The long awaited return of my KIVA Updates

A long time ago I was diligently posting about my updates to KIVA (a really awesome Micro lending site that allows you to give a helping hand to people all over the world, $25 at a time through a loan that is paid back anywhere between 6 months and 20 months.)

And since we are making a point of starting up are charitable giving once more, I thought it was appropriate to welcome the Monthly KIVA updates back to the Blog. The goal is to create a new loan every month and to try and do a different country each time to spread the love all around. I decided to take the time to post everyones pictures because to me it helps me remember that these are real people, real groups, and that these loans make a real impact.

I'm using old re-paid funds right now that were just sitting in the account after being paid back.

To date i've taken the same $150 and turned it into $650 by re-lending it out once a loan has been repaid.

Since we now have a random giving fund set up I don't have to be too careful with the length of the loan because I have a source to feed this account if I'm out of funds for a month... but we should be good for 4 more loans before i'll have to add to the pot.

New Loan: Juan Fidel Velasquez Lopez, Guatemala

Juan Fidal is married, 41 years old and has a primary school education. He has four children, three of whom are in school. He works as a mason and a tailor. He began working as a tailor thanks to the support of his family. He has six years of experience.


He is asking for this loan in order to increase his working capital and buy the basic materials needed to increase his production. In the future he would like a larger business with more income. 

Juan Fidel
Repayment Term: 20 Months
Location: Guatemala
What its for: Tailoring Supplies
Amount Paid Back: $0.00

Current Loans:

Shamshad Samuael Masih's Group
Repayment Term: 13 Months
Location: Pakistan
What its for: Buy Goats for animal sales business
Amount Paid Back: $18.30




Paid Back Loans:

Atim Irene's Group
Repayment Term: 8 Months
Location: Uganda
What it was for: To buy supplies for a medical clinic in bulk to lower the cost.




Eal Nub
Repayment Term: 18 months
Location: Cambodia
What it was for: To purchase the stall she rents in the market each month.



Karla Vanessa Montiel Barahona
Repayment Term: 11 Months
Location: Nicaragua
What it was for: To tile the floor of her home that she and her 3 kids live in.



Rashidat Mumuni
Repayment Term: 10 months
Location: Nigeria
What it was for: Purchase more cartons of fish to sell. 



Seccelambras Group
Repayment Term: 7 Months
Location: Peru
What it was for: helped the group buy grocery products and other merchandise for sale.




Dustmatov Eralboy
Repayment Term: 10 months
Location: Tajikistan
What it was for: a pedigree bull.

Paz Y Amor Group
Repayment Term: 8 Months
Location: Dominican Republic
What it was for: Purchase products for her business (Fruits and Vegetables)

Mobateli Plus Group
Repayment Term: 6 Months
Location: The Democratic Republic of the Congo
What it was for: purchase bags to pack clean water for sale.






Elizabeth Aidoo
Repayment Term: 8 Months
Location: Ghana
What it was for: To buy Yams in bulk for sale. 




Zenaida Daing
Repayment Term: 7 Months
Location: Philippines
What it was for: purchase a sprayer and 2 bags of certified seeds for growing rice.






Altantyya Lhasuren
Repayment Term: 20 Months
Location: Mongolia
What it was for: To purchase meat to sell in her business.




Fight for Progress Group
Repayment Term: 12 Months
Location: Sierra Leone
What it was for: to buy palm oil, rice, and oranges in bulk for sale. 

Siguikadi Group
Repayment Term: 8 Months
Location: Mali
What it was for: to buy shea butter and plastic bins for their business. 






Obama Group
Repayment Term: 8 Months
Location: Tanzania
What it was for: to sell water, juice, and sodas wholesale. 

Lyunge Group
Repayment Term: 8 Month
Location: Burundi
What it was for: To purchase beans to sell to her customers. 






La Esperanza Group
Repayment Term: 6 Month
Location: Paraguay
What it was for: to buy materials such as sugar cane, flour, sugar, and coal. 






Gbawulu Group
Repayment Term: 6 Months
Location: Liberia
What it was for: To buy cement to make blocks. 

Hawa Gull Group
Repayment Term: 6 Months
Location: Liberia
What it was for: to buy bags of rice, onions, peppers, palm oil, and beans. 

Mamile Orozalieva's Group
Repayment Term: 6 Months
Location: Kyrgystan
What it was for: to purchase more cattle for breeding






Olga Francisca Cano Romero
Repayment Term: 6 Months
Location: Ecuador
What it was for: To buy fabric, down, thread, fasteners, ect for her business

Janet Ajubyi Ayieko
Repayment Term: 8 Months
Location: Kenya
What it was for: to open another 2 stores in town to sell her goods. 


Flores De Dolores
Repayment Term: 6 Months
Location: Mexico
What it was for: to buy shawls to sell in nearby towns. 



Jose Elias
Repayment Term: 8 Months
Location: El Salvador
What it was for: To install electricity in his business premises.  

Puppy Sitting Praises & Pitfalls

In an effort to not be so negative 2 posts in a row (and let that attitude follow me around all week), I thought i'd write about what I like about puppy sitting before I rant about a few things that been driving me bonkers since our arrival.

But I do promise to list more good things then bad... even though i really want to just vent about the bad things...

and I'll even put the "Pitfalls" section at the end so if you don't really want to read it you won't have to.


Praises:

• $225 to add to our Cruise fund to cover parking fees and any gasoline taxes they levy at us while we are out to sea.
• We can turn on and use their private Jacuzzi when we want to relax after a long day... or  
• We can soak in the tub upstairs and relax TOGETHER because its so large its like an indoor Jacuzzi with personal jets.... and a flat screen TV to watch while you get comfortably prune like.
• SCB likes having cable because he can catch Anime shows on random satellite channels he's never heard of.
• I get the computer all to myself because its a MAC and SCB won't go near it.
• We catch up on our favorite shows and actually watch them together because SCB isn't glued to his video games because he can't bring them here.
• It is closer to my work so my commute is more scenic and shorter 3 of the 5 days this week.
• We have air conditioning if we want to use it.
• We get to play with the puppies and sort of "rent" a pet for a week.

Pitfalls:

• There are ants... every freaking where. Inside the house, outside the house, and walking around in all kinds of places in the kitchen that they shouldn't be. I hate bugs and it just grosses me out to have one crawl over my hand while i'm typing at the computer.... (But what irritates me is that they KNEW they have/had ants because we have see evidence of spraying in certain places, but they failed to mention it to us which I find rather un helpful). Had I known I would have brought more tupperware to keep things safe. I just wish we could find their bug spray.
• The down stairs bathroom (in our guest room) is still broken so we have to use the one in the Master and I always feel like i'm snooping being up there since it isn't my house... The bathroom we are supposed to use has been broken for about 6 months now.... 
• There are also a lot of things that are just plain broken in their kitchen and it makes cooking a hassle. All of the doors have those baby magnetic locks or the ones you have to pinch to open... and with broken doors it makes it hard to get to the ones the vitals are in... Oh and you have to open the microwave with a butter knife half the time because it sticks.... and on top of that the trash can container won't close all the way and i believe I mentioned their ant problem... I'll leave the rest to your imagination... (i'm tossing things outside in the big trash can).
• On a funnier note, my Husband keeps forgetting things at home and keeps having to drive home to retrieve things... this morning he woke up and realized that he forgot to pack pants...  and today after stopping at home from work to grab a few things, he had to turn back mid route because he forgot to grab MY pants for tomorrow.  FYI-- the hubby stops at home to water our plants  and check his internet sites since he passes our home on the way to the mansion house from work anyways... but I love him and he makes my world amazing so I can over look his forgetful tendencies. 
• And since we hate cooking here, it really bites that there are practically no quick take out joints, fast food, restaurants, or decent grocery stores ANYWHERE close... so if you forget something VITAL at home for the dinner your attempting to cook in the misfit kitchen, your spending 35 mins to run out and get something instead of 10.

What do you like or dislike the most about staying at someones home???

A run in with my sister

Some times I feel like a broken record here on this blog when it comes to run-ins with my family... but at least this time I did something a little different in favor of my sanity (baby steps right?)

Too bad it didn't do much in the long run to make a difference.

So here's the story; Last weekend my sister informed me that her fiance's older brother would be in the States from El Salvador, so they were doing a BBQ at her apartment and they would like us to come. It sounded pretty simple and without strings attached. Knowing that I was having an all out sleepover fest with the girls the day before I told her we would stop by for a little bit but not the whole time since we are also puppy sitting and we'd have to get ready for the week with laundry and other stuff too.

Before we hung up the phone, she tossed in the "bring something to share" with everyone line. Since we would be having girls night the night before we figured we could probably just double up on something to make it easier (like Dessert-- homemade cookies and congo bars! mmmmmmmm.)

After we got the phone call, we went out to lunch with my mom the same day. A little background here is needed. I've been making an effort to call my mom once a week just to check in because I know she's lonely since her BF dumped her... and I also want to re-iterate to my sister that I didn't try to re-connect in order to get money for our wedding, something my sister has accused us of doing on more than one occasion.  So in the past 3 or so weeks we have:

• invited my mom over for dinner a few times... or offered to go out to a restaurant if she wanted to do that instead...
• We asked her to stop by and see our wedding pictures from the professional photographer... 
• We offered to have her come over and use our Internet to search for a replacement car... 
• We offered to loan her a spare laptop so she wouldn't waste money on a computer I know she won't ever use in an effort to learn how to use the Internet and facebook...
• SCB has offered to fix things around her house and do her favors as she mentions them...
• and we even offered to drive her out to Indio California so she could deal with her crazy sister for the day since my mom hates long drives, especially alone.

Out of all the offers, we got her to come over to see our wedding pictures and go out to lunch. While we were at lunch actually having a decent time, my mom asked if my sister had invited us to the BBQ that weekend and we told her she had... and all my mom said after that was good, I told her to.

That should have been our first red flag.

My mom then started talking about how my sister gave her attitude that she was having lunch with us and not her and her fiance... I told her I had gotten the "what are you doing today" interrogation as well... Normally the conversation would just end there, but my mom started talking more about how my sister doesn't like to "share" when it comes to her and that she's been really moody and horrible lately. We brushed it off figuring they got into a tiff that morning and my mom was just trying to re-arrange the triangle dynamic of all of our relationships in order to better herself.  We changed the conversation back to her crazy sister and offered to again drive her out to Indio, California. Which this time she accepted told us she'd pick a date.

Fast forward to "Mid week"and my sister started pestering us with phone calls about what we were bringing to her shin-dig... trying to entice us to bring things on the high end of food luxury by mentioning that my mom was bringing shrimp cocktails for everyone. We told her we'd either bring a veggie tray or some dessert as we wouldn't really be sure till later in the week when I got a head count for my girls night because I would do one shopping run for both events.

After a good hunk of attitude from my sister from ever possible range her mind could think of because I wasn't being a perfect soldier and adhering to her beck and call, (she even went so far to include some comments about not being invited to my slumber party of all things) I actually stood up for myself. Lets read that again folks...

Yup, I talked back and grew a spine! The Hubby was so proud.

I told her quite frankly that she could loose the attitude and that we'd bring something to her BBQ and that was that... and since she was being petty at that point I let her have it.  I made a point of telling her that I don't invite her over to our place because all she does is bitch and moan that we don't have central AC and cable... and i'm not going to have her be-little how I live in my own home.

The next day...
My sister called and insiting we come to the BBQ the nano second we got up, despite telling us it started at Noon previously. But I told her no. I wanted to have a nice breakfast with my friend since it would be the last time i'll see her until she finishes her next semester at school... & I wanted a nice long shower with my hubby since I missed him while he was gone. So we sat and laughed at the TV and ate breakfast, said our goodbyes, got cleaned up and I made it to my sisters at 11:59.

Another point for me. (Baby steps, remember?)

Sure it was just something little for me, but it was a small victory in not letting her dictate my life. When we got there, my sister almost through a fit and was pissed we didn't bring our goodies on a pretty platter... but despite that, the first hour or so went fine. We only had to explain 3 times why I wasn't downing Margaritas and why SCB wasn't chugging a beer... but its always the calm before the storm with my family.

I guess at some point that week my mom had mentioned to my sister that we were going to drive her down to Indio to help her out and my sister just couldn't handle it. We apparently aren't allowed to be nice and do her favors. We are supposed to be the bad couple that just takes and takes so she can look good in front of everyone.

So there on the spot we had to listen to my sister and her fiance convince my mom that SHE should take her instead... making a huge production of in front of everyone... and she didn't stop there.

They started talking about how they think they will do a destination wedding to Cabo and how everyone should start saving for it cause they are going "all out" and everyone MUST participate.

And to top it off she then started to harass me about the one time I went to Vegas with her and her fiance around a year ago for his birthday (Leaving out the part where I stalked out of the casino/bar at 1am because I was fed up with her attitude--- the first time I stood up to her in my life and it shocked the hell out of her)...

Needless to say at that point we had it. If I stayed one min longer I would have gave it to her in royal fashion and my husband would have hit someone. So we acted like adults and politely excused ourselves because we'd been there for 3 hours and had to go "check on the puppies" and "do laundry."

Ya, I'm done playing nice and dealing with her dictator attitude. Ya, we aren't going over there again... That's for sure.

Weekly Updates (Spending, Work, & Money Goals)

Our Grocery Shopping for the week
(August 27)

Weekly Spending-ish

Okay, we finally had a week that resembled normal for us finance wise. I'm posting this a bit later than normal only because we had an "interesting" weekend run in with my family... but thats for another post.

Offermatic gave us our $10 rebate from our Amazon.com purchase!!! We used the extra cash as a apart of our grocery budget because I needed a girls night. Its been about a month and a half since our wedding and because we have been really busy, I haven't had time to see my girlfriends very much so I left my husband at the puppy sitting house on Saturday and had all my girlfriends over to the condo to catch up. Since we are house sitting we decided we'd eat more on the simple side this week since its easier... and this way we could get munchies and things for girls night. We also baked a ton of yummy treats and it was a fantastic triple movie feature kind of night!     

We got a few "no spend" days in this update which was kind of nice :)

August 20:

• Gasoline: $47.74 (South County Girl)
• Costco: $11.18 (Milk and Block Cheese)
• Fresh & Easy: $40.82 (Groceries for the week)

August 21:

• $171.90: (Our Parasailing Cruise Adventure...)

August 22:

• Gasoline: $30.26 (South County Boy)
• Cell phones: $132.50

August 23:

August 24:

August 25:

• OC Clerks Office: $14.00 (Marriage Cert)

August 26:

• Chipotle: $13.68 (date night paid for with my gas rebate check from work.)
• $262.50 -HOA Fee

August 27:

• Gasoline $29.43 (South County Boy)
• Costco: $12.48 (Milk and Deli Meat -- We had a coupon for deli meat this week)
• Fresh & Easy: $41.96 (groceries for my girls night and our week at the puppy sitting house)

August 28:

Job &Work Updates:

I have a new work schedule starting this week now. I'm back at my old facility 3 days a week, and I still work in "the office" 2 days a week... but now it looks like I only have to lifeguard 2 hours a week... which is a big difference. Hopefully this means i'll be able to get some work done and play catch up with everything I've got going on.

SCB is still working and liking his job... but he doesn't really connect with his co-workers because they have nothing in common anymore. All the guys do is cuss and drink on the weekends so SCB has taken to downloading books on tape to listen to while he's doing his work because his boss doesn't mind if he listens to music or an MP3 player. So this small technology is saving his sanity a bit.

Money Goals:

As I mentioned earlier, the x-box fund is taking a break this month and we will resume it in September.

• Xbox fund: $132.00... of $350.00 saved...37.71% Saved

As for the Roth IRA, we have $171.32 sitting in it from my first paycheck of the month... and once my money is transferred, we should be finishing the month off with another deposit... but i'll wait for everything to clear in my accounts before I post so it should come with next weeks update.

• Operation Roth IRA: $327.73/$5,000.00... 6.55% Saved

Our giving accounts also got a boost with my paycheck that we got on Friday. Now that we have money in our general giving account we will start highlighting so new giving ideas and posts next month :) We are still really open to ideas for awesome charities that you love and would like us to support. Thanks for the ideas so far. We are having fun looking into them!

• Child Share Fund: $92.00
• General Giving: $164.00

Its official... I have a new last name

My "bro" signing my real Cert!

I got a note in the mail last week from the County Clerks office saying that my marriage licence would be expiring soon and they had yet to receive my documents from my officiant.

(Insert panic here)

I called my pastor who told me he put it in the mail the Monday after our wedding so I finally found a few moments to give them a call and figure out what was going on... A wonderful lady looked us up in their computer system and told me that there wasn't an issue at all. They sent us the note because their computer hadn't registered that er had used it because they mailed the notice out 2 weeks after our wedding and it takes 3 weeks to process everything.

So I got into my car and drove down to their office to get my official copy/duplicate. I got there and followed the signs to the computer terminals, typed everything in, and then got in line. Simple, Quick, and painless. I maybe waited 15 mins, paid $14.00 and was out the door like that!

Since I had time to spare, I hit up my local social security office to process my application for my new card. After doing an "self check in" and getting my bag checked by security, I was good to go. The security guard made sure I had all my documents with me and I maybe waited around 30 mins since I didn't have an appointment.

My number was called, I passed over my application, my ID, and in a few mins they just sent me off on my way and i'll get my new card in 2 to 3 weeks. I asked when I should go to the DMV and they told me that I should wait 2-3 days to make sure the change is in my computer and then I can go and get my new licence and kiss my old name good bye.

I stopped by the bank on my way home to change my name there, but sadly I have to do the DMV first so I just cashed my gasoline rebate check and headed home. Considering I got off work at 1:00pm and its only 3:30 now as I type this, I'd call that a really productive afternoon if I do say so myself.

:)

Married Life- Payback is awesome

The other day my husband made oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips in them. Why? Because my friend came over and he didn't know what to do with himself. lol

Since our place is a bit on the small side, there really aren't too many places to hang out if you want to be alone. There's the living room and the bedroom... and unless you want to hang out in the closet, there isn't anywhere else in our little 700 square foot home. So when my friend and I were playing catch up on the couch (I hadn't seen her since the wedding), SCB felt weird about just sitting on the computer 4 feet or so away from us. He wanted to leave us alone so we could have girl time and not just sit there ease-dropping while he surfed the net... but he didn't want to feel like he was banished to the bedroom either...So, he migrated to the kitchen... and just started baking all kinds of goodies.

He actually did the same thing the last time one of my gal friends came over before the wedding... So I get to gab about girly things with my friends while my hubby supplies us with tasty treats :)

But that's not all... We occasionally play games with one another (Nurf guns included), and my husband was feeling a bit playful so he decided to play a trick on me...

The next morning I left for work bright and early before South County Boy was up and moving around. He texted me while I was still working to let me know that he left me a note on the computer that I should check... I came home and saw this:

He hid the cookies...

and I couldn't find them on my own...

I called him at work and let him hear the bread maker in the background, showed him my ring via picture message (I had taken it off to help make the cookies last night), and I vouched that the dishes were clean... In essence I surrendered and he gave me the location of the cookies.

He put them in my craft box in the closet...

So after enjoying a cookie or two (no wonder i'm not loosing weight-- but I did work out 2 times this week in the gym) I decided that playful revenge was in order. I left this message for him to find on his computer when he got home:

After about an hour of him searching unsuccessfully, he broke down and folded the laundry and I gave him a few hints for their location.... and still no luck.

So eventually I had to go get them from the bottom of the oven (it has a storage drawer at the bottom that he didn't know about.)

Married life is fun.

Booking our excursions...

Our cruise is less than a month away so we wanted to make sure we booked out Parasailing before it got full. We know its an outrageous price $170 for 2 people... but its something i've always wanted to do and we are using money we got from the wedding to pay for it so it was a gift.

While we knew it may be cheaper to book outside of the cruise-line, we wanted to make our trip as easy as possible for us since it is our first cruise... So we went ahead and booked through the cruise line so we don't have to worry about missing our appointment because we didn't leave enough time to get off the ship.

We also set aside enough cash for a soda pass for my hubby & our individual gratuities ($10 per person, per day)... As well as $100 of pocket money for souvenirs, possibly a little money to gamble with at the casino on deck, and snacks when we are off the ship if we like. We will also have a bit of our own personal spending money and a little date money with us too.  On Friday we are house sitting/puppy sitting for a whole week and that money should cover the costs to park our car and any fuel surcharges we get assessed if gas blows up in price next month.

Hopefully we aren't forgetting anything.

We wanted to book a zip line excursion but they didn't offer one so that's something we may try and figure out for next time we go since we will have a better layout of the island and how long it takes you to get off the boat (---that is, if we like the cruise and want to use the second set of vouchers we have). As of right now we haven't received hubby's pass card yet so here's hoping we didn't waste $60 trying to get it. (Silly us and our procrastinating).

Another bout of Awesome Customer Service...

So last week we went to Chili's for dinner because we had a coupon for free dessert... and its SCB's favorite restaurant so we really don't need an excuse. While we were there we ran into a server we had around 6 weeks ago...


before we got married.

When she was our server the first time, 6 weeks ago, we chatted a little about how we were getting married soon and she thought it was cute that Chili's would be our last official date before we were a married couple. We mentioned how we had all my friends meet my husband for the first time a Chilis (his first time there) and how he liked it so much we came back a few days later on christmas eve because we didn't want to cook... We also mentioned how we had our parents meet each other for the first time at Chlli's after we had got engaged...  Just casual chit chat about liking the restaurant and the food. She was nice and polite and she took good care of us. Like wise, we tipped well and thought that was that until last week when we went back for a regular date night.

& She remembered us... a full 6+ weeks later.

She asked us how our wedding went and we were able to tell her how much we were liking married life and about how we came to Chili's on our wedding night... still in our my wedding clothes for dinner at like 11pm... Again, it was just casual chit chat but it helped add something to our date that we both appreciated.

Again, she took good care of us (we actually had 2 servers tag teaming us and they both took good care of us and refilled our drinks, etc)... but something about our visit just seemed better than normal. I tried a new entree and really liked it, but I knew that wasn't it... I guess it just boils down to the fact that it really meant a lot to me that our server had remembered us and our story. 

When we got the bill we had no problem using the free dessert coupon from my email... but when it came to tipping, I threw a few more dollars then normal on the tip line (and before you ask, yes, I calculate the free food into my tipping percentage like a good ex server would)...


But why the extra few dollars on top of the normal 20%? 

Because so often when I go out to eat and I order water as a beverage I tend to get ignored as a customer because we look young and we eat at casual restaurants.... It's not my fault that I don't like soda when I go out... but servers hear that and think Cheap and Crap tip...

But because we were touched that she took the time to remember us, I left a larger tip then normal because I felt like a customer... like a person... I felt more then a number for once and in the twenty first century that's a lot to ask for.

Monday Link Love

A collection of my favorite posts I discovered around the blog-o-sphere this week... Happy Reading (and if your at work, happy procrastinating folks).

1. Up Yours Gas Station, I'd this... and I'd love to be in shape enough and have this as a viable option... I don't live too far from where I work, but with my early hours and all the hills between here i'd die... but Kudos to you!!!!
2. The US Downgrade is my fault, this hits home for me because I have some very similar thoughts on the issue... Truthfully, haven't we all thought, "whats in it for me" when we cast our vote?
3. Libby Lessons, Just a cute picture of how silly and loveable our animal companions really can be. SCB and I have been debating getting a furry little friend... but we decided to wait till the new year to really think it through.
4. Does your insurance make house calls? If I found a company that did this for me, i'd be a customer for life.
5. Profanities turned Precious ... if I only had that kind of a eye for a fixer upper!!! Their creation is amazing and most excellent for their pocket book. 
6. House Maximizing tips and tricks- I don't know why, but i'm fascinated by minimalists and people who live in tiny houses... maybe its because i'm 5'1'' or because I believe that some times stuff just clutters your life... but I love little places. If my home came with a yard and a garage I don't think i'd feel the need to ever move since SCB and I aren't planning to have kiddos anytime soon... and i've been on a purging spree.
7. Stay cool for less, Really decent tips for keeping cool... and after our large electric bill, we could sure use them. I love how long term some of them are... and how very practical for those who don't have AC... like spending time at the library or walking around the mall, etc. 
8. Starbucks Shuts down Johnathan's Card, I love these experiments in social justice causes... too bad someone has to go ruin it for everyone. I never used the card but I loved the idea behind it... I'm a big fan of the living generously... and helping other people out...
9. The Best Droid you have... Take that customer service idiots... I love how after being told her phone was broken and that they couldn't fix it that she didn't take that for a final answer!

Weekly Updates (Spending, Job/Work updates, & Money Goals)

Weekly Spending-ish
Okay, most decidedly not the week we planned to have finance wise. After having a conversation with my husband, we knew we would be spending a lot more money then we had planned, and the Xbox fund would be put on hold for this month for some very neglected necessity spending. Allow me to elaborate.

When South County Boy moved from Utah to California back in March, so began the slow initial beginnings of the "newly wed 9." For those of you who don't know what i'm talking about, think "freshman 15" and we will both be on the same page. You begin to stress about the wedding, spend less time in the gym since you have a million things to do, and get more "comfortable" with the junkier foods that your man likes to keep in the house and comfort foods begin to weight you down. Food portions increase gradually and you start to stick to your more comfortable clothes... then you stop getting on the scale all together until you try and "dress up" for a date with your husband and reality sets in... A lot of your clothes just don't fit anymore and you acknowledge your new bad habits have helped to invite the "newlywed 9" into your life.

We already knew that we'd be spending a lot of money on SCB this month as we pick up the things he would need for his job... (Apparently it's very common for people to split their pants at work and have to go to TJ Maxx to get a new pair--- which happened to his co-worker on SCB's first day of work...) so we knew we'd be picking up some things for him... But we didn't figure we'd need to go shopping for me... But it was time to bit the bullet, get on the scale, and enter reality and see how bad the damage actually was...

We decided to first hit Kohls and get me some new "foundation pieces" to make myself more comfortable while I attempt to evict the Newly Wed Weight Gain... especially since you really can't fib by with bras that are too tight!

Kohls had send us a 20% off coupon for our entire purchase... as well as a $10 off a purchase of $20 in their intimate apparel section... so we started there... Since we are still newly-weds, we decided to get matching sets and buy things off their clearance/sale racks to stretch our dollars further.I got three matching sets and a pair of gym/yoga pants (a work uniform staple of mine). We ultimately Spent $55.21 and saved $86.76 by staying to the sale racks... we also got $10 in Kohls cash to come back to the store with on another day... and that's what we did.

The button up I found at Kohls!

Armed with my Kohl's cash, another free $10 off any purchase for signing up my new email address, and a 15% off your entire purchase card that i got in the mail, we went back get a few more basic pieces that will let me get by while i'm trying to work off the extra pudgy love I've added on. I love Kohls because they have a petite section and since i'm short is a life saver... clothes designed for people with hips and a shorter torso!

We picked up 3 tank tops (White, Blue, and a nice Purple) for $5.99 each on sale... a simple T-shirt with a nice pattern on it that I can dress up or down for $7.20.... & we splurged on a plaid button up because I actually found one that fit (an impossible feat until now because my arms were always way too tight in them) for $20.99 and a pair of khaki shorts for $11.40.  Pair that with our $20 of free money and our 15% off coupon and we paid $34.39 and saved $102.08... not too shabby... I should have enough basics to get by until the weight comes off... if not, well i'll cross that bridge when I get there.

We also hit Target and spent WAYYY more then we planned. We only went in for about a $10 purchase of Ibuprofen and decongestant... but while we were there we scoped out the clearance rack and found men's shorts on sale for $10- $10.50 a piece. With the California weather we have come to the conclusion that the hubby can't survive on 2 pairs of shorts for any longer (especially since ripping them is pretty common at his job)... Between 2 Target runs we got 4 pairs of shorts  for $41.50 and some Ibuprofin (4.97), decongestant ($5.34). As we were leaving to walk out we noticed all their patio furniture was clearances... and we left with 2 Chairs, ($21.00 each)... a grill brush $3.99... Side table $11.90... and 2 folding beach chairs ($7 each)... All in all, $133.29 when we went in to spend $10..... But I have $75 in Credit Card Cash that we used for the new patio furniture... so in a few weeks we will get that and use it towards the patio furniture... but for now we have taken the money out of our budget.

Oh ya, and we also spent around $101.36 on Amazon.com because SCB needed a larger cell phone battery and a new case that would hold it... plus a car charger. I told him when he got his first paycheck we'd order them because his work area is in "roaming" area and it uses the battery a lot faster that way... plus he is a boy and he likes his gadgets... so we did.

I guess we just aren't used to having money... lol... Next month we plan to tighten it up, finish the Xbox off and pay for a doctor visit and a dental check up for SCB and get back on track...

But we did manage to save a few dollars in the Roth Ira... so that's a plus... and we did create our "giving" accounts for general giving and one specifically for Child S.H.A.R.E. ... So we can't be all bad...
 
August 13:

• Giving--- $20 Check to my Church (were still sticking it out there... and its slowly getting better for the two of us... as an added plus there were more people there this week then last!)
• Gas $36.94
• Kohls $55.21 (3 bras, 3 panties, one pair of gym pants)
• Ross $10.76 (A pair of pants for SCB)

August 14:

• Fresh & Easy $44.56 
• Costco $7.32 (lunch)
• Costco $20.48 (Granola Bars -$12.79; Granola Thins -$7.69)
• Walmart $8.48 (Powdered Gatoraid)

August 15:
August 16:
August 17:

• Supercuts $21.00
• Chile's: $40.00
• Targets $133.29 

August 18:

• Mnt Dew: $2.24

August 19:

• Mnt Dew: $2.24
• Amazon.com $101.36 (cell phone stuff)

Job &Work Updates:
After I don't know how many paychecks, I'll finally be getting one without overtime on it... so we can at least establish my baseline pay for our monthly budgets till the end of the year on my end... but SCB also needs to get his W2 amended because somehow he's considered single for the feds, married for the state and they are taking out additional federal withholding when they should be withholding more from the state... So we will have to wait for a full paycheck in 2 weeks so we can start budgeting his money so we don't end up like a month like this one... (but at least he only had 1 weeks worth of pay so we didn't do too much damage this week).

Money Goals:
As I mentioned earlier, the x-box fund is taking a break this month... and we will budget it into the first paycheck we get from SCB so we will have it covered and paid in full in 2 weeks....

• Xbox fund: $132.00... of $350.00 saved...37.71% Saved

As for the Roth IRA, we have $171.32 sitting in it from my first paycheck of the month... and we have money budgeted from the second check to go in there if **nothing else goes wrong**

• Operation Roth IRA: $171.32/$5,000.00... 3.42% Saved

Giving:

I also mentioned we set up some giving accounts... One for Child S.h.a.r.e., and one for general giving. We decided for now, when we make it to church on Saturdays we will be writing a $20 check each week and when we don't make it, well add those funds to our general giving account.  

As for Child S.h.a.r.e., the account we have set up is for expenses so I can participate in the LA Marathon to raise money for child share... and hopefully so we can match all the donations people make on my behalf... we will also use this money to buy Christmas gifts for the organization to give out to kids in the program.

But here's where we need your help. My husband and I love the idea of supporting small charities with our other giving account, but we need ideas... We have a few lined up but do you have an organization you love that you'd like to see us support? Lets us know about it so we can bless someone with it.

• Child Share Fund: $46.00
• General Giving: $72.00

Challenging my property value

You get to pay MORE Property taxes.....

Back in July I got a notice indicating that my property tax bill was going up...

Which is complete bull in my opinion since all the houses in my area are slowly dropping in price... not rising.

So I decided to call up the County offices and inquire as to why they believe my property rose 0.753%

Apparently, the last 3 months of 2010 we sold two 2 bedroom units in my complex and since there has not been a single one bedroom unit sold in around a year, they took the information from the 2 bedrooms and applied and scaled it down to my one bedroom...

There is just one problem with those kinds of estimates. They don't take into account the condos next door to me that are similar in amenities that sold at the end of September for $115,000 and $113,000... or the one that sold at the end of November for $113,000.00.

Since those units are a little bit smaller in size (square footage wise my unit is slightly larger), I decided to contest that my property value is worth $115,000.00.... not the $120,903 that the assessors office believes.
So I filled out the online application, and later today i'll have to print, sign, and mail it to their offices. It takes a while to process, so if they eventually award the decrease I'll see the difference in the form of a refund.

While I was chatting with the gal, she told me that apparently since i'm a homeowner living in my actual unit that they have a program to reduce the amount of property tax you have to pay. Its the "Homeowners Exemption" program and its free to apply for it. I just have to fill out a free form and they will knock off $5,600 of my value for this year, and then next year it jumps to $7,000.00 and remains in my file for as long as I live here. Sounds great to me! I wish I would have known about this earlier! Since i'll be applying for the homeowners exemption program in 2011, it won't help me this year--- but it will for next year!

The gal will be mailing me out the form so when I get it I just fill it out and return it back to their offices.

Then I wait. It can take 6-9 months for someone to be assigned to my appeal (if no one contacts me in 2 years, its automatically accepted apparently). So I just wait for someone to call me and I can fax them the information i've gathered on the other units selling prices at the end of 2010 and then i'll have my little meeting to discuss and bring everything in if the guy doesn't just agree to change it once he's investigated my proof.

***Crosses Fingers***

A Cheaper Swap

When my husband started his new job, we had to pick up a few things to accommodate his more physical workload.

We got him an arm brace so he could haul heavy house doors properly without bruising himself. We also got him a few pairs of good work gloves...

And we thankfully scored a free pair of steel toes shoes (required for his job) from his dad since he has multiple pairs just sitting in a closet... and since he conveniently has the same shoe size as SCB (he also wore his dads shoes at our wedding too)... we were able to save around $50 or $60 by shooting his dad an email... (talk about the power of asking!)

So while most of those things are one time buys... there are a few things we will need to start buying regularly. Gatoraid is one of them.

Last week we picked up a few bottles for SCB to take with him... but even at Walmart (the cheapest place we can find them--including Costco) they are still a buck a pop (plus CRV). One day last week SCB forgot his Gatoraid back at the shop and went the whole day on water alone and he just felt really flushed out since he drinks so much of it when they do a lot of hauling that its kind of a necessity... not a perk. (After all, your body does need electrolights). But since we normally don't shop at Walmart every week, I'd most likely end up doing a once a month stock up... cringing as we spend $20-$25 a go on just Gatoraid. 

But it's something he needs for work so we went hunting. They are around $2 or so at Fresh and Easy so if we were lucky and had a good coupon week (where we had more then one we could use), we could get them for $.85 cents a piece.... but we can't really rely on that since most weeks now we only get one set (either in our email or in our weekly ad). While we were there though, we saw that they had powdered Gatoraid... and a light went off. Since they don't stock any flavors my husband will drink, we headed back to Walmart again... and I embraced my new friend... Powdered Gatoraid. 

We spent $8.48 at Walmart for a whole container... and since my husband gets a bottle of water every day from work (and brings his home so we can recycle them) we used those to make our own Gatoraid... The savings says it all...

Yup. We essentially can get the same amount of gatoraid (my husband did a taste test to make sure it mixed right) for $0.36 a bottle... instead of paying for $1.05...  That's almost 3 whole bottles for what it would cost us to get one in the store.. It looks like we have a winner folks!

Another quick fix... this time its free

Apparently we are just turning into a bunch of "do it yourself-ers" in the land of our newly married bliss... and its all good, especially when it's totally working out well for our pocket book... (and with all our random extra spending we won't be complaining about any additional frugal hacks we pick up in the weeks to come)...

Like this one: Since my husband works a lot outside with his NEW job (woot woot), he's been wearing his ball cap more often... His gross, Nasty work cap

And no, he didn't compete in or finish the Portland marathon (I'd be lucky to get him to do a 5k-- but he's a wonderful support system for when I do marathons.)...

He wears it so often that it's permanently stained and gross which is why he wears it to work because he no longer cares about what it looks like. There is just one problem. Since he's worn it so much, the lip under the hat never stays where it should... and since my husband actually goes to put on a ball cap kind of funny, the lip underneath is always falling down across his forehead... and it bugs the poo out of him.


I bought another baseball cap in Utah last summer... but my husband has dubbed it as HIS "good non work hat" so suggesting he wear that one instead won't fly... especially since in a month or so it would be completely ruined and stained as well...

So another simple fix is in order... This time its free! But before I could begin I forced him to toss it in the washing machine and clean it because it was really nasty... Once it was clean and dry I got to work.


I took a needle and thread while I was watching a show and stitched the little flapping piece up so it can't bother him anymore... Since the hat had embroidery on the front I needed to be careful to only stitch through one layer of the hat or you'd see the black thread on the front side.

In return I got him to finally fold the laundry and help me with the dishes that have been piling up.

We are still trying to balance out chores with both of us working full time... being stubborn helps a little bit... but we are getting better each week with finding balance.

The finish product still looks horribly stained despite the wash, but at least it will bother him less until he's willing to surrender it to the trash can...