End of Month--October 2008

Wow!  Another month gone.  The holidays are coming up so fast!

I am amazed with the current gas prices!  Hubby stopped for gas the other day even though he wasn't totally empty yet because he saw it for $2.299!  It cost him $36 to fill up!  Let's hope the prices stay this low or lower.  At least for a little while!

I've updated the sidebar.  Not much to really update, but I did it.  I also updated the NetWorthIQ for October.

We finally ordered the tires for my husband's truck.  They were really needed.  I saved and transferred the money to the credit card and then used it to pay for the tires.  They should be here in a day or two, then we'll make an appointment to have them mounted.  The total cost for four tires was $675!  Ouch!  But it is a worthwhile expense.  His safety is more important than money.  We researched the tires on tirerack.com and were very pleased with the reviews.  These tires should last a lot longer than the ones that came with the truck.  

Other typical end of month tasks:

• I transferred $45.59 from my round up fund to my emergency fund
• I transferred my VA benefit to my emergency fund
• I added any interest given at the end of the month.  We earned $9.22 this month in the emergency fund!  

I also figured out that I should be at $5,000 in my emergency fund in 9 months or less.  If you remember that was the original amount I wanted to save, then I upped it to $10,000.  I'll just be happy to make it to the halfway point because that's where we were before my husband was out of work for 2 1/2 months last year.  It will make me a lot more comfortable knowing we have that money to pay the bills just in case.

I also paid two bills for next month in advance.  Well, I used billpay and set the date for after the next pay period.  At least I don't have to worry about paying them.  The first was a $65 cell phone bill (2 cell phones--family plan) and the second was our electric bill of $159, which just keeps going up no matter how many times I turn things off.  I think it may be because we are on the budget plan though.

How does your electric bill compare?  Do you find it always going up?  Or have you found a way to keep your electric costs low?  I cannot wait until we are debt free so we can afford to put in a solar system!  It is one of the first things I want to do!

Finally...

I have never been so happy to see a pay period get here!  OK...that's not exactly true because all pay periods are good...more money always helps!  But this time with DH's mistake I was really looking forward to this one.  

And there are NO BILLS due for these next 2 weeks!  I can really put some money aside for DH's tires and hopefully he'll be able to get them really soon!  I've already replaced all the money I've "borrowed" from the other accounts.  Plus the normal transfer of $442.60 into the savings account for our mortgage payment.  

Getting into the routine of transferring 1/2 the mortgage payment every two weeks into the savings account it automatically gets pulled from was a great idea!  The mortgage is the first thing I "pay" every pay period.  I have never made a late payment or missed a payment!  And I know the money is always in the account when it's time for it to come out.

I don't expect to have any problems paying my bills, but if I did I would pay my mortgage and heloc first because I would never want to lose my home.  Second, I would make the truck payment because DH needs to get to and from work (though if we were really that bad off we would probably sell the truck and get a cheap, reliable vehicle--unless it was already paid off).  Lastly, I would pay the credit card.  Of course mixed in all that would be buying food, prescriptions, and paying for utilities.  Those would also be before the credit card.  

Of course all of this really doesn't matter if you plan well.  That's why we have an emergency fund.  If DH loses his job we don't have to make decisions on what to pay and what to not pay.  

And someday our plan is to not ever worry about it at all!  Our plan to payoff all our debt including our mortgage is a long term one for now, but once I can go back to work that will turn into a short term plan.  

• Everything I make will go towards debt!  
• Anything over what we've been currently living on from DH's paycheck will go towards savings.  

Right now it's just send whatever we can to pay down or off our debt.  Living below our means definitely helps though we don't deny ourselves either.  I have 2 more years (Spring, Summer, and Fall terms) of college to complete my B.S. degree along with my double minor and 3 certificates.  Once that is done I'll volunteer for a few years to get my foot in the door of my new career and still be available for my youngest son, who will still be in elementary school.  I'll be able to get a job again when he gets into middle school (my oldest will be in high school by then).

I can't wait to see how fast the debt disappears once I'm working again!  I almost want to see about getting a job sooner because of it, but I know I have to concentrate on my schooling and children first. Though if the right opportunity came along that still allowed me to do all the things I do with my boys, then I would consider it.

Woohoo!

DH paid $2.799/gallon for gas this morning and I paid the same at a different station this afternoon!  Usually we've been paying up to $65.00 to fill up DH's truck and about $40.00 to fill up my car.  But today it was $44.50 and $27.02!  I am so happy!  I know it would be better if it went even lower, but for now this is exciting to me!

On another note...DH made a mistake and bought something using the debit card instead of using the credit card that I told him to use to replace a piece of important computer equipment that died on us.  It totally threw off my entire budget for these two weeks.  Especially since things were already tight because it was a 2-week period where it seems all the bills decided to be due.  In the next 2-week period coming up there are absolutely no bills due!  So I've had to borrow from our blow money "accounts" and will replace it when we get paid later this week.

Advanced Payments are GOOD!

Thank goodness for the truck loan being paid in advance!  My husband desperately needs new tires on his truck because he drives 570 miles a week and the tires the truck came with are crap!  

Anyway...

Since I haven't had the time to start saving up for Auto Maintenance, which this lovely issue brought to my attention, I am planning to use the money I would have used to make the 2 extra payments to the truck loan to buy the new tires.  Because honestly it makes no sense to use the money to pay down the truck early instead of buying new tires so hubby doesn't go out of control on the highway when a tire blows.  Plus I would probably have to pay for massive hospital bills, if not a funeral.  That would be bad!

The tires are actually going to cost $568.00 plus delivery, installation charges, taxes. I'm expecting it will cost quite a bit by the time this is all said and done.  But it is a necessary expense with how much he drives.

We've already researched the tires on tirerack.com and found some that have a very high rating.  His original ones are there, too, and confirmed how crappy they really are, though the dealership told him they were top of the line when they tried to sell them to him when he got his oil changed.  They had no idea we already researched the tires. Nice try, but no thank you.

So the plan now is:

• Use one, possibly two, months of extra truck loan payments to pay for tires for the truck.
• Use any extra money such as bonuses and tax refunds to "catch up" to where I wanted to be with these missed extra payments.

Hopefully that will all work out the way I would like it to, but if it doesn't that's alright. I still see the truck loan being paid off early even with skipping a couple of months.

Doctor/Dentist Bills, Red Cross, End of Month

I received a bill from one of my doctor's for an appointment I went to in December.  I've actually had 2 other appointments since that appointment, but for some reason they messed this one all up by putting in the claim 3 times!  Pretty unorganized of them!  So now I have to fit in a payment of $125.32 to them.  I'll take care of that this weekend and get it out in the mail on Tuesday.

I've also received some more of the claim forms for my boys' dentist appointments.  So far it looks like I'll owe them $209.30 at least until I get the last claim form.  I underpaid on a couple of appointments and overpaid on one.  This is not as big as a deal because I was pretty much expecting it.  Plus the dentist office has not sent me a bill as yet either.  So we'll wait and see on that one, but I'll probably go in as soon as I've received the last claim form and settle up with them.

On the sidebar you'll notice a banner for the American Red Cross.  They are one of the few organizations that I support and believe in.  I do not in any way receive money or endorsement from the Red Cross for placing the banner on my blog.  

Since today is the last day of the month I'll probably be closing everything out.  It looks like I'll have $38.17 to transfer over to my emergency fund (other than the normal $117) from my round up fund from the checking account.

These are the final month end numbers:

Groceries: $379.07

Dining Out: $249.53

Gas: $540.41

DH's Work Lunches: $108.06

I'm not sure if I've missed anything.  The progression bars will be updated in a week or so when the mortgage, truck payments, and emergency savings are shown to be updated in their systems so I can get exact numbers.  Though I believe the emergency fund will be above $3,000 and the truck loan will maybe be close to $7,000.

Payoff Date Goals

Things have been kind of busy here dealing with storms, college classes, the boys going back to school, and their activities starting back up.  But at the same time the finances have been kind of slow going.  There just hasn't been anything much to talk about.  So I was looking over my posts here and realized that I never gave any dates of when I'd like to get everything paid off.  

I guess I do have something to talk about now!

1. Pay off truck loan early: My goal on this is to completely pay it off by December 2009.  The original maturity date is October 2011.  Once it is paid off, then I'll also be downgrading the insurance coverage so I'll be saving some money there, too.

 

2. Start paying down Heloc until student loans come due: This will be done from January 2010 through June 2011, which is when I should have to start paying on my student loans.

3. Pay off student loans as quickly as possible:  I do not have an actual payoff goal on this as yet until I see the final damage.  I'll have a better idea around the summer/fall of 2010.  But know it will be paid off early.

4. Finish paying off Heloc:  This will also depend on other factors like how much I paid off prior to student loans coming due and what my work situation is like once I start paying it off again.

5. Work on paying off mortgage early:  The original maturity date on our mortgage was January 2034, but we knocked it down to August 2032 with an employee loan through the bank as I worked with them at the time we bought the home.  We paid that loan off a long time ago!  My ultimate goal would be to pay off the mortgage somewhere between 2020 and 2022 or sooner.  Again it will all depend on paying off the other debt, my employment situation, and any other things that happen to pop up.

Updates and What's Going On

Well, Tropical Storm Fay has now completely left us.  We still had a few (very few) remaining storms come through yesterday, though we were able to get out of the house for the afternoon.  No damage so that's very good!  One down; ?? to go.

I still got the mail during the storm...yes, the poor mailwoman still had to deliver the mail!  I received a letter from my 401K plan saying that I have under the minimum $1000 and if I do not call by a certain date a check will be cut minus all the many fees and penalties they take away from you.  I know I received a check for all the funds to roll them over to my new Vanguard IRA.  Or at least that's what they told me!  So I took a look online and it's a whopping $3.13 for company stock!  $3.13!  It was probably some dividend or something that got applied after the check was cut.  So fine...cut me a check.  I'll probably get like $2.00 or something.  It's just not worth my time calling them to have it rolled over to my IRA.  Let the IRS get the 20% penalty or  $0.62...LOL.  I could always put $3.13 into my IRA and then get my $0.62 back at tax time.  Maybe.

I also received the explanation of benefits sheets you get from the insurance company for the boys' first visits to the new dentist.  I'll probably owe them in the $200 range.  Not bad considering they only charged me $50.70 for those appointments at the time.  We'll see what happens with that when the bill comes in.  

I've started updating the sidebar and progression bars.  It still needs some tweaking here and there.  My classes start tomorrow so my time will be limited until I get myself on a schedule.

Fuel and I Messed Up

Firstly, I want to ask what is up with gas?  The prices are going down, but it is still costing us the same to fill up!  There is something seriously wrong with this!  If it goes up a penny, then our cost skyrockets, but when it goes down .20-.30 cents, then our cost doesn't go down.  Totally crazy!  We're already up to $309 for fuel costs this month.

I readily admit that I messed up for this 2-weeks already.  I was so used to the boys being out of school that I didn't budget in the costs of them going back very well.  Plus groceries were more than normal due to school lunch items.  So I'm going to be short during this 2-week period.  Therefore, I'll need to take some out of the different savings funds I have set up to get by.  Not a lot, but enough to lower a few of them and have to play catch up later.  Thankfully, they are not areas where I need a lot of that money right now anyway and I have plenty of time to catch up.  

Oh well!  I guess it happens on occasion.  As long as it doesn't happen all the time, though I do now expect I may need to do some additional tweaking for the next few paychecks to get back on track.

Good Day

Today was a good day financially speaking.  While I did spend money, it wasn't as much as I was expecting.  YAY!  Well, I spent less in one place and a little more in another, but it was all for good.

OK...first I had to bring my boys to the dentist.  This was our first time here because the pediatric dentist they went to before closed his office in our city and now only has his office in the city to the north of us.  Not a long distance, but inconvenient when they have appointments during school time and I don't have time to pick the other up.  Then they both have to be pulled out of school!  Anyway, this was a new pediatric dentist, who like many dentists nowadays does not take insurance.  AT ALL!  Not a big deal because our last one didn't either.  That means I have to pay for everything up front, send in a claim form and wait for reimbursement.  I was expecting to pay hundreds of dollars today on my credit card on two kids for cleanings, x-rays (including an additional panoramic for one), and flouride treatments--to be paid off whenever the insurance company got around to sending me my money.  Nope...no such thing!  As a courtesy, this dental office will take a copay only, send in the claim for you, and bill you for any remainder not paid for by the insurance company.  So instead of hundreds of dollars for this initial visit I paid $50.70 in total--for both of them.  That is great considering the statement with the breakdown said the total for all services rendered was $507.00!  I still have to bring them in to take care of some other issues, but I expected that to be on top of the full bill I would have paid today.

Afterwards we went back to the new SuperTarget because I forgot a few things...mostly groceries plus I wanted to look for some sort of mats to put under the pet's homes (DS1 has a parakeet and DS2 has a betta fish).  Well, I initially needed bread and milk, but the boys had some flouride stuff painted onto their teeth and they were told not to eat anything too sugary because they cannot brush their teeth tonight.  I didn't think I had too many items they could eat so I picked up some bananas and grapes for them to snack on.  Plus it was getting late so I added some deli chicken for lunch and some french bread for dinner.  I also remembered that I forgot DS1's protractor for school when I bought school supplies.  At the register I remembered that DH needed some cash, which we rarely carry.  So I tacked on the minimum allowed--$10.  The total was $36.80--not bad considering $10.00 of it was cash, $8.29 was for items other than grocery, and $18.51 for groceries.  That brings my total groceries to $213.59 for the month.

Outlet Mall and New SuperTarget

We've had a good weekend.

Yesterday we went to both the indoor and outdoor outlet malls in the city next to ours.  At the Disney Store, we found a shirt for our oldest that said, "I Didn't Do It"  for under $8.00 to go with current shirts he owns that say, "Trouble is my MIDDLE name" and "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time".  At two VF Outlet stores I spent a combined $51.89 for clothes for the boys (4 shirts and 2 denim cargo shorts) and me (1 top).  Not a single item was over $14.00...actually all except 2 items were under $5.99 there.  Across the street at the outdoor mall, I got them some books (3 total) for $9.51 at the Book Warehouse.

Today we went to the new SuperTarget that just opened today in our own city along with a Michael's, PetSmart, and others.  I am so happy I no longer have to drive to the city to the north for a regular Target or the city to the south for a SuperTarget.  And I don't have to go to Walmart if I don't want to!  *sigh* 

Anyway, they had some great sales for their first day open.  I found a bunch of items that would be great for Christmas!  I make little gift baskets for the women in the family--four of them--and I found great containers and stuff to put in them.  Total cost: $18, including 2 extra containers for our office desks to hold little things.  

School supplies were great!  I even stocked up on some items I didn't need any more of because I know they will need them again in the middle of the year or next year.  I got:

• A Hulk lunchkit for $9.00 for my youngest (he is obsessed with the Hulk)
• A 128MB USB for $4.99 for my oldest (he can bring home pics or files, then delete, if needed, without us worrying about losing a more expensive USB
• A dual-sided soft pencil case for $3.99 for my oldest (his old one was too bulky for his desks and backpack)
• 4 packs of 24-count Crayola crayons for $0.22 each or $0.88 total
• 2 packs of 24-count Crayola colored pencils for $2.00 each or $4.00 total
• 6 composition books at $0.50 each or $3.00 total
• 2 1-inch binders at $0.97 each or $1.94 total
• 6 2-pocket folders at $0.10 each or $0.60 total
• 4 packs 5-tab dividers for $0.89 each or $3.56

I think this was even better than my good deals found the last time at the grocery store, though those were pretty good, too.

Next will be some new shoes for them.  I have to wait until next week after the new Payless opens on July 30th.

PF Goals, Survey Companies, Expected Future Expenses, Considerations

PF Goals

I haven't talked about my 101 Personal Finance Goals for a while.  I guess it's because I'm still stuck at #46.  *sigh*  I need to spend some time thinking about what else I'd like to accomplish, though I suppose I don't have to think of them all at once.  I still welcome any ideas on the subject and would love to hear if you've started your own personal finance goals!

Survey Companies

I updated the money earned online section in my sidebar.  I'm seriously considering paring down quite a few of them once I hit their next payouts.  A few take way too long to earn any money and probably are not worth my time.  Others have me spend too much time on surveys and then tell me I'm not qualified without giving a partial payment or points.  

• American Consumer Opinion--I think I'll keep them on there.  They don't send many requests, but the few they do are usually worth my time.
• ClearVoice Surveys--Like American Consumer Opinion they have few survey requests, but are pretty worthwhile, though it does take a while to earn enough.
• Clixsense--Not worth it.  Would probably be better if they sent me reminder emails so I know what is available, but they don't so I miss out on a lot of them.  I may just cancel it now and call it a loss.
• Deals'n'Cash--I just started with them so I may give them some more time.  But it doesn't look good for them either.
• Ebates--Oh I'm keeping them!  I love shopping through them and getting cash back on items I would have bought anyway!
• epoll--I'm split with them.  They've been good in the past...nice short surveys, but I haven't been getting them lately.
• Global Test Market--I like them.  Their surveys can sometimes be on the long side, but the ones I don't qualify for still get me reduced points.  Plus I love the payouts--$50 for 1000 points and I've been getting a lot of survey requests so even if I don't qualify it adds up.
• Hits4Pay--It's like Deals'n'Cash (same company) and I may get rid of them once I get the payout because the emails are not really compatible with what I selected.
• InboxDollars--Takes too long to earn money.  I've been working for this first payout since last year and that's just too long!  $5.09 more and bye-bye to them.
• Lightspeed Panel--I like them, too.  Survey requests can be spotty, but overall they are a keeper.
• Mindfield Online--I used to like them, but since I've switched to Mac they don't like my browser, Safari, so it's taking longer to earn the payout.  Too bad!
• MyPoints--KEEPER!
• Netwinner--They are pretty much just for fun.  I don't expect to ever win anything though it would be nice if I did.  I don't play often, but I'll leave them there for fun.
• NFO MySurvey--I like them, too.  Nice short surveys when I get them and the points add up sufficiently for payout.
• Opinion Outpost--I used to love them, but I'm just not getting any survey requests anymore.  It's been almost a year since I've gotten one and I updated my profiles, too.  It's a shame, but they'll have to go, too.
• RewardTV--I just started with them, but like Netwinner they are just for fun.
• Send Earnings--Like InboxDollars they'll be out of here when I earn the payout...only $20.46 to go!  It'll take a little longer to get rid of them.
• SurveySavvy--I just started with them and so far I like them alright.
• SurveySpot--I'm not sure about them.  Still thinking about it.
• SurveyTeam--They'll probably be gone.  It really wasn't set up how I thought they were and I don't like them.
• Synovate--LOVE THEM!  They increased their points value recently and also give partial points depending on how much of a survey you qualify for and complete.
• Testspin--I'm getting pretty sick of them.  I liked them in the past, but they are getting ridiculous now.  I just need $4.00 to close them out.
• Zoompanel--They are great!  They give 5 points if you do not qualify and the surveys are pretty good, too.

I think I got them all listed there.  So anyway...the list on the sidebar should be getting smaller little by little as I get a payout with some of them and others will just be going away.

Expected Future Expenses

I'm expecting a few extra expenses soon.  I know I'll be getting a bill soon for my last endocrinologist appointment in June.  That is usually in the $100s because he's a specialist and I haven't reached my deductible yet...and probably never will.

I just made the boys each a much needed appointment for a new pediatric dentist here in town.  Unfortunately, they don't accept insurance so I'll need to pay in full and get reimbursed.  They do sometimes put insurance claims in as a courtesy, but I may want to do it myself and know it's done correctly and I have a copy of the claim in case something goes wrong.

School supplies will be coming up soon as they go back to school in 4 1/2 weeks!  YAY!  Did I just say that?  I meant: "Oh darn!  Now I won't be enjoying their wonderful presence during the day!"  That sounds good, right?

Considerations

So I'm considering whether or not to buy a domain name for this blog (not necessarily Ditch My Debt because it's already taken...I've checked so I have some ideas) or just keep it where it is for now.  

I'm in the process of considering the pros and cons for both.  I'm not much for programming and stuff so I'm a little leery of that, but my husband is a programmer.  I'm just not sure I want his hands on my blog...LOL.  I can do little things in HTML, but not full programming.  But if I find a good template, then I won't need to worry much about that.  *sigh*  It would be nice to have my own domain, but I wonder if it would be more work than I'm willing to give right now or not.  I obviously have some more research to do in the area.  

Any suggestions, clues, tips, hints, information...you get the idea...would be welcome!

Working on school work and online spending

Oh my I haven't posted for a few days.  Really I've been pretty busy with school work.  Only three more weeks until this term is over--five more weeks until the boys go back to school--six more weeks until the next term for my new classes start.  Phew!

I've been doing some shopping lately online.  I put through another order with drugstore.com through ebates.com (got to get the cash back on my purchases).  This time I went through the house (what I should have done the first time) and made sure I had a list of anything that was needed.  I got a lot of great deals on the items I needed so it wasn't a total waste to put in another order.

I also bought some items for our home office.  I noticed that my computer that I've set up temporarily on the first table complete sticks to it sometimes and removes the paint a bit.  So I picked up some clear desk mats to protect the tables I'm making.  Those should be in next week.  

Today I bought some things for my oldest son at PetSmart.com (also through ebates.com).  We promised him a parakeet.  The new PetSmart here in town doesn't open for another two weeks, but I figured we could get all the supplies now, set it up, and then go pick out a couple of parakeets when the store opens.  He's really happy about it.  In addition to the cash back with ebates, I also got 15% off from PetSmart.com so that was great as well!

I think my shopping days will be over for a little while now.  I've pretty much bought out everything I've been meaning to buy for now.  Though I do still have my bi-weekly blow money coming up.  Gotta keep the UPS guys in business, right?

Does More Income Actually Mean More Money?

I want to thank Fabulously Broke In The City for giving me something to talk about on these slow three days (personal finance wise anyways).  She wrote a post on July 4th entitled High Income doesn't necessarily mean Financial Smarts that set off a topic I like to talk about--basically people that have a lot of income (or what should be a lot of income), but still don't have any money and lots of debt.

One point that wasn't brought up was that income and how much is high really depends on where you live.  Other factors such as whether you are single or married, or have children or not could also determine what is considered a low or high income to someone.

For instance my husband's salary would barely pay the mortgage/rent if we lived up north.  Because we live in the south and have stayed out of the larger cities, then his income allows us to pay the bills plus some and I can stay home with the children now.  Five to ten years ago we were only making in the $25K-$35K range and managed to build two houses (not at the same time) and have two kids (again not at the same time).  My husband was able to stay home for a while during that time period to take care of our youngest son who was born with a birth defect and needed extra care, and go to school.  Now with DH working post-degree (and his student loans paid off early) we are making in the $50K range, living more comfortably, and I get to go back to school.  Imagine what we'll be able to save and pay off when we are both working!

At the same time I've known people that make more than we do, but still don't have a life as comfortable as ours.  Oh on the surface it looks comfortable!  One job layoff though and it'll be all over...no more house, no more cars, debts sent to collections, trying to figure out how to pay for food.  Yeah that could be bad!  

I don't believe that income has anything to do with whether you can pay off your debt and live comfortably or not.  Yes, more income does make it easier, but the real key is living below your means.  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned how we live below our means here.  Has it always been easy?  No, and more income would have been nice, but we managed and we still do.  

I do believe that there are people out there that try very hard, budget their money well, and due to situations out of their control still don't have enough to make it.  Just living below your means and budgeting doesn't always cut it for everyone.  But I think there are also a lot of people out there that would benefit if they would just live below their means and budget and the amount of income really wouldn't have anything to do with it.

2-Week Pay Period: July 3, 2008

I'm a little behind due to some school work (I'm happy to say I received a 96% on my test yesterday) and I still have more to do (another test today and two papers due Monday).  So let's see if we can make this a bit quick today.

Because of the holiday (Happy Independence Day!) my husband got paid a day early!  YAY!  That helped out tremendously because I was in real need of groceries with the boys home for the summer eating everything!

This is what I did:

• Transferred $442.60 into savings account for 1/2 mortgage payment
• Transferred remaining $43.00 ($8.60 each) into 5 virtual savings accounts (set up in my Quicken program): Auto Purchase, Christmas, Home Improvement, Investment Property, Vacation.
• Transferred the boys' allowances ($6 and $2) and our blow money ($25 each) into virtual accounts.
• Transferred $100.00 into virtual Auto Insurance savings account to prepare for January payment.
• Paid bills due prior to next payday: $100 to credit card (already set up), $62.53 to cell phones (already set up), $14.93 to medical bill, $300 to heloc payment (interest and principal).
• Got my husband's medicine refill: $5.48
• Bought $111.17 worth of groceries.

We now have about $467.00 left to last until the next payday on July 17th.  That's not bad considering we won't be going anywhere today or this weekend.  I estimate over the next two weeks my husband will spend about $195 in gas and about $56 in food.  I expect he'll actually spend less.  This leaves us with $216.00 for any other incidentals that may pop up over the next two weeks.

Allowance and Blow Money

I was never really consistent with giving my boys an allowance.  I knew how much to give them (though I've now changed that) and that they have to save 25%, put aside 25% for charity, and they can spend 50%.  But I would forget to give it to them or be lax in how they got it.

Now I have it all set up in my Quicken to pay them every two weeks.  They will receive $1 for each year of school they are in.  So my oldest gets $6/week or $12 every 2 weeks because he will be going into 5th grade.  My youngest will get $2/week or $4 every 2 weeks because he will be going into 1st grade.

The other issue we've had is my husband.  He's been upset that he feels like he can never spend any money.  And he's pretty much right.  I've been taking almost everything extra to either save or put as extra towards debt.  I can also see how we should have some blow money for ourselves that we can do anything we want with and not feel guilty about.

So I've set up a beginning point where each of us gets $25 every 2 weeks to do as we wish.  We'll see how it goes and then reevaluate later whether it should be more or less.  My husband seems pretty happy with this and it should reduce any arguments about whether he can spend money on something or not.

Nearing End of Month

It's nearing the end of the month and it's just about time to look at the final numbers for the month. 

I haven't looked at the finances at all for the past couple of days.  So today I'll be updating some figures on the sidebar (though I may have to do it again in a couple of days, but that's OK).  And perhaps I'll look into balancing my checkbook ledger, look online to see what's going on in the accounts, etc.

Interest and my VA Benefit will start trickling in on the 31st, though with it being a Saturday I may not see it online right away even if it posts.  You'd think it was all automatic.

DH has to get gas today.  I can just imagine how much it costs now!  The interview for the closer job went well and the benefits look good, but they said they may want to do a second interview in a couple of weeks.  No big deal really, but it would be nice if he could work closer sooner rather than later.  Oh and perhaps make more money in the process?  That's not too much to ask is it?

Oh and I tried to get my blog to have three columns because I'm a stickler for wanting everything lined up just so.  But nooooo...I can't seem to make it work and I just don't have the time to figure it out.  I found the exact same template, but with 3 columns, but it'll mess up my widgets without a lot of tweaking first.  Oh well...maybe later.

Spouses and Finances

I was just reading a blog at My Money Blog about whether your spouse/partner can manage the family finances without you if you were to die and it got me to thinking. 

Is my husband capable of taking over the finances (not to mention all the other things I do)?  Seamlessly?  Probably not.  Overall though I think he would manage once he got into the swing of it.

I mean he did take care of all his own finances before we were married.  He managed to save a bunch of money to move to the U.S. and go to college all on his own.  It wasn't like he was right out of high school or college when we first met.  He was 34 when we met and got married over 11 years ago so he was well versed in paying bills, saving money, etc.

On the other hand, though he has access to the finances any time he wants to look at them, and I'll tell him whatever he wants to know about them whenever he wants to know, he still doesn't seem to care much about the finances and leaves it all to me.  

Realistically, it will take some time for him to go through everything even though it's all in one place.  So I wonder about creating a financial will as mentioned at My Money Blog so my husband will have a list to direct him to where he should look for our financial information.

I should probably start a financial to do list and put this on it!