I just don't have anything too exciting to say lol
My house isn't closing until the 8th. That drives me nuts but at least I got $2250 in unexpected rent. After I pay the interest on my loan, I made $1750ish. I'll take it.
I also booked a cruise for a new client. But I won't be paid for that for a few months.
My spending is like wheeeeeeeee. I blew over $400 on ribbon..sweet sweet ribbon. It's my korker ribbon and I think I have found an awesome way to cook it all (you cook it to curl it). Stay tuned!
Next month I work from home every day. The little one has ballet camp on my office days and it was just easier to go remote the full month than to shift things around. So my overall spending should be a lot less. Very little gas money and our fast fooding should be a lot better. I won't be spending money in the vending machines at work either.
I have been working on my hairbows, at least 2 hours a day. I have a big show in Sept and I really want to have my basic inventory done. This is my goal:
1050 basic bows. 30 of my base 35 colors.
840 baby bows. 24 of my base 35 colors.
200 big solid bows
720 small korker solids, 20 of each of my 36 basic colors
120 med size solid bows
240 fat korkers
240 mixed korkers
120 tutu bows
100 felties
200 specialty print bows
---------------
3830 bows - yikes but really I am at least 1/3 of the way there. I just want to sew up a big inventory so when I pay to do a show, I am not feeling like I am wasting the opportunity.
Ok I think that is it for now. I will post my June spending in a few days. It is going to have a killer credit card payment on it. Eeeck.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Two weeks of Spending
I have joined a no buy group on DIS that is motivating me to track everything I spend. We confess our spending and go woohooo when we do good lol
This is what it's looked like over the last couple of weeks. If you took off the $400 cruise deposit, then I'd actually be doing good. This of course doesn't include about $230 in utilities. It also doesn't include any remodeling expenses. My mini goal for the month was to keep non vacation, non utility spending to $700.
6-14 38.64 (food and gas)
6-13 $7.44 McDs
6-12 $1.10 DDs breakfast
6-11 $54.15 lunch & groceries & gas
6-10 $12.59 (pizza and diet coke)
6-9 zero
6-8 $16.53 cats & bath, $400 cruise
6-7 taco bell $2.19
6-6 $61 zumba, shoes, tea, leotard & phone
6-5 zero
6-4 $93.54 (bug killer, pool, sprinkler, flowers, lunch & groceries)
6-3 $1.10 for tea
6-2 $105 for heat pump repair
6-1 $35.33 + 5.57 (car repair and mcDs)
This is what it's looked like over the last couple of weeks. If you took off the $400 cruise deposit, then I'd actually be doing good. This of course doesn't include about $230 in utilities. It also doesn't include any remodeling expenses. My mini goal for the month was to keep non vacation, non utility spending to $700.
6-14 38.64 (food and gas)
6-13 $7.44 McDs
6-12 $1.10 DDs breakfast
6-11 $54.15 lunch & groceries & gas
6-10 $12.59 (pizza and diet coke)
6-9 zero
6-8 $16.53 cats & bath, $400 cruise
6-7 taco bell $2.19
6-6 $61 zumba, shoes, tea, leotard & phone
6-5 zero
6-4 $93.54 (bug killer, pool, sprinkler, flowers, lunch & groceries)
6-3 $1.10 for tea
6-2 $105 for heat pump repair
6-1 $35.33 + 5.57 (car repair and mcDs)
Monday, June 13, 2011
Early Saver Discount
Hi, my name is Kim. I am a cruise addict. I set up a travel agency just so I could stalk rates on Carnival ships. (no really, I did, it wasn't expensive lol)
I finally go to book our trip in Nov, I am super happy to say we are going to Grand Turk, Half Moon Key and Nassau on a 5 day cruise. We are going to stop at Sanibel island on the way to Miami and spend a few days there too. Yiipppeeeeee
We did the Early Saver rate through Carnival. If you don't know what that is, basically you commit several months (sometimes years!) to a particular cruise. You get the lowest estimated price on that cruise.
Now sometimes pricing will shift and they aren't filling the ship as fast as they wanted to. Enter the Early Save Price Protection Guarantee!
I booked our cabins last week. Last night they dropped $5 per person. Now call me cheap (go ahead, I like it!) but that was enough for me to request a discount. Shoot, that is $20, $20 is $20 right?
It took maybe 2 minutes to fill out the form. I got confirmation of my rate reduction today. YAY!
So now I have a new obsession. How many times can I squeeze a discount out of this cruise? lol It's a game, a fun fun game!
I finally go to book our trip in Nov, I am super happy to say we are going to Grand Turk, Half Moon Key and Nassau on a 5 day cruise. We are going to stop at Sanibel island on the way to Miami and spend a few days there too. Yiipppeeeeee
We did the Early Saver rate through Carnival. If you don't know what that is, basically you commit several months (sometimes years!) to a particular cruise. You get the lowest estimated price on that cruise.
Now sometimes pricing will shift and they aren't filling the ship as fast as they wanted to. Enter the Early Save Price Protection Guarantee!
I booked our cabins last week. Last night they dropped $5 per person. Now call me cheap (go ahead, I like it!) but that was enough for me to request a discount. Shoot, that is $20, $20 is $20 right?
It took maybe 2 minutes to fill out the form. I got confirmation of my rate reduction today. YAY!
So now I have a new obsession. How many times can I squeeze a discount out of this cruise? lol It's a game, a fun fun game!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Remodeling!
Have I explained the house thing here? I can't remember.
9 years ago last week I bought a house for 37K from an estate sale. It was 1040 SF, 3 bed, 1 bath on .6 acres. It had a full basement.
My fix em up history:
Currently I am working on:
And this is what happened today. My Dad would be super happy with it:
Architectural shingle in pewter. I couldn't be happier. It really inspires me to do my landscaping and do it right the first time. All my neighbors commented on it, I just couldn't be happier :)
This leaves me with about $15 and some change to finish up the house. The kitchen will just be a few hundred more for trims, the bath shouldn't be too bad. I'll probably spend another 1K in landscaping and do it right the first time. So I'll have 13Kish to devote to the basement. I am hopeful that will be enough since we are going for a bath (which I can tile myself) and the rest will be one large room. I can run the electrical wiring to save money and I will install the laminate myself which will save a ton. That will keep the house right at 70K. And really if it goes up to 80K, it isn't a big deal for an updated cottage on a half acre with almost 2100 SF!
9 years ago last week I bought a house for 37K from an estate sale. It was 1040 SF, 3 bed, 1 bath on .6 acres. It had a full basement.
My fix em up history:
- Inside, it was a wee bit redneck. First thing I did, tear all the 70's paneling off he hallway. I discovered beat up drywall which I promptly put a thick plaster on.
- I cut a hole in the wall connecting the kitchen breakfast nook with my den. That one game my Mom a heart attack because I just went in with a hammer and saw one day at did it lol
- I painted the knotty pine in the living room, walls and ceiling. It is very beachy now I like it.
- I took the linoleum off the walls in the kitchen. yes, on the WALLS. It took hunks out of the wall so the drywall came down, new insulation went up and my crooked drywall was put up. Thick plaster anyone? Check!
- Next, the thing I wish I hadn't done, was put in a tile floor in the kitchen. I should have put in a floating laminate over the linoleum. I loathe my tile floor. I have busted tiles, it is cold, it is hard to clean. I LOATHE it and it was so hard to do and so expensive. I am so sick of repairing it, I could just scream.
- I painted my kitchen cabinets white - huge difference.
- Somewhere in here I refinished the hardwood throughout the house and put stucco on the ceilings.
- Then I hit the bathroom. The faucets leaked and my Dad fixed them. Then I knocked out all of the 60's gold glitter tile, took out the old toilet, took out the old sink which looked like it belonged in a camper and retiled the tub in white, put in new drywall (crooked - insert thick plaster here), put in a new bath cabinet, a new sink top, a new faucet, a new toilet, a new mirror and a new floating floor.
- Outside during all of this, Dad helped me put white siding on the house, replaced gutters, cut off trailer awnings on the windows, replaced the old cruddy windows with new ones and helped me clear land.
- Oh ya, and like the first month I owned it the heat pump burned out. Month 13 of a 12 month warranty. Found out the electrical wasn't updated correctly but the install biz was already out of biz. So new breaker box and heat pump box thingy outside.
- Hmmm what else? Oh ya, a windstorm came and knocked off my roof on my deck. I actually got a check for that which was awesome because it was ugly and I didn't want it anway. Later, Dad helped me build new rails.
- He also helped me build my front porch rails.
Currently I am working on:
- The kitchen. Cabinets, counters, sink, faucet, dishwasher, stove, lots of electrical. Eventually a new floor.
- My bath needs refreshing. When I did it the first time I was broke and couldn't buy nice things for it. So I need a new bath cabinet bad.
- My bedroom is going to lose a wall and gain the hallway area. I'd like to also vault the ceiling but that could be expensive.
And this is what happened today. My Dad would be super happy with it:
Architectural shingle in pewter. I couldn't be happier. It really inspires me to do my landscaping and do it right the first time. All my neighbors commented on it, I just couldn't be happier :)This leaves me with about $15 and some change to finish up the house. The kitchen will just be a few hundred more for trims, the bath shouldn't be too bad. I'll probably spend another 1K in landscaping and do it right the first time. So I'll have 13Kish to devote to the basement. I am hopeful that will be enough since we are going for a bath (which I can tile myself) and the rest will be one large room. I can run the electrical wiring to save money and I will install the laminate myself which will save a ton. That will keep the house right at 70K. And really if it goes up to 80K, it isn't a big deal for an updated cottage on a half acre with almost 2100 SF!
Meal Planning
I was sickly for a couple of days this week. Not really ill, but just ran down and puny. My Mom took my DD for a little extra time so I could work more and fed her for me. I ate through a bowl of rice in 2 days. So I have a lot of stuff leftover from last week.
What I have to work with (off the top of my head, I know there is more...)
Dry: stale-ish bread, rice, noodles, shaped pastas, flour, oatmeal, Irish oats, hominy, several kinds of dried beans, tons of chickpeas, coffee, creamer, flavored tea bags, tons of organic stock and organic mac and cheese
Jarred/canned: spaghetti sauce & pineapple chunks
Frozen: chicken breast, a pack of sausages, 1 pd of GB, 1 pack of chicken legs, 2 packs of white fish, some bread rounds and mystery aluminum foiled items.
Produce: 4 peaches, 4 pears, 2-3 apples, 3-4 squash, 6 onions
Cold: just condiments and half a bottle of diet coke (I try to eat my fridge up every week to throw less stuff away)
What I bought....
2 Cherry 7ups for $1 (on sale and I had a coupon)
milk - $3.59
Apple Juice - $1.99
2 bags of Doritos, $2.98 (on sale and I had a coupon for $1 off of 2...I hope to hide one of these for next week - chips are my weakness)
2 pds of red grapes - $2.53
7 peaches - $2.34 (on sale 99cent pp)
1 pound bag of mini carrots - $1 (on sale!)
mustard - 89 cents
black tea - $1.17 (This is the first time I've ever bought off brand tea. It was almost half of the cost of Tetley, my preferred brand. Then I started thinking, isn't tea just a dried leaf? So I bought it lol)
1 pack of large flour tortillas - $1.09
10 ounces of ham - $2.79
2 pounds of block cheese - $5.98
ranch dressing - free with promo coupon
doz eggs - free with promo coupon
2 pds Jimmy dean sausage - $6
Total with tax - $36.18
This week is low meat. I wish I had bought more sausage to put in the freezer because that is a good price for my preferred brand. I saw chicken breast bone in for 99 cents but I still have half a plastic shoe box (I put them in sandwich bags individually then put them in the shoe box for organization and to protect against freezer burn) of chicken breast. There were zero beef deals at any of our stores. Oh well, good thing neither DD or I are overly fond of red meat.
Here is my hopeful plan for the week:
Sunday - date night, my boy is going to cook me a frozen pizza while we watch a movie from redbox or netflixs. I am so proud of him. Our old dates used to be $25-35 in dinner, walking around stores (where I'd spend money on silly stuff) then going to a movie with popcorn and cokes - another $35. I think he's figured out I'd rather spent that $60-70 ever week on a vacation.
The rest of the week:
Does this look familiar? Yup, my Mom and my boy fed us so much last week when I was puny, all we really ate was fruit and breakfast at home. I remember making up a lot of the zucchini plus I made a few PBJ sandwiches. I realized I didn't have the ground beef for both the spaghetti and meatloaf so I let DD choose.
So that's it for the week, wish me luck.
What I have to work with (off the top of my head, I know there is more...)
Dry: stale-ish bread, rice, noodles, shaped pastas, flour, oatmeal, Irish oats, hominy, several kinds of dried beans, tons of chickpeas, coffee, creamer, flavored tea bags, tons of organic stock and organic mac and cheese
Jarred/canned: spaghetti sauce & pineapple chunks
Frozen: chicken breast, a pack of sausages, 1 pd of GB, 1 pack of chicken legs, 2 packs of white fish, some bread rounds and mystery aluminum foiled items.
Produce: 4 peaches, 4 pears, 2-3 apples, 3-4 squash, 6 onions
Cold: just condiments and half a bottle of diet coke (I try to eat my fridge up every week to throw less stuff away)
What I bought....
2 Cherry 7ups for $1 (on sale and I had a coupon)
milk - $3.59
Apple Juice - $1.99
2 bags of Doritos, $2.98 (on sale and I had a coupon for $1 off of 2...I hope to hide one of these for next week - chips are my weakness)
2 pds of red grapes - $2.53
7 peaches - $2.34 (on sale 99cent pp)
1 pound bag of mini carrots - $1 (on sale!)
mustard - 89 cents
black tea - $1.17 (This is the first time I've ever bought off brand tea. It was almost half of the cost of Tetley, my preferred brand. Then I started thinking, isn't tea just a dried leaf? So I bought it lol)
1 pack of large flour tortillas - $1.09
10 ounces of ham - $2.79
2 pounds of block cheese - $5.98
ranch dressing - free with promo coupon
doz eggs - free with promo coupon
2 pds Jimmy dean sausage - $6
Total with tax - $36.18
This week is low meat. I wish I had bought more sausage to put in the freezer because that is a good price for my preferred brand. I saw chicken breast bone in for 99 cents but I still have half a plastic shoe box (I put them in sandwich bags individually then put them in the shoe box for organization and to protect against freezer burn) of chicken breast. There were zero beef deals at any of our stores. Oh well, good thing neither DD or I are overly fond of red meat.
Here is my hopeful plan for the week:
Sunday - date night, my boy is going to cook me a frozen pizza while we watch a movie from redbox or netflixs. I am so proud of him. Our old dates used to be $25-35 in dinner, walking around stores (where I'd spend money on silly stuff) then going to a movie with popcorn and cokes - another $35. I think he's figured out I'd rather spent that $60-70 ever week on a vacation.
The rest of the week:
- Perch with rice & green beans (half the bag)
- Japanese chicken with rice, zucchini & onions and carrots
- fish tacos with fresh salsa and peaches (the other half bag of fish)
- chicken veggie soup with my awesome organic stock (I went to Kroger last month and they were discontinuing large cartons of organic stock (chicken, beef and veggie) for 50 cents. FIFTY CENTS! I got all of them, 12. So I need to use them up!)
- spaghetti, garlic bread and snow peas
Does this look familiar? Yup, my Mom and my boy fed us so much last week when I was puny, all we really ate was fruit and breakfast at home. I remember making up a lot of the zucchini plus I made a few PBJ sandwiches. I realized I didn't have the ground beef for both the spaghetti and meatloaf so I let DD choose.
So that's it for the week, wish me luck.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
$28.80 sold
I picked up consignment money for bows today. They want more so that is good!
(and wow what a bright background. it startled me when i opened the page...off i go to fix that lol)
(and wow what a bright background. it startled me when i opened the page...off i go to fix that lol)
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Meal Planning
We didn't get half of our stuff eaten last week so some of this will be repeats. I went to Kroger yesterday and bought peaches, apples, 2 personal watermelons, yellow squash, zucchini, green beans, milk, a 7up, 3 doz eggs, 12 ounces of perch, onions, tomatoes and I can't remember what else. I spent a little over $35.
Perch with rice & green beans
Japanese chicken with rice, zucchini & onions and carrots
fish tacos (pollack) with fresh salsa and peaches
meatloaf burgers & squash
spaghetti, garlic bread and snow peas
Things always seem to derail on my food plans so I am only listing 5 meals. I have everything I need in order to make these 5 meals. So in a perfect world we'd eat hot cereals and eggs for breakfast, leftovers for lunch, these 5 meals, out to eat once just me and DD and out to eat once with my boy.
Perch with rice & green beans
Japanese chicken with rice, zucchini & onions and carrots
fish tacos (pollack) with fresh salsa and peaches
meatloaf burgers & squash
spaghetti, garlic bread and snow peas
Things always seem to derail on my food plans so I am only listing 5 meals. I have everything I need in order to make these 5 meals. So in a perfect world we'd eat hot cereals and eggs for breakfast, leftovers for lunch, these 5 meals, out to eat once just me and DD and out to eat once with my boy.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Spending - Week Twenty Two (May 28 - June 3)
Whew, glad this week is over. Talk about money stress!
Stress 1 - my AC/heat pump outside unit broke while we were on vacation. It took 4 days to get a tech out here but the repair was just $105. It was a small part that pretty much wears out every 5 years. Since my entire unit was 7 years old, I wrung an extra 2 years out of it!
Stress 2 - my car window motor broke. My car will be 12 in November. The two front window motors had already burned out and I had those replaced. My DD's window broke the night before we left on the trip. This is still broken (boo). It is a $200 non essential repair on a car that is worth maybe $1500. Would you fix it? I can fix it inside the door so it just stays up all the time.
Stress 3 - my check engine light came on - twice. I had loss of power and at one point I thought it just wasn't going to start. I took it to advanced auto for their free computer diagnostic and a major vapor lock coded. Now for us regular people who don't talk "car", I had a leak somewhere near my gasoline. He checked out my gas cap and low and behold, it was leaking fumes that were backing up into my engine. I had a lot of yucky crud in the gas cap compartment that I thought was just road dirt. He was like ummm...no...this cap has been bad for a LONG time (well don't I feel stupid?). He asked, has your gas mileage gotten worse? Why yes it has! It was like the clouds shifted and the heavens shined down on this dear Advanced Auto man who had solved all my car problems. The gas cap, gas cleaner, gas filter and some clear coat paint came out to about $35. Fixed!
Stress 4 - I dropped a full 2 liter bottle. On my foot. After I got done almost puking, my foot swelled up so much that the underneath pad of my foot extended to almost the end of my toes. I couldn't move my big toe or move the muscles on the top of my foot. It happened late at night while I was at my Mom's, so I crashed there with every intention of going to the doc in the morning. When I woke up, ooohh...I could wiggle my toe again (it was so weird, like it was paralyzed) and my foot was half the size. Since it didn't really hurt, I didn't go to the doc. I am happy to report, 3 days later I still have swelling on the top of my foot but I can comfortably walk on it and I only have a twinge of ache every so often. Super happy I didn't blow $300 on a doc visit for a bruised foot. (I am all for going to the doc, but I try to avoid stupid visits...you know the ones where the doc gives you a look like "why are you here?")
Other things I bought this week included my main grocery run, another smaller grocery run to stock up on a sauce packet that I can't seem to find anywhere else (on sale 20% off!) and to get tomatoes. I also filled up my car. On Tuesday I bought breakfast and a snack at work.
Since I am not calculating every penny now, it is a lot easier. I know I am behind for the year and it has motivated me to rejoin my nobuy threads on DIS. Those ladies can really motivate you.
I will have a wicked high June because I'll be paying the CC bill for 2 trips. My actual low spending for this month won't show until July. I am basically going through my checking account and adding up my "outs". So I guess in a way, my spending year is Dec - Dec because I'm 21 days behind on he CC bill.
I think that is it. My what a long post!
Stress 1 - my AC/heat pump outside unit broke while we were on vacation. It took 4 days to get a tech out here but the repair was just $105. It was a small part that pretty much wears out every 5 years. Since my entire unit was 7 years old, I wrung an extra 2 years out of it!
Stress 2 - my car window motor broke. My car will be 12 in November. The two front window motors had already burned out and I had those replaced. My DD's window broke the night before we left on the trip. This is still broken (boo). It is a $200 non essential repair on a car that is worth maybe $1500. Would you fix it? I can fix it inside the door so it just stays up all the time.
Stress 3 - my check engine light came on - twice. I had loss of power and at one point I thought it just wasn't going to start. I took it to advanced auto for their free computer diagnostic and a major vapor lock coded. Now for us regular people who don't talk "car", I had a leak somewhere near my gasoline. He checked out my gas cap and low and behold, it was leaking fumes that were backing up into my engine. I had a lot of yucky crud in the gas cap compartment that I thought was just road dirt. He was like ummm...no...this cap has been bad for a LONG time (well don't I feel stupid?). He asked, has your gas mileage gotten worse? Why yes it has! It was like the clouds shifted and the heavens shined down on this dear Advanced Auto man who had solved all my car problems. The gas cap, gas cleaner, gas filter and some clear coat paint came out to about $35. Fixed!
Stress 4 - I dropped a full 2 liter bottle. On my foot. After I got done almost puking, my foot swelled up so much that the underneath pad of my foot extended to almost the end of my toes. I couldn't move my big toe or move the muscles on the top of my foot. It happened late at night while I was at my Mom's, so I crashed there with every intention of going to the doc in the morning. When I woke up, ooohh...I could wiggle my toe again (it was so weird, like it was paralyzed) and my foot was half the size. Since it didn't really hurt, I didn't go to the doc. I am happy to report, 3 days later I still have swelling on the top of my foot but I can comfortably walk on it and I only have a twinge of ache every so often. Super happy I didn't blow $300 on a doc visit for a bruised foot. (I am all for going to the doc, but I try to avoid stupid visits...you know the ones where the doc gives you a look like "why are you here?")
Other things I bought this week included my main grocery run, another smaller grocery run to stock up on a sauce packet that I can't seem to find anywhere else (on sale 20% off!) and to get tomatoes. I also filled up my car. On Tuesday I bought breakfast and a snack at work.
Since I am not calculating every penny now, it is a lot easier. I know I am behind for the year and it has motivated me to rejoin my nobuy threads on DIS. Those ladies can really motivate you.
I will have a wicked high June because I'll be paying the CC bill for 2 trips. My actual low spending for this month won't show until July. I am basically going through my checking account and adding up my "outs". So I guess in a way, my spending year is Dec - Dec because I'm 21 days behind on he CC bill.
I think that is it. My what a long post!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)