There's an annoying guy that sits by me at work. He's nice enough, but really negative about EVERYTHING... except money.

He's about 22, recently got engaged. This is his first real job. We got to talking about money and he was saying that he has no debt, no obligations. That he & his fiance are working toward buying a house next year after getting married.

I asked if his fiancee was on the same financial page that he is. I gave some 'gentle' advice and said that they sould talk about finances and goals prior to getting married.

He told me that they had done that and in fact, she wants to live off of her salary for the bills and mortgage & completely save/invest his income! Then he said that he has no use for credit cards and will be paying for the wedding in cash. They REALLY are on the ball with money.

I am VERY jealous. I wish that I had such defined goals 6 years ago. Well, I have them now & I am doing everything I can to be sucessful.

On a lighter note, I've been trying to eat better and excersize. One of the women at my work says she's going to be my 'trainer' and make sure I'm staying on track. She's just teasing, but it was funny, because she's really going to check in with me daily to make sure I'm doing well (she's also got the same goals). It'll be great to have a buddy!

I'm still working overtime, although I only got in 1.75 hours today due to oversleeping and a doctors appointment.

My movie night with my friends was a bust. A 1/2 hour after we got there, the electricity went out. So we spent the night talking instead.

I'm at work til 5pm today. My coworker is completely miserable & making sure that we all know it. I'm tired of her complaining. So, I just ignore her.

On the upside, I passed up several offers to order lunch today. I ate my oatmeal, baked cheetos and peanut butter and crackers instead. I even got a bread stick from one of my coworkers! I love free stuff.

I'm all ready to spend some time relaxing. I have movies to watch, cleaning to do and sleep to catch up on. Today is DEFINATELY a no spender.

Tomorrow will be too, excluding getting some groceries paid for by my gift card.

I'm going to try extending my no cash, credit or debit weekend into the week. However, I am planning on 2 things. I need to buy cat litter and I will be paying a copay at the doctors on Thursday. We'll see if I can make it til Friday!

Enjoy the weekend!

I am a HUGE list-maker. I make lists for tons of things. Then I remake lists. Then I do some, but not all, of the stuff on the lists, but thats ok.

Here's a few examples of my lists:
-Lists of movies that I'd like to rent from the library, but if I can't I might get from Netflix later on when I restart it
-Grocery list
-Meal Plan list
-To do for work list
-To do for home list
-Overtime schedule list
-Books I want to read in the future list
-Websites/Blogs that I want to explore further
-Wish list (my small & big wants). If I write them down & wait, some come off the list & some get asked for at birthday/Christmas
-Bank account balance & budget catagory balance list

I have no idea when I started this habit
of list-making, but it REALLY helps me stay organized. And I'm less prone to impulse buying this way

My family & I went to the movies & dinner for my dad's birthday & for an early fathers day. My mom's treat for both. Plus, she gave me a bag of paperback books that she picked up for me from yard sales & book trade shops. Thanks Mom!

-Had another a/c problem (in addition to the pipe freezing). The same company came out & fixed it free of charge
-Since I had to wait for the a/c guy, I didn't go into work early, therefore losing out on 3 hours of OT
-I am planning on buying the water heater this weekend. Installation is going to nearly as much as the unit. But it'll be worth it since I can't do it by myself. AND they'll haul the old one away for me. I'm working to find coupons.
-I am starting to shop for car insurance. I'm getting some quotes and I even got my free annual copy of my CLUE report just to see whats on there. Nothing is showing, which is very good
-I have an eye doctors appointment tomorrow for a medical issue. So I have to pay the specialists copay of $30.00.
-I'm going to head back to the library tomorrow.
-This weekend, I am going to total my May spending. I can already tell that I grossly overspent in the eating out catagory, so I do plan on making some changes
-I did update debt & savings balances on the side for all to see.

Whew, I'm beat. Today I...

-Woke up at 6am
-Worked from 7am to 5 pm
-Came home and mowed the lawn
-Sprayed a bees nest (getting some on me)
-Showered the bee spray off
-Cleaned the kitchen, washed the floor
-Cleaned the downstairs bathroom
-Picked up dusted & vacummed the living room
-Vacuumed the stairs
-Made dinner
-Quick cleaned the kitchen again
-Ran the dishwasher

Now I'm sitting down to watch thunderstorm thats just starting. Then Im going to watch The Good Shepard & have a cocktail. I really like Amarettos Sours

Tomorrow I'm hanging out with my mom & I'll be tackling the upstairs.

I won that contest at my work for April. We get $400.00 in gift cards if we make 160% of production, which I hit! YAY!

Anyway, next week I'll be getting:

$100 gift card to Lowes
$100 gift card to Walmart
$200 gift card to Super G

I plan on using the Lowes to replace the insides of my toilets (they keep running). I'm using the Walmart to get some gifts for planned birthdays, some clothes (just for work)and some groceries.The Super G is my regular grocery store, so that should cover my grocery budget for 2-3 months. I'll be putting that grocery money from the budget towards my student loan.

Very nice!

I was all excited that I received notice that the book The Total Money Makeover was available for me to pick up at my local library! During my lunch, I drove over to the library only to find it closed! Thursday is their normal closed day & I forgot! For some reason, I keep thinking today is Wednesday! Ooops! So now I have to wait until tomorrow

Today the road in front of my work was closed due to a school bus driver being stabbed to death on the side of the road. If you look at the attached link, the brick building in the background is my work.

Luckily, this occurred before any children had been picked up on her route. But still it is such a sad thing. She was only 31 years old. I feel for her family and friends.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/NEWS/70502019

What really gets me is that people were more concerned with being late to work than with this tragedy. I don't know if its desensitization to violence or just plain selfishness, but I don't understand why my coworkers aren't more affected by what happened.

I'm having a great birthday weekend Friday night, my nephew came over for a sleepover. We watched movies, played video games, ate junk food... all the stuff an aunt can do before sending him home to his mom

Yesterday my best friends took me out to a fabulous dinner. Italian food... I had crab dip, cavatelli pomadoro, and tiramisu. VERY Yummy!

Then we went to Pier One for some quick shopping. I ended up loving some pillows for my couch & my one friend grabbed them from me & bought them as my birthday present. Here are some pictures. I already had the all blue pillows, the striped & embroidered ones are the presents







Then we went back to my place, had margaritas, snacks & watched movies. We had a lot of fun!

I found my way to the blog Iwillteachyoutoberich.com and found an interesting post. The author asked readers to share their debt stories. It was a very interesting read. If you want to check it out, just go to

http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/tell-me-a-story-about-your-debt

I was browsing links from my public library & I came across a great thing! There's a Delaware Money School. Its a school of free financial education classes! I've signed up for a few, I may know some info, I may learn some new things, but no matter what, it should be interesting.

And its possible that I might meet some like-minded people.

I signed up for:
-Investing for your future
-Women & Wealth
-Think Rich: Mind Your Money
-Everybody Needs a Will

Fun stuff! I'm very excited. Good to see that theres information out there to the public

Fern commented on my last post, which made me realize that there may have been some miscommunication in my last post, so I wanted to clarify.

I'm using my bank's Financial Services Company to sign up and aid in the rollover of my 401k to an mutual funds IRA. This is not a bank account, but an investment account. I have picked several strong funds to work with.

The reason that I chose to do this face to face is that I did my research before hand, but I wanted help in making the conversion as easy as possible. They were able to give me a prospectus for each of the funds (although I already had most of the info from online) and I was able to discuss other options for my finances as well.

I am definately trying to make my money work for me!

... National Teach Your Children To Save Day!!! My work is sending volunteers to teach 3rd & 4th graders about saving. I wish I could volunteer, but I have an appointment that day Oh well, its still a great of idea!

I've started listening to his show on XM. I don't always agree with what he says, but its definately interesting. He also offers the shows online for free. If anyone's interested, just go to this website for the links.

Today was interesting, he had this one guy who was up to his eyeballs in personal AND business debt and the guy was talking about after he sells some assets, he'll owe about 200k to business vendors and about 200k to family. The man clearly stated that the family is going to need the money back relatively soon, but Dave tells him don't worry about them. They'll get paid when he's ready to get paid. Let them wait.

I dont' agree with that. Obviously, the family shouldn't have lent money they can't afford to lose, but these people are in need of some of the money and he should make it a priority. Because he told them he would. And now Dave's telling him to tell them to wait.

I feel bad for both parties here. The man is lying to family and his wife about the situation and if he isn't going to honor his family loans in a timely manner, their relationship is only going to get worse.

My sister is bad with money and I worry about my parents situation. IF it comes to having to lend them money... its only going to be what I can afford as a gift. If I get the money back, thats great, but if not, I haven't put myself into any financial stress.

Over 8 months ago, I had ordered a subscription for Kiplinger's through Mags For Less. It was a great deal. The order was from over 8 MONTHS ago. About 3 months ago, I finally remembered the order & realized I never received any issues.

After multiple emails and unsatifactory answers, I started requesting a full refund. They had generic email responses, requesting that I request a refund by hitting a link to cancel. Then nothing would happen. I requested the refund about 4 times for a response. Right after I threatened to contact the Better Business Bureau. About 6 weeks later, I got my refund.

FINALLY. I knew going in that the deal was sketchy. So I figured I was taking a gamble with my $6.90. But it was the principle of the matter. And now I have my money back... YAY!

I listened to her show today (on the Oprah & Friends channel). I've never listened before, but today she was interviewing 2 Personal Finance Bloggers. I really enjoyed her first interview w/ the founder of No Credit Needed. The second interview was more fluffy. Then Chatsky spent the 2nd half of the hour talking about other stuff.

I really feel like she could have done more to explore PF blogs...like using the whole hour, maybe interviewing more than 2 people. (please note sarcasm). NCN brought up some great points about learning from other blogs, holding oneself accountable through blogs and encouraging others.

I really feel that communities like this one serve several purposes. SavingAdvice.com means a lot to me and I really feel like I've found a group of people who understand my financial ways more than friends and family can.

So Thank you all for your support, advice and for each of you doing your own thing and sharing it with us.

Since I recieved my latest & highest electric and gas bill, I've been looking at ways to lower it.

I installed a programmable thermostat. I set them really low, but now I'm in the middle of a nice sinus problem, so I've actually increased my settings. The cold weather can seriously effect my sinuses, which can easily turn into an infection. So I'm keeping the heat up a little higher at night in an attempt to avoid medical expenses and time off work.

I normally leave all the extras in the kitchen unplugged, so only the fridge, dishwasher garbage disposal & kitchen clock radio are plugged in all the time. (I don't use the microwave or toaster that often).

I have no lamps in the living room currently and the ceiling light works off a switch. Currently, I have my tv, dvd player, stereo, and cable box all plugged in. But I"m going to swich the cable box to a direct plug in to the wall & all the others into a surge protector that I can turn off at night. I can't leave the cable box off because it'll reset & be a pain in the butt.

Upstairs in my bedroom, I have a tv, vcr & dvd player. I also have the cable, comcast phone & internet box which needs to be plugged in all the time. So I will leave that plug & my wireless router plug in the wall & put my tv, vcr & dvd player on the surge protector, which I will unplug during the day when I'm not home for 10 hours at a time. Hopefully, it'll help a small bit.

I have nothing plugged in either of the bathrooms. I don't leave my laptop plugged in, unless I am home & the battery needs to be recharged. I leave the lights off unless I'm in the room. I dont leave the outdoor light on when I'm not home because my neighbors provide plenty of light for when I come home.

I wash only full loads of laundry & I rarely use the dryer.

I hand wash my dishes by hand mostly, and only use the dishwasher about once a week when I do a bulk of my cooking.

In an effort to conserve heat, I always keep the doors to my downstairs bathroom & walk in closet shut, since they don't have heating vents. No need to heat those tiny rooms.

I am really trying to look at all the 'automatic' things I do & see if I can do them differently. We'll see how it goes for March's bill.

I just transfered $16.52 to savings as overage on my water bill. I'm working to get the water usage down, but first I have to fix a sometimes running toilet. Its on my to do list. Since I'm not too familiar with fixing things, I'm going to ask a friend to help.

They usually read the meter around the 20th, so I start looking online for my balance. I'm obsessed this month because this will be the first month where I had the heat on the full month. I REALLY can't wait to see what its like at the worst part of the year. They actually cover electric/gas, so we'll see how it goes. I'll let you all know as soon as the bill gets posted online!

I'll admit it, I'm a little obsessed with personal finance and especially PF blogs. I check out Saving Advice daily, plus I have a few individual blogs in my favorites and I pretty much daily check out pfblogs.org.

I came across an article at stopbuyingcrap.com entitled 'What If... Your Net Worth Is Public?' Very interesting idea. Money is such a taboo subject in some ways & so easily talked about in others. It'd be a shock if our net worth was out there for all to see. And the fact that its public would probably change the way we do things. I know for sure that I would. I know I have changed a lot of my habits since I've joined this site.

This blog & site helps keep me grounded. I am really honest in my writing and there are times where I think about doing something (spending money-wise) and then I think how would I explain that to you guys? It also motivates me to find new ways to save money or earn money & put it into savings instead of spending it. I LOVE being able to say I added another $300.00 to savings instead of buying that new beadspread that I want, but do not need

So check out the article & let me know what you think!

My mind is not on my work today, its on the weather outside. I came in an hour early today, buts its snowing & sleeting & I decided to leave early today instead of leaving at 7. Delaware is not known for its snow savvy. People panic very easily in bad weather, people with 4 wheel drive speed & people with older cars drive REALLY slow. Unfortunately, neither type steers clear of the other, so there are a lot of accidents. Plus, the salting of the roads isn't the best.

Driving in snow isn't that bad as far as I'm concerned, but we have sleet now & the roads are starting to ice over. So I made my overtime hour a regular one, and I'm using 1.5 hours of personal time and I'll be leaving at 4:30 today. WHEW.

I need to get gas on the way home, but there are no cheap gas stations on the way, so I"m going to fill up 5.00 worth and get some at the better station tomorrow.

Its funny, but most of the talk in the office today has been about the weather and stories of accidents caused by bad weather. I can't wait to get home safe & sound.

I'm going to snuggle under a blanket, eat leftovers and watch Lost Season Two, I'm a little over halfway through the dvds. I'm sucked back into the storylines, so I can't wait for Season 3 (which is still running now) to get onto dvd.

I saw this thread on MSN Money & I just HAVE to comment. It was interesting to read the replies over there. I really think it is both an easy and tough question.

First it brings up the question, what do you consider debt? I am proud to say that I have no credit card debt, no auto loans. But I do have a mortgage and 2 student loans. So I like to say I'm credit card free

Ultimately, I want to save for retirement and pay down my obligations, no matter what 'type' of debt they are.

The reason I want this is because I want to be independant and responsible. I grew up watching my parents have money problems and watching my Dad stress over money matters. Since I was a teen, he's said over and over to 'watch out' for credit cards. So I've always had a healthy respect for them. I've used them smartly & don't carry balances.

A significant factor to my attitude about money and debt is rooted in my parents financial instability. As I've gotten older, my father has carried on many conversations about their financial situation. To tell you the truth, he's put the fear in me. I worry about how my parents are going to survive in their later years.

The worst of it is that about 15 years ago, my fathers best friend committed suicide over financial problems. He had large amounts of debt and was so overwhelmed he committed suicide, leaving his wife and two daughters to deal with both the emotional and financial aftermath.

The situation hit my father hard and when he started talking so negatively about their financial situations, I actually worried about his emotional and mental health. I did talk to him about it. I told him it was scaring me and we had a in depth talk about his retirement savings, which is VERY healthy. I feel better about their situation now.

But I will NEVER forget that worry over my father & I want to make sure that I will never be in that position. I've taken on some debt to reach certain goals-- student loans to get multiple degrees and the mortgage to purchase my home. I'm doing everything possible to incurr no more debt.

But that feeling of fear will always remain with me and that is why I want to get out & stay out of debt.

I went out on my lunch break & bought some Christmas stuff on sale today.

I got:
-Suction cup hooks for windows. 2 packs for $1.98
-Candy canes 0.27
-2 bags of Hershey Kisses 0.87 each
-2 sets of Christmas lights-100 feet 1.24 each,
-Ribbon 0.49
-Ornament hooks 0.12
-3 packs of 16 ball ornaments, 0.74 each
-Craft christmas present for mom for next year 1.24

All in all, I spent $10.85. I used my Chase cc where I had a $15.98 credit from a return of Christmas ornaments. So no new Christmas spending. And I still have $5.13 in credit on the card.

I made it through Christmas on cash only. (I used some of the cards for online purchases, then paid off immediately). So I did not go in debt for Christmas.

I got some good stuff for Christmas, an under counter cd/clock/radio for the kitchen. It was something that WANTED, but did not NEED. So I put it on my list. I also got a set of tray tables which was also on my list. My mom gave me a jewelry box...one of the standing ones that has hooks to hang necklaces. I have a lot of silver jewelery & keeping them enclosed helps stop tarnishing, so it will definately be useful. I got a few movies and some hardback books that I was really wanting. I still haven't exchanged with my best friends, I'll be doing that tonight. They always have the best gifts... all fun stuff. And they know my taste, so I usually love them all.

Today was a heavy phone day in that I was making tons of calls to sort stuff out. Heres the 'phone log'.
-2 calls to my car insurance because they applied by 12/18 payment as a second payment to december's due date instead of to the 1/7/07 due date it was intended. After the second conversation where we went through all my payments & all the due dates for the last year, they finally agreed with me.
-2 calls to my vision insurance to sort out a denied claim. The first rep told me that the denial was accurate. The second person told me that it should have been paid & would call my eye doctor to straighten it out for me. I plan on writing a letter to the company about her good customer service. (I will follow up with the eye doctor tomorrow to confirm the issue).
-2 calls to my new bank (for the 2nd checking account). They declined my payment to the mortgage company even though the funds were there. After the first call, I found out that for the first 30 days, they hold all deposits for 5 business days. Nobody told me that. I reread all the paperwork they gave me. It is not stated anywhere. PLUS I had to go into the bank today because they never ordered my Visa check card. So far I'm not impressed. On the second call, I explained about the forgotten order of the check card, the fact that I had to make an extra trip to the branch, the fact that the additional hold time was not disclosed to me, that the mortgage company will charge a $20.00 NSF fee AND that they charged me a $32.00 NSF fee. The 2nd rep refunded the $32.00 fee, but said there was nothing they could do about the mortgag company's fee.

-1 call to mortgage company. They haven't gotten the payment returned from the bank yet, but the rep said when they do, they will resubmit the payment. I will get a $20.00 NSF fee. But since I had tried to make my payment so early, it won't be late even with having to resubmit it. (I plan on calling after the payment reposts and asking if there's anything that they can do about the fee)

WHEW and today is only 1/2 over.

My direct deposit for 12/30 is already set up. So once that goes through AND my mortgage payment clears, I'm going to close this new checking account. The customer service people were very rude, the incompetance of the person who set up the account is annoying and I was told by the rep today if there were any more issues with fees, they would NOT work with me. Now, I've been with my other bank for over 8 years & NEVER had a fee, so I don't think I will again with this new one, but their service is so bad, I'm going to close the account & just open up a 2nd checking account with my first bank. It'll be easy to switch direct deposit to that one.

I'll be back later today to do my 2007 goals.

Well, I've spent most of the week sorta sick, so I've been comfort eating. Which requires spending, but it hasn't been too bad.

I've completely finished all my Christmas shopping, I just need to wrap, which I will do tomorrow.

I had money set aside in my savings for a new laptop computer. I was hoping to wait til next year to buy one. But my 6 year old Dell laptop has been limping along for months. It has viruses & little quirks. The monitor is loose, so sometimes the screen goes blue & I have to hit it on the sides to put it right again. All annoying, but still usable.

However, this week, the laptop broke the hinges. I mean completly came apart on one side, tearing the plastic casing & seperating the keyboard from the monitor. The other side is starting to tear, but for some ridiculously scary reason, the picture still shows (after I hit it a few times). The monitor portion no longer stands up straight, but if I put it on the couch, with the back laying against the arm AND I don't move it AND I don't shift around too much on the couch, it will stay relatively put together.

Well, I just can't deal with it, so on Wednesday, I ordered a new computer from Lenovo. Another laptop for numerous reasons. I was able to go through my work, which got me a 15% discount. I'm waiting for it to arrive, but in the mean time I'm using this poor Dell that REALLY needs to be put out of its misery!

I'm making a list of financial goals, which I'll share once I'm finished.

I work from 8-2 tomorrow and then I'll be doing Christmas stuff the rest of the day. I have a whole to-do list.

Well, I went to get an alignment for my car only to find out that I actually needed new tires instead. Its a shame... I had priced alignments & I had a $10.00 off coupon. But instead of spending $45.00, I spent $249.52 for 3 new tires & a headlight. Normally I change my own lights, but this one was giving me trouble, so I just had them do it.

After that, I treated my dad to lunch at a little restaurant. $15.75 including tip for salad & a sandwich for me & french toast and scrapple for dad. This place is a good deal.

In exchange for lunch, my dad helped me pick up a Christmas tree. I got a 7 foot tree for $32.99 (which is pretty decent pricing for my area). I also picked up a snow shovel. Not that we need it in this area right now (no heat on today). But I knew eventually I'll need one.

So I set up the tree & decorated tonight. Afterwards, I made dinner from leftovers I had in the fridge.

I did 3 loads of laundry, using the dryer for 2 loads & hung all of the third to air dry.

And finally, I vaccumed all the needles up from the floor with the FREE (used) vaccum that my dad had given me.

My goals for this week are to:
-Return some ornaments to Kmart (15.98 back into the checking).
-Pack my food through Friday (payday)
-Have no spend days from Tuesday through Friday
-Eat a big lunch before going to my newphews birthday party on Saturday at the roller rink, where I'll be temped with hotdogs & french fries.

Definatey doable.

On a different note, I am REALLY annoyed at my sister's attitude towards money. She works hard to support herself & my nephew, but she lives with my parents, paying little rent, gets free & FREQUENT babysitting from my parents, borrows from my parents, has late payments, and complains about money problems.

I have a lot of resentment about all this, but since I can't really do anything about it, I try not to think about it. BUT today I found out that she and my nephews father bought him (a six year old) a child's ATV. She could have put the money towards the karate lessons that he is always talking about or baseball in the spring, but NO, they buy an ATV & store it in my parents garage (AGAINST their very vocal wishes!) I am BOILING MAD.

UGH. Well, I'm off to watch How to Eat Fried Worms & then a Poirot movie. Then I'm going to bed early. Work tomorrow.

Spent no money today. Got paid & will write out all my bills tomorrow, including my first mortgage payment. I have a planned lunch to pack tommorrow.
blueberry muffin breakfast
salad with bacon & cheese & 1/2 tuna salad sandwich for lunch
pretzels for snack
sloppy joe for dinner

with my work schedule, I tend to eat lunch at my desk around noon & take dinner at 4pm.

I love my cat, Colbi. She's cute, she plays with toys, she follows me around the house, she loves to snuggle AND she greets me at the door when I come home at night.

BUT she has crystals, so I have to buy special cat food for her. And when I take her to the vet, like I did today, we have to do urinalysis tests to make sure they didnt come back. We only do it every year or two, but its pricey.

Plus, she's 5 years old now & the vet noted some gingivitis. No biggie, but her gums are swollen & they look painful. So, now I need to get her a teeth cleaning. More $$$.

I had been thinking about getting a second cat, but with the costs, I've decided against it.

Even though the vet today was VERY costly, when we go to bed & she snuggles with me, I'll know its worth it

I've spent my off time this week organizing around the house. I sorted through all the glassware & china that I brought from my aunt's house. Most is in the kitchen or displayed in the china cabinet, but I have a big plastic tote of extra glassware in the basement. I might give them to my sister when she gets a new place.

I have 2 totes of halloween stuff-two because some of the things are bulky & I didnt want to sqwoosh anything.

I have 2 totes of Christmas stuff, which includes ornaments, house decorations & more.

I also have another bin of gift/craft stuff, such as paints, cards, tissue paper, ect.

I did a couple of loads of laundry, all on cold water, and I only ran the dryer once. I really like my towels & sheets to go through the dryer, everything else is hung in the basement. I have one drying rack & a makeshift line made of a pipe that the previous owner left.

I still have yet to turn on my heat. Nice!

I had to turn off the hot water heater timer. It kept turning off & then not starting back up when it was supposed to. I had one too many ice cold showers in the morning. I plan on having my handy dad take a look at it.

Also on my to do list: buy & install a programable thermostat.

I am really trying to keep the house neat & organized. I'm not the most tidy person, so I'm making a daily effort in the hopes that it'll become an easy routine.

On the upside, I cashed in some of my points at Mypoints & I received the gift card today!