I had some cash coming in today...Turns out I have enough Swagbucks for 2 more $5 Amazon gift cards, which brings me to $20 for the year. I also found $.07, bringing my found money to $6.48. Finally, I sold a cd on half .com for $2.00. That'll go out in the mail tomorrow, along with 2 dvds I sold on swapadvd .com. So all in all a pretty productive weekend.

I activated and used my new credit union mac card. One more step toward ditching BOA.

I managed to clean most of my house yesterday. A bit more to do tomorrow. I also picked up a prescription at CVS and dropped some clothes at the dry cleaner. It's been beautiful here, sunny and in the high 40s/low 50s. Amazing for mid-February. Might we actually avoid a brutal winter? My heat's been turned down a bit as a result.

All in all, things are moving along smoothly...

Since January, I've been trying to use cash/debit card for most things, and only paying on my credit card if I needed to. This is 180 degrees different from what I used to do, which was charge everything (and pay it off at the end of the month).

I mentioned that I haven't been as focused on my finances this month because I've been buried at work. I took a look at my checking account mid-month and thought, "wow, why is my balance SO LOW? How am I going to pay the credit card bills at month end?!" Then I remembered I won't have any, so I'm actually okay. Just a small moment of panic.

My account at the credit union is up and running. I made my first direct deposit there on 2/15. I'm going to take some time today setting up a few bill payments and assuming it works as expected, I'm going to start transferring all of the payments from BOA to the credit union. My goal is to close out BOA by the end of March. That has to be the worst bank EVER!

Other than that, just getting caught up this weekend and cleaning house...

It's been far too long since my last post. I have a project at work due at the end of the month and it's been crazy!

I haven't been super-focused on finances, but also haven't been spending much either, aside from one dinner out, and ordering take-out one night. Everything else has been status quo.

I lucked out yesterday. I found a Metrocard (for the subway) that had $6.35 left on it, and I foundation penny. So that brings me up to a total of $6.41 found for the year!

I have a 3-day weekend coming up, so I'd like to spend some time catching up on the finances, seeing if I can tweak the eBay items that didn't sell, and try to find some more small ways snowflakes. Or I could nap LOL! Maybe both...

OOPS! I deducted my Verizon bill from my checking account, but forgot to put the online payment through. So when I looked at my checkbook, I thought it had been paid, but it never actually was. For some reason, this didn't register when I balanced my checkbook. I think I thought I double counted it, and ended up crediting it back to myself. Anyway, got the next month's bill in the mail, showing that I had two months due, and realized my mistake.

First of all, this is pretty embarrassing. I work for a bank. I've worked for the bank for 20 YEARS! I was a finance major in college. You'd thing debits and credits would be second nature to me. Second, this isn't the first time this has happened. Looks like I'll have to move to automatic payments now, instead of me manually paying each one online.

Other than that...I had a great breakfast out with hubby and DD this morning. I took DD for her annual physical. Her doctor only has morning office hours (at a pediatric doctor, really? no after school appointments?) so it's become our tradition to get the first appointment of the morning then go for breakfast at IHOP. Hubby was home, so he joined us. I let her stay home from school for the day but I had to go into the office in the afternoon. We had such a great time though. It's one of my favorite traditions. DS has his appointments in a few weeks.

We have done a kickin job of planning our menu for the week. Each night, we've planned a meat/starch/veggie that is realistic to make, based on our schedule for the next day. Hubby has been doing a great job grilling and taking on much of the cooking while I've been working late. Good stuff, and cheap - if this was two weeks ago, we would have eaten out at least twice so far this week. Instead, nothing out. Huge improvement.

I need to start pulling together our tax info. I know I have it all, it's just a matter of wading through it all. We usually get money back from NY State, then owe NJ and Federal. So I really want to get the returns done, so we can use the NY money to pay the rest by 4/15. Sounds like a chore for this weekend...

We're Cowboy fans in the NY metropolitan area, and most of our friends are rabid Giants fans, so watching the Giants in the SB is tough.. Last night, I found myself *almost* rooting for them because they really did play a good game, and with two minutes left, all they had to do was kick a field goal and I'd win $100. We were in one of those pools where you put in $2 per box (we're not high rollers) and based on the numbers you have and the score, you win. Anyway, all they had to do was come down the field and kick a field goal. The announcers said they would stop at the one yard line and kick a field goal rather than score a TD so they could run out the click. The guy with the ball tried to stop and fell in the end zone. Final result - Giants win and I miss out on the $100. Blah!

One of my re-listed eBay items sold for $3 + shipping, so that was a bright spot...

The most painful thing this weekend - I spent $72 on gas. OUCH! Granted I was on fumes, but still. This will no doubt push me overbudget on gas in February, as I assume only $50 to fill.

I went to cardpool and ordered some discounted gift cards: CVS (4% off), Kmart (8%), PetSmart (10.2%) and Pier 1 (17%). In the case of CVS, I scoped out their sale ad, figured out how much I would spend there this week, then bought the card. The cards usually come within 3 days, which still leaves me time later in the week to pick up what I need.

I went to the post office yesterday to mail the ebay package. I underestimated the shipping cost (still learning) and will end up only making about $2 on the item. For a minute I thought, "wow, not really even worth my time", but then I figured that I was out and about anyway, and every little bit helps. Drip drip drip.

I've earned enough swagbux for another $5 Amazon gift card, so I'm going to cash that out today. I hit gold, qualifying for a number of surveys. It's so hit or miss...

I also found $.01, raising my total this year to a whopping $.04.

We had a good weekend. Friday night I made a great meal of shrimp and asparagus over pasta. As good as anything we could've gotten out at a restaurant. Yesterday we went to dinner at a friend's house. We bought a bottle of wine we already had on hand and a very belated Christmas gift - $26.49.

We're going to a Superbowl party at a friend's house tonight. I have little interest in the game (we're Cowboys fans, and all of our friends are Giants fans, so we're going to be getting heckled all night). Plus I hate doing anything on Sunday night - that's my relax and get ready for the week time. But it will be fun nonetheless. We have beer on hand that we're bringing with us, and I'll make some dessert this afternoon, so no money spent.

So all in all, a good weekend, staying on track and doing well.

My deadbeat ebay buyer finally paid. I opened a complaint (or whatever it's called) and within a day I had my payment. I need to get it in the mail, probably Friday. I received just under $12, and I'll need to pay for shipping, so we'll see what I net.

No action on the relisted ebay items. I have views on each, but no watchers and no bids.

DS is getting braces this month. I love the doctor, and his staff has it down to a science. The total is normally $5200, but our insurance company only lets him charge $4400. The insurance company covers $2000, leaving us to pay $2400. We pay $600 down and $100/month for 18 months. Seems reasonable to me. Fortunately I planned this out last fall, so I was able to put the money in my Flexible Spending Account so it comes out tax free. The kids also have their annual appointments with their regular doctors, so there will be copays associated with that as well.

I'm waiting for my credit union account to open. I finally sent in the application and check earlier this week so it should be any day now. Then it's the beginning of the end of BOA