Frugal In Florida

To your money. I'm talking about them greenbacks you have floating around there, in your purse. Or maybe in the center counsel of your car. And the little coins? Those too. See, Hubby drives me NUTS when he gets cash at the bank. There is a good 5 minutes put into the bills all facing the same way, all wrinkles and folds are smoothed out (the corners, OH the corners!) and THEN the money goes in his wallet, Just SO. Arrrg. It's annoying as all get out. Only because he's so 'extreme' on odd things like that. However, don't assume that means I think it's ok for you to toss the money in your purse, or wad it up in your front pocket (or, heaven forbid the BACK pocket). Lets show a little respect that we work so very hard for. 1. Always, always put your bills in one place, be it a wallet, zipper compartment, whatever, neatly. Keep the bills in order. That makes it much easier to keep TRACK of what you have. I fail at this from time to time, just drop...

I seem to have hit a wall, or something like that. The savings account has a grand total of $50 between the two (gasp). (NOTE: the Textbroker stuff is going to the no spend account). The checking account has a total of ... um, I don't even want to say, but its substantially lower than what is acceptable to me (but not negative, thankfully). All bills are paid for the month (which only has 3 more days left) and I will be getting another 3 checks on Friday, so no need to panic. I have a few credit cards with BALANCES on them. And I'm not talking $100, but rather, add another zero and change the first number (gasp). Everything that I am against is happening. Its not anyone else's fault, but mine. My inability to tell Sonny Boy NO, that he must buckle up and get ready for the bumpy ride, to GET A JOB, no matter if it's something that interest you or not. Also, I need to stand up to Hubby and say NO, we don't need to do this or that, and buy new rugs (??!!) f...

I am Queen for a few days. As much as I'd like to enjoy it, the thought that my baby is leaving still puts a shadow over the Queen status. See, I don't talk much about the extra things you can do on the web to earn cash, gift cards, points, etc. And of course, you ALL know about Swagbucks by now, right? Of course you do! So yeah, Swagbucks is great. I've gotten quite a few paypal bucks but more importantly, I've gotten A LOT of Amazon $5 gift cards. Sweet momma. But back in June, June 6th to be exact, Sonny Boy and G/F were looking over my shoulder as I searched for something online. And I hear "Oh HEY, MAYHEM FEST!" Ummm, yeah, whatever. Well, it was a swagstakes and we bet 99 swag bucks. Guess what? We won! So yeah, that was exciting in that hey, we got TWO TICKETS TO MAYHEM FEST! Ummm....they started at $25 each so that was cool in itself. BUT. We couldn't figure out what kind of tickets they were. 3rd row from the front of main stage. Back...

This post has been rambling around for a while. Tweaked, deleted, added to and then tweaked again. Because the LAST thing I want to do is cause issues and a verbal slaughter! But seriously. We've hit our debt ceiling.  Does anyone really know what that means? It means that the credit card will not work at Walmart, Target, wherever you try to use it. It means you have NO liquidity left. I'm sure anyone reading this has had that gut sinking feeling when the cashier shakes her head at you indicating that it's a no go. Well, that's what America is going to be feeling soon. Seriously. I'm concerned. Enough so that I jokingly tell those around me that I feel like I should be stocking up on flour, sugar, water bottles, tuna, batteries, 100 watt light bulbs (I kid!), ammo and whiskey (tequila, vodka, beer) ... because really, what WILL happen to the economy? Am I for the raising of taxes? I prefer not to because I feel I pay quite a bit as it is already. AND...

I started the month off with a big wad of cash in my wallet. And that wad is now hardly even called a short stack. WHERE DID ALL THE DOLLARS GO??!! Over here , I noted that I've tried to ditch all the plastic. Using cash and cash only. The exception is for gas for Brutis (which Sonny Boy drives) and the Tahoe (which I drive), we use the American Express once a week to fill them up. Uggg. Just easier for me. I am NOT looking forward to doing so this morning, that's for sure, $3.89 for regular unleaded. Come on. Give me a break (but HEY, the economy is rebounding and the Little Guy is BACK according to the paid well talking heads!) For a while there, I tried to use cash and the American Express. But the problem with that was that I'd run out of cash and then bring out the American Express. THEN when the American Express bill came, I'd be like "holey moley", where did all that come from? So back to the first line.  I am seriously looking at the wallet and ...

Today is payday (woohoo!) ... and also, the first paycheck of the year to reflect the 2% reduction of social security payment.  I chuckle and snort that 2% ain't nothin, but certainly, better than no percent! Well. Imagine my surprise. $50 more. Every 2 weeks.  That's $100 a month. $1200 a YEAR!!! Holy cow, that's like, A.W.E.S.O.M.E.!!! So, of course, the first fleeting thought that comes to my mind is: What can I spend it on??? Uh, NO. That is not what I thought of ... well, maybe for a split second, but that was it. Honestly. Why? Because I know that is why it's so hard to get ahead. You find extra money, be it a raise at work, child out of diapers, etc., but you continue to spend it instead of SAVING it. Uh huh. The cost of YOUR living goes up directly relating to the amount of money brought it. Seriously. Pathetic, huh? So...the $50 will go in to the savings account every 2 weeks.  I AM seriously tempted to make a new saving category for this NEW money ...

You know, fuel, like for your car? They (whomever THEY are) predict that by the summer time, in a mere 5 to 6 months, the price will be around $4.00 a gallon. You think the $3.xx you pay now is bad? Wait til it hits $4.00. So, what can you do? Ride a bike. Walk. Take public transportation. Carpool. Stay home. And of course, consolidate your outings. Of course, those who do not live in a bigger city area won't have some of these options. But for me, IF I wasn't so lazy, I COULD ride a bike (if I had one, got rid of mine last year), I COULD walk, I COULD take the city bus (ick, but they do have free wifi on most now!) and I COULD hop a ride with Hubby (but that would make me dependent on him to get home at a decent hour, not so much fun!) ... staying home, I do enough of that already. Whew. Just the thought of filling up the Tahoe with it's 30 gallon tank makes me cringe ... $120?? And then Brutis with it's even bigger tank. Gads. I may need to rewor...

I find it a little amusing that some weeks I am so thrifty and frugal it's sick! Every penny is accounted for, my grocery list is adhered to and I say NO to anything outside the area. Then, other days, for whatever reason, I spend. And spend. And spend even more. And then suddenly, a few days later, I will realize, holy crap! I've spent XX amount of dollars and whoa nelly, that put me way off budget AND dipped into the savings fund. Anyone have any ideas how or why that happens? For me, it doesn't help that Princess is back home. And the BAND is here 4 out of the 7 days at least. And that I paid for rent for Princess last month. And enrolled her in 2 classes at college last month. And paid my homeowners insurance. Oh. Ok. Maybe it wasn't just the fact that I fell off the budget plan momentarily afterall? On the flip side, it's good that I do have the saving accounts. Granted, they are LOW right now. As in real low. And its even better that I caught myself quic...

It's May. Another month with lots of $ that goes out the door. We have insurances this month. And unfortunately, our 'cheap' insurance last year decided to drop us. Our 'worthless' new insurance guy from last year is totally clueless and helpless, therefore, in my opinion. Worthless. So, being in the real estate biz, I have a few contacts that I seem to see come up frequently. So I start sending emails out to see if any of them can get me coverage for my area. I live in a 'high risk' area. On water. Flood zone, within a few blocks of ocean. Therefore, either I can't get insurance OR they want to charge a fortune. Citizens is my wind policy again. Joy. It's double what my policy was last year (for hazard AND WIND). Hazard is more than what my policy was last year. All in all, for the 2, $4K or so. A year. This, when we have not had a claim in over 10 years. Our car insurance? $2400 a year. Still paying on that ... hope to be finished by June. ...

I’m looking at a grocery list that I made last night when we got back from our trip: Garbage bags – there is 2 left in the box Milk – ½ gallon left Bread – ½ loaf or less Kens salad dressing x 4 (b1g1f) Dish soap (bottle was empty??) Lettuce or salads (b1g1f) – on quest to be healthier Grape jelly – someone, not sure WHO, has been eating & almost empty I’ve given myself $40 in my wallet and NO American Express or debit card. This is going to be my new MO. So why do I make a big deal about this? BECAUSE!!! All of the websites & blogs that I visit are talking about the economic downturn, the fear of recession/depression AND dh & I have just agreed, last week, to start being a little more conservative than we already are. Of course, this did NOT affect our weekend trip. Well. Sorta. We did eat IN for breakfast & lunch and went out for dinner (read other post on this deal). So of course, when you start to cut back on spending, the first thing to get slashed is the fo...