Losing Weight is Expensive!

I cannot believe how much it costs to lose weight. 

First, I am paying nearly $43 a month for Weight Watchers.  But I absolutely love Weight Watchers.  It teaches you how to eat , how to make the right food choices, and how to budget your points throughout the day.  They have an app for the smart phone, which makes keeping track of my points so much easier.  I love them.

And it is working.  As of last week, I have lost 26 pounds! 

But then we get back to the money.  Because I am shrinking out of my clothes!  I had a bunch of capri’s in my closet that I pulled out yesterday to wear, and none of them fit.  They were all too big!  So now I have nothing to wear for summer.  All my t-shirts are ginormous.  I have started wearing The Teenager’s t-shirts, which kind of annoys him.  Even my pajama pants are too big!

And let’s talk about bras.  I have shrunk out of those as well.  Or I should say out of it.  Because I only had one that semi-fit me to start with – it was too small.  But now it’s too big.  Fortunately, as I was looking for a smaller pair of pajama pants, which I found tucked in a back drawer under my bed, I found 8 bras from skinnier days!  All of them were the good Victoria’s Secret bras!  3 of them were too big (I skipped a whole size!) and 3 of them were still brand-new in the plastic!  I was thrilled!  And so is my checkbook.

Anyway, I am looking at having to buy a whole new wardrobe for summer, and I still have over 30 pounds to go!  But I will not complain.  I love being skinny-er.  I am not skinny yet, but I am getting there.  The Doctor took me shopping last week for an Easter outfit, and it was so much fun to try on clothes!  They fit well, and I didn’t feel like an elephant!  I used to dread shopping for clothes, but not anymore. 

Now, if someone wanted to just give me a couple hundred dollars to pay for them!

Anyone?

Gift Cards

I love, love, love gift cards. 

I love to give them.  They are so nice when you want to get a gift for someone, but you just don’t know what they want.  It’s hard to shop for people!  Gift cards are a way to give them a gift that they want.  Some people look at them as a cop out, but not me.  And you can get gift cards to just about anywhere now! 

I love to get them too.  Cash I just end up spending.  It’s hard to keep it separate.  And when I get gift cards for restaurants and movie theaters, that guarantees me a date night, especially when money is tight and we wouldn’t be able to go out otherwise. 

Do you like gift cards?  Why or why not?

$$$$$$$

How much does it cost to get a “free” education?

                                                              The Teenager     The Artist     The Chocoholic

Required fees                                             $75                   $77                    $92

“Optional” fees (if you want your child to do anything interesting)

                                                                      $85                   $80                     $25

Yearbooks                                                   $40                   $16                    $16

Cross country camp                                 $130

Cross country shoes                                 $90

Clothes for gym                                                                                                 $30

Insurance for school iPod                        $25

Graduation announcements                 $108

Cap and gown                                            $40

Totals                                                          $593                $173                      $163

Grand total = $929

This is just what I have paid so far.  There will be more fees for the second semester, more if they want to be in the play or if they do any other sports.  They are also in 2 dance classes each. Fortunately, their dance teacher is amazing and we are cleaning her studios in exchange for tuition which would be $250/month. There will be concert fees and recital fees.  And the worst part is that I can't write any of it off! 

Me: 1, Disney: 99

Everything at Disneyland is expensive.  They don’t make their money from the admission price.  They make their money on the food and the souvenirs.  I should know.  I bought some food there, and way too many souvenirs.  Including glass ornaments for the Christmas tree so we remember our trip.  They were so cute!

When we went on our trip to Disneyland, we were introduced to the PhotoPass card.  There are photographers everywhere and when they take your picture, they scan the bar code on your PhotoPass card.  We were trying to pass on letting them take our pictures, and we told them it’s because the pictures are so expensive.  He told us that you can buy a CD with all the pictures on it for $60.  Honestly, I thought that was a pretty good deal because I knew they charged around $15 for an 8x10.  So we just let them take whatever pictures they wanted.

When we got home, one of the first things I did was get on the internet and look at all the pictures.  They were all so cute!  But when I went to order the CD, it was $120, not $60.  I was shocked, and actually a little peeved.  After a couple of days, I went back on the site and looked through the pictures.  I narrowed it down to 2 that I had to have.  I put them in my shopping cart, one as an 8x10 and the other as a 5x7. There was a tab with special offers, but only for generic stuff, nothing that I was interested in.

I then started searching for coupon codes to try and make it cheaper.  I always do this when I buy things online.  I never buy until I have searched for ways to make it cheaper.  And it’s amazing how many coupons are out there!  Anyway, I found several people that said not to buy anything until you are close to the expiration date of the pictures (they only keep them on their site for 30 days, then they disappear forever).  Disney will keep sending you emails reminding you they are expiring and will give you coupon codes to make them cheaper.  So I waited.

3 days ago, I received an email reminding me that the pictures expired today.  So yesterday I logged in and looked at my shopping cart.  I then went to look at the photo cd again and guess what?  It was down to $60!  Obviously, it was more expensive at the beginning to try to get you while you are still super pumped about your trip!  But it gets better! I then went to the special offers tab and it offered $15 off the photo cd.  So for almost the same price of the 2 pictures that I was going to order, instead I got the cd with all the pictures.  I love it when I get a good deal, and I love it even more when I know I got the best deal possible.  I am so glad I waited.  Patience is a good thing!

Credit Cards

We do not have any credit card debt.
It has taken us 17 years to get to this point.  We spent the first 13 years of our marriage with credit card debt...a lot of credit card debt.  At one point I had it down below $5,000, but then we had a medical crisis, and I coped by shopping.
When The Doctor lost his job in 2005, we cashed out his 401K, paid 40% in taxes, but we were then able to pay off both cars and all our credit cards.  We were out of credit card debt for about 6 months, and then I coped by shopping.  So we were in debt again for the next 3 years.
This past spring, we were finally able to get them all paid off.  I am really proud that we did it this time on our own.  We just buckled down and paid them off.  It is such a freeing feeling.  This summer when we bought our new cell phones, we put them on the credit card and then paid them off after, and I hated knowing that we had that debt again.  I was so relieved to pay them off again!
I wish so desperately that we could have done this sooner.  I am going to do everything I can to teach my children to stay out of debt. 

Online Banking

I am obsessed with my online banking.  I check it nearly every day, and I do it very happily!
I have 2 checking, 2 check protection, a VISA, and my 3 children's savings accounts at Bank #1, and a checking, savings, and VISA card at Bank #2.
Our main account at Bank #1 is for The Doctor's full time job.  From this account I pay the household bills.  Any extra goes to savings at Bank #2.  The other checking account is for his other 2 part-time jobs. This money is what we use to live on.  The checking account at Bank #3 is for my check from my job.  This money pays my student loan. 
When we overdraft (which we do!), I am able to transfer the money from savings right into the account so we don't have to pay a fee. 
I love seeing how much money we have at any given time.  I know exactly where I am at.  It is very comforting to me.

Debt

When The Doctor and I got married, he had credit card debt, and I had credit card debt. And no matter how hard we tried (which, looking back, wasn't that hard), we never could pay it all off. And with me at home with babies and him going to school for 12 of the 16 years we've been married, we supplemented with student loans, which means the big stuff went on credit cards.

When he lost his job from the college, we cashed out his retirement, paying 40% in taxes, and paid off both our cars and we paid off the credit cards. As sucky as it was to pay the taxes, it was so wonderful to be out of debt (except for student loans, which will never get paid off!).

With our tax return the following spring, because we didn't have to dump it on credit cards, we decided to finish our basement. We had just enough money...for the basics. I didn't budget paint or fixtures or carpet. So even though we did that ourselves, how did we pay for it? Yep...credit cards.

And once you have some on the credit card and you can't pay it off each month, it's so easy to put a little bit more on. The problem comes when you put a little bit more. And more. And more.

However...

Now that he has a good stable job that is bringing in a good income, and he is working a second job that is bringing in way more than I thought it would, we have been able to pay off the smaller credit card. That felt awesome.

Then last night I did my taxes and filed them, and we should have our refund by the end of next week. And...it is enough to get us completely out of credit card debt again!

Whoo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am just a titch excited!

Then we can start saving for a fence. Because that is next on our list! Along with a shed, recliners, hitch on the van, tankless water heater, etc., etc., etc.

I am responsible

Owning a house is a privilege, NOT a right.

We waited until we could afford a house before we bought one. And we bought a house we could afford at the moment. It was small, but it was adequate.

I did not do an interest only loan in order to get into a bigger house than I could really afford.

I did not get a variable rate so I could get a smaller rate in the hopes that in a few years I would be able to refinance before the rate changed.

So why should I have to bail out all those people who to were too greedy and stupid to buy a house they couldn't afford?

I understand that situations happen, people loose jobs, etc. But we are in our current crisis because people bought houses they couldn't afford. I am not going to blame the banks because they were all just trying to make a buck. That is their job. It isn't their job to be the moral compass.

Maybe I should stop paying on my mortgage for a few months and then I can get my loan refinanced for free, or I can get the government to force my lender to lower what I owe on my house.

I am ticked off.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/05/real_estate/bail_outs_fair_or_foul/index.htm

Bills

I have always been intrigued as to how people do things differently than me. Because I am OCD, I believe that my way is best. LOL But when something works for me, I go with it.

I have been facinated lately with how people pay their bills. I have read how some wait and pay each one just before it's due. I don't understand that one. So many things can happen...you can forget, don't have the money, the payment gets delayed, etc.

I am the type of person who is early for everything. If it starts at 7:00, I will be there by 6:55 at the latest. I HATE being late.

This translates to my bills as well. I refuse to let them be late, or even close to late. We have worked too hard to get our credit rating up, just to let it be dinged by a simple late bill. And did you know that credit card companies are searching for reasons to raise your credit rating, and will do so just because of one late payment?

Anyway, I have mapped out my bills in a ledger so that I know the exact date that each bill is due. When The Doctor got paid twice monthly, I wrote down his pay, then started subracting the bills from it. First and foremost is tithing. Nothing gets paid before tithing. That is just the way it is. And I know that is how we survived over the last 3 1/2 years.

So here is how it looked:

+Check #1 (payday was the 1st of month)
-tithing
-fast offerings
-1/2 of house payment (due on the 1st of next month)
-water/sewage bill (due on the 15th)
-credit card payment (due on the 15th)
-cable/phone/internet (due on the 20th)
-cell phone (due on the 20th)

+Check #2 (payday was the 15th of the month)
-tithing
-1/2 of house payment
-trumpet payment (due on the 20th)
-gas payment (due on the 25th)
-car insurance (due on the 25th)
-electric bill (due on the 25th)

What we had left over went to groceries, etc.

Did you know that you can call and request a due date? Most companies are willing to change it for you. That has saved us on several occasions.

Now that that The Doctor only gets paid once a month, it's trickier. Because it's easier to run out of money sooner. But I still pay all my bills when we get paid. So that means that some are paid ahead of time, and that's okay too. Because I would rather run out of money and not be able to go out to eat, than run out of money and not be able to pay a bill.

So how do you pay your bills? And does it actually work for you? ;-)