Hi725's Blog

Shrinking Grocery Bill

Hi725 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:43:00 GMT

When I wrote out my budget, I allowed $100 a week for groceries. I did pretty well keeping it below that, usually between 80-90 a week. The leftover money each month gets tacked on to our credit card payments.

Well, I’ve recently discovered Trader Joe’s. I don’t have one in my town, but I passed one on the way back from my dad’s house over the weekend, and it’s only 20 minutes away. I did all of my shopping for the week and it only cost $65! I can’t believe how cheap everything is there. If I can keep to that amount, it will be an extra $240 a month I can add to the credit card payments!

I’m also loving their heat & serve meals. I usually cook dinners every night, but being back in school really cuts into the amount of time I can spend cooking. It’s nice to just toss something in the microwave/oven/frying pan and have it come out in 10 minutes and tasting pretty good!

Oh, and we decided to cut our home internet service. I do need it for school, but we found a way around that. DH has a blackberry that can be used as a modem. His plan is for unlimited minutes and internet access, so it won't add any ridiculous charges to the bill. I'll do most of my internet related schoolwork on my work computer during lunch hour or at the library down the road from our house. If I absolutely need to get online at home, I'll just plug the blackberry into my computer. Problem solved. So that's another $50 a month towards the debt.

Still trying.

Hi725 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:42:00 GMT

It has not been an easy few months. Every time I think we can get back on our feet, something else happens. This time, it was a $2,200 repair bill for one of the cars. Unfortunately, it was something that had to be done right away, or I would have put it off. I also got my final bill from the dentist yesterday. Insurance paid much less than I expected and we were left with an $1,000 bill.

This is driving me crazy. It's so hard to be doing so well and then run face first into a brick wall. Over the last 3 months we haven't paid much more than the minimums on the credit card and home equity loan. I was really looking forward to a zero balance on the credit card. If we hadn't had to deal with all of this, we would be about 3 or 4 months away from it.

I hate this delay. I'm starting to panic over school. We need to be completely rid of this debt by September 2010. At that point, I will be done with classes and will have to quit my job to do my full time field work. I'm not sure if I'll be able to pick up even part time work while I'm in the 6 months of fieldwork. I worry all the time that I'll have to put school on hold. I know if I leave, I won't go back and I've worked so hard to get here. If we didn't have the bills, it wouldn't be an issue. DH and I make a significant amount of money, but the significant amount of debt cancels it out. If we can ever get back on top of it all, his salary will more than cover our expenses while I finish up with school.

Gas is another thing that is killing us. When I started the budget, I budgeted almost double what our gas bill should have been. If we came in under budget (which was almost every month), the extra money went to the credit cards. Now, we are going over the $500 by about $150 every month. I emailed a friend of mine who lives near me, and works next door to my office to see if she'd be interested in splitting the driving. It would cut our gas bill in half. Keep your fingers crossed that she hasn't given up driving for the train. We've looked into the train option for ourselves, but with the gas to get to the station, 2 monthly passes and a parking permit, we would not save any money at all. Taking the train would also add about a half an hour to our commute each way. We already lose 2 hours a day to driving. I would give up the extra hour if it saved us money, but not to break even.

Today, we went over our budget again and cut most of the extras we had been holding on to. We cancelled our cable; television and phone only. A large portion of my course work is done online and I couldn't give up internet access. We also cut out our monthly subscription to blockbuster online. It's only $20, but it adds up. Besides, we've got enough movies at the house that we haven't watched yet to last us quite a while. I also canceled the website we use to keep our families/friends in the loop. Again, only $15, but when you add it to the cable and the blockbuster thing, We now have an extra $130 a month to throw at the bills.

The only indulgence left in the budget is our gym memberships. I won't even think about cancelling them unless it becomes absolutely necessary. With work, school, and now no cable, we need some kind of an outlet.

Halfway there (about the raises again)

Hi725 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:43:00 GMT

Well, I'm still waiting for the contracts to be negotiated as far as the cost of living increases go. But the good news is, that I had my review and went up another step on the pay scale! My next paycheck will reflect a 5.5% increase. Yay!

I'm so excited. I honestly didn't think that I would be getting anything this year. When we were told that the budget director cut raises, we all thought it applied to the merit/step system for anyone that was not union. I'm so glad we were wrong!

Things are looking up again

Hi725 — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:06:00 GMT

DH just got his review, and he scored in the top tier for a merit increase. His union also came to an agreement with the City to extend the last contract for the period 7/01/07-6/30/08. The City will be giving the union employees a 4% COL increase retroactive back to 7/1/07. He should have a check for the lump sum by the next pay period.

Between both increases, he will now take home an additional $550 a month. Also, once the expired contract is renewed, he will get another 4% increase, retroactive to 7/1/08. I say retroactive because thecity and the union can't get their act together and it will probably be another year before the new agreement is signed.

This is definitely going to make things a little easier, and help us get rid of the debt faster. Now if only *my* contract would be settled, I could have more reason to celebrate.....

And another blow....

Hi725 — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:49:00 GMT

Record breaking heat, 95 to 100 degrees for the last 4 days. I go to turn on my air conditioner on Sunday, and nothing happened. It is completely fried.

Good news: It's not central AC, so it won't cost me $$$$ to repair.

Bad news: It's a 29,000 btu wall unit, and WILL cost me over $500 to replace. Not to mention the fact that it weighs over 150 pounds and will be a b*tch to get out of the wall.

Bah!

Well, that sucked big time.

Hi725 — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Well, I suppose with all of the ups, there has to be a few downs. This past month has sucked money-wise.

All three dogs wound up sick or injured, and the vet bills totaled $1,300. Why? Why all at once? And why did it have to be totally odd things that cost a ton of money? A simple cut with stitches? No, that would be too easy/cheap to fix. Sidney had a massive sepsis infection (no idea what caused it), Lola got stung by a bee and had a serious reaction to it, and of course it happened on a Sunday when the regular vet was closed. The e-vet charges $200 just to walk in the door. The @sshole neighbor’s dog ran across my property line, managed to break her head through my fence, and got into an ugly fight with Angus. Yay! Back to the vet again!

I started a new trimester at school, and all of the required textbooks totaled just over $600. Can someone tell me why one friggin textbooks costs $180? How do they get away with that? I even bought it through half.com, so imagine what it would have cost me from the school’s bookstore.

Along with the books, I now have to drive and extra 360 miles a week to school (class Fri-Sun, 60 miles each way). That’s an extra tank of gas per week, and gas prices suck!! Our commuter car (which is also the car I take to school) gets awesome gas milage, but we have gone over the $500 that is budgeted for gas for two months now. I remember making that budget and having DH tell me that $500 was ridiculous, we would never spend that much. I wish he had been right.

My dental insurance blows. They denied both my implant, and the crown that goes over it. They cover crowns on original teeth, but not over implants. $3,000 later, I’m ready to boycott all dentists because I just can't afford this anymore. Speaking of which, I finally talked to an attorney about suing the dentist that screwed up my mouth to begin with. Apparently, I waited a bit too long. Statute of limitations has expired, so I lost any chance of regaining any of the 25k I have now spent to fix my mouth. Ugh.

Now let's add insult to injury; the municipality I work for has not reached contract agreements with the union. The last contract expired June 30^th last year, and negotiations are at a standstill. What does that mean? No raises last year for both me and DH. Most likely, there will be no raises this year, unless they can get their sh*t together in the next few weeks. There is some good news though, when they finally reach an agreement, our raises will be retroactive, so we will get the pay we were denied since last July. Ok, that’s wonderful, but it doesn’t help me right now.

I also graduated to a permanent appointment (I was provisional for the last year), and I now have to contribute 5% of my pay to the retirement plan. It is not optional. I’m all for saving for retirement, but I just can’t afford to lose any money from my pay right now.

So, there it is. We have still managed to keep our heads above water, but just barely. The bills are all paid, but only slightly more than the minimums. I am hoping that this month will be a little better. It has to be, right?

Ebates $10 Referral Offer!

Hi725 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:08:00 GMT

The referral bonuses are usually only $5, so take advantage now!

If you don't know what ebates is, you are missing out. If you do any shopping at all online, you need to click on this link and sign up for an ebates account.

http://www.ebates.com/referral/0508bonusosu.htm?referrerid=CsbV6q55c1FtrGl0DR8xmw%3D%3D

If they ask for your referral's email address, it's Heatheri725 @ optonline.net (no spaces). Don't C&P my email address, it screws up the link.

When you sign up, you are eligible for the $10 referral bonus, which will be added to your account after you place your first order. You also get varying percentages back from each store you shop at through the ebates website (all of the stores and their rebate % can be found on the drop down menu on the ebates main page). The rebates/ebates are added to your account a few days after you place your order. Ebates releases payments by check 4 times a year. You would be surprised at how fast that money adds up. I order everything online, even my dogs' food. The last check I got was for over $300.

Once you have made your first purchase, you will also be eligible for "Tell a Friend" bonuses. You and your friends will get money back for each of them that signs up through your referral.

Happy Shopping!

What I could have bought.....

Hi725 — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:42:00 GMT

When I sit back and look at the amount we paid off so far, I can’t help but think of where that money could have gone if we didn’t have any debt. These are some of the things we could have done with $31,000 (I might have to do a new list every time we reach a milestone, this one really reinforced our current spending habits):

~We could have paid cash for a new car.

~ We could have finished our basement, added a bar and a game room, and finished the laundry room with LG front loaders.

~ We could have built a new deck and patio area with composite and bluestone. Not to mention bought a new grill and outdoor seating set.

~ We could have hired a mason and landscaper to build a front walkway (who the hell builds a house without a path to the front door?) and plant trees, bushes and flowers.

~We could have put in an in-ground swimming pool. Not that we want one, but that’s not the point.

~ We could have renovated our kitchen, which we are dying to do. New Floors, cabinets, granite counter tops, new sink and plumbing fixtures.

~ We could have renovated all of the bathrooms in the house.

~ We could have redecorated the guest room (paint, carpets and furniture) and started redecorating the other spare bedroom to turn it into a baby’s room.

~ We could have resided the house.

~ We could have put up new vinyl fencing around the entire backyard and also leveled and re-seeded the lawn in the backyard.

~We could have replaced all of the windows and doors in the house and added another set of doors in the basement.

~ We could have completely overhauled our entertainment system.

~ We could have funded our vacations for the next tens years, or taken that one amazing trip to Turtle Island, Fiji.

~ We could have thrown the entire amount into our retirement account.

~ I could have paid cash for school instead of taking out more student loans.

<sigh> Oh well. This is one more reason to stick to the budget and payoff plan. When the debt is gone, I can prioritize this list, and start working on the things we really need/want to do.