Not too much to report around these parts. DH and I are both pretty busy at work, which means not too much is going on around the house. We did have takeout almost every night last week, but at least we stayed within budget. I'm going to Aldi tomorrow and I'm going to pick up some easier meals to help stave off the endless stream of fast food around here.

Aside from groceries and gas, we've only made one purchase in the last week, and that was a planned one. We've been saving up for a while and finally bought automatic feeders for our cats. They both have a tendency to put on weight, so they have to be fed a precise amount of food twice a day. We've run into problems where I've had class and DH has had to work late. They either got fed way too early or late, which they were not happy about. Plus, since they get fed morning and night, I haven't been able to sleep in past 8:00am in the last 2 years. I'm not a total sloth, but a nice weekend lie-in every once in a while wouldn't be bad!

I got paid yesterday, and split the money evenly between replenishing the emergency fund and the car fund. My checks are smaller these days because I bumped up my 401k contribution to 50% for the rest of the year to make sure I max out. I'll have more coming in next year when I can adjust my contribution back to 33%, but the money will still be going to the same place, at least for the foreseeable future.

DH and I broke out the Dyson vacuum this morning. Wow!

The Dyson kind of operates on the Biore principle, with the idea that people will have a morbid fascination with ickiness they clean up.

Can I say wow again? I cannot BELIEVE how much dirt, dust, and cat hair this thing sucked up. We cleaned 2 rooms and had to empty it twice! It was quite satisfying.

Aside from that, it should be a pretty quiet day. We're watching the Bears game, of course, and we'll be setting up my iPod later. I need to go grocery shopping, both to get provisions and to do some research for work. Grocery money is kind of tight for the rest of the month, so I need to be careful.

Well, I'm 27 today. It's actually been a really nice birthday so far. I got lots of kind messages from my friends, and DH actually came home to take me out to lunch.

He also surprised me with some wonderful gifts! He got me a big iPod, an iTunes gift card, AND a Dyson! He must have saved up for quite a while.

I'm so excited and I really, really want to play with all of them but I've got to focus and finish up my work and Spanish homework before class tonight.

Tomorrow DH is taking my mom and I out to dinner at Claim Jumper and then Saturday my mom is making us lunch. She does this great thing for us kids where no matter how old we are she still goes out and gets the birthday plates and cups, the paper birthday tablecloth, and the silly little cone-shaped birthday hats. And, of course, no one is allowed to remove their hat until after cake. It's cheesy but we've come to cherish it over the years.

Lately kids have been on my mind a lot. DH and are confirmed fence-sitters. We've been playing "maybe next year" since 2002.

I just can't quite make myself jump on this one. We joke that we can either have kids or be independently wealthy. Of course I do understand that it's perfectly possible to raise kids frugally and still have quite a bit to go around, but I'd be lying if I said the economic aspects of the decision don't concern me.

From a purely economic standpoint, kids are a disaster! They're horridly costly and promise almost no financial return. Nothing sends ice down my veins like thinking about baby supplies, piano lessons, soccer fees, braces, and, of course, the $300 a month per child it will cost to fund 75% of college costs for our state school.

And all of that, of course, assumes the child is healthy and has a reasonably normal childhood. What about all of the "what ifs"?

I worry about how vulnerable having a child would leave me. DH is diabetic and while his health is OK at the moment we haven't been able to get life insurance on him. We've only got the paltry coverage offered by his job. I read that having a child is the single greatest predictor that a woman will end up in poverty. I grew up with a single mom. I'm sure not eager to sign on for the experience!

I wonder if I would continue working. I wonder if I would miss working if I quit. What I accomplish at work is something I respect about myself. Would I miss having a challenging and respected job? Would I miss bringing in a paycheck?

What if I don't like the kid? What if I don't particularly like being a parent? What if we get home from the hospital and I start wondering when the kid's real parents are going to pick him up and take him home so I can get back to my life?

What if, what if, what if?

Who says God isn't in the details? :-)

I was in Spanish class tonight (got a 98% on last week's test! )and during break I was mighty, mighty tempted by the vending machine in the hallway.

I had packed a piece of fruit for myself but I was really, really hungry and I wasn't sure the fruit would hold me until the end of class. But, I didn't want to spend money unnecesarily in the machine and I'm trying to cut way back on refined carbs.

Still, the sweet siren song of the machine got to me and I decided to get a small bag of Sun Chips. I pulled a dollar out of my wallet, and the machine spat it back at me, saying it needed exact change. So, I went fishing for coins (which I NEVER spend--they go in the change jar for vacation money) and got my first dime in before a fit of conscience came over me. I just couldn't do it.

So, I pushed the coin return button to get my dime back. When I reached in to get my change, I found that someone before me had left behind their change. Not only did I get my dime back, I got an extra $0.40!!!

I know it was a message...

Thanks for all the tea & sympathy for the great loan debacle. It's much appreciated!

I was really depressed about it for a day or two, but now it's time to put it behind me and move on with my life.

So, in that spirit, I thought I'd create a list of things that this experience showed me to be grateful for.

1.) I am grateful that we had options for dealing with the loan surprise. It's nice to have choices about how we wanted to handle it.

2.) I am grateful we had enough in savings to cover the loan without too much detriment.

3.) I am grateful DH was able to get a college education. (The first in his family to do so!)

4.) I am grateful that we found out about it in time. We could have only learned about it when the collection calls started.

5.) I am grateful (in a perverse way) that the loan was really ours instead of it being the result of identity theft or some horrible, giant-headache-to-correct, records problem.

Nothing to do now but keep our chins up and keep moving forward!

I'm so bummed. I went out and checked the mail yesterday, and there was one piece that just looked funny. It was from a company I didn't recognize but it didn't look like junk mail. I figured I'd play it safe and open it up to see what it was.

To my utter dismay, it's a statement saying that a student loan DH took out was now coming due and payments would start this month!!! DH is incredibly scatter-brained and a horrible record keeper, so he's never mentioned this loan, and I certainly don't have documentation or a promissory note for it. I thought he knew about all of his student loans and had them all neatly consolidated. Not so, I guess!

DH contacted his school and found out that during his last semester, the federal government outsourced their Stafford loans. His got issued by Educaid, which then became Wachovia, which then became the company that contacted us. Since it wasn't issued by Direct Loans, it wasn't picked up when he consolidated and DH didn't remember it or have records to review.

This new loan is almost $9,000 at a variable interest rate of over 7%!!! We've decided to dip into the emergency fund and just pay the darn thing off. DH's job is very stable, and mine seems OK for the moment too. Refinancing it won't save us too much in interest, and I'd rather just be done with the whole thing. Still, I'm not exactly thrilled at seeing 35% of my emergency fund vanish in one fell swoop!

And it's not even like we get anything for it. If we'd spent 9k on a new car, or a really cool home remodeling project, or a couple of great vacations, at least there would be something I could look to for how we enjoyed the money. But no, it went to his never-ending college degree.

I'm just so depressed. I was so excited to be moving forward again and now this...

This is just a PSA to be careful about with whom you talk about money!

I went out to lunch with a girlfriend of mine on Friday. Normally we get along really well, but money is becoming a really sticky issue between us.

She is very, very spendy and is in serious money trouble. They're upside down on their HOUSE (let alone the credit cards, car payment, other loans). I'm honestly scared for them.

Anyway, we were making idle chit chat and complaining about how much time we spent on the phone and I made an offhand comment that I had spent so much time on hold with one of my credit cards that I can now recite the entire spiel (Your call is very important to us...)

She asked was I was waiting so long for, and I told her that I was trying to get them to waive my annual fee. (I had gotten a Mariott Visa last year to take advantage of some of their promos. The card has an annual fee, which they waived for the first year. I refuse to pay annual fees for CCs, so I was calling to either have them waive it or to close the account. They were able to switch my account to another reward card without an annual fee.)

When she heard what I was calling for, she started laughing and said "God, you are so cheap!" The hell??? I'm cheap because I don't pay unnecessary fees?

It was quite an awkward moment. I finally said something like "Why would I pay it if I don't have to?" and the conversation moved on.

I totally regret ever discussing money with her. She's put 2 + 2 together from comments I've made and understands that DH and I are in pretty good shape, and I think it makes her defensive since she ALWAYS feels the need to bring up money!

We stopped at Target after lunch so I could pick up a birthday present for my godson, and I felt ill watching her fill up the cart with stuff she didn't need and couldn't afford. I know I'm not responsible for her behavior, but I felt like I had taken an alcoholic to a bar, you know?

I've learned a lesson--no more discussing money with my friends, no matter how vague the terms!

Yay! Today was my last shopping trip for our fiscal month (I count from the 10th since that's DH's first payday) and I made it out with $12 to spare!

I budget $80 a week for groceries and household goods. I do most of my shopping at Woodman's, with an occasional Wal-Mart run for TP, shampoo, and the like.

I'm finding that I don't have too many fixed expenses--I usually need about $9 a week for milk and another $7 or so for fresh fruit. There's also about $10 a month for kitty litter and another $15 a month for soap, shampoo, and paper goods. The rest can be divided up between buying staples, buying sale items, and certain special things I need to prepare a particular dish or make products for the pet shelter bake sale that I do twice a month.

I really liked the envelope system--much easier to keep track of and much more useful in helping me conceptualize how much money I've spent and what is left.

I've learned a lot this month, and I'm convinced I can do even better next month!