Reducing Water

Every once in a while I participate in Thrifty Green Thursday, a great carnival where contributors share tips that combine saving money and helping the environment. A few weeks back someone* wrote about using a bucket to catch shower water and then using the water for plants.

My first reaction was ick. It seemed cumbersome and like more effort than I was willing to make. But over the following week I thought about it a few times. If your shower is like mine it takes a minute or two to heat up. After 2 weeks I decided to give it a try.

I use one of the buckets I got from the grocery store bakery, aim the shower head at the bucket, and wait for the water to warm up. When the water is almost warm I put the bucket just outside of the shower. Every 3-4 showers yields 2.5 gallons- which I think is a crazy amount. Instead of going down the drain the water goes to the veggies I’m growing in containers and keeping the worm bin moist.

So there’s my I tried it. Thanks to whoever wrote the original post for sharing a tip that is saving me gallons of water!

*If you wrote the original post please let me know so I can link to you. I just looked back but couldn’t find it.

Voting Options

Now that you're registered you may have to decide how to vote. In my city there are 3 options on the table- vote by mail, early voting, and election day voting. The deadline for a mail in ballot in my state is this Friday, so I only have a few days to figure things out.

So far I've decided that I won't be voting on election day. The turnout is expected to be historic and though I had a fun knitting and chatting in line for 3.5 hours during the 2006 election I don't want to do it again. Instead I plan to either be a poll worker or volunteer with my candidate's campaign.

I'm left with early voting or voting by mail. My conspiracy theorist friends say voting by mail (with a copy before you drop it off is the safest). The party I'm affiliated with is also recommending mail in ballots, to help track voter turnout. On the other hand I'm really bad about misplacing important papers. And there is something special about going into the booth and getting the cheezy 'I Voted' sticker.

Do you have options outside of voting on election day? And what are your thoughts on early/mail in voting?

The final bit of election news is that tomorrow is the final debate.

Getting Ready for the Holidays

It's October. In my mind it's way to early for retailers to start putting up Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa decorations but time for me to get cracking on gift ideas. In some ways I have it easy. I really only have to worry about Gameboy, his dad, and a few good friends. That's also why it's such a stressful time of year for me.

Half of my mom's family doesn't celebrate Christmas. This includes my closest (proximity) aunt growing up and her daughter who is more like a younger sister to me. Over the holiday breaks we spent a lot of family time together, so gifts usually weren't a part of the equation. Things were pretty laid back and usually involved lots of favorite foods from my mom's country.

As a result I'm much more of a see it and give it gifter as an adult. I see something that I know a family member/friend would love and I give it to them so they can start enjoying it. If I'm gifting a craft I work on it at a steady pace and then hand it over.

This worked well until I got serious with Gameboy. My guy who loves Christmas and his birthday which are only a week apart. His family didn't have a lot growing up but his Christmas/birthday memories a)sound like things out of the movies b)had his living room resembling a toy store. He believes holidays should be celebrated on the holiday* and with big fanfare.

So to keep things frugal I have to start now. I've been ruminating for a few weeks about what to get him, if I want to knit/crocket anything, and what to get his dad. By the end of the month I want to have a list of possiblities for Christmas and Gameboy's b-day, leaving me two months to shop arround. I'm also going to do a test run on what I want to make for my girlfriends.

Is anyone else thinking about the holidays yet.

*no more discount fare flying on Xmas day for me.

Human Error

This morning our parking lots were full so I had to park on the street. We've had to do this quite a bit lately so our boss got us parking cash keys, which is up there with the computer and IPOD for best inventions ever. It's essentially a debit card for the parking meter. The beauty is it keeps you from having to dig for change or come up with creative ways to get change, especially when you're in a rush.

I was all ready to write a post about how I'll never have a parking ticket again thanks to this little miracle. And then I forgot to move my car when the meter was up. While miraculous, the parking key won't magically make human error go away.

Losing $25 will hurt my personal budget, but it won't break the bank. I'm considering this an expensive lesson in remember to feed the meter (or at least setting a Outlook reminder) and moving on with what has otherwise been a good day.

398.8

That's how far I went on my last tank. So close to 400 I could taste it.

In my head I'm going to call it a victory. The gas light came on last night and using the following theory I could have gotten over 400- I just decided to play it safe. My car manual says the light comes on with 1 gallon left (though I think its a little higher). I can get 30+ miles to the gallon, so from the gas light turning on I theoretically could have gone 30 miles. I'd driven home 10, so my 17 mile drive to work could have worked. But who wants to play games with the gas tank when it's in the 40's, you're driving on the highway, and it's rush hour?

I could have gone to a different gas station that would have put me over the line, but I decided going out of my way to reach a goal was a little silly. Not to mention the extra 30 cents I would have spent filling up.

I'll probably go through 2-3 more tanks before the month is up, so I'm going to keep striving for 400.

Veggie Pot Pie

It's getting chilly and icky. Yesterday was drizzly and cold enough that our furnace got its first workout of the season. For me, this means it's time for warm yumminess coming from the kitchen. Currently I'm making some apple butter (and it smells GOOD). Once I've finished I'll post the info. In the mean time here is a cold weather favorite from our house- Veggie Pot Pie.

Filling:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

12 oz of assorted frozen veggies

handful 'mixed veggies' (the peas/carrot stuff)
2 red potatos, diced

1 portobello mushroom or a handful of regular mushrooms (optional)

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of anything soup

Herbs (thyme & savory mix), salt, pepper to taste

Biscuit Topping:

1 ¾ cup whole wheat flour (pastry if you have it)

½ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2 tablespoons butter

¾ cup buttermilk

1 tbsp honey

2 quart pyrex dish

1. Sautee onions over medium low heat. While the mushrooms soften chop potato and mushroom while it cooks.
2. Add potato, and mushroom, stirring occasionally, approx 5 minutes.
3. Add 1bag of frozen veggies and a handful of the carrots/peas mix. Cook until defrosted/ you’re at a stopping point with the dough.
4. In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Using a fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
5. In a measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and honey. Add to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork to form a stiff dough. Add more buttermilk if the dough is too dry.
6. Add one can cream of mushroom soup, ½ cup of water to pot, and spices. Mix a little and let simmer.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
8. Knead dough lightly in the bowl for 3 to 5 minutes, until the dough is no longer sticky.
9. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out into a shape to cover the casserole dish.
10. Pour veggies into casserole dish. Lay dough over dish. Don’t push down, but make sure it fits within the dish. Use a sharp knife to cut some vents in the dough. Put on baking tray put in the oven.
11. Bake 25-30 minutes. You know its done when the dough is lightly browned and the insides are bubbling. You can use a knife to see if the crust is done or eyeball it.
12. Let it sit for a few minutes. Dig in.

The ingredients for the filling are very flexible. Gameboy has added a few different types of meat (if you do this reduce the veggies some). I use whatever bag of assorted frozen veggies strikes me at the moment. The only thing I'm picky about is the 'mixed veggies' to add peas and carrots to the mix.

I always have questions about recipes I read online, so feel free to leave questions in the comments.

ISP fun

Earlier this week we tried to do what should have been an easy task- connecting another laptop to our wireless network. All we needed was the network key that the repair (after install problems) put together. 5 hours on the phone that night and then 3 days later we had internet again.

On the plus side our next bill should be all canceled out with the monies we were promised when things went wrong along the way...

One tank, 400 miles

On Thursday Jadefly asked how I was going to reach my goal of 400 miles on one tank. Here are a few facts/details:

• Usually 9.5-11 gallons = 330-360 miles.
  
• I hypermile around 1/3-1/2 of the time I drive.
• This time of year I rarely use AC/ need windows open.
• Three fill ups ago I made it to 392.
• My local highways and I are BFFs
  
• I run late a LOT
  

My theory is if I can drive more mindfully (with hypermiling principles) I will be able to get more miles per gallon. This means leaving in a timely manner to get places, so I'm don't have to rush. When I'm running late I revert to what I refer to as NE urban driving :).

The commute from the new house to the new job (really the new house to anywhere) involves driving on the highway so I get to spend a lot of time between 45 and 60 mph. I just have to reduce the amount of time I spend over 65 mph- the speed limit half the way. The graph on the left shows fuel economy at various speeds. It can be found here with some more tips. What I'd love to know how many data points were used to make the graph.

The other thing that is still on the agenda is getting my car tuned up. I'm way overdue for an oil change and approaching one of the 15,000 mile checkups at the dealership. If I can hit 392 with the maintenance light on 400 once it's all cleared out should be a breeze right?

The final, and probably one of the harder things I'll have to do is keep my lead footed husband out of the drivers seat in my car. I swear he just likes hearing the car go vroom!

Dressing for Success

Somehow this post from mid last week never made it out of draft form with a few updates...

The downside of the new job is new clothes. My last job could easily be put into three distinct areas- site visits, working from my couch, and occasional office meetings. I was in childcare centers, so even though the office dress was technically business casual, we interpreted this as a much more liberal 'just not jeans'.

My post undergrad attire pattern goes something like this- 2 yrs at upscale business casual, grad school, 8 months at just barely business casual. I still have some of my clothes from the 2 yr period, but since starting grad school I've gained enough weight that they don't really count. They're not nice enough to sell, so they hang out in the back of my closet, waiting for the day when I get around to loosing the weight.

After approximately 2.5 3 weeks I feel like I have a good handle on what I should be wearing and how to best supplement my somewhat meager wardrobe. Day to day the office is pretty (business) casual, but for meetings and events I need to take it up a notch. This is especially true for the times where I'm the youngest person in the room by at least 10 years. I can hold my own, but I look young* so 'grown up' clothes help.

I need a couple more pair of slacks, tights so some of my skirts can transition into fall/winter, and a few more nice tops. While I've had great success at thrift stores for tshirts and craft projects supplies I haven't been able to find work clothes. I don't want to spend a ton, so instead I'm going to try a few consignment shops and see what I can find.

This weekend I also hit a local outlet (and did a $30 survey!) and got 2 tops and 2 pairs of pants. I was exchanging pants from this spring** so I spent less than $20. I'll be taking a mini vaca to see my mom in a few weeks so I think I'm going to put off any more shopping until then.

*The last 3 times I've told strangers/new acquaintances I'm married they've started the 'you're too young' lecture. Then I say I'm 26 and they stammer all over themselves.
**thank you Eddie Bauer outlet for the loose return policy!

September Wrap-up, October Goals

I hope that September was the last in a series of crazy and expensive months. We seem to be settling into the financials associated with the house (though unpacking is still going strong), adjusting to being a 3 person household, I’m getting used to the new job, and the wedding stuff is all taken care of.

My net worth continues to increase, though at a much slower rate. I’m hoping that by my next birthday (February) the hard work of 2008 will result in a positive net worth. All of the sidebars are also slowly making their way across- except for my student loan which is on auto-pilot. The last goal I wrote about was staying sane, which I like to think I’ve accomplished. :)

For the past few days I’ve been thinking about where I’d like to go financially during October. In no particular order:

• Get my Roth funds above 60%. I’d hoped to have this funded by the end of the year and without some crazy action I’m not sure if it will happen.
• Decide where I want to invest my 2008 Roth money. My last Roth is with Vanguard, who I like, but am not necessarily married to. I’m also trying to decide on what type of fund, specifically if I should go with a socially responsible fund.
• Only eat lunch out 3 times (not including lunch meetings).
• Keep grocery spending under $300.
• Be mindful about house purchases- waiting until we can afford to buy outside of regular maintenance.
• Go 400 miles on one tank of gas.

You know you're a dork when...

you track who gets to take the polling calls.

This is my first time living and voting* in a swing state. This means a barrage of political ads. The only thing that makes up for this is the polling calls.

Though I'm not making things political here, I have very strong views. Gameboy and I are also affiliated with different political parties. So I think we should alternate who responds to the calls, informing the polls.

Before today he'd gotten 3 and I'd gotten 1.** When he got what was obviously a poll call I intervened. I let him know it was my turn, and after some thought he handed over the phone. T

*My college town was in a swing state, but I didn't get registered in time.
**Is it crazy that my household has gotten 5 polling calls?

VP Debate & Voter Registration

It's almost time for what has got to be one of the most anticipated VP debates. This will be my 3rd time voting in a major election, but I've been a geek about elections for the last 4. My recollection is that the VP debate happens, but usually doesn't get that much attention. Though I'm sad that Grey's Anatomy will not be on this week, I'll be tuning in to see how the VP candidates match up. It will be on Thursday, 9 EST.

In other election topics registration deadlines are near. If you live in AL, RI, or SC registrations are due this weekend. On Monday registrations in AZ, AK, CO, DC, FL, GA, HI, IN, KY, LA, MI, MS, OH, PA, TN, TX, and VA are due. If your state isn't listed check the link in the sidebar.

Fresh Air

Since we bought the house my mom gives me a call every two weeks or so and asks/reminds me of the little things I need to stay on top of. Occasionally it's irksome, but for the most part I appreciate her looking out for us/our house.

Last week's question was about the air filters for the furnace. It was a busy day so I said no, added air filters to the list* of things to do. Driving home I got upset at myself for forgetting but then I remembered. We haven't run the AC since the first two weeks after we moved in!

Even though we lack an IKEA, this city is great b/c it gets so cool overnight. Daytime high's of 90 usually mean overnight lows in the 60's. The combination of good insulation (thank you builders!), open windows at night, and the occasional fan has keep the inside temp pretty moderate. So based on my doctors recommendation to change filters monthly, we've saved $20-30 using fresh air to cool the house.

*which has grown exponentially since we bought the house. Not complaining, just saying.

For the love of IKEA

I have a bit of a thing for IKEA. We go way back...I vividly remember helping my mom put together my first desk and bookshelf, purchased at IKEA when I was around 7. In college their kitchen wares dotted our kitchen. A few pieces of their furniture rounded out that of our furnished university apartment in our first years, and supplemented the furniture my parents donated when we moved out on our own. Post college my house was a mix of IKEA and yard sale finds. The point- IKEA and I have a history.

So imagine my disappointment when I learned our current city doesn't have one. The closest is a 6 hour drive, over mountains. Though I love it, I'm not that hard core. Most of the time it's not a big deal. But right now we NEED bookcases. We've put off buying them, but have more than 8 boxes of books that need a new home.

The bookshelves don't need to be anything fancy, just a place for us to put our somewhat ridiculous library. In fact these would do us just fine. I'm especially in love with the $20 price tag. Why not just order them you ask?

Subtotal: $59.97

Shipping and Handling: $215.16

Order Total: $275.13

The shipping is 3.5 times more expensive than the actual product. For that kind of money we can get nice bookshelves. So I'll be going back to the drawing board.

Money + Marriage

Recently I've been reading a lot of posts/articles about the importance of being financial agreement is to a marriage, largely inspired by this NYT article. Overall Gameboy and I are on the same page. We want to pay off our debts, save for retirement, and not have to worry about being able to pay the bills. For us though, the devil is in the details. We each have a different idea on the best way to achieve those goals.

I would like to get the efund to 5K, and then send extra payments to the car payment. He would like to make a double payment on the house and then do those things. In a perfect world, we'd have the money to do all three.

In the money order these things all fall after our auto debits/deposits for his 401k and my Roth and paying the bills (mortgage, house credit card (in full), comcast, power, etc). Since we bought the house this hasn't really been an issue because we didn't have much left at the end of the month. Our household credit card has been double to triple what is usually is since June due to moving, car repair, getting married, Gamedad moving in.

Now that we have extra money choosing the priority has gotten tough. In the end we'll probably find some sort of compromise, but I really wish I could just get him to see the light- ie that I'm right :)

a potentially expensive mistake

I’m in the middle of drafting a post, where I talk about finally having some extra money. The new house bills are leveling out and life is getting back on track. And then I ran into the wall in my parking garage.

Ran into may be overstating it a bit. But my car and the wall of the parking garage were intimately acquainted for a few brief seconds. The result is a scratch on my front bumper that is bigger than my hand.

For the most part my car is nice and shiny. I got it used and it’s a 2006. I don’t need it to look like something from Pimp My Ride, but I want to maintain the cars value. I also hope to drive it for at least 5 more years and want it to be in good shape.

The car is overdue for a checkup (oil change, etc) so we'll see what the dealership says when I drop it off.

Presidential Debates

It's Tuesday, six weeks from the biggest election of my lifetime. I'm a big believer in getting as much information about candidates as possible, so this week's election note is about the debates.

This year there will be 3 90 minute debates between Obama and McCain. The first is this Friday, hosted at the University of Mississippi by Jim Lehrer. The previously announced topics are foreign policy and national security issues. It will be interesting to see if that changes in light of the financial turmoil of the past few weeks. The format, for the geeks like me that care, is 2 minute response to a question followed by 5 minutes of discussion. It starts at 9 EST and in my area at least, is playing on all of the major networks.

The next debate will be October 7 at Belmont University. Tom Brokaw will moderate the town-hall style meeting, with questions from the audience and via the internet. The final presidential debate, which has domestic and economic issues planned, will be 10/15 at Hofstra University with Bob Schieffer moderating.

For those of you who aren't in love with the political info I'll be writing about the finances of adjusting to the new job and planning for the holidays later this week.

Election Season

It's election season. To me this means lots of bad (and often deceptive) commercials, a lot of research, and even more debates*. Election season also means making sure you're registered or updating your registration to vote. In my area voting on election day is at a set location on election day, so I want to be registered with the new address.

I've added a voting section to the side bar. Right now it has a list of registration deadlines and a registration page from Rock the Vote. As time goes on I hope to go add some non-partisan information on the national candidates and other voting resources.

*Gameboy and I belong to different political parties.

FDIC

With the tumbles in the market many are worrying about their savings. Personally, I've decided not to look at my retirement account that's invested. I think in this instance burying my head in the sand is the best policy. That's the only account I'm worried about because I haven't invested much and I know that the rest of my accounts are FDIC insured.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures deposits in approved banks across the US. On their website you can search for your bank to see if it is covered or put in your account info to see how much of your money would be protected in the event that your bank was to fail. Generally checking, savings, trust, CDs, money market deposit accounts, and IRA retirement accounts held with insured institutions are protected. Funds with higher returns, including mutual funds, annuities, life insurance policies, stocks and bonds, are not insured. Essentially, with the chance of increased reward there is increased risk.

As I said, I'm not worried about my FDIC insured funds, especially since I am nowhere near the $100,000 insurance limits.

Dance Time

With the new job comes the benefits dance. This is how I refer to making decisions on the level of Medical/Dental/Vision/Life insurance, retirement accounts, and flexible spending. It's a game of balance, deciding how much risk you are wiling to take, how many dollars you want to have in the paycheck, and how much you want to be responsible for at the end of the year.

For the first time I have another major factor to take into account-Gameboy's income. During my professional life I've always been a salaried worker I know that at the end of the I will have earned X, and plan from that. I have a certain amount of contract or other extra income, but even that is something I can account for pretty well. Gameboy is in sales. He has a base that is piddly and makes most of his money based on commission. If he had been with his company for a couple of years, or even most of this year, we'd know what his average salary is. But he started 5 months ago, has been on a training base, will have a draw to settle up the training base, and then switch to his regular base. The final layer of fun is a varied commission structure for old vs new accounts and the different products a consumer can buy. This means estimating how much money he will make by the end of the year is near impossible.

This year our filing status will be married filing jointly. We haven't been married the entire year, which I'm sure will make things even better. And then there's the house.

At the moment we're decided on a set percentage for retirement for me, but can't agree on how much of that should be 403(b) (pre-tax) or Roth IRA (post tax). I want to finish funding my Roth. There are three parts to this thought- I want to have enough to buy where I want to buy, I think in the long term Roth's are a good idea, and I want to follow through on at least one of the financial goals I set for myself. He want's more to go into my 403(b), to reduce our tax burden this year. Usually I would do the math (I've done a rough tax return in the past) to figure out the numbers, but the easy breezy days of running the numbers on a 1040 EZ seem to be behind me.

I'm sure in the end our decisions will work out, but woah is this more complicated.

Water Bottle Alternative

This is a really basic tip, so basic that I almost didn't post it.

When the latest warnings about BPA and Nalgene bottles came out I decided to retire the bottles I currently have. I plan on buying a Sigg bottle, but they're not cheap and I haven't gotten around to it yet.

In the mean time, I've gone old school. I brought a couple of cups to the office and bring a travel mug with water into the car. At work I keep the cups in my cabinet and use them as needed for water and tea. I store them in one of my cabinets and wash them out at the end of the day. I use them as needed, wash them out at the end of the day, and keep them in a cabinet.

Since I spend the majority of my time in my car, at work, or at home this works well for me. It keeps me from spending a lot of money on bottled water and saves the resources that go into making plastic bottles.

For more frugal and green ideas check out Thrifty Green Thursday.

Need an airline ticket?

Head on over to Ebay. Jetblue recently decided to put some of their plane tickets on Ebay. Set flights between set destinations (ie Boston to DC, 9/29 8pm flight) are up for auction and it seems to be going well. The bidding started at $0.05 yesterday, but majority of the flights are already over $100. The bidding goes on for another 5 days, so it will be interesting to see how high the bidding goes.

Would you buy tickets this way?

The First Day

This weekend I felt like I was in school again, trying to think of the perfect outfit for the first day. Something that would be appropriate, but fun, and show a bit of my style. In this first day of school/work haze I seriously considered going on a mini shopping spree to update the wardrobe. W

Then I came back to reality. In truth, I will need to buy some new clothes. With my old job there was a decent chance that finger paint or bodily fluids could end up on my clothes, so I stuck to bottoms just a step above jeans with nice shirts. The result is 2 years since I've had to look professional. Between gaining some weight and other things wearing out my 'nice' wardrobe has gotten pretty thin. I decided that until I figure out the level of dress necessary for the office and position the mini spree will have to wait.

Life update

In typical me style I managed to plan what turned out to be a crazy week. We got home near midnight on Tuesday. The wedding was perfect and the trip was otherwise amazing. Friday was my last day at the old job. Monday is my first day at the new job. Everything was on track to be a little rushed, but go well, until my boss made a mistake and deleted around 12 hours of work.

Despite the work craziness I managed to get my name changed with Social Security and on my drivers license. I still need to tackle my passport, credit cards, bills, and whatever else comes up. So far things haven't been that hard or time consuming, but the process still feels overwhelming. The good thing is I start the job with my new name and won't have to deal with double the paperwork on that end.

I think much of today will be devoted to laundry, getting ready for tomorrow, grocery shopping, and otherwise getting the house in order. It's not that sexy, but will keep the week running smoothly during my first week of work and keep me from eating out as much.

Going to the

chapel BEACH and we're gonna get married...



I'll be back by next Thursday, have a great weekend!

Resignation

After a lot of talking, thinking, and hand wringing I decided to resign from my current job and take the job I was offered. Though it was a tough decision, in the end we decided it would be the best move for my career and financially.

The new position is definitely a step up, with more responsibility and a wider range of work. It's more in line with the kind of positions I envisioned when I went back to school. The increased salary will allow more savings for retirement and possibly (depending on how much goes to retirement) accelerate paying down our debts. I'm excited about having something more than a Roth earning money for the future.

My boss didn't take it well, but has recovered gracefully. The COO and the President at my current company both offered congratulations and said that while they are sad to loose me, they are excited about the company insight I will bring to the new position.

For the next two weeks I'll be working on closing out all of my files so that the burden on my coworkers is minimal. Then I'll be headed to the new place.

Small Scale Rain Barrel

Water, especially when you live in an arid climate, is a precious resource. Before we started looking at houses I envisioned a rain barrel sitting along the back of the house, catching our intermittent rainwater. For those of you that aren't familiar, this is a barrel that collects water from your downspout systems. Your entire roof serves as a catchment surface and you get free (and non chlorinated) water to use in a garden, on a lawn, or whatever else you need.

The problem- commercial rain barrels are expensive. We're talking $100-200. There are plenty of instructions on how to create your own rain barrel, but they require tools and time that we just don't have at the moment.

My small scale, free, approach is to use 5 gallon plastic white buckets to catch rain. I get these for free at my local grocery store's bakery. They wash out the icing buckets for me and then I give them another wash at home. When I know it's going to rain (if we're getting rain the newscasters practically dance on their desks) I put the buckets in the yard open. When it's finished raining I close them up and the use to fill my watering vessels.


While 5 gallons isn't as great as say 55, it's working for now and every little bit helps.

Job Dilemma

When you're looking for a job it always seems complicated and crazy. When you're not looking sometimes things just fall into you lap.

Last summer I worked on my thesis at local nonprofit. While I was there another contractor was doing a project that overlapped with mine occasionally. We worked together well, and I looked up to her, but over the last year we lost touch.

Fast forward to 3 weeks ago. I was going into the office to drop off some paperwork and she was headed into my building for a meeting. She said she knew of a great job for me and couldn't believe that we just ran into each other. I gave her a card, we did a bit of small talk, and went our separate ways.

I'll spare you the details here, but I after I got a little nervous looking at the job description she asked me to interview as a favor b/c another applicant backed out. I agreed because an interview practice never hurts. The interview was great, it was my first where I don't NEED the job and I relaxed and had fun with it.

The problem? I've only been with my current job since 1/2/08. In addition to the fact that a short stint doesn't look good on a resume I think about the resources my current employer has put into my training. I also think about the bridges I may be burning. The new job is in the same field of my industry, in fact approx 1/4 of my work involves working with individuals at my current company.

My current job is great in many ways. I have a lot of flexibility. I work largely on my own. Nice benefits for the field. I get to travel around the state (though not in a style I like). I also work with a great group of women.

The possible new job is more along the lines of a 9-5, 30 minutes (in good traffic) from the new house. It's in the same industry, but where I evaluate and tell folks how to improve at the current job, the new job is serving as a resource for those folks. The office is under a mayor's office committee, which makes the work political. I would have a wider range of responsibilities. I'd also be moving from a 30 person organization to a 3.5 person organization.

All of these things are appealing and worrying at the same time. A lot of the safety net that I feel I have at my current position would be gone. I also know I'm more likely to be working 40-50 hour weeks, instead of my usual 35-40 and current 15-20. The reward for these risks is a title bump (program specialist to manager) and a $9.5K salary bump. The new position is also more in line with the master's degree (and corresponding student loans on the side bar) that I got last year.

The new job would also likely mean delaying having kids by at least a year. Gameboy is ok with this, and I'm (we're) young enough that it shouldn't have negative effects on trying to get pregnant. Really, my current job is the perfect job for a mom with school age kids.

So I'm trying to find the balance between:

• loyalty and career goals
• job flexibility and compensation
• title/responsibility and working hours
• family plan and career goals

I got the official offer tonight and asked for 2 days to discuss with Gameboy and a synopsis of their benefits.

Thoughts o wise readers?

Yard fun

Dear weeds,

I now understand why people use toxic chemicals to banish you. Halfway through last nights front yard ordeal I almost gave in. Small front yard weeds, consider this a warning. You were spared last night. In the next week boiling water, vinegar, or my fingers are coming at you. Just give up ok? And backyard weeds- those of you that didn't succumb to the vinegar two weeks ago- your turn is coming. I'm not sure when, because the next few days are busy and I am sore, but don't expect to be around too much longer.

I have learned your tricks. I know who has prickles. I know who a bit more vinegar will kill. I've also perfected the grip/twist/pull technique that seems to be your downfall. As the new kids on the block the yard can only look crazy for so long. The leather gloves, full long sleeves, and closed shoes- I learned my lesson on 3/4 sleeves and flip flops last night- will be headed your way.

Sara

Busy

You know those weeks where on Monday you think "this is going to be an easy week" and then it all falls apart- I've had one of those weeks. There was no one thing that was really bad just lots of little things buying up my time.

Tuesday I interviewed for a new job.
Wednesday & Thursday I took care of twin 4 yr old boys
Friday I spent the day in meetings.

Sadly I can't remember what I did on Monday. This weekend I plan on writing some more about the job I interviewed for and the qualms I'm having (not that I've even been offered the position).

How has your week been?

Kitchen Amnesia

The appliances are all delivered. The pantry and pans are unpacked. The fridge has food in it. This should be the perfect trifecta for lovely homemade meals in my new kitchen.

For a little perspective I should explain that my last kitchen was about the size of a postage stamp. It was near impossible for two adults to stand simultaneously try to do anything without running into or stepping on each other. In the lovely new kitchen we have cabinets to adequately store things and abundant counter space (including an island).

So why am I suffering from kitchen amnesia? I define this as what happens when you can't think of anything to cook. Outside of two meals (a pasta bake and baked mac and cheese) I can't think of ANYTHING to cook.

For the sake of my wallet (in my world kitchen amnesia = a lot of takeout) and waistline (have I mentioned that we're getting married in two weeks) I need to get myself back into the kitchen. I"m going to try to unearth to cookbooks* and spend a little time online looking for recipes. If you have any veggie recipes that you love send them my way.

*note to self cookbooks and regular books shouldn't be packed together.

Natural Weed Control

As many of you know we just bought a house. It was a foreclosure, on the market from late winter- meaning no water all season. The arid environment and the lowest rainfall in a years equals a lawn that looks like straw. We've watered, tried lawn tonics, and done rain dances trying to bring it back.

The only thing that has come back so far are the weeds. The special lawn tonic, water, and sun have turned tiny little weeds that barely caught my attention into small shrubbery. My mom's solution was to buy weed killer and douse the lawn, but that doesn't really work with my trying to be green ethic. Also the prices I saw at the big box store- not my cup of tea.

Instead I sought a natural method of weed control. A spray bottle full of vinegar was my method of attack. On Tuesday morning I visited each weed in the backyard, giving the base a few squirts of vinegar. I'm happy to report 3/4 of the weeds are shriveling up.* The ones that aren't dying are the ones that didn't get full sun while I was spraying so one of these afternoons** I'll be spraying those in the afternoon.

Vinegar Weed Control Tips:
-Spray only the base of weeds. Vinegar will hurt other plants, so try to target each individual weed. A spray bottle or power sprayer*** is probably your best tool for targeting the individual plants.
-Sunlight is your friend. This method works because the plants suck in the vinegar as they grow. A lot of sun speeds this process up.

If the next round of vinegar doesn't work I'll be moving to boiling water. I would have tried this first, but I'm a clutz and I see things not ending well.

Have you had any luck controlling weeds naturally?

*including the evil cactus-like weed that attacked me the other day
**when my quads stop being sore
***we have a 1 gallon pump sprayer that can spray as fine stream

Things not to do

Was a $48 check. Now I get to call the family I worked for and ask them to mail me another one...

UPDATE: I kept putting off making the call. The day I told myself I had to call I found the checks. Now checks go immediately into the wallet.

Month End Review

My number one goal for July was to stay sane. I am happy to report that I've met that goal. Finacially things are all over the place. The sidebars are updated and descriptions are below.

So one savings and one debt payoff tracker crossed the 1/3 milestone this month. (Insert small happy dance) Unfortunately the e fund took a hit, dealing with Gameboy's dad's legal expenses, dropping from 70% to 50%. My student loans are staying steady at .3%, a number that makes me sad but based on the current plan is realistic.

The spectacular dive in net worth is due to the house. Though I'm further away from breaking even the house is worth it. I'm using half of the house value and half of the equity for my numbers. I do the same thing with our shared accounts.

So far August is looking good income wise. I have a lot of babysitting lined up, time to take surveys, and Gameboy's commission checks are starting to roll in. I'm pretty confident that we'll get the networth line moving upward again in the next month.

One Year Ago Today...

I was defending my capstone project. This was the large project that served as the culmination to my Master's program. I spent 4 months surveying and then analyzing 3 neighborhoods about educational issues. This was followed by a report for my professors, a report for the sponsoring organization, and a report for the school board. The final bit was explaining my work and defending my conclusions to two professors and my representative at the sponsoring organization.

I remember being nervous and excited. It was an accelerated program, 2 years worth of classes in 2 average semesters. Life revolved around studying and trying to stay afloat financially. I was so excited to be finished, start looking for work, and preparing for an international trip.

In this year we've made much progress. We think about what we're spending, but how we'll pay the monthly expenses isn't really a worry. We both have jobs that we like. We are saving for retirement. Our wedding is planned. We bought a house.

We still have a lot to do, plenty of room to grow. Lots of debt (especially after the house) to pay off. Ambitious savings goals. But overall, looking at what we've accomplished in the past year I'm happy.

Picture credit: 【Jaz Q6r】Bرb

Moving Expenses

We're officially out of the old place and into the new place. The move and getting everything set up has presented a hose of financial challenges, so that we've handled well and others that could have gone much better.

I mentioned movers for our furniture a while back. This was probably the BEST $300 we've spent in a long time. I love Gameboy dearly, but one if his faults is underestimating how much work big jobs will be. This results in not enough time, frustration, and all around grumpiness for everyone involved. A friend reccomended movers who charge by the piece and I decided that was a great idea for our furniture. They guys who dilivered it struggled and I pictured Gameboy and a friend hurting the walls, or worse yet themselves, trying to move it. Our quote was $255 four our bedroom (4 pieces), office (3 pieces), living room (5 pieces). The guys were great and Gameboy was ready to pay them double after the first 10 minutes. They threw in some extra stuff and Gameboy took them to McDonalds and gave a healthy tip.

I've continued to spend an excessive amount of time and (at least in my opinion) with the Big Box stores. One error I've made in this area is not checking about reshelving fees/properly measuring. The pantry- the gloriously huge pantry- needed shelves and brackets. Prepared with approximate measurements I did some really fuzzy math and ended up with shelves that are way too small. The restocking fee to return them is around $1 off, but I may have been a bit more careful if I'd known about it. I also don't like that when I asked about return policies they just said within 30 days with a receipt.

Outside of cleaning and shelving the next biggest drain has been our lawn. I live in what could easily be described as a desert on a mountain. We recently broke a 100+ year record for straight days in the 90's or above. We're also at about half our usual summer rainfall. I've tried a few lawn tonics service guys and internet searching informed me about. The tools to apply the tonics, the ingredients, and time amaze me. I think if we haven't made progress in the next two weeks we're going to try the comercial chemically stuff. I've been trying to keep things relativley natural, but it's sad. On the plus side we don't have to worry about mowing any time soon.

I haven't run tallies yet but I'd guess we're in the $600-800 range on stuff from Home Depot, Lowes, and the grocery store for the house. All of the receipts have been relegated to what I'm calling the organization table. Only problem is it's surrounded by boxes, making it hard to you know, organize.

There are a lot more things that we want/need to make our house a home, but I'm doing my best to keep a tight reign on things that aren't necessary for day to day life. Bookcases for our many books would be great- but they can hang out in boxes for a few more months.

Any lawn tips? Or even better, how to make all of our stuff unpack itself?