How's the spending going?

Remember how I was saying I had only $53.00 to last me two weeks until payday? Well, I'm down to $46 after one week. :) I'm pretty proud of the fact that I have completely cut my spending down (had to buy some mailing envelopes yesterday at Walgreens!) to next to nothing. It's kind of refreshing actually!

I've been busy this week applying for jobs and studying! During my lunch breaks at work, I'm bringing my lunch into the conference room and studying hard for an hour for my AFOQT; some things are definitely easier to study than others for sure!

This weekend I'm going to resist any spending on meals or activities although I did mention to boyfriend that I would like to go bowling; (we haven't done that since our first date in September 2007!) so we'll see what happens.

I hope you're all having a blessed week and that you all have a great weekend! :)

Beverly Hills, 90210 to Green Acres

An article on CNN Living intrigued me; it is about a couple who were making over $100,000 a year living in a 1,400 sqft apartment in Beverly Hills to living in a 300sqft Airstream. Why the sudden change? The husband had lost his job and since they were running out of options (and money) they bought an old Airstream and moved out to his parent's farm in Oregon and parked it on 5 acres. Apparently the wife, Leah, still had her job but they figured this was the best way to save money. You can read the rest of the article here.

This couple was smart in my opinion to just say "See ya L.A." when they knew they couldn't maintain their old lifestyle. It is also extremely nice of the husband's parents to let them move in while they get on their feet. Boyfriend would be insanely jealous and would love to work outside doing some manual labor, living it up on five acres. Seriously, he would be thinking, heck yeah, I could do that the rest of my life. To me, doesn't sound all that bad either! I wouldn't mind taking care of some animals, not having to worry about hair and makeup, or if my outfit is pressed for work.

One thing I don't understand though is with a salary of over $100,000 a year (and being 48 years old) how can one only have savings classified as "meager"??! That just seems crazy to me to be 48, making that kind of money, and have little to no savings. Had they been prepared with their Emergency Funds, they probably could have lived off of her salary and their EF while husband found a new job. I think this life change will be an eye opener for them and when/if they return to La La Land, they'll realize the expensive art and furniture they spent their money on really wasn't worth it, look what they had to sacrifice.

In any event, I found it interesting and thought I should pass on the article for your reading pleasure (or not). Would you have done the same thing if you would have been in the same situation? What are you doing to protect yourself in this economy? This is a really good lesson on why Americans need to focus on beefing up their savings accounts and not their material goods.

Disappointing news

Well, due to my error in my numbers, I'm not going to be debt-free next month. Grr. After filing taxes, it said that I was eligible for a tax rebate in addition to my refund, well what I didn't know what that was factored into my refund. Basically, I thought I was getting an additional $300, but I'm not. :( So that $300 was going to help get me debt-free and now it's non-existent. Dang am I mad at myself, I wish I would have read the paperwork better, then I wouldn't have expected the $300.

Oh well, if I continue where I am, I should most definitely be debt-free by April, which I'm not going to get upset about! :) One month set-back. I can take it!!

What would you do? or WTF?!

So yesterday I received this email from a good friend of mine, S. He's one of the first people I met in Tucson (we met on Match.com) and although I didn't feel any connection, we became really good friends. He's honestly one of the most genuine people I know and a great friend. I opened my inbox yesterday to find an email from him with the subject line: "Very big favor!" So I figured it would be something simple..yeah, right! Here's the email below:

"Well everything is going really great with me and A, my gf!!!! She has made me so happy and this July will be one year since we have met. I know this may come as a shock to you, but I plan on popping the big question this Christmas Day. I already have her dad's permission. My parents love her and her parents love me. My Mom actually shocked me the other day and told her that she thought we are good for each other. Well, the big favor that I have to ask is would you be willing to get a loan for the amount of $3300 so I can get the engagement ring? I know that is a lot, but I am willing to make all the payments on the loan. I have been making all the payments on my parents loan for my car, and I will tell you now that I will never miss a payment. I am good for it. I could either give you the money to you or I can just make the payment at the bank. If you say yes, that would be awesome, but if you say no, I understand. I can't ask my parents cause they just got done helping me get out of debt with my credit cards. So, this is why I am asking you for your help. Don't worry, you will be invited to the wedding, and that won't be till Fall of 2010. If you can do this for me, I will ever sooooo greatful."

Key points from this email just in case you don't want to read the whole thing:

• He's not getting engaged until Christmas Day.


• He wants me to take out a $3300 loan so that he can buy the ring.


• They won't be married until Fall of 2010.

It's February. December is still 10 months away. Why the HECK would he want to buy a ring now?! 10 months!!!! What happens if they break up next month or even six months from now? What would he do with the ring? He'd have to sell it and not even get close to what he paid for it. 10 months! What the heck is he thinking? I don't get it. So basically that's what I wrote in my email. I would love to help him, but if he saves up $330 a month, he would be able to pay for it in cash. Shoot, put it in a high interest savings account and end up making a little extra money! If anything were to happen between them, God forbid, he wouldn't have to deal with selling a ring and he would have a nice chunk in his savings account.

Honestly, I don't know what he is thinking. It is just asinine to buy an engagement ring in February (on CREDIT no less) than to save up the cash to pay in full in December.

What do you think? What would you have told him?

On the web today...

CNN Living is chock full of articles today on what else, the economy!

• Seven Ways to Do More and Spend Less
• Tips for Easing Your Money Worries
• Bad Economy? Do What You Love
• 9 Tips for Buying a Foreclosed Home

Yikes! $50 for two weeks

So for some reason, this paycheck has essentially disappeared. When 60% of one paycheck is for rent, the 40% left doesn't last long when you pay bills and save money. I'm now down to $50 in cash for 2 weeks (!) and $30 or so in my bank account; I took my debit cards and stashed them so that there was no way I could access that money just in case something unexpected comes out of my account. My friend E owed me money from December so when I saw her on Saturday she gave me $25; I quickly stashed that in our travel fund but if I need to use it, I will. Nice to have a little back up cash, no?

I went to one of those discount bakeries in the area and stocked up on rolls for my veggie burgers ($1.59 for 8 when it's normally $3.00 or so), whole wheat pizza crust ($3.29), pizza sauce ($1.69 for three packets), veggie soup mix ($3.39) that will make a ton of soup, and a free loaf of bread.

I'm definitely not going to starve since I can always throw some stuff from the pantry together (I'm very creative!) so that's definitely the good news and I have a full tank of gas. No complaints then. It's nice when you get to the point where you just don't NEED or WANT anything, I love it! I just need to watch impulse buys or sweets (like yummy ice cream!).

The bright side with payday is that I'm just a little closer to being debt-free, I can't wait!

This past weekend...

On Saturday I had to work for three hours (yay to overtime!) and then I went to an animal fair with my good friend, E. I haven't seen her in a while so we packed up the girls (she is so in love with them!) and head out to the park to see what it was all about. The weather was nice so I wore jeans and flip flops and a tank top but brought my sweater just in case. Ruby had her sweater on and Juno had a cute little polo on. So cute! Anyway, we get there and I definitely didn't need my sweater, it was pretty nice outside, and some @$$hole makes some remark about "a dog being in a sweater when it's 85 degrees outside", I kept my acid tongue in place because I don't feel like explaining that my dog is cold 24/7, even when it is hot. I don't know what happened from when we walked from the parking lot to the fair a 7-minute walk away, but it felt like someone opened the gates to hell to let it get some fresh air. It was so bloody hot we could barely stand it. Not only that, it was overcrowded with people and their dogs (who weren't paying attention to where they were going) and it was just a nut fest. Poor Ruby kept jumping up because she was overwhelmed by all the people so she was being held 95% of the time which meant I had to juggle Juno and the other stuff I was carrying or E would take Ruby from me since Juno won't leave my side. Not.Fun. (oh, and I had to take her sweater off because for once, she was too hot!) We ended up buying lemon ices and taking them to the dog park so we could escape the chaos.

Anyway, after the animal fair, E and I went to the library and got a few books, I got one organization and it put me in the mood to purge my clothes. I dumped everything out from the closet and my dresser and put it on my bed. I then took a garbage bag and filled it for the Goodwill and took the rest to two different used clothing stores. My grand total for selling clothes? $9.30. And I had a ton of clothes left over. I don't know why they don't take some of the items, they're clean, no rips or stains and barely any signs of wear. Ugh. BF was frustrated, "You have really nice stuff, what gives?" So I took about 2 bags of stuff to the Goodwill. I have an extremely small closet so any free room will only help. Plus, it's said that one only wears 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time, why have those clothes take up all that space?

All in all, the weekend was pretty nice (despite working) and I got some things accomplished which always makes me happy! BF and I are really trying to watch our money (as if this is news) so we tried to resist going out to eat.

Laugh for the Day...

Mom's B-day: Ideas?

So tomorrow is my Mom's birthday and I don't know what to get her. This woman has more than what she could ever ask for so I'm NOT going to buy her some jewelry (when she has 3 huge jewelry boxes full) or anything else to clutter up her house. I had discussed with my sister buying some flowers for my mom because they are purple (one of her fave colors) and has Disney's Tinkerbell in them. They're a little over $60.00 total so we'd each be spending a little over $30; I thought it would be a nice surprise for her. Well, tomorrow is her birthday and I'm still on the fence. With this being the paycheck closest to rent, I am very limited on any extra spending so I'm still deciding what to do. (My family is notoriously late with everything so it's not a huge deal if she doesn't get it by tomorrow!)

Because my parents said they're trying to get focused on their debt, I thought a few PF books would be good for them. Even though my parents are fans of Suze Orman (maybe it's an age thing?) I'm a big fan of Mary Hunt. Last month I devoured Debt-Proof Living and am in the process of finishing Debt-Proof Your Marriage so I thought maybe the latter would be a good present for her; she told me she would like to have the book.

What do you think? Should I send her the book for her birthday or does that seem...what's the word...lame? Should I spend the $30 on flowers for her?

I don't know what to do! I thought the flowers would be a nice surprise but at the same time they won't be clutter when they're gone; the book on the other hand could perhaps jump start them and get them excited about focusing on their finances.

Saving $$ by using the Internet

There are various ways to save money these days; I rarely EVER pay full price for anything anymore, it's just stupid to do so. If you want to save money, you just have to know which avenues to explore to get your savings.

One of the easiest ways to save money is simply by going to a search engine such as Google and typing in what you're looking for and then "coupons." I do this for when I'm shopping for my family for presents or if there is something I want to purchase either in the store or online. I NEVER pay full price for pizza when boyfriend and I are looking for a relaxing night in; there are always coupons and deals on the web for food, you just have to find the coupon code that suits you and type it in.

Yesterday I posted how I was going to get my study guide materials for the AFOQT; unfortunately my used bookstore had none of the materials so I figured I'd have to hit the major bookstores such as Borders and Barnes and Noble. Before I went to the stores, I hopped online, typed in "Borders coupons" and "Barnes and Noble coupons." Voila! Borders had a 20% off coupon (geez, just found a 30% off coupon. Dang!) and Barnes and Noble had a 10% off coupon. I saved a little over $5.00 total and it took me about 30 seconds total to conduct the searches and print. Easy!

Another way to save money if you do the majority of your shopping online is through Ebates. Ebates gives consumers cash back on their purchases depending on which store they shop; they are able to do this because the various shops pay them a finder's fee on the sale and then splits it with the consumer. I've been a member of Ebates for a number of years now and I've gotten a total of $43.17 back, just by shopping online and clicking through their site. How nice is that? They just send your money either through a paper check or through PayPal; I just got a new deposit of $16 and some change the other day, sweet!

Obviously there are so many different ways to save money by utilizing your time on the Internet, what are some of the ways you save money online?

Just slap me with some reality..

Never thought I would be like this, but I am thisclose to packing up my stuff and saying "Adios" to Tucson and "Hello" Dallas. I am so frustrated at this point, I just need something to happen! I'm not the type of girl to be like, "Hey Mom and Dad, can I live with you for a while while I get my crap sorted?" This is ESPECIALLY since I don't have a job down there...yet. Doesn't mean I'm not working on it!

A small ray of hope for today, I'm seriously considering joining the Air Force and becoming an Officer; I was an AF brat my entire life and was married to the military for over 6 years..I think I would be a great candidate and would enjoy my time in. Especially in this economy, you cannot ask for better job security (and benefits) than being a military officer; I spoke with a recruiter today and they administer the AFOQT the first Thursday of the month which means I need to get ON it if I want to test in March. On my lunch break today I'm going to get my study guides and study study study. This is not the first time I have thought of joining; I was first thinking about it when I graduated with my Bachelors but then decided to go on and get my Masters degree; the second time was last year and I didn't take the test because I got the other job with the county. (HA!)

This seems like my only way out at this point, if I don't hear something from the county or Dallas soon, I'm definitely going to work my @$$ off to get into the military and for the first time, I'm deathly serious and really excited. I guess we'll see how things go! Obviously this screws with my plans of traveling the States for a year (boo) but at this stage of the game, I need experience and a secure job.

Fundraisers: Do you participate?

My little 8 year old godson, L, is participating in the Jump Rope for Heart for his school (in honor of his late Great Grandfather whom his middle name was named after) My BFF in Florida emailed me asking if I could help him out a little bit. Of course! He's my baby and while I haven't seen him since 2005 or 2006 (it's been so long I can't even remember!), I always try to help out when I can. I have three godsons, L, is the middle child; their mother always them to participate in only two fundraisers per year, and only ones in which they feel are important. Personally, I think this is a good policy--only allow children to do participate in things about which they are passionate.

I had asked her when the money was do by and how much he had raised so far. Her answer? None. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not stupid about how people are struggling right now but at the same time, I think we should slow down and appreciate that we're all healthy. It just makes me sad that L asks his mom everyday if anyone has donated any money, her response? Not yet hunny. If you've ever seen the Disney movie Chicken Little, then you know what L looks like. Imagine this sweet face all sad and disappointed.

So I talked to BF, my mom, and the ex, they all helped chip in and we got a nice tidy sum for him and we even surpassed his computer fundraising goal. :) I know he's going to be excited to hear his name called at the presentation and know that he did what he could.

So, when it comes down to it, do you participate in fundraisers like these? Do you allow your children to participate in fundraisers at school? Do you support your friends' children or your nieces and nephews? Do any of you have a policy on what you donate to and what you don't?

Frustrated

So, I really hate my job. With a passion. I've been here over a year and while the work environment has increased 100%, I sincerely without a doubt HATE my job. Hate it. Really. Hate is a strong word and I HATE my job. Sunday comes around, I'm ready to go back to work, until I realize where I'm going and what I'm doing. HATE!

Anyway, I am slotted to get hired on by the county whenever they're out of a hiring freeze. People, I applied for this job November 2007--went through all the phases (written exam/panel interview), got a call July 2008 saying they wanted to finish the process (drug test/psych eval/background check), and I passed it all. I was supposed to be hired December 2008. It's now February and with this ***Damn recession, I don't know WHEN I will be hired. The thing that sucks? I'm NEXT on the list. The very next person to be hired and I'm still at my current job. Hating it.

BF took me to lunch today and we talked about my options. Basically I've come to the point where if I'm not hired on by June 1st, I'm going to move to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I LOVE Tucson with a passion but as one of my co-workers (who also hates this place) put it, "Tucson is dried up." I agree. There are no jobs here (like other areas) and I can't sit on my hands all day waiting for something to happen.

I called my Dad and told him the news and not to tell my mom because she would be calling me EVERYDAY saying, "When are you moving down here? Did you find a job yet? Any news?" And I just can't handle that.

I'm not too excited about the move although I would be close to my family and my BFF and her son in Oklahoma. BF wants to live in Texas eventually but he doesn't think it's the right time for him; so I have to figure out what to do there. Yay. <---Insert Sarcasm.

I don't know what to do. At. All. I'm stressed and I'm not happy. And that is not good. :(

It's about time!

Last week, my mom announced to me that she and my dad were going to finally take their finances seriously. Well, it's about time Mom! You're only 56 and Dad's 58, I think you should take them seriously!

Now don't get me wrong, my parents aren't ignorant or stupid people, they just are spenders. They've always made good money and they just like to buy things, and well, they have taste. Taste doesn't come cheap. Lucky for them, they have impeccable credit so my parents can generally get whatever they want whenever they want it.

• $20,000 for a new electric fence for the driveway? No problem.
• $15,000 for a new driveway? No sweat.
• $5,000 for a slab of granite for the new countertop? Eh, whatever.

You know it's bad when I told my mom I was going to be debt-free next month and she says laughing, "Good for you honey, I don't know where you get it from, it's not our family's way!"

Well, how do you tell your mom that you've watched them and their spending habits and the errors that they've made in their spending for the past 26 years and you know what not to do? I guess I could be thankful for that!

Now on the upside, I'm also grateful that my Dad taught me to be generous and give to charity and those less fortunate. My Dad is a giver. Always has been. He would give a stranger the shirt off of his back if he had to (I'm sure he probably has!). I don't fully remember the details but in Christmas 2007, he met a woman (a complete stranger) who was stranded at work or at a bus stop on a cold night who didn't have a ride home. So, my Dad being my Dad, gave her a ride home. On their way to her house, she was explaining her family situation and told my Dad that she was having a difficult time providing Christmas for her family. (Something like she was laid off her full-time job and had to get a part-time job, etc). He wrote down her address went out and spent a couple hundred dollars and delivered some gift cards to this family so that they wouldn't go without. They were extremely grateful, you could see it on their faces. But hey, that's my Dad; always looking out for people. :)

Dear John D. Sutter of CNN,

"Will recession dull hip-hop's bling?" Really? Do you have nothing better to report about than rappers bling bling? In this day and age when people are struggling just to find a job, you decide to report on the effect of the economy on rappers' jewelry-buying habits? Did you have a hard time finding these "experts" (experts on what?) to have them give you their two cents on what is happening in this day and age? How long did it take you to find your sources?

When rappers are reportedly making tens of THOUSANDS of dollars (Lil Jon apparently making $80,000) for a single track, do you think a typical American is crying for these overpaid guys because they can't afford the ridiculous over-the-top jewelry when they're (the typical American) struggling to pay their heating bills? I don't think so. Even though you report that they'll be lucky if they get half that for a track, that is still more money than I make in a year.

Just reading the title of your article made me laugh out loud in my cubicle. Yes, it is laughable and it is a joke. Please stop wasting our time on these ridiculous topics that the average person does not care about; no, you're right, I didn't have click on it and read it, so kudos buddy for taking my three minutes to read your mindless article.

Oh, you do note that ever major label is having layoffs but fail to mention WHO is being laid off. I highly doubt it's any of these multi-million dollar rappers but probably the guy that sweeps the parking lot, perhaps the girl that runs around and does crappy errands for these guys with inflated egos.

Please, report on something that we care about, something that effects the majority of Americans, not the .01% of the population.

Love and kisses,

LL

"How you like me now, when my pinky's valued over three hundred thousand" Lyric from Yeah! by Usher.

Do you pick up pennies?

If you're walking down the sidewalk or heading out the door of a store and you see some loose change, even just a penny, do you bend down to pick it up? Do you feel embarrassed as you pick it up or do you not care? Or are you too embarrassed to be seen picking up one lowly penny?

I can shamelessly say, Yup. I pick up pennies. Every time! Found money is free money, right?

An article in the CNN Living section talks about a family whose hobby is to pick up loose money; they save it in containers and then blog about it. Right now they're up to $1,100 and they say once they get up to $10,000, they're going to donate it to charity. Nice lesson for the kids, huh? I can't even imagine how long it is going to take to get to $10,000 considering it's taken them almost 4 years to get to $1,100! Good for them though!

I remember my ex telling me that when he was younger and his family was shopping at Walmart, people kept kicking around this lump on the floor. He bent down and it was $200 in cash just being kicked around Walmart. Talk about a lucky day, huh?

Anyway, I was just curious to see if anyone else bends down to pick up change. A penny saved is a penny earned, no?

Goals

Miss M from M is for Money asked me what my goals were once I become debt-free (next month!). I have a lot of things that I would like to do but this is what I have so far:

• $15,000 to my Emergency Fund


• $150/month to my Freedom Account which will cover car expenses, clothing, pets, and vacation


• Save up enough money for my family's trip to DisneyWorld in December; I'm aiming for about $500 so I have plenty of money. Since my parents are Disney Vacation Club Members , I get my room for free; I only have to worry about tickets, airline, and food.


• Save roughly $15,000 for my half of our trip around the United States.

I'm going to keep my list short because I don't want to get discouraged. I think this is a good list of goals so far but we'll see if anything changes.

Credit age?

I am 37
in credit years!

Credit Age Quiz by SpendOnLife.com

Via Fabulously Broke in the City

Not too bad considering I'm 26! I'll be sure to take this again once I'm debt-free! I'm sure that will boost me up. :)

OMG. OMG. OMG.

OMG. I just made a payment of $2143.00 to my credit cards! :)

*$543.00--Tax return
*$1300.00--Emergency fund
*$300.00--Checking account

I feel like I can breathe. I feel like I should scream and go skipping down the hallways.

I am thisclose to being debt-free. For life. For good. Forever! I'm still expecting a $300.00 rebate from the government too. My goal is almost complete and much much earlier than I expected. Yay me!

Inner excitement

You know when you just get really excited about something and you feel like you're bubbling inside and it can't be contained? Yeah, that's how I feel whenever I think about our trip across country. I know that each day brings me closer to the day we say goodbye to normalcy for a year and become fulltimers. Hehe. Fulltimers.

The lists are being made, plans are being concocted, and ideas are being hatched. We continue to talk about what we want to see and do and people we want to visit.

I can't wait! :)

Ooh, a good find!

Yesterday I was perusing the local used bookstore, one of my favorite places to check out on my lunch break. Since I am broke broke broke due to my lovely speeding ticket and I had store credit, I figured I'd go see what I could find. I'm ALWAYS on the lookout for books on Lucille Ball or I Love Lucy, and what do you know, I found one yesterday. Yay!

Anyway, I was just looking around and I found this small (about 5"x9") orange hardback book on a shelf and picked it up. The American Frugal Housewife. Dedicated to Those Who Are Not Ashamed of Economy. By Mrs. Child. It is basically a book full of tips, hints, ideas, and wisdom about being frugal (or economy) and the mindset that frugality is nothing to be ashamed of. :)

On the back cover it states that this book was first published in 1828 was was an extremely popular nineteenth-century manual for homemakers. Apparently Mrs. Child was an early feminist (hooray) and abolitionist who supported her family as a writer, a pamphleteer, and an editor.

The cool thing is, you can still buy this book as it is still being published, mine is the 12th edition hardback. It's on Amazon for $9.95. You can also find it in softback if you so prefer, I kind of like my old-school manual myself.

As I find little nuggets of information that I feel are important, I will post them, with or without commentary. I hope you enjoy; even though it is 181 years later, I think we can all learn a little wisdom from this book.

Giving to charity when in debt? Yes or No?

After finding The American Frugal Housewife at my used bookstore yesterday, I read a very interesting statement that really addresses what Dog Ate My Finances was talking about in this post on Dave Ramsey and Tithing.

The author, Lydia Maria Child, makes a good point about giving to charity when one owes money and it made me think of Dog's argument:

"He who thoughtlessly gives away ten dollars, when he owes a hundred more than he can pay, deserves no praise,-he obeys a sudden impulse, more like instinct than reason: it would be real charity to check this feeling' because the good he does may be doubtful, while the injury he does his family and creditors is certain."

I have always donated money to charity, even when I owed money. The ex and I were fortunate enough to be able to donate to two charities when we lived in England. Now that I'm back in the States and on my own with only one income and in debt, it has made it harder to donate a set amount every month to charity (trust me, I tried. I was donating a set amount to the ASPCA every month and finally had to cancel). I definitely plan on incorporating charity into my spending plan once I'm debt free. At this stage of the game, I need to focus on myself to get my needs met. I know this sounds a little selfish, but I'm the only one looking out for me, no?

Giving to charity is so very important, I think everyone who can donate a little here and there really should. Find a good charitable organization that has a cause you are passionate for and try to give as much as you can each month, it's not just good for society, it's good for your soul too. Just make sure YOU and your family are taken care of first. Charity begins at home people.

Words to live by...

"No false pride, or foolish ambition to appear as well as others, should ever induce a person to live one cent beyond the income of which he is certain."

-Mrs. Child, author of The American Frugal Housewife, 1833.

I just need to stop reading the news...

Maybe it's what Uncle Sam wants....

Every time I see articles like this and this and this, it makes me a little more paranoid. And I just need to get over it. My job is pretty secure at the moment, no one in our building has been laid off (minus my two bosses but that was due to poor performance, not budget cuts!) and there are no intentions on it. I have an Emergency Fund to take care of things in case of a layoff, and if I can't afford my place any longer, I can move in with boyfriend. Of course, this is worst case scenario...but still!

I think these articles are good because they bring awareness to the economy and the situation, reminding us that we need to cut back. And boy, let me tell you I have done that! I don't feel the economic crunch except my credit card company raised my APR by 2 points...grrr. That's fine, just more motivation to get it paid off fast, right?

Anyway, I'm just going to continue to do what I do. Save 10%, pay 20% towards debt. If I continue at that pace, I should be fine. I'm a lucky girl, since I've been with boyfriend I've NEVER had to worry about money. Even at our lowest point, God has always taken care of us. I'm going to continue with my strategy and with a positive attitude. I suggest you do the same.

Time to switch my cable to Comcast..

All my coworkers were talking about this today, too bad I have DirectTV!! HA!

(CNN) -- Super Bowl fans in Tucson, Arizona, caught a different kind of show during Sunday's big game. Just as Cardinals' superstar Larry Fitzgerald watched himself sprint into the end zone on the stadium's Jumbotron during Sunday's Super Bowl, 10 seconds of eye-popping pornographic imagery "flashed" across the screens of those watching at home.

"We are mortified by last evening's Super Bowl interruption, and deeply apologize to our customers for the inappropriate programming," Comcast Cable said in a written statement.
"Our initial investigation suggests this was an isolated malicious act," the statement added.
Comcast, and several local television stations that carried the signal, say they are currently investigating what caused the interruption.

"It appears this material was only viewed by some Comcast customers," local Tucson television station KVOA-TV said in a written statement. Television station KVOA added "when the NBC feed of the Super Bowl was transmitted from KVOA to local cable providers and through over-the-air antennas, there was no pornographic material," KVOA President and General Manager Gary Nielsen said in a separate statement.