Father's Day

Yesterday was my hubby's first father's day. We broke a few rules, but overall we had a lot of fun.

The Card: I handmade my husband's card. It's one of my favorites that I've ever made; I learned a really cool new technique that I've been experimenting since. I wrote a very sweet little inscription in the flap about how I always thought he'd be a good dad--but I was wrong. I had underestimated him; he's a GREAT dad. He got very teary. It was beautiful to watch. (side note: I admit it, scrapbooking and cardmaking are on the top 10 list of "hobbies that people trying to increase their wealth should get addicted to". There's always something new and exciting to buy!)

The Gifts: Mom and I had gone to WalMart earlier in the week. They had coffee beans on sale. I got him a pound of extra bold beans and some espresso truffles in dark chocolate. One of the ways we've saved money is that we don't get him coffee or beer every week. We save those things for special occasions. It really has turned an every-day item into a decadent treat (speaking coffee, not beer). He was very excited about both, especially, I think, the chocolate. Usually I'm the one trying to make a bag of excellent chocolate last for weeks, and I admit I'm not all that great at sharing!

The Time: We had a good friend come over and babysit. She's been asking a lot lately and even though mom was going to be home for most of the time we'd be gone I went ahead and invited her over to sit. She and babygirl adore each other. We decided to hit a matinée movie (The Incredible Hulk--he wanted to see it, I didn't really, but I did end up enjoying it!) to save some money and avoid the larger evening crowds. We avoided $3.00 parking by saving our ticket stub. We had also stopped at Walgreen's and gotten a few favorite candies. I don't see the point in paying concession stand prices: $4.50 for a small soda! So yes, we broke the rules by sneaking in our own stuff, shame on us. For supper we went to Longhorn. He got a Coke and I got sweet tea. (This was a splurge for us.) We split a 9 oz fillet and he got the baked potato and I got the salad. Between the sides, the bread, the drinks, and the 9 oz of meat, both of us were full. I can't imagine paying for two plates when one does the trick. Very yummy. After babygirl went to bed we did as well. (Free entertainment and free exercise, who can beat that?)

I forgot to have him write a few things for the Father's Day scrapbook page I want to do, but he agreed to do that tonight. All in all it was a great day.

June thus far

June is always a slow month for me business-wise. This year has not been an exception. I'm hoping things pick up, otherwise the lovely bonus that hubby brought home is going to make up for my lack of income.

I was offered a sideline of income yesterday. I had a nice conversation with some ladies at the craft store (yes, I stayed within my budget and yes, everything I bought was on sale, and yes, the purchase was planned) and they asked me to come out and teach them basic techniques. "We'll pay you, of course!" And of course I agreed! We've been emailing back and forth. Not sure what will come of it, but I'm excited. I love crafts and would love to teach for money.

This makes me kick myself for not going ahead and signing up as a Stampin'Up demonstrator during SaleABration. I am not a MLM type girl. I wanted it for the discount and the fact that their products really are lovely and high-quality. During the celebration it was 20% off the kit (which is already a huge value) plus an additional $50 towards any one stamp set. *sighs* I may still go ahead with it. That's a whole other post.

Meanwhile we got $44 back from the dealership in the form of a check. They refunded the difference between what the registration cost and what we had paid them for it. That was a happy surprise.

Hubby rented a uhaul last night and took off with our best guy-friend to go pick up a bed that we bought from another couple. By selling some household items that we weren't using I managed to get $110/$180 that we agreed on. We'll sell the bed we have now for between $150 and $175 quite easily. I'm surprised the truck rental is going to be close to $60 (including the gas he put in it). They charge $0.70/mile now! I hate that we don't have any friends with trucks anymore.

We managed to stock up on chicken and beef at $1.88 lb for cuts that are normally quite a bit more. I'm so glad to have meat stockpiled. I can cook really well, and I love doing it, but it's hard to go to the pantry and make a meal out of the things we'd scored on before. With meat the possibilities are almost endless. I have 11 meals of chicken and at least six of beef at my fingertips. And, considering that we eat many, many vegetarian meals during the week, our stockpile should last us for quite some time. Yay!

So much going on!

There's been a lot of things happening over the past two weeks. I'm definitely going to continue posting regularly; it's just been hectic and I haven't had a chance to do so. (Yes yes yes, I should be writing posts for times when I get caught up; great blogging advice to live by... as soon as I have time to set that up...)

Quicken Versus Money

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/software/accounting_software/reviews.html  

This is a good link to get a general overview of many ratings. I'd explain more, but I'm too busy reading it myself.

Aargh

So Mint was interesting but clearly does not meet our needs. I keep thinking that if I "just tweak" a few of the spreadsheets I've been messing with I'll have the perfect system for us. But damnit, why I am I trying to reinvent the wheel?

I'm going to go ahead and do some research on Quicken versus Money. Yes, it's about $29.00. But then again, I "lost" 29.00 because I paid fees for having insufficient funds in an account because my system was not adequate.

Mint

I'm trying out a new website called Mint. It keeps track of all your online banking accounts for free, allows you to set up budgets, track trends, and then offers you suggestions on how to save money, albeit usually by offering a different credit card or online investment.

I'm in process of setting it up now. I'll let you know how it works out!

First impressions:
- It's useful to have all of my accounts in one place and set up categories so I can see spreadsheets quickly.
- Categories are predefined and don't go along with our current budget.
- Budget setup is very clunky and needs much improvement; don't think I'll be using this feature much.
- Excellent variety of alerts.
- Ability to "hide" accounts from Mint; this is great since I'm on my mom's accounts but don't want her info showing up in the list.
- Ability to add any accounts you have login for; this allows me to add hubby's accounts too (with permission, of course).
- Participants include PayPal, which is great.

6 words

Lise tagged me again: the goal is to take six words that sum up your life and post them.

learning to dance in the rain

It's very similar to hers, actually.

The woman who I split an office with was responsible for decorating it. It's quite lovely, actually. Perfect for a massage room. The colors are rich cream, red, and brown. She put up several framed pieces of art as well as several quote plaques. One of them reads, "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain."

I hadn't heard that quote before and it struck me so profoundly that I still, even three full months later, stare at it and feel instantly grounded and centered while I'm working.

Recently I've realized it also sums up my financial life; no matter what is happening, breaking, needing replaced, or coming unexpectedly, it's not about "getting through this" so that we can "finally _________". It's about _________ing even though things didn't go as scripted. It's about finding ways to enjoy life and rising above the thought that we are only as great as our pocketbook. (Suggested fill in the blanks: live/living, be happy/being happy, get ahead/making progress...)