We're days away from our vacation and today is payday!! It's time to make a final deposit to our vacation fund.

I mentioned awhile back that I could use some of our regular spending money towards vacation, too, since we won't be home to spend it. By regular, I'm referring to money we set aside each pay period for groceries, fuel and other variable expenses. Usually this is about $700 twice a month. Out of this $700, I'm allocating $465 to Disney.

The extra money in our paycheck today is $915! So, adding in the $465, brings today's Mickey Money Deposit to:

$1,380.00!

Final Disney Savings: $3,362.00

Now, in my mind I hear you all saying, "Creditcardfree, now that you have saved all that money, what are you going to do?"

I'm going to Disney World!!!!

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Have a great Independence Day!

Please take some time to be grateful, for this wonderful planet we live on and the freedoms we enjoy to pursue our dreams.

In our state, we pay deposits on cans and bottles. We turned in enough today to add $5 to the Mickey Fund!.

New Total = $1,982.00

I had DH get the money in quarters, since we'll need some change for toll roads while we are in Orlando.

Our trip is getting closer. I'm excited and stressed out all at the same time. So, many things to keep track of!! I'm backwards planning on paper, so that helps a little.

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!!

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.

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!

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.

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!

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!

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!

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

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!!

We recently changed DH's contribution to the TSP to 7%. That is up from 4%. We also max out our roth ira's every year. I wanted to figure what percentage of our gross pay we are saving for retirement.

In order to do the calculation I needed to know the gross pay. Turns out we are saving 16.7% of our gross income towards retirement. Yea!!

Funny thing is: His gross pay is about 7% more than I thought it was. I had no idea!!

Funnier: He knew but I didn't! Crazy considering I handle most of the finances. But I guess he likes to know what he's working for!

We earn points on our debit card purchases. I was able to redeem enough points to get $25 cash back.

That should show up in my account tomorrow. I will add this to the Disney World savings.

New Total = $992

We are almost halfway there!! Most of the savings for this trip won't be added until mid June and early July...just before we leave! But it will happen.

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!

Today is pay day. I have some more money to add to our Disney Vacation fund.

I added $328.

Yipee!!

New vacation total = $965.75.

The goal is to have $2K by the time we leave, but I think I'll exceed that. Whatever we don't spend on vacation goes to the home equity loan!! As a result, I have an incentive to save as much as possible.

P.S. I found $1.25 in my purse. I've now added it to my vacation savings!

Don't worry...we're still going!!

While we got a great military rate for the Disney properties, we decided to stay off site this time. I cancelled our reservation with them this morning. We're saving $116 in actual room cost.

The new reservation is with Marriott Courtyard at $99/night and we get free hot breakfast. We also get queen size beds. The double beds on the Disney property we stayed at last time were so small, DH and I split up and each slept with a child just to have room!! Oh, and we get a $25/night credit towards the on site food court. We would have easily spent $20-$25 on breakfast at the Disney property. Yikes!!

I could get an even lower rate at Marriott, but then the breakfast and evening food credits go away. I figure the credits are worth at least $45-50/day and the lower rate is $26 less...so better to keep the higher rate with what is included. Time is valuable when you are at Disney, too. Breakfast on site is very convenient.

I expect to have some money to add to our savings tomorrow...payday!

I'm adding my garage sale proceeds to the ebay challenge. So far, I have not even listed anything on ebay this month. I do have a few things I could sell, so I will try to get those up this week.

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

My monthly average is now $74.91. I'm still not to my goal of $100/month. However, I have plenty of time to work on it!!

The garage sale is officially over. Thank goodness. Two days gets to be long!!

Today I only brought in $31.75...

Total for two days $197.75!!

I'm thrilled. I didn't think I had enough to clear $100, but I made it close to $200.

I'm putting all the money to the Disney Vacation Fund! The new total there will be $637.75.

The garage is cleaned up, but now I have bins to go through. I still have a few possible ebay items, the rest will be donated to charity.

Sometimes the money stuff seems to come from all directions.

Today, I had to call FedEx about a charge on one of our checking accounts. A charge that was not legitimate for $17.80. I saw this charge pending late last week, however, our bank couldn't do anything about it until I spoke with the merchant. FedEx was helpful and is in the process of crediting our account. Seems that a hotel we stayed out a few weeks ago, sent a package to another guest with a similar last name...charged our debit card rather than theirs. Oops!

I mentioned yesterday that I was entertaining changing our hotel reservation. Well, I went ahead and made the reservation. We will be off Disney property, saving money on the room, breakfast and dinner. Yes, we'll have to pay to park at the theme parks ($12/day), but the savings offset this significantly. I will cancel the other one later in the month, once I positive that I'm sticking with this new reservation.

Today, I'm preparing for a garage sale with a couple neighbors. I need to price all my stuff. The lower the better...so as to move it all out of my basement!

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!

I received an email from my bank, USAA. They are an online for military members and their families. The bank is offering a 2 year CD at 3.25%. Sounds great, huh?

But, is it for me? I'm sure a could put a portion of our emergency fund in there, but not all. I don't like the idea of the money being tied up and unavailable in the event of an emergency.

We might have the opportunity to take advantage of a 10% savings rate in the next year or so. This is available to deployed military. So, do I tie up the funds leaving them unavailable for this opportunity?

Will rates go up higher in that two year time frame? Is two years too long?

We have just over $10K...how much should I tie up at that rate, if I do take the deal?

Anyone with any thoughts? Right now the money is only earning 1.9% in an online money market account.

It's a warm one here. I guess we got the California heat wave. I had the windows open last night for the first time in a long time. It was wonderful!

Now, the house is at 78 degress. I decided to close the windows since the temperatures are going to be above 85. Open windows would mean only more hot air coming into the house. I pulled the shades and blinds closed and turned on the house fans. It's not too bad!

I'm really avoiding turning on the A/C. It is tempting to remove the humidity. However, I know that it will be much cooler tomorrow, so I will resist.

No heat, no a/c...just plain air! Works for me.

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.

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!

TSP...Thrift Savings Plan. The military's retirement.

We max out our Roth's and have been sending in 4% to his TSP. In light of the good news from a couple of days ago, I increased his TSP contribution to 7% of his basic pay. In the course of a year that is another $2073 invested for retirement!

The really nice thing....

it won't affect our net check!

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!!

Do you want to hear more about my communicating about money with my DH? Sure you do!

It reared it's ugly head last night, when I brought up the piano lessons that he and my youngest daughter want to take. I was reading the information about make up lessons and that each individual teacher set their own policies. This is something he needs to make sure he's clear on since, he will likely miss quite a few lessons because of his travels.

He's says...I thought you said we couldn't afford lessons! What? Really!? When did I ever say those words...ever? No, I did not. I'd love for them to take lessons. My youngest daughter would probably be taking them already, but he wants to go with her. Since he is the adult in this situation, I waiting for him to handle it. We have the money...sure a little less to the home equity loan, but we CAN afford it.

I proceed to tell him that a few days ago when I was overwhelmed was NOT the same as putting the brakes on all the spending. Which is apparently what he decided I had said. Did he ever say this to me? Did he ever ask questions or communicate in any way? No...only listening and interpreting what he THOUGHT I said.

In hind sight, I should have been a little more proactive in getting him to communicate with me. But I was the one breaking down, crying....letting all the overwhelming feelings out. I wasn't exactly in the best state to do so. I'm sure I scared him. Yes, I scared him into silence. The complete opposite of what I was looking for.

We make more money than we ever have, our income is doubled and it seems that the decisions are much much harder. You would think after almost 13 years of marriage we would have some of this down. I guess we are still growing in this department.

I told him about sending in the $145 to the home equity loan yesterday. He says, is that all?

Read with sarcasm: Yes, dear, that is all. On my own I decided with the money I normally send in to the home equity loan some needed to be set aside for our mini vacation taking place BEFORE the next pay day. Sorry, you weren't available last time I checked to discuss it!!!

Thanks for letting me vent. You know that I don't usually have these issues. He and I did talk right before bed last night that we should talk through some our upcoming spending plans...so that we are on the same page!

Finally, we are making progress...I think.

There's no heat or air conditioning running. Yippee!!

A couple of days ago, I closed the gas line to our gas fireplace. Why keep that pilot light running through the warm months, right?

It's also time for spring clothes! The girls are growing, so we will head to Old Navy today to pick up a few items. I plan to spend around $50. I have a coupon, too!!

We have already taken advantage of the warm weather with a 45 minute walk around the neighborhood. There were lots of signs of spring. Enjoy the day!!

The interest rate on our money market account is going down again! This is the second time in a month that I have received notification of this.

I know it's the economy and I will have to deal with it. Ugh!

I could shop around, but it just doesn't seem to be worth all the extra effort. I just moved to this bank in the fall, too.

New rate: 2.15% APY