Archive results for “October 2011f 2011”

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Happy Halloween…

So what’d I dress up as?

Um. Nothing.

We got home from dinner with my husband’s family too late (and by late, I mean 9:00 p.m.) to dress up for the party at my brother’s house. Baby boy was sleeping in his car seat and we didn’t have the heart to wake him, dress him, and go out.

Oh how times have changed in the last 3 months.

What were we going as? Baby boy was dressing as Winnie the Pooh. Hubby was going to wear some old too small golf shorts, high socks, and hat as Christopher Robin. I was going to be … uh.. Judge Judy. I’m a HUGE Judge Judy fan and we have Chris’ college graduation robe, doilies, and a wig from my grandma. Free, free, free is the theme I was going for.

Oh well. There’s always next year. Maybe I can get hubby to sport the outfit for photos anyway.

Posted by Beks on October 31, 2011 at 5:00 AM in Parties | Comment First »
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The WORST Amusement Park Ride EVER!

I decided to try out one of those silly ‘Frightmare’ type amusement park rides last night. The ride had all the typical ‘scary’ things like monsters, ghosts, etc. Like the majority of Halloween rides, they save the most terrifying things for last. The monsters and ghosts disappeared, everything went black and then the room lit up with charge cards, FICO scores, and collections signs flashing. Mortgage lenders in suits with warped faces filled the air with terrifying laughs. Everyone started screaming – including me. I asked the guy running the ride to please let me off and he shut the whole thing down so I could get unbuckled.

I was petrified.

Then I woke up with a gasp.

That’s what I get for reading ‘Smart Money’ magazine before bed.

Posted by Beks on October 29, 2011 at 5:00 AM in Credit Reports/FICO, General Debt | 1 Comment »
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Scary D.I.Y. Project…

My parents purchased five tiny pine trees from the grocery store and planted them in their front yard…30 years ago.

I don’t know if my father didn’t realize how HUGE the trees would get or if he simply didn’t think he’d still be living in the home 30 years later, but they took over the front yard. He was forced to cut them down one by one as snow storms threatened to push them onto the house but two remained.

One of the trees was leaning precariously toward the house and would unlikely survive another winter season. My father is stashing cash for his start-up and couldn’t spend the money on a tree service so my husband and brothers decided they’d take the task on.

Not realizing my husband was planning on flirting with danger, I didn’t activate his disability insurance policy. We’ve been shopping around and haven’t nailed one down yet. Eek. I was out shooting photos and shouting, ‘Please don’t get hurt! We’ve got NO INSURANCE!!!’

Remarkably they got the tree down without injury (this proves there IS a God) and my parents have enough firewood to take them into 2020.

Posted by Beks on October 28, 2011 at 7:56 PM in health, Home Ownership, Insurance | 3 Comments »
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Lazy Cooking Wastes Money?

My sisters make everything from scratch. They don’t buy pizzas. They don’t buy frozen dinners. They don’t buy packaged cookies. I’m not even sure if they’ve ever purchased a loaf of bread.

I figured this craziness was genetic. A rare strain inherited from my mother who used to grind her own wheat for fresh bread in the morning. I, on the other hand, take after my dad who could pull out a fork, open a can of cold Chef Boyardee, and call it dinner.

I mean really, NORMAL people don’t bake everything right?

I went to a friend’s house over the weekend. She had invited my husband and me over for hamburgers and fries. I watched in amazement as she carefully molded ground beef into patties, peeled and sliced potatoes, and pulled fresh buns from the oven. We drank homemade Kombucha and devoured fresh cookies after dinner.

She started talking about saving money and how they lived on less because she cooks everything from scratch. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that while, yes, I make dinner at home each night, the closest I’ve come to making cookies from scratch in months is slicing them off a premade roll I bought with a coupon.

Am I the crazy one here? Are all of you out there baking away while I’m buying hamburger buns and crackers instead of making them?

Posted by Beks on October 25, 2011 at 5:00 AM in food, Living Frugal, Saving Money | 27 Comments »
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Help for Homeowners?

I’m not holding my breath…

but this sure would be nice.

Posted by Beks on October 24, 2011 at 11:51 AM in Home Ownership | 1 Comment »
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No Food, No Cash, and No Active Accounts…

Even though we promised not to, my husband occasionally surprises me with a gift on our anniversary. He’ll usually save a small amount of cash from his second job and buy something really thoughtful and sweet. This year, he purchased something but was unable to pay cash for it since it was out of state. He didn’t want me to see where the gift was coming from so he went to Western Union and put it on our debit card.

What he didn’t know? Transactions from Western Union automatically shut down our account for possible fraudulent activity – even though the charge was less than $100. No charges, no cash out, AND no online access. I didn’t know why the account was shut down and I couldn’t check the transactions online.

Being the naturally calm, level-headed person I am, I called my hubby to tell him our identities were stolen, we were destined for a life of poverty because of a thief, we wouldn’t be able to buy food for weeks, and we’ll die from slow starvation.

Accustomed to my overreacting downward spirals, he hung up on me, called the bank, and had the whole thing sorted out in less than 5 minutes. BUT, it would take them 24 hours to turn the cards back on and enable online access. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal but since this week is payday, our cash grocery fund has about 12 cents and the fridge is empty.

Dinner tonight? Pita bread and tomato soup. Breakfast tomorrow? Pita bread and tomato soup. Lunch tomorrow? Pita bread and tomato soup.

It’s going to be a long 24 hours.

Lesson learned? No more Western Union.

Posted by Beks on October 22, 2011 at 5:00 AM in General Personal Finance | 8 Comments »
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Credit Report Check!

Every four months I check my report from one of the three credit agencies. If I keep an organized rotation, I never have to pay for this service (free once per year from each agency). Sorry! I’m a bit late this time.

Not only does this prevent your credit from being misused, it also gives you a clear picture of where you stand financially.

If you’d like to join me, head to www.annualcreditreport.com or www.ftc.gov/freereports and choose:

Equifax

I’ll remind you again in four months! Happy Credit Score!

Posted by Beks on October 21, 2011 at 5:00 AM in Credit Reports/FICO | Comment First »
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