Over at Marie-Madeline Studio, they are having a contest to win one of their quilts and it is just about the prettiest, put-a-smile-on-your-face quilt I have ever seen! Yup, it is the one shown here. Wouldn't you agree?



Stop by

http://mariemadelinestudio.typepad.com/mariemadeline_studio/... to enter the giveaway now thru August 8th.

I hope I win...but good luck to you all as well!!!

My husband and I usually don't get crazy over V-Day. We'll use it as an excuse to have a nice dinner or buy a card but not too over the top. Well, this year I was sad because my hubby was going to be away for V-Day weekend. Right before he left this morning I got a delivery from ProFlowers - 2 dozen red roses and a box of chocolate truffles! I was extremely surprised and thrilled. A couple hours later another ProFlowers delivery arrived - this time for our daughter, a dozen multi-color roses! Then this evening my daughter and I went to have dinner at my in-laws and guess who had just received a beautiful bunch of tulips from her son?! Needless to say she was thrilled as well.

I've gotta say, hubby definitely scored mucho points today!

Okay, so first I need to clarify and admit that this is really my darling husband's bailout plan...and it is limited to the credit card banks and automakers. I just thought it was so excellent I had to post it on my blog.

Bailing out the credit card banks and the big US automakers:

Step 1: Federal government pays off the outstanding debts on all customer credit card accounts and auto loans for the big companies that are requesting bailout money.

Step 2: Citizens whose credit card and/or car loan accounts are paid off by the gov't are given low-interest-rate federal loans for the balance that was paid for them. They no longer owe anything to the CCs or automakers.

Step 3: Citizens pay off their debt directly to the government each month.

Step 4: People who "opt-in" to this program are not allowed to take on any new debt until the federal loan is paid in full --- excluding mortgages, and car loans for those who were not part of the car loan bailout.

Step 5: Everyone is happy. The citizens are paying off their credit card and auto loan debt at a lower rate, without extra fees and penalties, and not able to get into further debilitating debt. The banks and the automakers get their bailout money. The government throws money around like they enjoy doing.

Win-win-win as far as I can see.

Little Ryan was born HEALTHY after many months of health scares by the doctors. My girlfriend was told at 20 months gestation that this baby had an incurable and deadly disease...after months of prayers this little boy has no signs of that problem. He will be monitored, but everything looks VERY good for his healthy and happy future!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PRAYED FOR THIS BABY! ALL OF OUR PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED!!!

I took a long break from this fabulous blog not even on purpose; time just got away from me.

I am still CVSing but trying to moderate myself so coupons don't take over my life, as they have been in the last month or so.

I am planning my daughter's birthday party. She'll be 10 in a couple weeks and I have no idea where all the years went! *sniff*

I haven't even started thinking about holiday shopping and usually I am almost done by this point. I hate crowds and really shopping in general so I usually buy everything online or by catalog. This may not be possible this year if I don't really get on the ball.

Our beloved Phillies won the World Series!!! Yay Phils!

I am still trying to build the EF back up to at least $5,000 but with the holidays and birthdays coming up it will be really hard to put alot into it until after the new year. But, we'll see.

I have totally lost track of putting the ones place and change from my paychecks toward the current goal (right now the EF), so have not been doing that for the last few months. I'd like to start doing that again since it was an easy and painless way to help fund the goal. I'll re-start with my next paycheck.

That is about all for now. It's good to be back. *smile*

Okay, I admit I laughed out loud after reading this story on

Yahoo! News today.
**********

MARATHON, Fla. - Authorities say a grandmother was arrested for driving around the parking lot of a Marathon grocery store with her 3-year-old child sitting on the roof of the car.

Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to the Publix store Tuesday and arrested a 54-year-old woman after she was driving around with her three-year-old granddaughter on the roof of her car.

The grandmother was released from jail 15 hours later.

The woman said Thursday she would never let anything hurt her granddaughter. She says she was driving at "snail-speed" and holding the child's leg.

Authorities say the woman told police she was giving the child some air and letting her have fun. !?!?!

She faces charges of child abuse. The child is back with her mother.

I just had to post this picture of our new 14 foot canoe on top of my little tiny Honda Fit!

I have totally been avoiding my blog. I have not had anything big to post, and I know I should be posting the little things because that is what keeps me moving in the right direction but...inertia.

I have also been slacking on putting my purchases into YNAB. It is okay because I buy nearly everything with my debit card or check so I can always go back and compare my bank accounts to the YNAB and catch up. Still I should try harder to make sure I am current on how much I have available in each category so that when I am out shopping I know when I need to stop. It has not been an issue so far because I am not a shopper, but I need to keep up with it so that it does not become a problem in the future.

Anyway, not much to post but I am trying. So, toward the goal credit card:

Last paycheck dollars & cents- $8.56
ING interest earned in April- $15.12
Not sure where it came from but it is showing up in my YNAB software toward the goal- $4.96
Total extra toward goal CC: $28.64
plus regular monthly payment of $175=>
$203.64

New Goal CC Balance: $7,795.72

As a matter of fact I am hoping to pick up another day of work soon. This office is super busy lately and the patients do not like to be told that we are booking hygiene visits 3-4 months in advance. I am going to be asking the dentist soon if I can possibly work one more day at the office. That would cover most of the very expensive health insurance premiums that come out of my paycheck, and allow me to put more toward paying off the credit card.

Wish me luck!

The bad news: Gasoline is up to $3.06 in my little NJ town.

The good news: I am consistantly getting 35 miles per gallon in my FIT.

I still have not inflated the tires past the original psi. I do need to check them. I went for my first oil change (free at the dealer where I bought the car), and noticed after I got home that their "checklist" says the tires are at 30psi. I find this strange since the door jamb lists 32psi as the recommended pressure for my vehicle, so wouldn't their mechanics know to inflate them to 32 when I was in for the oil change?

Anyway, I really need to keep improving the fuel economy because my funds are really tight with paying so much for the health insurance now. *sigh*

Just watch the documentary "Maxed Out"!

It is available for free online, and that is where I just finished watching it:

http://bestdocumentaries.blogspot.com/2007/10/maxed-out-full...

I had read the book last year, but the film was even more potent. If I had any doubts whatsoever that getting out of debt was the right thing to do (especially credit cards), then this definitely pulled me back to reality.

I twas a little heavy on the anti-republican, pro-democrat agenda there toward the end, but not so much to make me stop watching or doubt the underlying truths the film is exposing. It is a crying shame that people/corporations can not treat each other better as one human being to another.

...well, we were for a few days before I used up the $3k tax refund paying bills and other obligations I have been putting off for just this time of the year.

So, where did our mini-windfall go? Here are the major things:
- Synagogue Dues
- Hebrew School Tuition for DD
- Trip to Long Island (2 nights in hotel plus gas and gift) for niece's Bat Mitzvah
- Overdue wedding gift for my cousin who got married last year
- Licensing Exam Fees for Dental Hygiene License (this one will pay for itself when I get that super-awesome job in a few months!!!)
- Baby shower gift plus gas to travel 3 hours for best friend from college's first baby
- a couple small bills
- 10% to savings
- possibly payoff our smallest CC balance ($650)??? I haven't decided if this is a good idea or not since it is still used for auto-pay of my cell phone each month.

Thanks to the EIC or we would not have gotten anywhere near this much back - we only paid in a few hundred last year to the feds. I am looking forward to the big paycheck and tiny little refund next year!!!

Our town just opened a new Target and a new Kohl's. Before we had to drive 40 minutes to get to the closest of these stores. I love Target, but they stopped carrying the type of saline I use for my contact lenses. When they decided to stop carrying it a few years ago they put it on clearance for 75% off and I bought as much as they had left.

I still love Target for clothes for my daughter. I have never shopped in Kohl's before so I will have to go check it out when I get a chance...maybe this weekend.

In case anyone is wondering, school is pure hell. :P

Good news and bad news really.

Good news - it does not look like they raised the rates, so I get to keep my 2% and 3%. Whew!

Bad news - they charged me a $39 late fee. Ouch! Haven't seen one of those in a long time, and never want to see another. I went in today and made an extra payment toward September's bill so I will definitely make the minimum with no problem.

Oh, and when I was looking at the statement online I noticed the "purchase rate" is at 19.24%!!! Yikes...much worse than I thought it was. I NEVER want to have to feel the pain of that rate!

I transferred all my DH's CC debt onto his Citibank card about a month ago. Half at 1.99% and half at 2.99% - both offers until paid in full. I was so happy that his previously 16+% card was now this low by doing the ol' switcheroo.

Well, I logged into the account today, and see that the due date was yesterday and I am $20 short. (I pay a portion of each bill weekly and Citibank only has a 20 day grace period, unlike my other cards which have a 25 day grace period, so I usually check it to make sure the minimum is going to be paid by the due date). I immediately transferred the $20 and it will post today, but I have a horrible sinking feeling in my gut that they are going to jack his rate all the way up now.

I have been so careful over the last 6-7 years since I have been paying the bills, and have gotten both our credit scores into the high 700's. Now this. I know it won't effect our credit scores but it is horrible to have the rate on this card so high even with great credit scores. I am so depressed. I can only hope that they do not raise the rate as is their perogative since it is my own stupid fault for being late on the minimum.

Ugh. If anything seems like a never-ending task it is this monster called my website. I figured I'd start a page that had all my favorite websites in one spot, and maybe it would be able to help someone. No big deal. Just a little something. Well, that turned into something completely different because I really want it to look "nice" and for people to find it helpful. So I added a second page with just Dental Hygiene information, again, hoping that it would help people.

On another note, I had no idea how difficult it can be to actually get someone to visit! I figured, "Hey! If I've got a website I might as well join AdSense and make some money!" As if. In my quest to get visitors I added my site to some manual traffic pages, and promptly had my hand slapped by Google. I guess next time I join a program I should probably read all the rules instead of just skimming! Oops. Bad me. So, now I am trying to decide whether I want to just get rid of Adsense so I can generate some traffic to my site, or keep Adsense and try to actually get traffic the hard way!

I am really trying to stop being obsessed with the silly website because I really need to start studying and getting ready for the new semester which starts in exactly 11 days. Eeek!

The real problem is that I am somewhat of a perfectionist in small, silly areas of my life...and for some unknown reason I seem to have chosen this crazy website as one of those items. I feel like I need a nice tight "white coat" supplied by the super nice doctors at the nearest asylum.