Craig's trying to figure it all out!

Well this was an expensive spending week on the vehicles. All planned mostly but not completely. $900 later both vehicles are ready to run for much longer.

Wifes car- Originial qoute $420.00 final bill $345

The wifes car got a transmission tune up, oil change, radiator flush and fill, swerpentine belt replacement. Also the parts came in $100 under cost but he found a broken sway bar link and replaced it as it needed done $17 and parts were much less then expected. Her car runs better than when we bought it last year.

My Truck- Original qoute $179 final bill $550!

My truck got a manual transmission tune up, oil change, coolant flush and fill, adjust e-brake (more on this), fixed exhaust. Well everything went smoothly except the e-brake adjustment turned into a full rebuild of my back breaks. Never heard and moise from them but after a call and the rear breaks were metal on metal and the reason my brakes didn't work. $300 in parts and extra labor, mostly all parts as everything had to be replaced, he said its been this way for some time and may have been this way before I bought the truck late last year. Oh well atleast its all done. Truck is quiet, stops well, and the e-brake works wonders.

I still have to replace my windshield but that will have to wait as the brakes spent up the maintence budget this month plus a bit extra. The entire exhaust on my truck will need replaced next spring or early summer to a tune of $400 but the mehcanic said it would be fine till then and maybe abit longer.

We also got 5% off parts and Labor for both vehicles which was great. Having a great mechanic that is willing to look ahead at upcoming stuff to consider is priceless.

Well off to go collect this months Angel Food Ministries packages.

Craig

Well I've managed to put some more money away. Our total is not $4300! We also added a bit of cash to cash on hand. I would like to hit around $5000 in the savings as a cushion but may not get that much with some upcoming spending.

Upcoming spending includes:

Car Maintence- Automatic Transmission Flush, Coolant Flush, Oil Change, overall inspection of under car parts.

Truck Maintence- Coolant Flush, Manual Transmission Flush, Oil Change, Replace Exhaust, Fix Emergency Break, Replace Windshield, General under truck inspection.

We have a good mechanic that has worked on the car in the past and charges a reasonable price and is extremely honest. The car needs mostly general maintence to make sure it is on the up and up this winter. My truck on the other hand needs a bit more as the exhaust broke a couple months back and the windshield has a crack in it. I work construction so the truck takes a small beating from tiem to time.

Both vehicles are from 93 and 94 but I would like to get atleast another 2 years out of each of them before having to consider another purchase, longer would be great. I'm also hoping to keep all these costs under $1000; $750 would be my ideal target. Maintence will probably be what I would have put away in savings next month but keeping the vehicles in top shape is more important.

Craig

Well this weekend was full of little purchases. Some will come out of our monthly allotment a couple are items purchased for the baby from SILs gift of cash.

Expenses from our monthly allotment:

$77 groceries - Stocked up on several items like sausage, bacon, bicuits, canned fruit, Sparkling Grape Cocktail NA (note this was $30 of hte total as I bought a whole case 12 of them as the price is great at Aldis, Oats, Snacks for my lunch, cheese, eggs, etc...

$26 New Air Pedal for my wifes Singer Imerial Princess machine - She has needed a new pedal for ~10 years after one of her pets chewed into it and she has just had it taped and retaped. Picked this up off ebay from an authorized distributor

$5 Rings for the baby sling she is sewing. Had to order these as we weren't able to source them locally unless we wanted to spend $20.

Purcahses for the baby with gift cash:

$24 Snow suit from a consignment site still has original tags with $68 price on it.

$16 Maple Teething ring from Novanatural.com - sorry no cheap plastic for our babys mouth or toys.

$10 Sleepers for the baby wife wil lgrab them tomorrow.

We will have to deposit the money to cover the baby purchases tomorrow am. the wife also will be picking up some thread and needles tomorrow with a coupon at the columbus day sale at the local Hancock Fabrics, not sure on total cost but she needs these items to finish some sewing projects.

Once I get my check tomorrow I should be able to top the $4000 mark in the savings account. We also have around $50 for us to last the rest of the month.

Will be bringing my lunch again this week so I shouldn't have many spend days next week as I have gas in the truck and car, lots of food with a delivery from angel food ministires on saturday, and some quarters to do a load of baby diapers mid week as they need to be washed every 3rd day or so.

Craig

Not much going on the home front. Slept from 6:30-8:30 last night then went back to bed at 9:30 till 4:55 when my alarm went off. Worked a little bit extra this week so far but they are calliong for rain tomorrow and a small chance on Friday.

Spent $18.41 at the grocery store on the way home. Bought 4 bags of cat litter at $2.99 each for 25 lb bags should last us about a month or so, the wife changes there litter once a day with about 4-6 cups of fresh litter at change time. $1.33 for a couple of tomatoes 3/4 lb worth (much cheaper at Aldis as they are $1.29 for 1.25 lbs) but tidn't think they had cat litter and this grocery store is directly on my way home. Lastly I splurged on 2 caramel apples, one for each of us.

I will have to get gas tomorrow and the wife filled up her car yesterday. Should be about $65 left after that but all the bills are paid, ccs are paid in full, and the house if full of food.

We will go pick up food on the 17th from Angel Food Ministries which should last us the rest of the month atleast. I need to have the wife contact the drop off location to verifiy everything and time to pick up.

Hoping to put another $1200 this month in savings for my winter layoff as my unemployment will only cover 90% of the household expenses. The wife gets to keep her unemployment till the begining/ middle of Janurary after that I will be the sole income.

Checked out the local news and our town has the worst unemployment in the state at 6.5%, not as bad as some but there are 2 more large companies shutting down this year. Been perusing for a part time job but its been hard lately as I don't have tiem with my long hours at my main job. Maybe in a couple of weeks I can see whats out there once we go back to 40 hour weeks.

Craig

Well I updated my side bar. Got paid today and the boss gave me an additional $150 that I added to our cash on hand. Placed $300 into checking which leaves us with $211 for hte rest of the month, atleast that is my goal. May need some extra but I'm going to try. Lastly deposited $283.92 into the savings account to bring us up to $3500 which is about 2 montsh worth of living expenses.

Depostis expected for the month yet:

Wife $226+25 weekly for unemployment benefits

Me ~$583.92 weekly (This is approximated as I work construction and my week cna vary depending on weather and work.)

I still have 8 or so items on craigslist but may delete and relist them at this point.

Craig

We'll I have a slight detour in my plans. In the long run my purchase should save me over $100 a month in the short run cost me $200.

I installed a large 1000 watt power inverter into my truck today and a Microwave so I can be more efficient with taking my lunch. I work construction and not always a place to plug things in with the busy job sites. Took a couple of hours of wokring in really tight places to run the cables into the cab of my truck to hardwire the inverter but its there. I have to have my truck on when I use it but with the cold weather coming not having to eat cold lunches will be pleasing.

I will take this out of my check tomorrow and deposit slightly less into savings. I should also be getting an additional $150 from my boss as a bomus that I will cash and add to the cash on hand fund. Now htat we have the little one I hate to be without some cash on hand incase of a major power outage. We had one 3 years ago and the side of town I'm on lost power for 3 weeks due to a terrible ice storm.

Wow 2 posts in one day, but I msut get back to the big pot of chili on the stove. Wife offered to make corn bread from scratch once the little one calms down. He has started teething and not quite 4 months old.

Craig

I'm trying to challenge myself this month as to try and live on the $300 left in the bank. I've successfully paid all the bills except car/ renters insurancea s it comes out on the 28th, though moneyt is set aside for it. CCs are paid in full, rents paid, and all utilities. I have to say this is the first time I have ever been able to accomplish this feat.

My wife nad I still get a weekly check. She gets her unemployment and I get my regualar check. If we can avoid using the incoming funds this will allow us to put away what we make this month in prep for next months bills and savings.

I would really like to repay my grandparents the last $900 I owe them but hate to take money from the bank at this time. If I get a good month this month at work I may jsut do it though as it will be one last bill on my shoulders.

We are looking at purchasing an elliptical. I currently have a basic weight bench and would also like to add a few more weight as mine just has six 15lb weights in the set. I used to have a gym membership but canceled it as all I was really using was the free weights and the elliptical as I wasn't using the other 90% of the gym I dropped the extra payment every month. I've been watching craigslist for an elliptical but everyone wants so much second hand for them and most are much older models. I'm looking for a specific one and may have to buy new but atleast I can get free shipping and delivery to the room of choice which will save me $150. Also this elliptical is $600 off and now only $999.00

I may consider it once November gets here as last month was expensize with suprising hte wife wiht her new serger that she is loving making baby clothes out of.

Craig

Well this is how we keep food costs in check and keep from eating out.

Things you will need: (note this does require some up front investment if you don't have these items)

Deep Freeze - We purchased a 7 cu. ft. upright unit from Menards for $300 on sale for $100 off. We chose upright as things seem to get lost in chest styles

Pyrex Dishes - We got 10 for these sets (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11966166) and then extras of the medium and small sizes individually from wal mart as well. Total investment - ~$300 but these should out last any plastic storage container, better in the environment, and can go straight from freezer to oven.

We prep the following items and portion them out as to not have much left over maybe a serving at most.

Various Meats-

Ground Beef all ready browned and ready to go, usually about 5lbs at a time seperate into 1 lb servings

Taco Meat all ready cooked and ready to reheat, usually 5 lbs at a time and split into 1 lbs servings

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts seperated into 2 servings per container usually a 3 lb package worth

Steaks - I buy hte cheap petite cuts in large packages and split into servings, usually end up with about 7-8 servings

Pork chops - Usually buy a big package of chops not the expensive cut but you get hte idea. Usually about 7-8 servings worth

Triple batch of Lasagna split into 6 containers perfect size for a meal.

Triple batch of Tuna Casserole split into 6 servings

Single batch of Tater Tot casserole split into 2-3 servings

Couple servings of Chicken and wild rice

I go fishing and bring home Walleye, pike, bass in the spring and about to go out here for fall fishing again. I brought in about 15 lbs of fish this spring wiht some bags in the freezer yet.

Also splurge on shrimp as we get a company that delivers it fresh from the gulf coast, drives it up here over night in a huge refigerated truck packed in ice. It costs about $13 a lb but it is the best shrimp ever around here and being a seafood/ fish nut it is my treat every 6 months or so is to buy 5 lbs.

We also prep desserts in the form of Berry and/ or fruit coblers all ready to cook, Cookies, brownies, cakes all ready to cook and small size jsut big enough for the 2 of us.

I also do 10-15 lbs of potatoes with a large batch of mashed potatoes seasoned and frozen and a huge batch of Twice baked potatoes ready to be pulled out and reheated.

It costs us about $250 every 8-10 weeks to restock the freezer with all this food, we also eat out of hte cup boards as we keep soup mixs, some conveinece foods such as fish sticks and chick nuggets, frozen pizzas the cheap little ones.

We also keep staples such as mac and cheese, ramen noodles, frozen veggies, frozen hot dogs, etc on had for easy fix meals and what not. Alot of our noodles and such ceom from the Amish town 45 min south of us as everything is so cheap there.

We eat out about once or twice a month which isn't that bad IMO.

We send about $35 a week otherwise on essentials as bread, butter, milk, eggs. The wife makes her own yogurt for smoothies and eating.

Craig

Well yesterday was my birthday and the wife kept it frugal. She made me Beef and Barley soup. We get the mix at the Amish store about 45 min away. Super cheap and just add beef. Scallop Potates we had in the cupboard and some peanut butter chocolate chip oat bars. We then went out dancing for abit at the local Wednesday night Salsa joint while the MIL baby sat the little one. This was our first outing since he has been home that he didn't go along on.

Total Cost $4.50 for a drink at the club that turned out to be the worst Margarita I have ever tasted, didn't end up finishing it. All in all it was a blast to get out for a short date.

Rainy here today and cold so I got off early.

Will be running to Aldi's to get soem groceries as we haven't gotten anything and we are out of bread. We shop about every 1.5 weeks for milk, bread, eggs, etc. Our deep freeze is getting empty but that is good as I want to defrost it before winter arrives. We can then cook another large batch of food and stock our freezer back up.

All in all things are looking up.

Craig

Well we got a letter from the judge in charge of the wifes unemployment hearing and she is being granted her benefits. It found that way due to the former boss changing my wifes contract with out being clear on the details of the change. Her old boss has 15 days from today to appeal the judges decision. Hope for hte best as she would be grabbing at thin air at this point if she appeals.

The funds hit the bank from my paypal transfer. I'm considering listing a tandem bike carrier we have on E-bay as I would like it gone and let it see some good use.

I've sent off $450 towards the money owed to my grandparents and leave us with $900 left to pay out of $1500 that I borrowed in August. I was slow at work and the wife hadn't started getting her unemployment yet and bills had to be paid. I could pay this debt in full but a few things need to be done to both of our vehicles and I want a small cushion for the what ifs that seem to come up.

The lady hasn't come to get the light we listed. she contacted me last night and said she would be over this evening but I'm not holding my breath.

I will pay the cards of in October as the charges were just incurred as I had paid the cards off in full last month.

Feels great to be almost debt free but the wifes student loans, my next project to tackle as we free up some more income.

Craig

Well I've been back reading but not posting shame on me. Been alot of changes in my life. Earlier this year after getting back on track I went on a huge buying spree for about 6 months. I've figured out my spending is based on stress levels. The more stressed I get the more I spend and on goes the circle.

I'm now a proud father of a new son born on 6-10-2009. My wife was let go as an independent contractor 4 weeks into her unpaid maternity leave. She is getting unemployment but it has been a nightmare as her boss has contested it, state found in my wifes favor and now she has another appeal to deal with tomorrow am that has been postponed twice. Hope we get to keep it or we have to start paying it all back in. some $2500 worth.

I've spent almost as much time working this year as being layed off as I just got back from another 3.5 week stint of unemployment. I hope the construction trade starts to pick up again. I've been considering picking up a part time job about 20 hours a week to supplement my income and to help the wife not have to go back to work.

We've been downsizing our materialistic items and everything else not needed. I did splurge and purchase a Janome Serger for my wife as she has been making 90% of the baby clothes, all the diapers and diaper covers, etc. It was an invesment but got it for $400 new online versus $700 locally.

Someone keep me on my toes so I keep posting and saving.

PS just sold some more items on craigslist so I will have another $25 for cash on hand and a few more bucks from some spare aquarium stuff laying around will bring in $60 for the bank account.

Boy has it ben awhile since I posted. I will admit I haven't even really been perusing here since mid December.

I'll need to update my sidebar as it is completely off at this point. I was laid off for just over 3 months so the saving has mostly been drained.

To catch myself and everyone up with whats been going on. I just got back to work although it is quite slow yet and the cold flashes coming and going aren't making that any better.

My Wife who is now 6 months pregenant has been reducing her hours as she is a massage therapist and can't be on her feet as much. She is also switching to become and Indepent Contractor and work locally. Her new place is 5 minutes from the apartment versus an hour commute to the town south of us. She will make about the same but be working less hours.

We need to save as much as possible right now as she is planning on taking 10 weeks off once baby comes. If not I will work extra hours or get a second job flipping burgers or something.

I've joined the gym it is only $30 a month and when it is rainy and 35 outside is great. I can also discontinue my membership at this place with a 30 day written notice no long term contracts.

Got all the bills as low as I can go for Utilities and such.

Rent $720
Gas N/A
Electric $85
Buisness Phone Line and Internet $79
Cell Phones (I travel alot during the day and we use these for most calls, I also use my for e-mail access at work) $135
Full Coverage Car and Renters Insurance $99
Wifes Student Loan $84

Those are the main bills. I have my wifes car to renew this month $35. Best part about the wife working close to home we will save atleast 1 tank of gas a week as she was using 2 with her commute.

Also the cell phones, buisness line are written off with our taxes at the end of the year.

Groceries are still our highest cost. We eat well and very little prepackaged/ frozen food or entrees. We eat alot of fresh vegetables and fruits along with rices. We use Ezekiel bread and Organic Milk. We buy our cheeses in block form and slice or shred as needed. We eat some meat mostly venison right now as its free. I love fish as we used to eat Tuna, Salmon, Perch, etc several times a week but have cut way back due to the Mercury and the pregnancy. We do eat some chicken but not a ton of it.

I've been eating out my lunches but should start taking my own again. Just hard to sit in the truck and eat when its really cold outside.

We have some money in savings but only about $600 or so right now. Having had to dip into it as unemployment isn't great in IA atleast at my pay scale.

On a side note is that I have been selling plants out of my aquarium and even though I'm not making much every little bit helps. I will also be entering it in April in our local clubs spring show. Cash prizes this year.

Now its time to get caught up reading on the Blogs here.

Craig

Well this was an expensive last few days. Thanksgiving was great, got together with family and had fun. Ate too much for lunch and didn't eat dinner. Started cleaning the carpet Thursday night.

Friday I worked for 20 min and got paid for 8 hours of time. woohoo. Came home and finished cleaning the carpets. Actually did them all twice and they are cleaner then when the professionals came in. We went and bought a bunch of board games as Target had them all on sale, will have to add some cash to the coupon savings for the $25 I saved on the board games.

Saturday was pretty un eventfull. We bought a new mat for inside the door of our apartment as the carpet is extremely light in color and stains easily. I cut it to fit perfect and not a moment too soon as we got snow yesterday. Got my monthly massage also.

Yesterday was pretty boring as we went window shopping for a new bedroom sheets, comforter set.

I'm selling my fish room and sold a tank and some accessories for $100 and just got a $150 payment in the mail for some fish to be shipped, actually about $50 will be for the shipping. Friday I drive up to Milwaukee to deliver some fish at a tune of about $350, decided to take a day off of work as I will make more on delivering fish.

Contemplating buying a high end tank setup for my planted tanks as it will be my one and only tank but not 100% if I will or not. Lots of thinking to do on this one.

Rent is due this week by the 5th and it will be tight, got my check and will get another check tomorrow the wife did some clients today as well and she gets paid on Friday, so by this weekend I should have all of Decembers bills paid. Setting up the new insurance is setting us back a bit as we have to pay 2 months up front as I don't want to draing the saving to pay all at once.

Craig

Well today was a small spend day. Spent $4.22 on my trip to see family for the holidays. Ate way too much today but oh well guess I don't do it often, the 2 pieces of pumpkin pie was great. 15 people were there all together and the sink drain decided to clog and flood the kitchen. Easy fix since half of us work construction.

On another note my wine guy gave me a bottle of wine $33 at his cost as after the tasting class I helped sell a few bottles with one of them being $90 bottle of wine. I also helped setup and tear down for the event. Great to be friends with the shop owner.

Working tomorrow only about an hours worth of work but the boss said he was going to pay me for 8 hours as I'm the only one showing up, horray for me.

Had to order hay for my wifes rabbits today 50 lbs for $69.98 shipped which will alst 3 months for 3 rabbits but is much better than $12 a bag locally for 1.5 lbs.

Just finished cleaning the carpets in half the apartment, thanks to my mom it was free as she has a Kirby vacuum and has the carpet cleaner attachment, plus she gave me a gallon bottle of cleaner. Carpet looks better then the professionals did when we moved in. I will probably do it once more tomorrow as it won't take long and to make sure it is really clean.

Hope is having a great day. Need to update savings totals this weekend.

Craig

Well got my check today and will be putting $300 of my $369.28 into savings. I will be updating my totals later in the week.

We spent around $150 on groceries this weekend but should have enough meals for 3 weeks almost. It is our challenge to not go to the store for 3 weeks except for some fresh produce if needed.

Meet with the Insurance guy tonight and will be switching as soon as my policies expire in December. Renters will go from $296 year to $105 year and our car insurance will go from $93.48 to $74.24 month. I may add the Umbrella policy as it will bring my liability total to 1 million dollars and will only add $3 a month to my insurance.

Going to travel a bit on Thanksgiving so I will probably use one extra tank of gas. Also talked to the parents tonite and they aren't doing any gift exchange for christmas, thank you finally. Sorry no a grinch but I think christmas is too commercialized now a days.

This will bring my November savings to just of $1000 for all my accounts. Feels great to be saving again.

Craig

Well I went and bought a new ink cartridge for the printer today. Been out for a few weeks now as I don't use it alot but wanted to start printing out coupons again. Anyone have any good links for coupons? I've been using coupons.com but they didn't have alot to choose from this time around.

On another topic I would like to get involved with doing some surveys in my free internet surfing time. Where should I start looking for good ones to do?

Total spent today was $24.86 for my Ink and a adapter for a set of lights that I have. Also the wife and I will be filling both vehicles today at $1.79 gallon.

Looks like I will have another $300-350 to put in savings come Monday which would be nice.

Also I noticed since that I started blogging more that I find it easier to save money. We (wife and I) find that instead of going out to spend money we just transfer some to the savings as its the same as spending to us.

Have a great weekend.

Craig

Got done early today as it was cold wind chill at 1. Wife and I went down and got her check and deposited it and went walking in the mall. Had a treat of Whitey's Ice cream 2 cones were 4.13. As we were walking around we each got a chair massage. I got 20min and she got 10 min as that is what they recommended for each of us cost was $42 but I will save $60 as I canceled my appointment for tomorrow which would have cost me $95 with tip for an hour and a half. Came back in to town and rented some movies for the weekend at a cost of $9.52 for 4 movies as I had a get one free from Blockbuster. I prefer Blockbuster as I don't have to pay any late fees with them as soemtiems it will take more then the rented time to watch them all or if I want to see one of them again. Transfer $145 to savings accounts and added $60 in cash. Also wrote out the check for my Osteopath appointment next week for $80 and we still have a little over $350 in the bank for groceries and gas for the week. Will probably use one extra tank of gas this week for travel for thanks giving. I will get a check on Monday from work and we should be able to save all of it to savings as well.

Craig

Well as planned the wife went and got Frontline for the 2 cats this morning. $27.92 with tax. Now to vacuum atleast 3 times a day for the next 3-4 days.

Ate out lunch today cost was $8.99 for chinese, salted nut roll and a soda.

Hope to get by with out more gas i nthe truck this week, will be close. Gas is down to $1.89 here today.

Still have $91.88 in the checking account. Anything left after I get the wifes check Saturday is going into savings.

Also I'm scheduled for a massage on Saturday. 1.5 hours worth woohoo. Wife is getting one also but is doing a trade with another therapist at her house.

Well Yesterday morning I transfered $540 into various savings accounts, need to setup my sidebar one of these days. Yesterday was a small spend day as the wife needed gas and I paid for an upcoming wine class I plan to take on the 26th. I'm good friends with my wine guy so I like to stop and visit him as much as possible. Opened up a nice botle of wine for both of us to sample when I stopped. Also spent $13 on a bottle of Reisling to take home as I wasn't in my usual Shiraz mood. Also we loaned out the pet taxi to the neighbors when they moved as they were getting new cats from the shelter. Well our cats now have fleas. So once I get home I'm washing all the bedding, wife is going to grab some fela treatment for the cats and rabbits today (so there will be some unexpected spending.), I will also grab some carpet spray and vaccuum the whole house a few times.

Craig

Well it was a decent weekend. I presold some of my fish room so as soon as fish are gone guy will ceom get the tanks and equipment $320 up front. woohoo. I will come out ahead once all is sold.

For the spending this weekend we went to the mall in the next town and planned on eating at the chinese place there but it was closed fro remodeling. errr. SO we at at the Old Country Buffet. Food was great cost more than I had planned $16 for the wife and I, chinese is usually only $9 as we split a meal. The only other options were taco bell or arbys which I really don't like either. Our old neighbor called to get together kinda last minute as we were both free and we haven't seen her son in a few months and he wanted us to come over. $28 for pizza, soda, local paper but she paid me $13 for her and her 2 year olds son share. Took the cash and got quaters to do laundry and just got back from that.

Stopped at Walmart for groceries this morning as we were needing some of the paper goods and found my lunch meat $0.32 cheaper a package only $0.56 instead of $0.88 as compared to Hy-Vee, looks like I will be shopping there more. On;y got 1 thing that wasn't on my list. Total spent $154 and saved a few bucks with coupons. This will be breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next week and also stocked up on paper goods.

Got around to setting some goals now to figure out my sidebar so I can list them.

Saving Accounts ING and Emigrant Direct. How do I add sub folders for savings in ING I forgot how?

Here is what I am settign for sub accounts once I figure out how:

Coupons
Kayak- something I would love to have
Vacation 2009
Vacation 2010
Car Insurance
Renters Insurance
Wifes Massage Workshops

Emigrant will be for my Emergency Fund goal is $10000 hopefully by the begining of 2010.

Local Savings goal $1000 ($950 to go)
Checking acount $500 minimum ($400 to go)
Cash on Hand for emergencies $1000 ($1000 to go) cause ifhte powers out all the cash electronically won't do me any good.

Atleast it is a start.

Wow this is kind of long winded if you made it this far thanks for reading.

Craig

Well I checked the online bank statement updated daily yesterday and find the Hilton double charged my wife for her stay at the conference last week. errrr. Now we don't have credit cards but use our debit card for everything so it shows up instaniously. The Hilton is a pain to deal with. Here is the history of the last week with my wifes stay at the Hilton in Indianapolis for a conference.

11/5 Arrive in Indy at Hilton. Sharing the room with 3 women to reduce cost of trip. Hilton charges $800 to my debit card upon arrival even though I was told it was only going to be $50. Room was only $500 total for 4 nights anyways.

11/6 Call wife in AM to tell her to go talk to the manager about the situation. Wife calls back they admitted their mistake and refunded it all

11/7 hold for $16.97 on the account from Hilton, what ever not enough to piss me off.

11/8 Another hold for $103 on the card, no big deal room was to be $171 anyways.

11/9 Wife calls got her bill they billed all 3 of them $103 each. Figured they got another discount as all received the same bill.

11/10 All charges gone from account no more holds. Figured they would bill it on Tuesday.

Yesterday 11/13 check online statement as I do every morning upon waking up. 2 finalized charges for $103 for a total of $206 charged to my account. Wife call them up and they say the person in charge will call her back tomorrow.

Today she gets a call back saying that it was because she wasn't billed properly and that they were just fixing it and taking the extra money. Ah, no not even a phone call just taking the money with out notification. Wife tells them that this is there mistake and that they screwed up twice on this trip and she wasn't paying the difference as the final printed bill and receipt were for $103. Wife tells them about their bad service, guy says he needs to talk to the manager. Guy calls back and says she will only be charged the $103 as it was their mistake.

Now I was fine with paying the extra $68 for a total of $171 as that is what was originally expected. Now after them taking more than that with out any notification they can say good by to the extra $68 for their bad service. Manager O.K.'d it and they are taking full responsibility for their mistakes.

Now on the budget front:

Got my qoutes from State Farm. I will be saving $2 a month for switching car insurance over but will save $196 a year on my renters insurance by switching all together I will save $220 a year by switching.

Ate out Lunch yesterday, felt bad about it as I was trying to not eat out but I was sick and needed something other than a sandwich for lunch at the job site.

Also splurged $40 on my fishing stuff today as I needed new line for my reels and picked up some lures that I had lost earlier this year.

Tomorrow I have a guy driving 4 hours to look at my fish room as he is interested in half of my equipment, equipment can't go till all the fish do but he is willing to wait and put down a deposit for the tank, filters, etc...

Well I need to get back on track and should get a blog going to help remind myself.

Well the last blog was 2 years ago, I still read everyone elses' blogs.

Here is my current situation. I'm 28 years old been married for 2.5 years and have no debt, other than my wifes sallie mae loan. I also have no saving shame on me. I need to change that. I've been splurging way too much the last few months since the move. We moved in the begining of May to a wonderful apartment complex that has many features we both fell in love with 1050 sq ft., balcony with court yard view, club house, pool, quiet neighbors and superb sound proofing as you can't hear the neighbors above/ below/ or next to us unless your in the hallway. We also have Heat and Water paid for aswell as central air, storage unit provided next to the laundry room, 2 garages, and a laundry room in the lower level. Now compare this to my old cottage house built in 1910. It had been added on to 5 times very shoddishly, only 625 sq ft., basement leaked, roof leaked, no central air, drafty, etc...

I currently am working as a brick layer averaging about 28 hours a week at this time in the year as I do most years in the winter time. My wife is a massage therapist that works 4 days a week averaging from 12-20 massages, the most she can do with out killing herself. We have very few bills right now: (Monthly Totals)

Rent w/ 2 Garages -$720
Cell Phone -$130.51
Internet/ Wifes Buisness number -$78.34
Electric Bill -$106.18 thats with all electric appliances and central air, fish tanks
Renters Insurance -$23.91
Car Insurance Full coverage both vehicles $500 deductible -$93.48
Food -$500
Eating Out -$280
Cats -$20
Rabbits -$25
Miscllaneous- ???

Now food and eating out are our biggest expenses as I work construction I've been lazy and eating out with the guys so cost is between $5-10 daily. We also buy alot of high quality food suchs as organic milk, fish, etc...

I've found a few ways to save some cash here is what I accomlished today and if I can keep it up will be a millionaire in 60 years .

Car Insurance and Renters called another place and got qoutes taht will save me a little more than $25 month for the 2.

Eating out- I'm now brown bagging and using my soup thermos again for a hot meal.

Food- Only spent $80 for the 2 of last week to make breakfast, lunches and dinner for the 2 of us.

Well my head hurts now.

Craig

The wife and I needed to get a new table for the living room/ everything else room and got a great deal. After looking at 4-5 consignment shops and not finding anything we really fell in love with we stopped at Sofa Mart and got the following:

2 Metal and Glass End Tables Retail $318 set
2 Metal Lamps w/ square Shades Retail $166 set
1 Metal Vase with wrapped wire Retail $72
2 Urn w/ Silk Flowers Retail $127

We walked out paying $157.50 with tax for all of the above. The end tables have 2 glass shelves the bottom one on one was missing and everything else is perfect. They had everything clearanced out at $240 and we asked if we bought all of it what kind of deal we could have if we bought it all and he grabbed his calculator and told us $150 plus tax. Everything is so wonderful and was just what we were looking for. Now to talk to a local glass place about making me a replacement shelf. Well was a spend day but got out with $533 in savings from Sofa Mart. Hope others did well today.

Craig

I'll be back to read the blogs later time for salsa dance class.

Well the day started out down pouring rain, why I'm home, then switched to sleet now it great big snow flakes. Got the paperwork to get mine and my wifes retirements going and to start a mutual fund. We're going with T. Rowe Price Retirement Funds 2030 for her and 2045 for me. Not sure on what mutual fund I will pick but looking at Prime Reserve. We will be starting with putting $50 ea a month into our funds, just a start till I get good hours again next year, winter makes it hard to do construction and she is just starting her own buisness. Hope to get the paperwork in the mail before Monday. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Craig

Well after toying with quicken again I plugged some numbers into their debt reduction planner and came up with this:

Amount $1250 month

3 Loans: 1 22.99% owe 7440 - Personal
2 7.5% owe 52000 - House
3 7.14% owe 6891 - Student Loan

If we follow Quickens debt strategy we can be out of debt by Mid 2012. I think I might try it out. We will have to tighten our belts some more but it would be great to own the house in less time than expected. Now to convince the wife it would be possible.

Craig

Well I'm somewhat back on track for the month. I did go and purchase Quicken 2007 Home and Buisness as I've needed some good accounting software and since the wife is starting her own massage buisness I figured I would go with what I wanted to use. It is great for what I have figured out all ready, now to figure out all the little stuff. Tracking our 5 personal accounts and her 1 buisness account from 1 page is great. Now to find a place to invest some money. Anyone have an ideas? I will start investing after the first of the year as to make sure I don't get laid off (I work construction). I need to find the best method of starting out with a couple of small investments of around $1k. By the end of next year I plan on setting up a Roth IRA for both the wife and I. I'm leaning toward the Vangaurd Retirement 2030 for my wife and
the Vangaurd Retirement 2045 for me. They look like easy to run investments and I would like to invest a little more else where as well but not sure where to go with it. If anyone has any good ideas on investment I would love to hear them as I'm reading all I can to find the best places to invest. Thanks for the wonderful site and the great blogs.

Craig

Well I have already shot down my November budget as I've missed 22 hrs of work out of 24 since the start of Nov. due to me coming down with bronchitis. Top that off with the visit to the chiroprator for and adjustment, accupuncture, laser therapy, and natural supplements for a total of $155 should have been $250 but since my wife is a Massage Therapist there I received a disount. Part of the bill can be claimed to insurance so I should get back about $80-90 from them. I do have insurance but don't care for western medical practices so I end up spending more when I get sick. If it wasn't for my wife and I wanting to have a child in the near future I would just cancel it and put the money into savings as I could have more in savings as the only thing it gets used for is 2-3 Chiropractor visits per month, but the dental has been great though. Well that's my rant for now. I did do fairly well last month as far as the budget goes since it was the first I figured kinda low and wasn't over too much, except for the vet bill. Now to figure out how to make some more money this month. How long does money have to sit in ING before I can transfer it to my emigrant and not lose my $25 sign on bonus? Well sorry for the long post but I feel better now.