I redeemed more points at Swagbucks for a $5 Amazon gift card yesterday. I think I'm maxed out the $5 ones for this month!! Now to save for something else.

Our house has been listed on market for 11 days and we have had 9 showings. All neutral feedback, nothing negative. Apparently, those 9 just aren't interested in this house. The showings have slowed down as we have approached the holiday weekend. It's kind of nice, since I can relax a bit and not have to keep things quite so orderly for a couple days.

I see many of you are tracking your daily expenses. I've had to opt out of that one. It's too much to track for me right now. It seems the spending here has slowed a bit though. I like that!!

Enjoy the holiday!

DH is soooo ready to come home. He has already given his 60 days notice to his apartment complex with a move out date. Funny thing is the accountant said they would be able to prorate the May rent since he is moving out before the end of the month, and the apartment manager said that they don't prorate. Who knows. I'm really just glad he'll be out of there!!

He also stopped in Uhaul a couple days ago and made arrangements to rent a trailer for his move back. He called me to see if we needed to get insurance...yes, because our insurance doesn't cover it and I don't want to be out $3000+ if it gets damaged.

Today, I'm doing regular cleaing of bathrooms, vaccuuming and dusting. We also need to tidy up and put away back packs, library books, games and things that are out and visible. Fun times here! Is anyone else spring cleaning? I need to know I'm not alone!!

We have orders from the US Army to move!! We are moving about 2-2.5 hours east from our current location. Well DH, will be moving farther since he is on the east coast now.

Next weekend we are taking a day trip to check out the excitement this new city will offer. I think we've narrowed down to two school districts, so that is helpful.

Now the fun really begins. First order of business is to pay rent for April and submit a letter to DH's apartment complex indicating his notice to vacate. It will be so nice not to have to pay that bill!

Second order of business is to contact our realtor. I will plan to do that today. It will definitely feel more real once there is a sign in the yard. I'm guessing it will be up in the next week or two. I'm hoping for a quick sale where we can vacate at the end of May.

The really nice thing is that the Army will pack our stuff and drive it down the road and unload it to our next destination! It's amazing how slick that works.

Thanks for the Blogoversary wishes!! So glad you are all here, too.

I cancelled the Goodyear credit card that DH opened in November when we purchased tires and wanted to get the rebates. I didn't have it all paid off until early last month, but it is finally cancelled! It was a Citi connected card, so I just emailed the desire to cancelled and received a response with in a hour or two. Easy!!

Orders from the Army to move should likely come any day. Tomorrow? I'm still working on things around the house to make it in saleable condition.

Today, I'm using paint I have on hand to touch up our kitchen cabinets. If I have time I will also clean up the dead leaves from last years daylillies. They are beginning to poke through on the south side of the house! Spring is here it seems.

Yesterday, we had several pieces of our driveway pumped up with concrete. It does have patched holes that are still drying, but it looks so much better and is not nearly as much of a safety hazard! That will set us back about $400. I am waiting for an invoice.

It has been a bit spendy lately, thus not as much savings to speak of. DH had about $500 worth of maintenence work done on the truck this past weekend. Always frustrating to me when he does this and it suppose to just be an oil change. Ugh!

So, what's new with you? Is it spring where you are?

Wow! It's been a whirlwind of a week in regards to this move being determined. We started off with a list of 70 positions/locations to choose from. We made a list of 7, as requested, and ranked them. This list included our current city, as well as, one other position in our state.

The first response back from the Army eliminated ALL 7 choices. They came back with 5 choices that would be better for DH's career. The five choices were located in CA, WI, TX, and WV. We again ranked the positions, putting Texas at the top of the list. It was pretty hard emotionally to know we would leave the state we have come to love.

Before that list of 5 was final, another position opened up in NM. We had to throw it into the mix of rankings. New Mexico looks beautiful, but we eliminated it based on what DH knows about the unit and their status on the deployment cycle.

And then guess what happens after our list is submitted? The Army comes back and offers a position here in our current state that was on our original list of 7 choices. I'm in the middle of researching schools in and looking for rental homes Texas. Talk about being thrown for a loop!!

So, we have accepted their offer to reside in our current state. We will need to move, but it's just two hours east of our current location. We are moving farther away from family, but it's still a weekend drive for a visit, rather than an airline ticket.

My oldest, high school daughter, is the happiest she has been in this whole process. My younger daughter is disappointed as she was looking forward to Texas and an out of state move. I was more worried about my older daughter, so the stress has eased.

Logistically, moving 2 hours away is sooo much easier than moving 12+ hours away. We can hop on the interstate for a day trip to check things out just about anytime. Happy. Happy. Happy!!

Financially...our housing allowance will drop by $300. It is an area with slightly less expensive housing. However, it will go back up near the current amount we receive next year when DH is promoted. I can work with that. Besides, if we can get the house sold quick enough, we will be back to running just one household. It all works out.

Now to decide to rent or buy. I was originally thinking rent, but wonder if I really should consider buying (only once current house is sold) since rates are so low. It also seems our choices might be much greater too. I will start running some numbers soon.

Soooo...that's the news here. Can you believe it?

I'm a bit under the weather and don't think I could tolerate a smoothie today.

We submitted our original seven locations to move to, including to stay here, but found out my husband was denied all seven options. He was given five new options that would be better for his career. We are a bit shocked, but will grieve the loss and move forwards.

The five new options must be ranked and turned back into his career manager tomorrow. Luckily, DH is arriving home tonight so we can talk a bit face to face about our decisions.

The five locations we are choosing from are:
Charleston, WV
Los Alamitos, CA
Fort Hood, TX
Milwaukee, WI
Jolon, CA

I think we are leaning towards Texas as our first choice, but we could end up living in any one of these towns. Feel free to comment about what you know of these areas. All insights are appreciated and welcome.

Now, I'm going back to bed. And hope I feel better in awhile to pick up my daughters from school.

Yesterday felt a bit more like Valentine's day to me. Primarily because the valentines all arrived in the mail and by FedEx yesterday.

My DH sent cards to me and each of the girls. Cost: $3.49, $4.49 and $5.99. Plus a stamp to mail each of them. Flowers also arrived. The cost I see posted on our account was $47.96 for those. They are pretty.

Here's a picture.



I'm guessing this would be a $10 to $15 bouquet any other time of year, epecially if it wasn't shipped from California. Luckily, he didn't buy a vase to go with it. He has done this in the past. I've told him I have multiple vases.

That's a grand total spending of $64.57 including tax. An average of $21.52 each.

I'm not mad about my husband's spending. The flowers are pretty. It is really the only time of year he does make extra effort, other than my birthday. So I got to love him for that.

I personally did not send DH a card, or a gift. He's coming home this weekend. I was hoping for an inexpensive lunch or dinner out for all of us.

I also have not purchased cards or gifts for the girls. We are beyond class parties and the excitement has died down. I might make a simple valentine out of some scrapbook paper I have. Because I do love my girls and want them to know that I do love them on Valentine's Day, as well as, every day of the year.

They girls get the joy of going to the dentist after school today, thus a reason I'm skipping candy this year. We will have our traditional pasta dinner tonight by candle light. They look forward to that the most, I think! It really is the simple things.

Tell me about your Valentine's Day. Spending big or frugal? Or do you just opt out of it all?

I took the advice of a commenter on my blog and made a payment using my banks online bill pay. The payment was for the CitiDividend Visa that wouldn't allow an oline payment until the statement cycled. I made a small payment to see if it would work and how fast. Basically it showed up in on my bank account and the card account the next day. So fast!

I will make the final $500 payment on Monday. The statement will cycle by this time next week. And I hope to have the rewards, $200, available to redeem soon after.

I redeemed my final $5 Amazon Gift card through Swagbucks today. I also got the final collector's bill today, along with the bonus points. Now to save for a $25 or $50 AGC by the end of the month! As of now I have earned $75 in AGC since January 1.

Lately, we have been eating quite a few Lean Cuisine meals. It seems to help me out when I need a break from cooking and with watching calories. We accumulated enough codes to redeem for a lunch bag last night. My daughter picked the color she liked. Based on past experience, it will take nearly two months to arrive. But it is free.

Move Update: We submitted our choices earlier this week, but now are waiting. We don't know how long the wait will be, but sooner is better for us. The first option is to stay here, but we think that likely won't be granted. My oldest daughter has her fingers and toes all crossed for that outcome.

Here's to hoping for a low spend weekend. I do know there may be some clothes shopping involved and groceries. How will your weekend be financially?

DH received "the list" today. The list of open positions and their locations. We get to choose our top seven and the Army goes from there. It's a bit overwhelming. Oh, any we only have until February 7th to complete our list.

The nice news is that he will be choosing from positions for Majors, rather than Captains. This is good because when he does get promoted, it won't require an immediate move. I think he only has another year before he is eligible to be promoted.

In financial news, I received $3 for a pinecone survey. That goes to the Christmas Fund!

Yesterday, I spent $50 at the eye doctor, for a quick exam/check for myself and my daughter. I was able to send my daughter old (but identical) frames in to get new lenses for only $16.50 at JCPenney. This was because she had a prescription change in less than 6 months. I ended up needing just one new contact lens, which I ordered online for about $45. I put all the charges on the CitiDividend card and now I'm just $45 short of the $500 minimum to redeem my rewards.

That's the news!! What's up with you?

Darn. My original quote for insurance isn't going to stand. The montly amount was to be $23.30. They have increased it to $32.90, because of a health issue I have. I'm not entirely surprised really. And it could still change because they are waiting on records from my doctor.

This is still better than the policy that I have now that will be $720 per year if I renew it. This new rate is $394.80. I was told I will hear the firm rate in two weeks or less.

Enough of that boring stuff! I do have other good news. The window pane we had installed yesterday came to $168.44. It turned out to be $65 less than they quoted. And I'm not even sure why, but I'll take it. Of course, the Citi Dividend card I wanted to charge it to didn't arrive until two hours after the window was installed. I was hoping to charge it to the new card to count toward my $500 minimum. Oh well.

I tried to redeem Swagbuck points yesterday, but was reminded that I can only redeem 5 items per month, which I already did. It's all good. I'll just keep accumulating points and redeem something bigger next month!

There is a bid on my ebay item I have listed. That means I have a sale in the near future. That money goes to the Free Christmas Challenge!

If you didn't see my previous post, check it out. It is very exciting financial news. I emailed and texted my husband about it, but no response as of yet. I hope he is excited, too!

I was able to redeem Swagbuck points for another $5 Amazon gift card yesterday. I will be up to $25 with those. I accumulated all of those in the last three weeks, maybe two weeks.

I received a $5 rebate check in the mail yesterday. It has been deposited and added to the Christmas fund as well.

We went out to our local Botanical Garden yesterday. Nice to see so much green and take in the wonderful smells of flowers too. Spent $16. I decided to look at the expense as supporting a local business.

After the garden experience, we used a $10 Groupon for frozen yogurt. The $10 was absoultely free, with a coupon Groupon offered at the beginning of the year. At checkout, I paid $2.89 for four people to experience a flavor treat. An excellent deal!

DH heads back to school later today. It has been awesome to have him home for a month. Even with parking fees we will have broke even for the month. We stayed within our regular budget for spending. I'm interested to see what his utility bills are since he unplugged everything, but left the heat at a very low setting. I'll know in a couple days.

We decided to get our oldest daughter a prepaid Debit card. It arrived in the mail yesterday preloaded with her first deposit of $14. The $14 is her monthly allowance based on her age.

After school today, we are going to set up and log into her online account. She will have her own log in for this account, and DH and I will also be able to see it from our own bank account log in.

She can use the card for purchases and ATM withdrawals. We can transfer money to and from it at anytime. We will definitely pay her allowance in this form now.

We are using USAA bank and the card was free. There are no monthly or annual fees or charges to use the card. We are excited to give her this option for handling her money. She has done a great job saving for things she wants and handling and even tracking her cash balance in the last year or so. We expect thing will go well with the prepaid card as well. She's most excited not to be fumbling with her wallet and cash when she makes a purchase!! Cute.

Anyone else give their child(ren) a prepaid card? How did it work out?

Here's a snapshot of our financial year:

We earned more interest than ever because we invested in the Savings Deposit Program (SDP) available to deployed military members. We earned 10%!!

Here's the interest breakdown: SDP $583.33, Money Market $106.48, USAA $1.97. Total interest was $691.78.

Our emergency fund took a small hit, and is down $737 from last year at this time. I feel okay about that considering we have had additional expenses running two households and buying new siding and a sliding glass door for our home, all of which were much more than $737!

We were debt free except for our mortgage in mid January 2011 until May when we purchased a new to us truck. We paid part of the purchase ($12,000) in cash which was a first for us. The remainder was taken out in a loan in the amount of $14,776.68. Our remaining debt on this loan stands at $12,412.06. We are simply making regular payments until we are back to one household. That loan will become priority number one once we do.

We did contribute some to our girls college educations this year, but not the full $4,000 we planned. We stopped contributions when we split to two households. Their accounts are each up about $1100 each for the year.

We also stopped making Roth IRA contributions in August. We are currently short of our 2011 goal to max out our Roth IRA's by $4,166.67. We expect to make this up with our tax refund. Thus meeting our goal, but later than normal. We did contribute $5072.76 to the TSP and $5,833.34 to our Roth's in 2011, which is $10,906.10.

I compared this years retirement totals to last year and we are only up $11,028.72. At one point we were up over $18K. But you know how the market is!

Since our goal was to primarily keep the status quo, I think we did pretty good. Yes, we took on more debt, but this vehicle will be one we keep for the long term. We feel good about the purchase.

It has been disappointing to cut back on investments, but it needed to be done temporarily to keep from getting into more debt while running two households. We really are cash flowing this adventure and all that comes with it and it feels good.

How was your financial year? Negative, neutral or positive?

On my side of the family we agreed not to exchange adult gifts since my brother in law is currently unemployed. It worked well for us; saved money and time. Turns out my parents decided to keep on giving! We received stocking stuffers with chocolate, smart wool socks, coffee, and vitamin C packets. And then a card with a $100 check. We were definitely not expecting that!

On my husband's side of the family we gave to our neices and nephews, his mother and exchanged gifts with two adults. Perfect. Except his sister was put on house arrest for a DUI and unable to attend our gathering.

My mother in law decided we should take up a collection, since SIL is unable to work, thus pay her rent and so forth. MIL started the envelope with $20. She asked if we would have cash to donate. Normally we don't have any cash on us. We use our debit card all the time. But I did have cash. So with mixed feelings we donated $25 to SIL.

We have mixed feelings because we feel this is an area of personal responsibility. SIL chose to drink and drive on more than one occassion, was caught, went to court and in house arrest and all that comes with it (unable to work) is the penalty. And if she can't pay rent, then that is part of the penalty too. Not our problem.

I'm sure our $25 and whatever amount was collected won't amount to making a huge difference. DH also doesn't think she will appreciate the thought in anyway. Or that we will ever hear a thank you. But giving $25 won't hurt us a bit either. It is what it is.

What would you do?

Merry Christmas! Happy holidays to my Saving Advice readers and friends. I hope you can feel peace today.

I'm especially happy to have my husband at home for Christmas. Last year he was on the other side of the globe.

What are you grateful for this season?

I finally totalled up my receipts for Christmas spending. Not bad and definitely less than last year.

Total spent on gifts and miscellaneous related items was $611.68. This total already includes some gift cards and store coupons that were offered. That amount equalled about $144.54!! So I guess closer to $750 in gifts purchased.

We also accumulated cash from craigslist and the fall garage sale in the amount of $211. We sold on ebay, too. Funds from surveys added to a Paypal redemption of $74.32. One item had a rebate for $8.99. We accumulated another $95 in Target gift cards. We redeemed debit card rewards for $25. And I have to add in the $100 cash my MIL gave towards gifts, since those gift totals are included above.

The total above is $514.31!!

Soooo....Christmas was nearly free at a cost of $97.37. We paid just under 13% of the total cost of gifts out of our own funds. Amazing!

And I have to laugh a little because my first run through with the numbers led me to believe Christmas was free. I forgot to include the cash we are giving to nieces and nephews which equalled $105! Darn kids. Just kidding!!

So for those of you doing the Free Christmas 2012 Holiday Challenge, I definitely think it can be done. And I'm in for next year, too.

DH graduated from his first course today!! He's on his way home. He will only be home for a month and has to go back and finish another 4.5 month class.

His January rent is paid. His utility bills are recently paid and most things unplugged at the apartment. The airline ticket is paid. We will combine our flexible spending/allowance money for the next month for groceries and fuel. We will only drive one vehicle, since the other is parked out of state!! Maybe we can save a little by being in one household for a little while.

I'm done Christmas shopping. Sure, I could probably pick up a few more things to stuff the stocking. But really, the girls have enough. They are blessed with many people who will be giving them gifts. I don't see how one or two more things in their stocking will improve their holiday.

All that is left to do is wrap their gifts and, of course, stuff their stockings. I could wrap today and be done in 30 minutes or less, but I do want DH to see what I've bought. He will arriving home in the next couple days for a month long break!!

Today, I'll sit back and enjoy the peace of the season. Are you done shopping or are you still out there braving the stores?

I made (along with my daughters) some more simple gifts with fabric and ribbon we had on hand. Another key chain with a basic key ring I found in a drawer. A zippered pouch with handle. A small tote bag for my 3 year old neice. Fabric bookmarks for our young reader friends and relatives (we made about 20!). Coasters. And bean bags (which are actually filled with rice).

All free with what we had on hand!







My oldest daughter had the idea of bookmarks. The fabric pieces were 2 inches x 7 inches, with about 1/8th seams. We didn't put any interfacing in, but one could for a stiffer bookmark.

What item is your favorite?

I made a cosmetic bag last night for my sister in law. She is the one receiving most of the Bath and Body Works gifts.

Here's the cost breakdown:
Zipper (40% off coupon at JoAnn's) $1.05
1/2 yard gray fabic (inside) $1.74
1/2 yard print fabric (outside) $2.44
Ribbon purchased at a garage sale for $0.25

Of course, I didn't even use all the fabric or the ribbon, but if I did it would have cost $5.48. In reality it cost much less.

I did use interfacing to attach to the inside part of the outer fabric to make it stiffer. I already had that and the thread on hand as well.

Here's the picture:

My sister works as a teacher. Her husband has been unemployed for four months. He made about 65% of their income. This holiday season she has made some excellent decisions.

No holiday cards are being mailed.
She is not participating in the secret santa at work.
She also opted out of the cookie exchange.

They are not giving gifts to adults. This leaves gifts to my girls and their one nephew.

I even told her she could cut back on the gifts to the girls.

Would you have the strength to do the same in a similar situation?

The regular monthly payment on the truck loan hit the account yesterday. We paid $37.48 in interest and $291.65 towards principal.

Our new balance is $12,705.74. I love less debt!

In other news, I did get a $100.39 check from my parents. See how my dad added $0.39 for my age. He's been doing that for a few years now. Kind of clever don't you think?

I have no immediate plans for the money. I will deposit it and keep track of it as birthday money. I might need new jeans soon, if I keep losing weight!

I find it funny that Laura had her birthday two days ago and now it is my turn! I'm 39. I feel much younger.

My parents are arriving to spend the day with me and my girls get out early from school, so it should be a fun day of celebrating.

My parents often give a $100 check....so that will be nice.

Ahh...very low spending this weekend. It makes me happy!

I spent about $10 on Friday for Pizza Hut. Not good for my diet (although I was in my calorie range) or the checkbook.

Saturday I mowed up leaves in the yard. We visited the library. We stuck close to home and relaxed.

Today my parents visited. They brought homemade mushroom soup (vegan variety), salad and bread. Yummy! We visited our art museum which always has free admission. We learned (relearned) how to play our backgammon game. Watched a short Netflix show. And my parents took us to a noodle restaurant for dinner. Their treat!

In three days time only $10 spent. Gotta love it! How was your weekend spending? Anyone spend less than I did?

My youngest daughter decided she would be a Hufflepuff witch from Harry Potter. She owns a wand and she just wanted a scarf made in the black and gold colors of the House of Hufflepuff to wear with her 'muggle' clothes. Sure. Seems easy.

I made my way to the fabric store and purchased a 1/4 yard of fleece (her preferred fabric) which was on sale for $5.99 a yard. Thus $3 out of pocket with the two colors.

I eventually sat down and cut the fleece for the block pattern she desired. Cutting whet smooth with my rotary blade.

Next I set up my machine, ready to sew with gold top thread and black bottom thread. I also ran a test stitch. And I had a problem. Lots of stitch skipping. Big amounts of stitch stitching.

I went into detective mode and started making adjustments to fix the problem. Needle bent? Tension checks...mutliple times. I even dusted and oiled the machine per the manual. It did need it anyway! Still was having a problem.

At this point, I'm starting to look into the cost of repair. It's a Kenmore machine, so I checked into Sears repair online. Flat fee of $62.99 plus any necessary parts. More than I want to spend, but was definitely considering it as a possibility. It wasn't just the scarf I wanted to sew. I have holiday gift ideas!!

I tried a few more things. Looked at the needle again. Swapped it out. And realized my needle was in backwards!! I have no idea when that happened.

Finally, the machine was working like it was suppose to. Maybe even better than the last time I used it since it had now been oiled and dusted. It's like a whole new machine.

And of course, I was able to complete the $3 Halloween costume. Here's a picture:

Are your Halloween costumes homemade or store bought? We've done both, but I'd love to hear your take.

Random thoughts by creditcardfree:

My husband was home for the extended weekend. Loved having him around. We did do some spending. A few take out meals, wine and new running shoes for DH. We spent less than last time he was home, so that is a good thing.

Running two households is expensive, but we are still handling it all with cash. No extra debt has been incurred. Our savings seems to be staying intact, too.

I might be getting new tires for the van soon. Three are still very good, one is showing more wear. The current ones are only rated for another 9K miles. I think the van was out of alignment early on and wore down then. It has since been aligned a couple times. We priced tires at the dealer and a national chain. The national tire chain was nearly $300 less for a better tire (65K miles v. 50K miles)!! I just need to decide when to get that done.

My brain is starting to think about Christmas. Part of me wishes to skip all the gift giving, part of me wants to make all homemade gifts and the other part wants to shop!! I do think there will be some homemade gifts involved this year. Maybe biscotti or beer bread. I might even sew some drink coasters and cosmetic bags. I should get this clear in my head soon and start sewing!

This post has mixed emotions.

The sad: My youngest daughter has decided that she no longer wants to take dance classes. Her heart isn't in it. I made her go for a full month before making a final decision. This would have been her fifth year of dance. I guess four was plenty for her. I'm going to miss seeing her smiling face at the recital this year. Of course, if I made her go for the next 8 months she probably wouldn't be smiling at the recital.

The glad: We are getting a refund for prepaid dance tuition! In the amount of $323. I pay in full to save the recital fee which is about 10% of the years tuition. It is the studios policy not to offer refunds for prepaid tuition. However, since we are still clients (my older daughter takes tumbling), we have been granted a refund of our credit balance. Whatever they want to call it, I'm getting a refund!! It should be in the mail this week.

And I can sell her jazz shoes and return a pair of yoga pants. Yipee!

We will likely have spent the most ever for airline tickets this year. DH has traveled roundtrip two times already and we are expecting at least three more trips before the end of the year.

We have purchased a ticket for a trip in October. Paid about $345 for that one.

Right now we are looking into tickets for two trips home in November. Specifically Thanksgiving. Yesterday when I looked the tickets were going for over $600! Today, they have come back down.

Got a call from DH while I was writing this post. Officially, two trips in November are booked. Total $733 for 8 nights at home. It's worth it, but hard to choke down the cost!

May we never forget today, September 11th. Remember the day. But also find gratitude for life and resiliency.

I'm thankful for my husband, our children, our strength and health.

What are you grateful for?

I put our monthly Roth contributions on hold last month. It made a huge difference in how our cash flow felt. With DH living in another state, money is much tighter. The lack of roth contributions helped ease the tension.

We decided to keep our monthly contributions on hold until the end of the year.

Now I can't say I'm real proud of this decision, but our goal is still to max out our contributions. It might take until April 15th, but we will make the investment in our future.

I expect that we will receive a large refund this year because of wages that are within range to be eligible for the earned income tax credit. Nontaxable combat pay helps us meet this criteria. Kind of odd, considering the time in combat was our highest earnings ever. So, if needed the remainder of our 2011 Roth contributions will come from this money.

We still do not have our next duty assignment. The sooner we know where we are going and can get this house sold the better for our emotional and financial health. I personally can't wait!