I've been feeling pretty good about my progress with my weekly projects. Each time I get something organized I feel like a weight has been lifted. I don't adhere to feng shui but I do feel calmer when things are organized and when I have decluttered.
Nothing makes me happier than to get rid of things we no longer need. As much as possible I donate things we no longer need, but even recycling/throwing things out makes me happy.
Having said all that, my appearance doesn't reflect that. While my house is getting organized, quite honestly, most of the time I look like crap. Part of it was guilt about buying new things when we were so deep in debt, but when all my jeans had holes in them, many of my tshirts had stains and my favorite jacket to is falling apart, it is time to action before the fashion police mount an intervention.
I stumbled upon this get out of a rut challenge on the Weekend Blog Walk and figured it was the perfect jump start. I know enough about myself to to know that I'm more likely to follow through with things if I publicize them. So here goes.....
I have two goals for June
1. Make more of an effort with my appearance. Wear an outfit not just clothes. Put on a little makeup and wear some of all the jewelry I have and love.
I tend to dress like a guy, grabbing whatever is clean rather than putting together an outfit. I have all sorts of rationalizations of why I do this - no time, if I'm planning on cleaning, why bother dressing up, etc. But really it comes down to laziness.
2. Get our finances in order. The first 5 months of this year we were in the red. Now we finally have a positive cash flow again. The surplus isn't huge so I still need to be careful about not overspending. Time to start actually using the mint.com account I started ages ago but would neglect as I found it depressing.
Anyone else up for the challenge? It's easy, no rules, just post your challenge to yourself on the Divvy Spot and touch base at the end of the month with your progress.
Showing posts with label finances. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finances. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Week 14 project - Consignment Sale Prep
Two weeks from now, my women's group is hosting their semi-annual consignment sale. This week is time to go through the bins of outgrown clothes and get it all tagged.
I also use it as an incentive to get the kids to purge their toys. I help them price everything, and anything that sells, I give them the money for. Last fall they each earned $9 and they were psyched, even kicked themselves for not selling more. I look forward to picking up some "new" clothes for the kids at the actual sale. I still have yet to sell more than I buy for, but even so the savings are amazing.
With my first daughter, I bought almost all of her clothes new and shunned handmedowns and sales like this, now I love them. Kids grow so fast, consignment sales are the way to go when getting stuff for your kids. I posted some tips after the previous sale in the fall - check it out if you're new to consignment sales
I also use it as an incentive to get the kids to purge their toys. I help them price everything, and anything that sells, I give them the money for. Last fall they each earned $9 and they were psyched, even kicked themselves for not selling more. I look forward to picking up some "new" clothes for the kids at the actual sale. I still have yet to sell more than I buy for, but even so the savings are amazing.
With my first daughter, I bought almost all of her clothes new and shunned handmedowns and sales like this, now I love them. Kids grow so fast, consignment sales are the way to go when getting stuff for your kids. I posted some tips after the previous sale in the fall - check it out if you're new to consignment sales
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Week 6 Project
We're meeting with our accountant this week to prepare our tax returns, so this week's project is to get all our stuff in order. I like to do them as early as possible as we have always gotten a refund, and call me greedy but I want my money.
We've received all the documents we needed - W2, bank interest statements etc.
I got all our bank statements organized today and have gone through them to identify any checks that would be deductible. Not many but we have a couple.
I've gone through my receipt folder and we have quite a few repair expenses on my husband's car, some basic office supply stuff, and a few charitable contributions (both goods and $).
I've downloaded the AMEX summary to find any deductible items on there.
Tonight I need to figure out the cost of my husband's car insurance for the year and our total cost for our second phone line and internet access, since those also qualify as business expenses. I need to figure out the value of the goods we donated. Once I have all that I can put it all in my usual spreadsheet to give to our accountant when we meet. It makes it so much easier to review everything with her this way, and then we can use more of the meeting to discuss bigger questions of our finances for this year, like making sure we adjust our withholdings correctly to make sure we maximize my husband's earnings to take care of our short fall.
We've received all the documents we needed - W2, bank interest statements etc.
I got all our bank statements organized today and have gone through them to identify any checks that would be deductible. Not many but we have a couple.
I've gone through my receipt folder and we have quite a few repair expenses on my husband's car, some basic office supply stuff, and a few charitable contributions (both goods and $).
I've downloaded the AMEX summary to find any deductible items on there.
Tonight I need to figure out the cost of my husband's car insurance for the year and our total cost for our second phone line and internet access, since those also qualify as business expenses. I need to figure out the value of the goods we donated. Once I have all that I can put it all in my usual spreadsheet to give to our accountant when we meet. It makes it so much easier to review everything with her this way, and then we can use more of the meeting to discuss bigger questions of our finances for this year, like making sure we adjust our withholdings correctly to make sure we maximize my husband's earnings to take care of our short fall.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
3 days til the big game
Day's expenses
6.74 Party City (last of SB party supplies)
30 co pay for my doctor's visit
1.76 cookie from Au Bon Pain after checkup
I am not a football fan but my husband is. After a few years of attending parties where he wasn't really able to watch the game due to lack of seats/tvs or too many people talking so he couldn't hear, we decided to claim it as our party and make it what we wanted. It's the one day a year where we entertain a lot of friends and neighbors and although it's rough having over 50 people in our house, in many ways it is the perfect party. We have adults and kids, set up 3 TVs and make chili and pulled pork and the rest is potluck. Lots of our friends bring beer, so it doesn't cost us a lot. People show up mid to late afternoon and usually people leave when the game is over (which works well since kids have school the next day).
It's about 75 hours til game time and I'm almost ready to have 59 people (at last count) come to our house. The first batch of pulled pork is in the crockpot, the house is mostly tidied (just need to hit the kitchen and the basement tomorrow - which need the most attention). I need to make another round of pork tomorrow, chili and cookies on Saturday and then dips on Sunday. For me this is more intense prep work than Christmas or Thanksgiving, but it's fun and to my husband Super Bowl Sunday is just as much a holiday as those other two.
Sunday also happens to be my friend's 40th birthday so after trying to figure out what kind of birthday treat we could make, last night my daughter and I decided on a Big Top Cupcake. I'll have to make it on Sunday pretty close to game time as there won't be any room in the fridge for it before. I got some chocolate cake mix and frosting today and figure I can ice the top with white lines to look like the laces on a football, stick a candle in it and serve it before kickoff.
Along with the party prep, we had the usual Thursday events. My son had "school". Today they talked about the letter D and dinosaurs and he came home with this cute little dinosaur tail.
His feeding therapist came after lunch. She started off doing the usual stuff in our family room, warming up his muscles, having him bite on her brushes. She let him play with a sorting toy and then we went into the kitchen to play with food. We did more holding Ritz crackers in our mouths and then putting Cheerios on them and dropping them down. She put a Cheerio on a string of dental floss and had him move it with his tongue - flicking it so it would spin and moving it side to side. She also had him rest a Cheerio or Crispix on his tongue for a five count. That last one took a lot of persuading but he finally did it, and she asked me to do that with him more this week. It's all about getting him used to having different textures in his mouth. She also had him break a Ritz cracker with his teeth and then take both pieces out of his mouth. Each time he was so anxious that he would just bite off a little bit and end up swallowing little bits. That wasn't her intention, she wanted him to take a big bite, and take the bitten part out with his hand just to get used to the feeling of biting. This is another thing she wants me to work on with him this week. We also talked about the feeding group that he is going to be starting in a couple of weeks. It's a drop off and she admitted that sometimes that first week or two are tough because the parents aren't there with the kid. She felt he would do fine in it, since he has gotten better with trying the things she asks of him. He will occasionally look to me for guidance/approval and when that is the case I do the exercise with him, but so far he has never completely refused to do anything she asked.
I had my annual gyn exam today and had to bring the little man with me. It actually went pretty well because the doc was on time and quick and our neighbor had dropped off some hand me downs this morning so I brought some "new" books with us that he could look at while she did the exam. Luckily by the time I have to go next time, he'll be in school so I will finally be able to go solo to the doctor - can't remember the last time I did that.
6.74 Party City (last of SB party supplies)
30 co pay for my doctor's visit
1.76 cookie from Au Bon Pain after checkup
I am not a football fan but my husband is. After a few years of attending parties where he wasn't really able to watch the game due to lack of seats/tvs or too many people talking so he couldn't hear, we decided to claim it as our party and make it what we wanted. It's the one day a year where we entertain a lot of friends and neighbors and although it's rough having over 50 people in our house, in many ways it is the perfect party. We have adults and kids, set up 3 TVs and make chili and pulled pork and the rest is potluck. Lots of our friends bring beer, so it doesn't cost us a lot. People show up mid to late afternoon and usually people leave when the game is over (which works well since kids have school the next day).
It's about 75 hours til game time and I'm almost ready to have 59 people (at last count) come to our house. The first batch of pulled pork is in the crockpot, the house is mostly tidied (just need to hit the kitchen and the basement tomorrow - which need the most attention). I need to make another round of pork tomorrow, chili and cookies on Saturday and then dips on Sunday. For me this is more intense prep work than Christmas or Thanksgiving, but it's fun and to my husband Super Bowl Sunday is just as much a holiday as those other two.
Sunday also happens to be my friend's 40th birthday so after trying to figure out what kind of birthday treat we could make, last night my daughter and I decided on a Big Top Cupcake. I'll have to make it on Sunday pretty close to game time as there won't be any room in the fridge for it before. I got some chocolate cake mix and frosting today and figure I can ice the top with white lines to look like the laces on a football, stick a candle in it and serve it before kickoff.
Along with the party prep, we had the usual Thursday events. My son had "school". Today they talked about the letter D and dinosaurs and he came home with this cute little dinosaur tail.
His feeding therapist came after lunch. She started off doing the usual stuff in our family room, warming up his muscles, having him bite on her brushes. She let him play with a sorting toy and then we went into the kitchen to play with food. We did more holding Ritz crackers in our mouths and then putting Cheerios on them and dropping them down. She put a Cheerio on a string of dental floss and had him move it with his tongue - flicking it so it would spin and moving it side to side. She also had him rest a Cheerio or Crispix on his tongue for a five count. That last one took a lot of persuading but he finally did it, and she asked me to do that with him more this week. It's all about getting him used to having different textures in his mouth. She also had him break a Ritz cracker with his teeth and then take both pieces out of his mouth. Each time he was so anxious that he would just bite off a little bit and end up swallowing little bits. That wasn't her intention, she wanted him to take a big bite, and take the bitten part out with his hand just to get used to the feeling of biting. This is another thing she wants me to work on with him this week. We also talked about the feeding group that he is going to be starting in a couple of weeks. It's a drop off and she admitted that sometimes that first week or two are tough because the parents aren't there with the kid. She felt he would do fine in it, since he has gotten better with trying the things she asks of him. He will occasionally look to me for guidance/approval and when that is the case I do the exercise with him, but so far he has never completely refused to do anything she asked.
I had my annual gyn exam today and had to bring the little man with me. It actually went pretty well because the doc was on time and quick and our neighbor had dropped off some hand me downs this morning so I brought some "new" books with us that he could look at while she did the exam. Luckily by the time I have to go next time, he'll be in school so I will finally be able to go solo to the doctor - can't remember the last time I did that.
Frugal February
I'm still working on getting our finances in order. We're eagerly awaiting the result of our appraisal last week, and have received the check for the loan from my husband's 401k.
We have a lot of bills which are set amounts. The variable are groceries, gas and miscellaneous. To try to cut down on the miscellaneous and to see how accurate my grocery budget is, I am going to start each day's post with the expenses from that day (or the day before).
I know some people say that it's best to only use cash for these kinds of expenses but I'm going to try this first. Also since any debit card expense is immediately taken out of my checking account then I don't have to worry about misplaced receipts.
So here goes - 2/1
Gas 48.82
Michael's 25.74 (baskets for bathrooms, frame for bathroom sign, construction paper)
Meijer 94.20 (groceries and household stuff - stocked up on food for my son and Ivory soap as they were on sale)
March is always an expensive month for us as both my husband and daughter have birthdays and the kids have spring break and my husband has his golf trip, so the more we can save this month the better.
We have a lot of bills which are set amounts. The variable are groceries, gas and miscellaneous. To try to cut down on the miscellaneous and to see how accurate my grocery budget is, I am going to start each day's post with the expenses from that day (or the day before).
I know some people say that it's best to only use cash for these kinds of expenses but I'm going to try this first. Also since any debit card expense is immediately taken out of my checking account then I don't have to worry about misplaced receipts.
So here goes - 2/1
Gas 48.82
Michael's 25.74 (baskets for bathrooms, frame for bathroom sign, construction paper)
Meijer 94.20 (groceries and household stuff - stocked up on food for my son and Ivory soap as they were on sale)
March is always an expensive month for us as both my husband and daughter have birthdays and the kids have spring break and my husband has his golf trip, so the more we can save this month the better.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year
I usually don't make resolutions, but since overall 2011 wasn't that great a year, I feel it's worth making an effort to make 2012 better. Continuing the way I have been won't work, I'll be back in a funk in no time.
So priority one, getting our finances in order. It's true money doesn't buy happiness but not having money causes a lot of stress. While I feel a little better that my husband is no aware of our situation and so understands and shares my stress, it's time to fix it.
There are also a ton of rainy day projects that I always mean to get around too but never do (often because I felt like if I had the time to complete some project I should have been working on our finances so ended up doing neither. So I'm going to take a cue from another blog I saw, but some personal organizer and make a list of things I want to accomplish this year and break them into 1 week tasks. Some may be quicker than that, but since I'm a horrible procrastinator, I think mapping out a plan will help.
Some weeks will be easier than others but the overall goal is to stop ignoring what needs to be done and stay on task, for the greater goal of getting rid of a lot of the stresses in my life by dealing with them instead of ignoring them. I know in the end it'll make me happier and let me be more present with my kids and let me enjoy the things I want to enjoy. Here's to a happy 2012
So priority one, getting our finances in order. It's true money doesn't buy happiness but not having money causes a lot of stress. While I feel a little better that my husband is no aware of our situation and so understands and shares my stress, it's time to fix it.
There are also a ton of rainy day projects that I always mean to get around too but never do (often because I felt like if I had the time to complete some project I should have been working on our finances so ended up doing neither. So I'm going to take a cue from another blog I saw, but some personal organizer and make a list of things I want to accomplish this year and break them into 1 week tasks. Some may be quicker than that, but since I'm a horrible procrastinator, I think mapping out a plan will help.
Some weeks will be easier than others but the overall goal is to stop ignoring what needs to be done and stay on task, for the greater goal of getting rid of a lot of the stresses in my life by dealing with them instead of ignoring them. I know in the end it'll make me happier and let me be more present with my kids and let me enjoy the things I want to enjoy. Here's to a happy 2012
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Sometimes procrastination works
And of course that's why I still do it even though most of the time I know better. I thought we were screwed financially and was ready to liquidate my IRA. Then today I realized that part of the problem was the new Chase website. I last checked my balance the day my husband was paid and I thought we had already spent the whole thing. Didn't really make sense, but there it was, or so I thought. Problem was their running balance wasn't reflecting that day's deposit even though it was there as a line item. Not sure why, but when I went to check my balance today, it was more in line with what I thought it should be.
Still not great, but certainly better. And even though yes I still need to have that financial chat with my husband, I can put it off while I get a better plan and hopefully by hunkering down after we pay off the expenses for this backyard project, my IRA can stay put and keep growing. It's not a large amount but enough that I want to keep it. Glad I checked again rather than liquidating the IRA and then realizing the mistake.
Still not great, but certainly better. And even though yes I still need to have that financial chat with my husband, I can put it off while I get a better plan and hopefully by hunkering down after we pay off the expenses for this backyard project, my IRA can stay put and keep growing. It's not a large amount but enough that I want to keep it. Glad I checked again rather than liquidating the IRA and then realizing the mistake.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Getting ready for back to school
My kids go back to school the week of August 22, which seems early to me especially since their school does not have air-conditioning. That means we've got 33 days til we start up again, and time for me to start getting organized.
We've already been to the pediatrician, eye doctor and dentist, and they passed all those exams and forms have been submitted. Both kids needed backpacks and lunchboxes for camp so we're already set there.
1. School supplies
We got the school supply list ages ago, and although our school does offer the schoolpak program, I prefer to get the stuff myself. I checked their prices and it's ridiculous. My kindergartner needs 8 different things
1 Baby Wipes, Unscented, 80ct Tub (04-241)
1 Crayons, 8ct, Crayola©, Large (04-127)
8 Glue Stick, Small, Elmer's©, .21 oz (04-121)
1 Glue, Small, 4 oz, Wash, White (02-224)
1 Index Cards, 3x5, Unruled, White, 100ct (04-214)
12 Pencil, Primary, My First Ticonderoga© w/eraser(04
1 Tissues, 100ct (04-641)
Total price $23.76 + an extra $9 for shipping. Ridiculous.
As with most things it comes down to time or money, what do you want to spend? For me, I think I can get those 7 things for much less than $30. I got a couple of things the other day at Meijer that were on sale. I figure if I keep an eye on the Sunday circulars and buy stuff when it's on sale, I'll save quite a bit. My second grader has a longer list, and the markup is similar, so I'll do it myself thank you very much.
I realize they're providing a service and I love the idea, but would love it more if the shipping were included in the price. Last year I brought my daughter with me, but realized quickly that that was a mistake. I thought she would want to pick out her stuff, and she did but she wanted all the cool stuff that wasn't on her list, not just a boring blue folder but the one with the cool pictures on the cover, which was not on her list. This year I'll go solo. Also makes it easier if I want to comparison shop.
2. Start hoarding quarters and singles.
Our school has pizza day once a week as a PTO fundraiser. $1.75 per slice. My daughter is still young enough that one slice along with her usual fruit and treat is enough. On pizza day, the kids are expected to bring their money in (in exact change of course) and give it to the room Moms who then figure out who gets what at lunch time. As much as possible I try to give one single and three quarters. I felt guilty once when I had to give 7 quarters, until one my friends who is a room Mom told me that a parent in her room, always sent the kid with pizza money in pennies!!! Yes 175 pennies. Every week. And they weren't in rolls, in a little baggie. Nuts.
Then there are various things that come up throughout the year, field trips, other PTO in school fundraisers that they need $2 or $3 for, so I'm hoarding my small money.
3. Box Tops for Education
I love free money. Who doesn't? I started collecting box tops before I had kids. A woman in my office was collecting them for her son's school and had a dropbox for anyone in our office to contribute whatever we clipped. Once I had kids of my own, I kept clipping and even before my kids started school, I would drop them off at our local grade school, which my kids now attend. On the last day of school, the kids all get a ziploc bag for keeping the box tops in over the summer and then they hand them in at the beginning of school. Last year my daughter's class had the most in the school, so they got a pizza party as a thank you. She was so excited cause she had contributed a lot (I think it was over 50 box tops) so she felt like she was the one who put her class over the top. All in all over the course of the school year, her school of about 600 students collected enough box tops to earn $1500. Pretty cool.
4. Summer Homework packets
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my daughter's teacher gave the kids summer reading packets and book reports to fill out. She hasn't worked on it yet, beyond keeping track of which books she has finished, and I let it slide the first part of the summer as she was attending summer school - taking a sign language class and a science class. Now it's time to get back on track. She's usually pretty good about doing her homework without me bugging her, and naturally hates when I do nag her about stuff, but I figure in a couple of days I'll start reminding her about it.
5. Fall activities
Next week, our park district fall brochure comes out so it'll be time to pick out activities for the Fall. My 2nd grader takes piano lessons, and last year also took ice skating. She mentioned that she wants to try karate so I have to do some research on that, as the park district class requires the parents to participate as well, which doesn't really work with the other two kids. My kindergartner loves dance, and wants to try soccer. And the little man is doing well in camp, so I think I'll sign him up for the tots dropoff playgroup. He desperately wants to do a sports class, used to watch the classes going on in the gym in the same building as his sister's dance class.
Not too bad a list, but I know if I don't start now, it'll be a nightmare to get the school supplies as it gets real close to school starting.
We've already been to the pediatrician, eye doctor and dentist, and they passed all those exams and forms have been submitted. Both kids needed backpacks and lunchboxes for camp so we're already set there.
1. School supplies
We got the school supply list ages ago, and although our school does offer the schoolpak program, I prefer to get the stuff myself. I checked their prices and it's ridiculous. My kindergartner needs 8 different things
1 Baby Wipes, Unscented, 80ct Tub (04-241)
1 Crayons, 8ct, Crayola©, Large (04-127)
8 Glue Stick, Small, Elmer's©, .21 oz (04-121)
1 Glue, Small, 4 oz, Wash, White (02-224)
1 Index Cards, 3x5, Unruled, White, 100ct (04-214)
12 Pencil, Primary, My First Ticonderoga© w/eraser(04
1 Tissues, 100ct (04-641)
Total price $23.76 + an extra $9 for shipping. Ridiculous.
As with most things it comes down to time or money, what do you want to spend? For me, I think I can get those 7 things for much less than $30. I got a couple of things the other day at Meijer that were on sale. I figure if I keep an eye on the Sunday circulars and buy stuff when it's on sale, I'll save quite a bit. My second grader has a longer list, and the markup is similar, so I'll do it myself thank you very much.
I realize they're providing a service and I love the idea, but would love it more if the shipping were included in the price. Last year I brought my daughter with me, but realized quickly that that was a mistake. I thought she would want to pick out her stuff, and she did but she wanted all the cool stuff that wasn't on her list, not just a boring blue folder but the one with the cool pictures on the cover, which was not on her list. This year I'll go solo. Also makes it easier if I want to comparison shop.
2. Start hoarding quarters and singles.
Our school has pizza day once a week as a PTO fundraiser. $1.75 per slice. My daughter is still young enough that one slice along with her usual fruit and treat is enough. On pizza day, the kids are expected to bring their money in (in exact change of course) and give it to the room Moms who then figure out who gets what at lunch time. As much as possible I try to give one single and three quarters. I felt guilty once when I had to give 7 quarters, until one my friends who is a room Mom told me that a parent in her room, always sent the kid with pizza money in pennies!!! Yes 175 pennies. Every week. And they weren't in rolls, in a little baggie. Nuts.
Then there are various things that come up throughout the year, field trips, other PTO in school fundraisers that they need $2 or $3 for, so I'm hoarding my small money.
3. Box Tops for Education
I love free money. Who doesn't? I started collecting box tops before I had kids. A woman in my office was collecting them for her son's school and had a dropbox for anyone in our office to contribute whatever we clipped. Once I had kids of my own, I kept clipping and even before my kids started school, I would drop them off at our local grade school, which my kids now attend. On the last day of school, the kids all get a ziploc bag for keeping the box tops in over the summer and then they hand them in at the beginning of school. Last year my daughter's class had the most in the school, so they got a pizza party as a thank you. She was so excited cause she had contributed a lot (I think it was over 50 box tops) so she felt like she was the one who put her class over the top. All in all over the course of the school year, her school of about 600 students collected enough box tops to earn $1500. Pretty cool.
4. Summer Homework packets
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my daughter's teacher gave the kids summer reading packets and book reports to fill out. She hasn't worked on it yet, beyond keeping track of which books she has finished, and I let it slide the first part of the summer as she was attending summer school - taking a sign language class and a science class. Now it's time to get back on track. She's usually pretty good about doing her homework without me bugging her, and naturally hates when I do nag her about stuff, but I figure in a couple of days I'll start reminding her about it.
5. Fall activities
Next week, our park district fall brochure comes out so it'll be time to pick out activities for the Fall. My 2nd grader takes piano lessons, and last year also took ice skating. She mentioned that she wants to try karate so I have to do some research on that, as the park district class requires the parents to participate as well, which doesn't really work with the other two kids. My kindergartner loves dance, and wants to try soccer. And the little man is doing well in camp, so I think I'll sign him up for the tots dropoff playgroup. He desperately wants to do a sports class, used to watch the classes going on in the gym in the same building as his sister's dance class.
Not too bad a list, but I know if I don't start now, it'll be a nightmare to get the school supplies as it gets real close to school starting.
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