AmbitiousSaver's Personal Finance Blog

Last week, the company I work for held a call that we need to cut $140K from our budget next week to remain stable and asked for suggestions from employees. They presented them today.

The company mentioned its solutions to increase its financial stability and if there is a silver lining, its that I feel honored to work for a company that solicited suggestions from the employees before deciding what to do.

As a result, one of the four suggestions I presented was implemented and that was to get rid of the Office Tech Reimbursement and have employees claim that on their taxes.

The four solutions the company decided to implement was:

1) Eliminating "nice to have" vs "need to have" jobs.

2) Getting rid of the Office Tech Reimbursement which was $1200/yr for each employee

3) Having operations work adjusted work schedules instead of laying people off

4) Pay rate reductions. This was the hardest and I waivered over this because I haven't received a raise since March 2007 and I only make $2 more than what I did as a Tax & Audit intern 5 years ago.

When I talked to my boss he said that I won't receive a pay reduction, but the pay cut was skewed more towards upper management with some receiving a 34% cut in pay.

I don't really know what to think. But I can't help but feel blessed to work for a company that is really trying hard to look out for one another and instead of letting people go, find adjustments.

Hopefully things can improve for next year. There is no guarantee that these solutions will be the end all be all fix to our problems, but we are trying our best as a company to tackle this together.

The economy is now beginning to hit us harder and I just have to keep telling myself that no matter what, we have to press on.

Last week Monday our company had a call that they needed to cut their budget $140K next year and they were soliciting ideas from employees on how to help achieve those goals.

I suggested a few & this coming week we'll probably get an idea as to the ideas they will be implementing. I just hope job cuts are not one of them.

I feel like my job specifically is secure, but overall it tends to lower morale if people begin being let go & that can dramatically effect the company. Especially since it will be extremely hard to do more work with less people & the majority are hourly employees that require overtime if they go over 40hrs/week. So I emailed the CFO that I would rather see us forego our Office Technology Reimbursement ($1200/yr) for every employee and encourage employees to deduct their office expenses off their taxes instead if it meant that it could help keep their job.

We'll see.

The election week was tough for us being a military family. Not because we voted for McCain (We voted for Obama) but because a lot of military families say they are concerned Obama will cut their pay.

I guess, from my perspective, I am looking at the prospect that my job (which provides 40% of our families income) or consider whether or not my DH will be getting a 3% pay raise in 2010.

I really hope the economy will turn around soon, or if not soon, that we are fully able to weather the storm.

I had set aside $1700 in our EF, right now its at $1500 and that was to last till February or March when we plan to get our tax return and pay off DH's car.

I don't know if the $1500 that is in there now will be enough.

Our HOA fees on both homes are going up. There are board meetings for both and I'm sure some will contest it, but with our rental - because of the economy, crime rates are going up. The HOA wants to set aside $15K next year to pay for off duty police officers. I actually think its worth the extra $4/mo in HOA fees to do this so that it helps protect our property values.

I don't know... Christmas is coming up and I'm not sure how we'll pay for the gifts. My oldest wants a Nintendo DS, we were going to get our son a SmartCycle Hot Wheels game, and my 2nd daughter wants a Dora thing... meanwhile I just want to get the baby a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament and family pictures since we haven't taken those since May 2007.

My friend is visiting in December and honestly, I'm somewhat nervous. I love her to death but I worry that we won't be able to do much cause we can't really afford anything right now. She's been my best friend since we were 12 and has said she doesn't mind if we just hang out, but I know that we also want to plan a double date with our husbands sometime then too. Its mostly that first week I'm nervous about cause her hubby will be there too & I want to be a good hostess, the second week my DH is going to Florida and her hubby is flying to see his family - so it'll just be her, me, and the kids.

So thats primarily why I worry if the $1500 will be enough till February or March.

If we can get that unclaimed property check before the end of the month (but I'm not counting on it), our EF will be down to $1000. I have some extra points with my debit card so I could probably redeem it for a gift card to help go Christmas shopping.

*sigh*

No matter what, we'll make it through. I have so much to be thankful for. Just have to keep going and be smart with the money we have.

Right now its looking like we'll probably be about $750 in the red this month

We had to go out and buy new locks for the house. We never changed them when we bought the house last summer, and finally the garage door lock was no longer functioning. We went to Home Depot and we even bought the cheaper ones than what we wanted, but just for the downstairs (we'll buy the upstairs ones when we get additional money) was $428. I had a $25 Home Depot gift card so we only paid $403

Then we bought 3 pairs of jeans for the kids, 3 outfits for the baby, and a jacket for her at Target for $72

So it'll be tight this month. We have enough groceries for another week and a half so maybe I can cut some more there.

Also, if we get that money back from DH's old tax refund that should help out this month.

Good thing we have an EF but I hope we can get to a point where I'm not constantly dipping into it and then refunding it.

At least we aren't using credit cards, so that is good but still there is room for improvement.

Today I moved $402 back to the EF to bring it to $1454.

Just $298 left to go before its fully refunded. I get paid tomorrow and plan to repay it then.

I think I did okay this month. Groceries were a bit more than I expected but I won't need to go grocery shopping till November 9th now.

GTI is paid down, so the new stats are

GTI - $9,150
DH's CC - $8,935
My CC - $8,403
Odyssey - $33,500
HELOC - $25,300
Student Loan - $15,134
Total Debt - $100,422
EF - $1752 (as of tomorrow)

Not GREAT but I know we are on track for our 3-4 year plan to be 100% out of non-mortgage debt. This time next year we should have $73K in non-mortgage debt. The GTI will be paid off in February, so that is our closest goal.

We got a letter in the mail today saying DH had $243 in unclaimed money from a state tax return and the company wanted to charge us $24 to process it.

I went online to check if it was legitimate and it was. But I am filing it directly with the government itself so I don't have to pay $24 to get back our own money.

A very nice surprise because the money is 10 years old.

Its that time again, I noticed in my pantry I have enough to make dinner for tonight and that is it.

SO I pulled out the cookbooks picked out 19 recipes to make. Last time I had picked 14 and obviously that wasn't enough.

After I make the list, I proceed to go back to all the recipes and write down the ingredients, organize them by type (veggies, canned goods, etc) in an excel sheet so I can consolidate ingredients from recipes and organize them to reflect the layout of our grocery store easier once I'm done.

Meanwhile, as I go through this I look through my pantry to see what I don't need to go shopping for (i.e., olive oil, pepper, etc) so I don't double up on anything (that is how we got 3 bottles of chili powder).

Then I look through my coupons and search online for coupons for the ingredients on my list. And then organize them by the order I'll come across them in the grocery store.

Its a process... but it saves us a lot of money and reduces our waste consumption of food. I don't do it because I ENJOY doing this. But I enjoy being more efficient with my money and making it stretch.

Also, I paid down the GTI today, so the balance is now $9150.. which is refreshing, we haven't owed that little on a car since 2002! So we're definitey on our way to getting it paid off in February which will free up $435/mo of our income.

We covered derivatives and hedges in class yesterday. So now all this "Hedge fund" stuff makes a bit more sense to me. I have to admit it, learning about all this is fun to me. I'm learning what the terms futures, options, and hedges really mean so when I watch the news the information is more meaningful to me.

Was the question my boss asked me today.

I really didn't know much to say. In my mind I was thinking "Well, as long as I have my job we'll be fine since DH is in the military" but I didn't till a few moments later.

I did tell her I wasn't TOO worried. We're cutting back in some areas, but we always have so thats not really new.

Truth is, my life isn't changing too much from the economy. The only way it could right now is if I lost my job.

My friend's hubby lost her job... my other best friend is a millionaire. I'm somewhere in the middle.

I see the President did sign to make the military's pay raise final... so next October DH will be making $300 more than what he is now. In January we get a $100/mo raise. And then depending if BAH and BAS go up too, then thats extra as well. I think we'll be fine.

The Homeowner's Association wants to raise its dues. We already pay about $40/mo and I think they want to raise it to around $60/mo. I was telling DH that now didn't seem like the right time for most people, not with the economy and all.

There is a board meeting in November to discuss it. But there are already signs being posted by neighbors who want to rally against the raise.

We'll see. In the end though, as I said, I think we'll be fine. People have an amazing tenacity to survive and do what they need to in order to make ends meet. We've been far worse off years ago... no matter what comes our way, it'll be okay.

*sigh*

Finish my section of a group project going over a comparison of Alcatel-Lucent's consolidated financial statement reconciliation to U.S. GAAP from IFRS

Read about derivatives. I got through the first page and didn't quite see how it "managed" risk, it seemed a lot like gambling but hedge funds, speculators, and derivatives make a bit more sense to me now than it did last month.

Get started on my paper on Germany regarding the social/economic/political implications they've encountered in switching from German GAAP to IFRS.

I don't know if I'll get it all done tonight. Maybe the first two... in my group project I was assigned to write about capitalization of development costs & liability recognition of employee benefits. I've only finished the first one.

And I've only started the brainstorming portion of the Germany paper.

Kicker is, this is all for ONE class.

My tax class is fairly easy and I'll probably get more into now that we're past the research portion and will now start establishing how to determine basis.

Next semester I believe I'm supposed to be taking advanced financial auditing and professional ethics/legal issues with accounting. The ethics one will probably be easy.

I have a technique I use whenever I tell someone about my goals and I get the usual response that either my dreams are too lofty or impossible.

I've had this happen to me several times in my life. Often by the very people closest to me and I've used it as the fuel for my success.

When I became pregnant at 18, not only were people betting against my marriage lasting, my motherhood capabilities, but they had also said I'd never get my bachelor's degree.

By the age of 23, I received my bachelors degree in accounting, happily married for 5 years, 3 kids, and by age 24 I had bought my first house.

I know when I tell people I plan to "retire" in my 40s, I get the looks of "You can't do that" especially when they know we are in debt now

And I just have to remind myself, they just don't know me. They don't know my drive, my ambition. They don't know that EVERY single time I've really wanted something, I have made it happen. Sure, life happens and throws me a curveball... but anything I've ever TRULY wanted, I've made it happen.

In the meantime, I guess I should just take it as a compliment the more people think I can't do something - they obviously don't see the doors open that I see. I guess thats why I'm not afraid in the current market or anything really, cause I know whatever happens I'll be given the tools to deal with it and come out on top. Its not ignorance or bliss... its the confidence of knowing that I make my own dreams come true. I can't control around me or what happens to the economy, but I am able to control how I adjust to it and have the insight to not let any challenge deter me from my goal.

For four years, my job and the director of operations have told me there were no accounting opportunities in my job. I put together a proposal and suddenly I'm right there in Quickbooks, something I was told would never happen.

My DH used to believe we'd never be millionaires... he grew up in a trailer and on welfare. I was the opposite, I've always dreamed big.

Sure we have debt right now, but in 2011, we'll be debt free except the mortgages and I don't plan on selling the houses unless the world changes... so with our TSP, Roth IRAs, DH's pension, and two rental incomes... I think we've got a good plan.

I went to the main site and noticed I had 2 messages since June! I felt bad for not responding but truth is, after - well, I'll say it, I got my feelings hurt in the message board section in regards to my rental, so I vowed never to check the message boards again. My best friend reminded me that with message boards you will come across those people who are helpful and those who aren't as so. So I didn't go back ever since. I feel a little bad now that I had 2 messages but never responded because I didn't realize they were there and they were both nice messages.

Other than that things are going well here. This week is off to a great start.

My refund is still not showing in my bank account but I know I'll get it, its just a matter of when.

In the meantime I'm thankful we had our EF to cushion the discrepancy.

We did a lot today

DH got his car fixed... $980, $20 under budget

Our baby had her pictures taken... $77, $73 under budget

We filled up our cars for the rest of the month... $84, $16 under budget

Our other daughter's birthday gift... $10, $40 under budget

So with that extra money we spent:
$20.64 out to eat lunch (for 5)
$49.82 an outfit for the baby & shoes... we did splurge and buy the Sleeping Beauty DVD for the kids
$10.49 for the baby's shoes
$35.04 for socks, underwear, & two shirts for our oldest daughter

Total $115.99 of our $149 that we were underbudget

Not bad, I think I'm going to use the remaining to make sure we have enough groceries for the rest of the month or any other necessities

I feel pretty good, we did buy "extras" that weren't in the budget, but everything we did buy was reasonable I think

I also just finished my tax midterm (it was take home). Its sort of boring, but at the same time, I'm really enjoying the class. We finished the first book "Federal Tax Research" and will start the "Taxation for Businesses" book next week. I think I'll find more interest in that since it starts to relate to the application part of tax law.

The first book is primarily about how to research tax codes, the judicial process, how to select a court, working with the IRS, etc. Which I did enjoy but after writing 3 essays regarding IRS pronouncements, the judicial system, and precedent value on sources... I think I'm done with that.

Now I need to work on my other class. I am really behind. Its a lot of reading & with the midterm I was trying to focus on that first since its due Monday.

I'm doing a group project on Alcatel, then need to write a term paper on Germany and any political, social, economic implications for the country as a result of adopting IFRS.

But whats REALLY scary to me about that class is, we only have ONE exam and its at the end. I really don't like comprehensive exams so I'm trying to make sure I get everything else squared away so come Nov/Dec all I will be focused on is THAT.

I was wondering how my financial aid award was doing since I submitted that I was attending 6 credits of graduate school in the Fall and 6 in the Spring.

Well my college sent me a check today. Its a Federal Subsidized loan so the interest won't accrue till I graduate. I had already paid my tuition via CC but it doesn't make sense to pay that back (it won't pay off the card just pay it down) because it is at 0% until July of next year.

So Dh and I are going to sit down and see if it makes more sense to go towards our EF, paying down the GTI, or paying down his CC. His CC and the GTI are at similar interest rates (less than half a percentage point difference) but the GTI's payment is 2x the amount.

On the other hand, we have $1400 in our EF and to get 6 months of my salary and our rental income saved (DH's job is pretty secure being in the military), we'd need $25K in our EF

The check is only for $1850 but we want to make the most use out of it

So we'll see but I guess this solves my cash flow problem so I can reimburse my EF and get it back to the original $1750 it was at.

And just go back to an ATM card

I made a purchase online last week Friday, I called MINUTES after to cancel the order

I was STILL charged on Wednesday when it posted to my checking account

I was told a refund was in the works but when I called my bank today they still did not see a pending refund

So I called the company today and they said the refund is in process and can take up to 10 business days

Argh!

DH needs his car fixed tomorrow, I'm estimating $1000 for that, its our 2nd daughter's birthday on Monday, and our 9 month old has pictures tomorrow. Because the charge went through even though I cancelled the order, I now have to dip into our emergency fund to make up the cash flow difference because I don't get paid till Wednesday

I know we'll get the money and I'll put the money back to reimbursing the EF but I hate having to do it in the first place. When I cancel an order, I expect to not have my account charged or at least for a stimultaneous refund be processed.

I miss the days of just using cash. If I was, I wouldn't have made the purchase online and refunds are automatic when using cash. None of this "up to 10 business days" mess and me trying to figure out how to make up the cash flow difference.

I just had to write because I'm so excited.

I work at home as a business analyst (I use that term loosely because my company doesn't use titles) and essentially what I do is handle all of the reporting for our marketing department regarding profitability. I also am responsible for reporting our expenses to our accounting department (which is outsourced) and making sure our advertisers get paid.

We've had a lot of problems with our reporting because the system does not lend itself to accuracy, efficiency, or timeliness.

So I created a proposal to improve the process and get me closer to accounting. We had a conference with the Senior Partner Manager, Senior Marketing Manager, CFO, and Director of Operations.

My proposal went off great and I'll be able to work more closely with the CFO and DO. PLUS it is getting me closer to accounting! I've only worked with the company for four years and started as a Customer Service Rep & am getting my Master's in Accounting to get this far.

So I'm thrilled. Marketing is not my thing and if I can actually get to work within our accounting system, even if its from the basis of ensuring accurate reporting from the Marketing department, its still much closer to my goal.

I received my student loan package a few days ago and sent it back to let the school know I accepted. I'm not sure the final loan amounts they'll give me because they had me under full time and I plan to take 6 hours of graduate courses per semester.

I told DH and he said "What does Suze Orman say? Student loans can never be discharged in bankruptcy."

"Its not like we are PLANNING bankruptcy and my student loans are still less than what we've spent on the cars." (My current student loan is only $13500 at 1.65% and we spent $36K on my van)

I'm thinking I may take a student loan out for $10K to cover the rest of my master's program, which still would not be bad to have $23500 on a student loan. But I likely won't need that much. Maybe more like $6000

I cancelled the $81/mo plan with the financial planner and opted to just pay him hourly. So for 2 hours of talking with me, I paid him $300.

I didn't really get much more beyond that. He told me my investments were properly diversified, we are on track to retire in 20 years... he actually told me we are in really good shape, its just the current debt situation seems overwhelming to me but once we get that tackled, we're really in a good position.

I think the most valuable thing he gave me was just reassurance of a plan.

I'm sure in a year or so I'll probably meet again with him just to reassess where we are and action step to get there, but for now we are doing pretty good.

Other than that I am considering homeschooling my daughter. I'm hesitant to make that first big jump so I found a curriculum at $38/mo plus $240 for the materials that I can use the math and language arts to supplement her school... see how that goes and then decide what I want to do.

She's falling behind in areas and I want to make sure I address those.

It was a really nice weekend. The weather is great here.

I really think this "scaling back" will be much better on the family in the long run. DH spent the day cleaning and washing his car, I took the girls to Girl Scouts to put flyers in a neighborhood for the local food drive, we cleaned the house, and after dinner my daughter & I went to the grocery store and for $10 we bought 2 containers of ice cream, a Key Lime Bar mix (similar to Lemon Bars), and Cinnamon rolls.

She really liked that. I still can't believe she is 8. On the way to the grocery store it hit me... I'll be 37 in 10 years and have an 18 yr old, 17 year old, 14 yr old, and a 10 year old. When I retire at 47, ALL of them will be out of the house.

I remember being younger and thinking "Yeah! That will be wonderful to have my 40s to myself since I never had my 20s"... but now, I think to myself... 40s is still pretty young - what would DH and I do with ourselves without the kids? But I'm sure whatever happens, we'll enjoy ourselves.

At work I never come back and have great weekend stories to tell, its always the same "Oh we just stayed home"... but there is something about just staying home and relaxing that is very rejuvenating for me. After all, there are 6 people in this house, its not like I need to really go anywhere for companionship or entertainment.

My oldest was making sandwiches for her two little siblings when she asked my son... "What would you do if you were President? I already know Malia (my other daughter) would make the world prettier with flowers."

And my son responds: "I'd give everyone candy and presents"

Oldest daughter: Yeah but would you make everything lower? Like gas prices? Homeprices? Taxes?

My son: Yeah, and give out LOTS of candy

Hahaha! It was one of the sweetest moments and completely free.

So I think we did good this weekend. I put $31.20 towards paying down the car, spent $10 on dessert stuff to last the next 2 weeks, and we took care of the house and our cars.

Its too stressful and the IMF and other reports are very "doom and gloom"

So despite the losses yesterday, DH still has $16K in his TSP. And over the next year I'll slowly put that back in with $1300 deposits instead of just throwing it back in the pot all at once. Which on the bright side... if I had never moved the money out of the account - I'd only have $15K in there now.

I opened a money market account yesterday on the advice of the financial planner. Right now its generating a 5% return so it is doing much better than our savings account.

We also neutered the dog yesterday and it was $31.20 under budget so I'm thinking I'll put that towards paying down the GTI.

Yesterday my financial planner sent us our "financial plan" - an 82 page document discussing cash flow, retirement, education, etc.

And the good news is, despite the current debt. Our net worth right now is in the positive and we should be able to retire early, DH at 50 and myself at 47.

So I was surprised. But feel really good now about being on the right track.

On that note though, I'm not sure how I feel about the economy right now. I moved DH's TSP back to the Lifecycle fund and I actually made money (about 50 shares worth) off of selling last week and rebuying this week.

But I'm not sure if the bailout will work and I have a feeling worse things may come & want to move it back to the Government Securities fund which averages a 5% rate of return each year since inception. At least then I'm not losing anymore since we've lost about 20% or so.

The reason I think greater problems may be around the corner is because of the mark to market rule.

Even my International Accounting professor doesn't agree with this. And I think in the long run it will collapse.

So thats why I'm considering pulling out the money I've already invested and continue to invest in the Lifecycle fund with new money but the money I already have - keep it secured.

I'm not sure though. I know we have time on our side, but I don't believe in this new accounting rule and I think it will blow up in our face in the end.

Well I had the consult with the financial planner yesterday.

I decided to keep it because he will help make sure we stay on track, which would be a good investment in the long run.

For first steps he set up an action plan of:

1) Use 20% of discretionary income to building our emergency reserve, 80% to go towards paying down our car loan

2) Setup a Money Market account and contribute $52/week to it to build our emergency reserve

I know it sounds obvious but we can't do much more at the moment because of our cash flow. But I think its still worthwhile because he's assigned these as "homework" items - so it develops a sense of accountability for me.

He'll also be sending us an 82 pg "plan" for our long term goals - retirement, DH's truck, motorcycle, going back to Hawaii, buying a home there, and really all of this stuff I am unsure how to tackle ALL of them.

So I think its worth it BUT if I don't think this has added any value to the process, I can always cancel and they will refund me my enrollment fee. Yet, I have a feeling that this will be worth it.

We meet again next week.

I think DH figured doing the finances would be simple and easy.

But I think even I needed the reality check. We had to make some tough choices to make up our deficit but in the end we came up with a joint plan to pay off his car and his credit card in 12 months and to stop being in the red starting in January with the pay raise information of what we know now.

The two things I wasn't willing to compromise on was our son's preschool and my school. If our son stopped preschool, our dilemma would be solved right now. But I see how important this is and its only till June.

I wasn't willing to sacrifice my school either. I don't know if DH is going to be stationed somewhere else in the next two years, otherwise I'd scale back on my school. If I stopped all together I'd have to start paying on my student loan again.

So we put $1700 into our savings account with the bonus. Going to put $50 towards our daughter's birthday, $200 towards neutering the dog, $1500 towards his car repairs and then there is just enough left for the baby's pictures. We do them every 3 months for the first year and then every 6 months till 2. I'd put that off too but I can't exactly shrink her back down to size when we do have money.

It goes without saying and I'm proud of DH for this... once he saw the finances, he got it real quick that a new truck or motorcycle is out of the question.

The main goal now is to stop being so dependent on my income.

Hopefully in 2 years or so, we will be back to just living on his income. Thats the way it should be and a definite way to ensure that our finances are recession proof.

But right now, if we can pay off his car and credit card in 12 months - that will be a huge step in itself.

Looks like my job is going to be taking a pay cut since I'll no longer be allowed overtime. It was great cause it helped us out financially and I was able to get a lot more done.

But I'm not bummed about it. We shouldn't be living on my pay anyway. This is just forcing us even more to change our spending ways.

Its about a good decline but just reinforces to DH that now is NOT the time to be spending extra money.

My toughest thing to grapple with is... We pay $375/mo right now for my son's preschool. Without the O/T we're in the red and if I got rid of saving $250/mo for our retirement and his preschool, we'd be back in the black.

But his preschool is only till June. And I don't feel like its a luxury because I work from home, he needs the interaction and I saw how much he improved last year. He is 4 y/o and already reading.

We really just need to pay off DH's car. We owe $11K on it and if we paid it off, then we'd be fine especially with his pay raise in January.

Seriously, I don't know how we survived last year. Last year we were $800/mo in the red.

We're sitting down tonight to go over what we can cut. I'd be willing to forego our retirement savings for 8 months just so our son can continue to go to preschool. But we really need to pay stuff off!

The silver lining is... thank god this is hitting us when he gets his bonus cause at least we have the money & are in a position to figure out what to do with it instead of not having the money and not knowing what we will do.

I moved DH's retirement fund last week to government secured funds. In January, we had $17K and have consistently put money towards the account. But last week we had $16400, so the day I traded it to a more secure investment - I made back $200 so it ended up at $16600.

Its all in the "G" fund right now. And I'm glad for that, because with yesterdays market - we would currently have $15600 in there. I looked at the share prices and last time they were this low was in 2006.

But now that they are this low, I wonder - should I buy back in to the Lifecycle 2040 fund? I do want to ride this out, but I don't really want to lose everything either.

Jim Cramer says without a bailout stocks could continue to go down to the dow in the 8000 range. So is now a good time? I avoided the 7% drop.

Or should I just keep our current $16600 in the G fund and all of our new investments going towards the lifecycle fund? This is our retirement account after all.

I'm also not sure if given the current market I should be putting his bonus to an EF or to pay down the CC. We talk to the financial planner tomorrow night and in the meantime, I took his $662 uniform allowance and put it in our savings. Then when we get the bonus I'm going to put $1250 to add to that. This still lets us fix DH's car, neuter the dog, and a few other necessities.

And unless I have a better idea as to what to do with that money - in the savings account it will stay cause I don't know exactly what should be happening in todays market. Do I put our retirement money back in? What do I do with his bonus? We may need credit in the short term and if we can't get it because we put all of his bonus money to pay down his credit card and don't have an EF... we could be out of luck.

Today my husband and I are going on a date. We started doing this once a month since May.

I like to think of it as an investment in our marriage rather than a luxury.

I recently went to a playdate and told one of the mothers that my husband and I have been together since we were 17 & 19. She then asked "Do you still love him?" And without blinking or having to think about my answer I said "Absolutely"

I wasn't offended either. I'm well aware of the stats for people getting married at 18 & 20. More so, I was remembering how far we've come and how I still love how close we are today. I hope that never changes.

Anyhow, so I'm not letting a tight money schedule hold us back from our dating and going out once a month.

We're going to see a movie but it should only cost $3 because I have movie tickets. Then I was thinking about us going to Starbucks and sharing a drink... which I have a Starbucks gift certificate.

Don't really have a plan for dinner, but I'd be perfectly content going to the grocery store to buy some food and a glass of wine instead of going out.

The most expensive thing will probably be the babysitter at $10/hour for four kids. So the plan is to stay cheap.

When we were dating in Hawaii, he used to catch the bus to see me and we'd walk all along Waikiki. Sometimes we'd stop at the movies and watch something... but most times we'd stop at Jack In the Box, share a meal and then walk back to my house. That was our date, every weekend for 5 months.

Its not so much as what you DO... its the company you keep. And for those five months, we have some amazing memories cause we were more wrapped up in each other than what it was we were doing. I remember being so excited once when we shared Oreos on the beach together cause he knew it was my favorite snack.

I'm not sure how we ever got swept up into the idea that to have a great date it needs to be expensive and lavish... we had it right from the beginning.

I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things with blogging here again. I made some great headway when I was more active here.

Early September I really applied the Law of Attraction into my life, I think I've read a ton of books on it. TheSecret, A New Earth, then read some others... like The Last Lecture, and now I'm reading a book regarding Money and the Law of Attraction

When I went to Blockbuster today, I exchanged our mail in movie for another movie which would have been free, but I HAD to pick up snacks. So I went to put it on my debit card and it declined (the electric bill debited sometime between last night and this morning) so I grabbed the $5 out of my wallet. Now, before I get into that... that $5 was in a separate place in my wallet... it was from a Lottery card I had won and redeemed with my son by my side. It was the day before his surgery and I remember feeling anxious that day, and perhaps I'm silly - I called it my lucky $5.

And yep, because my card declined at Blockbuster - I spent it. Then left the store wondering - "What did I just do?"

Came home and thought. I MUST be applying this Law of Attraction thing with money wrong... the LOA says to approach situations like you can afford anything you want. But I notice I've been more frivolous with money when I'm like that. Yet it says when I'm penny pinching, I'm blocking more money from coming to me.

Obviously, I have something wrong in my understanding. If it was any other $5, I wouldn't have cared - but it was THIS $5 that I spent. $5 that was in my wallet, that I had put in there to remind me I always had money in my wallet... even if it didn't seem like much.

So I sat down tonight and rethought my goals.

I'm going to take this step by step. First goal is to tackle the first CC. I am going to pay $3629 to it this month, and in Nov & Dec I need to pay $329, then in January $429. In February, when I get our return, I'll take our state and federal return to pay off the remainder and there should be enough left to get DH a used motorcycle. So I should meet my first goal by February.

Next goal is to tackle paying off DH's car. I'll start applying what I was paying towards the CC to his car and it should be paid off by August next year. And with DH's bonus next October, it should wipe out my CC.

So in 12 months that is paying off 2 CC's and 1 car loan for a total of $27K or so?

Some of the payments I don't know how I'll make. Even the $3629 for October, but somehow I managed to spend money on frivolous things this month... so the money will be there. Cause if I can find excess money to spend on nothingness... I can find excess money to pay down my debt.

I also got a letter in the mail today that because I'm in school my student loan is in deferment (its at 1.65% interest) so for the $129/mo I was paying on the CC, that's an extra $110 towards meeting my $329 payment goal.

I still do believe in the Law of Attraction... just think I got the application wrong when it came to money. Just cause I believed I had extra money didn't mean I need to SPEND it. It doesn't mean I need to pinch every penny either. I think I need to take a balanced approach... people with money have it just because they are smart about it. They are discriminant in what they want and know what they want. They don't buy things "just because" or "on a whim" - they buy it cause it would fit their selective taste.

I think Suze Orman said once that when you don't spend money wisely, you don't respect money. So to add to that, I think in order to draw more money to you, you need to respect it, appreciate it, and know what you want and not be distracted by the gimmicks and distractions out there.

This morning I decided to go ahead and switch what remaining money we did have in our retirement accounts into "safer" investments.

I looked at my own IRA (which is down 20% from last year) and realized in order for it to go back to what it was, I'd need a 40% gain. Which I don't think is likely.

So I took 2K of the 3K and moved it to a Treasury Money Market fund.

Then with DH's TSP, in January it was at $17K, its currently at $16K even though we've put away $145/mo, and moved the $16K to the 'G' fund.

The monthly amount we put away in savings will still be going to the original funds, I'm invested in a Balanced Strategy fund, Capital Growth, and Science and Tech fund which is still about $1000 among those funds... and he is in a Lifecycle 2040 fund... BUT my thinking is, regardless if things get worse or better - I want to be confident that the money I do have is safe. So instead of focusing on the losses we've incurred in the past year, my focus is on protecting and securing the money we do have. So just knowing we have $18K PROTECTED in our retirement accounts gives me peace of mind.

I don't know what the future may hold, but I do know that things will be okay and with the $4K that is coming to DH in 2 weeks I'll be making sure that money is safe and put aside for emergencies while making sure our current needs are addressed & the credit card gets paid down.

And should the economy factor into it?

Right now, DH's credit card has $8500 at 6.75% on it and mine has $8600 on it with 0%.

In two weeks he is getting $4K

We need $250 to neuter the dog, around $1500 to do maintenance and repairs on his car, and after that I guess is what we have to work with.

In December, I have to pay my Spring tuition (probably around $2000) and I WAS planning on putting the remaining amount to paying down DH's card and putting the $2000 on my credit card at 0%

But now, with the economy, I'm not sure if I should save $2000 out of his bonus to earmark for tuition or what.

Should I even continue going to school at all?

I'm 4 classes into a 10 class program for my M.S. in Accounting. I should graduate in December 2009 and my husband's orders are up in January 2010. So if I don't go now I run the risk that I may never finish my road to becoming a CPA.

We do save $145/mo for his TSP and $250/mo for our IRAs (which are down 20% but its not like there is much in them $2500-$3000 for my IRA and $17K-$20K for DH's TSP depending on if the market is up down or sideways) but we are dollar cost averaging and we are still in our 20s. I also have about $60/wk going into a savings account but I don't have much in it.

So I don't know. Part of me gets the impression I should hold onto the money but if I put it towards the credit card I'm at least saving the interest on what I would have paid down on it.

Good news is, I am negotiating a raise with my company right now and the Senate approved the 3.9% pay raise for the military so in January, DH will be making $100 more and in October '09 he will get another $200/mo.

Anyhow, I guess this past week will make class tomorrow interesting and I'm interested in seeing the political debates and what the president has to say tonight.

I'm actually rather positive about the whole thing, not because people are losing jobs and we are on the brink of what could be a depression.

I'm positive because I feel like this may become the catalyst to get the average citizen to STOP doing things they shouldn't and getting back to a cash economy and doing things the way we should have been doing it all along.

So although overall it seems pretty crummy, I think anytime we stop doing something wrong and start doing something right - in the end, its a good thing.

Staying dedicated to saving has been tough. Its hard to balance everything. School needs, work needs, marriage needs, house needs.

For example... probably our biggest setback is, our couch is falling apart. We've had it for 7 years and the quality is not that good. I weigh 140 lbs on my heaviest day and when I sit on it, I sink to the bottom.

We also don't have a dining room where everyone can eat at the table like a family. The kids eat at our smaller table while DH and I eat in the living room. Its made dinner time "play time" for the kids cause we can't be in the same room with them and their table manners are horrible.

So, we splurged. For $3K on a 0% interest credit card we purchased a sofa & loveseat that can fit our entire family without them practically laying on top of one another and a dining set with 8 chairs.

I'm excited about the furniture and have a plan to pay it off but in reality I know we probably should have waited.

I also had to pay my Fall tuition. $1944 for TWO classes. I was originally only going to take 1, but DH didn't make Chief so if he makes it next year it will be harder for me to attend classes, he'll be on trips or what not - just seemed more like I have the opportunity to take it now, its in my town this year, next year the class will be offered at the other site. So now just seemed better. So I'll be taking global accounting and tax strategies for business decisions.

I just finished up my operational auditing class and I got a 106 on my final exam so if I don't get an A, I'll be shocked.

The $1944 on tuition, $65 on a parking pass, and $100 on books was a lot this month though.

ON TOP of that, our baby is crawling around. We have a grate in front of our fireplace but its very heavy and would be really bad if it fell on her. So we wanted to put glass doors on the fireplace. We went out to one place that wanted $1000, then searched and searched. There was NO WAY glass DOORS on a fireplace could cost that much. So we found a company in Michigan that we gave the model number and all for our fireplace and for $400, we can get doors that we don't have to worry will fall on our baby. They already fell on our puppy but its a good thing he's a big dog.

Just seems like a lot has been hitting at once. I don't really feel like we're any better off than we were in May when I started cause I keep falling off the wagon. So what did I spend this month? $400 on glass doors, $3000 on a living room and dining room set, $2100 or so on tuition and stuff related to my master's degree.

All that said, I know in October $3000 of that will get paid off with DH's bonus and still leave $1000 for us to fix up DH's car. And because I'm taking this extra class this semester, then at least this means I can graduate in Fall 2009 instead of Spring 2010.

I don't know. If our tax return is what I think it should be next year, the 2 credits cards should be paid off in February and DH's car not long after that. If I can accomplish that for 2009, that would be great.

I came home from class yesterday and DH was looking at motorcycles. I'll give him this, before this year he would never consider a USED motorcycle. He'd always say "For $2K more I could just buy a new one"

But I've really changed my strategy when he approaches me like that. Last night I said "How would we even pay for it, even if it was $4K? We don't even have your bonus, our TV is quitting, I have an ER bill I need to pay, and if you make Chief then we have to buy your uniforms, and we need to use some of your bonus money to do the needed maintenance on your car in October"

So instead of focusing on the "Its at such a good price" we are focusing on "We have other things to worry about right now"

Our son also needs surgery. Its been a long road of seeing an endocrinologist, hematologist, and ENT. The whole process has been around a year and the final diagnosis is that his anemia and nosebleeds are not related. His anemia is on the low end of normal and docs say "He just didn't read the textbooks as to what his levels should be"

But his adenoids are enlarged so they need to be removed. We've scheduled surgery for mid-Sept. Thank god our health insurance should cover everything 100% and DH will likely be there.

I feel like I've sort of fallen off the band wagon with saving. We're working on it though and I'm hoping he picks up Chief, that would be a $400/mo raise between the increase in rank and the BAH. We should find out within the week, but I need to remind myself that just cause we are making more doesn't mean we can spend more... we still have CC debt, preschool, and car repairs coming up.

Well we went out to look at the truck and DH didn't want to get it. Said it'd be too much "work" to get it to what he wants and they wanted too much, it had a lot of body filler and looked good from afar but not when you got up to closer inspection.

We fixed his GTI, turns out it was a fuse box and that cost $367, not bad. But in October when he gets his bonus I'm going to allocate some of that to getting the work done on his car that it needs such as new tires, new struts, cabin filter, etc. I told him I'd let him "fix up" the GTI and be more willing to do that than I would getting him a money pit of a vehicle we can't afford. And I know if he customizes his GTI enough, even just little things, he'll be more apt to keep it.

I have just been stressing a lot to him that as much as he may want something, if we have to finance it, it reduces our daily living and he's getting used to being on a budget and has decided he doesn't like it either so the only solution is to GET OUT OF DEBT

Other than that, I have my first exam for my Operations Auditing class in less than 3 hours and I am STRESSED. I feel ready and prepared but its a LOT of info. The professor gave us 305 study questions and said he'd pick 25 of those, then gave us 9 essay questions of which we will have to answer 5.

They are...

- Know the Institute of Internal Auditing' definition of Internal Auditing
- Know the IIA Code of ethics, the outline and what it does
- Know and describe the 8 steps in an Internal Audit Activity's Charter
- Know and describe the 8 steps in an Internal Audit Activity's Engagement
- Describe the steps in Risk Assessment and Audit Scheduling
- Know the major headings for the IIA's Standards (Attribute and Professional... which there are 11)
- Describe the steps in a Preliminary Assessment
- Know what is meant by Quality Control and its four components
- Be able to relate management objectives to operational procedures to audit evidence, audit objectives, and audit procedures.

I will be soooo happy after I am done with this exam and can actually enjoy a few days w/o this over my head. And then just one more on August 5th.

Well I examined all of our options as to what we've discussed in the past, looked at fuel consumption for all options, overall debt, monthly expenses.

Our best option is to downsize JUST to my van, but that opens up a whole lot of hassle I'm not sure we really want. Cause the kids are in school, so I have to drop them off at 8 which is also when DH has to leave, so I either have to drop him off at 7... or the kids would be late for school. Then if the kids got sick (which they do) how would I pick them up? Ask a sick child to walk a mile home with me? If my son got sick there would be no way - he goes to preschool a few miles away.

So then our next best option is the motorcycle plus my van and then on bad weather days I have to take DH to work.

The Chevy really only saves us $2000/yr annually in overall debt and it actually increases our monthly expenses because of gas. But I'm sort of swayed to it 1) because DH can fix anything on it and 2) its safer than a motorcycle.

He's on a plane right now so I guess as soon as he lands I'll try to get a hold of him and ask him his thoughts.