Post #500...

Woo hoo! To celebrate I'm recapping the 2009 goals with a how I did in January post, exciting!!!

But the dishwasher is running, the dryer is going & I need a coffee break. I had to go for fasting blood work this morning & I had to wait until 9:30 to get in & then another 45 minutes to get home & put on the pot. But I am finally enjoying my daily caffeine!

I could probably turn this into a medical blog with all the appointments & tests I've had & will be having in the next 2 weeks, getting old sucks, but getting old with NO family medical history really sucks. Also, having nondescript symptoms of a generic nature leading to of all things a colonoscopy (that will be a fun day) really really sucks. I think I have more appointments this month than my 85 year old Grandmother.

Hopefully all will be abnormally normal, just like me!!! I am just happy to be told there is something abnormal, I was starting to think the abnormality was in my head, after 3 years, 3 PCPs I've finally been told I have an issue that warrants further investigation. So Jan & Feb have included or will include two CT scans, a colonoscpy, blood work, dental checkups & a base line mammogram (normal, thankgoodness)and the corresponding follow up appointments with my respective specialists.

It's been hard to focus on being FRUGAL, I'm having a hard enough time keeping mine & the families schedules in line! We are a 1 vehicle family at the moment, with 2 out of the house jobs, part time preschool, dance, swimming, school, where do I need to be, where do the kids need to be, who needs the car at work, AAHHHHH, CRAZINESS.

I have managed to get a little done to get our 2009 finances & house off to a good start.


1. Emergency Fund - I set up auto deposit, not much but it's a start

2. Set up guest bedroom - still clearing it out, and then I have to get the bed back from my sister, who has to clear her room out...LOL!

3. Decorate the house. I haven't done anything in this category yet, still fighting the clutter battle & there's no sense in decorating the clutter!!!

4. Simplify & purge - clutter clutter clutter!

5. We joined our church, now I am fighting with myself to get up out of bed & go. It's much easier to get the 4 of us out the door if Mom isn't in a lot of discomfort!

6. Complete 6 home improvement projects NADA, nothing, haven't done a lick of it!!!
a. Finish painting & hanging bathroom trim
b. Run New ducts upstairs
c. Fix dinning room ceiling
d. Finish The Princess's bedroom ceiling
e. Finish ceiling in kitchen
f. Roof repairs
g. Screening on side porch

7. Work on one sewing project/gift a week. Finish my stack of UFOs. Have a more hand made Christmas in 2009. - I still have to uncover my sewing table & chair. Maybe this afternoon I'll sneak up there & get that done. Sometimes organizing can be a pain, especially when you get interrupted & then forget to go back to it.

8. Still no hair cut, but I've been either at work, a Dr's office or buried under a large pile of laundry, who has time for exterior self maintenance. I shaved what more do you want from me, huh hubby???, huh!

Stumble It!

Frugal Friday - Kiplinger Rocks

What it takes to get a Mortgage Now. From August, so things may have changed just a little bit!!!

Besides Walking on water, you need to be ok on the 3 Cs

1. Credit History
2. Capacity - depth and continuity of your resources
3. Collateral - Value of your property, down payment or equity.

• The higher the credit score the lower your interest will be
• Down Payment should be at least 5%
• If refinancing - Should leave at least 10% equity after the loan
• I don't even begin to understand jumbos - won't be an issue for me where I live. Most Dr.s don't even have to worry about that!
  

Kiplinger's Hybrid Calculator

Hybrids Worth the Price








Stumble It!

Household Budget

It's time to start analyzing our finances again. I have been avoiding this chore like I avoid weeding on a 90 degree day...

I started going through my receipts for the year so far. I entered all my 2nd quarter numbers into a spread sheet. My categories are Eat Out, Groceries/Household, Kids, Adults, House, Gas.


I am sure the gas and eating out numbers are off, hubby is terrible about keeping receipts. Spreadsheets like this are helpful to me because I can look and see that in May we were spending money 6 out of 14 days, 3 in a row, eek! I am pretty sure we were doing a project on the house, but still, we could have planned our trips a little better!

I am encouraged to see that we only spent $951.29 in the Grocery column. I included all household, toiletry and gift items in here as well. Most of the Kids purchases were baseball related.

I don't have any amounts for the bills we paid yet, that's step 2! Most of them are paid online, so it won't be hard to assemble that data. Then I can combine the numbers and paint a better picture to create a real budget, with a plan and everything!!! I am doing this now because I want to really cut the extras out, so I can start birthday and Christmas shopping.

Some helpful budgeting links:

Free Budget Forms

Simple Debt Free Living

Create a Budget

Kiplinger's Budget Tool

The Day My Personal Financial Statement Talked To Me


Stumble It!

September Goals Update

1. Teaching kids about $ - I seem to be making some progress in this area, especially with their birthday's coming up soon. The Prince is trying to ask for things he really wants/needs instead of everything he sees a commercial for. I have been slacking in paying their allowances lately, it's not really fair to them, but it's not like they want for much!

2. Saving $ - Well buying the car has made it impossible to set aside much at all. Thankfully hubby has $ going into his 401K & a Savings account out of his check. Plus back to school expenses, tuition, photos, lunch, etc... My ING account has gone backwards, took some out to fund our new checking account, hopefully now that they are linked I'll be able to put it back & add to it regularly.

3. Organizing - "You can't organize clutter." I keep telling myself that every room I am in! My "foolishness" is starting to shrink (Clean House on Style). We are cleaning out all the "clutter" & trying to only leave what we use, love or need. I am in process of clearing our front room out, we are going to move the table in there after I finish ripping up the carpet. Plus it is a Super Fling month on FlyLady, so we are decluttering in each zone. As soon as I'm done with this article I am off for a 27 Fling Boogie.

4. Exercise & weight - Don't get me started... Still haven't lost a pound, but the clothes are getting looser & looser. Considering trying on a 14W next time I go to the store, just to see.

5. Creative Time - I still have multiple unfinished projects, tooth pillow, mixer cover, tote bag, quilt... I will get them done soon, I will.

6. Bed time for the Princess - We will get back on schedule this week, we have been overwhelmed with the back to school thing & our unseasonably warm weather, the kids have been pushing play time to the limits & soon enough it'll be icky, so we've let them!

7. Emergency kits - I organized the first aid kit & have a list for this weeks shopping trip of medicines & supplies so we will be set for winter weather! I also need to pick up some flashlight batteries & a couple new flashlights (new car, new supplies!).

8. Routines - WE fell into our back to school morning routine easily enough, even with have to get both ready for school 2 days a week. It the before bed we've had problems with, but we'll get it together soon.

I haven't been tracking expenses lately & with hubby buying a lot of our food from work it's been hard to keep track of. All I know is that I have 2 freezers full of food! I am going to clean out the fridge a little at a time this week, lots of scary leftovers in there at the moment...

Payperpost Love!

Have you signed up for Payperpost yet? It is the coolest thing in blog marketing yet! I have been enjoying my experience so far. I started with my first post on March 7th and have since been paid $77.25. I also have a "due" of $32.00. It takes 30 days to get paid & they send is right to my PayPal! It's not a ton of money, but I have been able to make a couple grocery store trips & buy some adorable hair clips for the Princess.

The better your page rank the better (or more) offers you can choose from. I try to be a little picky about ones that I choose. I suppose I could find a way to relate drug rehab to frugality or personal finance, but there always seems to be something more interesting to talk about! The newest cool op is to blog about your Police concert experiences. I wish I could say that I had any. Sadly I realized that I am a "radio" Police fan! The box set we used to have was far more punk rock than we were into in the day!

I am pretty sure that the rules are that you can't do back to back monetized posts, so not all my posts are Payperpost & not all my sponsored posts are either. But I do believe that it has been my most profitable so far. I am looking forward to a long relationship!

31 Days - Wrap up

31 days wrap up over at the Simple Dollar.

Oh my so it is already Feb 3rd... guess the Ground Hog should have clued me in to that little fact....

I feel so much better off knowing where I am financially (ok, well as much as I know!)

I am going to spend the month of Feb. reviewing the info & establishing some long range goals & a financial plan. I need to write a business plan for our business. I also need to plan for the tax return. I will be taking 10% of it & putting it somewhere safe.

I am going to think about every penny I spend in a different light though (I know the idea is to be flexible, but at the moment I don't have that ability).

Ah well it is already 8 degrees here & I am going to go sew something! SO I can focus my creative energies on something other than obsessing on our $, or lack there of...

Financial Ratios

Stop Comparing your Finances with Others: 5 Financial Ratios to Keep you on Track over at Money Smart Life.

"Key Ratios
My wife and I sat down with a financial advisor a few years ago and she pointed out 5 key ratios to keep an eye on. Below I give the formula, an example calculation, and a recommended target for each ratio.

Liquidity Ratio
Formula: Liquid Assets / Monthly Expenses
Our Example: $68,070/$6,892 = 9.9
Target: 3-6 months

Housing Payment Ratio
Formula: Monthly Housing Costs / Monthly Gross Income
Our Example: $825 / $7585 = 10.88%
Target: Less than 28%

Solvency Ratio
Formula: Total Assets / Total Debt
Our Example: $265,570 / $146,654 = 1.81
Target: Greater than 1.0

Savings Ratio
Formula: Savings per Year / Annual Gross Income
Our Example: $18,000 / $91,000 = 19.78%
Target: 8-25% depending on age

Debt to Income Ratio
Formula: Annual Debt Payment / Annual Gross Income
Our Example: $9900 / $91,000 = 10.88%
Target: Less than or equal to 30%"


Ok: So here are mine...yikes

Liquidity Ratio
Formula: Liquid Assets / Monthly Expenses
Our Example: $400/$2000= .2
Target: 3-6 months I think that means we don't even make it pay check to pay check...hmmmm

Housing Payment Ratio
Formula: Monthly Housing Costs / Monthly Gross Income
Our Example: $1100 / $2400 = 45.83%
Target: Less than 28% YIKES! Yes I know we are in over our head with the house, but it is a really nice house & dh is under-employed at the moment, when we bought it, it wasn't this bad.

Solvency Ratio
Formula: Total Assets / Total Debt
Our Example: $150,500/ $100,000= 1.5
Target: Greater than 1.0 Yes Finally!!!

Savings Ratio
Formula: Savings per Year / Annual Gross Income
Our Example: $2,000 / $28,000= 7.14.%
Target: 8-25% depending on age I know we are low, but we are hoping for a much better summer in our food business this year

Debt to Income Ratio
Formula: Annual Debt Payment / Annual Gross Income
Our Example: $8700 / $28000= 31.07%
Target: Less than or equal to 30% Well we are just over the target & 1800 of that $ is actually a business loan (since we aren't open, with no $ coming in we are making the payments)

Ok, so I have a lot of house, need to increase my income & savings, but our debt to income ratio isn't as bad as I thought it was, I'd love it to be a lot lower though!!!