You have to be on your toes all the time...I looked at my bank statement online, and saw a $10 maintenance fee. I've never been charged this before, so I looked up the fee schedule and saw that for my regular checking account, there's a $10 fee if you're balance falls below $10. We're not talking average daily balance. We're talking: If even one day during the month falls below $500, you're hit with the fee. I called up and got it reversed, but I need to do some thinking now, as the balance can drop below that with the normal ebb and flow of bill payment. Just another thing to keep my eye on.

In other news, school ends next Wednesday. I think I'm looking forward to it more than the kids. I had to drop some cash for teacher gifts...well worth it. I'm one of those that know I could never do that job, and appreciate the fact that these people put up with my child plus 19 others every single day.

I've been pretty unfocused with my finances lately, so I don't have much more to report. Got to get back on the wagon...

It's been a really quiet week, money-wise. I ended up buying lunch at work one day, my first since the beginning of the year. Other than that, I've brought breakfast and lunch from home each day.

Haven't had any unexpected financial surprises, which is great after the ones we had in January! I'm still going back and forth with the insurance company. Turns out the speech therapists put down a diagnosis that's too general, so the insurance co. won't pay it. Now I need to get new invoices from the doctors with a more specific diagnosis and resubmit. Oxford has 30 days to act on claims (and apparently uses every last minute!), so my money won't be reunited with me for a while.

Trying to see the glass half-full, I figure that we're getting by fine paying all of this out-of-pocket, so if/when the check finally comes back, it will be like a windfall. Nothing more frustrating then just waiting...

The diet/exercise thing is still going strong (amazingly). I'm still walking on the treadmill most days, and I'm eating better. As of last Monday I'm down 5 lbs from January 1st, so I'm pretty excited about that, though because I see myself all the time, I don't really notice a change yet. Slow and steady wins the race.

I need to get motivated to do my taxes. Perhaps this week when hubby is away on business. We always get a big chunck back from NY, and usually owe something to Federal. But instead of mailing in NY's early and using that check to pay Federal, I wait until April 15th to mail it all. Not this year...I need to get them done this week.

So nothing too exciting, which is good...

Well, one way to meet my goal of being more organized is to have a flood in the basement force you to clean everything out.

Our water softener overflowed, and we don't have a pipe to catch the overflow because we don't have a floor drain, so all the water spilled out onto the basement floor. It happened sometime between 4:30-6:30 Sunday, and by the time we got to it, there was about 3/4" of water on the floor.

Once again, we're thankful that we noticed it before severe damage was done. (Could you imagine if we were away on vacation?). Also, the water level did not reach the bottom of the appliances, so our washer, dryer, and extra refrigerator and freezer are safe.

However, it was more water than hubby could clean up on his own, so we called the company that cleaned up after the bathroom flood. $400, but they were done in an hour. So my goal over the next few days is to go through everything down there and see what boxes got wet, rebox stuff we want to keep and THROW OUT stuff that should have been gone years ago.

Other than the plumbing, all is well here. Took advantage of the beautiful weekend to get the Christmas lights down, haven't spent a dime eating at work (which was another one of my resolutions) and have been exercising and eating better. So far, so good in 2007.

Happy Fathers Day to Price Plus and the other dads that post (or lurk) on this site. I really enjoy reading your perspective on things. Have a great day with your families...

I picked up some prescriptions at CVS today. Ouch! The cost for regular RXs were raised from $10 to $25 for 2006, and one name brand is $50! And this is with insurance! Luckily, the flexible spending account will reimburse me, but it's still money. Only one of the prescriptions is reoccuring. I need to look into the savings if I do it mail order.

After lunch I need to hit the grocery store. I want to keep it under $20, because I had a pretty big order last Saturday. I also need to return some books to the library before I have to pay a fine on them. Edited to add - Spent $20.87 at the grocery store ($39.10-coupons and bonus club savings). Also had to pay a $4.50 fine for DD at the library for some really overdue books. I really need to get better about this...

The kids need haircuts, but I'm not sure when I can fit them in. That's about it for now...