Jen's Blog

Didn't spend any money yesterday, aside fom paying the phone bill online. I guess I should say I didn't spend any money that didn't need to be spent. Our phone bill is almost exactly the same amount each month. it helps that we use our cell phones for long distance.

Today I'm making coffee - as I write this, in fact - so that I won't be tempted to stop for coffee when DD and I go to the park/beach for a playdate.

It is finally getting sunny here again - no more June gloom, I hope. That means I can hang clothes out to dry a little bit now, instead of hanging them int he damp air and bringing them in to dry anyway.

DH gets Monday off - hurray! A paid day off that isn't given begrudgingly. What a novel concept.

If the adage "You have to spend money to make money" is true, why can't it be true for personal finances? I was musing about this just this morning. I suppose if you consider investing money the spending part, then it is true. But why can't I go out ad buy a new bike or have a nice dinner and expect that to bring more money into my world? {grin}

Finances aside, DH and I are going to see F 9/11 and then go out to dinner, to celebrate our anniversary. And we'll enjoy every minute of it. :-)

Had to fill up the car today. The price of gas makes me think twice before driving now, that's for sure. I hope it's doing the same for others who have a choice regarding how much they drive. That's the only money I had to spend today.

Last night I got hit with my occasional "I don't bring in a significant paycheck" feeling again. Usually I'm fine with our situation, but every now and then that feeling of not contributing financially creeps up on me.

I made some money on banner and newsletter advertising this week via DivaTribe. That will go towards hosting and domain name costs, and it's good to know that DT has the ability to pay for itself.

The only money I need to spend today is on my Rx. Next month I'm going to look into doing mail-order for this Rx and hopefully save some money.

Now that DH is an employee we have vision insurance again. So I can get new lenses every twelve months - yahoo! I wish we would have known before I had my exam that we would have coverage so soon, but what can you do.

Launch day is here! For anyone who would like to see what I've been working on, here is the link:

I've had books listed on half.com for a while now, and made a fair amount of money. I don't think I'm going to make the move over to ebay, though, even though they're trying to make that easy and all. Listing at half.com was quick and easy, and I only paid if something sold. Those were all plusses in my book. So at some point if I have to take my stock down and deal with it elsewhere, that's what I'll do. I only have 14 books listed now anyway, so it's not a big deal. I sold one this morning for $3. It's better than nothing. I have a swap board on DivaTribe, so I may go list my books there if I have to take them off of half.com.

What I am doing to save money today....
Cooking dinner at home.
Waiting to get prescription sunglasses until we have DH's vision insurance in place.
Running only full loads of dishes and laundry.

What I had to spend money on today...
Kitty #2's vet appt

What I chose to spend money on today...
A zipper for a new dress for DD, and some more hooks and eyes for future tops/dresses
A tall Starbucks latte, chocolate milk and a cinnamon roll to share with DD
A new bathroom rug to replace the old ones in the guest bathroom
A gift for DH from DD for Father's Day
A sundress for DD at Ross (for $6 I can barely make it myself!)
Paper plates and napkins for lunch outside on Sunday with the extended family

OK, so I'm not actually giving up. But I am feeling extremely frustrated and worn down. Being a one-income family and a stay at home parent is not easy, especially in California.

Still waiting for the plmber. Gotta' love those 'windows' of time when they say they'll arrive.

Plumber is coming again today...
Exam + contacts = $159 yesterday...
Vet tomorrow...

I give up. It feels like we will never catch a break.

The consignment store launches officially on 6/21. I hope it will be a success, for all involved. I continue to dabble in making things to sell myself.

I think the job offer for DH is going to prove to be a good thing for us, in the long run.

I have one student for tutoring this summer, though I may not see her more than once or twice. I have three students lined up for the coming school year, though.

I tried buying cheaper coffee and am regretting it. It's just not the same.

My plans to save money today include tutoring (one session=income) and hopefully receiving (in the mail) money due for one other session, and three meals plus snacks all at home. Money going out today includes a contact lens exam (minimum of $75).

It sounds obvious - and really it is - but when we don't have a good variety of food in the house, I lose what little motivation I have in the first place to eat at home three meals a day. So with a good run to Trader Joe's this afternoon, and a trip to the farmer's market tomorrow, we should be set for the next week at least. If I wasn't such a picky eater cooking might be more fun, but there are so many things I just don't like to eat, that it makes it hard to get all that creative.

My parents will be here this weekend, for father's day. I have no idea what I'll serve, other than doing deli stuff for lunch on Sunday.

I haven't spent any money today, but I'm itching to go out to dinner. We shouldn't - two of our three pets got to the vet tomorrow, and that's somehwat expensive. Our third pet is due too - I still need to make that appointment.

The consignment store is coming along. I've been sewing up a couple of infant girl summer outfits to list in the store. I think they're cute, but who knows if they'll sell. It's worth a shot - they won't sell if I don't list them, after all.

A friend of mine is going to a homeschool conference tomorrow. It would probably be fun, but I'd end up buying things I don't need (not to mention the money I'd be spending on gas just to get there). I suppose I will go to one in the future, for the fun of it, but this year it just isn't something I need or want to do.

I don't know if one of my summertime tutoring inquiries is going to pan out. I left a message with the mother, but she has not returned it. Even if she is interested in hiring, that doesn't speak well for her follow-through, and that raises a red flag in my eyes.

Our credit card cycle ended yesterday, and our balance was at an acceptable level. Not as low as the last month, but still within a range that may allow for some savings too. (We pay it off every month but use it for the majority of our purchases, as an easy way to track our spending.)

DH started looking into alternative solutions to our root/pipe problems. The more we talk to others about this, the more it seems spending $10k isn't the only way to go.

DD is out of milk. I hate having to go to the store for just one thing, but I also hate buying milk too soon and then worrying that it's going to go bad before we can drink it all.

Guess that's it for now.

It appears I have three families already plannig on coming to me for tutoring next year. It's nice to be able to plan on that. If I can add one or two more apointment every week or every other week, I'll have a fair amount of extra income coming in. A year or two ago I was seeing 10-12 kids a week, and with a little one at home too, that was just too much. The money was great, but it wasn't worth the stress. Not to mention that it's hard to plan on doing things with DD when I feel somewhat chained to the house eah day except Friday.

I'm still trying to set up a couple of tutoring gigs for the summer but haven't reached either family yet to work out details.

If I have a weakness, it's the fabric store. I almost never leave there without some new fabric or yarn to play with. I'm getting better at shopping the sale stuff and not always paying full price, but still... how many cute things does my daughter really need? ;-) I'm toying with the idea of trying to sell an outfit or two in my own consignment store, but we'll see. I bought five pieces of fabric today. Two are specifically for DD, and the other three are for whatever I end up deciding to do with them. All in all it still cost me under $15 and I'll get at least three outfits out of it, so while I know it would be cheaper for me to just stay out there (!) I don't feel too bad about it. Besides, this is also one of my hobbies, something I do for fun, and it's better than just shopping for shopping's sake which is something I did when I was working fulltime and single.

We're going to get at least one more estimate on the plumbing situation. Yesterday's bid came out to about $10,000. Yes, you read that correctly. Astounding. We have to get more input before making that kind of payment. It's awful, even just thinking about it.

Today was a nice day, and an inexpensive one too. We go to a UU church, and there was a picnic for the church today at one of my favorite parks here in town. We packed a cooler and a dish to share and had a great time just hanging out with everyone. We have only been going regularly for the past few months, so we are still pretty new and don't know a lot of people. But we know a few people, and DD has a friend there.

It appears we have roots growing into our sewer lines. Wonderful. We may have to replace some pipes under the house. That is, we may have to pay someone to replace our pipes under the house. There is someone under our house right now, gauging what's what and all that fun stuff.

On a positive note, I got an inquiry today for some summertime math tutoring, and I'll be talking to the parent on the phone sometime this week to discuss the situation. Could be some unexpected income.

YEA! I have my first artist officially represented in the store. I'm shooting for a launch date of June 21 and hope to add at least 2-3 more artists before then. I've gotten signed documents from two other artists and at least one or two more who said they would be working on getting photos and such to me soon. Now it's just a matter of waiting, and picking the right time to nag gently if need be. ;-) I'm excited about the possibilities and pleased to hopefully help these independent artists and crafters gain more exposure on the internet and contribute to greater success for them, and for DivaTribe.

I skimmed through the raising a family on less than two incomes book yesterday. One of the messages I took from it is something that I believe Jeffrey has written an article on - namely, find ways to save on things like insurance and other expenses that won't leave you feeling any pinch whatsoever. Most of the book seemed to talk about things I've read online when it comes to going from two incomes to one, like calculating all of the costs you incur *because* you are working, and figuring out how much you're really bringing home when you take those costs into account. I think it would be a helpful book for anyone who is considering going from two incomes to one but hasn't given it a lot of thought yet and feels like there is just no way it could be done.

I've started reading Your Money or Your Life and so far, the idea that has hit home with me is calculating how much you really earn per hour, taking into account expenses related to your job (parking fees, wardrobe expenses, etc) and the hours spent preparing for work, getting to and from work, etc. Once you know your true hourly wage, you can use that to help you gauge how many hours you are working to pay for the newest *thing* that is vying for your attention.

More to come as I read more...

I just got these today, but I thought I'd pass along the titles in case anyone else was interested:

Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin.

Retire Early - and Live the Life You Want Now (John F. Wasik)

How to Raise a Family on Less than Two Incomes: The Complete Guide to Managing Your Money Better So You Can Spend More Time with Your Kids (Denise Topolnicki).

I saw the first title while surfing for sites related to voluntary simplicity. I'm glad my library had a copy of it. I was ready to go to Barnes and Noble and take a look at it, but now I get to read it for free. :-)

Yesterday we decided to refinish our front door. While we were at Lowe's buying supplies, we priced new front doors. While it would be nice to pick out a new door that was more to our style and liking, our current door is turning out pretty well. Dh is doing a good job. We also bought a closet shelf/rod for DD's closet. It works well, and now DD can reach all of her own clothes in her closet. It also looks more organized, with clothes hanging and sweaters folded up, and shoes all lined up on the bottom. I hope it will help her feel less cluttered where her closet is concerned. Sometimes I think we need to help her develop systems that make it easy to clean up and stay less cluttered. If something is easy to put away, we're more likely to do it, right?

Actually, decluttering and finding ways to clean quickly are a couple of things I've been working on over the past several months. I am surrounded by too much stuff, and it gets to be overwhelming sometimes. Our neighbors across the street are having a garage sale next weekend, so I have been gathering up things to put out as well. Slowly I am decluttering my own possessions, but there are still areas of the house that seem to become messy too easily, too quickly. It's not a matter of needing more space - it's a matter of needing a place for everything, and to not have so many *things* in the first place!!