Remember your #1…

Posted by Beks on January 27, 2012 at 5:00 AM
in Money & Relationships | 2 Comments » |

Hubby has been down for the count lately. Sick. Miserable. Very not-like him.

I didn’t realize how very much I rely on him until he wasn’t available. Sure there was the shopping trip, but it’s the day to day stuff that went unnoticed, like…

the fact he starts my car for me in the morning so it’s toasty warm by the time I leave for work. Trust me, I realized it as I ran out in the cold and had to de-ice my windshield.

or the fact that he packs my lunch and my nursing supplies. Sure, I pack it at night, but he puts them in my car when he starts it. I forgot them both this morning.

or the fact that he helps with the dishes after I make a big dinner. I woke up this morning and the ‘kitchen fairies’ hadn’t visited.

Snnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifffffffffffffffffff….

*tear*

Yeah. Debt is a big part of my life. Bigger part?

That guy.

It didn’t help that Gary Allan serenaded me on the radio with ‘The One’ this morning. Just so happens that was what hubby and I danced to more than seven years ago on our wedding day.

Called hubby to tell him I loved him.

Debt is a big deal. Bigger deal? ‘That guy’ in your life. Don’t forget it.

Super Shopping…

Posted by Beks on January 26, 2012 at 5:00 AM
in Life Experiences | 3 Comments » |

Hubby came down with the flu yesterday. Normally, I pick up our son, and he stops at the grocery store if we are missing an item or two for dinner since shopping with a six month old is difficult.

Last night, hubby requested brown rice water for dinner to calm his stomach, but was unable to get to the store from his ‘deathbed’ on the couch.

Naturally, I’m all out of brown rice and naturally, it’s pouring down rain for my afternoon commute home.

I picked up our son, circled the grocery store parking lot for a spot, and struggled to get him out of his car seat without getting either of us soaked. I run inside, manage to step into a huge puddle of water that looked deceptively small, and grimace as water fills my hi-heels.

I walk the grocery store aisle, trying desperately not to slip with my wet shoes, and grab a bag of brown rice. Usually, after grabbing the item I need, I make a quick circle of the store, check out the sale items or grab produce. I always purchase at least one item not on my grocery list – an item I don’t necessarily need.

I looked down at my sweet son, smiling despite his snotty nose and swollen teething gums. Nope. No circle around the store. I went straight to the checkout. I didn’t even grab a pack of gum from the check stand. Total bill? $2.

Gone are my days of leisure grocery spending.

Who needs to go on a debt diet? Just bring a baby.

Excuse me, can I pay this bill?

Posted by Beks on January 24, 2012 at 8:43 PM
in General Debt, Morals and Money | 17 Comments » |

I enjoy paying bills. I know. Sick. But, I like reducing debt so much that I feel good watching numbers go down. It’s a great feeling.

Anyway, I’m old school. I write checks to pay bills.

Yes, I know you can pay bills online.

I’m a nerd who likes writing checks.

I wrote a check to our utility company for about $60 and it hasn’t been cashed yet. No biggie right? Except, I wrote the check just over SIX months ago. I called about three months ago to make sure the payment was applied to my balance and it was… but the check remains un-cashed.

The friendly customer service person said my account was in good standing but when I asked her when the check would be cashed, she said to keep waiting.

So here we are, inching toward month SEVEN, and I’m confused as to what to do. Do I call the utility company and offer another check? Or do I lean back, kick my feet up, and figure it’s their loss?

What would you do?

*On a side note, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. I paid another bill and more than a year went by. They never cashed the check and would not accept another payment because their system would not handle ‘double’ payments.

I’ll trade you a toilet drain for a furnace…

Posted by Beks on January 23, 2012 at 5:00 AM
in Home Ownership | 3 Comments » |

Hubby is a plumber by trade but he’s pretty good at everything – except HVAC work. Of course when our furnace broke last week, I went into a full fledged panic. Are we going to be able to pay off debt? Is this furnace going to break us?

In between my cold sweats, hubby was on the phone. Turns out, his cousin is an HVAC installation guy and he owed him one for some plumbing work my husband did a few months ago.

Hubby’s cousin has been in the furnace closet for two hours now.

Whirrr. Click. Whirrrr. Click. Stomp. Slam. Whirrr. Click. Mumble. Mumble. Gzzzzrrrr.

Apparently ‘install’ guys aren’t the same as ‘repair/maintenance’ guys.

I’m sitting in our office, glass of cheap wine firmly in hand, praying the next two hours go better than the last two.

Our budget depends on it.

Passing Down Traits…

Posted by Beks on January 20, 2012 at 8:00 PM
in Kids & Money | 5 Comments » |

After picking up my son, I arrived home tired from work last night. I schlepped off my formal work clothes and donned an oversized t-shirt, sweat pants, and fluffy pink slippers. Just thinking about making dinner was making me drag.

Baby boy started fussing a little, hungry for his dinner. I looked at him, smiled, and started asking him if he was hungry.

Asking him while singing in an opera voice.

I didn’t even realize I was doing it until about the fourth time singing, ‘AaaaaaAAAaaAAaaare you HuuuuUUUUuuuungry BoyyyyYYYYyyyYYY?’

I don’t sing opera. Um. Hubby would like to say I can’t sing at all. And before baby Cash was born, you wouldn’t catch me singing…ever. But here I was, standing in my living room, singing in an opera voice to my son.

And then I choked.

I have turned into my mother.

My whole life, my mother sang in an opera voice to children. I don’t think she’s capable of speaking to them, only singing. And I realized, I’ve picked up a lot of traits from my mother. That got me thinking, what traits will I pass to my children? I want them to be good, kind hearted, giving, etc. But what will they find themselves doing that says ‘I’ve turned into my mother!’? What stands out about me?

Will it be my goodness? My kindness? My giving?

Ha.

I have a feeling Cash will be standing in the snack aisle screaming ‘I WILL NOT buy you!!’ to the Lays potato chips when he’s thirty.

I’ve got to start being the person I want my son to become.

I may never shake the singing thing… but maybe that’s not a bad thing. It reminds me that tiny little eyes are watching.

The Groupon Fight Continues….

Posted by Beks on January 19, 2012 at 8:00 PM
in Money & Relationships | 4 Comments » |

I’ve said it before. I don’t Groupon.

It’s not that I don’t like what they do…

It’s that I LOVE everything and want to buy it all. My self-control in online shopping leaves a lot to be desired – especially after the arrival of our kidlet.

I thought I was safe. I don’t subscribe.

But my husband does.

Recently, he started forwarding e-mails about once a week for items we simply can’t live without. I find myself pulled in, willing to not eat for 3 days so we can buy the latest canvas print enlargement or child sized fuzzy hat.

Sigh.

I love him. He’s the most thoughtful, sweet person I know. But I finally had to beg him to stop being so darn thoughtful… and stop sending the e-mails… at least until February.

What’s Going On At Work?

Posted by Beks on January 18, 2012 at 11:01 PM
in work | 11 Comments » |

Well…

Nothing.

I was promised my salary would be adjusted by the end of the year but here we are three weeks into January and I haven’t seen anything.

Sure, it’d be no big deal if I hadn’t already started the work, but I have. I thought I knew better to agree to higher work responsibility without compensation, but I fell for the line, ‘We promise a new salary later.’

‘Later’ never came.

I’ve addressed the issue with the powers that be, and all I keep hearing is ‘soon’.

Somehow I went from having all the cards to having none.

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