Bloom Where You Are Planted

I love to have a new purse at the start of summer and winter. Of course, I love to have a new matching wallet as well. (I have a thing about my purse and wallet matching.) I don't buy expensive bags, (think Kohl's, not Coach) but even so, a cute purse and wallet can set you back $70 or so.

Last week, I took son to Kohl's to buy a nice shirt and pants for his graduation. The new summer purses were in. I must have looked at every one, and saw several that I would have loved to take home. I was still carrying my winter purse, and it was hgh time to switch to a summer purse anyway. I was soooo tempted.

Well, I resisted! As soon as we got home, I pulled out my purse storage bin and chose last summer's new purse and wallet, moved my things in, and put the winter purse and wallet in the storage bin. There, I have my "new" summer purse.

My son graduated from 8th grade on Friday! Where does the time go? He is a great kid, I am so proud of him. Friday he had 3 friends over and I picked up take and bake pizza for them. Yesterday he had 2 different friends over who spent the night. My Mom and BF were here too and we had a BBQ in son's honor. This morning the boys are up and busy.

Son and BF and I worked on the planter some more yesterday. I have decided I don't want to deal with Craig's List ad people any longer. I'm just keeping all the rocks. I can pile them higher in the center and move some more to the back yard. One corner of my yard is completely shaded by trees planted in neighbors' yards (one behind me, two on the side of me). Nothing ever grows in that corner but weeds, so filling it in with rocks will be an improvement.

I'm going with low maintenance plants. I have been offered some free starts from pink and purple geraniums (those are my favorite flower colors). I have always had great luck with geraniums and the price is right. I have also been offered some of these from BF's yard:



I would also like to get some alyssum to fill in between plants. I can get some starts from my Mom's yard.

So far, I have not spent a single cent on my planter makeover. I will need to buy some fertilizer and mulch, and may need to buy some plants to finish. But it is shaping up to cost much, much less than the $700 I had set aside. Whatever is not spent on the planter will go towards credit card debt.

I hope I am happy with the results when this is all done.

I deleted my Craigslist ad after receiving 20 or so responses. The first person who responded was supposed to come Sunday but called and said no, he would come Monday. Yesterday (Monday) he texted me about 4 that he was on his way (I had told him twice I don't get home earlier than 5:30). When I got home, he wasn't there and no rocks had been taken. I texted him at 6 to ask if he was still coming. He texted back that he hadn't brought tools with him and hadn't realized he would need tools to load the rocks. (Did he imagine the rocks would voluntarily jump into his truck bed?) I asked if he wanted the rocks and he did not respond, so I assume that means no. I have emailed the second person who replied to my ad, will see how that goes.

Now I am thinking, maybe I will remove the rocks from the areas I want to plant bushes and flowers and just leave the rest. I won't need to buy pavers and sand, and it will be much less work. So the planter would be a capital C of plants, the inside part would be rocks. It wouldn't look as I had envisioned, but it would still look much better than it did.

Yesterday my son, my nephew, my mom and myself hauled many wheelbarrow and wagon loads of rocks from my front planter to my back yard (I intend to use them in one corner of the yard to keep weeds down). We could all see that there are more rocks in the planter than are needed in the back. We had not moved even half of them and the area was getting full. My mom remarked "I bet a lot of people would love to have these rocks." Isn't she brilliant?

So I came inside and posted a "free rocks" ad on Craigslist. I had 4 responses within 30 minutes. I called the first person. He is coming by tomorrow evening to take some rocks home. I will see how that goes, then contact the second person if I still have rocks in the planter.

I took these pics today of my front yard, which is just awful. My project this year is the large rectangular planter. A previous homeowner saw fit to fill it in with river rocks. They are piled too high and spill out on the sidewalk constantly. My first year here, I bought some lavender and some lamb's ear and planted it, deciding to see what would happen. As you can see, this is what happened!





The lavender has long since died, the lamb's ear is scraggly and uneven. I have sprayed the weeds, so they just need to be pulled out. My plan is to remove several inches of rocks, put in sand in the center, good soil along the edges, fill in the center with pavers, and plant some low maintenance things along the edges. I picked up a book at the library called "Low Maintenance California Gardening". I hope to do this as inexpensively as possible.

So this past week I did something I have been putting off. I enrolled in a CPA review course.

Why have I been putting it off? A couple of reasons. The first reason is that the last one started 1 week after I graduated. After 5 years of working full-time and going to school at night, I wanted a break longer than 1 week. The second reason is that I am nervous. I'm worried I won't be able to pass.

To be honest, I like what I do right now, and am unsure I really want to be a CPA. However, it seems foolish to stop at this point. Also, my two bosses want me to take it and pass. They have both been very supportive of my educational goals, and a few years ago volunteered to start paying my tuition. Maybe I just have performance anxiety.

So I am starting the course June 11th. It is from 8 - 5 on Saturdays, and will take until the end of October. Doesn't that sound like fun?

If I do become a CPA, my earning potential will shoot way up. My intention is to avoid lifestyle creep and get myself in great financial shape.

Wish me luck with the course and that pesky exam!

I sent $800 to B of A Visa and $800 to my Roth; the rest is sitting in my checking account. I will have to pay my half of summer camp soon, so that is where it will go.

For the rest of the year, I have to contribute $100 per month to my Roth to hit my 3k goal for 2011. That shouldn't be a problem, so I am pleased to be on track with that.

My B of A Visa billing cycle closed yesterday. I just logged on to view the statement, and I see that I was charged $2.46 in interest this month. I expect it to go up next month, as my "1.99% until July 2011" apparently ends after my May billing statement (???). I think that was the gist of the vague letter they sent me two months ago. My balance is down to $1779.61 and my minimum payment is down to $20. I'm glad, because in a pinch, $20 isn't too hard to cough up. Also, I'm glad I got the balance significantly lower before the 1.99% promo rate ends. My regular rate is variable, currently at 7.24%. So not too awful, but of course I would rather pay no interest at all! With my most recent budget revision, the balance will be gone by the end of the year.

My brother is supposed to show up sometime tonight, to visit our Mom for Mother's Day. I'm looking forward to catching up with him.

I brown bagged it 4 days this week, ate out 1 day. I had been slipping into my old habit of eating out every day, which I simply can't afford. But 1 day? Sure, I can swing that. That money comes out of my "cash allowance" budget category.

This morning over breakfast, I browsed last Saturday's newspaper. I spotted a fairly new house for sale for 67k. It is cute and on a cul de sac. I nearly choked. The first thought that pops into my head is...I could pull 67k out of my IRA, pay cash for that house, then concentrate on repairing the damage to my nest egg.

But a quick check on Zillow revealed...undesireable area. Like put on your body armor to go out and check the mail undesireable.

But I do mull over the possibilities of buying another house for myself. If I bought a house for 120k, put 20% down, I'd have a mortgage half the size of what I have now. That's very appealing. The problem is my current house. What to do with it?

I have been a landlord in the past and it doesn't appeal much to me. Also, I bought the house to live in myself. I put in beautiful reddish wood laminate floors. I LOVE them, but they do require care and some common sense (wipe up spills immediately, do not drag furniture, hot glue small pads onto the bottoms of chair legs, etc.).

Or I could come up with 60k + selling costs in order to get out from under, thereby negating the advantage of buying an equivalent house at a lower price.

Or I could just let it go and allow my perfect credit to become history. This is not so appealing either.

And so, I do nothing but choke on my breakfast when I spy a cute house in the newspaper listed at 67k.

Perhaps the best solution is to cancel my newspaper subscription and stay off of Zillow.

This month's chips are:

1. $8.00 from Beezag
2. $2.43 from Lending Club
3. $27.02 from InBox Dollars
4. $13.06 budgeted chip

So does my little chart make sense to people? Last month Monkey Mama posted hers, and I noticed right off that hers is way more viewer friendly than mine. Not that I have amortization schedule envy, or anything.

Edit: Here are some headings, I hope it is more viewer friendly.

As you can see, I have tweeked my budget further. I have eliminated my medical co-pay category, and basically folded it into "Everything Else". I have trimmed a bit here and there, and have bumped up my credit card debt payment.

So here is how I did in April.

My retirement accounts have enjoyed a nice bump this month due to market moves and my annual employee matching.

My cash is up because I was paid my overtime yesterday and I haven't done anything with it yet.

My home value continues to find new lows. Goodie.

Recently I uncovered some very negative reviews of the tour company I was thinking of using for our Egypt trip next summer. They gave me pause. I had chosen this particular company because of the reasonable price and a recommendation from a friend of a friend.

I have spoken with my son about it, and he now says he would rather go to Hawaii anyway. My next step is to talk it over with my cousin (she is out of state attending a wedding this weekend). I have been pricing air, hotel, and car rental packages. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this trip would cost quite a bit less than the planned Egypt trip.

Anyone been to Hawaii? Have any tips to share? Things to see?

I ended up adding my impound account refund to my EF, as well as $200 from my bonus. My EF is now a full 3 months of take home pay! I feel good about reaching this milestone.

Also, from my bonus, I sent $600 to B of A Visa, $300 to my Roth, $300 to my son's accounts, and the balance ($700) is sitting in my checking account. My bonus was $2700 gross, which is $300 more than last year, so I was very pleased with that.

I have not yet been paid for my seasonal OT. I expect to clear $1900. I think I will send $400 to my Roth and $1500 to B of A Visa. This will mean I need only another extra $400 (on top of my regular monthly contributions) to hit my goal of 3k for 2011. Also, it will get B of A under $1100. It was $4500 and change in November, so I am pleased with my progress.

I'm wishy-washy I know, but I just don't want to miss hitting my annual Roth targets, because that will lower my odds of hitting my ultimate target, and THAT would be BAD.

Today I received my annual impound account review statement. I was pleased to see it drop a few dollars, which I had expected. My PITI payment is going from 1276.94 to 1273.49.

What I hadn't expected was a refund check for 79.94. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? What a great mortgage chip!

I will have to wait and see what my bonus is before I can say for certain that yes, it is a mortgage chip.

Yesterday I saw one of my favorite clients. She is witty, fiesty and very interested in a variety of things. She is always doing something.

So far, so good, right?

She also lives on a pittance and is constantly hustling to earn some money. She has several part-time jobs and several self-employed endeavors.

She is in her 70s. She cannot afford to stop working. She is fortunate that so far, she still can.

I do not want to end up like that. I will never be wealthy and that is fine. But I do not want to constantly worry how I will eat and put gas in my car when I am in my 70s.

The life insurance money is now safely tucked into my Roth.

On Monday I will be receiving my seasonal OT check (about 80 hours) and my bonus. I expect to clear about 4k.

I am going back and forth on what to do. Please help me decide!

Plan 1
Pay off B of A Visa. Balance approximately 3.2k.
.3k to son.
Remainder to checking towards yard maintenance.


Plan 2
1k to B of A Visa
1k to Roth
.3k to EF
.3k to Egypt savings
.3k to son
.3k to Trad IRA
Remainder to hold until yard maintenance complete, then pay down B of A some more with what is left.

It would feel GREAT to pay off B of A. But without that extra boost to Roth, I may not hit my 3k goal.

Opinions?

On Monday I received a check from InBox Dollars for $47.01. I have already sent it off to B of A (the Evil Empire )towards my Visa.

Yesterday I received a check for $863.68 from my ex-husband for my half of our life insurance policy proceeds. I have deposited it, but that is as far as I have gotten.

Yesterday was BFs birthday. I forgot! My daughter texted me in the afternoon to wish BF a happy birthday from her (she had seen it on Facebook). When I got home, I learned that BF didnt realize the date, so he didnt know I had forgotten. LOL! It was a milestone for him too, the big five oh.

I am feeling tired today. I work until 7 most days and have been working most Sundays since late January. For some reason, my OT isn't adding up too well. OK, OK, I know the reason. I am not the worlds most punctual employee, I often arrive a bit late in the mornings. For that reason, I only count 1 hr OT per day, even though it is closer to 2, and even though I seldom get even a 45 min lunch hour. Also, I do take the occasional Savings Advice break. Its guilt. :P On Sundays, I usually only work 5 hours. Since we are officially closed, I can get a lot of work done in 5 uninterrupted hours.

Just a tiny bit of progress this month.

I did play around with the custom colors feature in my paint program, and was able to get a beige for the background, which I like better than the greenish-tan I had been using. So that is something I guess.

Here is my latest tweaked budget. Bring it on, April.

And here is my net worth report. Dipped back under 100k again.

My house value has hit a new low. It seems I say that every month!

I hadn't checked Kelley Blue Book for my car value in a few months and was surprised that it booked a few hundred higher. I must have put in the wrong mileage last time.

Here is my report card for March.

My wages were a bit more than budgeted due to a 12 day pay period. I also managed a nice bit of extra income.

I paid extra on the mortgage with some of Feb's extra income, as planned.

The groceries and utilities really did come in with the same total. It's a coincidence not an error. We did good in both catergories.

This was the second month my water bill was based on usage, not on a flat rate. My water/sewer/garbage bill was $98 per month, but the past 2 months it has been $87ish. So not a huge difference, but definately nice.

I overspent on my Visa. Again. As well as my gasoline and Netflix, we ate out a couple of times, I bought son some needed new shoes, and I made a donation to the American Red Cross for Japan relief efforts. Eating out continues to be a problem spending area for me.

I made my regular Roth IRA contribution, then opened a new Roth at ING (thanks, Ima Saver!) with an additional $200 contribution. After I receive my $50 bonus, I will transfer it to Vanguard.

That was my last gym membership payment.

I paid $420 on my Visa debt, some of which was from extra income.

I haven't paid any medical co-pays in a few months, but the time will come when I will go over.

That's it, end of report.

My target for Roth IRA is 150k. I have made the following contributions:

2008 2k
2009 2k
2010 3k

Current value: 9k

If I contribute 3k per year from now on, I will reach my target of 150k at age 65 if I earn just a hair over 6%. The return isn't guaranteed of course, but 6% is extremely possible. So, I intend to scrape up at least 3k each and every year for my Roth.

In other news, I have a large hedge on the right-hand side of my driveway which was terribly overgrown. BF has trimmed it back neatly, and my nephew and son took care of all the branches. So some progress has been made already, with much more to follow in the coming weeks.

Yesterday, my Mom spent the day at my house, along with son, nephew, nephew's son, and BF. So we were chatting about the sad state of my backyard and the current unkempt state of my front yard. I haven't done much at all with my yards since buying the house. There were other priorities, but the time has come to spend a little money and a lot of elbow grease and get them looking nice. (And I really do want to spend a little money!)

There are a few other items around the house I need to address. I sense some of my B of A Visa money slipping away. {sigh}.

When I bought my house, it was in rough condition. It was a foreclosure, and it had been owned by someone with very questionable taste. I wish I had taken a bunch of "before" pictures! Some of the "selling features":

1. There were bathroom tiles hot-glued onto one wall in the living room, in a sort of checkerboard pattern, but not touching each other. They weren't lined up neatly. Some were brownish, some were gray, some were a metallic copper color. They were about halfway up the wall. Underneath, someone had painted vertical stripes of peach and brownish-red. They hadn't used a ruler or tape or anything. I mean, why would you?

The wall had to be re-textured after the tile came off.

2. Someone had rag-rolled the kitchen walls, and done it badly.

3. The hall bathroom had been painted a very bright green. They had painted the walls and ceiling. They hadn't bothered to remove the mirror, cover the tub enclosure, etc. So in addition to re-painting, there was a lot of paint removing to be done. Good times!

4. One bedroom was painted a bright red. A very, very, bright red. It hurt my eyes. The theme of failing to do any prep work was repeated in the bedroom. They had not covered switch plates, protected the carpet, nothing. The carpet was not salvageable, too many large paint splotches.

I think I will find my camera, take a few "before" shots of the yards, some "in-progress" shots, and some "after" shots. I have some very simple improvements in mind, but I think they will help both curb appeal (in the front) and our enjoyment (in the back) a lot. I really want to keep it low-cost and low-maintenance (in the future).

So last night was bill paying evening, after paying everything, I have $1200 left in checking, and I have another $226 coming in next week. Not bad at all, considering the small 2/28 paycheck. I have decided I will not keep surplus greater than $1500 sitting there, but will instead transfer it to savings.

This month I paid $420 to B of A Visa. That's $85 budgeted, plus $149 from EF (sent it $1), plus $78 from selling a credit card reward gift card, plus $8 from Beezag, plus $100 received from someone who owed me $100. My new balance is $3,330.53. I think I will be able to pay it in full next month.

My 3/31 paycheck will be for 12 days, so that will make up for half of 2/28's shortage. My budget is based on 11 workdays per pay period, but the occasional 10 and 12 days do happen. That 9 though was really ugly.

I did a secret shop today at an auto service chain. I needed an oil change anyway, and the shop reimburses up to $33. I actually spent more than that because I went ahead and had my tires rotated and bought new air filters. Still, it took me only 30 min or so to complete and submit the report. Well worth it!

I also went by my gym to turn in a 30 day notice. They offered to make me inactive for 6 months at no charge. So, I went for that.

I enjoyed my day off today so much, I was ready for one! BF and son and I went to my Mom's house. The four of us played cards all afternoon, then had a nice dinner. It was a nice relaxing time. BF has been here more than a week and has bought groceries, so my grocery tab for the month should look pretty good!

Today I received a check for $78 from Plastic Jungle. I logged on to Discover because I thought I should have my $50 check from them, only to "discover" that I hadn't completed my transaction. I still had the same rewards balance. So I tried again and opted for the instant statement credit instead.

And I reached 8,000 pts on Beezag, so have ordered my first $8 pay out from them.

I have decided something else too. I am not going to chip the $128 in credit card rewards I expect any moment now. I am not going to add any new money to my main savings account. I am not going to use my bonus money next month towards savings, Roth, mortgage, etc. Instead, I am going to kill my B of A credit card debt.

I should be able to kill it next month. Following its demise, I will have a bit more free cash flow to use towards savings goals.

So after careful consideration, I have decided to ditch the gym membership. BF and I have decided to start taking bike rides together. I live near a nice walking trail which I utilize when I have a walking partner. I own Wii fit, and Netflix has tons of workout videos for streaming. I am going to miss it, but I really could use the money elsewhere.

It is not a slam dunk gain though, as I have been paying for BF to be on my gym membership in exchange for him adding my cell line and my Mom's on his plan. Since I am cancelling the gym membership, I feel I need to reimburse him for the cost of our lines.

I received e-mails today about my two Offermatic rebates. You have to follow the link in the e-mail which takes you to Offermatic, log-in, and then enter your credit card information. The rebates are pending.

I don't think I am going to chip my rebates. I think I will just use them to help me keep my total credit card charges down to my budgeted $400 per month, something I have not managed yet!

I hope I get some new offers soon. I especially like those gas ones!

This morning on mint.com, I noted that according to Zillow, my home value has fallen another $4,500 to $127,500. I am now at 144% LTV.

Sometimes I wonder: am I being foolish? Am I missing the opportunity of a lifetime? Should I buy a different home for myself at today's prices and just let mine go? Yes, I put 53k down and immediately another 10k on repairs/maintenance, but that's gone and there is nothing to be done about that.