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Archive for March, 2008

Endings and Reassessments

April 1st, 2008 at 03:17 am

Yesterday marked the end of the 20 week fitness challenge I was participating in at my church. I succeeded in losing 10% of my starting weight. Smile I won't know where this puts me in terms of prize money ($200) until this coming Saturday. Whether I win or not though, I am still quite happy about the 10%. Big Grin

I also got my haircut yesterday afternoon. I was going to go for 10 inches to be able to make another donation to Locks of Love, but in the end only did 6 inches. Another 4 inches would've just been too short for me.

A coworker of mine also got her hair cut this weekend. She came out much better than I did financially -- she had a coupon that made her cut only cost $5! I guess she really has listened to me ramble on and on about saving money. Smile

This afternoon I had my Personal Fitness Assessment Reevaluation. I started training with Eric in the middle of October, 2007. The two big numbers that changed are my RHR (resting heart rate) and the 3 minute step test.

In October, my RHR was 72. Today, my RHR was 53. According to Eric, Lance Armstrong's RHR is 48. Big Grin

In October, after completing the 3-minute step test, my HR was 131. Today, my HR was 117. Smile

I also did a 12 minute run today - which I had not done in October. I completed 1 mile in 12 minutes.

Compare that to January 07 when I did a 12 minute walk/run fitness test and had to walk at least half of it.

Now, the strength numbers did not increase much to speak of (leg press went from 315 to 330, but otherwise no changes.)

So, overall I think that the time and money I have spent on hiring Eric as my PT, as well as using the gym has been more than worthwhile.

I definitely want to spend some extra focus on the strength training though. I really should have improved more in strength . . . and my body fat % only went down 3% from October.

March Budget Roundup

March 31st, 2008 at 12:15 am

I found this nifty print screen device, and am about to test it out here. Smile



Yay! It worked. Smile

Ok, lets take a look at this month.

Rent: Last month at this rate. Frown

Renter's Insurance: This is going into a sinking fund - so not really spent.

Charity: I only did my pledge this month. Next month I am probably going to start sponsoring a child through Children's International - maybe two.

Groceries: I totally and completely blew my grocery budget this month. But thanks to the nifty YNAB tool where you can see all your spending transactions for a category, I can see that approximately $90 of this spending are for things that will last me through the end of May, and one item which will probably last me through July.

Laundry: Went to a different laundromat. Their dryers were a minimum of $1.25. So 3 loads wash, and then put them all in one dryer load (added a quarter.)

Clothing: Bought a new pair of pants, a couple tops, along with some needed necessaries from Ebay. Smile

Meds: The actual spent is less due to the $25 gift card. Just my allergy med and other normal med.

Haircare: I had six-inches cut at Fanatastic Sam's today. It was 25 for the cut, plus an extra $5 for the length. Then I gave the stylist a $6 tip. Before my CA trip I want to get highlights. Now that my hair is a bit shorter, hopefully the highlights will cost less.

Misc: I am grandfathered in the Delphi Advanced member plan. It is another forum I frequent often. This is the yearly subscription fee. If I let it expire on me, my cheapest option would be $39.95 a year for a lot of stuff I wouldn't even use.

Fitness: $250 is part of the Personal Training session; $18 is for the Sportbrain pedometer.

Car Insurance: This wasn't really spent this month - it's more just an accounting thing for me. Smile

Gas: Only 2 fill ups this month! Yay!

Tolls: Ugh

Cable: Back to normal.

Netflix: I did go ahead and put this on hold. I may end up just canceling it altogether, time will tell.

Phone/Int: This bill was before all the phone tapping mess.

Earnings:

Carpool: My rider was out sick one week.

Giftcards: My CVS giftcard - used to pay for prescription.

Reimbursements: $298 from Root Canal; $68 from Geico.

Interest Income: $100 - Chase Account Bonus; $26.54 from ING, HSBC and TDAmeritrade.

Um . . . Wow! Waste much?

March 27th, 2008 at 11:41 pm

About a month ago or so I got on the ball and got my defensive driving certificate number from the place I took it at and called it into Geico for the 10% discount.

I'd already paid the 6-month premium upfront, so on my account it showed as a credit. I figured that they would just take it off my next six-month premium. Nope.

Last night I got in the mail SEVEN of those fold and tear envelopes from Geico.
All of them contained a check.

Each envelope cost them $3.12 to mail - or a total of $21.84.

5 of the checks were for $3.17, 1 check for $3.15, and one for $49.00 (a total of $68.)

I really wish I knew what their reasoning was for doing it this way!

-----

I made a mistake this week that cost me $3.00. A few weeks ago I opened up a Chase checking account (mainly for the opening bonus.) I had deposited a number of checks into it, as well as taking out enough cash to pay the remainder of my PT session.

Somehow though, I ended up making TWO transfer requests via ING from this checking account. I made one I think on Friday, and the second on Sunday. My big mistake was not writing down the one I did on Friday.

Both transfers went through on Tuesday and overdrew my account. I saw what had happened Monday night and had written an email to Chase about it. But when I saw it had gone through on Tuesday, I spent a frustrating 25 minutes going through voicemail hockey sticks before getting through to a live person.

I was told that if I could deposit enough cash into my account to cover the overage, that there would be no fees. So I went to the nearest ATM and drew out enough to cover the fees, and deposited it.

The ATM fee was $3.00. If I wouldn't have gotten the overage taken care of that day, it would have been at least a $35 fee.

*Mantra* MUST WRITE DOWN ALL TRANSFERS!

Not financial - A new Rainbow Bridge occupant :(

March 24th, 2008 at 04:25 pm

I am feeling sad this morning. About two years ago our family’s Maltese Reggie headed off to the Rainbow Bridge. Then about 10 months ago my precious cat Monkey joined him.

This morning I received an email from my dad telling me that the decision had been made to send our family’s chocolate lab Brutus to play with his pals Reggie and Monkey.

I knew Brutus’s health was failing, and that it didn’t look like he’d last all that much longer. But I really thought he’d still be there for me to hug one last time when I go out to CA in May.

It’s the right decision. In my heart I know it. He’s gone mostly deaf, nearly blind in one-eye, and his limp has gotten progressively worse. I spoke to my grandma this morning and she was telling me how she even has to help him get in the car – this is one dog that absolutely LOVES car rides.

My grandma put the phone up to his ear so I could talk to him for one last time. I’ve “talked” to him that way many times before. I don’t know if he really could hear me or if he was remembering from previous times where the phone was held to his ear – but grandma said he perked up a little bit and was licking the phone.

This morning I was remembering the first time I met him. It was my sophomore year of college, and I had come home for a weekend. My family had rescued him from this other family who were getting divorced and had pretty much kept him tied up in their back yard for the past year (I won’t go into what I think about THAT!)

I’d had maybe a day to make his acquaintance when we found ourselves alone in the house together. The doorbell rang, and when I opened the front door, Brutie zips out (In our family, we have INSIDE dogs). He’d only been with our family for a few short weeks. I was shoeless and sockless (normal mode for me) and ran out after him.

The chase lasted several hours, going all over our neighborhood, and even out on the main street for a short while. The whole time I was thinking that if something happened to that dog how mad my brother would be at me. (He started out as my brother’s dog – until his junior year of college when he went to CA when he became more of my dads dog.)

Finally, completely exhausted, I sat down on the edge of the curb and put my head in my hands. No sooner had I done that, than I feel a cool, wet nose nudging my arms. The game was over – he had won, not only the game, but my heart as well.


My brother, Reggie (Maltese), Brutus (Choc Lab)



My brother and Brutie - the goofballs. Smile

Almond lovers - WG deal alert!, etc.

March 21st, 2008 at 11:05 pm

Although my grocery budget has already imploded for the month of March, Thursday night I was really really wanting some Peeps. So I decided to go to Walgreens and get a small package.

While I was there, I decided that I may as well get my boxed raisin supply for April (cheapest way to get boxed raisins is Walgreens). While getting the raisins, I noticed that the Blue Diamond almonds were on sale!

Normally, they are $7.99 - which is pretty comparable to the same size bag at Walmart. But these are on sale for $5.99!!! I ended up buying 6 bags of them - which will probably last me the next 5 or 6 months. (I eat raisins and almonds every work day for mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks.)

The sale ends tomorrow (the 22nd). If you don't see the sale price marked, be sure to have them scan it at the register to see if your Walgreen's has it on sale.

-----
I deposited my refund check (from root canal) into my new checking account today. I went ahead and took out $200 cash to finish paying for my current personal training session. (Mainly because I didn't want to wait till the check cleared the bank, then transfered to ING, then became available . . . before sending my PT his money.) I'm not sure how well I like this bank - when I made my first deposit a few weeks ago, they held it from Friday until Wednesday as "pending".

However, I did see that I already received my $100 account opening bonus! Yay! That will be heading towards my EF as soon as it transfers to ING.

---
My Quinoa that I ordered from amazon.com arrived, as well as the powdered peanut butter -- both packages are sitting in my apartment managements office right now because they closed for Good Friday. Frown I'll have to wait for the office to open tomorrow to get them. Both items arrived very quickly - free shipping even!

I'm still waiting for my SportBrain (pedomoter) to arrive. The tracking says it's here somewhere -- maybe its in the office as well.

----
Tomorrow after church I think I may go to our local community college's campus and use their running trail. My personal trainer thinks that their trail is probably the best in the area for running - and on a Saturday afternoon should be pretty safe (lots of people around). It also shouldn't be too hot - high of 70 tomorrow. Kind of looking forward to my first "real" trail run. Smile

The Check WAS in the mail!

March 19th, 2008 at 11:51 pm

Finally! I'm not sure if it arrived yesterday or today - but my refund from my root canal finally arrived!

I'm breathing a sigh of relief, because I really wasn't looking forward to going and sitting in their office waiting til I had the check in hand (my plan if I still hadn't received it by today.)

---
This morning I broke my "dark" necklace that was given to me by the bus station supervisor and one of her coworkers (from when I was doing the temp job at the bus company in 2005.)

It's made with brown and black beads - maybe 1/4" round or so. I like to wear it with red tops. I didn't lose any of the beads - so hopefully I can get it fixed fairly easily.

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My grocery budget is WAY out of whack this month. WAY out. There's still 11 days to go.

----
Speaking of grocery budget --

I was at Target tonight buying a couple items. One item was marked on the shelf as a "price cut!" Stating that it had gone from $2.19 to $2.04. Um . . I bought that same item many times in the past few months for . . . . (drum roll) $1.99!!!

Saved Some, Spent Some - Bit of a Woo Hoo!

March 16th, 2008 at 07:29 pm

I got my new phone bill for March -- well, at least I got the bill amount, not the actual bill yet. It was about $4 more than my previous bill, so I decided to take a closer look - considering the problems with my landline recently.

Well, one thing I noticed right away was that I had 15 extra calls. *I have the measured rate which gives you 25 outbound calls a month, then charges $.08 per extra call.

So I called the phone company. I asked to have those charges refunded, plus I asked about how many extra calls there were for the March bill. 59! So, I got those charges refunded as well.

That was a total of $5.93.

Then I called my cell phone company to see what I could do about the spam text messages I'd been getting. I found out that those numbers couldn't be blocked because they weren't real numbers. My only options were to block text messages for a period of time, or change my number.

I opted to block text messages for 3 months. Hopefully by that time my number will go out of the spammers systems. I also got those charges refunded.

That was a total of $1.80

Savings: $7.73

Spent some:

I bought a Sportbrain Personal Assistant (pedometer) off of Ebay for a total of $18.

I went to Walmart and got 3 gallons water (refill); two tops and a pair of Khaki pants (on clearance) for $29.86.

* Have to give myself a shout out here -- the pants? They were a FULL SIZE smaller than the last pair of pants I bought -- and they FIT! Woo Hoo!

Next I stopped at CVS. I had dropped my prescription off there on Friday - but of course they were busy and it would've taken forever for them to get to me.

So, when I got there I picked up my prescription and handed the pharmacist my 2nd coupon. Then I paid for my prescription with the gift card I'd received previously.

So - the prescription was $26.99. Subtract the $25 gift card = $1.99 spent. Plus I have another $25 gift card for the next prescription. (Oh, not to mention I earned $1 CVS extra care buck, so my next prescription should only cost me $.99!) Smile Smile

Last, I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some more quinoa. I had a choice of getting a 1 lb bag that wasn't sorted or washed for $1.69 or getting a 14 oz box that was pre-washed and sorted for $2.79. I decided to take the route of convenience and bought the box. But, because I had brought a reusable bag (purchased at Walgreens a few weeks ago for $.99) I got a $.05 bag discount. So, I spent $2.74.

Walmart = 29.86
CVS = 1.99
WholeF = 2.74

Total Spent = 34.59
Saved = 7.73

Difference = $26.86

ETA:

My Tivo was getting close to running out of programing since its not been connected to the phone line since last Saturday. So, thanks to my dad making me keep all those odds and ends of phone cords, I was able to stretch the phone cord which usually connects to my actual phone in my bedroom, all the way out to the living room! At first I was thinking I was going to have to go buy another phone cord, because the one I had wasn't long enough. But then I kept digging around - and found ONE short phone cord from when I got my current computer - and that made it just *barely* reach. My Tivo is now happily updating - so no worries about missing a new episode of Lost or Survivor on Thursday. Smile

Feeling annoyed

March 14th, 2008 at 01:17 am

*** A bit of a ranty whiney post. I probably need to stock up on some cheese on my next grocery trip. Big Grin

Remember my root canal? Way back in the beg. of Feb. I had to pay 50% up front at the time of the visit - supposedly because they weren't sure what insurance would pay. Rolleyes

So, I paid it. $650.

About a five weeks or so ago I received my EOB which told me that insurance had paid enough of the bill so that I should be getting $298 back.

I waited patiently to get my refund. When I'd gone to this same place back in November and was owed a refund, it seems like it came rather quickly.

Finally a week ago Tuesday I called to find out what was happening. I was told that the check was ready and would be going out that week. I still hadn't received it a week later, so again called. I was told it went out Friday and if it didn't show up in a couple days to call again.

Well, it's Thursday. It still hasn't shown up.

I had to take money out of my EF to pay for my crown. If I would have had this money in time for the crown, I would have $300 more in my EF right now earning interest.

HSBC *was* at 4.25% for most of this time period (who knows what they are right now) so I have lost whatever $300 x 4.25% interest would be for ~5 weeks. I'm almost tempted to actually try to figure out what the amount of lost interest is and ask them for it. (I know, it's probably less than a couple dollars - if that - but its the principle of the matter!)

If the check was ready on Tuesday - why wasn't it mailed on Tuesday?! Ok, maybe they only do checks once a week - so then Friday. If the check was mailed out Friday, I should have had it by Saturday or Monday at the very latest!

So . . I'm going to call them again tomorrow. If they tell me it hasn't been mailed yet, then I think I'm going to say that I'll just stop by and pick it up myself! It's my money and I want it back working for me!

Dx - Wantitis

March 12th, 2008 at 01:43 am

I've been feeling it coming on for a while now. Been reasoning with myself, telling myself that I can handle it. Reminding myself of all my long term goals and how letting it take me over will cause them to take even longer to achieve.

I have a case of Wantitus.

As the weather is getting nicer, and darkness falls later, one particular area is really strong.

I've been running on a treadmill 3x a week for the past few months doing the Couch to 5k program. I'm starting to make some real progress - actually able to run for 5 minutes at a time before taking a walking break.

But . . . I'm hankering to get outside and whet my feet on the turf. See if I can make it out in the fresh air.

While I've been thinking about going outside, I've also been reading about things you "need" to run outside.

A GPS device that also can track your run/walk intervals, pace, distance, etc.

Text is Garmin and Link is https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=142&pID=270
Garmin

A way to keep yourself
Text is hydrated and Link is http://www.rei.com/product/720122
hydrated hands-free:



A way to help
Text is roll and Link is http://www.amazon.com/Hugger-Mugger-Foam-Roller-Blue/dp/B000LGGY26/ref=pd_sbs_sg_title_1
roll
out the aches and pains after running:


Text is You Tube - How To Use Foam Rollers and Link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lLw81kGeXg
You Tube - How To Use Foam Rollers

Then of course there's the clothing - wicking shirts, wicking shorts, wicking bras, wicking socks . . . Oy Vey!

Of course if I really get into all this there's going to be new running shoes and if I *really* get into it . . there'll be race entrance fees . . fuel gels . . . energy bars . . etc., etc., etc!

Save me from myself! Ahhhh!!!

Ok, ok. The two things I really am interested in right now are the foam rollers and the garmin.

I think I would really use the rollers, and they aren't that terribly expensive.

The garmin . . . I already have a wireless heart rate monitor/watch with a stopwatch function/calorie counter - which I haven't used in nearly a year because the chest strap kept unhooking while I exercised. What I'm really wanting the garmin for is the ability to have it track my pace and distance outside, and to be able to set little alarms to tell me when its time to increase or decrease my pace. The geeky part of me also really likes the idea of being able to upload all my data into a website and manipulate away. Smile

Help me out please! Anyone have ideas on how to alleviate this horrible disease? Or maybe ideas on how to get what I'm wanting for less??

Quick Phone Update

March 9th, 2008 at 12:19 am

I'm about to run off to see Jim Brickman Smile but wanted to let y'all know about my phone.

The repairman arrived at 3:58 p.m. He left about 5:45 p.m.! Long story short - he loves to talk. Smile Good news - the line that goes to my DSL is working. Bad news - apparantlly it was my direct downstairs neighbors who were helping themselves to my phone line. It appears that it may have been intentional.

He was not able to get the line that goes to my Tivo working - the only line that works in that socket is the one my ds neighbors have tapped into.

So he's going to come back on Monday and see if he can catch ds neighbors in and go in their apartment and check out their phone jacks. If they don't let him in, then it could get ugly.

So, bottom line - my DSL is working. My Tivo is not able to call in for updates. I will not be charged for his service visit.

Guess we'll have to see what happens Monday!

Egg on my face!

March 8th, 2008 at 01:07 am

This afternoon I had my permenant crown put on. It didn't take very long -- but she put a piece of guaze in my mouth and told me to bite on it for the next 30 minutes!

Well, I was heading to the gym for my personal training session right afterwards . .. . So I walk into the gym clamping down on the piece of guaze. My trainer asks me if I'm chewing on something. I explain to him what's going on. So he then proceeds to talk back to me clamping one side of his mouth! What a dork! Big Grin It was very interesting doing cardio while concentrating on keeping your teeth together. Can't say that I want to experience that again.

So, about the egg on my face. Smile

I received in the mail a few weeks ago an advert for opening a checking account with Capitol One and getting $125 bonus after a direct deposit.

Somehow though I had gotten it into my mind that it was CHASE bank. Can you see where this is going??

When I was finished at the gym this afternoon I went home and checked the mail - hoping to have the insurance reimbursement. It wasn't there. ARgghh! Then I went across the street to the building I used to work in. There just happens to be a Chase bank branch there.

I sat down with the guy who opens accounts and told him about the offer and that I wanted to open an account. I give him the advert. He tells me that he'd love to open an account for me . . . but that this advert was for Capitol One, not Chase. *If I knew the code for super embarrassed that's what would be here*

He told me that they did have a deal where you could get $100 for opening an account, but that he'd be willing to match Capitol One's offer if I still wanted to open one with Chase. So I went ahead and opened the account. Smile

Now, you have to understand that this is the bank that my company has a business account with, and when we were in that office building, many of the company's employees had accounts there. So as soon as I said who I worked for, they (the guy opening my account and the branch manager) started naming names of people in my company.

I can only hope that no one from my company goes into that particular branch in the near future. Smile

Snow day, PHONE & Tivo!

March 7th, 2008 at 12:12 am

Today we were all let go at 2:30 due to the weather conditions. Smile Yay!

Some of you may remember my dealing with the $287 phone bill last summer. The bill was a result of my phone line somehow getting crossed with another persons - and that person did a 10-10 dial to Cuba.

Well, the past couple weeks my DSL has been acting funky. Sometimes working fine, sometimes slow as dialup, sometimes not working at all. Then in the past week or so I've been getting those two or three ring phonecalls. I generally don't answer my landline since it would almost always be telemarketers. But, yesterday I picked it up - only to hear two spanish speakers chatting away. Then again, at midnight last night, my phone rings. I pick it up, only to hear two spanish people. Again, this afternoon it happens.

So, I decided to be proactive this time, and not wait to get another $300 phone bill. I sent in a repair ticket. Then I called customer service to find out if there'd been any weird charges to my phone number. They couldn't tell me if there'd been any 10-10 charges, because that would be with Ameritell (10-10). But they did make note of what was going on.

The repair person will be coming sometime between noon and 4 p.m. on Saturday to find out what is going on. At first it was "sometime on Saturday before 9p.m." I told the lady that I would NOT be in my place from at least 8 - 11:30a.m., and would be leaving again by 6:30 that evening. (Church in the morning, Jim Brickman! concert in the evening.)

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I've been trying to find a way to get rid of my extra Tivo box ever since I upgraded over a year ago. I've had no takers. Today I was talking with our new receptionist about Big Brother, and eventually about Tivo. I mentioned that I had an extra one I'd love to find a home for. She told me that her parents might be interested in it! Woo Hoo! To finally get it out of my house and not in a landfill! She asked me how much I'd want for it, and at first I told her I'd just give it to them. But she kept asking, so I was like - o.k. $5.

If it had Lifetime with it, then it would be worth a LOT (probably could get $100- $200 for it). But of course if it had Lifetime with it, I would probably never have upgraded to my current one . . .

First Monday March Musings

March 4th, 2008 at 04:10 am

** I mentioned earlier about receiving a second EOB regarding my root canal. I called the endodontist this morning and was told not to worry - and that my refund would be out in the mail this week. Yay!

** I did the Defensive Driving course back in October 05, but never seemed to receive the certificate I needed for insurance. Almost exactly a year ago I called to get the certificate - never received it. Today I called again. This time they faxed me a copy! So, as soon as I got it I called Geico and asked where should I send this? I was told to just give him some info off the certificate.

I won't get retroactive discount savings, but I will get the savings through the end of my next six-month renewal period (end of November). Yay!

** I have two CVS transfer/new prescription coupons for $25. I plan to renew my allergy meds ($10) to get the first one. Then I'll go back in a couple weeks and renew another med ($27) and pay for it with the first gift card. Then I can use the second gift card to pay for a 2nd renewal of the $27 med. So, between the free samples from my doctor, the refill I already have, plus the two new refills, plus hopefully more free samples from my doc when I see her in May - I may be able to make it through July without having to pay more than $15 for meds! Woo Hoo!

** Another money making adventure . . . I got a card in the mail offering me $125 to open a free checking account with Chase. All I have to do is start it with $50 and have ONE direct deposit. Funny thing is, there just so happens to be a Chase bank right across the street from where I live (where my company used to be). So it would be way more convenient than WAMU. So, I may just open it and keep it! Of course I won't be doing very many direct deposits to it - I prefer ING EO for that. Smile

** Today we had very nasty weather conditions for the drive home. I was actually thinking of going to CVS to get my allergy meds refilled. I was driving along carefully, paying attention to my surroundings. When all of a sudden in front of me were two police motorcycles! I quickly changed lanes to avoid them, but still had to slam on my brakes. One of the cops went into the lane directly in front of me and turned around and gave me what seemed to be a dirty look. Thirty seconds later right around 25 various police vehicles swarmed onto the tollway in front of me (and a couple other commuters). There were about five or six of us cars that just kind of stayed where we were for a few minutes, not sure what exactly to do. I ended up missing my turn to go to CVS because I wasn't sure if the police cavalcade was blocking certain exits or what.

It was quite surreal.

** Less than 30 days now till the end of my church's 20 week fitness challenge. I may have taken myself out of the running by some of my slip ups weight wise in December and January - but I am still going to press on forward with the hope that I can win. I kind of wish there were a couple different prizes for individuals -- oh well, whether I win the money or not, I will still be further ahead in my healthy living journey than I was 4 months ago.

February Roundup

March 1st, 2008 at 07:26 pm

I still haven't figured out how to do a screenprint of my excel sheet . . so this may be a bit messy.


Year To Date....Category ....... February
$1,300.00 ......Rent ............$650
$221.00 ........Renter's Ins. ...$198
$250.00 ........Giving ..........$100
$290.65 ........Groceries .......$152.15
$27.38 .........Eating Out ......$15.69
$1,612.12 ......MedBig Grinentist .....$1586
$40.00 .........MedBig Grinoctor ......$20
$128.35 ........Med:Scrips ......$70.38
$15.50 .........Gifts ...........$10.50
$145.59 ........Fitness .........$8.73
$74.80 .........Auto:Ins ........$37
$176.01 ........Auto:Gas. .......$67.31
$175.48 ........Auto:Repair .....$0
$80.00 .........Auto:Tolls ......$40
$58.41 .........Cable ...........$23.27
$10.80 .........Netflix .........$5.40
$168.62 ........Cell/Int. .......$84.02
$150.00 ........ROTH ............$75
$50.00 .........TAMERIA .........$50

$4,974.59 .....Total Exp. .......3193.48

SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME

$90.00 .......Other .............$50
$65.02 .......Interest ..........$30.77

Withdrawals from Savings:
$650 ..........Emerg. Fund ......$650

Rent: Self Explanatory

Renter's Insurance: I switched to Geico and paid the 1-year premium up front. I will be setting aside $16.50 a month to pay the premium again.

Giving: Part went to a pledge I made, part went to support a friend doing an Epilepsy walk.

Groceries: UGH! I started out good, but towards the middle of the month I just kept finding myself heading to the grocery store. Unfortunately most of the extra trips weren't for things that were nutritionally valuable or needed.

Eating Out: This is one meal out with a good friend of mine before watching her son's basketball game. Also, it includes one half-price Virgin Strawberry Margarita at a coworker's get together.

MedBig Grinentist: This includes 50% of the root canal ($650), most of the crown ($832) plus a few other charges. UGH and double UGH!

MedBig Grinoctor: My copay when I visited my doctor about my heartburn symptoms.

Med:Scrips: Normal scrips, plus the antibiotic that gave me heartburn and the meds prescribed to try to fix that!

Gifts: I found two items for birthday gifts at Walmart on clearance - one's in June and the others in October. Smile

Fitness: Bought a new pair of headphones for my MP3 player - I listen to it almost exclusively while working out.

Auto Ins: I actually paid off the premium in full, and will now just be putting money aside to pay in full each time. They now take any credit card - so that means more points for me! Yay!

Auto:Gas: I managed to get by with only filling up two times this month. Yahoo!

Auto:Repairs: Thankfully, an uneventful month.

Auto:Tolls: Self Explan.

Cable: The normal monthly charge, plus the $5 late fee. The late fee stems from having to get a new credit card number and the ensuing chaos of autopay.

Netflix: The very cheapest plan.

Cell/Int: I am very tempted to block all text messages to my phone. I'm starting to get a number of spam texts. Although they only add up to a few extra dollars at the most. There really is only one friend who actually texts me, and that is maybe two times a month. If the spams keep coming, I do think I will block texting.

ROTH: Self Explan. It just sickens me though to know how much I've contributed to it, and see how much money I've lost of actual contributions. I have to just keep reminding myself of the dollar cost averaging principle, and hope that when the stocks do finally go up again, that I'll have a really nice upswing in value.

TAMERIA: I started an account with T Ameritrade using the Suse Orman "Save Yourself" code. So, a year from now this should net $100 bonus + plus whatever measly interest.


Supplemental:

Other: Carpool money and survey money.
Interest Income: HSBC and ING

Withdrawals:
Emerg Fund: Had to take money out to pay for Dental work. I actually had a 5 paycheck month, so the 5th paycheck + the money from the EF + what I normally send to the EF each month all went to Dental. UGH UGH UGH!

Overall this was a HUGE spending month, with nearly half of it Medical related. However, the one other area I did way overspend in was groceries. Part of the reason had to do with the dental work - I had to get some easier to eat foods for awhile. But part of it also was not justifiable at all.

I am hoping that this next month will be financially uneventful. I am also hoping to find a couple babysitting jobs or something else to bring in a little extra cash.

Frustrations

March 1st, 2008 at 06:10 am

Two main frustrating things right now.

1. I received an Explanation of Benefits (EOB)for my root canal showing that my responsibility was $352. That means that I should be getting back about $300.

I've been waiting for that refund check to come - was planning on using it to pay for part of my crown. It still hasn't shown up.

But in todays mail I got a new EOB saying that there was double charge, and that I owe the full $1300!!!

I got on the website and saw that for some reason there were two charges for the same thing on the same date - one of which part was paid, and the other none was paid.

I guess I'll have to wait till Monday to call and find out what is happening and when I can expect my money back!

2. Today I stopped at Walmart to do some early March grocery shopping. One of the items I bought were these La Tortilla Factory tortilla's. I bought 3 pkgs. On the shelf, the only price I saw that came close to what I got was $2.82.

When the cashier rang them up - they rang up at $3.32! I of course spoke up. She ended up taking them all off the receipt. Then I thought she put them all back on?

So after I paid, I went back to the shelf to doublecheck that there was NO $3.34 sign. There wasn't. So I went to Customer Service. The lady took my tortilla package and looked at the shelf. When she came back, she told me that someone must have taken off the upc label for this particular item - but that the price WAS $3.34. But since the label was off, she would go ahead and give me the $3.34 back.

I was happy with that - but then I asked about the other two packages. She then showed me on my receipt that it showed only ONE tortilla pkg charged! So, I ended up having to pay for the two that were not charged.

I guess I should be glad that I got the one package for free. But I do feel frustrated that I was thinking they were $2.82, and through no fault of mine, the correct price tag had been taken off the shelf. I really felt that I should have been given the price difference on the other two items - especially since the only proof she had of the item's cost was what the bar scanner said - and that isn't always correct!

At any rate, I left with 3 pkgs of LTF Tortillas for $6.86, which is less than the $8.46 it would've been for 3 pkgs at $2.82 each.

3. A couple things at work today really frustrated me too. A little too easily almost. Had to bite my tongue really hard a few times.