Tuesday, February 28, 2012

March Can't Come Fast Enough

It's the end of February, and if this were a normal year, today would be the last day of the month. But because it is a Leap Year we've got one more day to go.  And I can't wait until it is over.

The kids were sick, Eric was sick and I just feel like junk.  So that was a minor setback on saving money when we had to take Sammy and Josh to the doctor.  We did fill the prescription at Publix and that was free for the antibiotics. But on the good side, I earned a great bonus and merit increase which hits March 9th!  We'll be heading to the car dealership on that Friday to get Eric's new downgraded car.  And it is all the better for us.

I finished a very nice St. Patrick's Day wreath and the small amount of decorations I have are up.  I foresee buying a few more things when they hit the clearance isles at Michael's and Target. 

We took the boys to Target this past Saturday for the Read Across America Dr. Seuss celebration and they each received a cute bag, food and coupons.  And all for free!

I can feel that March will be better.  I'll make every effort to make it so.  Just gotta get through one more day in February.

Jennifer

Josh and Sammy's Trip to the Doctor

Monday, February 27, 2012

Say It's So

Even though the theme of blog is improving our lives, finances, etc., writing about other stuff is fun as well. So, since Sammy has woken up so early this morning, I've only been able to work in the office for a little over a hour and while I have a lot more work to do when he goes to sleep later, I feel like doing some writing and then I'll do my regular work on the laptop.

So, last night was the 2012 NBA All Star Game in Orlando. First of all, the facility in Orlando is beautiful. We went down and saw the Amway Center in December and you can't even compare it to the old Amway Arena (or what we as locals still called the O-Rena, the Orlando Arena) that it replaced. Central Florida has many pros and many cons, but I still can't shake the place. It's more than just theme parks there, it's this Florida lifestyle that is hard to define. The combination of the weather, the water, and the many things to do, I absolutely love it and at times greatly miss living there.

We watched all sorts of coverage of the All Star Weekend, which began on Friday. I usually watch the coverage on NBATV, but watched a more than usual because it was going on in Orlando.Overshadowing the whole event is Dwight Howard's trade demand and whether he's going to stay or leave Orlando. Much with his obsession of being called "Superman," Dwight seems to want to be a superhero and even though he's very likely to be traded or bolt Orlando, he just keeps talking up the city and the fans. In all honesty, it's rather patronizing. He's among this clump of "stars"  now that are part of what I consider the whining generation. LeBron James and countless others that act like spoiled narcissistic brats. D12 wants to "win a championship," yet the guy wants to go to the (soon to be Brooklyn) Nets. So, even if he goes there and plays with Deron Williams, the team still most likely won't get any farther than the current Magic team, who is 3rd in the East, 5th overall in the NBA.

The guy is completely disingenuous. This most likely is about ego and money. He wants to feed his ego with the larger market, his face plastered on a buildings, and most of all, satisfy adidas in a top sized market. If it was about winning a championship as he claims, he would have resigned last season when he could have done an extension and helped the Magic get the final pieces to get back to the Finals.

What I thought was most interesting last night was what happened when the players were introduced. When the Eastern Conference starters came out onto the stage, Dwight and LeBron (and Dwayne Wade to a lesser extent) were all jumping around, doing a show like they were in the WWE, and just looked, well, like the spoiled brats that they are. To their right and our left was Derrick Rose. This guy eats and breaths basketball. He's old school and insanely good. As all the four other players were dancing up there, Rose stood there almost stone cold and clearly embarrassed by what was going on around him. When he was introduced he smiled a bit, waved the the crowd, and just stood there. All the while, the baby man club next to him was jumping around and just feeding into the brat stereotype that these guys have on them. It's not about not having fun, it's the All Star game, but it's always interesting to see the ones who endlessly have their wanting to win championship mantra and they don't ever seem to. Maybe, just maybe it's because of their acting like the brats that they clearly are and they become the characters that have been created, not athletes competing at the highest level in the world.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Emerging from the Ooze

It seems that anytime you try and get your act together, something comes along to sabotage you.  This time it comes in the form of a cold- starting with Sammy, now in Eric and running right up to me. I can feel it!  But in all, we've done well.  We went to Zaxby's, our favorite chicken joint, and Sammy just lost it. So we are back to bringing food in.  We've had two no spend days this week too.

And we are very close to trading the SUV in.  That is a big step in reversing our heels and getting to what we value.  Not only will it be better gas mileage and a smaller car, but it also gets rid of one entire bill. Yay!  And then leaves the bonus wide open for paying down some other bills.  I can almost feel the debt freeness coming soon.

So now it's off to nurse the sick and try to ward it off myself.

Jennifer

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Starting Over, Yet Again

At this point it is safe to say that we have fallen off the wagon.  We've eaten out more times than I can count in the last two weeks.  And we've spent money every single day. It just goes to show you how mind over matter doesn't work without the right mindset.

But we just have to pull up our bootstraps, get back on the horse and start over!  We've got so many plans going that are so good for us that we just have to change our perspective.  Yes, we've had some setbacks and some sad moments but that shouldn't stop us from our ultimate goals.

I mean, we ran a 5k!  That is something I never thought I would be able to do.  So now we've all got to get back on the treadmill and just keep going!  February 20th is a brand new day.

Jennifer

Monday, February 13, 2012

Yup, that's a Dryer

You read it here, we have a new dryer. While removing the old dryer, it most likely left a lasting impression by cutting my hand and will ultimately scar or rather scar on multiple fingers. :) One last memory of the leaky dryer that just needed to go! It's been replaced by a terrific new "front loading" Whirlpool that we bought for essentially half-price along with not having to pay for it to be delivered or installed. It's always more gratifying to install, build, or repair things by yourself.

Our first 5k was a winner! Well, not literally, but we finished and we weren't at the end. There were people still running when we left, so it was a good run. I'm glad that Jennifer thought that we should start doing these runs. It shows you that we'll literally do anything for us to get away from the little people and be by ourselves. It's been quite different doing cardio heavy training versus weight training. I spent more than a decade doing intense weightlifting and now while I'm still doing what most consider to be heavy weights, I'm much more focused on the cardio. The results are just as good and I feel physically better, so it definitely works. I don't go for massages anymore to help fix what seems like a weekly disability. :)

Josh, Zach, and Sammy went to grandma and grandpa's house to stay over on Saturday night and that didn't work out too well. Before eight o'clock, they were back with us. Grandpa was having another health issue and she wasn't comfortable with him and if he had a problem that night. He didn't and we were stuck with them, so we still have not had a night alone since December. On top of that, Sammy had a bad night sleep and I was in his room at 5:10 AM calming him down and getting him back to sleep. They can truly tire you out.

As I write this, I'm alternating between working and helping a kid with his math homework. I continue to think that Harvard, Yale, and any ivy league school isn't going to ever happen with the two of them. They also stink. I still hold out hope that the baby is the winner. :)

E

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

It's cheap, but it'll cost you!

We got a phenomenal deal on our new dryer.  We held out as long as we could because we didn't want to spend the money to replace our dryer.  See, we had to turn the gas on to use the dryer and turn the gas off after using the dryer... otherwise the gas would leak in the dryer.  Probably not the safest option in the world, but it worked for a few years.  But we found a nice Whirlpool gas dryer for $399.00 and now E is going to pick it up and bring it home.  He only had to lose some skin and blood in the removal of the old dryer.  No biggie, I guess... unless I have to take him to stitch that up, which will cost us too.  But for now we're calling this the deal of the year.

We're also considering doing a car swap which will wipe out what we owe on the big fancy car.  It would be a downgrade but it would be for a good cause... good gas milage and one less debt.  So we will play that one by ear and pounce when the time is right.  Hopefully it won't cost us anything and we will be paying one less bill a month.

It's the 7th and we've only had one no spend day.  We've got to get on that!  And we only have four more days to the race.  I'm nervous and excited at the same time!  And the boys are spending the night with their grandparents Saturday so we will have some much needed alone time.  Can't wait!

Jennifer

Thursday, February 2, 2012

It's February Already?

The chapter has closed on January 2012 and we ate out 14 times, 2 of which were paid for meals and had 7 no spend days.  I think we did a great job and we will only improve as time goes on.

However, it seems that February has already started off rocky.  We got the word at work that our work from home day has been denied, so there goes the nice Tuesdays I have enjoyed for over three years.  Yes, I have a job, but I have to mourn the loss of this perk, with not too many new ones on the horizon.  So we will just deal but it will take me some time to go back to working in the office 5 days a week.  I expect to be very tired for the first few weeks!

And then there was the Vicodin incident where I accidentally took 2 Vicodin on an empty stomach!  So, make sure you read those labels!

But we have filed our taxes and as soon as our refund comes back we are buying that new dryer!  No more having to turn the gas on and off every time we use the darn thing.  And the leftover money will be used to pay off some small bills that have been hanging around.  We are still feeling very positive about 2012.  I still have a bonus and pay raise to look forward to.

So, if we could just somehow win the Powerball we would be set.  But we aren’t banking on that one… too much!

Jennifer