I'm Nice!

Thanks for the award, Toni! Of course you did give this award to luvthebearcats as well, so it looks like you are handing these things out to anyone...

September Money Review

September was a much more successful month than August. Wow! We even had a small vacation in there and still came out way ahead.

After paying all the bills, transferring $500 to savings, we ended up with a surplus of $1282.00. Success! This money was spent here:

$330 went to pay the remaining balance on furniture

$950 went toward my car, on top of the scheduled payment of $332, for a total Sept car payment of $1282.

Here are a few of the month’s highlights –

• We had a checking account that had been tied to an old HELOC that was no longer in use. That account had a $98 balance that had been sitting there for awhile, so I closed the account and had them mail me the check.
• I gathered up loose change around the house and took it to the bank. It totaled $70.00.
• We went to a NASCAR race, but only two of us ended up going so we sold our extra tickets for $300. We used that money to pay for our hotel room and all of the other expenses for that weekend so we wouldn’t have to use any of our “own” money.
• We have started to cancel our credit cards since we no longer use them.
• I did use $260 out of savings this month to pay for repairs on my car. I don’t feel bad about that since we’re putting $500 into that account each month. Other than that $260, we have not withdrawn a single penny from savings since August 3. How exciting is THAT?
• Eating out money was WAY down. As a family, we only ate out twice. The other expenses were a pop or sandwich here or there, but those were very rare. This is the area that kills our budget each month, and I think we are finally getting it done.
• Our grocery bill was only $445 this month, which I still think is a steal for a family of four.

Since focusing on our money, we have paid off the following items:

Pool Boy’s truck - $5,000
Furniture - $1000
Computer - $800

We are getting there! If you are not watching every dollar you are spending, get started TODAY with October. It’s not as painful as you might think – it’s actually calming to know where each and every dollar is going every month. You will not regret it, I promise.

A Benchwarmers Quote from the Green and 3

Clark: I’ve never even been on a baseball field. If I did the kids in my neighborhood would spit loogies on my forehead.

Gus: That’s horrible. Baseball is America’s pastime. That’s like saying you’ve never had apple pie.

Blank stare from Clark.

Gus: You've never had apple pie?

Clark: My mom said it would give me diarrhea.

Gus: That’s ridiculous, Clarke. You have to try it at least once.

Clark: diarrhea?

Gus: No, baseball!


You don't even want to know how many times a week we go through this set of Benchwarmer lines. And it cracks us up every time!

I'm Fried

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, our family has a lot going on. And I think I’ve finally hit my max tonight. I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with PMS. Whatever.

We’re going away for the weekend so we’ll be spending some much needed family time together. We’ve all been stressed out, attending too many events, working too much, studying like crazy, and so on. We need some time to do nothing except hang out with each other. The dog, cat and laptop will be staying behind.

I'm excited to post my end-of-month money review, but I better wait until this weekend is over. You never know how the weekend will turn out...

My New Habits

Ever since my debt-free awakening this summer, I’ve formed some new habits.

Books
Books are definitely my weakness. I have my own library in my house – literally. I’ve always loved libraries, but my two nearest ones never had what I was looking for. I work in a larger town, so I got a card at the library in that town and they have everything! I used to get a lot of my books off half.com or paperbackswap.com, but now I get them for free at the library. Plus, I have gone through my books and put a lot of them on half.com to weed through the stuff I don’t want and hopefully make a little cash.

Laundry
When it was warm out, I line-dried a lot of my clothes. I love the way the clothes smell, especially my sheets. In fact, I hung my sheets out even before my frugal days. Now that the weather is getting colder, I’ll have to go back to the dryer.

Now here’s something I’m going to catch a lot of crap for, but I don’t care. It doesn’t bother me when people who have debt are making fun of me! The other day I was reading about dryer sheets. I’ve always hated spending money on dryer sheets. I’ve tried to buy store brand, but my clothes were still full of static. Now I buy the name brand ones, but…I cut them in half. I really do. And they work just the same. Now I get double the dryer sheets for the price! Go ahead, try it.

Spreadsheet
I keep a spreadsheet showing the each month’s income and expenses. I update it every single day. I always know where our monthly expenses are down to the penny. The top of the spreadsheet starts with zero and ends with zero. That means that I add in all the money we have coming in, and list each expense item by item. At the end of the month, I transfer $500 to our savings account and send all remaining money toward a debt. We do not allow ourselves to go over. We do not allow ourselves to touch our savings. We never spend more than we earn – ever! If you want a copy of my spreadsheet for your own personal use, let me know and I’ll email it to you (minus my figures, of course!)

Online Banking
I’m addicted. I access my online accounts at least daily. I use the online access to my checking account to update my spreadsheet. You may question why I just don’t use the online account instead of the spreadsheet. There are some things that cross months. For example, I had a paycheck hit my account last week, but that money isn’t going to be used until October. My spreadsheet allows me to keep everything month-by-month.


Eating Out
This is the hardest part. To be honest, I have no idea how much we were spending on eating out before this summer. I really don’t want to know, either. We would order pizza at least once a week and I ate out for lunch every single day. Plus, I would stop at the gas station and buy a pop every morning. Now I take my lunch to work every day. I keep pop in the fridge instead of buying them one at a time for twice as much. We don’t “grab a pizza” on the way home from work anymore. We very rarely eat out. Now that we’re used to it, it’s no big deal. But the first two months were a HUGE deal. It was hard.

It’s time to take charge of your money! What are you waiting for?

Quote of the Day

“How is it possible that 90 percent of women don’t know anything about their own money?”

Suze Orman

He's Off To Another Adventure!

Gulliver has decided he's had enough of sitting in a box in my office. He needed to get out there and enjoy life! He's headed to Melanie's, just in time for Halloween. He packed just the right items with him so he can join in on their spooky fun.

Thanks for visiting us, Gulliver!

I'm All Sorts of Busy

I think I know what a person with ADD feels like. I have so much going on, I can’t possibly keep focused on just one thing. It’s driving me crazy.

First of all, work is keeping me “heads down, fingers moving” busy. That’s good – I’d rather be that than sitting around wondering why they give me a paycheck.

As the boys get older, I’m finding that it’s harder and harder for me to keep track of all their business. To make life easier for me, the boys and I sit down at the dinner table each night after supper and hash through the backpacks. (note to self – review “paper” line item in the school’s budget.)

And then we have all of the extra curricular activities – soccer, football, church choir, school board, city council, and so on.

In my free time, ahem, I am trying to learn something new by reading a bijillion books and working my way through tutorial after tutorial. So every lunch hour is spent doing this, as well as every evening after the kids get to bed. Me and my computer have had some real bonding time as of late.

On top of all that, I’m without a car. Ok, so it’s just last night and today. On my way home from work on Monday, the brakes screamed ENOUGH ALREADY and decided they were done helping me stop the car. I really can’t have that.

On a totally different note (or is it? heck, I don't know) Three won his campaign for homeroom representative! Yeah for Three!!! He already had his first meeting yesterday, and he has to be to school early on Friday to help coordinate a homecoming activity. I'm proud of you, buddy. You are awesome!

I'm Not Sure This is a Good Idea

I saw this on someone else's blog. I found it interesting, but sometimes these are things that are just better not knowing. What do people think of me? Makes me shudder...

Anyway, let me have it.

Be Glad You Are Not Famous

I had a few hours to myself, casually cruising the web tonight. I somehow got over to a link about Britney's fender bender. I post this link not so you can watch her do it. I post it so you can see what she has to deal with every minute of every day. She is constantly hounded. Look at the photographers constantly snapping around her, even on a boring trip to a vitamin store.

I cannot imagine that kind of life.

Friday Tidbits

I haven't been posting much, mostly because there isn't much going on other than soccer, football, various meetings and laundry.

Here's something that happened to me today over the lunch hour. I ran to Target and left with more money than I went in with! I don't believe that's ever happened to me. I returned two pairs of shorts, totaling around $8.00. I bought some kleenex and a pop, which only came to 4 something. I'm ahead!!

We recently sold some stock that wasn't doing much of anything, and today I sent that money toward debt. Some may think that's crazy to do that, but would you take out a loan to buy some individual stocks? I didn't think so. It's exactly the same.

Three is preparing for his election. Last night we finished his poster, and he has already written his speech all by himself. I would tell you what his "theme" is, but it plays off his name so I won't. I'm so proud of him. He's awesome.

I want to send a shout out to the author of Junie B. Jones! Green has never been much of a reader("I'm more of a sports guy, mom.") But he has fallen head over heels for Junie B. books. He reads it to me every night and he made sure he took it to school with him today in case he had any free time to read. Green rocks.

It's In The Genes

As you may or may not know, both Pool Boy and I have both been through elections and survived, with him being on the city council and me being on the school board.

I found out last night we’ve passed this gene on to Three. He announced last night that he is running for class president!

In 5th grade, each homeroom class has a president rather than a president for the entire grade. He has to write a speech to present to his class and design a campaign poster.

We’re proud of you, Three!

Even SNL Gets It!

SNL FUNNY!

Anatomy of a Car Payment

The average car payments made by Americans today is $484.00 per month. Is the "new car" smell really worth it?

Here are some statistics, courtesy of Dave Ramsey. Check out this short video about this topic.

If you did not have a monthly car payment of $484.00 and instead invested that money each month in a good mutual fund, here is what you would have:

• In 10 years, you would have $100,000
• In 20 years, you would have $470,000
• In 30 years, you would have $1.6 million
• In 40 years, you would have $5.6 million

This is information that kids just out of college have to have! Look at what they could retire with if they would only save up money for their cars and never buy a brand new car. I bought my first car before I even graduated from college. It is the only brand new vehicle I've ever owned. Even though I never again bought a brand new car, I got trapped into the philosophy that, "I'll always have a car payment." That is, until I ran the numbers and realized the craziness of car payments.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard people tell me they don't understand why I'm getting rid of all my debt. Above is the reason, my friends. The new car smell is not that worth it to me.

I Want My Two Dollars Back!

I really haven’t been “shopping” since the whole frugal thing took over. I used to be a regular shopper, running to the mall if I felt like a new shirt or something, and then usually finding a few other things to buy while I was there.

Today I had to go to the mall for something specific, so after I got that I decided to walk through some stores. The first store I went in to, it hit me that I had not been shopping for myself since July, when this whole thing started. And it felt strange. I left the store.

I walked by another store and noticed their jeans were 50% off. So I went in. Again, it felt strange. I left that store too.

I next walked to the cookie store because I’ve been pretty good at budgeting and eating right lately, so I thought I deserved a treat. I ordered my cookie and started digging out change. I found three quarters – surely enough to cover it. “That will be $2.00, please,” the lady said. I about choked. TWO BUCKS FOR A COOKIE? I sat in my car, cringing at the thought of eating a two dollar cookie. But I enjoyed it because I knew it would be the last time I’d eat a two dollar cookie.

Will I never feel comfortable shopping again?

Green3 Chores

Cousin Melanie is hosting a Chore Carnival today so because we’re blood relatives I feel obligated to participate. Love ya, Chili!!

We don’t have set chores at our house. There are two main reasons why:

1. I’m not that organized. Probably never will be, either.

2. They are busy enough as it is to also have set chores to do around the house. For example, here is our schedule this week, all having to be done after a full day of school, remember:

Monday
Three – soccer practice

Tuesday
Three – football practice

Wednesday
Three – church choir
Green – soccer practice
Green – football practice

Thursday
Three – soccer practice
Three – football practice

Friday
Family – local high school football game

Saturday
College football game

Sunday
Both boys – Sunday school and church
Three – football game
Green – football game
Three – soccer game

Add on top of that homework time and play time. They just have full time jobs being kids. I don’t think it’s fair to have daily chores for them to do as well.

That being said, they are not without general household duties. When I need something done, I can ask them and they usually do it without too much complaining. These tasks can be setting the table, cleaning off the table after supper, picking up the living room, cleaning their rooms, putting their laundry away, etc. But these aren’t “scheduled” tasks. They just do them when I ask them to. They are always put in charge of getting their own dishes to the counter and for being in charge of their school backpacks.

As for allowance, we’ve been pretty lazy about giving allowance. We started it at one point and then slowly forgot about it. We do need to get that started again. When we were giving it, we would give a dollar for their age (e.g. Three got $10 and Green got $7).

It's Mom's Turn

There are time when I wish I was anonymous so that I could post whatever I wanted to on my blog. For example, sometimes I want to talk about people's trashy tattoos, but I can't because they read my blog. I don't want to make certain people feel bad.

Iowa Mom knows exactly what I'm talking about. She's started a new site called Mom's Turn. This site allows you to submit posts to her and she will post them anonymously. How sweet is that?

So go on, ladies - VENT! And if you help her promote her new site, you could, like win stuff. I'm all about winning free stuff.


Ummmm....yeah. I know the image is not showing but I'm sick of working on it. So there. Links work, and there is an image on the right side that works (scroll down a bit). Later.

iPod Resolution

Some of you wondered if Three actually knew about the iPod, and if not, why were we going to get him one. Yes, we did give it to him. After we gave it to him, I tried to get it to work with iTunes and it would not. So I returned it (and the one I had ordered for Green) and got my money back. So I felt obligated to get him a replacement. Sucker? Maybe.

But GOOD NEWS!

I took Three to Target today to get him a Shuffle. They are regularly $79.99. He picked a blue one, so I asked the counter guy to fetch it for me. He pulled out two of them and said, "Well, this one was a return so it's $50.00, or you can have the new one for $80." I could have jumped on top of my red cart and yelled, "GIVE ME THE USED ONE!"

I've been keeping a Target gift card in my wallet since February. The value was $30.00 and it was a birthday present for me. I had been holding on to it until I found something just for me. Obviously I had not found anything yet that I felt I really needed, so I used it today for the iPod.

So, my friends, today I bought my son an iPod for $20.00.

A Night Out

So we're going out tonight to blow off some steam and to celebrate a friend's 40th birthday. I'll be with her and her so maybe I'll get some funny pictures to share with y'all.

Party on.

Wassup

I don't have a specific topic to write about today. So let me just throw out some random stuff here...

Random Item #1
Overheard, as the boys were looking at last year's yearbook:
Three - Who is that kid?
Green - That's Jared. He doesn't live here anymore. I think he's in juvie now.

Random Item #2
I got so screwed on Three's birthday. I found a cheapo iPod on eBay and bought two of them for the boys' birthdays. I didn't open them of course until the night before Three's birthday. When I finally ripped open the package and looked at them, I muttered a low, "Hell no..." Why was I surprised that they were not made by Apple? No, these were definitely (note the spelling, friends) iPods.

Here's the good news about this: The guy accepted my returns and gave me my money back.

Here's the bad news about this: Since we had gotten such a good deal on the iPod, we also got him a Ninetendo DS. So we gave him both. Now that we've returned the iPod, he's short a present. But he wants an iPod. So now I feel obligated to get him a real iPod. Who the hell gets a Nintendo DS plus an iPod on their 11th birthday? Pool Boy and I had a long "talk" about this. Those boys can get that man to do pretty much anything. So I'm in the market for a cheap iPod.

Here's more bad news: Green's birthday is in October. Guess what he wants. Nintendo DS plus an iPod. Damn.

Random Item #3
This weekend is going to fly by. Here's our plan:
Friday night - Friend's 40th birthday party. Live band, food, beverages, should be tons of fun.
Saturday afternoon - Soccer game, which we have to drive to south of Des Moines for. Hmpf.
Saturday night - ISU - UNI game. Boys are pumped.
Sunday - Maybe we'll squeeze in one more day at the lake? Pretty murky down there, but hey, it's Iowa.

Random Item #4
Parents leave for Ireland tomorrow.

Random Item #5
We'll be selling some stocks tomorrow and mailing the cash to a debt payment, probably my car. It's only about $1000 so it's not like we were ever going to get rich on that amount anyway. Dave would be proud.

Random Item #6
I just got done reading The Pilot's Wife. Did anyone else think the ending sucked? I mean the very end. I was reading along, turned the page, only to find that it was the end. I flipped back and re-read the past 2 pages. I don't know - I didn't get it.

Rules vs. Law

Green's class as been reviewing the rules of the school, and apparently had a discussion about rules vs. laws. They had to come up with an example for each and draw a picture of the consequences.

For the rule illustration, Green wrote, "Running in the halls." He drew a picture of a person getting card taken away. (That is their punishment when they do something wrong at school.)

Green's law said, "Killing kids." He drew a picture of a person in prison, standing behind the bars.

Ok then. I think it's clear that he knows the difference between a rule and a law.

Jewelry

Wow, do I love Lisa's designs.

My favorites are the deluxe rectangle necklace and the dog tag necklace.

August Money Review

As previously mentioned, this was a bad money month. As a reminder, our plan is to take our income, subtract $500 for savings, pay all of our expenses, and send the leftover amount to debt. Here’s a rundown of how we ended up for August:

Income minus $500 transfer to savings minus all the money we spent this month = $1.92.

Yes. One dollar and ninety two cents.

Here are a few examples of where our money went:

$500 – Transfer to savings (I have to keeping typing that to remind myself that we did not spend EVERY penny we made.)

$270.60 – Eating out. I’m serious. And keep in mind that I brought my lunch to work every single day in August. Can you imagine what I was spending before I was “frugalized”? It scares me.

$707.37 – Getting ready for school, such as new shoes, clothes, supplies, school registration, etc.

We did have one other big payment this month, but that came out of a separate bank account – not the one we operate out of – so I didn’t count it. But I will have to reimburse that account next month.

These numbers do not look good, I realize. I keep in mind, though, that had we not been keeping track of our expenses, we would have spent that additional $500 and then some! There were many things we chose not to do this month just because we knew it was going to be a tight money month with those outrageous school expenses.

I don’t think I’ll bother using that $1.92 as a extra payment toward a debt. I’d rather keep it to remind myself of just how close we came to diving into savings. I look forward to having a SUPER SEPTEMBER!

Our "Needs" Are Killing Us

It's almost time to post my monthly review of how our budget went last month. Let me just tell you, it was Bad. Yes, I meant to use the capital B.

Our plan is to spend less than what we make each month. Our paychecks go into our checking account, we transfer $500 of that to our savings account, and the rest is to be used for expenses. Anything left over is extra money applied toward the debt.

There will be no extra money left for the debt this month, folks. In fact, I'm down to $174 left from this month's paychecks. I know there is one more check of about $135.00 to go through the bank, and my car is out of gas. Green also is going to an overnighter birthday party on Friday night, so there will be a gift for that. But I'm going to do whatever I can to not touch the $500 transferred to savings because I've made a promise to Pool Boy that I will not touch that. This budget plan requires honesty and trust, so I won't do it.

Pool Boy claims there's no way around this. He thinks all of these expenses are justified. Well, I know a heck of a lot of people who make way less than we do and are living just fine. We can certainly live on less than what we are making. We just need to be more focused.

I was listening to a Dave Ramsey podcast on my way to work this morning. A lady called in to get advice on their situation. She and her husband brought in over $200,000 per year, but they were in debt up to their eyeballs - like a million dollars in debt. The next caller made approximately $30,000 and they were $150,000 dollars in debt. Both felt completely hopeless. So it really doesn't matter how much you make. You get in the habit of borrowing money to buy the stuff you think you need to live the lifestyle you "think" you can afford.

Most of America lives well above their means. We've certainly been there - recently. "Need" a new computer? Use the Best Buy credit card. "Need" a new mower? Use the mower company's credit plan. "Need" new carpet? Use the carpet company's credit plan. "Need" a new leather furniture set? Use the company's financing. These examples are all interest-free, but it's still putting us into debt. The craziest thing is, we had the cash to pay for it. Still do! But we've always kept a certain balance in our savings account and it was hard to spend that money. I suppose that's what it's all about. It's easier to spend it if you don't physically have to hand over any money. If I had to hand the guy $2000 cash for the mower, I never would have done it. But sign my name on the line and I can walk out of here with a new mower? No problem. It seems so stupid when I actually type it here.

I'm sick and tired of it. I'm sick and tired of not using the money to better our family, rather than just trying to keep up. I just need to get Pool Boy sick and tired of it too.

Me, as a Book

Wow...this quiz was deadly accurate. Right down to Boo. I've got my own Boo living right next door.

You're To Kill a Mockingbird!

by Harper Lee

Perceived as a revolutionary and groundbreaking person, you have
changed the minds of many people. While questioning the authority around you, you've
also taken a significant amount of flack. But you've had the admirable guts to
persevere. There's a weird guy in the neighborhood using dubious means to protect you,
but you're pretty sure it's worth it in the end. In the end, it remains unclear to you
whether finches and mockingbirds get along in real life.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Mom of the Year

Hello! Me, over here in the corner waving my hands wildly!

Yeah, it's me, Mom of the Year.

For those of you who already read my other post today, Three is eleven -- not twelve.

Good lord...

He's ELEVEN!

Can that possibly be true?

I couldn't be more proud of the young man you are becoming. But please slow down...I can't stand to see you growing up so fast.

I love you. Happy Birthday!

Mom

School Pictures Finally!

Our traditional "first day of school" picture caused some problems this year because now they are in different schools and they started on different days.

**Hey Iowa Mom, get a load of the new shoes my kids wore to school on the FIRST day.

Since Three went to school first, I'll show his picture first. MIDDLE SCHOOL!!

Green started school the next day:

Three thought he should also be in a picture with Green, but it ticked Green off because "he already has his first day", it came to pushing and shoving, and so on. That's how things go around here.

Books

I finished my other two books so I updated my book list on the right side of my blog. Look at what I'm reading! Is that messed up or what?

Books courtesy of Paperbackswap!

I Love Me Some Free Online Bill Paying

A year or so ago, my baby brother said to me, "Hey sis. You use online billpay, right?"

Oh man. I knew this was one area I knew nothing about. It was on my to-do list to figure it out, but I hadn't gotten around to it yet. So replied stupidly, "I'm sure some of my places wouldn't accept it. I mean, So and So Garbage Service? Ha ha ha."

He clearly thought I was an idiot. And now that I use it and know just how easy it is, I'm even more embarrassed about what an idiot he thought I was.

If your bank does not offer free online billpay, the first thing you have to do is switch banks. Yes, I would switch banks over such an issue. Then, you just log in to your online account and tell the system who you want to pay and how much. They'll take care of getting the check to whoever is supposed to get it. You can even set up scheduled payments. I only wish I knew this a few years back.

I paid some bills this morning and it took me less than 5 minutes and I didn't have to fart around with stamps, envelopes, paper cuts on my tongue, and THEN try to figure out just when I was going to get to the post office to mail them.

Why Not?

One of the things we are working to pay off is a HELOC (home equity line of credit). We bought our share of stupid things with that, and most of the balance is to pay for one item that is not returnable. But we know better now, and have not used the HELOC to pay for anything for well over a year. We hope to soon be rid of it all together.

While reading the paper this morning, I saw US Bank ad for a line of credit loan. The theme of the ad was "Why Not?" Here are the items they listed as being an excellent reason to get a HELOC:

Why not upping the carats on that anniversary gift?
Why not buy an autographed baseball?
Why not a convertible two seater stick shift that the kids can't drive?
Why not a second bathroom with a steam shower?
Why not buy a dog with a better pedigree than you have?
Why not a personal trainer?
Why not see all seven wonders of the world?
Why not environmentally safe toilets?
Why not Italian ceramic tiles?
Why not anything wonderfully techy?
Why not bring back your hairline?

Ahhh...Misery

I've been sick for three weeks straight. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I finally got over my cold last week, but the head throbbing failed to go away with the rest of the symptoms. Last night it hit an all-time worse, bad enough the Pool Boy wanted to take me to the ER.

I finally went to the doctor today and got some medicine for this and am already feeling better. Of course I slept until 2:30 today so who wouldn't feel better after that?

Anyway, hopefully I'll be back in the blogging spirit. Here are some topics I've been mulling over...

1. First day of school pics. I know you are all dying to see them. And if you aren't, at least pretend like you are. I can't find the camera cable and haven't had the energy to look very hard. One it resurfaces, I promise pictures.
2. Sub-prime mortgages and could someone please tell me why people with bad credit were ever given these loans to begin with? And now we're surprised that they weren't able to make the mortgage payments?
3. I'm working on a "40 before 40" list, which consists of things I want to do before I turn 40.

I'm off to yet another meeting tonight. Since I slept until 2:30 this afternoon, do not be surprised if you see that I've blogged in the very early AM hours.

Quit Complaining

I'm a fan of Steve Pavlina's website. He has an excellent post today about breaking the habit of complaining. If you have something to complain about, spend your energy fixing the problem rather than complaining. He ends his post by saying it comes down to responsibility:

• If I'm unhappy, it's because I'm creating it.
• If there’s a problem in the world that bothers me, I’m responsible for fixing it.
• If someone is in need, I’m responsible for helping them.
• If I want something, it’s up to me to achieve it.
• If I want certain people in my life, I must attract and invite them to be with me.
• If I don’t like my present circumstances, I must end them.

I encourage you to jump over to Steve's blog. You can literally spend hours reading through his great posts.

Buy American

Is this where we draw the line with dealing with imports? For me, possibly. I'll admit I've never put a whole lot of thought into the stuff I buy, checking to see where it was made. From now on, I'll do my best to make sure my purchases are Made in U.S.A. Please jump over to One Frugal Girl for an excellent post on this.

Here's a little story to add to the post. A few years back we were at a Fourth of July parade. They were handing out mini US flags to wave. Printed on the tiny little stick was "Made in China." I kid you not.

Disaster

I'm not a mine expert, so I don't own a mine company. If you own a mine company, I would think you should have a plan for getting people pulled from the mine in case of an emergency. And now those putting their life on the line to rescue the trapped miners are getting killed. Does anyone have a damn clue as how to end this? Anyone?

Good and Bad, but Mostly Good

Good: Pool Boy knows my stance on money now. He got a phone call the other day (for those of you who know him, I know that seems odd that he would get a phone call) and I heard him say, "Really! Is it loaded?" Well, I know the term "loaded" and I know it can cost me a lot of money. Later that night I asked him who had called him earlier. He said it was a local car dealer who knew we used to drive a very large, very expensive SUV. He had one on the lot that would be "great" for us. I asked PB why he didn't mention it to me. He replied, "Right. I knew better than to even bring that up to you." Back in our pre-frugal days, we would have jumped in the car to go see it. I'm rubbing off on him!

Bad: I'm recovering from a 2-week illness. It was horrible. I stopped the Zicam early. Don't do that.

Good: I was cleaning up one of our popular "clutter" piles and ran across a check we received for a Christmas gift for $200!

Bad: I should be in bed right now. After all, I'm still healing!

Good: The $200 will be used to purchase new shoes for PB, and the other $100 will be going toward debt.

Bad: I currently have 60 unread posts in my bloglines account. Problem is, I want to read them all. I've gotten myself into quite a dilemma with all of the frugal blogs I subscribe to now.

Good: I got paid for some work I did for a relative. That will be sent directly to debt! Awesome!

Have a great weekend, friends!

Talent Doesn't Mean Success

Every morning on my way to work, I listen to Dave Ramsey's podcast from the previous day (or in this case, dayS since I've been sick). Today I heard him talking about talent and success.

What separates the talented people from the successful people is a lot of hard work. You can be talented, have 2 or 3 degrees in an area, have background experience, etc., but if you don't work hard then it means nothing.

If you just work hard, you'll be more successful than 80% of the population. That's right - he claims 80% of people today are slackers when it comes to their job/career/ entrepreneurial pursuits. And if you work hard AND read books about personal development or about your line of work, you'll be more successful than 95% of the population. Isn't that amazing? Only 5% of the population puts that much effort into being successful!

So don't tell me about all of your talents and degrees. Tell me what you are going to do with it because that's really all that matters.

Got Food? Why, Yes We Do!

I’ve been wanting to make up weekly menus for our family for years. I never did it, simply because I was too stinkin’ lazy. Friend KP would ask me, “Why don’t you do a menu?” I would reply, “Because I don’t want to.”

I have finally put one together for this week and next. Sure, this will make me more organized. It will also make my ride home more enjoyable because I won’t be mentally going through the fridge and cupboards every night on my ride home from work. Also, we start school next week and the last thing we need to worry about is supper.

But most importantly, this is going to save us a ton of moola. Pool Boy just told me this morning, “We have no food in this house.” But amazingly enough, I was able to come up with two weeks worth of meals using all of the food we currently have in the house, plus purchasing only 9 items. I’m pretty sure I could squeeze another two weeks worth of meals out of the food we already have, plus a few items from the store. We have tons of food already on our shelves and our freezer – we just need to plan what to do with it. When we wait until the last minute to throw a meal together, we almost always end up driving to the grocery store to pick up a few things and most likely spending more money than is necessary.

I Stuck it Up My Nose. And Now I'm a Believer.

I was sick this weekend. I can think of a lot better things to do with a perfectly good weekend than lying on the couch wondering how high my temperature is.

But thank GOD for Zicam because I could have been a whole lot sicker than I was. I love that stuff. I love that I don't have to swallow nasty cold medicine. I love that I don't have to feel the "cold medicine high". All I have to do is stick a swab up my nose and DONE.

No, I'm not getting paid by the Zicam company to endorse their product. But if they want to send me a case of this stuff, I'll happily accept it.

Back To School Money Breakdown

Sounds like most of you are floored at the amount of money I've spend on school so far. Seriously? Here's the breakdown so far. Please note, though, that Pool Boy has a shoe fetish and is doing his best to pass this on to his kids. I'm picking my battles at this point, people.

Crocs for three = 29.13
Crocs for green = 31.79
Tennis shoes for green = 47.68
Tennis shoes for three = 66.23
Children's Place = 61.44
Basic school supplies = 101.73
School registration = 155.00 (includes activity passes)
TOTAL = $493.00

And this does not include the haircuts, separate PE shoes, or backpacks. I've got them talked into using their old backpacks at first since those are still in excellent shape.

As for Children's Place, this purchased was not planned. BUT, people, this is the first year I've talked Three into wearing JEANS! So I saw they were on sale at Children's Place for $9.00 so I got 4 pairs, plus a school picture shirt for each boy.

Budget Reboot

So August has been brutal to the checkbook - definitely. It's darn hard to stash away extra money when we have these things going on:

1. Annual car licenses: 394.00
2. School expenses: 493.00 and counting. We don't even have backpacks yet!

I'll keep plugging along, but I'll definately need to reboot at the end of August and really work hard at not spending money in September.

She's Our Idol!

**UPDATED**
As it turned out, American Idol does not want those with vocal performance degrees. They want people who are wearing wacky costumes or strung out on coke.

*************************************

Pool Boy's baby sister is trying out for American Idol today! She has a degree in vocal performance and is AWESOME! I'll keep you updated on how she does. She's still a few hours away from auditioning, due to the fact that there are about three bizillion people there.

Linkage

Here's an excellent post about increasing your income.

Not Exactly Dave Ramsey

I've been pretty vocal about Dave Ramsey lately because his teachings have gotten me on the path to getting rid of my debt. But I need to be honest - I don't believe in everything he says so I better not tell you anymore that I'm following his plan. I am, in fact, following a zero-budgeting plan. To me, this means I try to determine where every dollar is going for the month and whatever is left over gets paid toward our debt -- which brings us back to zero at the end of each month.

So while I love Dave, here are some areas where we disagree:

1. Debt is always bad. From what I've heard, Dave is against debt unless it's for your home. However, many opportunities may require you to go into debt for the short term. For example, a now successful businessman said he never could have gotten where he is today if he hadn't gone into debt to start his business.

2. Only get a 15 year mortgage. In the real world, this would be excellent. However, when Pool Boy and I were starting out, there's no way we could have purchased our home on a 15 year mortgage. It just wasn't feasible for our income at the time. As our salaries increased, we were able to refinance to get it shortened and we now have about 11 years left (unless we get it paid off earlier!). Since we purchased our home when we did, we bought it at a ridiculously low price and now have quite a bit of equity in it.

3. Rice and beans, beans and rice. Dave said to do everything you can to get out of debt: no more entertainment, no more eating out, no more of this, no more of that, etc. While I strive to get out of debt soon, it's important that our family will still have a life and will still have fun. We will aim to cut back our expenses, but there will be no rice and beans here.

If you are into getting out of debt, here are a few blogs you might want to add to your Bloglines account (or whatever you use):

http://www.thetaoofmakingmoney.com/

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/

http://millionairemommynextdoor.blogspot.com/

When I'm Wrong, I'll "Definately" Admit it

I’m pretty confident in my English skills and spelling ability. I know how to form a sentence. I have all of the appropriate books on my bookshelf to help me out, should I ever get in a spelling or grammar bind.

Then last night, as I was instant messaging a friend, she corrected me on a word I typed. It went something like this:

NE’smom: We need to do that
Green3: Definately
NE’smom: it’s definitely
Green3: no it’s not
NE’smom: No, I’m right. It’s definitely. I, not A.
NE’smom: Look it up online so that we know what is correct
(me, frantically searching dictionary.com)
Green3: GOOD LORD! I AM WRONG!
NE’smom: I’ve noticed that you’ve always spelled it wrong, but never said anything

And then I continued with much moaning and groaning about having to retrain my brain to spell it as “definitely” after 35 years of spelling it as “definately”. I am definitely ticked off.

Warning for Kids

Here's what can happen to you when you aren't allowed to ride your bike around town with the older kids. A nasty blanket from the garage will end up over your head and you will sit out in the yard for an hour.



**If you know Green in real life, do NOT mention this to him!

He's Here!

Gulliver has arrived!

He came to us from Sandy, who I won't link to because she no longer blogs. Sandy lives in the Lake Tahoe area, and when Pool Boy opened the package he assumed we had won a trip to Lake Tahoe. Sorry, PB. It's just one of my blog thingys.

So welcome, Gulliver. We'll try to make your Iowa visit enjoyable!

14 Years - Yowsa!

As of 7:30 tonight, Pool Boy and I will have been married for 14 years! It’s been a fun journey, so let’s take a look back at 14 things that have happened to us since August 7, 1993.

1. Soon after we got married, Pool Boy got his first teaching job for $14,000. We thought we were loaded so we went out and bought a brand new car (our ONLY brand new car ever) for $12,000. We saw nothing wrong with that purchase.

2. We lived in a mobile home when we were first married. I had some home décor that included those skinny candles. When we got back from our honeymoon, it had gotten so hot in our mobile home the candles had melted.

3. Instead of joining bank accounts when we got married, I just closed mine and added my name to his. I had approximately $3.42 to contribute.

4. Pool Boy was a big time saver and had tons of money. I was a big time spender and had no money, except for the $3.42 mentioned above. That has now flip flopped, in terms of spending. Now he’s the spender and I’m the saver.

5. Pool Boy was a total neat freak. Everything had its place and it HAD to be in that place or else total meltdown would ensue. I was a slob and hated anything that had to do with cleaning and organization. Pool Boy is no longer a neat freak, and I’m not quite a much of a slob as I used to be.

6. We both knew 2 kids were perfect for us.

7. We have started one business from scratch and sold it to a competitor a few years later. It was hard work, but we are glad we went through that experience.

8. We purchased another business and continue to operate that today.

9. Our honeymoon was a cruise to the Bahamas.

10. We have both run for public office and won. This was NEVER on my to-do list of life!

11. We have owned a mini-van. It was a nice one, but it was a mini-van.

12. We were in a car accident that claimed the life of someone in the other car.

13. We have lived in only two towns in our married life.

14. We bought our home before we had kids. It was the best thing we’ve ever done, financially.

15. We have fun together and we love each other. How much more could you ask for?

I'm Fading! Fading! Oh — What a World, What a World!

The budgeting was going great, until it went all to hell.

First of all, the laptop decided that yeah, he’d run ok but like HELL is he going to let me see anything! (That translates into “monitor went out”.) We’ve had the desktop monitor plugged in for a week or so, but that just wasn’t cutting it. So we had to buy a new one.

Then school shopping. And then our anniversary. I know the anniversary dinner wasn’t necessary, but we rarely get out with just the two of us. If we’re without kids, we’re usually with friends. So there.

If anyone can tell me where I copied this blog post heading from (and then tweaked it a little), you'll win...well, nothing. You'll just win.

Money Traps to Avoid

Thanks to basenjimom for posting these 10 money traps to avoid!

1) Not having a goal and a plan to achieve it - Our goal is simply to be debt-free in 3.5 years, including the mortgage. We are watching each penny each month and try to keep not to go through so many pennies!

2) Not being willing to change your behaviour - Ok, so this step has been especially hard. It's going to take us a few months to get to the point where we need to be. This weekend, for example, we went out for dinner and drinks Saturday night, went out for lunch on Sunday because we were out school shopping, etc. Tomorrow is our anniversary, so we are going out for dinner alone and without kids, which we NEVER do. Yes, we are struggling with this but I am going to make sure this happens!

3) Not paying off your credit card debt each month - We don't have any credit card debt, so this one is easy.

4) Making only the minimum payment on your credit card debt - Ditto, no credit card debt.

5) Failing to save at all, or to save enough to be realistic - After all bills have been paid, investments have been made, etc., I've committed to putting $500 into a savings account. The remaining balance goes toward debt.

6) Waiting too long to save for long term financial goals - We're not putting away as much as I'd like to be. This will increase tremendously after debt is gone.

7)Failing to take advantage of your employeers 401k plan - I'm taking advantage of this and plan to up my percentage in November.

8) Not having any, or enough, life insurance - We currently have 250,000 on each of us, which I don't think is nearly enough. If one of us goes, the other one better never have to worry about money again. It's on my to-do list to up this amount by quite a bit.

9) Overinvesting in company stock - I currently own some company stock, but if all should go belly up I'll be fine investment-wise. I will NOT be fine salary wise!

10) Letting emotion drive decisions - I've gotten pretty good about this. Pool Boy could use some help, though. Zero turn mower sitting in the garage? I'm pretty sure emotions played a part in that purchase.

Quote

Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open.

-Elmer G. Leterman

Crazy Budget Lady

Over the past month, I've turned into a new person. I went from this girl, "Ooohhh. That's cool. Let's buy it!" to this girl: "Are you kidding me? You want to fill the tank with gas? Like all the way to the top? Do you have any idea how much that will cost?"

Oh yeah. I'm now a Crazy Budget Lady.

I'm totally addicted to saving money, not spending money, paying off debt, reading frugal blogs, scouring websites for information, etc. I've seen how much money we can save each month if we just pay attention to our expenses and it's exciting.

One thing that shocked me was how completely ignorant we've been throughout our married lives. We've only balanced a checkbook for probably 3 months over the past 14 years. We've always had a healthy savings account, so we spent money simply because we could. How crazy is that? Now I know that while having loans for cars, a home, furniture, etc. is the norm for most people, that is not the life I want to live any more.

I want to live a life where I'm not strapped to monthly payments, I can afford to take my kids on vacations without charging them, I can be generous with my money by donating to causes that are important to me, and so on. I want my kids to know that taking out loans is a way to buy the "wants" in life.

Things I've done to save money today:

1. Brought my lunch to work.
2. Brought my afternoon caffiene fix from home instead of raiding the pop machine at work.

Saving - August 1

What I've done today to save money:

1. Worked from home, so didn't spend gas driving 60 miles.
2. Hung laundry on line to dry instead of putting it in the dryer.
3. Ordered a book through Paperbackswap instead of buying it.

The Dave Ramsey Plan - Month 1

July was our first month of working toward paying off our debts. Last night after our “budget meeting”, the extra amount being sent toward debt is $800. II expected more, but I can deal with that. 800 is better than zero.

By keeping track of every penny, here are some things we found out about how we spend money:

• We are still spending way too much on eating out. In July we spent $161.36. That doesn’t include eating out on vacation because Pool Boy’s business paid for all non-hotel vacation expenses.
• “Fun” expenses (hotel on vacation, golfing, book stores, clothes, etc.) were too high, coming in at $668.61.
• We spent $528.32 on groceries, which I didn’t think was too bad for a family of four. We made small trips all month just to get milk, bread, etc. Toward the end of the month, we did one big trip to Super Target to stock up on groceries. I love that place for groceries!

We actually had a larger amount that could have done toward debt at the end of this month, but then we figured in the following:

• $500 will remain in savings each month, so we subtracted that out.
• Property taxes are due in September, so we subtracted that amount out.
• We did not use any of Pool Boy's business income because he's going to pay for his mower at the end of the summer.

Next month we’ll have back to school expenses: registration, shoes, supplies, etc., so I expect we’ll end up with about the same amount available to go toward our debt.

Living Like No One Else!

Quote of the Day

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.

-Elbert Hubbard-

Hate Me All You Want, But Leave My Kids Alone

Someone hates me so much they don’t speak to me or Pool Boy. Nor does anyone in their family. It’s not a fun thing to have happen to you, but what’s done is done. Without going into details, I was forced to do something I didn’t want to do because of a subpoena. I was in the middle of an ugly situation that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I’m over it, but I really have to get this one more thing off my chest.

Dear People Who Shall Be Nameless -

I’ve tried to be nice, be pleasant, whatever. But after Saturday night, I’m done. No longer will I waste one ounce of energy speaking your name, thinking about our situation, or worrying about how I’m going to be nice to you. I’m above your shananigans. Saturday night, when you intentionally chose to drag my kid (and my friend’s kid) into the mess, you stooped to a new low that I had no idea you were capable of. Now two innocent children know just how vicious you can be. When my son asked what he did wrong to be treated like that, how was I to respond? You can hate me all you want, but when it comes to treating my kid like shit, that’s when I get downright angry.

You have proven yourselves to be the evil that everyone said you always have been, but I was too blind to see it back when we were friends. After the past few years, and especially after the past few days, I fully understand what they meant. When you are scum enough to go out of your way to be mean to an innocent child, it’s hard to tell what else you are capable of.

So this is my official good-bye. You are out of my life and my thoughts for good.

green3

Ohhhhhhk......lahoma!

Congrats to 3 on his theatrical debut this weekend!

I'm proud of you, dude. I'm proud of the fact that you do not have one ounce of stage fright. I'm proud of the many hours of practice you've done for the show. I'm proud of how dedicated you are to doing a good job.

She's a WINNER!

Congrats to Titus 2 Heart, the winner of my Dave Ramsey book!

I had a total of 185 comments for that prize, which is amazing. Personally, I think every single person should read this book so the rest of you should find a way to get your hands on a copy. All of you should live like no one else so you can LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE!

Not a Napkin Guy

Me: For God sakes, Green, use a napkin. You've got catsup all over your face.

Green: I'm not really a "napkin" kind of a guy.

Life With Pool Boy

Lots of blog posts tonight. I'm sitting here watching the boys swim and so I'm catching up on tons of things - including blogging!



Luvthebearcats tagged me for this meme about me and Pool Boy.

1. We’ve been married for 14 years. Prior to that we dated for 7 years. Yes, we’ve been together 21 years.

2. We are both graduates of Iowa State University. Go Cyclones!

3. This one time, in high school, he was sitting in study hall with a group of guys. I went up to him and he said, “Here, have a seat”. I went to sit down and he pulled the chair away from me and I crashed to the floor. Everyone who was everyone in that school laughed at me. And for some unknown reason I still married him. Back then, I just laughed and got up. If it happened today, I’d totally kick his ass.

4. When he married me, I had about $10.00. He had about $10,000. I was a spender and he was a saver. Now it’s totally the opposite.

5. We both like NASCAR, but I don’t think we’re white trash. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

6. We both hold a public office. I’m on the school board and he’s on the city council.

7. He comes from a very religious, follow-the-bible-to-the-word family. They pray and then pray some more. My family is Catholic. We drink and be merry! We both dropped our religions and just go to the church near our home now. (Chase, I’m your woman for advice!)

8. We have two boys. We think our family is just perfect!

If you want to particpate in this meme, go ahead. Knock yourself out. I've gotta get back to my laundry.

There's No Place Like Greece, er... I Mean Home

I love Iowa. I really do. But we are certainly not known for our crystal clear lakes.

First, let me tell you that my parents live on an Iowa lake in a gorgeous house. Second, I'll tell you that my mom just got back from Greece. Third, when she returned home I got an email from her that said, "There's no place like home."

Now hold on there mom. That might be a bit much. Let's compare your Greece pictures to your lake pictures, shall we?


I now present the ocean mom swam in while in Greece:

And now here is the water off their dock:


















See a difference? Ok, so now here is a picture of a beach in Greece:
















And now here is a picture of mom and dad's beach, taken this morning:

















You're right mom. There's no place like home...I guess.

Life of a Public Official

It's not easy folks. Do I do what I believe is right even if it will make some people mad or do I keep my mouth shut and let things go on as they have always have been? People elected me to make sure the school was run correctly. I promised them I would do that.

I read a quote last night that was perfect me and has become my new personal "theme". It's especially fitting in my current situation.

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. Dr. Seuss

Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway - LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE!!

It's here! My freebie giveaway as part of the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway! The hint I gave you earlier was that this item could totally change your life. So here it is:

Can you imagine a life without any payments at all? No car payments, no house payments, no general debt payments. Oh, the life you could have!

Yes, Dave Ramsey's theory on being debt free can totally change your life if you follow his guidelines. Pool Boy and I are only in our first month and we already monitor our money more closely and can tell a difference in our bank balance. We can't wait to send all of our "leftover" money at the end of this month toward our debt. This isn't an easy plan. There's no magic theory into getting out of debt - only hard work on your part.

As Dave says, our plan is to live like no one else so that we can live like no one else.

Do you also want to live like no one else? Then leave me a comment below! Each person who leaves a comment will be put into my drawing. On Friday, one commenter will be drawn and I will ship the Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Makeover, to YOU...for FREE!

You don't have to have a blog in order to join in on the fun. Just leave me a note giving me a hint as to who you are, or email me separately to let me know who you are: thegreen3atgmaildotcom.

Visit Rocks in My Dryer for links to more free giveaways!

Still on Vacation

We're enjoying our vacation, but at some point this whole "waking up at 9:30AM" thing will have to come to an end. On Monday morning, to be precise. Speaking of Monday, I'll be participating in The Dog Days of Summer Bloggity Giveaway. I'll be giving away something for FREE! I won't tell you exactly what it is, but I'll give you a hint: This item could totally change your life! This contest will be open to non-bloggers as well so MAKE SURE YOU COME BACK ON MONDAY!

In the meantime, just to prove to Iowa Mom that I do, in fact, participate on family activities rather than just sit behind the camera, here's a picture of me and the boys at one of our favorite Okoboji (that's ok-oh-BO-gee) breakfast joints.

This Ain't Your Parents' Okoboji

So here we are at Okoboji. For those of you outside of Iowa, it’s our primary lake destinatation in our state. Okoboji is kind of like an “antique” summer vacation destination.

• All of the resorts are straight out of the 50s with even the same décor.


• The amusement park has a wooden roller coaster that is celebrating its 50th birthday this year.


• Many of the homes were built by big money families. The Swanson (note, Swanson TV dinners) family built one of the larger, older homes on the lake.

And that’s how people like it. Classic Okoboji.

Original Manhatten Beach Resort

This trip, however, did not feel like Okoboji. Instead of staying in a old rustic cottage, we stayed at Bridges Bay Resort. It’s a brand new condo complex where the rooms are owned by private individuals. The owners can put their units into a rental program for poor folks like The Green 3s can stay. The resort has sand volleyball courts, a workout room, and best of all, an indoor water park just the right size for families with young kids.

Our room was not exactly a condo – it was a hotel-type room. But someone actually paid 239,000 to own this room which I think is totally crazy. Anyhoo, it worked out well for us because we got to stay for a WAY cheaper rate than the classic resorts charge and we received a bunch of free passes to local attractions. It was brand new, very fancy and VERY nice. We had a lot of excellent family bonding time. We got to bring Buster with us. We had fun.

But it wasn’t the old Okoboji that we know and love.

This is the new generation’s Okoboji.

Last Minute Vacation

Funny how one minute you are planning a trip to Kansas City, and then you get in the car and it heads to Okoboji.

DVR Polish Control Trans-Atlantic

I figure I type roughly 1000 words a day. Ok, really I have no clue but I know it’s a lot. And I have to tell ya…I have about had it with the spell checker and the auto-correct features.

A sentence that I believe I’m typing in as this:

Thank you for your continued patronage.

It comes out as this:

Flower mayonnaise World Series mauve.

As you can imagine, that causes a few problems. With all the words I type every day (and I’m starting think it’s more like 50,000) you can see where this would be a problem. If I type 50,000 words a day and I have to retype every sentence three times before I get it right, that means I’m typing 150,000 words a day. So at 50 WPM, I believe that calculates out to 50 hours per day of typing. No wonder I’m always so damn tired.

That's all fine and good, but you won't believe this next thing. Read carefully because what I tell you can make you rich: Tornado bird CNN recipe because bookmark check Bon Jovi!

I'll Give This One a "Whoa" and a "I Don't Think So!"

Thanks, Toni. Today you made me take a second glance and say WTF?

Before proceeding, check out softcup.

Back? K.

And did you say to yourself WTF???

Here are my issues with this:

Like a tampon isn’t bad enough. Who wants to deal with this mess?

Issue 1: Clean sex? Hey, that’s my monthly “vacation”! I ain’t giving that up.

Issue 2: I’m concerned about removal steps. How the heck do you remove that thing without making a huge, gross mess? C’mon. It says I can leave it in for 12 hours. Twelve hours of menstrual period built up and sitting in a cup. Grossed out? So am I. And now I’ve got to fetch the thing out of there and somehow dispose of it without spilling. The instructions say “you may want to remove it in the shower in case of spillage.” Yeah, I bet.

Issue 3: The website has some testimonials. One from a nudist. Apparently nothing screams I AM HAVING MY PERIOD than wearing your swimsuit bottoms on a nudist beach. So ok, this is the only situation where I see this would come in handy. Ok, so I promise next time I am on a nudist beach during my period, I will wear one of these.

Hi I have been using INSTEAD® for about 4 years now and I love it. I am a nudist and no one at the resort knows when it's my time of the month. No string hanging out like I see on other women or wearing the bathing suit bottoms for the pad. My boyfriend never even knows. I think you should promote you product in the nudist's resorts. I think a lot of woman would give them a try!

Issue 4: No freakin way will I ever try this.

Issue 5: How many pervs are going to arrive at my blog because of the words I’ve had to use in this post?

Your thoughts, please.

Oh, Danny!

My mom and her sister are off to Grease today.

I mean Grease.

No, wait! I mean GREECE.

Happy Fourth of July!

While celebrating on Wednesday, make sure to take a moment to consider what others have given up so that we CAN celebrate this day!

Millionaires Really Are Next Door

Do you think the typical millionaire lives like Donald Trump or Paris Hilton? Think again. A majority of millionaires save most of the money they make, buy their clothes at the local mall or at Target, don’t carry Coach purses, and drive cars that are at least two years old. It’s just simple math:

Save Money = You have more money

Spend Money = You don’t have as much money

Here’s an interesting article.

Welcome To My World

I'm in the software support business. My brothers are both in IT. My father is in the software business. I suppose that means we are a family of nerds. And we think this kind of stuff is hilarious...

http://chroniclesofgeorge.nanc.com/

A Debt-Free Story

Once upon a time there was a handsome young man. He was a very hard worker and saved every penny he made.

Once upon a time there was a gorgeous hottie, who spent every penny she ever made, and then some.

They met and fell in love.

After the man graduated from college and got his first teaching job for $14,000 per year, man and hottie bought a brand new car for $18,000. Later that year, they married.

Thirteen years and two children later, hottie suddenly had a financial awakening. “Hmmm,” she thought. “We have considerable savings, considerable investments, but we’ve been making payments on at least one item (on average of 4-5 items) since before we were even married. This isn’t how I want to live.”

Hottie then got hooked on Dave Ramsey. Hottie sat man down one evening and they went through every dollar that came in vs. every dollar that went out for one month. Mysteriously there was a very large sum of money that went unaccounted for each month. Where was the money going?

They got it all their figures plugged into a spreadsheet and figured out the amount they could put toward debt each month. Calculations show that if they work hard on their plan, they can be 100% debt-free (yes, even their home) in 3 or 4 years.

Each of them thought in their heads what they could do with all that money after everything was paid off. They smiled at each other and lived happily ever after.

Here's the Proof

Those of you who know me IRL probably want proof that I did indeed go camping. Here you go...

Pool Boy and Buster enjoying the camping experience. Ok, maybe not so much. Pool Boy despises camping but was a trooper for the trip.