I think the best part of this site is all the advice tidbits I pick up from other people. A few weeks ago, Retire@50 posted about how she called DirectTv and they knocked $5 off of her bill. Consistent with a thread in the forums about how often you act on tips, I thought "wow, I should try that", then of course I never did. Well today I was surfing at fatwallet.com (a great site for deals), and they had a link about people who called directtv and got $5 off Total Choice packages and an additional $10 off for premium packages (we have HBO and Cinemax). So I finally picked up the phone and got both discounts for 6 months (that's $90!!!!). Now, it's Direct Tv, so I'll believe it when I actually see the credit on my bill. (For any of you who don't deal regularly with them, it's very hit or miss, to say the least). But I got the guy's name and time of the call, so I can refer back to it if the credit doesn't show up. One of the fatwallet posters says he calls back every 6 months for a new deal, and if someone tells him no, he calls back a few hours later, because you get a different answer with everyone you speak to! So thanks Retire@50, for helping me to save $90...

Of course that made my night. But I also got a few housekeeping things done. Since I've pretty much exhausted the ebookdrop.com option, I listed all of the books on both half.com and amazon.com. I've never done the amazon thing, but people here seem to have success with it. We'll see how it goes. I also finally opened the Sharebuilder accounts for the two kids, and confirmed that they're both eligible for the $50 bonus.

Spending today consisted of $1.40 for tolls and $20 for lunch with my sister. Also filled up the gas tank, but I don't remember how much it was (I must have blocked it out because it's so painful). People on the news say that gas prices could go up considerably more as a result of the storm. While that's small potatoes relative to the mass destruction that occurred, it still hurts to hear. I hope we don't have any Saving Advicers close to the damage...

Tomorrow I need to run a few errands, including my bank to deposit a check and rolled coins, the kids bank to deposit change in their piggy banks, and the post office to get my ebookdrop box out (didn't do it today). My other sister said she would come over to hang out by the pool, but I don't know what the weather is supposed to be like. We shall see...