Friday, August 30, 2013
I'd call it a success!
Well, my initial discount from the first 30 days of using the Progressive Snaphot device is a success. My car/driving is an 8% discount. I didn't expect a huge discount - I do drive a long distance to work 3 days a week, but I am happy to have gotten something. DD's car got a 30% initial discount! I was hoping her vehicle would qualify for a good discount as she only drives a few miles a day and some days not at all. My payments have now gone down a total of $37 a month (not to mention the $11 a month from taking the sold car off recently).
Sunday, August 25, 2013
End of a sad life
I was notified this morning by my half-sister than our father had passed away night before last. I have not had any contact with him in over 20 years. She has had some limited contact and seen him a handful of times (mostly out of feeling obligated, she said). He was never really a father to me. My parents divorced when I was just a baby, thank god! He was a mean alcoholic who treated my mom like crap when he was drunk and she was smart enough to get the hell out of dodge...not to mention the fact that he was cheating on her with my half-sister's mother. After a hellish night of my drunk dad trying to choke my mom (I was apparently in the room when it happened, less than a year old, but have NEVER been able to stand to have my neck touched and have always wondered if it was related to this episode...) she left and divorced him.
I did not even meet him until I was around 11 years old. My mom was getting ready to marry my step dad (who ended up adopting me for obvious reasons - there's no way my mom would have wanted me to go live with my dad if something happened to her). For some reason, I guess because my mom was feeling secure in life, she decided I should meet my dad and grandparents, so we all made a trip to meet them. I did bond with my grandma quite a bit, but never him, really. I would go visit for a week or so every summer for the next few years, but stayed with her, if he wasn't living on the ranch. But, he was a binge type alcoholic, who could go months, even years without it and then go on a binge for days/weeks. He did this on my last visit when I was 14. My grandfather had died the first year after I met them, so my dad lived on the ranch with my grandma and helped her take care of it. She had to have some neighbor I didn't even know drive me the 4 hours to the airport when it was time for me to return home. I kept in touch some with him via phone and letters over the next 10 years or so, but after the drunken episode he pulled when he came out here with his equally drunk girlfriend (she had family in my area, too). I just cut off all communication with him. My son was a baby at the time and I just decided there was NO way I was subjecting him (or my husband) to any of that in the future and that was that.
I knew I had a half-sister, who I had met when I was 11 and then saw again when I was 18 and our grandmother died. I might have saw her the summer I was 12, too. I think she and her sisters (not related to me) came for a few days. I finally reconnected with her a couple of years ago on Facebook (she ended up growing up in Canada) and we keep in touch all the time. She is the executor of his will, so it sounds like she will be making the trip to figure out how to take care of everything. She doesn't know much, if anything, of his financial status, or if he even has enough money to pay for his own funeral. Eek! This is scaring her because she has no money (single mom, etc). He's basically had odd jobs most of his life and been self employed as a bookkeeper the past 30 years or so. I know he inherited my grandma's old house when she died 30 years ago and he still lived there. In a very small town out in the middle of nowhere, basically.
Turns out, after my half-sister called and talked with the funeral home director (which happens to be right next door to my dad's house) that dear old dad didn't even own the home anymore. He lost it in 2000 due to unpaid taxes. The funeral home owner purchased it, allowed my dad to live there all these years for $100/mo rent and he had to pay utilities. Apparently most times he had trouble coming up with that money each month, so the funeral director isn't holding much hope that there is even any money for funeral costs. He quoted a cremation and services to my half-sister at $3500! She of course doesn't have any money and I told her just have the most basic, cheapest cremation she can have done (my step dad's was $700 a few years ago) and go spread his ashes out on the ranch land or something. If his few friends (he has no other relatives) want a service they can just have a small get together at the house he lived in or somewhere it doesn't cost anything. Good grief. The funeral director did tell her he would do everything he could to not make it a financial hardship on her and if they had to they would just try to auction off his personal possessions (which will be lucky to be worth $3500). I think he is eligible for VA benefits, so maybe she can get some reimbursement of his cremation costs through that. I did some online research and gave her to local VA phone number to call and look into it.
What a sad life. Hopefully, he will find some peace in the afterlife that he never was able to find in his life here on earth.
I did not even meet him until I was around 11 years old. My mom was getting ready to marry my step dad (who ended up adopting me for obvious reasons - there's no way my mom would have wanted me to go live with my dad if something happened to her). For some reason, I guess because my mom was feeling secure in life, she decided I should meet my dad and grandparents, so we all made a trip to meet them. I did bond with my grandma quite a bit, but never him, really. I would go visit for a week or so every summer for the next few years, but stayed with her, if he wasn't living on the ranch. But, he was a binge type alcoholic, who could go months, even years without it and then go on a binge for days/weeks. He did this on my last visit when I was 14. My grandfather had died the first year after I met them, so my dad lived on the ranch with my grandma and helped her take care of it. She had to have some neighbor I didn't even know drive me the 4 hours to the airport when it was time for me to return home. I kept in touch some with him via phone and letters over the next 10 years or so, but after the drunken episode he pulled when he came out here with his equally drunk girlfriend (she had family in my area, too). I just cut off all communication with him. My son was a baby at the time and I just decided there was NO way I was subjecting him (or my husband) to any of that in the future and that was that.
I knew I had a half-sister, who I had met when I was 11 and then saw again when I was 18 and our grandmother died. I might have saw her the summer I was 12, too. I think she and her sisters (not related to me) came for a few days. I finally reconnected with her a couple of years ago on Facebook (she ended up growing up in Canada) and we keep in touch all the time. She is the executor of his will, so it sounds like she will be making the trip to figure out how to take care of everything. She doesn't know much, if anything, of his financial status, or if he even has enough money to pay for his own funeral. Eek! This is scaring her because she has no money (single mom, etc). He's basically had odd jobs most of his life and been self employed as a bookkeeper the past 30 years or so. I know he inherited my grandma's old house when she died 30 years ago and he still lived there. In a very small town out in the middle of nowhere, basically.
Turns out, after my half-sister called and talked with the funeral home director (which happens to be right next door to my dad's house) that dear old dad didn't even own the home anymore. He lost it in 2000 due to unpaid taxes. The funeral home owner purchased it, allowed my dad to live there all these years for $100/mo rent and he had to pay utilities. Apparently most times he had trouble coming up with that money each month, so the funeral director isn't holding much hope that there is even any money for funeral costs. He quoted a cremation and services to my half-sister at $3500! She of course doesn't have any money and I told her just have the most basic, cheapest cremation she can have done (my step dad's was $700 a few years ago) and go spread his ashes out on the ranch land or something. If his few friends (he has no other relatives) want a service they can just have a small get together at the house he lived in or somewhere it doesn't cost anything. Good grief. The funeral director did tell her he would do everything he could to not make it a financial hardship on her and if they had to they would just try to auction off his personal possessions (which will be lucky to be worth $3500). I think he is eligible for VA benefits, so maybe she can get some reimbursement of his cremation costs through that. I did some online research and gave her to local VA phone number to call and look into it.
What a sad life. Hopefully, he will find some peace in the afterlife that he never was able to find in his life here on earth.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Gotta keep the lawn mowed
I think we have decided what to do with the money from the car sale. We need a new riding lawn mower. Suddenly it dawned on me (even though I knew this!) that we had to get a mower by next spring, so of course this is perfect timing now that we have the cash.
We have had a friends John Deere mower for the past 6 years! He had moved to a fixer upper place and had no lawn to mow and our old Sears riding mower finally died. He wasn't using his mower and already had so much stuff stored in his garage from the move that he brought it over and said use it until I need it. Well, we've just kept using it and using it and he hasn't needed it.......until soon. He put in his sprinkler system recently and will have lawn by next spring.
DH has taken meticulous care of this borrowed mower (usually when he borrows something from someone it goes back in better shape then we got it) and he's always trying to give it back to friend (we feel guilty using it so long!) but he always says he knows where it is when he needs it back. DH even tried to get friend to let us give him the new one and we'd just keep his! Of course, he said no. I'm sure DH will now want to buy a John Deere after using this one for so long and I have no idea what price range he will be looking at. In past years he'd just go buy the most expensive one they had. Now there is even a good chance he will even look for a used one. I'm hoping this is the case. It would be nice to have some of the money left over for some other things/projects. He's also going to use a bit of the money to do a good tune up on friends mower (though we always change the oil and winterize it and recently put new blades on it) before we give it back.
The only thing I really wanted to get with some of the money is a garden arbor. I showed DH one I found on craigslist that a guy makes, $100 for a nice cedar arbor, but DH thinks he could pretty easily make one himself......so we'll see if I ever end up with an arbor, LOL.
So, the money is still sitting in an envelope in my desk. I still haven't deposited it. It feels kind of nice knowing we have this nice chunk of money available, but also kind of nice that for now it hasn't been spent. In the old days it would have been spent the day we got it. At least this time we are sitting on it and thinking of different ideas on how best to use it (we have so many things that need fixing or replacing around here that are long over due). I think DH has several things he needs or wants to replace, so I have a feeling he's going to go with a lower priced mower so he has enough money for some of the other things he also wants to do. It will be interesting to see what decision he comes up with and I'm sure he'll change his mind 30 times in the next couple of days.
We have had a friends John Deere mower for the past 6 years! He had moved to a fixer upper place and had no lawn to mow and our old Sears riding mower finally died. He wasn't using his mower and already had so much stuff stored in his garage from the move that he brought it over and said use it until I need it. Well, we've just kept using it and using it and he hasn't needed it.......until soon. He put in his sprinkler system recently and will have lawn by next spring.
DH has taken meticulous care of this borrowed mower (usually when he borrows something from someone it goes back in better shape then we got it) and he's always trying to give it back to friend (we feel guilty using it so long!) but he always says he knows where it is when he needs it back. DH even tried to get friend to let us give him the new one and we'd just keep his! Of course, he said no. I'm sure DH will now want to buy a John Deere after using this one for so long and I have no idea what price range he will be looking at. In past years he'd just go buy the most expensive one they had. Now there is even a good chance he will even look for a used one. I'm hoping this is the case. It would be nice to have some of the money left over for some other things/projects. He's also going to use a bit of the money to do a good tune up on friends mower (though we always change the oil and winterize it and recently put new blades on it) before we give it back.
The only thing I really wanted to get with some of the money is a garden arbor. I showed DH one I found on craigslist that a guy makes, $100 for a nice cedar arbor, but DH thinks he could pretty easily make one himself......so we'll see if I ever end up with an arbor, LOL.
So, the money is still sitting in an envelope in my desk. I still haven't deposited it. It feels kind of nice knowing we have this nice chunk of money available, but also kind of nice that for now it hasn't been spent. In the old days it would have been spent the day we got it. At least this time we are sitting on it and thinking of different ideas on how best to use it (we have so many things that need fixing or replacing around here that are long over due). I think DH has several things he needs or wants to replace, so I have a feeling he's going to go with a lower priced mower so he has enough money for some of the other things he also wants to do. It will be interesting to see what decision he comes up with and I'm sure he'll change his mind 30 times in the next couple of days.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Just this and that
We sold the car yesterday and I called to drop the car off the insurance policy. Quite a bit of a disappointment there! My billing documents break down the cost of each vehicle for the 6 month policy period. This car showed $266 for 6 months (I had very low coverage on it since it's not worth a lot and not driven very much), so I figured my monthly payment was going down $43 a month. No, I was informed it's going down a whopping $11 a month! Apparently, the breakdown cost per vehicle is just an estimate as far as the liability portion goes, so basically I was just credited for the minimal comprehensive coverage we had on the car. Boo! I won't be able to see any significant savings until we can remove DS from our policy altogether, and I'm just not ready to do that quite yet. Maybe in a few months.
The couple that bought the car were surprising their teenage daughter with it, so I'm sure she'll be thrilled. It's kind of sporty. You won't find very many 10 year old cars who's interior looks almost like brand new!
Not sure what we are doing with the $4500 yet. For now it's in an envelope at my desk (it was too late to go to the bank yesterday evening). I'll go deposit it tomorrow. The banks aren't open yet this morning and I don't want to have it in my purse all day while I'm driving 40 miles back and forth to work. For some of it we will get a load of topsoil we need for the backyard (around $200 I think) and DH also wants a leaf blower (he's wanted one of these for years) - the kind you can carry on your back while you walk around.
Today wehave get to have our pictures professionally taken at work today. Oh boy...no one is too happy about it, LOL. I'd be fine with a big group picture to put in the company website, but not a close up. I was fine with pictures when I was a kid and my younger adult days, but not anymore - with wrinkles and glasses!
My boss was working on the paperwork DD left for her to fill out (did I mention DD did an internship at my office for a couple of weeks?). She needed it for her senior portifolio. Boss also told me she's going to give her some money for her work too, since she did such a great job helping us get caught up. I haven't told DD she'll be getting paid yet and she'll be surprised and happy. She can use it towards school clothes shopping.
The couple that bought the car were surprising their teenage daughter with it, so I'm sure she'll be thrilled. It's kind of sporty. You won't find very many 10 year old cars who's interior looks almost like brand new!
Not sure what we are doing with the $4500 yet. For now it's in an envelope at my desk (it was too late to go to the bank yesterday evening). I'll go deposit it tomorrow. The banks aren't open yet this morning and I don't want to have it in my purse all day while I'm driving 40 miles back and forth to work. For some of it we will get a load of topsoil we need for the backyard (around $200 I think) and DH also wants a leaf blower (he's wanted one of these for years) - the kind you can carry on your back while you walk around.
Today we
My boss was working on the paperwork DD left for her to fill out (did I mention DD did an internship at my office for a couple of weeks?). She needed it for her senior portifolio. Boss also told me she's going to give her some money for her work too, since she did such a great job helping us get caught up. I haven't told DD she'll be getting paid yet and she'll be surprised and happy. She can use it towards school clothes shopping.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
News and more news
So, do you want the good news first or the GREAT news first?!!
Ok, good news first. I think we sold the extra car already - $4500. The family came and looked at it yesterday and called back today and DH accepted their offer. They are buying it for their teenaged daughter and I guess they have to go to the credit union tomorrow.
Now for the great news...........DS has been offered a job! A really good job, doing IT work. He had been making plans to stay put where he is (in Canada) for the fall/winter in order to take a good paying labor type job. He had found out about the job (a mechanics helper) through the couple he has been staying with and figured making $30/hr for the next 6 months would give him a great nest egg to save for his racing next year.
After he turned in his resume during the application process they realized he has an IT degree and some work experience and have decided to hire him for an IT/Programming job instead! He already has an offer letter. $34/hr to start and full benefits. He will be training for 3 months and then once he is trained could be doing quite a bit of traveling to different field sites (company vehicle, etc) to work on programming equipment. It also sounds like quite a bit of overtime.
DS is beyond excited. He has found a place to rent - the finished basement of a relative of the people he has been staying with. He sent a couple of pictures of the place. A nice big family room with fireplace, a bedroom and full bath. Plus he gets to use the big shop to store/work on his race car. What more could he want? LOL. He will be paying only $400 per month and sounds perfect for him. He will be coming home in about 10 days and while here will have to take care of getting a work visa for Canada, but since he already has an offer letter, it shouldn't be any problems to get one quickly. Can you imagine a 22 year old (almost) making over $70k a year? From the sounds of it, getting into this job/industry will have him set with a career for life. It's very specialized.
So, soon I should be able to cut a few expenses....auto insurance on the sold car and health and dental insurance on DS. Eventually, we will also just transfer the tow rig he has with him now (the trailer is already in his name) to him and he can insure it himself and then I can just drop him off our insurance completely. I just want to wait awhile and make sure it's all going well for him, before I do that.
How's that for great Sunday news?!
Ok, good news first. I think we sold the extra car already - $4500. The family came and looked at it yesterday and called back today and DH accepted their offer. They are buying it for their teenaged daughter and I guess they have to go to the credit union tomorrow.
Now for the great news...........DS has been offered a job! A really good job, doing IT work. He had been making plans to stay put where he is (in Canada) for the fall/winter in order to take a good paying labor type job. He had found out about the job (a mechanics helper) through the couple he has been staying with and figured making $30/hr for the next 6 months would give him a great nest egg to save for his racing next year.
After he turned in his resume during the application process they realized he has an IT degree and some work experience and have decided to hire him for an IT/Programming job instead! He already has an offer letter. $34/hr to start and full benefits. He will be training for 3 months and then once he is trained could be doing quite a bit of traveling to different field sites (company vehicle, etc) to work on programming equipment. It also sounds like quite a bit of overtime.
DS is beyond excited. He has found a place to rent - the finished basement of a relative of the people he has been staying with. He sent a couple of pictures of the place. A nice big family room with fireplace, a bedroom and full bath. Plus he gets to use the big shop to store/work on his race car. What more could he want? LOL. He will be paying only $400 per month and sounds perfect for him. He will be coming home in about 10 days and while here will have to take care of getting a work visa for Canada, but since he already has an offer letter, it shouldn't be any problems to get one quickly. Can you imagine a 22 year old (almost) making over $70k a year? From the sounds of it, getting into this job/industry will have him set with a career for life. It's very specialized.
So, soon I should be able to cut a few expenses....auto insurance on the sold car and health and dental insurance on DS. Eventually, we will also just transfer the tow rig he has with him now (the trailer is already in his name) to him and he can insure it himself and then I can just drop him off our insurance completely. I just want to wait awhile and make sure it's all going well for him, before I do that.
How's that for great Sunday news?!
Saturday, August 17, 2013
A clearance deal today
I had a $5 Kohl's "reward" for joining their rewards program and I needed a new pajama top. I don't need anything fancy, just something short sleeved to wear with my pj bottoms. I had hoped with the coupon to spend $10 or less. Well, everything was either tank top types or long sleep shirt types. The only ones I liked in my style were $25 - on sale, regularly $35 - for a sleep shirt! Another, was basically just a plain old t-shirt - for $20. I might as well go buy a regular t-shirt for $8 in their woman's clothing dept. I'm standing there holding pretty much my only option (which was pretty cute) and DD says "oh, just splurge for yourself on it"...so, I begrudgingly take it and start to follow her over to the pantyhose section and I'm passing by a clearance rack of sleepwear. A plain blue sleep t-shirt....I couldn't tell from all the half torn off price stickers stacked on each other, but it looked like it was down to $6.80 (regularly $22 - good grief!). Ok, I'll take this one instead. We get up to the register and it rings up at $2.20!! Now that's my kind of deal. We applied the rest of the $5 off coupon toward DD's pantyhose.
Friday, August 16, 2013
dental bill
I received 2 statements in the mail from our dentist. One for DD and one for myself. DD's said I owed a balance of $36, for her recent cleaning, fluoride and sealants. At first I was like "oh, that's not too bad". Then I was like "WAIT A MINUTE! Cleanings are supposed to be covered 100%....". Then I open my bill - I was expecting a bill of about $500...my 50% share of the crown and the bill is $662. By then I'm about freaking out. Of course it's Sunday when I picked up the mail, so I can't call the dental office.
At first I thought the extra on my bill was that they didn't get the claim resubmitted from my initial visit, when the tooth first broke and they had to do the temporary buildup. I had paid a 50% estimate at the time and then they tried to bill me another $96. In looking at my insurance EOB I discovered the insurance company had denied processing a portion of the claim until they had "more information/narrative" from the dentist office. I faxed the dental office a copy of the bill along with the insurance eob and said I wasn't paying anything more until they supplied the insurance what they needed to finish processing the claim (this was back in June).
So, I got online with my dental insurance and printed out the EOB's for our visits. Well, first issue is the dentist is not showing as a participating provider, so they are not paying at full benefits. Second issue is DD's EOB specifically showed a provider w/o of $10 and the dentist office didn't write it off, they added it to the bill. On my EOB the total billed was $1025, but the allowed amount was $747, but nothing was shown in the provider w/o (I'm thinking because it's a non participating provider).
Monday morning I called the dentist office and first thing I said was I think we have a problem in that you are no longer contracted with my dental insurance? Apparently the office was sold to a new dentist a few months ago and they are still working on getting everyone credentialed and contracted, but they will be and their corporate office is supposed to process the claims payments as if they were contracted. They were also supposed to write off the disallowed amount, not bill me for it. It's a good thing I am very familiar with reading eob's (past job) and knew something was messed up. I wonder how many people have just paid them the past few months, not realizing they were not supposed to be billed.
Every dental claim we've had in the past (even my root canal) didn't have much of a provider write off at all, so I was not expecting this big of one ($278) for my crown. Instead of the $512.50 I was expecting to owe I now only owed $373.50! I had her charge it to my CareCredit card and I was also given 12 months no interest on that.
This CareCredit account has been a godsend this past few months with the vet and dental bills. I first put the big vet bill of $466.02 on it. Then my portion of the root canal of $291.80 and now the $373.50 for the crown. The root canal was only a 6 months deferred interest (due to the lower amount), while the other 2 charges are 12 months deferred interest. I have my payments set up to have each paid off by the time the promotional period ends. My total monthly payment is $119.25, but $48/mo of that will be paid off in 4 more payments. No interest and it's helping rebuild my credit - double win.
At first I thought the extra on my bill was that they didn't get the claim resubmitted from my initial visit, when the tooth first broke and they had to do the temporary buildup. I had paid a 50% estimate at the time and then they tried to bill me another $96. In looking at my insurance EOB I discovered the insurance company had denied processing a portion of the claim until they had "more information/narrative" from the dentist office. I faxed the dental office a copy of the bill along with the insurance eob and said I wasn't paying anything more until they supplied the insurance what they needed to finish processing the claim (this was back in June).
So, I got online with my dental insurance and printed out the EOB's for our visits. Well, first issue is the dentist is not showing as a participating provider, so they are not paying at full benefits. Second issue is DD's EOB specifically showed a provider w/o of $10 and the dentist office didn't write it off, they added it to the bill. On my EOB the total billed was $1025, but the allowed amount was $747, but nothing was shown in the provider w/o (I'm thinking because it's a non participating provider).
Monday morning I called the dentist office and first thing I said was I think we have a problem in that you are no longer contracted with my dental insurance? Apparently the office was sold to a new dentist a few months ago and they are still working on getting everyone credentialed and contracted, but they will be and their corporate office is supposed to process the claims payments as if they were contracted. They were also supposed to write off the disallowed amount, not bill me for it. It's a good thing I am very familiar with reading eob's (past job) and knew something was messed up. I wonder how many people have just paid them the past few months, not realizing they were not supposed to be billed.
Every dental claim we've had in the past (even my root canal) didn't have much of a provider write off at all, so I was not expecting this big of one ($278) for my crown. Instead of the $512.50 I was expecting to owe I now only owed $373.50! I had her charge it to my CareCredit card and I was also given 12 months no interest on that.
This CareCredit account has been a godsend this past few months with the vet and dental bills. I first put the big vet bill of $466.02 on it. Then my portion of the root canal of $291.80 and now the $373.50 for the crown. The root canal was only a 6 months deferred interest (due to the lower amount), while the other 2 charges are 12 months deferred interest. I have my payments set up to have each paid off by the time the promotional period ends. My total monthly payment is $119.25, but $48/mo of that will be paid off in 4 more payments. No interest and it's helping rebuild my credit - double win.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Changing pharmacy's again
Awhile back I posted how I started filling DH's prescriptions at Costco pharmacy because I saved SO much money there. And I do. $100 a month savings over what I had paid at Target or Walmart. But, I HATE going to Costco. Always have and still do. DH's 2 prescriptions are not filled at the same time, (I suppose there would be some way to fix that, but I never asked) so one is filled near the beginning of the month and one mid month. One of his prescriptions for pain medication is a narcotic, so eue to the laws, I have to have a new prescription every month and the doctor can't call it in. I have to drop off the prescription each month. Target used to be a 10 minute wait....Costo is a 40 minute wait. Well, I have no desire to walk around or sit on the bench for 40 minutes waiting, so I drop it off and go back the next day. Not the most convenient thing every month. Costo is about a 15-20 minute drive from my house, or about 10 minutes out of my route home from work. I can't do any of it on my way to work as they don't open until 10am. It's only like 6 miles from my house but bad traffic and stop lights every block - ugh. I've just been making it work, because of the savings, even though I hate going there 3 times a month (twice for the narcotic and once for his other pain med).
I don't know what made me think of it, but the other day I googled "price match Costco pharmacy" and in doing a little research I found out the the other major pharmacies (like Target, Walmart, Walgreens, etc) will price match everyone but Costco. Then I saw a link that Kroger will price match Costco. We have a store less than a mile from my house (that I do shop at quite often) that is part of the Kroger chain. I just called their pharmacy and YES, if asked, they will price match Costco pharmacy prices!! Even if it's a long wait to get filled, a 2 minute drive back home is no big deal, or it's close to all the other places I shop and bank and I can run errands and swing back in.
So, no more trips to the Big C, no more waiting. I had got a membership there a few months ago, but I've used it only once or twice so far, because every stinking time I got in there the lines to check out are ridiculous and I say forget it, it's not worth standing in line that long for the few things I'd like to buy. Kind of a waste of the money for the membership, but at least I bought the membership through MyPoints and got 550 points and about $20 in free things with it, that I did get and use.
I don't know what made me think of it, but the other day I googled "price match Costco pharmacy" and in doing a little research I found out the the other major pharmacies (like Target, Walmart, Walgreens, etc) will price match everyone but Costco. Then I saw a link that Kroger will price match Costco. We have a store less than a mile from my house (that I do shop at quite often) that is part of the Kroger chain. I just called their pharmacy and YES, if asked, they will price match Costco pharmacy prices!! Even if it's a long wait to get filled, a 2 minute drive back home is no big deal, or it's close to all the other places I shop and bank and I can run errands and swing back in.
So, no more trips to the Big C, no more waiting. I had got a membership there a few months ago, but I've used it only once or twice so far, because every stinking time I got in there the lines to check out are ridiculous and I say forget it, it's not worth standing in line that long for the few things I'd like to buy. Kind of a waste of the money for the membership, but at least I bought the membership through MyPoints and got 550 points and about $20 in free things with it, that I did get and use.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Life keeps a changin'
A few small changes going on financially and otherwise. First, I am starting to contribute again to my 401k plan through work. I'm only doing $100 a month for now, but at least it's something. My company will match half of that, plus they also give us 3.4% of our salary as a profit sharing contribution. I will reevaluate my budget next January and see if I can increase the contribution. It all kind of depends on how much the new healthcare plans end up costing. (what a flippin' joke!)
It looks like we might have some reduction in expenses coming up. DS is making plans to stay and work in Canada (at least for the next 6 months or so). He will be working as a mechanic's helper and the pay is still WAY better than any job he could get here at home. He is going to rent the basement of the son of the couple he has been staying with the past 6 weeks. They have a big house with an unused finished basement, so for $400 a month DS will have a nice big family room, a bedroom and a bathroom - and most important - use of the big shop to put his race car :) The couple he has been staying with (I think they've basically adopted him, LOL) are going to let him use an old small economy car they have for driving back and forth to work, so they are putting him on their insurance. I emailed him documents from our insurance company on Monday, so they'd have proof he doesn't have any claims or accidents. They are currently figuring out how to go about getting him a work visa.
So, that means DH and I will probably sell the extra car we have no need of anymore. That will give us approximately $4000 and take away that insurance cost for that car, which I think is about $50 a month. I think I will be leaving DS on our insurance as a driver though....he still has our old tow rig with him and might be driving that on occasion. But, I can have him keep paying me back that insurance cost, as he has been for about the past year, anyway.
I don't have any details on whether with this job he will get health insurance (I really don't know how all that works, since it's Canada) but regardless, if I have to leave him on our insurance plan, he'll be making enough to reimburse me for the monthly cost of it and dental, which, at least until the end of the year, is $90 a month for him. Not sure yet what our insurance costs will be once the "affordable" health care act kicks in. I'm sure it will really be less "affordable" for us - probably to the tune of taking up the nice big raise I just got :P
DD has offered to work the weekday morning shift as host (that person is leaving for school) so she will now have weekends free again. Her classes at the community college, starting near the end of September, will be afternoons 2 days a week, an evening class 2 days a week and an online class. We are excited that she will have weekends free to spend together. That was always our time to go shopping and run errands together and we've missed it. I've only got her one more year, so I'm excited to get to spend a little more time with her this next year.
Tomorrow is payday and along with the $500 I already put in savings from my last paycheck, I still have almost $300 left! In budgeting tomorrow's paycheck I should have about $150 left from that, too. The house payment comes out of that check, so there's usually not much left. Well, it used to be that there was less than enough left after house payment and expenses that I'd have to make sure I always had some left from the paycheck before it, to carry me through. It's nice not to have to do that anymore!
It looks like we might have some reduction in expenses coming up. DS is making plans to stay and work in Canada (at least for the next 6 months or so). He will be working as a mechanic's helper and the pay is still WAY better than any job he could get here at home. He is going to rent the basement of the son of the couple he has been staying with the past 6 weeks. They have a big house with an unused finished basement, so for $400 a month DS will have a nice big family room, a bedroom and a bathroom - and most important - use of the big shop to put his race car :) The couple he has been staying with (I think they've basically adopted him, LOL) are going to let him use an old small economy car they have for driving back and forth to work, so they are putting him on their insurance. I emailed him documents from our insurance company on Monday, so they'd have proof he doesn't have any claims or accidents. They are currently figuring out how to go about getting him a work visa.
So, that means DH and I will probably sell the extra car we have no need of anymore. That will give us approximately $4000 and take away that insurance cost for that car, which I think is about $50 a month. I think I will be leaving DS on our insurance as a driver though....he still has our old tow rig with him and might be driving that on occasion. But, I can have him keep paying me back that insurance cost, as he has been for about the past year, anyway.
I don't have any details on whether with this job he will get health insurance (I really don't know how all that works, since it's Canada) but regardless, if I have to leave him on our insurance plan, he'll be making enough to reimburse me for the monthly cost of it and dental, which, at least until the end of the year, is $90 a month for him. Not sure yet what our insurance costs will be once the "affordable" health care act kicks in. I'm sure it will really be less "affordable" for us - probably to the tune of taking up the nice big raise I just got :P
DD has offered to work the weekday morning shift as host (that person is leaving for school) so she will now have weekends free again. Her classes at the community college, starting near the end of September, will be afternoons 2 days a week, an evening class 2 days a week and an online class. We are excited that she will have weekends free to spend together. That was always our time to go shopping and run errands together and we've missed it. I've only got her one more year, so I'm excited to get to spend a little more time with her this next year.
Tomorrow is payday and along with the $500 I already put in savings from my last paycheck, I still have almost $300 left! In budgeting tomorrow's paycheck I should have about $150 left from that, too. The house payment comes out of that check, so there's usually not much left. Well, it used to be that there was less than enough left after house payment and expenses that I'd have to make sure I always had some left from the paycheck before it, to carry me through. It's nice not to have to do that anymore!
Saturday, August 10, 2013
What a saver!
Since DD is still a minor, I am on her checking and savings account, which means I can also see all the activity when I sign online to view my account. She has over $2200 in her savings account! I was looking over the transactions back to just before she started her job. In September of last year she had a whopping $28 in her savings. This past year she has steadily put all her tip money into savings and now has $2242. Plus on top of that she has over $800 in her checking. What a great saver she is. I'm so proud of her. She doesn't deprive herself, but she doesn't spend much. Gas for her car is her biggest expense. She buys things for herself, shoes or a tennis outfit, maybe a pair of jeans. She occasionally goes out to eat with friends or stops for a coffee. I think Amazon is her biggest weakness, but she's usually not spending much more than $10 at a time - usually a new phone case or some cute jewelry. She recently bought this necklace:
And she'll shop around for the best price and look for coupon codes. Originally when she saw this necklace on a website it was $29. She found it elsewhere for $17. She recently got a pair of $90 designer jeans purchased online during a sale and found a coupon code, making them $52 and free shipping.
She's really been making the tips the past few months. She goes out of her way to really help the servers and they all fight over having her help out in their section and most of them share their tips with her very well - she makes about $130 in tips on the weekends. She's also been starting to do the "to go" orders - where she runs the phoned in orders out to the curbside pick up and she gets to keep all of those tips for herself, so it's really starting to add up. She can start serving when she is 18 (a couple more months) and she is really hoping she'll get promoted to a server. She's already gotten to serve a bit here and there and decided she really likes it. If she gets to do that the next year, before she goes off to college, she should really have a nice chunk of money set aside and shouldn't have to find a part time job (unless she really wants to - which she thinks she does) while at college.
She's really been making the tips the past few months. She goes out of her way to really help the servers and they all fight over having her help out in their section and most of them share their tips with her very well - she makes about $130 in tips on the weekends. She's also been starting to do the "to go" orders - where she runs the phoned in orders out to the curbside pick up and she gets to keep all of those tips for herself, so it's really starting to add up. She can start serving when she is 18 (a couple more months) and she is really hoping she'll get promoted to a server. She's already gotten to serve a bit here and there and decided she really likes it. If she gets to do that the next year, before she goes off to college, she should really have a nice chunk of money set aside and shouldn't have to find a part time job (unless she really wants to - which she thinks she does) while at college.
What's a stamp?
I hardly ever need to use postage stamps anymore. (No wonder the post office is broke!). With online banking there is not one bill I cannot pay online. My regular monthly payments like electricity, insurances and garbage I have set up to have the payment withdrawn from my checking account or it gets charged to my debit card. For things like my payment to the lady that owns our water well, I just set her up as a payee with my online banking and make a few clicks and a check gets mailed to her (at no charge to me). Recently my bank (Chase) added being able to send anyone money that goes direct to their account, even if it's a different bank, so we set up my monthly loan payment to my mom that way. I don't always see her on the first of the month so I was just having Chase mail her a payment, but then she'd have to make a trip to her bank to deposit it. Now it's just in her bank every month.
If I send anyone a letter, it's via email. DD recently needed a stamp because a friend of hers is doing his basic training and sent her a letter (he's not allowed facebook or email, I guess) so she wanted to send him a letter back. I didn't have any stamps! So, I just took it to work, threw 2 quarters in the petty cash box and used the postage meter at work to stamp it. I didn't want to have to go buy a whole book of stamps to have sitting around, nor did I want to stand in line at the post office just to get one little stamp. It's interesting how technology changes make some things that we used to use with regularity almost obsolete.
I also remember "back in the day" how even the next town over was a long distance phone call. Now, I can call my son in Canada and it's all just part of my monthly phone service. No extra surprises each month on how much the long distance bill is. When DH and I first got married he liked to talk on the phone to all his friends every evening. Most were "local long distance" calls, but the bill would still add up each month. I hated getting that bill!
If I send anyone a letter, it's via email. DD recently needed a stamp because a friend of hers is doing his basic training and sent her a letter (he's not allowed facebook or email, I guess) so she wanted to send him a letter back. I didn't have any stamps! So, I just took it to work, threw 2 quarters in the petty cash box and used the postage meter at work to stamp it. I didn't want to have to go buy a whole book of stamps to have sitting around, nor did I want to stand in line at the post office just to get one little stamp. It's interesting how technology changes make some things that we used to use with regularity almost obsolete.
I also remember "back in the day" how even the next town over was a long distance phone call. Now, I can call my son in Canada and it's all just part of my monthly phone service. No extra surprises each month on how much the long distance bill is. When DH and I first got married he liked to talk on the phone to all his friends every evening. Most were "local long distance" calls, but the bill would still add up each month. I hated getting that bill!
Friday, August 9, 2013
DH just saved us a bundle
I went to drive our "extra" car the other day - just so it gets driven every so often....(this is the car DS usually drives when he is home, but it has hardly been driven since last December now) and the front end was making a terrible loud squeaking noise every time I turned the steering wheel, so after a couple of blocks I turned around and drove it back home and parked it.
DH had a guess it was the ball joints....maybe the tie rod ends. He had us pick up the ball joints as he was taking the car apart and then realized it was most likely the rod ends instead, but since the ball joints were only $16 ea and he already had it all apart, he just replaced both. Works great now! I don't know what this would have cost us if we had taken it to a repair shop, but given we live in a high cost of living area where mechanics charge high labor rates, I'm guessing minimum $500 - probably more like $800. Our cost? $70 in parts. Granted, DH is going to be one out of commission guy for a couple of days, as it took a lot of energy out of him, but so worth the savings.
We will probably be putting this car up for sale now. Hoping we can get about $4500 for it. DS probably won't be home to need it anytime soon, and even when he does, by that point he needs to figure out how to buy his own vehicle. We could sure use the money to pay off towards my car (we bought my car used after our bankruptcy and my mom loaned us the money and I'm still paying her off) or get our seriously falling apart bathroom re-done.
DH can't put a nail in the wall to hang a picture to save his life, but at least when it comes to some mechanical things, he knows his stuff.
DH had a guess it was the ball joints....maybe the tie rod ends. He had us pick up the ball joints as he was taking the car apart and then realized it was most likely the rod ends instead, but since the ball joints were only $16 ea and he already had it all apart, he just replaced both. Works great now! I don't know what this would have cost us if we had taken it to a repair shop, but given we live in a high cost of living area where mechanics charge high labor rates, I'm guessing minimum $500 - probably more like $800. Our cost? $70 in parts. Granted, DH is going to be one out of commission guy for a couple of days, as it took a lot of energy out of him, but so worth the savings.
We will probably be putting this car up for sale now. Hoping we can get about $4500 for it. DS probably won't be home to need it anytime soon, and even when he does, by that point he needs to figure out how to buy his own vehicle. We could sure use the money to pay off towards my car (we bought my car used after our bankruptcy and my mom loaned us the money and I'm still paying her off) or get our seriously falling apart bathroom re-done.
DH can't put a nail in the wall to hang a picture to save his life, but at least when it comes to some mechanical things, he knows his stuff.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Another change
I've been a bit quiet on the blog lately. Family turmoil tends to overwhelm my brain and then I can't sit and write. It's nothing super terrible, life will certainly go on and get back to normal. DS broke up with his long time girlfriend. No one saw it coming, least of all her, apparently. But, I can see DS's point - his lifestyle has changed a lot over the past year and long distance relationships don't much make for good ones. While I like his girlfriend, she is quite different from him, as far as money and material things go and it has always worried me that a future marriage would be very stressful for him trying to make sure she has everything she thinks she needs (designer labels, manicures and pedicures, vacations, etc).
DH is the one having a hard time with it, of course. He tends to take everything personal - whether it's DS just giving a short answer in an email (most likely because he's tired of dealing with the other 100 texts and emails from others wanting to know "what happened") or someone's comment on stupid Facebook. You can't convince him he just needs to stay out of it and give DS some space. I can say until I'm blue in the face that this is between DS and GF and let him handle it how he wants to handle it, but DH has to sit and analyze and try to "help". That's what happens, I guess, when you have someone with way too much time on their hands and not a lot to do and think about..
From what I've talked and messaged with DS he is doing fine (as well as can be) and just ready to keep working on his life goals and see where it all takes him. He said GF is being understanding and they are trying to keep it all good and amicable. But, since he's not physically here, DH thinks he has to try to read between the lines over every little thing and it's exhausting for me and DD to deal with. One of the hard parts of living with someone who emotionally has never quite gotten past being 16 years old. He takes after his mother - who thrives on drama. I hate it and so do both of my kids. Amazing that our two kids ended as mature and emotionally well-centered as they are!
It will all eventually pass and everyone will get on with their lives - hopefully sooner, rather than later. I am excited to see what kind of things DS will do with his life now that he can be 100% focused on his goals.
DH is the one having a hard time with it, of course. He tends to take everything personal - whether it's DS just giving a short answer in an email (most likely because he's tired of dealing with the other 100 texts and emails from others wanting to know "what happened") or someone's comment on stupid Facebook. You can't convince him he just needs to stay out of it and give DS some space. I can say until I'm blue in the face that this is between DS and GF and let him handle it how he wants to handle it, but DH has to sit and analyze and try to "help". That's what happens, I guess, when you have someone with way too much time on their hands and not a lot to do and think about..
From what I've talked and messaged with DS he is doing fine (as well as can be) and just ready to keep working on his life goals and see where it all takes him. He said GF is being understanding and they are trying to keep it all good and amicable. But, since he's not physically here, DH thinks he has to try to read between the lines over every little thing and it's exhausting for me and DD to deal with. One of the hard parts of living with someone who emotionally has never quite gotten past being 16 years old. He takes after his mother - who thrives on drama. I hate it and so do both of my kids. Amazing that our two kids ended as mature and emotionally well-centered as they are!
It will all eventually pass and everyone will get on with their lives - hopefully sooner, rather than later. I am excited to see what kind of things DS will do with his life now that he can be 100% focused on his goals.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Hello goes a long way
I haven't shopped at the big "W" much this year, especially after the way we were treated at the vision center. I used to spend probably close to $200 a week there between food and misc things. I needed to get grocery shopping done this morning and I was out and about pretty early so decided to just go to Walmart as it is closest and shouldn't have any crowds so early. Got all my groceries and stuff and pulled up to the checkstand just as another person was leaving.
Not a hello, how are ya? Nothin'. When he handed me my receipt, not a thank you or good bye. Nothin'. Must have been the kind of mood I was in or something but I totally bit my tongue not to say anything about it to him and then got out to my car and wished I had said something. So, when I got home I called and talked to the customer service manager about it. She was like "he didn't even greet you?!". Nope. Nothin'. I said I know it really sucks to have to work for a living, but he could have at least said hello, might make his day go better, you know? Now I remember one of the reasons I stopped shopping there!
Not a hello, how are ya? Nothin'. When he handed me my receipt, not a thank you or good bye. Nothin'. Must have been the kind of mood I was in or something but I totally bit my tongue not to say anything about it to him and then got out to my car and wished I had said something. So, when I got home I called and talked to the customer service manager about it. She was like "he didn't even greet you?!". Nope. Nothin'. I said I know it really sucks to have to work for a living, but he could have at least said hello, might make his day go better, you know? Now I remember one of the reasons I stopped shopping there!
Thursday, August 1, 2013
A treat
I bought myself a "treat" yesterday to celebrate my raise -
I've been wanting a yellow rose bush for quite awhile and the local garden/nursery near my house was selling them for $20. Doesn't take much to make me happy :)
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