Category: Money Matters

To Do List

Published by dee on August 1, 2006

I’m in a serious work funk right now. I’m always in a work funk it seems but this week has been particularly bad as you might be able to tell by the number of blog entries appearing the last couple of days. There are just so many things that I want to do that are not work-related and I can’t seem to get my mind off of them. Instead of actually working, I sit here staring at my computer while thinking about all of the other things I would rather be doing. Want a list of the things I’m thinking about? Of course you do!

Making a BUDGET I can stick to. I hate those things but we definitely need one. I can’t ever seem to pay all of the bills on time these days and I’ve got to find a way to cut out some of the extra spending. I feel like it is my fault because I’m the one responsible for paying the bills and I have to find a way out of the mess we’re in.
Cleaning out my house. There seems to be stuff everywhere and it is slowly driving me insane. If I could actually find the time to get sort through things I could quite possibly make a lot of money in a garage sale which would, in turn, help with the budget problem. I think I’m really ready to get over my packrat ways and turn a new leaf. It will be painful, but nice in the end. Less clutter, less stress. Now if someone could just tell me how to get over the emotional attachment I have to my stuff.
The Red Sox are in town next week and I forgot to buy tickets. Also, see #1 above. We may be sitting in the very, very, cheap seats. I can’t miss my Sox.
I need some craft time. I started on a baby blanket for Zach’s day care provider a few months ago and have barely picked it up since. Um, she’s due in two months and I’m guessing its not going to be finished before the baby comes.
I really, really, really want to redesign this site. I can’t stop thinking about it which means somehow, some way I will find a way to do it soon.
I really, really, really need to finish my church’s web site that I started on over a year ago. I’m still waiting on info from some people so it really isn’t my fault that it isn’t finished, but I hate that it is still just hanging there waiting to be finished.
I also really need to whip up the blog design in my head for one of my blogging buddies. She asked me for a design ages ago and I still haven’t gotten around to it. I’m such a punk sometimes. I hate making promises and not delivering.
I’ve actually been thinking about leaving Zach with my mom for an entire weekend and trying to get away with the Hubby. I haven’t mentioned it to him yet because I’m not 100% sure that I can handle being away from the little man that long, but I’m really thinking about it. Hubby and I have been actually getting along pretty well for the last week or so and I think the time together would be nice…and relaxing.

And now, it is time to go home. I need to do something relaxing tonight.

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The Sound of Silence

Published by dee on May 2, 2006

I’m feeling off. Not really depressed. Certainly not happy. Just off. I’ve tried to keep up with things lately, but it’s not working. Something is not right. I am not right. Little things make me feel good for a short time, but then the dark cloud re-surfaces. I have no patience for other people. I just want to be alone with my thoughts.

I know that most of these feelings come from the fact that I am very unhappy with my job and somewhat unhappy with my marriage right now. I tried to talk to hubby about some of my ideas that would allow me to work from home and he pretty much just laughed it off. He doesn’t encourage me. He doesn’t believe that I can do it. It terrifies me to even think about quitting my job, but it would be so beneficial for our family. I wish he could see it the way I do.

At times like this I am so thankful that I have Zach. He is what keeps me going. He gives me purpose. He makes me feel needed. I worry that if hubby and I don’t get things worked out soon that it will end up hurting Zach and I don’t want that. I am trying, but I’m not sure if I’m succeeding yet.

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Curbing the Spending

Published by dee on April 26, 2006

Even though I have been trying to stay away from all places that sell stuff in order to keep my spending down, I HAD to go to Wal-Mart today. The cats were out of food and I needed some kind of carpet cleaner with odor remover in it. When I was at home on Monday I noticed an odd smell coming from Zach’s room. After crawling around on my hands and knees for a while, I was able to pinpoint it to a small area on the carpet. The only thing I can figure out is that he must have either spit up or spilled some milk on the carpet that I didn’t know about and now it is rotten and smelly.

So, I set out at lunch with a $25 gift card that hubby had won at a meeting at work a few weeks ago. I figured if I was only buying those two items the $25 would cover it with no problem. When I walked in the store I was determined not to buy anything else. Then my mom stopped to look at a pair of pants that she liked. Warning signals were going off in my head, but I paid no attention to them.

We ended up spending about 20 minutes browsing through the clothing section before I spotted the clearance racks. I found a rack with jeans that were marked down to $7. I started digging through them to see if I could find something my size because I desperately need some jeans that fit. Losing weight begins to suck when your clothes are all too big and you can’t afford to buy stuff that fits! I didn’t find any jeans that I liked, so I moved on. Then I spotted a pair of dark brown corduroy pants that were just my size. I have almost bought these pants so many times over the last year (not this specific pair, but some very similar to them). When I looked at the price tag, I discovered they were only $5. Did you see that? FIVE DOLLARS! I had to buy them. I quickly vowed to myself that I would not pick up anything else that was not on the mental list.

We moved on from the clothing section and I quickly found some carpet cleaner and the cat food. As we headed to the checkout, we passed by the Health & Beauty section where they had a big display of my favorite shampoo packaged with a free bottle of conditioner. When you have dry, frizzy, curly hair like mine (even as short as mine is) it is absolutely a must that you buy good shampoo and conditioner. Since I would probably have to buy this anyway in another week or two, I figured I might as well buy it and get the free conditioner with it. Buying it today would save me money later. See how I rationalize my spending?

I picked up a Coke Zero at the checkout to go with my lunch, and the grand total came up to $27 and some change. I did go slightly over the $25 gift card, but compared to my usual Wal-Mart trips that always cost at least $100, this is an improvement. Really, when you think about it, I spent less than $3 because the gift card was free. I don’t think that’s too bad. Hubby will be so proud of me!

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Housekeeping, Money, & Miscellaneous

Published by dee on April 20, 2006

First of all, a couple of general housekeeping things:

I have finally decided to come out of the closet a little bit and start using the name that most of you know me by anyway, dee. I’m getting a bit tired of the hardtoimagine name. Even though there is some deep meaning and lots of good memories tied to it, I think it is time to become a little less anonymous and just be myself. I feel good about this for now, until someone that I don’t want reading finds my site anyway. But, that is the risk of putting it out on the web. It is not like I hide it very well anyway with all the pictures I post! I will still keep the old name on tblog for those of you that read there also.
I’m sure you’ve all noticed by now, but when I changed the site around, I also added some ads. I thought long and hard about doing this because ads on blog sites have always annoyed me. But, given my current financial situation, it was a choice of trying to find a way to fund my web sites or give them up. I’m not really wanting to give them up, so now there are ads. I’m hoping that it will at least help a little bit with my hosting costs. I know at least one of my web sites will be closing down soon because it just never became what I wanted it to be and I don’t have the time to get it there right now. So, please feel free to click away on those ads and help me keep this site running because out of the 4 sites I run, this one is the most important to me.

Now, on to the money and miscellaneous parts. I was sitting there lastnight staring at my budget spreadsheet and trying to figure out where in the heck all the money is going to these days. I figured out that we are currently spending about $400-500 a month more than what we are bringing in. That is an estimate because hubby’s paychecks always differ in the amount. His checks should be going up soon because they are hitting their busy season and he should be getting a lot of over time. That will make up for the difference over the summer months, but when we hit fall, we’ll be in the same boat we are in now. Hopefully we can get some things paid off before then so it won’t be quite so bad. The thing that is really killing us right now is day care. That really makes up the difference of what we are behind each month. What really stinks about this whole situation is that I am realizing that there is no way in hell we should even be thinking about having another kid. And, I had just kind of decided that I was going to be ready to start trying again in June.

Then, while I was sitting there contemplating this whole situation, my brother calls me and tells me about this great employee discount that his company has been offered through Dell. Apparently through the end of April, they can get 35% off, plus another 12% off of Dell computers. He called to tell me because I’ve been questioning him about laptops lately because I desperately need to replace mine. It is slowly dying and I’m afraid that it is just going to give out any day now. If I bought one through Dell, right now, I could get almost half off. I want this so bad I was practically in tears because I know I can’t buy anything else right now. Next to Zach, my laptop is probably the most important thing in my life. I know I can live without it, but I will always be upset that I missed this opportunity.

Brother also hooked me up with the new Tool cd. I’m not really a huge Tool fan, but I don’t mind listening to them on occasion. I haven’t even heard the whole thing yet, but so far it sounds pretty good.

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Flirting With Disaster

Published by dee on April 13, 2006

Ever since I discovered that new Target store, I have been living life a little dangerously. I can’t seem to stay away. Today I stopped in just to see if I could find a pair of cheap little shoes to go with Zach’s Easter outfit. That is all I needed to get. Well, I didn’t find any shoes I liked for him, but I did find some other stuff. You know that neat little $1 area at the front of the store? They just happened to have a whole bunch of sports themed stuff that would work just perfectly in Zach’s bedroom. They had the light switch and electrical outlet covers, a little set of hooks to put on his wall, picture frames, a football shaped sign for his door, and even knobs that will go on his dresser drawers. After grabbing a drink and paying for a couple of $1 items my mom picked up, I got out of there for about $25.

Now, you might think that a $25 purchase is not so bad considering all that I bought. The problem is that I really didn’t have the extra $25 to spend. It might not have been so bad if I hadn’t bought Zach’s new adorable little Red Sox hat off of e-bay this morning. You see, I have a bit of a shopping problem. I LOVE to shop. I especially LOVE to shop when I think that I’m getting a great bargain. This is why Wal-Mart, Target, and Old Navy are my favorite stores. I almost always shop off of the clearance racks and end up with a really good deal or two. The problem is that my good deals tend to add up eventually and before I know it I’ve spent way more money than I planned on spending.

Today I spent $25 plus $13 and some change. But, I still have to get Zach some shoes for Easter because he has outgrown the ones he has and we passed them down to his (6 months older) cousin. Plus, I was really hoping to get myself some new sandals and a couple of bras that actually fit (I didn’t realize just how much room that milk was taking up until I stopped the breastfeeding). This does not work so well into my trying to scrimp and save money plan. Somehow I have got to get my spending under control, get some debts paid off and start saving again.

In the near future, some of our baby expenses will go down. Zach is eating mostly table foods now so I don’t have to buy as much baby food. Hopefully soon I won’t have to buy any. We have cut down one bottle of formula a day and replaced it with whole milk which seems to be going well. Over the next couple of months I plan to phase out the formula completely. Plus, when he turns a year old, his day care costs will go down by $10 a week, which doesn’t seem like much, but will make a difference. And, he is pretty well set for summer clothes now (in three different sizes) so unless he hits a major growth spurt I shouldn’t have to buy any more clothes until fall.

Now the only problem is disciplining myself. I’m not so good at that. I do fine as long as I don’t have to go to any stores, but the second I step in Target or Wal-mart to pick up a package of diapers, I lose control. Is this normal or am I just sick in the head?

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