OK. I went through the finances and balanced the checkbook, so I'm ready to start 2008. The day didn't go as smoothly as planned, though, as DS went to the doctor and has strep throat. I'm a little cynical of the diagnosis, because his throat doesn't hurt and he doesn't have a fever, but I'm just a mom. So I paid the copay and got the prescriptions. We were supposed to get together with friends tonight, but are staying home instead, which is just as well.

I didn't have time before the end of the year to submit a few outstanding medical claims, and to finish filing my flexible spending claims, so I'll take care of that later this week. The plus is that sometime in January I'll be reimbursed for these expenses, which have already been paid out.

Broken Arrow's comment to my last post got me thinking. It's not enough to say my resolution is to "watch my money more closely", although of course I want to do that. So I settled on these 4 specific goals to start: 1) No ATM fees. I didn't tally it up, but I easily spent $100 last year on mac fees. All it requires is a bit better planning on my part. 2) No library fines. I can't add this up because I just paid it with cash on hand, but my last fine was over $23 alone! Wouldn't surprise me if I spent over $50 on this last year. 3) Don't eat out/take out unless I intended to beforehand, and no more than once/week to start (including fast food/pizza for the kids). This means that I have to plan my menus ahead of time, and have food on hand that I can cook in a pinch. 4) Don't get food at work. It's subsidized, so it doesn't cost THAT much, but still cheaper to eat at home or bring it with me. I'll think of others as I go along, but this is a start.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy 2008!

I've retrieved my blog from the "retired blog" list and am going to try to get back into the daily (more or less) blogging habit.

I read the entry on this site about not making New Years resolutions. I see the point (why wait until New Years, you don't expect to keep them anyway, etc.), but I've always been a resolution girl. There's something about starting fresh with a clean slate that appeals to me.

So naturally, one of my resolutions is to be better about my finances. That didn't happen in 2007. I didn't track anything, didn't watch carefully, etc.

So I started today by calling Direct Tv. I told them that I've been receiving offers from Cablevision, and wanted to see if they could do anything about the price I'm paying. They switched me over to their customer retention department, and offered me $16 off per month ($10 on my basic package and free DVR, which I pay $6/month for) for a full year. They are also giving me free movie channels for 3 months.
As an aside, I did this about 18 months ago with similar results. All it took was a phone call and pleasant demeanor.

I'm looking forward to blogging more. Hope everyone has a Happy New Year!