Thursday, June 30, 2011

Why its not smart for me to re-finance...

I got a letter in the mail about re-financing again. I get them periodically but I normally send them down the shredder and never give them any notice... But this time I decided to call to get an idea about what it would cost me to re-finance since this letter mentioned a different program I hadn't heard about before. FHA STREAMLINE...

So I thought i'd call and see what it was all about and see if it would be in our best interest to lock into a better mortgage rate...

Our current mortgage is 5.25 % 30 year fixed FHA.

The offer was for 4.125% fixed for 30 years FHA style, with no appraisal needed  or any fees because I'm in good standing with the Federal Housing Administration... Essentially they would just be redrafting the loan up and I'd only have to pay one fee... an upfront insurance amount for the FHA mortgage, about $1,700.00 according to the guy I spoke with. (my first upfront MIP payment was rolled into my current loan.)

If I took the offer, this would reduce my payment to $571.31 before MIP and Taxes. Right now my baseline payment is $650.64 so i'd be saving $79.33 a month, and it would take 22 months for SCB and I to see a profit from that.

Then I found out i'd get a partial credit for the original upfront insurance amount I had to pay for my first loan. One day one you loose 20% of the value paid in, then 2% each month you have the mortgage. Since I still have digital copies of my statement, I looked up how much I paid in: $2,026.50

  • 20% of that is gone the first month 
  • and I've had the mortgage for 21 months (2% per month =42%)

So 62% of that amount is gone, and i'd get a refund for 38% of what I paid or $770.00. That makes the amount i'd be out of pocket for only $930.00 so i'd break even in a year... sounds pretty great right???

Wrong.

In the land of mortgage reform they changed the % amount that someone has to pay each month for MIP from 0.55% of the loan balance to 1.15% of the loan balance.

I only pay $51.97 a month right now... with the new loan that would jump to $105.57 a month...  $53.60 MORE a month for no additional principle reductions, just more money down the drain. The larger MIP closes the gap to $25.73 in savings a month from the refinance and i'd be adding another 21 months to the length of my mortgage...

If that new law hadn't been in place, refinancing would be a smart move because it would only take us a year to break even with the costs... With the higher MIP its over 3 years and 1 month... and that's not a stellar deal.

If rates go down to 3.5%, even with the higher MIP i'd be saving $87.37 a month... but by the time that happens, any credit i'd have from the first loan would probably be long expired... so it would take about a year and a half to break even.

My best bet is to pay down my loan to 20% of its value and then look into refinance options so I can eliminate the MIP all together (its harder to eliminate then PMI) and hopefully when we get to that point interest rates will still be good.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

My Bridal Shower... (somethings will never change)

On Sunday my wonderful "grandma" (a fantastic woman from my church that I one day walked up to and told her I decided she got to be my grandma--- and has treated me like family from that day) threw me a wonderful bridal shower at her home. Not only did she do the invites, the games, prizes, and all the food... (she wouldn't let me or my bridesmaids lift a finger to help her with anything despite multiple offers) but she helped make the day truly special for me. 

I was so touched by all of her prep work and I had a wonderful time seeing my friends and just getting excited for the big day :) We love everything we got from the shower and we feel truly blessed by the people in our lives. I was completely blown away by the generosity of the family that has pretty much adopted me and let me move in with them the last 4 months or so... I honestly didn't know what it was like to have a mom around until I moved in with them... No ulterior motives... no hidden agendas... just caring, compassion, and love... 

Everything was going perfect until the last guests walked in late... my mom, my sister, and my "aunt" (my mom's best friend)...

After welcoming them inside and introducing them to everyone, my sister and aunt went out to the car because they "forgot" something... Before they left they grabbed 2 empty cups from the kitchen when they thought I wasn't looking...  and when they came back in, those same cups were magically full ... and you get one guess what was inside...  yup, alcohol.

They couldn't come and stay 2 hours without boozing up at my bridal shower... Despite letting them know that I didn't want to have anything there because the host doesn't drink and it would be completely inappropriate with this setting... but they didn't care... 

I didn't say anything to them at the shower because I didn't want to hurt my "grandma's" feelings because she had gone to so much work to throw me an amazing shower that I couldn't risk it going up in smoke so I pretended I didn't notice.

My sister in particular was quite loud and argumentative during all the games (she's also a poor looser and they kept doing all the games "together" so my sister could win more even though you were supposed to do them by yourself...) 

My mom would occasionally get up and follow me to the kitchen to ask me if my bridesmaid was talking behind her back... or she would make some off handed comment to someone about how I call the host my "grandma" when she's not really my grandma... and when she met the wonderful woman who has been letting me live with her the past 4 months... it was really, lets just say "interesting"...
 

After the shower died down and I headed home to SCB and I knew I had to nip the situation in the butt with the drinking before it rolled over to the wedding... so I called my mom hoping that would be the best drama free route...


It wasn't.


When I let her know that I knew my aunt and sister were drinking at the shower (I didn't accuse her to be on the safe side) and I asked her to please just tell them not to drink or bring alcohol to the wedding since it would come better from her then from me...

and she defended them... asking me if they looked drunk... saying it was only a drink or two... and that my aunt is going through a hard time and I shouldn't make a big deal about it... and she kept saying they found alcohol in "grandmas" kitchen so she couldn't possibly be offended if she even noticed... etc etc... I just can't believe the nerve some people have.


So I basically told her to forget it and i'd handle it myself... but she told me she'd call my sister and tell her and immediately hung up on me and beat me to the punch... 

So when my sister rang me back I had to endure the horrible conversation with her about her blaming me for everything saying I told her she could bring it to the shower, etc and how i'm "this" and "i'm that"... 

All I could really do was be as level headed as possible. If it went the wrong way she'd probably either show up slammed to the wedding and make a scene and ruin it for me, or she wouldn't come and force my mom to choose daughters and then they both wouldn't be there. 


So I told her I was sorry if I had confused her or if I had been unclear about the shower... and I wasn't trying to make a big deal about it, "what's done is done," etc but for the wedding, under no circumstances is any alcohol to be brought to the wedding or the reception.  


(cricket cricket)
 

I have no idea if she will oblige especially since she threatening to ruin my batchelorette party in the "heat of the screaming" that came with the phone call...  If she shows up drunk to my wedding she will be escourted off before I even have to deal with her (or hopefully see her since she made it clear she didn't want to get ready with us the day of)... if she brings any with her she will be asked to leave and I won't be the one having to tell her because all of my bridemaids, groomsmen, and male guests have told me they will handle it. 

I'm just praying we won't have to call the police... Just when I thought there was nothing to worry about anymore?? I'll be able to gauge everything better after the bachelorette party this weekend... so hopefully we will have a heads up... 


but I can see something bad coming... I just have this horrible feeling... I kind of wish they would just blow up before the wedding and refuse to come at this point...

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Turning down work leaves a sour taste in my mouth...

We set up our marriage counciling session last week... and had to cancel it for work because SCB accidentally "forgot" and scheduled a gig that day...

Thankfully we were able to re-schedule for yesterday after I got off at work at 5:30pm... That Monday morning my fiance got a call offering him work at labor ready and we had to turn it down... :( he wouldn't get home until  6:20pm and we can't try and ask to reschedule again...

Were so close to paying this thing off and set backs like this one just make me a bit sad and frustrated because this gig today could lead to a gig tomorrow...

But we need to do the counciling and make it a priority...

UPDATE
SCB surprised me at work before I was off for the day... He got a job gig for tomorrow!!! (guess they didn't like the guy they called in... WOOT!!!!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Monday Link Love 6/27

Hey everyone! It's been a wonderfully busy week with last minuet wedding things going on. I had my first bridal shower last night (a recap post later this week) and afterwards my bridesmaid and my brother attempted to teach SCB and I how to dance :) Tonight we have another marriage counseling session... and its been busy busy trying to coordinate everyone coming in next Wednesday. But despite some of the busy, here's a little link love:



Top Weekly Referrals:
Blog Stats:
Alexa Rating last week: 689,848... This week 588,727 when I began the Yakezie challenge on May 14th, it was 3,958,500.  Looking Good!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Weekly Spending, Debt Update & Groceries/Meal Plans 6/26


Here's our spending for the week:
June 19: $10.00
  • Kaiser: $10.00 (prescription Refill)
June 20: $14.99
  • Amazon Market Place: $14.99
June 21: $0.00
June 22: $0.00
June 23: $0.00
June 24: $15.14 
  • $25 Restaurant.com gift card for $2
  • $13.14 Vons
June 25: $92.50
  • Fresh and Easy: $39.37
  • SCB's Cell phone: $53.13

I had to renew my perscription this month and we finally bought those monitor mounts we have been oggilying off Amazon because I won a $25 gift certificate!(Now we don't have to worry about earthquakes or the very unstable card table the computer is living on)! We also scored a deal on a Gift card on Restaurant.com... we got $25 for Buffalo Wild Wings for $2 so my fiance will get to use this for his man's night out when he goes and hangs out with him boys before the wedding. There was also a HUGE discount at Vons for Mnt Dew and with wedding stress and his upcoming boys night... we decided to stock up. :)

Debt Update:
What A WEEK... Not only did SCB get work last friday... but he worked Monday with Labor Ready... and he worked one day with our friend installing mirrors in a hotel again... AND he earned $100 in a day helping to install crown molding. We also emptied some of the coin money we had and put it in the debt envelope.  
  • Current Amount Saved:$1,287.00
  • $213 left to go and 13 days until we are hitched!
So if he can get 4 days of work through Labor Ready we will pay off the debt before the wedding... We can hang on to hope... but we might pull the money out of our emergency fund if he can't get any work in because we'd just like to put this behind us and move forward without any obligations to anyone... its very freeing to think we are so close!

Grocery Shopping Update:
I hit Fresh and Easy solo since SCB was working away on Saturday. I picked up:
  • 5 lb bag of Flour ($2.49), 2 one lb bags of rice ($0.89 each), 1 can of olives ($1.79), 2 cans of pineapple slices ($1.49 each), Alfredo Sauce ($1.99), Grapes ($0.99 lb, $3.28), frozen bell pepper blend (1.69), onion soup mix ($0.89), buns ($1.29), tortillas ($0.98), Granola bars ($2.99), Cilantro ($0.98), Salad mix ($1.99), Pepperoni ($2.49), Ground Sausage ($2.99), Mushrooms ($1.89), Tomatoes ($0.98), Onions ($0.98), Potatoes ($0.98), Fabric Softener sheets ($1.99), 2 containers of pepper jack cheese ($2 for $5 sale), 4 pack of vanilla yogurt ($2.79). Total: $45.39... minus $6 off coupon I got in my email, $39.37
We will hit Costco later today to pick up eggs and milk.  

Meal Plans:
Last week we were pretty good with sticking to our meal plan for the week... but we modified a few nights because we were either too tired or not in the mood for what we planned to cook... (but we made sure nothing was wasted or tossed out.) This week we will be really busy so we probably won't have a meat less meal... but we are planning 2 leftover nights instead. 

Sunday: Chicken tacos, (make pizza bread batches to take for lunches this week)
Monday: leftovers
Tuesday: work meeting (dinner provided)
Wednesday: Mexican Sandwich
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Pork chops, apple sauce, mash potatoes, peas
Saturday: Bachelorette party!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Trash is Treasure

SCB was taking out the trash the other night and he noticed a small little desk fan sitting out next to the trash bins at our complex.

He was bored because I was out and about doing some errands solo so he brought it inside and decided to fiddle around with it to see if it worked. So he took it apart, cleaned it up and plugged it in... and here's the funny thing... It worked. There were no issues with the motor or anything. The only thing that's wrong with it is the "oscillation" (so it doesn't move from side to side) but it has three settings on it and its fully functional... 

So now we have a like new desk fan which should help our house stay a bit cooler now :)

If you remember from last week, we broke down and bought a little desk fan to help cool off the house a bit... Looks like we should have waited a bit longer to get one. Its funny how that happens...

My fiance broke the desk chair for the computer a while back so he was making due with a kitchen chair or the bench for a while... he kept talking about how we needed to get a new one and we kept putting it off because we didn't want to buy something cheap and then have to replace it to get something better latter... by waiting we ended up getting one for free from our church...

Same thing with the monitor mounts he wanted for his computer... we decided not to buy them when he didn't get them for his birthday... and just this week I won a free $25 amazon gift card so we were able to order them (we normally don't shop off amazon, but I knew he wanted the mounts from there so I entered because we knew what we would want to buy off the site before hand).

Maybe there is something the whole waiting bit. By delaying our purchases a little while, we were able to take advantage of some great deals. :)

Friday, June 24, 2011

Fantastic Fun Night

One of my bridesmaids got back in town a few days ago (she's going to school up north) and we finally got to hang out and catch up on everything outside of text messaging.

With glow in the dark puffy paint... a picnic on the carpet floor.... the goonies... and my wonderful fiance making us yummy dinner and dessert.... it was fun. There is definitively a reason I love my closest friends... They are just truly awesome.

We did a little wedding stuff while watching the movie (un-grouping all the table kiss bells, bubbles, and picture frames we had grouped together for 12 park tables... --Now they are just sorted by item and the wedding planner can deal with it...)

and I have to say my attitude has completely shifted into this land of happy and positive good flowing thoughts...

I'm getting married in a few weeks to a wonderful man... Who cares that the new programs I ordered aren't glossy on both sides... or that half the people we invited aren't coming... The people I really want there are going to be there... and its going to be a blast!

In other good news, my hair and make up lady actually came through and tracked me down in person because she lost my phone number... so i'm all set to get pretty in her salon the day of the wedding.

and I'm going to marry my best friend.... Life is just happy.

Sunday after the shower my bridesmaid (the queen of the hot glue gun) is teaching us to dance to "our" song...

Its time to enjoy the fun things about getting married... :)

my to-do list is shorter... Just vowes and letters and paying the caterer... and getting the reception timeline and finishing the music for the wedding.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Wedding DVD and "guest book" + Updates

A few things I must re-cap.

  1. I mentioned back in November about how we scored a fantastic deal on a digital camera on Black Friday (and used it to capture the wedding proposal...) 
  2. and I think I've mentioned before that my paramedic "bro" is incredibly tech savvy and used to do sound at churches and for live bands... and that he's also done a few weddings and helped his roommate our with AV systems... 
  3. And since we lost our church building... our church's sound system (which is portable) is going to be sitting in storage...

So, mix all that together and what do we get? Our wedding video taped for Free!!!

We will have microphones set up so everyone will be able to hear us and my bro can slice the sound (which will be recorded separately just in case as a back up) and one of my fiance's brothers (who is not in the party) will be able to video tape our wedding for us! My "bro" also offered to do all the editing for us to make sure its perfect!!!!! and we can get our first dance and the reception highlights on tape so we can't forget them either. Depending on Battery life (we also will bring the charger with us), we'd like to get our guests to leave us a video message during the reception.

This makes me so excited because when I called the wedding planner to let her know about the smaller number of guests coming to the wedding, I wanted to see if it was still early enough to get a "credit" to use towards another hour of photography (we would only need a credit of $225 to get another hour of photography) since well need less apple cider, tables center pieces, refreshments, etc... since we originally planned 70 guests we have only 50 coming...

and they told us no... Its funny how everything is now about the "contact" (even though a lot of this stuff could be easily changed in terms of amounts since we called them awhile ago about it).  So i'm expecting refreshments and cake to feed 70... or they break contract.

So I was bummed about this because of how much money we wasted on people who told us they would come and aren't anymore.... But then figuring out the whole wedding video thing is just so darn fantastic that my whole outlook has changed. I'm just thinking about the great and the awesomeness that is to come!

My "bro" is also picking out a huge nice black picture frame and mat for an 11x14 photo which we are using as our "guest book." We are going to have our guests sign the mat and put our favorite photo from the wedding in it. So the video and the frame our his gifts to us and I think they might be the things I treasure the most... My Bro is the best (I sure know how to pick em)!

I'm going through all our music to make our wedding play list as I type this. We are making 2 set lists. One for  background noise while we finish up our pictures, then one for the "real" reception.

My "bro's" girlfriend (my bridesmaid and yes I totally set them up-- we will be planning their wedding next year), got 2 of her friends who have their beautician licences to do all of our hair and make up for $35 per person! So we are going to have a bridal slumber party the night before so we can wake up and spend the morning getting PRETTY. I was going to get my hair and make up done as a gift at a salon... but when I tried calling and getting my appointment set up, the lady who told me she's do my hair and make up just hasn't returned my calls... and the wedding is less than 3 weeks away... :/ so i'm just going to have these gals do it.

My Bridal shower is Sunday...We have our next meet up with the Pastor on Monday (since we finally finished our homework packets for marriage counseling)... Then Wednesday is my work shower... Then that Saturday is the bachelorette party... then the in laws get in that Wednesday... Rehearsal Thursday... Slumber party Friday... Wedding Saturday!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

I spent last night at my HOA Board meeting...

So SCB didn't end up with work yesterday (sad day) and when he came home from waiting around at Labor Ready he went to get the mail for me after he parked his car. While he was out there he checked the board notices, saw nothing new, and headed inside to tackle his honey do list.

About 30 mins later he went to on the sink to tackle the dishes... and nothing came out of the sink... Apparently someone shut off the water in the building AGAIN... with no notice and no consideration for other homeowners.

The plumbers are supposed to notify the HOA when they have have a job on the property... The Homeowner/Renter is also supposed to notify the HOA as well... and then the homeowner is supposed to post signs giving everyone 3 days notice of when the water will be turned off and what buildings are going to be effective.

and none of that was followed at all, again.

So we spent our evening at the HOA board meeting to air our grievances... and hopefully something would be done.

  • I suggested that if people don't notify the board and post the correct water shut off notices in the appropriate time frame that they should be issued a fine because now its become a HUGE problem and people don't respond until you hit them in the pocket book. 
They seemed to like the idea... but they have horrible follow through when it comes to collecting fees... and the water issues can't be completely solved because we don't have the funds to pay for the work and we can't re-pipe everything.

but that may be changing...

Apparently we are finally getting a new parking company since this one never comes to check on things, never tickets, and never tows...

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Change in Plans

Looks like we are going to have to tweak things this month... again. I called the cruise line to book our honeymoon and the week we wanted to go was going to end up costing us $680... not $380...
 
Apparently our "free" voucher is for a room with bunk beds that are mounted to the wall... So they can't be pushed together to make a larger bed... and since this is our "honeymoon" that will be a problem, especially since SCB is 6'5''-6'6''... and all the cheaper rooms have already been booked on the week we were planning on traveling...
 
...
 
Thankfully, since I did call yesterday and the lady told me that even though I was a day or too shy of 90 days advanced notice, she said they could let us book for the week before (I might have hinted it was our honeymoon on the phone when I sounded sad that they only had the more expensive room upgrades left and we were on a budget...)
 
So now we are going on our cruise on the 19th of September and with all the taxes and fees it comes to $540.70 (we will still need to pay for parking $60 and gratuity ($10 a day per person)... but for now we just have to worry about paying the $540.70 so we are pushing the car check up into July since I don't have time to take it in this month. (Saturday we are helping our church move some stuff outside of the building, Sunday we have my bridal shower, and i'm working M-F and then we are in July...)  so we can use the $350 we saved to offset the cruise money. 
 
I looked up how much it would be to book something similar on the cruise we are going on... and if I did everything correctly, 2 people would be charged $768.86 (including taxes and fees)... I love how they only have to pay around $40 per person in taxes and fees and we have to pay $180 a person for those same taxes and fees... Essentially that whole debacle with the travel company saved us $228.16 on our cruise since we had to pay those larger taxes and fees ourselves...  

Monday, June 20, 2011

Monday Link Love 6/20

Favorite Posts of the week:
A little on the short side will all the wedding questionnaires SCB and I needed to go through together cut into my blog browsing for the week... but here are some note worthy posts.

Top Weekly Referrals
South County Girl
Google 
Yahoo 

Blog Stats:
Alexa Rating last week: 817,749... this week 689,848... when I began the Yakezie challenge on May 14th, it was 3,958,500.  

Our Bread Recipe

We've had a couple people ask what recipe we use to make our bread, and since we are all about sharing here at South County Girl, here it is!

We used to make bread by hand but the consistency turned out a lot of times more like cornbread (so a bit crumbly at times). My friend's mom had an old break making machine that THEY NEVER USED so she asked if we wanted it. We had to clean it really well, but we now are the proud owners of a really old bread machine (it even came with a VHS Tape)!

Here's the bread Recipe we use:

  • 9oz cold water (use warm or hot is making by hand)
  • 2 tablespoons Butter/margarine (if making by hand, you may want to leave the butter out so its really soft) 
  • 2 tablespoons powdered milk (this way you don't have to "Scald" the milk)
  • 3 cups flower (bread or all purpose)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons of Sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon yeast. (if making by hand, use 2 teaspoons of yeast.)

Since we use the machine, we can just dump everything in there (we use Cold products so the bread doesn't rise too much because then its too fluffy and can't be used for sandwiches.) and press a button for it to bake.

If your making bread by hand, you will want to use warm water and butter, ect so the heat will react more with the yeast to make it rise more. Its also important to put the dough in the container you plan to cook it in, cover it, and let it rise in a warmer place so you don't have the cornbread effect.

We found microwaving some water in the microwave and then setting the dough in there with the water REALLY helped it rise when we were making it by hand (just keep an eye on it and make sure you put it in the container you plan on using to bake with.)

=)

(we also use this recipe for our Pizza bread (just adding an extra teaspoon of yeast to it, so we use 2 instead of 1). Once the dough is ready, we cut it in half and we have enough to make 2 pizza stuffed bread loafs. If there's interest the next time we make pizza bread I'll post a step by step guide with pictures.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Weekly Spending, Debt Update & Groceries/Meal Plans

Here's our spending for the week:
June 12: $0.00


June 13: $30.82
  • $30.82 (gas for SCB)
June 14: $0.00 
June 15: $0.00
June 16: $0.00
June 17: $0.00
------Transferred $50 to Christmas fund
------Transferred $143 to our insurance fund
June 18: $137.80
  • Costco: $19.97
  • Target: $58.39
  • Best Buy: $20.64
  • Fresh & Easy: $26.84
  • Subway: $11.96

SCB needed some glue and a can of air to finish his computer so we picked those up at Best Buy with the cash my mom gave me last night for helping her with her work test that she needed to do on-line (I refused the money at first, but she insisted because it took 3 hours to do and she wanted to leave us with a little cash if we wanted to grab a bite out for dinner since it was late when she left and I wasn't able to start dinner while she was here).

At Target we picked up some gum, a box of cereal, a table fan, and a bathing suit. (We found out cereal is cheaper at Target than fresh and Easy and I've been having mad snack cravings lately so instead of hitting the munchies in the cabinet we picked up some sugar free gum to keep me occupied so I don't run towards the food and over eat and look fat on my wedding day. The weather has also been warming up and the bedroom doesn't have a wall unit AC so we picked up a small fan to help blow the AC into the bedroom since we've been keeping the house locked up more. As for the swim suit, we are planning a beach day before the wedding with my soon to be new family... and my bachelorette party will also be a little pool side at times so I needed a strapless suit that wouldn't give me horrible tan lines for the big day and that would also be appropriate for a family occasion. Found a cute little number that I'll actually wear all summer!) We took some extra money not allocated for the wedding to cover these.  

Debt Update:
With the unexpected paycheck from my Fiance's old retirement account, we were able to make a little progress this week. He also got work on Friday (10 hours working in that office kitchen again) but he couldn't pick up his check because Labor Ready was closed when he got off of work for the day. We will get that check on Monday and include it in next weeks total. He also might have work on Monday with with same people, but he won't find out until he picks up his paycheck because the guy didn't mark on his slip to come back (but he also didn't mark for the other guy to return either because they both had to work late finishing some stuff up.) So we are crossing our fingers for work on Monday. 
  • Current Amount Saved:$959.00
  • $541 left to go and 21 days until we are hitched!

Grocery Shopping:
We hit Costco this week and picked up a 2LB block of Cheese ($5.29) that we will grade up and freeze, 2 more gallons of fat free milk ($4.69) because we drank both last week, and a double package of deli meat ($9.99). Total spent: $19.97. SCB will make some yummy bread in the bread maker so we can have sandwiches for lunch this week.

We hit fresh and easy for the rest of our staples for the week:
  • 2 jars of Alfredo Sauce ($1.99 each)
  • 1 can of Tuna ($0.69)
  • 2 cans of Tomato Soup ($0.89 each)
  • Mustard ($0.89)
  • Relish ($1.99)
  • Hot Dogs ($1.49)-- Snacks for SCB... or a fast meal in a pinch
  • Jeannie-o turkey keilbossa: ($3.79)
  • Stuffing ($1.29)
  • Granola ($2.98
  • Salad bag (to mix with the spinach, cucumber, mushroom, tomatoes, and romaine from last week) $1.99
  • Grapes ($0.99lb, $3.20)
  • 2lbs Ground Beef ($2.49 lb, $4.98)
  • Vanilla Yogurt 4 pack ($2.79)
Total:31.84 - $5off coupon attached to this weeks ad, =$26.84

Meal Plans:
Last week we were pretty good with sticking to our meal plan for the week (sometimes we ate different meals on different days). The only exception was that we didn't cook keilbossa because that was the night of my mom's test so we ended up eating hot dogs because it was easy and we both didn't have the energy.
:)

Here's our plan for this week:
  • Saturday- Between the subway and having quesadillas, that will make dinner for us because we have church tonight.
  • Sunday- Homemade pizza bread (our bread dough mix stuffed with mozzarella cheese, peppers, pineapple, mushrooms, olives, onion, and pepperoni for SCB)... then bake and eat... option, dip in marinara or spaghetti sauce.   Since the pepperoni is minor, this counts for one of our meat free nights.
  • Monday- Grilled Cheese. We really liked this last week so we are having it again. :) Mine will be pepper jack and mushroom, SCB will be just pepper jack. We can pair this with a salad or tomato soup. Meet free night 2
  • Tuesday- Pot luck bible study night. We are bringing salad to contribute, and others are bring the fixings for spaghetti (which is why we aren't doing Pasta like normal on Saturday this week.)
  • Wednesday- Mexican sandwich night. (1 lb Ground beef browned and drained, add a can of drained kidney beans, 16oz of tomato sauce, red pepper and cumin to taste.... then you take a plate, put cooked plain rice on the bottom, add the meat and bean mixture on top, and then top that with your favorite taco toppings like diced onion, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, cilantro etc and eat with tortilla chips or a fork, or in a flour tortilla.)
  • Thursday- My bridesmaid is coming over since shes now done with her semester so we will do burgers on the grill with fruit and a salad... or i'll make homemade steak fries to go with. 
  • Friday- Shake and bake chicken, mash potatoes, apple sauce, and peas. 

Friday, June 17, 2011

It's Pay Day Friday...

It's Payday Friday!

Which means, (drum Roll) Our accounts are current! How did we do that? Well my first paycheck (that I got 2 weeks ago) had a lot of overtime on it. Here's what we did with it:


Normal Check: $1,271.54 / Actual check!: $1,570.96
  • Mortgage (Property Taxes, MIP, Principle, & Interest) $808.18
  • HOA Fee (Includes water, gas, trash, and maintenance)$250.00
  • Dental Fees from last month (fix my retainer and remove bonding on teeth): $185
  • Short Term Savings Repayment: $ 327.78
  • -------Took SCB's last paycheck and deposited it in the short term savings...
  • -------Took my CC rebate check and deposited it in short term savings (now its $235.52 Short)

Then we got my check today... and yes, I've been a slave at work working lots and lots of overtime when ever my little hand can get it.

Normal Check: $1,271.54/ Actual Check: $1,637.70
  • Utility Bills: $200.00
  • Insurance Premiums: $143.00
  • Groceries and food: $250.00
  • Gasoline/car: $200.00
  • Christmas: $50.00
  • Short Term Savings Repayment: $ 235.52 (It's Current!!!!)
  • Car check up $350
  • Towards the cruise $209.18
So, we can pay for the car to be serviced! AND it looks like we can book the cruise now because we still have $1,000.00 in the wedding fund to cover appetizer trays ($160) me getting Pretty the day of the wedding ($100), Bachelorette party spending money ($100), and Rehearsal dinner (350), leaving us with a couple hundred we can use to book the cruise.

We can deal with hotel stays in next months budget. 

But we just cash flowed our wedding and our "official" honeymoon... one one persons salary!!!!!!


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Motivation is good...

It seems like after I blog about something that's stressing me out, I find lots of energy to accomplish it... or something comes along to make things easier! (thanks blog karma?)


We were stressing about SCB getting work, and then the check appeared in the mail from his old work account. If it was a larger amount, we wouldn't have cashed it out with the penalty, but since it was only a couple hundred it won't hurt us in the long run.  He was out of work for 2 weeks and that probably would have been about half of what we could have stashed away if he was working the amount he normally does... and there is further light at the tunnel... he got a call from Labor Ready yesterday and apparently gets to go back to his old gig on Friday. 


We don't know if he will get invited back (or if he's just filling in for the day) but its something and the call totally perked him up emotionally because he's been down about waiting in line for 2 weeks and getting nadda... and that emotional thing is the best blessing right now because i don't have the energy to lift him up with all the wedding details getting the best of me at times. 


and I've also made a good dent in the wedding to-do list by just trying to mark everything off:

  • I called back about the food trays and missed the guy in the office so i'll have to call back today.
  • I got the confirmation on the new programs/outlines.
  • We dented some of the marriage counseling questionnaires...
  • I sent out some notices about our location change to those who I won't see before the wedding.
  • and I think everyone will be present at the rehearsal minus one bridesmaid. 
  • I called the lady doing my hair and shes going to call me back with all the details.
  • (we have a back up hair stylist if need be who's doing all the girls hair for $20 a pop) 

we still need to make the reception play list for the Ipod and make sure it works with my "Bro's" system.
I still need to write several thank you letters by hand...
I still need to write those vows and finish the pre-marital questions.
I need to book the cruise on Friday (we will deal with our wedding night hotel later... we may just come home)

and i'm still waiting on the wedding planner to email me back with everything I asked her... and so I can get the wedding outline going. 

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Surprise Check...

We got a letter from SCB's momma in the mail yesterday. I guess he received some mail at their house and because it looked official she opened it before she tossed it... and a goof things she did.

It had a check in it!

2 years ago SCB was working for a school as a part time hourly paid janitor, he had a small retirement account (either a 457, 401k or an IRA). I guess they have made changes to their personnel policies recently. According to the letter we got, they no longer keep inactive employee's accounts if they are under $1,000.00. So, since his balance was $261.82, they withheld 20% for taxes and gave us a check for $209.46. 

We could attempt to call them and try and roll over the funds, but SCB doesn't have a retirement account yet...

He proudly handed me the check and asked what we should do with it... (awe)...

I told him we pretty much had 2 options for it... and that I would let him make the final decision.

we could: 

  • A) Try and put it in a Retirement account at ING Direct for him in a CD earning maybe 1.5%(Since its not enough for an initial deposit elsewhere) OR
  • B) we could put it towards paying back his parents since he hasn't had any work in a week and a half through Labor Ready (and he feels horrible that he got sick that one day and couldn't go in...).   

He decided we'd put it towards paying back him parents.

$959.00/$1,500.00  = $541 to go... 24 more days to go till the wedding (when we'd like to have it paid off)... 

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Still swamped with wedding details

25 days left until "I-Do" 
 
And I have lots of little things to do still! I finally ordered the food trays for the reception... but I have to call back to find out if I can prepay...
 
I'm still waiting on the new programs to come in the mail (we got confirmation that Best Man IS coming to the wedding after all...) and it was cheaper to make new ones that are front to back instead of printing just the one side with the "outline" and gluing them together with the sticks and the other side I already have at home to make them into "fans." Who knew 2 sided printing was cheaper than one sided printing? and now we don't need to get the glue and spend precious time making them into little fans. 
 
I still have to finish going through my "marriage" counseling questionnaires...
 
and now that I figured out the rehearsal dinner, I need to spread the word and get everyone who needs to be there. There are a few "new directions/invite updates" that I still need to mail out to the people I haven't seen yet... and one of my bridesmaids can't come... 
 
we still need to make the reception play list for the Ipod and make sure it works with my "Bro's" system.
 
and I need to finish off my gift/tote bags for my bridesmaids... and write a ton of personal thank you notes to everyone...
 
oh yeah, and we are writing some vows to one another that I need to write. 



We need to book the cruise or decided if we'd rather have a hotel by the beach for 2 nights instead....
 
I know I'm forgetting something! Thank GOD I have the week before the wedding to catch up on things. 

Monday, June 13, 2011

The recession forces tough choices...

Have you heard about what's going on in Alabama? (check out this article) They aren't the only state who has tried to pass some tough and hard legislation and gotten huge press about it.

The recession and the crappy economy have forced families to cut back, employers to lay off employees, and states to look where every dollar is really going.

I think if it weren't for the recession, a lot of these things wouldn't be happening because no one wants to be accused of being politically incorrect. 

But no one is really recognizing the problems... and how much could be changed (and how many more jobs would be available) if we just enforced the laws we already have...

Monday Link Love 6/13

Blog Carnivals:
The Totally money blog carnival went live over at Spruce up your finances.

Monday Link Love:
  • No Debt MBA brought us "I don't want to be like the Obamas" and I couldn't agree more... to go to that level of student debt load with no real plan to repay it is just a trap you can't escape from... Especially finding out that the only way they could break even was when he became President and wrote 2 books...
  • Afford Anything gave us a better role model than the Obamas.... Try Chris Rock!
  • A New Dress a Day just took this Ugly nightgown and turned it into super cute! 
  • Super Frugalette talked about "marrying" a new car... That's one way to pick your battles when you get married...
  • and this post by Money Beagle was amazing... not too many people can say they were proud to Not pay a bill.
  • Retire By 40 posted about always asking for a discount and that's what we did while my mom and I were clothes shopping. The lady found us a 20% off coupon to use and it saved us a few dollars we wouldn't have if we hadn't asked.
  • If you haven't seen this post yet, here's one for the debaters out there...
  • I'm a sucker for Generosity, and this is just plain awesome, thanks The Saved Quarter for telling this tale.

Top Weekly Referrals

Blog stats:
  • Alexa Ranking:817,749 (it was 3,958,500 May 14th)  Not bad progress here in about a month :)

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Shopping and lunch with my mom

My mom took me out for lunch and a little shopping spree for my bridal shower because she didn't want to just pick up dishes or house items from our wedding registry.

We had fun!

I ended up getting 2 shirts and 4 dresses, including one I can wear to the rehearsal dinner. I was literally blown away by her generosity (She tried to buy me more at one point and I told her that we were fine with what we had already purchased!)

Besides the happy shopping... We went out to lunch to chat and catch up on life... I had to re-explain how and why we are paying for the rehearsal dinner... and of course I had to go over the whole "why i'm marrying SCB again... and not my old boyfriend" speech.... Its safe to say, somethings never change... And then she dropped a bomb on me in the car on the way home.

She apparently ran a background check on my fiance... and had her boyfriend run a separate one too. That I just don't know what to do with... It seems like every day I'm with her I have to convince her why i'm happy... and then she believes me and we celebrate it up... and then the next time I see her I start from square one again...

Maybe things will get better after the wedding?

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Weekly Spending, Debt Update, & Groceries/Menu planning (6/11)

Spending Update:
June 6: $808.18
  • Mortgage: $808.18
  • Electric Bill: $42.34
June 7: $23.63
  • Vista Print (New Wedding Programs) $23.63
June 8: $8.65
  • True Value: $8.65
June 9: $0.00

June 10: $56.57
  • SCG Cell Phone: $56.57
June 11: $101.61
  • Gas @ Costco $51.51 (wahoo for $3.85 a gallon!)
  • milk @ Costco $4.69
  • Produce @ Henry's: $9.54
  • Groceries @ Fresh & Easy: $35.87

 Debt Update:
My fiance wasn't able to get any work this week because he called in sick on Monday and therefore lost his gig... :( we did cash one of his checks from last week, but we decided to put it towards the car service check I need to get done this month. So no progress this week despite the fact that SCB went to Labor Ready every day before they opened and got in line. 

Grocery Shopping Update:
This week we actually split up our grocery shopping between Henry's and Fresh and Easy despite the fact that we got a $5 off $25 coupon and a $10 off $50 coupon in our weekly ad for fresh and easy. Part of this was because we didn't like the produce selection at Fresh and Easy for the week so we new we couldn't use the $10 off $50 coupon...  especially since Henry's was beating a lot of their prices for produce. We also needed to get Toilet Paper... and we tweaked the shopping list in store when we found steaks on sale at fresh and easy!

Fresh and Easy: $45.87 (-5.00 off coupon) = $35.87
  • Ranch Dressing: $1.89
  • 1 can of Refried Beans: $0.79
  • 1 can of Tuna: $0.69
  • 1 can of Tomato Soup: $0.89
  • 1lb of butter: $0.99
  • Granola Bars: $1.99
  • Jennie-o Turkey Keilbossa: $3.79
  • 48 oz Potatoes: $0.98
  • 32 oz of Carrots: $0.98
  • 16 oz of Tomatoes: $0.98
  • 8 oz of Mushrooms: $1.89
  • Hamburger Buns: $1.29 (We are going to buy these at Costco from now on... way cheaper)
  • Cheap White Bread: $1.19 (SCB liked to use this instead of hot dog buns)
  • 10 count of Flour Tortillas: $0.98
  • New York Steal: $15.10
  • Toilet Paper: $5.99 + Sales Tax: $0.46
Henry's: $9.54
  • Cucumber: $0.49
  • Romain Lettuce: $0.88
  • Spinach Bunch: $1.29
  • Black Berries: $1.25
  • Raspberries: $1.25
  • Strawberries: $1.25
  • Avocado: $1.25
  • Watermelon: $1.88
Costco: $4.69
  • 2 Gallons of Fat Free Milk

Dinners for the week:
We are trying to be more mindful of how often we are eating meat because grocery prices are getting higher each week so we are making an effort to do 2 meatless meals a week (this week we have 3 planned).
  • Saturday: Our Pasta Night (either Spaghetti with Marinara or Alfredo sauce)
  • Sunday: Grilled pork chops (marinated in BBQ sauce), Apple sauce, mash potatoes, and peas.
  • Monday: Pepper Jack grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade bread (mine with sliced mushrooms), Salad, and tomato soup
  • Tuesday: Pot Luck Bible Study (we are bringing Salad, Salad dressings, and Chips & Salsa) for our burrito night.
  • Wednesday: Jennie-o Turkey Keilbossa, Potatoes, Carrots (all baked in the oven with no oil, etc) with apple sauce, Milk, and Salad.
  • Thursday: Breakfast for dinner (SCB gets homemade French toast, I'll probably have a egg sandwich or maybe an omelet with mushrooms, bell peppers, cheese, spinach, and tomatoes).
  • Friday: "HIU chicken" (something that actually tasted great from my college cafeteria) Baked chicken breast with pepper jack cheese, tomato, and avocado on top... (either on a bun or over some rice)    

Friday, June 10, 2011

Five For Friday: Bank of Mom and Dad Edition

J Money over at Budgets are Sexy is hosting another pull of 5 for Friday. So lets give it a go!


  1. Is the Bank of Mom & Dad still open to you? (If no, skip to #4)
  2. When was your last loan from them?
  3. What are your payback terms? Or do you secretly hope NOT to pay ‘em back? :)
  4. Would you ever loan money to THEM?
  5. What do you love most about your parents?
My Turn!
  1. Still open? Yes technically but i won't no matter what ... and that's by my own choice. After borrowing some money for text books to float for a few months and having her change all the terms of the agreement and flip out on me is something I don't want to deal with again. From now on I don't loan money to friends and family. If I can't "give it" without needing it back it doesn't get loaned and I won't borrow.
  2. Last loan — The text books/tuition for college
  3. Payback terms — Originally it was whenever I got the money... no rush.... then after about a month she started going off about demanding the money back in full because my sister kept borrowing money from her and not paying her back... I turned around, waited till I got 2 paychecks and handed her the money in cash so i didn't have to deal with it.
  4. Loan to them? Nope. See question 1... plus my family is very forgetful... and will say they have paid you back when they haven't.
  5. Love most —It's just my mom left... and we don't have the best of relationships to be honest... I think for me what I love most would be that she houses, fed, and clothed me until I left her home when I could.