Creditcardfree's Personal Finance Blog

I'm back from taking my daughter to college. It was emotional. I was more sad initially, then it was her turn. She did turn a corner though and seemed pretty good when I left. She made the marching band!!! She is now super busy the next several days with that, which makes it hard to figure out getting her computer and phone set up on the University's WiFi. She thought she was connected last night then said it didn't seem so this morning.

She already has a bit of homework. Needs to find time to practice for her concert band audition next Tuesday. Luckily she did practice nearly everyday this summer. She is busy, which is probably better than being bored.

I know I spent nearly $100 at the bookstore for new t shirts and sweatshirts for our family. The books she rented were $190. I guess one was purchased, since it was available for rent. There may be cheaper options in the future, but this time we just went with the local bookstore. Luckily I checked the receipt before we left. Originally it said books needed to be returned Oct 23...before the semester is over. It was a cashier error. Now they are all due back December 18. We would have been charged the difference and then would have owned those books! Glad it happened as it was a good lesson for my daughter to witness.

I know I probably spent another $300-350 once we were in town on dorm needs. It sure adds up! Hopefully, many of these things can be used over and over in the coming years. I know I still had dorm items when my girls were younger! I maybe still do.

I need to get back on track with bill paying. There was a payday since I was out of town. I have many emails from credit cards about statements being available. My goal for today is to get that completed.

There's more to write about, but for now I need to keep getting the important things done!

We have quite a few credit cards that we now use for various types of rewards. Specifically I have balances on ten, ranging from $13.43 to $1,549.07. The total balance of those ten all together is $4,155.65. These are all current and not charging us any interest. And you might notice that is less than the last time I reported our total.

Today I made a list of the balances of each card in order of due date. I usually don't pay much attention because I just pay off the balances when we get paid. If you are paying on current charges twice a month you are always ahead of the statement closing. That's why I haven't paid attention.

As I said in the other post about our credit card debt, I plan to pay all of these off without any interest. But I also want to keep as much in savings as I can. So I'm going to aware of the due date so I'm paying the debts due first FIRST with current paycheck money rather than those due a month out or the next paycheck.

This probably isn't a big relation to anyone, or me for that matter, but I'm just taking a different approach for a bit. A little more awareness to get on an even footing again and hopefully with a nice healthy savings account.

Of course, there is the college expenses. I'm going to try to cash flow as much as I can. However, whatever I can't can be paid with funds saved for college. At least for this year. We have tuition mostly covered, but the dorm will be our biggest expense. Along with some miscellaneous band expenses which seems to be extra time in the dorm and food before the housing contract starts. Next year, I will plan to save up for this little extra cost.

Are you aware of your debt due dates, or do you pay more attention to which paycheck you pay your debt from?

I mentioned that I closed our US Bank Checking account last week. I already have confirmation in the mail that it was closed.

Tonight, I redeemed $106.02 in rewards on my US Bank Cash+ Visa. I put it as a statement credit towards the balance (the rug we bought a couple weeks ago). Because I redeemed more than $100, I will receive a $25 Visa in the mail (approximately six weeks). This is the last time this card is offering this extra bonus. I think I got it one other time. I still like this card though since I can get a 5% rebate on our cellular bill every month!

This is considered a snowflake to me. I'm still tracking them, just have been slower in the last two months. I'm also just putting the money towards our recent moving/college/trip expenses. I might have a fun goal to track them towards starting in September or October.

I also added $15 from Pinecone Surveys and $14.72 in interest and atm rebates from our bank to the August snowflake total.

Are you keeping track of your snowflakes? Are you putting them towards debt or another goal?

Eek! We are just days away from flying my daughter to college. We have a big list of things to buy when we arrive, but need to pack here first. Suitcases are lining the hallway. We have the next few days to get things packed. If it gets to be too much to take with checked bags, then we may need to mail some things. We sent a few things with family that just left today.

It's pretty overwhelming for all of us it seems. Today we are getting her meningitis vaccination taken care of and likely a little clothes shopping. Tomorrow more packing since we need to know by Wednesday morning if we need to mail anything.

In other news, I redeemed Pinecone Points for $15 Paypal cash. I think I will have that tomorrow if I remember right.

I'm guessing I won't be posting much in the next week with all the activity, but eventually I'll get back to my regular updates about our goals.

I closed the US Bank Checking account and associated debit this week. I hadn't been using it for quite a few months. I also only opened it to earn a cash reward. I think it was $150, maybe $200. I was able to easily cancel it using their online messaging system. Now I just have their Cash+ Visa which I use every month to charge our Verizon cellular bill on to get 5% cash back.

It feels good to get rid of one more account. I need to do some more pairing down on other accounts again soon.

I have company through Monday, so I'm not posting much this week.

So for full disclosure I'm putting how much we have currently on credit cards. A whopping $5,161.22! I know. That is a lot. None of it has been charged any interest. We have either paid the balance in full before the due date or let the balance roll over on the one 0% interest card we have, Citi Thank You Premiere. And yes, that card does have the largest balance at $2,585.67.

The good news is I have $3,441 that I have decided I can pull out of savings and start paying these balances down/off. I also have a $100+ reward from US Bank to apply to a balance as well. That leaves $1,620.22 to pay off. Some of that will come from current money in our checking account to cover purchases included in the total that are current purchases and bills. That accounts for at least $300, maybe a little more.

I'm pretty sure I can get the remaining carryover balance paid off in the next month, by the September 1 paycheck. Of course, I could pay the whole thing off and just pay ourselves back too. I am considering that also.

And yes, a big chunk of that balance is our trip. I said I would use some extra Army funds and house proceeds and that's what I'm doing. Off to pay off some more debt!

Our trip to Universal Orlando did cost a bit more than I expected, but I have no regrets. We had a very good time with plenty of memories!

Here's the approximate breakdown of costs:
Airline Fees $144
Park Tickets $604
Hotel Cost $695
Hotel Parking $52
Rental Car $191
Food/Gas/Souvenirs $668
Airport Parking $42

Grand Total $2396

We did Early Bird Check in for Southwest on both legs of the trip, which added $100 to our cost. It was worth it leaving, but on the way home our flight probably only had 60 people, so need for it. But you don't know that ahead of time.

Hotel costs could have been much less, however, we did get Express Passes included to cover all three days for four people even though we only stay two nights for that cost. (Third night at different hotel was paid with reward points) If we had purchased Express Passes (Unlimited version) for three days for four people it would have cost us over $1400! That is not a typo. There is no way I would have paid that, which is why staying on site is such a deal even though the cost of the hotel seems pricey it isn't for what you get.

I mentioned the rental car issue in yesterday's post. Originally I though I was getting a rental car 'free' with reward points.

Of course, we could have limited souvenirs, of which there really were only six or seven items. My husband had some pricey beer. We did eat Clif Bars in our hotel room each morning so that saved us a bit, but if we wanted food in the parks we ate it. I tried Earl Grey and Lavender ice cream, which was yummy! With it being so hot, water was probably our biggest expense. I didn't have time to do enough research, but we could have refilled our water bottles with water at the Coke Freestyle machines for FREE! Oops. Lesson learned for next time!

So it's all good. I'm using a little bit of our house proceeds and army reimbursements to pay for the trip.

Transportation on our trip was more than planned. It seems I thought I had reserved a rental car using Southwest Rapid Reward points. However, when I went to double check all of our reservations I couldn't find the rental car, only an email stating I had redeemed a reward. It seems the reward I redeemed is a voucher for Dollar Rent a Car that was mailed to me (well mailed to my old address). I still have yet to receive it.

So less than 24 hours before we needed a rental car I was on the hunt, using every rental car company and coupon codes I could come up with to find the least expensive option for us. We really wanted to pick up our car at the airport rather than a shuttle (this does increase the cost). We also wanted a reliable company (some companies have terrible reviews). We went through USAA and got a mid size car for $191 prepaid with Budget. It was definitely more than I wanted to pay. Later my husband asked about other options to get to the resort since we barely needed the car. Shuttle service or Luxury Town car round trip for four people would have been at least $144. It turns out we did leave the hotel resort area one night for dinner and stopped to get something at Walgreen's. We also used the car to get to our hotel for our third night's stay closer to the airport. This stay was at a Fairfield Inn and we used reward points. Staying at the resort would have cost us over $300 for a third night. Oh, and we also ate at a restaurant on our last night and we drove there.

So the rental car wasn't a bad deal considering how we used it to save us a little money. It just cost me much more because I originally thought I was getting a rental car for free! Well, I am getting a 'free' rental car but not for this trip.

We paid $20 per night to park on site at our resort hotel. That fee was expected since I was planning on a rental car. We would have saved that fee had we not rented a car.

And finally, we parked at the airport for $12 a day. Our parking tab was $42. Again, we could reduced that amount in half if we had parked off site. We ran into backed up traffic on our way to the airport and decided it was better to just pay the higher cost of parking than be late for our flight.

So it is what it is! I think in the end it worked out fine for why we rented a car and what the alternatives would have been. At least the airline tickets didn't cost us anything out of pocket!

We are still spending. This time we went to Kohl's and bought some clothes. I needed another pair of shorts for our trip, I bought three because I couldn't decide. However, I will return two after the trip. My husband needed two pairs as did one of my daughter's. My husband also needed a couple shirts. And then since we had a 25% off coupon and a $10 off coupon it seemed the right time to buy a new kitchen pan. My husband has been complaining about ours sticking. He's already used it and very happy!

That trip was not frugal, but we all found things there in one trip so that was really good. But spending $178 is tough! Again, I do plan to return two of the shorts I bought, which we probably be about a $32 credit, bring the bill to under $150. A bit better, but boy things are expensive and thus why we usually get by with less clothing. On vacation we don't want to spend our time washing and drying to get things clean. And we will be in Florida, thus the clothes are going to be filthy after sweating in them all day. No wearing again. Although I actually might try that with one pair of shorts. Wash in the sink and hang to dry. Then I could return all three pairs of shorts!!

Our first water bill arrived today. It was for just 7 days. It included a $20 turn on charge. The actual water with taxes was 7.60. I set the bill to pay next Monday from our checking account and requested future bills to be sent by email.

I'm going to enjoy the trip and plan to pay all the bills when we return this weekend.

We have hardwood floors on the main level of our rental home. Of course, part of the agreement when renting a home is to leave the home in the same condition as you found it (or better). With that in mind, we are beginning to purchase some rugs for under our furniture.

Yesterday we purchased an 8x10 rug for our fourth bedroom, a guest room. I wouldn't be in such a hurry for that room, except in a week my parents are visiting! A bed on a wood floor seems like it could roll (at least our frame has rollers) or definitely make deep marks over time.

The rug was $167 at Home Depot. We purchased a $48 rug pad and a package of 4 light bulbs at the same time. The total after our military discount and tax was $212. I wished I put it on our Discover card as they have 5% cash back at home improvement stores. I didn't have mine with me. Found out later my husband had his (and he was with me), but I didn't ask him! That would have been another $10 in savings.

We have a rug under our kitchen table that I bought for $20 probably six years ago. It has always been in our basement and was purchased for that purpose. I had tried selling it before we moved. It is working for now, but I don't like it.

We also need a rug for our living area. We did see a few yesterday that would probably work, ranging from $328 to $398. They were at Lowe's. They are having 10% off their area rugs in stock until Aug 2. We would also get a 10% military discount after that. And if we actually use our Discover card this time, we could save even more.

When we first saw this rental home I liked the floors, but I didn't think about the cost I would incur to protect them. We did put little felt pads on the bottom of several pieces of furniture that will be directly on the floor, so not a requirement to have rugs everywhere!

Do you have large area rugs in your home to protect floors? Where have your purchased yours? Any rug tips?

I found out that we can pay tuition with a credit card, BUT there is a 2.75% convenience fee charged to the payment. I think I'll avoid this and just use our checking account when it comes time to make payments.

I need my daughter to grant me access to pay her tuition as a first step, otherwise it will all be on her. I'm guessing she will have no problem with granting the access.

I'm not sure exactly what the amounts billed will be yet or when the are due. I should have enough cash on hand at any time to make payments. I will likely reimburse us from her college savings after I know the amounts and they have been paid.

We received a payment for our temporary lodging expenses yesterday. The amount was $1550.50. This is less than the rent we actually paid for 30 days. But the Army made this payment based on their calculation for 10 days worth of lodging and meals. Works for me!

I can now make the final payment on our Citi Premiere card, which is under $800. That will make the balance zero. It should remain that way and we will get it closed in the near future.

I still have a running balance on our Citi Preferred card, maybe about $3K. This card has 0% interest, so I have been just paying what I can from paychecks. I will need to dip into savings soon to get it all paid off, which is fine. I haven't even used all the money the Army has sent yet.

I expect I can put at least $1500 on it today, and have another $500 available on pay day. Of course, we have our trip expenses, but some of that Army money is covering the trip. I'm finally feeling a little more in control of the cash inflows and outflows again.

It will be interesting to see how college and making payments feels in the next couple months! It's coming up fast.

We booked airline tickets for our entire family to go to Florida next week for three nights. The tickets were just $44.80 after using Southwest Rapids Rewards points and the companion pass I earned from last year. We also used points to get a rental car, which was free compared to taking a taxi or a shuttle service from the airport.

We are going to the Universal theme parks for three days. My youngest daughter is a BIG Harry Potter fan, thus she has been wanting to go for awhile. I did tell her it was possible this summer. I suddenly realized summer was winding down and her sister would be off to college. It was time to squeeze this trip in!

Our three day tickets for four people to park hop at Universal will be $604 with our military discount. We are saving $216 off gate admission with this benefit.

We are staying one night at a Fairfield Inn using Marriott points. The other two nights are going to be VERY pricey, but the benefits will be well worth the cost to our family. We are staying on site at one of the Deluxe resorts which will provide us early admission to the parks as well as an unlimited Express Pass for each of us for all three days. This will save us from waiting in some very long lines. So two nights for four people will cost us $695!! Yes. It is crazy. But since we are saving in so many other areas with reward points this money out of pocket will be in line with what we are willing to pay for this quick trip. A trip I know our girls will remember for a long time.

We will have some parking fees at the airport and on site at Universal. But the other big expense is going to be food. I'm going to look at some menu prices to see if I can get idea on that cost. It will be in the hundreds of dollars since it is theme park food!!

I made all these crazy plans before I told my girls. But at dinner I said I was working on a surprise and told them the trip plan! They were both excited and did remember I said we would probably go this summer. I'm glad I remembered to make it happen.

Anyone been to the Universal theme parks? Tips for us?

I'm taking my daughter to college in less than a month. We are flying! We just booked our tickets with Citi Thank You Rewards for a total out of pocket cost to us of $36.

These Citi Thank You Rewards were earned with our Citi Thank You Premiere card that we applied and received in May. We spent the required amount (I believe $3K) and earned 50,000 bonus points on our last statement. With points earned for the purchases as well, we had over 55K points which was just short by $36 for covering our tickets. One is a one way ticket and the other is a round trip ticket. It's going to be sad to leave her, but I know she will end up doing just fine.

We charged all of our travel to our new home, the first half of our temporary housing rent and just regular everyday spending to meet the $3K. It's nice to know we did get a benefit from it. This is the first time we have used credit card rewards for flights. We usually use them for cash or gift cards. These airline tickets were definitely the better deal! These tickets would have cost us nearly $700.

We still have over 78K of Southwest Rapids Rewards points to use...maybe for flights. Just haven't decided on the best use for those yet.

If you have credit card rewards, do you use them for airline tickets?

The escrow check from our mortgage company arrived today. A nice fat check in the amount of $2,033.05. We are still owed $21.98 for cancelling our homeowners insurance. The insurance company sent that money to our mortgage company, but apparently it did not arrive in time to be included with this check. I'll be depositing it using my mobile phone!

We are still waiting on one more Army reimbursement. It should cover some of our time in our temporary apartment. I'm guessing that could take a couple more weeks.

One day soon all the money flowing out and in will settle down a bit. It has been a crazy year so far!

All of our items arrived at our rental home on Monday. I've nearly unpacked all boxes inside the home. I will need to find a cool morning for the few in the garage. We were even able to unpack quite a few boxes while the movers were on a break waiting for a second truck to arrive. That means they already hauled away all the boxes and papers we unpacked then. Actually kind of nice!

Unfortunately, not all of our items made it halfway across the country in good condition. I've seen a broken plate, broken (in half) candle holder, grease and debris on several of the mattresses, a hole chewed in the corner of our big wood desk (a mouse while in storage?), a broken bike reflector, damage to the bottom of our entertainment center that seems to have been already repaired using two stains and wax (and not in a good way)...and some other minor dings that I will live with and avoid mentioning.

It's payday! We also received a payment for the items we moved in our van. That payment is taxable, so the net amount was $734.51. I haven't logged on to see the rest of the details for how much the total was and how much was withheld for taxes. I think they withhold 25%! We'll get that back early 2016 when we file our taxes. Now we are just waiting for one more payment...the one that is for the temporary lodging. Maybe two more weeks at least on that one.

That's it for now. More details later when I have more time. I want to get back to the unpacking. Although I did appreciate the few minutes it took to write this post to get off my feet. Moving is tiring!

Today was spendy. Not unexpected as I alluded in my last post. We spent $55 at the PostExchange on needs for the house. Then at the Commissary we stocked up on groceries and other needs spending $225. It seemed we got a lot for that money, too!

There was a stop at Lowe's for a plunger, felt furniture pads and a trash can. Not sure the price, maybe $40 or less.

We also bought our modem for our cable internet at Best Buy. We decided to purchase rather than pay $8 a month. We picked a modem which was priced at $71.99 on the shelf, but after a 10% discount and taxes came to $125! We questioned it, and then showed the cashier where we found it. Apparently stocked on the shelf wrong, but we got the price that was listed! That was a savings of nearly $55. Worked well for us. If they had not offered the same price we would have picked a less expensive modem.

Tomorrow might involve a meal out depending on if our kitchen items are unpacked! We have food, but might be hard to make it! Otherwise, I do hope it is a no spend day.

Oh, noticed one of my fairly new tires was low on air tonight. We refilled for now. Hoping if there is a leak it could be fixed. We don't need car issues at the same time we are moving!

Did you have a frugal weekend or were things a bit spendy for you as well?

It's our last weekend in our rental apartment. We received confirmation that our movers are expect to arrive and unload our items on Monday morning. The earlier the better...it is going to be hot!

I'm hoping we can try to relax a bit, but we do need to go shopping before move in day to get some things. Many of these are items we tossed before the move or left at our house for the buyers.

Here's my list so far:
toilet bowl brush
shower curtain rings(two sets)
paper towels
outdoor trash can
plunger
broom (maybe 2)
felt floor pads (for furniture)
scrub brush for kitchen
kitchen sponge
dish soap
outdoor rugs (could wait)
a weeks worth of groceries
internet modem

Our relaxing weekend includes visiting a museum here. I'd also love to swim in the pool one more time! And if the weather would cool off a little more I'd like to walk a trail that I found out about (not near our home unfortunately).

I mentioned before we were probably going to sign up for cable at our new rental home. We have been able to get good over the air reception for the last 9 years. However, taking a look at the

digital tv reception map for our area shows we MIGHT be able to get PBS and ION television with an antenna. That's just not enough for us.

We are getting the basic local channels (20+) and 15Mbp internet, including the rental of two digital adapters for our televisions at a cost of $63.19 a month. We are going to buy our own internet modem to save the $8 rental cost. We might increase our internet speed if we find that we are having issues, but it seems better to start with less and work our way up if needed.

Our internet bill with taxes and fees at our last home was $71 a month. So we are actually saving a little money. We were offered a plan for double the internet speed, 200 channels, and home phone for $50 more a month. Tempting, but overkill, since we don't need a home phone (we have Ooma), and we definitely don't need 200 channels!

We are using Time Warner. Our costs are locked in for 12 months, but we were happy to hear we are not under any contract and can cancel at any time for no fee. I'm sure after 12 months we will need to get another 'deal' on pricing, but we will deal with that when the time comes.

There's a promotion to refer friends to Swagbucks right now. If you sign up by July 31st and earn 300 Swagbucks by the end of August you will receive a 300 Swagbucks bonus and so will I.

A $3 Amazon gift card is worth 300 SB. So a little help with your next Amazon purchase. Or save your Swagbucks for other gift card redemptions.

I'm going to attempt to save my Amazon gift cards earned on Swagbucks and Bing for needs my daughter might need in college. A simple and affordable way to help her out from time to time.

Here's

my Swagbucks referral code. Thanks for helping me out!

I'm making a $50 donation today to an organization that has been helping my niece. It's a group home for women that have aged out of the foster system. It seems to have been a great thing for her. She's had some mental health issues along with parents who didn't know how to handle it well at all (dealing with their own issues). She is doing great now from what I can tell.

The organization had a fireworks stand to raise money, but I don't buy fireworks! And I wasn't in town to do so if I even wanted to. I promised a donation when she posted the fundraiser online. I forgot about it until this morning! They accept PayPal donations, so that makes it easy and skips the need to mail anything.

She recently said the organization needs more pots and pans and a vacuum. I don't know if that is where my money will go, but it gives me an idea what they are using some of the money for.

What organizations do you like to donate to?

I've set up electricity and water utility accounts today. The electricity charges a $10 membership fee since it is a co-op. They also charge a transfer fee which is $23.54. So we owe $33.54 before the electricity charges start. The water utility charges a $20 set up fee, which is also added to our first bill. Both will allow payments online (including credit cards) for free. The electric company was kind of to tell me our bill will always be due on the 10th of the month.

I still need to figure out who to use for internet! I can't decide. I did find out that we can use our own modem with Time Warner for internet. I think we are actually using our modem from our old house here in the apartment. Seems to work fine! It isn't on the 'approved' list though. That may mean buying one, but I know that will be cheaper than renting one.

I figure we can actually wait on the tv service for a bit. We watch more online than anything else it seems. Cable is a time suck for us that we really don't need. I'm very leery of adding cable to our lives!

I wonder how things are going for LAL and her move to the West?

I'll be calling to set up our new utilities for our rental home this week. The water and electricity should be easy. But I'm getting hung up on picking internet providers. I can choose between CenturyLink and Time Warner Cable. The owners of the home have used Time Warner and did mention needing to call to get the lower rate occasionally. I dislike this tactic, but will do it if needed.

We had CenturyLink in the past and didn't ever really have an issue with service. Although my husband said it was slow...which it was but that was over three years ago and in a different location. It wouldn't work for how we use service now, but I think they have faster options available.

We might need cable too, for basic channels. I'm definitely leery of committing to a contract on tv. It is changing so fast. We had used an antenna in our last state to get over the air channels for free. I checked the ability to get over the air service at our new location and it is not good. We might be lucky to get PBS and ION stations. I'd really just like local stations, but I'd prefer all of them! So now we are looking at basic cable and possible packages that bundle them with internet.

Decisions. Decisions.

Anyone have either of the above companies for internet or cable? Thoughts. I know most cable companies can get crappy reviews and are always adding on more fees. I hate that!!

I logged on to our previous mortgage account to update our new address. We will be out of our apartment by this time next week. The family we are renting from is having their items packed today, so by Wednesday they will be out of the home. I decided that means we can go ahead and get mail forwarded without getting in their way. It seems to take a week anyway to even start getting mail once it is forwarded.

While I was looking at our mortgage account, I noticed that the escrow funds are being refunded. The amount is $2,032.95 plus $0.10 in interest. There should be $21.98 from our homeowner's insurance, but it doesn't seem that our mortgage lender has received that money yet. I will need to inquire with them. I'm looking forward to having our cash back! It's been building up and I knew with our move it wasn't going to be needed. But when you are required to make an escrow payment you do.

I let you know when the cash arrives and what we end up doing with it. I'm tempted to get some new furniture, but we'll know if that is our plan once we get our current belongings in our new home.

We went to a celebration on post last night. My husband took out $80 in cash so we could buy food and drinks from the vendors. The event was free and we saw some well know entertainers, so paying high prices for the food didn't bother us too much this time.

My husband thinks he lost $20 or maybe just a $10 bill. He came home with $8 in his wallet. However we can only remember and account for about $50 in food. It's possible we aren't remembering what we purchased correctly and actually spent $70+ on food!

If we did drop some cash, I sure hope someone who needed it came across it and it made their night. We can afford to lose $20 luckily. Not trilled about it, but it isn't' the end of the world.

Most of our travel reimbursement from the Army is pending in our checking account today. This one is for our Dislocation Allowance, mileage and per diem for our actual driving trip to our new location. At least that what it looks like from the amount.

The amount pending is $4,656.55. Definitely plenty to work with to get our credit card paid off. I'll give more updates when it is all complete.

We are still waiting on the reimbursement from the Army. Maybe tomorrow? I know it will come eventually. It just takes patience on my part!

The good news is we finally got a daily itemized bill from the corporate housing company. My husband can turn this in to get some reimbursement from the military for our temporary quarters. They will only cover 10 days, but they include a per diem for food for those ten days with the assumption you are probably in a hotel and eating out for all meals. That extra food money will help defray some of the costs as well. I'm going to guess this would come to around $700 if we get it. It could be more, but I'm not going to pin my hopes on it.

Have a super Independence Day weekend!!

Awesome! Our bank, USAA, has a free notary public service. This is the first time I have lived near one of their financial centers. I took advantage of the service today for a document the school needed to enroll my daughter in school. It took all of ten minutes to include the wait. Free and painless. Glad to have that marked off my list.

I also used the ATM to get allowance money for my daughters. The each get a little spending money each month. That's all we give. If they want something that cost more than they need to save for it. It's kind of a way for them to learn to manage their money and for us to stay in budget with any wants they want!

Our temporary apartment gave us the final rent due for our stay through the 14 of July. It was slightly less than I thought by $30.11. That means I can send that money to pay back the rent we already paid for the last half of July in our rental home.

My youngest daughter turns 15 this week. I bought $50 worth of gifts before we moved and they are already wrapped. She indicated she wanted a t shirt from an online store and a new sketchbook. She knows the t shirt will arrive late, so I will order that today. I was able to get the sketchbook she wanted for $4.55. I will have to figure out how to wrap that one creatively. I've actually got one idea to use some fabric.

In other news, my oldest daughter received the list from her music professor of music she needs to buy. It came to $114 before shipping! I guess that would be similar to some text books. We'll get that ordered next week so it can arrive at our new house.

It is payday here, but still no reimbursement from the Army yet. I still think it could arrive by Friday. Fingers crossed anyway!

June was the least productive month for accumulating snowflakes so far this year. I'm not complaining. I will take any snowflakes I can get!

I'm pretty happy about earning those Ooma referrals since they make up the majority of the June snowflakes. I haven't actually used those yet, but I will! All other snowflakes went to pay down the credit cards.



I'm hoping soon I can start saving the snowflake money to help out with college expenses. I'm sure there will be some that will be a bit unexpected!

Did you total up your snowflakes or extra money found for June? What did you do with yours?

I paid some miscellaneous charges on different credit cards this weekend. No interest was charged on any of these...because I don't EVER pay interest on credit cards.

Kohl's $44.48
Chase $8.54
US Bank $47.34
Target $305.25
Citi Govt $22.23

I also used snowflakes to pay $24.88 on our Citi Thank You card. I have around $560 left in our checking account to apply to recent purchases on both Citi cards. Once I figure which amounts should go to which card I will make those payments. Paying off current charges or any debt for that matter feels good!

We went grocery shopping at the commissary on post this weekend. I will say it seems prices are better there. I wouldn't have believed it after seeing prices at the Post Exchange which I think are inflated. For example a tub of butter I had been buying back home for $5.69 was $4! I bought turkey bacon (Oscar Meyer brand) for $1.50 that I would have easily paid $2.25 for previously. The commissary does add a 5% surcharge to help pay for future buildings and locations. We also need to tip the baggers (hate this part). Our tip was $3. Despite these extra fees, the total bill seems significantly less. I love that!

We are really close to post right now, but it will be a 20-25 minute drive from our rental home. Of course, my husband is on post every work day. I can get him to pick things up. I expect though we may shop here for most things if we can. I just need to have a lot of $1 bills on hand for tips, as well as plan well for our needs so I don't have to be making a lot of trips.

Still waiting on the reimbursement from the Army. I do hope the money arrives this week!