Today was payday, and my paypal went through.

I was able to add $200 to the animal fund to start saving for fencing and finishing the horse shelter.

Credit card is also paid down.

Our propane tank is currently between 30% - 35% so I called for a fill up. There is a propane shortage across the US. People are freaking out.

The price jumped from $1.50ish to $4.50ish in just a couple weeks!

She quoted me a price of $3 today. But she told me I should just turn down the heat and ride it out as long as possible. They won't even do fill ups right now. She said they won't give anyone more than 100 gallons at a time.

I will just keep checking the propane meter, and will wait until it gets down to 15%. She said to call back next week and see if the price has settled back down. That scares me. If the tank runs out not only will we not have any heat, but they charge a whole lot of fees and have to do a bunch of tests if the tank runs out. Ouch.

Crazy times! It is suppose to get super cold again this week. Last night it was about 65... when I woke up this morning it was under 10 degrees. That is insane! 40-50 mile per hour winds all night too, it felt like a tornado.

I am SO DONE with winter. Spring come quickly.

Praise the Lord!

Someone contacted me about designing a website finally.

The lady is very nice, and has already sent the initial $250. I am very excited to be getting the practice, and getting the extra cash.

It is in the process of transferring to my bank account, and paypal said it can take several days. As soon as it gets here that money will probably be sent to my animal fund to put towards fencing my pasture and finishing my horse shelter.

This money will greatly help me reach my goals.

Well when he stopped at my moms house, she managed to ask his name. She then googled him, and we have his phone number. She tried to call him but his wife answered and said he was gone.

I have not called the sheriffs office yet or AC. Although I do have a friend who works there, so I may ask his opinion.

I am trying to remain calm and civil, it is an 80 year old guy, and he is our neighbor. I really do not want a life long dispute. But really he needs to mind his own business.

I posted a no trespassing sign, and if he comes here again or makes anymore threats he will be DONE.

I wanted to call him last night, but husband is furious. He feels just as violated as me, and is saying how if he comes here again he is going to fire some warning shots in the air. Husband will not let me call him. He says if the guy is going to make threats, he needs to come say it to our face. We should not have to hunt him down.

My mom came out and rigged it up so the horse can go into the barn if he wants to. He has not been in there once yet, and husband wants him put back. (The horse is basically fenced off in the yard and pooping everywhere.)

My animals are well cared for. I have a 20 pound cat for goodness sakes, and a 200 pound pet pig. No one can say my animals are starving... lol. If anything they are overweight. This is all just ridiculous. I am appalled that someone would think I mistreat my animals. It is so the opposite of that.

I have decided to not let it bother me. Mom gave him my phone number, so he has no reason to not contact me if he wants to make empty threats again. We will be taking action against him if he does something again.

Thanks for the support guys!

The neighbor that threatened to call animal control is at it again! I am so mad, I could spit bullets.

Now he has stopped at my parents house. (I have no idea how he knows us, or who they are.)

Apparently he came to MY house today while I was at work. He claims that there were no foot prints to my horse pen, so I haven't watered or fed him today.

Then he went INSIDE my barn and said there were sharp things in there that is unsafe for a horse. He also looked and snooped around and said I had no grain, so I am obviously starving my horse!

#1 There are no footprint because it is 30 mile an hour wind outside, and there is snow on the ground. Of course they would blow over. The water is frozen because it is 14 degrees outside.

#2 I DO NOT WANT people coming to my house when I am not home, and snooping through my stuff.

#3 No duh the barn is not safe for horses. That is why he is not in the barn!!! He has his own shelter.

#4 I have over 200 pounds of grain in there. And even if I did not, since when is it a crime to not feed a horse grain. (He gets hay 24/7 which is all he needs.)

He says if something does not change today he is calling animal control. I just do not understand. I am sitting here bawling. I do not think he has a case, but what if they come and decide he is right and I get in trouble or they take away my horse.

I want to call the police, but I do not want to start anything.

I will be stopping at walmart and getting a no trespassing sign on my way home. I do not think it will help though.

He needs to mind his own business. I know dozen of horses, with NO shelter. Why is he picking me on, when I have a shelter, and obviously well cared for animals. The only reason he even knows is because my house is out in the open and visible to everyone.

My parents are going to come help try to figure something out. But I am scared to put my horse in the barn again. He hates it, and he hurts himself.

Sent out checks for all the bills today.
(Except the darn plumber bill. Still no answer. arg.)
The money is sitting in my account, but I still would like to call and see if I can get it lowered first.

I also was able to pay down my credit card to below $100 and it isn't due until March 6th. So starting next week I should be able to start putting money back in savings again! Hurray!

Hopefully no other big unexpected expenses will come up, and our budget will just continue with smooth sailing. I can not wait to see our EF grow!

In other news, I broke my right hand yesterday. Which I have to use for everything like typing and doing chores. I hope it heals quickly.

Just treading water around here.

I tried to call the plumber and see about lowering bill. No answer. I will leave a message and hopefully he will call me back.

Our electric bill was HUGE this month. $230. Most of the year it is around $120. So now I have to scramble for that money.

Trash bill and Water is also due before the end of the month.

Everything will get paid without eating into the EF but I am just trying to juggle what to pay this check, what to what until next check...

Still have another $150 on the credit card.

No money is being saved this month probably. But I am just happy to cover all these costs out of the paychecks and not savings.

We got the plumber bill yesterday...

$305!!!

That is so ridiculous.

The materials cost $5. He charged us $300 in labor.

Which the job should have only taken less than an hour. He just had to replace one elbow in our bathroom. But he soldered the top of it first then when he did the bottom the heat melted the top one and he had to cut it off and start all over again. Which ended up making the job 2 hours.

The second time it took less than 20 minutes probably to do it. But in between he tried other things to see if he could save it before he started over which ate up time.

I dont think we should really be charged for his mistake. But even if he are, is $150 really the going rate per hour? That is crazy! I want to be a plumber, they make more than doctors!

I have talked to a couple people, and they agree it sounds outrageous. Maybe he is price gouging because I am a female? Who knows.

I have the money but I am going back and forth if I should call him and ask him about the bill and see if I can get it lowered, or if I should just suck it up and pay and be done with it.

I dont want to make him an enemy because I may need him again someday, and he works with Father in Law on occasion.

But geez!

What would you do?

I got so wrapped up in the water disaster this week I forgot to post about our fun weekend!

Husbands work had their Christmas party Saturday. Enough cant be said about how generous they are, I have never experienced another business like them. I am sooooo tempted to put my application in as well.

They rented a huge building. It was all decked up and so fancy, everyone was all dressed up. I felt like a queen!

There was over 150 people there, and everyone was so friendly to me. I had at least 5 people come up to me and gush about how sweet and polite my husband was to them. Even the owner. I just told them, you havent seen him at home. lol.

I think the funniest thing about this was that it is a gun warehouse so literately 90% of the people that work there are hicks. So there were people wearing fancy dresses, then there were also men with long scruffy beards and camo pants. It was a hoot.

They served prime rib and chicken cordon bleu as the main dishes. But they had probably 7 other side dishes that were just as fancy. I am not kidding when I say it was probably the most expensive and delicious meal I have ever ate.

It was also an open bar, but neither of us drink. So I had a couple cokes and husband stuck to water.

They gave away a ton of attendance prizes. (Close to 100) Including ammunition, a gun, and other odds and ends like coolers and tents.

We didnt win anything. But every employee got a hat, a very nice jacket, and a box of chocolate bullets.

We was fun to socialize, and I had a great time meeting all his co-workers and friends.


Back to today. All week I have been praying that God would provide for the money for our plumber. Well yesterday husband came home grinning ear to ear. They gave him a $3 an hour raise!!



That equates to about $185 extra a check! Which means we will be able to save another $100 a month at least for our EF. We will have more food money, husband will have more spending money, and we might even be able to afford internet finally!

I am so proud that my husband is a good worker. Last year at this time he was working at McDonalds, and everyone ridiculed him. Now he is thriving in a job he loves. I am so happy for him, he really deserves it.

Well the plumber came out this morning finally.


We have water again!!

But the spot are hard to reach, and it took him an hour to fix it. Then he had a leak and had to cut it all out and start over.

So the little job took two hours.

I am not sure if he will charge us for the extra hour since it was kind of his fault... But I bet he will.

He said he will send me a bill, and I am super nervous to what it will be. I bet a few hundred dollars.

That seems so expensive for a little tiny elbow that needed replaced. It depresses me that we can not get ahead in our savings.

My mortgage payment hit and I am at $51,057.43

I am so close to breaking into $50k!

I am sorely tempted to paying an extra $57 just so I can get there, but I know it is not wise at this time.

With my normal little extra payment $29 went to escrow, so I have about $52 more until my escrow is all caught up. Hopefully by next month.

Baby goats are doing good. And I have about $500 - $750 worth of babies to sell depending on if I keep the girl or not. I wont get that money until at least May though.

My water is still shut off. The plumber is suppose to come today, but I have not heard from him yet. Praying that he comes today, fixes the pipes, and that it cost under $200.

Yesterday my goat had trouble delivering her kids. This goat is the bane of my existence. Worst animal I have ever had, and she has been nothing but trouble. I bought her years ago, I paid a pretty penny for her and she was suppose to be bred when I got her.

She wasnt and we have tried to get her bred this entire time but she never took. We finally get her bred and then we have all this trouble.

She got caught in the fence (at old owners) as a kid and we believe she got brain damage.

She never eats right, and she is super skinny and unhealthy looking. She stares off into space for hours at a time, she walks alone and just wanders around. She honestly acts like a person with Autism. It is the weirdest thing.

Anyway my mom called me that she was having trouble. I am the most experienced at getting stuck kids out so I rush there, and try my best. But I feel a ribcage and a hip... But that cant be right.

We decide to take her to the vet for an emergency c-section. It is going to cost $300...

Mind you I already have spent endless money on buying and care for this useless goat. I have her sold to a pet home for close to nothing, and she was suppose to leave in a couple months. The thought of spending another $300 makes me sick. Id prefer just to shoot her, but cant justify it.

(Warning: This may be graphic to some.)

We get there, and the vet tries one last time to get the baby out. She is really violent about it. We hold the goat up in the air, and it was so messy I thought she was going to bleed out.

She did manage to dislodge the baby. It was literately twisted in half. So I WAS feeling a hip and a ribcage. It looked dead, but it had a really faint heart beat. We tried to revive it for a few seconds. But honestly it looked so broken, I dont think there is anyway we could save it, so our attention turned back to trying to rescue any other kids inside.

She forcefully pulled out two more kids. The first one was one of the smallest babies I have ever seen. It was so skinny, and not breathing. I thought it was gone too. The vet assistant didnt seem to know what to do. So I gently pushed her out of the way and grabbed the kid by the back feet and I slung that baby around like a lasso.

It seemed like this situation lasted forever, but I think from the time we walked in the door to when we left we like 10 minutes.

Im pretty sure the rest of the vet hospital thought we were some crazy people. Think of 3 people holding a goat up in the air, and another person slinging a baby around. And mess EVERYWHERE, including the walls. I felt bad about the mess. But it couldnt be helped.

To clarify, slinging is an old goat trick. The pressure causes anything in the airways to be slung out. It also jumpstarts the heart. Ive saved more than one goat this way, although Ill be honest it looks a little scary.

The baby started gasping for air like a fish. And after some rubbing she came back to us.

In the end it only cost me $50. And I got a mama goat, and two babies which will be worth at least $200 each. So I think thats a pretty good deal.

Mama goat is in shock. I cant blame her with how rough she was handled, but we agreed with the vet. It was either lose all of them, or get them out NOW. Choices had to be made, and the babies were worth more than the mama.

I think she is doing a little better this morning, so time will tell if she recovers. I think she will pull through just fine.

Little baby is very weak and small, but she is slowly getting stronger. She is so beautiful, she looks like a little deer.

Whew. The last babies were born this morning. So goat kidding is over until March. Praise the Lord!

This morning I deposited $145 to pay down the credit card bill. But I think I will leave it in my checking for now, until I find out how much the plumber is going to cost.

These last couple days have been horrible. I am ready to break down and cry.

Sunday we got this crazy snow storm. Temperatures have been below 0 for days now, and windchill has been as low at -35.

A neighbor (I dont know who) called my mother in law and told her to tell me. (What a coward) That they would call animal control if I did not put my horse into my barn. He has an outdoor field shelter, but apparently they felt that was not good enough.

Husband and I spent all of Sunday putting up tarps and walls in his field shelter. Then we decided it wasnt good enough so then we spend several more hours trying to block off a section of our barn. It is full of furniture, hay, tools and junk. And it is not animal safe, especially a horse.

We got a little pen rigged up. Sunday night was fine, but last night he was too antsy in there, and was freaking out. Somehow he cut his leg open and was bleeding everywhere, and I had to end up letting him sleep outside anyway. He was fine BTW.

I dont have many nice things to say about the neighbor who thinks they were being a good citizen... Especially since this entire county is full of horses that live in field shelters.

I had to miss work Sunday and Monday because my car was trapped behind a 3ft high drift.

This morning I woke up coughing and I heard something funny. So I run into the bathroom and our pipes had frozen and busted and water was spraying everywhere.

I screamed for my husband and we tried to shut it off, but the leak was before the shut off valve so we had to run down to the road and turn it off at the main. Which is probably a good 300 or 400ft away.

Under our house is full of water, hundreds maybe thousands of gallons spilled overnight.

Now I have a farm full of animals and no water, and our driveway is impassible.

Luckily father in law showed up with a snow plow from work, and he plowed my driveway.

So I got my car out, and father brought a couple buckets of water for animals.

Hopefully we just have one leak, and it wont cost a lot to fix. Im worried. Plumber should be here tonight or tomorrow. Even if we do get it fixed, it might refreeze. Water bill will be super high.

I just made it to work 5 minutes ago, and my mother called me and one of my goats is having babies and is in trouble. So now she is coming to get me so I can try to save my goat.

Everything is just going wrong. I dont know if I can handle it all.

The

I met my 2013 goal!

I deposited $100 today to bring my Emergency fund to $1,500!!

That is one month of bills for us. I am excited to finally have a little cushion, and I pray that it just keeps going up from here.

The bad news is I have spent more than I should this week. My best friend surprised me by coming home early from her trip to Africa and I haven't seen her for months. So of course we went out to eat and I bought her meal. We may be going out to eat again tonight, and I have to buy some food to bring to a New Years party. I have about $100 on the credit card right now, that is not due until Feb. But I really need to work on keeping that down so it does not continue to suck all my saving money.

I also still owe the $80ish to the escrow and $50 to my propane fund. So I am going to have to be thrifty or work a little extra for a couple weeks, if I want to meet my saving goals.

What I found today that was really cool is that my savings account is now making me $.01 of interest a day. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but I have NEVER seen a daily amount of interest, in the past I have gotten about $.01 a month or so. So to see that I am making something daily, especially on such a low amount is awesome!

It makes me excited to add more!

I rearranged money to deposit $200 into my EF. I had to put $50 less in my propane fund, but I will replace it quickly. I just really wanted to hit my goal this year, and I am so darn close.

Only need a $100 deposit next week, and I should be able to do that no problem.

I was not able to pay much on credit card this week, but it is low enough that I am comfortable putting it on hold, especially since it will not be due until February 6th.

I got a final answer from the bank. My payment is being lowered to $471.13. Whoot whoot!

I DO owe $81.33 to escrow. But it is no big rush to pay it. So I can just make my normal payments, and it will be paid in less than 2 months.

I am excited about the lowered payment. I will continue to pay $500, and that will lower my principle by nearly $30 every month, which is not a lot, but it is a little boost.

I will be posting about next years goals soon!

Whew! Yesterday was great on the financial side of things.

First the bank called me and told me they had a calculation error and that I only owe $241 for escrow, and that my house payment would be dropping $15 a month.

Well again that did not sound right because my taxes dropped nearly $500 this year, so I was figuring on my payment going down at least $40. So I mentioned it, and apparently they had missed that somehow, and not plugged those numbers!

So now I'm waiting again, to hear back on an exact number. But my payment should drop around another $30, and I won't owe any extra escrow! In fact, they may have to return some to me!! Whoot!

It does kind of worry me, that they just somehow missed that... again. If I was not on top of my finances who knows what I would be paying.

My dad won some money yesterday, and gave me $100! And someone at DH's work gave him a scratch off ticket and we won $30!

So I deposited all that and paid down my credit card to $50. (My last $30 hasn't shown up online yet)

Monday is payday, and I will be able to pay off the rest on the credit card, and put some in the EF too!

Hurray!

The bank talked to me briefly.

They said their system has been having issues so they still can not give me an exact amount I will owe for escrow, nor can they tell me what my payment for next year will be yet.

But they apologized for the communication error about the escrow and they are going to let me just make payments as I can over the next few months. So that is a relief. I will just pay as I can, no rush.

With Christmas rapidly coming to a close, I am trying to reassess my goals.

I have about $180 on my credit card at this moment. But I will have to add gas this week so probably around $210.

I always pay it in full every month. I don't think it is due until Feb. 6th or so, but it is a little higher than usual because of Christmas, so first I will knock that out.

I want to get my checking account cushion back up to $500.

Then I will start making payments towards escrow.

I added $300 of husband's bonus into my EF. So our total is at $1,200.

He also has $350 in his checking account for a cushion, so I could count that (technically it is for EF) but I'll hold off on counting it for now.


Short Term Goals
1. Pay off $210 on credit card
2. Raise cushion by $200
3. Make payments towards escrow

I had a GREAT weekend date night/shopping trip with husband.

I finished all my Christmas shopping!!

Favor seemed to be on us. We got a ton of great deals.

First we went to Toys R Us. Legos were on sale for 50% off. So we bought a big set we've been eying for a long time. Yes! We are grown adults who have a western lego town set up on our living room coffee table right now! Haha.

We also saw these super cute little Nerf guns on sale. So we got two for niece, and sister. The Nerf was on sale for 25% off, but the guns were buy one get one 40%. So we go to check out, and when they gave us the receipt it was higher than expected. They forgot to put the sale on there. So we talked to a manager, and instead of giving us either 25% off on both or 40% off on one he gave us 65% off BOTH of them! We got over $20 worth of guns for like $7.

Then we went to Kohls and I had a $10 off coupon. I got 2 shirts that were 35% off. One was $18 which is way more than I like to spend on one shirt, but I really loved it, and if you count my coupon I really only paid $8. We also found a candle holder for another sister that was 50% off.

Hobby Lobby we found a perfect candle for above candle holder and it was in the 66% clearance aisle, but it didn't have a sticker on it, so someone must have just sat it there. We talked to the cashier and they gave it to us anyway for clearance. So we got a $13 candle for less than $5!

We ate at Longhorn Steak House, which I had a gift card for from Swag Bucks. We ordered a starter, and our meals, and they accidentally dropped my steak on the floor. The manager came out and apologized repeatedly, and they gave us another free side dish and a free dessert.

We had so much food we couldn't eat it all, so we took home half our starter, 2 halves of a steak, a sweet potato, and our dessert! We got an another entire meal out of it.

Overall it was a great trip, we had a lot of fun, and we saved more than we spent.

Husband and I have a good agreement for his bonus. He is keeping $500 for cushion, $100 for gun savings, and $200 for a new window. He also paid for our date, and is paying off this month's credit card statement. The rest is going to our EF, probably about $300.

We still have to come up with $700 for escrow, but the bank still hasn't contacted me yet. We could use his bonus, but we both feel that we shouldn't use every single cent we own, so we are going to go ahead and get a very short term, borrow from my parents.

I have not heard anything back from the bank even though I talked to them Monday and they dropped the bomb that I owe $700 by next week. They told me they would call me and let me know the exact total and how we could work it out.

I have not called them yet. I figure it is buying me time, and no way and I going to pursue people who want my money. lol

But I have some great news!!! We got husbands bonus yesterday. We had heard rumors of $700, we were hoping for $500. Well the check arrived and he got $1,600!!! Minus taxes of course comes down to $1,200. But still! Neither of us has even gotten a bonus before, so we are pretty excited.

He is being quite entitled and selfish with it though. He refuses to put any into our savings account, or give me some to help cover the Christmas presents for his family.

I am sure he will come around.

He plans on replacing his broken car windshield, paying for the Christmas presents that he bought, putting $100 back for a gun, and putting the rest into his checking account for a cushion.

So I guess he will still be saving it. It just won't be gaining any interest.

I was not going to be able to meet my goals this year. But if you count the $500+ that will be in his checking account for an emergency. We are already there! Hurray!

I wish I got a bonus. My checking account cushion is at an all time low, and all my savings right now are going to rebuild it. I am still hoping to persuade him to put $200 in my cushion as well. But we shall see.

I am SO SICK of my bank. When we go to refinance I will be shopping around. They have messed up so many times I am about to go in there and start screaming!

I stopped into the bank yesterday as I made my December payment to ask what my payment for 2014 will be. My taxes and insurance dropped and by my calculations it should lower about $50.

Well they informed me that they could not give me an answer right away, but in the computer it shows a shortage in my escrow account! Of $700.... that has to be paid within a week! Say what!?

We got the loan back in August of 2012. When we got it they said all the taxes and insurance had to be put through escrow, and they assured me that they would take care of everything and make all the payments, and yadda yadda. We did not have to lift a finger.

Well fast forward 4 months, and I stopped by the insurance place to see about getting my rate lowered. They could not find my account. Turns out the bank thought I was going to open the policy (even though they said it was their job and I was paying them the escrow) and we were without insurance for 4 MONTHS even though we were paying escrow.

They apologized and we got insurance without burning the house down.

Then in Sept of this year I got my little card that said my taxes were due. I remember the insurance incident, so just to double check I called the court house to make sure it was paid....

Well no, they hadn't paid it and now it was 2 weeks late and I owed a fee! GAH! I called the bank and argued and they had to call the courthouse and apologize and they got them to waive the fee.

Their reason this time was that the courthouse never sent them a parcel number after my land was divided when we bought it... Did they not notice that they had not paid taxes for the year. Geez!

This escrow crap is NOT panning out.

Now they are telling me that we were suppose to pay the first year of insurance out of pocket and since they paid it with escrow that we have to pay it now. I have NEVER gotten a single notice or no one ever told me that I would have to make it up later. And it seems as if they knew this entire year. I could have been putting back money! If I had not stopped in and asked, I probably would have not even known until the day it was due!

The whole thing is stupid though. There is still plenty of money in the escrow account, and the taxes and insurance was just paid last month. By the time a year goes by and they are due again there will be more than enough money in there.

Not only that but it looks like my payment is only dropping $30 instead of $50.

They could not give me a straight answer on anything, but they said they will print up a sheet tomorrow and go over it with me.

I am seriously fuming over this! How can they expect me to pay up $700 with NO WARNING in one week. And why do they need it if there is already enough in escrow. I am going to have to take out a personal loan to cover the amount, just so it can sit and waste in my escrow account.

This is all after they charged me $45 dollars for checks. Which surprising came out of my account last night, without even telling me. Good thing I have a cushion...

Sigh. Good news is my washer magically started working again.

It has been a hard couple weeks.

We got 14 inches of snow this weekend! Our town had the highest amount in all of our tri-state region!

Oh course that meant I was snowed in but silly me still felt I needed to get to work, since I have taken off so much in the past couple weeks.

Got 2 cars stuck and didn't make it to work...

Ended up missing 4 days of work, and I did not even get to enjoy my long weekend because I was too busy stressing about how I was going to get to work, because I need money!

Not only am I getting another low pay check this week, and next. My washer has broken. I am hoping father in law can fix it, but I am not holding my breath. I can NOT afford to buy a new washer. Right now I am taking clothes to wash at our parents house when we go to visit... yay.

I have been falling behind on my saving goals, and I even had to steal some out of the EF to make ends meet. Sadness.

Now for the good news!

My Christmas shopping is almost done. I think I have about $40 - $50 more to spend and I am done. Praise the Lord.

I was contacted about doing a Web Site finally! Whoot! I am really hoping the deal goes through because that extra money would help me so much right now. I am still waiting to hear back from them with my fingers crossed!

Despite the roads being icy, I pushed ahead and still went to the BackStreet Boys concert yesterday that I have been waiting my entire life for. It was great! And we did not wreck, so that is a good thing.

Found out husband may be getting a Christmas bonus from work! As much as $750!! We are not for sure, but I certainly hope the rumors are true.

Husband is going to use the money to replace his broken car windshield, and he would like to buy a gun. I doubt he will let me save any of the money, but maybe I can talk him into it.

I hope next week is better! Can't wait to start saving money again, and get out of the hole I am in!

My new windows were finally installed!

They look great, except there is a gap under one where it looks like he forgot to put a piece of metal. So I will have to call and ask what the heck.

Already I ca not feel a draft anymore! I am so excited.

The problem now is that seeing these beautiful new windows has really made me itch to put in more. It looks funny to have some old and some new. 1 more on the front, and 2 more on one side would help it look a lot more balanced. My parents are going to give me one for Christmas, but I can't come up with another $700+ to put two more in. I don't want to take money that should be going to my EF. Maybe if I get some freelance work...

My Ally account finally went through as well. I went ahead and transferred $100 from my checking. Which is not really adding anything to my EF since I count my checking too, but I was just so excited and wanted to see some money in there.

In sad news. I finally got my checking account information updated with my new name and address. I ordered a new free debit card, and new checks were going to cost $45 at the bank!

I had to bring back a signature card before they could order them, so I went online and ordered checks for $20 from walmart instead. Whoot! Savings.

Well I went and dropped off the card the lady was out to lunch so I left her a message not to order the checks from the bank.

She called me a few hours later to say she didn't get my message until she had already ordered them, and she was sorry but it was too late to cancel.

GRRRR. So I had to call walmart and luckily they could cancel that order. But now I wasted an extra $25 on checks.

Oh well I guess. They will last me for years.

Last week was crazy, and this week is even worse.

Money has been running out like water, and will continue to do so until next week.

To make a back story, I bought a pretty nice camera several years ago. I had it about a week when I was taking pictures and asked my mother to hold it for a second. Well she dropped it on a concrete block, and since then I have been struggling to keep it working. I have to duct tape the battery door down, and hold it tightly with my fingers. Then a month ago it stops turning on, and said memory card error.

My memory card is now corrupt and I have lost most of my pet pictures including my beloved Goatie, who was my best friend, and died last year.

I am still working on finding a person to try to recover them. My attempts have failed.

I have a goat herd, and babies have started arriving, and of course I need a camera to update our website, and get pictures to buyers.

I was planning on asking for gift cards for Christmas, and saving up to buy a new camera.

On thanksgiving I was flipping through the sale ads and the EXACT camera that I wanted was on sale for 60% off, a savings of over $90.

I could not pass it up, so I went and stood in line for 2 hours, and they ended up only having a couple so I went home empty handed.

I was so upset, then my brother-in-law called me on Saturday and asked if I still needed a camera because they had a whole stack left over at the walmart he was at! Whoot! So I got my camera!

I bought a new memory card on Cyber Monday. It was $35.99 on sale for $7.00!

Then I had some emergency vet bills, had to buy a coupon to get my cat fixed which was only $35 instead of the normal cost of $100, I went black Friday shopping and spent $100 on gifts and some needed clothes.

So while everything I bought was at a huge discount, I have been bleeding money.

Thursday is my planned shopping trip with my mother. So I bet I will spend another $100. Sunday I am going to a concert which I have already paid for, but there will be gas, and possibly food.

My husband has not gotten to go shopping yet, so I may have to go with him on Saturday as well. Yikes!

This week I got only a half of a check, so that has not helped.

Everything just fell in two weeks and I am scrambling for the money.

As of now I have spent about $300. With at least another $100+ expected by the end of the week.

Sigh. I hope I can still need my savings goals this year. It is not looking too good at this time.

I feel like I am over stressed and overloaded!

I an at work now. I get off in 2 hours. Then I have 1.5 hours to go to the store, pick up everything for Thanksgiving, and get home and cook dinner before I have to go to school.

I have not even done my homework for school tonight yet!

I won't get home until 11pm. Then it is up again at 7 and back to work until 4pm again. Then at 5pm we go to my grandparents to eat dinner.

Our friends all are home for the holidays, and husband told me yesterday he invited his friends over to visit tomorrow night at 6pm!

So I'll have 1 hour tomorrow after work to drive home and clean the entire house before we have guests!

Then Thursday we are eating with his family at 11am, then I'm going home for a couple hours to cook for my family. Then we have to go back to his parents to put up their Christmas tree. Won't be back until late.

Friday I am going shopping, then it's my families dinner and thanksgiving.

Not to mention it is also FINALS week for one of my classes at school! Ahhhhh.

I am also super busy at work, and I have no idea how I am ever going to get it all done. I am freaking out a little!

Whew. This week is going to be the death of me.

I also have not bought one single Christmas present yet, or have any ideas. I have no idea when we are going to get time to decorate our house or put up our tree.

I love the holidays. But they also bring a huge amount of stress.

Pray that I can make it thought. *gulp*

I was able to add $350 to our EF this week.

Now I'm just waiting for my new SS card to I can finish opening my Ally account and transfer it in.

So that brings my EF goal to $1,150 / $1,500 or [77% Complete]

So I just tried to set up an account with Ally Bank.

When I completed the application it said that more assistance was needed and gave me a number to call.

I just called them and they said my account information was in review, and that they would be calling me within 3-5 business days to deny or accept me.

When she first told me this I could have sworn she said 35 days. But I certainly hope it was 3-5. lol.

I wonder what the hold up is. I just got my last name changed, so I wonder if it's because of that. Sigh.

Hopefully it will go through and all will be well.

We are really trying to figure out all our options for heating our house as cheaply as possible.

Lately I have been most interested in propane fireplaces.

I have always liked the looks of them, but I have never heard of anyone using them for a main heat source.

I looked up on google, and people do use them. But not a lot of information was to be found.

I think the cost of running one would be cheaper than our furnace. It's so inefficient, the air it does blow is barely even warm. I really only need to heat 3 rooms which are all open to each other. Around 650 square feet. We have a big open foyer with no furniture, so I think this would be a great place for a fireplace, especially since that is exactly where the propane line comes into the house.

The model I'm looking at is $400 to $500. Which seems like a lot, but if it could save us $1,000 this year, I'd say it's worth it.

Does anyone have experience with a propane fireplace?

I HATE winter!

We spent over $1,500 last year buying propane.

Our furnace is old. And while I am glad this year it started up fine without having to call someone to come fix it like last year, it wastes so much propane.

We thought maybe our house was just leaking a lot last year because we were remodeling and just had insulation up, no drywall. But it does not seem any better this year.

We turned the heat on a chilly 55 degrees only 2 days ago, and we have already went down 4% of propane. Which is 60 dollars!!!

And another problem is that I think the duct to the bathroom is disconnected because no air is coming out of it. And there is NO WAY to get to the crawl space under the kitchen/bathroom addition because it is separate from the rest of the house and there is no door. The previous owners had cut a hole through the kitchen floor. Well we just fixed that and installed a brand new floor. *face palm* So it appears we will just have to continue heating under our house. On the side of the house there is a place without siding where there is just some plywood. I’m seriously considering ripping it off and seeing if we can squeeze under and fix the duct.

If the % drop continues at this rate we will spend over $2,000 dollars this winter to keep the house only 55 degrees. I can not stand it!

We also have a oil space heater running in the bathroom and the bedroom, which raises are electric bill another $80 - $100 dollars a month.

No one believes how much we spend on heat, we have had them come out and test for leaks TWICE and nothing.

We have all new insulation. There is no reason to be wasting this much.

It has to be the furnace. And while I would love to replace it and get an outdoor wood burner I just do not have the money now. It is so frustrating.

More bad news is that our new windows have not been put in yet. Over 6 weeks later... gr. I just called him again and he is leaving on vacation and wont be able to get to it at least for 2 more weeks. Mean while, cold air is leaking through our old windows.

It is weird. In the summer our house stayed cool with no air conditioning. We had a window unit in our room for sleeping. But the rest of the house never got above 80 on the very hottest days. Most of the time staying in the low 70s. If it is insulated enough to stay cool, why wont it stay hot! Gr.

My job is something that I have gone back and forth on for so long. I'm so indecisive.

I have one class and my internship left and I will graduate with a Degree in Website Design. My passion.

But, in order to really make a living off Website Design I wll have to devote a lot of effort and time into getting a steady following built up before I would be able to call it a reasonable job. That could take years.

So for now I work as a secretary, because it's a relevant job in my area.

The problem is, I currently only work 30 hours a week. But they are split shifts. I work an average 5 days a week, and 2 evenings. I put a lot of time in, but somehow don't come out with many hours. My job is stressful, I have no benefits, they can call me any time, day or night and need for me to do something. I have a lot of trouble getting off, especially for more than one day because I am the only secretary. If our organization has any events, I have to be here, so that might mean I have to work over my days off, or come back in the evening. Such as last week when I worked 10 days straight, and it's not an option.

My job entails so many little details and jobs, and I do not enjoy it. I have trouble keeping track of everything.

I have been here 2.5 years nearly. I only make $1.25 over minimum wage and that is after the $.50 raise I am getting next month.

While it is a stable job, I seriously feel over worked and underpaid, especially for my experience and skills. Because my schedule is so eccentric, I really do not have any time to put into developing my web design base, or getting any clients, so I feel like it is a catch 22. I can't quit until I build a business, but I can't build a business until I quit.

Ideally I would like to work somewhere 2 or 3 days a week at an active job such as waitressing, so I have a little steady cash flow, and then devote the rest of my time into web design.

I would like to be able to get web design business before we begin having children, so I can stay home and care for them, and still make money.

My mother who has a masters in nursing is currently taking an internship at a local Mental Institution. She absolutely loves it, and they are begging her to quit her current job and come work for them. She is considering it. But she told me they are also looking to hire a secretary. My aunt works there as a secretary. This isn’t just some job. This is a career. Complete with pensions, and benefits, and retirement, and all that jazz. Besides working straight week days, paid holidays off, vacations, the pay is more than twice what I am making. People fight for these jobs, but due to an expansion they are in the process of hiring over 100 people, which is usually hard to get into.

I know in less than 5 years I will be wanting to quit and become a mother. So I am trying to decide if it is worth it to disrupt my job where I am comfortable at, and try something new. Especially since being a secretary isn’t my desire. But heck. At 2 or even 3 times the pay, it might be worth it to work there 5 years. I could save up quite a tidy sum. Maybe even a thousand a month, which would really help us out.
I’m just not sure what to do. Is a job change worth it for only a few years? I would love to get out of my current job, I think about it every day. But I’m not sure if I am ready to jump into being another secretary. Mom tells me the work there is a lot better though, and I think I could put up with anything for that much money.

I am going to ask if they would let me come shadow there a couple times. To see what I would be doing. But I am not sure what their security protocols are, so that may not happen.

Even if I put my application in it might be months or a year before they call you back. I am thinking about just putting my resume in and seeing what happens.
What would you do?

So today I went and had a talk with our lender.

When we got the loan we had such non-existent credit (always paid cash) that we couldn't get into the low interest rates. So we got the loan at a 6% rate, and we were told we had to refinance in 2 years.

Well after today I learned some new information.

We don't have to refinance within 2 years. He said he can extend it as long as we like, nothing happens. So we don't have a strict timeline anymore, except for worrying about if rates are going to increase.

Current 30 year fixed are at 4.5% at my bank. Which is already higher than I was hoping, when we first got our mortgage they were like 3.75%.

The big things holding us back from refinancing now is the loan fees. They charge more the lower your credit score is.

Any less than that your talking 2% or 3% fees

Well since it's been over a year since our mortgage I told him to go ahead and pull our credit score to see how we were doing.

Mine is about 680 and husbands is about 670.



Not much progress in a year. He said there is nothing bad on there, the low score is just from "length of history."

So now it's a waiting game for our scores to go up to get in the lower bracket.

In all honesty with the amount we are going to refinance at the lowest our fee will be $300 and at the high end $750. So it's not all that much of a difference.

But we will just keep making payments and let our score grow.

Now the main question is, do we do as planned and refinance in the summer, or do we wait another year or two until we are actually ready for our remodel with the chance that interest rates will rise more?

When we bought out house it was rented out. So we didn't get the owner occupied tax credit last year. Our taxes were nearly double what we should be paying on a old farmhouse. Today I went and got our new tax estimate because the bank is re figuring our escrow amount for the coming year.

I'm happy to report that the taxes will be even lower than I expected. Saving us nearly $50 a month starting in January.

I think I will continue paying the mortgage at the same rate. That will curb my itch to prepay a little, and I'm not missing that money now so I see no reason to take it and spend it. Plus I'd really love to get our mortgage down to $50,000 before we refinance and with an extra $50 that might just happen!

Today I also paid back my small loan to my mother. So now all my money can focus on our Emergency Fund.

Oh happy day!

As a side note... Brrrr. It's cold here. It was in the sixties last night before bed. This morning it's a chilly 25 degrees, and super windy. Good ol' Midwestern weather.

I am so excited. I was looking at the calendar and I realized somehow husband will have an extra payday in two weeks that falls in between bills and such. So I should be able to put the $300 that usually goes to bills straight into our EF!!

I am super excited, because that means we should be able to meet our goals no problem. I also have an extra payday in December. Whoot!