scfr's Personal Finance Blog

My clothes washer is washing our sheets right now. DH's pillowcase had a small blood stain on it. Before starting the wash I treated the stain as I have for 99.9% of my adult life: I measured my regular laundry detergent in to the cup, got the stained area wet (use COLD water for blood), poured a little bit of detergent on the stain, rubbed the fabric together with my hands, did a quick rinse (again use COLD water), repeated these steps one more time, and the stain was gone.

I have owned one bottle of special stain treatment stuff in my life. I bought it during an especially busy time in my life, thinking it would make doing laundry a bit easier. It didn't. In fact the case could be made that using my tried-and-true method is faster since I don't have to take a special bottle down from the cupboard, open it, close it, and put it back (and remember to buy it when it runs low).

And while I haven't done an ounce-for-ounce comparison, I KNOW that using plan old laundry detergent is cheaper than using a specialized product.

This post is not just about treating laundry stains. It's about questioning whether you really need a specialized product that a manufacturer has done a great job selling you on, or whether an everyday (less expensive) product would work just as well. For the newly-frugal, as you go about your daily routine today, why not ask yourself: "Do I really need this product? Does it really make my life easier and save me enough time to make it worth the extra cost? Or is there another less-expensive product that I already own that could work just as easily and well?"

The revolving door at "chateau scfr" continues to spin.

My mom came & stayed with us for 8 days. She loved Austin and the house, and I really enjoyed showing her the sights. Went to the LBJ Museum, day trip to Fredericksburg, Umlauf Sculpture Gardens, day trip to San Anotonio, and AMOA Laguna Gloria. We dined on gorditos at Haberno Cafe, noshed on German food in Fredericksburg, and chowed down Texas BBQ at the Salt Lick.

In between DH's family's stay & mom's visit, 2 of DH's business clients came for short stays. (And there are more coming soon!)

Oh the joys of having a new home in a city people are curious about ...

A tiny bit of financial news: I finally sold my "junk" gold, a very thin broken necklace & a man's pinkie ring that for some inexplicable reason DH's mother had given me several years ago (it was used) and I don't wear. Got $200. But I also decided to use the same jeweler the replace a clasp on a broken necklace I found on the sidewalk; that cost me $30, so I really only netted $170 + a necklace. The necklace is a silver one from Tiffany, worth approx $300 from what I can see on-line, and I like it, so decided to fix it up and keep it. Lest you worry about my integrity, I DID post a notice about finding the necklace on our HOA's web site, and left it up there for 2 months waiting for the owner to claim it. They never did.

Can NOT believe it's been a month since I last posted. Here's a bit of what I've been up to and some news.

- This year the non-profit I volunteer with did giftwrapping as a fundraiser for the first time. I suggested we do it, and I was in charge. We held 2 public events at malls plus I did private wrapping in my home as well. It was a success not only in terms of money raised but also increasing our visibility in the community. We're going to expand our efforts next year. I have already started preparinging for 2010 ... I hit Target & Sam's Club early on the 26th to stock up on lots of holiday wrap on clearance for next year.

This year was the first time EVER I have gotten up early to shop the day after Christmas sales.

- Not only did I get giftwrapping supplies, I also bought holiday decorations for our house. We sold almost all of our holiday decorations before we moved to Texas. Being in a new house, it was REALLY hard not to buy things before Christmas to decorate, but with much encouragement from DH I sat on my hands until the 26th. I'm not one who goes crazy decorating, but I do like to do a bit to make the place look festive. I spent $54 on decorations plus $5 for a red tablecloth that I can use not only at Christmas. I went ahead and put up the indoor decorations so we can enjoy them until New Year's!

- My fall veggie garden was a total failure! Only the chives grew to where we could eat them, and even they were just a tiny handful. Bah. So glad I did not dig up part of the yard to make it! I still have seeds so I will try again in the spring, but I will not buy any soil ... I will try to improve my herb-growing techniques since that is the one area where I did have a little success, but the okra/green onions/lettuce I'll just plant them in the ground in various places around the garden beds and if nothing makes it I will just chalk it up as a learning experience. (A friend here who is an avid gardener refers to the dirt in new developments as the "red dirt of death" ... sounds like a great excuse for my failure ... I'll take it.)

- In other financial news, we have started toying around with the idea of buying a 2nd house as an investment property (vacation rental). It's a scary-exciting thing to think about. We're still in the "thinking" (not doing) stage.

- Our vulture instincts must be alive & well because we are suddenly thinking of making our 2nd car (which we have continued to shop for but have yet to pull the trigger on) a Saab. It's not a make that was even on our radar several months ago, but now that they are on "about-to-be-defunct clearance" we thought they were worth at least taking a look at.

- The Treasury has another round of auctions next week, but I think we're going to stay on the sidelines.

Here's an interesting (tho slightly depressing) link for you fellow savers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/your-money/26rates.html?sc...

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

We received some foreign currency during the overseas family's visit. Given how weak the US Dollar is right now, we decided to exchange it right away rather than hold on to it.

Figuring out where we could get the best exchange rate was my PF job of the day. I started calling around as soon as the banks opened. Even tho' they charged a $5 transaction fee for non-customers, Wells Fargo turned out to offer the best deal for us. Drove to WF, did the exchange to US$, then drove to my bank to make my deposit.

Mission accomplished.

Tomorrow's financial task? Scheduling on-line bill payments. Whee.

The big group of house guests (DH's extended family from overseas who were here for 22 days) left this morning ... I have a whole 9 days before our next house guest arrives! Will post details later, but everything went great. Right now I'm just going to try to get caught up on some of your blogs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Credit cards' days seem to be numbered ...
How will consumers pay in the future?

Will we go back to writing checks? If so, maybe I should buy stock in Deluxe or Current!

I'll bet, tho, that some new form of payment will emerge ... Wish I could be the one to invent it!

(Sorry I've not been around. Thanks for checking in Lux. Very busy getting ready for waves of houseguests ... has involved a fair amount of spending on pillows, air mattresses, etc.)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870447150457444...

Financial Integrity, scfr style ...

Started my own little personal boycott.
No more Miramax Films movies for me. I'm also boycotting the films of the directors mentioned in this article, and will boycott the films of any other directors who sign this petition as I learn about them. I just went through my Netflix Queue and hit the delete button as needed.
I know my boycott won't matter one little bit to these guys (I get DVDs from the library & my 2-a-month Netflix subscription and I go to the movie theater only once or twice a year), but if I am to spend my money in a way that is consistent with my values, I can't allow a single penny of mine to go to them.

Since when is raping a 13 year old child excusable? When I think of myself at 13 (the farthest I had "gone" with a boy was holding hands while skating around the roller rink) it makes me feel ill to think about what that poor child endured. That anyone would come to Polanski's defense by minimizing the seriousness of the crimes and suggesting that he be given a pass because he is an "artiste" is just disturbing.

Why am I not boycotting the actors and anyone else who signs the petition? Well, with all due respect to any actors who might read this, I accept that some people are more naive and swayed by what others around them are doing. But these directors are SMART GUYS ... They should know better!

I have not yet decided how long my boycott will last. Ideally it will be for as long as Polanski's jail term would have been had he not slithered away on his belly.

P.S. - Maybe I'll replace the movies I deleted with Chris Rock films:
http://www.wgem.com/Global/story.asp?S=11258100

Yesterday I got my eyes examined & ordered 2 new pairs of glasses. I got the 2nd pair for when I'm using the computer. It has been suggested in the past that I get a 2nd pair, but this go round the eye doc just flatout said that I need a 2nd pair and explained that my focusing muscles are getting weaker (probably due to a combination of getting older plus my current job involves heavy computer use of things that are often hard to read). This doc just does exams and writes prescriptions (which he wrote out for 2 pair); he does not sell glasses, so does not have a financial incentive to get me to buy 2 pair.

This was my first exam and new glasses since we opened our HSA.

I paid for the exam & the glasses with my HSA. Checked the IRS regs (Pub 502 which defines reasonable medical expenses for deductions and that covers what can be paid for using an HSA) and as is often the case, the rules are open to interpretation.

This is what it says about eyeglasses:
"You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for
eyeglasses and contact lenses needed for medical reasons.
You can also include fees paid for eye examinations."

So, it's very clear that the eye exam could be paid for with the HSA. But the glasses? What exactly do they mean when they say "needed for medical reasons"? Are they just trying to exclude contacts that people wear purely for cosmetic purposes? Or is their a higher standard?

I'm extremely nearsighted with astigmatism. I know that if I don't wear bifocals my eyesight will continue to get worse. I know that without my glasses I cannot drive a car, nor move around much without the risk of serious injury. (My own hand does not come in to complete focus until it is 4 inches from my face. So without my glasses I would be tripping over or running in to things and injuring myself.) Does this qualify as "medical reasons"? I certainly think so. But would an IRS audtitor agree? If they asked if my glasses were medically necessary, I suppose I'd just ask them to try mine on and tell me what THEY think.

1. Estate Documents: Decided to go for a DIY simple will instead of a trust. I think a trust would be better, but I don't have the confidence to do one on my own. After reading as many reviews as I could find, decided to use NOLO. Ordered their Simple Will book plus CD, and their book on Special Needs Trusts plus CD (because of my brother's situation). I decided against the on-line version since I'll need to do 2 wills (one for each of us), and I know I'll be redoing them in the future, so might as well have the disc I can use over & over again without having to pay over and over. DH has already conveniently forgotten his promise to let me hire an attorney when we turn 50. Sigh. Also, I want to read up (especially on the Special Needs Trust) before I get started.

2. Roth Conversion: We have looked at the idea of converting our IRAs to Roths upside down and sideways and have decided that it's not the right decision for us. We will NOT be converting. Since running the numbers involves making lots of assumptions, I could be wrong, but based on what I know for sure right now and our best guess of what the future will hold, it doesn't make sense for us. Everything we are reading is saying "convert, convert, convert" so I guess we are going against the grain yet again by not converting.

3. Readjusted Tax-Def Retirement Plans: I have mentioned before that we got a bit aggressive with DH's 2008 tax year contribution to his tax-deferred retirement plan, due to the "clearance price" on stocks, putting 100% of it in the Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund. Last night we moved almost everything in both of our tax-def plans to the Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund. It has a target allocation of 35% stocks (tho currently it's 39%) and 65% bonds. The only portion of our plans that did not go in to Wellesley is a piece that we have to keep separate for tax/recordkeeping reasons that is still in the STAR Fund. DH actually wanted to go to 100% bonds, but I completely disagreed, so we went with Wellesley. This represents a pretty significant shift for us (according to Morningstar X-Ray, we were at 51% stocks before the shift), and I think it marks the beginning of our pre-retirement retreat from stocks. Right or wrong decision? Who knows? Time will tell. But a lot of thought went in to it, and again, as unconventional as it may be, it seems like the right move for us.

Saturday I spent all day at a volunteer event ... hard work but also social & rewarding & fun.

Sunday DH & I went to Asia Cafe where we spent $17 total (including tax) on a great Szechuan Chinese lunch. It's counter service so there is no tipping. The food is great; best Chinese we've had here in Austin. I highly recommend it to any Austinites who might stumble upon this blog.

After that we went to the Pioneer Farm Museum. Austin was having a 1-day event where admission at many museums around town was free. (Regular admission at that museum is $8.) The museum itself was really interesting, but what I enjoyed the most was how it prompted DH to start reminiscing about summers he spent as a child on his grandmother's farm ... using the outhouse, traveling down an unpaved road, feeding chickens & hogs, etc. It's not something he has talked much about, and I enjoyed hearing those memories. His grandmother was a tough & wonderful woman that he loved dearly.

In the evening I crashed & watched High Fidelity on DVD from the library.

There was a fair amount of driving around, and of course the cost of the lunch, but all in all it was a fairly frugal weekend for a whole lot of fun.

As mentioned in my last post, on Thursday we met with an estate planning attorney. DH & I talked about it a bit on Friday, mostly me asking if he wanted to proceed and him saying "maybe later ...I want to think about it a bit more." On Saturday I came to the conclusion that DH was never going to go for the high lawyer fee, that he was going to keep saying "later" indefinitely, and that could mean our documents not getting redone. As much as I really want to get some professional, proper documents in place, I also know that if I push DH all I'm going to get is push-back. (Same thing would happen if he tried to push me in to a major financial decision against my will ... we are both pretty strong and kind of stubborn that way ... it really bugs me when I hear people say things like "my way or the highway" when it comes to financial decision-making in a marriage ... but, I digress.)

So, I came up with a major compromise that I'm not thrilled about but that I know will at least mean getting new documents in place.

I asked DH if he would agree to let a top-notch estate planning attorney of my choice do our estate documents, regardless of the price, when we turn 50, if I do the documents myself now using Legal Zoom or DIY software. His eyes lit up like Christmas morning and he readily agreed. I think I'm going to have him put it in writing ... He has been known to conveniently "forget" promises made years prior.

Now I need to decide which program to use, and more importantly I need to decide if I want to do a DIY revocable living trust (the thought is intimidating, but maybe I just need more knowledge) or if I want to stick with a simple will for the time being.

Today DH & I had a consultation with an attorney who specializes in estate plans. Tho it's been almost 2 years since we moved to Texas, I wanted to wait until after we had purchased a house to re-do our estate documents. DH is a bit flabbergasted at the cost (we really should go for a trust this time instead of a simple and less expensive will) and may need a bit of time to get used to the idea of the cost before we proceed. But I really don't want us to delay too long ... Such an important part of our overall financial plan.

Yesterday morning, while I was running the good ol' Epi Slim over my face (those of you who will recall my angst about a facial waxing may be interested to learn I have adopted a DIY approach), I started thinking about the upcoming lawyer appointment.

Thoughts started to wander: estate planning ... facial hair removal ... I sure am getting older! The instant that thought started to turn into a whine, my thoughts jumped to my friend from college, SB.

SB turned 21 over winter break of his junior year. He went out drinking to celebrate, crashed his car and died.

Hard to believe that was over half a lifetime ago.

Hard to believe it's already been 8 years since 9/11/01.

I will take getting older and all that comes along with it thankfully.

For all the parents, homeschoolers, teachers, and adults who like to color, this is a pretty cool site:

http://www.coloringcastle.com/

(I discovered it when putting together "informational packets" for our 7 relatives who will be visiting from overseas. I wanted simple & clear maps of the USA & Texas, so they could get a sense of where Austin is. The maps on this site fit the bill exactly.)

I've mentioned that my in-laws were planning to come for a visit. FIL just got the go-ahead from his doctor, so it's official, they are coming in November.

I think I mentioned that a few aunties & uncles decided to tag along, so we were expecting a group of 4-5.

Last night DH told me that another couple relatives decided to tag along as well, so now we're up to 6-7 visitors ... for 3 weeks!

The good news? This will be FUN! The more the merrier. I am so glad that they are seizing the day and making the trip. This will be the last trip overseas for FIL, and the other relatives would never come alone, so I think they realized that it's now or never. These are all senior citizens, and for several of them it will be their first (and quite possibly last) trip out of their country.

The bad news? I am not equipped for a household of 9 adults. I am going to have to buy things I had not planned on buying, such as another air mattress, bedding, towels, slippers, eating utensils, etc. And renting a passenger van is the only option with that many people and all of their luggage and only 1 driver (DH while I'm at work) ... that's not cheap (I called several places today to get an idea of price ... we're talking $2K plus tax not to mention the gas). I had budgeted $4K for this visit (DH will be visiting various cities around the country with them so we will have those expenses in addition to housing & feeding & transporting), but clearly that is not going to be enough.

You'd better believe I will be keeping an eye out starting now for bargains and stocking up on "essentials" such as TP, etc. If we're going to be spending over $2K just on transportation alone, we better save a couple bucks anywhere we can.

While the thought of having 7 international visitors staying in my house on top of working is a bit overwhelming, I must remind myself that the most important thing is to give these family members a wonderful stay that will provide them with happy memories for the rest of their lives.

Breathe ... plan ... breathe ... plan ... breathe ... work the plan ...

It fell to earth, and I DO know where!
(Apologies to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

5 years ago DH wanted to source some new product for his business. I researched companies and recommended he buy from "Company XYZ" (which he did, and he still does business with them). 3 years ago "Company XYZ" sales rep "Mr. Jones" flew to Seattle for a meeting with my husband. On his return flight, "Mr. Jones" met flight attendant "Ms. Smith."

Today we received a very special piece of mail:

"The honour of your presence is requested at the marriage of 'Ms. Smith' and 'Mr. Jones' ... "

Tho' we had no way of knowing it at the time, it looks like Cupid lent one of his arrows to DH & I.

My "workouts" this weekend included...

1. Watering my little veggie garden
2. Giving my dog a bath
3. Walks with above-mentioned clean dog
4. A bit of routine housework and laundry
5. Cleaning out all the window tracks (The grimy parts that are under the bottoms of the windows ... they are partially exposed to the outside & get filthy ... you have to lift the windows to clean them. I don't know if "tracks" is the proper name or not.) Gosh - we have a LOT of windows!
6. Sanding & painting 2 old dressers (this included carrying them out to the garage, and moving a bunch of bricks around that I used to anchor the newspaper I used to protect the garage floor. That was followed by over 3 hours hours of bending & squatting & scrubbing & rollering & brushing. Carrying them back in to the house, re-stacking the bricks, and cleaning up will be my "workout" in a couple days (I will let them dry much longer than necessary before I dare to put them back on the carpet.)

Who needs the gym when you have a house, a yard, and a dog?

When I was in my 20's, I would have done the above and then gone out dancing! But now ... well, I'll admit I'm tired & sore (it was re-furbing the dressers that did it) and I think I'll just crash on the couch this evening with a movie (I have "Wall-E" from Netflix).

When I went in to close my account at Chase, the staffer (I think she was a manager) asked why, and I replied that it was because of the rate I was earning. She asked me "did you find a better rate at a Credit Union?" Hmm...interesting. Thought I'd share for anyone who has yet to jump on the CU bandwagon.

And just for the record, yes, we moved some of the funds to a CD at a CU, but some went to an MMA at a regular old bank that is paying WAAAAAY more than Chase.

I remember reading comments (probably in WSJ articles) from both Wells Fargo and Chase executives that one of the reasons they took over Wachovia and Wamu respectively was because of their large number of deposit customers. I had accounts with both banks, but when interest rates plummeted post-merger, I closed my accounts and moved on. I wonder how those high-paid executives thought they were going to keep those deposit customers if they didn't keep paying higher than average interest rates? Do they not understand the correlation? Do they think we are idiots who do not check what rate we are earning and comparison shop?

I "Chased what matter" (earnings) all the way to other financial institutions. How about the rest of you former WaMu folks?

All my containers are planted.

Previously Planted:
Green Onions
Romaine Mix

Planted Today:
- Basil
- Chives
- Okra (Clemson Spineless, the type used in gumbo, not a vine ... thanks for the clarification Joan.of.the.Arch ... In my mind I was thinking "vine" because I need to figure out if they are going to need supports of some type)
- Rainbow Chard (wanted to do tomatoes but as I learned and others here pointed out they don't go in fall gardens even here in hot Texas ... Also I'm curious to see how it grows here vs in the Pacific NW, and if it's as easy to grow as it was when I was in WA I'll be guaranteed success with at least one item.)

If the okra grows well, we'll probably have way more of that than we can consume, but I know it will freeze VERY nicely. The Basil, if it's prolific, I can make pesto & freeze. The other items I limited to quantities that I think we can consume as we go.

I used only about 1/3 of each seed packet. I'm thinking I can do a 2nd planting very early spring (Feb or so), and a 3rd next fall. All packets are stamped sell by 11/10. The basil says "annual" so I'll either add another container or give the rest away ... I'll see how much my one little container produces.

We're in to Stage 2 (out of 3) watering restrictions effective tomorrow due to the drought here. We can use our sprinklers only once per week. Since our landscaping is new, we will need to hand water the bushes once a week and the trees once or twice a week so they don't die, and we'll need to make sure all the vegetation around the foundation also gets hand-watered once a week to prevent foundation cracks. That's the most important thing! We can replace a dead plant, but we can't grow a new foundation! (Hand-watering is allowed as long as it's done by 10am.) The grass? It's gonna go brown, but it should come back.

A couple weeks ago I did an entry called "Kitchen Garden Dreaming":

http://scfr.savingadvice.com/2009/08/02/kitchen-garden-dream...

Welcome to the new Kitchen Garden Part 2: Grounded In Reality.

Dreaming is great. That's the phase of any plan when you can let your imagine run wild and ... really THINK BIG. But sooner or later (hopefully) reality sinks in and you make decisions that are, tho inspired by the dream, based on what is practical. (For example, when I was furniture shopping, I did allow myself flights of fancy, looking at $4K dining room sets and ostrich leather Williams-Sonoma beds ... yes, really ... It helped me crystalize in my mind what I wanted ... but eventually I came down to earth and bought pieces that would allow me to furnish an entire house attractively for less than what one of the dreamy pieces of furniture would have cost.)

So, in order to avoid having to get permission from the HOA (which would slow down the process and probably mean not being able to start a garden this fall), to GREATLY reduce startup costs, to eliminate worry about how our automatic sprinkler system would fit with a veggie garden, and to take in to account that fact that I am still a newbie gardener and don't know how successful I am going to be, I have decided to go for a modified container garden.

Yesterday I got a large & attractive container on clearance at Lowe's. This morning I planted green onions & a romaine mix in it. I also plan to repurpose 3 plastic black industrial-looking trash cans by having DH drill holes in the bottom and bury them half-way underground (camoflauged from the street by some taller bushes) and I will plant 2 tomatoe & 1 okra vine in those. In addition to keeping weeds at bay, I'm hoping the containers will be tall enough to keep the rabbits out of them and (with sufficient supervision from us) keep the dog from doing his business on the plants we plan to eat from! If for some reason the HOA objects (which I don't think they will because I am really trying to make things attractive/hidden/blended with the rest of the landscaping) I can easily move the containers. And if I fail miserably, I will not have invested a lot of money in this project. (I'll give you a total once the tomatoe & okra plants are in the ground.) Also, the "pretty" container I bought can easily be repurposed for flowers.

Somewhere on-line I read about an article in a Japanese magazine that taught how to start growing Daikon in bags, and I've asked DH to ask one of his friends in Japan who is an avid gardener if he can tell us how to do that.

I'll probably add a couple little containers of fresh herbs on the front steps ... not only consumable, but will provide a nice fragrance when people come to the door.

If I succeed with my modified and greatly scaled-back plan, I'll probably add a few more containers and scatter them in with the rest of the landscaping. And if I prove to have a green thumb and decide it's worth the cost and effort ... who knows ... the full-blown kitchen garden dream may still some day become reality.

1. First Credit Union Account: For the first time, we opened an account with a credit union. Our MMA at WaMu/Chase had been earning bonus interest (put in place right around the time of the Chase takeover) but that rate expired and since the Chase interest rates just suck, it was time to go rate shopping yet again. The WaMu bonus rate expired last Saturday and the new account was opened on Monday. (Even with rates overall being so unattractive, I still consider getting the best rates I can one of my top financial jobs.) We ended up getting a 6-month CD. We had not opened an account at a credit union before for 2 reason: 1) terms not attractive enough (until now) & 2) concerns about safety. I learned awhile back that accounts at credit unions were as safe as accounts at banks, but I wasn't as sure of it as I needed to be to convince DH. I studied up on it some more, and was sure enough of the safety of funds at CUs that I was able to make a convincing argument to my husband.

2. Speaking of WaMu/Chase: I still have my WaMu/Chase account only because my paycheck AD is deposited there, and my Half.com account is linked there. I'm changing my Half.com account to another bank this week, and after my next AD hits on Friday I'll be closing that account. I will be sorry to lose my relationship with WaMu, but honestly it has been a long slow fade that began when Chase took over. As the ad says "Chase what matters" ... and that is what I am doing by moving my money out.

3. Major Economic Stimulation: We had accumulated a couple pieces of furniture for our new house, but yesterday was THE BIG shopping day. We have been looking at furniture off & on for the past 3-1/2 months, but for the past several days that has been a major focus of my efforts ... visited a warehouse sale, visited a resale shop, and visited a couple regular retail shops I had not yet been to. I was also purusing Craigslist & Ebay quite a bit. Found a couple interesting items on Craiglsit, but the sellers did not reply so assume the pieces had already sold. Ended up ordering everything on-line, some from Costco & some from Amazon. We ordered 2 office desks (one for DH & one for me ... DH's is more of an "office suite" with storage and mine is more like a big writing table with a couple drawers), one office/recliner type chair for DH, a dining table & 4 chairs (we will pull in odd chairs when we have more than 4 people at the table ... it will seat 6 comfortably and we would very rarely have more than 6), mattress & boxspring (for us ... the one we are using now is going to the guest room), 2 headboards (considerably less expensive than buying a whole bed frame, and DH feels strongly that a bed needs more than just a mattress on a steel frame which is something I'm fine with) and .... Lord have mercy ... that big ol' TV DH has been waiting & waiting for. Nothing brings spouses differences in priorities in to sharper focus than furniture shopping! (Example: Why on earth would anyone want to spend more on a lousy TV than you would on a good mattress set or dining room set? LOL) I'm happy to report that after much-much-much discussion and compromising, and not one bit of ugliness, we are still happily married and now we have thoroughly done our part to stimulate the economy. (Quick! Buy shares of UPS!) But seriously, our first round of house guests arrive in about 2 months, and I feel so much better knowing that they will have a place to sleep other than the floor, and that we'll all be able to sit down at table together to dine. (Oh yea, and the guys can watch the game on the huge TV ... hohum.)

4. Fearless Critic Austin Restaurant Guide: I picked this little treasure up at Costco for $10. I knew this was the book for me when I read the review for Fonda San Miguel, the fancy restaurant I had been dying to go to and squirrelled some gift money away for. Basically, the review in Fearless Critic said, yes, the food is very good, but it's way over-priced ... And I agree 100%! Could have saved the money if I had read this book before going! Anyway ... I've been purusing this book looking for places to try and to take our endless stream of houseguests who will be descending soon. On Friday, DH & I went to Quality Seafood (in North Central Austin). Oh ... yea! Awesome place; best seafood we've had since moving here. We decided to splurge a bit and our final bill came to $30 ... but when you consider what we got, it really was a good deal. We started out with a dozen oysters on the half shell (that was the splurge and added $10 to the bill) ... They were huge gulf coast oysters that we had never had before (nothing like Pacific Northwest oysters) ... 100% fresh & delicious. Then I had a bowl of gumbo (chock full of scallops, shrimp, and fish) and DH had the blue plate special (marlin in whiskey BBQ sauce, cornbread, and choice of 2 sides ... he took cole slaw and fried okra that was divine). We left with big smiles on our face feeling the "splurge" was well worth it! For anyone in Austin who has not tried Quality Seafood, I highly recommend it. A more frugal food choice would be one of the Po' Boy sandwich combos, which I believe run $7. The next restaurants on our list to try are a Chinese place and a Korean place that are both tucked in the back of grocery stores ... not so high on atmosphere, but great food at cheap prices. For anyone interested in The Fearless Critic, at this time they are only available for Washington DC, Austin, New Haven, and Houston.

5. Dallas Doggies: The organization I volunteer with is gearing up to take in some of the doggies from the Dallas puppy mill case (over 500 dogs seized in a raid from deplorable conditions, the largest case ever in Texas history). There are still some legal issues to be worked out but the Humane Society has already put out the call to see which rescues in the area can take dogs once they are allowed by the court to start transferring them. Of course we said yes. We'll be taking around 10 to start with ... they will be cared for and nurtured until they are well enough & socialized enough (and old enough to be spayed or neutered of course) to be adopted out. When you stop to think about it, 10 dogs is only 2% of the total number and therefore just a drop in the bucket ... mind-boggling. As always, I am thankful that my financial house is in order and I have a supportive husband so I am able to dedicate so much time & energy to this work.

In 2007 I tried my hand at a bit of vegetable gardening for the first time for the SA $20 Challenge. I was in a rental house, so I could only do "container" gardening (the containers were anything free I could scrounge up like plastic buckets from Freecycle and no-longer-in-use recycling bins).

Now that I'm in a house I own, I think I may plant an honest-to-goodness kitchen garden. I knew that here in Texas you can plant both fall gardens and spring gardens. The idea of a fall garden is more appealing than a spring garden, both because of the temperature in the fall and because my work schedule is lighter. I thought I had plenty of time still to plan a "fall garden" but today when I was re\searching on the net (Texas A&M web site has a wealth of info and Gardener's Supply has some pretty nifty stuff too including an interactive plan-your-own garden tool) I learned that fall garden veggies are planted as early as 16 weeks before the first expected frost which is Dec. 1. That means if I'm going to plant a fall garden I need to get cracking!

Here's my to-do list:
- Check HOA rules. See if I have to submit a plan for approval, and if so does that mean I won't be in time to plant a fall garden?
- Figure out where to put the garden.
- Figure out if we'll need to do anything special with the sprinkler system, such as shutting off one or more of the sprinkler heads? (A sprinkler system was not something I had to deal with in 2007.)
- Decide what to plant (I know I want to plant green onions, daikon, okra, tomatoes, and lettuce. Beyond that I have lots of ideas but am not sure.
- Plan the garden, and make a list of necessary supplies.
- Get supplies.
- Get starter plants and/or seeds. I think I'll use starter plants this time as much as I can, since I'd like to have more variety and less of each item than I had in 2007 when everything was started from seed.
- Plant the garden, tend it, and hopefully harvest the fruits of my labor.

For anyone interested, here's a link to the Gardener's Supply site:
http://www.gardeners.com/Kitchen-Garden-Planner/kgp_home,def...

For the numbers geeks and competitive types (but mostly for myself) I've updated my numbers there on the sidebar.

I realized tracking the quarterly goals wasn't making a lot of sense, given the odd variation in income we experience over the course of the year, estimated tax payments, etc. I've decided instead to just do an annual goal, but every so often I'll note where I am throughout the year.

Because I have no debt other than what has been charged on my credit card & will be paid off at the end of the month (inconsequential) plus accrued SE taxes owed (not really inconsequential but too much effort to calculate each month), my monthly "Net Worth Statement" is really just a list of my assets. What I count as assets are:
Liquid financial assets
Tax-deferred retirement savings
Car (KBB Private Party Value)
House (Purchase Price - 8% eventual taxes & real estate comm to be paid when the house is sold = adjusted purchase price. I then adjust by CPI-U to account for inflation.)

Are these calculations perfect? Nope. There are legitimate differences of opinion as to whether tax-deferred savings should be included (or should be discounted for the taxes that will eventually be paid), whether or not to include car & house (or collectibles or household furnishings or in the case of my SIL her Hermes collection-haha), how to value those non-financial assets, and whether CPI-U is a legitimate measure of inflation.

The important thing is that this is how I have chosen to do my calculations, and they help me measure progress over time and how I am doing in terms of reaching my eventual goal.

Brooklyngirl did an interesting post on feeling rich and free, and I posted a rather lengthy response about why managing my finances well is so important to me. I'm providing a link in case anyone thinks that this goal of becoming "Balance Sheet Affluent" by the time my husband is 50 is merely some obsessive goal or about being greedy:
http://brooklyngirl.savingadvice.com/2009/07/25/i-feel-rich-...
I was very interested to read Brooklyngirl's post and glad to see responses. So often we write about the steps we are taking and the "numbers" goals we have, but not about the reasons for taking them. Good to be reminded.

Back in May I posted about how we were switching to OTA (over the airwaves) TV:

http://scfr.savingadvice.com/2009/05/10/we-are-switching-to-...

Wanted to do a quick update for anyone interested in doing the same.

While the process of installing the antennae was harder than expected (ended up hiring an installer), we are VERY happy with the switch.

We get 14 channels. 2 are Spanish language channels, 1 is geared towards people in the military (Pentagon channel or something like that), and 1 is just a weather map with recorded weather updates, so really 10 channels that we actually will watch.

Picture quality is crystal-clear. We are extremely happy with the reception. I'm sure the recent conversion to digital helps.

This is what we spent:
$68 for the antenna
$215 for professional antenna installation
$11 for the digital converter box ($50 - $40 government coupon + tax) ... the purchase of a big flat screen that is digital ready is still in the works, but on hold for a bit, so we went ahead and got a converter box.
TOTAL: $294
In addition, the digital converter box has to be plugged in to an electrical outlet, so we are using a bit more electricity that we would be with cable ... I think ... unless cable jacks also use electricity ... I don't know if they do.

If anyone's interested and wants more info, feel free to ask.

No more monthly cable bills ... Yippee!

Since my last post, guess what DH & I did? We closed on our new house and moved!

For anyone who doesn't know the story, this has been a long time coming. We sold our house in the Seattle area over 3 years ago, and have been living in rentals both in Seattle and in Austin ever since, waiting for what felt like the right time in the market and the right house.

I can't tell you how nice it is to be back in a place that we own!

The first time we drove by the house it was literally one of those "Honey - Stop the Car!" moments that you hear about.


Is it possible to be in love with a room? If so, I may be in love with our new kitchen:


This picture is rather stark without any furniture or pictures, but I wanted to show the curved walk-throughs, which is one feature I really like. (I like soft curved things rather than just hard corners.)



These are old pictures that we took when househunting. I would have liked to have posted some newer ones, but my camera is still in a box.

At one point in the process (just before signing off on our contract), DH started getting a bit of cold feet. There are homes in the same neighborhood that are built by lower quality builders that of course sell for less per square foot. DH started thinking we should go for "lowest cost per square foot" and get a bigger house, but at that point I really put my foot down and rather insisted that quality was much more important. It may be a "smaller" house (at least compared to the others), but I know we will save not only money but also time & aggravation in the long run. It's an Energy Star and green built certified home, so we will save on our energy bills. With the quality of the materials, we should end up needing to repair or replace things much later. I hope Ima Saver will be proud of me for insisting on quality! (I'm not saying it's the quality of a custom home that Ima's husband would build ... it's not, not by a long stretch!)

Closing was a dream. Took all of 30 minutes.

The first thing I did after getting home from the closing was file our property tax appeal. The deadline to file was June 1st so procrastination was not an option!

Moving was fine, but boy were DH & I tired by the time we were done! I have told DH in no uncertain terms that this is absolutely the LAST DIY move for us. Fortunately, there really wasn't a lot of furniture (just our bed and a couple chairs and a small dressers & side tables). If we ever move again, we will just have to hire movers. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if this were our last move EVER (until we move to the retirement center or wherever we end up in our old age).

We continue to stimulate the economy with house related purchases. In addition to the appliances blogged about previously (fridge, washer & dryer), we have purchased a carpet cleaner, a lawn mower, and garage floor liner. I've also ordered a shower caddy & a sofa.

Bless Discover's fraud department --- Usually I only buy gas on that card, so when the garage floor liner was purchased, they immediately called me about "suspicious activity." Nice to know someone's looking out for me!

OTA = Over The Airwaves
This is the "free" TV that is available to anyone with an antenna. This is the type of TV anyone my age or older grew up watching.

A move is such a great way to re-evaluate lots of things in your life. In addition to evaluating what things we really want to keep (as in, "Do I really want to lug this ratty object to the new place, or is it time to ditch it?"), you also start evaluating services and weighing the costs vs. benefits.

When it came time to order utility hookups at our new house, I really started evaluating our "need" for cable TV. In our apartment, cable is included, so we have not been paying seperately for it for 1-1/2 years. When we lived in the Seattle area, we used to have a semi-expensive cable package, because that was the only way for DH to add channels from his native country. Since his country's channels are not available where we live now, he started looking for other ways to watch TV, and now subscribes to a service where he watches TV from his homeland over the internet.

Other than a bit of CNN & CNBC (with a smattering of Animal Planet), the only TV I watch is major networks. So I started thinking that cable was not really necessary. I did some research, and the more I learned the more I liked the idea of living without cable.

In addition to loving the idea of not having to pay a monthly cable bill on top of the $25 we're paying for DH's internet viewing, I really like the idea of better reception. I learned that picture quality is better if you DON'T have cable, and this will especially be true once the switch is made to digital TV (June 12).

DH has been patiently waiting to buy a big screen flat panel TV. I asked him to wait until we had our new house and prices have come down. Once we're in our place, I'll give him the green light to go ahead and buy his big toy. I'll have him get an integrated HDTV one; that means it will already have an HDTV tuner built in, so we won't have to buy a seperate tuner. All we need is an antenna.

I ordered this antenna today: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_209TV55/Terk-TV55.html?o=v&sear...
With shipping, it came to $68.

DH will be installing it in our attic. According to on-line reviews I read, it is fairly easy to install. (It's an indoor/outdoor antenna. I knew an outdoor antenna would not go over well with the neighbors.) I don't know if we will have to buy any hardware for mounting, or if we have all of the tools we need, but even if we do have to run to Home Depot and buy something small, I figure we'll come in at $75 or less total. With cable at $49+tax, we will have recouped the antenna cost in 1-1/2 months or less!

If anyone else is interested in making the switch to OTA TV (and with the digital conversion coming up, can you think of a better time?), these were the sites I found most helpful in researching:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-IOdgy2Geib8/learn/learningcente...

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

Once we're settled in to our new place, I'll let you know how we like our "new" (actually retro) way of watching TV.

We've ordered the appliances for our new house. We looked for appliances that were highly-rated by Consumer Reports, that were very energy-efficient, that fit nicely in their designated spaces, and that had features we liked. We chose "mid-range" items ... neither super expensive nor super cheap. Then we looked for the best deals we could find.

Got our washer & dryer (Fisher & Paykel) from the "Dent & Scratch" section of a discount appliance warehouse. They are new, but have some cosmetic damage ... Who cares?

Got our fridge (Kenmore Elite) from Sears last night ... they had one of their quarterly "VIP Evenings" where all Kenmore & Kenmore Elite appliances are 20% off and then 10% additional off of that ... so, 28% off.

This means we've purchased 3 BIG items in the last week. I certainly hope the ripple effects of our personal economic stimulus spending spree will reach you wherever you are.

As I know most of you are, we're pretty studious shoppers when it comes to major purchases; we put a lot of time & energy in to it. So if feels good to be done. We now have all of the "necessary" items for the house. We haven't purchased any furniture yet, but we've yet to find any screaming deals, and we can get by with what we have for the time being.

Sorry I've not been around. I've been getting lots of overtime at work (for which I am very grateful), still have my volunteer work to keep up on, and have the upcoming move.

One of these days I will update my badly outdated sidebar! Cheers.

House passed with flying colors! Just a few minor things to address ... no deal breakers.

Moving van is booked.
Got issues of Consumer Reports from the library that pertain to Washers & Fridges.

I must unearth my "moving bible" (29 Days to a Smooth Move)

Family members from around the globe have started discussing dates to come check out the new pad! Thank goodness for the hot summers here ... I think most will want to hold off until fall or winter. That will give us time to hunt & gather a few home furnishings. (Will start prowling Craigslist once some higher priority tasks are taken care of.)

If I NEVER move again it will fine with me!

56% ...

Based on a rough estimate of what settlement costs will be, our new house will wind up costing us 56% of what we netted on the sale of our former house (after paying agent commissions, sales tax, escrow, etc.)

The 2 houses are amazingly comparable in terms of size, quality, neighborhood (once you get past the whole Pacific Northwest vs. Texas business ... lol), etc.

As our friend Tripods68 would say: "It's a beautiful thing"

Guess who just bought a house, and will be closing end of May?

It's in Austin.

It's been a long road getting this far!

Yesterday at work, right after lunch break, someone came in and announced that there was a car in the parking lot that had a flat tire. They gave a description of the car. It was the same make, model & color as mine. They gave the license plate number (but I don't know what mine is). Between the time of the announcement and afternoon break, when I could go out to check my car, while trying to concentrate on my work as much as I could, I was also mentally formulating strategies to deal with what I felt certain was a flat tire on MY car. I knew I'd be able do deal with it (I belong to AAA, and there are several repair shops not too far from where I work), but what bothered me was the realization that I had not checked the air pressure in my spare tire for 1-1/2 years. I know exactly when it was, because we checked it right before beginning the long-distance drive from Seattle to Austin. Pretty bad for a woman who likes to tout herself as a "preventative maintenance gal," right?

Fortunately, it wasn't my car that had the flat (whew).

This morning, DH is off filling up the gas tank and checking the air pressure on the spare tire!

Nothing like a close call to jolt you in to action, right?

So, guys ... Given the current state of the economy, doesn't this seem like an excellent time to ask ourselves how the air pressure is in our FINANCIAL spare tires? If we haven't lost our jobs or had our hours shaved, we almost certainly have friends or family members who have. And if we don't personally know someone who has lost their home to foreclosure, we certainly know people who have or are aware of homes in our neighborhood that have been foreclosed on. Even if we ourselves haven't had our retirement plans negatively altered (yet), we probably know someone who has.

- How's the emergency fund?
- How's the retirement savings balance?
- If you are of a "certain age," do you have a plan to adjust the makeup of your retirement savings as you approach retirement age? (This is the aspect of the financial spare tire that I've been motivated to work on due to the recent troubles. I'm happy to report that the EF and retirement savings are both in good shape, and folks who used to mock me for my frugal ways no longer do.)
- What else makes up a fully-inflated financial spare tire?

My grandparents were children of the Great Depression, and you had better believe that they always kept their financial spare tire fully inflated.
May we all be as wise as they were and learn from watching what is happening to folks around us. I think that the young people of today who are willing to observe, learn, and apply what they have learned are going to have very secure financial futures.

Who is coping well with setbacks, and why are they able to do so? Who is able to take a job loss in stride, and who ends up running their financial car off in to the ditch? What can we learn from them, and how can we apply it to our own lives?

And then once we have learned and developed a plan, what action do we take? While learning and planning are very important, they are not what is going to make our lives better ... taking action is.

As Ralph Ellison wrote in the book Invisible Man:
Without the possibility of action, all knowledge comes to one labelled "file & forget."

This is something I need reminding of from time to time. I just put a note to myself on my calendar to check my car's spare tire air pressure in 6 months.