Last Saturday, my family went out van shopping with no intention of making a purchase just yet. We test drove two late model vans, the Honda Odyssey and the Toyota Sienna. Now we drove the higher end of the Honda and the lower end of the Toyota...big price differences. Hard to compare. Both drove great. The Honda seems to have more room. They have similar features.

We have spent the last year looking at Honda Odyssey prices online and in the newspaper. It finally dawned on me that we weren't looking at anything else. It seemed kind of silly not to consider other vans. We have a 1997 Dodge Caravan with over 120K miles on it. It is going to have transmission problems soon. We aren't interested in getting a new Caravan, because of long term quality issues and resale values.

I haven't had a car payment for several years now and we are looking to finance a portion of our purchase. So, I'm taking my sweet time (procrastinating) picking our next van. We looking for at least a 2005 in the $20,000 range. It seems I might get more options with a Toyota for a similar price. Any opinions...Honda or Toyota?

Thanks!!

The greatest thing in the world is not so much where we stand, but in what direction we are going.

I see this quote every day that I go to the gym. I usually see it in terms of exercise, but today I realized it can apply to most anything. Even our goals with money!!

I'm hoping to come up with $100 worth of sales on ebay during the month of April. Instead of just hoping, I have taken action. I have 16 items listed now with bids on 9 of them. I have a pile of several items that can be listed and put up on Sunday. By Sunday, when the auctions end, I should be inspired to go looking in the house for more items. I just keep moving forward.

As long as you are moving forward, regardless of the pace, you will reach your goal!!

I read another blog recently about the Bank of Universal Goodwill. You can read about it

is the total cost for all Liberty's vet visits! I am so not used to this as an expense. We do have some slush money and our emergency fund to cover things. It was money well spent to get her feeling better. I wish we could have avoided x-rays...$95!!

She has finally started eating, just not large amounts yet. She's being treated with another antibiotic and gets to stay home now. The vet's best guess with out charging me more for blood work is that she got toxoplasmosis...most likely from our newly adopted cat. She was also on antibiotics recently...so now they should both feel great!

Here are the offenders...Liberty on the left and Riley on the right!



Thanks again for all the well wishes!

We own a Wahl Clip N' Trim for my husbands hair. We use it for his neck hair for the most part between haircuts. The trim part of the clippers had a little plastic piece break off.

I contacted Wahl thinking I would need to purchase this replacement part. I couldn't find it on the website, so I sent an email through the site. I chose 'Item not found on website' as my subject. Within 24 hours, I was emailed that a replacement part would arrive in 7 business days.

Today it arrived in the mail! The exact part I needed and described. It should be easy to snap it back on. Thank you Wahl.

We earned some interest on our money market account. I will add it to the challenge, too. Unfortunately, the amount is going down each month.

Old Balance: $5.00
Interest: $15.20
New Balance: $20.20

Liberty is our oldest cat. We have had her for 3 years as of tomorrow. She's 3.5 years old. A dark gray tabby. She was our only cat until about 6 weeks ago when we adopted Riley from the animal shelter. Riley is a light gray tabby about a 1 year old. They have become good friends...lots of playtime together that's fun to watch.



Now Liberty is sick. We aren't sure what it is yet...maybe just a hairball or something more. She's been to the vet for a couple shots. She won't eat or drink. Vet doesn't want her to until tonight anyway. So, since Sunday night she just sleeps and gets sick. I feel so sad for her. It would be great if any of you could send us healing energy for Liberty.

The vet visit was $75. I'm just guessing there may be another visit ahead. Sometimes life and all that goes with it doesn't follow our plans or expectations. I don't escrow vet visits because with cats they are so rare. I suppose as they get older it will be more important to have a vet fund.

Update: She's back at the vet. She had xrays...nothing shows up! Now they are keeping her overnight for observation and to give her fluids. Thanks for all the warm wishes.

Well, while I'm here as an official blogger I might as well participate in the $20 challenge. I do have a little income come in here and there between surveys and ebay.

It would nice to see what the total is at the end of the year. It is not something I normally track. I just deposit all extra money into our slush fund.

Yesterday, I received a $5 Pinecone survey check. There will be more coming, I've done more surveys with they as of late. I love the product trial ones!! At the end one can get a total of $10 from two surveys and a free item to try! Love it.

Old Balance: $0
Add: $5.00
New Balance: $5.00