PNW Mama's Personal Finance Blog

I don't wear alot of dresses....just not my "thing". However, I felt like I needed a dress for my grandma's memorial, and I suppose, it is always good to have a "little black dress" on hand.

I found a dress at Fred Meyer's that was originally $70, marked down to $49.97. It was also on the clearance rack which was 40% off the lowest marked price ($49.97). I also had an additional 20% off making the dress a grand total of $24.00.

Not too shabby if I say so myself.

No big plans as it is a weeknight with work and school for dd2. Will probably go out to dinner this weekend for a combo b-day/valentine's celebration.

We will have a family gathering in a few weeks as that was put on hold due to my grandma's passing.

DH got me an i-pod nano for my b-day....I really wanted an I touch, but since I have a Nook Color, it really didn't make sense. This will be great for walking.

All in all, it's been a great day so far!

Just wanted to pop in and say a great big thanks for all of your heartfelt condolences! It really meant alot!

We had the service and celebration of life on Sunday and it was so wonderful to see so many people come out to honor her.

We said our final good-bye's but know she will live in our hearts forever!

Feeling pretty blue this morning

My 93 1/2 year old grandma passed away last night. We knew it was coming and the end was near.

I was fortunate to have been able to spend the entire day with her yesterday, along with my sister, brother, 1 cousin, my mom, and my aunt and various vistitors who came to say their final good-bye's.

DH brought the girls up last evening and all 3 of them were able to say their good-bye's too. About 30 min after we left, she passed. I had a feeling it would happen then. My sister called me right before I got home.

I was going to blog about how she was able to spend her time in her home, even though she had some health issues, but that will have to wait for another post.

I am just too sad.

to the SUV loan! $500 to be exact. We are now sitting at $7000.00 and we have only had the vehicle for 1 1/2 years. Yahoo! I checked their automated system this morning, and found, if we had to, a payment wouldn't have to be made until 3/2013 since we are so far ahead....don't worry....we will keep sending $500 a month as long as we are able.....I want this loan gone

I didn't get a raise. I had my annual review a couple of weeks ago and was told for this year, they are putting a freeze on all salaries. Have to admit I was bummed. I have received a raise every year since I started 13 years ago. I do understand why though. Owners of the clinic are still leary about the economy (even though we are VERY busy). We are looking at getting a whole new computer system here within the next couple of months. That is going to be a huge chunk of money. Plus, we have 2 gals that are expecting (May & July) and we will need to pull some temps in which also cost money. A year and half ago, we did did an addition to our building which was also a huge chunk of money out.

At least they are happy with my work and are very appreciative of all that I do...that does make me feel good.

I love where I work so I am definately not going anywhere

Maybe next year.

Oh wow am I excited!

He sent me an email this morning regarding a bonus...at first I thought it was the PPA payout (if you have 80 hours in your bank at the end of the year, company pays it back to you...this is sick time not vacation time) Thought that wasn't coming until the end of the month.

Upon further reading, I realized there was an attachment...when I opened it, it was talking about a bonus and how hard all the employee's had worked...blah, blah, blah...I quickly realized this was NOT for PPA.

I immediately emailed DH back and asked if he was getting 2....he replied with a big YES!

I am so stoked! This will be paid out on Jan 17th and it also means we can book our excursions for our cruise in April and that the cruise will now be PAID IN FULL!

Any overage will go to the savings account.

That sure brought a smile to my face today

DD2 had a soccer tournament last weekend....such as it is....we were out on the "other side" of town last weekend. That necessitated eating lunch and dinner out on Saturday and lunch on Sunday. Lucky for me, I had some gift cards to use!

I buy gift cards through our scip program at her high school...actually it is district wide, but at the high school level, we get a percentage back that goes into an account that can be used for school fee's.

I used to buy religiously when DD1 was in school and I have kind of slacked off the past couple of years.

I am happy to report I am back on it! I want to build enough so when DD2 is a senior next year, I will have hardly have any out of pocket costs. Freshman and Senior year in our school seem to be the spendy ones. The only thing it can't be used for is driver's ed....bummer for me....I just paid $185 for DD2 to do driver's ed in April.

These gift cards are going to come in handy next weekend....DD2 has a 4 day socer tournament this coming weekend.....1 game a day on Friday, Sat, Sun, and Mon (no school Mon)

I am hoping to find some coupons also to pair with my cards...nothing like saving money when you have to spend money....ha ha....does that make any sense?

The good news....we finally allowed DD2 to get her permit.....DH didn't think she was mature enough and she probably wasn't but she has made great strides so we said yes. She is good kid though, don't get me wrong. Some kids just aren't ready when the time comes. In our house, driving is a privilege not a right! I don't think just because someone is the legal age, means they are always ready to drive. Like we all know, it is a huge responsibility to be out there on the road.....some people in my opinion still shouldn't be out there driving around! Anyway, $5 for the test and since she passed (yay the first time)! it was an additional $23.50 for the permit. I took her over to a sports park where the lot was completely deserted for a quick lesson....she was really anxious to get started! Lol

In other news....the food processor I ordered from Amazaon, which was a portion of the gift card received from one of the doc's at Christmas, arrived the other day....I had no idea it had come! Apparently it arrived Tuesday. Our office manager says to me this morning..."you know that box over there is yours"....uh...no.... nobody told me....I thought it was just supplies or something which I don't deal with. Anyway, it was a another crazy day (I had to work at someone else's desk to cover) and I had to get out of there at a certain time to take DD to the dmv....of course I ran off and forgot it! Ugh....I was hoping to play around with it this weekend

Had the first of the freezer meals I made over Christmas break for dinner tonight.

I used my Dream Dinners cookbook to make 4 meals that I froze in heavy duty gallon bags.

I've been in a rut lately making the same old meals and we are all getting rather tired of them!

I thawed in the fridge for 2 days and popped it in the casserole dish and covered it with foil. Gave DD2 instructions for heating it up. Have to say it was pretty darn good.

Tonight's entree was lemon pasta chicken...I have actually made this before and just cooked for that night rather than freezing.

I have 3 more meals in the freezer:

Kahlua Baked Beans (with ground beef)
Mustard Chicken
Black Bean and Rice salad

It was awesome to come home to a hot cooked meal since I had to work late today.

I plan to make more soon.....it's especially great on nights DD2 has early soccer practice.

Thanks to having that meal tonight....no eating out!

from Comcast. As soon as DH turns in the DVR's and cable modem, we should receive a check from Comcast for approx $44.00 in 3 to 4 weeks.

It was interesting....they didn't even try to get us to stay when I called to cancel....they did ask the reason why and I just said it's too expensive.....one rep said "oh, we are the same price as everyone else"....ha ha....I think not. You would think they would have tried to get us to stay with an excellent payment record and all. Not that I would have though

It's official! The land line is GONE! Just have to remember now to keep my cell phone on at all times and not throw it in my purse when I get home

DISH network is up and going and so is FIOS for internet....we estimate this will save $30 to $40 each month.

Next up....getting rid of AOL....still pay $11.99 for AOL....it's kind of like the losing the land line....had it for so long and hoping it will not be a PITA to switch over to something else.

Considering dropping the daily paper.....excpet for the Sunday edition...need those coupons!

Love to see money being saved

That is the one thing I hate about this time of year. Not nearly as many coupons in the inserts around the holidays. There were some in Sunday's paper, but honestly, there was hardly anything in there I needed or would use. Since I live in the land of no doubles or CVS, coupons are precious to me, they really help to keep the budget on track. I would use more internet coupons but Winco will not take them....something about too much fraud. So I use those at Fred Meyer for things I can't get at Winco.

I did manage to save $9.00 between Fred Meyer (Kroger) and Winco this weekend using my coupons.

Bought pizza this weekend with gift cards and saved $5.00 on top of that.

Took DD1 back to college today....DH, DD2, and I stopped for lunch at a favorite deli and saved $5.00 there.

Both coupons came from our Entertainment Book. That book has just about paid for itself already.

Hey there is another goal......tracking down more coupons!

Just thinking about a few things I would like to see happen in 2012!

Financial:

1) $25,000 to savings account

2) Continue to pay off SUV loan...currently at $7500....still paying $500/mo.

Personal:

1) Lose 10-12 lbs by April 20th (the big cruise)!

2) Continue to eat healthy and excercise at least 5
times a week.

3) Learn to knit

There's more on my mind but frankly I had another busy day of cleaning and organizing and I am wiped out.....going to go relax in a hot bath with a good book!

Glad to have a 3 day weekend

Spent the day cleaning and organizing. Started off in the master closet....needed it bad! Got through about 1/2 of it and then had to take dd2 somewhere. Had to hurry as the Frontier guy was coming anytime between 8 and 5 to hook up the FIOS for internet and I figured if I left, he would call to say he was coming! He showed up about 1:00 and was here for about 1 1/2 hrs.....spent the time downstairs organizing and putting away all of the Christmas decorations that had taken up residence on the dining room table for the past week. Then dd1 and I attacked the tree....got all of the oranments off and packed away...put it all in the garage for dh to put on the shelves out there.Also got the tree taken down and packed away. Dusted and vacuumed and now the downstairs is back to normal.

DH is stuck working ALL weekend....9 days in a row....his company was having what they call a shut down and his supervisor decided his department/shop could come in and work on projects ect...needless to say....he is NOT happy...he is trying to get Monday off though so we will see. The money will be nice but he would rather have the time off.

We took off for an early dinner (with a coupon of course) and came home....I sat down for a while to watch tv and could barely get up when I was done. I have a feeling I am going to be very sore tomorrow morning.

No plans tonight since DH has to work tomorrow. DD1 is home...she was invited to a party but decided not to go....bunch of old high school friends and she figured there would just be a bunch of drunk people there. The friend that invited her just got his own place so she was pretty sure it was going to be wild. She is bummed she can't spend the evening with her boyfriend....he just lives too far from here. He lives much closer to the college they go to so from here it is about a 2 hour drive to his place. (He only lives about 1/2 hr from their college). DD2 is spending the night at her bff's. They are ringing in the New Year at another friends house and her boyfriend is there too. Won't see her until sometime tomorrow.

Going to spend Sunday finishing up the rest of the house....want to start the New Year off with a clean and organized house!

Hoping to post goals tomorrow....Happy New Year!

to get rid of those spammy comments on one's blog? Any help would be appreciated!

was wonderful and blessed. Hubby spoiled me as usual even though I asked him not to. He got me a small diamond necklace, $25 to B&N, perfume, new lunch tote, and a pedometer to replace the one I leftin a bathroom stall at Universal Studios in July of 2009

Received a fun foodie gift basket from brother and SIL, a new SnowBaby and some knitting things from my mom and dad....I don't know how to knit but I will be learning (I expressed an interest), and cute reusable tote that my mom made (cc free....you would be impressed) with coffee cups on the front and coffee beans lining the inside. MIL gave gift cards to Kohl's, and SIL (on dh's side(who had my name) gave me a card with a promise for lunch and a mani/pedi....that should be fun! My sister decided last year not to exchange with my brother and me....she doesn't like SIL and doesn't want to buy for her and therefore thought their feelings would be hurt if she exchanged with me. My girls gave me some Tree Hut body scrub and lotion....coconut lime....to get me in the mood for the Carribean! My grandma gives everyone a $100 every year for Christmas and their birthdays.

We headed out to Fred Meyers, Kohl's and Target yesterday...found a few tops at Kohl's and bought a couple of organizing things from Freds...other that than, not much spending.

Had last Thurs and Friday off from work (pto time) and also Monday (holiday) and today (pto time)....spent some time taking down the decorations, organzing, cleaning house, and doing some cooking for freezer meals (another post).

Not really ready to head back to work but it is a short week and next week will be too.

Looking forward to posting some goals for 2012!

I realized this morning (after all of the shopping and wrapping these past few weeks), that I was one gift short for DD2.....we always make sure that the girls have an equal amount of gifts....both number and dollar wise. For some reason, I was thinking about it this morning and quickly did a "count". I am glad I did...would hate to have had any hurt feelings. Stopped by and got a gift card for her which she will enjoy (both the girls got 2 gift cards) plus the wrapped gifts they have under the tree. Stockings are usually most of the same things but in a different color or shape ect.

DH and I headed out and braved Costco....ugh....he had to bribe me with a coffee from Tully's. I didn't need to worry.....it wasn't as packed as it usually is. We were in and out pretty quickly. For some reason, shopping at Costco really stresses me out....any time of the year. My office pays for my membership so it is nice to have it. We usually try to get there when the doors open. We were going to go on Friday but by the time DISH left, it was about 1:30 and I thought by the time we get down there, it would be crazy so I am glad we went today. Now I don't have to go back for about 6 weeks. The line for gas however, was pretty long.....$3.23 for regular unleaded. Not bad!

You will not be missed.....at all!

About a year and a half ago, we switched to a bundle through Comcast....good price for a year on cable, phone and internet. Almost from the beginning we had problems with them. There was a promotion for a visa gift card for signing up. Everytime we would call we would get a different reason/answer about why we didn't qualify even though THEY sent us the promotion. Finally after about 2 months they finally agreed to give us a credit on the bill equal to the visa card which was $150.

Throughout the time we have had them, the menu guide and drv menu constantly go down or are not accessible. We also find the remote control difficult to use (confusing) and also I don't like how their dvr's work.

Fast forward a year and a half later....I've been bugging DH to call for a while since our contract was only for a year and the bill has shot up quite a bit. He called today to see if they would offer us a better deal. First rep offered $10 off the bill per month and acted like she was doing us a huge favor. Second rep said there were no promotions going on. Third rep told DH we had a 2 year contract. Fourth rep said we were not locked into a contract.

That was enough for DH to get on the phone and call DISH. We had DISH previously and NEVER had a problem. They were more than happy to have us back...so happy they are coming tomorrow and gave us a great rate for a year and several free channels ect. (still have the satelite up) DH also called Frontier to find out about internet. They are coming on the 31st. So after that is connected, I will be calling Comcast and cancelling everything!

We made the decision to drop our land line....kind of scary but definately going to save some money there along with a reduced bill for cable and internet.

Looking forward to starting the New Year with a little less out of our pockets each month

The doc who gave us $300 visa gift cards last year gave us a gift card today for $325 to Amazon! Pretty cool! I don't shop much online so I am going to have to hop on there and take a look around.

DH has bought some stuff from there and just loves it.

I have absolutely no idea what I want, or really need for that matter, so for now, I am just going to browse and think on it until I find something I really want.

What a blessing!

And....it was $200 more than expected. Amount? $1400. Yipee!

Plans for it? Put it into savings for now. It will be used to pay off the rest of our anniversary cruise coming up in April.

We actually ended up receiving it early. The doc's usually give it to us at the Christmas party but it arrived in the mail yesterday. We have direct deposit but they prefer to give an actual check for the bonus. Payroll company messed up and sent them to everyone's house instead of delivering them to the office. Our office manager was freaking out and calling everyone to check their mail boxes...she didn't want them to sit in case people don't check their mail every day.

Glad it arrived safe and sound.....it is already in the bank!

For my usual Christmas bonus at work. I have been very lucky to receive a bonus every year at my work. Last 2 years has been $1200.00 and I am hoping it will at least be that this year. Of course I am happy to receive anything at all! This bonus is from the 2 doc's that own the clinic. They are such a pleasure to work for and really, really great people.

Also hoping for a bonus from one of the other doc's...she has been very generous the past few years and has given all of the employee's a $300.00 visa gift card. That of course, is very helpful and useful for just about anything.

Not sure what to expect, if anything from our newest doc who started in January. She is such a sweetie and a pleasure to work with. Her schedule is busy but not crazy so it is hard to say if she will do anything.

Not expecting anything from the last doc. She has had financial issues and drama ever since she started. It would be nice to at least receive a card saying thanks for all we do. That is just her and we are used to it. It was surprising a few weeks ago when she decided to buy all of the employee's a coffee drink from the corner cafe....a total surprise! But those are usually the best kind of surprises aren't they? Those totally unexpected ones

Not sure about DH, but I doubt his company will do any kind of a bonus. He considers his PPA payout a bonus. Let me explain.....every employee at his work receives 80 hours of paid personal absence (sick time) which is seperate from vacation. If you don't use your 80 hours by the end of December, they pay it back to you. It's like receiving an extra paycheck. Most guys he works with use their time. DH prefers the money....the only kicker? You have to have ALL of your 80 hours....can't even use 1 day so you hope you don't get sick!

All in all.....hoping for about $1500 but we will see...again....I feel blessed to receive anything at all, especially in these economic times.

This now brings us to oweing $8000.00.

We are hoping by the end of 2012 to have the loan paid off.

We bought the suv in March 2010 and it was a no interest loan so we are really making headway!

Did you read about the lady in LA that was pepper spraying other shoppers to keep them away from stuff she wanted?

Absolutely disgusting!

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed day!

Grrr! $60 down the drain. Boo!

Tonight we had to attend dd2's varsity soccer banquet. We have attended many of these over the years with dd1 playing 2 varsity sports all four years of high school and dd2 playing varsity soccer the past 2 years.

Sometimes we have done it in the cafeteria and done potluck or pizza, or like tonight had it at a local country club.

Now I am not completely against the country club. It is a nice atmosphere, but we were completely bummed that it was so expensive this year! $20 per person AND we had to pay for dd. We all kind of thought that the soccer prgram was going to cover the girls but I guess the coach decided not to. And to top it all off it was one of the crappiest dinners ever! 2 kinds of pasta with sauce (the tomato kind)was very soupy and unappetizing, salad, very small slices of bread, lemonade and coffee/tea and very small pieces of tirimisu for dessert. DD took small portions so everyone would get some (it was buffet style) and they never even came back and replaced the food that had been taken.

DD1 came home from college today and I was feeling bad she was going to be on her own for dinner her first night back but I am glad she was not subjected to that yucky food.

Ugh! Next year dd will be a senior so some of the planning will be on us.....I am definately hoping to talk the coach out of doing it there again.

DH received a $25 gift card to Fred Meyer from his work. We had forgotten that his work ususally gives a gift card around Thanksging time. The past few years have been to Safeway, but we don't shop there because they are so expensive. It was nice to receive one to Fred's since they are one stop shopping. I told DH he could buy whatever he wanted but he is thinking we need some new bathroom towels. The nice thing is they are on sale too and we can combine it with a coupon.

I also received a small gift card to Craft Warehouse from our office manager just to say thanks. She gave a gift card to all of the employees (there are 8 of us in a 5 doctor office) because we have been crazy busy. She does this occasionally and it is so nice to be recognized for all of our hard work. I am lucky to say that I work for and with GREAT people. I am not sure what I am going to buy yet, but I am sure I can find something.....I LOVE the craft store

$3200....blech!

After our very stressful Friday night, the weekend ended up being very enjoyable. The weather was very nice, although it was very chilly but sunny....2 beautiful Fall days.

Paid the water/sewer bill and the garbage bill. Both of these bills are paid every other month.

Groceries and gas were also purchased.

Breakfast out with DH Sat morning. Coupon we were going to use ended up not being good for the weekend...bummer. Quick, fast dinner out on Sat night at Wendy's before DD2's state soccer playoff game.

$12 to get into said playoff game. Oh! And they won too!

$40 (on sale) to boots at Big 5. I really was in need of a pair of warm fuzzy boots. DD2 plays soccer year round and it was very cold Saturday night! Tennis shoes did not cut it at all.

Also spent $89.00 at Kohl's this weekend. That included 2 pairs of pants for DH off of the clearance rack. I ended up getting 3 shirts/sweaters and 2 cami's. I don't know why, but I can never seem to find anything good off the clearance racks at Kohl's....DH always finds great things.

Anyway, I can't remember the last weekend we have gone out and "spent" money like that on clothes or stuff.

I guess that's why the bank account has been looking pretty good!

DH was paid on Friday and his paystub has finally reflected all of the overtime he has been putting in.

I was able to transfer some extra to savings which was nice.

I was also paid on Friday which was unexpected as I payday wasn't suppose to be until Monday. (I am paid on the 15th and either 30th/31st). I logged onto the bank account yesterday and was surprised at all of the money in there. I quickly saw I had been paid too. My office no longer does paystubs. We are able to log on to a secure site to view our pay, taxes, and pto accural time. It is a way to save all of that paper and nobody really cared if they had the actual stub or not. Of course, if we needed it for some reason, we are always able to get a hard copy. One less piece of paper to deal with.

Property taxes are due Nov 15th so the savings account will take a hit.

Credit card is due Nov 2nd and checking will take a hit.

Water/sewer and also garbage is due in Nov (we pay these 2 bills every other month). I guess it is nice we don't have to pay in Dec!

Dh has been able to get lots of overtime so that is definately going to help.

Don't think we are going to hit our savings goal of $25k by the end of the year

I am bummed but not too much....already thinking ahead to next years goals....