My sister put a bug in my ear. Dad needed and wanted more shirts. Specifically, he loves shirts from Eddie Bauer, size XL Tall.

So, I found a solid polo shirt for $16.99!! Wow. With tax, I spent $18.01. I had budgeted $25. I did pretty good, huh?

I also did well for DH. He's getting a CD that I spent $10.50 on, as well as a pair of running shorts for $14.99. Again, pretty good. He's card is going to be one we used from last year. It's one of those musical cards where you can record your voice. We'll re-record if we can. It's a good card...it just fits him to a T.

My dad's Father's Day card is one that I bought at a Hallmark store that was closing. I think I paid about 50 cents!!

The wrapping for both gifts comes from my stash of gift bags and tissue that I reuse. They won't mind or care, which makes me happy!!

Happy Father's Day to all of you Dad's.

I thought I'd just give a peek into the financial things happening in our daily lives the last day or so. I hope it is not too boring!

The girls and I had dentist appointments yesterday. Since we are military the girls and I pay a premium monthly in order to have dental coverage. The premium is $30.29 per month. Because we go to an approved dentist, we pay no money out of pocket for regular cleanings twice a year.

This money does cover 50% of orthodontic work...with a $1500 max. I think I only have $1100 left of that max. I hope I don't need it all. DD1 will be getting braces, hopefully before school starts up again. She has one more baby tooth that needs to fall out.

After the dentist appointment, we picked up McDonald's. I spent about $15. I wish that I didn't eat the fries or second cheeseburger!! I didn't need it. I even had a drink in the car.

I picked up food because the car was packed up for a mini trip. I drove the girls to meet my mother a little over an hour away. The girls went to spend about 48 hours with their grandparents. Free time for me!! Of course, I spent a little money in gas for the trip.

After I arrived back home...I had to decide what to do. Well, I went shopping!! I needed shorts for vacation. I mean I'm going to Florida in July! I spent $50 for 3 pairs of shorts. Not bad.

Once DH was home, we went to the gym. I was still thinking of those fries I ate! Great workout followed by DH's desire for chinese food and beer. Ugh. I'm having trouble with food today can you tell? We spent about $20 for this meal. It was really good. I had sesame chicken.

We watched a movie called What Happens in Vegas. It was from Netflix and really good and funny. Okay it was predictable, but still good.

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Today, I have to spend my free time getting my Dad's gift for Father's Day. I have a plan and hope to spend about $25.

My parents are bringing the girls back tomorrow and they are spending the night here. I guess I need to clean in preparation for that and buy groceries. Fun...more spending.

Have a great weekend fellow bloggers and readers!

Yes, we saw UP today at the movie theatre. We saw the matinee and paid $25 for the four of us. It was pretty good. Although my 8 year old did mention that it was kind of sad. And yes, it was, I almost cried. We went right after lunch and skipped the snacks. Even DH, skipped getting a diet coke! Trust me, that is a miracle.

This evening we went for an hour long bike ride. That translates to about 7 miles! We can't ride any faster than smallest one in our party. I think DH & I could go about twice as fast. Oh, well. It was some exercise and free entertainment!! Gotta love that.

I thought I'd share a few of the things we did today. One daughter wanted to go to the Science Center today. That would have been a little costly, so we found some free things to do!

They created things with clay that we already had at home. There were a couple pots made and a many kitty sculptures. They are now drying. Tomorrow they will paint them!

We went for a bike ride near our home. We tried to play on the playground...but too many bugs!

They have watched some TV. A pbs show and Gilligan's Island that came from Netflix. Last week we had the Brady Bunch here.

Finally, I made a bubble mixture from water, corn syrup and dish soap. I put it in a bin out on the deck. We found some string and plastic butter tubs to make rings out of. The bubbles were huge!

Oh, and we also made banana bread together. Yummy snack and good practice in the kitchen.

Wow...quite the day and we didn't really plan any of it. It just unfolded. I hope all you mom's and dad's are having fun with your kids, too!

My oldest thought she wanted to take lessons for her flute this summer. Her first class was yesterday. Umm...the teacher, not so good. Or at least didn't mesh with my daughter. DD was upset.

There were to be only four lessons. It was just for fun. She does fine with the lessons the school provides. So, we cancelled.

Today I picked up the refund. There was a $5 service fee for cancellation, but I did get $85 back!!

Now...off to buy toilet paper!! Actually, I'm going to put it back into this weeks budget. I will put any leftover towards Disney after payday.

After a marathon day of scrapbooking, my vacation from two years ago is complete!! Yipee.

Umm...can you tell I was a little motivated to get this done. I do have another vacation coming up, in case you haven't heard.

Financially, my checking account has about had it, too. We now have $65 to last until Monday. We should be okay. Cars are fueled up. We have pop for DH. We have food for all meals!

Now, I do hope I have enough toilet paper...I'm not kidding!

I hope we can avoid spending the next three or four days and use some of the money to see a matinee movie. It's been about 3 weeks since DH's has had a day off. I think he'd like an outing. As would the rest of us!!

Should we see Night at the Museum 2 or UP?

Today was the first full day of summer break from school for the girls. Okay, they were off Saturday and Sunday!!

This is how the day played out:

We slept in. We went grocery shopping. They helped unload groceries. We went to the library. They watched a video from library. One daughter printed photos from the computer in preparation for scrapbooking.

Tomorrow. Band lessons in the morning. Scrapbook and craft a good portion of the day. I still have to finish our trip from two years ago! I will finish before this trip.

Weather is so cool and rainy. Can't swim at all this week. Boo hoo. That's okay. I'm still trying to keep money in check for the vacation that is coming up very soon!!

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I have two items on ebay. Both are being watched!!

My neighbor gave me four large stalks of rhubarb two days ago along with a recipe for rhubarb bread. It just came out of the oven! Smells, yummy.

Now, I just hope the kids like it. It's their snack for the weekend!

Side note: The recipe called for buttermilk. I ended up using a 1/2 c. of evaporated milk, 1/2 c. water and 1 T. of vingear to make 1c. sour milk instead of the buttermilk. I've had the can of evaporated milk since Christmas and no plans for it. I'm using the rest as cream in my coffee the next few days!!

Without going into detail, my DD1 managed to get grease (and a lot of it) on her fairly new white capri pants over the weekend. Ugh!

My mom suggested bleach. I really try to avoid that stuff. It gives me a headache. Besides it's grease. Don't you have to get it out before you can whiten it? Not sure.

Normally, I use liquid soap for stains. As long as it isn't colored it works pretty well. I started with this, with a fair amount of scrubbing. I also soaked them in a non toxic cleaner. They have been washed twice now, without drying.

Yesterday, I picked up Advanced Shout for heavy duty stains. I paid $2.69. After at least three treatments and a lot of scrubbing the grease stains are a much lighter gray. I'm making progress!! I have hope I can get this grease out.

I did have an alternate plan, if the stains couldn't be removed. Make bermuda shorts!! The stains are low on the inside pant legs, so I would have just cut the stained part off and hemmed.

DD1 is thrilled that she will still have capris. I'm thrilled too. These are lightweight enough to wear in the hot humid weather of Florida!

Thanks Shout! Thanks to me, too! That is a lot of scrubbing.

I printed two coupons off the internet for a sporting goods store in our area. I can get $10 off $50, and $25 off $100.

Okay, I do have a legitimate reason to spend the money. Several of us need new shoes for our Disney Vacation. Shoes can be expensive, right? Right.

So, I went advance shopping today for my family members. They have sandals for the girls, as well as sneakers, running shoes and sandals for DH. I also looked at swimsuits for myself. Can I say that last part was NOT fun?

So, my plan is to split these purchases into 3 transactions. I will need to find one more coupon for $25 off $100. I will end up purchasing 5 pairs of shoes and a swimsuit for just over $200! Not bad, huh?

Now...I just hope they still have everyone's size!!

On Thursday, I sewed my sister a tote bag. She loves the black/white combo, so I made her this:


I included a few Horrible Harry books that didn't sell at our garage sale. She's an elementary school teacher, so I knew they would come in handy!

It was a surprise. But after I gave it to her, I couldn't help telling her about making it and buying the fabric, since I had so much fun doing it.

The fabric cost $4.65 and took a few hours of my time. Guess what? She paid me $5 to cover the cost of the fabric. She said she almost bought a similar bag at Target for $10!

So, I broke even on that one. It really was a gift. Thanks, sis!

My daughter is in sixth grade and has achieved all A's!! There was an honor awards breakfast at school this morning. Yummy rolls and juice provided free.

Of course, I'm much more excited about her achievement. The certificate was signed by the president, too! Pretty cool. I think DD was very pleased as well.

We have saved for college. Just not a lot at this point. Maybe $4K each. I'm sure it's a bit less now!

I even have college funding on hold for this year because of the home equity loan payoff. Of course, we probably shouldn't be doing a Disney vacation instead of funding college. But we are. Dave Ramsey would be soooo mad at me!

College saving is just a bit foggy to me. The costs are increasing so fast. How do I keep up? How do I know they will go to college or even where? We'll be moving a couple times before college starts for our oldest. Should I save a set percentage? Do I come up with a dollar figure to shoot for and hopefully exceed?

Retirement saving seems easier. Save as much as you can or pick a percentage. When you get to retirement...spend less than you have. Isn't the recommended amount to spend about 4% of your accumulated balance?

Of couse, my kids do well in school, so I think some scholarships will be available. I'm not opposed to them having jobs. I'm also willing to use cash available at the time to pay to assist them.

And now, with the market the way it is...do I even save in the stock market? My oldest only has 6 more years of schooling before college.

Hmm...as I write this I realize that because college is closer than retirement, I'm feeling the inadequacy of my planning and saving. I hope I don't get this feeling in retirment.

Next years plan WILL include college. I just need to decide if the amount we were saving last year is enough and where it should go. Wish me luck!

I've been doing better at making my grocery list based on what we have in the freezer and pantry. I skipped going to the store today because I realized I had chicken, lettuce, cantalope and flour. I made salads with chicken, cantalope and homemade cloverleaf rolls. It's the first time I've made the rolls and they turned our really well. The whole family loved them!!

Later in the week I will make a homemade sausage pizza, since I have all the ingredients. We are also having a breakfast night. The girls will probably have waffles or pancakes, while DH and I will have eggs. So, three nights of dinner withoug going shopping!! Hmm...just realizing I should make these earlier in the week and I can avoid going to the store until Wednesday. I was going to go tomorrow. I'll decide that tomorrow. Sometimes it is nice just to get that errand out of the way!!

I've planned dinners all the way through Monday, which is Memorial Day. After that, I will only need six more meals through the end of the month.

requires some extra planning and a little more spending. At least at our house!

Our oldest daughter plays the flute. She is just about to finish her second year. School lessons are free and we are renting to own the flute. It will finally be ours in 4 months. I'm going to shell out $90 to pay for 4 weeks of lessons in June. It will be good for her. She'll keep practicing and have 'fun' music to work on.

DD2 needs to take some more swimming lessons. At a minimum I will need to pay $35, unless I pick a private teacher. In that case, it might be more. I think the private teacher may be worth it since the school programs don't quite ever seem to get her to enjoy going under the water!! She's almost 9!

Every year, I say I want to plan our summer out with activities, but I don't really seem to get it done. We wing it. I don't want it overscheduled, but a few things to look forward to are important, too!

What activities are you paying for this summer?

This is the first month in several that I'm only making the regular payment on our home equity loan.

Regular payment is $118.01.
Principal portion was $75.72.

New HEL balance = $6,923.28

Hey, I'll take it!

We're in a much better place than we were at the beginning of the year AND I get to go to Disney World on CASH!!

Just a reminder: Normally, I wouldn't even condone a vacation, especially one of Disney proportions while in debt. However, DH may be deployed overseas in the next year, so I feel that an exception can be made.

Happy memories and family time: priceless.

My daughters have their dance/tumbling recital this Saturday. DVD's are available to purchase. Last year I bought one for $28. It was worth it. They have watched it numerous times.

This year...another story. The studio has hired another company to produce the show. The quality is suppose to be significantly better. Each DVD is now $45!
Okay, not terrible, but not great. Here's where it get's crazy for us: our daughters are in two different shows, we need 2 DVD's. Each DVD will be approximately 1.5 hours long and will feature my daughter for 3 minutes!

I will get a $20 discount for buying two DVD's, making my total $70! I absolutely realize this isn't a necessity. If I didn't have the money I would refuse to buy one.

I suppose if I had skipped the DVD last year, I might not be buying these this year!!

DH is on his way home from working on a Saturday morning just to catch up on things. I think we will go bike shopping for our oldest daughter. We sold her bike at the garage sale on Thursday and have promised her an upgrade.

By upgrade, I mean, quality. The last $50 bike was not quality. The chain shouldn't keep falling off. We had BIL look at since he know a lot about bikes. He said you get what you pay for.

DH and I bought bikes that were over $400 a piece last year. They are perfect. So, our oldest daughter may just be getting a matching bike. I'm hoping to spend a little less, if possible.

I have the cash set aside for this purpose, I hope we can find a nice one that will be under my budgeted amount of $400.

I'm creating a ticker to track the extra funds in my second checking account. This is where I will hold the money we have set aside for Disney.

In full disclosure, this account may decrease at times. It will decrease as I buy things we need prior to our Disney World vacation, such as clothing. Before we leave, I expect there will be a good chunk of change in the account to pay for our theme park tickets, rental car, food and hotel balance.

Beginning balance is: $440.13

I hope to add some more later this week, since we are having a garage sale on Thursday and Friday!

My DH travels quite a bit and recieves per diem for food. Lately, he hasn't been using the full allotted per diem, as a result we've built up a little extra in funds that will be coming our way.

I expect a deposit some time next week of about $205. Okay, not so little.

We'll use it towards the expenses of our Disney World vacation in July. Right now, I'm focusing on purchasing clothing. We need light breathable fabrics, swimwear and supportive shoes. I went to Disney in my Teva's last time and it worked out perfect!

hassle with your child? Oh, boy! My youngest was a little more than irritated today getting ready for dance pictures this morning. It worked out in the end, but she sure didn't like the fuss I made with her hair or her costume.

It doesn't help that she doesn't like her costume either. She's in a hip hop class and will dance to 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun.' The Miley Cyrus version. So the costume is layers...like from the 80's!! Think Cindy Lauper and Madonna. She has two tops, two skirts, and leggings on top of tights. Ugh...it looks hot and uncomfortable!!

So, this year I opted for the least dollars out of pocket. I chose a 5x7 with 4 wallets. One pose. Eleven dollars for each daughter. Last year I spent a dollar more and received a 5x7 of the whole class and a 4x6 of my child. I decided it didn't really make a difference to have the whole class and bigger in size at that!! I'd rather have the the larger pic of my child and a few extras for grandparents. I think they will appreciate that.

Turns out both girls may be done with dance and tumbling. They don't seem interested in continuing this next year. Fine with me, more free time, less money...unless they find something else they want to do!

Yep, I'm still working the details for Disney World. It isn't necessary to rent a vehicle when one goes to Disney, but it is our preferrence since we like to do a few things outside of the World.

Last week I booked our 8 day rental car with Alamo at a rate, including taxes of $258.88. It was the best I could find at the time. I used a Walmart discount code that gave 20% off.

Today, I went looking again. I decided to peruse military discounts. I ended up at the Armed Forces Vacation site, which linked me up with a code at Budget. My rate now is $196.20!! So, much better!

Just the few minutes that it took to look saved me $62.68!! ~~Happy Dancing~~

I will still keep my eyes peeled for discounts. Sometimes there are last minute deals.

My youngest has been sick with a nasty upper respiratory virus. She's coughing non stop. I had her into the doctor on Thursday and then after a sleepless night I called to get the prescription cough medicine.

Our grocery store had a coupon for a $20 gift card with a new or transferred prescription, so I had it filled there. I paid $3 copay for the generic drug. I bought the following with the gift card and $1.05 out of my own pocket.

1 pint blackberries
2 pkgs of mushrooms
3 pkgs of shredded cheese
1 pkg of pepperoni
1 box of pasta
1 lb ground beef
2.5 lbs of chicken breast
3 pkgs of frozen vegetables

Except for the blackberries, these items were all on my grocery list! Of course, if DD had not been sick to warrant the prescription I would not have happened on this deal. At least something good came of it, but I wish she wasn't sick at all.

Our mini one-night vacation with the kids was under budget!! Gotta love that.

We spent $450.59 on the trip. Expenses included hotel, 2 lunches, a sit down dinner, snacks, and two forms of entertainment. There were also two clothing purchases.

The budget was $500, so we saved $49.41. I will probably use this money towards paying school registration for one of my daughter's.

We could have saved another $50+ if we had skipped one of the activities. It really wasn't worth the money. And you know what? My gut told me this prior to going! I need to remember to listen to this. Oh well, it was paid with cash and not on credit with interest! Yes!

My DH and I are celebrating our 13th anniversary today! We feel very bleesed to have been able to enjoy each others' love and companionship for this long.

Here's for many more to come!!

My parents sent us $100 as a gift. They send us the same gift every year. This year it is going to the home equity loan payoff. I've got to get that balance down under $7000.

Yes, we are celebrating...we are on a mini vacation right now that we already set cash aside for. Those kinds of trips are the best kind!

Wow! Yesterday was quite the day. In addition to the wonderful state tax withholding news, we have made the decision to go to Disney World this summer for vacation. Yippee!!

I know! This wasn't planned. Well, we've been planning to make a plan for vacation. We have been undecided about where to go. Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Texas, Arizona were all possibilities. Until yesterday Disney World wasn't something we were considering. We've been there. We've done that. Of course, now it's been almost 4 years since we went.

Somewhere between my ecstatic high about tax withholding and a batch of cookies, I went looking for deals. Unfortunately, there are so many deals for military families in Disney World. Or should I say...fortunately!! It means we are going to Disney World. Yipee!

Want to hear the deals? DH can get free admission to enter the DW parks for FIVE days! He can purchase tickets for the three of us for $99 each...to be in the parks for FIVE days! That's $297 for all four of us to be the parks for FIVE days. That is unheard of. We can add on park hopper ticket for another $25 each for the three of us (additional $75). And if we want to go to the water parks...just tack on another $75!

Military members and three family members can get in FREE for one day to Sea World or Busch Gardens. FREE. We didn't do this last time we went. It would be fun to go this time, too! Oh, I'd pick Sea World over Busch Gardens, but that is me!

We'll be visiting on my daughter's 9th birthday. She can get in FREE one day to the park, but since we have great tickets, we can elect to get $$$$ equal to a ticket for spending in the park. FREE money.

There is more. I know, I'm making you delirious reading this, huh? Hold on though...it's GOOD! Military members can get upt to 40% off nights at the Disney Resorts. Wow! We went to Disney's Port Orleans Riverside last time and LOVED it! I'd stay there again. It was very nice. So, that is a huge savings. We are looking at 7 nights for about $900. If we paid full price it would be nearly $1500!

I was also perusing airline tickets.
The lowest price I found for four people with taxes was $815!! Isn't that amazing? Of course, today it is a different price. A higher price of $955. I will keep trying to get that lower price. I think it may have something to do with the day of the week!

I couldn't buy the tickets last night anyway. I do need to make sure DH can take the time off!! Right now, I'm waiting for him to call me any time now. Honey...please call. PLEASE!!

Okay...I've got to lay down. I'm delirious with excitement. Yipee!!

OMG!! OMG!! I think I may have had an impact on the federal government. I know for sure I impacted our paycheck. Wow!

Short story: We moved to Iowa over 2.5 years ago. Being the nerd, I noticed that too much tax was being withheld for state taxes(currently $77/mo too much). I had DH check with his finance office for corrections. They said they couldn't change it. Of course, too much withholding comes back in the end as a refund...so I just let it go. Every so often, I run numbers and check the state withholding tables only to confirm that I have been right all along. They are withholding to much based on the tables.

Last week, I emailed the defense finance office about it. I let DH know I sent the email. I had to include his rank and ssn. I told them according to Iowa withholding tables they were illegally withholding too much!

Today, I go to check DH's pay that will be deposited this week. Normally, the numbers are always the same...I only do this because I'm a nerd! The amount is almost $40 more. I notice there is a note in the comments section. They have updated state income tax withholding tables for 30 states! Thirty states! OMG!

Apparently 17 of those states will get a one time payment of the amount over withheld. I don't think that is us...but I'm beyond thrilled that this has finally changed. I can't believe how many people that probably impacts!

OMG!! Oh, and do you know what I'm going to do now? I'm going to increase my husbands retirement contributions (TSP) by at least 1%....maybe even 2%. In the end it will put our net check to about the same amount AND it will reduce our taxable income.

I can't believe how excited I am! Victory for nerds. Victory for soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen everywhere!

Happy dancing!! Come on...dance with me!!

We're cutting back on our wine spending. Yes, my husband is fighting me on this one a bit. It's not about the money, it's this weight I've put on. I really need to cut back on some calories.

Each glass is 100 calories, so every bit helps. But, in secret, I love that we are saving some money by skipping the wine. It's been two weeks in a row now!

Sunday is our anniversary, so I expect I might break down and buy a bottle. After that one, I hope we can keep our wine spending down.

at the beginning of the month.

All the bills are paid until next pay period. The water bill was $6.25 under budget! I always love that!

Just tonight, I bought socks for DD2. I also took both girls to get their hair cut. Tomorrow I need to find a pair of jeans for DD2. The last two pairs seem to have simultaneously developed holes in the knees. How often does that happen?

I also received school registration papers today. I'll need to write a couple of checks to our public school system by the end of the month in preparation for the next school year. Joy.

Make it a great weekend!

Thanks honey, for reading my blog. I appreciate your support in this and all other endeavors.

I do need to apologize for referring to you as a child. You are not a child. You are a loving, caring man who supports all of us financially. You love and respect me and our beautiful girls. You make jokes that we all love. We miss you greatly when you travel for work. We wish you were home more often...really!!

Thanks for working with me last night on our financial plans. It feels great to have had a non heated conversation about it. Even though I'm the nerd and LOVE the details of our finances, it feels wonderful to make decisions together on how we spend or save our money. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!!!