Staying Debt Free

I don't know whether to say I've committed myself to a lot of gardening, or say I should be committed. (Especially after that dream, LOL!) But I've just ordered 3 yards of mulch to be delivered next week, for $85.

BTW, there is a neat mulch calculator here, to figure out how much you'll need:

www.gardenplace.com/content/calculator/mulch_calc.html

The minimum most places will deliver here is 3 yards. One place would do 2 yards, but their price was the same as 3 yards other places. I checked Lowe's, and buying it by the bag looks more expensive. Plus, it would take multiple trips back and forth for enough bags, since we don't have a truck anymore. Then there's the work of lugging the bags out of the car each time, before you even start working in the garden.

My only concern is, am I getting a fair deal. They made a mistake and charged me for more expensive stuff than what I ordered. Then they didn't know how to fix the cc charge or issue a credit on the cc. (They're going to send cash over when they deliver.) Now I wonder how I'll ever be able to tell if I get a full 3 yards' worth. They showed me a scoop that's supposed to hold the amount I'm getting, but I can't imagine it would hold 42 bags of the mulch I saw at Lowe's. (That's what the mulch calculator says is the equivalent.)

I guess the only way I'll know is if it goes as far as I think it should. If not, next time I'll get it at Lowe's--at least I'll know I'm getting the right amount.

It's been a really nice 3-day weekend for DH and I.

Friday night, we went to see the Beach Boys in concert. Well, there's only one Beach Boy left touring in the "official" band (Mike Love), but they put on a great show. John Cowsill (yes, of those Cowsills) was even part of the lineup. I never realized what a great voice he had. At the end of the concert, they put "Hit the Road, Jack" by Ray Charles on the sound system to start everyone moving out. Virtually everyone was smiling and singing along, as we all left the theater. A wonderful experience.

Saturday was rainy, good for a relaxing day at home. Picked up 3 new books at the library, and new Netflix arrived. I got an emailed voucher for a $50 Mercury Milan test drive, and the new Schwab Visa I applied for arrived in the mail. ($100 gift card after first purchase.) I didn't have to cook dinner as we got take-out bbq chicken dinners from my mother's church.

Today, I found out about the $20 Ford Fusion test drive, which was going on at a mall not too far away. So I took a couple of hours for myself, and had a pleasant little outing. The test drive was painless, and I got to treat myself to $20 worth of stuff from The Coffee Beanery with the gc. Samples of different flavored coffees, chocolate covered coffee beans, and a little caddy for used teabags. None of which I would have actually put money out for, but will enjoy for weeks to come.

It's going to be a long week, as I'm working some extra hours. But I'll be going back fully revived for once.

I've always assumed it was more time-consuming to live on a low budget. For example, keeping a price book, cooking from scratch, doing things for yourself rather than paying for a service.

But I've been feeling kind of frazzled lately, and realized something strange. It can be even more time-consuming to have money on hand!

The health insurance stuff is finally straightened out, and money available in the HSA. So over the past few weeks, I've had to find time for a dental appt, a doctor appt, and a mammogram.

If I didn't have $500 I could spare to do the Netbank deal, I wouldn't have that deal to keep track of.

If I didn't have money for buying clothes, I wouldn't be spending time shopping for, buying, or returning things.

If I didn't have money for mulch, I wouldn't have to buy, haul and spread it.

If we couldn't afford to catch up on deferred maintenance requiring the electrician or the plumber, I wouldn't have to get hold of them, schedule appts and arrange to be home.

If we didn't have money going into IRAs and a 401K, I wouldn't have to spend time figuring out how to allocate the funds.

If our only income was from working, our taxes would be a lot simpler.

I mean, really, it's a relief to be able to start catching up on things. But I'd forgotten how much time it takes to actually DO things. As opposed to spending hours online, or reading, or watching movies because you don't have the money to do much else.

I've been trying to neaten things up this morning, and thought I'd find out exactly when and where I can take those aluminum cans we've been crushing for 4 months.

I found out they're paying 25 cents a pound, which doesn't sound too bad except the cans are pretty light. I got on the scale with and without the bag of cans, and the cans appear to only weigh about 8 pounds. That's $2--meaning it will take over 2 years to recoup the cost of the can crusher!

Oh, well, there is the entertainment factor in crushing the cans...

Was at the doctor's this week, and remembered to ask him to write up my prescription for larger quantities at a time. The pharmacist had told me I'd save a little that way. As it turned out, it was very little--I saved $3 by getting a 3-month supply instead of one. Seemed hardly worthwhile, until I figured it out would save $12 over the course of a year.

Then I ordered some rawhide bones for the dog, and noticed that shipping would be free if I bought more at a time. So I ordered a 6-month supply instead of a 3-month supply. It only saved $3.38. But by ordering this amount twice a year, instead of smaller orders 4x a year, it will save $13.52.

A good reminder to myself that small changes really do add up over time.

We used to call this game Eggie Uppers.

familycrafts.about.com/cs/misceastercrafts/l/blegggame.htm

And sometimes it's tedious and frustrating.

Last night I was happy to find some lipstick on Ebay that I can't always find in stores, and went through MyPoints Insider's Club just in case they refunded shipping on Ebay purchases. However, even if they do, I'll be out of luck. I forgot the purchase had to be done on a credit card that's registered with the Insider's Club...and paid for it out of my checking account. Duh!

I just got an offer from Citicard, where I get $10 extra dividend dollars when I make my first purchase through their Dividend Merchant Network. So I went to register for it, and it said I already had. It said I could have a new username and password emailed to me--but apparently I'd used an email address I haven't had in over a year. So I had to call and find out what to do. It took calling two different phone numbers and going through 3 CSRs to get it straightened out. (Although I'd signed up before, I'd never used the program, so it looks like I'm still eligible for the $10.)

I figured while I was setting things like this up, I might as well get Fatwallet Fat Cash up and running. I tried to use it before, but it didn't work for me. So today I got around to looking at their "Cash Back Solutions" where they walk you through computer settings that might be hindering things. There were 13 printed pages of things to go through!

So. I now have access to all these programs. Plus AAA deals, and AARP deals, and general Mastercard and Visa deals. How on earth to keep track of which program has which stores, what the % off is, which cc and email address I need to use with each one, who has free shipping anyway, and which stores I can easily get discounted gift cards for.

The only thing I can think of is to assemble a spreadsheet with stores down the left, and then columns for each discount program where I can enter the % discount and any other notes. If anyone's seen something like this online, already assembled, I'd sure like to use it and save myself some work!

I joined the Insider's Club at MyPoints over the weekend, and re-explored the stores on MyPoints. Sheesh--just within the past couple of weeks I've bought stuff at several of their stores. I did look up coupon codes and used the cc with the best rewards, but I would have certainly saved more money with the shipping rebates. Not to mention, I didn't earn the MyPoints! So thanks for all the info on it.

I didn't know they'd offer $10 back on my next purchase through MyPoints, over and above the shipping rebates. I'm about shopped out now, and have spent way too much time trying to figure out what I could really use at this point! Finally settled on some batteries at Ace Hardware. After the $10 back, it will come to 59 cents for an 8-pack of C's.

BTW, the offer I got was $6.99 a month for membership, but billed annually. So I'm preparing for a hit of $83.88 after the 30-day intro period. The good news is, if you quit before the year's up, you're supposed to get a pro-rated refund. Also, it looks better than Amazon Prime because it covers so many more stores.

Thanks again!

Total cc debt as of 4/8 - $3537, ($3906 on 3/11), down by $369

Emergency fund as of 4/8 - $511, ($441 on 3/11), up by $70

We aren't quite caught up to where we were as of February 11, but we're moving in the right direction again.

Everyday expenses 4 weeks ending 4/8, $506, which is fine. Anything around $545 or under, I feel pretty good about.


I think it was a very good month, especially considering--

It was quarterly utilities month, about $190 for water and two sewer bills (one municipal and one county)
It was time to put money on the Virgin Mobile phones, about $111
It was our nephew's birthday, which required a gift, $20
I did quite a bit of discretionary spending on clothes, about $115
Joined TOPS, $24
Bought that beer! $18

I did charge quite a bit of this for convenience and the rewards, but paid it off right away. It helped that I worked some extra hours, and we didn't have to pay an electric bill this month.

Today's money-generating task was calling Discover card, and trying to cancel. I really was ready to cancel, as there isn't much reason for me to keep it. But I figured if they made me an offer I couldn't refuse, I'd keep it awhile longer. They did--a $20 rebate when I make a purchase within 30 days.

First, thanks for all your supportive comments.

This morning I opened a Netbank checking account for the $75 bonus. I'm hoping that once I've left $500 there for the required 30 days, I'll have another $500 free to add to it. Then I can put $1000 into their money market for another $75.

I missed doing anything to generate money yesterday, and was looking for something small to catch up with today. And...

After months of nothing, tonight I got the chance to do a survey for Stanford Research for a $5 Amazon gc. I hopped right on it so I wouldn't miss out. What an exciting Friday night!

My 2nd, smaller raise of the year starts this month. It's for "longevity" and starts now because it's my anniversary month. In my last job, we got this kind of bonus in a lump sum once a year. But here, it's just added onto your pay each week. It will come to about $30 a month.

I also found out the budget billing for our electric is going down by $15 a month.

I was >>THIS

Thought I'd post some interesting stuff I found online, about the cost to lose a pound using different weight loss programs. It really reinforces my decision to try TOPS. I may not be successful in getting and keeping much weight off, but at least I won't bankrupt myself in trying:

From

http://www.naafa.org/press_room/rush.html

(costs per pound lost)

"Medically supervised, very low calorie diets
HMR $7.94
Medifast $6.85
Optifast $9.88
United Weight Control $11.56

Balanced low calorie diets run by dietitians or non-medical personnel
Diet Center $4.08
Jenny Craig $10.43
Nutrisystems $8.62
Registered Dietitian $5.80
Weight Watchers $1.10

Volunteer-staffed or self-health support groups
TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) $0.03
Overeaters Anonymous $0.00
Source: Journal of the American College of Nutrition"



From http://www.guideline.gov/summary/summary.aspx?ss=15&doc_id=3...

"COST ANALYSIS
It is not known whether weight-loss interventions are cost effective or cost beneficial, given that weight loss is generally not sustained. Studies suggest that a sustained 10% weight loss is expected to extend life expectancy by 2–7 months and to reduce expected lifetime medical care costs of chronic medical conditions (diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, coronary artery disease, and stroke) by $2200–$5300. One study suggests that surgical intervention may be more cost effective in the long run than medical treatments because of persistent weight reduction after surgery. However, in that study the average cost per pound of weight loss was approximately $250."

(Makes you wonder if it's worthwhile to deprive yourself for years, to extend your life only 2 months and save only $2200!)


From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45499-2005Jan...

"Price is likely to put many of the programs beyond reach of those trying to achieve a healthy weight, the study found. The medically supervised programs, which also provided food, cost the most, ranging from $840 to $2,100 for three months, or "about $50 per pound lost," Wadden said.

Jenny Craig cost $1,249 for three months, including all daily food. Both Weight Watchers and L.A. Weight Loss cost about $170 for three months, while Ediets.com was $65, TOPS $26 and OA had no charge."

These are my little money tasks for the day.

I haven't posted about this before, but I'm doing something different with the the PNC account I opened awhile back. I found out I could split the direct deposit of my paycheck, so I now have $140 a week going into the PNC account. That's just enough to cover the Everyday Expenses budget, the newspaper subscription and Netflix.

My current Everyday Expenses cycle is over on April 8, and there isn't much left in the budget. But there IS money left in the PNC account, because part of the spending was from Petsmart gift cards. So I'm using part of the extra cash to buy more discounted gift cards, which will help even more cash build up in the account. Kind of a snowball effect.

It's car inspection month for me, and I think I'll get it done this morning. I'm anxious to do the Netbank checking account offer for $75, but they want you to keep a $500 balance for at least a month. Before I tie up that money, I want to know how much I might have to spend to get the car up to snuff.

I decided I'd try to do one little thing each day this week, to help our finances. No matter how busy the day is.

Today is my long day at work, but this morning I called Credit Protector and asked if there was any way I could get more of the rebate vouchers like the $20 one I got when I signed up. (Over at Fatwallet, rumor was you didn't really need to threaten to cancel, just ask.) It worked! $50 in rebate vouchers should be here within 7-10 days. (5 x $10 each)

Easy money, although slow. I can send in receipts for anything, such as groceries or gas I need to buy anyway, so it's not much of a risk. And rebates aren't taxable. No reason NOT to do it, really.

Thought somebody might like to know about this--

I was browsing the gift card auctions that were about to end, and found one for Harry and David $50 gift cards in the $30+ range. That is, about 65% of face value, where most other gift card auctions run 85% of face value and up.

When I started searching, I discovered there were quite a few of these auctions, and most of the sellers had multiples to sell. I wondered, what's the deal?

Turns out some Costco stores have been clearancing them at $40 for $100 worth of gift cards. People are buying them up and selling them on Ebay. They make $10 or so per card, and it's still a great deal for the buyers on Ebay.

You could combine the discounted gift cards with a 10% off coupon from the Entertainment Book, or a 15% discount through Passport to Fun. I just ordered 3, for holiday gifts for the in-laws. Luckily, I already have the money on hand in the Xmas account.

Before going on errands yesterday, I ran my report in Quicken that tells me how much is left in the Everyday Expenses budget. I was thrilled--it looked like there was lots of wiggle room, and it was ok to take advantage of whatever deals I came across.

But when I got home, I discovered to my horror that I'd never taken last weekend's receipts out of my purse and entered them in Quicken! Much more of the budget was gone than I'd realized.

By that point I had already bought some extra grocery items at Aldi and Wal-Mart, and worst of all I invested in a 30-pack of beer for $18. It was a pretty good deal, and will probably last us all summer--but we sure didn't NEED it, especially if it meant blowing the budget. I never would have bought it, had I been organized enough to know the true budget balance remaining.

Aargh! I guess this makes a good case for Flash's Visa debit card idea. Even if you forget to record what you've spent, the remaining balance on the card wouldn't lie.

Well, at least now I can drown my sorrows with the beer.

OK. The last time I wrote about trying to lose weight was back in January, and I've gained 4 pounds since then. Right now (at 231 lbs) I'm only 7 pounds lighter than my absolute worst weight. As you know, I'm overdue for a doctor's appointment, and I fully expect a lecture and an increase in my bp medication. Oddly enough, the more pressure I've put on myself to lose weight before my next appointment, the more food I've been shoveling in. It has to stop.

I know I can lose weight, and I know that having an official program to follow, and some kind of support group, really helps--because I've done it before. The problem is, I think I need something that I can stick with for the rest of my life. And the cost of such a thing is a huge factor.

Over the years I've signed up for Weight Watchers (several times), Jenny Craig, and various gyms. You always reach a point where things aren't going well. Your weight hits a plateau. Something happens in your life that makes it hard to get to meetings or to the gym. It's hard enough to stick out the plateau, or get back in the swing of the program. If money is tight as well, it's awfully hard to keep shelling out money for something that doesn't seem to be working, or you don't have time for at the moment.

I can just see someone in one of those places wagging their finger at me, saying if I was really committed to lose weight, I'd spend the money to keep up my membership, or to buy the latest gadget the company is trying to sell. That kind of guilt-inducing salesmanship makes you feel like even more of a failure. You leave feeling not like someone who's making a good budget decision, but a fat, undisciplined loser.

So I've signed up for TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly). It's a nonprofit group, which I'm hoping makes a difference. There's a yearly fee of $24, which includes a magazine. I found the basic guidebook on Ebay for $7.50 shipped. If you go to actual in-person meetings, there are local chapter dues (very small, from what I've read), and you might have to pay a 50-cent fine on a week when you gain weight. But you can do it completely online if you need to, and save on the chapter dues. I think that money-wise, it's something I can stick with over the long haul. Wish me luck!

The Health Savings Account mess is finally getting close to being settled. The actual checking account is set up, the first direct deposit from DH's paycheck has shown up, and all the deductions taken out of previous checks have been credited to the account also. We've received the debit card, but not the checks yet. So I can start taking care of things where I can use the card, like I getting my prescription filled, and going to the dentist. But I can't go in for my long-overdue doctor visit yet, because our family doctor doesn't take credit or debit cards.

It's such a relief to see things moving, finally. I had used all the refills for my blood pressure prescription, and only had enough to take me through March 30. I assumed I'd have to go into the office before I could get more, but I didn't want to go in til I got those HSA checks. With the mess it's been so far, I couldn't imagine paying for the office visit myself ($65) and then figuring out how to get reimbursed. The checks might have come before March 30, but I couldn't be sure. I was starting to get frantic.

When I talked to the doctor's office, they said if the pharmacist called in, they could approve a 30-day extension on the prescription to carry me through. Thank goodness! Then I called the dentist, and hallelujah they take credit cards! (That means the HSA debit card should work.) So I've got a checkup and cleaning scheduled for April.

This is not to say I anticipate smooth sailing from here. I tried to get on the Blue Cross website and have had nothing but problems trying to register DH and myself, and then logging in. I want to be able to go online and check what's covered under the high deductible insurance part, and any restrictions on where I have to go--for example, for mammograms.

One problem was, you can't use the Mozilla Firefox browser on their login page, it will only work with Internet Explorer. I only figured that out after spending well over an hour on the problem, over two days. They don't tell you this anywhere on the website--I even googled within the site to see if I'd missed a statement of system requirements. Nothing! Now when I login, I either get a page meant for Blue Cross employees, or one that says my login failed because I don't have an FSA. Well I never said I did!

Phooey! I guess I'll stick to calling them for the time being.

I keep running across the idea of having a little secret cash tucked away in the house, in the sugar bowl or whatever. The experts say to have it for emergency preparedness, in case of a hurricane or the bird flu. It was mentioned in the book "How to hide money from your husband," as something wives have done for generations, partly to protect themselves if husbands leave or die. Generally, it seems to be a way of protecting against some dire emergency. A good thing to have, but not a very happy thing, and about as exciting to save for as a root canal. So I haven't done anything about it.

Well, I finally remembered that my dad kept a little something hidden away, and it was a much more cheerful affair. It was his Hidey Hole. I asked my mother about it recently, and even she never knew where the hiding place was! I'm sure my parents relied on it for little emergencies, unbeknownst to me. But it was also used for treats and unexpected opportunities. If the ice cream truck was coming, Dad might go into the bedroom, shut the door, and retrieve ice cream money from the Hidey Hole. If I had the chance to go somewhere that I couldn't afford on my allowance, I might be handed some money from the Hidey Hole. I have the feeling it was Hidey Hole money he took to rummage sales in case there was a deal too good to pass up. For years, he got a kick out of using an electric frying pan he'd bought for a quarter. In other words, it was a fund for the unexpected, whether good or bad.

I think there's enough extra cash coming in right now that I can start my own Hidey Hole. Just calling it that gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. And deciding it can also be used for fun things has made it a much more attractive idea, too. Current balance $40; where it is--not telling!

I had an early errand to run, and since I had some extra time and was near the Entenmann's Outlet, I figured I'd stop in.

A long while back I stopped counting on them as my main source of bread and rolls. Too often I'd go in and they'd be completely wiped out of regular bread. But if you hit them on a good day, it can be worthwhile.

Today I got all this for $5.03--hot cross buns, crumb cake, 16 hot dog rolls, multigrain bread, and onion rolls. All of them with expiration dates almost a week away. They were running a buy 2 get one free deal on the bread and rolls. I got the crumb cake free because I'd filled up my frequent-buyer card. And I think they plain forgot to charge me for one item.

The full retail value if I'd paid full price at the supermarket would have been over $17. This is going to stock the freezer for awhile.

I was googling around this morning, trying to get some new inspiration for thrifty food shopping. I stumbled upon a neat website where someone has put together sets of fall/winter and spring/summer menus using only items that can be bought at Aldi's.

This is the page for the fall/winter menus.

http://www.momadvice.com/food/aldi_meal_plan_fall1.asp

Go to page 2 for the shopping list, then the menus and recipes start. There's a link to the spring/summer menus in the first paragraph of page 1.

I found a few recipes I'd actually try, plus some good general ideas. Like cooking frozen ravioli in the crockpot right with the sauce. No more waiting for water to boil.

Also, on another site, someone was talking about price books and said they base theirs on Aldi prices. Because it's not worth running to a sale unless a price is lower than you could get at Aldi's every day. Sounds like a good idea to me.

The 10-cent listing fee for today spurred me on to list a few items on Ebay. With photos from the digital camera--Yes!

Not that I got my listings for 10 cents. I like it when other people offer Buy It Now, so I use it when I list something. Also, I've been through listing items for a very low starting bid, and having them go for that price. There's no way I'm going to let a rare book go for a penny, so I also set reserve prices.

It got me thinking--would it be more worthwhile to set up an Ebay store? They give you the first 30 days free, then it's $15.95 a month. My mom's interested in selling some stuff, too, so maybe it would be worthwhile. I like the idea of having it more like Amazon, where the items can just sit at my set price til the right buyer comes along. For some reason, I really dislike the whole auction thing, as a buyer or a seller.

I wonder whether they still charge the monthly fee if you're on vacation? What if you have to close your store completely, and then want to open one again in a year or so--will they let you back in? If anyone knows, I'd appreciate the info.

In addition to the shower curtain, music box, and two books on Ebay, I listed another book on Amazon and got a $20 rebate ready to go. Went to Aldi's yesterday. Basically, I've been working on stuff that will catch us up financially rather than going on to anything new that will cost money.

Everyday Expenses for the four weeks ending 3/11 came to $693. My goal was $522, and I feel like it's a good month when it's in the $540's. So I overspent here about $150. I actually spent less than budgeted in every area except groceries--less on gas, take-out, pet food, everything.

Like I mentioned before, I didn't make one Aldi trip this month. I guess 50 cents to $1 less on each item really adds up. Also, we've been making use of our stockpile for several months, and it finally got to the point where we had to restock--on fairly expensive things like an $8 double-pack of Jif. And being sick didn't help because I didn't have the energy to bother shopping sales, using coupons, etc.

In addition, we didn't make much progress in the Net Worth area. (Only counting cc debt and emergency savings, not IRAs and such.) Last month, total cc debt was $3724. As of March 11 it was $3906, an increase of $182. The emergency savings account is down to $442 from $611 last month, a decrease of $169. There was one true emergency during the month, a dryer repair of $80.

$182 cc debt + $169 savings loss = $351 decrease in liquid net worth

I looked reasons, and I found $273 of discretionary spending on things like getting my hair colored (when I felt too rotten to manage it at home), buying make-up, books, clothes, the deluxe/state version of TaxAct, yet another new coupon organizer, a cabinet for over our dryer, etc. $273 discretionary + $150 overage on groceries = $423 on extras, that didn't absolutely need to be spent. $423 - $351 net worth decrease = $72, the amount I actually could have spent on extras without overextending myself.

Most of it was stuff I would have spent money on eventually, and I really can't muster up much guilt about any of it. The problem seems to be, I'm losing patience with waiting for things til we can afford them.

Darn, I was feeling so proud of myself for having more financial control lately, when I really haven't!

I have a clothing problem right now, everything from needing some new things, to having messy piles of clothes around, to where I get dressed, to how I process the laundry and get it put away again. So I went on an organizing discussion board, where as usual people had some great ideas.

However, perfect solutions and great ideas can be expensive. Like hiring someone to build closets. So I'm trying to take the general principles people mentioned, and find the cheapest way to improve things that will do the job.

I keep thinking of the way I agonized over buying silverware a few months back. I went from thinking about spending $200+ on replacing missing pieces in "my pattern", to spending $10 at Target for just enough pieces to hold us between dishwasher loads. Getting to that solution took a long time and was *painful.*

For some reason, this time I haven't had as big a hump to get over about what's reasonable to spend and what isn't, and what's adequate to solve the problem. I know we're getting over $200 back on our taxes and some rebates, and I don't want to spend more than that. If that means a couple of new hampers and $25 assemble-it-yourself drawer units instead of built-in closets, so be it.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love those closets. And there was a time I'd feel like a lesser person if I couldn't afford them. But anymore, feeling like I'm in control financially feels better than almost anything I can think of spending money on. It's a big change in outlook for me, and I wanted to make note of it.

DMom's computer is set up and at her house. I'm finally feeling back to normal after being sick. The snow is gone. And I'm finally starting to feel caught up with paperwork and household stuff. So it's time to come back.

I knew I was going to be over budget for this 4-week Everyday Expenses cycle, but I just ran a report this morning that showed me how bad it is. So far I'm well over $600 with nearly a week to go. By the time I get gas one more time and go to Petsmart, it could reach $700.

I know it was because I was short on time, what with extra projects, being sick, and dealing with the snow. But things like this happen all the time, and I can't be running over budget every time they do. So I looked things over to see if I could figure it out.

The main thing I noticed was, if I get to Aldi's once or twice in a month, I'm within my budget. If I don't get there, and especially if I'm going to Stop and Shop instead, I'm way over budget. So the key seems to be MAKE TIME FOR ALDI's, no matter what else is going on in my life. And try to stay out of Stop and Shop.

Thanks for your good wishes. Just stopping in for a quick report on my 4-week budget cycle. Gotta keep honest.

A little hard to figure the debt figure this time because of the charges for my mother's computer equipment, what she already reimbursed me and what will be coming back in rebates. I'm reporting on what's actually my debt.

Everyday Expenses (groceries, take-out, pet supplies and gas) - $545. Higher than planned, and would have been even more if I hadn't taken off shopping trips on Feb. 10 and 11. I knew snow was coming, so I went marketing ahead of when I would have. Not great, but $1 less than last month and better than the $600+ and $700+ months I had some other months.

CC debt down to $3724 from $3824, for an improvement of $100. Emergency savings up to $611 from $272, for an improvement of $339.

Lots of stuff going on. The last seven days have been really busy, and posting here was just at the bottom of my list. It's been the kind of week where what I'd usually do last Wednesday got pushed off til Thursday, the usual Thursday stuff got pushed to Friday, and so forth. I didn't get to my local library, and didn't even think to renew things online. So I had to pay almost $6 in fines this week, mostly for a movie I never even got to watch. Also, I've gone over my grocery budget. But I did work a few extra hours last week,and I'm so glad things are moving along, that I don't mind spending a little extra.

The main thing is, I'm getting a computer set up for DMom. She's needed a little help with paperwork over the past few years, but has always handled her checking account just fine. I always thought if I needed to help her with that, there'd have to be a computer to use at her house because I can't function without Quicken! I figured at that point I'd even buy the computer myself if I needed to. I didn't know it til yesterday, but she did have a problem this month because of something weird Verizon is doing, which was rather confusing on her checking account statement. She had even gone to the bank to try and figure it out. So I guess it's time. I can start doing it in Quicken, she can keep doing it her way, and then we can double-check each other.

Even before that happened, though, DMom said she was ready to go ahead with a computer. I'd shop, and she'd pay. So this past week was spent shopping for the best deal.

She's been thinking about it a long time, but what spurred her on was tax season. We didn't have a great experience with H&R Block last year. $350 and we did most of the work. She's content to have me try doing it, but she's nervous about my computer being online. Someone might hack in and find her social security number, etc. She'd rather spend money on a computer at her house, with no internet access. And she's absolutely tickled about the printer I found that can also be used as a copier when the PC isn't even on. (She's big on copying articles and sending them to friends.)

So I might not be posting much for awhile, what with helping her move furniture, setting up the PC and working on both our taxes. Wish me luck, and I'll see you after April 15. (Hopefully before.)

FYI - Just heard about this on one of the podcasts I downloaded, otherwise I would have totally missed it. If anyone has been doing financial planning based on the current Medicaid rules, it's all about to change. The amount of home equity allowed is changing. And any gifts given to reduce assets will be looked at five years back instead of three.

Here's a good article; wish I could get that vB Code to work for links. (Any tips appreciated.)

http://www.elderlawanswers.com/resources/article.asp?id=5221...

DH put up the can crusher this weekend, so things are finally moving. I crushed a month's worth of cans we'd been saving--it was quite a workout! I can tell it's going to help my upper arm and shoulder strength. The bin I have to keep the crushed cans in is about 1/2 full, so I guess I'll have to take them in every 2 months. It won't come to much money each time, but I don't want to get overrun with the things.

I have between $2 and $3 left of the $20 to use on Ebay listing fees, but I'm not quite ready. I need to play around with the digital camera and figure out how to put pictures in a listing. Also, I need to look into free photo hosting services again. I had one lined up (called Y44 or something), but I just got an email from them saying they're going out of business. I've sold on Ebay before, but not things that required photos, so this is why it's a new project for the challenge.

Last time I voted, I signed up to be a (paid) election board worker. They don't often open it to new people, so I jumped on it. But it's a slow process. This week I'm mailing back the card saying I'm still interested and am willing to go to training. Then there will be the training, and waiting for someone to drop out so I'll be called. But once you're in, you can make some decent money for a couple of days' work a year.

Another thing I need to do is change settings on my computer so Fatwallet's cash back feature will work. I found instructions on their site awhile back, but never got around to fixing things.

And I don't mean music. Between the radio, the library, and the CD's, tapes, and even some old records we still own, DH and I have access to plenty of music. I never felt the need to figure out things like Napster or i-Tunes. But we're getting ready to offer downloadable audiobooks at work, and for the past week I've been immersed in learning about how it all works. I'm not an audiobook fan myself, but I do like listening to interviews, news features, old-time radio shows, and such. And there's not much of that on our local radio stations.

I started wondering if there was a way to access some of that "spoken word" stuff through my computer, and whether I could do it for free. The answer is yes--even though I have a dialup connection and no MP3 player!

I thought I'd post what all I've found this weekend. Maybe it will be useful to someone else, or maybe some nice person who's more knowledgeable about this will leave a comment with more tips.


1) I found a nice website for English-language shortwave radio schedules at http://www.primetimeshortwave.com. I've been listening to over-the-air shortwave broadcasts off and on since I was a kid, but I haven't been up on the times and frequencies for different countries in a long, long time. I really didn't want to spend the money on one of the guides that comes out every year--and now I won't have to.

2) I had discovered RealPlayer and streaming audio some time back, but didn't pursue it much. An over-the-air radio show I liked started charging to listen over the internet, and I didn't want to pay. There were some BBC shows I would have liked, but a few years back you could only listen online when the shows were actually on the air over in England. I wasn't about to get up at 4 a.m. to sit by the computer and listen.

But things have changed. Now there are a ton of BBC shows you can listen to any time you want. There are a lot of American NPR shows available, too. Here are some links:

BBC 4 "Listen again" latest edition of each program - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml

NPR archives - http://www.npr.org/templates/archives/rundown_archive_hub.php

It's working fine with my dial-up connection.


3) Podcasting. The single most important thing I learned this weekend is that you don't need an iPod to listen to podcasts! A podcast seems to just be a show in MP3 format that you can download like any other file, and probably listen to with software you already have. My computer came with Music Match Jukebox, which automatically opens up when I try to open a podcast file I've saved. Today I listened to a 60-year-old Burns and Allen program, for free. Which is great, because a lot of places charge to listen to this stuff. (Just try googling "old time radio" and mp3, and you'll see what I mean.) It does take at least as long as the show length to download, but it can happen in the background while I do something else or even leave the computer.

As far as finding the podcasts to download, the easiest thing I've found so far is a program called Replay Radio. They have a free version of their software that works for podcasts only, and it includes a guide to 1700+ different podcasts. You can check their categories or search by keyword to find things of interest. You don't really need the software to get the podcasts or listen to them, but it is really useful just for the guide. Here's a link:

http://www.applian.com/replay-radio/demo.php

The BBC and NRP also have some shows in podcast format, too.

Someday I'd love to buy fancier software, an MP3 player, upgrade to broadband and maybe even get XM radio. But I'm really thrilled that there's still so much I can get right now without spending any money at all.