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Archive for August, 2012

School spending

August 24th, 2012 at 02:03 am

For dd2:

1) $75 high school soccer camp

2) $175 high school soccer participation fee

3) $25 parking permit

4) $56.80 out of pocket for school registration

a) $45 yearbook
b) $25 senior graduation fee
c) $15 asb card (gets in free to home games)
d) $3 student body fee

$88.00 minus the $31.20 I had in my scrip account left us with the balance of $56.80. I had hoped to do better last year with buying scrip but I wasn't so great with it....oh well...every bit helps!

There will be other related "senior" spending I am sure....cap and gown for sure and probably announcements (we will get a small package for that) I am sure once school starts we will be bombarded!

Until then, I will enjoy the calm Smile

Car loan updates

August 21st, 2012 at 05:36 am

Sent $500 to the suv loan on 8/11/2012....new balance as reflected in the side bar is $3500. We have steadily been paying this down at $500 for quite a while now. We do plan on paying this off in Dec! At that time, we should owe $1500. We will send the regular $500 payment, plus the extra $1000 taken out of savings or with my Christmas bonus...then...it will be paid in full. I should add that this vehicle was purchased in May 2010 and is also a no interest loan.

We plan to hit DH's car loan very hard. I sent $750 on 8/17/2012 and that should take us down to just around $8000. Will need to wait for the statement as the interest rate is about 2% so I am not sure of the exact balance. We plan to sent at least $500 a month. We may possibly send even more as we have the extra cash.

I am excited! It will be nice to only be down to the 1 car loan and mortgage!

Whole lot of spending going on

August 15th, 2012 at 03:22 am

Yesterday and this week. We are refinancing our home....for some reason DH thought we would be done this week....he is wrong...it is still going to be another 30 days at least until we sign. They are out approximately 90 days from the start. So here is what it looks like:

Monday: $445 to mortgage company for appraisal and $75 for dd2 soccer camp at high school.

Thursday: $175 to said high school for the privilege of playing soccer

In the next few weeks: school registration...it is all done via mail...not sure what to expect....dd2 will be a senior and I am sure there will be some school costs associated with that (other than things like cap and gown) There will be the studentbody fee, yearbook (which she won't get until NEXT year), and possibly other fee's for classes...on the other hand, I think way back when she was a freshman, I paid $50 for some reason for her senior year....I can't remember but I think there was a credit back for that amount for dd1 when she was a senior. I do have $31 in my scrip account which I can use towards school fee's. Also, dd2 is having her senior pictures done on Wed....I am so excited! It will be 2-3 weeks before the proof's are done and then we will see what she has to offer as far as collections ect. We are not planning on spending a ton, but do want some nice pictures. My brother and sil did dd1's, but due to some family stuff, we aren't speaking right now.

Thankfully the mastercard bill is very low this month and the garbage and water/sewer bill won't be billed until next month (we pay every 2 months).

No big plans for the rest of month except the state fair at the end of the month. DD2 doesn't even start school until the day after Labor Day.

I forgot to add that I also sent $500 to the suv loan on Sat and also stopped at Costco ($225).

Fun week off...with pics

August 13th, 2012 at 03:23 am

DH and I had the past week off. We ended up doing quite a bit, but nothing expensive except an overnight beach stay. Here is what we did:

Sat: Portland Saturday Market (free) and Chinese Classical Gardens (1 free admission and dd2 got a student discount) Also paid $3.50 for parking...much cheaper than taking MAX (our lightrail system)

Sun: Movie....(2) $2.00 off admission coupon

Mon: Portland Rose Garden (free), Japanese Gardens, and Pittock Mansion (2) $2.00 off admission

Tues: College visit...spent $25 for 3 tee-shirts in the campus store and $4.00 for a car sticker.

Wed: DD2 driving test....she PASSED! $9.00 for the test and $60.00 for the license. Coffee with my mom (free...she treated) Smile

Thurs: Beach trip....hotel cost...bought some taffy and a cute starfish ornament....ice cream and coffee treats.

Fri: Home from the beach, dinner out for DH's b-day.

Sat: Family bbq for 3 b-days...movie (free with gift card DH received)

Sun: Pedicure with my sister.

All of these excursions included a meal out. We only ate dinner at home 1 day, and most days included lunch out. We really didn't plan on eating out so much, but that was just the way it worked out. We spent far less though on all of our activities so I think it balanced out ok...after all....we were on vacation. I really didn't want to spend my whole week off cooking and cleaning...that wasn't the point of being on vacation.

So....next week is back to real life, cooking at home and planning for some expenses that are coming up.

Here are a few pictures from our week off...enjoy!

Portland Rose Garden




Chinese Classical Garden



Pittock Mansion



Beach



Japanese Garden





















Week off.....

August 4th, 2012 at 12:59 am

Yipee! DH and I have a week off.

We plan to spend the time doing local things with the exception of an overnighter at the beach on Thursday.

We decided to do a staycation for this week as we had the big cruise in April and we decided to go to VEGAS for a couple of nights in October for our actual anniversary! Smile

Some of the things we have planned:

1. Portland Saturday Market and Chinese Classical Gardens (coupon for that)on Saturday

2. Tour college dd2 is interested in (Tues) and hopefully see dd1 and her boyfriends duplex they will be living in for college this year (they are transferring from previous college and it is the same one dd2 is interested in).

3. DD2 takes her driver's test...Wed...yikes! Prayers would be appreciated....for the parents and the would be driver! Smile

4. Overnight trip to the beach (Thurs).

5. Dinner out on Friday...dh's b-day

6. Family barbeque next Sat for 3 b-days.

We might see a movie on Sunday. Possible zoo trip on either Mon or after driver's test on Wed and/or a visit to Pittock Mansion (coupon). Other possible day trip through the Columbia River Gorge.

There will definately be some eating out, but not every night...though I am not planning elaborate meals for the nights we eat in....after all...we are on vacation! Smile

Pics

August 3rd, 2012 at 02:57 am

Here is a pic of the bag my mom made for Christmas...can you tell I am a coffee lover? SmileFinally figured out how to post pics!










Aug 2nd spending....

August 3rd, 2012 at 02:45 am

Coffee: $3.00

That's it

Yay!

Aug spending

August 2nd, 2012 at 04:23 pm

August 1st:

$3.00 coffee
$582.17 mastercard bill (paid in full)
$7.04 Home Depot (board for fence)
$15.95 (interest charge on equity line)

The last charge really makes me mad....we bought dd2 a car and wrote a check out of our equity line. The reason we did this is we had to wait for reimbursement from her ugtma account. We purchased the car on 7/2 and paid it in full on 7/12. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how and why there was a balance on that account when I looked online. When I called US Bank, they said they charge daily interest. Well that was news to us! If I would have known that, we would have paid for the car with our savings account and then just put the reimbursement check into savings. We haven't used that account in several years so it's possible we had forgotten about the daily interest. Lesson learned for the future!

Happenings

August 2nd, 2012 at 03:07 am

Haven't felt much like blogging lately....but have been reading and commenting though! Smile

June and July were somewhat spendy....we had money going in and money going out.

Out:
1. Bought dd2 a new bed frame and dresser for her b-day in early June (her bedstand had a broken leg...propped up by a brick and dresser was old and somewhat falling apart) These were unfinished as she wanted them painted black..her room is a pretty blue and her bedcovers are blue, black, white and a bit of silver...throw pillows match bedding...turned out great!

2. Bought a new curio cabinet from an upscale consignment store....bigger than the one we have had for years...not crammed anymore and it looks great on the wall we have it on.

3. DD2's wisdom teeth out ($437.00 our portion)

4. Vet bill for cat (exam and lab work)

5. Gift card for sister for b-day

In:

1. Sold old curio cabinet at upscale consignment store ($75 our proceeds)

2. Sold DD2's old dresser ($20)

3. DH sold 3 wheels off his old car ($100)

4. Reimbursement for wisdom teeth from dental account at work...seperate from flex spend acct($437)

5. Small amount from garage sale...mom, aunt, and sister had one a few weeks ago..we hardly had anything as we cleaned out before our cruise in April....but got rid of everything except 1 thing.

We have several upcoming expenses for Aug...senior pic's for dd2, high school registration, school soccer camp, and high school soccer registration. Also we have a "staycation" next week....have some day trips and an overnight trip to the beach and a family b-day celebration for great-nephew & bil (july b-days) and Dh who's b-day is Aug 10th.

Time to tighten down....Aug is looking very spendy! Frown