AmbitiousSaver's Personal Finance Blog

So I went to my horseback riding lesson today after dropping off DH's car to be fixed. And while there I told her after next week the girls would start taking over that slot again since they would no longer be grounded, but if DH ever got a motorcycle he wouldn't care how often I rode.

I came home to see him perusing Craigslist and he found a 1966 Shortbed Chevy Truck (something he has wanted for YEARS) and looked to me like a little boy in a candy store and said "If I can get this, I will NEVER ask for anything else again"

They are asking $10K for it

I have to admit, I'm considering it.

Why?

We owe $12800 on his car, so thats already a $2800 reduction on our overall debt. Sure gas prices would be higher, but his car is a commuter car.

Factor in I PROMISED that with our tax return next year he could buy a motorcycle. We're estimating about $5000, so if I bought him a truck - he wouldn't ask for a $5000 motorcycle.

Its also something he's wanted since - I've known him. When we met he had a 1965 Chevy Truck that sat in Missouri. It still needed to be fixed up so we sold it to his brother for $2500 when we needed the money, he's wanted one since. This one, its all fixed up and everything he's wanted.

I don't know... we'll see I guess. DH emailed the guy to see if it was still available since it was posted in June and the 4th of July... I can't imagine too many people want an old truck for $10K OBO right now. I know with gas prices it might not be the most astute thing, but for an automatic $2800 debt reduction and potential $5000 for NOT buying a motorcycle next year (and using that debt to pay down the CC) maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

DH took his car to the dealership today cause the air conditioner stopped working. They didn't charge us anything cause they told him there is either a problem with the computer or its a wiring issue.

So DH is freakin' out and thinking "OMG how can we afford this if it costs $3K or something - we should sell the car" (Like I said in a prior post, this is our past habit and how we ended up owning 15 cars in 8 years of marriage)

I'm trying to explain to him that even if it DOES cost $3K to fix, its better to just fix it than to have to buy another car and trade it in w/negative equity. We are finally in a break-even point where we could sell his car for what we owe private party, but trade in value we're still 2K negative IF we got excellent condition.

I don't even know what to say to him right now. He's freaking out that its going to cost $110 just for them to diagnose the issue, and then to fix it on top of that. So he's online right now trying to figure out how much it costs for a new computer for the Volkswagen, so I walk up and say "Try not to worry about it, we can't do anything about it till they tell us what's wrong."

And I hear "What do you mean, don't worry about it? Its MY car? I'm the one sweating everyday coming home and if it costs $3K to fix you want to just fix it?"

"Umm... well, yeah"

I mean, its not a lemon. Its a 5 y/o car with 50K miles on it, and I'm sure it will NOT cost $3K to fix. But in his panic of "What if it costs an arm and a leg to fix and things keep going wrong with it"... I'm having difficulty trying to go against his argument. On the other, it is dumb to keep selling a car when the least thing goes wrong and we don't know what it is... what if it just ends up costing $1500?

I don't know. I want to break this habit cause I'm trying to think of our TOTAL debt. He's caught up right now in panic and its hard to rationalize with him in that state and me telling him not to worry when I'm not the one dealing without an air conditioner is like me talking to a wall.

But really, I don't see the point in panicking over something like this when we have no clue whats wrong or how much it'll cost... its like panicking about having cancer before getting a diagnosis.

DH's car needs to be fixed
The A/C unit in the rental needs a new compressor or unit
I have to pay off the CC

I know all this stuff.... and as businesses are getting desperate to drive in more business during these tough economic times and I'm seeing more and more ads that seem like a steal, its tough to try to stay strong and not splurge

DH and I really want an iPhone, have wanted one for quite some time. Key word though is WANT... buying one... or really two would be $400 and then an additional $70 or so a month on top of our normal cell phone bill

Our electric bill rates were just raised, so was natural gas, gas prices are - well, if you've been to a gas station recently you KNOW what they are - and food prices are going up (or the quantity is less despite the price remaining the same).

It seems really dumb to buy an iphone, seems dumb to splurge like that. And if I was on Suze Orman's show she'd flat out say "DENIED"

*sigh* The trials of being an adult.. you can't just be that person who says "Yes, I will take that" and not worry about stuff later. And secretly I'm a little jealous of my best friend, well, not so secretly... I told her. I guess her husband is coming into a good position to where it looks like they can pay off their mortgage in 4 years, and they just bought this condo in Hawaii last year.

The only reason I am jealous is just because she can be out of debt in 4 years, and even if I stay disciplined, best I'll be is having the mortgages on both homes.

Seriously, how do you stay disciplined to resist temptation? I realize I was an emotional spender... when times were bad, we'd buy a new car, new house, new something or other.... like now... DH's A/C is going out on his car. So we have to get that fixed... he started talking about buying a new car. Thats what we used to do in the past... and how we flipped cars 15 times in 8 years of being married.

Funny how it isn't till finding this forum that I realize "Hey, its pretty dumb to trade a car in just cause it needs something fixed" because we owe $12K on our car... even if it cost $3K to get it fixed... we're only 15K in debt compared to $20-$25K to buy a new car. Seems we are better off just fixing the car and paying it off so when it needs more repairs in the future, its no big deal.

*sigh*

So the point in this post? I don't think there is one... I'm just trying to put some of my thoughts to paper to help me resist the urge to spend money for that instant gratification. I know as much a I'd like an iphone... I like not having the $110 cell phone bill every month even more.

DH is succumbing to the masses and thinking if he trades in his car for a hybrid it would be better financially.

WRONG. First off, he has a 2003 VW GTI which is not a gas guzzler. BUT it requires Premium gas because of the engine. So it costs $50 approximately to fill it up in today's market. We owe under $13K on it and it will be paid off in 2 1/2 years after paying $435/mo on it.

He keeps trying to say "Maybe we should look into a hybrid" but I just tell him "Pay off the VW and that $435 is suddenly opened up to pay for gas, vs buying a hybrid for $25K-$30K and then you have a car payment and STILL have to pay for gas"... I can guarantee the savings wouldn't be $435, and considering the longest he's ever kept a car is 3 years... I think paying off the VW is the best financial route.

Now, if we were in the market for a new car in the first place... then it'd be another story but to go out and buy a hybrid JUST for the gas savings doesn't really make much sense.

Where we are... its highly military and a lot of military people bought homes during the housing boom, ourselves included.

When the military relocated, which is typical with 3-5 year tours of duty, when people couldn't sell their homes, they started renting them out. We skipped the attempting to sell your home part and just went straight to the landlord part when we bought our 2nd home.

Servicemembers were eager to just get their homes rented, so they started pricing their rentals competitively and undercutting what the current market rates were.

Last year I was easily able to rent my rental out for $1/sq ft... this year a more competitive rate is $0.86/sq ft. Meanwhile home prices are still falling.

How is this possible? There is an increase in rental properties at continuing lower rates while real estate values are also dropping. Don't rentals and real estate tend to work in opposite directions?

I keep wondering when the overall market may turn around, but this one - well, I also just BARELY remember Economics 101,I don't understand.

I'm not really sure why both real estate and rental prices are going down together. What makes rental prices rise? I thought it was inflation which is definitely happening. Then when rentals rise to a point that it makes homeownerships a not-so-big jump, people start buying.

*sigh* Maybe it is time to read some articles about economics and how these things work.

I've started writing lists for my grocery shopping and I've realized how much more efficient I am at spending our resources by doing this.

On June 28th, I went grocery shopping and bought enough food for a family of 6 to eat till next week Wednesday. So for $151, I bought enough food for us to eat for approximtely 11 days. And that was healthy stuff, I bought blueberries (2 pints for 5 dollars), 10 lbs of red potatoes for $5 TOTAL, 2 1/2 lbs of bananas at $0.49/lb, Sweet potatoes, 5 lb bag of oranges, 5 lb bag of apples, peaches.... a pack of diapers (I buy diapers once every 2 months or so because we cloth diaper and use disposables as a "back up")

I bought another cookbook... those seem to be about the only books I am willing to buy from now on because its hard to borrow cookbooks when you may re-use them several times.

But I bought Jessica Seinfeild's "Deceptively Delicious" book. And its given me ideas on how to use more of what we have in our pantry. I've had 2 cans of packed pumpkin in our pantry since October. Today I realized I can use it to make French Toast, then I realized that any vegetables or fruits we may not eat right now...I can puree and freeze for the recipes later, so it doesn't go to waste.

So its weird...our cupboards LOOK bare but we actually have more food than I initially realized - its just not the "prepackaged" commercialized convenience foods. Which in the end is better for our health anyway. After all, I have a TON of all purpose flour and now have a few recipes I can use that in.

I've already written out my list for next week's shopping trip and I'm estimating it will only cost $150 next week even with all these rising food costs. And the odd thing is, my family is actually eating better since we can no longer afford to eat out and the convenience foods that aren't good for us anyway.

Ahhh the proverbial question I often ask myself as my life continues to pull me in different directions. I found myself asking this question once more as I sat in class listening to lectures about work/life balance and getting certified to be a CIA (Certified Internal Auditor).

And I thought to myself... as the professor said in every marriage especially with children, typically one person becomes the breadwinner and the other is the one able to go for the brass ring.

I came to the conclusion there that my husband, no matter how much I out-earn him... is the "brass ring" person. We travel the world, I'm left as a single parent, all this in the effort of his job. He plans to make Senior Chief before the next 9 years are up and he retires.

My goal is just to enjoy my career. I want my masters because it is good to fall back on... and I realize I should probably get my CPA certification then CIA and CMA, but I'm sort of approaching that in a relaxed fashion. After all, I have young kids and despite how much I want to be "career-oriented"... my passion and life ambition rests within my children.

So... I think if anything this class is hard for me to take because I know a lot of what is talked about cannot be applied to my job, and I can't nor will I leave my job because it allows me to stay home with my children & earn a competitive salary. So my career takes a backseat... corporate America may not be for me... but I know when I'm 40 and my kids are grown (or mostly grown), I can always go back... I've gone back to school and stayed current in the meantime, and yet I will not have sacrificed their youth.

I've always wanted to be that, the mom who is home when the kids are sick... but I've also wanted my own career and identity... as well as my own hobby in horses and pets. I've wanted it all, and I realize the key is balance. You can't have it all at once, but if you pace yourself you will find you can accomplish all of your dreams.

So yeah, I'll stay in school... work on my CPA and then CIA and CMA certifications, and likely by that time my youngest will be 5, DH will retire in 9 years, and I can start branching out and be more a part of corporate America. Until then, I'll just go to school, enjoy my family, and hobby in horses... I'll get there one day.

I just got back from my first class... Operations Auditing... and I have to say now I'm very excited to go back.

I ran into a couple of people I knew from prior classes and one guy from my undergrad studies. I almost accidentally named my son after him (I was pregnant during my senior year with my son and we were going to name him Ryan James... well, the President of Beta Alpha Psi was named Ryan and the Vice President was James... once our Treasurer alerted me to that fact, we changed our son's name a few months before he was born).

The professor said something towards the end... and I sat there just staring at him in disbelief.

He said "Don't tell other people your vision because 80% of the people who you do, will be against it and try to stop you."

And I felt VERY blessed at that moment that I still work for my first job post-college. I've been rewarded for sharing my goals, vision, and ideas... never discouraged. I've pointed out areas where there could be improvement and have quickly risen.

I came home and sent an email to the owner of the company about what the professor said (I figured he'd appreciate it since he has worked hard to create an organization that is very different than the rest of corporate America)... and talked to my boss, a man who has worked in a few other jobs where that probably would have been good advice.

Wow, is all I can say. To work in an organization where you aren't rewarded for thinking out of the box like that? I have questioned people even when it wasn't my job, and I'm rewarded for it... its just... well very different.

But my boss enjoyed hearing the story too & told me to share anything else I learn.

My research paper is going to be about how Internal Auditors address issues of Virtual Businesses... which since I work in a LEGITIMATE virtual business, figure is something that definitely touches home to me and interests me.

So I'm excited... and wow, just a couple days ago I was dreading going back. Now I can't wait to get started.

I just want to cry on days like today

Summertime when all four kids and both dogs are home... and I have to work at home... my kids are soooo bad. Its amazing any of us make it out alive.

My DH was away for a 3 week business trip, so I've been doing it all on my own. No family... we're military... family is a word reserved for people who live AT LEAST 1000 miles away.

Before the end of the school year, I bought my son his first reader book for preschool... my EIGHT YEAR OLD decided she wanted to write in it.

SO I told her she had to pay for it... $10

Forget the fact that she is not allowed in my office which is the only place that pens and pencils are found in this house.

Now today was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Last Christmas, we bought my 4 y/o a SmartCycle... he LOVED it. $100 we paid at the time. For Christmas this year I was going to get him some other games, he's been really wanting the Hot Wheels game.

Today my oldest two daughter wanted to play tug of war with the cord to see "who would win".... the cord is stripped. They might as well have taken scissors to it.

I'm somewhere between just wanting to cry and just being livid. It hurts me that my son doesn't have very many toys to begin with... and they are always breaking his... and of all things, my OLDEST is the one doing this.

I told her... she's not going back to horseback riding (equivalent of $31.25 a lesson) until she's saved up the money to get him a new one. Of course though, she is 8... so the only way she can earn that money back is not going to horseback riding.

I don't have the money to just buy him a new one... oh and they also broke the extra PS2 we had... the TV in the playroom was broken a long time ago too.

I give up... what do you do? Am I just not allowed to have anything nice for myself or for the kids while they are young? (I say this as my 4 year old finds a string off of our couch pillow - which is 7 years old - and pulls)

*Ugh*

So not really finance related... but it does make me think... what is the point of buying anything nice when anything nice we do have for them they break anyway?

But as I was helping out at the stables today and leading the horses to their stalls... all I could think about is... I love this. I don't want to go to school again.

I want to spend my days doing my job, spending time with my kids, the pets, my wonderful husband, and volunteering at the stables.

I'm sure I feel this way because classes start Tuesday.

So why am I 2nd guessing myself?

I've already started reading my books... I'm taking Operational Assurance services and although I'm interested in the material, I'm not interested in writing a 20 page essay or towards the last three weeks trying to scramble to find someone to watch the kids when my husband can't.

Are these just excuses? Am I just hesitating cause its been 4 years since I graduated with my bachelor's? I just... I don't know, but I'm dragging my feet about the whole thing.

I tell myself all the time... IF I lost my job - which in all honesty I'm doubtful will happen because I'm a good worker & in charge of much of the reporting and starting to take over the partner payments & invoicing process as well. So if I ever lost my job though... I'd need to make 50-60K to make ends meet.

I tell myself... just do one class at a time so I don't feel overwhelmed... and I'm doing that. But I'm still not intrigued to be a student again.

Maybe if I just keep taking one class at a time, before I know it I will have my master's and it will just feel like it was automatic rather than an exhaustive effort.

I don't know... I'm just rambling to myself. I've told my husband all this and he just says its totally up to me.

What keeps me going for my degree? The same thing that keeps me putting money into a savings account.... I'd rather spend the money on something I'd like, but heaven forbid I need it then it will be there. Same thing with my degree, I'd rather spend my time and money on other things... but heaven forbid I need my degree, at least it will be there... and for $9K to get a master's degree - its a bargain.

I'm just tired of writing essays and I haven't even started.

So I set aside a plan to have us free of credit card and car debt within the next 2 years and 4 months.

This was allowing some room and saving $350/mo for an emergency fund. I debated NOT doing that and using the $350/mo to pay our debts down sooner but my goal is to try to find a plan I can stick with. If I have that $350/mo cushion plus the $20 challenge, then even if I have to dip into it for an emergency... my plan to pay off the debts is still on track.

And this was also allowing DH to pay for a motorcycle in cash next year. HUGE concession on my part, but its one that gives him enough room to feel like he's not depriving himself... while also allowing us to stay on track. Kind of like allowing chocolate cake on a special night out.

I feel like this is a good plan... I'm going to print out the amortization schedules I created and put them on the fridge - just to remind myself that 2 years and 4 months - we'll owe our cars outright and be credit card free.

So in June '09 the credit card will be 100% GONE

October '09 his car will be paid off

And October '10 my car will be paid off... and we should have $10K in savings... so long as we don't have to use the EF, but if we do - we'll be covered.

I'll still pay for my master's degree in cash and in May 2010, I should graduate with that.

I'm also going to start volunteering at the stables on Sundays for 4 hours. For every 8 hours I volunteer there, I earn a free lesson. I figure this way, I can earn free lessons either for myself or my daughter. But its also therapeutic for me... I don't even have to ride but being around horses is one of those rare times for me that I'm "there" completely. I've fallen victim to mommyhood where I've become SUPER obsessed with multi-tasking... being around horses erases that for me. I'm not thinking about what I'm going to make for dinner, the report for work, etc... so it'll probably be good for me just as therapy in that respect... even if I end up getting dirty in the process (which is HUGE considering my neurotic OCD self)

Well I'm attempting what I *think* the $20 challenge is...

I went back through my past two bank statements and if a bill, check, debit was ended with 51 cents... I allocated 49 cents to my savings account.

I did this for the past two statements... for May I put $23.61 into my savings account and for June I put $22.13

I'm also adding up our "net worth" - and for the first time its in the positive.... albeit just $190... but that will change once I charge my $972 tuition next week.

That is factoring in the houses and cars though... our debt between the HELOC, CC, student loan and cars overall hasn't changed much cause of the tuition. But DH's car is finally in positive equity!!!! I know I say that term relatively though cause I know they are depreciating assets... but at least we are no longer upside down with his car. We owe $12500 and Kelly Blue Book says Private Party value is $13000.

So good things have happened since I've joined... they are small and not overnight but overall its going in a positive direction.

So I took some time today to talk to our insurance agent about our needs cause I suspected we were under-insured. Which we were.

For $18 more a month I'm adequately covered for life insurance... and for $8 more a month I'm now adequately covered on our auto and homeowner's policy

Gosh, makes me feel silly to think that if we had some issue come up and we were to get sued or one of us would die that it was only a matter of $26/mo between being adequately insured vs under-insured.

Pretty bad when you're a 26 year old drooling on yourself cause you can't swallow I guess. I woke up at 7 and wanted to throw up... but couldn't... jumped into the shower hoping the steam would help, it didn't. I had been dealing with this since Wednesday but since I'm on Standard I didn't know the copay on an ER visit... and DH just told me to take Motrin and gargle salt water. Which I have been doing, but no success.

I didn't have a sore throat... I felt fine otherwise - just my tonsils were terribly swollen.

My oldest was at least gone at an overnighter, so it was just me, the 6, 4, and 5 month old.

Still not sure what the copay is... but its 15% and I have a $1000 catastrophic cap... I've met $50 of it, so I know the limits of it.

Picked up my presription after getting a shot in the leg... yeah, interesting to walk carrying a car seat with a 13 lb baby in it after just getting a really potent shot in the leg that they add lidocaine to keep it from burning... but it still burned.

But at least the prescription was only $3... I think I can deal with that. Starting to feel better already so maybe when I talk now I won't sound so weird. The pest control guy came over Friday (the sellers purchased a 5 year termite protection package so we at least have the last year of that) and he asked me to spell my name and everytime I said "A" he thought I said "E"

I'm thinking in a couple hours I'll probably call AT&T to find out more about the international calling thing.

I'm so ready for Saturday to be here so I don't have to be doing this solo anymore.

DH has been trying really hard to convince me that he needs a SmartPhone so he won't have to carry two phones... or a bulky laptop and a work phone... or something to that effect while he's in South America for 2-3 weeks in August.

Problem is... the phones he wants are $199 plus an increased data plan and all that on our monthly bill. We currently pay $38/mo and he got a new cell phone so he could have "music" on his phone like mine (Mine is free cause my Dad gave it to me when he bought a family plan... I will have had it for 2 years in August).

So instead of just saying "No, we can't do it." I tried something else... pretend to problem solve with him.

After all, he's an adult... he now knows our budget... so I went ahead and looked at international roaming calling plan details.

If he uses his phone as-is... it'll be $2.28/min to call me. If he buys a $6/mo plan it'll be $1.99/min... so after 20 minutes the plan would be worthwhile.

A SmartPhone is out of the question cause I explained to him that just opening up a 5MB email could cost $40 when roaming according to their website... AT&T has discounted traveling plans, but the country he is going to doesn't participate in that.

So... can't access email without it costing an arm and a leg... same with calling. Soooo he started thinking about a laptop to bring, but he doesn't want to bring a big bulky laptop.

Well, aren't all laptops big and bulky? Well except for the ones like mine that cost $2K but he's not taking mine cause all my work stuff is on there and I work from home.

We do have an OLD laptop, well old is relative, we bought it in Nov '04... so just over 3 years old... with the "D" key missing he could take, it has Wifi... its a Vaio and we could just replace the keyboard... but thats when he said he doesn't want to bring a big bulky laptop.

What he says he needs? The ability to check his work email and make calls from anywhere in the world... oh and if he can add music to the phone (like his Walkman or my SLVR) then that would be nice too.

Towards the end of the conversation he started to get upset cause the answer was obvious... I simply told him to talk to his work people and ask them how they do it. He says they buy little cards that they put into their phones & bring a laptop... that a bunch of them have a SmartPhone and a laptop.

Meanwhile... umm... he's supposed to be getting a FREE SmartPhone from work in November, and yeah we can take the work cell phone off our taxes and pay for it out of pocket but thats a PITA and takes out of our income versus getting something in ADDITION to our income that we don't have to claim on our taxes cause it is for work.

Anyhow I think the answer is obvious to him... which is why he got upset. But seriously this trip in August is his last one most likely for the rest of the year, I'm not going to fork over $200+ plus a higher monthly fee when we clearly can't afford it... but thats also why I'm glad now he knows the budget, he can't get mad at me like a child anymore with a parent saying no... he knows the budget, we can't afford it... end of story.

So my college bookstore has my books on special order, so I decided instead of doing that (which takes 2 weeks)... that I would use Amazon.com

Amazon emails me today and tells me they are having difficulty locating my order

So I cancel... the book was $94.50

Go to Half.com

I look at the prices and finally settle on one that isn't perfectly brand new... in the end the class is only 6 weeks, if I end up with a more worn book and $20 more in my pocket, I don't think I'll feel any less (the $20 in my pocket will make me feel better lol)

So they confirmed the order would ship by the 25th. Yay! I bought the book for $77.99 w/shipping.

So instead of spending $125 like I thought I would... I only spent $102.99 for both books that I needed.

Web billpay has allowed me to put off some of my bills till the due date but I've decided today that I'm going to stop this habit.

Sure some of my payments are on auto-draft so I can't pay them as soon as they are due - but like for my gas bill, water bills, and all the other bills I've set up to pay via web but not set up on autodraft, I should do this.

So I went ahead and did that today with one of my bills. It wasn't due till 7/07 but if its in the bank, when I know I have to pay it anyway... I might as well just pay it and be done with it.

I used to be like that, don't know what changed that habit - but I've decided to go ahead and start doing it again.

I also refunded my Emergency Fund. The bank took it from my savings to avoid an overdraft I wasn't expecting (poor planning)... so I put the money back today. My goal was to not touch the EF for June... well actually my goal is to not touch the EF for a year (except for taking out $1500 in Sept to visit the in-laws)... so I blew that, but at least I re-funded it. Still yet, I'm not going to make a habit of it.

I've been feeling proud of myself for how I'm handling my spending while my hubby is away. Aside from paying bills, I've only spent $61.43 on groceries. And that has been since the 8th of this month, and now its the 19th. So I've had a lot of no-spend days.

DH hasn't been so lucky... or smart with his finances. He was given $54 per day for per diem. He said he's been trying to be mindful of what he spends but the places he's going the group he's with want to "eat out" a lot. So if he does that its $15 for dinner. He's staying at the hotel for breakfast and lunch & bought $50 worth of stuff for him to eat. And then when he tried to be cheap and hang out with a friend of his stationed where they are, his Chief called him all worried as if he had done something wrong.

So I don't know... the day my hubby hung out with his friend he did save money cause the rest of the group went tubing. I'm guessing we'll probably make off with $400 from this trip if DH does better to conserve.

I did warn him though and said "The money from your Texas and South America trip is what is going to pay for your trip to visit your family." So at least that gives him incentive cause otherwise we wouldn't have the money.

So the tenants came back and said they could only afford a $25 rent increase. Which upset me cause my DH makes less than them since he's enlisted and they are officers, we have the same amount of kids, and if DH got a $150 BAH raise this year, I know they did too or better.

Considering the rental is already operating at a loss I told the property manager, NO... I need the rental to have a $50 increase AT LEAST because had I known our taxes were going to increase I would have NEVER rented it out at $1525 in the first place.

So the manager sent an email to the tenant letting them know that this wasn't meant to upset them but the expenses on the property had gone up & they can choose to go month-to-month on their current amount till we find someone who will pay the $1575 or agree to the new amount.

I'm not sure what the tenant's response has been.

But this morning the property manager emailed me a list of my "competition" so I wonder if that means the tenants did not/do not agree to the rent increase.

I guess if this is the direction everything takes... maybe its for the best. I can list the home instead for rent... but for sale as well.

I hate to take a "faith based" approach but I really feel like in the end, things will work out for the best. I was angry and resentful at being told they could only afford $25 more when 2 months after I rented to them my expenses increased by $50. I didn't expect that and had I known I would have NEVER EVER agreed to $1525.

I'm going to trust though that whatever happens is for the best. My parents told me I was being too nice to the tenants so I put my foot down and explained that I needed it to turn a profit soon or not have it at all.... so we'll see.

I'm sure in the end, it'll work out. Not much of a financial plan, but I do have faith it will be okay. I'll either get the rent I want or no longer have to worry about it anymore.

Update: Well the tenants said they would be willing to move over a $50 increase. The property manager thinks I stand to lose more money by losing the tenants. DH is pissed, he said the tenants should not be dictating to us what we charge in rent but the property manager said there is a lot more places up for rent now because they weren't selling. So people caught on to what we were doing last year.

I'm not sure. I could call their bluff but on the other hand I don't like turning down guaranteed money. It seems so ridiculous to me, yeah the other places are bigger but our place has wood flooring in the entire house, new windows, SS appliances, its in GREAT condition and fully remodeled. So they could get the 2000 sq ft place for $1595 but its not as nice as our 1500 sq ft place for $1575.

Not sure what we're going to do. The property manager said we are heading into the wrong time of the year. Right now we'd be looking at a Sept 1 move-in date. And if it didn't rent immediately then maybe October or November.

Meanwhile, my DH is stuck on the principle... I have the property manager telling me I will likely lose MORE money on it... and yeah, as usual I'm not sure what to do. But am going to think about it and hopefully the right answer will come to me.

I just looked at the finances, and I'm pretty disappointed with myself.

I'm going to have to drop my summer course. There is just NO way I can come up with the $1000 plus $200 in books and parking passes to attend. Not unless I put it on a credit card - and I'm fairly tempted to do so.

Is it worth it to put it on a credit card?

On one hand I HATE having to use a credit card for tuition. BUT, these are master's degree courses that are only available once a year and the "site" its offered at varies from year to year.

This year the course is offered in my town, so it saves on gas. If I defer it till next year, it'll be in the next town so that is 30 minutes of driving. Plus tuition goes up every year.

I'm just not sure. I was hoping to cut costs this month and I'm really not going to be spending much with DH away, but it is 100 degrees right now so although I try not to use the A/C... when it gets this hot, I have to.

Ok, so minor setback I guess... I'm just not sure if I should take the class. If I don't I'm worried I'll regret it cause the classes are only offered once a year and I need 9 more classes till I have my master's degree.

I took our golden retriever for his 2nd set of shots today at the new vet.

He got his distemper & corona vaccines, a deworming, fecal exam, a free bag of dog food, a sample of advantage and sentinel... and a free pedicure

All for $53!!!

Thats the cheapest vet visit I've ever had. At the other vets I've gone to or were quoting me over $100

Needless to say I'm switching all my pets over to that facility now.

I took my daughter to Girl Scouts to walk into the parents having a discussion about money. Normally, I'd participate... but this time I just sat back and listened. These people are all older than me... because I had my daughter when I JUST turned 19. The woman who did the most of the talking was 38 and this was a few of the things I heard:

"I assumed the lady auctioned off a week at her timeshare, I didn't realize they had a condo. I mean, her husband is a doctor but he does Sports Medicine its not like he's a cardiologist or neurosurgeon"

"Gotta love credit cards, you work for the credit."

"I installed a generator for a family and the personal assistant opened the gate. Opened the four car garage and the first door had a Bentley, 2nd had an Aston Martin, 3rd a Lexus SUV so I thought... ok not too bad... and the 4th was a Jag. They were ROLLING in dough."

And I stayed silent the whole time. Ironically as I was driving home the country song "Back when I knew it all" came on the radio and there is a part there that says something along the lines of "when I thought credit cards meant you were rich".

Thats when it dawned on me... as I stayed silent listening to this whole conversation.

1) Just cause someone has a vacation home doesn't mean they are rich. They could be leveraged to the hilt. And just cause someone isn't a neurosurgeon doesn't mean they are any better/worse than the doctor in Sports Medicine.

2) Credit cards and CC debt DON'T mean you are rich and although the average person may have that.... that doesn't mean its great news. After all, when was it good news to be mediocre?

3) Owning a million dollar home and having a million dollars worth of depreciating assets sitting in your garage either means you have millions upon millions in your bank account and can afford to be frivolous OR you have your priorities messed up.

Prior to coming to this forum I would have thought "Wow, must be nice. I want that one day." But now I realize, I don't.

And the way to end the night?

Blockbuster sent us Sicko. And while I'm not really a Michael Moore fan. I really don't consider myself right or left or political in any way (although I do exercise my right to vote)... it just added to the whole thought process.

I am sooo thankful we have free healthcare. Sure I can CHOOSE to pay for better coverage and options but I can walk into ANY hospital with no prior authorization or referral and know I'm covered. I can't imagine having to pay for it and I don't even think the healthcare is great but its not substandard either. They just kinda piss me off cause there is no continuity of care and in order to be a doctor in the Navy, as far as I know, you don't need to pass your boards. You just have to have graduated medical school. There also seems to be a focus on treating symptoms and maintenance than finding the actual cause. Of course I know not ALL doctors in the military are like this, but this is the majority of the sentiment I've received in the 10 years I've been in the system.

DH is a healthcare provider himself and can prescribe meds. He's the enlisted equivalent of a Physician's Assistant but he doesn't even have his Associate's degree so we have to stay in the Navy cause nothing in the civilian world will pay him what the Navy does because he doesn't have any certifications. But he gets jaded, and has gotten used to people abusing the system and he doesn't get any benefit or incentive whether he treats 5 people or 500. But that's another story.... nonetheless, when someone gets sick or hurt, I don't need to worry about how I'm going to pay for that ER visit. It's free and even if I see a non-participating provider and Tricare covers it & I'm on Standard because its a gov't healthcare policy - I can only be billed a maximum of 15% over the Tricare allowed amount.

I found this out when I was billed $1240 for an U/S and Tricare only paid $547. But then only had to pay $87.

It makes me scared for my kids in a certain way. I can't imagine paying for healthcare (beyond the $1000 catastrophic cap I have to pay for CHOOSING to switch to standard) and yet I live in the U.S. Healthcare has NEVER been a thought in my mind. My Dad worked 2-3 jobs and took out dual healthcare policies to make sure we were always covered. If I was sick, I went to the doctor... not a second thought. As an adult, I married a U.S. Navy sailor... when I was sick, I went to the doctor.

I wonder how my Dad does it. I should ask him one day... or ask my Mom. They never talk about money with me, or healthcare... but I'd be interested to know. How do people do it? Cause having to choose between my health and debt is... well, unfathomable to me. I've just never had to deal with it - and I live in the U.S. where my civilian friends pay $1000/mo in deductibles/copays/premiums.

Not sure I could go to another country either, but the whole day... just made me think.

Oh and our yard got torn up today cause they are installing fiber optic cables for a local utility company. So I went outside to let the workers know we have a sprinkler system, so not to dig it up.

Umm, yeah. I don't speak Spanish well, although if someone speaks it I can understand the gist of it. But, I don't live in California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, or Florida... so to walk outside my front door and have the workers digging up my yard not speaking English was something I did not expect. Had I been back in San Diego I wouldn't have thought much about it, but I'm not far from the nation's capital. A little surprising.

We still have a long way to go in our whole transformation in how we think about spending money & debt, but I'm finding more and more instances where I can see our mindset changing for the better.

We went to Target today to get some things off of our list that we couldn't get at the commissary (Cotton balls, vitamins for nursing moms, a dog leash) but I went up to DH later and took him to the DVD player we were eyeing a couple days ago ($200 plus we'd need to buy a $50 HDMI cable). I asked him if he wanted it as a father's day gift.

I was having a moment of weakness & since my Amex has 0% interest till July - thought maybe I could charge it and pay it off by next month.

See, I am FAR from perfect and 50% of the reason we got into so much debt.

But I'm proud of DH. He stood there and looked at the system and said "Problem is, I know we don't NEED it."

So I said "Ok, maybe for Christmas or something and I'm sure this will be even cheaper by then or something that we want more will be out." And we walked away from the electronics.

Then while we were in the car, DH was telling me ideally he'd have a motorcycle and a truck. I looked at him confused and said "I don't get it, we got rid of the Accord and motorcycle so you could have something small to zoom in and out of traffic."

And he explained to me why he wanted that, but he wasn't pushing me for a truck cause he knows I want to go down to 1 car payment and then NO car payment at all. So we talked about him getting the motorcycle next year with cash and then we'd see if maybe we could sell his car & then get a truck he wants and pay cash. So then he gets a motorcycle & truck... and I get what I want and go down to just paying 1 car payment.

These conversations have been huge to me. He's really getting on board with this with me which is half the battle cause when I have my weak moments, he doesn't just go along with them - he's focusing on saving money now too. Talking about how he is pretty much over wanting to buy new cars and will be happy with a used car.

So I just had to share cause I know in order to get out of debt and STAY out of debt, him and I need to both be on board with this so when I'm weak (like I was about the DVD player/home theater system), he can step in and be strong and remind me we don't need something. Its nice to have a partner in this instead of feeling like you're trying to fight a battle on your own... I know I'm not perfect and its nice to know he'll help keep me from making a mistake when I'm having a weak moment.

We left Target with ONLY the things we had on the list... although we did forget to get stamps. Ugh!

We have a weekly ritual in my house & that is on Saturday or Sunday we clean.

There is nothing like decluttering and cleaning your house to make you realize how much you have and don't need more.

Often times, when I clean the house - I find stuff I no longer need and put it in the pile to donate. I guess I could always sell stuff, but since I don't have 10% of my income set to tithe, no matter how little we've ever had, we just donate it.

I've realized that the only kids that will need new clothes for school come September are my oldest and my son. That I have MORE than enough stuff for my kitchen. We have more DVDs than I desire - in fact we should probably try to sell some back to GameStop or something.

The kids have more than enough toys. SO when my son has his birthday next month we'll probably just buy him 4 Hot Wheels cars and a cake he wants, and I know he'll likely be thrilled.

But yeah, there is something about cleaning your house from top to bottom that eliminates your desire to spend and want more because it forces you to take note and reorganize what you already have.

I'm sort of proud of myself. We did spend money yesterday - BUT this is how it happened.

The family is all sitting in the living room and we are talking about maybe going out to eat.

My 7 (soon to be 8 y/o) comes up to my DH and says she needs more pants and shorts. Meanwhile our DVD system (we've had it since 1999 or 2000) is about to quit, or sounds like it.

So I'm calculating these costs in my head. Get up and tell them we aren't going out to eat after all. That $30-$50 we are going to save by eating in, will allow us to buy more clothes for the kids.

We eat Spaghetti & Meatballs then get ready to go out to Target. I think I'm done buying clothes for the kids at OldNavy and Gap - I see the other kids at school wearing Target clothes so mine will be fine with Target clothes and shoes too.

Of that $170... $110 of that was spent on clothes. We got:

1 pair of pants
3 pairs of jean shorts
3 pairs of other shorts
7 shirts
and one $5 outfit for my youngest

They had a bunch of $3 tank tops too but I wanted to get stuff that she could also wear at school so we didn't get those. But I'd be tempted to.

Other than that, I got socks & we bought a new cable that we needed for the TV. The cable was probably the most expensive thing since it was the HDMI cables, but we got the cheaper brand (Belkin) vs the Sony one that was $20 more. Oh and a $5 lens cleaner for the DVD player, so hopefully it lasts a bit longer.

Hopefully we'll have another no-spend weekend. We were talking about going grocery shopping but DH hates crowds and the commissary tends to be crowded around paydays - so we probably won't go.

But what I'm proud of is... instead of scaling down our eating out like last time. We didn't go at all and made the conscious choice that instead of eating out, we'd get something we needed for the kids.

I think if I have any motivation to start saving more - my son's health is one major reason.

The doctor told me yesterday she suspects he has Thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder. He's had frequent ear infections, nosebleeds, a mild anemia that is unresponsive to iron supplements, and an elevated platelet count for all of his CBCs in the past year.

I'm not really certain but the one thing do know is I need to start saving up to pay for copays and deductibles now.

For years we've taken for granted that healthcare is/was 100% free.

But I don't trust the military healthcare facilities anymore so I need to switch him from Prime to Standard so I can see a civilian provider without a referral. So for the first time I will need to think about copays & deductibles. $300 annual copay and 15-20% deductible with a $1000 catastrophic cap. Not bad by a long shot... but its also something that has never been in our budget before.

I hope they can figure out what it is though. I can do all the searching I want on the internet, but I'm not a medical professional so I don't know - and all I may accomplish is scaring myself in the end.

There are a few silver linings to this... and perhaps makes me think even more about how life has a way of working itself out. Well the first one is I read that a common treatment is blood transfusions, so when I read that I thought "Thank god he's a universal recipient." But the other thing is really more telling.... I remember how my baby girl happened so suddenly, still don't even know when she happened - and yet, if I had listened to DH and had an abortion we wouldn't have her or her cord blood. Which I did read that bone marrow or stem cell transplants from cord blood have cured some children of Thalassemia. What if the whole reason his litte sister happened was to help him out?

We'll see though... but it does make me wonder sometimes.

This isn't finance related... just had to post about this

So yesterday we saw the ad in the paper for the golden retriever puppies & I had DH call the guy.

DH gets the info and then gets off the phone. Tells me the guy is a "good ole country guy from North Cackalacky" as he says in his... whatever country accent it is.

On the 1 1/2 hour drive there, he's making fun of me and talking to me in his country accent. Which I have no clue what he's saying so I would ask him to repeat himself... and finally just said "You better stop unless you want me to keep asking you what you are saying... or if I don't care what you said I won't even bother asking."

So DH stops and eventually we get to the guys' house in North Carolina and he's using a tractor to do something to his garden.

The guy comes out and says "So iz dis yer firs pit?" (we're looking at goldens)

I look at him confused, hoping he'll say something else so I'll understand what he's saying.

He repeats what he said... and just by default... I say no cause I have no clue what he's saying but don't want to be rude and say I can't understand him through his accent.

Then he says "So this'll be y'alls firs puppy"

Ohhhh THATS what he was saying.

Five minutes later or so, the kids are talking about our other dog and the puppy & I wonder if the guy thought "Did this lady just lie to me?"

Anyhow, so as we get ready to go... the guy starts talking about his golden retrievers and he'd throw a ball off the pee.

Again I look very confused but just keep listening, hoping he'll say something else so I can figure out what he's saying.

Turns out he was talking about taking his dogs fishing with him and throwing a ball off the pier and they'd go get it for him.

We leave and I just look to DH and say "I had a hard time understanding what he said."

DH just looks at me and says "Yeah, I could tell you were having problems."

Not proud... we did great on the no-spend weekend and then today had to succumb to buying a puppy.

Thats probably where I feel like crap... love the puppy... but I probably could have been smarter. We paid cash with the TDY money DH got for his South Carolina trip, but because I felt guilty about the purchase I took the remaining $210.58 and paid down the credit card. So out of guilt, I have put an additional $605 towards paying down the CC.

I'm not really sure if this is a good strategy... guilt = debt being paid off sooner. But to feel guilty means I would have spent money senselessly and therefore empty my savings account to somehow rationalize the situation and make myself at least feel a little better about it.

I don't think I did real well for the month of May.

My biggest financial regret revolves around our rental.

In 2005, I should have listened to my DH and just waited to buy a house when he got back from deployment.

Instead, I went out on a househunting trip before we moved. Purchased a house he had not yet seen, and that became ours.

In 2 years, he hated the house, the neighborhood, everything about it. But we were stuck.

I told myself it would be okay, this was just our starter home and future investment property. This would be the place to provide us with income to supplement the kids' college tuition and my lack of a pension.

We took a trip to Hawaii in May 2007, only to come home and find our neighborhood tagged and the gangs starting to come out because of the nice weather.

It was then DH and I decided to move. We had looked at houses for a year before, but the "tagging" is what made us take that leap.

I love this house, but I knew when we bought it we couldn't really afford it. But I was afraid of selling the other one at the time. We can now afford this house but I look at the rental now as a burden and bad decision. Yet I would tell myself I could take the $12K loss last year against my taxes so it was benefitting us in the end.

I know now the only person I was lying to was myself.

I took the time and sat down today and decided - if I took that $600/mo loss on the rental and invested it instead, by the time the rental would have been paid off - I would have had - at a 5% rate of return - $440K and generating $21K in interest a year. MUCH less stressful than being a landlord.

So the decision is final in my mind. As soon as the latest contract is up, we are going to put it on the market. Even if we have to walk away with the HELOC still in our debt, it will be much better for us in the end.

My next regret is more a concern now... this house.

If we have to move in 2010, I'll probably take a $4K/year loss on the property. I won't be able to rent it out at a profit till 2013... and this home is much more expensive so we would stand to have to pay back anywhere to $30-$50K if we sold. So although I would LOVE to go back home to Hawaii, financially it would be better for us to stay here.

So I guess we'll see. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

However, I am done buying houses. Unless we end up in Hawaii or Missouri next - we will rent. I think the only way we'll buy again is if we do have 20% to put down, KNOW we will be there for more than 3 years, are confident in the area, and not just buying to buy because everyone else is.

If there is anything I can learn from this and be thankful for... it is just that I'm young enough that we can still recover from this mishap and still have hopes of retiring in our 50s and being debt free.

This is the question my best friend recently asked me.

And to which I did not know what to say. Its not like I set aside $400 every month for kid money. We don't pay for childcare, healthcare, diapers, or formula.

We buy them clothes 1-2 times a year as a major thing where last year we spent $400 on them at Old Navy. Between that we buy them $10 shoes at Target.

So here is our child budget if I think about it...
$100 out of our food budget
$0 for healthcare and prescriptions
$0 for childcare
$375 for my son's preschool
$0 for diapers
$0 for formula
$50 for clothes/shoes
$50 for school lunches/field trips

$575/mo for 4 kids

Of course as I told my best friend, she shouldn't use my family as an example. We are not the typical family. I work from home, cloth diaper, breast feed, and we receive free healthcare from the military.

She does not work from home and healthcare is not free for her. When she decides to have kids I am not sure if she'll do the cloth diapering and breastfeeding that I have.

Of course this budget also does not include the 5 bedroom house with a large yard on a cul de sac we bought because we have a large family and want the ability to let them have room to play. Or the minivan with the safety ratings that it has.

Without kids, my DH and I would be perfectly happy with two small commuter cars and a 2 bedroom condo.

So how much do children cost?

And I think the answer is truly hard to measure. Sure you may have the monthly costs, but children transform your whole life. How do you weigh those costs?

The costs where you can no longer live in a 2 bedroom, need a larger vehicle, have to buy more plane tickets when you travel.

To be honest too, there are some months I don't think we spend anything on the kids except food. During the summer, my son is not in preschool and my daughter therefore isn't eating school lunches, and that $50/mo it usually saved up each month and then spent in one huge chunk just before school and then if one of the kids has a growth spurt we go out and buy more later in the year.

So I'm sure my answer was a little vague to her... but if I really think about it. $575/mo for 4 kids probably covers it.

Being overly ambitious tends to be a problem of mine. I'm just one of those types of people... for example, when I tell people I got my bachelors degree in 2 1/2 years - most times they think thats already ambitious.

What I don't tell them is I tried to finish it in 2 years. How? For my associates I finished that in a year with the help of online courses and in person classes... I was able to complete 23 credits in one semester (with the college's permission of course which they let me since I was taking 18 credits and had a 4.0). But my original goal was to graduate in Summer '04... not Fall '04. But yes, I did overload myself and towards the latter part of my degree had to drop/withdraw from a few courses in order to keep my GPA up. Hence, it took me a semester longer than I hoped.

So I'm trying to set realistic goals for myself in this "get out of debt" process. And I find it extremely hard to do.

My thought process goes... OK, I can comfortably pay $400/mo and put DH's bonus to pay down the card.

BUT if I can pay $400... why can't I just put an extra $50 to help pay it off sooner... and before I know it I've set a goal to pay $750/mo to have it paid off by the end of the year and I'm eating ramen noodles and spaghetti.

I really need to work on this. But small progress doesn't seem so large cause I always feel like I could be doing something more... be doing better... then I get overloaded and I don't meet the initial goal. I've done this with my weight loss too.... my initial goal was to lose all the baby weight when my little one was 3 months old.

She is four months and I still have 10 lbs to lose in order to fit back into my pre-pregnancy 4s. Now the goal is to lose the weight by her 6 month checkup.

So I wonder - how do you set realistic goals and just stay content with that? I know part of this has to be my mindset.

I need to come to terms with the fact the CC will likely not be paid off this year. Things will come up but if I can get the CC down to below $5K this year, that is paying off $9K in one year which is a good feat. Meanwhile, I've still managed to save $800/mo for retirement.

Yeah... my problem isn't lack of ambition... its too much, all at once. Hence, my username.

Other than that... its a pretty quiet weekend so far. No real plans. Dog must be feeling better since he is no longer having accidents, baby is still a little fussy from her shots but not too bad, and DH is out and about mowing the lawn and fixing up things around the house. Money spent so far this weekend? ZERO.