generally do, etc. North Georgia Gal – you mentioned in a comment on my last post that you had the same late arrival problem, but have changed your ways. Any tips? Since it’s now 11:30p, I’m not sure I’m going to do any better tomorrow morning!

I took a 32-minute walk (which including 5 minutes of jogging) right from my office after work and did 15 minutes of yoga before going home. I convinced myself that I had plenty of food at home and didn’t need to stop at the store to buy the whole wheat pasta I was craving. I saved the $1.25, but more importantly avoided any impulse buys that would have likely occurred. I went straight home and cooked a salmon burger from the freezer and found some brown rice in there that I had forgotten about. I sautéed onion, some mushrooms that needed to be used and kale from a friend’s garden and put that over the rice. Yum!

I took the time to make three salads for lunches. For the next three days I will eat:
*Breakfast: sliced cukes and carrots with hummus, handful of walnuts, handful of blueberries
*Lunch: salad with mixed local ingredients and a slice of no-additives deli ham that I got on sale last week
*Snack: local grapes (unbelievably delicious!)
*Dinner: salmon or veggie burger, sautéed onion, kale and mushroom over rice

I’m glad I don’t mind eating the same meals a few days in a row! Makes things easier.

I also played the piano for 15 minutes today and flossed. I will do whatever I can to stick to my goals (at least some of them) for the rest of this week and then I’ll reassess for next week.

I had a good holiday weekend. I took today off (it’s a floating holiday where I work) and scheduled lots of free time at home to relax, think and organize and arranged a few outings with friends to enjoy the last remnants of summer. Yesterday, a scheduled three-hour trip to a local lakefront state park with a close friend whom I haven’t seen for some time turned into a 10-hour hang out, catch up, laugh fest that ended at my house with dinner around 11:30p! It was great visit. Financially I was bummed - I have a state park punch card that I bought in June for $20 (10 entries for $2 rather than the usual $3), that I forgot to bring since it’s in my car and my friend drove. She paid my $3 entrance fee because I only had some loose change. On the way home, we stopped for soft serve at a fabulous local stand that posts a “password of the day” on Facebook that wins you a free cone if you are the first to say it at their window. I checked FB on my friend’s smartphone (I have a low-tech pay-as-you-go cell), found the word and got the free cone – yay! I paid $2 for my friend’s ice cream and we were even. I wanted the outing to be totally free, but it was $2 since I forgot the punch card…but I guess that’s not too bad!

Today I hiked up to another lake with a different friend and her four-year old daughter. This was a free excursion. We swam, enjoyed the sun, walked back down and stopped for ice cream on the way home. My friend treated me to a .99 ice cream sandwich. I found 10 pennies at a pay phone, but gave them to my friend’s daughter, since she was so excited about them. They are a frugal family, so the pennies will be put to good use! I love that I can write about picking up pennies on this blog and other readers understand the excitement.

I’ve decided that I need to set some goals to get myself back on track financially and organizationally. Inspired by an early retirement blog I saw on Lucky Robin’s page, I’ve made a list of personal goals for September:

*track spending for the month in order to create a budget

*pack a healthy lunch every day (for financial and health reasons)

*$20/week on food (this is dependent upon how many free garden goodies I get from friends and using up what I have on hand)

*arrive at work by 9a each day (I’ve been a total slacker, getting in as late as 10a some days! My boss is often a no-show and “works at home” a lot and so the incentive to be diligent about timeliness doesn’t exist. But, for my own peace of mind and professionalism, I think I should make more of an effort to arrive at a respectable time.)

*exercise 4 times/week followed by 15 mins yoga (I will create a schedule so that I am prepared each day I choose to exercise)

*sign up for beginner’s french class (I can take this for free at work if there is room in the class)

*play piano - 15 mins/day

*floss each night (I’m out of the groove and my gums are suffering because of it)

That’s a lot, so not sure how I will do, but I’ve got to start somewhere.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Any other Sex and the City fans out there?

Well, it’s been almost a year since my last blog post. Darn, I wish I could post regularly like so many of the other bloggers on this site. I get caught up in life and then forget about a lot of things.

I am so very disorganized at this moment in my life and I need to get back on track. It’s negatively effecting my finances and that needs to change! I’ve been catching up on the blogs the past few weeks and getting re-inspired to deal with money matters.

The biggest financial fail I’ve had is that for some unknown reason, I decided to stop paying my bills for a few months. I just lost track. Thankfully, I recently set up automatic payments for my electric and phone bills, so no utilities got shut off! Unfortunately, I had run up some charges on 3 credit cards and accrued both interest and late fees for a few months. I NEVER do that. NEVER! I even got the first month’s late charges reversed because I always pay on time and then I didn’t pay the next month’s bill. Doh! I’m so disappointed in myself. But, I’m vowing to clean up my mess, hopefully learn from it all, and move on. Overall, my financial picture is very good. It could just be a whole lot better (as could my life) if I decided to focus more. So, here I am, yet again.

I’m going to start tracking my expenses starting September 1 and see if I can keep them fairly minimal for the month.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Ugh. I have had some sort of critter in my kitchen for the last week. I thought it was a mouse, but have not caught anything yet in the covered snap traps I’ve set. I usually get one or two mice inside during fall, catch them quickly and that’s it. This time, though, the signs are different from usually mouse activity. It’s a lot louder, I haven’t seen any droppings, it’s not getting caught in the traps and yesterday I finally found what I’ve heard it gnawing on. I had a rotting gourd in my compost bucket and I noticed that a good portion of it is gone. This morning I was awoken by the loud thump of something falling onto the ground. I thought it was an apple from the kitchen table, but when I went downstairs noticed that it was a gourd in my front entryway. And the pumpkin on the table had bites taken out of the fleshy part and the stem and there were gourd shards everywhere. I’m starting to think that my friend is bigger than a mouse. Maybe a rat, a squirrel or a chipmunk? Gross! I’ve only had rats once years ago in an apartment and my upstairs guy neighbor took care of them for me and my roommate (set the traps and disposed of two rats that were caught). I’m going to have to get a larger trap this morning at the hardware store. Yuk. This would be a good time to have a boyfriend or husband. I get tired of dealing with everything on my own.

In money news, I have the third week of my finance class on Wednesday. We each pulled our online credit reports and will be reviewing them this week. At first glance, mine looks fine. I’ll also get my credit score. I’ve tracked my spending for all of October so far and will develop a spending plan based on the final totals.

I was going to make some food for the week yesterday, but I ended up having a lazy day and I’m not very motivated to use my kitchen until I catch the critter. I have a can of Muir Glen southwest bean soup that I’ll take for lunch today with a piece of bread, so I won’t have to eat out. And last evening I was dying to go buy a Newman O’s frozen pepperoni pizza and some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (both are on sale which made it very tempting). I managed to help myself stay home and have a can of Muir Glen chicken noodle soup and some bread instead, saving myself $8.98 and a bunch of calories. Yay!

I walked for 30 minutes three days last week and 50 minutes on Saturday. My goal this week is to walk 35 minutes at least four days. I also joined in CreditCardFree’s purge challenge (clear out 27 items a day for 8 days) and got rid of a bunch of papers from my desk and junk from my bathroom.

Off to the hardware store. Sigh.

Who is eating my fall decorations?

I exercised after work on Tuesday and Wednesday for 30 minutes and I have to admit it’s the first time I’ve exercised in quite awhile. I had so much energy when I got home, so I’d like to do another 30 minutes today. I will walk outside if it’s not raining, otherwise I will go to my workplace gym and do the elliptical. I’m starting small, limiting myself to 30 minutes, even if I want to keep going, just to get me back into the swing of exercising. Then I can increase it from there, hopefully adding some running.

I ate a breakfast of zucchini soup made by a friend’s husband, to which I added sunflower seeds and Ezekiel sprouted grain cereal to make it heartier to fill me up since I won’t be eating lunch until about 1:30. I made a turkey, tomato, parsley sandwich with mayo and mustard on a fresh pita pocket from a local bakery for lunch. I’ll also enjoy some free red grapes from a recent work event. For dinner I’m making linguini with tomatoes, cubed mozzarella cheese, peas, cauliflower, fresh parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper. I’ve been curbing my habit of junk food buying and eating – yay! I got a free chocolate turtle at my finance workshop and some free cookies at a work event yesterday, so I’ll have some sweet indulgences on the cheap!

Tomorrow I’m going to bring my breakfast to work, then order a late lunch from a local Indian place as a treat. I’ll eat that around 3, which will hopefully serve as both lunch and dinner. I figure getting lunch will be cheaper than ordering dinner. At 4, I’m attending a stress reduction event and then at 6, I’m going to a local theater to see a Bollywood dance routine (my hairdresser is in the troupe) and then watching a Bollywood film (3 hours – yikes!). Should be a fun evening for $6. I’m hoping one of my friends will be able to join me, she’s going to let me know tomorrow. I should bring some type of snack, since it’s going to be a long afternoon/evening.

The finance class is going well and fulfilling its intended purpose. I’ve been tracking my spending, creating goals, and will formulate a spending plan. We’ll be pulling our credit reports, which I haven’t done in years, so it will be helpful to review that for any mistakes.

I’ve got a nasty cold sore on my lip and I’m looking forward to the day that it’s gone! They take so long to heal, even with Abreve. Does anyone else get cold sores and what do you use for them?

Mid-September to mid-October is one of my busy times at work and I have been swamped. I’m starting to slow down a bit and will still have lots to do between now and the holidays, but won’t have as many pressing deadlines. Whew.

Since my last entry, I celebrated my 47th birthday and was unexpectedly dumped by someone who reappeared in my life this summer (not a total surprise based on our history, but it still hurt!). I’ve been feeling sluggish. I always have an energy drop once the dark mornings and evenings begin and I also might be fighting off an illness.

I started tracking my spending starting October 1. I want to get back in touch with where my money is actually going. So far, so good. I’ve been mostly sticking to my “no eating out or excessive junk food purchases” challenge. I’ve been consistently bringing breakfast and lunch to work each day and have usually eaten dinner at home. I had lunch and dinner out this past Saturday while spending the day with a good friend, but the total for both meals was only $17.27, so I’m fine with that! For lunch, I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich with a side of baked beans for $7.07 at a local museum and for dinner had a delicious beef soft taco and a virgin strawberry margarita (I was driving) for only $10.20 including tip at a new Mexican restaurant that we wanted to try. Yum! Both expenditures were worth it, although next time I need to rethink eating baked beans in the middle of the day. I’ve made a few tame junk food purchases (hard sour dough pretzels and chocolate milk), but I’ve definitely reduced my spending and consuming in that area.

Other financial updates:

I received my $1200 flexible spending reimbursement check today! I will deposit it into savings. This is a big deal because I had no idea I could recoup all of my money now even though I haven’t fully paid into my account yet. And, I usually wait until the very last moments before the March deadline to submit my expenses. This way I have the money now and a lot less stress!

I signed up for a four-week (4 hours total) financial workshop offered through my workplace. I’ve attended one session and although I don’t think I’ll learn anything earth-shatteringly new, it will be another way to help me to refocus my attention on my finances. I just have to commit to doing the homework!

My telephone bill was paid automatically this month and my autopay electric bill will begin next month. This will greatly reduce stress because I have been forgetting to pay my bills. Now I don’t have to remember these two and they won’t be late!

I need to create some new mini-goals!

*Stuck to my no-eating-out challenge this week (with Lucky Robin).

*Emerged from the Stone Age to set up automatic monthly payment from my bank account for my telephone (includes landline, voicemail and DSL) and electric bills starting next month.

*Made heating oil choice and will go sign up with first payment today before 5:00 p.m.

So now some new mini-goals:

*Commit again to no eating out next week and probably this weekend unless a fun opportunity presents itself! (Hope LR continues, too.)

*Start calculating 2011 OOP medical expenses so that I can submit a reimbursement claim to my HSA. I just found out that I can get up to the total amount back even if I haven’t fully paid into it yet (the deductions are made each paycheck). I had no idea – I thought I could only claim what I’ve already contributed for the year!

*Continue creating monthly expenditures spreadsheet and start using it for October (recording budgeted and actual amounts).

The no-eating-out challenge for me also includes not impulse buying junk food out of boredom or cravings. I’ve been able to resist all unnecessary food purchases this week and hope to continue next week, too!

I'll be celebrating later this afternoon with two friends at a work picnic. Free food - yippee!

I stuck to my meal plan yesterday and added two peanut butter Newman O's cookies (yum!) dipped in milk for dessert after dinner. I'm going to eat the same menu today.

My financial life and I are beginning to get reacquainted. Last night I found my old Excel budget spreadsheet and started to update it with my current monthly expenses. So far, so good.

I need to choose an oil plan for this winter. I usually sign up for a budget plan, choosing a certain number of gallons and paying a set monthly amount from August to May. My oil company changed its policy last year and now their budget program doesn’t lock in a price. So, you still pay a monthly amount, but it fluctuates according to market price. I considered doing a pre-buy, but I just read that if you don’t use up all of the pre-bought gallons, they will reimburse you, but will take 25% of the remaining credit. What? I’m going to call around to see what else is available. That seems like a giant ripoff. I guess I could underestimate, but still!

What is up with those weird blogs that appear overnight? Are they created automatically (so many words and repeated ideas!) or is someone actually writing them? I’m so glad the SA crew removes them. I find them very annoying and strange.

Photo of last night's dinner to inspire me to create some yumminess again tonight!

I need to set small goals in order to focus, so I’m going to do a lunch challenge just for this week. Hopefully that will grow into a longer time period, but I’ll start with that. I will bring breakfast and lunch to work each day and eat dinner at home. The menu will mainly be:

Breakfast: Kashi 7-grain nugget cereal, currants, chopped apples, flax seeds, walnuts, milk

Lunch: salad with kalamata olives and goat cheese, a big cracker

Snack: grapes (delicious variety from a local vineyard)

Dinner: quinoa with steamed veggies and tuna, olive oil, salt and pepper

I cooked the chickpeas and quinoa yesterday and washed some lettuce, so it should be easy to prepare my meals. I also got another free harvest from my friend’s garden on Saturday – yippee! (I want to offer her some childcare this fall/winter for her adorable 3.5 year old daughter in exchange for the bounty I’ve received all summer.) I technically don’t need to spend any money on food this week.

I’ve been buying and eating lots of junky comfort food the last few weeks (Ben and Jerry’s Heath Bar Crunch, frozen pierogies, fish sticks, strawberry frozen fruit popsicles are my recent cravings). So, I left my debit and credit cards at home today in order to resist all temptation to stop at the grocery store on my way home. Sometimes I find myself wandering in the aisles like a zombie even after having no intention of visiting the store! Scary and a little embarrassing…

A few more goals for today: walk 30 minutes after work, prepare Tuesday’s lunch, floss teeth before bed. I have fallen off the flossing wagon and really need to get back on!

Photos of today’s breakfast and lunch to keep me inspired!

I'm realizing that I don't really understand my auto loan.

I bought a new Subaru Impreza Outback in September 2010, putting $5000 down and borrowing $12,898.00 at 2.9% for 60 months. I absolutely love the car and it's been worth every penny so far. I live in a mountainous, snowy area and I appreciate the all-wheel drive, something that my Volkswagen Golf, my previous car which I drove for 11 years, did not have. I did fine in the snow with the Golf and before that with a Honda Civic (drove that for 10 years), but this time around I really wanted a Subaru. I looked at both new and used options, but decided I really like to buy a new car and drive it for a long time. I did struggle with the choice, though, because who knows if electric cars will be more accessible and affordable sooner rather than later (one can only hope) and what the future availability and cost of gas will be. In the end, I bit the bullet, wheeled and dealed to the best of my ability and bought my beautiful new silver car.

I have been paying the standard amount due per month via check, and just finally figured out how to get into my account on-line through the Chase site. I was looking at the payment history (below) and realized that I don't understand how the payment is split up. Why does the interest fluctuate so much? Is it based on how many days are in a given month? I will probably call customer service at some point for an explanation, but thought I'd write about it here also.

I'm also starting to think about "chipping" away at the principal a la Petunia 100. I'm ok with having the loan and not in a giant rush to pay it off because I have some other things I'd like to put money towards, but a little extra here and there might be a good thing.

Date Payment Principal Interest Principal Balance
09/01/2011 $231.46 $202.06 $29.40 $10,681.83
07/29/2011 $231.46 $210.30 $21.16 $10,883.89
07/05/2011 $231.46 $201.85 $29.61 $11,094.19
06/02/2011 $231.46 $198.58 $32.88 $11,296.04
04/27/2011 $231.46 $205.43 $26.03 $11,494.62
03/30/2011 $231.46 $204.03 $27.43 $11,700.05
03/01/2011 $231.46 $200.68 $30.78 $11,904.08
01/28/2011 $231.46 $204.08 $27.38 $12,104.76
12/31/2010 $231.46 $202.63 $28.83 $12,308.84
12/02/2010 $231.46 $200.15 $31.31 $12,511.47
11/01/2010 $231.46 $186.38 $45.08 $12,711.62

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Over Labor Day weekend, I drove to Cape Cod to visit a college friend who I reconnected with on Facebook and at our 25th reunion in June. I’d never been to the cape (not sure why) and had a fantastic time! I spent my childhood summers on the southern NJ shore and REALLY miss the ocean and salt air. I now live way up north and inland, far from the coast. My friend adopted an adorable golden retriever puppy while I was there, so we spent a lot of time playing with the sweet little guy. His cuteness was almost unbearable! I tallied up my trip expenses:

37.17 Gas (fill up before leaving at 3.559)
15.25 Gas (total rip off on cape at 3.999! I was desperate, so only bought 3 gallons and then looked for cheaper)
46.39 Gas (fill up on cape for ride home at 3.859 – could have filled up partway, then found cheaper off cape, but just wanted to be ready to roll)

3.50 Tolls

12.99 Beer (local sampler 16-pack I brought with me for friend and her boyfriend)
21.36 Corn, lemonade, ketchup, butter and ice cream (my contribution to Saturday night cookout, and the pint of ice cream was for me!)
9.00 Ice cream sundae/cone on Friday night (for me and treated my friend’s nephew)
36.01 Lunch on Saturday (treated my friend)
30.72 Lunch on Sunday (treated my friend and her friend)
33.92 Lunch on Monday (treated my friend and her boyfriend)

Food while traveling
1.19 Liter of water (forgot to fill up my own water bottle!)
5.93 Taco bell (I rarely eat fast food, but I love me some TB crispy tacos! Thankfully, there is no TB within one hour from where I live.)
2.99 Smartfood (something to munch on during the endless drive – I hit lots of traffic, detours, etc.)
4.13 McDonalds (got a giant coke and a large chocolate milkshake – they now come with whipped cream and a cherry! Needed some caffeine and a treat after sitting in 2-hour traffic leaving the cape.)

21.20 Added to prepaid phone for calling/texting during vacation (only used about half)

Total spent was 281.75. I was pretty happy with that since I was there Thursday night until Monday afternoon. I could have probably bought some food and made lunches for cheaper, but it was fun to get some local seafood, plus I was in no mood to cook! I walked on the beach, saw lots of seals, was treated to two lobster dinners, relaxed, explored the area, hung out with my friend and her friends and completely enjoyed being near the coast. I even got a free soft serve ice cream cone from a takeout lunch place when I returned to retrieve a forgotten soda. They gave me a fresh soda, I ordered the cone they gave it to me free for the inconvenience of not getting the original soda (which I think was probably my fault, but I’ll take a free cone!!) It's the little things in life...

Brace yourselves for devastating cuteness!

Nautical boy

Wow, I am a mess these days! Very unorganized, no memory, exhausted, binge eating and have no focus. I think one problem is the Zoloft that I started taking in June to help with some depression issues. I feel drugged. I’ve taken Prozac in the past without any side effects, so I’m going to talk to my doctor about switching or just going off the meds altogether. I just cannot wake up (I always feel tired) and I’m craving and eating sugary foods in an attempt to gain some energy, which of course is not working. I’m also gaining weight.

Financially, I’m wasting a lot of money on junk food and not paying attention to what I’m spending. In order to regain some order, I need to set some small goals. To start:

Today (after work):
*Walk today for 15 minutes (I hope to go longer once I get started, but I need to think small in order to get out and do it!)
*Set up autopay for my monthly electric bill and telephone bill (I’ve been paying bills late due to forgetting, not lack of funds, so this will help to solve that problem).
*Clean old food out of fridge (it’s pretty gross in there!).
*Finish unpacking car from Labor Day weekend trip to Cape Cod.
*Find property tax paperwork and mark due date (October 1?) on calendar.

This weekend:
*Choose work outfits for next week.
Clean my house (it’s a disaster!) – I’ll have to break this down into smaller goals.
Cook food for week (need to decide what to make).

Ok, I’ll start there and see what happens.

I spent most of my weekend at home relaxing, cleaning, organizing and catching up on SA blogs. It’s amazing how inspiring they can be! I was away on vacation at the shore in NJ during the second week of August and was tired from re-entering real life last week, so having a lot of downtime felt good. I’ve been exhausted lately and I’m not sure why. I may have been fighting an illness of some sort. A cold sore broke out on my lip and that’s usually a sign that something is going on.

I prepared a lot of food on Sunday to eat this week. My goal is to pack my breakfast and lunch for work and to eat a healthy dinner each day, so as not to spend money eating takeout. I cooked the following:

1.25 cups quinoa
¼ cup steel cut oats
½ cup chickpeas
½ cup lentils
4 hard-boiled eggs
my fave cherry tomato/feta cheese/sage dish

On Sunday, I picked a little over 2 pounds of blueberries ($6.50 and ½ hour of my time – they were selling for $4.99 a pint at the local store!) and raided my friend’s garden again. I got green beans, red kale, 2 cukes, 2 zucchinis, leeks, basil, dill, flat-leaf parsley, a big carrot, snap peas and one small tomato (all free!).

Breakfasts will be oats with sunflower seeds, walnuts, flax seeds and currants (all of which I already have in my fridge), plus a serving of blueberries.
Lunches will be a salad w/lettuce, cucumber, carrot, snap peas, green beans, red cabbage, quinoa, parsley, basil, chickpeas, a smidge of goat cheese, and a hard-boiled egg.
Dinners will be either the tomato/feta/sage mixture over quinoa or lentils and chickpeas over quinoa plus steamed zucchini and kale.
Snacks will be watermelon, peaches, blueberries and feta cheese.

Lest I appear to be a perfect eater, I will confess to a habit of bingeing on junk food. If I could dive into a vat of chocolate milk and swim around in it forever, I would! I tend to waste money on comfort food I don’t want to be eating and not planning what other more satisfying things I could be putting the money towards. I would like to be able to add a piece of chocolate or cookie to my lunch, but I haven’t figured out a way to keep a bag of cookies or fun-size candy in the house without consuming the entire thing at once! I sometimes go thru periods of buying a Snickers bar each day at 3:00 p.m., but that’s .97/day that I’d rather not be spending. Maybe I’ll keep a fun-size bag of Snickers in the freezer and take one out each morning to pack with my lunch. I don’t enjoy frozen candy bars, so maybe that would keeping me from eating one in the moment when I’m home, but one would be thawed and ready to eat by lunchtime.

Another goal this week is to exercise at least three days. Yesterday I walked/ran for an hour after work, which was great because my original goal was 30 minutes. Today, I hope to do the same – at least 30 minutes of walking/running with additional time if I’m up for it.

I’m supposed to visit a friend on Cape Cod this weekend, but Irene may upset that plan. I might push the trip to Labor Day weekend, driving there on Thursday afternoon and leaving early Monday in an attempt to avoid some of the holiday traffic. That option is looking better and better since I am really tired this week, I have a lot of work projects to tackle, and my Cape friend will be adopting a new golden retriever puppy just before Labor Day weekend. How can I resist that?

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

In an effort to get back in shape, shed some weight and save money, I’ve been eating really well the last few weeks and have been consistently taking my lunch to work after a period of consistently NOT taking my lunch to work!

Last Thursday, I bought the following at the local food co-op:

½ local, organic cooked chicken - 5.79 (I’m so happy that I can buy ½ a chicken…I can’t use up a whole one in time unless I’m having dinner guests)
4 peaches - 1.53 (on sale .99/pound, conventional) – absolutely scrumptious!
1 bunch local, organic scallions - 1.49
1.84 lbs organic Yukon gold and red potatoes - 2.53 (no local yet)
Bulk organic walnuts - 2.70 (on sale)
Bulk small container kalamata olives - 1.76 (on sale)
1 large container plain non-fat organic yogurt - 3.49
Bulk organic cornmeal - .64
Bulk organic wheat bran - .08
Bulk baking powder - .03
Tortilla strips - 1.50 (on sale – these are for some yummy tomatillo salsa I have in my freezer)
Total - $22.21 (after 2% member discount of .46 )

On Saturday I went blueberry picking with a friend and got over five pounds of plump, delicious no-spray berries for $15.50. I froze ¾ of them and will take the rest on vacation with me at the end of this week. I also picked about five pounds of blueberries a week ago, but never got around to freezing them. I gave some to a couple of different friends, have been eating them at breakfast, and used some in a cornbread. I love how long blueberries last, unlike strawberries, which seem to mold 23 minutes after I get them home .

Then I visited another friend and went “shopping” in her amazing garden! I picked yellow and green beans, red kale, cukes, beets, zucchini, snap peas, baby leeks, basil, dill, flat-leaf parsley, mesclun mix and a turnip.

On Sunday I made a delicious blueberry cornbread using the yogurt, bran, baking powder, cornmeal and older berries (in addition to baking soda, eggs and maple syrup I had on hand). I cut up and boiled the potatoes, then mixed them with fresh dill, chopped scallions, olive oil and salt. I also cooked one cup each of dried chickpeas and steel-cut oats from my pantry.

All of this will feed me up until Thursday afternoon when I leave for vacation and maybe provide some snacks for the six-hour car ride.

Breakfasts this week are steel cut oats topped with walnuts, sunflower seeds, flax seeds and blueberries. Lunches are salads using the garden ingredients, chickpeas, shredded chicken and a few olives; some of the potato salad plus a big slice of the cornbread for a mid-afternoon snack (in place of my habitual candy bar…). Dinners are lots of steamed veggies, oats and chicken (last night I had the leg, tonight I’ll shred some of the breast meat over the oats and veggies and top with olive oil, chopped scallions, salt and pepper).

I also bought a Snickers bar on Saturday evening, which I thoroughly enjoyed!

Goodness, how do I begin to write again after a very long hiatus? I started this blog in 2007, submitted a few entries, apparently became distracted by other things, and now suddenly four years have flown by. Wow. I'm not sure why I stopped writing – I can’t remember back that far!

Anyway, I recently realized that I’ve become very unconscious with my finances and I want to get back on track. Then I remembered about Savings Advice! So, I’ve been catching up on the other blogs on this site and have decided to dust mine off and try again. I’m so inspired by everyone’s stories, trials, tribulations, triumphs and insights. I’m glad to be back!

I just checked my work retirement account balance and for the first time ever, it has surpassed…drumroll please…$100,000! In fact, at the moment it stands at $100,701.29. I cannot believe it. To see six figures in one of my accounts is amazing!! I am so excited and proud of myself.

This is why I am shocked – I just looked back at my old paperwork – I started my job on July 1, 1999 with a salary of $25,188.00 and as of December 31, 1999, I had a total of $1066.64 in my retirement account. Now, eight years later, I’m making $45,015.00 (Actually, on June 1, 2007, my salary was $40,360.45 and then I got two raises totally almost 12%) and have $100,701.29 in retirement funds. I am amazed!

According to my on-line statement, as of today I have contributed $50,287.62, my employer has contributed $23,183.00 (a very generous 9%, which will increase to 15% when I turn 45 in two years), and market growth has contributed $27,230.67. I forgot at what level I started my contributions, but I’ve slowly worked up to 25% of my salary. I also have an IRA that I opened with $2000 in 1997. That is now up to $32,364.57, but mostly from contributions, since it was in a money market fund earning only .45% for years! I finally moved it into a CD a few years ago, and I need to start investing it, but I keep putting it off. So, my total retirement accounts currently total $133,065.86. Time for me to celebrate!

I so wish my father was still alive – he would be so excited. His biggest fear was that I wouldn’t save anything for retirement. And his fear wasn’t unfounded – working and making money weren’t high on my list of priorities and for a variety of reasons, I was afraid to save money for the long term (I’ll explore this topic in a future post!). The only reason I started the IRA in 1997 was because I was self-employed that summer (making $100/week!) and I wanted the tax break. I literally ran into the bank on April 15 and opened the account with $2000 in the lowest investment vehicle possible, because I couldn’t deal with reviewing the options. When my dad died 3.5 years later I had about $12,624 total in both accounts.

My birthday was yesterday and although I always make it special for myself, it’s tinged with sadness. I was born on my father’s 30th birthday and we shared it up until he died at 65 (I was 35), eight days before we would turn 66 and 36. Believe me, sharing a birthday is fun until somebody dies. Thankfully, he was successful and frugal and retired around 58, so he did get to enjoy some time off, although he started a business for a few years after retiring. Happy belated birthday, Dad.

Well, I just had to share my exciting news. And, most of all, I need to quiet the thought in my head that other people my age have tons more money saved in their retirement accounts – how can I be so excited? But for me, this is a HUGE accomplishment – so I will focus on that!

Good night and sleep well.

I was just cleaning off my desk in an attempt to unearth my financial info so that I can get back on track and I came across a gift certificate for a wooden garden arbor that I won in a raffle back in October 2005. I never claimed it! This got me thinking about prizes (free stuff!) I’ve won over the years. Here are a few that I remember:

Early 1980s – I won a Billy Joel album from a Snicker’s Bar wrapper (it was an LP as that was the latest technology of the day). (No cost - well, I guess I would have paid about 50 cents for the candy bar!)

1984 – won $10 in a boxer short contest at college (for a pair of non-boxer shorts). I didn’t know anything about the contest, I had just gone to the event quickly to get the free pizza and was asked to stay as I was leaving because I had won. I stayed – $10 was a lot back in the day, plus how could I resist the fame and glory? They were a great pair of shorts! (No cost)

1990 – I won $10,000 in a church raffle (yea)! Unfortunately, I had to split it with my two brothers (boo), so we each received 3333.00 before taxes (had to claim it on our income tax returns). Each summer my mom would buy each of us a ticket in the church fundraising raffle (I think they were $100 each), with the deal that if any of us won we would split it with the other two (her rule, not ours!) My name was drawn for 2nd prize (would have loved first prize, if I remember correctly it was either $25K or a new Cadillac or something – I guess I would have sold it!) Was obviously glad to have the $3K, but would have preferred the entire 10K (hee – sorry bros)! (No cost to me, since my mom bought the ticket – thanks Mom!)

2004 – won a $50 gift certificate to a local restaurant in a drawing at my credit union. I just came across that one, too (I’m a procrastinator!). Luckily, it says it never expires, so I guess I’ll treat myself and a friend to dinner one night! I’m not that keen on the place, but they have some decent food and free food is free food! (No cost)

2005 – won the garden arbor in a town fundraiser. It was either second or third prize. I really wanted the $3000 cash first prize! I’m going to swallow my embarrassment and swing by the company this week to see if I can still claim my prize. There’s no expiration date on the certificate, so I’ll hope for the best. I wasn’t sure where in my yard to put it, so I kept putting it off. Then I couldn’t decide if I wanted it or if I should just try to sell the gift certificate at a discount (the arbor is worth about $250) and now two years have passed. (I probably bought 4 raffle tickets for a total of $20)

2007 – this summer I won a framed small print of one of my favorite local artists in a drawing at her studio open house. There were 7 separate pieces of work that she was giving away and my name was drawn for one of them (No cost).

It would be cool if I could claim that I won a million or so dollars in a lottery, but, alas, I don’t play. Well, once I did buy a cute $1 scratch ticket at a local store and won $20! But, I wouldn't ever play regularly – I hate to support something that people waste money on trying to win a dream, rather than just saving their nickels and dimes toward their actual dreams. Sad.

What fun booty have you won??

I unexpectedly found a great price on gas today in the town where I work. My small fuel oil company on an industrial street has one old-fashioned pump next to a garage that I’ve never noticed. When I was in the office setting up my fuel oil payment plan for the winter, I heard people coming in to pay for gas. Then I found out that they were paying $2.65/gallon. The price at the nearest station less than a mile away was $2.799/gallon! So, I ran outside and filled my half-empty tank. Can’t beat that! I love a good bargain. I only wish I had known about this secret years ago. I'll definitely be stopping by there for gas in the future.

Today is the last day of my 11-day vacation from work. I took a week and a half off expecting to go to the New Jersey shore for at least part of the time, but my car has been making funny noises and whatever my mechanic did to fix it (twice!) didn’t work, so I ended up staying home. Not a problem, though, because I love being home! And not working is even better! I did some things around my house, spent a lot of time doing nothing, took a few day trips and mostly enjoyed my free time. I didn’t spend much money, so that was a plus.

In fact, the only drawback is that I didn’t get my last fix of salt water and air for the summer. I live near many lakes and rivers, which are beautiful, but they don’t quite cut it for me the way the ocean and saltwater bays do. I spent every summer from early 1970 to 1986 at the shore and I really do miss it. I try to go at least once a year, but the timing is tricky – the shore has become so overcrowded and noisy that I only like to go before July 4 or during the last week of August or first week of September. I was able to get down there for a few days in June, so did get a little dose then.

The last few days were low-spend days. I went to a picturesque state park on a lake near my house on Sunday and Monday ($3.00 admission each day) to swim and hang out (read some free magazines from a friend). I was going to rent a movie on Sunday evening, but couldn’t find anything worth my $3.18 in the tiny store near my house, so opted instead to watch that home makeover show and have a good cry. That show gets me every time – the generosity of everyone involved is amazing. I don’t understand why they make the homes so huge, though. It seems excessive to me and a waste to use that many resources for just one family. I’m a frugie at heart! I was invited to a BBQ on Monday afternoon, but I had a dull headache all day and was in solitude mode, so I skipped it. I bought a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Heath Bar Crunch ice cream ($3.99 – I haven’t bought it in awhile and was surprised at how expensive it’s gotten at the convenience stores around me. I did enjoy every penny of it!)

I just made a large salad to be used for lunch during work the next three days, using items already on hand: Local organic romaine lettuce, baby bok choy, and carrots. Sungold cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and flat-leaf parsley from my garden and some chickpeas that I soaked and cooked yesterday. Yum – lunch will be the bright spot in my day as I re-enter work. Wish me luck!

Thanks for all of the welcome comments to my first entry!

Hi all - I found this site about a year ago and was financially inspired by reading the stories captured on different blogs. I felt like I found a tribe I could relate to - frugality, money-talk, awareness, bargains, humor!

I sat down and reviewed my finances in full for the first time. I figured out how much I earned per month, sketched out a budget detailing where I needed and wanted my money to go and started to pay more attention to my overall financial picture.

This was huge (it took many, many babysteps) because I've always been afraid to do this - my fiscal picture is actually quite decent, but I do live in fear of not having enough for the future. And I don't want this fear to stop me from living in the present, which it sometimes does.

I've recently started to lose track of my daily financial life, so decided to jump on the bandwagon and start a blog as a way to get back on track and to keep focused.

I look forward to blogging with you all!