LittleMsMom's Personal Finance Blog

I got a call from the furniture store. They can deliver the furniture this Saturday, it is the earlist they can deliver it. I will get a call friday with the time they should arrive.

We have desided to have a Nintendo Wii birthday party at the house. It would have cost $8-$10 per child to have it at the bowling alley plus the cost of food since they do not allow outside food.

I went and purchased another Wii remote and Nunchuk for the party. So now we have four of each. This came to $54.00 which is cheaper than the bowling party since DS wants 5 kids plus the two neighborhood teens and possibly more to come. I have a Gift Card for ColdStone creamery so I am going to use that to purchase the ice cream for the party. My Cousin makes cakes and she will make the cake. And I have 1 or 2 giftcards for Pizza. I plan on getting the carryout special so the pizza should only cost a few dollars. So the house party will be cheaper....plus it will make me clean the house.

I wanted to have a rummage sale this weekend, but I think that Aug 14 or 21 will be better. I need more time to go through the house looking for stuff that needs to be decluttered. The good news is with the party coming up and the furniture delivery on Saturday I will need to do some major cleanup and this should help the house get cleaned up and if the stuff is just being tossed into a box into the storage room once the party is over I know that stuff can be labeled and put in the rummage sale.

3 days until Payday. I need to transfer $$ into the savings account that I am holding the credit card $$ in from this check hopefully my retirement change has gone into effect. I also need to lock in my aftershool daycare, this will require a downpayment so I need payday. Wow glad I pay myself first, I would hate to be this tight on money at the end of the month IF I was one of those people that paid themselves with what is left in the checking account right before payday.

**Edit**
My paycheck stub shows my retirement change will not go into effect until the 15th of August paycheck or later. :0(

I am just going to have to have a rummage sale on the 14th. To quote dave ramsey I plan to "SELL everything that is not nailed down so the kids think they are next". Yep If I am not currently using it then it is getting sold. I need to pay off my Credit Card bill and get my Emergency fund funded and save for the deck, so I can up my retirement account again.

Yesterday XH signed the check from the Old Mortgage Company so today I can deposit that and the $ from the rummage sale.

I am happy because once this deposit clears than I only need to come up with $820.81 to be able to payoff the credit card to what the statement balance was after the Furniture purchase posted.

I still have the stuff set up in the garage from the last rummage sale. My DS asked when he came home when we would have a rummage sale and so I might try to have another one in August. I need to go through my house as I am slowly coming across things that I really dont want anymore cluttering up my house. So I might have enough to have a sale if I keep looking between now and August.

Computer update: My Deesktop computer has been having issues for a while. Well Sunday it would not turn on at all. So I was not sure if it was the power supply or if it was a multitude of other minor problems to include possibly the motherboard. Well I unplugged the computer and the printer from the wall since I figured if the thing was not working I was not going to pay to feed electricty to the surge protector.

Last night my XH unplugged all the things for the computer (keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc etc.) well then he thought maybe he should test it before he starts ripping it apart. After he rehooked up everything and plugged it in the computer worked. The power supply in the computer is meant to turn itself off if there is a power surge to protect the computer. My XH thinks that is what happened that the power supply shut itself off and that by my unplugging the computer and replugging it in it restarted the power supply.

So I have bought myself a little time before I have to buy a new computer for my son. I need to buy another external harddrive as the one I have now is full. Once I purchase that and make sure there is nothing left on the computer I will feel much better.

I am happy because now instead of buying DS a computer for his birthday I can buy him somethings he REALLY wants. I also am saved from having to buy a printer. My printer is on its last leg BUT I want to use up the ink in it before I replace it. If I would have had to buy a new computer I would have just bought a new printer because of all the hassle to load the drivers on this old one, but now I have a little time to delay the purchase of the new printer.

Yes it is nice not to have to buy a new computer and printer on top of trying to pay off the credit card.


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And the final topic - Daycare. I have ironned out the date that XH will be staying at the house and so I know when he is available to watch DS and when I will need to take vacation and when I will need daycare. It is really going to help my budget this month to just take vacation time and only pay for daycare for 3 days instead of the 4-5 weeks.

What a relief....I do need to apply for my Afterschool program though and that requires a small deposit, and the partial payments for August and May so about $200. Glad I dont have to come up with that on top of regular summer daycare.

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Have a great day! Yea it is Friday!

Not sure why only the first paragraph is posting so here goes....3rd times the charm right...

Thinking I will be boyfriend less soon. I feel bad because right now I am still getting the mess that was my relationship with my XH cleaned up and so I find I talk about my XH or will bring him up when I am talking about a situation at hand because that is the whole story to my New BF without realizing it. (this is my bad habit and I realize it).

BUT The main reason I think we will not be dating soon is that I work 8am-430pm so I have to be up at 630am to get ready, Feed and cloth DS, drop off DS at daycare and drive. This means I need to be in bed by 10pmish. I work Mon-Fri.

He works 12:30pm until 9:30pm. He works 7 days then gets 4 days off then works 7 days than gets 3 days off then works 7 gets 4 works 7 gets 3 (get the picture). He wakes up at like 10am and goes to bed at 2am, this sleep schedule sticks even when it is his days off.

So on the days he works we will not see each other UNLESS I am willing to push back my bedtime. Now with My son being home the Nightly walks are going to be ending. I like to try to get together when he has his days off (either after I am done with work or if it is a weekend basically spend the day together) BUT I have found that he like to RELAX on his days off. Which means he cleans his apartment (super neat/clean) and spends a lot of time watching TV or going to the YMCA.

He has super Cable TV so this seems really lazy to me since I have NO TV reception at my house. If I try to spend time more time with him than his magic limit, he will get a little irratated because he wants to relax on his days off. But I know that if you just let time pass you dont get it back.

I also have a house and child to take care of so I am busy and so I like to plan my time if at all possible.

Today He had the day off and so I asked him to come see me. Twice I got shot down, and he told me "I needed to chill" well that hurt my feelings. I dont get it because he was the one that ASKED ME out. Oh well....I am going to focus on myself and my son now and I will let him call me/ text me, when He wants to see me but I am going "to chill" and let him figure out and tell me what he wants from a relationship.

The good news is normally I shell out a ton of money when I am dating someone. The last guy I dated before My XH had a daughter and I loved to buy her things she needed plus he lived out of town so gas money etc. At least with my current boyfriend he paid all the time...He got uppity if I tried to pay so I learned to just enjoy it. He even bought me roses (MY FAV FLOWER) and had them delivered to me at work. So no regrets on a finacial front. I just wish I did not feel bad because I wanted to see someone I was dating. I feel like he was seeing me as clingy or needy but I suppose it was a bit much because I was trying to get as much us time together before I had to figure out daycare plans if we we going to spend time together without DS along.

Not sure if I wrote about the counseling.

My XH is very self centered. He thought the 8 years we were married were the BEST years of his life and is totally confused as to why I was not blissfully happy also. Yet in the same sentence he says it makes him sad being around me after the divorce was final, because now that we are divorced I am so happy it is like I have a huge weight off my shoulders and the sparkle is back in my eyes.

Really????? (Shaking my head)

He said he wanted to talk about why I wanted a divorce, and basically I asked him why? Why if you were so happy do you want me telling you why I was unhappy? Anyway I said that basically if he was going to move out of state for 2 years to go to school without even discussing it with me; leaving me to care for our son and the house etc that we were basically seperated/divorce but without the paperwork to make it legal.

That was not good enough so I told him I would talk about it but it had to be in a counseling type setting. His answer was "I cant afford counseling" to which of course as always I pointed out two FREE options to him. I told him he would have to make all the arrangements.

See with my XH he tend to put stuff off or only finish half. I figured IF he really wanted this to happen then he would follow through OR I would not have to do it. He followed through Darn it!!

My XH has PTSD, ADHD, and Rage Issues so I was not going to discuss this outside a setting where if he needed HELP after the discussion he could get it. I really dont see the point in crushing the rosey picture of the marriage he thought we had but I guess if that is what he wants then so be it. I am going to make sure I start with that, going to tell the counseler that and see if she can convince him he does not want to hear about 8 years of bad stuff.

The appointment to see the Counseler is at 4pm this afternoon. MY XH will be dropping off DS with my Grandmother and my aunt for a few hours during the appointment. My Son has been spending 3 weeks with my XH so Grandma of course is excited to see him. Of course Grandma and aunty just know XH has somewhere to be at 4pm. Wondering IF XH told DS where he was going. DS was the one that spilled the beans that his mommy and daddy had broke up.

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On the Positive side, My Little Boy is coming home today. After the appointment I get to pick him up from my grandmothers house and get caught up on all the hugs and kisses I missed while he was gone.

Now that my little boy is back home I need to call my daycare provider. He needs to start daycare this Tuesday at $130 per week. Oh well I lucked out and will only have to pay for 4 - 5 weeks of daycare this summer instead of the whole summer so that is good. I am slowly trying to budget in the cost of summer daycare spread over the whole year BUT since I only had like a month lead time I am just going to have to eat ALL the summer daycare costs out of current income.

Stepped on the scale this morning 166.8 pounds. Yep does not seem to have gone down much, but people are commenting on my weight loss and My clothes are fitting looser.

*EDIT*
After I posted this my XH called to find out if he could stay a little later this weekend. (He was going to leave Sunday) but now wants to stay at my house 2 extra days cause a buddy is going to go back with him. Then like 5 days later (3 days earlier than planned) he was going to come back to return friend. So he wants to stay with me instead of heading back just to turn around and drive back.

I have agreed to this...At first I was not really wanted to do this. My XH stresses me out and so I really dont want him around, #2 I am seeing someone and he really wants me to stop helping my XH and working on the things I need to do for myself.

BUT then I got to thinking and about the # of days that would be. Between my XH being here (If he stays I will require that he watch DS during my work hours in return), and the days I took off because my brother will be in town This would really reduce my daycare.

I figure if I took an additional 8 days off, all I would need is 3 days of daycare which I could have my grandmother FREE or my Cousin CHEAP do. This would mean a cost of $54 instead of $540-$675.

So I am now looking forward to it, this will really help my budget. I looked at my checking account today and it was the lowest I have seen it in YEARS! plus I have a HUGE Credit Card bill because to be on the safe side I have switched to CC only use until the retirement % changes in my paycheck.

My Boyfriend...Yep OMG I have a boyfriend.

Anyway, sorry back on topic. I have met his brothers and his niece and nephew but not the rest of the family. Well there is a BBQ for his brothers birthday tonight and I agreed to go.

So it is a meet the parents/uncles/aunts/sister-in-laws night. I was not nervous at all until a few hours ago.

I hated my hair, I was growing it out and it was at a horrible stage, well I cut it. Yes I lost about a inch on the sides and about 3 inches in the back BUT I think this new cut will grow out Much better than the style I had before. I cut it because my BF wants some pictures of us together so he can show people who ask. Anyway I wanted to feel my best going to meet the parents and cut my hair.

I am so much more happy about my hair.

Well the BF is 43 and I am 33 so it is not like it is MEETING the parents like when you are in your 20s. But Still I want to make a good impression.

Well today I got a text from my BF and he was telling me about the gag gift he was going to buy his brother. I am a little uncomfortable about the gift as it is "NAUGHTY" in theme and I am worried his family is going to think I am perverted or something because he is bringing me to the party and not sure if he makes a habit of giving these types of gifts to family members. What if they think I had some input in the gift.

Four Hours until the BBQ and I am now getting nervous. On another Note my little boy comes home in 2 more days!!

The day after my rummage sale a friend posted on facebook that they were going through their daughters closets and about 85% of the clothing was too small.

They were talking about starting School shopping. This year they have two children in school and so she has started school shopping for things like shoes, lunch boxes, and backpacks.

Well this got me thinking. DS is with his father until Thursday so I went to Wal-Mart and while there I started School shopping for his clothes. I had purchased over the summer four pairs of pants that where on clearnace for $7. Those pants are now back in the department for $12; so I saved $5 each by picking them up this summer. I also have the last two pairs of pants that I picked up a few years ago at BIG LOTS when they had a deal on jeans for $5. I had one pair of Nearly New jeans that I purchased off of EBAY for $5.50. This is seven pairs of jeans.

Now I live in the Upper Midwest so my son wears Jeans year round. With my Work schedule I like to be able to have at a miniumum 10 pairs of jeans so that on the weekends that I work I dont have to worry about washing his jeans I can do it Monday. So I purchased two pairs of Jeans for $8 each and two pairs that were $10 each. He has to have adjustable waist pants so finding deals on jeans is getting more and more difficult as his size gets larger but the price I got was good since He moved into the larger size Boy Jeans that cost more.

Those last 4 pairs brings his Jeans Total to 11 and he is set for school. I purchased him 6 new short sleeve t shirts, six were $7 each and one was $5. I think he will like them but before I take any tags off he will give me the yes no vote. I will not buy anymore short sleeve T shirts for him, he has a few Newer Ts from this summer that he can wear this fall.
Because when school starts the weather will be hot he will have about two weeks of shorts and short sleeve tops. I found a pair of shorts on clearance that are put away and he had another pair similiar that are newer. I purchased him three or four short sets for summer and they are in very good nearly new condition that he can wear for the first two weeks.

I will need to buy him some long sleeve shirts for school but that will need to wait for about two weeks when the fall clothing hits the stores.

I purchased him two packs of New Socks....I have a thing for new socks. I purchased his backpack and lunchbox last fall on clearance from CVS. I have tons of School supplies thanks to CVS and School sales from last year.

So I believe the only things I have left to buy are:
8 Long Sleeve Shirts
1 Pair of Shoes
** The special request classroom supplies that vary by teacher and by grade etc.***

Well truthfully it is not a surprize as the computer would boot wierd and I would get messages for errors this and that. I think there was some issue with the little bitty battery that is on the motherboard. Or maybe it was the bitty battery on the video card. Plus the computer was lossing time (the clock would say it was a different time than it was even shortly after going in and readjusting the time.) My Ex would say OHHHHH that should be fixed but he would never get around to it.

Yeah i am one of those people that does not know what they do not know and I can function with a WORKING computer but give me one with issues and I am lost.

Well the computer that crashed was the Desktop which my ex-husband built. I am not sure exactly how old it is BUT I dont want to mess with it. I want a FRESH new start.

My only consern is it has TWO hard drives in it. I am not sure IF there is anything important on those hard drives or not. I would like to save/transfer the data from the hard drives but not sure the best/easist/cheapest way to do it.

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The Desktop is the one that the printer was using as a server. Now I am printerless as the printer is a beast to load as the printer is like 13 years old so the software has to be located on the company website and everytime there are issues the software needs to be reloaded.

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So Step one is actaully buy a new printer (Much over due).

Step Two buy/build a computer.

Now the thing with the computer is that this computer is the one my son uses. I like that it is a desktop as I think they are more sturdy for Children usage. I will more than likely be purchasing another desktop for him.

I like that a Desktop is NOT portable. I want him using that coputer where it is placed no moving the computer so I cant see what he is doing AND if it is not being moved less chance of damage due to dropping etc.

I wish I knew what is the minimum requirements for a computer for him. He uses it mostly for internet and of course in the future he will use it for school work. Right now the school work is not so much typing up papers. I would use the computer as a second computer to print coupons off of and of course as a backup computer incase my notebook has to go in for repairs.

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Today I was at the store in the toy aisle looking at Legos and trying to figure out what to get my son for his upcoming Birthday. I then come home to a broken computer. So I guess the timing is good. Atleast if I HAVE to buy a new computer part of the expense can be rationalized as a Birthday Gift.

Today was my one day rummage sale.

It was from 8am until 6pm. I posted a FREE ad online and put a sign by my road and a sign by the cross street that runs off it.

Last night I got lazy and went to Wal-Mart and spent $1.80 on those round garage sale stickers that are super fast to put on stuff.

The stickers were my ONLY cost. So I made $305.10 Profit after factoring out the cost of the labels/stickers not bad, not bad at all. As a result I am now I am about half way to my credit card payment goal (to pay for my new furniture).

My neighbor will be having another rummage sale here in about three weeks so, she said I could add stuff to hers. All I have to do is as I pack up to make sure the stickers have my initals on them and then pack the stuff away for three weeks. Hopefully I can get rid of some more stuff. The nice thing is it will be closer to school so more of the clothes will go.

I am extremely happy about the results of the rummage sale. I should have put together one a LONG time ago. But now that I know the turnout is good for this area I will just keep some totes empty and as I find stuff I want to get rid off I will label it and set it aside for the next sell.

I ended up giving someone a $19 discount on the FireKing Dishes BUT better to have the $30 that I got for the remaining 43 pieces than to have them collecting dust.

If someone asked if I would take lower on any item I always said yes. Better to have cash in hand than a piece of clutter in a box. Truthfully the only regret is the dishes. It would have been $49 for all the pieces and she offered $20. I came back with $35 which really was what I would have been happy with, but then she came back with $30. I need to get over it and not stress out over $5. The thing is that they had special meaning to me and I already priced them low to begin with so here I am trying to let it go.

The only downside is tomorrow I NEED to clean, I moved EVERY flat surface piece of furniture that I owned into the garage to use and so the house is back to being trashed and there are boxes EVERYWHERE. Oh well....I will clean.

Oh I forgot to mention the quality time spent with my computer. During the sale I was cleaning out my email inbox. I have really neglicted the email account I have for sendearnings, inboxdollars and Mypoints. Guess who knocked out a bunch of emails and surveys. So really I made more than just the $305.10 I just dont know how to put an exact dollar amount on the email time.

I wish I had a truck. I live where it is a benefit for driving through the deep snow in the winter. I am also a home owner so there are some purchases that owning a truck comes in handy for.

I want a little truck. I have not looked yet and am hoping to pass as long as possible, since an added vehicle means increased gasoline and added insurance cost. Plus another space used up in my garage.

I am having a rummage sale on Saturday, IF I had a truck or knew of someone who had a truck I could borrow tables from work to set stuff on. Why does everyone I know have Jeeps, Vans, SUV's or cars?

Oh well. I am being creative, I moved two empty bookshelves from the basement into the garage. I also moved a storage chest. I have two end tables and my laptop desk that I plan to move to the garage to set things on.

I put my Fire King Dishes on the top two shelves of both Bookshelves. Out of the reach of children but still displayed. I have 59 pieces of peach luster dishes, including some serving pieces. Truthfully that is one of my bigger items. I am trying to sell by the piece but if someone wants the set then I will give them a group discount. I just want the money and I priced them low enough that someone could buy them and sell them online if THEY wanted. I dont have good luck with online sales.

I have two doors that I use to create tables, one is already set up. I thought I had another set of saw horse legs but I guess I dont so the second door is going to be placed on some rubbermaid totes.

Tonight is going to be a long night since I will spend the evening setting out the rest of the stuff. In the morning I will need to put out the things that are going in the driveway.

If I sell anything than it will be worth it, I just want to clear some space. Well that and get a little cash in pocket. I plan to post a FREE online ad for the dishes, TV's, Bed Frame, and 8 by 5 rug IF they do not sell Saturday at the rummage sale.

Here is Wishing for a Awesome Sale!

Today was payday. Tuesday after work the check from the extra $ from the refinance was delivered to my door.

So today I checked my checking account and all the money I had moved from my smaller interest paying Savings account was in my checking, the check from the refinance was posted (with part of it pending) and my paycheck posted.

This means I just completed the transfers. I now have 3 months Emergency Fund in all three of the subcategorys. I also updated my savings amounts in the house repair fund and added the car repair/replacement fund to my sidebar.

I have not closed out my savings account that is only earning .65 yet. I am taking some advice and am planning on using that to put toward the Credit Card Bill that will come due on the 1st of Sept for the furniture I purchased. This way I can get some interest on the money until the bill comes due but I dont have the hassle of transfering it to checking then to my other savings account then back into checking to get .5 more interest for only one month. At this time between now and the credit card bill being due I need to come up with $1448.55. I am hoping that my retirement change will hit on the first of the month so that will account for $700 leaving only $748.55. Between the Rummage Sales and whatever else I can think of I think I can come up with that before the 1st of September.

I need to send my auto insurance an accident avoidance certificate so I can get a discount. I took the course yesterday so It is not like I am delaying that too much. I also need to look at my policy. My policy renewed on the 8th. It is the first renewal since the divorce so I want to shop around. When I first got married my rate spiked because of my husbands bad driving history.

I think that due to this my rate might still be overly inflated. So I need to call around and get new quotes. I have been with this company for 10 or more years but it is time to see if I can shave some money from the bill. Due to my XH bad driving history it was much cheaper to stay with them then to go elsewhere but now that he is no longer a issue I think it is time to recheck rates.

On a personal note. My DS is spending time with XH so I am not having to pay daycare costs. When packing for the trip I did not pack DS a stuffed animal because I figured it was a small thing that XH could buy him to make the visit extra special. Well of course XH doesn't or won't so I order him one online. I selected next day delivery but Fed-Ex took forever at one point the note was that they tried to deliver it to the wrong address.

Total spent was $26, I was expecting it to be small. Yesterday he got it and the thing is BIG. I got texted a picture of my son holding it and I was surprised by how BIG it was. My son had a Huge Smile, so I continue to realize that I know my son very well. The cost of the item was $13.88 plus shipping. I think it was worth the $26. My son is now no longer homesick. When he misses his mommy (ME) all he has to do is give his present from me a hug. So I think the $26 spent is going to keep DS happy this last week and so $26 saved me $130 in daycare.

Well I went back to the store and bought the furniture for upstairs. In 1 to 2 weeks I should have furniture for my house. Later that evening as I was thinking of the total bill I started to regret it.

I got a great deal on the furniture, I really do need furniture as it makes it hard to sit down and relax when you only have wood kitchen chairs to sit down in. But being the tight wad that I am I have a hard time spending money on myself.

Truthfully this is the first Me Purchase I have made in well 11 years. The last Me Purchase was my Car in 1999. I guess I am stressing because I charged it to my credit card and unless I want to pull the $ out of savings about half the charge might sit one cycle on the CC. Of course my rate is 8% so that is not bad considering. But as a pay in full credit card person this extra month freaks me out.

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I would like to have a fully funded 12 Month EF, truthfully I do not need that much as my job is really secure but it makes me feel better.

Today I reduced my retirement savings from 36% of my pay to 15%. This will bring me about an extra $700 per month into my take home. I plan to use the extra money to fund the Emergency Fund, The House Payment Fund and The Escrow Fund. (Basically I have the Emergency Fund broken down three ways) I figure if something were to happen then why breakup the fund to those three things when I can just break them up now.

Once the Emergency Funds are funded I need to save for the Deck and for a larger house repair fund. The Deck is a Need as it is a safety thing. I have a walk out lower level so without the deck if there was a fire at the front of the house the only way out the top floor would be the two story windows. The house repair fund is currently being fed $100 per month. I would like at least $2000 in the account. The deductible on the homeowners insurance is 1000 and I want to have atleast 1000 for repairs.

Once that all happens then I will raise back my retirement savings. It really hurts to reduce my retirement saving BUT truthfully if I continue how I am saving for retirement I will have $50K per year income and I am currently living off of $29K per year with the mortgage payment so I should not be stressing.

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I hope to have a rummage sale this weekend to help pay for the furniture and to also reduce the clutter in my life.

I was trying to think of ways to increase my income. I could get a parttime job (but this would require permission from my employer). I could sell stuff, which is why I am having a rummage sale/sales. Or I could think about having a roommate or two. I am not ready to go the roommate route because I like being able to live my life without having to worry about noise from other. Also if I get a parttime job I would have to line up daycare. So I am not sure what I will do for extra money once I sell everything that I can sell.

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Hopefully I will get clearity as time goes on, I just feel so pulled in so many ways.

I am waiting on my Refinance Payment to hit my old mortgage company. There was a 3 day "Change your Mind" window with the loan which means I signed paperwork after hours on Monday so I had until Friday the 9th at Midnight to notify the lender if I desided I no longer wanted the loan.

Well Midnight on Friday translates to nothing happening until first thing on Monday. So I am checking my online mortgage account waiting for the payment to post or for me to try to log in and for it to tell me I no longer have an account.

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I need furniture, it is very difficult to entertain anyone when the only furniture you have is the kitchen table chairs and or the bedroom beds. So I finally broke down and went to the furniture store to purchase the livingroom set that I had desided I was going to purchase.

When I go there I realize to my dismay that the set I picked out that I thought had attached cushions infact did not have attached cushions. Sorry but I hate when a couch does not have attached cushions and you have a wiggly child on the couch and before you know it you are leaning against the back of the couch between the cushions.

So after a trip around the show room I had 3 options, the set that I am planning to purchase for the upstairs livingroom, a set very similar to the set I had selected originally but more $$ and with hard arms, and a third set that was not in their catalog.

I actually went with the third option, the couch was smaller than I was planning (only 2 inches larger than the one I plan to buy for the upstairs). But I LOVE the microsued fabric. It was also the BEST price. This store that I went to is always the best priced, so there stuff is hardly ever on sale more than their regular price.

Well they were comping this set because a local store had a similar set on sale so I got a couch, loveseat, chair and ottoman for $1100 plus a discounted delivery fee. That is $600 less than what I would have paid for the original set and the ottoman was basically a freebee. Actually they threw in a fabric protector package also for the sale price listed but since I would not have paid extra for it I did not include that in the price calculation.

Last night as I was sleeping or trying to sleep I got to thinking, I need furniture for the upstairs livingroom also. I was going to wait as this is a want not a NEED. But I can get a couch, chair, and ottoman for the price I would pay for just the sofa I was going to buy for the upstairs because of the comp PLUS since I already paid the reduced delivery fee why not buy the upstairs stuff now and save the second delivery fee.

Buying now would save me $300 PLUS the delivery fee. And the furniture upstairs would match the furniture downstairs so I think the house would flow very nicely. So later today I am going to go back to the store and add the upstairs pieces to me order.

That is so awesome that for the price I planned to pay for just my basement furniture I will have gotten all the furniture I need.

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This weekend I plan to have a rummage sale. I hope it goes well because I really want to get rid of some of the clutter in my house.

Okay here is the situation. 6 months ago my now XH had to have a NEW phone so he could text. So after researching new phone prices I desided to extend my cell phone contract to get new phones at a reduced cost.

The cancel early fee is $200 per line but the discount on the phones was $220 each so the lesser of two evils was to extend the contract. My XH now has his own plan but he still has the phone I purchased for him. He has basically given me the $200 cancelation fee in FREE daycare services. But there was a mess up with the Internet bill; I pay the bill but the bill was in his name so when the bill was transfered to my name; he is going to get a refund of MY $$ for about $100. If I get that money returned to me I am good for the phone but if not then really he only gave my $100 for the contract cancelation.

Yeah a complicated mess. Here is the deal. I can cancel the phone now, and pay $200 and save $28 per month which times 5 months is $140 or a total cost of $60.

Or I can just keep the second line and it will cost me $140 more over the next 6 months BUT if I only get the $100 it will only cost me $40. But if for some CRAZY reason he desided to refund me the Internet refund then It would save me $60 to wait out the contract.

What would you do? Would you pay the extra $60 and just be done with the mess and the ties to your XH. Or would you wait out the 5 months then cancel the line to save the $60? At this point I have to wait until the 9th to make any changes. The way my provider works is any change made mid cycle will be prorated and if I make the change before the start of the new cycle I am afraid of overage charged because of the prorate.

Another thing is he said he would give me the phone, if I do not get the other phone back I will cancel the line ASAP. But if I have the phone in hand and know no calls will be going OUT from it I am more willing to keep the line. What to do?

Oh one more thing, I HAVE ALLTEL yep, Alltel. We were suppose to be in the process of being switched to AT&T like 3 years ago. At this point I am wondering if that switch happens before the contract would end would I really have a contract cancel fee as the contract is with Alltel NOT AT&T? The swap is causing me many questions because I am not sure my phone will work with them and If I cant upgrade am I going to have to pay FULL price for a phone to work on the AT&T plan?

Well I have been on a run of happiness. I was looking forward to having my XH out of my house and his drama gone.

I was looking forward to my son spending time with his dad so I could have a break from being the person that handles everything.

But I have hit a blue patch.

Now that it is day two of my little boy being on vacation with his father I am sad. I really miss my little boy. The house is too quiet. I miss my daily hugs, kisses and of course the "I love you mommy".

Last night I blew up at my boyfriend. He does this thing where he quotes movies in a wierd high pitched voice and I try to ignore it but last night he sent me a sound text and it basically it was a movie clip, an annoying OLD military one at that. I know it is dumb to let something like that eat at me but I really find the movie and tv quotes annoying since I have no clue the movie reference since I dont watch TV and because I have a young child most movies I watch are family friendly. Plus the high pitched voice is like hands down a chalk board to me.

I know I am going to have to say something BUT not sure if it will do any good because he does this more when he is nervous so it might be ingrained habit.

We were suppose to reserve the hotel rooms for the trip this weekend but I am dragging my feet on it because I do not want to spend all that money if I think I am going to be blue the whole time and secretly upset with him over the voice thing.

I think I am going to try to have a rummage sale on Saturday instead. I have so much stuff for a sale that I need to have a sale so that I can have a sale. I really need to be saving $ for my $$ Goals and not spending money on things I can really go without.

What to do? What to do?

Well I desided I not longer wanted the goal saving with my local bank. I had opened it up as a slush fund but after realizing how little interest it makes (.1%) I desided to go with an online saving. Yesterday I empty it out and called today to close it.

Well I called today and IF I close within 6 months I am charged $25 for an early termination fee. So today I transfered $10 back into the account so it doesn't have a zero balance. I reset up the required monthly transfer but reduced it to $30 which is $5 more than the minium required.

I guess I will just have to go into the account after the transfer happens and transfer it back to checking. I will do this for the next 4 months to save myself the $25.

This is a big pain in the butt. But the bank is not going to cheat me out of $25. I will just play their game.

This weekend I am planning on going on a small vacation. Hotel and Gas for the 2 nights should cost around $120. The Spa pampering is going to run me $200 and food I am guessing $50. We are also planning on stopping at the outlet mall and so I am thinking $500 for shopping.

At the outlet mall I am hoping to pickup a Machine Washable bedding set for my king size bed. I am also wishing to buy some clothes for myself and back to school clothes for my son. I would like to get some art work for my walls and maybe a right hand ring. Hopefully I am successful.

Look at my sidebar....I will get that TREAT MYSELF TO SOME PAMPERING goal completed!!! Sweet!

Okay lets see. XH moved out on the 1st of the Month, came back on the 2nd for the holidays then left on the 5th until the 22nd when he is bringing back DS from their visit.

I gave him a BUNCH of furnature and as a result I have no couch, but I figured it saved me the hassle of finding someone to take the livingroom set to the dump once I saved up enough money to buy new furnature.

I bought a new (softer) mattress, what a difference that has made. My XH always thought he NEEDED a firmer mattress so I listed my old one on a online site for free and it was picked up within 4 hours.

I need to step on the scale and see where I am at for weight. I passed the physical fitness and body fat requirement for work so today I signed a NEW 6 year contract with my employer.

Yesterday my relatives were all saying that I looked like I lost weight and a co worker who had not seen me in a week said the same thing. I think now that my stress level has gone down the weight is coming off.

I set up autofunding of all my savings goals. I am kind of stressing because after all is done I only have like $600 per month for things like food, gas and unexpected. I am trying to plan for as many non-routine expenses but there is always the unplanned that pops up. I have my 3MTH Emergency Fund completed and am $1300 short of 6MTH.

Tonight I close on my house refinace. So as of tonight I will offically be a homeowner all by myself without my XH on the title. We did a quit claim but the refinace will make it 100% offical as when they were doing the title search they had to have XH sign some more documents so I am glad I refinaced so all the i s are dotted and t s are crossed.

The big summer work rush happened, not sure if I wrote about that but my now single status was the thing to talk about. As a result I am now dating someone.

I got the garage opener back from my XH, but forgot to get the key because he threw a little drama in my lap as he drove away on the 5th. Oh well I am not looking forward to spend the money to change the locks BUT I did want to put a more decorative handle/lock on the door so now I have a good reason to push that to the top of the to do list.

The guy I am seeing has a cousin that builds decks, so he is going to talk to him and see if he can get me a deal on the construction of one. I need a deck, it is not just a want because it is an exit. It is a FIRE escape if there is a fire at the front of the house or in the garage.

I currently have $100 a month going into a house repair and projects account, Once I have my Escrow account funded, my mortgage account, and my 6MTH EF funded to where I want them, I want to bump that up so that I can build the deck sooner.

I am slowly going through the house and I so need to have a rummage sale. I need the money and I need to clear some of this junk because I want to declutter my life.

I had some rocks and a boulder in my back yard the boulder weighed 4600 pounds. I paid a coworker to remove them. The total cost was 326.80 for the work and now once the grass grows in I will be able to mow the grass without having to mow around the rocks. It is a huge weight off my shoulders....Like 4600 pounds. HaHa

I run or atleast I run when I am told I have to run. HaHa

Well I have an MP3 player that I use for running and like to have songs in there that are upbeat and catchy.

Well lately I have been thinking about how nice it would be to have a running playlist, a cool down playlist and of course a just chillin and listening to my favorite tunes playlist.

So I was thinking of biting the bullet and buying an ipod. Well about a week and a half ago I created a folder on my MP3 player. I was hoping that folders would equal playlists. Well I turned on my MP3 player and nothing was different. The song that was in the seperate folder was in my list so figured nope folders dont mean anything.

Well I was messing with the MP3 player today and realized that I infact do have an option to play folders. So now I am NOT going to by an ipod ($123.54 at Wal-Mart) was going to buy it at Staples and pricematch Wal-Marts price so I could use my staples rewards check which would basically cover the tax on the ipod.

:0)

So my Workout Buddy is planning to go to Vegas in August, he parents and uncles/aunts were going to go and meet some radio personality and him and his brother were going to go relax and maybe do a little skydiving.

BUT He has not locked anything in yet. He was planning the end of August and asked if I might be interested in tagging along; but that would not work for me since Mid August school starts. I told him if it was sooner I might be convinced to join him.

Well his answer was that the trip was not in stone yet and if earlier would workout better, an earlier trip could be arranged. How Sweet is that.

Okay so my Workout buddy has many friends in the airline business, so he can get buddy passes, we just have to get to Denver. So I need to start saving for the trip that I want to take; that he said he could arrange buddy passes for.

My plan is July-August (Workout daily, watch food intake, increase water intake) Goal Be down to my 143 pound goal fitting into my favorite swim suit.

Reward: Vegas 3 day trip early August

Sept 18th: Run 1st 5K race

Get a Passport!

Reward for 5K race, Getting fit and trim and My Birthday (Nov): Trip to cancun (buddy ticket) in November which he says would be the best time to go as it is not during spring break and that time of year it is more people our age on vacationing there.

I need to look into the price of tickets to vegas...We have super cheap flights to vegas from my city as we have one airline that just does vegas so I am thinking $100-$150. I then will need $ for food. I am thinking either I will be crashing on the couch in their room (unless the brother is claiming the couch) or will crash on the floor. After all the carpeted floor will probubly be softer than a rocky ground you would get camping.

As for my Birthday trip:
I need a passport
I need Ticket to Denver
I need Hotel $
I need Food $
He has been to cancun 4 times so I am going to find out from him the average he usually spends on food and hotel so I can ball park the savings I will need.

***
Disclaimer:
I am not looking for a romantic relationship. We are friends! And if it were to get serious I would require a 2 year dating time line before a 2 year engagement time. With my Ex if I would have done this I would have known we did not make a good couple. Also IF I was ever talk about get married I would make sure it was a church wedding with both of us attending the required pre-marriage classes and us attending a dave ramsey course before wedding planning.

I have been in a marriage that basically was two people sharing living space for at least 5 years so I guess in my mind I dont feel the need for 100% 24/7 Me Only time. Also we are friends, we chit chat and he understands that; we were talking about something and he said "if we were to date in the future" so I know he gets that I am not looking for anything more than a Workout Buddy and a good friend at this time.

Okay this is not money related, might be able to toss in a few money things but mostly this is just an attempt to purge my brain.

I AM Divorced!! And for the past 8 years I have given and given and got nothing in return (besides my son - so I would do it all over in a heart beat).

I have often been told while I was married that my now ex had no clue what he had in a wife and there are so many guys that would love to have me as there girl/woman and would love my son as their own.

***
Well my ego is really being boosted. The big work weeks are here and the part timers are working full time and there is alot of round the clock projects going on. Well the Big NEWS is that I am now single. Seems to be the Thing to talk about.

In the last week I have been contacted by an old guy friend, and have meet two new guy friends. One of the new friends has had a crush for like 2 years now BUT being he is a true gentleman he has NOT acted on it. Well now that the big news is that I am single he has asked me to spend time with him. We are going to go to a movie here soon just not sure when. I would like to see Killers, and Letters to Juliet. I think I might have talked him into either taking me or renting letter to juliet later. We desided on Killers.

Truthfully I was being really judgemental about the guy who is going to take me to the movie and almost was like nah not going there, but as I get to know him more I am finding more and more I like about him.

He is taking a mini-vacation in the end of august and asked me to go with. I said maybe another time because school will be starting then and I cant miss the first days of school.

I have never been on a real vacation. I am really overdue for a mini-vacation or a vacation, so I am thinking it would be nice to go. Even if we are just going as friends. We have alot in common and I think we both could help the other improve/better oneself.

I am really excited for the prospect of going on a fun vacation with friends.

I am thinking about joining a gym. Which means a monthly added cost to my budget.

The thing is I found a workout buddy, If I workout with them I either need a membership where they have one or pay $7 per visit to the YMCA. So far I canceled once with them (did not want to pay $7) and once I suggested a walk (see below) after they had completed their YMCA workout.

I am not really liking the YMCAs hours for Daycare as workout buddy needs to workout before or after work and so before work would be fine ( my work will give me the time to workout during my shift) but after work would be a problem as the daycare ends at 7:30pm on Mon-Thurs and is not available Fri-Sun, and they do not work out until 9pm if they workout after.

I was thinking of a second or third option...Option 3 allows 1 guest per visit so I could get the membership and it would cost my workout partner nothing. I need to check into their daycare times though. The only downside is that they have not pool.

WE walked 10 Miles yesterday together and I walked 3 miles by myself while they were at the YMCA, I also took 2 loads of boxes out of storage. I was very happy with the scale this morning as a result. 168.8!!!! I am back under 170. Only 25 pounds to go to goal.

My workout buddy MIGHT run the 5K with me in September. It depends because they cringed when I told them there was a $25 -$30 entry fee if they registered before the end of the month. Also not sure if they will want to run with me or run at their top speed. So maybe I will just see them at the finish line as they run at a faster pace then I do.

****
My XH was suppose to go to the cities to look at an apartment yesterday but desided to go camping instead. He is now planning on going this weekend. I have to work saturday so I hope he plans to take our son with him as I will not be availble to watch DS.

Some time this week I NEED to get my ducks in a row and get the quit claim completed. I need to deposit more money into the account that I am going to be using to cut the check to XH.

****
I was reminded that I really need to set up an appointment with the dentist and my girly doctor. So I might have another monthly bill to add to my budget. I am not sure if that type of prescription is covered at the 100% rate or if I am going to have the the $3 or $13 per 3 months mail-order-pharmacy rate.

****
Tonight, right after work I am planning on having subway for dinner with my workout Buddy, then going for another walk but only 6.4 miles this time.

It is funny because I have told people I walked for 13 miles last night and they are all like NO WAY. But once I tell them the 10 miles took 3 hours then they are like okay I can see that.

Yesterday I spoke with XH and he agree to let me buy him out of the house.

My XH is very self centered and a instant gratification kind of person. (Truthfully he was hoping to list and have an offer in the first week) Even though our house is over the average price for a home in city (169K).

So....I have refinanced the house in my name only. I was approved to refinance anyway. Now I am waiting for the company to Fed-Ex me the paperwork which I will review and sign and return and then THE CLOSER will call me. Due to back log I am told this can take 5 days. But I am locked in on the new rate and it is 1.5% LESS than what I am at now so my total payments will go down $150 per month. Also I will not have an escrow anymore (I will be doing a self-escrow).

Once the house is refianced then I will be paying my XH 10K which is what he would have gotten had we sold the house at the REAL VALUE price AFTER the realtor fees and the portion to Myself and to DSs college fund. We will be doing a Quit Claim Deed to transfer all ownership to myself and to BUY him out. Actually the 10K is $1,500 or 7% more than he should be getting BUT it is what his "I need this amount to move on was".

I would have liked this as an option before we divorced so we could have gotten it taken care of with that instead of having to do a quit claim deed NOW but my XH usually has to be given time to come to realize that I am right.

See he thought our house was worth 260K NO way I was going to pay him 50% of equity of that. I knew it was closer to 206K well we met with a RE Agent and the house is listed at 214 (Big difference in Equity from his minds idea)....NO bites no nibbles. So house is not selling and people complaining about this that and the red neck neighbor with 10 cars three which are parked on the grass and he FINALLY realizes we are going to have to be at a break even point NOT a huge flip that house profit (finished the basement) to sell the house.

So basically we are now both at a house value point that is REAL and because he understands that if we sold to split the profit we would have to pay a realter so that is going to be factored OUT of the equity for both of us. I feel bad that he thinks he should get more than what the market is going to bring him. BUT on the other hand when I called back and told him that I got approved he was releaved. He told me all day after that it was like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

The funny thing is there is still some work for me to iron out, so at times there is still a little stress on my plate. But last night I played outside with my son, we rode his scooter and he rode his bike and then would take a turn on his scooter. It was great and it was all possible because FINALLY I am done spending all my spare time keeping the house OCD clean.

This morning I took a shower in the Master Bathroom. The Main floor bathrooms have been off limits for a while now since I super cleaned them and put out NEW towels and rugs. Last Night I BBQed But if I had wanted to I could have used the kitchen again. We were limiting cooking and doing alot of take out so that we could reduce the cleaning required. SOOOOOO Nice.

Met with the stagers today. $4000 to stage the house and they said about $150 per month since we would need to rent a livingroom set for upstairs..

So following that I....

Sat down with XH to show him how much he would net IF he went with his bottom line that he agreed to before going to the concert. He thought man we definately have to pay to stage now because that is not enough. To which my answer was even if we pay to stage there is NO garentee we will sell and what price we will get.

So after that I asked "How much do you NEED to be able to move on?" Well it turns out it would be 47% of his bottome price.

*****
I am on hold!!!!!

I am looking to refinance our home and then buying him out with a quit clam deed. That EF over there is going to take a nose dive though since I do not want to finance the buy out into the mortgage. I think it is best for everyone.

Little Guy and me get to stay in the family home and XH gets the $ he needs to move out of state. If I refinance #1 I no longer need to have the taxes and insurance in escrow so I will make interest on the money for the escrow that I will keep in a seperate savings account. #2 because of the refiniance my payments will drop by $150 per month. They will drop by $410 per month if you remove the escrow. The NEW total price means the house is only going to cost me about $100-$200 per month more than I was looking to spend for an apartment. Also my mortgage will stay the same instead of changing yearly based on taxes and insurance amounts.

I have my fingers crossed.

So XH got back from his out of town party with friends.

He of course gets upset right away when I ask him to make sure his feet are clean before walking on the NEW carpet. The old carpet was dirty and that is why we had to spend $500 to replace it so people would stop complaining about the carpet.

Well before the trip I was working on the rock border and he was painting the upstiars. Well while he was gone I finished the rock border. I have a stiff neck, sunburned arms, and 4 days I will never get back to show for it BUT it is done.

Today when he called me at work to find out if I called the realtor I mentioned the painting. He still needs to paint the hallway and the two bathrooms. (The bedrooms should also be done but they are not BAD). His answer was to swear at me then hang up the phone. I really dont get the sell it two months ago attitude but yet I am doing all the work to get it ready to show.

I have called the realtor so far today twice. I will talk to her today BEFORE 9pm. I want to find out about the comments during the last open house. I also plan to reduce the price we are asking.

It is costing me 1500.00 in housing payments for each additional month we are on the market because XH has not money and now he is getting hystrical because in a month he will not have enough to pay his child support in full. (Humm maybe he should work instead of taking vacations or get a fulltime job).

We are talking of dropping our list price. I am thinking about 10K but it might be 15K just to get a QUICK bite. XH wants to drop it to 200K but then in the same sentence he says he wants a small amount of money so he can move and start living his life. We might end up at the 15K drop which would be 199K but It scares me a bit because then the offers are going to be below that price and I know XH is going to be a pain in the BUTT when he doesnt have much to move forward.

***
I talked to the realtor and off course now a third realtor has repeated that our house is great but it is not selling. Now the word is the house is COLD. The new homes we are up against are staged and painted a warm browny/tan and we have near white walls.

The realtor knows some stagers and hopefully they can come over tomorrow to look at the house. Of course I knew this needed to be done and any painting suggested is going to have to be hired out (XH is lazy but at end of rope). When I told him the house might need to be painted a warmer color he flipped out and said he cant afford any more house expenses. I am really getting sick of him saying that because I am the one footing all the bills.

Oh well how much is my sanity worth, is it worth dropping my house price by 15K and paying out of pocket 1K for painting and ??? 1K for furnature and decorations to warm up the place.

***
Sadly I just wish we would have priced the house lower to start with. I was thinking based on pricing that would should have been at 206K to start. If we would have started there then took of 5K for the deck allowance we might have sold faster and it would not be JUNE and still not sold the house.

Well today I opened a NEW savings account.

It is online and it is my Emergency Fund. It is for the first 3 months of Emergency. I plan to do the rest of it in CDs.

I guess there is some rule about transfering money from one Savings account to another, so I had to transfer the money from one savings account to my checking then once it clears, transfer it to the Emergency Fund Savings. (This could be faster but it is not because it is THREE seperate companys).

I was going to transfer the FULL 3 Months from the Savings account that feeds my Mortgage BUT there is a daily limit so I tranfered $4,580 and tomorrow I will transfer the remaining $2,000 to my checking. The remaining $500 came out of Checking which I used to open the account.

I left enough in my *pay the mortgage autodraft account* to pay the Mortgage through the end of August. Hopefully it will sell before that and then I can roll the remainder into CDs I am creating for the rest of my Emergency Fund. My thought is that I will need a place to temporarily hold the money from the sell of the house until I can open the CDs and that is what this saving account will serve as. If it does not sell prior to that then I will need to start putting money back into the account.

The CDs are going to be open with this company because there CDs pay higher then the other two.

The online account that my EF is in is earning .45 MORE than my Mortgage account is so that is why it will not be my Emergency Fund. I am sort of rethinking having my Slush fund through my Checking account Bank because that is really bad for interest, EF savings is 1.0 Higher. I might turn Mortgage Autopay into the slush fund later (once it is not longer being a Mortgage Autopay) then close the Slush Fund Savings.

The thing I have noticed is there is a limit to how much money you can transfer online each day and the CD's I want to create are larger than that amount SO It will take me 6 business days to transfer the money plus clearing time.

My Car Repair and Replacement Savings is with ING.
My Emergency Fund is with ING.
Both are more out of sight out of mind because car repairs are few and far between and the replacement is quite a few years off, and the EF well that is Emergency Only.

My Mortgage Autopay Savings is also the Bank I have my Credit Card through, that is why I am thinking that would make a better home for the slush fund. The Slush fund is for non-reguler expenses such as auto insurance and Car Tags which I tend to pay online using my Credit card so having the slush fund savings there would make paying the bill faster.
My Sons Braces account is at that same company BUT I am thinking maybe it is time to close the account there and open it at ING so it grows faster.

Well Tomorrow is another day....

One last note Spent $20. I registered for a 5K Run. My FIRST offical 5K Run. It is on Sept 18. I am pretty excited about it. I registered early so I could save on the registration fee. It goes up by $5 every month until Race and I registered online so I saved an additional $5. I get a Long Sleeve T shirt for finishing so basically I bought a $20 T Shirt that says "I ROCK" okay it does not actually say that I just think I rock for doing this!

My XH thinks I should get our son a pet, basically a gerbil or hamster as a pet so that he can have a snuggly friend and learn to take care of things.

Of course I am not happy about this because I think they stink, to which my XH says Not if you take care of them.

I actually think a guinea pig would be nice. I went online and did some research. I guess I have to look into the towns animal rescue and see if they have any. I do not want to buy a pet from a pet store when there are always pets that need to be rescued.

I have two issues #1 that they do cost money, I would rather spend the $ putting the money in the bank for savings goals (but in this case $ is BUYING love). And #2 I am not sure how long you can leave them alone for.

I think on the few weekends per year that I go out of town if I make sure the cage is cleaned BEFORE I leave town and if I put fresh water and food out that in the 24-48 hours I am gone it would be fine.

Now the issue comes up what if I have to go out of town for an extended period. I know every summer I end up going out of town for 1 week to 2 weeks. I am pretty sure that would be way too long to leave it alone even with water bottle and or some sort of automatic feeder.

Worst case is if I would have to go out of town for an extended period. Last spring I was told I was going to be out of town for 3 days and then the POOP hit the fan and I was out of town for 5 weeks. I just think a pet would be too much in addition to all the changes that are already going on in DS and my life already.

I live in a city that when you combine the city next to it there is a total population of 70,000 people. I am pretty sure there is NOT a company that will come into your house and clean your pets cage and water/feed your pet for you while you are out of town so that you dont have to board it. I am not sure if they even have boarding options for pets that are not cats/dogs.

Boarding = $$$ but if I am going to get a pet I have to make sure I am aware of this things as I will need to board from time to time.

I dont want to talk myself out of getting a guinea pig (male and neutered) Because I would love for my son to have a pet; he LOVES animals but on the other hand I think I am LAZY. I think I like to keep things as easy as possible, meaning if I have to go out of town I dont want to have to get a pet all set up at a sitters in additional to packing up my son and getting him all set up at the sitters in addition to getting the apartment all set so it can be left unoccupied for the time I am gone.

What would you do? Would I be a bad pet owner because I am woried about the care of the pet IF I get very short notice from work about an assignment? Would I be a bad pet owner because I am mentally adding up the cost of the special HAY, food pellets and fresh fruit and vegtables it would eat that would be added to our monthly budget?

This weekend we went shopping for carpet.

Looking over the instock supplies; XH was set on a certain type and color of carpet the sales lady was suggesting which was $2.29 per SF. I had pointed out that I prefered a totally different type and a mixed color instead of solid one which was $1.19 per sf.

He was stuck on the carpet at $2.29, until we got the quote. $714. He wanted to go to another store or two and so we left and on the way out he said okay maybe we will go with the $1.19 per sf carpet. I truthfully had been hopeing to get the carpet installed and all for around $300 so the $1.19 per sf is much closer to that price than the $2.29 stuff.

I guess it helps that I have purchased carpet with my grandmother many times and know that the price per sf adds up fast!

This is the same place he went to to get the molding for the upstairs bath that he was charged $60 a piece for. Really!!

***
We had went to my prefered store next. XH and I met with someone and talked about our needs, he suggested not only instock but figured out how much carpet we would needed and suggested a remenet piece. Being XH was about price at this point we picked out an piece and when it was all done it was about $424.

I am not sure the exact price because XH paid for it. Which was nice that he paid since I purchased the replacement garbage disposal and paid the plumber to fixed the water line for the dishwasher the day after we had the countertops installed.

The nice thing is this guy was the real deal, he made sure to ask about all the add ons. We ended up going home and measuring doorways because we needed to fix the transition of the lamenet. Which by the way is $30 there per piece!

We ended up having to go back because XH missed measuring out the landing at the foot of the stairs and he said it was like a foot and I was sure it was more. When we got home the landing was closer to 2 feet. We ended up having to go with a larger piece of remnent but it was an easy process and the price different of going from 12 x 10 to 12 x 14.6 was actually only $29.00.

The first piece was a berbur, the second was a pile but not a cheap pile, the thin little curly q type pile. Actually the store had it in wierd diagnal cuts of different colors at the front of the store so it must be popular. I want to say it reminds me of a shag rug. Maybe it is shag carpet.

Anyway the carpet we got was almost identical to what we had except the type. The carpet on the stairs will be removed and the carpet will be laid down on the stairs and the hallway this friday.

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Saturday evening I went shopping, I got propane for the gas grill. I am hopeing that we can grill more so that #1 we will not be using the stove inside (so kitchen stays clean). #2 we can cut back on the number of meals we are eatting out to minimize the mess to the kitchen.

I then went to Wal-Mart, I finally found some shorts. I went in hoping to buy another pair of jeans but they were out of my size and I could not find jean shorts that fit like I wanted. BUT I found workout shorts, I have been looking long and hard. I am picky about my workout shorts...I do not like them too short and I like them to look flattering but it seems like either they are tight like spandex or they are more relaxed and they ballon out below the thigh.

I found 7 pairs of capris that fit just like I wanted and they were on clearance from $11 to $5 each. I bought all seven pairs because when I find something that works I need to stock up and seven pairs is one weeks worth or shorts. I also got a Tank which was regular price $11 but Marked $5 but rang up $1.

***
Sunday I went shopping with DS I wanted to see if I could find more tanks, I had been looking at the $5 racks after trying it on in the fitting room and after getting home and looking at the reciept I realized I should have been looking at the $1 rack.

Sunday I bought a St. Joseph Statue, I bought DS three sets of shorts and tanks they were $7 each and I bought him a pair of flip flops $4, and a pair of canvas slip on shoes $1 clearance. I found myself another tank but it was $5.

DS might not really have needed the tank/short sets BUT I am not sure. I think his summer stuff is in the tote in his bedroom closet but I might have taken his summer stuff over to the storage unit. Either way the tank and shorts end up $3.50 per piece since they could be worn seperately so for that price it is not bad.

These were the last ones in his size, so If I would not have gotten them they would have been gone when I went back. He wears size 7 slim pants with adjustable waist BUT in shorts wears 4/5 (skinny waist). So I bought them and after I go through the tote in his room and IF he has a ton of clothes for summer I might return them.

So this weekend was alot of spending but not too bad, I did not buy furnature so $1500 less than I planned.

XH is going out of town next week, going to a week long outdoor concert thing. No big deal I work 8-4:30 amd I have after school care already. The only glitche is that on the 28th there is no school so no afterschool care.

I have desided to take the day off work. So I will be using a day of leave. Oh well easiest fix AND little sweet heart and I get to spend the FIRST day of his summer vacation together yea.

****
Well today I was on Facebook and I noticed XH had a post for a memorial walk on that he had said he was doing. I am thinking in my head he really needs to start watching his calender.

I posted below it, a question on if HIS employer was going to let him do it during work hours (which since it was a memorial for a few coworkers they very well could). I continued with a comment saying I thought you were going to BLANK which basically means he would be out of town during the walk. So I texted him and asked the hours he had to work that weekend, and he said yep no walk, and so I had to ask again what his hours were and His answer was "I dont know". So a third time I asked what are your hours I want to schedule daycare.

So I asked if he wanted to take him to his buddies house or if he wanted me to ask my cousin or our other daycare lady (which days again he deleted her number out of his phone saying "dont need THAT number anymore"). His answer was to say DS does not like to stay at his friends house. Truthfully I dont like when XH takes him there BUT I just suggested it because it might be easier for him and cheaper. I told him once I got a yes I would tell him who, location and projected cost at pickup.

See I will be out of town, when XH can pick DS up. We need daycare from 8am-4:30p on Friday then Sat 8am until XH picks him up either LATE Sunday or first thing Monday. So I figure worest case it is 3 days or $180. Yeah XH is going to LOVE that. Oh well I am not home so he will have to pay for daycare.

I say worst case because if something changes I might just need to have DS stay overnight Friday so I dont have to drop off early Saturday. Plus XH will not give me time to what LATE means so if DS is with Sitter we have to pay until the time I reserved which would be until 7:30am Monday.

I hope he remembers his checkbook when he goes to pick him up, even with reminders the last time he needed to pay a daycare provider (out of joint checking) he forgot to bring the checkbook and had to turn around half way there to go get it.

Oh well even IF I end up having to repay XH for the Daycare bill it is less than I normally pay for a month (as long as he does not skip town prior to the end of the month).

Last Night I bought two rugs...

7.5 feet by 9.5 feet was $62.00
5 feet by 8 feet was $50.00

The large one is now upstairs, we are going to be moving the loveseat and automan from the basement onto it and then making a little reading/lounging area. The LARGE rug brings out the size of the room. I guess the realtor told XH we needed a rug with a bold design to draw people to the rug but I was not told that and I got one that has a pattern but it is a solid color. The Rug is huge, so it draws the eye, and brings out the size of the room while still reducing the vastness of the laminent floors.

The second rug is a very nice pattern and it is downstairs infront of the sliding door. I would have loved it if I could have gotten it in a bigger size but the huge rugs were either solid or they had one multicolor which I actually thought looked Cheap so I went with the solid.

I moved the rugs that were in front of the washer/dryer and the sliding door and put them in the hall. So I dont need to buy any more rugs!

So Saturday we will just move furnature and order carpet for that stairs and the hallway. Much Cheaper than buying a livingroom set.
***
I bought flowers....$56.00

I planted voilas infront of the front steps, then DS picked out two planters for the front steps.

The planters have a Large pink/redish garanimum in them and some drappy blue flowers. They are really nice (he has a thing for garanimums), I dont like garagniums but I do like this planter setting. They came with nice sqaure pots that are a complementary color for the house and were only $8 each.

I then bought 4 pink lilies that were starting to open, and 3 purple lisper (I think that is what they are called). I alternated them in front of the front windows, so now the blooming flowers are in front and the tiger lilies that are returning from last year which are not popping flowers up yet are behind it adding a little green.

***
I worked some more on the rock boarder, XH plans to take DS fishing Saturday after the carpet is ordered. I plan to work tonight, tomorrow night and then finish the rock border on Saturday. It will be alot of work BUT I want to finish so I can post a picture on here so you can see the improvements.

I also want to shampoo the carpet on saturday, we have another open house on Sunday.

***
Had an unoffical showing last night. An older couple was crusing around while I was working on the flowers and they asked about the house. I think they were scoping out the site for the open house this Sunday. I offered to let them look and I walked them through. They liked the house and his wife LOVED our kitchen but we dont have a upstairs laundry.

I need to take some measurements. I know our washer and dryer can be stacked and could be installed in our master walk-in. (The closet is right over the mechanical room, and it could be vented out through the attich, but that would cut down on Master Bedroom closet space.
Option #2 would be putting it in the closet off the entry. I have to measure but I think the closet could be slightly extended out into the entry. Or the closet could be deepend by extending the closet by doing a little add on.

Of course option #1 would be by far the cheapest. Plus the house as tons of closets plus the storage in the basement so I think the small loss of space by putting an additional stacked washer/dryer in the master closet would be minimal. Also if it was an smaller washer/dryer on the main floor (the regular on the basement for big stuff or visitors) I think it could work.

I will definately take some measurements and get some quotes so that we could put that out as an option IF we keep getting the older couples that want laundry on the main floor.

So now we have another open house this Sunday, so besides the rug I had planned to purchase to cover the floor in the upstairs family room, I was told I should purchase a rug for the downstairs floor and a runner for the hallway until we put down the carpet.

I am thinking of taking the rug in front of the basement sliding door and putting that back up stairs into the entry way walkway. I was thinking since I had two that match that I could put in the hallway downstairs BUT I think we need one long Heavy runner. We will see once I take some measurements and see what I can find that is HEAVY!

I really do not want to buy a ton of rugs since I will not need them one we move. My realtor has one we could barrow BUT I am I would prefer not too since if it does get messed up (showings are while we are gone) then I would feel required to replace it. I am not sure the retail but I would prefer buying something in my price range.

So far Saturday is:
Couch $597
Chair $398
Automan $272
Rug 8 x 10 or larger
Rug 8 x 10 or larger
Large Runner ??? (for hallway) or a small runner (infront of washer/dryer) take current w/d rug to pair with matching one in front of sliding door place in hallway

Carpet (for stairs and hallway plus installation)

Then since we have a showing sunday but carpet will not be fixed I need to shampoo carpet before Sunday.

Wish I could pass some of these expenses onto XH But of course he has NO money, he NEEDs to look for a job so that if the house does not sell before school starts he can still put down on a down payment of course he is not thinking about that. Not sure why I am worrying about it. If he is not willing to get a job now he will have to make due. If we have to buy three rugs to sell our house he should buy atleast one. Maybe he can use it in his new apartment. I will think about having him buy one.

so the cleaning lady suggested we buy an area rug and put a chair up in the living room upstairs so that people will not just be staring at the floor instead they will be seeing the chair/rug and visualizing the space.

I am going to go a step farther since I dont want them thinking we just slapped down a rug to cover a defeat (which we are not doing). So Saturday after we get the carpet ordered for the stairs and hallway we are going to the furnature store.

I will be buying a new couch, chair with automan and a rug for the upstairs livingroom. After we sell the house if it will not all fit in my new apartment livingroom, I plan to put the chair and automan in my bedroom as a reading relaxing space just for me.

The couch is apartment sized so A. it will fit in my new apartment and B. it will make the house livingroom look Larger since the size is scaled back. I might even move one of the bookcases upstairs so that I can put some books up in the livingroom then I will have a reading area since I do not want to put a TV up there. If we had a flat screen that would be one story but I am not going to purchase that since I am a no TV person and XH cant buy the flatscreen he wants UNTIL the house sells and he wants to go BIG.

I got all three of the non-flat screen TVs in the divorce which I plan to sell two of them in a rummage sale leaving the third for DVDs and Wii, So I will not buy a flat screen TV just to sell this house. The Livingroom upstairs can be a reading area which will be staged so they can see that they will have room for a tv if they wanted.