I recently realized that I really would like most of our money at Vanguard. You really can't beat their low fees for investing.

Right now, we have money in four different places, between college funds and retirement. I would like to get it down to two. Vanguard and my husband's TSP.

The first one I will be dealing with is Fidelity. We only have Fidelity because that is where my husband's previous 401k was and we simply rolled it into an IRA and even moved most of it to a Roth IRA. Currently, Fidelity holds 15% of our total portfolio. And sadly, about 31% of that amount is in cash (which is 5% of our entire retirement portfolio).

My first step is to determine where at Vanguard I want to move the money. Since this is a small portion and we do not have any international investments, I think I will suggest to my husband we put it into the International Stock Index. Most of that will be in a Roth IRA, but about $5K is in a traditional IRA. The nice thing about moving retirement money around, is there is no tax implications...unless we convert the money from the IRA to the Roth. I don't think that is currently in the cards.

I will end up doing most of the work for this change, hopefully online. I will likely need a signature from my husband. And if he can agree to the change tonight or tomorrow than I can get any paperwork done this week, otherwise, I will need to wait until his annual training is over.

We have about $10K at American Funds. This is a loaded fund, which means you pay the broker/dealer every time you make a purchase into the fund...usually 5.75% of your purchase. The fund has to be doing pretty well to offset those kinds of fees! Luckily, we did not pay the fee on these, since at the time my father in law was the broker and he was able to invest us at NAV (Net Asset Value). We have a UTMA account for each of the girls and a Roth for my husband there. We haven't been adding to these accounts, so I think it is time to get them moved, too. I will work on these once Fidelity is completed. I need to think about any tax implications on the UTMA, each of them has less than $1500 there.

A new goal to work on, I'm excited!! Oh, and right now I'm thinking half of our down payment in a CD paying 1.2% for 15 months, and the other half in Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund (VDIGX). If we put less in the fund, we have less exposure to market risk, but still an opportunity to benefit from the market. If we lose money, it could change our plans for housing, but it isn't a huge deal at this point for us. We will be accumulating more cash in the mean time too!

Do you have your investments in one place? If not, how many different companies do you do your investing with?

I don't even know really what we have been spending our money on! It just seems like there is no money left at the end of the pay period. Payday is Wednesday and I don't expect to spend much of anything. I have enough gas, not sure about my husband though.

I need to pay the flute teacher $20 if my daughter feels up to going. She came down with a very rough cold this weekend. She will text me after band today to let me know whether she wants to go to the lesson. I'd actually like to save the money.

My husband leaves for his annual training later this week and will be gone a good portion of the month. I hope he won't have time to spend much money there. This could mean some extra savings. I hope!

I will pay bills tomorrow and hope there is some money that can be saved. Of course, I'm very grateful that we are not going into debt. We always have the cash to cover our needs and clearly some wants.

I have one item on Ebay that ends this morning. It will sell, so that is some money flowing in! It's all good, right?

I ran across

this article on Yahoo today, where the couple paid off $50,000 of debt in one year by living on less than half their income, living with their parents, and having a grocery list of ten items.

The grocery list of ten items was: eggs, milk, bread, chicken, salmon, broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, berries and oatmeal.

Could you live on just these ten food items for one year? I actually think I could. Just not sure about the rest of the family!

I'm still researching and pondering this down payment investment. I briefly mentioned putting the down payment money into a stock fund to my husband. He seemed surprised. I did tell him I wasn't sure yet, so I think he just let it be.

If only we could know the future or expect future results based on prior returns...but we can't. I know that if I lock the money into a CD for 15 months I can get 1.50%. Maybe I should be happy with that given interest rates.

I went to Vanguard again to use a tool they have to suggest recommended investments. Including our risk tolerance, investment time frame the tool suggested 60% in the Bond Index, 28% in Total Stock Market Index, and 12% in International Stock Index.

This is slightly different from another recommendation the site gave me another time. I think that time I put in a longer time before withdrawal. Likely three years rather than 2 year or less that I picked this time.

I tend to like the newer suggestion only because only some of the money is put in stocks to take advantage of market appreciation. The rest stays in bonds were it is likely to be more stable while interest rates are this low.

I really am aware that putting money that we need or may want to use in 2 years in the stock market is generally a big no. I can't ever see myself advising anyone else to do that same investment for such a short period of time, but right now all I am doing is pondering my options.

I'm just so frustrated with low interest rates! And I don't want inflation to erode the purchasing power of this money. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is looking for something better.

I appreciate everyone's interest and input in the topic. Feel free to share more ideas and thoughts. will not be deciding anything this week. In fact, I have company coming and a small trip planned and hope to even get out in the yard and enjoy spring this weekend.

I've been looking into high yield dividend mutual funds as a possibility for investing our down payment money for the next house. This would be an alternative to keeping the money in our money market account paying 0.85%.

Blue Chip stocks are those companies that are generally worth billions, thus established in their field, often a household name, and pay steady or rising dividends each year (paraphrased from

Investopedia). The mutual funds I'm looking at invest in these blue chip stocks, like Coca Cola, IBM, UPS, and Exxon.

The returns on these funds the last few years are definitely better than the 0.85% we are getting on our money market. Of course, the money market account is less risky than stocks. Stocks do fluctuate, thus that risk scares me a little bit given this is a short term investment of 2 years...maybe 3.

I do need to convince my husband it is the right thing to do. I think he will trust my judgement. Thus I really need to convince myself!!

Generally, this isn't something I would advise anyone to do because of the risk, but with additional risk, often comes additional reward. Does anyone reading this know of anything that should keep me from taking the risk of investing in a Dividend Growth fund?

I'm looking at VDIGX and VDAIX, which are both held at Vanguard. Both have 5 star ratings from Morningstar. If we had held VDIGX two years ago, our money would have increased by nearly $7K by now. However, if our two year period was April 2007 to today, we would have lost $6,700 from our initial investment.

The dividends that are paid would be reinvested to buy more shares, and would be taxed just like ordinary income, which is no different than if we earned interest. If someone were to hold this fund in a retirement account, those reinvested dividends are tax deferred until retirement.

I feel positive about the over all outlook, so I think it should be a buy. What do you think? Anything else I should look at?

I checked my spam folder tonight, which I rarely do. Turns out I was receiving Pinecone Survey requests in the last couple weeks. I just didn't know it since they were in my spam folder! I was able to complete one survey tonight, but it seems I missed out on a couple others.

I wonder if this explains why I still have not been paid for returning a product to them. Maybe they thought I was inactive. Well, I'm active again as of tonight and will receive my $3 tomorrow in my PayPal account.

All Pinecone Survey money is added to my Snowflakes for Christmas fund. I was able to redeem my Swagbucks today for $25 in my PayPal account. I hope I receive that money by the end of the month, so I can count it towards this months snowflake total!

The only thing I have purchased since Sunday is gas for my van. I must not have filled up my van the last couple of weeks, because gas prices seemed lower to me. It still cost me over $50 to fill up my tank. I need to fill up about every 7-8 days right now.

That's all the news from here for now!

I noticed that I have some rewards with USAA. One was a $25 credit on our credit card statement for having spent over $250 at a home improvement store. We purchased a storm door, which easily helped us reach the goal for that reward. I will pay off the card and add $25 to our Christmas fund by the end of the month.

We also have accumulated enough reward points with USAA to redeem for $25. I will wait to redeem those until later in the year and hope there are more points to redeem at that time.

I plan to put two to three items up on Ebay tomorrow night. The proceeds will be added to our Christmas fund as well.

I've decided that if I accumulate more than $1000 in snowflakes this year, that I will put the remainder elsewhere. My first instinct is to put the money towards our mortgage, but the second thought is to start using it to fund vacations. Once I get to the $1K mark, I will decide for sure.

I'm also very close to earning that next $25 from Swagbucks that I will redeem for PayPal cash. It will take another three to four days most likely as I'm at 1925 SB's.

Anyone earning any great snowflakes, credit or debit card rewards? Selling on Ebay or craigslist?

I'm slow. I'm still investigating options for cash we have on hand. Right now the money is in a money market account, earning 0.85%.

I started noticing how many credit unions exist around our area. I'm taking note of the names and locations and researching online. One credit union has a 36 month CD for 1.50% which seems really good. Or I could really lock the money up with a 60 month CD at 2.0%.

However, this money is what we are holding on to for our next down payment. Which we might need in about 2 years at the earliest. So I'd be better looking at a 16 month special CD rate of 1.05%.

The rates just aren't that exciting. I want more interest!! I will do something soon, just still haven't decided.

What is the best interest rate you are getting on your cash? Is it with a credit union, bank or other institution? How long do you have to keep your money invested without a penalty?

Home repairs that you don't plan are never fun. Turns out our furnace wasn't turning on this morning. It was just 2 degrees lower than where it normally is set. My husband noticed first since he is ultra sensitive to cold...it would have taken me hours to notice it wasn't coming on.

We did try to figure out the problem on our own before calling someone. This furnace is very new since we are the first owners of the home. Our first thought was the breaker because we had so much lightening yesterday. But no go there.

In the end we decided to call someone out. Luckily this is a slow time of year for the repair people. He arrived within 30 minutes of my call. We needed a new pressure switch. The switch wasn't allowing the furnace to come on fully for safety reasons. We did get the warranty rate on the part, but with the service call and labor our total cost to have heat running again was $117.

Not terrible, but not where I would prefer to spend $117. I put it on a credit card for the rewards and will pay it off on May 1.

I'm really looking forward to have the heat turned off completely. I think we usually have ours off by mid May at the latest. The way this spring is going with the colder weather, I don't know if that will happen. When do you typically turn your heat off for the season? Is this year typical for you?

While I was at the gym today, I thought if one ever needed to lower their water bill that showering at the gym would help. Of course, that assumes you have access to a gym and that it wouldn't be costing you MORE to shower there.

I completed a Pinecone survey on a item that I got to try at home. I was required to return it by mail. I expect I will get compensated in the next week, after they have received it. That will go to the snowflakes for Christmas.

I got a quote on flood insurance. Coverage for our home was $458 per year. It said we were a medium risk for flooding. This town is actually recovering from a major flood from almost 5 years ago. We are not in a flood plain, but when it rains the water is quick to fill up in low lying areas...including a mini stream through our back yard. Not sure that we need the insurance, but at least I know what it might cost.

We are still waiting to hear about my husband's promotion. It could be another two months before we know, but I sure would like to know sooner than later!

I made a conscious effort to make all my long distance phone calls on my cell phone last month. Didn't even go over the limit. Easy. Except for people calling me, it does make me think that I could go to cell service entirely. At one time, I was interested in fiber optic phone service through Ooma. It is a significant upfront cost of over $150. Of course, this would be recouped with lower bills. We will definitely spend more by keeping our land line. Why it is so hard to cut the cord on a land line?

I plan to list at least two items on Ebay Sunday. One is a DVD set for a tv show. We bought it used on Ebay earlier this year and I expect I can sell it at the same price I bought it at. With the fees, I will recoup only part of that, but most is better than none. This show is now on Netflix if we decide to watch the episodes again.

I had considered taking four hour road trip this weekend, but decided there will be plenty of those trips coming up this summer for a graduation and a birthday. I decided we better stay home and save the cost of fuel and snacks. We do have some things to get done around the house.

I hope to earn another $25 PayPal fund from Swagbucks by the end of the month. I'm at 1336, so just need another 1164 in the next 13 days. That should be no problem.

Oh, the big money news, is that we saved $307 this pay period. We put it in our savings account. I would have liked to have saved more, but the storm door and our anniversary outing did dip into those extra funds we had. I'll take the three hundred and be grateful!

That the money news from here. I'll be back tomorrow...if I don't get washed away in all this rain!

I went to Menard's today to have our storm door price adjusted. We purchased the door for $299 plus tax. At the time there was an 11% rebate promotion going on, so I did send that in. The day after we purchased the door, it was on sale for $269. Whoa. A 10% mark down.

Menard's is a home improvement store if you aren't familiar with the name. They are interesting in that any rebates they offer come back to you in the form of a merchandise credit check. This can only be used in their stores.

Right now we have about $40 worth of rebates being processed, plus today I had the door price adjusted which resulted in another credit at the store in the amount of about $32!

I'm sure we will be buying more things there as summer arrives, so not a big deal that the money is a credit, but sometimes I really wish they would just give cash back!!

Do you like cash back as store credit or cash? Are you aware of Menard's? Do you like the store, or prefer others?

I went to Menard's today to have our storm door price adjusted. We purchased the door for $299 plus tax. At the time there was an 11% rebate promotion going on, so I did send that in. The day after we purchased the door, it was on sale for $269. Whoa. A 10% mark down.

Menard's is a home improvement store if you aren't familiar with the name. They are interesting in that any rebates they offer come back to you in the form of a merchandise credit check. This can only be used in their stores.

Right now we have about $40 worth of rebates being processed, plus today I had the door price adjusted which resulted in another credit at the store in the amount of about $32!

I'm sure we will be buying more things there as summer arrives, so not a big deal that the money is a credit, but sometimes I really wish they would just give cash back!!

Do you like cash back as store credit or cash? Are you aware of Menard's? Do you like the store, or prefer others?

Today is April 15th. The deadline to file your tax return is today.

So did everyone get their taxes done, or expect them to be done by the end of the day? Or did you have to file an extension? Let us know in the comments where you stand!

Thinking about our cash needs lately, I realized that some of the cash needs arise from attending school events. Schools don't take checks or debit cards for admission to athletic events, or at their concession stands.

Today we are taking our daughter to her state music contest, where she will perform her flute solo first, then in a flute sextet about two hours later. We will be there about four hours over the noon hour. We could pack a lunch, but I haven't been to the store. So we will be getting some cash so we can get a little something to eat there.

I will make sure to not just grab $20, but more like $100 since we are now into a new pay period and I know my husband will want some cash. I don't plan to pay the flute teacher in cash the rest of this month. I will pay her by check and see how it goes.

Today, we will tip her accompanist $10 in cash, which is what I had in my wallet. Here is a case where we probably could have written a check, but if I have cash I'd rather not wait for someone to deposit a check.

I could go months without getting cash out in the past, but now it seems I have more reasons to use cash with one of them being high school events.

If you use cash with some frequency, what do you spend your cash on?