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Long time, no blog

October 17th, 2007 at 08:54 pm

I don't know how I dropped off the face of the earth for so long. I reread some of my old entries and realized most of these things I was planning, saving for have already occurred. Now I have a new set of issues.

We updated our kitchen earlier in the year (floors, countertops, appliances) and thankfully I didn't amass any debt in the process.

We built a detached garage for T back in January. It turned out amazingly well. We left the interior unfinished, but plan to drywall in the coming months.

We have two new dogs now! Our beloved Woody died in July 2006. We now have two year-old dogs. Scout, our Chesapeake Retriever and Remi our Jack Russell mixed breed rescue pup. Scout is the source of many a financial surprise as he has had three interesting injuries/health issues that required multiple vet visits. We love our furbabies, but unplanned vet bills are not fun!

I will explore living with high maintenance puppies in my next entry.

GasBuddy.com

April 20th, 2006 at 03:55 pm

Since rising gas prices are a constant nowadays, check out this website.

For cheap (and I use the word loosely) gas prices in your area, visit http://www.gasbuddy.com.

Enter your zip code, or search by city, state to find the lowest priced gas stations. The site references US & Canada too.

Good reference before you fill up the tank.

Small leaks or "Latte Factor"

April 18th, 2006 at 08:29 pm

No matter how much I try, I can't get thru the workday without spending a dollar or two, or five.

I've tried bringing my own snacks and bottled water, but inevitably sometime during the day the lure of the vending machine, or a restaurant is too much.

I work in a downtown area, which makes it too easy to access stores and restaurants. If I had to get in my car to go somewhere I probably wouldn't spend.

Plus, I ride the bus to work, so that cuts out the car factor completely. All the money I'm saving on gas is probably being donated to the great restaurants that I just can't pass up once or twice a week.

Note: Salsaritas is giving $.50 refills on their drinks all day, every day if you buy their 32 oz plastic cup for $1.39. I've had this cup for over a month and rewash it, so I can continue to get my cheap Dr. Pepper refill at least once a day.

I know this is adding up, not to mention the mornings when I'll throw in an order of their hash brown potatoes with the refill.

I'm not only hurting my pocket, but my waistline as well. : )

Any tips for willpower?

To-do List or Money Pit Expenses

April 17th, 2006 at 09:13 pm

Termites aside, my husband T and I are in the middle of remodeling of our semi-new house.

For my own reference, this is an on-going list of projects we plan to start:
New floors in kitchen (ceramic tile) & living room (hardwood)
New kitchen countertops
New kitchen appliances
Miscellaneous planting, trimming landscaping
The Mackdaddy Project: The extra garage to house T's landscaping business equipment

Now, I'm completely stressed out. I want to start or complete most of these before "future baby not yet conceived" arrives

Termites! : 0

April 17th, 2006 at 06:33 pm

Nothing like an unexpected household expense to bust your budget. Recently we discovered a small colony (right word?) of termites had set-up shop in our newly purchased home.

They materialized in a strange way. In my remodeling madness, I decided to remove the chairrail in the kitchen dining area. With my handy crowbar, the moulding came off without a hitch, except it disturbed my friendly termite "swarmers" that lived in my crawlspace.

Thankfully I am obsessed with home improvement projects, or we might never have known the house was infested.

After a termite inspection by the exterminators (that previously treated the house for termites after our initial home inspection), we scheduled a treatment of the entire house. Homeowners be warned: do not (as the previous homeowners did) treat one area of your home for termites and neglect the rest. The home inspection only required them to spray the affected area (the garage) which just incited the termites to move right next door to my kitchen!

Termite treatment isn't cheap. In this part of the country, the Southeast US, it's a part of life. Although not one we had planned for in our April budget.

Career Dilemmas

April 10th, 2006 at 09:24 pm

I have today, as most days, heard from someone about a potential job opportunity in another dept. I applied and hope to hear back but most of these do not seem to pan out for me.

The job would be a step up in my field and pays significantly more money.
I have two issues/problems.

1. I need advice on how to advance myself, almost mid-career, when there is no direct career path in my field. I'm just making it up as I go along : ) Most of the time I get the interview, but no job offer.

2. Seeing as how I've mentioned that I would like to start a family soon, this may not be a good time to change jobs. Do managers take offense if you are new to a position and then announce your pregnancy? I think this is discrimination, but I know it happens.

New to Blog

April 10th, 2006 at 03:39 pm

I'm a virgin blogger. There I said it.

Now, let's get introduced. I'm a website content writer for a financial institution in the Southeast US.

Married, dog, no children.

I'm a pretty good saver, but usually get my best laid plans foiled by an unplanned for catastrophe, or either I get bored and splurge.

I'm trying to save up now to prepare for a yet unconceived child that my husband T and I are anticipating. Only in the planning stages right now. Nothing confirmed. Still the prospect of high daycare bills are putting the fear in me.