Creditcardfree's Personal Finance Blog

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!

I sold the roller skates on ebay. Net proceeds $9.13! Can't complain. I made out pretty good on the other pair through craigslist. I have added this money to the Ebay Challenge totals below.

June Total = $55.25
May Total = $197.75
April Total = $22.22
March Total = $83.13
February Total = $66.50
January Total = $4.95

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I have added the proceeds of the sale to the Disney Vacation Fund.

Our new total is: $1977.00!!

I made the obligatory payment to the home equity loan yesterday in the amount of $118.01.

We paid $76.18 towards principal!

The new loan balance is: $6,847.10

Is it terrible to say that I can't wait to come back from vacation, so I can continue tackling this loan? It's been two months of seeing the balance trickle down. It is painful to watch.

I will really be celebrating when I can get the balance under $6K. Keep moving forward, right?

Our Disney Vacation is getting so close! The girls are even asking how many more days.

Today is payday. I added $642.00 to the Disney Vacation Fund. Our new total is:

$1968.00!!!

We are so close to the $2000 goal, too.

We have one more paycheck before the vacation. I hope to add close to $1K to our total before we leave, which will be more than enough to enjoy Mickey and all his pals.

T mobile says 8 of ten people pay too much for their cell phone service. We saw this on a commercial tonight.

DH says, "Why don't they just say 4 out of 5?"

Well, because four out of five dentist suggest Trident!!

Just saying!!

Homemade Iced Coffee.

I pour cold coffee over ice. Then I add in skim milk and a little sugar.

Mmmm...yummy and refreshing.

Healthy? Probably not. It does seem to keep me from drinking as much diet soda. So that is good.

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 have two ebay items that will end on Sunday evening. No bids yet, but they are being watched.

I went through the girls clothes yesterday in preparation for our Disney Vacation. They had a few things that no longer fit. I will list a few of those items on ebay. We still have clothes to buy for our vacation. A couple of us don't have any shorts!! I think capri's will be too hot down there. Don't you?

I've been able to have the air conditioning off for a few days now. That always helps with the utility bill. Luckily, my DD with allergies is handling it fine, too!

Payday is Monday. The paycheck is pending in our bank account. I'm looking forward to making another deposit to the Mickey Fund!

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?

I just transfered my net ebay proceeds to our checking account. The amount $11.32! I only sold two small items.

Disney World Savings = $1,326.00

All those small amounts have really helped!

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!!

I joined swagbucks awhile back. I earned my first $5 Amazon gift card back in April. I finally used it!!

I purchased a book and CD. The purchase before discount was over the $25 threshold so I received free shipping! My total for the two items $20.98. One item is a gift.

Technically, I think one could accumulate several of these gift cards and use more than one towards a purchase. One might be able to get some holiday gifts for free, if you start now.

Personally, I've been a little lazy about using my swagbucks tool bar, so I have been missing out on some points, but I am halfway to another gift card!! I'm going to see what I can accumulate by the end of November to use towards a gift of some kind. Wish me luck.

P.S. There is a

I'm going to list at least one item on ebay later today.

Last week I sold two items on ebay. My net proceeds were $11.12. I will add this to the ebay challenge money.

June Total = $46.12
May Total = $197.75
April Total = $22.22
March Total = $83.13
February Total = $66.50
January Total = $4.95

My monthly average is currently $70.11. I'm still not hitting the $100 goal I set, but I have no complaints!

Today, I went to lunch with friends that were visiting from out of town. I took the girls with me. We ate very well for $17.40 including the tip. My oldest didn't really qualify for the kids menu, but that is what they charged me for. I saved about $2!

We walked from our restaurant to the state capital building. It was a least a mile, mostly uphill. Of course, at the end we were able to walk back down! Free entertainment was welcome by me as well as our friends. Parking was even free!!

The local farmer's market was ending as we arrived, the girls and I received free samples of organic lip balm. We took 6 tubes and gave some to our friends! Can't beat that!

Duh. Why didn't I think of this before?

We are paid twice a month. I just realized about 2/3 of the money we use for gas, groceries and incidentals can be used to supply meals and fuel while on vacation!!

I usually set aside $700 two times per month to cover those variable expenses listed above. Since we will be on vacation 10 days, I figure I can use at least $465 of that money towards vacation. Yipee!!

I can't add it to the fund, until I receive it, which is a couple of days before our trip. I'll update it then!

I sold an another item on ebay on the Buy It Now option!! Yes.

The other two items are ending today. One will sell for sure. Fingers crossed on the other one. I plan on listing at least two more items on Sunday.

I will update my challenge totals once all the money is in and I pay my fees.

In my last post I mentioned that I had some roller skates on craigslist. They have been listed for a couple of weeks. Today, after I mentioned it in my post, I received an email inquiring about them.

The best news: The woman just picked them up and paid me $35 cash!!

I'll add this to the Mickey stash.

I will also add this to the Ebay Challenge money. Here's the update:

June Total = $35.00
May Total = $197.75
April Total = $22.22
March Total = $83.13
February Total = $66.50
January Total = $4.95

The water/trash bill came today. I set aside $51/month to cover it. This month's bill was $45.59!

Turns out next month the trash portion is increasing by $2/month. Darn.

I think I will keep my budget at $51 for now. I will revise, as needed.

I put three items up on ebay late last week. They have about 2 more days to go. One will sell for sure. The other two are being watched by one person each.

I hope all three sell. I really dislike relisting. In June, and months following I believe, you can list 5 items for free. So, if they don't sell, I'll try again.

I still have roller skates on craigslist. I've had a couple inquiries...but no buyers. These may go on ebay next round.

Fingers crossed that I can sell these items before our vacation!

Since the market has been so volitile, I've stopped recording our monthly balances. I could go back and update it, but why look at the bad, right?

Today, I decided to record our balances for the month of May. Things are looking up. Yes!!

Some of the increase is, of course, due to our new contributions. We didn't stop retirement contributions because of the economy. It is better to buy on sale, when prices are low. Besides, we have many years before we need the money.

So, the details...we are up by $7,233.74 since the last time I checked on April 3, 2009. Here's to more good financial news in coming months!

Since DH's paycheck is pending deposit for Monday, I decided to start paying some bills and saving some money!

There is enough left over to add to the Disney World savings. I have a whopping $453 to save!! But....

I actually used some of the saved money recently to buy us some new shoes for vacation. Five pairs of shoes and three pairs of socks came to $165. So....

I now have $288 to add to the ticker as new savings. The new balance is $1280 saved so far for our Disney Vacation in early July.

I only have two more pay periods to save from, but I know we will reach our goal of $2000. Amazing considering we only decided to go in April!!

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!!

Oh, I'm so glad I found this on You Tube. It is one my favorite commercials. And yes, it is financial in nature!

Click

Can we discuss our stats? I've noticed that the number of people reading my blog has increased quite a bit lately. I am writing nearly everyday, so that does keep people's interest.

Yesterday, nearly 155 people read my blog. That's quite a few. I can only imagine what size room I would need to fit you all in!! Thank you to those of you who do read my blog. It's nice to have you here.

So, how many people read your blog yesterday? No judgement...just curious!

I like sending greeting cards. I don't like paying for them!! I've been known to buy cards at garage sales or make my own. In the name of saving money, I've cut back on my card sending. We make a phone call to relatives on their birthday. It seems a little more meaningful. We have unlimited long distance...so the cost is the same either way.

But, there are still cards I send. Turns out a local Hallmark store is closing on Saturday. Everything in the store was 75% off. The gift stuff was quite picked over, but plenty of cards.

I bought 33 cards for $18.38. Tax included. That's about 56 cents per card!! I picked up cards for Father's Day, anniversaries, Christmas, and birthdays. The majority of the cards were 'miss you' and 'love' cards to send to DH when he is deployed. It's true...deployment will rear is ugly head one of these days. Now, I'll be prepared in the card department!

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!!