mjrube94's Blog

We had a totally low-key day today. A "hang out in your pajamas and do nothing" type of day. I was able to get done a lot of bookkeeping type stuff, and had a good financial day:

1) It was a no-spend day, which I almost never have.
2) I filled out a $25 rebate for Showtime (we ordered it to get Dexter. The rebate was a bonus).
3) Filled out another rebate for Dove Conditioner.
4) Balanced my checkbook and paid off all Christmas bills so I'm starting the year fresh.
5) Tallied up all of our investments and debt to see where we stood. I was actually pleasantly surprised that a lot of our mutual funds seem to be rebounding a bit. My 401(k) in particular is looking pretty good.
6) I'm seeing the benefit of my Freedom Account already. My daughter's soccer team signed up for a last-minute soccer tournament tomorrow ($15) and one of the parents is collecting for the coach/team mom gift from the fall season ($20). Normally this would catch me off guard but not now! I have $275/month for the kids' "extracurriculars". (Sounds insane, but it really is that much for all of the sports and activities). So I'm all set to pay this tomorrow.

So 1 day down. Let's see what tomorrow brings...

I meant to post them yesterday, but didn't get to it. I'm keeping the list short and sweet this year in an effort to make sure I keep to it. Here we go:

1) Implement and maintain a "Freedom Account". This is an account where I put money aside each month for irregularly occurring expenses (e.g., car maintenance), so that when the bill comes in I have money to pay it. This kills me every time, so I'll feel better having it.

2) Pay $100/month toward our HELOC. We haven't paid anything other than interest on this in years and it really bothers me. I plan on putting all of my challenge money toward this, but at least $100/month if my challenge can't cover it.

3) Plan the menu and improve the grocery shopping. This has been on my list for years, and I've yet to be successful. Time to give it another go.

That's it. I'll report on my progress...

Hope everyone has a happy, healthy 2010.

I get my year-end bonus in my 12/31 check, so I looked online to see how much my take home pay was. I was pleasantly surprised...I usually assume I'll get 50% of bonus money, because they absolutely kill you with taxes, but this year I got about 63%! Doesn't sound like much, but I'll take it!

Tomorrow will be my day / night to balance the checkbook and get all of my month end bills paid. Then I'll calculate the ending balances in all my accounts after the 31st and I'll be ready to start 2010!

I found $.02, bringing my total to $.63. Wonder what I should set my goal at next year? (It's hard to set a goal because I can't control how much money people drop, but I'm thinking $.50/month).

I got my electric bill. I'll have to go back and check last month's. They must have settled up my account, with a credit in my favor, because my bill this month is only $62.95 (normally $250). Unfortunately, they didn't decrease the monthly amount going forward, so I'm not sure why if I had a credit. I hate calling their customer service, but I think I may have to...

Other than that I have a quiet week planned. Looking forward to resting up.

We had a great Christmas. Everyone loved their gifts, got a few unexpected gift cards, dinner was tasty and clean up was pretty easy. Ahhh, I can breathe a sigh of relief now...

My sister and her family came yesterday and will leave on Monday morning. They're totally low maintenance so it's not even like having guests. I love having her here!

Today I have rest, relaxation, football and laundry on the menu. I need to do some year-end financial stuff also to make sure I'm starting off 2010 on the right foot. I'm working in the office all week, which is a bit of a bummer, but it will be really quiet, so I may get quite a bit of stuff done.

...with $158.62. Not bad for 2 1/2 months. I'm not anticipating anything else coming in over the next week, and if it does, I'll likely not get to the bank anyway.

So the 2010 challenge is on!

I'm setting my goal high at $100/month. I'll be off to a good start because I'm still waiting for $15.20 in rebates that I haven't yet received, I need to mail in a rebate for about $10, and I just sold 4 books for a net of $37.16. I also never opened up my additional checking account (need to find the best bonus going), and I never cashed in all of my coins (though I did raid it of all its quarters on the day I went to the laundromat). Nothing like getting off to a good start!

Regarding the books, for anyone that's interested in selling books online, it really pays to compare prices. I had 4 hardcover books to sell. If I sold all 4 to Cash4books I would have gotten $28.99. If I sold all 4 to Powells, I would have gotten $32.50. By comparing the price for each of the 4 books, I'm selling 2 to Cash4Books and 2 to Powells for a total of $37.16. That's a big difference! In one case, I received $9.50 instead of $3.23, and in another I got $12.98 instead of $9. It only takes a few minutes to run the ISBN #s through both sites, so definitely worth it.

I spent a bit more than I wanted to for Christmas. More than last year but less than the year before. I'm happy with what I got though, generally bought on sale, and things that I think were really wanted and would be used and enjoyed.

Grocery shopping tomorrow, dinner at a cousin's tomorrow night, then hosting Friday. If I don't get a chance to get back on I'd like to wish my blogger friends a peaceful, merry Christmas filled with love and laughter!

...through a crazy week! We had DS's birthday party, DD had two friends sleepover for her birthday, basketball and soccer practice, and a really busy week at work. Seems like everyone is trying to tie up loose ends before the holidays.

But I'm now in good shape. I still haven't finished my Christmas shopping. I intended to finish it up yesterday, but we were hit with a snowstorm (that actually didn't materialize until last night, but the news reports were enough to keep me away from the stores during the day. In retrospect, I could have made it). Anyway, I may be able to get some done today, and will finish up Monday and Tuesday night. I'm not stressed though, because I know where I need to go and what I need to get. That helps! I'm also cooking Christmas dinner, so I need to plan for that. I'll need to develop the menu tonight and get shopping Tuesday or Wednesday.

I got my year end bonus / raise. The raise was good considering the environment, but definitely lower than in years past. On the flipside the bonus was better than I thought. That's good news because it will allow me to get all of the Christmas bills paid in December and start the year fresh. I'm really going to try to move to an envelope-type system, so I don't get hit unprepared with something like a $1000 car repair bill in April, which always happens.

I'm starting to wind down the year as well, think about goals for 2010. Hmmm...

The party on Sunday was a huge success and we have plenty of food (and beer!) left over. I used the last two days to get caught up a bit. My checkbook is now current, bills are paid, and my dryer was fixed this morning. So I have a load in the wash and a load in the dryer.

I filled out a CVS Advisor survey and will get a $5 ecb for it. I love it when I get those...nothing beats free money. I should actually count that toward my challenge.

I found $.07 over the last two days, including a nickel from a guy who dropped it, knew that he dropped it, and kept walking. Go figure! So I'm up to $.61 since I started looking in October.

I'm getting excited about planning my 2010 goals. I love the new year!

Last night I was all set to get a jump on my 7 loads of laundry. I got the first one in the dryer and the second one in the washer, with the other 5 lined up ready to go. Unfortunately the dryer broke (no hot air).

I haven't been to a laundromat in 15 years. The good news is that all 7 loads were washed, dried, and folded in 2 hours. (If I had to do it at my house it would take 2 weeks and they still wouldn't be done!). The bad news is that it cost me about $33! I was surprised to see $4.50/wash and $1.50/dry. Ouch! I did learn that I can do my comforter in the giant machine for $6/wash and probably $4/dry instead of the $35-$40 that the dry cleaner charges!

I went grocery shopping as well, in preparation for our annual Christmas party. Also took advantage of a few deals at CVS. And I did some more online Christmas shopping. I should have one trip to Target left to just about wrap things up. I also have to give hubby some ideas about what he can get me. The problem is that I sound like my mother ("all I want is a house full of good children"). There's really nothing else that I need, which is a pretty cool realization.

Tomorrow will be busy prepping for the party on Sunday. Both kids have basketball, and we're having dinner with friends tomorrow night. It's all good...

I'm waiting for the 15th to pay my bills, and the 18th or so to find out about my raise / bonus . Until then, I'm pretty much on hold with everything else.

I received my Rite Aid rebate ($7), which will go to the challenge. I was bummed though, because I walked past a penny today and couldn't pick it up. I was coming out of the Path (subway) train and I was in the middle of a throng of people when I saw it lying on the ground. I actually thought about bending down for it, but I would have been crushed. It still hurt to pass it by.

I have a little more Christmas shopping to do. Other than that, I'm pretty much on cruise control for the next few weeks...

Wow, this is a busy time of year. From Nov 1st through the end of the year we have both kids' birthdays, anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas, our annual Christmas party, and other gatherings with friends. It's all good, but it makes for a pretty busy schedule.

I had one great financial thing happen over the past few days. We're on the balance budget plan with our gas company. We ended the year with a $108 credit, which will be applied toward our December bill (the timing couldn't be better!). We haven't gotten our new amount yet, but I'm hoping this means that our monthly bill will be $9-10 lower.

One inconvenient financial happening: I sent in the form to get our rebates back from one of our credit cards. The amount was about $450. I had to submit paperwork with the form, and it was dated 4 months ago. So they sent me a letter saying I had to resend the package with paperwork from within the last 30 days. Totally inconvenient, and now my $450 will be delayed. Bah Humbug.

I did find a penny on the street on Thursday, bringing my total up to $.55. And I got an email from Rite Aid that my $7 rebate check is on the way. Woohoo.

Going to dad's for a bit today and a quiet day home tomorrow. I'll probably get my Christmas cards done. Gearing up to make a big dent in my shopping this week...

I found $.11 yesterday and $.05 today, both on the playground. That brings my total to $.54. Not too shabby.

My brother and his family are here until tomorrow morning. We've had a great time, and brother was a HUGE help cleaning the gutters and getting our outside Christmas lights up. Good thing, too, because it's supposed to rain during the week and be cold next weekend.

I didn't do any in-store shopping, but managed to get a few things taken care of on-line. I have some more things to get, either tonight or tomorrow night.

I also need to finish all of my month-end finances tomorrow. I think I'll leave my list there and make it doable...

I made out great at CVS today. I think this was one of my best shopping trips ever! Here's what I spent:

Snickers King Size: $1.59
Hersheys Resses Cup: $.89
Vaseline Sheer Infusion: $7.99
Degree for Women: $4.00
Shick Quattro Titanium 4-pk: $9.99
Bic Soleil Razor: $6.99
Herbal Essence (3): $8.97
St. Ives Body Wash: $3.99
Colgate Total Toothpaste: $2.88
Mylanta (2): $13.58
Crest: $3.89
CVS Vitamins: $6.99
Saline Solution(2): $17.98

Total spent: $89.73
ECB: $71.48
Coupons: $10.00

Net spent: $8.25

Wow, that's good. I came home and showed SIL right away I was so excited. Then tonight, I was telling my brother and he couldn't believe it! More deals to come tomorrow if I get to Rite Aid and Walgreens.

I ordered a few Christmas gifts online today. Scoped out some good deals, and hope to take care of a few more tomorrow. I hate shopping in stores, so the more I can do online the better.

Also managed to get to the dry cleaner and bank today as well. DD and I took SIL to see New Moon (again!) and had a great time. I'm really enjoying their visit!

Finally, I have to scope out today's ING deal in the next few hours. Hadn't really been thinking of that, but it sounds like a great deal!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm thankful to Lux for getting me back to blogging regularly. It's so helpful!

I took care of 3 of the to-dos from Tuesday. The other 4 will wait until tomorrow. More importantly, I got the house ready for my brother and his family, who arrived at 2:00am Wed morning.

I received $33.75 from Powells for the last book order. That brings the Challenge up to $143.62!

Have a great day everyone!

So this is going to be Tuesday's to-do, considering it's 11:00 now and nothing is getting done tonight! Not sure that I'll get it all done tomorrow either, but I'm going to put it all down and see what happens.

1) Book DS's birthday party
2) Return CD to library
3) Deposit check at Dad's bank
4) Deposit checks at my bank
5) Mail paperback swap books at post office
6) Fill out and mail rebate form
7) Fill out voucher for Nets tickets (one them at the fundraiser Friday night)
8) Update checkbook
9) Mail documentation for cc rewards

In addition to all of that, I need to change the sheets, clean the house, and go grocery shopping in advance of my brother's visit (they'll arrive around midnight tomorrow). Hmmmm.

I hit Rite Aid yesterday to get some things for Dad. Got a $3/$15 coupon and combined it with some of their monthly rebates. Spent $29, and saved $13 in rebates and coupons that will go to my challenge when it comes in. In addition, Rite Aid is doing their holiday savings program, (spend $100/get $20 back) between now and the end of December, so the $29 spent will count toward that. One of my to-dos is to fill out the Caregiver Marketplace rebate (should be $10.75) so that will go to the challenge too.

I haven't even thought about Christmas yet. I need to check out the black friday deals. Because my brother will be here, I probably won't be out shopping, but I'll check anyway in case anybody has good online deals.

I had a crazy busy weekend but it was great! We saw New Moon on Friday, then went out to a Casino Night fundraiser for the school. DD had a soccer game on Saturday, then I went to see Jimmy Buffet with sister. (Always a good time. You can't be sad when listening to Jimmy Buffet!). Then this morning DD had her LAST soccer game of the season (so ready for that), and I went down to Dad's for dinner. So PHEW I'm beat, but I had a great time. It's sad when you need to go back to work to recover from your weekend! LOL!

Not much on the financial front this weekend, other than a bit of loose spending at some of these events. I need to get a rebate form out tomorrow and get to the bank. I'll make a to-do list tomorrow. I've got a feeling it's going to be a big one!

I received 2 of the payments from Powells. Unfortunately it was $6.25 less than I thought (didn't meet the conditions, my bad), but it did total $22.75, which will be added to my challenge along with the $.03 I found on the street .

I also went to the post office and mailed the box of books for the third Powells order, so I should see that in about 2 weeks.

I've amassed 29 credits on Paperback Swap, and 2 more on the way. I think the next step in my challenge will be to check out high value books for sale on cash 4 books and see if I can get any of them through paperback swap. It's a bit of a risk in that the paperback swap books take about 2 weeks to get here, and the prices on cash 4 books changes, but given that I'll have no money out of pocket it may be a risk worth taking.

My challenge is now up to $109.87, so my other next step is to open up a bank account with a sign-up bonus. I have an offer at Chase for $100, but before I sign up I'll check out a few others to see if there's anything better. I'll use this new account as my "Freedom Account" that Mary Hunt talks about.

All in all, a good day...

I made a HUGE mistake paying one of my credit cards last month. The balance was about $3000 (we charge everything and pay off each month). I tried to make an on-line payment, but I have a new computer from work, and they won't let me install the ActiveX thing (I'm no techie), so the Citibank page doesn't show up correctly. I tried to make the payment for $3k anyway.

When I went back to take a look at the account (on the day it was due) it didn't look like that payment hit. I assumed it was because of the whole ActiveX thing, so I called customer service in a panic and did a phone order (they waived the $15 fee). However, they told me I could only do a phone order for $1000, because it was the first time I was ever doing it. The rep told me I could pay the remainder of the bill the next day at a branch, and she'd put a note in my file not to charge me a late fee. So the next day I paid the other $2,000.

Well, turns out the original online payment for $3k did hit, then the $1000 phone order hit. The bank denied the $2000 payment because that would have left me overdrawn. So now I have a $1000 credit on my credit card (which will be used up by next month). Even though it will all balance out by next month, I'm short this month by $1000.

What really makes me mad is that my ineptness at handling my finances is so out of character. I'm a professional, well-educated business woman (a finance major, to boot!), I raise two children who seem relatively well-adjusted. How come I can't get my financial act together? It's really frustrating!

I did all of the things on my to-do list except return the books to the library. They were due on Sunday, so I'm going to have a fine when I return them tomorrow. No excuse. Ugh.

I'm getting ready for an incredible weekend. Friday, we have tix to see New Moon, followed by a school fundraiser (both sets of tickets already paid). Saturday, I'm going to see Jimmy Buffett with my sister (always a great time), and Sunday is DD's last soccer game. Then it's down to Dad's, and back home to clean up the house in prep for my brother and his family coming Tuesday. They're staying for a week. Can't wait!

Just updated my sidebar. Psyched that my debt is almost under $215k. And we're now adding $250/month to the Emergency Fund, so that's going in the right direction too. It's all good...

Wow, did I have a busy weekend! Friday night we had an impromptu get-together at a friend's house. I sprung for the pizza (~$25) and had a great time. Saturday we had a friend's son's confirmation, then a soccer game on Sunday. I was beat, but had a great time.

I now have to get focused again on the finances. I got paid on Friday, which means I have all of the mid-month bills to pay. I received 2 rebate checks that need to be deposited, as well as the check for $12.75 from Caregivers Marketplace that will be added to the challenge.

I also need to get back to my to-do list so I can get some stuff done. Here's Tuesday's list:
1) Return books to library
2) Deposit / cash checks
3) Drop off gift card
4) Pay mid-month bills
5) Get caught up on work

That's pretty aggressive, especially that last one. Hoping I can get it all done.

Wednesday:

Felt well enough to run a bunch of errands including:
1) Went to library to pay for lost cd ($20-grrr). I've searched high and low, but if I'll try again because if I find it within 30 days I'll get $15 back.

2) Went to Staples and bought some stuff for hubby using a Staples Rewards check (no out of pocket).

Also finished helping DD with her Social Studies project. I hate projects. Can't they just sit at the desks and do reading, writing, and arithmetic?!

And I did spend money. Bought tickets for the opening night of New Moon for the family and Grandma. We can't wait for it to hit the second run theater!

Thursday:
Feeling 95% back to normal. One more good night sleep ought to do it. Great challenge day!
1) Found $.34 ($.01 in Hoboken and $.33 all at once in NYC). That makes $.35 so far. I'll start tracking this on the side separately, but it will also be added in the challenge.
2) Mailed the last round of books to Powells and sold another $34.25 that I need to box up and get out in the mail tomorrow or Saturday. I am tickled pink with the way this is going!

I also got my $10 Kelloggs rebate. Won't go to my challenge, but will go to my checking acct .

I saw a great Dave Ramsey show yesterday. I don't usually watch him, but the topic was unique things people were doing to make extra money (not just the 2nd job in retail kind of thing). The ideas were great, and so creative, ranging from giving drum lessons, donating plasma, driving around to look at foreclosed homes for insurance companies ($8/house!). I started watching halfway through...I wish I taped it. I didn't hear anything that I could do myself, but it sure gets the creative juices flowing.

And if nothing else good came of my being sick, I am FINALLY, FINALLY caught up on my laundry! My goal is to keep from getting so behind on that again.

Feeling a little perkier today. Still tired, but was able to get up and around. Went to dad's house for a few hours to go through his mail, pay the bills, etc.

On the way home I stopped by the library to return the video we borrowed. While I was there, I inventoried the used books for sale. Took about 45 minutes, and I was able to find 6 books to sell for $6.50 (cost to me - $2). A net of $4.50 is not great, but I'll take it and add it to my challenge.

I also received a notice from Paypal that I received my Cash4Books payment of $16.61, so that brings my challenge to $74 and counting.

I caught DD's bronchitis this weekend and have been knocked out. Sunday and today I barely had energy to get out of bed. Thank goodness for the great deal on the box of tea last week, because I've been drinking about 5 cups/day!

We rented a dvd from a local library on Saturday. I thought they only had book sales once/month, but they had a few racks of books for sale in the lobby. I didn't have time to look through them on Saturday, but will make the time when I return the dvd (hopefully Wed if I'm up to it).

Not much else to report now.

I FINALLY got out of the house today and got something accomplished!

I went back to the library to pick up the rest of those books from the book sale. The bad news is that of the 18 I was looking for, I could only find 13, and in the week and a half that passed since I initially priced them, Powell is no longer accepting 2 of them.

The good news is that I was still able to pick up 11 books which I can sell for $22.50 (cost to me = $5.75).

The other good news is that the reason I couldn't find the rest is that it seems like they got a boatload of new books in for the sale, so I'll have to stop back when I get more time and go through the new ones.

I completed a rebate for laundry detergent that will go out in the mail tomorrow.

I also scored huge on A&P doubling $1 coupons last week. Bought shaving gel for hubby for $.37, a box of Celestial Seasons tea for $.50, and a jar of Smart Balance peanut butter for $.99. If only I could always find deals this good...

We're having our first fire of the season tonight. It was in the high 40s all day, but felt so much colder! Our tradition in the winter is to light a fire on Friday nights and play board games with the kids (and a glass or two of wine!). It's a great way to kick off the weekend.

Not a lost week financially, but health wise. I had both kids home Monday with what I thought was strep. Turns out only DS had strep. Doctor said DD's strep test came back negative, and it's just a cough. So DD went to school yesterday, and was home today after being up from 1-5am (with me, rubbing her back), because she felt so bad. Kept her home from school today, and she feels worse. Totally run down (maybe from being up all night?), low-grade fever, sore throat, etc. So now I'm thinking flu, because that's all over the school. I'm taking her back to the doctor tomorrow.

Fortunately the kids are off from school tomorrow and Friday, so we can have a pretty quiet weekend. I'm looking to lay low and recover, because we're all just knocked out. I could sleep for a day!

I did manage to read a great book - one of Mary Hunt's cheapskate books. It's the first one I've read and I really liked it. I've read a lot of these types of books and usually I'll find a nugget or two, but otherwise blow through it pretty quickly, but not this time. She suggests using an envelope-type system for irregular expenses, but instead of putting the money in envelopes you keep in the house (which I would raid every time I go to the bar with the ladies), you open a separate account and direct deposit the money in there. That I could definitely do.

So I prepared our 2010 spending plan using this method and I think it will work well. I explained it to hubby and he was on board too. At least I got something done this week!

Today was successful because I had both kids home sick and still managed to be productive!

Took DD to the doctor and he said her strep test came back negative - it's just a cold. They told DS the same thing before the overnight strep test came back positive, so we're waiting to see if we get a call tomorrow. Either way, she's not in terrible shape, and DS seems to be on the mend. Lux, I'm going to stock up on the Sambucol for next time (because there WILL be a next time).

Fortunately hubby was home for most of the day, so I was able to make a big dent in my to-do list. Did pretty much everything except:

1) Go to library to pick up the rest of the books to sell (Tues/Wed)
2) Call Verizon Wireless - I dropped a service last month and it's still showing up on my bill (Tues)

I also am almost caught up on my mound of laundry. At least what's left is all in baskets instead of covering the floor of my closet!

I made out great at the grocery store today. A&P had 4 "super coupons" where they'd double $1 coupons to $2 (normally they only double to $.99). I got Smart Balance butter spread, Smart Balance butter sticks, Danimals, and 2 Friendship sour creams for free, after using the coupons. I also had a coupon for a free Ronzoni pasta and a free roll of Marcal paper towels. I bought a bottle of laundry detergent that will be free after rebate and, as an unexpected bonus, I got a catalina coupon for $3 oyno from the detergent company. So I'll count that $3 toward my challenge. When all was said and done, I bought about $97 worth of groceries for $57. Not bad. I have 2 more sets of 4, so I'll have to get back there by Wednesday.

DS's birthday is Friday, so I need to do some shopping for him. Our anniversary is Thursday, but we went away in August to celebrate, so that should be low key. I need to start thinking about Christmas so it doesn't sneak up on me the way everything else has this year!

ETA: I had $4 left over from my allowance last week, so I put that toward my challenge. I'm up to $65.14 now.

DS's doctor called this morning. They gave him a quick strep test in the office on Friday and it came back negative. She called today to say the "real strep test" (when they send it out to the lab) came back positive, and she called in an antibiotic (only $5). The good news is that he has none of the typical symptoms of strep (no fever, sore throat). The bad news is that DD had a cough all day today, and has already had strep 3 times this year. She doesn't have a fever or anything yet, and I'm praying that it's just a sore throat and will pass. I'm just happy that it's not the flu (yet).

Hubby was very supportive of my book selling today. He saved a few boxes from the recycle bin that he thought would be perfect for boxing up the books. I told him my "frugal friends" would be proud. Then he asked me how much I made doing this. I told him that the library sale last week will net me $38 and he rolled his eyes. Hubby, frugal friends will NOT be proud of you scoffing at $38!

HUGE list of errands tomorrow. I'm going to do my best:
1) Go to Post Office
2) Go to Fed Ex office
3) Go to Bank to deposit check
4) Drop off gift cards
5) Go to library to pick up the rest of the books to sell
6) Balance checkbook
7) Pay pool closing bill
8) Pay Heating/AC company bill
9) Call Verizon Wireless - I dropped a service last month and it's still showing up on my bill
10) Send in a rebate
11) Go grocery shopping

Phew, I'm tired already!

Well, almost. DS came down with a terrible cough Wednesday night/Thursday morning. Anytime he gets sick this happens - a barking cough like a seal. We give him the nebulizer, but other than that, there's not much to do but wait for it to pass. No fever, no aches (thank goodness), but we took him to the doctor on Friday just to make sure it wasn't the flu. So he missed school Thurs and Friday, was able to get out for a bit of trick-or-treating today, and seems a little bit better. Keeping my fingers crossed that this passes by tomorrow night.

So needless to say, I've done nothing else over the last few days. I worked Thursday and Friday (hubby was home with him), so when I walked in the door from work, I needed to give hubby some time to get out of the house. I'm going to spend tomorrow doing house stuff (laundry, laundry, laundry) and will have a LONG to-do list Monday, to make up for the errands I didn't do over the past few days.

One thing on the financial front - I already received the reimbursement for the kids' dental visits. It only took a few weeks - I've never seen any health-related thing move so fast!

The other financial thing I need to do is to finish out the month and see where we ended up. I've been doing a good job of tracking as I go, so hopefully it shouldn't be too bad.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

On Monday, I blogged about hitting a local library's used book sale. I found 7 books that I could sell for $16.61 (-$3 to buy them) and I was quite pleased with myself.

Last night, while surfing the forums, I came across a post about selling used books to Powells Books online. I still had the list of all the ISBN #s that I wrote down from the book sale, so I jumped onto Powell's website and checked them out. Ready for this? Powells will buy 18 books for $43! Assuming that they're all hardcover, I'll have to pay $1 each, for a net of $25. The best part is that I already did the leg work of copying the ISBNs during my first go-round, and was really careful to identify the location of each book by shelf, so all I need to do is stop back there, pick them out and box them up! Assuming I can find them all, this book sale will have netted me over $38 toward my $20 challenge. Not too shabby! I'm not sure if I'll get over there tonight, but if not, tomorrow, Saturday at the latest.

My $13.75 rebate check from Caregivers Marketplace came in the mail yesterday, along with the rebate from Seattle's Best Coffee, so I added another $14.75 to my challenge.

Today's To-Dos:
1) Go to post office and mail books.
2) Drop off grocery gift cards

What a crummy day. 50 degrees, damp, rainy. I would have done anything to stay in bed for a few more hours, but I had to get the kids to school and me to work. Blah...

I had a terrific day yesterday. Ran all my errands. I closed out a checking account I had at Citibank and was shocked that neither the customer service person nor the teller asked me why I was closing it. I had no great reason, I just didn't need it anymore, but figured that they would be interested in why they were losing a customer. Guess not.

I also went to the post office and mailed some books. Another book was claimed last night, so that will have to go out tomorrow. Getting rid of these books is like a slow leak, but it's really adding up.

Speaking of adding up, I went to one of the local libraries that has an ongoing book sale, looking for books I could buy and resell on Cash4books .net. This is really hit or miss, because you never know how many books they're selling, if they're the right ones, etc. This particular one was pretty big (probably 150-200 books). I did ok. I found 7 books to sell for $16.61. It cost me $3 to buy them, and cash4books pays the shipping. So I'm netting $13.31 for my $20 challenge. Door to door it took me about 1 1/2 hours, which works out to $8.87/hr, tax free. I'll take it. They have to go to the post office tomorrow too. I'll also write myself a note on the calendar to go back again in 3 months.

Here's today's to-do list:
1) Transfer money from Paypal to checking
2) Check out times for New Moon on 11/20 and preorder tickets (we're rabid Twilight fans...)
3)Package up the books for the post office tomorrow.
4) Get checkbook / budget up to date.

That's it. It's a pretty small list because I'm so sluggish today that I know not much else will get done. So why put it down, not do it, and feel bad about it?

Well, Monday at least. Hubby is travelling for a few days, so I'm working from home tomorrow. I'm REALLY looking forward to not commuting!

I have a number of things to get done:
1) Go to dad's bank and deposit checks for him.
2) Go to my bank and cash check
3) Close citibank checking account
4) Fill out next Caregivers Marketplace rebate, and one other rebate for try me free shampoo.
5) Go to post office and mail paperback swap books (6 more gone - yay) and rebates.

3 challenge boosters for the week:
1) I went back to secondspin .com tonight and checked a bunch of CDs that I have. I can get rid of 13 for about $20. These wouldn't be missed - we have the songs that we want on Itunes anyway and I can't remember the last time we listened to any of them. I just need to listen to some, make sure they don't skip, etc., before I officially sell them and send them off.

2) I'm planning on hitting one or two of the ongoing book sales at the local libraries to see if I can hit any pay dirt there.

3) I have a piggy full of change. I'm going to see how much it is and put it toward the challenge. My goal is to boost my challenge amount high enough to take advantage of one of the local banks account opening bonuses.

Should be a good challenge week...

I received the full credit of $13.38 from Cash4books. It was deposited into my Paypal account today. Not bad. Took just over 2 weeks. So that's $13.38 more for the challenge, bringing me up to a whopping $49.39. I may have to scrounge around the house for some change to get it up to $50!

Two more books were claimed on paperback swap, so I'll need to add "going to the post office" on my list of to-dos tomorrow.

Hubby will be travelling over the next few weeks, so I plan to take a few vacation days while he's gone (to cover pickup and drop off of the kids, NOT to celebrate the fact that he's gone and have a wild party). I'm hoping to use the time to organize and declutter more of the house. Where to begin?