all4money with INTENTION

So, I started being a vegan on April 8, 2016. Figured I would share some of my meals every once in a while for those interested.

This meal was prepared after a long 12 hours at work yesterday. I was tempted to just eat a bowl of cereal but then thought about all the random veggies in the fridge. Started chopping things up and voila. Stir fry mushrooms, broccoli, and onions over a bed of white rice. It was so delicious.

P.S. We purchased this $600 dress for just $99!

In a previous post, I had mentioned that we had been rear-ended while we were on Spring Break vacation. We finally got our car back from the shop after all this time. When we picked up the car, our body shop guy suggested that we file a diminished value claim with the other party's insurance company. We had never heard of this before but apparently, since the damage of the car was so severe, we should be able to recoup some of the value lost due to the accident. The car is just a year old and pre-accident value would be guestimating at around $26k. The cost of the repairs was almost $13k which is nearly half the value. Since the accident was such a high dollar amount, we'll have to disclose it if we want to sell it in the future... which means that we couldn't get $26k for it right now like we should've been able to prior to the accident. A diminished value claim would provide us money for the difference in values.

I've emailed the other insurance adjuster about this 2 days ago and have gotten zilch response... Has anyone else gone through this kind of claim before?

So, a month ago, I posted a "teaser" in announcing that our oldest DD entered into a national contest and was the winner! Here is what she won:

Prom package--

1) $1,000 gift card to Macy's
2) Professional hair and makeup for her and her girlfriends
3) Professional photography session with free pictures, etc
4) Catering for a pre-prom party for all her friends
5) Limo ride all night for all her friends

Her prom was a blast and everything went so well that day.

So, I just gave away a dining table with 4 chairs to a coworker... and I feel good about it.

Life isn't just about making money at every turn. Sometimes you have to give back to the universe. My coworker is a secretary making about $25k a year. She supports herself and her elderly mother. They just rented a trailer and are moving in this weekend. I asked if she might need anything and to my surprise, she needs everything. Apparently, the small apartment they were living in had no furniture to speak of at all. Besides the beds, that was about all they had.

How could I not have realized this about a coworker? I knew she has tons of medical issues (we've had to call 911 before when she had a seizure at work)... but you know what, she's never complained. She's always positive and friendly and is always here for others.

But back to the table... my mother had found this table set at Goodwill and paid $35 for it. She bought it to resale on Craigslist. We had listed it for $50 but no bites... so I just said to my coworker that it was now hers. I will pay my mom the $50 for it. My coworker offered to pay for it but honestly, how can I take money from someone that has so little to begin with? I am always searching for ways to earn more snowflakes-- I sell on ebay and other online platforms all the freakin' time but sometimes giving is just better than receiving.

So, yes, I am feeling grateful for all that we have. DH and I have great paying jobs, we have nice things, we have good health.

I'm not posting this to brag or anything but to remind ourselves that sometimes it is good to just give out of kindness to others without expecting anything back in return.

I am in the mood to just "talk" a bit so go ahead and ignore this blog post if you just would rather... it won't hurt my feelings, lol

My family came to the US when I was four years old with nothing but the clothing on our backs and a bag of immigration paperwork and that was it. My parents worked hard, really hard to get us established in this country. My mom worked nonstop in manufacturing plants. As each plant would close and move their operations overseas, she would find another factory job and start over. My dad worked in a restaurant as a cook. However, my childhood was not a bad one at all. No drugs or alcohol involved. No domestic violence. Just a simple childhood with my 3 siblings.

We definitely fit the bill of the typical low-income needy family. We were on food stamps and got free school lunches, etc. We are talking hand me downs, accepting gifts from others, and making do with the bare minimum. Whether it was clothing, household needs, or whatever, our family either made stuff or got things from church members or donations.

We were a 6 member family living strictly on a very small blue collar income and my parents did not make any excuses. They did not keep up with the Jones's. They did not succumb to the kids' desires to keep up with the coolest clothes or gadgets. We just had no money. They accepted "charity" up to the point when we didn't need to any longer.

Reality IS hard and to cloud it up with falseness is never a good thing. My parents understood this. We couldn't afford luxury cars or brand name clothing. My mom hand sewn and made all my t-shirts until I was in middle school for goodness sakes. But you know what? I had clothes on my back. I was fed. We had a home (rented). We had our own car (purchased a really old one). We had all the basics covered and MY PARENTS DID NOT USE DEBT AT ALL.

So, fast forward to college... My parents took out a very small $1500 federal loan that I had to pay off upon graduation to teach me how to deal with my first taste of financial responsibility. They paid for my entire tuition while I had to pay for my living expenses. So, yes, I waitressed my tail off while in school... and I did pay off that student loan right after graduation, had no debt, and had about $5,000 in savings. Not too bad for a kid right out of college. I got my degree in Business and Financial Management and thought I had all the best money sense in the world.... but I was wrong.

To be continued

So, the total from the feral cat bite that DH was the unfortunate recipient of back in March has been tallied up....

Before insurance, the total cost is $10,892!!

After insurance, our cost is $1,133 but we were able to file on our supplemental disability insurance as well and got back $220 on that policy so NET effect is $913 OOP.

$913 is nothing to sneeze at but dang, how is it that getting simple vaccination shots should cost over $10,000 to begin with?!

Go watch Cowspiracy... today! Let's honor our beautiful planet by becoming more aware of how we are literally killing her each and every day

So, Murphy left our house and we finally got some great news.... my oldest daughter entered into a national magazine's giveaway/sweepstakes last month and she was chosen as the winner!! It a package value worth about $5k. I won't say what it is just yet as it won't come to fruition for another month but once we get it all, I'll let you guys know. Let's just say that any teenage girl would be tickled to have won this...

In other news, my DH bought us fitbits (he sold some stuff to purchase them so they didn't hit our budget because I told him we didn't need them). I am actually quite happy with this little gadget. I am a tracker by nature so keeping up with my activity levels all day has been great. We've gone to the gym very regularly, I'm pleased to report, so our new $50/month has been definitely worth it.

For the past 2 weeks, DH and I have decided to go vegan. We have never eaten a ton of meat but dairy/cheese products have always been in our diet. We decided to go all vegan and plant based and so far so good. It's actually been pretty easy. Our kids have asked us to allow them to try vegetarianism instead and we are happy to let them try that instead (they love cheese pizza haha). Anyway, we are attending a local vegan potluck meetup today and looking forward to meeting other like-minded folks. I know it's not for everyone but we have been enjoying this journey so far.

1. DH tried to rescue our cat from a fight with a stray and the feral cat took a big bite on his hand. Had to go to ER for tetanus shot, antibiotics, and rabies vaccination. We do have insurance but will expect some medical bills from this.

2. We got rear-ended while on our Spring Break vacation. The hit pushed our car into the car in front of us so our once new 2015 Honda has severe damage on both ends. Yes, we won't be out of money since the other driver is at fault, but my poor car...

3. Super strong wind storm the other night caused a power outage... after the power came back on, we noticed that our furnace now doesn't work. Our trampoline was basically folded in half and our backyard grill was thrown around like a twig.

All in the span of about 2 weeks. I think we are done with Murphy since he's hit us 3 times. Can someone come take him away now?

A big perk of DH and I working within our school system is that we get time off that coincides with our kids' school schedules. Our Spring Break is next week and I cannot wait! I have been in the thick of budget season and need some decompression time. We haven't made any plans to go anywhere though. We want to go somewhere but just can't decide on what to do. Sometimes being spontaneous is just what we end up being and it all works out

In a previous post, I had mentioned we would be joining a gym. Well, we did but on a different program than what I thought. So, the cost is $50/month for both DH and I to go to any handful of gyms in the area. We've been doing great so far and really enjoy getting out there and working out. DH has lost about 10 lbs just by cutting out sodas and working out. I've lost nothing but am feeling pretty good... I think I haven't lost any weight because I'm gaining muscle mass (I would've described myself as fluffy). Toning up is high on my priority list so I think I'm heading in the right direction.

On the financial front, we've operated on a very exact budget since Jan. 3 months in, I can say that it has been a game changer. I know some folks don't care for keeping up with every little detail but I would recommend it for everyone at least just once... a very eye-opening and realistic look. I love being able to know exactly where we stand with our budget each and every day.

Our goals lately are to save as much money as possible toward 2 things: 1) We have a kid going to college next year. 2) We have another kid driving next year. Both are big expenses and I just hope that we will be prepared enough.

So, I got an Old Navy credit card a while ago. I've only used it when there are special promos... During the month of January, they ran a promo that basically got me a free $20 to spend there. That plus what I already had in credits from prior promos that has been carrying over has put me to a credit balance of $65 to spend at Old Navy. I also have a $40 off $100 purchase coupon (SuperCash as they call it) that expires today. Basically, this means that if I can find $100 in items today, I could use the $40 SuperCash and $60 worth of my credits to get the entire order for free. Sounds great, right? So, why is it so hard to find anything?! I don't want to just waste the "money" so I only want to get things we need/want but there just isn't anything appealing for any of us. #beingfrugalandcheapproblems

Have to pay federal => $75
Getting a refund from state => $40

Net effect => $35 to pay

Not too shabby.

I could not wait for today! It's so much fun to play around with our budget and to plug in actual numbers when we get paid. Since both DH and I get paid at the end of each month, today's paychecks have now funded our Feb budget.

Because our refinance in Jan caused us not to have a mortgage payment due in Feb, we are able to push that payment into our savings account this month

I still have a buffer of $1200 that I need to find a "home" for. I like to keep a buffer for those unknown but expected expenses that will pop up during the month. For Feb, this will be for some medical bills that should be arriving anytime now (DH spent a week in the hospital in Jan). I have no idea how much of the $1200 will be needed for this or if I might need even more so we'll see. But, this works for now because I do mess with our budget everyday... always entering in adjustments and actual numbers. I guess it's just fun for me lol.

Hope everyone had a great fiscally fit January. I know we did in our household... I am looking forward to February 2016!

So, hubby and I know that we need to exercise. He was told by his doctor at the beginning of January that he is borderline diabetic if he isn't careful. He was addicted to Mt. Dew and sugary sweets and for the past month, he's done very well and has stayed away from the sodas. We've always known that diabetes would be a concern for him since he has a family history of it but it took the doctor finally telling him this before he would "believe" it... he also needs to participate in cardio workouts daily. Hubby is by no means obese but he is about 20 lbs overweight. We have a treadmill and lots of various exercise dvds BUT we have come to the realization that we must get out of the house with a structured routine. Some people can just work out at home.... We don't think we are those people.

So, after a bit of research, the option we are leaning toward is joining a club that is about a mile away from our house. It offers the typical gym environment with the machines, etc.... but what we are looking forward to are the classes that are offered. Yoga, Pilates, Boot Camp, etc. The classes are offered at 5:30 daily so we can go after work (we WILL NOT get up early in the morning to workout). And, then there is a 10:00 class on Saturdays that we will attend as well. For a family membership, it will cost $105 a month. That will allow all 4 of us to use the gym at any time and take advantage of all the classes that they offer.

We've never joined a gym before as we always thought we could take care of things at home on the treadmill or using our dvds. We've not stuck with it nor have been consistent. There are just too many distractions at home (i.e. the couch and tv).

So, we think we'll sign up starting Feb 1 and just incorporate the $105 monthly fee into our monthly budget. My allowance was $100 a month and if nothing else, I'll just use that money toward this now... as I am embracing minimalism anyway and not in the mood to purchase anything at all.

Hey, guys. So, I've done a ton of work on the financial front this month.

Since Christmas, I have been on a minimalist kick. I've cleaned out drawers, cupboards, closets, and more. Bags and bags and more bags of clutter have been donated to Goodwill. No more frivolous shopping in this household.

And, I've also cleaned up our finances at the same time In Dave Ramsey style......... WE ARE DEBT FREE except for the mortgage! The only debt we had was our car loan but I finally decided to pay that sucker off with our savings. We also refinanced our mortgage from an ARM to a 15 year fixed in January! The goal for us now is to save, save, save. We need to build back up our savings and to set aside funds for the upcoming college expenses (our oldest will be starting college in 2017).

So, January 2016 has been a busy month but a very fulfilling month. I have worked hard to rid our home of any clutter (physically and fiscally) and it feels awesome.

We are currently in a 2yr ARM at 4.75% (26 years left) at our local credit union.

We are thinking about refinancing with Wells Fargo:
15 year fixed rate at 3.375% before the Feds announce a possible increase in December.
I talked them down to $700 in fees (appraisal fee, credit report, origination fee, etc). They originally quoted me $1,266 in fees so this saves me a bit of money. The remaining legal stuff will have to be paid as well when I choose my closing attorney.

Anything else I should worry about or consider before we actually go through with this? I've never done a refinance before (just purchase mortgages).

So, years and years ago, I worked for Wachovia Bank (which is now Wells Fargo). I forgot that I had bought a couple of shares at the time...

I just checked my account and I have a whopping 2.356 shares of Wells Fargo common stock! Woo Hoo! At the current market value of $54.61 / share, that means I have $128.66

So, what should I do with this newly discovered information? Should I just leave my measly 2 shares alone or should I cash it in?

Any stock people out there to help a girl out?

Thinking ahead to some big expenses forthcoming:

DD #1 will be going off to college in 2 years
DD #2 will be getting her drivers license in 2 years

Ugh.

Renters are still in our house and have asked to stay there through 2016. They really need to just buy the darn place

Financially, we are staying steady but I would love to push ahead somehow. I need to inherit some money from an unknown relative somewhere haha.

I have been selling a lot of clothing/accessories on instagram, poshmark, and mercari... haven't put too many things on ebay because the other platforms seem much easier.

Wish we would finish up renovating our house. But on the other hand, don't really have the extra funds to do so. Oh well.

Been walking on the treadmill daily for at least an hour at usually 3mph. Hoping to get rid of 15 lbs but doubt that will happen anytime soon.

So, lots of randomness around here lately.

So, I have been at my current job for over 9 years now. I am the CFO in our county public schools. I make a really, really good salary that I have quite honestly earned throughout the years. I have been content until recently so I started looking elsewhere. However, my options are quite limited because I need to stay within our state retirement system... this means that unless I plan on moving, which I do not, the only real option for me is to look at the local university here. So, I've been looking each week at their job postings. I sent in my resume a couple of weeks ago for a position teaching undergraduate business courses. I have been contacted that I am a serious candidate for them and they were going forward in checking my references. It would be a great opportunity and change for me... however, I am quite hesitant because of the salary difference. This teaching job would pay about $40k less than what I am currently making! I doubt I will take the job just because of this detail alone but it is still something I want to consider... any advice from anyone out there that may be teaching at the university level? Pros/cons?

** We picked up our check from the consignment sale... our final total was $349.80 which was awesome!

** My DD has been asking for a piano/keyboard for over a year now but we've been telling her that they are just too expensive. I went to a yard sale on Saturday and I'm so glad I did. The fellow had the nicest keyboard for sale! It is one of those really nice grand piano "dupes" that sits on a stand and has a bench and was hardly used at all. They retail for around $800 and I was able to talk him down from $250 to $200. My DH and I set it up in the house for DD and surprised her with it. I've never seen her more happy. She loves it!

** We are still figuring out details on our upcoming Hawaii trip. It's so exciting. Living on the east coast, this is a huge trip for us since it's so far away. I'm heading to the library today to see if they have any travel books on Hawaii...

So, I thought we would piggy back a family vacation with my conference in San Francisco... but we took it a step further and we are going all the way to Hawaii! We have already made the flight and hotel reservations. Now, we just need to look at what to do while there. We are going to be on Oahu. Visiting Pearl Harbor is a no brainer but what else do you guys recommend? We'll have our teenagers with us as well as my parents so we need to keep everyone happy. Suggestions on what we should do to ensure a great trip? This is a huge trip for us and a major expense so we want to make the most of it.

On Saturday, I stopped by a local church yard sale. They had a "fill a bag for $5" sale. I was able to fit 15 pieces in the bag so that made each item just $0.33. I also purchased a $2 pair of shoes... so spent a grand total of $7.

In the bag of clothing, I got:

1) NWT J. Crew cardigan sweater
2) NWT Talbots top
3) NWT sweater (can't remember the brand right now)
4) J. Crew pencil skirt
5) J. Crew cardigan
6) Ann Taylor pencil skirt
7) Loft top
8) Gap top
9) 7 other miscellaneous skirts and tops that I can't remember the details about...

The shoes were too big for my daughter so I posted them online for sale and they sold for $15 (profit of $13)! I'm keeping the majority of the clothing but do have the NWT items up for sale right now...

So, $15 made less $7 spent equals a pretty sweet deal.

Also, we are participating in our local consignment sale again and we have already sold $332 worth of items (my cut of the sales is already $199.20 so far!)

To MonkeyMama and to anyone else in northern CA... I have to go to San Francisco in July for work. Husband and I thought it would be a good time to piggy back a family trip with my work trip (would save us my cost of an airline ticket). What should we plan for? Any places we must go visit? The only touristy things I know about are The Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Anything else in the area we should look at? Thanks!

So, my last post was about a $500 insurance check that I received (which I thought was in error). I did ask my insurance agent about it because it just didn't feel right to cash the check if I knew it was a mistake.

She just called me back after talking with the actual claims people and said for me to keep it! I am still not sure why they sent it to me but my agent was told that they had a supervisor in the claims department review it and she had approved it... so, yippee! I will put it into my ST savings for now.

Daughter got braces put on in Oct 2013.

Dental insurance agent submitted the claim for us and we got $500 check for the initial treatment payment.

Fast forward to yesterday... and for some reason, I received another $500 check in the mail.

The notes say for initial treatment of braces put on in Oct 2014??

I know this is a mistake as we are only supposed to get one initial treatment check but dang, it's $500.

What would you do? Cash the check and just wait for them to ask for it back (if they do at all)?
Ask my insurance agent WTF is going on?

(This is a post that only purse lovers would understand)

So, Kate Spade sends me an email this morning about a purse that is $100 off today only. I looked, coveted, and drooled all day long.... but I have finally decided to just say NO because it's the right thing to do. I certainly love this bag but I certainly don't need it nor do I have an extra $200 to spend on it either. But, gosh darnit, I can't stop thinking about it.

As luck would have it though, I just sold one of my brand new Dooney and Bourke handbags that I bought for a steal (around $90) and got $160 for it which means a profit of $70. I've tried and tried to sell it over the course of the past year or so with no luck until today... the day that Kate Spade tempts me so. But, I'm holding strong and will save that $160 inflow of cash instead of spending it and then some on a new Kate bag.

The right decision is sometimes (always) the hardest decision.

The final total from our local consignment sale is a whopping $370.20! These funds will go into our ST savings account for now... not too shabby for stuff that was laying around the house.

This is the balance in our short term savings account right now. I know many of you have lots more than that but this is an accomplishment for us. I realize that this number may fluctuate as we need to use it for short term expenses (like annual car insurance bills, etc) but I am enjoying just looking at it today and my goal is to keep adding to it as much as possible.

I returned some clothing to Old Navy today. I had purchased them using their "Super Cash" promo just to purchase them... nothing I needed at all. So, I finally just took them all back and now I have my $82.99 back in my wallet instead of a bunch of clothes I didn't need to begin with. Feels good.

We are at $540 in sales with the consignment sale which means $324 for moi. Loving it, but we are nearing the end of the sale which means that I won't get too much more, I doubt, but we'll see.