Money Woes...

Not mine, of course... we've been debt-free (thanks, in huge part, to Ace's parents' generosity when they passed away) for over 5 years. The biggest reason we're still okay is that we haven't changed our spending habits -- with the exception of the money spent to remodel, the money paid out to get debt-free, and the investments we've made. Here's the thing: I watch Suze Orman every Saturday night. Over the years, we've gotten smarter with our money & our financial choices... and it kills me that so many people we know have not.
So, for your consumption, this is a partial list of Suze's general rules:
1. Live below your means, but within your needs. No longer is it okay to "live within your means"... that leaves nothing for your future. Make sure your needs are met, but do so without spending every dime you have. Cut coupons, shop sales & off-season (except for food -- that should be local & in-season whenever possible), make your own mocha/coffee/chai tea, take advantage of online deals and consignment shops, use RedBox or at least go to a matinee (no one NEEDS to see a movie at full-price)!
This also applies to the use of credit. I know many who get into trouble; not due to the use of credit cards, but due to their inability to pay it back in a timely manner. I don't view credit cards as inherently "bad". Without properly using some type of credit in life, you're going to have a very difficult time buying things like a house or a car later in life. Did you know that your household bills are part of your credit history? Did you know that employers can, and do, check your credit rating before they will hire you? I don't teach my daughter that having credit is a bad thing; I teach her to use it properly. If you must borrow, make sure you have money in the bank to pay your bill (preferably in full) when the bill comes (places like Target will give you 5% off your purchases, plus donate 10% of what you spend to your school of choices... then you can go right over to the counter & pay off what you just put onto your card --- everyone, except the bank that runs Target's credit department, wins).
2. You need a minimum of eight months worth of your expenses (although she's been recommending a year's worth lately). This should be a no-brainer; figure out what you spend every month, average it over the course of a year, figure out eight month's (minimum) worth. I know saving money when you're strapped is tough... but I'm sure you can find an extra $10, $20, or even $100 every month to put into a savings account. Shop around, too; credit unions offer higher interest rates than standard banks... and (at least at our CU) once you get to a certain dollar amount (our CU starts at $10,000), you can switch to a "High Yield Savings", which is still instant access, but an even higher interest rate.
3. Invest for your future(s)... Suze's number one thing right now is ROTH IRAs. Currently, you can contribute up to $5500 per person per year ($6500, if you're over 50y) into a Roth, and you can withdraw all of it (up to the amount of your contribution) tax-free; the interest you earned on it can be withdrawn tax-free at the age of 59 1/2y.
4. People First, Then Money, Then Things. A lot of people get confused with this one. This doesn't mean take care of others at the cost of your own security. It means taking care of YOUR *needs*, then the *needs* of your family. Your WANTS do not override your family's NEEDS, but if you don't take care of yourself, you cannot properly take care of others. It means paying your obligations (like child support -- yes, MG, I'm talking to you) before buying fun toys (like the latest iPhone). It does *not* mean you are obligated to pay for your child's college, but it does mean that if you can, you should help.

A few more things:
A recent rule is that if you have an adult child living at home, (s)he NEEDS to have a job and (s)he NEEDS to be financially contributing to the household. I, personally, will waive this *IF* and only *IF* they are a full-time student, and already contributing with a good attitude, good grades, and helping with chores/etc around the house. However, for a lot of people, it's creating more of a financial strain... I also think, while in college, adult children living at home need to put money into a saving's account, because when they do move out, they will have costs associated with this.
She also says BOTH PARTIES (you and your significant other) must work together. In a lot of households, one person is "responsible" for paying all the bills... that's not fair, nor is it right. That has huge potential to cause an overabundance of stress to the one who pays all the bills, and a sense of "not my problem" to the one who doesn't. Money problems, disagreements, etc are the NUMBER ONE reason for divorce. And, even if you don't agree, you HAVE to work together. What kind of marriage do you have if you can't work together with your spouse/significant other, to come up with a way to pay bills that works for ALL of you?
She also says you need a will, a trust, a household budget (she even has a formula for how much each person should be contributing), and more. I highly suggest watching her show (with your spouse/SO), checking out her website, and getting on track with your money NOW! Something that may be helpful to you is this section; she has tools you can use to figure out your expenses, debt elimination, and more.

I know it's overwhelming. I get it. But, the earlier you start getting on track, the less stress your life will have.

I'm Invisible

For those who are unaware, I had a car accident last Friday. This is not the first time I've been hit in this car. I've also come close to being hit quite a few times, too... From some I've talked to, silver, grey, and black cars seem to be the most "invisible" cars on the road.
Anyway, this time, I was pulling out of the bank's parking lot, there was a truck in front of me, and he decided to back up without looking. It happened so fast, that I didn't even have time to take my car from Drive to Reverse to get out of his way. My front end was dinged, but it was driveable, so after I talked to my insurance company (USAA), I took it to the body shop. Even though it was his fault, USAA handled everything on my end.
When I got to the shop, I sent Ace a text; letting him know I was hit, but I'm okay, and that I was getting a rental car (which I have coverage for; no cost to me) and estimate. I was just going to have them give me an estimate, but decided there's no reason to wait. Since they didn't have a work order, yet, one of the techs gave me a ride to the car rental place. They *did* have a work order for me (I've used them before, and told my claims adjuster to send it there), so after waiting for the two people in front of me to be helped, it took less than 10m to get me going again.
I went back to the shop, and they had my order ready to go. I signed it, and went home. The following morning, I got a call from the guy's insurance adjuster (he's with Farmer's). After interviewing me, he said that they accept full liability (duh), so all of my repairs will be on their dime. I got an email from USAA with all the cost breakdown... for such a small ding, I was surprised it was going to be over $2000 for repairs, but glad none of it was out of my pocket. So, now I wait for the check to show up in my mailbox and the call from the shop that my car is done.

Mother's Day Weekend

Yesterday was the first Mother's Day in a very long time (perhaps ever for me) that I didn't feel I *had* to do anything, nor go anywhere. I had potted flowers sent to both my mother & my smom on Friday (I don't believe in traditional flowers, as they die too fast; waste of money!), worked Saturday (actually, all last week was booked - kaching!) 'til 2p, then Princess & I spent the rest of the afternoon/evening cleaning the house & doing laundry (we like to do this Saturdays, whenever possible, so it doesn't take away from family time on Sundays).

Sunday, I "slept in" until 830a, woke up the Princess (she usually sleeps 'til 10a), and she made my mocha for me. She also made a smaller one for herself, rather than go back to bed. After Ace got up, she made French Toast for brunch, and later, my favorite pot stickers for lunch. I got my nail stuff out because my fingernails were overdue (I always try for every two weeks, but was way too busy this past week, so I was at 19 days yesterday), and Ace asked if there was anything specific I wanted to do; I said, "This." He said, "Okay. What would you like for dinner?" "Um... grilled chicken and roasted red potatoes." He said, "We'll see how the weather does; I don't really want to be grilling in the rain," then let me be.

Later, I heard the ice cream man on the next block over, and said, "Stupid ice cream man... now I want a fudgesicle! OR... one of those cookie sandwiches!", then went back to doing my nails. The whole time I'm sitting at the table, Princess did everything I asked with a smile on her face. I asked for a snack, for more juice, for her to open the window, let the dogs out & back in, flip the one load of laundry I had left from the day before, etc... "Ok, mommy." "Sure, mom." By 2p or so, I was done with my nails, so I decided to watch some HGTV.

About 5p, Ace decided the weather wasn't going to get better, plus realized we didn't have any thawed chicken, so he headed to the store to get a stuffed chicken bacon pizza instead. While he was gone, my sister called; we had a long conversation that took until my pizza was ready. After dinner, Ace showed me what he had planned for dessert: apparently, he had stopped at 7-11 and picked up three of those Nestle chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches! For the record, we don't usually do anything for each other on Mother's/Father's Days; this is not Spouse Appreciation Day (that's what anniversaries are for!).

After dinner, Princess & I watched "America's Funniest Home Videos" and the season finale of "Once Upon A Time", then played cards and a round of Chutes & Ladders before she gave me a foot massage, and went to bed... and I slept very soundly last night.

Screw THAT; We'll Do It Ourselves

So, when we FINALLY heard back from Gwen about Artistic's job bid, we were floored. They wanted almost $1000 just to put in four cabinets (plus trim, shelving, drawers, etc). Um, no. Ace decided we could do it ourselves. We knew it would take a lot longer doing it ourselves, because we're working around our work schedules, our daughter's activities, and Ace's pain levels. BUT, the good news is, the cabinets are all in, level, & plumb.

In the meantime, we've had Customline Shower Doors out here for measure; our glass panel is custom-order so we're still waiting for an install appt (can't make the appt until the panel is done). We also had Precision Countertops out here for template. Our install appt is scheduled for a week from tomorrow.

That only leaves the rest of the trim work, putting in the shelving & drawers, reattaching the doors to the linen cabinets, attaching the sink & faucet, installing the light & mirror above the vanity, and unpacking the boxes of bathroom "stuff" to do. So... HOME STRETCH!!

ALMOST DONE!

These last three weeks have been a whirlwind! We hired Ron Wackerly Construction off of Angie's List. He's exactly the kind of guy we wanted; one guy who does most things himself, but has people for jobs too big for one man. He brought in a guy named Mark to help with the drywall & tile work, then left us to the painting over the weekend. He was going to have his "floor guy" do our floor, but since he was already on a big job (Ron said something about him doing an apartment complex), Ron did it himself after the tiling was done. We're so happy with his work that I gave his business card to two friends of mine who need tile jobs done.
After Ron was done, we called in our plumber. Ruben got all our shower parts in & working, the toilet in & working, and the shut offs in for the sink. He would have installed the sink, too, but we don't even have a countertop yet. Before we can do that, we need the cabinets installed. On that note, we went to Home Depot last week and talked to Gwen (who took over for Julie when she got a new job); we gave her copies of our work order, told her all we needed was cabinet install, and she sent an email to Artistic. We're now waiting for Artistic to get back to her with a day/time they can come. We'd do it ourselves, but it's a bit more complicated since we have drawers instead of shelves, and the linen closet is actually two stacked cabinets...
After cabinets, we can get Precision out here to measure for the countertop, we can get the baseboards in & do some touch up, and the last step is getting the glass people out here to do the frameless shower door. I'll post a "before" & "after" blog when we're completely done, but for those on FB, check out the "Bathroom Remodel" album.