Yeah, I've been sicker than a dog. Saturday before last had to take CashHappySon to the emergency room and he had strep-throat and the flu. While sitting there with him I started coughing. Well, I was trying to take care of him and let myself pass. He got penicillin and other meds. He has no insurance so this should be interesting. I'll let you know later what the bill is. His scrips $33.85.

Later in the week I had to take myself to the doc and have chest x-rays, breathing treatment, etc., etc. Come to find out I have bronchitis with a viral component. Whatever. Sick, sick, sick and coughing my last lung up to boot. Many juices and trips to the bathroom later I am again upright. YECK!! I have insurance and they couldn't figure out a co-pay for my visit so they said they'd bill the co-pay when they figured what it was. My scrips for four of them was $20.64. Not bad.

I spent a boatload on juice, kleenex, Sprite, crackers, yogurt and other assorted necessities.

---------
Made my house payment and am updating the balance over on the left. New balance $19,391.57.

Nothing too exciting today. Just balancing accounts and doing filing and shredding! Boring but necessary.

Got the CC bill for the unexpected chainsaw purchase. Gaaa!! One expense I could have lived without. But Hubster sure looks fine in his flannel.

Received a $4 check for some books sold.

How to create something tasty out of a sea of black? The black sea that is my closet. You see, I am a lover of the simple black and white motif for a basic wardrobe. The only thing is I never buy much white!! hahaha!

I open my closet to look for a specific piece and WHAM the black hole that is my closet just kind of blends into differing shades of black! I need to do something about that!!

And I am trying.

I did buy some solid sherbert shade sweaters this year thinking I may go back to the corporate world at some point and I can always wear them to church.

I was just thinking about how to rotate my clothes better when I ran across the below website.

I like the idea this girl has below. I'd also take a head w/hair out of the way and hand shot to go w/each outfit to show what jewelry I've picked to go w/each outfit. Or a shot of just the jewelry items grouped together.



http://iwantthatdress.blogspot.com/2008/01/cataloguing-you...

How is this financial? The more combo outfits you can get out of your current clothing, the less you have to purchase foolishly to create some level of knowing that whatever comes up you've got something to wear!! Organized and planned equals less dollars spent.

However, I still need to do something about how to tell one black item from the next in my closet a little easier.



Maybe floodlights installed in the closet???

How about you - do you have your clothing well organized? Does it save you money???

Yesterday was a No Spend Day, mostly because we (Hubster, myself, FrugalsSon and CashHappySon) started at 9:00 am and ending at 6:00 pm when we ran out of daylight cutting up & stacking MORE of the wood on our place that fell off or was hanging from the recent ice storm.

That is in addition to all the work Hubster did while he was on vacation!

I'm telling you the trees here were majorly decimated.

DEFORESTATION via Mother Nature on a grand scale!

It is so sad, and to make it worse I spent a lot of my time yesterday fending off my next door neighbor AGAIN who keeps wanting to cut down this or that ON MY PROPERTY!!

NO, I don't want it taken down!

LEAVE IT ALOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNE!!!!

What part does the guy not understand??

Poor Hubster - he is having to hear my ranting and raving over this issue. I am trying to be polite to the neighbor but he is getting on my one last nerve.

BY CRACKY, It takes A LONG, LONG, LONG time to grow a tree and if there is any way to save some of these then that is what we're going to do - on my side of the fence buckobobby!! GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Get this, he's going to rent 'at his expense' a brush hog to come on my property and cut down my bamboo stand.

Ummmmmm....NO THE *&@&*$& THANKS!!!

I like it.

I want it.

No, you can't come over here and cut it down!!

Makes a girl want to say a dirty word. Or SIX!!!

See, he likes his yard NAKED. I don't like mine that way. The bamboo stand in my yard blocks an unsightly view of one neighbor's swimming pool, plus it gives all kinds of creatures a cool place to hang out, etc.

You don't like it?

Tough Cookies Neighbor!


Did I mention that my house and my bamboo were here when you decided to move in the neighborhood and build???

I also don't like looking out my window and seeing your boat (which by the way you haven't touched in 8 years) in the back yard w/the blue tarp over it! We each have our crosses to bear.

But, I didn't say all that. If he keeps pushing me...I will.



Steetview - You can't see it in this picture but nearby sits a little Oriental cement pagoda light and a white wooden bridge that crosses the creek. Hopefully one day I am going to add an Oriental garden gate to this area (yes to keep out the one neighbor!!) From this p.o.view you can't see SawHappyNeighbor's house at all! And it is a lovely new brick home, but I don't want to look at it.



This side faces the creek and here I'm hoping to add a bench and then to the right in the picture add the gate. It is very peaceful here and the rest of the lawn is well-manicured so it isn't as if my whole place is covered with bamboo. There are two whole houses back behind this on the other side of the street that you can't even see. That's the part I like BEST!



Same streetview as above taken today after the icestorm and some cleanup.

The county is supposed to start pickup in the next week. Won't be too soon for me.

Yes, the bamboo will spring back. Even if we did let him cut it down it would just grow back stronger! But, we aren't going to do that - I reminded Hubster this is our neighbor that has a lawyer and isn't afraid to use him...sure as shooting he'd hurt his back or big toe nail over here and we'd be in court and/or have an insurance claim. No way!

We need an additional row of fencing!!

Has anybody looked into these yet? Seen a prospectus?


http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1231/p14s01-wmgn.html?page=1

We keep getting all these emails and newsletters from Countrywide wanting us to borrow more money, etc. but funny thing is they are all addressed to the Hubster**.

Now my name is on the note and I'm the one who monitors the account, sends in the payments, opens, reads and filters the mail he actually sees, am the chief cook and bottle washer and basically the financial manager of the home, etc., and I am feeling a bit left out.

"Dear Hubster,

Your time is reserved for a phone consultation to borrow on a HELOC, blah blah blah..."

NO, we aren't planning to call or refinance or any of that stuff, but...

I don't know about you but if I was marketing my company's products to current and prospective customers in this day and age I would hope I'd be smart enough to include the lady of the house or all those included on the account.

Harummpppffhhh! Makes a girl just want to shut her reticule!!

Had I not been the saver in the home we'd not of had the money for closing the loan in the first place!

I'm aware this is a subjective, piddly thing, but it gripes me, ya know? So, I'm thinking I may have to put pen to paper or hands to keyboard and write their CEO AND their marketing department.

What thinkest thou?

**side rant - nowadays they do not even address you by Mr. &/or Mrs. It's by your first name. How annoying. I'd prefer old school style "Dear Mr. & Mrs. Frugalis"!! You people don't even know us, so please get out your manners!!

Okay this one's for Shiela who asked about how my fold up bed works. The key is in the piano hinges that allow the doors to be folded back out of the way.



This was the only bed I had for about 3 or 4 years when I was a young single upwardly mobile chickista. Proving that you can sleep with a metal rod across your back and live to tell the tale!

Wow, I opened this up today for the first time in a couple of years and all dustbunnies aside found the sheet (I paid $8 to replace)I've been looking for!

Ta-da!!

Here it is!



And to think I've been accusing the young manchildren who live hereabouts of having it scrunched up in some deep dark (Mom, you REALLY don't want to look in there) place!!


See the blue taped thingawhichy over there against the closet? Hang tight, that's my next How I Turned $5 into $125 project. Details to follow as soon as Hubster gets it put back together for me.

Updating the mortgage balance...

If we continue on the track we're going down we'll shave an additional 1 year and 10 months off the loan, saving interest payments of 807.27.

New balance after payment on 1/1/08 is $19,705.71. Finally, under that $20,000 bar!

Contractual term left 6 years 4 months
Actual term remaining 5 years 7 months

Projected early payoff in July 2012!




And a nearby picture of the recent ice-storm! Hubster did go buy himself a new Stihl chainsaw the other day and while he was off on his Christmas vacation worked about 8 days all day EVERY DAY on cutting up trees in our yard alone and STILL the entire backyard and behind the creek is full of gigantic downed limb piles remaining to be cut up! That was an unexpected expense of apprx. $325 that came out of the Emergency Fund.

Adding to the $20 Challenge $1.01 from CashHappySon.

$000.45 balance
+001.01 donation
_______
$001.46 Jan MTD

2008 Challenge Total $1.46
Cumulative Total $530.07

I can see an additional expense coming up as my calculator is now ghost operated. I was sitting here last night at the desk and the calculator started calculating without me!! Just clicking away like a wild thing!! The number 2 on the keypad has been sticking for awhile, so it's about time to take it in for a tuneup if it's going to take off on it's own doing who knows what?!!?!!

Will have to run her in to the metro area to find out if she's worth putting dollars into or if it's time for the old scrap heap!

Is that my Sciatic Nerve Acting Up? NO!! It's a genuine pain in the posterior!

Okay, the Hubster's 40 Year Service Award is going to be paid out in the form of being added to supposedly his next paycheck, which means it will be frigging taxed & won't be issued until after the first of the year, so it will be an entire year before any of that tax bite can be recaptured.

Can you tell I'm slightly ticked off????

Arrrghhhhhh!!!


In an attempt to soften and at least slightly counteract the blow I went in and upped the 401-K deductions only to be told that it won't go into affect until AFTER that check is cut!!

Pain in the right and left buttocks**!!

Like I said before it would certainly be nice if the employees had a little notice that the company was going to do these bonuses and awards in the fashion that they do, so we can counter-attack the tax burden.

Guess why? They don't do matching or take any 401-K contributions out of bonuses or awards. Isn't that just fine?


NO, not in my book.

Does anyone have a solution, methodology or a way around this?? Maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong, but it chaps my hide and yes, I do think it a royal pain in the posterior.


I hope I'm wrong and it comes in a complete untaxed form.

Yes, we could go ahead and take some of our own money and go buy the television NOW that he's wanting but it's doubtful that we will. I didn't particularly want a new TV, but he does, and it gripes me that they COULD HAVE done better by him than they have.

Okay, so I'll let you know how much actually shows up later, should be in his hot little hands when he returns to work from vacation time off on Wednesday.

----

Of other financial interest, I managed to scrape up an additional $999 to go into my Roth from various savings. I'm going to add my own little $1 from the current budget to get it to that magical $1000 mark. That still leaves me slightly short some on the 2007 done by midnight on the 31st, however, perhaps I will be able to make the deadline by April. GEEEEEE, WHINE, WHINE, WHINE, I so wanted to be done by the end of the literal year.

POUT!!

---
Yesterday was a NO SPEND DAY!!! YEAH!!

---
Today was a spender. Everyone here but the Hubster has the croup and the boys have been hitting the cough syrup supply quite heavily. So, after church we stopped for cold supplies. Tried to buy day time cold meds, night time cold meds, tissues and regular cough syrup.

Because some people in my state like to cook up funkydunkydrugs from the stuff I had to give the cashier my date of birth and was only allowed to buy two of the cold meds on one ticket. The third one I had to buy on a separate ticket.

How, may I ask you Dear Reader, did that keep in bounds with the law? Yeah, it did with the letter of the law?? but still. It's a law with good intentions, but silly if the cashier is just going to let you buy the stuff on two tickets. WEIRD.

Not sure how I'd of liked it handled, because with three croupy people I needed the goods, but come on!!! Either stick with the law or don't bother.

Geeee, it is a strange world anymore where you almost need an act of Congress to buy cough medication!


**For more classy information on buttocks check out Wikipedia for Venus of the Beautiful Buttocks!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Kallipygos

Oh the things we can learn these days. I had seen the statue, but never heard the story about the farmer with two daughters possibly originating with Venus????

I live, I learn, I educate my faithful readers.

We all are now further classically educated, yes?? Additional small talk fodder for the New Year's Eve parties to come!

Started a new Sharebuilder Account today with plans to use it to keep my DRIPs & DCA (dollar cost averaging) buys inside. Will see later about transferring some of the ones I've had for awhile over to there...not sure how all that works, but know it is doable, not sure on the ease.

For a new dollar cost averaging holding I am going with $50 automated buys monthly of Goldman Sachs (GS)...


http://www2.goldmansachs.com/our_firm/investor_relations/a...

...to start this off in the new year with my first buy to take place 1/8/08.

I wanted to do the OIH & CGW etfs, but alas they are not listed under their available Tuesday purchases. Not sure exactly how all Sharebuilder works YET/BUT, think it may be possible to do a real-time trade into OIH & CGW. We shall see later. Just trying to up my diversification outside of my OFFICIAL retirement accounts.

This money has a dual goal set for it. It is my buy a houseboat and an RV for my retirement living/travel needs. I MAY go without a permanent station in retirement other than a docking & parking fee at a local lake.

I am invisioning a small auto (used paid for in cash) pulled up to the darling houseboat (used paid for in cash) which is docked alongside a smallish van/truck over camper RV type (used paid for in cash) with a tow hitch.

Any one of these three could take me away for a bit of travel/living economy style. I could hop in the small RV and head for the kids and grandchildren's homes and visit a week or two without being a major inconvenience and yet get my wanderlust satisfied at the same time.

We shall see.

That's the somewhat distant & vagueish goal at this time. Who knows, it may be only a slightly bigger RV and I rent a houseboat each summer on different lakes. OR a small condo with time each summer in a rental RV &/or rental houseboat.

Time & health will tell.



And I have saved enough in my CD Savings Fund that I'm popping it off today to buy another short-term CD.

And, there's enough in the Savings Bond Fund to buy another I-Bond. I am buying these and putting my children & grandchildren on as POD (payable on death). This way I can use these IF I need them (future income) in old age, but if not, the ones w/the kiddos on them can be their small inheritance from the old Gran.

What can I say, I like my eggs in different baskets. It's scriptural I believe. Simpler to have it all at one place, but not sure of the soundness!

SEE: "Ecclesiastes Chapter 11 - Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good."

I'm trying to be a good caster of my bread!

And this Sharebuilder automated account builder is one of those set it and forget it doowhickies. Yes, I'm willing for now to pay the $4 for trades. We shall see how it all pans out.

Yes Virginia, I am BUYING assets. Assets that pay me in future income. Remember my Granny L's saying, "Trinket or Treasure?" The difference I heard someone speak of between poor people and people who have money are that the poor people buy STUFF and folks w/money buy ASSETS.

No, I currently (me myself personally, not counting Hubsters income) don't have enough income after normal living expenses to just buy a CD or even a savings bond sometimes.

I just budget a bit each month for these things into various little funds kept earning interest under an umbrella slush fund at EmigrantDirect and when they accumulate up to a certain size then I pop off and buy them. Anyone can.

At this point in time I already have way too much STUFF. Need more income producing ASSETS.

Of financial quickie note - yesterday was a No Spend day. I've gotten away from blogging about them, but they do count and add up!

Yesterday my niece called and wanted to borrow my truck to go buy some wood and haul it to my sister's house as she burns wood for heating her house. Sister is a single gal. My niece and nephew-in-law take good care of her. Anyway Sister has lots of wood already, it's just all dry wood and she needs green wood in order to keep the fire burning all thru the nighttimes.

Anyway, I told niece sure, come and borrow the truck, but don't buy green wood as there is a potful here. Probably five or six pickup truck loads full when all of the trees are cut up that fell during the last ice storm.

So, nephew-I-L came out w/his chainsaw, cut up a bunch of wood along w/Frugalson and CashHappyson filling up the truck. CashHappyson had also recently bought himself a used chainsaw during his recent spending spree, so we had two saws going. It was icy and wet w/blowing snow. Niece who is getting over a long streak of bronchitis and I stayed inside and made a pot of potato soup and kept trucking out the hot java.

We had a nice lunch after they were finished of potato soup and sandwiches and it was nice to get some of these downed limbs gone w/o the expense of having someone come in to do it and know that Sister got herself some wood. Love it when it all works out nice and neatly. I will be picking up my truck this evening and driving it home after the family Christmas celebration that we're attending at my other nephew's house.

A good deal all around. Except for the fact that I loved my trees and many were badly torn up during the storms. Gaa!

We probably have 200 to 250 trees on our little 2 1/2 acres. We probably lost 25-35 of them completely and many, many more were very badly damaged. Some of my trees are of the 200-300 year old bracket. It is horribly sad to see them so badly hurt by the storms. I'm not quite sure how we are going to be able to afford to trim them properly, and may just have to leave them w/some dangling limbs for awhile.

The sliding glass door was completely blocked by branches after the storm.

I only lost one small pane of glass that was cracked in the sunroom by a falling branch. It'll cost less than $10 to replace it, so I don't believe we'll be making any insurance claims. I'm going to get out my policy and read it though about the tree clean up, there may be some coverage there.

We do not own a chainsaw. Yeah, I know, goofy after you consider how many trees I have. After the storms we've talked about buying one but haven't done so yet. There aren't many in the stores around here anyway as they were cleared out immediately after the recent ice-storms. Wouldn't have done us any good yet anyway as Hubster has been on 12 hour days, and even working Sundays. Something he's never had to do since we've been married. This little bit of woodcutting has already been a big help in getting to at least the front & one side-yard.

Update: Hubster has still gotten No Comfirmation of what they'll be doing for his 40 year service award.

WELL, SPIT SPIT SPIT!! Looks like it may be time to start polishing up the ol'boohoodie kicking booties.

Warning: Yawns & frowns, ahead!

Yes, folks, it is getting to be that time of year. Time to think about getting receipts & forms together, contributions to retirement plans (yes, I know, you have until April, but think about it now) and any extra donations to charities made.

Here's a list of places for help:

To help grease the wheels, here's a Beatles clip of Taxman:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Beatles_taxman.ogg


Web sites for Tax Planning

Internal Revenue Service
www.irs.gov

Tax forms & tips
www.1040.com
www.taxweb.com

File your taxes online
www.taxsoft.com

AARP Tax-Aide
Free help for low-income and older people
http://www.aarp.org/money/taxaide/

Ernst & Young
www.ey.com/us/tax

H&R Block
www.hrblock.com

Turbo Tax
www.intuit.com/turbotax

State income tax information
www.taxadmin.org

-----------------------------------
of collateral interest:

new new new

FUTURE RETIREMENT Contribution Limits
403(b) and 401(k) Retirement Plans

Basic Limit, Section 415 limit*
2008 — $46,000
2009 and beyond — IRS may adjust annually for inflation. Any adjustments will be in $500 increments.

403(b) General Limit on salary reduction contributions** 402(g) limit
2008 — $15,500
2009 and beyond — IRS may adjust annually for inflation. Any adjustments will be in $500 increments.

457(b) plan limit*
2008 — $15,500
2009 and beyond — IRS may adjust annually for inflation. Any adjustments will be in $500 increments.

Additional permitted salary reduction contributions** for those 50 or over
2008 — $5,000
2009 and beyond — IRS may adjust annually for inflation. Any adjustments will be in $500 increments.

* The maximum contribution is the lesser of 100% of compensation or this adjusted limit.
** Includes employee salary reduction contributions and Roth elective deferral contributions.

---------------------------------------
Future IRA contribution limits
The annual contribution limit for both Traditional (pre-tax) IRAs and Roth IRAs will increase from $4,000 for 2007 to $5,000 for 2008 and will be indexed for inflation thereafter in $500 increments. Individuals age 50 or over may make additional “Age 50 catch-up” contributions of $1,000 for 2006 and thereafter.

Traditional and Roth IRA contribution limits
2008 — $5,000
Thereafter, the IRS may adjust annually for inflation. Any adjustments will be in $500 increments.

Traditional and Roth IRA catch-up for those 50 or over
2007 and beyond — $1,000


Sorry, friends, taxes are a nasty subject...just try to think of all the half-way decent services we are provided with here in the U.S. of A. that these dollars provide. Hope this post will be of some small service. I'm ducking now!

Inquiring minds want to know - Will this post help you? Aggravate you? Inspire you? Hack you off at the blogger? Incite rioting at the polling booth next time you vote? Spark a revolution?

Oh My! I had to stick a ruler up Piggy to get out the dollar bills from last month's $20 Challenge. First I tried the needle nose pliers. No luck. All the dollar bills seems to have gone to Piggy's head. I think I heard a squeal or two as I ripped the dollars away from his clutches.

I have violated poor Piggy!! Ripped asunder and plundered!!

Alas, it is for good cause. I am sooooo behind on doing my money stuff, partially because we are in the Midsouth and have been without electricity for a good week. This is November Challenge money I have to get to the bank and then on to my IRA.

Also, I am going to try to get all my 2007 IRA contributions in before the 31st. It is too confusing to me to be putting in 2007 contributions on into April of '08! Not going to do it this year if I can help it.

Okay, so November money is out of Piggy and I've got $2.99 sitting on the desk waiting to go in towards December's challenge. Yes, really behind AGAIN! GRRR!! Got to get up off my behind and get this stuff center focus again.

TO DO:
1)Nov $$'s to the bank this afternoon!
2)Nov $$'s to the IRA this afternoon!
3)Dec Challenge $$'s into poor Piggy!
4)Work on final Christmas push!

$20 CHALLENGE

$00.00 balance
+02.99 Piggy's Solace
______
$02.99 Dec MTD

2007 Challenge Total $264.69
Cumulative Challenge Total $390.80

Don't worry about poor Piggers too much - Nothing a good deposit or two won't fix right up and he'll be back to his old smiley self!

How about it, do you find it difficult to track your IRA contributions if you run over from year to year?

Updating the mortgage balance. Yes, I'm slow. No, none of those are my house in the picture. The payment was made on time, I'm just in pokey mode getting it updated here.

New mortgage balance $20,018.09

Contractual term is payoff in 6 yrs. 5 months, but w/an additional $71.04 each month in extra principal payments we are projected to payoff in July of 2012, that being 5 years and 9 months from now.

Also while absent from the blogosphere I cancelled my cell phone as my contract had expired and replaced it with an emergency-use only Tracphone. With part of the savings difference the Hubster and I purchased Term Life Insurance! YEAH!!

It's not as much as I would like to have, but it beats a snowball. Partly this is because he smokes and is older thus the premiums on the kind of coverage I'd like is a bit on the 'TOO MUCH for the budget to handle' side! It's the age difference that has me worried, because in all likelihood I will outlive him and there is a good number of years between now and when I'll be eligible to collect Social Security - this will provide at least a small coverage of that gap.

Anyway, we got a smallish policy for me and a larger one for him as he's the main breadwinner.

It's a trade-off, but I think it was a good one for us!

Last week I sent $410 extra to my IRA. Can't recall now why the funky extra ten dollars is on there, but it probably made my checkbook come out to a nice even number or something.

Even though I haven't been on the site much lately, I have been plugging away at finances. Anyway, that April deadline is looming and I need to boost my 2007 contributions.

How about you - do you have yours funded for this year yet?

Just now getting around to updating my mortgage balance over on the right. Getting ready to slip under 20 thou! Woo-hoo!

Just back from a great junc'tique buying trip to Round Top, Texas. Woo-hooo, lots of good bargains found, but it is getting harder and harder as prices were on the rise.

And yes, I shopped, the Junk Gypsy!


http://www.gypsyville.com/truckin_junkin.asp

Updating the mortgage balance.

Staying afloat - the new updated mortgage balance is $21,554.02! Time to actual payoff is 6 years 3 months. We are paying some little extra to this each month, by adding another $6.00 monthly I can shave off another month at the end. Will be trying to do that, making projected payoff in July 2012.

Just wanted to make myself a note here that I did my first Kiva loan a few Saturdays back as a community service project (my loans there will likely all go to widows or single Moms) and am currently investigating putting some money out to loan over at Prosper.com. I'm researching now but will likely not loan any $$'s out at Prosper until after vacation time when my head's clearer. Right now it's all bottled up w/figuring out where to kennel my dogs while I'm gone.

http://www.kiva.org

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I went last week and got on the list to be contacted when a booth space opens up in the antique mall in the next town north of me (about a 15 minute drive). And I made contact yesterday about taking over my Mom's space in the mall in her town about an hour and a half south of me. I can stock/clean/straighten it once a month when I go down for a visit.

Wanting to expand my operations AND get the basement cleared out as well.

Having a 'junque' booth generally takes little time for me as I have a bunch of stock already and all that is required is to sit and inventory it & price it while watching tv a night or two a week. A nice little side stream of income. Whenever I run out of STUFF (maybe a year or two away as I've got a big basement stuffed w/FIL's goods) I do enjoy going to auctions, yard-sales and thrift stores and believe I have a decent eye for what sells and am fair at making my displays sell for me. I've been wanting to get up a photo of my current booth but camera is all gum-up-i-fied. Meaning it's internal memory is full and I've got to hunt up the book as to how to empty it first before any more pics can be taken!

After the upcoming garage sale and when I can get these other two booths up and running then there should be enough room in the basement to set up one of the rooms as an occasional sales area. A lady in our town used to do this before she retired and moved away. She'd run an ad for 'junqtiques' about three times or four times a year, open up on a Friday and Saturday and then be closed again. No muss, no fuss.

As long as I can have someone else at home with me then I wouldn't mind doing it this way. I have lots of off-street parking and an easy to find address so I think I could do this w/ease. Only additional expense I believe would likely be necessary would be a rider on our homeowner's insurance if someone were to trip and fall or some such. I am also outside of the city limits in a semi-rural area, so unless there is some county permit needed, I think I'd be okay there.

Your Thoughts?

FrugalSon and I made a run to drop off 'good junk' in my antique booth and we drove by the car repair shop and there was Hubster's car all de-bumperfied getting itself fixed. We stopped by Wendy's for a Frosty Treat at $2.16. Got to keep my totin' & carryin' guys happy!

Then we stopped by our rural water department and opted out of their newest services...charging us for ambulance and fire services on a monthly basis. Personally I'll take the risk myself and keep my money invested elsewhere and if we need either of these services will pay the going rate at that time. This would have put my water bill at over $50 a month and it's just too, too much already! ARGGGHHH!!! I feel like someone is always trying to get into our pockets!

Stay Out of My Pockets!!

After making my mortgage payment & paying extra to principal on the first, the new balance is $21,856.08.

Finished up May yesterday with a $5.00 check in from Pinecone. I was over .75 cents in my grocery budget for May so I applied that to the zero based budget for May ending the month totally in the black. And, as I said yesterday there wasn't a spare penny even laying around the house to put in the pot! Thank you Pinecone Surveys!!

We use YNAB software (youneedabudget.com) and I just hate seeing any red in my columns, so I'm one of those who adjusts my budget as the month goes along. Others are diehard, fix it once at the beginning of the month/year and roll with the occasional red.

I just can't do it.

Too TOO Anal!!

I love a zero based budget - all the money coming in is given a job and then sent on it's way to do it's work. Some to short term savings and some to investments and then some to spend for current expenses. At the end of the month it should all tally up to no more than what you brought in.

I will take the remaining $4.25 to start off the June $20 Challenge.

$20 Challenge
$00.00 balance
+04.25 survey says
______
$04.25 MTD

2007 Challenge Total $167.04
Challenge Cumulative Total $293.15

Yesterday was a no-spend day for me.

The house budget paid all of the June bills: The mortgage payment plus an extra $65.04 to principal, including a painful $763.00 for house insurance for the year and $505.06 for 1/2 years worth of auto insurance for mine & THE Hubster's vehicles.

It is amazing to me how much more difficult it is these days to turn loose of the monies for these things. It was all there in savings House Insurance Escrow and Car Insurance Escrow earning us interest, but I waited until the last possible moment to pull it out so as not to loose even one extra day's worth of interest.

I'm actually becoming very Scrooge-esque these days. I mean 'tight-fisted butt-puckery' over spending money! However, it is a LOVELY feeling to be able to pay all the bills w/o having to worry IF we have the money. AND, it's not so much the spending of monies or worry over interest as it is the loomingness of an underfunded retirement portfolio. Youngsters take note and start retirement savings earlier!!

On the CC this month was a $55.00 emergency dental bill for Hubster (money was already put back in the Medical/Dental/Prescription Co-Pay Slush Fund) and a new Dell computer monitor $313.00. I've finally convinced him he HAS TO move the old stuff on BEFORE he buys new. Used to he'd buy first w/plans to sell the old, but somehow it wasn't ever getting done.

We did sell his old monitor for $150.00 on Craigslist and he recently got a nice little bonus check of $295.00 after taxes so he's paid for his new monitor and still has a running start on his next computer purchase in the bank in the Office Equipment Slush Fund. So, the CC again was used and is back to zero.

It's going on three or four years now and it is SOOOOO Nice not to ever carry a balance on those suckers! It has been tempting a few times especially for Hubster, but I've prevailed as that is a slippery slope I don't want to ever go back down if at all possible and I mean, I'm willing to go donate at the plasma bank if necessary to keep it from happening ever again!!

And I absolutely HATE needles! But, I hate debt even more!!

On the slate for tomorrow is a set of new tires for his car - he's making an educated-prices-already-compared estimate of a cost of about $425.00 including tax, mounting and balancing and there is **TA-DA** (NICELY DONE Mrs. LLFrugalis - pat back pat back!!) a total of a little over $475.00 sitting in his Car Tire Fund!! Again, the tires will be purchased on a cash back credit card while those tire dollars earn another month's worth of interest. You gotta love it when you're ahead of the game!! HOOOOOO-HAAAAAAAA!!

$20 CHALLENGE

$12.63 balance
+03.59 purse cleanout
______
$16.22 May MTD

2007 Challenge Total $158.05
Cumulative Total $284.16


On investments: I bought PHO etf (PowerShares Water Resources) on 5/18/2007 at 19.49 per share.

Today will be a no spend day.

Yesterday I paid my mortgage payment of $353.96 + an additional $65.04 in extra principal. Updated balance as of 5/1/07 is $22,150.48 with an expected payoff in August of 2012, the month & year THE Hubster expects to retire. Updating balance amount over on the left.

I made my final 2006 contribution to my IRA fully funding it.

So, that means that THE Hubster put his full $5000 in this year and I put in my $4000! That's the first time we've been able to fully fund both of them! I'm thrilled I tell ya, thrilled!!!

I would certainly like to get all of 2007's put in during the calendar year this year as carrying over what got put where when in what year can get a bit confusing! I like having ours at Fidelity as they keep a nice little running total for you.

For the kiddos: Both were able to put back $1200 into their IRAs this year with hopes/plans/budget forecasts to increase it this coming year. CashHappySon makes enough money he could seriously up his contributions this year, but FrugalSon doesn't make as much and we are already squeezing his little salary as far as we can! Perhaps another part-time job is in order.

No, I'm not slow, but THE Hubster some times (often actually) runs on 'low slow' speed. Anyway the taxes were done for free today by the AARP folks and a small refund from both Fed and State will be soon winging it's way into our account. Intend to then swing it into one of our Roth accounts.

Over and Done! Glad to get that taste out of our mouth!

For the back history on this check here:
http://luxliving.savingadvice.com/2006/11/08/skimming-rebala...

Yesterday as THE Hubster was off for Good Friday we made three phone calls on his Missing In Action Pension fund (which means everyone including his current employer the buyout company after bankruptcy) claims no knowledge of where the money went. Several million dollars of all these 300+ employee's retirement monies just disappeared into the night. Yeah Right!!!

Call one: To the man who helped transition employees at the time of the former company's bankruptcy. He gave us numbers for calls two & three.

He also told us that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp is filing for Trusteeship of these monies! YEAH!! And we got a case number although when we plug it into PBGC's website it won't let us log on. However, that is most likely because they have yet to win trusteeship over the monies.

The lady who has been working the files has been transferred for the third time it seems from one 'inner' insurance company to the next, and is employed w/a company that is a 'third party' designate to handle the payouts only they have things blacked out so that nothing can happen till they get 'okay' from higher ups.

Only problem that I see is that they aren't following the Sarbanes(sp?)-Oxley laws about notifying folks about where our monies are. She was call two and was very polite and nice and had already been working on the problem earlier in the afternoon, so we aren't totally on the bottom of the to-do list! GOOD!!! She also already had info on THE Hubster so we are in the piles of files!!

I did ask her what we are to do about signing beneficiary forms in the meantime till they get their mess straightened out. I never did get a clear answer from her.

We were told that she 'goes with the files' when they transition from one insurance company to another = So, when SNOOPY dances the monies over to another company and then again to a third one, she's still with the information and it still is under their lil' doghouse umbrella. I'm not naming names here or anything but they are sitting on a pile of money and wont' let go!

Call number three was late yesterday afternoon and to PBGC

http://www.pbgc.gov/

to see what's what there and we got no answer but were able to leave a voice-mail w/our call back info. We have the name of the gentleman there who is handling the case! I think if PBGC gets ahold of it all will be well. We did print out the PBGC beneficiary form and will be mailing it out post haste.

People could well pass away before they (Snoopster) get their act together and of course THE Hubster can't remember who he designated as beneficiary back in 1967 when this dealy-who got started!!

What we did discern is that in all liklihood if Snoopy handles it, that it will come to us in the form of an annuity and there won't be an option for a cash settlement that we could take and invest elsewhere.

However we are making progress (maybe all those emails to various legislative bodies worked???) and I thank everyone for the discussions here at SavingAdvice.com for jogging my memory about long-term prospects for retirement income yesterday while Hubster was here to make the tag-team (both of us on the line) phone calls! It had been a while since I had checked on it!

Keep praying!! Slowly the fog is beginning to clear.

Wiki for PBGC:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pension_Benefit_Guaranty_Corpor...

I've been calling and writing around for about three years now - so you would think that someone COULD have written us by now and told us what was going on, wouldn't you??? Nothing. Not one scrap of paper or phone call saying 'We've got your money and are clearing up discrepancies and someone will be getting back with you by ____ date.' Makes you wonder if they ever intended to, doesn't it? Does me!

X-Ray Your Portfolio

I've been having a lot of fun playing with this lately. Very nice! I believe Ameritrade also has it up within their website, but think it's proprietary to Morningstar. Very helpful! AND, well worth your time to input your holdings to see where you're at in the wide, wide world!!

I input my Roth, Hubster's Roth, his 401-K and his Rollover IRA, plus our other holdings to get a complete picture in one place, even though a couple of these accounts are held at other places. Nice to be able to see a total picture while the machine does the math percentages!



Quikette Blurbeennie: Moved $3750 into Hubster's Roth IRA this a.m. and that completes his 2006 contributions! YEAH!! Inside Roth sits $1260 in cash uninvested, so he currently has $5000 to purchase into some additional funds.

"They" say Asset Allocation is one of the most important parts of investing and choosing the RIGHT vs. the wrong investments can make a whopping $$$$BIG$$$$ difference in how you live in retirement, so I've been doing quite a bit of research. You only pray that you make the right choices, eh?

I *THINK* we'll be choosing two out of these three funds for this portion of his Roth. I'm giving him these as possible suggestions for him.

We will eventually be converting quite a bit out of his Rollover IRA into the Roth during the next few years and probably putting it in the target fund

http://personal.fidelity.com/products/funds/mfl_frame.shtml?...
FFVFX.

We don't have to do that now, but we could as our income is currently rather low and it's a good time tax-wise to be converting. The other two options he has up for consideration is:
FAGIX and
FNMIX. Both bond funds.

Due to proximity to his retirement we need to rebalance our overall portfolio with more bonds so that's why we are looking here. I'm not real excited on getting too bond laden, but he wants this 5000 SAFE. Remember, we have a May-December marriage. I'm looking longer term, he's thinking shorter - so we are trying to meet somewhere in the middle.

He already owns PIMCO Total Return-A (PTTAX)in his 401-K and FBNDX in the Rollover IRA, but somehow we need more bonds to meet his target asset allocation. Besides which he is a very conservative investor. I am more of an aggressive risk grrrrl.

So likely we will go w/the two bond funds now and maybe when we get another 2500.00 together get into the FFVFX. Not sure. I'm going to leave it up to him to decide.

I like FAGIX, just having bought it inside my Roth, BUT, I'm not real keen on us both being in it right now...would kind of like to spread our eggs into some different baskets for a time to see where we're headed. The other fund we will be looking at is
FSHBX as a different choice than FAGIX for him. But doggies, FAGIX looks so much more exciting!!

Perhaps he'll have time tonight and we can cuz n' discuz before I get too antsy and push the buy button w/o him!

********
Of other interest: Here's another nickel on my keyboard???? Taking it to the $20 Challenge.

$20 CHALLENGE
$03.97 balance
+00.05 nickel showed up
______
$04.02 April MTD

2007 Challenge 116.99
Cumulative Total 243.10