So far so good...I went grocery shopping today (without the kids) and spent a total of $90.xx. My budget for the month is $500, so that's pretty good. I saved my receipts, and need to update my price book with the purchases. No other spending today. Tomorrow I need to take the second car for an oil change (never did that last week). I'm drawing a blank, but I think that should be it. I was also happy to see the payment from the three ebookdrop orders I sent in December for the used books. For some reason (holidays?) they all were paid today. So it's cool that it worked, and I'll be back in the city on Thursday to pick up the next round. I also got some organizing done today - cleaned out a few closets (one per day is my goal).

I love the new year...I like the feeling of a "clean slate". I spent yesterday and this morning finishing up my 2005 recordkeeping. As I've experienced each month, I like looking at my net worth more than my day to day finances, because stuff like 401ks really help out.

I'm going to spend most of today doing laundry and straightening up the house. Our company left yesterday, and my house looks like 5 tornados have swept through! I don't think I need to go out at all today (or tomorrow!) so it will be a quiet day to finish gearing up for the new year!

We're getting passports for hubby and the kids today. Hubby's expires in 2006, and some countries don't let you use your passport if it's not valid for at least 6 months. He needs to surrender his current passport, and wait the few weeks for the new one, so we figured this would be a good time to go, as he has no international travel scheduled for the next few months. At the same time, we figured we'd get them for the kids, too. Hubby takes business trips to Canada that we'd love to tag along on, but a new rule change requires passports to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean beginning Jan 1. (Used to be a drivers license and birth certificate were enough). I forgot how expensive they are...I think the kids' will be in the neighborhood of $60 each, and hubby's will be a bit more. At least it will be done and valid for 5 or 10 years.

DS has a doctor appointment today. $15 out of pocket, but will be reimbursed by my FSA. I need to log on to see how much I have left in there. I should also take the other car for an oil change. Other than that, it's a miserable day weather-wise, so I'm going to hunker down, straighten up, we'll light a fire and enjoy our company.

Looking forward to payday tomorrow, and closing out the books on 2005...

We had a great Christmas. The kids had fun, and got just about everything they wanted. Company came at 2:00 and left at 7:00, and we've been pretty much eating leftovers all week. The house has been nuts, though. MIL left on the 26th around 11:00am, and my brother, sil, and nephews (5 and 7) arrived at 5:00. Not much turnaround time to straighten up, clean the bathrooms, etc. They'll be here until Saturday morning, and my kids (also 5 and 7) are in their glory. They LOVE their cousins and don't get to see them that often. It's been great.

We finally got cable internet! The guy came Tuesday at noon and set it up, then hubby and brother went to Staples to get a wireless router and firewall/anti-virus software. I'm looking forward to using it soon! I've been making some progress on my chores for the week...DD went to the dentist yesterday, and DS has appointments tomorrow and Friday. I took one of the cars for an oil change yesterday, the other goes tomorrow. I have a bunch of rebates I need to mail out, Thank You cards for DD's birthday to write, the bank to visit, etc. I'm going to make a big push to get this all done this week so I can start the new year fresh...

Edited to add: For any of you with Directtv, they are offering a $10 credit if you sign up to have your bill paid via your checking account. The message said to go to www.directv.com/autopay. When I went there to sign up, I didn't see the promotion, so I called 1-800-directtv and they confirmed that the offer is valid through 12/31...

and Happy Holidays to my online friends...I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a happy, healthy, prosperous 2006!

We are settling down for the night. The kids have checked Santa's progress on Norad and see that he's somewhere by the Azurs. (Unfortunately my geography isn't that great, but neither is theirs, so we've convinced them that he's getting pretty close and they need to get to bed!). They're watching the Year Without a Santa Claus right now, we have cookies for Santa in the oven, and I need to go peel a carrot for the reindeer when I'm done. Then it's off to bed for them. I have about 5 more gifts to wrap, then we'll watch Scrooge (a Christmas Eve tradition) before heading to bed ourselves.

Moneywise, I went to the grocery store today to pick up some stuff I need for tomorrow. The grocery stores weren't nearly as nuts as I thought they'd be (perhaps because everyone else was at the mall!). The total was obscene, and it dawned on me that I'm going to be WAY over budget on groceries next month. (We charge them to get the rewards). We've entertained quite a bit this month, which I love, but is really adding up. I'm not going to sweat it, though.

I am looking forward to tomorrow, and the whole next week, reflecting on what a great year it was, how blessed I am to have such a great family and life, and looking forward to what next year will bring. I hope everyone has a great day and an even better 2006!

I walked out of work yesterday and went home, without stopping at the bookstore to pick up the books. Completely and totally forgot until I was about 10 minutes from home. No biggie, hopefully they'll still be there the next time I'm at work in NYC...

I was on the brink of being really non-frugal yesterday...I was surfing around the net, and found a few things at a store in California that my kids would ABSOLUTELY LOVE and that I can't find anywhere else! It said on their website that you could ship overnight guaranteed if you could get the order in by 2:00PST, for a minimum of $25-$30 perhaps more, depending on the weight of the package. (The total order was about $80). I don't know what came over me, but I actually considered doing this, despite the fact that I finished my Christmas shopping a while back, the kids have more stuff then they possibly need, and the shipping was exorbinant!! I checked it out with hubby, who didn't care (he rarely cares about stuff like this). I tried calling the place at least 6 times between 12:30 and 2:00 PST, but luckily only got an answering machine. So I left work knowing that I wouldn't be able to place the order and have it arrive by Christmas. I decided to forget it, and order it sometime next year with regular shipping. I'm so glad I couldn't place the order, because I would be having serious buyer's remorse right about now...

I'm working until 2 today, and friends are coming over tonight (probably order pizza). Hubby and the kids are home cleaning the house , and I need to do some grocery shopping tomorrow. Then it's on to Christmas Eve!!!

Two more 2006 category goals:

Phone: $50/mo I really need to analyze my bills and see if other calling plans would save me more. I also need to use my cell phone on nights and weekends.

Cell Phone: $65/mo I need to avoid 411 calls ($1.50 ea), get better about collecting $10 from MIL for her line, and get better about having hubby get reimbursed from work for any of his work calls that aren't covered.

I work in the city on Thursdays, so I went back to the used bookstore at lunch. I found 6 more books I can sell on ebookdrop for $17.44-$6.51 I need to pay for them equals $10.93 profit. The good news is that this is my 4th round of doing this, and I seem to be pretty consistent netting $10-$12 each time, which is great. The downside is that, in order to find those 6 books, I had to look through about 200! Oh well, not bad for an hour when I wouldn't have done anything else anyway...I'm going to keep doing the used bookstore thing as part of my 2006 challenge. I'm also going to check out some local libraries. Two have booksales once a month. I can go to the sale, write the ISBNs, use the library's internet to check ebookdrop, then buy any ones I can sell. It'll be hit or miss, I'm sure.

Thanks, Baselle, for reminding me about the $.02 stamp increase (effective January 8, I think). I'll change my goal of not buying stamps to buying just enough $.02 stamps to match the number of $.37 stamps I have, then not buy anymore. I don't think that $.39 is an unreasonable amount to pay to get a letter anywhere I want within a day or two, but Post Office expenses are just one example of what shows up in the "Miscellaneous" category of my budget. Every month it ends up being well over $100, and it's piddling amounts like these (and ATM fees, library fines, etc.) that cause a lot of it. Frustrating...

Watched the 40-Year-Old Virgin with hubby last night and thought it was great (though a tad long). I laughed out loud so many times, which I don't usually do at movies. Onto some other 2006 goals...

Internet: $40/month ($0 in 2004, $18 in 2005). I promised hubby we could move from dial-up, which he hates, to cable internet. Unfortunately, I have directtv, so I can't take advantage of the bundled options the cable company gives out, so I think I'm going to be pretty much paying full price. (We can't even self-install, because we don't have the cable wires in the house). I'm ok with the increase, though, because I feel like I get so much out of the internet access.

DirectTv: $105/mo ($89 in 04, $103 in 05). I was able to call up and get them to give me a discount for being a valued customer ($15 for 3 months, $10 for 3 months after that), so I'll get the 3 $10 bonuses in 2006. I think I'm still committed to them for most of the year, due to the Tivo service we set up a few months back, plus hubby really likes it and has no desire to switch to cable, (or reduce services), so the bill is what it is. This is one I'm going to just have to suck up...

Pool: $90/mo ($109 in 04, $77 in 05). The envelope system will really come in handy here, because we normally get socked twice a year when we open and close the pool. Setting aside money monthly will help cushion the blow. I'm also going to go on Ebay and see if I can get some discounted gift cards to Leslie's pool supply. They're not the most popular for sure, but at least if I look now I may get lucky. Also, there are a ton of mail order places I can check out for chemicals and the like, to see if I can get them cheaper there.

That's it for now...have a great day!

Two entries in one day...obviously a slow work day

So here are my 2006 financial goals:
1) Stick to my budget, including using an envelope system for ad-hoc expenses.
2) Increase my net worth by 25%. Not as hard as it sounds, b/c hubby and I both max our 401(k)s, plus normal debt reduction. Hopefully the market won't tank...
3) Pay off home-equity line by year-end. Current balance is $23,819. Plan is to contribute $1000/month, plus as much of hubby's bonus money and other money as possible.
4) Participate in the 2006 challenge. Turn my $20 into at least $1000 by taking advantage of bank-opening offers and continuing to scour used book stores for resales, along with whatever else I can think of.

A quirky sub-goal: I currently have 19 stamps in my pocketbook, and want to make them last until June 30, 2006. I really hate buying stamps!

In addition, for each line item in my budget, I've looked at 2004 and 2005 totals, and came up with a goal for 2006 (which is how I came up with my 2006 budget). I'll list a few of these each day, along with some ideas I need to follow-up on to help me meet them.

Gas: $235/mo ($248/mo in 2004, $231 in 2005). This will be up slightly, but given the higher prices, it seems like a reasonable target. I've already set my programmable thermostats, and I'm going to try to reduce the amount of laundry I do, and the number of times I run the dishwasher. Replacing the front door would be a big help, too, considering you can see daylight through the big crack, so I'll need to talk to hubby about that...

Electric: $131/mo ($103 in 2004, $149 in 2005). Not sure what happened this past year. I need to look into shutting off the extra refrigerator after the holidays. (We have an extra freezer, too, but I'm not sure if I'll be in a position to shut this off, too). I also need to make sure the lights are off when not in use and replace burnt bulbs with fluorescents. I'm curious to unplug a bunch of stuff we don't use regularly to see if that really does make a difference.

Water: $22.50/mo ($25 in 2004, $24 in 2005). This isn't a huge bill, so I don't usually stress about it. On the one hand, limiting the dishwasher and laundry will help. On the other hand, I don't think hubby watered our lawn once this summer, so I'm sure that will need to increase next year. We'll see how this goes.

That's it for now...I'll add more next time.

I met with my boss yesterday...I'll be getting a 3.72% raise next year, and $2500 of my possible $4000 bonus. Both are better than I expected, so I'm pretty happy about that. Also, I'll be taking a new job (still within my company) sometime around mid-February. The upside is that I really need a change of scenery, and the new work and new people both seem great. The downside is that I'm not yet sure what my new schedule will be, and it's likely that I'll be commuting into NYC 5 days per week, which is a drag both time- and money-wise. But I'm so happy to be moving, that it's ok!

I've been using this week (and likely through the end of the year) trying to take care of housekeeping type things. I like starting the new year off fresh, with a clean slate. So I went to the doctor yesterday, DD had her doctor appointment yesterday, she needs to go back to the dentist next week, and DS has 2 appointments next week. Way to use up the rest of my Flexible Spending Account! A good friend of mine will be here for the holidays, so we'll get together with her on Friday. MIL is coming over for a quiet Christmas Eve, then we have 11 for Christmas. I'll need to do some grocery shopping before then, but hopefully not to big a hit since I went so over budget last week.

Then my brother and SIL are coming next week with their 2 kids. They live in NC, so I don't get to see them nearly as much as I'd like. Can't wait for them to get here. On the money front, I needed to renew my newspaper subscription, but they wanted $102 for 6 months (7 day delivery). When I asked if they had anything cheaper, they agreed to keep my current $47.45 rate, which was an introductory offer. Never hurts to ask! I'll keep this for 6 months, then switch to another paper before coming back to them. I mailed off my last box of books to ebookdrop yesterday. I'll try to hit the used bookstore tomorrow during lunch for another round before the end of the year.

I've just about finished my 2006 goals, so I should be able to post them next time...

This weekend could not have turned out any better (except for my grocery bill!). The kids had a SUPER time at DD's birthday party. It was a fun place, the goody bags were a hit, and the girl I wasn't sure about DOES celebrate Christmas, so I really lucked out! It was a late night, though, by the time we got home from the party, opened up gifts, played with them (of course) and went to bed...

On Saturday, I got a great haircut and color- she always gives a good one, but this one was exceptional! (Could it be better in December because it's holiday tip time? Who knows). Then DD had Basketball, which she loves. After that, hubby took his mom Christmas shopping while I went grocery shopping with the kids. 2006 resolution: No more grocery shopping with kids. Seriously, my goal is to go grocery shopping with them no more than 9 times the entire year. I had a list, but was also improvising (always a big mistake). The store was packed, the kids are too big for a cart, so they're walking and BORED out of their mind. It was a struggle. So the bill ended up being higher than I would have liked.

I did get some cooking for the party out of the way Saturday night, and finished up Sunday. We had a great time with our friends, the kids had loads of fun, and other than a boatload of dishes still piled in my sink, it was a perfect day. We also have a lot of leftovers. I need to look at what I have left and plan out my meals for the rest of the week to use it all up.

So that's it for me. Should be a quiet week, some very minimal running around to do, and gearing up for the weekend. Wahoo...

So I left work last night and went to the used bookstore to pick up all of the books. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a bunch of the ones from my previous visit, but I found some others. Grand total: $15.80 from ebook minus $5.40 cost of the books = $10.40 profit. Put the order in this morning and will ship them out tomorrow. Not bad.

Then, as I was walking to the train (down a different road then I normally walk) I came across a closeout store. I stopped in on the off chance I could find something for DDs goody bags and boy did I. Adorable Christmas mugs with little stuffed animals inside (snowman, santa, reindeer, or bear) for $1.49 each. Couldn't pass that up, so I got 12 of them, along with some tissue paper to wrap them. There are 12 people coming to the party (including DD and DS). I know for a fact that 10 of them celebrate Christmas, and one celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah. There is one girl coming and I'm assuming she celebrates Christmas, but am not really sure. I asked DD and she didn't know. My plan is to give her either the snowman or bear, just in case, with an apology to her mother if necessary...so that took a load off my mind last night.

It's a slow day at work...the weather wasn't as bad as predicted, and the NY transit strike didn't happen (yet?), so it's a lot calmer than I expected. I'm picking up MIL for the party and she's sleeping over. Tomorrow, I have a much needed hair cut and color, DD has basketball, then hubby is taking his mom Christmas shopping, while the kids and I go to the grocery store to pick up stuff for our party Sunday. I guess sometime between now and then I should finalize the menu...

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this in previous posts, but Verizon Wireless gives significant discounts to employees from a bunch of different companies. See the thread from Fatwallet.com below. I know I'm eligible for a 17% discount on our primary line through our company. I figured if everyone was looking at their goals for 2006, this might help some find extra cash...http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/529327/

Speaking of extra cash, last week I went back to the used bookstore and found a bunch of books to sell to ebookdrop, but I was holding off buying them until I received payments for the first two packages I sent. Today, I went back to the store to get another list of ISBNs to check out. While I was checking out these new numbers, I double-checked the numbers from last week, only to find that 2 books that were accepted last week were no longer being accepted, one that wasn't accepted last week is now being accepted, and the $$ offered on a few of the others went up or down by a few cents. So the moral of the story for me is 1) if I see books that are being accepted, buy them and ship them out right away and 2) keep the lists of numbers for future reference, so I can run through them again at a later date to see if anything has changed. As it stands now, I'm going back there after work to pick up all of the books they're accepting...should result in a profit of about $19 (which really covers 2 weeks worth).

I'm a tad stressed today because DD's birthday party is tomorrow, and I haven't gotten goody bags yet. Personally, I hate giving and getting goody bags, because they're usually filled with a bunch of junk that the kids love (of course) but that end up as needless clutter around the house. However, I will never win this battle with hubby, so off to the Dollar Store I'll go tomorrow before work. I'm also hoping to make it home tonight before an expected storm hits tonight. Doesn't sound like a lot of snow, more ice and cold rain. I think I prefer the snow...

Tomorrow will be a bit crazy, between work, the party, getting the favors, picking up MIL, etc., but I think it will be a great time...

Today was pretty successful, money-wise. Other than $2.95 for lunch, and my usual $1.40 for tolls, I didn't spend any money. I also didn't knock much off my to-do list! My only goal tonight is to program my thermostats. It's so easy to do, but I just never got around to it since I first turned on the heat. Of course, we're in the middle of a deep-freeze here (high today of about 26), so I need to do whatever I can to reduce the gas bill. I'm hoping for an early-to-bed night. Hubby is travelling, kids are sleeping, so I should be able to take care of that one thing!

I'm keeping DD home from school tomorrow (actually, she's going to the sitter with DS while I'm working). She has a sore throat and has been fighting something off all week. Her birthday party is Friday, and her actual birthday is Monday, plus the usual holiday happenings, so I think it would be better for her to get some rest.

Tomorrow is payday, so I'll be paying a few bills. I'm also in the city for work, so I'll try to stop at the used bookstore and write down and check some more ISBNs. I already have a list of about 7 books to pick up, but I'm holding off until I get payment on two boxes I've already sent. Hopefully tomorrow I can find some more.

I'm looking forward to a quiet day tomorrow before a busy weekend...

Today was my day at home, and I made it worthwhile...I did some of the housekeeping stuff I've been talking about all week (tons of laundry, made phone calls, finished Christmas cards, etc.) and I ran a bunch of errands. The errands weren't as productive as I'd have liked and were a bit costly...I picked up my new glasses ($93 - will be reimbursed by my FSA), went to the liquor store for a grab bag gift ($15), went to the grocery store for a couple of things ($12.25), and went to CVS for hubby's vitamins ($9). I also picked up $50 in gift cards that hubby needed. When I'm done here, I have 4 more gifts to get...should be about $50 total, and I'll pay for them with gift cards that I have on hand.

On the unproductive side, I had to run to the Verizon Wireless store to check out the deal with my brother's bill. (Hasn't paid for a few months - long story - and they disconnected his phone). He's not going to be able to pay the bill for at least another month, so I was going to see if I could throw a few bucks toward it to at least get it on, but they wouldn't budge unless the whole thing was paid. So unfortunately he's out of luck, and I spent some time for naught. I also tried to stop by the local Gap store for a gift certificate, but the parking lot was SO crowded, I literally drove in one end, up and down all of the aisles, and out the other end because there were no spots and I don't do well with crowds. Finally, I also tried to stop by my bank. I didn't want to go in, and the drive through line was 8 cars long, with only 1 teller open, so I passed. Then I forgot that this was DD's last CCD class before the holiday, and so I left the gifts for her teachers at home. I'll give them out after the holiday, but it just seems so lame...

So I guess that means that I have things to do tomorrow...I also called PNC Bank today, because I hadn't received my $25 BP gift card for opening my account. I'm guessing that the rep never sent in the paperwork, so when I followed up, he said they no longer have BP cards, but could send me a $25 Best Buy gift card instead. That works for me. He's sending it from the local office, so I should have it in a week or so...

I am digging my new Shell credit card. I was able to charge the first installment of my auto insurance, and my glasses, which will earn me a rebate of about $18. That's 1/2 tank of gas, and I've only had it one day. Wahoo. (Though I normally don't charge $600 worth of stuff per day, thank goodness!). That's about it from here...

So my sisters and cousin came over on Saturday. Normally we would have a fantastic time, but the day was definitely marred by my one sister drinking WAY too much wine, and her boyfriend being an argumentative idiot! I don't know that many people would describe me as laid back and easygoing, but can't we all just get along. If someone says the sky is blue, do you really need to say it's blue and white, because there are clouds in the air? You may be right, but you'd also be incredibly annoying. That's what we were dealing with...Next time, it's going to be girls only (plus my hubby).

The upside is that my kids had a fabulous time seeing their favorite cousing, and the food was great, with some leftover for me this week. Hubby has dinners out tonight and tomorrow, then is going on a business trip Wed and Thurs. I'm planning on spending the time doing laundry (as usual) and continuing to take care of some housekeeping issues. I'm doing well with my 2006 goals...for all spending categories where Dec. #s are final, I've tallied it up and planned for next year. Everything else I'm tracking and will finish up the last week of the month. As part of my planning, I looked at 2004 final and 2005 numbers. It's amazing that, even when you think you're keeping an eye on things, there's still plenty to improve upon...

So that's it from here...nothing else is really new.

As expected, when the gas company rebalanced my bill for next year, it went up from $174 to $235/month. I'm happy to say that it's still less than 2004, when it topped out at $241/month, but this is not good news at all...I guess I can't be surprised, given the high cost of oil, and colder than normal winter last year (and this?). I'll just have to do what I can to reduce it for the next time around.

DD was sick, and both kids were off from school for the snow, so I stayed home. Hubby stayed home as well. We had 6-7 inches of snow, worst during the morning rush. What a relaxing day. Hung out in our PJs all day, and was planning on doing that all night until the power went out around 3:30. The electric company wasn't expecting it to come back on until almost 6, if they stayed on schedule. The blackout was exciting for the first 45 minutes or so, but as it started to get dark and the kids started to get fidgety, we ended up going out for dinner. (Stove, microwave, and oven need electricity, and hubby couldn't grill because of all the snow). It was fun.

Tomorrow, my two sisters and their families and my cousin are coming for dinner. We'll exchange gifts among the kids, my one sister is bringing appetizers and my other sister and cousin are bringing wine. I'm sure it will be a rollicking good time; I'll have to be careful so I don't suffer from the Irish Flu on Sunday morning...

On Sunday, I need to go to my dad's to do some grocery shopping. That should be it for me this weekend...

So I did go to the bookstore yesterday. When I checked the ISBNs, there's about $12 profit, but I'm going to hold off buying the books for a few weeks. I'm not sure if I'll be able to go out at lunchtime to write down more...that may have to wait until next week. I also didn't get any of my housekeeping items done - no Christmas cards, no doctor appointments...nothing! I really do need to make the dr. appointments. We just got our new cards for next year, and our office copay is going up from $15 to $20 in 2006. I was wondering why the premiums were going up only $6/month...I guess because they're tacking on fees like that to make up for it! I need to go on their website today and see what else is going up...

I did make it to the grocery store. I spend about $350, before coupons and my 20% off certificate. I got it down to $248, $25 of which is a Christmas present, and about $100 of which is the meat for these 3 dinners I'm hosting. I was able to stock up on a bunch of stuff that's either expensive, or doesn't go on good sales often, so I'm pleased with that...

Today is freezing...25% and a bit windy (but nothing like Retire@50's weather!). I heard we're supposed to get 4-7 inches of snow tonight, which would be awesome! I love snow. Nothing else happening for me today...

I've been working in the city every day this week (usually I'm here only 2 days), and it's been tough and expensive! It's about 20 miles more each day to where I park (=1 gal of gas), and $20/day for parking. Plus the commute is about 1 1/2 hours each way instead of 1/2 hour to our place in NJ. On top of all that, I've had to put my daughter in the afterschool program 2 extra days this week (@$18/day) because I can't get back in time to pick her up at 3:00. So it's coming out to be an extra $80 or so out of pocket . I'm going to ask my boss if I can go back to the NJ office on Friday...I don't think it should be a problem...

As long as I'm in NY today, I'm going to go back to the used bookstore again, and write down a bunch of the ISBNs. But instead of buying and shipping them right away, I'm going to wait until I get the payment for the first order, just to make sure I don't have any problems. (The second box of books is ready to go to the post office this afternoon).

I have a few housekeeping things to do today...I need to write a few Christmas Cards for hubby that weren't included in the first round. MIL asked me to order a present for her boss, so I need to take care of that. I need to make a few doctor appointments...it looks like we'll be on track to use up our Health FSA this year. We have a few hundred left right now, but I need to pick up my glasses ($95) and hubby needs to get his. If I don't get the doctor appointments in, there are always some OTC medecines we can pick up.

I also need to grocery shop...probably tonight. I have a 20% of certificate from ShopRite, so I scoured their ad from Sunday, checked out what coupons I have on hand, and feel like I can do a pretty good job of stocking up, and also buying the meat we need for the three holiday dinners we're hosting. If I go tonight, I can leave the kids with Hubby, which would help immensely.

That's about it for today. Still plugging along on my goals for next year. Started reading "Get Clark Smart" by Clark Howard. I breezed through it once before, and I like it so far.

I'm beat. Work has been busy, and it's been taking up most of my time, which doesn't leave a lot of time for spending. I did order a few bottles of wine. While I was at work, I was surfing our employee home page. Our company provides discounts to a bunch of different companies...some of the deals were pretty good. While I was there, I saw they had deals for wine.com (10% off) and Restaurant.com (15% off). Well at Restaurant.com, you can buy a $25 gift certificate to wine.com for $10, minus the 15% off from my company = $8.50. Couldn't beat that, especially since we were looking for this particular wine last week. I was hoping to stack the gift certificate with the 10% discount my company offers directly for wine.com, but unfortunately that didn't work. Still happy with the deal.

That was it for today. I'm tired, so I'm going to try to go to bed relatively early. I've been doing a lot of thinking about my goals for next year, and will continue to work on that. I finished reading Jean Chatzky's Pay it Down with $10/day. I think the problem I have is that I've already thought of the obvious stuff, which alot of these books address, and now I'm looking for creative ways for new saving. I guess that's why I find this site more useful than most of these books...

The good: I was able to stop by the bookstore and pick up the next set of used books for ebookdrop. Fortunately, I double-checked the ISBNs right before I went over and found that one of the books that they would buy on Saturday they wouldn't buy today. Go figure. The rest were ok, and I got them all. Total profit=$11.25. I'll box them up and get them out tomorrow.

The bad: Got my gas bill. This is the balance month for my budget billing, and of course I was over. My bill is usually $174.05/month, but this month it's a whopping $507.28 to make up the underrun. OUCH! I'm not sure how this will impact my monthly bill going forward -- I'm sure they'll raise it, but I'm not sure how much. I'll need to take a good hard look at this one to see what I can do...

Goals for 2006: My mission between now and the end of the year is to go through the different line items on my budget and compare year-end 2004 vs. year-end 2005, and set new goals for 2006. I also need to come up with concrete things I can do to help me meet the new goals. To that end, I stopped by the library and picked up 5 or 6 personal finance/frugal living books. I'll browse through them as I go through each category to see if there's anything I've missed in the past. I've read all but one of the books before, but I usually find a few new ideas when I reread them.

Other than that, DS went to the doctor today. The 5-year old checkup is a killer because they need all their shots up to date before Kindergarten. So he got 2 shots and a finger prick and was not a happy camper. We had to pay for the finger prick out of pocket ($25) and $10 for a prescription, both of which will come back to us via our FSA. I also picked up ice cream as a treat for DD and DS, because they were both troopers...

So I'm off to start looking at some 2006 goals. I'm hoping to have it all done between Christmas and New Year so I can start the new year fresh...

and I'm so glad I did! For anyone reading the $20 challenge forum, this will be repetitive, but I'm so happy about it I have to list it here too. While wandering around this huge used bookstore by work, I came across a section of THOUSANDS of hardcover books for $1 each. So I wrote down the ISBNs for 7 shelves worth of books and checked them out on ebookdrop.com. When I looked them up, they accepted enough of the books for me to net an $11.29 profit! So when I went back to actually pick up the books they would buy, I wrote down another 7 shelves worth of ISBNs. When I checked them out at home, they'll buy enough to net me another $13.50 in profiits! So this week, when I go back to work, I'll pick up those books, and write down another 7 shelves worth, and keep going like that. When I tell you there are hundreds of shelves of these books, I can keep this up for a few months! If I can net $10+ profit each time, I'd be THRILLED!! Wahoo for me!!

It's snowing here today. Looks like just an inch or so on the ground, with more to come Monday night/Tuesday. I love the snow, especially around Christmas time...everything looks so peaceful. Hubby is leaving for a trip today through Wednesday. I'm going to make some onion soup and some potato-leek soup today to use up some stuff I have in the house. Nothing beats soup on a cold, snowy day.

This week will be a bit hectic. I'm supposed to work in the city every day, which isn't great for time or money. DS has his 5-year old checkup Monday, which includes a bunch of shots and DD has CCD on Tuesday. I'll also have to figure out what I'm doing with them Wed-Fri, because when I work in the city I usually get home later, and need to make sure they're covered after school...I've only thought through Tuesday.

So that's about it. I'm off to make my soup...

I'm at work now. Got here at 10:00, probably won't get out until about 5:30, but it's not that bad...we work for a bit, wait for the technical folks to do their stuff, do some more work, wait some more. During my down time, I was surfing and found the following link for any AAA members looking for discounted giftcards:

http://ww2.aaa.com/scripts/WebObjects.dll/AAAOnline.woa/512?zip=07645&association=aaa&club=75&page=giftcards&sessionRedirect=1133639727514

Click on Shop Now under "Merchant Gift Cards"

If you have AAA, you can get 5% off $25 gift cards from a variety of merchants. You can buy up to 30 cards per merchant per year. This is not as good a deal as some other programs out there (which are often difficult to sign up for), but it's better than paying full price, if you shop at the store anyway.

So I'll pick up a bit of overtime in my next check (though it is limited to $250 before taxes), and my parking, tolls and gas will be reimbursed. They brought in breakfast and lunch for us, so there's no out-of-pocket there. There's a really good discount book store nearby, and I still have an hour to shoot before I'm needed, so I may go there...

I took a look at my December budget this morning, and should be able to get through the end of the month (and year) ok. The only downside is that my auto insurance is due this month, and I'm only planning on putting about $550 toward it ($3250 is due). This is the first time in a long time that I haven't paid it all in one shot. There are a couple of variables in my budget, though, the biggest of which is my bonus. We usually get it with our Dec. 15 pay. It could be as high as 4,000 (before taxes and 401k), or it could be nothing. I really have no idea where it's going to fall. Whatever it is will go toward the insurance. Whatever insurance doesn't get paid this month will be paid next month, so I don't have it hanging over my head...

Looks like my groceries have averaged about $400 over the last two months. Still higher than I'd like (around $300-350), but much better than $500-$600. It will be a challenge to keep it to $400 this month, given that we're doing more entertaining than usual. But with some decent menu planning, and others helping out, (and my 20% off coupon from ShopRite) I should be able to come close. Also, I decided it will be feast or famine at my house - either we eat like kings when people are over, or we eat leftovers, raid the pantry, etc. the rest of the month. That should help keep expenses in line.

I also saw that gas has averaged $350 for the last two months. Again, it's better than what it was, but I'd really like to see it below $300. I applied for the Shell MC yesterday, so we'll see if that helps a little bit.

I hate to wish my time away, but I'm already curious for December to end so I can look at the full 2005 totals vs. the 2004 totals. I find it so hard to track expenses month to month because there are so many variables. I think a year-long picture is much more accurate, and given that I started really looking at my expenses last Februrary, I hope there have been some positive changes. I've also started to think about 2006 goals, and will finalize them by the end of the month.

So that's it for me. Easy day at work today, I'm working all day tomorrow, then hubby is leaving on a business trip on Sunday. I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend...

I'm on a high today...I always like the end of the month when I get updated values for all of our accounts and figure out our net worth. The stock market must have had a banner month last month, because everything was up, especially our 401(k)s. On the one hand, I can't get too excited, because most of our savings are targeted for retirement and college, which is so far away. On the other hand, it's nice when you feel like you're struggling day to day to see that things are really adding up and not as bad as you think.

Took the kids to the dentist yesterday. The good news - no cavities. The bad news - he gave them both a flouride treatment, and our insurance only covers one/year. So that was $30 each out of pocket. I already put through the claim to our flexible spending account, though, so I should be reimbursed pretty quickly. He also recommended that DD get sealents on her adult molars, to make them stronger and help protect them. I checked with the office manager, and they'll be covered 100%, so we're going to go back later this month.

Today, I need to call Shell to apply for their gas card (never got to it yesterday) and mail the book for half.com. We also have DD's parent-teacher conference tonight. Other than that, not much going on my way...

Thanks for the comments on my auto insurance. I've checked around, and the cheapest I've found so far for the defensive driving courses is $50 per person. This would reduce most of the savings I'd get for year 1 (though I'd still save years 2 and 3), but it's still worth it. Who knows, it may even make me a better driver! Gail also posted a reply re: alumni discounts. Liberty Mutual has affiliations with a lot of different groups. If you're a member of one, you can get a 10% discount on your premium. I noticed while shopping at Progressive, they have a HUGE list of groups that they discount for. So if you haven't already checked this out, it may be worth looking into.

I went to lowermybills.com to check out term life insurance rates. I was pleased to see that I'm still paying a pretty cheap rate. (There was one company that was $2/month cheaper, but it wasn't as highly rated). I also got my electric bill today and it looks like my monthly budgeted billing amount won't go up next year, though I need to confirm...

Sometimes it pays to be disorganized...I went to fill out the rebate forms for a few of the Christmas gifts I bought, and realized that I couldn't get the UPC codes because I already wrapped them all! Oh well, I'll need to wait until after Christmas to fill these out. It totals up to $13. Not bad.

I think I'm going to apply for the Shell Mastercard. They're running a promotion where you get triple rebates for the first 60 days. That means a 15% rebate on Shell gas, and a 3% rebate on all other purchases for 2 months. After that, it goes to 5%/1%. I'm thinking this could be worthwhile for me because 1) I average over $300/month for gas and 2) Shell stations are convenient to where I live, and relatively inexpensive. At $300/month, I can save $240/year, if I filled up exclusively at Shell. They apply the rebates directly as a credit on your statement, which means there's no wait time, no forms to fill out, etc. So I'll do that today and see how it goes.

That's about it. Kids have a dentist appointment today...should be completely covered as "preventative care", meaning no money out of pocket.

My auto insurance is with Liberty Mutual and I've been really happy, but I still feel compelled to shop around each year to make sure I'm getting the best rate. (They're usually the cheapest, and it would have to be a significant difference to get me to switch). I checked with Allstate, Progressive and Geico. My current policy with Liberty Mutual is $3334/year. Progressive was around $4000, the cheapest policy with Allstate was $3600, and Geico came in at $3114, a savings of $220. Normally, I'd consider a jump for that kind of savings, but given that I've been with LM for so long, I won't be charged for my first accident or ticket in the future. Geico didn't have such a deal for 5 years, and I figured the $220 I'd save each year would end up costing a lot more if I ended up with the accident/ticket. But I decided to call Liberty Mutual anyway and see if they could match Geico's price. Unfortunately, I'm taking advantage of pretty much every possible discount, so there wasn't much he could do. I removed the towing and rental car options, for a savings of about $75/year. (We already have AAA for towing, and we have an old third car on the policy to use if we were in an accident). He also told me that if hubby and I took a defensive driving course, it would save us $120/year, renewable for 3 years. I'm definitely looking into it, though I doubt hubby will be too excited about it. I think I'll push the issue anyway, because saving $360 for a few hours in a class is definitely worth it in my book. Between the $120 for the class and the $75 for dropping the rental cars, I'll have saved about 6% on my auto insurance. Not too bad...

In addition to the whole car insurance thing, I had a really productive day. I finally did 6 loads of laundry, and pretty much caught up. (I also finally took DD and DS for haircuts yesterday...so badly needed it wasn't funny!). After CCD, I took the kids to TGI Fridays, because hubby ended up going out to dinner with colleagues tonight instead of last night. I wrapped all of the presents I have in the house, and ordered three other things online. I need to double check my list, but I think all I have left to buy are a couple of DVDs. I sold another book on half.com (it's that whole feast or famine thing), but this was only for $1.95. (I'll still take it!).

I have a few things on tap for tomorrow. First, I need to fill out a few rebate forms. One of the game companies (Parker Bros?) has rebates out for a bunch of their board games. I love playing games with the kids, so I picked up a few for Christmas at Target last Friday (for about $7.50 each) and they each have $2 or $3 rebates. Good deal. Also, one of the gifts I ordered tonight from Amazon (which was already $3.50 cheaper than the catalog I saw it in) had a $5 Amazon rebate attached to it. So I need to get those out the door. The kids have checkups with the dentist tomorrow after school, and I just blanked out as to what else was on my list, but it will come to me. I guess it's time to head to bed...

I've been struggling with the idea of "no-spend" days for a while now. I forgot who posted the idea that no-spend days are senseless if you pile up all your purchases into one day, and then are no-spend the next. What's the difference? I think it was Diva Jen that said she strives for "no unnecessary spend" days. I'm going to try to take that approach, but am still not sure how many I should shoot for each month. I mean, shouldn't every day be a "no unnecessary spend" day? I'll need to think a bit more on this. On to other things...

I sold a book yesterday on half.com for $10. I don't get it. It's a Dr. Seuss-type book. I usually list my books for a couple of bucks in an effort to make them more marketable. But when I did a search on half.com for this title, most were coming up at $10 or more. So I listed it at $10 (the list price on the book was only $10.50). It must be a classic or something to fetch that price, but having read it, I didn't think it was so great...Who knows, I'm just happy for the $10.

We had a good time with our friends this weekend. I made stuffed shells and meatballs for dinner. The great thing about this is that it's relatively inexpensive and I was able to make a lot, not knowing exactly how much we'd eat, then freeze the rest, so there's no waste. I have 3 more servings in the freezer now. This week is going to be pretty quiet. Hubby has dinner out 2 nights this week, and we have our parent-teacher conference on Thursday. Other than that, I'm going to try to pick up a few more things I need for Christmas, and get some of the wrapping for the kids' presents done. I need to work this weekend, then hubby is travelling next week, so I need to finish making the big push now while I have the time...

OK...I finished writing out the Christmas cards, except for a few stragglers that hubby needs me to do. The kids' pictures are in and they're sealed. I'm going to stamp them tonight and get them out in the mail tomorrow. I was going to wait until December 1, but then I figured, "why wait"? I have a big enough problem with procrastination...no reason to do that if I don't have to!

The inside decorating is also done. We put up the (fake) tree on Friday. It's great that the kids are so into it...they're 7 and 5 and are really getting into the holiday season. DD also helped me wrap almost all of the presents we've gotten from others. Maybe tonight I'll try to finish wrapping my kids' presents from Santa. We haven't started decorating outside, because we need to clear the leaves out of the bushes first. I'm hoping we'll take care of this next weekend. So I'm really in a position to enjoy December, stress free. I even broke out my Harry Connick Christmas CD...it's one of my favorites.

Other than the holiday stuff, I'm pretty much waiting for the 30th to see where things shake out for the month. I needed to transfer money from my "fun money" account to cover part of our California trip, but that was expected. Next month, I'll need to do the same to cover the stuff from the trip that I charged and will need to pay then.

I made out pretty well this morning...I was up at 5:15 and at Toys R Us at 6:10 (they opened at 6). It was crowded, but not too bad, and everyone was in good spirits. I found all I was looking for in pretty short order (amazing) and only waited on line for about 10 minutes. I was out the door by 6:50. My next stop was Target. Same deal...crowded but no line at the register (doubly amazing)! I found all that I was looking for there, plus a few extras. No stress, though, because the few extras are Christmas gifts for my kids from my MIL (she doesn't shop too much, so I pick the things out and she reimburses me). Then I went to Eckerd to get a DVD player for $18 (amazing). They opened at 7, and by the time I got there at 7:50, they were sold out of the 4(!) they had in stock. Frustrating, but it wasn't out of my way, so I didn't sweat it. Then on to Circuit City. Now this is where Black Friday gets me. They opened at 7, I got there at 8:05. The parking lot was really crowded, and the line for the register had to be 150 people long (no lie). I started to pick up the things I wanted and then realized how ridiculous it was -- it would have taken an hour and a half to get through that line, and I needed to be at work by 9:30. I decided that none of the deals were worth that kind of time and walked out. Fortunately, there was a Chef Central store right next door, so I went in there and got two other things on my list, so it wasn't a total waste. On the way to work I picked up a Hess truck from MIL to my son, went to the post office for stamps, and made it to work at 9:20. All in all a pretty productive day, and it's not even 10:00!

Looking over my to-do list from a few days ago, I see that I managed to get everything done except the laundry. So that's on the list for this tonight, along with putting up the Christmas tree. Friends are coming tomorrow afternoon and sleeping over, with other friends joining us on Sunday, which means I need to clean the house and hit the grocery store. If I spend $40 more dollars by next Saturday (which I definitely will), I'll qualify for my 2nd 10% off coupon, to be used by the end of the year. I'll need to do serious planning for this to maximize my 20% off. We are having hubby's family for Christmas dinner (15 people), friends over one day (8 adults) and my sisters and their families over another day (7 adults). While everyone brings something for these events, I'll need to carefully plan the menu and lump my purchases into one trip so I can get the 20% off all of it, particularly the meat.

Other than enjoying the tree, music and company this weekend, I want to finish my Christmas cards so they're ready to go on the 1st. I'm well set. Ho Ho Ho...

After completely stuffing myself at dinner today, I got home and started sorting through the store ads to check out the black Friday deals. While the sales don't seem THAT amazing to me (maybe because I've been planning, buying on sale, and shopping for a while?) there are a few I can take advantage of to knock off some more of my list. I have stuff picked out at Circuit City, Eckerd, Chef Central, Toys R Us and Target. I'm going to go on line after I'm done here and see if I can buy online for the same price as the Early Bird deals. If so, that beats the heck out of getting up at 5am...especially when I have to be at work at 9:30!

I also made out great yesterday getting some gifts. I went to an engraving place to pick up some ornaments for our exchange. They had AMAZING sales on Lenox...Little lenox ornaments with a cutout for us to put the kids' pictures for $5 each. I picked up 6 of them (5 for our exchange, and one extra, just in case). Then, they had Lenox tea light holders in the shape of snowflakes for $10 each. I picked up 2 for hubby's secretaries (old and new), and I'm going back tomorrow to pick up two more for DD's CCD teachers. Finally, I picked up a Lenox cheeseboard...very cute in the shape of a snowman, and his stomach is a marble circle for putting the cheese on. The knife is in the shape of a broom. Very cute, and perfect for friends of ours who do a ton of entertaining and are impossible to buy for. They have 2 left, and I'm thinking of picking another one up tomorrow for my sister, who also entertains quite a bit. (I'd love one for myself, but won't get it...perhaps hubby saw how excited I was about it and will put it under the tree for me. If not, that's ok - I don't really need it, and I can always borrow the one I'm giving to my sister )

Tomorrow should be really slow at work. I only work 9:30-2 on Friday, so it shouldn't be that bad...Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.