mjrube94's Blog

Before I get to the dog, I have to preface this by saying:

Do you ever read the blogs on this site and think, "wow, I'd NEVER spend money on that...what a waste." (This happens to me, with some blogs more than others, lol!). Anyway, I'm sure many of you will be feeling the same way about me after this entry!

My dog goes to day camp. Not every day, but 3-5 times each month. Hubby works from home, but also travels regularly. When he's away, and I'm in the city working, it makes for a really long day for the dog. Although physically he'd be fine, he's got SO much energy that he would end up getting into mischief if left alone for that long.

The place where we board him for vacations offers "doggy day camp". We can drop him and pick him up any time between 7 am and 7 pm. He spends the whole day romping around with other dogs. (They even have cameras so I can check him out online)!

The cost: $29/day, $25 if you buy a package of 5, which is how I buy them. Well, my pup won "Camper of the Month", which comes with 2 free days - $50 worth for me!

I plan on buying a 20-pk when I run out, because that drives the price down to $21/day.

I'm also keeping track of the freebies I get this year on my sidebar, so I've added this to the list.

It's rare that I find huge savings in my budget after all of these years. I've already refinanced, checked auto insurance, etc. But I recently got a new commuting tip from a coworker that is saving me $133-$333/month!!

I commute to NYC each day. In the past, I've taken the train from my town ($8 each way) then the PATH train across the river to Manhattan ($1.75/trip) for a total of $19.50/day. Multiply this by 20 work days/month and it's just under $400 (my employer pays $100).

Since Hurricane Sandy, the PATH has been out of service, so the alternative is to take the train to the ferry, which is an unbelievable $7 each way! That brings my daily commuting cost to $30/day. Multiply that by 20 work days/month and I was looking at a $500 monthly commuting cost ($600-$100 from employer). There's no word on when my PATH line will be back up and running.

In the aftermath of Sandy, everyone is figuring out new ways of getting around. A coworker told me that there is a bus that picks up from a commuter lot 5 miles from my house, and goes express into the city, dropping off 2 blocks from my office. Total cost: $267 for a 40-ticket pack (20 trips), which works out to $13.35/day (-$100 from my employer = $167/month for me).

So basically, I'm saving between $133-$333/month, I don't have to transfer from the train to the PATH, and I'm 2 blocks away instead of 6 blocks. The bus is comfortable and, on most days, has outperformed the train in terms of time door-to-door.

Although I'm sure nobody out in blogworld cares about the ins and outs of my commute, I think the point is that it's always worth revisiting your expenses and thinking through whether or not there are new ways to cut them down. Things change constantly, and ideas you may have dismissed before may make more sense now.

Although I sold a bunch of books and DVDs on New Years Day, I don't count the snowflakes until I have the cash in hand. Today, I got my first official snowflakes, as 3 $5 Amazon gift cards hit my account, courtesy of Swagbucks. I got back on SB between Christmas and New Years after months away. I racked up the points so quickly thanks to a bunch of surveys that I qualified for. It's slowed up a bit since then, but I get what I can each day. My goal is 1 gift card/week, which works out to about 65 points/day.

The only money out today was food at work, which is budgeted. It should be a pretty cheap weekend too. DD plays indoor soccer, and has games and tournaments this weekend, none if which we have to pay for. The only iffy thing is on Sunday, when she has games from 2-3 and 5-8. Not sure if I can squeeze in dinner at home; otherwise we'll be eating out.

I also have some errands to do tomorrow, including mailing all of the books, depositing a check in the bank, and picking up my briefcase, which needed to be repaired.

I have had a lot of success selling books, dvds, and games in the past (including New Years Day, for $32), and I notice a lot of others have been doing the same.

I wanted to post a few tips for anyone interested. I hope it gets you a few extra bucks...

Selling books:

1) There are a number of book selling sites. There's an app for the IPhone (not sure about other smartphones) called BookScouter. It's free. You can key in or scan the bar code from the book, and it will automatically check 8 or 9 different sites, including Powells, Bookbyte, Textbooks.com, Sellyourbooksback, and Valore. I usually start here.

2) Cash4books is not included in the app, but they have their own app. This is my next stop. You can check all of these sites online as well as with the app.

3) Prices vary significantly from site to site, and from day to day. So I put all my isbns in an Excel spreadsheet, and go through this exercise once a quarter or so. You can also enter multiple isbns at once on the websites, so this saves a lot of time.

4) Each site has their own rules about the # of books or the minimum $ sale amount they'll accept for an order, so be aware.

5) All of these sites pay for media mail shipping. You print out the label, pack the books and mail them. They then send you a check or a Paypal deposit.

6) I also post books on half.com and paperbackswap.com. They're both hit-or-miss. With half you get money back. With PBS you get a credit that you can then use to get yourself a book. I use my credits to get high value books that I can sell on the other sites, or books that the kids need for school.

Selling DVDs/CDs/Games

1) Same principle, fewer choices. I've used SecondSpin and EagleSaver. You can also get quotes from Selldvdsonline and yousellbooks (they take dvds, etc. too).

2) Same caveats - big price differences across the sites, so it definitely pays to check them all. Also, prices change from day to day. And they all have their rules regarding # or $ of items.

The smartphone apps make it really easy to scan titles at library book sales, yard sales, etc. And thanks to one of the other bloggers (CCF?) who mentioned that Cash4Books has a promo code that will give you a 10% bonus on your sellback - I learned something new today.

So try it out and good luck!

On to other things...Three days in and I'm on track with my dietary changes - vegan Tuesday, meat yesterday, vegetarian today. So far so good. I got the kids fast food tonight for dinner, but used a gift card, so no cash out of pocket. I like boring finances...

I had a thought while trying to get to sleep last night. So many of us are trying to accumulate snowflakes to help pay down debt. I thought, wouldn't it be great to have a "snowmaking" challenge, kind of like the ski resorts when they manufacture snow at the beginning of the season, to help everyone get started.

So here's the challenge: over the next few days, post your BEST pieces of advice for accumulating snowflakes. Not a laundry list of every thing you do to save money, but the couple of things that will make the readers say "aha, I've got to try that."

And readers, if you try any of the ideas and have success, post it and let us know! I'll keep track of the nuggets and the savings that result. Who's in?

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Here's my nugget to start off the snowmaking challenge:

If you pay your property tax and house insurance as part of your monthly mortgage payment, look into paying it yourself. (This may not be possible if you have less than 20% equity). The banks are allowed to keep in escrow amounts above and beyond what they need to pay the bills. If you start paying directly, they will refund the extra to you. Many towns allow for automatic debiting of property taxes, and you can usually do auto debit or charge to your cc for insurance. I did one better and took advantage of a $100 account opening bonus at Chase, so I keep these funds segregated from the rest. It's a 1-time benefit, but may result in a few hundred dollars or more.
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On other fronts, I tallied up my year end account balances for my accounts (401k, etc). It's amazing how these things grow when you're not looking at them every day.

I cleaned house yesterday and sold approx $32 in video games, DVDs, and books to Secondspin, EagleSaver, and Powells. I won't get to the post office until Saturday, so I won't get the cash for a week or two, but it should definitely hit in January.

I also paid a few bills (all budgeted), submitted a claim form for the kiddies' visit to the dentist, and ate breakfast at home, saving a few bucks. A good start to the new year!

I put together my 2013 budget a few days ago and it was looking pretty good. I chalked it up to the fact that I was recently promoted (new salary hits Jan 1). I was also totally off the wagon tracking my expenses at the end of last year, so I thought that a good hard look at the budget was causing the numbers to look better. Alas, I forgot to account for the taxes that come out of my paycheck (Fed, State, FICA/EE). In the past I plugged in the net number for my pay, but this year I moved to gross so I could actually focus on what was coming out. In doing so, the Excel spreadsheet calculation didn't pick up those three lines.

So instead of being in incredible shape financially, I'm just in ok shape. I adjusted my 401(k) percentage to max it out, and adjusted my withholding, both of which will eat up some of the raise. We have a big tax bill due in April (DH is self-employed and had a good year next year, but we never increased our estimated tax payments. Ouch). Once we're past that, I should be able to tackle the HELOC full force. In the meantime, I'll rely on snowflakes and creativity to start getting it down.

As always, New Years Day will be a good day for the diet resolution. DH goes to a friend's house to watch college football all day. I'm going to make two soups: carrot, sweet potato and ginger soup, and potato leek soup. My "healthy eating" goal is to have two vegan, two vegetarian, and three reduced-meat days each week in January.

On the vegan front, I tried out Silk's Creamer in my coffee this morning and don't taste a difference, so that's an easy change to make permanent. There are so many vegan options in the store (though they're quite expensive). My plan is to try things out one at a time and see what I can live with. Part 2 is to then find out where I can get them cheaper / coupons, etc.

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, prosperous 2013! I look forward to following you on the blogs...

I have been thoroughly enjoying my time off from work this week. I've really been able to disconnect, which is unusual for me.

The end of the year is wrapping up nicely:

1) Kids went to the dentist, and DS has his annual doctor appointment on Monday

2) Finalized the 2013 budget and am pretty happy with where it stands.

3) Organized the rest of my finances, including an inventory of gift cards, getting the kids to deposit their Christmas money in the bank, etc.

4) DH, the kids and I are going to dad's today to see him for Christmas. I usually visit him every couple of weeks by myself, so he'll be excited to see the rest of the family with me.

5) Submitted by 2013 Death Bet entries. Had to make a few late minute switches, but I'm pretty happy with my list.

I do have a few things to do tomorrow. I need to get the year end balances on my 401(k) and other accounts, return a few things from Christmas, and run a few errands. We're planning a very quiet New Year's Eve - at most one family will come over, otherwise we'll be on our own, which means family game night and Ryan Seacrest's show.

I set my 2013 goals on my sidebar. I'm focusing on 2: Paying down my HELOC and losing weight. (Gee, do you think anyone else has New Year's goals to save money and lose weight? LOL!). Here's the plan:

With regard to the HELOC, based on the 2013 budget I layed out, I should be able to save at least $500/month through the 1st half of the year, and $1500/month in the 2nd half of the year. That would be $12k, with the rest coming from odds and ends money. So I think it's reasonable.

With regard to the weight loss, I'm down 7 pounds from the beginning of October. Getting to the gym 3-4 times per week should be doable, and hubby and I are moving to a healthier diet (more toward vegetarian without being over the top). In order to meet the goal, I'd need to lose less than 1/2 pound per week, which I think is a legitimate goal.

I've gotten back to Swagbucks after many months away, and snagged 3 quick $5 gift cards to Amazon. I'm going to shoot for 1 per week, and put it toward my 2013 Christmas fund. I've also gotten back to Viggle, and had enough points to get 3 $5 gift cards there too. I can't wrack these up as quickly as Swagbucks, maybe 1 every 2 weeks, so that will be my 2013 goal there.

I hope everyone has a safe, happy, healthy New Year!

BankerGurl has inspired me. I went through a pile of gift cards to see what I have. They'll all be used, so I don't want to sell them, but I need to be aware that I have them so I can plan ahead. Here's the list:

1) Verizon Visa GC $120 for renewing my 2-yr agreement.
2) Exxon $279 I buy these for 20% off, then use them to buy my gas.
3) Barnes & Noble $25 GC received for Christmas
4) Starbucks 3 cards totalling $50, rec'd for Christmas
5) Lowes $19.25
6) Staples $40 I'll use this for ink and back-to-school
7) Amazon $10 from Swagbucks. Shooting for $5/week in 2013
8) $15 Itunes GC
9) $25 Home Depot card

In addition, I received a $500 bonus from work, that I can use to buy gift cards from a number of stores. Unfortunately, the list does not include groceries or gas. I can use it for restaurants, or general stores like JCP or Kohls. There's no expiration, so I'll need to think about how best to use it.

I also have $44.72 in Staples Rewards, and $3 in CVS ECBs, both of which will hit on January 1.

My plan is to use the rewards and gift cards throughout the year to help keep my budget on track, during those months when I would otherwise go over. If I don't need them, I'll save them, as none of them expire.

DH is having a bout of gout. It's knocking him out, without a doubt. (OK, maybe Seuss is better).

It's been on and off for about 6 weeks. He's going to see a rheumatoid doctor and his regular physician over the next week. In the meantime, we have committed to move toward a more vegetarian diet. This will be tough because we're total carnivores, but not impossible. The plan is to start small - 2 vegetarian and 2 vegan meals per week, and smaller portions of meat on the other days. We'll try that through January and see how it goes. There are so many vegetarian items in the regular grocery store nowadays, so we'll try them out and see which ones we can substitute without noticing it.

Aside from that, I'm off from work this week. Using the time to get the house back in order after hosting people throughout the month, and prepping for 2013. And we're seeing the Hobbit tomorrow!

It's been several weeks since I posted. Work has been crazy as usual, so I haven't even been lurking.

My 5-5-5- challenge is not going great. I have managed to walk the dog around the long loop and drank my water, but didn't go to the gym, didn't walk to the train, and only managed sit ups once. Oh well, I'm not surprised...

I spent the weekend at DD's soccer tournament. We had a lot of fun, it was hotter than heck, and I got to see my brother, who lives close to the fields. I have not, however, done anything related to personal finance, and so will spend the rest of the night paying some bills and getting my act together.

Not much else to report until I spend some time focusing on this, but just wanted to check in...

4 days into the month and I've met my water goal for two of the days. I'll be able to make a dent this weekend. The dog will definitely be walked and I may hit the gym one morning.

My Bank of America account is closed to being closed. I have to clear a few more payments then I'll be able to shut it down. Woohoo!

I'm going to Dad's tomorrow, then dinner with friends Saturday night and a soccer game on Sunday. In between, I have to crank through some work. I have a few bills to write and a check to deposit. Once I'm over the hump at work I'll turn my attention back to finances. In the meantime, 5-5-5...

The first day of my 5-5-5 challenge is over. I drank my 5 8-oz glasses of water. It was touch and go there for a while; I finished the last one at 10:45pm. Today looks like a water day as well, with the potential for sit ups when I get home.

When I read the original challenge I missed the part about the 5-yr plan. Mine is to have my mortgage paid off. As of right now, I'm supposed to be done in Feb 2018, which is just under 6 years. I'll run the numbers later to see exactly what it will entail, but it's doable.

I had a great weekend! Kicked it off on Friday by meeting Ray and her daughter for lunch. What a hoot! Every bit as great as I thought it would be. Friday night we took MIL out to dinner for her birthday. The food was good, not great, but not cooking was nice. On Saturday we puttered around the house, then watched a move called Lincoln Lawyer. Definitely my type of movie, plus it starred Matthew McConneghy. Can't spell his name but boy is he handsome! DD had a soccer game on Sunday so we enjoyed a beautiful day outside. Can't ask for any better...

Is anyone else stunned that May 1st is tomorrow? The year is 1/3 over yet I remember New Year's like it was yesterday. Anyway, I'm joining the 5-5-5 challenge. None of these are earth-shattering but for me, they present a legitimate challenge.

1). Walk to and from the train station (.8 miles). This is the toughest. Requires me to be ready 15 minutes earlier in the morning (I'm not a morning person). I also can't be in a rush to get home (we're usually running to/from games and practices, or getting dinner ready), and the weather has to be decent (I'm not walking in the rain). Plus I'm really lazy, so this puts me to the test.

2). Walk the dog around the "long loop" (1.2 miles) instead of the "short loop" (.7 miles). This is a no-brainer when I walk with hubby but if it's just me and the dog, the short loop it is. (It's the whole lazy thing again - I'd rather mush with him on the couch).

3). Work out at the gym. I haven't been to the gym since work got crazy in December, which is a huge waste of money. And it's open from 4:30 am to 11:00pm, so I have a hard time saying with a straight face that I have no time to go.

4). Do 25 situps. I haven't done situps in about 25 years, so this should be interesting.

5). Drink 5 8-oz glasses of water. I'm not a huge drinker and water is my least favorite beverage. I know it's great for me, it's just such a chore to drink that much of it. But I know I should, so now is as good a time as any to start.

My plan is to try to get these done as early in the month as possible so I can start making them a habit, or forget about them and not feel guilty. First report tomorrow!

It's shaping up to be a good weekend.

If all goes well I'll be meeting one of my oldest SA friends tomorrow, ThriftyRay (well, not age-wise, just in terms of how long I've "known" her. Don't want to get in trouble). She's in town and will be blocks away from where I work. Can't wait! Then tomorrow night is a dinner out for MIL's birthday. We haven't gotten her a gift yet; I'll leave that to hubby tomorrow. We have nothing planned for Saturday (ahhhh) and DD's soccer game on Sunday, so a relaxing weekend all around.

I'm excited to start CeeJay's 5-5-5 fitness challenge for May. I have to think of what 5 things I'll do, but I need to do something. I've been feeling very blah from my utter lack of activity.

Work is picking up again after a very brief lull. It seems like this will be status quo through the rest of the year, so I'm backing away from a few voluntary activities (eg PTO). On the one hand I hate to do it, but on the other hand, my sanity is important and I can't do it all. As my kids like to remind me, "there's a 'no' in optional".

Deadbeat brother is calling again. I told my sister that I feel like one of those cartoon characters with the big sucker lollipop where their head should be. I have a hard time telling him that I'm not in a position to help him out when my life is infinitely better than his. At the same time, he's in this spot because of the choices he's made, and I hate to be an enabler. It's complicated, but I need to not be a sap.

And on a totally unrelated note, I got my kids to eat broccoli tonight for the first time dipping it in, go figure, BBQ sauce. Their cousin does it so they figured they'd try it. We try so hard to get them to avoid peer pressure but tonight I was totally saying, "DC eats it that way, why don't you?". A little mixed message there...

I had a great Monday. DS's track practice was cancelled due to the weather, and DD's basketball practice was cancelled due to many of the girls being on spring break. I picked them up from school at 3:15, walked the dog and was in comfy clothes for the night by 4:00. Hubby was travelling, so we had scrambled eggs for dinner. I LOVE breakfast for dinner! Spent the rest of the evening doing some work and vegging with the pup in front of the TV.

I'm making up for it today, though. I was overwhelmed when I woke up at the sheer number of things I had to get done, but then realized that none of them will take more than 15 minutes. So I'm breaking my day down into 15-minute chunks and it seems much less intimidating. I already put the garbage down, cleaned out the car and threw in a load of laundry. Taking a break now to surf, then will move laundry and straighten up. One room at a time, 15 minutes max per room. If I finish a 15-minute chunk early, I get to relax

At least one or two chunks are going to be devoted to paperwork. I need to register the kids for religious ed next year, pay some bills and balance the checkbook. I also need to pick up some discounted gift cards today. Time to get going...

Is there any better feeling as a parent then seeing your child "get" a lesson that you've been trying to teach them?

DS is 11 and into XBOX. He often asks me for money, or uses his own, to buy Microsoft points, which he can then use to buy new games or add-ons for the XBOX. He told me over the weekend that by using Bing to do searches (like a Google or a Yahoo), he can get points. One point per search, max 10 per day per email address. You can then trade in 500 Bing points for 400 Microsoft points. So by using my email, hubby's email, and a family email, he can get 30 points/day, and in 50 days (just over 7 weeks) he'll have enough for 1200 MS points, which is enough for most of the games he wants.

He was SO excited to tell me about this deal, which saves us both money because we don't have to pay for points anymore. And I was so proud of him for figuring it all out and being patient enough to wait the seven weeks for the game. (The next day, Bing increased it to 20 points per day, so he was beside himself - only 3.5 weeks now). My little saver...

I'm heading down to dad's today. Unfortunately, the weather, which has been fantastic all year, is not going to be great. Heavy rains are expected. (And 12-18" of snow in the middle of PA, what's up with that?).

Waiting for my NYS tax refund to come in so I can pay our accountant bill. I have a few other bills to wrap up by month end. Hard to believe that 2012 is 1/3 over already.

Today was a "check off the list" kind of day. I ran a bunch of errands, including cashing in change at the bank ($23.74) and mailing a cd I sold at half .com ($5.79). That's a total of $29.53 that will go toward the heloc. I also found a $25 Itunes gift card in one of my drawers, so I loaded that onto my account. And I was able to balance the checkbooks. My mortgage hit, so that's now just over $125k.

Hubby's birthday is tomorrow. I need to run out in the morning to get his gift. Maybe dinner out tomorrow night, or his mom's, not sure. Then on Sunday I have a bridal shower to go to, so I need to pick up the gift for that as well. All budgeted, which helps.

Well not quite yet, with Easter tomorrow and a work from home day on Monday, but I am back from vacation.

We had a great time. Just me, hubby, and the kids. Very relaxing, ridiculously good weather, the water (pool and Gulf) was so warm. I read all three Hunger Games books, and we caught the movie at the local theater. (The theater was so charming - really small, served dinner and drinks - I've never seen anything like it. I wish we had these up north). Other than missing the pup, everything was perfect.

Going to MIL's tomorrow, so no work to do there. We got the kids some chocolate for Easter. Thankfully they're old enough to understand that we got back to late to do the whole bunny / basket thing.

I plan on getting back to the finances later tonight or tomorrow. I need to balance the checkbook, pay some early-month bills, and see where we stand after vacation.

I'll say this about any kind of splurge, be it vacation, or eating out, or whatever - if you're going to do it, the key is to enjoy it fully and not feel guilty about it, because that takes away all of the fun. I'm not sure yet what the final cost will be, but we planned the trip and had the money put away, so we were able to enjoy it. I think it's really important to budget some "fun" money and then be happy about spending it, no matter what the scale. It makes all the difference...

Musings as I sip on a Mike's Hard Lemonade...

I am officially done with work until Monday April 9th. (OK, I'll need to keep tabs on the crackberry while I'm away, but for the most part, I'm shut off).

We don't leave for Florida until Monday morning. Tonight we're having friends over for dinner and christening the new fire pit. (I've wanted one of these forever and scored a good deal at BJs last week). The Mike's Hard is a great kick-off...

The sump pump is done, so I'll spend tomorrow cleaning up (some dust snuck up into the house through the vents). Plus, I like to leave the house clean when I leave, so it's clean when I get back. I may have to go to the laundromat to do a load of laundry, because our washer and dryer are unhooked, and won't be hooked back up until after we get back.

I also need to take the kids shopping for some summer clothes. Nothing big, just a few t-shirts and shorts, and new bathing suits. I have a JC Penney gift card, so I'll start there.

Sunday we'll pack, and drop the pooch off at the kennel. I miscalculated on the trip expenses in two ways. I remembered that the dog needed to be boarded, but forgot the cost (cha ching). I also forgot the cost of the rental car, and our parking at the airport, which will be several hundred dollars. Wouldn't have changed my mind, but I'm annoyed at myself for forgetting about it. (Well, as annoyed as I can be drinking a Mike's Hard on vacation ).

So life is good. I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend!

We got the results of our taxes back and for the first time in years, we owe nothing. Woohoo! In fact, we're getting back $2k from Federal, which we'll apply to our April 15 estimated tax payment. Ditto from NJ (forget the amount), but I'll apply that against estimated NJ tax too. We're getting money back from NY, but that will just about cover the accountant's fee, so all in all no money out and we're already ahead for next year.

The sump pump guys were here today and were very neat, which I love. They should be finished tomorrow. We already have the funds for this set aside - such a relief to know that it's already paid for.

I've been off of Swagbux for a while so I'm going to spend some time on that while watching tv tonight. Hubby's birthday is this month and I'll use the gift cards I've amassed at Amazon to get his gift. I also am up to $15 worth of points at Viggle (need to update my sidebar!). Love the free stuff...

We are headed to sunny Florida during the kids' spring break next week. We just booked it today. It wasn't totally spontaneous; I've had my sights set on this week over the last few months while I've just been nuts at work. Things were touch and go while I waited to see if things would settle down enough for me to get away and sure enough, I'm going. I won't be totally work-free. I'll have my laptop for emergencies and my blackberry, but I will be relatively tuned out. I am REALLY looking forward to the peace and quiet.

The good news is that I've been squirreling away money, so this will be paid off as the airfare and rental bills come in.

So now the fun kicks in. I have two days left at work to get as much done as possible so I can stay tuned out next week. We leave Monday, so I'll need to hit the stores this weekend to get the kids new bathing suits, which they've outgrown from last year. And some last minute phone calls to make as well.

Not much else going on, at least nothing I can focus on with my vacation excitement. Woohoo!

I took the kids to Barnes & Noble yesterday to get them some books, and picked up Hunger Games for myself. I've been getting sucked in by all of the hype. DD, who is 13, hasn't yet read the book but wants to see the movie. She'll read the book after I'm done with it.

In other news, I spent the day doing things that I wanted to do rather than what I planned to do. I balanced my checkbooks, did my finances, and scoped out some potential sales to Secondspin .com, which I hope to finalize tonight. What I didn't do was clean my house and plan the menu for tomorrow night (we're having friends over for dinner). Fortunately the house is in decent shape, so it won't take much to clean, and I have a few ideas for the menu. Perhaps I'll square that away later tonight. Procrastination...it should be my middle name.

I had all of the windows open today. What a gorgeous week we've had - mid 70s in the middle of March. Who would've thought? I haven't used the heat or ac for at least a week. I could get used to this...

This is the third time I'm writing this entry. It keeps getting accidentally deleted. Ugh...

I'm still trying to transition from BOA to the credit union. Today I shut down my savings account that I had opened for a bonus a few years ago. It had about $28 in it, and was going to incur a $5 charge this month. So I closed the account and transferred the $28 to my HELOC.

I also moved a few more auto payments from BOA to the CU. Only one or two more to go. BOA was also listed as the account for any electronic tax refunds, so I'm hoping to be able to completely close it by the end of April.

I also merged two Chase checking accounts into one. I opened them both up for bonuses a while back, and use them to put aside money for my mortgage and property taxes, so they're not comingled with other money. Because my mortgage is with Chase and I autopay from a Chase checking account, I get a 1% rebate each year.

While I was on the Credit Union website, I checked out their mortgage rates. I have a 15-year 3.875% with Chase. Assuming my current payment schedule, I'll pay it off in February 2018. The CU had a 5/1 ARM at 3%, but I would only pay it off one month sooner. It would cost me .25 basis points and $3,000 in closing costs so it's not worth it.

I also checked their HELOC rates and saw that the rate was around 5%. I'm currently paying 2.74%, so I called Chase to see what their rates were. 4.5%. When I quoted my current rate, he said it was because I took my line out so long ago (pre-crisis), when rates were more favorable. So reluctantly I'll have to stick with BOA for my HELOC.

In other news, I finally received the 2 $5 Amazon gift cards I was waiting for. Took just under two weeks. My Amazon balance is now $35. I'm waiting for one more from Swagbux, and have enough points for another. That'll be 5 for March, so I'll need to accumulate toward April after that. Woohoo...

So it's all good. Slow and steady wins the race...

Thanks to my fabulous brother and sister-in-law, the dumpster is now full and ready to be picked up. My brother helped hubby take apart the kids' wooden swingset (that they haven't used for years and with rotting wood in places). SOOO much extra space in our yard now. He also went on our roof to blow off the leaves and clean the skylights (hubby doesn't like heights).

SIL and I tackled the kitchen and garage. Mostly straightening up in the kitchen, but I did get rid of old cookbooks that I never use, some mismatched glasses, etc. We didn't get very far in the garage, but did manage to go through the PILE of old shoes and some other assorted junk. I'll need to finish that chore this week, along with some other loose ends. I am exhausted but feel so great!

Got the taxes off to the accountant last week and am now waiting to see what we get back. I need to take a look at our account balances as well. I would love to be able to put some more toward the HELOC...

Many moons ago, we got a letter in the mail that we were eligible to be part of a class action suit against United Health Care, from back when we had insurance through them with hubby's company. I seem to receive a handful of these letters each year, and always take the time to go to the website and register. Usually I get a check several months later for a few bucks. Well today I got the check for $175.xx! Totally out of the blue; I completely forgot about it. That is getting deposited first thing tomorrow and transferred right to my HELOC. Woohoo!

I need to submit receipts to Flexible Spending. My son went to the orthodontist a few weeks back. That was $540, and we have a few $25 copays for various doctors. I'd like to get reimbursed this month, so I need to get them in.

The dumpster is getting picked up on Monday, so I have a few more days to toss things in. Overall, pretty pleased with the progress we made, but still more to do. Fortunately, it looks like a nice weekend ahead...

My brother and his family are coming for a visit Friday-Tuesday. There's much to do, including cleaning the house, grocery shopping and menu planning. I took a vacation day on Friday, but will need to start tomorrow. (Why do today what I can put off?)

Hubby mailed our taxes to the accountant. Glad to have that behind me, but I do need to get dad's out as well.

A good friend of mine is turning 40 over the summer. She's planning a very expensive girls weekend to Aruba. She's scouting out some all-inclusive options. I'll have to get the final estimate before I decide for sure. I've known that she was planning something over the top (she was originally thinking Las Vegas) so I've been putting money away for it. No doubt, it'll be a great time, I just don't want to have buyer's remorse. More to come on this one...

It's late and I'm beat, so this will have to be a quick one.

We're THIS close to having all of our taxes pulled together. Hubby should be able to send them to the accountant tomorrow. Not sure what the end result will be. We usually get money back from NY and owe NJ and IRS. This year we were really diligent about paying estimated tax to both NJ and IRS, so I'm hoping that we'll end up getting something back.

I also have to package together dad's taxes and get them to his accountant. Probably Wednesday on that one...

I finally saw one of the Amazon gift cards come through on Swagbux. 2 more should be coming through tomorrow or Wednesday. And I have enough points to cash in another. That'll be 4 for March.

Payday is coming up Thursday, so I'll have to prep for that and get some bills paid. My brother and his family are coming for a visit this weekend, so I want to have everything wrapped up before then...

Hubby and I are getting sump pumps installed in our basement later this month. In preparation, we need to do some major cleaning. We rented a 20-yard dumpster for 10 days, figuring it would take that long to fill it. After only four hours of grueling hard work, we have it about 75% full, and have gotten through most of the stuff in the basement.

So what's long overdue? Let's see. My kids are 11 and 13. I threw out 2 crib mattresses, a changing pad, a baby swing, my daughter's first two-wheeler, more "Little Tikes" things than I care to admit, several bags of toddler clothing. I could go on. How did it take me 10 years to get rid of this stuff? None of it was salvageable, just JUNK with a capital J-U-N-K!

On tap for tomorrow is to finish up some loose ends in the basement, then move through the rest of the house over the next week until it's completely filled up. I'm exhausted, and thrilled!

In other news, I have enough points to get my first $5 CVS gift card from Viggle. Took about 2 weeks, and from what I can gather, I think one card every 2 weeks is a reasonable goal. I also cashed in Swagbucks for 3 $5 Amazon gift cards. They've been verified, but haven't shown up in my gift card list yet, so I'll wait a few days then contact customer service. That will bring me up to $35 in Amazon cards so far this year.

Finally, I got a direct deposit of $4.08 for my half .com transactions. When I go onto online banking next I'll transfer it to the HELOC.

I wiped up at Petsmart today! I went to get a large bag of dog food and some biscuits for the pup and brought my coupons. I got a 33lb bag of food for $39.99, minus a $5 coupon. Plus, I had coupons for 3 free cans of dog food, a free 4lb bag of cat food, 5 free cans of cat food, and $2 off a bag of biscuits. Grand total including tax: $41.88. And I paid for it with a gift card that I bought at an 8% discount. Not too shabby.

Then I cleaned up, or rather cleaned out, the junk drawer in the kitchen. I threw out old menus, expired coupons, etc., and found $3.44 in change. Nice...

Tonight I think I'll try to tackle some swagbux surveys and work toward another $5 gift card.

It's not quite cash, but it's close...

I had enough Swagbux for another $5 gift card for Amazon. That brings me to $20 so far this year. I'd like to at least keep pace with 2/month, but 3 or 4 would be better. (I've been trying to limit computer use during family TV watching time, so it's really put a crimp in this).

I also got back $26.50 in Staples Rewards. A lot of this was due to the free battery offer they always run (buy a 16 pack of Duracell AA / AAA batteries, free after rewards, limit 2). The way I go through batteries between the kids' stuff and remote controls, it's a great deal. I was planning on using the rewards next time I need printer ink, but I'm also interested in checking out some of those other ink places. Has anyone used them? The prices are great, but I'm not sure of the quality. Regardless, I will definitely find something to use the rewards on at Staples. And I'm a Premier Staples rewards customer (or whatever they call it), so the rewards don't expire for months.

On the "real cash" front, I received a rebate check for $12.49 that I had forgotten about, so that will get deposited in the bank and paid toward the HELOC. I also sold another cd at half. com (2nd one in a few weeks), and will net about $3 for that.

We have a big house project starting in a few weeks. We're getting sump pumps put into our basement. We don't have a huge water problem, but two or three times a year we get a few inches down there and the hot water heater comes THIS close to ruin. Anyway, as part of that project, we need to clear out all of the junk in the basement. I'm talking my kids' baby swing, Little Tikes kitchen, baby clothes, etc. (they're 11 and 13 now, so this clean up is WAY overdue)! We're going to get a dumpster and devote the next two weekends to it. Of course I'll keep my eye out for anything that can go on ebay, but I think it's pretty much all junk.

Other than that, I'm fighting off some bouts of spring fever. The winter has been incredibly mild, it will be 60 later this week. It's lighter out later and spring is in the air. Can't wait...