A couple of you have inquired about my husband's need to rent a moving truck. The answer is yes. Actually, since he has a truck, he will rent a Uhaul trailer and attach it to the truck. I think he's arranging that today. The base price of that is around $250.

The good news is that moving expenses are covered by the Army. Of course, there are rules involved. He will have to keep track of all expenses, including the trailer, gas, hotel, food. It is also important that he weighs his truck and the trailer empty and full. Most of the reimbursement is based on weight.

Since he is moving household goods himself, he will receive 95% of the amount that it would cost a common carrier (moving company) to move the same amount of goods the same distance. Once the amount is determined, they subtract the actual expenses involved in moving. This can include boxes and bubble wrap, and of course, the trailer. The amount left after the expenses is considered an incentive payment and is actually taxable income! The Army automatically takes 28% out for taxes, which unfortunately is more than our tax bracket. I guess we'll get that back next year when we file our taxes.

So the costs of getting things to the destination should be covered. We could ask for an advance to help cover the costs as we encounter them, however, DH has reasons not to do that. In general it just complicates things. Luckily, we have resources to cover them in the meantime. I'm really hoping by this time next month, things will be sorted out from a financial standpoint. Fingers crossed anyway!

I signed the girls up for another year of dance and tumbling lessons. One 30 minute class each. Same day of the week, but nearly two hours apart. It will probably mean two trips there and back, so no savings on the transportation costs.

As usual, I prepaid for the entire year, which waives the family recital fee of $90. This is a saving of 10%. Our total for the year: $808. Not bad for a little year long fun.

It is the strangest thing: to set your husband up for apartment living. I don't think I will ever do this again. Once will be enough. Although, it does give me empathy for those who have sent children off to college. It can be a very hard thing.

We spent $180 at Walmart yesterday, for a couple of cooking pots, some utensils, basic cleaning supplies, a trash can, a toaster, cutting board, shower curtain and rod, glass cups, a clock. Oh, there more on the list, but I'm not going to list it all.

We also stopped at two other stores for a printer and a set of lamps. Another $90 spent there.

I am grateful for all the things we don't have to buy: sheets, blankets, towels, dishes, coffee mugs, and other utensils. We also have a loveseat, glider rocker, a dresser and a night stand that he will move with him.

There are still a few more things to buy: a twin mattress and an end table. He also wants a coffee table, but it is a cheap $20 item, so I'll probably give in.

My husbands desires and expectations of needs are a bit different from mine. I would be fine with garage sale items, but him, not so much. I would not need a coffee table. I guess he does. And really because this is a stressful time, I'm trying really hard not to rock the boat too much. It just irritates him. And the truth is, I don't have to live alone away from home, like he does. It is going to be hard on him, too. The least I can do is let him get a $20 coffee table.

Hi. Me here. Reminding myself to stay the course for the next year. It is likely to be hard. There is not much wiggle room each month. Maybe $800. Maybe. It seems like enough. It is just far less than we are used to.

We will have to be mindful of ALL spending. This will require heightened communication between DH and myself. We need to start communicating about how that is going to work now.

I commit to look for sales and coupons. I commit to selling things we no longer need for cash. I commit to reviewing our current expenses for ways to cut back. I commit to thinking further ahead for items I will need to purchase.

Staying the course means we don't take on additional debt. Staying the course means minimizing the amount of cash we use from our emergency fund. Fingers crossed we can keep that emergency fund intact!

Today, I took the van in for a routine oil change and tire rotation. We are also having them look at the power steering. The service advisor thinks a flush of the power steering fluid should do the trick.

My estimated total is at $157. I did give them a coupon for $10 off if the total is over $100. I hope it counts. The service advisor didn't know. Now I wait for the call. Hopefully, we don't need anything else done!

Do you see the trend here? Spending. Everyday. Large amounts of money leaving our bank account. Can't wait for it to stop!

DH has a laptop computer that is over 5 years old. It is so so slow. I want to rip my hair out when I use it. I can't believe he has the patience to use it. I think he must have built up a tolerance when the internet connection speeds were slow in Iraq!

It is just time to get a new one, especially with the upcoming school work. If he wasn't moving, we could share mine. I think this seperate living stuff is going to get old quick, especially with the added expenses.

So tonight we are shopping online. Well, I am. He decided he wanted to look at Best Buy first. I think we will end up ordering from Dell. We have had two laptops from them and had no problems.

All this spending is tough on me. We just don't spend large amounts this fast. I just need to keep reminding myself that it will slow down and more money will come in.

For the last two days I have had workmen at our house replacing some siding and a sliding glass door. They probably could have finished yesterday if it were not for the huge downpour of rain yesterday afternoon.

I'll be writing a large check soon for about $2800. It will come from our money market fund. Better than a credit card, right? I knew saving that extra $7K last year would be worth it.

It's all good. And I'm thrilled with the work performance. Some of the best money ever spent.

We are getting DH ready for school. Tonight we ordered four dress shirts for his uniform. I guess the uniform shirts have changed since the last time he needed to wear it. And he so rarely wears it! And don't ask me why he needs four. Two are short sleeve and two are long sleeve. Cost $115!

Right now he is getting ready to order a new ribbon rack for his uniform, too. He's earned another Bronze Star and another ribbon for recent service. Time to get it all updated in time for school next month. Price of the ribbon update:

I bought my Dad a gift certificate for a golf store for Father's Day. My sister is splitting it with me, so my cost is $30. Now to figure out what to get DH. I think I have a $10 cash card to Sports Authority that will help cover a pair of shorts or a workout shirt. I will be checking with the girls to see if they have a good idea.

I have an appointment with the Honda Dealership to have the oil changed and tires rotated this week. More money will flow out then.

I really feel we are going to be in a spendy place until fall, when we are all settled and back in our routines. I think I'll just go with it and know that it will work out in the end.

We went out of town for an Army family event. That sounds more fun that it was, but it also wasn't as bad as it could have been.

The Army scheduled us to ride a bus on the six hour trip, feed us all meals on Saturday and breakfast this morning, and paid for our hotel. We actually skipped the bus and drove ourselves.

Our allotted per diem was $111.50 for each of us to cover meals on Friday and Sunday. That is $446 total. We knew this would be plenty to cover gas and our food expenses, thus the reason we drove ourselves. We spent about $80 in fuel, $40 in miscellaneous expenses and $80 on a dinner out including tip. Thus we came out ahead by about $240.

Can you tell, I'm just ball parking those numbers? It's been a long day, but I'm still pretty close. We could have banked more, but it was nice to take the girls out to a nice dinner and spend quality time together on the drive to and from our destination.

I just wrote a check towards DH's new apartment application/deposit. It was $185. Thus the money we made on the trip can cover this expense, too.

I seem to have a swarm of money thoughts running through my head. I'm not even sure if this post will make any sense.

I know of money coming in: approximately $1200 from DH's deployment, which should have been paid by now, but is being rejected for payment for a second time. Long story. Also, travel reimbursement for a trip this weekend for the Army. Maximum amount $440 allowed. We'll have to keep our expenses low to end up with extra funds.

I have $65.95 in my paypal account from the sale of dvds, and survey payments. I've noticed that MySurvey has been offering quite a few surveys recently. Nice! We have $50 in rewards from our debit card that are tempting me. My plan at the beginning of the year, I told myself that I would not redeem these until the holidays. Must hold strong!

DH has decided on a place to live. It is an apartment rather than a weekly extended stay hotel. Obviously, it should feel more like home that way. We will need to buy him a twin bed, and a coffee maker. Right now, we think we have enough extras of things in our home that can be moved with him.

The rent will be $945 a month, prorated for partial months. Utilities should be less than $120 per month. The deposit is only $150. There are allowances provided by the military for moving. Once these funds are paid we can use them to cover some of his living expenses.

Some of the payments from the military for moving might be taxable. I need to see if this is going to be an issue for us. I don't think that it is since four months of this year our income was tax free.

It's about time to sign the girls up for tumbling and dance. One year total for the entire experience is $808. I pay in full each year, because they waive the $90 recital fee if you do. I should save up for this expense, but for some reason I don't. I just pull funds from our account when it is time to pay it. This might be the last year since will be living elsewhere the following year. It just depends what they want to do.

I should list some items on ebay. I have an ipod, teva shoes, a very nice film camera and flash, and a router that I think could be sold for some nice cash. But right now, I'm just not motivated. It feels like there is just a lot going on.

See? My head is swarming with thoughts.

DH returned home from a three night trip to check out housing options for his five month school. There are two options he is willing to stay in. We will be discussing those and making a decision over the next couple days.

This quick trip cost us: $710.22. This included airfare, car rental, fuel, food and hotel (which was actually free with Marriott Reward points). Of course, I would have rather spent the money on something else. But not bad considering!

I'm conflicted this morning. Deciding what to do with my day. Part of me wants to hit some garage sales. Part of me wants to declutter and find things to sell. Hmmm...

I don't need anything specifically from the garage sales. I'm not even a big garage saler. I get burned out pretty quick after looking at other people's stuff. I just like get out once a season and I know of two neighborhood sales. Last year, I found some weight watcher books that I resold online and made $10. So, it can be profitable. Hmmm...

I already have a small swimming pool listed on craigslist and a pile of 13 items I should really start listing on ebay. I still need to declutter the girls rooms where I'm sure to find more things to get rid of. Hmmm...

I guess I could do both, right? Yep. That's the plan I'm going with. Thanks for listening. It's nice of you to lend an ear.

Finally, I get to post that we paid ourselves back the money we pulled from savings for the downpayment on the truck. Yipee!!

We borrowed $78. In May we earned $89.62 in interest, so without much effort we are back to a full emergency fund. Not sure how long that will last. I expect that we'll have to use a portion for a rental deposit. At least it is there.

It is payday, and I can definitely tell that our income has dropped. It doesn't seem like there is anything left over. I think it is that we are in a spending place right now. That is how things go sometimes. Other than the truck loan, no additional debt has been incurred. For that, I am grateful. I expect I will adjust to the income in due time.

My girls wrapped up the school year yesterday. My youngest finished 5th grade and around here that is the end of elementary school. I can't believe how fast it goes!

So far our only summer committment is one week of vacation bible school that my youngest will attend with a friend. Cost $10. I used earnings from surveys to pay for this out of my paypal account.

I'm sure more things will come up. However, we will try to keep the costs minimal. The library and the neighbor's swimming pool will come in handy.

Right now, we are not planning a big vacation. It is too expensive to go while getting DH ready for his summer move. We'll fit one in sometime later in the year or next summer when things settle down again.

What summer plans do you have? Are you spending more or less than last year?

DH is going on a house hunting trip soon. Okay, apartment hunting. We have booked the airline ticket at a cost of $438.20. Not bad for a trip that is short notice.

DH also booked a three night hotel stay for $77 a night, which is $231 plus tax. And a rental car for $175. I told him we could do better.

I searched online for member discount codes and coupons for the same rental car agency. I was able to book the same car for $148. Savings: $27. I will keep watching the rates up until the moment he goes. It does pay to shop the rates. Often you can get a better deal closer to the travel date. Not always, but sometimes.

The hotel. I gave him two alternatives. The same hotel he booked at $40 a night using earned points. Which would save $37 per night or $111. Or another hotel which we have earned rewards for free. He chose free! Wise man. The second hotel includes free breakfast and is closer to the airport and the area he will likely be looking for apartments. Savings: $231 plus tax.

Right now, without food and gas the trip will cost us $586.87. Without making the changes I did, we would have spent at least another $258.

I just thought of another savings idea. We might be able to use some airline miles towards the rental car. The air miles weren't an option with the short notice trip and the dates of desired travel. I'm off to check into that.

What a weekend! We were required to attend a post deployment event in Colorado this past weekend. We drove because of lack of flights at our needed times. It's a 10 hour trip each way from where we live. We left Friday and returned last night. Quite exhausting!

We saved the government $4,600 by driving and leaving our girls at home. My husband's unit made last minute (specifically Wednesday) flight arrangement for all four of us to leave on Thursday and return Monday...total cost of the weekend would have be over $5200 for the four of us. Actually more, since I'm not including the hotel stay. However, with the girls still in school and one headed into finals we did not want them to leave on those flights. The alternative was for the two of us to drive out and invite my Mom to stay with the girls, which she was happy to do. She was only available Friday through Sunday.

So we drove. The government paid for a rental car, will cover gas, the hotel and some of our out of pocket food cost. The cost to them less than $600!

It was a nice time with DH. We could see mountains from our hotel room. Wished the girls could have been with us. Now I need to recover!

Searching for an apartment long distance is hard. Pictures online always look pretty good. Then you read reviews about mice. What? Who wants to live in a gorgeous renovated warehouse if mice are an issue?

Trust me. There are some very nice apartments with some awesome benefits, but man those are pricey, upwards of $1200 or more for a one bedroom. I would feel better with an apartment for $800 or $900.

That said. I think someone, likely DH, will be traveling to the east coast to apartment hunt for a couple days. Likely by airplane.

A furnished unit would be ideal, so he would not have to move very much stuff. However, we may be looking at unfurnished to save money. The only big outlay I can think of for furnishing a home for him is a bed. We'll want another one for a guest room at our next home anyway. We have an extra tv, a chair, even a couch he could take. There are extra towels, sheets, kitchen utensils that we can do without here.

Interesting enough, I'm the one thinking about this more than him. Why is that? Ugh. Beyond stressful.

Please don't comment that DH should live on post. It is not an option for many reasons. If he could live there for free or cheap he would. He can't. This arrangement is our choice in lieu of moving our girls two times during the next school year.

I updated the sidebar to include our new loan for the truck. Our initial loan balance is $14,776.68. It is a four year loan with a monthly payment of $329.13. The first payment is due this Tuesday, so we will see the balance start to fall very soon.

I have left the truck savings ticker up since we were a little short on our $12,000 goal. We did put $12K down in cash and borrowed the amount we were short from savings. I will pay back the $78 at the end of this month.

Don't expect to see lots of extras going to pay down this debt right now. We are in status quo mode for at the least the next year since we expect extra expenses due to maintaining two households. We are still researching places for my husband to stay. I don't think we will know the impact this has to our finances until at least one or two months after he moves for school. Yep, I'm stressed about it to say the least!

The last two days have been full of home repairs, some more major than others. We exchanged out two toilet seats and a flapper (an internal toilet part). We replaced an outdoor light fixture, put mulch around all of our outside beds, replaced wood hand rails on our deck, as well as a few other rotted boards. We still need to stain or clean the deck in some way.

The biggest change was our kitchen sink. We went for a mid grade stainless steel sink and faucet. This cost us about $275. The old one was almond colored and no longer matched the white cabinets the previous owner created. Knowing we will sell in a year, we needed to get it out of there.

I noticed this morning that a neighbor was having a garage sale, so I put that old sink on the curb with a free sign. It was gone within 30 minutes! DH could not believe I would put out such a beat up sink. Ummm...it was still functional. Probably in better shape than many people have. I'm sure I could have made $10 to $20 on it. I really just wanted it gone fast. And it was gone fast!

Hae you ever set things out on the curb for free? Tell me about it.

Our siding and window man came back with an estimate to remove and replace siding on the front of our house and replace our sliding glass door: $2,779.

It's about $1200 more than I wanted to shell out. However, I do trust that this man will fix the leaks we have been having. This has to be done to eliminate issues when we go to sell the house next year. Apparently, the leaks are very common with houses as old as ours, since the builders didn't wrap houses the correct way then.

We just need to let him know that we want to proceed with the work. The work does not include painting the new siding, but it might be something we can do ourselves. Of course, he recommended someone too. Last year we had the whole house painted...so it is a bit ironic. At least we have some paint to work with.

Ah, the joys of home ownership!

It's over 90 degrees here today. And it's humid. I should know, I just spent two hours outside for my daughter's field trip. Thank goodness for air conditioning. It is now running at our house. I think it was only 3 days ago, that the heat was coming on in the morning.

Have you turned on your air conditioning yet?

We have leaking windows. Well two, one of which is a sliding glass door. We are now looking at getting estimates for windows.

One man was just here and indicated that it may not be the window, but how the house was built. Apparently without adequate house wrap. This is likely true. A neighbor had a similar issue and the house wrap seemed to be the fix, too. So instead of window replacement we are looking at some siding replacement. We are having him price the sliding glass door replacement.

I am hoping for about $1500 to $2000. Of course, this was before I knew he was going to replace siding instead. I wonder what the result might be. I'll let you know, of course!

Did I tell you I lost a contact lens? I can't find it anywhere. I opened my case one morning and it was nowhere to be found. Down the drain? Eaten or played with by a cat? I'll never know. I've worn contacts for 24 years and have never lost one.

Yesterday I made an eye exam for today, since I was long over due as it was. I went and was prescribed my regular gas permeable lenses. My eye exam was covered by our insurance, but the contact lense measurement was $58, since it is not covered. My eye doctor is independent, but operates out of Pearle Vision. On my way out, I got a quote of $75 per lens. And a promise to match any other quote I might find. Since I was in a mall, I inquired at JC Penney optical, who quoted me $60 per lens. The representative there mentioned a sale starting the 15th of the month for 20% off per lens ($48). She wrote this on a business card for me.

I decided to make one last stop. Target Optical. They also quoted me $60 per lens. I asked if they could price match the sale that JC Penney will be offering later this month. Answer: Yes. $47.99 per lens. I was sold and ready to purchase. I used my Target Red Card for an additional 5% off, bringing each lens to $45.59!

By shopping around today for my contact lenses, I saved $58.82!! Not bad for about 20 minutes of my time. And did you notice that savings makes up for having to pay for the contact measurement fee?

I have found out that I could have ordered them online for even less, about $35 per pair. It seems like more of a hassle since I don't have a fax machine to mail my prescription from. Someday, I might try it.

Did you know I can make one set of lenses last nearly four years? Very cheap over time.

Do you wear contacts? What kind? How much do they cost you?

I had been contemplating a Costco membership recently after an offer arrived in my inbox. A basic membership costs $50. The offer was for points through MyPoints. There are definitely things I could buy there, specifically, generic zyrtec. For a years supply it would cost me about $16!

However, Costco is on the other side of town. I find pretty good deals at regular stores and don't have to store the bulky items.

Today, I found the same generic zyrtec on Amazon for the same price. No shipping either (not sure why). I decided to skip that Costco membership, save the $50 and avoid buying large bulk items just because they are a good deal.

Do you have a club membership? Do you think it is worth it? Can you find the same deals in other places?

Since my husband is now home from deployment we expect to see his paycheck amounts go lower. He no longer qualifies for tax exemption, or combat pays, worth nearly $1100 per month. Boy, it sure was nice!

I will need to rework the budget in light of lower paychecks, a new loan and an upcoming move for DH. I expect the next year to be tight particularly because of the move.

It seems I will need to start watching those pennies a little closer. I might need to decide about canceling the newspaper and the landline. So hard to give up, especially when those would only save us $50 or so a month. I would expect the groceries may be the bigger issue. It seems everytime I go to the grocery store in the last month some item has increased dramatically. Yesterday, it was shredded cheese. I will need to watch for these items on sale and stock up!

I know some of you reading have already cut back in light of job losses and paycheck reductions. It now appears to be our turn. Any advice?

Yep. We went truck shopping yesterday. We didn't buy anything. Yet. It seems my husband is very anxious to buy the truck he has been looking forward to for a couple of years.

The truck he is looking to buy is a Honda Ridgeline. In our area there are only about 12 used available. Out of those, only a two to three have the lower mileage we are looking for. In other words, slim pickings.

The dealership was definitely trying to pin us down on a purchase. This dealership even has 0% financing for 36 months. Tempting but not a deal maker for these particular vehicles.

We talked last night. We are going to try to wait until May to commit to a purchase, since that is when we will have the full $12K downpayment.

My husband's Ipod which he purchased used for $100 stop working during the deployment. He brought it home on leave and we could never get it to charge using various methods. At that time, I checked the Apple store to find out that it would cost $59 to purchase a new battery. DH decided that was too much to spend since he did have another MP3 player that worked.

Fast forward to this weekend when he was using that MP3 player and he realized the headphone jack was no longer working because any headphones he used would not allow for easily uninterrupted listening.

Today we found a local battery store that could install a generic brand battery into the Ipod for less than $32. He now has access to all his music, as well as movies and tv shows that were originally on the Ipod when he purchased it. A very good deal!

I received a Pinecone survey payment today. And I deposited a $100 check that was given as a gift on our anniversary.

We have no idea where we are moving to, yet. However, my brain is considering the scenarios and possibilities. So here's what I'm thinking about. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts.

We currently have a 30 year fixed mortgage on our home and will have lived here just over 5 years by the time we move. The house does not appear to have appreciated much at all in that time frame. Maybe $3000. We have paid down quite a bit of principal in that time because we paid off our home equity loan. So we will walk away with more equity then we started with. Possibly around $35K.

We have been quite lucky to have lived in one place for 5 years. Many military families move every two to three years, which makes me think buying a house is just not a good idea, since we might move in three years the next time.

The idea of renting feels very odd after owning two homes for a total of 14 years. I can see the positives: we won't pay for home repairs, we won't do home upgrades or landscaping, we can move just about at anytime with out much cost, and no debt! The negative: possibly higher house payments, unable to paint or customize the house. Okay that is all I can think of at the moment.

Should we consider an ARM and still buy a house? Payments might be less than renting, but we would have the ability customize our living space. We might not increase our equity, but we don't get that with a rental either. Or maybe a 15 year loan, so that more money goes to principal.

I figure if we can keep our house payments as low as possible, we might be able to put away even more cash. Can you see I'm running in circles with my thinking? I'm guessing we will be able to make a decision once we know more about the area we are moving to and what types of housing are available in the areas we want to live.

Any thoughts? What else should I be thinking about or considering while making this decision.

I'm not completely against the government shutting down. If it needs to be done to move our country forward then so be it. However, it appears we will have a delay in pay for as long as it is shut down. We should get back pay for all days of the shut down once it is over.

The really good news? My husband is back on US soil!! I got the news last night. He will be back home as soon as possible. There is still out processing paper work to be done.

So...to figure out how to handle a lack of pay in the short term. Obviously, we do have emergency funds that we can rely on. Once we get paid we will reimburse ourselves. I know not everyone can do this. For that, I feel sad.

So. After the no spend month what do you think happens?

Turns out I'm spending! I think the spending is actually typical of things we would normally buy. And since it is the beginning of the month, I'm stocking up on toilet paper, kitty litter, food, toothpaste and hair products. We did get a take away pizza last Saturday, which we did not do at all in March.

We have shopped for some spring clothes, too. It is just that time of year where things need to be bought. I'm still trying to be aware of what are needs and wants.

Today won't be a no spend day as I'm having lunch with a friend, but maybe tomorrow. It would still be good to have a no spend day here and there. Right?