Yes, Petunia. I am sorry I asked for questions! But I will answer all of your questions even though most of them are NOT related to finances.

Monetarist or Keynesian? Yes, I had to look this one up. I would guess I lean to the monetarist theory. Less government intervention.

TP: Over or under? Over. Otherwise I can't find the end. Oh, and I probably tend to scrunch rather than fold. TMI!!

Toothpaste: Squeeze or Roll? Squeeze and then roll when needed! Doesn't everyone here roll to get the last remenants of paste out?

Chicken or Egg? Does anyone know the answer to this one? I don't. It's a question that haunts me. Lux, you are killing me here!!

If a tree falls in the forest....
Well, as a frugalist, you should chop the tree into logs and use it to heat your home for a couple days!

Nature or nuture? Nuture. I'm not going to explain. I tried to write several sentences to do so, but this topic is too deep for my blog. Or is it my brain?

The question forum is now closed and will NEVER reopen. Ever. If you have questions, post them on your own d** blog! Those are my final answers.

Thanks for participating!!

I feel my finances are kind of boring right now. We are just waiting to get paid so that we can pay more towards the home equity loan. This leaves me with little to write about.

So...

Do YOU have any financial questions for me? It's okay, if you don't. Ask away if you do. I reserve the right not to answer, if necessary.

On a side note: I did get a $20 gift card in the mail to Barnes & Noble. I have no idea what I might find to buy...yet!

We received a card from Qwest our internet and phone provider. They want to rewards us for being long term customers with a $50 Restaurant.com gift certificate! Nice. Too bad we have to call to claim it. Not nice.

Our water bill was in the mail, too. The amount was as expected, but I noticed that our bills have been estimated 3 out of the last 4. So I inquired. Turns out they need to replace some equipment that sends them our water reading. I have an appointment on Thursday for this.

The rest of the mail...various coupons. Bed Bath & Beyond, Petsmart and Target. I can't believe how many store coupons I have sitting on my desk right now. I generally make a pile, but I don't have a way to keep them organized like I do manufacturer coupons. Yesterday, DH and I used coupons to get our hair cut. His was $6.99 at Great Clips and mine was $9.99 at Cost Cutters. I like coupons for things we will use/buy anyway. I just have to be careful not to buy something just because I have a coupon, which I usually do pretty good about.

I sold 7 of the 8 items I listed last Sunday on ebay for $35.96. The total isn't great, but it is better than a garage sale! I also sold two more Halloween costumes Sunday morning that were listed on craigslist for $10.

Here are my new Ebay Challenge totals:

Oct Total = $87.96 (so far!)
Sept Total = $110.00
June Total = $55.25
May Total = $197.75
April Total = $22.22
March Total = $83.13
February Total = $66.50
January Total = $4.95

Yipee!!

A month ago we bought a couch and an ottoman. They were special order. Today they arrived!!

It's been a long month without a couch in our living room. I found myself just laying on the floor in there!!

It looks so much better and fills in the space nicely. Now...I just need some pictures for above the couch. It's always something.

Yes...I will post a picture soon.

I received a $3 Pinecone Research check today! I always love cash in the mail.

I bought groceries to the tune of $146! Yikes. Yes, a little high, but it does include wine, kleenex, toilet paper, soap and hair products. I expect the food to last through payday on the 15th!

I had two no spend days on Monday and Tuesday. I didn't realize it until I was entering transactions in the checkbook today. It is good to have those!

Our weather is getting very cold. We are expecting our first hard freeze Saturday night. I actually turned the heat on last Saturday. It was 63 degress in here! Luckily it isn't running all the time yet!!

I have more items to list on craigslist. I just need to get my act together and take pictures!

I've been getting exercise in everyday since Sunday. I feel pretty good. I just wish I didn't buy those M & M's at the grocery store today! Ugh.

That's the news from here!

The good news is our monthly billing for our electric and gas is going down by $5/month. They dropped it by $17 a month ago and now another $5! Of course, they are overbilling us...right now we have nearly a $300 credit.

The bad news is about a friend. A friend I've known for over 20 years. She and her husband are taking out a 401k loan. No! Say it isn't so. But it is.

She asked me very briefly on Monday what I thought about it. I don't know any numbers...except they have a lot of credit card debts and they are getting hard to manage. I guess I have one number: they are pulling from their line of credit every month to the tune of $500-$700 per month. I guess they pay this back each month.

About 3-4 years ago they took out a home equity loan to pay off all their bills. She was thrilled at the time since they would all be paid off in 5 years. She feels the same way about the 401K loan. It will all be paid off in 5 years. True, but at what cost. At what risk? And what lesson is learned when you move debt around?

I did a little reading after talking to her. Loans from a 401K loan are paid back with after tax dollars...and then when you pull the money out in retirement you are taxed again! Yep, double taxation. Ugh.

I was honest in my conversation that it would be important to get spending under control...so they don't end up at this same spot 3 years from now. She completely agreed and mentioned a credit card cutting party. She might even put them in a jar as a reminder. I hope so. I so very hope so!

I'm always a little antsy the last day of the month. For one, it is the day before payday. I can actually see the pay pending in our checking account on this day! I occasionaly see that large sum of cash for its possibilities. Yet it has responsibilites, too.

On this day I look forward to seeing the interest we've earned in our savings account. Although in the last year or more, that isn't much to talk about! It does add up and it is exciting to see our balance rise to new heights.

Sometimes, I'm antsy because the spending money is gone and I can't wait to get my hands on more cash! I don't feel prosperous with nickels in my checking account. It's like being told 'no' by a very harsh voice.

My feelings are mixed. I don't know whether I'm rich or poor. Sure, we all have feelings concerning money when we find an unexpected gift. A penny on the ground or a rebate in the mail. We are devasted when the car repair bill wasn't in the budget this month or our health insurance premiums rise.

My feelings about money seem to also cycle with paydays and calendars. Have you noticed the same thing? Is it just us financial types? Does everyone feel this way? I wonder if they felt the same in the days of bartering?

Just something to munch on over lunch...

My husband has cash in a rollover IRA, that we are systematically moving back into the market.

Yesterday, with the market down, would have been a better day. But, I'm doing it today anyway. I'm no market timing expert, so I'm not going to pretend I am. The fund we are buying is still lower than it was several years ago. So, I think we are okay to move in and still find growth ahead of us.

Trade specifics:
$3,000 of Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX)

My husband has been traveling. This often works out as a financial benefit to us. While he travel the Army pays his all of his expenses, including food and lodging. Meanwhile, I don't have to buy groceries here at home for him. He also isn't buying fuel to travel locally to and from work.

I asked for this trip if he knew what the per diem was for meals. No, he did not. I looked it up. For this location it was $46 per day. The trip was for 11 days. Because two of those are travel days he will get reimbursed 75% of the per diem. My trusty calculator says he can spend up to $575 on meals for 11 days. Wow! I realize when travel meals can add up, but this is for one person!

I told him before he left it would be nice if we could make a little money on the trip. Honestly, I'd be fine with $10 a day or $100.

He says he's buying meals at the nearby Air Force base, where a soda is $0.30 and a large salad bar salad is $0.60. He's also buying a meat, vegetable and starch for all under $5! It's like he's gone back to the 1950's. Really, where in the United States can one get so much food for $5?

Turns out he's only spending about $10/day on food! Um...that's a lot left over from a $46 per diem. We may end up with over $300 extra in our pocket! It's been awhile since this has happened to us. Usually, he doesn't travel for that many days in a row. Usually, he just spends carefree without knowledge of the per diem.

Oh...I just got a great idea how to use some of the money. My husband has a birthday in October. I'm going to get him something really good. Really good! And no... I won't use all the money!

As a side note to this positive income news, I do feel guilty that we make money this way off the government. I'm sure this is not exactly wise use of government tax dollars. Right now, those are rules and sometimes we use them to our advantage.

I love it when the stock markets go up! It's so much more fun to track investments that way.

Today is a no spend day for me. It helps to have things to do that don't cost an additional outlay of cash! Here's what I have accomplished today:

1)Worked out at the gym
2)Mowed the lawn
3)Packaged and mailed our old cell phones for recycling. Shipping was free. They are so old, I didn't get any cash
4)Picked up 4 books at the library, while I returned one
5)Finished watching a Netflix movie
6)Wrote this blog post

This is all in addition to the tasks I do everyday! It doesn't look like much, but it was all free!

Tomorrow is payday and I have a long list of things we need! I'll be running errands all day. I better rest up!!

Okay...since this is a financial website you might think I'm referring to credit cards! I just wanted to share a video about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. You can make your own choices after viewing this short video.

After I wrote and posted this, I headed off to our Honda Dealership to pick up the windshield wiper and arm for the rear window of our Odyssey. The parts which cost us $48.91, came wrapped in plastic!! Ugh. In a sarcastic tone, I said outloud "It's a good thing these windshield wipers are wrapped in plastic, we wouldn't want them to get wet!"

Don't you just love how much we spent on those? We could have bought them online for half the amount, which would have included shipping. I won't go into how that may have happened.

Let's finish up with some good news. I sent the video link to my aunt, among others I know, who lives in California. She called to state that my email convinced her to go to a beach cleanup next weekend! She's going to bring friends. Yipee!! I don't live near a beach, so this warms my heart.

In my previous post, I mentioned making a payment on my husband's government credit card for an airline ticket he didn't use or request.

I checked the account today. It now shows that the travel agency finally made the adjustment yesterday...so there is now a credit for the airline ticket. We owe zero. That's good news!!

The bad news is we made the payment, too!! Ugh. It will show up on Tuesday most likely. If only I had known.

The other good news. My husband has a two week trip this month where he will use the card for travel expenses. These are always reimbursed a few days after he returns. He can request the money come straight to us rather than the card. So...by the end of Septmember we should have our money back. That's good news!

At least I know how it all is going to play out...but I still wish I had known yesterday.

It's been cool enough lately, that we have kept the air conditioning off. That is always a nice treat.

I'm under the weather and out of energy with a cold. I way overdid it yesterday, with cleaning and helping at school. So, today I'm on the couch. The plus is that I won't spend any money! Yesterday was also a no spend day. Gotta love those.

My family and I just finished watching a movie: Mr. Holland's Opus. It's an older movie, but it is really good. In the end,the main character, Mr. Holland realizes the impact he has had on the students he has taught over a 30 year career.

After watching the movie, I log on and see that Cptacek has made use of information from this website for crockpot recipes. I mentioned this site on my blog earlier this week. I've impacted someone's life, just by mentioning this. I can only guess that others have been impacted by my blog postings and yours, too!!

As a family, we talked a little about the point of the movie. My husband was reminded of a friend that we both worked with. That friend invited my husband to participate in his wedding only because he had an impact in his life. It was such a surprise to my husband. He only thought of the man as a coworker. To this day, it still moves my husband to tears to have been told that he made a difference in someone's life.

My point is that none of us will truly know the full impact that we have on the lives of others, postive or negative. But know this: You do have an impact. You do matter. You are important.

And hey, if you have something to say...join us here. Start a blog on savingadvice.com or participate in the forums. You DO have something to say that will impact someone you don't even know!!

I'm taking a couple days off of blogging. I've got some personal plans that will keep me from checking in with all of you.

I will be back...hopefully with something interesting to report!!

It is pretty cool out right now. I have the windows open, but I'm wrapped in a blanket. However, I will need to turn the air conditioner on later today, as the temperatures will be near 90 degrees.

I have been amazed at how little we have used the air conditioner this July. According to the news reports, the average temperature this July was lower than June. It is still summer, so I think there are some warm days still to be had.

I'm looking forward to see our electric bill this month. I've noticed our usage has been considerably less this year. I think the lower usage may be a combination of our switch to cfl bulbs and using our laptop. At least I think I read that desktops use more energy.

We've been able to have our air conditioning off for the last 5 days! Today's high is expected to only be 73 degrees. Wow, that is amazing for July. I expect that we'll be able to have it off tomorrow and some portions of the following days to come.

This sure helps our electric bill this month. We were away for about 10 days in July, but kept the air on at a steady temp for the pets. I'm sure the usuage was less than if we had been here, since I also unplugged all unnecessary items.

I'm having computer problems. I thought I'd let you know, in case it seems I go missing.

I may still be able to post some things before we get the problems fixed, but just keep this in mind, if I'm suddenly not around.

I'm stressed out from all this Disney preparation. The saving, the spending and the planning is just getting to me.

Right now there are so many things I still need to buy. Unfortunately, they are not just quick trips to the store. We're on the hunt for hats right now. I've purchased three and at least two, if not all three, need to be returned to the store. They just didn't fit right.

Today, we'll return them and look around a little more. I was going to make them, but after buying fabric and bringing them home. I felt even more stressed! Let me just say it is hard to concentrate on sewing pattern directions when you kids are bouncing around the house. Ugh.

Luckily, I didn't cut the $12 pattern. I will return that as well. Great. One more thing to do. Ugh.

I wish I could just relax.

I hope you didn't get stressed out reading this!

T mobile says 8 of ten people pay too much for their cell phone service. We saw this on a commercial tonight.

DH says, "Why don't they just say 4 out of 5?"

Well, because four out of five dentist suggest Trident!!

Just saying!!

Homemade Iced Coffee.

I pour cold coffee over ice. Then I add in skim milk and a little sugar.

Mmmm...yummy and refreshing.

Healthy? Probably not. It does seem to keep me from drinking as much diet soda. So that is good.

The water/trash bill came today. I set aside $51/month to cover it. This month's bill was $45.59!

Turns out next month the trash portion is increasing by $2/month. Darn.

I think I will keep my budget at $51 for now. I will revise, as needed.

Oh, I'm so glad I found this on You Tube. It is one my favorite commercials. And yes, it is financial in nature!

Click here!

Can we discuss our stats? I've noticed that the number of people reading my blog has increased quite a bit lately. I am writing nearly everyday, so that does keep people's interest.

Yesterday, nearly 155 people read my blog. That's quite a few. I can only imagine what size room I would need to fit you all in!! Thank you to those of you who do read my blog. It's nice to have you here.

So, how many people read your blog yesterday? No judgement...just curious!

Today, I started thinking of some of you lurkers out there. I don't know who you are, or what your situation is. I'm guessing you are here for some reason. If you are struggling and looking for answers this is a great site, with plenty of opinions and advice.

I have to tell you that starting an emergency fund was one of our first steps as a married couple. We had our $1000 in gifts from our wedding. Sure we could have spent it, but we saved it. I guess after getting so many gifts, it didn't seem that we needed to buy anything!!

We weren't big credit card users, since my husband had just ended a business started on credit cards. We had plenty to pay off let alone adding money to it! And, boy did I want to get that debt paid off as quick as possible!! It wasn't even mine...well, until the 'I do's', but I wanted it gone.

So, if you are struggling where to start here's my simple advice since it worked for us.

1)Establish a small emergency fund.
2)Stop using credit cards.
3)Pay off debt

Okay, there are some things you need to do to be able to even make those three things work. It's really important to save small amounts of money. Did you get $20 from your mom as a gift? Save it. Did you get a tax refund? Save it. Did you get rebate in the mail? Save it. Get the point?

You also need to go through your spending. Everything you spend money on. Magazines. Caller id. Newspapers. Coffee. Insurance deductibles. Beer. Wine. Cable TV. Do you buy your clothes at the mall? Stop. And stop going to the mall for entertainment. Look at EVERYTHING! Maybe there's an alternative. Maybe you stop an expense for a period of time, until you reach a financial goal. Maybe you need to call your credit card, phone or insuance company for a new rate? Maybe. You won't know unless you call. Lower your spending and save it.

So, you went through your expenses. You have made some changes. Great!! But now, do it again. Really. Keep looking at what you can change. You can change more than you think you can. Think outside the box.
But, remember, SAVE the money from these changes. This money is your safety net in hard times. You have to have it.

Once this money is saved up from your emergency fund you can start applying this new found money towards debt. Yes, even that birthday money...the credit card company gets that too.

Start saving, make a plan, and tweak it. You can do this. You can save money for an emergency fund. You can pay off debt. The feeling of paying off debt is freeing. Really freeing. Just how bad do you want it?

Good luck!! I'm rooting for you.

Day one garage sale results: $166.00

I'm very pleased. I almost wrote last night that I hoped to clear $100, but I just wasn't sure about my stuff. But, as it turns out, I did clear that and then some!!

Guess what we have one more day tomorrow, too!! Three of us neighbors are doing this together. This is actually our forth sale together in the last two years. We have quite a good system down and we love to chat while we work. The three of us pulled in $575 in one day...WOW!!

Tune in tomorrow evening for the final installment of creditcardfree's garage sale report!

Tomorrow is the first day of our sale. Everything is set out in my garage, marked and organized. Signs are up, and ads are placed.

May the garage sale fairies shine down on us, with excellent sales and great weather!! It's been raining on and off all week.

One neighbor has been ill, so her stuff will arrive when and if she feels better. Sometimes one just has to go with the flow, right!

I'll let you know how much I net after its over.

Our mortgage is now with Bank of America. No, we didn't refinance. But our mortgage is held with Countrywide Financial who was bought by BoA awhile bank.

Two days ago I received our welcome letter in the mail. Wow! I'm so excited.

Not really. I could care less who holds my mortgage as long as they provide me the customer service I need in an accurate and timely manner. Our payment is automatic, so all should continue normally.

Here's fingers crossed that they don't mess anything up!!