Haven't done a real blog entry for awhile because so much has been going on ... I've been busy and unable to organize my thoughts well ... I decided to do just one big long entry that covers a whole lot of things ... Sorry.

1. Business Closing / Moving Countdown: One-and-a-half weeks to go until I shut down my business. I've been saying many good-byes. I am glad they are spread out and not all coming at once; it's easier to take emotionally, absorbing just one or two good-byes per day. Five-and-a-half weeks until we leave for Austin. Got a free map of the USA from AAA and plotted our route on it, then hung it on the wall above my desk. It's exciting to look at it, knowing the date our new adventure begins is getting closer and closer.

2. No, I really don't have 4 weeks to prep for the move: I'll be travelling out of town for one week (going to Austin to choose an apartment, attending my alma matter's Reunion weekend, and going to my Mom's to help out with some things). I'll also have wrap-up work on my business, and my DH needs some help with his business. Also, my family is coming up for our final weekend here which of course is wonderful but takes up time. So, I estimate that gives me 2 weeks (broken up a bit here and there) to prep for the move. Should be plenty of time as long as I draw up a good plan/calendar, stick to it, and get enough help from DH. [Thank goodness I have the book "29 Days to a Smooth Move" ... It is the best resource for moves!]

3. Farewell Party: Reservation has been made; Guest list is 28; Invitations get mailed on Monday; final budget is $500. A nice restaurant near us does a very nice and reasonably-priced buffet once a month, and I chose to do our party on that day. I will pre-order some decent but moderately-priced wines and have them out on the table. Of course, people will be free to order other drinks, but knowing the wonderful group we are inviting (not a wine snob or big spender in the bunch), they will be perfectly happy with my selections. My goal is to put on an event that is both a really enjoyable event for our beloved guests and a wonderful send off for DH and I, but that doesn't break the bank. Given the plans made so far, I think all criteria will be met.

4. Ebay Sales: Still plodding along. Some things selling for more than expected, some for less, some not at all. Will be glad when it's done.

5. $20 Garden Challenge: Still enjoying plenty of fresh herbs and microgreens. It's been quite cool here, and I'm starting to wonder whether I'll actually see a tomato before the move! There have been lots of blossoms and some have dropped, but not one piece of fruit yet.

6. DC & NYC Trip: Booked my plane ticket and accomodations! I'll be travelling a total of 9 days ~ I'm so excited!!! I decided on a budget of $2,000. Yes, it's a lot of money, and yes, it will be worth every penny. I am renting a studio condo with a kitchen in downtown DC. I'll be flying from Austin to DC, and between DC and NYC I'll take the bus. [ThreeBeanSalad kindly suggested the Chinatown Bus, but I was able to find an even cheaper fare on Greyhound thanks to a fare sale, plus the scheduling with Greyhound is much better.] My younger sister & brother will be joining me in DC. They have both always wanted to go, and decided that since I was going already they may as well tag along. I'm super happy they will be coming. I'm not going to let them pitch in on the accomodations, but told them they could stay with me (my treat) in exchange for them feeding me one meal per day each. My sister will get groceries and cook dinner for me (say ... I'll have my own personal chef for a couple days ... outstanding!) and my brother will treat me to lunch while we are out sightseeing. My older sister is not going to join us because ...

7. Older Sister is Taking Baby Steps Towards Financial Security: Awhile back I wrote on the forums about how my sister's financial life was a wreck. She had to have her cat euthanized and did not have the money to pay for it.
Well, since then she has made some progress but it has definitely been a "2 steps forward and 1 step back kind of thing." A big breakthrough was when she thought about joining us in DC but decided that she really should not because her priority is building up her EF. Oh yea! While it would have been great to have her with us, I really respect that she seems to be getting her priorities straight.

8. Caught Another Checkout Pricing Mistake: I know this entry so far has had a lot to do with big spending, but as I have said before I believe in focusing on the big AND small things. The other day at Office Depot when I was buying envelopes to mail the party invitations, the price rang up at $7.29 even tho' the posted price was $5.99. I had them cancel the sale and went over to customer service. They were very nice, walked over to the posted sign with me, admitted that the sign was wrong (apparently the price had increased but they hadn't changed the sign), and honored the posted sign. They also took the sign down and changed it, so I was the last person to get the envelopes at that price. [Yikes - I thought $5.99 for 50 envelopes was a huge amount of money. But I decided not to waste time & money driving to another store.] I couldn't begin to count how many times I have caught mistakes like that; I am always courteous, but never shy about letting the cashier know about the error, and I have never had a store fail to honor the posted price. Always check the prices!

9. "Subprime Mortgage Meltdown in the News": I agree with those who say, come on, what is the news?!? A few years ago when DH & I started reading about the types of mortgages people were taking out we couldn't get over how insane it was. That was years ago. Frankly, we were surprised it all didn't happen sooner; we were expecting it about a year earlier. I'm glad we sold our house when we did, and I know that this will not make me popular with people who are facing difficulties with their ARMs, but we may end up in a pretty good bargaining position when we buy our next house because we will be paying cash while other potential buyers will be facing the credit crunch. We'll either be able to get a deep discount from someone who needs to sell fast and has a shortage of potential buyers, or we may end up buying a foreclosure.
BTW, when we bought our last house we made sure that we could not only easily handle the mortgage payments, but that I could easily handle them on my own if (God forbid) something happened to my DH. My income is less than my husband's, and we thought it prudent to make sure the lesser income alone (mine) could easily support the house payments, so that I would never be in a position where I felt pressured to sell the house in a hurry. And we did refinance our mortgage once, but we refinanced for a LESSER amount and we went from a 30-yr fixed to a 15-yr fixed at a much lower rate. Never had a HELOC or a 2nd mortgage or a piggyback loan. Eventually, we paid off our mortgage early. Goodness, no one could imagine why we were being so conservative. They thought we were being downright silly. But I am here to tell you that you should never be afraid to go against the crowd, swim upstream, dance to a different drummer, etc, etc... Conventional wisdom isn't always so wise.

10. "The Jonses" Foreclosure House: I sent an Email to the bank that now owns the foreclosed house in our neighborhood letting them know we might be interested in buying it, but a real estate agent friend told me not to expect to be able to get a great deal on it, so I'm not holding my breath.

11. Feels Like Fall: I've covered a lot of ground in this post, some of it a bit heavy and/or preachy. I'll end on something light. It's been cool here, really starting to feel like fall. I have been thinking about changing my blog's color scheme to more fallish (instead of springish) colors ... But that may have to wait a bit, as I have bigger projects to tackle ...

If you actually read all of this long and rambling post, bless you!

Yesterday when I went grocery shopping, bread was on my list.

I always stop off at the half-price (day old) bread rack first to see what they have. I try to eat healthy, so I only buy 100% whole grain bread with no corn syrup. If there is something on the half-price rack that meets my criteria I will buy it; if not, I move on to the "regularly-priced aisle" to see what might be on sale. I'd say 2/3 or more of the bread I buy is from the half-price rack.

Yesterday there was a 4-pack of bagels on the half-price rack that fit the bill, so I bought those. [Shared one with DH this morning and it was delicious. I left one on the counter for tomorrow and put the other 2 in the fridge so they'll keep until I eat them.]

I realized that I have never seen anyone else buying things off of the half-price bread rack, even tho' I see them cruising the bread section all the time. In fact, I've never even seen anyone stop to look at it. Obviously things on that rack sell or the store wouldn't have it, and I am grateful that it's not more popular because it means I'm more likely to find something for myself there, but I can't for the life of me figure out why so many people won't buy off of it.

Bread can keep for a long time if you put it in the refrigerator. It is true that it gets a bit dried out that way, but it's perfectly OK if you're not a bread snob. It's not at all a health hazard, and it tastes just fine!

Why don't folks buy it? Are they unwilling to compromise one day's worth of freshness to save some money? Are they embarassed to be seen buying day-old bread? Do they think that saving a buck here & there doesn't add up? So many of here on this site are living proof that it does!

The pooch's 4+ year old harnass busted when he lunged at a bicyclist (tsk, tsk) so my DH went to Petsmart and bought one of the "Gentle Leader" ones for $25 plus tax. It makes me cringe paying full retail, but this is one of those times when I want to get a replacement immediately, instead of waiting for something I find cheaper on-line to show up.

Tomorrow same poochie is getting his teeth cleaned (estimated cost $145 + any follow-up medications needed) at the vet's, and as long as he is knocked out, I am going to have them trim his nails as well. [He is one of those dogs who is an absolute terror about getting his nails clipped. I can't use cutters on him. I use a Dremel tool to grind them down but it takes forever and is a big battle of wills. In my mind, this will definitely be an extra $10 very well spent.]

At his annual exam, I found out that he has a broken molar. I would prefer not to have it extracted, and I don't want to just "let it go and see what happens," so I looked in to alternatives and found out that a root canal might be an option. I got an estimate of around $1,500 ... gasp! Since we are moving to Austin in the fall and Texas A&M has a Veterinary School where they teach veterinary dentistry, I am going to have my vet call the dental professor and see if they could perform the root canal and give me a ballpark estimate.

Oh, our 4-legged children can be expensive, can't they? Of course, they are worth every penny!

Okay ladies (and maybe some of you men), I need help!

Because I am going to be moving to hotter-than-hot Texas, I want to cut my hair short but have absolutely no idea how to go about choosing a style. The last time I had my hair cut in a "style" was about 15 years ago. Since then I've just let it grow; every couple of years I get a bunched whacked off and send it to Locks of Love (and I get a free hair cut for doing that). I usually just wear it pulled back by a barrette or a scrunchy. (I know, I know, not very stylish, but hey, it suits me fine.)

I know I could go in to a hair stylist and ask for suggestions, but I'm hesitant to do that because:
- I don't care all that much about my hair, and I think that saying to a hair person that you don't care about hair is insulting to their line of work.
- I'm afraid they'd suggest something too trendy for my taste. I want to choose a style and stick with it for a good long time, so I don't have to think aobut it anymore.
- I'm also afraid they would suggest something that would require more frequent trips to get hair cuts than I am willing to do.

So, I am looking for suggestions, either style suggestions or where I could go to get some information on basic styles.

Here's the 411 on me and my hair:
- My hair is medium thickness and wavy. However, it's not an even wave. It's light-wavy in the front and medium-wavy in the back.
- I wash and condition my hair every other day, comb it out, and let it air dry. That's it. No styling brushes, no blow dryer, no curlers, no hair spray or gel, nada. I would like to keep it this simple.
- I'm 43 years old and do not care about the trends; however, I guess I'd prefer not to look like an 80-year-old.
- Hair is not an area of my life where I care to spend a lot of money. So, I'd like a style where I can go to a basic walk-in place (like Great Clips), and I'd like a style that wouldn't need to be cut very often or where my husband could give me a little trim in between cuttings.

So, any suggestions??? TIA!

A couple of recent threads on the forums prompted me to add a new category to my blog: "Sensible Spending." Spending is obviously a big part of personal finance, and spending sensibly is important for achieving my financial goals. Spending sensibly does not necessarily mean choosing the cheapest thing that meets your needs. Like most of you, I strongly believe in looking at "lifecycle costs" when making purchasing decisions. Sometimes it makes sense to spend a bit more now to save down the road...

I recently made what I believe was a sensible purchase, tho' I won't be surprised if some of you say "You spent how much? On what?"

I bought a Porcelain Nail File for $25.

Background: I'm extremely low on the "glamour scale." I don't have my nails done and I don't polish my own nails. I just file 'em short and keep 'em plain. A couple weeks ago my last emery board was literally falling apart, and I knew it was past time to replace it. But I didn't need anything else from the store, so I started thinking "I'll be damned if I'm going to the store just for emery boards, and why can't they make something that lasts forever for filing my nails besides those awful metal things?" So, I got on-line and started looking for alternatives. That was when I found the Tweezerman Porcelain Nail File: $25 from Drugstore.com with free shipping. Didn't take me long to decide to buy it, even tho' the cost is many times more than buying a cheapie emery board, when I realized it would probably (hopefully) last me for the rest of my life, which would mean no more emery board purchases, less trips to the store, and less stuff (used emery boards) going to the landfills.

It arrived last week and I have to say I love it. I do expect it to last me for the rest of my life, and it makes me happy knowing I'll never have to buy a gosh-darn emery board for as long as I live! I just wish they had been available back when I was in my 20's!