And we're back!

Vacation was great. We didn't get to do half of the things we had planned to do, but got to do a bunch we hadn't planned, so it all worked out in the end.

We got into town late Wednesday. Thursday we spent hanging out at the house with the girls (SIL worked) and went to see my grandma. Friday we were planning to go to Amish country, but it snowed so hard that all of Holmes County was under a Level 1 Advisory (meaning - don't go out unless you have to.) Considering that the whole county is one big windy, hilly road, we decided to go sledding instead. Saturday was the birthday party. On Sunday we had the best breakfast ever.

A guy that Marty's dad knows holds this sort of Sunday morning breakfast club thing at a cabin on his property. Seriously, I can't even describe it and do it any kind of justice, but here goes. Basically, the guy has a ton of money and does this as his way to give back to the community, and this particular organization that he belongs to. He cooks and whoever shows up eats. He will not accept money for the food, and cooks different things each week. (This week was potatoes cooked over an open fire, country fried chicken and steak, omelettes, gumbo, biscuits, various quick breads, beef stroganoff, and lemon custard cake.) The cabin is out in the country, up on a hill, back in the woods. I was going to take pictures but decided not to because I didn't want to look like a schmuck. Marty's dad said that no one there would have minded, so next time I will have to snap some.

After the awesome breakfast we spent the day at Marty's dad's house. The boys helped him prep and cook (Alex cut vegetables, Christian grilled prime rib and Ethan made beignets) and then the adorable, 1 month old twins came.

Note to self: When you are too busy holding adorable 1 month old twins to take pictures of said twins, make sure to hand the camera to someone not busy cooing.

On Monday we went to Amish country and then had dinner at Marty's brothers house. By the way... Stephanie 2.0* has a degree in micro biology ans she totally knew what I was talking about when I was explaining SCD. That made me feel better. lol

The rest of the week we hung out with family, sledding and visiting my grandma. On the way home we stopped at Cabela's and looked at a bunch of stuff we will never buy. Not a bad vacation, really.

*My boys had two chances to get aunts and both are Stephanies. Aunt Stephanie #1 has been Aunt Stephanie since before they were born, so the new Aunt Stephanie is Aunt Stephanie 2.0. Yeah, we are dorks.

Still on vacation...

Coming home either tonight or tomorrow. We have been sled riding twice, visited my grandma twice, spent the day with Marty's dad, had dinner with my BIL and SIL (oh, and Marty's mom), Spent Monday in Amish country, went to play group yesterday, Marty and the boys went bow and gun shooting at the range with my brother... and so much more. Oh, and I got to hold the two most adorable one month old twins ever, in the history of adorable twins, as well as play with their 17 month old sister and their 4 year old sister. (Marty's cousins kids.) And of course, lots and lots of playing with and loving on the nieces.

Amish Country

The birthday girl

Shelby riding to the top of the hill at Goodyear Heights Metro Park (The best place to sled!)

The picture on Syd's cake (she dressed herself up)

Rhiannon eating birthday cake

Boring SCD talk

Yesterday I got really sick. I had a horrible, horrible reaction to something I ate, and there for a while Marty was thinking he was going to have to take me to the hospital.

I am now more convinced than ever that The Specific Carbohydrate Diet is what we need to do. I had been eliminating things that I won't be able to eat and then yesterday we were out for lunch so I decided that I would eat something "one last time" and I can promise you that after last night, it will be the last time!

Marty, Christian and Ethan have decided they will follow the diet at home with us, so that we aren't tempted. (Marty doesn't care either way, Ethan will eat anything that you put in front of him and Christian said "You can take my bread but please don't take my cheese.") SCD requires a lot of cooking* so it will be so much easier to follow when I am not cooking two meals.

I packed up all of the non-legal SCD foods, and now our pantry is bare. We are taking it to Ohio to give to my mom and SIL. I just need to find someone to take the TVP, nutritional yeast and potato starch. (Dana? Cindy? Anyone??)

Yesterday I had to take some chicken back that I bought because I got it home and realized that it was injected with chicken broth. We can't have commercially prepared broth so that was out. I called our local meat market and they said that their chicken isn't injected, so I headed over there. Thankfully I asked again, because some of it is. The meat manager went into the back and read every package to see what was ok. The sad/funny thing is... the cheaper chicken is the best. It is all Amish raised, free range, no antibiotics or steroids and is quite a bit cheaper than the factory farmed stuff. How does that even make sense?? I grabbed 10lbs. of Amish thigh and leg pieces to make stock when we get home.

Right now the house smells like... well, something tasty! This morning I roasted 12 lbs. of beef bones and they are currently in our counter top roaster slowly making beef broth. I tossed a roast in to add flavor and make dinner. Am I good or what?!

*We can't have any convince foods, including but not limited to beef and chicken broth, ketchup, mayo, and even some mustards. All of these things can be eaten if they are homemade.

The $12 Birthday Gift

Tomorrow we are leaving for our yearly week long Sydney's birthday trip to Ohio. Each year we try to find unique gifts, and I think that we succeeded again.


Take one $10.90 thrift store table and chair set, one 99¢ thrift store table cloth and what do you get? A funky table and chairs just made for a 4 year old!

Gas and Electric Usage - January Bill

January 2006
Electric 00786 kwh
Gas 00180 ccf
Total bill: $269.37

January 2007
Electric 00870 kwh
Gas 00115 ccf
Total bill: $218.81

Man, January was a cold month. Seriously. I am tired of -temperatures and wind chills. Can it get any colder? Maybe I shouldn't ask.

I'm not sure how we used more electricity that January 2007, though. Oh well... the bill was still lower - and lower that what we budgeted for - so I am ok with it.

Maybe.

Picture from flickr

Weekly Menu - The Hittin' the Highway Edition

We are headed out of town on Thursday and trying to use up the non-SCD legal foods in the house, so the menu will be boring. We don't have much left so the plan is to start SCD as soon as our almond flour gets here and we run out of non-SCD legal foods. (Why oh why did I stock up on brown rice and oatmeal?!)

Finding what we need for SCD has been pretty easy. (Of course, I made it way harder than it needed to be...) I called every specialty store, small town grocery store and dairy for a 50 mile radius and couldn't find the dry curd cottage cheese anywhere. Guess where I found it? The Meijer that is 3 miles from my house, right across the street from Marty's work. Doh! The almond flour needs to be ordered, though. There are a few bulk food stores in Amish country that I plan to check out so I might not have to order it. Otherwise the order can take anywhere from 2-10 days to get here so I don't want to order it and have it delivered while we are out of town. Honey I will pick up in Ohio at Sam's club, using my brothers membership ($8.88 for 5lbs! I plan to get four.) Other than that it is all fresh foods that are easily available at any grocery store.

I do have to replace our multi-vitamin with a SCD legal one. Luckily, there is a company who makes them specifically.

2/18 - Sunday
Meatloaf, brown rice (for non-SCDers), steamed broccoli

2/19 - Monday
Pork chops, hominy, fruit

2/20 - Tuesday
Pot roast in the crock pot (beef broth, porcini mushrooms, carrots, onions and garlic), roasted garlic mashed cauliflower garlic, olive oil and oregano.

2/21 - Wednesday
Taco salad, fruit

2/22 - Thursday
Driving to Ohio. Leaving early so we will eat breakfast at home and pack snacks and lunch to eat on the way.

Picture from flickr.

Financial Peace University - Week 4

Dumping debt! Debt snowball! Woohoo!

I did our debt snowball and we are going against everything that is Dave Ramsey. We are paying the largest debt first, and I don't care who knows it. Let me explain.

We have two debts. Two.Stinking.Debts.

Car loan: 8981.08 at 24% interest. (Don't ask. I will just say for the record: Don't buy a car when you husband is out of town and they think you are just a 'stupid girl.' They will prove you right.)
Student loan: 6785.26 at some other interest rate that isn't 24%. (6.125% to be exact.) The kicker is that the student loan can go into economic hardship deferment, where I won't be charged interest. Kind of a no-brainer if you ask me.

If we pay nothing but Marty's bonus (after Christian's root canals are paid for) and the 'rebate check' we are getting, that will be $6375.00, leaving 2606.08. Our monthly payments will take care of the rest. Once that is done we will start on my student loan.

I am also planning to get a job as soon as we get back from Ohio. Anything I make will go straight to debt, so that is kind of a no-brainer, too.

1. Super Savers - Done!
2. Relating with Money - Done!
3. Cash Flow Planning - Done!
4. Dumping Debt - Done!
5. Credit Sharks in Suits
6. Buyer Beware
7. Clause and Effect
8. That's not Good Enough!
9. Of Mice and Mutual Funds
10. From Fruition to Tuition
11. Working in Your Strengths
12. Real Estates and Mortgages
13. The Great Misunderstanding

Homeless: Can you build a life from $25?

In a test of the American Dream, Adam Shepard started life from scratch with the clothes on his back and twenty-five dollars. Ten months later, he had an apartment, a car, and a small savings.

Homeless: Can you build a life from $25?

I really liked this article. Adam Shepard decided to see if the American Dream was still alive and well. Turns out, it is.


The only thing that I disagree with is when he said that his background was not to his advantage - and in fact his previous life lessons were a disadvantage.

But surely your background – you're privileged; you have an education and a family – made it much easier for you to achieve.

I didn't use my college education, credit history, or contacts [while in South Carolina]. But in real life, I had these lessons that I had learned. I don't think that played to my advantage. How much of a college education do you need to budget your money to a point that you're not spending frivolously, but you're instead putting your money in the bank?

Do you need a college education? I don't think so. To be honest with you, I think I was disadvantaged, because my thinking was inside of a box. I have the way that I lived [in North Carolina] – and to enter into this totally new world and acclimate to a different lifestyle, that was the challenge for me.

I couldn't disagree more. Poverty is a mindset that is hard to break out of. If you see your parents making bad financial decisions you are more likely to make the same decisions, unless you make a conscious decision not to. Not everyone has the ability to make that decision.

He does say that he came up with the idea for his 'experiment' after reading Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, a book I read and disliked immensely.

Dave Ramsey pick-up lines

Dave Ramsey pick-up lines, courtesy of Chris at Pour Out:

In honor of Valentine's Day (also my lovely wife’s birthday, BTW), I wanted to share with you a list of pickup lines that you single-and-looking Dave Ramsey fans can use to gain the attention other Dave fans of the opposite sex. Chris Russell in our office write these, and they’re very freaking funny. Enjoy.

• I still have money in my "restaurant" envelope... can I buy you dinner?
• Would you like to dance? I'd love to show you my Baby Steps.
• Why am I nervous about talking to you? Because you’re better than I deserve.
• Allow me to introduce myself... I am "borrower," and you must be "lender."
• Good thing I just got term-life insurance... because I saw you and my heart stopped!
• You can't spell Financial Peace University without U and I.
• I've already kicked Sallie Mae out. Want to take her place?
• I just bought a bass boat with cash... and it’s a good thing, because you’re quite a catch!
• I'm not mortgage interest baby... don't write me off.
• The good news? I'm debt free. The better news? I'm also date free.
• What would you say if I asked you out? (response: No.) That’s not good enough.

How much can I expect from the economic stimulus plan's tax rebate? - Update!

You know that nifty economic stimulus rebate calculator from The Online NewsHour I told you about? Turns out it was wrong. (Although it calculated the same rebate for us...) I will show you a new one if you promise to use the rebate to pay debt or build your savings. Promise? Ok. Here it is:

I guess I am not understanding something. According to everything I have read, we should get $2100. $1200 for couple and $300 per kid. I guess I will have to either look into it more or wait and see.

Update: Well, I would go with the first calculator. It has been updated based on the bill that passed on February 7th. Using that calculator our 'rebate' is exactly what it should be, according to the IRS.

Am I the only one who thinks it is insane that people like my step sister - who only works enough to keep her welfare check and has more kids than she can afford or take care of - qualifies for a rebate on taxes she doesn't pay? There, I said it. Sue me.

HT to Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

Busy, busy, busy

On Saturday Alex was finally able to start his class. (He was going to do it in January but one of the days was when my brother was visiting, so he decided to wait until February.) Since he is under 16, I had to take the class with him. At first I was there because I had to be but by the end I was loving it. It is just cool. Really, really cool. We got to operate a camera (one of the big 'tv' cameras!,) direct, edit and run the sound board. It was just really cool. Any show that we want to produce will be put on the air. We decide to make it, line up the guests, come to the studio - or on location - and film it, edit it and load it onto the server and they will put it on the air. It is that simple. (But not simple at all, really. It is going to kill me to learn the editing part this Saturday.) Luckily, there were only two other people so we got to learn a lot.

One of the woman taking the class with us was there because she works for a nonprofit whose goal is to help kids and adults get the technical training they need to compete in the workplace. Seriously. How perfect is that?! We were chatting and I mentioned that Christian is interested in being an Auto Technician and she said that they can set up a 'job shadow' for him. They also have some kind of career counseling where they will help him figure out what the right career for him is. For example - She said that just because he is interested in being an auto tech he shouldn't rule out the possibility of owning a garage, so he might want to focus on the business aspect, too. They can also work with Alex, too. Of course, I got her card.

Today was Marty's day off so we spent it cooking and getting ready for SCD. We made SCD legal beef broth (made chicken the other day), SCD legal garlic powder and finally got the yogurt to work. I was right... the thermometer is broken. Luckily, we have about 10 kicking around the kitchen. The freezer is going to be full of SCD legal foods in no time.

We also did a zero based budget for March. Three stinking hours! I don't know why it took so long but I suspect that it had something to do with the fact that I was not doing it alone. Usually I just do it and then Marty says "ok, cool!" but this time he was right in there getting his hands dirty. All together we did the Allocated Spending Plan, Consumer Equity Form, Major Components of a Healthy Financial Plan, and Monthly Cash Flow Plan (budget.) We will do lesson 4 on Friday.

"We must never forget that what the patient takes beyond his ability to digest does harm." - Dr. Samuel Gee

Picture from flickr

Quote of the Day 02.12.08

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" - Ronald Reagan

From Dave Ramsey's Website

Compacting yogurt and the dentist

Two of the boys had dentist appointments today so we had to go out in the arctic tundra that is Mid-Michigan. I shouldn't complain, though. It was 12° with a -2° wind chill. When I pumped gas and ran into (and therefore out of) the grocery store at 5am is was -8° with a -25° wind chill.

One boy needs two root canals. Same problem as with me and Alex... filling wasn't done right and bacteria got under it and rotted the tooth. By the time we knew anything was happening, it was too late. Poor kid. Both boys were lucky enough to get my 'soft enamel' so they need a few preventative fillings, too. Other than that, everything is good. I know you were all eagerly awaiting the results. lol

I was hoping it warms up a little more so that I can go to my first meeting for Mid-Michigan Heart Savers. Between two hours at the dentist, 1/2 hour at the post office, making dinner and other miscellaneous stuff that happened I didn't make it.

My yogurt maker came today, which means two things. 1) I get to make SCD legal yogurt (woohoo!) and 2) I am sucking at the Compact. Really. How hard is it to not buy new? Apparently if you are me, pretty darn hard. For the record: I found a used yogurt maker but decided to buy a different brand because of the long fermentation time (24 hours.) We go through almost a quart a day and with a 24 hour fermentation the smaller machine would be on 24/7.

I am making the first batch tonight. As it sits cooling, waiting to go into the maker I am convinced that if we eat it we will die a horrid death. The stupid thermometer that came with it needs to be calibrated. It was taking forever for the milk to come to 180° so Ethan decided we should try one of our thermometers. Sure enough, it was way past 180. Luckily, it was still within the acceptable zone.

In a strange way Alex is looking forward to starting SCD. I think he is done with being sick all the time and is willing to do whatever he has to do. It also helps that he has someone to cook and make all of the hard decisions for him. Some days I wish I could trade places!

Update on my yogurt - it cooled too much so I get to try again tomorrow.

Financial Peace University - Week 3

In the lesson, Dave talks about everything budgets. Why you need one, how to make one, how not to make one, etc.

We will sit down and work on a budget for March on Marty's next day off. We have never done an allocated spending plan before, so this should be fun!

The CD started off with Sharon Ramsey talking about their bankruptcy.

You may also notice that I updated the numbers section of the sidebar to reflect the $3236.76 paid off in debt since 01/01/08.

1. Super Savers - Done!
2. Relating with Money - Done!
3. Cash Flow Planning - Done!
4. Dumping Debt
5. Credit Sharks in Suits
6. Buyer Beware
7. Clause and Effect
8. That's not Good Enough!
9. Of Mice and Mutual Funds
10. From Fruition to Tuition
11. Working in Your Strengths
12. Real Estates and Mortgages
13. The Great Misunderstanding

Weekly Menu - The TMI Edition

Oh yeah. I am the queen of TMI (too much information) but I will spare you the gory - and believe me, they are gory - details about the why but I will share with you that Alex and I are going to be following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Let's just say that ever since I was 4-5 (my Mom can't remember exactly when it started) my gut and I have not really gotten along. Doctor after doctor, test after test, invasive procedure after invasive procedure, and no one can tell me what is going on. Alex has the same problems and I don't want this life for him, so we are forging ahead with the SCD. The good news is that there is a better than 75% chance that after a year we will be able to slowly add foods back in to his diet and eventually he will be symptom free. The bad news is that there is a better than 75% chance that it is too late for me. Luckily, I am ok with that. After you feel this bad for this long, you are ok with whatever will make you feel better. So I am looking forward to the day that we wake up and say we feel good... not just better than usual. (It will have been 30 years for me and 3 for Alex. Our time is long overdue.) As we ease closer to an official diagnosis we are easing into the diet and will go full on 100% when we get back from vacation.

That wasn't too much information, right? I did spare you pictures of my plumbing, so that's a good thing.

As always, meals are served with a salad, fruit and vegetables.

And by the way... I am still mad at Punxsutawney Phil. It is currently -2° with a wind chill of -20°. I totally blame that darn groundhog!

2/10 - Sunday
Korean Steak (Bulgogi), brown rice

2/12 - Monday
Island Chicken Skewers, brown rice (not for me and Alex), fresh fruit

2/13 - Tuesday
Pot roast in the crock pot (red wine, chicken broth, porcini mushrooms, onions and garlic), carrots and brussel sprouts roasted with garlic, olive oil and oregano.

2/14 - Wednesday
"Spaghetti" bolognese (spaghetti squash for me and Alex, real spaghetti for everyone else.)

2/15 - Thursday
Moroccan Chicken, Moroccan Orange Salad

2/16 - Friday
Greek Beef with Yogurt Sauce, Greek Vegetable Salad

2/17 - Saturday
Tilapia with orange and honey sauce, steamed green beans, brown rice (not for me and Alex)

(Picture from flickr)

Giving away money

David of Moneyning is getting married this weekend. Congratulations!

To celebrate, he is giving away $1000 (possibly $1500)in $100 increments. Check it out.

Another Snow Day in Tiny Town

See the green things in the picture? Those are bushes. This was last night, so I'm not sure how it looked this morning. They shoveled before I could get a picture. I am not sure how much snow we got, but Ethan went out and measured in front of our door (which has an overhang and didn't have as much snow as the rest of the yard) and the last time he measured it was 7 inches. We were supposed to get 10 inches by midnight. There was so much snow that they canceled school last night.

On a happier note - they caught the guy who has been robbing area businesses. Apparently, his get away vehicle was a U-Haul truck. He and the woman who robbed the banks in fluorescent green pants should get together and teach others how to commit crimes inconspicuously, as they are the masters. Seriously. Who knew that they even made fluorescent pants anymore.

Kind of a sad story about the fluorescent pants woman, though. I guess she had been in county jail before, for stealing a fellow employees pay check (she worked at the library.) I guess she was so happy in jail that she didn't want to be released. She was, and her gambling habit reared its ugly head, causing her to rob banks. My bank, to be precise. There are two branches in Tiny Town and I guess she got both of them. How do I know this? Was it in the newspaper? On the local news? Noooo, silly. In Tiny Town you always know someone who knows the person. In fact, when you first meet people, you are often asked what your 'family name' is. That way they can tell if they like you or not.

A funny story about family names in Tiny Town - The woman from archery, the one I told you about the other day, she told me that her tall nephew did some work for someone and when told who to make the check out to said something like "You can't be a last name! All of the last names I know are this tall [short]!"


My patio this morning. Christian reminded me that the patios is slightly covered, so that is just what was able to reach the table. You can see the snow piled around the post.

Someone refresh my memory... when did I move to the UP??

Crazy Japanese TV

Apparently, there is a TV show called Zuiikin English that aims to teach useful English phrases. Personally, I can't think of a more useful phrase than "I Have a Bad Case of Diarrhea." The dance is especially nice.


"I feel feverish and sluggish!" "I am allergic to penicillin!" "Is there anyone who speaks Japanese?" "How many of these should I take?" and "Will my insurance cover today?"

Safe for work, but people might look at you differently if you play it too loud.

Sign up for a chance to receive a Senseo® Coffee Pod System.

Anne-Marie at This Mama Cooks! On a Diet posted about a chance to receive a Senseo® Coffee Pod System for just the cost of shipping. Here is what she said:

Sign up for a chance to receive a Senseo® Coffee Pod System. Just click here to fill out the quick survey and if selected all you pay a $15 shipping and handling fee. (You'll receive a confirmation e-mail within two to six weeks to let you know if you're selected.)The machine retails for over $70, so you're getting a great deal. If you already have a coffee maker at home, you can use the Senseo at the office or your RV. They make great wedding and graduation gifts, too.

I did, and I was selected. Now of course, it could be that everyone who does it is selected, but heck, I am happy! If you try, please leave a comment and let me know if you were "selected" or not.

Here is what I will get:
Free single serve coffee pod system, bag of pods, pod canister and 5 $20 off cards to share with friends.

So now the question is: is it ethical of me to give it as a wedding gift?

Last night

We finally made it to bed at 12:30. At 1:00, Ethan woke us up saying "Dad keeps getting phone calls." Marty looks and sees that the calls are coming from another manager. He calls to find out what is wrong and is told that the restaurant is on fire. Um... yikes!

By the time Marty got there (all of 4 minutes) the fire was out. It was a small fire, and there was no structural damage. Just lots and lost of soot.

Marty stayed until 4:30 cleaning. He came home and slept for 1/2 hour then went back to work a full day. The other manager stayed all the way through until Marty finally made him go home at 7:30.

The fire inspector and health inspector had to certify that everything was fine, but they were able to open for business at the normal time. If you didn't know what had happened, you wouldn't have known. (How is that for a statement?!) In fact, when I went to pick Marty up I was chatting with the host and a server and the server had no clue what had happened.

What a mess!

This horrible kid at archery

There is this kid at archery... Ha! Just kidding. There is a kid at archery but he isn't horrible at all. His mom told me today that she reads my blog and looked to see if I mentioned them. I told her I had to run home and change the "This horrible kid at archery" posts.

ONE World-ONE Heart

What IS ONE World-ONE Heart?
It is a blog-wide giveaway event. The original idea behind this was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way. Last years event had nearly 100 participants and many connections were made because of it......friendships that are still going strong.


Who can enter a giveaway?
It will be up to the person holding the giveaway as to who an enter....some may require the person have a current blog and others may want to open it to anyone. That will be the individuals choice.

ONE World-ONE Heart
On the right side of the blog is the list of bloggers who are participating.

HT to Pour Out

Say it to my face!

I am always meaning to write a quick note, but never get around to it. The Bureau of Communication makes it so easy, I might get around to it. Someday.

Everyday, there are millions of thoughts that go unspoken. To promote better understanding between the peoples of the world, the Bureau of Communication is pleased to present a selection of fill-in-the-blank stationery for everyday correspondence. Whether you need to communicate a problem, send an invitation to an event, or simply apologize for a transgression, our easy-to-use forms will ensure that your message is clearly conveyed.

HT Pet Peeving

Financial Peace University - Week 2 redo

Woohoo! Done with week two. Although it isn't a redo per se. The chapters are different for this edition that the edition we started with.

I particularly liked the end, when Dave's kids talked about growing up in Dave Ramsey's house. He made his daughter go to the bank and apologize for lying when she bounced a check at 16! Priceless!

1. Super Savers - Done!
2. Relating with Money - Done!
3. Cash Flow Planning
4. Dumping Debt
5. Credit Sharks in Suits
6. Buyer Beware
7. Clause and Effect
8. That's not Good Enough!
9. Of Mice and Mutual Funds
10. From Fruition to Tuition
11. Working in Your Strengths
12. Real Estates and Mortgages
13. The Great Misunderstanding

Weekly Menu - The Punxsutawney Phil is a Punk Edition

Seriously! Would it have killed him to not see his shadow? Haven't we suffered enough?! I am holding out hope, though. According to the National Climactic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina, Phil's accuracy rate since 1980 in only about 59 percent.

I am changing my menu planning day to Sunday because I want them to run more along with Marty's pay. Saturday is the day we fund the envelopes, and I think it will be easier to budget if we plan this way. I might be wrong, so if I am I will change it back. Or not.

As always, meals are served with a salad, fruit and vegetables.

2/03 - Sunday
Super Bowl Party! - Wings, vegetable tray, chips (I will not be eating the chips.)

2/04 - Monday
Tomato and White Bean Soup, oven roasted chicken (for the boys), apple crisp

2/05 - Tuesday
Barefoot/WtEB Turkey Meatloaf, steamed broccoli

2/06 - Wednesday
Italian Stuffed Bell Peppers, cucumber Salad

2/07 - Thursday
Chinese Chicken Salad

2/08 - Friday
Chili, Brown Rice Pudding

2/09 - Saturday
Korean Steak (Bulgogi), brown rice

Picture of ticked off groundhog from flickr

Moving and a car payment

We have decided to postpone the big move. I know, I know... I am not happy about it either. But the thing that I am even less happy about is that over the last 28 months we have paid a little over $10k toward our car loan... but only knocked a little more than $3k off of the principal. How depressing is that?

We knew that it was bad, but we had never taken the time to figure out how bad. After 10 seconds of calculating we realized that we have to pay this thing off. *Blissfully paying our payment every month has gotten us nowhere.


So there we are. We have changed our 'moving fund' goal back to the $2k needed for a local move. I will suffer through as many more winters as I have to in order to get Chase Bank out of our lives. I hope Dave Ramsey is happy.

*As blissfully as you can pay a $371 car payment + $15 'check over the phone' fee every.single.month

How much can I expect from the economic stimulus plan's tax rebate?

This nifty calculator from The Online NewsHour can tell you, based on U.S. House proposal (Jan. 24, 2008.)

According to this, we will get $1500, which will go a long way in plumping up our moving fund/car repayment account.
HT to Frugal Babe

Financial Peace University - Week 1 redo

We restarted FPU today. We decided to start at lesson one again because the new version is different than the version we were using before.

So now, the lessons are:
1. Super Savers - Done!
2. Relating with Money
3. Cash Flow Planning
4. Dumping Debt
5. Credit Sharks in Suits
6. Buyer Beware
7. Clause and Effect
8. That's not Good Enough!
9. Of Mice and Mutual Funds
10. From Fruition to Tuition
11. Working in Your Strengths
12. Real Estates and Mortgages
13. The Great Misunderstanding

We finished the Quickie Budget (opens as a PDF) and the discussion questions. If Marty feels better this evening, we are going to do lesson two. We plan to do lesson three tomorrow before he goes to work. Then, we should be back on track.

We have four (!!) of Dave Ramsey's Deluxe Envelope Systems, but I use a coupon organizer. I used the Deluxe Envelope System for a while but it was too awkward when standing at the checkout line. The coupon organizer seems to tick fewer people standing in line behind me off. Maybe someday I will go back to using it, but for right now the coupon organizer is perfect.

Where do you keep your 'envelope' money?

You helped Love Without Boundaries save 10 lives!

I don't know if anyone who reads my blog donated to the Love Without Boundaries Foundation* that I posted about but I thought you would like to know ... THEY WON!!!






*I would never ask because I feel donating to charity should be a personal and private thing.

Wake Up & Smell The Rebate

If you aren't up for a nice dose of wannabe hippy politics, just skip this post. If you are however looking for an alternative use of your tax rebate, read on.

Our rebate will go into our moving fund, which will sit in the bank for a good long time. What do you plan to do with yours?

Late Breaking News From The Simple Living Newsletter February 1, 2008 - Supplemental Issue #62B READ IT ON-LINE AT: www.simpleliving.net/rebate __________________________________________________________
Dear Friends of The Simple Living Network,

We have some late breaking news -- too late for our January Newsletter, too early for our March Newsletter. Read it on-line at: www.simpleliving.net/rebate

The United States Government is planning to send out rebate checks in the hope that American citizens will immediately spend the money to stimulate the economy, thus avoiding a recession.

At best, we believe this is a band-aid solution for a broken system that will not solve the larger economic problems faced by our country. We believe a short-term fix will not repair larger, long-term problems. In fact, the short-term solution may only exacerbate the larger problems.

As such, we have started the "Don't Buy It!" campaign in an effort to begin a far-reaching conversation that encourages people everywhere to "Wake Up & Smell The Rebate."

Please visit our web site at www.simpleliving.net/rebate and find out how you can participate by using your rebate in ways that the government does not expect -- ways that might actually make more impact than, as the government hopes, spending the money to purchase more stuff and junk.

Visit www.simpleliving.net/rebate today and learn how you can print and post flyers about the rebate bribe, start your own discussion, let others know about the "Don't Buy It!"
campaign, and more.

Together we can change this stupid economy!

Sincerely,

Dave Wampler
Founder
The Simple Living Network
www.simpleliving.net/rebate

Another snow day, sickness and a stove

Midland didn't call off, but everyone else did. In fact, there were so many that canceled school that they listed the districts that had school instead. For the record, they were Midland, Bullock Creek and Sanford. At least the wind chill isn't -20° anymore. But really, we shouldn't complain. The day that it was -20° it was supposed to be -40°.

Currently out my front door.

Marty is sick. He came home from work early on Wednesday, was feeling better yesterday but feels worse today. Of course, he is at work and will come home early only if he is dying. He is off tomorrow, so at least he can sleep.

"I have known dad for 16 years and I only remember him calling off of work because you were sick." - Christian

I finally got my new stove. I guess I shouldn't complain... it was only 3 weeks. It took him 6 months to fix the holes he put in the walls when the hot water tank upstairs leaked into my utility room. It took him 5 months to put in my garage door opener, 7 months to fix my kitchen cabinet and 3 months to get the birds out of my wall. Suddenly tree weeks doesn't seem so bad.

Long story short, my oven had rusted. There were 2 holes in the bottom and when we used it everything had a metallic taste. When he came to look at it he said it was food, because "porcelain doesn't rust." He also said that there is no such thing as a "metallic taste" and that his boss at corporate wouldn't let him replace it because it doesn't impede the use of the oven. I told him that I am not paying rent until I get a new one. I went to the office everyday and asked the new manager if the maintenance guy had heard from them (he hid when he saw me coming.) Finally last week she said that he was going to take one from another apartment and give it to me. She told him that was fine, because I didn't want a new one... just one that worked. He finally brought it over yesterday. It is a newer model and looks like it has never been used. And yes, I was very excited.

Was I a big fat meanie head? Maybe. But I am not going to have a repeat of Detroit. In Detroit, we lived in a house that didn't have working heat (You had to manually turn the furnace on and let it run until it was hot, then manually turn it off.) We told our landlord about it repeatedly, but he never fixed it. We were afraid of being kicked out, so we just learned to deal with it. Looking back - and after a long conversation with a woman at the Landlords and Tenants something or other in Lansing - we now know that he couldn't have kicked us out for asking for heat, but when you live 5 hours from family, you are a little paranoid. Now I know what my rights are.

The Compact - January progress report

This is my progress report for Mamas on the Compact. It is basically parts of posts I made here, so if some of it seems oddly familiar, it probably is.

When I was explaining The Compact to my sister in law she said "That will be a no brainer for you. That is how you live." She is right. We rarely buy new, and only as a last resort. (For the record my SIL is equally frugal, and she is the one who got me interested in the environment.)

Well, of course now that we publicly committed to not buying new, everything broke this month. Maybe not everything, but it sure feels like it. The other day we were making breakfast and the toaster gave us a fireworks show. Thats ok - I bought it at the thrift store 7 years ago for $2. One will turn up at the thrift store, and until it does we will live without toast.

All of a sudden, almost every pair of jeans I own are looking pretty threadbare. They were fine in December, I swear. I have been checking the thrift stores, but so far, no luck. I may end up wearing dress pants all year or Capri pants in February in Michigan or something. That will be fun!

I had my first compacting dilemma on the 6th, but in the end it turned out fine. Our family lives in Ohio and my brother, SIL (the one mentioned above) and nieces all came to Michigan for our annual "Christmas in January." Each year we buy them a zoo pass, but since our nieces are young (2,3 & 5) we also get something small for them - last year it was a stocking filled with small things like coloring books & crayons, a stuffed animal and an ornament. I didn't know what to give them this year. They have so many toys that I'm sure my brother would kill me if I just went to the thrift store and picked up another toy. I am not crafty, so I can't knit or crochet them something. I posed the question on my blog (next time I will ask here, too) and sure enough, got some great answers. Christine suggested homemade Play Dough, and Cindy sent me her recipe for Kool-aid Play Dough. Ethan (my 12yo) and I found some great cookie cutters ($1.99) and a bag (75¢) to put them in at the thrift store, and we had the perfect bucket to keep it in. The girls loved it! We all sat at the table and played for hours.

I made my first anti-compact purchase on the 18th. And it was a box. I had to buy a box. How ridiculous is that? I had to send Christian's (my 16yo) MP3 player back to the company because it stopped working. Guess who too the box that the last one was sent to us to the recycling center a few days before? Ayup. Me. So I spent 77¢ on a box and $1.57 on bubble wrap. I hang my head in Compact shame.

I also bought Financial Peace University brand spankin' new on the 21st, but I don't feel one ounce of guilt about it. FPU is something that will help my family for years to come. They ended up giving me my money back and insisting that we keep the kit (looooong story) so the used kit we bought on ebay is going to be passed on to a family that can't afford to buy FPU.


Running total:
Box - 77¢
Bubble Wrap - $1.57
Financial Peace University - $149

How is everyone else doing?

Goals for 2008- January progress report

- Pay off half of our $17,500 debt ($8750)- This may all end up being a moving fund. If we end up moving I will bump the goal to be completed by 12 months from our move date.

- Save a moving fund of $5k by May- This is going to be wonky. There is a 95% chance that they won't renew our lease (Apparently, they like it when you don't make them fix things and don't call the health department because there is black slimy mold in the pool area that they refuse to take care of. **Shrug** I would imagine that they also like it when you bank doesn't refuse them funds for no good reason, but whatever.) I really don't want to have to move in May if we are going to move out of state just a few months later. If that happens, our moving fund will need to be bumped to $10k*, and I will be clinically insane(er). (Until I figure out a better number, $10k is our goal.)

- Finish Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University- Working the plan, planning the work. Or something like that. We are starting over because we bought the newest edition (after finding out that our used kit was missing quite a bit. Humpf!)

- Lose 60 lbs.- **Cough** Next...

- Workout five days a week- How lazy am I? Don't answer that... I promise to try to work on thinking about possibly getting better about thinking about working out in February. Really. I promise.

- Send at least 1 email or card a week to someone I haven't spoken to in a while.- Please. You all know I have no problem with the talky-talk.

- Call my Grandma weekly.- Cards? Yes. Calls? If the woman would answer her phone periodically, it would be a much better world.

- Implement as many ideas from Green Boot Camp as I can- Ayup. It has been easy because so far, I already do everything. Except the scrap paper thing. I now have a reused dishpan next to my desk to catch all scrap paper, and have even been known to go through the trash (the desk trash, not the yucky kitchen trash) and dig out usable paper. Obviously my family doesn't care about the environment. Slackers.


When I went back to find the post to copy/paste my goals here I noticed that I had typed 'in particular order.' Ha!